Remembering
Trixie charged the spell, making her horn glow a soft blue. Sweat started to form on her forehead, she stuck her tongue between her teeth, and she scrunched up her face as she concentrated even more, her eyes locked on the rusty can that was sitting on a stump a few feet in front of her. With the spell finally ready she let it fly. The can, at which she was aiming at, had the rust stripped off it and the dents popping out, and in the end the can looked as if it just came off the assembly line, save the label.
Using magic, Trixie floated a bottle of water over to herself and drank greedily. She finished her water and looked around her. She was in a camping forest, her caravan in it's rented spot. Nopony else was camping in her area, so she could practice out in the open and not worry about ponies looking for a free show. She had spent the last few days digging through garbage just to scrounge for old cans. The cans now lay all around the stump in front of her, all whole, rust and dent free, as if they all were made a few minutes ago.
The spell looked as through it turned back the tables of time, making it seem as though she has achieved what the Princesses have trouble with. In reality though, it was only two spells, just cast simultaneously. One, a cleaning spell, to clean the rust off the cans, and the other, a simple air spell, to pop the dents out. It was a great illusion, but the only down side is it often wore her out way to fast. Even for Trixie, it is hard to use two spells at once, especially two adept spells.
Her horn glowed soft blue once again, but instead of a hard spell, she used a very simple levitation spell to clean up the cans and put them in a big plastic bag. She set the bag outside her caravan door and entered the mobile home. She headed to the bathroom to start a shower. The bathroom was very cramped and she had to balance and stand on her hind hooves just to use it, though she used a simple balancing spell to keep from falling over. She dried off and wrapped a towel in her hair to let it dry and exited the bathroom. She went to the kitchen and got out last night's salad, and a fork, and walked outside to a hammock she set up earlier and lay on her back, and resting the salad on her stomach. She used a simple air manipulation spell to gently push the hammock, setting it in motion.
Gently swinging though the air Trixie used her magic to feed herself the salad. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was still good. Iceberg lettuce, grapes cut in half, strawberries cut in fourths, a few cherries, and a diced mango. Though she just had breakfast not long ago, using that much magic had made her terribly hungry. Also, all the fruit would help replenish her magic faster. Trixie lay there, listening to the birds chirping, the creek behind her babbling, smelling the mint and honeysuckle patch not too far away, looking up at the leaves, blocking out some of the sun. Mesmerized by the movements of the leaves, Trixie became extremely relaxed and soon she found herself falling asleep.
Trixie let out a loud sigh, looking at the trees around her with a very bored look on her face. She would much rather be in her room back at her big house, listening to music, gossiping with other fillies her age, than riding in a magic propelled carriage with her mother and father, set off to some camp grounds.
“What's the matter Trixie?” her mother asked. Trixie turned to her mother with a very bored look on her face.
“What's the matter, momma? I could be playing with my friends, practicing magic, trying to get my cutie mark, I could be learning how to be sopha- sophic- sophi-,” Trixie tried, but the word would not be pronounced correctly. Trixie blamed it on her missing front left tooth, “I could be learning how to be like a noble. But no. I am wasting my time in this carriage to spend the week just to lay in some dirt. That is what the matter is,” the young filly huffed.
“Oh please, love. Just give it a try, I just know you will love camping,” her father said, trying to reason with his stubborn daughter.
“You both confuse me. First you want me to act like a noble, and now you want me to roll around in the dirt?” Trixie asked.
“We will be rolling around in the dirt, and we both thought that this would be something fun to do. To break away from the daily schedule,” her mother explained. Trixie just huffed and looked out the window.
“Oh look, we are here,” her father said. The carriage slowed and eventually stopped. Trixie opened the carriage door and hopped down down, her parents deciding to use the steps. “Now look over there, Trixie,” her father said pointing to a bush of green and yellow. “That is a honeysuckle and mint bush, and over there is a creek.”
“Yes, poppa,” Trixie said with a roll of her eyes.
“Now why don't you go and explore while your mother and I set up camp,” her father said. Trixie huffed and walked to the picnic table not far away and sat down.
Hey mother used her red wings to fly to the top of the carriage and loosen the rope, so her father could use his magic to bring it down. Trixie inherited her purple eyes from her mother along with how her mane and tail had a natural slight curl to it. She inherited her coat color and mane color from her father. Tired from the long ride Trixie rested her head on her hooves and felt her eyes get heavier and heavier till she couldn't keep them open any longer.
Trixie was woken up from the sound of glass breaking and she woke up t being on her side. She looked to the ground and saw the broken bowl. “I suppose using a glass bowl wasn't my smartest move,” Trixie thought to herself. She used her magic to lift the broken bowl and pieces of salad to a metal garbage bin. She thought about going back to lay on the hammock, but she didn't want to risk running into those memories. It was just too painful. Instead she decided to refill her caravan's water tank, as she was almost empty and she needed to have water when she set out again.
Trixie started to walk down the dirt road that connected all of the campsites. She took in the scenery as she walked, leaves blew in the light breeze, bright flowers all along the dirt road, smelling sweet yet not over powering. The creek that ran along the road opened into a nicely sized river, where some foals and parents were swimming and playing right now. Trixie walked along the river, looking in it's direction occasionally, and soon she came upon her destination. An old building sat, built next to the river, with a planked walkway leading to it, the kind one would expect to see on a beach somewhere. Trixie walked down the planked walkway and opened the door of the building. The building looked more like a junk yard that a building, junk was piled high to the ceiling, but a path was cut to a desk. A little bell chimed when she opened the door making the old looking stallion, who was sitting at the desk, look up. He had a head of gray hair to match his gray coat and was blessed with muscles only somepony who worked every day of his life could achieve.
“Ah Trixie, what can I get you darlin',” he asked with a friendly voice and a toothy smile.
“Well Grounds Keeper, I need to fill my water tank before I set out again,” Trixie explained.
“Your not leavin' now are you? You just got here,” Grounds Keeper said, his smile disappearing.
“Oh no,” Grounds Keeper's smile returned up hearing this, “but I still need to take showers and I don't think I could last the week with the water I have now,” Trixie said.
“Don't you worry none, let me get the stuff needed, then we will set off, alright?”
“Alright, I’ll be outside,” Trixie said and with that she turned around and left the old building. Trixie made her way to an empty picnic table in the sand, and watched as ponies played in the water. She watched a family of ponies, a mother, a father, and a daughter, playing in the water. Trixie could here the young fillies screams of delight and a smile crept upon her face as she began remembering.
“Trixie dear, why will you not play in the water? It is quite fun,” her mother called from the water. Trixie just shook her head and rested her head on her hooves, laying on a blanket. Her father came up from the water and used his magic to dry himself off.
“Are you not having fun?” he asked. Trixie looked up at him with a look that said “Are you really asking me that?” “Alright, that was a stupid question. Why do you not want to play in the water?”
“Because it is dirty, you don't know what is swimming in there,” Trixie said with a glare at the river.
“Well that's why they made showers,” her father said pointedly. Trixie huffed and turned her head so she was facing away from her father. Her mother came up and dried off with her towel.
“Well Trixie,” her mother used the towel to dry off her hair, “what do you want to do?”
“Go home,” Trixie huffed. A big stallion with a gray coat and a black mane trotted up to Trixie and her family with a stack of papers in a saddle bag.
“Howdy there, my names Grounds Keeper, if you have any problems or need any assistance I’m the stallion to call,” he introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Caster, this is my wife, Fast, and our daughter, Trixie,” her father introduced them.
“It's nice to meet ya, the camp grounds is hosting a magic show and you all are invited to watch,” Grounds Keepers told them and he handed them one of the colorful fliers.
“Oh! Won't that be fun Trixie?” her mother said after reading the flier. Trixie just scoffed.
“But we see magic all the time! It's nothing special.”
“Oh I beg to differ, darlin', see this is the type of magic that will make you wonder how is he doin' that? How is that even possible? What will he do next? Questions like that,” Grounds Keeper said. Trixie just rolled her eyes. “Well I must be going, it was nice seeing you folks, have a good day!” he said as he walked away.
“It was nice meeting you!” Trixie's mother called after him. She turned to Trixie, “Would you like to go, Trixie?”
“We might as well,” Trixie said with a heavy sigh.
~A few hours later~
Trixie and her family had just gotten their seats and are waiting for everypony to arrive.
“So what is his name again?” Trixie asked as she tried to get comfortable on the hard plastic chair.
“He calls himself 'The Great Spellcaster'” Trixie's mother said as she looked thought the pamphlet she acquired as they took their seats. “Oh, doesn't that just sound exciting?”
“Yeah, very exciting,” Trixie said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. After everypony had taken their seats the lights dimmed, letting the night seep in the once lite area. After a few seconds stage lights flicked on, shinning on an empty spot on the stage. Smoke filled the stage and once it was very dense a loud bang went off and the smoke cleared and a rather young looking stallion in a wizard's hat covered in starts was standing on the stage. The crowed gasped in surprise and started to clap their hooves, but to Trixie it was a simple teleportation spell.
“Thank you audience!” the stallion on stage said. “My name is The Great Spellcaster!” he yelled and a neon rope flew into the air, spelling out his name. The crowd clapped once again, but Trixie was yet to be impressed. “Now! For my first trick, I will be attempting to levitate!” he said with much enthusiasm. This struck Trixie odd as he was a Unicorn, not a Pegasus. Therefore he would be unable to fly, or even levitate. If he knew such a spell that would make him levitate, then he would be a very powerful Unicorn.
Spellcaster trotted to the very middle of the stage and faced the audience. He scrunched up his face as if he was concentrating on a spell, but his horn wasn't light up. Then to the audiences' amazement, he started floating! Upon seeing this Trixie shot to the edge of her seat.
“Momma! How is he doing that?” Trixie asked, suddenly very intrigued at the display. Her mother started to chuckle.
“I have no idea, Trixie, but I’m sure there will be more to the show. Just watch.” And there was more to the show. The Great Spellcaster did a number of tricks, from sawing somepony in half, to even reading someponies mind! Trixie was beyond intrigued, she was amazed with the performance. At the end of the show she begged, and begged her parents to see him after everypony left.
“Ah, what can I do for you folks?” The Great Spellcaster asked when they walked up to him. Trixie stepped forward.
“How did you do all that?” she asked eagerly. Spellcaster just laughed.
“A good magician, never tells his secrets,” he replied. Trixie became saddened at his words, she had hoped he could teach her how to do those tricks. Spellcaster, noticing the now sad filly, used his magic to levitate a book from somewhere, and the wizard' hat from his head. He place the hat on Trixie's head and levitated the book in front of her. “I learned from this book, while I can't teach you how to do what I do, you can learn from my mentor,” he said with a smile. Trixie took the book from him and looked over the title; How to become a Magician: 101 tips and hints that will help you wow your audience.
“Wow, thanks!” Trixie said, never taking her eyes off the book.
“You are so very welcome, young filly. I am sorry to say this, but I must run. Just practice and practice, and before you know it, you will be a greater magician than me,” he said with a wink and he started to walk away. Trixie ran all the way back to her families campsite, she went into the tent, used her horn to produce some light, and started to read. Her parents chuckled and entered the tent, and read with Trixie.
Trixie snapped out of her memory. She looked around and saw Grounds Keeper sitting next to her.
“Sorry, it seemed like you were lost in a good memory,” he said. He offered Trixie a napkin and Trixie used it to dab at her eyes, her eyes wet with fresh tears.
“It's ok, I was remembering the first night I spent here,” Trixie said.
“If I remember correctly it was a magic show?” he asked looking up to the left, racking his brain.
“Yeah, The Great Spellcaster,” Trixie said, nodding her head.
“That's his name. Did you ever find him?” Grounds Keeper asked.
“Not yet, but I will.”
“I'm sure, anyway, I have the water ready, if you're ready,” Grounds Keeper said.
“Yeah, lets go,” Trixie said as she hopped off the bench. Grounds Keeper and Trixie walked back to the dirt road, where Grounds Keeper had a mobile water carrying wagon and after he was strapped in, they set off. They walked in silence and soon they were at Trixie's caravan, and Grounds Keeper filled her water tank.
“Are you still playing tonight?” Grounds Keeper asked as they waited for the water tank to fill.
“Of coarse, will you have the stage ready, Grandpa?” Trixie asked with a laugh, teasing playfully. Grounds Keeper puffed out his chest.
“I already have it set up,” he said, looking quite happy with himself.
“Alright,” Trixie said with a smile. After the tank was filled, Trixie paid Grounds Keeper a big tip, and entered her caravan to get ready for her show. She opened her closet and got out her cape and hat, she also got out a little wooden box, with “Keep out!”, “Not yours!”, “For The Great and Powerful Trixie's eyes only!”, written on it in multicolored crayons. Trixie couldn't help but smile. She levitated the box onto her bed, next to her hat and cape, and opened it. Inside was an old book, Trixie blew off the dust and the title became readable; How to become a Magician: 101 tips and hints that will help you wow your audience.
Trixie opened the cover and flipped through a few pages. Each page had much writing on it, both her hoof-writing, and Spellcaster. Trixie had written little notes to herself, just as Spellcaster did. She even listed a few stage names on the same page as Spellcaster did. Looking through the old book, Trixie found herself remembering, yet another memory from when she was younger.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do, love?” her father asked.
“Yes, poppa. I'm going to try to find Spellcaster if I can,” Trixie said as she moved stuff around in her new caravan she had bought with the money she earned from a few summers of working on rock farms. She was finally old enough to travel, and by golly she was going to do it!
With everything packed and put in the correct place, and with one last goodbye to her parents, she set off. Ready to take on what the world had to offer.
“But I wasn't ready for what the world had to offer,” Trixie thought to herself, as she lay on her bed. “I had expected to find Spellcaster within a few weeks, a month at most. But the world was different, I had no guide, I was scared, and I was lost, both literally and figuratively most of the time. Yet I wouldn't go back, for some crazy reason, I though I would have let my parents down. So in the end I had to make this, mean, ignorant, an always-wanting-to-be-better-than-you type of pony. But after a few encounters with Twilight Sparkle, I found myself back on my path. Yet even after all these years, I never found Spellcaster.”
Trixie found herself starting to get very tired, and since she had a few hours till the show, she let herself sleep.
~A few hours later~
Trixie drank some tea and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She always got nervous before shows, and even though this was all volunteer works and nothing big, she still got very nervous.
“Are you ready Trixie?” Grounds Keeper asked as she stuck his head in the room she was using to calm down. Trixie put on her hat and floated her book into a hidden pocket in her cape, something she always did for good luck.
“Yup,” she said and she followed him out of the room. He went left and she went right, and stayed hidden out of view. Trixie had a pretty good view of the stage and she saw it fill with blue smoke, once the smoke got dense enough she teleported herself in the middle of the stage. Once the smoke cleared she rose onto her hind legs and fireworks launched into the air behind her. The crowd clapped their hooves and cheered.
“Thank you audience,” Trixie yelled into the air, “my name is The Great and Powerful Trixie!” as the crowd broke into applause once again. Trixie couldn't help but think that Spellcaster was watching her.
Little did she know, Spellcaster was watching her, and he had to give her credit, she was one heck of a magician. Spellcaster watched the entire show and as she did her tricks he could see the excited little filly from long ago. After the show he sneaked into the room she was in an hour ago, trying to calm down. He cleared his throat to let her know she had a visitor. Trixie turned around and had a look of shock on her face.
“Hello there, I heard you've been looking for me?” Spellcaster asked with a smile. Trixie couldn't do more than nod.
Author's Note
I'm sorry if the story is a little confusing at some points, and i'm sorry if it seems rushed. If you find any mistakes, or if you have any questions, please let me know.