Albert Wesker and the Showpony, Part II

Author's Note: I know. It has been a veeeeeeeeeeeery long time since I've updated but my triple threat excuses of work, laziness and a broken laptop are stronger than your rage. DON'T HATE ME! Betas will be working overtime to fix this as I have not written for a fair old while. With that all said, I really hope you enjoy it and as always your comments and feedback keep me warm on lonely nights.

"Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance"

Sun Tzu

It was disturbing how easily the ponies around him had discarded his expletive-ridden rant from their memories. Apart from Twilight and Rarity, who were casting him the odd wary glance, it appeared that all the others had decided to wipe their brains clear of that particular event to focus on a blue unicorn wearing a fancy hat. Who had time for logic in their busy schedules when there were shiny things to look at?

At this particular time, the shiny unicorn herself was seemingly on a one-mare quest to aggravate her entire audience by pointing at them and saying how terrible they were at everything. Unsurprisingly to Wesker, Applejack eventually bristled at the name 'Little Hayseed' and went about proving her talent to the arrogant unicorn.

…It went about as well as expected.

Heh, it's like the rope is a snake… That's funny, Al.

If by 'funny', you mean unusual rather than amusing… though he could appreciate the irony in a farming girl being hogtied by her own lasso. Applejack's friends seemingly did not find the whole scenario particularly hilarious and finally Wesker felt compelled to say something again.

He cleared his throat and took a great deal of pleasure from the momentary expression of shock and horror that appeared on her face at the sight of her detractor before she rapidly composed herself and slapped another arrogant sneer on her face, "Do you get many repeat gigs, Miss Trixie?"

She flourished extravagantly as fireworks popped and crackled behind her, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is the greatest magician and performer in all of Equestria! Many cities clamour for her wondrous magic show and she must do her best to appear before all of them."

Wesker tilted his head to the side, "You didn't answer my question, Miss Trixie. Do any of these cities actually want you to come back once you've performed?" Trixie didn't respond verbally but instead pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the blond interloper. That was all the response the former human required, "do you ever wonder why that is?"

She sighed dramatically and stared off somewhere into the middle distance, "The Great and Powerful Trixie has been beset by jealous, inferior ponies from her birth. It is sad that they can never appreciate the jaw-dropping talent on display. But so kind-hearted and generous is she that she even comes to this hick town in the middle of nowhere so that everypony can see her once in a lifetime performance. Truly, she is too good for this world."

A still-hogtied Applejack rolled her eyes and stared daggers into the side of the showpony's head, an expression which was mirrored by both Rarity and Rainbow Dash whilst Spike quietly begged Twilight to intervene.

Wesker, on the other hand, radiated an aura of unnerving calm and even allowed a small smile to tug at the corners of his mouth. This was arrogance on a scale he had previously thought impossible, like a caricature of himself. It was both amusing and discomforting at the same time. His smirk did not go unnoticed by Trixie who halted her dramatic monologue to point scathingly at Wesker.

"What gives you the right to try and question the Great and Powerful Trixie? What talents do you have that allow you to place yourself on a pedestal above the most fabulous of all equines?"

Rarity's mouth formed a small 'o' as she definitely took exception to the claim that the mare before her was more fabulous than herself but thankfully Wesker's brain was working rapidly enough to avert a crisis… if not sensibly enough to avoid embarrassment.

Don't say killing people, don't say killing people, don't say killing people.

"I'm… quite good… at… singing?"

Kind of wish you'd said killing people Al.

Wesker stared steadfastly at the taken-aback Trixie. Mainly because he could see the baffled faces of every pony present on the periphery of his vision and he wasn't ready to face the shame of what his mouth had just spat out. Applejack, who had hopped off stage and untied herself, choked on the apple she was now in the process of eating as she desperately tried to avoid laughing.

Trixie opened her mouth once or twice without success before she eventually found her voice again, "Really?"

"…Yes?"

She frowned, "Would you care to demonstrate?"

"Erm… I would prefer it if you went first."

Ah, a bold gambit. Clearly this is the first step on your plan to remould Equestria in your image, Albert. Well done.

The knowledge that Wesker had gleaned from reading those books on magic what felt like a lifetime ago came in handy as her horn glowed and she cast what appeared what to be an illusion spell. When she started singing, it sounded haunting and unworldly and absolutely perfect. A slow eulogy of a song that felt like it had hit him in the heart with a sledgehammer but he was not foolish enough to believe that she was actually singing that well as Rainbow Dash was nodding her head at a pace far more rapid than the tempo of the song.

Must be a spell which makes the target hear or see whatever they want to hear or see the most.

Makes sense… So when the last note faded away and Trixie bowed deeply to the applause which came from everypony besides the Elements of Harmony sans Pinkie and Fluttershy, Wesker merely flashed another disarming smile at the mare. "Well, I've certainly been put in my place. I can't match that."

Trixie glared suspiciously at her black-suited nemesis, "So you admit that I'm better than you?"

"At singing, yes."

She opened her mouth to continue the argument but whatever vitriolic words she went to utter died in her throat and she slowly turned away from the still-grinning former scientist, "Well… that will do." She flourished once more, "You see? There are no limits to the Great and Powerful and Trixie's awesome power!"

A hoof slowly raised in the air as its owner continued enjoying himself far too much. Trixie gritted her teeth. "What?!" She snapped.

"I can also hold my breath for a really long time."

"That's not…"

"I also managed to fire a staple at someone from across an entire office. Good shot too."

"Why are you…?"

"Oh and one time, I finished three months' worth of paperwork in a single night. What a shift that was."

I remember that. That was wild Al.

"Can you…"

"I'm especially talented at distracting performers."

"Stop!" Trixie pressed a hoof to the bridge of her nose, "You have already proven yourself to be inferior to the Great and Powerful Trixie. Stop embarrassing yourself further!"

Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack shared equal expressions of suppressed amusement as the blond once more beamed in faux-friendliness with only the sneer in his eyes giving away his true feelings. "My apologies Miss Trixie do continue. I believe you were talking about how fantastic you are at doing magic."

She shot him a dirty glare before clearing her throat once more and pressing on with her show, "I defy anyone to match the level of skill that I possess."

Rainbow Dash flew up to the stage, "I got no idea why you're strutting around like you're the hottest thing in Equestria."

Trixie quirked an eyebrow, "oh?"

The Pegasus grinned cockily, "That's my job!"

As Wesker watched the aftermath of another failed attempt to upstage Trixie, namely a very nauseous and dizzy Rainbow Dash stumbling around the town square after being whirled around by a Trixie-manipulated rainbow before being zapped by a tiny thundercloud, he really began to wonder how exactly the unicorn made a living from this. It was a miracle she hadn't been lynched; Equestrians were really far too nice.

Spike made his presence known once more, "what we need is another unicorn to challenge her!"

His pointed stare at Twilight made it pretty obvious where he was going with this and when Rainbow and Applejack got involved, Wesker was sure this whole scenario could finally be resolved and he could get on with his day.

Unfortunately, yet another ego was thrown into the fray. "Well." Rarity preened, "I understand what you're all getting at but I won't lower myself to her standard. I am above such nonsense."

The high road was all well and good but apparently it was difficult to travel when your opponent insulted your mane. Frankly, Wesker didn't need to be hyper-intelligent to see where this was going… It just helped.

Once a teary, melodramatic green-maned Rarity had fled the scene, the only humiliation which genuinely rankled with Wesker due to the fact that his hair had always been perfectly sculpted, Twilight was finally challenged directly by Trixie to prove her magical ability.

She must be worried that she'll end up looking like an insufferable bitch. Like this insufferable bitch with the fancy hat.

Not quite as eloquent as he'd have liked but the core point was true. Twilight fled to her laundry and Wesker waited for the whole situation to resolve itself. Clearly she was worried about coming across arrogant despite clearly being far better at magic than the so-called Great and Powerful Trixie. It was only a matter of time before her friends made her realise that that mind-set was moronic and then they'd probably write a letter and sing a song. Problem solved.

As the crowd dissipated and Trixie folded up her stage, assisted and frankly fawned upon by the two foals he had seen earlier, Wesker hummed as he slowly walked towards the hospital to speak with Nurse Redheart. Applejack glanced at him, "You off for a check-up?" He nodded and she returned the gesture grim-faced.

"Is something wrong Miss Applejack?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry Al but that barrel o' hot air has just got to me today. Can't believe she'd just roll into this town, say the things she said and do the things she did. Not to mention that I'm starting to worry about how quickly you can go from spitting fire to grinnin' like an idiot and windin' a pony up." She smiled, "Not that I'm complainin'"

He half smirked in response, "I must admit it was nice to meet somepony with a larger ego than myself. Made a refreshing change."

"Bet you can't sing though." She snorted.

He shrugged, "It appears you'll never know, Miss Applejack."

With a roll of her eyes and a mirror of the shrug that he had just given, Applejack waved goodbye as Wesker trudged off towards the hospital. He couldn't say he looked forward to being poked and prodded once more but science was above and beyond human… or pony… discomfort so he marched fearlessly into the sterile building once more.

It was even more tedious than he had expected. Every single boring, routine test he had been forced to do on test subjects to satisfy the Umbrella bureaucracy was repeated here and it was no less dull from the other side. Even more so, if anything.

Every so often the snow-white earth pony would throw a casual question about his past at him which he would effortlessly deflect with either charm, bluntness or the ever-reliable amnesia card. So it was several hours later that Wesker found himself sitting on an examination table having his reflexes tested.

"You do have remarkable reflexes, Mr Wesker, have they been that way all your life?"

"I don't remember." He muttered dully.

"Well…"

An almighty crash rang out from outside the building, silencing the Nurse's response and triggering a new one, "What in the world was that?"

Wesker raised himself from the table and hauled his body weight up on the windowsill so he could peek through before turning back with a dangerous grin, "A major problem, Miss Redheart."