Beep, beep, beep.
Ugh… What is that infernal beeping sound?
Trixie opened her eyes, and immediately shut them.
Too bright…
Trixie then noticed something. Or, rather, a lack of something. She couldn’t feel anything at all below her midsection. She began to breathe heavily.
First step, take account of your surroundings… you’re in a bright white room, and can’t feel anything.
She started breathing faster.
Am I in Elysium? Or… is this Tartarus? Am I even dead? No… I’m breathing… that generally indicates life.
Trixie tried to shift in her, admittedly, uncomfortable position. She couldn’t. She started breathing more and more heavily, the beeping sound started getting faster.
“She’s conscious? Quick! Get her under sedation!”
Trixie felt a prick, and gradually her breathing slowed, then she couldn’t feel anything at all.
The next time Trixie opened her eyes, she couldn’t see much of anything. It was too dark.
I can’t see anything… a quick modification of the flare spell to gradually increase light into a ball of floating, contained, self-replicating flares, and we have a light spell! Admittedly… if I could just cast a light spell, it would be incredibly easier.
In the flickering light of her lighting-flare spell, Trixie could now see that she was in what looked to be an ancient bastion of old. Ancient tapestries could be heard fluttering, but her paltry light spell couldn’t illuminate them. She was close to a stained-glass window, and the window seemed to follow the wall in a curve. This led her to believe she was in a dome of sorts. But that was just speculation. The facts were, she was a small island of light in a sea of darkness.
Yes, a small island indeed.
Trixie jumped, the voice seemed to permeate her entire existence. It was omniscient, and the voice echoed for an eternity around her.
I shouldn’t be here…
I disagree. I believe that you are right where it is that you belong.
“Show yourself! Trixie does not fear you! Nor does she respect those who hide in the dark, doing nothing!”
And yet… within you I sense… terror. Weakness.
Trixie modified her spell once more. The simpler the spell, the more one could mould with it. Yes, the effects would have to be similar, and no simple cantrip could replicate the effects of legendary alliteration spells, but… creativity meant one could get very close. Albeit in a more roundabout manner. Trixie moulded the thaumic energy of her self-contained, self-replicating flare spell into a directional light spell. The ball of energy concentrated its total effects, and created a beacon of light that pierced into the darkness. Trixie sighed.
Good. It worked.
Clever. That is something that I cannot deny of you.
“Trixie grows tired of your smoke and mirrors. Show yourself!”
And yet… you always keep that facade up. I wonder… just what is it that you fear? What is it that makes you tick?
Trixie rotated the sphere of directional light, and scanned the room that she was in. Looking up, she could now see that the tapestries she had heard before were indeed there… they were just blank, an absence of all color, and no insignia. Trixie’s prior assumption of being within a dome proved to be true though. Near the top she could see the reflection of light off what she could only guess was a sky-window. Beyond it though… was just darkness. Trixie shuddered, and directed her light away from the roof. Yet, no matter where she looked… no figure was shown.
If only I could light this whole room… but my magic isn’t strong enough… no amount of creativity can replicate true magical power....
Ah. There it is. In spite of all that bravado, you still are pathetic.
“You-you don’t know that! Trixie doesn’t have to listen to the likes of you!”
No… I suppose not. All that you have to do is listen to yourself.
“I-I… TRIXIE! Listens to herself just fine! You don’t know anything. You can’t even bring yourself to be seen in the light! All you do is hide in the darkness like a coward. Trixie doesn’t deal with the likes of cowards. Show yourself!”
As you wish.
And suddenly, Trixie could see. There was no light, Trixie could still sense darkness around her. But she could see all the same.
Right behind you.
Trixie wanted to examine the room. She really did. See where the exit was. But she felt herself turning around to face the mysteriously familiar voice. Desperately she drank in every detail she could, but to her dismay… there were no exits. Just smooth, glass, walls. And then her vision was taken up by the figure who had been taunting her at last.
The… monstrosity in front of her was not one Trixie had ever seen before… It towered above her, its face had one eye of pure blackness, there was no pupil that she could make out. The figure had no skin or fur, and Trixie could see muscle tissue and bones. The mouth was a row of sharp teeth that looked as if they could tear apart a manticore with ease. The row of teeth covered the entire facial area from cheek to cheek. The figure had no ears, and it appeared to be clenching its teeth together. The figure was staring at her, and Trixie couldn’t look away. Something wasn’t letting her. All Trixie could do was whimper in fear.
Her gaze remained locked on the hellscape of a face that was before her. Trixie could feel ice-cold tendrils of fear run across her back. She shivered. Then it opened its mouth. The mouth unhinged itself, and the teeth angled outwards, and all Trixie could see was teeth.
“CEASE!”
Another voice.
You are treading on dangerous terrain, dear princess.
The teeth slowly faded from vision, as did the figure, until all Trixie could see of the previous figure before her was a silhouette of an alicorn.
“Begone spirit. Plague this pony no more!”
I am compelled to obey. Be warned though princess. I cannot be held back for eternity. You know this as much as I do.
“LEAVE THIS PLACE LEST YOU BE EXPELLED FROM IT!”
As you wish… princess.
And then Trixie saw the alicorn silhouette fade from her vision as well. She fell to the floor of this prison, weeping. As sobs wracked her body, she felt warmth unlike she had felt since she had been born surrounding her. She looked up to see the soft smile of the diarch of the night. She was wrapped in the wings of the princess of the night. Her lip trembled.
“Hush now, little pony. That creature will bother you no more.”
The dam broke, and Trixie let out a wail, and buried herself into the lunar princess’s embrace. She wanted that warmth to never leave her. It was… safe.
“I’ll make this right…” A soft voice murmured.
“It would be best that you don’t remember this night… creatures of The Beast are not for the minds of mortal ponies…”
Trixie just shuddered, and nuzzled further into the warmth of her savior.
“Awake now… little pony… you’ve a life to live.”
***
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Ugh… What is that infernal beeping sound?
Trixie upended her eyes, and squinted against the sudden light. She couldn’t help but sneeze.
What… happened? Last I remember… I was set upon by timberwolves… and then there was a rainbow… now I’m here?
She tried to sit up, ignoring the sudden pounding in her skull, and looked around her. She was in a white room, to her side was a nightstand with a glass of water atop it. She was laying upon an odd-looking bed.
This… must be a medical facility. That’s the only conclusion I can come to. Somepony saved my life… and I must’ve fallen unconscious. This is probably the room I was moved to after… whatever medical attention was needed had been administered.
She reached out with her magic, and levitated the glass of water to her dry lips. She was more thirsty than she had been in a long time. The water was refreshing, and Trixie felt rejuvenated.
So… what next? Somepony has to come check on me eventually. But, that could be hours from now.
Trixie rolled to her side, and let her legs fall off the bed. With a muffled clop, she fell to the floor. Her legs buckled a bit, but she quickly caught herself.
Right. I’ve been in bed for a significant amount of time. Legs are probably asleep.
She went through some basic exercises, ignoring the pins and needles. She lifted each leg, and performed a series of circular motions to get her blood flowing again. After that, some direct applications of minor telekinesis and she massaged her legs until she felt they would be properly awake.
Let’s try this again.
Trixie took one step, then another. When she found that she was encountering no hardships, she walked to the door that she assumed led into whatever hospital she had found herself in. Trixie yawned as she reached out with her magic to turn the doorknob. Nothing happened though. Confused, she studied the door. Nothing seemed odd about it, and yet… she tried again with her magic.
Ah. That’s… unfortunate.
Her magical aura initially surrounded the doorknob, as if to open it, but then it spread across the whole door, before fizzling out of existence.
Magically sealed. I suppose that can only mean one thing…
Trixie sighed, magically sealed doors were indicative of a suspect of a crime being apprehended. Sure, given enough constant energy, the magic sealing the door could be overwhelmed and she’d be able to leave, but with her limited mana pool, it would take ages to overload even the most green of trained casters of the spell. It was designed to shed stored magical energy at a certain rate, directly proportional to the severity of the individual being contained, the size of the object the spell is being cast upon, and the relative skill level of the caster. Besides… Trixie didn’t even want to escape. She wanted to atone for her mistakes, and earn the forgiveness of the creatures she had hurt. All that was left to do now… was wait.
***
Trixie laid back on the hospital bed. Her water glass, now half empty, flew in lazy circles around her head. She concentrated, and pulled the water out of the glass, adding it to the circle around her head. She grit her teeth, and the water flowed in a halo around the glass. A pencil she had found in the room randomly was added to the increasing orbit, and she started making shapes with the objects and water. First a figure eight, the water glass in the center, and the pencil flying through each individual loop, then she created a star pattern with the water, which the water glass pierced through, then flipped upright. The water scattered as if it had been smashed through, before forming into several flowing lines of water, all leading into the glass, which then appeared to balance atop the pencil.
Trixie tapped her hoof on her chin, then concentrated again. Individual droplets of water formed what seemed to be sparkles, and she tapped the pencil to the water glass as she would a wand in her shows of old, she then forced the droplets to fly together into a blob that took no shape in particular. The glass flew into the floating blob, creating a hole that the pencil followed. Not a drop touched the pencil, but the hole closed around it, and it floated within a pocket of air.
A cough interrupted Trixie’s concentration, and with a pop, her magical aura disappeared. The water, glass and pencil, which had been held up solely by Trixie’s magic, now found themselves once again affected by gravity. Trixie yelped as she was soaked by the water, then muttered muted curses when the pencil hit her, but cut off her swearing in a hiss of pain as the water glass hit her, then tumbled to the bed.
She turned her attention to the pony who had just walked in on her. A mare with soot-colored fur and dark green eyes was shaking, while holding her hoof to her mouth as if to prevent herself from laughing. Her mane was primarily blue, with a single streak of orange in it. She was wearing a nurse’s scrubs, and in her green magical aura was a clipboard and a pencil.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing. Are you feeling okay?”
Trixie scoffed.
“Trixie is always alright. And if you hadn’t ruined her concentration…”
“Yes, yes. I know. Anyways, your magic seems to be functional, you aren’t muttering about darkness, smoke, mirrors and princesses any more, and apart from a small bump on your head, you should be fine. The magical operation was a success.”
Trixie rolled her eyes.
“Of course Trixie is fine. Was there ever any doubt?”
The smiling nurse’s face fell, and her eyes hardened.
“You were on your deathbed when you were brought to Ponyville General Hospital. From the records, you were suffering from several deep puncture wounds, as well as several deep lacerations across your stomach. It seemed as if you’d been mauled. You’re very lucky that Rainbow Dash came by when she did, or you would have likely been killed.”
Trixie flinched a little at that.
It was that bad? Then… that pony’s name was Rainbow Dash… she was one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, yes? Why would she… doesn’t matter. I owe her my life.
The nurse’s eyes softened again.
“That didn’t happen though. It looks like you’re going to make a full recovery.”
Trixie just nodded numbly.
“You also have visitors… It’s not my right to pry, but… it looks like you’re either very important, or you have done something terrible. I’ll let them in now.”
And with that, the nurse left, the door clicking behind her.
Time to face the music.
The door opened again, and in stepped a cream-colored pegasus with an officer’s hat on. Her mane was a simple black mane, and Trixie couldn’t see her eyes, as they were covered by shades. She was flanked by a grey unicorn stallion who had brown eyes, and a small chunk missing out of his right ear. His mane was primarily umber, accented by slightly lighter colors.
The mare adjusted her shades before speaking.
“Trixie Lulamoon?”
Trixie nodded.
“Princess Mi Amora Cadenza has requested to speak with you.”
Trixie, unsure of what else to do, just nodded again. The two officers stepped aside, and in marched a lithe, beautiful alicorn. Trixie had travelled much in her life. Before her stood the princess of the Crystal Empire. And in that princess’s blue, magical aura, floated the alicorn amulet. Trixie’s eyes widened, and she backpedaled quickly, falling upon her bed.
“Get that thing away from me!”
She shouted in a near panic.
“I-I never want to see it again! It… spoke to me…”
Cadence looked down at the object floating in her magical aura.
“I suppose that answers that question then. Don’t worry… Trixie, was it? This is not the real amulet.”
Trixie calmed down almost immediately at that.
“Trixie is… glad to hear that. Artifacts such as that have no reason to be sold at common merchant houses. They shouldn’t be sold at all.”
Cadence seemed to be studying Trixie.
“The merchant you bought the aforementioned artifact likely didn’t know its darker past. That being said, yes. I think you’re right. And that’s why the actual amulet is being held in a secure location. Regardless though, that brings me to why I’m here with these two officers. You do understand that you’ve committed crimes against Equestria and her creatures. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
Trixie stared at the ground.
“Trixie has nothing to say in her defense. Trixie deserves whatever punishment deemed worthy of her actions.”
Silence was Trixie’s only answer. Tentatively, she looked up to a smiling Princess.
“I’m glad that we didn’t have to resort to physically detaining you. You seem like a pony who is genuinely sorry for what she’s done… I’ll make sure the other princesses know that.”
Her smile fell after that.
“That being said… Trixie, I am sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to follow these two officers for processing. You will then be sent to the dungeons of Canterlot for whatever sentence is deemed necessary for your actions.”
Trixie lowered her head in submission. Shortly after, she felt a hoof on her chin and found herself looking into the tired eyes of a sympathetic princess.
“You’re doing the right thing here, Trixie. I’ll see what I can do to lessen your sentence.”
And then she was gone. Trixie, flanked by two officers of law, walked through the hospital. Past the two shimmering unicorns in crystalline armor, past the nurse who had first checked up on her, into the streets of a busy street, and into the police carriage waiting for her.
Maybe now I can finally atone for what I did…