Pride comes before a Fall

               The Amber Grove, so called because the trees never shed. The red and orange hues of the leaves persisting all year round even when autumn is long past. The sun shining through the leaves baths the entire forest in an amber glow. No birds sing amongst the branches, nor do any creatures large or small make their home within it. The wood in an almost constant state of calm.

A lone light blue unicorn stumbled through the brush, stray twigs snagged at her cape and more than once an upraised root caught under hoof causing her to stagger. She didn't care though, as her coat became covered in dirt and foliage tangled in her mane. Even as her hat and cape, her most prized possessions, became tattered and worn. A cool breeze passed through the trees, chilling her to the core but still she pushed on. She didn't know how long she'd been walking, she didn't know what she was going to do next. The only thing fixed in her mind right now: Get as far away from that town as you can.

She looked up into the sky. It was night, the moon sitting high above the world, rays shining down through the tree branches. To her it was like the light was aimed at her, another spotlight. She remembered what she loved doing, performing on stage, the eyes of everypony on her, the screams, the adoring fans. Her life was exactly where she wanted it to be, until she arrived, Little Miss Twilight Sparkle. Putting her friends in their rightful place was easy enough but that unicorn, her blood boiled as she thought about that unicorn. So timid at first but that was all an act to lull her into a false sense of security, a clever ploy that had cost the Trixie her home, her job and most importantly her reputation.

Bitterly she shouted up to the moon, now her only spectator "I'll get her for this. I'll make her pay for what she did to me! Nopony upstages the Great and Powerful Tri-aahh!". Her attention directed to the heavens, rather to the path in front of her, meant the disheveled pony failed to notice the rabbit hole before her. She caught her hoof and fell forward and into a roll. She found herself tumbling down a hill before colliding with a solid *thunk* into the base of a tree. Her vision flashing black and red from the pain. Her front hooves quivered as she attempted to stand, only for a branch knocked loose by the impact to fall directly onto head, knocking her unconscious.

***

Trixie's eyes fluttered open, her vision blurred and her head still throbbing in pain. She shuffled about, waving her hooves in front of her face trying to shift the haze that impaired her sight. As it slowly began to clear, she tried to take in her surroundings. She was in a bedroom it seemed, the fact that she was lying on a bed confirming that. The room itself was quite small, built out of several tree trunks planted into the ground vertically, the bark still visible on several beams. The floor was made from wooden planks with a simple blue wool rug covering the floor instead of a carpet. Aside from the bed there hung from the wall a small circular mirror and beside the bed was an end table with a single candle that flickered in the dark along side a couple of picture frames showing the images of ponies she didn't recognize. On the other side of the room was a window, the curtains drawn and billowing in the wind.

A potential escape route. Trixie thought to herself, she tried to sit up in the bed only for her back to scream out in protest. The fall doing more damage than she originally thought. Groaning in agony, she lay back in the bed looking up at the ceiling when she heard the door handle rattle. Staring at the door she began to panic not knowing what was about to come through. She slammed her eyes shut and held her breath, hoping that if they thought she was still unconscious whoever opened the door would just walk out again and leave her be.

She heard the door swing open, she heard the sound of hooves against the wooden floor, then a beam of light poured into the room to the sound of curtains being pulled open. The hoofsteps approached the side of the bed, Trixie doing her best to lay perfectly still as she heard a puff of air, whoever entered the room had just blown out the candle by the side of the bed. She went stiff as a board felt a hoof rest across her forehead, then another being held to her neck. After a few seconds they released her and she could hear a soft voice mumbling. From the tone she could tell the voice belonged to a stallion, he sounded concerned

"Temperature seems normal now so at least the fever's gone. Heart rate is 124 beats per minute. A little high, maybe but not unexpected" Trixie almost gasped as she felt a hoof pat her on the shoulder "Who knows maybe you'll wake up eventually." she waited until heard the hoofsteps trail away and the door close before she dared open her eyes again.

Who was that? They sounded almost like a doctor, but this isn't a hospital. I need to get away right now, I'm in the middle of a forest with some weird colt and I need to leave before something happens! Is the window still open? Yes! Alright c'mon Trixie.

She tried once more to sit up in bed, only for her back to give out again.

Horseapples! Okay relax, just use a different approach.

With a swift kick Trixie pushed the quilt covering her to the floor. Looking down at her body she could see that most of her torso was bandaged up. Worried she brought a hoof up to her horn, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt that it was still attached.  Not wanting to be further distracted she began rocking forward and back on the bed, building up momentum until eventually she rolled off the side landing squarely on her hooves. She let out a pained cry as her right foreleg buckled, having been twisted when she fell. Biting back the tears and praying that nopony had heard her she limped over to the window. She threw her front legs over the window sill and pushed with her back legs, hoping to lean out of the window without stretching her back too much. She felt herself pivoting forward when she heard a voice from behind

"Ah! So your awake then!" Trixie froze. "But what are you doing trying to climb out the window?" She turned to see a dark blue unicorn staring back at her. He was around the same height and age as her, with a silvery brown mane that sat rather messily on the top of his head. Resting on his face was a thin pair of red glasses He had a rather slim build and was smiling at her nervously. He didn't look like much of a threat. Then she saw the lab coat.

(Author: I really need to find a way to shrink this...)

"Get back!" Trixie cried out in fear, her horn glowing, she prepared to defend herself.

"Whoa, whoa easy there, I'll not have you wrecking the place," said the unicorn calmly, slowly backing off.

"Come down from the window, you'll just end up hurting yourself more."

She shouted at him "You'd like that, would you?"

"For you to hurt youself more, of course not! I just want you down from the window" he said trying to keep his tone level.

She shot him a wild look "Well forget it, I'm escaping and there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

His expression went from mildly confused to downright befuddled "Escaping? Why in Equestria are you trying to escape?"

"Why? You're keeping me prisoner here, I'm getting out of here right now. I'm not about to become part of some weird experiment!"

Trixie looked on in confusion as the other unicorn started to chuckle softly, shaking his head from side to side "What are you laughing at, what's so funny?"

"My dear, I think you've got the wrong impression here, you're no prisoner, you're free to leave whenever you want although if I were you I'd wait till those injuries heal." he said gesturing with a hoof at the bandages around her torso.

"I will be fine."

"Well if you're sure then please, feel free to use the door." He used magic to pull the door open and stepped to the side, putting the bed between himself and Trixie who was still positioned awkwardly on the window sill. "Go on, I'm not going to stop you" he said gesturing to the door. She eyed him with suspicion, his expression was unwavering, her eyes narrowed.

"You aren't going to stop me?"

He shook his head "Nope"

"I'm free to leave."

"Absolutely"

"Is this a trick?"

He placed his right hoof on his chest and bowed his head slightly "Certainly not, I am a stallion of my word."

Trixie lowered herself from the window and turned towards the door. She continued to stare at the unicorn, waiting, seeing if he would respond. Carefully she took a step forward and then another and another, the stallion stayed where he was, watching her with a stern, almost impatient expression. As if to say "Well come on then, stop dawdling, if you're going to leave then leave!" Seeing as how he didn't react to her getting down from the window she decided to make a move, as soon as he blinked she put on a burst of speed, hoping to get out of the door as quickly as possible. When her hoof hit the ground however, pain shot through her leg once more and caused her to lose her footing, she slipped and fell. Closing her eyes she prepared to crash into the door and the hard wooden wall behind it, but the impact never came. When she dared open them she saw that she was enveloped by a dark blue aura, completely immobilized, her muzzle less than an inch from the door. She felt the spell's hold on her weaken allowing her to move around again, albeit floating in the air. She swung her head round to see the unicorn approaching her, his horn glowing and a small smile on his face.

"I told you to wait."

"Release me this instant?"

"Really? Are you sure? If I do, then you'll hit the wall, or the floor, or both."

"RELEASE ME NOW!" screamed the light blue unicorn, her horn flaring up again.

"Alright fine, simmer down, here at least let me put you the right way up first."

With a flick of his head, Trixie was carried to the centre of the room and tilted backwards flailing  and shouting out curses in the process. He cleared his throat rather loudly to get her attention. "You may want to put your legs down, unless you preferred me dropping you?" Slowly she realigned herself so that she was standing upright in the centre of the room, before the spell released her. She glared at him. "Well aren't you going to say thank you?"

"No, I'm not happy with being carried around like some child's plaything."

"Yeah I got that part, very colourful language by the way. I don't believe anypony has ever called me a limp-horned what was it? Anyway I respect the originality." He began walking up to her, noticing as she tensed up "You still think I'm a threat? Alright." He stood still. "Let me ask you this what do you remember?"

"I remember walking through a forest and something hit me on the head. Then I wake up in the bed of some freaky forest hermit."

He gave a slight laugh looking up at the ceiling "Oh the mouth on this one... right let's fill you in a bit. First off let's start with names" He held out a hoof "Hello, I'm the 'freaky forest hermit' but you can call me Carbon." Trixie recoiled from the outstretched hoof as though it were a poisonous snake. "Okay then," Carbon retracted. "Well are you going to tell me your name?" She thought for a moment, how did he not know who she was? The most famous showmare in all of Equestria and he didn't know who she was?

"Do you not recognize me?"

"Should I?"

"Little foal, everypony knows who I am!"

He picked his glasses of his face, wiping them with a cloth he produced from on of the pockets on his labcoat before putting them back "Well, sorry I guess. I've never seen you before in my life, let alone heard of you."

"You dare insult me? Me?! The most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!"

"My, my aren't we full of ourselves..." He took a step forward, Trixie taking a step back in response "See the problem I'm having, my dear, is that an all powerful unicorn wouldn't be afraid of a simple pony like myself." He cocked an eyebrow "How hard did you hit your head exactly?"

"Do not mock me, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Ah so your name is Trixie, well at least we're getting somewhere" Carbon replied with a shrug. "Now then Ms. Trixie will you please stop being such a frightened little filly. I need to check on those injuries of yours." He said taking another step forward.

Trixie found herself being backed into a corner "NO! Don't lay a hoof on me!"

"Relax Miss, I just need to examine that ankle of yours. It looks like you're nursing a very painful strain and you'll run the risk of doing even more damage if we don't immobilize it."

Upon hearing the word 'immobilize' Trixie freaked out "Get back! Get back!" she began kicking out blindly hoping to hit the approaching Carbon.

"TRIXIE!" he shouted, she froze in place "I am not trying to hurt you. I give you my word that I shall be as gentle as possible but if you keep freaking out like that then you give me no choice but to restrain you." His horn glowed, his expression deadly serious "I'd rather it not come to that, so you can either allow me to examine the sprain willingly or we can do this the hard way, make your choice." With a sigh Trixie relaxed, she knew she was in no condition to fight. He held out his foreleg "May I?" . She held her injured leg and winced as he took a hold of it. Carbon scrutinized it for a short while before covering it in a magical aura. Occasionally the aura pinched or pulled around the joints eliciting groans of discomfort and pain from the injured unicorn. Eventually the magic ceased allowing Trixie to place her leg back down. "Okay, well the good news is nothing's broken or dislocated but I certainly wouldn't recommend putting any sort of pressure on it for now. Wait here." He said trotting out of the room.

Trixie began to reconsider her position.Whomever this "Carbon" was he certainly wasn't a threat, he actually seemed to care about her well being. She smiled at this unicorn's kindness. If he honestly didn't know who she was then his desire to help her was genuine, rather than a plan to earn her favour. She knew a lot of ponies who showered her with gifts and praise simply because she was on stage and they saw it as their opportunity to become famous. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Carbon re-entering the room, carrying a large roll of bandages, a small bottle and some wood. "Right then, let's get this leg of yours seen to. If you would just hold it out again please." Trixie did as she was told straight away, earning a surprised look from Carbon. He decided not to question why and be thankful a flurry of blows wasn't headed his way. Using his magic he held Trixie's foreleg still and laid a wooden plank along it to act as a splint before wrapping the entire limb very tightly in the bandages. He checked over his work and once satisfied the limb wouldn't bend intentionally or otherwise he released the spell. "You're actually pretty lucky I found you Trixie."

She cocked her head "How so?"

"Well I was out in the forest gathering firewood and collecting samples, normally I wouldn't be out late but I lost track of the time. When I came across you lying there, you were in pretty rough shape. You weren't moving and I couldn't wake you. So I did the only thing I could think of. I picked you up carried you back here, bandaged your back and put you in my bed. That was three days ago."

Trixie mouth slammed open "Three days?!"

"Uh-huh, it was bad enough that you were unconscious but then you came down with a fever. I got more than a little concerened, it took quite a while before you stablized. I'm relieved you woke up, though as far as first impression go you strike me as a very peculiar individual." He smiled at her. "Now this." he said shaking the bottle slightly to direct Trixie's attention to it, "Is medicine for your back, can I convince you to take it?"

"Is it safe?"

"Well I admit it is absolutely foul tasting but aside from that it's perfectly safe to drink." He said with a smile as he offered her the bottle.

"What's in it?"

"Natural extracts from around the forest, designed to stop aches and pains."

Trixie took a hold of the bottle and necked it. Whilst not the smartest thing to accept medicine from a complete stranger she felt compelled to, her back still incredibly sore. Besides she had trusted the unicorn so far and he hadn't done anything deceitful. He was right about the medicine tasting foul though, to her it was like drinking pure lemon juice, the sharp sourness causing her to shudder. The whole mixture had a consistency similar to phlegm and she had to hold back the urge to vomit as she retched forward coughing. Soon after the mixture slithered down her throat though she felt her muscles relax, her back stopped causing her discomfort and her entire body started to tingle with an almost pleasant numbness, like she'd just received an exquisite massage.

"T-this is amazing, I feel great" she started to stand to her feet, only for Carbon to stop her. Using his front legs to hold her down slightly.

"Wait wait wait. There is something you should know, the potion doesn't have any magical healing properties, it's just blocking the pain and letting your muscles relax. You are still injured and if you try to move too much, you wont heal as quickly. Just take it easy okay?"

She nodded in understanding "Trixie thanks you..."

"You're welcome, now if you don't mind I recommend you lie down." she nodded again and allowed Carbon to help her back into the bed. He pulled the quilt back over her. "Now try to get some rest, do you need any food or something to drink?"

"Can I get some water, I need to get this awful taste out of my mouth."

Carbon chuckled "I don't think that'll be a problem" he began to walk out of the room.

"Wait!" Trixie called out

"Yes?" He turned his head slightly.

"Why are you helping me, you don't know me."

"What kind of a gentlecolt would I be if I left somepony unconscious and out in the cold? Even one as er... 'defensive' as yourself"

"Erm..."

"Besides, if you were able to help a pony in need, wouldn't you?"

"..."

"Try to get some rest Trixie." and with that he pulled the door shut behind him.

***

A few days passed, it took a while and several unsuccessful attempts but Trixie was finally able to stand up unassisted. Her back was still in bandages and although she could bend it a little more than before, she still found simple tasks such as climbing back into bed at night a hassle. Fortunately Carbon was there to give her a helping hand whenever she needed it. She noticed that he could more than a little irritated at times. When she asked him why he just smiled, saying his back was a little sore as well, probably from having to sleep on the couch whilst Trixie got his bed.

The rest of Carbon's house was as simple as his bedroom. He explained that he had built it himself from the surrounding trees and although he wasn't a talented carpenter he could still construct a sturdy home. Aside from the rug in the bedroom the floors were bare but where in the middle of a forest was a pony to buy carpets? Aside from the bedroom there was the living room/study. It had a small wooden desk surrounded by bookshelves and a large couch in the centre, along with a fireplace over which hung a black kettle. It was where Carbon spent most of the night working away, pouring over textbooks and novels or just sleeping. There was a bathroom that was connected to both the living room and the bedroom. There was also kitchen, with a selection of cupboards, a wood-burning stove, a copper sink, a table with two chairs near a large window, it was also where the door to the outside was. Trixie hadn't been back outside yet, taking Carbon's advice to stay in bed until her back got better but from the bedroom window she could see the door opened up to a pathway. The pathway split a few feet away with the left heading into and possibly out of the forest. The right headed towards a large stone hut which Carbon had constructed, which from what he had told her was where his laboratory was. Some of his experiments could be very... explosive. Performing them in a wooden house was about a sensible as keeping a bull in a china shop.

Carbon came into the bedroom carrying a plate and a large glass of water which he handed over to Trixie before sitting next to the bed beside her. "So how are you feeling today?"

"A little better, I don't know how long I'm going to be here, Trixie hopes she isn't imposing" She looked down at her plate, an assortment of wild grasses and edible fungi which Carbon gathered from the forest.

Not surprising considering the lack of fruit bearing trees in the area Trixie thought

The meal was hardly haute cuisine but food is food. She picked at the platter before swallowed down one of the smaller mushrooms, resisting the urge to gag in front of the chef. "I don't know how I'm going to be able to repay you for all this..."

Who am I kidding I'd pay not to eat this!

"Ah don't worry about it, right now focus on getting better."

"I'm not worried! It's just... Trixie isn't used to being in somepony's debt. I don't have any money to give you"

"Argh I have no use for money." He tapped his chin thoughtfully "Well tell you what, I've not had to entertain guests for quite a while you can repay me by keeping me company and if that isn't good enough for you then I'm sure there are a few jobs you can help me with."

"Trixie thinks that seems fair..." she picked at her food, trying to look at anything but it

"Quick question."

"What?"

"I noticed you sometimes talk about yourself in the third person, why is that?"

"Tri-I cannot help it, because of what I do it's become sort of a habit."

"Well what do you do?"

"I am a showmare, a travelling magician, the Great and Powerful Trixie!" she threw her hooves up in the air, making a dramatic pose, which only caused Carbon to chuckle under his breath. "Is something funny, do you doubt my might?"

"Well O' Great and Powerful Trixie" He said imitating her. "A powerful unicorn should be able to heal injuries like yours in a heartbeat, looking at you though. I reckon I'm more than a match for you."

"Is that a challenge." she raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Nope, just an observation."

"Well then why don't you heal Trixie, if you think you are more powerful than her?"

He rubbed the back of his head "Let's say that healing magic isn't exactly my strong suit."

"Well what can you do?" Trixie's brow furrowed "Anything you can do I can do better."

Carbon stared at her, his brow also furrowing, "Okay Trixie challenge accepted." He walked around the room, "As you can see I'm quite good at lifting, moving and throwing objects." He stroked the wall "Every tree that went into this house had to be uprooted, stripped and stuck deep into the ground. Such a feat require a lot of concentration and ,depending on the soil, a lot of force to uproot and replant the tree trunks. The same also applies to catching clumsy unicorns." he winked at her.

Trixie gulped, she'd never attempted to pull up a full grown tree up before. Carbon obviously caught onto her nervousness, then he got a sneaky idea. Hiding his smile quickly he continued "But." Trixie looked up, "I've told you to stay inside and I'm not about to bring a tree in here, so instead we will use this." He teleported in a shiny red apple, "Considering that there are no apple trees in these parts, well not normally this is something of a rare treat for me. I planted one when I first got here and accelerated it's growth so I could have a dependable source of food." Trixie eyed the apple, it was certainly more appertizing than the meal on her plate.

"I think maybe it's to do with the unusual way plants are seemingly frozen in time here but it never blossomed. This is actually the first and only apple to grow, I kinda had to force the tree using a few complex spells to produce it." He turned to face her "So let's make this more interesting, the winner gets the apple and the loser" he levitated Trixie's plate away "Get's the breakfast I made you and I've eaten enough of my cooking to know which one you'd prefer." He held out a hoof.

"Deal?" Trixie was uncertain, she still felt weak from her injuries and it had been quite a few days since she'd used any magic. To top it off she had no idea how powerful her soon to be opponents magic was. Her stomach gurgled and she could still taste the earthy flavour of the mushrooms, the thought of eating another one of them made her shudder. Tentatively she grasped his hoof and shook it.

"Deal."

"Okay then" Carbon took a few steps back and placed the apple in the centre of the room before retreating so he and Trixie were an even distance away from it, the quizzical look he received prompted him to continue "Very simple really, just lift the apple, you can do that can't you O' Great and powerful Trixie!" He said with a cheesy grin.

She pouted "Don't insult Trixie", her horn began to shine a faint pink. At the same time a similar coloured aura wrapped around the apple, which shook and wobbled slightly before it rose of off the ground to eye level "See, easy so that makes me the winner!"

"Not yet, put the apple down, that was just a test."

"A test?"

"Yep, sometimes when unicorns suffer head injuries they can find it difficult to call on their magic, the headaches messing with their concentration. Since we've seen your not having that problem, the real contest can begin." His own horn glowed, very faintly, so much so that Trixie couldn't distinguish the blue aura from his coat. "Ready?" Trixie shook her head in agreement, "Okay, now lift the apple."

"Again?"

"Yes, again?"

"This is preposterous, Trixie has already proven she can lift the apple. This is a waste of Trixie's time" she crossed her legs and collapses in a heap.

Carbon merely smiled at the outburst "Humour me, try to lift the apple." and continued to stare, his gaze flicking between her and the apple.

She sighed, Carbon was almost as stubborn as she was when it came down to it. "Well I suppose if I must, I must." Her horn glowed again, the apple becoming wrapped in pink. Satisfied she had control over the apple Trixie flicked her head back, intending for the apple to fly towards her, she was still hungry. The apple however remained stationary. Annoyed and slightly shocked at the apples refusal to move, she pulled on it even harder. The apple wobbled but remained in place. "What is the meaning of this, she looked to Carbon who was doing his best to hold back a laugh "You think this is funny?"

"Oh immensely." He decided to give her a little hint before she blew a fuse, allowing his horn to glow ever so slightly brighter. Her eyes opened wide in shock. "What?" he said chuckling "I want the apple as well, I'm not going to make it easy on you." His eyes narrowed, "Now is that really the best you've got?" A larger blue aura enveloped Trixie's pink, pulling it and the apple up to eye level, slowly it drifted it's way towards Carbon. "Come on, Trixie it's a simple game, tug of war, only with magic." Trixie saw the apple drifting away, her only chance at a palatable meal.

"Fine then!" her horn glowed much brighter, Carbon looking almost surprised as the apple halted in it's tracks. Trixie strained, her horn sending out small sparks as she concentrated on the spell and managed to pull the apple back to the centre of the room.

"Impressive" Carbon called out, almost causing Trixie to lose her concentration on the spell, "You're doing well to keep it level, now let's see how far you can go!" His horn glowed much brighter, Trixie could see it shimmering even through her closed eyes. With a pained gasp she felt the apple being tugged away and her along with it it seemed, her head bobbing forward. "Come on Great and Powerful Trixie you can do it!" Digging deep Trixie pulled on the apple as hard as she could but every ounce of strength she added to the spell was matched by her opponent, the apple didn't budge. She held on for as long as she could, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead, suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her temple and her magic frazzled and died. The apple whizzed towards Carbon who managed to stop it before it made a mess on the wall. "Well it looks like I'm the victor" smiling he held the apple up and was about to take a bite when he heard...crying?

Looking over to the bed, he could see Trixie slumped over, sobbing quietly. He walked over to her "Oh come on my cooking isn't that bad!" he said attempting a smile. When she didn't respond he walked over a placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Trixie..."

"Go away..." came the muffled response.

"So you lost, it's no big deal, you tried really hard."

"But that's just it." she sat up and wiped her face "I always try hard and I always lose."

"Now I know that's not true." He said with a grin. "What about all that bravado of yours, the whole Great and Powerful Trixie schtick?"

"All an act, all of it! It's just a stage name." she sniffed and wiped her muzzle. "Everywhere I go it's the same thing, somepony shows me up and then I become a laughing stock. I get run out of towns, pelted with food, jeered at."  "It's not easy being a street magician, how can you be special when nearly a third of Equestria can use magic? That's why I call myself the Great and Powerful Trixie, it's my little shield. Most unicorns are too snobby or too proud to engage me in combat, so they just go along with it." she turned away. "Even then there are some who manage to stand up to me..."

"Is that why you ended up here then?" Carbon asked, Trixie didn't answer she simply nodded and rested her head on the pillow. "Why don't you tell me what happened?" She rolled over.

"I don't want to..."

"If something's bothering you it's always good to talk to somepony about it. Tell you what, you tell me where you come from and how you ended up here and I'll do the same. Your going to be here a while with that bad back. Could it really hurt to get to know each other a little better."

"I suppose not..."

He sat by the bed, waiting eagerly with a grin on his face, like a child about to be told a bedtime story. Trixie let out a small laugh, "Please don't think less of me, it's not a tale I'm particularly proud of..."

"Hey I live out in the forest, with only trees for company. Who am I to judge? Besides you trust me right?"

She looked around, as if checking for any eavesdroppers "I guess so, alright then listen well, I only want to say this once..."

Over the course of the next hour, Trixie told Carbon about her life. How she earned her cutie mark when she performed magic tricks at a talent show in her home town of Fillydelphia. How she spent her childhood learning magic tricks and card tricks, performing little shows for her friends. Dazzling them, wearing the cape and hat she'd spent months making. Her parents however didn't approve, they felt she was wasting her magical ability but she didn't care, she was too busy doing what she loved.

She told him of her desire to perform and even how she got a chance to perform at a theatre in Canterlot, seeing it as the turning point of her career. Only for nerves to cause it all to go horribly wrong, a messed up card trick starting her off on what critics reviewed as the worst performance pieces ever to shame Canterlot. The article completely ruined Trixie's reputation, noone would hire her, not even parents for their foals birthday parties. Eventually she resorted to becoming a street performer. Earning a few bits here and there, even having a few run ins with the Royal Guard by running three card monte games in the street, gambling being illegal in Canterlot. Once she'd saved up enough she managed to buy a wagon to live in, instead of relying on the kindness of strangers or in some cases sleeping in the houses of ponies on vacation. As she travelled across Equestria, her little wagon grew larger and larger, housing more tricks, a laser show, fireworks, the whole nine yards. Young ponies lining up in the street to see her. It was then the taunts started, at first it was just a few bored stallions or ponies jealous of the attention she got. They were enough of a distraction that they managed to ruin her performances, causing boos and hisses to rise from the crowd.

After this pattern repeated itself in three other towns, Trixie decided she'd had enough. She began to call out the hecklers, even inviting them on stage. At first it was a case of making them embarrassed, having all eyes turned on them often broke their confidence. Most just ran red-faced from the stage, others tried showing off but ended showing themselves up. Occasionally one or two would be able to pull of some form of stunt, a pegasus with some acrobatics or an Earth pony with some show of strength, lifting rocks and such. Sometimes they managed to beat Trixie other times she could turn their own act against them and since no proud unicorn dared face off against "a common street performer" she always managed to get the upper hand. Countless victories and bouts of applause later, she began getting cocky, putting on the guise of the Great and Powerful Trixie.

She paused in her storytelling, it was easy talking about the past, but the next part was a little too soon for her to deal with as she'd have liked. She sighed and looked at Carbon, he was still listening intently, not showing any emotion, just sort of taking in the information. She could see it in his eyes as his mind whirred away processing what he was hearing. Trixie bit her lip, if he was upset with her or for her she couldn't tell but she promised to tell him everything about how she got here. She carried on telling him of her encounters in Ponyville, how her over the top boasting nearly got her killed, how it had destroyed her wagon and the reputation she had built up along with it. How she had shown up the few ponies who had spoken up against her. Then she got to the part she disliked talking about the most. How Twilight Sparkle managed not only to best her, but effectively ran her out of town. How she had carried on walking for days until eventually she came across the Amber Grove and kept walking.

"...then I was knocked out unconscious, woke up here and well you know the rest." she hung her head. Hearing her own story like that she felt ashamed, she realised had no one to blame but herself. Her arrogance and her pride pushing everyone away, and then she went and showed herself up again in front of perhaps the only pony to show her any friendliness in a long time. "Look at me, I'm not great, I'm not powerful, I'm just a... loser."There was an awkward silence before Carbon spoke up.

"Well you have certainly given me a lot to consider, Trixie, it actually explains a lot, really and I appreciate you sharing that with me." he patted on the shoulder, stood up and turned around to face the door "I need to go, excuse me." Trixie watched him walk away, feeling guilty about everything she'd done and now the closest she had to a friend was leaving her as well. She couldn't see his face but was almost certain that he hated her. Her stomach grumbled, her hunger once forgotten now making a strong return. Her gaze turned to the plate of food left for her. It was disgusting, but it was still food.

I guess this is what I deserve.

She grabbed the plate and stared at the unappetizing platter, she picked up another mushroom. They didn't taste very nice but it was still better than the fuzzy moss he had left.

How could anyone consider this stuff edible?

Closing her eyes she slowly brought it to her mouth when she heard a sound. A low hum of magic, yet she was not the caster. Opening her eyes she was surprised to see half an apple bobbing it's way towards her before it settled with a soft thump into her lap.

***

Author's Note: Thought I'd take the time to sort out a couple of things whilst I still have your attention.

1: The sequel to my first fic Spike's Home Alone is on hold for the moment, I'm just too stuck for ideas to write anything half decent. I am even contemplating rewriting Spike's Home Alone completely, being somewhat disappointed in it at least for the earlier chapters.

2: Don't let appearances fool you this is NOT a shipping fic. Hence no Romance tag. My OC Carbon is heavily based around me, as far as interests and personality go. I don't really like Trixie that much. The boasting nature, near snobbish attitude and the fact she uses underhand tactics to win are all qualities I dislike but to each his own right? Carbon's just being nice. On a lighter note if you want to use my OC in your fictions go right ahead, just a couple of things; If you do use him credit me for it and don't put him in anything... inappropriate. Seriously don't.

3: "You put an adventure tag, where's the adventure?" Coming, okay just hold on! Consider this chapter as laying the ground work. I needed to introduce my OC, as well as give Trixie a background since the show provided no details there what so ever. Is it a rushed background? Perhaps but give me some credit, I've already written more than I normally would for a single chapter. As with Spike's Home Alone all content is subject to change, that is the power of the 'Edit' button

4: This will mostly be from a third person perspective, with Trixie's occasional thoughts creeping through.

I'm always up for collaboration so if you have any ideas stick them in the comments! I'll be sure to credit you if I use anything you suggest.

Okay well that's it for the author's notes. Hopefully wont have to write another one of these. Keep an eye out for the next chapter and enjoy.

~TheSecretBrony