Trixie was slowly developing to Ponyville. How Ponyville was adjusting to Trixie, however, was up for debate. For one thing, she went by an unusual dress code that she set for herself. (Namely, she never went naked.) Whenever she went out in public, she wore the hat and cape that she wore during her shows. When Trixie lounged around the house (or when she didn’t want to be immediately recognized by Snips & Snails, or anypony that held a grudge to her), she put on a getup she called “casual wear,” because by her logic, she couldn’t be great and powerful 24-7, or else she would risk using up all her spectacular perfection.

Dusk’s friends had mixed reactions. Rainbow Dash frowned whenever the blue unicorn was in the room, and generally didn’t improve her mood until five minutes after Trixie left it. Pinkie threw her a party as usual, but Trixie was in for a real surprise when she woke up one night to Pinkamena standing over her bed. The sociopathic mare apologized and claimed that she was simply stalking Dusk, which didn’t really make her all that innocent. Rarity was fairly manageable, as she kept her jealously to herself most of time. Applejack was slow to forgive, but eventually warmed up with her instinctual hospitality. Fluttershy was happy that the residents could be so welcoming to a new neighbor, but secretly wondered why her heart felt like it was being pinched whenever Dusk said something nice to Trixie. Spike grumbled about every flaw Trixie had for a whole week, and then finally gave in, so long as he was Dusk’s assistant, and that meant the little witch couldn’t boss him around.

Dusk Shine’s reaction could be summed up to his latest letter to Celestia:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, you would have been so proud of me. I have gained a student that will be living in the Ponyville library with me from now on. (By the way, did you know that this library is named “Books and Branches?” I didn’t even know that the earth ponies that hollowed this tree out even gave it a name!) Her name is Trixie, but she insists that she be called “The Great and Powerful Trixie.” She laughed when I said I was studying the magic of friendship, but shut up when I told her that I was studying it for YOU. She’s got quite the ego, but it gets kinda cute when you get used to it. She’s really warming up to my friends girlfriends companions, but some more than others. I have high hopes for her, and one day, I know that she’ll make me proud.

Your faithful student,

Dusk Shine

P.S. We need funding for a new water tower. Don’t ask.

My faithful student,

Tell me the truth: Is this another addition to your little harem, or are you using this “Trixie” to drive the others away to get a little privacy? (Don’t feel ashamed, I have committed both acts over the years.) Spike has been sending letters to me whining about her like I’m supposed to be his personal therapist, and frankly, she sounds a bit of a burden.

Your (simply curious) teacher,

Princess Celestia of Equestria

P.S. Luna misses you. Silence, Tia! Stop messing with the royal personal life!

Dear Princess Celestia,

I do NOT have any idea what you’re talking about, specifically this harem you speak of. I might have several other mares chasing after me, but this is completely based on some radical out-of-place hormones and I do not wish to pursue a relationship that is purely based on sex.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I don’t want to clop Trixie, nor am I keeping the others at bay on purpose.

I miss Luna, too.

“AAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!” Dusk cried in frustration. “Why is this so hard? I can’t just leave a message like that from Celestia unattended!” He had been writing different versions of the same letter for an hour or so, and so far he had no luck whatsoever on sending the proper response. Fortunately, he didn’t have to, for another message came from out of Spike’s mouth.

Dear Dusk Shine,

I’m sorry for asking such a rude question, forgive me. Unfortunately, this is also a letter for strictly business.

A dragon has been snoring in the mountains, and causing a lot of smoke doing it. The earth pony’s crops are already suffering from a lack of sunlight. We cannot let this continue. Since the dragon is residing in a mountain nearby Ponyville, it is suitable that you and your friends here go up there to persuade him to move elsewhere, by any means necessary.

Your benevolent teacher (That’s still very sorry!),

Princess Celestia of Equestria

P.S. I’m sending some reinforcements, so don’t go until nightfall. I must remind you that this is a peaceful mission and violence is a last resort, especially when dealing with a dragon., but I want to make sure that my subjects are safe, including you.

Dusk Shine read the letter aloud to the other Elements of Harmony, plus Spike & Trixie. When he finished, there was an unexpected uproar of debate about the reinforcements.

“Why is Celestia making us wait for backup?” demanded Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie can handle herself, thank you very much! (Unless it’s an Ursa Major or Minor, then you’re on your own.)”

“Yeah!” agreed Pinkie Pie. “Our canon versions got to go alone, so why shouldn’t we?”

“Why do we have to wait until dark?” complained Rainbow Dash. “I want to kick some dragon butt ASAP, not wait around some Royal Guards just to slow us down.”

“Look,” said Dusk like he was explaining this to a bunch of grade-schoolers that missed their naptime, “I know it might be inconvenient, but this is for our own safety. Elements of Harmony or not, we’re still just civilians. And it’s pretty much illegal in most countries to request civilians to hunt down a dragon without drafting them. I mean, who in their right mind would just tell us to go and confront one of the most dangerous creatures alive totally unarmed? That would be stupid.”

“B-but why do we still have to wait until after sundown?” Fluttershy spoke up. “I’m s-s-scared of the dark.”

Dusk thought for a moment, scratching his head. “You know, that’s a pretty good question. Why would it take so long to get down to Ponyville? The trip isn’t that far.” He looked at the setting sun. “Well, we’ll be sure to ask them when they get here.”

As if on cue, a couple sky-carriages drifted down to our heroes. The first was gilded with the golden metal, symbolizing Celestia’s guiding sun, and was pulled by two ordinary pegasus guards. The other chariot was more darkly colored and styled, pulled by ponies with bat-wings and snakelike eyes. Riding the much-more-metal was a dozy-looking Luna, her light-blue mane in a bedhead.

“Princess Luna!” exclaimed the Elements of Harmony. Trixie looked in bewilderment.

“…Who?” the showmare asked.

“GREETINGS, OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS!” Luna said, her sleepy demeanor not getting better of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “FEAR NOT, FOR THIS DRAGON WILL BE ENLIGHTENED BY THE DIPLOMACY OF THINE PRINCESS!!”

“Who is this?” said Trixie, slightly irritated. “What’s with the fake horn? Even the Great and Powerful Trixie knows that Celestia herself is the only alicorn alive!”

“WHAT BLASPHEMY IS THIS?!” said Luna. HAVE THOU NOT HEARD OF OUR RETURN? WE ART PRINCESS LUNA, MISTRESS OF THE NIGHT!”

“Never heard of you,” said Trixie nonchalantly.

“Note to self,” said Luna in what she considered her indoor voice, “Remind Tia to spread more publicity of her own sister’s redeeming from the dark side.” She lifted her volume again. “WHAT IS THY NAME, SORCERESS?”

“Why, you speak to none other than the Great and Powerful Trixie, of course!” the blue unicorn said with pride.

“WHY DOTH THOU NOT SAY ‘I’ WHEN REFERING TO THYSELF?”

“Why don’t you?”

“…GOOD POINT,” said Luna.

“Excuse me,” said Dusk Shine, “But we were wondering: Why do we have to wait until dark to go on this mission? Wouldn’t make more sense to go in the morning?”

“AN EXCELLENT QUESTION, ROYAL BOYFRIEND-”

“Royal Boyfriend??” said Rarity, fuming with rage and gritted teeth.

“-AND HERE IS THY ANSWER: WE ARE TO ACCOMPANY THEE ON THIS QUEST, FOR THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN WITHSTAND THE WRATH OF AN IMMORTAL PRINCESS! BUT, IN ORDER FOR US TO AT FULL POWER, YOUR PRINCESS NEEDS HER BEAUTY SLEEP.”

“Then why did we wait until night?” questioned Dusk for a third time. “Ponies sleep at night!”

“NOT THIS PONY,” explained Luna. “IN ORDER TO ORGANIZE THE MOON AND STARS, WE MUST KEEP A SLEEP-SCHEDULE THAT IS STRICTLY NOCTURNAL!”

“You stayed awake for the Thanks-For-Not-Casting-the-World-in-Darkness-Party I threw for you,” pointed out Pinkie. “And it was daytime then.”

“TWAS A ONE-TIME THING, AS THE COMMONERS SAY NOWADAYS,” said Luna, wrapping up one of the most enraging plot holes in the series.

The rider of the first sky-carriage hopped out. He was white unicorn stallion with a blue mullet, and he wore a custom-made set of purple armor.

“Shiny!” said Dusk Shine, addressing Shining Armor. “How long has it been?”

“Too long, Shiny,” said his older brother. The peculiar thing about Dusk and Shining is that they called each other by the same nickname. Nopony else called either of the two “Shiny,” so there was a surprising lack of confusion. “I heard that you were going to meet a dragon toe-to-toe, so I found it the perfect excuse to go and catch up with my favorite little bro. And if I recall…” he leaned in close to Dusk “…I think you have to be punished for not writing to me.”

“Oh no,” said Dusk in horror, “You don’t mean…”

“Oh, but I mean…” repeated Shining Armor, grinning ear to ear on what was going to happen next. “…NOOGIE TIME!!!” The Captain of the Royal Guard pounced on his brother, instantly trapping the bookworm in a headlock and rubbing his noggin affectionately.

“Dusk has a big brother?” said Fluttershy. “Can he fill in for me on this ‘sleeping dragon’ trip? I think I hear my squirrels calling for food.”

Dusk Shine escaped the headlock put a loving hoof around Fluttershy’s front leg. “Hey, don’t worry about your pets,” he said. “I told Spike to take care of them while we’re gone.”

“Hold up,” said Applejack. “Y’all mean ta tell me that we’re gonna convince a dragon ta move condos an’ we’re gonna leave the ONLY one of its kind back home?”

“I don’t think you’re getting the point of dragon psychology,” said Shining Armor. “Having a dragon hatchling won’t improve our chances. What we need is someone with power and that’s why Luna’s here with us.”

“Nice to know that I’m useless,” Spike grumbled. “I’ll be here stuck bunny-sitting.” Fluttershy, scared that her excuse was dashed away, hid behind Shining Armor.

“Just promise me that the dragon won’t hurt me, alright?” she said nervously. “That’s your job as a Royal Guard; to protect and serve?”

“That’s right,” said Shining confidently. “It’s my sworn duty to protect all of you.” Fluttershy hugged Shining even tighter, comforted by this fact. Dusk Shine then painfully remembered the one drawback of having his brother around.

Shining Armor always got all the mares.

This wasn’t a problem back when Dusk was in magic kindergarten, but as soon as the two brothers hit puberty, fillies swarmed around Shining like bees to honey. In fact, the main reason why Dusk was so unpopular in middle school wasn’t because that was nerdy and unattractive (in fact, he was quite cute), it was because he was in the constant shadow of his older brother. By the time Shiny and Shiny graduated, one had completely indulged himself in his studies beyond any possibility of even making friends, while the other had enrolled in military school.

And now, the most beautiful mare in Dusk’s life was snuggling up to his older brother. Dusk Shine was not amused. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie was there to break the tension.

“Omigosh, this is the best idea EVER!” she squealed. “I mean, we get to meet Shining Armor in A Canterlot Wedding, but that’s aaaaalllll the way in Season 2! It was a really, really, big surprise for me, and not the good surprises you find at a surprise party. A real shocker! I was like, ‘Twilight, you never told us that you had a brother!’ and Twi was like ‘Wah-wah-wah, he’s the only foalhood friend I’ve ever had and I’ve even sang a song about it, so now I’m emo,’ but then we get ANOTHER big revelation that the one Shining’s marrying is not only the other ‘only foalhood friend that Twilight’s ever had,’ (because that so common in the first place!) but she’s a bucking alicorn too! Talk about Mary Sues!”

“What’s she talking about?” asked Shining Armor.

“That’s just Pinkie Pie,” sighed Dusk. “Ignore her, and you’ll stay sane.”

“I’m pretty sure she said something about me getting married at some point.” The older brother said.

“I repeat: Ignore her, and you’ll stay sane.”

Author's Notes:

Welp, the proofreading took awhile, but we finally got Chapter 9 finished! It’s a little short, and it literally leaves MUCH to be desired, so let’s add some content with some tropes:

Rairty is a Clingy Jealous Girl, to the point of being a borderline (but Loveable) Alpha Bitch.

Shining Armor is The Ace, but more accurately an Aloof Big Brother.

What Could Have Been: I was originally going to write a story where Caramel was the lead, but decided that a genderflipped Twilight Sparkle was not only a more likeable character, but was open to more possibilities.

Trixie is a Sixth Ranger, so get used to her.

X meets Y: I based Pinkamena’s character off the relationship Fluttershy/Fluttercruel had in the Reharmonized Ponies POV Series, and added some humor from a comic book called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac for good measure. I also wanted her to be a Cool Big Sis/Mama Bear to Pinkie, but it sorta didn’t come off right. Maybe she’ll develop into one, if I get the chance.

Angel is such a Badass Baritone/Badass Adorable, it's Testosterone Poisoning.

You’ve hated/praised me for Pinkie having No Fourth Wall, but that’s just her character in this fic. Stop making a big deal out of it. She uses her Genre Savvyness (scratch that, with Pinkamena she’s Dangerously Genere Savvy!) to make it though the day, and maybe win Dusk’s affections.

Abuse is Okay If it’s Female on Male:
STOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMP…

And to top it off, this comment is a Wall of Text.