//------------------------------//
// No Harm, No Waterfowl 
// Story: Future Progressive: The Speedfics and Drabbles of Present Perfect 
// by PresentPerfect 
//------------------------------//

No Harm, No Waterfowl
by Present Perfect

It was a hard fall for Trixie.  Once a household name known around Equestria, driven from her throne by the odious Twilight Sparkle, forced to scrounge in the street.  Then lifted high, high by the corruptive power of the Alicorn Amulet, brought with hard work on a rock farm.  But it was not to be.

She had to thank Twilight, which was worst of all.  The Amulet's evil magic had brought out her worst.  It was truly that vile influence that had shown her the error of her ways.  The pony she did not want to be.  Twilight had saved her from herself.  No longer Great and Powerful, but Humble and Apologetic, Trixie had finally reflected on her faults and discovered inner peace.

Now she spent her days in quiet contemplation in the solitude of a wildlife reserve.

It was an opportunity that had come about her chance.  One of Twilight Sparkle's friends had felt a certain level of pity for her plight.  Trixie has resisted at first, not wanting Twilight's pity, even by proxy.  But the yellow pegasus, meek though she was, had won out in the end through an uncanny charisma that had frightened Trixie to her core.

In the end, it had turned out for the best.  The reserve was located miles from civilization, in a lushly forested patch of emerald in Equestria's north.  Rainstorms and fog were her friends.  The animal came and went as they pleased, with Trixie and the other volunteers helping them migrate and find homes for hibernation.

It was, she thought, a paradise.  Here, a pony could truly be happy, at one with nature.

That all changed when the ducks attacked came.

It hadn't been an unexpected event.  The ducks arrived at this time in the spring every year, to find mates and make families.  Trixie had been looking forward to them, even if they pooped everywhere.

She was making the first count of the ducks when she saw him.  A lone mallard, flapping in blithely for a water landing.  He had an obstruction around his neck.  Concerned, she called to him and drew him in to shore.

What she saw stopped her heart.

Though he was in no apparently distress, he bore a wheel around his neck like an albatross.

She took a step backward.  Then another.  Blinked blithely, he walked after her, heeding the call, that blasted wooden contraption clunking against him as he waddled.

The forest stilled.  The birds quieted.  All of Trixie's focus was on the wheel.

It laughed at her.  It reminded her of every failure, every lost wagon, every night spend in the freezing rain.  Its voice was Twilight Sparkle's.  Its voice was hers.

She screamed.

"No!" she shouted, panting.  "It can't be!"
She tried to escape, but she tripped.  She screamed again.  Her heart pounded.  Her lungs burned.

"I can't!"

It loomed over her.

The duck blinked.

"LEAVE TRIXIE ALONE!"

In a flash of magic, the wheel disintegrated and the duck flew off, quacking.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be mocked!"

Anew, the plans flooded her mind.  She would go back to Ponyville and have her vengeance!  Twilight Sparkle would pay!  They would love her, or they would fear her!

With a shriek, a bald eagle flew in and carried Trixie off.