Chapter 7: Platinum vs Baby bear

Hello, how are you? I hope you are well.

I feel like writing lately, so here's the new chapter.

I don't know how long it will last, so I'm going to make the most of it.

Anyway, enjoy!

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This fanfiction was created by a fan for fans for the purpose of improving in the art of writing.

This story can and most likely will have spelling errors.

Any criticism (constructive or not) will be read and appreciated.

This story is not going to be a HIE or G5, it will be tinged to the G4 story, MLP: FIM.

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"Come on Twilight, you can do it!" said Spike's excited voice, giving encouragement to the mare in front of us.

I just nodded encouragingly in a way to show my support.

"Okay, here goes." Twilight said as she pointed at Spike, causing her horn to light up from the obvious use of her magic and after a second, a glow appeared on Spike's face, growing a mustache, showing that the spell worked.

"Ha-ha, you did it!"

I just smiled and nodded, ticking off the chalkboard next to me.

What were we doing? It should be obvious but we were practicing magic. Or well, actually it was more me helping and encouraging Twilight to learn a few tricks that don't really do any good but she still wants to learn because she does.

Why wasn't I doing that too? Simple, I didn't want to.

The tricks Twilight was practicing I either already knew or I just didn't want to learn them, I have my own repertoire of magic spells anyway, so I don't need to learn some useless spells.

Not that I was going to say it out loud.

"Growing magic. That's number 25. Twenty-five different kinds of tricks and counting." Hearing what Spike said, Twilight averted her gaze modestly and embarrassed.

"Not surprising, when you have such good teachers." I said, putting a little emphasis on me. Oh, and also on Princess Celestia. Seeing Twilight's unimpressed look, I stopped my false boasting and smiled. "Honestly, Twilight, you've done very well. Keep it up and you can master every spell known and yet to be known."

Twilight gave me a grateful and doubtful look. "Thank you but I don't think that will happen. Even Princess Celestia can't master every spell in existence. Besides, you know more spells than I do." She said to then look at me with a look that said I forgot something. "besides sir, you still have to teach me those spells you created and have not yet made known."

Ah yes, that. Well. "I'm sure you will be the first to master all the spells, surpassing me and even Princess Celestia." I said averting my gaze so as not to look her in the eye, though I know my obvious attempt to deflect the subject again was to no avail.

"And I think this is the best trick yet!" said Spike interrupting our conversation, happily looking at his appearance in the mirror we brought along in case of unforeseen side effects. "Hey, Rarity, what's this? Aw, it's nothing; just my awesome mustache!" said Spike fantasizing about meeting Rarity with his new "awesome" appearance.

At that I just shook my head to look at the book next to me that contained the spells Twilight was practicing. While it's true that some of the spells Twilight practiced today are of no interest to me, it's nice to have a more experienced supporting hand in case things go wrong.

It has always been that way, because I am more practical when it comes to using spells, I have been able to learn more spells, but I have also suffered from the consequences of misusing a spell.

Twilight, on the other hand, likes to focus on learning and perfecting the theory before casting a spell, so even though she has fewer spells than I do, she is less prone to making mistakes when using them.

But just because she's less prone doesn't mean she can't make mistakes, and that's why I'm here. Wanting my experience with the negative parts of using a spell so I can fix it.

Plus, it gives me a break from my failed side in the Glyphs.

Let me explain, it's not that the Glyphs don't really work, they serve their purpose... but not in the way they should.

I know I'm not being clear but here's the explanation. As you may recall, unlike runes, Glyphs should be able to create any spell by using the magic around us to create it. But so far, all they have done is create something, not the spell as such.

If you remember, several episodes ago, my first success with my Glyphs was with elemental magic, since then I have tried to redo the experiment very carefully, just not with fire, as I don't want to accidentally set the library on fire.

And I have succeeded, to a very small extent.

Say for example, water elemental magic. The spell I put in should create a small bubble of water but instead all it did was wet the floor. The same with the wind.

So far, I've only managed to make baby steps with the Glyphs, not managing to advance the way I would like to.

On the flip side, with the runes things have been going great. I have recently managed to perfect the levitation rune and am even in the process of creating a rune to create a shield, but it is still in progress.

I have also ordered a sewing machine as well as a crystal carving machine so I can put the runes on my clothes and give them a nice embroidery in the process.

But even though it's days away, I haven't wasted any time and have been reading and learning how to knit and how to crystal carve things, so that when the time comes, I don't fail and ruin the things Rarity gave me in good faith.

I also need to get some fabric and some jewelry to practice beforehand.

While I could certainly ask Rarity for some help in learning about weaving to do the embroidery, I don't want to do that for three simple reasons.

One, I'm better at learning on my own. I'm pretty self-taught and have managed to learn a lot of things on my own. School helped but I made a lot of progress on my own, and a little help from Twilight.

Two, I want it to be a surprise. What's the point of me going to do something I don't even know is going to work if I can't impress my audience. Where's the fun in that?

Three, it's a matter of pride. Yeah, I'm not the kind of pony who likes to ask others for help, I'd rather make it on my own.

Ah~, sometimes pride is such a cruel and merciless enemy.

Anyway, back to the story.

"Sorry Romeo. As attractive and seductive as you look, it's just for practice and it has to go." Twilight said with an amused smile then used her magic to get rid of Spike's mustache, despite his protests. She then looked at me to tell me that she wasn't going to forget the subject we had talked about.

I just smiled, knowing that it would be very difficult for Twilight to get the information out of me.

At that moment, my stomach growled in protest to remind me that I hadn't had breakfast. Twilight and Spike laughed at the sound and I could only groan, no, I didn't pout, men don't pout anyway.

Or do they...? Hmm.

"What do you say we wrap up practice for today and go to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast?" asked Twilight with an amused smile on her face, to which I agreed with a sheepish grin as I levitated the book back to its place of origin.

Anyway, it's always nice to go out and eat some good breakfast treats.

If my mother saw what I was going to eat for breakfast, she'd definitely kill me.

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Today was a rather beautiful day if I may say, walking on the right side of our trio with Spike in the middle and Twilight on the left. After a successful morning of magic practice, we deserved a rest and a nice snack full of sweets.

Anyway, even though I initially didn't want to come and stay in Ponyville, I have grown quite fond of this little town. While it's not a large town, it falls more in the category of a large town than a town if you ask me, that makes the ponies in this town very friendly and quite welcoming. While I don't see myself being friends with several of them in the short or long term, they are still better than the noble snobs that are in Canterlot.

Besides, this town hasn't harmed my scientific/magical advancement at all, despite what some ponies might think- in fact, I can think of the chief advisor to the ministry of magic having a fit watching me decide to spend more time with other ponies than focusing on developing my magic- but it's quite the opposite.

I've been more relaxed than I've been in years! Going all out to learn and create magic may have caused me to create a few spells but I had always felt stressed out.

For what purpose I did it, I really don't know anymore. I guess, subconsciously, I wanted to prove myself to show that I can be useful.

It's the same kind of thinking I had during the communities, and I didn't realize it because I enjoyed doing this kind of work.

But now? Spending time with Twilight and the other girls has opened my eyes to realize that I shouldn't stress too much about my work and to enjoy the little things more, and in a way my friendship with Twilight has deepened.

Our little fight a week ago over the gryphon altercation was the first fight we've had in years and although some would think that you shouldn't argue with your friends, it's quite the opposite, as arguing can bring good things.

Although I won't do it often, Twilight is scary when she's angry.

"Twenty-five Twilight! Twenty-five different kinds of tricks and counting!" said Spike reminding us of what just happened not too long ago, still sounding impressed by the unicorn's abilities. "I thought I knew unicorns were supposed to have a little magic to match their special talents."

Seeing Spike stand in front of us, I decide to answer him, "While that is true Spike, that only goes for ponies whose talent is singing, or cooking or even teaching. But what if said pony's talent is magic?" I said throwing a rhetorical question to the dragon for him to think about.

Now this is something that didn't make sense to me. Why in a magical world wouldn't magic be the most relevant thing? We literally live in a world where magic can make things a whole lot easier for us!

The answer? The cutie marks. As you may know, cutie marks basically tell you what the unicorn is going to do with its life, or at least that's how most ponies interpret it.

Some do well with that, as their cutie marks are literally the things they like to do, but there are some cutie marks that should not be taken literally and could mean something else.

Like Rarity's cutie mark, that even though they look like diamonds and could imply that she would work well with crystals, the truth is that her talent is clothes, knowing how to decorate them and how to make them look good.

Now, what does that have to do with development in magic? Simple, once they have found their calling, they focus on it and there are an incredibly small amount of unicorns that focus on magic throughout history.

The only famous ones are Twilight's idol, Starswirl the Bearded, or Ancient Wisdom. They are the only famous unicorns known to have focused on magic.

Sure, there have been several spells created throughout history, but the spells in general don't number much more than 250, at most. And those are the spells that everyone can learn, I don't count the forbidden spells, or spells that only work with a certain special talent.

In retrospect, even though this world is magical, magic hasn't advanced much because of cutie marks.

"Like Twilight! Or like you, Platinum! How many tricks do you know?" asked Spike, now focusing his attention on me.

At the question, I couldn't help but stop and think. "Counting the spells I created, about 35 or so." Even though I've focused the last few years on creating me runes and Glyphs, it doesn't mean I haven't found time to study and learn magic that already exists, part of that I know I owe to Twilight and my parents.

Seeing the surprised looks from both Twilight and Spike, I couldn't help but blush with embarrassment, "It's no big deal, if I didn't count the spells I create, I'd have just a little more than Twilight, it would only be 26." And that's including among the ones I create my Glyphs and my runes.

I know this seems very convenient, but as I said before, Twilight and I have different ways of learning and my reckless style has certain advantages.

"That's awesome Platinum, you and Twilight have a lot of magic!" said Spike and I could have sworn I saw stars in his eyes when he said that.

"Oh, Spike, stop it. I'm sure there are plenty of ponies here in Ponyville who know as much magic as me or Platinum." Modesty aside Twilight, what didn't you just hear what I said in my internal monologue?

"Are you kidding?" asked Spike in agreement with my inner monologue. "I don't think there's another unicorn in Equestria with the kind of skills you two have."

At that, I nodded. "That's true. Don't underestimate yourself Twilight, while you may not know as much magic as I do, it doesn't mean you're falling behind. You're a talented unicorn and you shouldn't be ashamed of that fact." Ah, look how nervous she looks at the praise she received, I couldn't help but laugh at that, which earned me a small tap on the shoulder.

"Coming through!" An incoming voice yelled which quickly caused me to step aside for two little ponies to run past, one of which I know accidentally took Spike with them, leaving me and Twilight behind.

"And those were...?" I asked looking up at the two little unicorn foals who for some reason were in a hurry.

Twilight sighed in disbelief. "Snips and Snails." ...Hmm, nope, those names don't ring any bells in my head.

I simply shrugged as I approached the foals who, thankfully, weren't too far away.

"Didn't you hear, Ponyville has a new unicorn in town!" said the tallest and skinniest one, which I think is Snails.

"Yeah! They say it has more magical power than any other unicorn ever seen!" said the short but chubby one, who I guess must be Snips.

Huh, you know, these guys look familiar and not in a good way, I think I can remember them in a movie I didn't like at all but they were the henchmen of the villain in that movie.

This whole thing doesn't give me confidence, these foals seem very gullible.

"Really?" asked the now dejected unicorn next to me, which made me look at her with concern.

"Uh, no way. That honor goes to Twilight and Platinum." Spike said pointing at the two of us, which made us both blush with embarrassment.

To which Twilight then looked at the duo, "Where is this unicorn?"

"Oh, she's in the town square. Come!"

"Yeah! Come!"

They said to then run off, quite presumably to the meeting point where this unicorn is.

To which Twilight and Spike hurried after them.

I lag behind "but, breakfast..." at which point my belly roars in agreement with me, but I decide to ignore it and follow them.

There was something about Twilight's reaction that worried me.

Besides, there might be food.

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Hey, there's already a crowd, looks like the word spread fast. And besides, there's no food, disappointing.

Making our way to the front of the crowd along with the girls, I look over to see a carriage in the middle of town painted yellow with a crescent sign with stars, it looks like that carriage does his show but he also lives there.

Let's see what our visitor has in store.

"Come on, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" said the voice inside the carriage and then appeared in a puff of smoke, revealing the mare in question.

The mare herself was a star of the show, she has a light blue coat, her mane and tail are pale blue and her eyes are violet. Her clothing is a purple cloak decorated with stars, the same as her hat.

Overall, the mare herself was nothing special, besides having a nice color in her coat and mane, but she doesn't seem to be the most talented unicorn in the world.

Let's see what she does.

Although I don't understand why everyone gasped in amazement, if all she did was use smoke and teleportation to appear.

Hmm, teleportation… I think I have an idea for the next rune.

"Behold in awe–" the unicorn began dramatically with visible signs, "–as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by a pony!" She finished loudly, causing fireworks to suddenly appear, making me blink.

Yep, she's just a showmare. There's nothing wrong with that, but given how gullible ponies can be, I don't doubt some might be offended by this.

"My, my, my, what boastfulness." Look, someone's already offended, and none other than the most dramatic mare I know.

"Oh, come on." Spike groaned in agreement with Rarity. "No pony has more magic than Platinum and Twi-Twi-Twi…" he started to say only to stop halfway, realizing he was next to Rarity. "Uh, hey Rarity, uh- I gotta run!" I couldn't help but laugh at the dragon's hasty retreat.

"There's nothing wrong with having talent, right?" Twilight asked rather uncertainty, making me shift my gaze from the show to her in concern.

"Not at all." I heard Applejack's voice respond a few meters away, "Except when someone goes around showing it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons."

"The fact that one has the ability to perform lots of magic doesn't make one better than the rest of us!" Rarity added kindly, making me look at them in bewilderment. She's just a showmare, for Celestia's sake, they're acting as if it's wrong to entertain an audience with her magical talent.

Besides, it's not even as bad as the arrogance Rainbow Dash can have.

"Especially when you have me around being better than the rest of us." See, the humble Pegasus proves my point once again.

Seriously, her arrogance annoys me sometimes.

"Er-I mean, yeah!" It seems someone managed to make the arrogant mare reconsider to turn against a common target. "Magic, Shmagic! Boo!"

"Come on girls, you're overreacting." I said, looking at the three mares who were bothered by the show. "It's just street performance, ponies who do this tend to exaggerate their skills to attract an audience."

"I get it, Sugarcube, but one thing is exaggerating your skills, another is calling yourself the most magical unicorn of all." Applejack said, making me raise an eyebrow at her.

Unfortunately, it seems that Miss Trixie heard us. "Well, well, well, it seems we have some NEIGH-sayers in the audience!" I couldn't help but laugh at the way she said that, interrupting whatever she was going to say. "Who is so IGNORANT as to laugh AND challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Eh, it seems I was wrong, she still said it.

It seems I couldn't prevent the conflict from starting, and although I would normally side with Trixie since she doesn't deserve to be interrupted in the middle of her show, in this case, she is asking for it.

"Who does she think she is?" Rarity asked nearby, making me facehoof because she's basically inciting something to happen.

And of course, Spike had to join in. "Yeah! Everyone knows that Plat-" before he could finish his sentence, I put a hoof in his mouth, silencing him. No Spike, I'm not going to remove it just because you're licking my hoof. Ouch! And even less because you're biting me.

And why are you giving me a grateful look, Twilight? I only did it to prevent the conflict from escalating further.

And why are there so many fireworks? That wasn't necessary to make your point. And where did she get so many fireworks?

"So 'Great and Powerful' Trixie–" Rainbow Dash began, interrupting the show to be face to face with the other mare. "What makes you think you're so amazing anyway?"

The blue mare laughed in response, as if the other blue mare was inferior to her. "Why, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to defeat the dreaded Ursamajor!" Her voice rose as the trumpets lit up with magic, forming the shape of a bear that definitely isn't an Ursamajor.

What? When you study the different creatures that live in Equestria, you know what some of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria look like, and the image she's showing doesn't look like a major, it looks more like an Ursaminor.

"When all hope was lost–" the mare began dramatically as gasps of disbelief sounded from the audience "–The ponies of Puffington had no one to turn to! But the Great and Powerful Trixie–" oh, I get it now, it's a kind of backstory to give credibility to her skills "–And with her amazing magic, she defeated the Ursamajor back to its cave; deep within the Everfree Forest!"

That... has a lot of inconsistencies. I'm not sure exactly where that place is, I'd have to look it up on the map when I get back to the library but even if it's somehow near Ponyville, then the Ursamajor would have come here in blind rage, tearing this town apart.

Besides, Ursamajor don't attack unless provoked or if their offspring are in danger, so unless some pony provoked it, the ursa would have no reason to attack that town.

But it seems I am the only one, for the foals were praising her as if her words were enough to prove such an act.

The tallest one approached the stage and gestured to the cocky mare. "Trixie really is the most talented, magical and amazing unicorn in all of Ponyville!" he said so that then his friend would be closer, "No, in all of Equestria!"

"How do they know? You didn't see it! Besides, Platinum and Twi..." he was interrupted this time by Twilight who used her magic to create a leash, closing Spike's mouth.

The pony let out an arrogant giggle, "That's right, my enthusiastic little fans. Trixie is without a doubt the best in Ponyville." At that, the audience fell silent, with no one to agree with her in the face of such boasting.

Ugh, and I hoped that for once this could be resolved peacefully.

"You don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Very well, I challenge you, ponyvillains. Anything you can do; I can do better." Said the mare arrogantly, as I simply closed my eyes and put my hoofs between my eyes in disbelief. "Any takers, anyone, or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine that ever lived?" oh great, more fireworks, this is getting annoying.

Spike suddenly threw himself at our hoofs. "Please! She's unbearable!" He said as he looked at us pleadingly, "you have to show her, you just have to!"

Twilight looked at Spike with insecurity shining in her eyes, "There's no way I'm using my magic now, Spike. Especially since-"

She was interrupted by the pony on stage. "Hmm, how about...you!" she said pointing towards us, making Twilight swallow saliva.

Though as it turned out, it wasn't toward her, but toward Applejack, who had no problem showing off some tricks.

Upon being called upon, Applejack took the stage and proceeded to show off an incredible trick with the use of her rope, only for Trixie using simple magic to do the cheap version of what Applejack did, humiliating her in the process, causing my right eye to twitch.

Look, I wouldn't have a problem if I had done something similar to what Applejack did, since with magic it's possible, but I don't even try to do it, I just use simple, effortless magic to do what Applejack did but worse.

Two things bother me about it, one that they mess with my friend and another, the poor use she's making of magic.

And everyone is buying it for some reason! What she did wasn't even impressive.

Deep breaths Platinum, you're better than this, you already learned it with Gilda.

Then Rainbow proceeded to show off her speed and what did the "Great and Powerful" Trixie do? Use a whirlwind spell to spin Rainbow around and make her dizzy, making my eye twitch again.

But it's okay, I'm not going to let my anger get the better of me.

Next was Rarity, who summoned a beautiful dress for some reason. Then the "Great and Powerful" used a spell to change her hair color to green, which wasn't too bad but still made Rarity cry, which made my eye twitch again.

Phew, and also my tummy reminds me that I'm hungry at the worst possible time.

"Well, Twilight, Platinum. It's all up to you two now. Come on, show that pony what you're made of." At Spike's words, all the ponies around us looked at us to see.

Ah great, social pressure.

"What do you mean Spike? We're not special." Twilight said trying to dispel the attention from us and I nodded, since I had nothing to show for it.

Sure, the mare has annoyed the hell out of me for the humiliation she's put my friends through but if I do anything it could be another Gilda event, causing me to argue with Twilight again over another stupid thing and I don't want to fight.

Besides, I have nothing to show anyone.

I don't know what happened while I was distracted, but suddenly I could see Twilight running away.

And suddenly, I could hear inside me the sound of glass shattering.

"What about you, little stallion?" said Trixie now fixing on me, "do you have anything that can outdo the Great and Powerful Trixie." She said arrogantly.

I, with my patience frazzled but managing to keep my cool, decided to simply show the mare in front of me a little trick.

Using a simple spell, I start walking towards her, but I know create some sort of stairs in front of me, helping me to climb up to the stage.

This simple spell made her look at me in surprise, which made me frown. This was just a simple spell it was one of the first spells I created and it is published in Equestria's magical journal, how is she surprised by a simple spell.

Before the arrogant mare could say anything, I activated my magic and concentrated my mind on the clouds. Obeying my command, the clouds moved and began to gather, forming an image. When finished, they had created a sculpture of Princess Celestia.

As they finished, I could hear the audience and the girls applaud at the amazing sculpture I had just created, but I just stared at the mare in front of me, raising my eyebrow.

Trixie had been left speechless by the spell I had just performed, but seeing how the audience was impressed, she tried to regain their attention. "Hmph, what is a simple cloud sculpture compared to the Great and Powerful Trixie? Watch and learn, foolish stallion," she said as she used her magic to light the trumpets to create another illusion, this time of herself but brighter and with more fireworks.

The audience applauded politely, but many were still in awe of the sculpture in the clouds. I just smiled, I didn't need to say a single word, I'll let my sculpture speak for me.

Trixie, noticing that the audience was not left in stunned amazement at her magic, scowls angrily and looks at me. "And who are you supposed to be to try to upstage the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

In response, I laughed dryly and said, "Try? I don't need to try. But if you must know, my name is Platinum Breeze." With that, I finished by giving a bow as I activated my magic, causing Trixie's fireworks to go off at that moment.

Sheesh, how many fireworks does this mare have?

The audience, seeing what I had done, cheered even louder, with Rainbow, Applejack and Spike being the loudest.

Trixie seeing this, angrily declares, "I will remember your name, Platinum Breeze." She said and then walked into her dressing room, but not before telling the audience, "Remember, ponies of Ponyville! Only the Great and Powerful Trixie is the most magical of all the unicorns!"

Noticing that she was already gone, I walked off the stage using the same spell as before. Seeing that the show was over, the ponies began to retreat and go back to what they were doing before.

Back on the ground, the girls and Spike approached, with Spike hugging my front hooves. "You did it, Platinum! You showed that arrogant pony what you're made of!"

At that I smiled, my anger calming down. "It was nothing Spike, it was a simple trick." I said as I stroked Spike's head.

Upon hearing my words, Rainbow Dash gave me a perplexed look, as if I had sprouted a second head. "Nothing? That was the coolest thing I've ever seen anyone do! Well, except for me, obviously!"

Hearing Rainbow's words, Applejack shakes her head but still smiles. "Well, I'll be darned, Sugarcube. That was mighty fine work. You sure do have a knack for magic," she said, admiring the cloud sculpture for a moment.

At her words, I smiled but shook my head, "thanks but like I said, what I did was nothing, it was just a spell I created a few years ago for a talent show." Then at that precise moment, my stomach growled in protest, reminding me that I still have to eat breakfast. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to eat."

Finishing my sentence, I break away from Spike and clack hooves with the two mares and the dragon and then head to Sugarcube Corner for a well-deserved snack.

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After well-deserved snack, I returned to the library and entered it, immediately spotting the lavender unicorn who was reading a book.

"Hey Twilight, do you know where Spike is, I brought you both something from Sugarcube Corner!" I said once I approached her, levitating a bag of cupcakes Pinkie prepared, only to notice Twilight ignoring me in favor of reading her book.

Acquiring a worried look, I set the bag of food on the ground as I approached the unicorn mare. "Twilight?"

"...Platinum, do you think I'm a little show off?" said Twilight stopping reading the book to give me a sidelong glance.

Huh? "No, why?" I couldn't help but frown at that. Twilight and show off don't go in the same sentence. If anything, I'd be the show off one between the two of us.

"I just thought that, with the way our friends were reacting to Trixie's talents-"

"Now, wait a minute." I interrupted her pessimistic speech by putting a hoof in her mouth, causing her to look at me annoyed at what I just did. "Just because you're pretty adept at magic, do you think girls will react around you like they did to her?"

She shrugged helplessly, averting her head nervously and away from my hoof in her mouth to answer. "You've seen how much they hate Trixie's bragging, the idea of going out and showing off my magic would risk losing the friendship between me and them!" She confessed, looking at me for comfort.

Which I was willing to give, giving her shoulder a squeeze, "Twilight, if anything, the smug one would be me." I said making her look at me confused. "After you left, I ended up accepting Trixie's challenge, making use of my number 1 spell to create a sculpture of Princess Celestia out of clouds."

Upon hearing that, the mare gave me a confused look before starting to ponder what the number 1 spell was, as I had told her everything about my spells. She then gazed at the ceiling, likely having a flashback.

And since you can't look at her flashback, let me tell you what she's probably remembering.

At Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, every year they have a talent show so that the young unicorns can highlight their talents and what they learned in their class semesters.

One day, I decided to participate just because I felt like it, if I'm honest, Twilight obviously knew about it and was incredulous that I was participating, but she decided to support me, since she didn't want to participate that year.

For the talent show I wanted to do something special, something unique to show in front of the public and I set out to create my first spell.

It took me several sleepless nights, since creating a spell the first time was not easy, but in the end I succeeded. The spell itself was a simple manipulation of clouds to move and make a sculpture of Princess Celestia.

I would be surprised how few spells manipulate the clouds on behalf of the Pegasus, as if they didn't want to stand in the way of the Pegasus' dominance.

Anyway, I didn't win that contest because I was too tired and made an ugly sculpture of the Princess, but they were still pretty impressed and gave me third place.

I lost to an illusionary spell showing the eruption of a volcano.

Yes, I was a little (a lot) bit upset to find out what I lost to.

As she finished her flashback, Twilight looked at me with disbelief in her eyes.

Seeing her look at me in disbelief, I smiled and decided to continue giving the pep talks. "Twilight, you are many things but a dhow off is not one of them. Sometimes you can be a little selfish, but that's not a crime. It's something you acquired through your serious studies and your experience. It's not for nothing that you're Princess Celestia's student."

"But that's not all, Platinum; what if they think badly of me because I'm Princess Celestia's student? What if, with Trixie around, they might start to think I'm like her?" said Twilight with a hint of despair in her voice, as she looked at her book sadly.

"...In any case, they should hate me for what I did, don't you think?" I said, making her look at me with surprise, so I decided to continue, "At the end of the day, it was me who had a magical duel with this artist because she got on my nerves, and yet none of the girls was bothered with me or said anything bad. It's no different with you." Invoking my magic, I brought the bag containing the cupcake I had brought and handed it to her. "Just because this unicorn brags more about the skills she thinks she has doesn't mean that someone else would think the same of another magically adept unicorn. So no, Twilight, you're not conceited. You're a pretty modest, powerful, and skilled pony, and I know the rest of the girls are proud to be around you."

I let her process what I just said and stepped away for a bit to tidy up the library, which for some reason had several books down that I don't remember being here when I left.

"...Thanks Platinum, I needed that." After a long pause, Twilight looked at me with gratitude in her eyes then frowned. "although it doesn't help me with what I have to do in case I show off in front of everyone. so, what-?"

"Twilight, you don't have to brag in front of anyone." I interrupted her with a soft but amused smile. "That's Rainbow Dash's department. The best thing you can do is let things happen, this Trixie girl will eventually be out of this town sooner or later, it's only a matter of time."

"You say that like you know her." Twilight pointed out with a curious look.

At that, I shrugged, "I don't know her personally, if you think about it, but I know her kind. I don't know stay in one town for too long, looking for a better audience to show their 'talents' to, and also more gullible ponies to believe their words."

After a moment's consideration, Twilight nodded at my words. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Platinum." She said to then give me a hug, I'm getting a lot of those lately.

I just smiled and hugged her back happy that I was able to help her feel better, I know it feels good to be able to help your friends.

Now, I can't help but wonder, where is Spike?

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In the end I couldn't answer my own question and ended up worrying, which brings me to now, with me searching the streets at night for him to try to find out where he was.

Apparently, Spike had arrived before me at the library to try to convince Twilight to challenge Trixie because she didn't seem to be humiliated by our little "duel" but Twilight turned him down.

No problems with that, as it's up to everyone to decide how to act in these cases, but Spike stormed out of the library and hasn't been back since.

Dragon or not, he's still underage and since he still hasn't returned even though it was already dark, I decided to go out looking for him.

"Spike?" I shouted as I walked down the dark street, with only my horn lighting my way as I searched for my little friend.

"Where are you Spike?" I said looking everywhere in hopes of finding the young dragon.

"Platinum!"

A loud startled cry interrupted me from my walk, blinking in surprise as I saw the young dragon running in my direction. "Spike? What's wrong-? Argh!" The startled lizard didn't stop in his tracks, landing right on my legs, causing me to fall over from the sudden impact and land on the ground as the dragon quickly gave me an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry! But you have to do something fast-!" he couldn't finish his sentence as three other figures crashed into him and landed fortunately around me.

Getting up and shaking the dirt and dust off my body and clothes, I look over to see that the figures were the terrified ponies Snips, Snails and Trixie, all facing the same direction. I blinked when suddenly Spike hid behind me like some sort of shield, "Okay, what's going on with all of you-?" I said looking at them and then shutting up as I felt the ground vibrations, looking to where they were looking.

An earthquake? Another stampede by any chance...?

Oh, [Beep] me.

I felt my eyes widen and my body freeze in fear as I looked up from the ground at the nearby giant furry transparent beast with a giant star on its forehead, sharp dangerous teeth clenched and yellow predator eyes glaring furiously at its prey.

Which in this case is us.

An Ursa Minor. Why in Equestria is there an Ursa Minor here in Ponyville?

"Why the hell is that thing here?" I said looking cautiously at the giant bear in front of me, knowing that it is more likely to be scared than anything else and that it must be furious for some reason.

Now if I only knew why.

"Platinum, you have to do something!" I felt a strong tug on my limbs, causing me to take my gaze off the large bear in front of me to look at the terrified Spike. "Please do something!"

I look at the creature approaching us at a slow pace, taking its time hunting its helpless prey in front of it.

"Trixie save us!" shouted one of the children from behind, which made me realize that the three other ponies in question had backed up to slowly move away from the big little bear.

"What do you take me for, a miracle worker!" I couldn't help but smile with a certain smirk that had lost its arrogance at the situation we faced, now looking fearfully at the baby in front of us.

Looking at the bear slowly approaching us, I looked at the mare behind me and quickly formed a plan of action.

Summoning my magic, I pulled from inside Trixie's cloak a bag full of magic powder, causing the mare in question to look at me in surprise.

"How did you know about the disappearing technique of the Great and Powerful Trixie-!" whatever she was saying was silenced by a spell of mine that put a shutter in her mouth.

Averting my gaze from the bear in front of me, I look at Spike who also looks at me to see.

"Spike, you want to listen to me carefully, as soon as I use this magic dust, I need you to get these three out of here and go find Twilight" I said looking him in the eyes with total seriousness, to make him understand how serious I was about this, even though I know he already knew.

Spike nodded before asking hurriedly, "What about you?"

Before he could answer, I noticed the bear was in front of us with his leg raised.

"We don't have time for unnecessary worry, leave now!" I shouted throwing the magic dust on the ground, creating a small cloud that disoriented the bear.

Taking a quick glance back, I notice Trixie seizing the moment to flee and Spike rushing the two foals out.

Before the cloud of smoke cleared, I jumped towards the bear's face using the same ladder spell I used to get on Trixie's stage, once I got close enough to his face, I used a flash spell, causing the bear to roar in pain from the resulting blindness.

It smiled only to notice that its paw was coming dangerously close to me, so I used my teleportation to transport myself to a nearby rooftop.

The bear shook his head, somehow denying the temporary blindness to look at me and roar.

"Oh, of course you can do that" I said sarcastically to then jump out of the way of his teleporting bite.

Landing on his head, I jumped off of it and deposited myself behind him, causing him to look back at me.

"Come on boy, follow your daddy" I said sticking my tongue out at him and then running off, with him following close behind.

To accomplish what I wanted, I needed Twilight's help, as to put this little fella to sleep, I don't have enough magic for that.

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You know, if you told me that I would be running for my life being chased by a baby bear with my only advantage being the unavailable magic to deal with it, I probably would have believed it.

I had never run so hard in my life, and I could feel the effect of it, my hooves trembling and protesting from the constant exertion. My breathing was panting but I was still going.

I achieved my goal of getting him away from the town, managing to lead him to a large lake with several hills near us, now I just need to distract him.

And then I felt the hairs on my coat when I heard a roar right behind me, unconsciously using teleportation to get out of the way.

Looking at the claw that was in the place where I was before, I sighed in relief then looked at the angry bear in front of me.

Now I just need to distract it as Twilight is coming.

Jesus, facing Nightmare Moon seems more like a walk in the park than the crazy thing I'm doing right now.

Unlike the bear in front of me, Nightmare Moon had an interest in me which was the reason he kept me alive for so long, this bear has no interest in me other than making me his food and unfortunately, I don't have enough magic to put him back with his mama.

But I do have enough to calm him down.

Taking a deep breath, I concentrate for what I am about to do. I summoned my magic so I could increase the sound of my voice and made a melodious whistle of a lullaby.

The spell worked, as the melody swirled around the little baby and slowly lulled him to sleep.

It was working, now I just needed Twilight to come over here to...

"Wow, you're doing it!"

"You're in charge Platinum!"

Distracted by the voices of two familiar foals, my concentration is broken and I look up in surprise to see the source of where the voices are coming from, to see the reckless foals Snips and Snails cheering along with a surprised Trixie, standing atop a nearby hill, watching the battle from a dangerous proximity. And instead of feeling gratified by the support, I'm filled with indignation. "What are you doing here, you must leave-!"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will obey orders from no one, least of all a reckless stallion like you!" I should have guessed. Glaring in annoyance at the three figures, only to hear the pony scream, this time in horror. "Watch out, you fool!"

Hearing her scream, I instinctively teleported out of the way, where a claw stabbed the spot where I had previously stood.

It seems that, no longer hearing the soothing melody and the sound of screaming, was enough to awaken and enrage the little bear even more and it decided to attack the small enemy in front of it, namely me.

[Beep] me, that was too close for my liking.

And I could feel the tiredness in my body from the constant use of magic, so I could only pray for Twilight to arrive quickly.

Using my magic again, I summoned vines from the ground that immediately wrapped around his body.

He, without much effort, was destroying the vines that were wrapping around him but I kept summoning more in hopes of distracting him for a while.

"Platinum!" a series of familiar voices distracted me and I was glad to see it was the girls and Spike.

"Good to see you guys!" I said happy that they were here before me glaring at Twilight. I gave her a nod as I turned my focus back to distracting the Ursaminor for a little longer.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long, as Twilight was right next to me. We looked at each other, nodded to each other and concentrated.

I used my magic to be able to use again the same melody that I used a while ago to lull the bear to sleep, the bear when he saw that there were no more vines began to approach us and just in time too, since the melody managed to enter through his ears and began to lull him to sleep.

Meanwhile, Twilight also invoked her magic to levitate a nearby water tank, removing the water and milking some cows to fill it with milk. And together, we levitated the bear while Twilight brought the makeshift bottle close enough for him to drink the milk. And finally, we levitated him back to the cave where he belonged, right into his mother's arms.

After we finish the spell, I collapse to the ground, extremely exhausted from the heavy use of magic I used today.

Ugh, I need to get more exercise.

Seeing me, Twilight looked at me worriedly only to smile in relief that I was simply tired.

Just then, the crowd that had formed to see what was going on erupted in cheers as they saw that we had expelled the Ursaminor.

"Unbelievable!" I heard Rarity say.

"That was amazing!"

"Heavens to Betsy! We knew you two had great talent but I didn't know how much!" I heard Applejack say to which I gave a tired smile, if I had fingers I'd make a peace sign.

"I'm sorry. Please, please don't hate me," Twilight said causing me to look at her in disbelief.

Are you really still insecure? What happened to our talk?

Bah, whatever.

I'm too sleepy.

And the floor feels too comfortable, so I'm going to sleep.

Good night, then.

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Ugh, on days like this I hate sunlight. My eyes squeezed shut in protest at the foul sun beating down on my face, telling me to wake up already. In the end, I accepted that I could no longer sleep and opened my eyes slowly, staring at the wooden ceiling of my new bedroom.

I don't remember lying in my bed last night...

That compression made me get up with a jolt, before I lay back down with a groan from the pain in my head at my sudden rising.

Looking around, I realize that I am in my room. Same books, same balcony, same cloak and even my hat that I haven't worn in a long time are here.

Yep, I'm back in my room, but who brought me here?

Eh, I guess it's time to find out.

With a yawn, I get out of bed. I try to summon my magic but I'm still too exhausted to do it properly, so I process to put on my cloak and tidy up my bed manually.

Afterwards, I leave my room and then head to the stairs and go straight to the kitchen, where I am greeted by the smell of food and my gaze meets two pairs of surprised eyes.

I raise my right hoof in greeting and approach to take a seat.

Ouch! Good to see you too Twilight.

"What were you thinking sir, taking on an Ursaminor all by yourself! You could have died!" he said with a frown looking at me with anger and concern evident in his eyes, only to have them soften and give me a small hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

"ah, thank you Twilight" I said as I patted her back. I would hug her back if I wasn't so tired.

I swear, I get too many hugs lately.

Once Twilight separated from me and I was able to sit at the table, Spike served me a plate of food, which was a salad. I gave him a grateful look and began to eat, or rather, devour my food.

Ignoring Twilight's disapproving look and Spike's chuckle, I quickly devour my food and wipe my snout with a napkin.

Looking at the two of them, I ask. "So, do you know why that Ursaminor attacked last night?" I said looking at the duo in front of me.

It's a question I've been asking myself since that bear arrived. The ursa family doesn't attack unless provoked or disturbed, so what was it that brought him here?

"It was Snails and Snips fault" Twilight answered me, as she gave a sigh of resignation seeing that I had already finished my food as she took a bite of her sandwich. After swallowing the food she had, she continued. "Apparently they lured him away so Trixie could prove she's the best unicorn in all of Equestria."

At that, I facehoof in annoyance and disbelief, "I swear, those two foals wanted to kill me."

Before Twilight could say anything, we heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Looking toward the door, I motioned to Spike and Twilight not to get up and headed toward the door to see our visitor for today.

Who could it be at this time of day?

Seeing who was at the door, my tired frown returned.

"Hello sir! It's great that you are well."

"We came to see you so you could show us some of your amazing magic!"

I just blinked, glancing at the excited duo before slamming the door in their faces, too tired to deal with those two.

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Hi, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.

See you in the next chapter.