> Trixie's Stupendous, Awe-Inspiring Adventure of Destiny
>  by Turkleson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Coronation of the Century: Twilight Sparkle becomes a Princess"


There it was in the Headlines; plain as day, written in black and white.  The story of how a "regular old unicorn" named Twilight Sparkle had achieved remarkable feats, faced perilous dangers and vanquished numerous foes to Equestria and was rewarded with the power of the immortals for her trouble.  The power of the Alicorns.  The words on the page positively gushed over the greatness of this amazing, yet ever so humble pony.  About her kindness, tenacity, brilliance and so on.  It seemed that Twilight was just a natural do-gooder and was rewarded accordingly.

And honestly, a certain blue-coated, silver-mane unicorn was happy for her.

Trixie Lulamoon sat at her table just outside the Cafe drinking her latte and reading the very paper that was praising the unicorn centered on the occasion of the century.  As she read on, try as she might (which she didn't), Trixie simply could muster any negative feelings toward the now alicorn.  To do so would imply anything she was reading wasn't true.

To say that these two had a history would be a tad bit of an understatement.  To say that any of it was mutually friendly would be an outright lie.  It was a tale of arrogance, miscalculation, humiliation, degration, rage, revenge, corruption and redemption spanning a few years.  Through it all however, Twilight proved time and again her magical prowess, her kind heart and her cunning mind.  Nothing Trixie could deny much less disrespect.

No, any ill will Trixie had was for herself.  If anypony could be blamed for the struggles they went through, it was her.  The gamble she took when Boasting about fabricated tales is what cost the career she worked so hard to attain.  Her desire for revenge against the designated scapegoat unicorn is what nearly cost her soul.  She likes to think she's a better pony now, after what she learned, but not the best.  She is no Twilight Sparkle and she never will be.  She once thought herself 'Great and Powerful' but those dreams were cast away by reality.  Her stomach began to twist as she reminisced on a barely healed wound.  No longer comfortable in her current position, she took her coffee, leaving the paper on the table and proceeded to walk home.  

Her trademark wagon having been lost to the test of time, Trixie had acquired an apartment in Fillydelphia thanks to a friend of hers.  Fillydelphia was a good place for ponies who didn’t wish to stand out.  One would assume that with the reputation Trixie made for herself, she would have a target on the back of her head wherever she went.  Fortunately the manner of demeanor is not to be underestimated.  The way a pony carries themselves is crucial to public identity.  It wasn’t too long ago that this mare gave off a demeanor of confidence and, in retrospect, arrogance.  Now, however, Trixie carried herself with humbling self-awareness.  Whilst someponies seek to pelt tomatoes at “The Great and Powerful Trixie”, the modest Ms. Lulamoon slips by unnoticed. 

As with any citizen in town, the walk home was a blur and soon Trixie was at her front door.  She walks into her studio apartment, which was as furnished as an abandoned barn, to see her roommate still asleep on the futon.  

Gilda the Griffon was a gruff and potentially unpleasant individual to say the least.  For those who stay on her good side, she was a considerable asset.  Trixie recalls their first meeting at a sports bar where she was able to land a job serving drinks.  The Griffon effortlessly disposed of some drunken buffoons who tried to make the evening difficult for the Unicorn.  Not that Trixie couldn’t handle herself of course, but if there’s one thing Gilda hates more than wimps, it’s pigs.  From there the two hit it off rather well and even procured an apartment together.  Gilda had ensured it was rent free after threatening the landlord that she would tell the police commissioner about the affair he was having with his wife.  Again, she was quite the asset.

The unicorn tapped her roommate’s shoulder to wake her up to which she turned over slightly and opened an eye, signaling the readiness to kill.  “You got joe?” the griffon asked simply.  Trixie rolled her eyes and hoofed Gilda her unfinished coffee “Here”.  She graciously snatches the cup from her telekinetic grip and downed the remaining liquid in a single swig.  Having been satisfied with such, Gilda proceeded to get up.  “You’re home early” she noted after seeing the sun still in the morning part of the sky. 

“I had the day off” Trixie explained “Thought you’d like to be awake to see the sun for a change”.  A scoff escaped Gilda’s beak in retort to her roommate’s mild teasing.  “Besides, I thought you’d like to hear what’s raiding the front page.”  

“What?  Those two cider salesmen bankrupt another town?” Gilda asked jokingly.  

Trixie’s sense of playfulness deteriorated as her voice shaped the words “Twilight Sparkle’s a Princess now.”

Eagle eyes widen in surprise as the message sank in.  “You mean…like a Princess Princess?” 

“New pair of wings, unbelievable power, the whole shebang”.  

Gilda winced, knowing what that meant to her blue friend.  “Man, sorry to hear it Trix” she said.  

“What for?  It just goes to show what was always obvious?” Trixie replied as her head and forehooves slumped onto the kitchen counter.  “She was always better than me”.  

The griffon scratched her head in tremendous awkwardness recognizing the aura of self-loathing Trixie had for herself about now.   She was pretty sure the rest of the day was going to be spent trying to lift her spirits. ‘Well that cuts into a very busy schedule of doing jack’ she though ‘But it’s what you gotta do for friends.’  “C’mon man.  It’s not so bad.  Maybe she’ll go mad with power and they’ll have to put her down” She said in an attempt to console her buddy.  

“Twilight Sparkle mad with power?” Trixie scoffed, not lifting her head “As if.  She’ll probably run Equestria better than anypony ever has”.  

Gilda, whom was already losing patience, lifted her friends head off the table and met her eyes.  “Hey there, don’t let this get you down.  Tell you what, how about we go to town square, sneak in the mayor’s office and set off some fireworks?  That’ll be fun right?” 

Trixie looked at Gilda blankly.  “Fun?  Yes.  Worth spending the night in jail?  No.”  She got up and then walked to her bedroom “I’m going to go take a nap”.  

Gilda, less than pleased, replies “Ok, but when you get up, we’re going out.  I want to deal with this angst problem of yours before it makes my feathers chafe”.

*

“Why did I even agree to coming out?”  Trixie pondered looking at her barely touched mug of cider.  By the time she got up from her nap, it was late in the afternoon and Gilda dragged her to her favorite bar for Happy Hour.  Unlike the sports bar where Trixie worked, this establishment was hardly family friendly.  Gilda was counting on the notion that some punks whose teeth needed punching in would come in and allow Trixie a chance to feel better via a good teeth punching.  Sadly, no such luck was upon them and their hour was almost up.  

In times like this, she figures ‘when in doubt, blame the system’.  “Look Trix, I’ll betcha this is all part of that ‘Born into Nobility’ garbage.  You think that if she was daughter to the town drunk in Dodge Junction that she’d be princess today?”

Such reasoning fell on deaf ears.  Trixie seemed rather content in wallowing in self-pity.  She just preferred not to do it in public.  She took another small sip from her cider and headed for the door.  “Trix, wait” Gilda called out.  

“Hey!  You gotta pay for those drinks!” The barkeep commanded.  

The Griffon, rather than dealing with this quietly simply hollers to the rest of the room “BAR FIGHT!”  Dead silence hung for a whole ten seconds and sure enough, bar stools started flying and perfect strangers commenced killing each other.  In the chaos, Gilda made her escape.

It didn’t take long to catch up to the Unicorn, considering her sorrowful pace.  This time Gilda had to lay it on the line.  She left the apartment with an angsty pony and she wasn’t coming back with one.  “Look, you gotta shake this off man!  So what if she’s a princess now?  You’ve got your own moves.  Maybe you should start your show again.  Prove to everyone that you still got it.”  

Such words caused Trixie to laugh, but not a warm genuine laugh.  A cold, bitter, ironic laugh.  
“Still got it?  When did I even have it!?” she asked “Compared to Twilight, I’m a flea!  I could never match her and now I never will!  She’s the one who deserves to be the most powerful Unicorn, not me!”

“I thought she was an Alicorn now.” Gilda replied.

“That’s not the poi…”  Trixie paused.  Those words strumming a chord in her brain the others did not.  It was made visually clear to Gilda that the gears in Trixies head began turning though she couldn’t figure out why.  All she could hope for was that it was for something good.  “Your right” Trixie finally said “She is an Alicorn”.

“Uh-huh”

“She was easily a very powerful Unicorn, but now she’s an Alicorn”

“That’s what you’ve told me”

“I mean, I thought I was a powerful Unicorn before she came along and everypony else seemed to believe so too.”

“Yyyyyeeeeaaaaahhhh”

“But now Twilights an Alicorn.  NOT a Unicorn”

“We already gone over this”

“And if she’s an Alicorn now, who holds the title of most powerful Unicorn?”

Gilda also paused.  Believing she finally got where Trixie was going with this, she took a gamble and replied “You?”

Violet eyes went wider than that which seems physically possible as a glistening was seen in them.  A glistening that Gilda herself had not seen from her.  Feelings of joy began creeping into Trixie as she looked around franticly and inevitably found a discarded newspaper from this morning.  “Look!” She points to the paper “It says here Princess Celestia always knew that this was her students destiny!  So if Twilights destiny was to become an Alicorn, then the destiny to become the world’s most powerful Unicorn must belong to….” The blue mare began shaking so hard her words became gibberish.  

Gilda decided to answer for her and repeat her previous guess “You?”

“YES!” Trixie commenced bouncing with glee.  “My magic was always able to trump anypony I met before Twilight because Twilight was meant for something else!  If she’s an Alicorn then that means my destiny as Equestrias most powerful Unicorn can be realized!”

“So you’re not jealous that she’s an Alicorn?”

“What and that she’s got the burden of an entire country on her shoulders?  Psshhh!  I’ve had enough of that nonsense back in Ponyville.”

“But because Twilight is now in a different league as you, you’re now number one in the Unicorn league”

“Exactly!”  Trixie was overwhelmed with joy and then, almost just as suddenly, she stopped again in more realization.  “Wait… I just can’t accept such a title by default.  I have to earn it.  I have things to learn.  New tricks to create.  Goals to establish and meet.”  As Gilda watched her friend mutter to herself, she realized the weight of her epiphany was something extravagant.  That or she was going completely crazy.

Upon looking back at her friend, Trixie had a smile that, like the gleam in her eyes, was entirely new to the Griffon.  “Come on Gilda” She said proudly “Lets go get some rest.  We have a busy day tomorrow.”

“And what exactly are we doing tomorrow?”

“REALIZING MY DESTINY!”

> Chapter Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A set of noisy hooves awoke Gilda at an hour she was certain wasn’t legal.  She reluctantly opened her eye to see her roommate Trixie walking about in the kitchen.  The Unicorn had experienced something of an epiphany the night before and said something about realizing her destiny today.  While Gilda was happy her friend was feeling better, she could not understand what she was doing up this early.

It wasn’t long before she found out.  Trixie entered the living room carrying a tray which itself held two plates of buttered toast and eggs along with two cups of coffee.  “Good Morning my trusted compadre” the mare greeted with significant cheer.  “You like black coffee I hope.”  The Griffon stared momentarily before taking the mug groggily.

“So any reason you’re up this early making breakfast?”

“As I said last night, today is the day we begin to realize my destiny.  The first day of the rest of my life.  But in order to make it work, I’m going to need your help.  That’s why we’re starting early with a good morning breakfast.”

“Uh-huh” Gilda replied in between chugs of her coffee.  “I can already tell today’s gonna be awesome.”

“Oh it will” said the Unicorn, too giddy to acknowledge her friends sarcasm.  “Be sure to finish up soon.  Our first stop is the sports bar.”

“Your work?  Why do you need me there?” 

“Just something I need to take care of before we get started.”


***


The duo walked into the ‘Horse and Buggy Sports Bar’.  The interior being one you would expect.  Road signs, hoofball jerseys and other sport equipment on the walls.  There was a bar in the back and numerous tables to accommodate for families or large parties.  A jukebox was placed near the door so the customers can ‘Kick up the happening tunes’ as the boss put it.  All and all, it was a fairly standard restaurant.

And this would be the last time Trixie would have to see it again.

As if on cue, Trixie’s boss Mr. Pincher was walking towards the two from his office.  He was wearing the smile on his face that she knew and despised.  “Hey Trixie.  There’s my number one gal” hey said in an attempt to be flaterring “You’re looking as great as ever.  Better even.”

Yeah, yeah whatever boss.  Listen I’ve got something to say.”

“Oh?  Well what a coincidence!  I have something I have wanted to tell you too.  Why don’t we go into my office and discuss it?”

Violet eyes were rolling ever so subtly as Trixie responded “Alright.”  She then turned to her Griffon friend.  “Give me a few minutes G, this shouldn’t take long.”  Gilda gave her a slight nod as the two ponies made their way into the office.


***


Trixie sat down in front of Mr. Pinchers desk as he looked out his window for a whopping 30 seconds in silence.  She was certain that he would want to say what he wanted first but was becoming quite annoyed with his lack of haste.  Finally, he turned around to face her with another idiot worthy grin plastered to his mug.

“Trixie, we’ve known each other for quite a while now.”

“As in barely four months” she replied.

“Exactly and in these four months, I couldn’t help but notice the connection we have made.”  He leaned over his desk and looked her in the eyes.  “A special connection.”

Trixie kept an unreadable expression as Pincher continued with his monologue.

“Now ever since you came through those doors for the first time, I knew there was something special about you.  In your time working here you have been punctual, dependable and ever so hard working.  I couldn’t be prouder of you”.  The ‘Academy Award worthy’ stallion walked around the desk and closer to Trixie.  “But lately, I’ve noticed our bond becoming something greater than the traditional employee, employer relationship.  I for one take that as a sign.  A sign that what we have is an opportunity.  An opportunity that we would be foolish to waste.”

He gently grasped her hoof in his own.  “I know some ponies would call it improper, or indecent…or against ‘Horse and Buggy Sports Bar’ policy.  But I know that if we truly care for another, we can make this work.  So what do say Trixie?  Will you make me the happiest stallion in the world and be my very special somepony?”

Trixie’s immediate reaction was the arching of a single brow on her otherwise fantastic poker face.  Seconds passed as Mr. Pincher was grinning and sweating, eagerly awaiting her verbal response.  And eventually the blue Unicorn said “Actually, I came in today to tell you that I’m quitting and that you and this Celestia-forsaken place can rot in the deepest pit of Tartarus for all I care.”

Again there was complete silence.

“…O-Oh” Mr. Pincher muttered. “I-is t-that so?”

“Yes.  That is so.”

He began fidgeting with his hooves and tried to comprise a coherent thought.  “W-well then…t-t-this is g-good!  N-now we no longer need to be shackled by the traditional employee employer relationship!”

The normal pony mind could not comprehend how not amused Trixie was at this point.  “OK Pincher, you’ve seem to misunderstand me on an astronomical scale her.  Now when I say-“

BOOM! 

The door to the office flew open and then stepped in a furious looking middle age mare wearing a faux fur coat and was sporting a cheap perm from the looks of it.  She glared daggers into the eyes of the now terrified restaurant manager barely outside of choking range.  “PENNY PINCHER YOU LYING PILE OF MANURE!!! YOU HONESTLY THOUGHT YOU COULD KEEP THIS FROM ME!?  YOUR WIFE!?”

Penny, whom commendably hadn’t soiled himself yet, gathered the last of his courage in an attempt to stand his ground.  “Now G-Glitter.  T-t-this d-doesn’t concern you”.

“DON’T GIVE ME THAT GARBAGE!!!”  Her hateful gaze now focused on Trixie.  “OH!  AND I BET THAT THIS IS THE FLOOZY!!!”

A now very confused Trixie was scooped up in the forelegs of the to-be-dead husband.  “She’s not a floozy!  A-and yes!  Trixie and I are in love!”

Now Trixie was completely flabbergasted.  “OK, I’m pretty sure that I made it clear that-“

“Can it floozy!”  Mrs. Pincher yelled

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Mr. Pincher yelled back

“Ohhhhhhh, WHERE DO YOU GET OFF YELLING AT ME LIKE THAT!?”  The Mrs. Then commenced taking off her probably fake gold earrings.  “There’s gonna be a whooping’ up in here!”

At this point Trixie forced herself from her ex-boss’ grip and proceeded for the door.  “Yeah, you two talk it out.  I’m outta here.” Then Mrs. Pinch stood right in her way.

“Oh there’s an extra special whooping ready for you, you roadhouse tramp!”

“Yyyyyeeeaaaahhhh.  It’s really not a good idea to threaten me lady.”

“Oh no?  And what are you gonna do about it brat?”

The younger mare simply rolled her eyes and simply called out “HEY GILDA!   MIND BREAKING A FEW LEGS FOR ME?”


***


The stupendous duo that was Trix and G left ‘Horse and Buggy Sports Bar’ with smiles on their faces.

“You know, they try and make up important rules for friendship” Gilda said. “But a true friend let their friend break their loser boss’ legs.”

Trixie snickered and nodded in agreement.  “His loudmouth wife was a bonus.” Despite a few awkward moments earlier, Trixie was feeling even better than she did that morning.

“Now you’re sure they won’t try suing us?” the Griffon asked.

“Nah.  Pincher will cover up for me.  He’s sad like that”

“Ah, OK.  So, you’re now unemployed, right?”

“Yeah”

“Well not to be a downer, but we’re gonna need money somehow.”

“Oh don’t worry.  I’ve got plenty in my savings until we start pulling more in.”

“You sure?”

“Well Pincher has been doubling my already generous salary every week since I started working there, so yeah.”

“Dang!  That guy is obsessed with you!”

“Yeah, it’s messed up” Trixie then turned to face her friend.  “But now, it matters not.  With that crummy job no longer holding me back, we can finally take the first steps towards achieving my destiny.  Come on Gilda!”

“Awesome!  I’m actually pumped for this!  Where are we going now?”

“To the local library!”

Gilda’s morale had perished within milliseconds. 

> Chapter Three
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Fillydelphia Library was visually impressive as far as libraries go.  It was exceptionally large, well kept, had rows of bookshelves that went on quite a ways.  It was no Canterlot Library, but it was what Trixie needed right now.  Besides, it still looked better than that hollowed out tree knot they had back in Ponyville.  The fact that that tree was still alive despite being essentially gutted still amazed the unicorn to this day.  

“Remind me again why we are at the library.” Gilda requested with minor irritation.

“We are taking the first steps towards achieving my de-“

“Yes, we’ve been over that.  Care to be more specific?”

“I’ll let you know when we get back home” Trixie replied.

The duo commenced searching for the librarian.  Taking a wild gamble, Trixie looked over to the help desk to see if she would be there.  Low and behold, despite all odds, she was there.  The blue child of destiny delightfully cantered her way to the help desk.

The older mare had textbook librarian written all over her.  Big glasses, heavy sweater, hair bun, the works.  Upon the ring of the desk bell, she looked up from the copy of ‘Fifty Shades of Neigh’ she was reading.  “Oh!  Uh- Yes?  Can I help you?” she asked, honestly looking surprised anypony else was here.

“Yes” Trixie replied “We’re looking for magic books”

“Oh.  Well we have quite a few of those I assure you.  What kind of magic book were you looking for?”

“All of them”

“W-What?”

“All of them”

“All of them?”

“That’s what I said”

“Um…may I ask-“

“You may not ask.  How I hope to realize my destiny is none of your business until further notice.  Do you have the magic books or not?”

“Oh…well, yes we…have a fair amount of them” The Librarian goes through the list of books.  “Now if you’ll follow me, I’ll help you find what you’re looking for.”

Their guide took Trixie and Gilda across several different sections, sweeping several different shelves each of them holding one or two magic books.  By the end of it, Gilda was stuck carrying 99% of their findings.  What was Trixie doing?  Cantering merrily with two books whose subject matter she deemed her ‘favorite’.


***


The spoils of their search were taken back to the front desk.  The librarian looked just as giddy as Trixie did, if not more so.  Probably due to the notion that there were ponies out there who still wanted to read.  Celestia only knows when the last time anyone came in here.  “I hope this meets your satisfaction.” The Librarian asked.

“Very much so, thank you.” Trixie said

“Wonderful, now just let me see your library card and I’ll check these out for you.”

“Uhhh… My what now?”

“Oh, do you not have a library card?”

“Can’t say that I do…” Trixie leaned over to the book encumbered Gilda and whispered “Get ready to run.”

“Well that isn’t a problem” said the librarian.  “Just fill out the information on this sheet and I can make you one”

“OK, and then I can keep these books for as long as I want right?”

“Well, you’ll have to turn them in on the due date or else I’ll have to fine you”
“But that’s ridiculous!  What if I need them longer than that?”

“Well you can come in and renew them for a longer due date”

“OK, you know what?  This is absurd.  SMOKE BOMB!”

“Wha-?”

With what little warning that was given, Trixie hurled a tiny ball at the elder pony which then exploded in a thick cloud of smoke.  The librarian was immediately blinded from the pressurized gas attack and began coughing heavily.  The younger Unicorn took this chance to push her Griffon friend out the door yelling “GO!  GO!  GO!”  The two amigos dashed into the streets as fast as they could, confusing anypony who caught sight of them.


***


Trixie plopped onto the futon breathing a sigh of relief.  “That was a close one.”  She looked over to her feathered friend putting down the books that were causing a strain on her back.
“So” the Griffon said while stretching her sore sections “I guess we’re robbing libraries now”

“Hey, we had no other choice.  You saw how difficult that old bag was being.”

“Guess we can’t go back there again”

“We got what we wanted.  Why would we need to go back?”

“And what do you think is keeping her from calling the fuzz?”

“Well…” Trixie pondered.


***


“I’m telling you the truth officers” The library pleaded “These two assaulted me and made off with the books!”

“Sure they did ma’am” replied the less-than-interested law enforcement officer.

“They’re hoodlums of the worst kind.  Probably hooked on that ‘high fructose corn syrup’ like on the news!”

“Look lady.  The police have more important things to worry about than overdue library books, a’ight?” 

“B-but”

“Call us when it’s important, and not a moment before.” The officer then walked out the door, leaving the distraught librarian alone with the images of her traumatic experience.


***


“She doesn’t seem like a snitch” Trixie finally replied.

“If you say so” Gilda said.  “So why do we need all these books again?”

Trixie began searching through their plunder of magic tomes.  Certain books were put in little groups regarding their specific topic of magic.  “To cement my place as Equestria's most powerful Unicorn, I’ll need to know my strongest and weakest magical points.  These books will help us get started with that.  We practice different classes of magic and see which ones I excel at.”

“Why wouldn’t you already know that?” Gilda asked.

“It’s something unicorns learn in magic schools.  I was self-taught”

“Seriously?” 

“Hey!  They didn’t have magic school where I grew up.”

“Well where did you grow up?”

“Irrelevant.  Let’s get started.” Trixie said looking through one of the books.

“What exactly am I doing in all of this?” the Griffon queried

“I’m going to need a test subject for some of these spells.”

Gilda began backing away “Oh no.  I am NOT having any mumbo jumbo cast on me!”

“Oh don’t be a filly” Trixie retorted “Or whatever you call a baby Griffon.  I won’t cast anything dangerous on you.  You’ll be fine.”

The still wary roommate asked “So what’s first on the list?”



Alteration Class

“Ha!” Trixie laughed “I knew growing magic wasn’t that hard!”

“Please get rid of this thing” a now mustached Gilda pleaded

“Oh come now G.  I think it suits you very well”

“I will punch you in the horn.”


Illusion Class

“OK, can you still see me?”  Trixie asked

“Well, I can see through you.” Gilda replied

The Unicorn looked down to see that she was indeed transparent.  “Hmm…Hey, don’t we have a neighbor who’s afraid of ghosts?”

A smile crept on her friends’ beak “Why yes.  I believe we do” 

“Well I know what we’re doing this weekend.”


Destruction Class

“…”

“…”

“You’re paying for a new futon.”

“I think you’re not seeing the silver lining here”

“Unless the silver lining is a futon, I’m not interested”


Enchantment class

Trixie and Gilda look at the necklace that the Unicorn cast the spell on moments before.

“So…what’s it do?” Gilda asked/

“Well according to the book, the necklace is now a good luck charm.”

“So how do we know it works?”

“Well tomorrow we can go out and get some lottery tickets.  See if we win.”

Gilda frowned.  “Any enchantments with more immediate effects?”

Trixie scoured through the book.  “Well there’s something here about a ‘Want it, Need it’ spell."


***


The exhausted Griffon looks out the window to see that night had long since fallen across the sky.  The two had been at this for hours and were, for all intents and purposes, pooped.  As tired as she was, the feathered hybrid was looking forward to sleep less than normal considering her resting space was reduced to ash.  She looked over to her Unicorn friend, stretching her legs with a good yawn.

“Well, that will do it for today.  Best get to bed” The mare headed to her room.

“Does this mean we’re done with this magic testing stuff?”

“Of course not.  We still go a bunch of books to try tomorrow.”

> Chapter Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It’s been a week.  One week since Trixie had taken the first steps towards the destiny that awaited her.  A week that, in her humble opinion, was quite progressive.  A week spent recognizing her strengths as a user of magic.  She had searched the entirety of the books she and her trusted roommate had to procure by force from that tyrant of a librarian (seriously, there was no other way).  Together, they had gone over all of the different classes of magic from destruction to conjuration.  Now, Trixie wasn’t what anypony would classify as a bookworm by any stretch of the imagination.  That being said, she was on a journey to reinvent herself, and that required doing new things and tread unfamiliar territory.  The week of massive ‘book learnin’ was well worth it, as the Unicorn was quite pleased with the results.

In the week of magical practices, Trixie had all but cemented the conformation of her strongest magical points.  One such strength was the class of Illusion, involving the use of magic for theatricality and deception (something the mare was quite familiar with already).  The other strength was the class of enchantment, involving the use of magic to apply or enhance special properties of pony’s surroundings.  Her weakest point in magic….wasn’t too important at the moment.  The to-be legend could look back at this step of her journey as a success.

Her Griffon friend, however, had a considerably different opinion on the matter.  As she was not a magic user herself, Trixie employed her with the task of being her lab rat.  In the past week of magical training, she had been set aflame, electrocuted, a victim of attempted disintegration, partially turned into a moose, grew a second head from a botched duplication spell and nearly blown up from a force field conjured inside her body to name a few things.  The only solace she had in the past week was a pile of pillows her roommate created to replace the dematerialized futon.  The pillows were meant to become a king sized bed but they could only hope for so much.

As torturous as the last 168 hours had been, salvation for the poor Gilda was at hand.  That salvation came in the words of “Well, we have officially gone over all of these books.” by her Unicorn friend. 

“Oh, finally!” Gilda exclaimed, mentally praising all of the Griffon gods for those words.

“Indeed, this step of our journey is complete” commented the mare.

Yellow eyes widened at those words.  “This step?  As in the final step, right?”

Trixie arched a brow.  “Of course not.  Like I said, this is just the beginning.”  She proceeded to the fridge to retrieve a morning yogurt.  “The books were a good starting point, but the mark of a great Unicorn has to amount to more than that.  A Unicorn can’t be limited to what she reads from paper and ink.  She has to find her own way.  To make her own mark on the world of magic.  Something that can’t be achieve from just books.”

“OK. So how do we do that?” Gilda asked.

“Well according to one of the books” Trixie began, to which Gilda had to try really hard not to roll her eyes, “In the days of the three tribes, whatever a Unicorn would lack in raw power, they would compensate in a personalized arsenal of magic tools and enchantments.”  The blue pony returned to the living room with her yogurt.  “So, I feel that should be my next step.  To develop a personalized arsenal.”

“And be like the Army knife of Unicorns?” the Griffon humored.

Her roommate chuckled.  “Something like that.”  She then took a moment to choose her next words carefully.  Agreeing to magical testing was one thing, but to get Gilda to agree to the next step would take some fancy word play.  “And in order to get started on this step,” good so far “we’re going to need some supplies,” almost there “and that means, we’ll just have to…”

“No” Gilda interrupted.

So close.  “Oh come on!”  Trixie whined.  “You’re a girl too!  You’re supposed to love shopping!”

The hybrid just scoffed.  “Way to be sexist Trix.”

“Don’t you get just a little bit tired of stealing everything?” 

“The only ones who get tired of stealing are the ones who get caught.” 

A less-than-polite snort escaped the pony’s nose.  “Fine then killjoy.” She proceeded to the door.  “I guess I’ll have to partake in this endeavor all by my lonesome.”

“A’ight, but don’t go overboard.” Gilda warned “We gotta watch our money.”

Trixie looked at her eagle eyed friend in amazement.  “Since when did you care about our financial position?”

“Since you quit your job and, quite frankly, have been going a bit nuts with all those nights of take-out.”

“Hey.  Magical training is hard work.  I needed to keep my strength up.”

“Whatever, bubble butt.”

The disgruntled child of fate walked out the door, saying nothing else.


***


The premise of shopping for magic tools and gadgets is the victim to a common misconception.  When the idea comes to mind, ponies would often think of things like magic shops.  Places that sold rare and exotic trinkets and potions for magic users that performed rituals and chanted incantations.  Such shops were borderline nonexistent because the unicorns of old never required anything like that.  The materials they used for their charms were usually very commonly acquired goods that they would later enchant at home.  This would make Trixie’s shopping session easy as well as inconspicuous.

She looked at her list, knowing such items would not warrant any questions from shop keepers.  Nothing except the smoke pellets perhaps, but Trixie already knew a guy for that.  He doesn’t ask questions and neither does she.  Still, it was probably best that she decided to save that item for last.  She then turned the corner and spotted her first stop.


***


The azure Unicorn has a love/hate relationship with waiting in line.  On one hoof, she loved the idea of ponies waiting in a line as far as the eye could see to see her perform her amazing magical feats.  On the other hoof, she hated waiting in lines herself.

The clothing store Trixie stepped into was having a sale on horseshoes.  Sadly, Trixie was not the only mare in Fillydelphia who saw that as good news.  She tried to look past the pony in front of her in the hopes of seeing how far away the cashier was, but to no avail.  Partly because of the sheer size of the line and partly because the pony right in front of her could stand to lay off the hay fries (and Gilda thinks Trixie’s fat?).  The blue mare could feel the vein pulsing on her forehead trying to contain her unforgiving rage at the situation.

“Not a big fan of lines either, eh?”  The anger was interrupted by a voice coming from behind Trixie.  She concluded it’s probably another shopper trying to make small talk to keep her mind off the current annoyance.  Deciding to be polite, she turned her head to see the source of the question.

It was a Unicorn like herself, but the visual similarities stopped there.  This mare had a practically golden coat and a mane like wildfire.  Her eyes a deep green like a massive rainforest.  The words were stuck in the blue one’s mouth for but a moment as she was captivated by this stranger’s appearance.  Intent on making a speedy social recovery, Trixie replied to the question with “Can’t way that I am.”

The other unicorn gave a warm chuckle, indicating to Trixie she hadn’t come across as awkward.  “I hear you there.  I only came in because needed a new coat.  Who knew it was going to take me the whole day?”

“Well that’s what happens when a store puts up a ‘sale’ sign” the azure ponies replies.

“Like catching flies with a bug light.” A mutual laugh was shared by the two.

At this point, the golden stranger decided to reach out her hoof and make a formal introduction.  “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

The other returned the hoofshake.  “Lulamoon” she replied, remembering the name she used in public.

Another warm smile grace Ms. Shimmers face.  “Say, I’m not exactly from around here.  After we’re done, would you mind helping me find a place to get a good cup of coffee?”

Trixie was slightly taken aback by how friendly this pony was being before complying “Uh, sure.  No problem.”


***


“…and then I said ‘Buddy, you couldn’t find it with two hooves and a map.’”  Another round of laughter was had by the two Unicorns at the Café table.  This rather audible behavior attracted the annoyance of a few customers.  To Trixie and Sunset however, it was as though anypony else wasn’t even there.

Sunset wiped a tear of hilarity from her eyes as the laughter softened.  “Y’know, I gotta say.  I didn’t think it would be this easy to make new friends here.”

‘Friends’ Trixie pondered slightly.  It too, took her as a surprise that the two had hit it off so well.  “So” She began “You just moved here I’m guessing.”

“Actually, this is just a stop.  I’m actually more of a traveler.”

“Oh?  How’s that going for you?”

“Pretty good.  I get to see new and exciting places, learn new things, meet knew people”

“Huh.  Sounds great, I was kind of a traveler myself.”

“Oh really?  What brought you here?”

“Uh” Trixie paused.  “Financial issues”

Sunset gave a slight pout in sympathy “Aw, that’s too bad.  I’ve been able to keep at it by doing a few odd jobs that I come across.  Some of them are less than glamorous, but hey.  It’s good for karma.”

Trixie could help but smile at the notion.  “Yeah” She then finished the rest of her coffe and moved to get up.  “Well I best be going.  Still got some shopping to do”

Sunset too, got up from her seat.  “OK then, I guess I’ll be headed back to the hotel.  It was nice meeting you.”

“Likewise.”

“Let me know if you ever decide to hit the open road again.  We could meet up.”

“How will I do that?”

The golden unicorn got an envelope out from her saddle bag.  “This envelope is enchanted to locate me wherever I am.  Just put your letter in there, seal it up and let magic do the rest.”

Trixie looked at the envelop in amazement.  “Wow, um…sure. OK” 

Another lovely smile came from her face “Well, see you around.” Sunset said as she trotted away.”

Trixie waved her new friend farewell “Yeah…see ya.”  A brief sadness overcame the blue Unicorn after seeing Sunset go.  Fortunately she decided to shake it off and commence with the rest of her shopping.


***


The opening of the front door interrupted Gilda from her scheduled nap.  She looked up to see her roommate had returned with several different shopping bags and a gleeful look on her face.  From there, the Unicorn practically pranced back to her room to begin her work.

“So shopping went well?” Gilda asked

“Was there ever any doubt?” The Unicorn replied.

“Wonderful.  Another step in the quest to ‘fulfill your destiny’” Sarcasm dripping from her friends’ beak.

Trixie smiled as she opened the door to her room as she thought to herself ‘And the next step has practically planned itself.’ 

> Chapter Five
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And you’re not going to be mad at me if this doesn’t work?” Gilda asked.

“It’s going to work G.  Just do it and stop being a baby.” Trixie answered.

The Griffon simply groaned as a rebuttal whilst looking back and forth at two things.  First was a purple cape Trixie had put up on the wall.  The second was a knife in her claws that the Unicorn instructed her to throw at the cape.  Apparently, while spending all night developing a personal magical arsenal, Trixie imbued this cape with some sort of protection spell.  Evidently, it was up to Gilda to test and see if it works.  Deciding to throw caution to the wind, the knife was thrown at the cape and sure enough, bounced back off.

The knife then proceeded to bounce around everywhere in the apartment.

Pony and Griffon alike dove for cover nigh instantaneously.  Impalement by kitchen appliances was on neither of their to-do lists that day.  After a good minute, the knife finally struck the floor and stayed there.  Both roommates eyed the blade warily, almost expecting it to try and trick them.  Feeling confident that it was going to stay put, Trixie finally said “Well, It works.”

“If you ever make me do something like that again, I will flay you.” The hybrid threatened.

A pair of violet eyes simply rolled at the words.  “Don’t worry” Trixie said.  “This next test shall simply be an act of spectating for you.”

“I prefer they stay that way.”

The blue mare went over to a knapsack on the coffee table and pulled out a tiny ball resembling one of her signature smoke pellets.  “Behold!  This tiny object appears to be but a mere smoke bomb.  However, through the workings of my incredible magic…”  She then threw the pellet to the ground, but instead of the usual explosion of smoke, a bright flash was put out and there Trixie stood, encased in a dome of magical force.  “…it has become an instant force field!”

Gilda stood there, claws crossed, giving a small smile and a slight nod.  “OK, that is pretty cool.”  The Griffon was more often amused with Trixie’s magic than she was impressed.  Credit where credit was due, however, that is a mighty fine trick.  “Good job.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Trixie asked.

“I said ‘Good Job’!” Gilda said louder.

“Yeah, uh… I can’t hear very well in this thing.”

“Ah.”

“Also, I can’t turn this off.”

“Well, the coolness level just went down.”

“What?”

“I said you’re an incompetent doofus and your dreams are stupid.”

“Oh thank you!  I think you’re eyes are lovely too.”


***


An hour passed until the shield came down and much to Gilda’s surprise that was all the testing for the day.  Apparently all of Trixie’s other magical gadgets were in the embryonic stage.  Of this, Gilda was thankful.  She was not looking forward to a rerun of last week.  She was honestly beginning to wonder which Trixie she preferred.  The quiet, solemn, clinically depressed Trixie or the tenacious, go getting, potentially unstable, ‘Stand still!  You’re ruining my trajectory!’ Trixie.  Such thoughts were halted as she noticed the mare in question was applying her saddlebag, indicating she was going out.  “Where are you going now?” the Griffon queried.

“I’m heading out to initiate the next step of the plan.” The Unicorn responded.  “I’ll be back later.  Be sure to pack some essentials when I do.”

“Why?”  Too late.  She was out the door.  Gilda merely grumbled as she decided to go take a nap.


***


A pair of golden eyes opened from a lengthy nap to the sound of bells.  Not exactly jingly bells, but not chimes either.  Gilda looked out the window and saw it was nearing sundown.  While not being a detective, she pieced together that this noise was coming from her roommate who had returned from another lengthy day out.  She slowly got up from her collection of pillows to go outside to see what the racket was about.  She made her way downstairs and opened the front door to the complex to see the blue devil herself.  Standing on the sidewalk grinning like a madmare.  

“Alright Trix what’s going on?”

“Ta-Da!” Trixie exclaimed, gesturing her hooves towards what was behind her.

What was behind her was a wagon.  It was bigger than most wagons and had a roof.  This indicated that it was a living wagon ponies use to travel in.  Gilda recalled her friend mentioning having one when she was a showpony.  This made what she felt Trixie was trying to say very clear.

“So you got another living wagon?”

“Not just any living wagon.  The latest Golden Wheels Estate living wagon.  It’s completely whether resistant, can be moved from the inside AND…” Trixie then gave the wagon a slight kick.  The whole side of the wagon then opened up to reveal a surprisingly spacious interior.  “…total sleeping space for 5.”

This new development intrigued Gilda and essentially confirmed her suspicions.  “So I guess this mean you’re ready to start doing shows again.”

“Not quite.”  Trixie replied.

…. OK, what?

“But if you’re not gonna do shows again, why did you buy it?”

“Because I’m going to start traveling again.  Just not for shows.”

This just made the feathered friend even more confuse.  “How does this fit into your plan exactly?”

“What?  You thought I’d realize the extent of my destiny in Fillydelphia?”  Trixie asked.  “This place has certainly seen the beginning of my journey, but it won’t see the end.  I’m not going to find my place in the world in this town.”  She then pointed to the horizon, which she couldn’t see because of the tall buildings.  “My true calling is out there somewhere.  Outside of Fillydelphia.  Maybe even outside of Equestria.  I’m not sure.  But I do know for sure is I have to go, if I have any hopes of finding out.”  She then returns her attention to her friend.  “You don’t have to come with me, but you can if you want.”

Gilda looked at her blankly, waiting a few moments before giving her a response.  “Do you still have that money with you?”  She finally asked.

“Yup.”

“Alright, I’m comin’.” She complied

“HUZZAH!”  Trixie cheered.  

“Just a few questions,” the Griffon added.  “How did you afford this thing?”

“Oh, Penny Pincher got it for me.”  The Unicorn replied.

“Penny Pincher?  Your old boss?”

“Indeed.  I told him if he bought it for me, we would elope together.”

“Ah.  Are you going to?”

“I knocked him out cold with a frying pan the second he paid for it and took off, you tell me.”  

“That’s my Trix.” Gilda smiled.

“Was there ever any doubt?” the pony of destiny asked with a smirk.

With that, the roommates both climbed into the wagon.  They both took a second to admire the luxury inside.  Two bunk beds and a hammock on one end, a kitchen with a fireplace near the center and a sitting/eating space near the front, where there was also a small door that opened to sitting space outside the wagon.

“So how does this thing go on its own again?”  Gilda asked.  In response, Trixie drew attention to a lever on the wall and gave it a slight pull.  From there, the wagon began moving on its own.  Pulling out from where it was parked and simply rolled down the road at a steady pace.  Again, the hybrid was impressed.  While not as spacious as their studio apartment, she could definitely get used to this.  She then proceeded to the hammock where she decided to relax while the wagon proceeded to do all the hard traveling for them.

“Did you remember to pack your essentials?” Trixie asked.

…Crud. 

> Chapter Six
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was sunrise in Equestria.  Trixie could see the beams of light poking through the trees indicating Celestia’s light was ascending from the horizon.  She had woken up a while earlier and sat out on the front of the wagon.  Sleep was difficult at this time as her mind was still racing from the current situation.  It was just her and her feathered comrade Gilda.  Two souls out on the open road with burdens of glory awaiting them wherever they ended up.  Needless to say, this felt right to Trixie.  This wagon she hadn’t even had for a day felt more like a home than that apartment ever did.

The Unicorn decided to waste no more time.  She turned behind her and pulled the lever, kicking the magic wagon into gear.  From there, all they needed to do was prepare for what this road had in store for them.


***


It was nearly high noon before Trixie was greeted by the sight of her fellow adventurer.  Her head feathers were a mess and she still had a groggy expression on her face.  “When did we start moving again?” she asked.

“At sunrise.  Surprised you didn’t wake up sooner,” the mare responded.

“Yeah, well, I’m a deep sleeper when I wanna be.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“So what’s the plan for today?”

“Keep on the road until we reach a town or something interesting happens.”

“Interesting how?”

“Well something like-“  Trixie lost track of her sentence when she saw what was ahead.  It wasn’t long before Gilda saw it too.

The thing approaching from the other end of the road certainly LOOKED like a chicken.  What was odd was the fact that this chicken was somewhere around 6 feet tall and strutting down the road rather than waddling like other chickens.  As they got closer they could hear the chicken humming a tune.  When within talking distance the wagon came to a complete halt and the chicken looked upon Gilda and Trixie with a smile on its beak.

“Well top-I say-top of the morning to you ladies.” said the chicken

…

Said the chicken. 

“Um, hello mister…uh.”

“Mr. Leghorn if you will,” he responded.

“Ok, Mr. Leghorn…how are you?”

“Finer-I say-finer than my granny Beth’s peach cobbler.”

“Oh.  Well good.  So, uh, where are you headed?”

“Why, I’m on my way to Los Alicornes to try and get in on them talkin’ pictures.”

“Huh.” The duo exchanged looks of oddity. “Well good luck.”

“Mighty appreciate it, ma’am.” Mr. Leghorn then moved to carry on the road, and then halted.  “Oh. And ladies?”

“Yes?”

“Watch out-I say-Watch out on this road here.  Folks come across strange things on this here dirt street.”

“Oh, um…sure.  Thank you.”  With that, they started the wagon again and left their first oddity of the day far behind.


***


While trying to process just what it is they just saw, Trixie and Gilda did indeed heed the giant chicken's warning.  They both eyed the road carefully, steeling themselves for any future surprises.  The Unicorn was half expecting a giant rabbit to speak to them next, but so far no such luck.  What they got instead was an approaching cloud of dust and a pair of voices increasing in volume.

“Seriously!  We’re going too fast,” one voice said.

“Oh relax.  You’re doing just fine.  Now keep your eyes on the road!” the other responded.

“Come on!  Just tell me how to stop it!”

“Now now, there’s no reason to stop now.  We’re on an em- WAGON!  12 O’Clock!”

With that, the ever nearing cloud of dust began to decelerate.  That, however, wasn’t that great a comforting factor to the two in the now stationary wagon.  Gilda’s wings were twitching in anticipation to dodge the potential threat.  Trixie, meanwhile, was going over potential magic methods to avoid being flattened by the oncoming whatever it was.  Trying to steel themselves kept them from noticing the dust hitting them until it was too late.  

The cloud threatening to fill the pair's lungs had soon after dispersed.  A coughing, watery eyed Unicorn angrily looked around to see whatever it was that needed a serious lecture on roadside ethics.  When her vision got a fix however, she had to rub her eyes to ensure nothing was obscuring them and making her see what she thought she was seeing.

What she saw was a visual atrocity.  A mish mash of different animals practically sewn together to a body with a poor excuse of a pony’s head on top.  This was the image that struck dread in ponies' hearts for eons because of what it represented.  This cluster of a creature was always defined as anarchy incarnate, and Trixie was not two feet away from it.

“D-Discord…”  Trixie stammered.

“Why yes.  That would be I.” the creature said, extending a lion paw towards the Unicorn.  “How nice of you for noticing.”

“Hey!  Woulja mind not clownin’ aroun’ fo like TWO SECONDS an getting me home!?” an unknown voice outraged.

Trixie blinked and looked down next to the creature of chaos to see his compatriot.  A small, brown earth pony with hot pink hair and, judging from her accent, was of Manehattan origin.  Now the mare was not sure what confused her more.  The fact that she was face to face with the Draconequus of legend, or that fact that he had been running around with a tiny filly….OR that they both seemed to be sitting on a couch in the middle of the road.  

“Trix” Gilda finally spoke up “What the hay am I lookin’ at right now?”

“Why, you’re looking at Discord,” the creature answered, using his extended paw to shake her eagle claw.  “Anarchy Extraordinaire.  Former evil-doer and now full time do-gooder.”  He then displayed a scroll to the two.  The only words they could bother to read was the word REFORMED on the top and the signature of Princess Celestia on the bottom.  The faint magical aura from the signature proved it to be legitimate.

“And THIS, is my current case for do-goodery, Babs Seed,” Discord said, introducing the Earth Pony.

Certain dread was replaced with definite bewilderment in a matter of moments.  Trixie and Gilda were far too confused to utter a word to the two in front of them.  Although, this didn’t seem to be a problem as the apparently rehabilitated villain continued to talk and the filly next to him continued to look annoyed.

“You see.  Babs here,” Discord said “Is a ‘Blank Flank’.”  He then pulled put a magnifying glass from Celestia-knows-where to bring notice to the indeed blank posterior of Babs.  “As such, I took it upon myself to assist her in obtaining the cutie mark that she so desperately desires.”

“More like annoyin’ me an’ neahly getting’ me killed!”  The filly shouted.

“Nearly never counts my dear.  Besides, nopony ever got a cutie mark in sofa racing before.  I thought it would be nice to try something original,” Discord justified.

“Nopony has ever had one cuz the idea is stupid!” Babs retorted.

“Sofa racing?” Trixie asked.

“Indeed,” said the Lord of Chaos.  Then a beeping from a device on his wrist received his attention.  “Well, that’s all the time I have for this cameo.  Come along Babs.”

“And where are you going?” queried the Griffon.

Discord smirked.  “When the writer decides to get off his lazy rump and start writing my story you’ll find out.”  Before anything else could be asked the couch had bolted down the road and record speeds, leaving the two travelers in the dust again.


***


Despite all the craziness they’ve been met with thus far, the adventure express kept on rolling.  Trixie focused all her senses on the surrounding area for impending weirdness.  Gilda, while doing something similar, had a twinge of confliction about the situation going through her mind.  “You sure this was a good idea?” she asked.  “We’ve only been traveling for a day and I’ve already seen things I’d rather not see again.”

“Hey don’t worry about it,” Trixie comforted.  “Sure, we’ve seen some… strange things today, but it’s part of the experience.  These journeys are about learning and becoming more than you were.  I like to think that we are already much wiser than we were yesterday.”

“By wiser, do you mean that we now know that giant, talking chickens exist and some weird mutant pony thing kidnaps fillies?”  Gilda asked.

“Now we don’t know that he kidnapped her, but yes, that’s sort of what I mean.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Besides,” Trixie continued,  “we’ve seen some weird stuff today.  But so far nothing dangerous.”  

“…aaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

A loud shriek was heard followed by something slamming into the ground in front of the wagon.  The two adventurers leaped out of their seats in surprise.  Then, upon seeing the dusty crash site, they cautiously moved closer to investigate.

In the small crater they found a Pegasus.  She had a light aqua coat and a bold yellow mane.  The most noticeable thing about her, however, was the fact that her wings were smoldering, as if on fire.  A panicked Trixie dashed back into the wagon, reappearing a moment later with a bucket of water that was dumped on the small fires on the pony’s wings.  The sudden contact of water seemed to snap the Pegasus out of a brief unconsciousness as she yelped loudly and commenced to babble.

“Wha? W-what happened?  Ow!  My wings.  Where am I?  Where’s the Dragon?”

“Dragon?  What Dragon?”

A great roar shook the earth as three pairs of eyes looked into the sky to see a giant flying behemoth flying right towards them.

“I’m gonna guess that dragon,” Gilda answered.
> Chapter Seven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A dragon was a rare sighting in Equestria.  Outside the Dragon Migration, a pony could go a whole lifetime without ever seeing one.  Of course, if a pony ever saw one, odds were it wasn’t a sign of anything good.  Usually the sighting of any dragon in Equestria was soon followed by being reduced to ash in a matter of seconds.  A blue Unicorn and her compatriot were just facing such a predicament.  

High in the sky, swooping down fast, was one such lizard of death.  Its scales were red as blood and it had eyes of gold.  A loud roar caused the ground to shake and its beating wings caused a violent wind, nearly knocking all the trees over.  Such sights were enough to terrify anypony.  It was certainly working on Trixie.

She simply stared wide-eyed at that thing in the sky both in wonder and horror.  Having been in a situation where her life was at stake before, Trixie could easily say this:  The feeling of dread doesn’t go away the second time around.  Despite this, her mind was doing its best to focus on a way of getting out of this problem alive.  Gears were whirring inside her head thinking of any way to deal with the incoming dragon.

“Trix!  WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!”  Gilda exclaimed, having already taken to the air.  Trixie knew flying away wouldn’t work.  The Pegasus they found, formerly unconscious, currently babbling in fright was a sign that this thing would be fast enough to catch them.  Trixie franticly looked around for anything that could help them against this fiery menace.  Then, her eyes fixed on her wagon.  The moment of brilliance she needed had finally arrived as she now knew what to do.

“No G.  I got an idea.  Everyone in the wagon!”  Trixie exclaimed, helping the Pegasus to said wagon.

“Oh THAT’s a great idea!  Hide from a fire breather in a wooden box!”  Gilda yelled sarcastically.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan!  Trust me!” the Unicorn assured.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, the Griffon perched herself on the roof as she saw her friend sit the other pony down then rush inside the wagon.  Gilda then looked up to see the dragon getting closer and having the wagon in its sights.  This was legitimately the first time she could say she was afraid for her life.  Trixie then returned to the front of the wagon holding two small pellets in her hoof.

“A smoke bomb!?  Really!?  THAT WAS YOUR GENIUS PLAN!?” Gilda roared in outrage.

Trixie looked back up at her friend offended.  “Have you really forgotten everything we did in the past week?” she asked.  Then she threw the pellets at the ground.

A giant stream of fire shot from the dragon’s mouth and covered the entire road and some of the surrounding trees.  In almost an instant, the land was stained black with ash and dust as Equestria was again marked by the visitation of a dragon.  His work being done, the serpent flew off leaving the mark behind.

What he did not see through the smoke, however, was a large pink dome of magical energy protecting the wagon he targeted as well as the ones inside it.  Trixie and company remained as quiet as physically possible, worried the slightest peep might warrant the dragon's return.  Only when they saw the creature disappear into the sky did they risk a collective sigh of relief.

“Heh, force fields in a ball,”  Gilda mused.  “Those things sure do come in handy.”

Trixie smiled in triumph. “Was there ever any doubt?”

“Only problem is now we’re stuck here for another hour like last time.”

“Not so, I figured out how to deal with that.”

“How so?”

An azure horn began to glow with a bright pink aura, similar to the shield she was now concentrating on.  With an effort of will, the energy wall right in front of them began to ripple and wane, revealing a weak spot.  The wagon was then geared into movement and sure enough they moved right through the barrier.

Trixie wiped some sweat off her brow, feeling more triumphant than before.  “There, you see?  The ever resourceful Trixie save us once more.”

“Yeah, I guess,” the Griffon responded nonchalantly.

The blue mare simply rolled her eyes and then turned her attention to the teal Pegasus next to her.  “What about you?  You OK?” she asked.

Bright yellow eyes turn to meet violet eyes.  The Pegasus still held slight fear in her expression but not as much as before.  “Y-yeah.  I think I’m ok.  Thanks”

Trixie smiled.  “No problem.  It’s lucky for you we were around.  Not many ponies are as prepared to deal with dragons as we are.”

“B-but what if it comes back?” the stranger asked.

“That thing thinks it killed us.  What reason would it have to come back?”  

“Oh…yeah.  I guess that makes sense.”

“Just don’t worry, OK?  You’re safe.”  A blue hoof then extended.  “I’m Trixie.  You are?”

The Pegasus then took the hoof in her own and shook. “Lightning Dust.”

“Well then Lightning Dust, welcome to Casa de Trixie!”  The Unicorn exclaimed.  “Is there anything else we can help you with?”

“Well,” Lightning thought and then yelped in pain, bringing her attention back to her burned wings.  “You have any gauze?” she asked.

***

Within moments, the Pegasus’ wings were treated and bandaged up.  Having spent much of her life on the road, Trixie knew a thing or two about first aid.  As time progressed, feelings of normalcy began to return to the residents of the wagon.  Not to say anything that happened on this road would be considered normal.

“Well now,” Trixie said, “I don’t know about either of you but I say we’re all overdue for some lunch.”

“Sure,” Lightning Dust agreed.

“Sounds good to me,” Gilda added.

“Well you're all in luck!  For I, Trixie, can make a sandwich like nothing you ever seen before!”  A glow of her horn and the Unicorn began pulling ingredients from the kitchen.  “As you can see we have lettuce, daffodils and daisies all on their own.  But with the power of my amazing magic…”  She them zapped all the ingredients with her magic and in a flash of light three sandwiches were in their place.  “Huzzah!  The Great and Powerful Trixie has saved these poor victims from starvation!”

Her showmanship was rewarded with dead silence.

“Ugh, fine.  Just take the sandwiches.”

***

As lunch came to an end, a certain Griffon felt it was appropriate to begin asking questions regarding their new acquaintance.

“So Lightning Dust, what were you doing being chased by a dragon in the first place?”

The Pegasus kept her eyes to the ground.  “Well, I don’t know.  One minute I was flying around, minding my own business.  Next thing I know I’ve got a fiery death lizard on my flank.”  

“Well don’t sweat it.” Trixie said.  “If I’m reading this map right, we should be reaching a town pretty soon.  You can check yourself into a hospital when we get there.”

“Actually, I’d rather not,” Lighting said.

“Why not?”

She looked down, blushing in embarrassment.  “I don’t have health insurance.”

“Oh,” the blue pony realized.  “That sucks.  Since when should health insurance be something you have to afford?”

“Tell me about it,” Gilda agreed.  “We should have a nationwide health insurance plan.  Anything less is just manure.”  She then went out to the front of the wagon to check the road.

“You said it,” Trixie said.  “Well then, Lightning Dust, I guess you can stay with us until your wings are better.”

“Wha- Really?” Lightning asked.

“Hey, I’m a charitable soul.  Plus we have plenty of room.  Look over there.  Total sleeping for 5.”

“Well…OK then.  Thank you guys.”

“No need.  It’s what we do.”

The Pegasus smiled.  Then something crossed her mind.  “Where exactly are you guys going anyway?”

“Nowhere in particular.  We’re just traveling,”  Trixie answered.  “We’re on a journey of self-discovery in the hopes of realizing my destiny as Equestria’s most powerful Unicorn.”

“…Huh.” Lightning responded.

“Any who travel with us are likely to achieve a similar destiny of greatness.”  Trixie then nudged the Pegasus.  “Hint hint.”

“Well… I do like the idea of greatness.”

“Splendid!  We are now a trio of destiny!  This is the stories great novels are made of!”

“Well if you’re done gushing all over yourself, I thought you’d like to know I can see a town ahead.”  Gilda called from outside.

The Unicorn and Pegasus looked out the window and sure enough, a town was in sight.  Upon inspecting the sky, Trixie also noticed the sun was beginning to set.  “Well it’s almost nightfall anyway.  I say we make camp here and check out the town first thing in the morning.”  She pulled the lever causing the wagon to stop.

The newly crafted trio began to plan for supper as the town ahead of them also readied itself for the night.  Blissfully unaware of what was to come on the morrow.  
> Chapter Eight.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The streets of San Franciscolt were flooded with noise.  Behind Trixie was the noise of hundred terrified ponies clogging the streets in an attempt to flee the city.  Above Trixie was the noise of a massive thunderstorm booming its fury like a sociopathic drummer.  In front of Trixie, however, was the noise of an enraged Ursa Major, towering over every building he was swiping away with his enormous claws and letting out a deafening roar while doing so.  Such a culmination of noise would do well to strike the terror in the hearts of most ponies.

Trixie, however, was no normal pony and today she was going to prove it.

Standing smack dab in the middle of the street, the silver-maned equine steeled herself against the gigantic, ever-approaching threat.  “Foul Beast!”  Trixie bellowed.  “You are not welcome in this city!  Be gone from here, lest the Great and Powerful Trixie is forced to vanquish you!!!”

While the yelling Unicorn was able to catch the behemoth’s attention, another ear-splitting roar indicated the impossibility of reasoning with this creature.  Let it never be said that she didn’t try to negotiate.

“Very well!” she shouted.  “Then what happens next is your own doing!  Take that knowledge with you to your grave!!!”  Trixie then removed her signature pointy hat and reached inside it.  From within, she pulled out a large staff, taller than she was, with a large star on the high end.  The staff itself was not powerful or laced with any enchantments, but it would provide assistance to what Trixie planned to do.

She proceeded to channel magic from her horn into the staff, forming a connecting stream of energy between the two.  She lifted herself up to her two hind legs and held the staff up as high as she could.  She looked at the sky still flooding with the sound of thunder and the flashing bolts of lightning.  With buildings as high as they were in San Franciscolt, nopony walking the streets would have to worry about getting struck by lightning.  That is, unless, a unicorn was using their magic as a sort of beacon to attract the electric energy of a lightning bolt.  Then again, if they were doing that, they would be less worried about getting struck and more counting on it.

This particular Unicorn had proceeded to clear her mind of any distractions to focus on what was to come.  A single slip-up could result in a fried brain.  A move like this required the utmost concentration and precision, which could prove difficult considering there was a bear monster the size of Canterlot approaching closer intending to end her life.  Nevertheless, this technique required the brunt of her attention as it would be over in an instant.

Surely enough, the instant came.  An especially giant bolt of lightning had struck the mare’s staff, followed the magical current to her horn and shot out from that end.  Her horn, by that point, was directed right at the Ursa Major and the stream of electricity hit the monster directly between its eyes.  The Ursa was blown onto its back by the force of the attack, crashing down onto the concrete.

The blue spellcaster began to stagger and struggle to stay on her hooves, finding assistance in her staff.  That move had taken a lot out of her.  As the electricity channeled itself through her via the stream of magic, the lightning had soaked up most of the energy from her body as it expelled itself from her horn.  It was really a trick that a unicorn could use once.  Despite the nigh overwhelming fatigue, Trixie deemed the spell worth the effort by the look of her fallen enemy.  She managed a sigh of relief in between labored breath as a suitable recognition of her victory. 

The moment for patting herself on the back however was short-lived as the fallen monster began to stir and bring itself back on its paws.  Eyes as violet as the beast itself went wide with horror at the sight of the Ursa’s recovery.  Soon, the eyes of the giant bear met hers, this time filled with even more rage than before.  A vicious glass shattering growl signaled the creature’s intention for revenge.

The Unicorn’s confidence now in tatters, she motioned to escape.  Her legs, however, gave in to the immediate exhaustion she was faced with and Trixie fell face first into the concrete.  Feeling that this wasn’t enough apparently, the Ursa Major swung its massive paw and swatted the pony against the building wall.  The double impact she experienced had all but destroyed the poor mare’s body as she laid against the wall unable to move.  Painfully, she looked up to see the purple furred monster readying a claw to finish her off in an instant.  Trixie shut her eyes tight as she found her demise to be inevitable and waited to be crushed.

Despite her shut eyes, Trixie did hear a loud blast and the sound of the Ursa’s roar being cut short as if it had vanished.  She did find the sudden noises confusing but still did not dare open her eyes.  Not until she heard a voice.

“A warm welcome to you, Trixie Lulamoon.”

Trixie’s eyes shot open as she looked around to find the source of the voice.  Looking around the ruins of the city, she could see no Ursa Major.  What she did see was a pony approaching her from where the Ursa once stood.  But this wasn’t just any pony.

With a coat the as dark-blue as a summer’s night and a mane rippling like running water in the moonlight, this pony was impossible not to recognize.  Even if she wasn’t, the extra height, long horn and set of large wings would be enough to provide a clue.

“Princess Luna,”  Trixie whispered with her hoarse throat. The Alicorn acknowledged her name with a small smile.

Ponies often reacted to the Princess of the Night one of two ways.  On one hoof they looked upon her with amazement and wonder, much like anypony would look upon her sister.  Not just as a princess but almost as a God.  On the other hoof, ponies would react in fear.  Fear brought on by the fact that this Princess was once the Mare in the Moon, a thing of Nightmares that inspired the festivities of Nightmare Night.  Fear that there were remnants of that wicked mare of Darkness still flowing in the Alicorn’s being waiting to return.

Trixie reacted with neither fear, not wonder.

“OH, WELL HOW NICE OF YOU TO JUST NOW DECIDE TO SHOW UP!!!”  the Unicorn yelled.

Shock came upon Luna’s face as she was slightly taken aback by her subject’s rage.  “Pardon?”

“Oh well, it’s nothing really,” said Trixie, her words bleeding sarcasm.  “You showed up and took care of the Ursa and the city’s safe again.  That’s good.  It’s just that if you could have done that by yourself, I’m curious as to why you didn’t do it BEFORE IT BROKE EVERY BONE IN MY BODY!!!”  The battered Unicorn, previously petrified, was now enraged to the point of seeing red.

This wasn’t helped by the source of her rage, the Princess, stifling a chuckle.  “I must apologize,” Luna said between giggles.  “It’s not often that I feel it necessary to interfere in my subjects’ dreams.”

“WELL ISN’T THAT JUST- wait…what?” the light blue Unicorn’s mind had just processed the final part of that sentence.  “Did you say that-“

“This is a dream, Trixie,”  Luna reiterated.  “Try and stand up and you’ll see.”

Confused, Trixie looked down at her beaten form.  As she thought about it, despite thinking her body was broken, she didn’t quite feel pain.  So if this was a dream then she wasn’t really hurt and she could get up if she wanted to.  She made the attempt and brought herself to her hooves.   Astoundingly, she was unharmed and her previous feelings of fatigue were gone.

“Heh, neat.” Trixie smiled.  She then looked upon the Royal Alicorn.  “So if this is a dream, then you’re not really here right?”  She asked Luna.

“To the contrary,” The Princess said.  “To roam my subjects’ dreams is part of my duty as the Night Princess.”

Those words struck the smaller ponies mind with immediate oddity.  “Well if you ask me that sounds like a complete invasion of privacy.”

Luna simply smiled and retorted, “Would you not do the same to me if you could?”

“… That’s not the point,” Trixie shot back.  “What are you even doing here anyway?”  I don’t recall seeing you in any of my other dreams.” 

The curved lip on the Alicorn’s face then went flat and her demeanor became more serious.  “I only make myself known in the dream world whenever a pony is in need of guidance.  In this case that pony is you.”  She moved closer to Trixie with concern evident in her eyes.  “In this dream, you fought an Ursa Major and lost.”

The smaller pony avoided eye contact, looking quite embarrassed.  “Yeah?  So what?  Everypony has nightmares from time to time.”

“Except this is the seventh time you’ve had this nightmare in the past week,”  Luna added.

Trixie looked up with surprise on her face.  That couldn’t be right.  She didn’t recall having the same nightmare for a whole week.  Then again she almost never remembered her dreams to begin with.  She did remember getting up earlier in the morning than normal, but thought that was just eagerness for her future plans.

“Are you that terrified of an Ursa Major?”  the Princess asked.  “Or is there a deeper fear in play?”

Trixie groaned in confusion. “Ah hay, I don’t know.  Maybe it’s just my mind reminding me I’m not done yet.”

“Not done?”  Luna queried.  

“Yeah, I’m kind of on a quest of self-discovery,” Trixie answered. “I seek to reclaim my destiny as Equestria’s most powerful Unicorn.”  Those words seemed to fill her with pride as her stature and tone changed dramatically from moments before.

The Moon Princess looked upon Trixie with amusement.  “I believe I heard of you doing something like this before.  It involved an evil artifact and the enslavement of a town.”

The sense of pride soon drained from Trixie’s features as she stammered in an attempt of a rebuttal.  “W-well.  That-That was different.  I was d-driven by revenge and corru-“  she suddenly paused.  “Hey wait a minute!  Where do you get off lecturing me about that!?  You were Nightmare Moon once upon a time!  Remember?”

Luna simply nodded.  “Yes, I do remember, and I’m not trying to lecture you.  I can actually empathize with you.  I simply wish to know for sure you don’t use this quest as an excuse to repeat past mistakes.”

“If I planned to go all evil again, would I be dreaming about getting my flank kicked by an Ursa Major?”

“I suppose not.  So perhaps this quest is about facing your past demons.  Or perhaps it’s about seeking redemption.”

“Well, I can worry about that on my own time.  I don’t see how any of this concerns you, anyway.  If I wanted counseling I’ll pay a professional for it.  Now get out of my head!”

“You mean to order the Princess of the Night out of your dreams?”

“When you’re in my head, you do what I say.  Now go on!  Shoo!”

Luna simply smiled and spread her impressive wings.  She took to the sky, flying towards the moon.  As she did, the world around Trixie began to ripple and fade as if vanishing from exis-

Trixie’s eyes shot open as she sat straight up and began franticly finding her bearings.  She found herself not in the desolate ruins of San Fransiscolt, but inside her new traveling wagon.  She looked at the bed she was lying in and then over to the bed of her compatriot Gilda and newcomer Lightning Dust.  Her surroundings all but confirmed that she had just awoken from a dream.

A dream that, unlike most, Trixie remembered vividly.  This came as most annoying to the show mare in all honesty.  Not only was she plagued with the false memory of getting wrecked by a giant bear, she also remembered the former Alicorn of Death playing psychiatrist in her brain.  She rubbed her temples, almost in an attempt to rid herself of the memory.  That is, until a beam of light caught the corner of her eye.  

Turning her head towards the source, she saw the morning sun just peeking over the horizon.  Celestia’s new day had begun and almost immediately, the machine in Trixie’s mind switched gears as the thoughts of her journey today filled her with excitement and high expectations.  

Almost gleefuly, she made her way towards the front the coach and pulled the lever next to the door.  The wagon set off automatically from where they were parked down the street towards the nearby town.  Trixie stepped onto the seats outside the wagon and looked longingly at the approaching constructs, eager to leave the visions of last night far behind her.

"I do need to get a staff like that though.  That thing was wicked."
> Chapter Nine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Chicoltgo?” Gilda asked.

“Evidently,” Trixie responded.

The newly formed trio of two ponies and a Griffon stood just outside the city limits looking up at the welcome sign to confirm their location.

“Ok, but why?” the beaked one asked.

“It’s like I said, Gilda.  We don’t have a set destination on this journey.  We just go where the road takes us and beyond until our destinies become clear to us.”  The Unicorn then looked at the aqua Pegasus among their ranks.  “Besides, we can finally get Lightning Dust here to a proper hospital.”

Lightning scratched her bright yellow mane and shifted her eyes awkwardly.  “Actually, I’d rather not go to a hospital.”

“What?” Trixie exclaimed.  “Why not?”

“…I don’t have insurance.”

“…ah.”

“Yeeaaahhh.”

“Well, you’re still free to hang with us till your wing gets better, strength in numbers and all that.  Especially when tackling a city like Chicoltgo.”

“But how are we gonna walk around unnoticed?  You’re still kind of infamous, you know.”  Gilda reminded her magical friend.

“The same way I laid low in Fillydelphia.”  Trixie then went inside the cart that she momentarily parked on the side of the road.  She reemerged a moment later wearing a deep purple cloak that was like her performance cape only with a hood and no star designs.  “Where they search for ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ they will only find,” she then placed the hood over her head, “Lulamoon the Wanderer and her nomadic party.”

The display of her genius again went unappreciated as the Griffon simply rolled her eyes and the injured Pegasus simply looked confused.

“She’s kind of odd,”  Lightning Dust observed.

“Girl, I can tell you stories,” Gilda replied


***


The city of Chicoltgo was lively to put it the simplest way possible.  The streets were busy and energized with ponies doing their usual routines.  Foals at play on the weekends, taxi wagons making their way across town, and most notably, a wind that could ruin any mare’s expensive hairdo.  What interested Trixie most of all was this city’s history of organized crime.

“If we’re lucky, we might be able to bust some crooks while we’re here,” Trixie said.

“Heh, that sounds like a good time,” Gilda agreed.

“Wait.  If we’re lucky?  How does that follow?” Lightning Dust asked confusingly.

“This city has been known for its crime problems since the rise of Al Coltpone,” Trixie replied.  “A town filled with sinister gangsters that are either too quick to catch or too clever to be proven guilty.  If we get the chance to step in and do something the law can’t, we could undo an entire mafia and get that much closer to fulfilling our fate.”

“Wishful thinking, wouldn’t you say, Trix?”

“A mare can dream, can’t she?”

“Even so,” Lightning said, “I don’t think we’d be able to find any crime in this town, let alone prevent it.  Recent improvements in law enforcement and personal security make criminals think twice before doing something big.”

“Don’t be so sure about that, Lightning Dust,”  Trixie retorted.  “Look.”

A gesture of the Unicorn’s hoof ensured her companions moved their attention to a dark alleyway across the street, just next to Chicoltgo’s central bank.  In the alleyway they saw two ponies wearing dark clothing and carrying large empty sacks on their backs.  They appeared to be briefly exchanging words before they put on black ski masks and then busted open the alley door into the bank.

Gilda smirked.  “That the kind of action you were hoping for, Trix?”

“You bet your lion tail it is.” Trixie looked over to their Pegasus hitchhiker.  “Lightning, you feel in shape to busts some crooks?”

“Wha-?  Um.. I don’t…”

“Ok then, you go to the authorities tell them they’re going to find two robbers gift-wrapped for them when they arrive.  Let’s go, G!”  The Unicorn and Griffon dashed towards the bank quick as a whip.


***


“Everypony get down on the ground!!!” the gruff voice of the robber bellowed.  A flash of his weapon was all that was needed to cause the entire building to drop to the floor in fear.  The second, smaller masked pony then grabbed a bank teller and slammed him against the wall.

“Take me to the safe, you worm!” screamed the more feminine sounding robber who then threw the teller to the floor.  The terrified older pony then quickly dashed to show her the vault while the bigger crook stayed in the lobby.

The masked pony took the briefest of moments to appreciate how well this was moving along.  Their wheel pony had the security system shut down as promised and within moments would expect them to dash out the doors and make their escape before the police would arrive.  Things were looking well, but he decided to play it safe.  He grabbed a mare off the floor and held a blade to her neck.  “If any of you try any funny business, this broad will serve as an example as to what will happen to you!” The pony in his hooves was too petrified to retaliate in any way as was the rest of the room.

Before long, the smaller criminal arrived into the lobby carrying sacks now filled with bits from inside the vault.  “We got the loot.  Let’s bounce.” The Stallion smiled behind his mask and made for the door, the hostage still in his grip.  They were just about to get away before they saw what was between them and the front door.

A blue Unicorn in a deep purple cloak and a Griffon were very much standing up, as opposed to the rest of the ponies in the bank.  “You know, I gotta say.  Your get up is a little theatrical for the modern age of organized crime,” the Unicorn said snidely.  “I mean, you can hardly beat the classics, but couldn’t you come up with something more original?”

The crook gritted his teeth and held his weapon tighter at the hostage’s throat.  “GET OUT OF THE WAY NOW!!!”

“Yeah, that ain’t gonna happen,”  fhe Griffon replied.

“Move or I’ll cut her open!” he yelled.

“If you were serious about that, you would have done it by now,” the feathered one retorted, unimpressed.

“Clover, we don’t have time for this.” the masked mare said.  “We need to move.”

“Wha- Clover?” the Unicorn asked.  “You guys aren’t using code-names?  In a bank robbery!?  Are you that bad at this!?”  This caused the crooks to get nervous.  

The stallion then threw the hostage at the ground and pointed his weapon at the two in front of him.  “We’ll show you how bad we are at this when we run you through-“

“Hold that thought,” the blue pony interrupted.  She then reached into her cloak and pulled out a pair of sunglasses and a pair of ear muffs which she secured on her being.  Then she provided another pair of each to her hybrid friend.  This left the two robbers very confused.

“Wha?  What are you doing?”

The Unicorn lifted the muff off her ears.  “I’m sorry, what?”

“What are those for?”

“Oh these?  These are safety precautions.”

“For what?”

The cloaked pony reapplied her earmuffs.  “For this.”  

Her blue hoof threw a small pellet at the ground which then exploded into an overwhelming burst of light and sound.  The two crooks screamed in shock as they were left blinded and deafened from the apparent flash bang.

“AH!  MY EYES!!!” the stallion yelled.

“I can’t hear!”  the other screeched.

Their screams were soon silenced when the Griffon clocked the bigger one with a swift swing of her fist and a blue blast of magic energy from her Unicorn friend incapacitated the other.  Both robbers laid unconscious on the floor with the duo looking over their victory.

“Well, these two were rank amateurs.  Rather disappointing,”  Trixie said.

Gilda looked at the weapons the stallion was previously holding.  “Oh you’re kidding me.  These weapons are props.  What a rip-off.”

“Ah well.  Let’s hurry along before the cops get here.” The two then proceeded to go out the front door.

“Wait!” cried a teller who succeeded in getting their attention.  “Who-who are you two?”

Trixie then smiled and put her hood over her head and answered “Just a couple of wanderers.”  With that, the two were gone.


*** The Next Day***


The travelling trio was enjoying a full balanced breakfast within their mobile wagon when the Griffon brought everypony’s attention to that day’s paper which she ‘procured’ from a papercolt minutes before.  “Looks like we made the front page,” she said.

Trixie gripped the paper with her magic as her eyes skimmed the article’s content.  “Armed thugs attempt robbery, yadda yadda… currently serving 15 to 20 years in Chicoltgo penitentiary, blah blah… accomplish captured later that day, etcetera etcetera…eye witnesses confirm the robbers were subdued by two unknown ‘wanderers’ who left the scene shortly after.”

Lightning Dust looked up from her cereal with a smile.  “I don’t suppose your plan was to get mentioned in the paper, was it?”

Violet eyes rolled at the question.  “It would have been nice if I did more than just take out a few hooligans.  I was hoping it could take us deeper into the heart of the criminal underworld.  These two however, were too stupid to be part of anything bigger.”

“Schink weh schoul’ schtick awound?” Gilda asked with her beak full with hay hash.

“Probably not.  It’s pretty evident that we’re not going to find anything substantial here.  We’ll depart later today.”  Trixie looked over at the teal Pegasus.  “You sure you want to stick with us?”

Lightning Dust’s grin became wider.  “If this is what you guys do regularly…I suppose I could get used to it.”

“Sweet,” Gilda responded.

“Indeed” Trixie agreed.

“So why do you think those two were trying to rob a bank?” Lightning asked.

“I don’t know.  Generic thug mentality?”


***Chicoltgo Central Bank: Yesterday Morning***


Clover was pacing in the alley awaiting the signal from his wheel pony.  Once the light over the door had gone out, the security system would be down.  It took a lot of will to maintain his composure.  The mare beside him was not so well composed.

“We shouldn’t do this, Clover,” Cherry Blossom pleaded.

The stallion placed a comforting hoof on his marefriend.  “It’s gonna be OK, baby.  If we stick to the plan, we’re golden.”

“But what if we get caught?  We could get 15 to 20 years!”

“We won’t.  We go in, we scare them, we grab the money and go.  We’ll be halfway to Manehattan long before the cops know what's going on.”

“B-but I can’t actually hurt somepony!”

“We’re not going to.  The weapons are fake, remember?  If we keep them scared enough we won’t have to hurt anypony.”

This still wasn't enough to comfort the trembling mare.  “But there’s still so much that could go wrong.  What if Tire Iron ditches us?  What if there are guards in the bank?  What if-“

“Cherry Blossom,” Clover hushed her and held her close to him,  “I don’t like doing this either.  It makes me sick to my stomach.” He them placed his hoof on Cherry Blossom’s belly.  “But you have to remember who we’re doing it for.”

Cherry looked down at her belly and back up at Clover with tears in her eyes.  “W-we’re doing it for her.”

Clover smiled.  “We’re doing it for her.”

The pony took a deep breath and wiped the tears off her face.  “Ok”

Just then, the light above the door went out.  That was their signal to move in.  They looked at each other, applied their ski masks and proceeded to break open the door.

‘Don’t worry Cherry Blossom,’ Clover thought to himself.  ‘We’re doing the right thing.  And besides, it’s not like anyone can stop us.’
> Chapter Ten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia’s sun shined brightly upon the land as always, allowing everypony to seize the day in their own way.  For one particular Griffon, the first step of seizing the day involved the ancient, mystical Griffon practice of sleeping in until high noon.  When she did groggily emerge from the wagon, however, she was greeted by the sight of their stop for the day.

The wagon was parked just off the dirt road.  Also off the road was the sight of a pond filled with very refreshing looking water.  A few trees circled the body of water to provide potential swimmers decent shade.  The sunlight reflected off of the pond to make the liquid glisten with light.  Having gone a few days without a proper bath, Gilda felt a dip would be just the thing she needed.

Without warning, the hybrid shot straight up into the air with a powerful beat of her wings.  Upon reaching a satisfactory height, she gave another mighty flap to send herself rocketing towards the water reservoir.  The resulting splash would put some explosives to shame.  A few seconds later, Gilda resurfaced feeling quite refreshed and a small sense of pride.  She scanned the surrounding landscape to see a good portion of it completely soaked, as well as the teal Pegasus Lightning Dust whom she didn’t see until just now.

“Oh.  Heh-heh.  Sorry about that Dust,” the Griffon snickered.

The previously relaxing, currently agitated pony simply looked upon her dripping fur and said, “You know I’m not supposed to get these bandages wet, right?”

“Well, hey, the bandages are for burns right?”  Gilda asked.  “I bet the water helps.”

“So I guess this is why most Griffons aren’t doctors,”  Lightning replied snidely.

“Oh shut up.  Where’s Trixie?”

A sudden poof of smoke and a dramatic entrance later, Gilda received an answer to that question.

“Speak of the devil, and she shall appear!” Trixie exclaimed.

“So you’re the devil now?” Gilda mused, stepping out of the pond and shaking herself dry.

“Perhaps.  That may be why I condone your violent behavior so much.”

“Whatever.  So what’s the game plan today?”

“Mainly this.”  Trixie pulled a bag from beneath her cloak and dumped its contents onto the ground.  Such contents turned out to be a heap of horseshoes.  Gilda and Lightning Dust simply looked at the pile in confusion.

“I’ve heard jokes about mares and horseshoes but this is a bit much,” the Pegasus responded.

“So we just gonna toss those around all day?” the Griffon asked.

Trixie's eyes could not possibly roll any harder at her friends.  “These are enchanted horseshoes, girls.  We’re here to try them out.”

“Enchanted horseshoes?” Lightning queried.

“Indeed.  Each set has been magically altered to have their own special properties.  These, for example…”  Trixie held up two pairs of blue horseshoes.  “…will allow me to walk on water.”

“Really now?” asked Gilda.

“Quite so.  Allow me to demonstrate.”  The Unicorn fastened the horseshoes onto her hooves and walked towards the pond.  Too curious to be concerned, her winged allies simply watched as she walked into the water…or more accurately walked onto the water.

It was difficult to tell at first, but as she got closer to the center of the pond, it was clear that she was indeed walking on its surface rather than being submerged.  Once she reached the center of the water,  Trixie simply turned to her company with the smuggest look on her face.  Gilda simply scoffed and gave the blue pony a small clap, Lightning Dust joining in soon after.

“Thank you, thank you.” Trixie exclaimed as she motioned for a bow.  As she shifted her weight, however, she lost her balance and fell into the pond.  The horseshoes. of course, remained above the surface regardless of the wearer.

***

Well, they did work, so that’s good, right?”  Lightning Dust asked.

“Indeed,” Trixie agreed, still wet.  “No need to focus on the negatives.  Let’s just focus on the next set.”  She gripped a pair of bronze horseshoes with her magic and quickly studied them.

“When did you find the time to enchant these things?” The Griffon asked.

“This morning.  You wouldn’t know since you were dead asleep.” The Unicorn then secured the bronze shoes onto her being.

“What do those ones do?”

“If the spell was cast correctly, these horseshoes should grant me increased strength.”

“How do we test that?”

“I could try juggling you two.”

“Try it and I’ll throttle you,” the beaked one threatened.

“You can try bucking that tree over there.”  Lightning Dust pointed.

In compliance, the showmare of destiny cantered towards the tree.  She then proceeded to stare it down, as if it somehow called her out.  She turned her back to face the tree, kept her forehooves grounded and lifted her hind legs to give it a swift kick.

The magical force released ripped the tree from its roots and hurled it into the sky.  Three pairs of eyes went wide with shock as the tree flew further from sight and eventually disappeared into the clouds.

***

Just outside the city in the sky known as Cloudsdale, a certain klutzy pony was seen carrying a wagon.

‘OK, Derpy.  Remain calm,’ a grey, wall-eyed Pegasus internally spoke.  ‘The mayor and Rainbow Dash entrusted you to bring these weather team bonuses from Cloudsdale to Ponyville.  These are bonuses that everypony have been looking forward to for a long time.  You can do this.  Just remain focused and ever alert and you be-‘

The mare’s inner monologue was interrupted by a loud crashing noise right from behind her.  She turned around to see, of all things, a tree having all but destroyed the wagon.  Hundreds of golden bits could be seen bleeding out of the chests from inside the now-destroyed wagon.

“OH NONONONO!” Derpy panicked as she swooped down to try and catch the raining bits.  Doing this however, resulted in her detaching from the remnants of the wagon and caused it to free fall to the ground.  Because of her sight difficulties, the grey Pegasus didn’t realize this until her decent enough hearing picked up a faint crash from below.  Looking down at the ground in search of wreckage that was beyond her sight, and then looking at a foreleg holding 20 bits, Derpy was sure of only one thing.

“Ponyville’s gonna kill me.”

***

“Well, that was an undeniable success,” Trixie said, drowning in her own mystical competence.  “Next test.”

Lightning Dust asked, “What else you got?”

“These horseshoes,” Trixie presented a platinum set, “should offer me increased speed.”

This gained the interested of the Unicorn's feathered compadres as speed was something of a specialty of theirs.

The blue mare fastened another set of shoes to her legs and took a moment to prepare herself before she commenced with the test.

“OK, try doing a few laps around the pond and see how long it takes you,” Gilda challenged.

“Sounds easy enough,” Trixie mused with confidence.  She crouched her body down into a sprinting position.  Having taken a moment to steel her senses, the mare took off.  A mad streak of blue ran circles around to pond at a velocity that would put most Pegasi to shame.  Gilda and Lightning Dust simply looked at each other bewildered once more by the unicorn's enchantments.

At least they would have, if not for said Unicorn screaming "I CAN'T STOP!!!"  to which they simply shook their heads.

"Looks like it's up to us to make her stop," Lightning Dust said.

Gilda nodded in concurrence.  "Question is, how do we do that?"

They both looked around briefly until their eyes settled upon a particularly large tree branch nearby.  They then looked at each other exchanging sinister grins.  Gilda gripped the branch in her talon and focused her attention on the blue blur that was Trixie.  With a huff, the Griffon threw the branch into the swirling circle and surely enough, the dashing hooves of the unicorn tripped on the branch.  The gathered momentum ensured the mare was launched in the air, flipping around all the while.  After maintaining some impressive hang time, Trixie then crashed into the ground just short of the horizon.

Gilda and Lightning made their way to the enchantress-in-training to see her on her back and her hooves still flailing about at high speeds.

***

"Well, they did work," a certain snickering Pegasus acknowledged to a disgruntled Unicorn holding a bag of ice on her head.  "You can't say that they didn't."

"Very astute of you, Lightning Dust," Trixie growled.  "Perhaps you'd like to observe the sky and let us know if it remains to be blue."

"So I take it that's enough practice for today?" Gilda mused.

"Oh, aren't I just surrounded by geniuses?" another growl.

"So what now?" Lighning queried.

Trixie took a deep breath and pondered on it for moment.  "I suppose we should get going.  Destiny isn't going to find us here."  The blue mare made her way into the cart where she pulled the lever and proceeded to lay down in the hammock.  "Wake me up when it's important and not a minute before," she commanded.

The two complied and sat in the front of the wagon.  While maintaining silence briefly, they succumbed to a fit of laughter.

"Blue streak speeds by," Lightning Dust sang.  "The great and powerful Trixie!"

"Too fast for the naked eye!"  Gilda added.  "The great and powerful Trixie!"

Their little jingle was met with many objects magically thrown at them from within the wagon.