Trixie finds she has a tendency to encounter cursed artifacts, and there's no better way to prove your great power than to overcome what others cannot.
Out of luck in the entertainment business, Trixie tries to jump-start her career again with a quick visit to Las Pegasus. Before visiting any casinos Trixie tries her luck at finding low price valuables in a shady local pawn shop. However what she finds is the ability to overcome what other ponies could not and sets out to continue to prove how great and powerful she really is, whilst making a good few bits of course.
"Ha, well, if I'd had that, think I woulda sold it to a museum for a good lot." The bulky shopkeeper muses to Trixie after she explains her incident with the Alicorn Amulet.
"Yes, and so The Great and Careful Trixie wishes to be sure that none of what you're selling is cursed." She casually explains. The dark pawn shop lit by only a few stray candles was surely holding something of the cursed variety.
"Yeah, well, I'd call this hair clip that keeps getting returned cursed, but that's probably just from my point of view." He looks below the counter he's standing behind and shuffles a few things around before holding up a decorative golden hair clip with a diamond on the broad end. "That's a real diamond by the way, none of that white sapphire junk. Ponies drop hundreds of bits for this thing, then they come back and beg for a return only minutes later, not even wanting their money back, but I'm too soft to take it back without returning their bits."
Trixie takes a closer look at the jewelery, noting how it would be one of the few pieces of jewelry worthy of gracing her wondrous hair. "Trixie is not interested in big spending at the moment, s-"
"It's free, nothing I can do with it." The shopkeeper interrupts holding it towards her. Trixie raises a brow, this was surely a cursed object, nopony would want to return something they spent hundreds on without a refund unless there was something really bad about it.
"Do these ponies tell you why they don't want it?" Trixie inquires.
"Some odd story every time. They talk about getting lost or time travel, I don't get it, I took it home and was just fine."
At this point an idea occurred to Trixie, the curse must simply cause a want to return the item if purchased, likely cast by a greedy jeweler long ago. It was perfect, Trixie could simply sell it to somepony and take her leave, if they can't return it she can keep the bits without abusing the curse.
"Trixie accepts your gift and promises not to return it." The hair clip is placed in her hooves and she turns to leave.
"Hey, I'll give you a deal next time you're here for taking that off my hooves."
As the store's door shuts behind her she wonders why the shop owner didn't return it to whomever he purchased it from, but she concludes it must've been given to him as well. She takes a small breath and thinks, 'Alright, no need to get greedy, just make enough bits for your stage and get rid of this thing. I know better than to let a curse get a hold of me'
She places it under her hat for safekeeping and trots off towards her motel room, out of the shop's alleyway. 'This trip to Las Pegasus was a longshot but it paid off.' On the main street she notices the odd lack of other ponies and all the lights, the ones that made it seem like daytime all the time, were off. Sure it was the middle of the night, but Las Pegasus doesn't sleep, right?
She chuckles to herself as the thought of it being the hair clip's fault enters her mind. Proceeding towards her room she can't help but be concerned by the large quiet buildings empty streets and a slight fog that seemed to be settling in.
A wind passes through the street and produces a low howl, Trixie looks around frantically for a moment before shaking her head, "The Great and Courageous Trixie is not scared of wind!" 'or dark foggy streets with nopony in them.'
The temperature begins to drop and the fog thickens, so bad that Trixie lights up her horn. She spots an alley devoid of the strange fog. Making her way into it she spots a door and looks above it at the neon sign, 'Pawn Shop'.
'I can't be here I walked straight... did I get turned around?' Trixie looks back, the fog is gone as well as the cold. A bit confused she turns and leaves the alley back towards her room, but the same scene begins to play out. Her hooves begin to shake, 'So this is the curse? I can't do anything but return it?' But she'd made a promise that she intended to keep, finding the alleyway again, she decides to try a different direction, but it bore the same result.
"Hmph, Trixie will not be beaten by a fashion accessory!" The thought also occurred that she would doom a pony to wander forever if she left somepony with it, unable to make the return. She snatches it out from her hat and tosses it in the open alley dumpster. "Piece of junk." She exclaims and walks away with her snout to the air.
Not watching her steps she kicks a metal object that skitters along the ground, the hair clip. The streets are still dark, the fog is still thick and the cold suddenly runs through her body, "Wha..." She looks at it in horror, before her expression settles into an angry snarl. "Trixie will not return you!" She yells at it and stomps off, only to get a sharp pain in her hoof, the hair clip.
Trixie lifts her hoof and picks the hair clip up, anger and confusion cloud her mind. She looks up and finds herself in the alley. 'Just return it, this isn't worth it.' She stands in front of the store for a good few minutes before taking a breath and pushing the door open.
"Really?" The stallion asks as she walks into the store.
"Trixie-"
"Got lost in a fog for an hour or so, even though it's been about five minutes?"
"Uh..." Trixie was baffled, he'd heard the same story over and over and still didn't believe the hair clip was cursed. Of course, he didn't have to deal with the curse, but why? Trixie didn't purchase it, how did he get it without falling victim? "No! Trixie wishes to purchase a jacket... it's a bit chilly tonight." Her blatant lie doesn't cut it as it was actually quite warm before she got the clip.
"Just hoof it over, it's fine." He holds a hoof towards her, but she takes it as a challenge.
"Not happening, Trixie will not go back on her word." She pushes up her hat and puts the hair clip on before setting her hat back over it.
The stallion rolls his eyes, "Alright, fine, how about I walk you home then? At least you won't have the getting lost excuse."
Trixie slightly blushes at the thought of being walked home by a stallion but this was an opportunity to change her location, if the hair clip wants to be returned then the fog should follow the stallion right? She could just rush to her bed and not move another inch for the night and figure things out tomorrow. Unless the stallion moving away displaces her, but she could always just return it then if all else fails.
Trixie agrees and tells him which motel to bring her to and the stallion closes the store then walks her out of the alley. The fog thickens again, the same scene but now she's following the owner, she can't possibly get lost. The fog gets even worse, almost blinding, she lights up her horn to no effect, "Wait!" she shouts in panic as the stallion disappears, she makes a run to catch him. The fog disperses and she ends up in the alley.
'No! Now he's gone I can't return it!' A new fear strikes her, now there may be no way out. 'Calm down, he'll be back in the morning.' Trixie takes a few deep breaths and walks up to the door. 'It'll be more comfortable inside.' The door had been locked but there was no harm in trying it. She pushes the door open to her surprise.
"Really?" The stallion asks as she walks into the store.
"You..." Trixie stares in disbelief at the stallion behind the counter.
"Lemme guess, you got lost in a fog for an hour or so, even though it's been about five minutes?" Like nothing happened the stallion reaches his hoof out, "Just hoof it over, it's fine."
This time Trixie truly considered it, the item wouldn't allow any other result, it simply had to be in his possession. She pushes her hat up, but can't bring herself to remove the clip as she spots the stallion look away from it. 'Why here? It could have left me follow him, and what's he know about it? Is he looking away because he hates it or...' "The Great and Curious Trixie would like to hear the tale of this hair clip, prior to it being stuck here."
The stallion sighs, "There's nothing to tell."
"How'd you get it?"
"I bought it"
"From?" Trixie sits down to show she's ready for a long story.
The stallion gives a groan of defeat, "A famous jeweler," He starts, "She made the most wonderful things using all the most precious material... my wife was a huge fan."
"Wife?" A key component in these sorts of situations.
"Well, I say that, fiance I mean," The stallion looks down, "She didn't make it to the wedding. I put it in her hair when I proposed."
Trixie didn't want to ask so she simply assumes the worst, "But, why sell it?"
"Why not, I told you I have no use for it and it only brings back bad memories."
Like a spark the answer comes to her. "Bad memories? Aren't they memories of her?" The stallion didn't answer, only offering a confused look. "Yes, she's... you know, and that's bad, but you loved her so you must have good memories."
"Well..."
Trixie stands, "No excuses! Have you not heard the stories your customers are telling you? They're true!" Trixie finds she's raised her volume in anger and cools off, "She's dead, not gone."
"I don't care! What if I want to move on? What right does she have to cling to me through some curse?" The stallion yells, but Trixie persists in light of the touchy subject.
"It's not a curse, it's a spirit." Trixie proclaims.
The stallion rolls his eyes, "Enough, just give it back."
"Ha! Trixie won't return this, as promised."
"Then leave!" The stallion barks. To which Trixie responds with a flat look. He sighs, "What am I supposed to do then?"
"Stop trying to forget her." Trixie states solemnly as she puts a hoof on the clip, "She can't rest knowing she'll be forgotten. I'm sure she just wants that from you. I'm also sure she'll let you move on as long as you keep her in your heart, she knows you'll be better for it too, don't let her be a bad memory." Trixie notices she's speaking from the artifact and not from her own knowledge.
Trixie takes the hair pin off as the stallion remains silent, his head having dropped below the counter. She hands it towards him but the now teary eyed stallion looks up and pushes it back, "I'm sorry, no returns... but the memories aren't included." He gives a sly smile trying to cover up his tears, "Were you looking for anything else?"
With a victorious chortle Trixie flares her cape and turns around, "The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need of anything else, good day kind sir." She heads out the door and stops as it shuts behind her, putting the clip back on. The voices of ponies fill her ears with delight as she looks out of the alley to see the crowd walking along the main road with taxis darting by. She runs out and revels in a wonderful feeling, looking towards the sky and raising her hooves to bask in it. 'What was that? I talked to a cursed spirit! I made a stallion cry tears of joy making him realize his loved one wants to be with him forever, even from beyond! I dispelled a curse!'
Then she stops dead and remembers the hair pin, another spark in her mind, "The Great and Powerful Trixie knows what she must do!" Of course, a noble cause does not cross her mind.
The next day Trixie takes out a loan and sets up a stall and in the early hours of the morning she is heard calling out, "The Great and Powerful Trixie uncurses your artifacts or precious possessions for a nominal fee!"
Almost expecting a cliche chase scene to go down as two stallions hauled a large piece of glass by her stall, Trixie grows irritated that they may be diverting potential customers... not that she's ever gotten any, but what could've been the first might be turning away right now to wait for the glass to pass and getting distracted.
"Now set 'er down there fer the moment, while I-"
The mare talking to the movers is interrupted by Trixie's shrill shriek as Nightmare Moon barrels down the road, threatening to crash through the glass and smash Trixie. She leaps out of the way, leaving her hat behind and curls into a ball.
The mare clears her throat, "Talk to the nice mare." She finishes, then proceeds to Trixie's stall. Beckoning Trixie to recover from her fright with a lighthearted chuckle the mare says, "She'll do that to ya, though now that 'cha know that just keep your eyes off 'er."
Trixie almost simply refuses to help outright as she looks around and gets up, hooves still a bit shaky. She knew cursed artifacts were scary but this one scared her out of her hat at first sight, literally. She picks up her hat from where she normally stood behind her stall and placed it on her head. Taking a deep breath and keeping eye contact with the mare, "Is that safe to bring outside?" Out of the corner of her eye Trixie notices other ponies flinching or jumping away from the glass then looking about bewildered, yet one albino filly just stares at Trixie through the glass from the other side of the street.
"Oh, well, ah guess we could bring her back to mine... I just thought maybe you had a special room or the sort to deal with this kinda thing." The mare waves the stallions back and they reluctantly begin hauling the glass back the way they came.
The filly follows behind the glass and keeps her eyes locked on Trixie, but Trixie keeps eye contact with the mare, "That'd be much better, do explain to Trixie about this glass pane on our way then." She follows as the mare turns and lead the way, keeping her eyes off the glass.
"She's been a right pain, no customers comin' in since she decided to scare off anypony gettin' near." The mare sighs, "'Tis all a terrible misfortune, ya know a jujube farm actually takes a lot of upkeep so without all my usuals I can't keep the books balanced for much longer."
"No worries, The Great and Powerful Trixie will banish whatever evil spirit is within your window!" She announces, which oddly puts a look of horror on the mare's face.
"Oh no no no!" The mare stops and gets face to face with Trixie, "Ya don't understand, that's mah daughter in there! You have to get her out of that accursed glass! Why, if it were just some spirit I'd have thrown it away long ago!" The mare takes a breath, "Apologies, I guess I should explain everythin' from the start." She begins her tale as she turns to continue towards her home.
"Ya'll probably know about this occult stuff all the fillies an' colts give a pass in their free time, well my daughter's a bit more into that than most. Now bein' the supportive type I went ahead and got her a few books she wanted in that category. Wouldn' cha know it she started writing one of her own. I'd tell you the contents, I did read her stuff when she left it about, gotta make sure she's not writing any filth about demons and the like, but I couldn't read a word of it, nothin' but symbols an' markin's. If that wasn't odd enough she started heading out to the front of the store an' talkin' to the display window we got here. I went ahead an' contacted a psychologist nearby to come look at her and she disappeared! Sweet Celestia that gave me a startle, and I had herds of ponies lookin' for her at every turn in no time. After a day of it I come home an' see her in the window of the store, speakin' of."
She stops at the front of a large store, likely a home in the upper floors, behind which lies a massive forest of what Trixie can only presume are jujube trees. Just inside she can see many products made with the fruit, confectioneries, treats, and some bowls of them simply plain. "So she then began to scare your customers?"
"That's right, I truly couldn't tell you why, other than her odd hobby she's always been quick to help with chores and loved talking with the customers. I assumed it was the glass trying to keep ponies from getting my daughter out, but it never did a thing before." The glass is set back in place, the stallions grumbling at their wasted trip but that was quickly quelled by small bags of bits Trixie's new client tossed their way. "An' more than that comin' your way once you're done." She directs at Trixie.
'Trouble balancing the books she said.' Trixie smirks, "Of course, a service such as Trixie's isn't cheap." Sauntering up to the window Trixie peers into it, the mysterious filly is gone and in big fancy letters "Jujube Jubilation" slowly fades onto it. Trixie takes a short breath, an event she hadn't considered stands before her... she has no idea what to do. 'That filly must be her daughter, would she be able to hear me?' "Worry not lost foal for Trixie will soon free you!" With that announcement and no response from the glass, simply a gaze of wonder from the mother, Trixie successfully dug herself deeper.
'You can do this Trixie, you need those bits, you need that stage!' Yet even with reaffirming thoughts Trixie is lost on what could possibly be done. However, not willing to be caught staring dumbfounded in front of her client she turns and asks, "Would you show Trixie these occult books? Whilst The Great and Powerful Trixie would have no issue solving your problem in a matter of moments it's always best to be safe and review the exact kinds of magic that cause any given issue."
"Sure thing, they're right through here." The mare nods, leading Trixie through the shop and into the house. Once inside the filly's room Trixie finds that the occult books are stacked on high and spread across the room. 'A few books she said.' But this was a good thing, Trixie now has an excuse for more time. "I suppose I'll leave you to it, I've gotta get on the farm." Leaving the door open the mare trots off.
Of course Trixie would crack open a book and stare into it, not reading a thing, just thinking about what to do. 'Alright, a filly traps herself in a window and can now manipulate the images on it. Said filly begins to scare ponies away from the store against her mother's wishes. The filly I saw was an earth pony, so the magic must've been in the window to begin with. Did the filly see it and decide to research a way to talk to it? Then maybe the window took a liking to her and trapped her... then began scaring other ponies away!
'So the window is at fault, now how to solve the problem. Breaking the window might make the situation worse. Can Trixie talk to it too?' Trixie levitates a plethora of books past her face, but since none are titled "How to speak to a cursed window." She abandons that idea, not even considering anything the filly had written herself might hold an answer.
'Maybe it's much simpler than that. The mother should be far off on the farm by now.' With nopony to judge any possible failures Trixie heads back downstairs and levitates the fruit and confectioneries on display away from the window.
"Alright you, uh...." With the window looking plain still Trixie falters for a moment. 'Wait! Maybe I can do this!' Trixie conjures a cartoon image of herself onto the window at the bottom, treating the window sill like a floor. "Show yourself filly!" She narrates for her image as she moves its mouth, "The Great and Powerful Trixie requests your presence!" The window darkens and the streets beyond fade away whilst the albino filly, now very prominent due to the contrast, walks in from the side.
"Fiend, speak, why hast thou invaded my world of light?" But the filly didn't speak these words, they appeared as fancy text above her head. "You've darkened this plane with your ill-refined image!"
Trixie countered with her own text, though it looked like crayon writing. "Trixie seeks to remove you from this world, to free you from this place!" She found herself caught up in a new narrative.
"Oh, you believe me trapped? On this plane I am already free! Now leave me, I've much more important matters to attend to." The filly shoos Trixie's image.
"Neigh! Trixie will not. Even without knowledge on how to get you out of here, Trixie must try."
"I don't think you understand who you're talking to..." A large desert stadium fades in with Trixie's image and the filly at the center. The seats are filled with ponies of all kinds, a barely audible murmur of crowds comes from the window. "If you wish to take me from my world then you'll have quite the fight on your hooves. En garde!" The filly conjures a gladiatorial sword and shield into her hooves.
Trixie reacts by summoning her image a large magician's staff and before she can focus on conjuring more text the filly leaps forward with a thrust of her sword. The crowd gasps, having gained only a bit of volume. Trixie makes her image block the strike and a "Clash!" sound effect text pops up. Noticing that the movement of her image is constrained to some physical laws now that she couldn't move it in any other way than pushing the filly back. After doing so she has her image conjure a force field, 'There might be some limits, but here goes.' The the end of the staff flashes as two timber wolves appear to guard Trixie.
The filly jumps back, "Ha! Your evil minions are of no worth!" The filly slams her sword into the ground and two rock spikes take out each wolf, shattering them into wooden bits. The crowd cheers, though the amount of cheers doesn't match the stadium size. However, as the rock spikes crumble the timber wolf pieces glow with a green aura and form back together into on larger wolf. Trixie didn't think of this and realizes that, although the wolves are still in Trixie's cartoon form they've gained a life of their own. The crowd gasps and Trixie is stunned as the wolf swipes at the filly, pinning her to the stadium wall.
"No!" Trixie shouts aloud as she fails to make her image react properly only getting it to take down the field and walk forward.
"Is that all thou has!?" The filly's text taunts as she struggles against the claw, and the wolf closes its head in to bite the filly.
"I don't want to hurt you!" Trixie puts in text over her image, still too frazzled to think of a way to free the filly she prompts, "Now leave this world or else!"
"The fight has only begun!" The filly suddenly immolates herself momentarily, catching the wolf's claw on fire. In a panic it lets go and tries to blow it out, only spreading the fire across its body faster. Before it can turn to ash however, Trixie makes her image wave its staff and gathers the fire into a large ball above the stadium. The crowd is left in awe and the filly recovers, staring gravely at Trixie's image.
"This is your last chance, surrender." Trixie's text says.
"You're a fool."
With only that, a tinge of anger dictates Trixie's next action to throw the ball of fire at the filly. As it descends Trixie spot a glare traveling its way to her image, the shield! It smacks her image in the head, knocking it onto its back and the fire dissipates. With a short smirk the filly throws her sword into the air and out of view. With a quick flash a line of light from the sky targets the felled image of Trixie and it flashes again fading over her image shortly, before leaving the filly's sword and floating bits of ash in its place. Trixie had been defeated. The crowd cheers in glee and Trixie fumes.
"No!" Trixie shouts at the window, and before the filly can change anything Trixie conjures a gargantuan form of her head in the sky over the stadium, now much more realistic than the cartoon images from before. Making a laughing motion with red anger filled eyes, a storm forms and strikes lightning at the filly, but she's quick to respond and dodges by phasing about. Having enough of the annoying filly Trixie conjures one final object, a spear from the heavens desends quickly as the lightning herds the filly directly underneath it. With her last show of resistance the filly pushes at the spear before it impales her. The crowd is awestruck and silent.
A text forms over the whole window: "What!?". Particles of light spray from the filly's wound.
Trixie's jaw drops as she realizes what she just did. She dances on her hooves in a panic as any attempt to conjure any images on the window fail and the lights slowly fade from it leaving only the filly, still stuck in her same position.
"This can't be!" The text continues, "My world... how could you beat me in my own realm? I don't understand!" A loud crack as the filly dissipates and the window shatters with loud gasps and screams from the other side where a crowd had gathered to watch Trixie's duel.
"What in tarnation?" The mother pushes Trixie aside and tries to gather up the pieces of window, "What have you done?" She asks breathlessly. "No, you can't be gone, please..."
"Mom?" A filly appears as if she'd been released from a stealth spell. 'Wait.' Trixie sees that the filly has a normal coat and mane unlike her albino opponent. The filly collapses and begins breathing heavily, as the mom moves to help her child Trixie's concern falls to whether the filly looked different in the window or that wasn't her at all.
Panic and murmurings fade from Trixie's focus as she spots a white tail sneaking out of the shop. She darts out the door and gives chase, only barely following around a multitude of corners. THUD! Trixie rams into the side of a dumpster and falls onto her flank in a daze. A snicker fills the air, followed by a thoughtful hum. Trixie shakes her head and snarls at the dumpster which now has text upon it. "That was fun. You destroyed my world but I suppose you've earned my respect."
Trixie looks up to the smirking albino filly, "How are you doing that without magic?" Trixie waits for a response but the filly points down back to the text which has now changed.
"I'm not normal. I'll explain when I've worked on my voice a bit, for now, do you have a spare bed?"
"Ung." Trixie groans as she reaches out from her motel bed and knocks the receiver off the candlestick phone that rests on the end table. Having solved her problem she attempts to go back to sleep.
Trixie knocks the receiver off the phone again, this time opening her eyes to confirm she'd done so. Looking to the foot of her bed where the albino filly she'd reluctantly brought to her room glowed in contrast to the darkness. She concluded that she must have dozed off and the filly put the phone back up. Trixie rests her head again and waits to fall asleep once more.
Trixie was not willing to give a pony who calls in the middle of the night the time it would take to tell them how big an offense it is to interrupt the beauty sleep of one so great and powerful as herself. Trixie one last time hits the receiver up and off its place. She then waits a bit to see if the filly tries to put it back up, yet she just slept there at the foot of the bed. Trixie then sits up and prods the filly with a hoof, "Hey." She harshly whispers, but the filly only responds with a groan and rolls over. She resolves to open up the end table drawer and put the phone in it. She settles back in and closes her eyes.
*Ring-ring-ring*
Trixie reacts immediately and wrenches the entire phone off the table and to herself. Putting the receiver to her ear and holding the mouthpiece not far from her face, "Look here you, Trixie will not stand for -"
"You can't trust her."
The raspy haunting voice causes Trixie pause and she sits up again, "Whom?"
"The cursed filly. Evil plans course through her mind."
Trixie snorts a laugh, "And Trixie is supposed to trust some ghastly voice calling in the dead of night?"
"Yet you trust a filly that would gladly scare the general populace and trap other young fillies?"
"Hmph, what makes you think Trixie trusts her anymore than you?" Trixie retorts.
"She sleeps there at the foot of your bed. By now she could've already finished her plans to trap you."
"Ha! If you think a mere filly can contain the Great and Powerful Trixie, then you're sorely mistaken."
"... Do you truly think you're safe? How often is it that your plans backfire? How many times have you found yourself regretting your decisions and only picking yourself up with some absurd misplaced overconfidence? Now you believe you can tame the world of the cursed, so here I am to let you know that you are far over your head. Only luck brought you these couple of steps and any further in... the world you know will become tainted, you will slip up just like every other time and cause the entire world to suffer for your mistake. You can't escape that filly if you keep her near any longer, and should you dwell any further into the dark you won't escape me."*click*
Trixie rolls her eyes and hangs up the phone. The words "Who was that?" Display along her blanket and Trixie looks to see she'd woken the filly.
"Some prankster." Trixie yawns and goes back to sleep.
Trixie fits on her hat and cape and opens the door to greet another day, but is instead greeted by the angry face of the motel's owner.
"Oh, hello." Trixie says with a hint of nervousness.
"You kept my key, left, came back, and didn't even bother to pay for another night. You even brought a roommate, which isn't allowed at this motel mind you." The mare growls.
"Uh-"
"You're going to hand over my key, leave the premises, and never speak about the call." The mare speaks through clenched teeth.
"Wait-" Trixie tries to question about the call.
"NOW!" The mare bellows, which jump-starts Trixie into quickly gathering her things along with the filly and making her way off motel property.
Trixie sighs as she turns away from the motel and heads down the streets of Las Pegasus. Her folding stall neatly packed in a box on her back and the filly following at her side. As the adrenaline that helped Trixie get away from the crazy motel mare died down she began to think, 'What am I doing? I'm an entertainer! A great one! A powerful one! Now I'm being kicked out of a motel because I can't uncurse enough stuff to pay for it... I didn't even get paid for those jobs' Trixie reaches for the hairpin resting under her hat. 'I'll just sell this, get a ticket back to Ponyville and run small time shows there. At least I'll have my two little fans and a cheap place to stay.'
Trixie looks over to the filly, "You can't trust her." She doesn't really know anything about her but she could tell by the way the filly followed without question that maybe she is lost in this new world outside her window. "You trust a filly that would gladly scare the general populace and trap other young fillies?" Maybe she was looking for a way out for however long she was trapped. "You destroyed my world but I suppose you've earned my respect." Maybe she just didn't want to say it outright. 'If I can know for sure, I can trust her.'
"What's your name?" Trixie asks. "How did you get trapped? Where are your parents?"
"I-" The filly spoke for the first time, her voice is gravelly and her eyes strain in focus. "I, uh... do you want the long or short version?"
Trixie levitates the stall off her back, unpacks and unfolds it onto the sidewalk, uncaring that they're in a quiet part of town. "Trixie prefers the version that won't leave any lingering questions." She puts the filly up on the stall and in a flash of magic a glass of water appears in front of her.
The filly takes a sip whilst at a nearby diner a stallion wonders where his glass went. She sets down the glass and quickly lays out her answers, "I don't know. Discord's magic. They've passed. Any more questions?" Her voice, better now due to the water, sounds like that of a fully grown mare.
"Tons." Trixie deadpans. A jeweled box is suddenly thrust onto the stall by a cloaked pony, surprising both Trixie and the filly. The glass of water nearly falls over but Trixie stabilizes it with her magic before looking up to the pony who's now made a mad dash across the street. "Hey! You have to pay for Trixie's services!" Yet Trixie was ignored and left with the box.
"I think that will pay for itself." The filly stares at the box.
Encrusted with a large variety of jewels glimmering in the sunlight, Trixie catches herself gawking at it and reaches out to pick it up. "I suppose, since whomever that was doesn't want it back." With minor curiosity Trixie attempts to open the box. "Mmm..." Trixie groans as she pulls at the lid, "Hnng!" Trixie puts all her strength into it. "Gah!" She sets it down calmly, "Trixie has determined the curse." She proclaims with a sense of accomplishment.
The filly steps forward, examines the box, and presses in a large gem in the front of the box causing the lid to pop open. Stepping back, she sits back down and rolls her eyes.
The inside of the box is lined with lavender silk, which can only barely be seen through a thick coat of dust. Trixie initially finds it odd that the inside has so much dust before determining that it must have been left open a while before being brought to her. She blows on the box and ends up inhaling some of the dust. Turning away coughing and hacking for a moment she then looks back to the empty box. "Trixie doesn't see what's so special about this box." "Do you truly think you're safe? How often is it that your plans backfire?" A mix of disappointment and relief wash over Trixie and she finally decides that she can hang up the cursed artifact business before she gets herself into something hairy. 'A trip to the bazaar and I can live cozy in Ponyville for a while.'
"Where are we going?"
"Trixie is going to sell this box and leave for Ponyville, at least there they'll understand if Trixie is short on bits for a day or two." Trixie saunters through the door of the shady bazaar.
"But what if there's a soul trapped in it?"
"We opened the box, it got its chance." Trixie sets the box on the counter as the stallion she helped with the hairpin strolls up.
He takes a quick look at the box, "Not trying to sell me anything cursed are ya?" He smirks.
"Trixie would like to know how much this is worth to you." She states, ignoring the stallion's question.
However, before the stallion can answer, the filly leaps onto the box. "I'm going with it." She declares.
The stallion sighs, "Well, I don't buy fillies."
"Get off of there." Trixie protests and tries to levitate the filly off the box, but the filly just brings it with her into the air. She tries to shakes the filly off, but doesn't even get so much as a grunt from her. "Fine, be that way." Trixie sets the box and filly back on the counter. "You're not buying the filly, she just happens to come with it."
The stallion raises a brow, "Strapped for bits? I guess I didn't properly thank you for before, and it's not like there's other bazaars in Las Pegasus that'll give you a decent price for that hairpin." The stallion shuffles some things below his counter and passes a bag of bits over the counter. "It ain't much, but I've got a business to run... and, uh, tell you what, I'll let you have any one thing in here for free. I might not have been showing it too much at the time but you really helped me through a period of grief there."
"Of course." 'I dispelled a curse on something so precious' "Of course!" Trixie nabs the bag of bits and suddenly takes her leave.
"Where are we going?" The filly follows with the box.
"Trixie is here to receive payment for services rendered." Trixie stands before the jujube farmer in her shop. "The fee is quite hefty due to the potential danger Trixie had to face."
"Oh my, with all the rumors of my scary ol' window keepin' patrons away an' havin' ta replace the glass, I just can't pay ya right now." The mare looks distraught and her eyes dart about, "Ah!" She scrambles up a basket full of jujube related treats. "I can send you these every now and then, whenever ya want, fer tha rest of yer life. It sounds like a little much but ya saved mah daughter." The mare gives Trixie a big nervous smile.
"Uh..." 'She's going out of business and she's just going to give me her products?' "Trixie will keep that in mind then." She takes the basket and stands the for a moment, processing exactly how she felt about it.
"Lulu!" The mare's daughter runs up and hugs the albino filly who had followed behind Trixie.
"Lulu?" Trixie and the filly question the name in unison.
"Whoops, I mean, Princess Luminescence, Ruler of the World of Light!" The farmer's daughter steps back and kneels before the filly
"Yep, that's me." The filly groans. "Are we done here?" She asks Trixie.
"Well, Lulu, Trixie supposes she's received an adequate offer." Trixie turns to leave and an itch in her throat causes her to cough. Trixie quickly glances back and sees the disappointed face on the farmer's daughter due to Lulu's want to leave so quickly.
The mare speaks up as they go, "Good luck with your future clients! Though Ah'm sure a miracle worker like you doesn't need it."
Trixie wanders the streets in a daze, fretting over her destination, having lost the basket of treats along the way. 'Ponyville!' Trixie turns toward the train station. 'No, pay my motel fees, one more day.'"Should you dwell any further into the dark you won't escape me." Trixie stops, she'd thought the voices were just her memory of that conversation, but it's actually speaking in her head, repeating those words to reinforce doubt. 'A stupid phone prank won't get the best of me! I'm far too-'"How many times have you picked yourself up with some absurd misplaced overconfidence?"
Trixie sneers and begins galloping her way to the motel, "The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you!"
Her vision goes blurry every now and then and without really noticing that she's made so much progress she finds herself bursting through the doors to the motel's main office.
"Leave." The motel owner at the front desk says angrily.
"Trixie simply wishes to know if you keep track of whom calls into the motel rooms."
"All the lines go to the office, you think this dingy motel can afford actual phones? And I unplugged yours, you're annoying."
"How is Trixie annoying!?" Trixie reels back her offense when she realizes what the mare said, "Never mind." She takes the bag of bits from her hat and places them on the desk. "My usual room."
"No."
With a wave of drowsiness washing over Trixie, she decides not to prolong her plans for the prankster any longer. "Fine." She levitates her key, which hangs behind the mare along all the others and tries to stealthily bring it with her as she turns to leave.
The mare however, notices the suspicious behavior and with a quick scan of her surroundings she spots the floating key. "I said no!" The mare hurriedly steps away from her desk which prompts Trixie to break into a sprint.
Making her way out of the office Trixie comes up to the gate protecting the rest of the complex and performs a short range teleport right through the bars, though she ends up upside-down on the other side she quickly recovers and continues to her room. She looks back and notices the motel owner scrambling back into her office for a gate key. With a graceful swish of her horn she sends the key to the lock of her room, and misses. Then again with another miss. She then decides to just grab the key with a hoof and unlocks the door.
"You'll wish you never spoke to Trixie!" She announces on her way in, levitating the phone to herself and then dropping it on the floor, grabbing the receiver by hoof. "You think Trixie is so weak that your little haunting trick will torment me into not chasing you? I bet you're scared of what I could do." Noticing she's dropping her usual third-person speak she tries to focus. "I- Trixie- am- I-" She takes a long breath, "The Great and Powerful Trixie will gallop into the dark reaches of the cursed world and drag your foalish flank into the light where you will surely burn, if you aren't destroyed by Trixie's glorious radiance first! You think Trixie won't be able to escape you? You're the one who can't escape Trixie!" She slams the receiver into the carpet and the entire phone shatters.
The phone evaporates into a dark mist, "Very interesting Miss Lulamoon, I look forward to our next meeting." The mist flows through the air out of the room.
Trixie looks back and spots the motel owner gazing at the mist as it goes. "Was that... the caller? The accursed voice that called any room with two ponies in it? Makin' them hate each other?"
"Trixie assumes this means she can stay one more day?"
Before she could receive her answer her vision blurs worse than before and everything goes black.
Trixie grumbles and stirs awake, the sickness from the day prior seems to have faded but she is still fatigued. Opening her eyes to blinding darkness, she finds it rather odd; The Las Pegasus lights were always peeking through the motel window. As she thinks to reach for her bedside lamp a gruff old stallion's voice sounds in the dark.
"Apologies for meeting you like this, that little one with you is quite the guard, I had to make sure there was no light for her to manipulate." The voice sighs, "I was also quite rough with restraining her so extend my apologies." Trixie hears the stallion move closer and lights up her horn to illuminate the possible threat, yet the light doesn't extend past her bedside.
She throws her blanket up and gets on her hooves, the bed makes a sharp creak from her sudden action, but the lack of light causes her to hesitate about making another move. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is quite done having her slumber interrupted, whatever it is that you want, I suggest you begone until morning, Trixie will hear you then."
"Ah, I see the medicine did its job. As well I am glad to know you are willing to listen. However, this matter is of utmost secrecy and we must be quick as other parties are seeking to silence you."
"The Gr-" Trixie attempts the interject but the stallion continues regardless.
"I will say you at least owe me this, I'm sure you're aware that you were falling ill recently. These other parties already made an attempt at taking your life and my employer sent me along to apply the antidote."
"Hmph." Trixie huffs, still displeased that she was awoken in the middle of the night. "Trixie isn't tired at the moment, so she'll humor you."
"Good." The stallion takes an audible breath, "As I stated, your life is in danger. Yet these ponies who seek to neutralize you are cunning and no visible sign of ill-intent will ever come to light before it is too late. As it stands currently, on your own you will not last another month. My employer has therefore decided to offer you a means to protect yourself against your newly acquired foes. If-"
"Question." Trixie interrupts, "Whom exactly is seeking to slay Trixie, and why?"
"The who, is information I am not privy to. Although, as to why... There's a little known saying amongst the world of magic: 'There is no such thing as a curse.' It's meant to entertain that there is no magic where magic was not intended to be, as well there can be no magic from incantations and potions or the like. You, my good mare, have been advertising openly your ability to undo magics that disobey this idea. Thus, publicly displaying that these magics do in fact exist. Whomever seeks to be rid of you is one of many who do everything in their power to make sure ponies do not fall to panic should the world of the cursed come to light."
"Hold on." Trixie squints her eyes as she thinks over what's been said so far, "Why in Tartarus is killing Trixie their first solution!?"
With a quick chuckle the stallion says, "Well, it just so happens there is only two remedies to the problem of a pony who knows what you know... This also applies to the filly. You are either silenced, for good, by whatever means necessary, or you become a sworn member of our society." The stallion lets out an angry huff, "Unfortunately, ponies who've been spared in the past still had the gall to try and tell others of their experiences and we can only let those of exceptional ability into our fold."
Trixie raises her voice, "Then why has Trixie not been invited!?" Of course Trixie doesn't want to be a part of whatever cult the stallion is on about, but there's no way they couldn't know of Trixie's great and powerful talents. 'Adding me to any group would prove invaluable, yet they're try to nix me!' "... Wait, 'our society'? You're with those murderers!?" Trixie backs up to the wall and searches for a weapon, but it's still far too dark.
"Calm yourself, whilst I've soundproofed this room, I can't have you believing that I mean you any harm. The society that I speak of consists of many factions, and although we work towards the same goal, our methods are vastly different. Sadly, only a third of these factions would never harm a pony for results. I am a part of a faction who are few in number and I believe you to be an asset we cannot go on without."
'That's more like it.'
"You have, not only encountered, but extinguished the threat in a cursed item, daily, for three days." As he says this Trixie puffs out her chest and raises her chin, ready for more praise. "Although the threat of these items were minimal, you seem to have some sort of strange luck. You may not have realized it but you have an extensive history of nearly falling prey to curses that our society keeps close eyes on."
'Minimal!?' Trixie lowers her head and raises a brow, continuing to listen.
"Including one that you must remember, The Alicorn Amulet. You did not utilize its full potential and thus you were not completely taken by the dark spirit, but we intentionally placed it where no scholar who'd read about it would ever end up. We also left it in the hands of an extraordinarily greedy stallion... we'd promised to pay him for every pony he turned away from it, yet we didn't expect he'd forgo the long-term profit of being paid per deterred customer for the hefty sum you presented him that day...
"Now, without any further questions, will you join us? Not only will you be able to utilize that odd luck in your favor, but my employer will be sure to protect you, not only from the curses you will encounter, but from the factions who would rather you not be."
The answer was simple, having supposedly been saved from a terrible fate, and with entire factions of some strange society out to get her, Trixie would have to say yes. They know about The Alicorn Amulet, down to how she obtained it and with the strange power to cause the thick darkness that surrounds her, there's no escaping them if she says no.
"If you need The Great and Powerful Trixie so badly, why it would simply be far too cruel of me to refuse." Trixie answers.
The light snaps on and Trixie's ears ring, her eyes strain painfully to adjust as the ringing slowly dies down. A loud thud, followed by Lulu's groan draws Trixie's attention towards the front door which now swings shut. 'After all that he leaves?' Trixie notices that behind the door lies a black briefcase. She hops down and it hits her that she doesn't actually see Lulu in the room.
"Lulu?" Trixie looks around the room, but wastes no time approaching the briefcase. Trixie's hoof hits something soft on the way and she stops to look down. Nothing, at least, nothing to see but there's definitely something there as Trixie prods the invisible object it begins the chortle.
"Stop!" Lulu exclaims, the object Trixie couldn't identify lights up a bright white, taking Lulu's form and rolls away from Trixie's hoof. Popping up onto her hooves and stretching, Lulu grumbles, "That jerk stole my box and trapped me in... uh, something... but it was dark!" The filly flicks a frustrated hoof to her side and then begins to pace the room. "If I don't get enough light I could disappear!"
"You eat just like anypony else, I can't imagine you rely on photosynthesis as well." Trixie states, reaching the briefcase and flicking the locks open.
"If only it were that simple."
The briefcase flops open, revealing a large assortment of papers and a postmare's badge. A pamphlet among the papers catches Trixie's eye. Grabbing and unfolding it, she mutters some of its contents to herself. "In this suitcase you will find all the information you need to know about The Secret Society of Sinister Sorcery." Trixie stares at that name for a moment, "The first thing Trixie needs to do as a part of this deranged cult is petition for a name change."
"What deranged cult?" Lulu asks, causing Trixie to sigh before she turns to explain what just happened.
The Divided Road & The Show of the Century - Part One
Trixie empties the suitcase of its contents by flinging papers left and right, "There's nothing else in here!" Trixie complains as she reaches for the postmare's badge.
"Did any thoughts of reading ever cross your mind?" Lulu asks as she gathers the scattered papers.
"Briefly. Trixie prefers a more direct approach." Trixie clips the badge to her cloak.
Lulu's eyes widen for a moment and she makes an attempt to smack the badge off of Trixie. "You don't know what that is!"
Trixie makes a graceful dodge by turning toward the door, "Have fun reading, Trixie will be back long before you are done." She opens the door and steps out into the morning light.
"Yeah well don't wander too far, I'll need to find you in whatever terrible state you're in when I find the answer first." Lulu scoffs.
Trixie rolls her eyes, confident in her method she walks away and shuts the door behind her. Heading through the gate she decides to stop in the motel's main office and talk to the owner. However as she does so the light from outside dims significantly and a weight in her mouth pulls her head down a bit. "Good evening Trixie, don't worry, you can stay for free as long as you need. Though do tell your... Roommate, that there's some rain scheduled soon, there's a fine if you damage library books." Trixie looks to the nearest desk to find the owner behind it, and down to find she's holding a rope tied to a small package. "Is that another book?" The owner asks, "What are the two of you studying?"
Trixie looks out to the motel courtyard and sees Lulu among large stacks of books. Trixie levitates the package to her side and eyes it in confusion before looking back to the owner, "Trixie is..." She searches her mind for the best answer possible, "homeschooling her little sister." Even with her perfect excuse deployed her mind still races for more answers, 'It should be morning! Where did I get this package?' She examines the package for any indication of its origin.
"Is she visiting? You said you wander a lot, but where does she live?"
The owner's curiosity went unnoticed by Trixie as she finds an address on the package, "Ponyville..." It would be reasonable to assume one could make it to Ponyville and back by train in the amount of time Trixie has missed in her day. 'Did I unconsciously go there and pick this up?'
"She must get overwhelmed with how much excitement is about around there."
Trixie peels the badge off of her cloak, bad enough that it wasted most of her day, it even wiped any memory of the events from her mind. "Nothing all that troublesome." Determined not to lose she hides the badge under her hat and turns back to check on Lulu's progress.
"I guess news does get exaggerated when it goes around, no way a bugbear attack happened on the same day as a wedding. Right?"
Trixie notices the owner is still talking as she makes her way out the door, only catching the last couple of words, "Hmm? Oh, right."
Trixie approaches Lulu in the courtyard, "You were right, of course there would be nothing on how to fix it, even though I have figured out what it is." Lulu speaks while still buried in her books. "I'm assuming you have the item those cultists actually want you to work on."
Trixie looks to the package, it made sense, forcing her to pick up their packages with the badge would keep their base of operations secret and they could've even planted another item on Trixie without her knowing it. As Trixie comes to this conclusion she checks her cloak and hat for anything apart from what she usually carries. Phew, nothing even got taken.
"A wooden case with a simple lock, I guess these ponies don't care about staying on the safe side." Hearing Lulu say this Trixie looks down to find she had snatched the package and opened it. A familiar box sits atop the torn wrapping paper. To Trixie's surprise before she can react Lulu shoves it away, "We won't be playing their game. Secret Society my flank, most of what was in that suitcase was lies, and it's likely the one who trapped me and spoke to you was full of it as well. So whatever they want from you isn't going to happen."
"You're in no position to make that decision for Trixie."
"I'm the only one who has the knowledge of the Accursed and is on your side. We're going to Ponyville, we have to find the pony who had the package. I'll explain what I figured out on the way."
Trixie took a moment to think on Lulu's plan, "Fine, but next time tell Trixie the details and she will make the plan."
"I did a lot more than read books today, I followed some leads on who the Accursed are, spoke to ponies who've been involved with them... I kinda gave up on solving that badge. I needed to know about those ponies we're dealing with. They are highly organized and great in number, but they have split into many factions. The best move we can make is to solidify ourselves as a new faction among them."
"They made it quite clear that they're dangerous and mean business. How do we avoid trouble?"
"The involvement of a cursed artifact can make a crime investigation nigh impossible to solve, it's a free pass to do evil. However, if we gain the favor of, and show value to other factions we can be safe without having to align ourselves to their nonsense."
"You told Trixie that pony last night lied, what did you find?"
"I don't actually know if they were lying, but it's very likely. The ponies who threatened us spread false information about constantly to keep their agenda hidden. It's especially important to them that nopony know the true nature of curses."
"Found anything on that?"
"There are a lot of mysterious things about curses and it's hard to pin down what exactly they are. The one defining factor is that the magic of a curse is conscious, living magic. There is living magic out there that isn't considered a curse, but separating one from the other simply seems to be about the level of danger that magic involves."
"What ki-" The small cart Trixie had been pulling along the path between Ponyville and Las Pegasus is suddenly toppled as one of the wheels falls off, pulling Trixie down with it into the dirt. Trixie grunts in pain, "This is why Trixie doesn't trust wheels!"
"I'll get it." Lulu darts after the wheel, which found momentum as it rolls downhill and into the woods.
Trixie stands and dusts herself before picking everything up with her magic and putting it back in the cart, then she sets the wheel-less end of the axle on a rock. Turning about to look for Lulu, she finds nopony. "Hurry up! The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be caught in the rain!"
No response.
Trixie takes a moment to dispel incoming feelings of regret for having failed her attempt to save on a train ticket by putting Lulu in with the luggage, resulting in her being kicked off the train. She then pulls a map from her cloak, opening it to decide if the patch of woods was anything special. 'Hmm, just a small unnamed thicket between the path and the San Palomino Desert. No way Lulu got lost...' There of course was the same chance as ever that something strange might occur and Trixie remains reluctant to ditch her luggage. The cart held food and water for the trip to Ponyville, what little magic show equipment she had left, as well as the box.
She makes the swift decision to stow the map and put the box on her back before following the imprint the wheel left in the grass, "If Trixie finds the wheel first you will be left behind!" As she enters the thicket the grass fades to dirt where the light wooden wheel couldn't leave any trace. Looking straight ahead there are far too many trees for the wheel to have gotten too far unless it followed a very specific route.
Trixie endures sharp pokes from the dry trees as she takes the only path the wheel could have. She slips her cape out from under the box and pulls it in front of herself, resorting to smashing through the branches as quickly as possible to avoid having to endure the nuisance. "If Trixie's cape is damaged you're paying to have it fixed, Lulu!" Trixie's attempt to get Lulu's attention is once again met with no response.
Trixie is suddenly met with no resistance to her charge and stumbles forward before falling into the sand. She turns around and realizes something is missing. "The box!" Lulu and the wheel no longer held priority as Trixie retraces her path. Yet she looks back to find only more sand and no trace of the thicket she came from.
Trixie feels her face go cold as she gazes at the sea of sand in every direction.
Lulu chases the wheel as it rolls downhill and off a large nearby cliff into the desert. "Ugh." She looks back to see Trixie still focused on the cart. Certain that Trixie wouldn't see she leaps down to the bottom of the cliff. Landing softly she quickly snatches the wheel under a foreleg.
"Hurry up! The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be caught in the rain!"
Lulu rolls her eyes, "Maybe a few thousand years in a window will teach you some patience." She grumbles. To make things easy Lulu decides to float up without emulating any climbing.
"If Trixie finds the wheel first you will be left behind!"
Lulu quickly sticks her hooves to the cliff face as she hears Trixie's hoofsteps approach. "I already have it!" And as soon as she says this she pulls herself over the edge of the cliff to find nopony there. Lulu looks around for a minute, walking to and around the cart, even taking the time to reattach the wheel before concluding Trixie had disappeared. 'Looks like I was wrong, but what's my next move?' The situation left Lulu stumped, there were too many possibilities. 'Would they expect me to flee? Continue without her? Look for her?'
"C'mon we're gonna miss it!"
Lulu looks down the path to find two colts headed her way. One stout and full of energy, the other tall and tired though not lagging behind too much due to his long legs. Lulu concludes that they could be associated with the Accursed and shifts her colors to disguise herself. 'I'll go for something attractive, could work in my favor. Blonde mane, green eyes, baby blue coat.' Having trouble manipulating the light outside her window she hides behind the cart to try and finish her transformation properly.
"Hey wait, isn't this Trixie's?"
Lulu gets startled by their sudden approach, 'They know Trixie, definitely enemies.'
"That could be anypony's you're just trying to get a break."
"No, look."
Lulu peeks out to see the tall one lifting the stout one to see into the cart.
"It really is!"
"Well if Trixie hasn't made it then we really aren't late."
Lulu takes notice of a saddlebag on the tall ones side, a rolled poster featuring Trixie sticks out from it. 'Did she have a show planned before we met? Maybe these two are safe, I just have to be careful.' Lulu jumps into the cart and stares the two colts down. "You two aren't planning to steal from my master are you?"
"Woah!" The small one flails but is held in place, "Who are you?"
Lulu snarls, "You'll introduce yourselves first unless you want to start something."
The small one holds his hooves out, "Okay, okay! I'm Snips and this is Snails." He gestures to each with a worried smile.
Lulu sighs and sits down, "Let me see that poster."
Snails sets Snips down into the cart and reaches for the poster.
"So you're Trixie's apprentice?" Snips asks.
Lulu receives the poster from Snails and looks it over, "Yep."
"Awesome!" The two say in unison with glimmering eyes.
"Yeah, it's some... thing..." Lulu memorizes the poster before ripping it in half.
"Hey! Wh-"
"A changeling." Lulu interjects, "Trixie's stuff is here with me, we finished the show already. Of course with everypony wanting an encore a changeling shows up and consumes all the love and adoration she would have received... But listing it as her final show, we have to stop this before it's too late!" Lulu having made all that up, kept note of everything she said.
Trixie trudges forward hoping that the next hill she walks over would reveal some indication of civilization. She hadn't the slightest clue how she ended up so deep in the desert and was no longer concerned with theorizing. Reaching the top of the hill she peers out to find nothing but more sand. 'No, no, no, there has to be something!'
"Ah!" Trixie's hoof slips forward as the sand begins to sink away, she rolls downs into the valley below which turns out to be a river of quicksand. Trixie struggles violently as she's pulled in, "What has Trixie done to deserve this!?"