The Trouble With Time Travel

by Mike the Red

6. And Along Came Trixie

Amethyst was helping her housemate in the Library today when Spike asked her to try some different magic spells. The most amusing one the purple mare witnessed her housemate use on the little dragon was one to give him a mustache.

"C'mon, Twilight, you can do it!" Spike exclaimed, offering encouragement to the librarian.

"Okay, here goes," she said and concentrated, channeling magic through her horn. Her dragon assistant leaned forward and closed his eyes, waiting for something to happen. The lower part of his face glowed with Twilight's magic aura as a mustache suddenly appeared. Amethyst saw this and started chuckling loudly at the sight.

"Spike, you look ridiculous like that!" the purple mare said through her laughter.

"Well, I like it!" the dragon exclaimed, admiring his accoutrement in the mirror. "That makes 25 different tricks, and counting, Twilight!"

"Wow, I can only do about 17 of those," the purple mare mused as her housemate blushed at her dragon's compliment.

"I can teach you more if you'd like," Twilight offered.

"I'd appreciate that, though some of the magics you used seemed to be of little significance -- why would anypony want a mustache?"

"Hello, Rarity!" Spike exclaimed as he continued to admire his reflection in the mirror.

"Sorry, Romeo, that's just for practice and it's got to go," the librarian stated and removed her dragon's mustache despite his protestation to keep it. "Ammy, you never know when being able to do something like that might be useful some time."

"I'll keep that in mind, Twi," the purple mare chuckled. "So what's on the schedule for today?"

"I had planned on going to Sugarcube Corner to get some muffins," Twilight mused. "I haven't had any in about a week and it will be a nice change of pace from the occasional cupcake. Would you like to come along?"

"But of course. Studying is hard on an empty stomach," her housemate grinned. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but held back on saying it.

"Your stomach is empty?" Spike asked, almost incredulously. "Um, sorry," he grinned sheepishly as Amethyst glowered at him. "Okay, um, let's get going!" the dragon exclaimed cheerfully, trying to bring a little levity to the situation. The three of them left the Library and headed along the path towards the Bakery, chatting with each other as they went.

"Spike, you know I'm a little sensitive about my weight. I wasn't always this big -- in fact, after Princess Celestia gave me this body, I was quite svelte."

"What does that mean?" asked the dragon.

"It means I was quite slender and shapely. Over the past three years or so, I've gained about sixty pounds, so I'm not quite so shapely anymore. Trust me, I'd like to get back to that slender form again, but I get so hungry!" the purple mare stated sullenly.

"Maybe if you helped out more at Sweet Apple Acres, you'd get enough exercise to work off some of that extra weight," Twilight offered.

"That sounds like a good idea, Twi. I've helped you out here in the library for such a long time, it would be good for me to get in lots of exercise. Might even tone me up a good bit as well, I'd like to see what I'd look like with some extra musculature," mused Amethyst.

"Don't overdo it, Ammy, you still need a little fat on you," her housemate chuckled. "You don't want to look like Snowflake, do you?"

"Whoa, no I don't! How does he even fly?"

"I have no idea, but I would be a bit reticent about asking him," the librarian replied.

"But Twilight! 25 different kinds of magic! Other than Ammy here, I don't think there's anypony capable of doing as much magic as you!" Spike stated proudly. The lavender mare blushed again at the compliment.

"Yeah, she's quite impressive in that regard. I remember when I was in her body, I couldn't even do 25 different kinds of magic," the purple mare mused, causing her housemate's blush to deepen.

"What did you like most about being me?"

"I loved your singing voice -- I loved doing karaoke as you. I also like just how pretty you are as well," the purple mare stated, causing Twilight's blush to color her entire face a bright rouge.

"Stop it, Ammy! You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Of course I do! Other than that year I spent in Memphis, I really enjoyed being you ... except maybe having to --" the purple mare's words were cut off as two unicorn colts came barreling through, the smaller teal colored one picking up and carrying the purple mare a good distance before stopping. Amethyst fell off and landed roughly on the ground and dusted herself off before glowering at the two colts.

"What's going on here?" she asked gruffly. "You two should be more careful where you're rushing about like that!"

"Sorry about that, ma'am! There's a new unicorn in town!" the orange colt exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah! And she claims to be the most magical unicorn ever!" shouted the teal one.

"I find that hard to believe -- Twilight's the most highly talented unicorn I know of," the purple mare stated proudly, causing her housemate to blush again.

"You flatter me, Ammy!"

"It's true, Twi," Spike added.

"So where is this unicorn?" Twilight asked.

"She's in the town square! Come on!" the orange one said as he galloped off in that direction, quickly followed by the others. In the middle of the town square a voice was heard which seemed to blare from loudspeakers. A yellow wagon seemed to transform into a stage in front of the town hall as a group of ponies assembled in front of the stage.

"Come one! Come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!!" the voice exclaimed as a fanfare and fireworks resounded through the town square, gaudy ornamentation popping out of the top of the wagon.

The audience oohed and aahed as an azure unicorn seemed to appear from behind a cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated. Amethyst recognized her immediately and flashed a smile.

"What, you know her, Ammy?" Twilight asked.

"She's -- " her housemate began, but was cut off as Trixie spoke again.

"Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most amazing feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" she exclaimed boldly as showers of sparks swirled about as she ignited her pyrotechnics.

"Hmm. I don't recall her being this obnoxious," the purple mare said to her housemate just above a whisper in her ears.

"Is she as powerful as she claims?" asked Twilight.

"She's all bark and no bite," Amethyst chuckled.

"My, my, what boasting," Rarity stated dismissively.

"Come on, nopony's more magical than Twilight," Spike said, perhaps a little too loudly as the alabaster mare glowered at him in disapproval. "Uh, mustache!" he exclaimed and darted off. Rarity gave him a quizzical glance as he bolted.

"There's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?" Twilight asked.

"No, but that doesn't mean ya should show it off like a schoolfilly with brand new ribbons," Applejack stated, contempt dripping from her words as the ponies watched the show-mare grin as she made a bouquet of flowers appear from seemingly nowhere.

"Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does not make one better than another," Rarity added. Twilight hung her head at this mention.

"Have you ever seen Twilight use her magic in a boastful fashion? Me either?" asked Amethyst. "I try to avoid showing off if I can at all help it, and Twi here likewise exercises great restraint with the use of her magic ... most of the time," she grinned.

"Well, you have me to be better than the rest of us!" Rainbow grinned. Applejack glared at the cyan pegasus. "Uh, yeah! Magic, shmagic! BOO!" the pegasus shouted at the show-mare.

"Well, well, well. It seems we have some neigh-sayers in the audience!" the azure mare stated indignantly. "Who dares challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know they stand before the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?"

"Just who does she think she is?" Rarity asked Twilight, dismissing the show-mare with a raspberry.

"Yeah! Especially when we know Twilight here is --" Spike stated almost angrily as he barged between the librarian and the fashionista before he was pulled aside by the lavender mare who admonished him, letting him know she did not want to be seen as a show-off. Before Spike could say anything in response, Trixie lit off some more pyrotechnics as she reared up on her hind legs and grinned broadly at her spectacle.

"I ought to put that boastful braggart in her place, that should teach her some humility," Amethyst thought to herself. Before she took a step, the cyan pegasus flew up to the stage to challenge the show-mare.

"So, 'Great and Powerful Trixie,' what makes you think you're so awesome anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"Why, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!" she exclaimed boldly, her pyrotechnics illuminating the sky with an image of a large bear, astonishing the audience. The teal and orange unicorn colts were dumbfounded by this and expressed their incredulity.

"When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington turned to the Great and Powerful Trixie, whose magic was strong enough to vanquish the Ursa Major and sent him back to his cave deep in the Everfree Forest!" she exclaimed, an image of the unicorn facing off against the much larger bear and waving its wand causing the bear to disappear in a shower of sparks.

The teal and orange unicorn colts were so inspired and enamored with Trixie that they automatically proclaimed her to be the most talented unicorn in all of Equestria. Trixie expressed her concurrence with their statements and challenged any Ponyvillian to do their best, proclaiming she could do anything better than anypony else. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash glared at the boastful show-mare. Amethyst groaned audibly at this.

"Does anypony wish to challenge me? Or is Trixie the greatest equine who ever lived?" she shouted as more pyrotechnics lit up the sky. The purple mare strode forward angrily, her eyes narrowed to slits, her ears pinned back against her head. She exhaled sharply through her nostrils as she approached the stage, only to be held back by her housemate.

"I don't care how angry she makes you, Ammy, don't do this! You shouldn't show off your skills either, even though you want to put her in her place! Don't set a bad example, please!"

The purple mare growled at her housemate, but restrained herself. "Only for you, Twi, because you asked me nicely. I shall respect your request. I suppose if I showed off, word would get back to the Princess. If only ..."

"You! The purple one! Trixie sees you wish to challenge her?" the show-mare asked haughtily.

"Don't do it, Ammy!" Twilight stated. The purple mare cracked her neck and glowered at the azure unicorn.

"Let me put it like this, Trixie. There are some who are far more powerful than you, but they wish to remain anonymous. It is not their desire to go around showing off their talents just because they can -- true power respects restraint and control," the purple mare stated confidently.

"What does that mean?" the show-mare asked indignantly. "Are you afraid to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"There will come a time for that, Trixie -- but that time is not now, not here. I do not wish to embarrass you in front of everypony here -- and I'm not even the most powerful among us," Amethyst replied.

"Then who is? The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to challenge the strongest among you!" she shouted. The purple mare glanced at Twilight for a split-second then turned her gaze toward Rarity, then Applejack, then back to Trixie.

"You! The lavender one!" Trixie shouted. Twilight seemed to shrink back from the show-mare's gaze and glanced at her housemate for a split-second. Amethyst gave a big grin, one tinged with a hint of malice.

"Well, Twi? Should I do it? She deserves to be taken down a peg or two," the purple mare chuckled.

"Please, Twi? Let Ammy do it? She's unbearable!" Spike pleaded.

"Hold that thought, Ammy, let's see what she's capable of doing first."

"Well? Trixie is waiting! Perhaps you are afraid of the magical abilities of the Great and Powerful Trixie? How about you, hayseed?" she asked as she turned her attention to the orange earth pony, who decided to step onto the stage at this point.

"That does it," Applejack stated angrily. "Can your magical powers do this?" she asked, using her tail to spin her rope into a lasso, twirling it around her body in a most skillful fashion. She then swung her lasso to an apple tree and pulled an apple to her with the lasso, the apple falling into her open mouth as she ate it. The audience expressed their approval by cheering her with great enthusiasm. "Top that, missy!"

"Oh ye of little talent," Trixie mused. "Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!" She telekinetically removed her cap, her pink aura glowing around it and her horn, then enveloping one end of the rope the farmer had used for her display. Trixie then enchanted the rope to perform a snake dance, hypnotizing the farmer for a moment, then snatching another apple from the tree with one end of the rope, using the other end to hogtie the farmer and stuff the apple into her mouth, eliciting a cheer from the audience.

"Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails," she said dismissively as the hogtied Applejack hopped off the stage. The cyan pegasus quickly flew up to the stage, hovering practically in the show-mare's face.

"There's no need to go struttin' around and showin' off like that! That's MY job!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed indignantly. The cyan pegasus then flew extremely fast towards a windmill, using it to propel her skyward through several clouds. She then stopped mid-air, basking in the sun's light for a moment, then slashed her way through the same clouds as before, then used the windmill again to propel her to the stage, whereupon she flapped her wings allowing the moisture she had collected to form a rainbow before the stunned audience. "They don't call me Rainbow and Dash for nothing!" she exclaimed proudly to the cheering audience.

"When I'm through with you, the only thing they're going to be calling you is 'loser'," the show-mare responded indignantly, using her magic to wrap the rainbow around the pegasus tightly, then spinning her out of control through the sky and depositing her a fair distance away, still spinning until she stopped.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," the pegasus stated flatly.

"Seems like anypony with a dash of good sense would think twice before tussling with the Great and Powerful Trixie!" she exclaimed, using her magic to create a cloud above the hapless pegasus, striking her with a lightning bolt and causing the audience to laugh again.

"What we need is another unicorn to challenge her, somepony with some magic of her own," Spike stated, nudging the librarian with an elbow.

"Please, allow me," Rarity begain. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash may behave like ruffians, but a unicorn conducts herself with grace, poise, and elegance, allowing not even a hair to get out of place."

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll disturb that rat's nest you call a mane?" Trixie asked, stifling a giggle.

"OH. IT. IS. ON!" Rarity huffed as she took to the stage. "There's more to magic than brute power," the alabaster mane explained, using her magic to remove a curtain from Trixie's stage, shaping it and her mane into something truly exquisite. Trixie gave an evil grin and changed Rarity's mane into a greenish mess, eliciting a gasp from the audience.

"Quick! I need a mirror! Somepony get me a mirror NOW!" the fashionista screeched. "What's wrong with my mane? I know she did something horrible to my mane!"

"It's nothing," the librarian said calmly, trying to reassure the alabaster mare, though she tried to stifle a giggle as well.

"It's fine," said Applejack.

"There's nothing wrong with it," added Rainbow.

"It's green," said Spike, whereupon the others glared at him. Upon hearing this, the fashionista was mortified to find out that her mane was indeed green, and she ran away crying over what had happened to it.

"Is there nopony left to challenge Trixie?" the show-mare asked triumphantly. The dark purple unicorn mare took a step forward, glaring daggers at the show-mare.

"You know something, Trixie? I traveled back in time several years -- in my original timeline, you had changed your ways, not acting like this. You had actually settled down, performing your magic without challenging others. You had an air of self-confidence that did not depend on boasting of abilities you did not have. But here we are now, and this version of you is quite detestable," the purple mare stated.

"You? Traveled back through time? How is that possible? Trixie says you lie! So, purple one, what is your name? Do you wish to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"Come on, Ammy! You can do it!" Spike exclaimed.

"Don't do it, Ammy, please!" Twilight pleaded stridently.

"What's this? You have a fan club? Ammy?" the show-mare asked.

"I am Amethyst Shadow, confidante and housemate to Twilight Sparkle. I used a spell written by Starswirl the Bearded himself in order to travel through time. I challenge you, Trixie, though it will cause me some trouble with Princess Celestia. Prepare to be embarrassed."

"Ooh, the Great and Powerful Trixie is shaking in her hooves! Bring it on!" she chuckled. Twilight face-hoofed and galloped back to the Library.

"I tried to warn her, but did she listen? Nooooo," the librarian thought to herself as she made her way back as quickly as she could. Spike had stayed behind to watch the action.

"Do your worst! Show me what you've got!" the show-mare chuckled, smiling confidently.

"Tell me, Trixie, what's the biggest object you can lift using your telekinesis?" the purple mare asked.

"Watch this, then!" Trixie stated, lifting a very large rock, though the strain caused the show-mare to sweat a bit.

"Is that it? Watch me, and learn," the purple mare stated, lifting Trixie's entire stage and wagon and the two of them twenty feet into the air. Trixie was shocked to see the audience twenty feet below them, oohing and aahing in wonderment.

"Put Trixie's stage down NOW!" she shouted. Amethyst slowly lowered the stage and wagon back to the ground.

"That's pretty impressive, but can you do this?" the show-mare asked, She lit off an impressive display of pyrotechnics, the largest one yet.

"Those are firecrackers compared to what I can show you," the purple mare stated, sending up a truly massive pyrotechnic display, at least five times larger than the ones Trixie had set off. The show-mare's confidence was starting to falter as the crowd oohed at the size of the fireworks, though the purple mare had to hold back on creating her largest ones for the sake of public safety.

"Well, you can't do invisibility, can you?" she asked, making herself invisible.

"Yes," the purple mare replied tersely, making the stage and wagon disappear.

"Where did Trixie's stage go?" she asked as she reappeared, though her stage was still invisible.

"You're still standing on it," the purple mare replied, removing her invisibility spell, causing the stage and wagon to reappear.

"Anything else you'd like to try?" Amethyst grinned.

The show-mare summoned a dark cloud in order to shoot a bolt of lightning at the purple mare. Amethyst saw this and countered with a much larger cloud.

"You think you've mastered weather control? That was one of my specialties in my original timeline," the purple mare chuckled. "I used to put on weather shows, creating mini-tornadoes for the foals to impress them with my knowledge." As if to illustrate her point, she caused a small tornado to drop out of the dark cloud she had summoned, swirling dust around.

The show-mare exploded in fury. "You dare try to show up the Great and Powerful Trixie? You think your magic is something special? I have been holding back, trying to gauge your power. You are strong, but your magic is limited! Now behold, the TRUE power of magic!" she exclaimed, using a combination of spells which dazzled and hypnotized the purple mare. The display of sheer power was such that it caused the audience to retreat to a safer distance as the show-mare channeled more power through her horn, which was glowing a very bright pink. Trixie's eyes went full white as even more power was channeled into her combination of spells.

Amethyst's expression was one of concern. "Can you teleport?" asked the purple mare, as she took the opportunity to do so, materializing in front of the Library in a flash of light and a pale blue POP. Amethyst then entered the library to find Twilight reading a book.

"So, did you show her up?" Twilight asked, contempt dripping from her words.

"She knows some strong stuff, so I left before things escalated out of control," the purple mare stated flatly. "I remembered what you said and held off on using my strongest magic -- I wanted to show her what I'm really capable of doing, but -- I let her win, simply because I don't want to make Princess Celestia too angry with me."

"I told you not to challenge her, Ammy! Where's Spike?"

"Ammy, couldn't you beat her?" the dragon asked as he walked in through the door.

"Well ... I could have -- but I didn't want to let the contest get out of control. I let her win -- this time. She will get what's coming to her soon enough," the purple mare replied.

Back in the town square, Trixie finished showing off her massive spell display. "Where did that purple one go? Did she not understand just how great and powerful Trixie truly is?"

"She teleported away from here," Applejack stated flatly.

"Oh, so she can teleport. Good for her. Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria! Was there ever any doubt?" she chuckled. At this point, the remainder of the audience departed and went back about their daily business. Trixie folded up her stage and started brushing her mane as she gazed at her reflection in a mirror. As she brushed her mane, the two unicorn colts from earlier brought the show-mare a smoothie with extra hay. The two lingered in her presence a bit too long, the orange one staring at her dreamily.

"Yes?" she asked, showing her annoyance at the two colts. The two begged her to retell the story of how she had vanquished the Ursa Major. She condescendingly dismissed the two, stating that she was exhausted from her performance, telling them to begone until morning. The two colts bowed and scraped as they backed away, informing the show-mare that they were at her beck and call. They bumped into Applejack, who had stayed behind for a little bit.

"What in tarnation are you two doin'?" asked the farmer.

"Just bringing the Great and Powerful Trixie a smoothie," the teal one replied.

"And what would ya be doin' that fer?"

"Because she's the greatest magic user in all Equestria!" the orange one stated.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie vanquished an Ursa Major!" the teal one added.

"Were ya two there ta see it happen?"

"Well, uh ... no," they replied.

"Ya shouldn't believe ever'thin' she says -- if'n Ah weren't there ta see her do it, Ah wouldn't believe it mahself! An' neither should you! Not unless an Ursa Major comes walkin' up the street fer her ta vanquish," Applejack mused.

"An Ursa Major walking up the street? Hey Snails, you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" asked the teal colt.

"Why is it they call it a 'flea market' when they don't really sell fleas?" asked the orange colt.

"What? Oh, come on," the teal colt replied with some disgust and took Snails with him.

"Ah wonder what those two are up to," the farm pony silently mused as she made her way back to the farm.

Back at the Library, Spike was fuming. "Come on, Twi, if Ammy can't do it, I know you can! Ammy, did you say you let her win? Why?"

"Because the public safety is more important than my pride," the purple mare stated flatly. "I could have won, but the cost would have been too high. Discretion is the better part of valor, so I left and let her win."

"Ammy set a bad example -- she wasn't supposed to challenge her. I'm not going to clean up your mess, Ammy! I'm not going to show Trixie up, because I don't want my friends taking it the wrong way and start thinking that I'm a braggart!" the librarian exclaimed in exasperation.

"No, Twi, they won't! They'll see you as standing up for them!" Spike responded, his exasperation matching hers.

"Spike's got a point there, Twi," Amethyst stated.

"I'm not going to take this from both of you! My answer is NO! What part of that do you not understand?"

"Well, Ammy tried to stand up for you ..." Spike said, somewhat sullenly.

"And look where it got her. Spike, I know this makes you disappointed, but I'm not going to debase myself by bringing myself down to her level."

"Okay, fine," the dragon said flatly and went outside for a walk.

"Ammy, thanks for using some degree of restraint. It must have hurt to let her win," the lavender mare offered.

"Yeah, it did, a little, but I can't let that bother me. She'll get her comeuppance, mark my words," the purple mare replied. "I'm going to bed, it's getting late."

"Okay, good night, Ammy," Twilight stated, returning to her book.

--------------------------

Elsewhere, in the Everfree Forest, Snips and Snails were making their way to a certain cave. They glanced around nervously, clinging closely to each other for protection. The two clueless unicorn colts trudged into the cave, quickly becoming disoriented by the dark.

"How are we supposed to find an Ursa Major when I can't even see my hoof in front of my face?" asked Snips.

"Hold on," Snails responded, taking a few tries lighting his horn before his illumination stayed on. The light from his horn awoke a sleeping bear, which growled at them. The two were scared witless and galloped for their lives, the Ursa chasing swiftly after them.

Spike was taking a late night walk when the two colts dashed past him. "Uh, hey guys," he said quizzically.

"Can't stop, got a major problem," Snips blurted as he continued his gallop.

"Ursa Major is more like it," Snails added as he tried to keep pace with his friend.

"Trixie!" the two yelled in unison as the Ursa made his presence known, scaring the dragon back to the library.

"Twilight!" Spike called as he ran as quickly as his legs could carry him.

The two colts pounded furiously on Trixie's caravan, waking her from her slumber.

"Trixie thought she told you that the Great and Powerful Trixie did not want to be disturbed!" she glowered at the two, who were shaking in fear.

"Um, we've got a little problem," Snips stated.

"Actually, it's a big one," Snails corrected.

"What is so important that --" Trixie began before she heard the roar of the lumbering beast. It cleared the trees and when the show-mare spotted it, she screamed in terror and fled as quickly as she could. The beast smashed Trixie's wagon with a single stomp of its right front paw, glowering at the fleeing unicorns.

Back at the library, Spike quickly tried to get Twilight's attention. She stated she did not want to show up Trixie, but then she heard the beast's roar.

"Uh, is that what I think it is?" the librarian asked fearfully.

"Yeah, majorly," the dragon replied.

--------------------------------

The three unicorns were trapped in a dead end as the Ursa approached. The two colts encouraged Trixie to vanquish the beast, proclaiming that they had gone to quite a bit of trouble to bring the beast there. The show-mare was flabbergasted by this information and asked them why they did such a foolish thing.

"You're the Great and Powerful Trixie! You vanquished an Ursa Major!" Snails stated.

The beast roared in the show-mare's face, but she stood her ground. Using her magic, she tied a rope around ... two of its fingers on a paw, which the beast easily snapped.

"Come on, Trixie, stop playing around and vanquish it!" the orange colt protested.

"Uh, right!" the show-mare grinned sheepishly. She furrowed her brow and grimaced as she channeled magic through her horn, summoning a large thundercloud to zap the Ursa with a lightning bolt. When the full scale of the beast was revealed, the cloud was less than a quarter of the size of the bear. The cloud released a lightning bolt, which barely did anything more than to anger the beast, which roared again.

"Uh oh," Trixie stated, her fear growing. The three unicorns then dashed away again, leaving the Ursa somewhat puzzled before it gave chase again, terrifying the townsponies as it gnawed on the roof of a less-fortunate house. Twilight dashed to see what was going on and met up with the two colts. Amethyst was following close behind, the dragon holding onto her neck.

"What's going on here?" the librarian asked.

"We brought an Ursa Major to town!" Snips stated proudly.

"You WHAT?!" Twilight exclaimed incredulously.

"You idiots!" Amethyst added.

"Don't worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it!" Snails stated proudly.

"I ... I can't," the show-mare stated dejectedly.

"What?!" the two colts exclaimed

'I can't -- I never could -- nopony could vanquish an Ursa Major, I just made the whole story up to make me look better," confessed the azure mare.

"Made it up?!" the two colts exclaimed, their incredulity becoming readily apparent.

"Amethyst? You showed me you could control the weather -- you want to zap it with lightning?" Trixie asked.

"Bad idea, Trixie. Lightning will only make it angrier. You showed me some powerful magic, so why not do that again?" the purple mare asked.

"That was just illusion magic! I don't have that kind of power for real! How are you going to defeat it?" Trixie asked.

Spike nudged Twilight, who gulped as she saw the danger become more readily apparent, the Ursa rearing up onto its hind legs, blocking the moon's light with its massive size. The librarian set her hooves and concentrated, channeling magic through her horn, summoning a gust of wind which snapped some reeds. The broken reeds resonated with the wind, the music lulling the Ursa to a state of drowsiness. She then used her telekinesis to remove the town's water tower, emptied it, then used the tank to milk the cows on the farm, filling the tank with milk. The strain of all this was causing the librarian to sweat profusely and she grunted in exertion, her horn glowing with three levels of magic simultaneously.

The Ursa's drowsiness caused it to fall towards Trixie, who used her own telekinesis to push the beast away from her, but then Twilight's telekinesis took control of the Ursa, lifting it into the air and placing the makeshift milk bottle in the beast's paws. The Ursa started sucking the milk from the tank as the librarian used her telekinesis to place the beast back in its cave, the strain of using so much magic making her grimace and screw her eyes shut. Finally done, she powered down her horn and heaved a sigh of relief.

"I've seen you do some amazing things, Twilight, but that one takes the cake," the purple mare stated proudly.

"Unbelievable!" Spike exclaimed, the assemblage of ponies cheering in amazement.

"Heavens to Betsy! We knew ya had magic ability, but not THAT much!" Applejack exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, please don't hate me," the lavender mare stated softly.

"Hate you? Why would we? Whatever do you mean, darling?" asked Rarity.

"It's just that -- I thought because Trixie showed off her magic ability that you would resent me for my abilities," replied Twilight.

"She's just a loudmouth," stated Rainbow.

"All hat and no cattle," added Applejack.

"Most unpleasant," offered Rarity.

"Egotistical, pompous, bombastic --" Amethyst began.

"We get the idea, Ammy!" the others stated in unison as they chuckled.

"Magic's a part of who ya are, Twilight! We're proud to have such a talented unicorn as our friend!" the farmer stated proudly.

"How'd you know how to defeat the Ursa?" asked Spike.

"That's a very good question," added the purple mare. "I'm curious to know this as well."

"That book you saw me reading earlier had the answers in it. Trixie's boasting intrigued me, so I decided to do a little research on the matter," the librarian replied.

"So the book showed you how to defeat an Ursa Major all by yourself?" asked the dragon.

"That wasn't an Ursa Major -- it was a baby, an Ursa Minor," Twilight clarified.

"THAT was a BABY?" Trixie asked incredulously.

"And it wasn't rampaging, it was cranky because somepony woke it up!" the librarian stated as she glared at the two colts who had lured the beast into town, the two trying to make themselves as small as possible, expressing their remorse with a none-too-subtle, "Aww."

"If that was an Ursa Minor, what does an Ursa Major look like?" asked the dragon.

"It's about 20 times bigger," Amethyst answered flatly, causing the assembled townsponies to gasp in horror at the thought.

"You don't wanna know," Twilight added, musing thoughtfully about the size of such a beast.

"Hah! You might have vanquished the Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" she proclaimed indignantly before lighting a smoke bomb and galloping away from the town.

"What that little --" the cyan pegasus growled and took to the air to give chase.

"Just let her go -- perhaps someday she'll learn her lesson," the librarian stated.

"I was hoping she stay for at least a few more minutes -- I wanted to talk to her a bit longer," the purple mare mused.

"About what?" her housemate asked, shooting her an accusatory glare.

"She and I have ... a bit of a history in my original timeline," Amethyst said wistfully, blushing ever so slightly. The others gave her a quizzical look before Snips and Snails tried to leave, the librarian blocking their path.

"Now, as for you two ..." the librarian stated, glowering at the two hapless colts.

"We're sorry we woke up the Ursa Minor -- we just wanted to see some awesome magic!" Snails stated.

"We deserve whatever punishment you give us," Snips stated as the two bowed before her.

"What do you think, Spike? Should I give them number 25?" the librarian grinned.

"Yeah, and do that for me, too!" the dragon chuckled. The purple mare grinned and shook her head almost in disbelief as her housemate lit her horn again, causing mustaches to appear on the two colts' faces as well as Spike's.

"Sweet!" all three of them chimed in unison.

---------------------

The following day, Twilight wrote another friendship letter to the Princess, informing her that her fear of being perceived as a braggart prevented her from showing off her talents, but that there was a proper time and place for such displays, especially when standing up for your friends. As she finished up the letter, Spike walked into the room, still wearing his mustache.

"So, how'd it go with Rarity?" the librarian asked, grinning.

"She didn't fall for the mustache," the dragon said, disappointedly.

"That mustache has nothing to do with who you really are -- I have learned that what's inside is more important than what's on the outside, Spike," Amethyst stated as she poked her head into the room.

"Maybe the mustache wasn't enough," the dragon mused.

"Please, Spike, you look ridiculous enough with that thing! The last thing you need is more facial hair!" the purple mare chuckled. "Why not try just being yourself? That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way."

"Okay, Ammy, you got a point there. Twi, go ahead and take it off, I guess I'll just have to try being myself then," the dragon stated, some disappointment still tinging his words. "But please let me wear it from time to time! I kinda like it!"

All three of them chuckled at the sentiment as they continued about their activities for the day.