The Great and Daydreaming Trixie's Adventures

by ShadeJak

Ponies of Might and Magic

“Stupid Sunset Shimmer!” Trixie cried out as she stormed out of the Dean’s Office in a less-then-pleasant mood. “Stupid custodian,” she mumbled, staring down at the floor and coming to a stop.

“What’d you get busted for?” a filly asked, causing Trixie to look up at her. The other unicorn looked about her age, with a wild blue mane, a white coat and magenta eyes.

“Trixie was not busted! She is blameless but wrongly accused for that stupid Sunset Shimmer’s lies that took her to the wrong side of the school, making Trixie tardy and stuck with a lunch detention on her very first day!” Trixie protested.

“Oh, Sunset? Pfft, she’s mean to everypony,” the other filly said with an eyeroll. “She thinks just ‘cause she’s Celestia’s personal student she can treat other ponies bad! Can you believe she said my music sounds like drunken cats and ducks in a barfight?” the filly asked. "My music’s gonna be awesome, just like that concert my big brother took me to!” she said with a grin, raising her hoof proudly.

Trixie cocked her head at the other filly. “What makes your problems with Sunset Shimmer any concern of Trixie’s?” she asked, trying to hold her dignity after her recent humiliation that had cost her recess and outdoor lunch.

The filly took a step back, a hurt look on her face. “Sorry… just…” she looked downcast, dropping the cool demeanor she’d had a second ago. “I started here just last semester and I don’t have any friends. Most of ‘em just wanna study and I wanna just learn how I can use my magic to make good music that’ll rock every party and show I play it at and become Equestria’s coolest deejay!” she declared.

“Hmph, Trixie intends to become the next great unicorn magician! She’ll make hit shows that’ll sell out from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus, and earn the love of everypony who sees them!” Trixie replied. “Even that stupid Sunset Shimmer will be jealous, then!”

“Cool to meet another pony who’s going for show business!” the other filly said, her mood upbeat again. “Think there’s still any hope? How about we hang during lunch?” she asked.

“Do I have to remind you I have lunch detention?” Trixie asked, frowning and dropping her third-pony act. “They would have given me a week of suspension for the smoke bomb I tried to use to sneak into class before roll call was over, but since it was my first day they went easy on me... or so they say.”

“Whoa, you tried to use a smoke bomb to sneak into class?” the other filly asked, staring agape. “That’s so cool! I wish I coulda seen that!”

Trixie rolled her eyes at the strange filly. “Well, nopony else seemed to think so. They’ll be sorry when Trixie is a million bajillion times the success story Princess Celestia’s meanie of a student thinks she is!” she said, sighing a little and smiling. It was at least nice to see she had something resembling a fan already. “Maybe after school we can “hang out” and you can witness Trixie’s amazing magic that got her into this school!”

“Cool!” the other filly said, a huge grin on her face again. “Name’s Vinyl Scratch by the way. I’ll catch ya later!” she said, preparing to leave.

“Hey, wait a sec!” Trixie called out, causing the filly to stop. “You asked what I got in trouble for, did you do something, too?”

“Heh, I may have switched the music in my Equestrian History class with some techno. Seriously, that classical stuff was puttin’ everypony to sleep!” Vinyl replied with a smirk before running off again to her next class.

“Equestrian History…” Trixie floated out her schedule and looked it over, noticing it to be her next class.

~

By the time Study Hall had come around, Trixie had found herself sitting in the school library with no less then five large books lay about on the table before her. A few other fillies were wondering about the shelves but paid her little notice as Trixie flipped through book after book in frustration over her first big assignment she’d gotten in Equestrian History class.

“Hey there, stranger!” Vinyl’s voice announced; interrupting the filly from her studies as she strutted over to her in synch to the beat of whatever music was playing in her ears from the oversized headphones she currently wore. Trixie wasn’t entirely sure how loud that music was but she could faintly hear it regardless.

“Oh, hello, Vinyl,” Trixie replied, opening the next book she’d gotten ahold of, titled Tales of the Everfree while Vinyl floated her headphones down to hanging around her neck. “I see you have study hall as well?”

“Free period, decided to chill here since it started raining outside,” the other filly replied, tilting her head towards the large window where an impressive deluge went on outside.

“Clearly you don’t pay much notice to weather schedules,” Trixie replied dryly, her mood still a little sour from getting in trouble earlier and this assignment.

“Do I look like a pegasus? I prefer to be surprised anyway!” Vinyl declared.

“SHHH!” a librarian snapped, causing the two fillies to flinch.

“Sorry,” Vinyl whispered, keeping her voice low as she continued to talk. “So, what’re you up to?”

“A big assignment from Equestrian History. As if a future magician needs any knowledge of such things!” Trixie said, barely avoiding getting loud as well.

“On your first day? Wow the teachers have really amped up their game this semester,” Vinyl answered.

“It’s actually not due till the end of the month. Trixie, future star student,” the blue filly said, putting her hoof to her chest proudly. “…is going to get a head start and prove her greatness over all the other students who will likely put it off till the last minute.”

“…Oh,” Vinyl replied after a five second pause.

“So, please, let Trixie have some time to get some notes so she can ace this before anypony else can,” Trixie said, returning her attention to the book that lay open before her.

“Sure, no problem,” Vinyl replied, albeit a little hurt by her new friend brushing her off but guessing it may have been the events from earlier affecting Trixie’s mood. “Hey, how about we hit Donut Joe’s after school’s out. We can chat then,” she offered.

“Hm, after today, I wouldn’t mind an oat milkshake,” Trixie said, rubbing her chin with her hoof thoughtfully. “Very well. Donut Joe’s after school.”

“Aw, YEAH!” Vinyl cheered, hopping into the air.

“SHHHHH!!!” the librarian said, louder and more firmly then last time.

“…Sorry,” Vinyl whispered once more, slinking away to one of the bookshelves and putting her headphones back on.

Now free of distractions and the pleasant idea of a tasty treat to forget about a bad first day, Trixie began her studies once more.

With the downfall of the chaos god Discord, it would seem as though the newly-founded Equestria would once again find peace and harmony again. At this time, Starswirl the Bearded had founded his own magic academy to educate young unicorns in the many wondrous spells he had both mastered and created…

Trixie grinned widely. If there was any pony she wanted to be just like, it was Starswirl, the legendary unicorn wizard of the past. What she would have given to be taught by him, then everypony would have respected her!

With Princess Luna’s treachery, and the destruction of the Castle of the Two Sisters, the Everfree Forest fell into a chaotic state, overrun by monsters and other hazards, such as the dread timberwolves and the mighty Ursa Major. Only the bravest ponies would dare venture in, and even then only on the most urgent reasons, for while the forest was full of danger, it also held some of the most exotic and unusual findings that were needed for unique and powerful spells. It was said that Starswirl would task his apprentice, as a rite of passage, to enter the forest to recover a rare ingredient for their final spell he would teach them.

Trixie’s grin faded to a discontent sigh. Times had truly become less exciting then they once were. Letting out a yawn as she continued to read, the filly flipped a few pages ahead to one of Starswirl’s adventures during the post-Nightmare Moon Equestria, musing over what it would have been like to have been a part of such timeless and memorable lore as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier with each passing word…

With his apprentice on the verge of becoming a magical acolyte, Starswirl had one final task, a quest of great importance he would rely on her for…

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

“Master, must you entrust this quest upon me, your humble but talented student?” A blue filly in a star-patterned cloak asked the venerable unicorn wizard.

“Young Trixie, I am old now, these bones aren’t what they once were. I may know more magic then anypony in Equestria but I lack the strength for many of them,” the aging, bearded white unicorn explained, walking over to the tower window and gazing out into the lands. “Princess Celestia is just now becoming accustomed to using her powers to command both day and night with the recent banishment of her younger sister, as well as overseeing the continued building of our new home of Canterlot. It is for these reasons, as well as all the promise you have shown as my student, that I know I can trust you to accomplish this task.”

“I understand,” Trixie replied with a bow of her head.

“It is dangerous to go alone, bring your wand, apprentice,” Starswirl ordered, floating his student’s magic wand into her satchel as well as a book and a map. “The Everfree Forest is a place of great peril now that the two sisters no longer reign within it, home to the deadliest creatures and wayward unicorn magicians who seek to use the rare artifacts and flora for their own ends. Return with the emerald flower so that I may continue my studies, and I shall deem you worthy of magic acolyte!”

“I will use what you have taught me, and will not disappoint you, Master!” the filly declared proudly, floating her supplies around her neck and galloping down the winding stairs of the tower and into the rainy streets of Canterlot.

The city was still under construction, several larger buildings were only partially made and cheap thatch-cottages lined the cobblestone streets. The castle itself stood further up the ledges, overlooking the growing city and the vast valley below it. Down below, Trixie spotted the Everfree forest out in the distance, surrounded by swirling, murky weather that was not wrought by pegasi but by the strange and mysterious power within. The young apprentice had heard many tales of this forbidden place but had never ventured in, for such things were forbidden to all but those permitted to do so.

“Ah, what do I see, whom could it be? Perhaps my good friend and Starswirl’s apprentice, miss Trixie!” a young voice sang in improvised rhyme to the rhythm of the mandolin that played along with it, causing the filly to turn.

“Ah, greetings, minstrel,” Trixie said to the blue-maned, white unicorn filly using magic to play a mandolin. “The Great and Esteemed apprentice Trixie is about to embark on a most daunting quest! A journey into the legendary Everfree Forest, itself!”

The young minstrel hit a sour note on her instrument and stared agape, the mandolin dropping to the ground beside her. “Madness! Nopony dares enter there! Timberwolves! Cragadiles! Manticores! Oh, my; even a dastardly witch is said to now reside where once the two sisters dwelt!” the minstrel insisted. “Were you to venture there, I find I may be preparing your funerary ballad in a day!”

“Not to fear, for Starswirl has trained Trixie well!” the young apprentice retorted proudly, patting her chest with her hoof. “And when she returns, you shall sing many great and riveting tales in her name!” she declared as a pair of pegasi guards pulling a small chariot descended from above and landed next to her.

“Cool!” the unicorn minstrel replied with a grin, her strange word choice causing Trixie to raise an eyebrow but the blue filly chose not to comment on it. “When you return, we shall celebrate at the Joe of Donut’s Pub!”

“Suits Trixie fine. Farewell!” Trixie declared, climbing into the chariot and soaring off towards the dreaded forest down below.

~

Her hood up and keeping her mostly dry from the rain, Trixie stood before the entrance into the mysterious and menacing Everfree Forest. The two pegasi who had brought her seemed to keep their distance, but Trixie stood her ground with great resolve. The map Starswirl had provided her would help lead her to the place where the plant he needed grew, as well as point out several landmarks including a small canyon, the ruins of the old castle, the bogs, as well as the lair of the Ursa Major. So long as she followed the path he had drawn, regardless of obstacle, she would accomplish her mission!

Approaching the gloomy trees, Trixie paused at the sound of the distant roar of some unknown beast. Looking back, she could see her escorts beginning to tremble. A part of her considered turning back, but she knew this was what she had been trained for! How could she let her revered mentor down now?

“Wait here for Trixie’s return, faithful escorts!” Trixie ordered, getting hasty but nervous nods in response as she then walked into the dark, foreboding overgrowth ahead of her.

The path was still mostly intact from its days that the two sisters had reigned in the old castle, but as she continued on, Trixie noticed how the plant life had slowly but surely began to lay claim to it after the years of neglect, and the hooting and growls of unseen creatures along the rain dripping from the forest canopy added to giving the place an unwelcoming feel. Yet despite such things, even they could not deter Trixie from this task she had been trusted with, especially with promotion to the next level of her studies almost in hoof’s reach! Her eyes narrowed as she looked to and fro, her way lit by the magic of her horn as she would steal an occasional gaze to her map as it hovered in front of her.

She paused, suddenly, as something dashed across the path in front of her. It was quick, a blur of motion that appeared to be an animal of some sort. Standing still, Trixie could feel the sensation of being watched. For all her courage the filly could feel a chill run up her back.

“No. Nothing stops Trixie from completing this task!” Trixie declared, floating her star-tipped wand out in front of herself and grasping it in her hoof. The blur of motion scurried in the thick brush surrounding the path and stopped at a large tree. Gritting her teeth, Trixie aimed the wand and fired a burst of magic, incinerating the bush and leaving behind a rather frightened raccoon holding its paws up nervously.

“Rodent! You have given Trixie quite the scare. Begone!” the filly ordered. The raccoon nodded and scurried off quickly as to not incur the skilled apprentice’s wrath any further, chittering to itself in annoyance.

Snorting at the experience the pest had brought upon her, Trixie prepared to continue her journey when suddenly a thick blue mist began to spread from the brush and surround her. Glowing green eyes began to light up various dark corners of the forest around her followed by the sinister growls of cragadiles and the foul odor of timberwolves. Holding her fear, the unicorn looked about in suspicion. She had learned many things about Everfree monsters, and summoning blue mist was not a trait timberwolves or cragadiles were known for. “Who is responsible for this sorcery? Show yourself!”

Her answer came in the form of a sinister chuckle as a hooded pony emerged from the thick clouds, her eyes glowing a blue-green like the magic light of her horn as she tossed back her ragged black hood. She looked to be not much older then Trixie herself, with a flowing red and yellow mane and tail. “Welcome to my forest, little filly. Are you lost?” the cloaked pony asked.

“Trixie is not lost!” the filly replied, glaring at the pony in suspicion. “It would seem the tales of witches in these woods were not so exaggerated after all!”

“Only when you imply there being more then one, foal!” the witch responded haughtily. “That old fool Starswirl is sending his apprentices into the domain of Lady Dusk again? How utterly delightful!” she said with a laugh. “Nopony dares enter here, not when I have the power of these woods at my beck and call. Every creature here hangs to my every word and adores my superiority!”

“Your words bore Trixie! Now step aside so she may complete her mission and she may spare you for your heresy against Celestia and the laws of magic!” Trixie ordered, her wand glowing once more.

“Such jestful boasting, what he has taught you is nothing compared to my power!” Lady Dusk declared, levitating into the air and landing on the back of a massive shape. As the mists cleared away, Trixie’s eyes widened when she saw what it was that the witch now rode upon.

The towering beast’s bearlike body was a translucent blue, with glowing lights drifting within and a mark resembling a star on its forehead. Its glowing yellow eyes narrowed down at the unicorn filly before opening its jaws and letting out a terrible roar.

“Th-the Ursa Major…!” Trixie cried out.

“Indeed!” The witch declared, stroking the top of the creature’s head as she lay comfortably atop it. “I was considering giving you a chance to run, but why let my pet go hungry? Destroy this unworthy, inferior foal at once!” she ordered, the timberwolves and cragadiles that had made up her audience backing away and receding into the woods as the gigantic beast began to approach the tiny blue unicorn.

Trixie had barely moved out of the way in time as the beast swung its massive paw at her, knocking several trees away while its rider continued to laugh and taunt her.

“You have no business being Starswirl’s errand-pony, let alone his pupil!” Lady Dusk sneered as Trixie teleported away from the Ursa’s snapping jaws and fired several magic bolts at it. “Even when the aging fool passes away, you’ll only be second best to me!”

The other pony’s taunts quickly caused anger to overcome the filly’s fear as Trixie hid under a fallen tree. What did the witch know about power and greatness? Trixie would be infinitely better then her with all the hard work she’d done up to this point! Quietly taking her spellbook from her bag while the Ursa continued to search for her, Trixie flipped over to a spell that was still advanced, but she was certain would help her win and gave it a quick look-over. It would wear her down a good deal with the mana output it needed, but it was her only hope!

Her hasty study was interrupted as a pair of huge jaws clamped onto the tree she was hiding under and flung it away. Lady Dusk’s black cloak billowed as her eyes and horn glowed brightly, an evil sneer on her face as she prepared to command her beast to end the apprentice’s life. “So ends another second-rate unicorn!” the witch declared with a maniacal laugh, framed by a dramatic strike of lightning behind her.

Immediately, Trixie focused all of her magic into her wand, the star on its tip growing brighter and brighter by the second. The witch stopped laughing and stared down at the filly in confusion, her mount doing the same as it began to back away from the incredible light shining from its intended prey.

“No! This cannot be!” Lady Dusk shouted, noticing the fear in the Ursa’s eyes. “Finish her, now!” she commanded, but the astral bear did not obey.

“Ursa Major, Trixie commands you to BEGONE!” Trixie bellowed, firing a brilliant blast of light and stars from her wand and knocking the Ursa on its back. Letting out a whimper, the great beast suddenly began wailing like a child and thundered off into the dark recesses of the Everfree forest, leaving its former rider behind and at Trixie’s mercy.

“Say it!” Trixie ordered, aiming her wand at the fallen witch, who looked around in terror as the timberwolves and cragadiles she’d brought to witness the fight soon fled as well.

“Fine, you’re greater and more skilled then I!” the witch cried out, sobbing and backing away from her. “But how, how did you vanquish my Ursa Major?” she demanded.

“Trixie was the student of Starswirl, and he has taught her even his mightiest spells before deeming her worthy of this journey!” the filly declared. “And soon, Trixie will be the greatest and most powerful unicorn in Equestria!”

“I surrender, Trixie! Spare me, despite my evil ways and let me live with my shame!” Lady Dusk pleaded.

“Very well, if you will allow Trixie passage to find the emerald flower!” the young apprentice replied.

“Oh, one of those? I have one right here, just leave me be!” the witch replied, reaching into her cloak and tossing it to the filly, who immediately caught it in her magic aura and floated it into her saddlebag.

“Thank you very much,” Trixie replied with a smile, slowly backing away from Lady Dusk. “Now change your evil ways or I’ll be back for you!” she threatened. “You have been warned by me, the Great and Powerful Trixie!” the filly declared, setting off a smoke bomb and fleeing back down the path as it cleared away.

~

“Trixie… has… returned!” Trixie declared, grinning as she immediately fell to the ground in front of the pegasus escorts upon emerging from the forest. True to its warning, the spell had all but completely spent her magic and she’d used all the energy she’d had left to return outside safe and sound. Her grin still fixed on her face; Trixie rolled over and laughed as the pegasus guards stared down her her, one finally nudging her a few times. “Hey? Kid? Hello?” he asked.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Trixie’s eyes snapped open as she saw the librarian standing over her, nudging her as the filly looked away from the book she’d fallen asleep reading.

“Library’s closing, kid. Time to go home,” the librarian said.

“Sorry!” Trixie said nervously, blushing in embarrassment as she quickly began floating her notes and quill into her bag and making a quick gallop to the door.

“Sup, Trixie?” Vinyl suddenly asked, joining her side and lowering her headphones. “Still up for eating out?”

“Trixie supposes so, yes,” the filly answered.

“Cool. Learn anything exciting?” Vinyl asked.

“Much, and the best story ever to get an A+ for this class!” Trixie declared proudly. Great and Powerful Trixie the filly thought to herself with a grin. I like that…

Author's Note:

And another chapter; a longer and more detailed fantasy experience which the ones that follow will be more like.

Yes, the ursa depicted was obviously the Ursa Minor, but Trixie has mistaken it for the Ursa Major as we've seen she misidentified it in the show. Much like any child's fantasies, one of the harder parts is "correcting" things to make them "wrong" as they have to be limited to anything Trixie would know, play out, or just make up off the top of her head at that age.

What sort of adventure will Trixie experience next in her imaginative world? Will she ever become great and powerful? Tune in next time.