//------------------------------// // Trixie Falsehoods // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// "Are you absolutely sure about this?" "Tia, no distractions please. The last thing we need is to recieve a letter from Twilight Sparkle asking why her guest exploded in the night." "Sorry. Want me to leave?" "No. Just.... don't move." "Can I scratch my nose?" ***** Twilight Twinkle relaxed, enjoying the lazy afternoon breeze, watching the occasional butterfly waft past. She closed her eyes as she felt the sunlight on her face, listening to the sounds of birds singing in nearby trees. "You know what? This is a perfect day" She smiled. "You don't say" She turned to look at Wisp. "Nothing around to spoil it." She looked up into the sky, the clouds drifting by. "Nothing to do but be with ponies I care about." She added, nuzzling the young stallion. Then she felt something. There was the subtlest shift in temperature. She looked up. Standing there was a dark blue alicorn, staring impassively at her. Wisp suddenly shimmered, and vanished. The wind started to pick up. "Get out." She hissed. Suddenly Luna found herself being thrown back. ***** "Luna? What happened?" "She took... exception to my presence," The princess of the night winced. She placed a hoof against her head. "I had no time to verify her claims." "It was worth a try." Celestia sighed. It was well into the small hours of the morning now, as the two mares sat in the otherwise empty throne-room. "There were sensations. Suggestions," There was a pause, "She is not well." "Thank you, Luna. I really needed that before I went to bed." Celestia yawned. "And there is something that troubles me. And I can see it in you as well." "I can't imagine what you mean, sister" "If she is the child of Twilight Sparkle, and she is from the future..." Luna said, leaving the last part unsaid. "Good night, Luna." Though she couldn't see it, Luna knew her sister was worrying about it as well. ***** Midday Eclipse lay there. She could hear Spike's gentle rumbling, and muttering about ice cream. She could hear Twilight reciting something, though what she was saying was indistinct. "Thanks for waking me up, Aunty Lulu." She muttered. She rolled about, hoping to get comfy and fall asleep again. Eventually she was rewarded with sleep. It was a big day and she'd need to be in top form. ***** The sound of laughter and birdsong woke her up again. She eventually got out of the bed. She'd made it through a whole weekend in past-Ponyville, and arrived safely at Monday. "Huzzah" She sighed. She sniffed the air. A truly bizarre smell was coming from downstairs. After a quick brushing of teeth, she slunk down the stairs. "What is that smell?" She asked. What she found was Twilight alternating between cooking something on the stove and looking at a propped-up book called 'Cooking Breakfast the Easy Way'. "Porridge." Twilight frowned. Midday could only raise an eyebrow. "Spike not up yet?" "He said he was asleep. I keep telling him to set his alarm-clock and he keeps forgetting." The way she said that without a hint of sarcasm was more terrifying than the fact that she was cooking. Midday decided to cast some fire-proofing charms, just in case. Then she decided to go for cereal, rather than risk spending another day recovering from ingesting dangerous substances. "So, what are you going to get up to today, Twily?" She froze when she said that. "Well, I'd have to check my schedule, but I think I'll be doing some reading today. I'm getting dangerously behind and it's throwing everything into disarray." Midday breathed a silent breath of relief. She hadn't noticed. "I thought I might just have a walk-about." That was more or less the truth. Twilight frowned at the porridge. "I don't understand this," She fumed, "I've followed the instructions precisely." Midday did briefly consider making some joke about following instructions. Then she remembered reading something about Twilight having to learn about following instructions. That had been a good one. Except for the flugelhorn. Oh, the horror that was the flugelhorn. "You didn't expect to get it just right the first time, did you?" Twilight groaned, and took the porridge off the stove. She instead picked out one of the boxes of cereal. Mare and mare sat, masticating in relative quiet. Then Twilight broke it. "Midday, can I ask you a question?" "Is it about my Cutie Mark?" "No." "My hair?" "No." "... ask away then." "What exactly was with that teleport stunt you did?" And there is was. Twilight the scientist was back. Only interested in facts and data and theorems, not... No, no. This wasn't her Twilight, it wouldn't be fair to blame her. "It's been like that since I first used magic. I've never been able to teleport on my own desires. My limits are... well, I'm not sure on that. But the one you saw yesterday got me as far as Canterlot." Twilight said nothing, so she decided to go further. "And it's always been a nervous reaction. And only sometimes at that. Not always." Twilight's brow furrowed. "But that makes no sense! That's not how teleporting works at all!" She slammed her hoof on the table for extra measure. "I know. I've been poked and prodded and examined by some of the finest doctors my family could afford. I've had shrinks go through my head, trying to uncover some hidden trauma that would explain my inability to teleport. I even had a rather... 'bombastic' tutor attempt, repeatedly, to teach me how to 'port. With absolutely no success." She sighed. "And that's hardly the most improbable part of my life." "What is?" Twilight gasped. Midday stared at her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you" she said. Twilight didn't press the matter. ***** Ten minutes later, Midday proceeded to the center of Ponyville. She stood there, thinking. She still had a chance to turn back, or she could find Rainbow Dash and try and get her to listen. She sat down and began to concentrate. Hopefully nothing would distra- "Hi!" She opened her eyes to see a small disarmingly cute greyish-purple unicorn filly staring straight at her, her strikingly yellow eyes full of curiosity. Midday recognised this one. It was Dinky Doo. Which probably meant- "Dinky, don't bother that poor young lady" Yup, there was Ditzy, just a bit behind her. "Oh, it's alright." Midday smiled, "She wasn't being a bother. Just be glad I hadn't started casting." "Why? What would have happened?" Said Ditzy, who was beginning to slip from dedicated worker to protective mother mode. "Oh, your daughter would have been turned from a unicorn into a small piece of confectionary. Quite possibly made of bran." Dinky's already rather wide smile grew further. "You mean I'd be a-" "I most certainly do not." Midday said quickly, though she did feel quite rotten for saying it. "I wish I could do magic." Dinky said quietly, "But I don't have any yet." Midday looked down at the little unicorn, who couldn't have been more than eight or nine. Something deep down inside her started moving. "Well, Dinky, I'm sure when you do finally start getting it, you'll be brilliant." "You mean that?" "I know it. And may I be subjected to a pie in the face thrown at considerable strength should I be wrong." Ditzy looked down at her watch. "Uh-oh." "What?" Said Dinky. "If somepony doesn't hurry up, she'll be late for school" She was half-smirking and half-scowling. No doubt if Pinkie were there she'd be calling it a scmirk. Or a smrowl. "And I might not be able to buy a certain mailpony helper any certain somethings from Sugarcube Corner" Dinky leapt in the air, and shot off as soon as her hooves touched ground, her mother rushing after her, though clearly pretending to be slower than her daughter. Midday watched as mother and daughter raced towards the schoolhouse. For a brief while she sat there, not thinking about anything, most certainly not how mother had never been like that with her. Eventually she reminded herself why she was sitting around in the middle of Ponyville. She closed her eyes and began concentrating. The spell wouldn't actually have done anything sinister if it had been interrupted, just given anyone within a few feet an odd case of synesthesia for a few moments rather than turn them into a muffin. "I know who I'm looking for" she said. "I know who I'm looking for." "I know who I'm looking for." She focused on the name, on the words, on the desire to find the pony that belonged to it. She opened her eyes. Every sound was muted, and every object blurred. Ponies walked past, seemingly oblivious. She turned her head towards Canterlot, and she was above the city. She could see one bright light seemingly burning through walls and stone, but it felt soft and inviting. That was Celestia. Another, smaller and harsh and pale, that was Luna. Another, which felt... warm, and tender, like wrapping oneself in joy and never letting go. That was Aunt Cadance. She'd recognise her anywhere. There was another, not too far from her. Love and devotion and selflessness, which was Shining Armor. Evidently he was thinking about her. She brought herself back to Ponyville, trying not to look at the library, where she could feel the raw magic pouring out of Twilight, which naturally looked purple, and which tasted like a good picnic on a summer afternoon, like a hug in a rainstorm after a nasty argument. In other words, like friendship. But that wasn't what she was looking for. She felt slightly weird. She'd used this spell before, yes, and it hadn't been one hundred percent effective. No, no, she wasn't going to give up. This was her spell. She'd made it, it was hers and hers alone. Then she got a ping. As every unicorn knew, magic was dependant on the mindset of the user. The drive to enforce one's will on the world was essential, but so were other factors, and it was common knowledge that positive emotions helped greatly. Friendship was magic, after all. Then she had it. She could feel it. Just what she was looking for, right on the doorstep on Ponyville. Irritation and anger and egotism and cynicism, tinged with sadness and fear. She smiled. "Hello, Trixie." ***** It was a two-hour walk to where Trixie had been, from what she could tell from her little detection spell. By now she was out in the rocky bits between Ponyville and everywhere else. She took another swig from the water bottle she had brought along, hanging from a piece of string from her neck. It wasn't actually that warm for the last day of October, but it was a long way, and she hadn't walked anywhere near as much as this since... No. She wasn't going to remember. She was moving ahead. And she was almost there. She could hear, just barely, a raised voice echoing around the otherwise empty plains. She could understand being in a foul mood. Here she was, stuck over two decades in the past, with a brain running on fumes (caffeine fumes, no less), walking around without any winter clothing on (she was probably going to regret that tomorrow) just so she could try and create a temporal paradox, just to stop Rainbow Dash throwing water balloons at her. She found herself remembering a five-hour long lecture from her mother on what Star-Swirl (the bearded) had written on the nature time travel, with a good hour devoted to paradoxes. Her twelve year old self had started yelling 'enough' five minutes in, sworn never to touch a time-travel spell, and came up with a truly apt summary of time travel. Time-travel was complicated, and should be avoided. "Way to go, Twinkie." Of course, now that she was older she had to admit one thing: Watching her mother nearly fry her own brain trying to explain how cause didn't necessarily follow effect had almost been worth the whole lecture. She was vaguely aware of the shouting becoming more distinct, as she approached a broken, beaten up old wagon which had been (barely) painted blue, with poorly drawn stars and moons on it. The owner, a blue unicorn wearing a rather fetching purple hat and cape she could now make out, and she appeared to be... ranting and cussing at a wheel. She only heard the last few words of this rant. "AND WE HAVE NO! MORE! NEED OF YOU!" The unicorn was saying, punctuating each word by slamming the poor wheel into the ground. "THEREFORE, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE HEREBY SWEARS OFF THE UNTRUSTWORTHY ABOMINATION THAT IS THE WHEEL! BEGONE TO THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS THAT AWAIT ALL YOUR KIND, OH FREAK OF SCIENCE!" And with that rather colorful remark, she lifted it and tossed it away. Midday sidestepped to avoid it. She coughed politely. "Problem with your... wagon?" She said, eyeing the rather crudely designed vehicle as if it were about to collapse. The weary looking Trixie glanced at her, apparently sizing her up. "Stupid thing broke off in a ditch" She muttered, pointing at the protruding axel where the wheel had snapped off. "The Great and Powerful Trixie attempted to fix it and proved... more complicated than I had assumed. I found myself pushed beyond my breaking point by this." "Is that the reason for the whole 'banished' to Tartarus thing?" Midday asked, raising an eyebrow for good measure. "Being humiliated and laughed at wherever one goes is one thing. Being ruined by a group of ignorant foals is another. Being let down by one's transportation is entirely beyond that." She glowered at Midday. "Why is Trixie explaining herself to you?" Midday shrugged. "I just have one of those faces, people can't help explaining things to me." Trixie just glowered some more. Then she turned back to the broken axel and sighed. "What a fitting end to the career of the great and powerful Trixie. Ruined by the ignorant masses of Ponyville, cast out into the cold to scrounge off the pity of others, forced to buy poorly constructed mobile lodgings from disreputable salesmen." She kicked the axel, and from the brief look on her face, it hurt. "Now Trixie finds herself a target of mockery by random madmares in the middle of nowhere." Midday looked around. She could see Canterlot in the distance. That automatically disqualified where they where as 'nowhere' in her books. "We're only a few miles from Ponyville" she said, calmly. Trixie shot her an irritated look. "But I think you know that" "Bravo. It thinks but it does not know. It does not see what lies ahead when sun has faded and moon is dead." Midday smirked. "Know what I think?" "No" Trixie said, making it clear she didn't care either. And she didn't care that Trixie didn't care. "I think..." It was almost fun ignoring her again. Like learning to ride a scooter. "I think you keep coming back to Ponyville because you're trying to muster up the courage to confront the pony you consider responsible for ruining your life. But you can't. So you keep running." Trixie almost smirked. "Nearly right. Only it was ponies. Plural." Midday knelt next to her. "How about I fetch the wheel, fix up your wagon. Or try to, at any rate. How about that?" Trixie's only response was to wave a hoof at her. Taking this as acceptance, she walked back to the wheel, lying by the side of the road. "The nemesis of the great and powerful Trixie. Please to meet you" She chortled. **** "So, was I right about why you're near Ponyville?" Trixie simply nodded. Her hat slid off her head at that. Trixie made no attempt to restore it. "Every few weeks since my humiliation, I have returned to Ponyville, intent on setting the record straight with that arrogant child and her moronic friends." Midday winced at the venom in Trixie's words. "But I cannot. I am not... Trixie is not strong enough." She spat those last words. Midday stared at her. "You know, there's only one way this grudge of yours against Twilight Sparkle will go." Trixie laughed. It sounded hollow. "Do tell" "Desire for revenge will consume you. You'll become poisoned with anger and hatred, and do something dangerous, and drastic, and stupid." Now came the hard part. She had to lie. "It will taint you forever. You will go from being a joke to the sort of being parents tell their children to watch out for at night. You'll sacrifice everything you ever worked for in the name of revenge, and it won't be nearly worth it. You'll just be an echo, a shell of what you are now." Trixie fixed her eyes on Midday, and when she spoke it was low and cold. "Please. That's such pathetic moralistic garbage. You sound like a child repeating what she's just been told. Why should I not deserve revenge? Do I not have the right to repay myself for indignities heaped upon me? All I would need is a chance." Midday tried to let her sympathy show. How could this be the same Trixie she'd known? The one who taught her all those spells, admittedly after she'd persecuted the mare into teaching her, how could that mare and this pony-shaped pile of rage be the same? "A chance is what you'd get. But by the time you get it, you wouldn't be you. Is a chance for revenge on Twilight really worth your soul? Worth becoming a nightmare? I've been where you've been Trixie, I know what it feels like. Believe me, it would not be worth it." Trixie seemed to shuffle. "Leave me alone." She whispered. "I'm trying to help you." "Leave." "Just let me he-" "LEAVE!" Midday flinched. She sighed. "Very well, Ms. Lulamoon, be that way. Throw away everything you ever wanted and worked for in the name of meaningless revenge." She placed her hat on her head and turned. "Hope it's worth it." And with that she walked away, on the long road back to Ponyville. After a few moments she started galloping. ***** Trixie sat by the side of the road, staring at the wagon. It wasn't the one she'd built at home, back in Neigh Orleans with her own magic. It smelt unusual, and creaked, and was dingy and cramped and uncomfortable and she really hadn't liked the way those two salesstallions had smiled when she bought it with what little money she had scrounged together. The mare's words stuck in her mind. "Stupid girl" she muttered. She'd probably been put up to do that, or paid. Probably Princess Celestia. A word from Twilight Sparkle in her ear, or some such. Or Luna. Apparently the princess of the night loved Hickville, and the bearer of the Element of Magic. Then Trixie noticed something. Where was her hat? She looked around. "That... two-faced thieving rat!" she leapt to her hooves, new energy fuelling her every movement, her weariness forgotten. "THIEF! NO ONE STEALS FROM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE AND LIVES TO TELL ABOUT IT! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO-ONE!!" And no-one heard her screaming either. She stood there for a moment, hearing the echoes of her words fade. A smile flickered across her face. Her enemy wished her to give chase. She could do that. She lifted her foreleg... and then turned to look at the wagon. She frowned. There was nothing in there of any worth to Trixie. She turned back towards Ponyville, and set off at full gallop.