Author's Note
After almost half a month worth of writer's block, I finally got this done. I hope the Spring Break will give me a cleared head. Either way, thank you for taking your time to read it.
Sadira
Agrabah, 3rd Century A.D.
Centuries ago in what is now the Middle East stood an ancient city, notable for the large palace that can be seen from a very tall sand dune. Alongside it are several plant like spires jutting out of the ground. A sight to see, but a danger to the inhabitants, for these were the architecture of a clan of The Witches of the Sand. Inside one of the towers, a battle commenced between three of them against a young man, woman, a blue genie, a monkey, a talking macaw, and a flying carpet. As powerful as the semi-phenomenal cosmic Genie was, the near infinite resource that is sand had the battle won to the witches as they trapped the heroes in shackles of hardened sand.
“Now” - The lead witch, Shakata, stretched her arms - “to be done with these fools!”
“No!” - Shouted another young woman as she stood between the two groups, holding a bony staff - “Don’t kill them. I have a better idea.” - Sadira spun the staff around - “Open the portal to the Realm of Mists.”
The other two Witches of the Sand, Risley, and Furrita gave their young companion a skeptical look before the former beamed up. “What an utterly twisted idea! I like this girl.”
Shakata grinned as well before walking towards a large coin-shaped object in the center of the room. “Portal to the Realm of Mists, I bid you open!”
The object faded away, revealing a bottomless pit with a red mist steaming out. With a flick of her finger, her enemies were dragged toward the pit. Struggle as they might, it was to no avail.
“Prepare to spend an eternity of agony in the Realm of Mists!” - She said before being bumped to the side by Risley and Furrita. Looking back, Shakata found Sadira charging at them, pushing them into the pit with a swing of the staff, but not before she grabbed onto the young woman’s foot as she fell - “Betrayer, you will pay!”
Freed from their shackles, the young man jumped towards the pit, grabbing Sadira’s hand just as her grip slipped. The young woman, magic carpet, and genie joined in as they tried to pull Sadira out. But the weight was too much, and Sadira soon slipped from his grasp.
“Aladdin!” - she screamed as she fell into the pit, the light on top soon became dark - “No!”
Today
A week had passed since the attack from the so-called Predacons. The front foyer doors have been thawed, and the student life goes on. With the end of the school bell ringing, students of all ages walked out. All except three, as for their punishment for spreading personal information around the Internet. As the Crusaders walked down the hall, ready for another day in detention, they found Cosgrove walking around them. A week in recovery has given him mobility once again, but he is still far from battle-ready. A few more weeks of light exercise could get him back on the field. The Maximal waved them goodbye before walking out of the school with a stiff gait, unaware that a certain school magician was watching.
“Hmph!” Trixie grumbled “The past two weeks and the student body has been looking forward to those Rainbooms and Maximals instead of Trixie! At least they have a distrust of the Crusaders.”
Trixie walked about the streets, not taking a second glance at her fellow pedestrians as she reached her usual browsing grounds, which unfortunately is shared by her rivals of two times over. Enter Sugar Cube Corner, the magician approached the counter, hand in her pocket as she looked up at the menu.
“What can I get you?” Asked Mrs. Cake as she put her hands on the counter.
“A peanut butter custard shake.” - Trixie answered, placing the twenty dollars on the counter. With tax, she gained her change and after five minutes her treat. Walking in the outside world once again, Trixie manipulated the plastic spoon into her mouth - “If that four-eyed transfer student had powers, why can’t Trixie? Trixie is Great and Powerful after all.”
“Ah, but you must be careful what you wish for.”
Trixie turned around to find an aged man, much more so than Tremor, Cranky, and Lion Tamer, in a dark business suit and a graying bandage around his head, covering his eyes, though it appeared that he was paying attention
“Many have gone to a bad end. It is fortunate that the Friendship Games haven’t gone to such deep trouble.”
“Okay,” - the magician scooped the recipe off the spoon with her upper lip - “first: you weren’t there, and two: who are you?”
“You may call me Fasir.” - He said with a bow - “And I have seen many.”
“How?” Trixie poked her forehead, though it would be obvious that Fasir wouldn’t see.
The blind man raised a brow.
“You assume that because I am blind, I have no visual memory of what happened in the past? You also assume to be great and powerful, when in reality, you are moot.” - Hearing the sounds of Trixie’s indistinguishable words, he chuckled - “See, appearances can be deceiving.”
“Hmph!” - Trixie turned her body around - “Trixie doesn’t have to take this!”
Moving her eyes away from the man, the magician bumped into the same man again. She looked back, then forward, muttering a few words as she tried to find an answer. Defeated, Trixie gave the Fasir a glare. “What do you want?”
“The Eye of Mamoon-Ra has given me a vision.” Fasir rubbed the bandage.
“The eye of-?” - The magician was brought to an ethereal dimension, where the only other thing she saw was a gray mask with red lips.
“When the army of beasts rise, a faulty move will be unwise. Outside forces will be this world’s undoing. A quest you will be doing. Seek the powers of the Black Sand, and form your own band. Many obstacles will come in your way, but do not make this delay.”
Once the mask faded from her sight,Trixie twitched her lower eyelids before shaking her head back to reality, finding the man gone. She scoffed again before moving on.
“Trixie does not believe in fate.” - She takes another scoop of her custard - “She can make her own-”
The concrete below her collapsed, sending her and her treat falling down to the depths of the city sewers. She opened her eyes to the custard, peanut butter mix spilled all over the muddied floor, trailing to her right.
“Oh… As if Trixie couldn’t have any worse day.” - She took out her phone, finding that there aren’t any bars. With a huff, she looked up at the light coming into the hole before cupping her hands to her mouth - “Hello!? Anyone up there?!”
Like a baby bird in a nest, Trixie looked up helplessly.
No answer.
Using the light on her cell phone, Trixie followed the wall of the sewer. Sooner or later, she would find a ladder to climb up. “Later” is becoming more likely, as relying on her phone at full brightness brought the battery to a thirty percent.
“Hmph! This city is in need of sewer reconstruction.” - Trixie sniffed the air before grabbing the collar of her hoodie and brought it to her nose - “And deep cleaning!”
Her violet eyes soon spotted a soft light in the distance. Touching the walls, she found that the light led to a very massive chamber supported by cement pillars. There isn’t a ladder on any of the walls leading up to the solid ceiling. Nor are there any additional tunnels. Trixie would have complained once again had she not spotted a small studiolo at the wall to her right. In one of the holes were a series of tomes, one of which is grabbed by a blue hand.
“Hmmm…” Trixie looked at the text of the tome, which would appear to be gibberish to a foreigner, but - “Arabic, from the third century.”
Though being a slight clutz when she made her getaways, Trixie had a bit of a learning skill when it came to new languages, and Arabic was no exception. Her eyes scanned the sentence.
“Door to the Realm of Mists. I bid you open.”
Without warning, a large coin-shaped object in the center of the room faded out. Released, Sadira immediately turned around and lowered the staff.
“Portal close now!” - With that command, the lid reappeared, sealing off the so-called Realm of Mists. Giving a small glare at the entrance, Sadira broke the staff in two - “Aladdin? Jasmine?”
The girl looked about, but only found Trixie, whose skin color could have her been mistaken for the Genie, but her gender has her think otherwise.
“Who are you?” - The young woman asked, looking around at her new surroundings - “Am I still in Agrabah?”
Trixie raised an eyebrow before announcing, “This is an underground sewer in Estes Park, and you stand before the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She finished, spreading her arms in the air.
The stranger was not amused, “You don’t seem that way?”
Given the benefit of the doubt, Trixie took out a few smoke bombs and threw them to the ground. As the smoke cleared, Sadira found the magician to be missing. She looked around before her eyes crossed over with Trixie’s, giving her a jolt. With a chuckle, the magician took out a nail file and rubbed it on her nails.
“A disappearing trick with smoke, good, but not so much as this.” Sadia closed her eyes, making her flesh into sand and scattering along the floor.
Trixie opened a smug eye shooting both eyes and mouth wide open, dropping the file onto the floor. This was no parlor trickster, but another being in possession of magic. But the strange thing is, Sadira did not sprout any Equestrian features as have the Rainbooms and the like.
“So, they have forgotten about me.” - Trixie turned to the studiolo, finding Sadira with leaning forward on the desk - “All these years and they haven’t bothered to help me.”
“They?” - Trixie walked to her view - “Aladdin and Jasmine?”
Sadira took a deep breath, “If anything, I’ve deserved it after my countless attempts at having Aladdin as my own.”
Trixie cocked a brow, “Wait, you basically stole Aladdin away from Jasmine?”
“Almost.” - With a wave of her hand, a chair materialized before Sadira sat down on it - “One time, I was even this close to marrying him. But then Jasmine comes along and ruins everything. And now... I am truly alone.”
Trixie placed her hands on her hips, maybe there are a few things they have in common. “Well, Trixie was going to be Princess of Canterlot High at the Fall Formal last year. But then that fool Twilight showed up and rallied everyone up in one day. And to make it worse, Roma Candle was using Trixie to her own end.”
Sadira raised her head up, giving a curious look.
“Then came the Battle of the Bands, Trixie was this close to winning first place, then the Rainbooms came over and saved the day, and the attention was brought over to them instead of Her band.”
“You have musical competitions?” - Sadira scratched her head - “We didn’t have those in Agrabah.”
“Though Trixie has to admit, if it weren’t for them, the world wouldn’t have been a magical disaster.”
Sadira perked her head again, “Magic? There is magic here?”
Now Trixie had the witch in her hands. “Just not the kind that doesn't sprout ears, wings and-”
“How many?” Asked Sadira, holding Trixie by her upper arms.
Trixie looked the other way, drawing a smile as she came up with a tempting offer, “Soon to be sixteen, if you….”
“Sadira.” She answered with narrowed eyes.
“Sadira could teach Trixie” - She did recall the Eye of Mamoon-Ra mention forming “a band” - “and her friends some of your moves.”
Sadira raised an eyebrow. What Trixie is asking was used by a notorious clan of witches that once terrorized the Seven Deserts. On another hand, she is in unknown territory to the Heir of the Sands. “Fine, if you get me in the loop since I was missing.”
“And…” - Trixie pinched Sadira’s baggy pants - “You will need to get a new set of-”
Grabbing a handful of sand, Sadira changed her clothing from rags to a more modern garb consisting of khakis, a blue shirt underneath a green vest and yellow shoes.
“Touche.” - Trixie looked up, recalling her current dilemma - “Now, we just have to find a way out.”
Sadira looked around before encapsulating Trixie in a small, legged cage. “Take her to the surface, I will catch up shortly.”
With a wave of its “paw,” the cage walked out of the room. The young witch materialized a small bag, grabbing as many scrolls as she could in one trip. One particular scroll caught her interest.
Sadira, if you ever are released from the Realm of Mists, we would like to say we’re sorry for doubting you. No apology will be enough, but I hope you see it in your heart to forgive us. To keep the spells away from the wrong hands, I had the Genie cast it off to a far away land.
Aladdin
A moment of silence to recollect her thoughts before she materialized into sand once more and left the foreboding chamber.
A moment of silence again before the entrance to the Realm of Mists opened on its own, releasing red mist as a hand grabbed the ledge, followed by a cruel laughter.
