A Metal Worldby ToneCraftChaptersThe Great and Powerful Trixie!Cog's PredicamentThe Show of the Amazing Steven ArcanaOld Show, New AudienceDownhillThe Great and Powerful Trixie!The fireworks flashed in the sky, augmenting the end of Twilight's performance for the Saddle Arabian delegates. Trixie looked up to the stage and met her old rival's eyes. "Trixie?" Twilight wasn't looking down on her, but rather down at the performer. Trixie smiled hopefully, "It's the least I could do. I treated you and your friends so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn Amulet. I just couldn't control myself," she paused and looked up at the student's eyes, "You can forgive me, can't you?" Twilight took a moment to think before smiling at her, "Sure." The magician took the chance hopefully to milk the situation, "Oh, good. Don't you think the Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent humble pony you've ever seen?" Twilight didn't say anything, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. Trixie took the hint and turned to leave, still trying to put on a show of her exit. She set off a puff of smoke and turned to leave, tripping on her way out of the plaza. She couldn't help but think that maybe she was forgetting something... But she couldn't think of what it might be. Chalking it up to her imagination, Trixie left the town and started traveling again. "I'm sorry, but you can't keep this vehicle here, ma'am." The patrolpony told her. Trixie started nervously trotting, flustered, "Where am I supposed to move it? I don't have any money to stay anywhere!" "I'm not sure," the officer admitted, "But I won't write up a ticket if you do move your, uh, mobile home. That's all I can do to help you right now." Trixie panted, trying to take a breath and rest as she dragged her stage behind herself. "I'll find some way to make a comeback," she kept telling herself. No sooner did she stop, however, when the rain started. Trixie cried out in frustration, wanting to simply retreat into her stage for shelter, but she was on a road, on a hill. She knew that to hide in the trailer would be illegal in the best case scenario, and suicide in the worst. She started moving again. "Well, hello there, little filly," A dark red earth pony said with a chuckle, "Looks like you're lost." "Not really," Trixie responded, "Just wandering at this point." "Where are you headed?" He chuckled, "I could take you there." Trixie was tired, cold, and honestly rather desperate, but she wasn't stupid, "I have a vehicle, sir." "Oh, now? The trailer you dragged up here?" The stallion sneered, "Maybe we could strike some kind of deal. You're clearly broke, after all." He started advancing towards her. "No!" Trixie snapped, stepping back, "I don't want to go with you! Somepony help!" The stallion glared at her, but somepony did indeed hear Trixie's cry. A pegasus flying by descended, and the stallion left without another word. "Miss? Are you alright?" The pegasus asked, brushing his own mane out of his face. Trixie nodded, having difficulty holding back her own tears, "Thank you for coming to help..." "You need to be able to keep some pride, right? I've seen your show once before." The pegasus said with a kind smile. He pulled out a small bag and placed it on the trailer, "Here, you look like you could use a meal. I wish I could help more, but I can't exactly offer hospitality if you can't walk on the clouds." The kindness that she'd been shown was beginning to run out, as Trixie walked further and further. She considered going back to Ponyville, begging Twilight for help, but some smidgen of her pride still remained. She pulled her cart along the road into a town, yet again hungry. Finally, she stopped to rest, parked the trailer, and collapsed on the nearest bench. It felt like hours of simply laying there on her bench, before anypony noticed her. A silver unicorn approached, "Excuse me, ma'am? Are you alright?" Trixie looked up, immediately met with the deep brown eyes of yet another stallion. This one was dressed in a light blue scarf and had a pair of safety goggles sticking out of his saddlebag. "I'm f-fine.." Trixie tried to lie, but the stallion tilted his head with a raised eyebrow. "You're very clearly not fine, you've been sitting there since I went into the shop. Besides, I can almost hear your instincts begging you to let go of your ego." He countered, before switching to a bit more gentle tone of voice, "Look, there's a restaurant right over there, let me get you something to eat." "So, what's your name?" The stallion asked her after she finished the first course of the meal. Trixie had not expected him to take her into a five-star restaurant, but she was grateful nonetheless. "I am the Great and--" Trixie started, her ego kindling for a moment, before she sighed sadly, "You know what? Forget it... My name is Trixie." The silver unicorn nodded, "Used to be a performer, I'm guessing. Considering you were about to introduce yourself with a stage name. My name is Winding Cog." Trixie nodded, "Yeah, I was a performer. I was humiliated in Ponyville and made some pretty big mistakes when I tried to get revenge." "Hey, we all make mistakes, Trixie." Winding Cog said with a smile, "Doesn't mean we have to stop going when they happen." The next course arrived and Trixie started eating again. "By the way... Do you need a place to keep that trailer? They won't let you park it out there overnight, after all." Trixie looked up, "Why do you ask?" "Because I live in a pretty big house, with a field next to it and everything. You're welcome to put your trailer there until you leave town, and I'll help you with anything you need," he responded, "And just to clarify, I'm not going to ask anything of you in return for this." The magician sighed, "Then why are you offering?" "My mother was in your position once. She didn't have the same history, but she ended up on the streets for almost two years until my father caught her breaking into his house for a bite to eat," he said, "Sweet Celestia, he didn't even realize who she was the next time they met. Until after they married, anyway." Trixie blinked at him, "Are you.. Courting me right now?" Winding Cog's eyes widened in surprise as he stood up, "Aah! No, I'm sorry!" Every customer turned and watched as the unicorn started banging his head against the way, "I'm such an idiot! I must be coming off as a total creep to this mare!" It was only when his horn got stuck in the wall that he finally calmed down, "Um... S-sorry, everypony?" He said with a nervous grin. A couple fillies laughed when he tried to pull away from the wall, but the rest of them went back to their business. "Could somepony help me, please?" Cog's PredicamentTwo weeks had passed, and Trixie was clearly in much better health. She finally noticed Winding Cog's cutie mark; a thick gear with arcs of lightning coming off of it in a circular shape. "What is it you do around here, Cog?" She asked curiously. Cog chuckled, "I'm a mechanic. But that's just the way I make money. I'm actually a scientist. Haven't had a chance to get any influence in the scientific community yet." "How'd you get the mansion, then?" "I inherited it from my grandmother." "I see," Trixie said, looking over at the large home. It was painted a light grey, and had several windows. For the most part, though, it was a relatively bland rectangular shape. "Dammit!" Cog shouted in his basement, kicking the wall in frustration, "I can't fit through to the other side!" Experiment log No. 417 In the strange portal in the wall I finally managed to get the energy going to keep this gate visible, so that I don't lose it when it moves again. However, it seems to be a few inches smaller than I can get through. I'm going to have to find a volunteer to check out the other side. What I know at the moment: It seems to lead to someplace inhabited, evidenced by the voices I heard from the other side when I found it. The air on the other side is definitely breathable. I've taken some samples, and it's even cleaner than the air here. 3. My wireless can communicate audio through it, but not video. Unfortunately, the microphone and camera were not retrieved. The volunteer will have to be an adult female so that they can fit through, and still have less risk of being hurt. Winding Cog "So, yeah. That's what got me interested in science," Cog said as he sat across from Trixie. "Did you ever find out what was on the other side of that portal?" Trixie asked. "No. I finally managed to set it up so that I could actually see it, but I can't get through. It's too small for me," the stallion said, dropping his head a bit, "Seven years ago, maybe, but I'm not a colt any more. It's just a few inches smaller than myself." "Maybe Winding Cog needs to lose some weight," Trixie joked. "I don't know..." Cog countered, "You're starting to look like the Great and Ponderous Trixie to me. OW!" Trixie drew her hoof back, a red mark on the side of Cog's face, "Don't you know never to call a lady fat?" Cog rolled his eyes, "alright, I'm sorry." Trixie nodded, "Now. You said you needed to find somepony smaller than yourself to go through that portal you found. I need a job. If you pay me, oh, um... Twelve bits an hour, I'll go through that portal and explore whatever's on the other side. You'll find out everything you want to know, and I'll get some money, hopefully to repair my stage." "Are you sure about that?" Cog asked, "It could be risky." Trixie smirked, showing a bit of her old ego, "I'm sure I can handle whatever is on the other side." "But you--Alright.. Just don't get yourself hurt," Cog relented after some thought. "Alright," Cog said, handing the magician an earpiece, pen, and notepad, "Now, tell me as much of what you see as you can. Should anything go wrong, the earpiece should have enough power to last for 28 days. I don't think you'll be there for more than a few hours at a time, though." Trixie nodded, "And the notepad?" "I want you to keep a journal of what you see in there. I'll write down what you tell me as well." Trixie nodded again, "Alright. I'll be back later." She put the earpiece in and started stepping through the portal. "Just remember your distractions in case of anything hostile," Cog said once more, as Trixie turned the earpiece on. The next thing the scientist heard through the speakers was a brief scream. He grabbed the microphone quickly, "What happened?! Trixie, are you alright?!" "Yes, I'm fine," her voice came back, "I just didn't expect the portal to be in the air on the other side. It seems to be about a five meter drop, I'll have to find something to climb when I return." "See if you can find something now so that we don't face this problem then. What's around you?" "Looking around myself now, I see... Metal," Trixie said. "Like a junkpile?" Cog asked her. "No. I'm standing on a flat sheet of metal. Actually, it looks like everything is metal," Trixie responded, "It's pretty polished, too." Cog sighed, "Alright. Start looking around, but don't get yourself hurt." "Me? Get hurt?" Trixie said smugly, "Don't you realize you're talking to the Great and Powerful Trixie?" "Yeah, yeah, just keep your Great and Powerful self safe." With that, Cog went to his own notepad. The Show of the Amazing Steven Arcana"Ladies and Gentlemen! Homo Sapiens and Equus Ferus Caballus alike! Please gather round and see the show of the Amazing, STEVEN ARCANA!" The announcer called into the microphone. The audience around the stage was crowded, but nowhere hear full. As they applauded, a young man stepped out from behind his red curtain. He was dressed in black penny loafers, black slacks, a black button-down shirt, and a light blue sportcoat. "Hello everyone!" Steven spoke into his microphone. "I'm here to show you all a good show, all the way from my shoes to my hat!" He tapped his head, before his icy blue eyes widened. Instead of a hat of any kind, he only felt his platinum blonde hair. "My mistake, I seem to have forgotten my hat." He placed his hands together, and seemed to conjure a light blue top hat out of nowhere, pulling it up to put it on his head. After the hat passed his face, he was suddenly wearing a large red nose. Roars of laughter erupted from the audience as Steven stared blankly, feigning ignorance about his new facial feature. "What?" He asked, "What's so funny?" Steven crossed his eyes, "Oh, the nose," he said, "What do you think, everyone? I'm apparently good enough to do it on accident!" He took off the nose, leaving a large mustache, which prompted more laughter. This time, the performer pulled a mirror out of his sleeve and looked, "I dunno, it looks kinda cool. What do you think, kids?" A small boy in the front of the audience whispered something to a filly next to him, and she voiced it immediately, "Mister Arcana, it's pink!" Steven smiled again, "Don't be silly, that's my job," he said to her, "Besides, it's not pink. It's desert rose." The laugh was primarily from the parents in the audience this time. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Martha Steven," he said, "but you didn't come to hear cheap jokes. You came to watch my magic tricks, yes?" More applause. Steven nodded and took the mustache off before starting his true performance while some blue pony wandered into the audience. He kept an eye on her for the first couple minutes. Was she wearing a fake horn? He didn't let it distract him for too long as he continued, going with classics like taking a rabbit out of his hat, and making juggling balls disappear while he juggled them. "Alright," he said, "for this next trick, I'll need a volunteer. Species doesn't matter, but I think you should pick them so that I can't be bringing some assistant on stage." Trixie was intrigued by this things act, even though she could tell it wasn't real magic. What she didn't expect was that several of the ponies and the bipeds would send her up to the stage for the magician's trick. "What? I don't think that's a--" "Don't worry, madam. I'm not going to saw you in half or anything. I'm just going to play a little guessing game with you," Steven said to reassure her, "I won't even touch you." "Then what exactly do you plan to do?" Trixie asked him, to which Steven responded by pulling a small white pocketknife out of his coat. "I plan to make this disappear and reappear in my pocket. For the next couple seconds, you just stand there and look confused." He waited a moment, examining her face, "perfect." Some slight of hand was enough to impress the audience. Now it was time to confuse them. "Now then, I'll just pull the knife out here.. And--what?" He acted like something was wrong when he pulled out the knife, which was now black. He showed the mare both sides, "It changed color. That doesn't usually happen." He pulled another white knife out of his pocket, "At least I've got a spare." He put the black one in his right hand, and the white one in his left, hiding them from view, "Now, madam, this is where you come in. What's your name?" "My name is Trixie," the mare responded. "Good name if you plan to go into show business," Steven said with a smile. "I've been in show business since I was a filly," Trixie said pridefully. "Well, the stage is open after my show," Steven said, "Now, where is the black knife?" Trixie raised an eyebrow, "I know about this one a bit. It's in your left hand now." He opened his left hand to reveal the white knife, "Try again." "Right hand," Trixie said. Steven opened his right hand to reveal... The white knife. "Wrong. Try again." "It's not there." He opened his right hand. The black knife, "Again." This went on for a couple of minutes, with Trixie getting increasingly flustered, before he concluded, "Alright everyone, I'm finished with my show. I'll leave you with the blue mare here." Old Show, New AudienceTrixie realized what was happening. Steven Arcana had left her alone on the stage, with the audience expecting her to do something. "Way to throw a girl under the cart, whoever you are!" She muttered under her breath, before her eyes widened in realization, "Oh, I see. The Great and Powerful *Trixie*** gets to perform again!" Everyone in the audience could see her excitement as her horn lit up, conjuring her cloak and hat out of nowhere. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, don't get out of your seats yet! You are about to see some REAL magic!" Even without her usual stage, she could show most of her tricks, though the fireworks were a no-go, as there was nothing around on which to mount them. Even so, her tricks were enough to draw roaring applause from the audience, except for one member. Arcana was sitting near the back, watching Trixie intently. His eyes sent a shiver down her spine every time she looked over at him, throughout her performance. Finally, she was done, and teleported off of the stage just to get out of the illusionist's gaze. Steven stood up as the show ended. What he saw on the stage wasn't sleight of hoof, or any illusion. This pony was actually a spellcaster. His left hand tightened into a fist as he turned to leave without even speaking to any of the other audience members. He stepped around a corner, searching for that unicorn. He kept going through the area around the park, before finally seeing the unicorn wandering around. "Impressive show," he started as he approached her, "I almost thought it was actual magic." "It was," she responded proudly. "As I thought," Steven said, before grabbing her horn and looking into her eyes. "I don't know how you got here, or what world you came from, but you'd better hightail it back if you value your life," he hissed, trying to hammer in his point as hard as he could. "Let go of me, you freak!" She shouted, pulling herself away as quickly as she could. Steven raised his hand for a moment to strike her, before collecting himself and dropping it, "You think I'm a freak, hm? I'm some kind of deviation from normal? Look around you! Humans live all over this world! Ponies as well, even pegasi! But have you seen a single unicorn?" Trixie thought back, trying to remember a unicorn in the audience, and Steven continued, "Unicorns don't exist in this world. Magic isn't supposed to, either. You being here casting spells is like me breathing in space. The only magic you have is the magic you took with you, but once you're out of that, are you really going to last long?" "Shut up!" Trixie snapped, "How do you even know this, if it's true that magic isn't used here? Maybe it's just not in practice around here!" "Believe me, Trick, I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't sure about it. You'll end up depleting your entire reserve of magic with another show like that," Steven said, before turning and walking away. If he couldn't convince her to go, he'd let her magic drain itself over time until she realized he was right. Trixie watched the illusionist leave, starting to shake. "I heard all of it," Cog's voice started in her ear, "are you alright, Trixie?" Trixie forced back a tear, "Y-yeah, I'm alright." "Another thing I heard was a lot of deafening applause during your impromptu show," Cog mused, "So you're popular with the natives, eh?" "Yes, I am," Trixie said with a bit of a smile, "Who cares if one psycho thinks I need to leave. He's probably just angry because I'm moving in on his territory." "Still, I'm going to be keeping an eye on the monitors," Cog told her, "But whether he's right, mistaken, or lying, you should probably watch out for him." "Trixie agrees," the magician said. "You're not on stage, Trixie." Trixie groaned, "Fine." "How about writing some stuff down about this world?" Trixie's log #1 I've found myself in the employment of the stallion who helped me out, going through a mysterious portal in his house. mansion. On the other side seems to be a world covered in steel. Everything is nearly perfectly polished, and the ponies here are not alone. There's another type of creature. According to one of them, who seems mentally unbalanced, they're called "hyoomins." I'll have to find out the spelling of that later. Perhaps I should find a library. Signed Trixie Lulamoon Steven opened the door to his house. While the outside was still pristine and shined in the light, the inside looked like he kept it clean himself. The iron was in good repair, but had poor appearence, as if it had been kept rust free, but not polished. There was a large computer in the corner, which he approached and flipped the switch to the monitor, "hey, Cold Stone." DownhillCog paced back and forth in front of his equipment, checking every piece. Trixie had been in that other world for nearly three days at this point, telling him more and more details about it, but something was bothering him. He'd been seriously worried for Trixie's life when that performer had confronted her, and since then, Cog was trying to figure out whether there was any truth to this. Trixie had been performing a couple times each day, thanks to that first audience spreading the news, somepony had even paid for her to have a hotel room. A flashing red light by the monitor caught the scientist's attention, and he went straight to the microphone, "Trixie! Drop whatever you're doing, there's something wrong!" "What?" Trixie said from the other side, "What's happening?" "The headset was supposed to be able to last for up to a month! You've only been there for a couple days and it's flashing the low battery warning!" "What?!" "It runs off of magic. If the power in that headset has been draining that quickly, then maybe that illusionist actually knew what he was talking about!" Cog said urgently. "You need to come back before anything happens!" Coming from some crazy illusionist, it had sounded like a threat, but from Cog, it elicited worry in Trixie. "Just get back through the portal so that I can make sure you're alright," Cog said, "Please." "Okay," Trixie acknowledged, "Put a rope or something through the portal, because I can't see it on this side." Cog turned and looked around the basement, grabbing some cord off of the floor and tossing one end through. "I see it," Trixie said, "I'll just move this garbage can under the portal so I can reach it." Cog heard grunts of effort and watched the portal. Suddenly, it started to shimmer, slowly getting smaller, "Trixie, hurry! It's closing!" "What do you mean it's--" Trixie's voice cut off as the battery in her headset died, and the portal closed, cutting the cord. "Trixie, repeat!" Cog said into the microphone. No answer. "Trixie?!" Nothing. "Trixie! Shit!" He went through the notes and journals he'd taken on the portal, desperately searching for something that could give him a clue how to open it. "It moves at random... I can't fit through it... It's magical output is on a level higher than that of a high-level unicorn... Dammit!" He threw the notes to the floor, cursing again, then something occurred to him, "Magical output..." He galloped upstairs to his room, grabbed a book off of the shelf, "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide..." He looked through the book, which was filled with notes, "Currently linked to Princess Twilight Sparkle." "Cog? Cog, please, answer me! The cable just fell!" Trixie shouted into the headset, reaching a hoof towards where the cable had been dangling from. She took the headset off, and checked it, now realizing that it had gone completely dead. A voice sounded behind her. "I told you you needed to go home, Trick," Steven said, leaning against one of the nearby posts. He was now wearing a black jacket, T-shirt, and Jeans, as well as his sneakers, "I guess I could've gone about it somewhat differently." Trixie looked at him, "How did you know the world was draining me?" Steven walked towards her, "Because it's happened before. You're not the first pony to wander into this place from a world of magic." With that, he looked into her eyes, "And now you're stuck here for a while. That portal opened shortly after it was too late for the last one. Now, you'll have to wait for the portal to open, and if my calculations are correct, you've got about a week, barring any spellcasting, before your magic reserve is completely drained. You need to hope that the portal opens before then." Twilight lay there, opening her book, but shutting it quickly when she heard a commotion outside the library. Annoyed, she placed her book on the bedside table and went to the window to see what was happening. "...can't just run into the castle in the middle of the night like a madpony! Especially during the Summer Sun preparations!" The guard outside was saying to some silver unicorn. "I need her help! Please!" The unicorn shouted, pleading with him, "Just let me talk to her!" "I said no," the guard said irritably. "But--" The unicorn tried to counter, before the guard shouted. "Leave now or you'll spend the night in a cell!" "TRIXIE COULD BE DEAD ALREADY!" The unicorn shouted back, his horn starting to glow. Twilight had seen enough. She stepped onto the balcony, "I'll speak with him."
The Great and Powerful Trixie!The fireworks flashed in the sky, augmenting the end of Twilight's performance for the Saddle Arabian delegates. Trixie looked up to the stage and met her old rival's eyes. "Trixie?" Twilight wasn't looking down on her, but rather down at the performer. Trixie smiled hopefully, "It's the least I could do. I treated you and your friends so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn Amulet. I just couldn't control myself," she paused and looked up at the student's eyes, "You can forgive me, can't you?" Twilight took a moment to think before smiling at her, "Sure." The magician took the chance hopefully to milk the situation, "Oh, good. Don't you think the Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent humble pony you've ever seen?" Twilight didn't say anything, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. Trixie took the hint and turned to leave, still trying to put on a show of her exit. She set off a puff of smoke and turned to leave, tripping on her way out of the plaza. She couldn't help but think that maybe she was forgetting something... But she couldn't think of what it might be. Chalking it up to her imagination, Trixie left the town and started traveling again. "I'm sorry, but you can't keep this vehicle here, ma'am." The patrolpony told her. Trixie started nervously trotting, flustered, "Where am I supposed to move it? I don't have any money to stay anywhere!" "I'm not sure," the officer admitted, "But I won't write up a ticket if you do move your, uh, mobile home. That's all I can do to help you right now." Trixie panted, trying to take a breath and rest as she dragged her stage behind herself. "I'll find some way to make a comeback," she kept telling herself. No sooner did she stop, however, when the rain started. Trixie cried out in frustration, wanting to simply retreat into her stage for shelter, but she was on a road, on a hill. She knew that to hide in the trailer would be illegal in the best case scenario, and suicide in the worst. She started moving again. "Well, hello there, little filly," A dark red earth pony said with a chuckle, "Looks like you're lost." "Not really," Trixie responded, "Just wandering at this point." "Where are you headed?" He chuckled, "I could take you there." Trixie was tired, cold, and honestly rather desperate, but she wasn't stupid, "I have a vehicle, sir." "Oh, now? The trailer you dragged up here?" The stallion sneered, "Maybe we could strike some kind of deal. You're clearly broke, after all." He started advancing towards her. "No!" Trixie snapped, stepping back, "I don't want to go with you! Somepony help!" The stallion glared at her, but somepony did indeed hear Trixie's cry. A pegasus flying by descended, and the stallion left without another word. "Miss? Are you alright?" The pegasus asked, brushing his own mane out of his face. Trixie nodded, having difficulty holding back her own tears, "Thank you for coming to help..." "You need to be able to keep some pride, right? I've seen your show once before." The pegasus said with a kind smile. He pulled out a small bag and placed it on the trailer, "Here, you look like you could use a meal. I wish I could help more, but I can't exactly offer hospitality if you can't walk on the clouds." The kindness that she'd been shown was beginning to run out, as Trixie walked further and further. She considered going back to Ponyville, begging Twilight for help, but some smidgen of her pride still remained. She pulled her cart along the road into a town, yet again hungry. Finally, she stopped to rest, parked the trailer, and collapsed on the nearest bench. It felt like hours of simply laying there on her bench, before anypony noticed her. A silver unicorn approached, "Excuse me, ma'am? Are you alright?" Trixie looked up, immediately met with the deep brown eyes of yet another stallion. This one was dressed in a light blue scarf and had a pair of safety goggles sticking out of his saddlebag. "I'm f-fine.." Trixie tried to lie, but the stallion tilted his head with a raised eyebrow. "You're very clearly not fine, you've been sitting there since I went into the shop. Besides, I can almost hear your instincts begging you to let go of your ego." He countered, before switching to a bit more gentle tone of voice, "Look, there's a restaurant right over there, let me get you something to eat." "So, what's your name?" The stallion asked her after she finished the first course of the meal. Trixie had not expected him to take her into a five-star restaurant, but she was grateful nonetheless. "I am the Great and--" Trixie started, her ego kindling for a moment, before she sighed sadly, "You know what? Forget it... My name is Trixie." The silver unicorn nodded, "Used to be a performer, I'm guessing. Considering you were about to introduce yourself with a stage name. My name is Winding Cog." Trixie nodded, "Yeah, I was a performer. I was humiliated in Ponyville and made some pretty big mistakes when I tried to get revenge." "Hey, we all make mistakes, Trixie." Winding Cog said with a smile, "Doesn't mean we have to stop going when they happen." The next course arrived and Trixie started eating again. "By the way... Do you need a place to keep that trailer? They won't let you park it out there overnight, after all." Trixie looked up, "Why do you ask?" "Because I live in a pretty big house, with a field next to it and everything. You're welcome to put your trailer there until you leave town, and I'll help you with anything you need," he responded, "And just to clarify, I'm not going to ask anything of you in return for this." The magician sighed, "Then why are you offering?" "My mother was in your position once. She didn't have the same history, but she ended up on the streets for almost two years until my father caught her breaking into his house for a bite to eat," he said, "Sweet Celestia, he didn't even realize who she was the next time they met. Until after they married, anyway." Trixie blinked at him, "Are you.. Courting me right now?" Winding Cog's eyes widened in surprise as he stood up, "Aah! No, I'm sorry!" Every customer turned and watched as the unicorn started banging his head against the way, "I'm such an idiot! I must be coming off as a total creep to this mare!" It was only when his horn got stuck in the wall that he finally calmed down, "Um... S-sorry, everypony?" He said with a nervous grin. A couple fillies laughed when he tried to pull away from the wall, but the rest of them went back to their business. "Could somepony help me, please?"
Cog's PredicamentTwo weeks had passed, and Trixie was clearly in much better health. She finally noticed Winding Cog's cutie mark; a thick gear with arcs of lightning coming off of it in a circular shape. "What is it you do around here, Cog?" She asked curiously. Cog chuckled, "I'm a mechanic. But that's just the way I make money. I'm actually a scientist. Haven't had a chance to get any influence in the scientific community yet." "How'd you get the mansion, then?" "I inherited it from my grandmother." "I see," Trixie said, looking over at the large home. It was painted a light grey, and had several windows. For the most part, though, it was a relatively bland rectangular shape. "Dammit!" Cog shouted in his basement, kicking the wall in frustration, "I can't fit through to the other side!" Experiment log No. 417 In the strange portal in the wall I finally managed to get the energy going to keep this gate visible, so that I don't lose it when it moves again. However, it seems to be a few inches smaller than I can get through. I'm going to have to find a volunteer to check out the other side. What I know at the moment: It seems to lead to someplace inhabited, evidenced by the voices I heard from the other side when I found it. The air on the other side is definitely breathable. I've taken some samples, and it's even cleaner than the air here. 3. My wireless can communicate audio through it, but not video. Unfortunately, the microphone and camera were not retrieved. The volunteer will have to be an adult female so that they can fit through, and still have less risk of being hurt. Winding Cog "So, yeah. That's what got me interested in science," Cog said as he sat across from Trixie. "Did you ever find out what was on the other side of that portal?" Trixie asked. "No. I finally managed to set it up so that I could actually see it, but I can't get through. It's too small for me," the stallion said, dropping his head a bit, "Seven years ago, maybe, but I'm not a colt any more. It's just a few inches smaller than myself." "Maybe Winding Cog needs to lose some weight," Trixie joked. "I don't know..." Cog countered, "You're starting to look like the Great and Ponderous Trixie to me. OW!" Trixie drew her hoof back, a red mark on the side of Cog's face, "Don't you know never to call a lady fat?" Cog rolled his eyes, "alright, I'm sorry." Trixie nodded, "Now. You said you needed to find somepony smaller than yourself to go through that portal you found. I need a job. If you pay me, oh, um... Twelve bits an hour, I'll go through that portal and explore whatever's on the other side. You'll find out everything you want to know, and I'll get some money, hopefully to repair my stage." "Are you sure about that?" Cog asked, "It could be risky." Trixie smirked, showing a bit of her old ego, "I'm sure I can handle whatever is on the other side." "But you--Alright.. Just don't get yourself hurt," Cog relented after some thought. "Alright," Cog said, handing the magician an earpiece, pen, and notepad, "Now, tell me as much of what you see as you can. Should anything go wrong, the earpiece should have enough power to last for 28 days. I don't think you'll be there for more than a few hours at a time, though." Trixie nodded, "And the notepad?" "I want you to keep a journal of what you see in there. I'll write down what you tell me as well." Trixie nodded again, "Alright. I'll be back later." She put the earpiece in and started stepping through the portal. "Just remember your distractions in case of anything hostile," Cog said once more, as Trixie turned the earpiece on. The next thing the scientist heard through the speakers was a brief scream. He grabbed the microphone quickly, "What happened?! Trixie, are you alright?!" "Yes, I'm fine," her voice came back, "I just didn't expect the portal to be in the air on the other side. It seems to be about a five meter drop, I'll have to find something to climb when I return." "See if you can find something now so that we don't face this problem then. What's around you?" "Looking around myself now, I see... Metal," Trixie said. "Like a junkpile?" Cog asked her. "No. I'm standing on a flat sheet of metal. Actually, it looks like everything is metal," Trixie responded, "It's pretty polished, too." Cog sighed, "Alright. Start looking around, but don't get yourself hurt." "Me? Get hurt?" Trixie said smugly, "Don't you realize you're talking to the Great and Powerful Trixie?" "Yeah, yeah, just keep your Great and Powerful self safe." With that, Cog went to his own notepad.
The Show of the Amazing Steven Arcana"Ladies and Gentlemen! Homo Sapiens and Equus Ferus Caballus alike! Please gather round and see the show of the Amazing, STEVEN ARCANA!" The announcer called into the microphone. The audience around the stage was crowded, but nowhere hear full. As they applauded, a young man stepped out from behind his red curtain. He was dressed in black penny loafers, black slacks, a black button-down shirt, and a light blue sportcoat. "Hello everyone!" Steven spoke into his microphone. "I'm here to show you all a good show, all the way from my shoes to my hat!" He tapped his head, before his icy blue eyes widened. Instead of a hat of any kind, he only felt his platinum blonde hair. "My mistake, I seem to have forgotten my hat." He placed his hands together, and seemed to conjure a light blue top hat out of nowhere, pulling it up to put it on his head. After the hat passed his face, he was suddenly wearing a large red nose. Roars of laughter erupted from the audience as Steven stared blankly, feigning ignorance about his new facial feature. "What?" He asked, "What's so funny?" Steven crossed his eyes, "Oh, the nose," he said, "What do you think, everyone? I'm apparently good enough to do it on accident!" He took off the nose, leaving a large mustache, which prompted more laughter. This time, the performer pulled a mirror out of his sleeve and looked, "I dunno, it looks kinda cool. What do you think, kids?" A small boy in the front of the audience whispered something to a filly next to him, and she voiced it immediately, "Mister Arcana, it's pink!" Steven smiled again, "Don't be silly, that's my job," he said to her, "Besides, it's not pink. It's desert rose." The laugh was primarily from the parents in the audience this time. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Martha Steven," he said, "but you didn't come to hear cheap jokes. You came to watch my magic tricks, yes?" More applause. Steven nodded and took the mustache off before starting his true performance while some blue pony wandered into the audience. He kept an eye on her for the first couple minutes. Was she wearing a fake horn? He didn't let it distract him for too long as he continued, going with classics like taking a rabbit out of his hat, and making juggling balls disappear while he juggled them. "Alright," he said, "for this next trick, I'll need a volunteer. Species doesn't matter, but I think you should pick them so that I can't be bringing some assistant on stage." Trixie was intrigued by this things act, even though she could tell it wasn't real magic. What she didn't expect was that several of the ponies and the bipeds would send her up to the stage for the magician's trick. "What? I don't think that's a--" "Don't worry, madam. I'm not going to saw you in half or anything. I'm just going to play a little guessing game with you," Steven said to reassure her, "I won't even touch you." "Then what exactly do you plan to do?" Trixie asked him, to which Steven responded by pulling a small white pocketknife out of his coat. "I plan to make this disappear and reappear in my pocket. For the next couple seconds, you just stand there and look confused." He waited a moment, examining her face, "perfect." Some slight of hand was enough to impress the audience. Now it was time to confuse them. "Now then, I'll just pull the knife out here.. And--what?" He acted like something was wrong when he pulled out the knife, which was now black. He showed the mare both sides, "It changed color. That doesn't usually happen." He pulled another white knife out of his pocket, "At least I've got a spare." He put the black one in his right hand, and the white one in his left, hiding them from view, "Now, madam, this is where you come in. What's your name?" "My name is Trixie," the mare responded. "Good name if you plan to go into show business," Steven said with a smile. "I've been in show business since I was a filly," Trixie said pridefully. "Well, the stage is open after my show," Steven said, "Now, where is the black knife?" Trixie raised an eyebrow, "I know about this one a bit. It's in your left hand now." He opened his left hand to reveal the white knife, "Try again." "Right hand," Trixie said. Steven opened his right hand to reveal... The white knife. "Wrong. Try again." "It's not there." He opened his right hand. The black knife, "Again." This went on for a couple of minutes, with Trixie getting increasingly flustered, before he concluded, "Alright everyone, I'm finished with my show. I'll leave you with the blue mare here."
Old Show, New AudienceTrixie realized what was happening. Steven Arcana had left her alone on the stage, with the audience expecting her to do something. "Way to throw a girl under the cart, whoever you are!" She muttered under her breath, before her eyes widened in realization, "Oh, I see. The Great and Powerful *Trixie*** gets to perform again!" Everyone in the audience could see her excitement as her horn lit up, conjuring her cloak and hat out of nowhere. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, don't get out of your seats yet! You are about to see some REAL magic!" Even without her usual stage, she could show most of her tricks, though the fireworks were a no-go, as there was nothing around on which to mount them. Even so, her tricks were enough to draw roaring applause from the audience, except for one member. Arcana was sitting near the back, watching Trixie intently. His eyes sent a shiver down her spine every time she looked over at him, throughout her performance. Finally, she was done, and teleported off of the stage just to get out of the illusionist's gaze. Steven stood up as the show ended. What he saw on the stage wasn't sleight of hoof, or any illusion. This pony was actually a spellcaster. His left hand tightened into a fist as he turned to leave without even speaking to any of the other audience members. He stepped around a corner, searching for that unicorn. He kept going through the area around the park, before finally seeing the unicorn wandering around. "Impressive show," he started as he approached her, "I almost thought it was actual magic." "It was," she responded proudly. "As I thought," Steven said, before grabbing her horn and looking into her eyes. "I don't know how you got here, or what world you came from, but you'd better hightail it back if you value your life," he hissed, trying to hammer in his point as hard as he could. "Let go of me, you freak!" She shouted, pulling herself away as quickly as she could. Steven raised his hand for a moment to strike her, before collecting himself and dropping it, "You think I'm a freak, hm? I'm some kind of deviation from normal? Look around you! Humans live all over this world! Ponies as well, even pegasi! But have you seen a single unicorn?" Trixie thought back, trying to remember a unicorn in the audience, and Steven continued, "Unicorns don't exist in this world. Magic isn't supposed to, either. You being here casting spells is like me breathing in space. The only magic you have is the magic you took with you, but once you're out of that, are you really going to last long?" "Shut up!" Trixie snapped, "How do you even know this, if it's true that magic isn't used here? Maybe it's just not in practice around here!" "Believe me, Trick, I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't sure about it. You'll end up depleting your entire reserve of magic with another show like that," Steven said, before turning and walking away. If he couldn't convince her to go, he'd let her magic drain itself over time until she realized he was right. Trixie watched the illusionist leave, starting to shake. "I heard all of it," Cog's voice started in her ear, "are you alright, Trixie?" Trixie forced back a tear, "Y-yeah, I'm alright." "Another thing I heard was a lot of deafening applause during your impromptu show," Cog mused, "So you're popular with the natives, eh?" "Yes, I am," Trixie said with a bit of a smile, "Who cares if one psycho thinks I need to leave. He's probably just angry because I'm moving in on his territory." "Still, I'm going to be keeping an eye on the monitors," Cog told her, "But whether he's right, mistaken, or lying, you should probably watch out for him." "Trixie agrees," the magician said. "You're not on stage, Trixie." Trixie groaned, "Fine." "How about writing some stuff down about this world?" Trixie's log #1 I've found myself in the employment of the stallion who helped me out, going through a mysterious portal in his house. mansion. On the other side seems to be a world covered in steel. Everything is nearly perfectly polished, and the ponies here are not alone. There's another type of creature. According to one of them, who seems mentally unbalanced, they're called "hyoomins." I'll have to find out the spelling of that later. Perhaps I should find a library. Signed Trixie Lulamoon Steven opened the door to his house. While the outside was still pristine and shined in the light, the inside looked like he kept it clean himself. The iron was in good repair, but had poor appearence, as if it had been kept rust free, but not polished. There was a large computer in the corner, which he approached and flipped the switch to the monitor, "hey, Cold Stone."
DownhillCog paced back and forth in front of his equipment, checking every piece. Trixie had been in that other world for nearly three days at this point, telling him more and more details about it, but something was bothering him. He'd been seriously worried for Trixie's life when that performer had confronted her, and since then, Cog was trying to figure out whether there was any truth to this. Trixie had been performing a couple times each day, thanks to that first audience spreading the news, somepony had even paid for her to have a hotel room. A flashing red light by the monitor caught the scientist's attention, and he went straight to the microphone, "Trixie! Drop whatever you're doing, there's something wrong!" "What?" Trixie said from the other side, "What's happening?" "The headset was supposed to be able to last for up to a month! You've only been there for a couple days and it's flashing the low battery warning!" "What?!" "It runs off of magic. If the power in that headset has been draining that quickly, then maybe that illusionist actually knew what he was talking about!" Cog said urgently. "You need to come back before anything happens!" Coming from some crazy illusionist, it had sounded like a threat, but from Cog, it elicited worry in Trixie. "Just get back through the portal so that I can make sure you're alright," Cog said, "Please." "Okay," Trixie acknowledged, "Put a rope or something through the portal, because I can't see it on this side." Cog turned and looked around the basement, grabbing some cord off of the floor and tossing one end through. "I see it," Trixie said, "I'll just move this garbage can under the portal so I can reach it." Cog heard grunts of effort and watched the portal. Suddenly, it started to shimmer, slowly getting smaller, "Trixie, hurry! It's closing!" "What do you mean it's--" Trixie's voice cut off as the battery in her headset died, and the portal closed, cutting the cord. "Trixie, repeat!" Cog said into the microphone. No answer. "Trixie?!" Nothing. "Trixie! Shit!" He went through the notes and journals he'd taken on the portal, desperately searching for something that could give him a clue how to open it. "It moves at random... I can't fit through it... It's magical output is on a level higher than that of a high-level unicorn... Dammit!" He threw the notes to the floor, cursing again, then something occurred to him, "Magical output..." He galloped upstairs to his room, grabbed a book off of the shelf, "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide..." He looked through the book, which was filled with notes, "Currently linked to Princess Twilight Sparkle." "Cog? Cog, please, answer me! The cable just fell!" Trixie shouted into the headset, reaching a hoof towards where the cable had been dangling from. She took the headset off, and checked it, now realizing that it had gone completely dead. A voice sounded behind her. "I told you you needed to go home, Trick," Steven said, leaning against one of the nearby posts. He was now wearing a black jacket, T-shirt, and Jeans, as well as his sneakers, "I guess I could've gone about it somewhat differently." Trixie looked at him, "How did you know the world was draining me?" Steven walked towards her, "Because it's happened before. You're not the first pony to wander into this place from a world of magic." With that, he looked into her eyes, "And now you're stuck here for a while. That portal opened shortly after it was too late for the last one. Now, you'll have to wait for the portal to open, and if my calculations are correct, you've got about a week, barring any spellcasting, before your magic reserve is completely drained. You need to hope that the portal opens before then." Twilight lay there, opening her book, but shutting it quickly when she heard a commotion outside the library. Annoyed, she placed her book on the bedside table and went to the window to see what was happening. "...can't just run into the castle in the middle of the night like a madpony! Especially during the Summer Sun preparations!" The guard outside was saying to some silver unicorn. "I need her help! Please!" The unicorn shouted, pleading with him, "Just let me talk to her!" "I said no," the guard said irritably. "But--" The unicorn tried to counter, before the guard shouted. "Leave now or you'll spend the night in a cell!" "TRIXIE COULD BE DEAD ALREADY!" The unicorn shouted back, his horn starting to glow. Twilight had seen enough. She stepped onto the balcony, "I'll speak with him."
