Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight

by Draconaes

Chapter 26

Chapter 26
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By the time Trixie was out of the forest, it was noon. She had progressed slowly and cautiously; she didn't want to attract attention from the empire if they were nearby. Fortunately, she hadn't come across a single sign of any other humans.

There was a fork in the road just ahead. One path lead back to Ponyville. The other veered away from the town, toward Whitetail Woods. 'I could always just leave entirely. Maybe head to Manehattan.' She sighed and shook her head. In the past, Trixie would have fled entirely. But whether she liked it or not, she had gained a measure of respect for the purple unicorn that had tried to help her. Calling her a friend seemed a bit premature, but the potential was there. Gritting her teeth, she started down the path toward Ponyville.

The town seemed deserted when she arrived. She could see a couple ponies dashing about, and she heard what sounded like windows being slammed shut at odd intervals. 'What's going on? Did they find out about the aliens?'

"Hey! Everypony is supposed to get- YOU!" Trixie suddenly found herself being tackled from the side. After rolling to a stop, she looked up to see that her aggressor was Rainbow Dash. "Where's Twilight!?"

Trixie shoved Rainbow Dash off of her an set to work straightening out her cape and hat. "How should Trixie know? Maybe she's off kissing Luna's hooves some more!" Trixie didn't actually care much about Twilight's relationship with royalty, but ponyfeathers if she wasn't going to find something to complain about after getting tackled like that!

"She went running after you dummy!"

"Really? Ugh, I had hoped to ignore that possibility. Now I'll have to feel vaguely guilty about it."

"That's all you have to say?!"

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" Trixie and Dash turned to see Spike running toward them. He skidded to a halt right in front of them and put his hands on his knees. "I finally caught up to you! Twilight sent a message from Canterlot. I tried to tell you but you flew off too fast. She says they found the monster! It's trapped in the vault that the elements are kept in."

Hearing that Twilight was relatively safe, Trixie resumed her trek to the library. Rainbow Dash noticed her leaving and zipped overhead. "Where do you think you're going?"

"The library. It's where I'm currently living, if you didn't know."

"What, you're not gonna go help Twilight beat the big bad monster? Finally recognized that you aren't the most powerful unicorn in Equestria?"

"Pretty much."

"You- wait, what?" Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback by her answer.

"I'm not a hero. I'm a little sick of pretending to be one. Let the real heroes save to world or whatever. I'm not gonna get myself killed for some jerk."

"Hey, Twilight's not-!"

"I wasn't talking about Twilight, okay!? Just... nevermind. Twilight can be the hero again. I'll just... organize her bookshelves or something. Maybe she'll give me some bits for it and I can save toward a new caravan."

"She won't be paying you anything if she doesn't make it back! I don't know what's going on exactly, but I know that it's big! Look, I may have belittled you before, but you actually do have some talent, alright? I'm pretty sure Twilight could use your help! Especially since she risked her flank chasing you into the Everfree Forest just to keep you from getting yourself killed! I don't know why she cares so much about you, but she does, and you're gonna repay that by just ignoring everything! If I heard correctly, didn't you have something to do with this monster in the first place?"

"What's it matter? I don't want to go fight monsters anymore. Sue me."

"Why you- you can't just- I mean- I can't believe I never realized how much of a coward you are!

"Oh! So that's how it is, is it?" Trixie spun around and looked straight up at Dash. "Trixie is nothing but a fraud and a charlatan when she's trying to make an honest living as a performer. She's a manipulative trickster when she guilts a pony into helping her when she's destitute! But, oh! What's this? The second something big is happening, Trixie is suddenly supposed to be the big hero? Come on Trixie! Where's that bluster and showmanship now? You wouldn't want that meddler getting hurt because of you, would you! Who cares if you're just some poor unicorn pony trying to live the life she wants! You're expected to save Equestria now! Don't worry! We'll go right back to calling you a phony the minute you fail! And if you refuse, we'll do it anyway, you big coward!"

Rainbow Dash stared at her with wide eyes. "Trixie, I-"

"If you think Twilight needs help being the hero, then let her friends do something about it instead of hiding in their houses! I don't understand where you have the gall to accuse me of being a coward when you're hiding here, patrolling a town that is not in any danger whatsoever!" Trixie felt a sudden buildup of pressure in her horn. She felt her fear and anger spike even more for a moment and felt reality twist around her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was sitting in the middle of the library. 'Guess I learned how to teleport...' She wanted to feel more excited, but she was too busy seething with anger and trying to ignore her guilt. She figured she might as well actually organize some books. She pulled the books she had stolen from Twilight out of her saddlebags and turned to place them on Twilight's desk when something caught her eye. Something purple.

She focused on it and dropped the books in shock, jaw dropping. In the corner was Trixie's original hat and cape, Neatly folded and in perfect condition. A note was placed on top of it.

Trixie levitated the note over to her and began reading.

My most sincerest apologies for the delay, Twilight. Trixie showing up and throwing my dress forms about didn't exactly speed things up. It's a little hard to work on a gift for somepony when they do something like that. Nevertheless, here are her cape and hat, restored to pristine condition. Do not worry about payment: I never intended to charge you for this. Good luck with helping Trixie turn over a new leaf.

With love, Rarity.

p.s. Spike just told me as I was dropping this off that you are currently in Canterlot. I don't know the full story, but we've received your letter and I'm off to inform the mayor. I'm leaving this here for your return.

Trixie let the note fall to the ground and looked back at her old attire. Maybe she did owe it to Twilight to go help her. She knew some details about the aliens that could help keep Equestria safe. And maybe she could mediate between Tyr and the others. She could still do some good without being a hero.

Besides, what kind of member of the Night Clan would she be if she abandoned serving Princess Luna in a situation like this? Sure, she had already done that, but she could go make things right by helping her now.

Tossing her current outfit aside, Trixie donned her old cape and hat. If she was going to redeem herself, she wanted to redeem herself as the original Great and Powerful Trixie! Now she just had to get to Canterlot...

She looked back at Twilight's desk and noticed a jumble of notes. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to detail a long-range teleportation spell. There were also modifications to allow the caster to bring others along with them. 'What, did the universe just conspire to make it easy for me to give into my guilt?'

She sighed and started building up power. She had only just learned how to teleport, and by accident at that, but the mechanics detailed in Twilight's notes didn't seem much different. The spell only required parts of a few other minor spells in order to work, and did not required much more energy. It was genius in its elegance, really.

She once again felt pressure building up in her horn and the fabric of reality twisting around her. It lasted a moment longer this time, and when she opened her eyes she found herself in an extravagant bedroom. The starry motif and predominance of the color blue led Trixie to believe that she was in Luna's chambers. Turning around, she had her suspicions confirmed.

Standing before her, apparently in the middle of a conversation before Trixie had appeared, were Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna. "Trixie?"

'Uh-oh...'

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