//------------------------------// // Chapter One hundred and Twenty One: At the Gala Tonight // Story: Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Heart of Stone Chapter One Hundred and Twenty One: At the Gala Tonight. Written by TheCrimsonDM When the day of the gala finally arrived, Trixie couldn’t be more happy. Trixie and family were waiting for the train to arrive. The station was far from quiet today. Though only a fraction of these ponies were going to the gala, most of them were going to Canterlot. It was during the gala that the city became the most active. While standing in line for the train, Twilight Sparkle approached her. The black and sea blue dress she wore was beautiful, stunning really. Even with her own fancy dress Trixie felt a little under classed. Twilight knew how to wear a dress. “Trixie, I know you’ve been avoiding me and I just want to apologize for both mine and Luna’s behavior,” Twilight said. Trixie stuck her nose up in the air. “I’ll forgive you.” A half smile formed on Twilight’s lips. “She didn’t mean to hurt you. She only expected you to be angry with her, not… not hurt.” Trixie didn’t meet Twilight’s eyes but she turned to face her. “She manipulated and used me. I thought that we were friends, I thought that after all the kindness she had offered me in the past… that we had trust. If she just wanted to have Rainbow Dash for whatever ploy she’s making, I would have considered helping her… maybe. I-I don’t know. I thought I was doing something good for Rainbow, but now I’m terrified that I just did something horrible to one of my dearest friends. She saved my life, and this is how I…” “It’s not that bad,” Twilight jumped in. “You see Luna accidently messed up one of my future plans. One day I am going to knight all of my closest friends. This way I can keep them safe and we can stay close. When Luna found out about that she was quite upset with herself. She promised to give Rainbow Dash to me once her training is complete.” “You can do that?” Trixie asked. “Just… trade or give knights away? They’re not chess pieces.” “Of course not, but something had to be done to prevent… look this is just how it works. I don’t think that Rainbow Dash will mind whether she serves under me or her, and in case you were worried she does have a say in the matter. Though I doubt that she will cause a problem,” Twilight said. “This is not what I signed up for,” Trixie said. “No, it’s what I signed you up for,” Maud said. “I’m sorry.” “Well… um… I can’t wait to see Rainbow Dash tonight. How about you?” Twilight said in an attempt to change the subject. Trixie rolled with it, partly because she didn’t want Maud to be sad, but also because she was intrigued. “Rainbow Dash is joining us tonight?” “Yeah, I’d heard from Luna that Rainbow Dash was actually seeing a doctor. I guess her injuries were more severe than we thought,” Twilight said. Trixie nodded. “I’m glad that you didn’t see it. I… I felt so bad for her.” The train appeared on the horizon and Twilight pointed at it. “Look, our ride’s almost here. I bet you three are excited about the gala tonight! I know that two of you haven’t been to it before, I’m sure you’ll love it… so long as my friends don’t do anything… stupid again.” “Our friends doing stupid things,” Trixie said. She added sarcastically, “No, really? I can’t believe that they would ever do something stupid.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’d normally say that it’s mean to call them stupid… but after the first gala we went to together… yeah, no. They earned that title. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash more than anypony else.” “Fluttershy?” Trixie asked unbelieving. “She chased a horde of scared animals into the ball, they were scared of her… actually everypony was. I learned that day, no matter what Fluttershy does, you must always love her, or else,” Twilight said. Trixie shot her a dangerous look. Twilight gulped and said, “Platonically.” “Oh… well,” Trixie looked at Maud, she frowned but nodded. “I can do that… I mean… it would make Pinkie Pie feel better after all.” “Sorry I forgot about the uh, issues you three have,” Twilight said apologetically. The train pulled into the station and let off passengers. Just as they began to enter, Trixie glanced at Canterlot Mountain, and the shining city of sunlight sitting there proudly. Hope filled her chest as she thought about how wonderful the gala was going to be. She also padded her saddle bag and walking cane. She looked down at the cane. That spell seems to be holding out. I hope you can help keep us safe tonight father, I would like to say nothing bad would happen, but I can’t be sure of that anymore. *** Canterlot, the city of sunlight; it’s a beautiful city with a bustling populace that are mostly friendly. Very little crime actually happens in the city, and the homeless population is next to zero. It might have something to do with the fact that it’s a smaller city, perhaps even the smallest city in Equestria. It might also have something to do with the fact that it was home to the most beloved, and feared pony in all of Equestria; Princess Celestia. Having her presence around not only made the city warm and bright, no matter the time of year, it also kept the scary ponies far away. It was a rare day in Tartarus when a mugging occurred in this upper class city; though that might just be the problem. The population of the city could be easily fit into three groups; the wealthy, the servants, or the tourist. It was a bit awkward to consider the idea that she had gone from a prized student of Celestia’s, practically one of the wealthy, to working on a rock farm, and then she shot up to princess status. Now she could pass as one of the wealthy. She didn’t want to, but she could. As the train pulled into the station and everypony got out Trixie took in the fine winter air. Unlike Manehattan or Tall Tale, which both had incredibly varied scents to them, including trash and other undesirables. Canterlot smelled completely clean, but with a hint of something different, a scent she had never smelled anywhere else. It was a little spicy, but fruity at the same time, it made her body tingle, and a warm feeling fill her horn. She called this scent; magic. The population of unicorns in Canterlot was so unbelievably high, that there were all sorts of strange magical occurrences here. It only made it worse to realize that most of these unicorns were fairly powerful. Either having been trained by Celestia herself, or coming from bloodlines that had. There was nary a student of hers that did not become rich afterwards. Trixie suspected that Celestia liked keeping such powerful unicorns close at hoof. “This place is as wonderful as ever,” Twilight said as she took in a deep breath. She let it go with a satisfied smile. “Ponyville might be home, but this place will always hold something special to me.” Trixie nodded. “Every unicorn feels the same way.” “Even you?” Trixie shrugged. “What can I say, it smells nice here.” A large group of wagons were waiting out front with drivers at the ready. Twilight lead Trixie and her family to one and they all sat down. Twilight watched as her group of friends split into two groups and climbed into their own wagons. “I wish we could all fit into a wagon together,” Twilight said. “At least comfortably.” “Yeah, but hey you get to hang out with the best ponies in town,” Trixie said with a grin. “You’re with Trixie and co.” Valiant beamed at Twilight and nodded in agreement. “See, even Val says so,” Trixie said. Twilight relaxed a little. “Yeah, you’re right. And at least I don’t have to be stuck with any new lovers…” Just to tease Twilight a little, Trixie looked over at Maud and lowered her voice a little. “Hey, do you want to make out until we get there?” Maud looked at her. “S-“ “No!” Twilight exclaimed. “Come on, that’s the whole reason I didn’t sit with Flutterpie.” “Did you just call them Flutterpie?” Trixie asked. The wagon started moving and Twilight looked out the window. “You’ve seen them right. Always cuddling, finishing each other’s sentences and even feeding each other. Sure I haven’t seen them kiss yet, but I still get sick of watching how… close they are. Really, it’s like they forget other ponies are even watching.” Trixie shrugged. “Those two have a special…” she gave a look to Maud. Maud looked a little unsure. “Rock?” That should have been expected. Trixie face hoofed so hard that she nearly left a mark. “Ow… no I meant connection. They have a special connection.” “Oh…” Maud said. Twilight and Valiant both laughed a little. It was nice seeing them so happy. “Anyway, they were quite civil when we had them over for dinner,” Trixie said. “That’s because they want to make a good impression. Of course they know the  rest of us don’t care as much about whether they are dating or not,” Twilight admitted. The cart stayed silent for a few minutes as they passed through the brightly lit city. Ponies were outside having fun, and a few unicorns practiced magic tricks along the side of the road. Trixie could tell they were messing up, and how, she had an eye for such things after all. Twilight finally said, “I feel a bit sorry for Sweetie Belle. She’s riding in the same cart as her older sister.” “Wait… they brought fillies to the gala?” Trixie asked. A small hit on the foreleg from Valiant made her correct herself. “They brought their fillies?” “Actually both Scootaloo and Applebloom refuse to go after the last time,” Twilight said. “It was a mess.” Trixie nodded. “Yeah, but… oh well. Whatever. I guess Sweetie Belle is a good enough kid. I know for a fact that Valiant is.” Valiant was already fussing with the dress she was wearing. Maud pat her gently on the head. “Don’t. You’ll mess it up. It’s only for a few hours. We have to look nice.” Valiant groaned in protest, but she stopped fidgeting with the thing. The filly desperately hated clothing of any sort. The only reason she wore a jacket was because it was cold. “So what are you doing when we get to the gala?” Trixie asked. “I’m going to be helping Celestia greet her guests. So I’ll be gone for a few hours,” Twilight said. “Great… Well I’m going to start by finding some old friends to talk too, and then I’ll take Maud out on the dance floor,” Trixie said. “Do you dance?” Twilight said with a look at Maud. “Yes,” Maud said with all the excitement of granite. Valiant raised her whiteboard. “Food.” Trixie smiled. “Well she has her priorities straight at least.” For a few more minutes the ride was quiet, and then bright lights appeared in the distance. Trixie couldn’t help but to grin joyfully as she saw the giant white castle appear before her. It’s ancient stained glass windows, it’s mountain like presence and all the ponies surrounding it all made it so much more thrilling to see again. “Canterlot Castle!” Trixie exclaimed. “One last thing, please don’t let anypony catch you two having sex in the closet or something. That would just be embarrassing for everypony… unless you’re in your own room of course. Do whatever you feel like there,” Twilight said. Trixie thought of what the newspaper headline would be if she were caught screwing around with Maud. Princess Trixie finally came out of the closet. “We won’t get caught,” Maud said flatly. “Maud, honey, please!” Trixie exclaimed. “We can wait until after the party is over.” Maud mumbled under her breath. She didn’t seem to like the idea of waiting for it. Twilight rolled her eyes. The wagon came to a stop in front of the castle’s entrance. The group exited one by one and Trixie felt a surge of relief once she was able to freely stretch her legs again. With a few quick trots she was up the stairs and into the castle’s giant entrance hall. Sure she’d been there before, years ago, but it still held the kind of power and significance that Trixie could barely imagine. Seeing Princess Celestia there to greet them only made it more impressive. With a smile Celestia said, “Princess Trixie, Princess Twilight, what a pleasure to have you here. Twilight would do me a favor and take over for a moment.” Twilight nodded and took her place greeting ponies. Celestia walked with Trixie and company up the stairs. “I understand that you haven’t been to a formal occasion such as this for a while,” Celestia said. “I just wanted to give you my personal thanks for joining us.” Trixie shook her head. “It’s no problem. I’ve always wanted to come here.” “Lady Maud, how are you feeling today?” Celestia asked. “Excited,” Maud said dryly. Celestia smiled a little more. “Are you having fun too, little one?” Valiant shrugged. “She hasn’t gotten to the food yet,” Trixie said. “When she does, her opinion will change.” “That’s good,” Celestia said. She leaned into Trixie’s ear and whispered, “Just in case, the east wing is empty during the actual gala itself. You can find some privacy there if you need it.” Trixie tried not to smile, she tried to frown and look away and act like an adult. What she did was gasp, grin and look Celestia straight in the eyes and say, “What really? Wow… thanks!” “It’s no problem. I know how it goes when your newlywed, I’ve been married a few times myself. Just try and stay out of sight,” Celestia said. “There are still newspaper clippings of me going around that I would very much like to banish to the surface of the sun.” Trixie nodded and then Celestia broke off from them to go and meet a rather fancy looking stallion with a mustache. When Trixie entered the ballroom, her breath was very nearly taken away. First she saw all the ponies, nearly a hundred of them were in this room alone, and yet there was still room for three or four times that number, that was followed by the sound of music playing and ponies talking, finally the smell of delectable foods hit her. For a half panicked second she looked around and felt utterly small, insignificant and lost. As luck would have it, she spotted something that made all those feelings evaporate, replaced by a familiar sense of belonging. A table off in the corner had been reserved; the ponies sitting at it included Minuette, Lyra, Moondancer, and Candle Light. Now that she was sure of where she was going, and what she was going to do, she aimed straight for the table and walked with determined pride. She was going to meet up with her friends. Just before she reached the table though, and only for a brief second, she felt odd. Something about this whole scenario was… strangely familiar. She couldn’t place what it was, but it was there, inside of her, and she knew it to be true. Lyra turned to face her and waved joyfully. “TRIXIE! Oh, oh, it’s me! Lyra! Over here, woohoo, Trixie!” Minuette turned to her and said, “You do realize that she was walking over here the whole time, right?” “She was?” Lyra said, half disbelieving. Trixie shook her head but smiled. It was always the same with them. She took a seat across from Minuette and both Maud and Valiant sat next to her. Though Valiant was far too small and the top of her head didn’t even reach the table. Trixie didn’t want the poor thing feeling left out, so she looked around, and saw what she needed too. With a little bit of magic she brought a folding chair from the wall over to their table and opened it for her. Valiant wasted no time in climbing up it and standing on her hind legs so she could see the rest of the group. “Cute kid,” Minuette said. “I don’t think you actually introduced us. I’m Minuette.” Minuette held out a hoof, but Valiant shied away from it. She also didn’t reply. “Sorry, she’s a bit… shy. She also doesn’t speak and she’s blind in one eye, but hey she’s one of the smartest fillies I’ve ever met,” Trixie said. “She might even be smarter than Twilight.” Lyra whistled. “Wowie, that’s a big deal.” Moondancer smiled. “She is quite adorable.” “I wasn’t sure if you two were going to be able to make it to the gala, I mean considering out original reunion was ruined,” Minuette said. “Twilight was hurt, badly… than I got hurt,” Trixie said. “I know, we live in the same town after all. You used your alicorn powers to save us, it was pretty sweet. Think you can do that again?” Minuette asked. Trixie shook her head. “I really don’t want to. That power… I don’t trust it. It made me feel so cold inside.” “It was cold outside too,” Minuette replied. “I think it was dark magic,” Trixie replied. “How is that different than alicorn magic?” Minuette asked. For a second Trixie worked her mouth, but she had no answer for that and quickly gave up. Lyra had an answer. “Well one’s dark green, and ones slightly less dark green. Duuuuhhhh!” Trixie wanted to facehoof again, she didn’t, but she wanted too. Instead she just rolled her eyes. “We can ask Twilight, she’ll know.” “There is hardly a difference in them,” Candle Light said with authority. “Truthfully the only reason that dark magic isn’t called alicorn magic is because it would imply that normal ponies have the ability to use such powerful magic. After doing enough research and digging, one finds that every instance of ‘dark’ magic on record is actually filled with opinionated beliefs rather than simply facts. The truth is that alicorn magic is just dark magic practiced by an alicorn.” Everypony stared at her in silence. Valiant did too, but not because she was stunned. She actually had her hoof raised. “Yes, little one?” Candle Light asked. Valiant whipped up her whiteboard and wrote so fast that Trixie was sure it was going to look messy. It did, but it was still legible. “Does that make alicorn magic bad?” “Good question,” Candle Light said with a smile. “Without proper training, discipline and concentration it does. Since they both feed off of dark emotions it’s very easy for somepony to start focusing on that as their base of power. When Celestia uses alicorn magic, she does so with a clear mind. no thoughts of evil, of darkness, or of tragedy go through her mind. If they did, her power may come out more easily, but it would also hurt her and possibly corrupt her. This is why Celestia doesn’t use alicorn magic very often. Instead she chooses to use the power of the sun to fight with.” “What about Luna or Twilight?” Trixie asked. “Luna used the power of the moon. Twilight uses more or less normal powers. If you’ve noticed Twilight is good at transmutation magic and energy magic. She’s awful with illusions.” Trixie nodded. “I’m only good with illusions,” She glanced down at the walking cane by her side again. “And with evocation. Lightning, fire, that sort of thing.” “Making a rope dance like a snake,” Lyra added. “Actually that’s uh… pretty much the only transmutation spell I ever learned…” Trixie said. “I was never all that good with magical studies,” Minuette said. “So long as I could smash things with a giant hammer I was alright. But isn’t energy usually under evocation?” Candle Light smiled. “Yes it is, but that doesn’t make Twilight good at the school as a whole. Pretty much anything that involves pure magical energy Twilight can do easily, because it’s very logical and very straight forward. Same with transmutation. Sadly she has a hard time focusing her emotions into magic. She likes being dethatched from it.” Candle Light glanced at Trixie. “Also, Twilight’s a terrible liar, and to use illusions you have to be able to lie.” “I on the other hoof am good at putting my emotions into magic,” Trixie explained. “Sadly trying to do things without any emotion is a bit hard for me, thus why transmutation is hard. I could never just sprout a pair of butterfly wings or turn into a cat without feeling emotional about it.” “And uh… me?” Minuette asked. “You have focus and concentration. That’s what it takes to create a magic weapon and hold it. Nopony I know can hold focus like you can, you’re like a stone wall of concentration,” Candle Light complemented. “Awesome,” Minuette said. “This is all interesting, but I’m afraid the earth ponies might be a little less interested in magic than we are,” Trixie said with a look at both Maud and Valiant. “So let me ask, how has life been going for all of you?” “Me and Bonnie totally got into a fight a few days ago. Then we made up, and we made love. It was awesome,” Lyra said. Minute let out a sigh. “Right… well my business is going well. Being a blacksmith wasn’t my original plan, but I don’t see myself becoming a famous knight of legend any time soon. So blacksmithing it is.” “My office isn’t doing very well either,” Moondancer said. “I don’t get a lot of patients… so I do a lot of work at the local hospital. It’s not bad, but I kinda wanted to have a bigger office by now.” Candle Light blew out a raspberry. “You’re doing fine. You’re problem is that you aren’t confident enough, ponies don’t want to go to a doctor who is terrified of the stethoscope.” “B-b-but I have to… I mean it goes in a pony’s mouth! What if… you know… it’s gross?” Moondancer said. Candle Light rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like bad breath is going to kill you.” Trixie smiled. “Well I’m a fully fledged princess now, I also got married as you all know. Oh and I went to Hollow Shades for my honeymoon, that place is so pretty at night.” Candle Light smiled. “The ruins around there are pretty nice as well.” “They are,” Twilight Sparkle said from behind them. Everypony turned to face the princess with smiling faces. Twilight stood there, her elegant dress just as pretty as it was in Ponyville, only now she could see just how much it really stood out. In fact it wasn’t just Twilight’s dress, she looked at her own, at Maud’s and at Valiant’s and there was a certain something that Trixie couldn’t put her hoof on. Somehow the dresses all just… fit the ponies who wore them perfectly. These clothes were an extension of the pony rather than just pretty clothing. Trixie eyed the room up, and only a select few ponies had clothing that matched them so well. Out of these Ponies Trixie managed to spy Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie sitting at a table. It hit her why these clothes matched so well. They were Rarity’s. She now had a new appreciation for the mare’s talent. Maud pushed herself away from the table and grabbed Trixie’s hoof. With an oh so gentle tug, Maud pulled her away from the table. “I want to dance.” A lump formed in Trixie’s throat and her cheeks grew warm as she was led out to the dance floor with all the other slow dancing ponies. As far as Trixie could see, there were mostly straight couples dancing around them, leaving her feeling a little out of place. Maud clearly didn’t care. She was helped up onto her rear legs, while Maud positioned Trixie’s forelegs in the correct places. It suddenly occurred to her, that she hadn’t practiced ballroom dancing in years. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass her wife in front of the crowd. Of course when they began moving the first thing that Trixie did was step all over Maud’s hooves. Maud barely seemed to notice. It took a few minutes but slowly she began to get the hang of it, and stopped looking like a clumsy oaf. Maud smiled and Trixie looked up into those beautiful green eyes. “Sorry that not a good dancer.” “You’re doing better than my sister,” Maud said. “She would have started break dancing by now.” “D-does she not know how balls work?” Trixie asked. “No, she prefers mares.” Trixie tried to bury her face into Maud’s chest to hide her quickly reddening cheeks. “You meanie.” A pair of gentle lips touched the top of Trixie’s head. “You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.” It felt like they danced for an eternity. Trixie leaning against her lover’s embrace, the slow circle they made around the room became a blurred memory. For her, there were only two ponies in the entire gala, her and Maud. Eventually though, Trixie began to grow tired and the strain of standing on her hind legs for so long finally kicked in. Maud didn’t complain once as they left the dance floor and returned to their table. Once there, Trixie and Maud took seats next to Valiant. After such a wonderful dance Trixie knew the night had only just begun, but it was such a wonderful start that she knew nothing could ruin it. Nothing at all. So that must have been the reason that Red Velvet chose that exact moment to walk up to the table with a sly grin, a long, loose red dress, and glasses on. This time she looked like a pegasus, her horn was hidden by illusion magic. Her long red mane was braided along with her tail. Twilight sat up and held out her hoof. The mare took it and they shook. “Good evening, Princess Twilight,” Red Velvet said in a soothing tone. “Good evening, Professor Carmine,” Twilight replied. “I’m so glad that you could join us.”