Trixie's Version of the Tale of Braveheart and the Nightingale in the Fortress of the Dark Lord · 7:13am May 15th, 2016
Recently found these old notes on a much longer and more detailed version of Trixie's tale of the Nightingale from An Extended Performance.
"So the Lovely and Sweet Trixie came to the Castle of the Dark Lord, wearing her four cloaks of twilight, trotting so gracefully that even the griffons that guarded his gates sighed to see her." She held in one fore-hoof a little unicorn mare figurine dressed as herself, complete with starry hat and cloak. With her other hoof she draped silk scarves over the little mare. "And at the gates she doffed one cloak, and the griffons were so awed by her beauty that they fell into a swoon." Deftly she threw off one cloak into the air, where it vanished in a flash (actually, a tiny dazzler). The audience gasped, and did not notice that she had just pocketed the mare in an aura they thought was generating the flash of light. "And her beloved Brave-heart followed behind, shielded in her web of invisibility."
"And she trotted past the sleeping guards. She came to a second gate, guarded by ogres, and they too were charmed by her gracefulness ..." Damn, accidental repetition, need to do this more smoothly ... "and she doffed a second cloak, and just as had the ogres before them, the ogres swooned!" She repeated the bit with the second scarf, this time transferring a slighly different figurine from one of the compartments of her cloak while her audience was distracted. "And the Clever and Capable Trixie trotted on past them as well, again with Brave-heart following behind.
"And then she stood before the third and final gate, the gate before the Dark Lord's throne room, which was guarded by .. two very fearful creatures ..." Oh hay, can't flub the lines now ... "great armored minotaurs, bearing huge war axes, whose hearts were as cold as ice!" Not what she'd planned, but it seemed to be working. "And even Brave-Heart quailed at the sight, but the Brave and Fearless Trixie was undaunted! She smiled at them, and doffed her third cloak." One more scarf gone, one more figure transferred to her hoof. "And even these fierce warriors were so awed by her beauty that they fainted!"
"So the Determined and Delightful Trixie stepped into the Court of the Dark Lord. There he sat upon his tall throne, a great black draconequs, and he wore a bleak and ugly crown of iron with three points. And on each of those points there gleamed the dazzling beauty of the three Gems of Harmony, the very gems which Brave-heart had promised Trixie's father to bring as bride-gift! And even the Great and Not-Easily-Impressed Trixie was struck with wonder at their amazing radiance!"
At this she levitated three pieces of paste glass and threw into them some light from her horn. The illusion was a weak one, but primed by her patter, the audience gasped in appreciation at what they momentarily believed to be the Gems of Harmony. She quickly put the fake gems away, before anypony could look at them more closely, while putting the final touch on the diorama she had built on her hidden hoof.
"But the Dark Lord looked at her," Trixie said, her voice taking a very sinister tone, "for he was too old and evil to be awed by her grace. Instead, looking at her, he formed a very evil purpose, for he wanted to enjoy that which should only belong to her very special somepony. And he smiled wickedly, and bid her enter his throne room. And his captains: evil dragons and werewolves and vampires and the like, also smiled, for they thought they knew what was about to happen, and the contemplation pleased them." Trixie's voice lowered, her tone hinting at depravities beyond the measure of any sane ponies, and her audience leaned in, completely oblivious to the actual depravities being enacted outside the charmed circle Trixie had woven.
"And the Lovely and Enchanting Trixie doffed her last cloak!" Trixie cried clearly, causing her audience to start. "And beneath this there were no other more, but only the loveliness of Trixie!" She put down her little diorama. There was a big black draconequs sitting on a chair, and a little Trixie figurine, but this one unclad save for her hat, and the figure of an Earth Pony with the cutie mark of a heart and spear -- she doubted that any but the pegasi in the audience could make that out, but the Exact and Precise Trixie was nothing if not a perfectionist where her art was concerned.
"And the Dark Lord leered at the Little and Innocent Trixie, and was about to wreak some terrible harm upon her, when she opened her mouth, and began to sing. And her voice was clear and pure, as sweet as the song of the nightingale!" In the original of this story, as told to her by White-Beard, the heroine's name had been 'Nightingale,' and he had said the exact same thing at this point.
The origin of this in Tolkien's Ardaverse, specfically the (several versions he did of the) Tale of Beren and Luthien, is much more obvious here, isn't it? I'm also happy with the way that I emphasized Trixie's simultaneous romantic idealism and extreme egotism, sometimes in the same sentences. 
The reason I cut this from the final version was that if I had written out the whole thing at this level of detail, it would have swelled the chapter by thousands and thousands of words.
Ah.
Great little snippet!
She is rather garrulous.
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Well, remember that this is meant to be a long patter used as part of a magical stage-show, and in context Trixie is padding it out a bit to try to keep her audience from panicking and going mad with fear over what's happening in Manehattan at the time. But yes, Trixie does like to hear the sound of her own voice.
Even if she is a large ham, she can really put on a show. Of course as long as she isn't depressed, overly prideful or hopped up on dark magic. Still it takes some cool nerves to not panic at true darkness closing in.
3945439 True, that. Problem is that someone
can come along, listen to her pass the Apocalypse off as just part of the show, folks, and still come away underwhelmed.
I figured out just what the inspiration was about halfway through, but it was still a pleasure to read. 'Course now I'd like to see what Trixie would do with The Children of Hurin and Turin Turambar. Because wow is that ever one bleak story.
Knowing her and her occasional pettiness she'd make Turin into an expy of Shining Armor just so she could have Twilight Sparkle as Turin's fictional sister - because if you know what happened to those two?
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ROFLMAO!!!
The really cruel thing is if she ended it with 'And they all lived happily ever after!"
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The thing to remember about my Trixie is that she really is brilliant and skilled. Not as much as she claims to be, of course, but she is really awesome.
I'm sure Trixie wouldn't have any issues with that.
3945775 And then Twilight tracks her down and throttles her.
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You're right, she wouldn't mind at all. But then, if I let Trixie edit An Extended Performance, it would be about twice as long and utterly-free of the Noble and Pure Trixie doing anything that put her in an even remotely bad light.
By the way, I loved "No Second Prances," especially the scene where Trixie faints on stage following her performing the incredibly-dangerous escape feat.
3946274 Which is exactly how Trixie should be because in her first appearance she show some pretty impressive magic and the times she has appeared in the comics as more than a background pony have shown that she is at least competent.
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Ironically, Trixie's constant boasting causes Ponies -- and Bronies -- to underestimate her very real abilities. Trixie is a walking, talking Aesop on the perils of excessive self-promotion.
3947927 Which is a pity since, ironically, self promotion is one of the things she is really good at and that a traveling Magician like her needs to be good at.