//------------------------------//
// The End of It 
// Story: TRIXIE: A Hearth's Warming Eve Carol 
// by SupaSupaBadTrulyMadMoves 
//------------------------------//

"Wait, what?" Trixie said aloud.

She sat up slowly. She was all tucked in beneath her covers, and her curtains were drawn tightly. Apprehensively, she pulled them back, and deflated with a mighty sigh of relief at the discovery that she was in her own room, sunlight filtering in through the window.

"I'm awake…" she said with dawning excitement. "I… I'm alive! Celestia be praised! It's not too late, I can… I can live! Hello, bed curtains!" She flung herself out of bed and danced around the room on her hind legs, twirling and leaping. "Hello, chairs and fireplace!"

She paused at the sight of the carvings on her fireplace: Sombra being turned to shadow, Discord turned to stone, Nightmare Moon being sealed within the moon. An emotional lump rose in her throat. "Hello, friends," she said with a sniffle. "I… I can change the future."

She threw back her head and laughed hysterically for minutes on end, until she was simply too exhausted to do so anymore. "Agh, too much laughter," she wheezed, shakily sitting down in her favorite chair. She eyed the other chair, where the ghost of Gilda had sat. "Two chairs," Trixie realized, and smiled. "I've always had it in me."

With effort, she got back to her hooves and walked to her bedroom window. "Ah, the window Gilda shoved me through," she pondered. "Repaired. Or… never broken in the first place? Hmm. I suppose it doesn't matter. Goodness me, how long have I been gone? At least three days, surely… ah, but that doesn't matter either. In my heart it shall always be Hearth's Warming Eve, mm-hmm…" She opened the window and poked her head out.

"You there!" she called. "You two boys!"

Two little colts in the middle of the otherwise-empty street turned to look at her in surprise, the short one remarking "Huh?" while the taller of the two chewed on something absently. Trixie gasped in delight at the realization that she recognized them from her visions of the present, despite the fact that she had never actually met them in her life.

"What day is it?" Trixie called to them.

"Huh?" the short one said again, looking even more alarmed.

"The date, good fellows, what day is it?" she urged.

"You okay, lady?" he said in concern. "It's Hearth's Warming Eve, of course!"

Trixie rocked back on her heels. "I haven't missed it," she breathed. "It all happened in one night. Well, I'll be blessed." Raising her voice again, she asked, "May I have your names, boys?"

"I'm Snips, and this is Snails," the little one replied.

"Fine names," she said with admiration. "You may call me Trixie. Boys, I need you to do something for me."

"Uh, okay," Snips said blankly.

"Have you been to the florist's?" she said eagerly, remembering that that was exactly where she had seen them. "Seen the huge arrangement of poinsettias that's just been put up? And the fresh bread at the bakery beside it?"

"Mmmm, yeah," Snails drawled, speaking for the first time. "We were just on our way there to stare at it."

Without a word, Trixie tossed a large coin at them, where it landed heavily in the snow. They peered at it, then their jaws dropped in unison. "Whoa!" Snips exclaimed. "What's this? Is this a five-bit coin?"

"Yes, yes it is," Trixie said smugly. "And I'll give you another one if you use that coin to buy the flower arrangement and the bread, the biggest and best that they have, and bring them back here. Come back in under five minutes and I'll make it two." And with that, she vanished into her house.

The two colts stared at the huge coin.

"Snails, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Snips said slyly.

"Uh, if Rudolph is the most famous reindeer of all, why does the song assume that we remember all the others but not him?" Snails guessed.

"I… that's… oh, just come on! Miss Trixie said we have five minutes." They scooped up the coin and ran off.

Back inside, Trixie had changed out of her nightclothes and into her best suit and hat, which were old but elegant, giggling all the while. "Delightful boys," she said to herself. "They're sure to become something big, end up in all the newspapers…"

She skipped into the hall and skidded her way to the top of the stairs, where she saw Zecora dusting some shelves on the ground floor.

"ZECORA, DARLING!" Trixie roared, racing down the stairs and leaping upon the zebra, giving her a huge, tight hug. "You came! You're here on time, as you always are. You're an amazing mare, Zecora! I simply must give you a raise worthy of your performance." She jumped up and down, spinning herself and the dumbfounded Zecora in a circle, before pulling away and looking the maid over with thoughtful eyes. "What are you doing, dusting? Nonsense! It's Hearth's Warming Eve! That's no kind of day for menial labor!"

Zecora stared back at Trixie with apprehension. "Well, it's finally happened," she said dryly. "You've had enough. When they take you to the loony bin, I call your stuff."

"Oh, I know you've always wanted to steal my possessions, Zecora," Trixie said solemnly. "By all means, take what you please. What good are things, if they are not gifts given from the heart? Consider anything I own a gift from me to you."

"You are most wondrously strange," Zecora marveled grimly. "Either you've gone mad, or you've—"

"Changed," Trixie agreed, nodding her head. "I've changed, Zecora. I'm not the pony who so heartlessly disregarded you every night since we've known each other. I've gained an understanding of what others' lives are like, including yours. You're dismissed for today. And if it would help your situation, I truly mean it, do help yourself to my belongings. Heaven knows I never use them."

Zecora continued peering suspiciously back at Trixie, who simply waited for a response with a bright smile. Eventually, she looked around at her surroundings, then sighed and turned to leave the house.

"Very good, dear Zecora," Trixie said kindly, following behind her. "Go home. Be with the ones you love. I'm terribly sorry to have kept you away from them."

Zecora opened the doors and started down the stone path through the yard, and Trixie fell behind, writing down an address as she too slipped out the door and closed it behind her. Once she had made her final pen stroke, her door knocker caught her eye, her ordinary wood and stone door knocker.

She lifted a hoof and lovingly caressed the decoration. "Thank you, Gilda," she whispered.

"Miss Trixie! Miss Trixie!"

Snips and Snails raced onto her property, passing by Zecora in a rush of wind, levitating the flowers and the bread in their weak, sputtering magic auras.

"You can thank me for telling the bakers and the florists which ones you wanted," Snails said proudly.

Snips jangled their change. "Well, you can thank me for actually paying them," he countered. "And for making sure this idiot didn't eat the poinsettias on the way over here. …Well, didn't eat all the poinsettias."

In response, Snails belched.

"Well done, boys," Trixie said gleefully. "Such nice boys. Here you are." She floated them each a single, big coin. "Ready for the second half of your job, boys?"

"Oh, you betcha, Miss Trixie!" Snips said eagerly.

"Bring the food to this address," said Trixie, presenting them with the slip of parchment, "to the family of one Twilight Sparkle. Do not, I repeat, do not tell them who sent you. This is an anonymous gift."

Snips saluted. "I shall perform my duty admirably, Miss Trixie. Snails! Call me a cab!"

Snails, chewing on a leaf of one of the poinsettias, took a second to realize that he was being addressed. "What?" he said blankly.

Snips rolled his eyes, irritated at the momentum being lost. "Call me a cab," he enunciated.

After another moment of uncertain hesitation, Snails blankly replied, "You're a cab."

Snips took a moment to process that, then sighed in frustration. "Never mind, I'll do it." He stepped out into the streets and whistled loudly. Moments later, a taxicarriage pulled over, pulled by a gray-bearded pony in an odd hat. The two colts piled in, and Trixie showed the address to the cabbie.

"Take them here, please," she said, bowing down to him. "May Celestia bless and watch over you, on your way to this destination and in all of your future endeavors. And Merry Hearth's Warming Eve to you!" She waved at him as he left. "Thank you! Thank you!"

As she faded away, the cabbie looked over his shoulder at the two boys. "She lays it on a little thick, don't she?"

Snips shrugged. "I dunno, I like it!"


~0~0~0~


"Oh, what to do next?" Trixie pondered as she trotted down the street. With no course in mind, she simply kept moving, turning corners at random and giving her enthusiastic blessings to everypony she came across.

After a few minutes of her wanderings, she spotted two familiar faces across the street and stopped dead, her heart gripped with sorrow and regret. Taking a deep breath, mentally steeling herself for possible rejection, she crossed the road to meet them. "Miss Rarity. Miss Fluttershy. I hope your charitable endeavor of yesterday was successful. Merry Hearth's Warming Eve to you."

They peered at her in confusion, unable to recognize her with her new posture and expression. After a few seconds, Rarity started in surprise and squinted to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Miss… Trixie?"

"Eep!" Fluttershy exclaimed, hiding behind Rarity.

"Yes, it's me," Trixie said, hanging her head in shame. "I deeply, profoundly, and most humbly apologize for my behavior yesterday evening. I've had a… rather abrupt change of heart, though it didn't feel quite so abrupt for me, let me tell you—but never mind that, never mind. My point is this: I am fully prepared to make my donation to your organization. As it happens, I've already written you a check."

She produced it from an inside pocket and held it up to them. Rarity gawked at it in surprise, and Fluttershy peeked over her shoulder nervously.

"Miss Trixie!" Rarity gasped. "Are you quite certain?"

"I am," Trixie said confidently. "That will be the first of many future installments. All anonymous, of course. I'll have no word getting out that I'm behind it. I do this for only one reason: that food and shelter are Celestia-given rights that nopony should ever have to go without. We'll be in touch, dear ladies. For many years to come if I can help it." She turned to leave, then called over her shoulder: "Oh, and Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy winced in response.

"While I have a few too many urgent things to do today," Trixie said, "and while needless to say I'm already sold on assisting your charity, I would love to hear that musical number of yours sometime." She winked.

Fluttershy and Rarity looked at each other, looking stunned at first and then, seemingly, inspired. "M-merry Hearth's Warming Eve to you, Miss Trixie," Fluttershy stammered, a smile growing on her face.

"Yes," Rarity agreed. "Yes, and may Celestia bless you."

Trixie nodded. "She does bless me. Probably in more ways than I'll ever know."


~0~0~0~


Trixie went by her place of work, where the trio of dogs were beginning to open up.

"Gentlemen, there'll be no need for that," she said grandly, making a beeline for them. "Change of plans: we'll be closed today. Though while I've got you here, I think you three should be part of a little experiment I'm conducting vis-à-vis changing the way things operate around here."

Baffled, the three of them stared at her, shivering in fear. "W-what experiment is that, Miss Trixie?" Rover dared to ask.

"I'm going to start charging rates that are a bit less… draconian," said Trixie. "If we charged reasonable rates, we'd get a lot more done, we'd be a lot more attractive to prospective clients, and…" She let that hang until they leaned in, intrigued. "And I'd be able to pay reasonable wages."

They rocked back on their heels at that. "What are you saying?" Fido breathed.

Trixie started circling around them, a spring in her step. "Gentlemen, I am a businesspony who lends money to ponies largely so they can rent houses. What injustice is it, then, that some of my own employees live under a bridge? What I'm saying is that I'd like to do whatever I can to get you three a place to live. I'm going to lend to you, at my recently-lowered interest rate. Eventually, with your newly-raised wages, it should be more than easy enough to pay off."

Rover looked disheartened. "We don't exactly like to advertise that we live under a bridge…"

She put a hoof to his mouth. "Shh, there's no shame in it. I'm going to do whatever I can to help you. Do you accept?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rover said immediately. He tilted his head in concern. "How did you know where we live?"

"No time, gentlemen," she said hastily. "I have ever so much to do. Merry Hearth's Warming Eve to you!" She waved to them and raced off into the street, and they waved back, still a bit perplexed. "Don't bother to come in tomorrow—I'll take care of everything!"

At the end of the block, she saw five familiar carolers, accompanied by an owl.


Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through
Will see us through


The carolers skipped a beat at the realization that Trixie had joined them, slipping in surreptitiously as if she had been among them all along. She motioned encouragingly for them to continue, and they gained their momentum back.


We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we'll be to the very end!


On the final note, Trixie produced bursts of fireworks above their heads, one after the other, causing many passers-by to halt in their tracks and gasp in surprise and awe. Cheers filled the streets, and several ponies eagerly dropped some coins into the group's little collection tin. Without a word, Trixie threw in her own rather hefty tip, then tipped her hat to the carolers and departed.


~0~0~0~


Trixie knocked on the door of a decently-sized but unassuming house. An enormous white stallion in a little black dress answered, staring her down with eerie red eyes.

"Oh, hello," Trixie said pleasantly. "Mr.… Bulk, isn't it?"

"YEAH!" he bellowed.

"We've never actually met," Trixie admitted, "but I'd like to see Madam Cadance. Is she available? …I'm her aunt."

He looked surprised, and quietly beckoned for her to enter. Clearly, dinner had only just begun: Cadance, her husband, and all of her guests were just beginning to sit down at the dining table.

"And then…" Cadance was saying through barely-suppressed laughter. "And then she asked me, dead serious, what Celestia had ever done for me. Because I'm poor, right? And I asked her, well, why would she reject Celestia when she's been blessed with—"

"Cadance," Trixie said quietly.

The dining room fell silent, and all eyes turned to the entrance of the room. Bulk stepped aside to reveal Trixie, who smiled sheepishly. Shining Armor's jaw dropped.

Cadance snorted with disdain and turned away haughtily. "Who are you?" she sneered.

"Cadance, it's me… your Aunt Trixie," she said, wounded.

"No, no, see, I spoke to my Aunt Trixie yesterday, and she made it perfectly clear that she wouldn't be coming here today. And since you're here, you couldn't possibly be her. You obviously must be somepony else."

Trixie's lip quivered with sorrow. "It is I, Cadance. I am sorry for the things I said. All I want now is for us to be a family. May I join you?"

Cadance stood up, staring coldly at Trixie through narrow eyes, and slowly crossed the room, sneering all the while. Trixie shrank back under her ferocious glare. And then…

"Of course you can, dear sweet Auntie," Cadance said, suddenly warm and gracious. "That's all I ever wanted."

She pulled Trixie into a crushing hug. "ACK!" Trixie squeaked.

"Everypony, this is my Aunt Trixie!" Cadance said gleefully, presenting her to the room. "Come say hi!"

All of the party guests swarmed around her, one by one giving her a hoofshake or a tiny hug.

"HI, AUNT TRIXIE!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, tackling her before giving her a full-bodied squeeze.

"Not that it matters in the slightest, Auntie," Cadance said to Trixie's prone, struggling form, "but what made you change your mind?"

"Something I saw in a dream, I suppose," Trixie replied, extricating herself from Pinkie's embrace and standing up. "I dreamt of this party, and… and felt sad that I wasn't part of it."

"Oh, Auntie," Cadance said tenderly.

And as easy as that, Trixie had joined the party. They dined, and they played their games just as Trixie had witnessed, only this time, she was indeed a part of it.

"Next year, we must have this dinner at my house," Trixie said at one point during the evening. "I insist. I'll spare no expense. After all, you can't take it with you, can you?"

Cadance tilted her head. "That seems as if it's lifted from somewhere."

Trixie shrugged. "Perhaps."


~0~0~0~


The next morning, Twilight frantically ran down the street, struggling through the ice, and rushed into the office under the faded Gilda and Trixie sign.

Breathing heavily from her exertion and wincing from the lingering pain of a mild hangover, Twilight sighed in relief when it seemed that the office was empty… until a candle was lit in her own little closet, revealing Trixie. "You're late, Miss Sparkle," she said ominously.

"I'm terribly sorry, Miss Trixie. As I said before, it's only once a year." She grinned weakly, terrified and desperate.

"Yes, I'm sure it is," Trixie said darkly. "I'd wager that after your multitude of children went to bed, you dipped into some cheap booze in a pitiful attempt at merrymaking, have I got that right?"

"S-something such as that, Miss Trixie," Twilight stammered.

Trixie started toward her menacingly. "You're pathetic. There's only one thing that can be done about this. I'm going to have to give you a raise." She smiled brightly.

"Huh… whuh… uh… er… wha… wha-wha-what?" Twilight replied as coherently as she could manage.

"You like that little fake-out?" Trixie said happily. "It's funny, isn't it? Little something I got from my niece last night." She planted a quick kiss on Twilight's lips and marched purposefully out into the office, leaving the clerk blinking in bewilderment and scarcely able to comprehend Trixie's words.

"Yes, I shall give you a raise and I shall do whatever else needs to be done to save your struggling family, so that you may someday indulge in real merrymaking, not the pale and drunken imitation you're forced to endure," Trixie announced. "Your daughter, Dinky Doo—she's sick. She needs a doctor. I will provide that for her, but I'd wager that what she really needs to get her health back up is better living conditions. I shall arrange that as well. And another of your daughters, the second-oldest, Babs; I hear she searches for an apprenticeship. I can do that. And if there's anything else your family needs, you have but to name it, my dear Twilight. I'm at your service."

"…What?" Twilight demanded, still in shock.

Trixie turned back to face Twilight and bowed her head. "I've turned my life around this Hearth's Warming Eve, Twilight. I'm not the Trixie you knew two evenings ago. You return now to a changed pony. Now, on to important business… namely, why is it so damn cold in here?"

She opened the furnace to find it empty. "Well, that explains it, there's never any coal in this bloody thing." Her horn lit up and she shoveled a scoop of coal in.

"If you would," said Trixie, "I'm changing how things work around here, so you and I have a good bit of 'clerking' to do this morning." She lifted her front hooves to put quotation marks around the word. "But this afternoon, my friend, this afternoon… let's get ourselves into some nice cozy armchairs by a roaring fire, and discuss your affairs over a bottle of this stuff." She presented Twilight with a vintage bottle of wine. "This is good stuff. And if I haven't said so already, Twilight, merry Hearth's Warming Eve to you, with all my heart."

Twilight blinked rapidly many times. Almost hysterical with shock and alarm, her only response was, "Wha-a-a-at?"

Trixie chuckled. "Just 'merry Hearth's Warming Eve'. Nothing else."


~0~0~0~


A year passed.

A pleasant, leisurely snow was falling, and Trixie slowly strolled down the street. Her aged face, once etched with the lines of the sour expression she had worn for years, had become accustomed to smiles.

Dinky was riding on her back, captivated as they passed by a new church.

On one side of the white marble building were three stained-glass windows, each depicting one of the three ancient spirits being defeated by Celestia.

"Quite a depiction of that vile lot of villains, eh?" Trixie said wryly. "Of course, Celestia's word teaches us that none are truly evil at their core. I should know that better than anypony. Just look at what I used to be. And I can tell you it applies to these three as well."

Dinky smiled. "You've told me that before, but you still won't explain what you mean."

Trixie only winked in reply.

"Aunt Trixie, I… I think I'm good to walk again now."

"Ah!" Trixie said delightedly. "As you wish, darling Dinky."

She helped Dinky down to the ground. The tiny filly no longer wore her brace or her crutch, but still hobbled along and quivered as she walked.

"Oh, Dinky, what an improvement a year has made," Trixie marveled. "It warms my heart ever so much so see how much stronger you've grown. I couldn't be prouder if you were my own flesh and blood family."

Dinky slowly turned around to face her, carefully placing her hooves. "We are family, Aunt Trixie," she said, beaming. "You're like another mother to me."

Trixie put a hoof to her chest. "Oh, Dinky, you honor me too much. It's lonely at the top, but I will accept that pedestal. And to think… it truly has been a year! Hearth's Warming Eve again already. It sprang upon me rather suddenly, I must admit…"

"It didn't seem sudden to me," said Dinky. "You make every day feel like Hearth's Warming Eve. That's what they're always saying about you, everywhere in the city: that nopony has the Hearth's Warming Eve spirit more than Trixie."

"It's just the way I live, darling," Trixie said brightly. "Hearth's Warming Eve is not merely a day, it's a way of life."

A nearby shop window suddenly caught her eye, a huge display window with three panes. In the first pane, Trixie could see a reflection which was not her own: Nightmare Moon, who smiled at her encouragingly and faded away. In the second window, Discord appeared and waved at her giddily; in the third, King Sombra gave her a curt and respectful nod.

A light gust of wind blew past the window, creating a small tempest of snow. Absently, Trixie's eyes followed the snow, and she saw a figure contained within it, wispy and barely visible in the intense sunlight: the translucent specter of Gilda. As Trixie watched, Gilda's chains fell away, and she stretched her arms and wings, letting out an inaudible sigh of intense relief. She gazed at Trixie with profound gratitude, the biggest smile Trixie had ever seen on her, tears dripping down her face.

Gilda vanished in a burst of bright light, which flew off into the sky. Trixie followed the light until it was absorbed into the sun, which Trixie could only stand to look at for a split second before averting her gaze—but in that fleeting moment, she had caught a glimpse of a pair of amazing white wings and a long horn, a mane that flowed and swirled in a rainbow of pastel colors.

She turned to Dinky, who had no awareness of what had just transpired.

"May Celestia bless and watch over us," Trixie whispered.

Dinky smiled at her. "Oh, don't say things like that. It's like I always say, Aunt Trixie: may Celestia bless and watch over everypony."

Trixie bent down and nuzzled the filly with her face. "Yes. You do say that, don't you?" She picked Dinky up, loading her onto her back again, and tearfully glanced back into the sky. "May Celestia bless and watch over everypony."


the end