//------------------------------// // Tip of the Hat // Story: Trixie's Revenge // by Outlaw Quadrant //------------------------------// As the skies grew dark, the multiple floors of the Library Treehouse stood in a disorganized mess with books randomly strewn about. Ponies of all sorts of colors dug their muzzles into the text in search of any relevant knowledge regarding the amulet or occult magic while they waited for the mystery magician. Twilight and Spike had taken the first floor but the task was delayed by the discovery of tomes which librarian had not been aware of before, drawing her ire. “Ugh! I cannot believe there’s so many! This is completely unacceptable! Spike, we need to make up a cataloging checklist!” Spike whined “But we already have one and another one to double-check it.” “Then we need one to triple-check it! I will not have un-catalogued books in my library!” A small pile of books by the stairs collapsed, followed by a pony snorting awake. She rose up and Twilight’s wrath spread. “Rainbow! Napping again I see! I told you to help upstairs!” The cyan mare stretched and yawned “Yeah, yeah but reading is soooo boring!” “But you haven’t even read one” Spike deadpanned. Applejack trotted down the stairs. “What’s with all the ruckus down here? Is the magician here yet?” Twilight now directed her attacks to the cow-pony. “No and where is Pinkie? I haven’t seen her around since we started!” A meek voice from a yellow Pegasus descended from above. “I’m sorry but I think she might have…disappeared.” “What do you mean disappeared, Fluttershy? She was supposed to be with you!” “Well, I…” Unable to cope with Twilight’s glare, she could only tap her hooves together. Fortunately, Rarity came down and defended every pony in the room. “Now, Twilight. I know you’re quite upset about all this and we all understand but taking it out on us isn’t going to get you anywhere. Maybe you need to take a break and unwind a little, hmm?” The bookworm looked at all her friends, the same ones that doubted her hours earlier. Even though she understood the situation they were facing, she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. Still, they were now helping her with something that was really more of a way to kill time than anything else. She threw away the mask of anger and replaced it with one of remorse. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m not having a good day. Trixie’s out there in my body doing who-knows-what to my reputation and I feel so helpless right now. You’re right. Maybe I should cool off. Let’s all do that, shall we?” With murmured agreements, they sat around the floor in a circle, ready for some idle conversation when Rainbow busted out a question. “So, how does it feel like being in some pony else’s body? Is it freaky or is it really cool?” All of Twilight’s friends looked at Rainbow, apparently disapproving of the question although the cyan mare thought otherwise. “What? I really want to know!” Twilight easily obliged. “Well, other than my appearance, it doesn’t feel that different. I don’t have any of her memories but I do have access to her magic and all her spells. It’s strange, though. It’s only been a few hours but I seemed to have mastered it but even more so, I’m beginning to tap into even more power. I’m not quite sure how that’s possible.” Suddenly, the kazoo lying on a table sung a tune, spooking the entire room. Pinkie Pie suddenly appearing out of nowhere only made it worse and the lights dimming turned it up to the max. “Ahem! Fillies and gentlecolts! Pinkie Pie proudly introduces you to the Tremendous and Splendid Hocus!” Spike belched out loud but instead of green flames, it was sparkling black smoke which gathered together and spun around before it grew solid and revealed the white unicorn stallion with his trademark black hat and cape, standing on his hind legs. As he landed, his cape lifted up in the air, briefly flashing the symbols of a black hat surrounded by the same smoke from earlier. The lights came back on and he tipped his hat to his audience which responded with lukewarm applause. His red eyes then darted to the inside of the hat and spotted a pony inside waving at him before disappearing. “That muffin-eating pony? How did she…” thought Hocus. He didn’t have time to deal with the derped-eye pony as Pinkie made her presence known all over his face. “So, was that good, Hocus? Do you think I can be a special assistant for one of your shows? I got this one idea that I came up with just five minutes ago where I juggle some cakes and then I eat them one-by-one, but the trick is…” Hocus conjured a wand and used it to tap his hat. Suddenly, the words coming out of the eccentric pony became silent but that didn’t stop from her mouth moving about. He turned to the ponies in front of him, seeing the look of relief and gave all of them an eye wink. “She can’t hear you either.” This time, every pony stomped their hooves without restraint. Pinkie stopped talking, confused at the motions of her friends and with another wand tap, she was restored to normal. “Oh, did I miss something?” Every pony ignored the pink mare, allowing Twilight to begin. “Well, Hocus, you see, I…” “No need to explain. I can already see that you are not the lovely Trixie but the gifted Twilight Sparkle…” He spotted a necklace around her. “…and I see you possess the amulet as well.” “Oh, so you know what this is, then?” “Well, of course. It’s one of mine and it’s the one I gave to Trixie.” “YOU WHAT?” bellowed the room. Rainbow charged at the magician and with a lunge, tackled through smoke and crashed into a pile of books. Immediately, the smoke hardened and Hocus reappeared, his suave attitude undeterred. “Now, now, Dragonsieur and Mademareselles. Please allow me to explain my actions to you.” The cyan mare wasn’t having it. “Why you…” She moved forwards but Twilight held her tail in place. “Wait, Rainbow. I’m not happy either but at least give him a chance.” The smart unicorn then turned to Hocus, narrowing her eyes. “It better be good.” The white stallion pondered over his history with the trickster magician and his mind filled with faded-color memories of large tents and the sounds of cheering crowds and playful music. When it ended, he sighed and began to weave his tale. “A long time ago, Trixie and I, along with our families, were part of carnival that travelled all across Equestria. No pony within the group had spectacular talents on their own but together, we always put on a great show and we were very popular with the pony folk. When that ravishing young unicorn realized her talents as a magician, she began working in the stage and at first, she worked day and night to hone her craft but as she rose and became the star act, the fame became her only concern. Oh, how every pony in the carnival tried to tell that wonderful Trixie that it was the wrong path to follow, she denounced us and left to go off on her own. Now, the carnival is no more and when word spread that her magic tour ended as well, I could not help but shed a tear. However, I also held hope that she might learn the error of her ways by losing the one thing she valued. When I saw her again in Hoofington, I gave her the amulet, believing she would use it for good” Rarity immediately pounced on the magician. “And from the sounds of it, you were trying to woo her as well.” “I will not deny it! The first moment I saw her, she put a spell on me that I cannot break! The mare won’t even visit me and watch my magic shows.” Applejack had enough of the drama pony. “Ok, lover boy. Now you go ahead and fix up our friend here or I won’t deny ‘ya a visit from Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee!” Hocus removed his hat. “My humblest apologies but I do not have the ability to do that. I believe I know the spell Trixie used but alas, any spells aided by the amulet can only be undone by the caster itself. In this case, even though you, Twilight Sparkle, possess the body of Trixie, you do not possess her spirit.” Rainbow pounded her hooves “Then we’ll force Trixie, then!” The red-eyed magician shook his head. “I’m afraid with this spell, the caster must be willing to reverse the spell on their own.” “Umm, could we just ask her nicely?” said Fluttershy. “Well, if she said yes, then of course.” “Like that’s going to happen” muttered Spike. Twilight stepped up to the magician. “Are you telling me that without Trixie, I’m stuck like this?” “That is a possibility. Then again, great magic power alone is not enough to properly wield it. It takes great study and discipline and that cannot be taken away. Twilight, I know that you possess such traits, otherwise, you could not wield such great power so controlling anything less should not be troubling for you. Yet, I must admit that for as wonderful as Trixie is to me, her lack of effort disappoints me greatly and I can only foresee difficulties ahead for her.” The amulet within the necklace disappeared and another one immediately took its place and Hocus continued. “When she comes to that realization, then that will be your best chance. Fortunately, the spell in question is easy enough to reverse that she should not have any trouble. That is all I am able to assist you with, I’m afraid and again, I cannot say how truly sorry for all the trouble I caused.” Applejack wasn’t so forgiving. “You sure have, Mr. Hocus! We almost turned on a friend ‘cause of what you did!” Twilight raised her foreign azure hoof. “Hold on, Applejack. He might have given her the amulet but Trixie made the decision to use it against me. At least he’s trying to help.” Hocus did a little bow. “I am quite fortunate that you are a forgiving unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. If you need me again, Pinkie can call for me. Otherwise, I bid you adieu.” He dropped his hat on the floor which magically enlarged and he hopped inside. His hoof came out and pulled it in, saying words to some pony else within before it disappeared. “Mademareselle, quite impressive! I must know how you entered my hat!” The magician was gone but so was a good chunk of their hope. “So what we going to do, Twilight?” said Spike. “How are we going to convince Trixie to fix all of this?” “First off, we need to find where she is. I know she’ll be starting up her magic show and since Rainbow spotted Trixie heading towards Hoofington and Hocus gave her the amulet there as well, that means only one thing.” “To Hoofington!” proclaimed Rainbow. Rarity chimed in. “Sounds like I need to pack my things. How delightful! I do have new fashionable luggage that I haven’t debuted yet.” “And I’m sure Angel can take care of things while I’m gone” replied Fluttershy. “And I’ll have Big Macintosh and Applebloom mind the farm for a while.” Applejack then squirmed “I just hope Applebloom doesn’t get her little friends involved like last time.” “Time to bake some tasty treats to go!” said Pinkie. As all of Twilight’s friends continued on with their conversations, the unicorn smiled at all of them. “I didn’t even have to ask them to come with me. I might not have my magic but I still have my friends and if I could only have one, I would always choose them.” Within the town of Hoofington stood many thatched apartment buildings but one of them was different than the others. Mainly, it needed some tender loving care from its owners but instead, they eschewed maintenance in exchange for providing lower rent to its tenants. Most of the residents took the implied agreement in stride, even though the doors creaked at the slightest touch from a hoof, the roof allowed too many visits from mother nature, and only foals would consider the size of the accommodations to be adequate. Yet, this is where Trixie had decided to call her home and she stumbled inside as the midnight moon shone through her solitary window, ready to complain. “Sparkle does not appreciate the temperature in here. And there is too much light in this room. Away with you!” The purple curtains on the side glowed and Trixie tugged them sideways, only for them to rip in two. With a growl, she tossed them aside along with her crimson cape and sat down in front of the desk below the window. She rolled out a parchment containing her master plan and began checking off items with a quill before reaching the section regarding practice. Trixie glanced to some books in a dusty corner of the room behind and to the left of her. “With this magic, Sparkle needs not busy herself with such menial tasks!” A snap of the quill and the begging of her purple body for rest made her stop and she slumped onto the lumpy mattress on her left. Even with the bright moon outside, the eyes of the unicorn closed with ease and Trixie’s mind accessed the memories of her earlier successes when she was simply Trixie the Magician and made the carnival crowds stomp in applause. She could still remember the day when one of the ponies from the crowd called her great and powerful, a moniker that wasn’t suited to her at that point and yet, the rest of the audience chanted it out loud. She instantly adopted and cherished it like a treasure. The faded images from the past disappeared and Trixie thought about the new name she bestowed upon herself, erasing her smile. “The Amazing and Wonderful Sparkle just doesn’t compare to the Great and Powerful Trixie but that doesn’t matter. If they come to see either, then that’s all that truly matters!” Finally, her mind pulled up what always helped her escape the doldrums of her current reality, the fabricated images of ponies watching her spectacular show and chanting her name. “Trixie! Trixie! Trixie!” The unicorn sternly corrected her mind. “It’s Sparkle!” “Sparkle! Sparkle! Sparkle!” And she finally drifted to sleep.