Chapters "How dare that purple pony try to beat the Great and Powerful Trixie at her own game. Who does she think she is trying to outshine Trixie like that. She's just...just...augh ." Trixie had let out a frustrated sigh. "And those two foals managed to not only track down that ursa maj-" Trixie coughed. "Ursa minor OOF "
Trixie in her blind fury had not paid attention to the tree closing distance to her. She tried to back pedal only to....to...
"Oh you have got to be joking." She kept pulling without success. "I'm stuck! Oh of all the times to-" she grunted as she tried in vain to yank her horn free of the bark. "And to a tree off all things!" Her neck grew sore as she kept pulling with no luck. An idea struck almost as suddenly as she had been rooted to the tree. Perhaps the combustion of one of her many stage magics could knock her horn from its prison. But what if it didnt work? "Of course it will work, surely there is no doubt." exclaimed the renown stage magician, proud of her sudden inspiration.
Holding a magical charge, her horn began to glow brightly as light escaped through cracks of her current wooden prison. Firework spells, they havent let her down before, so why now? A burning feeling slowly crept down from her horn and onto her head. "Ow ow ow ow!" She cried, rubbing her head to ease the pain. 'Ok, fireworks wont work here .' cringing, she realized there wasnt much to do but wait for somepony to trot by and offer a helping hoof.
Trixie slowly grew more anxious with the passage of time, becoming nervous and scared. What if nopony found her like this? No, Trixie got herself into this and she was determined to get herself out. She wouldnt take help from anypony, she was the Great and Powerful Trixie, was she not? Twisting left and right, she had hope that she could simply loosen her horn enough to pull it free. After what felt like ages, she realized she had only dug herself deeper into the trunk of this tree, but now faced the darkened night sky as her twisting only changed her position. This seemed to only make it worse as she was no longer the Great and Powerful Trixie, but the Stuck and Inverted Trixie.
"AUGH this is pointless!" she shouted to the sky. The only good thing that came of this was she was now in a laying position, albeit on her back, but laying none the less. She watched the stars overhead, recalling old teachings of the celestial bodies that the great princess of the night had once crafted into the dark and bland night skies.
She wished that somepony would find her. "Ha! Even if somepony found me, who would help me after..." She paused. "After what ive done..."
Elseware, another unicorn had made his own journey into the town of ponyville, dragging along a small mobile home of his own. As he made his way through the town, some of the pony folk had shared looks of concern and confusion, some even bold enough to sneer in his direction. Was it his breath? Perhaps something stuck in his teeth? He stopped momentarily to take off the ropes tied to the cart and stepped inside the small home, looking for a mirror. Grasping it in his gray magic, he held it forward to gaze into.
His coat was the same dark purple as always, switching to blue over his mouth and nose. Short spiked black and blue hair was clean. Nothing stuck to his horn either. His red vest and cape seemed clean too. If he looked as fine as he thought he did, then what was the problem? He stepped back into the open air and onto the dirt road. "Wonder whats got them so riled up." Grabbing the rope, he laced his forearms and neck through the holes and brought his cart behind what appeared to be a candy store.
"What ever it is," he spoke whilst removing the ropes. "I will figure it out tomorrow." He walked along the sides of the cart to lock the wheels, last thing he needed was for his home to roll away while he slept. He locked the doors behind himself and turned to face the bed. Magically lifting the sheets, he climbed in, not caring to remove the cape and vest he donned.
Knock. Knock.
Sitting up, he stretched. 'Wonder who that is. He thought, perhaps the owners of the home he moved behind wanted him to move his cart...again...
Peaking out the side window, he shuddered at the sight of a couple mares sitting outside waiting for him. 'Geez, they look upset. Maybe its best I see what they want. ' As he opened the door he found one pegasus had yanked him out of his home and onto the ground.
"Listen, we dont want-" she stopped.
"Ok, ok geez I'll move my cart, alright? No need to get agressive ."
He found her grasp weakened and took this as a sign to get moving. walking over to the cart he grasped the ropes he left unattended with his magic. Before he could get much further, the orange earth pony spoke up.
"Hang on there, partner. Sorry, we thought you were that no good varmint Trixie." She held out a hoof to shake. "My name is Applejack, and my hotblooded friend here is Rainbow Dash."
"Hey, I-"
"Nice to meet you both," Dropping the ropes he raised his hoof to meet hers in a shake. "Though I wish it was on better terms." rubbing his sore neck, he glared at the rainbow maned offender.
Laughing nervously, Rainbow apologized. "Heh heh, sorry about that." A thought struck her then, "Hey, what was that about moving your cart?"
"Oh, right. Well last night some yellow colt came out and told me to move my cart. Said something about 'Blocking the back door' or something like that." Turning to point, he realized..."Wait, they dont have a back door..." He hung his head with a sigh.
Applejack picked up on this. "Sorry, looks like they were trying to get rid of ya."
"It's alright." he brushed it off. "No big deal." he said. "Oh," Standing up straight, he said "My name is Wild Card." Looking proud and tall.
"Wild card huh." Rainbow didnt seem impressed. "So what do you do?"
At this he smiled. "Check the sign." he pointed upward.
They both cocked their heads. "Err, whats wrong?" he asked.
"What sign?" Applejack asked.
"The sign right...Darnit!" He exclaimed. A look back at the front of his card had shown there was, in fact, no sign to be seen. "Stupid sign fell off again. Thats the 4th time this week!" He kicked the cart with a back hoof, only to knock one of the wooden boards loose. Applejack and Rainbow both watched with mild amusement as the board went sliding until...
"OW!"
It landed on his head.
"This thing is falling apart." He reared up a hind leg to kick it again but stopped himself. "No, no. I've learned my lesson." Leaning against the cart he tried to calm himself down. No need to hit it again, right?
Creaking wood could be heard as slowly the wheels came undone from their support, which triggered the cart to start rolling a few feet before the wheels came off entirely, which caused said wheels to break off into random directions before inevitably crashing either into tree's, one of which broke through the door to a local house.
Wild card sat on his haunches, mouth agape at the scene that just took place.
Rainbow seemed to be the first to recover as she started laughing hard, rolling around in her hysterical laughter. Applyjack on the other hoof had chosen to try and chase down the cart the moment it started rolling, only to come back with a broken wheel.
"I'll uh...I'll chat with you girls later, i've gotta retrieve some wheels." He said as he hurried off.
Rainbow dash was less than cool about the situation. "Oh man, that was halarious! Did you see his face! He was all like-" Applejack shoved her hoof into the mares mouth.
"Shut it Rainbow." The apple farmer glared at the cloud kicker.
"Trixie swears, if she gets out of this, she will be a nicer pony! Honest!" She pleaded, holding her hooves together in a begging plea. "A-And i'll...I'll apo-" She coughed out "Apologize to those foals- I mean ponies from town!"
It was now morning as Trixie was begging Celestia for her freedom. Hours of sitting in the hot sun outside had not done well for her as she had been left to roast under the heat of Celestia's bright astral body. "Please, please I'll do anything, just let me out of this tree." She was on the verge of tears. Evidently, sitting confined to one spot with no pony in sight raised her fear level. She was afraid she would be forgotten, left behind as she had left many towns to clean up her various messes.
It appears the universe was out to get her as from a distance she could hear the sound of wood bounding off dirt and tree's closing in. Her eyes snapped wide open as she tried hard to pull herself from the tree with vigor as the wheel gained speed. Magic wouldnt help her here as her horn was still firmly planted in its confined prison.
She closed her eyes and hoped that it would miss.
Luck wasnt on her side today.
Trixie awoke what felt like months later to an incredible pain in her head. She quickly tried to scramble to her hooves when a sharp pain stopped her. "Ow! oh..." she groaned. "What happened?" Looking around she found the wheel from before. She had half a mind to break that wheel had the other half not shot her with another jolt of pain upon moving. 'Ok...Slow movements .'
She gingerly stepped pace by pace only to fall over. "Perhaps sitting down is best." she said to no pony. Her horn ached. Delicately she rubbed a hoof to her horn to...wait, its free!
"Oh thank-Ow!" The magicians sudden burst of energy died down as she remembered the offending wheel had knocked her rather hard in the head. 'Well, at least Trixie is out of that stupid bark .'
She could hear something moving in the distance, and was surprised to see another unicorn approaching. The colt slowed to a trot and then to a full stop as he neared closer. "Oh geez, are you ok?" he asked frantically. "I'm so sorry, you see my cart fell apart when I was in town and the wheels all broke off at once and one of them headed this way and-"
She interrupted him quickly, "You mean this thing belongs to you!" she shouted. "Do you have any idea how-AH!" Her legs gave out under her as she tried to stand.
He quickly grasped her in his grey magic and gently lowered her to a sitting position. "Are you alright? How many hooves am I holding up? Oh wait..."
His hoof was smacked away. "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need your help." Trying to put up a brave front, she tried standing again only to fall to her knee's.
"A-Are you sure? You dont look all that well."
"For the last time, Trixie said NO!" She stood up slowly and tried to walk it off. The colt watched sadly as she wobbled with each step before finally falling over again.
"Thats it, I'm helping you whether you want it or not." He gently wrapped her in his magic and lifted her onto his back. Trixie tried to protest by tossing him with her own magic, but gasped as her horn was still sensitive. That didnt stop her though.
Flailing around she just wouldnt give up. "Put Trixie down you... you..." Her words failed her. She had to admit, being carried was nice, and she supposed she would give him a chance to help. 'After all, I did promise to be nicer .' Trixie sighed, "Thank you...uh..."
"Wild Card."
"Yes. Thank you, Wild Card."
A moment of silence passed between the two.
"So where are you taking Trixie, anyway?"
"Ponyville."
"What?!"
After a few minutes of trying to get her to hold still, watching her try to run away only to keep falling, and finally getting her to sit still for a moment, he had eventually made it back to Ponyville. Wild Card headed into the town with the stage magician on his back, looking around for...
"Aha! Told you I could find the hospital!" he cheered.
"Trixie still thinks you should have asked for directions."
"This town is so small I'd have found it by accident. Plus some of the folks here dont seem to thrilled with you for some reason." Wild Card pointed out, glancing back to the mare on his back. "Care to explain?"
"H-How do you know that?" She grew nervous.
"Well I-OOF"
"Was not watching where he was going." Trixie smirked.
"I knew that sign was there."
"Then why didnt you stop?" She asked, peering down to him. "Care to explain?"
"W-Well I uh...Oh look, we're here!"
Sure enough the double glass doors were opened and the two had entered. They were greeted with the smell of sterile air and medical supplies. 'Ugh, I forgot how much I hate hospitals... '
A white mare with a nurses cap had walked up to the duo and introduced herself. "My name is nurse Redheart and welcome to the Ponyville clinic." She said with a smile.
"Hey, I'm Wild Card and this is Trixie. Pleasure to meet you." he said cheerily.
"Oh, yes. I remember her ." she cleared her throat. "Well, if you will come with me then I can see what we can do."
Wild Card lifted her up and into one of the nearby empty wheelchairs. Just as he went to start pushing the chair the nurse stopped him.
"I'm sorry, but you cannot follow the patient into the examination room." The nurse said simply.
"O-Oh, alright." he coughed. "Well Trixie, I'll be back later, I have to go meet with somepony anyway." He said, glancing back every few seconds as he slowly left, watching her get wheeled away further into the building.
Wild Card left the hospital rather hastily. He was still somewhat upset that he had to leave her so soon. 'And I just met her too, oh well. ' He thought. At least he will get to see her later. As he rounded the corner of a few buildings, he couldnt help but think he was forgetting something. "Oh, right..." he sighed.
"Apple...uh...Apple Spade! No wait, thats not right. Apple Club? No that isnt it either." 'Oh I'm terrible with remembering names, c'mon you know this! spade, club, diamond, heart, king, queen... '
"Applejack!" he shouted. Sounds of wind rushed by as the rainbow maned pegasus touched down to earth.
"Hey Wild Card, Whats up?" She asked cheerfully.
"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash." He said while looking around, "Have you seen Applejack, I cant see my cart anywhere, or the wheels."
Rainbow laughed, "Oh that! Yeah she took it back to her farm. She said something about getting Big Mac to fix it."
Wild sighed, 'At least there was good news, wait... ' "Err, what happened with the wheel that broke down the door?" He shifted nervously. "I-I can fix the damage and all, I just...No pony got hurt, right?"
Rainbow saw that he was shaken up at the thought. "Relax," she told him. "No pony was hurt. We took care of the door already so you dont have to worry." She said with a smile. Apparently that was the right thing to say as Wild's posture went from ridged and jumpy to relaxed and calm. "Well c'mon, I have to show you where she lives if you want your house back."
Wild Card nodded and followed after her. Trixie was at the hospital and would be busy for a while anyway.
Back at the Ponyville hospital, Trixie was being examined by nurse Redheart in one of the many rooms as she sat on the patients bed. Or...at least she would be getting examined if she could relax at all. Nurse Redheart sighed, "Miss Trixie, I cannot help you if you cant try and relax." She tried the stethoscope once more, but Trixie's heart rate was to quick to be calm.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I am just trying to do my job." she said flatly. "Now please if you could-"
"Sorry!"
Nurse Redheart was confused. "Sorry?"
"Trixie didnt mean to cause the Ursa incident! S-She just tell stories and even then its to put on a show, ok! Those little colts brought the ursa minor into town and Trixie didnt know what to do and she never expected them to come back wanting her to defeat it and when she tried to stop the ursa she couldnt and the rope snapped and-"
Nurse Redheart grabbed her by the shoulders. "Trixie, Trixie stop!" she said. "It's ok, its fine! I believe you." By this time, The blue unicorns breathing was erratic, the poor mare looked practically on the verge of tears. "Trixie, its ok. Here, breathe with me."
"In." Sharp inhale.
"out." Sharp exhale.
"In." Slower.
"Out." Slower.
"See? Feel better?" The nurse asked. Trixie nodded. "I'll be honest, I am still upset with you for telling those colts that tall tale of yours." Trixie's breath hitched. Gently she spoke to the mare. "But you didnt know they would think it was real, or that they would try to prove it."
"Trixie thanks you."
"No problem, now lets try that check-up again, ok?"
Trixie nodded. "Ok."
"And THAT was the first time I did the Sonic Rainboom!" she did a barrel roll in the air, showing off her excitement.
"Wait, really? That was you?" Wild Card asked, surprised at what he heard.
"Oh yeah! And its how I got my cutie mark too!" She looked back at the cloud with a lightning bolt on her flank.
"Wow! So that big colorful explosion was you after all. It reminds me of how I found my own special talent." He said proudly.
"That reminds me, you never did tell us what your talent is." She reminded him.
Wild Card pondered this for a moment, thinking back. "You're right. I didnt."
The rainbow maned pony raised a brow at this. "So are you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"You're special talent."
"What about it?"
"What is it?"
"What is what?" He smirked.
"WHAT IS YOUR SPECIAL TALENT?!"
"Oh, well it's-OOF!"
In his poking fun, he once more forgot to watch the path ahead and had walked into the side of a barn. He laughed. "Well I guess they were wrong."
"Wrong about what?"
"I really CAN hit the broad side of a barn!"
Rainbow facehoofed.
(Authors Note: decided to change up my writing style a bit. Leme know how it works for you.)
Sitting outside the farmhouse, Wild Card, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were all gathered up. After the day Wild Card had sofar, he figured it couldnt go much worse than it already had. Of course, like always, things didnt exactly work out as hoped.
Applejack stared in disbelief. It had to be a lie, right? There was no darn way a pony could...no... "Y'all are just pullin' my leg, right?" She asked again, eyes firmly locked onto Wild Card.
A hoof kicked some dirt around, lazily tracing patterns into the ground, almost animated in its pattern.
Rainbow hadn't said anything yet, her mouth agape, eyes wide with shock. "So you mean you..." The colt nodded. "And you can really..." Another nod.
"Look I don't want to talk about it, ok. Can I just have my cape back?" he sneered.
Moments passed and yet nopony moved. Angered, he snatched his cape with speed that could rival the winner of the young fliers competition. Quick as he could, he fastened the cape to his vest with a sense of urgency. He coughed, "If it's all the same, I'd rather put this behind us and just move on. I have to go meet with somepony soon anyway." His eyes traveled the length of the area. Once, twice, then finally. "Err, where's my cart?" The sound of his voice had been more venomous than intended, but then again, they wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Right, 'bout that." Applejack rubbed her neck nervously. " We'll, it ain't gonna be ready any time soon. With the broken wheels n' all, I'd say it will take a few days to get some new ones delivered. That n' there were some....problems..."
Wild Card was beginning to worry. "What kind of problems?" He asked cautiously.
The farm pony visibly gulped, "Y-You may wanna take a seat, partner."
'This cant be good ' thought the unicorn.
While hesitant at first, the earth pony eventually opened the door to the farm house.
You could hear a pin drop with just how silent it had suddenly become. The caped colt gazed with wide eyes in both shock and sheer wonder at just how this could have possibly happened. His jaw practically hit the floor. "H..H-How...W-What...What happened to my house?!" He screamed.
Shingles were broken in various spots along the floor, mingled with wooden rods and various nails either broken or bent at odd angles. Support beams were bent to the point of breaking as various chunks of wood were splintered. Sharp cracks ran along the door which now hung limply on a single hinge, just waiting to collapse from its own weight.
He was scared. Who would do this? His own house, destroyed, disheveled, disorderly. He was visibly shaking as he tried to control his own body. Though try as he might, his legs refused to obey him as they shook in defiance, his own eyes tearing up in rebellion to his attempts not to cry. "Oh, Celestia..." he whimpered out. "How could this happen? I wasnt even gone all that long! Do you have any idea what this cart meant to me? Of all the things...I swear, I'll-"
"Um, Hey uh..." A tiny voice squeeked out.
Looking down, Wild Card was surprised to see a group of three young fillies gathered around him.
"We just..."
"We didn't..."
"We wouldn't..."
Their eyes quickly filled with tears of their own, faces filled with guilt and sorrow. "WE'RE SORRY!" They all cried. They all ran up and hugged him forcefully. Tears flowed freely as they hugged him tightly, as if the world would swallow them whole if they dared to let go. Wild Card's eyes were wide as he tried to take all of what had just happened.
"We didn't mean to mister, honest!" cried out the yellow filly. She rubbed her face into his coat as she wept.
The white filly looked up, hiccuping between breaths. "We *hic* we didn't *hic* didnt mean to *hic* to break it!" The poor filly cried loudly, choking on tears
Lastly was the orange filly, who try as she might couldn't keep herself from crying. "It was an accident, please forgive us, we didnt mean to!"
Already on the verge of tears himself, Wild Card simply couldnt be upset with these girls, watching them cry their eyes out into his vest and coat. They were scared, scared that he would be mad at them for breaking his house. 'I must look like a monster... .' He quickly swept them all into a hug, quietly whispering soothing words to them to in hopes to calm their hearts and dry their eyes. "It's ok girls, everypony is fine. It's alright, I'm not mad at you." he said softly.
Moments turned to minutes as Applejack and Rainbow looked on with small smiles as the older pony comforted the young girls. Slowly but surely, their cries of guilt and agony turned to small whimpers of sorrow, and even further into sniffles.
Wild Card put on his best smile as he wiped their eyes with the tails of his cape. "Shh girls, it's ok. It's alright. Nopony is hurt and thats what matters, right?" The trio nodded their heads slowly. He sat up, "Now girls, why don't you tell me what happened, ok? I promise I wont get mad at you."
Applebloom sniffled, "P-Pinkie promise?"
"What?"
Applejack recited the promise for him. "Cross mah heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye." She said going through the motions.
He smiled. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-OW!" Planting his hoof in his own eye seemed to make the girls giggle. 'At least they're not crying anymore .' he smiled to himself. "Alright, now will you tell me what happened?"
"mhm." they nodded, smiles returning to grace their faces.
Time passed on and on as Trixie waited in one of the many electronic patient beds of the hospital. In her boredom she took interest in watching through the window as the grass slowly grew taller in the fading light of Celestia's slowly descending sun. She entertained herself with the bed's ability to raise and lower the upper back half of its mattress, watching as her view of the room was shifted constantly by its movement.
Just as she was nearing death by the rooms stale atmosphere, she could hear hoofs knocking against the wooden door to her room. "Come in." she demanded. After waiting here for hours she was not going to wait a single moment longer to see anypony. Her eyes held surprise as she looked on to see Wild Card hiding behind the wooden door, peering in with a hesitant and cautious eye.
He walked in trying to stand tall. "Heh heh, Hi Trixie. Sorry about leaving you here." His voice gave away his nervousness. "I had some...issues that needed to be taken care of." Click of his hooves sounded against the floor as he walked up. "How're you feeling?" He smiled as he asked.
Trixie was fully prepared to chew him out for making her wait as long as she had, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Seeing his smile just made her forget her anger. "T-Trixie is fine." It also made her voice crack...
Wild Card shrunk down slightly, mistaking her tone for angered and upset. "I'm sorry I left you here all alone. I didn't mean to, I just got caught up in something else." He said looking away. He didn't want to tell her about how his home was destroyed in some quest for extreme aeronautic pyrotechnic cutie marks by three foals with surprisingly vast knowledge in engineering.
The mare in the bed sighed. "Well, Trixie is stuck here for the night. The nurse said that Trixie is to get bed rest for the night and not to leave." He saw the saddened look on her face at the prospect of being stuck in a hospital overnight. "I could sleep with you!" he blurted out.
"What?!"
His eyes went wide. "It's not what you think! I just meant for tonight!" He shouted frantically.
"WHAT?! "
"N-No wait, that's not what I meant!" Oh Luna why did he say THAT ?!
Trixie crossed her arms. "Well then what DID you mean?"
"I-I meant I c-can, that is t-to say I c-could..." His face flushed as his breathing quickened and his heart raced in his chest.
The mare thought she should stop him, 'He looks as if he will hyperventilate .' "Calm down, calm down." Her hoof rubbed his shoulder. A moment or two later his breathing finally returned to its normal rate, but still the colt looked nervous and tense with wide eyes.
The magician grew worried, "I-It's fine, just...just say what you-"
"Can I stay here with you!"
Trixie blinked...What?
"It's just for tonight. I just didn't want you to be lonely..." The ground suddenly looked very interesting to him.
She gulped, she wasnt prepared for that kind of question! "T-Trixie, uh...She...ok?"
He looked up at her. "What?" his eyes seemed hopeful as he smiled.
'Oh god, not that face! ' Trixie thought. "S-She said O-K." 'Is it hot in here? Trixie face feels hot. '
Wild Card embraced her in a bone crushing hug. "Oh thank you! I uh..." His arms quickly unwrapped themselves from around her. "I uh-I mean yeah, thanks."
The silent tension was so think you could cut it. Neither pony could look at the other as they were nervous of the others reaction. The dark purple colt had coughed, making Trixie jump slightly. "I'll just, um...I'll go see if they have spare sheets." With that he bolted out of the room and down the hall.
Trixie was left behind sitting stunned on the mattress as the colt had left her unable to think clearly. Nopony has ever wanted to stay the night with her before. It made her feel...special, and she supposed she owed him anyway for helping her out.
What was she thinking! She didnt owe him anything!
'But he did help you out. '
She could have gone by without his help!
'But he was very nice to you. '
That was true.
'And he walked with you on his back till he found a hospital. '
Wild Card did help her when she really needed it.
'And he is pretty handsome too. '
Suddenly, her cheeks felt a very familiar warmth again.
Wild Card had sprinted down the hall until he was certain she could no longer see or hear him. "Oh Luna why did I go and say those things!" he chastised himself. "This is just a one time deal, it's not like she likes you anyway." His voice was solemn.
'But you like her .'
"S-Shut up!" Was he really yelling at himself?
'You know it's true. '
"I just...It's just for the night, then things can go back to normal." He reassured himself as he got up and walked further down the hall.
It's like he said, it's just for tonight, and then...
'then things go back to normal... '
"..."
'right? '
"..."
'....right? '