//------------------------------// // Two Teachers // Story: Trixie Luna Moon // by Lets Do This //------------------------------// "'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away, And never be met with again!' -- The Hunting of the Snark, by Lewis Carroll ------------------------------ It was a quiet, unremarkable town, and a small, unremarkable house, and a perfectly ordinary, rather tackily-decorated living room. But none of that mattered. Because the talented young unicorn filly, seated on the floor in the middle of the living room, was about to perform the greatest of great, all-time, death-defying feats... ... the Dreaded... Amazing... Never-Before-Seen... "Rope Cut-And-Restore Trick For Beginners," Patricia Pot dutifully read in a flat monotone, from the open book beside her. "Variant Three... Step One..." Patricia despised her name. Her parents had rarely been able to see eye to eye on anything. Her father had wanted a simple family name, something along the lines of "Honey Pot" or "Paint Pot". Her mother, by contrast, had wanted something a little grander, a little nobler, her favorite being "Patrician Shores". In the end they'd uneasily compromised, and thereby landed Patricia with her ungainly, meaningless mish-mash of a name. Small wonder, then, that she preferred her father's nickname for her: Trixie. Brushing back her light-blue mane, Patricia fired up her horn. The magenta gleam of her telekinesis spell grabbed the length of rope before her, then wound it into a somewhat messy but serviceable knot, as the book indicated. Patricia sighed. That was always the easy part. Landing the rope on her left forehoof, she nabbed the iron suppression ring with her right and gently slipped it on over her horn. She grinned, imagining her father Jack Pot, working the trick with her... There we go... no cheating now, Trixie! As the ring clinked into place, she felt the deadening of her sensitivity. It was an uncomfortable, muffled feeling, like having her ears plugged up, but on magic wavelengths. The only thing she could sense was the tingling pulse of her own magic reserves, as she glanced at the book again and then took up the small pair of safety hoof-scissors. "Better get it right this time, Trixie," Patricia warned herself. "We're running out of rope here..." She presented the knot to her unseen audience. "And now," she said, belatedly remembering to deepen her voice, both to increase the dramatic effect and to mask her natural filly squeakiness, "I shall cut... no, sever the rope -- thus!" The scissors clamped onto the rope but refused to cut properly. Patricia smiled gamely at her invisible audience. Then, gritting her teeth and grunting, she painfully worked the lever on the scissors with her hoof-tip. The bristly cord dug painfully into her left fetlock. She could feel a cramp developing in the hoof working the scissors. Nevertheless, she pushed determinedly through the pain, and finally felt the rope yield, with a sharp clack of the scissors. Dropping the scissors, she glared at her unseen audience. "You think the rope has been cut?" she challenged. She dramatically gestured with the rope... then quickly dodged as the swinging knot almost hit her square in the face. "Well, think again!" she said grandly. "For I shall show you... it is whole!" She gripped the rope's end with her free hoof, tugged firmly... ... and the rope fell open cleanly, apparently unharmed. The cut end piece was firmly gripped between her hoof and fetlock, appearing to be part of the uncut length. Patricia stared at the rope in disbelief. "I did it!" she yelled, beside herself. "I-did-it-I-did-it-I-did-it!" She swept the rope left and right, presenting it proudly to the shouting, cheering, stamping throngs of her imaginary audience. "Thank you! Thank you all! You're too kind!" Patricia took several deep bows. Then she stared at the rope again. She hugged it to herself happily, not wanting to let go, not wanting the good feeling to end... The door behind her opened. Her mother, Showcase, trotted in with a weary sigh. The almond-yellow mare shrugged her work carryall off beside the door, then kicked the door shut behind her. Patricia jumped up and ran to her, waving the rope like a prize-winning fish. "Mom! I got the rope trick to work!" She suddenly realized her mother was glaring at her, in astonished, uncontrollable rage. A hoof caught Patricia across the face -- hard. The rope fell from her stunned grasp. There was an unpleasant taste in her mouth, and an uncomfortable, raw sensation in her snout -- like being suddenly aware of her own sinuses. And then she found herself hauled up, in her mother's angry forehooves. "Patricia Pot!" her mother groaned. "What is wrong with you! Don't you think I have enough to deal with? And this... this is how you're wasting your time? On magic tricks! On his magic tricks! Patricia! Are you trying to drive me INSANE?" Patricia was too startled to reply. Then, all at once, she found herself being thrust away, flung away from her mother, in utter disgust. She felt herself flying through the air, uncontrollably. She tried to use her magic, cast a Catch Me spell... and, too late, recalled the suppression ring still jammed down over her horn. Her mother stared after her, anger turning to shock as she noticed the ring herself... her earth-pony mother, with neither wings to dart after her, nor magic to catch her... Time seemed to slow. Patricia turned her head, saw the wall coming at her, in slow motion. She struck it heavily, spreadeagled, with a loud thump. Then she slid down to the floor into a tense, painful heap, and lay there breathlessly. She didn't cry. She couldn't cry. She couldn't breathe! Her lungs seemed to have forgotten how to draw in air. She frantically tried to force air in and out, vainly struggled to recall how breathing worked. Her mouth gaped open like a stranded fish, and she tried to swallow air, gulp it down, tried to figure out how to make as simple a trick as breathing work properly again... Finally, she was able to draw in a long, ragged gasp of air. She lay there quietly for a moment, making sure it wasn't her last. And then felt her mother gently take her up, hold her close. "Patricia, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to do that! I was so upset! But... you're all right now, yes, you're all right." Her mother turned her about, gently checking her over. "You'll be fine, darling. See? Nothing's broken. And I promise, I won't ever get that angry again. Not ever!" The little filly nodded, soundlessly, wordlessly. She let herself be hugged. She let herself be apologized to. She let herself be taken to her room and put to bed to rest up. Afterward, she heard her mother sitting in the living room, crying. And then railing at length about something she'd read in a letter. Something about Patricia's father, who was away doing shows in Las Pegasus. He'd been away for a while now. And her mother had been getting steadily angrier and angrier, all the time. And it didn't seem like things were ever going to get better again, not ever... The little filly huddled down under the covers, still saying nothing. There was nothing to be said. Because her mother was wrong: something had broken... something beyond the reach of medicine, psychology, or magic to fix. Her very soul, her ability to believe, to trust anyone at all... ... had a deep, irreparable crack in it. And it disgusted her. "Trixie," she told herself firmly, just as her father used to do, "you blew that trick, blew it good. So get over it! If the trick doesn't work, you smile, you take a bow... and you move on. If you're good, really good, they'll forget you ever screwed it up..." She still didn't cry. Trixie didn't feel like crying. Trixie decided it was because she'd forgotten how. ------------------------------ That evening after supper, when she went to bed, Trixie didn't bother saying her prayers to Princess Celestia. In fact, she decided she was never going to say them again, ever. What was the point? It never helped, as far as she could see. It was just making nice for other ponies, ponies who didn't care what she thought or felt -- only what she said, and only as long as she said it to make them happy. Well, Trixie didn't want to make other ponies happy. Never again! Trixie wanted to amaze them! To thrill them! She wanted them to be astounded! Trixie wanted ponies to be in total awe of her -- the Greatest Stage Magician in all Equestria! Trixie lay in her bed, in the dark, waving her hooves in the air and nodding to her imagined audience. She performed trick after perfect trick to thunderous applause, for encore after encore. Eventually her hooves dropped to the covers, her eyes slipped shut. Sleep overcame her at last, even after everything that had happened that day. Yet deep in the back of her mind, there lurked an old pony's tale... a cold, unforgiving superstition. It gradually surfaced, stealing away her confidence. If you don't say your prayers at night, it whispered tauntingly, Nightmare Moon will come for you! And she'll give you terrible, horrible bad dreams as punishment! Trixie shivered, looking fearfully around the room. Things seemed much darker than she remembered. There were shadows she definitely didn't recall being there. And there was an undeniable feeling of being watched, coldly and implacably... She took a deep breath, decided it was all her imagination. Then she saw the eyes... peering in through the window at her. They were large, green, and luminous, with reptilian, slit-like irises. There was a fanged mouth as well, gaping wide and glowing, like red-hot coals... it grinned hungrily at her. Trixie gasped. She huddled under the covers, eyes shut tight, unable to move, unable to even think... She didn't hear the window open. Yet somehow she knew she was no longer alone in the room. She heard the heavy tread of armored hooves crossing the floor. She felt the pressure of heavy forehooves on the edge of the bed, tilting the mattress. Felt the creature's magic draw back the covers, felt hot breath washing across her face as the Nightmare leaned close... heard the powerful, remorseless cackling as the creature decided her fate... And something snapped inside her. Trixie decided she could no longer tolerate it. Trixie was the Greatest Stage Magician in all Equestria! She was not going to just lie here and let some all-powerful Goddess of the Night torment her. Not Trixie! Trixie would never stand for such a thing! Trixie sat up in bed, eyes still shut tight. She swung a hoof. Hard. And felt it connect -- painfully. She cautiously opened her eyes. And found herself staring at a very surprised Nightmare Moon. "Ow," the Dark Mare said, sarcastically. "Was that actually intended to harm us, little one?" Trixie winced, rubbing her stinging hoof. The Mare's night-silver armor was even tougher than it looked. "Trixie," she told herself firmly, "you are not scared. You are not! And you're going to tell her so. You're going to tell her to leave you alone! Because... well, young lady, if you don't stand up for yourself... nopony else will!" She set her mouth grimly, glaring up at the Nightmare. Who glared back-- sternly, coldly unmoved. Trixie faltered, then suddenly lost her nerve. She shivered miserably. "Trixie is sorry! Please don't curse Trixie with horrible nightmares!" Nightmare Moon tilted her head, amused. "Whyever would we do such a thing, little one? When life is already a nightmare, why add to it? Besides, we are pleased with thee! It has been a long time since anyone dared stand up to us like that." Her voice grated threateningly. Her eyes glared. "A very long time." Then she paused, with a crafty look. "Such strength of will is worthy. We shall have need of such as thee when the time comes. Tell me, ah... what was thy name again, small one?" "Trixie?" It came out as a small, timid squeak. "Only Trixie?" Nightmare Moon asked. "Nothing more?" Her voice turned silky, her look devious. "Tell me, child... what is it thou wants? More than anything? What is it thou wishes to be?" Trixie hesitated. Then she gritted her teeth, crossly. "Come on, Trixie!" she snapped. "Don't just sit there! Tell her! Stop that shivering, right now, young lady! You'll never be known far and wide as the Greatest Stage Magician in all Equestria if you don't start acting like it!" She thrust out her chin boldly, her lip quivering only a tiny bit. "Ah!" The Nightmare's eyes gleamed. "Thou wishes to be great? To be recognized, acknowledged, for what one does so well?" She nodded. "A pony after our own heart! Small wonder, then, that we were drawn to thee." A silver-shod forehoof reached out, nudged Trixie's chin just a hair higher, as the dark mare inspected her narrowly. "Thou shall need training, proper lessons, to accomplish this desire. And we can think of no better teacher than ourself. Would thou be willing to be our student? To learn from the very, very best?" Trixie stared, amazed. "Lessons in real, powerful magic?" "The darkest, blackest, strongest of all magic!" Nightmare Moon smiled. "We have not spent a millennium in study and preparation for nothing!" "Yes! Trixie wants to learn!" "Excellent! Dost thou accept our offer then? To learn from us? To become Great and Powerful?" "Yes! Absolutely!" "And to stand with us," Nightmare Moon went on, "when we should have need to call on thee?" "It's a deal!" Trixie unhesitatingly spat on a hoof and held it out. Nightmare Moon looked askance at that. "We shall take that as a yes. Now, little one...sleep." The Mare put out a long, black foreleg, its armored hoof-tip gently touching Trixie's forehead, just below her horn. "No more dreams tonight. Rest until morning. We shall return in good time to begin thy lessons." She paused, and then glared darkly at Trixie. "One thing more: thou wilt not speak of us to anyone -- anyone! Are we understood?" "Yes... Nightmare Moon..." Trixie said drowsily. "Trixie will remember. I'll be sure to tell her... when she... wakes... up..." She fell back onto the pillow, and snored gently. Nightmare Moon sniffed, then drew the covers over the sleeping filly, gazing down upon her with a look on her face that seemed almost fond... until you looked in her eyes, saw the implacable cold anger there. The only one, she thought. The only one I am able to reach, to influence like this. The others could resist me, escape me -- could wake up from the nightmare. It was Celestia's doing, no doubt. Warding the young ones' dreaming minds against the Princess of the Night. Well, the Nightmare snarled to herself, Celestia will regret that, soon enough. She smiled. And she will never even see it coming... In a rush of shadows, the Mare was gone. The room was suddenly very much brighter and warmer. For it was cold and dark... very cold and dark indeed... in the Moon, where the Nightmare was imprisoned... ------------------------------ The next morning, Trixie was seated at her desk in the local schoolhouse. But she paid little attention to the morning's lesson. Instead, she went over her presentation for the rope-trick in her mind, again and again, making sure she had the routine down cold. At recess she dragooned a few other fillies and colts on the playground, and nervously performed the trick for them. And they applauded willingly, begging her to show them how to do it. "Ahem!" she told them sternly, "a good magician never reveals her secrets! And Trixie is not merely good, she is the greatest of stage magicians!" She expected them to laugh at that, to demand to know how the trick worked. But Trixie's aloof declaration merely made them clap all the harder, and ask to see more tricks. Trixie was astounded. The applause, even from her schoolmates, was unbelievably warming and comforting. Her audience was entertained, they wanted more! She was doing it, doing stage-magic! No! She was performing stage-magic! Yes! I am the Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie! she thought triumphantly. It was a wonderful feeling, the most wonderful feeling she'd ever had, the most wonderful feeling in the whole entire world... All at once, she felt a warm glow settling over her. There was a sudden, enveloping flash. Surprised, she looked at her flank... and saw she'd gotten her cutie-mark. It was a magic wand, with a swirl of gleaming magic energy. A cutie-mark for performing stage-magic? she thought. Performing stage magic is my destiny? To Trixie it was not merely unbelievable, it was, in a word... perfect! "Woah!" said Peach Fuzz, leaning her fat orange face closer. "You got your mark, Trixie!" "Way to go!" Falling Domino pumped a spotted hoof. The others oooeh and aaahed as well. Trixie barely kept from squealing herself, somehow managing to keep her stage-persona firmly in place. "Well! That just proves it, you see! Trixie wanted her mark to appear, so it did! Trixie is truly the Greatest Stage Magician in all Equestria!" She tossed her forehooves in the air, overjoyed. This time the others did laugh a bit, thinking she was joking. But Trixie knew better. She was Nightmare Moon's student. And Trixie would show them, show them all, that she was telling the truth when... when... ... uh... hmm... whenever the time came that Nightmare Moon talked about. Trixie wasn't sure what the Dark Mare had meant by that, exactly. But it didn't matter. Nightmare Moon had chosen Trixie, and now Trixie had gotten her cutie-mark. And so Trixie was destined to become the Greatest Showpony Who Had Ever Lived! Excitedly, Trixie showed off her new mark around the schoolyard, loving the attention it earned her. She was already planning further tricks to add to her performance, once she could visit the library to look up more trick-books to learn them from. And then, all at once, she came to a halt. Turning, she trotted over to a tree near the schoolhouse, and sat quietly beneath it. And fretted. What would happen when she got home? When her mother saw her mark? After yesterday -- Trixie hurriedly shied away from that thought. It was not something she wanted to think about again, ever. Yet what was there to do? Her teeth gritted as she dreamt up one scenario after another, all bad. Her mind whirled, her thoughts drifted as she stared into the distance, trying to imagine a way out... And in the midst of her whirling thoughts, a voice spoke to her... calm, gentle, and confidently regal: "Good day to thee, young filly." Startled, Trixie turned to look. There was a tall, proud alicorn standing next to her. Night-blue in color, with large, gentle eyes, she was attired in silver shoes and night-dark regalia, blazoned with a crescent moon. Trixie's knowledge of Equestrian royalty was admittedly sketchier than a preschooler's crayon drawing, but even she could count how many Princesses there were at the moment -- and this one was unfamiliar. Still, her father had always taught her that a good performer never missed a chance to get in with the royals. Uncertainly, Trixie got up and curtseyed clumsily to the Princess. In return, the alicorn nodded her head. "We thank thee, our gracious subject. Pray be at ease." Turning, the Princess settled herself comfortably beneath the tree. And after a moment's hesitation, Trixie did the same. "What is thy name, little one?" the Princess asked. "The Great and Powerful Trixie, Your Highness!" "Indeed! A privilege then, to make thy acquaintance." The alicorn nodded indulgently, without a hint of sarcasm. "And we are..." The Princess faltered, looking deeply saddened. "We are Luna," she finally said, mournfully. She glanced about, as if looking for any way to change the subject. Her gaze fell on Trixie's flank. "We see thou has attained thy mark. We are pleased for thee." "Trixie is pleased too..." Trixie winced, and hung her head sadly. "I guess." "Thou has an unusual way of showing it." The Princess's tone was academically stern and dispassionate, yet there was just a hint of amused kindness as well. Despite herself, Trixie found the pony's somber humor strangely comforting. Whenever the night-blue pony came close to actually smiling, it seemed that nothing in the world could possibly be wrong. Trixie sighed. "Trixie's mother will not like her mark," she said. "Yet Trixie has earned it! Stage-magic is what Trixie likes to do. Trixie wants to learn everything she can about how to be a great performer." She hunched nervously. "And Trixie doesn't know what Trixie will say to her mother, when she gets home." "We see. Would it be of help if we walked thee home?" Luna asked. "We can discuss it along the way, perhaps determine an appropriate course of action?" Trixie looked up at her, amazed. "Trixie would like that very much!" "Very well, then." Luna nodded in acceptance. Then she glanced across the playground. "We see that thy teacher is calling in her charges. Thou should go too, Trixie. We shall await thee here, until after school." Trixie goggled. "You'll wait? All that time? Nopony's ever done that for me before!" Luna was quiet for a long moment. "We have... little else pressing on our time just now," she said. "And it is pleasant, sitting here in the open air again. More than pleasant... it is a dream come true for us. We are content, little one. Run along, now!" "Yes, Your Highness!" Trixie curtseyed hurriedly, then ran to join the ponies lining up to return to class. As she went, she repeatedly glanced back at the Princess, resting comfortably under her tree. Throughout the afternoon lesson, Trixie couldn't stop thinking about her, about the strange regal alicorn waiting for her outside. And when classes were finally over, she half-expected to find the Princess had gotten up and left. But Luna was still there, sitting under the tree, when Trixie stepped out through the schoolhouse door. The Princess got up as Trixie nervously approached her, and graciously nodded at Trixie's offered curtsey. Then she fell in alongside Trixie as the two of them trotted along the path away from the school. "We have considered a few options," Luna said, "for thou to further thy destiny as a stage magician. We think it would be wise for thou to come to Canterlot. We can better assist thee there." "Canterlot?" Trixie stared up at her in awe... and then quickly looked down, not sure if it was polite to stare at a Princess. "You have heard," Luna asked, " that Princess Celestia has a School for Gifted Unicorns?" "Heard of it?" Trixie wanted to laugh. "Who hasn't! But it's pretty much just for ponies who get invited. And Trixie may be the Greatest of Stage Magicians... but Trixie knows she would not be invited." Luna smiled. "Do not be so quick to give up. We have a certain... influence in such matters. Yet thou will need to be prepared, taught appropriate decorum, as well as the fundamentals of magic with which to make thy application." She looked down, smiling, at Trixie's startled gaze. "We would teach thee, if thou are of a mind to study as we should direct thee." Trixie's mouth fell open. "But... what about..." "Thy parents?" Luna asked. "We feel certain they would be proud to have their daughter studying under our tutelage." Trixie had been about to mention Nightmare Moon, but remembered her promise not to speak of her. She shut her mouth quickly, and said nothing. They continued together the rest of the way in companionable silence. At the door to Trixie's house, Luna abruptly came to a halt. "We must leave thee for now, Trixie, and go make arrangements for thy visit to Canterlot... if thou are still of a mind to go." "Trixie wants to... very much!" "Then we look forward to greeting thee, when thou arrives." Luna nodded pleasantly. Turning, she trotted away along the road, without a second glance back. Trixie stared after her, wanting to call after her. She felt abandoned. She felt as if the only pony who understood her at all was leaving, maybe forever... But then Trixie decided that the Princess probably had more pressing matters on her mind than one small filly. And Trixie didn't want to risk annoying her. Reluctantly, she turned and trotted into the house. Her mother was home early. And to Trixie's surprise, Showcase seemed to take the appearance of Trixie's cutie-mark with little fuss. She seemed inordinately happy in fact. Picking up Trixie, she hugged her tightly, then sat down in her favorite chair with Trixie on her lap. She was tensely excited, saying she had wonderful news. Trixie waited, anxiously. Had Nightmare Moon spoken to her mother about her plans for Trixie's lessons? Or had Princess Luna somehow sent word ahead, regarding the invitation to come to Canterlot? Were they both going to go there, so that Trixie might start her lessons properly? Or... was it something even more incredibly amazing? For a moment Patricia stared at her mother, daring to hope... was her father coming back from Las Pegasus, to be with them again? "Patricia, I've just been down to the courthouse. Your father and I... we're getting a divorce. It's finally official. So we won't have to wonder about whether he's coming back home any more. We'll be able to put this whole nasty business behind us, and move on. Isn't that wonderful?" Trixie just sat there, unmoved, not saying anything. She didn't think it was wonderful. She didn't think it wasn't, either. Trixie didn't care either way. Not one tiny bit. It had nothing to do with Trixie, or her plans to learn from Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna, and become the Greatest Stage Magician in all Equestria. Within an hour, Trixie had made herself a sandwich, swiped a sack of bits for travel money, and run away from home... ... forever.