April 20th, 1005 ME
17:45:08
Hours later...
And after a copious amount of student files were checked and signed off on... …
...Trixie made her way back towards the front entrance of the Castle of Friendship. The sky was glossing slowly from a vibrant blue to a lazy amber, in preparation of the inevitable sunset on Ponyville.
The showmare trotted in a slump. Her stomach gurgled. She had enjoyed a meager snack or two back at the school while working, but it wasn't enough to satiate her poor fuzzy tummy. There were hidden peanut butter and cracker sandwiches in the wagon—Trixie remembered. She was stepping up to the door and fussing with its complicated lock when a pink shape bounced its way through the Castle Entrance behind her.
“Hey-ya Trixie!” Pinkie Pie musically chirped. “Enjoying this fine fancy afternoon of intricately melancholic introspection? Anywhooo~” She opened the door and zipped inside. “Gotta split!”
“Uwahh...?!” Trixie did a double-take. “Pinkie Pie—” She spun and galloped into the Castle before the massive doors could close all the way. “—wait!”
Trixie huffed and puffed. As she rushed down the hallway, she could see the fuzzy pink ball arcing far ahead, as if in search of invisible lyrics to bounce on.
“Wait wait wait wait wait wait—!”
Trixie turned around one last corner—then saw Pinkie standing dead-still, talking to another pony. The showmare winced, flailed, and spun three times while sliding across the glossy crystalline floor of the palace. At long last, she came to a stop against a varnished wooden table—rattling it. Her body jolted and her mane flounced. She blew a tuft of white hair out from her face and shrunk slightly with a blush.
“Uhm... h-hi there...”
“Howdy yerself, Trixie,” Applejack said, then turned to look back at Pinkie. “Anywho, ya got the fruitcake?”
“Have I ever!” Pinkie Pie jumped in place. Thud! Thud! The hallway shook with noticeable vibrations. “I feel ten times heavier! Heeehee!” Thud! “Remind me someday to last two-thirds of a way through a climactic fight with alien invaders before shrugging off fruit cake for dramatic effect!”
“Don'tcha think that's a mite bit pointless?”
“Uhm... Applejack... it's called 'weighted cooking' for a reason!”
“What...” Trixie was still catching her breath. “...are...” She heaved slightly, fighting the urge to show sweat. “...you...” At last, she composed herself with a toss of her fabulous mane. “...up to?” She leaned casually against the table. “And why does it involve fruitcake?”
“Awwwww, nothin' you'd be interested in, sugarcube.” Applejack winked. “Just the usual snacks-and-gab stuff that you find boring.” She gestured with a smile. “Word is Twilight's inbound from the Zebrahara this afternoon, and she's stoppin' by her old trottin' grounds to catch up with the rest of us gals.”
“Weekly reunion par-tahhhhhhh!!!” Pinkie Pie jumped into the air, hovered there for a few impossible seconds, then came back down. Thud! “It's like a beach party! Only more adult and mellow! I mean, I suppose we could have it at a beach, but Twilight's probably had enough sand for the week.”
“Quite true, darling!” Rarity entered the room from an adjacent hallway. She carried a fine silk saddlebag over her dainty figure. “And thinking about zebras and their beautifully minimalist stripes, I've crafted some exquisite capes with monochromatic designs just for this occasion!”
“How in the hay did you find the time to sew Twilight and the rest of us some garments?” Applejack's freckled face scrunched. “Figured you was wrapped up with business in Canterlot!”
“It's a long train ride back to Ponyville.” Rarity fluffed her mane with a proud smile. “A lady needs to keep herself busy.”
“Heh... you never run out of surprises, do ya, Rares?”
Rarity reached out to poke Applejack's nose. “And you never run out of ways to be surprised, darling~.” It was just then that she noticed a fuzzy blue figure in her peripheral. “Oh! Trixie! Hello there.” The fashionista curtsied in place. “What a pleasant surprise. Just passing through?”
“Oh... well... uhm...” Trixie leaned from one pair of legs to the other. “Trixie was just—”
“Starlight's been a doin' a ton of experiments lately,” Applejack said. “She's been awfully hush-hush about 'em too.” Her green eyes narrowed. “Ya reckon she's tryin' to surprise Twilight with whatever snazzy thang she's researchin'?”
“Trixie... d-doesn't know what Starlight's been up to,” Trixie muttered. “Not exactly.”
“That's funny.” Pinkie Pie blinked. “I figured you two were attached to the hip.”
Before Trixie could reply—
“You know who's really attached to the hip?” cracked Rainbow Dash's voice. She flew briskly into the hallway, pointing at a yellow shape floating beside her. “Fluttershy here! To Tree Hugger's!”
“Rainbow Dash...” Fluttershy frowned in mid-glide. “I don't know what you're trying to insinuate, but it doesn't sound very nice.”
Rainbow waved a hoof in front of her nose. “What I'm saying is that I haven't shaken loose the whiff of incense since I met with you outside of Everfree!” She wheezed. “Dang, girl! Take a bath, will ya!”
“Tree Hugger doesn't smell bad.” Fluttershy fidgeted in the air, blushing slightly. “She's just... earthy.”
“Fluttershy, precious, diamond dogs are 'earthy,'” Rarity said. “I've met Tree Hugger. She's a very nice mare. But I do think she favors all of that incense for a reason.”
“You ask me...” Applejack trotted closer to Fluttershy and sniffed. “...no baths are needed! I think Fluttershy smells just fine!”
“You mean like she's coated in a pungent fragrance that's trying to mask over dried-up sweat, grit, and dirt?” Rainbow said, blanching.
“Exactly!” Applejack beamed. “Just like a visit to Golden Delicious' house after a long day of workin' the orchards!”
The mares all laughed.
“Well, if that's the case...” Fluttershy winked. “I think I'll just stay the way I am for this evening.”
“Oh darling, don't stress it.” Rarity reached up and hugged the pegasus. “If you're fine enough for me, you're fine enough for any pony. Isn't that right, ladies?”
“Mmmhmm!”
“Woohoo!”
“Boy howdy!”
“So...” Rainbow Dash yawned, smiling thinly. “We decided on a place or what? I've been training cadets all weekend. My wings are about ready to fall off. I need a place to perch.”
“Heeheehee...” Pinkie rocked from side to side with the weight of the fruit cake. “'Perch' is such a silly word.”
“You're such a silly word,” Rainbow retorted.
“I suggest a place that isn't too terribly taxing,” Rarity said, fluffing her mane once again. “I imagine Twilight is also wanting some peace and quiet.”
“Yes!” Fluttershy's ears folded back. “Even when she relaxes, life in Canterlot is very noisy and stressful for a princess!”
“Don't you mean stressful and noisy for you?” Rainbow said.
“Mmmmm...” Fluttershy's cheeks reddened as she toed the floor. “So what if I feel like a princess at times?”
“Hah hah hah!”
“Heheheh...!”
“Heehee!” Pinkie rubbed her nose and gasped. “I know! What about the hilltop!”
“What hilltop?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Y'know...!” Pinkie hopped in place. “The hilltop! Where we all sat and watched that meteor shower once! Years ago!”
“Oh, splendid!” Rarity beamed, her eyes sparkling. “We can all watch the stars come out at night!”
“Well, shucks...” Applejack tilted her hat back. “Sounds like a relaxin' good time!”
“H-hey! Meteor showers!” Trixie smiled awkwardly. “That sounds... … ...very astronomical!”
Rainbow Dash squinted at her. “... … ...yeah?”
“Trixie happens to love stars! That's why she has them on her cape!” Trixie waved a hoof to her side, then winced. “Uhm... Trixie isn't wearing her stage clothes right now, but just pretend she is!”
“Didn't you fall asleep at the field trip we took with the Friendship students to the Baltimare planetarium?” Pinkie Pie asked, face cocked aside. “I kinda remember you drooling onto the hoofrest. And believe me—Pinkamena Diane Pie is an expert on drool.”
“Yes, well...” Trixie shrugged. “...maybe Trixie meant stars in the... uh... abstract sense?”
“Sounds like stage hocus pocus stuff to me,” Rainbow said. She winked down at the showmare. “Don't worry, Trixie. You don't have to pretend.”
“Trixie doesn't?” She blinked back. “Wait.” A twitch of her tail. “Pretend what?”
“That you're interested in joining us!” Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “It isn't the first time that you play it cool while trying to avoid something that bores the heck out of you. I know the feeling. Trust me, I do.”
“Oh...” Trixie cleared her throat. “...I guess you and I are a lot alike...”
“Yup!” Rainbow folded her forelimbs while tilting her nose up. “Only I'm awesomer! No offense. It's a tough competition.”
“Rainbow, please...” Rarity trotted closer to Trixie. “Trixie, darling, there was a time when—horrible as it sounds—many of us would have shuddered at being in the same room as each other. But times have changed and you've shown your true colors and—you know what...?”
Trixie blinked. “... … ...what?”
Rarity rested a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “We respect and admire the qualities of you that makes you you. It's okay to not want to bother with 'stiff' and 'boring' socializing like the rest of us. If you wish to have your distance and time to yourself, that's perfectly fine. We all know that you're a good, loyal, and dependable pony. You just... prefer your own space, and that's fine! You needn't put on a play for our benefit!”
“Uhhh... uhm...” Trixie gazed at all of the faces, faces, faces smiling at her. In situations like this, stagelights typically made it easier to avoid focus. The showmare fought the urge to sweat and cracked a smug smile. “...b-but of course!” She stood tall and confident. “The Grrreat and Powerrrful Trrrixie is above such customary trivialities!” She pretended to examine her hoof. “Trixie just came back from a lengthy tour and was... wanting to catch up on the goings-ons, is all...”
“But of course...” Fluttershy smiled sweetly. “...if you actually wanted to join us...”
Trixie gasped. She looked at the mare with starry eyes, squeaking: “Yeah...???”
FLASSSSH!
A lavender butt materialized right in Trixie's face.
“Aaackies!” Trixie fell back.
“Oh!” Twilight Sparkle gasped, turning around and lifting Trixie back to her hooves with a telekinetic tug. “I'm so sorry, Trixie! I didn't think there'd be so many ponies gathered in the castle at this hour!”
“Well, duhhhhhhh!” Rainbow Dash frowned briefly. “This was your idea wasn't it?”
“And how!” Twilight's eyes swiveled around above a goofy smile. “I've been listening to zebras talking in rhyme for days. I'm ready for some good ol' free form friendship!”
“Well, golly!” Applejack slapped her knee. “Time's a-wastin'! Let's get to it!”
“What the bumpkin said!” Rainbow echoed.
“Woohoo!”
A nearby door opened and a reptilian face peered in. “What about bumpkins?” Spike blinked. “Oh hey, Twilight. Hey girls. What's up?”
“We're havin' a fruit cake throwdown!” Pinkie Pie chortled, raising her heavy saddlebag in triumph.
“Wanna come with?” Rainbow gestured.
“Well, I hate fruit cake, but I like ponies!” Spike flapped his leathery wings and joined the crowd. “Count me in!”
“Ohhhhh, it's so nice seeing you, my little Spikey-wikey!”
“The more the merrier!”
“Yaa-aa-aay!”
Trixie blanched, watching all of the colorful bodies swirl past her, like a warm pool circling down a drain far and farther away. “Hey... uhm... can Trixie just say—”
“Oh! Trixie!” Twilight Sparkle stopped in her tracks. “Where are my manners?” She swiveled as her smile remained locked on the showmare. “Welcome back! Finish with your tour?”
“Well, yes, I—”
“Have you seen Starlight Glimmer?”
“... … ...no?”
“Hmmm. I can't seem to get in touch with her. She's been really wrapped up in her science experiments lately.” Twilight tongued the inside of her mouth. “Mmmmm... well, if you happen to run into her, let her know that the girls and I are having a talk over dessert, will you?”
“Trixie... can do that...”
“Unless—of course—you two wish to hang out as usual.” Twilight winked. “I know how much you hate it when Starlight drags you to social events that you don't like.”
“Well, you're the Princess of Friendship!” Trixie winked and pointed at Twilight. “Nothing gets past you!”
“Time certainly does!” Twilight turned tail and trotted briskly after Spike and the rest of the girls. “But not this evening! Hop on, Spike!”
“Ayyyyyy!” Spike leapt onto her backside and clung on tight. “Like old times!”
Twilight giggled. “I know, right! Oh, how I've missed this...”
“Where to, gals?” Spike asked.
“Pinkie's made a mighty fine suggestion!” Applejack said. “The hilltop outside of town! Y'know... for starmappin'?”
“Oooh! The hilltop! I love the hilltop!”
“That's what I said!”
“Hahahaha!”
“Hee hee...”
The group moved on...
...and Trixie didn't.
She sat in the middle the hallway, almost as empty as when she first arrived there. Her eyes swept left and right, but before they could settle on something, she reset her mellow expression with a passionate frown.
“Hrmmmff... so what's the big deal...?”
She turned tail and trotted back towards the entrance of the castle.
“... … ...the only one Trixie could connect to anyway would be the fruitcake.”
And yet, when she returned to her wagon, she was serenaded once again by her own sighs.
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December 24th, 1000 ME
23:43:10
Amber eyes set in an orange face squinted curiously across the stone table of the prison cell. “Why are you staring so strangely at Trixie?”
Princess Celestia navigated a contemplative breath. “Forgive me, my little pony...” Vapors coalesced between them. “I am simply attempting to... process the details in between your words.”
“What do you mean 'in between' Trixie's words?”
“Well, to be honest, you do tend to meander somewhat in your recollections,” the Ruler of Equestria said. “And I don't see what the tour in Las Pegasus and the subsequent return to Ponyville have to do with the ill-fate of our universe...”
She's got a point there, Trix.
You need to stay on topic.
Frowning, Trixie whispered aside to thin air: “I'm sorry, were you doing the narrating?”
Princess Celestia carried on: “But from what I can glean from your story so far...” Her rosy eyes narrowed on Trixie. “...in the future, Luna and I have somehow retired. Twilight Sparkle has picked up the mantle as maretriarch of Equestria. There is both a castle and a university dedicated to 'Friendship' in Ponyville... … ...” She grimaced. “...and ponies still eat fruitcake?”
“Oh, Trixie neglected to mention loads of stuff! That's how dedicated to being on point she is!” Trixie leaned back and gestured with her hoof-cuffed forelimbs. “Besides, why would I bother mentioning the hoof-over of power between old and new Dragon Lords? Or the invasion and subsequent defeat of the Storm King? The Pony of Shadows and the return of the Pillars of Harmony from Limbo. The discovery of some goofy mirror that teleports ponies to an alternate world run by walking clothed monkeys. Something to do with a crystal tree and its talking Twilight hologram. OH! And they no longer serve chocolate peanut butter treats at Wonderbolts shows!”
“... … ...” Celestia slowly nodded. “I see...”
“Yes. That last detail is most disheartening.” Trixie sighed, staring out the window at the snowfall. “When or if Trixie fixes the timeline, she hopes that she at least has wafers to come back to.”
“Are you certain you're not just making all of this up?”
“No, Trixie is not making all of this up!” Trixie's copper nostrils flared. “What must Trixie say to convince you that she's actually from the future?!”
Maybe if you reveal something that only ponies from the future would know about Celestia?
Like...
...how she's never before acted in a stage play?
“Trixie happens to know that you've never ever acted in a stage play—!” Trixie grimaced. “Wait, what?” She looked to her side. “An alicorn who's been alive for over one thousand years never once performed before a live audience?”
Alright, fine.
Uhm...
Oh!
Tell her about how... h-how she held Twilight Sparkle back in Canterlot for over two years because she didn't want to let go of her prized pupil.
“Ewwwww...” Trixie made a face. “That's so damnably sappy.”
“I beg your pardon?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.
Trixie delicately cleared her throat. “Your Majesty...” She leaned forward in her seat. “...you held back Twilight Sparkle from going to Ponyville for over two years...”
She was afraid that Twilight might run into trouble, danger, or worse.
“You were afraid of what might happen to her.”
She even once thought of throwing a party for her in the castle to attract friends.”
“You were tempted to throw her a party in Canterlot instead.”
But in the end, you knew that you had to trust in the Elements of Harmony. So finally, you sent Twilight to Ponyville... at the very last second: the Summer Sunset Celebration.
“Well that's not very flattering,” Trixie hissed aside.
Trixxxxxxx...
Trixie rolled her amber eyes.
“You finally sent her to Ponyville during the Summer Sunset Celebration, cuz you trusted in the Elements of Harmony and stuff.”
She folded her manacled forelimbs.
“If you ask me, it was dealing your ace in the hole waaaaaaaaaay too late.” Trixie arched an eyebrow. “Even a princess should know a thing or two about being fashionably early.”
Princess Celestia gazed down at the prisoner. She took a long and thoughtful breath.
“Very fascinating insight, 'Trixie.'” Her eyes narrowed. “But you could have gleaned such a revelation from just about anypony among the Royal Guard.”
“Geugh!” Trixie tossed her forelimbs. “Just what do you want from Trixie?!”
“To make sense of your presence here.” Celestia breathed firmly. “What exactly led to you somehow—impossibly—coming back through time to this year? This very moment?”
“Trixie was getting to that!” the prisoner barked. “And to be fair, I didn't come back to this very moment. Trixie came back to six months ago. Almost exactly.”
“That would have been...” Celestia's muzzle hung open as her royal eyes scraped the walls. “... … ...the Summer Sun Celebration.”
Trixie held her bound hooves over her dainty chest. “Maybe if you just allowed Trixie to continue, she would get to explaining it all!”
Maybe you should cut to the chase...?
“Maybe you should hold your horseshoes,” Trixie retorted. She cleared her throat and looked up at the monarch directly. “You recall Trixie mentioning that she had a best friend? Starlight Glimmer?”
“I do.” Celestia nodded. “She was not there to greet you when you returned to Ponyville in the future.”
“Right.” Trixie nodded. “Starlight is the Great and Powerful Trixie's Number One assistant.” A rosy smile crossed her copper features. “She's smart. Powerful. Conniving where it matters...”
Oh you flatterer, you...
“She's also very very bad at communicating most of the time.”
H-hey...!
Trixie went on: “So—naturally—when Trixie didn't get a chance to see her upon returning, she took it upon herself to go check up on Starlight's laboratory herself. After all, Starlight had shown it to Trixie months prior to the tour in Las Pegasus...”