Author's Notes:

Hey every one! It's finally here the next chapter! Duh duh DUHHH! Sorry if it feels rushed it was longer than expected and I will be making it into two separate chapters. Hope you all enjoy!

Spitfire sat between Trixie and Fleetfoot on her couch. She was extremely nervous, but she hid her fear well. Fleetfoot glared at Trixie with extreme distrust, while Trixie simply waited for the interrogation to begin. Trixie wasn't going to sugarcoat it, this meeting was so Fleetfoot could question her and gauge her motives. Trixie really hopes she'll start asking questions soon, this is boring. she thought.

Spitfire was the first to break the silence. "So, Fleet, don't you want to know about Trixie?" she asked the young pegasus. Fleetfoot nodded in response. Spitfire looked at Trixie, and their eyes met. "So Trixie, tell us about yourself."

Trixie waited for a moment before looking to Fleetfoot then back to Spitfire. She sighed, closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to relax. It's going to be one of THOSE days Trixie just knows it. "Very well, where should Trixie begin?" she asked looking to both mares.

Fleetfoot jumped anxiously, almost too anxious, to ask her questions. "How about you start with what happened in Ponyville?" she asked, quickly seating herself after Spitfire gave her a warning look. "Umm, of course go at your own pace, we have all day after all." she waved a hoof at Trixie like a stuck up noble would a servant. Spitfire noticed this and frowned.

"I think what she meant was, can you 'please' tell us what happened in Ponyville?" Spitfire asked giving Fleetfoot a nasty look. "We've heard the rumors and what the press has to say, but we'd like to hear it from you as well."

"Very well, Trixie will tell you about Ponyville." she adjusted herself getting comfortable. "Now, it's a bit of a lengthy tale, so please try to limit questions until after Trixie finishes." she then laid on her stomach crossing her forearms under her. She watched as the other two mares nodded in agreement before continuing. Spitfire held Fleetfoot with one wing not only to comfort her, but to keep hold of her in case she decided to deck Trixie at any point.

"To start, let it be known that Trixie is a traveling showmare specializing in illusionary magic and storytelling. She travels far and wide across Equestria spreading joy and wonder to all she can." Trixie waved her hoof across a figurative horizon. "Trixie told stories of heroes and villains, monsters and hunters, even told tales of real ponies in glorious details!"

Fleetfoot looked annoyed Spitfire was tentatively listening wanting to learn more about the mare.

Trixie explained how she'd traveled to Ponyville to perform a magic show for the locals, and how she was interrupted by four unsavory characters. As Trixie described them, Spitfire recognized the ponies described as Elements of Harmony national heroes. Trixie continued to explain how she, dealt with these ponies who had interrupted her show, humiliating them one after the other.

Spitfire nodded in understanding. So she was challenged, but she did provoke them accidentally. Guess when you're on your own, you tend to go off the deep end easier. She thought about all the times she'd gotten into fights over something as small as an insult. It made her feel guilty to think about all the ponies she bullied and beat up back in Flight School. Fleetfoot on the other hoof had a completely different view, but reminded herself she only had part of the story.

"Trixie told them how she used her unmatched magical abilities to defeat the dreaded Ursa Major from destroying Hoofington." Trixie conjured up an image of herself and the Ursa fighting. "The ponies called Trixie out on her claim. So Trixie did what she always does in these situations. 'Trixie challenges you Ponyville, anything you can do I can do better'. That’s when Trixie faced off against three ponies from there." she changed the image to one of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, all in the losing positions when Trixie challenged them.

Trixie stood up, dispelling her illusion, and stretched her back out like a cat would after a long nap. "Trixie had two admirers, Snips and Snails after the show. Long story short, those two idiot colts Snips and Snails, bless their loyal hearts, had the audacity to bring an ACTUAL Ursa to the town!" she shouted stomping the ground. "They had such faith in Trixie, that they brought the Ursa to town for her to slay! It was a story! Of course Trixie can't slay an Ursa, even if it was a baby, nopony can!"

Fleetfoot smiled at Trixie get worked up, her curiosity perked she decided to ask the obvious question. "So then Miss Great and Powerful, what happened to the Ursa?" she asked with a smug grin. She already knew the answer, she read the paper, but she wanted to see if Trixie would lie or change what happened to better her image. I know she will. She thought confidently.

"A pony named Twilight Snarkle, or something showed up. She used magic to create a Symphony Wind which put the Ursa to sleep. She then gave it milk and levitated it back into the Everfree Forest, somewhere. It was truly worth of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." Trixie said. “Where did she send it? Well, it's not important.” Fleetfoot was actually impressed by the praise Trixie gave to Twilight SPARKLE, maybe she wasn't as bad as she thought. "Of course, Trixie allowed her to handle the Ursa Minor. She could have done it herself, of course."

"Of course." Fleetfoot muttered to herself. And I was wrong, she's exactly how I thought she was. No modesty what so ever. What does Spitfire see in her? Seriously! It boggled Fleetfoot's mind as to what exactly the older pegasus saw in this unicorn. She was arrogant, boastful, she gloried herself at the expense of others, and she's a liar.

"Afterwards Trixie left the town. Later that night she returned to rummage through the wreckage of her wagon the Ursa destroyed, but found no sign of it. Trixie fled through town before she came upon the wreckage. Her belongings, what wasn't destroyed, was placed in a suitcase with a note on it." Trixie summoned the letter with a variant of teleportation magic and read it aloud.

Dear Trixie, assuming you get this, we’re sorry we destroyed your home. We're really sorry for that. Anyway we found what we could and put it in an old suitcase for you! Hope it comes in handy! Me and Snails put our allowances together so you can get started again! We know it’s not much but, hopefully it'll help!

Come back soon!

Snips and Snails

Trixie smiled rolling up the letter and sent it back to where she summoned it from. Spitfire looked at Trixie, leaned over and gave her a hug, which she returned. This infuriated Fleetfoot. The two separated and Trixie continued her story.

"After getting her belongings, Trixie left Ponyville heading to Manehatten. Along the way she ran into some trouble…"

One week ago…

Trixie traveled down the road leading to Manehatten late at night looking at her map of Equestria. These roads were said to be dangerous to travel after dark, but this was OK since Trixie was use to the dark. That, and she knew of a small inn down the road just a few miles from Ponyville according to her map.

It was just before midnight, the moon had reached its peak, and Trixie continued down the trail listening for any sounds in the surrounding woods. It was unusually silent and the air felt heavy. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her chest. It was a tightening in her chest, like a pressure was building up, forcing her to move cautiously as she trekked along. There was no wind, no crickets singing, no sounds from the woods, just silence.

Something's wrong, Trixie just knows it. She thought to herself.

Suddenly from within the forest came a loud feminine scream, which caused Trixie to jump in a cat like fashion. It echoed for several seconds, Trixie listened carefully, then she heard voices calling out for help followed by a loud roar. Trixie was about to ignore the cries for help when a familiar voice was heard. "MOM HELP ME!" it cried. Against her better instincts, Trixie ran deep into the forest to help the ponies.

Trixie reached in her suitcase bringing out her old black cloak, she use to use under a different alias, and wrapped it around her neck pull up the cowl covering her face. I can't run the risk of somepony recognizing me from Ponyville, if anypony has a grudge, but I doubt that's true. Better safe than sorry. She thought running through the forest.

After a few seconds she saw a light ahead, and around it was several ponies and in front of them was a pack of timberwolves. One massive timberwolf lead the pack closing in on the ponies, Trixie noticed one of the was a small grey filly with white hair. The filly was crying in the arms of a grey pegasus mare with a liver mane, she was dressed in a simple grey and silver skirt with a matching vest her mane done up in a bun. Three other earth ponies were there, a mustard yellow earth pony stallion with a black hat and a short grey mane wearing a collared neck tie, a white earth pony mare with a flat black mane, and a dark grey mare with a flat purple mane wearing a sweater with a belt.

The last three were in front of a wagon with the pegasus mare and the child, she was quite obviously shaking. She called out to the group."Oh, Mr. Pie. I'm so sorry we got you into this mess! If it wasn't for us you wouldn't be-"

"Now, you think nothing of it Mrs. Silver! We'll hold em back!" He interrupted the mare. He then turned to the grey mare "Maud! The boulder!" he yelled pointing to a large boulder next to the wagon.

The mare called Maud, looked to the boulder and nodded. She then went to grab it and began trying to lift it. There's no way she can lift that! Trixie thought as she stopped her advance wanting to see the earth pony lift the HUGE boulder. She wanted to see THIS. No, she HAD to see this. Much to her surprise, Maud lifted the gigantic boulder, easily ten times her size, and hurled it and the timberwolves crushing half of them. "Well done, Maud!" Mr. Pie yelled excited.

The other white mare latched onto Maud with a big smile. "That's my BIG sis for you! Strongest Pie this side o' Manehatten!" she yelled out. "I knew she'd get em all!" Maud simply nodded in response. She seemed so devoid of emotion. "Thanks you two." Maud said plainly.

Wow, those words make Trixie feel dead inside. she thought to herself. Trixie then noticed the timberwolf parts were regenerating into one massive beast. The ponies were back at the wagon preparing to leave, seemingly unaware of the imminent danger. Without thinking Trixie charged up her horn, turning it a sickly green color. It was an advanced spell for dealing with dangerous creatures, it stuns them for a few seconds to maybe a minute, at best. Trixie learned this spell back at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, specifically for situations like this. The only drawback was that creatures magical in nature, such as timberwolves, were almost immune to its effects. It does slow down their regeneration, which is what Trixie is planning on. Once her horn was ready, she leapt into the air climbing a tree with a magical whip she conjured. Using the whip in a Spiderman fashion, she leapt from tree to tree, until she was over the wagon.

Once above the wagon, all the ponies looked up to see a dark figure staring straight down at them. Trixie then released her first shot, the sepectating ponies spun around to follow the beam, as the large timberwolf jumped and was caught midair by the blast. The beam shot the beast back several feet dazing it for a few seconds. As it tried to recuperate from the stunning effects, Trixie landed near the group of ponies calling to them. "Flee now ponies!" she then used the whip and lunged into the trees. "I'll hold him off! RUN!" her voice echoed.

The timberwolf now fully recovered, turned to face its prey once again, only to be hit by the same stun spell in the face. As the beast howled in pain Trixie hung from a tree near the wagon, dangling from a branch. "I said run!" the ponies decided then to turn and run abandoning the wagon. Trixie then stared at the massive timberwolf from a tree. Once the beast was unaffected by the spell, Immediately Trixie would stun it again. This went on for several minutes until the wolf decided to flee rather than face being stunned again.

Once she was convinced the wolf was gone, Trixie leapt down from the tree surveying her surroundings. There wasn't a timberwolf in sight. Not wanting to tempt fate, Trixie latched herself to the wagon and continued her trek through the forest. As she went she once again kept her eyes and ears open for any sounds beside her own, unaware that she was being watched.

It took most of the night, but Trixie had made it to the Inn halfway to Manehatten. The Inn was called the Flightless Pegasus, weird name, and it was OLD. The wood was worn down, several planks were either missing or coming undone, and the windows were so filthy it practically could block out the sun.

Trixie was tired from the long walk, and using as much magic as she did the last two days has been taxing on her stamina. Pulling up next to the Inn, she unlatched herself from the wagon and proceeded inside to rent a room. After which she went to bed not even bothering to eat, she was too tired to eat, and as soon as she hit the pillow she was dragged to the realm of dreams.

Early in the morning, Trixie awoke to the sound of howling outside. Trixie recognized it a timberwolf howl, but something was off about it. The howl was too high pitch, and it wasn't as loud, but it was still aggravating. After several minutes the howling intensified as shouting began to mix with it. Finally unable to resist any longer, Trixie got out of bed to see what all the commotion was about.

She arrived near 'her' wagon to find several ponies around it shouting at it. As she approached she called to the crowd. "HEY! What's going on here!"

The ponies looked at her and threw a gagged timberwolf cub on the floor. A mare walked up to Trixie slapping her. ‘How dare she slap Trixie!’ She thought clasping her cheek. The mare then got into Trixie's face jabbing her jest. "Why, in holy Celestia's name did you bring a juvenile timberwolf here!? Why woman, why would you do that!?" the mare screamed. Trixie shoved the mare back tired of being yelled at. "You dare touch The Great and Powerful TRIXIE! Keep your hooves off her! Secondly!" Trixie used her magic to bring the timberwolf cub to her. "Why are you attacking this cub!? You fools are bound to bring the whole pack here like this! TRIXE will take it to the forest and release it, since you're OBVIOUSLY too inept to do so!" The mare shoved Trixie as two stallions began beating the cub. "YOU are the one bound to bring the pack here with this cub!" the mare screamed pushing Trixie onto the floor.

Then another mare, an orange unicorn with a yellow skied mane and short similar tail, approached the cub as she readied her horn to cast a spell. The stallions stepped aside as the unicorn mare aimed at the cub, who stopped its struggling, looking at the mare as if it knew what was coming. Trixie recognized the spell, it was a simple flame ignition spell. It was designed for lighting torches or small fires in the forest for survival, or death to a flammable timberwolf cub. Fire is the only sure way to prevent a timberwolf from regenerating. After all, ashes can't regenerate. The mare condensed the spell to a beam firing it straight at the cub.

Before Trixie could even think, she ran in front of the spell grabbing the cub. Spinning to face the mare she cast a stun spell squarely into the unicorn’s horn. She cast a shield spell deflecting it, accidentally, back at the Inn setting it ablaze. Trixie and the unicorn looked eyes, each ready to cast spells at the first sign of aggression.

The timberwolf cub looked to Trixie with a curious expression, wondering why she helped him while the others like her hurt him. He then proceeded to hide himself under her, as there was no other safe place in his mind, and peeked at the other unicorn shivering.

Trixie patted the cub on the head calming him down, not taking her eyes off the unicorn she saw her cutie mark was a timber wolf head with a flame engulfing it. ‘I don't need to guess what that means.’ she thought to herself. Several ponies watched as the two stared each other down, and others helped try and put out the fire.

Suddenly one of the stallions screamed, as he was taken around the building. Everypony looked to see what happened to him only to hear him screaming followed by a sickening series of crunch and snapping noises. After a minute the screaming died down. "Timberwolves!" a pony screamed running around the building and into the forest.

Timberwolves began running around trying to catch ponies while several ponies tried to fight back. The flame unicorn mare turned her attention to the timberwolf pack. One wolf was feeling brave and charged her head on. In an instant it was set ablaze, and before reaching her, turned to ash flying past her. Not even flinching, the mare ran after two other wolves chasing a stallion.

Trixie decided to make herself scarce, attempting to reach her wagon while the chaos ensued. Once she reached it a group of ponies were hiding. A mare and colt were holding each other, while a stallion stood between them and the timberwolves. The mare was a mint green with a short mint green mane, and her cutie mark was a golden stringed instrument. The colt was dark brown with an orange mane, the stallion was lighter brown with a dark black mane with a journal as a cutie mark. The stallion charged the first wolf kicking it to the ground, another circled around him and lunged at him from the rear.

"DAD, LOOK OUT!" the colt cried trying to reach for him, but the mare held him back.
The stallion had enough time to turn his head, before the timberwolf bit into his hind legs. He yelped in pain, and the timberwolf began to shake him around like a ragdoll.

"DAD!" the colt cried causing the last two timberwolves to face him and the mare. The mint mare fired stun spells at the timberwolves but had no effect. She then placed herself between the colt and the timberwolves, ready to defend him with her life. The two timberwolves launched at the mare who raised a shield protecting herself from the first wolf. The other used the distraction to charge the colt, and the mare had only a second to realize her mistake.

Trixie quickly fired three more stunning spells at the timberwolves, knocking them back, and quickly made her way to them with the cub in tow.

"DAD!" the colt ran to his father hugging him. He then turned to Trixie smiling. "Thanks for saving him Miss!" he said, before hugging her. Trixie felt relieved, until a sudden howl brought her back to the current situation.

"You three must hide." she then levitated the wagon upside down and placed it over the three ponies. “Wait until the wolves leave then escape, take the wagon if you need it." she placed it over them blasting a small hole into it, so they could see outside. She then ran towards the forest firing magical fireworks into the air to get the packs attention. As she reached the tree line, she looked behind her to see if the pack was following. What she saw devastated her.

Ponies were laying across the opening, dark red spot were visible with the light provided by the sun, some of the bodies too small to be adults. Ponies were helping others, and the ponies from under the wagon came out from hiding. What got her was the timberwolves. The ponies were gathering the pack together as the unicorn mare was burning them to piles of ash with no remorse. A smaller unicorn mare identical to the larger, but with charcoal stripes in her mane and tail, was piling the pack, while the other continued burning the rest.
Once the last few timberwolves were left the largest, the matriarch, was lying on the ground began to howl weakly into the air. The young timberwolf cub suddenly began howling as well, as if compelled to by some unseen force. The two wolves howled until their voices became one creating a two part harmony, their voices became one beautiful symphony of harmony. ‘Mother and son.’ Trixie thought.

As the matriarch sang, a breeze began to blow towards Trixie and the cub. Fall colored leafs and grass of orange and browns followed the current towards the cub. A similar phenomenon happened around Trixie as she held the cub in her arms. A gentle innocent wind blew from behind her, as leafs of green and several colored flower petals flew meeting the matriarchs steam both intermingling into a ball of colors complimented to a symphony of love and caring.

Trixie had heard of such a thing before. Long ago her mother and father told her tales of beings so in love with each other, that when close and harmony is reached, they would absorb the magical energies around them making their 'bond' visible to a select few attuned with great magical potential. Trixie had seen this once before, when she decided to become a traveling showmare. Her mother was all for the idea it was a mares tradition in the family to join the thespian arts. Her mother had played a tune on a pan flute before she'd left with the wagon her father had built. The tune was played with her father playing a piano, and Trixie used her magic to compliment her in singing. The three had bonded in a way that so few understood, which made it all the more special.

As the howling continued the matriarch began to releasing a golden pollen that traveled along the streams back to the cub. Once it reached him he began to glow, his branch like structure became engulfed by light, causing Trixie to drop him. His body began to turn green as tiny leafs and blades of grass covered his tiny body, he actually looked like a wolf cub now, except green. The biggest change was his eyes, they went from a dull yellow to sky-blue with tiny little black dots in the center.

As the transformation took place, a number of things happened. First Trixie's nose was bombarded with a fragrance of wonderful smells. Morning dew mix with spring field flowers and lavender came from the now green cub which brought a smile to Trixie. The other was the second fiery unicorn mare with charcoal stripes. She turned following the stream from the matriarch and watched in awe at the spectacle. No others saw or responded, so Trixie assumed no others saw this aside from the younger mare.

Suddenly, the matriarch cried in pain as she was engulfed in flames instantly tuned into ashes severing the connection between her and the cub. Trixie stared in shock as the cub began looking around confused circling around her. It didn't understand why he couldn't hear his mother anymore. He began to howl sadly, as he desperately tried to reach his mother, not understanding he would never reach her.
Trixie looked to the older mare with hate in her eyes, as she reached for the cub and placed him on her back with her magic. The younger mare was in shock as well, she looked like she was crying. The older unicorn grabbed the smaller one and hugged her stroking her mane.
Trixie ran into the forest without looking back. All the while, the cub struggled to escape her magical grasp, but she held firm. He continued to cry out for his mother trying to reach her, every howl brought a heavy weight onto Trixie's heart.

Trixie traveled through the forest for over an hour before exhaustion finally took hold. In the last two days she'd slept only an hour or two and the cub howling constantly wasn't helping her mood. Tired and hungry, she decided to make camp for now. It was only 7-8 AM but she didn't care at this point, she'd never make it to Manehatten if she collapsed from exhaustion.

Making a tent of branches and twigs, she gathered fire wood to be used at night time. The green timberwolf cub kept crying the whole time. She'd tied him to a small tree near her camp so he couldn't run away. In a way, Trixie felt responsible for him. Yes, he had been in the wagon, and maybe if she'd bothered to check this series of unfortunate events might have been averted.

She watched the cub cry out desperately trying to her his mother's call, but he never got a response. He circled the tree several times trying a different angle to see if his call would reach her. Finally Trixie couldn't take it anymore, her heart ached for the wolf cub. No child should grow up without a mother. She untied the pup from the tree with magic and levitated him gently to her. She sat back against the tree from her hut, and placed the cub in her arms cradling him like her mother use to do for her. The pup struggled to break free only calming to the sound of Trixie humming softly and rocking him. She then used her magic to conjure a pan flute and began to play a soft tune.

As she played, the pup's eyes grew heavy. He felt protected, safe, and secure around Trixie. He looked to her and nuzzled her chest and feel into a deep sleep, her fur providing warmth to his tiny body. After a minute of playing her horn began glowing, as tendrils of magic reached for the pup entwining with his fur. Green tendrils grew from him and reached for Trixie wrapping around her body causing a warm feeling to fill her. After she finished playing, the tendrils dissolved to nothing, leaving Trixie cradling the young pup. Kissing him on the forehead she spoke into his ear softly. "I'll call you, Link." she looked up at the forest canopy smiling. "Yeah, Link sounds good. The link that binds us together now, and forever. Rest well my Link. Tomorrow we both start our lives anew." And with that, she feel into a deep slumber she'd so desperately needed.

Watching in the forest, two sets of green eyes watched the scene unfold before them. A fiery glow appeared above one set of eyes with the intent to kill. Suddenly it died down as the second pair of eyes shook vigorously followed by a voice. "No sis, not like this." The other pair of eyes nodded and disappeared in to the brush, the other lingered for a moment before disappearing into the brush as well.