Chapter Seven

Just outside the curio shop

I shift to a defensive stance in the air, lighting my fingertips. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is."

"It's not what you think it is." Trixie deadpans with a smirk. "The Alicorn amulet is the key to righting whatever wrongs Twilight Sparkle and her friends brought upon The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

I look around nervously, "Are you sure that this is the way to get revenge? Being corrupted by power never ends well."

Trixie snorts and waves her hoof, looking past me. "I assure you that nothing of the sort will happen. If anything, this will only increase my reputation as the pony who tamed the power of the Alicorn amulet!"

I make a noncommittal noise and shake my head. If only she knew what would happen. Telling Trixie what would happen could do several things. All with variables far beyond my reach or knowledge. Not to mention the damage already done to the timeline by my being here. Playing damage control is a must from now forward.

Trixie sweeps up beside me and looks up into the rain, squinting against the droplets. Her face lights up as she gets an idea and lights her horn quickly. With a red pulse, the raindrops above us part in a wedge-like pattern. I shake myself off as Trixie throws on her hood. We walk a ways down the cobblestone street and peer into the closed shops. Trixie shakes her head and mutters something about poor customer service. The magician then pauses behind me and lights her horn.

"Hold on a secon~d," She says suddenly, drawing out the last word in concentration. The magician's horn flashes and the world shifts. With a crack of displaced air, we appear in the room. Trixie stumbles and I spin in the air, dizzy and confused.

"A bit more of a warning next time would be nice." I say after I recover enough to speak.

"Sorry," Trixie responds, looking sheepish. "Still getting used to this thing."

I shake my head and give a bemused snort. Telefragging would have been a bad start, I like my arms and legs where they are. Still, teleporting had always fascinated me. The ability to bend the rules of space to pop out of one area and appear in another was an aspect of fantasy magics that had enraptured me. I could imagine Teleport being a useful method of escaping any number of unpredictable dangers. Especially in Equestria. I would simply have to overcome the steep learning curve of possible death.

A bed rises to greet me as I float down. Trixie seems to be packing her saddlebags again, preparing for a show to earn bits. I raise my head to see her stuff an absurd amount of props into the bags- said saddlebags hardly bulging from their stores.

I blink. Hammerspace? I push off and float over to get a closer look at the bags.

Trixie pops up beside me, "What about The Great and Powerful Trixie's great and powerful saddlebags intrigues you?"

"How are you able to store so much in those saddlebags?" I lean closer and squint at the cloth-like material.

The magician lifts the clasp to show me the small runes engraved in the metal. "I had this enchanted with Dimension Pocket. The spell is supposed to 'increase the storage capacity compromising the volume'. From what I could understand, it's bigger on the inside."

Recalling the days of travel, I remember Trixie's bags seeming fit to burst. "How can they hold more now? Did you strengthen the enchantment?"

"I upped the capacity for the trip home." Trixie nods and starts to head for the door, "I'm going to go see if this inn has decent food. You should try some of the local dishes."

I float over and join her as we glide down the stairs. The lower portion of the inn was lit by oil lamps and was comfortably warm against the rain outside. A few tables lined the edges and the bar appeared to serve some dishes. Trixie claims a table and walks over to the bar as I pull a chair over. My head barely peeks above the table. I push the chair back and settle with hovering near the table.

Trixie brings food a few minutes later, two identical dishes are held carefully in her red aura. I look at the food, it appears to be some sort of noodle-based dish with red seasoning leaves scattered on it. A dark brown sauce is drizzled on the top and smells something like a garlic-chive and pepper mix.

"Careful, it's spicy," Trixie warns.

"Couldn't be too bad," I say and levitate the fork to take a bite.

That was a mistake. As a human, I had loved anything spicy, contrary to my heritage. That was then, this was a whole different experience.

My eyes widen as the flavor spreads through my mouth, the spice quickly following. I flail and grab the glass from the table, chugging its contents. The glorious water helps soothe the pain as I glare across the table.

Trixie just gives an amused snort, "I warned you."

I lay on the pillow in the room, juggling random objects. An illuminated ball falls and is whisked up again as I wave my arm in the air. Trixie had left an hour ago, looking for a place she could perform out of the rain. I was left to my own devices as I sat around in boredom.

It was still pouring outside and did not seem to be letting up anytime soon. The local weather team said that the rain was to combat a coming drought. Stray raindrops smack the window as I float upright. Might as well get a jump start on learning to teleport.

I squint and look at the space above the singular bed. I imagine what it was like to be in that space, having the world shift around me to match those surroundings. The sounds and feelings of the air. I close my eyes and try to feel psychic energy in me. A faint trickle from the back of my mind shows me the energy being used to hover. I focus on this trickle and bring it up to a stream. My senses fall away and I am left with a drugged feeling.

This could get messy. I realize as I pour energy into pushing my self through the threads of space. My surroundings fade and a crack echoes through the small room. I feel a spell of dizziness and fall out of the air, hitting the mattress.

Wait.

"Eureka!" I yell and dry heave off the edge of the bed.

[Third]
Trixie quickly dodges from cover to cover in the rain. The performance had been a success! Never had The Great and Powerful Trixie been able to wow a crowd with even her most basic tricks. There were more than enough bits to buy a new wheel. Not that anything of the sort would be needed though. The magician knew the perfect spell to improve her carriage and fix the damage. A day of rapid long-distance teleportation would be enough to bring them close by nightfall.

Trixie hummed a jaunty tune as she walked past the inn. A loud crack echoed from upstairs, followed by the muffled yell of her companion.

"That sounded a lot like teleportation," Trixie mutters to herself as she opens the door. The unicorn threw off her hood and darted up the stairs. "Will had better not have broken anything while I was gone."

The mare charges up the stairs after a nod to the innkeeper. The door to their room bangs against the wall as her magic throws it open. Everything looks normal. Will appears to be moving about like a drunken party balloon, but that was all. Everything was in order as far as Trixie could see. As the magician’s eyes scour the room for discrepancies, Will looks over gives a wave.

"I learned how to teleport!" He exclaims.

"You did what?" Trixie blinks owlishly.

Will looks over, "Hold on a sec."

His eyes glow and another crack echoes through the room. The Elgyem reappears across the room and bobs in the air. Teleportation was an impressive feat for even an above-average unicorn. A certain wow to a crowd of gullible ponies. This could be another asset to The Great and Powerful Trixie's show. Even more of a way of reclaiming her place as the greatest and most powerful.

Now the questions arose if Will was more powerful than he was letting on. And where could a creature like him be from?

[Will]
We set out early that morning in a drizzle. Trixie stopped quickly and paid our collective rooming bills. She had told me that we would be teleporting across the countryside to reach the carriage within a day. That still did not help me prepare for the onslaught of dizziness that came with rapid blinks. We had stopped to give Trixie a break and allow me to rest.

It is now around mid-afternoon and somewhat cloudy. The precipitation had stopped with the distance from the town, giving our wet clothes time to dry. Yes, clothes. Trixie had gifted me a magician's cloak of sorts. It was a dark green-blue with a silver filigree lining the collar, front, and sleeves. A small hood helped keep me warm and had a string of runes lining the edges. The finishing touch was a silver pin of Trixie's cutie mark holding it together.

A bit rich, but not gaudy. The colors matched well. As for why she had given this as a gift, the magician had approached me before setting off with a wish to incorporate me into her shows when we began the tour. We would be going over routines throughout traveling.

We both pack up from our quick break and walk a short distance to a better vantage point. Trixie looks out and waves her foreleg at a distant hill to the north.

“We’ll start... there,” she states and lights her horn. “A few more jumps should bring us close enough to walk back to the carriage.”

I nod and the world fades away with a crack.

We arrived at the location in the woods where the small carriage was kept. I pulled the branches off and rolled it out by two wheels. I felt that it was much easier than before, sans the help of the wheels.

Trixie nodded to me as I floated over, dusting off my cloak. "Stand back. This may get... erm... messy."

"Messy?" I question as she lights her horn.

The carriage is lifted into the air as Trixie pours more energy into the spell. Her red aura around the carriage doubles in size as it begins to glow.

"Trixie!" I mentally shout over the din of the magic. "What do you plan to do?"

She grunts in response as the final parts of the spell are cast upon the carriage. A flash of light blinds me and leaves spots dancing in my vision. I blink my eyes clear and look. Trixie's iconic wagon from after Magic Duel is standing before me.

"There." Trixie pants as she falls into a sitting position. "Now we can travel in style."

Something about this doesn't seem right. Trixie was never seen with her old carriage after her failure in Ponyville, but it couldn't be that she magicked herself a new mobile living space. Did she not say something about working on a rock farm for-

The realization dawns on me as I float down to the ground. Shit! Trixie never went to the rock farm! How early was her arrival supposed to be now that I had pushed it back? Could I even keep her from going straight to Ponyville to exact her revenge?

The magician looks at me in my freakout on the ground, "Are you still there, Will? You seem a bit panicked."

I shake my head to clear it momentarily. "No, no. I should be fine in a bit. I just remembered something important.

A strange pulse of feeling washed over part of me. It tasted a bit like citrus juice mixed with the feeling of green. That was odd- but a welcome distraction from the problem at hand.

I follow Trixie to the door of the newly metamorphosed wagon and take a look inside. The walls were rather bare now. Save for a few items visible from Trixie's past. A few pictures of her parents- were they ever introduced? Some of her props remain as she drops her saddlebags under her designated hammock.

Hanging in the above corner was a small hammock with a pillow. I assume it will be for me in the coming days of travel. How thoughtful of Trixie. I float up and drop into the hammock with a muffled puff of the pillow. Trixie does the same and lights a crystal lantern on the ceiling with a wisp of magic.

What's our heading for tomorrow? I question as I lean over the edge of the hammock.

"Tomorrow?" Trixie says with a yawn. "We should be heading in the direction of the Smokey Mountains and to Coronet. Which is..." She interrupted herself with a yawn. "A port town on the North Luna Sea. We should be able to take an airship to Manehattan and go from there."

"Ah," I say and roll onto my stomach. It seemed Trixie had the beginning of a long tour planned. I could hope that it went better than her past shows.

Did she say airship?!

Author's Notes:

Look ma! I can write!
I hope you have enjoyed.
As always, leave feedback and point out any errors.