//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Friends and Enemies // Story: Major Problems // by asmariamoon //------------------------------// Major Problems By Asmaria Moon Chapter 2 Friends and Enemies Trixie awoke to a sunbeam shining directly on her face, and tried to roll over to get away from it so that she could open her eyes without going blind first thing in the morning. Sadly, Pinkie’s bed was not quite so large as to allow that, normally only having to accommodate for one pony, and Trixie rolled out of the bed, hitting the floor below with a loud thump and an impolite curse. As she got to her hooves, she followed the offending sunbeam back to its source, a heart-shaped hole in the top of a door leading out to a balcony. Trixie muttered some very impolite things directed towards Princess Celestia under her breath, then turned back around, finding a pink mare directly in front of her and stumbling back towards the door. “Good morning, Trixie! Did you sleep well?” Pinkie asked in her hyperactive way, her head bouncing as she waited for Trixie’s answer. “Gah! Pinkie, don’t do that! You nearly gave Trixie a Great and Powerful heart attack!” Trixie said, trying to catch her breath and slow down her pulse after the fright Pinkie had given her. It was then that Trixie noticed that there was something very wrong about Pinkie’s positioning. “Pinkie... how are you... do you realize... how is it that you are upside down?” Trixie asked. “Suction shoes! See?” Pinkie said, taking one of her hooves off the ceiling she was hanging from via the aforementioned shoes, and allowing Trixie to get a closer look at the shoe. It was strapped around her hoof and the bottom of the shoe had a large suction cup affixed to it. “Um... Pinkie? Why are you hanging upside down from the ceiling with suction shoes?” Trixie asked, even though she knew she was going to regret it. “Because it’s fun!” Pinkie exclaimed, emphasizing the last word with a broad smile. She then bounced free of the ceiling, the suction cups disengaging with a loud popping sound, and twisted in midair to land on her hooves, the suction cups sticking to the floor. Pinkie bent down and unstrapped the suction shoes on her front hooves using her mouth, then unstrapped the ones on her back hooves using her now free front hooves. She left the suction shoes where they were and bounced over to the door behind Trixie. "Wow! It's such a beautiful morning! I bet Dashie was up early, clearing the skies." Pinkie said, poking her head out of the heart-shaped hole in the door. "Nope, guess not. She's still sleeping." Pinkie said, spotting the cyan pegasus with rainbow-colored mane and tail asleep on a low cloud. Pinkie tried to take her head out of the heart-shaped hole, but whimpered loudly when she found that it was stuck, part of her curly mane caught on the pointy part of the top of the heart. Trixie couldn't help but sigh to herself. "Hold still, Pinkie. Trixie will help." Trixie said, grabbing the caught part of Pinkie's mane with her magic and gently pulling it free of the wood it was caught on. "Don't worry, Trixie will have you out soon." she said as her telekinesis enveloped Pinkie's head, turning it gently sideways and pushing Pinkie's head free of the door. "Oh, wow! Thanks so much, Trixie! I thought I was going to be stuck in my own door for weeks, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy would try to bring me honey to eat, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake would put a sign outside that says 'Don't feed the pony!', which would make me so super-sad because I love honey, because it's so sweet, and Dashie would try to get Twilight to get me free, but she'd be so busy working on plans to excavate that she wouldn't help me at all!" Pinkie said, bouncing around the room now that she was free of the door. Trixie could almost feel her headache threatening to return. "You're quite welcome, Pinkie. Trixie thinks she remembers that story... about a stuffed bear that belonged to a little colt?" Trixie asked, trying desperately to remember the name of the story. "Yep! Whinny the Pooh! Granny Pie used to read that story to me all the time!" Pinkie said, still bouncing around in celebration of being free of the heart-shaped hole in her door. "Please, Pinkie, calm down. Your bouncing is making Trixie's headache return." Trixie said, idly rubbing her forehead just under her horn with a hoof. "On another note, as much as the Great and Powerful Trixie would love to deal with your shenanigans all day, she really must apologize to the town for what happened the last time she was here." Trixie said, though she still wasn't entirely sure why she felt she needed to apologize. She only hoped Pinkie didn't ask about that. "How come?" Pinkie asked, and Trixie let out a sigh as Pinkie asked exactly the question she didn't want to answer. "I mean, it's not like you personally brought that Ursa into the town, it was Snips and Snails that did that." Pinkie said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well, it was Trixie's boasting that inspired them to bring the Ursa to town, so at least some of the blame for what happened that night rests on her. Not all of it, but enough to make Trixie feel she must make her own apology." Trixie said. "Yeah, but... how come? I mean, you're an awesome pony, Trixie, but judging from the show you put on the last time you were here, you don't seem like the type to apologize. No offense." Pinkie added, smiling. "None taken, Pinkie. That was Trixie's stage persona. It is the Great and Powerful Trixie's job as a stage magician to make herself seem more Great and Powerful than she already is. Offstage, Trixie is not too proud to admit she made a mistake." Trixie said. "Trixie guesses that the reason she needs to apologize is to make things right. Trixie had a hand in the troubles that befell this town that night, and wishes to make up for it." Trixie stated. Trixie stood in the center of the square, directly in front of the fountain, with a crowd of ponies in front of her. She could hear some of their murmurs of disapproval, those who recognized her from her last visit, even without her trademark hat and cloak. Trixie cleared her throat, casting an audio illusion spell so that it sounded loud enough to be heard above the crowd, and the noise slowly died down. "The Great and Powerful Trixie guesses that you are all wondering why her new friend Pinkie has gathered all of you here. Some of you may remember Trixie from her visit to this village a few months ago." Trixie said, and the murmurs returned in full force. Trixie cleared her throat again, and they died down once more. "Allow Trixie to begin by saying... she is sorry." This time, the noises that swept through the crowd were those of confusion. "Trixie realizes that she had a hoof in what happened on the night of her last visit here. Had Trixie not boasted about defeating an Ursa Major, those two colts would have never been inspired to go find one, and bring the Ursa Minor that caused so much destruction to this village. So yes, Trixie is sorry. It is true that it is part of Trixie's job to make herself seem more Great and Powerful than she is already, but boasting about single-hoofedly defeating a creature that is too much for any one pony to defeat was a bad decision on Trixie's part, and she apologizes for making such a claim." Trixie finished, scanning the faces of the gathered crowd. Many of the faces seemed ready to forgive, but there were four in particular that stood out to Trixie, three of which were the ponies who had tried to best her during her magic show, and the other the purple unicorn who had saved the town from the Ursa Minor after Trixie's magic failed to do so. The cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane and tail looked as if it was taking all of her will to not fly up to the front of the crowd and buck Trixie in the teeth. The orange earth pony with the cowpony hat next to the pegasus seemed to have the same expression, but a little more restrained. The white unicorn with the purple, wavy mane and tail seemed to wear a snooty expression, as if she felt she was above having to listen to Trixie's apology. And last, the purple unicorn with the striped purple and pink mane; whose name, Trixie remembered, was Twilight; seemed to be confused on whether to take Trixie's apology at face value, or hold a grudge, as her friends so clearly did. Next to Twilight was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, half of her mane almost covering one of her eyes. This pony looked as willing to forgive Trixie as most of the crowd did. The cyan pegasus was the first to speak her mind. "Oh, so you think that you can just waltz right into town, and all will be forgiven and forgotten? Nice try, Trixie, but I ain't fallin' for it." the rainbow-maned pony said. "The Great and Powerful Trixie remembers you. You were the first of the neighsayers to boo Trixie at her last performance here. Though the Great and Powerful Trixie forgets your name at the moment. Oh, wait. Trixie thinks she might remember it now. Was it... Loser?" Trixie asked, an arrogant smirk forming on her face as she eyed the pegasus. "The name's Rainbow Dash, and you're lucky I don't put you in your place after the trouble you caused when you brought that monster into town. I was there that night. I remember the destruction you caused." the pegasus said. "Were you truly there?" Trixie said, glaring at Rainbow Dash now. "Because if you were, you might remember that it was not the Great and Powerful Trixie who brought that Ursa Minor into town. It was two young colts from this very village. True, Trixie's boasting might have inspired them to go find an Ursa, but it's not as if Trixie commanded them to do that. It's not as if Trixie herself held their hooves every step of the way, egging them on. They brought the Ursa Minor here, not Trixie, and they did so of their own will, not Trixie's." Trixie finished with a wide smirk, and Dash gritted her teeth. Suddenly, she rose above the crowd with a flap of her wings, and looked ready to dart toward Trixie, who quickly readied an illusionary shield spell in her mind, which would make the air around her seem as solid as the cobblestone below her, should the pegasus want to trade blows. However, Trixie's spell was not needed, as the orange cowpony with the blonde mane and tail grabbed the end of Dash's rainbow-colored tail in her mouth. "Woah there, Dash." she said as the pegasus found the futility in trying to escape the cowpony's grip, and settled back to the ground beside the orange mare. "Now listen here, Trixie. Snips and Snails already done apologized for bringing the Ursa into town, and they helped clean up the destruction as punishment. Mah question to y'all is, what're y'all fixin' to do to make up for it?" the cowpony asked. "Trixie is willing to accept any punishment the town feels is required of her, within reason, of course. The Great and Powerful Trixie admits that it is partly her fault that the Ursa was brought to town, but refuses to have the full blame of the attack forced on her, little hayseed." Trixie said, remembering the name that had convinced the orange cowpony to try and compete with Trixie. "Mah name's Applejack, and ah never said that all a' tha blame was y'all's. But Snips and Snails're just foals, they didn' know any better." "They were old enough to make their own choices, therefore, they were old enough to know that it's dangerous to go chasing after monsters simply because somepony claims to have beaten one. Trixie will not take the blame for their negligent actions, she will only take the blame for her own." Trixie said. The white unicorn with the purple mane and tail finally spoke up. "Now, Applejack, I refuse to believe that you cannot see what's going on here. She is obviously attempting to goad you into opposing her, just as she was the day of the Ursa Minor attack. Personally, my dear Trixie, I refuse to fall for your scam. You may be able to lure the others into arguing with you, but I am above such nonsense." she said. "Oh, what's the matter? Afraid of a little challenge? Perhaps I should turn your hair green again, you stuck-up old hag." Trixie said, smirking again as the white unicorn made a face that looked as if she'd just been bucked in the gut. "Old hag? Listen here, you horrid witch, Rarity is the epitome of youth and beauty, and if you call me an old hag again, I will personally end you!" the white mare said. "Oh, dear, I seem to have gotten under your skin. Oh, I humbly apologize for saying such an awful thing..." Trixie started, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "...old hag." she added after pausing just long enough for the insult to really sting. "Oh, it... is... on!" Rarity exclaimed, baring her teeth and snorting steam through her nostrils. Suddenly, the yellow pegasus with the pink mane and tail flew in front of her, shouting, "WAIT!", stopping Rarity in her tracks. "Now, girls, I know that you are all angry about some of the things Trixie has said, but to be completely honest, you brought those insults upon yourselves. You were the ones who engaged Trixie with hostility. She was only defending herself from that hostility in likely the only way she knows how: more hostility. How would you girls like it if, when you were only trying to apologize for a mistake that you made, somepony decided to take that time to say that your apology wasn't sincere, or to say that they thought you deserved a worse punishment than you actually did, or to say that you were only trying to start an argument?" the yellow pegasus said, looking first at Rainbow Dash, then at Applejack, then lastly at Rarity. "Now, then, I think that you girls owe Trixie an apology now, for saying such horrible things." she continued. "....Ummm... if you want to, that is..." the yellow pegasus finished, so quietly that Trixie could barely hear her. With that, the other three mares looked at each other, realization on their faces, and then began to murmur apologies all at once. "The Great and Powerful Trixie accepts your apologies." Trixie said, waving a hoof towards the group. Suddenly, the yellow pegasus took to the air, floating in front of Trixie. "Aaaaannnnndddd?" she asked, looking at Trixie with big, bluish-green eyes, coaxing Trixie to say something else. "Ummmm... and Trixie apologizes for the horrid things she said about you three." Trixie said, looking down at her front hooves. Her voice would have barely been audible to the ponies at the front of the crowd had her spell not still been in effect. The yellow pegasus, satisfied with Trixie's apology, floated back over to her friends. "Thank you, Fluttershy." Twilight said, finally speaking as the pegasus landed next to her. Trixie's gaze was drawn to her immediately as she wondered whether Twilight would accept Trixie's apology or not. Author's Note: Welcome to cliffhanger town, population: all of you! :P But anyway, Applejack's accent is really hard to write, especially for me, because I tend to be quite obsessive over proper spelling and grammar, and Applejack pays absolutely no attention to such things. I really couldn't find anyone else to proofread this for me in time, I gave it quite a few looks over to make sure it was all right, but I wrote it, so I'm kind of biased in that regard. If you guys have any problems with it, please tell me, and I'll fix them if I can, and if I can't, I'll keep them in mind for the next chapter. EDIT: Ohmygosh! I so totally called Pinkie with suction shoes! Something I wrote is actually canon! XD