//------------------------------// // New beginning // Story: The New and Reborn Trixie // by Yukito //------------------------------// “Is she still not awake?” “It’s been 10 days. I’m startin’ ta get worried.” “Oh, I feel so sorry for Twilight. She clearly hasn’t been getting much sleep lately.” “Hm?” Trixie tried to look for the source of the sounds around her, but she couldn’t see anything. Wherever she was, it was pitch-black. “Hey! She just moved!” Trixie recognised that last voice. It was undoubtedly Pinkie Pie’s. She would recognise that hyperactive party mare’s voice anywhere. It stood out quite well. She realised that her eyes were closed, and tried to open them. It felt like she had forgotten how to do so for a while, and it required some effort to finally open her eyes even slightly. “Wha?” She saw the blurred faces of five ponies looking down at her. “S-She’s waking up!” Trixie recognised this voice as the soft and gentle Fluttershy’s voice. “Quick! Go get Twi!” This was Applejack’s voice. “Right!” Rainbow Dash’s voice. She could guess by this point who the last pony was before even hearing her voice. “Trixie? Darling, can you hear me?” As Trixie concluded. The last voice was Rarity’s. Her vision start to become more clear, and she could see her friends properly now. They were looking down at her with worried looks on their faces. “Ow…Trixie’s head hurts…” She said, sitting up and stroking the back of her head with a hoof. Her friends all sighed in relief, except for Pinkie, who pulled Trixie into a tight and started cheering now that she was awake. “Ah!” Trixie put her hooves to her temples, trying to suppress a headache that was starting to form. “Pinkie!” Rarity shouted, pulling the pink mare away by her tail. “Please, she’s just woken up. Can’t you express your happiness a little more…Quietly?” “TRIXIE!” Everypony in the room was startled by the sudden entrance of Twilight Sparkle, who pushed the door open with some force and charged towards Trixie’s bed. “You really are awake! Oh thank Celestia!” She pulled Trixie into a tight hug, but was much more quiet than Pinkie Pie, so that the blue Unicorn’s headache didn’t get any worse. “Wait a minute…Twilight?” Trixie pushed Twilight away and examined her closely. Indeed, this was the purple Unicorn that Trixie only moments ago – or so it seemed to Trixie – tried to protect. Except…There was one important detail missing. “Calm yourself, Ursa Major!” Twilight turned around to see her mentor, Princess Celestia, emerge from the trees of the Everfree forest. “It’s has been a long time. And I see that you are still as quick-tempered as always.” The Ursa Major roared loudly, causing Twilight to reflexively cover her ears. Celestia, however, remained still, staring the Ursa Major in the eyes with a calm look on her face. “I understand that my pupil entered your home without permission, but she did not know that the cave was yours. Therefore, I must insist that you sheath your fury, and return in peace.” The Ursa Major stared back at Celestia for a few moments, remaining silent. It then looked back at Twilight, and started to raise its claw again. “I’m going to warn you one last time, Ursa Major.” Celestia said, freezing the Ursa Major in place. “If you do not fall back right now, you will have to once again face the wrath of me and my sister. And I warn you, we have become much more adept at wielding the Elements since our last encounter.” Twilight realised that Celestia was bluffing. Celestia and Luna could no longer wield the Element of Harmony, since they were no longer connected to them. The thought that Celestia was counting on a bluff to scare off the Ursa Major terrified her. That meant that even Princess Celestia was no match for such a foe on her own. Thankfully, it seemed to work. The titan of a beast turned around, and retreated back into its cave, stopping to give Celestia one final roar. “I understand.” Celestia said as she nodded towards the beast, which then disappeared into its cave. “Princess Celestia…” Twilight finally found her voice again, but could only utter those two words as she stared at her mentor with admiration and astonishment in her wide eyes. Suddenly, she remembered the pony that she was holding on to, and panic returned to her face. “Please, you’ve got to help Trixie! If you don’t, she’ll die!” Celestia walked over to her pupil and looked down at her. The image in front of her eyes was exactly as she had seen in her nightmare. She was too late to stop it. She leant down so that she could examine Trixie. A frown and a shake of her head made Twilight fear that the worst had happened, but then Celestia spoke up. “It’s…Not looking good. She’s very badly injured. But…As long as a pulse still runs through her body, she can be saved.” Twilight’s face lit up slightly as she heard Celestia say that. “Then hurry up!” She shouted, not caring that it sounded like she was demanding something of her Princess. “She’s still got a pulse, so she can still be saved!” “The problem, Twilight Sparkle…Is that saving her in this state requires a certain spell…Which carries a hefty price. And unfortunately, I cannot do it.” She saw Twilight’s shocked look that seemed to be asking her “why not?”, and started to explain. “I am the Princess of the Sun, and the ponies of Equestria need me. Luna is still not ready to take on my duties as well as her own, and so, my power is still needed.” She let out a soft sigh, and placed a comforting hoof on her pupil’s shoulder. “As much as it pains me to say this, the life of one pony cannot even compare to the lives of many, no matter who it is.” Twilight looked down at Trixie, sobbing silently as she held the dying mare closely. She could hear faint breathing coming from Trixie’s mouth. “There must be something you can do, right?” Twilight asked quietly, almost begging. “There isn’t anything I can do…Buy there may be something you can do.” Twilight’s ears perked up, and her face quickly turned to look her mentor in the eyes. “Your magic may just be enough to save Trixie’s life with this spell. All you have to do is lend me your magic, and I’ll cast the spell for you. But, there will be a hefty price for this. Are you sure you want to-” “JUST HURRY UP ALREADY!” Twilight shouted, starling Celestia for a second. “I don’t care what the price is! If we don’t do something now, she’ll die!” Celestia saw the resolve in her pupil’s eyes. She wasn’t going to back down. Her mind was set. Celestia nodded, and her horn started to glow. “Then, prepare yourself, Twilight Sparkle. There’s no going back once the spell starts.” Dr. Stable emerged from the ER room at the Ponyville hospital. He told everyone that Trixie’s condition was stable, and they all sighed in relief. “But, at this point, I can’t say if she’ll ever make a full recovery. She may remain comatose for the rest of her life, or she may wake up in a few days.” He sighed and wiped walked over to a nearby vending machine. “In any case, I encourage you all to visit her on a regular basis. Being surrounded by her friends and hearing their voices may be just what she needs to wake up.” “Thank you, Dr. Stable.” Celestia said, bowing to the doctor, who wasn’t sure what to do at this point. Both he and the nurses around him started to freak out over the sight of their ruler bowing to a low-class city doctor. “P-Please, Princess! There’s no need to thank me! Besides, it was your magic that really saved the day!” He then turned to Twilight Sparkle, who was following the nurses moving Trixie to another room. “By the way, is she really going to be ok? I mean, it won’t be too much trouble to give her a quick check-up.” Celestia rose up and turned to her student. “She’ll be fine. Naturally, it’ll take time to adjust, now that her Essence is gone. But her health itself is in no danger.” “So what is this “Essence” stuff, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, floating up to Celestia. “The Essence of a pony – or of any species, for that matter – is what gives it their unique traits” Celestia explained. “For example, a Dragon’s Essence gives a Dragon the ability to breathe fire, and its tendency to hoard and eat treasures. And the Essence of a Pegasus pony gives it the power to interact with the weather, and gives it enhanced speed, agility, and reflexes.” Applejack looked down the corridor to the room that Twilight and the nurses from earlier had taken Trixie to. “So, without her Essence, Twilight is just a regular ol’ Earth Pony?” “No.” Celestia corrected. “Earth Pony’s have their own Essence, too. One that makes them more in-tune with the land, and makes their bodies tougher and stronger than other ponies. Without her Essence…Twilight isn’t even an Earth Pony.” “Twilight…Your horn…” Trixie stared at Twilight with a shocked look on her face, struggling to bring out the right words. “Your…Horn…” She repeated, moving her hoof forward to confirm what she was seeing – Twilight’s horn was truly gone. There wasn’t even anything on her head where it should have been. No mark. No protrusion, or indentation…Nothing. It was like she never had a horn in the first place. “C’mon girls. Let’s give ‘em some privacy.” Applejack said, leaving the room along with Rarity and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie had to be dragged out by Rainbow Dash. On their way out, they ran into Dr. Stable. “Oh, is Trixie awake? Why didn’t you tell me!?” He shouted, scolding the group of ponies. “In any case, I’d better go and make sure that she’s ok.” “Wait!” Rarity shouted, closing the door and blocking access with her body. “Don’t you know anything about love!? They need their room!” “Rarity, Trixie has been in a coma for 10 days! Her brain might be damaged, or her organs may not be functioning properly!” “Just give ‘em ten minutes, alright?” Applejack asked, pulling on one of Dr. Stable’s hooves. “Surely you can wait ten more minutes, right?” Dr. Stable sighed, and finally gave in. “Fine. Ten minutes. But no more!” He said, taking a seat on one of the benches outside whilst he waited, looking at his watch to see the current time. He then looked over to the white Unicorn blocking the door. “Wait, did you say love!?” Twilight sat down on the edge of Trixie’s bed and waited for Trixie to calm down before she started speaking. “So…Um…Do you…Remember everything?” Trixie nodded her head slowly, but kept her eyes fixed on Twilight’s forehead. “What happened? Did Trixie fail to protect you?” She then realised that she was the one in the hospital bed, and remembered that she was actually hit by the Ursa Major’s claws. “No, Trixie’s sure that she made it in time…” “I used a powerful spell to save you.” Twilight explained. “Well, the Princess is the one who used it. But I supplied my Essence to make it effective.” “You WHAT!?” Trixie screamed, and then put held her hooves against her stomach as it started to hurt. “Why would you do something like that?” Twilight looked at her as if the answer was obvious, but explained anyway. “Because I didn’t want you to die.” Trixie’s eyes widened at that, and she stared at Twilight in silence. “I care about you, Trixie. I couldn’t just give up on you when there was a way to save you.” “You don’t care about Trixie at all! If you did, you would remember her!” “You’re the filly who was going to play Roberto in that class play, right?” Trixie was stunned into silence. Twilight smiled at Trixie and continued. “I’ll admit that I don’t remember much about you. I…Didn’t exactly care about other ponies back then. I never remembered anypony unless I really liked them.” “Yes. Trixie is aware of that. And that’s why Trixie knows that you don’t care for her.” Trixie said, turning away so that she was no longer looking Twilight in the eyes. “But when you insisted on playing Roberto, after hearing that I would be Alison…I was actually kind of happy.” Trixie still didn’t face Twilight, but she continued listening closely. “That’s why I wanted you to come over to my house, and practice your lines with me. My brother always told me that I should try harder to make some friends, but I was never any good at that. “So when you agreed to come over to my house, I was so excited. I was really looking forward to it. But then…You never showed up.” Twilight lowered her head and stared down at the bed sheets, shuffling her hoof against them. “Trixie…Was involved in a certain incident…She had to miss school for a while.” Trixie turned to Twilight, who looked pretty depressed. “Anyway, you still had no right to sacrifice your Essence like that!” Trixie said. “How is Trixie supposed to prove that she is greater than you now? When you can’t even use your magic!?” “I don’t care about any of that!” Twilight shouted, bringing her face up and looking Trixie in the eyes, with the sternest look that Trixie had ever seen Twilight give. “I don’t care which of us is number one. I don’t care if you’re better at magic than me or not. I just…I just want to be with you, Trixie…” Trixie’s face started to turn red as she realised that their faces were starting to get dangerously close to each other. “Trixie waited long enough for your friendship, Twilight. She’s not sure if she wants it now…” She said, trying to keep her eyes from looking into Twilight’s. Twilight’s face turned into a frown, and she back away. “I know I never paid much attention to you in the past. I know that, no matter how much you tried, I never even acknowledged you. But that was wrong of me, and I’m willing to correct that now.” Trixie looked Twilight in the eyes momentarily, which she realised was a mistake. Twilight’s ears were drooping down, her eyes wide and teary, and her lips in full pout. “Please, Trixie. Don’t leave me…Please?” Trixie stared at Twilight for a few moments, and then let out a loud groan. “That’s not fair, Twilight Sparkle!” She shouted. “Fine! Trixie will forgive you, and stay here…” Twilight’s face started to light up, but then reverted back when Trixie continued. “BUT! There are two conditions! First, you can never use that face on Trixie again!” She said, trying to look away from Twilight. “Ok…” Twilight said, taking a moment to force a smile onto her face. Unfortunately, Twilight wasn’t good at faking smiles, and her new face made Trixie fall back and laugh. “Hey! Stop that!” She shouted, turning her back to Trixie. “And? What’s the other condition?” Trixie stopped laughing and sat up again. Her face turned red and she swallowed as she prepared herself for what she was about to say. “Trixie…Is no longer interested in us being friends…” Twilight turned around, looking at her with a confused look. “But…Trixie may be willing to…Become something more…If you want to, that is…” She said, her voice growing quieter as she turned her head to the side, trying not to look Twilight in the eyes. Trixie felt a pair of hooves on the sides of her face, and her head was forcibly turned so that she was looking Twilight in the eyes. Before she had time to react, she felt her lips meet with Twilight’s. She stared wide-eyed at the purple mare for a second, and then slowly shut her eyes, letting her mind empty out as she savoured this moment with the mare that she loved. “A-hem!” Both mares’ eyes shot open, and then pulled away from each other, breaking their short-lived kiss. They both turned towards the door, where they saw Dr. Stable walking up to the bed, and behind them, their friends, who were poking their heads in through the sides of the doorway. “Your 10 minutes are up. We need to perform some tests now, to make sure that Trixie is alright.” Twilight picked up a book that was lying in a pile in her library. She read the title. “Trolling for Eggheads – Vol. 1”. “What’s this doing here?” She asked herself, and then tried to levitate the books in the pile into neat stacks. Nothing happened, as expected. She sighed, and began sorting through the books the non-magical way – with her hooves. “You’re still not used to life without a horn?” Trixie approached Twilight from behind and used her magic to help Twilight sort out the books. “Well, Trixie supposes when magic is your special talent, it’s hard to get used to life without it…” “It’s not too bad. At least I didn’t lose my passion for reading.” Twilight said, placing books into separate piles based on their category. “And I have you here for when I really need magic for something.” “You make Trixie sound like a tool designed to make your life easier.” Trixie said, tapping a book onto Twilight’s head. Twilight started to laugh to herself, and Trixie joined in shortly afterwards. Spike listened to them from inside the kitchen, adding a few ingredients into a bowl as dictated by the recipe book that he was following. He smiled happily as the two mares laughed together. It had been three weeks since Trixie was discharged from the hospital, and finally, everything seems to be back to normal. Trixie was still being distant over the past few weeks, but lately, she’s been putting more effort into getting along with everyone. Spiked walked into the room where Twilight and Trixie were sorting out books to tell them that dinner would be ready soon. Before he could, though, he felt a sudden pain in his stomach, that started to rise up his throat. He let out a loud belch, accompanied by green flames, and a scroll appeared from them. Trixie picked up the scroll with her magic, and brought it towards herself. “A letter from the Princess?” Twilight asked, surprised by the sudden letter since she wasn’t expecting any mail from Princess Celestia. “What’s it say?” Trixie opened the scroll and began reading it in her head. She smiled and rolled the scroll back up, placing it on the table. “It seems the Princess has managed to secure a job for Trixie.” She said, turning to a confused Twilight. “Princess Celestia asked Trixie if there was anything that she wanted, as thanks for saving her pupil. Trixie requested the Princess’ help in finding some work on-stage. And now, the Princess has managed to secure for Trixie her own magic show in Canterlot.” Twilight’s ears dropped down as she heard this, and she looked at Trixie with a sad expression on her face. “But…I thought you said that you were going to stay here…” “Don’t make that face, Twilight.” Trixie said, using her magic to force Twilight’s lips into a smile, much to Twilight’s annoyance. “Trixie will only be performing on weekends. So she’ll still spend most of her here. And it’s not like we’ll be apart or anything.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked, shaking her head to break Trixie magic. Trixie grinned and turned to Spike. “Spike, could you go and get Trixie’s present for her please?” “Sure!” Spike said, running off into the basement. He returned a few moments later with a small cardboard box. Trixie levitated it out of his hands and placed it on the floor next to Twilight. “Go ahead. Open it.” Trixie said. Twilight pulled off the lid with her hooves and took a look inside. “What is this?” She asked, seeing something blue with a yellow star pattern inside. Trixie used her magic to levitate the items out. Twilight watched as a blue cape with a similar pattern to the purple one that Trixie wore wrapped itself around her, followed by a blue hat placing itself on top of her head. “What the?” She examined the cape around her body, and then turned back to Trixie. “Trixie would like you to become her stage assistant, Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie said, using her magic to retrieve her own hat and cape from the nearby closet. “She wants you to be by her side while she performs feats of magic the likes of which Equestria has never seen.” She said with a big smile on her face. Twilight stared at Trixie for a few seconds, her eyes and mouth wide open. “Trixie…” She smiled at Trixie and walked over to her, rubbing the side of her face against Trixie’s. “I’d be honoured to assist you on-stage, “oh Great and Powerful Trixie”.” Trixie wrapped her front legs around Twilight, pulling her into a warm, comforting hug. Twilight returned the hug. Spike made a gagging expression at the scene, and returned to the kitchen. “Trixie’s first show is this weekend. So Trixie will have to work hard to teach you everything she knows by then. Trixie hopes you’re ready.” Trixie said, pulling away from the hug and levitating a pair of fake glasses to her face, entering “teacher mode”. Twilight giggled and picked up a notepad and quill from her desk. “Ok, teacher! I’m ready!”