Trixie awoke the next day fully refreshed. She sat up in her oversized bed stretching out her aching joints. She slowly got out of bed and continued to stretch out her limbs until she heard the necessary pop. She walked towards the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
She stared at her own reflection while feeling her face with her hoof. She was amazed at that all of her cuts and bruises were gone. The huge gash in her forehead was also gone along with all the blood. Before Trixie could inspect further, she heard a knock at the door.
“Yes?” she said as she quickly combed down her bed head and walked out the bathroom standing in the middle of the room. The door opened suddenly and standing there was a dark blue earth pony mare wearing a maid outfit.
“Good morning, my name is Moonshine and I’ll be your personal maid for your stay here at the castle under Princess Luna’s order. Princess Luna has requested that you take part in eating breakfast with her and her sister. Do you accept?” the mare asked with a warm smile.
Trixie still stood there staring at the mare until she finally spoke. “Uh, yes.” she started for the doorway until she was next to the maid. “But I don’t know where to go exactly.” she said with a nervous chuckle while closing the door behind her.
“Oh that’s not a problem! I’ll accompany you to the dining room. It’s very easy to get lost here in the castle, in fact I still remember when I got lost here on my first day.” the maid said trotting with Trixie with a spring in her step.
“You’re really lucky to have Princess Luna as your teacher!” the maid said happily.
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Well besides the fact that she’s a princess, Princess Luna has helped a lot of ponies get back on their hooves and make something of themselves.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, like me for example. I was just a typical ordinary barmaid making minimum wage living in Manhattan and hardly getting by with raising a foal into the equation.”
“The father wasn’t doing anything to help?”
“Well, not exactly. You see, I adopted the foal off the streets,” the mare said while taking out a picture of a beautiful little white unicorn filly with shiny golden hair sleeping all bundled up in layers of blankets. “I'm still single and my parents would send me money in the mail every week to help us get by. Even though being a maid at the castle pays good, they still send money.” she continued.
Trixie stared at the picture and back at the mare. She picked up this helpless filly off the streets without any hesitation of considering the consequences? She thought to herself.
“I don’t mean to sound rude but, the filly is a unicorn and you’re an earth pony.”
“Yeah, and?” the mare said whilst tilting her head with a cocked eyebrow.
“Well how could you know anything about raising a unicorn foal?”
“Heh, I don’t.” the mare responded with a chuckle. It was Trixie’s turn to look puzzled.
“I don’t know anything about raising a unicorn foal. In fact, I never even thought of that when I first brought her home but that didn’t matter to me. She was starving and looked sick and I could care less if I could or couldn’t raise her,” she said with a determined look on her face and a strong smile. “All that mattered was that I help her.” she concluded picking up the pace.
Trixie could only smile in admiration at the fact that somepony picked up a dying filly and nourished her back to life without considering the difference in race.
“You’re a good pony and I can see why Luna took an interest in you. And if you need any help with her, I can always find time to help out. Oh and what’s her name but the way? ” Trixie said smiling while turning a corner.
“Thanks so much, I’ll keep that in mind. Her name is Nova. Nova Stardust. I believe she could do wonders for the world when she grows up. And what made the princess take you in especially as her student?” the earth pony said with a wide grin.
“Well it all started back in-” Trixie said before she stopped by the maid in front of huge French doors with the royal seal on it.
“Sorry about the interruption but we’re here. Maybe we could catch up when I'm on break or whenever you’re not busy if you like?” she said turning to Trixie, with a smile waiting for a reply.
“Sure, I’d like that” Trixie said returning the smile. They turned to face the doors once more and the earth pony pushed the doors open for Trixie.
Trixie stood there in the dining hall looking like a foal in a candy store. The dining hall was decorated with stained glass windows and elegant chandeliers. There was nothing else in the room except for the 30-foot rectangular table sitting in the middle of the room with chairs surrounding it. The table had a white tablecloth covering it and the princesses sitting on the right side of the table with Celestia at the head and Luna by her right.
“Wow." Trixie said drawing out the word while taking a closer look at details.
“Heh, that's what I said when I first came here.” the mare said smiling, relating towards her first time on the job at the castle.
“Ah, we see you have made it, and we take it that you two are acquainted.” the princesses of the night said as she turned to look at the duo from her conversation with her sister. “Please, sit. And you are dismissed for the time being Moonshine.” she said motioning a hoof to the seat in front of her for Trixie. The maid politely bowed and exited the dining hall. As Trixie made her way to her seat, a servant came to pull out her chair and she stood there, unrecognized by the simple polite gesture.
“Th- thank you.” she said nervously.
“We take it that you slept well.” Luna said returning to her food.
“Too good I must say, and do you know what happened to my injuries?”
“Yes, we took the liberty of healing your wounds when we arrived at the castle.” Luna said taking a bite of her toast.
“Y-you can do that?” Trixie said as a servant placed a bowl of fruit in front of her.
“Do not underestimate me Trixie. My powers are not limited to raising and lowering the moon.” the alicorn said while giving a small smile. Before anything was about to be said, Celestia coughed loud enough so she could be noticed amongst the duo. They fell silent as they turned to face Celestia.
“Would you like to introduce me to your new friend here Luna?” Celestia said with a cocked eyebrow
“Oh! We seem to have forgotten to tell you." Celestia gave her sister the ‘ya think’ look while Luna put up her hoofs in surrender.“ This is Trixie Lulamoon and she will be staying here at the castle as my student.” Luna said proudly while Trixie hid her head and blushed slightly. But Celestia was not showing as much joy as her sister for she gave Luna a stern, disapproving look.
“Uh huh, Luna may I have a word with you in private?” Celestia said as she got up from her seat and walked out of the dining hall. Luna still sat in her seat looking puzzled. She sighed and slowly got up and started for the door.
“Elegant Cuisine.” Luna called as her voice carried in the big room. As few seconds past a big grey earth pony stallion popped his head out from a corner wearing a chef’s hat.
“Yes madam?” the chef pony said with a Prench accent.
“You are to cook anything to Trixie's demands. Understand?” Luna said as she continued to make her way to the door.
“Yes madam.” the chef repeated.
“We won't be long Trixie. Indulge yourself with all of diverse types of food we have.” Luna said as she reached the door. Trixie was silent but she nodded in response. With that, Luna opened the door and walked outside to see her sister looking down at her scowling.
“What?”
“You know exactly what Luna!” Celestia said scolding her sister.
“No, we don’t. If we did, we wouldn’t have said ‘what’.” Luna said nonchalantly which only made Celestia angrier. Before she could say anything she would regret, she grunted to calm herself.
“Luna, tell me why she is your student? From what I’ve heard from Twilight she’s the one that has an ego the size of Equestria and caused havoc in Ponyville by wearing the alicorn amulet.” Celestia said with an angry tone in her voice.
“Yes we know that. So what is your point?” Luna said with a cocked eyebrow.
“My point? My point! My point is that she is a danger to you! For all we know she’s using you to get back at Twilight or she might get her hooves on one of Star Swirl’s strongest spells,” Luna continued to stand there looking at her exaggerated sister with a blank face.
“For all we know she might even overthrow us! Have you even thought this through?” Celestia said yelling at her.
“Yes, we have. And we have a better understanding of Trixie than you and your student. Were you listening at how completely ridiculous you sounded? One, Trixie’s magic only extends on simple teleportation and illusion spells so she is incapable of overthrowing us. And two, we are alike me and Trixie,”
“How?” Celestia interrupted still angry.
Luna put up a hoof to calm her down. “Trixie has the same background as me. She does her best to impress others with her magic, but others showed no interest in it. So Trixie sought out a different way to earn their love, which in the end only caused them to replace the state of them ignoring her with the feeling of fear and hate.
“Even though her intentions were right and her actions wrong, the main reason behind it all was to be loved instead of being shunned. After the incident with the alicorn amulet, Trixie gave up on revenge against Twilight and went back to trying the please ponies with her magic. But ponies everywhere had heard of her feats and hated her and some even retaliated.
“She spent the past months traveling all across of Equestria to find where her bad reputation had not lingered among others. Only to find one simple thing she craved for from the beginning of her journey, to be loved by somepony. So she has no intentions of harming anypony anymore.” Luna concluded. Celestia still held her scowl and hung her head low
“That’s what you said about your last student, and he almost killed us both and destroyed all of Equestria! He didn’t seem bad and he didn’t do anything bad but he lied and worked behind your back to gain power, but her,” Celestia said with venom in her voice.
“She caused trouble for my student and her friends twice and had access to a dangerous artifact with power that even we cannot contain. And you actually believe how innocent she is? I don’t trust her and neither should you. I don’t want her in the castle, she can go back to what hole she came from and-” before she could finish a swift hoof hit Celestia straight in her face sending her to crash into a nearby wall causing her tiara to fall off and drop onto the floor.
“Don’t thou DARE talk about Trixie like she is some disgusting street rat!” Luna said as the royal Canterlot voice boomed in the hallway. Her beautiful flowing starry mane was rapidly moving and her eyes went completely white and her teeth were bared.
“Luna, I-” Celestia tried to speak with her eyes wide in shock and horror as the sight of her sister like this brought back painful memories.
“No! We are done of hearing thou bash MY student. Thou does not hear thee talk bad of Twilight Sparkle when she cast the Want It, Need It spell do thee? NO!” Luna yelled as her voiced echoed throughout the whole castle. She walked towards her injured sister on the floor and stopped when she reached her. Celestia was now immobile and shaking with her eyes wide as saucers and mouth open.
“To think of all ponies, thou would be the last to judge Trixie AND my judgment. We wouldn’t have taken in Trixie for a reason sister. We were sick and tired seeing a helpless pony with such potential be bashed and harmed and we shall not stand by while my own sister talks bad about my student.” Luna raised her hoof once more and Celestia cowered for she thought that Luna would strike her again. Luna forcefully slammed her hoof on the floor making little cracks spread from underneath it.
“We shall not hear more nonsense about Trixie from you. We are disappointed in you Tia.” Luna said as she calmed down but still furious. “Not only have thou distaste for a pony which thou know nothing of their intentions, but thou blame thee of my judgment for taking in a pony who was starving and practically homeless.” Luna slowly walked away from her frightened sister back towards the door to the dining hall.
“Of all ponies, thou were the last pony we thought to judge someone and shun them.” with that Luna opened the doors to the dining hall leaving Celestia on the floor silently crying to herself.
“I'm sorry” Celestia said silently, tears flowing out rapidly. She lay on the floor in the fetal position with her eyes closed crying silently whispering, “I'm sorry” to her.
Luna walked back into the dining hall to find that a couple of guards were standing weapons ready for anything, the chefs, servant, maids and Trixie were positioned behind the guards talking among themselves about the racket in the hallway.
“Princess, I-is everything alright?” one guard spoke up.
“Yes, and as for my sister, accompany her to her chambers. She needs time to herself.” she said with anger still in her voice.
“Yes ma’am!” the guards said in unison then exiting the dining hall. Luna walked to Trixie who was standing there confused.
“Have you eaten your fill Trixie?” she said pushing on a smile.
“Yes the food was delicious. Um is everything alright?” Trixie asked getting the question out in the open that was on every ponies mind.
“Yes everything is fine. Just something that needed to be tending to. Please everypony, résumé your work,” Luna said from behind Trixie. “Come Trixie, lets go for a walk.” Luna said walking towards the door and Trixie soon followed behind her.
“Oh! Elegant Cuisine?” Luna said spinning around quickly
“Yes madam?” the chef pony said
“What is for supper tonight?” Luna asked smiling.
“Princess you know I can't spoil the surprise.” the chef said winking returning leaving Luna to fuss to herself pouting “I never get to know what's for supper.”
“Uh princess?” Trixie said looking at her teacher with confused expression. Luna jumped back into reality with a slight chuckle
“Sorry, shall we?” she said a hoof on the door. Trixie nodded in response and they walked outside the dining hall and stopped to examine a crater in the wall.
“Whoa. What happened here?” Trixie said looking up to the princess. Luna didn't respond but only scowled at the confrontation with her sister.
“Its nothing. Lets get going.” Luna said walking away from the scene. Trixie stood there still staring at the wall until she saw her teacher move on she quickly trotted up to her side.
“Tell me Trixie, do you have anything back in Baltimare that you want to bring here?” Luna said keeping her eyes in front.
“Yes I do actually.”
“Ok I’ll have a transport prepared for you.” Luna said. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes and whispered “Night crawler.” Trixie stood beside her with a puzzled look on her face.
“Huh?” Trixie said aloud. Right after she spoke, she yelped as a thick cloud of dark smoke appeared before them and within the smoke was a dark blue unicorn stallion with and oily back mane. His eyes were a lemon yellow and wore a navy blue and red jumpsuit. Trixie let out a heavy sigh while looking back at the mysterious stallion.
“Yes princess.” the stallion said with a deep voice and a bow.
“I want you to prepare a transport for Trixie to Baltimare.” Luna responded continuing her walk.
“Understood.” the stallion said and as suddenly as he appeared, he disappeared with the same black smoke. Trixie still stood where she was staring at where the stallion once was and realized how much space she put between her and Luna and quickly ran to her side.
“So,” Trixie trailed off. “Nightcrawler? What kind of name is that?” Trixie asked looking up at her teacher.
“That is just a nickname, although I do not know his real name,” she said stopping. “In fact, nopony knows his real name.” she continued resuming her walk.
“Oh, but it seems weird to nickname yourself after an X-Pony.”
“True, but I find it quite fun having someone who teleports like that.” Luna said smiling. As they rounded a corner the same black smoke appeared again but this time Trixie was ready for anything and didn't yelp.
“Your transport is ready miss Trixie.” Nightcrawler said.
“Wow that was quick.” Trixie said with a surprised expression.
“That’s why he is reliable. If you need anything done quickly, just go to him.” Luna said smiling making Nightcrawler blushed at the complement.
“I’ll be awaiting your return Trixie,” Luna said walking away. Nightcrawler stepped in front of Trixie and held out his hoof. The unicorn hesitated for a bit but she held he stallions hoof and she yelped and shut her eyes as she was engulfed in black smoke. She opened her eyes to see she was outside and in front of her was a carriage with two night guards. Nightcrawler walked towards the carriage and motioned a hoof for Trixie to take her seat.
Trixie took her seat and Nightcrawler took his seat next to her. Within a matter of minutes the two night guards strapped onto the carriage and they were off. Trixie looked back at the castle fading away in the distance and when it was out of sight, she returned forward.
She let out a soft yawn and her eyes slowly started to close. She couldn't hold back from falling asleep for she was still tired after her long sleep. She closed her eyes only to feel the wind gently hit her face. She let out a content sigh and fell asleep.
“Hey Trix, how was school?” the voice from a young stallion sitting at a dining table as a little blue filly stormed through the front door of the rather large house with watery eyes. She made no attempt of responding to the stallion, not even a glance. She stomped her way past the him, down a hall and into a room slamming the door behind her.
The young stallion cursed to himself as he sprang up and quickly made his way to the slammed door and stood there silently as he could hear muffled cries from within the room. He hesitantly raised a hoof to knock on the door.
“Trixie,” the young stallion said knocking thrice.
“Go away!” the filly interrupted through her crying. “Leave me alone!”
The young stallion sighed and slowly opened the door. He walked into a room covered in dark slate paint with golden glow in the dark stars and the full moon covering the ceiling. There, on the twin sized bed laid a cyan filly crying into her pillow. He made his way onto the bed and sat close to the filly.
“Trixie,” he said in a soothing voice to stop her crying. It worked but she didn’t make eye contact. She kept her head deep within the pillow now sniffing.
“What wrong?” he continued. She didn't respond but continued to sniff.
“Trixie, what happened today at school.” he repeated in a more demanding voice. Trixie slowly raised her head but rested it on the soaked pillow.
“They,” she started hesitantly. “They made fun of momma and papa.”
“Who? And what did they say?” the stallion asked curiously.
“Bullies at my school. They said that momma and papa are lame and can't use real spells. They called momma ugly.” Trixie managed to say through the resuming tears. “They said that papa is weak and that his job is stupid.” she said through her tears.
“I know you said not to retawiate but I could let them say that about momma and papa!” the hysterical filly was standing on the bed with tears in her eyes.
“And what did you do?” the young stallion replied with a cocked eyebrow.
“I...” Trixie said trailing off. “I hit one of them in the face.” she said looking down at her hooves, still crying. That’s when the stallion took a good look at the disgruntled filly. There was a bruise on her ribs and cheek a cut on her leg. The stallion looked with horrified eyes as the filly who meant the world to him and wasn't there to protect her.
“I’m sorry.” she said in a low tone continually crying looking down at her hoofs. Trixie let out a sudden yelp as a pair of hoofs surrounded her. She was pressed against the stallion’s chest in a warm tight hug. She remained in the stallions embrace until she was released.
“I know what I said about fighting but you did something anypony else would've done,” he said putting on a smile. “You stood up for your family and I couldn't be any more proud of you kiddo,” he said roughing up the filly’s mane. The young Trixie returned the gesture with a playful giggle.
“R-really?” Trixie said with a growing smile
“Yep! I’m here for you Trix, for better and for worse. You can trust me with anything and I’ll always be around to help you with anything. I’ll always be by your side till the end.” he concluded and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Y...you promise?” the filly said with a silly grin.
“I promise.” he said with a smile he then pulled the filly into another hug in which she returned. They stayed that way for what felt like years until he decided to speak.
“I love you Trixie.”
“I love you too big brother.”
“Trixie, wake up”
Trixie violently shook to wake up still in the carriage but now in a clearing of the woods by her used-to-be makeshift home. She looked around at the oh so familiar surroundings and a chill ran down her spine. She slowly stepped out of the carriage and took in the fresh crisp forest air.
She was too preoccupied to fully observe how beautiful the forest was. Butterflies of all color elegantly flew with the wind, critters of all kinds scurried along going about their business, thick green oak trees surrounding the whole clearing making it the perfect spot to do anything one desired.
“Do you require assistance Miss Trixie?” Nightcrawler said as he teleported beside her. She didn't jump or yelp this time, she got used to the sudden appearance already.
“No its just a couple of things, I won't take long. And please call me Trixie.” she said walking a few feet in front of him then smiling back. She averted her gaze back at the dazzling forest and she stood there continually smiling at how beautiful the forest is.
“By the way, do you know what the name of this forest we’re in?” she said looking back at Nightcrawler.
“I believe the name is Viridian. Viridian Forest. It’s known for its scenery and vast animals within it.”
“Huh interesting.” the unicorn said starting to walk.” I’ll be back.”
Trixie made her way across the clearing and stood in front of her house. She started to open the door when something caught her eye. She spotted a blood spot was next to the door. She remembered quickly that terrifying night that caused her to get away with just an injury. She pushed the recurring memory out of her head and walked into her home.
She walked into her home and say that it was exactly how it was left. The kitchen was messy, the floor was messy, and the bed was...messy. Trixie noticed something on the bed and walked towards it. When she got closer she realized that the object was a picture. The picture was and old family picture with young Trixie, her brother and her parents in a park during the winter.
Her mother wore a warm smile and a scarf. She had a turquoise coat and a long fluorescent and light blue mane and tail and her eyes were golden yellow. Her cutie mark was the rising sun with golden flames extending from it. Her father stood beside her with a big goofy grin. He had a dark purple coat and a navy blue mane and tail and wore ear muffs.
His cutie mark was a spell book with sparkles coming out of it. In front was her brother with a ‘cool pony’ smile. He was cyan blue with spiky white mane with the ends died an icy blue. His cutie mark was three frozen raindrops. And there beside him was little Trixie with her little hat and cape with a wide smile.
She stared at the picture until something hit her. She realized that in the picture, everypony was smiling. They were all happy to be together. Trixie stared at the picture until a teardrop fell on the frame, which knocked out of her trance.
She quickly wiped away her tear and put the picture into her saddlebags. She backed away from the bed and knelt down under her bed to pull out a small box. She put the box and opened it to reveal its contents.
There was little memorabilia in it but the one object that caught Trixie’s eye the most was a silver locket. She gripped the locket with her magic and inspected it. There was no wear or damage to it but it looked like it hadn't been opened for years. She put the locket around her neck and put the box with the rest of the contents in her saddlebags.
As she made her way toward the door she picked up a couple of books. She picked up one book off a counter and she heard a whimper from a nearby cabinet. She stood still to see if it would happen again and indeed it did. She walked over to the cabinet and as she opened it a black figure shot past her and in the direction of the bed.
She slowly crept her way to the bed and when she reached it, she took in a deep breath lifted up the hanging covers. Her heart was racing and her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what it was and if it would attack her. She peeked her head under the bed to find a pair of golden eyes.
“Oh sweet Celestia! Shadow, you scared me!” Trixie said scolding the figure. The sudden outburst made the figure retreat further under the bed. Trixie realized her mistake and knelt down under the bed to whisper to the figure.
“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I guess I’m still not used you suddenly appearing out of nowhere.” she realized how this situation related to Nightcrawler and his teleportation. “ I’ve found somewhere better to stay at than here with more food and a place where you can sleep. Would like to come along?” Trixie asked with a smile and she could tell that the figure nodded.
Trixie smiled and stood up cracking some joint along the way. “Ok, lets get going then.” she said as she lifted the figure onto her back with her magic. She made her way out the door until she noticed something in the corner of her eye. It was her hat and cape but in a damaged condition. She folded up the cape and put it in her saddlebag while she wore her hat.
“Heh, good as new.” she said smiling as the figure made its way under the hat snuggling to get comfortable. She walked out the door and made her way back the carriage. There, were the two night guards resting against a tree while Nightcrawler stood in front of the carriage unmoving. When she reached the teleporter, the two guards awoke violently.
“Is that all Trixie?” Nightcrawler asked as the guards were strapping up to the carriage.
“Yes.” she replied as she stepped into the carriage. Nightcrawler nodded in response and took his place next to her. Once he was seated he signaled with his hoof and they were airborne once more. They were already a good distance in the air and Trixie could feel the air getting colder. She took out the cape from her saddlebags and wrapped it tightly around her.
Once she was comfortable enough she took a second look at the locket. The locket was sealed by magic, so Trixie summoned up some of her magic and opened it with ease for it was an easy spell to break.
She slowly opened it and saw a picture of her and her brother both on one side and another picture of him when he was in high school. In both pictures he was smiling. A smile that she missed for so long now.
“I’ll always be by your side till the end.” Was the only thing that went through her mind when she saw the pictures of him? Her mind was silent except for that one sentence he said so long ago. Trixie forgot how he even sounded its been so long. She closed it and sealed it once more. She stared at the closed locket and shut her eyes so she could be alone mentally.
“You promised.” she said to herself as a single teardrop rolled down her cheeks and blew away into the wind.
~~~~~
“I can't wait to get off. I haven't been spending enough time with the wife and kids.” one gloomy guard said walking besides his partner.
“Yeah, I hear ya. My wife been on my back lately for coming home late and leaving early in the morning.” his partner replied. They both walked along the cobblestone path around the castle’s perimeter both sighing, hanging their heads low.
“Maybe you two should take a week off then.” a mysterious voice called out behind them. The guards shot up and spun around to identify the voice, but unfortunately couldn't react fast enough for they were knocked out immediately. The intruder quickly hogtied and bounded the unconscious guards and dragged them into a nearby bush.
“Sweet dreams.” the intruder said with a maniacal smile and laugh whilst changing its appearance to one of the guards.
“Infiltration successful.” he thought to himself as made his way towards the grand fortress. “Humph, too easy. Now to finish the mission.” the intruder said to himself making his way inside the castle.