Chapter 23: The Show

Sniff. Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff sniff.

“Hey, does anyone smell something burning?” Jay Pennsworth opened her eyes and sat up. She regretted it immediately. Her brain felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. She lifted a talon to her head and began to massage her temples, but something was off… Were her talons supposed to be glowing?

“Ah!!! Fire! Fire!” shouted Jay. She leaped out of a comfy bed and began to dance around, flailing her talons through the air. “My talons are on fire!” Sure enough, a green blaze danced gingerly around her sharp talons.

“Jay!” shouted Sly. The muscular griffin burst through a door to Jay’s right. “Jay! What’s wrong?”

“Fire!!!” screamed Jay. She hadn’t even noticed Sly enter.

“Hold on Jay!” yelled Slick. “I’ll save you!” The scrawny, black griffin ran into the room with a bucket full of water. He flung the liquid at Jay.

“Gah! Pthibit!” Jay spat water out. She was now drenched from wing to tail, but the fire was still burning as if nothing had happened.

Jay slipped on the wet floor and landed on her rear. Now her brain was burning, her bum was aching, she was wet from head to toe, and her talons were on fire.

“Slick!” Jay screamed from the floor. “You- Urmf!”

A long, green gemstone had materialized between Jay’s talons. Unfortunately, seeing as how Jay was on the floor, the gem fell into her mouth. She plucked the emerald out of her beak and noticed that her talons were no longer on fire.

“What in Equestria is going on here?!” Jay demanded.

Sly walked over and helped Jay to her feet.

“Hey J, what’s that?” Slick was pointing at the emerald in Jay’s talons.

“What’s? What?” Jay looked down at the crystal. “Whoa! Where’d this thing come from?”

“It appeared between your talons when they were on fire,” Sly said.

“It did what now?” Jay asked as she turned the emerald over.

“Hey! There’s something scratched on its back.” Slick moved up and looked at the gem.

Jay pulled the emerald away from Slick’s face. “It’s my gem, thank you very much!” But, she rolled it over and looked at what Slick had found. Sure enough, it had been scratched. Jay squinted her eyes as she looked at the marks.

“What is it Jay?” Sly asked.

“There’s something written on it.” Jay replied without looking away. “It says…Ponyville.”

“Ponyville?” Slick scratched his head.

“Looks like our dragon has been busy,” Sly stated. He smiled to himself.

“You’re saying that fire was Grallix’s doing?” Jay turned to Sly.

The muscular griffin nodded.

“I’m gonna kill him for waking me up like that,” Jay remarked sarcastically. “Nearly gave me a heart attack.” Jay glanced around and realized that she had no idea where she was. “By the way…where are we exactly?”

She was in a small room, furnished with a comfy bed and plenty of lights. A little table sat in the corner closest to the room’s only window. It had a candle on it as well as an ink bottle and a quill. The room was a soft cream color and a picture of the ocean hung on the wall opposite the bed.

“We’re still in Hooverdale,” Sly replied. “After our last game of Merring, you fell unconscious. One of the pony doctors who helped Slick decided to take us in for the night.”

“Hmph.” Jay snorted. “I didn’t ask for no charity.”

“Come on J!” Slick spoke up. “Don’t be like that. They’ve been real nice to us. Besides, they left their refrigerator open last night. We’re now fully stocked.” He smirked.

“Sly, you sneaky dog you.” Jay couldn’t help but grin at her friend’s cleverness. “Alright. We’ll have to give them a ‘thank you’ or something one of these days. But for now, we need to get a move on. If this message is from Grallix, then the next clue is somewhere in Ponyville. Wherever that is.” Jay shrugged and scratched her head.

“It shouldn’t be difficult to get directions,” Sly said. “Most of the ponies here seem very cooperative.”

“Great!” Jay clapped her talons together. “Then let’s get a move on! I ain’t waiting for some other team to beat us to Sun Cloak’s treasure.”

She walked over to the room’s large window and opened it. The early afternoon sunlight hit her face as well as a gentle breeze.

“Ahhh…” she sighed happily. “Slick, grab our bags. We’ll meet you outside.”

Slick turned to do as Jay had asked.

“Oh! And,” Jay added, “see if you can swipe something extra for breakfast too. I’m starving.”

Slick nodded and left.

Sly walked up to Jay and put a comforting talon on her shoulder.  “Are you sure that you’re able to fly after last night? You’re rubbing your head an awful lot.”

Jay brushed his talon off and turned away from Sly. “Don’t be getting all sentimental on me now. You’re my body guard, not my father you know.”

Sly nodded, but seemed sadden by Jay’s reaction.

“Anyways,” Jay continued, “I’ll be fine. A little headache doesn’t mean that I can’t fly. But before we leave…” Jay walked over to the table in the room and grabbed a quill. She dipped it in the ink well. “They got any paper in this place?”

Sly pulled open a drawer built into the table. It was full of blank pages. He handed one to Jay. She nodded her gratitude, then got to work.

“Let’s see…hmm…‘Thanks’,” she wrote. “That ought to do it. Hey, Sly, put this on the bed for me would ya’?”

He took the Thank You note out of Jay’s talons and walked over to the bed. Not wanting to be rude, the griffin straightened out the sheets and then placed the letter artfully on the pillows.

“Sly! You coming or what?” Jay called from outside.

Sly held his talons to his face and measured whether the note was placed straight or not. Finally satisfied, he smiled and then slipped out the open window.

* * * * * * * * *

Canterlot, the mountain city. Trixie now stood at the foot of the great mountain upon which it had been built. She looked high into the sky and gazed upon its shimmering white buildings. The sunlight was quickly fading. It would surely be very dark by the time Trixie managed to climb the gentle mountain slopes. She pulled in a deep breath, readjusted her bags, and then began to slowly walk upward.

Trixie’s legs were much steadier than when she had left Saddleback and her horn didn’t feel like it was about to punch her in the face whenever she even thought about performing magic. Of course, that didn’t mean that the unicorn was in the best of shape.

She had eaten and slept of course, but she hadn’t eaten and slept enough. After going for about two days without food and water, a normal pony would need a steady amount of both food and water plus a good amount of sleep to be back in tiptop condition. Trixie didn’t have any of those luxuries.

The showmare was low on supplies, having little more than hard oat cakes and sometimes filling a canteen whenever she walked by a pool of water during her travels. She could have gotten rest, but just the knowledge that even one team was ahead of her made her sleep fitful. She would win if it killed her!

And so, up the mountain she climbed. It wasn’t exactly difficult work. Trixie was used to traveling. She normally pulled a small show cart behind her when she moved from town to town with her one pony magic act. Walking, even without being fully recovered, with only a light pack on her shoulders was not hard.

The trek up was boring however. Few ponies traveled the mountain path this late. In order to entertain herself, Trixie pulled out Sun Cloak’s diamond and gripped it in a levitation spell. She winced slightly, but the pain quickly abated. It would seem that her ability to do magic was coming back to her. She smiled and sent the gemstone spinning around her large wizard’s hat.

Around and around went the crystal. It reflected a beam of moonlight and the light refracted into a myriad of colors. Trixie looked at the gorgeous display before it vanished. She laughed genuinely. Being on the road, Trixie had learned to appreciate the little wonders of the world: the dawn of a new day, the first chirp of a baby bird, the brave flowers that pushed through a field of snow. Many times she observed these things alone. And if she didn’t appreciate them, then who else would?

Trixie moved the diamond back into her saddlebag and closed the flap. Looking back up, she found that she had already come a considerable distance. The first buildings would soon be in reach. The unicorn took in a deep, determined breath and quickened her pace.

Light spilled out of guard house window. The building was now a mere leg’s reach away. A Royal Guard pony walked out of the small structure and up to Trixie. His armor clinked with every step he took.

“Evening Mam,” greeted the soldier. He nodded his head.

Trixie looked him over with apathy. From the way the candlelight reflected off of his shiny armor, he must have been a new recruit.

“What brings you to Canterlot?” asked the guard.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie,” replied Trixie with pomp. “And I have business with the Royal Archives.”

The guard’s eyes widened in shock. He began to shake and a goofy looking smile grew on his face. “Y-You’re T-Trixie?” He couldn’t hold back his excitement. “Trixie Lulamoon? The one in the ‘Great Hunt’?!”

Trixie gave him a blank stare. “The what?”

“Oh! That’s right.” The soldier blushed. “You probably don’t know what’s going on.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “The Great Hunt. Everypony’s talking about it! The newpapers are reporting where the seven teams on Sun Cloak’s treasure hunt are and what they’ve been up to. A ton of ponies went searching for the answer to Sun Cloak’s first riddle-.”

“Riddles? I love riddles! A good puzzle always seems to brighten up my day!” Sun Cloak’s diamond said from inside Trixie’s saddlebag.

Trixie kicked her bag. “Hush up!”

The guard’s mouth seemed like it wanted to fall off.

“Now,” Trixie turned back to the guard, “please continue. You were telling Trixie something interesting.”

The solider composed himself and saluted. “Yes Mam! Sorry Mam!” He then realized that Trixie wasn’t an officer and awkwardly pulled his salute down. “As I was saying, after I- We- Equestria found out that only seven teams could solve the first rid- err…puzzle the citizens became very…rambunctious. Then, it was announced that seven teams had solved the puzzle. Of course, a lot of ponies didn’t want to believe it and kept searching, but eventually they gave up. Things have settled down considerably since then, but the media is having a hay day! Oh! Wait here one second!”

The soldier trotted into the guard house and then came back with a newspaper in between his teeth. He handed it to Trixie. She read the front header: Griffins VS Sun Cloak. Beside the title was a black and white picture of three griffins standing around a golden ring.

“Every day the newspaper talks about what the teams have been up to,” said the guard. “However, we only know about five teams so far: The three griffins, a dragon, six mares, a treasure hunting couple, and you. There’s some speculation about the other two teams, but nothing has been proven yet. Although, I would bet money on that weird Society being one of the teams.”

Trixie’s eyes scanned over the story. She looked up at the guard and then back down at the newspaper. “You mean to tell Trixie that everything that’s happened so far has been reported to all of Equestria?”

“That’s right Mam!” The solider smiled and nodded. “Of course, you kind of went off the radar. Last report said that you were stuck in a hospital in a small town called Saddleback a few days ago. But obviously you’re here.”

“Obviously,” retorted Trixie. She rolled her eyes.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds. The guard was smiling from ear to ear.

“Ah…well,” Trixie spoke. She smacked her lips. “Do you think that Trixie could enter Canterlot?”

“Huh?” The guard shook his head. “Oh yeah, right! Sure thing!” He ran into the guard house and lifted a bar that was blocking the path ahead, then walked back out to Trixie.

“There you are Mam. But, um, before you head into Canterlot…would you mind signing my poster?” He brought out a poster and showed it to Trixie. On it was Trixie, hooves high in the air, standing on a stage with fireworks going off in the background. It was one of Trixie’s traveling posters.

Trixie was surprised. Never before had a stranger pulled out one of her advertisements and asked her to sign it. She smiled.

“Why of course Trixie can give you her autograph!” She levitated the poster up to her face. “Do you have a quill by chance?” she asked after realizing that she didn’t have one.

“Yeah, just one sec.” The guard ran back to the guard house for the third time that night. “Here you go Mam.” He handed Trixie a freshly dipped quill.

Trixie scrawled out her signature in large, flowery letters. “The Great and Power Trixie to…”

“It’s Buttons Mam, Brass Buttons.”

“…to Brass Buttons. May your adventures be magical.” She spoke as she wrote. “There you are.”

Brass took the poster back. His hooves were trembling with excitement. “YES!!! Trixie Lulamoon signed my poster! Thank you Mam!” He gave her another salute. “I’m rooting for you to win!”

Trixie smiled and nodded. Then, she walked past the ecstatic guard. The bar slowly fell behind her as she stepped into the outskirts of Canterlot.

“So…the other teams and their whereabouts are known,” mused Trixie. “Perhaps Trixie will not need to visit some dusty Archive after all. However, Trixie still needs supplies and knowledge.” She grinned as a thought entered her head. “Trixie believes that it is time to put on a show.”

She pushed her hat up and chuckled happily.

* * * * * * * * *

Lights.

Trixie came upon a crowded square near the edge of Canterlot. Even at this hour of the night, a swarm of ponies was gathered. The street lamps were paled by the huge spotlights and neon signs that pointed to various news stands, food stands, and other stands.

Camera.

A flash went off as some reporter took a picture of the gathering. A group of griffins was hovering around a stand and shouting. Come to think of it, even the ponies gathered around the stand were shouting. Trixie listened carefully.

“Come on! The Globetrotter already has its next paper out! What’s the hold up?!” roared an angry customer.

“Sorry,” replied a young worker. “We’re getting the paper printed as we speak, but it takes time.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. Things were certainly getting interesting. Instead of mobs turning the town upside down in search of a clue to Sun Cloak’s riddle, they were bombarding the media in search of knowledge.

“Place your bets folks!” a gruff voice called from another stand to Trixie’s left. “You!” Trixie turned around. “Yes you! Come on over and place your bet! Tell old Short Change where you think the next team will appear.” Trixie walked up to the middle aged stallion. She liked his style.

“What’s going on?” Trixie acted like she was clueless. “Something about a bet?”

The stallion looked Trixie in the eye and squinted. “You must be from out of the country or somethin’. Everypony knows about the Great Hunt! And right here, for a limited time only, you can place a bet on where you think the next team will show up at. If you’re right you get back twice as much as you wagered.”

“Oh really?” Trixie’s eyes glinted in the bright lights. “Twice what is bet?”

“That’s right Mam!” the stallion nodded with a big, plastic smile on his face. “I figure that if the media can turn a profit on this Hunt, then why not me? And if I can turn a profit, then why not you? Just place your bet and you can get back double!”

Trixie looked at the small stand. Space seemed tight and the whole thing was plastered with posters, newspapers, pictures, doodads, and trinkets all pertaining to Sun Cloak’s treasure hunt.

“Say…” the stallion scratched his chin. “…I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

Trixie pounded her saddlebag on his counter and took out all of the bits she had left. The stallion was taken off guard.

“237 bits on the next contestant showing up in Canterlot!” declared Trixie.

The stallion smiled and greedily took the money. “237 on Canterlot it is then,” he declared. “Though I would say that sounds like a bit of long shot, most ponies have their money on Hooverdale. You’re either really confident, or you really are from out of the country.”

“Oh, don’t doubt Trixie.”

Action.

The stallion’s eyes went wide. He looked the blue unicorn over, blinked, and did a double take. “What did you just say?” But it was too late, Trixie had already brushed past his stand and was now lost in the crowd.

Without warning, a red flare shot into the sky. Then, it exploded into a million sparks of light. The noisy crowd was quickly silenced as everypony turned to look.

“GREETINGS CANTERLOT!” shouted Trixie. She had found a statue of a Royal Guard and had climbed on top of the statue’s head. All eyes locked onto Trixie. She smiled. “I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!” Two more fireworks exploded. “ONE OF THE TEAMS IN THE GREAT HUNT!!!”

Hushed whispers began to stir throughout the crowd. Some looked up at Trixie and then back down at their newspapers, while others were left speechless.

“I-I-It’s really her!” screamed a pony in the crowd. “It’s Trixie Lulamoon!”

“She could be a fake!” declared another. “There have been plenty of look-alikes trying to get attention!”

“No! It’s really her!” defended yet another.

Trixie huffed. The nerve of these ponies. Did they not realize that someone great was before their eyes? “Can you not tell who Trixie is? I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!!!” she shouted. This time three fireworks blasted above her head. She was feeling dizzy from using her magic so much, but it would be worth it in the end.

“Prove it!” shouted a griffin.

“Yeah! Prove it!” agreed a pony. Soon the whole crowd was chanting. This was not the uproar Trixie had been hoping for.

“Fine!” retorted Trixie. The crowd slowly hushed as she levitated Sun Cloak’s diamond out of her saddlebag. She floated it above the crowd and then shot a beam of light into it. It burst into a plethora of bright, beautiful colors that seemed to dim even the spotlights. “Behold! Sun Cloak’s crystal!”

The ponies gasped. A pegasus flew up and touched it, but was sent back down clutching her hoof as sparks jumped through her hair.

“It’s the real thing!” shouted a unicorn in disbelief. “That really is Trixie Lulamoon!”

The crowd split into hushed murmurs. Many pointed at the showmare atop the statue. One ambitious pegasus flew up to one of the spotlights lighting a newsstand and pointed it at Trixie. A reporter fumbled around with a camera, until she managed to take a photograph.

“What’s she doing in Canterlot?” whispered someone in the crowd.

“I don’t know. I thought she was injured in Saddleback.”

“Citizens of Canterlot!” Trixie finally shouted again. Another resourceful pony had decided to move one of the spotlights so it illuminated Trixie. “Trixie was held up in Saddleback for a few days! But nothing can hold the Great and Powerful Trixie down for long! Not even a dragon!”

The crowd gasped again. More whispers spread through the masses and more cameras flashed.

“However,” Trixie continued. The whispering stopped. She paused for dramatic effect and slowly looked over the entire crowd. “Trixie is in need of help. It pains Trixie to admit it, but the fight with the dragon cost Trixie valuable time and money. Trixie is in need of supplies and information. Would anypony be willing to help?”

Hooves shot into the air like fireworks. Murmurings of “I’ll do it!”, “Pick me!”, “I’m your mare!” flew into the sky. Trixie grinned. All was going according to plan.

“Why should we?!” shouted Short Change from his booth. His hooves were crossed over his body and he wore a scowl. “You’re in last place, Trixie Lulamoon! Helping you wouldn’t do anypony any good!”

Some of the excited audience put their hooves down and discouraging whispers bled into the crowd like a virus. The excitement was wearing off and they were losing faith. Trixie glared at Short Change, but quickly got herself back together. She was a professional entertainer after all. And there were always neigh-sayers.

“So…” Trixie’s voice traveled over the crowd and silenced them. “…You think Trixie is down?” She leaped from the top of the statue and onto the ground. The spotlights followed her. “You think Trixie is out?” More spotlights swiveled to follow the showmare. “You think Trixie cannot win?” The crowd parted as Trixie began to walk. “You doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie?” She stopped and stared at Short Change. “Then you are most certainly wrong.”

In a blinding flash of light, Trixie disappeared. The crowd was stunned and looked all around.

“Citizens of Equestria listen to me!” shouted Trixie. The crowed looked above Short Change’s stand, where Trixie was now standing. “Trixie has something to say!” she continued.

“You say Trixie is last and that she’ll never win.

And helping her is pointless, what would you gain in the end?”

Trixie leaped from the roof and into the crowd.

“But worry not, for Powerful Trixie is here!

And when all is done, you shall have no fear!”

She began to strut around the speechless ponies. The spotlights continued to follow her.

“Listen to Trixie and stand back in awe!

For underestimating her is a pony’s greatest flaw.”

A thick blue mist arose from the ground and covered Trixie’s body.

“Some have doubted and others not believed,

But Trixie is Great and will always succeed.”

Her words came out from the mist. Then, the fog cleared but Trixie was not standing in it!

“In Saddleback stood Trixie as she faced down a beast,

A great dragon from Frostbluff appeared from the east.”

The crowd looked around until they finally found her. She was standing on the roof of a nearby building. A twinkling mass of light and sparks of fire began to form two shapes on the side of the building. One shimmering image bore a resemblance to Trixie, while the other fiery apparition looked akin to a massive dragon.

“He snarled and growled and breathed forth his flames,

But Trixie stood steadfast, her spirit could not be contained.”

The fiery image shot forth a wall of sparks at the twinkling unicorn. A powerful shield erupted in front of the shimmering shape and held off the sparking fire.

“Then magic fought fire in a duel to the death,

As smoke and lightning met great dragon’s breath.”

Soon, the shining unicorn shot out a beam of glittering lights to combat the flaming sparks.

“And though it was short, still Trixie stood tall.

The dragon flew away from Trixie in awe!”

The beam pushed away the dragon’s fire and the dragon’s image disappeared in a swirling twist of sparks and light. Then, the shimmering unicorn condensed into a ball of blue energy and flew into the sky where it exploded into a thousand drops of light.

“If this tale is not enough for you,

Consider the fact of finding the clue.”

Suddenly, Trixie’s voice was not coming from atop the building, but from the crowd. Those near her parted as she casually strolled among them.

“Seven teams, seven alone,

Were smart enough to make the first puzzle known.”

She smiled as she walked back to the stone statue from before.

“So ask yourself now, does Trixie still stand?

Can she solve old Sun Cloak’s puzzles and his mysteries disband?”

She hopped onto the statue once again and paraded herself onto its head.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! Now listen to my call!

For Trixie is the one who will win, after all!”

Her head moved right and left as she scanned the crowd. She looked into their eyes with confidence.

“So if you strive for greatness like Trixie, it’s true!

The one who you wish for, is me to come through!”

A great flash of light erupted behind Trixie as two ground fireworks shot off beside the statue.

“Watch in awe! There is no room for doubt!

Great and Powerful is her name, Trixie does not back out!”

All spotlights were now pointed at Trixie. The showmare was beaming from ear to ear. But she was also sweating heavily from how much she had exerted herself and her forehead was feeling quite warm.

The crowd couldn’t tell, however, as they were busy cheering. Shouts of “Encore!” and “Trixie is the greatest!” erupted from the enthusiastic audience. Photographers began snapping pictures as quickly as they could of Trixie standing victoriously atop the statue.

Finally, Trixie hopped down and walked back over to Short Change’s booth. She looked him in the eye and said, “That’ll be 474 bits, if you please.”

Short Change scowled but, true to his word, forked over Trixie’s winnings. He slid the money across the counter and Trixie gathered it up in her hooves. She counted it as she placed the bits into her saddlebag.

“TRIXIE LULAMOON!!!” a rough feminine voice shouted into the night sky.

One of the spotlights swiveled over to the sound. The light stopped on a fierce looking unicorn mare. She was decked out in full Royal Guard armor. Her eyes were a fiery purple. Her mane was also purple, but it had a thick stripe of black running through it as well. Her hair was cut in a short military fashion, yet still remained feminine. Her coat was red and she wore a frown on her hard face. Behind this hard set mare stood a squad of Royal Guards, also fully suited with armor. Trixie turned around as the crowd parted for the Royal Guards.

“This show is over,” spat the mare.