//------------------------------// // Great and Powerful // Story: My Little Background Pony: Boasters Busted // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// Vinyl and Octavia went to Ponyville Square immediately after their dinner; Bon Bon and Lyra had already left for their own agenda, so the musicians assumed they would be meeting them there. Sure enough, the two had already found seats among the growing crowd, with Derpy and Turner sitting beside them. The area in front of the crowd showed what looked like a cross between a house and cart, just a bit bigger than what could be considered standard size for a single traveling pony and her belongings. “Timey, Ditzy,” Vinyl greeted. “I don’t suppose Ly dragged you guys into this, too?” “I found the fliers while on my route,” Derpy replied, “and I told Turner about it. We only found them here by accident,” she added, motioning to the other two mares. “Great minds think alike, I suppose,” Turner said. “Personally,” Vinyl stated, “I wanna see what makes this mare so awesome. She has quite the yardstick to compare to.” “Vinyl,” Octavia smirked, “just because you can fit two inches within a yard…” Vinyl only had enough time to glare at her before a fanfare started. Suddenly, the walls of the cart facing the audience unfolded to reveal a makeshift stage. “Come one, come all!” a mare’s voice shouted. “Come witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trrrixieeee!” There was a flash and a cloud of smoke, and when it dissipated, the mare from the flier appeared, wearing a large grin that practically created confidence. Well, she’s got stage presence, that’s for sure, Vinyl thought to herself. Still too early, though. “Watch in awe,” Trixie continued, “as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” The stage erupted into a small fireworks display. A bit more flash than necessary, but at least she’s trying to sell the act, Vinyl noted. “You all have the Great and Powerful Trixie’s guarantee that when you leave here today, your lives will never be the same, knowing things you never knew before in this once in a lifetime experience!” Okay, now I’m pretty sure she just said the same thing every time she opened her mouth. “For example…” Trixie turned to one side and stood up on her hind legs. She waved her hooves in a flourish. As if on command, a bouquet of flowers appeared, hovering in an aura of pink magic. “For moi?” she said, as if genuinely surprised. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.” She took the flowers into her forelegs. “You’re right; you shouldn’t have!” Trixie looked wild-eyed at the audience, scanning for the pony who interrupted her performance. She finally locked eyes with Vinyl, whose friends were staring in disbelief. “You call that an opener?” she continued. “You couldn’t even open a letter with that!” “Vinyl, what are you doing?!” Octavia hissed at her. “Well, well, well,” Trixie started, “it appears that we have a neeeigh-sayer in our midst." The flowers disappeared from her hooves and she lowered herself down back to all fours. "Not enjoying the show? Or are you just jealous of what the Great and Powerful Trixie can do?” “Making flowers appear out of nowhere? Please, that’s not exactly advanced magic. And secondly, I’d hesitate to call this a show. More like a force!” “Perhaps you mean to say ‘farce,’ though you’ll forgive the Great and Powerful Trixie if she doesn’t take into consideration the opinions of a clearly uncultured pony who can’t even say words correctly.” “Hey, I’ll have you know I am a performer, and Performance 101 says that you perform for the audience, not your ego!” “Says the pony who’s yelling over a crowd simply to express her displeasure at her better.” “Better?” Vinyl let out a hearty laugh, as if she had genuinely found Trixie’s words funny. “Lady, you may be good at magic, but when it comes to putting on a show, you got nothing on me.” “At least you admit Trixie’s magical prowess.” Trixie shifted her head to one side, almost like she was staring past Vinyl. “Based on her view of your cutie mark, you fancy yourself a musician of some kind? Because if so, you would not understand the skill it takes for the Great and Powerful Trixie to perform such feats of amazingness.” “What I really don’t understand is the Great and Powerful Trixie’s need to refer to herself as the Great and Powerful Trixie over and over again. I mean, is that like your full name or something?” Trixie harrumphed at this. “Trixie has earned her title as the Great and Powerful.” She magically removed her hat, allowing the audience to see her lit-up horn as lines of light started twisting above her from it. “After all, she has singlehoofedly defeated one of the most feared monsters known to ponykind,” the lights curved and came together to form the shape of what looked like a large bear: “the Ursa Major.” More lights formed a smaller image, looking like an outline of Trxie herself facing off against the creature. “With one mighty spell, the Great and Powerful Trixie was able to vanquish this ferocious beast, sending it back to whence it came!” Many ponies in the audience “oohed” and “awed” at her tale. Vinyl just scoffed.”Puh-lease. That’s the biggest load of horseapples I’ve ever heard.” “Then perhaps you’d fancy a chance to show the Great and Powerful Trixie what you can do?” Trixie challenged. For a moment, it looked as though Vinyl was about to walk up to the stage. However, she stopped before she even took a step forward. She looked at the audience; all eyes were focused on her, their expressions filled with uncertainty as to what exactly was happening. No, she thought. I can’t. She was thankful her glasses hid her eyes from view. “You know what?” she finally said. “The hay with this. This whole show wasn’t even worth my time.” She turned toward the back and, with a dismissive flick of her tail, walked out of the crowd. “Spoken like somepony who knows when they’ve been beat,” Trixie called out. Vinyl didn’t even acknowledge her this time.