//------------------------------// // You're Gonna Go Far Kid // Story: We Remember Everything // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to Evowizard25, Ketvirtas, D48, Drgnwolf, King Sombrony, leo0074, Invisible Blade, ZeroInfinity, The_Whovian16, PhantomPhoenix, MoonSparkle The Vampony and Killabyte for your comments last chapter! Your support means a great deal to me and it is what keeps me writing so much so quickly. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments below! I know I had a lot of fun making this chapter, so I hope you can at least have part of that! Luna did not miss the looks she received on the way to the throne room the next afternoon when she woke after a much needed rest. The regular ponies going about the castle were one thing, for Luna had long since decided them to be ignorant and arrogant foals, but even the guards had to keep themselves from panicking at the sight of her. It was difficult for Luna to not feel indignant over their reactions. Had she not taken this form for their sakes, to confront a foe they were all too weak to face on their own? It was not as if the “Royal Guard” was really good for anything but appearances or cleaning up the work that she or Twilight’s group had done. Sure, Luna had gained a great deal of raw power from this transformation, but was being more powerful than any other being in Equestria save Discord now really a crime? It was not as if she had any ill plans in store for Equestria… Her frustrations would have gone un-vented if not for a chance encounter with a certain despised Prince. Blueblood had dared scoff at her as she walked by him when she previously had intended to treat him with indifference. The guards who feared her probably did so more now as they attempted to pull Blueblood out of the wall he had been shoved part-way through. Luna would take the flak from Celestia if it meant letting go of a little of this new stress. She had not thought she would return to such ungrateful ponies. “Good morning. Sleep well?” Luna gave her sister a large smile as she entered the throne room, even managing to ignore the guards who quickly trembled within. “Not as well as the other night, I must say,” Luna approached the throne and with a flap of the wings landed beside Celestia, brushing her own black fur against Celestia’s white fur, “Thank you.” Celestia returned the gesture, though she followed it up by looking past Luna to cast a stern look at the guards in the room. They were looking to her for comfort, given their fear of the wicked Nightmare Moon. They would not receive any from Celestia who was not going to let this behavior continue. The sun princess’s harsh look morphed into a pseudo-welcoming one, her mouth turning into a smile as she looked down at all of the guards in the throne room, “If you all have something to say, please do speak. Know that your occupation is on the line though. Any insult or discrimination against my sister is not to be tolerated, not after what she has done to save all of your own hides.” When Luna turned to face them all, she was indeed impressed to see the both shamed and fearful faces of the soldiers. She was also surprised to see that somepony else had entered the throne room, a book hovering in front of the new arrival’s face as she trotted obliviously past the shamed guards. Celestia was pleased to see her prized student and now fellow Princess, “Oh, Twilight, would you mind helping Luna here catch up on things?” Luna was pleased as well to see a familiar, friendly face. Twilight was quite the good companion for Celestia, being both loyal and determined to please. Luna could only imagine how nice it was to have a second like that, an understudy to teach everything you know… Looking more at Twilight, Luna had an idea. The one formerly known as Nightmare Moon had quite a deal of time that needed filling. And if Celestia could do something, who was to say Luna could not do better? Twilight’s response was a noncommittal, “Sure.” Luna thought more about her new idea for a moment before realizing the tone that had come from the usually happy or nervous mare. Unemotional was not Twilight’s forte usually, with the mare overreacting to a great deal of events and being smug in many more. This was a bit off. Luna left Celestia’s side as quickly as she had taken it, gliding down to be beside the newest Princess, “Is something bothering you, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight put on a weak facade, her smile quite fake as she responded, “No, I’m quite fine. Just busy, busy, busy. That’s all.” Luna cast her gaze back to Celestia, who only gave a sad nod, before deciding to let it go for now. Twilight needed to want to get better if she was to do so, no matter whatever was bothering her. “Well then, catch me up with what you need to. I have something I intend to see to today.” “Get out of here!” Luna had barely left the castle for her own plans when she began to hear shouts and the stomping of angry hooves. Initially expecting this to be a result of her appearance, Luna was ready to play it off until she realized that she was flying high above those on the street who were so angry. They likely had no idea she was there. “Canterlot has no place for wash-ups raising racket.” “Yeah, get off the stage! You shouldn’t even be up there!” On the ground was a crowd gathered around the stage Loki had used during his brief reign of terror. The crowd was large, albeit not anywhere near the entirety of the city like had been there after the Changelings rounded them up. What was drawing their ire was a pony with a blue fur similar to the one Luna had when she was younger, if a bit closer to Rainbow Dash’s. They had a purple cloak with stars of both blue and yellow, and on top of their unicorn head was a similar patterned hat. The pony gave a polite cough as she tried to continue the show that this crowd of ponies had come to crash, magical fireworks going off around her along with a snap or two of thunder as she spoke. “As it so happens, The Great and Powerful Trixie has a permit to perform here. Princess-” A rock knocking her hat off gave the street magician a fright as the crowd began to boo her. The high society ponies of Canterlot had heard of the infamous Trixie, and given how they would treat even national heroes as if they were trash they had even less respect for a pony whose reputation was as dirty as some villains. Trixe levitated her hat into the air before her face to dust it off, noting a large tear on the side. The reason for placing it before her face was twofold though, as the prideful mare did not care to let the others see how their words were getting to her. She tried to block out every voice, but her concentration was shattered when another rock tore through her hat and collided with her head with the aid of a magic. Trixie dropped her hat in surprise, taking a step back to touch her now bleeding cheek. The pony who had taken to the rocks, a child no less, yelled at her in a spoiled voice, “No one likes you, go back to wherever you came from!” Trixie snorted at the utter humiliation she was facing, ready to chew out this terrible crowd when she noticed all of their faces twist into expressions of terror. “N-Ni…” the crowd choked out, none amongst it able to finish their sentence before they turned tail and raced away at full speed. Trixie could not help but be baffled by this turn of events. Was it something she had done? “What is wrong? My fireworks are not that scary.” “Nightmare Moon!” the last of the crowd screamed as they fled in terror, their hooves carrying them away from the platform as fast as they could manage. Upon mention of Equestria’s former menace, Trixie spun around to see if she too could spot the black coated mare. The performer did not expect to turn directly around into said fur, bumping into Nightmare Moon’s chest and stumbling back in fright caused by the scare. Trixie bit her lip as she looked up at one of the royal sisters. Nightmare Moon was looking past her at the fleeing ponies, with a degree of pleasure and distaste both. Nothing about her seemed to be at all ill-intentioned though, and soon enough she looked down to Trixie with a small smile. Tales of how Nightmare Moon had arrived to confront the foes of Equestria only to disappear chasing them off had rose throughout Equestria since the invasion. While others were unsure about how to see that, Trixie was not about to be ungrateful. Trixie bowed down before she could think of what she was doing, “P-princess Luna, I uh, can explain…I think.” Luna laugh came out as a cackle, the Princess not really realizing it, “There is no need to. This city has a serious infestation by arrogant foals.” As much as she wished it to be otherwise, Trixie could not disagree. She cast her gaze to the side and rubbed a blue hoof to her still bleeding cheek. “I only came to try and cheer everypony up after word got out about the invasion…” Luna knelt down and gave the most reassuring smile she could muster. This was perfect, “For that, you have my thanks,” she brought a hoof to Trixie’s face tentatively and moved the young mare’s own hoof away. Now able to see the wound, Luna immediately went about mending it with her magic. Trixie felt the blood stop trickling and the pain of the gash disappear in an instant, surprising the young magician. Luna stood back up and kept smiling at the performer, “But know that this city, for all of its greatness, is a lost cause. My sister’s light handed ways have ensured that, not to mention that their agitation over recent events must be rising tensions.” Trixie fumbled with words of thanks for the healing done, but Luna had enough of seeing the mare grovel on the ground. “Pick yourself up. You have no need to grovel and quiver, Trixie Lulamoon.” The use of her full name surprised Trixie, who slowly rose and picked up her damaged hat again, “You know who I am?” Luna nodded before sitting her hindquarters down to appear more relaxed, “I have kept tabs on all of the adventures of Celestia’s student, Twilight Sparkle, whom I hear you have a rivalry of sorts with. Is this true?” As Luna had thought, this was quite perfect. Trixie flushed red in anger at the mention of the other mare, “Sort of. I kind of was the only one who actually cared about that.” Luna nodded, understanding the anger of being overshadowed and also ignored, “Were you not also the one to harness the power of the Alicorn amulet?” Any redness not caused by blood left Trixie’s face as guilt flooded her, the mare’s gaze falling to the stage beneath them both, “Yes.” The Princess brought a hoof out to Trixie’s face and lifted it up gently, “Do not think of this as an inquisition,” eyes meeting, Luna laughed, “I would be the last pony who could criticize another pony over using a corrupting power to settle a grudge.” “I’m sorry, it’s just that…” Trixie’s eyes darted down again before she caught herself and brought them back up, “Well why do you look like Nightmare Moon again, Princess Luna?” At least somepony wanted to set the record straight, to Luna’s relief, “Precisely what I was speaking of. I took this form again to confront the Changelings and their leader, and events that happened afterwards have prevented me from shedding it.” Trixie found herself smiling back, “Oh, okay then. Then the stories are true. So-“ her face flushed red again as she thought about what she almost said, “Never mind.” Luna was intrigued, “Go on.” “You’re not evil again?” Trixie asked nervously, her lip almost bleeding from how much she was biting it. The larger mare’s eyes rolled, “That’s subjective, but I suppose you could say I am reformed. I have been for some time.” Trixie sat down too then, sensing that the conversation would be going on for some time. The Princess spoke of something that was of interest to the performer though. After being exposed as a fraud and after enslaving a town to her will, not many ponies were welcoming her back on stage. Her previous face gash was proof enough of that. “How do you do it? The ponies are all still scared of you, but at least you can boss them around…” Luna brought a hoof to where her necklace should be, only to feel that it was not there, “Feeling guilty about the Alicorn Amulet?” Trixie nodded slowly, the mare still nervous about why one of the land’s royalty would be talking with her about all of these things if she was not about to get in some kind of trouble. Luna cared not about punishing Trixie though. In fact, it was even less on her mind than the necklace that she now was missing for whatever reason, “What drove you to first using it and falling under its power? I would care to hear your side of things.” “I visited Ponyville, and while I was there Princess Twilight’s friends heckled me on stage. I did what any performer should and shut them down,” Trixie gave a nervous smile and laugh, “Humiliated them.” “As you should. Those six can get quite preachy when they desire to,” Luna cackled again, remembering all too well what it’s like to be opposed to them. Trixie threw a hoof up in the air, glad that somepony finally agreed with her about the issue, “Exactly! So, after my show, these two kids who had seen my act brought an Ursa to Ponyville to test my abilities…” “I too would like to see your powers, but there are better ways,” Luna let slip in a whisper. Trixie caught some of it, but largely ignored it in order to continue. Trixie’s voice became more and more agitated as she continued to tell her story, “I stayed and tried to confront the Ursa, but it destroyed my wagon-slash-stage-slash-house. Then Twilight came and levitated it away, humiliating me in front of the town because she did what I couldn’t.” Luna could only picture Celestia’s student innocently doing something like that. While kind hearted, Twilight was quite oblivious in certain regards and probably had not thought to see thing’s from Trixie’s perspective, “I heard from Twilight that the kids brought that Ursa Minor into Ponyville after an encounter with Spike, her assistant. He called you a fraud if I do remember correctly.” Trixie’s anger deflated again, “I did lie about being able to face an Ursa Major, but I’m a performer…” The pseudo-Nightmare Moon could hardly fault a pony whose job is to make themselves look amazing for boasting, as it was not something you could really bust them over. Could you fault a guard for using force to do their job? A Princess for using manipulation? “It’s your thing. So, if I have the record straight, Twilight’s friends heckled you for doing your very job, led to an Ursa being brought to town that you would later be blamed for, led to your property being destroyed, and humiliated you to the point your reputation was ruined?” Trixie nodding weakly was quickly halted by Luna cackling at the top of her lungs. “If I had been you I would have killed them. You seeking to humiliate Twilight is a little tame in comparison.” Trixie was unsure how to take that semi-praise, “Thanks?” Calming herself down, “Did you know the Alicorn Amulet corrupts its user before you used it?” “No, I just knew it was powerful and could let me face Princess Celestia’s personal student…it took forever to earn enough bits from working on that rock farm to buy it.” Luna scoffed, “I do not know why we do not call them quarries like other nations. Another thing I can blame Celestia for in my absence.” Trixie was sensing animosity of some kind and so innocently questioned, “Do you two get along?” Luna switched to a nervous laugh, realizing that she may have been a little too honest, “Now? Yes, of course, but I have my qualms with how she has let certain things happen during my banishment.” She cleared he throat and rose to all four hooves, her head nodding to Trixie. “Now, miss Lulamoon, I would like to see your powers.” Trixie looked down to her hat and then back up to Luna, confused as to what she was talking about, “My powers?” Luna nodded. It was time she began working on her plan, “I heard the crack of thunder earlier. I am a fan of it myself. However the skies are clear today, and I assume that the populace of this town would never stoop to such a practice.” Trixie laughed and quickly took the due credit, rising to her feet quickly, “That was me. Not anything big though,” her ego quickly fizzled as her thoughts returned to the mare who ruined everything for her in the first place, “I know a lot of magic, but I can’t help but feel weak compared to Twilight.” It was with some regret that Luna admitted to herself that no pony she found would likely have comparable raw magical strength as Twilight, especially after her unsanctioned ascension, but power was not all that mattered. “No two ponies are the same in their magical talent. While Celestia was quite similar to me in terms of raw power before my transformation, she does not have the same depth of knowledge I have,” Luna explained and boasted both. Trixie nodded despite still having questions, “How is Twilight so powerful then?” Luna shook her head, “Celestia’s school trains a Unicorn in the basics of magic they will need in life, but it does not delve much beyond that from what I have been informed. After all, it would be impossible to have a school that could teach unicorns of every talent and specialty. The scope would be impossible.” Luna leaned in towards Trixie, craning her neck down to be more at her level, “Now, given that Twilight was my sister’s prized and personal student, she received some more attention. Her talent is magic itself, and under the right circumstances she has even defeated Queen Chrysalis.” “How is that possible? Chrysalis beat Celestia! That just isn’t fair!” Trixie complained, not having known just how overpowered her rival was. Luna, on the other hand, noticed that Trixie’s voice sounded like someone else’s… “Ignoring how much you sound like the Changeling Queen, I did mention that it was under the right circumstances. If Celestia or I had been given that boost she received Queen Chrysalis would not have lived to invade us again, or had enough ashes to fit in a tea cup.” Trixie felt flustered about her overreaction, “Oh, uhm, I see.” Luna rose up to her full height and assumed an authoritative voice, “Now, enough chit-chat. Go on. Show me the extent of your abilities. I could use a good show after the past few days I have had.” Trixie too rose up, also giving a small bow, “If you so wish it, I will do my best, Princess.” The two stepped apart to give eachother space, one to perform and one to watch, with Luna even sitting once again. Trixie felt her nerves bunch up as she tried to think about what to do that could possibly impressive Luna, who was more powerful than she could ever hope to be, and who was the highest profile pony she had ever had give her attention. Trixie conjured the fireworks and lights she normally would to start off a show, putting more effort into making the fireworks explode larger and over a wider spread than usual. Seeing a small smile creep on Luna’s face, Trixie pushed her power a bit further and conjured up a cloud amidst the explosions of her fireworks, the cloud made to send out bolts of lightning as had drawn Luna’s attention previously. While the result were not large or powerful bolts, the ability to control the elements to some degree was very impressive in Luna’s book. Even Loki was unable to do such a feat outside of his natural affinity for ice. Such a talent could be harnessed into something greater if work was put into it, and not just to wow and impress other ponies. Luna found herself genuinely impressed by the display. Twilight might be able to lift an Ursa with her magical power, but Luna had never once seen her do something along these lines. A cursory glance to Trixie’s hip revealed a magician’s wand and a moon. Luna could not help but see the irony in that last part. “Impressive.” Trixie blushed and bowed her head, “Thank you.” Luna was actually appreciating having somepony else she could talk to who was not her lover for once. She briefly pondered if this was what it was like for Celestia with having Twilight? “I notice that you do not seem to fear me as much as ou-“ Luna caught her verbal error and corrected it. And to think she had been doing so well since Loki’s speech lessons, “My other subjects do. May I ask why?” Trixie frowned, finding that she actually was liking the maligned Princess, “You are our princess, and there has been a lot of talk about how you fought to stop the Changelings a few days ago. You also seem a lot nicer than some stories would suggest.” Talent, potential, and respect. Exactly what Luna desired. “Well, I think I have made up my mind. Miss Lulamoon, how goes your living situation?” Trixie rubbed one of her own shoulders at the topic of money, “I still have no home or stage of my own, and I have no bits after traveling here and getting my permit.” Luna looked over the young mare again and found that she appeared to be quite thinner than the average pony her age. How little had she been eating these past years? “You do look quite thin. Care to come with me back to Canterlot Castle?” The performer blinked in confusion, “Wait, seriously?” Luna turned around so that her head was facing the castle, “I would rather you not be starved while I tell you more about my proposal.” That only made Trixie more curious, “Proposal?” A smug grin turned to face Trixie, “If you are willing, I am looking for a student of my own. It is quite fortunate I found one so talented,” Luna kept herself from laughing as Trixie’s jaw dropped, “Only if you so wish, though.” Trixie did wish to pick her jaw up off the floor, but found herself unable, “I-I, uh-“ Luna snorted, “A nod will do.” Upon receiving the instantaneous nod, she turned back to the castle, “I am pleased. There will be some conditions, however.” Trixie rose her brow. She was curious as to what that could mean, not that almost anything could be a deal breaker for this opportunity, “Conditions?” “You must take your studies seriously, and you must help me when I so require your talents. I will be taking several trips in the future that may take days to weeks, and I need somepony to take care of my paperwork during that time.” Given that she would have gone back to work on the rock farm if need be, Trixie found this to be much more than fair, “Of course, anything! I promise to do my very best!” Luna started to walk back to the castle, no longer having a reason to be in the city she so despised, “I will hold you to that.” Trixie, however, did not follow after her right away, “Princess, I…” she swallowed her breath nervously as she tried to find the right words, “Not to sound ungrateful, but do I really deserve this opportunity?” Luna rolled her eyes once again, just wishing that Trixie would accept her good will and let that be that, “Relax. I am a firm believer in getting your just dues, and you sound as if you are in need of some help after all you have been through. Become my student and you will not ever have to worry about bits or a home again.” Trixie bowed again humbly, “Thank you, Princess Luna.” “Now come along, my little pony. I do not know about you but I would care for some nourishment.” Luna smirked to herself as she wondered about just how long she wanted to steal her sister’s phrase, Trixie racing to keep up with her long steps as she left the stage. Trixie desperately wanted to let out an impressed whistle, but was quite unsure if doing so was against any kind of etiquette the place might have. After all, she did not want to mess up what she now had going for her. The reason for this suppressed whistle was the castle itself. Upon entering, now with less fear emanating from the guards, Luna had taken Trixie through the halls towards the dining hall. Trixie was wowed by how expensive everything looked, still keeping her worn and now ripped hat atop her head and her similarly weathered cloak on her back. A single item anywhere in sight was probably worth more than anything Trixie had. “This place is huge. I’ve never been here before…” Luna could have sword everypony in existence had been in there at some point, “Not even at the Royal Wedding?” Trixie shook her head no, “I was not invited for better or worse.” That only earned a shrug from the Princess, who was sure Trixie would see those events lose their novelty soon enough, “You did not miss much. The most interesting part was the first Changeling Invasion of recent history.” Trixie snickered as she sensed Luna’s derisive tone towards it, “Was it really bad?” Luna gave a fake yawn to insult it further, “A large wedding with way too many ponies for somepony no-one knows about marrying another pony no-one really knows about. I can think of better events I have attended.” “How would you do your own wedding if you had one?” “Bold question,” one that actually made Luna think for a moment, despite the rumbling in her stomach, “I would only invite a select group of ponies I desire to be there. It would be private, and not house the entirety of Canterlot in it. Outside of that, I would be open to negotiate with my lover about the whole matter.” Not really seeing a way to continue the conversation, Trixie just smiled and nodded as they continued down the hallway. On the way Luna too note of the place where there had been a hole in the wall earlier, but was now fixed. Quick service given Twilight’s brief overview of tasks needed to be done followed by a short visit to Canterlot. After a brief silence, Luna stopped in front of two large doors and pushed them open with a hoof. Trixie looked inside, only to see tables and tables of food. The Great and Powerful Trixie was quickly fighting the urge to drool over the feast available. Luna smiled at the starved pony, “Well here we are. Any food you want at any point of the day is available here.” Trixie’s starved stomach did the talking for her, “I can eat anything?” “Why you could try the tables and chairs for all I care, but I doubt they would be very appetizing. I will warn you that you should stay away from cake, as Celestia has a weakness for it and may grow angry if there is not enough for herself,” Luna joked. “Trixie?” Both the blue and formerly blue mare looked around the room to find where the voice came from, only to see that it had come from a nearby table. Twilight Sparkle was sitting down eating food with a book at her side when the two arrived, only to be quite surprised by who came in with Princess Luna. Trixie rose a brow as well, not expecting for the Ponyville resident to be in Canterlot, “Twilight?” “What are you doing here?” the newest Alicorn asked, not understanding what Trixie could possibly be doing in the dining hall with Luna. Luna brought a hoof to Trixie’s shoulder and smiled at Twilight, “She is my guest, as well as my first student.” Twilight strained to put on a happy expression, “Oh, wow, congratulations?” Trixie glared at her former rival, something irritating her as she observed Twilight’s new wings, “Thank you for your letter, Princess.” The new Princess did not think anypony would find out about that, and as such found herself as flustered as Trixie had been earlier, “Oh, that little thing? Just a joke, haha.” Luna felt as if she was missing here, “Letter? Joke?” Trixie huffed, “One of the first things Princess Twilight here did was add ‘The Great and Powerful’ to the beginning of my name. I don’t care about that, but she signed it with ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle’ as if to rub it in.” So Trixie still had a grudge against Twilight, who was not above playfully messing with her. Things could definitely be worse, especially since being jealous of Twilight could fuel Trixie’s own studies. Luna looked down to her new student with a wry grin, “Am I sensing this is going to be a thing?” Trixie instantly backtracked, not knowing if she should let her temper fly like that, “Not if you don’t want it to be, Princess Luna.” The Princess of Night laughed, lowering her hoof from Trixie so as to not be too touchy, “I do not care honestly if you two do this little childish routine so long as it does not interfere with anything else. Twilight, you will stop sending childish letters when you should be doing paperwork,” she smiled down at her student, “Trixie, you will be learning a spell to turn her into a sheep should she continue pestering you.” While she may have been indifferent earlier in the day, Twilight was quickly becoming more emotional as she was drawn away from her thoughts to something entirely new. “Sheep?” she squeaked nervously, not even sure how that was possible but also not wanting to question Luna’s power. Luna smiled to Twilight now to unnerve her more, “From my experience they are the dumbest animals in the land, a fitting punishment for childish behavior. It would only be temporary of course.” Twilight shook her head and turned back to her book, hoping that Luna was merely jesting, “Yeah, good luck with that. I’m going to finish eat.” Trixie leaned towards Luna to whisper, “I’m not sure I’m strong enough for a spell like that.” Luna patted the blue mare on the head with a laugh, not caring to lower her own voice, “Oh, believe me, you will be. I’m learning it myself at the moment, and it is not the power I struggle with but rather the complexity. I think I should have it finished by tomorrow.” “You must be a fast learner. How can you learn spells so easily? I usually read about them and learn everything I can before even trying them.” Luna pointed to a table which Trixie quickly took a seat at, her eyes like dinner plates as they observed all of the food available, “One thousand years of isolation and a great deal of free time leaves little for a pony to do. I had a lot of time to practice things and learn tricks to gaining new powers.” Luna took a seat beside Trixie as the latter began to eat as quickly as she could politely do so, eating with correct manners than Luna herself loathed to use at times. Looking around the room for anything she could possibly wish to eat not at this table, Luna’s eye caught something else entirely. She prodded Trixie on the shoulder as the new student continued to eat, pointing with the other hoof to an orange coated stallion with blue hair, “Oh, a quick first rule. You see this guard?” Trixie paused her devouring of all food nearby to look at the random guard, noticing nothing interesting at all about the stallion, “Yes. What about him?” Luna snickered as she caught sight of an assortment of pies. She would have the blueberry one of them, but that left many others to be used in more…interesting ways. “You are permitted to do anything and everything humiliating to him. In honor of a very close friend of mine of course who would always do just that.” Trixie noticed the now floating pies and grabbed one of her own with her telekinesis, “Anything?” Luna nodded, “Precisely.” “I see…” The guard screamed as he saw a pie begin flying at him. Nopony in the room moved to help him, not a single soul actually caring as the pie began to chase him around and around. Just as the guard managed to outmaneuver the pie by leaping over a table, knocking food onto Twilight’s book to her extreme anger, the other pies that Luna had taken all crashed into him. The pie Trixie had been chasing him with originally added insult to injury by smashing into his face after this point, leaving both mares amused. “Oh my, this is more fun than I thought it would be.” Luna could see that this apprentice thing could work out quite beautifully if done right. “Welcome to Canterlot Castle.” After eating and discussing more in-depth details about the apprenticeship, Luna decided she had best have a place for Trixie to sleep be made. A simple order and a room was being prepared immediately, nearby Luna’s own habitat no less, with the only thing left to do being bringing Trixie to it. On the way, however, they ran into somepony else who was heading to their own room. Celestia smiled as she noticed her sister coming down the hallway and greeted her warmly, completely ignoring the Blueblood incident under the pretense that Luna was very stressed and that he had it coming. “Good afternoon Luna. Preparing for your shift?” Luna nodded before looking down to the mare beside her, “Yes, but I have something else I am tending to first.” Celestia too looked down, only with the added expression of surprise, “Oh? Who is this?” “Celestia, I do not believe you have met my protégé in person before. This is Trixie Lulamoon. I intend to teach her everything I can about magic, like how you worked with Twilight.” Celestia gave a polite nod to her sister’s guest, “It is a pleasure to meet you, miss Lulamoon.” Trixie bowed down completely, still not sure about all the etiquette involved with this place, “It is an honor to meet you, Princess.” Celestia turned back to Luna and gave her a cheeky smile, Celestia’s hooves slowly trotting towards her door, “Well, I must begin preparing for bed. See to it that she does not try to take over Canterlot like the last guest who you taught magic, okay?” As Celestia departed Trixie could not help but feel uncomfortable. Luna was laughing though, despite the painful memories also brought up, “She jests. My romantic partner was forced into doing something unsavory, and he is being punished for his actions.” Trixie nodded slowly, “I see,” her understanding went from seemingly complete to very confused as something else came to mind, “You know, I didn’t even know the Princesses had those.” Luna let out a content sigh as she thought back to two nights prior, “It is a most recent phenomenon I must admit.” It did not take the two long to reach the room set aside for Trixie, for with Luna’s long steps and Trixie’s desperate attempt to keep up they moved at quite the fast pace. “Now, here is your room. You may use it at your leisure. Our servants will tend to your needs, you only need not abuse their hospitality,” Luna explained as Trixie opened the door. Trixie bowed down to the point where her horn was kissing the ground, unable to properly show just how grateful she felt. “Thank you so very much, Princess, for everything you have offered me. I...I am really not all that sure I deserve this.” Luna smiled at Trixie, knowing that her apprentice was not the only one who was going to be better off because of this, “All you need do is listen to and learn what I say and have to show you.” “I will not disappoint you, Princess!” “I’m sure you won’t. Now, have a good night, Trixie. Tomorrow we get started.” Luna only hoped that would be the case, not that she was dubious. After all, where had she heard of a pony who was treated like dirt, was jealous of somepony else and who only wanted to do a little good, but did something maniacal as a result of pride?