//------------------------------// // Chapter I - A Night to Forget // Story: Great and Powerful // by conceitedcake //------------------------------// I lost everything. My show. My cape. My hat. My home.... For Celestia's sake, at this point I had even lost my way. After running deep into the Everfree Forest to escape Ponyville, I had been derived of any sense of where I was in this forsaken landscape. The wooden grove was blindingly dark, I could barely see my own hooves in front of my face. I looked up, trying to catch some small glimpse of the sky through the dense canopy. Even a speck of Luna's moonlight failed to penetrate this deep into the forest. I stumbled through the darkness, occasionally bumping into trees and other brush that remained invisible to me in my blind state. I had been trotting along for what felt like hours. With the sky hidden from me, I couldn't even tell if midnight passed, if twilight had.... Twilight. My mind conjured up the image of a purple unicorn. The one who robbed me of my right to revenge. To avenge my home that Ursa Major had crushed underneath his paws. Ursa Minor, remember? Twilight explained that. Twilight should explain why she stole my show! I was just about to defeat that the Ursa Minor. Caught in my snares, weakened by my lightning, that bear was on it's last leg before Twilight came forward and saved my plot from that bear! Wait. No. That's wrong. She stole my glory by finishing off the bear I had softened up. It didn't even attack her because it was so enfeebled! It didn't fight her because she didn't try to beat it out of town with violence. I shook my head. just nagging thoughts. Deep doubts the great and powerful Trixie carried with her from time to time. No doubt a result of Twilight's theft of m- Or maybe it's because you almost died? Because you lost everything you held dear? I felt a twinge of guilt. My scrolls, props, letters, and my hat and cloak... I really had lost everything. In one night. I stopped trotting blindly about. It was too much to think about. To even process. How could it all just - No. No. It wasn't all gone. I hadn't lost everything. My home was splinters, my reputation ruined. But, I still had my title. I was the Great and Powerful and Powerful Trixie. I am Great and Powerful! No minor interruption to the show, loss of reputation, or upstage attempt could change that. My name was something I could hold onto. I could easily restore my reputation, afford a new cart, props too. What about the cloak? The hat? You can't even pretend you could buy that back. I ignored the last thought. All I needed was a quick opportunity to set it all straight. To reclaim everything I lost. Now, to find a way back to my former glory, an opportunity I could seize. I took a look around (or, at least tried to in the absolute darkness). Too bad there ain't too many opportunities to seize in the middle of a forest at night, huh? Then, as if fate itself decided to spite me for that sarcastic quip - a sound. A faint buzzing from behind me. I turned around to see.... nothing. Whatever was making that noise was obscured by the dark foilage surrounding me. Timber Wolf? No. Manticore? Not a chance. Ursa Minor? Definitely not. A giant bear wouldn't make that noise. I mean, it hadn't heard it lumber into town until those kids alerted me, but, still.... You have no idea whether or not an Ursa Minor would make those sounds. You've got no experience with them whatso- I felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of my face. Whatever it was, I had to know. Now. I'm wasn't scared. I just... really don't like surprises. I lifted my forehooves off the ground and focused. I needed a bit of light. eeeeeeeeeeeee..... CRACK! The Roaman candle I had summoned shrieked up into the canopy and exploded in a dazzling display of white light. After clearing my eyes, I could see from the light of the firework that my stalker was... a lone parasprite. Only a couple feet away, the grey parasprite buzzed in front of me. I was surprised the explosive display and fiery aftermath of my magic hadn't scared it off. Even then, the stench of the sulfur and burning wood would have frightened off most animals. Wait. What? Burning wood? I looked up to see the tree immediately above me consumed in flames. Maybe that spell had a little too much juice behind it. A large flaming limb snapped off the tree and came crashing down onto the forest floor. small red tendrils of fire began to snake off the fallen limb and ignite the mossy ground. Definitely too much juice. I could see it now. The headline across Equestria, "Everfree Forested burned to cinders by magical arson. Celestia promises lunar banishment for the perpetrator." I would tried, and profess my innocence to the court while Celestia herself would- What are you doing! Stop performing a bucking soliloquy and put it out! Storm clouds! Quick! Right. I closed my eyes, focusing on the air above the blazing tree. Usually, magical weather is domain restricted to pegasi. Most unicorns can't work with it. Fortunately, I'm not like most unicorns. For summoning and illusory magic, imagination is the key component. To place something, you need to have an fully formed idea of what you want to place before you can impose it into the world. Any weakly formed thought or half baked idea will fizzle out almost immediately. I had a good idea of what I wanted. The same thing I had planned with the Ursa Major. I could see in my mind the cloud's swirling coal black tendrils gathering together, cracks of lightning sputtering forth from the growing monstrosity. Then, a final crack of thunder, and a torrent of rain. An ear splitting crack broke out from the sky, and I could feel a deluge of water pour down on me. As I opened my eyes, I could see the fire drown underneath the torrent of rain, sizzling loudly before vanishing in puffs of steam. The fire was already squelched. Now, I just had to dismiss the storm. I could see the rain letting up, the black clouds slowly turning grey, white, then into a fine mist that disper- Another loud crack of thunder broke my concentration as the storm raged on. The problem with summoning a giant event like this was keeping under control. Usually, summoning spells were loyal to their master's thoughts, but, once you place something out in the real world, it's possible for some other force to wrench control of it away from you. Or, if it's too massive for it to go completely out of control. Suddenly, the storm imploded in on itself with a very audible pop. A very quick and powerful dismissal, something to be expected out of a trained and powerful wielder of magic. Except, I hadn't been the one to do it. Without the burning brush, everything was once again coated in darkness. The only thing I could sense was the buzzing wings of the still present parasprite. I was beginning to get the feeling this was no ordinary sprite. As if in response, a laugh echoed across the forest, "Now, my dear, what would give you that impression?"