Dreaming on the Rails

“Thank Celestia you showed up. I thought you were going to be late, and phew, that would have been pretty bad, seeing as you need me to pay for your ticket, and let me tell you--”

Trixie rolled her eyes at Psycho’s rambling. At first she thought Psycho’s mannerisms were endearing, but after listening to him going on and on that endearment quickly turned to annoyance. As they progressed ever so slowly down the line, Psycho continued to rattle on, launching irrelevant fact over irrelevant fact, like a toy gun being continuously shot at her head by an excited little foal. The other ponies in line didn’t seem to be faring any better either, as the pony in front seemed to be mumbling threats under his breath and a mare in the back had plugged her ears up at least five minutes ago.

Eventually, to Trixie’s great relief, they reached the end of the line. The face of a grumpy old sales pony was the first thing to greet her. Psycho, enthralled with his one-sided conversation, failed to notice where he was and continued to chatter-- at least until Trixie knocked him upside the head to make him pay attention.

“OW!” cried Psycho, rubbing his the top of his sore head. “Is that how you treat all your employers?” The elderly pony working the booth gave an exaggeratingly loud cough, snapping Psycho’s attention away from the blue unicorn. “Oh, look Trixie. We’re in the front of the line.” Trixie brought a hoof to her temple to try and soothe her aching head. She hoped desperately that Psycho was sleeping in another train cart than she was.

After acquiring the tickets and safely storing them away in their saddlebags, Trixie and Psycho trotted outside to the waiting train. The train was humongous; each individual cart could hold at least six beds. Trixie looked down the length of the train and found she could not see the tail end. Besides the obvious size, the train also had an incredibly amazing design engraved on the wooden structure of the carts, decorating them in a unique, unfamiliar art style. Each individual featured the princess Luna engraved above the windows in a cylindrical fashion, spreading her wings across the top.

But what was even more interesting was the engraving underneath the windows. Creatures of myth were carved in with amazing detail, and each cart was different. One had what appeared to be serpents standing on legs, the serpents had empty, dead fish eyes and giant mouths with gaping teeth. Others had birds, bears and spiders. A particular carving caught her eye in the midst of her gawking. It was an enormous owl with a wingspan to rival Luna’s and the feathers were as different from one another as a snowflake. The feathers looked as if a passing breeze could rustle them, but it was the eyes that really drew Trixie’s attention. They looked as if they were actually watching her; and it sent shivers down her spine.

Trixie felt a nudge in her side and turned to Psycho, who pointed at the clock overlooking the station. She had to squint to see the time: half past four. Psycho took out his pocket watch and opened it up, gave an aggravated grunt, and closed it. “I’m sorry Trixie... my watch is broken.” He glanced at Trixie, but immediately turned away again at her frightening glare. “But, at least we arrived early rather than late...right?” he asked, trying to quell the anger radiating from Trixie, but after a few seconds of silence he decided he’d better make a strategic retreat for now and let her cool off.

“O-okay then... I’m just going to go ahead and make some calls if that’s alright with you.” With that, he quickly dashed off around the corner, leaving Trixie alone in the hustle and bustle of a busy train station. She stood there awhile, not quite sure what to do with herself since she never planned on having so much time to just explore. Deciding she’d rather walk around than do nothing for half an hour, she started wandering around the train station.

The station was crowded with ponies and other races from across the equestrian border, both arriving and leaving. Trixie sniffed the air, thinking the aroma she smelled was the smoke coming from the train engine, but a quick look towards the engine showed that the engineer was just now starting to shovel coal inside the furnace.The actual source seemed to be coming from a small dragon following a lavishly dressed colt from Canterlot.

“Make sure to write a report about our time in Vanhoover, assistant Gimpy. We don’t want mother to start asking questions when we get home.”

“Sure--fine, whatever,” said the dragon assistant grumpily as he scribbled on a piece of paper, looking as if he’d rather pluck out his scales than be in the possession he’s in now.

Looking to her left, Trixie could see a griffon trying to scam a free meal out of an apple vendor. Both the vendor and the griffon were leering at each other over the stall.

“I don’t see why you’re so upset; I’m just offering to take the apple with the worm.”

“You think I don’t recognize a thief when I see one? Getoudaheyr.” Suddenly a long hairy creature slithered out from the middle of the apples. The vendor got startled and fell backward, getting a chuckle out of the griffon who took his tail out of the apples and grabbed a few with his talons before leaving.

A melting pot of ponies and creatures seemed to be congregating in this one station, showing Trixie how big and vast the world is outside of Equestria just outside the Equestrian border. It was hard for Trixie to not get excited. Her mind ran wild with the imaginings of great adventures and seemingly endless wealth.

Eventually, Trixie got dizzy from traipsing around and gawking at all the sights. She stumbled around, trying not to accidentally bump into anypony before she made her way to a bench and plopped herself down on it. The chaotic chatter of the crowd made it hard for her to regain her focus. Laying on the bench, she started to relax. The distance she traveled had taken a lot out of her. She closed her eyes,

“Hey Greenery, where’s our water?”

Trixie opened her eyes lazily. A pair of ponies wearing backpacks, hiking boots and climbing gear were standing over a large brown sack, peering into it.

“I don’t know Glitter. It was your job to buy a gallon before we left,” remarked the other pony, who Trixie presumed to be Greenery.

Although the scene was rather comical, Trixie felt she’d rather take a short nap then watch a couple of other ponies fight. But as Trixie was settling in, she remembered Lemon Drop and the promise she made to her. As much as Trixie didn’t want to get up--and she really didn’t want to get up--she couldn’t well get on that train with a clear conscience if she didn’t at least try and make an effort. She got up off the bench and walked over to the colt and mare who were still bickering.

“I DID buy the water. I left the jug on kitchen counter. You were supposed to-”

“Ahem.”

Greenery and Glitter both looked at the haughty unicorn approaching them. Seeing a chance to be a little more theatrical, Trixie flipped her mane, sending dust flying into the air. The watching ponies snickered, causing Trixie to silently sulk for a moment before speaking again.“Um...Trixie heard you two saying you need liquid sustenance, correct?”

“That sure is a funny way of putting it, but yeah,” replied the mare, Glitter.

Trixie struggled to think of a way to not sound completely stupid in front of these ponies. Eventually, she decided that being straight was the best idea. “Well... although it isn’t water, Trixie knows of a lemonade stand down the road being ran by a small filly. Trixie is sure that she’d be willing to sell a jug or two.”

“A lemonade stand-- like what little foals have on their front lawn?” exclaimed Greenery. “Oh mercy, I remember having one of those when I was small.” He then turned to Glitter, who seemed less than enthusiastic about the change in plans. “Come on Glitter, let’s make a little pony happy!”

“Oh alright,” sighed Glitter. “although, why anypony would think it’s a good idea to sell lemonade in weather like this...I’ll never know.”

“Well, in Trixie’s opin-”

“Trixie!”

Trixie was about to give her thoughts on the matter. when the sudden sound of Psycho’s shrill voice called out to her.

“Oh, there you are Trixie,” and sure enough, Psycho appeared right next to her, looking mangey as usual. Greenery and Glitter both did a double take at the ratty pony’s intrusion, not expecting somepony to be so inconsiderate. “I-I-I just gone done calling, er...making calls or uhm, using the phone so...” Psycho struggled with his words, looking more disheveled and nervous than usual. “I-I-I think the train is leaving soon, so l-let’s go, alright?”

Psycho began shoving Trixie towards the train in the middle of his stutterings. She tried to speak, but not a word could make it past Psycho’s nervous ramblings. Trixie looked over Psycho’s shoulder where she could see Glitter frowning at the odd display. Curiously enough, Trixie couldn’t see hide nor tail of Greenery, who had--until Psycho’s appearance--been standing right next to Glitter.

“Well if it isn’t old Psychopedia!” Before Trixie even knew what was happening, Psycho was pulled off of her by Greenery, who seemed to come out of nowhere. Psycho struggled desperately to escape the headlock he had been put under. A pocket watch and other valuables were jostled out of Psycho’s saddlebag and onto the floor with a clatter. Greenery managed to keep his tight grip, laughing all the while. “Amazing how little a pony can change after all these years--except for the moustache, that’s pretty new.”

Psycho sputtered and gasped. “Who a-are you?!”

Greenery released his grasp and reeled back in mocking surprise, pouting his lips as if Psycho had insulted his entire being. “You don’t remember me?” inquired Greenery, then he broke out into full on laughter. Psycho merely tilted his head in confusion at the earth pony’s antics. “Don’t you recognize me and my sister? We were in school together.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now!” exclaimed Glitter. Her face lit up in recognition, but this quickly soured into annoyance. She walked up to her brother and gave him a nice, loud buck in the rear. “Don’t call him that, you jerk! Don’t you remember he hated being called that dumb nickname?”

Psycho stood off to the side looking as if he couldn’t understand what it was he was seeing. He took a look at the train, then at Trixie, then back at Glitter. Finally, he tried break the ice. “Oh...oh yeah, I remember you guys now. Weren’t you two always fighting with each other back in fifth grade? What are you doing here?”

Glitter’s eyes shined in apprehension, eager to get in some gossip and talk smack about her brother. She took Psycho aside from Trixie and Greenery, who was rubbing his sore flank. Upset about being forgotten, Trixie ground her teeth in anger, making sounds that could rattle anypony to the core.

“So, are you traveling with Psycho?” inquired Greenery. He stopped rubbing his flank and looked at the blue unicorn. Trixie ceased her unhealthy teeth grinding and gave a little nod in response to his question. Now standing next to Trixie, Greenery stared wistfully at his sister and Psycho, who had just started talking about their journey around Equestria.

“You should be careful around Psycho.”

Trixie looked at Greenery in surprise; of all things he could’ve said about the jittery colt, that one was the least likely. Greenery, seeing the way Trixie was staring at him, quickly tried to debunk any strange thoughts going through her head.

“Don’t get me wrong about the dude. He’s an alright kind of pony; definitely not the sort that would start anything on purpose.” He turned his gaze back on the chattering ponies and continued. “All I’m saying is that Psycho was a habitual liar back in elementary and it’d get him in a whole lot trouble.” Then he turned to look at Trixie with a serious expression on his face. “So don’t let him rope you into any mess you know you can’t handle, okay.”

Anger boiled up from the insides of Trixie’s stomach. She didn’t like how Greenery was talking about Psycho at all--and in a way, it felt as if Greenery was making an indirect attack at her as well. With a snooty “hmph”, she turned her nose up away from the earth pony. Greenery could see that this conversation was going nowhere, and chose to stay quiet while Glitter and Psycho got reacquainted with each other.

Sometime later, the sound of a whistle pierced the air, letting all nearby ponies and creatures know of the train’s imminent departure. Psycho cut off his conversation with Glitter in a panic. “The train’s g-g-getting ready to leave! Hurry Trixie, we have to get on board!”

“Goodbye, Trixie,” said Greenery, walking back to his sister. They both slugged their bags over their backs in preparation to leave.

“See ya later Psycho,” yelled Glitter. “May Luna’s moon watch over your journey!” Psycho waved goodbye as both he and Trixie walked up to the train, whereupon a pony in a train conductor uniform took their tickets and led them inside.

The inside of the train was dimly lit, and bunk beds were built on both sides of the cart. Each bed featured a window, a cabinet, sheets, and pillows. Everything smelled heavy with the scent of despair. Ponies who looked as if they hadn’t bathed in weeks dotted the corridor, making their beds in preparation for a new beginning in a new land. Trixie was almost appalled at the filthiness of the ponies she would have to share the train with, but then she realized that she probably looked pretty similar. ‘I’m a lot like them, in a way,’ she thought.

Trixie fell onto her bed with a soft ‘whoomph’. As she snuggled into the bed, the cart gave a lurch as the train began its journey. She looked through her dusty window as the train exited the station and watched the scenery as it passed by. The windmills she saw earlier were still turning as they were earlier, only now the sun was setting in the horizon creating a red hue in the sky to paint a pretty picture that contrasted the cart’s bleak scenery. Lemon Drop’s house passed her view as well. Trixie wondered if Lemon Drop was still manning her post, hoping for a thirsty traveler to pass by. Maybe she gave up hope and packed up, deciding to wait for warmer weather. ‘But that’s not like her,’ thought Trixie. ‘That filly seemed too stubborn to realize she should give up.’

Meanwhile on the bunk above, Psycho was climbing onto the bedspread. The bedframe creaked under the combined weight of both him and his heavy saddlebag. With a grunt, he managed to pull himself up and fell onto the squeaky mattress. The earth pony then unclasped his saddlebags and placed them to the side before falling onto the smelly mattress with a sigh. “It might just be me, but the train looked a whole lot cleaner on the outside than it does on the inside,” commented Psycho. Hearing no response from the unicorn below him, he peaked under the bunk to see Trixie staring out the window, obviously lost in thought. “Speaking of dirt,” continued Psycho, “you should really go take a shower.”

Trixie looked at Psycho and sent him an angry glare. “Thanks a lot for pointing that out, dunderhead. It’s not like Trixie didn’t know how filthy she was or anything. Or maybe she just enjoys being covered in filth.”

“Wh-wh-what, but I--I mean th-that wasn’t what I--” Psycho blubbered. Eventually he stopped with his eyes looking downcast. “Sorry, about what I said. I was just messing around with you and I didn’t know you’d get so offended.” He jumped off of his bunk and stormed off with his eyes still trailing the floor.

Trixie felt a little bad for what she said to Psycho. After all, he only ever tried to help her since she met him this morning. He was probably just about to tell Trixie about the shower that was available in the cart, and she was grateful that she could count on Psycho as a friend. But Trixie hated anyone bringing her filth up--it made her feel meek and poor. Despite all of this, Trixie had too much on her mind to care about the feelings of some colt she just hurt. Instead, she got out out of her bunk and went to take a long needed shower. When she was clean she went down to the dining cart and got herself a free meal, but didn’t see Psycho there.

When the day was over and done, she went back to her bunk to sleep. Psycho was sleeping with his face to the wall on the bunk above. Seeing him like this made Trixie sigh. Maybe--she’ll apologise tomorrow, thought Trixie. So she pulled up the green covers and dozed off.

When she opened her eyes, Trixie found herself hanging in the sky with nary a thing keeping her aloft.

“What the hay!” screamed Trixie while flailing her hooves wildly in the air. She glanced frantically around her, trying to get her bearings and make sense of her situation. Small islands of land floated around her like leaves in a puddle, every single one suspended in the air just like her. The horizon was red--brimming on the edge of twilight as the sun hung over a row of frozen mountains, while stars glimmered in the crystal clear sky and clouds obscured the ground below.

“Trixie is...flying? That’s amazing!”

Laughing, Trixie flew through the air. A purple cape embroidered with stars--the one she used to wear during her performances--fluttered on her back. She didn’t know where she got it but she didn’t care; in fact, the presence of the cape alone empowered her. The only thing missing was her storytelling hat.

Trixie flew around the floating landscape, flying through stone holes, looping around earthy fissures.

“Incredible!” said Trixie. Then something started feeling amiss and she stopped in midair. Trixie wasn’t sure what she was missing, but she knew she longed for it more than anything. That’s when she saw it out of the corner of her eyes.

“Is--is that what Trixie think’s it is?”

A small patch of wooden floor hovered peacefully in Trixie’s vision. In the middle was an old-fashioned coat rack looking as if it was built several generations ago. But the coat rack wasn’t what Trixie was excited about--it was the hat on top. The hat was pointed and purple with stars embroidered on it to match her cape. She had worn it to every single performance she ever carried out. Unfortunately, she lost it a long time ago and its absence marked the time Trixie spent living on the road.

She flew down on the floating wooden platform and grabbed her hat. Its itchy felt form settled easily on her head as if it were settling back home.

“It’s good to finally have you back again. Now maybe Trixie can get to finding out where she is.” Not any sooner than she completed her sentence she felt a sickening dread wash over her. Her gaze shifted upwards towards the stars. The magnificent sky which had previously been bright and wondrous now felt dark and sinister. Every star felt like an eye watching her continued existence with anger and contempt. Then they began to move.

Trixie couldn’t budge due to fear. She could do little more than watch as the heavens shifted and twisted into sinister shapes above her. Several stars grouped together and descended out of the sky--taking part of the night sky with them. A giant scorpion, formed out of the stars and the emptiness of space, crashed onto one of the floating islands before it fixed its gaze on Trixie herself. It was as if this beast was crafted by Luna for nothing more than utter destruction and ruin of the little blue unicorn.

For a long while, Trixie stood stock still and watched in silence as the scorpion stared back at her. Suddenly the monster pounced forward with its pincers wide open. Trixie screamed something incoherent before turning and jumping out of harm’s reach. The wooden platform she had just stood on mere moments ago exploded into splinters as the great beast smashed it between its claws and the stars that created the scorpion set the remaining bits of wood aflame.

One floorboard propelled itself toward Trixie, hitting and dazing her. Trixie, knocked silly and without sense of direction, slammed into the grass-covered rock she had been aiming for. Her entire body was racked with pain and her nose stung so much it brought tears to her eyes but the immediate threat of a cosmic death beast spurred her on. Trixie had to find a place to hide. Luckily, right next to her was a hole; it was rather large hole and could be better equated to a cave but it was small enough that the scorpion couldn’t make it in. Trixie rushed inside.

When Trixie entered the hole through its dirt and grass-covered rim the first thing she noticed was that the cave was huge on the inside. It was clear to her that the floating rock she was in was mostly hollow save for the stalactites and stalagmites that jutted out from the top and bottom of the cave. Not that she could tell which was which, because whatever was keeping the gravity on the surface didn’t seem to apply in the cave, and without gravity, there is no sense of up or down--which is the really the only way to tell the difference between stalactites and stalagmites.

Trixie got as far back from the entrance as she could, pressing herself to the cold stone. She held her breath. Cold sweat ran down her muzzle and the dirt and dust rubbed themselves into her skinned knees, creating an infuriating itch that she was too afraid to do anything about. What if the sound of her movement echoed outside? She wouldn’t be able to hide since the light from the entrance was bouncing every which way; exposing every niche and hiding place. So she waited--and waited--too afraid to do anything and trying with all of her might to keep herself from jittering her hooves, which was a nervous habit equitable to Psycho’s stuttering.

‘It’s a little funny,’ thought Trixie, ‘Trixie always wanted to be some kind of star and now she’s going to be destroyed by a constellation.’

The sheer awfulness of her own humor brought a small chortle from the unicorn and as if it was awaiting a signal, a massive claw lurched forward from the entrance to Trixie’s small hidey hole. Trixie screamed as the pincers grasped for her: grating the stone walls, breaking stalagmites and stalactites, and melting rock into magma wherever a star touched. When Trixie realized that the scorpion couldn’t reach her she stopped screaming her lungs raw and watched nervously as the claw continued to grasp around searching for her. Eventually it seemed to give up and retreated back through the hole it came from, leaving rock and dirt floating in the air.

Although Trixie calmed down a little when she realized she wasn’t in too much danger, she still found herself breathing rapidly. The dirt was thick in the air and was scratching her throat viciously; she tried slow her breathing. Questions of whether the monster would come back or if it knew she was in here raced around her mind.

For a while everything was quiet except for Trixie’s breathing. Her head started to throb and the smoke generated by the magma and burnt dirt wasn’t helping. Before long a deafening, thundering sound shook through the cavern. Jagged cracks tore through the stone walls like it was made of wet paper.

Trixie made a beeline for the entrance, avoiding the floating rocks and pools of magma. Just in time as well: when she reached the mouth of the cave an even louder crash shook through the air. She turned to see a claw breaking through the back of cave where she had been cowering moments ago, grasping for the unicorn that was no longer there. The claw retracted itself and the scorpion poked its head through the crack to look for the blue pony instead of searching with its massive pinchers.

Before the frightening creature had even showed its face, Trixie had already flown out of the cave and made her way to next floating island. She could hear the monster’s banging as it chased after. What was at first a game of hide and seek had turned into the worst game of tag Trixie had ever experienced. As soon as she made it to one floating rock she had to jump to another fast as the creature was on her tail.

The creature was destroying everything in its wake, either by crushing it in its giant pincers or by melting everything with the heat of dozens of stars. Trixie, sensing the closing distance between her and a most painful demise, tapped into the magic inside of her. With a few sparks and flashes from her horn, Trixie split herself into two forms then forked into separate directions. For the very first time since it had spawned itself it made a noise, a roar of frustration that sounded like grinding stone. It took off for one of the two Trixies, but as soon as it had left as third Trixie appeared as if out of nowhere. The unicorn sighed in relief: her doppelgangers had fulfilled their purpose into getting the monster off of her. Trixie was mostly terrible at magic, but if there was any branch of the art she could brag about (at least truthfully, anyway) it was that she was exceptionally good at illusions. Invisibility and creating false reflections of herself happened to be some of the most useful bits of magic she had ever learned from reading the stolen library books she had when she was a filly.

Soon as she dropped her invisibility spell, she took off in the opposite direction she had seen the scorpion go.The mountains seemed even closer before and as she floated over another island floating pointlessly in the air, she saw something different than the rest of scenery around her. A platform of ruins stretch across the horizon--broken columns and collapsed arches dotted the stones that made up the island, as well as walls that looked as if they may have once been whole buildings. It was the perfect place to hide.

Trixie touched down on the cold brick floor and looked around her. Memories of pictures came across her mind. These wrecked stone structures looked extraordinarily similar to the Lunar castle ruins she’s seen pictures of in history books. After Luna, the goddess who controlled the moon, became jealous over her sister Celestia, whom commanded power over the sun, she waged war against her powerful sibling and subsequently lost and was imprisoned in the moon she once held power over. Without hosts or servants to take care of it, the castle went into disrepair, and eventually crumbled.

A roar resounded in the air. Trixie turned her head sharply at the familiar sound of grinding stone, hoping against odds and common sense that it was not what she thought it was. Sure enough, the monstrous scorpion was climbing up from the edge of the platform, apparently from underneath as if it was massive parasite hiding underneath a rotting log.

Trixie bolted; her cape jerked and twitched as the wind tore through it. The scorpion wasn’t too far behind her by the sound of it either. Clumsily, it seemed, it took off after her and it did so by not letting a single object get in it way. It gave not a single flinch as pillars seemingly hit it in it’s face as it sprinted.

Eventually, and rather sooner than Trixie would have liked, her hoofsteps slowed as the physical activity took its toll on her. Having never ran much at all in her life, Trixie didn’t know that trotting faster would also mean getting worn out faster. The creature sounded like a speeding train, and she was merely a helpless victim tied to the tracks.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before this grave beast caught up to her, Trixie did the only left within her power to do--she stopped. Fear had never felt so thick in all of Trixie’s life, but she knew that if this was going to the end of her story she to go out like the heros she’d tell stories about. So she didn’t run; she turned around, and steeled herself for a short fight.

However, when Trixie saw the giant scorpion enclosing on her, her courage left her almost as quickly as it had arrived. The space that filled that gap between her and the monster filled quickly, and as the it got so close that it loomed over her and lashed out with claws Trixie did the only thing she felt she could. She closed her eyes and casted a shield over herself.

Nothing happened. Trixie expected to feel incredible pain any second, but nothing came. She opened her eyes. What she saw, she couldn’t exactly understand. The sun had gone completely down--leaving darkness, and a bright, starlit sky. Her magic shield was the only thing that provided any light, besides the burning balls that hung above her.

‘But what happened to the giant scorpion that was just about to snap me in half?’ question the ever puzzled Trixie. Then she saw it. It was hard to spot with all the darkness, but the glow emanating from her magic gave a small outline to the claw slowly reaching out only three feet away. Although a claw has nary a face to express any emotions, a feeling of hatred radiated off the appendage.

Trixie put as much power into the shield as she could. She grumbled and strained but she knew it was no use. Her shield was flimsy at best no matter how hard she tried.

Whispers invaded her ears--low at first, but steadily rising in volume. She tried to ignore them and focus on keeping her shield strong, but even that seemed beyond her capabilities. If matters weren’t bad bad enough, the claw seemed to be getting closer, and with a slow but steady increase in speed.

‘Bring down the barrier.’

Trixie blinked in surprise. The whispers became loud enough to be heard audibly now, but the advice they were giving was completely baffling. Exactly why would she want to do something so completely insane as that? The whisper egged her to take a closer look at the claw and Trixie found it hard to resist them. She did not see it easily, but then she began to understand. On the edge of light’s glow; on the edge of the claws outline--she could see nothing. At first she thought it the star creature’s natural camouflage, but then she noticed how completely nothing it was. All the stars that made the creature were gone; floating upward into the sky like fireflies. the claw was the only thing left, but that was because it was the only source of light. Without light to provide structure, the creature would dissolve into nothing.

‘Bring down the barrier,’ repeated the whispers, getting louder every second. But Trixie still had doubts. What if she was wrong about this? She would be getting rid of the only protection she had, leaving her vulnerable to any attack. She’d be left in the dark, and alone.

‘You will not be alone.’

Trixie took heart at these words and switched her shield off. Immediately she was swallowed up by the darkness, but she saw the last stars the made up the claw of the scorpion drift away. They flew back up the sky where they belonged and become one with all its wonderful brothers and sisters. Although they were many, every star was beautiful and shined like diamond.

“Well done.”

Now that the vile beast that had been chasing her had been vanquished, Trixie felt more empowered than ever. However, the voices that continued to speak to her were an unknown mystery she wanted very much to solve.

“Come out and show yourself,” demanded Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has had no quarrel in dispatching giant monsters. If you continue to plague her brilliant mind you can be sure that she’ll do something just as unpleasant to the likes of you.”

A great flash of light blinded her for a full second before fading and revealing an incredibly tall, female pony. Her mane looked like the starlit sky and flowed in a wind that wasn’t present. Dark blue made up the majority of pelt, except in the dark spot that surrounded her cutie mark--a crescent moon-- on her hindquarters. She seemed like royalty, since there was a crown as well as other jewelry adorning her neck and hooves. Amazingly, she had both a unicorn horn and a set of pegasus wings just like Princess Celestia--but she wasn’t.Trixie gulped.

“T-Trixie could take you on, y-y-you...uh, who are you?”

The tall mare wore an expression that was unreadable, but Trixie thought she thought she might have seen a glimmer of amusement flash in the ponies eyes.

She spoke with a slow, regal air. “I am Princess Luna, Goddess of the Night. Pray Tell, what is your name? Wait, don’t answer: your name is Trixie. Correct?” Trixie nodded her head dumbly. “I can tell that that arrogant attitude of yours has probably gotten you in a lot of trouble before. But I would think that you’d know better than to look for a fight from those who have helped you,”

Now that Luna had brought up the scorpion, Trixie thought she might as well ask about it.

“What was that...thing that attacked Trixie?”

“Oh.. that creature from before, you mean? It was nothing. Merely a nightmare creature formed out of the fears and insecurities that permeate a pony’s mind. You were never in any real danger, fortunately.”

‘Impossible!’ thought Trixie. ‘Everything felt so real frightening. I couldn’t have imagined the sweat or the dust that choked my lungs. Not to mention I’ve never even seen these ruins before, except in pictures, and even that was years ago.’ Trixie relayed as much to Luna, and the princess had a reply ready.

“Of course it felt real. Everything in a dream feels real, but the sensations are of the mind only. You’ll find that many of the scratches you have sustained are gone now.” Trixie was confused for a second before remembering all the cuts and bruises she had garnished while on the run. She looked down at herself and discovered that what Luna had said was all true, as nary a scratch could be seen on her lovely, light blue coat.

“You’ve probably forgot about them in all of the excitement. That’s why they no longer exist. A dream holds to the rule that if you don’t think about it, it must not exist” Then Luna moved her gaze from the baffled unicorn to the ruins surrounding them. “But I’m not sure why these are here. It might be my presence. Perhaps my own memories have leaked into your dream, creating this mix between what is yours and what is mine.”

“What are you doing in Trixie’s dreams in the first place?” asked Trixie accusingly. “Dreams are private and Trixie doesn’t want other ponies poking around where they aren’t belong. Surely you have better things to do than stalk the dreams of mere mortals such as myself.”

“I wouldn’t know. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been around others that I have lost track of what is socially acceptable and what isn’t these days. Besides, I only try to help others by giving ponies the tools they require to overcome their fears, and most have been grateful for it.”

Luna glanced back at Trixie. Her expression was different from the one she wore before--a bit more inquisitive.

“Now, for change of subject. I understand that you are going on an adventure, at least if Psycho’s dream holds any merit. From the look of things, you might encounter obstacles on your journey. I wish you all the luck in the world, but even that might not help you where you’re going.”

“Why?” asked Trixie. “What might make this job any different from others?”

“Sorry,” apologized Luna. “I should not have said anything. It was wrong of me to divulge information that is not mine to share when it is none of my business. Maybe you are right about this dream business. It is much too indecent to relay other people’s dreams. I should go now.”

Luna turned away and a light contort around her, but Trixie had one final, stupid thing to say and she couldn’t help herself, despite the situation.

“Wait,” called out Trixie. Luna turned with a look of confusion on her face, the light dimmed as she waited. “That monster couldn’t possibly have been a nightmare. Do you know why?”

“Why ever not?” asked a curious Luna.

“Because you’re the Night-Mare.” answered Trixie, barely stifling a laugh which contorted her face stupidly. Luna cocked her head to the side, even more confused than ever. Then her face lit up with understand before it turned to look of utter disgust.

“That was truly awful, and if I was Celestia I would have exiled you for that.” Then she chuckled a small bit. “But if you happen to meet a friend of mine, tell him Luna misses him. You will know who he is...” Luna paused, a mischievous grin growing on her face, “...because he’s a real hoot.” Luna chuckled before she saw the blank look Trixie was giving her and broke off.

“Oh, well...you’ll understand when you meet him. Farewell, adventurer Trixie.” With that, Luna released a flash of light brighter than any before. Trixie shielded her eyes from the flash, and when she opened them again she found herself laying cozily in her bunk bed, listening to sounds of Psycho’s thunderous snoring above her.

Trixie got out of bed and stretched herself like a cat, earning her a few satisfying pops. She made her way to the only window that wasn’t in bunk bed and stared out. The sun was just breaking out over the horizon, but it was enough to see where they were. Ice stretched as far as the eye could see. A few cottages passed by, probably for vacationers or those who liked to ice fish. It was clear that Trixie was looking at the iced-over waters of the frozen peninsula.

The train rocked a little bit, but everyone else continued to slumber--including Psycho who was still snoring like a motor boat. Trixie sighed. She looked to the side and could see the crystal mountains in the distance. A tad bit of apprehension ran through Trixie’s mind, though she didn’t know for what reason. Anyway, it was clear that their stop wasn’t too far. She grasped her cloak for comfort and warmth, only now remembering that it wasn’t there. Smoke climbed into the air, and the train continued to chug across the frozen lake, bringing the mountains ever closer.

Author's Note

So I've been thinking. Maybe I will continue writing this story. After all, editing really can't be that hard, because all you have to do is read what you wright and make sure it sounds okay. Plus, as long as someone takes pleasure in reading this then I'm having fun making it.

Edit: Bleh. This chapter is only 2 years old and it's starting to really show it's age. I know I've gotten to be a better writer since. Sometime, probably after I finish chapter 3, I'm going to come back and rewrite this.