Trixie woke up feeling more rested than she had in her entire life. She took a big stretch, her joints popping. Even after all of there, Trixie was still quite sore. Nothing a last minute shower wouldn't fix though. She looked to her side to see that Leo was gone. Instantly panic overtook her.
"Leo?" she asked, her voice filled with anxiety
"Surprise!"
Trixie jumped out of her skin.
"Leo!" Trixie yelled "Don't do that! You nearly gave Trixie a heart attack."
Trixie then notices that he was holding a plate of pancakes in his hands.
"I thought you were having a rough day yesterday so I brought these." Leo explained
"You went outside?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You're not hurt are you?"
"No."
"Thank Celestia." Trixie said, breathing a sigh of relief "Want to eat them together?"
"Oh yeah!"
The two spend a good part of the morning eating pancakes and laughing. It felt good to just laugh for once, not take everything so seriously. It had been too long. But alas, it had to end. She needed to preform for some money.
"Rejoice Leo. For you are about to witness the Great and Powerful Trixie preform one of her awe inspiring, dazzling, brilliant shows! A magic show the likes of which you've never seen! Few ever get to see something so amazing."
She jumped out of her bed, putting on her iconic wizard robe and hat. She just hoped this show wouldn't crash and burn like so many others did. Leo was pumped.
"This is going to be awesome!" he said with glee
"Now, Leo" Trixie said gently "Trixie wants you to wait backstage. She doesn't want your head to explode form the pure spectacle of it all."
"But then how will I get to see it?" he complained
"You can watch from the wings. Trixie wouldn't want anypony- er- I mean anyone to miss this."
The pair check out, walk outside the inn and head towards the cart. Trixie walked up to the chains and channeled her magic through them. The cool feature was that it only unlocked when in contact with her magic so her and only her could remove them. Starlight really was a genius when it came to magic.
No, don't think of her Trixie thought She's in the past, she doesn't care about you! She didn't even bother to send a letter when you left...
Trixie shook her head and snapped back to reality, pulling the cart to the town square. It had a large fountain in the center, depicting the three pony races. With a swift kick, the cart opens up to reveal the stage, fireworks launching into the sky. Trixie quickly shewed Leo into the wings.
"Come one! Come All! Witness the most amazing magic show even see by Equestrian kind!"
A small crowd of onlookers begins to form
"See the dazzling beauty, the amazing brilliance, the pure spectacle! The Great and Powerful Trixie will be showing you magic tricks never seen before! Watch and be amazed!"
Trixie took of her hat and placed it on the stage floor.
"Now watch in awe as Trixie pulls an animal from thin air!"
She quickly teleported a rabbit into that. The stage was constructed specially to muffle noise and reduce the light that teleportation caused. Trixie removed that hat and revealed the rabbit.
"Tada!"
The crowd is mildly amused and begins to clap.
"Now for my next trick!" She pulls out a bucket of water "The Great and Powerful Trixie will walk across water!"
Trixie puts a ring over her horn made of a special metal that stopped magic
"With no magic at all!"
The crowd gaps as Trixie walks across the water effortlessly. Of course what the audience didn't know was that she was walking across plexiglass. The crowd was still to small though and not a single one had given a bit. She had to ramp it up a bit. That's when she had the most perfect idea.
"Now, watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie shows you a creature never seen by the eyes of this world! A creature so dangerous, so deadly, Trixie nearly lost her life trying to tame it!"
Trixie motioned Leo to come out. As he walks across the stage the crowd gasps in amazement. She had them right in her hoof now.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a human! Humans a so vicious they can eat entire ponies whole! Watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie tames this beast with nothing but her strength!"
Trixie begins to swirl magic around him and Leo looks scared. She winks, assuring him this was all part of the act. He plays along.
"RAWWWW!"
The audience lets out another gasp
"Fear not ladies and gentleman, for I have this situation completely under control!"
The swirl picks up speed and Leo takes the cue. He starts to look dizzy and weak and then pretends to be entranced. This kid was a natural. The audience cheers and bits begin to fly onto the stage. Trixie had never seen so much money from one performance before, and the act wasn't even over!
"Now for Trixie's finally trick, she will lock the monster away."
Wait for it
"Without hypnotizing it!"
The crowd, which had grown quite large since the start, began to cheer. Nearly half the square was taken up by onlookers. Trixie stops her magic and Leo pounced on her, growling and snarling in her face.
"Begone demon!"
Trixie dropped a large smoke bomb and quickly push Leo back into the wings, grabbing a tiny metal box she used to keep her valuables. Using her magic she made it vibrate, as if something inside was struggling to get out.
"Good job kiddo." Trixie whispers to Leo
"Thanks!" he whispers back
The smoke clears and she holds up the vibrating metal box.
"And once again the evil monster has been vanquished!"
The crowd cheers and more bits fly across the stage.
"Thank you, thank you. Please be sure to donate to Trixie by throwing money in the tip jar before you leave."
Once the crowd finally disperses and the money was collected, Trixie runs back to congratulate her little star. She gives him a big hug.
"You did amazing Leo!" Trixie cried "I couldn't have done it without you! I made over 2,000 bits from that show!"
"That was so fun!" he said, hugging Trixie back
"You also know I didn't mean all the stuff I said back there right? About you being a monster?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Well I think you deserve some dinner for being such a great assistant."
Trixie took of her hat and placed it upon Leo's head.
"Yeah!" he said "I'm the Great and Powerful Leo!"
Trixie just laughed. She missed the days when she was a kid. So optimistic and cheery. Not a care in the world. Completely unaware of how awful life really was. They both walk through town, Leo looking as if it had been him who slayed the beast, until finally they found a decent place to eat. Trixie loved this town. So vintage and beautiful.
"Get anything you want Leo. You deserve it." Trixie said
And boy did he. Without his help, Trixie wouldn't have even made a third of that money. Not to mention no angry mob chasing her out of town. She was hitting all sixes. Maybe things were starting to look up. A lizard comes to take your order. Apparently humans were quite into meat. Disgusting.
"We'll be at the sea by tomorrow. To the New World." Trixie said
"The New World?" Leo asked
"The New World."
"What's over there?"
"To be honest, Trixie doesn't quite know. But she knows it will be better than here."
"So why did you go on this adventure anyway?"
"It's not important why." Trixie said, rather annoyed "She just needs to get out of this place."
"Is this place bad or something?"
Trixie laughed nervously at the question, not really knowing how to put it lightly.
"Yeah, something like that."
"It doesn't seem bad." Leo said "Everyone here is so nice."
"Just... let it go. Ok? Let it go."
They sit in a long period of silence until the food was brought out. Good meat smelled terrible. How in the world did humans eat that? How did anything eat that? The two finish their food without so much as a word. Show business sure worked up an appetite. But alas it was it was finally time to go. Trixie wished she could just stay here in Way City. But she knew she couldn't. She had to leave her old life behind and that meant leaving Equestria.
"Well Leo, it's time to go. You can sleep in the cart if you want. It's going to be a long walk before we see the coastline." Trixie said
"How long?"
"A while. A day if I hurry. Two days if I just walk."
"Can't we at least get a souvenir?"
"A souvenir?"
"Yeah. I saw a ton of shops. I want to get something!"
"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Nothing to expensive though. Trixie isn't made of money."
When you both walk outside the sun was starting to set upon the horizon. It would be quite a bother if Trixie had to shine her horn extra bright to ward off predators. But it was too late anyway. Leo explores some of the shops and, of course, picks the toy store. At least it would be cheap. He walks up and down the isles until he finally finds the perfect gift: a stuffed brown bear. And only two bits.
Trixie fills up another tank of water and made sure her food supply was good before walking to the edge of town. Leo had already climbed inside the cart and was sleeping peacefully. She took one look back at the town, really taking in the sight of it. Now there was no turning back. Trixie's new life was now just a two day walk ahead of her. And she wasn't about to give it up now. Say hello to new Trixie world. Because she was coming in hot.