//------------------------------// // Attempt Foiled // Story: Why Did I Choose to be Trixie? // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// The morning found us still wrapped in each other's forelegs, seemingly not having broken our embrace. We were woken by a royal guardspony who escorted us to the dining hall for breakfast. I was treated to something I chose on rare occasions -- Prench toast -- a choice which puzzled Trixie, who was having pancakes and coffee. Marina asked for a bite of my food and agreed with the taste and asked for, and was given, a slice of Prench toast as well, which she gobbled up heartily. We chatted over breakfast about my plan to meet with the Solar Princess and what her judgement might be, discussing the possibilities of a course of action. We finished eating and were escorted to the throne room, though we had to wait in line behind a number of petitioners. When Princess Celestia heard who was waiting in line, she beckoned me ahead of everypony else, who grumbled and complained about my special treatment. "Don't you remember who I was?" I asked almost bitterly. "I used to be the Solar Regent, so I don't see what you're complaining about." Some of the ponies chuckled nervously, some gave me looks of sympathy, others simply remained silent, not bothering to look my way. Trixie accompanied me into the throne room to meet the Sun Goddess, who smiled serenely upon seeing me. "Amethyst, please come forward. It has come to my attention you wished to discuss something with me?" the Alicorn half-asked, maintaining a warm tone to her voice. "Your Majesty, I have been trying to reconcile an internal conflict. As you are probably aware, I was at one time a human, who chose to become a pony. I have tried my hardest to emulate and assimilate myself into the ways of the pony, but I have not had the level of success I was hoping to achieve in that endeavor," I offered. Celestia tilted her head toward me and made a circular motion with her right forehoof, requesting I continue my explanation. "I would postulate that your effort to transform me into an Alicorn was an attempt to delay or offset this conflict -- that perhaps having a high level of responsibility thrust upon me would distract me long enough to conquer the doubt which lingered within. It worked, as well as could be expected -- but it only delayed the inevitable resurgence of that conflict, one which has my mind in a virtual civil war. I would beg of you a favor -- that you might be able to perform some magic upon me to allow the pony part to take full control -- though the prospect of losing what little humanity I have left frightens and terrifies me, Princess." "Amethyst, I will need some time to contemplate your request. I understand to some degree what you must be going through, and I apologize for passing such hasty judgement against you yesterday. If you desire, I can call Luna to assist me in allowing you to resume your previous station as an Alicorn." I shook my head in response to the offer. "Your Majesty, I am deeply flattered by your offer, but I must politely decline it. Please understand that I do so not out of disrespect, but that I feel I am not worthy of such honor. I disgraced Equestria with my contempt, and I feel my continued presence here only serves to cause resentment in most of the ponies who have had the unfortunate circumstance to petition Solar Court while I adjudicated in your absence," I stated reverently. The Alicorn expressed a great deal of surprise at this. "Amethyst, I am quite moved by your contrition. I reiterate my earlier request, that you allow me the convenience of enjoying myself -- you see, the time you spent ruling Equestria in my absence allowed me the opportunity to relax and take time for myself for the first time in many centuries. Ponies of your type come along maybe once in a millennium, and I would beg of you the opportunity to allow me --" "Your Majesty, I thank you for your kind words -- I am utterly flattered by your praise, though I do not deserve it. I have pledged my love to Trixie, and I feel that it would be most unfair of me to continue to neglect her and her needs. I will give your request further consideration, but I feel that I cannot in good faith return to your post until such time as I have reconciled the warring parties inside my head. I came to you requesting help, but I see I may have to find it elsewhere. Thanks for trying, your Majesty. I must request my leave now." "Amethyst, I beg you! For my sake!" Celestia pleaded, giving me her best sad puppy-dog eyes look. "Please?" "Princess Celestia! You have ruled Equestria for what, two millennia? Until I showed up, you didn't seem to have a problem -- and when I provided you a three year break, you took full advantage of it -- and now you want me to -- even after removing my status -- ugh! I can't take this any more!" I groaned. "Why not have Twilight -- oh, that's right -- little Garnet. This is only making things worse for me!" Trixie wrapped her left foreleg around my withers. "Amethyst, Trixie is here for you," she cooed softly. I dropped to my haunches and hung my head, my ears laying flat against my head. "Trixie, I don't know how much more of this I can take," I said, just barely above a whisper. "Whatever happens, Trixie, I just want you to know I love you." Gathering strength and courage, I rose to my hooves once again to face the Princess. My horn started glowing as I began a spell. "Amethyst, have you chosen to honor my request?" the Alicorn asked, a hopeful look on her face. I slowly shook my head in silent reply to her question as tears started to well up in my eyes. The spell I had cast caused a small spike to form from one of the stones I was standing over. This spike had started to slowly increase in size as it made its way upward, the point having become quite sharp. "Amethyst, what are you doing?" the Alicorn asked as her expression changed to one of worry. "I am very sorry, your Majesty. I was never meant to be here. I was never meant to be a pony," I stated as the tears which had been welling up in my eyes spilled over my cheeks. The sharp point of the spike had now reached my underside and was inexorably making its way upward, my magic having compelled it to continue its unimpeded upward momentum. Not even Celestia's magic could stop it. A small trickle of blood made its way down this stone spike as it continued its way upward, piercing my barrel. "Amethyst! Please don't do this!" Celestia commanded. "Equestria needs you! I need you!" Trixie turned to me in shock, tears streaming from her eyes. "Amethyst, you promised Trixie! You told her you would never leave her! Why? WHY?!" she wailed. "Oh, Trixie, I love you so much," I said as the spire impaled me, piercing my back as it continued upward, now increasing its speed as my magic fueled its rise. My blood flowed freely down it and trickled from the corners of my mouth. The Alicorn could only watch in shock as my body was lifted off the floor by the stone spire I had created, my body hanging limply from it, my blood staining it dark red. "AMETHYST!! NOOOOO!!!" Trixie screamed before falling to the floor, her chest heaving as sobs wracked her body. "Why did you do this?" Celestia asked aloud as she used her magic to lift my body off the stone spike. A few tears trickled down her cheeks as she used her strongest healing magic to seal my wound, doing her level best to revive me. My body convulsed and spasmed as the magic she used knitted up tissue. From seemingly out of nowhere, Trixie and Twilight from the other universe must have sensed something and materialized in the throne room. They gasped when they saw me and the bloody spike of stone. "What happened here?" asked the azure Alicorn. "Who is responsible for this?" "He did this to himself," Celestia replied flatly. "I need your help in order to revive him." The three Alicorns enveloped my body with their combined auras and I felt a tugging from somewhere, though I could not place its origin. I felt the sensation of falling, weightlessness, darkness, and the tugging. The tugging seemed to terrify me more than anything else, but that sensation of falling was pretty bad as well. Finally, those sensations stopped, but then I was hit with overwhelming pain. I blinked my eyes open to see three very worried Alicorns standing over me and my azure unicorn wife crying tears of happiness as I coughed up a little blood. "I was having a really nice dream," I said, a raspy hoarseness to my voice. "I thought I was in heaven or something." "You had us worried for a minute there, Amethyst," Twilight stated, smiling warmly. "How are you feeling?" asked Celestia, her expression having returned to a serene smile, though beads of sweat were still dripping from her head. "Do you remember the first time Trixie attacked me when I was still in a copy of her body? I feel like I got hit by a truck -- a very large truck," I replied weakly. "Amethyst, Trixie needs you! Please don't do that to her again!" the show-mare pleaded angrily. "I can't take it any more, Trixie. I know I can't run away from my problems --" my words were cut off by Trixie trying to hug me tightly, her attempt to comfort me making my aching body scream out in agony. "AAAAH! Trixie, please don't! It still hurts!" I cried out in pain. Trixie backed away, but only just a little. Her expression had returned to one of concern. "Trixie is sorry, Amethyst, but she is so afraid of being alone! Trixie thought she had lost you forever!" "I'm sorry, Trixie. I was never supposed to come here. I wish I had never asked my car to transform me into you," I muttered, though the hoarseness of my voice made it hard for her to hear me. I turned toward the three Alicorns, who were still expressing a great deal of consternation over my rash decision. When they caught my gaze, I addressed them directly, but only after coughing up a little more blood. "Celestia, Trixie, Twilight -- I am so sorry to have caused so much trouble. Why did you revive me? I was so close to the other side -- it was beautiful, I felt at peace for the first time in my life --" "You have certain obligations, Amethyst. I could not allow you to abdicate your true purpose here -- I will give you more time to resolve your inner conflict, but mark my words -- one day, you will be called upon to rule Equestria as my permanent replacement. I see within you the greatest potential I have seen in anypony, save Twilight herself." The lavender Alicorn turned to face the alabaster one and grinned like a little school-filly. "Celestia, you flatter me!" "No, I meant your counterpart in my realm," the Solar Princess stated, though she maintained her serene smile. Twilight's smile dropped a little at this mention. "I trust you and Trixie have been doing well in your universe?" "Yes, Celestia -- we came when we sensed a magic distress signal in our universe -- Amethyst is very strong, and when we sensed his life-force exiting his body, we teleported immediately to determine the source. We were quite shocked to see what happened," the azure Alicorn explained. She then turned towards me. "Amethyst, why would you do something like that? What would cause you to attempt suicide?" "There are so many thoughts running through my head -- Trixie, do you not remember, way back when I first showed up in your universe, before you were changed into an Alicorn, I told you I was a human? Do you not remember my explanations of things concerning my human life back then? Please understand, there is a war raging within me -- I have tried to ignore it, but I cannot do so now. I will have to admit that I am weak, that I cannot face myself any more, that --" *cough, cough* "I cannot keep on living a lie. I was never supposed to --" "You're repeating yourself, Amethyst. You need some time to recover from your wounds, I shall have a medical team take you to the infirmary at once," Celestia stated matter-of-factly. "Trixie, do you wish to accompany your stallion?" Both of them answered, "Yes!" simultaneously before my wife glared almost angrily at the azure Alicorn. "You are not married to Amethyst, Trixie! I am his mare, not you! Don't act like you're me!" "I wish I had convinced him to marry me instead," the azure Alicorn mused somewhat sullenly. "I think he might have been happier with me -- he told me about the three years you were away from him, the fact you tried to kill him twice -- you're not fit to be his wife, Trixie." The show-mare screeched in rage, assuming her elemental form. "Don't you DARE tell Trixie she's not fit to be Amethyst's wife! You know NOTHING!" "Trixie, please calm down. Twilight, would you be kind enough to escort your Trixie back to your universe? I believe you two have done enough here," the Solar Princess stated firmly. The lavender Alicorn nodded her head in response. "Come on, Trixie, let's go home. We can address our concerns later -- Amethyst is going to need to recover before we can ask for his help again." "If I may ask, what seems to be your problem over there now? It would appear to me that your presence always heralds bad news in your universe. Please understand that even though Amethyst would be happy to help you, I believe he would not be much use to you in his present state," Celestia intoned. "Well, we're having another problem with Chrysalis -- she has decided to test our resolve again and is threatening all of Equestria again," the other Trixie replied glumly. "Aren't the two of you, with the assistance of my counterpart and her sister, powerful enough to drive away the changeling queen and her army? Even in his Alicorn form, he was able to dispatch them rather easily. Surely you don't really need his help for that." The medical team of ponies entered the throne room at this point and gently levitated me onto a gurney and transported me to the infirmary, my show-mare wife trotting behind the team so as to be with me during my recovery stay. I coughed up a little more blood, then fell asleep as my fatigue overtook me. "Celestia, we are sorry to have come here asking for help again -- we offer you this promise -- we shall not return for these emergencies any more, but instead to visit during better circumstances. We shall take our leave now," Trixie stated. "Wish us luck, please." "Good-bye, Celestia. I hope we get a chance to meet again in better circumstances," Twilight offered. "Fare well, and good luck, you two. I know you can defeat her without Amethyst's help," the Solar Princess responded optimistically, offering her serene smile as the two Alicorns from the other universe teleported back to their world.