Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone

by TheCrimsonDM

One Hundred and Four: Cracked Earth

The inside of the cottage was in much better condition than Trixie had imagined it would be. The main room was a large open space with a single couch, fireplace and walls lined with books and assorted objects that Trixie could barely believe were here. Trixie walked with great care on her three good legs toward a wall lined with row after row of staves. Most were made out of wood, some with gems embedded into them. One stave in particular was made entirely of metal.

Red Velvet wasted no time in going from door to door, opening them, checking inside, and moving on to the next. She stopped when she found the rest room. After Red Velvet went inside, she began searching the cabinets. Trixie’s horn was throbbing painfully, and her leg hurt. She decided to rest on the couch.

A few minutes went by before Red Velvet walked back out with a first aid kit. Trixie laid her head down. She felt hollow inside, empty. That dark magic might have been powerful, but it left its mark on her. Though it wasn’t just the dark magic, she was also completely spent. She fully realized that if she tried to use anymore magic right then, she’d probably hurt herself.

“Stay still,” Red Velvet said as she trotted over to Trixie’s side. “This will hurt, but it needs to be done.”

The first thing that Red Velvet pulled out was peroxide, and before the bottle was even opened, Trixie winced. Red dabbed a cotton ball soaked with the stuff over Trixie’s open cuts. It burned.

“Your leg is still in pain?” Red Velvet asked.

“Yes,” Trixie muttered. It occurred to her that with her leg like this she made a good match for Valiant Heart. The thought managed to bring a weak smile to Trixie’s face, and a warmth to her heart.

The second Red Velvet touched Trixie’s leg, pain shot up her leg and made her yelp. Trixie bit her lip and fought against the pain, she’d felt worse, she’d survived worse, but those thoughts did not stop it from hurting. Slowly, Red worked on cleaning the cuts, followed by wrapping the wounded leg in bandages.

The whole time she laid there, on that couch being treated for the wounds from her battle, she couldn’t help but to think back to Maud and Valiant. Just thinking of their names made her happy, but thinking about what they were up to, and how sweet they were together built a fire in her heart. The hollow feeling was pushed back, little by little with the thoughts of her family, and what kinds of things they could get up to.

Valiant might not have been a unicorn, so teaching her magic was out of the question, but Trixie could still teach her a few tricks. With that flat stare of hers, Trixie could only imagine Valiant being good a poker. Trixie knew a few ways to cheat at the game, ones that she could easily show to the filly. Imagining Valiant playing poker with those three fillies, and all the bits on her side of the table came to mind.

Trixie laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Red Velvet asked. She was done with Trixie’s leg and already working on putting things away.

“I just thought about Val playing poker, she’d win,” Trixie said.

“I never did like card games, but I can see the appeal,” Red Velvet said. “I always preferred board games myself. Have you ever played Canterlot Heights?”

“Yuck, the game about buying property? I always hated that one,” Trixie said.

“It came out around the time I was growing up. Just before I got my cutie mark. I was never particularly good at it, but I would steal the pieces and play with them,” Red Velvet said. “Mom used to get so angry with me.”

“You mean the little houses that you could stack on top of each other?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, and the little figurines that would come with it as well. I would pretend that I was building a city and tell stories with them. Usually just silly romance stories, but it was entertaining,” Red Velvet said.

Trixie moved her leg, it still hurt and there was no way she would be putting pressure on it again, but at least it was bandaged up. Her jacket dropped over her rump, the cold snow made her jump a little. Trixie glared up at Red Velvet who simply smiled and walked away.

“I thought you would like to get dressed before we leave here,” Red Velvet said.

Trixie pushed herself up, it was a little difficult, but she managed to sit up and then get back onto the floor. Walking with three legs was a horrible experience, needing to remember how to move each leg individually without forgetting about her injured leg was a lot more mentally exhausting than she would have thought.

Valiant had to do this too, I guess I can understand why she’d hate that cast so much.

Now that Trixie was free, she moved about the house. She hadn’t brought a saddle bag with her, mostly because she was trying to conceal an illegal sword, but thankfully she had a terrible idea on how to get most of this stuff back to her place; involving her exceptional telekinesis and Red’s ability to fly. Of course with her horn like it was, chances were that her horn wouldn’t work for her plan now.

“So you’re pretty old huh?” Trixie asked.

“Over one hundred years old,” Red Velvet replied.

“What were you before you became an alicorn?” Trixie asked.

“Didn’t we speak about this already?” Red Velvet asked.

Trixie shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

“Neither do I,” Red Velvet replied.

For a moment Trixie waited to hear the answer to her question, and then it dawned on her that she might have just received it. “Wait, are you telling me that you don’t remember what you were before?”

Red Velvet was quiet. She walked into the study room and began digging through books, her bright orange eyes looked on with determination to find whatever those scrolls. Trixie joined by her side.

“I became an alicorn at a very young age. Right after I got my cutie mark actually. I can barely even remember what my mom looked like, but I believe I was a pegasus. It’s hard to remember something like that though, it’s been a very long time,” Red Velvet explained.

“A pegasus huh,” Trixie said. “Was your name always Red Velvet?”

“No it wasn’t. My mother had named me Carmine Savant, but the name never sat well with me. The Crimson Tide is the title my enemies know me for, and Red Velvet is the name I have given you,” Red Velvet explained.

“Where did you get your cutie mark?” Trixie asked.

Red Velvet looked at her flank. The single red drop of water stood out amongst her flank. “I got it when I died.”

Trixie’s heart stopped. “Wait, what?”

“How many… An alicorn is created by first dying. Their physical body has to die so that their soul can reach the celestial plane and-“ Red Velvet tried to explain.

“No not that, I mean is that what you cutie mark means? That you died?” Trixie asked.

Red Velvet smiled. “Not quite. My mark is surprisingly enough a different matter. Originally it was… moths I think. I am not sure anymore. You see, I died soon after I received my mark. I suppose I was drawn like a moth to the flame, only in this case I was drawn to my other half, Ash. Ironically his cutie mark was literally fire.”

“Did… he kill you?” Trixie asked.

“Not on purpose. There was of course an argument, and this lead to a fight. A bitter battle broke out in my home village and I was drawn in. I was willing to stop the fight at any cost, and I did, but I paid the price with my blood. From what I understand, he was distraught over what had happened. He had no intention of anypony getting hurt, especially not a filly. He begged his teacher, Princess Celestia to fix this, and she made him a deal. She would fix the situation, if he gave up something very important. If he gave up a part of himself.

“Of course he said yes, as any young pony who had just made such a grave mistake would. I was brought back by Celestia’s magic, and a piece of whatever Ash was. I still remember the look he gave me, how relieved he was to see me open my eyes and the smile that Celestia gave me as well. Though I can’t prove it, I believe she was shocked to see me come back as an alicorn.

“I remember being upset about my cutie mark being ruined. Celestia took the time to explain that it was not actually ruined but rather it was a sign of me having a new destiny. I broke the chains of fate and came back, so of course I needed a new destiny. I guess my destiny has always been that I will do whatever it takes to achieve my goals, even if it costs my life.”

Trixie felt strange after hearing Red’s tale. She couldn’t help but to look back at her own cutie mark. Not once, but twice Trixie had died and come back. Once when she fought the Deep One, and again when she became an alicorn. Would her cutie mark change as well?

“I don’t think you need to worry,” Red Velvet said calmly. “I was not supposed to come back to life. You on the other hoof seem to have been chosen for this destiny. I saw it when turning you. There was a power there, a guardian keeping you from staying gone too long.”

Trixie shook her head violently to try and lose the thoughts. she had another question for Red. “You said that Ash was your other half. Is that because you’re a part of him?”

“In part, but in all honesty I say this because I have done a lot of research on alicornhood. It would seem that alicorns come in pairs. Celestia and Luna, representing the sun and moon. Cadence and Twilight, romantic love and platonic love. Me and Ash, the will to die for one’s believes versus the will to kill others for them,” Red Velvet said. “I’m sure that somewhere out there, one day in the future maybe, you will find your other half. It took over ten years for Cadence to find hers.”

“Than what am I?” Trixie asked.

“I couldn’t say. That is something you would need to discover for yourself. Perhaps you are the survivor, or wraith. Whatever you are, is up for you to discover,” Red Velvet said.

“You think you’re the one who dies for their beliefs?” Trixie asked.

“Sacrifice I suppose might be a better word. While I will sacrifice myself, my honor, my alliances, or my life for my goals, Ash would sacrifice others,” Red Velvet explained. “I have done some horrible things along my journey, Trixie. I am not what you would call a good pony, but I hope that by the end, all my mistakes will be outweighed by the good.

“Stopping windigo attacks, making a squad of deer who can defend the forest from even an army of frozen beasts. Making a princess, and stopping an evil cultist. Finally, saving the alicorn race as a whole,” Red Velvet said.

“That last one is going to get you killed,” Trixie said.

“Maybe,” Red Velvet said.

“I… I saw it in a dream. I saw what will happen. Celestia will kill you,” Trixie said.

“Then so be it. It’s my destiny to save the alicorn race. You see it’s not just the kingdom that will be returned, but I’ve seen it. I have seen how ponies all over the world will start becoming alicorns after the kingdom returns. I don’t know how it all works exactly, but something about the kingdom existing in our dimension will produce transformations all over Equestria,” Red Velvet Explained.

Trixie looked away. “I… I’ll be there when you save them. I can’t fight Celestia for you, but… I don’t want to see you die like that.”

“I don’t know what you saw, Trixie. I do know however that if anypony can change your future, it would be you,” Red Velvet said.

Trixie nodded. This conversation had gotten dark, and she still had things she needed to do here. With a three legged walk, she made her way throughout the house. Luckily she found a few bags with which to fill with goodies. By the time she was done, several staves had been tied to the bags, one of Starswirl’s capes and hats were crammed into one of them along with many journals, and various knick knacks that looked important. By the time Trixie was done, she had completely loaded up on everything she could find that screamed ‘old snobby wizard’.

When Red Velvet left the study, several scrolls neatly tucked into her saddlebags, she saw Trixie standing by the couch, with several sets of saddlebags by her side. Red’s eyes popped out as she moved her mouth. The tall pony quickly looked up and down the empty walls and back to Trixie.

“You… you really took me up on my offer now didn’t you?” Red Velvet said.

“What can I say, I’m a pack rat,” Trixie stated proudly.

Red starched the back of her head. “Uh… how are you getting all of that home?”

“You’re going to help me!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Oh…”

The flight from Starswirl’s cottage was a bit awkward at first, but quickly became fun. With four large saddlebags being held in a red telekinetic aura, the two of them would have looked a bit awkward to say the least. They avoided going straight to town due to obvious reasons, and instead hovered low behind Trixie’s house before landing. The second they touched the snow covered earth, Red covered her wings with her cloak and drew up her hood.

Red set the bags down on the front porch, along with Trixie. She gave a small smile to Trixie before nodding. “I guess this is it for now.”

“Will I see you again anytime soon?” Trixie asked.

“No, you won’t. I plan to lead my squad into the heart of windigo country and see if I can cause some trouble for the clans. When I get back we’ll see what happens,” Red Velvet said.

“Don’t get yourself killed,” Trixie said.

“I won’t die until I rescue the alicorns, remember,” Red said with a wink.

The back door opened, and Trixie heard Maud saying, “Lulu, what are you doing out here?”

Trixie quickly hid her leg underneath her cloak, and looked away. She could only hope that Maud didn’t immediately notice that something was wrong. Luckily for her, Maud took one look at Red Velvet and didn’t look away.

“Who is this?” Maud asked. “She looks like Fluttershy. I don’t like that that.”

Trixie reached up to scratch the back of her head and winced at the movement. She decided against that action. “This is Red Velvet… she helped us back in Manehattan.”

“You were the one who helped us stop those evil creatures?” Maud asked.

A round little head poked its way out from underneath Maud’s legs, took one look at the giant unicorn Red Velvet and fled back into the house. Maud frowned. “She still doesn’t trust mares.”

Red looked away. “It was nice to meet you, Maud. Trixie here has told me all sorts of things about you.” Red Velvet gave a wink before walking away.

Maud looked down at the bags. “She’s not moving in is she?”

For a moment Trixie stood there trying to comprehend where that question had come from, and then she realized that the four bags she had brought back with her were filled with personal items. Maud didn’t know that they were Starswirl’s yet.

“No, she’s actually going on a trip. These bags are full of stuff from Starswirl’s place. I’m going to give it to Twilight as a present,” Trixie said.

Maud nodded, and then studied Trixie. It had to be obvious that she was hurt by now, because Maud asked, “Why are you favoring that leg?”

“Um…” Trixie finally turned to face Maud directly. The second that Maud saw Trixie’s face, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. “Yeah, I got hurt. Red saved me… again.”

“Where’s Applejack?” Maud asked as she turned around. “Pinkie Pie told me she was with you.”

“What? I was with Red, I haven’t seen Applejack all day. Why would Pinkie tell you that?” Trixie said.

“Because I asked her why she wasn’t with you,” Maud said.

Maud stomped into the house, and Trixie limped after her. There was a sort of dangerous movement in Maud’s walk as she made her way through the laundry room and into the kitchen. Pinkie was sitting at the table and working on a puzzle.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie! What in Equestria did you mean, ‘she’s with Applejack’?” Maud demanded.

Pinkie Pie looked up, saw Trixie, and jumped out of the chair. “What happened? You’re all… jacked up.”

Trixie limped to the table and took a seat. “I was getting a present for Twilight.”

“What did the gift shop try and eat you or something?” Pinkie asked.

Maud stamped a hoof into the ground. “This is not a time for jokes. Why did you lie to me?”

“I… um…” Pinkie Pie said.

“You’ve already been slacking on your job, but you reassured me that Applejack was taking up the slack in watching Trixie. Now you… she’s hurt!” Maud exclaimed. There were tears in her eyes.

Trixie’s heart sunk at the sight. The last thing she had wanted to do was make Maud upset.

“I didn’t know she was going to get hurt!” Pinkie defended.

“Has Applejack really been taking care of her?” Maud asked.

“Well… in theory,” Pinkie Pie said.

“You have been lying to me about that too! Does Applejack even know that she was supposed to be watching Trixie?”

“Applejack’s got her own problems right now, in fact I think she’s been having a hard time doing work on the farm even. So I didn’t want to make her worry,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Let me guess, Trixie goes unsupervised, and you get to hang out with that, that, slut!” Maud reared up, and slammed her hooves down onto the table. The tears were running down her cheeks now.

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie Pie said. She stayed quiet for a moment before her eyes narrowed and she looked up. “Did you just call my friend a slut?”

“Fluttershy is a worthless piece of trash, and I can’t believe you would even talk to her after what she’s done to me and Trixie,” Maud said. She closed her eyes and looked away. “Leave.”

“W-what?” Pinkie asked, her ears folded back and her eyes grew worried.

“I said leave. I don’t want to be around you right now, Pinkie. You… you messed up,” Maud said.

Pinkie Pie lowered her head, and walked to the door. “I’m sorry. I just… I thought that Trixie was going to be okay this time.”

“She tried to kill herself, Pinkie. Now she comes back like this and I’m supposed to…” Maud turned away.

Pinkie Pie grabbed her jacket, and walked out the door. It shut quietly behind her. Only after she was gone did Maud finally sit down, and let out a sob. Trixie reached out to hold her special somepony, but only one of her forelegs would listen to her. Maud pushed Trixie away gently, and wiped her tears away on her dress sleeve.

“I’m sorry I did that,” Maud said.

“It’s okay, I understand. You don’t need to hide your tears from me, honey. I’m here for you,” Trixie said.

Maud shook her head. “I won’t let you get hurt again. Rainbow Dash is going to replace my sister on watching you. Is that okay?”

“Um,” Trixie said. She didn’t exactly want anypony watching her anymore. That said, she knew it would make Maud feel better. “I’ll give it a shot. But… do I really need somepony to watch me anymore?”

“You’re covered in bandages, and there is no telling just how bad your leg is. It looks broke,” Maud said.

“I’m sure it’s just a sprain,” Trixie said.

“No its broken because I wasn’t good enough, your broken because I-“ Maud began.

Trixie reached out and wrapped her leg around Maud, pulling her into a tight embrace. “It’s not your fault. I told you that I could get hurt. There was a monster and I had to fight it. I won though, and I’m alive.”

Maud sniffled and pulled away. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Trixie nodded.

A small smile grew over Maud’s lips and she looked back. Valiant Heart stood in the living room, watching the whole thing, her eyes were watery. She was rubbing at the damaged eye, while staring at Maud with her good eye. The eye patch was being held in her mouth.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Maud asked.

Valiant trotted up, and wrapped her legs around Maud’s. She pulled away just enough to reach up with a hoof and gently tug Maud’s hair. Maud lowered her head to the filly’s level. It must have been what Valiant wanted because she kissed Maud on the forehead and whispered so quietly, that Trixie could only just pick up what the filly head said.

“Shh, she came home. You won’t lose anypony. We’re both here, and we’ll be here forever.”

Trixie looked away, trying to not let Valiant know that she had been heard. For whatever reason, Valiant refused to talk to anypony other than Maud; it was so bad that she didn’t even want to be heard by another pony. The effect it had on Maud however was something that Trixie could not pretend to ignore. A big smile grew over Maud’s lips, and she picked up the filly and embraced her.

Even if Maud was feeling better now, this still worried Trixie. If Maud continued to bottle things up inside, and refused to let Trixie take care of her emotionally, it would eventually break her. Trixie knew what it was like first hoof, and hated seeing Maud act like this. There was something bothering her, more than just Pinkie’s irresponsibility, and Trixie getter hurt. Trixie just had to stay by Maud’s side, and hope that when Maud did fall to pieces, she could catch her and pick her up.

The hours went by pretty quickly after that. Maud brought in all of the stuff Trixie had looted from the old cottage, and shoved it into the empty room. When it came to dinner, it was disheartening to know that Pinkie wasn’t going to come, her absence was felt by everypony. Finally it was time to put a sleepy but obstinate Valiant Heart to bed.

Valiant laid in the bed across from the fireplace, but refused to go to sleep. That was until Maud began singing a lullaby to the sleepy filly. The lullaby was a familiar one, about rocks, and dark skies. It actually reminded Trixie that Pinkie Pie had at one time given her a book to better understand Maud and what she felt.

Trixie snuck away as Maud continued singing. If something was wrong with Maud, and if there were really any clues for Trixie to find in that book, Trixie was determined to find them. Quietly she walked into the bedroom that on warmer nights she shared with Maud. After closing the door behind her, she pulled out the poetry book from under the bed and sat on top of it.

It felt strange, wrong even to be looking through Maud’s personal poetry book without permission. Even so, Trixie suspected that without the knowledge she would get from this book that she might never be able to help keep her lover together. Something was bothering her, and it was really, really deep.

Trixie opened to the last page written in. a poem about sapphires, and how much they meant to her. she went back by quite a bit. And found a rather dark poem about something called Holders Boulder, and how it was just a symbol for being enslaved to the life of a rock farmer. A little further she found some about a tiny rock named Boulder, there were actually quite a few poems about Boulder.

Trixie remembered Boulder, that was Maud’s pet rock. It used to sleep in a cat bed, for whatever reason. Surprisingly she hadn’t seen nor heard about it since they fully moved into Ponyville. It made her wonder what Maud had done with the little guy, but some questions were best left alone, at least until Maud was more stable.

Though Trixie did find one poem in particular, one that was oh so very familiar. In fact, it was the lullaby that Maud had been singing to Valiant Heart.

Trixie couldn’t help but to stare down at the poem, it was sad and dark. Much more so than Trixie had imagined it could be. The extra lines painted a dark picture, one that Trixie really didn’t like the sound of. Was it possible that something bad had happened to Boulder? Her pet rock. Was that why Trixie hadn’t seen it since she came to Ponyville?

Her heart broke as she contemplated what it must have been like for Maud. If something bad really happened to her pet rock, the little guy that she cherished so much, than it must have broke Maud. Did that mean that Trixie and Valiant were the only things she was able to latch onto?

“It’s no wonder that Maud is so worried about me being hurt. I… I can’t believe that I’ve been so negligent towards her feelings. Why hasn’t she told me though? Is she too strong to bother me with her problems or does she just not want to add to my stress?” Trixie asked herself.

She closed her eyes. “I won’t bring this up to her. she will tell me when she’s ready. But what I can do is stay with her, and not endanger myself like some kind of… idiot again. She needs me, and she needs Valiant. I won’t make her upset again.”

Trixie set the book down on the bed, and looked toward the door. Maud was staring at her with a flat expression.

Oh crap.

“Valiant’s asleep… were you reading that?” Maud asked.

Trixie looked away. “A little bit. I… uh… I’m sorry. Was that wrong of me?”

Maud walked in and took a seat down next to Trixie. “Lulu, I have pried into your life so much already. I know about things that I had no right in learning. If you want to read my old and poorly written poetry, that’s fine with me.”

Trixie leaned against Maud’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Lulu.”