//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight: Valid Argument // Story: Heart of Light // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Heart of Light Chapter Eight: Valid Argument Written by TheCrimsonDM It was late at night and Valiant watched as both Trixie and Maud were standing in the doorway glaring at Twilight. Valiant was hiding behind the couch watching the situation unfold. In all honesty she felt like they were overreacting, but of course she was still considered a filly and often times was overlooked as the adults argued. “You nearly got our daughter killed in some freakish train accident!” Trixie snapped. Maud added, “I’m disappointed in you.” Twilight’s head sunk low. “I did the best I could. There was no way I could know that there was going to be trouble, I’ve been on that train ride hundreds of times since moving to Ponyville. You’ve both been on that train hundreds of time. There was no way of knowing there would be danger.” “That doesn’t matter,” Maud said, her monotone voice almost came out cold. “It’s because she was helping you that she was in danger.” “After everything we’ve done to keep her alive and well,” Trixie shook her head. “And you just…” Twilight shuffled her hooves. “Valiant’s my friend, one of my best friends. I… we’re like family. All of us, aren’t we?” Maud gave Twilight a glare. “Are we?” Twilight looked wounded, and Trixie was quick to step in. “Twilight, we’re not mad at you.” “I am,” Maud stated. “Maud, honey, please,” Trixie gave a disapproving look at Maud. “Valiant’s okay, and we’re grateful that you saved her, along with everypony else on that train.” Trixie’s eyes went back to Twilight. “We’re still family, I promise, but we will be much more restrictive of where Valiant goes from now on. I don’t think we’ll trust her going on any long trips for awhile. Especially not if the world is getting that dangerous once again. Remember the windigo war? I would not have sent any of us out to go adventuring during that crisis.” Twilight’s head suck lower still. Her mane was practically touching the ground. “I… I guess you’re right.” A quick pain shot through Valiant’s chest. No, she can’t give up just like that. We’re so close to finding the archive, there’s only one more clue left! I need to find the Seekers Archive. “There,” Trixie said. “Twilight understands, now can’t you two make up?” A small crease appeared over Maud’s eyes, an indication that she was repressing a lot of anger. “Are you sorry?” “I’m sorry,” Twilight replied. “I accept your apology. Now I’m going to work on cleaning the kitchen,” Maud stated as she walked away from the door. Trixie gave a shrug. “She’ll calm down by tomorrow.” Twilight looked up at Trixie, her eyes were glistening. “D-did you see the way she looked at me? There was fire in her eyes.” Trixie tried to offer a friendly smile that came off more forced than genuine. “One of our babies was in danger. You know that after what happened to Boulder-“ the loud stomp of a hoof coming from the kitchen caught Trixie off guard. Valiant saw Maud staring at Trixie, a warning that she should refrain from saying anything further. Yet this bothered Valiant, she knew that Maud had a pet rock named Boulder, it was currently at the rock farm being taken care of by Marble Pie, but why would that cause reason for unrest in Maud? Trixie cleared her throat. “Anyway, she is very protective over her babies. Little mama bear, Maud.” Twilight smiled weakly. “I understand. I… I’ll leave now. Um, would you mind if I come by tomorrow? Just to say hi?” The way Trixie rolled her eyes brought a small smile to Valiant’s lips. “What are you, Fluttershy? Of course you can come over tomorrow. We’ll have coffee, and I’ll pick your brain for help with my more problematic students.” Twilight beamed at that. “It’s a date.” They said their farewells and Trixie shut the door. Maud was busy washing dishes, and Trixie walked over to her and gave her a one legged hug. “Should I go retrieve Amber from our sister’s?” Maud shook her head. “Pinkie and Fluttershy can take care of her tonight.” Trixie smiled. “Yeah I trust both of them more than I trust myself sometimes. Hong Kong Fluttershy, and psychic Pinkie make a powerful combination.” When Trixie looked back at Valiant Heart it set panic into Valiant’s heart, she quickly looked around for anywhere to escape too. Once upon a time she had a cardboard box fort here, it was guarded by an army of cat plushies, and no other pony was allowed in. Well save for the venerable Princess Sweetie Belle, but that was with permission. Now however that box fort was replaced by a messy toy box, and small book shelf lined with children books, including the ones that Trixie had written. Trixie began her walk over to the couch, and Valiant panicked. She wasn’t entirely sure where the fear actually came from, it wasn’t like she’d ever gotten in trouble before, but then again she was a good kid. At least that’s what everypony told her. Maybe she was just trying to escape the awkwardness of whatever conversation Trixie was about to unleash upon her. So Valiant gave a small yelp as her little legs kicked into gear and she began to make a run for it towards her room. She got about five steps into it before she was lifted off the air by a purple aura and brought back to the couch where she was plopped down onto the soft cushions. “Val, I would like to talk with you about what happened today,” Trixie said quietly. Valiant Heart closed her eye and waited for the questions to start. “It’s just that, well you’ve been through a pretty traumatic experience today. Between surviving some kind of alicorn terrorist attack, and watching a mare die of old age. Well, I just want to know if you’re doing okay?” Valiant bit her lip. She didn’t want to answer these questions, because she knew what her first response would be and it wouldn’t be pretty. “It’s okay to talk to us you know, about anything. Or if you need to, we can schedule another appointment with Doctor Timequill. Would that help?” Valiant shook her head but retained her silence. The thoughts of having her dream snatched away from her, only just after having begun the journey were building the fire in her chest. Now she would never find the archive. This wasn’t okay, nothing about it was okay. She felt like she was dying inside. “Val, shh,” Trixie said as a hoof reached out and gently brushed away the tears on her cheek. Valiant hadn’t realized she was crying, and she cursed herself for being too weak to do anything yet again. She had a magical power to heal ponies, but she squandered it. Within a moment a second voice joined alongside Trixie’s. “We’ll keep you safe,” Maud promised. Valiant shook her head. “Than what’s wrong?” Trixie asked. “You were limping by the time you got in here.” That was it, Valiant couldn’t keep shut anymore. She had to release her emotions or it was going to kill her. She took in a deep breath before saying, “I’m so useless.” The words surprised everypony, including herself. That was not what she thought would escape her lips, she expected to swear at her parents, not to… to… tell them the ugly truth. “You are not useless,” Trixie said determinedly. Valiant shook her head. “I couldn’t help Twilight. I couldn’t help the old pony. I couldn’t help the sick ponies. I… I can’t do anything, because I’m so scared to try.” “You don’t have to be afraid,” Trixie said. “You don’t understand,” Valiant snapped. She looked up at her with one big wet eye and met Trixie’s eyes with everything she had in her. “You were a great magician, you fought and killed demons, you became a princess, and you even killed an ursa minor. How could you ever understand what it’s like to be useless, and scared, and weak!” Trixie sat down, her hoof gently rested on one of Valiant’s legs. “Oh, Val. You have no idea.” “No idea about what?” Maud looked down at her own hooves. “I’ll get dinner started.” With that said she took off to the kitchen, Valiant could still see her so it wasn’t like she was gone, or even out of earshot, but in this tiny cottage, it was the best she could offer in terms of privacy without leaving the room completely. “I was a failure of a magician,” Trixie said. “My first few gigs went great, but after I came here to Ponyville everything I had was destroyed, my wagon, my stuff, my reputation. I drifted for awhile after that looking for work, but found… very little.” Valiant looked up at her. “Is, is that how you got to Manehattan?” Trixie shook her head. “No, I was lucky enough to find a family to take me in and give me a place in the world. I was also foolish enough to throw that away for a shot at revenge against Twilight Sparkle. It was that mistake which ruined what little bit I had left and led me to the mean streets of Manehattan where I first met you.” Valiant blinked. “And… when you… where the Black Hoof gang…” “Yes, where I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, sacrificed myself to save you from their clutches. After that I gave up on the world and tried to kill myself,” Trixie said. To Valiant’s obvious shock Trixie quickly added, “Well of course I failed. But the event led me to being treated in a hospital thanks to the kindness of Twilight Sparkle who realized that she had missed the biggest friendship problem of her young career, me. I ended up going to live with Maud after that, and after a while we fell in love.” “You’ve never told me this before. W-why are you telling me this now?” Trixie offered a small smile. “Because it was all my failures, all of my falls, which led me to the one thing that remained constantly good in my life. My better half, my puzzle piece, my half orange, my rock, and my very heart of stone; Maud Pie. If I hadn’t fallen so far, I never would have met her. At least not in the way that I needed too.” Valiant sniffled. “But… I’m so scared.” “I know me and Maud haven’t helped much by asking you to keep your powers secret. We just wanted you to have a normal childhood, I know that we could never really give you that, but we’re doing our very best.” “Did… did I only meet you two because bad stuff happened to me?” Trixie reeled back. “I… I don’t think so. I mean, you did meet me the first time only because you were homeless alongside me. The second time… the second time was my fault. I should have been faster, or maybe I should have told Twilight what the Black Hoof would do to you. She would have killed herself to stop that. Sadly time travel doesn’t work.” Valiant raised an eyebrow at Trixie. I remember both Twilight and Starlight telling me that Time Travel did too work, just that it was highly illegal and dangerous. Trixie shook her head. “What I’m attempting to say is that no matter how bad it gets, or how bad it was, you can always keep moving forward and make things better for yourself. It’s in your hooves to do whatever you want in life. I’ve always said that I wanted to inspire ponies to follow their dreams, and I want to do the same thing with you.” Valiant looked over at Maud making sure she was busy before whispering, “What if my dreams involve going on trips with Twilight?” Trixie grinned. She whispered right back, “Well than I guess we’ll just have to keep it a little secret from Maud. It’s not like Twilight was trying to endanger you, this was just an accident and I understand that. Maud will come around, but for now we won’t tell her that your dream is to be the very best assistant that Twilight ever had. There’s not a dragon or traitorous owl alive that has your skills.” Valiant smiled. “Y-you really mean it?” Trixie beamed right back. “I do.” Valiant lunged forward wrapping both of her legs securely around Trixie’s neck. Trixie returned the embrace. Valiant often forgot that Trixie too was great at being a mom, and big sister. That night she was reminded of why Trixie was both great and powerful.