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// Great and Powerful Old Face 
// Story: Tartarus Forged Friendship 
// by Mystic Sunrise 
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Twilight had rather grown used to some of the odd things that had happened to her life in the last few months. While she was still coming to terms with some of the aspects of her new life, she was getting used to it nonetheless.

Seeing the blue unicorn with a stage magician's outfit on, was something and someone she hadn't expected to ever see again. "Trixie?" She asked, finding the unicorn in question setting up her stage in one of the empire's main squares.

Trixie shot her an irritated glare. "That's the Great and Powerful Trixie to you, Twilight."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Right. How could I forget?" She looked around, spotting what had to be Trixie's new wagon parked off to the side. Her face fell. "What happened to you? You ran off so fast we never got a chance to talk."

Trixie paused her work, before sighing. "What else was I supposed to do? Ponyville didn't want me. Not after the Ursa Minor." She gave Twilight a forlorn look. "They still don't blame me for that, do they?"

Twilight's heart sank. "Trixie. We never blamed you for what happened. Snips and Snails told us the full story after you ran off. Those two are grounded until the heat death of the universe for that stunt." She shook her head. "I didn't think colts could be that stupid."

Despite how she still felt about that whole mess, Trixie couldn't help but laugh. "What about your friends? They seemed happy to let Trixie get squashed by the Ursa."

Twilight's left eye twitched. "My friends were being extra dumb that day. I honestly didn't care for them dragging me into it. I was actually rather enjoying the show."

Trixie gawked at her. "Sparkle says what now?"

Twilight giggled as she threw a hoof around the unicorn's shoulder. "It's true. Just because I am the Element of Magic, that doesn't mean I cant' enjoy a magic show. You're a stage Magician, Trixie. Unlike someponies I can name, I didn't hate you for your boasting. It's part of who you are."

Trixie preened, looking rather smug with herself. "And don't you forget it, Sparkle. The Great and Powerful Trixie has a reputation to uphold!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "And despite everything that happened, I know a lot of ponies in Ponyville who did enjoy your show. Most ponies did in fact. I think if you went back, ponies would still come and watch you. Hopefully without an Ursa Minor this time."

Trixie sighed as she looked away. "Maybe. But for now, the Great and Powerful Trixie has a show to do here in the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance already signed the paperwork for it. The crystal ponies could use a pick-me-up after King Sombra. And that's not the only reason I'm here." She looked back at Twilight. "I was looking for you as well."

Twilight blinked. "Why are you looking for me?"

Trixie pointed at her wings. "You're even more famous now than you used to be, Twilight. Unlike most ponies though, I know the full story. I know about your Soul Bond with Lady Penumbra."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "How do you know about that?"

Trixie pushed herself away from Twilight. "Not all of Equestria forgot about Lady Penumbra and Queen Diamanda a thousand years ago. Her cult lived on, even if Diamanda's was lost with the Crystal Empire. I'm a part of Penumbra's cult. Safe to say, they are not happy about what the two of you have."

Twilight scratched her head. "What did I ever do?"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "You have a bond with our Dark Mistress that none of us have ever had. Many have wanted what the two of you have. Some were willing to kill you to get it. Or have you murdered in the worst ways possible, so that they could take what you have?"

Twilight was aghast at the thought. "But. Why haven't they tried anything? You're not out to kill me, are you Trixie?"

Trixie scoffed. "As if. Unlike some, I wasn't stupid enough to think I could take you on. Our leader, whose name I refuse to say, went after the Alicorn Amulet. The only thing that could kill you. He never got a chance to use it though."

Despite her horror at what she was hearing, she was curious now. "What happened to him?"

Trixie sighed. "Penumbra sent one of her Greater Shadow Demons, a Lord of Shadow, to claim his soul and drag it into the very lowest levels of Tartarus. His mangled and mutilated corpse was sent to the rest of the cult as a warning. Anyone who tried to kill you would face the same fate. No exceptions." She gulped. "We got the point after that. Even if we didn't have to like it. I came here to try and get away from all of that."

She paused, as she looked toward the Crystal Palace. "And to help bring a family back together again. With your help of course. Princess Cadance knows you better, and is willing to listen to you."

Twilight frowned. "What does Cadance have to do with this? She has a family."

Trixie shook her head. "An adopted family, Sparkle. I'm sure she told you the story. How she was found as an orphan Pegasus filly and raised by an earth pony family. Until she ascended and was adopted by Princess Celestia."

Twilight's frown grew. "I know the story, Trixie. Cadance never knew her birth parents or her family. She was the only Pegasus in the entire village. The only one for miles. Nopony even knew where she came from. She just... Seemed to appear out of nowhere one day in the forest."

Trixie nodded. "Don't you find that a little odd? What kind of parent would leave a newborn alone in the forest like that? And then there's her cutie mark."

Twilight tilted her head. "What about it? It's the Crystal Heart."

Trixie pointed at the actual heat. "Exactly! Why would an unknown Pegasus, from the middle of nowhere, have the Crystal Heart as her cutie mark? Decades before the Crystal Empire returned. Nopony had even heard of the empire at that point. And yet this filly gains the empire's greatest protection as her cutie mark."

Twilight began to suspect something, something that was so far-fetched, that she couldn't believe it. "Then what are you saying, Trixie?"

Trixie poked Twilight in the chest. "King Sombra murdered all of the old Royal Family. All but one that is. One that managed to escape into the future by some miracle, and was found by an earth pony couple."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock, as things began to fall into place. Things that made far too much sense. "Then?"

Trixie nodded, her smile softening. "Princess Cadance is Queen Diamanda's granddaughter."