Equestria Daily

Greetings, everyone. My name is TheSlorg, and I am here to bring you another Pony Spotlight.

This one promises to be great. This one promises to be... well, okay. It can't really be powerful, but it most certainly will be Trixie! And with the latest episode, there is even more Trixie to love. Also, spoiler warning for those who have yet to see the episode.

So what is there to know about this pony performer? Head on down below the break to find out!

Name: Trixie Lulamoon
Aliases: Lulamoon, The Great and Powerful Trixie
Cutie Mark: A sparkling moon and a wand
Appearances: 6 episodes, Equestria Girls, Rainbow Rocks, Friendship Games, and 5 EQG shorts
First Appearance: Boast Busters
Speaking Roles: 3
Random Fact: Gender bend! Trixie was originally scripted to be male, but Hasbro requested the character to be changed to a female.

Beginnings

Trixie Lulamoon. Or is it just Trixie? No, it's Trixie Lulamoon. Back in the days before Lyra Heartstrings had an official name, Trixie was just Trixie. Then some merchandise was released that seemed to officially name Lyra as 'Heartstrings' and many tears were wept and fanfics crushed. Not too long after, Hasbro released some new merchandise that gave the fandom name back to Lyra by making 'Heartstrings' into her last name. Not to be outdone, Trixie soon had merchandise released giving her a last name: Lulamoon. Even her toys can't stand to be one-upped!

Seriously though, Trixie's name wasn't the only thing that went through changes. In the initial script for her very first appearance in Boast Busters, she was meant to be a he. Hasbro, however, wasn't having any of that. They somehow knew that Trixie would be a much better character as a female.

Well, they probably just didn't want to have to make new plastic molds for their toys, so having a female was easier. Still, the change seems to have been for the best, as Trixie suddenly turned into a female and the rest is history.

Her debut in Boast Busters made it clear early on that she was to become the third antagonist to appear on the show, behind Gilda the Griffon and Nightmare Moon. She arrives in Ponyville to put on a show, and part of her act is to be seen as great and powerful. She has no intention of letting anypony ruin the illusion of her act, which includes a bogus account of her travelling to Hoofington and vanquishing an ursa major, so she challenges the crowd by stating that anything they can do, she can do better. This leads to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all getting embarrassed in front of the crowd.

It should be noted that, despite all of Trixie's spells being simple, she uses them quite effectively. Her real talent of showmanship is truly on display here.

Unfortunately, her boasting leads two of her adoring fans, Snips and Snails, to go find an ursa major (later discovered to be an ursa minor) for her to fight. She is quickly revealed as a fraud, as she has no way of overcoming such a beast, though to her credit she does at least make an effort despite knowing she doesn't stand a chance. She is later almost crushed by the beast when Twilight puts it to sleep, but Twilight manages to levitate it with her magic, saving Trixie. She leaves town stating that, while Twilight might have been able to defeat the ursa minor, she'll never have the showstopping ability that Trixie has. Note that she is no longer saying she's magically superior, she is stating that she's a better showpony.

Growth

Trixie would show up a few more times in the background of various episodes, such as Bridle Gossip, and The Return of Harmony part 1, but only Trixie herself would consider these as being noteworthy. Her next real appearance was in season three's Magic Duel, where we learn that Trixie hasn't exactly learned her lesson just yet. The episode opens with her spending a large amount of bits on the Alicorn Amulet, a trinket that greatly amplifies the magical power of its user. Unfortunately, it also corrupts the user as well.

She arrives in Ponyville and immediately begins picking on Twilight's friends in an effort to draw her out, which succeeds. She then offers Twilight one of the worst deals in the history of deal-making: the loser of a magic duel between Trixie and Twilight will leave Ponyville forever. This is a horrible deal for Twilight, but Trixie wouldn't exactly be losing much if she lost, considering that she doesn't live in Ponyville and makes her living travelling to other towns. Yes, she had to supplement her income by working on a rock farm, but she still doesn't have much to lose. At any rate, Twilight actually accepts the deal, so maybe Trixie has a future in being a defense lawyer?

Trixie also seems to have little patience for Pinkie Pie's antics, as she reverts everything she's changed since arriving in Ponyville back to normal... except for Pinkie, who had her mouth removed.

When the duel begins, Trixie's first move is the attempted murder of Shoeshine, a recurring background pony. Seriously, she throws a wagon at the poor mare. Shoeshine would have been totally crushed if Twilight didn't use her magic to save her. Bad Trixie. Bad! Though to be fair, Twilight herself has been crushed by a piano and was no worse for wear... Pony durability is the stuff of legend. Anyway, Trixie then resorts to... throwing pies. Real consistent, Trixie. She eventually casts an aging spell on Snips and Snails, which Twilight fails to reverse, and thus Trixie wins the duel.

It is soon after this that we learn an interesting personality trait that Trixie has: she doesn't trust wheels. Why? It's never explained. Sounds like a noodle incident.

Of course, at the end of the episode Trixie is tricked into having another duel with Twilight, who uses irony and it's super effective when she uses stage tricks to overcome Trixie's magic and win the duel, whisking the Alicorn Amulet away from her in order to break its spell over her. With the amulet gone, Trixie realizes the horrible things she has done and apologizes before leaving Ponyville again.

Current Status

Trixie had a small cameo in season five's The Cutie Re-Mark part 2 in one of the alternate timelines, but her real return came just recently in season six's No Second Prances.

We learn very quickly that Trixie has been having a hard time dealing with the backlash to her antics in Magic Duel. A very hard time. As she says in response to Starlight Glimmer asking if she's ever had one of those days, Trixie responds that for her, they're all those kinds of days.

Her conversation with Starlight reveals that no matter where she goes, ponies are always judging her on her past, regardless of what she does. This sparks the beginnings of a friendship between the two. We later see that Trixie is in town as part of her apology tour, in which she is trying to make amends for her past deeds. She even plans on performing a trick only ever successfully done by Hoofdini, in which she would shoot out of a cannon and into a manticore's mouth, then reappear inside a box. Starlight agrees to help her with the trick by being her assistant. But, continuing the trend of MLP villains who are reformed, but not entirely reformed, Trixie still harbors resentment and jealousy towards Twilight Sparkle, and begins to use her friendship with Starlight against her. This backfires when Starlight finds out what is going on, and decides not to assist Trixie with her act.

Thus begins a moment that, as Sethisto mentioned in the episode followup, could be considered incredibly dark. Trixie, having lost her only friend, being reviled no matter what she tries to do, and knowing she can't perform the trick alone, goes through with attempting the trick anyway. This is a mare at her lowest of lows. Yes, the manticore ends up bowing at the end of the show, but take modern day stage magicians who work with animals, for example. We all know what happened with Sigfried and Roy. These stage performers work knowing that the next performance could be the day that an animal decides it's not going to cooperate. Regardless of whether or not the manticore was a trained stage performer, it's still a manticore, and a known pony-eater. Trixie knew very well that she might not get out of it alive.

Looking at it from another perspective, this could very well be Trixie's first true use of the magic of friendship. She knows she can't perform the trick alone, but she trusts in her heart that Starlight Glimmer will be there for her. Cue Glimglam coming to the rescue, and we have an injured and woozy, but very much alive, Trixie left to close the show.

It's important here to look at Trixie's expressions immediately following the trick. She is woozy at first, then collapses to the ground. She opens her eyes at the sound of cheering and looks confused. When Starlight helps her up, Trixie's face betrays the complete shock she feels that Starlight actually returned. It is very clear from these expressions that Trixie wasn't expecting to get out of it unscathed. She had hoped that friendship would see her through, but she wasn't sure. The look on her face as realization sets in makes it very clear: she is now absolutely certain that Starlight is her first true friend. Her look is almost one of adoration, which is understandable to anyone who has ever shared in her feelings of worthlessness before. A small act of kindness can be everything to someone who feels they have nothing.

The Great and Powerful Trixie! An initially boastful mare who let jealousy get the better of her, fell to her lowest of lows, only to allow the magic of friendship into her heart at the end. What are you favorite Trixie moments? Which pony would you like to see in a future Spotlight? Let me know in the comments below!

Trixie Fanfics!