Trixie's Forest Retreat

by crowscrowcrow

Chapter 18 - Regroup

“... Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon......”

It had felt good to give a small performance, but lacking her magic Trixie was not entirely satisfied with it. “It is an old story, but it has recently grown tremendously in popularity with the return of Princess Luna. Although Trixie is not sure it is fair to keep repeating only the tale of her mistake, the rest of the story needs to be told. Actually it is why Trixie came to Ponyville in the first place, this is where it all happened is it not?” she asked before awkwardly bringing a mug of water to her to wash down her meal.

During the course of the story, Fluttershy had shown herself to be an excellent, attentive listener. Though it took her a moment to shift gears once she realized she was supposed to be answering back. “Oh, uhm. Yes. Nightmare Moon came down to Ponyville… She was really scary before we helped her.”

Trixie hacked and nearly choked on her water, the cup clattering across the floor, when she heard Fluttershy’s reply. She struck herself in the chest and coughing repeatedly. “W-wah —Cough— What?! When you say ‘we’ you mean as in ‘we of Ponyville’, right?”

Fluttershy leaned forward “Oh! Oh my goodness, are you okay?” She circled around the table to pat Trixie on her back, trying to help clear up the coughing. “Uh well, yes? I guess all six of us were all of Ponyville, except maybe Twilight since she was only here to oversee the preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration… But she stayed afterwards so I guess that counts?”

Trixie’s mind reeled, this had to be another one Rainbow Dash’s pranks. She quickly looked around her but she could not spot or hear the rainbow-maned prankster. Her attention immediately snapped back to Fluttershy, turning toward her and laying her hooves on her shoulders. “Y-you are not saying… What Trixie thinks you are saying, are you? The papers details were vague, overshadowed by Luna’s return, but they said the Elements of Harmony were responsible for Princess Luna’s reformation. Trixie has read about them they are magical artifacts. You were one of the ponies that found them? Trixie cannot believe this, what on Equestria happened? Where did you leave them? What do those things look like?”

Fluttershy wavered under the barrage of questions. “I-I think maybe I uhm should let you talk to Twilight? She knows all this much better than I do.”

Trixie pulled herself closer to Fluttershy’s face while she spoke, hanging on every word but irritated none of it answered a single question. She stared into the mares eyes till she recognized something, then quickly backed off. “Oh! Sorry Fluttershy, Trixie was just… Overwhelmed that is all.”

“It’s okay.”

“You are too nice to Trixie, but who is Trixie to complain? Could Trixie ask you some questions Fluttershy? Trixie would rather not have more ponies know she is here… Wait, Twilight? You mean Twilight Sugarcube? The unicorn that subdued the Ursa Major, no Minor, with her magic?”

Fluttershy gave an odd look for a moment. “Uhm Twilight Sparkle… But otherwise yes.”

Everything begun to slowly make sense in Trixie’s mind from that point on. “So she defeated that Ursa by using the Elements of Harmony? That makes sense then… Of course no unicorn has that much magical power on their own.” She paused when she noticed Fluttershy shaking her head.

“Princess Celestia took the elements with her when she left… ”

“Oh, Trixie understands… Perhaps Trixie should speak with her after all.” She blushed when she remembered she had been taunting the unicorn right before her escape, an awkward situation. “In any case, Trixie insists you tell her all about what happened.”

“Well… Okay.”

---

Trixie could not recall the last time she had listened to someone tell a tale, other than herself in rehearsal. It took patience, questions and the occasional encouragement to get Fluttershy to tell the whole story, interrupted multiple times by Trixie’s own inability to contain her surprise, but she’d finally heard all of it that she was going to get out of Fluttershy.

It was almost too insane to consider. She had ended up coming to blows with three of the bearers of the elements, and insulted another. No wonder they had been so sure of themselves when trying to upstage her. A small smirk on her face at the idea that she could now honestly claim to have defeated three out of the six elements… Her face soon turned sour however. The Element of Magic, her very cutie mark, had fallen to another. Twilight Sugarcube, no it was Sparkle, who had bested her in ways she had not even thought possible.

She had little grounds for protesting however when she recalled the difference in power between them that night. Still she could not simply give up the claim of most magical unicorn, if it was not true right now that merely meant she would have to make it true, without mentoring Princesses, fancy magic scholarships or entire private libraries.

With increasing worry Fluttershy stared at the uncharacteristically quiet Trixie, as the wordy unicorn had not spoken since she had finished her story. “Uhm Trixie? Are you okay?”

Trixie snapped out of her thoughts and blinked away a moment’s disorientation. “Huh what? Oh, yes Trixie is… Fine. She is just thinking about her next move. But Trixie will have enough time for that later. You make a fairly good storyteller you know that Fluttershy? It was nice to listen to you, though there are areas you could improve in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I am not used to talking much.”

“Trixie knows. However since Trixie cannot practice her magic yet, she has a proposal. What if Trixie teaches you?”

“Teach me how to talk much?”

“Erm… In a way… But not quite. Telling a story is not like having a conversation, it is about painting a picture for your audience. Of course Trixie normally uses magic to help with that, but the same principles hold true without magic.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, okay. I guess I could give that a try… How do we start?”

Trixie smiled, her answer already prepared. “By revisiting the places of your story. It should be safe now that Nightmare Moon is no longer there. The day has only just started so… Shall we go?”

“O-okay… But… On two conditions. That is… If you don’t mind…”

Trixie raised a brow. “Conditions? Alright let’s hear them.“ She did her best not to let on she would agree to just about anything for the chance to see the location of the Elements of Harmony with her own eyes, and best of all with Fluttershy as her guide.

“First, you are not better yet… So be very careful.” Fluttershy gave her a serious look.

“Trixie agrees. What is the second condition?” She smiled pleased with the way this was going. Fluttershy and she would have some time away alone and no bratty pegasus that was going to intervene and bug her for a whole day.

“… Rainbow Dash comes with us.”

Of course.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.

One near death experience in a forest is apparently hardly enough for Trixie. She's ready to get right back on the horse, or pony.
Good thing too cause at this rate having the word 'Forest' in the title was in danger of becoming false advertising.

Special Thanks to PrincessLuna123 for proof reading.

Comments

[PrincessCelestia123]

Ah!
Loved the last sentence! Really nice chapter!

[Mad Maudlin]

4050948

An interesting discussion appears! While many of her actions are definitely inspired by loyalty to her friends*, are those actions (including almost committing involuntary ponyslaughter) really justified by loyalty? I get the entire 'you hurt my friends, I hurt you' thing, but she does seem to be going to excessive lengths given the circumstances. And that is completely in character for Dash, most certainly. I just found it noteworthy.

Are we seeing some TrixieDashShy foreshadowing?

And yes, I am a Trixie fan. And I fully acknowledge that her ego could blot out the sun and that she's almost as arrogant as Dash.

*Loyalty, arrogance, anger something something Dark Side.

[crowscrowcrow]

4053943
I love Trixie. Such a fun character. There are just tons of things I want to do with her. I might write more stories about her with different takes on her character once I'm done with this one, or the same one.

Are Rainbow Dash's actions justified by her loyalty to her friends? No I don't think they are. That would imply they were the right actions to take. I do think her actions and motivations are in character, just that she got unlucky. I feel bad for Dash really, forcing her into accidentally almost killing a pony due to circumstance, even if Trixie appeared to be asking for it. I was a bit nervous about leaving it like that at the time, considering Dash's bits of redemption only showed up so many chapters later and the guilt has her acting out making her look even worse. I do love Rainbow Dash, only she could pull off being kind of the antagonist here and still be awesome.

As for foreshadowing... That would be telling.

[Mad Maudlin]

4054186

I hope you do write more Trixie. She's an excellent character and you do her justice. And the world needs more Trixie stories in it.

[Knight of the Raven]

I liked that you gave a reason for Trixie to come to Ponyville. Fitting that she doesn't want history to only remember her mistakes.

I liked these lines;

'“Trixie agrees. What is the second condition?” She smiled pleased with the way this was going. Fluttershy and she would have some time away alone and no bratty pegasus that was going to intervene and bug her for a whole day.

“… Rainbow Dash comes with us.”

Of course.'

Mistakes;

'She struck herself in the chest and coughing repeatedly.' should be 'She struck herself in the chest and coughed repeatedly.'

add a period after 'Fluttershy leaned forward'

'She stared into the mares eyes' should be 'She stared into the mare's eyes'

add a comma after 'Uhm' in 'Uhm Twilight Sparkle…'

you forgot 'formed' in 'A small smirk on her face'

add a comma after 'Uhm' in '“Uhm Trixie? Are you okay?”'

samewise after 'Huh' in 'Huh what?'

and

samewise after 'You make a fairly good storyteller'

[TheGreatEater]

The element of magic, her very cutie mark, had fallen to another.

Element of Magic
______________________

It'll be interesting to see some Twilight and Trixie interactions.

[crowscrowcrow]

5358803
Thanks for pointing that out. I'll keep eye on that.