//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 (part one): Deadly Honest // Story: Actually, I'm Dead // by Magenta Cat //------------------------------// “Here we are, Sweet Apple Acres!” Once again, Twilight’s voice snapped Trixie out of her thoughts. She made a mental note of how frequent that was becoming. Trixie had been trotting down the dirt road, doing her best to hide all of her body under the cloak, meeting some levels of failure due to the wind that day. Twilight was trotting next to her, keeping the same pace. She was doing her best to cheer up Trixie, with all the success of an earth pony trying to traverse Cloudsdale. As the main entrance was open, Trixie and Twilight walked down to the apple orchards, looking for Applejack. After some minutes that let Trixie appreciate the beauty of the strong and healthy apple trees, they found the pony in question harvesting the already mature apples of the trees down a hill. “Trixie will… wait here,” said Trixie as she let her hooves drag to a halt on the dirt road, interrupting whatever topic Twilight was rambling about now. “Get out of this sun a little. While you… discuss matters with your friend and see if she’s okay with Trixie being here.” Twilight frowned at Trixie’s phony smile, looking between her fellow unicorn and the ponies down the hill before muttering acceptance and assurances, and trotting off. Feeling tension she didn’t know she was holding drain from her shoulders, Trixie moved into the shade of the nearest apple tree and hid behind its trunk while still keeping an eye on the ponies at the bottom of the hill. It wasn’t that she was worried about Applejack and how she’d react, more that she had spotted a young yellow filly working alongside the older mare. Twilight had identified her as Apple Bloom before departing. Dealing with Applejack on her own was going to be trying enough, Trixie didn’t need a young filly there to complicate matters further. Not after how the rest of the town reacted to her. From her hiding place, Trixie could see how Twilight greeted the two farmer ponies. Since she was too far away, Trixie couldn’t hear what Twilight told them, but she had a pretty good guess what was said since Applejack turned back to her sister and told her something before sending her away. That made Trixie sigh in resignation. “So this is how my life is going to be?” she thought, sitting down next to the tree and not paying any more attention to her surroundings as she reflected once more on what had just befallen her. While still prone on the ground after Pinkie’s departure, a very badly timed gust of wind had blown Trixie’s cloak out of place, leaving her whole body exposed in the middle of a busy road. As Trixie expected, the visage of something that clearly should be six hooves underground and not walking among the living unsettled the ponies around her. Their reaction was a bit more extrene than she anticipated, though; the entire town block deserted in seconds amidst screams of terror, sans the three ponies who cried “The horror!” and fainted. Trixie was really thrown back by how much fear she instilled in them, and if it wasn’t for Twilight constantly trying to start a conversation, Trixie would have remained completely silent for the rest of the trip. Trixie remembered her promise to herself; never fall down that abyss again. But it was hard to keep it, especially since she seemed to be relegated to the shadows. If she ever dared to step into the light for ponies to see her, fear and hatred would arise. She wasn’t a stranger to the feeling tough, with all the public shaming that the Ursa incident brought. Trixie was already an outsider among the more well know towns and cities around Equestria before due to that. But now? Being now apart from existence itself? This was a new level of isolation. “They didn’t need to cry ‘the horror’ to the four winds,” Trixie surprised herself saying out loud. “What’s ‘the horror’?” Trixie quickly raised her head and saw the same yellow and red filly accompanying Applejack. “And who are you?” So lost in her thoughts and her head so deep inside the hood that Trixie hadn’t noticed the small figure approaching from the same road she and Twilight walked some moments ago. Trixie tried to think of a good answer for the filly without saying exactly who she was. “Enough rejections for one day.” “You’re Apple Bloom, right?” Trixie finally said, trying to hide her tone too. “The very same.” Apple Bloom smiled at Trixie. She then frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Hey, how’d you know who I am?” “I… am a friend of Twilight,” Trixie said doubtfully. “She told me who you and your sister were.” “Oh… okay.” Apple Bloom sounded almost disappointed. “Anyway, who are you?” She tried edging around Trixie, to get a look under her cloak. “You kinda look like Zecora, what wit’ that cloak a’ yours, but you don’t sound like a zebra.” “A zebra?” Trixie thought. “Now that would be something.” “No, little pony, I’m not a zebra.” Trixie was about to leave it there, but the expression on Apple Bloom’s face told her it was hopeless. “Think of me as a phantom, a stranger, and that’s all you need to know about me.” “Still doesn't seem fair that you know my name and I don’t know yers,” the little yellow filly replied with a pout. “Can you tell me what you’re doing on my family’s farm with Twilight? This some big secret with what happened in town the other day?” *sigh* Trixie sighed in defeat, this one seemed to know just enough. “Alright, you seem smart enough to understand what is happening, which is more of what I can say about some of your fellow towns ponies.” Trixie got back to her hooves. “You’re right, I am involved in the events that transpired two days ago.” Apple bloom sat down, spectating at the stranger’s curious way of speaking. “But before I reveal myself, I must ask to you,” the young filly leaned forward, “what do you know about the unicorn named Trixie?” “Trixie?” Apple Bloom wrinkled her muzzle in distaste. “I know that she was a mad showmare, that she had some kinda grudge ‘gainst Twilight. She came to town a couple days ago and started throwing around all this dark magic, tormentin’ my sister and her friends after kickin’ Twilight out. I helped my sister and the others get her in the end, though! She was using this evil amulet, the Alicorn Amulet or somethin’, and we tricked it off her.” Looking away, the yellow filly frowned a bit. “She collapsed after that, fainted from using too much magic my sister told me. I know they took her to the hospital. Hey, are you here from Canterlot to arrest her or something for all she done?” “I…” Trixie didn’t know what to say. She could feel her throat had tightened up. “Yes, something like that.” Trixie thought about what to say next. Was her image really that bad? More important, was that only an image, or what she really was? Trixie decided to put her doubts aside. After all, there was a filly in front of her waiting for an answer. “The show must go on.” “Trixie is the reason of me being here,” she started. “Not to punish her more though, but to help her overcome what has happened to her.” It wasn’t a complete lie, Trixie did want to overcome all of this. “Help her?” Apple Bloom repeated incredulously. “What makes you say she deserves help?” Trixie was about to answer, only to be cut off by the thunder of hooves and an angry shout of, “Hey, you! Git away from ma sister!” “Applejack?” Apple Bloom looked away, seeing how her bigger sister was racing towards them. “What’s happenin’?” “Get behind me!” “But--” “Behind me! Now!” Apple Bloom never saw Applejack like that, but she sure didn’t want to contradict her either. The filly got behind her bigger sister, trusting in the grown up to know what to do. “And you, Trixie!” Applejack pointed and accusatory hoof at Trixie. “Ah don’t want you near of my family, or my house!” Trixie cringed, her tail tucking itself between her legs as she tried to retreat deeper into her cloak. She knew that there would be rage against her, she knew that her appearance was something that instilled fear in others. But to have both combined and against her like this? That was something she never expected to see and with the stars above as her witnesses, she didn’t want to see again! “Didn’t you hear me?!” Applejack barked at Trixie, who was frozen in front of her. “Go! Away!” “Applejack, wait!” Twilight finally managed to catch up with her friend, but it was too late. Rage and fear had done their job and the damage complete. The scholar unicorn arrived only in time to see a black cloak swirling in the wind, disappearing into the distance. “Applejack, what did you do?” Twilight couldn’t believe what she just saw. “What Ah had to do to protect mah family.” There wasn’t the slightest regret in her tone. “But I told you she wasn’t dangerous!” The tone of her voice showed only frustration. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” Applejack muttered, wrapping a foreleg over her little sister’s back. Twilight saw how the black spot was now missing from her line of sight and she knew that Trixie would need help. “We-we will talk about this later.” She didn’t expect an answer this time and went full gallop down the same path that Trixie took. “Uh, what just happened?” asked a very perplexed Apple Bloom, looking up at her sister. In less than a few minutes, Twilight has already galloped out of Sweet Apple Acres. Seeing at how Trixie was nowhere to see, she stopped herself, fearing what the undead unicorn would do in a moment like this. Twilight looked down, searching for any sign of her quarry, and found three set of hooves marked on the ground; two entering the farm that were her own and Trixie’s, and a third set leaving it. Twilight didn’t need to think about it. She followed the third trail. Seeing how the prints were getting closer with each step, Twilight reasoned that Trixie got tired and gradually slowed down from full gallop to trot, so she expected to find her fellow pony at the end of the trail any second. What she found instead left her baffled. For when Twilight looked around, Trixie was nowhere to be seen, just two final hoof prints in the dirt next to a lonely tree at the side of the road and Trixie's black cloak hanging on a lower branch of said tree. “What? How?” Twilight's scholar side took over, as she listed all the possible explanations to Trixie disappearance; teleportation, levitation, a spell to make her hooves weightless so she wouldn't leave prints... Except any of those theories implied the use of a minimal amount of magic. From what Twilight understood, as long as the restraining ring was on her horn, Trixie couldn't do any magic for her own. Taking the ring off required the input of a magical aura, making it impossible for the restrainee to take it off on their own. "Applejack, why?!" In her frustration, Twilight threw her head back, lifting her gaze to look at the skies, but instead of the white and soft clouds over and endless blue background, she was looking at the branches and leaves of the tree beside her. ... and the pale azure spot hiding between them. “Trixie?” Twilight couldn’t help herself. “Congratulations, Sparkle. You found Trixie.” There was some rustling in the leaves above Twilight. “What do you want?” In spite of the circumstances, Twilight just couldn’t overcome her natural curiosity. “Um, just… how did you get up there, without magic?” A snort and more rustling. “Trixie has other skills besides her formerly spectacular magic, you know.” “No… No, I didn’t.” Twilight sat down on her haunches and leaned up against the tree. She tried her best to keep what she could of Trixie in sight. Twilight realized how little she knew about Trixie and how much of a mystery she was. Taking the opportunity to find out a little bit more about her fellow unicorn and avoid what had just happened with Applejack, she asked, “Would you mind telling me? I mean, if you want.” When she didn’t get any response besides the sound of the wind in the trees, she pressed on. “It’s just that my whole life I’ve only really focused on developing my magic. I wanted to get into Celesita’s school so badly, even as a little filly. Then when I got in, I wanted to learn about it more and more. Heh, I guess that’s what I get for it being my talent, you know?” Another snort and more rustling from above. “That school wasn’t all it cracked up to be.” There was a clear disdain in her tone. “Trixie couldn’t take it, it bored her too much.” “Wait, you went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” Twilight exclaimed, actually leaning away from the tree to get a better look at Trixie. “Surprised, Sparkle?” sneered Trixie, looking down on her lavender colored counterpart. “Trixie does have some talent, after all.” Twilight swore she heard a muttered “did” when Trixie moved her head back to lay on the branch. “Wow, it’s just… I don’t think I ever saw you there.” “It would have been a few years before your time. Besides, Trixie left before she finished.” “Why?” Twilight asked softly, having picked up the hurt in Trixie’s voice. There were more leaves rustling, only more violently this time, some of them falling in Twilight’s face and forcing her back from the tree. Behind her, four small thumps sounded as the pale and thin figure of Trixie landed on the ground. “Sparkle, although Trixie is a master of stories and their telling, her own is not for the public.” Twilight’s ears pressed against her head at Trixie’s severe expression. “S-sorry.” Flustered, Twilight looked away in discomfort. “Will, um, will you at least tell me how you got into the tree then?” Trixie slumped, seeming to sigh but without the wheeze of breath that would have been normal. “In the return for how you already told some of your own story to her, and in view of Trixie’s debt to you, she shall concede to a private show and tell you that small part of her own.” Trixie paused, tossing her mane back and composing herself like she were on stage once more. “But remember, Twilight Sparkle, daughter of nobility and favored by the Sun. What Trixie is about to give you is only for you and you alone. Never share this mystery and secret with others unless Trixie herself allows you such liberty.” At first, Twilight was about to tell Trixie again that she wasn’t in debt with her and that her family wasn’t exactly a noble one. But seeing how Trixie was back on the ground and at least talking to her now -- not to mention sounding at least a little like her old self -- she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt. “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria,” Trixie began, “there lived a young and quite smart mare called Beatrice. She had just taken her own life in hoof, having departed the stifling halls of academia for the unbounded highways of Equestria. At that time, she was just your average wanderer, traveling far and wide, witnessing Equestria’s magic first hoof with no boundaries to her to anywhere or anyone. Her father was the road, her mother the stars, and freedom her creed. “But such a life had a price, and our young Beatrice, although free to lead her life to whenever she wanted, had no goal or reason to her wanderings. Her days and nights had no meaning beyond staying in motion. It was freedom without purpose.” Twilight could only lean closer, not wanting to miss any detail of the show in front of her. “Beatrice’s life would have continued and ended like that -senseless- if it wasn’t for one faithful night, between the festive music and warm ambiance of Neigh Orleans’s Carnival, that annual celebration, that last grand party, held by the town between swamps before their forty days of serene contemplation. “There, Beatrice met seven of the most skilled ponies in Equestria, all of them a master in their field. They knew about her heritage and once they recognized the noble semblance of the last descent of Lulamoon, they took it as their responsibility to mentor young Beatrice and help her bloom in a pony worthy of her ancestors’ name. “One of those masters used to be a proud warrior, descendant of an honorable lineage himself. Master Kunai Tail took the task of forging Trixie’s physical abilities and her mind. Thanks to him, Trixie can figure out her way to disappear without magic and has the skills to do so. “And that, Twilight Sparkle, is how Trixie was trained to see a refuge where you could only see a lonely tree on the side of the road.” She stood on her hind legs, her fore legs hooked over a branch just above her head. “You see branches and leaves, Trixie sees supporting points and coverage.” With a quick pull, Trixie hauled herself into the tree, scampering from branch to branch until she reached its top and took up her position from earlier. “A performer must be aware of her surroundings. She must be aware of how others perceive those same surroundings and use that to her advantage.” She swung back down, again coming to a perfect four-point landing in front of Twilight. “Most importantly, she must know how to move through them quickly and seamlessly, using only her body and senses so that her audience cannot follow her magic and learn how the trick is done. That was just one of many things that Trixie was taught.” Either by nostalgia or by force of habit, Trixie finished her tale with a sweep of her hoof and a graceful bow to her limited audience. On her side, still sitting motionless, Twilight couldn’t figure out what to do after that. Should she reply? Ask for more?? Applaud?! “Wow,” she finally settled on. “I didn’t think about-- wow.” “But that was a long time ago.” Trixie didn’t give her the opportunity to continue. “A lifetime ago.” She trotted past Twilight and took her cloak from the branch from where it was still hanging. “A life that Trixie has now lost.” In one swift motion, Trixie was once again hidden under the black cloth. She pulled up her hood and began to walk the road back to Ponyville. “Trixie, wait!” Twilight was ready to give chase again, especially after Trixie’s last departure, but to her surprise Trixie actually stopped and waited. “Please, don’t talk like that. Princess Celestia is work--” “And then what?!” Trixie suddenly turned her head around like an owl about to attack. “What?”Twilight was taken back by the response. “And. Then. What.” Both mares stood still as statues, one in front of the other. “Even if Trixie is given her magic back, even if the Princess finds a way to free Trixie from the Amulet, even if Trixie gets her body back...” Trixie shut her eyes tight, this time wishing she could cry, or pant, or do anything. “Trixie lost her life long ago, the only difference now is that her body has finally caught up.” “Trixie,” Twilight trotted closer to her, “what do you mean?” “You already know what happened after my last performance here, Sparkle, I remember telling you about it.” Trixie’s tone changed, it was unsettlingly calm. “I already told you that Trixie is already known as Equestria’s most famous buffon, ponies mock and heckle me whenever I go.” “I can help Trixie, me and my friends--” “Don’t laugh at me too!” Trixie stomped her front hooves on the ground. “I-- Trixie knows that getting her life back is all but impossible now.” Even if she cracked a little, Trixie kept that same uncanny monotone. “And if Trixie depends on ponies like your friend back there, she should just find a good burial place and finish the job.” “Don’t talk like that, Trixie, everything can be solved, I promise you.” “You promise?” Trixie moved closer to Twilight. With her forehooves, she opened the front of her cloak, the Alicorn Amulet in plain view. “Sparkle, look at this,” she said with pleading eyes. “You know what Trixie did with this thing. I know what I did.” She hung her head low, covering her eyes with a hoof. “Maybe your friend is right to hate and fear Trixie. Maybe I am the villain in this story and didn’t realize until now.” “Trixie…” “Maybe Trixie is getting-- Maybe I had it all coming to me.” This time Twilight reacted quickly enough, reaching out and pulling Trixie into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.” Trixie said as Twilight started to stroke her mane, doing her best to calm her. “I just wanted to have my old life back, I… never meant to hurt anypony.” She was shaking. “It's okay, Trixie, it’s not your fault,” Twilight said comfortingly, refusing to release her forelegs from Trixie’s neck. “It was the Amulet, not you.” “But I bought that Amulet. I looked for it and it was me who accepted it when the offer was made.” Twilight didn’t say anything. “It gave me a chance, you know, when I put it on the first time; I was asked if I really wanted to keep it up and I…” Twilight hugged her fellow magician closer. While she couldn’t know what Trixie was going through, she had at least some idea. Just seeing the poor mare trying to cry without tears and sob without breath was telling enough of her condition. Trixie could barely feel Twilight’s fur against her own numb skin. “Don’t be afraid, Trixie. We’ll find some way to fix this.” “Trixie isn’t afraid, Sparkle. She’s terrified.” Without either of the ponies realizing, two small drops of green liquid ran down Trixie’s cheeks. “I ate enough, can I get up, please?” Apple Bloom said, half of her lunch still untouched in her plate. “What’s wrong dear? Ya have barely ate a couple of nibbles,” Granny Smith asked, looking worriedly at her grandchild. “Somethin’ happened?” “No, no, it’s just that I ate too much at breakfast.” Apple Bloom said. Not waiting anymore for permission, she got up and left the dining room. Granny Smith tsked while following behind her, wanting to find out what happened to her. Applejack just followed her with her eyes. After the elderly mare left the dinning room, she looked back at the table, noticing that Big Mac wasn’t eating either, instead seemed to be gazing past her. “Well,” the red stallion broke the silence. “Well what?” Applejack answered. Something must be mighty interesting in the window behind her, she figured, what with the way Mac was staring out it. In response, Big Mac didn’t say a thing, but slightly shifted his expression, nonverbally saying ‘yah know what’. “It was for her own good, Mac.” “Whose?” “You know darn well whose!” Mac went back to looking out the window. “Fine, then you tell me what you woulda done.” The large red stallion turned back to his sister, looked down at at his nearly empty plate then back up. “Twilight was with her?” Applejack affirmed she was. “You trust yer friend?” “‘Course Ah do.” A shrug and then back to the window. “See what she wanted, I suppose.” He received a snort in response as Applejack leaned back in her chair. “Just like that?” Another shrug. “You trust your friend. She seems ta trust Trixie enough to bring her ‘round here. I’d see what she wanted.” Applejack didn’t reply, she didn’t know how. “Ah suppose Ah shouldn’t have shouted at her like that,” she finally said to no one in particular. “Just when Ah saw her talking to Bloom like that… You think Ah messed it up, that’s what you’re saying?” The stallion shrugged again. “Can’t you be on my side on this?!” “I don’t think yer on yer side.” “And just what is that supposed ta mean?” “Ya shouted a mare outta here who sounds like she was just tryin’ to make amends, without even hearing her side a things. I can’t say that ye did wrong, sis, I know how ya feel about family. I’m also not one to judge others. That’s a job for the powers above.” “‘Make amends.’ After what she did,” grumbled Applejack, slumping lower in her chair. Still, what her brother had said stung. Twilight was her friend and she trusted her friends completely. “Fine then. Twilight said Pinkie was puttin’ together something for Trixie. Ah’ll see what she has to say for her herself then.” Big Mac grunted and nodded, still looking out the window. The edges of his lips had curled into the slightest of smiles.