Bad Luck

As her smoke grenade hit the ground, the Great and Powerful Trixie took off at a gallop. She rushed down the main road to the south, listening as she ran for the sounds of pursuit. Although she had technically done nothing wrong, she had been in this business long enough to know that the Ursa’s attack would almost certainly be attributed to her, however unfair that might be. She had no doubt that the locals would find it easier to blame a stranger such as herself for tonight's events than to hold accountable the two morons who had actually awakened the monster, then compounded their idiocy by bringing it into town.

As she ran, the Everfree Forest loomed to her right. With a smile, she dashed into the woods. There was no way the townsponies could track her down amid the dense overgrowth, even if they wanted to. And although the Ursa had come from these same woods, it had attacked Ponyville from the northwest. She, on the other hoof, was heading southwest, away from where it probably made its lair.

She slowed to a canter as she walked through the forest, trying to gauge what would be a safe balance between staying close to town and getting far enough away to avoid being caught by any hot-headed locals. She had to stay in the area, of course; she’d need to go back and see what she could salvage from her cart, left totaled in Ponyville's main plaza. At present she had nothing, not even her traveling cloak. The fact that she could hardly return to the site of her latest, disastrous show under the present circumstances did not deter her in the least. She’d been a traveling showpony long enough to know a thing or two about being run out of town. It was one of the hazards of her profession, after all.

She couldn’t go back tonight, with the town in an uproar, and a daytime return was out of the question, but tomorrow night... that was another matter altogether. Trixie could sneak in while everypony was asleep, recover what she could, and be on her way with none the wiser. Then, perhaps on to Hoofington? She’d heard from a traveling minstrel that Hoofington crowds were easy to please, and she could certainly use a gimme after the debacle she’d just endured. Still, she reminded herself, bad luck can strike anypony; what matters is how you bounce back.

With these thoughts lightening her heart, she turned her attention to a more immediate predicament: she needed shelter. There was no sign of rainclouds, but the Everfree forest was nothing if not unpredictable. She’d need to find a cave of some sort and wait until tomorrow. Then, she could forage a meal during the day and wait for darkness to fall.

As if the forest could read her thoughts, a massive cavern loomed before her...a little too massive for her comfort. Although it seemed extremely unlikely, given the different paths that she and the Ursa had followed out of town, the last thing Trixie wanted to do was wander straight into the lair of the beast she’d encountered just hours ago.

A quick examination of her surroundings allayed some of her fears. Although there was a large swath of clear land around the cave entrance, she didn’t see any trails through the forest down which a creature as large as an Ursa could pass. Not the great bear’s lair, then, but still potentially home to something (somethings?) dangerous. Cautiously she approached, alert for any sign of life.

As she reached the lip of the cave, she caught a telltale whiff of sulfur. Most ponies would think nothing of it. Of the few who knew that the scent was indicative of a dragon’s lair, most would turn tail and run. Trixie inched closer and cocked her ears; she was one of the very few ponies in Equestria who knew that if the scent of sulfur wasn’t accompanied by any noise, it meant that the dragon wasn’t present. Dragons, whatever their other qualities, were not quiet creatures. Although she was no expert on wilderness monsters in general, there were few who could match Trixie’s knowledge when it came to dragons.

As she listened at the cave’s entrance, Trixie thought back to her own dragon, a navy-blue bundle of scales and spikes which she’d named Sticker. She’d been so proud when she first hatched him, earning her entry into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She had spent hours on end in the library, eagerly devouring any and all information about dragons; how fast they grew, what they ate, how they imprinted, everything she could lay her hooves on. She’d lavished her care on him for two happy semesters.

Trixie blinked tears out of her eyes. Even though they had only had a few months together, thinking of Sticker still made her cry.

He’d been sickly from the start, and one day he simply hadn’t woken up when Trixie brought him his morning bottle of crushed amethyst. A specialist came and looked at the body, asked Trixie a few questions, and declared the cause of death to be SIDDS. Trixie later learned that that stood for "Sudden Infant Dragon Death Syndrome," a medical catch-all for when a baby dragon died without any obvious cause. A rare but not unknown occurrence, especially with runts. She had been devastated.

Nevertheless, she thought as she cautiously entered the cavern, things had turned out all right for her in the end. Of course, she’d been forced to drop out of school (properly raising one’s dragon was part of the core curriculum, after all. And even if she could have begged a second chance from the instructors, no dragon mother would have been willing to let her try hatching an egg after the last infant in her care died, no matter what the reason), but she might never have found her present career as a traveling showpony if she’d stayed in Canterlot. And she did love her work, present circumstances notwithstanding. What happened to Sticker (and to her) had just been bad luck, but she had muddled through in the end. Sticker would be proud if he could see her now.

Well, maybe not right now, but in principle he would be.

Trixie reached the main chamber, and was disappointed to find it full of gems. If the cave were abandoned, its former resident would have taken his hoard with him. Most likely, the dragon who resided here was out hunting. Dragon hunts could last weeks or even months, but Trixie didn’t feel like taking any chances after her run-in with the Ursa. She started walking back toward the cavern entrance, intent on leaving and finding a less dangerous place to sleep.

The rustling of wings and the sound of something heavy landing outside froze her in her tracks. There was a deep snuffing sound, and a rumbling bass voice proclaimed, “I smell a pony in my lair.”

Trixie felt her heart sink. A flying dragon, capable of speech, low-range vocalizations...there were only three species that possessed those characteristics. And all three of them were known to occasionally dine on ponies. Today was just not her lucky day.

A scaly green head, larger than Trixie’s entire body, came into view at the cave entrance. “Come here, little intruder. I’ve a lesson to teach you about trespassing, and if you co-operate, I’ll make it relatively...painless.”

Trixie saw the dark green coloration, the recurved spines down the dragon’s back. Coupled with what she’d already deduced, that meant she must be dealing with an Equestrian emerald dragon. She felt a surge of hope; although they were fast and vicious predators, Emerald dragons had no inherent magic. If she kept her wits about her, she might still escape.

Boldly, she called to the creature, “If you want to lay claws on the Great and Powerful Trixie, you’ll have to come and catch her first!” Then she turned and ran back down the cavernous hall as fast as her legs could carry her.

She had no chance of escaping on hoof, of course. Even if she could outrun the beast, Emerald dragon lairs always had but a single entrance, for easy monitoring. The creatures had no natural predators; they had no use for escape passages. But there were other ways out...

As she ran, Trixie’s horn slowly began to glow. She felt the floor shake as the massive creature behind hurled itself after her. When she judged the beast was almost close enough to roast her with its fiery breath, she unleashed her spell.
In an instant, she vanished from the cave. The dragon paused in its headlong pursuit, baffled.

Trixie, meanwhile, lay gasping and out of breath. She had used her magic liberally today, and teleporting was a difficult and demanding trick even when one was fully rested and not in imminent danger of being devoured. Still, she should be safe now; the spell ought to have taken her two or three miles at least. As her vision cleared, Trixie wobbled to her feet and looked around. When she realized where she was, her heart skipped a beat, then began pounding double-time.

She was only a few dozen yards from the cavern entrance. She must have been more tired than she realized. If she was still this close, then the emerald dragon’s keen sense of smell meant it would soon-

With a mighty roar, the dragon hurled itself out of the cave. It turned its eyes all directions, finally settling on the exhausted unicorn near the treeline.

Trixie ran for all she was worth.

As soon as she entered the trees, Trixie was plunged into near-total darkness. The dense canopy above admitted little light, and the twisting roots and fallen branches which lined the forest floor made the going treacherous. She frequently stumbled and fell as she ran, each time picking herself up and rushing forward again, ever mindful of the monster in close pursuit.

Yet despite her difficulties, the dragon closed the gap between them slowly. His bulk was ill-suited for traveling the dense forest at ground-level; emerald dragons were primarily aerial hunters. Unwilling to take to the air and risk losing his prey beneath the dense canopy, he was forced to search out breaks in the trees as he gave pursuit.

Trixie crashed through the woods for what felt like hours, growing more and more desperate as time passed. She was starting to slow, and her lead on the dragon had dwindled to perhaps thirty yards. She was already at the limits of her endurance, and with each stumble and fall it became more and more difficult to force herself back to her hooves. She was bleeding from several shallow cuts where tree limbs had scored her hide, and her whole face screamed in agony from a low-hanging branch which she’d run into full force.

Then, a flicker of hope. Another cavern loomed ahead of Trixie, even larger than the dragon’s lair. If she was lucky, perhaps she could find a narrow side-passage or tunnel through which the dragon could not follow her. Pumping her legs for all she was worth, she poured on one final burst of speed, running for the cavern with all her strength.

Behind her, the emerald dragon roared triumphantly. The area around the the cavern was bare and flat; he would be upon her in moments. Trixie sprinted into the cave, knowing that the next few seconds would determine her fate.

She rushed through the entrance, and barreled down the single gigantic passage which lay before her. To her dismay, it only grew wider and taller as she ran. As she dashed farther in, total darkness enveloped her; it was too dark to see her own hooves, let alone any potentially life-saving side passages. Trixie faltered for a moment, unsure where to go. That was all the dragon needed.

By the dim light coming from the entrance to the cavern, Trixie could see the massive reptile rear up and fill its lungs. She closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable wash of fire.

Seconds ticked by, and Trixie couldn’t help but notice that she remained uncharred. Cautiously, she opened one eye. The dragon still towered above her, but instead of attacking, it inhaled again, more slowly. She realized it was sniffing the air.
Then, it turned without a word and shot out of the cave. Trixie watched in confusion as the dragon took to the sky, soaring away.

She spent perhaps a quarter second indulging the fantasy that the dragon was too full to want her as food, and had simply chased her a bit out of principle. That she was now safe. Then, she began running toward the cavern entrance as fast as she could.

Whatever the dragon had smelled, it had frightened the beast. She couldn’t think of anything dangerous enough to scare off a full-grown emerald, but she didn’t want to-

A deep growl behind her shook the floor, causing her to stumble. Hurrying to her feet, Trixie dared a quick look behind her. Now close enough to the entrance to see again, Trixie took in the behemothic shape before her. That it was an Ursa, there could be no doubt. Yet its resemblance to the Ursa which had attacked Ponyville was superficial at best. That beast (I suppose it really was just an Ursa Minor, a small voice in her head quipped) had been merely gargantuan. The creature which now stood before her was eighty feet tall if it was an inch, and that was squatting on all fours. When it bore its teeth in a snarl, it revealed fangs as large as buildings. Trixie could have walked into one of the creature’s nostrils without ducking her head, were she (and it) were so inclined.

The beast roared. Trixie needed no further encouragement. Overriding the protests of her aching limbs, she barreled towards the cave’s exit once more, the Ursa Major hot in pursuit.

As she rushed out of the cavern, she stole another glance behind her. This proved a mistake. Not looking where she was going, she plunged her hoof into a gopher hole and fell to the ground. She heard a sickening pop from her ankle, and felt a wave of searing pain wash over her. Yet the adrenaline pumping through her system kept her alert, and what she saw next filled her with hope.

The beast stuck its nose out into the night air, snuffling and grunting. Its sheer bulk was far too great for the small (relative to it, anyway) cave opening; it couldn’t even get its entire head out the cavern entrance. Despite her exhaustion, Trixie let out a tired cheer; here was the lucky break she needed!

Still, she knew the Ursa must have another way out; there was only one time Trixie had encountered a monster living in a room with no exits large enough to accommodate it, and that was in a particularly poorly-run game of Dungeons and Humans that she’d been part of during her school days. She had to get moving.

She gingerly tested her ankle, then winced from the pain. There was no way she could walk on it. Still, if she could just reach the safety of the trees, she doubted the Ursa would follow. It was probably only defending its home, not looking for a meal; if there were twenty ponies here, they still wouldn’t be a mouthful for that massive creature. She just needed to make her way into the forest, and then she could figure things out from there...

A much softer growl, higher-pitched than the Ursa Major’s but still deep and menacing, drew Trixie’s attention back to the cave. The purple monstrosity had withdrawn its snout, and a much smaller (but still colossal) beast emerged. Trixie recognized it at once: the Ursa Minor which had attacked Ponyville mere hours ago. It turned back towards the cavern and whimpered, but the Ursa Major (Its mommy? Its daddy? Trixie wondered) stuck its snout back out and made some snuffling noises that might have been encouragement.

With a start, Trixie realized what was happening. The parent was trying to teach its child how to hunt! If she wasn’t the prey in question, Trixie might have laughed at the absurd spectacle. As it was, she stood on her three hooves as best she could and tried to summon one more spell. Although her mind and body had already far exceeded their limits, she grimly attempted to will herself to yet another display of magical energy.

Finally, the Ursa Minor turned towards her and stalked forward. It seemed uncertain at first, but as it got closer it appeared to grow more and more aggressive. Perhaps it recognized the blue-haired unicorn who had zapped its flank with lightning? In any case, the great bear approached her slowly, but with unmistakable intentions.

Knowing she could wait no longer, Trixie released her spell. Today had been a disaster from the start, but if she could manage just one more display of magic, perhaps...

A few dim sparks sputtered from the tip of her horn. Nothing else happened.

The Ursa opened its mouth, and let loose an ear-shattering roar. Trixie gritted her teeth and faced the monster. She couldn’t run, she had no magic left to call on, and she was alone and unarmed against a monster straight out of myth and legend. As the Ursa reared up and fell upon her, time seemed to slow down. She set her horn against the beast (a futile gesture, she knew) and prayed for a miracle.

*****

Twilight was in the library, deep into yet another research project, when Rainbow Dash dropped in. At high speed. Through a closed window.

The blue pegasus quickly rolled to her hooves and announced, “No worries, everypony! I’m fine!” Then she looked around at the mess she’d caused: books scattered everywhere, broken glass on the floor, and a very annoyed-looking purple unicorn bowled over against one wall. “Oops. Heh.”

Twilight got up and brushed herself off. “Still haven’t gotten the hang of your latest trick, I take it?”

“Well...” Dash looked around the library again, “...yeah, I guess that’s one way to put it. Anyway, I should get back to work. Tell Spike I’m sorry I made such a-hey, I thought we agreed you were gonna junk that stuff!” Dash pointed an accusatory hoof at a small bundle of clothing and goods in one corner of the room.

Twilight shuffled her hooves. “Well, it’s not taking up much space over there. Besides, what if she does come back?”

“If she was going to come back, she already would’ve. Besides, she was a jerk! And she one-upped me.” Dash unconsciously rubbed her flank as she remembered the humiliation Trixie had subjected her to. “If she does come back now, you can tell her that we threw all her stuff away, and good riddance to it! And her!”

Twilight shook her head. “She may have been a braggart and a...well, a jerk, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t show her a little kindness if we can. Besides, her home was destroyed. What if she needs these things?”

“Oh, come on Twilight. She’s probably a trust-fund filly or something. That’d explain the attitude. I’ll bet as soon as she left Ponyville she ran straight home to daddy and had him buy her a new stage-wagon.”

Twilight thought about it. It had been almost two weeks since Trixie had run off, leaving her possessions behind. Dash was probably right; if she was going to come back for them, she wouldn’t have waited this long.

She sighed. “All right Dash, you win. If you want, you can go ahead and take the bundle down to the dump.”

Dash grinned. “Sure thing. I was practicing over on that side of town anyway.”

As Dash picked up the bundle, Twilight said to her, “She did lose her house and everything she was traveling with. I can’t help but feel bad for her.”

Dash grunted as she hopped out the window. Shifting the bundle in her mouth she muttered, “As if. Wish I had a trust fund.

“What I wouldn’t give to have that smarmy blue unicorn’s luck.”