//------------------------------// // Great and Powerful // Story: Blood On the Moon // by sentinel28a //------------------------------// Six months passed. Trixie kept herself busy in the palace. She shared the offensive spells she knew with Luna (not Celestia, who already knew them--something that surprised Trixie, though she realized she should not be so surprised). The two became close: two ponies who had nearly lost it all, who had touched the darkness and been brought back from the brink by someone who still believed in them. Under an assumed name and a dyed mane, she taught magic kindergarten on instructions from Celestia, and found she had a knack for getting across difficult magic to young foal unicorns just starting on their life’s journey. Most students their age had difficulty following the teacher and staying on task, but Trixie made lessons fun. Eventually, Trixie revealed who she really was. Some of the foals’ parents refused to let her continue to teach, but after a month or two, most came back. By the sixth month, there were few in Canterlot who did not believe in Trixie’s redemption. Trixie, for her part, kept a low profile. Most ponies in Equestria did not know what she had done—the thought was so horrific that few outside Ponyville believed the story, and even in Ponyville, it was assumed that Trixie had merely come to attack Twilight Sparkle, not kill her or destroy the town. Attacking her was bad enough. One thing was true, however: she was no longer the Great and Powerful Trixie. Sometimes Luna gently teased her about it. Trixie bristled at first, hating the reminder of her former career, but gradually she grew to accept it as the joke it was meant as. She even learned to give it right back: once, while dining with Luna and Celestia, she had even called Luna Nightmare Moon to her face. Celestia’s expression was one of utter shock, first at Trixie’s temerity, then at Luna’s laughter. Celestia then smiled, because she knew her sister had come to terms with her past. Trixie’s death sentence scroll was quietly burned. Celestia, for her part, grew to like Trixie. The young unicorn had a wry sense of humor, and had seen a great deal of Equestria; though Celestia was the ruler of the realm, her duties kept her from going to the smaller villages and regions unless there was an emergency. Trixie had been there, and was able to give Celestia some details of her travels. In some cases, the princess realized that there was trouble brewing and flew to take care of it, nipping minor problems in the bud before they became major ones. In most cases, she was just amused by Trixie’s stories. While Trixie did not become an advisor of sorts, she filled a void that Twilight Sparkle had left in Celestia’s life: somepony to talk to. Certainly Celestia still enjoyed Twilight’s letters and occasional visits, but Twilight’s own duties and adventures in Ponyville kept her from doing more. Celestia was surrounded by courtiers, advisors and guards, but other than Luna, rarely was able to just sit down and talk to a pony. Trixie was different. It also provided Celestia an opportunity to gauge for herself if Trixie was truly sincere in her reformation; she was pleased to see that it was so. There were still bad days. Celestia would share some amusing or interesting story of Twilight Sparkle’s, and Trixie would feel the old jealousy. It grew somewhat better over time, but Trixie still felt herself resenting Twilight’s special place in Equestria. She struggled with it. When Twilight did visit Canterlot infrequently over the next six months, Trixie found other places to be. She knew Twilight asked about her, but had no idea what Celestia told the other pony. She had to trust that Celestia was telling the truth and not telling Twilight stories; Celestia had no intention of telling anything but the truth, but Trixie’s paranoia took a long time to die. There were some nights Trixie would find Luna and tearfully sound her out about her feelings. Luna always listened patiently and gave what advice she could. Some nights just a friendly wing to be under was enough. Trixie knew, however, that some day there must be a reckoning with Twilight Sparkle. That day came on a warm late summer afternoon. Trixie noticed a few days earlier that the statue of Discord was gone from the royal garden. Celestia seemed preoccupied, so Trixie—who by now figured out that she was no longer under a sentence, but still feared her ruler’s power—avoided the question, figuring that if Celestia wanted her to know, she would tell her, and hoping the princess had simply destroyed the Master of Chaos once and for all. Then she saw two things that nearly, in one instant, wrecked the little world she had so carefully built. The first was Discord, no longer stone, but alive. The second was Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony. They were walking towards her along with Celestia, who was chatting with her student; to Trixie’s surprise, Discord was chatting amiably with Fluttershy. Something is very wrong in the state of Yoitsu, Trixie thought to herself. In any case, this was no time to be talking with Twilight. She wanted to be alone for that, with either Celestia or Luna there for moral support, and, Trixie admitted to herself, so Twilight would not be tempted to kill her. She was beginning to move away, hoping none of the Elements had spotted her, but to her horror, Celestia called out, “Ah, Trixie!” Trixie winced, but there was no ignoring a royal summons. She pasted a smile on her face and bowed to her ruler. “Princess Celestia.” She kept her eyes on the ground a second longer, then took a deep breath. Trixie met Twilight’s eyes. “Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight was not a good card player. Trixie saw a mix of anger and fear run through Twilight’s expression, then the other unicorn put the same false smile on her lips as Trixie had on hers. “Trixie.” Trixie forced herself to meet the gazes of the others. Pinkie Pie looked like she might run. Rarity wore an expression of disdain. Applejack and Rainbow Dash clearly wanted her dead; Dash in particular looked as if she might commit homicide in a public place, Celestia or no. Only Fluttershy wore a neutral expression. All six wore the Elements of Harmony, and Trixie was under no illusions what those jeweled baubles were capable of. Maybe they wore them because of her. Six months previously, she would have taken pleasure in that. Now Trixie just felt shame. Discord, for once, was the bystander. He knew it too. “This must be the Great and Powerful Trixie,” he said, sarcasm dripping from the emphasized words. Trixie whirled on him. She could take whatever the Elements would give her without flinching, but she owed Discord nothing. “You must be Discord,” she shot back. “I wasn’t aware that the Princess was taking you out for walkies.” Discord’s sardonic smile faded. He reached forward, ignoring a squeak of concern from Fluttershy and a glare from Celestia, and put his lion’s paw in Trixie’s mane. With a deft flick of the wrist, he suddenly had her mane in an ice cream cone, piled up in a blue-and-white swirl. Trixie did not need to feel the sudden draft on her head to realized she had just been magically shaved bald. He licked at it experimentally. “A little bitter.” “Discord!” Celestia snapped, but Trixie moved first. A gloved hand appeared next to Discord’s face. The dragonequus regarded it with surprise, only to be knocked to the ground when it hit him. It was a normal sized glove without much force behind it, but the slap echoed around Canterlot like the snap of a whip, turning ponies' heads for blocks. The spell was broken and Trixie’s mane ended up back where it was supposed to be, albeit frizzed in several directions. “What…what was that?” Discord asked, stunned. He rubbed at his face with a taloned hand. “Bigmane’s Bitchslap of Power, Greater.” It was Twilight who answered. She stared at Trixie. “Somehow I’m not surprised you know it, Trixie…though it was rather appropriate in this case.” “I could not have said it better.” Celestia speared Discord with a glance as he got to his mismatched feet. “It appears introductions are no longer in order. Discord, meet your new…handler, as it were.” “What?!” Celestia found it amazing that two earth ponies, two pegasi, three unicorns, and one dragonequus could harmonize like that. Fluttershy squeaked in shock. “That’s crazy!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Trixie and Discord are a gruesome twosome!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “There’s no way I’m going to hold his leash!” Trixie yelled. Applejack made sounds of rupture. “Princess Celestia!” was all Twilight could get out. “I’m supposed to obey this loser?” Discord howled. “Trixie, your hair!” Rarity dashed forward. She might hate Trixie with the power of ten Celestias, but bad hair was bad hair and it must be taken care of. There were times, Celestia reflected, that it was good to be the princess. “For lack of a better word,” she continued as if nothing had been said. “Discord, you may say you’re reformed, but you have tricked me before. I don’t trust you for a moment outside of the palace grounds, and even if you’re sincere—which, incidentally, I think you are—you need more…work. Again, for the lack of a better word.” Discord gave her a sour look. “And you expect her to do it?” He stuck his tongue out at Trixie. Celestia ignored that. “I do. Fluttershy has her own duties to take care of in Ponyville. She can't be around all the time. Trixie is uniquely qualified for this duty.” “Oh, really?” Trixie suddenly understood what Celestia was doing. She wondered if this was the real reason she had been spared. If Luna could reform Trixie, then could Trixie reform Discord? Trixie blew out her breath; that was a tall order. Then again, Celestia was asking her--not Luna, not even Twilight. “Yes,” she told Discord. “You corrupted Ponyville and the Element bearers.” She could not resist a shudder. “I…I tried to destroy Ponyville and kill the Element bearers.” Discord, for one of the few times in his long life when he was not encased in stone, was speechless. “You? I didn’t think ponies did that.” “They don’t.” Applejack found her voice. Discord turned his head to one side, genuinely curious. “And Celestia left you alive?” “I admit I was curious about that myself,” Rarity added, running a magic comb through Trixie’s mane. “If I can show remorse and be reformed,” Trixie said, “then you can too, Discord.” She took two steps forward and stuck out a hoof. “Let’s start over. My name is Trixie…just, Trixie.” Discord hesitated. He actually looked lost for a moment. He glanced at Fluttershy, who smiled up at him and gave him a gentle nudge with a wing. He reached out his lion paw. “I am Discord.” Trixie almost allowed the paw to close over her hoof. “If you shock me, I know a spell to tear out that snaggle tooth of yours.” “She’s not kidding, Discord.” Twilight motioned at her flank. “She gave me this.” There was a still noticeable scar over her cutie mark. Discord gasped. “By Starswirl’s beard! How could she ruin such a gorgeous plot? Truly, Trixie, you are a monster.” Twilight turned an interesting shade of reddish-purple. Trixie was seriously tempted to let him have it, but the shake was completed without further incident. “Discord, come with me. Trixie will catch up in a moment.” He sighed elaborately, but Discord obeyed Celestia’s command. That left Trixie alone with the Elements. Trixie closed her eyes. She had dreaded this moment, but now it was here. “Saying ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t enough. I know you would like to kill me. Six months ago, I would have let you.” “Six months ago,” Twilight told her, “I would’ve done it.” She paused. “But…Princess Celestia and I have talked about it. If she can forgive you, Trixie, so can I.” “Twilight Sparkle, if you’re forgiving me because the Princess wants you to—“ “I’m not.” Twilight smiled at her. “I’m forgiving you…because it’s the right thing to do. Believe me, it’s taken me six months to get to that.” “Me too.” Trixie wiped at her eyes. Damn her, she thought. Bad enough we nearly killed each other, now she’s making me cry. “What I did to you I can never apologize enough for. Luna…ah, Princess Luna, she made me realize just what I almost did.” “If you can finish reforming Discord and get him out of our manes, that’s a long way towards paying your debt to society,” Twilight replied. “I don’t hate you, Trixie. I never did.” She looked a little sheepish. “Well, maybe after…all that. I think I hated you then. But I don’t now.” She stuck out a hoof. Trixie hesitated, then tapped it with her own. “Thank you,” she whispered. “How do you do it, Twilight? You’re always so…damned…perfect.” Twilight blushed again, and the other five Elements stared at Trixie. Then Dash snorted, Rarity chuckled, Fluttershy could not suppress a grin, and even Applejack had to laugh. “Oh dear,” Rarity said. None of them wanted to say anything further, so Twilight said it for them. “You don’t know me very well, Trixie.” “I suppose not.” Maybe someday, both of them thought, though neither realized the other was thinking it, I will know you better. Seeing Celestia motioning them forward, they began walking towards them and Discord, who was amusing himself by preening the princess’ wings with exaggerated care. She was clearly annoyed and trying to ignore him. Rarity looked from Trixie to Twilight, said nothing very loudly, and trotted ahead. Rainbow Dash turned her flank on Trixie, gave a snort of contempt, and flew away. Pinkie shrugged, bopped Trixie’s nose and made a beep noise, and caught up with Rarity. Applejack put a hoof on Trixie’s chest. “Trixie, ah don’t care if yer reformed or not. Ah don’t believe it any more than ah believe that horseapple is.” She tossed her head at Discord, nearly losing her hat. “Ah tell you right now, it’s gonna be a damn sight longer afore ah forgive you for what you did. You evah come within an angry mule’s kick of Sweet Apple Acres, and ah will buck you to the damn moon. You lay a hoof on Twi’ again, and ah’ll kill ya mahself, and ah don’t give a hoot what the Princess thinks. You just think about that now.” She stormed off with a lash of her blond tail. Fluttershy gasped at the venom in Applejack’s voice. “I’m…I’m sorry…” “About what?” Trixie said. “Being a good friend? I don’t blame Applejack in the least.” “I’ll help you with Discord,” the pegasus said, then moved on ahead. For the first time since almost killing each other, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie were alone. “You won’t win them all over immediately,” Twilight said. Trixie had the briefest flash of Twilight gasping for air as blood sprayed from the hole in her neck. She glanced at Twilight’s horn and realized the same fate could’ve just as easily been hers. “I’m surprised that you were won over so easily.” “I’m not, sort of.” Twilight raised her rear right hoof. “Do you know what it’s like to have your cutie mark hurt?” Trixie pointed with her own hoof at her forehead. “I still get migraines from where you zapped me.” Twilight giggled softly. “I guess we still have a ways to go, don’t we?” “Yes. But at least we can.” Twilight slowly nodded. They were not friends, not yet. But they were no longer enemies. “Discord’s going to be a hoof full, you know that.” “After what I’ve done? After what I’ve been through?” Trixie laughed. “He’ll be easy.” “Because you’re the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Twilight asked. Trixie began to walk towards the others. “No, Twilight. But…maybe someday. Maybe someday.”