Coming to Canterlot had been a rather bold move on her part, Trixie admitted to herself as she trotted through the capital city. She felt rather out of place in the cape and hat she wore, the sole objects she had brought along save for a pair of saddlebags she'd managed to purchase in some backwater town or another, she felt horribly mediocre.
Sure, the outfit was flashy and attracted eyes, which was of course what she wanted, but right now both were looking rather shabby.
Of course, that was probably because she'd been wearing them for about a week now in the woods while she journeyed here. What else could she have done, though? The last time she'd tried to enchant her saddlebags to be bigger on the inside, they had inflated and exploded. Not her finest moment, for sure…
Her horn lit up, opening one of her bags and floating out a large map of the city. She was quick to eye her destination; the Canterlot playhouse. Only two blocks away, right around the corner. Folding up the map and stuffing it back in her bag, she continued on, an air of confidence about her as she trotted.
She had only heard of it a week or so ago; the Illusionists Challenge, a competition that would feature the greatest stage magicians in all Equestria! The show would be held before a (paying) audience of over two thousand ponies, and the winner would receive 250,000 bits!
Money like that didn’t just fall into your laps, and if she could win it, she would have enough to buy a top-of-the-line stagecoach. That, and she could replace all of her old equipment, getting her life back on track.
The only problem was that space was horribly limited; there were only 20 spots open, and the final auditions were today. Still, she wasn't all that worried. After all, she'd been practicing her magic nonstop since her... unfortunate incident in Ponyville. And that had been several months ago, with so much happening since. Twilight Sparkle’s coronation outdid them all, however.
Still, it was quite clear to her after learning the full story (Newsponies in Canterlot had some incredible sources) that Twilight had earned her crown through hard work and skill. And that had helped to motivate Trixie to come to Canterlot today. It was time to find her own destiny, starting now!
She was going to win this tournament! She was going to show she could be more than a two-bit show mare who had rely on cheap tricks and taunting. She was going to be a star, a pony who's name would be known throughout all of Equestria! She...
… Was going to need to buy lunch before getting in line.
The whole reason she'd gotten up at dawn was to finish her by-hoof trip to Canterlot early. After all, auditions didn't begin until noon, and it was only 10:30. She had figured being so early would get her one of the first spots in line. She had been dead wrong.
The line she saw as she approached from around the corner made her stop and do a double-take. The line stretched from the entrance doors all the way to the other end of the block, and around the corner!
She knew there would be plenty of others coming, but for so many to be here already was surprising and more than a bit intimidating...
She quickly shook her head and resolved herself, however, her confidence quickly returning. After all, she was the Great and Powerful Trixie! These other fools wouldn't stand a chance against her awesome magic. She'd wait for her turn nice and calm, wow the judges, and earn her way to fame on the first day of the competition tomorrow. Piece of cake.
Trixie's stomach couldn't help but growl at the thought of cake. She had gotten by on the fat of the land on her way here, and it kept her healthy. But now that she was back in civilization, maybe it was time for an actual meal. She had a few bits to her name, thanks to the show's she'd put on before starting her way here.
That was another thing that had given her the confidence to try this; her shows were becoming far more popular since her act had changed, and she was actually starting to make some money off her talent. Still, it would be nothing compared to a quarter million when she pulled this off.
She decided it would be best to quickly find a simple eatery and get a meal to go. After all, with the line long as it was already, she couldn't afford to waste any time if she wanted to finish her audition in time to find an affordable place to stay. She remembered seeing a small cafe not too far from the corner...
*~*~*~*~*~*
She bumped into him just outside the cafe, too wrapped up in running her routine over in her head one more time.
Her eyes were aimed at her own hooves, she didn’t notice anything she collided with a wall of pony in front of her, causing her to stagger along with the stallion.
Her ears twitched as she heard a chuckle beside her, making her lift her head. Sure enough, the stallion a hoof over his muzzle as he stifled his snicker.
“And just what are you laughing about, hmm?” she asked him with a small glare. After all, it was rude to laugh at a mare. Or anypony, for that matter!
“Oh, just the pony with clearly to much on her mind” he replied with a smile so big Trixie was amazed the word 'cocky' wasn't written on his teeth. So, that's how he was going to be, huh?
“I will have you know that I was merely going over my stage routine in my mind, good sir,” she told him, making sure her last two words were laced with just a bit of sarcasm. “For you see, I am about to go and meet my destiny, and become the most famous unicorn in all of Equestria!” she boasted proudly, giving him a confident smirk, “I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, am going to-”
“You mean the same Trixie that let an Ursa Minor destroy part of Ponyville, and then came back over a year later possessed by an evil artifact to try and enslave the town?” he asked, cutting her off and making her go silent. Her eye twitched, and she bit her lower lip.
“I... it was those two thick-headed colts that lead that thing to the town. I had no part in it...” she said in a normal voice, turning to look away from him.
“Only because you wouldn't stop boasting about it, from what I hear,” he said as he walked around her and looked back. “And as the reports put it, the only pony who was able to stop it was the Princess' own student,” he added.
“Any reason you're bringing all of this up?” she asked, her eyes following him.
He shrugged at her, “Well, isn't it always best to try and intimidate your competition?” he asked teasingly, giving her a smirk of his own. “After all, I'm going to be auditioning for the Illusionist’s Challenge today, too. That is what you were going to say just now, right?”
Trixie was silent for a moment, before she groaned and let her hoof collide with her head. “Of course you are..” she groaned quietly.
She sighed after a few seconds, raising her head, “Yes, I am. I am going to ace the auditions today and obtain my spot for the first round tomorrow. I will rise through the ranks and… will you stop laughing!?”
She glared daggers at the stallion, who was indeed leaning against the building as he laughed happily. Hearing her demand, he managed to calm down and take a few breaths, looking at her, “I'm sorry, it's just that I was only joking about entering.”
He turned to his side, scooting his Saddlebags up a bit to show his cutie mark, “After all, my talent isn't even show magic. Just take a look.” Sure enough, his cutie mark didn't seem like it was one a stage magician would have; it was a four-point compass rose of gold and silver, the later standing out against his coat being a few shades darker. It was set inside a golden circle, the tips of another four-pointed rose poking out from behind it.
It seemed oddly familiar to Trixie for some reason, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it…
At that moment, her stomach growled again, derailing her train of thought. She took it as sign to break this up. “Well good stallion,” she said, emphasizing the last two words, “I must take my leave.” With that, she 'hmph'ed, lifted her head high, and headed into the store.
He watched her go in and frowned a bit, “Well, that could have gone better.” However, as he set off, he opened his saddlebag with his magic. “...Yes, that was her. Don't worry, I'll talk to her again soon enough, Lance,” he said, his voice kept low, “After all, I can't just let her kind of skill and spirit go easily. She'd be invaluable to me.” Shutting the bag once more, he turned the corner and was gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Trixie could never recall a longer, more boring day in her life. Ever since claiming her spot far, far back in line, she had been going through one of the worst mental torments she could imagine. Loud, obnoxious, just plain boring, annoying, even smelly; she'd seen them all in the line, and more than once there had been an accusation of one pony cutting another.
But it had all been worth it.
Coming into the main hall of the theater, she'd been asked to sign her name on a scroll that was thicker than a small tree trunk already. Taking a seat, she waited as one by one the ponies in front of her filed into the theater as their numbers were called, until she was finally the next to go in.
Containing her excitement and unavoidable nerves, she stood up and stepped into the theater.
The first thing she noticed was the size of the theater, the beautifully painted ceiling reaching up to two stories. There was a large balcony against the back wall and several private boxes on the side walls. The first level had hundreds upon hundreds of seats, all empty except for five in a row near the front where five ponies sat, each with a clipboard and pen held in their magic. Trixie headed up a small flight of stairs leading up onto the spacious stage, where a red velvet curtain concealed the back of the area.
As she stepped onto the stage, a lot of her worry seemed to disappear. Under the numerous bright spotlights fixed on the center of the stage, she couldn't help but feel at home. She was in her element up here, and she could feel it.
“Name, please?” the stallion in the middle of the small group of judges asked. All five were looking up at Trixie, and she couldn't help but feel something was... off about the look in their eyes. But she couldn't exactly take time to think about that. After all, she had to pull out her best tricks to try and make her dream come true! She couldn't let anything distract her. No matter how much it felt like something was tugging at the back of her brain.
“Name, ma'am,” the stallion asked once again, looking up at her with a small glare.
Trixie almost stumbled, but managed to catch her tripped up words as a cough to clear her throat. “Trixie Lulamoon, my good sir,” she announced proudly, “Though you may address me as The Great and Powerful Trixie!” As she spoke, her horn flared up and the illusion of several exploding fireworks appeared behind her while she stood on her hind hooves, forehooves thrown wide in the air. Thank goodness there so many lights turned on up on the stage. Otherwise the illusion wouldn't have been anywhere near as sharp and convincing.
The judges, however, remained stone-faced. The stallion nodded, scribbling something on his clipboard, “Yes yes, very well miss Lulamoon. Now please, show us three illusionary tricks you have prepared.”
“Of course, sir,” she said with a nod. She was hoping a flashy entrance might appeal to them. But then, the tattered-looking outfit she wore probably wasn't giving the best impression. Deciding it might be best to ditch her stage outfit just this once, she removed her hat, cape and saddlebags, setting them off to the side.
She wasted no time and got right into her act. She just knew that she could do it with all the extra light to pull off high-quality illusions. Her practices while on the way to the city had always been pulled off in the best lighting she could find and, while full sunlight was hard to come by in the dense tress, she had been able to pull off some clean, crisp illusions in conditions far worse than this.
Her horn began to glow once more, and at once, there were simultaneous, multiple explosions behind her creating sparks in a whole rainbow of colors. She caught the sparks up before they hit the ground, quickly bringing them together into a long, thin snake-like design that wrapped around her body, all the sparks quickly turning a bright, glowing azure before bursting outward and landing all over the stage.
As they began to fade away, she went right into the next part of her routine. She conjured up several spheres of light, each one shooting a different colored beam of light in multiple directions around the stage, said beams bumping into each other before going in opposite directions whenever they met. The fake duel between the lights continued for a minute or so, each one becoming faster with every strike. Eventually, every beam was only a blur bouncing around the stage, and at the point, with several colored explosions of light, the stage was momentarily unseen by the small audience, who all couldn't help but shield their eyes as the very real light was released in such a large burst.
When it finally dimmed back to normal, it appeared to them that Trixie was now in the air, standing on her back hooves inside of a large metal ring. Of course, the real Trixie was down on the stage, but they didn't see her thanks to a handy cloaking spell she'd casted as the light went blinding just now. All that was above was a rather convincing-looking illusion. As the judges watched, 'Trixie' hopped backwards off the ring, grabbing the bottom with her forehooves as she began to spin around on it, swooshing through the ring at an increasing speed.
Finally, she let go and curled into a ball, spinning through the air. She didn't stop as she approached the stage, either, striking the wooden floor and bursting into a large cloud of confetti and smoke with a small explosion. As the smoke cleared, the real Trixie revealed herself, a confident, relaxed grin on her face as she posed for the judges. “Has Trixie awed you yet, or do you require further proof of her power and greatness?” she asked them smugly, reveling in the amazed look she got from the judges. Having stage magic as your special talent tended to lead to the sort of thing.
“T-Thank you, Miss Lulamoon,” the stallion in the middle said, regaining his composure. He wrote down on his clipboard, his colleagues doing the same. After a minute, he looked up, “Now, we'd like to see what you can pull off with a volunteer. Glimmer, please go up and assist Ms. Lulamoon.”
The light yellow mare on his far right nodded, rising to her hooves and heading for the stage. As she did, Trixie did a quick double-take of her surroundings… her gaze fell on the walls on either side of the theater, and more specifically the fact neither side held any additional exit doors.
The only way out was back through the doors in the back of theater… but then where had any of the others left from?
That’s when she saw it, out of the corner of her eye; the mare that had been coming up to help her on the stage suddenly tried to tackle her like a hoof-ball player. However, she was able to quickly duck out of the way, letting her fall against the hard, polished wood with a grunt. Trixie glared back at her, “And just what were you hoping to accomplish with that little stunt?”
The mare hopped right back up onto her hooves, “Impressive; not many ponies have been able to dodge us so easily. You’re going to be delicious, Miss Lulamoon, I can already tell. Just gotta calm you down is all.” She licked her lips, where Trixie could just barely make out that some of the teeth were sharp at the ends. Okay, this was just getting weirder… since when did ponies have fangs!?
Still, the show mare kept her cool, continuing to glare as she replied. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not that kind of mare,” Trixie told her, watching as the mare before her chuckled darkly, as did her companions who were now out of their seats and heading for the stage as well.
“I think it’s about time that we got to shed these forms for a bit, don’t you think? I think it’s safe to say no pony can hear us,” the stallion who had been in the middle seat asked the others, who all nodded as dark smiles spread over their faces.
At the moment, each of the five ponies around Trixie was suddenly wrapped in a ring of green flames, each one rising above them to reveal their true form; black shells, hole-filled legs, pupil-less light blue eyes, and thin, hole-filled insect-like wings and crooked horns. The one in the middle was about a head taller than the others, with a short, deep violet mane and tale and matching pupils.
Changelings, and she was surrounded on all sides, the vile creatures slowly stalking towards her with evil grins.
While Trixie was of course competent with her abilities, she didn't know if she could handle five dangerous creatures at once all on her own. The odds were against her… at least, that’s how it had seemed for a few seconds as she was closed in on.
Suddenly, the door to one of the private boxes above was blasted off of its hinges with a loud sound that echoed throughout the mostly empty theater, making everyone on the stage look up in surprise.
As they watched, a dark, jade-green blur sped out of the cloud of smoke blossoming out of the doorway. Trixie did’t even get time to look at it well as it struck one of the Changeling drones square in chest. The force was apparently strong enough that it was launched backwards towards the curtains, where it disappeared with a rather nasty sound of what was most likely a leg breaking, though there was silence after that point.
Trixie, for lack of a better word, was surprised by what she had just seen. That was most likely an energy spell, but she had never seen one that looked like that. Not only was the spell not connected to the casters horn, like most energy spells were, but it was so… clean, was the only word she could think of to describe it. Its edges were smooth, curved to give it a shape like an oval with it’s ends sharpened.
Suddenly, one of the remaining three drones tackled her to the ground. However, as it opened its mouth, hissing down at her like a snake about to strike, a second bullet of dark-green magic shot right at the Changeling’s muzzle, and traveled down it’s throat, where a small, contained explosion was heard as it’s stomach bulged out just a bit. The drone gave one feeble cough, releasing a small plume of smoke, and the fell over, clutching its stomach in agony.
The lead Changeling had apparently had enough, facing the box where the smoke was finally beginning to clear. “Whoever’s there, show yourself!” he called out, horn glowing once more and grabbing Trixie up in a deep purple aura before she could try and counter his magic. She found herself by his side, helpless as the pointed tip of his horn came up to her throat, “Come out now, or the pretty mare is going to go out with quite a messy finale.”
Trixie gulped, eyes wide and her pupils shrunken to half their size. Whatever this was, it was clear it was far past serious at this point; her life was actually in danger here! She just hoped whoever was up there would be wise enough to not let a hostage die…
Finally, there was movement; the sound of galloping hooves, before a gray blur hopped over the edge of the box, dropping freely towards the ground where it’s magic seemed to easily slow it’s descent. Trixie finally got a good look at the pony she was hoping would be her savior… and let out a groan. If she could have face-hoofed, she would have, and hard.
“Really? Why in the name of all Equestria can I not escape you today!?” she moaned, glaring over at the same silver-coated unicorn she had seen in the cafe earlier that day.
He cocked an eyebrow at her, “Wow, I come to rescue you from the clutches of an evil batch of Changelings, and the first thing you do is complain to me? Some grateful captive you are…”
“Excuse me!” the purple-manned Changeling called out, quickly gaining the attention of the arguing duo. He glared at the stallion who had landed directly across from him on the ground level of the theater, “Just who are you? And how did you know we were even here!?”
“Actually, I would like to know about that second one, as well.”
“Shut up, filly!” The Changeling pressed his horn against Trixie’s throat once more, softly piercing her skin and drawing just the smallest bit of blood that trickled down her pelt, staining it with a crooked line that looked like the work of a drunken tattoo artist. Trixie decided it was better to follow the words of the monster with a horn to her throat, and feel silent for the time, though she was now pondering if meeting this stallion earlier had really been just coincidence now that this was happening.
The stallion just chuckled a bit, “Wow, guess you weren’t taught manners as a hatchling. It’s common courtesy to give your name before asking for somepony else’s. So, why don’t you show you’re at least somewhat civil and give me your own name first?”
The Changeling scowled, but nonetheless, he responded, “Fine, if you want to be so ‘proper’ about it My name is Prince Chitin, second child of her majesty, Queen Chrysalis of the Chan-“
He never got the chance to finish his sentence; at that moment, the stallion surged forward, and, magic forgotten, instead opted to merely sock the Prince in the muzzle with his right forehoof, sending him tumbling across the stage as his magic gave out, dropping Trixie to the floor with a grunt.
As the two remaining drones rushed to their rulers aid, the stallion bent down, helping Trixie to her hooves. Only for her to shoo his help away, “I do not need your help getting up! My legs work fine just on their own, thank you very much.” Her gaze softened a bit a few seconds later, though; this stallion had just rescued her from what was sure to be a rather horrid way to go.
And she had to admit, she hadn’t seen that punch coming from him, either.
“However… thank you, for saving me. How did you know they were here, exactly?” she asked him.
He didn’t answer, shaking his head, “We’ll have time for questions later, but for now we have bigger problems.” He pointed to the Changeling Prince, who was already back up on his hooves. He was nursing his muzzle with one leg, and glaring coldly at the pair as the drones hissed darkly on either side of him.
“You… how DARE you assault me like that!” Chitin snarled, glaring darkly at the stallion. “I pause to give you my name, and you merely use it as a chance t-“
Again, he found himself cut off by a hoof to the muzzle, this one actually making one of his fangs fall out and hit the stage! However, he was able to brace himself enough to not fall down, merely staggering back.
He spit out some dark green blood, glaring as he managed to speak again, “Will you stop th-“
Once more, hoof to the muzzle, and some dark greenish blood flew into the air, splattering on the polished wood under their hooves. At this point, Trixie had no idea weather she should laugh or not. “ENOUGH!” Chitin yelled, wiping some blood from his chin as the stallion simply chuckled.
“You keep leaving yourself open while you monologue,” he said with a shrug, “Not my fault.” The Changeling Prince glared darkly, and charged at the stallion, but there was a sudden blur of gray, and suddenly, the prince found himself just centimeters in front of… some kind of weapon.
Trixie could only have described the thing as a bizarrely designed tomahawk, like the kind she’d heard the buffalo’s used; but the curved blade was only attached to the solid-metal handle by a thin connection at the top. Its blade stopped about halfway down the pole, but went past the top by just a few inches, ending the a sharp tip. But right now, the prince found his neck nestled between the handle and the blade, the former gripped in a cloud of dark-green magic.
“Make one more move, and your head is going over my mantle,” the stallion threatened, staring down the firey-eyed Changeling Prince.
“You think this actually intimidates me?” Chitin asked, his lips curling up into a smirk. He looked over at Trixie, then his two remaining drones, and nodded to the latter. Without a moment of hesitation, the two drone lunged at Trixie, fangs bared and ready to clamp down on her neck…
Trixie did the only thing she could think of; her horn flared, and in a flash of bright white that blinded the Changelings, she had bent the light around herself, causing her to become invisible to the dazed guards. She barely heard Chitin screech, “What!?” before she took advantage of her situation.
She sped forward, grabbing one of the drones and tossing him into the second one. As they tumbled to the floor, she leapt into the air, spinning around head-over-hooves once before falling down and giving both their heads a hard slam with her hooves, effectively knocking both of them out.
That done, she turned to look at the Prince, whose eyes were wide as his eyes sped wildly around trying to locate her. Silver, for his part, didn’t seem overly surprised, but more… impressed? She’d worried about that later; Chitin was pinned, and he wouldn’t be able to see her; she rushed forward, horn down and aimed right at his chest.
However, she suddenly found herself blocked by a wall of jade-green magic, causing her to fall back and lose concentration on her spell, making her slowly appear once more as she rubbed her horn. She glared over at Silver, “What are you doing!? That was my chance to finish him!”
“And along with that, we would lose the one who knows where all his other victims are,” he pointed out, “Changelings don’t kill; they trap their victims and feed off their emotions until they’re loveless shells and then let them go. But I have a feeling that this one doesn’t plan on doing that last part.”
Chitin chuckled darkly, “So what if I didn’t plan on ever bringing them back? Their love is enough to satisfy me for centuries! I’d become one of the strongest Changelings around after today! And you two wanna-be heroes aren’t going to sto-“
Again, Silver didn’t bother to let him finish speaking before striking; his horn flared, and from the blade of his weapon, came a strong jolt and magical energy, making Chitin cry out in pain as his body convulsed, and fell to the ground where he went motionless, out cold.
Silver ‘hmph’ed as he brought his weapon back to his side, where the blade disappeared as the pole began to shrink, losing the finer gold details on the bottom and looking like a simple metal rod that tucked itself into his saddle bags.
“Foal; he’s clearly nothing more than a spoiled child,” he said, shaking his head, “If he was any kind of threat, he would have used the victims he had already to power himself up by now. Honestly, no challenge at all.” He turned towards Trixie, “Now, allow me to expla-“
However, it was Trixie’s turn for a preemptive strike, an azure hoof socking the stallion right on his muzzle. “WHAT is going on around here! Trixie demands an explanation!” She had just about had it at this point, having gone back to her old habit of referring to herself in the third pony out of frustration.
Silver sighed, setting his hoof down and walking across the stage to the trap door, “Just one second while I check something…”
“Hey, Trixie is talking to you; don’t walk away from her!” she scolded, trotting after him as she floated her things back over to herself. However, she stopped as his magic gripped the handle on the door, pulling it back and lifting up the door with an odd squishing noise.
There was a thick layer of light green goo on the bottom of the door, strings of it still connected to the edge of the opening. Trixie looked down in the door, only to be met with darkness.
The stallion pulled a flare from his bags, lit it up and tossed it down the dark pit. After a few feet, it came to a stop to illuminate the bottom half of a row of cocoons. Along with the tell-tale hissing of other drones standing guard below.
“Damn, I’m gonna need the whole guard here, it looks like,” he mumbled to himself, slamming the door shut once more. He looked up at Trixie as he pulled a small, plastic gun out of his saddlebags, pointing it up, “Alright then…” His magic squeezed the trigger, and a huge burst of purple light shot out of the end, phasing through the ceiling and exploding high over the early-evening sky, “I’ll tell you about myself.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
As it turned out, the group of Changelings had amassed quite a collection of ponies over the last several days, having resorted to the backstage storage rooms as well as all of the space below stage.
The flare had gotten a rather large team of royal guards to the building in a surprisingly small amount of time. And, as they had begun the long, laborious task of extracting and waking the ponies inside one by one, with a surprising lack of resistance. Then again, seeing their leader unconscious probably crushed any thoughts of escape.
After the guards had gotten control of the situation, the mysterious stallion had finally explained himself to Trixie.
And, to none of his surprise, she didn’t believe a word of it. He just chuckled, “I know you can’t, but I assure you I’m being 100% honest. And to be honest, I could use a pair of quick hooves like yours; what do you say, wanna come work for me?”
“Alright, this joke’s gone on long enough!” Trixie scoffed, turning around and starting off down the street away from the busy scene. However, he trotted after her.
“Come on; at least take this for me,” he told her, his saddlebags opening and drawing out a small, white business card, tucking it into one of her saddlebags under her cape. “Just keep a hold of this card for me. I’ll find you tomorrow and I’ll prove it to you.”
Trixie just sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked back, “Fine, if it’ll get you off my back for tonight I’ll see what you can prove to me.
“That’s all I ask. And don’t forget my offer,” her said, before letting his horn shine bright. Then, in a flash of light, he was gone.
Trixie stared at the empty spot before her; he could teleport, and yet not once before now had he… She groaned, rubbing her face with a hoof before looking at the card. It was a simple white piece of paper, with the word ‘Mythril’ written in the middle in fancy letters, along with a name; ‘Silver Soul’.
She sighed, “What have I gotten myself into…?”