//------------------------------// // Act Two. Chapter twelve: Celestial reunion // Story: Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// HEART OF STONE Act Two: Discovery Chapter twelve: Celestial reunion Written by TheCrimsonDM A few days had passed since Twilight and her friends went back to Ponyville. Trixie and Maud had spent a lot of their alone time together being passionate. It was almost like they simply couldn’t get their fill of one another, and the past few lust filled days were both a wonderful, and a little shameful for Trixie. Some of the things she had done with Maud she knew she could never speak of. Other than that Trixie found herself becoming more social with other ponies. Her confidence and strength were returning, although her magic was still virtually useless. The fact that she couldn’t even lift a pencil with her telekinesis without getting a headache was disconcerting; she was considering going back to Ponyville just to get the help she needed from Twilight. Trixie was lying on the couch feeling more than a little exhausted from the night before. She stared up at the wooden ceiling and wondered at how her entire life had turned around. Just a week ago she was beating herself up over every little thing, and now she was enjoying every moment she had with Maud. It was almost like when she died, the broken pieces of her heart died too, only they didn’t come back to life like she had. Maud walked into the living room. Trixie’s mind went blank as she saw Maud’s naked form walking up to her. Trixie’s eyes getting caught on Maud’s cutie mark, which resembled a stone cut into the shape of a diamond. Trixie’s new cloak had the exact same symbol for the clasp. Maud had made the cloak just for her, and the clasp was a symbol of just how much Maud truly did love her. Or maybe it was a symbol of how much she belonged to Maud. Trixie wore a small smile as Maud crawled onto the couch and got on top of Trixie. Maud began nuzzling Trixie’s cheek while asking. “Have you considered moving to Ponyville yet?” Trixie could feel Maud’s love radiating off her body, Trixie kissed Maud on the forehead and then said. “You haven’t given me very much time to think about it.” Maud began nuzzling Trixie’s chest kissing her softly while saying. “When you get time please consider it. I would like to be near my sister again.” Trixie agreed with Maud that it would be nice to live in ponyville, to be near her friends, to be near her mom. Unfortunately it would be hard to fix her reputation there, after everything she had done. The citizens of Ponyville would have a hard time accepting her, but maybe if she tried hard enough, they could one day forgive her. Maud’s muzzle landed a soft kiss on a very tender spot of Trixie’s anatomy causing the blue unicorn to make a squeaking sound, and utterly disrupted her thinking process. Trixie gave up on thinking anymore right now, her thoughts were being generously interrupted by Maud again. Some time and a hot shower later Trixie decided to get outside, before Maud could use her sensual tricks to stop Trixie from thinking again. The sun was shining brightly outside, in fact it felt a little brighter than normal. Trixie walked into town trying to get a breather from Maud, and some time to think about the proposal to move to Ponyville. As Trixie approached town she saw “Gear Dasher’s shop of enigma’s”. She decided to stop by and say hello to Gear Dasher and his son Dusty. The shop had a large number of boxes sitting just outside with half of them were loaded into a wagon. The sign on the shop itself read. “Gear Dasher’s shop of enigma’s. Now out of business, talk to Gear Dasher if you’re still waiting on a package.” Trixie looked around and found Gear Dasher sitting outside behind the shop and staring into the abandoned mine shaft. Gear Dasher was smoking a cigarette as he watched. Trixie walked up to him and asked. “Are you really going out of business?” Gear Dasher looked over and tipped his cowpony hat up. He then smiled and said. “Ayep, it’s time we go and meet up with Dusty’s mom over in Saddle Arabia. Ah’ve been missin her like crazy.” Trixie gave him a smile even though she was sad about him moving so far away. She then said. “I wish you the best of luck, you two were always so kind to me.” He looked up at her and blew some of the smoke out of his nostrils, the fact he could do that always astounded Trixie. Then Gear Dasher said. “You’re a good mare Trixie, I know you haven’t always felt that way, but it’s the darn truth. Ah wish you an Maud good luck as well, ah know how scary a new relationship can be. But if ya’ll try, ya might just have something special.” Trixie smiled even wider at him now. Then her smile faded as some clanging sounds began coming from the old mineshaft. Trixie looked over to it, and the memories of Deep One’s filled her mind. She took a step back and asked. “What is that?” Gear Dash gave a small laugh and said. “Just watch, Ah think Ya’ll like it.” She watched fearfully as something crawled out of the mineshaft. A small colt covered in black soot crawled out. This was Dusty Soul, Gear Dasher’s son who crawled out. Dusty had a bag in his mouth. He walked up to Gear Dasher and dropped the bag next to him before saying. “Ah am not doin that again, it’s black as Nightmare Moon down there.” Gear Dasher gave his son a pat on the head before returning his attention to the bag. Dusty looked over at Trixie and grinned widely as he said. “Miss Moon, did ya come to see us off?” Trixie smiled at the little foal and said. “Yep I sure did. I couldn’t just let you leave without a hug now could I.” Dusty cocked his head to the side saying. “Ah don’t think-“ He was cut off as Trixie swooped him up into an embrace and hugged him tightly. He squirmed for a second before he gave up and returned the hug. After setting him down Dusty smiled while his eyes began watering up and he said. “Ah will miss ya Miss Moon.” He then walked into the house presumably to clean up. Speaking of cleaning up, Trixie noticed that her legs and torso and even part of her face, was now covered in black soot. This was going to be fun to wash out of her fur later. Maybe she would have Maud help her with it, and all of a sudden Trixie’s face was turning red again. Gear Dasher reached into the bag and pulled out a nice clean bottle of vintage alcohol. He gave a whistle as he examined it. Trixie sat down and asked. “What’s that?” Gear Dasher looked at her with a grin on his face as he explained. “This is Celestia’s Hell Fire. It’s one of the most powerful alcohols made, it’s also extremely rare.” Gear Dasher grabbed a clean cloth from next to him and handed it to Trixie. Trixie stood up as she began trying to rub out the soot in her fur he placed the bottle into a slandered looking saddle bag. Trixie was not having much luck wiping the black out of her fur. Gear Dasher then said. “You’re gonna be cleaning that off yer fur for a week.” She looked back towards his house and said. “Totally worth it, I’m going to miss you guys a lot.” Gear Dasher then put the saddle bags on Trixie’s back, surprising her and almost making her buck him. She then walked in a circle a few times in confusion, as she said. “What did you do that for, what’s in this, why is it on?” Gear Dasher gave another chuckle as he explained. “It’s a present, you’ve been a good friend to us Trixie. Just thought I’d repay you for the kindness. Side’s that, you’re probably the only mare who’s ever beaten me in a drinking contest.” That brought back pleasant memories. The drinking contest was something she did with Gear Dasher after she had first met him, she couldn’t remember much of it, but he fell asleep before it was over. Of course she was mentally unstable for the couple days after that, Doctor Timequill actually had to be called in to console her. That reminded Trixie that she was going to need to visit him again soon. Trixie smiled back at Gear Dasher and said. “Thank you, I’ll cherish this present.” Gear Dasher smiled back at her and said. “Don’t mention it, just make sure that the entire town hears how much you and Maud enjoyed the little gift.” Trixie blushed a little as she asked. “What do you mean by that?” Gear Dasher gave her a wink and said with a sly grin. “Ah suppose it didn’t occur to you, that anypony walking by your house these past couple of days has gotten an earful of you’re scream-“ Trixie cut him off by saying. “What. Oh crap, I didn’t…” her face became even redder as she stammered. “B-b-but me and M-m-m-uad are…ugh.” She couldn’t believe that she was that loud. There was no way that this was going to be lived down now, she simply knew that the entire town knew about it by now. Gear Dasher only grinned at her. After that she decided it was time to leave and go get something to eat. There was a little restaurant she enjoyed in town. She had a few bits on her and figured she could go for a sunflower sandwich. There was a little shop that Trixie was a fan of called “The Slate Plate”. It was a little restaurant ran by the Pink earth pony with a curly blue mane, named Bubble Delight. Trixie walked in and sat down at one of the booths, a few seconds later Bubble Delight’s daughter named Bubble Delicious walked towards her. The only difference between the two of them was that Bubble Delicious had a green mane with pink stripes and she was a few years younger than Trixie. Trixie smiled at her and said. “I’d like a Sunflower sandwich please.” Bubble Delicious used the pencil she was chewing on to write the order on a small note book. She then smiled at Trixie and said. “It’ll be out right away, gotta keep you nice and feed after all the work that Maud has been putting you through.” Trixie’s entire face burned with embarrassment as Bubble Delicious walked away giggling like a young filly. Trixie laid her head down on the table and let out a long sigh. The entire town was already knew and she was never going to live this down now. Was Trixie really that loud when she was with Maud? A few minutes later Trixie still had her face planted firmly against the table, when she felt a playful energy next to her. It must have been Bubble Delicious back to tease her some more. As the plate of food was set next to her, Trixie said lamely. “Thanks for the food.” A very different voice spoke to her then sounding very motherly. “You’re welcome Trixie.” Trixie looked up to see who it was and found the surprise of a life time. Princess Celestia was standing right next to her table, towering over the little Trixie. Trixie was shocked to see her here, and better yet her sunflower sandwich was here too. Trixie looked from the food back to the princess and asked. “Did you bring me my food?” Celestia simply smiled and sat down on the bench opposite of Trixie’s before asking. “Is that a problem?” Trixie blushed a little more as she replied. “N-no it’s n-not a problem at all. I…um…hi.” Celestia continued smiling at Trixie, they sat there quietly for a few moments before Bubble Delicious looking very nervous brought out a cake covered in pink icing, and two glasses of iced tea. The cake was set in front of Celestia who looked at it with hungry eye’s, and each pony was given a glass of tea. Bubble Delicious didn’t seem to know what to do other then retreat slowly into the kitchen. Trixie took a sip of the tea, it was nice and cold, but not enough sugar. As Trixie began pouring sugar into the cup of tea Celestia carefully removed a large slice of Cake and took a sample bite. After a moment she grinned and took a much larger bite of the cake. Trixie let out another sigh as she asked. “Do you always cause such a stir wherever you go?” A few gasps could be heard from various ponies inside the restaurant. Celestia gave a small laugh and said. “Oh you remember what it was like for us in Canterlot don’t you?” Trixie looked up at Celestia, way up. She then asked. “I don’t mean any offense but, what are you doing here? Twilight left here a few days ago.” Celestia looked a little sad at what Trixie had said. She took another giant bite of cake and a sip of tea before saying. “I came here to visit you. I…nearly lost you. No matter what you may think of your self-worth Trixie, you should always remember that you were one of my student’s, one of my top students at that.” Trixie smiled shyly at her and said. “Wow…you came all the way out here, just for me. I…I don’t know what to say. Why didn’t you come to my house?” Celestia smiled and looked directly at Trixie and said. “Oh I did, but you sounded a little busy. I decided to wait a few hours and try again.” Trixie’s face turned an entirely new shade of red as she nearly died from embarrassment. Trixie really was that loud. Looking in any other direction she possibly could Trixie said. “Oh yes. I was…working...” Celestia then said in a quieter tone. “Oh you must have been working very hard in order to make those kinds of sounds. By the way who is Maud?” Trixie tried to speak, and nothing but squeaks came out. Celestia smiled and said. “Go ahead and eat a little, that will give me time to…tell you some things. Things that you need to hear.” Trixie listened and began eating slowly as Celestia continued. “You were always one of my very best students Trixie, in fact I always saw you as a second pupil. I know that I was unable to spend as much time with you as I wanted to, but I hope you understand that when you’re father asked me to take you under my wings, and take care of you. That I did the very best I could.” Trixie stopped eating, and in shock she asked. “Did you just say my father?” Celestia nodded and said. “Yes I did, he didn’t want me to tell you about his involvement with me, not until after you were an adult. I know it’s hard for you but I-“ Trixie did something that she knew would end up in regret, but she had to know if Celestia was telling the truth. She concentrated on reading Celestia’s mind as hard as she could, and asked aloud. “Are you telling me the truth about dad?” Celestia nodded again and said. “I am. I know that he left you long before I ever met you, but he still loves you very much.” Trixie couldn’t hear Celestia’s thoughts though, and the harder she tried the more she could make out a high pitched humming noise. Trixie closed her eyes and with all her strength she concentrated on Celestia’s playful personality, trying to force a connection to her mind until the hum became so high pitched that it hurt. Then the hum turned into a loud pop, and Trixie could hear Celestia’s thoughts for a few seconds. Celestia thought. “Her father was such a close friend of mine, he was destroyed by what happened to his wife. I swore to him that I would take you in as my ward, but I couldn’t do that publicly and keep you safe. I know that I didn’t do the best job, but I tried...” Celestia’s thoughts disappeared from Trixie again as she felt like she was slammed back into her chair by some intangible force. Celestia wore a concerned expression on her face as she watched Trixie closely. Trixie felt exhausted and dizzy, she was about to say something when she began to notice the warm liquid running down from her nose and down her muzzle. In a very sluggish movement Trixie reached up and touched her muzzle with a hoof, she pulled her hoof away to see the blue hoof was stained red with blood. Celestia lifted a napkin up and wiped the blood off of Trixie’s muzzle for her. After she was done she said. “You shouldn’t try and do that again. I’m over a thousand years old, you would think I’d have a protective spell against,” she leaned in and whispered into Trixie’s ear, “mind reading.” Trixie felt scared that Celestia knew what she had just done, but she also felt slow. Trixie looked up and said. “I’m sorry, it’s just my father…” Celestia’s expression didn’t change from being worried as she said in a slightly louder tone. “You should get that checked up on when you talk to your doctor.” She then returned to her perfectly normal voice and said. “I’m not mad. Like I said before, I nearly lost you, and that scares me.” Celestia let out a sigh and then smiled. She reached out a wing awkwardly and brushed back Trixie’s mane a little. She then asked. “Did you know that I almost sent you to Ponyville to stop nightmare moon, instead of Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie looked up at her in surprise and admitted. “No, I didn’t?” She shook her head and explained. “I didn’t have a clue on how to stop my sister while she was possessed by the nightmare spirits. I had to choose one of you two but I couldn’t figure out which one. If anypony could learn the spell to defeat her it would have been you, but on the other hoof Twilight had stronger magic, and may have been the only one powerful enough to actually accomplish the task.” Trixie felt strange after hearing this. Her entire life could have been different if only a single thing had been changed. Maybe she could have become friends with everypony, heck maybe even become a princess. And all of it would have depended on who was sent to Ponyville on that fateful day. Trixie asked. “How did you decide who to send.” Celestia smiled softly and said. “I sent the pony who needed friendship the most, Twilight was so lonely inside. I spent so much of my time just trying to keep her out of a deep depression. I feared that she would have become broken if I didn’t do anything. So I sent her based off of this information. Ponyville has always had a way of reforming ponies into the ponies that they were meant to be.” There was a long pause before she finally finished saying. “Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice.” Trixie looked up at the princess and knew right then that Celestia was suffering from an internal conflict, similar to what she had been suffering from not but a week ago. Trixie gave her Princess, her teacher, and the closest thing to mother figure she had a smile. Trixie then said. “You made the right choice, even if I had been the one to find the magical spell to stop it, I would have done so selfishly, and I may have even hurt your sister. I was suffering from completely untreated Schizophrenia. You made the right choice.” Celestia looked taken aback by what Trixie had just said. Celestia then asked quietly. “Do you really have…schizophrenia?” Trixie felt a little angry that Celestia didn’t know, but she reminded herself that Twilight made sure that it was a secret. Trixie gave Celestia’s outstretched wing a hug and said. “Yeah, but I have my med’s, and a doctor. Twilight has done more to help me then I ever thought possible.” Celestia smiled, but pulled back her wing. She then said. “There was another reason why I came here to New Slate to talk to you.” Trixie could feel the playful energy inside Celestia shifting, it was becoming more serious. For a second Trixie felt something hard, hot, and violent coming from Celestia, it lasted only a second before Celestia’s emotions became simple and serious. Trixie didn’t like where this was going at all, but she still asked. “What’s that?” Trixie noticed that the tea was gone, and so was most of the cake. They had been sitting there eating for longer then she had realized. Celestia looked serious as she asked. “What was Twilight really doing here?” The memories of the cave, the Deep One’s, and of Twilight being possessed came to her mind. Trixie shook her head and lied. “She came here to check up on me.” Celestia then asked. “Is that really all?” Trixie nodded and shook a little bit, she felt as though there was a giant weight being pressed down onto her from Celestia’s emotions. After a few moments of complete silence Celestia’s serious feelings began to become softer. Celestia then said. “I’m glad. Please promise that if Twilight gets wrapped up in something…bad. Promise me you will stay out of it.” Trixie nodded again as the pressure came off of her. Celestia’s horn began glowing for a second and a bright yellow aura surrounds Trixie. After a few seconds Trixie stopped glowing and found herself completely clean now. Trixie got up and said. “Well I kinda need to go home now, your welcome to come and visit anytime.” Celestia nodded and said. “Remember how much I love you Trixie.” As Trixie began walking out of the restaurant Celestia added. “And thank you for saving Twilight from the deep ones.” Trixie turned and looked at her in shock, she then said. “What, how?” Celestia then said. “Twilight still writes me letters every week.” She gave a little laugh before saying. “I told her she didn’t have too, but I secretly enjoy reading her letters. It makes me feel good to know that she cares.” Trixie smiled and then headed off towards her home. Trixie wondered if Twilight had really told Celestia about this? It wouldn’t surprise her, but the way Twilight acted had been strange. Trixie wondered if she really was okay, and what the connection between her father and Celestia really was. It seemed like Trixie was beginning to uncover a secret world that had been around her all of her life, but it’s a world she had never seen before. Hopefully Celestia didn’t realize that Trixie had lied to her, but even if she did, she didn’t seem mad. Looking up at the brighter than normal sky Trixie said to herself. “I think I have an answer Maud.”