The sun began to set by the time Trixie made it to the gilded halls of Canterlot Castle. In complete opposition of what happened the previous time she had visited Canterlot alone, nopony dared get in her way. A few guards checked her identity, but that was it. The castle seemed almost deserted.
I'll bet that Luna wasn't too happy when she found out how many of the staff had been bribed by the nobles to help them, thought Trixie. Maybe they're hiding.
Soon enough, Trixie found herself standing in front of the familiar doors that led to Luna’s personal chambers. The guards at the sides of the door crossed their spears in front of Trixie. “Who are you?”
“I am Dame Trixie, Representative of Ponyville, Knight of the Realm, and Bearer of the Element of Magic. I hereby invoke my Right of Approach to speak to Princess Luna,” Trixie declared with far more confidence than she was feeling.
The two guards traded a glance, then sheathed their spears. “Enter,” one said.
Trixie nodded to the two guards as she entered. A moment later, though, the doors closed again and blocked them from sight. There was only Luna's office.
And sitting at a small desk was Princess Luna herself.
“Hello Trixie. What brings you to Canterlot this evening?” she said.
Here we go. “Luna, I......we....” Trixie paused, shifting her hooves slowly and nervously.
“Trixie? Is something wrong?” Luna walked over to her student and gently draped a wing over her. “Has something happened?”
“Luna, I......” Trixie breathed in deeply, and steeled herself. “I....have a confession to make.....”
***
“And-and then I took the next train to Canterlot so I could tell you.”
Trixie shook with every breath she took, her forehead, along with the brim of her hat, was drenched in sweat. Her eyes were stuck firmly on the ground, too afraid to see her teacher’s reaction. The wing that had been comfortingly draped over Trixie having was now conspicuously absent.
“And I wanted to say I’m... I’m so sorry, Princess, and I...”
There was no response.
“Princess Luna?” whispered Trixie, looking up -- and seeing, she was certain, what the nobles had seen just after the Gala few days ago.
Luna looked upon her, not as her teacher anymore, nor her protector, but as her judge. Her wings extended, she reared back slightly, and she bared her teeth. Trixie had to actively fight not to take a step back.
“I see,” said Luna Equestris.
Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but Luna continued. “It was not just the nobles, then. Not simply the ponies among whom I lived and worked. But my own student, whom I reared and raised... she, too, accepted their methods.” Her eyes darkened.
“Princess--” began Trixie.
“SILENCE!” roared Luna, and Trixie couldn’t stop herself from scurrying away several steps.
“I had hoped you were different. How many years did I teach you, devote my energies towards your education? I taught you all I knew of politics, science, art, magic... and ethics. I had thought that, even if none of the nobles understood, even if they were blinded by greed or ambition, that the one pony who told me so often how much she valued my teachings would be different.” She was silent for a moment longer, and she began to approach Trixie. The showmare found that she had backed up against the wall and could go no further; she only cringed as the princess approached her.
“I had hoped,” Luna continued, “That a pony who knew first-hoof the evils of the nobles’ actions, who suffered so much from their depredations and knew full well the true costs of their abuses, would know better than to engage in the same petty, vengeful, destructive crimes! You saw the anguish of your fellow citizens, Trixie! You heard their wails and their cries! Caused by nobles who thought they knew better. Who sought their own enrichment, or advancement, or revenge, or some high-minded political goals deemed more important than shattered buildings and flooded fields!”
Luna was standing directly in front of Trixie, and she leaned down to glare into her student’s face.
“And who, mere hours after I castigated them, set out to hurt another pony just as they hurt others. Because you knew better. Because you were more important.”
Trixie feebly shook her head. “That wasn’t it, Princess. I--”
“STOP,” ordered Luna, and Trixie shut up. “You went to such effort, Trixie, to show me their crimes. Why, if you had no problem with their methods? Was it just that you were their targets? Would you have eagerly joined their ranks had Ponyville never been afflicted? Did you simply want me to shut down their schemes, leaving the field open for your own? Perhaps you thought yourself immune to my judgement?”
Her voice was not as angry now. It sounded hurt. Anguished, even.
“Princess, no,” whispered Trixie.
“Where did I go wrong, Trixie?” Luna’s voice was soft and low. “Not one honest noble among the two hundred and forty-three Courtiers. None among the ancient families, or the highly honored, or the newly booned. And now even you join them. Why does everypony near me slide into corruption? From my sister forward, has even one escaped?”
“It’s not your fault!” protested Trixie, throwing herself down before Luna. “Princess, I made a big mistake. I -- I was scared, and stupid, and I took a shortcut and I’m so sorry, and I feel terrible, and--”
“Yes,” said Luna. “Those who commit wrongs often evince regret. Common criminals proclaim every day in our courts how sorry they are, how sincerely they have repented. Yet this is not considered an excuse for their crimes.” Her eyes flashed; her anger, it seemed, had returned. “Should the nobles and gentry be held to a lesser standard?”
Trixie stopped talking, knowing that any attempt to protest, to plead her case or proclaim how sorry she was, would only go the worse for her. “Is... is there any way to make this right?” she whispered.
After a few moments, she heard Luna stepping away. She looked up to see Luna moving back towards her desk. “You committed the same actions as the nobles, and you will be dealt with in the same way. I forgave them their crimes, placing them instead on probation... I do the same to you. You will not be charged with blackmail, Trixie, or extortion, or any of the other crimes you committed.”
“Thank you--” began Trixie.
“But you are on the same probation as them. If I hear of any hint of corruption from you, Trixie, I will revoke your Knighthood. And should I be forced to take that step, I will also ensure that there is no House of Lulamoon. Not now, and not for your lifetime. Their Houses are forfeit if they fall once more... yours is no different”
Trixie looked back down at the floor.
“Now. You need to tell me something.”
“What?” asked Trixie.
“My anger with the nobles was not just at the ones who broke the law. There were those who scrupulously obeyed every tenant of the Equestrian legal code... but they knew that their colleagues were not so high-minded, and they said nothing. They decided that it was not their problem that laws were being broken, so they stayed silent, and allowed the crimes of my Court to fester and spread. They too are on probation, because I expect more of my nobles and gentry." Luna shut her eyes for a moment. "The other Elements, Trixie. Did they see what you did? Did they witness you blackmailing another, and, instead of reporting it -- as was their obligation, as gentry, as Knights of the Realm -- choose to conceal it?”
Trixie froze for a moment, torn between answering her teacher and betraying her friends. She had never expected this particular line of questioning; when she’d thought of the confession at all, she had mostly hoped that Luna would listen to her, forgive her, and help her find a way to make it right. I can’t believe I got them involved too... what’s wrong with me?
“Trixie?” Luna’s voice was stern and implacable.
Trixie knew there was no point in concealing it... and that Luna had a point. How many Courtiers had been blasted for failing to report corruption? How could she ask Luna to forgive her friends alone? Being friends with a noble or gentry, even being a noble or gentry yourself, didn’t give you the right to evade your responsibilities.
“They saw,” she whispered.
“Then they are on the same probation. You will inform them of this at your earliest opportunity.” Luna was silent for another moment. “Is there anything else, Trixie?”
“.....no.”
“In that case, return to Ponyville. You still have work to do.”
“But....what about Blueblood?”
“Viscount Blueblood is currently unavailable. Should this change, if I feel your presence is necessary, I will call for you. Until that time, I expect you to do your job.”
Trixie gulped. “Yes, Princess.”
“You are dismissed.”
Trixie bowed as deeply as she could. “Yes, Princess.” And she shakily exited Luna’s chambers, barely aware of the tears that ran down her face.
“.....where did I go wrong.....?” Luna asked herself again. The only answer she received was the the pool of her own tears that began to form on the floor.