Days in the Mind of One that is Great and Powerful

by The REAL Mister Pkmn

The Strange Alicorn And The Sunset

Trixie had had a strange past few days. Like adjusting to the fact that her meeting with her new friends had been interrupted by Mari coming in with her laptop, opening up her e-mail from Discord in front of Jozhir. Trixie had seen Mari and Jozhir anthrofy right there in the restaurant. It was a bit overwhelming, dealing with Jozhir’s sudden overdrive in his new form.

Luckily, Maestro had been there, and tranqed him.

When Trixie saw him next, he’d calmed considerably, and apologized. He was never the same after that day, but Trixie thought those changes suited him. Trixie sighed as she walked near to where Twilight and Ashley were. As she got closer, she overheard Ashley chuckling as Micaela took off towards the sky.

“Looks like Micaela’s gonna try to test out her new Pegasus abilities. Ah feel mighty strong mahself. Mus’ be the Earth Pony traits in me.” She flexed her arm to test out her strength.

Trixie huffed as she grew closer. Trixie thinks she could do better, if she had wings! How many anthros have those, anyway!? And why doesn’t Trixie have them!? Inwardly she knew that only happened in the mirrorverse of the comic, and was a possible future for the Lunaverse, but still!

Ashley looked over at Trixie, “Howdy, Trixie. Ah’m Ashley. What are ya so upset ‘bout?”

Trixie scowled. “Trixie already knows you, sort of. Remember when you and your friends dragged her to Twilight’s? Trixie still remembers the meal you gave her was overabundant in apple products, with not enough variety! And she’s upset because she knows that she doesn’t have wings! It would make her look so regal!”

Twilight sighed. “You never change, do you? Always had a bit of a jealous side to you even before you became Trixie.”

Ashley shook her head, “Sorry about the meal, Trixie. All the food and drinks we served came from mah farm’s apple orchards. If ya want variety, per’aps we can figure out what other foods ya like.”

Trixie grinned. “Do you have… pears?” If she knew anything from reading way too much fanfiction, it was that in any universe, Applejack seemed to have an aversion to pears.

Ashley’s face made a frown, “Sorry, no can do, sugarcube. Ah have three red apples as mah Cutie Mark, not pears. But, per’aps if we go t’ the local markets, there may be some. Then again... you like peanut butter an’ crackers, right?”

Trixie was appalled. “Only with the crunchiest of peanut butter! Never one of those disgusting ones they sell that only come with creamy!”

Ashley smiled at Trixie, “Ah’m glad yer feelin’ better, Trixie. How ya holdin’ up with bein’... well, you?”

Trixie shrugged. “Trixie doesn’t mind that she is her. Sure, the third-person speech took awhile to get used to, but she’s used to it now.”

Ashley looked over to AyumI and then to Twilight, “Well, we have a new student. Ayumi, this is Trixie. Trixie, this is Ayumi. She’ll be hangin’ out with us after school and learnin’ about our unique talents.”

Trixie looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. “Half-dragon, huh? Maestro said such things were possible, even going so far as to say that he’d seen one himself. But he never said one looked quite like… her. Oh well. Trixie’s just going to roll with it.” She then turned her thoughts to the other portion of Ayumi’s reason to being here: to study the talents of the anthros. Perhaps Trixie could dazzle her with her illusions? That would be wonderful!

Ashley thought about the current situation with Twilight and the others, So, this lil’ group’s starting to feel more like Equestria. We have Trixie, as well as the rest of the Mane 6. Ah wonder who else we’ll run into?

Ashley broke out of her thoughts, “So, Twilight, what did ya think of our deep-sea divin’ adventure? Ah knew Rarity didn’t want t’ get her mane all wet, so she stayed in the boat while we went in and found that artifact ya said we were supposed t’ find.”

Twilight sighed. “Honestly, it feels so far away, like it happened ages ago. I was a bit nervous at the time, but I’m glad we went. Even though I’ve honestly felt a little… strange ever since.”

Trixie usually didn’t show much concern for others, but she was curious. “Strange how?”

Twilight shook her head, flapping her wings absent-mindedly. “I can’t quite put it into words, honestly. I feel stronger, sure, but I also feel… How do I put it, exactly? More… alive, I suppose.”

Ashley nods, “Ah hear ya, Twilight. Ah feel the same way. It was if we were meant t’ be… us. Ah mean, yer the ‘Princess of Friendship’, Trixie's a great illusionist, and Ah’m just a simple apple farmer. Micaela's a great flyer and loyal friend, Flora enjoys her time at the local animal shelter, Rarity's designed most of our outfits f’r school and casual wear, and Pinkie’s into bakin’ and throwin’ parties.”

Trixie blinked. Had she felt like that ever since she’d found the dynamo? In fact, she did. She just hadn’t noticed it up until that point. “Weird. You would think that Trixie would have noticed sooner…”

Ashley looked over at Twilight, “What d’ ya think, Twi? ‘Bout the Elements and these artifacts we’ve found so far?” Ashley was indeed wearing the Element of Honesty around her neck. The orange gem representing an apple reflected the sunlight that gleamed off it.

Twilight hummed in thought. “I don’t know. I mean, we’ve already dealt with somebody being forcibly anthrofied into Nightmare Moon. Perhaps the reason we have them is just in case we have to deal with a situation like that? Though, I wonder sometimes if there’s more to it…”

Ashley looks over at Trixie, “What d’ you think, Trixie?”

To say the least, Trixie was surprised. They wanted her input? She seemed to think on it for awhile. She finally decided that she would voice what she thought. “Trixie may not have been there when you found the artifacts, but for some reason she feels almost… necessary to this whole ordeal. Don’t ask her why though, because she has no clue.”

Ashley chuckled and extended her hand to Trixie in friendship, “Ah know we didn’t see eye-to-eye when ya first challenged Twilight, but ya weren’t yerself then; no offense. But, you’ve changed, Trixie, f’r the better, Ah think. And if ya ever need us t’ help ya out, we’ll be there f’r ya. Right, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. That’s what friends are for!”

Trixie seemed a bit hesitant, however. She was still new to friendship. Sure, she had said it was okay earlier, but... friends? For life? Was that the best way to approach this? She then remembered a bit of advice Maestro gave her:

‘If you distance yourself from others and don’t accept friendship, you’ll only end up cold, sad, and alone. True, people may use you sometimes- but not everyone’s like that. If you make friends, look for those that already seem to be good friends with others. They’re the most trustworthy.’

Trixie then shook Ashley’s hand. “Thank you.” Her smug grin then returned. “But don’t expect Trixie to say that often, mon ami.”

Ashley accepted Trixie’s handshake, “Well, Trixie, let me be the first t’ say, ‘Welcome aboard.’ Ah just hope the other gals will accept ya as easily as Twilight and Ah did.”

Trixie then seemed to recall something. “Oh yeah! Trixie looked at the registry for new students, and it seems there’s one more that’ll show up soon. The name they go by is ‘Sunset Shimmer’.”

Ashley looked over at Twilight, “Ya know anythin’ ‘bout this ‘Sunset Shimmer’ we need ta know, Twilight?”

Twilight recovered a little from the shock of it all. “Yes, actually. She’s from the Equestria Girls movies. You could go so far as to say that she’s the main character of them. But, seeing as it’s going to be an anthro version of her, expect to see her horn. After all, she’s a unicorn.”

Ashley nods, “So, we have Rarity, Trixie, and Sunset Shimmer as unicorns, me and Pinkie as Earth ponies, Rainbow and Fluttershy as Pegasi, an’ one Alicorn Princess of Friendship, as well as Ayumi, an alicorn/dragon hybrid, and whatever Maestro and his family are?”

Twilight seemed confused. “Why did you say ‘whatever they are?’ They’re just unicorns!” However, underneath, Twilight was sweating bullets. Had one of the others that knew told her? After all, she hadn’t said a word. She looked over to Trixie. “I doubt she’d tell anyone about it, knowing that it’d be a misuse of Maestro’s trust.”

Ashley looked over at Twilight, “You okay, Twi? Y’look as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full o’ rockin’ chairs.” She then sighed, “Take it easy, Twilight. O’ course that Maestro fella’s an unicorn, as are his half-sisters.” She nervously rubbed the back of her head with her hand.

Twilight cursed inwardly. Sometimes she hated the fact that she was so bad at disguising her emotions. She tried to calm down, but only worked to a certain degree. “I’m fine, really.” She then took a deep breath. “I was just a little jumpy about you accusing our mutual friend and his family. I know his half-brother’s against us, but that’s no reason to go and accuse them of lying without much proof!” She told herself to try and keep calm. She knew that AJ meant nothing by it, but her paranoia sometimes got the better of her. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I just hope you can put a little faith in him. If he feels you are trustworthy enough, he might share a few secrets. That’s all that I’ll say on the matter.”

Ashley gave Twilight a side hug, “Feelin’ better? Good t’ hear. Ah didn’t mean to go accusin’ Maestro of wrong-doin’. He’s been mighty friendly since he showed up to save ya from that half-brother o’ his.. It’s just that… ah forget it. We got a new student arrivin’ soon!”

Then Ashley changed the subject concerning the new student, “Now, once Sunset Shimmer shows up at school, we shouldn’t overwhelm her too much. Judgin’ by what happened t’ us, she could be someone who got transformed by them Analysts.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ll inform everyone to treat her with the utmost respect.” After texting all of her friends that weren’t there at the moment, Twilight smiled “Thanks for understanding. Now, how about we go see if Sunset’s...” Twilight then shook her head. “No, she’s probably not here yet…”

“Any idea where she would be stayin’ at?” Ashley asked the group.

“Trixie saw a hotel listed, seeing as she’s probably a long way from home. Now, which one was it again…?” She put a finger on her chin, trying to recall where it was. She then noticed something. “Hey, is it just Trixie, or did Ayumi leave?”

Ashley nodded, “She said she was goin’ to find Pinkie Pie an’ ask if she could stay at her place. Shoot, if she needed a place t’stay fer the school year, she coulda asked Twilight or me.”

Trixie shook her head. “Trixie thinks Ayumi wanted to be around somebody a little more familiar, even if it is only through letters and e-mail that they know each other.” Trixie then tried to get her thoughts back on track. “Now, which hotel did it say Sunset was staying at again...?” Trixie muttered for awhile, but then snapped her fingers. “Trixie may not recall what its name was, but she can remember what it looked like! And there’s only one hotel that she can think of that looks quite like that.” She rustled her cape dramatically, and grinned. “Trixie’ll just find it, and come back here with Sunset! Piece of cake!” She then disappeared in a flash of pink light.

Trixie reappeared elsewhere, in front of a hotel. She staggered for a bit, and frowned. Doing that still took a lot out of her. After all, she was an illusionist, not a high-level spellcaster. She decided it might be best to hold back on teleporting for a while. She asked the person at the front desk if there was anyone under the name of Sunset or Jimmy Hook, as she’d heard that that was the human name of Sunset. The valet shook his head, but did tell her that there were a few other hotels of that chain in the area. Trixie thanked the man for his time, and left. Outside, she cursed. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy! She calmed herself, and decided to try another one.

Trixie’d tried many hotels at this point, and it’d all led her to standing out in front of room 209. This was it, she was finally here. She braced herself, and knocked on the door. She readied a smoke bomb spell to go off as soon as the door opened. The door opened, and Trixie could hear coughing. The smoke soon cleared, revealing another anthro unicorn female, this one wearing a light blue dress, a pair of blue jeans, and a black leather jacket. She had long hair down past her shoulders and it was red with yellow blonde highlights as was her tail. She had orange fur all over her body. Said anthro was slowly gathering her composure after the smoke bomb. Trixie had a smug grin on her face. “Trixie is triumphant! I finally found her! “

Trixie then spoke. “Finally found the right one! Trixie almost forgot that there were indeed multiples of this particular hotel brand in the area.” She then turned a bit more attention to Sunset. “Judging by your look, you only anthrofied recently. Odd, considering that you were already listed as Sunset on the registry of new students at the school… Could somebody have set that up beforehand, knowing about this?” Trixie shook her head. “No matter! What’s important is that you’re here! Trixie came here because Twilight wants to meet you, at your earliest convenience, of course.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Trixie on good terms with Twilight? Pardon me if that’s a tad surprising.”

Trixie scoffed. “Well, we are our own people, you know. Trixie always thought it was odd when in Season Six Trixie came back that she wasn’t on good terms with Twilight..”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “So you are a fan of the show too?”

Trixie nodded a little shyly. “Well, Trixie has always liked the show, even if she didn’t really apply the lessons it tried to get across. She’s trying to change that, though.”

Sunset nodded. “An admirable goal, really.” She then grabbed her bag. “So are you ready to go?”

Trixie grinned. “Of course! Let’s go.”

As they travelled together, a conversation rose between them. Sunset started it. “Say, what got you into watching the show, anyway?”

Trixie sighed reminiscently. “The first episode with my favorite character, Trixie in it, Boast Busters. Her enthusiasm for her magic shows really drew me in. Sure, she wasn’t a common character, only having seven episodes to her name, but she was the most enjoyable part of the show, in my opinion. She introduced me to the show, and the anticipation for her episodes made the rest of the show tolerable. I still half expected them to have one where the ones that interrupted her show back in Season One apologized, but I guess that thought never crossed the creator’s mind.” She then turned to Sunset. “How’d you get into watching the show?”

Sunset smiled. “Well, I was kinda pressured into watching this first Equestria Girls movie. Before that, I hadn’t really watched the show. But, Equestria Girls just… spoke to me, I guess. After that, I went into the show, but knew from discussion by the fans that Sunset was a movie-only character. I wanted a more firm grasp of the show it connected to nonetheless. I continued to enjoy the growth in Sunset’s character over the arc of the Equestria Girls movies; how it represented that anyone could change. I liked her connecting to the humans across the mirror, it made her endearing.” She turned to Trixie. “So, how are things with you? How have you adjusted?”

Trixie paused for a bit, but eventually decided to tell her. “Well, at first I wasn’t all that nice. I was a bully before I anthrofied into Trixie, so some of those inclinations carried over. However, after the incident with the Alicorn Amulet, I felt the first sparks of a desire to change, even though I didn’t want to admit it at the time. Though when I first met Maestro, things started to change.

His outlook on things really put things into perspective- he’d already grown accustomed to life as an anthro, long before any of us anthrofied. The more time I spent with him -and saw his want to find a peaceful reconciliation with his half-brother- the more I wanted to try to be somebody better then who I once was. I even felt a bit more at ease after I learned a few things about him that others outside his family did not.

However, his connections to people across town really struck the point home. And then, a while back, his old friend Jozhir dropped by from America. I’d known him from a long time ago, but wasn’t certain if it was him.
However, when I’d heard that he’d come to check on Clyde- that clinched it for me. The morning after, I learned a small secret from Maestro, a small piece of what he’d heard from his conversation with his Equestria-self.

After that, I went over to the hospital to see Jozhir in Clyde’s hospital room, along with their father. The air of the room felt oppressive, but I went through with what I came to do. Sure Mari had come into the room, but I felt I needed to tell them about what happened all those years ago.

I told them everything, resigning myself to their hatred. However, Jozhir and his father were willing to forgive me, and convince Mari to do the same. Clyde even woke up and told me to stop blaming myself. I even got to show off my magic a little. -and so that’s how the reunion with Jozhir went.”

Sunset smiled, noticing the other anthros. “We made it! Man, that was quite the story, though. Tell me more later?”

Trixie nodded, grinning. “Of course!”

Twilight seemed pleased. “So you’ve made a new friend already, Trixie? That’s good. It’s nice to see you reach out to others.”

Trixie laughed nervously. “Trixie tries, but it isn’t always easy.”

Ashley smiled, tipping her Stetson to Trixie and Sunset. “Howdy! You must be Sunset Shimmer. Ah’m Ashley, (or Applejack), but y’all c’n call me AJ. And this here,” she gestured to Twilight, “Is Twilight. The Princess o’ Friendship.”

Sunset went up to Twilight. She seemed to be a little bit in awe at her presence. “I can hardly believe I finally get to meet you! It’s almost like a dream!”

Twilight extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Sunset. I hope we can become good friends.”

As they shook hands, a voice familiar to most of the group piped up. “Well! It’s nice to see everyone getting along so well.” They turned their heads to see Maestro leaning up against a nearby tree. He smiled. “So, how’s it going? It just got here from meeting one of your other new friends. Ayumi, she calls herself. Nice girl, but not my type. She shares a few things in common with Gearbox, such as an interest in science, but Gear seems to find her a tad insufferable, judging by the most recent text he sent me.” He shook his head, and sighed. “But that’s there and not here.” He stood, still slouching a tad.

He went over to Sunset, and introduced himself. “I’m called Maestro Spectrum Star. It’s good to meet you, Sunset.” He noticed that she’d offered to shake his hand. He accepted the handshake, but it soon ended as he clutched his head with a hand.

Sunset seemed concerned. “Are you okay?”

Maestro took a deep breath, and gathered himself. He no longer was in pain, at least as far as the others could tell. He sighed. “I’m fine. It’s just these darn visions I get sometimes. Never did like them, to be honest.”

“Visions?” Twilight seemed curious. “Like the future?”

Maestro shook his head. “Not always, no. Remember that headache I got after you guys beat Nightmare Moon? That was another vision- one of events that seemed to have already happened. I’ve always had to deal with them, even before anthrofication. But, they weren’t always so… clear and realistic. And they sure weren’t this often, either. I’d usually have about a month’s reprieve between them.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “What’d ya see?”

Maestro chuckled darkly. “Nothing good. Trust me, I think you’re all better off if you didn’t know.”

Sunset laid a hand on his shoulder. “Did it involve me?”

Maestro seemed to shudder slightly, unnoticeable for anyone that wasn’t paying attention. “Yes. It involved all of us, as well as Starlight and Chessmaster, along with a powerful darkness.”

Twilight needed to know what it was he saw. “What exactly did you see?”

Maestro sighed. “Believe me, it’s not pretty. Let’s just say, that it involves a being that can use Nightmare Magic, Chaos Magic, Dark Magic, and Drain Magic, and that it is literally the worst thing that one could face save the power of… well, I’d rather not think about that power.”

Trixie was curious, but knew that Maestro would probably not talk about it just yet. She decided to change the subject. “So, any closer to figuring out where Chessmaster moved to?”

Maestro shook his head. “No. The lead he gave us last time was a decoy. So we’re back to square one.” He sighed. “Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me. I’ll see what I can do to figure it out using the original encrypted signature.”

Twilight stopped Maestro as he was about to leave. “What have you figured out from it so far?”

Maestro shrugged. “Only that it’s an array of misleading locations, each of which will probably hold some kind of key to decrypting it. It’s just like a giant game.” He started to leave again. But before he left completely, he turned around. “Oh and one more thing-” His eyes pierced into them, a look of seriousness on his face. “If that vision does come true, you guys have to promise me something. Promise that you’ll find a way for you to win. Promise me that it won’t end the same way the vision did.”

Twilight gasped. “You saw us lose? But how?”

Maestro paused. He hesitated to say, but then decided that there was one thing he could say. “The darkness was far too powerful, even tempting the last hope you had to sway to the other side. It was then that your group was thrust fully into despair, with no hope of escape. It was then that the Dark Future was born.”

The others took a bit to digest this. What had he implied when he told them this? He was clearly the most hope-driven of the bunch, so did he mean that he was the “last hope” that was swayed by the powerful darkness? They dared not think about it. Twilight then spoke. “No matter what, if that future does occur, we will find a way to defeat that enemy.”

Maestro smiled. “Good. I’ve a feeling that that vision is the one that will most likely not even happen, for it requires a very specific thing to happen. Namely, something to do with timing. So don’t worry. I’m pretty certain that if you act quickly enough, the powerful darkness won’t even be present. See ya.” And with that, he left.

Ashley seemed confused. “What in tarnation was that about? He tells us about this ominous thing, then says not to worry? What’s up with that?”

Trixie cleared her throat, and answered. “If you didn’t notice, he was unsure of himself. He wants nothing more than to be wrong about this vision, so he tried to play it down. Trixie believes it’s somewhat of a coping mechanism for something that truly rattles him.”

Sunset seemed skeptical. “But what exactly did he see? And why’d he mention something as impossible as a being that wields all four of those types of magic? It doesn’t add up!”

Twilight pondered something. “Well, it could be feasible, if Tirek were to drain the magic of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Sombra. However, we’ve already beaten Nightmare Moon, so I highly doubt they’ll use her again. This future he saw seems impossible, but could there be a way?”

Trixie shrugged. “Perhaps they could infuse all four of those into some new villain, but Trixie doesn’t think that’ll happen.”

Twilight sighed. “Let’s think of lighter things, shall we?” she turned to Sunset. “Come along, the others should meet you as well!”

Sunset nodded. “Right. I can hardly wait to meet them! Say, you coming, Trixie?”

Trixie was about to answer when her phone rang with a notification of a new text. She looked at it, and closed her phone. “Well, Trixie’ll be there, but she’s got to go get somebody. See you there!” she lit her horn, and set off a smoke bomb, covering her departure.

---

Trixie’s first stop was at the Science Labs, where she knew Gearbox was. She entered, and found him tinkering with some kind of headgear. She had no idea what purpose it had, but she was in awe at how his fingers just flew across the machine. She noticed something around his neck that hadn’t been there the last time she’d seen him. It was a pendant, and it was made of pure steel. It was the shape of a gear popping out of a box. Was this his way of showing off his Cutie Mark? She’d known that the Star family all had lockets that were engraved with theirs, and she herself accented her skirt with hers.

She got off that train of thought, and turned her attention back to Gearbox. His ensemble was not in the best condition, -a frayed lab coat, over a plain blue T-shirt and beige jeans with white sneakers- but at least it was clean. She cleared her throat and got his attention. He set down his tools, and looked her way. He smiled. “Trixie! Good to see you.” He went up to her, and paused. “Say, about what happened at the restaurant…”

Trixie sighed. “You already apologized, remember? Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

Gearbox hesitated. “Still, I really didn’t want you seeing me like that- I usually only get that crazy after a long creative block.”

Trixie thought of something, and grinned. “Well, if you still feel bad about it, you could treat me to a little something after Pinkie’s party.”

Gearbox’s eyes widened. “Like a date? But I- and you were-”

Trixie shushed him. “Tell me this. Do you really mind that we were once the same gender? Should that matter?”

Gearbox pondered this. Sure, Maestro seemed to vehemently think it did matter, and Gearbox had thought the same before anthrofication. And yet, it didn’t seem so odd when he thought about it now. Was this because his entire brain had been rewired? Not much existed on Gearbox’s character, though. So he had to presume quite a lot.

He shook his head as he reached his answer.

“No, I don’t mind much anymore. It seemed to be so important before I changed, but I think quite differently now.” He had a small manic look in his eyes, one that was far tamer than the first time she saw it. “So why not? It might prove interesting to see what happens.” He gathered a few things, and got up. “You coming?”

Trixie shook her head. “There’s one more stop I need to make. I’m certain that my new friends would like to meet Twilight and the others.”

Gearbox shrugged, and they exited the labs together. Then, they split ways, him going off to Pinkie’s and her going to meet her new friends outside the school. There they were. The five that had put some modicum of trust in her. Regina Falls, -who Trixie thought might become Raindrops- Tonira Elbach, -who strikingly resembled Ditzy Doo, the mailmare- Ginger Johnson, -who Trixie thought might become a certain carrot farming pony- Helen Lee, -who obviously would turn into Cheerilee-. And Tyler Heartfield -who would most likely become a fellow unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings-.

Tyler spoke first. “Hey there! So, we gonna rock that party or what?”

Helen sighed. “I can’t help but think it a tad inappropriate for me to be going to this event, seeing as there will be so many of my students there. I guess if I am only to chaperon, it might not be so bad…”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Ms. Lee, you gotta stop trying to distance yourself because you’re a teacher. You’re our friend, after all.”

Ginger pointed something out. “Then shouldn’t you just call her Helen?”

Regina was about to rebut, but stopped. She saw the logic, and sighed. Tonira then piped up. “Well, I just hope it doesn’t go too long- I have to look after a few things at home that I best take care of before too long.”

Trixie grinned. “Alright, let’s get going! You guys might be the only humans there, but I’m certain you’ll enjoy yourselves.” The group then went off to the party, chatting amicably all the way.

---

Meanwhile, at the party, Ashley was helping set up some refreshments. “Ah sure hope the guests will like this here sparklin’ fizzy apple-flavored cider. Non-alcoholic, o’ course. Made right on mah family’s farm.”

Maestro was busying himself with adjusting the banners with his magic. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Might want a bit more variety, though.” He looked up at the banners again, deep in thought. “Let’s see… should I use the red one next, or perhaps the orange one? Maybe yellow…”

Gearbox was at the dessert table, with a checklist. He rolled his eyes, and spoke. “Why not green? That might fit.” He turned his attention back to Pinkie. “Alright. So let’s what we have here. Cupcakes?”

“Yep!”

“Muffins?”

“Mm-hm!”

“Ice cream?”

“Of course!”

Gearbox raised an eyebrow at the next item. “Cherry… Changa? What’s that?”

Maestro chuckled. “It’s something that Pinkie thought up in the show. I dunno what it is, but it’s probably good.” He focused again on the banners. “Perhaps blue? Or maybe indigo…”

Pinkie giggled. “Pink! Use pink!”

Maestro picked up the pink banner, and placed it in the spot he’d been eyeing. “Hmmm…” He then went to swapping the banners around rapidly, seeing which would fit best. He finally settled on one. “Violet! Of course!” He then wove the banner like a snake through the stairwell bars. He then tied it in bows on each end, and nodded. “That does look good.” He then picked up a few more banners. “I wonder if these’ll fit anywhere…”

Janice smiled. “It’s good to see him working his artistic talents like this. He’s been quite off his mojo ever since he found out about Chessmaster.”

Gearbox sighed. “Well, back to business.” He turned back to the dessert table. “Let’s see…. Cherry Changas?”

Pinkie nodded happily. “Yep!”

“Cake?”

“Several kinds!”

“And finally... Dipping Fountains?”

“Chocolate, Caramel, and Vanilla!”

Gearbox nodded. “That’s everything.” He looked over the table again, eyeing it. “I’m surprised you can fit that much on it. There’s enough there to feed a small army!”

Servo shook her head, sighing. “You shouldn’t be surprised. This is Pinkie we’re talking about.”

Maestro had just finished tying a few more banners around the large “party room.” He looked to see that he had a few left, none of which fit anywhere. He turned to Rarity. “Well, that’s all that’ll fit and not be an eyesore. Do you mind if I keep some of them? I want to do a few experiments with ‘fabric paintings,’ as some call them.”

Rarity shook her head. “Not at all darling! I’ll still need some of it myself, but I don’t mind you keeping some of it.”

As they discussed who would keep which of the banners, Ashley spoke to Flora. “Say, what do you think Maestro’s hidin’?”

Flora hesitated, but answered. “O-oh, I wouldn’t know. He’s got a right to have his secrets, you know. He’s told us before that he has a hard time trusting others. Still, if he does tell us, he’ll tell us when he’s ready.”

Maestro looked to them. He put away the banners he’d secured, and motioned them over. They seemed confused at first, but complied. Rarity was about to leave, but he stopped her. He then sighed. “I’m guessing you’re all wondering why I called you over.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “That’s puttin’ it mildly, sugarcube.”

Maestro seemed hesitant to continue at first, but gathered himself. He then spoke out. “You should know something - my family has always been a bunch of outcasts from society. As such, we find it hard to trust those outside the family. However, most everyone in this room save Cheese over there, along with Trixie's human friends, knows about what I’m about to show you. They all seemed okay with it, but I must have you promise me something- that no matter what, you will not panic. Alright?”

They gave their affirmations, and Maestro took a deep breath, closing his eyes as his horn lit up. His magic encased his eyes, and then they could hear the sound of a lock opening. The magic died down, and then he opened his eyes. What they saw shocked them. Instead of the pupils of a “normal” eye, his were slitted. He held his breath for a moment- anticipating what they would say.

Ashley was the first to shake off the shock. “So the other have seen this, and are okay with it?”

Maestro nodded. “They have, and they are.”

Ashley shook her head. “It might take gettin’ used ta, but Ah think that Ah can do that too.”

Flora gulped. “S-so why do you have them anyway? Is it because you’re a... Nightmare Entity?”

Maestro blinked. He then broke out in laughter. “Hah! A Nightmare Entity? Now that’s a new one!” He calmed down, and shook his head. “No. I’ve had these since anthrofication, though I didn’t know about them until recently.”

Flora seemed to calm down. “O-oh. S-sorry. I hope I didn’t offend you.”

Maestro smiled. “Nah, I don’t mind. It’s honestly refreshing. I've been called worse things.”

Rarity was the last to respond. “While they are a bit unsettling, they’re a part of who you are. I’ll do my best to get used to it.”

Maestro used his magic again, and it encompassed his eyes again. This time, they heard the sound of something being locked away. When they heard that sound, his pupils physically shifted to that of any “normal” anthro’s. He sighed. “It’s good that you accept them, but others might not think the same. I know most here know about them and are okay with them, but one can never be too careful about these kinds of things.”

Then, Pinkie bounded over. “The party’s almost ready!” She turned to Twilight. “Say, how’s the dinner food table looking?”

Twilight looked down the checklist again. “Well, the variety’s pretty good. I believe we have just about everything that anyone would want to eat. The supply is pretty strong, too.” She turned to Janice and Servo. “Thanks again for that. But may I ask something? Why the meat?”

Janice was about to answer when the doors opened, and Trixie came in, five humans behind her. Trixie spoke. “Trixie has arrived!” She then looked around. “Hm? It seems we’re a bit early.”

Everyone seemed to turn to the new arrivals. Most seemed stunned, but Maestro was unfazed. He smiled. “Ah! So you brought some more friends to the party! The more the merrier!”

Sarah shook her head, causing her paintbrush-style earrings (that had little clouds coming from the brush tips) to sway a little. “It seems I won’t be getting the meaty goodness to myself.”

Servo sighed. “You never were going to in the first place.”

Twilight seemed curious about the only humans at the party. She looked at them for a while, and realized that she recognized a few of them. She pointed to Tonira. “You’re the one that delivers the school newspaper! Tonira Elbach, right?”

Tonira smiled, glad that somebody recognized her. “Yes! I’ll happily introduce the others to you if you want!”

Ashley shook her head. “That won’t be necessary.” She then looked over to Ginger, but not harshly. “Ginger Johnson. Didn’t quite expect you to be here.”

Ginger sighed. “I know we’ve had our differences, but can we let that go? I just want us to get along again.”

Ashley smiled. “Sure, Ah think that’ll be possible.”

Micaela seemed uninterested until she found Regina. She regarded her with some interest. “Regina? What’re you doing here?”

Regina jerked her head towards Trixie. “We’re all here with her. We are trying let her put the past behind her, and befriend her new self. It’s working out well, I think.”

Pinkie smiled, bouncing over to Helen. “Hey Helen! How are you?”

Helen sighed. “As well as one can expect. Teaching is quite strenuous, especially when you teach more than one subject.”

Rarity took notice of Tyler, and walked over to him. “So, are you just as weirded out by being the only guy in your group as I was before I anthrofied?”

Tyler chuckled nervously. “It’s kinda awkward, but it’s not so bad. I’ve gotten used to it.”

Pinkie smiled, and got the attention of the crowd. “Alright, everyone! Everything’s ready! Are you guys ready to party?”

Everyone shouted loud and clear, together as one. “YEAH!”

Pinkie shouted excitedly. “Then leeeeet’s paaaar-tay!”

---

Ayumi had been cooking while the others prepared Pinkie’s home for the party, but after the buffet table was set up she headed into the dining room to wait for Pinkie. When Trixie showed up with some humans she decided to talk with her about teaching Sunset and her canon counterpart some of the combat spells her mother and other self had gifted her. Plus, she still needed to tell them about her mother and her unique magic, and how it could lead to her becoming a Nightmare Entity on their side, along with Maestro, from what the Weave had shown her.

Maestro noticed something odd. Ayumi was looking at him strangely again. He turned to Servo. “Say, can you use your power to read what she’s thinking?”

Servo rolled her eyes. “You know I don’t like doing that. I consider it an invasion of privacy. You could always ask her yourself, you know.”

Maestro turned to Janice. “So, should I do that, or is there something else I should do?”

Janice shook her head. “No, asking her what’s up is the most logical thing to do.”

Maestro shrugged, and went up to the group. “So what’s going on here?”

Trixie seemed excited. “AyumI said her future sight stuff showed you as a Nightmare entity on our side! Cool, Huh?”

Maestro let his eyes go to their slitted normalcy, and glared at Ayumi. “Oh? And when did you see that?”

“After meeting Gearbox.” Ayumi said as she let her own eye glamour drop, showing her own dragon slits and yellowish whites. “I sensed some of my mothers essence on your scent. My only guess is that Chessmaster had pulled on her magic to transform the Vice Principal, and you absorbed it after you Shifted Rarity. This may or may not enhance your Umbral magic. Sorry.”

Maestro took in what Ayumi had said. He then shook his head. “I’m not an Umbrum like Sombra. Otherwise I’d be able to shift into shadow wouldn’t I? That would be cool, but I can’t do that. The Nightmare magic has bolstered my enchantments, yes. But it has not affected much else. Theoretically, I could tap into it to perform Nightmare spells, but I’d rather not.”

“You have some Umbral magic due to your family’s bloodline, that’s all i’m saying. It is what allows you all to tap into the weave and it’s one of the new forms of magic humans have access to. it manifests as our visions and natural magic knowledge. Umbra are not just shades. They are part alicorn. Sombra was just the most in tune with the darker aspects of the magic’s nature. Hell even I have Umbral magic it allows all four of the night alicorns to mist shift.” Ayumi says as she lets her arm turn to mist.

Maestro huffed. “You know nothing of my family’s lineage. Not one of them has shown any sign of this... ‘Umbral magic’. We are not like that. We are special, yes- even before we anthrofied. But we had not a drop of magic beforehand. We cannot tap into the weave. That would mean we could shut out out abilities if we so chose. We cannot. We may be able to have some modicum of control, but we cannot shut it out forever. My ‘visions’, Janice’s foresight, Servo’s mind reading, even Chessmaster’s superior strategy- We can go without using it, but if we go too long without tapping into our ‘powers’ we get headaches, or other problems. And, in those moments, our powers forcibly activate. We have to use them occasionally to avoid such pains. There is a reason that society at large has considered us both blessed and cursed for generations. So much so that we have striven to push away the stigma. Only recently have we managed to have somewhat normal lives. So do not pretend that you understand the plight of the Star Clan. Because you do not!” He then sighed. “After anthrofication, things changed. We became more able to control it. But we cannot go forever without using our powers. You may think that the anthro forms might have Umbral magic, but they do not. They just have an absurd amount of regular magic. While your point about alicorns is interesting, the family that our anthro forms emulate do not descend from any alicorn, as far as we know. I just hope you understand that it’s hard dealing with misconceptions. Maybe your vision in the weave meant something else.”

“Sorry. I’m synced with Tempest on Equis already, so her memories may be coloring my own thoughts. Remember she comes from a different timeline with slight variances from canon.” Ayumi said as she re-solidified her arm.

Maestro chuckled. “That’s understandable. I’m still coming to grips with the fact that the Maestro from the Equestria that we’re connected to has honed his visions to a fine point so that he a can connect to many different Maestros across the Multiverse, including a few he claims are ‘Not quite Maestro in name, but still Maestro in spirit’, whatever that means.”

Trixie seemed confused. “‘Not quite Maestro in name, but still Maestro in spirit?’ What does that even mean?”

“Probably a rule 63 Mastro.” Ayumi said.

Twilight nodded. “That would make sense. After all, there is a whole 63 universe that has been built in quite a few fanfics.”

Maestro seemed bemused. “Ah, that reminds me somewhat of the unique properties of my anthrofication. I still got the e-mail, but with it came a choice: to go for what I am now, or go for near endless other possibilities, even changing gender. But, I chose Maestro because it seemed right. Sometimes I still wonder what would have happened had I chosen something else…”

“Hay, little sis? You talk to Flutters about Dissy yet?” Ayumi asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, thanks to Maestro telling me where Discord is, I managed to get him to talk with Flora. He wouldn’t show up to the party, though. It’s too bad - I think he would’ve enjoyed being here.”

A flash of light went off, and a familiar jovial voice spoke up. “Oh, I never said I wouldn’t come! I said I’d think about it.” Discord grinned, looking around the party. “I must say, I do approve of this. Quite chaotic.” He looked to Maestro. “So, you’ve been wondering what it’d be like if you’d chosen something else all those years ago?” He readied to snap his talons. “I can show you, if you’d like.”

Maestro seemed to think about it, but then shook his head. “No, I don’t think it’d live up to my speculations. I’d rather not have my speculations be watered down by the ‘reality.’”

Discord shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m going to liven up the party.” He then went off to talk to Pinkie, presumably to convince her to allow him to do what he wanted to do.

“Dad, wait!” Ayumi said. “Please let me help. I still need a bit of chaos training.”

Maestro blinked. Ayumi is Discord’s daughter? Must be the alternate reality thing. Most of the time he only has one kid - Screwball. He shook his head, and placed his hand on Ayumi’s shoulder, stopping her. “You do know he’s not technically your father, right? Sure, he’s Discord and probably has multiversal knowledge, but is that really the same?”

“I know but he still knows me through my mother Nightmare Moon.” Ayumi said. “She is on earth and has met him already. He knows that I’m his daughter along with the Pinkie of my timeline and Screwball.”

Maestro sighed deeply. ‘How does the Maestro of Equestria keep all this straight in his head? And did she say that Pinkie is technically her sister? I’ve heard of Pinkie being a daughter of Discord before, but this is kinda crazy.’ He then let go. “I guess it makes sense. I mean, if I had a chance to talk to Dad again, I’d take it. I’m certain all four of us would. Go spend time with him.”

Trixie held her thoughts. She knew that Maestro, whenever he brought up his father, spoke only in the past tense - a sense of respect. I wonder if anyone else has noticed. It must still weigh on him, no matter how long it’s been.

“Thanks,” Ayumi said. “After my human dad died I started writing more I hoped Discord could talk to me about if I could get some closure with him.”

Maestro seemed a bit lost for words for some time. Then, he smiled sadly. “You know, you’re lucky. The four of us didn’t have a father figure after Dad died. All we had was each other. You’re one of the lucky ones. Never forget that. Treasure what you have, and never let it slip away without a fight. Now go. He’s waiting.”

“Alright. Dad wait! Can we talk?” Ayumi asked as she walked over to Discord

After Ayumi went over to Discord, Maestro went over to where the food was. Sarah was there, enjoying a chicken sandwich profusely. Trixie noticed that Maestro had quite a lot on his plate as he sat down with Sarah - including some bacon. Trixie was a bit curious as to why nobody else -aside from the humans, as well as Ayumi, Janice, and Servo- were touching the stuff. So, she decide to pick a few things, and sat down near Gearbox. He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t otherwise react to what she was doing. She then took a bite of her hamburger. Her face lit up. It’d been awhile since she’d eaten meat. After all, she’d presumed that she was no longer able to consume it after becoming an anthro. But after seeing Maestro down the stuff twice with no problems, she just had to try it again. And boy, was she glad that she did. Gearbox snapped her out of her starry-eyed state by snapping his fingers in front of her face. “Hey, you okay? You zoned out for a bit.”

Trixie sighed contentedly. “Oh. Trixie is more than okay! Trixie is just glad she no longer has to suffer through digesting those icky meat-substitute products anymore. Everything is right with the world again!”

Gearbox rolled his eyes. “Well what did you expect? You still have a semi-human digestion system, so of course you can still handle meat! Well, aside from chevaline and venison, but the consumption of those is outlawed in many parts of the world, so you won’t have to worry about that.” Trixie was about to ask what that was, but Gearbox leered at her. “Trust me. You don’t want to know. It’ll make you sick just thinking about the people that purposely put them in horse feed so that they can construe that they can’t consume meat, when it’s only those two.”

Trixie decided to change the subject. “So, how are your machines coming along?”

Gearbox paused as he drank some limeade he’d smuggled into the party. He put the drink down after a while, and answered. “Well, I’m still working out some undesirable bugs in the system. True, the Dark magic crystal residue rubbing off on them is a happy accident, but I still don’t believe they’re quite ready just yet.”

“Told ya!” Ayumi called out.

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “So, do you think we’ll be in need of your gizmos anytime soon?”

Gearbox shook his head. “I don’t believe so. And a good thing that is, too. I still need to run a few tests to make sure I get the right results. Maybe change the design on a few of them, too.”

Trixie turned to see Maestro enjoying a conversation with Sarah. It still irked her sometimes, but she knew that Maestro still had trouble with being around the former guys of the anthros. To see him that comfortable with talking to somebody outside of his family seemed right, but she couldn’t help but be a tad jealous. She noticed Gearbox was back to drinking his limeade, and decided to ask him something. “Say, what would you think if Maestro and your sister became an item?”

Gearbox put down the drink, and swallowed. He looked over to the aforementioned duo, and shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. I mean, Sarah’s always pretty excited when she gets to talk to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually likes him like that- even if she doesn’t realize it yet. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Maestro knows, but lets her tell him on her own time. Judging by the e-mails we exchanged over the years, he’s bound to do something like that.”

Trixie sighed, and decided to go back to her meal. It was pretty good, but she couldn’t really enjoy it too much, for something was bothering her. She could tell that Gearbox could see it, as he silently asked her to tell him with the way he looked at her. She gave in, and spoke. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m kidding myself. Getting my hopes up for something that might never happen. Do you think something like that could happen for me?”

Gearbox knew instantly what she was talking about. He sighed. “Look. Don’t sell yourself short- You’ll find somebody. And hey, I did promise you a date later. Maybe that’ll lead to something. You just gotta give these things a chance.”
Trixie smiled, a silent thank-you in her eyes.

Maestro smiled at the scene, and turned back to Sarah. “So tell me, what’s it like spreading your art across the sky?”

Sarah had an ecstatic look in her eyes. “Oh, it’s so much more enjoyable as a Thestral than it ever was back when I used that clunky plane! All those maneuvers I can pull off that I could never dream of doing beforehand make it like a dream come true! If given the choice to go back to human, I’d refuse in a heartbeat! I could never give up this feeling of freedom!”

Maestro chuckled. “I know what you mean. I wouldn’t dream of going back to being an ordinary human. There are just too many perks to being an anthro!”

Sarah seemed concerned. “You’ve shown most everyone your eyes, but does anyone -besides me and your family- know why you have them? That you’re a…?”

Maestro shook his head. “Nope. None of them have figured it out just yet. You’re still the only one outside the family that knows.”

Sarah sighed in relief. “Say, why did you show me that anyway?”

Maestro pondered this for a while, and then seemed to find a good reason. “There’s something about you. I feel I can trust you a little more than I do others. Not sure why at this point, though.”

To Sarah, everything seemed to halt. ‘An inexplicable feeling of trust towards me that he doesn’t have toward anyone else? What could that mean? Does he… No, that’s probably not it. Though that would be nice. We would make such a good couple, and-’ Her eyes widened in realization. ‘Wait. Did I really just think that? Did I really just see us as… more than friends?’

She wanted to deny it, but the thought would not leave, now that she’d stumbled upon it. It was a stubborn thing, that refused to be ignored. She then reflected on how much she enjoyed his company, and in a way that felt different from when she spent time with friends. She sighed, giving in to the realization. ‘I really seem to like him, huh?’ She looked up to see Maestro regarding her with concern. ‘Best play it down for now. I wouldn’t want to ruin our friendship.’ She tried her best to push aside her thoughts, and this time met with a modicum of success. As she talked with Maestro, she tried to keep her thoughts away from that stray fact. She tried to ensure nothing would ruin this friendship she had with him.

Maestro, however, was no fool. He had a hunch as to what she’d realized, but decided to not bring it up. If she wouldn’t, that was fine with him. He was fine with how things were between them. If at some point she told him, he knew what to say... Unless he figured out how exactly he felt about her before then. Then, he would change it accordingly, and tell her first. He decided to leave that for another time, however. He smiled. “Say, how about we collaborate on a piece together? It’ll be interesting to work with you, that’s for certain.”

Sarah felt like she was on top of the world. Sure, she knew it was a friendly gesture, but she couldn’t help but see other things happening. She pushed those thoughts away, and nodded. “Sure! It would be fun! But…” She pointed to his back. “How are you going to get up in the sky with me? You don’t exactly have wings.”

Maestro grinned. “Oh, I’ll think of something. Trust me when I say I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”

---

The plans were set, and their chatter went onto other things. Twilight was talking with some of the other girls. “It’s somewhat strange how things have worked out so far. But I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”

Ashley nods. “Ah hear ya, Twilight. All’a us are together; me, you, Micaela, Flora, Rarity, an’ Pinkie. Not ta’ mention Sunset, Miss Excalibur, Trixie, Cheese Sandwich, Maestro, Sarah, Ayumi, Janice, and Servo, as well as these here human friends.” She then sipped some of the cider she brought.

Micaela nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean. It’s nice getting to be together like this, don’t you think?”

Ashley went over to get some food from the buffet table they set up. “Yeah. Jus’ a group of best friends hangin’ out an’ meetin’ some new friends. Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich really went all-out on this shindig!”

Pinkie giggled. “Aww, thanks! But it’s almost time for a portion that AyumI requested- a small talent show! She talked to me about it being convenient to do it now instead of later!” She then went up to the stage and proceeded to get everyone’s attention and talk about the talent show. She then clapped her hands together. “So! Who’d like to go first?”

Ashley looked over at Twilight and Micaela. “What about Trixie and her magic act?”

Trixie overheard that, and grinned as she got up from the table. “Alright. Trixie will! Just a moment.” She wanted to make a grand entrance. For the flair of the show, of course. She then thought of something. In a shimmer of pink magic, she entirely vanished from sight. This caused some confusion, and murmuring. Pinkie left the stage, making way for Trixie’s entrance. Then, the attention of the crowd was drawn to the stage as magical spotlights shone from above, circling from the stage. Trixie’s voice then projected from the stage. “Ladies and Gentlemen! Prepare yourselves to be astounded by the illusionary masterpiece you are about to witness! Behold the magical glamour of The GREAT and POWERFUL TRRRRRRIIIIIIIIXIE!” A volley of illusionary fireworks went off as she exited from the curtains, her arms spread wide as her replica of Trixie’s cape billowed slightly. The crowd applauded, and Trixie smiled. It felt good to be in front of a crowd like this. But, she would not let it go to her head. After all, she was here to entertain. Her hat was covering her horn, so as to add to the mystique as she pulled off her illusions. Some classics -which she had added a magical twist to- as well as some illusion mist that she used on a willing volunteer, -namely Tonira- among other tricks (except for that Ursa thing from the show, which she refused to even think about). The crowd was enjoying it, that was certain. But she decided to up the ante just a little. She grinned as she thought about her next feat. “For my next and final trick, I will need a volunteer from the audience. Any takers?” She scanned the audience, which was full of those that were eager to be apart of the show, as well as those that were content to just watch. She pondered for a bit. Now, who should I bring onstage this time?

Ashley looked over at Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, and Twilight. “Trixie’s magic show is starting off to a great start, Twilight. Who else wants to perform in this here talent show Pinkie set up f’r us?”

Maestro was standing near the group, his conversation with Sarah long over at this point. “Well, I think we should at least wait until after the finale of her show is over to announce the next act. Common courtesy, you know?” He looked over to Servo and Janice. “Do one of you want to go up there next?”

Servo shook her head. “I’m not one for crowds, you know that. Besides, I’m a computer programmer. Not all that interesting, really.”

Janice seemed hesitant. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go up a little later? Just not as the second act. Maybe I should've invited my friends... I'll make it up to the five of them later.” She turned back to Maestro. “What about you? Will you be going up?”

Maestro chuckled. “Not just yet. It’s wise to save the best for last, so that’s what I’m going to do- be the closing act.”

Gearbox was also there, enjoying the show. “Don’t even ask. I’m a machinations guy, not some actor or whatever.” He smiled at the show, however. “I’m just content to watch.”

Sunset debated with herself if she should go up next or not- she wanted to be in the show, but maybe as the mid-way act? Besides, her talent display would come off better if not directly after something flashy. “Do we have a plan for how many acts to have?”

That silenced the group, and they turned their attention back to the show, where Trixie had finally settled on somebody, pointing them out. “You! Would you be so kind as to come onstage?” the anthro walked onstage, with a slight skip in his step. Trixie smirked, and continued. “Would you introduce yourself to the crowd?”

He grinned goofily, and took the mic for a moment. “Cheese Sandwich!”

Trixie took the mic back, and continued. “So for this trick, I will ask you to close your eyes. You will open them only when I ask you to, alright? And no peeking!” Cheese obliged, and Trixie wove another illusion, one she’d been working on for a while: A body double glamour.

Suddenly, in a flash of Pink, there were four Trixies on the stage that the audience could see. They shuffled around a little, and then stopped, all standing in a line. Then, one of the Trixies spoke. “Alright, you can open them.” The look on his face was priceless- and each Trixie gained a smug grin. They spoke alternatively, trying to confuse him as to which was the real Trixie. “So,” “Tell us.” “Which one” “of us” “do you” “believe to” “be the” and then, they spoke the last part in unison “Real Trixie?”

Whispers went through the crowd, as there was not a soul that didn’t have a guess as to which one it was. She saw in the corner of her vision that Maestro had a knowing smile on his face, signaling that he’d figured out her little trick, but wasn’t going to spoil the fun.

Then, all attention turned to Cheese, as he thought of his answer.

Ashley whispered to Twilight, “Can ya figure out which one’s the real Trixie before Cheese Sandwich does?”

Twilight shook her head, whispering back. “No, but Maestro seems to know. But that look on his face says he won’t be giving out any answers.”

Then, Cheese seemed to take a wild guess, pointing at the one on the far right. “That one’s the real Trixie!”

The crowd murmured as the grin on said Trixie grew extremely wide, and it spoke one word. “Wrong.” the Trixie then disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving the crowd flabbergasted. The remaining three chuckled, and once again spoke alternatingly. “Too bad.” “A Wrong choice” “Has been made.” “Would you like” “to try once more?” “Or, should we” “Give the audience” “A chance to try?”

Cheese pondered for a second, and grinned. “Let’s let somebody from the audience try next!” He pointed to Tyler. “Which one is your guess?”

There were three Trixies left on the stage. Each one looked identical to each other, down to the smallest detail. How was he supposed to figure it out? Was it the one on the left? The one on the right? Or the one in the middle? He decided to wing it, and pointed to the one in the middle. “That’s the real Trixie!”

The Trixie he’d pointed at held up a almost entirely closed fist, wagging her index finger in a “no” motion, tsking as it faded into smoke. Now, there were two left, both which were grinning smugly, as if sharing a private joke. They once again took to speaking alternatingly. “Once again you have failed!” “Once again you did miss!” They then both threw their arms wide, their capes billowing slightly. “Can no one here guess it right?” “Can no one here solve this?” Both pointed to Twilight, a smug air about them. “Tell us, which one is false?” “Tell us, which one is true?” “Can you find the Real Trixie this time?” “Or will my trick stump even you?”

All attention was on Twilight now, as she considered the problem. Both times that Somebody had chosen a duplicate, they had chosen wrong. So, a lot of pressure was on her to get it right. She then thought to herself. ‘There are two options here. Right or Left. But which is it? If I could tell the difference between them, I could easily find the real one.’ Her eyes widened as she thought of it. ‘A sensory spell! That could help me find her! The fake will have a slightly weaker signature than the real one!’

She then lit her horn slightly, surprised that Trixie didn’t stop her from using magic. She then probed the two Trixies, but what she found surprised her. Both of them had weaker signatures than what Trixie had displayed. ‘But that means…!’ She then smiled, and made her findings known. “Neither of you are the real Trixie!”

The crowd gasped, and Maestro nodded slightly. The two Trixies onstage both bowed, disappearing into smoke, as the air behind them shimmered and popped, causing the real Trixie to be revealed. She got out of her bow, and spoke. “It has been wonderful performing for you all! Without further ado, I bid you a good night!” In a puff of blue smoke, she was gone, and back at her seat in the audience.

Ashley clapped for Trixie, “Wow, Trixie, that was some magic act! What did ya think of Trixie’s performance, everyone? Or should we say ‘everypony’?’”

Maestro chuckled. “No, I don’t think ponyisms are really necessary. Besides, it’s not only anthros in here, anyway.” He was still smiling. “The show was great, just as expected.The twist at the end was enjoyable too.”

The others shared similar sentiments, and as the clapping died down, Pinkie went onstage to announce the next act. “Next up, we have Micaela Dashel performing ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be!’”

Pinkie left the stage, making room for Micaela as she got onstage. She had a guitar like the one from the movies, and started to play as the background music kicked in. After a while, she started to sing.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Awesome as I Wanna Be!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Awesome As I Wanna Be!

First you see me riding on a sonic boom

Got my guitar shreddin’ up my legs too!

There is nothin’ you can do ta beat me!

I’m so good that you can’t defeat me!

Yeah, I’m Awesome!

Take caution!

Watch out for me -

I’m Awesome As I Wanna Be!

I’m Awesome!

Take caution!

Watch out for me -

I’m Awesome As I Wanna Be!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

*pauses for guitar solo*

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

*pauses again for guitar solo*

Step aside now- you’re just gettin’ in my way!

I’ve got sick chops you could never hope to play!

When it comes to making music I’m the ruler!

You wish you were 20% cooler!

Yeah, I’m Awesome!

Take caution!

Watch out for me -

I’m Awesome As I Wanna Be!

Yeah!

I’m Awesome!

Take caution!

Watch out for me -

I’m Awesome As I Wanna Be!”

The crowd was cheering loudly after the display of a rainbow ring pulsing from the final jump. Rainbow bowed, and got off stage.

Pinkie then announced Cheese’s act, in which he played a bit of polka on his accordion. After that somewhat short act, Pinkie went onstage once more. “Now for our next act! Please, welcome to the stage: Janice! Dazzle! Star!”

After Pinkie left the stage, a giant yellow five-pointed star with a light lime green stream behind it came in from the left of the stage. In its stream could be seen many gems of all kinds. In fact, it looked like a colorized version of the picture etched into Janice’s locket. The star crashed onstage, and Janice stepped out of the yellow light as the apparition faded. The crowd erupted into applause, but was quickly quieted as Janice held up a hand. She then spoke to the crowd. “Hello all! I hope you enjoy what I have in store for you- So let’s begin!” She lit her horn with azure magic, And proceeded to summon a large amount of metal and a variety of gems from thin air. However, she wasn’t done just yet. She then encompassed her head in magic as she pulled off something amazing. She breathed fire upon the metal, super-heating it with her blue fire. As the crowd was enamored, she noticed that Maestro was worried. She decided to shrug that off, however. The crowd was eating this up!

The next step was taking the super-heated metal, and proceeding to shape it with her magic, while also conjuring dragon claws on her hands to effectively carve each gem. The crowd was amazed by the “illusion,” not bothering to consider that it might be something else.

She then placed each carved gem into different metal moldings, shaping earrings, necklaces, rings, bangles, etc. After the display, she encased her head in magic once more, this time breathing out enchanted wind, which cooled down the metals quickly, -and safely- so as to not make them brittle.

After that, she summoned a small knapsack, which she then filed the jewelry into. She then bowed, drinking in the applause. She was about to leave the stage, but the crowd demanded that she show them something else.
She glanced at Maestro, who was shaking his head, pleading with his eyes, trying to sway her away from what she was thinking of doing. She then made the mistake of looking at the crowd. She sighed. ‘I was never good at resisting a crowd’s demands… Maybe I’ll try and pass it off as “just a polymorph.”’

She cleared her throat, and spoke. “Very well! One last spell! For your entertainment, I will polymorph into a Dragon!”
The crowd erupted into cheers of excitement as she charged her magic. Her thoughts tuned everything else out as she focused on her spell. She started to glow all over her body, focusing the effect of her magic onto her very DNA. She isolated the dragon DNA, and started amplifying it, so that it would “drown out” the pony DNA.

To the eyes of the crowd, her form seemed to shift, convulsing unnaturally. Her fur started to be replaced by scales, her eyes became draconic and fierce, her tail became scaly blue with pale pink spines, her hands became claws, Her hooves morphed into clawed feet, large dragon wings sprouted from her back, her hair collapsed, and changed into spines, and her muzzle shifted to become a snout full of fangs. She grew to be larger than she once was, almost hitting the ceiling. She then roared, causing a jet of blue fire to spew out. She was careful to not hit anything flammable, of course. She then looked at the crowd, expectantly.

However, something odd had happened to the crowd. Her expectation of cheers were instead met with cries of “Freak!” along with “Kirin scum!” among other things. Janice didn’t understand why. She was so surprised that her transformation undid itself in a snap. She backed away, afraid of the crowd. Why were they doing this? They’d enjoyed her show just moments before! What was wrong?

But then, Maestro jumped onstage, landing in front of Janice. A black shadow could be seen forming around his right hand. He was tapping into Nightmare Magic. After all, if he was correct, this would be the most effective way to get the entire room back to normal. His fur darkened a shade, and his hair and tail did the same. His eyes had become slightly darker as well, and his slitted pupils were on display for all to see. He was skimming the surface of his Nightmare form- after all, going too deep would make him lose control.

He then spoke. “You are not yourselves! Now, WAKE UP!” At those last two words, he swung his right arm in an arc, causing the Nightmare Magic to pulse outwards. It hit the entire crowd, and caused small portions of dark blue smoke to shed off of them. The Nightmare Magic stopped at the wall, and then retracted, pulling all the smoke balls back towards Maestro, who absorbed them all. He then stopped channeling the Nightmare Magic, and his colors went back to normal. A powerful surge of Magic crawled over his enchantments, making them stronger than before. After all, Nightmare Puffs were still magic.

He took Janice’s hand, and led her offstage. The crowd had gotten back to normal, and were apologizing to Janice, who forgave them.

Ayumi decided to jump in then. Telling Janice she was sorry and that she thought that if she showed herself as she was they would have gotten used to hybrid forms. “My mother's magic shouldn't have the effect it just did, so that shit must’ve come from somepony different.” She said.

Janice shook her head, smiling somewhat sadly. “It’s okay. They weren’t themselves. I don’t hold it against them, honestly. But I do wonder how all that Nightmare Magic got in their systems…”

Maestro pulled Janice away from Ayumi. “I appreciate your concern, but it’s already been taken care of. As for the Nightmare Magic, I think somebody was hiding in the audience, underneath a perception filter and an invisibility spell, along with a magic masker spell. They’ve long since left, however.” He shook his head. “Let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s try to enjoy the rest of the show.”

Pinkie went onstage after the crowd calmed down, and announced the next act. “Well, that was a bit unexpected, but the show will go on! Please welcome to the stage, Sunset Shimmer!”

‘You know if I'm going to go up there I'll need a sparring partner.’ “Hay, Dash! Want to spar with me when I go up there?” Ayumi asked.

Micaela seemed to think on it. “I dunno. I already went on up there. Maybe you should ask somebody else?”

Maestro agreed. “Rai has a point. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go onstage for an act more than once.” He then focused on the act that was about to start.

Sunset came onstage, without any flashy entrance. The crowd was curious as to what her act was going to be. Some music began to play, and after a while, she begun to sing.

“Power…

Was all I desired. (echo effect)

But all that grew inside me

Was a darkness I acquired

When I began to fall

And I lost the path ahead

That’s when your friendship found me

And it lifted me instead!

Like a phoenix burning bright in the sky

I’ll show there’s another side to me you can’t deny

I may not know what the future holds,

But hear me when I say-

That my past does not define me!

Because my past is not today!

Ambition...

Is what I believed

Would be the only way to set me free

But when it disappeared and I found myself alone

That’s when you came and got me

And it felt like I was home!

Like a phoenix burning bright in the sky

I’ll show there’s another side to me you can’t deny

I may not know what the future holds

But hear me when I say-

That my past does not define me!

Because my past is not today!”

After the song, the crowd cheered, and Sunset left the stage. Pinkie went up once more to announce the next act, which was Rarity’s fashion show, which Ashley, Pinkie, and Flora (reluctantly, on the part of the latter) participated in. After that, Pinkie announced the next act. “Now, put your hands together for our next act! Please welcome, Twilight Raderson!”

After Pinkie left the stage,Twilight went onstage, a tad nervous. She was going to use a few spells, but nothing too fancy. One of the spells she eventually used conjured up a magical serpentine dragon that flew about the area then returned to her. The serpent then posed in the shape of an S behind her.

Then, after Twilight was done with her spell show, Pinkie announced Ayumi’s sparring act, which Sarah volunteered to participate in. Sarah was more adept at combat than one might think she would be, seeing as she was an artist, but her forté was agility, not power.

Once onstage together, the pair shook hands before the match. Sarah spoke congenially. “Don’t hold back too much on my account, alright? I won’t be treated like I’m some special snowflake that can’t take a hit.”

“Alright, then I guess we should take to the air. Hope you have some combat experience while flying. Dad? if you could, please?”

The two combatants separated, and Discord caused the roof to open up for the sky duel. Sarah flicked her tail, activating the mutation that caused it to change color. It was now red. Ayumi was not certain what this had to do with anything, but she was soon to find out.

With a burst of speed, Sarah soared upward as she clicked her hooves together. The clouds that were streaming behind her melded with her red streak, coloring them. She stopped climbing after a short while, and grabbed the clouds. She brought them up as she molded them with her hands.

She noticed that Ayumi had also climbed into the air, but that was to be expected. When she was done molding the clouds, they looked like a short-sword. Sarah held the cloud-weapon in her left hand, ready to strike. She smirked when she saw how surprised Ayumi looked.

Sarah went in close for the attack, but Ayumi was quick enough to dodge. Sarah didn’t slow down, though. She had to swerve occasionally when Ayumi would capitalize on an opening by swiping with her claws, but Sarah wasn’t too concerned. Sure, she knew she wouldn’t win, but she wouldn’t go half-way just because of that. After all, If she lost without trying, that’d be no fun.

She finally managed a hit on Ayumi, but she’d been grazed by the claws at the same time. Sarah was surprised, but shook it off quickly. She jumped back, flicking her tail, causing it to become orange. Her cloud-sword had broken down into cloud-matter after the clean hit (which did hurt, if only because of the speed of the strike), so she was going to make something else now.

As she rose into the sky again, she clicked her hooves together, leaving clouds behind her that were colored by her orange streak. She stopped again, this time after a slightly longer period of time. She grabbed the clouds again, but she noticed that Ayumi was on the attack. She dogged as she molded the clouds, not wanting to lose focus by being hit. Soon she was done molding them, and this time she had a lance. She was not about to let herself get her new weapon destroyed this early, so she ducked the next strike, and rolled behind Ayumi. She then started attacking with her lance, forcing Ayumi to dodge.

The advantage with the lance was that Ayumi couldn’t quite get close-up. What she didn’t expect was for Ayumi to breathe her fire. It broke down the cloud-lance without much trouble, and reached far enough as to slightly singe Sarah’s hands. Sarah bit back the pain, and flicked her tail again, making it yellow. Sarah glared at Ayumi. She had made a mistake.
Sarah climbed into the sky again, clicking her hooves. She stopped a little afterward, only leaving behind a few small yellow clouds. It wasn’t enough to make what her next planned weapon, but it was enough to do what she needed. She kicked one of the clouds, and it reshaped into a lightning bolt, which shot at Ayumi.

She didn’t wait to see if it hit, instead choosing to repeat the lightning blast a few times for good measure. After she’d run out of clouds, she looked to see that at least one of the bolts had landed a hit, causing Ayumi’s hair to stand on end slightly. She held back a snicker at the girl’s expense.

She looked up, and saw that there was a rather large cloud above. She smiled as she flicked her tail, changing it to green. She went up to the cloud, noticing that Ayumi had as well. Sarah wasn’t about to let Ayumi take her weapon before she had even made it! She focused -so she didn’t activate the mutation again- as she flung her tail at the cloud at a high enough speed to shoot off a arcing streak that hit the cloud, starting to color it green.

Ayumi ripped off part of the cloud, making the green halt at an odd place. Sarah shrugged, then grabbed the cloud with her hands, which were not hurting as much now. She hefted the large, green cloud above her head, and started to spin it above her at high speeds.

She noticed that Ayumi had done something to the cloud matter she’d pilfered, but she couldn’t quite make out what through the tornado she’d managed to conjure. Sure it wasn’t quite a standard tornado, seeing as it was quite slow for one, but that wasn’t what mattered.

Her green cloud had colored the winds, and she kept herself inside them as they drew close to Ayumi. But, her tornado broke down when it hit a white shield of clouds. Sarah backed off as she saw her mini tornado break. It may have taken the shield with it, but it still was one of her better techniques, even if she couldn’t get it to the speeds she wanted. She would’ve needed the entire cloud for that.

However, just because one of her best skills had been stopped short didn’t mean that she was going to give in! Far from it. She flicked her tail again, turning it blue. Instead of going higher, she shot downward in an arc, once again coloring her cloud stream that was produced by her hooves. After a while, she started to pull up, still maintaining her speed. Ayumi was uncertain as to what Sarah was trying. However, she wasn’t going to use the weave -she considered that a cheap move in a fair fight- though against an real enemy she kept it on as to always be one step ahead.

She instead tried to break Sarah’s focus. However, Sarah noticed Ayumi coming in, and poured on the speed. A cone started to form around her. Sarah tried not to panic. She’d never gone this fast! The cone was the freaking sound barrier!
But, in order to pull what she was trying off, she would need to keep ahead of Ayumi’s attacks. So, as she connected the clouds into a circle and turned 90 degrees on a dime, she arced around, keeping up her speed. Ayumi was holding back, and Sarah knew that. But despite this, Ayumi tried keeping up. Did she want to see Sarah push herself beyond what she conceived were her limits?

Sarah could still see the cone in front of her as she intersected again with the first circle. She had to keep ahead of Ayumi! So, in spite of her better judgement, she tried to pour on more speed. What happened next was unexpected, to say the least.

There was a loud boom, and a blue ring of light exploded outwards. Sarah felt the sound of the cheering crowd fall behind her as she continued her plan. She’d just broken the sound barrier!

She never thought that she could do such a thing, but she’d managed to pull it off! She intersected with her first circle again, and turned again. She sped in a new circle as her speed climbed. She saw Ayumi in her peripheral vision, but she was unconcerned.

Each time she completed a circle around Ayumi, she turned to start a new one. Soon, after four circles were formed and Sarah had started her fifth, Ayumi realized what Sarah was trying to accomplish. She was trying to trap Ayumi in a sphere of clouds.

Ayumi had to admit that it was quite clever, but she would stop Sarah before she finished. Ayumi poured on the speed, easily catching up to Sarah. Ayumi readied her claws, but when she reached closer to Sarah, she saw that she was slowing down slightly, and breathing hard. She was pushing herself too hard. Her wings seemed sore, but she continued pushing. The fifth circle finished and Sarah turned again, her tail involuntarily twitched and turned indigo.

The cloud rings shuddered, and changed color. However, the color change caused the clouds to lose stability, and they started to break down. As Sarah reached the first intersection, she tried for a sixth circle. The clouds in front of her broke down, and blasted out cloud-matter at high speeds. Sarah was surprised, and tried to get out of the way. However, due to her fatigue stacked with the surprise, when she tried to turn, her wings froze up from the strain.

As she started to fall, her cloud structure broke down completely. However, Ayumi managed to catch Sarah and get her down safely. The cloud break down was quite beautiful, however as it rapidly flashed colors. After the entire structure fell apart, the roof was closed. The crowd cheered, and Ayumi bowed. Sarah, on the other hand, had to be helped offstage. She was exhausted, but she’d enjoyed herself. Ayumi then left the stage as well.

After the act by Ayumi was over, Pinkie went onstage one last time. “Now for the moment that you’ve all been waiting for! The final act! Here to deliver, is the Maestro of Music, the Living Spectrum, the Apex of Art himself, Maestro Spectrum Star!”

Pinkie left the stage, and the crowd waited anxiously. All of a sudden, a red line shot onstage, followed by one of orange, one of yellow, one of green, one of blue, one of indigo, and one of violet. The lines met at a singular point, and spread out into leftward curved arcs.

A paintbrush at an upward left angle was producing the colors from the brush portion at the bottom right. Then, a turquoise musical note flew in from the right side of the stage, and superimposed itself in front of the paintbrush.
The symbol hung there for a short moment, letting the crowd drink in the colorized form of what was etched into Maestro’s locket. Then, the man of the hour himself stepped out from behind the display, and the crowd was cheering the loudest that they had all night. He lit his horn, summoning an indigo synthesizer that was fused with an electric guitar. The display of his Cutie Mark that had been his entrance segway shrunk somewhat, and imposed itself on the wall behind him. He had a headset on, and spoke to the crowd. “Hello, everyone! Are you ready for a feat of music and magic that you have hitherto not seen?”

The cheers of the crowd made him smile. This is what it meant to be on top of the world. “Great! Now, without further ado, let’s begin!” For a short moment his horn glowed, and the rest of him was encased in white light.

In a flash of turquoise, there were six Maestrogängers behind him, each with a different instrument. One had a red Saxophone, another had an orange keytar, one of them had a yellow trombone, yet another had a green acoustic guitar, one had a blue bass, and the last one had a violet tambourine. After the white light died down, they started to play.
The syntheletar was the backbone, providing a steady beat. The Maestrogängers each provided a different portion of either the inherent chaotic chords (the acoustic guitar and the bass) , the organized melody (the Sax and the trombone), or even the balanced harmony (the tambourine and the keytar). After a while, Maestro began to sing, his voice an astonishing bass.

“You call me Maestro-

The Notemaster that surpasses others!

You call me Spectrum-

The Endless Fountain of the Colors!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

Few know my full name,

That’s part of the mystery!

I’m here to jumpstart my fame,

I’ll get to the top, you’ll see!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

As sure as a Sapphire is blue,

I’ll keep myself true,

Like the red of a Ruby,

None can match me!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

*Instrumental break for 2 solid minutes*

I’m the best there is-

You know that’s no lie!

I’ve got no rival-

For none could even try!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

Name an artform, and I can do it!

Paintings, Statues, and Pottery!

Challenge me, and I can prove it!

Playscripts, Movies, so much to see!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

Like an Emerald’s pure green,

My full valor will be seen,

Three gems of power,

My veracity’s hour!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

*Instrumental break for 2 solid minutes*

You may think I’m boasting,

But with me none can compare,

In my wake they’re left roasting,

Because of my Artistic Flair!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

I’ve an ideal of beauty,

That none could hope to see!

For you know I’m the Apex, the ultimate master!

I’m the singular best- others reach only disaster!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

My Emporium’s open to all- as long as they can pay me

I’ve seen past the lies of the world, and seen reality!

I won’t let its cold heart drag me down

But no matter what, I won’t see you frown!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

*Instrumental break for 2 solid minutes*

I’m full with a burning drive,

See how my charisma dominates.

My talent will forever thrive,

Everyone else is less than second rate!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

My ideals are shown by my art,

From the core of my heart,

Let it last eternally!

And now you shall see!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

Your skepticism I’ll abate.

My power you won’t debate.

As I show you beauty,

You’ll witness my guarantee!”

He then summoned his art pieces one by one during the instrumental, to drive home his new point. As he started up the next portion, he acted out what they could withstand using his magic.

“Sturdy enough to withstand burning fire!

Even When White Hot!

Resolved enough to withstand cold’s ire!

Heat within stands taut!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

Stands through the harshest of winds!

A Hurricane can’t take a crown!

Crushing Gravity’s bending ne’er begins!

Jupiter can’t break them down!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

The cruelest natural conditions it will beat!

You think of it, it will withstand!

Even the hands of time it will defeat!

And permeate across the land!”

The crowd was cheering, surprised that he actually performed all those destructive spells. Even those with unicorn magic were impressed that it wasn’t just illusions. After an instrumental section that lasted 14 minutes (in which each instrument got at least one solo), the singing picked up again.

“My Devotion will soar into the sky,

Loyal as I can be!

An’ you know that my Honor’s no lie,

Truth sets me free!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

My Compassion knows no bounds,

Kind to all I see!

A flaw in my Charity can’t be found,

Generous, truly!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

Let my Humor brighten your day,

Laugh wit’ me!

And my Empowerment will come your way,

Let Hope set you free!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

As for my Magic, it can’t be beat,

Friendly as can be!

With my Connections, it’ll be an easy feat!

It’s true, you see!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

*Instrumental break for 2 solid minutes*

So now you know,

That wherever I go,

I smudge out disharmony,

With my harmonic symphony!

And soon my banner will be unfurled,

Everywhere across the world!

C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!

And with a last chord,

Let me give you this guarantee,

I’ll be the balance lord,

So that utopia is what you’ll see!”

*Instrumental finish, 4 solid minutes*

As the music died down, the seven Maestros bowed, and the crowd cheered. The Maestrogängers disappeared into light, converging back into Maestro. He got out of his bow, and spoke to the crowd. “Thank you for your attention tonight! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves! Now, the festivities are over, so I hope you get home safely! See ya!”

With a wave and a charge of his horn, he became seven bands of light, one of each color of the rainbow, and teleported away. The party cooled down, and people started cleaning up. Trixie took Gearbox by the arm, and led him out. The last hours of the night was to be about the two of them. Trixie couldn’t help grinning to herself. She just knew that things were going to be good tonight.

Author's Note:

15,000+ words! This is by far and away the longest chapter I've been involved in. There's a lot of changes of perspective, but that can be fixed if necessary. Thanks to all the team of the Anthros of Harmony for helping getting it this large.

Comments

[JimmyHook19]

-does the happiest grin of all- I'm so proud that I finally make my debut into the collaboration at last! :D

but I did notice a few mistakes of when I sing My Past is Not Today:

And I lost the path again

it's actually, according to the lyrics, Ahead.

here's one more which is shown twice:

Like a beam burning bright in the sky

it's actually phoenix, not beam.

but aside from that..... you know what the most awesome thing of the date that you published this chapter on? you published it on my 21st birthday! so a pretty sweet birthday gift :3

[The REAL Mister Pkmn]

8313290
Thanks for pointing that out. I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere, so I had to write it down by ear from the song, and that caused a few problems... Oh, and happy belated 21st birthday! It's kinda interesting that you had yours this month. I had my 22nd birthday back in May, and one of my older brothers' birthday is in three days. He'll then be 27. So you have a good day.

[NicLove]

But her mom is a Pears !

[The REAL Mister Pkmn]

8346330
This chapter was written before the airing of that episode, and will not change just because it did.