Time Turner stood and watched as the events unfolded in front of him. In his mind it all seemed like a perfectly dandy idea; bring Trixie and her old mentor together for a touching reunion, help her remind her why she got into performing in the first place and all that. If that didn’t lift her spirits and help her realize her potential, why, he couldn’t think of anything else that would do the trick. It took some pushing on his part to convince Trixie (oh she was always so stubborn) to do so. But when Sleight O’Hooves opened the door, surprised and a slight break in his voice that Time Turner thought was a good sign, things seemed to go perfectly to plan. The fact that everything was going so smoothly should have been a warning to him as he stood in the back corner and watched.
“My dear Trixie, it is good to see you again,” Sleight said.
Simple enough of a statement but a good way to start the conversation Time Turner thought, noticing the slight quiver on the smile but silently hoping it was just a passing twitch.
“I-I’ve missed you…and I’m sorry,” Trixie continued the conversation.
It was always interesting to him to was watch Trixie in one of her rare moments of being vulnerable; he hadn’t seen her so shaken up since the night he met her. As proud and arrogant as she acted, and as much snark she threw at him on at a rate about once a minute, she was just as wanting of the same things all ponies wanted; love, attention, and acceptance.
His mind briefly wondered about what it was that she could be sorry for, but he soon buried it for later. Whatever the reason, it was probably something private between Trixie and her mentor. There would be plenty of times for questions later after all this was…
“And I’m sorry too…but you need to leave now.”
Time Turner’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden reversal of Sleight O’Hooves demeanor, and he found himself frozen with eyes wide as he watched Trixie begin to breakdown again. What in the name of Celestia and all that was sunny was going on here?! Too shocked to really say anything, he watched as Trixie expressed the same confusion and anger that he was starting to feel. How dare he treat Trixie like that!
“Bu-but why?”
“Because this place isn’t your home anymore. You have no reason to be here so get out.”
What in all of Equestria did that mean? Even if Trixie didn’t live here anymore that didn’t mean she shouldn’t come by and say hi. Just what was it that Sleight O’Hooves was trying to play here. Before he could start getting suspicious, however, Time Turner was now having to face a panicking and crying Trixie backing up towards the door. Oh no, she wasn’t about to..
“F-fine, if that’s the way you feel then I…then I…goodbye!”
“Trixie wait a moment!” Time Turner yelled out as Trixie bolted out of the door. Even with the brief glimpse he got of her he could tell that she had started crying. Glancing at the door, he was about to step out when he glanced back at Sleight, he had turned his back towards his desk as if nothing had happened at all. Head going back and forth between the outside and Sleight, Time Turner was split on what to do. Trixie was obviously devastated, but Sleight’s behavior was suspicious; something was going on here and he had to figure out what, for Trixie’s sake. But still, would it really be a good idea to leave Trixie alone in a state like she was.
Taking a deep breath, Time Turner figured he would let her be on her own for a bit. There was probably nothing he could do to help her right now anyway. Besides, she was a lot stronger than she gave herself credit; she would pull through eventually. So for right now, he had to give this unicorn a piece of his mind.
“You there, Mr. O’Hooves. How DARE you go and treat Trixie, your former apprentice like that,” Time Turner yelled as he stomped towards the magician.
“Oh, Mr. Turner was it? You’re still here. I thought I told you to get out,” Sleight replied, not even bothering to turn his head towards him.
“I am NOT going to leave Mr. O’Hooves. You and I need to talk. Now.”
Teeth grinding, Time Turner was about to pull on the pony’s jacket when he felt something wrap around his leg. Looking down, he spotted some tied-together hoovekerchiefs making its way across the floor. Before he could react, he found them jumping straight at him and tied around his mouth.
“You really need to learn to be quiet Mr. Turner, and to leave when a pony asks you to leave,” Sleight replied as he turned around.
Time Turner glared at him for a second before opening his mouth wide open, getting just enough space that the hoovekerchiefs loosened up and began fell comfortably into his mouth like a bit.
“Unfortunately for you, if there is one thing that I am good at it is talking,” Time Turner replied, a slightly smug smile only partially ruined by the brightly rainbow pieces of cloth around his head.
“Now then, I want you to explain to me what just happened right now and why you treated my dear friend, YOUR apprentice, like trash.”
“I already told you Mr. Turner, she has no place here and it best for her to leave. I would suggest the same to you before…”
Sleight’s statement was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door, and the arrival of a new pony onto the scene. Time Turner, turning his head slightly to see, found himself looking at a rather disturbing looking pony. The basic shape of the pony looked like any other pony, but the facial features all just seemed perfectly…average. It was as if he was looking at a simple clone. Now, on its own that wouldn’t have been so creepy, except that the average look was buried underneath white face paint, the mouth emphasized with red paint, and the eyes surrounded by black. Outfit wise the pony wasn’t much better, wearing a silvery suit with darker-silver diamonds and a white ruffle around the neck. And topping it all off was a silver pointed cap on top of the slicked, black mane. In short, it was a clown, and while he never really disliked clowns, seeing this one gave him a good impression on why so many ponies did.
“Are you having a problem Sleight O’Hooves?” the clown pony said, head tilting while looking at Time Turner, “Would you like me to escort this stallion out of your trailer?”
Time Turner turned towards Sleight, who looked visibly nervous but was doing his best to hold his reserve. So then, whatever was going on here involved these clowns. Well, that was a good place to start as any. Before Sleight could respond, Time Turner did.
“Actually, I was about to leave, if Mr. O’Hooves will kindly remove these hoovekerchiefs.”
“Oh, yes, very well then,” Sleight responded as his horn glowed, the cloth finally free from Time Turner’s mouth. And not a moment too soon; he was starting to fear all he would be able to taste was that cloth for the rest of the day.
“I hope you have a fun time here at the Big Top Circus sir. If you excuse me, I need to talk with O’Hooves so please go, have fun,” the clown said, gesturing towards the door with one hoof while watching Time Turner the entire time as he headed out. Any attempt to try and eavesdrop was defeated as the clown didn’t even shut the door until Time Turner was out of earshot. The slight, greenish glow on the trailer was also enough to let Time Turner know that most likely there was some kind of sound-proofing spell now on the trailer.
“Well, I guess that just leaves one thing to do then…sit and wait. Dear Celestia I hate waiting…” Time Turner said, mumbling the last bit, as he found himself a location he believed not visible from the door or window of the trailer to begin his stakeout.
-----
“Come on little miss, come try your hand at whack-a-mole! With that horn of yours I guarantee you’ll win big.”
“Deep fried oatmeal, come and get your deep fried oatmeal. Fresh oats deeply fried.”
“Hey mommy, look at that pegasus! Her eyes are looking two different ways! Can we watch her?!”
“Hey, I am not an attraction…”
Trixie walked through the carnival, taking in all the sounds but not really paying attention to her surroundings. Normally she loved the sound of carnival barkers trying to bring in players for their games, food vendors selling their most likely completely unhealthy to eat junk, and the sound of excited little foals wanting to see the sideshow attractions. Right now, however, she just wanted to crawl up somewhere and just stay there, alone. Her mentor had completely abandoned her. No, he didn’t just abandon her, he gave her a brief glimmer of hope that everything was going to be all right, and then he smashed it all to pieces and threw her out in the cold.
So here she was, head looking at the ground and absolutely nothing else, the fur around her eyes darkened with moisture as she finished sniffling. In her lack of attention to her surroundings, she found herself bumping into a cream-colored Earth Pony dressed in a yellow vest, red coat, and sporting a black top hat.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she tried to walk past him. The sudden appearance of a bushy black moustache in her face, however, forced her to back up. Based on the look and dress, this must have been the ringmaster Big Top. Great, the person most invested in her being happy just had to show up.
“Why so blue miss? No one should be looking so unhappy here at Big Top’s Circus, or should I say my circus! Come on, show me a smile!”
“I’m not in the mood right now. I had a really bad day,” she said, almost as if she was on the verge of spitting acid on him. Unfortunately, it seemed he was completely un-phased.
“But that’s what my circus is for! We’re here to brighten up your day! We like to see you smile, smile, smile!”
Trixie responded simply by looking at him with her red, bleary eyes and the uncompromising frown. The ringmaster’s expression went from the so fake smile to a frown, but then it seemed that something hit him as he had an expression of revelation before a much more real, but creepier, smile came on his face.
“You wouldn’t have happened to have been the unicorn that ran out of Mr. O’Hooves trailer a little while ago would you?”
Oh great, did her mentor call for security on her too? Was he going to have her thrown out of not just his trailer and the circus? Well, it probably was the least she deserved, though she wasn’t going to go down without some kind of fight if to at least spite him a bit. One Earth Pony? She could probably take him.
“Let me guess, you’re looking for a pony named Trixie, blue unicorn with magic dust and a wand for a cutie mark, and you’re going to throw her out. Well, you found her, and right now I would like nothing more than to cause some trouble for that stallion so if you want to try anything then…”
“Oh no no no no no, you mistake my intentions! We know all about you Trixie. Mr. O’Hooves always talked about you and how good of a magician you were!”
Trixie’s eyes widened in surprised and confusion. She was wondering how exactly that was the case after his earlier behavior. Sensing her confusion, the clown continued.
“I guess you didn’t have a good talk with him? It really isn’t surprising. Your leaving him hit him really hard. And on top of that, after you ran away the circus almost closed, and he never really was happy my running of the circus. It’s always the kind of trouble you have when there’s a new change in management. He started off decently enough, but now he just broods in his trailer all day, and he barely puts on a smile when on stage anymore,” Big Top replied, taking off his hat, “It really is a sad thing to see a class act like him fall so far…”
Trixie looked at Big Top, not really sure how to respond. All her anger at Sleight O’Hooves was still there, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it as well. It never really occurred to her how her running away that night would have affected him like this, and considering how much he had loved Harness and Hay-Bale, working for somepony else really must have messed him up.
“We’d honestly would love to let him go, but he is still our best act, and we just can’t afford to let him go without a replacement,” Big Top responded, looking expectantly at her.
“Wait, are you talking about,” Trixie responded, startled by this sudden turn of events.
“Yes, I am. Look, I don’t know what O’Hooves might have said to you, but I can honestly say that he probably didn’t mean it. He’s just a tired, old bitter pony. Following in his hoofsteps and letting him finally get some rest would probably mean the world to him,” Big Top responded, giving a soft smile to the still unsure Trixie.
“But I really can’t, I just…” Trixie responded, thinking it over. The last time she had ever done a show for this place, it ended in a disaster that still haunted her to this day. But things had changed, right? She had gotten better, more powerful; she was the Great and Powerful Trixie. Then again her actions lead to that town being partially destroyed by an Ursa Minor while she failed to a thing to it. But that really wasn’t her fault now was it?
She thought for a moment about what Time Turner would have to say on the subject. It would probably be something like, “Trixie, you really need to stop letting one mistake weight you down. You have great potential, and you need to stop wearing whatever it was that happened around your neck like some big, heavy, weight thing.”
While concerned about how easy it was for her to think of what he would say, Trixie thought imaginary Time Turner had a point. More importantly, if taking over for Sleight O’Hooves could start helping him over his own bitterness, then maybe it would all be worth it…
“Okay, fine, you have the services of the Great and Powerful Trixie at your disposal.”
Big Top grinned rather large as he extended a hoof to her.
“Welcome to the crew Trixie, and let’s make this the greatest show in Equestria.”
Trixie slowly raised her own hoof up to shake his, but the shake itself was rather firm.
“Is there any doubt it will be?”
-----
“My word, how on earth can the Royal Guards ever survive such a dreadful and boring thing as a stakeout,” Time Turner muttered as he continued to watch the trailer from the safety of his hiding spot.
It had been so very long since he started, and without being able to hear a thing he had found himself very bored. There was a brief moment of excitement when another clown came and went, but he had been forced to hide as he had went right past him when leaving. By the time the coast was clear, that other clown was lost. So all that was left was to wait for the other clown, and that had gotten very boring very quickly. Counting the panels on the trailer side was not a thrilling past time, and he was about to start on counting blades of grass when the other clown exited the trailer. As this one was going in a completely different direction, Time Turner felt it was safe to start stalking him.
Twisting and turning through crowds, trailers, and stands, eventually the clown made its way to a tent very far away and out of the site of the visitors. First glance would suggest that it might have been for storing animals or something that would not fit in a trailer, but then why would a clown need to go in? Glancing around to make sure nopony else was around, Time Turner made his way to the opening flap soon after the clown had entered it. All he was going to need to do was get a sneak peek of whatever was inside there; it just screamed to him suspicion. Gently opening the flap just a peep, he found his face illuminated by a large, green glow as the clown before him morphed into something…else.
The clown pony was gone, instead replaced by a blackened pony-like being. At first glance it seemed like a pony, but the holes in the legs, the insect-like and torn-looking wings, and the glowing blue eyes only meant one thing; Changelings. And from the looks of all the clowns in the circus and the ones in here, there was a lot of them.
“Oh, now that cannot be good!” he said, eyes growing wide in fear before realizing he just spoke out loud. All of a sudden there was a very large number of glowing, blue eyes looking at him, and they did not look that friendly.
“Silly old me, these aren’t the bathrooms. Uhm…bye!”
With that Time Turner ran, even though he didn’t hear a sound coming from behind. As he ran, he passed Sleight O’Hooves, and after sliding to a stop and turning around, he ran back.
“Sleight! Oh thank goodness. I need to talk to you. The clowns, they’re…”
At that moment a large group of the clowns arrived. Time Turner stood glaring at them defiantly. Thinking about it, Sleight probably already knew the situation, and that probably explained his behavior earlier. Time Turner would probably be rude and trying to scare ponies away if he knew staying meant they were in danger like this.
“Oh O’Hooves, perfect timing it seems. This stallion here has proven quite troublesome, and he might go and try and spill our little secret,” one of the clowns said.
“Well of course I am; you’re endangering everypony who comes to this circus, and I’ll bet my horsehoes that the performers here aren’t here under their free will either. Let me take a guess at what you’re doing. Feeding off the love and affection the crowd gives off during a great performance?” Time Turner replied.
“And it seems our little troublemaker is a smart one too. We’ll have to be extra careful in dealing with him, but you are wrong on one point. The performers are free to leave at any point if they choose as long as they find a replacement. And today it seems that O’Hooves has finally found one…”
“A replacement? But who could replace….no,” Time Turner looked over at Sleight, who was refusing to look back at him, “Please tell me you didn’t…but you tried to make us leave…”
“At first I did, but then they offered to let me go. I refused at first, but you must understand, I’m just so tired. Every day I perform, and every day they drain what little joy I can get from being on stage. Every cheer was becoming more and more meaningless, every smile just a sick joke. I simply couldn’t go on much longer so I grabbed my chance to leave…”
“And throw Trixie right into Tartarus itself,” Time Turner said, his defiance turned towards the stage magician instead of the Changeling, clown, things, “I could forgive the Changelings for what they’re doing; it’s their instinct. But you, oh you, you threw your own apprentice, who looked up to you as the ideal of everything she wanted to be, you threw her away for your own selfishness.”
“So that makes him the real monster and blah blah blah,” one of the clowns interrupted, “Look, the point is, Trixie is ours now, and you are going to need to take a little nap till we can properly take care of you after the show. If you would please O’Hooves?”
Without a word, O’Hooves levitated a bag out of his vest. Surrounded, Time Turner simply stood defiantly staring at this traitor of a mentor as he sprinkled dust into his eyes. It didn’t take much thought to realize what it was; sleeping powder. Yawning, but still fighting the urge to close his eyes, Time Turner was able to get out one last statement as he fell asleep.
“Enjoy your freedom O’Hooves…”