Frontier

by flamevulture17

Rating: everyone
Tags: Other, Trixie, Human, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 7370

Trixie Lulamoon travels across the plains of Western Equestria in search of new hope after her humiliation in Ponyville, only to encountering someone with a similar goal in searching for a fresh start.

Trixie has been defeated, her only hope is to travel west. She hopes to find new ground to settle and rebuild her life, but meets someone who might be able to help her move on and gain the strength she needs to let her past go. What better someone to do that than a human explorer that just happens to cross paths. Nothing is certain when myth meets myth.

Published 2014-09-20 02:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-28 05:01:07 UTC

Road Rash

What seemed like an eternity and a day, the sky did not ease the lingering gray above the earth. They lingered in various shades, diffusing sunlight day in and day out. One would say it's grim features influence the cathartic life below it.

The Great and Powerful Trixie walked along a dirt road with her trailer cart in tow. Everything she owned, everything she cared about, dragged by her diminishing strength. It's a wonder how she was able to keep going these past several months, or was it dozen? Has it been a year already?

The magician had been on the road longer than most ponies will ever be in their entire lives, traveling as far away from Ponyville as possible. She had Twilight Sparkle to thank for that. That purple mare had her run for her money, but now she had none. Her reputation tarnished, and her talent disowned.

With Twilight taking over as the most powerful unicorn in Equestria and the master of magic, Trixie was truly defeated. The Great and Powerful, hmm, no longer was she deserving of that title. No amount of showmanship and tricks can surpass the genuine skill of Twilight Sparkle and her ability to combat the forced much stronger than her. Even with the Alicorn Amulet, there was still one thing Twilight possessed that Trixie did not.

Friends.

Trixie had come to terms with that fact. She could deny it no longer. After all the attempts to be the best, there was no pony to give her the pride she so craved for so long.

Trixie muddled over these thoughts as she continued to walk slowly through the plains of western Equestria, or at least what she thought was still Equestria. She wasn't quite sure.

All around the lone unicorn, there was nothing but tall grass for miles. The mountains in the distance looked like anthills from her vantage point. The tinge of the clouds now displayed some color with the setting of the sun directly in front of her. A pale orange color painted the landscape brilliantly.

It was beautiful.

Trixie was more appreciative of such things lately. She figured that if she was going to the edge of the world inconsequentially, she'd at least absorb the natural order of the sky. Occasionally she'd pass a tree during the day, rest for a bit, eat her daily rations of tasteless hay from her cart, and set off once again. A routine she'd come to accept, and sometimes enjoy. It wasn't likely to change.

Only time will tell.

Trixie often stopped and looked up to the sky. She had lost count of exactly how long she'd been on her own out here. Part of her didn't care, but another part wanted something to do. Keeping track of time wasn't a priority, she'd get there when she'd get there.

Only, she didn't know where she was going. She didn't have a set destination, simply a journey unending. She'd hit the ocean eventually, but it's still a ways out. Maybe a week or two away, so she was close.

Freedom at last.

One day, Trixie decided to park her cart off to the side of the dirt road under a large tree and rest for the day. She was extremely tired after a recent sandstorm swept through the plains the day before. Mild, but strong enough to take its toll.

It was an hour after noon from her guess of the suns position in the sky. Fortunately the sandstorm blew away the gray blanket of cloud cover that hovered for months on end. It's good to get some sunshine, even if it may only last a day.

Trixie untied herself from the harness and sat on the roof of her cart, scanning the area around her. Not like there was anything around to find anyway. She just wanted something to do while she rested for the day. No rush, no worry.

The only noises were the chirping crickets drenched in the whistling of the wind.

A few minutes later, Trixie jumped off her cart and rummaged through the contents of her belongings inside. Her magician's hat and cape hung beside the small door to her compact mobile home. She didn't remember the last time she had worn them. Her cape became useful as extra covering during the night when she slept.

She found what she was looking for, a long staff with a sharp edge. Predators lurked within the brush, even in the daytime. She also found her compass, to read her heading just to make sure. One last thing was a pair of rusty binoculars.

With these items handy, Trixie climbed back to the roof of her cart and laid down the items next to her. She used the binoculars to look further down both direction of the dirt path. Sure enough, she was the only pony for miles. She was certain she wasn't being followed. Who would be following her in the first place?

Trixie put the twin lenses down and sat in silence for while. She took a good long breath of the countryside air, a fresh blend of dry grass and... apples?

She snapped her eyes open, pupil shrinking excitedly. Such a smell made her crave a delectable food rather than the hay she'd been consuming for months. But how is the smell of apples end up all the way out here in the middle of nowhere.

She picked up her binoculars again and quickly began to look for a source of the delicious smell. Trixie grew ever so worried of the accuracy of her senses. Was she imagining it? Couldn't be. The smell was real.

She was about to give up, falling short of anything that could produce the smell. Frustrated, Trixie laid on her back and wiped the sweat from her face. Even in the shade under this tree, the temperature still got to her. She opened her eyes, faced with a small red smudge painting her view high above.

She blinked several times. The blotch focused into the shape of an apple. She sat up and looked at what was unmistakeably the delicious red fruit she used to love. She took her staff and jabbed it into the apple with precision and ripped it from the branch. She let it fall to the roof where it thankfully didn't tumble into the dirt bellow her.

Carefully, Trixie took the apple in her magical grip and took a bite.

Then another. Then another. Then another, until there was nothing but the core intact.

The satisfied unicorn tossed the apple core into the tall grass and proceeded to teleport herself to the top of the tree. For there, she could see the flat plains of the horizon from a better view than from her cart. Looking over the landscape once, she got back to her reason for wasting magic teleporting up the tree.

Just below her were a whole family of delectable red apple like the one she had, all hanging harmlessly from the tallest branches. This was one big break she really hoped for. Alas, she didn't have to wait any longer for a miracle, for it was bound to happen eventually.

Trixie gripped her wooden staff and began pounding away at the branches. One by one, the apples fell fifteen feet to the ground.

Within minutes, she had harvested all the apples from the tree, counting at least twenty in total. To conserve magical energy, she manually climbed back down to the roof of her cart. Once that was done, she checked inside her cart for the brown potato sack to collect the apples before more harm could be done to them.

Once all the delicious ripe fruits were gathered up, safe and sound in the bed of her cart, she sat down and held a single apple in her hoofs. It's been so long since she tasted something rich with flavor. She took her first bite in months, rolling her head back in bliss as the sour taste ran through her mouth. A warm smile tugged against her cheeks.

While eating her snack for the day, she looked up at the sky, enjoying the precious moment in the daylight.

A few minutes later when she finished the apple to the core, she nearly forgot what she was doing, where she was going, or what to do next. She merely sat on the edge on her cart, hindlegs dangling above the loose dry dirt of the path and sweeping her white tail across the surface of the door behind her.

All was quiet. Just a few minutes ago, around the time she started eating, there birds chirping on the tree branches and crickets chiming from within the tall grass fields around her. Now there wasn't a natural sound to be heard. Even the wind slowed to a point of a low whisper.

It didn't feel eerie, or even threatening, but rather thoughtful in that the lack of noise allowed her hearing to increase two fold. She looked up at the rays of sunlight streak through the now ruffling leaves of the tree up high, bringing a sense of the sublime to her resting mind.

Her ear flicked. Snapping her head another direction. It sounded like a twig snapping, but not quite. Besides, it was very faint and distant. Feeling no immediate danger, she relaxed her muscles which had tensed up momentarily.

Yawning briefly, Trixie stretched her forelegs up and down before turning to her cart. A nap would be nice.

*snap*

There it is again! This time both her ears flicked backwards followed by a quick reaction from her entire body back outside. Her eyes desperately tried searching for the source, only to come up short after a minute of inaction from anything in her vicinity.

She could not deny the sound, but it was there and seemed closer that the last.

*crumble*

This brought her attention directly ahead of her, down the long stretch of road disappearing over a slight inclination of the land. The crumbling of weak rocks of dirt globs was present in the distance. There was a pattern, a repetition, giving the impression of hoofsteps sliding across the gravel.

They were getting closer, but was yet to find anypony or anything creating those steps.

Trixie stood up and jumped on top of her rickety wooden cart to try to get a better view of the approaching mystery pony. A short plume of dust sprouted from the ground just beyond the hill, but still no line of sight. Fortunately for her, she was stationed just below a dense apple tree. With slight difficulty, she climbed the branches with some assistance of her magic and reached as high as she could go.

Just a head under the treetop, hiding her head under the shell of the outer leaves, she peaked out over the landscape.

Perfect.

But wait. The light was a bit overwhelming with imbalance of light and shade flooding her view. She couldn't see much detail, so she had to lean closer to the edge.

That's much better.

…

Trixie found no appropriate words to describe what was approaching. She'd never seen anything like 'it' before. But what was 'it'?

What she saw was some sort of tall creature walking passively along the path. On only it's two back legs that it, like a minotaur, but it wasn't a minotaur. It was dressed in rather old looking clothing and a large saddle bag on its back. Hanging from the pack was a metal cooking pan or something of that sort and a pair of what appeared to be open-toed shoes. There was a brown hat on top of its head covering what little it had for a mane.

Trixie watched is got closer to her position, noticing its slowed pace as it cleared the top of the hill, probably noticing her sizable cart parked underneath the tree she was on. It looked around curiously as if it expected somepony to be nearby, which there was, but it didn't seem to see her hidden behind the thick lining of the leaves high above.

She was nervous at this point. This was her first encounter with another being. She hoped to run into a pony sooner of later, but this was something else entirely. A bipedal ape-like creature strolling along a dirt path alone was definitely surprising.

Trixie kept as quiet as possible, not wanting to reveal herself too quickly. Maybe this creature will ignore her cart and walk away.

But it didn't.

She watched as the biped stopped at the base of the tree trunk and removed its heavy back, ruffling its arms to relieve the stress of all that weight over his clothes in the hot sun.

What came next made Trixie's heart race more and more. The creature looked around and inspected the cart. In silent motion, it leaned forward, poking his tiny eyes at every little detail as if it was a work of art. She observed intently as it stepped closer to the front of the cart where the entrance to the interior was located. This was getting far too uncomfortable for her liking. Goosebumps ran down under her fur and sweat trickled her temples. This was getting dangerously invasive.

For a second the upright creature, gently reached out with an arm to the gold knob of the door.

Trixie's anxious patience was at its tipping point as she quickly bounced off the branch she was on and launched her body down to the ground, revealing her presence directly to the tall being.

“NO NO NO, BACK!” she shouted aggressively, treating her visitor as unintelligent as a deer. “BACK I SAY!” Trixie activated the magic in her horn defensively.

The creature snapped away, reflexively grabbing for something hidden underneath its gray button shirt. In its slender hand was a sharp silver knife with an expertly carved ivory handle, holding it up to point the end her way.

The creature took a few small steps to the side allowing for some distance between them. It made directly and glaring eye contact with her large violet irises, sparking a shocking display of disbelief and mercy. They stared intently at each other, Trixie more angry of the two. The creature before her implored a sort of expression that warranted a sense of uncertainty, standing perfectly as if trying to figure out what to do next.

Trixie had her forehooves spread our to stabilize her stance in case things got messy, looking to establish dominance and using her body language saying she could overpower something twice its size. She didn't let up, soon finding herself holding her ground pointlessly. No such ill-attempt to attack arose. Not a peep. Not a flinch.

They stood breathing abnormally, nearly ten feet apart. For once in her life on the road, Trixie wanted a little excitement. If only she got exactly what she wished for. This didn't cut it.

The creature stared her down, no more than double her height. She needed to think of something, and fast.

“Shoo!” she barked, flicking her head left indicating a demand to move away.

It was a foolish gesture, but too late to take it back. She carefully watched his complexion for any signs of hostile intent to either deceive of subdue her.

Instead, it relaxed its arms calmly, cautiously bringing the blade close to its chest.

“Excuse me?” it said.

Trixie did the same action it did when she spoke just seconds earlier, dimming her luminous aura glowing from the tip of her horn and standing up.

“Y-you understand... me?” she questioned with a gulp. The blue unicorn did her best to stay cool, obviously taking this situation to heart. The biped did try to trespass after all.

“I-I was going to say the same,” it replied with an equally nervous voice. It was a deeper tone, reverberating in a low frequency, characteristic of a male voice.

This was extremely shocking for the both of them. Less than two minutes in this strange confrontation and the level of communication between them was instant.

“You can speak,” he said quietly, as if talking to himself.

She slanted her head, letting her ruffled mane hang free to appeal to emotion. She cleared away her throat of any phlegm gurgling her voice, hoping to not appear unsanitary and anxious. Trixie then stuck her chest out confidently.

“What were you expecting.”

With the knife still in hand, he shifted into a more passive stance that remained on guard.

“Mostly likely a ventriloquist act,” was his honest response. He brushed his shoulders of dust with his free hand. “When you yelled, I thought a woman was inside there using you as a puppet.

“What did you call me!?” Trixie hissed in immediate reaction to the common key word that haunted her life's past.

The male being stepped back. “Whoa whoa no, I didn't mean you. It was just a thought. Nothing personal.”

Trixie retreated back to her cart, leaning next the left front wheel and rubbing her forehead in confusion. Not one second passed where her gaze left his. The staring contest would last until either of them could regain their composure and free themselves from the cages of insecurity.

This phase of intense caution lead them to continue observing each other for several more minute, neither one of them wanting to make a move that might send the wrong message. It appeared that the creature was more engaged in examining Trixie from hoof to horn. Her horn was what he spent most of his time looking at.

His simple action of pacing back and forth was making her feel uneasy not taking his eyes off her. Perhaps, she thought, he's afraid I might try to stop him from sprinting for his back pack, her being between him and his belongings. His gaze does seem to exhibit quick whit and strategy, though not in the light of his body language, now more relaxed and free-flowing.

Trixie scrunched her muzzle awkwardly and frowned.

“What?” she croaked.

“Oh nothing.” He raise a hand to rub his cheek. “I've never seen a unicorn before.” He paused for a chuckle. “They're not supposed to exist.”

This got her full attention, raising an eyebrow rather rashly.

“What do you mean I don't exist? I'm standing right here.”

“I'm still having a hard time believing it. And you talk. That's an added bonus.”

“Now you're just acting like a nut.” Trixie rolled her eyes informally.

He laughed to himself, turning his back on her. He walked in a small circle continuing to smile humorously. When he began to wave his blade around instead of putting it away in the leather holster attached to his hip, Trixie silently tensed up. “Hehe, a pony called me a nut,” he seemed to say to himself out loud.

“What are you doing?” Trixie said, questioning his actions and maybe even his sanity.

He turned to her where the light illuminated the sweat polishing his face as he ran his soft fingers over his mouth.

“This is all new to me. I may just need to rethink my life a bit.

“Why would you do that?” Trixie asked, quite amused by his dilemma of introspection.

“I mean, of all the things I can run into on this endless dirt path, I find a talking blue unicorn. Come on man, it's gotta be this heat damn heat messing with my head.”

“No, I'm very real,” she stated, tapping the ground twice. “I'll prove it.”

Trixie channeled some magic to her horn and angled her head, shooting a sparkling mass of fluctuating light directly at him. The weak burst hit hand and in a flash it was gone, along with the scary knife it was holding.

He stumbled back. The man looked at his missing hand and screamed.

“HEY!” He glared furiously at Trixie, clinching his wrist. “What did you do!? Give me my hand back! NOW!”

Trixie shuddered at his outburst. Apparently she made him more angry than she predicted. Maybe that wasn't a good idea after all. She frantically searched for the magic to bring his hand back and she did a second later before things could get worse.

As soon as he recovered with his knife in his strong grip, he leaped towards the powerful unicorn. This didn't come as a surprise as she immediately retaliated with only a shield to repel the attacking biped. The man wasn't expecting it as he smacked face first into the invisible force field that somehow surrounded her body.

“ARHH!”

The creature fell to the ground, hitting his the back of his on the hard turf too hard to absorb the impact. The knife was thrown from his right hand, skidding across the dist with a distinct ping. Enough dry soil was kicked up after the ensuing assault, obscuring the gap between them. The creature lay there grunting in pain, putting both hands to his forehead and rolling side to side with knees curled up and raspy breaths pushing out his mouth.

For the next minutes waiting for the dust to settle, Trixie kept her shield intact, using minimal power to do so. She watched as his aggression turned to agony. That hurt him more than it hurt her.

“Uuuuuuhhhhhhh,” he groaned on.

A gust of air radiated from the magician pony as she released her shield and magically pushed away the remaining dust with a pulse of air, ruffling the leaves of the tree above to a point where a few fell off.

The man stopped complaining with annoying sounds and froze when he felt the force of the blast. Trixie approached his side. His eyes were fixed on her, giving the impression that he was absolutely terrified of what she might do next. Mutilate him? Strangle him? Turn him inside out? Kill him? Aren't those last two the same thing?

The man hugged his chest tight. He flinched as she held out a hoof.

“I am truly sorry about that,” she said. “Let me help you up.”

The creature studies her eyes, looking for a hint of deception or malice. It was a difficult assessment, but nothing was wrong with the gesture.

Shaking violently, she took her hoof. She used all her might to pull him up to his two feet. Once standing, he took several steps back and brushed himself off coughing.

“How about we start over?” the unicorn began. Waiting for his attention to fall back on her, she patted herself on the chest. “My name is Trixie Lulamoon, traveling magician and professional spellcaster.”

The man shuddered when he heard the words magic and spell, but gained the courage to return the favor.

“The name's Riley,” he croaked. “Riley Cooper. People call me Hunter.”

“So, Riley the Hunter... what exactly are you?”

Author's Note

Started writing something new.

Reason Rally

“You mean you don't know what I am? And it's just Riley.”

“I didn't know Equestria had skinny minotaur hybrids roaming around,” she joked, waiting for some kind of rebuttal from him.

“Equestria? Minotaur?” He rubbed his forehead, confused.. “Just where the hell am I?”

“Well are you?” she demanded.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” He threw his arms in the air. “I don't take it lightly with being called skinny. You're telling me you've never of a human before?” Riley leaned his head back with a lighthearted smug.

“Human. Got it.” Trixie puffed air through her nose after scrunching her muzzle. “Never heard of your people before.” She shook her head. Assured that it this discovery wasn't really important to her, it was worthwhile to know more.

“At least I'm not the only one,” said Riley. “You must know how hard it is to see a mythical creature with your own eyes.”

“Look who's talking.” Trixie huffed, grabbing her staff from the cart.

Riley scratched the back of his neck as he began to circle around her in the direction of his backpack while keeping his distance. The blue unicorn followed with her head curiously.

“Leaving so soon?” she said with more bitterness than intended.

He stopped. “Just going to get my stuff.” Then he continued towards the tree trunk where he left his backpack to rest.

Once Riley reached the base of the tree, he picked up his bag and put it back on, his hands shaking the entire time. Trixie assumed he was either fearful or nervous. Either way, she had to calm him down. He appears very distraught and possible disoriented from hitting the ground. She's sorry about that. Besides, being the first soul she's spoken to in a long time lent her to convince him to stick around. Trixie didn't want to be alone again.

However, as she thought of ways to strike up a conversation or ask him more questions, he was getting away, already twenty to thirty paces down the road walking backwards. When he got to comfortable distance, he turned around and continued on walking like nothing happened except now fostering a bruise on his face and a humiliating experience.

Trixie stood beside her cart, her features sinking into sadness. Well that went well, she scolded herself mentally. She thought of the ways that encounter could have gone better. A new intelligent species and she's already driven it off by hurting it.

She turned around and entered her cart to lay down. What could she do, force him back? No Trixie, you're better than that. If that's the way happened, that's how is should be.

It was quiet again, allowing her to think to herself some more. Though this type of quiet was different. It lacked the bliss and she used to know. Now filled with a shred of guilt and shame, it reminded her of Twilight.

The pony sighed heavily. Maybe I haven't learned from my mistakes yet, she thought.

*knock knock*

Trixie snapped up. She scrambled around to poke her head out the door, simply to find the human standing off to the side.

“Yes?” she said with a warm tone. She could see the cold sweat trickle down his face.

“Um, can I have my knife back?”

Trixie wrinkled her nose before hopping out.

“I didn't take your knife.”

“What did you do with it then?”

“Nothing. It fell out of your claws.”

Riley started to look around for his blade. After surveying every inch of twenty square feet of where he hit the floor earlier, he came up short. He grunted in frustration.

“That was my grandfather's knife.” With his back on her, Trixie heard a heavy sigh slip through his lips. He continued to speak of his grandfather and something about war and family, but his words weren't crystal clear. She was lost after he transitioned into a mumble, which just sounded like he was talking to himself.

Trixie was left in confusion. It was time to break the ice.

“Um Riley the Hunter? Are you...” She was anxious to say it for the first time, but sucked it up. “Are you gonna be alright?”

She heard a sniffle before he stood up and turned around.

“Please, don't call me that.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“I'm sorry.”

“I hate that name. I'm not even a hunter. It's just a nickname my people use but never seem to get the hint of my hate for it. You're just some random stranger who happens to be a talking pony that has supernatural powers and one hell of an attitude.” He stood up. “You know what, I don't have to deal with this.” Riley furiously kicked the dirt at his feet and stomped off.

“Wait! What about your knife?” Trixie echoed out to him.

“Forget it, I'll get a new one.”

“But you said it was important to you!” she hollered as he walked further away.

“Why do you care!?” he shouted indignantly, taking one last glance back.

Trixie had to think of something fast. She didn't want this to end on a sour note. Bringing a hoof to her chin, an idea came to mind. The unicorn rapidly took the potato sack full of apples in her her magic and ran off after Riley.

“Wait!” she yelled, catching up to him a minute later. The hot sun greatly reduced her stamina on top of having to hold on to a levitation spell full gallop.

Her hoofsteps made her presence known to him when he skipped off to the side.

“What do you want?”

“B-before you go, w-wouldn't you want to regain y-your energy for your trip?” She said, panting. She laid the sack on the ground and began to untied the string, but he was already trying to escape from her by walking away again.

Quickly taking out the reddest apple she could find, she ran around to cut him off again and held the fruit straight up at him.

The man froze, eyes narrowing straight at the apple. He didn't flinch. He didn't back away. He just froze.

A silent moment passed, then he pointed at it.

“What is-”

“It's a peace offering.” Trixie interrupted. “I thought I'd make up for before.”

He raised an eyebrow and reached out to take the apple while his hands shook. He brought it up to his nose to smell it. He tilted his head suspiciously with an eager craving to take a bite, eyeing the unicorn wary of any malicious intent.

“Don't worry,” she said. “It's not poisoned. Picked fresh off that tree over there.”

What she did next altered his initial perception of her. She smiled. But not just any smile. She hid behind her long and luscious silver mane, obscuring half her face. He couldn't explain it, but that display of humility was effective in trusting her, even for a second.

Riley cautiously took a bite with his omnivorous teeth, revealing his canines as well as a small glimpse of his molars. Trixie frowned in brief alarm of the human's potential diet. If she was ever going to make this work, she'd gain more knowledge about the biology of his species.

“So, do you- um... eat meat, too?” she asked, shivering with goosebumps all over her body.

“Mmhm.” Riley hummed as he nodded with a full mouth. She could smell the sweet fragrance radiating from the apple.

Instead of physically getting another apple from the sack behind them, she levitated one from the bag over to her. When the human saw the flying apple float in front of her, his eyes went wide.

“Whoa whoa easy!” Riley stepped back, putting his hands up.

“Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you,” she assured, take a bite of her own food.

“How are you doing that?” Clearly shaken up from the last time she used her mysterious powers, he on his toes this time. With power like that, this talking unicorn was surely not to messed with.

“Magic.”

“Haha very funny,” Riley said, frowning heavily. “No seriously, how are you doing that?”

“Like I said, magic.”

“And I'm supposed to believe that?”

“It's true.” Trixie insisted.

“I'm sure it's just some trick or illusion.” Riley shrugged at that thought. “Nothing more than a fake magician's gimmick.”

Trixie's friendly expression quickly turned into straight anger.

“Now that's just uncalled for,” she protested, stomping a hoof on the ground. “It's real magic!”

The human crossed his arms, unconvinced. He remained alert of her snapping at him at any time, but with the way he was acting, he might as well be asking for it.

“Fine fine.” He taunted. “It's not real magic.”

“For the last time, IT'S REAL MAGIC!” she shouted so loud it blew Riley off his feet, falling to the floor in a plume of dust.

“Holy hell!” he shrieked, scrambling to his feet.

“Now do you believe it?” Trixie advanced toward him, but he backed up with quick steps. Riley's back was eventually pinned to the trunk of the tree, squishing his backpack against the wood and putting up his hands to surrender to the hostile unicorn in front of him.

“A-alright lady, you have my attention,” he said. “W-what are you going to do with me?”

“Don't make me hurt you again.” Trixie wiped the dust off her face and looked stuck her nose in his face. She was bluffing, but Riley didn't know that as he cringed anyway. “Let's get one thing straight, unless you want to keep the limb on your body, you respect magic with your life.”

The human nodded rapidly, scared he might have agreed to be her slave or something. Hopefully that's not the case. Much to his relief, she stepped away to give him some room. He relaxed, but only a little.

“Now,” she continued. “Will you behave yourself, cretin?”

Riley pointed at himself, now a little offended by her remark. “B-but-”

“No excuses!” she roared. “I tried to be generous, I tried to stir up some casual banter, but you go ahead and insult me without consequence.”

With tensions at its peak, it was a wonder how he's still alive. Riley surely thought this Trixie pony could have disintegrated him on a whim, but she didn't. She allowed for much restraint to counter her punctuate personality. This was perhaps an attribute of her equine biology. Horses and ponies were considered majestic creatures in ancient mythology, portrayed as noble companions of man.

“I'm sorry,” said Riley.

“And?”

“And what?” He raised an eyebrow, wondering what else he was supposed to say.

“And you'll agree to never insult The Great and Powerful Trixie ever again.”

“Huh? Okay okay fine,” he sputtered, doing some sort of crude gesture with one hand. “I promise never to never insult you again.”

Trixie nodded and smiled wholeheartedly. She felt a sliver of guilt churning in her gut. Or maybe it was just her imagination. She sniffed the air as he watched her carefully, giving her his complete and uninterrupted attention. From where he stood—in contempt of her supernatural power—her expression appeared to be more innocent and forgiving, almost as if she transitioned from one alter ego to the other. She looked a shy.

“Tell me,” she cleared her throat, making and effort to return eye contact. “What's someone like you doing all the way out here in the middle this Celestia-forsaken valley?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing, but why does that matter?”

“I don't know.” She twirled a hoof. “I was just curious.”

Riley stretched his arms, freeing some of the pain from the bruises she inadvertently gave him, and cracked his knuckles. No use acting like the tough guy anymore, it would be unwise to misbehave again, especially now knowing what he's up against.

Then it hit him. That thought; that very thought that keeps slipping his mind for some reason.

“Well if that's all, I'll be going now” he huffed, wiping the crimson liquid trickling from his nose.

The human ruffled the shoulder straps of his hefty backpack and began walking on his journey once more.

“Why do you have to go?” Trixie asked. A glint in her eye and the hint of despondence in her voice flushed from her flustered features.

“I don't need to be here,” he stated. “There's one thing you can't do and that's force me to stay here.” It about time he got away from this lunatic. The only reason he let her get the best of him was that fact that the pony had food.

“I'm not forcing you to do anything.” Trixie mentally contemplated the possibility that he can read minds. How else could he know she was restrained from forcing him to stay.

“Good, because I'm leaving.” Riley replied, insubordinate to her attempt at using her charisma and power to her advantage.

“Leave then,” he heard her say from behind. She was oddly upset from her tone.

Riley took only but a few seconds to come up to the sack of apples Trixie had left on the ground from earlier. He grinned. Apparently, the unicorn forgot about it, but became aware of just then and wasn't about to allow him to steal from her. As he reached down to pick it up, the sack suddenly levitated away from his incoming grip.

Riley was left to look down at the cold hard ground. He growled in vain. Looking up at the long empty road trailing down an almost endless grass field in front of him, disappearing into a flat, featureless horizon.

He didn't move. He didn't speak. He stood.

The view reminded him of the where he was, or thought he was. One moment he was somewhere deep in the midwest of America, Nebraska maybe? The next, he appears to have stumbled upon someplace that resembles the past. The dirt road was an oddity from the start, deviating from the rural country road at least ten miles west.

Where was he now?

“Helloooo....”

Riley jumped. He found himself staring off into space, lifelessly suspended in thought. There was a possibility this may be a different world, but he couldn't be entirely sure. Nothing felt out of place; the wind, the sky, the fabric in his skin, even the headache that began to pound his brain after figuring out where he is. All with the exception of the strangely proportioned magical blue unicorn with silver toned hair and godlike power.

Or maybe, could it be the other way around. Could this unicorn have traveled from another place not of this earth, perhaps an alternate reality?

After shuddering from coming to terms with his predicament, he turned around while the mythical pony was trying hard to get his attention.

“I thought you were leaving,” she teased. Somehow, the way she said it made him think that she didn't believe it herself.

It wasn't often he hit a wall. Not a real wall, but something was stopped him dead in his tracks and he didn't know why.

Well no that's a lie, he did know why. Perhaps it's the fact that he just couldn't comprehend the situation he's gotten himself into. Riley had no where else to go, he's been on the road for so long that he might as well call himself homeless. No job, no family, no hope. Just a direction in mind and all the time in the world.

For a moment, he stood silently as the cool breeze dried the sweat that had built up over the last few minutes. It was a refreshing, blissful even. One minute he's stomping mad, the next he's calm and collected. Riley took on step back only to take one big leap forward towards the unicorn.

His feet dragged lazily across the dirt as if he was far more exhausted than he actually was. He slowed his pace as he approached the tree.

Trixie simply stared at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. She blinked twice, then shrugged.

“You lost?”

Riley let out a long sigh.

“You could say that.”

To say the two had an awkward moment would be an understatement. Both the pony and the human broke eye contact and looked for something to distract themselves with. They let the wind carry their thoughts away, waiting for the draft to inspire new ones.

Riley's stomach growled. That would explain why mood swing, he thought.

“Um, do you— do you think you could spare another apple? I'm kinda hungry.”

Trixie raised a brow. “Kinda?”

“Okay really hungry. I haven't eaten all day, and that apple you offered just isnt' going to cut it.”

“What's in it for me?” It ponies could cross their arms like humans, that's what Riley pictured her doing. She just looked down at the tip of her hoof.

“What happened to being nice?”

“Shouldn't that be the other way around?”

“Me? Be nice?”

“Yeah, you seem like the reasonable type. I don't intend to continue this bickering if that means you can show me that I can trust you.”

“Why would want my trust? That's kind of a stretch for someone you just met.”

“What I mean is, I want to know if you won't try any funny business when I'm not looking.”

“Alright, how about this, I won't try to steal from you again if you promise not to blow me up with your... magic.” He hesitated, but only briefly. “It's not like I can overpower you anyways, with that level of power, I'm sure you can do anything you want to me.”

Trixie gave a smug grin, knowing his point all to well. It's not like she was subject to use her magic to subdue him at will, she had learned her lesson in stepping over her bounds at the expense of others. Though it was still gonna take some getting used to.

“Deal.” Trixie held up a hoof. “Right this way.”

Riley followed her to her cart. She took out the brown sack and took out two three apples. The aroma of the delectable fruits made his mouth water. Using her powers, she tossed two in the air over to the human, expecting him to catch them. She was impressed with the way he did, swiping both apples out of the air simultaneously.

He then leaned against the tree and practically inhaled the first apple in just a few bites.

Trixie giggled to herself in light of the moment. This human sure was hungry. That look on his face suddenly caused her to feel pity for him, guilty of having hurt him inadvertently. Twice.

Trixie sat down on her cart and laid both hooves on her cheeks for very solemn pose. It's as if she was hinting for the human to join her. Fortunately, that was exactly her intention and exactly what happened. The human had walked up beside her without his backpack on and took a bite from his second apple.

“Why do you call yourself The Great and Powerful.” Riley asked, sitting down next to Trixie.

“It was my stage name, before I lost that right to Twilight Sparkle.”

He nodded attentively. “Who's that?”

“She's uh-” Trixie cleared her throat. “She used to be my rival, the most formidable of foes. Sort of like my arch nemesis.”

“Really?” Riley puckered his lips in interest. He took another bite, now talking with a full mouth. “What do you mean used to be?”

Trixie coughed away the shame before confessing. “Well for a while she and I were at each others throats over who was better at magic. Since the day we met, I've been trying to prove to her and everypony that I am the most powerful in Equestria. All that work, only to find out I'm am not. Twilight Sparkle is the superior unicorn. Suffice to say I've made my mistakes, some greater than others.”

Riley took in the story as a sign of redemption. She sure sounded regretful in her telling of her past, so from now on he'd no longer see her as the bitter equine from his first impression.

“I'm surprised you would tell me all that. I mean, talk about narcissism at its finest, but I guess we all have that sometimes.” He then rubbed his forehead. “Was it really worth it?

“Yes because I feel better about it now.”

“Is that it? You just wanted to talk? Then what what the hell was all that about before?”

Riley motioning vaguely in the air with an arm reminding them of the their first encounter only thirty minutes earlier.

“You gave me no choice. I thought you were a thief.”

“Well I'm not. Nor am I the kind of person who would be a jerk to everyone. I'm like a bird in the wind, carefree who goes with the flow.”

Trixie turned her head quizzically, wondering whether the poetic tone in his voice was a normal for him, but given the words spoken before, it seem so. She decided against furthering that discussion and fixed her focus on a question she's been wanting to ask from the moment they met.

“So where are you from?”