Author's Note

Hello everyone, here's my attempt at writing a classic fantasy adventure with ponies and anon and the gender rolls and hoo whatzit. Away!

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic nor any of the characters depicted in the show.

Chapter 0: The Anon out of space

Twilight flew swiftly over the Canterlot streets, her diminutive draconian assistant clinging tightly to her back as she navigated the busy post-workday traffic. It was slightly easier in the air but she still sent a few Pegasi scrambling out of the way, looking on in bewilderment in the wake of her shouted apologies.

Twilight swooped down into the gated courtyard sprawling in front of a massive tower. It was obvious from the unmoving bodies of the four guards scattered loosely about that something was wrong. Twilight flapped her wings frantically as she landed a bit too fast, hooves skidding on the ground. Spike immediately leapt off her back and ran to the nearest downed guard.

"They're just asleep," He reported, "must have been a spell."

Another Pony landed- a brown-coated Pegasus stallion wearing chainmail barding and sporting a fearful expression despite the imposing winged battleaxe that adorned his flank. A member of the air patrol.

"Oh, Miss Sparkle, thank goodness you're here! She got into the sanctum, we couldn't touch her. She just started throwing spells and-and-"

Twilight stopped him by putting a reassuring hoof on his shoulder and prodding him to sit down.

"It's alright. Just calm down and tell me what she looked like." Twilight said in a measured but commanding tone.

The Pegasus took a deep breath, "Light blue Unicorn with...um, whitish hair I think? She kept calling herself the Great and Powerful-"

"Trixie" Twilight finished for him, annoyance clear in her voice.

"A-are we going in now or waiting for backup?" The Pegasus asked timidly.

"It might be dangerous. Sit tight out here and wait for the others."

He seemed relieved at this plan and scrambled off with a quick "Yes, princess"

Twilight motioned to spike and the two started toward the tower's entrance at a trot. The sanctum fit right in with the surrounding Canterlot architechture. The only outstanding thing being the gigantic beanstalk that had sprouted from inside the top chamber and partially dislodged the wood-shingled conical roof, increasing the building's height by about a dozen stories. A mighty battle had been fought and lost in Celestia's court against the botanical society to have it cut down.

They started up the wide marble steps that swept up to a set of glass-paned silver doors. The doors stood open, the enchantment that normally sealed them against threats both corporeal and magical had been unraveled.

"Be careful not to touch anything," Twilight said to the dragon at her side, "This is the biggest arcane repository in Canterlot. It's where we store dangerous or weaponized magic items."

"What do you think Trixie is after?" Spike asked.

"No telling. But she'll likely blow the place up if we don't get to her soon."

They passed the threshold into the sanctum's dank interior, lit by the slanting afternoon light pouring in from high windows. It had the atmosphere of a big library but rather than books contained tall shelves packed full of items. Vases, lamps, scrolls, trinkets and every other nick-knack imaginable. Racks lined the walls and held wands, weapons and even broomsticks.

Twilight darted off, zig-zagging between shelves and aisles until they came to the center of the room. Spike almost rear-ended her when she stopped abruptly. They had located the great and powerful burglar herself.

Trixie stood at a big polished oaken podium, using her magic to frantically flip the pages of a huge inventory catalog back and forth. The sour look on her face hinted that she hadn't found what she was looking to pilfer yet. Her eyes snapped up from the book.

"Trixie!" Twilight shouted, "What in Tartarus are you doing?"

"Oh, you aren't required here, Sparkle" The Unicorn said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "Trixie merely came here to conduct some research. I have much greater ambitions than your cute little Alicorn trick."

"That's what we call a crime," Twilight said as her horn began to glow. "You attacked those guards out there and entered a forbidden area!"

"They were insubordinate. Acting like a Pony of MY repute wasn't allowed in here!" The catalog in front of the blue Unicorn slammed shut to punctuate the statement.

"But you're not allowed in here." Twilight replied, shaking her head. "Nopony is. Again, it's called a FORBIDDEN area for a reason!"

"Stay out of our way!" Trixie shouted, grasping the catalog in front of her with her magic and sending it spinning across the room.

Twilight and Spike dove in opposite directions to avoid the flying book. It slammed into a big coppery cauldron tucked between two shelves and dislodged the lid with a loud clang.

There was a loud piercing cackle as a Pony rose from within the cauldron's interior in a flowing glob of shadow. Jet black with long, scraggly black hair and what appeared to be a set of goat horns, the creature raised its hooves. "Ahhh! After ten thousand years I'm free! It's time to conquer Eques-" Spike quickly slammed the lid down on the creature. The cauldron rocked a back and forth a couple times then was still.

Next the podium came flying towards Twilight but smashed against the barrier that shimmered to life around her. Twilight dropped the shield and returned fire with a barrage of magic darts. The streaking projectiles wouldn't do any real harm but would still convey the sensation of being pierced and hopefully convince Trixie to surrender. None of them landed however thanks to sheer luck as Trixie juked left and right, one of the magic needles embedding itself in a shelf before poofing into white sparks.

Trixie reared up on her hind legs. She fell forward onto a standard posture, horn glowing brightly as she did and tracing a crescent of energy that surged forward. Twilight grunted with effort as the ethereal blade crashed into her shield. The force of the impact rushed around her and dislodged several artifacts from their shelves behind her. Items crashed to the ground and the sound of shattering glass as something priceless was destroyed.

Twilight spread her wings and rose, preparing to send another salvo at Trixie but the Unicorn whipped a carpet off a shelf and took to the air herself. The Ponies circled each other in the generous airspace provided by the vaulted ceiling, splashing the walls with bright flashes of light as they exchanged bursts of magical energy. Trixie however, did not notice Spike scale one of the bookshelves until she swooped close enough for him to blast the underside of the flying carpet with dragonfire. With a shout she careened downward in a trail of smoke.

Trixie wiped out a table and somersaulted over a chair. Her momentum somersaulted her across the floor until she came to a halt upside down against a tall square object covered in a curtain. She scrambled to her hooves as Twilight touched down in front of her, wings spread wide and head lowered. A bolt of energy slammed into Trixie too quickly for her to shield and propelled her backwards into the mirror. This dislodged the curtain and it fell like a waterfall of fabric piling atop her.

Instead of her own reflection, Twilight saw a shadowy shifting entity within the mirror. Two red eyes blazed from the darkness as it watched her. Her mouth dropped open and she began to walk toward it in a dreamlike daze, eyes dilating until she had almost no pupils left.

"Twi!" Spike rushed up behind her and straddled her neck, taking hold of her horn and pulling her head away from the mirror.

As soon as Twilight broke eye contact with the cursed mirror she exhaled and coughed, frost emitting from her nostrils as if it were suddenly very cold. It disappated.

"Th..thanks, Spike. They really ought to review their containment procedures here."
Without looking, she urged the curtain back into place. She darted her head around in search of Trixie and spotted the tail end of her cape disappear around a pillar.

Trixie hopped backwards from the orb of light which deposited Twilight and Spike a few feet away from her.

"Give it up!" Twilight ordered.

Trixie spotted a more preferable option sitting in a rack on the wall. A staff carved out of bright red polished coral with a conch shell attached to the top of it. She seized it with her magic and brought it around to point shell-first at Twilight.

Trixie laughed, "The scepter of the sea is going to make you a real wash-out!"

"Lame!" Spike jeered as he peeked around from behind Twilight.

The staff emitted a deep rumbling sound like that of an enormous ocean wave- faint at first but rising in volume until...a trickle of water squirted from the shell, followed by a rather confused turtle. It flopped onto the floor and made a mad dash for a hiding spot.

"Bucking cheap knockoff!" Trixie shouted, slamming the scepter to the floor. A beam of violet energy slammed into her a second later. She sagged but managed to stay on her hooves. Her horn glowed and Twilight prepared to call up her shield again, but instead of an attack there was a loud pop. Smoke billowed up, obscuring the immediate area.

Trixie breathed hard as she galloped up the spiral staircase, not bothering to look down. She reached a landing and burst through a set of doors into the sanctum's second floor. Trixie clambered to a halt and glanced around the room, blinking a couple times. It was empty. She took a few steps in but from the sound of her hoofsteps realized she was walking on a metallic surface.

The floor consisted of shiny coppery plates while the upper part of the room was occupied by brass gears, chains, counterweights and other components as if it were the interior of a gargantuan clock. A pair of arms supported big crystal balls that must have been the size of a carriage each, slowly orbiting the room in opposing directions. A curious device but definitely not what Trixie was looking for. She cast about for a door or another staircase but found nothing.

"Come on! Where could they have stashed it?" She muttered to herself.

A flash of purple light brought Trixie once again face to face with Twilight. The Alicorn's horn and eyes alike flashed with a brilliant light. The beam of energy punched straight through Trixie's shield and sent her flying across the room.

"Trixie...it's over" Twilight said, "Half the Canterlot guard is outside by now. You aren't going to get away with whatever you were trying to do here."

The words were like weights to the not so great and powerful-feeling Trixie as she climbed to her hooves. She hung her head. Then slowly she rose to meet Twilight's gaze, horn glowing. The two Ponies began a furious exchange of magic, blue and purple beams flickering and bouncing off opposite-colored shields like a spastic thunderstorm.

The machinery above them began to pick up speed as the battle reached a fevered pitch, rattling its housing and sending cogwheels spinning fast enough to strip their gears off. It was only when a chunk of brass machinery crashed to the floor between them that the two Ponies ceased their fight and noticed the commotion.

"Run! It's going to-"

Twilight didn't get a chance to finish as the two crystal balls exploded simultaneously in a cascade of sparks and glowing crystalline glass that scattered in a spiral pattern due to the motion of the arms. The two spinning arms sagged then and ripped themselves free violently, hitting the floor with a loud metallic clang that vibrated the entire room. The machinery in the center of the ceiling shrieked as it was wrenched free and compressed into a spot where reality seemed to swirl inward on itself.

Twilight dove onto Spike and summoned her shield against the pelting bits of machinery but soon noticed a sound rising above the ripping metal- a voice...no, it was somebody screaming.

Trixie heard the screaming as well, growing louder and louder until it was all around her- or on top of her to be specific. A bipedal entity appeared in the air before her, its lanky body stretched with its arms raised. One of his feet stepped down as if trying to find solid ground that was no longer there. Instead, his foot found her head, crumpling her hat. The two of them froze for a brief second of weightless silence and then gravity seemed to catch up with the creature. At the same time, the void above collapsed with a thunderclap that blew out every single window in the room.

When the shower of glass, brass machinery and other debris finally ceased, Twilight came out from under her wings to find Trixie knocked out cold in a tangled heap with whatever had come from the void.