The Everfree Forest. Known for its pony-eating monsters, strange weather patterns, and plants that grew...
All by themselves.
Trixie shuddered. Even somepony as great and powerful as her had to be careful in such a place. One could never know when a ravenous beast would leap from the shadows and devour them, leaving no trace of their previous existence.
The great and powerful mare ducked under a low-hanging branch. The offensive tree limb knocked her hat off her head, sending it into a nearby bush. Trixie growled. How dare that tree get in her way! When she was finished with her reason for being here, she would punish that tree for its insolence!
Trixie trotted over to the bush and used her magic to grab her hat. She placed it on her head, scowling. She hated forests. All the dirt, all the bugs, these were not things Trixie enjoyed. She turned around and kept walking through the forest.
A loud caw emanated from the trees above her. Just keep walking, just keep walking, she thought. Ignore the stupid crow and the stupid sense of impending doom.
Trixie made her way to a small clearing she had created earlier. Upon entering the clearing, she walked straight to the middle of the clearing, towards a wooden sphere. If you were to quickly glance at the sphere, you would notice nothing wrong with it. On closer inspection, however, you would notice many strange details. The fact that the wood was fool of knobs and bark, for instance. The ball hadn't been shaped, it had been grown.
As if that weren't odd enough, one could notice a faint green light emanating from in between the ridges of the bark. It was this faint green light that had first drawn Trixie to the sphere. It was almost like it was calling to her, calling her name... Even now, she could hear it, whispering into her ear.
She had found the sphere deep in the heart of the Everfree forest shortly after she had fled Ponyville. The sphere had called to her, and she answered. She didn't know what the thing was, but she kept it. After months of researching, however, she had finally discovered what it was, and what powers it possessed.
Oh, what powers those were!
The legends told of the wooden sphere that would give its owner incredible power over the other ponies of Equestria, destroying all that stood in their path. The legends never mentioned how this would happen, but Trixie never stopped searching. Finally, after weeks of research and experiments with the square, she had finally discovered how to activate it. Soon, she would rule over all Equestria!
Trixie caressed the sphere with her hoof. "Oh, my precious, you and I are going to have so much fun taking over this world together!", she cooed. The spheres phantasmal whispering seemed to get louder in agreement. "All I'm missing is one component of the spell, and then I'll be ready to activate you!"
Trixie gave the sphere a kiss and placed it back on its pedestal. "Mommy's going to go and find what I need now! Ta-ta!", she said, waving at the sphere and walking away. She trotted out of the clearing, towards the shack she had hastily erected beside a nearby stream.
It took her half an hour to reach her shack. She felt safe here. She had cast an animal repellent spell on the surrounding land, ensuring no dangerous animals could enter.
Trixie opened her door and trotted in, taking off her hat and hanging it on a hook in the wall. The hut was decorated sparsely, with only a single picture on her nightstand and a throw rug lying in the middle of the room. The azure unicorn immediately walked towards a small, cluttered desk placed near her small bed.
Papers and quills were strewn about the top of the desk, forming a chaotic jumble of clutter. Trixie sat down on the stool that was placed in front of it and picked up an old, yellowing newspaper with her magic.
MYSTERIOUS MAGICAL ARTIFACT FOUND IN EVERFREE FOREST
Last night, a group of explorers happened upon a magical artifact of unknown origin. The orb, which is now being researched in the Royal Canterlot Museum of Magic, appears to have an strange magical field of great power.
Trixie stopped reading. That was all she needed to know. After she had dug up this old newspaper in a library, she had done some follow-up research on the orb, and discovered that it was the last component necessary to perform her desired spell. The orb was currently being held as an exhibit in the Royal Canterlot Museum of Magic. The mare smiled and grabbed a ski mask.
She was going to Canterlot.