TRIXIE RESTED ON TOP of a large bank of clouds and looked down at the Everfree Forest, which stretched out below her. To the left she could see the ruins of the ancient Castle of the Two Sisters. The crumbling stone buildings were far more extensive and impressive than she imagined. She could understand why Twilight wanted to bring her here; there was clearly a lot to see. If the ruins weren't in the middle of an evil forest that was filled with murderous monsters, it could easily have become one of Equestria's most popular tourist destinations. As it was, though, only a pony as crazy as Twilight would dare to visit the place.
Well, Twilight and Celestia, apparently. But what was Celestia doing here? She had abandoned this castle a thousand years ago, after she banished her sister Luna to the moon. Why come back now?
Down below she could see Twilight approach the Princess of the Sun. Trixie couldn't hear what they were saying from this distance, but she considered that to be a good thing. She knew exactly what Celestia thought of her and she didn't want to be yelled at again. The last thing she wanted was to talk to her. Those conversations always ended in disaster.
The situation wasn't all bad, though. Trixie had to admit that it was kind of nice being on a cloud. Clouds were incredibly comfortable. The mere act of laying on one, rolling around and snuggling into it, was beginning to relax her. No wonder Rainbow Dash takes so many naps, she thought to herself. Trixie would too if she spent all her time on one of these!
As Trixie laid on her back and stared up into the bright blue sky, a beautiful rainbow streaked across the horizon and headed straight for her. Trixie instantly face-hoofed and struggled to stand up. She knew exactly who it was. She had been spotted, and it was too late to hide.
The bright rainbow streak made an arc in the air and landed on the cloud right next to her. “So that's where you are,” Rainbow Dash said, panting. “I've been looking all over for you! Why did you run all the way out here, anyway? What's up with that? You do remember that the Everfree Forest is bad news, right?”
“Twilight wanted to spend some time with Trixie,” Trixie explained. “Some alone time. Without you. You've kind of been crowding Trixie lately, Rainbow Dash. No offense or anything.”
“That's just because we're such good friends,” Rainbow Dash replied. “So where is Trixie, anyway? I found you, Twilight, but I don't see Trixie anywhere. You didn't get her lost in the forest, did you? Did she wander off again?”
“I'm Trixie,” Trixie said hurriedly. “I'm just disguised to look like Twilight. She wanted to see my imitation of her so I switched, but now I can't switch back. I've tried undoing the spell but it seems to be broken or something, so I'm stuck looking like Twilight for the next few days. But I promise you that I really am Trixie.”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Oh, sure you are! Nice one, Twilight. I would never have pegged you as a prankster. But look: if you want to pull off a prank, it has to be realistic – and we both know that Trixie can't fly. Her wings are just magic, remember? Only a real flier could be sitting on a cloud, which means that you are not Trixie. Besides, Twilight would never want to spend time alone with Trixie! I've seen the reports that you've been sending to Celestia, and I know what you really think of her. You can be honest with me.”
“What reports?” Trixie asked.
“You know – the progress reports! I've got friends in Canterlot, you know, and they tell me everything that's going on there. You've been sending regular reports to Celestia to update her on the progress you're making in training Trixie. I've heard all about how slow and weak Trixie is. You don't think she has any magical potential. She's just not cutting it, and it's frustrating you all to pieces. You've tried to get her enrolled into Celestia's special magical school three times, just to get her out of your mane. Being near Trixie is driving you crazy.”
Trixie felt like somepony punched her in the gut. All the joy rushed out of her life. She felt betrayed and deeply hurt. Is that really what Twilight thinks of me?
“Now don't get me wrong,” Rainbow Dash continued. “I know where you're coming from. Trixie just doesn't really fit in with the rest of us, you know? We don't have anything in common with her. You're all about magic, and Trixie's magic is terrible – everypony knows that. Even I know that, and I don't know anything about magic! As for me, I'm a flier, and Trixie can't fly. Rarity makes dresses, and Trixie doesn't know the first thing about fashion. Fluttershy cares for animals, and animals make Trixie really uncomfortable.”
“That's not true,” Trixie said defensively. She was trying really, really hard not to burst into tears. “Trixie thinks some animals are nice.”
“Oh, give me a break! Fluttershy told me all about what it was like to have Trixie live with her. Trixie was terrified that the bears were going to eat her or something. She is just not an animal lover. She's no good at farming either – Applejack told me what happened when she tried to use her magic to pick apples. That, shall we say, was not a success. That just leaves Pinkie, who is great at giving parties. Now, Trixie does have some talent there – she and Pinkie make a great team. But Pinkie is a happy, bouncy pony, and Trixie has been in a bad mood for pretty much her whole life. So there's not a lot of good synergy there, you know?”
“Trixie has been through a lot,” Trixie said bitterly. “She's in a lot of pain. She is not in a happy place.”
“Hey, no need to get all snippy. We're all friends here, you know.”
But Trixie couldn't take it anymore. She jumped off the cloud and soared down to land beside Twilight Sparkle and a very surprised Celestia. Trixie collapsed into the dirt and burst into tears.
“Trixie, what's wrong?” Twilight exclaimed. She rushed over to her and tried to put a wing around her, but Trixie just pushed her away. The unicorn began to cry even harder.
Rainbow Dash landed a split second later. Rainbow looked at Twilight, and then at Trixie. When she saw that there were two ponies who looked exactly like Twilight, the reality of what just happened began to dawn on her. “Please, please tell me that you're Trixie,” she said desperately.
Twilight shook her head. “No, I'm Twilight. The crying one is Trixie. Why? What did you tell her?” A feeling of panic came over Twilight. “Rainbow Dash, what did you tell her?”
“That you hate Trixie!” Trixie screamed. “That you all hate her and think she's stupid. That you wish none of you had ever met Trixie. That you all want her to go away and get out of your lives. That you have been patronizing Trixie and wish she was still dead.”
“That's not what I said!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
Twilight and Celestia glared at her. Rainbow Dash backed up a step. “All right, maybe I kinda said some of those things, but not in those exact words. But I didn't know that pony was Trixie! Honest I didn't. She looked like you, Twilight! I thought she was you.”
“I told you I was Trixie,” Trixie shouted. “I told you!”
“I, um, didn't believe you. I mean, for crying out loud, you were on a cloud! What was I supposed to think?”
Celestia spoke up. “Twilight, why does Trixie look like you?”
“A spell kinda went wrong,” Twilight explained. “I was trying to give Trixie a pair of temporary wings so that she could experience flight, but it didn't work out the way I planned. Trixie is stuck this way until the spell wears off.”
Celestia sighed. Her horn lit up, and she fired a powerful bolt of white magic at Trixie. The unicorn's disguise immediately vanished. She returned to her normal blue self – but her wings remained.
Trixie ignored the princess. She kept crying.
“Thanks,” Twilight said. She continued to stare at Trixie. She wanted to make her friend feel better, but she was at a complete loss. The alicorn knew that a hug and a few kind words wasn't going to fix the problem this time. “I, um, didn't know the spells would interact that way.”
Celestia knelt down onto the ground and tried to look Trixie in the eye. “Trixie, I don't know what you were told, but I promise you that you are loved and cared for. I meant the things that I said at your funeral. You are truly a hero, and you are held in high esteem. Not just by me, but by many all over the nation.”
“That's not true!” Rainbow Dash said. “You're lying! You hate Trixie and want to kill her.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted. “What has gotten into you?”
“Celestia is lying. The whole reason she's here is because she wants to open the Vault of Shadows. A friend of mine in Canterlot told me all about it this morning when I was running that stupid errand for you. Do you know how you open the Vault? With a sacrifice – a pony sacrifice. Celestia even brought the stone dagger with her, which she's going to use to kill Trixie so she can open the Vault.”
Twilight glared at her friend. “Rainbow Dash, that's completely ridiculous. There's no way Celestia wants to open the Vault! That would be crazy.”
“Then why does she have the dagger? Huh? Answer me that!”
Twilight started to say that Celestia didn't have the dagger – and then she stopped. Celestia unsheathed a long stone sword, which she had been carrying by her side. “Rainbow Dash is partially correct,” Celestia admitted. “I do indeed have the stone dagger, and I am planning on opening the Vault of Shadows today. That is why I asked Twilight to lead Trixie here, and that is why I am here now.”
“Seriously?” Trixie screamed. Tears ran down her face. She was literally shaking from anger and pain. “Twilight, did you bring me here to kill me?”
Twilight looked shocked. “Of course not! That's completely ridiculous. Celestia did suggest that I take you here, but she never said anything about joining us, and she certainly isn't going to hurt anypony. Isn't that right, Celestia?”
“I am not going to kill you, Trixie,” Celestia said firmly. “Nothing could be further from my mind. Twilight speaks the truth.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash said. “You tried to kill Trixie a month ago, remember? Why, you all but begged me to wring her neck. You've had it in for Trixie for a long time. This is finally your big chance to murder her, isn't it? You got it all planned. You're going to do it here, out in the middle of the woods, where nopony will ever know about it. Only you figured wrong, princess. I'm here to protect Trixie and I'm not going to let you hurt her.”
“I can't believe this,” Trixie said. She was so upset that she found it difficult to breathe. “I should never have agreed to go on this stupid, stupid nature hike. What was I thinking? Why did I trust any of you?”
“Stop it!” Twilight shouted. “Rainbow, can't you see you're making things worse? You're terrifying Trixie! What do you think you're doing?”
“What are you talking about? I'm not the one who brought the stone sword thingy out here! I'm pretty sure Celestia did that. But you listen here, Celestia. I've got friends all over Equestria and they have their eyes on you. Your own guards don't trust you anymore. When the royal guards heard what you were planning they told the Wonderbolts, who told me. I've got a whole squadron of armed pegasi in Cloudsdale right now just waiting on my signal – and there's more where they came from. If Trixie doesn't make it out of this forest alive then neither will you.”
Celestia stared at Rainbow Dash coldly. “Are you threatening me?”
“All of Equestria is threatening you. Nopony is on your side anymore. You see, you're the one who poisoned the whole country and turned us all against Trixie. You're the one who broke the harmony and let in the Necromancer. And now you've used Trixie's friendship with Twilight to lure her to a deserted place in a dark and creepy forest. If nothing happens to Trixie then nothing will happen to you. But if you're up to no good then you aren't going to live long enough to brag about it.”
“I am not going to hurt Trixie,” Celestia repeated. “Yes, I do plan on opening the Vault of Shadows, and I do need this stone dagger to accomplish that. But I am not going to use it to kill Trixie – or to kill anyone, for that matter. There is more than one way to open the Vault.”
“If that's true then you don't have anything to worry about,” Rainbow Dash replied. The pegasus looked around and suddenly noticed that Trixie was gone. “Hey – what happened to Trixie?”
Twilight lifted a hoof and pointed. “She teleported herself to the courtyard over there so she could cry alone. By herself. Away, you know, from all the ponies who are luring her into scary forests, and telling her that everypony hates her, and who might be planning on killing her sometime later this afternoon. Trixie has had a pretty bad day. I'm pretty sure she is never going to trust any of us ever again.”
Celestia started to say something, but Twilight cut her off. “I'd like to point out that before you two showed up I was actually making progress.
Trixie was happy and was starting to trust me. Now all that progress is gone and Trixie is a basket case again. If you two are trying to help then you are failing really badly.”
“But–” Rainbow Dash started to speak.
Twilight quickly silenced her. “You've said quite enough – both of you! I'm going to go calm her down. Maybe what Trixie really needs is to go hide somewhere, away from friends like the two of you.”
Twilight then teleported away, leaving Celestia and Rainbow Dash alone.
Celestia glared at Rainbow Dash. “I can't believe you would threaten me like that. Do you have any idea what you're doing?”
“It's not a threat, your highness – it's a promise. If you hurt a single hair on Trixie's head, the pegasi will revolt and put an end to your reign. There are whole armies out there right now that are just waiting on my signal. Your list of allies is really thin. I wouldn't try anything if I were you.”
Celestia looked surprised. “But don't the ponies of Equestria trust me? Don't they understand that I'm just trying to help them?”
“Not anymore. Not after all the things that you did, and not after you tried so hard to kill Trixie. You can't fix betrayal with mere words, princess. It doesn't work that way. You haven't given anypony any reason to believe you.”
“I see,” Celestia remarked sadly. “I didn't know that.”
And that is all that she would say.