The Great And Powerful Filly
No clouds in the sky. Stars as far as the eye could see. The moon glowing brightly, so large it was as though you could reach a hoof out and touch it. Even with the crispness of the Autumn night, it was the kind of scene that most ponies would be amazed by.
But in a small clearing hidden in the middle of the Everfree Forest, six ponies cared not about the sky. Not the stars, the moon, or anything would distract them from their goal. Clad in tattered robes and green markings on their face, they stood around a stone slab, lit only by a few flickering torches. Five of the ponies were silent; their heads bowed in anticipatory silence; the sixth stood directly above the slab, his head raised to the heavens.
"Y'ai'ng'ngah h'eel'geb f'ai throdog ngah'ng ai'y!" he screamed, his voice echoing off the trees and off into the night. "G'ar'eleigh ry'allah! G'AR'ELEIGH RY'ALLAH!"
His voice growing ever louder, the other assembled ponies watched in amazement as a bright golden light enveloped the slab. In the middle of it, an orb of pure black slowly formed into existence. It pulsed and writhed as it grew, a dark aura emanating from it. The gathered cult stepped forward.
"It's working..." one of them muttered. "It's finally happening."
"Yes," the one next to him said. "All of Equestria will be under our control."
"YES!" The pony at the front yelled, pointing one hoof at them. "We will control it, for we will control he who moves through the fog, the envoy of the deepest abyss, the one who holds the knife that stabs freedom. King Sombra will be resurrected at our hoof!"
He turned back to the stone slab and resumed chanting. The orb in the center continued to grow, and slowly it formed into a small pony-like shape. The cult gasped, and their leader smiled.
"Let him be summoned!" he screamed, slamming his fist down onto the ritual slab and causing the writhing black figure to send a burst of energy out, pushing all the ponies back. He reached deep into his robe and pulled out a small red vial, holding it aloft into the sky. “Let the spirit of King Sombra be reborn, and let us be the ones who control him! With this offering of the flesh, let him be—”
“NOW GO GO GO!!”
There was great commotion as several ponies dove out from the darkness of the forest and attacked. One more came swooping down from the sky and reached out for the vial in the leader’s hoof, only to barely miss it as he pulled it away.
“They’ve discovered us!” he screamed as he turned to escape into the woods. “Retreat!”
Absolute melee broke out as the ponies wrestled with the cultists, holding them down as police rushed in to slap hoof cuffs on them. In the air, the pegasus stopped short, then turned around.
“I lost sight of him!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Twilight, can I get some light?”
As Twilight Sparkle held down two of the cultists, while the other three were quickly tied up by a well-thrown lasso, she shot a glimmering bolt into the sky, illuminating most of the forest around them. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough for Dash to spot a figure rushing away from the scene.
“Got ya,” she said as she raced down and took a hold of the leader by the front hooves. “Sorry, you aren’t going anywhere.”
“Put me down! You can’t stop us!” He screamed as he desperately tried to escape.
“Nah, I think we can. I’m pretty sure we just did, actually.”
Rainbow Dash set him down back in the clearing, next to the rest of the cult. They were all tied together at the hooves, both by hoof cuffs and by a lasso, while a pony paced in front of them.
"—and anything ya'll say will be held against ya in a court'a law," Applejack said, her head held high and her hat tipped back. "Ya have the right to—"
"Maybe we should wait for the police to show up to say all that," Twilight said, only to be met with an intense glare from Applejack.
"This is the one chance I'ma get to say this, Twi. Don't take it away from me."
"Fair enough."
Rainbow Dash landed next to them, still holding the hooves of the leader. "Lookie who I found trying to escape."
"Good work," Twilight said. "Thank you both for your help on this, I don't think I ever would have been able to stop these ponies without you."
"Hey, any chance to get in on a little cult-stopping action I'm all for!" Rainbow Dash said as she excitedly flew in circles around the group. "Man, that was awesome! Are there any evil-worshipping cults that Celestia knows of? Maybe somepony out there wants to help the changelings invade again?"
“We are not a cult!” the leader screamed as Applejack began to tie his hooves up. “We are trying to save Equestria! Sombra would rule, destroying all who he deemed unworthy and leaving only the perfect left to—”
“Boss, I think you’re making it worse,” one of the other cultists muttered.
“Now then, we’ll be transporting you to Ponyville, where you’ll be handed over to the police,” Twilight said as Rainbow Dash and Applejack started to lead the cultists away. “Quite frankly, an act such as this will have severe punishment.”
As the cultists were carried away from the clearing, the leader turned back to look at the stone slab; the glow had grown dim and the black figure was slowly evaporating into the night.
“You may have stopped Sombra,” he said, “but I will not let my offering go to waste! Spirits, hear my cry!”
With a burst of energy he shoved away from the group and leapt back, landing right beside the glowing slab and pulling the vial out of his pocket again.
“You didn’t cuff him?!” Twilight screamed.
“Oh… yeah. That.” Rainbow Dash muttered. “I knew I forgot something.”
“Accept this sacrifice of flesh,” the leader screamed at the heavens, “and bring the spirit of an adversary to the Elements of Harmony into this world to destroy them once and for all!”
With a wild swinging motion, the leader hurled the vial down onto the slab. It burst with energy and seemed to light up the entire forest around them, as the black figure in the middle writhed around and took form again.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack rushed in and pounced on the leader, holding him down and cuffing him, and Twilight cast a shield spell around the figure. A loud screech came from it, then it slowly went limp, falling against the bottom of the bubble Twilight had created. She lowered it back to the slab as Applejack ran her lasso around the leader and the cultists, tying them all together tight.
There was an eerie calmness to the forest as Twilight stared at the figure in the bubble. It looked like a pony, roughly the size of a foal, but still had a black aura emanating from it, albeit a fading one. The three ponies stared at the tiny figure.
“W-what is it?” Rainbow asked, poking at the shield with one hoof.
“It looks like a little girl,” Twilight said. “I have no idea what they could have summoned… this could be anything—”
She was interrupted when the filly squirmed a bit in the bubble.
“Land sakes it’s still alive?!” Applejack yelled.
“We have to get it somewhere safe, quickly!”
With a burst of magic from her horn, Twilight lifted the near-lifeless creature onto her back, then ran off into the woods, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash following close behind, dragging the protesting cultists along with them.
----------
"The six cultists have all been brought in and Ponyville police will be transferring them to officials from Equestrian Bureau of Occult Investigations."
"Excellent," Princess Celestia said. "I do appreciate your help in this whole situation. Given who the cult was trying to summon, I felt it important that we had alicorn magic at the ready."
"Not to mention the greatest pegasus and earth pony duo in the world!" Rainbow Dash excitedly interjected, holding her hoof out to be met with a bump from Applejack. Celestia chuckled.
"Of course," she said. "Either way, I am very proud of you ponies. You stopped the cult from summoning a creature that could have very well taken over all of Equestria."
"Um, heh heh, about that," Twilight said, as she scuffed her hoof against the ground.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well, yes they certainly didn't summon King Sombra. But, well, here's the thing. Sometimes, in the heat of a conflict, an issue can arise where—"
"They summoned some creature, and we took it," Applejack interrupted flatly.
Twilight turned in frustration to her friend. "Applejack!!"
"What? She's gotta know, might as well tell her without pussyhoofin' around."
"Exactly what are you talking about?" Celestia asked as she leaned towards the three ponies. "They summoned something?!"
"Yes," Twilight quietly replied. "We're not really sure what it is. It seemed like a small pony, but we haven't gotten the chance to really examine it yet. We were planning on turning it over to the Bureau as well."
"Where is it now?"
"Don't worry," Twilight said. "We gave it to an expert in the field of creature studies, who would be able to take care of it until we have a proper plan in place. There's also backup there with expertise in magic in case something goes wrong."
"Fluttershy and Discord," Rainbow Dash added.
Celestia gasped, then her horn let out a bright glow as the four of them were enveloped in light. Seconds later, they stood in front of Fluttershy's cottage. Celestia and Twilight stepped to the front door while behind them, Rainbow Dash and Applejack lay in a pile, their eyes swiveling around in their sockets.
"Urggghhhh," Applejack moaned. "All due respect, can ya'll give a warnin' when yer gonna teleport us? Mah head hurts..."
"Twilight, I understand that it was a rather frantic situation, but you have to inform me about things like this immediately," Princess Celestia said. "And just taking some kind of summoned creature? We have no idea what kind of threat that it could be to—"
Celestia reached for the door, but it flung open and her hoof pressed into a serpentine body. The body split in half and flew around the princess, then re-formed behind her.
"Nope nope nope," Discord said, opening a suitcase and stuffing whatever he could get his claws on into it. "Celestia, you do not pay me nearly enough to deal with this."
"Discord, we don't pay you at all."
"Exactly! I want nothing to do with this, so I'm taking my vacation."
"You don't get a vacation!" Twilight yelled at him.
"Then sick day. Weekend. Maternity leave. I don't care, I have no intent to deal with that little... THING... anymore." He turned and grabbed Twilight around the shoulders. "You have no idea how hard it is to deal with someone that annoying."
"I think we have a pretty good idea, actually," Rainbow Dash said.
Discord let go and looked around. "Did I forget anything? Ah, yes." He reached over and plucked one of Rainbow Dash's wings off, then planted it on top of his suitcase.
"Hey!"
"Oh be quiet, you have a spare."
"Discord, what exactly is it that was summoned?" Twilight asked as Discord slammed his suitcase shut.
"You should just find out for yourself," he replied. He reached up and pulled a zipper down, creating a large hole in front of him. "Fluttershy has been putting on a brave face, but I can tell that even her patience is running out. Now that you’re here, hopefully you can control the situation a bit better. "I'll be back in a week. Toodles!" He zipped up the hole, leaving nothing left but the four ponies standing outside the cottage. "Oh, fine." his voice suddenly blurted as another hole opened and his claw came through, jamming Rainbow's wing back on her body before disappearing again.
“Princess,” Twilight muttered, “I don’t think that is a good sign.”
“Twilight, Discord tends to be quite, how shall I put this, over the top,” Celestia replied as she stepped through the front door and into the cottage, “but we cannot let him dissuade us. We have to approach whatever it is that was summoned to find—”
Celestia stopped and ducked her head to one side as a cup of juice flew past her and slammed into the wall, splashing all four ponies.
“What in the name of…” Twilight muttered, before a loud crash from the other room cut her off, followed by two voices.
“I said I wanted apple juice, not orange juice!” a shrill voice screamed out.
“Um, I thought you said orange. In fact, you said apple, but then threw that away and said you wanted orange. So I thought—”
“I want grape juice!”
“G-grape? Oh dear, don’t have any of that. I can go to the store and get you some, then. I’ll just get the cup.”
Fluttershy awkwardly trotted out of the other room; her mane was matted and torn in parts, her cheek appeared to be bruised, and she had a noticeable limp. She looked up at the sudden intrusion of ponies in her living room.
“Oh, hello everypony,” she said. “Did you come to visit?”
“Fluttershy! What happened?” Twilight said as she rushed over to her friend.
“I’m just taking care of the foal you gave to me,” she said, her voice momentarily cracking as a crash came from behind her. “She’s so… sweet?”
Princess Celestia stepped in front of Twilight. “Fluttershy, I need to know everything.”
“Well, about an hour ago Twilight dropped off a foal for me to look after,” Fluttershy said as a screeching laugh pierced the room. “She said she had to go speak with you about important matters. I’ve just been here taking care of the tyke. She’s—”
There was yet another crash from the other room, this time the sound of a window shattering.
“She’s a bit high-strung.”
“Fluttershy, we’re here to examine the foal more closely,” Celestia said. “It seems that it is quite a problem, so we can take over from here.”
“O-okay,” Fluttershy said as she stumbled over to her couch. “I-I just need to rest my eyes for a min—”
No sooner had she laid down on the couch than she immediately fell asleep. Twilight and Celestia glanced at each other, then walked through the archway into the next room. The room was a complete mess; pots and pans were littered all about, the curtains were torn, and various juices and drinks were spilled all around the floor. And sitting in the middle of all the chaos was the subject of their attention: a blue foal unicorn with a grey mane, loudly banging two pots together. When she noticed the ponies who had entered the room, she excitedly ran over to them.
“Hi!” she chirped. “Come play!”
Before Twilight could react, the filly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the room. Twilight was yanked forward and all four hooves pressed into the juice-covered floor, causing her to slip right out of the grip of the filly and slam into the nearest cabinet. As she tried to regain her bearings, the filly shoved a cup into her hooves.
Twilight wasn’t even sure what to say as she looked up to Celestia in a panic. Celestia just nodded, and Twilight reluctantly took a sip from the cup.
“Um, I-I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “And you are?”
“I’m bored of that, I want to put on a show for you! Wait here!” The filly tossed the cup over her head and ran to the other side of the room, where she used magic to tear the curtains down and wrap them around herself. She held her head up high as she trotted back towards Twilight.
"Behold, I am the greatest fashion model that Equestria has ever seen!" The filly twirled around, causing the back of the curtain she was wearing to smack a painting off the wall. "Are I not more beautiful than Mare-Lynn Monroe?"
Twilight ducked as the filly whirled in circles, sending the back of the makeshift dress knocking things off of every surface. "C-can you slow down? I have some questions for you." The filly stopped spinning and stared at Twilight, her eyes narrowing. She grabbed the back of her dress and swung it forward, whipping Twilight in the face. "Ow! H-Hey!"
"You do not tell the most amazing fashion model to slow down, you shower her with praise and gifts!" The filly held her nose in the air and posed, then resumed her model-like strut around the room.
Twilight stared at her, unsure of what to do next to approach the strange filly, until the sound of hoofsteps next to her drew her attention to Princess Celestia. Celestia had a warm smile on her face as she approached the filly, who immediately looked up at the Alicorn princess.
"Little one," she said as she knelt down to be eye-to-eye with the filly, "you have quite the amount of energy, but I have a very important question for you, so you are going to have to pay attention. Do you understand?”
The filly nodded.
“Do you understand how special you are?”
The filly nodded again, this time extremely enthusiastically.
"I'm glad you do," Celestia said, reaching over and stroking the filly's grey mane. "You are indeed a very special pony, but we are going to need to determine exactly why. That means that playtime is going to have to end for now while we talk. Is that okay?"
There was a long pause as the filly looked at the smiling princess, then glanced back at the "dress" she was wearing, the smile on her face slowly disappearing. Celestia and Twilight exchanged relieved glances as the filly took hold of the dress... but she suddenly glared at Celestia and swung around, whipping the princess in the face with her tail.
"I am a very special pony, and I say that playtime doesn't have to end!" she said as she resumed twirling elegantly. "Maybe I should be the princess instead!"
Both Celestia and Twilight's jaws hit the floor as the filly walked away. Celestia slowly stood up.
"Twilight, I think I am going to let you take charge in this situation."
"What?!" Twilight gasped. "Why?"
"I... really do not think I have the experience of working with fillies that you do."
"Of course you do, Princess," Twilight replied. "You helped me become the pony I am today, and I began with you when I was just a filly!"
"Yes, but you spent almost the entire time reading. You were not what I would call an average filly."
"Oh, yeah. Well what about Sunset—"
"She ended up studying the dark arts, being banished from the castle, and attempted to take over another dimension as a demon."
"Right, right," Twilight said, nodding as she looked over at the filly. "I will see what I can do."
Twilight trotted over to the filly, who had torn a table cloth off of the tipped-over table and was scribbling on it with several crayons. She sat down next to her.
“So, um—”
“Why do you have wings? I thought princesses were supposed to be big and elegant, you just look like a unicorn someone glued wings on.”
Twilight gritted her teeth. “Little girl, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I don’t know if you understand this, but much like Princess Celestia said, you are a very special pony.”
“I know I am!” the filly replied. “I’m amazing!”
“No, as in, you are really, truly special.”
“Yup!”
Twilight shook her head. “No, listen to me. You are a pony who is unlike any pony who has ever existed in Equestria.”
“I know! It’s because I’m better at magic and prettier and smarter and—”
“Okay this isn’t working,” Twilight said, rubbing her face in frustration. “Let’s just start simply; what is your name?”
“Beatrix.”
“Beatrix. That’s a very pretty…”
Twilight trailed off as the word Beatrix bounced around in her mind. She looked at the small blue unicorn, then thought back to what the cult leader had yelled.
“Bring the spirit of an adversary to the Elements of Harmony into this world to destroy them once and for all!”
Suddenly, it all made sense.
“Oh dear.”
----------
"It's Trixie?!"
Twilight nodded. "As far as I can tell, the cult summoned the spirit of Trixie in the form of a young filly."
The rest of the ponies, gathered in their chairs in the main room of Twilight's castle, shared confused glances.
"Ah don't understand," Applejack said. "How?"
"Well, they attempted to summon Sombra, but when we foiled that, the leader panicked. He instead summoned an "adversary of the Elements of Harmony," and since Trixie technically was an adversary a few times..."
"So we now have to deal with a filly Trixie?" Rarity asked. "I can't even imagine how difficult she was to deal with at that age."
"Oh, we were all difficult at that age, we can't just—"
Twilight was interrupted by a loud yell from the other room, followed by what sounded like the shattering of glass.
"Spike? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah great!" Spike yelled back. "Beatrix is doing fine. Hey did you know that the crystal in this place can break, like, really easily?"
"Okay yeah she's a pain," Twilight said to the other ponies. "But I think we can still do something for her."
"Do we really need to babysit this brat?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, she was summoned by an evil cult, shouldn't we be throwing her in Tartarus or something?
"No, we can't just throw her in Tartarus!" Twilight snapped back. "She's not a threat to Equestrian safety, she's just a very active filly who is in the world for the first time."
A loud slam caused all the ponies to jump.
"Spike?"
"Everything's fine, I'm doing a great job taking care of her!" he yelled back. "By the way, I think this bookshelf looks great on its side."
Twilight sighed. "The point is, she's just an excitable filly. I understand how strange of a situation this is, but I am determined to work through it. Princess Celestia has put her faith in me."
"Well we'll be here to help any way we can," Rarity said.
"First thing is first," Twilight said. "Rainbow Dash, I need you to track someone down and bring them to Ponyville."
Rainbow sighed. "I have a feeling I know who it is. Do I really have to deal with her again?"
"It's important that she is aware of this situation, so she can also confirm our suspicions."
"Seriously, Twilight," Rainbow said, "she was summoned using dark arts by a doomsday cult. That's, like, the definition of something that should be locked up in Tartarus!"
"Rainbow we are not going to do that! It is my duty as Princess of Friendship to introduce this poor filly to the world around her."
Another crash came from the other room. "Um, Twilight? You didn't, like, love that framed picture of you and Cadence, right?"
"... even if it kills me.”
----------
"So, the 'incredible' Princess Twilight Sparkle came crawling back to The Great and Powerful Trixie," Trixie said, her head held high. "A lesser pony would say no after everything you have done. But the Great, Powerful, and Forgiving Trixie is not a lesser pony. So if you need my help, I will be the bigger pony and say yes."
"We get it, Trixie," Rainbow Dash said. "You've said that like four times now. Also, who are you even talking to this time?"
"Trixie is talking to all of you!" Trixie snapped back. "This is information you have to know! You roused Trixie from a particularly pleasant nap, so Trixie has every right to remind you of the goodness in her heart."
"I could have sworn you had learned a lesson in humility after the Alicorn Amulet debacle," Twilight muttered.
"I did! I will have you know that I am now charging 10% less for autographs than I was before. Now are you going to explain to Trixie exactly what it is you need me to do?"
Twilight took a deep breath as she turned to Trixie. "There was an evil cult that was attempting to summon the spirit of King Sombra, the evil unicorn who enslaved the Crystal Empire, so they could control him and rule all of Equestria. We stopped them during the ceremony, but the leader panicked and still managed to summon something. We aren't sure, but based on just observing it, it seems to be a filly version of you, because the point of the ceremony was to summon 'an enemy of the Elements of Harmony,' and technically you were one. We need you to identify yourself so we know where to go from here."
Trixie blinked. "Can you repeat the last part? Also, the first and middle part would be helpful."
"Trixie, we just need you to tell us if we summoned you. Somehow." Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight opened the door to her castle and motioned for Trixie to enter. Trixie rolled her eyes.
"This is the most ridiculous thing Trixie has ever done," she said as she stepped through the door. "The mere idea of them summoning Trixie in the body of a filly is absurdity, and I can be spending my time doing—"
As soon as she was in the room, Beatrix leapt from on top of the door frame and landed on Trixie's back.
"What in the—"
"Horsey-back ride!" Beatrix yelled, laughing as she kicked Trixie in the side. Trixie let out a loud neigh in surprise and dashed forward instinctively, only turning when Beatrix kicked her in the side again. Trixie ran circles around the room, Beatrix laughing uproariously as she continued to kick at her ride. Trixie finally came to a halt and Beatrix jumped off of her, landing on a couch and laughing as Trixie ran out the front door and slammed it shut.
"Yes that is most definitely Trixie," she said, panting.
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked.
"I can assure you with one hundred percent certainty that that is Trixie. Trixie was rather gregarious as a filly."
"Trixie," Twilight said, interrupting the exchange, "the fact is we're unable to talk any sense into her or get her to calm down even for a minute. Is there something you can do?"
"And what, exactly, do you expect Trixie to do?"
"She's you, isn't she? You said you used to be like this as a filly. Well, can you remember what made you stop?"
Trixie looked upwards as she thought back. She eventually looked Twilight right in the eyes.
"Yes, I can," she said, her voice calm and unwavering. "There was something my parents told me when I was a filly, and it indeed changed my attitude and perspective on life.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s perfect. Trixie, please, will you tell Beatrix this? It could very well help her to start adjusting to life.”
Trixie nodded and opened the door again. Inside, Beatrix was jumping from chair to chair, trying not to touch the ground, and as Trixie approached, she again made a great leap for her. Trixie’s horn lit up and Beatrix froze in mid-air, and Trixie floated her forward so they were face to face.
“Twilight,” Trixie said, “we need some privacy.”
“Of course,” Twilight said as she closed the front door.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash huddled around the window and watched as Trixie began to speak. Beatrix squirmed around to escape the levitation spell, but at some point she stopped her escape attempts and was looking right back at Beatrix. Trixie slowly lowered her and continued talking, Beatrix now leaning in and paying close attention.
“Well I’ll be,” Rainbow Dash said. “She’s actually doing what she said she’d do.”
"I can only imagine what it's like to talk to yourself like this," Twilight said.
"Didn't you talk to your future self once? Then go back and talk to your past self?"
"It must mean a lot to Trixie to be able to tell a younger version of herself about the world, about everything she's learned," Twilight said, ignoring the question. "But it does look like Beatrix is listening."
Inside, Trixie leaned down and gave Beatrix a big hug, which was enthusiastically returned. Trixie walked back towards the door, which Twilight opened for her. As soon as Trixie exited, Twilight entered and trotted up to Beatrix. She was sitting quietly in the middle of the room, just contemplating.
"Beatrix?" Twilight said.
"Yes?"
"You know who that pony was, right?"
Beatrix nodded. "She told me."
Twilight sat down next to the filly and patted her head. "I know that it must be quite the shock to talk to a grown-up version of yourself. But you have to understand that you were brought to this world in a way unlike any pony who has ever come before you, and that it makes you a very special pony in many ways. And I want to help you, but I can't do that if you are going to keep breaking things and not listening."
"Not listening?" Beatrix said. "I don't have to listen to you. I don't have to listen to anypony!"
"What."
"I don't have to listen because if I do, you may try to sabotage me!"
"What did Trixie tell you!?"
Beatrix jumped to her hooves, her head held high. "She told me the truth: that I’m is going to grow up to be the most powerful and amazing unicorn that the world has ever seen! A pony that all others come running to see, who has saved the world a thousand times over, single-handedly a unicorn that changes the world!"
"She what?!"
"I can't wait until Princess Celestia gives me my wings!"
Twilight turned around and slammed the front door open. Outside, Trixie was loudly talking to a very bored Rainbow Dash.
"—and that's how Trixie saved the Wonderbolts the third time," she said. "The fourth time—"
"Trixie!" Twilight screamed, getting right in the face of the smirking unicorn. "What the hay did you tell her?!"
"I told her exactly what my parents told me as a child," Trixie shot back. "That she is one-of-a-kind and shouldn't listen to anybody who dares control, or even criticizes her. She doesn't have to, because she's already destined to become the greatest!"
"Your parents told you that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "That explains a lot."
"Trixie, the reason I asked you here was to talk some sense into her, not to put insane delusions of grandeur in her head!"
"They are not delusions, they are the truth!" Trixie said. "And now that Trixie has shown her how wonderful she will be, Trixie is going to take her leave. But remember, Twilight Sparkle: just because you humbled me once does not mean that Trixie forgot who she is: The Great and Powerful Trixie, the most powerful unicorn that Equestria has ever seen!"
Trixie reared up on her hind legs, and a great puff of smoke exploded in front of her. As Rainbow and Twilight coughed, the smoke wore off as Trixie ran off through Ponyville.
"That smoke bomb is so unnecessary," Twilight said. "Also, didn't you fly her here?"
"Yeah, her caravan is like 50 miles away."
Twilight looked back into her castle; inside, Beatrix had found her crown and placed it on her head, sitting proudly in Twilight's seat in the main room. "I cannot believe her! After everything she said, she just went and made everything worse!”
“Tartarus is still an option…”
“No it’s not!!”
Twilight stormed into the room and plucked Beatrix off of the throne. She dropped the protesting filly onto her back and trotted right back out of the castle, holding her down on her back with magic.
“Come on, Beatrix,” Twilight said. “We’re going to go downtown and you are going to start to meet some of the ponies here in Ponyville.”
“You can’t make me, Beatrix is an important pony who you have to respect!” the filly yelled.
“Do not start with that first person thing. You are going to learn how to interact with ponies, just like I did. And you’re gonna have fun doing it, dammit.”
----------
“Now then, Beatrix, this is the perfect day to introduce you around,” Twilight said as she motioned towards the many stands that had been set up. “Today is the weekly Ponyville Farmer’s Market! Lots of ponies are out here selling all sorts of fresh food and art. Isn’t it cool?” There was no response. “Beatrix?”
Twilight looked down to see a blank space where she thought Beatrix should be. She looked back up and quickly scanned the area, locating Beatrix quickly: she had jumped up to a stand that was selling hoof-painted pictures of different locations in Ponyville.
“How about this one?” Beatrix said, picking up one of the smaller paintings.
“Sorry, little girl, but these paintings are already finished,” the artist said. “I can’t just add you into one of them.”
“Twilight!” Beatrix yelled. “Tell her to put me into one of her paintings.”
Twilight trotted up to the booth. “Beatrix, I can’t do that. It’s not right for you to just demand something like that. This pony worked very hard on her art.” She picked up one of the pictures—a painting of a starry night over Ponyville—and held it in front of Beatrix. “Isn’t this a nice painting?”
Beatrix leaned in to examine the artwork… then suddenly tucked her head and rammed forward, driving her horn through the painting.
“H-hey!”
“It doesn’t have Beatrix; it’s not worth it,” Beatrix said as she jumped off the counter.
Twilight looked up at the artist, who was staring daggers at her. She nervously laughed. “E-excuse her, she’s—”
“I was selling that painting for 100 bits, you know.”
“Of course, I’ll pay you back,” Twilight said, reaching into her saddle bag. “Do you take a check?”
Twilight was pulling the check book out of her bag when loud cracking noise sent a chill down her spine. She looked up to see that Beatrix was standing inside the booth, holding a now snapped-in-half canvas that had a picture of Ponyville Town Hall on it. Beatrix threw it to the side, then jumped out of the booth and ran off into the market. The artist, her face now shaking, turned to glare at Twilight.
“Heh heh… so, 300 bits then?” A yell from behind her made Twilight hurl the check down on the counter. “Justfillitoutyourselfgottagobye!”
Twilight rushed into the market to find Beatrix, following the sounds of yelling. She finally came to a group of ponies who were gathered around a central point, and Twilight flew over them and landed in the middle, where she found Beatrix hovering numerous apples above her head.
“Put those down!” Apple Bloom yelled. “Ya’ll gotta buy those!”
“Don’t worry yourself,” Beatrix said. “Now everyone watch as Beatrix, using only her immense magical power, instantly makes these apples triple in size!”
Her horn glowed bright and above her, the apples began to undulate and shake around. With a sudden burst of magic, the apples all violently exploded, showering the assembled ponies in crushed apple. Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh both turned to Beatrix, who was completely undeterred; she quickly levitated another large batch of apples above her.
“Best two out of three!”
The apples once again exploded, but this time Twilight shot a quick barrier spell that protected all the ponies around them from another apple bath. She grabbed Beatrix by the nape of the neck and held her up in front of her.
“And just what do you think you are doing?”
“Showing off; what Beatrix is destined to do best.”
“You do realize I now have to pay for all of those apples, right?” Twilight said.
Beatrix squirmed out of the grasp of Twilight and landed on the ground, turning and walking away with her head held high “That’s not Beatrix’s problem, now is it?”
Twilight gritted her teeth as she watched Beatrix walk away. She only took a step before a hoof clamped down on her shoulder.”
“Twi,” Applejack said, “I know yer busy and all that, but that was about 50 bits worth’a golden delicious apples she just destroyed.”
Twilight grumbled as she reached into her saddle bag again. “This isn’t working. Not only does she not want to listen to anypony, but Trixie came by and made everything worse!”
“Yeah, Rainbow Dash told me,” Applejack said. “I dunno, maybe it ain’t the best idea to try to bring her into society, ya know? I mean, the whole evil cult thing n’ all…”
“Don’t you start with that too!” Twilight said. “I am going to make this work. I believe that there is good in every pony, and I’m sure there is some in Beatrix too. It’s just going to take a different strategy…”
A lightbulb went off in Twilight’s head and she looked over; Apple Bloom was rushing from pony to pony, apologizing and awkwardly trying to wipe the crushed apples off of their faces.
“... and I think I know just who to go to.”
----------
“See? I knew this would work.”
Twilight and Rarity walked through the back of Sweet Apple Acres, towards a clearing in the woods. Twilight had a big grin, but Rarity wasn’t as enthusiastic.
“Are you sure?” Rarity said. “Just because we haven’t heard from Beatrix for a few hours doesn’t mean it worked.”
“Nonsense!” Twilight replied. “If there’s a group of ponies out there who can help out a filly in need, it’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Beatrix doesn’t have her Cutie Mark yet either, it’s a perfect fit. Plus, the three of them were eager to welcome in a new member!”
“I know all that, but I’m just not sure that the three of them are the best, how do I put this… caretakers?” Rarity mused. “Taking care of our pets was difficult enough for them, but a full grown filly?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it caretaking,” Twilight said. “All they have to do is get to know her. I think that having a nice group of friends like them is just what Beatrix needs to—”
As they entered the clearing, their conversation was interrupted by a high-pitched cry. In the center of the clearing, Sweetie Belle was laying on the ground, bawling her eyes out as Applebloom and Scootaloo stood next to her, not looking much happier. Rarity gasped and galloped over to her sister.
“Sweetie Belle!” she yelled as she dropped to her knees. “Who did this to you?”
Between dramatic sobs, Sweetie raised a hoof and pointed to the clubhouse. Rarity continued to console her as Twilight looked up.
“What in the name of Celestia?!”
The clubhouse had been completely transformed; the entire thing was reinforced with steel, spikes now lined the path around the actual house, and the small observatory on top now contained a large searchlight that was constantly rotating. The only entrance to the clubhouse was drawn up, with a large, hastily-dug moat surrounding the tree.
“Yeah, she sorta… took over,” Scootaloo said. “It took like five minutes, she’s just been keeping us out of the clubhouse since.
“Beatrix!!”
The door to the fortress swung open and Beatrix stepped out; on her head was a golden crown. “Who dares interrupt Beatrix while she is busy in Fort Beatrix?” She looked down at the ground. “Oh, you.”
“Beatrix this is not what I had in mind when I introduced you to the Crusaders!”
“The Crusaders were just a means to an end; giving Beatrix the living quarters that she deserves.” Beatrix flipped the hair out of her eyes and smiled. “Beatrix would thank you, but she thinks she would have found this anyway.”
Twilight snorted in anger, then looked back at the Crusaders; Sweetie Belle was still bawling her eyes out, while Apple Bloom was just pacing in frustration as Scootaloo approached the moat. She tried to reach up to pull the drawbridge down, only for a large alligator to pounce from the moat. She managed to leap back at the last second before it bit down, then slunk back into the moat.
“Okay, this was a bad idea,” Twilight said. “I think we should bring in an expert on taking care of children…”
----------
"I'm sorry, Cheerilee. I really had no idea this would happen."
Twilight had to raise her voice over the sirens of the Ponyville Fire Department, who were finishing dousing off the school bell on top of Ponyville Schoolhouse. The bell itself was semi-melted and the wooden casing around it completely destroyed. The students of the school were all watching in amazement, Beatrix at the front with a big grin on her face.
"It's fine, Twilight," Cheerilee said, calmly taking a sip from her mug. "I wasn't even aware that the bell could melt, but there you go."
"What happened, exactly?"
Cheerilee took another sip. "Well, she was being quite disruptive all day. I had enough when she punched Featherweight for not complimenting her mane and put her in a time out in the corner. I guess I took my eyes off of her for a minute because the next thing I know, I can smell smoke. I think she wanted to try out a fire spell."
Twilight looked over at Beatrix; she had turned around to face the rest of the students and was holding her hooves in the air.
"Behold Beatrix's power!" she declared triumphantly. "Look what I can do merely through the power of magic! Are there any unicorns my age that can say the same? I think not!"
"Geez, she's worse than the Great and Powerful Trixie," Snips muttered to Snails next to him.
"I heard that!" Beatrix snapped at him. "Beatrix is the greatest, and is worse than no pony! Although I do like that nickname..."
"Twilight, I'm going to have to ask that you take Beatrix right now," Cheerilee said, taking another long sip from her mug. "I think she is going to have a negative impact on the rest of the class."
"Of course. I must say, you're really taking all of this well. I expected you to be a little more stressed."
Cheerilee smiled. "Of course not. I have a trick to keeping calm in emergencies like this."
"Oh? I always stick with deep breaths, it gives me a chance to put things into perspective. What do you do?"
Cheerilee held up her mug. "Apple Family Specialty Cider. It's 150-proof. I keep an extra barrel of it in the supply closet, do you want some?"
"Um..." Twilight said, noticing the glazed-over look that was quickly developing in the teacher's eyes. "No thanks."
"Suit yourself," Cheerilee said as she tipped the mug back. Twilight slowly backed off and grabbed Beatrix by the hoof.
"You are coming with me young lady."
"Let go you can't do this to me I'm the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria I'll send you to the cornfield you can't just drag me off I'm—"
Beatrix continued kicking and screaming as Twilight dragged her away. As she did she sent a large spark into the air, exploding in a massive star over her castle.
----------
“So I’ve called you all here for a very important discussion.”
With the rest of her friends sitting in their thrones, Twilight paced in the center of the room. In the corner, Beatrix was sitting on a stool, screaming up a storm that was blocked by a noise spell. Every few moments Twilight shot another bolt of magic to strengthen the spell.
“The fact is, everything I’ve tried with Beatrix has failed,” Twilight said. “She’s just not acclimating to the world in the way that I expected her to. Quite frankly, I am at a loss on what to do next.”
“You know—” Rainbow Dash began.
“No Tartarus!!” Twilight yelled. “She is not a threat to Equestria!”
“Uh, not to disagree with ya,” Applejack said, “but she’s been doin’ an awful lotta damage to Ponyville. I don’t see how she’s not a threat to Equestria. She seems mighty strong right now, she’s only gonna get stronger as she grows up. Maybe puttin’ her away for a while would be a good idea.”
“Guys,” Twilight said, “I understand how big of a problem she has been in such a short time. But remember, she’s just a filly. You were all fillies at one point, and I can guarantee that every one of you acted out at some point! And now look at us; look at the lives we have created, the happiness we have brought not just to each other, to but to so many ponies all over Equestria. Any filly, no matter how self-centered, rambunctious, or bratty, can end up becoming something really, truly special. So no, I don’t think that just locking her up is the right solution. What we have to do is work together to help Beatrix.”
The assembled ponies all looked at each other as Twilight slowly walked over to Beatrix and lowered the spell. She plucked the yelling filly up and deposited her in the center of the room. Beatrix went quiet as soon as she saw how serious Twilight was. Twilight’s horn went bright and a book levitated into the room.
“Beatrix,” Twilight said, her voice quiet but full of confidence. “I understand what Trixie said to you, and that everything is new to you, but you have to realize that that isn’t right. You are a special pony, but that doesn’t mean everypony has to worship you. If you keep doing this, ponies aren’t going to respect you; they’re going to hate you.”
For the first time, Beatrix didn’t say anything; she just nodded. Twilight smiled, realizing that she was finally getting through to the filly. She lowered the book down in front of her.
“I think what you need is something that somepony very important once gave to me; responsibility. This book contains a detailed history of all of Equestria. It was given to me by Princess Celestia after I became her protege.”
Rarity gasped. “Twilight, I thought that book meant the world to you!”
“It does,” Twilight said. “And I trust Beatrix to take care of it.”
Beatrix was completely stunned. “E-even after everything I did… you’d want me to take care of this book?” she asked as she opened the book.
Twilight patted her on the head. “I do, because it’s what you need. I’m sorry for rushing you into the world so quickly, Beatrix. What you need right now is to understand the world around you, and I think this is just the way to do it.”
Beatrix began to flip through the book, and for the first time, there was a serene calmness to her. Twilight watched as the filly went from page to page, her eyes ever widening as she looked at how much information was contained in it. Finally satisfied, Twilight turned to face the group.
“We need to take this slow,” she said. “In a few weeks, I’ll take another crack at taking her out and introducing her around. I think that by then, Beatrix will have settled down quite a bit. Once she has, the next step will be to have her not be seen as something summoned from nothing, but as a productive and real—”
“Um,” Fluttershy said, meekly pointing behind her. “Twilight?”
Twilight looked behind her; Beatrix was sitting up, calmly tearing page after page out of the book.
“W-wh… wha… but—” Twilight muttered.
“The book completely ignores the most important moment in Equestrian history; the birth of Beatrix,” Beatrix said. “It’s worthless!”
Twilight blinked a few times.
“YOU LITTLE BRAT!!”
Twilight snatched the book away from Beatrix and stormed up to her, standing directly over her; her hair was standing on end and her eyes were burning red as the rest of her friends leapt for cover behind their thrones.
“I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you never, ever destroy a book around me!” Twilight shrieked. “And especially not one that belonged to the princess! Go back to the corner, you are in time out!!”
Beatrix gasped. “Time out?”
“Yes!” Twilight yelled. “And after that, you’re grounded!”
Twilight’s whole body was shaking with rage as Beatrix sniffled, looking over at the corner. There was a momentary pause, when suddenly Beatrix looked back at Twilight, her eyes now glowing a deep purple and green.
“Nobody sends Beatrix to time out!” the filly yelled, her voice dark and distorted.
“What the—”
A burst of magic sent Twilight tumbling back into the wall. Beatrix floated into the air, the dark aura around her ever growing as the whole room began to shake. As Twilight regained her senses, she narrowly avoided her throne being flung back at her.
“B-Black magic?” she yelled. “But how?”
“Summoned by a dark cult? Evil ritual? Designed to take over the world?” Rainbow Dash yelled back. “Remember any of that?!”
Beatrix began laughing as she lifted up all of the thrones, spinning them around her in a shield. Twilight shot a blast of magic at her, but it was easily deflected by Beatrix’s magic.
“If you are not going to treat the great Beatrix with respect and dignity, then she will force you to!” she screamed, pointing at Twilight. “I have tried being nice, but a command such as time out is one that Beatrix will never listen to!”
Twilight summoned a magical barrier and formed it around Beatrix, but with a single blink, the barrier shattered. “My magic isn’t working!” Twilight yelled. “What do we do?!”
“I have a plan!” Pinkie Pie yelled.
Pinkie rolled over onto her stomach and began to crawling slowly towards the whirling spectre of dark magic in the center of the room. Beatrix was beginning to tear the walls apart, laughing the whole time, as Pinkie Pie finally got close enough to her to hear.
“Hey Beatrix!” Pinkie yelled. “Free cupcakes!”
In an instant, the magic went away. The thrones slammed down to the ground, and Beatrix landed calmly on her hooves.
“Cupcakes?!” she yelled excitedly, her eyes sparkling and her tail wagging.
Pinkie Pie looked back at the other ponies. “No filly can resist cupcakes! Come on Beatrix, let’s go!”
Pinkie Pie bounded off, with the excited filly following right behind her. The rest of the ponies were crumpled into a heap in the corner of the destroyed room.
“Okay…” Twilight mumbled. “I think I have an idea.”
----------
“You can’t do this to me!” Beatrix yelled. There was a momentary spark of purple in her eyes, but it was swiftly extinguished by the darkness. “I will destroy you!”
“I’m sorry, Beatrix,” Twilight said, “but as you are right now, you are a serious threat to all of Equestria. I really should have done this earlier, to be frank, but I believed in you. That belief was misplaced, so now you’ll have to stay here.” She backed up and closed the cell door. “Don’t worry, it’s not permanent. I figure a few months here should give you the maturity you need to re-join Equestrian society.”
As Twilight slammed the gate shut, Beatrix grabbed onto the bars. “Beatrix is the most powerful unicorn that has ever existed, you cannot treat her like a common criminal! As soon as she—”
“About that… this place does tend to hurt your magic ability. I figure when you’re ready to be released, that black magic should be all out of your system.”
“What?”
“Anyway, say hi to your new cellmate!” Twilight chirped as she turned around and trotted down the jagged stairs. “Also treat Cerberus well!”
Twilight disappeared into the darkness, and the filly took a step back in her cell. She crouched down and tried to summon her magic, only for it to fizzle out and die.
“Don’t bother, tiny pony,” her cellmate said. “It is hopeless. It took me many eons to summon the power to merely break out of this cell.”
Beatrix turned around. “Who are you to tell Beatrix what she can’t do?”
“My name is Lord Tirek,” he said. “And once, I held all of Equestria in these claws. Now, I merely sit here, and wait. For one day, I will rise again. And nopony—not my spineless brother, not rainbow power, not those meddling ponies—will stop my reign as—”
“And you
Tirek stood up and walked to the cell wall separating him from Beatrix. “Lord Tierk does not like you, small pony.”
“I don’t think I like you either, old man.”
There was a long pause as the two stared each other down. Slowly, the tense atmosphere gave way to an uncomfortable awkwardness as the two looked around, realizing their current predicament.
“So then,” Tirek said, “...Tic-Tac-Toe?”
“Sure. Best to 500?”
----------
THE END