The Great and Powerful Doctor [Private-Complete]

[Trixie Lulamoon]

[OOC: This thread takes place immediately after the events of Boast Busters]

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Unimportant. Weak. Failure…

As Trixie ran along the dirt road, these thoughts repeated themselves in her head. She was a laughingstock now, that she could be sure of. Even now she could imagine the laughter of the citizens of Ponyville. Or worse, the cheering as they celebrated their new ‘hero’, that purple-colored mare called Twilight Sparkle. She was able to stop the Ursa Minor, displaying more magical power than even she, the Great and Powerful Trixie, had ever seen simply to put the beast to sleep.

But as to her own performance? A fly probably would have done more to stop it. The beast had broken through her bonds, and it didn’t even flinch as she attempted to strike it down with lightning. All of her magic, all of her talent, a complete waste of time. Maybe Twilight Sparkle had thought it a cruel joke, to let her just flounder there while she, a mare with the power to actually do something, just sat back and did nothing. Trixie didn’t even want to think about the two idiotic foals that lured the Ursa Minor to town in the first place. All she wanted to do was run, to get as far away from that place as she could.

But oh she would be back someday. No town could banish the Great and Powerful Trixie for long. She would get stronger, more powerful, and even more great! Yes, that is what she would do. She would find somewhere to study and practice more, to find some way to get the power to upstage Twilight Sparkle or anypony that dared to challenge Trixie.

…But where? She had already rejected attending Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns; sitting in a classroom was not an appealing thought to her. She could just buy some spell books, but all of her bits were back in her wagon. Even if there was a chance of her finding them in the pile of broken, splintered wood that was her home, she was trying to run away from Ponyville and not back to it.

So what did that leave her as? A broke, homeless pony with no plans and no idea where she was going. That…that didn’t matter to Trixie at all. She was going to find something to make her really live up to the name of the Great and Powerful Trixie! No one would forget her; no one would confuse her for some pony in the background; no pony would simply ignore her…

[Time Turner]

”You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually travelled at night. I should do this more often. It’s quite lovely, even if I can’t really see where I’m going.” Time Turner said to himself, walking along rather happily the dirt road from Ponyville.

He had saved up enough bits to once again set up travel to…well he didn’t know yet. This time he decided to go by road to whatever town hit his fancy on the way. To further make a change, he decided to travel by night. Ever since the return of Princess Luna night travel had become a safer option. Also, he really wanted to see if he could spot any new works by the ruler of the night. About the only problem was he had some trouble getting sleep to prepare for the trip. There had been a big commotion in the town square, something about a unicorn magician or something. He did go to the show, since he had no choice really. This Trixie person seemed entertaining enough. A bit of a braggart though…

Trotting along comfortably, Time Time stopped as his ears flicked towards the sound of somepony running. Now who could that be out and about at this time of night? Well, other than him of course, but not many ponies were like him. Turning around to say hello to whatever other brave pony was walking the roads at night, he instead saw the figure of a blue-furred and white-maned unicorn running towards him. While he couldn’t see her that well, it looked as if she was currently in a state of a mix of anger, confusion, and…crying? Well, that just made this whole situation a lot odder. A crying unicorn running down the road in the middle of the night was not normal after all. Did he miss something back in Ponyille?

Still, he was already in the path, and it looked like this pony was in trouble. The least that he could do was try and see what was going on before he made any judgments. After all, strangers were simply an entryway into brand new exciting adventures…though he didn’t know how well of an entryway crying unicorns were. Well, there was only one way to find out. Raising a hoof, he waved down the pony as she ran past him.

”Oh, hello there. I’m Time Turner but you can call me…”

The pony kept running, and from the sounds of it she was mumbling to herself. It seemed as if he was going to need to be a little more aggressive if he was going to get her attention. With a running start, he was off to adventure! Or therapy, not sure what was going to be needed. Either way…

”Hey, wait up. I’m the Doctor, I can help!”

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Too caught up in her own little world, Trixie at first ignored the sounds of someone calling out to her. She could see the brown colored Earth Pony out of the corner of her eye, but she really wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with anyone right now. As she kept running, however, she could hear a second set of hooves coming after her, followed by the sound of the pony once again calling out to her. It was starting to be rather obvious he wasn’t going to let up anytime soon, so Trixie came to halt and swerved around to meet the obnoxious follower, teeth gritting the entire time.

”Look, the Great and Powerful Tri…”

Stopping midsentence, Trixie backed off just a little. What was the point in announcing herself like that? Sure, it was a point of pride for her, but at this moment it was more of a joke to everypony else. Just the knowledge that right now in Ponyville ponies would laugh at the mention of her name just spoiled the effect.

”Just…Trixie does not wish to be disturbed right now.”

Making her point clear, Trixie turned around and headed off again. Hopefully he would take the hint and go away.

[/blockquote]

[Time Turner]

It seemed for a moment that the blue unicorn was going to ignore him, but Time Turner soon found that his persistence paid off. Well, it paid off in the sense that she turned around to tell him to back off. To honest, it should have been a reaction he expected. After all, ponies that are upset tend to not like random strangers butting into their business. However, this pony’s problem was obviously not a normal one since it apparently ended with her running out onto the dirt road in the middle of the night. At the very least, he was able to get a name out of her; the Great and Powerful Trixie. Now where did he hear of that name before…ah well it probably wasn’t anything important.

What was important was hoping that his upbeat positive attitude could break through this pony’s little shell. If they were going to be going the same way, he might as well tag along with her. If her mood didn’t improve, she was going to be a rather dreadful companion to hang around with. So even with her telling him to back off, he simply decided to trot alongside her for the time being.

”Ah, very well then…Trixie was it?,” he said, glancing at her from the side with a bit of a smile on his face, ”But you’ll have to suffer me a little longer unfortunately. Not really sure where I’m going but I know it was at least in this direction.”

With a slight grin on his face, he simply walked alongside the silver-maned pony, quiet at first. As the seconds ticked on, however, his own need to make some kind of noise started to bother him. Since he had promised not to talk to Trixie, he figured that instead he could get away with some humming. The humming, of course, soon turned into an actual song, and with the music flowing he started mumbling lyrics to himself.

”I used to wonder what friendship could be, hmmmmmm, until you all shared it’s magic with me.”

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Trixie sighed. ”Very well then, just don’t bother Trixie too much…”

Great, so he was determined to follow her after all. To be fair though he had been on the road first, but did that really mean he had to be walking right up beside her? Whatever, as long as he was quiet and didn’t bother her with any more questions, Trixie figured it would be fine. And for a few, short moments everything was fine. He was quiet and looking ahead, she was quiet and was looking down at the ground in a frustrated mood. And then he started to hum. Why did he have to start to hum. Trixie just looked up and glared at him for a second, but he seemed rather oblivious to his surroundings. If a little humming kept him quiet, then she could live with it. Still, she picked up the pace just a little bit till she was in front him. There was a temptation to smack him in the face with her tail, but she decided getting it dirty all over some random Earth Pony’s face wasn’t worth it.

And then he started singing. It started off quiet enough, but as time moved on it got louder till she could make out the lyrics. Well, he did break off their little agreement, so Trixie felt very justified as she turned around and pointed a hoof at his face, eyes squinted in a glare.

”Trixie thought she told you to not bother Trixie. If you want to follow along, please keep it quiet so Trixie can think.”

Hopefully this time he would understand her point, but before she started walking again she remembered one more thing to say.

”And do not walk beside Trixie. Trixie enjoys her personal space.”

There, that should do it.

[Time Turner]

Well, seemed his musical interests were enough to provoke a reaction out of her. She seemed rather flustered and annoyed; good time to try and provoke her more. Hopefully in this state Trixie would be a little more willing to spill a little more information. Still, the brown stallion did feel it might be best to keep some distance from her in this mood. He really wouldn’t like to get bucked in the face by an angry mare….well, not again at least. At the mere thought of that moment in Las Pegasus his entire face started to feel sore. That was also the last time he ever played blackjack if his memory served... Anyway, time to figure out what made Trixie tick.

”Awww, now come on, lighten up a little and just let it all out. I’m a very good listener and….wait a moment.”

The sudden light of revelation hit him as he finally remembered where he had witnessed the mare. Great and Powerful Trixie, blue unicorn, kind of loud and spiteful sounding. There had been a mare right in town square earlier in the day that fit that description. Stopping, he looked her over again one more time, finally taking notice of the magic wand and dust Cutie Mark on her flanks. Yep, that seemed appropriate for a magician. Well then, now that he got a chance to talk to her, he had a few things to say about her show.

”Ohhhhhh, I recognize you now! You were that magician from this afternoon, with the fireworks and all that. It was a good show, truly it was. A little rude though, but still impressive. Now how exactly did you manipulate that rainbow? Was it some kind of light manipulation spell, or were you …nope, nope, guess I can’t ask. A magician never reveals their tricks and all that. “ he said, saying everything in about one breath before stopping himself on a dime.

”So uhm…what are you doing out here anyway? It’s too far out for a casual stroll after all. Something had to have happened. And it must have been pret-ty big to make you lose your wagon.” he thought for a second before continuing,”Trick gone wrong? Fireworks burn it up? No, you wouldn’t run from that. Make a pony angry? You do seem the type but…”

[/blockquote]

[Trixie Lulamoon]

What, was this guy a therapist or something? Well, no, that wouldn’t fit for the hourglass cutie mark, but he sure was acting like one. Well, there was absolutely nothing that he could say or do that would get her to open up. Trixie’s business was her own business, and he had no need to…

And then he recognized her. Trixie flinched for a second, expecting him to start berating her for the Ursa Minor incident when instead he…started praising her. That was enough to get Trixie to stop for a moment; even when angered and annoyed she enjoyed having her ego stroked. Still, it was a little suspicious, so she remained wary as he kept going on about her show. Still, he did seem rather genuine about liking her magic, even asking her how exactly she did it. Having someone praise her brought her mood up just a little bit, enough that she was able to speak with some level of her usual boastful tone.

”Oh you are quite right about that; Trixie never reveals the secrets of her magic. But you really should have said you were a fan of the Great and Powerful Trixie, for Trixie would have been a little more…accommodating. So go on, is there anything else you'd like to ask Trixie?'

And the moment she gave him a chance to speak, she found herself regretting it. As he rambled on about fireworks and tricks going wrong, Trixie began to turn away to leave. Just as he started saying she made somepony angry, she interrupted his ramblings.

”Trixie would prefer to not talk about why Trixie had to leave Ponyville or why she does not have her wagon anymore…but thank you for the praise.”

For once she was honestly grateful for somepony praising her. After such a massive blow to her ego, hearing somepony else acknowledge how great and powerful she was lifted her spirits somewhat. However, now that he had mentioned it, she did have a question.

"But indulge Trixie; why are you out here? she said as she started walking again.

[Time Turner]

Well, he was right about not being able to get any more information out of her about her magic tricks. That was fair enough. More surprising was the sudden improvement in mood there was over simply giving her a bit of praise. It shouldn’t have been that surprising considering she talked in third person. Only someone with a bit of an ego would do that. He’d have to tuck that information into his brain. Might be something handy to remember after all.

When given the chance to ask more questions he took it. Like always, he soon found himself ranting off reasons why she have to flee Ponyville. His rambling was interrupted, however, and he soon found himself facing a rather distressed mare asking him to just stop. If he had noticed her face a moment ago he would have. While he could be a little ignorant of his friends feeling sometimes, he never meant to purposefully hurt their feelings. Just as he was about to apologize, however, her face softened up as she thanked him for the praise. My, who knew stroking somepony’s ego could actually be a technique for cheering them up?

”No thanks necessary. It really was an impressive performance.” he replied, his voice more of friendly reassurance than the happy-go-lucky optimist. There was a nice, brief moment of silence between them before Trixie spoke up again, apparently back into a more normal mood.

”Oh, that’s a reasonable question I guess. It’s really quite simple really; I’m on vacation,” he said, giving a cheerful smile as if to say that actually answered the question.

”But since I’ve already seen this road during the daytime, I wanted to try and see it at night. With Princess Luna back I figured there would be some new constellations or meteor showers or something. It really is quite exciting, even if I really can’t see that far ahead of me.”

As the two of them walked along, Time Turner’s brain began working overtime. He was starting to form an idea in his mind, a crazy little idea. Trixie was obviously a pony in need of some help; travelling alone in a state like hers would just not be good. It would probably lead her to go down about two paths. One, she stays depressed and melancholy. Or two, she gets angry at whatever it was that caused her to be like this. Either way it could cause a lot of trouble down the road for her. She needed someone to keep her together, at least till she was back to being, what was it again, Great and Powerful? Besides, he currently didn’t have a travel buddy, and adventuring wasn’t a hobby to do alone. Running in front of Trixie, he turned around to face her.

”So Trixie, I was wondering something. How would you like to see Equestria? Well, I guess you’ve seen some of it with your travelling show and all, but how much have you really seen? I’m a bit of an amateur explorer, but it’s been ages since I’ve had someone to show off the wonders of the world too. New cities, exotic foods, ancient ruins, and even the occasional terrifying monster.”

At this point he got in closer, his tone shifting to a much more serious one as he started up again.

”I can’t promise it’ll always be safe. As an explorer of the arcane arts, you should understand the unknown can be treacherous. But for someone like you, someone like the Great and Powerful Trixie, I think it would be absolutely…fantastic.” he said, giving a cheesy smile to finish off .

[/blockquote]

[Trixie Lulamoon]

While she wasn’t sure why, she felt she could trust Time Turner when he said that he really thought it was an impressive performance. At least there was someone in Ponyville who was appreciative of her work. As the conversation continued Trixie began wearing a rather self-satisfied smile. The brown-maned pony’s happy mood was a little addictive, and his praise of her didn’t hurt either. There was even something a little whimsical about his reasoning for being out on the road at night. She too had often looked up at the sky and stared at the stars when her wagon was camped for the night. Although in her case, the reason was quite different.

”Trixie also finds excitement in the stars. When Trixie looks up at the stars, she thinks about all the ponies that are also looking up at them, and all the magic that went into making them. Then, Trixie thinks about the feeling of all those eyes looking on her as she performs equally stunning feats of magic….”

Even she thought that sounded a little egotistical, but that’s the way she felt. Trixie wanted to be a star, and that was that. But of course that dream backfired on her now. Now, the only way she was going to be famous was as a joke, ponies going around asking each other “Hey, remember that pony who got her wagon destroyed by an Ursa Minor? Pixie was it?”

”But I guess it’s just going to be a dream for me now.”

That left an important question though; what was she going to do now? She could always go home back to her family, take up some normal job up with her brother and sisters, just becoming a background pony in the world. After all, she had no money, no wagon, and about the only plan she could think of was to get revenge against Twilight Sparkle. And as tempting as that sounded, it also seemed kind of pointless. What chance did a nopony like herself had against someone who stood up to an Ursa Minor, let alone the Element of Magic (how Trixie failed to recognize her after all the news she didn’t know). No, all she had left was..

Before she got a chance to finish that thought, Time Turner broke from her side and got in front of her. Stopping, she was about to ask him to move when all of a sudden he just started talking. Her eyes widened as she realized just what it was that he was asking; he wanted her to travel with him, to go see Equestria, possibly facing dangerous foes. Well, she only had one response to that.

”You are completely out of your mind. Trixie…Trixie doesn’t need…Trixie doesn’t want to…you’re just…”

Why couldn’t she just tell him off? Was she seriously considering the idea, travelling with this pony who seemed to rather off his rocker? Admittedly it sounded a lot better than just going back to nothing, but she couldn’t just go travelling with this guy could she? She didn’t know this pony at all, or whatever it was that he was saying. But…but…

”Fine. Trixie will join you for one of these adventures. If Trixie finds herself enjoying it, then Trixie will consider your offer. After all, if some crazy pony like you can be an ‘explorer’, then it should be a piece of cake for,”

She took a deep breath. Sure, she had yelled this out back in Ponyville, but that had been just a face-saving measure to try and save a bit of her ego at the moment. Here though, she was saying it with a little more pride as she reared up.

”THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!”