Lunarium

by Tramper


Chapter 2 ~ Trixie Will Perform The Greatestest Tricks Today! (V2)

Twilight was born with a devastating illness found only in unicorns. She knew that it had played its role in the downfall of the race and it was why she always had to be careful, why she always needed to watch herself. The sickness kept her body on the brink of collapsing, and every time she took a step, anypony nearby would look at her worriedly.

This illness had been the reason why she withdrew into her books. Each held a world and a life she would have loved to be a part of. However, it wasn’t like she was complaining about her lot. Her papa had told her that smart ponies didn‘t complain, and Twilight was a smart pony.

But even a filly as intelligent as her wanted more out of the world than looking out of the window, than seeing letters and pictures. Truthfully, even the little pieces of the outside world she had seen felt more engaging even than the most interesting of books.

She knew the way from home to the hospital, but that was as far as she‘d ever traveled. One big street with many crossings, leading to places she would never see.

To Twilight, Canterlot was the buildings along the road, such as Cadenza‘s Sweets. It was a lovely place, one she thought of fondly.

A portrait of the Princess of Love hung above it, with the her name engraved in it, and it was owned by a kind and pretty mare with warm, green eyes. She had been very close to Shining Armor, and would always greet them with a warm smile and sometimes gave them candy for free.

There were more houses of course, for the big road went by the new city hall. It was a large building, its stones covered in black paint, and a blue roof atop of it, and gargoyles looking down on the city below, trophies from the first invasion into the griffon lands.

Guards were posted in front of it, wearing the blue coats and hats of the republican guard, carrying the traditional shootsticks with bayonets.

The filly also knew of the burgundy houses, and the alleys in between them. She even knew the pubs and other places her papa went to forget that Mama had died, and that his dear son hadn‘t wanted to go to the military school.

That was the Canterlot she knew, and she had never thought she‘d be seeing any more of it.

Yet there she was, behind that odd filly with the beat-up face and the confident smile.

They crawled beneath the ruined branches of the bushes and over the paling grass of the hospital‘s garden. It might have been a lovely green once, but all it did nowadays was wither away, dying bit by bit, season by season.

Only a few flowers hadn’t died. Their colors were stale, but as Twilight passed by them, she found them quite enthralling. Six of them were even blooming side by side in the bracken. Twilight allowed herself to linger for a moment, but Trixie gestured that they should move quickly.

Trixie balanced her package well, even while she provided support to Twilight, who stumbled over her own hooves now and then, threatening to fall on her nose every few meters.

Her breaths were fast, but every single time she was about to fall her new friend caught her. For Twilight, that lifted any remaining suspicions she had about the other unicorn. Nopony besides Redheart had ever cared so much about her.

As they hurried through the garden, Twilight noticed some ponies sitting on a bench close to the entrance. They could have easily spotted the two, but if they did, they chose to ignore them.

Lucky us, Twilight thought. If nopony noticed them, Nurse Redheart wouldn‘t find out that they had fled.

She didn‘t want Redheart to be upset. The other nurses seemed to always be upset with her, so she really, really wanted to keep at least one of them happy. That alone almost made her turn around, not wanting to lose the only pony in this place who came when she needed her.

But, she did not go back, and instead followed closely behind Trixie. This would be the only time she broke the rules, and Nurse Redheart was nice, she would forgive her. All those smiles, the extra food, and every time she had held the filly‘s hoof to tell her that everything would be alright – all that wouldn‘t be erased so easily. At least, Twilight hoped so.

I just want to see Canterlot, just once.

When they reached the garden‘s front gate, the small brown filly looked back again. The hospital’s grey walls were cracked and some of the windows broken or barred with wood. It looked strangely abandoned, but Twilight bid it farewell nonetheless. She could have easily called it her second home, after all.

The world awaited them, and she felt a strange melancholy with that thought. Maybe I’ll meet Papa, maybe he’ll take me back home, she thought, hoping that he would give her a big hug and smile, just like in the dreams.

Trixie gave a casual nod to the guard that was placed at the gate, his only response being a dull gaze in their direction, telling them how little he cared about his work here, or even the safety of the two fillies leaving without their parents.

It reminded her of one of the detective stories she had read, only that he had escaped an asylum, at night, in a storm, with a princess in tow, and of course he had done that so that he could prove that the alicorn’s uncle had taken the throne unrightfully, having stolen the crown jewels himself.

Twilight had read that story six times now, and was proud of herself for understanding that, as nurse Redheart had called it, convulu-something plot. But as they stepped out and the city unfolded before them, Twilight’s attention was drawn to it.

Bristling with life, ponies moved seamlessly back and forth, and for a moment Twilight felt overwhelmed. There must’ve been hundreds there, just walking somewhere, and though she had seen it through the windows of carriages and the hospital, standing right in front of the bustling city felt, well, great. Twilight couldn’t help but smile a bit, though she felt herself shaking.

So the filly shuffled closer to Trixie, seeking comfort in being close to a pony that she could call a friend.

“We‘re going to the meeting point,” Trixie announced then, looking at the street before them.

Twilight couldn‘t help but tilt her head and asked, “Meeting point?”

“Mmhm,” Trixie replied, not breaking stride. “It‘s our super special secret place. It‘ll be awesome, and you‘re probably going to see the others, too. I mean, they’re awesome. Octy is a bit stuck-up, and Derpy looks weird, and Raindrops is too quiet, but they’re cool. Not Lyra though, Lyra is stupid.”

Twilight had to strain to hear Trixie as the sounds of the city buffered her. She could see the mouth of the other filly still moving, but couldn‘t make out anything she said. Was she explaining something important? Twilight didn‘t know, but also didn‘t say anything, since walking around town like that was too exhilarating to be worried. Whatever Trixie was saying couldn’t be more important than being in the middle of “life”.

The only way it could‘ve been better was if her mother was there smiling and helping her walk, ruffling her daughter’s mane with her hoof before pulling her into a hug.

The filly swallowed and shook her head. She wasn’t in the hospital anymore, she didn’t need to do nothing anymore. She could just move, see the world. Twilight stood outside now, and she needed to keep close to Trixie, because if she lost her. ...

Just imagining being lost in the crowd sent tendrils of cold terror down her spine and Twilight forced herself to take deep breaths as her heart resumed its frantic beat.

She needed to calm down and try to keep up with Trixie. Within the crowd however, that proved more and more difficult by the moment. Every step held a new wonder, something she had missed when she had looked out from her window. A pony sitting by a fence, holding out a hat, begging for money; an old mare with one eye, sitting on a bench with a young filly who tried to fight back tears. So much life. Twilight thought.

Her eyes swept the buildings, drinking in the sights. While they walked, Twilight forgot the ill, lonely, bed-bound filly surrounded by books.

Marveling at the city, she mentally noted down everything. From the stallions with their top hats, and the mares with their fancy headdresses trotting around on the sidewalks; the carriages, both motorized and pulled manually by deer that filled the street and created the sound of traffic at high-noon.

It truly was a dazzling display, especially the deer. Her father had told her that long ago they had got in a war with Equestria, and lost their lands before being enslaved. At least, until Cadenza had freed them, and given them a chance to live in peace and harmony with the ponies.

Canterlot was a dazzling city, Twilight noted. The buildings were old and ugly, but the ponies, the deer, the few donkeys, they were all just so fair, and while Twilight stumbled forward clumsily, everypony else had an elegance to their movements. None of them are as weak as I am.

Trixie gave her a nudge.

“Come on,” she said cheerfully, a grin with missing teeth adorning her face.

Trixie quickly led them across the street, but not before dodging a motorized carriage and having a deer pause to let them past, the pony in the carriage shouted in outrage, but it didn‘t matter to them. The two had already disappeared into the crowd of ponies. They trotted across the sidewalk until they reached an alley.

There was a pegasus nearby – he seemed to be comforting a filly that could‘ve been his daughter. Twilight paused for a moment as she catched a hint of their conversation, and curiosity dictated that she listened to all of it.

“Daddy‘ll go to kick some griffon flank soon! Really, RD, there‘s nothing to worry about. Daddy‘s the strongest warrior there is.”

While he spoke, Twilight realized that he wore black uniform with golden buttons, matched those of a high-ranking Cloudsdalian officer. Twilight only recognized it from a picture book her father had given Shining. It contained all the military ranks he could earn by joining up with the guard. Still, as shiny as the uniform was, it didn‘t hold her attention for long.

No, she found herself looking at the filly that seemed like it was about to to weep in the arms of a mare that might‘ve been her mother. Twilight didn‘t know why she drew her attention to the filly, except that “RD‘s” mane had six colors, ranging from black to pale blonde.

Pony manes could range from the palest blonde, to the richest brown, to even the deepest black, but never before had Twilight seen a pony with so many colors in her hair. Trixie‘s coloring didn‘t look half as weird now.

It was one of the many sights she was sure to not forget when she went back to the hospital. Nurse Redheart would surely be able to explain some of the things to her.

Turning away, Twilight spotted Trixie in the alley, having stopped and looking eager. The piebald foal waved with her hoof. Their way would apparently lead through the dark corners of the city, the places Shining Armor had described as a maze hundreds of fillies got lost in every day. Twilight was a bit nervous about going in there, but Trixie knew the way, she was sure of it.

Another burst of excitement got her smile to widen and the brown unicorn moved forward, her frail legs carrying her away from the loud streets and deeper into the brown alley, which was filled with bags of trash and the rotten smell of vomit, an odor she knew far too well.

However, she ignored it and continued on. She kept her eyes on Trixie, making sure to not lose her. There was no way she was going to get lost. Despite that bit of anxiety, she felt good, and very strong. Truth be spoken, her first trip to the outside went better than she had expected.

Trixie turned around again. “You know–”

Then Twilight’s legs gave in, the strength leaving them without so much as a hint.

She fell into a puddle in the middle of the small alley, surrounded by trash, with the small rats turning their eyes towards her for a moment, before they resumed their business. It was the moment she had been dreading, and she began to gag and cough. Her heart hammered against her chest, her stomach began to throb in tandem with her heart. The pain was coming back and Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her stomach, tears falling to the ground. She knew what was about to happen, and soon enough she began to hurl.

“Breathe, Twilight, breathe!” the voice cut through the pain, and suddenly Twilight was looking at a new filly – no, a mare with a wagon, fighting a gigantic bear that was made of stars.

With a blink, the mare vanished, and she saw Trixie standing over her. The unicorn had a fearful expression, and seemed ready to panic. Yet she took a deep breath and fixed her gaze on Twilight, being as brave as a hero from one of the stories Twilight loved so much.

“Calm down,” she soothed. “Look at me, watch me! Look at Trixie! Look at her! You need to breathe like Trixie! Come on! In ... and out ... In ... and out.”

Twilight watched the now pale filly who was breathing in and out, playing it up as much as she could for her friend’s benefit. It was mostly instinct that made Twilight copy her.

“In,” Trixie said and they both breathed in.

“And out,” Trixie said and they both exhaled.

Over and over again they repeated, and, strangely enough, Twilight felt the pain receding. Twilight kept her focus on Trixie however, on imitating her.

With her mess of a face, her missing teeth, and now the over-the-top facial expressions, Trixie looked very funny to Twilight. Yet she didn’t laugh, instead she just followed the instructions, and soon the stomach pains left her and even her heart calmed down, yet she herself felt almost like she was only watching the scene unfurl.

Twilight was only a bystander as she fell into unconsciousness.

But Trixie stood by her the entire time, watching her recover. The stink of city was enveloping them, and Twilight still felt awful, but all of a sudden, Trixie pulled her close, hugging her with all her strength. Between sobs, she whispered reassuring words into Twilight‘s ear; that she wouldn‘t let anything bad happen to her, that she was her friend, that she‘d never leave anypony alone, that Twilight could trust her, because Trixie was honest, because Trixie was a good filly, and the best wizard in the world.

Twilight noticed in her delirium that the other filly had suddenly started talking in the third person. It was very strange, she dazedly thought, but it faded quite quickly. Her relaxed, her eyes went shut, and all the remaining pain vanished.

Once more, the world she dreamt of welcomed her warmly.


Twilight woke up under a spotted, woolen blanket, with an unicorn filly leaning over her. Trixie was watching her with her brows drawn together, biting her lip, but her mouth immediately turned into a smile as she saw her friend open her eyes.

She quickly threw her arms around Twilight’s neck, not even bothering to make sure whether the weaker unicorn had recognized her.

For the first seconds, Twilight felt her breath stop, but as she felt the warmth of the hug and grew more aware of her surroundings, she also remembered what had happened. Yet she couldn’t say anything, and for a few moments there was no sound and even her heart beat only slowly. This was broken after what Twilight would’ve described as a blissful eternity.

“Oh, thank Celestia, you‘re awake,” Trixie whispered.

“Y-yeah,” Twilight said, lifting her arms to return the hug. It didn‘t matter how weak she felt, she wanted her friend to know she was okay.

Loosening her grip after a moment of lingering, Twilight took a look at her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was where she lay.

She was on a sofa that was colored in the most atrocious green, and full of holes, yet oddly enough it felt more comfortable than any bed she had ever slept in. They seemed to be in a large hall. The walls were made out of red stone blocks, with wooden planks hammered into them to help support the frame.

However, the best feature of the hall was the assortment of items – there were old toasters, tables, and even a couple beds haphazardly lying about. Not to mention the spotted carpets filled with holes, moth-eaten drapes, small packages filled with clothes, and so much more. Yet, the longer she looked around, the older and more damaged everything appeared.

Spotting a window, she saw Canterlot‘s sky was filled with storm clouds, the implication of the sight made her feel slightly more nervous. Turning back to Trixie, who still hadn‘t released her, she gave a light push so they could talk properly.

“How long have I been out?”

“Maybe an hour, tops,” Trixie answered after a moment, her brows furrowing again.

“When I break down, I usually sleep a lot longer,” Twilight said with a small giggle.

It might‘ve been Trixie‘s presence that made everything feel brighter and filled her with a bit of joy, but there was that strange feeling that within her that must’ve been the real cause.

Twilight lifted her right hoof to her horn, trying to remember, she had dreamt of something, something she knew in her bones was very important, but couldn‘t remember what. Sensing an approaching headache, she tried to change the topic. “We‘re not back in the hospital.”

Trixie looked away from her for a second, and she seemed unable to grasp any word, but then they started to tumble out of her mouth and over each other for a second. “T-Trixie panicked and when Trixie panics she always goes here first ... but! Trixie knows this place is the best for resting up. Nopony can find us here, so everything is always awesome. You can trust Trixie on that. Nopony else is more trustworthy; Trixie can always keep a promise or a secret.”

Twilight blinked. Trixie rushed through her sentences, and she was fidgeting as she spoke, but before Twilight could say something about that, Trixie had jumped off the sofa.

She then picked four different bottles off the ground. The bottles had names printed on them in Elder Equestrian and beneath in New Equestrian detailing the contents.

Twilight only needed a glance to realize they were her medications. She couldn’t quite figure out why they were here, but then it came to her. Trixie had gotten them for her, to make sure she was safe. The filly was more reliable than her papa, and almost as nice as Nurse Redheart. Twilight wanted to pull her into another hug and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she said, a bright but slightly strained smile on her face as she took the bottles and opened them.

Twilight was proud to be able to remember how many the nurses would give her, and she quickly swallowed some, hoping that Nightmare Moon would gobble her ailment up.

“Trixie didn‘t know you suffered from that sickness,” Trixie said, with her eyes studying her hooves.

So she knows, Twilight thought, saddened.

Trixie knew of it, but then again, she had been at the hospital, and the nurses and doctors always liked to talk about how awful unicorns and unicorn illnesses were.

Despite that, however, Trixie had helped her and Twilight knew that she would be just fine. The only important thing right now was that she was finally outside in Canterlot.

“It doesn‘t matter,” she said reassuringly, and then decided to aim for the reason why they had come this far to begin with. “Hey, what‘s it you wanted to show me?”

Twilight was still intent on making this trip count, especially after what happened in the alleyway. Trixie seemed thankful for Twilight’s upbeat attitude, and returned the smile with her own, ugly smile. “Right!” She spoke, her voice reaching the highest pitch of excitement.

Trixie grabbed the box of her back and kicked open her tiny box with her gray hoof, and with a theatrical swirl she pulled out a purple, star-spangled cloak, and a matching hat.

She rapidly fastened the cloak around her neck while Twilight watched the glittering stars on it in awe. Trixie then placed the hat atop her head, and stood up on her hind legs.

“Now watch in awe, while Trixie performs the greatestest tricks today!” she exclaimed, raising her front hooves above her head. Again, a smile adorned her face, but it was different now.

Charming, charismatic, Twilight thought as she saw the beaten up filly stand there, her hat slipping down her face. This will be fun.

She had never been to a magician‘s show before. Twilight giddily clapped her hooves together. No matter what happened next, it would be the greatest thing she‘d ever see. Papa and Shining couldn‘t see it, but that didn‘t matter, this was her moment, hers alone.

Her ears perked up, and her heart beat against her chest, but for the first time she didn‘t care. Trixie was about to show here the best tricks in the world – what more could she ask for?

Yet, what happened wasn‘t quite what she expected. Instead of marvelous tricks, a voice sounded off from the hall. It was very quiet, but steadfast, full of of innocent beliefs and childish dreams. A voice that filled Twilight with wonder, but made Trixie furrow her brows and twist her mouth. The voice only asked one question, for the filly cared only about one thing whenever she saw a wizard or magician performing.

“Could you grow me hands?” Lyra asked.