The Great Equestrian Adventure! (In Color and Surround Sound!)
Trixie looked up at the sky above her as she enjoyed the breeze. It was one of those gorgeous days that just screamed her name. As a stage magician, Trixie always preferred days when the skies matched the colors of her own mane, and when there was no chance of rain coming along to interrupt her outdoor performances.
Though her marefriend would keep her company regardless.
Trixie finally glanced down from the sky and looked over to Maud. She was resting on a small picnic blanket, basket to her side, giving a few final chews to the lettuce and daisy sandwich she had brought with her. Beside the basket lay two well-packed saddlebags and two mining helmets, complete with headlamps. “You know,” Maud said, glancing up at Trixie, “you don’t have to join me for this. Rocks are fascinating, but they’re not exactly flashy.”
Trixie waved her off. “Nonsense, Maud. The Great and Powerful Trixie knows when something is important to others around her. You are going through the effort to get something for my show; it would be wrong of Trixie to not help out in the efforts.”
Maud placed a hoof near Trixie’s own, which Trixie had learned was the rough equivalent of a soft smile. While Trixie knew herself to be ostentatious and attention-grabbing, her marefriend was a pony of hidden depths.
“It’s true,” said Maud. “Alabite and Zirconium would make for effective ingredients in your fireworks.”
Trixie posed dramatically. “The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates the efforts of the Studious and Steadfast Maud!”
“Alright,” said Maud, getting back up on her hooves and watching as Trixie’s magic packed the blanket away into the basket. “The minerals you’re looking for are fairly deep in, but nothing too dangerous. I’ve been in this one a few times before.”
Trixie nodded, using her magic to adjust her hat up. “Trixie is ready. Let our exploration begin!” she said, eagerly trotting up to the entrance of the mine, before stopping and motioning in.
Maud led the way, the two entering the relative darkness of the mine. Trixie’s horn acted as a flashlight for this first part of the journey; hard hats and head lamps would be used further down. As they made their way deeper in, Trixie was soon lost in admiring the bits and pieces of gemstone that she could see sticking out from the walls. They gave off such nice shining colors, reflecting and sparkling in her eyes.
“These mines have a lot of gemstones in them. Sometimes I like to come here just to take in the view,” Maud explained, looking back at Trixie. “I’d be happy to take you here if you just want to sightsee or meditate.”
Trixie nodded, still in awe of everything that covered the walls, light from her horn causing them to glow and cast sharp silhouettes in every direction.
“Are these the ones we need?” she asked.
Maud shook her head. “These ones are actually really common, and they don’t mix well with explosives.”
All of a sudden, the ground beneath them shook. Maud stood still as Trixie quickly cast a magical bubble around the two of them. They could see dust and chunks of the walls around them breaking off and filling the air. Maud kept her eyes on the cave, and Trixie knew that she was probably analyzing every tremor.
“Step to the left,” said Maud, demonstrating as she did so.
Trixie followed her lead. A moment later, a large chunk of stone fell from the ceiling into the space where they’d just been standing, shattering with a loud crash.
“Um…Trixie’s magic could have handled that.”
“I know. It just seemed more polite to say something.”
After a few long seconds, the shaking stopped and the dust settled. Trixie began to breathe easier and returned the bubble to her horn. Maud sniffed the air. “...smoke. Most likely dynamite.” Suddenly she ran ahead, which was the most surprising thing that Trixie had seen all day.
“M-Maud, wait for me!” Trixie called out, chasing after her.
Somehow Maud kept her voice monotone while galloping. “Need to stop them before they cause a cave-in,” she explained. While it was usually Trixie who got the two into troublesome situations, Maud could have a more one-track mind when her danger sense went off.
Trixie ran as fast as she could. After a few moments she rounded a turn to find Maud sitting stock still, looking out at something. Trixie nearly ran into her.
“Y-you shouldn’t run off like that, Maud. You of all ponies should know that these mines are dangerous. And especially after that little shakeup, you never know what you… might...” Trixie’s voice trailed off as she saw what Maud was looking at.
The two were currently standing at the end of their pathway, overlooking a giant opening in the cave. There were multiple ledges and cliffs, leading into tunnels in all directions, and there were minecart tracks leading into and out of most of them, with lights illuminating the start of each track.
On the ground below them was a setup of several tall lights and a few scattered cameras. Several ponies were there, regaining their bearings and helping others back up. “Is that a movie set?” Trixie asked Maud, whispering so as to not alert the other ponies to their presence.
“Seems like it,” Maud replied, watching the scene down below. “If they're setting off dynamite," she said as she started to make her way down, "there's no telling what kind of damage they could do."
There had once been a time where Trixie would not have cared what damage somepony might do to a cave system. That was before she met Maud, of course.
The two mares trotted down a slope and towards the movie set. The other ponies turned their heads, watching as they approached. Getting a closer look at all of them, Trixie noted that a lot of their outfits seemed to be vintage. Many of them seemed to be wearing white button-up tops and newsie caps, while a few others were wearing rather thick-looking jackets. “Unexpected,” Trixie remarked. “Attention!” she called out, “The Great and Powerful Trixie and her beautiful assistant demand to know what you’re doing here!”
“We’re in a mine,” said Maud. “Right now you’re technically my assistant.” She placed a hoof near Trixie.
“That’s beside the point!” said Trixie, suppressing a smile of her own.
Before they could flirt any longer, a stallion from the back spoke up. “What we are doing is making a film.” He walked through the collection of other ponies, making his way towards the two. He was of an older, heavier build, sporting a rather massive salt and pepper beard, with his fur a mix of eggshell and tan. “Or, what could be called a film if we were only going off the textbook definition of it.” His voice was strong and steadfast, the type that could sell a pony frozen store-bought peas as though they were straight from a farmer’s market.
Maud was not impressed.
“You used dynamite.”
“Well, yes.”
“In a mine.”
“We’re filming a—”
“You set off tremors that could have crushed somepony.”
“All the proper—”
“Don’t do that.”
Trixie chuckled to herself. It was always fun to see somepony discover that her soft-spoken marefriend was no pushover. She was strong and silent, like a boulder.
Trixie butted in. “I don’t think you understand how much trouble you’re in, Mr…”
“Welles. Wayward Welles,” the stallion answered. “And rest assured, when securing this place, I made certain that we were legally allowed to shoot here. All our explosive technicians are properly certified.”
Trixie took on an incredulous look. “Wait, Wayward Welles? As in, the Wayward Welles? Director of—”
“Yes yes, director of Citizen Sugarcane. One of the finest pieces of Equestrian cinema. Again, rest assured I went through the right channels for this. If anything went wrong, it was the director’s fault I’m sure. I am acting as ‘executive producer’ to-”
A much younger-looking earth pony stallion approached the three, with a dusky orange coat and wearing a slightly oversized fedora, rocking an obnoxiously large smile and having a much too chipper walk. “Welles, I didn’t know you were bringing friends over to the shoot today!” he said, softly ribbing Welles. “Probably woulda saved them an extra slice of dessert from the catering team, the scones and doughnuts they made for today are just, mm mm!”
“I did not bring them. They appear to just have been exploring when—”
“Name’s Town. Tin Sel Town, and I’m the director of this here project,” Town explained, shaking both of the mare’s hooves. He hadn’t stopped smiling the entire time. “And if it’s not too much of a bother, may I have the both of your names?”
“Maud Pie,” Maud responded.
“And I am The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie proclaimed, only for her to slump down a bit upon realizing that name wasn’t doing anything for the crowd at the moment. “F-full name Trixie Lulamoon.”
“Lulamoon… Lulamoon… ah, yes. I remember you!” Welles recalled, looking at Trixie. “I remember ordering some custom fireworks from you for one of my grand noirs. They gave the carnival scene a much needed bang. I apologize for not thinking to call you for this as well,” he explained, pointing his view over to a nearby box of fireworks, most being outrageously oversized and rather flimsy-looking. “These ones are much less trustworthy, but our director thought it was best to cut costs.”
Maud glanced over Trixie, who responded with a confused shrug. “So what exactly are you shooting here?” she asked, looking at Town.
Somehow, the stallion’s smile grew even more. “It’s simple. We’re out here shooting a grand flick. The next great adventure flick, if you will. And we’re calling it: The Great Equestrian Adventure! On the nose, but to the point!” He paused, tapping a hoof to his chin as an idea came to his head. “Say, how about this. To make up for our little accident and to prove we’re taking all our permits very seriously, how about we give you a tour of this set? What better way to trust us than to see it all in person, right?”
Maud gave him a long, silent stare. The director started to tremble a bit, sweat building up on his brow. “...Alright. We’ll take it. After you.” She watched as he and Welles walked ahead, waiting for Trixie to join her. “You sell fireworks to movie sets?”
Trixie shook her head and muttered under her breath. “I wish. The time it’d take to make a set of them for a movie shoot alongside the ones I need for my show, I’d be far too busy. And I certainly never made fireworks for Wayward Welles!”
“Maybe he confused you with somepony else.”
Trixie’s voice grew louder. “Who could possibly mistake somepony else for—” she noticed the film crew looking at her with a mixture of annoyance and concern. She muttered again. “Is every pony on this set dressed a bit weird, or is it just me?”
“Most of these outfits look to be from an older era of Equestria. The lighting and cameras being used aren’t the ones used by movies today.” She sniffed the air. “They’re using an old kind of dynamite, too.” Maud replied, before looking ahead.
“Not to mention that Wayward Welles is supposed to be retired.” whispered Trixie urgently. “What does it mean?”
She saw Mr. Welles approaching and tried to act normal. “So, Mr. Welles, this used to be your project?” she asked.
“It was. Adventure movies such as this one are not a genre I would usually find myself doing, but the studio heads wanted me for this. They told me they’d finance Other Side of the Breeze if I did it. The offer was too good to be true, but I took it anyway.”
“Was it?”
“It was. I’ve been replaced by Town here but still ‘kept on’ the project. It’s mostly to keep my name on when they sell it, since it technically isn’t lying to the audience.”
“Oh come on, Welles,” Town said, chuckling. “Don’t be like that. They just thought me being the director could help bring in things that the young people would like!”
“The young people would like a quality film—”
“And we’re also still going off of most of what you thought up for this thing.”
Town’s voice was bright and cheery, the kind of voice that most ponies would appreciate, but Trixie wasn’t fooled. As a longtime performer herself, she knew a carefully-practiced fake smile when she saw one.
“And let me tell you, Mr. Welles here has tons of fabulous ideas. Making such a grand and world-spanning adventure is a bold move, and only someone like him could think it up. I’m honored to do this job, and I had to make sure that in the leading role for this film, we had only the best. And that’s why for our man of the hour, we had to go with the fantastic: Flash Sentry!”
Town pointed to part of the set. A dashing pegasus was there, with blue slicked-back hair and a well-kept creamsicle-colored coat. Trixie stared at him. It couldn’t be…
He flashed a smile to the group. “Hey, Mr. Town, Mr. Welles. Good to see you both aren’t hurt. Don’t think I’d be able to get through some of this masterful writing without your directions,” he said, before glancing at Maud and Trixie. “And who are these lovely mares? Sure hope they aren’t adoring fans trying to sneak a peek at my next flick.”
“No, no, Flash. These are Maud Pie and Trixie Lulamoon. They’re here to see the set, so that we can show we take our safety very seriously,” Town explained. “That little mishap with the fireworks had Miss Pie here very concerned.”
“I like rocks, but I don’t like it when ponies get crushed by rocks.” Maud intoned.
“Oh, I totally get it.” said Flash, ignoring Maud’s monotone. “The cave rumbling got me all spooked too. I had to protect my co-star from getting hurt,” he said, shooting another smile.
“I personally wanted James Deeds for the role, but Sentry here has proved an adequate replacement in his stead,” Welles explained. “While I’m not one for the sorts of hop-skip-and-jump films he’s made, he fits the role of leading adventurer for this film well enough.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know a mare by the name Twilight Sparkle, would you?” Trixie asked, still staring at him.
“Why, of course, Miss Lulamoon. She’s my lovely co-star!” Flash responded, before motioning over to one of the minecarts and tracks leading away from the set.
Resting against the minecart was indeed Twilight Sparkle, decked out in a fancy, shimmery dress which appeared to be her costume. Her violet mane was stylized in a fancy, curly fashion.
Trixie gaped “Twilight?!”
Twilight looked over, alarmed.
“What are you doing here?!” Trixie continued.
Twilight smiled awkwardly. “Um…shooting a movie?”
“Why?!?
“Because I’m an…actress?” She laughed a little. “That’s kind of what I do.”
Twilight approached the group, but before Trixie could say another word she felt Maud’s hoof on her shoulder. Bewildered, Trixie looked over to see her marefriend making one of those subtle head movements she did whenever she wanted Trixie to notice something. Trixie followed the gesture with her eyes and found herself looking at Twilight’s side.
Twilight didn’t have wings.
Trixie gaped. Maud raised an eyebrow.
Twilight smiled graciously, like a true movie star meeting a fan. “Oh, hello there. I apologize for my form right now. That tremor and having another pony on top of you to protect you can feel pretty…” She shook her head a few times. “Disorienting.”
Town chuckled. “Ponies just seem to love this young couple. It must be the idea of a daring and cool pegasus being able to court and rescue a pretty, young unicorn like her.”
Trixie took a breath. “Twilight…do you remember me?”
Twilight stared. “Um…I’m sorry, I just meet so many fans. Were you at one of the premieres, maybe?”
Trixie sputtered, torn between jealousy, anger and confusion. Maud soon stepped in, gently but firmly pulling Trixie away from Twilight. Twilight smiled awkwardly and walked off.
“Were all these minecart tracks here before you started shooting?” Maud asked Welles.
“Some of them were here, but most are for the film. The young couple of the film find themselves falling into a seemingly long-forgotten mine, full of stunning beauties which make for a gorgeous set piece. Like it’s a lost wonder of the world,” Welles explained. “We’re set to film a minecart sequence of them going around all of this, and seeing all of the gems and rubies in the mine.”
“Then why do you need dynamite?”
“Ah, well it just so happens that the mine was booby-trapped by the villain and he tries to blow it all to smithereens while the hero and his girl are in there. It’s a thrilling escape scene!”
Welles sighed. Trixie scoffed at him. “Trixie appreciates a flair for the dramatic.”
“Are these tracks well secured?” Maud asked, ignoring the others and examining the minecart. “Do you know where they lead? Have you done any ride-throughs on these things before?”
“We got only the best builders to make these things, Miss Pie. We wanna make sure that our star actors aren’t in any danger, especially when it's in a driving scene without an actual driver,” Town said.
“And dynamite.”
“Yes, naturally!”
Maud stared at him. Town seemed to think about something before an idea came to his head. “Saaay, you ladies wouldn’t be up for helping out with this production, would you?”
“Why would we—”
“It’s clear you’re worried about how this whole thing is gonna play out, and I get that. I admire your care and concern, Miss Pie. With you here, you could help show me and the others how to make sure no other incidents happen. And with Miss. Lulamoon here too, we can ensure that no other fireworks-based mishaps take place,” Town explained, getting close and wrapping his hoof around Maud’s shoulder. “You two could be a part of one of the biggest films in Equestria’s history. Doesn’t that sound like something? To have your names as part of history?”
Maud just watched him. “...sure. We’ll do it.”
“Great! Oh, I’ll make sure you two don’t regret it!” Town declared, before looking to a few of the other crew members. “Alright, let’s try and accommodate these nice mares, alright? They’re important to this production, so let’s treat ‘em like so!”
“Show me the permits,” said Maud.
“The what?”
“Permits.”
“Oh, of course! Just a moment. Raven! Show this fine mare our permits.”
A white earth pony with a brown mane and glasses (evidently Town’s assistant) trotted up and handed Maud a large folder labeled “paperwork”. Maud took the folder and began rapidly reading the papers inside.
Town smiled. “As you can see, everything’s in order. And if you’d like to stay the night, I’ll happily demonstrate the fireworks tomorrow morning when we film! It will a spectacular display, I assure—”
“You didn’t certify the explosives.”
For the first time, Town’s smile dropped. “Pardon?”
Maud looked from the papers. “You have permits for the crew members and the location, but there’s nothing here about the explosives themselves.”
“That’s…implied, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. If you use the wrong type of powder you could hurt somepony. That’s why you have to certify the explosives.”
“Um…of course! Of course we certified them! Didn’t we, Raven?”
Raven gave him a confused look.
Trixie gaped at them. “Are you serious? Any performer knows that you don’t set off a bomb if you aren’t sure it’ll work right!”
Welles looked back and forth between all three of them. “Well?” he said to Town. “You handled the order, as I recall.”
Town took on a pained look before suddenly resuming his cheery smile, “Yes, yes of course, I remember. I handled that. The permits must still be in my desk drawer! I’ll get them for you later, miss Maud. Tomorrow morning, at the very latest. But I, uh, I do have to meet with the camera crew just now. There’s no business like show business, you know! Very busy!” He trotted off with Raven in tow.
“Your director doesn’t fill me with confidence,” said Maud.
Welles looked uncomfortable. “I…I’ll speak with him.” He walked off in Town’s direction.
After a moment, Trixie turned to Maud. “What is going on here?!”
The shoot finally recommenced, with the two getting a look at the kind of film being shot here. It wasn’t too bad from what they saw, with both Flash and Twilight clearly already having a chemistry off-camera that made their acting together for it much more believable and bearable. Mr. Welles constantly liked to bring up how he thought a scene should be shot, only for his suggestion to wind up ignored, but all in all, things went well.
After shooting for the day had finished, the two found themselves sharing a tent. Maud sat on the ground while Trixie paced back and forth, filled with pent-up energy.
“Twilight!” she said, “Honestly, did it have to be Twilight of all ponies?!”
“She’s not our Twilight.”
“Exactly! First Twilight shows me up with the Ursa Major—”
“Ursa Minor.”
“The Ursa whatever and then she saves Equestria a dozen times and becomes an alicorn and a princess and just when I think I’m finally ok with that, a different Twilight shows up and she’s a movie star! Is there any version of Twilight that doesn’t make Trixie look lame?!”
“You’re not lame.”
Trixie stopped pacing, tears welling in her eyes. She paused. “Hug, please.”
Maud rose and hugged her firmly. It was something she reserved only for her closest family, and for her marefriend. Trixie took a few deep breaths as her panic subsided. Finally she sighed and Maud let go of her.
“So…annoying patterns aside…what’s going on here?” Trixie asked as she levitated her hat and cape off.
“Alternate Twilight. Ponies from an earlier era.”
“Yes, but why?”
“Either we went to an alternate world, or an alternate world came here.”
She looked at Trixie. “Did you learn alternate dimension spells while I was away for a seminar?”
“And not have you there for the moment she mastered it? Trixie would never!” Trixie giggled. “And besides, you’ve seen the spells I’ve studied. Complex and focused, but nothing like that.”
“We should stay close. Look for clues.”
Trixie got down next to her, softly nuzzling against Maud. “Maybe they’ll give me Twilight’s job in the meantime.”
Maud placed a hoof next to her. “I doubt it. But it’s a nice thought.”
The two slowly drifted off to sleep together, and for the rest of the night, it felt like all their worries had gone away. After all, they were Great and Powerful together.
Soon, the early morning came and Maud woke back up. She slowly got to her hooves so as to not wake up Trixie and exited the tent. Looking around, she could see most of the filming equipment was left up, with only a few scattered lights left on to keep everypony from being in total darkness.
Though she didn’t show it, Maud was surprised to see that she wasn’t the only one up. Twilight was nearby, sitting on a cast chair under one of the lights, a pair of reading glasses on, as her horn levitated a book in front of her face. Maud supposed some habits never changed. She walked up to Twilight and waited for her to notice.
After a good minute, Twilight’s eyes finally saw the other mare standing next to her and let out a yelp. “O-oh, hello there Miss. Pie. Y-you gave me a bit of a fright. I apologize if I left you waiting long,” she said, smiling as she collected herself.
“Do you usually get up early in the morning?” Maud asked.
“Well, sometimes it’s because I need to be in makeup for the perfect look, sometimes it's because the early hours give the director the best natural lighting, and sometimes it’s just because I got up early and didn’t feel like going back to sleep,” Twilight explained, showing her book to Maud. Its cover had pulpy art of a mare with flat pink hair standing in the middle of a stream. She looked familiar, but Maud couldn’t place it. “I tend to go for the horror books I find, because it helps keep me energized and on all fours when I’m needed for a role later in the day.”
“Not a coffee person?”
“This early in the morning? No, no. It’d throw my balance completely off and that’s a wasted shooting day all on me. Oh, and I’m sorry if I was rude to your friend earlier. I just wasn’t expecting to see a fan, and it really is hard to remember ponies sometimes.”
“Marefriend.”
“What?”
“She’s my marefriend. We’re dating.”
“You…you’re dating? A mare dating a mare?”
Maud nodded.
Twilight looked at her. “That’s…unusual. Very bold, actually! I’ve read about things like that but I never…I mean, congratulations!” She smiled.
“It’s not that weird where we’re from.”
“Oh. Where are you from?”
“Alternate universe.”
“What?!”
“Either we’re in your universe or you’re in ours. Haven’t figured out which, yet.” She kicked a stone. “The rocks are the same, but that doesn’t prove much.”
Twilight was silent for a long time.
“Is this a joke?”
“No. Also, your director is hiding something. I think the fireworks are unsafe.”
“How do you know?”
“He doesn’t have permits. Plus Trixie says he’s a liar. She’s good at reading people.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s…well, I’ve thought that myself sometimes.”
A shadow suddenly emerged from behind a tent. “Good morning, you two!”
Twilight jumped. The figure revealed itself to be Town. “Up so soon?” he said. “You must be excited for the big day, am I right? Time to film the escape scene!”
“Oh, uh, Mr. Town, we just—”
“Having a chat with our self-appointed safety inspector. What could be more natural?” He turned to Maud and his tone grew harsh. “Is your friend here too?”
“Hey!” Trixie rushed in, having spotted them from her tent. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not appreciate you speaking to her marefriend in that way!”
“Marefriend?” he asked, incredulously. “Oh, well, no offense intended to your marefriend! I was just hoping the two of you would inspect our minecarts before we start shooting!”
Maud looked at him. “Do you have the permits?”
“You don’t need permits for a minecart, silly mare! I’ll show you those in a minute. But first, let’s look at the cart. Need to make sure it’s steady, don’t we?”
“Fine,” said Maud.
She trotted over to one of the carts and nudged it with her hoof. “Seems pretty standard.”
“Yes,” said Town, “but can it bear the weight of a rider? We need to check every detail.”
Maud nodded, then walked to the right side of the cart and slowly lifted herself in. The cart gave off a few rattles but remained stationary.
“Since you’re such an expert, would you care to explain minecarts to our leading lady here?”
Trixie could sense the joy that was quietly emanating from Maud. She loved being asked about these sorts of things, and demonstrations especially got her going.
“When in a minecart, a rider should be focused on getting in without causing too much commotion. These are still moving vehicles. Riders should make sure their front hooves are close to their sides.” She motioned to Trixie. “You may get in now, Trixie.”
Trixie nodded, getting in the same way that Maud did, body slightly pushed against hers as they looked back at Twilight. “It’s simple enough. Just make sure you have a tight grip on something when you’re in these things. They don’t have seatbelts.”
Trixie whispered to her. “What’s this about?”
“He’s probably just stalling for time,” whispered Maud. “Anyway it’s nice to be in a minecart again. It’s been too long.”
They heard the sound of Town shuffling through some equipment behind them. “Wow, you two really are experts in this, aren’t you?”
“Well, more Maud than I—”
“Why, in fact, you’re such experts at this,” said Town, growing closer behind them and jostling the cart, “that I think you’d better test the fireworks too!”
“W-what?! What are you—?!” Trixie was cut off as Town lit a match and used it to light the giant fireworks he’d attached to both sides of the cart. The fireworks faced forward, and before Trixie could react the cart shot forward like a rocket. She turned to see Town smiling and Twilight screaming as the two of them rapidly fell further away into the distance. Trixie turned forward again. “Maud?!” she yelled, looking to Maud as the area around them began to grow darker and darker.
“Apparently he wanted to get rid of us.”
“YOU THINK?!”
The cart shook violently as they rocketed through a series of tunnels.
“Maybe we should remove the fireworks!” Trixie shouted.
“If we stop we could be stuck over a pit. We’ll have to wait until we make it to the other end.” Maud’s voice was raised, but still in control. Her and Trixie’s manes were blowing behind them from the wind rushing past them. She could feel Trixie clinging to her as they zoomed through darkness. “It’ll be alright, Trixie. We’ll be alright.”
“I know that, Maud! I just wanna make sure that you’re still there when we come out on the other end!” Trixie shouted, using her magic to keep her hat from blowing away. There was no way she was going to lose either of her most precious things on this ride. “I-I can see light ahead!” she called out, pointing ahead as the two made out a speck of light that was getting bigger and bigger as they drew closer. It was an exit, leading out to somewhere hopefully more spacious.
As they zoomed out of the dark tunnel, their eyes re-adjusted to the light. The two were now in an enormous mining facility, with dozens upon dozens of wooden structures and support beams around them. In each and every direction, there were tracks and carts full of rocks and various gemstones. “W-wow… they wanted to shoot in all of this?” Trixie asked, before noticing that, on most of the wooden structures, cameras were set up.
“Hold tight, Trixie.” Maud called out, as the two suddenly took a speeding dip as their tracks led downward, taking them deeper in. They could hear the wind whistling past them as they sped down, only to then shoot up a ramp. The fireworks finally spent their fuel, but the cart rocketed onward. There was no sign of slowing; even Trixie's magic grasping onto the wheels only caused them to shoot off sparks.
“Please tell me there’s an end in sight, Maud! Or something that’s gonna slow us down!”
Maud looked ahead. There was an end, but not the kind they were looking for. Their current track was leading up another ramp, but at the top… there was no more track. Just a sign post that read ‘Finish this up before shooting!’ with a scribbled smiley face.
“Oh… oh no.” Trixie pressed her face into the back of Maud’s neck as they and the cart went flying off the tracks, hurtling through the air. Despite going at high speeds, as the couple soared through the air and were slightly lifted off the ground from their cart, it was as though time itself slowed down.
Trixie could feel Maud trembling a bit as they floated. She was scared too. But she was keeping a strong face, and planning. “T-Trixie. When I say so, use your magic to push us downwards. As hard as you can.”
“I shall do my best! But I don’t know what good it will—”
“You’ll be fine,” Maud encouraged, regaining a bit of control. She watched the various tracks below, calculating the time and distance in her head. “...now.”
Trixie used all of their magical strength to slam them back down into the cart, causing it to come down on a new track on a downward diagonal slope, heading into a new cavern. The cart wobbled and shook, but after a few seconds, it steadied. Trixie let out a cheer of relief, and Maud put a hoof on hers.
The slamming of the cart thankfully slowed down their momentum, causing the cart to move at a much more reasonable pace. “Oh… this is alright. I was expecting this,” Trixie joked, slumping back against the back of the cart. “Just to find some things for my fireworks. This probably isn’t worth it…”
“...Probably. But maybe it was,” Maud said, before pointing to her side of the cart. Through openings in the tunnel, they could see into a giant cavern. In the middle, there sat a giant pool of water with a miniature waterfall above it, with dozens of stalactites hanging over. All of them shining and glittering, their reflections bouncing off the water made a stunning display for the two to see. Maud pointed at the rocks scattered nearby. “These are the minerals you needed. Alabite and Zirconium.”
“Y-yeah, it is,” Trixie muttered in awe, the two moving to the side of the minecart as if it were the balcony on a boat. The cart seemed to have lost even more of its speed, and they were both relieved at that. Trixie reached out with her magic and gathered up the rocks she needed, depositing them in the cart. “You know. I keep saying it. But, I love you, Maud,” Trixie said, smiling at her.
Maud nuzzled her silently. As the shine of the stalactites covered them, Trixie kissed her marefriend’s mane.
It was a moment that they were truly enjoying, at least until the minecart hit another slope downward and started going through a seemingly endless series of twists and turns. The only blessing was that there were lanterns lighting their way this time.
“Where do you think we’re going?” Trixie asked.
“Where we need to,” said Maud. “The minerals in these walls look familiar.”
After a few more minutes of the cart going down and around, it finally got back on a straight track. They could see the tunnel’s exit ahead as their minecart slowed and came close to the end of the track, this one having a proper stop bumper attached. The two mares watched as Tin Sel Town came into view again. He was facing away from them, talking with Welles.
“No, no! Twilight’s got it all wrong!” said Town. “The fireworks were installed on the cart last night, you see. I had an idea to make the scene more exciting. Our guests must have hit the ignition switch when they got in the cart! Honestly, it was quite careless of them. But there’s nothing we can do about it now. We’ll just have hope-ACK!”
Town suddenly discovered that he could no longer breathe. He grabbed at his throat with his hooves to no avail, finding only a mysterious blue glow around his neck.
“SOMEPONY TRIED TO KILL THE MAREFRIEND OF THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!”
Town gasped for air, but couldn’t find any.
“Somepony also tried to kill Trixie,” said Maud, actively frowning.
“Good Heavens!” said Welles as the pair finally came to a stop. “What’s going on?!”
Twilight rushed over from behind a tent. “You’re safe! Oh thank goodness! I thought he’d killed you!”
Maud got out of the cart. “He tried.”
“Why? Just because of the permits?”
“Possibly,” said Maud. “Let’s ask him.”
She stood in front of Town and noticed that he was squirming and his face was turning blue. She looked over at Trixie.
“Darling?”
Trixie sighed. “Fine.”
She released her magical grip and Town fell to his knees, gasping for all the air he could get.
“Let’s review the facts,” said Maud. “Hot shot director wants to save money. Doesn’t care who gets hurt. Buys illegal fireworks based on dynamite. Pretends he has permits. When Trixie and I get too close, he tries to have us killed. Am I right so far?”
Town breathed deeply and glanced up in fear. “Well, that is to say, I…you were a problem, and I just wanted to…”
Trixie’s voice was icy. “Get rid of us?”
Town gulped. “In a manner of speaking.”
Maud leaned down. “Now the bigger question. How did you get to our universe?”
Town looked up in shock. “What?”
“You did something magical. You probably didn’t understand what you were doing. Tell us.”
Town took stock of his surroundings. Trixie stood close, ready to subdue him at any moment. Twilight and Welles looked at him with horror. Maud’s frown was mild by comparison, but somehow he found her to be even scarier than Trixie.
“A-alright,” he said, “I’ll tell you. I found these…pages…”
He reached into a saddle bag and produced them. “At first I just took notes on the props I might need, and they started appearing! Then I started writing down locations to film in, and it created…portals. It took us wherever we needed to go!”
“That’s how we got here?” Welles interjected. “I thought that was just a teleportation spell!”
“I knew it!” said Twilight. “I knew that wasn’t a normal spell. I just knew!”
Trixie looked at her. “Still an expert at magic, aren’t you? Even if you didn’t train for it.”
“What do you mean?”
Trixie sighed. “Trixie does not like to dwell on it, but…there’s already a Twilight Sparkle in this world. She’s an alicorn.”
“A-an alicorn?!”
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
“I’m sorry,” said Welles, “I’m still catching up. He used these magical pages to bring us to a different world? Why not just use them to create the whole film?”
“He wasn’t sure how it worked,” said Maud.
Trixie butted in. “And he was worried that somepony would find out, too. Hard to explain a film that comes out of nowhere.”
Town sighed. “Well you’ve found me out now. So I guess I don’t have to worry so much about explanations!”
Suddenly a bright light came from the ground. The other’s turned to see that Town had scribbled something on the page: “Armstead’s Airship makes an escape!”
The light from the page rocketed through the mine, seeming to fill every part of it. Trixie grabbed on to Maud as the ceiling cracked open, revealing the bright blue sky above. A gigantic airship appeared in the gap, its engines already thrusting heavy winds down at them.
Rope ladders uncurled from the ship as they watched in shock. Town leapt to his feet and ran from the group, grabbing hold of a ladder before anypony could stop him. The ladder began pulling him upward, propelled by some unseen motor on the airship’s deck. “What can I say?!” Town shouted with gleeful arrogance, “THE SHOW MUST GO ON!”
Trixie tried to grab at him with her magic but he was already climbing out of range. “COME ON!” she shouted.
She leapt onto another ladder with Maud right behind her. Trixie glanced down to see the floor of the cave already falling away from them. Welles appeared to be utterly stunned, while members of the film crew scattered in all directions. The airship lifted out of the cave entirely, and Trixie found herself blinded by the light.
“We’ve got to stop him before he uses another page!” she shouted over the wind.
Trixie and Maud strained their muscles to climb the rope ladder as it swayed in the wind. Finally, Trixie made her way onto the deck and offered her hoof to Maud, pulling her aboard. They looked around.
“Any idea where he went?” asked Trixie.
“Probably the bridge.”
Just as Maud spoke, the massive airship lurched forward. A wind began to blow across the deck, steadily picking up speed.
The floor shuddered and Trixie steadied herself. “Let’s hope he doesn’t know we’re here!”
They galloped as best they could towards a large metal area on top of the main deck. Maud gestured at a heavy door and they both strained to open it, scurrying inside as quickly as they could.
They found themselves in a gray metal hallway, and they heard Twilight’s voice from around a corner.
“Help! Somepony!”
Maud gestured to move quietly, and they crept towards the voice. Peering around a doorframe, they saw what appeared to be the bridge. There was a large window at the far side of the room, and a console filled with buttons and levers. Twilight was lying on the floor, tied up tightly with rope. Town was standing over her, facing away from the door.
“Thought you’d play hero, did you, Twilight?”
He gave her a kick and she yelped.
“Thought you’d take after Flash, is that it? Climb aboard the airship and stop the villain before he can escape?”
Trixie thought fast. She must have taken another ladder when we weren’t looking!
Town kicked Twilight again.
“Allow me to educate you. You’re not the hero. You’ve not even the leading lady! Right now, you’re a worthless, no-good extra, and I’m the writer, Twilight!” He laughed. “It took me a while to realize, but with these pages I can do anything! I am a God!”
A fierce bolt of magic hit him from behind, sending him tumbling across the room.
“GET THE PAGES!” yelled Trixie as she and Maud rushed into the room.
Town spun. “WHAT?!”
Maud kicked him in the chin, knocking him back into the airship’s control panel. His body impacted against a level and the ship shook underneath them, altering its pitch into a dive.
Trixie took advantage of his confusion to grab the saddlebag in her magic, hoisting it over his head. The magic pages glistened in the pocket.
“NO!”
Town dove for the saddlebag just as Trixie put it on. He tackled her into the hallway while Maud bit the knot off Twilight’s rope, freeing her.
There was fire in Town’s eyes as he fought against Trixie, trying to reclaim the saddle bag. Maud grabbed one of his hind legs and pinned him down. Trixie escaped his grip and reached the door leading outside. She undid the latch and a fierce wind blew the door wide open.
Town kicked free of Maud. “GIVE. ME. THOSE. PAGES!”
He tackled Trixie out the door and the saddlebag burst open. Trixie grabbed at a single page but it was torn apart by the wind. In an instant every page was blown off the deck. Town looked in horror as the ship rapidly descended toward the ground.
Trixie spotted Maud and Twilight at the door. Maud stepped out onto the deck, hoping to bring Trixie back to the relative safety of the bridge. Twilight followed, not knowing what else to do.
“MAUD!” Trixie yelled as she fought to keep her footing in the ever-increasing wind. “YOU’VE GOT TO—”
But the wind was too strong. Trixie, Town, Maud and Twilight were lifted straight off the deck, cast into the open air as the distant ground beneath them grew less and less distant.
Trixie tumbled through the air. She caught glimpses of Maud, Twilight, Town, Ground, Maud, Twilight, Town…the wind screamed in her ears and her pupils had dilated to the size of pinpricks. If sompony didn’t find a way to slow their fall, they would soon be nothing more than smushed pancakes on the ground!
Trixie tried her best to focus, thinking of something, anything she could do to help. None of the clothes were big enough to act as parachutes, she could only do short-form teleportation spells, nothing that could break their fall… and then she saw it: the scrap of paper she still held in one hoof. It was tiny, barely enough for a single word. There was no time to think! She focused her magic and wrote the first word that came to her: Fireworks.
The page glowed brightly and a cartoonishly large firework appeared beside her. It was large enough for a pony to ride! She grabbed into it and used her horn to light its fuse, aiming it so the thing would push upwards, against gravity. She heard it let out a hiss and then a high pitched whine as it shot off at them. “Please work, please work, please work!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The rocket-sized firework ignited and Trixie held on for dear life.
She found herself swerving madly through the air, and she desperately used her magic on the rocket’s fins to alter its flight path. She approached Maud but missed her by a mile. She forced the crazy thing to double back, trying to match Maud’s speed as the ground below them grew uncomfortably close.
In the distance, the airship crashed violently into a mountain, creating a movie-style fireball as it did so.
Trixie approached Maud again, using her magic to pull her marefriend onto the rocket. “Hold tight, Maud!” she called out, feeling Maud’s hooves wrap around her. Maud’s embrace helped to calm her nerves, and she angled the rocket to approach Twilight next. Twilight climbed aboard, screaming the entire time.
Finally, with some reluctance, she also saved Town.
“Hang on!” yelled Trixie, angling the rocket to slow their descent. About 8 feet off the ground she yelled “Jump!” and they all jumped to the grassy ground below.
Trixie looked up to see the ridiculous firework shoot up into the sky before it exploded with intense colors.
Incidentally, the sparks exploded into the shape of Maud’s face. Maud looked over at Trixie and put a hoof next to her. Trixie smiled, leaned in for a moment… and then swiftly turned and kicked Town in the face, knocking him unconscious.
It took a while, but the film crew finally found them.
Welles spotted them first, followed shortly by Flash and Raven. The entire crew had been searching for them, following the magical distress signal that Trixie had placed in the sky above.
“Oh heavens!” cried Welles as he embraced Twilight. “I cannot apologize enough for the horrible, the, the incomprehensible things that my director did to you. To all of you!” he added, looking over at Trixie and Maud.
Everypony had questions, so Trixie explained what had happened as best she could. Normally she liked to embellish her stories, but this time…this time there was really no need for embellishment. She smiled at that.
Town was soon tied up, and Welles promised that one way or another he’d be punished for his crimes. Later on, Trixie stood quietly with her marefriend as Welles and his crew discussed what to do next.
“Trixie?”
Trixie turned to see Twilight approaching them quietly. Twilight took a moment to compose her words. “I, uh…I just wanted to say…thank you. Thank you so much…for saving my life”
Trixie stared at her. She looked over at Maud, and she almost laughed. Then she turned back to Twilight. “You’re very welcome, “ she said at last. “The Great and Powerful Trixie always saves damsels in distress!”
“I bet they swoon for you!” said Twilight a little too quickly, her cheeks suddenly turning red.
“Yes,” said Maud softly. “They do.”
Twilight smiled. “Am I really an alicorn in this world?”
Trixie sighed, but she didn’t stop smiling. “Yes. You are.”
“That’s…that’s nice.”
“You could meet her, you know.”
Twilight jumped. “What?”
Trixie shrugged. “You’re stuck in the wrong world, right? The pages are scattered all over the place. You probably need to go talk to the world’s biggest magic expert to find out how to get home.”
Twilight paused. “I guess I assumed that you were the greatest expert.”
Trixie chuckled. “Promise me that I’ll be in the room when you say that to other-Twilight.”
“Deal!” said Twilight, and she walked off to rejoin the crew.
Trixie put a hoof next to Maud, and she did the same in turn. Together they looked into the sunset as unspoken feelings blossomed between them.
Their love was as flashy as a firework, and as solid as a rock.
Author's Note
It was so nice getting to work on a big project like this, alongside so many others. I'll never forget Ponyville Ciderfest 2023 for what it means to me and the amazing people I got to meet along the way. Again, major thanks to Sonicsuns and Skywriter for their help with all the editing and getting the story to be as fantastic as it is. Work on projects such as these is a team effort, and I will always thanks those I get paired up with.
