Tricks, cloaks and wands: The Lost Tales of a Traveling Magician

by divinearcadia

Finding a Lost Pony

To get this out of the way, I have no control over the characters of and related to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This is a piece of literary fiction, the events of this story are not intended to reflect the actions or incriminate anypony.

Prelude: Finding a Lost Pony

The Alicorn Amulet leaves Trixie Lulamoon with a lingering curse. She's constantly miserable about how she caused such sadness and used that ill-gotten power to ostracize Twilight Sparkle and to create a stranglehold on the citizens of Ponyville. Unbeknownst to her, this curse of self-pity would be soon lifted.

Once she had fled Ponyville in shame, cape and pointed hat trailing behind her, Trixie has no thoughts as to where she would go. She just has to leave the ponies she hurt, and those that had forgiven her for they weighed upon her heart the most heavy. Am I such a pony that Twilight Sparkle and her friends forgive me as though what I had done was expected? Am I truly so spiteful and petty? As these thoughts went through her head, she doesn't notice when she crossed the border of the Everfree Forest. Rushing headlong through the trees and underbrush, she finally stumbles and falls down a steep, rocky hillside. As her fall ends at the bottom of a gully, Trixie looks around in shock and fear as she realizes where she had ended up. Looking down the path of the gully that led to the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, Trixie has a flare of hope that she could leave the forest without alerting anything too dire. She begins sprinting once more but is brought up short as a monstrous timberwolf easily ten times her size leaps from the top of the slope to block her path. With a squeak of sheer terror, she turns around to flee, looking for any escape possible. With a howl of savage glee the timberwolf pounces, missing Trixie as she instinctively jumps when it howled. The timberwolf slides on the scree and looses its footing as it tries to keep its prey in sight. Quickly searching for an escape route for her life, Trixie happens to spot a dark rectangle along the right side of the gully. With a mighty effort on her part Trixie leaps, a move just fast enough to avoid the jaws of the timberwolf as it had regained its feet and closing the distance with terrifying speed. With fear and adrenaline giving strength to her muscles, her leap carries her through the opening, just before the timberwolf barrels through the space she had just occupied. Falling through the dark space, Trixie, in her sudden relief, looses consciousness as the tension that had been her entire being leaves her. As the unconscious Trixie falls through the darkness, the timberwolf is in a dilemma of its own as it tries to vigorously widen the opening to get to its juicy prey before it has a chance to get too far. The wolf suddenly stops its attempts as a large shadow covers it, making it cower and flee in the face of a power greater than its own.

Trixie is dreaming. That's the first thing that passes through her exhausted mind as she watches the familiar scene before her. Before her is a small, light blue filly with silvery-white hair with almost ethereal blue streaks running through her tail and mane, but has no cutie mark... yet. This little filly was small, bruised and very dirty. She had been chased and cornered in one of the many twisting alleys of Manehatten by three other, older fillies.

“Ya let us down Trix... What'ah we s'possed ta do now?” Drawls the the largest of the fillies.

“I... I-I'm sorry Heartbreak... I couldn't make my magic work this time, but you know I'm good for it!” stammers the little Trixie, finishing in a rush out of fear.

“It was real simple Trix, ya were ta grab the purse while me an' the girls make a distraction. We had it worked out real nice-like, but ya had ta put all that work ta shame... an' now we gotta make an examp'a outta ya. Shows we're serious about not get'n soft on failure. You had yer chance Trix.” Heartbreak finishes with a small greedy smile.

“H... Heartbreak...” Trixie almost whispers as her eyes widen at the realization of what she means, “Please no... It won't happen again, please Heartbreak, I promise I'll make it worth your while, we'll get more bits than you'd ever dream of! Just tell me what I gotta do...”

“Jus' stand there Trix, try not ta make it any harder than it has ta be for us.”

Trying to take in what Heartbreak said, her horn begins glowing faintly, and then she understands. They're going to beat her up and leave her... Leave her just like her parents did such a short time ago... and then she simply gets angry. Angrier than any little filly should have any right to be and her horn shines with a blinding blue-white light.

“You just stay right where ya are Heartbreak! You're not gonna lay a hoof on me ya dung-head! I told ya that I'd make ya some bits, but no! Since ya don't want my bits, ya can have the last taste o' ma magic you'll ever get!” From the little filly's horn, arcs of arcane energy begin landing around Heartbreak and her friends, making them rear and buck in fright. Then one hits the filly on Heartbreaks right, shocking her to unconsciousness, another bolt of energy hits the other filly on her left, hitting her like a kick from a grown-up and sending her flying a few feet back.

“EEP!!!” Was all Heartbreak had time to say before the largest bolt of energy hit her. The bolt holds her in an aura, lifting her up high and she begins to squirm as cramps surge across her body. She lets out a little cry of pain. A blast of light green magic shoots like an arrow from down the alley canceling Trixies magic, lowering Heartbreak gently to the ground.

“NOW STOP THIS LITTLE ONE AND CALM YOURSELF.” Booms a rich voice magically amplified. From down the alley, a light green aura begins to lighten the darkness as a tall, thin unicorn walks closer. He's an older stallion with a cream colored coat with a white and steel gray colored mane and mustache. He wears a black cloak with an emerald green underside and a top hat tilted to a jaunty angle. “These little ponies won't hurt you anymore little one. I'm only here to help because I sensed your magic and I want to help you.”

Breathing heavily, the little Trixies magic quickly fades and she passes out.

With a start, Trixie awakens in the present and suddenly finds herself choking and struggling for air. Fighting her way back to the surface, Trixie finds herself in a wondrous place. She is floating in the middle of a cistern, the white marble walls coated in milky crystals. The water clear as perfect glass, allowing her to look down into its depths, she sees other crystals, each of which glows with a faint clear light.

Deciding that this is a sacred place, and she really shouldn't be there, Trixie begins to swim towards the edge of the cistern. As she climbs out, Trixie has a sudden flare of pain from her right hind leg. Looking back she sees a deep wound scored almost halfway down her leg, though not bleeding. This truly is a special place for these waters to dull the pain and help heal such a wound, she thinks as she contemplates going back in, testing her leg. She decides it's for the best right now. Lowering herself back in, she notices the temperature isn't noticeable on her skin. It's not warm, or cool, it simply feels like she's floating in nothing. Turning on her back, she looks up... and into a full moon against the backdrop of a starry sky. The opening of the cistern has been broken ad has some moss hanging over the edge of the lip, but at that moment, Trixie is absolutely breathless at the sight.

Something she feels makes her tear away from the sight of the sight above her, but is no less breath taking. As she rights herself, she looks to the edge of the cistern. Having just taken her first step onto the surface of the water is Luna, Princess of the Night, Dreams and Sister of the Goddess ruler of Equestria. As Luna steps onto the surface of the water, one perfect ripple spreads from her ebony hoof, turning the waters surface into a perfect mirror. From where Trixie floats, Luna walks into the precise center of the moons reflection and stops to make direct eye contact with her from less than ten feet away.

“Trixie Lulamoon, traveling magician of Equestria, I have a task for thee. Come into mine service and that of mine sisters and thy misdeeds shalt be absolved. Tis not an easy thing I ask of thee for the punishment one makes for herself is always harsher than an alternative given from somepony else, but I have great faith in thee that thou shalt find rewards in mine service that may make amends to those thou hath abused and hurt while under the control of the Alicorn Amulet, as well as rewards deserved nonetheless.”

Stunned into silence at not only being approached and talked to by Luna herself, the thought of making amends strikes a chord in Trixies heart. I'm terrified of letting another pony be disappointed in me and still forgive me. I want to do something of worth, something that will make somepony happy! Trixie thinks, looking up to the princess standing before her. Trixie looks her in the eye with grim determination and says “Princess Luna, I pledge myself from this moment forward to your service, my mind, body and magic at your disposal to be used as you see fit in the course of my duties.”

Luna holds Trixies eyes and she kneels gracefully upon the surface of the water to accept her vow of service.

Author's Note:

Comments and creative criticism appreciated. First actual publication of an idea and I have a feeling this will take on a life of its own lol

Comments

[mcfarty]

First!!!!!

...

That is all, those wordds explain my being.

[HaoKyruss]

Interesting start. Tracking.