//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: An Unexpected Reunion // Story: Out of Sight... // by Star-Killer89 //------------------------------// Written by Star-Killer89, Edited by IMacPoneh HOOFINGTON JUNE 03 - 6:00 P.M. “You were right girls. Taking a day off to have some fun was really what I needed” said Twilight Sparkle while walking among the crowd that was attending the Annual Hoofington Carnival. “Really, darling, you should leave that library more often. Sooner or later you’re going to turn yourself into a book. It wouldn’t surprise me with all the hours you spend with that muzzle of yours buried in those old dusty tomes” replied Rarity. “Yeah, like being a bookworm wasn’t enough already” added Rainbow Dash. Twilight giggled in response “Maybe you’re right. Hey, by the way, where are all the others?” “Applejack just went to the ‘Test your Strength’ game, and I think Sweetie Belle and her friends forced Fluttershy to come along with them to the Haunted House, shouting ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders, Ghostbusters!’, or something like that” said Rarity. “I saw Pinkie Pie happily bouncing towards the House of Mirrors, and I think Spike just went to buy some cotton candy” added Rainbow Dash. “Don’t you worry, darling. They won’t miss the rendezvous at the train station”. “Good, that means we still have some time to check out some other rides” said Twilight, while looking around in search for an attraction they hadn’t tried yet. Suddenly, her attention was drawn by a small crowd, which was starting to collect in a half circle near the boundary of the Carnival. “What’s going on there?” she asked, addressing herself more than to her friends, and started to trot towards the huddle. When she got closer, she noticed a little stage right at the centre of the half circle formed by the crowd, and from both sides a small fireworks display was going on, while a jingle, well known to the mare, was playing through some trumpets. She immediately realized who was going to appear on that stage. “Great! That quack was all we needed!” Rainbow Dash said, anger in her voice as she caught up to Twilight. “Oh come on now, Rainbow. Trixie isn’t a bad pony” calmly replied Twilight. “Pardon me, dear, but I wouldn’t exactly define turning my fabulous mane into some sort of green nest a gracious act” added Rarity. “Yeah, and let’s not forget how she made me and AJ look like foals with those cheap tricks of hers” added the pegasus. “Ok, maybe her manners weren’t so friendly towards us, and yes, maybe she tends to be a little arrogant, but you shouldn’t be so quick to judge”. “We can’t? What about that little incident with that Ursa Major?” asked Rainbow. “Ok, first of all, it was an Ursa Minor; secondly, if I remember correctly, it wasn’t her who brought it into town” replied Twilight. “Sure, but it is also true that if she hadn’t been showing off in the first place, those two little colts would have never tried to prove how ‘Great and Powerful’ she was” added Rarity. “Oh, come on, girls. Let’s try to forget these little things and go to reconcile with her, shall we?” Proposed the lavender unicorn, a big smile on her face. “Do as you please. I still think you’re just wasting your time. I’ll be at the Target Shooting” said Rainbow, before dashing away, leaving a fleeting multicolour trail behind her. “Thanks for your proposal, darling, but for once, I agree with Rainbow Dash. Nothing good can come out of such a mare” said Rarity, before heading off in the same direction as Dash. “Fine! Do it your way! I’ll just go and talk to her alone!” shouted Twilight, with a little frustration in her tone, before heading for the stage. The fireworks display and the music had just reached their climax when Twilight managed to reach the front of the row. At that very second, a loud, high-pitched voice declared: “Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” followed by an explosion of blue smoke at the center of the stage. When the smoke began to dissipate, the figure of a cyan pony with an azure striped mane, dressed with a purple cloak and hat studded with stars, appeared on the stage, followed by a multitude of ponies in the crowd whispering “Ooooooh!” “Silence, please!” shouted Trixie “And watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” exclaimed the show-mare, sending the crowd mad with joy and amusement. ‘Well, she certainly hasn’t changed at all since the last time’ thought Twilight. “It is good to see you all cheering, oh ponies of Hoofington, because it was I, ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ who had magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major from the city of Ponyville, and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!” ‘Ugh, this lie, again?’ thought a worried and tired Twilight ‘I just hope she won’t do anything foalish’. “Watch closely, as the powerful magic skills of Trixie are able to match that of one of the many creatures that live within the darkest depths of the Everfree Forest. That’s right; I’m talking about the dreadful Barghest!” Another cloud of smoke covered the stage, and from nowhere appeared a big metal cage containing a mastodontic dog, twice as big as a full grown stallion, with a mane as dark as night, and eyes as red as blood. Many of the ponies in the front row started to withdraw, struck with panic, while Twilight’s concern only grew with each passing second. “Do not fear, mares and gentlecolts, and watch carefully as I, ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’, show you that even a beast as fierce as this, is no more terrifying than a kitten, against the power of Trixie!” shouted the mare, tossing carefully away her hat and showing to the crowd her horn. An aura of a light magenta surrounded her horn and Trixie removed the hook that secured the cage by surrounding it with an aura of similar colour. The Barghest opened it and slowly approached the unicorn, growling deeply, white foam dripping from the sides of his mouth. The crowd could only watch, mouths agape, in utter silence. When the Barghest leapt towards her, Trixie’s horn started to glow again, a purple aura enveloping the beast, stopping it in mid-air. The beast simply levitated there, a stunner expression on its face, just mere inches from Trixie’s muzzle The Barghest started to madly wave his paws in anger, making him look he was swimming through the air. Upon seeing this, Trixie just decided to increase his height by a few more inches, putting a good 5 hooves between him and the ground. Following this amazing display and the sheer power of the magic Trixie used, the crowd was once again applauding the show-mare, beating their hooves on the ground in excitement. Twilight sighed with relief ‘Thanks Celestia, it seems she’s getting on the ball.’ With a big smile of self-satisfaction written all over her face, Trixie started to carefully look at the adoring crowd around her, and she couldn’t help but notice the presence of Twilight, who, at that point, was the only pony still standing near the stage. “YOU!” shouted Trixie, with a mix of contempt and surprise in her tone, addressing the lavender unicorn. That was enough to interrupt Trixie’s concentration, breaking the levitation spell she was performing and dropping the Barghest painfully on the ground. The beast, not really pleased by the treatment received, started to growl even louder towards Trixie and began to approach the unicorn menacingly. Trixie, on the other hoof, didn’t’ sense that she was in danger, and kept staring at Twilight “What are you doing here? Wasn’t ruining Trixie’s life once enough for you?” she shouted. Twilight was surprised by the outburst Trixie gave, and wasn’t able to speak, let alone divert her attention from the show-mare. “LOOK OUT!” somepony shouted from the crowd, but by the time Trixie turned it was too late. The Barghest had already leapt toward her, knocking her down and holding her between his forelegs, his claws acted as a barrier to avoid her escape and his grinding teeth inched closer and closer to her face, ready to tear into the mare’s flesh. Panic quickly spread throughout the crowd. Some ponies started to scream, others, like those closer to the stage, started to push each other in a vain attempt to flee from the menace, kicking and trampling each other as the levels of sanity and fear increased. “Oh no!” exclaimed Twilight, recovering from the temporary shock as she began to plot a solution to help her self-proclaimed rival. With a flash, she teleported to the stage, just a few inches from the Barghest. “Hey doggy!” she shouted, and the beast instinctively turned his head towards the source of the distraction. At that point, Twilight bucked at the creature’s head with her hind legs, a hit that was not as strong as one her friend Applejack could have dealt, after years spent bucking apple trees, but powerful enough to push away the beast from Trixie. “What the hay are you doing?” questioned a rather angry Trixie. “Run, I’ll distract him!” replied Twilight, before noticing that Trixie was still standing motionless beside her. ‘Shoot, she must be too terrified to move’. Meanwhile, shaking his head vigorously to recover from the hit, the Barghest changed his target, focusing on Twilight, who started to withdraw slowly, moving the beast away from Trixie. When she reached the spot she wanted, Twilight adopted a guard position. “Come on, boy, come to aunty Twilight”. As if the beast had actually understood Twilight, he dashed towards the unicorn. Waiting for the right time, Twilight cast another teleportation spell, just a few seconds before the beast could reach her, landing the enraged Barghest inside the cage where he was kept. Materializing just beyond the cage’s gate, Twilight closed it with another quick spell before the beast could realize he’d just trapped himself. A moment of silence followed, broken only by the sound of her panting and the beating of her heart. She could feel the adrenalin pulsating through her body. Suddenly, a joyful roar rose from a few ponies of the crowd, those who had watched the entire scene in awe, frozen on the spot. Twilight started to blush, as she approached the cyan unicorn who was only just regaining her footing. “Pant…pant…are you alright Trixie? Are you hurt?” asked Twilight, offering a hoof to help her stand. “Leave Trixie alone!” The show-mare shouted “Why did you intervene? Trixie had the situation under control!” “What?” replied Twilight, half surprised and half irritated “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be lying over there in a pool of blood!” “No, I wouldn’t, you foal! Blacky would never harm me!” An enigmatic look was written all over Twilight’s face. “Blacky?” “Oh no! I have to make the cage disappear from the stage” replied Trixie, as she started to run towards the Barghest. She had only covered half the distance before the big black dog was surrounded by a blue glow, and the beast started to shrink. “What the…?” said Twilight, approaching the cage as well. What was now inside the cage was a small dog, a Jack Russel with a coat as black as coal. He was cowering in the corner, whining in fear. “Would you please be so kind to tell me what the hay is going on here?” asked a rather annoyed Twilight. “Do you really think I’m powerful enough to capture a Barghest alone, or so stupid as to free it on a defenceless crowd without a chain or some sort of magic barrier?” replied Trixie opening the cage and going inside “I just used a temporary transmutation spell on my pet, so that I could put on a show.” “Soooooo, you was never really in danger?” “Of course not! Blacky was just playing his role” replied Trixie, turning with a worried expression “But then you showed up and make me drop him. He must have been scared, and that’s why he jumped towards me with that angry expression” she continued, banding to see if her dog was hurt. “Hey, does that mean it was all fraud?” somepony shouted from the crowd. As the other ponies realized they had been fooled and scared for nothing, a chorus of boos and hisses attacked the show-mare. Realizing that she had said too much, Trixie tried to calm the crowd “Please, everypony-” she started to say, but was interrupted when a candied apple hit her on the brow, followed by many other foods, like pop-corn or cotton candy. With tears starting to form in her eyes, Trixie looked towards Twilight for one last time “Why do you always have to ruin Trixie’s life?” she desperately asked her. “I-“ Twilight said, but she couldn’t add more. Trixie covered herself and her dog behind her cloak, and with another cloud of blue smoke, vanished from the stage “Wait, don’t leave!” shouted Twilight, as the mob of angry ponies continued to lash out at the cyan unicorn. --- HOOFINGTON TRAIN STATION TWO HOURS LATER - 8:28 P.M. “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you, Twilight. Trixie is nothing but an arrogant foal!” said Rainbow Dash after Twilight had finished explaining what happened. “She’s the most crook-brag-swashbuckler I’ve ever seen” added Pinkie Pie “She makes me feel like not wanting to throw a party to her, I mean, if she ever decides to come back to Ponyville, and who wouldn’t want to visit our lovely town again? I mean, there’s no other place like-” continued Pinkie, but her friends had already stopped paying attention as she continued one with another one of her usual digressions. “I only hope that poor little doggy wasn’t hurt” spoke Fluttershy, her voice almost a whisper “How could you do something like that to such a harmless creature, Twilight?” “Ok, first of all, he was even bigger than the Princess herself when I hit him” reassured Twilight “Secondly, transmutation spells don’t only change the appearance of an object or a living being, but they also acquire all the characteristics due to the transformation. In his case, that dog acquired better resistance and, of course, greater strength”. “Well, if I was ya, I would’ve taught her a thing or two about honesty. She shouldn’t have tried to fool that entire crowd.” judged Applejack. “Yeah right! She should have used a real Barghest and put all those ponies in real danger” replied Rainbow Dash. “I’m just sayin’ that if ya want to fool a flock of ponies, ya can’t expect they’ll just forgive you once they expose your tricks”. “What happened to that Trixie lady?” asked a worried Sweetie Belle. “I have no idea. After the mob scattered, I waited almost an hour by the stage, hoping to clear things up with her and to return this” said Twilight, opening her saddlebag and showing to her friends the folded, star covered hat that Trixie left behind during her flight. “If I were you I’d just keep it and forget about her. It’s unbelievable what some ponies are willing to do just to get a bit of attention from others… Right Rainbow Dash?” asked Scootaloo, turning her head towards the pegasus she considered the coolest in all of Equestria, with a big smile on her face and eyes overflowing with admiration. “Uh? Yeah yeah sure, whatever you said, pipsqueak!” nonchalantly replied Rainbow Dash. “Hey girls, this just reminded me that we nev’ah tried to see if our Cutie Mark involves finding and returning lost objects” said Apple Bloom. “Hey, you’re right!” exclaimed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in unison. Beating their hooves together, they shouted “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, LOST AND FOUND RETURNERS!” “Oh darlings, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait till tomorrow to find out if that is your special talent. Look, our train is arriving” said Rarity, as the train to Ponyville approached the station, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders could only sigh in disappointment. While her friends were getting into their car, Twilight couldn’t help but turn back to the square where the carnival was held, in the hope of spotting Trixie before returning to Ponyville. Much to her surprise, at that exact moment, she saw the show-mare coming out from behind a house, pulling the cart she used as a house behind her. The whistle of the train forced Twilight to turn her head back. Spike was leaning outside of the window of their car “Come on Twilight, or the train will leave without you”. The unicorn stood still for a couple of seconds, unsure of what to do, but finally, she turned to her friends and said “Go on without me; I’ll catch up with you in Ponyville with the next train” she said, before turning her back on the train and heading towards Trixie. --- Trixie was slowly walking along the roads of Hoofington. Her efforts, once again, left her packing up and leaving. She felt tired due to the strain it took to move her cart, and she couldn’t enlist the help of the only company that specialized in that kind of service either, since they were closed the day of the carnival. Leaning out of the window of the cart, Blacky started to whine, sharing her master’s sadness. “Don’t worry, sweetie” said Trixie, wearing a tired and bitter smile “This time things went wrong, but Trixie is sure in the next town we will have a better luck”. She sighed “At least I hope so”. “Ehm…hi Trixie” Trixie lifted her head and noticed that Twilight was just standing a few hooves in front of her. Remembering the encounter they had earlier that evening, Blacky started to growl towards Twilight, while Trixie, on the other hoof was far too demoralized to face the lavender unicorn with the same spirit as her pet. “Go on, what other method have you found to ruin Trixie’s life? Are you going to report me for wanderings? Or maybe you decided to destroy Trixie’s house again?” she then continued, tears forming into her eyes as she looked back at her dog “Or are you planning to take away from me the only creature in all of Equestria that doesn’t consider Trixie a useless waste of magic?” “Well, actually, your first cart was destroyed by that Ursa Minor. Anyway, I just wanted to return you this” she replied, and magically handed Trixie the hat. “I thought I’d lost it forever” whispered Trixie, using her own magic to take it from Twilight and hold it at her muzzle level, gazing at it as she lost herself in a sea of memories. After a while Twilight decided to break the silence. “Listen Trixie, I’m not trying to ruin your life in any way, nor do I enjoy watching you fail. I just think we got off on the wrong hoof, and I’d really prefer it if there was no resent between us”. Trixie lowered her head, unable to find the suitable words to reply. “Well, that’s what I wanted to tell you. I really hope we will meet again, sooner or later” Twilight said, then turned her back to Trixie and headed towards the train station. She had moved just a few steps when Trixie spoke to her again “Would-” she started to say “Would you like to hear the story of how Trix…of how I received this hat?” she finally asked shyly. Twilight turned around and saw in Trixie’s eyes the desperate need to openly speak with somepony, without the use of the show-mare’s mask that Trixie had been using the last few years. ‘Well, I guess I can always take the train back to Ponyville tomorrow morning’ thought Twilight, and with a sweet smile on her face trotted back to Trixie “Yes, it would be my pleasure to hear that story, but first, let me help you move your cart”. CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 2