The following contains scenes from Boast Busters. If you have already seen that episode, then you can go ahead and skip this.

Chapter 3: The Fall

Trixie left Canterlot behind and started to head for Ponyville, thinking about what she should do for her next show. The only memory that she remembered from Canterlot was her unpleasant encounter with her old schoolmates; she was briefly curious as to how Flourish Twinkle was doing. She immediately dismissed the event and continued on.

She eventually did reach her destination. Some of the ponies there stared at the blue unicorn pulling a caravan. Trixie didn't pay much attention to them, she would really get their focus soon enough.

Trixie came to a spot in the middle of town and parked her caravan in the center. It was about this point where two unicorn colts approached her. One was a tall dopey looking unicorn with a yellow coat, a green mane, and freckles. The other was a short, rather plump pony with a blue coat and a brown mane. They looked at her curiously. Trixie, aware of their presence, stared back at them with an irritated glance.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Uh… who are you?" the yellow unicorn asked.

Trixie chuckled at the question and said "Don't tell me you haven't heard of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Mmmmm…" the blue unicorn thought to himself, "Nope, haven't heard of you."

"Well… it seems this town is more ignorant than I though." Trixie said with a proud smile, "Nonetheless, I shall reveal to you all the awesome powers that belong to Trixie!"

"Really? Well, what can you do?" The yellow unicorn asked with excitement.

"Well, my thick-headed friend, Trixie usually don't to backstage tricks," Trixie said pridefully, "But, she's feeling quite generous today, so perhaps a quick demonstration would suffice."

Trixie used her magic to make a long piece of cloth appear; it floated before the bedazzled unicorns' eyes. Suddenly, it wrapped itself around the yellow unicorn head to hoof. He was completely covered by the wrapping. The yellow unicorn muffled from underneath as the blue unicorn watched in confusion.

"Umm… are you gonna unwrap him?" the blue unicorn asked.

"Why don't you do it?" Trixie said with a snide smile.

The blue unicorn did as she said and tugged on an end that hung out from the bottom. Suddenly, all the wrapping collapsed before him and the yellow unicorn was nowhere in there.

"Where'd he go?" the blue unicorn said in shock.

"Oh… I don't know… did you try looking in this box?" Trixie said pointing to a box sitting next to her.

At this moment, the yellow unicorn burst out of the box dazed and confused.

"Where am I?" he said.

"Whoa! That was amazing!" the blue unicorn said, "I've never seen anything like it."

"To be honest, any simple-minded unicorn could have pulled that trick off." Trixie said with a stuck up look, "It's all mere child's play to me"

"Then, could you show us something really cool, oh Great and Powerful Trixie?" the yellow unicorn said hopping out of the box.

"Now, now. The truly amazing tricks are for the show. Now, off with you! I have to get ready." Trixie said shooing them away.

"Wow! You're so incredible! We're gonna tell everypony about you!" the blue unicorn said.

"Yeah! You're awesome, Trixie!" the yellow unicorn agreed.

"Yes, yes, Trixie's heard it all, now shoo!" Trixie said shoving them away.

The two unicorns dashed away to tell all the ponies in town about Trixie as she continued setting up her stage.


Later on that afternoon, many ponies from Ponyville gathered around the caravan in curiosity.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie's voice boomed from nowhere.

Suddenly, Trixie appeared in a large puff of smoke. Everyone gasped in awe at the sight of it.

"Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever!" she shouted.

All the ponies started chattering to each other about it. Trixie assumed that they were all amazed by her appearance, she was so proud of herself, until she heard a voice from the audience say "Magic, Shagic. Boo!"

"Well, well, well…" she responed, "It looks like we have some NEIGH-sayers in the audience! Who is so IGNORANT as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they are in the presence in the greatest magical unicorn in all of Equestria?"

The ponies chattered some more, and then a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane flew up to her and shouted, "So, 'Great and Powerful Trixie', what makes you think you're so awesome anyway?"

Trixie chuckled and said "Why only the Great and Powerful Trixie could vanquish THE DREADED URSA MAJOR!" the audience gasped at this revelation, "When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to, but the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!"

Then, the yellow unicorn from earlier approached the stage and said "Trixie is the most magical, most talented, most awesome unicorn in Ponyville!"

"No!" shouted the blue unicorn from earlier, "In all of Equestria!"

Trixie laughed to herself and said "It's true my enthusiastic little admirer. Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville!"

The crowd was silent at her statement, it was obvious that they thought she was full of herself.

"Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie?" she continued. It was at this point, Trixie felt that a demonstration was in order, "Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians - anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived!"

Trixie chuckled at herself, for she knew that nobody would ever dare to challenge her! Trixie briefly scanned the audience to find a suitable challenge for her.

"How about… YOU!" Trixie immediately pointed at a purple unicorn.

There was a split second where Trixie felt like she recognized this stranger; as if she met her somewhere before. The purple unicorn looked up in horror by Trixie's presence; Trixie sneered at the sight of the look of uncomfort written all over her face.

"Well, little hayseed?" Trixie asked impatiently.

"That does it! I can't stand no more of this!" a voice shouted from the audience.

An orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat approached her with an irritated look on her face. The earth pony took out a rope and lasso and started doing tricks with it.

"Can yer magic powers do this?" she said while doing the tricks.

Trixie rolled her eyes at the sight. Was someone really trying to upstage her? The orange pony threw the lasso and snagged an apple from a nearby tree and had it land in her mouth. The orange pony looked at her with a cocky smile and said "Top that, missy!"

Trixie had the sudden urge to use her magic to teach her a lesson she would never forget. But then, an image of Flourish's broken body shot through her mind like a lightning bolt. Trixie knew that she would have to make an alternate approach.

"Oh ye of little talent." She said with a snare, "Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!"

She used her magic to lift up her hat to reveal her marvelous blue horn. Next, she gained control of the rope that the pony was using and tied her hoofs together and planted an apple in her mouth. As the binded pony helplessly bounced offstage, Trixie felt a surge of triumph.

"Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails!" she exclaimed pridefully.

Suddenly, the same blue pegasus once again approached her and shouted "There's no need to go struttin' around and showin' off like that!"

"Oh?" Trixie responded pretending to be amused.

"That's my job!" the pegasus proclaimed.

Suddenly, the pegasus dashed up into the air and spun a nearby windmill around at high speed. She dashed through the clouds one by one and made a giant u-turn to speed through all the holes in the clouds she made and spun on the windmill again and then landed back on stage wings spread as the water from the clould splashed all over her making a rainbow.

"They don't call me Rainbow and Dash for nothin'!" she pridefully exclaimed.

Trixie gave a snide smile and said, "When I'm through with you, the only thing they'll call you… is LOSER!"

Trixie used her magic to manipulate the rainbow and spun the apparently named Rainbow Dash around in a colorful tornado. When it ceased, Rainbow was on the ground dazzed and dizzy.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" she said weakly.

"Seems like anypony with a DASH of good sense would think twice before tussling with the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie quipped as she summoned a storm cloud to zap Rainbow.

The ponies started chattering to each other again until a white unicorn with a purple mane approached Trixie and said "Applejack and Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace."

"Ooo, what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?" Trixie said sarcastically.

"Oh… it… is… ON!" Rarity said in an offended tone, "You may think you're tough with all your so-called powers, but there's more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style." She used her magic to make a dress out of Trixie's curtains, the audience captivated by it, "A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty."

Without saying anything, Trixie used her magic to give that overstyled purple mane a "makeover". The audience gasped in horror.

"QUICK! I NEED A MIRROR! GET ME A MIRROR!" Rarity shouted, "What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair."

"Nothing!" one pony said.

"It's fine!" said another.

"It's gorgeous!" said another.

"It's green…" said one more.

Rarity, appalled by what the magician did to her once beautiful mane, fled the stage crying "No! Green hair! Not green hair! It's an awful, awful color!"

The ponies started chattering again; Trixie saw that she did a job well done. Suddenly, she thought she heard someone say that they were better than her. She immediately spotted that purple unicorn she spotted earlier.

"Hah!" she laughed with pride, "You think you're better than the Great and Powerful Trixie? You think you have more magical talent? Well, come on, show Trixie what you've got. Show us all."

"Who? Me?" the purple unicorn said nervously, "I'm just your run of the mill citizen of Ponyville. No powerful magic here. I, uh... I think I hear my laundry calling. Sorry."

The purple unicorn fled as Trixie laughed at herself triumphantly.

"Ha! Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria. Was there ever any doubt?" Trixie left the stage, proud of her accomplishment.


That night, Trixie was in her caravan brushing her powdery white mane, when the mysterious pony appeared on her bed. Trixie smiled at the sight of her.

"Well, hello there." She said, "It's been a long while since I've seen you. Where have you been?"

The mystery pony chuckled and said "I've been nearby. I see you have made quite the name for yourself."

Trixie smiled and said "Yes, I have. And it's all thanks to you. I never felt so happy in my life!"

"Indeed. However… today you were a bit… hesitant…" she said bluntly.

"Er… whatever do you mean?" Trixie replied "I mean, I did my best like I usually do."

"Is that so?" the mystery pony said walking up to her, "Then why didn't you show those three ponies your REAL power?"

"Oh! You mean those three ponies that challenged me? Well, I did show them! And… it was quite amusing… right?"

The mystery pony shook her head, "You humiliated them, true. But, you didn't give them a reason to fear you! You should have showed them your true power and give them a reason to tell other ponies that you are indeed Great and Powerful!"

"Well… I didn't want to hurt them." Trixie said.

"And why not? They questioned your power, your might! It seems you're not as great and powerful as you say you are."

"What do you mean?" Trixie asked curiously.

"I sense that that weak little filly is still inside you." The mystery pony said as she walked around Trixie, "You still feel sorrow, you still feel… afraid. It won't be long until ponies would catch on to this."

"No, she's not!" Trixie said defensively, "She's gone! The new Trixie is all here! She's not afraid of anything! Why, Trixie could even take on a REAL Ursa Major if she could!"

The mysterious pony laughed with amusement and said "Oh… we'll see about that…."

Suddenly, Trixie heard banging on her door. She heard voices calling her name in terror. She rolled her eyes in irritation. She knew it was those annoying unicorns again. She walked over to her door and opened the top of it. She saw the two unicorns completely worn out with a frightened look on their faces.

"Trixie thought she said the Great and Powerful Trixie does not wish to be disturbed!" she shouted in annoyance.

The blue unicorn chuckled nervously and said "We… we have a tiny problem…"

"Actually it's a big one!" the yellow unicorn said.

"What is so important that you could not wait until morning to disturb Trixie?" she said in an irritated tone.

Suddenly, she heard a loud thud that rumbled the ground beneath her. She looked up and saw a giant blue bear peering through the trees: an Ursa Major! Trixie screamed in terror and fled away from her caravan as the colossal bear crushed it beneath its foot. All the ponies in town were alerted by the monster's presence and fled their homes as it wreaked havoc. It chased them around for a while until it finally cornered them.

"Great and Powerful Trixie, you've got to vanquish the ursa!" the blue unicorn said.

"Yeah! You vanquish so we can watch!" the yellow unicorn said excitedly.

"It took a lot of trouble to get that thing here." The blue unicorn said.

"Wait! YOU brought that thing here?" Trixie said in shock, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR LITTLE PONY MINDS?"

"But… you're the Great and Powerful Trixie…" the blue unicorn replied.

"Yeah. Remember, you defeated an Ursa Major!" the yellow one said.

Trixie faced the Ursa nervously; she knew she was in serious trouble. The only way out of this was to try to get rid of it, hopefully being successful at it. The ursa roared in her face as she gathered all the courage she had left to pull off some magic.

"Uh… okay…" Trixie gulped, "Stand back!"

Trixie faced the angry bear and used her magic to get out some rope and tied it up.

"Heh… piece of cake…" Trixie said with a nervous smile.

She then noticed that she only tied two of its fingers together as it easily snapped the rope. The two unicorns were not very impressed.

"Aw come on, Trixie!" the blue unicorn said.

"Stop goofin' around and vanquish it, eh?" the yellow one said.

Trixie, knowing that she wasn't doing a very good job, tried even harder to pull off an impressive stunt. She used her magic to summon a thunder cloud to zap it; this would have worked, but it only made it madder.

"Well… that was a dud…" the yellow unicorn replied completely unimpressed.

"Yeah! Come on!" the blue unicorn said impatiently, "Where's all the cool explosions and smoke and stuff like that earlier? You know."

Trixie tried zapping it again which really annoyed the bear. It roared loudly as Trixie zipped underneath it to escape. All the ponies started to panic as it tore up the town. In the midst of all the chaos, the purple unicorn from earlier dashed through.

"What's going on?" she said.

"We brought an Ursa to town!" the blue unicorn said proudly.

"You WHAT?" the purple unicorn said in shock.

"Don't worry" the yellow unicorn said confidently, "The Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it!"

Now, Trixie knew she had no choice, she had to tell the truth. She was quite scared about what would happen; but, she gathered her last bit of courage to tell them.

"I… can't…" she said.

"WHAT?" the two unicorns replied.

"Uh… I can't. I never have!" she said in sorrow, "No one can vanquish an Ursa Major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better"

"MADE IT UP?" the two unicorns were shocked at this revelation.

Trixie was about to apologize to them, when the Ursa Major found them and threatened to eat them. It let out a large roar and frightened everybody. Trixie knew this was the end, not only was her career over, but her life as well!

Suddenly, the purple unicorn boldly approached the bear and got ready. The purple unicorn tried to use her magic to vanquish it. But, instead, soft beautiful music played and made the bear drowsy. Next, she used her magic to empty a water tower and filled it with milk from a nearby barn. The Ursa was about to topple over to crush Trixie, but the purple pony levitated it just in time to save her. The milk-filled water tower was given to the ursa as it sleepily sucked the milk out of it as it levitated back into the cave.

All the ponies celebrated at the defeat of the Ursa Major. Trixie was humiliated at what just happened! This unicorn did what she claimed that she could do, but couldn't!

"So, it is possible to vanquish an Ursa Major all by yourself?" one of them asked.

"That wasn't an Ursa Major!" the purple unicorn said, "It was a baby: an Ursa Minor!"

"THAT was just a baby?" Trixie said in disbelief.

Trixie couldn't believe this! One of the most famous and highly regarded ponies in Equestria, casually upstaged by one simple pony! It was like a nightmare that wouldn't end!

Without even thinking, Trixie retaliated by saying "You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

She lit up a puff of smoke and fled the town.


Trixie kept running and running without even looking back. She didn't want to stop, but her energy wouldn't let her go on any further. She eventually stopped in the middle of the road to catch her breath.

As she stood there breathing heavily, she saw the mysterious pony standing there off the side of the road. At first she just stared at Trixie and then started laughing at her.

"W-what's so funny?" Trixie said as the pony laughed at her.

The pony continued laughing as an image of other ponies appeared and laughed at her, too.

"W-why are you laughing at me? Stop it!" Trixie begged, "Stop laughing at me! PLEASE! STOP!"

Trixie continued to plea as the sea of laugher engulfed her into blinding darkness.

To be continued…