//------------------------------// // Meeting Midnight // Story: Why Did I Choose to be Trixie? // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// "Aaaaahhh! AAAAAAHHH!" I woke up screaming, startling Trixie something terrible. "What? What is it?" she asked, trying not to sound as terrified as me. "Bad dream ... about ... your mama," I said shakily. I noticed it was still dark outside. "Turn over, Amethyst, Trixie will make it all better for you," she cooed. I rolled over onto my left side and she cuddled me from behind, resting her right fore-leg on my barrel. She slowly lowered her hoof further down my body to try to ease some of my tension, though where she went with that hoof of hers made me forget all about the bad dream. We woke to the sun's rays beaming in through the window of the caravan, so we decided to get up and get going at that point. Trixie suggested leaving the caravan a couple of miles outside of town before going to meet her mother and I tentatively agreed. "We can bring the wagon back in when Trixie is ready to do her show," she stated. "It just seems like a duplication of effort," I protested mildly. "Trixie has her reasons," she said flatly. We began trotting through Hoofington, receiving a few harsh stares from some of the townsponies who recognized one of their more infamous residents. Trixie noticed this, as did I, but she told me to pay them no mind. Presently we arrived at Trixie's mother's house, a relatively small one-story bungalow painted light green with white trim. The roof of the house, like so many others, was thatched grass. "Trixie, if I had known your mom was all the way on the other side of town, I would have recommended parking your caravan on that side," I stated with some exasperation. "Trixie does NOT want to be seen pulling her caravan through town! It's bad enough that she gets stared at by so many ponies around here and Trixie does NOT want to cause any trouble!" she exclaimed, her level of exasperation nearly matching mine. An older chubby dark blue unicorn mare stuck her head out of a front window to hear who was talking so loudly and spotted us. She opened the front door to greet us. "Trixie! It's been five years!" her mother exclaimed excitedly, giving her a big hug. She glanced in my direction and addressed me. "Well, who do we have here? A fine young stallion, if I do say so myself!" she grinned. I returned her grin. "Ma'am, Trixie has told me your name is Midnight, if I'm not mistaken. My name is Amethyst Flame, pleased to make your acquaintance," I said, offering my right fore-hoof. "My, my, and such good manners, too! Well, Amethyst, my daughter told you correctly, I am indeed Midnight Lulamoon! And the pleasure is all mine, my dear! Please, won't you two both come inside?" she asked, an almost unmistakably sultry tone to her velvety voice. There was a part of me that wondered how much older she was than her daughter, but it is impolite to ask any female her age, regardless of whether or not she is human or pony. "I would be delighted, ma'am. Trixie?" "Trixie is coming, don't rush her, please," she replied tersely. "So, Amethyst, why are you with my daughter?" she asked as she took a seat in a chair in the front room. She motioned for us to sit on the sofa near the chair she was sitting in. "Ma'am, Trixie and I just got married less than a week ago," I said, smiling warmly at my new wife, who seemed to be frowning. "Is that right? Well, congratulations! I was wondering when Trixie was going to find her special somepony," she grinned. Trixie seemed to flinch at this subtle jab. "Trixie is very happy with Amethyst, mama. She knew she would find her stallion one day." "And how did the two of you meet up? Amethyst, would you mind telling me about yourself? Where you came from? What you do for a living? And what possessed you to marry my daughter?" Her last question caused me to give her a side-long glance as I scrunched up my face for a quick second. "She likes to play too much," I thought to myself. "Ma'am, this is a fairly long story -- do you have time?" Trixie gave me a very pained look as if to ask me not to go into extensive detail, so I tried to keep it short. I told her about spending my birthday night at Rarity's boutique in Ponyville, having a bad dream and galloping back to the Library where I had a special vehicle waiting for me and running into Trixie that night, offering to have her accompany me on my travels. I continued with my explanation, but her mama appeared to lose interest in my story, so I stopped. "Ma'am, if you don't mind, may I have a glass of water? I'm rather thirsty," I stated. "Of course, Amethyst. Trixie? Do you want anything?" "Just a coffee with a hint of cinnamon, mama." Midnight left the room and headed into the kitchen to fetch our drinks. While she was gone, Trixie glared at me in disapproval. "You don't need to tell my mama everything, Amethyst. We have a show to perform later, and Trixie does not want to do her show in the dark." "Very well then. I'll wrap this up when she returns," I stated. "Here you go, Amethyst, Trixie. So how did the wedding go? How about the honeymoon?" she grinned. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you the Queen of the Changelings was impersonating Trixie, and in the process of defeating her, I was transformed into an Alicorn." The dark blue mare gasped in astonishment. "But ... if you were an Alicorn, why aren't you now?" I chuckled at her question. "Princess Celestia and I had a little disagreement, and I requested a change back. I feel I am much happier as a unicorn, and I believe Trixie is happier to have me being close to her size. As an Alicorn, I was nearly as big as the Sun Goddess herself -- and while that had its advantages, it also carried with it far more responsibility than I felt confident in handling." "You know, dear, if I had been given such a gift, I would never have returned it! You astound me, Amethyst!" "However, Celestia told me that I will be going back to being an Alicorn in about seventy years." Trixie shot me a look. "Sorry, Trixie." "What do you mean by that?" her mama asked, some irritation in her voice. "It would appear that I have been given a very long lifespan, regardless of whether I'm a unicorn or an alicorn. Unfortunately, that means I will most likely outlive Trixie, even though we'll be together for seventy years ... I hope. It is my desire to provide you some grand-foals, if that's not a problem with you." Her expression became much brighter at this mention. "Oh, I would simply love to see any foals you two may have! Amethyst, I trust you will take good care of my Trixie -- don't make her sad, for me, please." "I will do my best, though there will be times when we have our disagreements," I stated solemnly. "I understand -- Trixie's father and I had many such disagreements before he left and never returned," mused Midnight. "Mama, we have a show to put on -- we need to get going!" Trixie said impatiently as she rose from the sofa. She motioned for me to follow her as she made her way to the door. "Very well then, Trixie, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Please write, and if you're staying in town for awhile, please visit more frequently." "Yes, mama." "Nice meeting you, Midnight. I hope we might see you again soon," I offered as I followed Trixie out the front door. "Don't be a stranger -- come back soon, please!" she said as she waved us off. We trotted back across town to retrieve her caravan so we could set up the show in the town center.