Trixie was furious.
“Sixty bits for one ride to Canterlot? Surely you jest! Such pricing is most absurd!” The fire in her eyes was unsettlingly discernible as she tried to pierce her opposite with her gaze. The carriage driver remained unimpressed.
“Perfectly reasonable in my eyes, lady. Canterlot is quite the way to go, and I gotta feed my family,” he answered with calm disinterest. His courtesy towards Trixie waned quickly as he realized that this potential customer was highly unwilling to pay the set price for transport.
“Do not bother The Great and Powerful Trixie with such pellucid roguery! T’is clearly a sham! Such a ferry should not cost more than ten bits!” Which was, incidentally, all the money Trixie possessed.
The carriage driver wasn’t intimidated by her big words. His eyes narrowed in suspicion when the ‘correct’ price was named. “Sixty bits and not one coin less,” Was his only answer. A threatening growl had snuck into his voice, a clear sign that no more attempts at negotiation would be allowed.
Trixie was never one to miss a clue for when it was time to leave the stage.
“No matter! If your ignorance clouds your perception of a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, then so be it! The Great and Powerful Trixie will easily find somepony else to transport her to Canterlot and subsequent glory!” She spun round with a snobbish "Hmph", letting her star-covered cloak fly lofty through the air before she strutted away, full of confidence.
Confidence which quickly crumbled as the facade it was, when she turned the next corner. Now what to do? This carriage driver had been her last hope. How was she supposed to get to Canterlot? Trixie let out a frustrated sigh as she took out her money bag and shook it. Her hope, that the coins magically had been quadrupled, was not fulfilled as barely any jingling sounded from the purse.
An even heavier sigh escaped the fortuneless mare as she put the purse back into her magician’s cloak. Well, no time to feel down. Once she found a way to Canterlot, things were bound to look up again. The nobles were sure to eat out of her hoof, as soon as Trixie got her show going! It was quite baffling why she had not thought of this before. If she had just thought things through, she would’ve never had had to make all those unnecessary trips to all those places, like Fillydelphia, Manehattan, and even Las Pegasus.
Inspirited by the thought of finally experiencing the fame and glory that was her due, Trixie lifted her head again and a determined smile pushed away the troubled look. Yes, she would finally be famous. Canterlot was her destiny! And nopony was going to stand between her and her destiny! Except the miles long road to said capital.
The realization dampened Trixie’s spirit and the corners of her mouth sank. It seemed like she was in for a walk to the capital of Equestria, with her entire luggage in tow. It was fortune in misfortune then, that her entire luggage was only one pair of saddlebags. She had sold all her other belongings to keep herself afloat. Of course, if she understood ‘keeping afloat’ as eating in the most expensive restaurants the cities had to offer, her lack of money was hardly surprising. Not that Trixie saw any need to change her lifestyle.
Just as the self-proclaimed famous stage magician pondered the hardships of a fabulous lifestyle, a swift movement to her left pulled Trixie out of her thoughts and she saw a shadowy figure scurry around the corner. Shortly after, an accusing cry echoed through the street.
“Thief!”
Confused, Trixie looked around, and found the accusation to be correct. Her saddlebags had been stolen! Shock seized Trixie, closely followed by rage and a furious stomp on the ground.
“Halt at once, you lowlife!” she yelled, taking up the pursuit. Her magician’s hat flew off as she ran around the corner, chasing after the fleeing criminal.
The closing hoofsteps immediately drew the thief’s attention. A look back revealed that he was pursued, changing his nervousness to panic. The discovered rogue accelerated, knocking several ponies out of his way as he fled down the street, oblivious of the oncoming carriage.
The driver’s face froze in panic as he noticed the approaching thief. Too late, he rammed all four of his hooves into the muddy road. The wheels of the carriage creaked in complaint, the vehicle’s weight pushing its driver a bit more forward, until it found an easier way out: sideways.
Realizing too late the predicament he was in, the thief’s eyes widened in shock. Briefly paralyzed, the fear of capture proved too strong. With terrifying speed, the thief and the carriage hurtled towards each other, blurs to the watching crowd. The fleeing criminal yelled in terror, the carriage wheels screeched. Suddenly, he jumped. The carriage lunged at him like a hungry beast, but its chance had passed. The thief narrowly escaped death, the wood front barely inches away from him as he sailed past it, hit the muddy road with all four hooves and then kept running.
“Watch where you’re going!” the driver yelled, a mixture of relief and anger on his face. The angry part grew when Trixie failed to slow down, and slammed right into the sideways-standing carriage. “And you too, lady! What the hay is up with you tourists?”
An icy glance was all Trixie could muster before she picked up the chase again. She quickly circled the carriage, but it was too late to catch up, the thief was almost out of her sight. she ground her teeth in fury and stomped on the ground, only to feel a weird, squishy sensation. Confused, she looked down and saw several potatoes that had fallen off the carriage during its slide.
The view sparked an idea in Trixie’s head, and a devilish grin spread across her face. With magic, she picked up one of the potatoes and let it hover in front of her. The driver had just come around the carriage when he saw Trixie’s doing, halted and squinted at her suspiciously. “Hey, what are you do—” He stopped in the middle of the sentence as realization hit him and shock widened his eyes.
“Now wait just a—” It was too late. In a fluent movement, Trixie spun around, aimed over her shoulder, lifted her left back hoof and kicked the flying potato with all her might.
A sharp whistle could be heard, followed by a loud Bang! as the weaponized vegetable zoomed through the air and impacted on the fleeing criminal’s head. A loud yell of pain sounded as the distant figure collapsed to the ground.
Trixie lifted her muzzle in a victorious pose as she trotted up to the thief to reclaim her rightful property. She sniffed arrogantly as she looked down on the criminal. “Simple lowlife! Such is the fate of one who tries to rob the Great and Powerful Trixie of her rightful wealth! You should—”
She paused when she noticed that her saddlebags hadn’t been the only things carried away by the thief. Beside him also lay a gunny sack, apples spilling through the slack opening onto the muddy road.
“That was amazin’!”
Trixie turned to see a young filly. Her coat was bright yellow, and her mane a blazing red, decorated by an oversized pink ribbon. She looked up at Trixie with eyes widened by amazement and admiration.
“Er… thanks?” For the first in a long time, Trixie found herself at a loss for words. This situation was most unexpected. She knew how to take praise during an act, but being thanked for a good deed? This was something Trixie hadn’t experienced in quite a while.
“That guy was at least sixty feet away! How’d ya do that?” asked the filly as she leaned forward. Trixie was completely unprepared for such a level of attention off the stage.
“Er, well, you see…” began Trixie, when a loud shout cut her off.
“Just what in the hay do you think you’re doing?!”
Disoriented, Trixie looked up. The driver of the potato carriage, who had been frozen on the spot since her kick, had finally regained his ability to move, as well as his anger. Yet it was not directed towards the thief, who still lay semi-conscious on the ground, it was focused on Trixie. His fuming stare was fixed entirely upon the broke stage magician as he approached with a curious gait, half stomping and half trott.
“You better be paying up for them damages you caused!” he yelled as soon as he stood before Trixie, entirely ignoring the filly between them. The words ‘pay up’ set off alarm bells inside Trixie’s head, but strangely enough, the driver’s aggressive behaviour allowed Trixie to compose herself. She was much more used to this kind of ‘gratitude’.
“Pay up? What hoax is this? I confronted this rogue all by myself and rid your town of his criminal tyranny. If anything, it is YOU who should remunerate ME!” The carriage driver clearly struggled to comprehend Trixie’s words, while she confidently stuck up her nose. After a few moments, however, the stallion shook his head and focused his anger on Trixie anew.
“I don’t care what that guy there did, if it hadn’t been for you, that fella there woulda never had jumped in front of me and my delivery woulda been safe and sound!,” he accused Trixie once more. Trixie opened her mouth to reply, when another voice sounded between them.
“Oh hush, Spuds MacKenzie, yer potatoes are fine. Stop tryin’ to get more money than ya can for those ol’ rock roots.” It was the yellow filly that stood between them, giving the owner of the carriage a stern look. Spuds MacKenzie, as she had called him, shied away at the sight of the filly, before quickly building up his tough facade again.
“My there potatoes ain’t rock roots, them’re high-quality products!” Spuds snarled as he glared at the filly. The young earth pony only smirked.
“Sure…if yer looking for somethin’ to play hoofball with, that is,” she grinned.
“Why, you little—” Spuds started, when somepony loudly harrumphed behind him. The stallion rolled his eyes in irritation before turning his head.
“What do you wa—” Spuds interrupted himself for a second time when he saw a huge red stallion towering over him, a disapproving look on his face.
“Ooh, hey there, Big Macintosh. Hain’t done seen you there at all! Er, how’s it going? Business good?” There was nothing left of the potato farmer’s angry self-righteousness. Instead, he seemed quite nervous, almost fearful as he wriggled in front of the far bigger stallion, who stared him down in silence.
“Right, now that we all calmed down, ya surely see that she doesn’t owe you anythin’,” the young filly explained, unfrightened by the large stallion’s arrival. The mention of money awoke Spud’s fighting spirit one more time.
“But…she still done squish one of my potatoes…and she done use another one to hit that there thief…,” he replied, his eyes wandering from Trixie and the young filly towards the huge silent stallion.
Before the filly could react, Trixie let out a theatrical sigh and raised one hoof to her forehead. “I will have no more of your wailing! Have these and be gone, rogue trader!” With those words, Trixie reached inside of her cloak, took her purse, and threw it in front of the potato farmer’s hooves.
Spud’s eyes widened in disbelief, baffled by this turn of events. Fortunately for him, his merchant instincts didn’t need to understand the situation to take advantage of it. With astonishing speed, the potato farmer snatched up the bag with his muzzle and was at his carriage before anypony could so much as blink twice.
A haughty snort came from Trixie as she watched the carriage quickly move further down the road, its owner obviously eager to leave before she could think twice about her money.
“Simple peasant! He clearly doesn’t know how to appreciate the generosity of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Not that misplaced appreciation was Trixie’s actual problem. She had given away all of her bits, everything she had had to finance a transport to Canterlot, to pay for two potatoes! What was she supposed to do now?
“Did ya just give all yer money away to pay for two potatoes?” The question caught Trixie completely off-guard. Her haughty expression changed to bewilderment as she turned her head and met the filly’s confused gaze.
“Er… “ made Trixie, staring blankly at her. Then she vigorously shook her head and puffed up to a, hopefully, majestic position. “Bah! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need for any coin, her sole presence is a far greater payment than any bits could be!”
“Ah’m pretty sure y’need bits to pay yer bills.” This filly was persistent. Fortunately for Trixie, she was equally stubborn.
“There is no need for such a thing, as The Great and Powerful Trixie will no longer remain in this ingrate town. The talents of such a gifted pony are urgently required at someplace else!” That, and the fact that the azure unicorn had no more money would be unwelcome news to the innkeeper.
While Trixie was planning her travel route in her head, the face of the yellow filly distorted into a contemplative grimace, as she tried to understand the complicated and cryptic statement of the self-proclaimed Great and Powerful One. Suddenly, her expression lit up in realization, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a self-satisfied smile.
“Oh, Ah see! Yer goin’ to the Summer Sun Celebration! So yer like a stage magician or somethin’?” Now it was Trixie’s turn to give a look of confusion to her conversational partner. Summer Sun Celebration? What was this filly talking about? The Summer Sun Celebration was not for another…five days?! With shock, the azure unicorn realized that she had completely lost track of time with her attempts to reach Canterlot. Panic started to well up inside Trixie, but disappeared when a sudden realization flashed through her mind.
Reaching Canterlot wouldn’t even be necessary, with the Summer Sun Celebration approaching. After all, there would be a lot of nobles there, just waiting to be impressed by Trixie’s virtuosity. More importantly, getting to the Summer Sun Celebration was not nearly as expensive and labor-intensive as getting into Canterlot without any connections from the inside.
Which is why Trixie’s answer hardly turned out to be a surprise. “Of course! Everypony will want to see the artistry of The Great and Powerful Trixie at the Summer Sun Celebration!” Not that she had a program or any spells practiced.
Of course, the young filly didn’t know that. “Really? Can you show one of yer tricks now? Can ya?” Immediately, Trixie’s broad grin froze up. Why did she always bring herself into such situations? There was no way she could do a spell big enough to justify her boasting.
However, those thoughts were suddenly pushed to the side when a movement behind Trixie caught everypony’s attention. The thief had taken advantage of their inattention to recover from the hit to the head, and was now of the opinion that it was time for him to leave.
Mud splashed when his hind hooves struck the ground, launching him into a sprint. The large, quiet stallion stepped up, but Trixie was faster.
In one fluid movement, she spun around, opened her saddlebags, and summoned her magic. In an immediate reply, a thin, long shape shot out of the bags, shooting through the air like a flying serpent, and followed after the thief.
A lashing sound made the fleeing criminal turn his head, just in time to see a rough shape darting towards him. He screamed in fear and surprise, just a moment before the shape coiled around him with a crack, shackling his legs. Suddenly robbed of his agility, the thief desperately fought for balance, but only managed to land on his snout, sliding to a stop with his muzzle in the mud.
The eyes of everypony were wide in amazement and disbelief, except for Trixie’s. She basked in the gazes of the silenced crowd before turning around to the yellow filly, who stood with mouth agape.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie believes that this little legerdemaine shall be quite enough of a demonstration of her prowess,” she stated smugly. As soon as she had processed what had happened, the little filly turned to Trixie, once more her face lit up with admiration.
“That was incredible!” Trixie gave a grin. This kind of praise was much more comfortable for her. She preferred being admired for her magical prowess and her skill with words over honest gratitude for helping somepony. Old preferences died hard.
“Your appreciation is most welcome. The Great and Powerful Trixie may consider giving you a discount for her show,” she answered, dragging the thief towards her with magic and the rope that fettered him.
“Really? That’d be great! Ah’d love to see yer show. When're ya gonna be there?” In one fell swoop, reality had caught up to Trixie again. The whole affair with the thief and the talk with the yellow filly had almost made her completely forget about it.
“Erm… The Great and Powerful Trixie shall see. After all, many a ponies will desire to see such fabulous—”
“You can’t afford a carriage, can’t you?”
Trixie flinched under those words, as if somepony just had electrocuted her. Frantic, she let her eyes move up and down the street, making sure nopony else was listening. She then turned around to the filly, poorly contained anger in her eyes mixed with embarrassment.
“Do not be ridiculous! The Great and Powerful Trixie is far above such peasant problems. It’s just that… sometimes, even a powerful and great unicorn like Trixie needs to use the roads of the common folks, to grace them with her presence.” It was a weak excuse and Trixie knew it just as well as the little filly. Yet the azure unicorn would be damned, to appear weak in front of a fan! The filly stayed persistent.
“But by walkin’ ya’ll never reach the Summer Sun Celebration on time! There’ll be no time for ya to start yer magic show.” Trixie hated it when somepony was more in the right than her, and the yellow filly’s words were absolutely true. Not that she was going to openly acknowledge this.
“No matter! Such trivial problems shall be of no hindrance to The Great and Powerful Trixie!” The following silence felt awkward. The filly was clearly still not convinced by Trixie’s solution and the red giant seemed just as confused. Yet Trixie’s majestic pose, or rather stubbornly looking the other way, told them that the unicorn was convinced of her solution, or at least not in the mood to debate it any further. The filly gave a shrug.
“Well, we’ll see ya at the Summer Sun Celebration, Ah guess? We gotta get movin’, though, and back to our carriage. It was—” She didn’t get further. Upon the words ‘our carriage’, Trixie’s eyes snapped open and her head swirled around so fast, that a loud cracking could be heard, followed by a yelp of pain from Trixie.
“You… you have a carriage?” she asked, rubbing her neck with a pained expression. The filly and the stallion, already halfway turned around, paused and looked back at Trixie.
“Yeah, sure, we do. We don’t live here, after all, we just come here to sell our apples,” the filly explained. As she saw the expression on Trixie’s face, realization lit up in her eyes and a devilish smile appeared on her lips. “In fact, our hometown is where the Summer Sun Celebration is held. We’re headin’ straight towards it.”
Trixie’s reaction at those words was not misinterpretable. Her eyes widened even more, her left front hoof stopped midway in the massage of her neck and her jaw dropped half an inch. Even for a little filly, such an open display of desire was not mistakable.
Of course Trixie would not be Trixie if she didn’t try to keep up the facade of confidence and supremacy. As soon as she caught the state she presented herself in, she straightened up, ignoring the still present pain in her neck, put her hoof on the ground, closed her eyes and put her muzzle high up in the air. “I see. That must be most fortunate for you. And what is even more fortunate for you is the fact that The Great and Powerful Trixie is so grateful of your deeds, that she shall grace you a little while longer with her presence, ensuring a safe and comfortable journey!”
Despite the confidence in her voice, Trixie’s desperation for a quick transport towards the Summer Sun Celebration was marginally disclosed, as she opened her left eye just a little bit to spy their reactions.
The stallion, like the entirety of their encounter, seemed indifferent to Trixie’s sudden revelation, except for a slight arch in his right eyebrow. The filly only wore a big, complacent smile on her face, not looking surprised either. It made Trixie wonder a little bit, if she was played for a fool here, but she tried not think about it. This was, after all, her last chance to get to the Summer Sun Celebration and successfully kick of her plan to get into Canterlot.
“Sure, why not? The more the merrier, right?” The tone of the filly’s voice was for Trixie’s taste a bit too jovial, but once more she ignored any signs she could possibly pick up about herself being outsmarted. Instead, she now smiled herself, throwing herself into a pose.
“Very well. Then the Great and Powerful Trixie shall dwell no longer here in this ungrateful place! Destiny is call— my hat!” This startled outcry immediately changed the pitch of her voice for a few octaves upwards, when Trixie’s hoof only touched air over her head.
Instead of suavely adjusting the position of her magician’s hat, she now frantically searched her entire head with her front hoof, of course in vain, while desperately looking up and down the street. “Ooooh, where is it, where is it? Where could it possibly be? I must have lost it while I was running after this thief…”
“Y'looking for this here?” Trixie’s head whipped around for the second time today and for the second time, her neck popped unpleasantly. The azure unicorn winced at the pain, which shot through her body anew, but this time she gave herself not a rest until her eyes recognized what they saw. For once, it was the red-coated stallion that had spoken, not the filly, and in his front hoof, Trixie could see…
“My hat!” she cried as she lunged forward and snatched the cusp cap out of the stallion’s hooves. A relieved sigh escaped Trixie’s lips and all the tension, that had immediately built up, left her body as she put the cap on her head. As she opened her eyes after a moment of collection, two very curious gazes met her own. Trixie gave a sheepish grin and then cleared her throat. “Ahem! Anyway. Shall we be on our way?”
The curious caution faded from the filly’s eyes and she nodded. “Sure, why not? But are ya sure ya don’t need to get any other stuff out of wherever yer staying?”
“There is no need for such a thing! The Great Trixie’s powerful magic shall take care of this once she is at the Summer Sun Celebration!” It also wouldn’t improve Trixie’s health to meet the innkeeper one more time. Her entire worldly belongings were inside those saddlebags anyway.
“Well? Let’s be off then! Great magic is waiting to be performed by the Great and Powerful Trixie!” the azure unicorn once more encouraged an early leave, eagerly letting her gaze wander from the filly to the stallion and back.
“Well, Ah guess if there is nothing else ya have to finish here…” Suddenly, the filly’s eyes went wide with realization. “Oh! By the way, ‘Ah’m Apple Bloom and this here’s my brother, Big Macintosh. Pleased to meet ya,” she finally introduced herself and the silent red-coat stallion, who nodded silently in response to his name being mentioned.
“Well met, young Apple loom and silent Big Macintosh. You are in the presence of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“Yeah, we kinda gathered that...”, answered the filly called Apple loom, but Trixie didn’t listen. Her thoughts were occupied with joyful images of nobles surrounding and praising her, blocking everything else around her out completely. Yes, this Summer Sun Celebration was going to change Trixie’s life. She just knew it!