//------------------------------// // As it turns out... // Story: Why Did I Choose to be Trixie? // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// The Solar Princess raised an eyebrow, a quizzical expression on her face. "Where did you come from? What's this about the other universe?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at the clone of herself. "I came from the Mirror Pool in the other universe! Celestia created me there! I thought I was the only one of me -- Amethyst said something about --" the clone stopped and turned her attention to the massive white stallion. "Wow! You're HUGE! Who are you?" Her question elicited chuckling from said stallion. Smiling at her, he calmly named himself and his sworn duty, causing the clone to gasp in wide-eyed astonishment. "Wow! You do all that! That sounds amazing!" she exclaimed with great exuberance. I smiled at this, but then felt Sleipnir's gaze turn upon me. "Fledgling, was this your idea?" he nearly growled at me. "I was trying to placate Luna and Twilight, Lord Sleipnir -- I was under the impression that when you took Celestia, she would never return. I had no idea you would bring her back -- and if I may be so bold as to ask, why did you bring her back? What possessed you to do so?" "You forget your place, fledgling -- but I will humor your curiosity. Celestia and I had a fairly long discussion during our little journey and succeeded in persuading me to return her, though not before we met with ... Her. After some deliberation, it was decided that it would be in the best interests of Celestia's little ponies that she be returned and that special dispensation be provided. Little Amethyst -- that's not even your name, and you are not even a pony, yet you travel in that form --" he explained, but cut himself off as he seemed to ponder some thoughts. I decided to wait and see what he might say next, but Celestia's clone had other ideas. "You're not really a pony? Amethyst is not really your name? Who are you? What are you?" the clone asked me as she inspected me very closely. She sniffed me in certain places, making me feel extremely uncomfortable, causing everypony else in the room to giggle or chuckle or laugh, though Sleipnir simply smiled at my predicament, distracting him from his thoughts. "Ugh! I don't even know what to call you! Celestia is right here, and you're her clone, but -- must you sniff me there?!" I asked in exasperation. "You smell like a pony -- so what's up? Tell me all about yourself!" she implored, giving me her best puppy-dog eyes look. "Um, Celly, it's a really long story and I don't have time to go into it right now," I replied, moving away from her as discreetly as I could. She followed me as I continued to move around the room and in short order a chase began, the clone desperately going after me as I galloped around the perimeter of the Throne Room. This spectacle caused everypony in the room to laugh loudly, Sleipnir included. "This is by far the best entertainment I have witnessed in more than a century!" he exclaimed, his jovial tone giving me a slight degree of hope I might have improved my chances. "Celestia, I would like to thank you for your request and advice -- had I not returned, I would have missed this! Amethyst, keep going! You can do it!" I groaned at his exhortation and decided to canter to the throne I was sitting on earlier, the clone matching my pace, though her breathing was coming in ragged gasps. "Slow down, Amethyst! I just wanna talk to you!" she called out. I stopped in front of Celestia and Sleipnir, who both smiled in approval at me, eliciting a sheepish grin from me. "Lord Sleipnir, I apologize for this display," I offered, bowing deeply before him. "You have earned absolution from me, Michael -- enjoy your life, there is much for you to experience. Raise your foals and teach them well -- they will need your guidance." I bowed even more deeply before him, nearly prostrating myself on the floor. "Lord Sleipnir, you are too kind," I stated as reverently as possible. "You may rise, Michael -- I am fully cognizant of your contrition. We will meet again, but it will be a very long time before we do," he intoned, then disappeared in a blinding flash of white light. Celestia's clone trotted slowly over to her counterpart, gazing at the Alicorn in wonderment. "So ... I am you, sort of," she said softly as she trotted around the Solar Princess in a slow circle. "Yes, but -- I fail to understand why -- Amethyst, may I have a few words with you, please?" I trotted over to her, a look of unease on my features. "Yes, Celestia?" "I appreciate the trouble you went to in order to bring some comfort to my sister and former student, but now that my clone is no longer needed, what are we going to do with her?" "I was under the impression you could teach her what you know and have her be a substitute for you when you might need a break," I offered, smiling softly. "Whoa!" the clone exclaimed, drawing out the word. "That sounds like it'd be really cool!" "I will teach you what I can, but it will be a great many years before I feel confident in your abilities to adjudicate in my absence," Celestia addressed her clone, who appeared to be quite crestfallen at this revelation. The clone turned to me quizzically. "I still wanna know why Sleipnir said what he did about you -- and you didn't answer my questions earlier," Celly mused. "I used to be a human a long time ago, and my name then was Michael," I replied. I watched her eyes go wide in astonishment. "Tell me everything!" she implored, a big smile on her face. I groaned audibly, eliciting a light chuckle from the Solar Princess. "As I said before, it's a really long story," I reiterated. "Please, please tell me! I wanna know!" "Trixie?" I asked, glancing over to her, giving her a look of almost begging for her help. "Trixie is fine with you telling her everything," she responded in a dull monotone. "Celestia, if I may have food and drink brought here so I can regale your clone with all the exploits?" "I have a smaller, private dining chamber you can use. I will have a server take your requests and bring you what you need when requested. I will consider your efforts part of her instruction -- but please try to keep it relatively short if you can," she answered, smiling softly. She called on a guard to escort us to a small chamber with a table for four, where Trixie, Celly, and I took seats. The clone continued to marvel at all the opulent decorations and express her wonderment. The guard escorting us gave her quizzical glances when she would say something completely unlike her counterpart and I would occasionally chuckle at it. After taking our seats, another pony entered the chamber and took our food and drink requests, though the clone's request caused some confusion. I clarified as best I could, offering possible substitutions for some of the more creative requests. My explanations took several hours, especially with the clone asking about various things and interrupting me quite often. The discussion got side-tracked on various digressions from my story and even Trixie expressed some degree of exasperation at the clone's seeming lack of knowledge. It appeared to me as though my story really didn't give the clone that much more knowledge of who I was, though she remained in high spirits and seemed to enjoy the story immensely. Luna entered the chamber and took the remaining chair about half-way through my story and listened to me talk at great length. Her interest seemed to match the clone's, causing her to ask me quite a few questions as well. When Celestia herself showed up, she expressed a curiosity about the progress we were making and I told her it seemed to be going well. The Solar Princess teleported another chair into the chamber so she could sit and listen to me talk as well, occasionally sipping from a glass of wine. I noticed the wine and requested a taste, whereupon she poured me a small amount into a glass. Taking a sip, I found myself rather surprised by the taste, noting an unusual dryness to it. "A dry wine, Celestia?" I asked. "For a dry story, Amethyst," she chuckled, causing me to shake my head and chuckle in response. I continued with my story, getting to the point where Trixie was to give birth to Velvet in Las Pegasus, when the show-mare stopped me. "Trixie would rather you not tell anypony about what happened there," she protested weakly, placing her right fore-hoof on mine. "It's very important, as the consequences resulting from that decision led to the one where we traveled to the other universe to have Celestia there create a clone of herself," I explained, pointing a hoof at said clone, who grinned at my action. "Amethyst, Trixie died there! Why did you -- what did you do to Trixie?" she asked stridently, glaring at me sternly. "I brought you back here -- I had no idea Celestia would use her magic to restore you the way she did," I replied sullenly. "I apologize for over-reacting, Amethyst," the Solar Princess offered softly. "It would appear that we all over-reacted to this crisis, Celestia -- except for Luna, I guess. Celly? What do you think of what I've told you so far?" I asked the clone. "Your story is unbelievable! I'm amazed by everything you've said! And this -- this car you've talked about! I wanna see it! I wanna take a ride in it!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Maybe some other time. I think that covers everything, so -- I think it's time to go to bed. I'm feeling rather tired from all this activity and could use some rest," I stated, finishing off the wine. I glanced over at Trixie, who echoed my sentiment. "Where am I supposed to sleep?" asked the clone. "Luna, would you be kind enough?" Celestia asked, grinning mischievously, earning her a baleful look from her sister. "Please?" "Oh, all right, Tia, we shall," the Night Princess groaned. "Come along with us, thou clone," she grumbled, taking said clone with her to her bedchamber. Once again a barrage of questions came tumbling out of the clone's mouth, the indigo Alicorn trying her best to answer some of them. Initially, Luna found the clone's inquisitiveness somewhat endearing, but after awhile it began grating on her nerves. Upon reaching her bedchamber, the clone was so impressed with the decor she asked another round of questions, causing the indigo Alicorn to shush harshly, explaining that fresh answers would await the morrow. The clone found that turn of phrase highly amusing and giggled, bringing a smile to the Lunar Princess' face. Princess Celestia bid Trixie and me goodnight as we left the small dining chamber. We trotted through the Castle to meet up with Summer Song to collect our foals and then to our bedchamber. I removed my regalia and laid on the bed, falling asleep almost immediately. Trixie snuggled up to me, wrapping her forehooves around my barrel after tucking Marina into her own little bed, Jade in his crib, and Velvet in her little bassinet. I slept soundly that night, taking comfort from the words Sleipnir had told me, though having Trixie hug me from behind also helped me sleep in comfort. FIN