Chapter 1: A Lonesome Performer
SQUEAKY SQUEAKYSQUEAKYSQUEAKY
Tiny wooden wheels sang their rhythmic song as they rolled down the smooth pavement just inside of the Canterlot city entrance. Ponies of all kinds, though primarily unicorns, milled back and forth across the streets and bustling shopping sectors of the capital city of Equestria. With their noses firmly stuck in the air, few citizens noticed the little blue-furred filly pulling her rickety wagon down the street, her eyes shining at the new and wondrous sights all around her. The wagon attached to her carried every physical possession she had in this world, her whole life trailing less than two feet behind her.
“Wow, this place is so fabulous, pretty… and rich!” The filly grinned to herself, only picking up her stride in search of her preferred place of business. Surely a place with ponies so rich would have some very generous ponies for a cute little performer such as herself. If she did well enough here, she might not have to leave again!
It wasn’t long before she spotted a large, well-kept park right in the center of the Cliffside city, bounding out onto the grass, past the small rivers and lakes and through the throngs of grown-up ponies going about their daily business. She came to a stop, unhooked the wagon from her body and moved back to pull a small wooden crate out of the wagon, letting it drop to the grass in front of one of the larger fountains. She climbed up to stand on the box and turned toward her wagon, her horn glowing to drag two pieces of clothing toward her, a small cloth cape with several long tears in it and a battered old Unicorn’s hat, which settled on her back and head respectively.
Trixie cleared her throat and stood dramatically on her hind hooves to make herself as visible as possible before shouting in her loudest voice. “Come one come all, and witness the magic of the magnificent, the mighty, and the mysterious Trixie! Watch as I perform wonders beyond wondering, magic like you’ve never seen before! Gather round, and I’ll show you the true nature of the universe itself!”
“Awww, look hon, isn’t that adorable?” Trixie heard one passing colt mutter with a soft chuckle.
“Yes, I want to see what she does!” His fillyfriend replied eagerly. Trixie couldn’t help a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as plenty of similarly muttering ponies gathered around her. Yes, she could make very good business off this place.
She had spent months honing her show into a fine performance, making things disappear and reappear, making herself jump higher than most unicorns could, small things that weren’t really that amazing, but she’d discovered months ago that if you said something was impressive in a loud enough voice, ponies were inclined to believe it. The fact that she knew how to flutter her eyelashes and flash her adorable violet eyes didn’t hurt either. The grown-ups always ooh’d and aah’d at that, especially the mares.
The light was fading, but Trixie had a decent sized crowd by the time she whipped her cape around her little body and flashed a bright smile at the crowd. “Thank you all so much for watching my show! It makes me feel so good that I could make somepony’s day brighter! Now if you could make my day a little brighter…?” Trixie reached up and pulled off her pointy hat, holding it out to the crowd. “Just a bit or two from such generous ponies?”
The crowd exchanged confused glances with one-another, then broke out into a collective laugh that shook Trixie down to the bone. “That was the funniest thing I’ve heard all week!” One mare said.
“You’ve got talent kid, a real show-stopper.” A stallion quipped as the crowd dispersed in all directions, leaving her hat propped on the grass in front of her, as empty as she’d started.
“Sheesh… how can such rich ponies be so stingy…?” Trixie sighed and plopped down on her butt in exhaustion, letting her hat fall flat to the grass. “Guess I’m sleeping in the wagon tonight…”
Suddenly several golden sparkling bits fell onto the side of her hat, drawing Trixie’s surprised gaze up from the ground. A kind-looking mare with a soft smile and a small blue policepony’s had on her head was giving her a gentle look. “I thought it was worth plenty of bits.”
“Wow, thanks ma’am!” Trixie squealed in delight and snatched the hat off the ground, plucking the bits from it.
The policemare took a seat beside her small wooden box, sitting comfortably on the grass. “We don’t have many performers coming through Canterlot. Certainly not your kind. Technically you’re not allowed to put on those kinds of performances here.”
“O-oh…?” Trixie froze. “Am I in trouble…?”
“Not at all, I’ll let you off with a warning this time.” The policemare shrugged off the very idea.
“Oh, whew… well I’ll leave tomorrow, I promise.” Trixie nodded sincerely. “I didn’t mean to do anything wrong.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” The policemare smiled again, but this smile faded a bit faster than before. “Where are your parents?”
“Dunno.” Trixie shrugged. “Didn’t know ‘em… been wandering around Equestria since I can really remember.”
“My, you’re a very self-sufficient little foal.” The mare chuckled.
“I guess so.” Trixie mumbled.
“Hey, you know what… that was quite a display of magic for a filly your age.” The mare stood up and turned to look towards the largest building in the city, a large, spiraling structure that peaked almost as tall as the mountain on which it had been built. That had to be the royal palace, Trixie realized. “Princess Celestia is always looking for fillies and colts of exceptional magic to take into her school. Perhaps you could find a place there, if you could pass the entrance exam.”
“What good would that do?” Trixie scoffed. “A school wouldn’t give me shelter.”
“Sure it would, especially that school. They’d give you everything you’d need.” The mare informed her.
This gave Trixie pause, turning to look up at her with wide, wet eyes. “Really? They do that?”
“You bet they do.” The mare told her with a smile. “With what I just saw, I have no doubt you’ll be able to get in there… and even if you don’t, I’m sure the princess would have something in mind for you. Nopony wants to see a filly wandering the countryside by her lonesome.”
“Huh…” Trixie turned a curious gaze on the palace again, pursing her lips thoughtfully for a moment before springing into action. She packed all of her things back into her creaky wagon and slipped the strap around her neck. “Thank you so much! Oh, um… do you want the bits back?”
“Not at all, you earned them.” The policemare chuckled. Trixie grinned back and waved goodbye before taking off at a brisk gallop towards the palace. She’d never turned down a place to get in out of the cold night air before, she wasn’t about to turn down this one.
The palace was a large, intimidating structure that only loomed larger the closer she got. Even the pathway leading up to it made her feel tiny,it was easily wide enough to accommodate at least six full-grown ponies walking abreast. Her eyes darted back and forth across the royal lawn as she marched up the path to the massive doors in front of the palace, where two Pegasus guards in plate armor stood a silent vigil, though their eyes seemed to be following her every movement.
“Um, hello sirs!” Trixie flashed the best cute grin she had, which was extremely cute. “I was wondering if I could get inside!”
“What’s your business here?” The guard asked sternly.
Trixie stood her ground, refusing to be intimidated. “I’d like to take the entrance exam for the magic school, please!”
The two Pegasii exchanged a brief glance. “Leave the wagon.” One of the two warned her.
“My wagon? But it’s all I have…” Trixie glared suspiciously.
“It will be here when you return.” The second guard informed her without a smile, as if it wasn’t meant to be comforting so much as a simple statement of fact. Well, they were the royal guards, she supposed. Where else would it be safer?
So she left her wagon with one guard and turned to follow the second into the palace. It was everything on the inside that it looked like on the outside, beautiful sparkling marble and stone topped with luxurious carpeting and drapes. She didn’t have much time to admire the scenery though, as she was being led down one of the hallways on the main floor, up a flight of stairs and down several more hallways until they finally reached a door whose entrance was so high it nearly touched the already-high ceiling.
Her escort pushed the door open and stepped aside to let her enter. “Please wait here a few moments.” He told her.
“Sure!” Trixie smiled again and bounded into the room. It looked like a classroom, with several rows of seats slanting up toward the back of the room. Well the nice guard had said there was a magic school in the palace, this must be where they taught the lessons. It wasn’t a bad place, and if the chalk dust all over the blackboard was any indication, they learned a lot of stuff here. Trixie had to wonder what she could learn. Why she could make her show so much better with more magic tricks!
“Good evening, little filly.” Trixie blinked and turned to see another mare entering the room, her horn closing the door behind her as she moved toward Trixie. She had a light blonde coat, a dirty red mane and a pair of thick glasses perched in front of a pair of deep brown eyes. “They tell me you’re asking about the entrance exam for Celestia’s magic school for gifted unicorns.”
“Uh-huh! My name’s Trixie! I wanna be a great unicorn magic user!” Trixie exclaimed.
“Yes, most of the fillies and colts who come here do.” The older mare flashed her a wry smile. “Well, Trixie, it is somewhat unusual for a filly to just stroll in without warning and demand to take the test, let alone at this time of day. What is it that brings you here so abruptly? Really?”
Trixie hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. “I needed a place to sleep. Really.” Trixie replied truthfully. She hated sounded like she was begging, but she wasn’t fond of lying either.
The mare’s expression softened instantly and a smile cracked her lips. “I had a feeling. I just wanted to see if you would tell me. You’re not the first you know, and you don’t need to get into the school for us to help you.”
“Thanks… but I wanna get in the school. I’ve used my magic to get by up to now, I think having even more magic would make things better for me. I know I can do it.”
The mare nodded firmly. “That’s what I like to hear, determination.” She turned back toward the door as her horn began to glow with magic light, pulling the door open. Moments later a small cart began to roll into the room under the power of her magic, sliding smoothly into the center, bearing its cargo with ease. That cargo consistent of a small patch of hay holding what looked like a blue and white spotted egg almost as large as Trixie herself.
“This is a dragon egg.” The mare informed her. “Dragons are creatures who have magic infused into their very being, they cannot even be born without a strong enough dose of magic to force them to hatch. Your test, Trixie, is to make this egg hatch. Everypony who enlists in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns must do this. Plus the dragon that hatches from this egg will be your friend and assistant while you are studying, do you understand?”
“I think so.” Trixie nodded with her lips set in a grim line. “Blast it with magic and make a new friend!”
“Close enough.” The mare smiled. “When you’re ready.”
Trixie turned to the large egg and took a deep breath, taking a moment to compose her thoughts. She’d spent enough time performing on the road to have a pretty good grasp on how to do magic, but this was something entirely different. What if she used too much and simply broke the egg? Was that the same as hatching it? What if she simply failed to affect the egg at all? She hated failing… but she couldn’t simply not try.
A few more deep breaths later and Trixie’s horn began to glow with a steady crimson light, which pierced forward and hit the eggshell like an arrow, but didn’t seem to have any effect at all. A grunt escaped the little filly’s throat as she concentrated her efforts, the beam growing steadily brighter by the moment, but still seeming to simply bounce off of the egg like a mere beam of light. She was going to fail… she couldn’t…
“No!” Trixie exclaimed. “I’m not… gonna… fail!” She gritted her teeth and scraped her hooves across the ground as small pulses of energy flowed through the crimson energy stream. At last the egg began to twitch back and forth on the hay, but she didn’t want to stop, she didn’t want to risk the movement going away. Her brain felt like it was on fire, but still she held the connection, pumping what must have been all of the magic she possessed into her target.
At last she heard a small crack, following by another as the thick shell began to break apart. The crimson beam sparkled, then died out entirely just as the eggshell burst outward and a small blue baby dragon flopped onto its back on the hay with a startled yelp and a frightened cry.
“Congratulations, Trixie.” The teacher mare told her. “It’s a girl.”