It was a typical summer day, the weather was clear and the sun burned brightly in the sky as Trixie Lulamoon stepped out of the grocery store with her meager bag of hay. Money had been pretty scarce since the Ursa Minor debacle. It had surprised Trixie how fast word got around about the fiasco and she found it even more surprising how much worse the rumors got the further out she went.

Though Ponyville didn't charge her for the damages to the town, the damage done to her reputation had cost her well over ten-fold over time. Bits were needed for repairs to her own wagon, bits were needed to pay the bills, bits were needed to take care of the usual maintenance, bits were need to fix what vandalism she couldn't fix it herself, and to top it all off, her income had been devastated by the blow to her reputation as both a performer and even just a pony in general. But her show was still making money, not much anymore, but she could still keep going on after she cut most of her expenses and went lighter on her essentials such as her food.

It was a short walk to the lot where she had left her wagon and she had a smile on her heart as she whistled a little tune her father had taught her. Last night's show had a pretty good turn out and surprisingly few hecklers. Sure a few ponies left in the middle of the show, but they had to pay for admission, so she already had their bits. All in all it was a pretty good night and she intended to celebrate with the little bottle of honey she had in the bag with the hay from the store. Perhaps she would make more stops to this village in the future.

Or perhaps not. Trixie heaved a sigh after she rounded the corner. The sight that greeted her was an all too familiar one. Her wagon was covered in graffiti and looked to have been egged more than a few times, but at least it still had all of its wheels, which was more than what she could say for it after the Manehatten show last week. Wheels, as it turned out, were rather expensive.

Trixie paid little attention to the outer state of the wagon as she went inside to put away her groceries. This sort of thing was all too common since the Ponyville Incident. Reaching inside of a small closet, Trixie pulled out a mop that she had become all too familiar with. Grabbing a bucket, Trixie prepared everything for cleaning her wagon. Ponies used to respect the Great and Powerful Trixie, but ponies cared little for regular Trixie Lulamoon. She remembered when all of this used to bother her. The first time she found her wagon covered in paint and eggshells, she cried all night. Now it was just part of the routine for getting ready to leave town.

Using her magic, Trixie levitated the mop and water bucket and began scrubbing the wagon's sides. She was a little hungry, but she had long since learned that paint came off quickly if she could get to it while it was still fresh and her food could wait. She jokingly made a show out of it to herself as she scrubbed off a pathetic picture of an Ursa Major.

“Behold as the Great and Powerful Trixie makes short work of pathetic juvenile mischief!”

The mop spun and twirled in a grandiose fashion. Perhaps, if she were fortunate enough, she could get a few loose bits for her impromptu street show. The mop dunked its head in the bucket, raised up and twirled in a matter that cast water droplets in the sky, producing a small rainbow. It was a simple trick, one that anypony could do with practice, but as always, both before and after the Ponyville Incident, Trixie found that skill didn't really matter if she put enough showmareship into it.

But all of her revelry and low level tricks came to a sudden halt as the mop's head fell onto a previously unnoticed sentence scrawled just under her window.

“GET OUT OF OUR TOWN GYPSY”

The word, gypsy, took all of the air out of Trixie's stomach. All of the fancy showmareship disappeared out of her task as she furiously scrubbed the words off of her wagon. Once they where gone, Trixie felt her heart sink even further as the mop head slid down the side of the wagon, dragging a red paint smear with it, but Trixie didn't notice. All of her attention was focused on how hard it suddenly was to breathe, to see through the water in her eyes, to stop shaking.

Some roaming ponies took to the word gypsy as a manner of pride, but most saw it for what it was, a hurtful slang for those who wandered. It was a convenient name for an inconvenient group of ponies, and once there was a word for a group of ponies, there was a stereotype for them.

Trixie hated the term and now she hated the town that gave it to her. Taking a deep breath, Trixie repressed her tears and cast the mop and bucket into her wagon. If they wanted her gone, then she would go. She was a traveling show pony after all, and she would never visit this wretched town again.

Hitching up to her harness, Trixie began pulling her wagon out of the lot. She would finish cleaning the wagon later and she didn't even care about her food anymore.

Just as she exited the lot and reached the street a sudden pop rang out from behind her. Trixie yelped as the wooden tongue of the wagon, still attached to her harness, forced her down onto the ground with a brutal thud. She barely had enough time to look behind herself in a panic as the entire wagon appeared as though it was going to lurch forward on top of her, but thankfully, the wagon ground to a halt with a bone chilling crunch as its front dug into the earthen street.

Worming her way out of her harness that had pinned her to the ground, Trixie examined herself before moving on to the wagon. She had few scrapes and bruises, but nothing a bandage wouldn't fix. Her wagon however was a whole different matter. Apparently some foal thought it would be funny to loosen one of the wheels on her wagon. A harmless prank on a lighter wagon, perhaps, but Trixie's heavier vardo was unbalanced and had too much weight on the front for the one remaining front wheel to carry it all.

What was supposed to be a childish prank, had turned into a nightmare when the remaining lead wheel snapped and the wagon surged forward and down, into the ground. The resulting damage was terrible. The tongue of the wagon was still attached, but only barely, the front axle was sheered off by the impact with the ground, and there was no telling what damage had been done on the inside of the wagon by all of her possessions being launched forward by the fall.

Though she had managed to contain her emotions before, Trixie completely lost herself as the tears began to flow. Her emotions felt all over the place as she raced back and forth between sorrow, rage, and despair. She barely had enough money to make ends meet, now she was going to have to find the money to fix her wagon or else all of her income would grind to a halt.

Trixie had no idea what to do. She wasn't even sure she could do anything as she sat there shaking and crying. She felt so alone as all of the local ponies passed by her. Everypony stared at her or ignored her and no pony stopped to help, except one.

“Excuse me miss, are you alright?”

The sudden words of concern and compassion jolted Trixie up and she spun to face her sudden aid. The earth pony was an older stallion, with a tan coat, a gray mane, and thick sideburns. He adjusted his hat and extended a hoof to help her up off of the ground.

Trixie immediately tried to make herself more presentable, after all, the Great and Powerful Trixie couldn't be seen so remarkably broken like this. But there was little helping her appearance. Her eyes were red from all of her tears, her mane was a mess, and her scrapes and bruises made her look as though she had lost a schoolyard fight.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you, but Trixie will be fine. She always has be-”

Trixie's words were cut off by a unicorn pulling a wagon down the road.

“Hey lady! Get yer trash out of the way!”

Without waiting for a response from the stunned Trixie, the stallion adjusted his tie, looked down the other side of the wagon, and then called out towards to unicorn.

“It's clear on the other side! Come on around!”

The unicorn seemed surprised at the stallion's words, but seemed to recognize him and proceeded around them, grumbling the whole way. As the unicorn passed, the stallion turned back towards Trixie before he began looking over the wagon.

“There ain't no reason to treat another pony like that... Are you sure you're going to be alright? Getting a tow for this is going to be expensive. I've got a cart and a jack a short ways from here. I can at least help you get out of the road.”

Trixie gave him suspicious look, his speech was slow, but and he had a straightforward expression on his face and he seemed genuine enough. Besides, Trixie had no good way of moving the wagon herself.

“Trixie thanks you, Mister...”

“Pie, Clyde Pie. Just wait here Miss Trixie, I'll be right back.”

Clyde trotted off, leaving Trixie a few moments with her wagon. As she eyed the damage, Trixie reached for her coin purse. After buying all of her groceries for the trip, there was no way she could afford a tow, and certainly no way she could afford the repairs.

As she contemplated what to do about the money, Clyde returned with his cart in tow. He carefully jacked up her wagon, slid his cart underneath and lowered the massive vardo down. His cart groaned and creaked under the weight, but Clyde continued to secure the two wagons together with full confidence his cart could handle it.

“Should I take it to the shop across town Miss Trixie?”

Trixie closed her coin purse and shook her head.

“No thank you. I'll-err... Trixie will be fine doing the repairs herself.”

Clyde gave her an unconvinced look before turning back to the wagon.

“No offense Miss Trixie, but a dislodged axle is quite a mess. If you don't have the tools for it you won't be able to fix it on your own.”

Trixie said nothing. She didn't want to admit that she was out of money and she certainly couldn't ask this random stranger for more help than he had already given. As they stood there, looking at the wagon, Clyde coughed into his hoof. He didn't want to be the first one to mention Trixie's lack of funds, but it was fairly obvious that they weren't going anywhere until somepony did.

“If you want, I've got a daughter who is pretty good with tools and the like. We can charge you a lighter fee than the repair shop, or you can work on the farm for a while to pay it off, whichever is easier.”

Trixie eyed him carefully.

“Why are you doing this? You do know who Trixie is don't you?”

Clyde nodded as he met her eyes directly.

“I do Miss Trixie. The truth is, my momma taught me to treat everypony with respect. Just because you do things differently doesn’t make you any less of a pony.”

The two stood in silence for a moment before finally Trixie broke eye contact and nodded as she looked to the ground.

“I would like to earn some money on your farm, if you don't mind.”

Clyde nodded again and began pulling the wagon down the street.

“Alright. We'll get your wagon set up today. Work on a rock farm begins bright and early, but I imagine you'll get used to it quickly.”

Neither one of them was very talkative on the road to Clyde's rock farm. In fact, the only words that were spoken the whole way there were when Clyde opened the gate and motioned with his hoof towards the farm before them.

“Here we are. I'll set you up by the silo and Blinkie Pie will look at the axle tomorrow.”

Trixie nodded without a word. Before long she was back in her wagon and carefully cleaning up the mess that was made by the wreck. Clyde confused her. She wasn't used to ponies helping her like this. But regardless of what she thought about it, she needed the money and she couldn't go anywhere else for it.



When Clyde had said that work began early, Trixie had expected to have to get up with the sun, but she did not expect to get up before dawn. When Clyde began pounding on her door, Trixie awoke with a start, fell out of her bed, and nearly tripped over everything in her wagon before she finally was able to open the door.

“Miss Trixie, It's past time for work. We're rotating all of the rocks from the south field to the east field today.”

Trixie stumbled out of her wagon and followed Clyde and one of his daughters out towards the south field while Clyde's other daughter, who Trixie would have presumed was Blinkie if she were awake, began examining the vardo carefully.

At first, Trixie assumed the reason no pony said anything on their way out to the fields was because no pony was awake, but as time went on, she could see that the Pie family just didn't say much. Of course her mind was more consumed by how she had missed breakfast than the lack of conversation, but she could at least last until lunch.

Moving rocks from one field to another was a dull and mindless task. Most ponies couldn't stand the boring repetition and at first, Trixie couldn't either, but soon she began working on various projects and new magic tricks for her show in the back of her mind. It was simple enough, to levitate a few rocks out of the cart she was carrying them in to use as models as she went from one field to the next. She could use one or two for a multiplying trick, but the more she thought about it, the more fun a few miniature dancing golems sounded.

Trixie was able to keep herself so entertained with this method that when Clyde decided to check up on her he nearly dropped his hat in surprise. Walking up to where Trixie was unloading her wagon, Clyde heaved a small sigh.

“Miss Trixie...”

Trixie looked up from her cart as Clyde looked around at her progress. She had not moved a very impressive amount, even considering that she was new to the fields, but there was a bigger problem.

“Miss Trixie, the south field is that way.”

Trixie froze as her eyes followed his hoof towards the south field, the exact opposite direction of where she had been going. She had no idea what to say. She may not have been eager for the job, but she knew she had to do it to survive. Now Trixie could see that her job was in jeopardy because she had just wasted an entire half day of work moving rocks to the wrong field. It was her first day and she was already lined up for disaster. Trixie held her breath as Clyde examined her work and shook his head.

“Well Miss Trixie, looks like we got our work cut out for us. I'll send Inkie over this way with her cart and we'll get all of this moved to the south field.”

“You're not mad?”

Clyde shook his head.

“Nope.”

“But I... Well... Trixie is sorry for her mistake...”

Clyde nodded as he headed towards the south field, leaving Trixie to refill her cart with the rocks she just dumped.

“It's alright Miss Trixie. You had good intentions about your work and we all make mistakes.”

The rest of the day was spent moving the rocks from one field to the next. The sun had set well before they arrived at the house at the center of the farm. Clyde's wife, Sue, had a hot meal waiting for them as they gathered around the table inside the small farmhouse. Trixie had been expecting to have to supply her own food, but Blinkie Pie pulled up an extra chair to the table for her and motioned excitedly for Trixie to sit next to her.

Trixie looked around, uncertain as to whether or not she could get away with a free meal, but the ever silent Pie family didn't object and the more Trixie thought about it, the less appealing her discount hay and honey sounded.

Food always tasted better after a good performance and, unsurprisingly, it tasted great after a hard day's work. Trixie expected the dinner conversation to be as sparse as the field talk, but Blinkie and Inkie Pie were very curious about their guest, especially after Blinkie discovered her fold out stage while repairing the wagon. After a short conversation back and forth between Blinkie and Trixie about her job, both of the Pie sisters became very eager, almost desperate to see her show.

“Just one trick Miss Trixie? Please?”

Sue however shut down her children's pleas immediately.

“Blinkie! Inkie! That is no way to talk to a guest at the table.”

Trixie however, saw her opening to endear herself to her patron or at least his fillies. Quickly allowing herself to slip back into her favorite persona, the Great and Powerful Trixie smiled as she tossed her somewhat messy mane.

“Of course the Great and Powerful Trixie would be glad to demonstrate the greatest and most powerful feats of magic ever witnessed by pony-kind!”

Using a little bit of magic, Trixie created a couple of small firework pops behind her which startled Clyde and Sue, but made the younger Blinkie and Inkie leap with excitement. Sue looked to Clyde with a look of discouragement in her eyes, but Clyde merely shrugged his shoulders and pointed to Blinkie's unfinished alfalfa.

“After dinner. You can play with Miss Trixie when you've cleaned your plate.”

Both of the Pie children sighed as though they were still little fillies. Trixie of course didn’t' need to be told to clean her plate. Given how long it had been since she had a full meal, Trixie was determined to eat it all.

After dinner, all of the Pies went about to a few after dinner chores while Trixie slipped off to get her robe, her hat, and to brush her mane. Looking into her mirror, Trixie smiled and relaxed her shoulders for the first time since she had gotten into town. Though her audience was small, almost nonexistent, her audience was polite and above all, her audience was eager to see her, the Great and Powerful Trixie. It had only been last night since she had performed a show, but for the first time since the Ponyville Incident, Trixie was actually looking forward to it.

Trixie hummed the small tune her father had taught her as she folded out the stage, being careful not jostle to propped up wagon too much. Once she had everything set up and ready for a full, high class show, Trixie trotted back into the farmhouse to fetch the Pie family with her cape billowing happily behind her.

As she walked in the door, Trixie overheard a conversation that halted her in her tracks. She couldn't see anypony in the kitchen from the door, but she recognized Sue's voice as she silently closed the door behind her.

“Are you sure about her Clyde?”

“She'll be fine.”

“I could see it all from here. She wasn't paying attention, she took all of the rocks to the wrong field, and she nearly broke her cart when she overloaded it trying to correct her mistake.”

“Now Sue, you're being too hard on her. She means well and that's what important.”

“After last year's harvest we can't afford to be too generous, especially if this year's harvest doesn't start looking better.”

“She will be fine once she get's used to it.”

Sue heaved a sigh and small silence fell on the kitchen before the conversation resumed.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I can see she has good intentions and wants to pay off her debt. Where she lacks skill she has the right heart. We can forgive her inexperience as long as her heart is in the right place. Now, let's not talk about this anymore, she should be ready to start her show soon.”

Taking that as her cue, Trixie rather loudly opened and closed the door behind her to announce that she was here and almost immediately the whole Pie family assembled and followed her out to the stage. Trixie was determined that there would be nothing held back for this show, with the exception of her bit about the Ursa Major. Blinkie and Inkie were visibly impressed by all of the colors and flashes as Trixie moved from one act to the next. Clyde and Sue remained almost emotionless in their chairs, but in the short time that Trixie had worked with them, she had come to realize that the heads of the household were about as far from emotional as a pony could get.

After the show was over, everypony went to bed. After all, they had another busy work day tomorrow. In fact it would be especially busy due to Trixie's earlier blunder. As she tried to sleep that night, her mistake and Clyde's explanation to Sue rolled around in her mind. Clyde had been far too generous in his covering for her mistakes. The truth was that while she was indeed working, it was only to pay off her debt. But now something in Clyde's words stirred in her. Though Sue may have her misgivings, these were the first ponies since the Ponyville Incident to receive her with open hooves. They had given her a place to stay with food while the repairs to her wagon were being done. Vain as Trixie might be, she knew she had to give the rock farm her all while she was here. She had to prove that Clyde was right about her intentions, or at least her new intentions.

Of course her resolve received its greatest test the next morning. Trixie always worked hard at pulling her wagon and performing her shows to the best of her ability, but rock farming and manual labor put a different type of stress on her body that she was far from used to. As Clyde pounded her door in the early morning. Trixie awoke with a start, but was barely able to get out of bed for being so stiff. She had been a bit sore last night before she went to bed, but now she was in pain as her body complained about this new type of work. Grabbing a couple of hoof-fulls of hay for breakfast, Trixie forced herself and her aching body out the door. Going out that door to that rock farm may have been one of the hardest challenges in her life, but her resolve was still intact as she continued out into the fields.



Trixie had expected to be on the farm for just as long as it took to fix the axle, but the problem wasn't the damaged axle or tongue, it was the damaged wheels. Blinkie proved to be quite capable with a wrench and managed to fix both the tongue and the axle with what they had on hand, but both front wheels needed to be replaced and, as Trixie had previously learned, wheels were expensive. To make matters worse, regardless of how hard she worked, she still tended to move things to the wrong place or break open the wrong rocks, or commit any one of a host of errors Trixie didn't even know could be done on a rock farm. By the end of a month, Trixie's productivity was only slightly better than her counter-productivity, but Clyde continued to stand up for her “good intentions” and Trixie continued to make progress, bit after bit. It was a slow pace, but Trixie knew she would get there one day.

One fateful day, Trixie and the Pies were out in the fields breaking open the rocks that were “ripe” and carrying the harvest back to the barn. Trixie had discovered that breaking rocks was much easier when she used her magic to swing the hammer, instead of her hooves, but it was still tiring work under the beating sun.

Sweat was pouring down as her brow as she tapped the rock with her hammer. At last the rock split down the center revealing a hollow core. It was a little victory, but Trixie celebrated as best as she could. But before she could pick up the rock pieces and carry them to the wagon, Clyde walked up to her and pointed behind her.

Trixie looked to where Clyde was pointing and nearly dropped her hammer.

“I need you to start working on that one Miss Trixie.”

Trixie's mouth fell open as she stared at the massive boulder that was almost a small mountain.

“That one?!”

“Yep. That one's been ripening for a while now. I think it's about time to bring 'em in.”

“By myself?!”

“You can do it. Besides, I need Inkie and Blinkie to continue harvesting the rest of the field. We wouldn't want the other rocks to over ripen.”

Trixie hung her head while Clyde hauled her cart of rocks to the barn. It was a huge project, far bigger than Trixie would have liked, but she still narrowed her eyes on the boulder ahead of her. A traveling pony needed as many safe havens as she could find and although her aching back may have disagreed, Trixie was determined that nothing would stop her from paying for her wheels and leaving the Pies on good terms. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie! Splitting a mountain would nothing to her power.

Clambering on to the top of this mini-mountain proved to be more difficult that she thought it should have been as she slipped and slid on its smooth surface and more than once she tumbled to the ground with a resounding thud. Rubbing her back, Trixie glared daggers at her greatest task since coming to the farm. Gritting her hammer in her teeth, Trixie closed her eyes and concentrated carefully. Envisioning the top of the bolder, Trixie calmed her mind and focused on placing herself just above the boulder's surface. With a bright flash and a loud pop, Trixie teleported to the top of the rock, just a few inches above it's surface.

She had chosen to teleport a little ways above the surface to avoid colliding with the previously hidden face of the rock. Though she should have expected it, the top of the boulder was just as smooth as the rest of it and her hooves landed and almost immediately she began to fall off of the mountain.

But Trixie was determined that the Great and Powerful Trixie would never lose to something as foolish and mundane as a boulder. With all of her fury and determination thrown into a single action, Trixie threw her fore-hooves out, just barely grabbing hold of a ledge and stopping her fall. Though she was exhausted from all the manual labor she had done so far, she pulled herself back up and with a triumphant laugh she took her hammer and brought it down with all of her might!

And nothing happened.

In retrospect, Trixie supposed that she had gotten a little carried away with getting on top of the boulder, but with nothing else to occupy her mind, she had found that such occurrences were not nearly as rare as they should have been.

Trixie would continue working on her boulder for a full week when finally and suddenly, the boulder rolled and split down the middle into two halves as though a great knife had cleaved it in two. Trixie yelped and barely managed to teleport herself away before she fell in between the two halves. Dusting herself off, Trixie calmly walked up to the boulder and looked inside. The interior of the boulder revealed a sight that shocked Trixie so much that she fell back onto her haunches and sat there with her mouth agape for almost a full minute.

Soon Clyde and all of the Pie family rushed out to where Trixie was calling them. She didn't sound like she was hurt, but she certainly sounded like the matter was urgent. And what Clyde saw was enough to cause him to fall onto his haunches and sit there with his mouth agape for almost a full minute.

Trixie stood triumphantly, perched on top of the boulder halves with a self-satisfied smirk upon her face as the sun's rays reflected on the innumerable gems beneath her and shined like a kaleidoscope of color upon her coat and mane.

Everypony was stunned. In one week's worth of work, Trixie had made more money for the rock farm than its past three years combined. That evening, as everypony gathered around the dinner table, Clyde tossed a rather large bag of bits onto the table in front of Trixie.

“Well Miss Trixie, it looks you'll have plenty to pay for your wagon wheels now.”

Trixie eyed the money bag on the table with a look of surprise on her face.

“That's all for me?”

“Yep, that's your share.”

Trixie picked up the bag of bits and peered inside. It was a beautiful sight in her eyes and was more than enough money to supply her show at least for as long as she could calculate out.

As dinner was passed around Sue, with all of her doubts about her guest gone, turned to Trixie.

“Tell me dear, are you going to resume your traveling show?”

Trixie nodded as she looked again to the bag of bits, but there wasn't a smile on her face.

“Yes, the Great and Powerful Trixie will once again demonstrate her talents for all pony-kind to witness. This money will certainly keep Trixie going until business picks up.”

Inkie looked over at Trixie from her seat across the table.

“Business was down?”

“Ever since Twilight Sparkle defeated.... took care of a problem that the Great and Powerful Trixie was... ill equipped to deal with, there have been a number of detractors of Trixie and her performances.”

Clyde nodded as he finished chomping down on his alfalfa.

“Sounds like you need better tools.”

“What?”

“I know magic is different from rock farming, but I can lift boulders twice my size if I have the right tools to do it with. I bet there's something that can help you with whatever problem you couldn't handle before.”

Trixie was stunned by the simple words of the simple farmer. She had heard of magical amulets and wands before, but she had always prided herself on her raw talent. Though her experiences on the rock farm were enough to teach her about how much of a difference the right tools could make, giving up on using her raw talent alone felt almost like cheating.

Before she could finish her thoughts on the matter, Blinkie Pie chimed into the conversation.

“Yeah! Then all you have to do is beat Midnight Sparkly and everypony will know you're the greatest again!”

Blinkie proceed to make several magic sound effects as though she could see the battle already raging, but her mother glanced disapprovingly at the display.

“Blinkie, there is no need for violence. Miss Trixie is not a barbarian.”

Trixie started to nod, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. She didn't have to physically beat up Twilight Sparkle, she just had to beat her in a contest. Twilight Sparkle would be a tough opponent, but if Trixie used “the right tools” then she could beat her easily enough. And once she proved that she was stronger than Twilight Sparkle, ponies would be interested in her show again and life could go back to the way it was before the Ponyville Incident. She could even stash away the amulet or whatever relic she found and go back to her old raw talent once her show was back on its hooves.

Trixie smiled as she finally nodded in agreement with Mrs. Pie.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need to lower herself to violence. A simple competition of magical power should be enough to prove that Trixie is the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria.”

Trixie chuckled to herself as everypony raised a glass to her renewed spirit and good fortune. She knew a good spell that would help her find what she needed. It might take a while, and it might be expensive, but it would certainly be a worthwhile investment if it got her business back into the limelight.



Trixie left the rock farm early in the morning. She didn't have to get up with the rest of the Pies, but everypony wanted to say good bye before she left and Trixie, although she definitely wouldn't miss the work, was glad that she had been able to stay with them. As she headed off into the darkness of the predawn, Trixie cast back a few fireworks over the farm for Blinkie and Inkie.

Once she had gotten a good ways down the road, Trixie pulled the old spell book out of her wagon and began to read through it. Finding the spell she was looking for, Trixie closed her eyes and slowly focused on the magical airs around her. She had only cast this spell a few times before, and that was only in practice, years ago. She didn't expect to feel anything but a few weak and distant pulses, so she was quite surprised when a strong sense came over her from the direction of Trottingham. Whatever the item was, it was so powerful that Trixie could almost hear it calling out to her. She wasn't certain if an item seemingly calling out to her was a usual trait for the spell or not, but whatever this device was, it was certainly powerful enough to best Twilight Sparkle.

It took her a while to get to Trottingham, but the idea of restoring her career was more than enough to drive her onward. Every time she recast the spell to make sure she was on the right track for finding the magical tool it felt closer, bigger, and most importantly, better.

As she neared the outskirts of Trottingham, the weather began to turn foul. Rain started pouring down, but Trixie didn't care. She could feel the magical device almost calling out to her. The magical item that would rebuild her future was close and she had to find it. Parking her wagon in an empty lot, Trixie raced down the streets in the rain to find the source of the magical pull. Though she joked to herself about the item controlling her, her speed was not because of the device's calling as it was her desire to both get out of the rain and to avoid any vandalism that might happen to her wagon if she left it for too long.

Her senses led her to an old shop. The lights were off, but the door was unlocked. Proceeding in quickly, Trixie began her search for the item. Moving from shelf to shelf, Trixie began to get frustrated as she cast an old skull from one of the shelves aside.

The moment the skull hit the floor a light came on behind her. Turning her head, Trixie could see a strange looking stallion, obviously the shopkeeper.

“May I... help you traveler?”

The shopkeeper moved to his counter, smiling as Trixie followed him.

“Hmmm... Something drew you to my shop... Something powerful.”

The moment he finished his words Trixie's eyes fell on a strange amulet behind a protective glass dome. Immediately she knew that was it and she pointed to it eagerly.

Following her hoof, the shopkeeper's eyes fell on the amulet.

“Ah! You have a keen eye! The Alicorn Amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms.”

Immediately Trixie began reaching for her coin purse, but as she pointed to the amulet again and began to say that she wanted it, the shopkeeper cut her off with a concerned look on his face.

“Ah- Um...I'm afraid this is far too dangerous.”

Trixie smirked as she tossed the full bag of bits on the counter. The shopkeeper's eyes looked to the bag and some of its spilled coins, at first in confusion, but then in glee.

“Would you like that gift wrapped?”

A broad smile came across Trixie's face as she eyed the amulet that was going to make everything better.



It was still raining when Trixie left the store, but it didn't matter. Once she was inside her wagon she pulled the amulet out of its bag. She was eager to try it on. She hadn't used any amulets before, so she wanted to make sure it fit right and that she got used to the feel of it before she challenged Twilight.

The moment the amulet was secured around her neck, Trixie felt lighter than air. The amulet didn't just feel good, it felt amazing. She could feel its power interacting with hers and at first it caused her to feel a bit lightheaded, but she shook it off soon enough. Turning to see how she looked in the mirror, Trixie couldn't help but smile. It looked amazing too.

Of course, she wanted to practice a bit and get used to her new power. Looking around for something to do, Trixie levitated the book that had taught her how to find the amulet and placed it back into one of the drawers. It was a simple test, but Trixie could definitely feel the difference in her power.

“I can feel it. I can definitely beat Twilight Sparkle with this...”

Her magical aura had changed from a light pink to a dark red, but Trixie didn't notice anything else different or unusual about her aura. Levitating a brush and pulling it over, Trixie adjusted her mane.

“I will beat Twilight Sparkle.”

Trixie tried casting a spell on her own mane, messing it up as though it had been caught in the wind outside and then she immediately straightened it with her magic effortlessly.

“Twilight Sparkle doesn't stand a chance.”

The thought had sounded a bit dark and almost violent when Trixie heard herself say it. She didn't want to hurt anypony. After all, Twilight Sparkle didn't really mean to ruin her, she was just trying to save the town. All Trixie wanted to do was beat her in a simple contest to prove that she was Great and Powerful.

Closing her eyes, Trixie concentrated on the weather and suddenly the rainclouds were pushed away with relative ease, something that only the pegasus ponies should be able to do easily. The power felt amazing as Trixie stepped outside and examined her work.

Twilight Sparkle may not have intended to humiliate her, but she certainly didn't do anything to stop it. If she should suffer a little humiliation in return, well that wouldn't that just be fair?

Trixie chuckled to herself as she used her magic to cast of her cloak back into the wagon. Normally she didn't use her magic for such trivial tasks, but the amulet just felt great to use. In fact it felt better every time she used it.

As she walked around to the front of the wagon, Trixie used her magic to levitate the vardo and examine the wheels. Those stupid things had broken on her enough times in the recent past and she certainly didn't want to be taken by surprise by them again. She wouldn't let anything stop her from extracting her revenge on the town that had tried to ruin her.

Using her magic to attach her harness, Trixie smiled and began pulling her wagon towards Ponyville.

She wouldn't just beat Twilight Sparkle, she would ruin her and everypony in Ponyville would pay for their insolence towards the Great and Powerful Trixie!

As she neared the outskirts of Ponyville, Trixie used her magic to park her wagon and put her cloak back on. The weather was fine, but honestly the Great and Powerful Trixie thought she looked much better with a billowing black cloak behind her. The stage was set for the duel that would change the world. Trixie gave a dark laugh as she lifted up her cloak's hood and walked into town.

Everything was going to be fine. After all, she knew she only had the best intentions.