//------------------------------// // The Princess of the Sun // Story: My Lady, My Love, My Life // by MysteriousStranger //------------------------------// The day on which Trixie was finally going to meet Princess Celestia had arrived. Trixie used the entire week to prepare herself for the big day; spending more time with Rarity and Twilight. Twilight told her everything she needed to know about her mentor and Rarity taught her how to behave and talk in front of one of their rulers. She was standing ready at the train station with her luggage, wearing her cape and hat and surrounded by her friends and fiancée. When they saw that the train was arriving, Twilight was the first one to hug Trixie. “First Rarity, then Pinkie and now you. We’ll miss you during the following two weeks.” “You seemed to manage just fine before I came to live here.” Trixie said as she broke the hug. “We got used to have you around.” Twilight said as she stepped backwards to let Spike shake his hand with Trixie’s hoof. “Take care, Trixie. Try not to abuse of her kindness.” “Please, Spike, you know that I won’t.” Spike smiled as he also stepped backwards to let Pinkie Pie hug Trixie tightly. “Don’t forget to write to us, Trix! We want to know everything about your staying!” The party pony hugged Trixie tighter and tighter as she spoke, turning her friend even more blue. “Can’t… breathe!” “Oopsie!” Pinkie Pie released Trixie. “Sorry. I wanted to give you a hug so big, that you would be able to feel it for two weeks!” “I think that I’ll feel it for two months.” Trixie said as she caught her breath. “Umm...” Fluttershy said as she covered her face with her hair. “I will feel lonely in my cottage without you...” Trixie had to be the one to start the hug. “There may be a certain pony whose company you might enjoy.” Fluttershy blushed at this and Trixie broke the hug with a smile. Applejack was next. She put her foreleg on Trixie’s wither. “Ah’ll leave some apple trees for yer return, sugarcube.” “Thanks, Applejack. I really miss Apple Bucking.” Rainbow Dash called Trixie’s attention by patting her wither behind her and whispered her something only for Trixie to hear. “I’ll try to do something about Applejack, I promise.” Trixie smiled and hugged her friend, who slowly returned it. “I’m glad to hear that, Rainbow. Good luck.” They broke the hug and Trixie turned to find Rarity in front of her. Rainbow Dash returned to her friends as the fashionista gave Trixie a long embrace. “I will miss you, Trixie-boo.” “Me too. At least I have a picture of you.” “So do I, but it won’t be enough...” Rarity said as she broke the embrace, looking down. Trixie thought for a moment and took her cape off. The fancy Unicorn rised her head, surprised, when Trixie put her cape on her. “You need this more than I do.” “But, Trixie-mphf...” Trixie softly put her hoof on Rarity’s mouth. “I have my hat and you my cape. We will be connected.” Trixie released Rarity’s mouth and put her hoof on Rarity’s chin. “It will only be for two weeks, sweetheart.” Rarity gazed at Trixie’s eye for a few more moments before she jumped on Trixie, wrapping her forelegs around Trixie’s neck and giving her a long passionate kiss. All of their friends looked away while this happened. They softly broke the kiss when the train arrived and opened its doors. Trixie took her luggage and walked in, turning to see everyone. “I love you.” Rarity said as the doors closed once all the passengers left or entered the train. “Of course you do.” Trixie managed to say with a smirk just before the doors closed. Rarity followed the train as it left until the train station ended. Trixie could only look at her, with one of her hooves touching the glass of the window. Rarity stood still, watching the train leave. She kept looking at the tracks once the train was no longer in sight. She didn’t even make a gesture when somepony put their hoof on her wither. “Come on, sugarcube. Let’s head back to town. There’s no point in stayin’ here.” Rarity didn’t reply, so Applejack walked next to her friend. “Rarity?” Still no response. The fashionista didn’t move a muscle. All of her friends had to come to her and lead her back to the town. *** Trixie spent the whole trip with her head resting on the window of the train, seeing the landscape ‘move’. When she arrived, she was surprised that there were two royal guards waiting for her. “Princess Celestia summoned you?” One of them asked. “Y-Yes...” “Please, come with us.” Trixie nodded and followed the guards all the way to the castle. They got inside and the guards lead Trixie to one of the various guest rooms which the castle had. Trixie barely could appreciate the decorations. They asked her to unpack and they told her that somepony would come shortly to take her to meet Princess Celestia. Trixie thanked them and unpacked her stuff once the guards left. She put her hat on a coat rack and her Little Mares book on the night table alongside Rarity and Clementine’s photo on its special frame which Rarity gifted her on their first Hearth Warming Eve. I should probably read another book besides this one and the magic books… I’ll go to Golden Oak when I get back. The magician pony carefully took her dress from the luggage and put it on the bed to see if it was damaged or if it had any trace of stains. It was the same dress which she used on her first date with Rarity. She smiled when she remembered what her fiancée after suggesting her to wear it. “I want you to look radiant to make a marvelous first impression! But don’t overdo with your makeup. We don’t want her to get too pleased to meet you.” Trixie chuckled before sighing. “Rarity...” Trixie gazed upon Rarity’s picture. In it, Rarity was smiling elegantly, like she usually did. It was the smile Trixie most liked. “You’re probably waiting for me to write to you. I’ll do it once I meet Princess Celestia and I figure out how to send the letters to you.” She stared at the picture for a long time before turning her head to the bed, spotting her dress. She remembered that she would soon meet one of her rulers so, she shook her head and walked to the bed as she magically levitated the dress towards her and she put it on. Just as she finished putting her makeup on, somepony knocked on the door. Trixie opened it to find another royal guard. “Princess Celestia is ready to receive you. Come with me.” Trixie nodded and followed him. She looked at her surroundings on the way; Every single part of the castle was radiant. All clean and shining and very well decorated. After some minutes, they arrived to a pair of big wooden doors. “She’s beyond these doors. I must return to my post.” “Thank you.” The guard left, leaving the Unicorn alone. Trixie stared at the doors for a few moments. She sighed to encourage herself and entered the throne room. As she walked through the red carpet, she noticed stained glasses which immortalized evil plans foiled by Twilight and her friends. She then looked front of her and saw Princess Celestia in all her stateliness sitting on her throne chair. She was looking at her subject sternly. Trixie stood still and bowed to her. With her eyes closed and her head down, she could only hear how Princess Celestia slowly walked to her. “I have heard a great deal about you, Lulamoon Trixie. You treated other ponies as inferiors, acquired a dangerous artifact, kicked out Twilight Sparkle from Ponyville, you enslaved the town! And…!” Trixie kept her head down all the time, closing her eyes shut when Princess Celestia emphasized the last. The Unicorn waited for her ruler to continue, expecting the worse. “you saved the element of Generosity.” Trixie opened her eyes and slowly rised her gaze to meet her ruler’s warm smile. “Arise, my little pony. We have much to discuss and we cannot speak properly if you don’t look at me.” “Your highness?” “You have nothing to fear. I know about your latest actions and my younger sister told me about her visit to your subconscious. I’m glad that you could meet your brother one last time.” Princess Celestia spoke with serenity. “I’m really thankful to Princess Luna for allowing me to speak with him, and I want to thank you for asking him to watch over me.” The showmare was now standing normally and speaking with confidence. “I see that my sister was right about your humility. Trixie Lulamoon, you have made much progress the past year.” “I have one pony to thank for that.” Trixie was smiling. “Your fiancée.” Trixie was surprised to hear that last. “Yes, I have heard. Congratulations for your engagement.” “Thank you, Princess...” Trixie said with a blush. “Have you already planned the wedding?” “Yes. We have most of it planned, but… we can’t afford a big wedding like Rarity wanted.” “I may have the solution for that.” “Your highness...” Trixie quickly spoke. “If you’re offering me a loan, I can’t accept it.” “Oh, no, no. It can’t be a loan if it's yours.” “Excuse me?” The magician pony was confused. “While you were in a coma, Twilight Sparkle asked me to send a search team where you fought Night Wing to confiscate any dangerous devices.” “She did? Why didn’t she tell me?” “I imagine that she thought that you wouldn’t be interested to know. It’s normal to revise any place which were used for evil schemes.” “Yes, probably...” “The team found various prototypes of mechanical horns hidden inside a secret room.” Princess Celestia continued. “My scientists realized that the devices were fairly advanced and they were able to make it work the way Night Wing’s horn worked.” “And that is something good?” The Princess of the Sun smiled. “It is. Think how much good they would make to handicapped ponies. This invention will revolutionize medicine by giving special ponies a second chance. I can see why you have a bad image of it after your encounter with your brother.” “He was no brother of mine. My only brother was Clementine.” Trixie said slightly angry. She took a few moments to calm herself before continuing. “How will this help with my wedding?” “You have the patent of this marvelous invention, my subject. You’re wealthy.” Trixie’s eyes widened, but after a few moments, her face showed disinterest. “I don’t want it.” “Pardon me?” Princess Celestia was confused. “I don’t want those bits. The inventions were created by a monster for evil purposes.” “But they were put to good use.” “I don’t deserve it.” “You’ll be able to afford a big wedding.” Trixie was about to refuse again, but she thought about what Princess Celestia just said. She would be able to give Rarity the wedding of her dreams. She didn’t want to give her a regular wedding, she wanted to make it special, to make that day one she would never forget. After after considering the idea, Trixie spoke again. “I’ll use the bits I need to afford the wedding Rarity deserves and I’ll donate the rest to charity.” Princess Celestia smiled warmly. “Very well. Those are your bits and you can do as you please with it.” “This is what I want. I’ll be happy when I get married to the pony I love. Rarity and my friends are my wealth; I’m not asking for more.” “Then I shall respect your wishes, my little pony. Your act of kindness shall not be left unrewarded.” “Please, your highness, no more rewards. I’m nothing special.” “I’m afraid it is not up to me, Trixie Lulamoon. The ponies who receive the money you’re donating will want to thank you somehow. It would be rude to refuse.” “Oh. Then I suppose that I’m fine with that.” “I’m also thinking on restoring Unicorn Hills to its former glory.” Princess Celestia said as she returned to her throne. “You will?” Trixie said as she followed her ruler, standing in front of the throne. “Pardon my curiosity, Princess, but why didn’t you do it before?” “The complete annihilation of a town is a complicated matter. I refused to reconstruct Unicorn Hills until after knowing the reason of its destruction and having the responsible neutralized. Thanks to you, Twilight Sparkle and your friends, I can order Shining Armor to begin the preparations to start with the restoration.” “Shining Armor? Isn’t that Twilight’s brother?” “He is.” “But I thought that he had an Empire to rule alongside his wife, Princess Cadence.” “When Shining Armor and Princess Cadence assumed to the throne of the Crystal Empire, I told him that he didn’t need to take orders from me anymore. He refused.” “I see. Will the town be the same as before? The ‘Only Unicorns allowed’ policy didn’t work well last time.” “It will keep the name, but any type of pony will be allowed to live there if they please. Of course, the cemetery will be kept so it will look better next time you visit your family.” “I would really appreciate that.” Trixie said with a smile. “I will also add new statues.” “New statues? Of who?” “Of those who defeated the responsible of destroying Unicorn Hills.” “Of Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and me?” “Don’t forget about Spike. He also helped by calling for help.” “And saving my life from a trap. Yes, he deserves it.” Trixie looked down for a few seconds before sighing and asking the Princess of the Sun the question she most wanted to. “Princess… how could Night Wing have the ability to get into the dreams of other ponies?” “Oh, yes… good question, my subject. He wasn’t the first of his kind.” “His kind?” Trixie confusedly asked. Princess Celestia nodded with her eyes closed before continuing. “He was a mutant. A pony with abilities nopony else had. One is born every century for reasons my sister and I haven’t discovered. Some use their abilities for good and others don’t. You had the misfortune that Night Wing’s intentions weren’t good.” “What kind of abilities does these ‘mutants’ have?” “They never had any visible trait, making them easier to blend in and more difficult to find. I once met a stallion who could gallop all he wanted without getting tired.” “Using the word ‘Mutant’ makes me imagine those ponies like if they had three eyes or something gross like that.” “I don’t like using that word either, but I wasn’t able to find another way to describe them. All questions answered?” “Yes. Thank you, Princess.” “Follow me, then.” Princess Celestia said as she smiled warmly. “Where are we going?” “I’m going to explain you what each of these stained glasses means. Each one of them commemorates an important event.” The Alicorn said as she lead Trixie to a stained glass which illustrated Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity at the bottom, floating and casting a light towards a black Alicorn with armor above them. “Take this one, for example. This one shows how my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle and her newly made friends defeated Nightmare Moon and made her come to her senses once again and returned to rule alongside me.” “How did they do that?” “Using the Elements of Harmony. The most powerful magical artifacts in existence.” “The Elements of Harmony… all this time, I never wondered what made them so special. I mean, I knew that they had some interesting adventures, but, this? What does the Elements represent?” “Each of them are the bearer of an element. Twilight Sparkle is the bearer of the Element of magic, Fluttershy is the bearer of the Element of Kindness, Applejack is the bearer of the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash is the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Pinkie Pie is the bearer of the Element of Laughter, and Rarity is the bearer of the Element of Generosity.” Trixie got closer to the stained glass as Princess Celestia finished and looked at Rarity’s illustration with a dreamy eye. Bearer of the Element of Generosity… Trixie remained still for some seconds. Princess Celestia could guess what she was thinking. “Your feelings for her must be deep.” “They are. I owe her everything. She’s the reason I smile and I have friends now. They all helped me in a way.” Trixie said before looking at Twilight’s illustration. “Twilight was always the pony I could rely on, even before I became friends with her. She came to check on me, she gave me pieces of advices to ask Rarity out and she comforted me when Rarity told me that she had a date with somepony else. I’m proud to call her my best friend.” The magician pony moved her head to look at Fluttershy’s illustration. “Fluttershy gave me a place to live, where I’m still living until Rarity and I get married. She’s also a good company and her stories about the forest critters are always interesting.” Trixie looked at Applejack’s illustration. “Applejack. How to describe her? She’s the stronger mare I’ve ever met and she was kind enough to let me work for her.” She, then, gazed at Rainbow Dash’s illustration. “Loyal, fast and style. Those are the three words that which describes Rainbow Dash. She saved my life and I always look forward to hang out with her.” Trixie, finally, gazed at Pinkie Pie’s illustration. “No matter how sad you are, that pony will always find a way to make you smile. Pinkie Pie’s objective is to make everypony smile. I work with her sometimes. Thanks to the Cakes and the Apples, I was able to save enough bits to buy a bagpipe with which I used to propose to Rarity.” Trixie kept admiring the Stained Glass with a big smile on her face. Princess Celestia let the silence rule for a few seconds in which only the sounds of their breaths were heard before speaking again. “Each one of them caused a major impact in your life.” Trixie nodded, unaware that her eye was wet. “I’m pleased to hear that they were nice enough to give you a second chance.” “I care for all of them. I wish I didn’t have to drag them into my fight against Night Wing.” “But you prevailed thanks to their assistance. You can finally stop running from your past.” “Yes. I can now settle and get married to the pony I love without fearing that my past comes to take everything away again.” “Is there something troubling you, my little pony?” Trixie didn’t expect such question out of nowhere. But, truth to be told, something was troubling her. She didn’t know how Princess Celestia knew, but she decided not to ask. “Yes. I want to write a letter to them, but I don’t know how to use the mail here. I’m sure that everypony is wondering that I have arrived and that I’m fine.” “Certainly. I’ll show you how to send a mail and, then, I shall continue with the rest of the stained glasses.” “Yes, please. I wish to know more about my friends.” "I can also ask for tea to be made, if you wish." "Umm, could I have coffee? Don't tell Rarity, but I don't really like tea." "Of course." *** A week had passed since Trixie went to Canterlot. Fluttershy didn’t feel so lonely since Twilight would visit her more often and Pinkie Pie always managed to make her smile whenever she felt down. However, the party pony only managed to make Rarity smile only a bit and only for a moment. The fashionista wasn’t feeling depressed all the time, though. Her friends would usually keep her mind busy and Rarity herself tried her best to stay as cheerful as possible. Right now, she was having a tea party with Fluttershy and Twilight outside Fluttershy’s cottage. “Good idea about having a tea party outside, Rarity!” Twilight said while Rarity served her tea. “I often forget how relaxing it is just to sit and feel the fresh air on your body.“ “Maybe you should go out more often, darling.” Rarity said as she sat back on her spot and magically took her cup of tea. “I rarely see you outside unless all of us get together.” “I have much to read. I even study when I’m with Fluttershy.” “It’s true.” Fluttershy joined the conversation, taking a sip of her tea. “She always brings a book when she accompanies me to take care of the forest critters.” “Twilight, that’s not nice!” Twilight blushed of embarrassment when her friend scolded her. “Oh, it’s okay. I don’t mind.” Fluttershy spoke again. “She still pays me attention.” “That’s right. I listen to her when she speaks to me and I peer her from my book when she’s distracted.” “I pretend to be distracted…” Fluttershy said blushing slightly, causing Twilight to gaze upon her, confused. “Why?” “I think it’s cute when you try to be cautious. And I like seeing you reading. I shouldn’t do it? I’m sorry…” The Pegasus looked down, hiding her face with her hair. Twilight put one of her hooves on Fluttershy’s chin and made her look at her. “You have nothing to apologize.” The lavender Unicorn said before kissing her softly. Fluttershy smiled and kissed Twilight passionately while Twilight put her hoof on one of Fluttershy’s cheeks. “I love you so much.” Twilight said as she softly pulled away. “I love you too.” The couple nuzzled their cheeks before noticing that Rarity was staring at them, annoyed. Fluttershy hid her face with her hair again and Twilight nervously scratched the back of her head. “Sorry…” “No, it’s fine, Twilight. You can kiss in front of me while my fiancée is miles away from here.” Rarity realized how rude she sounded when it was too late. Seeing Twilight offended and Fluttershy hiding her face even more made her feel guilty. Rarity hugged herself before standing up. “Excuse me.” Rarity trotted to Fluttershy’s cottage, entering and closing the door behind her. “Poor Rarity… she surely went to Trixie’s room again.” Fluttershy said after she saw the door closing. “We should do something for her…” Twilight said while she put a hoof on her chin, thinking. “And I know what will make her feel better! Shy, I have to go.” “I don’t like seeing Rarity like this. Please, Twilight, hurry!” Twilight nodded and gave Fluttershy a peck on her lips before teleporting back to her library. She appeared on the kitchen where Spike was cleaning the dishes. The baby dragon got scared and dropped the plate he was drying. “Agh! Twilight, I asked you not to do that inside!” Spike said as he breathed to calm himself down. “Sorry, Spike, but this is extremely important.” The Unicorn said while she walked to where the bookshelves were with Spike following her. “Get a piece of parchment. I need to write to Princess Celestia.”