"You mean to tell me you worked at that sort of job for that long?" Celestia asked with some surprise.
"Yes, your Majesty, I did." I turned to my left to see her students still snickering and giggling at me. Returning my eye contact with the Sun Goddess again, I asked, "Is my new appearance so amusing that I find myself the object of ridicule?"
"Well, your request was an unusual one, Michael. Are you not happy with your new appearance?"
"Your Majesty, I do not appreciate being laughed at. I would just as well be returned to my earlier form as Trixie if I cannot be taken seriously as my own pony self." I returned my gaze to the two of them, now trying their hardest to suppress outright laughter. "If you would be so kind, your Majesty?"
"It is not my preference to restore your earlier appearance, however, since you seem so distraught over my students' amusement, I shall do so for you now. I promise you I shall have a few words with my students and express my displeasure with them over their immature behavior." Once again, the Princess lit her horn, enveloping me with her aura, restoring my earlier appearance as Trixie with one minor exception -- my cutie mark now matched the one this Trixie wore -- a dark blue six-pointed star with four smaller white stars around it. Upon seeing this change, Trixie sputtered in frustration.
"Princess Celestia! Trixie demands you change him back now!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"You would do well to calm your voice, Trixie. You and Twilight subjected him to humiliation, something which was unwarranted, and also unworthy of his character. I suggest you apologize to him for your impiety," the Alicorn admonished her sternly.
Trixie hung her head and approached me slowly. "I'm sorry, Michael, it's just that ... what you chose was so ... funny ... that I couldn't help myself."
"I would appreciate an understanding of why you found my choice so amusing," I stated quizzically.
"Your color combination choice was ... to be blunt ... silly. I still don't like the fact you now look identical to me. I hope you understand the responsibility that being ME entails! Don't make a foal of yourself, for my sake!"
"Do you not remember that I told you at one time I was in Twilight's body? The responsibility of being HER was just as important, as she represents the Element of Magic for that other universe we were in," I stated flatly. "So if you are her equivalent HERE, then it shouldn't be any great problem for me. Be that as it may, I don't intend to stay here much longer -- I have other matters to attend to." I turned my attention to the Sun Goddess. "Princess Celestia, I would once again like to thank you for your generosity, but I'm afraid I must be off again. By my leave, your Majesty?"
"Michael, I'd like to apologize to you as well," Twilight offered.
"Accepted, Twilight."
"Before you leave, Michael, I have another gift for you," Celestia smiled, and levitated a pair of saddlebags to me, the pouches filled with items.
"What is in these pouches?"
"You may find those items useful to you at some point in the future. They are my gift to you for your help in this universe. It is with sadness and regret that I say good-bye to you, Michael, as I would have enjoyed further conversations with you. You are welcome to return any time you desire, and should you wish to have your appearance changed again, I shall only be too happy to perform a transformation for you once again."
"You have my deepest and most sincere thanks, your Majesty. I hope to see you again, hopefully not too far in the future. Good-bye, Princess Celestia, until we meet again. Good-bye, Trixie, Twilight. It's been quite fun!"
"We're going to miss you, Michael," Trixie said, almost sullenly. Twilight trotted over to me and gave me a hug. Trixie did likewise.
"I'm going to miss you, too," I replied, a little sadness tinging my voice. I lit my horn and concentrated on the other Canterlot Castle, my intent to visit with the other Sun Goddess. A pink aura enveloped my body as I cast the teleport, everything becoming blindingly white, then the familiar POPping sound as I made the jump across the dimensional barrier separating the two universes. I was standing in the Throne Room, but now it was dark outside, and the Lunar Princess was holding Night Court. She expressed a little surprise to see me.
"Trixie! When did you escape the dungeon?" Luna asked with exasperation.
"Princess Luna, I am Michael Walker, in Trixie's body. I got a cutie mark change, though."
"You have a variation of Twilight's cutie mark? How did you acquire that?"
"I met with your sister's counterpart in the other universe -- she transformed me into a unicorn stallion in front of her students, but their reaction to my new appearance was so disconcerting that I asked her for a change back into Trixie, so she obliged me. She also gave me these saddlebags with some stuff in them -- I haven't taken the time to examine everything, so I have no idea what's in there."
"We are quite surprised by her generosity -- our sister would most likely not perform two transformations in such a short period of time. Your saddlebags contain some items with magic properties, as we can sense their power."
"Hopefully none of them are malevolent."
"No, but you would do well to keep them close to you, as we do not want them falling into the wrong hooves. So, Michael, what is the nature of your visit?"
"I was wanting to see the Trixie for this universe -- I hope her attitude toward me has softened, or that maybe she might be willing to see me," I stated optimistically.
"We shall have an escort take you to her cell. She is due to be released in a few weeks, so we are certain a visit is within reason. We shall keep your saddlebags here while you're visiting with her." Luna used her telekinesis to lift the saddlebags off my back and kept them beside the throne. She called for a Royal Guard unicorn to escort me into the dungeon to meet Trixie. This little excursion through the Castle to the Dungeon took about fifteen minutes and we encountered no other ponies on our way there, save for another guard at the dungeon entrance. The stairway leading down to the cells was poorly lit, but we made it to the cell where Trixie was being held. She was curled up in a ball on the floor in a corner of the cell.
"Trixie, you have a visitor," the guard announced. She had to do a double-take at my appearance, noticing the different cutie mark.
"Trixie doesn't want any visitors," she moaned softly. "Please tell Trixie her time in here is nearly up!"
"Princess Luna tells me you have just a few weeks left," I stated flatly.
Trixie bolted upright to see me -- her pupils were very wide to allow for the dimness of the light filtering in, but she recognized me immediately. "Michael! Trixie is so sorry for attacking you! Please forgive her! Trixie was afraid she had killed you!"
"I forgive you, Trixie. I am going to see what I can do to get an early release for you."
"Thank you so much, Michael! You don't know what it's been like down here!"
"I shudder to think about it, Trixie. It took me quite a while to recover from the injuries you gave me, but I was given a little help from your counterpart from the other universe -- she and the other Twilight used some healing magic on me."
"Well, that was nice of her." She looked a little more closely at me and saw my different cutie mark. "Why do you have Sparkle's cutie mark? What happened to mine? You didn't ask Celestia for a change, did you?"
"Two changes, actually, and not THIS Celestia, but the one in the other universe." I told her about the two changes and she chuckled softly before letting out a sneeze. "Trixie, sounds to me like you might have caught a cold down here."
"Oh, it's nothing much -- Trixie has experienced worse."
"In any case, I'll have a chat with Princess Celestia in the morning. The time difference between the two universes keeps messing with my circadian rhythm."
"Do you still love Trixie?" she asked, point blank.
"Way to put me on the spot, there, Trixie!" I thought. "I have to keep reminding myself your mind was corrupted by that amulet, otherwise you would never have attacked me. Be that as it may, Trixie, yes, I still love you."
"Did you get that divorce finalized?"
"Talk about cutting to the chase! Trixie, I traveled back to my home world only to find that everything I had was gone. I was unable to locate my wife, so I had no luck in seeking a divorce. To make matters worse, I lost my vehicle, so I cannot transform back into my human self in order to proceed with a divorce."
Trixie hung her head sadly. "Trixie was wanting to marry you, Michael! Please tell Trixie you tried your best to find your wife!"
"I talked to her older sister, who lives in the same town. She told me she had no idea where Brenda had moved to, nor what she was doing. I suppose I could go back to Earth to try harder to locate her, but as a pony, well ... let's just say that my current status would prevent me from being able to obtain a divorce."
Trixie started openly sobbing at this point, her cries piercing the air. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Please ... please ... for ... Trixie ..."
"I will talk to Princess Celestia in the morning. I will do my best to determine a solution to this problem and I will do my best to inform you of any improvements. Mark my words, Trixie, I would be honored to have you as my mare."
Trixie's mood changes to one of jubilation, her tears of sadness changing over to tears of happiness. "Michael! Trixie can't wait for the wedding, though she does not want to marry herself!"
"Give me an idea of what you want," I offered. "I hope it's nothing outrageous," I thought.
"Your outer appearance is not too important to Trixie, as long as you look nice. Trixie knows your heart to be good, otherwise you would not have forgiven her for what she did to you. Michael, you have made Trixie so happy!"
"What? You're going to marry her?" the guard asked incredulously. "Don't you know what she's like?"
"I suppose I should spend more time with her in order to know her idiosyncrasies better -- and since she's been down here for five months, that can't be good for her psyche, either. She tagged along with me during an earlier adventure and I became quite smitten with her," I said to the guard.
"Michael! Don't listen to her! Believe your heart! Trixie will always love you!" she protested loudly.
"Finish up your visit, it's time to go," the guard stated flatly. Trixie and I approached each other to meet at the bars separating us. We pushed our muzzles against each other's and tried to kiss as best we could.
"I'll try to get you released, Trixie. See you soon, I hope."
"Please hurry, Michael! Trixie is going to miss you!"
"Okay, time's up. Let's get going." The guard then escorted me up the stairs and out of the dungeon. It was going to be several more hours before Celestia was to raise her Sun, so I asked Luna to let me sleep in a guest room, even though I wasn't all that tired. I was then escorted to another bedchamber and laid down to rest for awhile.