The Most Magical Unicorn

by hauntu4ever

Showmare

Trixie walked through the woods, head hung low. Not three hours ago, she had been on top of the world. Then, suddenly, everything had crashed and burned. Now, she was suddenly destitute, homeless, without anything left of her life up until now.

Blast that insufferable mare! She thought back to the events of the night, of waking to the sound of a pair of screaming colts. She had exited her traveling home in exasperation - only to find a real, live Ursa Major - or apparently an Ursa Minor! - rampaging through the town.

Of course, Trixie thought. I tell one simple, harmless lie, and it comes back and bites me in the flank! She had never seen an Ursa, Major or Minor, and she hadn’t been to Hoofington, either - at least, not yet. She figured it would be a harmless story, certain to gain quite a few bits in every town she passed - Hoofington not included, of course. She certainly hadn’t expected to have to prove it!

Just my luck for stopping in the only town in all of Equestria that happened to have an Ursa living within walking distance and two colts foalish enough to go get it!

And then . . . that mare. Twilight Sparkle. She had been so afraid to stand up and challenge Trixie during her demonstration. What did Trixie have to fear from a pony like that? Apparently everything. She had masterfully shown Trixie up, defeating the Ursa Minor without so much as breaking a sweat - and then she’d had the gall to tell Trixie that it wasn’t even an Ursa Major! The nerve!

Well, the showmare thought, I guess my career is done for. Once the story of how the Great and Powerful Trixie was bested by a simple country unicorn got out, she would be a laughingstock. Nopony would believe her stories. They wouldn’t bother to watch, much less spare a bit for her. She was on the road to starvation now, unless she found a new line of work.

Perhaps I can find a job in the show business. It certainly won’t be particularly lucrative, but at least I’ll enjoy it. Even if it does mean I can’t keep traveling. . . . She sighed, and looked up at the sparkling night sky. The pegasi had opted for a cloudless night. She almost wished it were raining.

I’ll never see the world like I wanted to. She sat down against a tree trunk, resting on its roots. I’ll find a home somewhere and never travel further than the city limits. The forest was silent around her. Nothing seemed to move, as if in perfect tranquility. There was no wind, and no animals made a sound.

I’ll never chase my dreams. She huddled up against the tree. I’ll never wow a crowd again. The hard wood offered little comfort, but she took what she could from it. I’ll never. . . .

I’ll never. . . .

She wished it was raining.

Maybe it would hide the tears.

She attempted to pull her cape around herself for warmth, before she remembered that her cape was still in her crushed wagon. It only made her sob even harder.

A memory returned to her.

She was six years old, sitting on her family’s front porch. In front of her was a toy magic kit. Nothing special, but fun to play with. She was levitating the wand, and using it to tap on a small black box.

“Abracadabra!”

Nothing appeared to happen. But that was fine, because she knew that when she opened it up, the comb inside would be changed into a necklace. Smiling, she lifted the box up and took off the lid.

Inside, there was a silver comb.

She frowned. Why wasn’t it working? It had worked when her dad had showed it to her. The necklace was so pretty, too!

“Still playing with it, eh?”

She turned around to find her dad walking through the open doorway to their house. He was smiling, and had a box in his magic’s grip.

She nodded, then held it up to him. “But it won’t turn into a necklace like you showed me! I think it’s broken.”

Her dad chuckled. “No, don’t worry, it’s not broken. Here, put the lid back on and I’ll show you.” She did so, then stepped back as he lifted up the wand and tapped the box with it. “Abracadabra!” He nodded once, satisfied, then told Trixie to open the box.

Inside, there was a silver necklace.

Trixie gasped. “How did you do that?!”

Her father chuckled again. “There’s a trick to it. You have to cast another spell while you’re tapping it. That spell will open a little trapdoor-” he cast the spell as he was talking, opening the trapdoor to reveal the comb hidden beneath “-and switch the two items.”

Trixie grinned widely. “That’s so cool!”

“I’m glad you think so,” he replied. “I did, too, at your age. Now, here. I have a present for you.” With that, he levitated the box over to her.

Trixie frowned and opened up the present. Inside was a purple, star-studded cape and a matching her. She pulled them out with an excited squee and hastily threw them over herself. “Wow! Thanks, dad!”

He laughed, watching her run across the porch, cape flying behind her. “I thought you’d like to have the costume I wore as a showstallion in my youth.”

That stopped her. She stared at her father in awe. “You were a showstallion?”

He nodded. “Yep. Had the time of my life traveling across Equestria, performing for the villages I passed.”

“Wow,” Trixie breathed. “What was it like? Tell me a story!”

He smiled. “How about we have lunch first? Your mother just got finished making us sandwiches. I’ll tell you all about my adventures afterwards.”

Trixie nodded eagerly. “Okay!” She bounded into the house and towards the kitchen, followed by her chuckling father.

Trixie’s tears slowed, then stopped. She sat there on the tree for a moment, drinking in the memory, the echoing sound of her father’s voice, a sound she hadn’t heard in years. When she finally lifted her head up, her red-rimmed eyes were filled with determination. I may have lost everything, she thought, but I’m not losing those!

And with that, she set off down the path back to Ponyville.

---

The crescent moon was just enough light for Trixie to see by as she snuck through the now-empty streets of Ponyville. Most of the town had returned to their beds now that the night’s excitement was over. As such, nopony saw Trixie as she hurried to the place where her home had been crushed. Fortunately, it was still there. It was probably too late at night to bother with cleaning it up now. All the better for her.

Quickly, she got to work, levitating aside crushed wooden boards, personal belongings, and show props alike. It didn’t take long for her to sort out the items from the rubble, although it was certainly taxing on her heart. Most everything was destroyed, ripped apart by the crushed wagon. Most of her books were flattened, their spines bent. Her bed had four or five separate planks embedded in it, and it looked like a few of her fireworks had exploded, taking with them her curtains, blanket, saddlebags and most of her pots and pans. Fortunately, Trixie was adept at burying emotions due to years of performing for crowds. She could mourn for her worldly possessions later. Right now, she needed to get her hat and cape. That was all that mattered.

Her search quickly turned desperate when she realized that they weren’t even in the pile. Frantic, she searched closer, double-checking under everything she had already moved. Finally, she was certain. Somepony had taken them.

Years of performances didn’t prepare her for losing her most prized possessions. She sat down in the middle of the rubble, tears filling her eyes. How? she thought. Who could have taken them? Who would have taken them?

Of course, there was at least one obvious answer. Twilight, the pony who had defeated her. It seemed like the kind of thing she would do, though Trixie didn’t have a clue what her endgame was. It didn’t matter, though. She would get them back, powerful unicorn or no!

With that thought, Trixie galloped off to find Twilight and take back her possessions.

---

Of course, that was easier said than done - Trixie had never bothered to find out where Twilight lived. She couldn’t ask for directions, either - she doubted that the ponies of this town would be exactly happy to see her. So, lost, she took to wandering the streets of Ponyville, looking for any clue that would point towards where Twilight lived.

Unfortunately, the search proved fruitless. Trixie found no clues to indicate where Twilight lived. She could be in any of these houses and I’d never know, she thought.

As her frustration grew, so too did her anger. Specifically, her anger at the mare who had caused this in the first place.

Curse that Twilight! she thought as she rounded a house that looked like it had just come out of the oven. What right does she have to destroy all the fruits of my life’s work? All my stage props, all my fireworks . . . gone! And now this! Does she even realize how important that hat and cape is? How much of my show is dependent on just those? How much. . . . Realizing that she was on the verge of tears again, Trixie quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind, replacing them with her anger towards Twilight. When I find that mare, she’s going to pay!

Righteous fury, however, was not a location spell, and Trixie did not know such a spell anyways. She was seriously considering just going into a house and demanding aid, no matter what the townsponies thought, when she approached a giant oak tree growing in the middle of the town. Except it wasn’t an oak tree, she realized after a second glance. It had a door and windows, and there was a light on in the main room. Even in Trixie’s despairing frame of mind, a part of her had to appreciate the ingenuity of turning an old oak tree into a building.

There was a sign out in front. Ponyville Library, it read beneath a picture of a book. Trixie frowned at the building. Most libraries closed in the evening. What was this one doing with a light on in the middle of the night?

Well, if I have to ask for directions, a public building is probably better than a private one. With a sigh, she walked up to the door and knocked.

“Who could that be?” a familiar mare’s voice came from the other side. Trixie gasped, then readied her horn.

The door opened. “Hello-” was all Twilight got out before Trixie sent a wave of magic straight at her, knocking her back into the library. Trixie quickly jumped after her, kicking the door shut.

Once inside, Trixie immediately grabbed Twilight’s limbs and muzzle with telekinesis. “You!” she hissed into the trapped mare’s surprised face. “This is all your fault. You destroyed Trixie’s reputation, her home, her-her life, all in a single night. You embarassed and disgraced Trixie in front of a crowd, and you will get no forgiveness for what you did!”

Twilight frowned, recovering from her shock. Her horn began to glow, and Trixie’s eyes widened as she first probed, then removed the blue glow around her mouth with ease. “My fault?” she asked once she could speak again. She then set to work on the telekinesis holding each of her legs, again removing it without a problem. “What I did? Trixie, what exactly do you think happened tonight?”

Well, if magic wasn’t going to work, then at least Trixie could use her hooves. She knocked Twilight back over, holding her down with a front hoof. “Trixie knows exactly what happened tonight! You got those two imbeciles to go find an Ursa Major so that you could show me up in front of the entire town! Then you humiliated Trixie even more by revealing that it wasn’t even an Ursa Major in the first place! You’ve ruined Trixie’s reputation for years to come!”

Twilight glared at her. “I did not!” Using her magic, she lifted Trixie off of her, eliciting a “hey!” from the now floating mare. She stood up, then turned to Trixie. “I would never lure an Ursa Minor into Ponyville!” Trixie scoffed, but Twilight continued right on: “and I wasn’t trying to show you up, I was trying to save the town!”

“Yeah, and make yourself look good in the process! Face it: you just wanted to ruin the life of a helpless showmare!” Trixie tried to cast another wave of magic at Twilight, but the other mare easily stopped her.

“That’s not true at all!” Twilight sighed and took a breath. “Look, Trixie, I’m sorry about what happened. I’m sorry your house got crushed, and I’m sorry your life got ruined. You have to understand I didn’t want any of that to happen.”

Trixie blinked. She had not expected an apology, of all things. She shook her head; it didn’t make any sense. “How can you expect me to believe that?!”

Twilight frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could speak, she caught the look in Trixie’s eyes. Understanding passed across her features, and she stepped back, setting Trixie down.

Trixie smirked jubilantly as her hooves hit the ground. “That’s right! You cannot possibly hope to defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie! Now, watch in awe as-” she cut off as her hat and cape floated over to her, held in a purple telekinetic grip. “My. . . .”

“Here,” Twilight said. “This is what you wanted, right? I’m sorry I took them. You just have so many powerful enchantments on them, and I wanted to see what they were. Still, no excuse for taking another pony’s possessions. I should have at least looked for you before I took them and examined them on my own. But you had run off so quickly. I had no idea if you even wanted them anymore, and-” Seeming to realize she had started babbling, Twilight cut off suddenly, then finished with a regretful “sorry. . . .”

While Twilight spoke, Trixie simply stared at her hat and cape. They were only slightly damaged; her protection enchantments had done their job well. Her mind, instead, focused on something else. Is it really this simple? I walk in and she just gives them back? Why? When Twilight finally trailed off, Trixie looked up from her clothes. Catching her eye, she voiced her last question aloud. “Why?”

“Well, I - huh?”

“Why are you giving these back?” Trixie hissed. “What purpose does this serve? What do you gain from it?”

Twilight’s ears flattened back against her skull. “Well, I-I was hoping you would forgive me, and we could be friends. . . .”

“Friends? Friends?! Listen to me, you foal. You summoned an Ursa Minor and used it to destroy Trixie’s home and stage.” She overrode Twilight’s objections with a raised hoof. “Trixie doesn’t want to hear it! Even if you didn’t mean to, which she doesn’t believe for a second, you still had your hoof in it. I’m sure of it! Then you made sure Trixie would never perform again! You know how quickly rumors spread. Trixie won’t even make it to the next town over before they are spread across all of Equestria! And you want to be friends with her?!”

“Twilight, who is that?” came a bleary voice from somewhere upstairs. Abruptly Trixie realized she had been shouting. She looked at Twilight, on whose face was a strange mix of guilt and anger. Trixie gave her one last glare before snatching her hat and cape from Twilight’s magical grip and putting them on. In a low voice, she said, “you haven’t seen the last of the Great and Powerful Trixie.” Then, she turned and bolted out of the door and back into the night.

Author's Note:

Here we go! Special thanks to Key Strix for helping me make this readable!

Comments

[Key Strix]

The twist of this story is that it's all Spike's fault.

fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/113/6/b/evil_spike_vector_by_issyrael-d3eqbrw.png

[KnobBoy12]

Mmmm....Tasty story.

[Charlie_K]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I've always had a soft spot for Trixie even if she is annoying.

[hauntu4ever]

2396829
Curse you, Spike!
2396990
As one of my favorite characters, I'm quite looking forward to this one, too!
2396969

[The Computer Pony]

Why people downvoted this, I have no clue. It is a good story.
I look forward to an update.

[Dark Shadow]

How DARE YOU TIWLIGHT!!! You will pay for this! (With the alicorn amulet ha ha ha)

[Voldine]

Please ignore the previous version of this comment if you have read it. It was not noticed that the story had already been marked as accepted despite remaining in our 'to be judged' folder over at the Good Grammar Directory.

A sincere apology.