Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath as she tried to concentrate on her magic.
She stood over a pond, her magic keeping her from dropping into water beneath, all while circling three balls of water, each large enough to fill a bucket, around her like orbiting stars.
She could not let the water orbiting her lose form, it needed to stay in three balls, without splitting. She could not let her concentration on the water beneath her waver either, lest she fall into the pond.
It was already a difficult use of magic trying to move a liquid without a container to hold it. Moving three different balls of the same liquid while keeping your hooves on top of a pond of water without falling in? Twilight Sparkle let out an exhale before breathing in from her mouth.
"Ah, no noise, no sound, no din, no fuss must interfere with your focus~" Zecora said, the Zebra hermit balancing her body on one leg in a yoga pose, her eyes closed in meditation.
Twilight gritted her teeth as she kept orbiting the balls of water around her body, struggling to keep them spinning at the same speed as one another. The ripples in the water from where her hooves touched the pond wavered and shook.
"Only then can victory be earned~" Zecora told her calmly.
Twilight tried to listen to Zecora's words, sweat pouring down her face as her focus split in multiple directions.
One of the orbiting balls of water began to lose form, several drops falling into the pond below.
"Trixie is the highest level Unicorn! Muahahaha!" Twilight Sparkle finally lost her focus as her mind replayed Trixie's words before banishing her from Ponyville. She opened her eyes as her focus faltered, the orbs of water spilling down into the pond as her magic ceased holding them up.
"Ah!" Twilight Yelped at the sound of splashing, the water wetting her coat, causing her to finally lose focus on the magic in her legs, her body falling into the pond.
She popped the top of her head out of the water to breathe, most of her body still submerged in the pond as her legs stood on the bottom. Twilight looked over at Zecora, her mouth still underwater, unable to speak.
"There is much- much that I can teach~" Zecora told the soggy Unicorn, "But the answer you need may still be out of reach~"
"I'm sorry, Zecora," Twilight told her as she pulled her front legs out of the water, her lower half still dangling in the pond. "I'm trying my best, but I can't stop thinking about Trixie. It's like there's something different about her. It's like she's gone from High and Mighty to Mean and Nasty."
"Your thinking needs a readjust," Zecora told her as she began walking back to her home. "Total concentration is a must!"
Twilight Sparkle simply let out a sigh as she pulled the rest of her body out of the water and began following the Zebra back to her hut.
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"Why is there a statue of Trixie here?" Zephyr Breeze asked as he and Dinky Doo stood in the middle of town, the streets around were cold and empty, "I thought you said Ponyville didn't like Trixie's show." The bushel of apples they got from Big Mac sat beside them as the duo of ponies stretched their bodies.
"I don't know. There's also more of those posters and banners than before," Dinky pointed out as she watched the banners featuring Trixie's head decorate the empty streets.
"Also, how is there any wind in here? I don't see any other Pegasus outside, and the entire town is covered in a dome. How does that work?" Zephyr also pointed out as the wind whipped his hair into his face, causing the Pegasus to readjust his mane before picking up the bushel of apples once more.
"Magic, probably." Dinky shrugged before climbing back up onto the older pony's back. "The Library is right over there, inside that Tree house."
"Okay~" Zephyr said as the duo made their way towards the first location where they would look for Big Mac's Sister.
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Spike the Dragon took a peek outside one of the windows of the Golden Oaks Library, watching Golden Harvest and Lemon Daze hurriedly make their way down the empty street.
Seeing no other pony outside, Spike turned away from the window and to the ponies inside the library, all of whom were busy searching for a plan to take down Trixie.
"This really doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere." Rarity complained as she closed another book and tossed it into a nearby pile.
Pinkie Pie's upper half was popping out from the pile, her mouth and nose still missing, shaking her head and shrugging to convey that she also couldn't find anything. Muffled sounds echo from where her mouth was supposed to be.
"I hear ya, Pinkie," Applejack said as she flipped through the pages of another book. "I can't find anything that describes the kinds of magic Trixie's doing." She closed the book and tossed it into the growing pile.
"Ugh, there must be something!" Spike complained. "Twilight has every magic book there is!"
Fluttershy eyed the page of the book she opened on, seeing an illustration of the small statue on the tip of Trixie's staff. "Umm, I think I found something?" She told the group, her voice not loud enough to be heard.
"Yes, it is time for us to consider our future in this Trixie-led Ponyville~" Rarity bemoaned dramatically, her voice muffling Fluttershy's words.
"Umm, this sounds an awful lot like Trixie's magic-" Fluttershy continued speaking, her quiet voice going unheard over her friends' loud voices.
"She wants me to grow apples with no peels!" Applejack joined Rarity in complaining, "How the hay am I supposed to do that?!"
"Umm, There's a picture here of a necklace that has the same-" Fluttershy was once more ignored as Pinkie Pie joined her friends in complaining, her voice muffled and unintelligible thanks to her missing facial features.
"It's called the Alicorn Amulet, and whoever wears it is blessed with untold-" Fluttershy was once again cut off as several loud knocks impacted the door to the library.
"Ah! Trixie is here!" Rarity yelled before ducking behind the pile of books in an attempt to hide from the town's new tyrant ruler.
"I thought you said that the coast was clear!" Rainbow Dash popped her head down to speak to her friends, her eyes focusing on Spike as she levitated upside-down.
"I did! Trixie was nowhere to be seen!" Spike defended himself, only to freeze up as more knocks sounded on the door.
"Is Applebuck-" A voice on the other side of the door called out, only to pause as a softer voice whispered something to it before it continued, "Is Applejack in there?"
Fluttershy widened her eyes as she recognized the louder voice.
"Oh no..." Rainbow Dash said as she spun her body to be right-side-up. "That's him, isn't it?" She asked Fluttershy. Her face cringed as she received a nod in return.
"Err, who is it?" Applejack asked the pony on the other side of the door.
"Wha- How am I supposed to answer that? I never met her. If I tell her my name, she still won't- oh, that's a much smarter idea, yeah, let's do that." The voice on the other side of the door could be heard conversing with another pony. "We're here to deliver this bushel of apples from Big Red- Big Mac," The voice quickly corrected itself.
"Please open the door, it's getting cold out here." The second voice could finally be heard.
Rainbow Dash let out a groan of defeat as she pushed Applejack out of the way and opened the door, quickly grabbed the bushel of apples that hung in front of her, and closed the door on the other Pony's face.
"There, no I don't have to listen to him." Rainbow Dash said, the bushel of apples quickly being taken away from her by Applejack.
Spike ignored Rainbow Dash's action as he opened the door, moving to the side as two ponies entered the library.
"Well, if it isn't Rainbow faster than a flash Dash, I didn't expect for you to be here, I would have worn something nicer if I had known~" A tall turquoise Pegasus said with a smirk as he laid his eyes on the Rainbow-maned Pegasus.
"But you don't wear anything." A young Unicorn filly pointed out to the tall Pegasus.
"It's a figure of speech, I think, I don't know. I heard some pony else say that once, so I just repeat it now whenever I get the opportunity." The Pegasus stallion shrugged before he took a look at the rest of the ponies inside the library.
"Ah! Fluttershy!" He said with cheer, "I was looking for you the entire day! Going all around this town was the best exercise I've had in a while, where have you been?" With a flap of his wings, he flew over to the yellow Pegasus, his hoof ruffling up her mane, causing it to resemble a bird's nest.
Fluttershy let out a sigh of defeat as she resigned herself to her fate.
"Oh, what's this?" The stallion grabbed the book Fluttershy was holding, taking a look at the page she was opened on. "The Alicorn Amulet? Sounds a bit too gaudy for you, and it's Red and Black? Ugh, no thank you~ There's this jewelry store next to the docks in Neigh York that has much better fittings necklaces~" He kept reading ahead a bit, "Although this evil magic thing on this Amulet does sound interesting for roleplay, but I won't get into it, You're an adult and your kinks are for you to-"
Fluttershy quickly covered his mouth so he could no longer speak, her eyes motioning towards the small Unicorn filly that was currently busy having a conversation with a mouthless Pinkie Pie.
"!!!" The stallion widened his eyes in understanding, nodding his head to wordlessly deliver the information to the other Pegasus.
"Zeph, what are you doing here?" Deciding that enough was enough, Rainbow Dash opened her mouth and asked the question that was on every pony's mind.
"You have to be more specific than that, Dash~" Zephyr Breeze told her, "Because I already said I'm here to deliver that bushel over there-" He pointed at the apples Applejack was busy going through, "-But I was only in that orchard with Big Red-"
"Big Mac," Dinky Doo corrected him quickly.
"-I was only in that orchard with Big Mac because I was looking for Fluttershy~" He pulled the yellow Pegasus into an over-the-shoulder hug.
"That's not what I- Ugh. What are you doing here? As in, Here in Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash reiterated her question.
"Oh, that? I have a break from Work, so I'm staying with Doc for the time being~" He said simply, "Doc is Time Turner, FYI~ Usually my cart-mate and I would go searching for some stupid crystal stick because she's grumpy or something, but this time she told me to come here instead and bring the caravan with me."
"You have a cart-mate?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.
"You have a caravan?" Fluttershy asked on her own.
"You have a job?!" Rainbow Dash asked a different question.
"You said SHE told you to come here?!" Fluttershy asked louder, her eyes widening in shock.
"Okay! Can some pony please tell me what the hay is going on?!" Applejack interrupted the ladder of louder questions with her own yelled question.
Rainbow Dash let out a tired sigh before raising her hoof and pointing it at the Stallion, "This is Zephyr Breeze." She introduced him.
"My Brother..." Fluttershy continued.
"Okay, now that we got that basic introduction out of the way-" Applejack put the bushel of apples down as she turned to look at Zephyr, "You said that your cart-mate told you to bring the caravan you're living in here to Ponyville, is that right?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Zephyr nodded.
"And while here in Ponyville, you've been staying with Time Turner, right?" Applejack continued.
"Yeah, Doc and I are buddies~"
"And your cart-mate?" Applejack kept going.
"She said she was going to buy something in Canterlot, told me to bring the Caravan here with me, now Torque and I, Torque Wrench is another coworker who's not my cart-mate, are staying with Time turner for the time being." Zephyr nodded simply.
"I think they're asking about who your Cart-mate is." Dinky Doo pointed out.
"Yes, thank you." Applejack nodded to the filly.
"Oh, that." Zephyr nodded in understanding. "Why didn't you just ask if that was the case?"
Rainbow Dash slammed her head down onto the table, a tired groan escaping her lips.
"My cart-mate is Trixie," Zephyr said simply.
Fluttershy and Applejack joined Rainbow Dash in groaning. Pinkie Pie attempted to join in the group groaning, only to let out tears of anguish at her lack of mouth and subsequent inability to speak.
"What?" Zephyr Breeze looked at the groaning ponies, spotting a white Unicorn groaning from behind a pile of books, confusion written on his face. "Did I say something wrong?" He turned to Dinky Doo, who shrugged in response before she poked a groaning Spike.
"Seriously, what is happening here?" It did not seem like Zephyr Breeze's question would be getting answered any time soon.