The crowd roared for her to come back on stage, though it was muffled from the navy blue curtain that separated her from them. Trixie strolled through the winding stacks of dusty crates and steal beams that had rusted and corroded over the centuries. Taking a seat on the only crate that wasn't a musty brown, she used her telekinesis to float her hat onto another box as she shook her head, letting her mane become free from the style that she had made it up for the show.
The show. It had gone rather well tonight, better than expected, anyways, and the crowd yearned for her to come back. Sadly, they'd have to wait until the weekend. There were only so many spells that she could cast to keep their interest, and it was best to not blow your load in one go. 'Twas standard procedure of show business, even if your audience is a crazed mob of murderers and criminals.
She sighed, getting back on her hooves and looking down at her previous seat. The top of the crate had been ingrained with faded text that read "The Great and Powerful Trixie."
The caped mare sighed as she lifted the lid of the box with her magic, letting it rest on a higher box as she stuffed most of the props she used inside, besides the corpse of that one mare. She was sure somepony would either clean up or take it away for some disgusting fetish of theirs, even if it was sliced into two. The cold body of that poor pony would probably be subjected to the second option. After all, this was Canterlot. And they all loved the old "saw a lady in half" trick.
Pulling out a handled mirror, she inspected her face to find that there was still two speckles of blood. She grabbed a dirtied handkerchief from the box and wiped it off, tossing it back in with less than a glance of interest. She was about to put the mirror back in, though turning it around brought up an interest of hers.
A faded, grimy picture had been stuck to the back of the silver mirror, illustrating a happy looking caped unicorn and two unicorn colts on either side, one blue, the other yellow. Those were better days, she thought with more than a sullen expression. She'd seen the picture almost every time she went through the crate, but it still touched her every time.
There isn't exactly a time travel spell, however, she noted in her mind. Or at least, not that I know of. It was sad for her; she had to be the most powerful, wisest unicorn in Equestria, and yet she didn't know a time travel spell. She'd have to check her small library some time, perhaps just double check that there isn't.
Even if there was, she couldn't go back. Equestria had changed her. She had been forced to take many lives, and with the arrival of Canterlot, the death toll only rose as more and more ponies challenged her, thinking that she was just some poor mare. Most ended up dead, if she didn't let them scamper off.
Placing the lid back on the crate and retrieving her starred hat, she trotted out towards the exit of the tall building. From here, it would only be a short walk to her cabin, and if she hurried, she could get there in fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, tops. If she wasn't interrupted, of course.
One didn't have to worry about being robbed in Canterlot, or at least having their homes broken into. Despite the appearance of the ponies who lived here, the justice system was very effective, with a standard procedure of vigilante justice. And a bandit just couldn't resist getting some free bits and loot from a soon-to-be dead pony who decided it'd be a good idea to try to break into a house. If somepony was being robbed, a bystander was allowed, and expected to, murder the criminal on sight. That didn't mean they couldn't take their place if nopony was watching, however.
In short: revenge was a bitch in Canterlot. If you angered one pony, you might've just roused a dozen raiders' fury. And it was no exception to the blue show pony.
As she opened the door, she could see that the ceiling-sky of the city was leaking. It must be raining, she thought, making her way through the streets, passing drunks, shady looking ponies, and worrying mothers or fathers as they kept their children close to them.
Once Equestria had fallen into disrepair, the combined minds of multiple ponies made it so that the whole city looked like it was inside a cave. With some excavations running through the mountain and more than a thousand tons of wood and metal, they had created the Bubble: a large spherical barrier that separated Canterlot from the rest of the world. It also gave the whole city a cozy, homely feeling, with Hearth's Warming Eve lights running around almost every building and wall, as well as the ceiling above. Bungalows had been built into the walls of the Bubble so that there was a second level to the city, bridges connecting them.
Something on the wall of a nearby bakery (if you could even call it that, they sold charred pastries that tasted worse than early griffon scones) caught her eye. She stopped and gazed at the stained and disheveled poster, bold text shouting at you to not miss the weekend shows, with a similar face to hers sketched down. Her hat was tipped down so that only her muzzle was visible, and her cape was much longer than it was in reality.
It reminded her of how much she hated her job, but she had to do it. Besides, she knew multiple ponies who had to do things ten times worse just to feed their kids or themselves. They would go to any of the whorehouses and basically auction themselves off to anypony who's feeling dirty for a single night, though most didn't come out from their temporary owner's homes until three days. A pony would be brutally raped, beaten, and sometimes even subjected to perform some sort of sick fetish to entertain their masters.
She once knew a pony, sweet as can be, who had been kicked out of her home town after it got invaded by pillaging raiders. Her and her little filly. She was quickly robbed of her bits and became homeless, hiding from anypony. After a mugging gone wrong, that poor mother had become crippled, forcing her daughter to support them both. She was only eight years old, and she went to the whorehouses, hoping that it would be an easy way to make money. The next day, the blue unicorn had stumbled across the bruised, lifeless body of that filly, and her mother was never seen again.
Ponies had it much, much harder than her, so she shouldn't complain about how she disliked her current way of life.
The caped pony stopped at the entrance of a dimly lit alleyway. Rats scurried away from her presence, squeaking in terror. Most ponies knew of this small portion of town to be territory to a large family of thieves, all of them ruthless and with a drinking problem. It wasn't hard to slip by the shortcut unnoticed, since it was usually unoccupied. She usually took this route everyday when she was coming from the Showtime area on her days. Other times, she might just go there to see an execution, hanging, or a speech from the psycho leader of the city. A scrawny and unpredictable unicorn, he usually wore a mask and paid the city's actual guards, who were really just mercenaries, who guarded the gates to the city. If you were smart, you didn't mess with him.
Trixie observed the walls and their rather gruesome graffiti as she trotted through the alley. The once white walls were now a dirty khaki color, with mold lining the bottom of each. Cracks ran up the barriers, vines sprouting.
The leak from above had gone on long enough to create small puddles, with the walls of the alley growing wider. This was essentially the small square of the family's territory, with a short path across from the alley the mare had arrived leading back to a public road. Two other alleyways entered this square on the left and right side. Windows lined the buildings that created the empty square, most of them either broken and shattered, boarded up, or just had their blinds shut down. The family had at least tried to make the square pleasant to the eye, with the buildings painted with a lush green and red. Clotheslines ran through each gap of buildings, most holding dirty, sullen clothes.
Just before she could get through it, both of the doors on either side of the shorter path opened up.
"Shit," the unicorn muttered, stepping back as the two dark red stallions stepped out. The taller one had an aluminum bat slung over his back, two railway spikes jutting out of it. The other carried a knife in his mouth, the blade reflecting the glow of the lights above. Both were earth ponies.
"Well," the taller one with a messy black mane said, "if it ain't the 'great and powerful' Trixie." His brother, the shorter one, mumbled something through the knife in his mouth.
Behind her, she heard the creak of doors opening. Sure enough, she saw from a quick glance that two mares, one an earth pony, the other a unicorn, had just come out from a building. The yellow earth pony had a long baton with wires running up it, each one buzzing with electricity. The other held a double-barrel shotgun, though it wasn't pointed at her, and was rather still holstered.
To her left and right, the doors also opened to reveal three more ponies. There were two on the left, both unicorns. The grey one held an extravagant, scoped revolver, this time pointed directly at her. Her companion, a yellow stallion with a bushy green mane, had an axe that was once used to chop down trees, though she could see from the red stains that it now had an entirely new purpose. To her right was their leader, Firebug. Everypony knew and feared him. He wore two tanks of gas on either side of him, as well as a burned gas mask. He never talked, and rather let his enormous flamethrower do the talking.
"Just come back from a show?" the yellow earth pony said, circling her slowly.
"No, I just thought that I'd pay the slums a visit," Trixie responded with a smirk.
"Oh, you dumb bitch!" she said, anger flashing across her face. She galloped towards her, stun baton raised. In a simple — but elegant, nonetheless — movement, Trixie swerved to the side and let her horn glow. As the mare swung down on air, a small, pink panel appeared, right in the pony's swing's direction.
The effect was instant. As soon as the baton connected with Trixie's magical shield, it cast the electricity back onto the attacking mare, making her shriek. Nopony interrupted her as she fell to the ground, twitching, hooves charred. Smoke curled up from them, the baton rolling to the side.
"A lot of ponies call you all clever, but you don't really live up to the name." Trixie stepped over the yellow pony, looking at the two unicorns to her left. She'd have to stall them for a while; her mind was working quickly to formulate some sort of plan.
"Very funny, but we're the ones with the gun," the grey unicorn said, shaking the revolver at her to emphasize her point.
The tall red pony spoke up again. "What're you even doing here, anyways? This is our turf, not yours."
Perhaps I'll create a smokescreen, a distraction. "Just thought that I'd take a shortcut. Now, if you two boneheads would just let me through-"
He chuckled. "Not happening. You come to our turf, you stay on it."
"Y-yeah!" the revolver pony said, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. She's obviously new, and afraid. She'd be the easiest to get by, and that axe pony as well.
"'Less, of course, you're willin' to pay a tax," the shotgun wielding mare said, setting it down and leaning on it. She'll be easy if she follows me first.
Trixie looked at her, faking an innocent expression. Her eyes traveled to a broken window as she spoke. "Oh? How much do you want?" She watched the blinds fall as the pony inside scrambled away from her eyesight. Should've guessed that there'd be more hiding. They'd take a while to catch up with the rest, however.
"Ar o' it," the shorter red pony said through his mouth.
"Cape, hat, everything," the taller one added, making sure that she understood. Trixie knew they'd kill her either way. Those are rather crude weapons those two have. They'll be slight work if I can stay away from the taller one.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I can do that," Trixie replied, a note of anger in her voice. Just as she expected, the revolver pony's weapon was shaking even more.
"I-I'll sh-sh-shoot!" she said, taking a step back.
Perfect.
"Oh, alright," she said, feigning resignation. Casting two spells at once, she hovered her hat off and slowly loosened the leather band that wrapped around her head. Her horn grew brighter, procuring a look from the two red ponies. The shorter one looked up at his elder, who only shrugged, raising his bat in defense. It wouldn't help, however, as her horn began to flare. The shotgun pony shielded her eyes as Trixie's horn exploded in a brilliant light, blinding everypony but Firebug and and the shotgun pony, though she was in a slight daze.
In a blur of movement, Trixie rushed towards the stunned revolver and axe ponies, slipping out two hidden blades that were strapped to the inside of her cape. Jumping between them, she held one small knife in each hoof, cutting both of their necks in the process of the leap. The result was a crimson fountain, their necks squirting out blood in spurts. Trixie made sure to float the revolver into a pocket in her cape. It'd fetch a pretty price if she didn't just keep it for herself.
Rather than giving chase, Firebug galloped back inside, most likely going through the connected buildings and finding a way to ambush her once all of his hoof soldiers were gone.
The caped mare splashed into a puddle as she leaped. As she sprinted away, she looked back to see the shotgun pony now giving chase, aiming down the alley at her. This alleyway was rather narrow, but that was good.
Just as the shotgun's barrels both exploded with a barrage of lead, Trixie cast a giant shield behind her that lasted for about five seconds. All the pellets from the shotgun rounds simply dinked off of the pink wall, instead returning back towards their owner. Trixie grinned as she heard a scream from behind.
Once the shield dissipated, the two red stallions were immediately in pursuit. In an effort to slow them down, Trixie used her seemingly endless knowledge of spells to freeze all of the puddles, creating a deceiving puddle of slippery, frozen ice.
"Gotcha!" A door just ahead burst open, a black unicorn with a sledge hammer blocking Trixie's way. Rather than stopping, the caped mare was running straight into him, much to her opponent's delight. Her horn glowed, and in a flash of light, she was gone. The confused stallion looked around to find that she had teleported behind him, thereby skipping the process of dealing with him entirely.
"What the..." he said, baffled by the teleportation magic. After all, nopony in Equestria could even think of somepony who could teleport, besides the Princesses perhaps. Meanwhile, the shorter red pony had slipped on a small sheet of ice, falling over right on the still-hovering hammer. He screamed as a result.
Finally, Trixie arrived at another empty square. While it wasn't as big as the last, and it only had three connecting alleyways, it would serve as a good stopping point. There were two plastic lawn chairs and more clotheslines set up.
The taller red pony was the first to arrive, the other two still behind. "How do you like this?" he yelled, swinging his spiked bat. Trixie easily jumped backwards. Her horn glowed slightly as two more Trixies appeared on either side of her. While it wasn't a very easy spell, it was quite effective.
He only stopped for a minute before swinging again, making all three Trixies scatter. The one on the left rolled to the side, as did the one on the right, while the pony in the middle's head connected with the spiked bat. She instantly turned to a smokey dust, and in that moment of his confusion, the Trixie on the left took the opportunity to throw one of her multiple daggers at him. It collided with his head in a sick thwock! as the other Trixie faded away. The tall pony fell to the ground just as hammer and knife pony arrived.
The short red pony stopped just behind the square, gazing at his fallen brother. The hammer pony, however, did not stop.
"Raaah!" He slammed his sledgehammer down into the grass, Trixie easily weaving out of the way.
"Oh, come on. You're making this too easy for me," she taunted, her horn glowing as she ripped a clothesline just above the shorter pony from its connection. Using her telekinesis, she quickly floated it down behind the red pony, wrapping it around his neck, then tightening. He made strange gargling noises as the black pony rose his sledge hammer for another swing. Just before he could, however, Trixie's horn glowed just a little bit brighter, the sledgehammer now glowing with both pink and green magic.
"Wanna have a magic duel?" she asked, flaring her horn as she ripped it from his grasp. A telekinetic battle is no easy task, professional or not, but the black pony had looked back at the short pony for just a moment. Levitating the two items at once, she rose the sledgehammer and slammed it against the black pony. It hit his ribs with a cracking sound, and he dropped to the ground, cringing.
Trixie dropped the sledgehammer, looking back at the struggling red pony. His hooves clawed at his neck, desperate to get the thin wire off. He eventually slumped down, his head hanging. Trixie released the clothesline and tried opening the surrounding doors. None of them would budge, but that wasn't a problem. With the glow of her horn, there was a clicking sound and one of the doors opened...
...Only to reveal a pony holding another revolver, this one not as decorated as the last. Her eyes widened as she jumped out of the way, the pony opening fire with two shots. One missed, but the other slammed into her thigh will a dull thud. She cried out in pain as the searing feeling spread, but hastily silenced herself, biting her lip. She'd have to work through it and get it healed later; sadly, she did not know any healing spells that would work quick enough on herself.
Wincing as she felt a warm liquid spread down her leg, she grabbed one of the lawn chairs and blindly threw it in the doorway, only for it to bounce off. It's plastic, you idiot.
Staying behind the open door, she dug inside her wet cloak and pulled out a small, metal ball. She had created it herself, using multiple enchantments and filling it with varying chemicals. Hastily, she turned it around in the air and pressed down on a small button. It immediately started ticking, and Trixie threw it into the air, using levitation to curve it into the doorway. It ticked much faster as the revolver pony looked down at the small ball that had rolled to her hooves.
"Huh, what's this-"
PSHHHHHH!
A dark, ebony mist began to flow out from the tiny sphere. The pony immediately began to scream as her coat started singeing off, her skin starting to bubble and ooze. Trixie looked away from it as the pony's insides slowly melted as she breathed the mist in. It was definitely overkill.
Trixie winced as she ran over to a door across from the one she had just gassed, favoring her three other legs. It took her a little longer to work the lockpicking spell as she was starting to feel lightheaded. It opened with a click and she continued onward.
The walls and ceiling, just as outside, were stained and dirty. The floor was now made up of mismatched wooden floorboards, continuing on through a hallway. Trixie trotted through and was about to climb a staircase when she quickly skid to a halt, listening. There were voices ahead, just above. Her ear perked up as she tried to make out their words.
"...bug wants us to run after her, but fuck that, am I right?" a pony with a slight southern accent said, his voice gravelly.
"I don't know... Hey, you remember the last guy who disobeyed his orders? Very next day, he's found in a dumpster, sliced into pieces he was," another stallion responded in an accent that contrasted with the other.
"Yeah, but we'll get sliced into pieces if we do follow his orders," he said, a hoof stomp audible. "I saw her slit those two ponies throats in a flash! That ain't gonna be me, I tell you what."
"Hmph, I suppose you do have a poi- hey, what was that!?" Trixie stopped in her tracks, the creak of the old stairs echoing. Luna dammit, she thought, frowning. Her horn quickly flared as she spawned a small bubble around her made of hexagon panels. She rushed up the stairs, much to her back leg's dismay, and saw that one, a bulky stallion, had a crowbar clenched in his teeth, while the other, a green unicorn, had a small submachine gun pointed at her.
He immediately pulled the trigger, letting out a barrage of bullets. They all bounced bounced off her shield, but it was starting to fade with each impact. Moving with swift elegance, she withdrew another throwing knife and tossed it at the crowbar pony, quickly opening one of the hexagon panels for it to come through. Focusing on the blade, she used her levitation to make a boomerang effect. The knife curled in the air, going behind the crowbar pony and then returning, hitting the back of his neck.
The gunner pony was only now reloading, giving Trixie the chance to strike. Dissipating her now-weak shield, she moved in and slammed her hoof into the bottom of his jaw, flipping his head back. He stumbled, his back hitting the wall. Trixie jumped and slammed her good hind leg into the side of his stomach, making him groan and double over. Trixie, however, was not done with him.
Sweeping two boxes of ammo off of a nearby wooden table, she grabbed the fallen pony's head and slammed it against the table once, then twice, before it collapsed under her third hit. Splinters flew as the pony fell to the ground, unconscious.
She tried to control her breathing, but her wounded leg was starting to feel numb. She had to get out, now. In a rush, she galloped back down the doors, nearly slipping, and outside. She turned to the alley that she had come through, her lungs burning. If she didn't get home soon...
She skid to a halt, but it wasn't much of a halt since she forgot about the ice. She fell on her stomach, sliding towards the main square. Three ponies, all armored unicorns, stood in her way, each of them armed. The first was floating an old, beaten rifle, and the second had a large axe that had been modified to have double edges. The third held an enchanted sword that was swallowed by flame. They were none other that the Dragon Flies, Firebug's personal assistants. Trixie slowly got up, looking at them.
"Halt," the rifle pony said, holding up a gloved hoof. I'll have to deal with him first. "Come any closer and I shoot, and don't try anything."
"Yeah!" the axe pony said, his weapon at the ready. I could do something with him, Trixie thought. The sword pony was swirling the flaming blade in the air, doing tricks with it. Both ponies looked at him, frowning.
He shrugged. "What?"
"Ugh, you know what. This isn't a game, this is serious," the rifle pony said, stepping over to him. With the goons distracted, Trixie's horn slightly glowed. She lowered her head so that her horn was pointed directly at the axe pony. He barely noticed until the last moment. He blurted something out as the small beam of pink light zapped him in the eyes.
"Ah, what the!?" He screamed, rubbing his eyes furiously. The rifle pony went over to help, but the sword pony turned towards Trixie, sword at the ready. Eventually, he stopped rubbing his eyes, only to scream in terror.
"Ah, she's doin' that multiple thing trick! Where'd y'all go!?" he screamed, backing away from his companion. In their eyes, he was having a panic attack, but in his, his two allies had become visual duplicates of Trixie.
"What the hay is up with you?" the rifle wielding Trixie said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. As a result, he shrieked, backing away.
"Get away!" he yelped, swinging his axe blindly. It slid right into that Trixie's side, making his partner scream. While he fell into a pool of his own spreading blood and the axe pony was galloping away, the sword pony was looking Trixie in the eyes.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Trixie tried to smile, but the pain in her leg was worsening. In response to her tease, the sword pony rushed forwards, sword at the ready.
She was in no shape or form to try to use her telekinesis to take the sword, so she'd have to try something else. Hastily teleporting to the side, Trixie reappeared and pulled out the longest blade from her cape, a two feet, double edged sword that was enchanted to have an extra gravitational push on incoming objects. She slid the pouches off of the sharp rods, at the ready for an attack.
The sword pony charged, weaving to the side at the last moment to trick Trixie, but she was still ready. He swung from the side, so Trixie ducked down and turned her own sword. When the two swords collided, there was a flash of bright pink as his sword bounced off. He was only confused for a moment, so when Trixie tried to take a jab at him, he quickly jumped back.
The caped mare stood her ground, sword at the ready. The sword pony swung again, this time from above and downwards. He had put a lot more strength into this time; instead of bouncing off again, the two struggled as the flaming sword was only an inch away from her blade, pushing further down. Trixie quickly realized that if she were to keep on, her sword might bounce back a her. So, she quickly teleported behind him, keeping the sword in its place.
The sword pony swiveled around, but that wasn't the best move. While Trixie was now completely open, her horn flared as she raised the sword from behind and slid it into his back. He choked, dropping his own sword and falling to the ground. Trixie pushed just a little bit more until the blade was coming out of the other end, hilt deep. She kept it there for a moment until she was satisfied he was dead, then putting the safety pouches back on the sword and sliding it back into her cape.
She sighed, then said her thoughts aloud, "Phew, it's over." Of course, she jinxed it.
Just as she was trotting towards the alley that led back to the road, a door from behind opened. Trixie looked back, and saw a giant stream of fire licking at her tail.
"Yowch!" she yelped, rolling to the left and facing the raging inferno. It extinguished quickly, showing a very familiar pony.
"Firebug!" she said, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice.
". . ." He remained silent beneath the mask. The two stood, at a standstill, Trixie looking around for possible solutions. More clotheslines, a rifle in disrepair, a flaming sword, puddles of water and ice...
She had come to a conclusion just as another wave of flames cornered her. Her horn flared, and she quickly reappeared in the alleyway with the ice puddles. Focusing hard, she tried to float all the water and ice together. Levitating a liquid was much harder than a solid.
Firebug was turning around slowly, his hulking figure looking around for Trixie. When he had finally found her, she held a large bubble of water. In a split-second decision, Trixie ran forwards, a sheet of ice serving as a shield, while she held the water to the side in an unnatural blob.
The flames immediately decimated the ice, but it served its purpose of protecting her for at least a short moment as she shoved all the water at the small barrel of the flamethrower. With a strange hissing sound, she shoved it all down the long tube, letting it travel into the tanks themselves.
Angry, Firebug tried to land a blow on her, but he was too slow with all of his gear. Trixie galloped away, her leg hurting more than ever, and snatched up the rifle. Aligning it with one of his tanks, she pulled the trigger.
The results were instant. In a flaming mess, it exploded. While Firebug's suit was fireproof, the explosion had ripped a chunk of the suit off to let the flames roast his side. For the first time, he gave out a muffled scream from behind the mask, rolling on the dirt in hopes to extinguish the fire, but to no avail.
Trixie stood there, watching, as he slowly stopped moving. From behind, she noticed that there were a couple ponies gathering around the alleyway, looking at the dying bonfire that was Firebug.
I have to get out of here before more come! And at that, Trixie ran back to where she had originally come before the slaughter had taken place. She supposed that she'd take the long route.
