Welp, pick up the victim an' get home, whomever it could possibly be that was caught by the chickenz, they'll be needing rest and relaxation.

Meanwhile, you got some 'splaining to do, no doubt Zecora will give you the benefit of the doubt, but be prepared to apologize for kinda breaking a lot of stuff.

A voice, huh? You should probably help. Rewards are present where help is offered. I imagine they'll be very grateful to you. And if they aren't, well, you are alone in the forest. Persuade them.

If there's somepony there, they might need your help. Better go and investigate! You'll probably have to take them to Zecora with you... once you remember just where Zecora's hut is.

Ugh, being lost is so frustrating! But you're not letting that get to you. Nope, everything's going to be all right! Once you get back to Zecora, you can talk to her, maybe make up, maybe more... Just thinking of your cute little Zebra's cute stripey flanks gets a smile to your muzzle. You're getting worked up again, but- who cares? Not like anypony's around to judge you.

Now go help those ponies in need!

You look towards the bushes as you listen for the faint groaning coming from somewhere beyond them. Furrowing your brows you bring up your right forehoof to rub your chin thoughtfully, as you proceed to share these thoughts with anything and everything within earshot.

"Let's see. I'm lost, alone, and responsible for the deaths of a couple of chicken-lizards. And somewhere beyond that bush is somepony who was probably lost, alone, and got completely owned by aforementioned chicken-lizards. That pony, or ponies if these lizards had some kind of statue garden, will probably be scared out of their wits. They might even be in active danger. While this hypothetical danger is a potential risk to myself, being alone in the Everfree Forest could be considered to be a much greater risk, especially given my muscle soreness and unknown levels of body damage. Also there is a very real possibility of reward gained from aid rendered due to a pony's inherent desire to reciprocate when help is received." You speak slowly as you continue to rub your bloody hoof across your chin.

"In addition, helping whoever that pony is might make up for, well let's not mince words, destroying Zecora's book and kinda ruining her table and cloak. While my rather cuddletastic zebra lover seems pretty forgiving and smitten with me I maaaaay want to stack the deck a bit in my favor. Due to her obviously altruistic nature giving aid to other ponies may decrease her frustration and increase the probability of her forgiving me in a timely manner. And then we can go home, have a talk, eat because I am bucking starving, then proceed to snuggle under the covers as I rub my hooves down her nice warm body, rubbing her stomach and nuzzling her neck, before sticking my cock in and rutting her like a mare in heat..." You spoke, a grin coming to your lips... and blood moving to your crotch.

"W-wait! No! No stop that right now! Bad arousal, bad! Settle down! I WILL hit you if I have to... Wait no that might backfire. Just, just settle down alright?!" You speak rapidly and angrily to your crotch, face flushing as you then squeeze your eyes shut and actively attempt to reduce your horniness by thinking unsexy thoughts involving nasal hair. Slowly but surely your best friend settles down grudgingly inside of his sheathe, grumpy and still a bit more sensitive, but not about to pop out.

You bring your front right hoof up to meet your face, breathing out heavily.

"Ugggghhhhhh... what's up with me recently? I didn't think this much about sex in Manehatten..." You mutter, before lowering your hoof back to the ground and straightening up, looking directly ahead towards the bushes.

"In any event the conclusion is clear! Help will be rendered to whatever pony lies beyond those bushes in the hope of a reciprocated reward!" You speak firmly... before blinking.

"Since when did I use such big words?" You ask... then furrow your brows.

"And since when did I start talking to myself?" You mutter, before shaking your head and shrugging it off.

"This place must be getting to me." You state simply before bringing your left forehoof up and turning your eyes to the blade, looking it over, grimacing at the dried blood all over the otherwise pristine weapon.

"Right then. First thing's first, let's put you up." You say to the inanimate and insentient object, before closing your eyes and concentrating. You think of the blade dissipating back into your hoof, picture the silver-light filled blue mist swirling back into your hoof as the blade breaks apart. You finish the image in your head and when you open your eyes your hoof is once again bare... well, except for all the dried blood on it.

You hope you don't scare whoever's groaning over there. Right now you look like you stepped right out of a nightmare. Or went hoof to toe with two Everfree critters!

Oh. Right.

Dammit, if you could get rid of all this blood you wouldn't have a problem! A Unicorn would just, just wave her horn around, and poof it away, you bet! Prissy hornheads... You're not a tribalist, but not having magic just plain sucked sometimes. Probably wouldn't have been treated like dirt by that showmare if you'd been a Unicorn, either. You could tell by the way she looked at you- that she thought you were merely a Dirt Pony! Bucking tribalist... thinks you're worthless, eh? You'll show her...

Great, now you're ruining your good mood again. Okay, first rescue ponies, then deal with what-is-certainly-not magic envy later, at Zecora's. And no more thinking about that prissy blue tribalist, and what you want to do to her prissy blue tribalist butt!

You grimace again as you stare at your bloody hoof. You have to look terrible by now. Covered in your enemy's blood, dried all over your coat and cloak, scarring on your cheek and forelegs and flank, and who knows how many other places that you just haven't noticed yet? You've got to be downright terrifying to behold by now, like a shadow from ancient black pits of old. A pity you're not a unicorn. If you had a horn you could just make all this dried blood vanish with some fancy-schmancy magic and move on no problem! ... Actually unicorns take baths, so it's probably not that easy. Ugh, you're wasting time. You'll just have to risk giving the pony a heart attack.

Resolved to your task you put your hoof back down into the grass and venture forth, moving to the bush. You start walking through and begin to wince as twigs scratch at your legs and pull at your cloak, the underbrush plaguing you as soon as you enter it. You're a bit concerned that the cloak might rip, causing further damage to goods that you've already made less than pristine. Luckily it seems to be made out of a pretty thick material so it actually tugs some of the branches lose as they snag, snapping them off of the bushes. Take that bushes!

You grunt and wince as you pull yourself through more bushes over towards the groaning sound. It isn't that far and you can actually see a small clearing in the moonlight as you approach, but between the tugging of the bushes and your own muscle soreness even this short distance is a struggle to walk through. Bucking bushes. You pull yourself into the clearing and reach around to Zecora's cloak with your front-right hoof, brushing off some of the twigs that got snagged on the material.

"Hmph, bucking forest..." You mutter, before raising your head to look around the tiny patch of clearing behind the bushes.

"Now let's see who-" You say as your eyes move down to the source of the groaning. And your jaw drops open, wide and gaping, just waiting for an opportunistic bug to fly in.

No. Bucking. Way.

There in the patch of clearing beyond the bushes, illuminated by moonlight and groaning on the ground is a young mare. She has a dark blue coat, purple eyes, and a white and pale-blue mixed mane. She's wearing a floppy purple wizard hat crammed with pictures of stars and moons, a purple cape also crammed with star and moon pictures, and wearing a light cyan gem at the front as a clasp for the cape. Her flank is rather nice to look at, not toned like Zecora's and a little slim but with a natural sleekness and subtly suggestive curvature that is really rather attractive. Her cutie mark is that of a wand upon it, a silver wand with a star shape at the top and a wisp of light blue streaking around it's middle.

This mare is not unknown to you. You still remember what she called herself while she was making it clear that your life was worth less than her spit. She calls herself the Great and Powerful Trixie... and as far as you are concerned she is an arrogant waste of space.

You stand with your dropped jaw for several moments, just staring at the softly groaning form of Trixie, slowly waking from her slumber, before you grit your teeth. You slump your shoulders, hang your head, and stare at the grass beneath your blood covered hooves with glaring eyes. Of all the ponies all over Equestria, of all the potential victims who could have been in the Everfree, of any POSSIBLE pony who could have been stoned by these SPECIFIC chicken-lizards, it had to be HER!?!? What the buck life!? WHAT THE BUCK!?!?

Now it wasn't as though you had a big grudge match with her or some sort of long-running rivalry to justify your hatred. You interacted with her for literally less than a minute in Manehatten and never saw her again until now. That was enough. With that tiny little moment of time in your life she managed to make you feel worse than nearly every other pony you had ever encountered, and THAT was a big BUCKING accomplishment! She spoke to you like you were a stain, a piece of dirt, less than nothing! Why the buck should you help her!? Why should you?! ... ... Because despite your extremely negative opinion of her all the previous reasons you came up with remain valid... You're going to help her aren't you? ... Yep. Buck your life.

You look back to the unicorn mare as she slowly lifts herself up, shaking her head, body trembling as she gets up to her hooves. You remember what you just recently thought about doing to her pretty blue flank and you are suddenly very glad that you got blood splattered onto your face. The probability of her seeing you blushing beneath the dried blood is incredibly unlikely.

"I... what... where..." Muttered the unicorn, shaking her head and stumbling shakily, apparently disoriented. You bring your front right hoof up to your mouth, clearing your throat and taking a calming breath. She probably doesn't even remember you, best to try and be polite. You lower your hoof and breathe out slowly, before speaking in a calm voice.

"Hello how are yo-" You start as she looks up.

"AAAIIIIIEEEEEE!!!" She shouts, very loudly, causing you to wince from the pain in your ears. If every predator within a mile needed a hint on where to find their next meal they just got one. The shrieking mare proceeded to promptly hide beneath her hat, cowering down in the grass and bringing her forehooves up to pull her headwear down over her eyes.

"Please please don't hurt me! I'm too great and powerful to die!" She begged, leaving you blinking. Is she... mixing cowardice with arrogance? ... How does somepony even do that?

You sigh, and bring your front left forehoof up to your face, breathing in deep before exhaling slowly and lowering your hoof back to the ground.

"Trixie I'm not going to-"

"You know my name?!" Shouted the mare, peaking out from under her hat with wide and terrified eyes.

"What do you seek from me apparition?! Are you a beast from Tartarus sent to punish the Great and Powerful Trixie for her crimes against ponykind!?" Practically shrieked the mare, her voice filled with mortal fear. Your right eye begins to twitch slightly as you grit your teeth once more. Does this mare have no concept of volume control?

"No Trixie I am a pony. From Manehatten. And crimes against ponykind?" You ask, right eye still twitching. You grunt and shake your head a bit, stopping the twitching as Trixie gulps.

"T-then you are not here for Trixie..." Spoke the showmare slowly, cautiously, before jumping up to her hooves with wide eyes and bringing both her forehooves up, standing on her hind legs as she rapidly waved her forelegs in front of her.

"Uhhhh forget the crimes against ponykind! The Great and Powerful Trixie has committed no crimes of any kind to any ponies! Trixie is as infallible as she is great and above such pettiness!" Spoke the mare before going back down on all fours and straightening up, throwing her head up and to the left and closing her eyes, bringing her right hoof up again to wave through the air in a dismissive gesture. Before proceeding to snap her head towards you, eyes furrowed in a glare as her right hoof shot to point towards you.

"But you look like exactly the sort of IGNORANT brute to commit heinous and unforgivable crimes! You appearance is so horrific! So barbaric! You wear blood upon your fur like an ugly savage!" She accused, loudly, before raising her chin to you as she brought her front-right hoof to her chest with pride, eyes closed as arrogance overtook her expression

"Whilst the Great and Powerful Trixie takes care to keep her incredible and luxurious coat as grand and impressive as Trixie herself!"" Proclaimed the mare still very loudly.

Your right eye starts to twitch again, as you grit your teeth. Did she seriously just go from thinking you were a monster sent to punish her to accusing you of being a degenerate savage?! Does this damn mare have a mute button!? A volume control of any sort!? AND UGLY SAVAGE?!?! WHO THE BUCK DOES SHE THINK SHE- ... Oh right, stupid question.

You close your eyes and breathe in deeply, right eye still twitching... getting angry won't help you right now. As bucking annoying as this mare is there's still a significant tactical advantage to keeping her around. Bait, for example. She'd make great bait for whatever monster you run into next. With that in mind, you start your next sentence with a level voice.

"Trixie I-"

"Wait!" Shouted Trixie, interrupting you AGAIN as her eyes snap open before narrowing a glare at you, bringing her front-right hoof up to point towards you.

"If you're a pony from Manehatten then how do you know Trixie's name!?" Asked Trixie, voice suddenly full of suspicion. Once again before you could answer she seemed to come to her own solution, as she gasped, looking at you wide-eyed with an almost gleeful glint in her eyes, suspicious scowl turning into a broad smile.

"Are you a fan of the Great and Powerful Trixie's show!? Did you come looking to congratulate her!?" Asked Trixie, before assuming that was the answer and straightening up once more, a confident smirk on her face and cocky crook to her eye.

"Well it is only natural! Of course the GREAT and Powerful Trrrrixie!!! Is the most magnificently magical mare to have EVER lived!!!" Shouted the showpony as she got up onto her hind legs and stretched her forelegs up towards the sky as a-

FLASH!

BANG!

CRACK!

Sounded, fireworks appearing all around her, of multiple colors and shades, even one spinning wheel of fireworks appearing out of midair. Your jaw drops as your right eye twitches intensify. What the buck!? Is she TRYING to attract predators!? Is she CRAZY!?!?

"For Celestia's sake be quiet!!!" You shout, Trixie's head snapping to look towards you with surprise in her eyes, right before she staggers and falls back off of her hind legs and onto her rump, the fireworks vanishing.

"B-b-bu-"

"We are in the middle of the Everfree Forest, THE most dangerous place in all of Equestria, and you are making more noise than a damn one-pony marching band! And I'm not a fan! You just shouted your name so loud in Manehatten that I remembered it, alright! That's it!" You shout, the anger in your voice causing Trixie to back up a little in the dirt as she looks to you, a fresh fear in her eyes.

Yes, listen to the others. Whomever this voice belongs to needs help, and should they see fit to reward you, who are you to refuse? likewise, see if they can point you to a landmark on Zecora's map, should help you be slightly less lost.

You close your eyes and breathe in deeply, then breathe out slowly, calming yourself down and finally getting your twitching eye to stop... Then you open your eyes once more, looking to Trixie with a tired half-gaze.

"Look, we're lost in the bucking Everfree forest. Now's not the time to put on a show, now's the time to find our way to safety so just come over here and tell me whether you can read this map or not." You state bluntly, as you reach into your cloak and pull out Zecora's map.

Trixie slowly gets back to her hooves, a bit of nervousness still in her eyes, before she shakes herself off and straightens up, adopting a haughty look, with some resentment mixed in as she glares at you. Nevertheless she starts to approach as you lay the map down on the grass, but then she stops, sniffs the air, and makes a sour face. You look back up to her arching your right eyebrow.

"What?" You ask as Trixie grimaces, bringing her front-right hoof up to cover her nose.

"You stink!" She speaks, slightly nasally as your eyes snap wide open at her pronouncement. She pulls her head up and to the left, hoof still over her nose as she continued in her nasal voice.

"Your unbearable odor offends the Great and Powerful Trixie's nose! And she will not stoop to approaching someone as ODOROUS as they are ignorant!" She proclaims, loudly, to the entire world that luckily just consists of plants and dirt.

You blush hard beneath the blood on your coat, cheeks turning warm, and grit your teeth as your right eye twitching comes back full force.

"Just look at the damn map!" You shout, and Trixie shoots you a glare from the sides of her eyes. She throws her head even further up and to the left while closing her eyes, letting out a-

"Hmph!" Her hoof still covering her nose as her hat lifts up off of her head, encased in a purple glow, revealing her purple glowing horn. The map suddenly glows purple and flies out from in front of you to unfurl before her, as her eyes open to give a critical glare over the parchment.

It's times like this that you can really envy those unicorns. All they have to do is THINK hard enough, and things happen for them...maybe that thing in the box will help you to do something similar.

Nomad

It's times like this that you really envy unicorns. It was such a simple action, levitating the map away from you to unfurl in front of her, so easy and effortless... It kinda pisses you off that she just did it to avoid smelling you.

You straighten up looking to Trixie with a glower as she looks over the map with furrowed brows, and then narrows her eyes further, letting out a growl, and then bringing her front-right hoof down to stamp into the dirt while letting out an exasperated-

"Gaaah! This isn't a map! This is a foal's drawing!" She shouts as she abruptly tosses the map aside with her magic and releases it from her glow, letting it fall into the dirt. You grit your teeth again at her mistreatment of Zecora's property before moving over to it quickly, starting to roll it up once more as Trixie continues.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot be expected to make sense of a foal's drawing! It is impossible!" She proclaimed, holding her chin up with closed eyes as her hat levitated back down onto her head, before the glow faded. You narrow your eyes and let a low exasperated growl pass by unheard, before tucking the map back into Zecora's cloak and speaking harshly.

"Well that's too bad, because if you can't read this then we're lost." You speak plainly, straightening up as Trixie's head snapped to look to you with wide eyes.

"W-what!?" She asked, fear sparking behind her eyes once more.

"Yes. Lost. So we're reduced to wandering around aimlessly until we find some way to Zecora's." You state plainly, as Trixie stares at you with a jaw wide open.

"D-did you say Zecora?" Asked the showmare with wide eyes, prompting you to look back up to her with your right brow raised.

"Yes. Do you know her?" You ask curiously. While you can't imagine Zecora having a friend so... ... well Trixie, she DID say that she had friends in the nearby town now. And it would actually kind of make sense for her to have been looking to visit Zecora when she got stoned. Though you REALLY do not want Zecora to actually be friends with Trixie.

Trixie seems to blanche at your question, face going a bit pale as she responds.

"Uh-no! Not at all! I just heard she was a zebra living in the woods is all! Nothing more to my knowledge than that!" She shouted, a very clear tinge of panic in her voice causing you to raise your eyebrow a bit more... ... Crimes against ponykind related maybe? Something you'd better ask Zecora about...

Trixie breathes in deep for a minute, before shaking her head and drawing herself up once more, gulping down a lump in her throat before looking haughtily to you, regaining her composure.

"W-well! The Great and Powerful Trixie will lead the way then! As you are obviously too incompetent to be trusted with the task of leading if you can't even read a simple map!!!" She spoke, striding forward and brushing past you, holding her breathe you note, as she began to move in a random direction through the bushes. You give up trying to stop your right eye from twitching and instead focus on not grinding your teeth as you turn growling after Trixie. You want to tell her to buck off and you'll lead, but honestly you have no reason to believe that would lead to a better result. You'd be just as lost and clueless as she is. Better for her to be at the front as bait anyways.

So, letting out a deep sigh and gritting your teeth you walk forward, following after the annoying mare who switched from scared and whimpering to above it all and superior, into the dark.

Well done pony, a fine battle. You hear a voice? Go to it, he/she might need your help...and there are rewards for those that lend a helping hoof. Too bad you didn't spot that mirror though. Get the survivor, get back to Zecora's, and get some sleep...you seem to heal faster while you sleep.

"Trixie is 'pant' tired! The Great and Powerful Trixie has been walking forever! She demands 'pant' that we stop for a rest!"

Trixie and you have been walking for hours, wandering aimlessly through the Everfree, and you can't help but note with some smugness that the coat she was bragging about earlier is now nearly as bad as yours. Broken twigs and leaves caught in the fur, scratches from thorns and brambles, beadlets of sweat glistening all over her from hours of movement, and more than a little matted dirt from various trips and falls. Her cape, not made out of the sturdy stuff of Zecora's cloak, has been torn and ripped in some places by various branches, and her mane is a mess with leaves and twigs caught in it. All in all she looks miserable and bedraggled and you love it.

As much as you enjoy watching her like that though you have to admit that you're not much better. Your muscles were sore before and while the pain seems to have nulled they still ache with every step you take. It's tiring and exhausting and you're sure that your muscles haven't gotten this level of a work out in your entire life! And you think the mixture of sweat and dried blood has colored your coat a bit where it splattered... Yeah you really wish you two had found a stream or something. On the plus side you're not hungry anymore. While you would have preferred to have waited to get to Zecora's to eat you decided to chance ill-health once more by chomping down on the Everfree grass. Trixie of course had to make an arrogant proclamation about it which you ignored. But still, overally you're not in good shape either, and pretty exhausted as well. While you hate to agree with her you want to take a break just as much as her.

Luckily, even as she makes her annoyingly loud proclamation (you are AMAZED that she hasn't attracted any predators) you both come into a clearing. The sun is just starting to rise in the distance, casting morning light onto a grassy patch next to a large tree, with five or six dirt patches all over the clearing and a bed of green moss right in front of it, a few white flowers upon the bed.

"Ah! Finally! Cushioning!" Shouted Trixie as she practically dashed forward to the moss bed, throwing herself down into the moss and laying back with a sigh, splaying out her legs as she basked in the feeling. Which of course completely revealed her marehood to you. You quickly tear your eyes from it as a blush comes to your cheeks, and quickly repeat the mantra of- Buck-buck-buck-buck-buck! As you fight the blood flow to your crotch.

"While this bed is not deserving of the Great and Powerful Trixie's presence it shall suffice!" Spoke the showmare, oblivious to your struggle to prevent your stallionhood from coming out in full view. She turned over in the moss bed, lounging about against the cushioning as she brought her left forehoof up and motioned over towards a one of the dirt patches.

"You, Trixie's unworthy assistant, can bed down in the dirt where you belong." She spoke, so casually that it almost took you a second to register exactly what it was she had just said.

Your jaw drops. Your eyes go wide. And you just stand there, for several moments, staring at Trixie as she lounges back on the moss bed, before finally looking back to you. She cocks her right brow as she sees your absolutely flabbergasted expression.

"What? What is it? Does Trixie have something on her face?" Asked the confused showmare, bringing her right hoof up to rub her face a bit, and then looking to it, checking for foreign substances. You ignore this as you start to shake with rage, as it rises up through your body, processes through your mind, and funnels out through your mouth.

"You... you... you BUCKING TRIBALIST!!!" You shout, causing Trixie to jump up, eyes wide with surprise as you step forward menacingly, absolutely enraged as you throw caution to the bucking wind and start to scream out at the mare.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU!?!? AFTER I BUCKING SAVED YOUR SORRY FLANK HOW DARE YOU!?!? YOU THINK YOU'RE SO BUCKING SUPERIOR FOR HAVING A DAMN HORN!?!? DO YOU YOU PRISSY BITCH!?!?" You shout, causing Trixie to back up rapidly against the tree, eyes widening as she seems to realize what she just did.

"I-I no! No Trixie did not mean it like that!" She spoke, raising her forehooves and waving them frantically in front of her in an attempt to ward you off.

"THEN HOW THE BUCK DID YOU MEAN IT!?!?" You roar at the cowering showmare.

"Trixie just meant that you were less than her! But not like that! Trixie is better than everypony! It has nothing to do with your, um, class that you're-"

"MY CLASS!?!?"

"Tribe! Species! Orientation! Please don't hurt me!" Shouted Trixie, pulling her hind and forehooves in cowering in the fetal position in front of you as you breathe in and out rapidly, veins bulging, face red beneath the dried blood, throat sore from the yelling... But seeing her cowering against the tree actually takes an edge off your temper... She didn't do it on purpose. She's just a useless and frightened fraud trying to keep herself calm by embracing her arrogant persona. Not worth it.

You breathe in deeply once more, then breathe out slowly, a long calming breathe as you count to ten... And then continue to glare down at the cowering showmare.

"I am going to go sleep over there. Behind the bushes." You say with gritted teeth, pointing over with your left forehoof to a set of bushes near the edge of the clearing. You then lower your forehoof, still glaring at the showmare as she slowly lowers her forehooves to look to you with frightened eyes. You don't think she's going to argue as you continue to speak.

"And you are going to sleep in your damn moss bed. And then when we wake up we are going to keep going, and find our way to Zecora's. Do you understand?" You ask to which Trixie gulps, and nods.

"Good." You state curtly, then turn and walk over to the bush, away from the annoying showmare, and step behind it to lay down with your back towards the blue unicorn. You close your eyes and shift position with a growl, bringing your hooves up to loosen the strings around Zecora's cloak, and pull the dried-blood covered heavy cloth over your form as you lay down. You twitch your back muscles slightly, feeling your steel rods as they move a little, before satisfying yourself that so long without use hasn't made them sore, you shift position again and breathe in and out calmly, trying to go to sleep.

You're not exactly comfortable, but you've had worse and at least Zecora's cloak keeps the wind off of you. The morning light helps to, keeping it fairly warm so you don't have to worry about shivering. And as you lay there trying to fade to black your mind turns to that insufferable, annoying, selfish, cowardly, STUPID CUNT OF A MARE!!! BUCK YOU WANT TO RIP HER INTO LITTLE PIECES!!! BEAT HER UNTIL SHE'S GOT MORE BLACK AND RED THAN BLUE!!! PUNISH THAT BUCKING FLANKS OF HER AND... That... ... Okay, okay... right, calm, calm is good. No more thinking about the stupid bucking bitch. Time to go sleep.

... ... ... Time to go to sleep.

... ... ... Sleepy time.

... ... ... BUCK GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!!!

You growl as you toss and turn... Laying beneath the cloak, moving this way and that way, adjusting position, adjusting position again, and then pawing at the ground slightly before turning again, grunting and growling as you try to will yourself to sleep.

What the buck!? Did a bed ruin you? No! No way. And you're more than tired enough to go to sleep with these damn aching muscles of yours. It must be that you're not bored enough, you're still thinking. Solution! Counting sheep!

One! Two! Three!

An hour later...

Seven hundred. Seven hundred and one. Seven hundred and two.

Another hour and thirty minutes later...

One thousand five hundred and thirty two... One thousand five hundred and thirty three... one... ... zzzzzzzzzz...

(To the Brothers)

(I am concerned with how the Alicorn Amulet will affect a non-unicorn pony. While it is true that the Amulet will increase the power of the Star of Woe, the gain of a horn would be useful. Also, if the survivor is the pony I think it is, we have a magic tutor on standby.)

Cryon breathed in and out softly, eyes closed, holding his blue teddy with a white belly and black eyes close to his body with his left foreleg. A small white blanket was stretched out over him with blue edging around it. And the alicorn himself was laying on a pair of spread black metal wings, belonging to his brother.

Pyrus was prone with his hooves tucked underneath him, black iron all over his body, patches of red fur sticking out and the only places not majorly covered being his neck and face. His mane was covered over with the black iron however and it seemed to spread across his head like a molten helmet, red horn sticking out with black gathered around the base. Pyrus was looking back to his brother with an affectionate and gentle smile... before he caught you out of the corner of his reptilian red eye, and jerked his head to you with a scowl.

"Look my brother's sleeping so you can kindly bu-" He started, then his left ear twitched, causing him to cock his head, listening... He furrowed his brows, thinking for a moment... and then sighed, closing his eyes and lowering his head, shaking it slightly before lifting it back up and opening his eyes again, looking to you with a resigned expression.

"Alright, fine it's a legitimate concern. This is my specialty anyways." He spoke, before shifting position slightly, moving his forehooves forward out from under his body and crossing them in front of him. Rolling his head side to side, before looking at you with a light glare.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie. More like the Weak and Worthless Trixie. She who you were expecting? Bucking cunt. You know how much damn work it took to get the Alicorn Amulet into a shifty enough pony's hooves who'd be willing to sell the damn thing? And then how much work it took to get her to learn about it!? And then to learn where it was!? Bucking Tartarus I was projecting all over the damn continent to get her to that amulet and then what does she do? She trades it in for a DA-" Pyrus starts to shout and then looks back as Cryon moans slightly in his sleep, shifting position. Pyrus bites his bottom lip slightly with a row of black metal fangs, drawing a little blood from the still soft flesh, before looking back to you and bringing his pitch back down.

"For a damn doorstop. Anyway that cunt wasted an opportunity and I'm not about to see you lot do the same, so here's what you need to know. The Alicorn Amulet's effects on a pony aren't based on whether they're a horn-head or not. Common misconception because unicorns are typically seen as the powerful ones that do the freaky shit, like Sombra who took over the whole damn crystal empire, beating out an alicorn to do it I might add. Buck I was proud of that little bastard. That bitch princess had it coming to... nice flank though. Pity I couldn't tap that plot before he rammed a crystal shard through her eye. Even bigger pity that the foals survived..." Muttered Pyrus, furrowing his brows and growling slightly... Before shaking his head again with an aggravated sigh and looking back up to you.

"Anyway a horn is just an implement to focus the inherent magic within a pony and unicorns have got a bit more of it. It's nothing to brag about. Most of them can only manage really basic shit for convenience sake, and spells related to their special talent. Unicorns whose talent is magic, like Sombra's was, are the exception not the rule. They can be truly powerful but there ain't many of them." Spoke Pyrus, bringing his left forhoof up to scratch the side of his head with a sigh, metal grating on metal as he scratched, before lowering the hoof back down.

"What's important to realize is that all the pony races have inherent magic ingrained into their biology. And the Amulet goes for the magic that it finds already in the pony, it doesn't make new magic. It takes the magic present in a pony's genetic structure and warps it, increasing it immensely while at the same time throwing their chemical systems out of wack, leading to insanity and instability. It supplements for vital nourishments with it's own inherent magic that acts pretty much as aggression fuel, increasing cruelty and anger in the wearer. If this goes on long enough the body adjusts for the supplement and becomes reliant on it. That dumb bitch Trixie kept wearing the thing than eventually taking it off would have killed her. If she'd lasted that long then at least she'd have done some real damage before she croaked!" Spoke Pyrus, raising his voice a bit again, and then stopping as Cryon shifted position on his back again. Pyrus lowered his head and sighed, breathing out black smoke as he calmed down... Then looked back up to you.

"So yeah, unicorns are the easiest to see this with but it works just fine with Pegasi and Earth Ponies to. You hang around one of them long enough while they're wearing the amulet and you'll start to see some freaky shit. For example a Pegasus wearing the Alicorn Amulet would gain a mastery of flight and the weather that would be truly bucking awesome to behold! I'm talking tornadoes when they got pissed and sonic shockwaves kinda awesome! While an Earth Pony would get a mastery of the ground beneath their hooves, like plant-growing and shit making whole forests of pony-eating trees and shit like that. It was Nightmare Moon's Earth Pony magic that started the Everfree. Me and my brother just gave it a bit of encouragement after it got going. And also they'd get really really buff! Hit'em with a train and they'd shrug it off kinda buff, pull whole buildings without breaking a sweat! It's pretty bucking awesome." Spoke Pyrus with a smile on his face, before the glower came back and he leveled a glare at you.

"But that's when shit's normal for the pony. Right now shit ain't normal. Me and my brother made the Alicorn Amulet to tempt the souls of mortal ponies back when I had the run of Tartarus and could use the damn forge there. Pounded out from molten obsidian, ruby charged with the souls of raging beasts, a bit of my blood poured into the mold to make sure that it could effect ANY pony that put it on... it's a really bucking scary piece of work. But the Star of Woe's a much older much scarier piece of work, made by something a lot more powerful than my brother and me. When the host puts on the Amulet it and the Star will fight for control. The Star will try to eat the Amulet to use as mutation fuel and the Amulet will try to fight back by latching on to the magic inherent in the host. I'm not entirely sure how it'll play out actually. The Star won't lose, but I'm not sure what'll happen to the Amulet. Should be interesting." Stated Pyrus bluntly, laying his head down on his forelegs, down from a glare to a glower.

"However it plays out the host will get a huge power jump. If you want that to go into making a horn on his head then jealousy and envy of unicorns is a good feeling to encourage. Careful of encouraging that kind of thought when other catalysts happen by though. You could get a really freaky horn depending on how you play it, or yaknow a cool one whatever. If you want him to turn into an Alicorn, like my brother and me or those bitch princesses, then alicorn jealousy'd be a good thing to encourage. I'm not fond of having another one of us out there but hey, desperate bucking times. If you just want to see what happens, and where the power will go undirected, then sit back and watch the show. Whatever you do remember, it's not going to be pretty whatever happens. The Host's body will act as a battleground between two old badass evils, and there's almost definitely going to be some collateral. But it's funny when he screams, so buck it." Spoke Pyrus, before growling slightly and closing his eyes.

"Now I'm going to catch twenty winks, so kindly buck off!" Spoke Pyrus, snapping his eyes open as a vicious red light pours from his orbs and-

... ... ...

"AAAIIIEEEEE!!!" A very familiar screech from an unfortunately familiar mare causes you to jerk out of your sleep and scramble to your hooves. You just stop yourself from standing up fully, and keep yourself hidden behind the bush. You blink a few times, still in the just awoken daze, and then grimace, turning to face towards the bush separating you from the shrieking Trixie. You glare at the bush hoping it gets to her on the other side. She probably just saw a damn spider or something.

"Pretty little pony has a pretty gem! Where did you get the gem pretty pony?" Sounds a high-pitched yet kind of craggly voice from where you just heard the shrieking showmare.

... Or not.

Cautiously you lean up to peak out over the edge of the bush and see Trixie backed up against the tree next to her moss bed, her hat fallen down to her left and her cape crumpled from having been slept on. Her eyes are wide, her body is shaking, and her throat is emitting soft whimpering sounds.

In front of the unfortunate and arrogant showmare, standing tall and ugly, is a strange being unlike anything you've ever seen before. Which, you have to admit, is getting to be kind of a pattern here. It looks kind of like a dog, with dull white fur covered with black spots, a thin white tail, floppy black ears, and a shiny black nose. It's standing on two kinda stumpy legs that end in feet that make you think of a dog's paws. Most of it's body height comes from it's large torso, with two long arms coming down from the shoulders and ending in four-clawed fingers at it's sides.

It's wearing what looks like a black collar around it's neck with diamonds embedded into the collar, and a small grey sleeveless jacket with thin outer pockets on both sides, stuffed with brightly colored gem shards, sharp and jagged, peaking out from the pockets and catching the rays of the afternoon sun. It's coat and jacket looks to be covered in dirt, and near to it you can actually see where one of the dirt patches from before existed, namely the very one that Trixie waved her hoof at. Now it's been replaced with a hole... interesting.

The creature is grinning at the shaking Trixie, with yellow orbs in his sockets and thin vertical pupils, like pointy lines instead of round holes, and a mouth full of sharp yellow canines, drool collecting in his mouth and dripping down his chin as he leans forward grinning, looking down to Trixie as she schlinks back and desperately pushes with her hind-legs, uselessly backing into the tree as the dog reaches forward with it's right clawed hand and extends it's right index finger to slowly rub a claw over Trixie's cyan gem clasp, a faint scratching sound being heard as Trixie whimpered.

"Did pretty pony find the pretty gem? Does the pretty pony have more?" Asked the tall dog-thing grinning wide, running a long blue tongue over his sharp teeth as he looked down to the cowering mare before him...

Okay... You're hidden behind a bush, Trixie is cowering against a tree, and the dog-thing is rubbing his claw against a gem. This situation is, like so many you've encountered recently, completely foreign to you. So what do you do?

Author's Notes:

Trixie's fun to write for. Zecora's hard but it's rewarding and fun to work with the rhyme scheme. Trixie's fun because she's flamboyant, arrogant, and over-the-top. She takes center-stage in everything and she knows it. But it's all an act so it's almost as fun when it breaks down and she shows how vulnerable she is. Got to watch out for when she uses first instead of third person though. Challenge to know when you're doing it right or not. But all in all I like writing for her... I'd hate to meet her in person, but I like writing for her.

Also this wasn't how I originally planned to end the chapter. But I looked at it for a moment and thought it was too well set-up to pass over. Plus I don't think I'd have gotten many other opportunities to do so. And I wanted to surprise all of you. Did I succeed?