“You mean you don't know what I am? And it's just Riley.”
“I didn't know Equestria had skinny minotaur hybrids roaming around,” she joked, waiting for some kind of rebuttal from him.
“Equestria? Minotaur?” He rubbed his forehead, confused.. “Just where the hell am I?”
“Well are you?” she demanded.
“I don't know what you're talking about.” He threw his arms in the air. “I don't take it lightly with being called skinny. You're telling me you've never of a human before?” Riley leaned his head back with a lighthearted smug.
“Human. Got it.” Trixie puffed air through her nose after scrunching her muzzle. “Never heard of your people before.” She shook her head. Assured that it this discovery wasn't really important to her, it was worthwhile to know more.
“At least I'm not the only one,” said Riley. “You must know how hard it is to see a mythical creature with your own eyes.”
“Look who's talking.” Trixie huffed, grabbing her staff from the cart.
Riley scratched the back of his neck as he began to circle around her in the direction of his backpack while keeping his distance. The blue unicorn followed with her head curiously.
“Leaving so soon?” she said with more bitterness than intended.
He stopped. “Just going to get my stuff.” Then he continued towards the tree trunk where he left his backpack to rest.
Once Riley reached the base of the tree, he picked up his bag and put it back on, his hands shaking the entire time. Trixie assumed he was either fearful or nervous. Either way, she had to calm him down. He appears very distraught and possible disoriented from hitting the ground. She's sorry about that. Besides, being the first soul she's spoken to in a long time lent her to convince him to stick around. Trixie didn't want to be alone again.
However, as she thought of ways to strike up a conversation or ask him more questions, he was getting away, already twenty to thirty paces down the road walking backwards. When he got to comfortable distance, he turned around and continued on walking like nothing happened except now fostering a bruise on his face and a humiliating experience.
Trixie stood beside her cart, her features sinking into sadness. Well that went well, she scolded herself mentally. She thought of the ways that encounter could have gone better. A new intelligent species and she's already driven it off by hurting it.
She turned around and entered her cart to lay down. What could she do, force him back? No Trixie, you're better than that. If that's the way happened, that's how is should be.
It was quiet again, allowing her to think to herself some more. Though this type of quiet was different. It lacked the bliss and she used to know. Now filled with a shred of guilt and shame, it reminded her of Twilight.
The pony sighed heavily. Maybe I haven't learned from my mistakes yet, she thought.
*knock knock*
Trixie snapped up. She scrambled around to poke her head out the door, simply to find the human standing off to the side.
“Yes?” she said with a warm tone. She could see the cold sweat trickle down his face.
“Um, can I have my knife back?”
Trixie wrinkled her nose before hopping out.
“I didn't take your knife.”
“What did you do with it then?”
“Nothing. It fell out of your claws.”
Riley started to look around for his blade. After surveying every inch of twenty square feet of where he hit the floor earlier, he came up short. He grunted in frustration.
“That was my grandfather's knife.” With his back on her, Trixie heard a heavy sigh slip through his lips. He continued to speak of his grandfather and something about war and family, but his words weren't crystal clear. She was lost after he transitioned into a mumble, which just sounded like he was talking to himself.
Trixie was left in confusion. It was time to break the ice.
“Um Riley the Hunter? Are you...” She was anxious to say it for the first time, but sucked it up. “Are you gonna be alright?”
She heard a sniffle before he stood up and turned around.
“Please, don't call me that.” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“I'm sorry.”
“I hate that name. I'm not even a hunter. It's just a nickname my people use but never seem to get the hint of my hate for it. You're just some random stranger who happens to be a talking pony that has supernatural powers and one hell of an attitude.” He stood up. “You know what, I don't have to deal with this.” Riley furiously kicked the dirt at his feet and stomped off.
“Wait! What about your knife?” Trixie echoed out to him.
“Forget it, I'll get a new one.”
“But you said it was important to you!” she hollered as he walked further away.
“Why do you care!?” he shouted indignantly, taking one last glance back.
Trixie had to think of something fast. She didn't want this to end on a sour note. Bringing a hoof to her chin, an idea came to mind. The unicorn rapidly took the potato sack full of apples in her her magic and ran off after Riley.
“Wait!” she yelled, catching up to him a minute later. The hot sun greatly reduced her stamina on top of having to hold on to a levitation spell full gallop.
Her hoofsteps made her presence known to him when he skipped off to the side.
“What do you want?”
“B-before you go, w-wouldn't you want to regain y-your energy for your trip?” She said, panting. She laid the sack on the ground and began to untied the string, but he was already trying to escape from her by walking away again.
Quickly taking out the reddest apple she could find, she ran around to cut him off again and held the fruit straight up at him.
The man froze, eyes narrowing straight at the apple. He didn't flinch. He didn't back away. He just froze.
A silent moment passed, then he pointed at it.
“What is-”
“It's a peace offering.” Trixie interrupted. “I thought I'd make up for before.”
He raised an eyebrow and reached out to take the apple while his hands shook. He brought it up to his nose to smell it. He tilted his head suspiciously with an eager craving to take a bite, eyeing the unicorn wary of any malicious intent.
“Don't worry,” she said. “It's not poisoned. Picked fresh off that tree over there.”
What she did next altered his initial perception of her. She smiled. But not just any smile. She hid behind her long and luscious silver mane, obscuring half her face. He couldn't explain it, but that display of humility was effective in trusting her, even for a second.
Riley cautiously took a bite with his omnivorous teeth, revealing his canines as well as a small glimpse of his molars. Trixie frowned in brief alarm of the human's potential diet. If she was ever going to make this work, she'd gain more knowledge about the biology of his species.
“So, do you- um... eat meat, too?” she asked, shivering with goosebumps all over her body.
“Mmhm.” Riley hummed as he nodded with a full mouth. She could smell the sweet fragrance radiating from the apple.
Instead of physically getting another apple from the sack behind them, she levitated one from the bag over to her. When the human saw the flying apple float in front of her, his eyes went wide.
“Whoa whoa easy!” Riley stepped back, putting his hands up.
“Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you,” she assured, take a bite of her own food.
“How are you doing that?” Clearly shaken up from the last time she used her mysterious powers, he on his toes this time. With power like that, this talking unicorn was surely not to messed with.
“Magic.”
“Haha very funny,” Riley said, frowning heavily. “No seriously, how are you doing that?”
“Like I said, magic.”
“And I'm supposed to believe that?”
“It's true.” Trixie insisted.
“I'm sure it's just some trick or illusion.” Riley shrugged at that thought. “Nothing more than a fake magician's gimmick.”
Trixie's friendly expression quickly turned into straight anger.
“Now that's just uncalled for,” she protested, stomping a hoof on the ground. “It's real magic!”
The human crossed his arms, unconvinced. He remained alert of her snapping at him at any time, but with the way he was acting, he might as well be asking for it.
“Fine fine.” He taunted. “It's not real magic.”
“For the last time, IT'S REAL MAGIC!” she shouted so loud it blew Riley off his feet, falling to the floor in a plume of dust.
“Holy hell!” he shrieked, scrambling to his feet.
“Now do you believe it?” Trixie advanced toward him, but he backed up with quick steps. Riley's back was eventually pinned to the trunk of the tree, squishing his backpack against the wood and putting up his hands to surrender to the hostile unicorn in front of him.
“A-alright lady, you have my attention,” he said. “W-what are you going to do with me?”
“Don't make me hurt you again.” Trixie wiped the dust off her face and looked stuck her nose in his face. She was bluffing, but Riley didn't know that as he cringed anyway. “Let's get one thing straight, unless you want to keep the limb on your body, you respect magic with your life.”
The human nodded rapidly, scared he might have agreed to be her slave or something. Hopefully that's not the case. Much to his relief, she stepped away to give him some room. He relaxed, but only a little.
“Now,” she continued. “Will you behave yourself, cretin?”
Riley pointed at himself, now a little offended by her remark. “B-but-”
“No excuses!” she roared. “I tried to be generous, I tried to stir up some casual banter, but you go ahead and insult me without consequence.”
With tensions at its peak, it was a wonder how he's still alive. Riley surely thought this Trixie pony could have disintegrated him on a whim, but she didn't. She allowed for much restraint to counter her punctuate personality. This was perhaps an attribute of her equine biology. Horses and ponies were considered majestic creatures in ancient mythology, portrayed as noble companions of man.
“I'm sorry,” said Riley.
“And?”
“And what?” He raised an eyebrow, wondering what else he was supposed to say.
“And you'll agree to never insult The Great and Powerful Trixie ever again.”
“Huh? Okay okay fine,” he sputtered, doing some sort of crude gesture with one hand. “I promise never to never insult you again.”
Trixie nodded and smiled wholeheartedly. She felt a sliver of guilt churning in her gut. Or maybe it was just her imagination. She sniffed the air as he watched her carefully, giving her his complete and uninterrupted attention. From where he stood—in contempt of her supernatural power—her expression appeared to be more innocent and forgiving, almost as if she transitioned from one alter ego to the other. She looked a shy.
“Tell me,” she cleared her throat, making and effort to return eye contact. “What's someone like you doing all the way out here in the middle this Celestia-forsaken valley?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing, but why does that matter?”
“I don't know.” She twirled a hoof. “I was just curious.”
Riley stretched his arms, freeing some of the pain from the bruises she inadvertently gave him, and cracked his knuckles. No use acting like the tough guy anymore, it would be unwise to misbehave again, especially now knowing what he's up against.
Then it hit him. That thought; that very thought that keeps slipping his mind for some reason.
“Well if that's all, I'll be going now” he huffed, wiping the crimson liquid trickling from his nose.
The human ruffled the shoulder straps of his hefty backpack and began walking on his journey once more.
“Why do you have to go?” Trixie asked. A glint in her eye and the hint of despondence in her voice flushed from her flustered features.
“I don't need to be here,” he stated. “There's one thing you can't do and that's force me to stay here.” It about time he got away from this lunatic. The only reason he let her get the best of him was that fact that the pony had food.
“I'm not forcing you to do anything.” Trixie mentally contemplated the possibility that he can read minds. How else could he know she was restrained from forcing him to stay.
“Good, because I'm leaving.” Riley replied, insubordinate to her attempt at using her charisma and power to her advantage.
“Leave then,” he heard her say from behind. She was oddly upset from her tone.
Riley took only but a few seconds to come up to the sack of apples Trixie had left on the ground from earlier. He grinned. Apparently, the unicorn forgot about it, but became aware of just then and wasn't about to allow him to steal from her. As he reached down to pick it up, the sack suddenly levitated away from his incoming grip.
Riley was left to look down at the cold hard ground. He growled in vain. Looking up at the long empty road trailing down an almost endless grass field in front of him, disappearing into a flat, featureless horizon.
He didn't move. He didn't speak. He stood.
The view reminded him of the where he was, or thought he was. One moment he was somewhere deep in the midwest of America, Nebraska maybe? The next, he appears to have stumbled upon someplace that resembles the past. The dirt road was an oddity from the start, deviating from the rural country road at least ten miles west.
Where was he now?
“Helloooo....”
Riley jumped. He found himself staring off into space, lifelessly suspended in thought. There was a possibility this may be a different world, but he couldn't be entirely sure. Nothing felt out of place; the wind, the sky, the fabric in his skin, even the headache that began to pound his brain after figuring out where he is. All with the exception of the strangely proportioned magical blue unicorn with silver toned hair and godlike power.
Or maybe, could it be the other way around. Could this unicorn have traveled from another place not of this earth, perhaps an alternate reality?
After shuddering from coming to terms with his predicament, he turned around while the mythical pony was trying hard to get his attention.
“I thought you were leaving,” she teased. Somehow, the way she said it made him think that she didn't believe it herself.
It wasn't often he hit a wall. Not a real wall, but something was stopped him dead in his tracks and he didn't know why.
Well no that's a lie, he did know why. Perhaps it's the fact that he just couldn't comprehend the situation he's gotten himself into. Riley had no where else to go, he's been on the road for so long that he might as well call himself homeless. No job, no family, no hope. Just a direction in mind and all the time in the world.
For a moment, he stood silently as the cool breeze dried the sweat that had built up over the last few minutes. It was a refreshing, blissful even. One minute he's stomping mad, the next he's calm and collected. Riley took on step back only to take one big leap forward towards the unicorn.
His feet dragged lazily across the dirt as if he was far more exhausted than he actually was. He slowed his pace as he approached the tree.
Trixie simply stared at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. She blinked twice, then shrugged.
“You lost?”
Riley let out a long sigh.
“You could say that.”
To say the two had an awkward moment would be an understatement. Both the pony and the human broke eye contact and looked for something to distract themselves with. They let the wind carry their thoughts away, waiting for the draft to inspire new ones.
Riley's stomach growled. That would explain why mood swing, he thought.
“Um, do you— do you think you could spare another apple? I'm kinda hungry.”
Trixie raised a brow. “Kinda?”
“Okay really hungry. I haven't eaten all day, and that apple you offered just isnt' going to cut it.”
“What's in it for me?” It ponies could cross their arms like humans, that's what Riley pictured her doing. She just looked down at the tip of her hoof.
“What happened to being nice?”
“Shouldn't that be the other way around?”
“Me? Be nice?”
“Yeah, you seem like the reasonable type. I don't intend to continue this bickering if that means you can show me that I can trust you.”
“Why would want my trust? That's kind of a stretch for someone you just met.”
“What I mean is, I want to know if you won't try any funny business when I'm not looking.”
“Alright, how about this, I won't try to steal from you again if you promise not to blow me up with your... magic.” He hesitated, but only briefly. “It's not like I can overpower you anyways, with that level of power, I'm sure you can do anything you want to me.”
Trixie gave a smug grin, knowing his point all to well. It's not like she was subject to use her magic to subdue him at will, she had learned her lesson in stepping over her bounds at the expense of others. Though it was still gonna take some getting used to.
“Deal.” Trixie held up a hoof. “Right this way.”
Riley followed her to her cart. She took out the brown sack and took out two three apples. The aroma of the delectable fruits made his mouth water. Using her powers, she tossed two in the air over to the human, expecting him to catch them. She was impressed with the way he did, swiping both apples out of the air simultaneously.
He then leaned against the tree and practically inhaled the first apple in just a few bites.
Trixie giggled to herself in light of the moment. This human sure was hungry. That look on his face suddenly caused her to feel pity for him, guilty of having hurt him inadvertently. Twice.
Trixie sat down on her cart and laid both hooves on her cheeks for very solemn pose. It's as if she was hinting for the human to join her. Fortunately, that was exactly her intention and exactly what happened. The human had walked up beside her without his backpack on and took a bite from his second apple.
“Why do you call yourself The Great and Powerful.” Riley asked, sitting down next to Trixie.
“It was my stage name, before I lost that right to Twilight Sparkle.”
He nodded attentively. “Who's that?”
“She's uh-” Trixie cleared her throat. “She used to be my rival, the most formidable of foes. Sort of like my arch nemesis.”
“Really?” Riley puckered his lips in interest. He took another bite, now talking with a full mouth. “What do you mean used to be?”
Trixie coughed away the shame before confessing. “Well for a while she and I were at each others throats over who was better at magic. Since the day we met, I've been trying to prove to her and everypony that I am the most powerful in Equestria. All that work, only to find out I'm am not. Twilight Sparkle is the superior unicorn. Suffice to say I've made my mistakes, some greater than others.”
Riley took in the story as a sign of redemption. She sure sounded regretful in her telling of her past, so from now on he'd no longer see her as the bitter equine from his first impression.
“I'm surprised you would tell me all that. I mean, talk about narcissism at its finest, but I guess we all have that sometimes.” He then rubbed his forehead. “Was it really worth it?
“Yes because I feel better about it now.”
“Is that it? You just wanted to talk? Then what what the hell was all that about before?”
Riley motioning vaguely in the air with an arm reminding them of the their first encounter only thirty minutes earlier.
“You gave me no choice. I thought you were a thief.”
“Well I'm not. Nor am I the kind of person who would be a jerk to everyone. I'm like a bird in the wind, carefree who goes with the flow.”
Trixie turned her head quizzically, wondering whether the poetic tone in his voice was a normal for him, but given the words spoken before, it seem so. She decided against furthering that discussion and fixed her focus on a question she's been wanting to ask from the moment they met.
“So where are you from?”