Trixie's mind raced as she searched the clearing and the wagon fruitlessly, using her horn for illumination. The light it gave was weak and fading fast, as Trixie was extremely tired from running and her magic severely depleted from holding her partial invisibility spell for an extended period. As she frantically looked around in the increasing darkness, she desperately tried to think of where Leech could be. Had something gone wrong? Had he been caught? That couldn't be it, as Trixie would have noticed something back in Ponyville.
"Think, Trixie, think..." she said out loud to herself. "If I were a halfwit changeling with an overwhelming desire to please my friends, where would I be?"
With this in mind, Trixie attempted to calm herself and took a more in-depth survey of her surroundings. Leech wasn't here, but then neither were the gems or the Diamond Dogs.
"So if they're not here... that must mean those backstabbing mongrels have fled with all of my gems!" she hissed crossly. "How utterly predictable!"
She couldn't dwell on the almost-inevitable betrayal of the Diamond Dogs for long, however, as her thoughts turned to figuring out where Leech could have gotten to.
Trixie reasoned that Leech must know of the Diamond Dogs' absconding, and figured that he must have done one of two things - pursued them in an attempt to reclaim the gems, or returned to Ponyville to gather more. If it was the former, there would be nothing Trixie could do. She had no idea where the Diamond Dogs had gone to, not even the general direction, and thus wouldn't know where to start searching for Leech. If it was the latter, with the town on such high alert, he would almost certainly be caught and sent to Canterlot.
With Ponyville being the only logical place she could start her search, she dimmed her illumination spell and began the long run back to the town, her fatigued legs burning with every step. She ignored the pain and focused on the task in hoof - she only hoped that Leech was there, and that she would not arrive too late to rescue him.
----------
Back in Ponyville, the Mayor was attempting to calm the now-agitated ponies down. Most of the stalls and exhibits were empty - those that hadn't been raided had been cleared by their owners. Trading and exhibiting ponies clutched their remaining gems close, or hid them in saddlebags to prevent the spectrum-hued bandit from getting them if she returned. Even the party had been stopped - Pinkie Pie wandered outside to see Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike attempting to console a distraught Rarity.
"My... my opals!" she sobbed "I spent YEARS collecting those! I was going to use them to trade for Baby Blue Sapphires! Of all the things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!"
With this, she burst into tears yet again, with Fluttershy putting a comforting hoof around her distressed friend. Applejack paced, a look of fervent thought on her face.
"Ah just don't understand it." she sighed. "Ah mean ah know Rainbow's never been a fan o'all this gemstone stuff, but ah never thought she'd do anythin' like this!"
"Can it really be true?" squeaked Pinkie Pie, joining the others. "I mean, my Pinkie Sense didn't warn me - it's usually two tail twitches and a left eye wink that warns me of an imminent friend betrayal!"
"Something isn't right here." agreed Twilight, tapping her chin with her hoof.
Twilight thought back to recent events at her brother's wedding - the last pony she'd seen acting totally out of character was Cadence. As it turned out, it wasn't Cadence at all but the queen of the changelings, Chrysalis. And since the changelings themselves were now scattered the length and breadth of the land, could this be the work of one of them?
"It sounds a little crazy," ventured Twilight to her friends, unsure of her own theory, "but could this be a changeling's doing?"
"Sure doesn't look like it." replied Applejack dejectedly. "Rainbow was doin' some real fancy swoopin' and divin' back there. Nopony else would be that crazy to do that in a crowded area, surely. It's just gotta be her. Besides, changeling sightings have only happened in the big, fancy towns. What would one a' them varmints want here?"
"Changelings can partially copy the talents of their disguises." countered Twilight pensively.
She knew the second part was true, however - Ponyville had very little to offer a changeling invasion party. And even if it was a changeling, what in Equestria would it want with gemstones? Changelings' primary goals were usually based around feeding, and they sure as hay couldn't eat gemstones!
"But whatever the cause is, we've got to get to the bottom of this. Something must be making Rainbow act this way, she may lack sensitivity and like to prank but she'd never do anything like this normally." Twilight added, somewhat firmly.
"Well if this IS one of her pranks, it's not funny!" sniffed Rarity crossly.
Spike, clutching his Ice Sapphire under one arm, rubbed his crush's foreleg with his other hand to attempt to comfort her. Twilight turned to him.
"Spike, we've got to get back to the library." she announced. "We need to find what might suddenly cause such a drastic change in Rainbow's behavior! Maybe she's under the influence of a spell, or has some sort of illness or-"
"Maybe she's just plain bad!" chimed in a passing unicorn. Other ponies in the crowd muttered darkly in agreement.
"That's not true! Tell them, Twilight! It's not true.... is it?" asked Pinkie, her coat losing its usual radiance and her mane deflating a little.
"I...I... really hope not." hesitated Twilight.
Really, she didn't know what, if anything, was behind her friend's drastic change in character. With this, she began to trot back to the library, with Spike a few steps behind. He was planning to hide his Ice Sapphire as soon as he got back. He hadn't taken a bite out of the frosty-looking gem yet - he always savored gifts from Rarity for a long time. It would likely be several days before temptation got the better of him and he began to devour it!
As Twilight left, the Mayor took her position on a podium and began an announcement to the crowd of disgruntled ponies.
"Ponies of Ponyville... in light of tonight's despicable thefts by one of our very own Elements of Harmony, the Princesses themselves have dispatched a contingent of Royal Guards to investigate. They should be arriving shortly. Please be extra vigilant in the meantime!" she grimly called across the throngs of furious citizens.
The four Elements in the crowd looked even more crestfallen and miserable at this news. Pinkie's mane deflated more as her pink coat became muted and dull in hue. Rarity began to sob yet again, although this time it was not only for her lost gems, but partly for her newly-disgraced friend.
----------
Twilight and Spike arrived at the front door of their hollowed-tree home. Spike looked at his Ice Sapphire and sighed heavily.
"Twilight..." he began. "Would you mind doing this by yourself? I want to go and give this back to Rarity. Maybe it'll help cheer her up - I can't stand to see her so upset."
Twilight couldn't help but smile at her assistant's devotion to his unrequited love. He would have made a pretty strong candidate for being the Element of Generosity if the position hadn't already been filled by Rarity!
"Very well then." she said warmly. "But be careful on your way back... Rainbow might still be around."
She felt an awful knot in the pit of her stomach for talking about one of her best friends in such a manner, but she didn't want Spike to lose his precious gift. She watched Spike cautiously walk away, before turning and pushing open the library's door.
"CELESTIA'S BEARD!" she exclaimed as she beheld the chaos that lay before her eyes.
Her library was a mess! Her beloved books were strewn all over the floor, tables and shelves were broken - yet nothing was missing. As Twilight surveyed the damage, she thought of how long it was going to take her to straighten the dog-eared pages that so many of her previously immaculate books had acquired. Noting the damage to the shelves and the furniture, she made a mental note to fetch some wood and nails in the morning - Spike would certainly be busy for the next few days! Looking around, she noticed that nothing was missing... so this hadn't been a burglary. Nevertheless, a struggle of some kind had taken place in here judging by the devastation that was all around her.
"Hrrmmmm Mrrnnnn!" came a muted sound from somewhere within the library, accompanied by a round of dull thuds.
"Great, first somepony trashes my library and now the plumbing's making noises. I'll have Spike check the pipes tomorrow." muttered Twilight, sifting through the books that lay on the floor. "Now, where's that book on sudden psychological changes?"
----------
In the cloudless night skies above Ponyville, Leech circled, still in his Rainbow Dash disguise. From his vantage point, he could see that almost all the ponies in the town were gathered near the town hall, awaiting the arrival of the Royal Guards. He couldn't see any gems anywhere, and assumed that the ponies had hidden them for safekeeping. He sadly contemplated what Trixie would say when he returned with no gems for her, when his attention was caught by Spike making his way towards the crowd. He was carrying a massive blue gem. Leech's eyes lit up - Trixie would love this! Its sale could probably finance them for a year, maybe more! Readying himself for one last valiant effort, he went into a steep dive towards his reptilian target.
As Spike approached the crowd of ponies, he called out to his friends, who sat forlornly in a small group, a short distance away from the rest of the gathered Ponyvillians.
"Hey guys!" he panted, rejoining the group. "I'm back."
He led out a nervous, audible gulp as he held his Ice Sapphire up to Rarity, who momentarily ceased her morose sobbing and looked at the little dragon.
"Rarity, I know you're sad about your opals being lost, so I... um... I wanted you to have..." Spike began, with a slight blush.
Spike was rudely interrupted by a cyan shape swooping down from the sky and knocking him off his feet. Leech grasped the Ice Sapphire between his front hooves and began attempting to rend it from Spike's claws. However, Spike had a very strong grip for such a small dragon, and Leech realized he wasn't going to give up as easily as he'd hoped.
"Give... me.... gem!" Leech grunted, attempting not to display his discomfort with his own actions. "I... need... it... for...."
Leech was cut off by Applejack ramming him head-first, causing him to lose his grip on the gem and roll head-over-flank a considerable distance across the town square's cobbles. Spike quickly got to his feet and scurried behind Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, still clutching his gem.
"What in tarnation's gotten inta you?!" bellowed Applejack at her 'friend'.
"Please, ponies don't understand!" garbled Leech in Rainbow's voice. "Lee...I mean, Rainbow needs gems!"
By now, the entire crowd of ponies was watching the confrontation unfold. Aside from a few jeers aimed at 'Rainbow', none of them did anything other than stand around and watch, as was the norm in Ponyville. The tension in the air could be felt by everypony present as the fake Rainbow Dash was stared down by the remaining four Elements and Spike. Leech instinctively began to back up as his disguise's friends began taking steps towards him, their expressions a mixture of anger and concern.
----------
At the library, Twilight's search for answers was proving fruitless. Books were strewn all around her as she rapidly levitated tomes up to her eyes, flicked through them, and cast them aside.
"There's nothing here!" she cried, "None of these psychology books describe anything that could be the answer!"
"Twlllllrrrrrt, hrrmphnnn thrrph frrrkhnng dhrrrrr!" came another volley of muffled sounds, accompanied by increasingly manic thudding.
"Ugh, those pipes just won't stop!" groaned Twilight, rolling her eyes. "I'll have to take a look at them myself, before they drive me to distraction! Now then,I'm sure there's an opening where I can access the pipework in the closet..."
As Twilight trotted over to the closet and flung it open, her eyes fell upon something she had NOT been expecting - a helpless pony form atop a pile of books on the closet's floor.
"Rainbow?!" gasped Twilight, her horn glowing and untying the gag from her friend's muzzle. "What in Equestria happened here?"
"Twilight! Thank Celestia! It took you long enough, I heard you come in here fifteen minutes ago!" began Rainbow, somewhat annoyed.
She quickly explained to Twilight what had happened with the Diamond Dogs and Trixie, how she'd been jumped by a changeling and replaced, and how she'd spent much of the evening imprisoned in a closet full of books. After she had finished, she noticed Twilight had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Um... Twi? Little help?" she asked, motioning to her still-bound limbs with a raised eyebrow.
"Just a moment." said Twilight. "How can I be sure this is really you? If there's changelings about, this could be another trick."
"Yeah Twilight, because I often tie myself up and lock myself in closets." answered Rainbow, rolling her eyes impatiently.
"Actually, there was that one time..." began Twilight, with the merest hint of a grin.
"I thought you said we'd never mention that again!" snapped Rainbow. "Now let me out of these things so I can go invite Trixie and her changeling friend for a snack at the Hoof Sandwich Cafe!"
Twilight smiled - this could only be the real Rainbow Dash. With a flash of magic, the ropes holding the pegasus fell away. Rainbow immediately leapt onto her hooves and raced for the door, stopping halfway out of the room and turning back to Twilight.
"C'mon!" she said with a determined smile. "Let's go give that changeling impostor what's coming to it!".
She hurtled from the library and into the lantern-lit streets of Ponyville with Twilight following, barely able to keep up.
----------
In the town square, the counterfeit Rainbow Dash was being held down by her (or rather 'his' ) tail, Applejack gripping it firmly between her teeth. The other Elements were grilling the pretend pony with questions.
"Where are my opals?" demanded Rarity.
"Um, what's the matter with you Rainbow?" asked Fluttershy quietly. "This isn't like you at all."
"My Pinkie sense is acting weird." added Pinkie Pie. "Why am I getting a super-duper strange vibe off of you today, Dashie?"
Leech of course, could answer none of these questions. He may have emulated Rainbow's flying skills, but he had none of her knowledge, or even any idea of what her personality should have been like. Instead of answering, he looked at the ground as he awkwardly shuffled his hooves. What he would have given for something to break up this awkward moment...
Leech got his wish, albeit not in the way he would have liked. The crowd let out a gasp in unison - again, the norm in Ponyville - as Twilight and the real Rainbow Dash came galloping onto the scene.
"Hold everything!" yelled Twilight between breaths. "That's not really Rainbow Dash! My suspicions were right, that's a changeling! The real Rainbow Dash is..."
Before Twilight could finish her sentence, the genuine Rainbow flapped her wings and took to the sky.
"Let's see how you like being dive-bombed, bug breath!" she growled.
Overcome with desire for revenge, she zoomed down and smashed herself into Leech's side. The two went tumbling across the ground, only stopping when the frenzied ball of Rainbow Dashes hit the town fountain. Both Rainbows stood up and glared at each other, snorting fiercely.
Twilight sighed. Why did Rainbow have to make things so difficult? During the scuffle, nopony had been able to keep track of which Rainbow was which - now she had no idea which Dash was the one she'd just rescued!
"Ooh, I know, I know!" said Pinkie excitedly, her mane puffing back up and her color brightening. "Twilight can use her changeling de-disguising spell on them! You remember Twi, the one you used on the changelings back in Canterlot - the changeling will be revealed and Dashie will be safe!"
"Pinkie, I can't use the spell on both of them. You ever see what happens when you use a de-disguise spell on something that isn't a changeling?" Twilight responded, looking hesitant.
Noticing that there were foals present, Twilight trotted over to Pinkie and whispered something in her ear. Pinkie's pupils became like pinholes and her mane drooped as the mental image appeared.
"Okie... dokie... lokie..." she said shakily. "Umm... better not do that then..."
"Well, there must be SOME way we can tell." stated Rarity. "Maybe we could ask them questions that only Dash would know?"
The real Rainbow lost patience. "I've got a better idea!" she shouted. "I'll just pummel this impostor until it passes out - then it'll drop its disguise for sure! Put 'em up, insect!" she challenged, adopting a boxing stance on her hindlegs.
Leech gulped. He had absolutely no combat skills whatsoever, and he'd seen what this pony was capable of when he'd seen the unconscious Diamond Dogs. He attempted to adopt a fighting stance, knowing full well he was about to lose.
"Leech doezz not like the lookzz of thizz!" he thought, despondently. "Leech izz going to be zzsmashed! And then guardzz will come and put Leech in dungeonzz! Gah, why did Leech ever bother hanging out with..."
Leech turned to see a blue unicorn pushing through the watching crowd.
"...Trixie?" he enquired out loud.
----------
Rainbow, Twilight and the others all turned their heads to look. Sure enough, the showpony was battling her way through the heaving mass of watching ponies. Eventually, she made her way through and placed herself between Leech and Rainbow Dash.
"No! Wait! STOP!" she cried. "Please... please don't hurt my friend."
"Never mind your friend here." snarled Dash "I'm gonna put you in Ponyville General first!"
"Whoa there Nelly!" said Applejack, holding Rainbow back. "Let's see what these outlaws gotta say for 'emselves first."
Trixie turned to her attention to Leech, her expression one of kindness and concern.
"It's alright." she said softly. "You can drop the act."
With this, Leech bathed himself in his green aura and changed back to his natural pony-insectoid form. This elicited another dramatic, unified gasp from the ever-unhelpful crowd of ponies, some of whom had procured popcorn from somewhere. Pinkie Pie beamed proudly from the popcorn stand she'd erected behind the crowd.
"What?" she asked, when she noticed the other Elements staring at her, "Business is business!"
Everypony's attention turned back to the disgraced Trixie and the changeling standing before them. Trixie explained what her plan at been, and why she had done it. She took great pains to make it clear that Leech was just following his nature and trying to please her, and that it was ultimately her fault that the night's events had occurred.
"...so, I just wanted to be a hero!" finished Trixie meekly, looking at the six angry Elements before her. "That's why I did it, I just wanted you all to worship me for the Great and Powerful pony that I am!"
Before anypony could respond, four armored white pegasi swooped out of the star-filled blackness of the night sky, touched down upon the town's cobbled and strode up to the crowd, causing yet another gasp in unison.
"33rd Celestial Battalion, reporting for duty." said their apparent leader. "We've had reports of a rogue Element of Harmony committing a series of daring thefts in the town, and we have come to..." he continued, suddenly stopping when he saw Leech.
"A changeling!" he yelled. "Quickly, troops! Apprehend it!"
The four Guards advanced on the quivering Leech, weapons drawn and ready to do serious harm to him. Thinking fast, Trixie concentrated all of her remaining magic into her horn, drawing magical strength from reserves she never knew she had. Channeling the mysterious energies, her horn emitted a blinding flash which momentarily stunned the guards.
"Leech! Quickly, go! Get out of here!" she said urgently.
"But what about..." Leech attempted to protest.
"Please! Hurry, forget about me!" she added firmly. "Just get as far away from this place as you can! I'll be fine, trust me!"
Leech tearfully nodded and reluctantly took to the air, his wings buzzing harder than they had ever done before. He turned in the sky and headed for the Everfree Forest. The guards quickly recovered from Trixie's stun spell and set off after him, the four of them quickly disappearing into the night's darkness. With the excitement over, everypony's attention quickly turned back to Trixie. Twilight was the first to break what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence that followed.
"So, where are the gems that you and your friend took now?" she enquired, hoping to salvage the festival.
"I... I don't know." replied Trixie ruefully. "The Diamond Dogs stole them all..."
"Ha!" gloated Rarity. "How does it feel to be stolen from? Feels positively ghastly, does it not? Now you know how all of us feel thanks to you, you ruffian!"
"Likely story!" burst out Rainbow. "I bet your little friend's got them stashed somewhere, and you're gonna tell us where!"
"I... I really don't know!" stammered Trixie, all the while looking for a way of escaping.
----------
Minutes passed, as Trixie felt the entire collective stare of the townsponies bearing down on her, threatening to crush her with the immense pressure it carried. Just as Leech had done, Trixie said nothing and stared at the floor, attempting not to make eye contact with anypony present. Alas, no matter where she looked she could feel the weight of their gaze, as a feeling of rising panic set in as she realized there was absolutely no escape from the situation. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the gaze lifted from her as everypony's eyes turned skyward.
The citizens of Ponyville watched in awe as the four pegasi guards returned, swooping over the town's rooftops before landing in front of the assembled ponies. The lead guard stepped forward and addressed the crowd.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the changeling" he reported. "He went into the Everfree, and could be anywhere or anything by now. However, we did see something else of interest..."
He motioned to the three troops behind him. Each of them had a sack of gems draped over their backs and a sullen-looking Diamond Dog being held by their collars in their teeth.
"They were trying to make a getaway across the eastern side of the Everfree" explained another guard, dropping Spot as he spoke and causing him to yelp as his bottom hit the floor. "They surrendered immediately when we showed up, though!"
The three canines looked somewhat embarrassed at this revelation, as a few of the crowd let out sniggers at their cowardice.
"As far as we can tell, all the gems are there" continued the lead Guard "But they're all mixed up. It'll take a while to sort them all out and give them back to their owners."
After a few moments of contemplation, a bright idea came to Twilight. She trotted over to the Mayor, who'd been standing around uselessly with the crowd during the whole drama. She whispered something into the Mayor's ear, which caused the Mayor to smile and give a nod.
"An excellent idea, Ms Sparkle!" smiled the Mayor, before turning to address the crowd. "The Gemstone Festival will continue! Twilight Sparkle has just told me of an ingenious plan to sort out the gem situation!"
----------
Around an hour later, the Gemstone Festival was almost in full swing again. Many of the traders once again had their wares on display, the valuable gem exhibit was back in place (with one of the guards watching it this time) and Pinkie's party had restarted. She was busily 'sculpting' more gemstone muffins with the coal shovel in the kitchen, her mane and coat back to their normal selves. In the middle of the town square, a new stall had been put up. A large banner above it read "Returns", and an even larger queue of ponies stood in line next to it.
Staffing the stall were three grumpy-looking Diamond Dogs and a scowling Trixie. The remaining three guards stood behind them, making sure they were doing their job properly. Each time a pony came up to the counter, they would describe the gems they had lost in the raid. Trixie and the Dogs then had to sort through the pile of gems behind the counter until they found the correct ones. These would then be given back to the owner, the next pony would step up and the process would begin again. Watching from the steps of Sugarcube Corner were Twilight and her friends.
Rainbow was none the worse for her ordeal. She lay on the ground reading the latest Daring Do book (which she'd seen in the closet at the library, but had of course been unable to read. She described this as the most torturous part of the evening.) She was wearing a necklace that the citizens of Ponyville had given her to make up for their thinking that she was really capable of such fiendish acts. It had a ruby, a piece of amber, a yellow quartz, an emerald, a blue topaz, a sapphire and a piece of amethyst threaded onto it, making a sort of gem rainbow. Fortunately for Ponyville, material items apparently compensate for a massive betrayal of faith and trust.
Nearby, Rarity had finished her trading for the night and was admiring the bag of baby blue sapphires she had managed to trade her opals for. She gazed dreamily at the sparkling stones, imagining the stunning outfits she would make using them. Next to her, Spike clutched his Ice Sapphire, fighting the temptation to take a bite.
Twilight was sitting with Applejack and Fluttershy, watching the villains perform their punishment task. She had a quill and a scroll in front of her, and was preparing to report to Celestia about the night's goings-on.
"Y'know, what ah don't get is why Trixie came back here." commented Applejack.
"Yes." said Fluttershy gently. "She could have just left at any time, she was already out of Ponyville when we caught that changeling."
The timid pegasus hadn't spoken much during the dramatic events of the previous couple of hours. She'd realized early on that Trixie's gang had initially planned to replace her, if not for her mishap with the library book. She felt a confusing mixture of relief and intense guilt that Rainbow had ended up taking her place.
"Ah mean, Trixie only cares about herself and what her audiences think a' her ridiculous shows" continued Applejack. "Why would she risk everythin' for that changelin' creep?"
"She described the changeling as her friend... so it'd make sense that she came back to save it. I'm sure any of us would do the same for our friends. Maybe she's realized that one individual liking her for who she is... is far more valuable than lots of ponies liking her for what she does. And it just goes to show, no matter how insurmountable a problem seems, the power of friendship will always save the day - even in ways you don't expect". Twilight said thoughtfully.
Twilight excitedly scribbled both of these lessons down onto scrolls, and put them and the quill into her saddlebag. She'd have Spike send these later, when he'd finished fawning over his gift from Rarity.
----------
Many hours later, the ponies of Ponyville had gone back to their homes after a successful Gemstone Festival, and certainly the most memorable to date. Most of Ponyville was asleep by now - all except Pinkie Pie who was cleaning up after an evening of partying, and gargling to get the taste of coal dust out of her throat.
Outside of ponyville, however, the scene was not so amicable. Four sinister figures slowly shuffled through the night's black shroud towards the Everfree Forest. Trixie and the Diamond Dogs, after finishing returning all the gems to the ponies of Ponyville, had been told in no uncertain terms to leave the town and never return.
They had been incredibly lucky to get off so lightly - Trixie in particular had racked up an impressive charge list that day. Ponynapping, harboring a changeling, and accessory to 57 counts of property theft. Trixie wondered why she hadn't been carted off to Canterlot to face trial. As it turned out, it was only due to the fact that Equestria's penal resources were currently stretched to the limit with hunting down the changelings who had crashed the royal wedding.
Her good fortune, however, was about to run out.
"Trixie pony..." hissed Rover darkly. "You promised us gems!"
"Yes!" Spot piped up. "Diamond Dogs waste whole evening on Trixie's plan!"
"Trixie will work for Diamond Dogs." rumbled Fido "Until Trixie pony has found enough gems to pay Diamond Dogs for wasted time!"
Trixie froze. She had no magic energy left, she was tired, she was lamenting the loss of her best - and only - friend and now she was about to be enslaved by the idiots she had previously been in cahoots with.
"N...now, now..." she stuttered, backing away from the advancing Diamond Dogs. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is certain we can work something out..."
The Diamond Dogs, however, looked in no mood to be bargained with. They raised their arms as they continued their advance, readying themselves to grasp and subdue the fatigued unicorn.
Before they could grab Trixie, however, a rustle could be heard coming from the undergrowth of the Everfree. As the foursome ceased what they were doing and turned to look, a large, angry Timberwolf leapt from the darkness. It began snarling and baying as it hurtled towards the group. It stopped short of the gathered villains and pawed at the ground, all the while staring and growling at the three terrified dogs.
"Timberwolf!" cried Spot.
"It looks angry!" yelled Fido nervously.
"Forget Trixie pony, Diamond Dogs save themselves!" called Rover.
The three greedy canines immediately disregarded their unicorn quarry and turned their tails, fleeing into the darkness of the Everfree and leaving Trixie to her fate.
Trixie felt deeply relieved that they'd gone... that was, until she remembered she was now alone with a fearsome predator. Physically and mentally exhausted, she closed her eyes and waited for the end. The end, however, did not come. Trixie opened her eyes and noticed that the Timberwolf was now calm. She examined it closely, and noticed that it was missing a tooth on its left side.
"It can't be... can it?" breathed Trixie. With this, the Timberwolf glowed green, and soon in its place stood a familiar changeling.
"LEECH!" she cried, running forward and gathering up the little shape-shifter in a hug.
Leech was surprised by this, but happy that Trixie wasn't angry with him.
"Y...y...you came back for me!" said Trixie, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "After everything I did to you, you still came back for me!"
"You came back for Leech!" explained Leech with a broad smile. "Are Leech and Trixie even now?"
"Even?" asked Trixie. "Oh no, we're nowhere near even."
"Leech will make it up to you later." Leech promised with a small nod.
Trixie couldn't help but giggle at the changeling's innocence.
"No, Leech, I meant that I need to make it up to you. I still owe you so very much..." she whispered to her friend.
The two disengaged from their hug, and began to stroll back to their wagon. Leech turned to Trixie.
"Zzso, what happenzz now? Are we going to get revenge on Ponyville?" he asked.
Trixie reflected upon what she'd told Leech the previous day. If she'd never been rejected by Ponyville, she would never have lived in the Everfree and never embarrassed herself in Trottingham. That much was true. But equally, she would never have met her new best friend. Which, in Trixie's mind, made everything else worthwhile.
"No, Leech." she said gently. "If anything, I owe them as well...."
"But what will Trixie do for income? Poniezz everywhere hate Trixie because of Leech." he said sadly.
"No problem!" beamed Trixie, some of her usual swagger returning. "The ponies of this world may not be ready for the Great and Powerful Trixie, but there's more to Equestria than just ponies! We could do shows in the Griffon kingdom! Or the land of the Zebras! Yes, that's what we'll do! The Great and Powerful Trixie's World Tour begins here!"
Trixie began to excitedly make plans for new tricks and routines - her idea for a Combustible Lemon juggling act was sure to go down a treat! Leech listened happily to Trixie's ideas as the duo headed for home, side by side. As equals. As partners-in-crime.
And, most importantly of all... as friends.
END