A Great And Powerful Secret

by Drunk Luna

Chapter Two

“Come on, Trixie. Just try one more time,” Luna encouraged the little blue unicorn.

“Trixie can’t do this!” the filly whined with a frustrated huff. “Trixie is tired, and Trixie wants to do things that great and powerful unicorns do.” Trixie stomped her little hoof and pouted exactly like Luna used to do as a foal. As the majestic alicorn stifled a laugh at her daughter’s adorable display of exasperation, she decided to change her approach; Trixie had clearly inherited her mother’s stubborn, inquisitive nature.

“All right, let’s look at the bigger picture,” Luna said. “Why do you think we are starting our lessons with levitation spells?” Trixie’s brow furrowed as she thought.

“Because… lifting stuff is fun?” Trixie guessed, looking up at Luna with a confused expression. Luna chuckled and shook her head.

“Not quite,” she said. “All unicorns are born with the innate ability to levitate objects. That ability comes as naturally to us as breathing. Levitation is the most basic power a unicorn can have; if you cannot learn how to levitate, then it will be hard for you to understand other spells, as most of them require you to levitate something. Levitation strength must be maintained with diligent practice. The old adage, ‘use it or lose it,’ applies here. Think of it like strength training; if you work out regularly by carrying weights for a long time, your muscles will grow stronger, but if you suddenly stop for a long time and then try to lift the same amount of weight that you lifted before you quit, it will be much harder or even impossible, and you will have to start again with small weights and gradually rebuild your muscles. The same idea is applicable to levitation. You must practice regularly on your own outside of our meetings in order to master such a skill. This will require much discipline from you, young one, but I know you can handle the challenge.”

“But how do you know that?” Trixie asked. Because you are so obstinate that I don’t think you will allow yourself to be anything less than the best version of yourself,Luna thought with a mix of frustration and pride. She aimed to help Trixie channel her stubbornness into learning.

“Everypony else says I’ll never be good at magic,” the filly said. “They all make fun of me.” Luna’s heart broke at the thought of her daughter being bullied, but she decided to use this to motivate Trixie.

“Well, do you not you want to prove those bullies wrong?” Luna asked. Before Trixie could answer her, three ponies, who looked to be slightly older than Trixie, appeared and surrounded the filly, taunting her and laughing loudly as Trixie trembled in fear. A primal rush of maternal rage surged through Luna’s body, and she towered above the jeering foals.

“LEAVE THIS FILLY ALONE AT ONCE!” she yelled in the royal Canterlot voice. The foals froze and began to quake with terror as the princess glowered down at them. Luna focused her glare on a lime green Pegasus with a hot pink mane and tail, who appeared to be the ringleader of the group of bullies.

“So,” Luna boomed, “you enjoy tormenting foals who are smaller than you? Well, maybe I should give you a taste of your own medicine!” The princess stood nose to nose with the filly, who had wet herself in terror and was now cowering at Luna’s hooves. Luna’s horn began to glow, and the bullies disappeared. Trixie heard the alicorn’s hooves as Luna walked to her side. Luna’s velvety muzzle brushed across the filly’s shoulders, and her warm breath gently caressed a few strands of Trixie’s mane. The sweet fragrance of the princess’ lavender perfume filled Trixie’s nostrils as Luna lay down next to her. The alicorn curled her body around the filly and protectively draped her wing over Trixie’s body, pulling the filly closer to her.

“Ssshhhh, my sweet one,” the alicorn cooed, nuzzling Trixie’s mane. “It is all over now. You are safe, and no more harm will come to you tonight.” Trixie sniffled and looked up at Luna, who gently dried the filly’s tears with her wing.

“Why won’t you tell me your name?” the foal asked as she cuddled up against Luna’s side. Luna smiled at Trixie’s innocence. She had decided to leave her regalia at home, tie her mane into a casual ponytail, and cover her cutie mark with washable blue paint whenever she met with Trixie so that the foal would not know who the princess was, but Luna knew that her secret would become harder and harder to keep as Trixie grew up and began to study the history of Equestria.

“I shall tell you in due time, young one,” the princess promised, “but for now, you only need to know that I am your mentor and your guide.” Trixie seemed satisfied with this answer, and she curled into a fluffy little ball at Luna’s side.

After returning to the waking world, Luna gave her sleeping daughter a final nuzzle, then flew silently through an open window at the orphanage, magically closing it before she left so that the building’s young inhabitants would stay warm. Snow had begun to fall, and the biting cold of the night stung Luna’s eyes as she flew against the direction of the wind. The princess struggled to focus on battling the strong gusts of winter air that ruffled the feathers on the tips of her wings as she contemplated turning around and taking her daughter home. A feeling in the pit of Luna’s stomach warned her that the time was not yet right, but the princess also felt a pang of guilt and shame for preventing Trixie from being adopted for nearly five years. The filly was only a month away from her fifth birthday, and Luna wondered if Trixie would resent her less if she simply revealed her true identity to the young unicorn and adopted her. Trixie would start kindergarten soon, and if her magic skills continued to improve, Luna planned to begin teaching Trixie outside of the dream realm so that the filly would be more than prepared to begin her studies at Celestia’s school the following year if she wanted to do so. Luna was reluctant to keep Trixie in the dark about her heritage for much longer; the filly constantly flaunted her exceptionally headstrong, volatile personality—an obvious product of her alicorn blood. When used by a pony who had little to no knowledge or experience, unchecked alicorn magic could easily become a lethal weapon, and the amount of power Trixie had was still unknown. Luna felt that it was her responsibility to keep tabs on her daughter’s magic, and she planned to seek Celestia’s unwitting help in this endeavor. Though Luna worried that her duties would keep her from being the kind of mother that Trixie deserved, she worried more about how she would react if Trixie were adopted by somepony else. How could she protect the dream realm if she couldn’t even protect her own daughter from potentially abusive adoptive parents? Who could give Trixie a better life than the co-ruler of Equestria herself? Then, Luna’s thoughts turned to Celestia. Her ever-dutiful big sister would certainly spare no love for Luna or Trixie behind closed doors, but the filly would never hold a title; Luna would be forced to legally declare Trixie a bastard because of her own carelessness, which in turn would damage both princesses’ previously unsullied reputations. Luna knew Celestia would be furious if she ever learned the truth, but in her mind, the opportunity to secure a top-tier education for Trixie far outweighed the potential risks of doing so.

A cloud of steam floated from the princess of the night’s nostrils as her hooves touched down on the balcony from which she and her sister raised and lowered their celestial bodies. Celestia was due to raise the sun in a few minutes, and Luna hoped that her sister’s warm light would overpower the imminent blizzard that the gathering dark clouds foreshadowed. Yawning, Luna lowered the moon and turned to walk to her bedchamber for some well-earned sleep. The scent of pancakes wafted through the castle, making the princess of the night’s stomach growl.

“Good morning, sister.” Celestia’s voice startled Luna, making her jump. A musical laugh rang in Luna’s ears as the older alicorn chuckled.

“Tia,” Luna groaned with a yawn, “must you pull this stunt every morning?”

“It’s fun,” Celestia giggled. “Anyway, here, I made you breakfast.” She thrust a plate of pancakes under her sister’s nose. Luna smiled, thanked Celestia, and ravenously dug into the stack of fluffy, buttery, syrupy goodness. As she finished eating, Luna’s mind once again drifted to Trixie. During the entirety of her pregnancy, Luna had craved pancakes more than anything else; in fact, Luna had first suspected that she was pregnant while eating them. As she’d chowed down on the delicious, flaky cakes, Luna had realized that her period was late. Exhausted from her long night, the dark blue alicorn sighed and pushed her empty plate away. She trudged into her bedchamber, snuggled under her duvet, and immediately fell asleep.