> Fluttersized 2: Barro Vs. Trixie
>  by Barrobroadcaster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A little idea
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was late at night by the time Trixie arrived in the outskirts of Canterlot.The sun had gone down, street lamps and light from buildings provided the only illumination the to city. What she'd overheard on the train had not been an exaggeration; the city had been destroyed by two giant pegasi fighting. The train station was still intact but the streets that led into town were covered in debris. City workers, even the royal guards were trying to clear the rubble off the roads and paths. Trixie gritted her teeth and stamped the ground. With the city in ruins, she had no way of returning home to her apartment. She didn't even know if the building it was in was still standing for her to return to.

Trixie turned away from the roads leading into town. It would likely be hours before the crew cleared the debris and she didn't want to spend all night waiting. Trixie's eyes were on the pavement as she walked along the outskirts of the city, deep in thought. If she had the Alicorn Amulet, she could remove all that rubble in no time. The rubble that Twilight Sparkle's friends had made of Canterlot. She tried not to let such thoughts get the better of her. Since interacting with Twilight and her friends, Trixie had tried to change her attitude. It wasn't always easy though and she had a long road ahead of her. Like the road home, it was also clutterd with debris.

When a giant-sized Fluttershy arrived in Ponyville, Trixie had at first tried to protect the town. Then when it was revealed that it was Twilight Sparkle's magical experiment that had gigantified her friend, Trixie had tried to help return her to normal. But all that she'd managed to do was cause more trouble and in the end, Fluttershy had flown off. Twilight and her friends had apparently pursued Fluttershy by balloon to Canterlot where some other kind of fight had ensued, apparently between Fluttershy and ANOTHER giant-sized pegasus. Trixie hadn't been included in the trip to Canterlot. It had taken her this long just to get Canterlot by train. Now, she returned to the aftermath of a catastrophe and was just concerned with getting home after the day's events. She sighed heavily.

Something caught Trixie's eye in the grass on the side of the road. She didn't know what it was at first, it looked like a piece of furniture or a piano of some kind. She approached it, curious. The light from the street lamp illuminated one corner of it. Its surface was a pale white criss-crossed by lines. Dark symbols adorned the spaces between the lines and ran along the length of the surface. Wind blew and the top of it ruffled in the breeze. It was a book, a giant notebook.

Using her magic, Trixie pulled the book under the light of the neares streetlamp. Why would somepony write in a giant notebook? Wouldn't that make writing more difficult? Or... or was this some kind of notebook for a giant pegasus? Trixie looked around. She was alone. Maybe the Megasi weren't caused by Twilight Sparkle's spell mishap. Maybe they were real creatures, flying around, threatening to stomp all of Equestria into oblivion under giant hooves!

Trixie tried calm herself. She took a few deep breaths and turned the book over. On the front was a title and underneath it was a name:

Fluttersized
written by Barro

What kind of notebook was this? She thought to herself. The name "Barro" seemed somehow familiar to her but she couldn't put a hoof on where she'd heard it before. Curiosity continued to get the better of her. She opened the book and started reading in the light of the streetlamp.

Some sort of giant, orange globs were stuck between the pages. Whoever was writing this must've been eating something at the time. Fluttershy... that was the name of Twilight Sparkle's friend, the one who'd become gigantified. In fact, the story seemed to follow the events of what had happened from Fluttershy's perspective. Yes, she was sure of it. Somepony had recorded the events of how Fluttershy had become a giant in this notebook!

Trixie turned the page. Sure enough, Twilight Sparkle's name appeared at the top. Figures she'd get all the glory. Trixie was eager though to find her own name. Yes, there it was, the great and powerful Trixie had recieved recognition! Some kind of orange globules cheese stuck the pages together. Whoever wrote this must've been eating at the time. Despite the cheese, Trixie was able to read the notebook clearly. It was all there, every word.

It was just then that Trixie got an idea. These events, events she'd been a part of DID make a good story. She could write her own, sell it, publish it, make money! Who wouldn't want to know the truth about how all this devestation happened? But Trixie wasn't a writer; she was a magician. And somepony had already written something about these events, right in front of her. A mischievious grin dawned on the unicorn's face. All she had to do was replace one name... with her own. Whoever this "Barro" character was, he should be more careful with his belongings.

Now, how was she supposed to get this notebook home? She thought about using the sizing spell and then quickly decided against it; that spell had caused enough trouble for one day. Despite her confidence in her own abilities, she didn't want to be responsible if something just happened to go wrong. Better safe than sorry, she reasoned.

Using all of her magic, she levitated the notebook and onto her own back. It was heavy, her legs shook under its weight. But she held it up and started walking into Canterlot, careful that she wasn't seen by anypony or at least noticed too much. Everypony was still busy trying to clear the roads, find their own ways home and pick up the broken pieces of their lives. Trixie had just found one piece that could be the key to improving her life quite substantially. She trotted along the road, sweating under the weight of the book but still pleased. This was too BIG of an opportunity to waste.
> Something Barro this way Broadcasts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something wasn't right. Barro spent at least a minute staring up at the ceiling. Something just did not feel right about the world. He sat up, scootched over to the edge of the bed and sat there for another minute, unable to shake the feeling that something was... just wrong.

He got up, stood on two legs.  His eyes slowly drifted down to the floor to his... feet? Feet, yes, that's what they were called wasn't it? Both of his legs were covered by cloth, some sort of pants. He looked at his... hands next? Flexing each finger, he then tried balling up both into fists. He then ran a hand through his mane, it covered a great deal less than it had just yesterday. Or, what he thought was yesterday. He walked out of his bedroom slowly, the feeling of unease he had when he woke up stayed with him.

Barro placed a hand on the wall, to steady both his body and his mind. He was disoriented, this was all wrong. He was supposed to have hooves, not hands or feet. He was a pony or at least he was a pony last night. And now he'd woken up to find he was... something else entirely. He breathed, tried to calm himself. Carefully, Barro walked down the stairs on his two legs. Had there always been stairs here?

Entering the kitchen, he saw his friend and roomate Michael Hay. He, too, looked different to Barro. Pale-skinned with yellow hair, Michael sat at the kitchen table eating cereal.

"Mornin' Cran. Up early for a change?" Michael regarded Barro as he entered the kitchen. "You excited to go to Berrycon?"

Barro put both hands on the table to steady himself. "What did you call me?" he asked.

"Cranbarro," Michael said, looking up at him mid-bite. "Why? You don't like your Berryname shortened?"

"Berryname... what? And what happened to your mane?"

"Mane? What do you mean? Is my hair not yellow enough or something?"

Barro walked over to his friend and took a seat next to him. "Michael, what's my name?"

"Cranbarro... it's been that since I met you," Michale replied, his voice sounding confused.

Barro shook his head. "No, it's just Barro. My name isn't Cran-anything."

"That's your berryname, Cranbarro. Remember?" Michael said, trying to help his friend.

"No... no I don't. I don't remember any of this. This house, these... hands," Barro looked around, frustrated and confused.

"Do you remember me? Michael Sorbet, famous director of Transforms'mores?"

Barro was no less confused by Michael's words. "Cranbarro, Michael Sorbet... TransformS'MORES? What is with these names?"

"The movies I worked on? You know, the ones that everyberry thinks are too 'effects-driven'," Michael said, folding his ARMS.

"EveryBERRY?" Barro shouted, shocked by the term. " Michael, it's everyPONY," he tried to correct, almost pleading with his friend that what he said was a mistake.

Michael just leaned back and laughed. "Why would anyberry say that? There's a lot of berribro terms but I don't think I've ever heard the phrase 'anypony' before."

"Michael, we're notsupposed to be 'berribros', we're supposed to be bronies. We're ponies. This isn't right, nothing about this is right," Barro said, standing. He looked at himself in the reflection of the sink. He remembered a dark-brown mane... what he saw was cranberry-red short hair. His nose twitched and noticed the scent of cranberries... coming from his hair.

"Calm down, Cran-man," Michael said, walking over and holding Barro's shoulders, trying to comfort and stabilize his friend. "Take a deep breath. Just like Strawberry Shortcake says at the end of the Season 3 Finale: Everything is gonna be okay!"

Barro turned his head over to his friend slowly, a closed-mouth look of pure horror on his face with just a hint of shock and sadness.

A knock at the door drew both of their attention to the back of the kitchen. "Everyberry ready to go to Berrycon?" a familiar voice asked.

Michael 'Sorbet' walked over and opened the door. A tall, dark figure in a cloak stepped through. A gray-skinned man with twisted eyes and jetblack hair that moved like smoke as he stood in the doorway checked his watch.

"Who... who are you?!" Barro asked the figure, backing up to the sink in shock.

The tall, gray man raised an eyebrow. "Cranbarro, it's King Sherbert. I'm here for my regularly scheduled screentime. I'm supposed to get some each episode, remember? Now, where did I put that gak...?" he said, turning around.

That was too much. Barro snapped. His knees buckled, he braced himself on the kitchen countertop and screamed, "Noooooooooooooooooo!!!" Suddenly, the world became dark.

Barro woke up, his breathing and heartrate rapid. He sat up in bed and looked around his room. Quickly, he checked his limbs. He was relieved to see flat-surfaced, white appendages staring back at him in the dimness of the early morning. He brushed his mane with the back of his right hoof and exhaled a deep breath. Everything was the way it should be.

The pictures on his dresser, the models of the starships U.S.S Enterpony and the Marelennium Falcon and his pet Siberian Sand Lobster "Rudy" were all just as they should've been. It had all just been a dream. Thank goodness.

He walked out of his bedroom, happy to hear the sound of his hooves on the floor and to feel the cold surface beneath him. No stairs either, he stepped out of the small hallway to see his roommate, Michael Hay, laying on the couch playing 3DS.

"Morning Mike!" Barro said with a smile on his face. "How are you feeling today?"

"Hey," Michael said, his attention not breaking from the game he held. "You seem happy this morning."

"Yes, yes I am. Had this crazy dream last night..."

Michael still didn't look up from his game. "That nightmare where everypony's a biped again?"

"Yeah," Barro said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a breakfast bar. The breakfast bar, a small bar of mixed oates, nuts, grains and fruits, they were cheap, low-calorie meal-substitutes for those too busy or too lazy to sit down and actually eat a balanced breakfast. Of suspicious nutrition and ficticious deliciousness, it was nevertheless better than eating nothing in the mornings. "Except I think King Sombra was in it. And he got regular screentime."

"Geh," Michael responded. "What a horrible thought. You should probably stop leaving the internet on when you go to sleep."

"That might be a good idea," Barro said, eating what passed for his breakfast.

"We going to go get your notebook today?"

"Uh, sure. You think you and me can carry it back here ourselves?" Barro asked.

Michael scoffed at the notion of physical labor. "Yeah, we could do that. Or, because it's studio property, we could say transporting it was work-related. And therefore, we could get the studio stagecoach and go get it," Michael suggested, closing the handheld game system and sitting up.

"You can't just take liberties with studio equipment whenever you want to, Michael," Barro said, raising an eyebrow at Michael's plans to use something belonging to their bosses in a less-than-responsible manner.

Michael smiled slyly back at him. "I'm Michael Hay, remember? How can anypony say no?"

"The same way they said no to Cloverfilled," Barro replied, dampening Michael's confidence by bringing up his past project that the studio had decided NOT to invest in. Like others, Barro thought that it was probably a good idea. Michael though had been disheartened by the event. "But you know, there's still a lot of destruction left over from yesterday. We could get the crew together and help get the roads clear again, document everypony working to rebuild the city."

Michael's head sunk low. Cleaning up the city was an important job but not one he was enthusiastic about.

"And we'll use the stagecoach to grab my notebook while we're out," Barro said, consoling his friend. "Let's get going now before they mistake my notebook for debris." The two of them headed out, locking the door to their apartment behind them as they left.
> Big Shot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By some odd grace, the buildings that made up Unicorneversal Studios where Michael and Barro currently worked were unscathed by the recent mayhem. Not only that, the path from Barro's apartment to the studio was unobstructed, another grace. The two made it to the studio quickly in the early hours of the Canterlot morning.

An indigo-colored pony sat in front of the gates to the studio entrance, his head held in his hooves. He let out a sigh and his two bat-like wings flexed.

"En-gee! What's up?" Barro called to the half-pony, half-thestral as he and Michael approached.

"Hey guys," Night Glider said, sounding defeated.

"What's wrong, Night? What're you doing out here?" Barro asked his friend.

Night sighed again. "I didn't get the part." he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"What was the part of?" Michael asked.

"Aw, I was trying out for Appletar 2. Was going for a lead role," Night explained, standing up. "Half the town is wrecked, production's been delayed across the board and they still won't consider me."

"That sucks, En-gee. Did they tell you why at least?" Barro asked.

"As a matter of fact, they did. Said they weren't looking for an original character," Night answered.

"That's messed up," Michael stated flatly. "Neighmes Cameron's an OC himself. I bet so is ninety-nine percent of the staff. It's a crossover for harmony's sake. You should be able to get in no problem."

"You'll find a story to get into soon enough, Night," Barro said, consoling him.

"I might be able to find you a part in the next Transformares," Michael offered.

"Um, thanks Mike," Night Glider sounded less than eager about starring in one of Michael's movies. "I'll uh,... thanks."

"Don't mention it," Michael smiled. Barro picked up on Night's lack of enthusiasm but decided not to say anything. Michael's movies had a reputation: despite being very popular, grossing millions of bits all over Equestria, the greater cinema community didn't think much of them. Criticisized for being overly effects-driven, having shallow stories, many plotholes, lackluster acting and direction , despite being a hit at the box office, Michael Hay's films weren't well-recieved by critics and recieved mixed reviews from the audience.

Michael found out very quickly that being popular and being liked were two very different things. His producers and the executives at the studio had still yet to respect him. In fact, his style of directing made ponies hesitant to work for or with him or invest in any of his projects. While he considered his ideas 'revolutionary', those around him called him 'unorthodox'. Barro had settled for looking at Michael as 'unconventional' and had done his best to support his friend since being kidnapped by him in the Author's Notes section of the first story.

Michael showed his ID badge to the security gaurd and the three of them walked through the gates into the studios. Enormous, hangar-sized buildings occupied space to their immediate left. To their right and directly ahead of them were smaller buildings, studio offices, storage spaces and other buildings were packed tightly together. Normally, the studio would be busy with activity, it being a weekday but with much of Canterlot in ruin, the studio lot was empty as the three ponies walked through the lot to the offices.

"I've got a few different projects I'm hoping to get started on very soon," Michael said. "I as they passed a large cardboard advertisement for Transformares. "Right now, we're going to requisition one of the studio's stagecoaches to get Barro's notebook. We've got something in it that the execs are going to want to see," Michael smirked.

"Yeah, let's just make sure we keep track of the studio equipment this time. We shouldn't have even left that notebook out overnight," Barro said.

Mike's determination was undeterred. "We return everything we borrow, Barro."

Barro frowned at the casual use of his name being rhymed and his friend's exaggeration.

"Okay, MOST everything," Michael corrected. "And it'll just be a quick trip there and back anyway. We'll get the book shrunk, get some footage of the town in shambles and be back before lunch." The three approached one of the office buildings. Strangely enough, it opened for them and another pony held it open as another exited.

"...set right now but we can start preproduction right away," a purple pony in a business suit said as he opened the door for a familiar blue unicorn. Half a dozen other ponies were behind them, they all wore business suits, some were speaking into blue hooves-free devices attatched to their ears. A meeting must've just got out, this was normal but still a tad unexpected. Michael singled out the purple pony holding the door.

"Scale! Hey!," he said as he walked over to the crowd. They assembled in front of the office building, still talking amongst themselves about princess only knows what. The blue unicorn, a mare wearing a magician's hat and cape stood with her head held eye and eyes pretentiously shut as they formed behind her. If she was listening to somepony talking to her in all the commotion, Michael, Barro and Night didn't know.

"Oh, Michael, hi," the pony said. "Wasn't expecting you this early,"

"Yeah, I know. Me and my new writer need to borrow a 'coach for a little while, do some scene-scouting."

True Scale, a mid-level producer and manager at the studio, tried to say something as the talkative crowd of ponies exited.

"Excuse me but you're in the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie's way so please, move aside," the blue mare said as she walked away. Barro noticed something peculiar under the mare's collar that made him stop and turn as the unicorn tried to walk past.

"Hey, wait a minute," Barro stopped her.

"What? What is it? Can the great and powerful Trixie help you?"

"Yeah, you can; that's my notebook around your neck," Barro said, gesturing towards the journal.

"Preposterous! How dare you claim that Trixie's book is your own," Trixie said, recoiling at the remark. Several of the ponies behind them stopped talking and others only talked softer, their attention now on the altercation between the unicorn and colt.

"Your book? Where did you find that? That's MY notebook, I just wrote in it yesterday," Barro pointed at the book, getting annoyed.

"This is Trixie's notebook, as you can see the name clearly on the front," Trixie declared, levitating it out in front of herself for all to see.



Fluttersized
written by Barro an original screenplay from
The Great and Powerful Trixie

"Wow," Michael said. "Barro, isn't "Fluttersized" the title of your story? Hers has the same title!"

Barro practically facehooved. "That's because it IS mine Michael."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so you wrote it with the Great and Powerful Trixie? You... you haven't been seeing another director behind my back have you?"

Now Barro actually facehooved. "Michael, that's MY notebook. She crossed my name out and wrote her own. You can even tell where she drew a line through-"

"Silence!" Trixie said, returning the book under her collar. "This is my original screenplay idea and I've already submitted it to Unicorneversal Studios for recognition."

"And it's already been approved for production," a voice said from behind them. Stepping out from the crowd was another blue unicorn, this one in a business suit, glasses and cap. His coat was a light blue but a different shade than Trixie's with a dark blue mane and matching beard. Barro noticed both Michael and Night's mouths hung slightly agape as he approached them.

"An original screenplay based on true events written and starring a pony who first-hand experienced every breathtaking moment. How could we say no?" the colt said with a smile.

"Ne... Neighmes Cameron," Michael said, studdering.

"Oh, Michael. I didn't see you there. I'm sorry the studio rejected your project... uh, Cloverfed was it?"

Michael gritted his teeth in annoyance. "It's Cloverfilled," he corrected.

"I'm sure it is Michael. It's been nice catching up but we've got to get going," Neighmes Cameron said, starting to walk away with Trixie.

"Wait just a minute," Barro halted the two of them. "Mr. Cameron, that's not her story; it's mine. I wrote it and I didn't submit it to the studio as a screenplay."

Trixie turned around swiftly, almost snarling in rage. "For the last time Mr. Broadcaster, this is NOT your book, this is Trixie's! This is Trixie's movie idea as Trixie witnessed the events herself!!" she practically screamed. Everypony backed away from her ever so slightly, the crowd, just a tiny bit terrified of unicorn. A silence broke over the crowd as Trixie huffed angrily. Trixie's eyes looked at the crowd and noticed some of the frightened expressions.

To break the silence, Trixie shouted, "Trixie!" one last time, making everypony take another cautionary step away from her.

"Wait a minute," Barro said. "How did you know my last name?"

"If I might point out," Neighmes Cameron interrupted, stepping forward. "This notebook happens to be studio property, including what's written in it. Unless you have any proof that's what written is yours, then I'm afraid you have no claim here." Trixie nodded in agreement, so did several of the crowd of the producers, even the ones using hooves-free devices.

Barro opened his mouth to say something. "I... I... uh..." was all he managed, an outstretched hoof raised in denial, slowly he sat it back on the pavement again, unable to find the words.

"Hey," Michael spoke up. "That's Barro's notebook and that's his screenplay, I know that for a fact and we're not just going to let-"

"Really Michael?" Neighmes interrupted. "How many times have you lost studio equipment?" Michael was stunned into silence, several of the producers casted harsh gazes at him.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we really must be going. We'll talk later Michael, Mr. Broadcaster," Neighmes Cameron said, walking away at Trixie's side. The crowd of producer ponies followed, picking up conversation again until their voices became an incoherent drone that slowly drifted off the studio lot like a storm cloud. Michael, Barro and Night stood there in silence, watching as they exited the studio gates.

"Buckin' hay," Michael said, breaking the silence. "There goes our screenplay."

"Our screenplay? What's that supposed to mean?" Barro inquired at his friend's choice of words.

"Oh, uh,-"

"You were planning on submitting my story, weren't you?"

"Well, I-"

It was Barro's turn to be mad. "I don't want that story submitted, Michael. I agreed to help you with Cloverfilled, not any of my stories."

Michael backed away from the angry stallion. "But... but they rejected my idea and I was thinking if it was about a REAL story that happened we'd have a better chance and-"

"You were going to submit my story as a screenplay! I told you I didn't want it getting that kind of recognition!"

"But, it's really good and-" Michael continued to try to justify himself but was just not able to reach Barro.

"That doesn't mean it's meant to be a movie, Michael!"

"But why not?" Michael genuinely asked.

Barro put a hoof to his face and closed his eyes. "It's likeTransformares, it's cliche enough already, if it becomes a movie than that's just the same thing on screen. And we don't need a repeat of Transformares. I'm betting that's why the producers declined on Cloverfilled."

Again, Michael was stunned speechless. He realized now that he was jumping the gun; he hadn't considered what Barro said, he figured he'd want his story to be made into a feature-length film. Directed by Michael Hay. I mean, who wouldn't? But he hadn't considered what his friend wanted before he thought about it.

"You're no better than Trixie, Michael," Barro said, looking down. That cut Michael deep.

"If I might say something," Night spoke up before any more harsh words could be exchanged. "Did either of you notice what was around her neck?"

"Yeah, my notebook and her cloak. What, has being out in the dark so often damaged your eyesight?" Barro asked, still angered.

"Hey," Night took offense to that. "Don't take your frustration out on me, now did you see what was on her neck or not?" the halfling said. He understood Barro's anger but that didn't give him the right to talk to him like that. Still, Night was smart enough to know Barro didn't mean it.

"I'm sorry," Barro took a deep breath and apologized. "I had a nightmare last night then I woke up and this happened..."

"It's okay, Barro. Seems we all haven't been having much luck." Night said, recalling his own rejection. "But on her collar, did you see that thing she was wearing?" Night asked.

"I think I saw some kind of pendant or something. What about it?"

"That wasn't just a pendant. That was the Alicorn Amulet," Night Glider stated.

"What's an 'Alicorn Amulet?" Michael asked, putting a hoof to his chin. No doubt, he was already thinking of how he could use it in a film of some kind.

"It's an artifact of incredible magical power. Grants the wearer all sorts of abilities, the highest-level stuff. But it also corrupts whoever wears it, making them do malicious and evil things," Night explained. "Trixie used it along time ago, conquered all of Ponyville in the process."

"So, what, she's actually evil now?" Barro asked.

"Evil, powerful and with an ego to match," Night answered.

Michael's hoof remained at his chin. "Powerful, corrupt and stealing ideas from ponies. She's exactly like... every other producer who ever lived." he surmised.

"If Trixie has the Amulet, she could do a lot worse to this city than another giant pegasi," Night said, his voice conveying the grave implications of the situation.

"We have to get that thing away from her then," Barro said.

"And your story back," Michael added. Barro gared at him again.

"Hey, I said 'story' not screenplay!" Michael pleaded.

"How are we going to get it back though?" Night asked.

"I think I have an idea," Barro said. "We're going to need to requisition some studio equipment Michael."
> Big Delivery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trixie arrived home late that evening after going over a production schedule with director Cameron. Everything was happening so quickly, it was fantastic. She'd arrived at the studio with the story early in the morning, pitched it, producers had been called in and soon they'd been talking about casting for the roles. It couldn't have gone better. Until the actual author of the story showed up.

She felt bad about stealing the story... part of her did. But the city had been in chaos, that could've been anypony's notebook with anypony's original story based on eyewitness testimony and in-depth character analysis of the events that occured only just yesterday inside. Right? Right... so, she was simply taking advantage of the situation. Besides, Trixie had been there, too and she was even in the story itself. So she felt she had a right to claim the notebook.

Trixie entered her bedroom and took off her hat and cloak, the Alicorn Amulet still attatched. Before she'd left for Canterlot yesterday, she'd decided to take a little memento with her: the Alicorn Amulet. While it had caused problems for her in the past, she was confident she was now able to use it without being controlled by its power. She'd had to use it to return the notebook to normal size, she'd be hesitant to use it but eventually decided it was worth it. Now, she felt no discomfort in weilding the device freely or removing it when she didn't need it. Twilight Sparkle had been wrong; Trixie was in control, she wouldn't lose herself to the gem again. But what if she already had?

Using her magic, she levitated the notebook in front of her, turned on a light and opened it to the first page. Dried cheese was still stuck to the surface, she scowled at it in disgust. Barro definitely didn't take care of this notebook, more evidence that she deserved it more than him. She scraped the pieces of dairy off with her hoof, doing her best to remove as much of the substance as she could from the pages. Satisfied with the amount she'd taken off, Trixie reread the story. She soon noticed though that some of the cheese was stuck to her hoof. Curiosity got the better of her for a split second, she sniffed the goo on her leg and even tasted it.

"BLEAGH!" How could Trixie have just allowed herself to do that?! The small amount of day-old disgusting notebook cheese she just swallowed soon felt like an immense stone in her stomach. She wiped the rest of her hoof on her bedsheets in disgust, disgust at the cheese not herself. She closed the notebook and levitated it to a place on her nightstand, turned off her light and closed her eyes, trying to get to sleep as quickly as possible and forget what she'd just done. Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched.

"She ate the cheese," Michael said, hanging alongside Barro on the outside window of Trixie's apartment. "I can't believe she actually did that! Did you see that? She ate the chee-"

"Keep. Your. Voice. DOWN," Barro ordered, lest they alert Trixie or anypony else to what they were doing. Barro's plan was simple: sneak in to Trixie's apartment, steal back the notebook and the Alicorn Amulet, replace them with fakes from the studio and get the buck out before anypony noticed. All too easy, like something out of Double-Oates Seven.

"One question," Night Glider said over earpiece. "I can fly and see very well in the dark. Hence, the name 'Night Glider'. Why am I the one delivering the pizza?"

"Because she didn't get a good look at you back at the studio. Out of all of us, you're the least likely to get her attention," Barro explained. So it was actually a good thing Night hadn't made a scene at the studio like Barro and Michael had. The two of them were going to use glass-cutting kit that they got from the studio to get into Trixie's apartment without making a sound. Meanwhile, Night Glider would distract the Great and Powerful bitch at the door disguised as a delivery colt. Classic.

Trixie's apartment was on the second floor of a large complex in downtown Canterlot. Barro and Michael hung from grappling cables that the studio used for rock-climbing scenes. Barro took a deep breath and gave Night Glider the signal.

Night Glider got into position in the hallway outside Trixie's apartment and took a moment to adjust his disguise. He was careful to fold his wings back and press them tightly against his sides: while halflings and thestrals weren't that uncommon, they were still rare enough to warrant suspicion and lasting impression. He took a deep breath and raised a hoof to knock on the door.

Trixie's eyes shot open. Three heavy rappings at her door roused her from her comfort in bed and drew her attention. Who exactly could it be at this time of night? Slowly, she got up and out of bed and trotted out of her bedroom and to the door. As she approached, the visitor knocked again. Her stomach groaned with pain as she walked through her living room.

"Trixie's coming!" she yelled angrily through the door. Unlocking it quickly, she opened it to see a delivery pony standing in her doorway. "What is it that is interrupting the Great and Powerful Trixie's Great and Necessary beauty sleep?!"

"Uhh, one medium Beet Lover's pizza with extra haybacon?" Night Glider said. "That'll be tree-fiddy."

Trixie looked down at the rectangular box the colt presented to her. "Trixie ain't givin' you no tree-fiddy! Trixie didn't even order a pizza? Who would order pizza to be delivered this late at night?!" she demanded.

Night's mind worked fast. "Umm, well, I just make the deliveries ma'am. I didn't ask why you ordered it but I wouldn't mind a tip-"

"Trixie just told you," the disgruntled mare said through gritted teeth. "Trixie didn't order a pizza so clearly you have the wrong address!" she yelled, starting to close the door. Night hadn't gotten word from Barro meaning they hadn't finished yet. So he had to stall her.

"This, uh, this isn't B-12?" he said, reading the number on Trixie's apartment.

Trixie opened the door slightly. "This is B-12 but Trixie DID NOT ORDER ANYTHING!"

This is where Night's acting skills payed off. "What apartment complex is this because the order definitely specified for a B-12 and-" The halfling began a long series of questions, asking for directions and the whereabouts of half a dozen places nearby. His professionality and the way he phrased the questions was just enough to keep Trixie going but not enough to annoy her so much as to have her slam the door in his face.

Meanwhile, Barro and Michael were finally done cutting through the glass of Trixie's window. Barro crept through Trixie's apartment with all the stealth skills of Solid Steed himself or at least what he hoped was stealth. Holding a flashlight in his mouth, he searched for the notebook and the Amulet.

He spotted his notebook on a nightstand and the cursed pendant on top of a dresser. Carefully, he swapped both with the copies from the studio's prop department. Confident that he'd done the job, he turned back to the window.

"Wow, this place is nice. Her apartment's got so much more space than yours," Michael said, holding a camera and filming Trixie's bedroom.

"What are you doing?!" Barro asked in an angry whisper.

Michael shrugged. "Stock-footage?"

Barro gestured for Michael to get rid of the camera through gritted teeth. Of course, the director didn't listen. Suddenly, the camera made a beeping noise.

"Shit," Michael cursed. "Battery's running low." The beeping rang out through the apartment, it was just loud enough for Trixie to hear. The blue unicorn slowly turned to see Michael through the doorway to her bedroom.

"Who-what are you doing in Trixie's apartment?!! Theives!!" Trixie shouted.

Night quickly opened the pizza box.

"TRIXIE!!" he yelled, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Why are you-" Trixie started to say before Night shoved the pizza in Trixie's face. Hot cheese, toppings and tomato sauce splattered all over her head and mane, obscuring her vision and shocking her.

"It's on the house!" Night yelled before bolting down the hallway.

"Run! Run!" Michael said. Barro and Michael clambered out through the hole they made in the window, grabbed the grappling cables they'd used to get into the apartment and slid down to the ground. In seconds, they were on the ground, galloping away from the apartment.

"You got everything?!" Night Glider asked, flying down and joining them as they fled down the street.

"My notebook and the Amulet, I got 'em both!" Barro replied, ecstatic that the plan was successful.

"You know, if writing doesn't work out, you could always make a living being a burglar," Michael commented.

"Like the way you were going to steal my story and make it into a movie?" Barro asked back. Michael's head dipped down as he ran.

"Hey, at least you got some nice shots of some random mare's apartment," Barro said, sarcastic.

"What are we going to do with your story and the Amulet?" Night Glider asked.

"We're going to do what should've been done with both of them a long time ago," Barro replied.

"You're going to put them in a giant warehouse full of crates like at the end of Riders of The Lost Ark?" Night asked, referencing the popular Daring Do movie.

"Ha," Barro laughed. "No... no. I'm going to destroy them."

Michael's gaze dropped down to the ground as the trio galloped into the night.
> The Great, Big and Powerful
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barro, Night Glider and Michael Hay were exhausted when they reached Barro's apartment across town. They hadn't stopped running since they'd left Trixie's apartment but the thought of getting caught had kept them going. Michael locked the door to the apartment behind them.

Night Glider removed his disguise. "We made it. I can't believe it actually worked."

"You did a good job, Night. You can definitely act like a delivery colt," Barro complemented his friend's acting talents.

The halfling put a hoof behind his neck. "Yeah, I'll be the top pick for all the great pizza delivery roles," he said bashfully.

"That," Michael said, catching his breath, "went well."

"It could've gone better if somepony hadn't alerted her to the fact that we were inside her place," Barro pointed out.

"But the fact is, we DID get away with it. Got back the Amulet and your notebook and Trixie has no idea," Michael countered.

"We did get them back," Barro agreed. "Now it's time to do the right thing and destroy them both before they do anypony any more harm." Barro walked over to the kitchenette, looking for something to burn the two items with. Paper shredder wouldn't work; the whole thing had to be burned, it and the Amulet.

Michael reached a hoof out. "Barro," he said, trying to get his attention. "Hold on a second. You don't have to destroy Fluttersized."

"Why not?" Barro asked, turning to face his friend. "What has this story ever done except cause me trouble? Both you and Trixie and the studio-"

"Barro, I-"

"What? You were going to give me credit for the screenplay? Split the profits fifty-fifty? Give me a percantage off the merchandise or-"

"Barro," Michael stopped him. His voice sounded almost hurt. "I wasn't... I wasn't going to submit the story."

Barro looked at his friend in disbelief. "You... what?"

"I wasn't going to submit your story as a screenplay. Not without your permission first."

"You weren't?"

Michael walked over to him. "Yes, I wanted to pitch Fluttersized. I think it would make a great movie, maybe even make up for them shooting down Cloverfilled. But I was going to make sure it was okay with you first."

Barro looked down at the notebook in his hooves. Something so small, so fragile caused all this trouble. Kind of like the Alicorn Amulet. In a way, the story was magic itself. It inspired people, gave them power to create and bring visions to life. And this was his. Even though he didn't think much about it, it was clear Michael did. And apparently Trixie, too. His idea had clearly inspired other ponies... maybe he should share it.

"I want to be recognized as a director, Barro. I'm still looking for that one great idea that will get my name on the map. But I'd never steal an idea from somepony else," Michael assured Barro. "I'm sorry all this happened."

Barro looked up to his friend. "It's okay, Mike. I'm sorry, too. If you want, I'll... I'll let you pitch it to the studio."

A smile dawned on Michael's face. Just then, a knock at the door drew the three ponies' attention.

"Who... who could that be?" Michael asked.

Night Glider backed away from the door. "I think there's only one pony it could be."

"RETURN TRIXIE'S AMULET NOW!!" a voice on the other side of the door screamed. The door to the apartment exploded off its hinges and flew across the room. It smashed into the kitchenette table nearly striking Barro. Dust from a magic spell settled and in the doorway stood a familiar blue unicorn.

"Michael Hay?! Where is Trixie's Amulet?!" Trixie asked, teeth gritted in rage.

Michael and Night Glider were frozen in the middle of the living room. "How... how did she find out it was us?!" Night asked.

Trixie held up a small, white rectangle. "You left your business card inside Trixie's apartment!" The front of the card read, Michael Hay- Visionary Filmmaker/Director to the Stars.

"You left your BUSINESS CARD IN HER APARTMENT?!!" Barro shouted at Michael. Michael turned shyly to his friend wearing an apologetic smile on his face.

"The notebook and the fake amulet are studio property! We had to go back and return them eventually!" Michael explained.

Barro's face twisted into one of rage and disbelief at his friend's naïve intentions. "And when were we going to go back to Trixie's apartment?!"

Michael put a hoof to his chin. "Well, I was thinking after the film debuted in theaters-"

"ARRRRGHH!!" Barro, frustrated beyond all belief, covered his face with his hooves.

"Wait, how did you find out we were here?" Night Glider asked Trixie.

"Google Maps," the unicorn replied.

Night turned to Barro. "Your apartment is listed on Google Maps?"

"It shouldn't be!" Barro said defensively, turning to Michael. Michael grinned apologetically again.

"Your apartment's listed under the 'Current location of Visionary Filmmaker/Director to the Stars Michael Hay'," Trixie explained stoically.

Barro's expression turned to rage again as he looked over to Michael, who simply shrugged, once more apologetically smiling.

"Return Trixie's amulet to her. Now," Trixie demanded.

Night stepped in front of her. "What exactly are you going to do if we DON'T give it back?" the halfling asked, he spread his wings out in an intimidating display. "You know that Amulet's too powerful for you, Trixie. You abused its power once already."

"You!" Trixie said to the halfling. "You were the one who threw pizza in the great and powerful Trixie's gorgeous and powerful face!"

Night took a cautionary step back. "Uh... well, I mean-"

"You think a fake moustache is going to fool Trixie?!" she accused him.

Now it was Night's turn to smile apologetically. "I... I got it there in under thirty minutes or less."

"I'll teach you to pie Trixie in the face!" Trixie blasted Night Glider with a spell, enveloping him in a red aura. A flash exploded outward that blinded Michael and Barro momentarily.

Night Glider opened his eyes. He felt completely normal.

"Ha!" he laughed at Trixie. "Without the Amulet's power, you can't cast any of your torturous dark spells!" He spread flared his wings again.

"Uh, Night..." Barro said, trying to get his friend's attention.

"What? Did I miss something? What did she do?" Night asked, looking over his shoulder. He noticed Barro was staring at him with a look of pure horror on his face. Michael himself looked shocked. What Night didn't see was what they were both staring at.

"What's wrong?" Night asked. "What did she do to me?" he checked himself over quickly. Four hooves, same color coat, tail and mane were okay, wings felt fine. He noticed his feathers were kind of long though. Might be time for a trim. And that's when the realization hit him.

Night's eyes went wide. "My... my... MY WINGS!!!" he screamed. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY WINGS?!!" He flapped them in desperation, trying to get the accursed feathers off. A couple feathers even dislodged themselves; he was getting close to molting.

"How... how is she able to do that?!" Barro asked. "I have the Alicorn Amulet right here!" he said, holding up the cursed magical pendant.

Trixie looked at it, momentarily wondering why she'd been able to perform the spell herself. Then, she realized. The 'fake' Alicorn Amulet was glowing, clipped to her neck. A sinister grin formed on her face.

"You only thought you switched the Alicorn Amulet for that copy! Looks like you swiped your own fake!"

Barro looked down at the amulet in his hoof. He turned it over. Property of Unicorneversal Studios was printed on the back. Again, he turned to Michael.

"I wanted to get a close-up shot of both the real and the fake Amulet so I put them both in the same place and-"

Barro facehooved again. The failures kept piling up one after the other.

Trixie walked closer into the room. Night Glider, powerless and traumatized at the loss of his wings was curled up into a ball on the floor, now dealing with his new identity as a Pegasus.

"Now, Trixie will be taking Trixie's screenplay and leaving," the unicorn declared.

Barro thought quickly. Reaching into a drawer, he retrieved a grill lighter, ignited it and held it up close to the notebook.

"Stay back!" the desperate pony ordered. "Come any closer and I'll set the book on fire! That Amulet may be strong... but I don't think there's a spell for bringing a book back from ashes!"

Trixie stopped her advance but raised an eyebrow. "You're bluffing. No author would set fire to their own story, much less a journalist."

"You don't him; he's not bluffing," Michael cautioned Trixie.

"Remember when you ripped Twilight's book in three pieces? You couldn't fix that and you won't be able to fix this," Barro said, remembering yesterday's events.

"How did you know about that?" Trixie asked.

"An inside source," Barro answered, steel in his voice though he was sweating as he held his notebook close to the flame. He wasn't sure how long it would take to burn but considering it was a composition notebook... probably not that long. He wasn't bluffing.

"Now, fix my friend," Barro ordered, gesturing towards Night Glider.

Trixie looked over to the cowering blue Pegasus and zapped him again with a magic spell. He immediately got up and turned around.

"Wait! Now my wings are gone!" he shouted in shock.

"Trixie!" Barro yelled. "What did you do to his wings? Where are they?!"

Trixie grinned and looked up at Barro. "They're right here," she said. On Trixie's own back were a pair of bat-like wings, Night Glider's wings. She spread them wide, their wingspan covering a good portion of the space in the room. She flapped them, a huge gust blew towards Barro, knocking him over and knocking both book and lighter out of his hooves. Trixie then flew over Michael and through the living room over to Barro. She perched on the table in front of the fallen colt.

"Trixie will be taking that!" she said, levitating the notebook and the fake amulet off the floor. "I'm sure the studio will be interested to know you've been taking their property without authorization!" Trixie tucked the notebook back underneath the neckline of her cloak, the tome touching the Alicorn Amulet itself.

"Trixie... no..." Barro pleaded, getting up.

Trixie examined her new wings, pleased. "Tsk, tsk, Mr. Broadcaster. It looks like your blundering has transformed the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie into Equestria's newest Alicorn Princess!! Wahahahaha!" the fiend cackled.

"Trixie," Barro said, getting to his hooves. "Give me back my story, the amulet and Night's wings! Now!"

"Ahahahaha!" Trixie cackled in response. "You were a fool to try and write... to write about..." Something was wrong. Trixie stopped, clutched her stomach and keeled over. Barro backed away from her, not knowing what was happening. He ran around the table and back to the center of the room.

"What's happening to her?!" Michael asked. Trixie's entire body began to glow with the same aura as the alicorn amulet.

"I... I don't know!" Barro answered. The three ponies held each other in a fright as the unistral pony on the table collapsed. The glow around her got brighter and suddenly she changed. Trixie's body began expanding, her limbs slowly grew longer, stretching out. The table she was on broke under her new weight and her growth didn't cease. Her body continued to expand, pushing into the small kitchenette and knocking over pieces of furniture.

"Run! Run!" Michael shouted. The three ponies bolted through the doorway and ran outside the apartment into the hallway. They ran to the stairway and descended to the bottom floor as the apartment complex began to shake around them. The three heard a loud crash as they exited the building into the street.

"What's going on?!" Michael asked as they escaped. Behind them, the entire complex continued shaking.

"I'll fly up and find out!" Night Glider said, thrusting upward and trying to fly despite his lack of wings.

"How? You don't have wings, remember?" Michael reminded him. Night's head dropped to the ground in despair.

"Night, it's all right," Barro said, putting a hoof on his friend's shoulder. "We'll get your wings back."

"How?!" Night questioned. "You don't have magic or wings!"

"Yeah," Barro agreed. "Welcome to the club," he pointed out his friend's new earth pony status. Night's head drooped again.

Walls collapsed and broke apart as a figure emerged from the building. Barro, Night Glider and Michael Hay turned around in terror to witness an enormous figure emerge from the ruins of the building.

"Raaaaarrrgh!" the monster yelled. Trixie, now giant-sized, towered over most of the buildings in Canterlot.

"Unicolossus," Michael said. "I wish I had a camera right now."

The giant blue unicorn, eyes glowing white in the night, turned toward the three ponies standing on the other side of the street.

"Night," Barro said.

"Yeah?" his friend replied, still sounding sad.

"Now, you're going to experience a proud earth pony tradition."

"What's that?" Night asked.

"Running for your lives!" Barro shouted, bolting off. Michael and Night Glider... or Night Grounded now, followed suit, the three of them running from massive Alicolossus for the second time that evening.




> Big Fans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trixie's eyes glowed pure white in the night, wisps of some other-worldly power flaring from the corners like an energized smoke. Michael, Barro and Night bolted down the street as the giant mare's head turned to face them.

"GET BACK HERE!!" the beast screamed at the trio as they fled.

"Why... my wings..." Night Glider whimpered as he ran. He could still almost feel them, his wings on his back instead of super-sized and attached to a giant unicorn behind them. It felt like if he could just leap into the air, he could take off and fly away into the night as his name suggested. But this feeling was an illusion; the reality was the enormous mare that had just destroyed the building he was just in, so he let instinct take over as he followed Barro and Michael.

"Where are we going to go?!" Barro shouted as they ran.

Michael, in the lead, looked over his shoulder. "I don't know! Just keep running!"

"We can't keep running forever! The roads are still wrecked and she'll destroy anything we try to hide in!" Night Grounded shouted.

"What are we gonna do?!" Barro screamed. The ground beneath them rumbled as Trixie started to pursue. She still had to walk around to the street they were on, the small buildings in the way preventing her from closing the distance quickly. The three each knew that they had only seconds to try and hide or outrun the massive magical monster before she set upon them and crushed them into oblivion.

"Follow me!" Michael turned and darted down an alleyway. Barro and Night followed close behind. "I have an idea," Michael said, turning around.

"What... what is it?" Barro asked, both he and Night panting. Night wasn't used to using his hooves this much... because he normally flew.

"We're going to hide in the studio," Michael said.

Barro thought. "That's... that's actually a good idea. She wants to make her own movie, she wouldn't possibly destroy the studio and possibly jeopardize her own film."

Michael put a hoof behind his neck. "I... yeah, that is a good idea."

"Wait, why did you want to go to hide at the studio?" Barro asked.

Michael blushed slightly. "Well, if I'm going to get smashed by a giant unicorn... I figured I wanted to get it on camera," he said with a shy grin. Both Barro and Night Glider facehooved. Night would've facewinged but once again... he didn't have wings.

"That is a good plan," a voice said from above them. "There's just one SMALL problem..." The three already knew who it was. The trio froze, trembled and slowly looked up to see the giant Trixie looking down on them as she was perched on a rooftop. The megamare grinned knowing the ponies were trapped like rats. "You're not going to make it to the studio," she declared.

"Trixie... ple-please... we can-" Barro begged.

"We can share credit?" Trixie said, finishing Barro's sentence. "Tempting but I think I'll pass. There's only room for one BIG name in this town." Trixie leaned over the alleyway, horn glowing red with magical power. It illuminated the corridor the ponies stood in with a maroon aura. She was about to unleash some kind of spell, what kind, the three targets didn't know. Whatever magic it was, they were all pretty sure it would obliterate them and probably the ground where they were standing. They didn't have time to think however; Trixie fired.

A red beam was unleashed from the unicorn's horn. At point-blank range, the three ponies had little to do except cower before the spell annihilated them. Barro, Michael and Night Glider closed their eyes as the ray raced towards them. Just when it was about to strike them, the beam was reflected. It changed trajectory somehow, returning on the same path to the point where it had been fired. Trixie was struck with her own spell and blasted off the rooftop.

"What... what happened?" Barro asked. Looking up, a pink energy shield was shimmering over them.

"Her magic is strong, it must be the power of the Amulet," another voice said.

"Yes. It seems her increase in size has also increased her magic power," yet another voice said. Barro, Michael and Night Glider looked over to see the speakers, the ones who were responsible for saving their lives.

"Princess... Princess Celestia?! Princess Luna?!" Barro asked in disbelief. The two princesses floated down to land before the three awe-struck ponies.

"Are the three of you all right?" Luna asked.

"I'm fine... except for my wings," Night said, sounding sad.

"Hmm, you're a Halfling?" Luna asked. Night nodded. Without a word, the moon princess cast a spell on Night Glider. In a flash of light, the halfling's batwings returned. "There we are," Luna said, satisfied at the job.

"How... how did you do that? I thought Trixie stole them," Night said, happy that his wings were back. The red-maned Halfling flapped them both and even hovered in the air, checking to make sure they were fine. He hugged both his wings with his hooves, delighted to be back to full flying capability.

"Standard copy spell. Trixie didn't steal your wings, she simply removed your wings and then created a duplicate set for herself using yours as the blueprint," Luna explained. The same way Trixie had removed Pinkie's mouth so long ago, she had apparently removed Night's wings the same way though making her own was an interesting and new twist. The half-thestral's wings hadn't been destroyed, only removed and placed in the pocket of an alternate dimension where Night couldn't use them. Possibly a testament to Trixie's new power, thankfully her magic could still apparently be reversed.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Night said. The red-maned Halfling flapped them both and even hovered in the air, checking to make sure they were fine. He hugged both his wings with his hooves, delighted to be back to full flying capability.

"What about you two? Are you both all right?" Celestia asked.

"We're fine, thank... well, thank you two. And thank you two," Barro said, recognizing both Celestia and Luna's identities as ideas and individuals.

"Hello ladies," Michael said, walking over to the princesses. "Visionary director Michael Hay, thank you so much for-"

Barro interrupted his friend, stopping him from bragging. "Michael, really this isn't the time for-"

"You're Michael Hay?" Celestia asked.

That question surprised the three ponies, most of all Michael Hay. "Why, yes I am," he said, blushing. While he normally EXPECTED his reputation to proceed him... this was the first time it actually had. And with the princesses of Equestria nonetheless.

Luna stepped forward. "You're the director of Transformares?"

Michael was stunned. "You... you watched Transformares?"

"Yes, we saw them all in theaters," Luna informed him. Michael's jaw dropped.

"Barro..." the brown stallion turned to his friend, face overwhelmed with glee. "They watched Transformares!" his voice high and giddy.

Barro just shook his head, not wanting to comment on the princess' taste in cinema. Night Glider was equally shocked.

"I bought the trilogy on Blu-ray with 90 extra minutes of bonus features for Luna's birthday. We watched them with the director's commentary," Celestia stated.

"Barro..." Michael turned to the white colt again, his voice squeaking with joy. "They watched the director's commentary! ON BLU-RAY!"

"We are never going to hear the end of this," Barro said to Night Glider.

"What was your favorite scene? Did you like the dialogue between the fighting between the Applebots and the Decepticolts?" Michael asked the sisters.

"Oh, I loved the action sequences!" Luna proclaimed. "The special effects were absolutely amazing and I loved how you kept so closely to the original canon and even had it star the original voice cast and-" she kept going, gushing about every detail of the film. Michael's face lit up. This was the first real positive reaction he'd ever gotten from a true fan. It was the reaction he had been looking for, what he'd dreamed of. He felt like crying.

"Uh, guys," Barro attempted to break up the fan session. "Maybe you'd like to talk about the movie sometime when we're NOT being chased by a giant unicorn?" The ground shook, bringing the group's attention back to reality.
> Big Savings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What are we going to do about Trixie?" Barro asked. "How do we get her back to normal size and... where she's not trying to destroy us?"

Another crash, followed by a low rumble. It sounded as if Trixie just leveled a building nearby.

"I'm not sure," Celestia said, thinking. "Our magic can only counter that of the amulet. As long as she's wearing it, she has access to unlimited magical power. And with her increased size..."

Across the alleyway, a red beam struck a building. A five-story office building, three floors were incinerated in a flash. The billboard that had been mounted to the roof caught ablaze and burned as it fell to the ground.

"It seems she's mastered the death ray spell," Luna commented.

"There's a spell called 'death ray'?!" Night Glider screeched the question. Luna nodded silently.

"Why is there a spell called 'death ray'?!"

Luna then shrugged silently. The actor-Halfling curled into a ball with his wings shielding his body.

"I have an idea," Michael said.

"Does it involve the studio?" Barro asked.

"Ye-"

"We are NOT going to film giant Trixie destroying the town," Barro stated flatly.

"No! I actually have an idea. We could make a fake Alicorn Amulet with the stuff at the studio!"

"Hmm," Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "That is how it was removed from her the first time. Twilight explained it in one of her letters. She and her friends convinced Trixie that there was an item more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet."

"Do you really think it will work twice?" Luna asked. Celestia opened her mouth to answer when the giant unicorn's head stuck around the building.

"Well, if it isn't the little princesses," Trixie said, stepping in front of the alleyway so that now she blocked their escape.

"Trixie, you are endangering all of Equestria! You must remove that amulet at once and return to normal size!" Celestia declared. She flew into the air and stopped just in front of the giant unicorn's face.

"And what exactly happens if the GREAT and POWERFUL and HUMONGOUS Trixie doesn't want to return HER amulet and return to normal size?" Trixie asked the hovering white alicorn.

"Then, you deal with me," Celestia responded. Despite being dwarfed by the enormous blue mare, Celestia's presence made her seem just as threatening. The princess had ruled Equestria for over a thousand years, raised both the sun and the moon, maintained balance and harmony for an entire planet and had a wealth of knowledge about magic. Her power was rivaled by few, she would not be intimidated by a bully, no matter how big. Celestia's expression was fierce and determined while Trixie's face slowly spread into a smug smirk. The two stared each other down for a moment. Then, Trixie simply exhaled a gust from her lungs and blew Celestia away like a fly.

"Dealt with," Trixie remarked. "And now to deal with the rest of you." Trixie charged up her horn and fired another blast at point blank range. The red beam was only narrowly deflected by Luna's shield. It would've bounced back and hit Trixie again but the mare raised her legs and the ray flew underneath her. It pulverized a motel across the street and kept going, melting away other buildings in its path along the block.

Celestia swooped down and grabbed Barro, Luna grabbed hold of Michael and the two sisters took flight. Night Glider waved an apologetic good-bye at Trixie before taking to the skies himself. The ponies flew over the rooftops, Barro and Michael's limbs dangling as they held onto the alicorns for dear life.

"Where is the studio from here?" Celestia asked, her voice calm.

"Towards the south end of town by the-" Michael started but was cut off. Another giant beam sailed past them. Trixie had taken flight and was now hot in pursuit. The giant mare's eyes glowed white-hot with power. Smiling, her horn glowed crimson as she fired another blast at her prey.

"WoooAH!!" Michael screamed. Luna dodged, a huge red bolt of energy almost grazed her wing.

"We're sitting ducks in the air! We have to get down low, force her to the ground where we'll be harder to hit!" Night called. Celestia and Luna agreed, carrying the ponies, they soared over a couple more roofs and then ducked down to the street below, diving quickly. Trixie, being larger took a little bit longer to stop and flew over a few more buildings before  she could change directions.

The five ponies landed in the middle of the street and immediately took off running perpendicular to their flight path to the east down the street.

"Now's our chance to lose her! Ummm," Barro thought out loud. He looked around, trying to find a building to hide in. Quickly, he spotted a large building nearby that still had lights on. FlimFlam Mart, open twenty-four/seven, the large store seemed like their only option.

"There! In there!" Barro called to the others. He dashed for the building with the others close behind him. Automated doors slid open as they ran inside and then quickly closed behind them. None of them spared a glance over their heads to see if Trixie was behind them. They didn't hear anything though, no loud noises or rumbles, nothing but the subtle background music being piped through the store's overhead speakers.

"There are still ponies shopping this late?" Michael asked, looking around. To their right, a long line of check-out lanes were busy helping customers through. Ponies pushing carts, entire families waited their turn to pay and leave. Despite the carnage outside, the shoppers and sales clerks remained oblivious in the well-lit wonderland of consumer goods.

"You think Trixie will find us here?" Night asked.

"It's one of the only stores on the block open this late. She'll probably check this place first just because of the lights," Barro said.

"We must warn the innocents then," Celestia said. She stepped forward and spread her wings, displaying the full regal authority of her presence. "Attention everypony! You are all in grave danger and must vacate the premise at once!" she announced. But the shoppers continued shopping, hardly any paid attention the princess' warning.Those that did stared blankly at the five ponies standing by the entrance, almost looking beyond them.

"What's wrong with them? Don't they know they're in danger?" Night Glider asked. The consumer ponies seemed to be completely oblivious to the message despite the fact it had been delivered by the princess herself.

Michael shrugged. "They're lost in the moment, completely absorbed by their daily lives. I've seen this before. You need to do something big to get their attention."

Barro looked at the ponies. "What can we do? Just shout at the top of our lungs something crazy like-"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Luna said in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "THERE IS A GIANT MONSTER OUTSIDE THAT WANTS TO EAT YOU!" the princess's voice echoed off the walls and was projected to the back of the story ensuring that every pony in the building heard the warning. Naturally, they panicked. Ponies screamed, yelled and ran as chaos descended upon the store.

"Giant monster?! What do we do?!"

"Get the kids to the carriage!"

"The monster is OUTSIDE! You want our children to get eaten?"

A pair of foals looked up with frightened faces at their arguing parents. The cashiers and clerks, trained specifically to react calmly and rationally to help maintain order in such a situation, had lost all sense of reason and immediately began running throughout the store, shouting in terror and knocking over displays.

"Somepony get the manager!"

"I am the manager! Somepony get me out of here!"

"I'm too original to die! And I'm up for a promotion next week!"

"Screw next week! Congratulations, you're the new manager! Now save me!"

The panicking ponies scrambled, dropping everything and rushing around. Eventually, their fear turned them to the exits either at the front or back of the store. Some ran past the two princesses and three smaller ponies standing in front of the entrance, others jumped through the windows. The five just stood there as the shoppers ran around them. The 'giant monster' was outside the store, why were they acting like it was inside? Panic did things to a crowd of ponies, it made them act strange.

"Well... at least Trixie's only after us," Michael commented at the now vacant store.

"What do you mean 'at least'?" Barro asked. Michael shrugged in response and Barro let out a sigh.

"C'mon. We can get out through the Home and Garden section in the back," Night said, taking the lead. The other ponies followed the level-headed Halfling. He might not have been a famous actor yet but one thing was for certain, Night Glider knew how to act under pressure. The five ponies walked through the store, the only sound being the low music playing through the intercom system as they headed to through to the back.
> Morgan Freeman
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barro took the lead, looking down each aisle of the store as they headed further to the back. After passing the fifth aisle, he began to hear something. A creaking noise nearby like a shopping cart. Was somepony else still in the store?

"You guys hear that?" Barro asked. No answer. He turned to see Princess Luna and Celestia pushing a shopping cart and reading the back of an item they removed from the shelf. They discussed the item before putting it in the cart.

"Um, ladies?" Barro said, getting their attention. "No disrespect your majesties, but is it really the best time to shop when we're being chased by the Megatrixie?"

"Oh my gawd!" Night Glider said, looking down the same aisle

"What is it now?" Barro turned to see what it was.

"Pop-tarts are on sale!" Night declared giddily.

Barro couldn't believe this. "Am I the only one more worried about Trixie finding us than grocery shopping? She could destroy one of the walls and find us here, trapped like rats in a maze!"

"Barro's right," Michael said. "I say we try to find a way out of here. I'll check the electronics section." Michael galloped off towards the DVDs.

"But the way out's in home and garden- where are you going?!" Barro and the others chased after the brown colt as he raced through the store. Everypony tried to keep track of everypony else so Barro and the others looked over their shoulders now and then to make sure they didn't lose anypony. Of course, they lost sight of Michael but luckily they already knew where he was going.

They found the brown colt standing, staring at flat plasma-screen t.v in the electronic's section in the same aisle as the DVDs and Blu-rays.

"Hello, I'm Morgan Freeman," the tall biped on screen said. The background behind him was white and he knelt down while looking addressing the camera. "And this is Applebloom." A small sad-looking filly was next to him, her mane was almost a yarn-colored red and she had a golden-yellow coat. The most distinguishing feature though was her flank which bore no cutie mark, no symbol of her special talent. Because she didn't have one. Yet.

"Applebloom is one of many ponies out there who hasn't earned her cutie mark. Blank-flanks like her have difficulty finding employment of any kind. Money is very hard to come by and her options are limited. Ponies with their cutie marks earn on average ten-hundred percent more than ponies who haven't earned their marks yet. Without help, ponies like Applebloom will be forgotten until they fade into the background, lost forever," the man said.

Barro almost had tears in his eyes. Celestia, Luna, Night Glider and even Michael just stood silently and watched the television.

"Please, donate to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Foundation. For the low price of just one bit a month, you can make sure that ponies like Applebloom get the care they need so they may one day reach their potential. I'm Morgan Freeman. Thank you for your time."

Now Barro did have tears in his eyes. "That's... so sad."

"Really makes you want to donate right?" Night Glider added.

"I... I can't believe it," Michael said, almost bawling. Barro looked over to his friend.

Transformares is in the discount section..." Michael mournfully stated. Night Glider and Barro turned to him.

"Is your movie really all you're concerned with?!" Night asked.

"Did you run all the way back here just to see how much it was selling for?!" Barro asked.

Michael shrugged. "What's wrong with checking while we're here?"

Barro closed his eyes, fighting the stress. "I will strangle you with my hooves. I don't know how that's going to work. Don't make me find a way," he said in a rage. Behind the three of them, the two princesses weren't paying attention.

Night put a hoof on Barro's shoulder to calm him down. "I think we should probably find a way out now befor-"

Suddenly, the wall in front of them collapsed. The entire store shook as a portion of the roof and side of the building were peeled off by an enormous blue hoof. Trixie peered in at them through the gaping hole she just made. The five ponies stared back, frozen in fright.

"Does anypony hear that rigning noise?" Barro asked, still staring at Trixie.

The four others stopped to listen. "What ringing noise?" Celestia asked.

"You should be hearing a ringing sound."

"Why?" Michael asked.

"BECAUSE I BUCKING CALLED IT!" Barro shouted.

"Well, well, well. Decided to do some late-night shopping eh?" Trixie asked.

"Po-pop tarts are on sale..." Night said, terrified.

Michael Hay stepped forward. "Now, I know what you're thinking Trixie," the director told her. "But the thing you have to remember is,- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Michael shouted and pointed behind the giant mare. His outburst was just random and confusing enough to prompt the enormous pony to turn her head and actually check behind her.

Michael did a ninety-degree turn and broke into a gallop. "RUN!" he shouted. The other ponies quickly followed suit in the split second Trixie was distracted. The megamare recovered quickly, realizing she'd been duped, she slammed a hoof into the side of the building.

Another section of the wall collapsed inward as Michael and the others ran. The wall slanted as it caved in, knocking over shelves full of goods just as the ponies passed.

"You see?! You see?! I told you this would happen!" Barro shouted.

Night looked behind him. "How are we gonna get out now?!" Another wall collapsed in as they passed.

"We make our own way out!" Luna shouted. Celestia and Luna once again grabbed Barro and Michael and took off in the air.

"Wait for me!" Night Glider yelled, following suit. The ponies flew over the shelves of the store, lights on the ceiling shook and flickered, the entire store rumbled as Trixie demolished it. Luna, Celestia and Night Glider flew straight for a wall above the home and garden section.

"That's not a wall, not a way out!" Barro yelled as he clutched Luna's legs.

"It's about to become a way out," Celestia said, lowering her head as she held onto Michael. The princess projected an energy shield in front of her as Luna and Night formed up behind her. Celestia accelerated as she headed towards the wall. Barro and Michael felt the inertia as the princesses carried them, Night hung on to Luna's legs.

"What are you-no no no no no no NO!" Barro closed his eyes as the flying pony train smashed through the wall. Celestia's shield tore a hole in the wall and the five escaped into the night. Behind them, the store's roof fell in as Trixie's abuse on it continued.

"The studio's not far now! I think we can make it!" Michael shouted. He pointed in the direction and the fliers dove, doing their best to take advantage of the lack of pursuit at the moment.
> Big, Flashy Special Effects
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There it is! The studios!" Michael gestured to a building below. The lights on the buildings were off but the Unicorneversal Studios logo was illuminated above the main gate. The two princesses and Halfling flew right over the main gate and landed right in the lot.

"I still don't see how going to the studio is a good idea," Barro said as Luna released him.

"You'll see," Michael said. The ponies walked over to one of the main studio buildings in the back, just to the left of the offices they tried to enter just that morning. The lot was completely silent. Fortunately, one good thing about Trixie being huge was that it would be easy to hear her coming.

"We must do something about Trixie. The longer we wait, the more damage is done to the city," Celestia reminded them.

Barro's gaze lowered. "And enough damage has already been done to the city.

"Hey, chin up Barro. It's not your fault," Night consoled him.

"How isn't it? If I hadn't left the notebook outside, we wouldn't be in this mess. None of this would've happened, Trixie would still be the same size and Canterlot wouldn't be in danger again."

"Hmm," Celestia said. "You remind me a lot of Twilight Sparkle."

Barro stopped in his tracks. "I do?"

The princess turned and nodded. "You both push yourselves very hard to achieve your goals. Too hard at times. And you're very hard on yourselves when something goes wrong."

Michael chuckled. "And you both whine a lot and get really mad over little things."

"Little things?" Barro repeated. "Do I really need to remind you about the giant super-powered... whatever she is trying to kill us?"

Night put a hoof to his chin and thought. "Giant super-powered alicorn. Hmm. Supercorn? Ubercorn?"

"Don't uber and super mean the same thing?" Luna asked.

"Yes, but uber starts with 'u' like unicorn. It also sounds cooler," Night replied.

"It's not bad but it really needs more of a great and powerful touch for somepony as mighty as Trixie."

"Well, I just came up with it off the top of my... wait, who asked that?" Night asked, looking around. The group froze in place and slowly looked up. On top of one of the buildings to their side and looking down at them was the ubercorn in question.

"Did you miss Trixie?" Trixie asked.

"RUN AGAIN!" Michael shouted and burst off to the right. A giant beam scorched the pavement where he'd just been standing moments ago.

"How did she sneak up on us?!" Night Glider yelled.

"She may have used the ninja spell!" Luna commented.

"Why is there a ninja spell?!" Barro asked. Trixie slammed a hoof into the ground and dismounted the rooftop of the side building.

"Great! It looks like she's going to kill us regardless of whether she destroys the studio or not! Awesome plan, Michael!" Barro shouted sarcastically.

"Keep running!" Michael shouted. The five ponies galloped to the other studio building. Michael opened the door and the ponies dashed inside. The door slammed shut behind them as Trixie stomped the pavement.

The studio building was large, it had to be big enough to contain multiple sets and the equipment required. While not as big as the super market, the ceiling was higher and there was only one exit, the door they just entered from. The middle of the room was vacant for the moment, Michael to a platform in the back.

"All right Michael. What's in here that's going to help us stop Trixie?" Barro asked.

"Weren't we going to construct some kind of fake prop and make her switch it with the Alicorn Amulet?" Night wondered.

The walls rumbled as Trixie struck them but they held. The studio building's sides were stronger but even then, they wouldn't hold up against the megamare's full might.

"We can't just stay here forever!" Barro said, backing away from the wall. "Mihcael... what are you doing?"

The platform Michael was on was designed to go up to the ceiling for light maintenance. However, Michael pressed a button on the controls and he and the platform began to descend into the floor.

"Where are you going?!" Barro shouted as he watched his friend sink into the floor. The four other ponies ran to the back to where the platform was.

"Where is he going?" Luna asked.

"I don't know. I didn't even know the lift could do that," Night Glider said. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake.

"Trixie's mad. I don't know how much longer the building can hold up," Barro remarked, worried. The building shook again, the ground beneath them kept vibrating.

"I don't think that's Trixie," Celestia said, looking at the floor.

Barro was confused at the statement, his eyes glued on the ceiling. "What? What do you mean by that?"

"If it's not Trixie... then what is it?" Night asked, looking around himself. Both princesses continued looking at the floor. A crease appeared through the center of the solid floor in front of them. The crease expanded, slowly two pieces of the floor pulled back like an enormous door. The two pieces slid back and away revealing a gigantic hole, a lower part of the studio below them. 

Their backs to the wall, lights in the square box-hole in front of them slowly turned on illuminating the sides of the walls. A platform at the bottom began raising.

"What... the hell... is that?" Night Glider asked. Luna and Celestia almost marveled at the strange figure occupying most of the platform that raise along with it. Barro had trouble believing it himself.

"And this is the point of a huge special effects budget," Michael said, standing on the platform as it reached floor-level with the other ponies.

"Michael... what did you..." Barro asked. Standing in front of them on the platform was several tons of metal, an iconic symbol recognizable immediately from Michael Hay's very own movie, Transformares. Rising from the depths of the studio came something straight out of film itself.

"It's Megatrot," Luna said, her voice in sheer awe of being so close to an actual prop from the movie. Transfromares, based on the 1980s cartoon of the same series and name featured giant transforming robots fighting head to head against each other in enormous effects-driven battles that audiences loved. Michael was renowned for his action sequences, even if his storylines could use work. Still, his cutie mark was an explosion within an explosion for a reason: he knew how to do special effects. When he directed the rebooted Transformares, he spent most of the budget for the movie building working giant robots.

"There's only one way we're going to get that amulet off Trixie," Michael said, standing next to the silver giant pony robot movie villain. "By burning it off of her."

Michael pressed a button on a modified SNES controller he was holding and a jet of flame erupted from its mouth. The fire shot out and scorched the ceiling and impacted the wall it was facing, sending cinders down to the floor. Both princesses' eyes lit up at the pyrotechnics display. Night Glider applauded, Barro facehooved.

"Trixie might be invincible. But your notebook, her hat, her cape, all flammable. And covered in all the food you've spilled on it? Your notebook is VERY flammable. And the amulet's right underneath it. We catch that book on fire and she'll rip it off and the amulet to keep her mane from burning," Michael explained.

Barro's jaw almost hit the floor. It was a plan, an actual, doable plan. It could work and it actually involved Michael Hay's incredibly over-blown special effects. For once, his cinema-insulting cinematography was going to be used for good instead of negligent evil.


> What You've All Been Waiting For
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warning: the following chapter contains copious amounts of random. Reader discretion is advised

...and all that random is brought to you by Flim Flam Farmer's Market! Where can you find the best opportunity for farm fresh produce in YOUR community? At the Flim Flam Farmer's Market! Located next to Hoity Toity's Fashion Whatever and some old guy who's standing there at all times of the day. If you drop by, tell him he still owes me twenty bits.

"Go blow it out your ass, Howard."

Yeah, fuck you too, Frank! And now back to your irregularly unscheduled fanfic, already in progress.

Trixie had to admit that being a giant was fun. She kicked the large building she saw the five puny ponies run into. With her huge size, wings and the Alicorn Amulet, she was even stronger than the princesses! Canterlot was her playground; she could do anything she wanted and nopony could stop her!

She kicked the building again as she stood in the lot in front of it. She grinned and imagined the occupants inside cowering in fear, waiting, wondering when she'd just rip off the roof or blast the whole building to dust. Trixie decided she'd play for a little while first.

Then, the building kicked back. Trixie raised an eyebrow. Were they trying to break out? A loud bash came from inside, like metal striking metal. Something pressed back against the wall of the building creating a dent in the side. She took a cautious step forward.

PLAAAAAAAAAMM! The building exploded in a shower of shrapnel. Bits of the roof and walls scattered everywhere as an enormous figure jumped out of the wreckage. It flew over Trixie. The giant mare was awe struck and could only watch as the figure landed behind her. She turned to face what appeared to be a giant steel-grey unicorn with glowing orange eyes. Similar orange lights adorned its iron hide along the shoulders, legs and flank.

"You will fall before the Decepticolts, Trixie!" the machine shouted.

"What... on... Equestria..." Trixie stammered and backed away.

Inside the giant unicorn's skull, five ponies operated various simple controls in the control center of the robot's frame.

"Did it seriously just say Decepticolts?" Night Glider asked.

Michael nodded as he sat in the pilot's seat. "Authentic voice modulation software! It repeats whatever you say in Megatrot's voice!"

"We are so going to be sued for this," Barro said, clinging to something behind them.

"Can I say something into it?" Night Glider asked.

"Sure!" Michael said. The Halfling leaned over Michael's shoulder and into a mic on the pilot's console.

Night took a deep breath. "Those wings make your flank look fat!" he shouted into the microphone. The menacing voice of Megatrot repeated the phrase in a droning evil tone.

"Those wings make your flank look fat"!

Trixie's head shot back at the remark. Fat? FAT?! Her head subconsciously turned back over her shoulder to examine her hips. The buildings in her view along with it made it look... enormous. The wings she'd spawned also did an amount to emphasize her backside. But no, it was the magic that had made her larger... wasn't it? Trixie's ear began to twitch as she pondered being called a fat ass by a giant, metal unicorn. Insecurity quickly gave way to rage, the rage only a woman who'd been called fat would know of. Burning, gelatinous, rage.

"Oh snap," Michael said.

"Did you seriously just call her fat?" Barro asked the obvious. Night Glider answered him with a mischievous grin.

"Night Glider, that wasn't nice," Celestia said to the Halfling.

"But it was entirely called for!" Luna declared. "Inform her that her posterior is most corpulent! Her girth is comparable to that of the largest of sea mammals! And her mother is-"

Celestia placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "We talked about this. You know how you let yourself get carried away," she said calmly. Luna lowered her head in response.

Trixie turned back around slowly. "Fat?! Trixie... fat?!"

Michael smiled. "Looks like that got her attention," he leaned in to the microphone. "That's right! How's it feel great, fat Trixie?!" The massive robot repeated it.

Trixie's ears twitched, her eyelid twitched, her lips trembled and her teeth were gritted in an expression of mounting fury.

Barro leaned over Michael's shoulder. "No, call her the Great and Pounderful Trixie," he suggested.

"-Great and Pounderful Trixie," the robot's voice echoed.

Michael turned around to Barro with a look of shock on his face. "Barro..."

"Did you just insult Trixie?" Night Glider asked, astonished himself.

Barro covered his muzzle. "No! No, I didn't!" the white colt protested, shaking his head.

"You so totally did!" Michael said, smiling.

Night smiled too. "You're finally breaking out of your shell! Good job, Barro!" the Halfling congratulated his friend. The white colt continued shaking his head in denial; unable to accept he'd actually called insulted another pony.

"Wow. Great and Pounderful Trixie. We're gonna have to write that one down somewhe-" SMASH! Something hit the front of Megatrot and the robot became airborne. An alarm klaxon rang out in the command cabin of the metal unicorn.

"Welp, we're flying through the air. This is not good," Michael said stoically, still sitting at the pilot's chair. He'd had the foresight to buckle his safety belt while the other five were thrown about the cabin like rag dolls.

And now, for no reason at all, here's Gary Coleman as a pony.

"It's Gary Coltman," the stallion corrected.

Really? That's the best name we could come up with?

"The best? This is my name! I'm famous! I was in Different Strides!"

Luna save me, ANOTHER crossover? I don't even know how we're gonna pull this off...

The stallion arched an eyebrow and cocked his head. "Whatchoo talkin' bout Barro?"

Hahaha! Oh shit, what is right with me? Okay, back to giant pony fight.

The metal unicorn landed in another street and rolled into the side of several buildings. A boarding house and a small grocery store were almost completely leveled by the steel robot's body.

"I think Trixie's mad," Night Glider said, getting up. The robot was turned on its side, including its head meaning the command cabin inside had been rotated roughly ninety degrees.

"Hold on, I got it," Michael said. He rotated a few controls and the robot began picking itself up. Slowly, Megatrot stood on its hooves and shook off pieces of rubble. "Ha! It's gonna take a lot more than that to put a ding in my baby! This is the best the studio could afford!" The four other ponies managed to get back to standing positions of their own inside the control center.

"This is so exciting!" Luna said. Her sister nodded in agreement.

"Why do you like Transformares so much? I don't understand how you can like something so... over-the-top, so cliché," Barro said.

"Barro," Celestia answered. "We're over a thousand hears old. Luna and I have seen a great many things in our lives. A lot we have been witness to has been unsavory, distasteful, disrespectful. I have seen much nonsense in my many long years as ruler. Believe me when I say, a little ridiculousness can be a good thing."

Luna nodded. "It is fun sometimes to zone out and watch enormous steel titans fight each other! Michael's movies have stunning visual effects."

"It's like watching a fireworks show, Barro," Night Glider added. "You just watch it and say, 'oooh, pretty colors!' and clap when it's done," the Halfling clapped his hooves for emphasis. Barro had to admit there were parts of Michael's movies even he liked. Maybe... maybe being over-the-top was good now and then. Like right now when a giant, power-crazed mare was threatening the city.

"Uh, guys? You wanna help me out here?" Michael asked. "There's operations consoles all around us! Get on the controls!"

"I don't know how to pilot a giant robot," Celestia said.

"I'm piloting. You guys are going to be helping me with weapons."

Barro shook his head. "This thing has weapons?!"

"This thing has everything... except liability insurance," Michael explained. "Now get on those consoles!"

The others moved to four panels at the corners of the spherical room, each taking a position.

"What is it we are supposed to do?" Luna asked.

"The buttons are labeled! Start hitting buttons when things go bad... and shout random things while I sit here and look determined!" Michael ordered.

Barro turned abruptly. "I knew it! I knew it! This is all about you and you've planned this from the beginning!" he accused his friend.

"Barro, it's okay; he's our Red Ranger. He's entitled to one of these moments," Night explained.

"What does that even mean?!" Barro asked, exasperated. A red beam struck the ground in front of them scorching the road. Michael pulled back on his controls and Megatrot slowly backed up to avoid the deadly energy. Trixie was flying high above them using her flight to gain the advantage.

"Hold still so Trixie can zap you!" the giant mare said through gritted teeth. She unleashed another huge death ray spell at the ground, vaporizing part of a building to the side and a portion of sidewalk. Michael pressed forward and the robot jumped over the cratered portion of road in front of them. The robot then started running down the street to avoid more fire.

"How are we going to get her when she's in the air?!" Night Glider asked.

"Barro! On your console, hit the button marked 'WS'!" Michael shouted.

"WS?" Barro asked. He searched the panel in front of him, finding it staring him in the face.

"Press it!" Michael shouted.

With only the slightest reluctance, Barro hit the red button. Megatrot stopped.

"What was that? Did I just hit the brake?" Barro asked, confused.

"Wait for it," Michael Said, grinning.

Trixie had to pull a midair turn as the robot halted in the middle of the street. What was that thing up to now? The glowing orange eyes and lights made it easy to spot in the dark but it was more nimble than it appeared. But now it was just standing there; Trixie overshot it trying to follow and blast the infernal contraption. She didn't waste another second and began charging her next death ray beam. With the amount of power she had, she was in no danger of running out of ammo any time soon.

Steel flaps opened up on the back of Megatrot's legs. The sides of the robot extended and folded outward like giant doors. The doors unfolded, turning into enormous triangular sails. The triangles split all along their sides and spread apart creating enormous, flat steel shunts. Slowly, the shunts flexed back and fourth, pressing against the sides of the robot and then retracting.

Trixie grinned as she was about to see the metal beast destroyed finally. She fired a red blast from her horn aimed directly at the thing's head.

"How's this for a wing spell? Transformares-style!" Michael said. Jets of flame ignited on the metal robot's legs. The street was illuminated by the fire as Megatrot launched into the air on jet-powered hooves. The flaps on the sides of the robot spread out, looking like wings. The red beam struck the ground just as Megatrot lifted off in a burst of flame. Fire erupted from the spaces between the metal feathers and soon the robot was shooting into the night sky like rocket.

Trixie's mouth hung open in disbelief. She watched as her shot missed the metal mare and blasted the ground where it stood. The iron horse was now coming straight for her.

"What the fu-" the robot cut her off, narrowly missing her. She quickly pulled back and only realized too late that the creature had grabbed the edge of her cape in its mouth.

Biting down on the cloth, Megatrot continued blasting skyward, now taking Trixie along for the ride. High above Canterlot, the robot grabbed the cape out of its mouth with its hooves. Pulling a U-turn, it dove back down towards the ground. Trixie, still shocked and being pulled, didn't react fast enough to being snatched out of the sky. Megatrot plunged towards the street carrying the blue unicorn to the ground.

The iron horse pulled back up at the last minute, saving itself from crashing into the pavement. The blue unicollosus was not so lucky; she smashed into the ground with the full force of being dragged down by a ballistic missile aimed at Canterlot. Her cape ripped off in Megatrot's hooves as the robot pulled upward. Trixie slammed face-first into the road sending shockwaves up and down the street. Buildings nearby shook, sidewalks to either side shifted and glass windows shattered.