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It's an early morning in Equestria's capital city Canterlot. The sun is already rising high in the sky, and casting long shadows across the boisterous city filled with a variety of well to do unicorn families. It's a school day this particular morning, and a classroom full of unicorn colts and fillies are playing amongst themselves while waiting for the teacher to arrive. Off in the corner, sitting by herself, tirelessly pouring over a book of magic spells is Trixie, an average sized blue filly with long white mane and tail. None of the other foals seem to really take notice of Trixie, she's always been there, more acknowledged as a part of the scenery than another pony, rarely did she talk to anypony, and equally rare was there reason for anypony to talk to her. Behind her shy demeanor were great aspirations though, during the rare times when she wasn't pouring over books of spells and trying to memorize every minute detail about them, she fantasized that she might be a great and powerful unicorn capable of casting the most amazing and incredible spells, even creating new ones herself that would astound all the ponies! It wasn't known to the other ponies, but Trixie had an incredible affinity for magic, she was already casting spells that most unicorn her age wouldn't be able to comprehend, but whenever there was a competition, or time where she could show off her skills, her stage fright got the better of her and she ended up screwing up even basic levitation spells, as such Trixie's talents went completely unrecognized. In the same class however, was another unicorn Twilight Sparkle. She of course knew nothing about her classmate Trixie who excluded herself from all the others, but every pony in the class knew of Twilight, "She's already gotten a letter of acceptance from Celestia's school for talented unicorns." "I heard she levitated the entire school staff during the last talent show!" tales of Twilight's magical prowess were the talk of the school all the time, and nopony knew better than Trixie just how capable the other filly was. Even though the two had never so much as exchanged a greeting, Trixie had sworn the other to be her rival, though she'd never admit it, she knew Twilight was better at magic than she, and often would struggle to try and learn the same spells that Twilight seemed to master with relative ease once she'd finished a book. The books were piling up rapidly though, Twilight seemed to just breeze through them, while Trixie had to read over the spells time and time again just to get the basic concept down, so it came that when Twilight did leave for Celestia's school for talented unicorns, that Trixie had a small mountain of reading material to go through.

Over the next several years, Trixie's dedication paid off, things seemed to be clicking more easily, the spells that had confounded her were making sense, and she really felt like she was making some real progress! But every time she wanted to try and show somepony what she'd learned, she'd get a lump in her throat, the fear of messing it up, just like every time she had before ruined her concentration and the spell, usually it would just result in a fizzled failure, but on some occasion the results were dangerous, even launching a large fireball- thankfully nopony was injured, but Trixie was scolded harshly for her careless use of magic and restricted from further studies of any advanced spells. It was devastating for the young filly. She had poured everything in to learning magic, and now she was to be restrained to the most simple of spells? Trixie cried through the entire night. The next day, the same ponies who'd never seen her before, who never so much as acknowledged her existence all saw Trixie, the dry red in her eyes, her disheveled mane, she was an absolute wreck, and it was clear she didn't care whether all the ponies saw it. The classroom was full of whispers as to what had happened, eventually deciding that she had gotten rejected by one of the colts- though none of them acknowledged ever even speaking to her, it was the most reasonable explanation to the young foals. Trixie's depression got worse over the next weeks, she had gone from practicing spells that would've amazed Celestia herself that such a young filly could cast them, to staring at the same few paragraphs that described the levitation spell. It is not usual for teachers to directly intervene in personal matters of their students at Canterlot, as families there are often incredibly strict about how they raise their fillies, and easily offended when one suggests that something may be wrong with their foal. After watching Trixie's grades decline so rapidly however, her teacher did indeed step in. Another gloomy day of depressing studies, Trixie was readying to drag herself home to hide in her room until the next meaningless day when she was stopped at the door by her teacher, and by of all things a minotaur! She'd never seen one in real life before, and speechlessly she looked from one to the other. "Trixie, this is Iron Will, he's a motivational speaker who gives seminars that help ponies overcome difficult times." her teacher explained. Iron Will looked down at the filly, his large muscular body seemed to tower over her, but he didn't seem overbearing or fear inspiring, he looked more like a big goofball with his ridiculous mohawk and spokesman grin. She half expected him to try and sell her a workout machine looking as he did. Without a moment's warning, Iron Will lifted Trixie in to the palm of his hand and lifted her to eye level, there was a gasp of surprise from the tiny filly whose horn crackled defensively. "Whoa there little filly, no need to start sling'n spells around" his voice was gruff and confident, he didn't look like he'd be worried even if she did try and cast anything. "I'm here to help -you- become a powerful, proud unicorn!" The fizzling of her horn stopped, her eyes went wide, it was like a ray of hope shone through the depression that had clouded her entire life over the past weeks, it was her stage fright that kept her from showing her magical talent after all, that had been the very bane of her existence up until now, could he really fix her? Looking at the minotaur, she believed immediately that he could, Iron Will absolutely exuded confidence! "You can help me great?" she muttered out, just above a whisper. It wasn't something the teacher noticed immediately, but that was probably the most the filly had ever said at once to that point, usually answering questions in a single word whenever possible, and being as laconic as she could if forced to converse. "No little filly, it's not that I can. But I-ron -Will- make you confident!" he declared proudly, the teacher shuddered at the pun, though Trixie's eyes gleamed with hope, her tail flicking about delightedly, she was already feeling more confident just being in the presence of the minotaur! Trixie's education with Iron Will was a slow one, he had many seminars to attend, and could only visit her once a week, but it was a day she looked forwards to from the moment the two parted from one session, eagerly awaiting the next. "You can't be scared, if you've come prepared!" "Don't shiver like you've got the chills, trust Iron Will!" "No more looking irate and dourful, you're great and powerful!" The weeks went on and Trixie finally started to find her confidence, it was noticed that she'd taken on Iron Will's habit of speaking in the third person at times, but thankfully she didn't try and make life lessons in to poorly worded rhymes. By the time the school talent show came by, Trixie was certain that she would claim first prize, and hopefully join her old rival Twilight in Celestia's personal school.

Trixie stood nervously offstage, watching the performances of the other colts and fillies, most of the acts were fairly standard, some would demonstrate how many objects they could levitate at once, perform ventriloquism acts, and there was even an illusionist who augmented his magical ability with quick hoof movements to make his demonstration seem all the more impressive. Trixie saw right through all his efforts, but the audience was amurmur by the time he stepped off, he was definitely the crowd favorite so far. But they hadn't seen The Great and Powerful Trixie yet! Iron Will stood beside Trixie, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Well Trixie, this is it. Time to show all those ponies what you're made of." the two had grown very close during their short times together, though Trixie could tell her time with him would be ending soon, he'd taught her everything he could, and their sessions as of late had become practices for her magic performance, this would likely be the last time she'd see him. "And now everyone-" the announcer started. "I'd like to welcome Tr- excuse me, The Great and Powerful Trixie!" "Alright, you're on!" Iron Will smiled and gave her a thumbs up, Trixie gave him just the quickest little kiss on the cheek before running on to the stage, horn glowing brightly and releasing a shower of brightly colored stars that illuminated the room so brightly, for a second the crowd was blinded, and when they could see again, Trixie was standing center stage as if she'd appeared out of nowhere! Already she was being welcomed with applause. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs feats beyond compare!" she declared boldly, her heart was racing, she could feel them all watching her, but instead of scaring her, it spurred her on to do even better, their eyes were glued on her, awaiting what she'd do next. Trixie's horn glowed lightly and the stage lights all redirected on to her, leaving the rest of the stage, and the audience in complete blackness, one by one the colors of the lights changed, coating Trixie in a rainbow of colors that seemed to swirl around her, the filly soon just a silhouette behind the mesmerizing mix of colors. "Behold!" she called out, the lights shooting out from the mare in to a glorious rainbow that streaked across the audience, revealing Trixie had undergone a quick change, now donned in the silky cape and pointed wizard hat, both decorated by Trixie, and sewn by Iron Will- who swore Trixie to secrecy about his talent in sewing. Trixie performed trick after trick, every spell she could remember was greeted with more applause, and Trixie shone brighter, more confidently than ever, finally she was being recognized for all her hard work. So caught up was she in dazzling the audience, that she'd not even noticed how exhausted she was from the continuous castings, the audience begged for more, nopony was sitting anymore and even the other contestants had their heads poking out from offstage to get a glimpse of her. It wasn't until a stray breeze brought Trixie to the realization that her entire face was coated in sweat, her cape now sticking against her with the same, the fatigue from casting so many subsequent spells hit the filly like a runaway carriage and soon she was struggling just to keep standing, with the last of her strength, she took a bow, and unsteadily wobbled off the stage where Iron Will caught her in his strong arms before she collapsed. "You've made me proud." were the last words Trixie heard as she drifted in to unconsciousness, tears of joy trickling down her cheeks.

Trixie awoke with a start and looked around in confusion, the school hospital, the white sheets that surrounded her gave it away, though the lights were all off, and it didn't look like anypony was around. "Hello?" she called out to the darkness, she pulled open the curtain that divided her room and saw nothing but the outlines of the chairs and doctor's desk that made up the office. "Hello?" she repeated a little louder. Trixie sat up in the bed, almost immediately lying back down, her head ached worse than ever when she tried to move, and she didn't think she could even manage so much as a spell to illuminate the area at the moment. Trixie reached out to the left and right of her, grabbing hold of something she thought was a lamp, her hooves explored the foreign object, it had the base similar of a lamp, but near the top it was a cup. After a moment's contemplation she realized what she held in her hooves was a trophy, and by the feel of the engraving, there was a large number one on it! She clung it tightly to her chest, trickles of tears streaming down her cheeks. Something in the cup bumped against her nose, a piece of paper? It was a card, though she still couldn't light up the area enough to read it, it was likely just a certificate handed out with the trophy anyways. With that in mind, Trixie once more set the trophy on to the counter beside her and rested her head back against the pillow drifting right back to sleep so easily, she'd wondered if she'd been awake at all. The next morning she was awoken by the sound of the nurse's office door unlocking and the clip-clop of the doctor's hooves, the light was soon turned on, a soft, low light that didn't hurt her eyes when it did. Trixie blinked a couple times as she looked around, to her right hung neatly was her cape and hat, to her left was a beautiful gold trophy with piles of cards from her classmates, the ones who hadn't even known her name before that day, congratulations and well wishes from everyone. Before she could go through them all, the curtains were pulled open, and the smiling face of the school's doctor appeared. "Well Trixie it looks like you finally woke up, you were out for almost two days after that performance, and it's no wonder, a normal little filly couldn't have pulled off half the stunts you did." Trixie's cheeks flushed a light shade of red from the praise, she wasn't used to ponies even talking to her, much less praising her. "I'll call your parents to come pick you up." he mentioned, and once more closed the curtains, the sound of the phone dialing and half the conversation were heard opposite of it. Trixie heard none of it however, she'd remembered the card within the trophy cup and had fished it out, eyes scanning over it; once, twice, three times to make sure she'd read it right, her lip quivering as she blinked away the beginnings of tears at the edges of her eyes. "Trixie! You have surpassed all of Iron Will's greatest expectations! You are my greatest pupil, and I have no doubt you'll be the greatest unicorn Canterlot's ever seen one day! You no longer need a 'smelly old minotaur' like myself to stand on your own hooves; just remember my name when you become rich and famous, and make sure to tell everyone how great Iron Will's program worked for you!" The letter was written in the same jolly, carefree manner that Iron Will spoke in, she could practically hear him speaking it as she read, but she knew what it meant. Her times with Iron Will were over, she may not ever see him again. Before Trixie could break in to tears however, her parents arrived and brought her home, there was a party to celebrate her wonderful performance and earning her cutie mark! Which Trixie hadn't even realized until one of her parents pointed it out to her. Trixie still felt the emptiness from losing her mentor, but the festivities of the party were top notch, and everyone from her school attended to help her at least be distracted from the pain of losing him.

Trixie's life seemed perfect at first, everyone in class loved and admired her, they begged her to show them her incredible magic tricks, and Trixie was more than willing to show off for the ponies, often neglecting her studies to put on magic shows for the other ponies and flaunt her abilities. As time went by, however, Trixie found that the same magic tricks weren't wowing the crowd as they used to. "We've seen that before." "Don't you have any new tricks to show us?" And she did on occasion learn a new spell or two, though she showed it off so frequently immediately after learning it, that everyone was sick of it within a couple days. Trixie was quick to learn, however, that she also possessed quite a silver tongue, and could spin wondrous stories about her magical spells, how she'd discovered how to control light and shadow from a tome buried beneath the school in a dungeon that had to be sealed off because of foals going missing- oh and she fought off an army of skeletons in there too. Once more Trixie was center stage in the school, not all the ponies believed her outrageous stories, but they were entertaining to listen to, and often Trixie would put on a little light show to animate the scene she'd described. Most the ponies didn't mind when she'd gloat about her magical prowess, she was incredibly powerful after all, but when she started demeaning the other ponies who had difficulties with spells, she was once more becoming an outcast, and she hated it. She hated those ponies for not acknowledging her power! Maybe somewhere deep inside her Trixie realized that wasn't the case, but her ego had inflated far too much to accept it. Rarely any ponies came to her magic shows anymore by the time she was in high school, a pony had the occasional chance of seeing a new light trick, or hearing an interesting story, but usually she would just repeat herself, and often just had a crowd of colts and fillies- whom she liked better anyways since they loved her displays and didn't talk about her behind her back. The day Trixie graduated was the day she left Canterlot, delighted to leave the dreadful pompous place behind, she was -much- too talented to be stifled by their staunch old city. With a small satchel of bits from her family, and wagon full of stage props, to include the stage itself, Trixie set off to explore the world!

Town to town, to city, to even the smallest of villages Trixie explored, she would stay in one for a day or two, maybe a week before the local populace started turning sour to her, jealousy no doubt, which Trixie frequently pointed out to the 'ungrateful talentless hacks!' as she was escorted out of the town. It wasn't for some time that she happened upon the small, unassuming Ponyville. "Really? -That's- the name of this backwater hovel?" she huffed out upon seeing the friendly welcoming sign. "They might as well have named it Pony... Place." even with her vastly superior intellect, Trixie had a hard time coming up with a lamer sounding name than 'Ponyville.' "Well then, I suppose I should demonstrate for these common ponies just how powerful unicorn really are!" she decided as she trotted in, wagon in tow. Hopefully she could stay long enough to make a few bits too, her pouch was getting frighteningly light. Immediately upon walking through the town, Trixie felt at home, all the ponies smiled at her and waved, welcoming her, one even offered her a meal free of charge 'since all that traveling with a wagon must be exhausting!' While staying at the restaurant, Trixie managed to draw a small crowd of locals while describing her fierce battle with the manticore that attacked Trottingham! Receiving claps and cheers by the time she was finished. "That's incredible! I wonder if Twilight knows there's another unicorn as powerful..." the rest of the stallion's words fell deaf on Trixie's ears, that name; Twilight. Trixie had never forgotten the little filly, and for some reason she felt an unreasonable anger welling up in her upon hearing that she lived here. Twilight. The filly that had always been better at her in everything! Finally she would have the chance to prove once and for all that she was the greatest unicorn in all Equestria! The words of the other ponies meant nothing to her anymore, she hurried out of the facility and followed the vague directions, though the giant tree Twilight made home was hard to miss. Trixie stopped at the door, she could hear Twilight talking to someone inside. What was she going to say to her? 'I hate you for being good at magic in kindergarten?' No, she had a better idea.

Smoke and lightning shot out from Trixie's stage where almost all the ponies in town circled around to see, Trixie's magic show was as magnificent as ever, and soon she saw the purple-pink mane'd unicorn that she silently scorned, a wry grin spreading across her lips. "I challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do I can do better." she declared, showing no modesty in mocking the attempts of the various ponies, Twilight's friends that came to challenge her, it was just as she'd planned, she gave her biggest, brightest spells to demonstrate just how powerful she had become to psyche Twilight out. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most powerful unicorn in all Equestria! -You- are just some no-name unicorn living in a backwater town." she scoffed, stomping a hoof against a switch and closing up her stage to retire for the evening, whatever the cause, Twilight was refusing to show any magical prowess, and Trixie was fine with that, she'd proven to herself that Twilight's talent in kindergarten had just been a fluke, a memory warped by time, and convinced herself soon that -she- had been the one always one step ahead of the other unicorn, once more all was right with Trixie's world. Until the fire nation ursa minor attacked.

From this point on, the series elaborates on Trixie's life, detailing it all in text would be moot, and I don't wish to alter from the original story. Hope you enjoyed reading!