„Observe, ponies of Manehattan! Observe how the Great and Powerful Trixie pulls a magical creature… right out of her hat!"
The blue unicorn standing high above her audience made some elaborate gestures with her front hooves while blue and purple smoke surrounded her. And with one sparkle of her horn… she made a small, fluffy bunny levitate out of the top hat standing in front of her.
The audience seemed unimpressed.
"That trick is so old," yawned an elderly gentleman stallion. "Why, even my grandfather has watched tricks like this in his days."
"You call your self great and powerful, then why are all of your tricks so… so boring?" the grey-furred lady next to him sighed.
Trixie smiled at her audience, but inwardly, she felt frustrated like never before.
"W-wait until you see my next trick," she quickly said. "The magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie will most certainly bedazzle you!"
"Hey! Isn't that the unicorn who came to Ponyville with her show?" someone from farther behind shouted. "She said all different sorts of lies, how her magic was real and such… while all she really can do was cheap tricks! I'm out of here."
Unsatisfied murmurs were growing louder in the crowd while more and more of the spectators left the distraught Trixie behind.
"Wait… please, just stay and watch one more…" she pleaded. But soon enough, the entire crowd was gone. Trixie sat down on her haunches and groaned miserably. "My career is ruined… no one wants to watch any of my tricks again… only because that show-off Twilight Sparkle upstaged me!" Angrily, Trixie stomped the ground a few times. "It's all her fault if I never get any chance to get any success with my show anywhere in Equestria… Gosh, I need a drink…"
Frustrated and upset, Trixie walked over to the nearest coffee shop where she sat down at an empty table.
"Your order, miss?" the waiter pony asked.
"Gimme a whole plate of donuts!" Trixie grumbled. "Extra sprinkles!"
The waiter raised an eyebrow, nodded and walked away.
"Hey!" an irritated voice next to her suddenly shouted. "That's my table! Can't a gryphon go to the bathroom without having her seat taken away by some pony jerkface?"
Trixie looked up… into the face of an angry-looking, female gryphon, a rare sight in Manehattan or anywhere in Equestria. But not too unusual either.
"How was I supposed to know that this was your table?" Trixie huffed. "Besides, theres more than enough chairs here."
"Actually, there isn't!" the gryphon snapped. "I hate sharing my personal space with losers who can't even put up a decent magic show!"
Now Trixie angrily glared at her. How dare that beast remind her of her shameful failure. "Well, there are other tables. The Great and Powerful Trixie would never share a table with an uncouth beast like you!"
"Listen, Pricksie!" the gryphon growled. "I was here first, so why don't you buzz off? Or else I'm gonna give you a smackdown!"
"Hey, take it outside," the waiter frowned. "Gilda, I told you once: If you irritate my customers again you can find yourself another place to 'hang out'."
"Well, I'm not leaving until I had my donuts," Trixie proclaimed. "And if this uncivilized gryphon does not know how to act around sophisticated ponies, she should go someplace else."
"Oh yeah! And if a certain prissy unicorn can't stop her bitching and whining, this gryphon is gonna stuff her down her own top hat," Gilda snarled.
"Just try it you brute!" Trixie shouted as she used her magical powers to move away the chair Gilda just wanted to sit on, causing the gryphon to land on her behind.
With an angry roar, Gilda jumped back to her feet, picked up some donuts from another customer's plate and threw them at the unicorn. "You wanted donuts? JUST TAKE THEM!"
Trixie grunted as she was smacked in the face by circular dough food. She was just about to lift another plate and magically throw it at the gryphon, when the tall, burly bouncer stallion of the café stepped up next to them. Both Trixie and Gilda nervously glanced up and met his angry frown. Simultaneously, they pointed at each other and shouted: "She started it!"
Less than a minute later, the two found themselves lying on the pavement in front of the café. "Don't come back until you've learned to behave," the bouncer grunted before closing the door.
Angrily, Gilda pushed herself up and rubbed her beak. "Nice work getting us thrown out, Pricksie!" she growled. "That's the only place that still tolerated me… stupid, stuck-up ponies…"
"Me, getting us thrown out?" Trixie replied. "I say it's your obnoxious attitute that got us into trouble, you winged buffoon! All I wanted to do was to relax after that disaster of a show…"
"Do you believe you're the only one with problems?" Gilda shouted. "I can't show my face anywhere since that jackass Pinkie Pie humiliated me in Ponyville. And to think my formerly best friend even sided with her…"
"Wait… you're saying you got into trouble in Ponyville, too?" Trixie wondered. "Pinkie Pie… wasn't she befriended with that witch Twilight Sparkle?"
"You know that violet-nosed snob?" Gilda asked in surprise. "Yeah, she's a friend of Rainbow Dash, isn't she? And then there are those other three…"
"The thug Applejack, the stuck-up Rarity and the coward Fluttershy," Trixie nodded. "Looks like we have common enemies…"
"Man, how I hate those idiots!" Gilda growled. "I'd love to shove those annoying grins of theirs down their throat…"
"And pay them back for the humiliation," Trixie nodded.
"Oh, if it's payback you want… I can help you with that," an omynous voice spoke up. Trixie and Gilda turned around in surprise when a dark, winged figure came stepping out of a side alley.
"Come with me… and I will help you make your wishes come true," Nightmare Moon smiled.
It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville. The Pegasus ponies were keeping the skies nearly cloudless and the inhabitants of the little town cheerily went after their daily work.
"All right.. class is over for today." smiled Cheerilee, teacher at the school for little fillies and colts. "And don't forget to do your homework."
The young ponies laughed and cheered as they ran outside the building. Among them were the self-prolaimed 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.
"All right, Crusaders!" shouted Apple Bloom. "Meeting at our clubhouse right nooow!"
"But what about the homework?" Sweetie Bell asked her two friends.
"Aw, you can be such a party-pooper, Sweetie Bell," Scootaloo sighed.
"Oh fine… meeting at our clubhouse right after our homework is done," Apple Bloom corrected herself.
"YAAYY!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted as they raced to their respective homes.
But by the time they reached the clubhouse…
"Whaaaaaaaat?" Scootaloo shouted. "What happened here?"
The three little fillies glanced up in disbelief, at the ruined shack that was once their clubhouse. The windows were broken, there were holes almost everywhere and the door was mysteriously missing.
"I can't believe it… after all the hard work we had!" Apple Bloom screamed. "Who did this?"
"Yeah… and what happened to the door?" Sweetie Bell wondered.
"Oh… you looking for this?" a mischievous voice laughed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders could only watch in horror when the huge, muscular gryphon flew up in front of them, raised the remains of the clubhouse door up in the air with her claws and smashed it through the last window that was not broken yet.
"You can't do that!" Scootaloo shouted. "You big meanie!"
"Oh yeah?" the gryphon sneered. "Well, maybe I can do THIS!" And with both front legs, she took hold of the clubhouse roof, using all her strength to rip it off. With a loud crash, the roof came falling down, nearly missing the three frightened fillies.
"G-girls… I think it might be time to leave…" Sweetie Bell muttered nervously.
Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah… let's tell Applejack and the others… maybe they can do something about this jerk." And they turned around and ran.
"Just you wait!" Scootaloo shouted back. "This isn't over! I'm gonna tell Rainbow Dash and then you'll be sorry!"
Gilda grinned as she lay down on the remains of the clubhouse. "Oh, I'm counting on it… I'm counting on it…"
Meanwhile, Spike was busy bringing some order into the library – once again. Owlowiscious was watching the young dragon from his perch.
"Let's see…" Spike muttered as he carried a huge pile of books to the leftmost bookcase in the room. "Those all belong in the astrology section… and those to the history books and… Owlowiscious, did Twilight tell you where this book belongs?"
"Hoo?" the small owl hooted.
"Who? You know, Twi… oh…" He chuckled. "Sorry… I keep forgetting… owls say hoo." Snickering to himself, he waddled over to the next bookcase. The pile of books swayed dangerously from the left to the right.
"If I hurry up, I can finish this before Twilight comes back from Pinkie Pie's party. She'll be so proud of me… with all the work I'm taking from her back, she'll be able to focus on her magical studies."
"She can study all she wants, she will still be second best compared to me," a smug voice spoke up.
Spike froze. He knew that voice all too well. With the books still in his hands, he turned around… and saw none other than Trixie sitting on one of the bookcases, wearing a smug grin and an all-new cape that had a creepy pattern of red-glowing eyes on it.
"Y-YOU?" Spike yelled as he pointed at the blue unicorn.
"Surprised to see me? I guess Twilight Sparkle will be surprised, too. I was really hoping I could find her here… but you will have to do."
"What are you up to this time?" Spike angrily asked her, nearly dropping the books. "Are you trying to trick the ponies of Ponyville again? Even Snips and Snail now know better than to believe anything you tell them."
"I'm not here for that," Trixie smiled. "I'm here for… revenge!" Her horn began to shimmer in a dark, purple aura and her whole body began to float up into the air. Trixie laughed as she aimed her horn at the books Spike was carrying… and shot a barrage of bright, colorful energy bullets out of her horn. Every book that was hit by the attack turned into ashes.
"No! The books!" Spike cried. "What are you doing?"
"Simple… Twilight ruined my life, so I'm ruining hers!" Trixie laughed as she aimed for another pile of books.
"Hoo hoo!" Owlowiscious shouted as he flew up and rammed his little body into Trixie's flank like a living cannonball.
"OW! That hurt, you stupid little bird!" Trixie shouted.
"Way to go, Owlowiscious!" Spike cheered. He quickly climbed on top of a bookcase and from there, jumped on top of Trixie's back. "I dunno how you're able to fly like that, with no wings and all, but we won't let you destroy Twilight's books! We're her number one assistants!"
"Hoo hoo!" the little owl agreed.
"Back off, you little pests!" Trixie snarled as she surrounded herself with a barrier of circling, green orbs. "You won't be able to beat me in a hundred years… and neither will Twilight! Not after my new mistress bestowed me the power of DANMAKU! Hahahaha!"
Spike winced as he and Owlowiscious were blasted in a corner of the room. When he looked up, he noticed that the little owl was unconscious.
"This is worse than what she did before…" he muttered. "What she did last time was nothing but lying and tricking other ponies… but this… is downright dangerous! I need to inform Twilight…"
"Tell her the Great and Powerful Trixie is waiting for her challenge… if she dares! Hahaha!"
There was a cheerful and colorful party held at Sugarcube Corner.
"This is really a great birthday party, Pinkie," Twilight smiled as she and her friends enjoyed the music, the punch and the cupcakes. "I'm having lots of fun today."
"Duh…" Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. "It's Pinkie Pie! ALL of her parties are fun!"
"Hold on your horses there, sugarcubes," Applejack chuckled. "With all that praisin' for Pinkie Pie, let's not forget our true birthday girl."
"She is absolutely right," Rarity nodded. "So, another cheer for the birthday pony!"
"And another song!" Pinkie nodded. "For she's a jolly good Derpy, for she's a jolly good Derpy…"
"Happy birthday!" Twilight cheered.
"Yeah, happy birthday," Rainbow added.
"Happy birthday? Oh, happy birthday, Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy chuckled. "It's not my birthday, Derpy… it's yours!"
"Really?" Derpy Hooves blinked, which made the cross-eyed pegasus pony a really interesting sight. "Oh, yay for me then, I guess. Happy birthday Derpy!"
Pinkie giggled. "Derpy, you're so silly. Oh, I nearly forgot my present for you: There you go!" And she produced a small present with a pink bow.
Derpy opened it. "Muffins!" she smiled. "My favorites! How'd you know?"
The others all giggled.
Suddenly, Spike came running in. "Guys! A crisis! In the library! Magic! Craziness! Hurry!"
"Spike, slow down!" Twilight said. "We can't understand a word you've said."
"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped. "What happened to poor Owlowiscious?" She carefully took the unconscious owl and put him on a soft pillow.
"It was Trixie!" Spike shouted. "She appeared in the library and started shooting all kinds of crazy magical stuff!"
"Trixie? As in… 'the Great and Powerful Trixie'?" Applejack asked.
Spike nodded. Just then, three other small shapes came running in through the door.
"Rainbow Dash! You need to come!"
"Scootaloo? What the hay is wrong with you guys?" Rainbow asked.
"We wanted to play in our clubhouse," Sweetie Bell sniffled. "And then… and then…"
"Calm down, sweetie… tell your big sister what the problem is and she will take care of it," Rarity said as she petted Sweetie Bell's head.
"It was that giant gryphon!" Apple Bloom shouted. "She smashed our roof… and it almost fell on top of us!"
"A gryphon?" Rainbow Dash groaned. "That can only mean Gilda's back…"
"Well, she said she wanted to meet you," Scootaloo said.
"But that's strange… Gilda is pretty athletic, but she's no giant," Twilight frowned.
"Maybe she worked out at the gym?" Pinkie Pie suggested.
Derpy just took a big bite of Pinkie's birthday present. "Muffiiiiins…" she sighed.
"Well, I'm going over there and give that featherbutt a piece of my mind," Applejack snorted. "And if she thinks she can mess up my little sister's clubhouse, she can taste my right hoof."
"No, Rainbow Dash is gonna teach her a lesson," Scootaloo said.
"Don't forget about Trixie," Spike shouted. "She'll make a mess out of the library."
"Twilight… we know you are the best organizer around here," Rarity said. "What do you suggest we should do?"
"I wonder…" Twilight murmured, tapping her chin with her hoof. "Two troublemakers suddenly return to Ponyville… both of them seem stronger than they were before… and both of them seem intent on seeing us… at least one of us. Don't you think that's a bit odd?"
"You know, it is a little strange," Rarity admitted.
"You think it's a trap, Twilight?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash snorted. "Trap schmap! What's the worst they can do? There's only two of them against the seven of us…"
"Open up, Mister present," Derpy shouted in the background. "I want to be your friieeend!"
Rainbow sweatdropped. "Okay… at least six of us."
"You haven't seen Trixie's new magic…" Spike muttered. "It's really scary…"
"Yeah, and Gilda was strong enough to take our clubhouse apart," Apple Bloom said. "maybe we should ask for some help… maybe Zecora would help us."
"Good idea, and I'll get BigMacintosh if we need some muscle," Applejack nodded.
Twilight raised her hoof. "All right… listen up, girls… we will confront them… but only after I've sent a letter to Princess Celestia."
Fluttershy looked at Owlowiscious who was squirming around on his pillow. "Oh my…" she said in a worried tone of voice. "I hope everything will turn out okay…"
