The drawl pitter-patter of rain assaulted the cramped wagon's roof mercilessly. The distracting racket was accentuated by the even louder crash of lightning and thunder in the distance. Out here, there were no pegasi to tame and shepherd the weather. Out here, Trixie Lulamoon faced a more wild, harsh environment while skirting normal, civilized Equine society.
Trixie absently rolled the pencil from one side of her mouth to the other while she stared down at her notes. Her eyes were barely open, but still managed to peer over the bridge of her snout through a small pair of glasses at the aged papyrus before her.
The three month old wagon which housed the mare and currently kept out the raging storm was...quaint. Filling the room was the distinct and sulfurous smell of firework chemicals. They leaked into the space from the wagon's outdoor compartments, which housed the secondary means of drawing a crowd at Trixie's disposal. The first of those means, was of course her spectacular knack for illusions and light shows. The stench was oppressive, but mixed with the lingering fresh pine of the wagon and was thus made less so. At the very least, the mare was used to it.
Numerous trinkets and interesting looking baubles lay around the area: on the floor, on shelves...though most were kept in a trunk beneath her cot. For the most part, they were relics of her past desire to forcibly teach her rival, Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, a lesson.
In the end, I had been the one to learn the lesson...and it had made Trixie tired. Her eyes continued to run over the hoof written scripture before her, dutifully noting the complicated magic's nuances as she went. It was true, she was more than done trying to show up the prodigal purple unicorn, Twilight, but she also still sought to better herself. Even if it was more of a hobby, it still helped her own trade nonetheless. Her magic and repertoire of spells had grown by a considerable number that first year after the Ursa Minor incident. At the time though, it hadn't been enough, which had lead to her seeking the Alicorn Amulet.
That incident had been...sobering. Trixie looked up from the spell she studied, caught in revery of the last few years. I dwell on these things too much... She recalled well the feeling of losing herself to the amulet, and not even being aware of it. The desire to hurt and embarrass that entire town had seemed like such a desired thrill at the time. While she hadn't considered it at all back then, the memory of her darkened thoughts were in hindsight, not a pleasant one. I just can't get over how hard I tried to...hurt ponies. I even tried to torture that obnoxious rainbow one. She sighed and set down her reading glasses.
After the ordeal, she had resumed the training regimen she had taken up in the first place and began once more to improve her skills, as well as perform for others. Only now, she was doing so in different lands, and far from Equestria.
Perhaps one day she would return to Ponyville once more to challenge her old foe, and fairly. But for now, I'll just continue to do what I do best. Perform. Trixie leaned back and sighed again, smiling contentedly up at her wagon's rough-cut log ceiling.
The sudden roar of something even more ear wrenching and rumbling than the storm broke her reflections without warning. Trixie huffed and grimaced over at the hammock hanging above her small bed in the rebuilt wagon-home. At the moment, the swinging, sleeping arrangement was currently home to another: Trixie's sometimes irritating, and always nervous protege, Swan Dive.
One of Trixie's hooves ran tiredly over her lightly colored mane as she took in the sight. "If there is not something else around here causing a raucous, then you always are." The other mare snored away blissfully, in spite of Trixie's derisive accusation. The unicorn's eyes squinted darkly over her pouted lip, thoughts of tossing Swan out into the rain and putting an end to the sudden noisy barrage already forming.
Then, just like that it stopped, and the pegasus put on a child-like smile and rolled over in the hammock, one wing flickering and twitching like a dog's leg. Unsurprisingly, she also had about half of her light purple mane jammed into her mouth, where she chewed it in between snoring.
Trixie rolled her eyes and leaned back on her stool instead of following through with her plan. The girl was a hoof-full, but she was also a great addition to the act. On top of that, she was a friendly mare—if a bit timid for show business.
Swan had befriended Trixie back during a show she had performed in Vanhoover, just before she had been able to rebuild her wagon. The mare had been impressed by her performance, annoyingly enough in a fashion not too much unlike those youths from Ponyville... What were their names again? Drips? Fails? Oh never mind. The light blue unicorn blew a tuft of her mane out of her eyes—it was getting too long—and leaned over to look out of her one, small window.
Outside, the storm that had begun to run its course in the Griffin Kingdoms only seemed to deepen as she watched, not lesson. I wonder if Swan would mind going out and trying to weaken this horrible storm some... It was unlikely, while the mare held a considerable knack for acrobatics and gymnastics, she wasn't much of a weather pony, or an anything-else pony, either. The rain continued to beat against the single pane of glass relentlessly as the show-mare watched.
"Well," Trixie suddenly spoke aloud, "Trixie supposes if Trixie cannot concentrate on work, she may as well try and sleep." She smirked at speaking in her stage voice in private, she rarely used it anymore, on stage or otherwise. Her stool scooted back on the well varnished wooden floorboards with a groan while she stood up. A yawn cracked her jaw as her body recognized that a break from all the reading was near at hoof.
Absently smacking her lips, Trixie put one leg into her bed just below Swan, then stopped. Drowsy eyelids blinked rapidly at a strange sight beneath the bed, trying to make sense of it. Her head craned down to get a better look, platinum blue hair bouncing. The object was a glowing and pulsating green trinket, one she vaguely recognized from a few months ago.
"What in Equestria's name is-?" Trixie was cut off violently by the roaring crack of nearby lightning. A bolt had arced from the stars towards the earth and struck the traveling show wagon. The mare shrieked, while a jagged blue fissure shriked a path from her window and ran under her legs towards the object. Everything happened too fast for her to make sense of anything.
Trixie fell over; while her entire wagon seemed to capsize as though it were sinking into the ocean. At the same time, Swan's pained cries sprung into being alongside the sound of cracking wood and other noises filling the small space.
Amidst the sudden lurch of the wagon, a flying book struck Trixie dead between the eyes. The light blue mare spontaneously wore a goofy face as her home tumbled around her, and darkness blurred her vision.
"Trixie, wake up!" A voice that sounded as if it were underwater made Trixie's ears twitch and her eyes jerk open. She pushed against the ground and leaned up—the world in perfect clarity—just in time for a hoof to smack the side of her face.
A surprised, light purple mare held a hoof to her mouth and gasped. "Oh geez, sorry Trix, you just wouldn't wake up and then I panicked and I don't know where we are and-and..."
Trixie's hooves twitched on the verge of throttling Swan before lowering sullenly. The look of fear on her face was more than enough to stop Trixie from doing so.
"Calm down, you're not making any sense." Trixie asked, groaning afterwards from the headache. Every part of her body was very obviously bruised and hurt. She winced as she stood up shakily, and tried to make sense of what her protege had just rambled off. "What do you mean, you don't know where we are? We are in the Griffin Kingdoms dear assistant, don't tell me the..." Trixie massaged her bruised mouth with one hoof, scowling, until she looked up and caught sight of her wagon. "What...? What!? My home, no!" The show-mare stared disbelievingly at the wagon, turned upright and almost a stride underwater.
"I guess there was a flood...?" Swan pawed a hoof at the ground sheepishly while Trixie splashed forward into the mucky water. She watched as the older mare vainly gave the wagon a push, to no avail.
"Help me!" Trixie stood and tried to plant her hooves firmly, but they slipped on the treacherous mud beneath the foul water. She was deposited into the cold trench, and came back up spluttering.
"Trix! Hey, are you alright?" The pegasus floated beside Trixie and held a hoof down to her. "Come on, if we're going to get it out we need to plan it. Plus, I think we have other concerns right now..."
Grimacing from where she sat in the water, Trixie lent her hoof up to Swan and together they floated back to the embankment. "Other concerns? What else could be more pressing than our home underwater?" Her hooves deftly caught her as she let go of Swan preemptively, then began wringing out her mane with a sneer. "Uggh, that water is disgusting, as bad as the Everfree..." She muttered to herself.
"It was just raining out Trix, where did the storm go? For that matter, it was just night out, too." Trixie looked up at her, and Swan was looking up at the sky, a worried frown on her face. "A raging storm like that doesn't just disappear, especially not without help, and the moon wouldn't just trade places with the sun!"
Trixie blinked up at the warm sun and clear sky. "So I wasn't out for the entire night?"
"No, it's been literally five minutes since I woke up. Everything just tilted and there was a blue light in the wagon, I assumed you had just blown something up but... When I crawled through the window?" Swan shook her head slowly while responding. "The wagon was in this gulch..." She wore a confused look on her face.
"Trixie agrees, that is very odd..." Nervous as she was, Trixie couldn't help the accidental lapse into her stage voice... Her scowl found its way back to her wagon though, eager to try and get it out. I wonder if...I might be able to lift it out. She weighed her options, and using her magic seemed her best bet. "Perhaps that villain Discord is abouts, messing with the daylight? Either way, Trixie won't question our good fortune, we would never be able to get the wagon out in a storm after all."
Swan gave her a doubtful look from her place a few strides above the ground. "Yeah...I guess...so what, did a flood carry us from our campsite, without either of us noticing?" She gestured around them, spreading her forearms wide. Indeed, the lightly forested area bore no resemblance to where they had stopped for the night.
Trixie gave the surroundings a defeated look and sat down with an audible thump. Being reminded of not yet having slept caused her to be overwhelmed with tiredness. One day, I'm going to have a stroke of good luck... The unlucky mare's thoughts didn't quite convince her of the sentiment.
Trixie spat out the daisy-like flower with a disgusted look on her face. "Trixie has tasted garbage better than this...this...thing! Honestly, what kind of flower is this? For that matter, just what is wrong with all of the plants around here?" She swung her frowning head over to Swan, who fluttered dismally around the nearby field, searching in vain for something edible. "Oh what's the use..." We're lost, the wagon is a mess, and on top of that, we had no food left when this happened!
A deep breath narrowly kept her from losing her cool. Even though Trixie had taken a nap on Swan's hammock—in an attempt to make up for her lack of sleep—she still didn't feel any better. Exhaling, Trixie stood up of the ground and cantered towards the sunken wagon. Well whatever the case, I'm done just sitting here.
Swan looked up from where she flew some distance away in the open field. She had just bitten into a very tasty looking oval shaped, purple flower, only to spit it out with a petrified look a moment later. Guh, just where is this place and why is everything icky...oh pineapple slices, what if it's poisonous!? Her teeth gritted together and she took flight once more, speeding off towards the wagon. "Trixie! What if the flowers aaare...what are you doing?" The pegasus had made it back to their little campsite, to find her friend stretching her legs like a gymnast. "These are strange circumstances to be worrying about your figure Trix..." She grinned down at the unicorn, her wings slowing until she landed on the rock overlooking the camp.
Trixie stood up on her hind hooves and cracked her back, then looked over at her young ward. "Oh haha, funny, Trixie will have you know she takes good care to eat healthy enough that she needs to do no such thing!" She smirked up at the now giggling Swan.
"Come on boss, save the third person for your fans." Swan questioningly eyed their rope, which her friend had slung over her back.
Trixie harrumphed and turned away from the other mare, flicking her tail for good measure. "You say that as if I even have any fans. Well, enough merriment Swan, I need to concentrate." Pride had been her greatest weakness in the past, it still was in some ways. The show-mare had learned to be more of a realist at the very least though. The only ponies that ever believed I truly was great and powerful, were fools, and myself... She grimaced and sped up her canter.
"Why, what're you doing Trix?" Swan tilted her head and glided down from her perch to trot up alongside Trixie, they were heading towards the wagon. The mare wasn't going to ask what had Trixie in a third person mood today, she was getting used to how strange she was by now.
The unicorn put on a smug, confident look and stuck her nose up. "Why, I'm getting our wagon free my young apprentice." As if to answer the already brewing, inevitable question of how, her horn lit up and rapidly pulsed a bright blue before fading again. The two mares stopped walking as they reached their water logged home.
"You're kidding." Swan wore a surprised look and glanced from their home, then back to her friend...several times. "Trix, there's no way you can lift that thing, maybe push it...but it weighs at least a couple tons." Sitting down, she fixed an accusing frown towards the unicorn. "You could hurt yourself you know."
Trixie turned and scowled at Swan, then shrugged off the rope she carried and tossed it on the ground with her teeth. "Hurt myse-!?" She growled and stomped a hoof, glaring at the pegasus. After a deep before, she turned away and merely scowled at her wagon. "Just tie the rope to the top and help keep it from tipping over...if it does then I definitely won't be able to stop its momentum."
While Trixie spoke, Swan obeyed and began lassoing the wagon, looking doubtful all the way through the explanation.
"If you're sure Trix..."
"Tut tut Swan, that's Trixie, 'The Great and Powerful'." Trixie put on a wicked grin and leaned forward, horn lighting up into a blaze of concentrated magical. "And don't you forget it..."
Swan rolled her eyes as she tied the knot and flew upwards. "Sure thing, oh Great and Powerful Trixie!" She giggled as she circled higher, pulling the rope tight.
Trixie didn't hear Swan's quip, her mind was already concentrating its utmost on the wagon, and the insurmountable task that lay before her. Come on Trixie, f-focus, you can do this. Twilight did this ten times over years ago... Her grin melted into a smile, then a frown, and finally a twisted snarl of concentration.
A light blue glow touched the top of the wagon, then snapped around the rest in an instant. Sweat beaded on Trixie's forehead, above her, Swan began pulling with all she had. The unicorn tilted her head back and a loud sucking noise announced the mobile home's freedom from the gulch. It hung there a few hoof lengths from the murky surface.
Swan Dive looked back over her shoulder at Trixie, then the wagon. "Whoohoo! Great job Trixie, I didn't think you had it in you...was that noise gross or-? WHOA!" The pegasus tugged back at the rope the suddenly jerked her downwards.
"Would. You. Help!?" Trixie grunted and pulled on the wagon with all her might, trying to get it to float high enough to clear the lip of the gulch, on top of keeping the wagon straight... It began to do so as her apprentice again paid attention to their task.
"Easy does it, there." The wagon thudded to the ground unceremoniously.
The younger mare flittered down to the ground with a gratifying smile. "That was something else Trixie, you actually did it."
Trixie looked up from where she was currently sprawled out on the ground, and smiled weakly. "Yeah- I...I sure did." She managed a weak laugh too, for good measure. Her horn ached a little bit, but other than that it had been easier than she'd thought. Looks as if I might actually start living up to my title. The smile she had grew bigger, despite all the panting she was doing over the intense magical workout. Now, we just gotta tip it over, and figure out where the buck we are...
"Trixie..." Swan landed gracefully beside her older, frowning around at the unfamiliar looking trees as she did so. "I know you said it was stupid and impossible...but this isn't the Griffin's lands, I'm positive of it!" The light purple mare wore a distressed look as she raised her voice a whole octave to show her worry. "What has happened, you were awake, right? Surely you saw something, anything that could explain this!?"
Trixie threw another rock into the deeper river that flanked their current location. I hate to admit, but she's right. She looked up at the slowing falling sun in the sky. If I'm not mistaken, and I'm not...that isn't our sun, either. I don't feel anything from it at all, this world has no magic. Her face melted into one of horror at the very thought. So what does that mean, where are we!?
A muzzle nudged her side, causing her to look up. "Hey, you okay?" Swan wore a very concerned expression.
Trixie blinked and ran her leg over her eyes, she had started to tear up. "Yes, I am fine..." Ashamedly she straightened her face and looked out across the babbling waters. "I did see something, actually, but I don't see how it explains any of this."
"What was it, a witch or something spooky?" Swan's wings ruffled as she sought a comfortable position on the rocky embankment. "Don't tell me it was actually that monster, Discord?"
Trixie snorted and sneered at the suggestion. "Trixie highly doubts it was, my dear apprentice."
Swan rolled her eyes and laid down fully in order to hide it. It's really jarring when you go from normal to crazy like that in five seconds you know. Wisely, she kept the observation to herself.
"In any case," Trixie continued, "there...was a bolt of lightning, just before I... Uh, was knocked out somehow, anyway, it ran right under my legs and into the wagon. Honestly, I'm not even sure why it did us no harm."
Swan's eyes widened when the blue show-mare got to the part about the lightning. Wow, was that what that loud bucking noise was? She grimaced, how the buck did lightning send us to another... The flying showmare began chewing her lip, unwilling to even think that this could really be a whole other world. I wanna go home... "Was that all? Just lightning...?" Her grim expression turned to look up with puppy dog eyes at Trixie.
"...No... No you're right, there was something else!" Trixie jumped to her hooves and charged back towards the now re-situated wagon.
"Hm? Trixie!?" Swan stood up and stared after her, then took flight after her towards the wagon. The door banged up in a cerulean glow, and she followed the unicorn inside. "Trixie, what are you doing? What else was there?" The faint smell of burning wood filled the small interior and the lone glass window was shattered. If lightning did this, I guess we got lucky it didn't catch fire.
"This makes no sense..." Trixie stared at the trinket that had been glowing just before that lightning had blasted her home.
"What's wrong?" Beside her, Swan approached and stood in the remaining space of the room, looking down at what Trixie was scrutinizing. It was a little, dark purple bauble. The thing looked like a cheap piece of rock, kinda like a marble.
"Well," Trixie turned and dropped the strange lump on the disarrayed desk. "This thing used to be a resplendent jade green, now, it's this ugly shade of purple..."
Swan's ears shot up over her immediately angry face. "Hey!" She aimed a heated looked at Trixie, who looked up and grinned back at her shamelessly. I can't believe she just said that, it's always bad taste to make fun of a mare's coat color...besides, hers is that ugly, ice blue. She has no room to talk!
After a moment, a chuckling Trixie continued her exposition. "I'm not sure what it means though, or if it's even connected...but it might be." Trixie picked the rock up with her magic and began probing it, trying to figure out if it held any special properties. I honestly can't recall this particular trinket, I wonder what was special about it that made me buy it? Or did I find this one? Over the years she had picked up a lot of junk before she had found the alicorn amulet. This doesn't explain anything...
"Well, what now?" Swan shuffled worriedly beside Trixie, eyes flickering between her and the rock.
Trixie looked over at her, still in thought, then drifted back to staring at the supposed catalyst of their misfortune. Quietly, she answered her assistant in a sad voice. "Trixie doesn't know Swan, I mean...I really just don't know."
