The ride to Canterlot was far more enjoyable than Trixie could have imagined. Instead of sitting quietly, and practicing her slight of hoof tricks for two hours, she was caught up in an epic conversation about duelists, strategies and abilities with Rainbow Dash of all ponies! Ha! Pinkie, bless her, kept buying snacks and treats from the cart for every pony. The trip was the most fun Trixie had ever had on a train, and it was all due to her new friends!
"Ya'll look as happy as a pig in the mud, Trixie," Applejack chuckled quietly. Trixie raised an eyebrow, and stole a glance at Rarity, who was rolling her eyes.
"Did she just refer to the great and powerful Trixie as a pig?" Trixie whispered in disbelief. Rarity, who was sitting across the booth next to Rainbow Dash, nodded her head with a snort.
"Just, roll with it darling. Tis one of her country-isms, " she whispered back. Trixie had to laugh. Right! Pig it was then! Wait, why was she okay with this? Since when was she okay with being called a pig by a farmer? Since she's your friend, and she doesn't mean anything negative by it. cooed a little voice inside of her head.
Trixie grinned quietly. "Well, why shouldn't Trixie be happy? She is surrounded by her... friends. She is about to win a tournament! She *yawn* doesn't even need Twilight. She is a super star!" Trixie explained, while Dash and Rarity shared glances.
"Darling, we've discussed Twilig-" Rarity began, but Trixie cut her off with a dismissive waggle of her hoof. She took a deep breath, as if to cleanse herself of thoughts of Twilight and forced a warm smile.
"Yes, yes, Trixie was just...oh! Is the ride over already?!" Trixie squeaked. Indeed, the train was already pulling up to the Canterlot station Crowded was the term Trixie would have used. No, the platform wasn't crowed. It was overflowing! Ponies of all shapes and sizes were crammed up onto the platform, all of them underneath a hypnotic buzz of conversation.
"W-Whoa nelly...D-Didn't expect so many...p-ponies, so early!" Applejack squeaked quietly. Fluttershy didn't either, because the moment she'd stepped off the train, she fainted into Pinkie's arms. Rarity pet Applejack on the shoulder and smiled to the others.
"Darling, I think Applejack and I are going to find the hotel next to the arena and take a load off our hooves. Pinkie, Fluttershy, you should come with us. Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked, but Rainbow shook her head, leaning against Trixie.
"No way! You guys go on. I wanna check out the stadium!" She squeaked excitedly. Trixie nodded her head with a brilliant smile.
"Very well! Trixie and Dashie shall visit the arena and sign up for the tournament! You guys secure us a room at the hotel!" Trixie squeaked. Her voice was hitting pitches she didn't know she had. She was just...so...happy! She was so happy she didn't know what to do with herself. She hopped into the air, clicking her heels together, and started to skip off towards the arena with Rainbow Dash following behind.
"Gotta say...Ain't never seen her so durned happy. Sure do hope Trixie's been practicin'. These here folk look like they mean business." Applejack winced. These were the most muscular, in shape unicorns Applejack had ever SEEN. Most unicorns were a little on the, eh, plumper side of things Applejack had observed but these- these were unicorns that were ripped. Something inside Applejack made her shudder quietly. She sure hoped Trixie knew what she was doing. The last thing she wanted to see today was a one sided fight...
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"This is so cool!" Rainbow squealed as her and Trixie made their way into the arena. Multicolored ponies of all shapes and sizes were milling about and most of them simply talking among themselves.' Trixie smirked. Soon enough they would all be talking about her. Well, they would be if she could just find the-there!
"Hey! Rainbow Dash! Over there!" Trixie explained, pointing to the end of what looked like a tremendously short line leading to a small red booth.
"Is this registration? It's totally deserted." Rainbow squeaked quietly. Trixie grinned and smugly made her way towards the booth. Arrive early- check! Her dreams of being in a M.A.G.I.C. Tournament were about to come true! A real, live, professional tournament! She could feel the excitement shivering through her veins as she approached the booth. There sat a wizened grey unicorn with the loudest orange glasses Trixie had ever seen. She looked like she'd seen better days, or perhaps she just woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Either way, Trixie remained undaunted.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie should like to participate within the dueling contest, today!" Trixie exclaimed as she she reached the booth. The attendant stifled a yawn and pulled out an application form.
"Name?" She asked dully. Trixie straightened up, throwing her head back before brandishing her cape with a flourish of practiced skill.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon!" Trixie announced boldly. The attendant did not seem thoroughly impressed. She scratched down the name on the sheet with her quill before glancing up at Trixie and then back down.
"Sponsor?" She grumbled. Trixie bit her lower lip and shot Rainbow Dash a curious glance. Sponsor? She was supposed to have a sponsor? Nopony told her she needed a sponsor!!
"Trixie...uh...wooooooooooould...like to represent herself?" Trixie asked nervously, flashing the attendant her most radiant smile. The attendant did not smile back.
"That will be one thousand bits for the entry fee, then, in addition to the fifty bit application fee. We don't accept Jangles, " The mare grumbled. Trixie shot Rainbow Dash a sheepish look. Rainbow Dash shrugged. The attendant sighed, and took the sheet, tearing it up slowly in front of them.
"No sponsor, no money, no deal. I've got ponies waiting in line." She snapped, pointing away from her booth at the non existent ponies waiting in line. Trixie took a step back with a loud indignant gasp.
"Here we go..." Rainbow Dash groaned to herself. Trixie drew back on her hind legs, gasping in shock.
"I am the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie! These prices are OUTRAGEOUS! TRIXIE DEMANDS TO SPEAK TO THE PONY IN CHARGE!" She barked.
Almost immediately, Trixie caught a flash of brown in the corner of her view. At first, at very first, she thought it was a tank. There was a tank in the stadium. Probably because of some great war fought here or something, so that wasn't too strange; until it moved. It shuffled into her vision silently and quickly, as if it were somehow gliding across the air. A huge, monstrous creature that positively towered over the diminutive Trixie and all other creatures in the room. It was shaggy- covered in deep brown fur from head to toe, like a giant puff ball. Also, it had tusks. Huge, massive, dark yellow tusks that jutted out where Trixie was guessing it's face might be underneath all of the fur. It was...Good lord, it was a Woolly Mammoth. There was a Woolly Mammoth towering in front of her. And just when Trixie thought things couldn't get anymore surreal, it growled out in a great, huge, deep dark trembling roar: "Is there a problem?"
The ponies in the room all widely circled Trixie, trying to keep as much distance as possible from her and the mammoth mammoth. Things were about to get messy.
".......Trixie wanted to talk to the pony in charge." "Trixie whimpered, gazing up at the behemoth creature. The mammoth leaned down slowly, just until Trixie could see the name tag on it's wide, wide chest: Sunshine Sparkle Dust; Floor Leader. Trixie balked and swallowed a lump in her throat.
"Just wanted to say you're, um, you're doing a fantastic job!" Trixie squeaked and squee'd as hard as she possibly could. Pleasedon'thitmepleasedon'thitmepleasedon'thitme... before she knew it, she felt Rainbow Dash tugging at her tail, backing her away from the ominous giant.
"What the hay was THAT?! Is there some sort of alternate story going on right now that we're not aware of? Cause that was really weird. Like, someone bought a Woolly Mammoth back to life and it's leading a tournament registration at an arena in Canterlot? I ....I really wanna hear the rest of that story." Rainbow chirped. Trixie gave a snarl and magicked Rainbow's tail to pull the other pony back towards her while Rainbow tried to dart off. She didn't have time for this.
"Let's worry about registration first! Trixie only has till the end of the day to register, and she doesn't have a sponsor, or a thousand bits to buy in! What are we going to do?" Trixie asked glumly. She strolled out onto the street with Rainbow following close behind, and she sat down on the curb.
"Well, maybe we can come up with the bits by the end of the day. Registration ends at six, right? I mean, how hard could it be to come up with a thousand bits in twelve hours?" She chuckled nervously. Trixie only glanced up at her with teary eyes and Rainbow shut her mouth. It was hopeless. Really it was, and both of them knew it.
"...Guess....guess we might as well head back to the others. No reason to book a hotel when we aren't going to be competing. Waste of bits," Trixie muttered, her cape trailing behind her as she stood up and began the long, long walk to the hotel next door. She didn't know what she was thinking. The day might actually turn out alright for once. HA! Not for Trixie. Never for Trixie. So close and yet so far. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair!! Why would the universe decide to toy with her? Make her think she was going to the tournament alone, only to give her support at the last second- only to snatch it all away again. WHY?! WHY HER?! ALWAYS HER?!
"G-Gimmie a minute. " Trixie sputtered, turning away from Rainbow Dash with quivering shoulders. Rainbow Dash frowned at the other girl, who took to hiding her face underneath her hat. A very, very awkward minute. Rainbow Dash bit her lower lip while Trixie sat on the curb and tried to collect herself. It wasn't working, though. Every few moments, Trixie would shudder and sniffle and lurch forward, throwing her face deeper into her hat.
"Ugh. This is lame. I'm outta here." were the last words Trixie heard, before the sound of fluttering wings alerted her that Rainbow Dash had left her sitting on the side of the street. Alone. Trixie couldn't blame her, nor did she. Everything had gotten off track. Twilight not being able to help her, the strange, time wasting training Zecora gave her. Not getting any sleep the night before, and now this. How did she miss all of the signs? The universe was toying with her again and she fell for it. All of it. Hook line and sinker. All because she'd been blinded by 'friendship.' She had gotten lazy. She stopped looking out for herself. Let her guard down. Opened herself up to this. This was all her fault. No matter how much she convinced herself she'd changed, the universe refused to budge. Somepony sat down next to her, and Trixie shook her head. She couldn't deal with anypony right now. Why couldn't the universe just give her a minute!!
"Please go away." Trixie sobbed quietly from underneath her hat. Whoever was next to her shifted and sighed. She had an earthy, musky scent to her, and Trixie didn't even need to hear the accent to know who it was.
"Ya'll better win."
Trixie's ears perked, and she sniffled quietly. What? She lifted her hat, just enough to see Applejack, sitting on the side of the curb, watching ponies busily race by, here and there, darting about with their busy lives. Trixie gave another sniffle, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"W-What di-"
"You heard me. Ya'll. Had better. Win. Rainbow Dash came by, told us ya'll had a bit of a predicament. Pinkie Pie don't own the bakery. Rarity ain't popular enough here, yet. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash don't own no company or nothing. Twilight's busy... so I guess Sweet Apple Acre's will have to do. I don't know much 'bout sponsorships or nothin' but Sweet Apple Acre's ain't never come in anything lower than second place, so you'd bett-" Applejack squawked. She didn't get a chance to finish. Trixie was hugging her far, far to tightly.