Villainy

by Ghosted Note

Chapter 4: Well, This is Awkward

Villainy
Chapter 4: Well, This is Awkward

Trixie felt high on life. The entire ordeal of selling an illicit substance hadn't been nearly as scary as she'd predicted, and her performance had been well-received. Life had finally dealt her a winning hand to recoup some of her losses with, and maybe turn a profit too. Of course, she was still concerned about how high the ante had been, but everything had a price. If peddling a little social lubricant was the cost of regaining her passion, it was well worth it. Grayscale wasn't involving her in any of the more extreme aspects of the business, so for now, there wasn't any problem with sticking around.

After their successful night in Fillydelphia, the trio had met up with Hotshot's crew on the outskirts of the city, and proceeded to celebrate the first successful expansion in months. Though it started relatively innocently, soon enough, Meteora popped out of Trixie's wagon bearing a clear liquid that Trixie was convinced was not water. "Trixie was under the impression that we unloaded all of our...product," she stated hesitantly.

Trixie's face burned slightly as the entire company laughed. "Nah," said Meteora as she began to pour some shots. "This stuff is Grayscale's special blend, reserved for equally special occasions. He doesn't like to talk about it, but this job was pretty important. The Manehattan slums were pretty much all we still had. With new buyers in Fillydelphia, we have a chance to regain lost ground, and we dealt a blow to those Canterlot foals to boot. But enough about that. We have something more important to attend to." Meteora grinned wickedly as she poured a final shot. "Your right of passage."

"Trixie does not feel entirely comfortable with this." She hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since her wild younger days of senselessly rebelling against her parents and 'The Mare', and even then, the cheap beer of her youth had almost no alcohol content. It was about rebellion, not intoxication, after all.

Meteora giggled. "Oh, don't be such a spoilsport. It's only a single shot. The tradition goes like this. Anypony who can take a shot of Grayscale's finest and keep it down on the first try without passing out or throwing up gets whatever is in the bit-purses of those around her." Trixie hesitantly enveloped the shot glass in a telekinesis spell, and brought it closer to her face, as if inspecting it would make it less intimidating. "Fillies and gentlecolts!," yelled Meteora. "I propose a toast. Here's to Fillydelphia and our newest family member, the Great and Powerful Trixie. Bottoms up, everypony. See you all in the afterlife."

"Hear, hear," called Hotshot in response. In unison, every mare and stallion present raised their shots. Trixie braced herself, and before she could lose her resolve, emptied her shot glass.

Time seemed to slow down as the liquid rushed down her throat, and Trixie began to wonder if her esophagus was melting. Judging from the burning sensations she was now getting, Trixie wouldn't have been surprised if her insides were currently in the process of liquefying. As she began to descend into fits of coughing and sputtering, Trixie wondered what sane pony would ever want to ingest this foul liquid. After a few moments, Trixie turned to Meteora, who was staring expectantly. "Th-the Grrrrreat and Powerful T-Trixie believes that she has won the wager. She might require a little time to rest, though." Her vision darkened slightly as she began stumbling towards the wagon, barely registering the whooping and laughter of the ponies behind her as the revelry began. She did notice, after a few seconds of not being able to move forward, that the door to her wagon was closed. "Trixie does not need a bed. In fact, the grass is looking quite invit-"

Meteora rolled her eyes at the now unconscious mare. "Fillies and gentlecolts, Grayscale's Firewater has claimed another victim. Your purses are safe."

- - - -

When Trixie awoke, the party was still going strong, and her mental faculties had not entirely returned to her. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Have a good nap?" Meteora's speech came with the hyperactive bouncing that Trixie was beginning to get used to, with a set of rosy-cheeked giggles that were entirely new.

"Trixie believes you might be drunk," Trixie said as she hauled herself to her hooves, wobbling for a moment before staggering towards the other ponies. The world was spinning slightly, but Trixie didn't mind. Nothing so trivial as constant disorientation would stop the Great and Powerful Trixie from performing a task as simple as walking. Trixie was far too good for that.

"Meteora thinks you are too!," her friend responded as Trixie tumbled into the dirt beside her. "It's good that you're up finally. Don't want you to miss the party."

Trixie considered reprimanding the ground for getting in her way, but decided against showing the impudent heckler its place. "How long was T-Trixie out?"

"Not long at all! You did much much better than I did on my first time. Hurricane always says I'm a lightweight." Meteora giggled again as she tried unsuccessfully to haul Trixie back upright, letting out a small hiccup as she lost her grip and tumbled over into the grass. "I don't even remember my first time drinking this stuff at all. Hurricane tells me that he still has nightmares though. He's such a downer, I tell you! Always volunteers for lookout duty. I think he got traumatized by his first shot of Firewater. Works as a rum-runner, and refuses to drink!"

Trixie finally managed to push the ground back below her, where it belonged, letting out a huff of displeasure at having to teach the lesser entity a lesson. "That sounds boring. Trixie respects the adventurous soul. Why, Trixie herself has wandered the width and breadth of Equestria during her travels. Trixie has seen the wonders of the world and much more!." Trixie raised herself to her back hooves with a flourish, and the ground chose that moment for revenge. "Trixie has seen everything from El Comedero de la Luna to Celestia's horn in the Borderland Mountains."

Meteora raised her eyebrow. "What were you doing in the borderlands?"

"Back in her hayday, even griffins would come flock to see Trixie perform. It was magnificent! At least, it was, until she ruined it, the arrogant little hayseed." Trixie's lip curled as she thought of Twilight Sparkle. "She'll see, though. No amount of slander and misinformation will keep Trixie down!"

Meteora rolled back onto her feet. "What're you talking about? Who is 'she'?"

Trixie, after righting herself again, stomped her hoof in anger. "Twilight Sparkle! It's her fault that Trixie lost everything. She had to go and show up Trixie in front of everypony! Well, now she'll see, Trixie's back in business, and then Trixie will return one day to show her that being Princess Celestia's f-favorite doesn't make her any better than anypony else."

Meteora couldn't contain her laughter, and Trixie's face burned red at the slight. "Hey, don't be like that! It's just so...fitting that you'd manage to find the worst possible mare to piss off. I mean, nopony else here can say they're enemies with one of the Elements of Harmony, and the strongest of them at that. That's...impressive, in a really strange, messed up way. What happened?"

Her indignation abating, Trixie nodded. "W-well, Trixie was just travelling from town to town, performing her awesome magic act, when she stumbles upon this backwater named Ponyville. Now, Trixie hadn't been keeping up with the news much, so she was just barely aware of the specifics regarding Nightmare Moon's return, including the identities of our new... national heroines. So Trixie, in her traditional fashion sets up her stage and begins to wow the inhabitants of Ponyville. Partway through the show, these three impetuous mares dare to challenge Trixie, thinking that they are better than her. Well, Trixie shows them up onstage, and all is well. Unfortunately, Trixie might have...exaggerated a little, and as a result, two foolish colts bring an Ursa into town. An Ursa of all things! They then wake Trixie up in the middle of the night, expecting her to vanquish said Ursa. Trixie was just getting warmed up when Twilight Sparkle intervened, making Trixie look like a fool in front of everypony. Trixie didn't dare stay in town after that, and soon after, she couldn't even make a living in other towns due to all of the slander she'd received. Trixie was bitless when Grayscale found her, all because of Twilight Sparkle."

Meteora put a hoof on Trixie's shoulder, half out of sympathy and half to keep herself from tipping over. "That's harsh, girl. Sounds like you could use another drink."

- - - -

"Is Trixie dead? If not, can somepony please amend this?" Trixie groaned as she rolled over, trying in vain to escape the light that Celestia's sun was assaulting her with. When she finally managed to stumble out of her wagon, she found that everypony else had already started cleaning and packing the results of the last night's revelry. Small tents were stowed carefully into their packs, and empty shot glasses were meticulously cleaned and stored in the compartment Meteora had fetched them from. Trixie let out another groan. "How can anypony be so lively after imbibing that foul concoction?"

Seeing Trixie's distressed, disheveled state, Meteora sauntered over, a glass of water cradled between her left wing and her body. "Some party, eh? Here, drink up. It'll help the hangover. Tried to get you to drink some last night, but you couldn't keep any down." Trixie gratefully took the water with her magic, downing it swiftly. "Hey, there's a stream about five minutes west of here. It's a nice and secluded little glade, and most of us have already cleaned up, so you don't have to worry about being disturbed. We'll take care of the cleaning. After having so much on your first night, nopony here will fault you for not helping."

Trixie nodded gratefully. "What exactly happened? Trixie's memory is somewhat...fuzzy past the second shot."

"It was pretty tame, really. I mean, aside from the target practice, but you were asleep for that, and nopony got permanently injured. You gave another magic performance for everypony, and then had this really touching, if stuttered and somewhat incomprehensible, speech on how much performing meant to you." Meteora laughed. "You were pretty out of it."

"Trixie did not do anything that she would regret later, did she?," queried the performer as she gathered the soap and shampoo she had thought to pack before they left Manehattan.

"Well, I suppose that would depend-Oh, oooooh, that kind of thing. No way. The colts here are way too well mannered to take advantage of a drunken filly, and Hurricane was way too sober to let them anyway. Don't worry about it. Now get out of here and wash. You smell like alcohol." With that, and a light cuff from her wing to shoo Trixie along, Meteora went back to cleaning.

The walk was a little more than five minutes for the still-groggy mare, but the payoff was well worth it. The glade, as promised, was secluded and more than a bit scenic, with the chirping of birds and quiet chattering of various woodland creatures providing a soft soundscape for Trixie to relax in as she sank into the clear waters of the stream. The shock of the cold water only proved innervating to Trixie. As she began to clean the filth and dirt of the previous night from her mane, coat, and tail, she considered her new situation for what seemed to be the millionth time. This time, though, there was a twinge in her heart that she hadn't felt in years. As she tried to search within herself for the source of the warmth, it slowly began to dawn on her. 'Trixie...I have felt this before,' thought the soaked mare. 'I felt this before I left my family to perform. It was an odd thought to her, as she hadn't left her parents on the most favorable terms. They hadn't wanted her to be a travelling magician, and had always pressured her to turn her talent in illusion to a profession with better pay, namely, the Royal Guard, but Trixie had been adamant. Still, they had passed their blessing to their daughter and wished her the best, and she hadn't looked back. She had thought about them at times, and about asking them for help, but stubborn pride had always blocked the way home. Now, she felt the stirring of similar care and affection from strangers who seemed, on the whole, to be legitimately interested in her well-being. Trixie idly recalled Grayscale referring to the group as a family at one point.

'Family. Trixie can live with being a part of this family.'

- - - -

They reached Manehattan without incident, and Trixie found herself amidst a hearty round of congratulations from Grayscale, who had arrived ahead of the group by train, and the brewers and distribution crew, who had stayed behind during the operation. As the victors' welcoming committee slowly dispersed to go back to work, Trixie once again found herself alone with Grayscale, who was watching the activity with a slight smile. "No losses, a clean deal, and no police involvement. Today is a good day."

Trixie nodded. "Trixie was most pleased with her chance to return to performing, and thanks you very much, sir."

"Dispense with the formalities, Trixie. They're meaningless most of the time anyway." Grayscale waved a hoof at Trixie, and then signaled her to follow. "Do you feel any guilt over breaking the law, Trixie?"

"Trixie does not," she replied after a moment of pondering. "The ban on alcohol seems more a knee-jerk reaction to an irresponsible act than a well-constructed product of reason. Celestia has ruled long and fairly, but Trixie cannot say that everything our Princess has done has been perfect."

"Do you believe that breaking a different law would be wrong, then?," Grayscale continued as the two made their way to his office.

Trixie opened the door for Grayscale with her magic as they arrived, taking a seat in front of his desk. "Trixie believes that laws are not a product of right and wrong, but a product of what is good for Equestria and what is bad. Right and wrong are completely separate from that, even if they often overlap."

Grayscale smiled. "A reasonable response, but I'll argue a step further. Trixie, what if I told you that right and wrong don't exist?"

Trixie did not smile in return. "Trixie would suddenly be filled with more questions and concerns than answers," she replied, tactfully leaving out part of what she was thinking. 'About you, anyway.'

"Think about it for a moment. What exactly are right and wrong? They're just concepts made up by ponies to tell others how they should act. Who is to say that what I consider right is any more correct than what you do? Celestia has emphasized beyond belief how she is merely our equal, so we cannot look to her for the superior definition of right and wrong. In the end, the only thing that defines what is right and what is wrong is what we think they are. They're just thoughts, subjective abstractions. There's no way to quantify right or wrong, or prove definitively what they are. Everypony thinks of them differently. It's meaningless, because when two ideologies come into conflict, it is the victor, not any predefined moral dictator, who decides that the other pony was in the wrong for opposing them. Just something to think on, Trixie. We'll talk more later." With that, Trixie left the office, visibly shaken at what her employer had said.

- - - -

With no immediate task, Trixie found herself wandering the streets of Manehattan, pondering what the best place for a performance would be now that she was back in business. With her new job, she'd not have to worry about going broke while rebuilding her reputation, and eventually she could break away, and be on her own once more, not relying on anypony but herself. 'I will miss Meteora and Hurricane, though. Still, what must be done, must be done. Trixie is her own mare.'

With that, Trixie cast any regret from her mind, and continued her jaunt through the city until she found her way blocked by two of Celestia's guards. "Excuse me, sirs, but Trixie must ask you to move. She has places to be."

Neither budged. "Trixie Lulamoon?," one queried flatly. Trixie could only nod in response, as her heart had jumped to her throat. "By order of Her Majesty Princess Celestia, you are to come with us." Trixie nodded silently, trying to hold back the oncoming panic attack. After several painful minutes of walking, the guards led her to the third floor of a somewhat posh-looking hotel. By now Trixie was nearly in tears, fearful that she had somehow been caught. When the guards finally stopped in front of one of the suites, Trixie was ready to faint. With no small amount of timidity, she opened the door.

What she found inside rendered her speechless for a few seconds before words finally returned to her. "Twilight Sparkle?"