Ponyville - The Summer Wrap-Up Festival

“I hope you’re all ready for The Great and Powerful Trixie, and her traveling magic puppet show!”

Trixie was not a ventriloquist by any means, but she was well skilled in all manors of magical entertainment. The isolation of the open road rewarded her with many opportunities to rehearse and evolve her on-stage act, and after consulting with herself a great many times she eventually decided to add some puppetry to the mix. Variety was always important in order to keep the show from growing stale.

“Witness a tale of danger and valor! The day an Ursa Mi- Major!” she slipped, but managed to recover, continuing as if she had made no mistake at all. “Invaded your humble home of Ponyville!”

Trixie couldn’t prevent her eye twitch as she said the dreaded name. Her last two visits to the backwater town did not leave her with the most pleasant of memories. That, and she accepted the fact that she hadn’t left the best impression of herself either. She was quite thankful though that at least some, but not all, of the town's residents were willing to look past her prior endeavours of deceit and discord, assuming she kept up a positive appearance this time of course.

The Magician manipulated her hoof-made puppets, which were engulfed in the blazing magenta glow of her magic. They bounced around the stage like a dance, harmonious in their movements. The fillies and colts whose eyes were lingering upon her were entranced with wonder; there was even a large red earth pony and his foals sat amongst the relatively youthful crowd. All were sat enjoying her show. It was noticeble to Trixie however that some were obviously more in awe than others, specifically two unicorn colts Trixie ensured she didn’t make eye contact with, for reasons she did not feel like dwelling upon at that moment.

With a slight grunt, Trixie swung the wooden Ursa Major, though the prop was in actuality modelled after an Ursa Minor, into the brightly painted, hoof-crafted buildings and the occasional miniature Ponyville citizen she had went to so much trouble of recreating. Her hoof-stitched backdrop that displayed a nightly illustration of the Ponyville mountain range swayed in the occasional flutter of the late summer wind, basking in the shade of her purple tent that loomed behind and above her stage.

“It stomped and growled, tearing apart buildings! Homes! Even the most fortuitous of ponies fell down to its might!” Trixie boomed from the stage in as menacing a voice as she could muster, causing the children to recoil in fright. Trixie would admit to herself later that telling the story of the creature that had ruined her in the very town it had occurred probably wasn’t the best idea for an act, especially when she was letting herself become to engaged in her own story. She proceeded with the performance however, if somewhat reluctantly.

Trixie tightened her grip on the miniature pony figurines, focusing on one in particular. “But one brave pony stepped forward, willing to do all that she could in the face of such overwhelming odds, and that pony's name was-”, Trixie hesitated, glancing at the miniature purple mare she had spent many nights recreating to the finest detail, and then to a recently constructed model of herself, adorned in a tiny replica of her own hat and cape. So small, and so fragile.

“Her name was…”

She noticed immediately the minute changes in her youthful audiences expressions. She noticed how their wide eyed wonder shifted to confusion, and in the case of the big red stallion, contemplation. Trixie knew full well that she couldn't keep stalling for any longer, otherwise she would run the risk of losing their attention for good. Trixie forced herself to continue to speaking, and just could not help but shout out in a fury.

“Her name was… TRIXIE!”

'No it wasn't.'

Trixie threw the purple replica of the librarian aside in an instant and, without delay, she gripped the doll of herself firmly in her magic once more, holding it as high as she could for her young audience to see. The wondrous looks returned to their smiling faces in passionate joy, whereas Trixie could not hide a frown of disappointment; specifically disappointment in herself for caving to her selfish desires so easily.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie would not stand by as citizens were terrified by the monsters in the night! She stood firm against the dreaded Ursa Major!” Her grip on the models of the Ponyville citizens slackened, each hitting the ground with dull thuds as she focused all her magic on the Ursa, allowing its movements to become more animated, as if it was moving by instinct and not by the strings that held it.

Trixie focused on the story, refusing to pause, even though she wanted to. “She stared the monster down, even though she had lost her home to its rampage. She stood… alone."

With a small sigh, Trixie turned her gaze away from the audience, defying one of the most important pieces of performance advice she had ever learned, and instead directed her glare towards the toy Ursa, as if it was the very same one that had tormented her in her nightmares for so many moons.

“Trixie knew that she could've ran," she began sombrely, reminiscing on the actual event so long ago, replaying it over in her mind like a broken record. “Nopony would have known, nopony would have cared." Trixie's glare towards the taunting sky glazed over, her youth filled audience were hanging on every word she said. Taking a deep breath, Trixie allowed a false smile to adorn her face as she turned back to the crowd with a flick of her cape.

“But… she didn’t!” Trixie burst out enthusiastically, with as truthful a tone as she could muster, done to convince herself just as much as the audience. “Trixie used the incredible might of her magic to force the Ursa away!” she assured, knocking the wooden creature aside with her hoof to emphasise. Her teeth involuntarily grinding together as she did so. She snarled out her final words.

“And with that, The Great and Powerful Trixie saves the day!”

'Note to self, no more puppet shows.'

Her story was enough for the children however, who had marvelled in her manipulation of the puppets, if not in the story itself. The red stallion still looked confused however, but the applause of the children was enough for Trixie. She gave a low bow, feeling a shiver run along her back as she took in the small crowd's cheers.

She savoured every moment, as it was a better reaction than most of her performances received these days.

Trixie had however fully intended to tell the story as it had truly happened, if only play up her part a little bit more than it had occurred in reality; Trixie had after all attempted to fight the Ursa herself with her own assortment of spells, but unfortunately effort means nothing if you don’t succeed, that was the philosophy most ponies seemed to abide by these days.

"Now then." Trixie began, unceremoniously dumping her puppets aside, much to the amusement of the crowd even though it was done out of Trixie's own frustration and was not a part of the act. She grasped a sharp saw from her magic props kit at the side of her stage, deciding to move along with the performance, hoping to distract herself from what she considered to be a very poor opener to the show.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie needs a volunteer from the audience!”

“Is this your card?”

The lilac filly's excited nod assured Trixie that she had performed the trick correctly this time, it was far too likely to pick out the wrong card after throwing the deck into the air. Unfortunately for Trixie however, her crowd had dwindled significantly since the beginning of the performance, missing what she considered to be a very impressive trick. Most of the ponies that had been previously enjoying her had headed off to get early seats to the soon to begin summer wrap-up parade, in attendance by the Two Sisters no less.

After patting the filly on the head, Trixie sent her down off of the stage, where she returned to her laughing friends. With the finale coming up, Trixie began to prep her fireworks, her horn light obscured by her pointed hat. She closed her eyes in concentration; after all, the finale is the last thing her audience would remember, so it better be the best part of all the performance to leave the lasting impression that was so desired.

“It is unfortunate, but our time has now come to an end. But take pleasure! As you will always remember this as the day that you gazed upon The Great and… Powerful…”.

Trixie couldn’t bring herself to finish. The fillies and colts that had basked in her presence seconds ago had now turned away as if she wasn’t even there. Jumping and scrambling onto the backs of their parents, others huddling alongside them as they trotted nonchalantly away.

No applause. No cheering. Just momentary excitement, forgotten in an instant.

Trixie stared for several moments longer, before deflating with a tired and defeated sigh. She couldn’t say that she did not expect this kind of reaction, a stand at the summer wrap-up festival meant nothing to these ponies, only how long you could keep them entertained; how long you could distract them from all of the other ponies trying to grab their attention. Trixie could practically hear their thoughts. 'Oh your show's done, okay where to next?'

Trixie's teeth gnawed together in a fit of contained but welling anger. She had spent weeks prepping; signing paperwork that ensured her a place in the festival, purchasing and constructing her performance equipment, many sleepless nights traveling just to make sure that she would arrive on time.

And they didn’t even applaud.

Trixie shook in a spasm of rage. Her fallen stack of cards flew together in an impressive display of co-ordinated magic, reforming into a neat deck before being placed aside with the rest of her used props. She placed her pointed purple hat on a wooden stand at the edge of her stage, with her similarly stared cape soon following.

She hadn’t even had the chance to pass the hat around.

Trixie couldn’t take it. She pushed past the backdrop into her wagon, which was deliberately concealed beneath her looming tent. She sulked across the ruggedly carpeted floor, and sat down at her desk. Wrapping her forelegs around her head as she rested it on the table.

Her mane matted up against the mirror in front of her, the heat from the outside and her continued use of magic during her show left her with a dull ache in her horn. She peeked her eyes out from her under legs, staring at her reflection as her eyes shined off of the mirror, with Trixie refusing to believe was from the result of tears.

'You could’ve been Great and Powerful. Instead you’re just… a distraction for foals!'

Trixie rose so quickly that her chair almost toppled over, and wordlessly began to return her props to into the inside of her caravan. Her preparations were swift; she unfastened and neatly folded her large purple tent into a locker placed on the back of her wagon, and folded her stage back up and bolted it shut to return her caravan to its proper shape, all before finally taking her place at the front end of her home. She was ready to begin another arduous journey into uncertainty.

Trixie refused to look back as her magic engulfed the wheels, turning them all simultaneously, prompting her wagon to roll away from the festival she had worked so hard to secure herself a place at. The local residents and attendees rushed out of the way as Trixie refused to slow down on the bumpy path away from the civilisation.

As Trixie neared the top of a nearby hill out of Ponyville, she spotted several fireworks go off, amateurishly she would admit, but it was enough to cause her to look back one last time. She saw the crowds, heard the noise, the laughter, and the music. She could even see Daring Do! Or at least a giant balloon version of her, floating along in the parade her audience had abandoned her so suddenly to witness.

Her gaze then fell upon a second balloon following on behind Daring Do, gracefully traveling its way through the air. Daring Do was a household name, but she couldn’t say that she had seen the figure that the other balloon was based on before; its mix of different shades of purple, its enormous hat, and the way it's blank but piercing eyes seemed to almost be staring right back at her was captivating to say the least.

“Who’s that supposed to be?” Trixie wondered, before ultimately deciding that she didn’t really care. Ponyville had been yet another entry in a long line of disappointments, and she just wanted to be on her way before nightfall. That, and she had decided to avoid the insistent purple mare who wished to speak with her, having sent her letter after letter upon discovering that she would be present at the festival. Apparently she was responsible for organising it.

The thought of her just urged Trixie to get moving. She ignited her horn and her cart rumbled away. The librarian, and the masked monstrosity behind her floating away into her thoughts, like the hot air they were both filled with.

Prologue was based off of this scene from issue 9 of the comic... Mainly so Trixie could gaze upon the float at the end.

The story takes inspiration from the comics, but you don't need to have read then to get what's going on.