The Standard and Normal Human: One : Meeting T.G.A.P. Trixie

The Standard and Normal Human 1

Ok, to start off. Have you ever heard or Marmite? You know, you either love it or hate it right? Well, this rule is applicable to many other things as well. To cut the ‘Middleman’ I’ll explain what I’m getting at. I was Not a fan of Trixie... Yes, I said it! I found her more annoying than any other character in cartoons or animations alike, she was self indulgent, selfish, spoke in the 3rd person which, undoubtedly, ticked me off to extreme limits. She was Boastful and used ‘Show Magic’ whilst saying it was real... (Don’t get me started on magic... Please...) She was a total showoff and... Ugh, you get the idea. To be stuck with her would be hell right? I Have thought this before in the past, but little did I know that my week off from work would turn into the most opinion changing scenario of my life...

Let me begin...

That morning started as most of my weeks off from work do, I would try to sleep in but fail miserably every time. At 7:30 am I’d get up and prepare to do nothing for the next 18 or so hours and then repeat the process throughout the week. In hindsight, I could have done something more productive during this time but alas, the motivation was non existent to do such things. I almost decided to do some more writing on my MLP series but again, the motivation wasn’t there. I would be like this every time I had a holiday, I would do nothing but a bit of housework and generally laze around. My life isn’t that spectacular I’m afraid and to be honest I’m kind of glad...

Unknowing to me however, something was brewing. Something somewhere, someplace, was getting ready to invade my life. The doorbell rang and low and behold, my fears had been recognized...

It was the milkman, what? Did you think something was going to happen? It did and will so hold on to your plots good colts and silly fillies, because that is coming up...

“Morning!” Frank the milkman said with a cheery voice, “You’re up early!” He stood looking through the doorway and was witness to me, a 20 year old who looked like death. With a dissatisfied look on my face and lack of enthusiasm in my voice, I slowly complied what he had said and was preparing a response. Oh social skills, where art thou?

“...Your one to talk” I muttered back with a sincere amount of apathy, “I’m used to getting up so it's natural for me to do so...” Getting up early is part of my job, although not at ‘Stupid O’Clock’, by this I mean not before 6 am. You wouldn’t like me before 6 am...

“Same as me then! So, how have you been?” Frank the Persistent asked, “I’ve been doing Great!” I swear he was doing this on purpose, didn’t he have more milk to deliver?!

“... Yeah I’m fine... Do you have my milk?” I asked bluntly, “We go through this ‘Every Time’, why are you so damned happy?”

“Why not my boy?!” Stated Frank, “It's not all doom and gloom you know! We need to accept things and people as they are or no one is getting anywhere in this world!” He eventually passed the milk to me and did so with a smile, “Besides, you're usually quite happy yourself...”

“... This is True, however it feels like I’ve been doing the same crap every time I get time off work... It's counter productive, which generally makes me restless and overall puts be in set mood”. Reaching for the milk and grasping the bottles with my hand, I then set them down on the kitchen top. “... But you're right, it’s not all doom and gloom”. I forced a smile out one way or another, “Thanks, I’ll see you next week Frank!”

“See you later Nick!” Frank The milkman said, he then walked away and continued his rounds.

I closed the door and reminded myself of the one thing he said that stood out, ‘We need to accept things and people as they are’. “...There is one exception for that statement” I muttered to myself, as I put the milk away and continued my day as usual...

Meanwhile, unknown to me, in another world... In the Town of Appleloosa, stood a stage fitted with lights and curtains of all shapes, sizes and colours. Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasus alike, all gathered around to witness the majesty of this event. Unknowing to them, it would be a grand disappointment. The main curtain fell and there stood a Unicorn with a light blue mane and a slightly deeper blue fur coat. She wore a tall hat and cape, both decorated with large stars limited of colour they ranged from. Fireworks fired from the center of the stage and the audience was in awe, smoke suddenly filled the stage and, as it cleared, stood the presence of a certain show pony. One with a few tricks up her... Um... I wanted to say sleeves but I think you get the gist of what I’m trying to say... With a loud and demanding voice, she demanded attention on herself... In the third person of course...

“Tremble at the might of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She Bellowed in her self indulgent ways, some of the crowd however walked away, as if they had seen her before. Trixie then continued to do several tricks, such as making a rope act like a snake, making rabbits appear out of hats... Oh please stop! Its too mind blowing, like one of Twi’s lectures... Ugh... ‘That’ kind of magic, if you know me then you know how I feel about that subject. So anyway, she was barely halfway into her performance and pretty much every pony had left before she had time for the finale. Trixie looked around and seethed, why weren't they watching her? Perhaps they had better things to do? No, she knew why... No one liked her performance... As heartbreaking for her as it was she knew she failed at entertaining them, just like before. Word spreads fast you see? When the ponies outside of Ponyville heard about her lies, they turned a cold shoulder and carried on with their own business.

The last thing people, such as myself, remember from that episode, or even if you're a pony for that matter, is that she runs off into the distance... Now, what you didn’t know was that she was heading somewhere specific. Canterlot to be precise, you remember when Twi went all ‘Metal Gear’ right? Well she did the same thing, she ‘Sweet Talked’ the guards into giving her a tour around the same archives Twi was snooping around, there was a certain chamber inside which kept all the forbidden and dangerous spells. For obvious reason, they were kept silent and out of sight and reach, It was a hidden room, one of which she knew about. How and Why I shall explain another time, it will make more sense when I get to it anyway. Trixie put the guard to sleep with a hypnosis spell, a basic one at that, and then she carefully pulled a book from one of the shelves revealing the hidden staircase below. At the bottom of this was an almost empty room, there stood a bookcase, several in fact. However, they were shielded by a barrier of sorts, its sole purpose is to keep things out. It uses a High level magic, meaning that powerful beings aren't capable of getting the items on the inside. Now I’m not a magic expert but I have learnt a couple of things about this kind of barrier during my time there, as well as knowing about all this when I wasn’t there to witness it...

You see, the barrier pushes out powerful magic, but lets in less powerful magic. It's also important to note that physical beings cannot enter or pass this barrier, so to most it seems impossible to get past right? The whole concept of an underpowered magic user capable of getting into this archive in the first place, which is heavily guarded by the way, is impossible and ridiculous right? As I learnt the hard way, that was the wrong way to think... Trixie had her way of getting around this barrier,  Using her low level magic, by controlling a rope... Woo... She was able to get past the magical barrier which shielded all the hidden secrets of this magic and pony filled world. As she was doing this, a guard spotted her and her cover was blown, in a quick panic she grabbed the one thing that stood out from the rest. It was a parchment on what looked like a pedestal, using her rope she grabbed it and bolted from the archives to freedom, using her spells of sleep and smoke to distract the guards, long enough to get the heck out of there. After that? Well, she went back to what she did best.

Anyways, back to Appleloosa. Realising her failure to impress the ponies of this town, she decided to pull out the big guns. Heading backstage, she opened a trunk, or chest, underneath the bottom panel was a hidden compartment. Pulling a rope, she unlocked it revealing the parchment she stole. Stealing is wrong kids, it's always wrong. When ‘The Big Cheese’ found out it got a tad uncomfortable for me. But spoilers can wait I think, at least until ‘The Magic Happens!’.

“If these simpletons want magic... I’ll show them magic!” The Great and Powerful Trixie stated, she stared deeply at the parchment, trying to make sense of it. The thing about these powerful spells is that you have to speak out loud to use them, perfect for little miss ‘Third Person’ then right? It was a mouthful at best, she practiced behind the stage, in a quiet voice, before coming out and doing it for real. You need to shout for it to work, powerful magic is dangerous, unstable and extremely random. So if someone was casting set spell, you’d hear it being channelled and casted miles away... It was written in a strange manner...

Summoning a creature from another realm! The Silly Filly Reference Guide!

(To begin, Say all of the context below Out Loud! You must fill in the gaps as you shout this incantation...)

Compute, Confirm World Analysis. (Wait for sound)Summon Translocation, Residing From, Earth, Human. 20’s, (Need Coordinates for North and East. In form of Numbers)Destination for Translocation (Your Location or Desired Destination for Translocated Being)

(Then wait for a portal to appear and let chaos Ensue!)

Signed By D

That last part? Yeah, she didn’t pay any attention to it. All she read was “How” to do it, you know how teachers used to tell you to read the questions all the way through on an exam paper before starting? That was one of ‘Those’ moments, guess she never got that hoof note...

Anyway, that’s what it said, whoever created this must have known a lot about our world, latitude, longitude? That’s Geometry! (I think :S) In any case she looked at it a little longer, “Numbers?” She said, “How hard can it be?” Unfortunately, her idea was the basic one, just randomly blurt out numbers and it will work out right? Yeah... She never did see the big picture... She appeared from backstage and prepared herself for this astounding spell to work its magic, as she did she began shouting more nonsense about how great and powerful she was... Figures huh?

“Cower in Fear Lesser Ponies! As I Summon a Being from another Realm!” Trixie bellowed from her Stage, Now that got their attention, they slowly gathered around and wondered what she was blathering about.

“What? It Can’t be Done!” One of the Colts shouted.

“What is she yelling about now?” A filly asked in confusion.

All looking in with curiosity as she began the incantation...

“Compute!, Confirm World Analysis!” She Began, Silence filled the air... Nothing was happening, everypony looked in disappointment.

“She’s making more stuff up again, let's go everypony...” Another colt shouted, However as they were all about to disperse... They froze in their hoof steps when they heard a sudden voice...

“CONFIRMED!” The parchment announced loudly, at this point in time, it was floating all by itself. All the towns folk stopped dead in their tracks, frozen in place in both amazement and shock.

Trixie carried on with the summoning, “Summon Translocation! Residing From! Earth! Human...” She noticed the number and it was the only one shown on the whole parchment, it was strangely precise “20?”

Now at this point she didn’t know what to say, it asked for numbers right? So what did she do? “53 point 2600° North!” She blurted the coordinates out randomly without a second thought, “0 Point 1800° East!” With the hard part done, the Sky suddenly became grey and cloudy, thunder, lightning and rain all happened in synchronisation, by that I mean they all started at the same time. “Destination for Translocation! Appleloosa! Center Stage of The Great and Powerful Trixie’s travelling show pony... Show!” And with that said, it happened...

The Wind picked up and the sound of tearing could be heard, it was tearing its way into my world. It appeared as a portal hovering in mid air. If you’ve seen or played portal then I’ll leave what it looked like to you, it was quite straightforward really... The problem was that it was above the stage, quite high up to be precise...

Meanwhile, Back in my world...

Loud music was playing from my speakers, I couldn’t hear a thing. I was preparing to go out, I had all my usual gear on, dark jeans, red and black Airwalk shoes, black shirt, red tie and my swag hat. I was going to stay with an old friend for a while, I had a bag of extra clothes and all the things I’d usually take for a old fashioned sleepover, did that a lot as a kid... It was for the sake of reminiscing, we’d known each other for a long time. I turned my computer off and I was about ready to leave when I thought to myself, ‘I’d better take a jacket just in case...’ I Walked back through the hallway and opened the coat cupboard, to my surprise my jacket wasn’t where it usually was. I keep it at the front, instead, it was buried at the back for some reason. After removing all the other coats from the wall, by throwing them onto floor, I found my jacket and proceeded to put it on... And then found something abnormal hiding in the back...

“What.. The... Hell?!” I Stuttered as I saw a purplish circle on the wall, it was the strangest thing I had seen before. “Who painted that there?” To me, it looked like a normal purple circle, nothing special about it. Although it shined brightly... and looked as if it was moving... ‘Optical illusion I guess?’ Was what I thought, “Weird...” I reached out to touch it and realised that wasn’t such a good idea, my hand went through and, for whatever reason, I couldn’t pull it back out. “What the-?!” I shouted, as it slowly dragged me into the deep unknowing abyss that awaited me...

I fell from the portal, “-Hell!?” I shouted as I finished my sentence in mid air and proceeded to fall flat onto my back, winding me quite painfully. “Oh... God My... Everything!” I Whined as I struggled to get to my knees, I looked at the ground and saw sturdy wooden panels. Upon further observation I could see that it was a stage, I could see a curtain and decorations, it was a pretty sweet setup.

Then I looked up and around, the townsfolk were staring at me. Attempting to keep my cool and decided to break the silence. “Um, Hi?”. I muttered, with that they started screaming, all running everywhere, scared senseless. “Oh... How kind of you! No I’m fine, Really!” I was more annoyed that basic communication wasn’t going to happen, then again they didn’t know who or what I was so I guess that was understandable.

I face planted and sat my backside back onto the wooden floor, “Where the heck am I?” I knew the world I was in, just not the location in set world.

“You’re in Equestria, in the town of Appleloosa!” A familiar but informative voice said. ‘Oh Dear god please don’t be who I think you are...’ I thought to myself, I got up and turned around and lo and behold it was, The Great and Powerful Trixie. “I s-summoned you here a-and that's makes you m-my pet!” She was stuttering, I think she was trying to keep appearances up, she was shaking so I figured she was as terrified as me.

“Appleloosa huh?... Wait, Pet?!” I was trying to take everything in and I managed to hear half the conversation, like most people and ponies alike, I don’t like being referred to as property, or as a pet for that matter. I stood closer and got down to ‘Eye Level’ with the very same pony who would even consider calling me such things. “Excuse me? I’ve been here less than 5 minutes and You’re trying to claim Me as a Pet!?”

“Well... I did summon you here, so you have better be gra-” Trixie was about to be all coy and make it seem like it was all ok, all ‘HunkyDory’... Well it Really wasn’t...

“You What?!” I bellowed in anger and surprise, I never expected her to be able to do such a thing... “Send me back right now!” Most people would find it amazing to be in the MLP world, I probably would too if I gave it a chance. However, I’m not a fan of magic. Magic is that thing your parents told you about as a kid, how wonderful it was and how it made your life better. The Tooth Fairy? Santa Claus? They were magic apparently, then when you grew up, what did you learn?! It was all a bunch of lies and nonsense we believed because we were gullible children, Fact! Well, I know there’s more to it than that but that’s how it felt for me...

The townsfolk had been peeping through their doors to try and figure out what was going on, some came outside but kept their distance from the stage in question.

I took a few steps closer to Trixie, I was quite distressed. Being Dragged and Dropped into another world like a desktop icon wasn’t fun, there wasn’t an undo button as far as I could see. “You just dragged me from my home Trixie! And now you're claiming me for yourself! I’m not from here! You have to send me back!”

“What? Why in Equestria would I do that?!” Trixie put blankly, “Wait, how do you know my name?”

Crap... I slipped up on that one... Should I have kept quiet and kept to important details only? It didn’t matter, my eyes Desperately darted around for some kind of escape from this situation, luckily, in big bold letters, it shone right in front of me, Centre stage! “It... Says right there” I pointed, “The Great and Powerful Trixie’, from the looks of it your what? A Magician?”.

“Hardly!” She said with disgust, “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! I am not simply a Magician!”

“You don’t say... So, what would You call Yourself?” I asked the self indulged filly, “...More importantly, why are you talking in the third person?”

“Because Trixie can and shall!” She announced to everyone, “ And I call myself Great and Powerful because I am!”

“...Riiiiiiight...” I replied unconvinced, “So tell me, what other ‘Amazing’ things can you do?”

“I can manipulate ropes to act as my snakes, Disappear into a cloud of smoke and fill the sky with light!” She made seem amazing when she said it, however I was unconvinced...

“...Uh huh... So, smoke bombs and fireworks right?” I put blandly, “I’m Not gonna even start saying how un amazing rope tricks are...”

“You Dare make a mockery of me?!” Trixie bellowed from the bottom of her lungs, “I Brought you hear so that only proves how powerful I truly am!”

“Oh Really!?” I snapped back at her, “So tell me, with one as ‘Powerful’ as yourself who was able to bring me from another world, why do you have such basic abilities?!” It didn’t make sense to me at the time, she knows so little magic I couldn’t even call it magic, having said that I have a problem with that word in general so I’ll leave it at that. “And now you were able to summon me here through some kind of magic spell, obviously I’m missing something here. Either you're telling the truth and you know a lot more magic than you’re letting on, Or, and this is the more realistic scenario, you managed to somehow get your hands... Er, Hoofs, on something that allowed you to do what you did! How’s that? I hit the nail on the head?!”

What started as a small argument had escalated into something completely different, my presence was now notably noticed by the entire town... I was paying attention to Trixie and not my surroundings, I turned around and they were all staring at me, every single one of them. Again, to those who don’t know me or haven't read the other things I’ve written, I’ll keep this brief. I’m a nervous wreck when it comes to large crowds of people, throw in a healthy dose of ‘Equestria’ and ‘Staring Ponies’ and you get me, a red faced buffoon, incapable of basic communication due to being tongue tied and making no sense what so ever.

Take two, action! “Um, Hi?” I repeated myself from earlier, “And before you all run and scream away leaving me in complete confusion, I can... Ugh, can I at least introduce myself?” I slowly walked up to the stage, the ponies backed away from me. I sighed and could feel myself shaking in my boots for what I was about to do, if they had any then I guess they’d do the same? They needed to know I wasn’t a threat right? I mean that was the problem before... I think. Whatever, I stopped at the edge of the stage and then tipped my hat and bowed. “My name is Nicholas, However, just call me Nick please, it's much less formal as well as a lot shorter”.

‘Introduction huh?’ I thought to myself, ‘Perhaps I need to explain what I am for a start...’ This was where my confidence kicked in, all that time I had been telling myself how bad I am around people made me realise, these weren't people. Now before you say anything I don’t mean that in the harsh or vindictive way, I mean that their ponies, much more accepting and open to magical ordeals as such. So I could explain myself to them, and yet still feel comfortable whilst being reassured that they could take what was happening with a pinch of salt.

“I... am not from this world, I must seem like a strange being to all of you. To be honest I didn’t have any choice in coming here, I was actually off to see an old friend of mine. Next thing I know, I’m falling and landing flat on my back, wondering why ‘Y’all’ were screaming and running away after I said Hi...” I stopped and collected my thoughts, “Wait, why did you all run away?”

Silence filled the air once again, Trixie just stared at me in awe as I began asking such questions, so casually as well.

Eventually one of the towns folk spoke up, “We didn’t know if Y’all were hostile or not!”

“Y-Yeah!” Another one replied hastily, “How were we supposed to know?! We’ve never seen a creature like y’all before!”

I laughed and sat back down on the wooden floor, “Y’all could have asked you know” I said cheerily with a smile.

“So who are you then?” Trixie asked, “Do you yourself have a title?” A title? Well... my reaction would serve as payback for all those times I’ve heard her talk about herself in our world, it would be sarcastic and totally an inside joke...

I didn’t turn around to answer her, as it required effort. I just stood there and announced myself In the royal Canterlot voice! “I am Nicholas! The Standard and Normal Human! I’ve got Two arms, Two legs, opposable thumbs and a sense of humour to boot!”, I got a laugh from a few of them, if I had closed my eyes at that moment, I would have thought I was a comedian... ‘And let me tell ya, the hay tastes Hayrific!’ (That's why I keep jokes to a minimum... Yep, I Suck :D)

I turned back to Trixie, staring at me in awe. “H-How?” She began to display her disbelief, “Y-You just- How can you be so calm!? You was upset and angry no less than 10 minutes ago!”

“Its called ‘Adapting’ Trixie...” I said smugly, however she truly looked surprised so I tried to show her how I really felt. “Ugh, Look, see my hands?” I held out my arms and she came closer to me to inspect, they were shaking, trembling. “You think I can deal with it so easily? I’m trying but I’m still as paranoid and as worried as ever, this sort of thing doesn't happen to me every day you know... But I have to roll with the punches...”

I looked around and thought to myself, ‘I need to get to Canterlot, this is just getting too far fetched for me... Celestia must know about this kind of spell, its my best bet to get out of here... But I need to do it without sounding like I know about this world... Hmm...’

After a couple of seconds pondering, I had an idea... “So... Who’s the ruler of these lands then? Where can I find them?” I said out loud, hoping someone would answer.

Sure enough after a few seconds, a kind colt answered my question. “The rulers of Equestria are the Princesses, Celestia and Luna. They reside in Canterlot...”

“And how would I get there?” I asked the colt, “Is it far away?”

“You would need to catch the train to Ponyville” An older colt stated. “Then from there you would have to walk to Canterlot... You know what a train is right kid?”

I nodded in confirmation, “Yeah, we have them in our world too...” Just saying that made them ‘Woo’ and ‘Awe’ in wonder, it wasn’t that surprising was it? Then again, I knew about their world, but they didn’t know about mine... It made sense... “Well... it's been fun, I’m out of here... Thank you and good night!” I jumped off the stage and made my way through the crowd which seemed to disperse away from me. Just as I began to wander towards the train station, which was in sight by the way...

“Y-You can’t just leave! Trixie demands that you become her pet!” She shouted, big mistake as it would turn out for herself.

I stopped in my boots and turned around, I was getting tired of her attitude. “Um, Excuse me? We’ve already had this conversation, I’m done being treated like some kind of object you keep around for laughs and giggles...” I turned back and carried on walking onwards to the train station, I raised my hand and waved it as I walked away, I wasn’t in a good mood. “I’ll see you never again Miss Trix The Lame and Helpless Show pON-!” I suddenly felt my feet being grabbed and constricted by something and then flung into the air, hanging upside down like a cheap Christmas light.

She used her glowing horn, powered with magic, to control the rope and bound my feet so I couldn’t escape, Now I’m not a fan of heights, and 3 meters isn’t exactly very high at all, but when you're hanging in mid air with your head being the closest to the ground, it tends to make you nervous, “W-What are you Doing?!”

“Trixie is ‘Lame and Helpless’ now huh?” She smirked, “Now who’s Lame and Helpless, impudent Human!”.

“S-Stop Talking in the T-Third Person!” I stuttered, as the blood went rushing to my head. “It’s more annoying than you’re L-Lame magic tricks!” Saying this? Was a mistake, as she launched me further into the air by another 3 meters.

“How Dare You!”, Trixie screamed, I think I hit a nerve... Again... “You Dare make a mockery of me!?” She was seething, I really ticked her off...

“Y-Yes I Do! Y-You Darned ‘One’ trick Pony!” I Bellowed, I was getting dizzy at this point, so I didn’t know when to stop. I was angry, she was angry, the towns folk just watched in shock. “No one cares about your Stupid Side Show!”

An Awkward silence filled the air yet again, I looked at Trixie and saw something I never thought I’d see, it was a tear. Her horn flickered and eventually turned dull, I knew what would happen shortly. As she started to cry, her magic got weaker and weaker, eventually it would seize to work. I quickly swayed myself back and forth so that I’d fall onto my back, head first could have been fatal. The second her horn went out completely I had began to descend towards the ground, this time a lot higher than the portal had dropped me. I slammed into the desert floor and struggled to breathe or move, I started coughing and tried desperately to get to one side. This time I was helped to my feet by two colts who could see I was in pain, one looked like a farmer, brown coat and a straw hat covering his eyes, his Cutie mark in the shape of a cob of Corn. Another was dressed as a train conductor, I won’t describe what he looked like because you probably already have a good idea of that anyway, it's self explanatory if you’ve seen them dressed as such, he had a light brown fur coat and deep blue eyes. I stumbled to my feet and saw Trixie crying on the floor, now no matter how much you dislike someone, seeing them like that doesn't feel good. No one should feel like that, not even someone as annoying as her. I looked in pity as she ran backstage to carry on sobbing to herself, I face planted, I felt like a total smeghead. After a sigh I looked around at the townspeople, they looked at both of us in confusion and sympathy. Some were siding with me, others were siding with Trixie.

Eventually one of the colts who helped me up raised his concern, “Are you alright human? That was quite the fall...”

I coughed lightly before responding in a depressed tone of voice, “Um, yeah...” I felt bad, really bad. She did act like a total foal towards me but still, words can be as sharp as swords, I think I may have cut her pretty deep. “... Why the heck did I say that to her?!”

“You were angry and she was being unfair” The Conductor pony responded with a gravely voice, “But what you said was pretty harsh, even if it was true it was how you said it”. He was right, I was out of line.

The conducting pony looked at me with understanding and comfort, I think, for whatever reason, he knew how I was feeling. He didn’t sound like he was from around Appleloosa, he sounded more like he was from the city. “Look kid, the next train leaves in 10 minutes, I can get you to Ponyville in no time. My guess is you just want to get back to your world as fast as possible right?” I nodded, I agreed... Or so I thought...

He led me to the train platform and I took a seat on one of the benches, I sat there for a good 10 maybe 20 minutes just thinking to myself... The conductor was sat next to me, he was staring at me for quite a while... When the train arrived he immediately went to the drivers section of the train, Yes I just said that. I don’t know anything about trains. As ponies started getting off at their stop, they saw me and bolted, screaming like all the rest did when I arrived. In the distance however, I heard a couple of the towns folk talking to the same ponies that just ran away from me, explaining what was going on. I looked back at the stage, Trixie wasn’t in sight. She was still in the back, sobbing her eyes out. What could I do now to possibly make her feel better? What amazed me was that I knew next to nothing about her, so how could I make such a statement? Just because I’ve seen the show? That One episode? No, I knew nothing about her life... Nothing relevant what so ever...

The conductor came out of the train and started walking towards me, “Its ok kid, you can take a seat now” The conductor said to me, I wasn’t paying attention. He saw where I was looking and gave a loud sigh, “Ugh... Listen kid, have you ever done something in life you regretted?”

“...Oh I can think of many things, I still regret them to this day...” I muttered, I didn’t know where this was heading at the time. “What about you?”

“Oh we all have kid” He informed me, calling me kid again... ‘I’m 20 damn it’, is what I wanted to say but I kept quiet, I was deep in thought. “If you left now, what would you regret most?”

I stopped thinking and looked at the train, then back again to where Trixie was. “...I guess I would regret making her cry... and not making it up to her for saying such things when I know nothing about her...”

Pondering to myself for a couple of moments, I knew what I had to do, but I had a time limit to do so. Today was Monday, I had a week off from work so I had roughly 5 or 6 days, Sunday, the 7th day, I would need to get back home to my world and sort out my clothes for work. I kind of guessed that Celestia knew about this spell, it was my best guess and best bet.

I turned back to the conductor, smiled and patted him on the head. “Thanks buddy, I think that helped me clear my head to make the right decision”. He flinched when I touched his hat, don’t think he expected that. “Oh and by the way, I’m not a kid. I’m 20 years old”

“You're How old!?” He replied in surprise, “I apologise young colt... Er, human”

“No worries, I think the name ‘Kid’ has kind of stuck now” I laughed back, “What's your name by the way?” I had been talking to him for a while and yet I never knew who he was, so I would finally find out who had helped me mull things over in my head.

“The name’s Steam Trail, Its pleasure to meet you Nick”. He answered with a smile, “Whenever you need to get to Canterlot, or just need to use the trains, just say the word and I’ll help ya out”.

“Much appreciated Tray” I thanked him and began walking towards the stage, “Stay safe dude!”

I walked into the distance and could hear Him in the distance, trying to figure out what i just said. “Tray?... Dude?”. Now I needed to apologise to Trixie, we were both acting stupid. She was attempting to make me a slave without fully understanding the situation, as for me? I verbally slandered both herself and her hobby, it was out of order. As I got closer to the stage I noticed that there was a couple of ponies just outside, looked like they were guarding the backroom. I would need to talk to them before talking to Trix, I eventually arrived and jumped up onto the stage and made my way backstage, I could hear her sobbing still...

But as I approached the curtain, “What are you doing human!?” The Ponies closed in on my position, to my surprise it was Lyra and Bonbon.“The poor filly wants to be alone!” Bonbon Insisted, “I came here to apo-” I began but alas I was interrupted.

 “To taunt her some more huh? Get out of here!” Lyra shouted, “She doesn’t want to see you! Go away”.

“Ugh, Would you listen to me please?!” I tried to reason with them, “I came to apologise!”

“Oh... Really?” Lyra replied, slightly stunned, “... And here I thought you were a big meanie” They both looked confused, didn’t expect that I guess. I do remember seeing them amongst the crowd when I arrived, in the background as usual.

“You kidding? I felt Terrible after that ordeal, I want to make it up to her!” I stated as clearly as possible, “Although I don’t even know how I’ll start doing that...” I sat down on the spot and began to think to myself, ‘What could I do to make it all better?... She likes performing in front of crowds, performing tricks, being the center of attention, showing everypony something they have never seen before’. Then, like a steam train, it hit me. I was something truly strange and abnormal in this world, to a certain show pony, I could be an amazing attraction... As I was doing this Lyra and Bonbon just stared at me, like I was crazy. Eventually I stood up, I knew what to do... “Ok, I have an idea, can I just talk to her... please?” They nodded and let me proceed, carefully watching me from a distance.

I approached the stars changing room, yes, the stage had one built into it. The door was tiny compared to human doors, then again the average height of a pony was just up to my waist. I think I’m 5 foot 9... I knocked on the door and got no answer, this wasn’t going to be easy, for both me and Trixie. Tensions were already high, so I had to cling back some trust. I leant up against the door and started talking through it, “Trixie, its Nick”, I began, I could hear the sobbing had stopped. “What I said was out of line, no matter what the circumstances were it was wrong to say such things about something you enjoy doing, I’m sorry...”.

I could hear movement on the other side of the door, perhaps she heard me? “And I’m sorry I tried to imprison you... Human” She said, still sniffing her worries away. I thought perhaps she’d try to gain control of the situation her way but alas, she had changed. “It was wrong of Trix- I mean me, to try and manipulate you to my advantage, I made you angry and caused this to happen...”

“But I shouldn’t have said what I did to begin with, I’m usually cool headed... Could you forgive me for acting so foalish?” I swear this world was getting to me, but using their words just sounded so wrong to me... There was a silence, and I was still leaning on the door. “Look, I can understand if you won’t forgive m-E!” The door flung open and I went flying into the stars room, past her, and straight onto the floor.

“Ah!” Trixie screamed in surprise, “Oh my! A-are you ok?” Her eyes were red and watery, clearly she took this extremely hard which, in turn, made me feel even worse.

“Ugh, just peachy...” I moaned as I clambered to my feet, seriously, how many times could I fall over in one day? “Look, I’m sorry... and I want to make it up to you... But first...”

I got down to her level and she gave me a confused look, “But I have to make it up to you as well!” She proclaimed, “How could you forgive me so easily for something like tha-?”

 I reached out and gave her a good old hug, I’m pretty good at those. I’ve had a lot of practice when cheering my family up, “All is forgiven” I said with a chuckle, I felt a tear land on my shoulder. “Oh c’mon, you start that and I’m sure to follow...”

We sat there for a good five minutes through the silence as she cried on my shoulder, it made me realise something. Perhaps all it took was for someone to challenge her so that she could think about her own actions, that's what happened in Ponyville right? Furthermore, for someone to take the time to try and understand her, or to give her a chance, so her true self could be visible to the human, and pony, eye? Well, I think so anyway. I could see Lyra and Bonbon from the corner of my eye, watching me. Why is it that they are always in the background? I think they were getting just a bit teary eyed themselves, I could hear sniffing and then the shuffling as they disbanded and exited... Stage left...

I loosened my hold and looked her in the face, “All better?” I asked with a smile, I think she needed to get it out of her system.

“...I guess so...” She began, “...You are the strangest being I have ever met... And I’m sorry for what I tried to do...”

“Like I said, all is forgiven. Besides, I know how I can help you out...” I stood up and walked into the distance, then with a whip like action I turned back around to face her and proposed my idea. “I’m gonna be your sidekick!”

“What?!” She shouted, completely thrown off with this idea. “B-but I thought you wanted to get home?!”

“That can wait” I responded, “I’ve got at least 5 days before I have to get to Canterlot, find Celestia, and then ask her to send me home... Wait, how did you know a spell to bring me here anyway?”

“Well...”

She explained it all, everything! The sneaking in, distracting the guards, grabbing the spell, eluding the guards... it was... Pretty darned impressive for her to do that! Yes I lectured her on ‘Stealing’ But she said it would prove everyone how impressive she was, It made sense coming from her. After that long talk of adventuring and wonder, we got back to talking about how I could be helpful to her and the show... I was quizzed about the abilities of humans, and if I possessed any magical attributes whatsoever. I then had to explain the lack of Magical-ness of the humans ‘AND’ the human world, this was something that I didn’t complain about by the way. So finding something I could do that would help with the show would be tricky... Except that I’m a creature no one has seen before in this world. So I was at a major advantage, just walking on the stage I could easily make heads turn and, if possible, help with Trixie’s routine in some way, perhaps I could help her learn a few new ones? Like I said before, I’m not a fan of magic and I wasn't back then either, however if it could help her, which it did, then I was up for it... That was the plan I stuck with, I was going to help her to become the true Trixie she was supposed to be, right after I explained to her to stop announcing herself in the third person... That was the first step to this quest...

Five days was the time limit, back then I wasn’t sure if I was going to manage it... But I threw caution to the wind and just rolled with it, we then headed outside. To everyone's surprise, we were getting along and clearing up the stage together. It was kind of weird how it worked, it folded away into the wagon it was build into. She had made a few improvements since the last time I saw it, it was bigger and more complex than I could have imagined. When all of this was done, we headed out onto the next town. Before we left however, I jumped through the side window and stowed away in the back amongst all the props, scenery, decorations and staging, away from prying eyes. I used my bag of clothes as a pillow and made myself comfortable. Our journey had begun and we were already a good 10 minutes into the trip, I was beginning to nod off to sleep quite peacefully. Using her magic, she lifted the front of the carriage and turned the wheels so we went forward. Now that was pretty cool, she had been practicing her own moves off the stage it would seem. I wasn’t sure where we were headed but I figured she knew where to go next, as the sandman closed in on me, I swear I could hear the quiet whispers from a certain show pony...

“Thank You...” She whispered, as we set off for the next town, Dodge Junction...