Trottingham (Last Week Wednesday, Night)

Connor stood in an old run-down house, leaning over a desk as he jotted down some information into a book. Setting the quill that he was using to the side, he cast a spell over the writing to cause it to quickly dry. “Well, are you sure that this spell will make it look real?” Connor asked, looking up at a wizened old unicorn who sat at a nearby desk.

“Huh..? What was that?” The unicorn blinked and adjusted his spectacles. “Oh! The spell. Yes, it will do everything that you requested… At a price of course as is normal with this kind of magic…”

“Good…” Connor muttered quietly as he ripped the page out of the book and folded it up before placing it inside a pocket of his robes. “We still have a deal, right? I was never here…” The old pony nodded. “It was nice seeing you again, old friend.” Connor said with a grin as he turned and walked out of the house.

“Did you get everything you came here for?” A haughty voice came from a cloaked pony to Connor’s right. Turning toward the pony, Connor grinned and pulled the hood of his robes over his head.

“Yep! What about you, did you get what you came here for?” Connor asked, walking past the pony towards one side of the building.

“Hmmph… No. The old pony had nothing that Trixie was interested in. Trixie is looking for a… Particular artifact.” Connor glanced over to the cloaked pony.

“This is the third antique store that we’ve been to together. Are you sure that the artifact is even in Trottingham?” He asked curiously, approaching a wagon that was sitting nearby.

“Of course it is here in Trottingham, Trixie can feel it!” Trixie walked over to the door of the wagon and cleared her throat, glancing at Connor expectantly. Rolling his eyes, Connor stepped forward and opened the door, allowing Trixie to enter first before following her inside.

Trixie had already made her way to a table situated along one wall with a map of Trottingham on it. “There are two more artifact shops here in Trottingham and Trixie believes that her artifact is in one of them. We will go and check the other shops tomorrow, Trixie needs her beauty sleep.” Connor stared at the pony for a moment as she removed her cloak and hung it up on a wall next to a hat and cape.

“Right, of course. I’m going to go take a walk and see if I can find anything else under the cover of night.” Connor opened the door to the wagon and stepped back outside, shutting the door behind him.

Walking around to the front of the wagon, he crossed his arms in thought. “Now how to make you move without needing Trixie to pull you…” He muttered quietly. The mare had insisted that she would be able to pull it just fine without any help the last time that they had spoken a few weeks prior. Walking around to the wheels, he looked them over, frowning.

“These wheels don’t look like they’ve been changed in… Well, a good long while.” Connor stood up and looked around. Slowly raising a hand up to his face, he sighed. “What to do… Well, I guess if we’re going to make any changes to this old thing we’d best get some materials.” Turning around, Connor made his way towards the city of Trottingham. “I wonder if there is a hardware store I can sneak into here in this city.”

Connor spent most of the night flitting about under the cover of darkness, keeping to the shadows as he looked around for any sort of hardware store. About an hour into his search, Connor stood on a empty street corner and looked around. Across the street was a billboard with flyers tacked onto it. As Connor approached the board, one flyer in particular stood out to him.

Trusty Turnpike’s Technical Tools of the Trade!
Come shop at our all in one hardware store
for all your technical needs!

At the bottom of the flyer was a picture of a dark brown stallion wearing a monocle and top-hat. The front of the store stood behind the stallion that Connor could only guess was Trusty himself. But what really caught Connor’s eye in the picture was what looked like an old car from the early 1900’s.

“Well thats not something you see everyday… Especially on this world.” Scanning the flyer, he found what he was looking for. The address for the store was actually not too far from his current location. Folding up the paper, Connor pocketed it and made his way down the road in the direction of the store.

As Connor approached the street that the store was on, a loud banging noise could be heard from down an alley that he had just passed a few feet back. Turning around, the robed man peeked into the alley. Holding his hand out in front of him, he conjured up an orb of light and threw it down the dark path. At the far end, two dark red orbs flashed for a moment before fading. The sound of something scuffling could be heard, only for it to go silent a moment later.

“What is down here…” Connor whispered quietly to himself as he slowly felt his way down the alley. Boxes and an overturned trash can littered the small space between the two buildings. As Connor neared the far end of the alley, a bright light lit up the small space and in front of him sat a young grey wolf with fierce red eyes. “Well that is a disappointment…” He muttered as he looked up, trying to find where the light came from.

“Sorry to disappoint you then.” A young voice seemed to fill connor’s mind, originating from the wolf.

Connor’s gaze quickly snapped back down the the wolf in front of him. After staring at it for a moment, he smirked. “Well, I do have to say that it’s my first time meeting one of your kind. What do you call yourself?”

The small wolf tilted his head. “I am a wolf… You’ve never seen a wolf before..?” Connor blinked, chuckling quietly.

“Oh I’ve seen wolves before, just never one that could talk.” Connor said quietly as he kneeled down to get a better look at the pup. The wolf seemed to roll it’s eyes and jump off of the box and walk past Connor.

“You’re heading to Ponyville soon, right? I have business in the Everfree, would you mind if I accompanied you?” The pup asked, glancing over it’s shoulder at Connor. Connor slowly stood up and followed the wolf out of the alley.

“Thats right, as soon as my associate finishes with their business we’re heading in that direction. How did you know?” Connor asked curiously. “Not like I mind bringing along more companions I mean.” The wolf exited the alley with Connor close behind.

“The winds whisper to me, two legged one. I will wait for you by the wooden domicile…” After the brief exchange, the wolf pup rounded the corner and padded out of sight.

“Well and here I thought I’ve seen it all!” Connor said, grinning as he walked out of the alley and back in the direction of the hardware store. Approaching the old vehicle that sat in the front of the building, Connor rubbed his hands together. “Oh wow, you are a work of art, aren’t you? Too bad I can’t take all of you, I just need your wheels…” Looking down at the vehicle’s wheels, he sighed in relief. “Really glad that these are in top condition… Still brings up the question as to how this vehicle was even on this world to begin with though.”

As Connor removed the fourth tire, he slowly rolled it around and placed it on top of the other three. Raising his hands up, he slowly lifted the tires into the air using a pillow of condensed wind underneath them. “I’m going to have to get these back to the wagon. Using wind magic like this is definitely not my style…” The mage slowly guided the tower of tires through the back alleys of Trottingham, making sure to stay out of sight until he finally reached the small house and Trixie’s wagon on the edge of the city.

Placing the tires beside the wagon, he made sure to cast a cloaking spell on them before heading inside. Once inside he noticed that Trixie had fallen asleep already and made his way to the corner of the wagon that she had stated was his spot. After laying down, he glanced over at Trixie and fell asleep.

Thursday

Connor woke up the next morning to Trixie standing over him and prodding him with a hoof. “Trixie demands that you tell her what you are hiding outside.” Connor yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he slowly sat up. Looking up at the blue unicorn, Connor chuckled quietly.

“What I’m hiding out there, friend, is our means of better transportation. I decided to wait till morning to set it up” Connor stood up and walked outside the wagon with Trixie close behind. Raising his hand up to shield his face from the sun, he walked over to where he hid the stack of tires. As he glanced over at Trixie, he noticed that she was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Trixie demands that you unveil your hidden items immediately!” Stomping a hoof, she did her best to look annoyed with Connor.

Nodding, Connor waved his hand over the cloaked tires, removing the spell. Trixie stared at them for a moment before turning her attention back to Connor. “Wheels… You brought wheels? What kind of wheels are these anyway? Trixie would like for you to tell her. She has never seen wheels like this before.” Connor took a step back, rubbing his hands together as he grinned.

“Well my equine friend. These here are rubber tires. Don’t ask me how they got to your world since your kind shouldn’t have even invented these yet… Last I checked anyway.” Taking a flask of water out from a pocket in his robe, Connor took a drink and sighed. “Well, I acquired these to replace the beaten up ones that are currently on your wagon. After they’ve been set up, I’ll just use a illusion spell to make them look like the old ones! No one would be any wiser about it either!” Trixie looked them over warily before rolling her eyes.

“As long as they work like you say they will, then go ahead. Trixie isn’t interested in stopping you in this endeavor. In the meantime, the Great and Powerful Trixie is going to check out the other antique shops here and see if she can find that artifact.” Connor nodded absently at this, staring at the wheels for a moment before bending down to the dirt and placing one hand on the ground. Suddenly the ground began to shake as the mage used his magic to raise the ground directly under the wagon a few feet, lifting it into the air.

Brushing the dirt off of his hand, he glanced over to Trixie, grinning. Rolling her eyes, she turned and walked in the direction of Trottingham, pulling a dark hood over her head as she did so.

Carefully removing the wooden wheels from the wagon, Connor set them off to the side. Walking over to the stack of rubber wheels, he lifted one up and walked over to the wooden spoke. Sliding the wheel on, he locked it in place. “Nice, they do fit…” Connor took a drink from his flask once more before walking over and picking up the next tire. He repeated this process until all four tires had been placed onto the wagon’s spokes.

“Does the two legged one think that these will work better than the round ones created from wood?” Connor glanced over his shoulder to see the wolf from the night before watching him intently. Placing his hands in the dirt, he channeled his magic and willed the ground under the wagon to lower back to it’s previous state. Nodding his approval at his work, he turned his attention to the wolf.

“Oh hello again. I would like to hope that these will work better, considering that they’re in a much better quality than they should be for how old they are.” Connor stood up and brushed the dirt off of his robe from where he’d been kneeling. “You’re still interested in joining us on the way to Ponyville, right?” The wolf nodded, walking over to the wagon and nudged one of the wheel’s with it’s muzzle.

“I don’t think that these are going to work, two legged one…” Connor raised an eyebrow, a grin slowly spreading across his face as he chuckled quietly.

“But of course they will! Rubber tires, these are the work of human engineering my fine canine companion.” The wolf rolled his eyes and sat down. “You’re here a bit early, we may not be leaving for ponyville till tomorrow. By the way, what is your name, do you have one?” The wolf shook his head and glanced in the direction of Trottingham.

“I have the feeling we may be leaving a bit earlier.” Turning his direction back toward Connor, he gave the man an appraising look. “I don’t have a name, just call me whatever you wish.” Connor raised a hand up to his face and stroked his chin as he stared at the wolf for a moment before smirking and snapping his fingers.

“Why don’t we call you Faelan?” The wolf’s ear twitched at Connor’s suggestion.

“Does this ‘name’ have a meaning?” The wolf asked.

“But of course it does. It mean’s ‘little wolf’!” Connor said with a grin. The wolf stared at Connor for a moment before turning his head and looking himself over. “Oh come on, even you can admit it fits, and it’s not a bad sounding name.” The wolf seemed to let out a sigh as he turned his attention back to Connor.

“I suppose it’s as good as any name, I will accept.” Standing up, Faelan walked a few steps in the direction of Trottingham before flicking one of his ears. “We’re going to have a visitor in a moment.” Connor turned and followed Faelan’s gaze towards town.

“Yeah? Are they moving fast? Or walking at a normal pace?” Faelan glanced back at Connor, shaking his head.

“It’s just one, and from the sounds of it, a pony.” Connor nodded, taking his water flask out of his robe and took a drink as he watched Trixie break into the clearing and approach them. As the unicorn got closer, she removed her hood and stared at Faelan. After staring for a moment at the two of them, she turned her attention to Connor who was taking another drink from his flask. Levitating the flask out of his hands she brought it over to herself and took a drink. After giving Connor back the flask, she raised a hoof and pointed it accusingly at Faelan.

“And what, dare Trixie ask, is this mutt doing here?” Connor frowned and turned his attention to Faelan.

“Hey Faelan, are you a mutt? Was their some mixed breeding in your past?” The wolf turned his attention to Connor, tilting his head in confusion.

“Not that I know of.” Nodding, Connor raised the flask back up and went to take a drink before frowning and turning the flask upside down. Staring at the empty flask, he sighed.

“Well there you have it, oh Great and Powerful Trixie. This fine furry companion has no idea if he is a mutt or not. I called him Faelan though, he seems to be fine with it.” Trixie stared at them for a bit longer before sighing.

“After being around you for a week, Trixie feels as if she should come around to expect this type of strangeness from you.” Taking a few steps forward her gaze shifted to the new wheels on the wagon. “And these are your most recent modifications to my wagon?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing towards Connor. Nodding, Connor pocketed his empty flask back inside his robes.

“Yeah, they should give you a bit of a smoother ride than your other ones did. And they will allow me to use my magic to move your wagon without having to worry about them falling apart.” Trixie glared at Connor in annoyance.

“Trixie told you previously that she is strong enough to move the wagon on her own. Or do you doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie’s strength?” Connor shook his head, rolling his eyes.

“Oh I don’t doubt it one bit, this will just make things a bit easier. That way you can be at the top of your game when you’re putting on shows.” Trixie huffed and walked towards the door on the side of the wagon. “Did you find what you were looking for by the way? Or was it not here?” Trixie shook her head.

“The last antique shop that Trixie questioned said that the artifact had been moved to Detrot.” At seeing Connor’s confused expression she rolled her eyes. “Detrot is on the way to Ponyville, we will stop there momentarily before continuing our trip. We leave immediately, if you plan on using your magic to control the wagon then head on inside, Trixie will steer from up top.” As Trixie climbed on top of the wagon, she made herself comfortable before looking down at Connor expectantly. Connor just stared at her for a moment before opening the door of the wagon, allowing Faelan to hop in first before following.

“Really? Detrot? What’s next, Phillydelphia?” Connor muttered to himself as he walked over and sat in his corner of the Wagon. Placing his hands on the floor of the wagon, he closed his eyes and mentally reached out towards the four wheels with his magic. Grippin the wheels, he forced them to begin rolling. After they had started rolling, it only took a little effort to keep the speed steady. Trixie, steering from outside with her magic, would tap the roof once to let Connor know to speed up and twice to slow down.

The trip to Detrot took the three in Trixie’s wagon, a day and a half to get to and by the time they parked the wagon underneath a grove of trees the sun had already set. Connor slowly exited the wagon, allowing Faelan to run out ahead of him and into the treeline to do his business.

Walking a few yards away from the wagon, Connor looked straight up at the sky and furrowed his eyebrows. Shutting his eyes tightly, he raised his arms up beside him and stood completely still. A few minutes later, Trixie approached him curiously.

“What are you doing, Connor?” Connor opened his eyes and hummed, glancing down at the hooded mare.

“Oh, hello there, Trixie.” Shaking his arms out in front of him, Connor chuckled quietly. “It would seem like it’s going to rain in about an hour…” Crossing his arms, he turned and looked towards the treeline in the direction that Faelan ran off in earlier. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again, his voice echoing the worry that played across his face. “I would suggest getting what you came here for quickly, this is going to be a bad storm. One that you will not want to be outdoors for.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and walked off towards Detrot. The city was large and could be seen peeking over the tops of the trees that encircled the group’s camp. “Do you take the Great and Powerful Trixie for a fool, Connor? Trixie will find the shop and be back before you know it.” Walking away, Trixie held her head up high as she entered the treeline.

“I really hope you’re right..” Connor muttered, frowning as he ran a hand over his beard. Connor stared in the direction that Trixie had left in when he suddenly felt a tug on his robe and glanced down at Faelan.

“Connor… There is a group of four young ponies heading this way.” Connor folded his arms in his robes and nodded towards the wolf.

“Thank you for informing me, friend.” Faelan turned and padded over to the door of the wagon and glanced at Connor expectantly. “Yeah yeah, I’m coming.” Connor braved one last glance towards the treeline before walking over to the door and opening it. Allowing Faelan to enter first, Connor followed and shut the door right as the sound of hooves running across the dirt could be heard from the opposite side of the wagon.

“Hey guys, doesn’t this look familiar?” A young feminine voice suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah! Isn’t this the wagon that belongs to the magician, Trixie?” A slightly older masculine voice said.

“That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie, Sun Bolt!” A third voice huffed.

“Well what’s so great about her, huh? If you know then please enlighten me Stardust.” A voice that sounded older than the other three said.

“She took down an Ursa Major! And…” Stardust paused for a moment.

“And what?” The older pony asked.

“And she has really pretty fireworks, Moondust!” Stardust said with a large amount of enthusiasm in her voice. The sound of hooves walking across the top of the wagon, caused Connor and Faelan to look up at the ceiling.

“Hey guys, I think there is a storm approaching soon. We should head back to Moondust and Stardust’s place.” The first voice said from atop the wagon.

“Oh come on Shiverwing.” Moondust said, groaning. “When was the last time that your weather prediction was correct?”

“Just earlier this morning!” The young filly said, a hint of hurt in her voice. “Predicting the weather runs in my family! I know when the weather is going to change, I really mean it!” Connor could hear Moondust groan.

“Why did I get stuck foalsitting these kids…”

“Hey, Shiverwing!” Sun Bolt piped up. “What did you predict the weather would be like today?” Suddenly a loud bang was heard as lightning struck in the distance. “N-Nevermind! I think I can guess. Come on everypony, lets get back to town.” The sound of hooves running away from the clearing slowly faded as another crash of thunder was heard.

“Well Faelan, it would seem like the storm has started…” Connor said dryly.

Detrot City - Market District

Trixie levitated a piece of paper out of the saddlebag that sat on her back. As her eyes scanned it, the booming of thunder caused her to jump and drop the paper. Grumbling, she quickly caught it back up in her magic and pulled it back over to herself. “And once again, you’re right Connor… What a strange creature you are.” She muttered, placing the note back in her pack as she looked around once more. As she took a step forward, rain began to fall from the sky.

“You’ve got to be kidding me..” She groaned as she rushed across the street to the nearest stall and then looked around for the next area that was shielded from the rain. After a moment, she spotted one and made a dash for it. Trixie kept this up for the next ten minutes as she ran across town towards the antique shop. The unicorn’s heart leapt in her chest as the shop entered her sight. Rushing towards it, Trixie was drenched by the time she burst through the front doors.

Shivering from the cold, Trixie took a deep breath and regained her composure before looking around the shop. Strange items lined the walls, from old pots to skulls of odd creatures. All of the lights were off as Trixie quickly made her way through, looking for one item in particular. Suddenly, the sound of a match being stuck caused her to turn her attention towards the counter.

“May I help you, Traveler?” An old pony asked, walking in from the a back room. Walking up to the counter, Trixie watched the pony carefully as he looked her over. “Hmm… Something drew you to my shop, something powerful…” Looking up along the shelves behind the counter, Trixie’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the artifact she had been looking for. Raising a hoof, she pointed to a strange looking amulet encased in a glass display.

“Ah! You have a keen eye. The alicorn amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms.” Smirking under her hood, Trixie pointed once more at the item with her hoof.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will be taking that item, peddler.” The old pony’s eyes widened briefly as he cleared his throat.

“I’m afraid this is far too dangerous…” Rolling her eyes, Trixie levitated a large bag of bits out of her saddlebag and dropped it on the counter, causing the pony’s eyes to widen once more. Clearing his throat again, he grinned and looked up at Trixie. “Would you like that giftwrapped?” Glaring at the pony, Trixie levitated the display down onto the counter and removed the amulet from it. She stared at it for a moment before shutting her eyes and nodding, slipping it into her saddlebag.

“That will not be necessary.” With a flick of her tail, Trixie turned and walked out of the shop. As the shopkeeper watched her go, he sighed and raised a hoof to his forehead.

“She’s gone…” He muttered quietly as a gust of wind blew through the shop, snuffing out the candle that he had lit earlier. A moment later, the shop owner felt a claw encase his right shoulder as he shut his eyes and prepared for the inevitable.

“Good…”

Trixie’s Wagon, outside Detrot

The wagon’s door slammed open, waking Faelan up, as Trixie quickly ran in. Shutting the door behind her, she quickly removed her hooded cloak and saddlebags and threw them aside. Connor raised an eyebrow as he watched dig through her bag and levitate the amulet up in front of her. As soon as the amulet came into view, Connor’s eyes widened at the sheer amount of power that radiated from it. Licking his lips, his hand absently reached forward only to be slapped away by Trixie’s magic.

“You will not sully Trixie’s new artifact! This will give Trixie the edge she needs when challenging Twilight Sparkle!” Connor’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment as he continued to stare at it. After a moment he lowered his hand, rubbing his right arm with his left hand, trying to get the goosebumps to go away.

“Trixie… Forgive me for saying this, but that artifact is cursed…” Trixie stared at Connor for a moment before shaking her head.

“There are no such things as curses, everypony knows that. Trixie refuses to leave while it is raining, we will depart tomorrow when the storm lets up.” Connor nodded and glanced towards Faelan who had curled up and gone back to sleep

“I don’t have a good feeling about this at all…” Connor muttered quietly and moved a curtain aside as he glanced out the wagon’s window. At the far end of the clearing, a pair of bright yellow eyes stared back at him. Blinking, Connor rubbed his eyes and looked back only to find that the eyes were gone. “Not at all…” He repeated once more as he let the curtain fall back into place. Moving to his corner of the wagon, next to Faelan, Connor sat down and pulled the hood of his robe over his head.

“Good night, Trixie.” Connor said quietly as he closed his eyes. Trixie looked up at hearing her name and glanced across the wagon at Connor. Giving a small smile, she nodded and placed the amulet back into her saddlebag.

“Good night, Connor.” She replied and hopped onto her bed.

Saturday

The rain refused to let up until noon that day and as such, Trixie refused to begin the journey south until the rain had stopped.

“Connor! It’s finally stopped raining, get your lazy butt off of the floor and come outside for a moment.” Connor raised his head and let the hood of his robe fall off.

“Yes yes, I’ll be right out.” He said as he raised up off of the floor, his joints groaning from sitting in the same place for so long. Pushing the door open, Faelan ran out in front of him and into the woods. Watching the wolf for a moment, Connor closed the door behind him and walked over to where Trixie was waiting for him.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not like having to wait.” She said as Connor approached, stomping a hoof into the ground.

“Alright, what is it that is so urgent for me to see?” Connor asked, raising his arms into the air as he stretched. Trixie’s eyes changed from annoyance to worry as she raised a hoof towards one side of the wagon. As Connor’s gaze moved to where Trixie pointed, he slowly dropped his arms to his sides.

“Well that is definitely not a good sign.” He said in a dry matter of fact tone.

On the side of the wagon, carved into the wood by either a knife or some other sharp object was a twelve pointed star with a eye in the center of it.

“And here I was really beginning to like this world too.” Connor said as he crossed his arms.

“What does it mean!? Trixie demands that you explain it to her!” She said in a very worried tone.

“What this means, my companion… Is that we may have to make a detour. This right here?” Connor walked over and pointed out the star portion of the marking. “This can mean multiple things… Twelve days, twelve hours, twelve something.” He moved his finger over the eye portion and furrowed his brow as he glanced around at the treeline towards where he saw the eyes the previous night. “This usually will mean that we are being watched during that period of time. We have some old-fashion assassins on our hands it would seem. And if they think they can easily take on a unicorn we have to factor in a couple of things.”

Trixie continued to stay silent as Connor explained, staring at the ground. After a moment, she started to shake, fear evident in her eyes.

“Hey, hey! Earth… Er.. Equestria to Trixie. What’s wrong with you?” Connor asked, snapping his fingers in front of her face. Bending down to her level, he looked her in the eyes for a moment before shutting his own and nodding. “My apologies… I keep forgetting that you ponies aren’t quite used to some of the same things I am.” Running a hand over his beard, Connor frowned and looked down for a moment before looking back up into Trixie’s eyes.

“Hey… I promise I won't let anything happen to you or Faelan okay? I’ll make sure you get safely to Ponyville so you can have your duel with Twilight Sparkle. But until then, I’m going to need your help, alright? Can you do that for me?”

Trixie took a deep breath and raised her head into the air. “Of course Trixie can! What do you take her for, a weakling?” Smirking, Connor stood back up and turned his attention towards the woods. “We leave immediately, Connor. Retrieve your wolf and get in the wagon, otherwise I’ll leave without you.”

Connor nodded and quickly jogged towards the treeline. “Faelan, come on, we’re moving out immediately!” At hearing Connor yell, the young wolf came bounding out of the forest. Passing Connor, Faelan ran towards the wagon and hopped inside. Scanning the forest once more, Connor turned and followed Faelan into the wagon.

Waiting for them, Trixie had already made her way to the top of the vehicle and pulled her hood over her head. Tapping the top of the wagon with her hoof, Trixie signaled for Connor to begin casting his spell. A moment later, the vehicle began to move as Trixie took the steering mechanism in her magic and guided it out of the clearing they were in. Water from the puddles that they ran through splashed high into the air.

As the wagon meandered its way down the road towards Ponyville, a thudding sound came from an area on the wagon behind Trixie. Eyes widening, Trixie franticly tapped onto the roof of the wagon. Trixie’s horn flickered and a shield appeared only to have an arrow bounce off of it a moment later. Looking up, Connor sighed and increased the amount of energy he was using to turn the wheels. As the wagon picked up speed, a gust of wind slammed into the side of the wagon, knocking it onto two of it’s wheels before it fell back onto four.

From inside the vehicle, Connor quietly swore and moved aside a curtain and came face to face with a griffon peering into the vehicle. The griffon’s eyes widened at seeing Connor, causing it to nearly lose it’s grip.

Keeping a steady flow of magic turning the wheels, Connor opened the window and placed his hand on the Griffon’s face. Smirking, Connor let a gout of flame shoot out of his palm, torching the bird.

From the top of the wagon, Trixie screamed at seeing the burnt bird fall off of the vehicle, holding it’s face. “Just keep the wagon heading in the right direction, Trixie.” Another flame lit up the forest behind them as Connor used his magic to protect them, quickly growing tired as he tried to keep the wagon running at the same time.

“What do they even want!?” Trixie yelled back towards Connor, wincing as an arrow rebounded off of her magical shield once more.

“It’s probably that artifact you got last night! Was there anything odd about the per..pony that sold it to you?” Connor asked, scanning the trees behind them.

“No! Well… Now that you mention it, that old pony was stumbling over his words…” She muttered to herself.

“Great… They were probably waiting for you to buy it…” Connor said, wincing as he used a bit more of his energy to knock another griffon out of the air with a fireball. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek as he sat down on the floor of the wagon. .

“I swear! I thought he just found Trixie attractive, like any other stallion!” Connor rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know how much longer I can hold out, Trixie! Are we almost out into the open?” Trixie peered ahead and frowned.

“The road just seems to go on forever without stopping!” She called back, completely confused. “I’ve been on this road before, and it’s never seemed this long…” Connor peered outside of the window and looked down at the ground. Everything seemed to be normal until out of the corner of his eye he caught the flicker of a spell being cast. Flicking his wrist, he sent a gust of hot wind in the direction of the spellcaster.

“They have us in a loop, Trixie! Theres a spell caster out there that keeps teleporting us backwards. Look at the ground, our tire tracks show that we’ve been through here a couple of times already.” Connor held his hands together and watched as they started from the beginning of the path once more.

“It happened again, Connor! Do something already, you fool!” Connor rolled his eyes and watched for the unicorn to come into view. After a moment, they passed the spot that the unicorn was waiting in. Pushing his hands forward, a gust of wind caught the spell that the mage was casting and flung it aside.

“I got it Trixie! Now get us out of here!” Connor staggered back to his spot in the wagon and rested with his back to the wall, closing his eyes.

“Why would they be after her…” He muttered quietly as Faelan came over to him, a bit shaken from the encounter, and laid down beside Connor.

Sunday evening - Outside of Ponyville

The group had journeyed non-stop for since they left the previous day and were incredibly worn out by the time they reached their destination.

“Hah! The Great and Powerful Trixie has finally returned to the little podunk town that made her a laughing stock!” Connor rolled his eyes and stepped out of the wagon, staring out towards the town in the distance.

“Hey Trixie… Let’s wait before storming in there.” Trixie turned and raised an eyebrow up at Connor.

“And why do you suggest we do that, hmm?” Connor furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

“I just have a hunch…” Reaching into the pockets of his robe, he pulled out the page that he had ripped out of the book at the old antique shop a few days prior. Trixie stared at Connor for a moment before shaking her head and turning away.

“If Trixie must wait, Trixie must… Just don’t expect Trixie to wait forever, she will have her revenge on little miss Twilight Sparkle!” Connor waved a hand dismissively, continuing to stare out towards Ponyville.

“Just a little bit, hopefully…” Trixie nodded and began walking back towards her wagon. “Unless my hunch is correct… And it usually is.” He muttered quietly.

A flash of energy caused him to turn his attention towards the Everfree Forest. “Wait a minute… I know that energy signal.” His eyes widened as he turned and ran back towards the wagon.

“Trixie! An emergency just came up, We’re going to have to leave Ponyville soon, you’ll have to put off your revenge till another time.” Trixie glared at him in annoyance.

“Didn’t you just tell Trixie that it would just be a little bit..? And now you expect Trixie to leave Ponyville?” Connor threw his arms into the air.

“Dang it Trixie, this is no time to argue, pack up, we leave immediately.” Trixie glared at Connor and walked forward, prodding a hoof into his chest.

“We WILL be returning… And when we do, YOU will help Trixie with her Twilight problem because of this. Got it?” Connor nodded, shooing Trixie towards the wagon.

“Yes yes, of course, I already told you I would. Now I want you to wait here for three hours… If I’m not back, don’t come for me, I’ll probably be dead.” Trixie’s eyes widened at the possibility of Connor dying.

“Whatever has you in such a panic… Must really be strong then, huh?” Trixie muttered. After a moment she threw her head up, smirking. “Then the Great and Powerful Trixie shall assist you!” Connor stared at the showmare as an idea formed in his head.

“Okay then… I think we can make this work…”

Two hours later, During the time that Stelma foalnapped Twilight.

Connor kneeled down in a ring that was drawn on the ground, beside him lay the body of a dead deer. Closing his eyes, he spread his arms out to his sides. “You remember what to do, right Trixie?” The mare nodded, standing a ways from the deer, her face a bit green from being near a dead creature.

“Of course Trixie understands the plan, Trixie is no fool.” She said quietly, taking another step back from the corpse.

“Okay then… I’m going to begin…” Tendrils of magic lept from Connor’s fingers and onto the corpse reshaping it into the spitting image of his own form. Having taken a spare robe from the wagon earlier, Connor threw it over the body and sighed.

“Yeah… I don’t think I plan to cast that spell again…” Trixie looked at Connor worriedly. The color had drained from the man’s face leaving him pale as a ghost. A bit of his beard had turned grey from the use of the spell.

“You are… Okay, right?” Connor slowly got to his feet and limped his way over to a nearby tree.

“Of.. Of course..” Connor wheezed, shutting his eyes as he sat down at the base and leaned back. “Y..You’re able to do the next part, right? I told you the basics of the spell…” Trixie’s brow furrowed.

“Of course! Do you doubt the great and powerful Trixie!?” With a huff, the mare walked over to Connor and placed her horn on his forehead.

“Now remember, just as I told you…” Connor muttered as Trixie took a deep breath and concentrated as she cast the spell. As her horn began to glow, Connor’s body went limp and his eyes fluttered as Trixie’s magic coursed through him. Trixie’s horn continued to glow brighter until her eyes finally opened wide. Turning, she immediately sent a beam of the bright energy at the corpse. The body began to spasm as the light was absorbed. As Trixie’s horn darkened, she fell over onto her side, completely out of energy.

Connor slowly regained consciousness and grinned at seeing the body slowly sit up and look at itself. “Y..You know what to do, right? The instructions are all there in your head.” The body double looked up at Connor and nodded.

“Of course, I was only made to get killed again…” The double sighed and slowly stood up and put the robe on. “Well… I’d best be off, you better hope our plan works, otherwise my temporary life will be for naught.” Connor winced at hearing what his double said, unfortunately he knew that this was the only viable plan.

Connor reached out a hand and patted Trixie’s shoulder. “Good job…” Trixie turned her head and glanced towards him. “Let’s not do this again though… I think that took off five years of my life…”

“Is… Is he really going out to just die…?” Connor turned away and stared into the forest. “Even the great and powerful Trixie knows that a life isn’t something you just throw away, no matter how artificial…” Connor stayed silent, receiving an angry glare from the mare. “Fine, stay quiet… Trixie will be waiting at the wagon if you so desire to catch up.” Shakily rising to her hooves, the mare slowly began walking back through the everfree in the direction of the wagon.

Connor watched her leave for a moment before turned around and coming face to face with a gryphon, smirking at him. “You…” Connor slowly raised his hand to prepare a defensive spell when the bird suddenly gripped his wrist in one of his talons.

“Tsk tsk… None of that now, ‘right?” The gryphon tilted its head, the smirk never leaving it’s beak. “Ye know how tough it is to get a hold of you? You’re always vanishing and reappearing… But we knew that you’d show up hmm… All we had to do was keep track of your acquaintances that you’ve been seen with. Oh and how right we were too...” Connor raised an eyebrow and yawned, shutting his eyes.

“And what is it you want from me?” The gryphon laughed.

“Why, we don’t want anything from you… Silly ape.” Squeezing Connor’s hand in his claw, an even darker grin formed on the bird’s face. “We want you…” Connor raised an eyebrow, trying to put on a tough face.

“What for..?” Connor asked, trying to keep the gryphon’s attention on his face as waves of heat began to gather under his palms.

“Well how ‘bout I tell you later… For now, there will be no more spell casting from you…” Quickly reaching his talon under his cloak, the gryphon procured a leather cuff and quickly latched it around Connor’s wrist. Connor’s eyes widened as he flared his hands, trying to get his magic to flow. At seeing the man’s panic, the gryphon laughed.

“Do you like it? Typically we would use that on a dragon mage… But since you seem to use your magic in a similar fashion, my group had a feeling that it would work on you too…” Letting go of Connor’s wrist, the gryphon backed up, continueing to smirk.

“So now you’re going to just up and…” Connor stopped and turned his attention to the direction that Trixie had left in moments before. Glancing back towards the gryphon, he noticed him glaring in the same direction that Connor was looking in. Reaching into his robes, he quickly pulled out a quill and laid it on the ground.

“Come, we leave now.” The gryphon said, grabbing Connor’s wrist. Turning his head up he let out a shrill whistle, alerting two other gryphons who were situated in the trees around them. Flying down, they both took hold of one of Connor’s arms and flew up into the air with him. The leader glanced down at the ground where Connor left the quill. Raising an eyebrow, he chuckled darkly. “Let her come…”

Trixie’s Wagon.

Trixie paced back and forth in front of her wagon as Faelan sat near one of the wheels watching her. “It’s been an hour for crying out loud! We have to leave! Is he still sitting there!?” The mare turned her attention to Faelan. “Mutt! We are going to go and drag him back here and once we do Trixie will have a long talk with him about making her wait!” Stomping a hoof into the ground, she forced a glare to hide her worry.

Faelan rolled his eyes and followed Trixie as they made their way back to where Trixie had left Connor. Trixie continued to rant in annoyance as they approached the spot. “And then his… Double.. Or whatever you would call it, just up and walked away. Can you believe the nerve of him? Sending that… Thing! To it’s death like that!” The two finally cleared the underbrush and entered the small clearing. Looking around, Trixie raised an eyebrow, confused.

“And… He’s not here. Well thats just grand isn’t it..” Trixie walked around and scanned the area, trying to find anything to hint as to where Connor went. Faelan made a trail straight to where Connor sat when he was casting the spell with Trixie and sniffed the area.

“Trixie… He was around here… And then he just.” Faelan turned his head and looked up into the sky. “Flew away..?” The pup continued to sniff around the area before finally coming in contact with the quill that Connor had left behind. Turning towards Trixie, Faelan motioned towards the quill.

“Trixie doesn’t think that Connor has the ability to fly… So you must be wrong.” Faelan rolled his eyes and gestured again to the quill.

“Trixie… Isn’t this Connor’s quill? It has his scent on it…” Trixie rolled her eyes and walked over to where Faelan was and levitated the quill up so she could see it.

“Yes… Yes it is his quill. But why would he leave it here…” She muttered quietly. Faelan sat down and watched as Trixie looked the item over.

“Would you be able to put a tracking spell on the quill? It used to belong to Connor, you should be able to trace it back to him.” Trixie furrowed her brow and looked away from Faelan. “You.. Do know a tracking spell, right?” Trixie shook her head. “Well thats just great… Who have you had teaching you your spells?” Trixie stared at the ground.

“Trixie taught herself… Trixie borrowed a book of spells from a library in Manehatten and just never returned it.” Faelan blinked and placed a paw over his face.

“So you still have the book then right?” Trixie slowly turned and face the wolf, her eyes widening.

“Yes! Of course! Let’s go!” Levitating Faelan onto her back, Trixie quickly ran through the Everfree and back to the wagon. Running inside of the wagon, she quickly levitated books in front of her before setting them aside.

“Where is it, where is it…” She muttered to herself, her brow furrowed in concentration. Faelan walked over to where her saddlebags sat and rummaged through them. Levitating the pup out of the way, Trixie pulled the bag over and started looking through it. “Hah! Here it is, Faelan.”

“Well, does it have the spell you’re looking for?” Faelan walked over and sat beside where Trixie was looking through the book.

“Trixie is concentrating, Faelan. Give Trixie a moment…” She muttered in reply. Faelan raised an eyebrow at this. Shaking his head, he walked over and peered out the window. “Yes!” Trixie said loudly, causing Faelan to flinch and turn around. “Here it is, Faelan! Now I just need to get this right…” Levitating the quill in front of herself, she walked out of the wagon and looked around. “Okay, I’ll cast it here…”

“Are you sure you should cast it already? All you did was glance at the page…” Trixie rolled her eyes and sat the quill on the ground.

“Of course Trixie can!” Trixie closed her eyes and lowered her head as a bead of light slowly began to form on the tip of her horn. “And then…” She muttered as the light shot off and connected with the quill, causing it to glow. “Yes! Trixie told you that she could do it, mutt.” She held her head high, eliciting an eyeroll from Faelan.

“That is good, But if we have any hope of finding Connor, I suggest you let the quill go before you burn it all up.” Trixie blinked and looked at the quill and went wide-eyed as the last bit of the quill disintegrated in her field of magic. “Just like that…” Faelan said dryly.

“That is completely fine!” Trixie said with a hint of worry in her voice. “When Trixie cast the tracking spell, Connor’s location was sent to Trixie’s head.” Faelan raised an eyebrow as Trixie turned and raised a hoof directly in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Clearing her throat, she walked back into the wagon and levitated her saddlebag onto her back. Placing her hat on her head and her cape around her neck, she walked out of the wagon with a self-sure cocky smirk.

“You look like you have a plan…” Faelan said with a hint of apprehension in his voice.

“Of course Trixie does! The Great and Powerful Trixie always has a plan! Come Faelan! Let us find Connor!” Faelan stood and watched Trixie run off into the Everfree Forest before sighing and running after her.

Cave in the Everfree Forest

Connor groaned as he twisted against the stalagmite that the gryphons had tied him to. “Had this been any other day I could easily of removed this freaking magic dampener…” He muttered to himself as he began to scratch at the band that was around his wrist.

“And it’s a good thing it isn’t any other day then, now is it? I honestly was wondering when we would get a proper chance to snatch you up…” Connor looked up and blinked as he stared at the gryphon that had silently approached him. “I’ll cut to the chase with you, since I can tell that you’re going to be a really ornery one to break…” Connor stopped trying to remove the band and stared at and bird with an amused expression.

“Break me… What are you going to use me for, slave work? Do you run a circus by chance? I have yet to see your motives for my capture.” Connor remarked, rolling his eyes. The gryphon stepped forward and traced a sharp talon under Connor’s throat, a thin trail of blood being left in it’s wake.

“Oh something like that… The person I work for has a strange obsession with collecting exotic and unknown creatures. He has cats from the far southern contents and large fish that have the heads of deer. So you see, my employer pays me and my men very well for finding these rare creatures, you just so happen to fall into the proper categories.” Connor threw his head back and chuckled quietly, closing his eyes as the gryphon raised an eyebrow.

“Do with me what you will…” Connor muttered quietly before folding his arms together. The gryphon smirked, patting Connor on the top of his head.

“Oh we will…” The gryphon said with a laugh as he turned and round and walked out of sight. Connor sighed and shook his head as he glanced down at the band around his wrist that he had been scratching and frowned. Not a mark had been left on it.

Outside of the cave

Trixie and Faelan were ducked behind a downed tree as they watched the entrance of the cave that the quill had led them to. “Well, it looks like this is the place, Trixie. I suppose you have a plan?” Faelan said, glancing towards the mare. Trixie rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Of course Trixie has a plan… Just follow Trixie’s lead, Faelan.” A moment later, Trixie slowly made her way out from behind the tree and began walking towards the cave entrance. Faelan paused for a moment as he watched her casually walk over to the cave entrance. Sprinting over to catch up, Faelan peered around Trixie’s back legs and into the cave.

Trixie’s pace slowed down as she walked into the cave’s entrance. The cave slowly became darker as the two made their way further inside. Pausing for a moment to give her eyes time to adjust to the darkness, Trixie surveyed the tunnel they were in. “Trixie… The tunnel branches up ahead, I can smell Connor’s scent down the right tunnel.” Trixie glanced back at Faelan and nodded.

“Then we shall look for him in that direction. Come Faelan!” Trixie said, venturing forth down the tunnel.

As the two continued for a few more minutes, Faelan suddenly jumped in front of Trixie, forcing her to stop. Ears twitching, he stared forward into the darkness. “Someone approaches..” Nodding, Trixie quickly followed Faelan to one side of the tunnel and hid behind a stalagmite. Moments later a gryphon walked past the spot where they were sitting and stopped. Raising it’s head into the air, the bird turned and stared towards the rock that was protecting the two hidden behind it. Shaking it’s head, he continued down the tunnel and out of sight.

“Do you hear any others, mutt..?” Trixie asked silently, peaking down the tunnel. Faelan’s ears twitched for a moment before he shook his head.

“Not anything nearby… Perhaps further ahead though.” Trixie nodded and began walking down the tunnel once more. The tunnel they were in eventually opened up to a well lit room with a table in the center and a wooden door on one wall. A lone gryphon stood in the room, looking over some documents that were laying on the table. Faelan and Trixie glanced at each other for a moment before they backtracked down the hallway.

“Can you use your magic to do anything about that gryphon..?” Faelan asked quietly. Trixie frowned and closed her eyes momentarily before smirking.

“Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall use a sleep spell on that silly pigeon.” Faelan blinked once before sighing, shaking his head.

“Just make sure you don’t burn him up like you burnt up the quill…” Trixie’s cheeks reddened momentarily before she threw her head up haughtily.

“Hmmph! Just watch, Trixie will not disappoint!” Quietly walking into the room, Trixie concentrated on charging her horn. At the sound of magic collecting around her horn, the go, hitting the gryphon directly on the forehead. The gryphon glared angrily and took a slow gryphon’s head shot up from his documents. As he turned to look at her, Trixie let her magic step towards her before falling over, fast asleep.

Trixie turned her attention towards Faelan, grinning. “Trixie told you that she could do it! Trixie has had to use that spell in the past to get rid of… Pests.” Walking towards the table, she began to look through the documents on the table to see if there was anything interesting that she could use.

“And it’s probably one of the only spells you’re good at then…” Faelan muttered under his breath as he slowly walked across the room, sniffing the air before prodding the wooden door with a paw. “Trixie, Connor is on the other side of this door.” Trixie looked up from the documents and quickly made her way towards Faelan. Opening the door with her magic, the two came face to face with another gryphon.

“You!” The gryphon snarled and leapt towards Trixie, forcing the mare to backpedal and dodge out of the way. The gryphon slowly approached Trixie, glaring at her. “What are you doing here! You were supposed to have abandoned the creature! All intel about you points to you being callous. So why..” The gryphon stood over her with a talon prodding her side. “..Are you here…” He growled.

Trixie stared up at the gryphon, wide-eyed, shaking. “T..T..Trixie is here to..” Suddenly a small ball of brown fur slammed into the gryphon’s side.

“Trixie! Use that same sleep spell!” Faelan barked at her as he dodged the gryphon. Trixie lifted herself off of the ground shakily and stared wide-eyed at the gryphon that was trying to swipe at Faelan. “Trixie hurry, what are you doing, I can’t dodge this guy forever you know!” Trixie cleared her throat and closed her eyes as she concentrated on the spell. A thudding sound could be heard nearby, making Trixie open one of her eyes and glance towards it. Faelan laid on the ground next to one of the cavern walls, shivering as blood slowly began to pool around him.

“This is it for you, Pony… You should never of come here. You’re not great and powerful at all, are you? You’re just a sniveling little weakling…” The gryphon once more began to approach Trixie as she slowly began to back up. Continuing to backup, she hit one of the cavern walls. Glancing towards the wall, she quickly turned her attention back to the gryphon, smirking at her. “Times up…” Raising a talon, he brought it down and slashed at Trixie.

Quickly dodging to the side, Trixie felt the gryphon’s talon dig through the saddlebag straps and into her back. Crying out, she rolled away, breathing heavily. “Going to make this difficult on me I see. No matter, just will make killing you that much more enjoyable.” Trixie stared wide-eyed at the bird as she tried to crawl away and then suddenly stopped. Her gaze fixated on her saddlebags that sat near the gryphon, not more than a foot away, the alicorn amulet.

Her gaze flickered once more between the amulet and the gryphon before suddenly she grabbed the amulet up with her magic and brought it over to herself. Placing it around her neck, a wave of energy seemed to radiate off of her as she closed her eyes, shivering from the influx of power. When she opened them, her once violet colored eyes now bore a fierce red aura.

Looking back up at the gryphon, she watched calmly as he raised a talon into the air. As it was coming down at her, she grabbed it in her magic and threw it aside, taking the gryphon with it. Flying across the room from the force of her spell, the bird’s head hit a stalagmite with a dull thud, knocking him unconscious. Trixie stared at him for a moment before glancing down at her amulet and then across the room to where Faelan was laying.

Quickly running across the room, she reached Faelan and kneeled down before him. “No.. No no no… Trixie did not give you permission to die, mutt…” She muttered, choking back a sob as she lifted Faelan into the air with her magic. The pup’s breathing was shallow, his eyes slowly opened as he looked up at Trixie, his glance stopped at her amulet for a moment and then moved onto her face before he shut his eyes once more.

Trixie glanced down at the amulet before turning her attention back to Faelan. “The amulet, I can use it to heal Faelan..” She muttered, her eyes widening at the thought. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the spell, feeling magic come to her so much easier than it ever had before. Her horn immediately charged with the necessary energies as she focused them on the young wolf. His body slowly raised off the ground as the magic did it’s job, sealing his wounds and revitalizing his body. After the spell finished, Faelan slowly was lowered back to the ground.

Trixie stared at him for a few moments until, finally, he began to breath normally. Letting out a breath that she didn’t even know she’d been holding in, she dropped down and laid beside him. Removing the amulet from her neck, she felt the power fade and a strange urge to place it back around her neck. Shaking her head, she levitated her saddlebags over to her and placed it inside. Levitating her hat and cape back over to herself as well, she cast a quick mending spell on her gear to repair any damages that may of been inflicted on them.

Having repaired her bags and attire, she put the items back on before glancing over to Faelan. The wolf’s eyes slowly opened and locked onto her own. Once more Trixie let out a sigh of relief and smiled over to him. “Trixie welcomes you back from the brink of death… And would like to thank you for saving her life.” She said quietly. Faelan nodded, turning his head to look himself over.

“I’m… Unharmed.?” He asked slightly confused before looking back towards Trixie. “Did you heal me?” Trixie nodded, a smirk slowly appearing on the mare’s face.

“Of course the Great and Powerful Trixie healed you. Trixie is no weakling in the magical arts.” Faelan shook his head as he slowly stood up and walked over to Trixie.

“Well then… I’m fine, and you’re fine. Let us go and find Connor.” Trixie nodded and slowly stood up, her body feeling really weak from the high level mending spell that she had used on Faelan. Taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way to the door that they had opened previously and walked through it.

On the other side of the door was another room, and in the middle a very large stalagmite with rope wrapped around it, binding Connor’s body to it. The man had a bruise on the side of his face where the gryphon must of punched him. Faelan quickly ran across the room and pawed at Connor’s leg. “Hey Connor, wake up. We’re here to rescue you.” Trixie slowly approached the two and stared at Connor for a moment.

“Trixie thinks that Connor may be knocked out, Faelan…” Faelan glanced towards her before turning back to Connor and prodding his leg again with his paw. “Here… Let Trixie remove those bindings from…” She stopped as she saw the leather binding wrapped around Connor’s wrist. Her eyes darkened angrily as she raised his arm up with her magic and removed it. “That would explain how they captured you…” She muttered quietly.

“What is that?” Faelan asked, looking over to Trixie.

“This is a magic canceling band. It is an item typically used on rogue unicorns, spell casting dragons and now…” Trixie gestured towards Connor. “His kind…” Faelan looked over to Connor and sighed.

“Lets get him loose and then get out of here.” He muttered as he backed up, giving Trixie space enough to free Connor. Using her magic, Trixie quickly removed the ropes that bound Connor. “Actually, Trixie…” Faelan asked curiously. “How do you plan on getting him out of here?” Trixie looked Connor over, frowning.

“There is really only one way… Trixie’s magic is drained, so she cannot teleport us out of here. But Trixie can drape him over her back and carry him out.” Tapping into the last bit of her magic, she gripped Connor in a levitation field and pulled him over and onto her back. Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned and walked out of the room, having to stop once she reached the door to get her breath.

“Are you sure you’re going to be fine, Trixie” Faelan asked, walking beside her. Trixie rolled her eyes as she continued through the larger room and into the tunnels.

“Of course! Trixie is going to be completely fine.” The two continued in silence the rest of the way out of the cave. Once outside, they made their way over to the downed tree that Trixie and Faelan had hid behind earlier. Slowly lifting Connor off of her back, she propped him up against the tree and laid down on the ground next to him. Trixie closed her eyes and slowly breathed in and out to catch her breath.

A moment later, Trixie’s eyes shot open as she felt something get placed on the top of her head. Looking over, her eyes locked onto Connor who was smiling at her. “You came for me…” Trixie rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Really Connor… Was there ever any doubt? The Great and Loyal Trixie doesn’t leave her…” She paused for a moment as if she was having trouble saying what she wanted to. “Friends…” Connor smirked at this, causing Trixie to glare at him. “Behind to get captured by birds.”

“Well Trixie.” Connor said. “I think that makes you a pretty good friend, thank you.” He turned to Faelan who had made his way over and jumped up into Connor’s lap. “And thank you too, little wolf.” Connor said with a grin. Faelan wagged his tail, licking Connor’s cheek.

Slowly lifting Faelan off of himself, he sat him on the ground and stood up. Raising his arms to his sides to steady himself he placed a hand on his forehead. “I really got my ass handed to me, huh…” He muttered dryly. Trixie nodded and slowly stood up beside Connor, leaning against him to give him support.

“Yes they did, you’re lucky that the Great and Friendly Trixie is here to keep you on your feet.” She said with a smirk. Connor rolled his eyes and crossed his arms within the confines of his robes. Looking up at the sky, he could see the sun slowly rising in the distance.

“Were we really in there all night?” Connor asked, glancing towards his companions. Faelan nodded, opening his mouth wide in a yawn. Trixie blinked, looking up at the sky, her eyes widening.

“Let us get back to my wagon then and get some rest… We can worry about Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle another time.” Connor nodded in agreement as the three slowly trekked through the Everfree and back towards the wagon.

Monday night.

Connor quietly exited the wagon and walked a couple yards away from the vehicle. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a small black flip phone. Pressing a button on it, he held it to his ear. “Come on, pick up…” He muttered to himself.

“Hey! Thanks for calling. You have reached ‘Joshua’. I am currently not available at the moment, but if you can leave a message with your name and phone number, I will return your call at the earliest convenience. At the tone, please record your message.” A quiet ‘beep’ was heard as the machine kicked in, waiting for Connor to leave a message. Sighing, he shut the flip phone and put it into his robes.

Turning around, Connor came face to face with Trixie looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “What was that, Connor?” She asked expectantly. Connor shook his head and walked past her.

“Nothing to be concerned about, Trixie. Lets get back to bed.” He muttered. Trixie watched as Connor took a few steps away.

“We’ll be heading towards Las Pegasus tomorrow, Connor. Trixie is going to need to make some more bits to replenish what she spent on the amulet.” Connor glanced back towards her and nodded.

“How long will the trip take?” He asked curiously.

“A week.” She stated matter-of-factly and walked up to him. “And then on the way back here Trixie will put on a show in Phillydelphia.” Connor groaned and placed a hand over his face.

“Fine, fine…” Connor said. Trixie smirked and walked over to the wagon, opening the door with her magic. Glancing towards Connor before heading on inside.

Looking off towards Ponyville for a moment, Connor shook his head. “We’ll speak again soon, Josh.” He muttered to himself and followed Trixie into the wagon.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I was a bit slow with writing this one... I really wanted to do a chapter based around Connor :) Since frankly I like the guy xD I never planned for him to actually be dead. I just wasn't sure how to write him in as not actually dying. In regards to adding Trixie, she was also a character I really wanted to put into the story and wasn't sure how. A few chapters back, I had Connor enter Trottingham through the teleport tower, but I never explained why, so hopefully this clears that up.

Editors note: At least it didn’t end on a cliffhanger! xD