Trixie stormed out of the library and back into the dark expanse of Ponyville, forgetting even to be quiet in her anger. She trotted briskly down the main road out of town, and it was only by luck and the lateness of the hour that nopony stopped her.
"Who does she think she is?" she muttered angrily as she passed the first houses. "Does she truly think we could be friends now? After everything that she did to me?" Trixie glared at the idea. She must be crazy!
She stopped at the ruins of her wagon, now looking somewhat neater from her original search. Briefly, she wondered if there was something else she could save from the wreckage, some other small memento of her life up until now. But there was nothing. All she had left was the hat and cape she was wearing.
This is all her fault!
Furious, she turned away from her destroyed home and continued down the road without a plan, powered only by her desire to be out of Ponyville.
I don't know what your end game is, Twilight, or why you chose me to do this to, but I swear, I will make you pay!
A young Trixie stood in the back of the stage, trying - rather unsuccessfully - to stop shaking. She knew that on the other side of the curtains lay a veritable army of fillies and colts waiting to see her performance. Practically the whole school was there! Trixie wasn't ready. She couldn't be ready. Something would go wrong out there, she just knew it. Her cards would slip from her magical grip, or her ropes would break, or something! She would be the laughingstock of the school!
A face slid past her vision, a lavender unicorn mare laughing at her plight. The voice echoed against the walls, doubling, tripling, until Trixie was cowering beneath a deafening roar of laughter.
Twilight herself seemed to materialize in front of her. Her face seemed apologetic, but there was something off about it that disturbed Trixie. "I'm sorry, Trixie," she said. "I didn't mean for this to happen. Here, take this. Maybe we can be friends?" She held up Trixie's cape, but even as Trixie reached for it, it fell apart, the seams literally coming apart before her eyes. "Just kidding!" Twilight laughed, her face twisting into a sickening grin. "Who needs a friend like you? You're weak! You probably couldn't light a candle with your magical power! Who needs a friend like that?"
Trixie cowered under the other mare's laughing grin. The walls seemed to press in on her as the laughter grew to an unbearable pitch. Just as tears began to fall from her eyes, a voice called out, cutting easily through the cacophony. "Twilight Sparkle?"
The laughter faded away to a dull roar as Twilight looked up towards the speaker. Trixie turned too, and gasped at what she saw.
Princess Luna stood in the back doorway, ethereal blue mane waving in the wind. The shimmering of that mane seemed to make everything else dull by comparison, as if it was the only thing that was real. Looking at it, Trixie realized suddenly that it was the only thing that was real. This is a dream, she thought in wonder. Princess Luna is visiting my dreams!
Emboldened by that realization, Trixie stood up. Facing Twilight, she shouted, "leave Trixie alone!", and fired a burst of magic from her horn. The blast tore through the visage of Twilight, vaporizing it instantly. What remained of the laughter faded away with it, along with the surroundings, leaving Trixie standing in a strange swirling black fog, once again her own age. Confused, she looked around at it. The fog seemed to swirl at the edges of her vision, as if trying to overtake her sight. Throughout it flowed various, seemingly random images. Some tried to reach out to her, while some seemed to hide themselves from her vision. She frowned, trying to look past the fog and other images, but like a phrase at the tip of her tongue, they always seemed just out of reach.
“It is the natural state of dreams.”
With a cry of surprise, Trixie turned back to Luna to find the Princess looking at her with an unreadable expression. “Princess Luna!” She bowed hastily.
Luna gestured for the unicorn to rise as she continued. “The images you see are reflections of your thoughts, hopes, and dreams. They are only as visible to you as you are aware of them.” She paused, looking directly into Trixie’s eyes. "You have a talent in this world."
Trixie couldn’t decide whether to smile or find somewhere to hide from that penetrating gaze. She ended up somewhere in between, turning her gaze away from the Princess as she spoke. "Thank you, Princess."
"Pray tell, what is your name?"
Trixie grinned, unable to pass up the opportunity to show off. Lighting her horn, she conjured illusionary fireworks behind her as she stood on her hind legs and struck a pose. "The Great and Powerful Trixie, at your service!"
Luna gave a small smile in response. To Trixie it almost seemed . . . relieved? In any case, it was hardly amazed, which was rather disappointing. She dropped back to all fours as the Princess stepped forward, beginning to circle Trixie. "I see. And your profession, it would appear, is performer?"
Trixie nodded, watching Luna as best she could without turning herself. "Yes, Your Majesty. Trixie is a magician and illusionist." Summoning up her courage, she added, "the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria!" At this, Luna raised an eyebrow, causing Trixie to shrink back down. "Well, not really. But I want to be! If it wasn't for that Twilight. . . ."
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle," Luna mused. "The pony who was in this dream with you."
"You know her?"
"Do I know of the wielder of the Element of Magic, my sister's personal protege?" Luna chuckled. "It would be . . . surprising if I didn't. Pray tell, what is your disagreement with Twilight Sparkle?"
Trixie gulped. Wielder of the Element of Magic? Princess Celestia's personal protégé? Suddenly her troubles took on a completely different light. No wonder she was able to defeat that Ursa! She must have the raw power of an alicorn! A thought occurred to her. Didn't the wielders of the Elements of Harmony recently defeat the Mare in the Moon? And wasn't that. . . . She looked back at Princess Luna, still waiting patiently for an answer, and gulped again.
"Er, well. . . . That is, I-"
"Worry not, my little pony," Luna said benevolently. "Thine - your disagreements are your own. I will not judge you for them." She smiled calmly.
"Well. . . ," Trixie began, "if you really want to know, she was the mastermind of a plot to defame Trixie and destroy her home and livelihood. A plot which, unfortunately, succeeded."
Luna frowned. "That does not sound anything like the Twilight Sparkle we know!"
"Well, it happened," Trixie grumbled. "Trixie swears it. And she also swears that she will get revenge on that mare, Element of Magic or no!" She looked back up at Luna. "So that's why Trixie will become the most magical unicorn in Equestria. To defeat Twilight Sparkle in a magic duel!"
With a frown, the Princess sat down in front of Trixie and closed her eyes, her horn glowing. Trixie blinked; that wasn't the reaction she had been expecting at all. She became even more confused as the seconds passed by without Luna so much as twitching. She sat there for so long that were it not for the still-waving mane and glowing horn, Trixie might have worried that the Princess had been frozen solid.
With the Princess immobile in full view of her, Trixie couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing. Hesitantly, she lit up her own horn, reaching out with her magic to see if she could feel Luna’s. She had just begun to grasp a strange power, however, when suddenly Luna spoke. “Be patient, Trixie. I am just considering your story. I will return in a moment.”
“Alright . . .” Trixie sighed, her horn losing its glow. “But that doesn’t explain why your horn is glowing.” She thought she saw the ghost of a smile on the Princess’s face, but no answer came. With a huff, Trixie sat down to wait for the Princess’s “return”, whatever that meant.
In the meantime, her thoughts returned to her enemy. Twilight Sparkle, she thought, rolling the newly learned last name over in her mind. Student of Princess Celestia, wielder of the Element of Magic. It makes sense. No normal unicorn could defeat an Ursa so easily. She’s had training from an alicorn, and she’s got the power of the Elements on her side. She frowned. That’ll certainly make defeating her hard. But I will defeat her! No unicorn with a fancy title or education is going to stop the Great and Powerful Trixie from being great and powerful!
Something moved in the corner of her vision. Turning her head sharply, Trixie found a hazy image of herself standing triumphant over Twilight Sparkle. She smirked even as it faded into the fog again, replaced almost instantaneously by other images.
A thought occurred to Trixie. She looked over to where Luna was standing. The Princess was still sitting in the exact same position, her eyes still closed and her horn still glowing. What is she doing? Pushing the Princess’s actions - or lack thereof - out of her mind, Trixie studied the fog around the alicorn’s form. If my thoughts are being projected, then hers should be, too. However, nothing appeared. The fog around Luna was strangely blank, as if. . . . Is she blocking her thoughts from appearing? Is that even possible? Trixie considered that for a moment before chuckling softly. If it is, Luna is the pony to be able to do it. Shaking her head, Trixie returned to examining the dreamscape, quickly becoming immersed in studying her own innermost thoughts.
"We have a proposition for thee."
Trixie jumped, turning back to Luna to find her examining the stage passively as it disappeared. Once it was gone, she continued. "We can tell that thou art a skilled magician, and thou hast a gift in the art of dreams. In contrast, thou art relatively untrained in most magics. You have much to learn. As such, we would extend an invitation to thee, to join us in Canterlot as our pupil for a time. We would be interested in teaching you some small part of what we know, as well as hearing your story in more detail."
Trixie blinked, caught off guard by both the offer and the manner in which it was given. Why is she referring to herself as 'we'? Does she mean both her and Princess Celestia? Then the full implications of Luna's words struck her. Trixie's eyes widened as she realized what exactly the Princess was offering. With a gasp, she stuttered out a weak, "I-I-" clearing her throat, she tried again. "That is to say, Trixie doesn't know what to say. This is an honor!"
Luna gave her a small smile. "Take some time to think it over. We will await thee for five days." With that, she began to fade from Trixie's dream. "Farewell, Great and Powerful Trixie. We will be waiting."
Trixie opened her eyes to find a bed of grass underneath her, light by the half-light of a cloudy dawn. She groaned as she rolled off a root that, from what she was feeling, had been digging into her side all night. Shakily, she got to her hooves. That's what I get for sleeping on the ground. What was I thinking? What happened to my. . . .
Oh. She groaned as memory returned to her. She had run from Ponyville after getting her outfit from Twilight, and headed into Whitetail Woods to find a place to spend the night. She had then spent a good half hour wandering around until exhaustion finally overtook her and she had just picked a tree and fallen asleep under it.
What a way to wake up, Trixie thought, arching her back in an attempt to work some of the kinks out of it. Taking a look around, she found that she was in a completely nondescript section of Whitetail Woods. There were no landmarks in sight. It was just trees in every direction. She sighed. I’m probably lucky I can even tell where the sun is.
She picked up her hat from where it was lying on the ground. She had decided to sleep on it so that it couldn’t be blown away by the wind, or stolen by a curious animal. Her cape she had worn as a blanket. These are the only things left of my life. Trixie thought again back to the moment when she had lost everything, when that Ursa had stepped on her home, when Twilight had defeated it with a complex - and probably unnecessary - series of spells.
For a moment, she hoped it had all been a terrible dream. Unfortunately, the fact that she was sleeping on the ground went quite a ways towards disproving that theory. And besides, she remembered her dream from last night.
Ah, right. Her dream. Trixie rubbed her temples with one hoof, wondering if it had been real. Had she truly been visited by Princess Luna in her dreams, or was it just a projection of her subconsciousness? And if she had, had she really invited Trixie to be trained by not one, but both ruling Princesses of Equestria?
It couldn't have been real. There was no way. What could possibly cause the rulers of all Equestria to take an interest in Trixie, of all ponies? Luna had said that she had "a gift in the art of dreams". Trixie didn't disagree; the way she had defeated the Twilight in her dream had been pretty cool, not to mention all the other stuff. But there had to be plenty of other ponies who could use dream magic. Why her specifically?
She sighed. Does it really matter? She was homeless, penniless, and essentially futureless. Other than this one chance, she had nowhere to go. Might as well take the chance. Even if it's not true, Canterlot can't be that bad of a place to start over.
But if it is true, then I’ll be well on my way to beating Twilight Sparkle.
She looked again at her hat. It was a gift from her father, part of her most prized gift. It had been with her since before it even fit her. It had helped her pull off innumerable tricks, both on stage and off. She smiled. At least if I had to pick two things from my life to keep, it would be these two. They carry more memories than all my other things combined.
Besides, she had another life to look forward to now. Who knew what it would bring? Trixie grinned as thoughts of riches filled her head. I’ll be able to get a new wagon! And new stage props, and new everything! Just a few months from now, The Great and Powerful Trixie will be back and better than ever!
A drop of water landed on her head. Trixie looked up at the clouds above, which were a solid grey, and groaned. Well, that puts certainly puts a damper on things. Unable to stop a grin at the pun, she swiftly put on her hat. Its enchantments would protect her for a while at least. Then she turned to find the rising sun, so as to get her bearings.
Canterlot is north of here, so I should be heading . . . that way. A spring in her step, Trixie took her first steps towards a new life.