The self-proclaimed "Great and Powerful" Trixie was travelling by Baltimare, seeking employment. It wasn't that she had grown tired of show business (she loved it ever so much), but her shows just weren't bringing in the bits anymore. Hopefully, she would find a job there.
As Trixie made her way through town, she spotted a small circus nearby.
"Ah, a circus." She said aloud. "I haven't been to one since I was a filly!"
She wandered through the circus, taking in the sights and attractions. She found her way to a small caravan, outside which stood a handsome stallion with a well-coiffed mane and a clean-shaven muzzle.
"Hey there, pretty lady." He smiled. "Care to have your fortune told?"
"My fortune, you say?" Trixie asked, blushing from the compliment. "Sure, why not?"
"I am Sleight of Hooves, the circus' leading magician." The stallion declared, pulling out a deck of cards. "And my cards tell all."
He cut, shuffled, and recut the cards, then drew a single one, which he showed to Trixie.
"The queen of hearts?" Trixie asked.
"Yes!" Sleight nodded. "Beautiful, kind-hearted, and regal: That describes you to a 'T', my dear!"
"Well, thank you..." Trixie blushed again. "Though I don't how that'll help me get a job..."
"A job, you say?" Sleight asked. "Well, it just so happens I'm looking for a new assistant for my main act. Do you know anything about stage magic?"
"I... dabble." Trixie smiled, levitating her cloak and hat onto her.
"Oh, you're so hired!" Sleight smiled.
"One condition, though: please introduce me as the 'Great and Powerful Trixie'!" Trixie declared proudly, before sheepishly grinning. "Sorry, it's an old habit of mine."
"With pleasure." Sleight kissed her hoof.
'My, what a charmer...' Trixie thought.
After Sleight briefed Trixie on the show (with Trixie pitching some ideas of her own), they started their act.
"Greetings, one and all!" Sleight declared. "I am the Mystifying and Extraordinary Sleight of Hooves! And this is my assistant, the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Most of it was standard fare for Trixie: Turning curtains into flowers, creating flowers with her horn, while Sleight used his card to form dragons, manticores and such. Then came the big finale.
Sleight created a whirlwind of cards around them. As the whirlwind died down, the two seemed to have vanish. Then, in a puff of blue smoke, they were back, standing atop a card version of Canterlot castle. The crowd cheered loudly, stomping the ground with their hooves. The two bowed before closing the curtains.
"Good going out here!" Sleight smiled. "They loved it!"
"That was incredible!" Trixie hugged him. "I've never gotten that much applause before!" On impulse, she planted a kiss on Sleight's cheek. "...Sorry."
"Don't be." Sleight smirked. "In fact..." He kissed her cheek. "Now, we're even."
"We'll just see about that..." Trixie purred.
"Yes we will... maybe over dinner?" Sleight said slyly.
"You're on." Trxie grinned.
And so Trixie's new life in the circus began. She found herself quickly accepted by the other performers, though she would often spend her time with Sleight. She couldn't help being drawn to his charm and suaveness. She quickly went from being his assistant to being his marefriend.
As the circus travelled from place to place, Sleight and Trixie wowed audiences wherever they are. For a time, everything seemed so perfect. But, after a few months, Trixie became dissatisfied with life on the road. She also discovered that Sleight hid quite an ego under his charming outside, but that she could cope with… heck, he reminded her of herself, way back when. He also liked to partake of the contents of his hipflask on a regular basis... but that, too, was nothing Trixie couldn't handle.
The true problem was that Trixie felt like she was missing out on something, something she wanted Sleight to be a part of with her. As wonderful as the circus had been to her, she wanted to settle down with Sleight, get married, and raise a family together.
One windy day, Trixie was sitting in Sleight's caravan. She was trying to rehearse to herself as to what to say to Sleight about leaving the caravan and starting a life together. She was so enthralled by her thoughts, she had been late to their performance. Sleight came in, flipping off his hat, to land a nearby stand.
"Ho-ho, we nailed it tonight, Trix!" He cheered. "Wouldn't you say?"
"Oh, yes." Trixie forced a smile. "Sorry, if I was a little late on the switch."
"Quite alright. It's not like anypony noticed." Sleight pulled out a tea kettle. "Tea?"
"Of course." Trixie nodded. As Sleight began to brew the tea, Trixie decided that the time had come "...look... there was a reason why I was late... I was kinda... distracted.
"Distracted?" Sleight asked. "What, did another one of those hecklers bring a laser pointer again?"
"Well, no-" Trixie answered.
"I swear, don't they know they could crash Pegasi with that thing?" Sleight muttered.
"Sleight, it's not the audience... I was thinking about us." Trixie confessed.
Sleight froze up, but tried to remain cool.
"Us? What about us?" He asked.
"Well, Sleight, how long have we been dating?" Trixie inquired.
"Well, let's see... we met in October... so, I reckon, a year?" Sleight declared. "Why?"
"And how long have we been traveling with this circus?" Trixie asked.
"Let's see, me since I was 14, and you, a year." Sleight listed. "Why?"
"Well, our anniversary has come and gone, and we've been going steady... and we had a couple of 'fun' nights, right?" Trixie continued.
"Yes, we did." Sleight nodded. "Why?"
Trixie sighed.
"Sleight, I want us to quit the circus together." She confessed.
"...What?" Sleight turned to face Trixie. "You want us to... leave the circus?"
"Look, Sleight, it's not that I haven't enjoyed being here." Trixie told him. "It's been wonderful-"
"Then what's the issue?" Sleight demanded.
"Sleight, we've been dating for over a year now." Trixie reminded him. "We've slept together a couple of times now, and we've been sharing the same caravan ever since."
"Your point being?" Sleight said impatiently.
"Nothing's changed!" Trixie blurted out. "We have remained only coltfriend and marefriend. I want that to change!"
"But why?" Sleight asked. "Why change, when we have something good going right here?"
"Because I don't want to spend the rest of my years doing the same thing over and over." Trixie sighed. "I want to settle down, buy a lovely little house, and have foals someday. But more importantly... I want us to become more..."
"...More... like husband and wife?" Sleight gulped.
"Yes." Trixie nodded.
Sleight glanced at her, deep in thought, before turning away.
"I can't." He murmured.
"What?!" Trixie said flatly.
"Look, Trixie, the circus has been my life for years." Sleight turned back to her. "You're asking me to turn my back on all that?!"
"But it would be for love." Trixie pressed on. "Can you imagine us, living in a house 'without' wheels, raising a foal together?"
"To be honest, no." Sleight admitted. "What would I even do if I left the circus? I don't really have any other notable skills beside cards!"
"I don't know-" Trixie started.
"And what of money?" Sleight continued. "Obviously, neither of us is rich, or we wouldn't exactly be here."
"Well, I figured we'd work it out as we went along... Sleight, I want us to be together..." Trixie told him.
"I know you do... but... I can't..." Sleight mumbled.
"Can't? Or won't?" Trixie asked, peeved.
"Can't, and why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?" Sleight demanded.
"Because I tell you I want to settle down with you and you don't." Trixie snarled. "Don't you love me?"
"Of course I do!" Sleight yelled. "But... kids? Marriage? This is a lot to take in!"
"Look, all I want from you is commitment!" Trixie roared. "Is that so much to ask for?!"
"I'm sorry, Trixie... but I can't, I just can't!" Sleight sighed. "Look, we have a good thing going here, and I see no point in stopping that because you want more. I'm sure once we get back on the road again, we will-"
"No... Sleight." Trixie said quietly.
"No? No, what?" Sleight asked.
"I talked to the ringmaster this morning... Baltimare is my last stop. I'm leaving." Trixie confessed.
"...Leaving?" Sleight gasped. "You mean you already decided?! Then why did you-"
"I was hoping you'd be on board with this... but now..." Trixie sighed.
Sleight knew where this was heading. "Trixie...are you…are you breaking up with me?"
"I'm sorry, Sleight, but if my heart wants what it wants, and if you won't give that... then, I see no point in continuing this relationship..." Trixie said solemnly.
The caravan went silent… but then Sleight let out a whisper…
"Out."
"Sleight?" Trixie asked in shock.
"Get out." Sleight's face contorted into a snarl, before he bellowed, "Get out now! That's what you want, isn't it?!"
"Sleight, I-" Trixie started.
"You want to leave? Then do it! See what I care, dammit!" Sleight yelled. "And don't come back!"
Trixie could already feel her heart breaking.
"Fine!" She sniffed, tears coming to her eyes. "Just so you know, you lost what could had been something beautiful… good-bye, Sleight!" She stormed out of the caravan, slamming the door behind her.
As soon as Trixie was gone, Sleight just lost it. He unleashed his cards in a massive whirlwind, tearing up the caravan.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" He roared. The whole time, he was staring at his reflection in a mirror. "I hate you..."
After all the violence, Sleight just sat on his haunches, surrounded by the cards strewn across the floor, panting vigorously. The Unicorn then reached into his jacket, and pulled out his hip flask, ready to take a sip… but something stopped him.
Sleight just glanced at the flask forlornly, as tears began dropping from his eyes, and within seconds, the magician crumbled to the floor, sobbing horribly…
"I'm sorry, Trixie… I'm so sorry…"
Trixie ended up spending the night in the caravan of Curves, the Earth Pony contortionist, crying herself to sleep. The next morning, the time had come for her to leave the caravan and all the circus ponies gathered to see her off.
"Goodbye, Trixie." Said Spurt, the fire-eating Pegasus.
"We'll miss you." Curves sniffed.
"Good luck out there." Power Lift, the strongpony, declared.
"It was an honor having with you with us." The circus owner, Big Top, told Trixie. "If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask."
"Thank you, everypony…" Trixie smiled, "I will miss you all."
Then, to her surprise, she saw Sleight coming up to her.
"Sleight...?" She whispered.
"Hey, Trixie…" Sleight murmured. "I just wanted to see you off…"
"Sleight, I'm really sorry-" Trixie started.
"No, it's me that should be sorry." Sleight declared, "I shouldn't have blown up at you like that, let alone kick you out of my caravan, when all you wanted was… I just didn't want us to end things with a fight…"
"Well, apologies accepted." Trixie gave a small smile, before it faded. "I only wish things could be different…"
"But they can't." Sleight shook his head. "I would love nothing more to spend forever with you… but… it's just complicated-"
"Say no more." Trixie cut him off. "It's fine, Sleight. We were just ponies at different points in a relationship… it's for the best."
"Yeah…" Sleight sighed. "I'll miss you, Trixie, the Great and Powerful…"
"And I'll miss you, Sleight, the Mystifying and Extraordinary." Trixie smiled. "We can keep in touch, right?"
"Right." Sleight nodded.
"No matter what happens, we can still be friends." Trixie added.
"I guess I can live with that." Sleight kissed her hoof one last time. "Good luck, Trix."
"Thanks, Sleight." Trixie kissed him on the cheek. "I'll never forget you."
Trixie departed the circus right after, the circus folk waving her off. Sleight only looked on with a sad sigh…
"Good-bye…Trixie Lulamoon." Sleight sighed.
As Trixie strolled through the streets of Baltimare, she could not shake off the downtrodden feeling she felt after that good-bye with Sleight. Then she saw something that caught her attention… A magic store, whose window read 'Smoke Mirror's Magical Emporium'...
"A magic store?" Trixie said to herself, before giving a small smile. "Maybe a few cheap magic tricks will cheer me up." She went to go inside the store…
Meanwhile, inside, the owner of the shop, Smoke Mirror, a grey Unicorn with a black mane and ice-blue eyes, donning half-moon spectacles and a Cutie Mark of a hand mirror surrounded by smoke, was busy trying to get a defective wand to work. He wasn't exactly handsome, but not quite ugly, either... he was somewhere inbetween.
"Okay, you nasty bugger, you don't like me and I don't like you… but dang it, you are twenty bits worth that I can't afford to lose in this economy. So, work, won't ya?" He growled.
His horn lit up as he flicked the wand, unfortunately, it ended up blowing up in his face.
"Well, there's twenty bits down the drain." Smoke groaned as he tossed the wand into a garbage can.
Then he heard his door bell ring.
Smoke then started his mantra for the customer. "Welcome to Smoke Mirror's Magical Emporium, where it might be all just smoke and mirrors, but the magic is rea…" His voice trailed off as he was faced with a beautiful blue mare. Being a pony that sells magic tricks for a living, it was not every day that an 'attractive' mare came into his shop.
That, and he was socially impaired when it came to the opposite sex.
Quickly, he ducked behind the counter. "Holy crud, there is a mare in my shop." He whispered. "A really hot mare. Why is there a really hot mare in my shop?"
He peeked over the counter, watching Trixie look around.
"Surely, there must be an explanation…" He wondered. "Did she get lost looking for her next photo shoot or movie premiere or whatever hot mares do for a living?"
"Hello? Is anypony here?" As Trixie glanced around, her rucksack's strap broke, dropping from her saddle. "Oh, horseapples."
The rucksack disgorged a hat and cape.
"Oh my gosh, hat and cape... she's got a hat and cape... she's a magician!" Smoke gaped, before hiding again, trying to refrain from suffering heart failure. "Okay, Smoke, keep calm, you're only in the presence of a mare that is into magic and doesn't still have braces...oh my, it's like Tartarus has frozen over."
Meanwhile, in Tirek's cell in Tartarus...
"It hasn't." Tirek growled.
Back to Smoke...
"Just keep it cool..." Smoke told himself.
Trixie fixed the strap.
"There." She glanced around. "Hmm, the owner must be-"
Smoke popped out.
"Hello!" He said… or rather yelped.
"Aaah!" Trixie jumped in shock.
"Aaah!" Smoke yelped in reply, "...Sorry."
"What in Equestria were you doing down there?" Trixie asked.
"I... dropped something..." Smoke shrugged. "C-can I help you, miss?"
"Well, I was just looking around…but now that I think about it, you wouldn't happen to have some decent capes in your stock, would you?" Trixie asked.
"Sure do!" Smoke chuckled. "Right this way. We have the capiest capes this side of Cape Canterval!"
'What an odd pony… well, at least he's kinda cute...' Trixie thought.
"So, are you a magician of some kind?" Smoke asked.
"Indeed. I am... the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie proclaimed.
"Nice proclamation." Smoke chuckled. "Are you new to Baltimare? I'd think I'd remember seeing a mare as beautiful as you- I mean, as... blue... full as you!"
"No, but I haven't been here in months though." Trixie giggled. "It's bigger than I remembered… I was actually thinking about checking out the sights."
"Well, maybe I could fill you in on them. I happen to know Baltimare like the back of my hoof." Smoke offered. "Maybe we could do so... over coffee, maybe?"
"I'd be delighted, Smoke." Trixie smiled.
"G-great." Smoke beamed, albeit a bit nervously. "I just... need a second to get ready."
Smoke slipped into the back room, where he wrote a letter to a friend about how he'd finally gotten a date. After teleporting the letter into the mailbox, he quickly returned.
"S-shall we go?" He said nervously.
"After you." Trixie smiled.
As they left the store, Trixie found herself feeling something akin to when she met Sleight. Though she had no intention of rushing into another relationship, there was something about Smoke that intrigued her...
Twenty years later...
Not long after their wedding, Sleight and Chrysalis had invited Trixie and Smoke to visit.
From that one coffee run, Trixie and Smoke's relationship had slowly blossomed. Trixie started working at Smoke's store, and the two had gradually fallen in love.
Trixie and Sleight had kept their promise of staying in touch, though Sleight wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that Trixie had found a new love. He accepted her decision, though, and even attended their wedding. When Smoke first saw him, he felt a little inadequate, considering how suave and handsome Sleight was. The idea that Trixie had gone from Sleight to him seemed unbelievable, and the worry that Trixie might somehow go back to him plagued Smoke's mind for some kind. Sleight himself was a little galled to learn that Trixie's new beau was so... plain, leaving him a tad insulted at being second to him. Though their interactions were tense and standoffish at first, they grew to respect each other. Sleight was even asked to be Godfather to their child.
While Trixie and Smoke's son Trickster was hanging out with Sazh and Wizel (the young pony being interested in getting to know the Changelings more), the two couples were sharing some tea.
"Well, this is a surprise." Trixie noted. "I always knew you'd find somepony, Sleight, but I didn't expect that somepony to be a Changeling. A queen, no less."
"Well, I never expected you to end up with a shopkeeper you met the day after we broke up." Sleight chuckled.
"Watch it there, pal." Smoke frowned.
"Sorry, rebound guy." Sleight said offhoofedly. "No offense meant."
"None taken... carny." Smoke countered.
The two glared at each other... then burst out laughing, their ribbing lighthearted at best.
"I feel I must thank you, Trixie." Chrysalis declared.
"For what?" Trixie asked.
"Well, if you hadn't broken up with Sleight, he would never have wound up saving my kind." Chrysalis explained. "Or becoming my wonderful king."
"Yeah, it's kinda ironic." Sleight agreed. "Who would've guessed breaking up would lead us to our special someponies?"
"Fate's a funny thing." Smoke declared. "Destiny is a long and winding road, with lots of surprises along the way."
"Well, I certainly got a pleasant surprise when I came into Baltimare." Trixie pecked Smoke on the cheek.
"And so did I, when the wind blew me here." Sleight nuzzled Chrysalis. "Though I had to face down a guy twice the size of me and get the stuffing beat out of me."
"Really? Care to tell us that story, pal?" Smoke smirked.
"I'd like to hear it too." Trixie chuckled.
"Gladly." Sleight smiled. "It all started with this fake prophecy that an old bug made…"
And the two couples spent the rest of the afternoon, listening to Sleight's regaling of his amazing tale (one that you should be familiar with).
It was truly ironic. While their paths may have diverged, it had turned out to be the best thing for both Sleight and Trixie. It allowed them to find their true loves. It did not change the fact, however, that Sleight and Trixie still cared deeply for each other, for while their hearts may belong to their respective special somepony, they would still have a place in each other's hearts till the day they died.