//------------------------------// // Her condition, and her secret // Story: Trixie's Request // by CrescentCaribou //------------------------------// Trixie was flabbergasted by what she saw. She held her all-powerful amulet close to her chest, and watched in awe of what Twilight was able to accomplish with the necklace from the forest. "Well, Trixie, looks like my amulet is more powerful than yours." Taking a deep breath, Trixie spoke, putting on false bravado - only one thought in her mind. "Okay, Twilight. The Great and Powerful Trixie will concede - with one condition." Twi raised an eyebrow. "That being?" She thought for a moment. Truthfully, she didn't want to admit what she wanted or why she wanted it, especially not in front of all these ponies. "... Trixie will tell you, but only if you agree to meet her alone." Rainbow Dash was the first to object on her friend's behalf. "Hey, no way Twilight is going anywhere with you!" Applejack hummed in agreement as the two moved in front of the purple unicorn. Twilight used one hoof to nudge them out of the way a bit. "It's fine, girls. Trixie, I agree to your discussion conditions." "But Twi, what if she tries somethin'?!" "It's fine, Applejack. I'll be safe. After all, I do have a gem of my own on my side." "B-But..." Rainbow paused, then sighed - landing on the ground beside Trixie's foe. "Fine, but if I hear any funny business I'm coming in and personally banishing her to the moon." The blue pegasus glared at Trixie, clearing Twilight's path so she could move forward. "So, Twilight, where to?" Trixie asked, "Since Trixie is the one proposing this, it's only fair that you're the one to decide the place." "How about my library? Spike and Owlowiscious are both here in the crowd." Trixie nodded. "Lead the way." After a short walk from town square, they arrived at Twilight's house. The crowd had been left behind (aside from Rainbow Dash, of course, who wanted to wait outside "just in case"), so for the most part the pair were alone as they entered the large wooden structure. Once the door was locked, Twi turned to face Trixie. "So, what did you want to discuss that needed us to be alone?" Trixie blushed, looking through one of the windows to assure that the blue pegasus outside was unable to eavesdrop. "W-Well, Twilight, you see... it's a bit of an embarrassing request, and involves a secret that Trixie's never shared with anypony aside from family... But f-first you need to promise to keep it between us." The blue unicorn looked down and fiddled with her necklace. She went quiet for a moment. "Don't worry, I won't judge. My lips are sealed." Trixie looked back at Twi. The other mare seemed to be filled with curiosity at what she was about to learn. Trixie closed her eyes and took another breath. "Twilight, I... I want you to fix me." She looked with determination at the purple unicorn, hoof firmly on the amulet around her neck. Twilight thought for a moment, mulling over the words in her head. "Fix you... how, exactly?" she asked, cautiously. This request was certainly a surprise, especially since the showpony had dropped her third-person dialogue for the moment. Trixie turned away from her. "Well... as long as Trixie could remember, she's never felt quite... right, in her skin. She's always felt like something was off," she paced around the room as she spoke, trying to get her nerves out, "It was like she wasn't born correctly, placed in the wrong body even, because Trixie was born... a colt. It was lucky that her parents were accepting when she told them. She was able to change her appearance, to an extent, but some things didn't turn out quite how she'd wanted: Her voice stayed a bit gruff, even after training, she didn't get the curves the other mares had, and there didn't seem to be a spell to fix... other areas she wasn't fond of. Well, a cloak works as well as anything else, I suppose." The blue unicorn turned to the other, who seemed to be at a loss for words. Taking off her amulet, she tossed it aside and spoke again. "So, Twilight - that is Trixie's request. She wants you to fix her. She wants you to turn her into... a real mare." She closed her eyes and puffed out her chest slightly, bracing for the spell. "Oh, Trixie- I..." Twilight said after a moment or two. Trixie waited a bit more, but the spell never came. She opened one eye. "What's wrong, Twilight? Surely you don't think this request is unreasonable. One little spell, one little flick of magic, and you get your town back without me in it. I've already dropped my amulet, what more could you want?" Twilight's ears went flat. "Trixie..." She looked to the ground, unable to meet her rival's eyes. "I can't- my amulet is fake. I can't do that spell." Trixie was speechless, this had to be a ploy or- or some sort of lie to get her to change her request, or- Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of Twilight's "amulet" unclasping, the unicorn holding it out to Trixie with her magic. "Here, if you don't believe me, try it yourself." Hesitantly, Trixie took it and put it around her neck. Unlike the previous power-enhancer, this one offered no new mana rushing into her, no spells appearing in her mind, no change in how her magic felt, nothing. Trixie couldn't believe it. Her back half dropped to the floor. "This can't be... Twilight, you- you lied to me." Her eyes had started to water, threatening to spill at any moment. She felt scared, and vulnerable, and she wanted to melt into the floor from embarrassment. It didn't help that the Alicorn magic still leaving her body was starting to drain her energy. After a second, Twilight took a cautious step forward and pulled her into a hug, which Trixie reciprocated. "Trixie, I'm sorry. I didn't know how much that spell would mean to you. For what it's worth, you are a real mare, you always have been - and if anypony says otherwise, let me know and I'll take care of them." Trixie started to cry. She sniffed, rubbing an eye with her foreleg. "Thank you, Twilight. Even though you can't help with what I wanted, I'm grateful for your support." "Anytime, Trixie. We may not see eye-to-eye on some things, but I'll never judge your identity." The two sat in silence for a second. "... Now what about my amulet?" "Oh, I already hid that. I teleported it to Rainbow after you took it off. The dark magic in it wasn't healthy for you." "Yeah, that's fair. It did seem like Trixie wasn't quite in control of herself at times. Sorry for all that, uh, banishment stuff." "It's fine, all's well that ends well. If you're up for it, lets go ahead and meet back up with the rest of the town, they're probably waiting on us." Twilight stood up and held out a hoof to Trixie. She took it, and the two faced the door.