Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone

by TheCrimsonDM

Chapter Eighty Seven: An Awkward Day

“I’m sorry, I-I’m afraid that I didn’t hear you correctly,” Trixie explained. “Could you repeat that for me?”

Princess Celestia’s smile was as bright as the sun itself. “I said good morning.”

Trixie looked over at Maud to gauge her reaction, Maud was as stoic as ever. Okay, maybe I’m still half asleep… because I could have sworn she just called me a-

“Dear sister, I believe she was confused by you calling her a princess,” Luna explained, un-amused.

…okay, I should go back to sleep now.

“Oh my, are you sure?”

“Quite.”

Celestia and Luna both gave a kind look to Trixie. Trixie couldn’t help but shake her head slowly. This can not be really happening. This is some kind of joke, I’m sure of it.

“Trixie? is something the matter?” Celestia asked kindly.

Trixie sat silent as could be. The pressure on her bladder was bothering her, not to mention that her stiff wing was beginning to twitch. She gave it a second of thought and decided that she could hold it in for a few minutes longer, she had to figure out the princess's game.

“Why are you calling me a princess? I haven’t done anything worthy of earning that title,” Trixie admitted.

“I suppose it only makes sense that you didn’t know about one of our oldest laws. You’re an alicorn now, and that means you have a responsibility to uphold,” Celestia explained.

“Even I didn’t realize it was an actual law until Lemon Hearts-“ Luna began.

“Luna, there is no need to talk about other ponies behind their backs.”

“Yes, dear sister.”

“So, I bet that you have all sorts of questions for us, Trixie,” Celestia said. “And that’s what we are here for, to explain anything and everything that you might want to know.”

Trixie sunk back into the couch, and let out a sigh. Is this really happening?

Using one of her forelegs, Trixie forced her stiff wing down, and began brushing her mane down to look a little more appropriate. When she was done she looked Celestia in the eyes and asked, “Why do I have to become a princess?”

“Because you’re an alicorn now,” Princess Celestia explained.

Because I’m an alicorn? It’s not like I even asked for this. Is this what she told Twilight Sparkle? I saw what that stress, and that responsibility did to her. It turned her into a giant mess. I… I can’t handle that.

“I didn’t want this, it’s not fair,” Trixie said.

“We’ve had several ponies become alicorns in the past two years alone, it was like the Elements of Harmony set off some kind of chain reaction,” Celestia explained.

“What? Who? Where? Why?” Trixie asked in rapid succession.

“You probably wouldn’t know them,” Celestia explained. “After all, most of them have asked to live a quiet life, and although they still hold titles they have chosen to revert to their old lives.”

“How can they do that?” Trixie asked.

“Transmutation magic. They are all permanently changed by the original accession, but they can at least for a time, live normal lives. Sooner or later though, they won’t be able to hide themselves any longer,” Celestia said. “We could offer you the same choice, but as with those ponies I only ask that you at least try to live as an alicorn for a week. If you truly don’t want to be one after that, well, Luna and I can help you.”

I could be a unicorn again? That sounds wonderful, but… I don’t want to be transformed. I don’t ever want to be changed again. It’s not like my life has really changed all that much so far anyway.

“I’ll give this a try.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said kindly. “I usually have this conversation with ponies while they are in the process of their transformation, sadly I was busy during yours.”

Yeah, you were in the after life with my father… my father.

“I found my father,” Trixie said. Celestia’s eyes widened. Maud stirred from next to Trixie, and all eyes fell upon the blue alicorn. Trixie laid her head down on Maud’s shoulder and wrapped her forelegs around Maud’s waste, squeezing her like one would a giant teddy bear. “He’s dead.”

A hollow feeling filled her chest and she looked down at the floor. “He was betrayed by his best friend, a stallion who had snuck into his group with the sole purpose of freeing Lord Tirek. The stallion called himself Morning Veil, but he was actually an alicorn named Ash…”

Silence took a firm grasp over the room, and held on tightly, strangling any joy there was to have out of the room. For a while Celestia and Luna shifted in their seats doing anything they could to avoid eye contact with Trixie, but this only made Trixie feel worse about everything that had happened. If only Pinkie Pie was here she could change the atmosphere of this room.

“I’m sorry that I ruined the mood,” Trixie said lamely. “I… don’t know why I mentioned that. I guess that I just wanted to let you guys know what I’ve been through.”

Celestia looked down at Trixie. “Do you mind if I ask how you became an alicorn?”

Trixie looked up at Celestia. I should tell her, I should tell her everything. It’s already going to bite me in the flank anyway, and it’s not like I’m actually planning to help Red Velvet ever again.

Flashes of searing hot pain, the crimson stains covering her sides, bone, muscle, all of those memories hit her like a ton of bricks. Now trembling in Maud’s embrace, tears streamed down her face and her lip quivered. Now all eyes were on her, and she couldn’t hide from them.

“I…” Trixie began. The words didn’t want to come out. After all what was she supposed to tell them? I was betrayed, tortured, and violated in ways I never thought possible. It felt like she ripped my very soul out of my body and shoved it into this alien thing that I’m in now.

Celestia looked at Maud and in a very serious tone asked, “Do you know what happened to her?”

Maud tightened her grip on Trixie. “All I know is that when she first came back she tried to explain what happened. Nopony listened to her, and she was left on the verge of a break down. She was tortured at some point, and if I ever find out who hurt her I will kill them.”

“Wow,” Luna whispered. She then leaned into Celestia’s ear and Trixie’s ears could scarcely pick up what she said. “The quiet one scares me.”

“Well, she is related to Pinkie Pie,” Celestia muttered in response. That brought a very interesting look of disbelief from Luna.

“Trixie,” Celestia said gently. “If you don’t want to tell us how this happened just yet… you don’t have to. After what you went through it would be rude of me to ask any more of you, other than to simply rest. When you are healed, we can discuss responsibilities.”

I need to tell them. She has to know that she’s in danger.

Trixie opened her mouth, and stopped. The image of a flaming solar powered princess gunning her down in vengeance went through her mind. Trixie closed her mouth, shook her head, and whimpered.

What a way to start the day out, Trixie. Have a nightmare, become a princess, break down in Maud’s legs… yeah this is turning out pretty normal so far.

A few hours later the house had become a little too small for Trixie to stay cooped up in. Instead, she stepped out and took an interest in her stage wagon. Having only been used twice, this wagon was sorely missing the attention that it deserved, the attention that Trixie wasn’t sure she could give it.
 
“I’m sorry that I’ve left you alone for so long,” Trixie said as she patted the wooden side of the wagon. “I should have given you some attention sooner.”
 
The wagon sat in condescending silence.
 
“I know...” Trixie said. “But maybe a new paint job will fix you up?”
 
The wagon stared at her with its nonexistent eyes, Judging her.
 
Trixie shook her head. “I’m not going to be judged by a freaking wagon. I’m painting you and that’s all there is to it.”
 
Trixie trotted off back into the house. When she returned a few minutes later she had with her two cans of lavender paint, and one blue one. The wagon sat contemplative, silent, and unsure.
 
“I know full well what I am doing, I’ve done this plenty of times before. Heck with my renewed magical prowess it should not even take long,” Trixie explained. Three paint brushes levitated next to the paint cans. It really won’t take long.
 
Time flew by as Trixie poured every ounce of her concentration into painting the wagon. Cold as it was out here, she was kept warm enough by her white jacket. She had finished painting the outer walls of the wagon when something tugged at her mane.
 
Maud had grabbed Trixie’s mane gently with her hooves, and in combination with her teeth she tied Trixie’s mane into a ponytail with a gray ribbon. Trixie smiled. Maud’s lips curled ever so slightly into an almost smile.
 
“Thanks, honey,” Trixie said.
 
“If you are going to distract yourself with painting, you should at least keep your mane clean,” Maud explained flatly.
 
“I don’t know what your talking about, I just wanted to paint him,” Trixie said.
 
“…who?”
 
“The wagon, it’s a boy,” Trixie explained matter of factly.
 
“It’s a wagon. Comprised of wood, metal, and paint… it’s not a boy,” Maud stated.
 
“Oh don’t go starting this with me, you have a pet rock, why can’t I have a pet wagon?” Trixie complained.
 
“Because Boulder is a rock, Boulder doesn’t really have a sex, sometimes I refer to Boulder as a girl, other times a boy.”
 
“That’s weird.”
 
Maud slightly raised an eyebrow. “Are you nervous about what Celestia said?”
 
“No, I’m not. I’m just focusing on a task, that’s all,” Trixie lied.
 
Maud turned and walked back inside. “I’ll start up a batch of cookies, for when Snips and Snails come back.”
 
Oh… I forgot about them. Guess it’s good that I started to paint the wagon now. It should be dry by the time they show up.
 
After Maud disappeared into the house, Trixie relaxed and looked longingly at her wagon. “Princess Trixie… what am I supposed to think about that?” She couldn’t really figure out what to feel. The fact was, that she was still numb to the whole concept of being a princess, it just didn’t make sense. Surely Celestia would realize her mistake soon enough, and take away Trixie’s princesshood… right?
 

Patiently, Trixie sat at the foot of her newly painted wagon, staring with pride at the product of her hard work. The wagon was now painted a nice lavender with sky blue trimming, somewhere along the line she had the time to paint little silhouette of a gray pony with a purple mane, and a blue pony with a gray mane, they were holding hooves.
 
And to think it only took me two hours.
 
“Wow,” Snips said.
 
“Did you get a new wagon, Trixie?” Snails asked.
 
Trixie turned to face the two colts, and her bright smile faded slightly. Three fillies were standing just behind them. Trixie stared at the fillies in horror. Orange, white, and yellow… oh please don’t let them destroy my stuff.
 
“Hi,” The trio of fillies shrieked in tandem.
 
Trixie gingerly waved a hoof at them. My wagon’s as good as gone now.
 
“May I ask what brings you three here?” Trixie asked. She quickly examined them and their surroundings. Well at least I don’t see any fireworks… maybe this won’t be like Applejack’s gazebo after all.
 
“We heard Snips and Snails talking about how cool yer story was,” Applebloom said.
 
“So we thought we would come here and see how you handled Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo explained.
 
“And we wanna hear about Rarity!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
 
These ponies are all related, or as close as they can be to the elements of harmony. This is bound to get awkward.
 
“Okay, well take a seat on the porch, I’ll get Maud to bring out the cookies for us,” Trixie said.
 
“Cookies?” Sweetie Belle asked enthusiastically.
 
At Trixie’s nod the three shrieked joyfully and bounced over to the porch. Snips and Snails followed behind, but at least their voices weren’t so hard on the ears. I never thought that I’d find something more annoying than those two colts adoration could be, but those fillies screaming in chorus…
 
Only after Maud brought out the cookies and joined by Trixie’s side did the alicorn begin her story’s second chapter. Using her horn, she created the illusionary puppets of Paladin Applejack and Wizard Twilight.
 
“Twilight Sparkle had her first hero, but she was far from done with her journey. After a giant feast with Applejack’s family, the two of them set out on their adventure once more with the hopes of finding the next hero. Things were not going so well, as the rumors swirled around about a group of ruffians going around in their airship and harassing the local villages.
 
This new threat was a group calling themselves The Sky Pirates, and they were said to be lead by the single most awesome mare in Equestria. Lord Rainbow!”
 
The image of a silhouette pony with a glowing rainbow mane appeared before the foals. The group smiled, and Scootaloo practically squealed at the sight of her favorite pegasus commanding an airship.
 
“Twilight had hoped to avoid the pirates, but as the sky darkened overhead, a strange shape could be made out on the horizon. As the shape grew, Twilight realized with great fear that it was a flying ship…”
 
A half hour later Trixie was nearly finished with her story and the foals were completely captivated by her words.
 
“...now having a new ally, despite how shady Lord Rainbow was, she and Applejack had found their second hero. Together the group sailed into the horizon, their next destination was a little town said to be ruled by the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria, the mare who had single hoofedly saved the town from the ravenous shadow monsters. They were going to find, The Mistress.”
 
Everypony looked up at Trixie with curious eyes, expecting, no, wanting more of her story. Trixie smiled and looked down the road. “If you want to hear the rest of the story you need to come back tomorrow.”
 
“Aw,” Scootaloo said. “But I want to hear more about Lord Rainbow’s first mate, Scoots.”
 
“Yeah, and where am Ah in this story?” Applebloom asked.
 
“Is the Mistress my sister?” Sweetie Belle added.
 
Trixie shook her head slowly.
 
“Tomorrow, fillies. I promise you will learn more tomorrow,” Trixie assured.
 
The foals all looked disappointed, but they didn’t argue. Much to Trixie’s surprise they accepted the fact that they would have to wait until tomorrow, but their hungry little eyes told Trixie that they were going to be expecting an even greater story than before. Trixie could only hope that she could deliver on that front.
 
Just as the foals all got up to leave, Trixie noticed two ponies standing directly behind her. With a swiftness that nopony had expected Trixie spun around. She refused to let anypony sneak up on her, especially when there were foals around to protect.

Minuette and Lyra stood there, bright smiling faces staring back at Trixie. Upon seeing her old friends, Trixie relaxed.

“So,” Minuette said, “Still telling stories to foals?”
 
“That was an awesome story,” Lyra added excitedly. “Can we hear more?”
 
Trixie raised an eyebrow. Why are they here? In all the time I’ve lived in Ponyville neither of them have come to visit me once.
 
“You can hear more of the story tomorrow…” Trixie answered. This is going to get awkward all over again, now isn’t it.
 

With cups of hot coffee set out for everypony Trixie had hoped that everypony would begin warming up, physically, and socially. Sadly, the four ponies sat inside the living room without sharing a single word, each of them waiting for the other to start first.  The growing silence between them was getting increasingly awkward, and the way Maud was sitting next to Trixie felt far too stiff.
 
Why does this have to be so awkward?
 
“So,” Trixie said, attempting to chip away at the frozen tundra that had enveloped the room. “What have you two been up to lately?”
 
Minuette smiled and said, “Oh, I’ve been working here as the local blacksmith. I moved here a while back, found a nice stallion, thought I’d settle down.”
 
A stallion? Well either you're very lucky, or you stole him from somepony. After all there’s only one stallion to every three mare’s… or at least that’s what the paper said.
 
Lyra joined in. “Yeah, out of all of us, who figured that she’d be the one to settle down? As for me, I live with my marefriend as you already know. I don’t have a job.”
 
Minuette rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you just live with her, while she pays for everything.”
 
“Hey, I’m the housemare,” Lyra defended.
 
“Calm down you two,” Trixie said. “So what exactly are you two doing here?”
 
Lyra and Minuette shot guilt glances at one another. Minuette nodded, and Lyra shook her head. Minuette let out a sigh and gave a serious look to Trixie. “Trixie, we heard about what happened to you. After that… I’ve never been good with words, darn it. Lyra can’t you do this?”
 
Lyra looked left and right, “Well, um…” She closed her eyes and relaxed. “We’re sorry, Trixie. I’m known to get wrapped up with Bonnie, and to sort of ignore everything outside of us. I should have come to visit you, I should have at the very least told Minuette that you were.”
 
“I was actually surprised to learn that you were living here,” Minuette said. “It’s true that I can be really dense sometimes, but missing out on an opportunity to chill with you. I’m sorry.”
 
Trixie stared at them in silence for a long minute. They… are apologizing to me. First I had Snips and Snails come to visit me yesterday, but now I’m having these two. This is a little, surreal.
 
“Trixie,” Minuette said.
 
Something hot and wet ran down Trixie’s cheek, and with a hoof she wiped it away. “You guys really care?”
 
“Of course we do, we went to school together,” Lyra said.
 
“Even if we used to butt heads all the time, you were still pretty awesome. Also you were the only with the ba-“ Minuette said.
 
“Mini,” Lyra warned.
 
“I meant, you were the only one with the… um… cunning to stand up to Twilight whenever she was wrong,” Minuette said.
 
“Better,” Lyra complemented.
 
Minuette smiled proudly.
 
Well, it’s nice to see Lyra trying to tame Minuette’s language down a bit. She was always the most direct pony in our little group.
 
Trixie looked over at Maud and said, “I kinda forgot to explain who these ponies were, didn’t I? Both of these mares used to be in a special class with me back in school. We were kind of the top notched students, and that got us a few privileges.”
 
Maud nodded, stiffly.
 
She’s been more quiet than usual. I wonder what’s wrong with her.
 
For a moment Trixie considered attempting to Read Maud’s mind. She looked at Maud, thought about how much Maud hated it when Pinkie Pie did that, and decided against the idea. Besides, there was a chance that a drunk Fluttershy might have told Maud about her mind reading powers as well as everything else.
 
“Sorry about this, Trixie,” Minuette said. “But I don’t like leaving my stallion home alone for too long, he’s a bit anxious. Maybe I’ll introduce ya to him next time?”
 
Trixie looked at her, hard. I do not want to meet your stallion. I’m happy you got one, just keep him away from me… that’s probably  a very rude thing to think, huh?
 
“Mini,” Lyra said. “We can do introductions later, I’ll bring Bonnie, and we can all meet up. For now it might be a good idea to let Trixie rest.”
 
Minuette nodded.
 
After saying their farewells the pair left, leaving Trixie and Maud completely alone in the small house. With how quiet Maud was, not that she wasn’t usually quiet mind you, but this time it felt a little different.
 
“Honey, what’s the matter?” Trixie asked.
 
Maud looked up at Trixie, her expressionless eyes were glossy, and wet.
 
What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?
 
“Lulu,” Maud said quietly. “Do… do you want to be a princess?”
 
Oh, yeah, that’s a thing now, isn’t it. And here I had nearly forgotten.
 
“I don’t really like the idea. I clearly didn’t deserve it, and I don’t think I could do even half as good a job as Twilight did… and she spends most of her time making huge mistakes, and screwing with the laws of nature,” Trixie explained. “So no, I don’t really want to be one, but I don’t think I’ll have much of a choice.”
 
“Does that mean we will have more days like this?” Maud asked.
 
“Days like what?”
 
Maud looked around, her eyes widened slightly. “There were so many ponies over here yesterday, ponies that I’m not familiar with.”
 
What is she talking about. There were hardly any ponies over here yesterday, besides that we had even more over today.
 
Maud focused on Trixie, her eyes clenched shut. “And there were even more over today.”
 
A few tears ran down the length of Maud’s cheeks. Instinctively Trixie reached out and threw herself around Maud, holding onto the strong mare tightly. Maud’s strong muscles relaxed in Trixie’s embrace.
 
I don’t know why this upsets you. We just had a few ponies in our house. Trixie wanted to voice her opinions, but she didn’t know how. Instead she just held Maud.
 
“Lulu,” Maud said. “This is our home. I don’t mind it if our close friends come in, but… I don’t like all these strange ponies coming into our house…”
 
She’s… she, no that’s not quite right, embarrassed maybe. That doesn’t feel correct either. I know she’s scared… she’s scared…
 
“We only had a few kids over, the princesses, and two of my friends. It really hasn’t been that much,” Trixie said.
 
“But I don’t know them,” Maud said. “I don’t like this.”
 
Trixie nuzzled against Maud’s neck. “I may not understand why this bothers you, but if you don’t want me to bring new ponies over to our house. I won’t. I’m sure that we can have somewhere quiet even with me being a princess and all.”
 
“But, what if ponies want to come and see the new princess? We could have tens, or even dozens of ponies coming over?” Maud said, her tone now full of worry.
 
Actually it’s more likely that we would have hundreds but… oh dear Celestia, if Maud can barely handle a hoof full of ponies, she’d break if I got popular. I’ll need to talk to Celestia about this.
 
“I’ll make sure they don’t bother you,” Trixie promised. “If you don’t want ponies, invading our personal space, then I won’t let them.”
 
“Thank you,” Maud whispered.
 
Don’t thank me, after everything that’s happened between us, it’s the least I can do.