Hailstorms and Helping Hooves

by Cosmic Dancer

The Tower

Chapter One

Rain could be heard crashing against the glazed windows of Twilight’s crystalline palace. Starlight Glimmer was lethargically striding down the halls, trying to recall the layout of the castle. It was always difficult for her to get started on inclement days like that--besides, there was nothing for her to really do. Twilight was out with Spike and her friends, the other elements of harmony, on some sort of escapade and wouldn’t be home until evening. Starlight, a social creature, was looking for the only other current occupant of the palace to fritter the time away until Twilight returned. Unfortunately for her, Beatrix Lulamoon made for very poor company.

For her first few days at the castle, Starlight was always walking on eggshells--especially around Trixie, but she (like everyone else) eventually learned that the magician was more bark than bite. Even so, the bark was pretty terrible on it’s own. To Starlight’s credit, she had yet to have really set Trixie off, thanks to Twilight’s advice the day Starlight first started living in the castle--as soon as the topic of the princess’ court wizard came up, Starlight was barraged with various perimeters and boundaries for interacting with Trixie: when to speak to him, how to speak to him, what not to bring up, how to get what she wanted--and most of it had to do with stroking his inflated ego. Of course, Starlight was mortified of talking to Trixie at first, but she gradually learned that it was simpler than Twilight made it seem.

After a few minutes of meandering around, looking down hallways and opening doors to nowhere, she found the wizard’s study. Carpeted floors, blue wallpaper (Trixie wanted yellow), a telescope, a chalkboard, an easel, filled bookshelves and derelict papers were the most innocuous aspects of the room. Someone entering for the first time would find their situation a little more dire once they saw that Trixie decorated his study with numerous hanging photographs of himself, multiple self portraits in various military uniforms, classical paintings he had recreated (bastardized with his image in the place of historical figures), and at least one marble bust behind his disorganized desk. You can guess who the bust depicted. The only picture in the room that wasn’t of Trixie was a small framed photo of Twilight Sparkle, and it sat turned inward on his desk. If there were only two pieces of information that might be garnered from this room’s décor, they would be that Trixie felt a certain way about Twilight, and that Trixie is a bad painter.

The magician is question was sitting at his desk, wearing Twilight’s crown, back hooves propped up as he ate an expensive-looking slice of cake--that is to say that he was goldbricking, as usual. Starlight was unmoved by the display, already familiar with Trixie’s proclivities toward work, but seemed a little concerned about the cake he was eating. Stepping into the study, she said to him, “Trixie, you do know that cakes have gluten? And are made with milk?”

“So?” Trixie said, pointedly, as he finished shoveling the last pieces of spongy delight into his mouth.

Starlight, who somehow missed the gist of Trixie’s assertion, replied, “Twilight has you on that diet, and she wouldn’t like you eating ca-”

“Yeah, well, what Twilight doesn’t know can’t hurt me,” Trixie interjected, once more trying to get his point across--and it seemed to work this time.

“She’s going to see a piece missing from the cake,” Starlight strolled up to one of Trixie’s bookcases, looking over his collection of arcane tomes as the wizard looked worriedly at his empty plate, not having considered the fact that Twilight would realize there was a slice of cake missing. After a few seconds, his look mellowed as he reclined again in his chair.

“It wouldn’t matter, anyway,” Trixie said with a mixture of defeat and carelessness.

“Trouble in paradise?” Starlight glanced at the wizard, smirking before looking back at the books.

“Things have been weird with Twilight ever since Flurry was born,” Trixie said lazily, looking up at the ceiling.

“Have you two not been very close, lately?” Starlight said, a little more invested in the conversation than Trixie.

“Oh no, we’ve been close. Closer than before, even. She’s been wanting to stay up with me, talking about this and that and hopes and dreams,” Trixie crooned with a twinge of sardonicism. “Yeah, we’re close. The problem is that we haven’t gotten close in a long time.”

Starlight looked a little more closely at the books, starting to blush as she realized Trixie must’ve forgotten that he was speaking to someone and not himself. Normally, he’d barely even talk about the weather--preferring to grunt and groan until he could make a smartass remark. “But haven't you two both been sleeping in the same room, together?"

"Yeah, sleeping... That's all we've been doing- Woah, hey now," Trixie kicked off his desk and sat up straight in his chair. "I know what game you mares are playing," He sunk back into his chair, his tone falling back down. "But you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on the most cunning wizard in Equestria."

Starlight glanced over at Trixie, one eyebrow raised and her smirk growing. "Oh, yeah--you caught me, Trixie. The way I walked in and you just started telling me about your and Twilight's se-"

"You heard nothing," Trixie looked over, a little less blasé about the conversation. "And I'd hate to hear anything about any of this exchange getting back to Twilight," Trixie looked away from Starlight and down at his desk, pretending to organize papers and reports. "Because, believe me, I would hear about it. I would hear about it for weeks."

Starlight chuckled, trotting to the door. "I won't say a word."

"Where are you going?" Trixie queried as he continued to shuffle paper, almost convincing himself that he was working.

"I remembered that I have to write a letter to somepony," Starlight said, leaving the study a little more energized than when she arrived.

That’s concerning... Even so, the question remains.

Trixie picked up his picture of Twilight, staring at it with no discernable emotion.

Clearly, there’s something wrong with The Great and Powerful Beatrix Lulamoon’s special somepony. What mare in her right mind wouldn’t want to-

Trixie’s ruminations were interrupted by a small piece of hail thwacking the window, surprising him. Twilight would probably be home sooner than expected. She and Spike where off at some charity event in Ponyville. Twilight had asked Trixie to come and do some magic tricks for the children, but he didn't feel like going out on such short notice. For Twilight, it was natural to go out and talk to anypony in town--but Trixie required a little preparation. He couldn't perform unless he knew he'd be in control. Besides, the ponies of Ponyville were beginning to become increasingly sinister to the wizard.

The why isn’t quite as important as the how--how to fix it, that is. Twilight’s probably just grown accustomed to my greatness and can no longer recognize it.

Trixie held the picture to his chest, peering around his study. He paid particular attention to his artistic take of the heroes of the past. Noble warlords, ascendant generals, emperors and kings all blessed with Trixie's visage. Twilight was the only pony who ever encouraged him to pursue his hobby of painting.

All I have to do is jolt her feminine senses with some great act of heroism so she’ll remember how extraordinary I am. But how can I show her that I’m a hero?

Trixie set the picture down and rose out of his seat, stepping over to his battered window. He watched the rain beat down on Ponyville, occasionally hearing hail ping off the tiles of his tower. He briefly entertained the idea of heading out to some mountain peak and slaying a dragon like the heroes of yore. He quickly abandoned this idea, chiefly for two reasons: The first being that with Twilight’s new friendship to that dragonlord, killing a dragon for no reason would probably constitute murder (at least in Twilight’s eyes); and the second being that Trixie was much too cowardly to fight a dragon.

The only two ways I can convince Twilight that I’m a hero is by either: re-engineering the perimeters, by which, she defines a hero; or by actually going out somewhere and stopping some great evil. Twilight’s much too smart for the first option, and the second carries the (slim) possibility of failure--which would probably just make me look even less heroic.

Trixie squinted, trying to see past the cascade of rainwater to see if he could make out Twilight’s figure heading up the path to the palace; and wondering if the risk for this undertaking was worth the reward. He missed her when she was away, even for a few hours. He would usually travel with her when she went off on her adventures, but with this new friendship business he felt as if he could contribute less and less. He was more equipped for dungeon delving and daring escapes, not building communities and making ponies hug. Even so, he was a real wizard now--thanks to Twilight--and it was his duty to aid her (one of the few responsibilities in his life he ever took seriously).

Unless… unless I can engineer a situation wherein it only appears as if there’s some great evil that I’ve stopped… No, Twilight would see past that. But maybe…

One day you're out on the road, free; the next you're sleeping in a basement with a ring around your horn. Trixie had come to terms with this fact of his life; but things were getting better all the time. The ring was still there, but at least now he has a real bedroom. And with his new status as a court wizard, he had more freedom to explore the arcane than ever before.

I engineer a situation wherein there actually is something bad that I stop. I’ll be the villain behind the scenes, and the hero in front of Twilight! That’ll work. Now the question is: what is something bad I can do secretly, but stop visibly?

Trixie spent the next ten or so minutes pacing back and forth, occasionally looking out the window to try and see if Twilight was on the way home. When he saw her violet frame galloping down the path with Spike clamped on her back holding an umbrella, he headed down to the foyer. On his way, he stepped into the kitchen for a moment and tried rotating the cake dish in such a way that the missing piece of the cake wasn’t visible. How successful he was remained to be seen. After grabbing a towel from the supply room, he stepped out of the kitchen and trotted to the main entrance.

A few moments later, clanging could be heard before Twilight stepped inside, Spike clambering down and collapsing the umbrella as Trixie wrapped the towel around the princess (who was mostly dry except her hooves and legs).

“Oh, Trixie--you’re so good to me,” Twilight purred, gratitude in her eyes as Trixie dried her legs with the plush towel. She kissed him once on the mouth and nuzzled him, offering up a new leg when he finished one. “Any special reason you’re wearing my tiara again?” Twilight giggled as Trixie (who up until then had a very smug look) levitated the the princess’ crown off of his head and onto hers as his face started to turn red. He had forgotten he was wearing it.

“I was keeping it warm for you, just like how I brought you this towel--I’m just a considerate pony, like that,” Trixie said, trying to look like his best idea of a humble saint (which only made him look more smug than before). “Not like Starlight... I think she’s been sneaking in slices of cake on the sly.” Twilight, still smiling, gave Trixie an incredulous look as he finished drying her. “And after she knows that I can’t have any. Anyway, how was your, uh… charity drive, wasn’t it?”

“The Helping Hooves Fundraising Fair for Fillies and Colts,” Twilight answered, getting up and strolling into the foyer with Trixie while Spike went off on his own, somewhere.

“Surely the parents of the fillies and colts should be the ones receiving aid,” Trixie postulated, only to make conversation.

“It’s for victims of child abuse, Trixie, who are still wards of the state,” Twilight looked back at her wizard, her voice a little quieter and her eyes trying to elicit some sympathy.

“Then they really should have put that in the name of the ev…”

And then Trixie got a terrible, terrible idea.

“Event? Don’t you think that putting ‘child abuse’ in the name would’ve brought it down? The kids are there for it, you know. Speaking of which, I really wish you would’ve come. The children love you. A few even asked me about you,” Twilight said, snapping an increasingly distant Trixie back into the conversation.

“The children love my magic act. How they feel about Beatrix Lulamoon, the pony, is a different matter. The ponies down there have probably already poisoned their children’s impressionable young minds with lies about me.” Trixie’s tone became faintly venomous as his paranoia bubbled up, worrying Twilight.

“Now, Trixie… You know that isn’t true, and I don’t like you talking that way. You remember how I used to have you help Cheerilee? The schoolchildren loved you,” Twilight tried her best to convince Trixie, both of them slowing down as they reached the grand staircase, but she knew that when Trixie got an idea in his head like this it was almost impossible to convince him otherwise--at least for a few days. Until then he’d just grunt and snap at her if she brought it up, then go pout. “And I’m sure that if you had come to town with me today you would have seen that all the colts and fillies adore you.”

“Hrmph,” Trixie grunted, looking away toward the hall that led to his tower’s staircase.

“Trixie, it isn’t healthy to stay cooped up in your tower all day, never leaving the castle. I don’t know why you think that everypony has some vendetta against you for this or that--and now children? This is getting out of h-”

“Hrrngh--Yeah, yeah--uh huh, you’re right. Thanks,” Trixie’s tone rose sharply, his voice trembling.

“Trixie…” Twilight really didn’t want to fight about this.

“Thank you for telling me what to think, Twilight--I’m going to go up to my study and reflect on what a braindead imbecile I am,” Trixie snapped at his princess, storming off toward his tower’s side entrance.

Twilight sighed, stepping up the stairs as she watched Trixie march off, his head hanging. She was used to him blowing up like that, but it still upset her when it happened--not because he had yelled at her, but because she knew that he was hurt. Trixie never had such a short fuse when they were growing up, going to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns together. It must have happened sometime after he left Canterlot, that he became that way. The way Twilight figured, traveling for years alone can turn you into an antisocial pony; but she’ll be the first pony to tell you that she’s not sure why he’s that way. What really perplexed Twilight was why Trixie left Canterlot in the first place.

Maybe it’s my fault, Twilight thought to herself as she walked to her bedroom, I could have been there for him more. He never really had anypony except me. He certainly couldn’t talk to his father… and that mother of his... I guess when you don’t have anypony, it’s not such a difficult decision to make; to just get up and leave one day. But these thoughts were the same ones running through Twilight’s mind the day it happened, years ago.

Twilight opened the door to her room, which was very modest for a princess. Next to her room’s door was the door to Trixie’s bedroom, of course they’d usually both sleep in Twilight’s room during winter. The entrance to his tower’s study was down at the other end of the hall, close enough that she could hear him locking the door. She trotted to her bed, levitating her tiara into its display case and sitting down before she slipped on a sweater, thinking about the fundraiser in town. It was meant to last until the late afternoon, then the weather service would bring in the hailstorm--but something must’ve happened.

I would think that Trixie would’ve been more sympathetic about victims of child abuse.

Pulling down a pillow from the top of her bed, Twilight laid her head on it’s silky exterior and sprawled out. A few minutes passed as she thought more about the fundraiser, the children, the weather, and Trixie. After a while, she heard some trotting outside her room and figured Starlight was coming to talk to either herself or Trixie. Sure enough, Starlight’s head poked into the entrance of Twilight’s room, looking at the alicorn.

“How’d the fundraiser go?” Starlight stepped into the room, walking toward the window.

“It was nice while it lasted. The fillies were all really excited to meet a princess,” Twilight smiled, sitting up on her bed as the sound of falling rain and hail filled the room. “Most of the colts were asking me about… Captain Fantastic out there.” Twilight motioned toward her door, her smile faltering.

“I heard him yelling a few minutes ago,” Starlight looked out toward the Everfree. “Trouble in paradise?”

“No more than usua-... Well…” Twilight looked at the other window. “Things have been weird with Trixie ever since my niece was born,” Twilight confided in Starlight, who smirked at the statement. “He’s been acting immature- well, more immature. One minute he’ll be ogling me like a teenager, and the next he’ll be following me around like a sick puppy. And whenever I try to talk to him about our relationship, or anything serious, he runs away,” Twilight said, looking to Starlight for advice.

Starlight looked at her friend and shrugged, stepping toward the door, “Maybe you should try and sit him down, then talk to him about this.”

“Have you met Trixie?” Twilight mocked. “Where are you going?”

“I just remembered that I have to rewrite a letter I’m sending to somepony.” Starlight grinned meekly, stepping out the door and trotting down the hall. Twilight, bemused, fell back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Actually, when she wanted to, she could sit Trixie down and have a serious talk with him--but that kind of thing should be reserved for when it was really needed. She wasn't too awfully worried about Trixie's demeanor, figuring that it would work out once he got more acclimatized to the new atmosphere around the castle; with Starlight having moved in and Shining Armor's recent visit, it must've been stressful for Trixie. He doesn't like change, Twilight had noticed. Twilight started to think about Shining Armor's visit, smiling--he had brought Flurry Heart with him, and Twilight had tried to get the foal to call her and Trixie, "Aunt Twilight and Uncle Trixie"-

Oh...

Twilight sat up, looking at her door.

Maybe that has something to do with it.