Part I

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It was a pleasant summer’s day. The sun was shining, the sky was clear (save for a rainbow trail following a blue blur every now and then), ponies were out enjoying their Saturday off from work/school, and there was a peaceful vibe in the air.

As Rarity levitated her cup of tea to her mouth, she took in the pleasant aroma, and let out a deep sigh of satisfaction before drinking the hot beverage. She had no commissions to be working on, Opalescence was with Aloe, being groomed, and Sweetie Belle had decided to play with her friends today, instead of visiting her sister.

Not that Rarity had a problem with Sweetie Belle paying her a visit every now and then, but today, she was free to just sit back and relax. Something that she had not been able to do for a long time.

‘This is simply lovely,’ Rarity thought to herself, leaning back in her chair as she drank some more of her pleasant tea. ‘No distractions… no worries… today is just going to be a me day.’

The jingling sounds of the store’s front door sounded, distracting Rarity from her tea. “I’m terribly sorry, but the store’s closed today,” Rarity said as she turned away from her tea, and faced the pony that had dared to intrude on her day off. “There is a sign outside that says ‘closed’.”

“But this is an emergency!” the pony shouted, walking inside and closing the door behind her. Rarity’s eyes widened as she laid her eyes on the blue-coated, silver-maned Unicorn mare before her. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s cape is ruined, and she is out of material to fix it!”

Rarity shot up to her hooves, taking care not to drop her cup, or spill any of the inside of it, and reeled back from the blue mare standing in her shop. “You! What do you think you are doing here?!”

Trixie levitated her hat off of her head, and placed it on the hat stand by the door. Apparently, she hadn’t paid any attention to Rarity’s obvious displeasure to her being there. “As Trixie said, she needs some material to repair her cape! And she is aware that you carry such materials, so she has decided to come here to acquire some.”

“And why should I give you any?! How could you even come back here, after what you did?!” Rarity placed her cup of tea gently down on the table beside her, and started to slowly approach the other mare, glaring angrily at her. “First you turn my mane that awful green! Then you force me to wear that horrid dress! You’re lucky I’m going to give you the chance to leave peacefully!”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at the enraged mare before her. “Really?” she asked, a confused look on her face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie banishes your friend from your town, and that’s what you’re angry about? Some green dye that washed right out in your mane, and a silly little outfit?”

“Well, naturally I’m angry about you banishing Twilight, too,” Rarity said, blushing slightly from her outburst. “Nevertheless, I can never forgive a crime against fashion, and you have committed two against me!”

“You’ve got to admit, they were pretty funny,” Trixie said, snickering slightly as she flicked her mane. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s magic is truly beyond compare! You should feel honoured that you were able to experience it firsthoof.”

Rarity’s glare didn’t falter. In fact, it grew more intense by the second. “Get. Out.”

Trixie’s smile faded, and she quickly opened up her cape to revealing a gaping hole inside of it. “But Trixie’s cape! Look at it! You can’t expect the Great and Powerful Trixie to walk around in something like this, can you?!”

“Then don’t wear it,” Rarity said flatly.

“Absurd! Would you asked Starswirl the Bearded to not wear his magical attire? Would you ask the Princesses not to wear their tiaras?!”

Rarity slammed a hoof to her face. “You can’t honestly be comparing yourself to the Princesses.”

“Of course not!” Trixie shouted defensively. “They would be lucky, to even come close to matching Trixie’s greatness and powerful… ness…”

“You mean power?” Rarity deadpanned, receiving a blush from the blue showmare.

“A-Anyway! The Great and Powerful Trixie must wear her cape at all times! But she can’t have this huge hole be in it! It’s… a crime against fashion!”

Rarity’s ear twitched, and her attention shifted to the hole in the cape. “… It means that much to you?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie would sooner die than take off this cape!” Trixie shouted, bringing her cape up to her face and nuzzling the fabric.

Rarity rolled her eyes. ‘What a drama Queen…’ She then turned around to look at the tea lying on the table behind her, and then at the piles of fabric lying next to the table. With a sigh, she turned back to Trixie, who was now looking at Rarity expectantly. “… Very well, then. I shall do what I can.”

Trixie’s face practically came to life, and she looked like she was about ready to leap forward and hug the white mare. “Under two conditions!” Rarity continued, bringing a look of confusion to Trixie’s face. “First, you apologise for turning my mane green before-”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will do no such thing!” Trixie shouted, startling Rarity and prompting the dressmaker to quickly cover her mane. However, she relaxed when she saw no hints of malice in Trixie’s eyes. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was merely defending her show! She will not apologise for something that she was not at fault over… But if you are willing to push the memory to the corner of your mind, then Trixie is willing to do the same.”

Rarity put a hoof to her chin. “Are you saying… we simply forget that moment, and start anew?” Trixie nodded, and Rarity considered it for a moment. “Well, I guess that, if you’re willing to make peace, it would be simply rude of me to decline. Very well, I shall accept this compromise.”

Trixie smiled and extended her hoof. Rarity cautiously stuck out her own hoof, and shook it. “And the other condition?”

“… Make me a new cup of tea,” Rarity said looking over her shoulder at her old cup of tea. “I’m afraid the glass that I poured out earlier has gotten cold, and I would like you to make a new one for me whilst I work.”

Rarity turned back to face Trixie, expecting to see her fuming, and then to hear her decline, and storm out of the shop. Instead, Trixie, still smiling, simply nodded. “Very well then! Prepare to be amazed, as the Great, and Powerful Trixie, prepares the most amazing, wonderful tea that you will ever drink!”

Rarity wasn’t sure what to say. She never expected Trixie to actually accept her condition. She watched as Trixie began to make her way towards the kitchen, and then, a few minutes later, Trixie came back, carrying a cup of tea in her magic.

“Bon appétit!” Trixie said, bowing theatrically as she presented the cup to Rarity.

Rarity took the cup into her own magical aura. “That’s for meals, darling. Not drinks.”

Trixie scowled at the white mare. “It still counts!” she defended. “Now drink it already!”

Rarity eyed the tea cautiously. Could Trixie have put something in it? Should she have Trixie taste it first? She then looked back up at Trixie. ‘… No. She may be rude, but she’s certainly not… mean.’

With a gulp, Rarity brought the cup to her mouth, and began to drink… She then pulled the cup away from her quickly, and stared wide-eyed at the smug mare in front of her. “This… This is good!” Rarity stated.

“Was there ever any doubt?” Trixie asked. “Now, about Trixie’s cape?”

Rarity took another sip of her tea, savouring the great taste as it filled her mouth. Once she was finished, she placed the cup down, and turned her attention to Trixie’s cape. “Very well then. A deal is a deal, after all. Now, if you’ll kindly remove your cape for me, I should have it done in a jiffy!”

“T-Take it off?” Trixie asked, before shaking her head. “Trixie told you! She won’t take it off, ever!”

Rarity narrowed her eyes and frowned at the mare. “And how would you suggest I work on it whilst you’re wearing it? It will only be for a short while!”

Trixie looked around the shop, seemingly panicking at the thought of having to remove her cape. She noticed a changing room in the next room, and rushed over to it, quickly being followed by Rarity. “Hey! I never said that you could go back there!”

Trixie entered the changing room, and locked it from the other side. A few seconds later, her cape was thrown over the top of the door, and landed on Rarity. “There! Now hurry it up! The Great and Powerful Trixie feels naked without her cape…”

“Naked? But-Oh, never mind! I’ll just get this done, so that you can leave…” Suddenly, a thought crossed Rarity’s mind. “By the way, how much are you paying me for this?”

“… Pay?”

Applejack extended her hind legs out, giving the tree behind her a hard buck and causing many apples to fall down. “Yee-haw! At this rate, ah’ll be done before lunchtime! An’ then ah think ah’ll take the rest of the day off, it bein’ a Saturday an’ all.”

“Hey,” a voice called out to her. “Do you know where the library is? I seem to have gotten lost.” The voice sounded disgruntled, but Applejack still put on a smile as she turned to address the pony.

“The library? You a friend of Twi-iiiii?! YOU!” Applejack pointed a hoof at the blue-coated, silver-maned Unicorn mare standing before her, and Trixie glared back at Applejack.

“Yeah, me! Get your damn hoof out of my face!” Trixie shouted, growling at the orange mare.

“What are you doin’ here?! And what d’you want with Twilight?!”

“Nothing! Don’t jump to conclusions!” Applejack was taken aback by the volume, and the tone, of Trixie’s voice, but she still firmly stood her ground, glaring daggers at her. Sparks flew between the two mares, and Trixie let out an irritated huff as she turned her head to the side and folded her forelegs. “I’m just after a book, that’s all! I asked somepony in town for directions, but of course, I would have to ask the most stupid, moronic, directionally-challenged pony EVER!”

Applejack rubbed a hoof against her ear. “Ah think you’d better calm down, missy, before ah lose mah temper mahself.”

“Screw you!” Trixie spat back, surprising Applejack with her language, and causing the farm pony’s eyes to widen. “Just point me in the direction of the damn library, and I’ll be out of your hair! I won’t have to deal with you, you won’t have to deal with me, friggin’ win-win!”

Applejack glared daggers at the blue mare, not caring one bit for her vulgar language. On the other hoof, though, she was right; if Applejack just told Trixie where the library was, she wouldn’t have to deal with her any longer. The problem with that plan, however, was that then she would be Twilight’s problem.

“You expect me ta believe that you jus’ wanna go ta the library to borrow a book, an’ not try an’ get revenge on Twilight, like ya did the last time you were here?”

“Ugh! I’ve already got past that phase! I’m just trying to get my life back on track, but you bloody ponies won’t freaking let me! That stupid nerdy little egghead has nothing to do with it, though, so don’t assume I would just go after her because of my past!”

Applejack eyed her suspiciously. “If ye’re tryin’ ta convince me ye’re not mad with Twilight, ye’re not doin’ a good job.”

“I’m mad at you, because you’re not answering my question! I’m mad at that damned Pegasus that sent me this way! And I’m mad at all the freaking ponies that just make assumptions of me based off of my past, and won’t even look past ONE. LITTLE. INCIDENT!”

Applejack took a step back when she saw Trixie’s horn light up for a second, but then relaxed when she saw the light die down. “… Ye’re right,” she said, surprising Trixie. “Everypony deserves another chance, and ‘sides, y’all never did anything too bad… Least not when ya weren’t being cursed by an ancient evil artefact. An’ ya’ve certainly not done anything warranting ponies laughin’ at ya, and drivin’ ya out of their towns.

“But ya should probably do somethin’ ‘bout that attitude of yers. Otherwise, it’s only natural that ponies won’t give ya a cha-”

“UGH! What are you, my freaking mum?! Just tell me where the library is!”

With a sigh, Applejack raised a hoof, and pointed past Trixie. “Just keep going straight in that direction, and when ya see the giant building that looks like it’s made of sweets, take a right down that street. Keep goin’ straight ‘til ya reach the town square. There’ll be a fountain with a statue of Princess Celestia there. From there, turn left, and the library will be straight down the street from there. Y’all will recognise it when ya see it; it’s a giant tree. Very hard ta miss.”

Trixie took a few seconds to memorise the directions, and then nodded her head. “Thanks,” she mumbled, before turning around and walking away.

Applejack watched her leave with a nervous look. ‘… It’s fine. Twilight will be able to handle her.’

“GAH! FUCKING ROCK!”

‘… Maybe…’

After a hard day’s work clearing the sky, any Pegasus would feel that they were entitled to a good, long nap to rest up and unwind. And even though Rainbow Dash was off duty today, she still felt that a good nap right now would be just what she needed.

And so, after flying to her favourite resting spot, by the Ponyville lake, Rainbow Dash stretched her hooves, applied some sun block onto her skin, donned her ‘Twenty-Percent Cooler Shades(trademarked)’, and lay down on her back, ready to enjoy a nice, long nap.

“R-Really miss! I’m not interested!” a voice called out from behind the rainbow-maned Pegasus. Rainbow Dash lifted her shades up above her eyes, and turned around to see what was going on. In the distance, she saw a stallion running away, a panicked look on his face.

“Wait! Darn it! How’s a girl supposed to get laid around here?” From behind a tree, the owner of the second voice emerged, and then turned around to see Rainbow Dash staring at her.

Rainbow Dash quickly bolted to her hooves. “YOU!” she shouted as she lowered her head, assuming an attacking stance, and pawing the ground with her right forehoof. She glared down the blue-coated, silver-maned Unicorn mare that was approaching her, ready to tackle her at any moment.

“You’re… Rainbow Bash, correct?” Trixie asked, smiling as she stopped just short of Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash,” she corrected, growling at the blue mare before her. “What are you doing here?!”

“What? I’m not allowed to go near a lake without being questioned?”

“I mean, what are you doing in Ponyville?! After what you pulled, I’m surprised you have the nerve to come back at all!”

Trixie frowned at the rainbow-maned Pegasus. “Now that’s hardly fair. That cute friend of yours told you about the amulet, didn’t she?”

“‘Cute friend’?” Rainbow Dash asked, not sure if she had heard her correctly.

“You know, Twilight Sparkle! And besides, she forgave me, and it was her that was banished!” Trixie put a hoof to her chin, and leaned forward, bringing her face closer to Rainbow Dash’s as she narrowed her eyes.

“W-What? Get away from me!”

Trixie pulled back, and smiled once again. Only this time, it was a sultry smile, with her eyes half-lidded. “Actually, now that I think about it, you’re pretty cute, too.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, and before she could say anything, Trixie lunged forward, and connected her lips with the Pegasus’.

Rainbow Dash was too shocked to do anything initially, but after the first few seconds had passed, she tried to pull away. Trixie wasn’t making it easy, though; she had put her hooves around Rainbow Dash’s neck, and was pulling the Pegasus into the kiss. Rainbow Dash started pulling harder and flapping her wings in an attempt to fly out of Trixie’s grip when she felt the other mare’s tongue pressing against her lips, attempting to part them in order to gain entry.

Trixie knew what Rainbow Dash was up to, and her horn lit up as a purple aura enveloped the Pegasus’ body. Rainbow Dash felt herself being pushed down to the ground, and continued trying to resist the kiss.

‘Oh, come on! How long can she hold her breath?!’

After enough effort on Trixie’s end, the Unicorn was finally able to slide her tongue into Rainbow Dash’s mouth. She swirled it around for a bit, exploring the Pegasus’ mouth and enjoying her taste.

Eventually, Trixie’s stamina hit its limit, which Rainbow Dash was convinced didn’t even exist, and she had to pull back for some air. A thick strand of saliva kept their tongues connected for a second, before splitting as Rainbow Dash pulled her head away, panting for air and giving Trixie a mixed, dazed look of surprise, confusion, and partial interest.

“Y-You… What was…”

Trixie licked her lips, and leaned forward once again, startling Rainbow Dash, but stopping just short of the other mare’s face. “Well, a little sloppy… but I think you could be a great partner, with some practice.” Trixie then moved her mouth towards Rainbow Dash’s ear, and whispered: “How about it? You want me to rock your world?”

Rainbow Dash snapped out of her daze, and pushed Trixie away, before flapping her wings to gain some lift, allowing her to hover in the sky above the Unicorn mare below her. “W-What that hell?! How could you just-”

“C’mon, Dashie,” Trixie said in a seductive tone, bringing a hoof up to her mouth and giving it a slow, sensual lick. “I can tell you liked it. We’re all alone out here, and it’s so nice out…”

“S-Stay away from me!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew even higher, raising her hooves defensively as she glared down at the pony below her. “What’s with you?! You come all the way to Ponyville, just to do that to me?!”

“Actually, I came for a different reason,” Trixie said, and then, after a moment of silence, let out a giggle. “Heh, ‘came’.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, her face still beat red from Trixie’s earlier action. “Very mature,” she said sarcastically.

Trixie gave the flying Pegasus another sultry grin. “Oh, trust me. I can be very mature, Dashie.”

“AGH! Stop calling me that! It gives me the creeps!”

“Hmmm… Come down here, and I might.”

“No way! In fact, I’m outta here!” With that, Rainbow Dash quickly flew past the Unicorn mare below her, and made her way quickly towards Ponyville in the distance.

“Playing hard to get? Trixie liiiiiikes,” Trixie said, before charging after the rainbow-mane Pegasus. “You won’t get away, Daaaaash-ie!”

Fluttershy was outside in her garden, holding her watering can in her mouth as she sprayed water over her tulips. Today was so peaceful, and the happy little Pegasus pony was humming merrily to herself as she tended to all of her plants and flowers outside.

She heard hoofsteps behind her, and quickly finished up her watering before turning around to see who it was.

“Those flowers are beautiful… That’s nice. I wish I was that pretty…”

Fluttershy frowned at the sad tone of voice from the pony behind her, and readied herself to comfort the mare, a reassuring smile spreading across her face. However, her smile quickly grew to shock, as she beheld the blue-coated, silver-maned Unicorn mare now standing before her.

“Y-You!” Fluttershy shouted, before covering her mouth with her hoof, and shying away from the blue mare a little bit. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, her voice more quiet this time. Trixie didn’t answer, and Fluttershy scuffed a hoof on the ground nervously. “Um… C-Can I help you?”

Trixie looked up at the timid Pegasus before her, and Fluttershy was surprised to see the look of sadness on her face. Trixie then turned her attention to the cottage behind Fluttershy, and the yellow Pegasus followed her gaze. “That’s a nice house… I wish I had such a nice place to live, like that.”

Fluttershy turned her attention back to Trixie. “Um, I’m sure wherever you live is quite nice, too.”

Trixie smiled at that, prompting Fluttershy to smile in return. “That’s nice of you to say. But where I live will never compare to this lovely house you have here… with the beautiful garden, all of your cute pets, your-”

“They’re not my pets,” Fluttershy quickly corrected, cutting Trixie off. “Oh, um, I’m sorry, but some of them don’t like being called pets, so…”

“My apologies. Then, they’re your roommates?” Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fluttershy nodded. “K-Kind of. I take care of them, you see. It’s… my special talent, taking care of animals.”

“… How nice,” Trixie said, before sighing as she looked over her shoulder and towards her flank. “I wish I was good with animals. It sounds like you get along so well with them.”

Fluttershy smiled a little more, and nodded once again. “I do. They’re all my dear friends, and we all have so much fun together.”

“Friends… I wish I had friends.” Trixie sighed again, before turning her attention back to Fluttershy. “I’m sorry, but could you point me in the direction of the library? I’m afraid I received some bad directional advice from a Pegasus pony in your town, and I wound up here.”

“The library? Are you looking for Twilight?”

Trixie shook her head. “I’m just looking for a book, that’s all. I mean, it would be nice to talk to Twilight again, but… I don’t think she’d be willing to, after what happened last time.” Trixie gave yet another sigh, and this time, lowered her head so that she was facing the ground beneath her hooves. “I wish I had the confidence to talk to Twilight, or maybe somepony to do it for me.”

Fluttershy approached the down mare, and wrapped a wing around her, surprising Trixie at first, and then downright confusing her when she began to nuzzle her. “W-What are you-”

“I can help you, if you’d like,” Fluttershy said softly, still smiling at Trixie, who simply looked bewildered by the Pegasus’ words. “It’s not fun when you want to talk to somepony, but lack the courage to do so. I know, because I’ve been there before. But my friends… they’ve helped me out with that problem, many times. This time… I think, I’d like to be the one helping somepony else, who has the same problem.”

“Y-You’d really do that for me? Even though you hardly know me?”

Fluttershy nodded, and then nuzzled Trixie once more. “Sometimes, we all need to be shown a little kindness.” After that, Fluttershy began to walk down the path leading away from her house. “I’ll take you to the library, and I’ll help you talk to Twilight, if you want.”

Trixie smiled, and followed Fluttershy down the path. “Thank you. I wish I had your kindness…”

Pinkie Pie hopped into Sugarcube Corner as she sang her favourite song: Smile, Smile, Smile. As she entered, she spared a moment to greet all of the ponies that she passed on the way. “Hi, Roseluck! How’s business?”

“Good morning, Pinkie Pie,” Roseluck said as she placed her coffee down. “Business is great! Thanks for asking.”

Pinkie Pie then trotted past a purple Earth Pony mare. “Heya Berry! Is Pinch’s cold any better?”

Berry Punch nodded, smiling at the pink mare. “She’s doing great, Pinkie Pie.”

“I’m glad! Being sick is no fun!” Pinkie Pie moved past the next table, which had a pile of dishes, plates, parfait glasses, and bowls all stacked up on top of each other. “Wow, clean up in aisle eight!” she joked, giggling as she tried to look past the mess to see who was responsible for it. She gasped at what she saw.

“YOU!” she shouted as she jumped back from the blue-coated, silver-maned Unicorn mare on the other side of the table. She then quickly put her hooves over her mouth, shielding it from the Unicorn’s magic.

“Oh, Pinkie Pie!” Mr. Cake called out as he approached the table, carrying thirty cupcakes on a tray on his back. “Thank Celestia you’re here! I know that today is your day off, but would you mind helping out in the kitchen? This customer has us overworked right now!”

“Hey, can I get some more ice-cream next?” Trixie asked as approached Mr. Cake. “Ooh, those cupcakes look gooood’.”

Trixie’s magic enveloped the tray, and she brought it over to herself, before beginning to scoff all of the tasty treats down. Pinkie Pie almost cringed at the scene before her. Trixie was just shoving those cupcakes into her mouth, possibly not even bothering to chew before swallowing.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Did she order all of this? By herself?”

Mr. Cake nodded. “Yes, she did. And incidentally…” He turned his attention back to Trixie, who had just finished the last of the cupcakes and was now patting her stomach, whilst licking her lips. “… Miss, I’m sorry to interrupt your… meal… but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you for your payment, now.”

“… Payment?” Trixie asked, blinking a few times before giving the two a sheepish grin. “O-Oh, right… that…”

Mr. Cake narrowed his eyes at the blue mare, and Pinkie Pie quickly bounced up to her, practically shoving her face into Trixie’s. “You weren’t thinking of dining and dashing on us, were you?” she asked, giving Trixie a suspicious look.

“O-Of course not,” Trixie replied, laughing nervously. “I-I have the money, but it’s, um… outside?”

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes further, closing the distance between herself and Trixie, and causing the blue mare to sweat nervously as she backed away. “… Okay-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie Pie shouted, suddenly backing up and smiling widely. “Then, I’ll go with you to get the money! That’s okay with you, right, Mr. Cake?”

Mr. Cake thought about it for a second, and then nodded. “Very well then. Just make sure she pays in full… Here is her current bill.”

Pinkie Pie was handed a long slip of paper by Mr. Cake, and gaped at the number that she saw at the bottom. “HOLY MOLY!” she shouted. “She spent this much on sweets?! She’s broken even my record!” Pinkie Pie scrunched up the paper, and shot a glare at the mare behind her. ‘That won’t do! I’ll have to start saving up… But first, I have to make sure that she pays!’

“W-Well then, I guess we’d better get going?” Trixie said. She got up out of her seat, and began to leave the store, followed closely behind by Pinkie Pie. “SORRY!” she shouted, and a moment later, Pinkie Pie’s vision was obscured by a bright light. As soon as she could see again, she saw Trixie running away from her, down the street.

“HEY!” Pinkie Pie shouted, quickly giving chase after the Unicorn mare. “GET BACK HERE, YOU!”

Rainbow Dash flew through the town as fast as she could, turning down various alleyways and taking cover behind various ponies and objects. “This is insane! I have to get lose her somehow…”

Rainbow Dash noticed the Golden Oaks Library not too far from her, and smiled with relief as she began to make her way there. She reached the library, and practically kicked the door open with great force. Inside, she found the purple Unicorn mare that tended to library standing at her podium, reading a book that was perched on it.

“R-Rainbow Dash? What’s-”

“Twilight, you have to hide me!” Rainbow Dash interrupted, quickly slamming the door shut behind her. She took a moment to check out of the window by the door, and then breathed a sigh of relief. A thought then crossed her mind, and she then turned back to her friend in the room. “We’ve got a major problem, Twilight!”

“I know,” Twilight said. “Trixie, right?”

“No, it’s-” Rainbow Dash stopped, and gave Twilight a confused look. “Wait, how did you-”

“So noisy…” a voice next to the Pegasus said, startling her and causing her to jump back in fright. “Can you keep it down? I’m so tired…”

Rainbow Dash examined the blue lump lying on a pile of cushions of various colours. “Y-YOU! How did you get here?! You were right behind me!” Rainbow Dash then felt a something tugging the back of her mane, followed by a sharp pain, and she yelped as she quickly turned around to see what it was. “W-WHAT?!”

Behind her, another Trixie was standing with a smile on her face, examining a strand of rainbow-coloured hair in her hoof. “Such a natural hair colour is so rare! I simply have to have this!”

Rainbow Dash stared with her mouth hanging open as Trixie wandered over to a small fort made out of books in the corner of the room. Trixie pulled out a shoebox, opened it up, and placed the strand of hair inside. Rainbow Dash then turned around again, and sure enough, there was another Trixie still there behind her, lying on a pile of cushions with her head buried in her hooves, her chest moving up and down steadily.

“W-What’s going on?” the bewildered Pegasus asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know. I tried to ask them, but that one-” She pointed to the napping Trixie. “-Just keeps saying that explaining it would be too tiring, and that one-“ She pointed to the Trixie that was currently looking through one of Twilight’s bookshelves. “-Is too busy taking my books to make her fort. She said that their ‘leader’ will explain when she gets here, but-”

The door behind Rainbow Dash swung open suddenly, startling all four of the ponies inside. Rainbow Dash turned around to see who it was, but was suddenly tackled to the ground by a blue blur. “GAH! W-Who are you?! What’re you-”

“Okay, Dashie! I’ve finally got you!” Rainbow Dash’s blood froze as she saw the new Trixie that was on top of her, pinning her down as she grinned menacingly at the captured Pegasus. “I caught you, so now I want my prize.”

Before Rainbow Dash could say anything, the Trixie on top of her slammed their lips together, once again forcing the Pegasus into a deep, passionate kiss. Behind her, Rainbow Dash could hear Twilight yelping and backing away, before mumbling something incoherent. She imagined the poor egghead was going into shock, seeing something like this…

‘D-Darn it! Why is she… so good at this?’ What started out as Rainbow Dash trying to push Trixie away, soon evolved into her holding Trixie’s forelegs tightly, as she started to return the kiss being given to her, slowly easing into it as Trixie guided her tongue with her own.

“How nice,” a voice said, prompting Trixie to end the kiss and look behind her. When Rainbow Dash managed to regain her senses, she also looked to see who the interloper was, and, of course, it was another Trixie, this one looking like one of the Crystal Ponies before they were lifted from King Sombra’s curse. “I wish I had somepony special in my life…”

The Trixie on top of Rainbow Dash grinned, and quickly climbed off of the Pegasus, freeing her and allowing her to crawl back away from her. She then placed a hoof under the other Trixie’s chin, and slowly leaned in. “Here, I’ll give you what you want.”

Rainbow Dash and Twilight both gasped as both of the Trixie’s began to kiss each other, both of them far too shocked by the whole situation to think of what to say. Thankfully, somepony else spoke up first.

“Oh… my…” The two looked past the two Trixies, to see their friend Fluttershy standing beside them, her face red as she tried to look away from them. She noticed her two friends looking at her, and quickly walked over to them. “Girls? What’s going on? Why are there one, two, three… four Trixies?”

“GET BACK HERE AND PAY YOUR BILL!”

The three non-Trixie ponies turned to the entrance of the library when they heard the familiar voice shouting at the top of its lungs. “Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked.

“I SAID GET BACK HERE!”

The two Trixies at the entrance of the library stopped making out so that they could see what all of the fuss was about. Suddenly, yet another Trixie came bolting by, and took cover behind one of the other Trixies. “Hide me!”

“STOP RUN-” Pinkie Pie stopped when she reached the library, and looked over the five Trixies with a shocked look on her face. She then narrowed her eyes, and approached the nearest Trixie, which was the one that the newest Trixie was currently hiding behind. “Don’t think your illusionary magic will work on me! Pay your bill, right now!”

“Bill?” the Trixie being yelled at by Pinkie Pie asked, before looking over at the Trixie behind her, who giggled sheepishly as she started to retreat into the library. She then turned back to Pinkie Pie, and leaned closer to her, wrapping a hoof around the pink pony’s neck. “Ooh, I see… Terribly sorry, but I have no money right now.”

“WHAT?!” Pinkie Pie shouted in anger.

Trixie put her other hoof to Pinkie Pie’s mouth, and gave the pony a sultry look. “But, how about, I pay another way, Cutie Pie?”

“W-WHAT?!” Pinkie Pie repeated, this time in shock.

“WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash also shouted, glaring at the Trixie that was currently seducing Pinkie Pie.

“Why are you getting worked up?” Twilight asked. “At least she’s not forcing herself on you anymore.”

“I-I know, but… I-It just… kinda feels insulting that she kissed me, and then threw me away for somepony else…”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. What are you, eleven?”

“FORGET IT!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “If you wanna get in bed with me, you’re gonna have to pay your bill first! And we don’t accept bodies as payment!” The Trixie hanging off of Pinkie Pie leaned forward, and planted a kiss on the pink pony’s lips. A full minute later, she pulled back, but Pinkie Pie’s glare didn’t falter. “We accept cash or cheque.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “Wow. You’re good.”

“HEY! MOVE IT!” Pinkie Pie turned around to see a sixth Trixie standing behind her, fuming as she glared the pink pony down. “I said MOVE! I want to go into the library!”

Pinkie Pie glared back at the new Trixie. “A ‘please’ would be nice. And a smile, for that matter!”

“SCREW YOU!” The new Trixie pushed Pinkie Pie and the other Trixie aside with her magic, and then stormed inside the library. Rainbow Dash and Twilight were immediately on guard upon seeing the violent action, and eyed this new Trixie carefully. “GLUTTONY! What was the one thing I told you before we separated?!”

The Trixie hiding in the fort built by one of the other Trixies poked her head up, and faced the newest Trixie with a nervous smile. “Um… I believe it was: ‘Don’t spend a shit ton of money on food!’, right?”

“AND YOU COULDN’T EVEN DO THAT!” the angry Trixie bellowed, her horn glowing as she lowered her head to point it at the now-cowering Trixie.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Oh, come on!” Twilight shouted as yet another Trixie entered the scene. This one was different from the others, though; she was wearing her signature hat and cape, which the others weren’t wearing.

“You will not harm the Great and Powerful Trixie! She is a being of superiority, and must be treated with nothing less than absolute respect and admiration!”

“Cram it! Move aside, or I’ll kill you, too!”

“Wrath, calm down!”

“Ooh, a cat fight between Pride and Wrath. I like it.”

“I wish I had the courage to stand up to Wrath…”

“Whoever dies, I’ve got dibs on their stuff!”

“There any food around here?”

“Too loud…”

“E-NOUGH!” Twilight shouted, stopping the ramblings of the seven Trixies, who then all immediately turned their attentions to the librarian. “Now, just what is going on here?!”

“Alright, now that we’re all settled down,” Twilight began, looking around the table in the library’s main room, “Let’s talk about this peacefully and civilly.” She looked around at all of the ponies that were gather around: seven Trixies, Spike, who had walked into the library just now, and was not happy at all to see all of the Trixies, Rainbow Dash, who was fleeing from one of them, Fluttershy and Rarity, who were accompanying two of them, Applejack, who was following one of them secretly out of concern for Twilight’s safety, and Pinkie Pie, who was chasing one of them over a case of ‘dine and dash’. “Now then, Trixie?”

“Yes?” all seven of the Trixies answered at once, each one in a different tone of voice. Twilight slammed a forehoof against her face.

The Trixie wearing her hat and cape cleared her throat. “Perhaps introductions are in order,” she said, before pointing a hoof towards herself. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s name is Pride! A pleasure for you to meet Trixie.”

Rarity leaned over to whisper to her friends. “Her third pony is even worse than before. I can see why her name would be ‘Pride’.” The others nodded in agreement.

“I’m Wrath,” the angry-looking Trixie said in a bored tone of voice. “Don’t piss me off, and I won’t kill you. Deal?”

The others nodded uneasily. They weren’t sure if ‘Wrath’ was serious, but they certainly didn’t want to take the risk. Twilight noticed something, though, and looked over the seven Trixies once more.

“I’m Lust,” the third Trixie along said, before crawling over to Rainbow Dash, who started to back away nervously in response. “But you can call me ‘Lusty’. How about later, we get better acquainted?” She finished with a wink, sending shivers down Rainbow Dash’s spine.

“Cut that out! It’s disgusting!” Wrath shouted.

“I beg to differ,” Lust responded, running a hoof up Rainbow Dash’s leg, before being pulled back by Pride’s magic.

“Let’s at least wait until we’ve explained ourselves before we start trying to get into their beds, okay?”

“… Fiiiine,” Lust sighed, before blowing a kiss over to Rainbow Dash, who quickly ducked to the side to dodge it.

The fourth Trixie along, who was stuffing her face with potato chips, stopped her eating for a moment to introduce herself. “I’m Gluttony. Hey, you got any more of these things? They’re delicious!”

Twilight shook her head, bringing a disappointed moan from the gluttonous mare. The fifth Trixie along introduced herself next. “I’m Greed! And… Hey, nice hat,” she said to Applejack, walking over to her to examine said hat more closely. “Give it here!”

Applejack glared at ‘Greed’. “An’ why should ah? It’s mine!”

“Wrong!” Greed shouted, grabbing the hat and pulling it off of the farm pony’s head. “Everything in the world is mine by right! This hat is mine, and so I am taking it back from you!”

Applejack rose to her hooves and growled at mare now wearing her hat. “Y’all better give that back, ‘fore ya regret it later!”

Greed stuck her tongue out, before something caught the corner of her eyes. She turned her head to see what it was, and her eyes widened as she saw a big, bright red gem lying on a desk to the side of the room.

“What are you-” Twilight started, but stopped when she realised what Greed was looking at. “Oh… Oh no you don’t!”

“That gem’s pretty,” Greed said, smiling innocently as she began to walk closer to it.

“Greed, sit down!” Twilight warned, furrowing her brow as she rose to her hooves.

“But… it’s pretty. I want it!”

“GREED!”

“Twilight, a moment, please!” Pride said, rushing over to the purple mare before she could lose her temper. “Twilight, Greed literally can’t help herself. If you try to keep the gem from her now that she has seen it… trust Trixie, it won’t be pretty,” Pride whispered to Twilight.

“So, what? We’re just supposed to let her do what she wants?” Rainbow Dash asked, glaring at Pride.

“Well… yeah! Listen, once Trixie – that is, the real Trixie – is whole again, she will surely return any and all items taken from you by Greed.”

“An’ we’re supposed ta jus’ believe that?” Applejack asked sceptically.

Pride nodded. “Yes. Even though such a gem could clearly sell for quite a bit, the Great and Powerful Trixie is not so stupid as to try to steal it right in front of your eyes. And besides, Trixie would never steal from a friend.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at that. “A… friend?”

Pride’s face fell into a frown. “Oh, was Trixie mistaken? She’s not quite sure what a friend really is, so she-”

“Oh, no!” Twilight said quickly, shaking her head. “It’s not that! I’m just… I was surprised that you would consider me a friend, considering how much you hated me before for… well, you know.”

“True, but then, you’re the first pony to have ever shown any kindness towards Trixie,” Pride explained, smiling at Twilight. “You may not realise this, Twilight, but the Great and Powerful Trixie was on the verge of ending her life at one point. It was thanks to your random act of kindness, when you forgave Trixie for the whole Alicorn Amulet fiasco, that Trixie’s will to live sparked back up! You literally saved Trixie’s life!

“So you can rest assured, that when Trixie is back to normal, she will return whatever objects were stolen from all of you.”

“And pay the bill at Sugarcube Corner?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Pride bit her lip. “Well, Trixie doesn’t really have much money right now… but, we can cross that bridge when we reach it!”

Twilight examined Pride carefully, and then let out a sigh. “… Fine. I trust you, Tr-Er, Pride.”

Pride smiled. “So, we are friends?”

Twilight smiled back, and nodded her head. “Of course we are. I’d be happy to be your friend…” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Or should that be: ‘I would be honoured to be your friend, oh Great and Powerful Trixie.’?”

Pride giggled, followed by Twilight. “Trixie’s friends may drop the title, and need not speak to her so formally.”

“I see…”

A moment of silence passed as the two mares smiled at each other. “Good… now kiss!”

Twilight’s face turned red, and she immediately backed away from Pride, and turned her attention to Lust, who looked disappointed with the two for not complying.

“HEY!” Wrath shouted, startling everypony in the room. “Can we just get this over with already?!”

Twilight nodded slowly, and then turned her attention to the sixth Trixie, who was still lying down on the pile of cushions, her head in her hooves. “… I’m Sloth,” she mumbled, and then didn’t say anything during the silence that followed.

Twilight then turned to the final Trixie in the room, who looked as if she was about to speak up. “Let me guess: Envy?”

The final Trixie stopped just as she was about to speak, and stared at Twilight with a bewildered look, as if to say: ‘How could you do that?’. She then lowered her head to look at the floor, and started to whimper as tears formed in her eyes. “… Why?” she asked, confusing the six ponies and the one dragon that weren’t Trixie. “Everypony else got to introduce themselves, so why not me?! I wish I was allowed to introduce myself!”

Fluttershy quickly trotted over to the now-weeping mare, and placed her wing around her as she pulled her into a comforting hug. Pride followed, joining Fluttershy as she held Envy close. “Twilight,” Pride began, looking over at the purple mare, “How could you do that? Envy’s sensitive!”

“I-I didn’t know that!” Twilight quickly defended. “I-I’m sorry, alright?!”

Pride stroked Envy’s mane, and she slowly began to calm down. Wrath groaned at the display, and slammed a hoof down into the floor below her, causing it to crack, and causing her hoof to bleed slightly.

“STOP. CRYING!”

Envy flinched, and dove her head into Pride’s shoulder as her tears started up again.

“Wrath!” Twilight scolded.

“SHUT IT! Why are we even doing this, anyway?! I thought we were just after that damn book!”

“We are,” Pride said. “But our one-and-only friend wanted to speak with us. The Great and Powerful Trixie couldn’t very well turn her down.”

“What book were you after?” Twilight asked out of curiosity. “And also, what happened to you guys, exactly?”

“… It’s a long story,” Pride said.

“Yeah! One we don’t have time to tell!” Wrath shouted, getting up and approaching one of the nearby bookshelves. “Screw this. If you want a job done right, you’ve got to do it yourself!” Wrath began to pull out books one-by-one with her magic, throwing them backwards whenever it wasn’t the one that they were searching for.

“H-Hey! Stop that!” Twilight shouted, running over to Wrath and pulling on her tail with her magic.

“LET GO!” Wrath shouted, turning around and blasting Twilight with a beam of magic, sending the purple mare flying backwards.

“TWILIGHT!” her friends shouted out of concern for her, but before Twilight could land on the hard floor below her, she felt herself being supported by something. She opened her eyes, and looked up to see one of the Trixies holding her up from behind.

“T-Thank you, um…” The Trixie chuckled, and then leaned closer to Twilight’s face. Twilight was about to ask what she was doing, before she felt something long and wet running against her horn. “AH!” Twilight yelped as she quickly teleported away, staring in shock at the Trixie that had just caught her from a safe distance. “L-Lust! You’re Lust! A-And you just… Ew ew ew EW!”

Twilight quickly ran into the kitchen connected to the library’s main room, and returned a few moments later with a tissue in her hoof, rubbing it along her horn. Lust chuckled at the librarian’s reaction.

“Virgins are always the best,” she said, winking at the purple Unicorn mare.

“Fina-fucking-ly!” Wrath shouted, pulling a thick, red-covered book out of the shelf. “Found it!”

“What’s ‘it’?” Applejack asked, walking over to examine the book that Wrath had. “‘Unusual Spells From The East’?”

“It’s exactly as it says on the cover,” Pride said, walking over to Wrath and taking the book from her. “Our own copy got burned, so we needed to find a new one. Unfortunately, this book is rather rare. However, we came across somepony who knew where we could find a copy. They told us that there was a copy in the Ponyville library.”

“What does it mean by ‘unusual spells’?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“In the east, the ponies there use a different kind of magic than what we generally use here in Equestria,” Twilight explained. “The ‘unusual’ is simply to say that it’s magic we don’t usually use over here. Over there, our magic would be ‘unusual’.”

Pride nodded. “The Great and Powerful Trixie found a spell in here that would help her out. As you’re aware, her shows have not been going well.”

“Still?” Twilight asked with a frown. “Because of that one little incident?”

“The Alicorn Amulet incident did not help, either,” Pride said. “Anyway, Trixie considered our second magic duel that time, Twilight Sparkle. Trixie remembered how you beat her with your… friendships with these other ponies.

”But even if you forgave Trixie, she was sure that your friends had not. And so, Trixie couldn’t very well ask you to help, since you would then be obligated to side with your friends.”

“No I wouldn’t,” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow at Pride. “Why would you ever think that? I’d be happy to help somepony in need, even if nopony else agrees with me! Especially when it’s a friend…”

Pride smiled, and then let out a sigh. “If only Trixie had known that a week ago… Because Trixie was so sure that she had nopony to turn to, she went with the next best thing: cloning herself.”

“‘Cloning?!’” Rarity and Applejack asked in unison. The non-Trixie ponies and dragon in the room shuddered at the memory of their last encounter with clones, confusing the seven Trixies.

“Yes,” Pride said, deciding not to question the overreactions of everyone else.

Wrath then stepped in, and continued from where Pride had left off. “Of course that bonehead Trixie would have to mess up in her translation of the book’s contents! She thought the book said that the pony’s soul would be split into seven!”

Pride lowered the brim of her hat over her eyes, and looked down at the floor. “… The Great and Powerful Trixie may have jumped the gun a little bit when translating the spell’s passage. She thought that her soul, in other words, her lifespan, was the thing to be divided.”

“Your lifespan?!” Twilight shouted.

Pride nodded. “However, it seems the thing to split was… Trixie’s personality.”

Twilight nodded, and put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Envy, and Sloth… But, something doesn’t seem right…”

“How so?” Pride asked.

Twilight looked at the book that Pride was carrying, and then turned her attention to the clock hanging on her wall. “… It’s getting pretty late,” she pointed out, and everypony turned around to see that it was already 17:35. “Now that we have the book, we can do something about this whole mess. But it will be hard with everypony crowded around here, and I think we could all do with some rest from today’s events.”

Pride nodded. “Agreed. The Great and Powerful Trixie woke up early this morning, and could do with some catching up on her beauty sleep.”

“Do you somewhere to stay?”

“Trixie is currently sleeping out in the Everfree forest. It’s quite warm out there, so she doesn’t have to worry about catching a cold.”

“Oh, sure,” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. “No worries about a cold. Just all of the dangerous animals out there that just love the taste of pony flesh!”

Twilight gave Pride a stern look, and said: “I am not allowing a friend to sleep in such a dangerous place!”

Pride’s eyes widened as she regarded Twilight with awe. “Then… where will we sleep?”

Twilight thought about it for a second. “Well, there’s not really enough room for all of you to stay here…” She turned her head to her friends. “Guys?”

Rarity and Fluttershy nodded, but the other three seemed a little reluctant.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Applejack said. “But ta be honest, ah don’ think it’s a good idea letting any of ‘em stay at the farm. It kinda seems that they’d be a bad influence on Apple Bloom.”

“What about Envy?” Twilight suggested, motioning a hoof to the timid Trixie that was still in Fluttershy’s hold. “She seems pretty tame. At least compared to some of the others.” She shot a glare towards Wrath as she made her last point, earning one back from the angry Trixie.

“Well, ah guess ah could let Envy stay over,” Applejack conceded, looking over at Envy with a nervous look on her face.

“Ooh! I call dibs on Dashie’s place!” Lust shouted, jumping up and down on the spot.

“Keep her away from me!” Rainbow Dash shouted, backing up against the bookshelf behind her. “Anyway, my house is made of clouds! You’d fall through it if you tried to stand on it, so-”

“Not to worry!” Pride interrupted. “For the Great, and Powerful Trixie, knows a spell that will allow a Unicorn to walk on clouds for a few days!”

“… Darn it. I forgot about that.”

Twilight cleared her throat to gain the group’s attention. “Listen, Lust. I think that pairing you with Rainbow Dash would be a bad move… considering you’ll most likely be kicked out of the house and sent plummeting to your death.”

Lust considered this for a second. “Before or after I get laid?”

“… Before,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Awww, well that’s a bummer!”

“And I don’t think I need to explain why it would be a bad idea leaving her with Fluttershy.” The rest of the group nodded in agreement. “Sugarcube Corner and Sweet Apple Acres have children there, so those are no-goes.” Applejack let out a sigh of relief. “And Spike’s a baby dragon, so… he counts as a child.”

“Hey!” Spike shouted, about to protest. However, a purple aura turned his mouth into a zipper, which closed immediately afterwards, preventing him from speaking.

Rarity swallowed the lump in her throat, and regarded her friend nervously. “Um, T-Twilight darling… I can’t help but notice that-”

“Sorry, Rarity. But… you’re really the only choice left.”

Rarity’s ears flattened against her head, and she quickly looked to her right for support from Fluttershy. However, the shy Pegasus was backing away slowly. She then turned to her left, and saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash pretending to be caught up in a conversation with each other.

“Ooh, so I’m with the pony who fixed Pride’s cape,” Lust said, approaching Rarity and wrapping a foreleg around her shoulders. She then used her other hoof to trace circles on the dressmaker’s chest. “Those hooves of yours must be pretty skilled, huh?”

Rarity once again looked over to Twilight, and mouthed: “Help me.”

“Sorry,” Twilight mouthed back. “Be strong.”

“Traitors! All of you!”

Twilight cleared her throat again, trying her best to ignore Rarity’s outburst. “Well then, that leaves five Trixies now. I don’t mind Sloth staying here, and quite frankly, I think the only trouble she’d cause would be if we tried to move her in the first place. That leaves Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, and Pride.”

“All bad choices,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Actually, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight started, “I was thinking of pairing you with Wrath.”

“WHAT?!” both Rainbow Dash and Wrath shouted in unison.

“You can’t be serious!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Twilight, think about it!” Applejack pleaded. “They’ll kill each other overnight!”

Twilight turned to Wrath, who was absolutely fuming at the purple Unicorn. “… Wrath, remember what you said earlier? About how you wouldn’t kill us if we didn’t anger you?”

“Yeah, what about it?!”

“Well, I have a proposition of my own: if Rainbow Dash leaves you alone, then you leave her alone.” Twilight then turned to her rainbow-maned friend. “Get it? In other words, you can just totally disregard each other’s existence, and then neither of you has to die!”

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin. “I don’t know…”

“It’s either that, or somepony who eats all your food, or takes all your things, or won’t stop talking about herself all night long.”

“… When you put it that way…” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine then. I guess I’ve got no choice.”

Wrath harrumphed and looked away. “Just don’t piss me off, and I’ll have no reason to kill you. Got it?”

Rainbow Dash growled at Wrath, but quickly stopped herself by taking a deep breath.

“Hey, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked, gaining the librarian’s attention. “Can Gluttony stay with me? She can work off her debt while you look up a way to fix all of this!”

“Are you sure? She might be hard to control…”

“Pfft! C’mon, Twilight! Harder to control than the twins? I doubt it!”

“Well, if you’re sure… That just leaves Pride and Greed.”

“I’m not leaving my collection behind!” Greed shouted, sitting inside of her book fortress, narrowing her eyes at the librarian. “Either I stay here, or you guys help me move everything!”

Fluttershy raised her hoof timidly. “Um, Twilight? I don’t mind letting Pride stay with me.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, feeling a pang of relief from the Pegasus’ offer.

“Of course. I-If that’s okay with Pride, though…”

“… The Great and Powerful Trixie will allow this!” Pride stated, flicking her mane. “You may entertain Trixie tonight, Miss Fluttershy, and in return, Trixie will regale you with many stories of her travels.”

Rainbow Dash made a gagging expression behind Pride, whilst Fluttershy simply smiled at her.

“Well then,” Twilight said, “If everypony’s in agreement…” She sighed as she went over the pairings in her head once more. “… Good luck, guys.”

Applejack and Envy walked down the dirt path leading up towards Sweet Apple Acres, walking side-by-side, and both trying their best not to make eye contact with each other.

“This town seems nice,” Envy said in an attempt to break the silence. “More so than my first visit. I wish I lived somewhere this nice.”

“Well, where’re ya from?” Applejack asked, curious about the blue mare’s life.

“Well, I was born in Canterlot, but nowadays, I just spend my life travelling from town to town, trying to find somewhere to sleep. Occasionally, I have to break into ponies’ homes and sleep in their basements, or steal their food, in order to survive.”

“So ye’re a thief?” Applejack asked with a hard glare.

“I only steal from those that chase me out of their towns in the first place. I can’t earn a living thanks to them, so I take it by force. I wish I could I just live a normal life, like everypony else, but…”

“That still doesn’t excuse breakin’ the law.”

Envy shrugged. “Well, Trixie decided that, even if she were to be arrested, at least she’d have a warm place to sleep and meals to eat, so it’s really a win-win situation.”

“… Why didn’t ya go ta Twilight for help? Pride said that Trixie considered her a friend.”

Envy shrugged. “I was afraid of-I mean, she was afraid of you. And the others, too.”

Applejack groaned and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “Look, just… refer to Trixie as if she were yerself. It’ll make things easier.”

Envy nodded. “Okay.”

“Anyway, what did y’all mean when ya said that you were afraid of us?”

“Well, I thought that Twilight would undoubtedly side with you guys over me, and since I didn’t want to lose the one friend I’ve ever had… I stayed away.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at Envy. “No offence, sugarcube, but that’s the stupidest thing ah’ve ever heard.”

Envy winced, and turned her head away. “… I wish I could be that brutally honest.”

“Sorry, Envy, but c’mon. What’s the point of havin’ a friend, if’n ye’re not gonna let them be yer friend?”

“… Are we there yet?”

“Don’ try ta change the topic on me! Tell me: did ya ever have any intention of actually vistin’ Twilight again? ‘Cause from what Wrath said earlier, y’all only came here with the intention of getting’ that book, not visitin’ Twilight.”

“Please just drop it. I don’t want to-”

“Applejack!” a voice called out. The two mares stopped and turned to one of the nearby apple trees to see a small yellow filly waving at them. Next to her was a big red stallion, giving the apple tree behind him a big, strong buck. “Who’s that?” the filly asked as the two mares made their ways towards her.

“You guys don’t recognise her?” Applejack asked. “The ‘Great an’ Powerful’ Trixie? Mare that passed through here not too long ago, and took over Ponyville?”

The big stallion nodded his head. “Eeyup,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Envy.

“Yeah, well, it’s a long story, but she’ll be staying with us for a little while.” Applejack turned to Envy, and motioned her hoof over her two siblings. “Let me introduce y’all: this’s mah younger sister Apple Bloom, an’ mah big brother Big Macintosh.”

Envy looked over to the big red stallion standing before her, and then looked down at the apple baskets by his hooves. “… You’re harvesting apples?” she asked, receiving a silent nod from Big Macintosh.

“That’s what we do here,” Applejack said flatly.

“… How nice. I wish I could do that, but I’m not good at bucking…”

Apple Bloom looked up at Envy curiously. “What about your magic? Aren’t ya supposed ta be good at magic or somethin’?”

Envy thought about it for a second. “I guess… though it’s nothing compared to my sisters.”

“Sisters?”

“Yeah… Well, that’s what I call them. They more like… a part of my soul. Anyway, their magic is so much better than mine… I wish I could do magic that well.”

Applejack rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed groan. “Ah’m startin’ ta see where the name ‘Envy’ comes from,” she said as she grabbed Envy’s foreleg, and pulled her along. “C’mon now. It’s mah turn ta cook dinner today, an’ a wanna show y’all the guest room ‘fore ah get started.”

“Um… Is it okay… if I stay here for a bit?”

“What for?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. She still wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to trust Envy yet.

“I… want to see what ‘family’ is. And, maybe, if it’s possible, to experience it?” Envy scuffed the ground with a hoof. “I… don’t know what family feels like, but I want to know.”

Applejack eyed Envy suspiciously for a bit. ‘She may only be a part of her, but she’s still Trixie. This could just be an attempt of gettin’ revenge on me for what happened before…’

“Oh, I know!” Apple Bloom shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. “How ‘bout ah show her the family photo album? That way, she’ll be at the house, an’ ah can show her what family is all about!”

Envy smiled at the little filly. “You have a family photo album? I wish-”

“You had somethin’ like that?” Applejack asked, causing Envy to flinch, and then nod slowly. Applejack let out a slow sigh. “… Fine. If that’s what ya wanna do… Just as long as ya stay outta trouble, ah don’t really mind all that much.”

“Ah’ll stay outta trouble!” Apple Bloom responded.

“… Ah was talkin’ ta her,” Applejack said, pointing at Envy.

Envy let out a little giggle, surprising herself. “… Wow. I’ve never done that before… That’s one thing I guess I can cross off of my ‘wish list’.”

Apple Bloom grabbed Envy’s forehoof, and started to tug at it, motioning for her to follow her. Applejack led the way back to the house, with Apple Bloom and Envy following behind her, the yellow filly teaching the blue mare all about what ‘family’ is.

“Soup’s on, everypony!” Applejack shouted as she finished setting the table. In the adjacent room, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom quickly rose to their hooves and made their way to the dining room, where they took their places at the dining table opposite to each other. “Where’s Envy?” Applejack asked as she pulled Granny Smith’s chair back and helped the elderly pony into her seat.

“Envy?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Uh, ah mean, Trixie.” Applejack sighed. It would be too much hassle to explain the fact that there were seven Trixies in Ponyville. Especially when she herself didn’t fully understand the situation, either.

“Oh, she’s in the bathroom! Wan’ me ta go an’ get her?”

Applejack shook her head. “Ah’ll go. By the way, did y’all get along okay?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “She was really interested in our family’s history, an’ asked all kinds of questions! But, she looked pretty upset, most of the time…”

‘That one seems to be the mood killer of the seven Trixies… but at least she’s the easiest ta deal with. ‘Cept maybe for Sloth.’ “Ah see. Ah’m sure she’s just nervous, that’s all. Anyway, ah’ll be right back. Jus’ gonna make sure she’s okay…”

Applejack excused herself from the room, and trotted up the stairs to the upper level of her house. She made her way to the bathroom door, which was closed and locked shut. “Envy? Y’all in there?”

“… Applejack?” a sad-sounding voice asked from inside in the bathroom. “Your sister showed me your Apple family reunion pictures…”

“That so? Anyway, dinner’s ready, so hurry up in there, y’hear?”

“… I’ve never had a family tradition like that before,” Envy said, followed by a sniffle. “I wish I had a family to hold reunions with, and make quilts with, and celebrate birthdays and Hearths Warming Eve with, and-”

“Okay, ah get it! Ya want a family! … What happened? Did ya have a fallin’ out with yer family or somethin’?”

“I’ve never had one.” Applejack cringed at her answer. She was seriously hoping to avoid this kind of conversation. “You’re all so close to each other. I’ll never feel that closeness… I’m so sad, I just want to flush myself down this toilet!”

“N-Now hold on there!” Applejack shouted, not sure why she was afraid of such a threat. It was impossible to flush yourself down a toilet… right? “Listen, why don’ ya come on out of there an’ join us for dinner? Ah’m sure y’all will feel better afterwards.”

“… A family dinner?”

“It’s something y’ave never had before, right? Well, now ya can!” Applejack waited for a few seconds, and then heard the door unlock. She stepped back as Envy opened the door, and started to walk outside. Before she could move any further, though, Applejack stopped her with a hoof. “Hold on now. In this house, we wash our hooves before leaving the bathroom.”

Envy blushed, and then turned around and re-entered the bathroom. “S-Sorry. I was just so excited at the idea of having a family dinner with you guys.”

“Don’ worry ‘bout it. Jus’ wash up so we can go eat already! Ah’m starvin’ right now!”

Envy quickly ran her hooves under some hot water from the bathroom sink, and picked up a nearby bar of soap to clean them with. Once she was done, she exited the bathroom, and walk with Applejack back towards the kitchen.

“Stop cryin’,” Applejack said flatly as they descended the stairs. “Ah get ye’re happy, but-”

“It’s not that,” Envy said, choking back a few sobs and running a hoof against her face.

“Then what?”

“Applejack? Is she okay?” Apple Bloom asked as the two entered the kitchen, all eyes now on Envy. “Trixie?”

“I’m fine,” Envy lied, walking over to the seat next to Apple Bloom and sitting down. “I was just thinking of all the fun family things that you guys get to do together, and how I can never have that, because I have no familyyyyyy…” Envy lowered her head to the table, and started to cry into her hooves.

Apple Bloom quickly reached over to hold the sobbing mare, and Big Macintosh walked over to pat her gently on the head. Applejack wasn’t sure what to do, so she simply watched from a distance.

“Don’t ya have yer own family ta spend time with?” Granny Smith asked. Envy shook her head in response. “Ah see. Ye’re a bushel of jus’ one apple, ain’tcha?”

“That’s terrible!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, holding Envy tighter. “Nopony deserves ta be without their family! Right, Big Macintosh?”

“Eeyup,” the red pony replied, sniffing as he wiped a lone tear off of his face.

“Well, ya don’ have ta worry!” Apple Bloom declared, drawing confused looks from Envy and Applejack. “From this moment on, ah declare y’all ta be an honorary member of the Apple family!”

“What?” Envy and Applejack asked in confusion.

“That way, ya can come an’ celebrate yer birthdays or Hearths Warming Eve with us! Ain’t that right, everypony?”

Big Macintosh and Granny Smith both nodded in agreement. “That’s right,” Big Macintosh said. “Nopony deserves ta be alone. Y’all are welcome here whenever ya want.”

Applejack gaped at how easily her family was accepting the blue mare, but decided not to say anything about it. After all, the three of them had already agreed on this together, so she was outvoted. And besides… the smile on Envy’s face, replacing the frown she had been wearing all evening, just wouldn’t allow her to turn her down.

“What’s wrong now?” Apple Bloom asked as Envy soon started sobbing again.

“T-That’s nice of all of you, but…” Envy slammed her head back into her hooves. “I still won’t have family connected by blooooood!”

Applejack let out an exasperated sigh, and moved over to join her siblings in comforting the crying mare. ‘This is gonna be a long night. Ah wonder how the others are holdin’ up?’

“Can’t you loosen your grip, you stupid featherhead?!” Wrath shouted as flailed about in Rainbow Dash’s hooves. “Why are you carrying me, anyway?! Just move your damn house down!”

“‘Cause that’d be too much effort! And I have to hold on tight so that I don’t drop you, as much fun as that would be!”

“Screw you! I swear, if you bruise me, there’ll be hell to pay!”

“… Y’know, I actually think I would prefer Lust to this.” As Rainbow Dash finally reached her cloud home, she gently set Wrath, who had enchanted herself with the cloud walking spell, down onto the clouds. “There! Now, go help yourself to whatever’s in my kitchen and then go to bed or something.”

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Wrath shouted, swinging a forehoof towards the Pegasus’ face. Rainbow Dash quickly dodged it by jumping into the air, where she stayed hovering for a bit as she glared down at the angry mare below her.

“Hey! There’s no need for that!”

“Shut up, shut up, shut UP! Come down here so I can kick you already!”

“I think somepony needs a timeout.”

“I WILL END YOU!” Wrath’s horn lit up, and she fired a blast of purple energy towards the Pegasus mare, who simply dodged with her nimble flying. “ARGH! Hold still already!”

Rainbow Dash dodged a few more blasts, and then tackled Wrath down onto the cloud surface below them, pinning her forehooves and making sure to stay out of the way of any potential attacks that could come from her horn.

“Calm. Down,” she said sternly, glaring at the struggling Unicorn mare below her. “Why are you angry, anyway?”

“WHY?!” Wrath asked, her eyes burning with rage as she stopped struggling, and returned the Pegasus’ glare. “I’ll tell you why! Because I’m pissed off! I’m pissed off at ponies that butt into my business! I’m pissed off at how I’m forced to resort to thievery in order to survive! I’m pissed off at all of the ponies that laugh at me, and kick me out of their towns! And I’m pissed off that nopony will even GIVE. ME. A CHANCE!”

Wrath huffed and puffed for a while after her rant, whilst Rainbow Dash simply stared down at her with a mix of shock, and bewilderment. “… You-”

“SHUT IT! You ponies are all the same! One little story, and I am suddenly nothing more than trash blowing in the wind! I have nowhere to go, and I’m forced to live as if I were some monster, constantly hiding from ponies’ judging glares! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALLLLLLLLL!”

Whilst Rainbow Dash was caught off guard, Wrath blasted her off with a shockwave of magic, and then quickly ran towards the cloud house in front of her. “Wait!” Rainbow Dash called out, but Wrath simply ran inside, and slammed the door behind her.

Rainbow Dash remained outside for a while, looking down at the cloud beneath her with mixed feelings running through her mind. Sadness, confusion, anger, and… guilt…

She slammed her right forehoof into the cloud beneath her. “Darn it…”

“Dishes are doooone!” Gluttony called out as she placed the final dish into the rack beside the kitchen sink. “Is my debt cleared now?”

“Not quite yet,” Mrs. Cake said in a stern tone of voice. “But I guess that’s good enough for now. Pinkie’s playing with the twins, if you would like to join her.”

“You got any snacks?” Gluttony asked, her eyes wide as she smiled hopefully at the mare.

“… No,” Mrs. Cake said flatly, immediately bringing a frown to Gluttony’s face. “But, I may be willing to whip something up… if you can help Pinkie Pie with the twins.”

Without giving her answer verbally, Gluttony sped off out of the kitchen, and made her way towards the twins’ room, upstairs. “My, my,” Mrs. Cake said, her eyes wide as she saw the trail of dust left in the Unicorn mare’s wake. “She’s certainly a gluttonous one, isn’t she? … But, I guess a deal’s a deal.”

With a sigh, Mrs. Cake made her way towards one of the cabinets in the kitchen, and got to work on making some snacks.

“Wheeeeere’s Pinkie Pie?” Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake looked around their room, confused looks on their faces as they tried to deduce where the disembodied voice was coming from.

Pinkie Pie suddenly removed her hooves from her eyes, startling the two foals as she shouted: “HERE I AM!”

The two foals awarded her trick with laughter and clapping of their hooves. They stopped when they heard hoofsteps coming their way, and looked behind Pinkie Pie with curiosity. Pinkie Pie also turned around to see who was there, and smiled when she saw Gluttony.

“Glutty! You here to help me play with the twins? Ooh, wait! You haven’t been introduced yet, have you?” Pinkie Pie waved her hoof over the young brown colt. “This is Pound Cake…” She then waved a hoof over the young orange filly. “And this is Pumpkin Cake!”

Gluttony nodded, and sat down on her haunches behind Pinkie Pie. “I see. Mrs. Cake said that, if I help with them, I’ll get some snacks… but I don’t really like dealing with kids, to be honest. They’re not gonna slobber all over me, are they?”

Pinkie Pie shook her head. “Nah! They’re well past that phase!” She turned her attention to the two foals. “Riiiight?”

“A-laaaa!” Pumpkin Cake responded, waving her hooves in an arch.

Gluttony had to admit that the scene was cute, but she still felt uncomfortable dealing with the two foals. Still, if Pinkie Pie was there with her, she was sure that she’d be okay. “So, what do we do?”

“We have fun, duh!”

“That’s it? Just… entertain them?” Pinkie Pie nodded vigorously, and Gluttony smirked at the pink pony. “Well then, if that’s all that’s required, then this will be no problem!” Gluttony stretched her hooves in front of her, and then moved her hooves towards Pinkie Pie.

“What’re you doing?” Pinkie Pie asked as Gluttony began running her hooves through her mane.

“Juuuust searching for something… A-ha!” Gluttony pulled her hoof back, pulling out a bouquet of flowers from Pinkie Pie’s mane. “I knew I left this somewhere!”

The two foals laughed and clapped at the magic trick displayed to them, along with Pinkie Pie. “That was great! How did you do that?”

“A magician never reveals their secrets,” Gluttony said. “This is actually just low-level street magic, though. This is the kind of thing I did to start up my career. Normally, adults wouldn’t be very entertained by this, but if you’re just looking for a quick bit, it’s a great way to make kids part with their allowances.”

“Oh! I think I’ve got it!” Gluttony looked at Pinkie Pie curiously as she reached over, and pulled out a bit coin from her ear. “Yay! Now I can go to the arcade!”

Gluttony stared at Pinkie Pie in shock for a bit, but then shot her a knowing grin. “I see. So you’ve dabbled in street magic, is that it?”

“Nope!” Pinkie Pie replied with an innocent smile on her face. “I just thought about it logically, and figured out how you did it!”

Ignoring the fact that this pony ‘thinking logically’ didn’t seem possible to Gluttony, the blue mare was completely bewildered by the pink mare. Finally, she gave a disapproving frown. “This is the one reason that Trixie preferred a younger audience over an older one; children generally don’t care for reason, so long as they see something awesome.”

“Well, it seems things are going well up here,” Mrs. Cake said as she entered the room, smiling as she saw the smiling faces of her two children.

“Yep! Glutty here was just showing us some neat-o magic tricks!” Pinkie Pie reported cheerfully.

“Glutty?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“Short for Gluttony,” Pinkie Pie explained.

“But… I thought her name was… Oh, never mind,” she said with a sigh. She was sure that this was just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. “Here, I’ve brought snacks for all of you.” Gluttony’s eyes lit up, and her tail started to wag as she watched Mrs. Cake lower a tray of food down to the floor. “Make sure you all share now.”

“We will!” Pinkie Pie replied, though Gluttony’s response was a lot less cheerful.

“Fiiiiine,” the blue mare said as she levitated one of the cupcakes on the tray to her mouth, stuffing it in immediately and swallowing it whole, along with the paper that it was wrapped in.

Pinkie Pie quickly turned to the two foals. “And that, kids, is how not to eat in front of others!”

“And that, Trixie’s captive audience, is how the Great and Powerful Trixie successfully escaped the basilisk Queen’s lair!”

Pride stood up tall on her hind legs and struck a theatrical pose as she waited for her audience to shower her their love and adoration.

Whereas Angel Bunny was yawning out of sheer boredom, and doing his best not to pay her any attention, Fluttershy was clapping her hooves together, smiling at the showmare standing on her coffee table.

“Oh, my. That must have been so scary, Miss Tr-I mean, Miss Pride… Um, what should I call you, exactly?”

“You may call Trixie whatever you wish! And for you, Fluttershy, no title is necessary, for you have been such a wonderful audience!”

Fluttershy noticed the empty cup next to Pride’s hoof. “Can I get you a refill on your drink, Pride?”

Pride shook her head. “Thank you for your offer, but the Great and Powerful Trixie’s story is still only at its halfway point! The next part of Trixie’s story involves how she saved Manechester from the wrath of the basilisk Queen!”

Fluttershy sat back in her seat, listening quietly and respectfully to the showmare’s story.

“After escaping their nest, the enraged basilisks naturally gave chase! Of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie could have dealt with them just fine, but time was running short! Once you’ve been infected by a basilisk’s venom, you only have a short time before your body turns to brittle stone! Trixie may have dropped the antidote earlier, but she had more waiting for her in her trailer, so that is where she headed…”

“And then?” Fluttershy asked, completely enthralled by the story.

“… When Trixie caught site of the city of Manechester in the distance, she stopped herself immediately. The basilisks were still behind Trixie, and going there at that point would put the ponies there in danger! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not put innocent ponies in danger, and so, she did the only thing that she could do at that point.”

“What was that?”

Pride grinned, and summoned an illusionary figure of herself taking down an army of basilisks. “Naturally, the Great and Powerful Trixie defeated each and every one of those fiends, all on her own!”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up ‘There it is… She was telling the truth, up until this point. But now, she’s making it up. I can see it in her eyes, and hear it in her voice… Trixie, why do you lie in your stories? I can understand that you want them to be more exciting, but is there something else to it?’

“You don’t need to win to be a hero.”

“And then the Great and Powerful Trixie-” Pride stopped, and looked down at the yellow Pegasus, who quickly covered her mouth with her hooves upon realising that she had interrupted Pride’s story. “Come again?”

“… W-Well, even if you aren’t a mighty monster slayer, I still think you’re worthy of praise. After all, you put the safety of others before your own needs.” Pride remained silent as she simply stared at Fluttershy with a look of awe. “If you ask me, Trixie is a hero, in her own right, and doesn’t have to resort to lying to make her stories captivating.”

Pride continued to stare in silence for a bit, visibly making the timid Pegasus uncomfortable. Finally, she smiled. “Thank you,” she said, jumping off of Fluttershy’s coffee table and offering a hoof to her. Fluttershy wasn’t quite sure why, but she extended her own hoof and shook it anyway. “But unfortunately, not everypony agrees. If Trixie runs from an opponent, that means she’s weak, and a coward.

“Ponies don’t give a damn about reason. They simply look at the surface, and jump to conclusions based on what they see. Trixie can never be Great and Powerful in the eyes of others. Not unless she is able to take down any opponent that comes her way. That’s why Trixie had to challenge your friends, who questioned her skills. And also, why Trixie was so determined to defeat Twilight Sparkle, the one pony who had ever beaten her.”

“She was the first?” Fluttershy asked. “… No wonder you handled it so badly. All alone, and you experience your first ever defeat by somepony so modest… You must have had no idea what to do next, and nopony was there to offer you any guidance.”

Pride shrugged, and sat down beside Fluttershy on her couch. “It didn’t help that Trixie’s life went downhill as a result. She had to blame somepony, but taking revenge on two colts wouldn’t exactly have helped her image. Besting the pony that defeated her, on the other hoof… But Trixie never intended to involve the others. Anypony who stayed out of the way was to be left alone. It’s just, that amulet made Trixie feel… strange.”

“It corrupted you,” Fluttershy explained. “That’s what the Alicorn Amulet does. It feeds off of whatever emotion is strongest when you wear it, and enhances it. In your case, that was your anger, and your desire to get back on top.”

“That would explain why Trixie suddenly wanted to rule over Equestria.” Pride shook her head and sighed. “… Well, Trixie saw that revenge is not the way, and that bending to the will of darkness, although it works, will completely destroy who you are.” Pride looked up at Fluttershy with a smile. “And being Trixie is just awesome! Trixie doesn’t want to give that up.”

Fluttershy smiled back, and leaned forward to hug Pride, who blushed at the sudden embrace and looked around nervously, not sure what to do. Eventually, Fluttershy sensed that she was making Pride uncomfortable, and then let her go. “… So… how did the battle end?”

Pride’s face suddenly lit up. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is glad that you asked!”

“STAY BACK! STAY BACK I SAY!”

“Oh, come on, Rarrrrrity,” Lust said, rolling the second ‘r’ of Rarity’s name and she slowly approached said mare with a sultry look on her face. “Just one little kiss?”

“You said that the last three times, and each time you stuck your tongue practically down my throat!” Rarity threw a small wooden bowl at the advancing mare, but Lust simply deflected it with her magic. “I told you, I’m not interested!”

Rarity resumed her running around her shop, with Lust giving chase, using her magic to clear obstacles as she closed in on the white mare. She soon caught up to Rarity, and tackled her onto the floor.

“Come oooooon,” she said, tracing her hoof in circles over Rarity’s chest. Rarity continued to struggle, but was being pinned down by Lust’s magic. “I’m booooored. I promise I’ll be gentle… if you want me to be.”

“I said no! How many times must I repeat myself, Lust?”

“… Very well then,” Lust said, surprising Rarity as she released the mare from her grasp. She then turned around, and headed into another room in the shop.

“… Well, that was unexpected. But at least now she’s-”

“Oh, Rarityyyyyyy,” Lust called out, gaining Rarity’s attention once more. Rarity’s eyes widened, and her jaw hung open, as she saw Lust re-enter her bedroom, wearing a light-blue saddle, with a purple frill. “How about now?”

“W-W-W-Where did you g-get that?” Rarity asked, slowly backing away as the mare approached her. Her eyes snapped to Lust’s flanks, which suddenly looked more appealing to her now that they were half-covered by the frilly saddle.

“From your ‘adult’ section, of course.” Lust leaned down, and whispered into Rarity’s ear: “So, how about it?”

Lust’s breath against Rarity’s ear caused the white mare to blush intensely, and her own breathing started to increase as she felt her face becoming hot. She looked over the saddled mare one last time… and cursed her own fetish for the sexy article of clothing.

“Oh… my…”

“No way! It’s mine!” Spike shouted as he pulled on the wooden box being held in a purple aura.

“No, it’s mine!” Greed shouted, pulling on the same box with her magic.

“Mine!”

“MINE!”

“SPIKE! GREED!” Twilight’s sudden interruption caused Spike to lose his focus on the box that he was pulling, and allowed Greed to take it from the baby’s dragon’s claws, smiling victoriously as she nuzzled it.

“Mine!” Greed shouted, quickly levitating the box out of Spike’s reach after he made an attempt to grab it.

“Greed, what is that?” Twilight asked, putting a hoof in front of Spike to make him stop.

“It’s my gem collection!” Spike answered, glaring at the blue mare before her. “Give it back, you thief! I worked hard on that for all these years! They’re gems that I’ve sworn never to eat, because they hold sentimental value to me!”

Twilight gave Greed a stern look. “Greed? Is there any chance that you could give that back to him?”

“Nope!” Greed sang, before running off down the library stairs with her next box of gems.

Spike fumed, and was about to give chase, before he was stopped once again by Twilight’s hoof. “What the hay, Twilight? You’re just gonna let her take it?!”

Twilight looked down at her friend apologetically, and leaned down to talk to him at eyelevel. “Spike, I’m sorry, but do you think you can just put up with this for now?”

“Are you serious?! That’s my-”

“I know it’s important to you, but right now, it’s important to Greed, too. She’ll take good care of it, I’m sure. And when we get the real Trixie back, she’ll return it to you. She gave me her word as a friend.”

“Pride gave you her word.”

“And if any of the seven Trixies right now can be trusted on their words, it would be Pride. Anyway, I’m almost done reading and understanding the spell that Trixie used in the first place, so with any luck, we should be able to fix this whole mess tomorrow! Until then, I’d like to keep things as peaceful as possible.

“I know this is asking a lot of you, but it’s really important to me, Spike. Do you think you can do this for me? Please?”

Spike looked into Twilight’s big, pleading eyes, and tried to argue that they shouldn’t have to put up with this. But, seeing that Twilight was determined to help Trixie however she could, which of course meant harbouring the seven current Trixies until that time came, Spike let out a deep sigh, and gave in. “Fine,” he said, receiving a hug from Twilight almost immediately.

“Thanks, Spike!” she said, nuzzling the baby dragon for a bit, before letting go and heading over to her bed. “Well, it’s getting late. I’ll continue reading in bed for a bit, but if you want to go to sleep now, I can dim the lights for you.”

Spike stretched his arms, and let out a loud yawn. “Nah, it’s fine. I’m not really tired yet, anyway,” he lied. Truthfully, he was very tired. But he didn’t want Twilight reading in the dark so much. He was worried about her damaging her eyes enough from all the reading that she did, let alone from her reading with barely any light.

Spike wandered over to his basket, and lay down in it, whilst Twilight settled into her own bed and opened up her book to the page that she had left off on. “Good night, Twilight,” he said as he pulled his blanket over his head.

“Good night, Spike,” Twilight called back. She then turned her head over to the stairs. “Good night Greed, Sloth!”

Greed and Sloth had both decided to sleep downstairs. Sloth simply didn’t want to relocate to a new sleeping place, and Greed wanted to sleep in her fort. “Good night!” Greed answered back. No response came from Sloth, but Twilight paid it no mind. She simply returned her attention to her book, and read through it very carefully, using a translation guide and making sure to check everything three times, so that she didn’t make the same kind of mistake that Trixie did.

Hopefully, tomorrow would go quite well…

Part II

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The next morning, Fluttershy mumbled in her sleep as she lay down on the sofa in her living room, a warm blanket wrapped over her body. The bed in her bedroom had been offered to her guest, Pride, who accepted it eagerly. “Mm… Harry, could you please pass the scones over? Oh, would you like some more tea, Angel Bunny?”

The smell of cinnamon waffles greeted her nose, and she stirred about on the couch. “That smells wonderful… I would love to try some. Thank you…” Fluttershy’s eyes opened slowly, and she let out a quiet, graceful yawn as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What? Is somepony using my kitchen?” she asked herself as she slowly climbed off of the couch, and to her hooves.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Fluttershy yelped and jumped back, hiding behind her couch as she peeked her head over it. She noticed Pride setting two plates and two glasses of orange juice onto her dining table. “Excellent timing! Breakfast will be ready in, oh, ten minutes?”

“B-Breakfast?” Fluttershy asked, before letting out a loud gasp and hovering in the air. “Oh, no! You’re the guest! It’s my job to make breakfast!”

Pride waved her hoof dismissively. “Maybe, but in this case, you may make an exception! For it is an honour, and a privilege, to be able to experience firsthoof, the wonderful culinary skills, of the Great, and Powerful, Trixiiiiie!” Fireworks shot out around Trixie as she struck a pose, startling Fluttershy and causing her to hide behind her couch again. “Relax. They’re only illusions! Totally no fire hazard whatsoever!”

“I-Is that right?” Fluttershy asked as she once again came out of hiding. “E-Even so, it really should be me that-”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie must insist, Fluttershy. Besides, it is already too late; the food is almost ready.”

“Well, I guess, if you’ve already put so much work into it, it would be rude to turn you down now…”

“If you like, consider it payment for allowing Trixie to stay here. Though personally, the Great and Powerful would have thought her mere presence to be payment enough…”

Fluttershy slowly began to make her way towards the kitchen. “What are you making, anyway? It smells like cinnamon waffles, but I’m pretty sure I was out of them.”

“Oh, that? Our guest had some food on her, and offered us some.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at that. “‘Guest’?” she asked, receiving only a nod from Pride, who was focused on setting up the table to look just right, which seemed to include everything being perfectly symmetrical.

“Not quite right… This plate should be a little to the left, and…”

Fluttershy decided to get to the bottom of this herself, and made her way towards the kitchen, where she assumed this ‘guest’ of theirs to currently be. And she was right. Standing before her now, was another Trixie, this one carefully reading from a book held in her magic, as she panicked over the breakfast being prepared.

“Oh dear. Is this right? I think it is, but knowing me, I’ve probably just messed it up. If only Pride were here…”

Fluttershy ran the seven Trixies from yesterday through her mind, as she tried to deduce which one it was that she was currently looking at. Smiling as she reached her conclusion, she approached the new Trixie to greet her. “Good morning, Envy,” she said, startling the blue mare and making her drop the book in her magic. “Oh my, terribly sorry.”

“N-No. I probably would have dropped it anyway. My magic isn’t really so great after all, Miss… Um… Butterfly?”

“Fluttershy,” the yellow mare corrected, still smiling at the Trixie standing before her.

“O-Oh, right. Sorry, I’m not really good with names and faces.”

“That’s quite alright. But, do you mind if I ask why you’re here?”

The blue mare’s face turned into a frown, and she looked down at the floor beneath her hooves. “I-I’m sorry. I guess, I’m not welcome here after all, huh?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head. “Oh, no no no no! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant, why are you here at my house, when I thought you were staying with Applejack?”

The Trixie looked up at the mare with a questioning look. “Staying at Applejack’s place? What do you-Oh! Oh, you must have me confused with another Trixie!” The blue mare laughed, confusing Fluttershy for a second, before stopping and giving the Pegasus a concerned look. “S-Sorry… was that too harsh?”

“Um… N-No… I’m just a little confused, that’s all.”

“Understandable. Even I am getting confused with all of the Trixies around. Oh! Not that I’m trying to put myself on a higher plane, or anything…”

“The table is set!” Pride shouted as she entered the kitchen. “The Great and Powerful Trixie, will now add the final touches to this breakfast! Prepare yourself, Fluttershy, for the most delicious meal you will ever taste in your entire life!”

“I can’t wait,” Fluttershy said, admittedly curious as to how this meal would taste.

“It won’t be that good,” the other Trixie said, causing Pride’s left eye to twitch.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is a master of the culinary arts!”

“We just know a bit about cooking. That’s all, really.”

Pride grit her teeth together, but kept her composure. After all, she wasn’t going to bring any sort of harm to another Trixie, no matter what. “… Well then, Fluttershy, why don’t you go and take a seat? The Great and Powerful Trixie will be with you shortly.”

Fluttershy looked between the two Trixies with a confused look on her face, before nodding and slowly trotting out of the kitchen. As she made her way towards the table, where there were now four placements (she suspected that the fourth placement was simply to uphold the symmetry), she couldn’t help but wonder to herself: ‘If that wasn’t Envy… then who?’

The sound of her alarm clock ringing stirred Rainbow Dash out of her sleep, and prompted her to groan as she sluggishly lifted her head from her pillow, which was soaked in her drool, and flail her arm about blindly to her side, in search of the noisy object currently offending her ears.

“Where is it?” she asked herself weakly as she searched her bedside table for her clock.

“GAH! Shut that thing up, already!” The sound of an explosion startled the rainbow-maned mare, and caused her to jump out of her bed, and clutch onto the cloud ceiling above her. She noticed that the sound of the alarm had ceased, and looked down to see Trixie – or rather, ‘Wrath’ – and the charred remnants of her alarm clock on the floor, beside her bed. “Much better…”

“H-Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted, letting go of the ceiling and flying down to press her nose against Wrath’s, the two of them exchanged intense glares with the other. “What the hay?! That wasn’t your clock to break!”

“Well, if you had just shut it up sooner, then I wouldn’t have freaking broken it!” Wrath turned around and began to storm out of the room. “I’m taking you up on your offer last night; I’m helping myself to your fridge! After that, I’d appreciate it if you just stay out of my face!”

Rainbow Dash would have loved to just leave obnoxious mare all to herself. To just end the argument right now, before it escalated into exchanged kicks and blast of magical energy, and not have to listen to another word from Wrath’s mouth until Twilight came up with a solution. She would have loved to do that, but unfortunately, she had already made a decision last night.

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash called out, drawing Wrath’s attention.

“What?” Wrath asked, annoyance clear in her tone.

“After breakfast, there’s somewhere I wanna take you.” Wrath raised an eyebrow at that, and eyed the Pegasus suspiciously. “It won’t take long, and it’s something I think that you – or rather, Trixie – could really do with seeing.”

“What is it? And why should I care?”

“You’ll see when you get there. As for why you should care… well, it’s either this, or we go and visit the others. I’m sure Pinkie Pie would just love to spend some time with you. Or maybe we can go and see how Lust is doing.”

Wrath cringed at both suggestions, remembering full well how utterly crazy and insufferable the pink one was, and how disgusting and even more insufferable her sex-crazed other was. “… And what if I just want to stay here?”

“Then you’d be in trouble, since I have no intention of just hanging out here all day. And without me, you can’t get back down to the ground.”

Wrath growled at Rainbow Dash, who remained calm and straight-faced as she gave Wrath a stern look. Finally, the blue mare let out a disgruntled sigh. “Fine… If it’ll get you off my freaking back, I’ll go see whatever this so-called ‘important thing’ is.”

Rainbow Dash grinned, and gave Wrath’s shoulder a slight nudge, prompting the other mare to throw a kick towards Rainbow Dash’s face in response. It missed when Rainbow Dash, anticipating the attack, flew further up into the air, and gave the mare below her a smug look. “Good! Then, let’s go eat, and then we can leave!”

“Why are you so eager to leave?” Wrath asked, storming out of Rainbow Dash’s bedroom, with Rainbow Dash following behind her in the air.

“Because I want to get this over with as quickly as possible,” Rainbow Dash responded. “I want to show you this thing because of… certain reasons. But I certainly don’t want to have to spend more time with you than I have to!”

“… Good point,” Wrath said. “The first one you’ve made since we first met.”

“… I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Let’s just eat, go, and then never talk to each other ever again. Agreed?”

“Works for me.”

“WHY ARE WE IN A FREAKING FOREST?!” Wrath shouted as she pushed a few branches out of her face. “I thought you just wanted to show me something! Why does it have to be all the way out here?!”

“It’s just a little further ahead,” Rainbow Dash said, flying above Trixie at a leisurely pace. “What’s the big deal?”

“You can freaking fly! Of course you’re okay with it!”

“Quit your whining! We’re almost there.”

“I’m not whining! I’m ranting! There’s a difference! All these twigs and leaves in my hair! All the cuts and scrapes from these infernal branches! All the freaking bugs flying around! OW! Great! Now we’re moving past thorn bushes?! I better not be allergic to any of these flowers, or I swear I’m going to kick your ass!”

“We’re here,” Rainbow Dash said, doing her best to ignore Wrath’s ‘ranting’. Admittedly, she actually found it quite amusing. “There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I’M BLEEDING!” Wrath yelled, holding up her hoof to show the long cut caused by a recent branch. “Not so bad my flank! And what the hell is meant to be out here that’s so damn important?! All I see is a giant tree!”

“And that’s it!” Rainbow Dash declared, landing next to the large tree in question, which towered so high up into the air, that the top couldn’t even be seen by the two mares at it base. “This tree right here, is what I wanted to show you!”

“… What?” Wrath asked, her right eye twitching and her horn sparking up. “If this is a joke, I am not. A. MUSED!”

“Whoa, just calm down for a second!” Wrath’s horn remained lit, but she at least seemed to refrain from firing before Rainbow Dash could explain. “Alright, I’m gonna let you in on a secret, okay?”

“A secret?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Look, you’re not the only one who gets fed up of other ponies now and then. Heck, I’ve had my fair share of other ponies constantly giving me grief, and when I was a child, I had a very short fuse! But after enough scoldings from my folks, I realised that I needed a better way to vent out my frustrations, rather than just picking fights with everypony that pisses me off.

“That’s when I found this baby. This tree is a special one, y’know? It’s been around for over one thousand years, and in all that time, it has never changed! Not only that, but it’s tough, too! You can buck it all day long, and it won’t suffer a single scratch!” To demonstrate, Rainbow Dash flew a good distance away from the tree, and then charged at it with such high speed that any regular tree would have felled from the impact she caused. However, the tree remained completely undisturbed and, as Rainbow Dash had said, unscratched.

“This is my secret spot, where I come to vent out all my anger, and give this tree the beating I wish I could give some of the ponies that anger me. This tree has helped me through a lot of hard times…”

Wrath nodded, showing that she was following so far. “And? What does that have to do with me?” she asked, clearly growing impatient.

“Look, I know you’ve been through hard times. And, if you’re supposed to be Trixie’s anger in pony form, then that means she has a lot of anger pent up inside of her. Now, I’m not saying I like her or anything, but when I saw your face last night, I remembered how I used to look, whenever the older colts gave me a hard time for my reckless flying…

“I guess, what I’m trying to say, is that, I’ll let you use this spot, whenever you start to get worked up. It’s a good, quiet place to just chill out, and forget everything for a bit.” Wrath didn’t say anything. She just stared up at Rainbow Dash, examining the blue Pegasus closely, with a sceptical look on her face. “… And, about what Pride said yesterday, about having no friends to turn to? … I just want you to know, you shouldn’t be afraid of approaching Twilight, just ‘cause of us.”

“Who says I was afraid?!” Wrath shouted, aiming her horn and firing a blast of magical energy. Rainbow Dash blocked with her forelegs, but was surprised when she felt nothing at all. In fact, the beam had passed her completely, and struck the tree behind her. It was followed by two more blasts. “Damnit! Don’t pretend you care! Don’t pretend you give a damn about me! You’re just like the rest of them! You give me crap whenever I try to perform one of my shows! You hate me just for being who I am! You’re intolerant! Hateful! Horrible!” Every word was punctuated with another blast of magic from Wrath’s horn.

“Hey! Don’t go comparing me to those ponies that chased you out of their towns!”

“Why not?! What’s the difference?! Magic is my talent, and performing is my passion! Whether you simply heckle me during a show, or try to chase me out of your town before I can even perform, it’s all the same!”

Rainbow Dash bit her lower lip. “I didn’t know,” she muttered.

“WHO CARES?! Maybe, you should have thought before you acted!”

“And what about Rarity, huh?!” Rainbow Dash countered, stopping Wrath relentless attacks on the old tree. “Rarity is super sensitive about her looks! Sure, I’ve pulled a few pranks on her from time to time, but I’ve never gone so far as to make such a mess out of her mane! Not after I learned the first time just how much it hurts her feelings!”

“She asked for it!” Wrath shouted. “She insulted my magic! She tore up my curtain! She-”

“Even so, you still went too far!”

“I DIDN’T KNOW!” Wrath paused, and stared wide-eyed at the mare flying above her. After a moment of silence between the two, Wrath turned her head away with a huff.

“No. You didn’t. And if you had, what would you have done?”

“… If it was Trixie… I’d imagine she would have settled for ruining the dress that Rarity had just made, instead.”

“And you know what I would have done, if I knew how much performing meant to you? If I knew how much you hated ponies that interrupted your show?” Wrath didn’t respond. “I would’ve waited! I would’ve waited until after the show, before challenging you! I’ll admit I was wrong, but there are two sides to this, Trixie!”

“My name’s Wrath,” Wrath corrected.

“No, I’m talking to Trixie right now. Trixie, I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry I tried to ruin your show like that. And I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a jerk to you in the past…” Rainbow Dash waited a moment, but received no words back from Wrath. “Well? Don’t you have something to say, too?”

“I’m Wrath,” the Unicorn repeated. “Anything I say will only stem from Trixie’s anger. If you want to hear Trixie’s response, you’ll have to wait.” Rainbow Dash sighed, but nodded in understanding. “… But, I will say this: right now, my hate towards you isn’t quite as strong anymore. I think that might be a good thing… Thanks, Rainbow Dash. For at least trying to reach an understanding, rather than just judging me right away.”

Rainbow Dash blushed, and turned her head away. “I just don’t think it’s fair how you’ve been treated, is all. Okay, so you lied. Big deal! Daring Do is a work of fiction, but it’s still the most awesome story I’ve ever read! Definitely beats Twilight’s stories of visiting the Royal library, or Granny Smith’s tale of how she bought two apples for just one bit!”

“So you sympathise with Trixie, is that it?”

“… I hate bullies,” Rainbow Dash said, turning back to Wrath and landing on the ground. “Hate ‘em, hate ‘em, HATE ‘EM! And Trixie was being bullied all across Equestria! To tell you the truth, I had actually wanted to talk to her after the Alicorn Amulet was off! I wanted to show her this place sooner, since it was clear she had no idea how to deal with her problems. But after she ran off, and I couldn’t find her, I guess I just… kinda forgot.”

“… Deal with my problems… You mean, like this?” Wrath’s horn lit up again, and she blasted the tree behind Rainbow Dash one more time. As the light from the blast faded, Wrath shot the Pegasus a grin, which was returned by the recipient.

“That’s the spirit! Don’t let nopony get you down! And make sure that Trixie knows, she’s welcome here whenever she gets angry!”

“Hmph! You make no sense. A bitch one moment, then kind the next.”

Rainbow Dash scowled at the Unicorn’s harsh word. “Ponies are like that, y’know?”

“It pisses me off.” Wrath turned to the bushes behind her, her horn glowing up threateningly once more. “It also pisses me off when somepony follows my shadow! So come on out, before I set you on fire!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash looked at the same bushes that Wrath was focused on, and noticed them shuffling. She quickly landed onto the ground, and cast a harsh glare on whoever was following them. “Who’s there?! Come on out!”

“N-Now please, don’t do anything rash. I meant you no harm, I assure you.” A pony stepped out from the bushes, and both Wrath and Rainbow Dash gasped at what they saw. “And I didn’t follow you here. I simply tacked you down.”

“Trixie?!” Rainbow Dash asked, staring at the blue Unicorn mare standing in the bushes. “But… which one?”

“I don’t know,” Wrath said. “She doesn’t act like any of the others, that’s for sure.” Wrath raised her voice as she addressed the new Trixie. “Hey! What’s your name, and why do you look so much like Trixie?!”

Gluttony groaned as she ran the dish in her hooves under the hot water of the kitchen sink at Sugarcube Corner. “I’m hungryyyyy. When’s snack time?”

“You just ate,” Mr. Cake said. “We’ll be opening up soon, so I’d suggest that you hurry up, if you want to pay off your remaining debt as quickly as possible.”

“Can’t I just have one little piece of shortcake? Pleeeeease?”

“No,” Mr. Cake said sternly. “Those are for the customers. However, if you do a very good job today, I’ll think about giving you some of the leftovers after we close up shop. Deal?”

“… Ugh, fine.” Gluttony placed the now-washed dish on the rack beside the sink, and moved on to her final bowl. Her stomach roared loudly, causing her to groan even more. “I hate working… I prefer eating.

“Well, these fine ponies put a lot of work into the food that they make. If you just ate everything without paying, they would be the ones to suffer for it.”

Mr. Cake nodded his head, before stopping what he was doing and looking towards the entrance to the kitchen. “Who’s there? You can’t be here without-” He stopped when he saw who was there. It was Trixie. But, Trixie was just behind him! He looked behind himself, and saw that Trixie was still there, washing a bowl in the kitchen sink.

“Who are you?” Gluttony asked, finishing up her bowl and setting it on the rack beside the sink.

“You should show some restraint,” the new Trixie said. “Only take what you need, and not any more than that.”

Gluttony frowned, and approached the other Trixie. “Oh yeah? Well I need all those sweets, to sate my appetite! And what’s it to you, anyway? Who are you? Wrath? You look too calm to be her…”

“All I’m saying, is that you should consider those around you. It was un-thoughtful of you to eat all that food, and then attempt to run away without paying.”

“I asked you who you are. Answer me!”

“I’m…”

Rarity sighed as she stirred a spoon in her tea slowly. It had been a good fifteen minutes since she mixed the milk into her tea, and the beverage had already grown cold, but Rarity hadn’t even noticed. She was too busy focusing on something else.

“Morning, Rarity,” Lust said as she descended the stairs of the boutique. She then proceeded to wrap her forelegs around the white mare, and rub the side of her face into Rarity’s mane. “That was quite a night we had, huh?”

“Y-Yes…” Rarity responded, squirming out of Lust’s hold and rising to her hooves. “Lust, dear, I need to step out for a moment. Would you mind waiting here?”

“Not at all. Just don’t take too long,” Lust said, winking and blowing a goodbye kiss to Rarity, who blushed and turned to exit her store. Once she was outside, Rarity let out a deep sigh.

“What have I done?” she asked herself, walking down the street with a guilty look on her face.

“Howdy there, Rarity!” Rarity’s ears perked up, and she looked up from the ground to face Applejack as she neared. “Y’all look pretty tired. Lust must’ve been a hoofful last night, huh?”

Rarity’s ears flattened against her head. “Yes… I guess you could say that…”

“Hey, how ‘bout we grab a couple of shakes from over there?” Applejack pointed towards a refreshment stand behind Rarity. “Ah’ve got one heck of a tale ta tell. Ya ain’t gonna believe-” Applejack noticed the frown on Rarity’s face as the white mare began to follow her. “… Looks like you’ve got something on yer mind, too. Wanna talk about it?”

Rarity shook her head. “N-No. Really, that’s quite alright.”

“Aw, c’mon now, Rarity. Y’know you can always count on yer friends when ye’re feelin’ down!”

“Really, Applejack, I-”

“Ah ain’t takin’ ‘no’ for an answer. Is it about Lust?” Rarity said nothing, but Applejack was able to read her facial expressions like an open book. “So that’s a ‘yes’… So ah guess she really was putting the moves on ya all night, then.” Rarity only nodded slowly. “Ah see… It must’ve been tiring, keepin’ her off of ya all night long.” Again, Rarity said nothing. “… You did keep her away, right?”

Finally, it was all too much for the dressmaker to bear. “I couldn’t help it! She got into my adult’s clothing line, and picked out the most perfect saddle that just made her look so… So…”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Y-Ya mean, you an’ her…”

“Nine times,” Rarity admitted with a blush. “Ten, if you count her last ‘gift’ to me at the end. Or would that just be nine-and-a-half? Ooh, that’s not the issue here! I’m so, so sorry, Applejack! I just couldn’t resist her any longer, and I-”

“Why’re ya apologising?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, sure ah’m surprised, but it’s none of mah business who y’all sleep with.”

“Well, it’s just… a lady shouldn’t give in to such temptations, and I know you aren’t exactly a fan of Trixie’s. I just… didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Applejack placed a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “Hun, now you listen closely here. While it’s true that ah didn’t exactly approve of Trixie comin’ in here an’ showin’ off like that, does not mean ah don’t like her. An’ quite frankly, the only thing ah’m disappointed ‘bout is that y’all will think that’s what kind of pony ah am.” Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack continued before she got the chance. “Furthermore, even if ah didn’t like her, yer love life ain’t none of mah business. Y’all can date a diamond dog or the changeling Queen, for all ah care. Ye’re mah friend, an’ ah’ll stand by whatever decision y’all make. ‘Cause that’s what friends do.”

Rarity simply stared at Applejack with two wide, sparkling eyes, her mouth agape as she felt moved by the farm pony’s words. “Applejack…”

“Still, ah didn’t take ya for the kind ta be taken in by a pretty face an’ a few seductive lines,” Applejack teased, causing Rarity to back away and blush. “Nine times, huh? Woo-hee! Ah think y’all better tell Pinkie Pie right away! It’s been a while since her last ‘new-found love’ party!”

Rarity shook her head sadly. “I-It isn’t love, Applejack… That’s actually what I feel the worst about.”

“And so you should!” a venomous voice called out, drawing both of the mares’ attentions towards its source. “How could you do such a thing?! The pony body is sacred, and you defiled it last night, without any hint of remorse?!”

Applejack frowned and stepped in to defend her friend. “An’ just which Trixie are you, huh?”

The Trixie stopped approaching the two mares, and gave them both hate-filled glares. “Mother Faust made all of us little ponies using her own heart and soul. To defile our bodies with such sinful acts is blasphemy against her! Those kinds of actions should only be performed between those who have sworn eternity together!”

The Trixie pointed a hoof at Rarity, who backed away with a whimper under the blue Unicorn’s glare. “And, to top it all off, you show no signs of remorse! No hints that you shall take responsibility for your actions! You slept with somepony who you don’t even love? Shame on you!”

“Hey!” another Trixie shouted, running up to the first one. “Who d’you think you are, deciding who she can and can’t sleep with like that? And I don’t care if she doesn’t love me! Like I said, there’s a chance that Trixie won’t love her! All that matters is we enjoyed ourselves, and let out a lot of stress! No harm done to anypony!”

“But there is harm! Harm to herself, and to the pony she does love!”

“Ah don’t see how it’s any of yer business what Rarity does behind closed doors, an’ ah would appreciate if ya didn’t try an’ make her feel guilty about it!”

“You’re siding with her? Are you serious?! She’s tainted her body with that heinous act last night! She’s unclean! Unholy! She’s-”

“That’s enough!” Applejack shouted, stomping the ground with her forehooves for emphasis. “Like ah said, who are y’all?!”

“… Hmph! My name is Chastity. I am a part of Trixie. Perhaps the only part that has yet to be broken by this world.”

Applejack raised a curious eyebrow at that. “What d’ya mean?”

“Don’t say it!” Lust shouted. “Pride would die of embarrassment if anypony found out! Not to mention me!”

“Say what?” Rarity asked, also curious.

Chastity gave a proud grin, and ignored Lust’s pleas. “Why, that Trixie’s body has remained untainted, despite the hell that she has lived!”

“… You mean-”

“Quite right!” Chastity interrupted. “Trixie Lulamoon is a virgin!” Lust slammed her forehooves into her face, and let out a muffled scream. “Or at least she was, until you happened. Though, maybe it doesn’t count, since it was only one aspect of Trixie.”

Rarity’s eyes widened in shock, and her mouth began to move on its own, but no words formed. Applejack decided to speak up instead. “That can’t be right. From the way Lust talked yesterday, it seemed like Trixie had-”

“An act,” Chastity said. “Pride wouldn’t allow ponies to know that Trixie is a twenty-three year old virgin. For what reason, I don’t know. That’s honestly the only thing she had going for her, after the rest of her had been corrupted by this world’s evil.”

“You mean… I was her first?” Rarity asked.

“Like I said, that doesn’t count! Lust is only one aspect of Trixie! Trixie’s body will still remain pure when she returns! You’ll see!”

“But… she was so good,” Rarity said, blushing as she realised what words had just escaped her lips. “I-I mean-”

“Trixie,” Lust started, removing her hooves from her face slightly, “Read a lot of books. And watched a lot of movies. She could never find somepony to spend her lonely nights with, so she had to satisfy herself most of the time. And in that time, she learned all the tricks to making a mare’s body feel good. I gained that knowledge from her.”

Applejack shot Chastity a slight grin. “Doesn’t look like she was so pure, after all.” Chastity growled at Applejack, but didn’t say anything in response. “Anyway, this reminds me: there was something ah wanted ta tell everypony, about this mornin’.”

“Oh?” Rarity asked.

“Well, we woke up this mornin’, and Envy wanted ta give apple buckin’ a go. However, when we got out ta the field…”

“There she is!” The group turned their attention towards the two new Trixies heading towards them. “Applejack, sorry we’re late! We got a little sidetracked.”

“Don’ worry ‘bout it! Ah was just about ta tell Rarity ‘bout our new guest… Wait, which Trixie am ah talkin’ to, right now?”

The Trixie that called out to Applejack offered a warm smile to the orange mare. “I’m Kindness. Envy here tried to take a balloon from a little filly in the town square, and I had to stop her, and teach her the value of being content with what she has.”

Envy sighed, and turned her head away from Kindness. “I want a balloon too… I almost had it, but you took it away from me…”

“Now, now. I know that things were hard for Trixie, but you’ve got to admit, they could be worse. We should just be thankful for the things that we have, like our magic.”

“I want stronger magic. I wonder if we could find the Alicorn Amulet again?”

“NO!” Applejack and Rarity shouted in unison. To their surprise, the other three Trixies shouted it, too.

“No!” Lust repeated. “Above all, that is the one thing we should never do!”

“For once, I agree with Lust!” Chastity said. “That amulet almost killed Trixie!”

“It did?” Applejack asked in surprise.

“Only in a sense,” Kindness explained. “If Trixie had never taken that off, she would have gained the power that she so desired… but it wouldn’t have been her. Just somepony that looks like her.”

Envy’s frown grew. “I don’t care. Just as long as I get that power I so desperately want…”

Lust sighed, and looked around for something. “It was Trixie’s desperation that made her seek out the amulet. But it was her anger and her jealousy that ultimately led her there, and compelled her to put it on.” Lust found something in the distance, and walked over to Envy. “Hey, Envy. Check out that neat ball over there.”

Envy looked over her shoulder, and found three little fillies playing with an orange ball, with yellow stars on it. “That’s a nice ball…”

“You want it?” Lust asked. “That’s a shame, ‘cause it’s theirs, not yours.”

Envy’s frown returned, and she sat down on her haunches. “I wish I had that ball…”

The other three Trixies sighed. Even if Kindness didn’t agree with Envy’s desire for material possessions, the fear that Envy might actually seek out the Alicorn Amulet completely overrode that part of her brain.

“So, let me get this straight,” Rarity said. “There are nine Trixies?”

“Fourteen,” a voice corrected. The voice belonged to Twilight Sparkle, who approached the six ponies with a book in her magic, accompanied by three more Trixies. “I knew there was something wrong! Eastern magic almost always revolves around the idea of ‘perfect balance’! It seemed odd that she would only be split into her ‘sinful aspects’!”

“Her what now?” Applejack asked.

“Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Pride, Lust, and Sloth. Those are the ‘seven deadly sins’ of pony. But for each of these ‘sinful aspects’, there is a ‘heavenly aspect’, which, together, make up the ‘seven heavenly virtues’ of pony.”

“… Ah… don’t really follow,” Applejack admitted.

“So basically, there are seven more Trixies, each one mirroring the seven that we encountered yesterday?” Rarity asked, and Twilight nodded happily.

“That’s right! It seems that these other seven were teleported somewhere separate from the first seven when the spell went off. Possibly due to the spatial limitations, since Greed told me that the spell was performed in Trixie’s trailer.”

“Or the wreckage that it once was,” Lust said, rolling her eyes. “Fixing it was going to be the first thing she had all her clones do. So, there were more of us created, huh?”

“That’s right,” one of the Trixie said as she stepped forward. “We were surprised, too, when we had heard that seven other Trixies had been sighted on the train to Ponyville. So, we decided to hop on the next train and follow you all. Unfortunately, the next train was delayed until the following morning, due to an explosion on the tracks…”

“That was probably Wrath,” Envy said. “She threw one of Pride’s fireworks out of the window in a fit of rage, but it turned out to be one of the more powerful ones… She didn’t even ask if I wanted it,” she added with a pout.

The other Trixie nodded her head. “I see. Perhaps introductions are in order: my name is Charity, and this is-” Charity stopped when he noticed the three fillies from earlier sitting on the floor, looking rather depressed. “Excuse me.”

The rest of the group watched in confusion as she ran towards the three fillies. “Excuse me, my little ponies,” she called out, drawing the attention of the three depressed fillies. “What’s the matter? Why do you look so down?”

“We tried to get our Cutie Marks in hoofball,” the white one explained.

“But it was no good,” the orange one added.

The yellow one let out a depressed sigh. “D’ya have any idea for us to try next, Trixie?”

Charity’s ears twitched at the mention of her former self’s name. ‘So she’s met one of us? Or maybe the original…’ Charity smiled, and reach out a hoof to pat the yellow filly on the head. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find your Cutie Marks, just as long as you keep trying.” An idea formed in Charity’s head, and she huddled the fillies together to share it.

Meanwhile, Greed decided to introduce the other Trixie herself. “This is Diligence,” she said, and said pony stepped forward to greet Applejack and Rarity, the latter backing away and gagging when she got close enough to smell the stench coming off of this Trixie.

“What you smell there is the result of all of my hard work and exercise!” Diligence boasted, flexing her forehooves to show off her muscles. “Unlike that lazy ‘Sloth’ back in the library, I am actually willing to apply and make something of myself! I’m not going to just sit around when my entire future is at stake! I’m going to do my best, to erase those stories of the ursa minor from everypony’s minds!”

“I wish I had that kind of drive,” Envy said, tracing circles in the ground with her hoof.

“Hard work or not, I think a visit to the spa is most certainly in order!” Rarity said, holding a hoof to her nose.

“No time to lounge around in some pool of water! I’ve gotta get back to my jogging!” Diligence turned around and stretched her legs a bit. “Let me know when you’re ready to fix us!” she told Twilight.

“Actually,” the librarian began, “I am ready. I just need all fourteen of you here.”

Diligence clapped her forehooves together. “Great! Then I’ll go find them! You guys wait right here!”

“I think it would be best if we split up,” Twilight said. “Diligence, Gluttony should be over at Sugarcube Corner. Can you go and get her for me, please?”

“Sugarcube Corner! Got it!” Diligence began jogging on the spot, before turning to Twilight. “Which is where, exactly?”

Twilight pointed Diligence in the right direction, and the energetic mare was off soon afterwards. “Applejack, Rarity, could you two split up and find Wrath and Pride?”

“What about the other virtues?” Applejack asked.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Kindness said. “When we got here, we heard from the locals about the other Trixies, and we were able to deduce who was staying with whom. We then split up and decided to seek out our opposites.”

Applejack put a hoof to her chin and nodded. “So in other words, we find those sins, an’ we find them virtues?”

“That’s about it,” Kindness confirmed.

“I’ll stay here with the Trixies we currently have gath-Wait! Where’s Charity?” Everypony turned to where Charity and the three fillies once were, but now found that they were gone. “Oh, great! Just great! Where could she have gone?”

“Knowing her, she’s out offering her services to anypony who looks like they need help,” Chastity said. “In other words, she could be anywhere.”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Applejack, you find Rainbow Dash, who should be with Wrath. Rarity, you go get Fluttershy and Pride. On the way, could you ask Spike to go and find Charity when you pass the library?”

The two mares nodded. “Will do, Twilight,” Applejack said.

“You can count on me!” Rarity said. “But, what about Sloth? What should we do with her?”

Twilight let out a groan. “We’ll need Rainbow Dash for that. I was going to carry her here with my magic, but I need to save it for the spell.”

“What about me?” Applejack asked. “Ah reckon ah’m plenty strong enough ta carry that mare here, all on mah own.”

“Trust me, she’s heavier than she looks.”

“Hey!” all of the Trixies gathered shouted in unison. Twilight winced and shied away from their glares. Lesson learned: never say that a mare is heavy whilst she can hear you. Especially not when there are five versions of that mare there at the same time.

“Temperance?” Pinkie Pie asked as she sat herself down opposite the two Trixies. “And there are six more of you still out there?”

The two Trixies nodded, though Temperance was more focused on Gluttony, who was indulging herself in Mrs. Cake’s generous treat after hearing her rumbling stomach. It was a rather large sponge cake, one that Gluttony had claimed for herself.

“Honestly, how can you just stuff your face like that?” Temperance asked. “Do you not give a single thought to the ones who had to make that for you, and all the work that they put into it?”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Mrs. Cake said as she entered the room. “I just can’t stand to see somepony so hungry, and from what I’ve been told, she can’t help but be hungry.”

“Wrong,” Temperance said. “Her appetite is the same as the rest of us. She just can’t help but pig out, even if it does bother the ponies around her.”

“This is great!” Pinkie Pie interrupted, drawing a confused look from the other three mares. “This is so super fantastic! I realised last night that I could have a party for all seven of you Trixies at once, but now, I can have a party for fourteen of you at once! This is just…” Pinkie Pie began to shake violently, a huge smile spread across her face.

“A-Are you okay?” Temperance asked, but as an answer, she only received Pinkie Pie suddenly exploding and shooting up into the air, smashing through the ceiling above her.

“Oh dear, not again!” Mrs. Cake said. “And we just had that repaired!”

“Does she do that often?” Gluttony asked through a mouthful of cake. “That doesn’t seem physically possible. I think Wrath would have a fit if she saw that.”

“Swallow before you speak,” Temperance said. “Just like I said: no regard for the ponies around you.”

“U-huh,” Gluttony responded through yet another mouthful of cake, completely ignoring the other Trixie. “Got any ice-cream to go with this cake?”

Temperance groaned and facehooved. “I pity Trixie, knowing that you influenced her more than me.”

“What did you expect? She was hungry.” Mrs. Cake’s ears twitched. “She had to indulge herself, ‘cause there was no guarantee of when she’d eat again.”

“At the cost of stealing food from others?”

“There you are!” The three mares turned to the room’s doorway, to find a third Trixie standing there, jogging on the spot.

“Honey,” Mr. Cake said as he followed after her. “There’s, um, another one here…”

“I can see that,” Mrs. Cake responded, watching as the third Trixie entered.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Diligence shouted.

“Go where?” Gluttony asked. “I’m eating!”

“Diligence? What’s up?”

“Twilight’s found a way to fix us!” Diligence replied cheerfully. “She’s waiting for us at the town square! Come on! Let’s go, let’s go!”

“After I finish eating!” Gluttony said, taking a huge slice of cake and shoving it into her mouth, making Temperance gag.

“Right now! Time’s awasting!” Suddenly, a pink blur fell down through the ceiling, and crashed down into the ground. “W-What the?”

“FOUR-TEEN PARTIES IN OOOOOONE!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she jumped out of the crater that she had made and pulled the three Trixies into a huge group hug. “BEST. DAY. EVER!”

“W-Where did she come from?!” Diligence asked.

“Don’t ask!” the other two Trixies replied in unison.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie, will now regale you with the story of how she once bested the dreaded harpy Queen in one-on-one combat!” Fluttershy clapped her forehooves as Pride struck a dramatic pose.

“Shouldn’t you ask before offering to tell her stories like that?” the other Trixie, sitting beside Fluttershy, asked.

“… Humility, was it?” The other Trixie nodded. “You know full well that the Great and Powerful Trixie thrives on ponies listening to the stories of her greatness, and regarding her with awe!”

“That’s not the point I was making. What if she-”

“I don’t mind,” Fluttershy insisted. “I enjoyed her stories last night. And besides, I’m used to always hearing stories of ‘awesomeness’ from Rainbow Dash, anyway.”

“There! She doesn’t mind! Now, as the Great and Powerful Trixie was saying-”

“But boasting about things you didn’t do? Is that really okay?”

Pride groaned, and took a deep breath. She then attempted to tell her story anyway, despite Humility’s interruptions. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has faced many great foes in her time. But few compare, to the terrifying Queen of the harpy race!”

“It was a scavenger, at best,” Humility pointed out.

“You are making it very hard for Trixie to love and tolerate you!” Pride shouted, pointing a hoof at Humility.

“Oh, maybe you shouldn’t do that, Humility,” Fluttershy said. “It’s not polite to interrupt ponies when they’re speaking.”

“… You’re right. I’m sorry,” Humility said, burying her face into her hooves.

Pride waited for a moment, and then continued. “Now, if we are quite done with all the interruptions-” A knock on the door cut her off. “Oh, for pony’s sake!”

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said, rising to her hooves. “I wonder if that’s Twilight? Maybe she found a way to fix this whole mess.”

Pride’s ears twitched at the suggestion. “You really think so?”

Fluttershy opened the door, and was greeted to the sight of her friend Rarity. “Oh, Rarity. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Fluttershy. I don’t suppose that Pride is still here, is she?”

Fluttershy nodded. “She is, and you’ll never guess what happened earlier today.”

“Another Trixie came by and introduced herself as Pride’s opposite?”

Fluttershy stared at her friend in bewilderment. “Um, yes, actually. How did you know that?”

“Long story, I’ll tell you on the way. Twilight wants all Trixies to gather at the town square.”

Pride pushed Fluttershy aside and greeted Rarity with the biggest smile she could. “You mean she’s ready to put us all back together again?!” she asked excitedly.

“If she isn’t, that’s fine,” Humility added, earning a scowl from Pride. “If I can be of any help, just let me know.”

“Why, that’s rather generous, darl-”

“I don’t know if I’ll be of any use, but I’m always happy to lend a hoof.”

“Not of any use?!” Pride shouted. “The Great and Powerful Trixie, not of any use?! How dare you insult the Great and Powerful Trixie like…” Pride placed a hoof to her chest, and started to breath in-and-out heavily. “Deep breaths, Trixie. Deep breaths… She’s one of us… One of us…”

Rarity backed away nervously from the fuming Pride, feeling uneasy. “A-Anyway, maybe we should be making our way back to the town square?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has bested creatures of your worst nightmares with her superior magic!”

“Girls?”

“The best Trixie could do was distract them from villages, then run away. Or just run away.”

“Darlings, maybe we should-”

“That is a lie! The Great and Powerful Trixie did not earn her title by running away from the slightest hint of danger!”

“Girls, really, we should-”

“Trixie is the one that gave that title to herself.”

“And rightly so! After all, she-”

“GIRLS!” The two Trixies and Rarity jumped at the sound of Fluttershy’s raised voice, and turned to face the usually-timid Pegasus with a shocked looks. “This fighting isn’t going to get us anywhere! I understand that you have your differences, but being at each other’s throats all the time will accomplish nothing! And the longer you keep fighting here, the longer it will take to put all of you Trixies back together!”

“Well she’s the one who keeps trampling all over the Great and Powerful Trixie’s pride!” Pride shouted, pointing a hoof at Humility.

“You’re the one who dares to think you’re superior to everypony, or anypony, for that matter!”

“Because Trixie is!”

“Girls!” Fluttershy repeated, silencing the two Trixies. “You’re both a part of Trixie! You’re both aspects of her, and you belong together. Yes, you may be at opposite ends, and you may hold completely different beliefs. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t co-exist peacefully with each other. And like when you were once one, you have to put your ideals together, and reach a compromise. Otherwise, the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie will never be able to become whole again.

“Now, are we going to get along on the way to the town square, or are we going to have to separate the two of you?” The two Trixies remained silent. “I’m waiting.”

Pride scoffed, and turned around to leave. “Whatever. The Great and Powerful Trixie is more than capable of putting up with this thing for a short while, if it means that Trixie Lulamoon can be revived.”

Humility lowered her head and huffed. “I don’t know if I can manage… but I can do my best. Is that alright?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “That’s fine. Now then, let’s be on our way, okay?”

The four mares left the house together, and began their journey to the town square. Pride decided to distance herself from Humility, but stayed walking close to Rarity. “You know,” she started, growing bored of the quietness of their journey, “You did a great job on this cape. Trixie was wondering if, when Trixie is whole again, she could make you her go to tailor.”

Rarity shot Pride a smug smile. “Well, naturally. I strive to make all of my creations as fabulous and stunning as I can. And your cape was, admittedly, rather fun to work on. Even if yesterday was supposed to be my day off.”

“… And?” Pride asked.

“Oh, right… I guess, it would be alright for you to pop in every now and then. Just as long as you’re willing to pay, this time.”

Pride pointed her nose into the air. “The Great and Powerful Trixie would have paid you handsomely for fixing her cape, had she any money on hoof!”

“… It’s amazing how you can say something like that with such an air of pride,” Rarity said. “Things haven’t been going well, if I recall correctly, have they?”

Pride shook her head. “But, it’s only a matter of time. The general public can’t keep lying to themselves forever! Soon, they will admit their love for Trixie’s shows, and will be practically begging her to perform for them!”

Rarity put a hoof to her chin. “Say, Pride? I have a suggestion.”

“… Trixie is listening.”

“Well, I was thinking, maybe I could support your shows for you.” Pride looked at Rarity with curiosity and interest. “Not that I doubt your ability to woo a crowd, of course,” Rarity quickly added. “But, sometimes, ponies like to judge by first appearances.”

Pride nodded. “Yes. Trixie noticed.”

“Well, my idea is this: I design some fabulous outfits for you, and maybe help you with a brand-new stage, too. Something that will really attract a crowd, and pique ponies’ interests. In return, you can advertise my boutique for me during your shows. That way, I’m not just giving you charity. It’s a business deal, one that benefits both sides.”

Pride thought about this for a second. “… Are you sure that will work?”

“What have you got lose?”

“Hmmm… Well, this is really a decision for Trixie herself. You will have to wait until she is whole again, before she is able to answer you.”

“Very well then. But just remember, darling, that if you ever need somepony to lend you a hoof, you can count on my support, at the very least.”

“And mine,” Fluttershy added, before quickly covering. “Um, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but-”

“But, Rarity,” Humility said, “If that doesn’t work, and Trixie’s shows still go downhill, that’ll just mean that you lose out.” Humility shook her head. “I don’t know about Trixie as a whole, but I, personally, could never do that to somepony.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about me,” Rarity assured. “My business is doing quite well, so I won’t exactly suffer from a few lost bits.”

“It is?” Pride asked. “In a village where hardly anypony even wears clothes?”

“Well, I usually sell clothes for special occasions, which cost a lot anyway,” Rarity explained. “But I’ve also expanded to Canterlot, with the help of my friend Fancypants, and I’m currently working up a deal with a company in Manehatten to have my clothes line added to their stores.”

Pride grinned as she flicked her mane. “So, the Great and Powerful Trixie has not only had the pleasure of besting such an accomplished fashion designer, but also of having her work on Trixie’s cape?”

Rarity gave a slight frown at the reminder of their first encounter. “I thought we agreed to forget about that whole incident.”

“… Oh, right.” Pride gave a smug grin. “The Great and Powerful Trixie forgot about that, but she will try harder in the future!”

Rarity gave Pride a bewildered look, before turning to Fluttershy and Humility. “Is… Is she boasting about having forgotten something that happened only yesterday.”

Humility lowered her head in shame. “S-Sorry. I’m sure she didn’t mean to. These things just happen, you know?”

The rest of the walk was spent with Pride retelling the story of how Trixie once stumbled upon a velociraptor nest in the Everfree forest and survived, with Fluttershy pleading for Humility not to make matters worse. Thankfully, Humility was able to limit her outbursts to whispers into Fluttershy’s ears, detailing how the story actually took place, in contrast to Pride’s slight alterations of the truth. Fluttershy was surprised to hear that Trixie actually had survived a run in with such dangerous creatures, though not quite as gracefully as Pride described.

“Please, calm down!” A blast of magic frightened the Trixie hiding behind Rainbow Dash. “I just want to talk!” Another blast of magic silenced her, and Wrath took a threatening step forward.

“Cool it, Wrath!” Rainbow Dash said, looking behind her at the Trixie that was clearly doing her best to remain calm, and not look scared. “I think we should give her a chance!”

“There were seven of us created. Seven! And ‘Patience’ was not one of them! She’s a spy! That’s the only logical explanation!”

“But it’s true!” Patience protested. “Seven more of us were created at the same time! We were just as shocked as you to hear that there were more Trixies, but-” She was silenced by yet another blast of magic, this one a little too close for Rainbow Dash’s liking.

“Hey! What if she is a part of Trixie?! You’d be giving up any hopes of ever becoming whole again!”

“Whose side are you on?!” Wrath shouted. “Just when I thought you weren’t so bad! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you!”

“P-Please,” Patience pleaded, ducking behind Rainbow Dash when she saw Wrath’s horn starting to glow. “Can’t we please resolve this peacefully? How about if I let you tie me up?”

“I’m not Lust!” Wrath shouted. “I’m WRATH!”

“You’re a bonehead is what y’are!” Wrath turned around to see who the interloper was, but was only greeted to the sight of a rope flying towards her. The rope wrapped around her body, fell down to her forelegs, and then closed up, hogtying Wrath and making her fall onto the ground.

“Hey! What the hell’s the big idea?!”

Applejack emerged from behind some nearby bushes, the other end of the rope in her hooves. “Honestly. Ya jus’ really hate trustin’ ponies, don’tcha?”

“Trust?! Why should I trust anypony?! What has anypony ever done to earn my trust?!”

“Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What are you doing here?”

“HEY! DON’T IGNORE ME!”

“Ah couldn’t find y’all anywhere, so ah figured ya might be here.”

“HEY!”

“You mean, you knew about this place?” Applejack nodded. “N-No way! Y-You haven’t told anypony, right?”

“Sure haven’t. An’ don’t worry. Ah don’t plan ta tell any-HEY!” Applejack felt a tug on the rope, and looked over to Wrath to see Patience undoing the knot at the other end. “What’re ya doin’?! Are ya mad?!”

“This isn’t right,” Patience said. “She doesn’t deserve to have her movement restricted like this. I wanted to resolve our differences peacefully, not through force.”

“That’s admirable an’ all, but that mare was jus’ tryin’ ta kill ya only seconds ago!”

Patience finished freeing Wrath, and the angered mare teleported to her hooves, and immediately began to charge towards Applejack. “No! Don’t!” Patience shouted.

Wrath pounced towards Applejack, but was stopped by a purple aura pulling on her tail. “What the?!” She looked over her shoulder, and saw Patience casting a spell. “I knew it! I knew I should’ve killed you when I had the chance!”

“Please! Just… calm down…”

“LET ME GO!”

“Will you let me talk with you peacefully?”

“The hell I will! I’ll rip your freaking heart from your chest!”

Applejack raised a hoof and smacked Wrath across the face, startling the other three mares present. Wrath blinked a couple of times, before glaring and growling at the farm pony. “OH, YOU ARE SO DEAD!”

“Wrath, listen! Twilight’s found a way ta put all you Trixies back together.” Wrath stopped growling, and Applejack took that as a sign that she was still listening. “We need ta gather all fourteen of ya ta the town square.”

“Fourteen?” Rainbow Dash asked. “So, there really are seven more Trixies?”

Applejack nodded in confirmation. “That’s right, an’ Twilight says that all fourteen are needed before she can put y’all back together,” she told Wrath, who seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

“… Tch. Whatever.” She looked over her shoulder at Patience. “Hey! Let me go already!”

“You won’t attack anypony?” Patience asked.

“Not as long as you don’t piss me off!” Patience paused for a second, before nodding, and undoing her spell. Wrath dropped down to the ground, and let out an angry growl. “That better have not been on purpose…”

Rainbow Dash detected Wrath’s growing temper, and quickly intervened. “Wrath! The tree! Take out your anger on the tree!”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” Wrath shouted, turning her head and firing blast after blast of magic at the giant tree beside her. After about half-a-minute of this, she had stopped her relentless attack, and took a deep breath. “… Though admittedly, it does work.”

Applejack, who had backed off a little bit from Wrath’s outburst, finally decided to break the silence that followed. “Uh… W-Well then, shall we?”

Nodding, the other three mares joined Applejack in walking back towards the town square of Ponyville.

“So, Patience,” Rainbow Dash started, keeping her voice down so that Wrath couldn’t hear her, “You seem a little easier to get along with than her. Are you really a part of Trixie?”

Patience nodded. “All seven ‘sinful aspects’ and ‘heavenly aspects’ exist within everypony, Rainbow Dash. Though, in what quantities, is determined by the environment in which they live. Since Trixie had grown up all alone, with the idea that it is her versus the world, she lost her patience at a rather young age. She was never taught how to control her anger, and so, she tended to lose her temper rather quickly. Especially as far as hecklers were concerned.”

“… You mean me, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Patience quickly shook her head. “I didn’t mean you specifically. But yes, you made Trixie’s enemy list the moment you interrupted her show that one time. Trixie’s shows were never particularly great to start with, but they were enough to get her by, and they made her happy. So, whenever she felt that her shows was under attack, like a protective mother protecting its young, she held nothing back. She had to defend her show, and make sure her hecklers would think twice before challenging her again.

“But just FYI, Rainbow Dash: Trixie’s patience started to return to her, after your friend Twilight Sparkle forgave her. That mare, she ignited what dim hope still remained with Trixie’s soul. And, just between you and me, I think that the two of you would have gotten along well, had you met under different circumstances.”

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head nervously. “Y-You think so?”

Patience nodded her head. “I have a favour to ask of you, since it seems that I’ll be gone soon.”

“Uh, sure. Fire away.”

“… When Trixie comes back, do you think… you could try to make peace with her?” Rainbow Dash looked at Patience questioningly. “You don’t have to be her friend or anything, but I would appreciate it if you at least… weren’t enemies. I think… it would do wonders for Trixie’s wellbeing. All that anger, it can’t be good for her. And I heard you speaking to Wrath earlier. I’m sure you’ve experienced something similar to Trixie’s predicament before.”

“… Yeah. I have,” Rainbow Dash said, images of her own dealings with bullies throughout school flashing through her mind. “Me, Gilda, and Fluttershy. It was the three of us against the world, is how it seemed. But, the three of us, whether it was due to stubborn pride, or just out of fear, we could never rely on each other for help. Yeah, I know a thing or two about what Trixie is going through.”

“So, will you please help her? Her pride would never allow her to ask you directly, but, maybe if you made the first move-”

Rainbow Dash cut patience off by raising a hoof to her face. “Don’t worry. You can count on me.”

Patience smiled. “Thank you. You’re really kind at heart, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, well, just keep it to yourself,” Rainbow Dash said, turning head away and flicking her mane. “I’ve got a reputation ta keep, y’know?”

“Don’t worry. You can count on me.”

At the town square, many curious ponies gather around as many copies of the same pony many of them recognised as ‘the Great and Powerful Trixie’, along with the purple mare that some recognised as the town’s librarian, gathered around a large circle drawn into the ground.

Twilight had managed to convince the mayor that it was an important magical ritual, and to keep the onlookers a safe distance away, in case something went wrong. That last bit did not go over well with the many Trixies.

“Well then,” Twilight said as she closed her book and levitated over to Rarity. “Is the circle done?”

“Almost,” Diligence said, using her magic to write incantations into the circle. Pride and Humility were also helping. “How many of us are here?”

Twilight raised a hoof and started to count. “… Nine, ten, eleven, twelve… Wait, we’re missing two of you.”

“WHAT?!” Wrath shouted. “Who?! Who the hell’s trying to screw things up?!” A hard stamp of her hoof caused many of the ponies near her to back away.

“Let’s see… we got Pride, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, and… Lust…” Chastity practically gagged as she spoke the last name. “And we have Humility, Diligence, Patience, Temperance, Kindness, and myself. So we’re missing Sloth and Charity.”

“Sloth’s at the library,” Twilight said. “Rainbow Dash should be getting her now. And Spike should be looking for Charity…”

“Iiiiincoming!” Twilight turned her head to see Rainbow Dash flying towards the group, carrying a limp, snoring Trixie in her forehooves. “Man, she’s heavy.”

“HEY!” all of the Trixies gathered, minus Sloth, shouted in unison.

“You wanna say that again?!” Wrath shouted, her horn lighting up threateningly.

“N-Now calm down!” Patience pleaded. “I’m sure she meant no harm by it! Right, Rainbow Dash?”

“U-Uh… yeah…” The twelve Trixies settled down, and Rainbow Dash let out a breath of relief. “What was that about?” she asked her friends.

“Never insult a lady’s weight,” Rarity explained, before turning her attention to Twilight. “Twilight, level with me. What are the chances of this actually working?”

“Pretty high, actually,” Twilight said, a smile on her face. “It’s actually not that complicated a spell. Providing my translations are right, and trust me, the vast majority of my time spent reading this spell was spent making sure they are, then everything should go off without a hitch!”

“An’ what if they aren’t right?” Applejack asked.

Twilight frowned at the suggestion that her translations were wrong, but answered the question anyway. “Well, like everything else to do with magic, the slightest variation can produce literally any result. If you don’t follow the spell by the book, anything could happen.”

“Circle’s done!” Diligence cheered, before running up to Twilight. “What next? C’mon, I’m ready for my next job!”

Pride examined the circle, and gave a pleased nod. “Yes. This circle will do most nicely. As expected of the Great and Powerful Trixie… s.”

“That’s great,” Wrath said, “But just one thing: WHERE THE HELL IS CHARITY?! We can’t start without her!”

“I wish I could’ve helped with the circle,” Envy said as she walked over to Twilight. “Hey, Twilight? Do you think I could perform the spell? I really want to…”

“Sorry, Envy,” Twilight said, “But the spell requires an outsider to cast it. The fourteen of you are to remain in the circle, whilst I put you all back together.”

“… I understand,” Envy said, before sighing and walking over to the circle. She sat down on her haunches, and began muttering something to herself in a depressed tone.

“ARGH!” Wrath shouted. “I swear, if she doesn’t come out RIGHT NOW, I am going to find her myself, beat her to a pulp, and DRAG HER HERE!”

“It seems there won’t be a need for that,” Kindness said as she pointed a hoof behind Wrath. “Because she’s right there.”

Everypony turned to see the nearby crowds disperse, and the final Trixie, accompanied by Spike (who was eating a rather large ice-cream cone), approached the group. “Hi guys. Sorry I’m late,” she said sheepishly.

“Where the hell were you?!” Wrath asked.

Spike rolled his eyes as he took a lick of his ice-cream.

“Ugh, where could she be?” Spike asked as he walked through the streets of Ponyville. “She could be literally anywhere!”

“Hey, have you heard of that mare going around helping ponies?” a random pony in the background asked.

“You mean that blue mare with the silver mane?” Spike stopped, and turned his head to face the two chatting mares. “The one accompanied by three little fillies?”

“That’s the one! She repaired my hat this morning! I was having trouble holding the needle, what with my hoof being all sore and all, and she used her magic to fix it up for me in a jiffy!”

“She helped me, too,” a new voice said, this one belonging to a stallion. “I fell down and dropped all of my shopping bags, but she passed by and offered to help me out. Those three fillies helped, too.”

“It’s so nice to see such generous ponies in this day and age.”

“You can say that again. I heard that they were on their way to the school.”

“The school?” Spike asked nopony in particular. “… Well, it’s the best lead I’ve got so far.” With a shrug, Spike set off in the direction of the schoolhouse. When he got there, however, he saw something that he was not expecting to see.

“Trixie,” Applebloom said, spitting out the paintbrush that she was just holding in her mouth, “Are y’all sure we can get our Cutie Marks in paintin’? Ah mean, we’ve already tried it once before.”

Spike noticed one of the Trixies standing next to Applebloom, with the other two crusaders also present. All four were repainting a part of the schoolhouse that had previously been defaced by graffiti. It was a part that ponies hardly ever saw, around the back, so the mayor decided not to spend money having it fixed up.

“Not painting, Apple Bloom. Helping others!” the Trixie, who Spike deduced was ‘Charity’, explained. “Helping others when they need help without being prompted! Have you ever tried that before?”

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. “I… don’t think so…”

“But how is painting the schoolhouse helping anypony?” Scootaloo asked.

“How is it not? Eventually, somepony may decide that they want this place cleaned up, and that will cost them some money. But, by doing it ourselves, we are saving the both the effort, and the expenses of doing so!”

Spike raised an eyebrow. This was a part of Trixie? He didn’t want to have to spend more time on this than necessary, so he decided to walk over there and tell Charity the news.

“… Something I don’t think you’ll believe even if I told you,” Spike answered.

“Hey, that’s her!” a voice from the crowd called out. “Only… there are more of her…”

“Oh my gosh! That’s the mare that fixed my mane for me!”

“That’s the mare that put herself in harm’s way for me!”

As a few new passing ponies continued to shower Charity with praise, the blue mare slowly began to back away, beginning to feel uncomfortable. Fortunately for her, Pride was more than willing to take her place.

“Yes, that’s right! The Great, and Powerful Trixie, at your service!” Pride said, taking a few bows.

“You realise they’re not praising you, right?” Humility said.

“Silence,” Pride responded. “Trixie is Trixie. It doesn’t matter which aspect they’re praising, it’s all the same.”

“Well then,” Twilight began, walking towards the circle, “How about we all get this over with then? Or, did you guys want to say your goodbyes before leaving us?”

Pride shook her head. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has nothing to say now that she cannot say later!” Pride walked into the centre of the circle, followed by Wrath.

“Let’s just get this damn thing over with.”

“Hey, Wrath,” Rainbow Dash said, drawing Wrath’s attention. “… Remember my advice.”

“… Yeah, whatever.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, and then dropped Sloth into the centre of the circle. “OW!” Sloth shouted. “… I’d check if I’m bleeding, but it’s too much of a pain…”

Humility walked up to Twilight, and shuffled her hooves on the ground nervously. “I’m… sorry to have inconvenienced you so.”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s fine. In fact, I’m glad that you Trixies relied on me for help.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. I mean, not relying on your friend got you in this mess in the first place. Maybe now, you’ll see that you don’t have to be afraid of reaching out to me in the future?”

Humility blushed, and nodded. “I think that Trixie will probably take that lesson to heart. Thanks… friend.”

The two mares shared a quick hug, before Humility joined the other aspects in the centre of the circle. Diligence, Charity, and Patience all joined next, followed by Greed, after she had finished claiming one of Twilight’s saddlebags as her own.

“Don’t worry,” Gluttony said, chewing on a cupcake as she approached Twilight. “You’ll get ‘em back. Can’t say the same for this cupcake though.” Gluttony swallowed, and approached the centre of the circle.

Envy sighed as she sat in the circle with her ‘sisters’. “I kinda wish I was my own mare, and not just part of something greater… Maybe I can still get out of this.”

Kindness approached Envy, and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Now, now, Envy. Whilst it’s true that we’re just piece of something greater, without all of us, Trixie Lulamoon wouldn’t be whole.” She leaned down to look Envy in the eyes. “You may only be one aspect of her, but nopony can replace you. You are important, because you’re you, Envy.”

“…”

Wrath’s horn lit up, and she unleashed a binding spell to hold Envy onto the ground. “You’re not going anywhere, got that?!”

“Wrath!” Pride shouted.

“C-Can’t you just, trust her a little more?” Patience asked.

Applejack sighed and slammed a hoof into their face. “Anypony else find it kinda sad that she’s fighting what is essentially herself?”

“Well, we all have inner conflicts,” Twilight said. “This is just them given real form… But, maybe we’d better hurry things up.”

Temperance nodded, and approached the centre of circle. Lust approached Rainbow Dash and gave the Pegasus a quick smooch on the cheek, prompting her to bolt up into the air with a yelp.

“W-What the?!”

Lust giggled, and gave the startled Pegasus a wink. “See ya, Dashie. It’s a shame I couldn’t ‘rock your world’, like I said I would.”

Chastity smacked Lust on the back of her head, causing Lust to let out a loud cry of pain. “Moron! Don’t taint Rainbow Dash, too! Isn’t one of them enough for you?!”

“‘One of them’?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking over to Twilight, who simply shrugged in response. “But… wasn’t she staying with Rarity last night?” Realisation struck Rainbow Dash, and she turned to Rarity with a disbelieving look. “Y-You didn’t!”

“Can we please just get this over with?” Rarity asked, turning her head away in shame as Applejack wrapped a foreleg around the white mare to comfort her.

Chastity grabbed Lust by the ear, and began to drag her into the circle. “Come on, let’s go! Enjoy your freedom, Lust, because when Trixie’s whole again, you’ll be locked away for good!”

“Oh, you think so?” Lust asked in a teasing tone. “Well, we’ll see…”

As the final two Trixie entered the centre of the circle, Twilight gather her magic into her horn, and closed her eyes to concentrate.

“Alright, guys. Here we go…”

Trixie checked her reflection in the small mirror given to her by Rarity. “Trixie cannot remember the last time her coat has looked so clean,” she said, putting a hoof to her face to feel it. “And soft, too.”

Rarity smiled as she took her mirror back from Trixie. “Well, you can’t very well go out wearing such fine clothing with all that filth on your body, now could you?”

Trixie returned the smile. “Still, to even loan Trixie your bath… The Great and Powerful Trixie is in your debt.”

“Oh, not at all, darling,” Rarity said, before leaning forward to speak in a lower volume. “Um, consider it my apology.” Trixie gave her a questioning look. “… For… what I did with Lust.”

Trixie blushed as the memory hit her. “Oh. That… I-It’s fine. Really.”

Rarity shook her head. “It most certainly is not. That was your first time, wasn’t it? And… I’m sorry, but, there is somepony else that I-”

Trixie cut Rarity off by raising her hoof. “It’s fine,” she repeated. “Truth be told, Trixie… doesn’t know if she is ready for such a relationship yet, anyway.” The two shared an awkward silence for a moment, before Trixie decided to break it. “For what it’s worth, you were good.”

Rarity smiled nervously. “You were, too… But, what say we never speak of this again?”

“Deal,” Trixie said, and the two mares shook on it. She then looked past Rarity, at the five other mares that were seeing her off. “… Sorry, Pinkie Pie,” she started, walking towards the pink pony. “It looks like you won’t be having that party after all.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Pinkie Pie assured her. “But, you could at least stay for your own party, right?” she asked with a pleading look, which Trixie had a little difficulty saying ‘no’ to.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie, but the Great and Powerful Trixie wants to revive her career as quickly as possible…”

“It seems your ‘diligence’ is stronger than your ‘sloth’, huh?” Applejack joked.

“… You could say that,” Trixie responded. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has never been one to remain still for too long.”

Pinkie Pie frowned, and kicked the floor with a forehoof. “… But, you’ll come back for it, won’t you? Your party, I mean.”

Trixie nodded, brightening the pink mare’s mood. “Of course. After all, Trixie still needs to repay that bill that Gluttony worked up. By the way, thanks for getting your boss to give Trixie some time to work up the money.”

Pinkie Pie waved her hoof dismissively. “It’s fine! I knew I could trust your word!”

“Oh really?” Trixie asked. “And how is that? The Great and Powerful Trixie is, after all, a master of deception.”

“My Pinkie Sense told me!” Pinkie Pie explained.

“… Your what now?”

“Don’t ask,” Twilight said. “Just, trust me. It works.”

Trixie was still confused, but, after remembering her previous encounters with the pink mare, decided not to question it any further. “Very well then…” She then turned her attention to Applejack, and shuffled a hoof on the ground nervously as she tried to ask her the question she had been dreading to ask ever since she became whole again.

“Somethin’ on yer mind?” Applejack asked.

“… Trixie was just wondering… if she is still invited round your house, for Hearths Warming Eve…”

Applejack let out a light-hearted chuckle. “Well, at Sweet Apple Acres, we make decisions together. The others said ye’re welcome, so ye’re welcome.”

“‘The others’… I see…” Trixie felt a hoof on her shoulder, and looked up into Applejack’s eyes.

“An’ ah certainly wouldn’t mind ya droppin’ by for a visit sometime, either. Us Apples love ta make new friends, but so far, ah’ve only seen bits ‘n’ pieces of ya. Ah still haven’t had chance ta really get ta know ya.”

“Is that so? Well then, when the Great and Powerful Trixie returns, prepare yourself for many fascinating tales of her greatness!”

Applejack rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. She simply laughed along with Trixie for a bit, before the showmare turned to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy… thanks for listening to Trixie, and for offering Trixie your kind words.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, thank you for all the interesting stories. You know, you should considering writing books.”

Trixie scoffed. “Writing is far too tedious a task for the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“Ah, there’s her ‘sloth’ in action,” Twilight said, laughing with her friends.

“Anyway,” Trixie continued, “Trixie will definitely have more stories to tell in the future. Perhaps, you would like to hear them, at some point?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’d love to. And good luck in your travels.”

“… Thanks.” Trixie then turned her attention to Rainbow Dash, but didn’t say anything. The two simply exchanged awkward stares, both remembering full well Lust’s actions. They then looked around nervously, before returning their gazes to each other, and finally, Rainbow Dash offered to say something.

“Um, you remember my advice, right?” Trixie nodded. “Cool…” Rainbow Dash extended a hoof towards Trixie. “Good luck, Trix. I’ll be rooting for ya.”

Trixie smiled, and bumped her hoof against the Pegasus’. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need ‘luck’, but she will accept it nonetheless.”

With five of her six farewells now out of the way, Trixie turned to her final farewell: Twilight Sparkle. The mare that had one upped her one year ago. The mare that had sent her life into a downward spiral, and compelled her to follow a path of darkness, almost leading her to lose herself to the alluring charm of the Alicorn Amulet.

The mare that had offered Trixie forgiveness for her actions. The mare that had offered Trixie the first bout of kindness she had ever received. The mare that had shown her than not all ponies are cruel, unfeeling monsters. The mare that had helped her, despite their past.

This mysterious mare, who made absolutely no sense. Trixie wanted to know more about her. To figure out how she worked. How she could offer Trixie that kind smile, after all they had been through in the past. This mysterious mare, who, just months ago, Trixie had despised above all else, and now, the mare that Trixie considered her first ever friend.

“Good luck, Trixie,” Twilight said, seeing that Trixie was having trouble forming her words. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay and rest up for a bit? I really don’t mind offering you a place to sleep.”

Trixie shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but time waits for nopony! The Great and Powerful Trixie must… Okay, Trixie must ask, what is your deal, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight seemed taken aback by that question. “How are you able to see Trixie as a friend, after she banished you for something that wasn’t even your fault? And after what she did to your friends?”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Trixie, it really isn’t so difficult to understand.”

“Are you calling me stupid, Twilight Sparkle?”

“No, no! Of course not!”

“Then hurry up and explain yourself!”

“… Well, you offered me your friendship. Really, I don’t see what the point of declining it would be. After all, isn’t it better to be friends with somepony, than be enemies with them?”

“…”

“See? Simple! And as for my friends, they’re big ponies, Trixie. They can handle themselves. And trust me, you wouldn’t be the first of my friends to have a disagreement with my other friends.”

Trixie turned to the other five mares, who all nodded in agreement. “Is that so… This ‘friendship’ stuff seemed so complicated at first, but you make it sound so easy.”

“I know what you mean,” Twilight said. “There was a time when, believe it or not, I would have got an ‘F’ on anything friendship related! I guess the only way to know what friendship is like, and become a good friend in the first place, is to experience it firsthoof.”

“… Well, thank you for being my friend, Twilight,” Trixie said, offering her hoof to the purple mare. However, Twilight didn’t take the hoofshake. Instead, she grabbed Trixie’s hoof, and pulled her into a hug. “W-What?”

“This is what friends do, Trixie,” Twilight said. “Lesson number one: group hugs are the best way to see a friend off!”

“‘Group hugs’?” As she feared, the other five were already in the air as she looked up, and had pounced the showmare in unison. “GAH! Can’t… breathe…”

After depriving the mare of enough oxygen, the six friends decided to let go, and give Trixie some room to breathe.

“Just remember, Trixie,” Twilight said, “That if things ever get too tough, if you ever need to just get away from it all, the Golden Oaks Library is always open to you.”

Trixie smiled, and lowered the brim of her hat to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. “Thanks for the offer, B.F.F.” Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will most definitely take you up on that if the situation arises, but let’s hope that it won’t come to that!”

The sound of the train pulling into the station caught the group’s attention, and signalled that it was time for Trixie to go. “Well then, for Trixie’s next spectacular trick, she will make a spectacular comeback! And, once she is back on top, she will make sure to give each of you her personal thanks!”

The six mares nodded, and each said their farewells as Trixie reared up onto her hind legs. They were startled by the sudden appearance of a smokescreen, and as the smoke dissipated, they could see the blue mare running towards the train station, a bouquet of flowers sitting on the ground where she used to be.

Twilight lifted the bouquet with her magic, and read the tag that was attached to it.

Thank you for being my friends. Even if I fail, I now know that it will not be the end. Because as long as I have friends to come back to, I still have a reason to keep going. To keep trying my hardest and to never let life get the best of me. And, I hope that you will all be there for me when things get rough… and in return, the Great and Powerful Trixie will offer her amazing talent to each of you. Whenever any of you are in need, just ask, and the Great and Powerful Trixie will be there for you! I am no longer alone… and that is all the motivation I need to keep going.

Friendship is magic… GAH! Too cheesy! Um… AH! No, you stupid quill! Don’t write that down!

And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie must bid you, adieu!

Split Personality

by Yukito

Part I

Part II