Chapter 4: Evening Visits
***
“Coming!” Twilight Velvet called as she made her way down the stairs into the entry way of the family home. Opening the door, she never would have expected who would be on her doorstep.
“Trixie!?”
Her old friend smiled nervously, “Hi, Velvet.”
Twilight Velvet laughed happily and pulled Trixie into a hug. “Sun and moon, I haven't seen you in ages!” she exclaimed as she stepped back again to look her over. As she did, a bit of confusion worked its way into her expression. “And look at you! You... you haven't aged a day...”
Trixie gave her a wry grin. “Yeah, that's kind of why I haven't been around. I only just recently found out why myself, and until I did, I was trying to keep away from anypony who knew me and might realize I wasn't aging like a normal unicorn. Sorry I haven't been in touch.”
“That's quite alright Trixie,” Velvet assured her with a smile. “It's great to see you! Come on in!”
She stepped aside letting Trixie into the house and shutting the door behind her. “Pretty nice place. I think the last time I really heard from you was when you first moved in here.”
Velvet nodded as she led the way into the living room. “Yes, right after Shining was born. Go ahead and have a seat,” she said gesturing vaguely at the various cushions and couch that were arranged through the living room. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Just water would be fine,” Trixie told her as she selected a cushion near the fireplace.
Velvet nodded and quickly retrieved a couple of glasses. “So, What do you mean you're not aging like a normal unicorn?... I mean it's obvious, but why?” She asked as she took a seat across from Trixie.
“Well apparently, I'm something called a wingless alicorn...” Trixie started and went on to explain what that meant. She then told Velvet all about how she'd realized she wasn't aging, that her magic was far stronger than most unicorns, and how she'd tried to hide it. Velvet listened intently.
“It was actually Princess Twilight Sparkle that finally figured it out and explained this all to me.” Trixie finished.
“Oh, you've met Twily?”
Trixie winced slightly. “A couple of times actually, before she became a princess... I can't believe I didn't realize she was your daughter...”
Velvet smiled. “She's grown into an amazing mare,” she said proudly.
“Yeah, I wish I'd realized that sooner. The first couple times we met weren't exactly under the best circumstances.”
Velvet looked up concerned. “What do you mean?”
“I, uh… Well the first time I was just putting on a magic show in Ponyville and well, during the show I may have boasted a bit claiming I defeated an Ursa Major…”
Velvet snorted at the thought. “Are you serious? Have you ever even seen one?”
“Well I hadn’t…” Trixie rolled her eyes. “But that night two colts from the town decided to go out into the Everfree and find one to bring back to town!”
Recognition flashed through her eyes. “Wait; you’re that performer!? Twily told us about a Showmare that came to town and inspired two colts to lead an ursa minor back to town, that was you!?”
Trixie blushed. “Yes…”
“She also told us about when you came back under the influence of a powerful dark artifact challenged her to a magic duel, and then tried to banish her from Ponyville.” Velvet said with a questioning tone in her voice.
“It was stupid, I know. I was having a rough time. I lost my wagon and most of my possessions in the Ursa incident. Then after Twilight showed me up with the ursa, word had spread quickly and none of the nearby towns would even let me perform, not that I had any of my props to put on a proper show anyway. And I blamed Twilight for it.” She sighed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie… that’s the persona I’ve gone by for my performances. I guess I wanted to prove I was more powerful than Twilight, even though I wasn’t. I thought it would restore my reputation.”
Velvet gave her a sympathetic smile. “Well, Twilight did say she thought you’d learned a lesson in the end.”
“More than one, I’d say. Don’t mess with dark magic artifacts is definitely a big one though.”
“Oh yes, definitely a good lesson to learn.” Velvet said with a laugh.
Trixie smiled and gave a soft laugh as well, recalling how foolish she had been.
“So why were you trying to avoid anypony that knew you before?” Velvet asked finally.
“Because they might have realized I wasn’t aging normally.” She told her again. “And I was worried that if anypony found out, they might want to lock me up and study me…”
Velvet couldn’t help giggling. “You thought somepony would lock you up for study? Really, Trixie?”
She blushed. “I thought somepony might want to figure out what I am, and why I was aging so slowly… to see if they can copy it.”
“Trixie, alicorns don’t age at all. You don’t see anypony trying to capture and study them. They don’t even have to, anyway. I understand Princess Celestia has voluntarily participated in numerous studies over the years focused on alicorn immortality.”
“I just…”
Velvet smiled. “You were just being your normal silly self.”
Trixie laughed softly. “I’ve missed you, Velvet.”
“I’ve missed you too, Trixie. I hope this means you won’t be a stranger from now on.”
“Now that I know what I am, and that I don’t have to worry about anypony finding out; you can count on it,” she said with a firm nod.
“Good.” Velvet said and took a sip of her water. “So how long are you in town?”
“Well, I’m only going to be in Canterlot for a day or two. Princess Twilight wants me to do some community service around Ponyville to make amends for what I did during the magic duel incident. So, I’ll probably be staying in Ponyville for a while.” Trixie told her. “She said it would take a few days to set everything up though. And since she found out you and I were friends back in school she suggested I come up here and reconnect with you and maybe some other old friends as well.”
“That sounds like Twily. She is the princess of Friendship after all.”
“Yeah…” Trixie smiled.
“What are your plans for after?”
She thought for a moment. She’s spent some time considering it on the train ride here but hadn’t really made any decisions yet. “I don’t know… I kind of like being a traveling showmare; it’s a fun life. But now that I don’t have to hide my full potential, maybe I’ll take some time to rework my act; perhaps work on improving my magic… I’ve spent so long hiding my full power, I haven’t really trained much at all. I’m probably a little out of practice.” She smiled. “Maybe I will do that; take some time to really train my magic, then go on the road again when I really am great and powerful.”
“Well if you want a magic tutor, there’d be nopony better than my Twily.”
“I wouldn’t’ want to impose on Princess Twilight’s time any more than I already have.” Trixie said, shaking her head. “She probably has too much on her hooves as it is. It might be a good idea to find a tutor though; just to refresh everything you know. It has been a while since Celestia’s school.”
“Well it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Last I heard, Twily wasn’t all that busy.” Velvet insisted.
“Even if she wasn’t before, she’s probably going to be now…”
Velvet gave her a curious look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, she’ll probably tell you about it soon; but me and a couple others happened to find an old ruin in a cave beneath the Everfree. Inside were two alicorn fillies that were apparently locked up just for being alicorns a few thousand years ago. We left them in Princess Twilight’s care.” Trixie explained.
“Oh my. You left them with Twily?”
“We thought it best to let the princesses decide what to do, with them being alicorns. I think Princess Twilight was just going to look after them for now.” Trixie shrugged. “I guess it will be up to her to decide a more permanent home for them.”
Velvet glanced toward the window in the general direction of her daughter’s home in Ponyville. “I hope she thinks to reach out to me if she has any problems, taking care of young fillies can be challenging at times.” After a moment she gave herself a little shake and turned back to Trixie. “So, what are your plans while you’re here in Canterlot?”
She shrugged. “Well, I mostly just wanted to see you, and maybe see if I could get in touch with any of our old classmates. Have you kept in touch with any of them?”
Velvet smiled. “A few. How about we go see if any of them are available and we can have ourselves a little class reunion.”
“That would be great!” Trixie said with a genuine smile of her own.
~~~
It was just before sunset, shadows stretching across the town, as two pegasi landed side by side outside the town library. Though most were heading home for the night, their arrival didn’t go unnoticed; several of Twilight’s guard were nearby, unobtrusively keeping watch. Twilight hadn’t wanted them standing guard at the library door. Instead, they kept watch from positions that allowed them to remain almost completely hidden unless you knew where to look. By now Rainbow was used to it and hardly noticed them anymore. “You know if you do this, it’s going to be pretty much impossible to keep it a secret that you’re real,” Rainbow reminded Daring Do once more as they headed toward the door. “Not unless you just don’t write about it.”
Daring sighed. “I know, but like I said, it’s probably already too late; and this is important.” She gave a rueful smile. “On the bright side, it looked like there were quite a few prisons; maybe I’ll be able to make this a multi-part series; the purge prison chronicles!”
Rainbow snorted, grinning. “I don’t know, might get a little repetitive.”
“Maybe. It will probably depend on if any of the alicorns have escaped. From what little I’ve found about ancient alicorns, they weren’t a very pleasant bunch.”
“Definitely not…” Rainbow said softly as they reached the library door. Being after hours for the library, she knocked.
Daring glanced at her as they waited; there had been something in Rainbow’s tone. She knew Rainbow had personal experience with the purge era alicorn that had already escaped, but it sounded like she’d been hurt personally by the experience. She didn’t have time to ask about it though, as the door opened; the princess’s guard captain answering.
“Rainbow, thanks for using the door,” she said with a smirk.
“Hey! I haven’t used the window once since you asked!”
Feather just smiled, and turned to Daring. “Miss Do.”
“The princess wanted to speak with me about the scrolls we recovered.”
“Of course, come on in, Princess Twilight will just be a few minutes, she and Spike are moving his things into one of the basement rooms.”
Rainbow raised a brow, looking over at the guard as she and Daring stepped into the library. “Spike is moving into the basement?”
“So that the fillies can take his old room for now.” Feather explained gesturing to the alicorn fillies as she closed the door. They were laying side by side in one of the library’s window nooks with a book in front of them, though at the moment both were looking up at them.
“Hey girls!” Daring called giving a wave.
“Hi, Daring!” They both called back together.
“Girls, this is Rainbow Dash; she’s a friend of mine that lives here in Ponyville, and she’s also a close friend of Princess Twilight.”
“Marefriend actually,” Rainbow corrected.
Daring looked at her surprised, she hadn’t mentioned that. “Really!?”
Rainbow smirked. “You haven’t been reading the paper much have you?”
She snorted. “Not as much as I should apparently; why?”
“Some photographer caught me and Twilight’s first kiss, and the next day it was on the front page.” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.
“Oh, so you’re saying I’m just about the only pony in Equestria that didn’t know.” Daring said with a laugh. “Anyway, Dash, this is Ania and Adikia.”
“Hey, so Daring told me she found you in a cave out in the forest.” Rainbow said with a smile.
“Yes…” Ania said uncertainly.
“Wow, that must have been rough. But from the sound of things; you’re probably better off. Ponies are a lot cooler about alicorns these days.”
She blinked. “What doth temperature have to do with anything?”
“Uh, I…”
She smiled. “I am joking. I know, tis an expression.” Adikia giggled a little at her sister’s joke. Ania smiled. “Though I do think it an odd one.”
“Oh, Rainbow, you’re here, and Daring too.” Twilight said stepping out from the basement door, Spike right behind her.
“I was just introducing Rainbow to your guests.”
“Good.” Twilight said joining them. She turned to the fillies. “Girls, Rainbow is my marefriend, so she’ll be around a lot.”
“Marefriend?” Ania said questioningly.
“Oh, uh, it means Rainbow and I are courting.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she looked back and forth between them. “Oh! Okay. Marefriend didst use to mean simply a friend that is a mare, but the way thou said it, it didst seem to have more meaning.”
“Yes, now days, calling someone your marefriend or coltfriend usually means you’re courting which is often called dating now.”
“I understand.” She looked at Twilight seeming curious. “Is it common now for mares to court one another?”
“Yes, it is.” Twilight told her. “It probably wasn’t back in your time, was it?”
She shook her head.
Rainbow looked at her surprised. “Really?”
Twilight couldn’t help smiling. She’d known Rainbow wouldn’t know that detail about pony history.
“Mares courting one another was discouraged.” Ania explained. “Mares that didst like each other would often court the same stallion so that they could be together. They would not dare court each other directly, lest they be outcasts.”
Twilight nodded. “At the time pony culture was more patriarchal, rather than the more matriarchal society we have now. Stallions were in charge.” Twilight clarified when Rainbow gave her a look. “And the stallions in charge discouraged mares from courting one another; they basically wanted all mares to be in herds under a stallion’s control.”
“Yikes. Yeah, you girls are definitely a lot better off now.” Rainbow said with a grin.
Twilight smiled, then turned to Daring. “Anyway, Daring, I haven’t had a chance to go over the records you recovered from the prison yet. I would appreciate your help though, if you’d be willing to stay here in Ponyville for at least a few days. I’d like to compile all the information we can find and see if we can place the prison locations on modern maps. Then we’ll need to work on finding these prisons and making sure that they’re still holding. Will you help with that? I know you have your secret to consider, so I suppose if you’d rather not, that would be okay.”
“It’s alright princess, I already decided that I’ll help; this is far too important. Besides, after putting Rainbow in my last book, it’s only a matter of time before my secret gets out anyway. I figure, it will be better to let the secret out myself”
Twilight winced. “Sorry about that.”
She gave a dismissive wave. “It’s not your fault, princess. I’m the one who put her in the book. Anyway, I’ll get a room here in town and come by tomorrow to help with the records.”
“Sounds good.” Twilight told her. “I’d offer to let you stay here, but with the fillies, we’re out of spare rooms.”
“That’s alright, it’s not like I’m hard pressed for bits.” She rolled her eyes. “I should probably get going before it gets too much later, though.”
“I won’t keep you then. I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll see about those records you recovered.” Twilight said, following her to the door.
“See you then, Princess.” She said, giving a small bow. “I’ll probably see you around too, Rainbow.”
“Yeah, you can count on it! Later, Daring!”
“Goodbye, Daring Do!” Adikia called. While Ania just waved.
“I’ll probably see you two tomorrow as well.” Daring smiled and gave them one last wave before leaving the library.
Twilight took a deep breath and looked over at the fillies for a moment thinking. After a moment she turned toward the stairs. “Rainbow, Feather, could you help me move the extra bed into the girl’s room?”
“Uh, sure!” Rainbow said and she and Feather followed Twilight upstairs to the storage closet that was mostly taken up by the dismantled bed.
“Since I’m pretty sure you levitate the bed down by yourself, I’m guessing you wanted to talk to us without the fillies overhearing.” Feather said quietly when Twilight turned to face them in the bedroom.
Twilight nodded.
“What about?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“I… those fillies, they’ve suffered so much; now they’ve been ripped out of their time and thrown into modern Equestria.” She shook her head. “I want to help them… to be the one to take care of them. But I don’t want to force them to stay; they’ve had so little control over their lives. I just hope they’ll choose to stay.”
“You sure about this, Twi? Taking care of two fillies can’t be easy, especially alicorns.” Rainbow asked, sounding a little concerned.
She nodded. “I want this.”
“Why? I mean sure they’re alicorns, but I’m sure the other princesses could arrange someone to take care of them. Why does it need to be you?”
She sighed. “Rainbow, promise to keep this to yourself?”
Rainbow nodded without hesitation.
“Ania and Adikia, they’re not just alicorn fillies from the purge era… They’re daughters of Achlys.”
Her eyes went wide. “What!”
“Shh.” Twilight clamped her snout shut for a moment. “It’s alright, Spike told us that Achlys treated them horribly, so much so that they ran away, and when they were captured, she didn’t even try to save them.”
“Really? She didn’t even try?”
Twilight nodded. “But don’t you see; I was created by Achlys…”
“Twi!” Rainbow hissed looking at Feather. Twilight glanced at the guard as well.
“Princess Celestia told you about that, didn’t she?”
Feather was unfazed. “She briefed me on it after you selected me to be your captain.”
Twilight had figured as much, and turned back to her marefriend. “Anyway, being created by Achlys, in a way, that kind of makes them my sisters… That’s why I want to take care of them myself.”
Rainbow looked at Twilight for a moment, seeing how serious she was about this, and slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll help any way I can.”
Twilight smiled and stepped closer, pulling Rainbow into a hug. “Thanks, Dashy. I know this is a big change, one that will affect you too, with our relationship and all.”
Rainbow laughed softly returning the hug. “Well not as big as if they were newborns, that’s for sure.”
“True…”
“You of course have my support as well Twilight. As well as the guard.” Feather assured her.
“Thanks, Feather.” Twilight said sincerely. She smiled a moment more then took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s get this bed down to the girl’s room, if you two could get all the bedding, I’ll get the bed itself.”
“You’ve got it.”