//------------------------------// // Before a Fall // Story: Blood On the Moon // by sentinel28a //------------------------------// BLOOD ON THE MOON A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction By Sentinel 28A “My thanks, Twilight.” Princess Celestia carefully placed the wooden box holding the Alicorn Amulet in a saddlebag draped across her back. “You handled this situation well.” “Thank you.” Twilight bowed her head to her ruler and teacher. Defeating Trixie had not been easy, but if there was one lesson Twilight Sparkle had learned in her time in Ponyville, few things were. The damage was undone, however: Trixie’s brief rule of Ponyville left few permanent marks, the delegates from Saddle Arabia were none the wiser, and Twilight even felt she was now more learned in magic. She had never really given studying Zecora’s philosophy much thought, but she felt herself more complete as a pony and as a magic-user with the experience. “And Trixie, then?” Celestia arched an eyebrow at her. “She’ll be all right.” Twilight smiled. Her erstwhile rival was last seen running off in a cloud of smoke—and falling on her face in the process. Trixie had asked forgiveness and gotten it for her actions…at least from Twilight Sparkle. Celestia was a different story. Upon learning what Trixie had done with the power of the Alicorn Amulet, namely enslaving Ponyville, Celestia was as angry as Twilight had seen her, as much as during Discord’s attack or the Changeling War. Celestia took attacks on her subjects very seriously, and there were some ponies who had been punished worse for less. Trixie’s boast that she would rule Equestria—after she had lost the Amulet—was especially disconcerting. She claimed it was the influence of the Amulet corrupting her, but Celestia was obviously not convinced. “She’ll be all right,” Twilight repeated. “I hope so,” Celestia sighed. “Twilight…exiling Trixie or even imprisoning her is not something I want to do. Yet I cannot risk a threat to the realm. You understand that, I know.” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty. But I think Trixie’s learned her lesson. She won’t try that again. I believe she’s genuinely sorry for what she did.” “Actions have consequences, my student.” Twilight blew out a breath. “That’s a lesson I know only too well. But you gave me another chance after that fiasco with my, um, want-it-need-it spell.” That was a memory Twilight wished she could forget—when her obsession with making regular reports to her liege caused her to abuse her magic. In some ways, Twilight mused, she had committed a crime not unlike Trixie’s. “Yes. Which is why I’m leaving this in your hooves, Twilight.” Celestia smiled. “I have to trust you in this.” She checked the sky. “I should be getting back to Canterlot. There’s still one more day with the Saddle Arabians. As for this—“ she nudged the saddlebag with a wing “—I will make sure it finds a safe, and hidden place.” Twilight wanted to ask how Trixie had gotten the thing to begin with, but that could wait until another time. She bowed respectfully to her mentor, Celestia returned it, and then she was gone in a flash of orange light. With a sigh, Twilight turned and walked back towards the library. It had been a long few days, and now she just needed some rest. A month passed. Rainbow Dash went to Wonderbolt Academy and returned. Twilight wrote another letter, this one for her own records, about how she had nearly been killed in a tornado. After some thought, she added her observations on Lightning Dust, the pegasus who had been partially responsible. Lightning was stripped of her rank and summarily dismissed from Wonderbolt Academy for gross negiligence. Again, it had been pride, and that made Twilight think of Trixie. Nothing had been heard of her since her abrupt departure from Ponyville, but Twilight didn’t think that unusual. She was probably back on tour as the Great and Powerful Trixie again, or working on the rock farm. Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled to herself. Great and Powerful. It’s a shame she wastes her time on parlor tricks. If she really buckled down and studied magic, she could get really good at it. The raw power’s there, just not skill. The doorbell rang as someone thumped on the front door to the library. Spike was over at the boutique, mooning at Rarity, so Twilight put down the letter and opened the door. “Oh, hello Derpy.” “Hi, Twilight! Got some mail for you.” Derpy Hooves reached into her mail pouch and pulled out some mail—though she ended up scattering half of it on the floor. Muttering apologies, Derpy began to gather it up while Twilight sorted out her own mail. When she had first come to Ponyville, she had gotten rather annoyed with Derpy’s tendency to trip over her own hooves and scatter mail hell to breakfast, but over time she got used to it. The mailpony didn’t do it all the time, and when she did, she was just being Derpy. One just dealt with it and moved on; Derpy certainly didn’t mean to be clumsy. Twilight put her mail aside—it was junk anyway; she needed to talk to Spike about being on Equestria Clearing House’s mailing list—and was about to help Derpy when a thought occurred to her. “Derpy, have you seen Trixie?” “Trixie? That loser?” To Twilight’s surprise, Derpy’s eyes narrowed in anger, though the effect was somewhat spoiled because her eyes were crossed. “You know she used to summon me just to make me crash into things for fun? Just because I have a medical problem with my eyes…” Which I’ve been meaning to correct, Twilight reminded herself. That spell still needed work, though. “Sorry to bring up bad memories. I just wondered…if you’d heard any news. Given that you do a lot of traveling, as a mail pony and all.” “I heard about her, all right. Yeppers.” Derpy gave kind of a half-nod, half-bow. “She’s out west somewhere, up in the Smoky Mountains. I didn’t deliver any mail to her, and I damn sure wouldn’t!” Derpy blushed. “Excuse my language, Twilight. But I hear from one of the other mailponies, Fedex, that she’s up there. At some kind of school or something.” That surprised Twilight. Still, maybe that was a good thing. Twilight had heard stories of sages and mages that lived in the Smokies, many of whom might just be able to provide the balance that Trixie would need. Or maybe the other pony had just exiled herself up there. She thanked Derpy, who flew off, turned and waved—in that order, during which she nearly collided with Rainbow Dash. Twilight meant to do some research on the Smoky Mountains, but was distracted by Rainbow announcing that there was a new Daring Do book out. Being picked up and rushed out of the library to the bookstore at near supersonic speeds tended to be something of a distraction. Three months passed. Twilight abruptly remembered her research on the Smoky Mountains, only to find, with a small amount of utter horror, that she possessed no books on the subject. After a few minutes of going through her horizontal files on what was in her library, then an hour or two perusing Ponyville’s bookstores (all two of them), Twilight realized that it really was not that much of a hassle to go to the Royal Canterlot library. A short train trip and a moderate walk later, Twilight was perusing the stacks of the library. She loved this place: her little library at Ponyville would fit into one room of the vault of Equestria’s collective knowledge. Finding the book was not difficult: she knew the Dewdrop Decimal System by heart. As she levitated her book from the shelf, it brushed against another book that also being withdrawn with unicorn magic. “Pardon me,” Twilight said, turned and collided with Nightmare Moon. She barely suppressed a shriek, then felt like an idiot. It was not Nightmare Moon: it was just Princess Luna. Twilight recovered her breath, and wondered why she had thought of Luna’s former evil persona. Luna had not been Nightmare Moon for nearly two years now. “Are you all right?” Luna asked, confused. “Oh! Yes. Yes, I’m fine…um, Your Highness.” Luna shook her head. “None of that now, Twilight. I owe you too much.” She took both books with her magic and set them on a nearby table. “What brings you here from Ponyville? Has my sister summoned you?” “No, nothing like that,” Twilight responded, though she made a mental note to see Celestia before she left on the evening train. After all, it would be rude to not pay her respects. “I wondered at that. ‘Tia—Princess Celestia,” Luna amended, “is out of Canterlot at the moment. She’s visiting your brother and sister-in-law at the Crystal Empire.” She winked. “I’m sort of running things right now.” “Ah, I see.” That explains why she’s awake in the middle of the daytime, Twilight thought. She also noticed a steaming mug of coffee sitting on the table, which explained why Luna seemed fairly alert, given that she must have been up all night. Twilight noticed the name on Luna’s book and gave a bit of a start: The Discordian War. Discord was safely neutralized, imprisoned in stone, but just the thought of the dragonequus was enough to give Twilight the shivers. She and the rest of the Elements of Harmony had dealt with Discord for barely two days, and it had come very close to destroying them and Ponyville. The Discordian War had lasted years, and nearly ended in the destruction of Equestria and the death of both alicorn princesses. It also led to the creation of Nightmare Moon, so Twilight kept her questions to herself. The two sat in the library room for the better part of half an hour in silence, broken only by Luna sipping her coffee and the flipping of pages. Finally, Twilight could no longer contain herself. “Your High—er, Luna?” Luna looked up. “Yes, Twilight?” “You don’t have to answer this, but…” “Yes?” “What turns someone evil?” At Luna’s cocked eyebrow, Twilight added, “Like Discord. Or King Sombra.” Or Nightmare Moon, she wanted to add. Luna set down the coffee cup she was about to drink from. “If it makes you too uncomfortable…” “No, Twilight Sparkle. It does make me uncomfortable, but not for the reasons you think. It makes me uncomfortable because I do not have a good way to answer it.” Luna steepled her hooves. “It is hard to say. Sombra was ambitious and he let the ambition consume him. Discord…” Luna winced. “It may be that Discord was simply born that way. I don’t know…about him much.” Twilight covered her astonishment, because she was fairly certain Luna had just told a lie about Discord. “As for Nightmare Moon…” Luna sighed. “I was bitter, Twilight. I was also very young—well, by alicorn standards. I still wanted to have fun and yes, play.” Her mouth quirked into a smile. “As you saw on Nightmare Night last year, I’m still having trouble with that. Ponies didn’t want to deal with the night, and they didn’t want to play, certainly.” Luna looked down, to Twilight’s surprise, unable to meet the younger pony’s eyes. “By the time my sister realized what was happening, it was too late. The darkness consumed me.” A single tear welled up and fell. “The rest you know.” That still left a lot, Twilight considered, but it was obvious that Luna did not want to continue. The wounds were still too fresh. Twilight reached across a hoof and laid it on Luna’s. Luna smiled, shook off the melancholy, and patted the proferred hoof. “Well. I suppose that’s not much of an answer.” She shrugged. “Each person has their own path, Twilight Sparkle, as you know. Your choices determine whether or not you are good or evil. In my case, I was fortunate enough that somepony was there to change my path. Friends have a way of doing that.” “Could someone who is basically good and decent become evil?” Twilight instantly regretted it and thumped her head with a hoof. “Sorry, that was a dumb question. Of course they can.” Luna answered anyway. “Yes. Even Sombra did not start out as evil. He was once a good pony, and a good ruler. Like I once did, he resented the fact that he could never be more than the king of the Crystal Empire. He could never rule Equestria as my sister does. For most people, they are content with their lot in life, but there are some like Sombra who could never have enough.” Luna wryly chuckled. “The irony in this is that, if people knew how difficult being a princess is, they would never want the job. Certainly no one is making you stay awake all day and night.” Luna glanced at her coffee. “Which reminds me, I should get another cup of this. Would you like anything?” “No, thank you.” As Luna trotted off, Twilight realized she never really gave much thought to how much Celestia, Luna, and Cadence gave up for their positions. Celestia could never do the things that Twilight took for granted, like swimming with Pinkie Pie or enjoying a lazy afternoon with a cold mug of milk at Sweet Apple Acres. If Twilight made a mistake in Ponyville, the worst she could expect was a writeup in the newspaper, if that. If Celestia made an error, it was a national scandal, even an international one; a faux pas could even lead to a war. It was a thankless task, and Twilight found herself fervently hoping that it would never be one that would fall on her withers. Twilight noted that time was getting on, and if she wanted to do a little shopping before getting on the train, she had better move on. Rarity had asked for some sequins unavailable in Ponyville, while Spike would never forgive her if she didn’t stop by Donut Joe’s. She wanted to wait for Luna, though, so she busied herself by putting back the book. As she levitated it back onto the shelf, Luna came back into the room. “Leaving, then?” “I’m sorry; I have to make a few stops before getting on the night train.” Luna returned her smile. “’Tis nothing to worry about. May I ask what you were studying?” “Just the Smoky Mountains. I’ve…there’s somepony I know that went there.” “To study magic, I would guess.” Twilight blinked in surprise. “I suppose so. I’d heard there were schools of magic up there, but…” “Ancient magic, Twilight. More ancient than even my sister and I. Most of it is hedge magic, alchemy, rattles and hums, that sort of thing.” Twilight could detect just the slightest bit of superiority in Luna’s tone; Zecora might have some things to say about 'rattles and hums.' “Some of what is taught can be quite dangerous, however. Luckily those who live in the Smoky Mountains keep such knowledge to themselves. There are rogues, here and there, but none of them would dare try on my sister.” Luna’s smile turned into a grin. “Or me.” Twilight returned to Ponyville late that night, and made the walk from the station to the library alone. Few lights were on, though she noticed that the Carousel Boutique still had some burning; Rarity was obviously on one of her bursts of creative energy. Twilight made a note on her mental checklist to check on the fashionista the next day when she dropped off the sequins, as Rarity had a tendency to forget to eat when she was busy. The lights on the library were off as well, which surprised Twilight a little: Spike knew she was bringing home a bag of Donut Joe’s best, and he would stay up for that. Well, she thought maternally, probably for the best. He’s not supposed to stay up this late, and he’ll eat the whole bag of donuts and be sick as everything tomorrow. Twilight saw that the door was unlocked. Spike, you know better than that. Crime was as rare in Ponyville as a serious Pinkie Pie, but there were things in the library that Twilight felt better under lock and key. She closed the door behind her and locked it with her magic, then cast a small light spell, illuminating the library in a soft purple glow. It was at that moment that Twilight realized she was not alone. “Spike?” “He’s over there.” Candles flared to life by magic fire. Twilight blinked in the sudden light. The first thing she noticed was Spike tied up securely, hands and feet, trussed like a cow in Applejack’s lasso. A piece of cloth was threaded through his mouth, and he looked up at her in utter terror. The second thing she noticed was Trixie. It took a moment: Trixie wasn’t wearing her customary cape or hat. Nor did she have her typical sardonic expression; instead, her face was unnaturally calm. It was the eyes, Twilight decided with a start. There was something in those eyes that was terrifying. Twilight had once stared down Nightmare Moon and held her own against Discord, but what she saw in Trixie’s eyes was enough for her to take a step back. “What have you done to Spike?” Twilight shouted. “Now, now. You don’t want to wake the neighbors. He’s fine, Twilight. I only tied him up.” Celestia’s Mane, Twilight thought morosely, she wants another damn magic duel. “All right, Trixie. Out with it. Do you want another magic duel?” Trixie gave her a half-shrug. “In a matter of speaking. Yes, I want a duel, but I want to change the ground rules this time.” “What now? You’re not going to try exiling me from Ponyville again.” “Certainly not. That was ridiculous of me.” Twilight was glad for that, at least. She also noticed Trixie wasn’t referring to herself in the third pony this time. “Fine. Can we get started in the morning? I need some sleep.” “I’m afraid not.” Twilight’s considerable patience was nearing its end. “All right,” she repeated, “tell me. What do you want?” “I suppose it’s not obvious.” Trixie’s smile faded. “I am here to kill you, Twilight Sparkle.”