To Red Wings’ consternment, Cato had refused to elaborate on his line about the not-statue. Instead, he took their orders for dinner, removing a few items out of an icebox, then stated he was going to be back in several minutes before rushing out the door.
“What was that about?” He pondered. “That was kind of random.”
“Maybe he was going to go get somepony else?” Noire suggested. “It sounds like there’s some sort of story behind the statue, or whatever it is. Maybe they had a hometown artist who sculpted the statue, only she later went evil and used her statues to take over Manechester?!”
Red Wings just looked at her, and said, “You’re certain you were a military pony? You seem to have far too active an imagination for one.”
“I didn’t used to. I blame it on spending several months around Trixie, eh Trix?,” she asked, nudging said unicorn in the side. “Trixie, seriously, what is it with you these days? You’re in that mood again.”
“I’ll explain later.”
Noire scrunched her nose, and her ears drooped. “Seriously. Fine, but it had better be a good explanation.”
The four sat around after that, waiting for Cato to come back. Red Wings felt himself relaxing in his seat, shifting from a bipedal sitting position into an all-fours position. “Ahhh, I could use a nap just about now,” he said, nuzzling his head against the soft back of the seat.
Suddenly, Iceheart gasped.
“Wh—what is it?” Red asked, springing to attention.
“I think I know what Cato meant about it not being a statue,” Iceheart said, her eyes wide open.
“Why? What did he mean?”
Red Wings didn’t get the opportunity to find out, as Cato came back into the restaurant, slightly out of breath. “I’m back, and I brought company with,” Cato announced, as another pony walked in behind him.
Red Wings’ first impression was huge, and then he wondered how much larger the Earth pony might have been when he was younger. The stallion was undoubtedly attractive as well when he was younger, but liver spots and sagging cheeks marred his white-furred face, tousles of black and white hair hanging in thin, loose strands. A thin, stubby beard hung from his chin. However, age was finding the Earth pony a tough opponent, as his yellow eyes shone with a supreme will and fire that could not be quenched. As it was, the stallion stood larger than anypony else in the room, with nopony else even coming to his withers.
“Good evening, everypony,” said the stallion, and Red was glad that at least his own voice was deeper than the other’s baritone voice. “It is nice to meet you. I am Hadrian.” He held his hoof out.
Red Wings accepted the hoofshake. “I’m Red Wings.”
Noire did likewise, “My name is Noire,” followed by Trixie, and finally Iceheart.
“Ah, a Crystal pony,” Hadrian remarked. “I had heard about the Crystal Empire returning, but you are the first of your kind I have seen in pony.”
“It is alright if you want to look,” Iceheart said, noticing his eyes lingering on her coat before darting away. “I am aware many ponies are intrigued by our crystalline coats.”
Hadrian chuckled. “Thank you kindly, Miss Iceheart, but I would be more interested in hearing about your own past and the Crystal Empire. I am old, and it has been some time since I have last left Manechester. I love to hear the stories of those few who come into Manechester, and I fear if you leave, I will not get a third chance to hear from a pony who lived a thousand years ago.”
“Wait, a third chance? Not a second chance?” Noire asked, having seized on the odd language.
“Your food will be ready in about ten minutes,” Cato suddenly said as he popped out from the back, where the kitchen was located. “Can I get anything for you, Hadrian? Tea? Cider?”
“Just water for me. If I am to tell these travellers about your father’s and my past, then my throat will run dry without some refreshments.”
“Of course,” Cato said, quickly pouring out a glass of water with ice and levitating it over to the table, before finally retreating back into the kitchen.
“Ah, that’s a good lad there. He doesn’t quite take after his grandfather, but then, his generation hasn’t had to deal with the issues mine did.”
“What issues would those be?” Iceheart asked.
“Oh, right. Urh-hem!” Hadrian cleared his throat. “Cato said you wanted to know about the statue, right?”
Red Wings frowned. “Not precisely. We just sort of wanted to know a little bit about the town, mentioned the statue, and then he ran off to fetch you after claiming it wasn’t a statue.”
“Aha!” Hadrian said, stomping the floor with a hoof. “Not a surprise, really. Cato knows I love to tell stories, so he figured he’d grab me. Well, I’m your stallion.”
“So then, how is it not a statue?”
“Hmm, where to start,” Hadrian said, rubbing his chin with a hoof. Despite his age, the Earth pony still seemed to be in amazing shape. Whereas Cato had been slightly panting upon getting back, the elder stallion hadn’t even broken a sweat, and clearly had no mobility issues at his age. “Well, forget about the statue for the moment. I promise you we’ll get to it, but there’s a whole lot of backstory behind it. This story all begins about fifty years ago.”
“Fifty years?” Noire asked, before covering her mouth up with a wing. “Oh, sorry. I’ll try not to interrupt anymore. I just remember that Cato mentioned the last time the village would have made the news was about fifty years ago.”
“Aye, that’d be correct. Anyways, fifty years ago, I was on the cusp of stallionhood. Those were the days,” Hadrian chuckled again, and Noire’s ears twitched in annoyance at his very casual manner of speech. “Well, I say those were the days, but nostalgic as I am, I can’t ignore how dangerous the past was for all of us. Tell me, did any of you see the Black Forest when coming into Manechester?”
“The forest to the west, I presume,” Noire said. “Yes, we did see it. I found it rather odd that it was there, considering outside of that forest, the terrain is grasslands as far as the eye can see.”
“Yes, well, the Black Forest grew around a magical font of some power, or at least that’s the prevailing theory. Manechester was a lot smaller in those days because of the Black Forest. Back then, many fearsome predators came out of the Black Forest.”
“Oh?” Iceheart asked. She had faced down Windigos, so anything else was tame in comparison. She did, however, recall some of the creatures that lurked in the Everfree when she delivered messages there. Though Iceheart had stuck to the safe passages, she recalled warnings of some of the monsters there.
“Yes. Manticores came out of there on a weekly basis, and every night, you could hear the timberwolves howl. Every so often you’d get a chimera stomping out from one of the swamps too, though we easily chased it back every time. It was after the hydra came out that the town finally decided to put together an active guard.”
Iceheart was startled to realise Hadrian wasn’t really talking to them anymore. The stallion was looking past them, gazing back into the past, reminiscing of days long past.
“It was officially called the Manechester Perimeter Guard, but everypony agreed that it was a terrible name, and we settled on The Wall as our nickname. We were six, and we were the best of friends. There was me, of course; Antonine, who was one of the farmponies around here and who designed the town’s irrigation system; Severan, Cato’s grandfather and the original owner of this place; Anastasia, one of our weather pegasi; Offa, another farmpony; and finally, Stonehenge, the eldest amongst us, our leader.”
Hadrian sniffed, and his eyes were obviously watery. “We weren’t just friends. We were the best of friends. We trained together, we slept together, ate together, laughed together, and bled together.” The elder stallion finally broke off for a moment to pick up his cup of water, taking a sip before putting the drink back down. “Sorry, I get a little emotional every time I talk about this. I got past it a long time, it’s just that talking make remember those times more than I care to.”
“That’s alright. I have some idea of how you feel,” said Iceheart, attempting to reassure Hadrian.
He waved it off. “Anyways, we were a tight-knit group. We trained together, even went up to Fillydelphia to learn from the Royal Guard stationed there in fighting techniques for a while to improve our teamwork. Not a single one of us died staving off the worst the Black Forest had to throw at us, did you know? Severan and Offa were unicorns, Antonine and Anastasia were pegasi, and Stonehenge was an Earth pony. We worked together with our talents and covered for one another’s weaknesses, and within six months the excursions from the Black Forest went from a torrent to a trickle. Then we started going into the Black Forest.”
Iceheart, Noire, and Red Wings all tensed at Hadrian’s last words, expecting the worst.
Instead, Hadrian laughed. “It was exciting! We thought we were going to face dangerous creatures that would shred us apart as soon as we left our backs exposed, but quite honestly, nothing of the sort ever happened. Once we started trampling over every predator in the place, our overconfidence was more dangerous to ourselves than anything else in the forest.”
For the first time in ages, Iceheart found herself twitching with annoyance. He baited us by making us think something bad was going to happen, I know it, he really did!
“Well, it wasn’t just all fighting and more fighting. When we called ourselves The Wall, it wasn’t just a name. You might have seen bits and pieces of it still around today, but there was originally a full-sized stone wall going all around what used to be the entirety of the residential area at the time. Manechester has since outgrown the old wall though, and lots of ponies live out in farmhouses now instead of walking from here to their fields every day. Anontine designed it, and we built that wall with our own hooves, wings and horns, and trained the rest of the watch. If a creature ever came out of the Black Forest, the watchponies would alert us and we would move out to repel the creature.”
“Then one day, the monsters stopped coming out. It seemed like we had finally outlasted the forest. We scoured the Black Forest thoroughly, looking in every nook and cranny, mapping out several caves, trying to ensure there wasn’t a single nest of pests left. We didn’t want anything to come out and bite us in the flanks for being too cocky for our own good. There was a parasprite infestation in Fillydelphia just a few years ago, for example, but they’ve popped up all over Equestria on occasion in the last several centuries, usually breeding in forests before appearing in the open. We made dang certain there wasn’t a single parasprite in the Black Forest.”
By this time, Cato had finally come out, four separate plates hovering in his magical grip. He laid each one of them out, before sitting down on another chair himself. Even if he had likely heard the story before, even the unicorn was engrossed in Hadrian’s story.
Iceheart briefly looked at her fellow ponies’ meals. Noire had ordered a thick tomato soup in a bread bowl, with a layer of melted cheese over top; Red Wings had a pasta of some sort, complete with tomato sauce; and Trixie had gotten a simple lettuce, tomato and carrot salad. Iceheart had gotten herself an assortment of grilled vegetables, with tomatoes as the centre dish. She salivated merely from the scent and sight of the food: it had been difficult to get fresh anything besides berries and fish in the North.
Sheepishly, Iceheart snapped back to attention. For their parts, the four that had come into town had been waiting for the ‘but’ to drop that they sensed was waiting for them at the end of Hadrian’s tale. It finally came.
Hadrian let out long, deep, weary sigh. “We were thorough. We even brought in experts from an anti-monster agency after, and they agreed with us. But we still missed a spot.”
And there it is, Iceheart, Noire, Red Wings and Trixie all simultaneously thought.
“In one part of the Black Forest there’s a grove of trees that can grow so thick they’re wider than six ponies standing in front of one another, from muzzle to tail. We didn’t realise that the trees could rot from the inside out, but one species of creatures managed to dig out a hideaway in a tree. Do you know what type of monster I’m talking about?”
“Cockatrices,” Iceheart instantly answered, having known since before Cato had returned back with Hadrian.
Even as Trixie let out a gasp, Hadrian raised an eyebrow. “You’re good,” he said.
“The Royal Sisters held their court in the Everfree Forest a thousand years ago. I sometimes delivered messages from the Crystal Empire at the time. Though I never ran into one, I was warned about cockatrices and how to flee if I should ever run into one,” explained Iceheart.
“Well, that’s understandable. I think the cockatrices are still extant around the Everfree Forest, but nowhere else in Equestria. But anyways, we missed a cockatrice nest that was growing in our own backyard. Once they had bred out of control, with no other predators around to keep it in check, they came into town.”
“That’s not a statue, then!” Noire said, before she nearly choked on the bit of food stuck in her throat. She beat her hoof against her chest for a second, before grabbing some water and drinking it. “Sorry,” said Noire, a bit red in the face from her choking episode.
“No, it isn’t,” Hadrian confirmed with a nod. “A cockatrice has the upper body of a chicken and the lower body of a snake, for those of you who didn’t know, and its magic is capable of turning to stone anypony it makes eye-to-eye contact with.”
Oh, Red Wings thought as he felt unsettled, suddenly finding it difficult to swallow his food. So that’s what Cato meant by that not being a statue.
“One day, a flock of cockatrices came out of the Black Forest. We were unprepared for it, but we still had a watch on the wall, and we quickly executed our evacuation procedures. We of The Wall, however, went out to stop the cockatrices. We attempted to push them back into the woods for the first few minutes, before we quickly decided to execute them all.”
Hadrian shrugged as he saw a few slack looks, and at least one mouth hanging open. “Don’t give me that look. Ponykind has been taming and pacifying the land for several thousand years. What, did you think monsters only lived in a tiny few spots all across Equestria? Pah, what nonsense. No, we’ve been domesticating those animals we could, and killing anything that was dangerous and which couldn’t be reasoned with. In the case of the cockatrices, when Antonine was first petrified, all bets were off.”
“It was Stonehenge who struck upon the novel solution of blindfolding himself. Well, I say ‘novel’, but really, the rest of us thought it was an insane idea. Most ponies who know about cockatrices just know about their ability to turn somepony to stone, but cockatrices have a poisonous bite capable of knocking out the average equine. They can also wrap their long tail around a pony and constrict him, causing asphyxiation.”
“That’s—that’s horrifying,” said Red Wings.
“It is,” Cato nodded from the side. “Grandfather told me his stories on many occasions, but the cockatrices always struck me as especially terrifying.”
“Well, in the heat of the moment, it wasn’t that bad. I mean, we were definitely horrified when Antonine was turned to stone, right up until we slaughtered the cockatrice that got him, and the effect wore off. When that happened we were more reckless than we had any right to be, thinking it wouldn’t matter as long as we killed all of them.” Hadrian stroked the stubby beard on his chin with his hoof. “Well, we were still careful. I like to think we were a well-knit group, and when Stonehenge blinded himself, the rest of us fell back to support him, telling him when to expect another cockatrice, occasionally beating off the cockatrice that tried to wrap around him, and generally herding away all the chickens towards Stonehenge and away from the village.”
“It was a flawless fight. The only mistake we made was not knowing that the nest had a king.”
Iceheart furled her eyebrows. “A...king?”
“Aye, a king. Well, that’s what we called it, anyways. It was definitely male, and it was three times larger than any of the other cockatrices. We were stunned when we first saw it, coming up the rear. Severan and Offa tried to kill it with spells, and the spells just bounced off its scales. Our formation fell apart there: before, we were able to snipe at the cockatrices from the side while Stonehenge was a wall unto himself, but we couldn’t stop the king from getting in close.”
Hadrian stopped talking to take another sip of water. Thunk! Went the cup as he slammed it back down on the table. The elder stallion took a deep sigh, before his eyes stared off into the distance.
Nopony said anything for several awkward seconds, waiting for Hadrian to resume. In the end, it was Cato who spoke up instead. “He doesn’t really like this part very much. Grandfather and all the rest feel they failed Stonehenge.”
“We did,” Hadrian said, his voice much lower. “I was the first one to realise the danger the King Cockatrice posed, and stormed ahead of everypony else to fight it. After all, I was talented with two hooves and a hammer. I thought I could damage it, but it tossed me aside like a ragdoll. Severan tried to hold the damn chicken with his magic, and the backlash left him reeling in pain. Antonine and Anastasia tried to spear it from above with dive strikes, and both suffered torn wings for the result. It took us until after the fight to figure it out, but we think the bastard was absorbing magical power from the slaughter of the rest of his flock, somehow.”
“But you did defeat it,” Red Wings said. They had to have done so, or else Manechester would not be standing today.
“Aye, we did. I make it sound like some grand battle, but all that really happened was that Stonehenge tore his blindfold off to chase the king down. Offa gave him an opening to grab it by the neck, and he wringed the life out of that monster. The king cockatrice wrapped its tail around Stonehenge and tried to kill him in turn. Stonehenge outlasted the bird. It ran out of air first.”
“But...he still got petrified? No, how’s that even possible?,” Noire asked. “I remember the statue now. His eyes were closed!”
“The king cockatrice was probably doped up on lots of magic,” Cato said, as he took the four empty plates from the table and stacked them up one on top of another on the bar counter. “Even though Stonehenge had his eyes closed, the king cockatrice’s petrifaction magic was powerful enough that it still affected Stonehenge through his eyelids. Hadrian’s choice of words is correct: the cockatrice ran out of air first, because it didn’t realise that Stonehenge had it in a death grip. Once Stonehenge was fully petrified, no amount of constriction was going to make him run out of air.”
“So that’s why the statue, er, not-statue I guess had such an odd positioning,” Red Wings realised. “I had wondered why its one leg was up in the air like that: he was holding something in front of him, attempting to choke it. But wait, you said before that your one pony, um, Antonine I think you said his name was, was briefly turned to a statue before reverting. Shouldn’t the same have happened to Stonehenge?”
“That’s where it all became one cruel prank,” Hadrian said. “I don’t really know how intelligent the king cockatrice was, or if it was operating entirely on primal instinct, but it got the last laugh on us. All the magic it had absorbed from the death of its flock, it put to good use in its last moments. Stonehenge didn’t revert back after the chicken suffocated, nor after it decomposed in his grasp.”
“Do you know for how long?” Iceheart asked.
“Eh? How long what?”
“How long the magic is supposed to last,” the Crystal Earth pony replied. “Up in the north, when Windigos die, they leave behind magic-infused remains. The remains can last for hundreds if not thousands of years, causing snowstorm and cold weather in the immediate area, but they eventually lose their magic. I assume the petrification should be the same, in which case I was wondering if you know how long it lasts.”
“Oh. Interesting. I did not know that. I hope you’ll forgive an old stallion his curiosity, but I’d love to hear more about that later on. Oh, but maybe wait until tomorrow night, Antonine is returning from visiting grandfillies in Baltimare tomorrow, and Offa should be free as well.” Hadrian broke off, and grimaced, before he said, “Right, the petrification. Well, you’ve heard our town became briefly famous across Equestria fifty years ago and made the news. The cockatrice attack was part of that, of course, but it was also because we journeyed to Canterlot and asked Princess Celestia to come and restore Stonehenge to normal.”
Noire’s head jerked up in surprise at that. The Princess came out all the way here? Well no wait, he didn’t say she did, just let him finish the story.
Hadrian laid his head back against the seat, a small smile on his face. “The Princess received us most graciously in Canterlot. To our surprise, when she heard our request, she immediately agreed to come to Manechester, and moved up much of her schedule to do so. It seems Princess Celestia is more than willing to help ponies who have done their darndest to keep other ponies safe.”
“She does do that,” Noire whispered. Having heard many impressive stories about Princess Celestia, here she was, learning of another tale about the Alicorn of the Sun.
“Let me tell you, coming back was a lot quicker than getting there! Even with the train from Fillydelphia, it still took us two days to get to Canterlot. As special guests of her majesty, it took us only a few hours to get back on her royal pegasus carriage, and she regaled us with many tales of her exploits on the way back after we explained a little of our own stories. It’s a little bit of a shame, too, but the Princess coming to town was what made the news in Baltimare, Canterlot and Fillydelphia, not the tale of The Wall protecting a town against a cockatrice flock gone mad.” Hadrian sighed, before he tilted his head back down, facing forward with a grimmer expression. “Unfortunately, undoing the petrification spell was beyond her ability. According to Princess Celestia, it would take at least a century for enough magic to wear off before she could purify Stonehenge. That chicken knew what it was doing, with a half-life greater than any of our lifetimes.”
“So when he is restored, none of you will be around anymore,” Iceheart said.
“Aye, I imagine you Crystal ponies understand a little bit of that. Severan and Anastasia have already passed on, each in the last few years. It hurts, but we put Stonehenge in the plaza so we’re able to see him every day. Even our children won’t be around when he comes back to life, but hopefully some of our grandchildren will, like Cato here,” Hadrian said, pointing at the aforementioned unicorn.
“Grandfather Severan told me enough stories that I would much like to meet Stonehenge myself,” Cato murmured as he retreated behind the bar counter, and began to wash the dirty dishes. “He was an impressive stallion.”
“I hope you get to meet him, too,” Hadrian mumbled. “Stonehenge was my brother.”
Wisely, nopony was so callous to ask him if he meant his literal brother or metaphorical brother-in-arms.
Hadrian chanced a look out the window. “Oh, silly me, it’s getting dark out, I should get going. Thanks for listening to me, everypony, even if it was because Cato wanted to impress you all with a story over your dinner.”
“Hey!” Cato whined.
The old pony ignored him. “If you’re still here tomorrow, I’ll stop by again. I would love to hear some more about the Crystal Empire, too, Miss Iceheart."
“It would be my pleasure,” Iceheart replied.
“Good then! In that case, toodles,” Hadrian said. He stood up, wiping off his coat with a hoof despite not eating a crumb, and then walked out of the restaurant.
“Well. Wow,” was all Noire had to say in the wake of the story they had just been told.
“Yes, that’s a common reaction when ponies hear about the tragic tale of Stonehenge of The Wall,” said Cato, who had moved on from the plates to the glasses, which he was now washing out and polishing to a shine. “The rest of The Wall, with some help from Canterlot, combed through the Black Forest for a second time after that to make sure there were no more nasty surprises. They didn’t find any. The Wall disbanded, and the wall, the physical stone wall that is, was disassembled bit by bit over the years. Now we just leave a few pieces up as a historical relic.”
“So it really wasn’t a statue after all,” Red Wings mused.
“No, it is not. The Wall fought hard to put Stonehenge out in the plaza, but after the first few weeks, any resistance to the motion crumbled. The petrification magic works in weird ways, so that he’s indestructible while he’s been turned to stone, so it’s not like we even have to worry about somepony accidentally breaking it, unlike a certain statue. Ah, sorry, that might sound a little callous,” Cato apologised. “We got a little detached about it over the years. Oh, would you like some dessert, maybe some tea or coffee?”
“Wha—oh, no, that will be fine,” Noire said, looking over at Trixie, who had been quiet for nearly the entire night. “I think we’ll be going out for a little walk first, actually, before we come back.”
Trixie actually took note of Noire’s words, and she nodded. “Yes, I think we will be doing that,” Trixie said. Noire frowned, feeling weirded out by Trixie’s monotone.
“Going to head back to the plaza?” Cato asked, and then smirked when he saw some surprised faces. “I’ve seen it before, ponies going out to take a look at Stonehenge once they hear the truth about what the so-called statue truly is. Don’t worry, I’ll leave the place open until you come back in.”
“Very well. Thank you for dinner, Cato. It was an excellent meal,” Iceheart said as she rose from the table. She gave Cato a brief curtsy, before leading her three friends out of the restaurant.
“I think we found what this premonition or feeling or whatever it is was directing us towards,” Noire remarked as soon as they got outside.
“Yes, it would seem so,” Trixie agreed.
Iceheart frowned as she sidled up next to the blue-coated unicorn. “Are you alright, Trixie? I would have thought you to be more enthusiastic than that. You’re not worried about collapsing from exhaustion again, are you?”
“Whatever.”
Red Wings took a few seconds to think it over, before deciding to throw caution to the wind. So soon after swearing his loyalty to Trixie, he didn’t want to press her. However, she had been acting odd, and it would be better if all three of them showed their concerns about her instead of just two. “Is something else bothering you, Trixie?” He asked, as the four ponies rounded the curve and ended up at the plaza.
“Nothing’s wrong,” said Trixie as they came up to the petrified form of the Earth pony called Stonehenge. The moon was beginning to crawl out of its hideaway on the other side of the world. It cast its moonlight on Stonehenge from behind, resulting in a long shadow that stretched across the pedestal, pond and plaza proper.
Now that Red Wings knew the true story behind the supposed statue, Stonehenge’s appearance looked more determined than ever. Red Wings couldn’t help but be inspired, feeling like Stonehenge’s acceptance of his fate was what Red himself should aspire to were he to find himself in a similar situation.
“Well, if you’re not up for it…” Red Wings trailed off, seeing the look on Trixie’s face.
“I’m up for it,” Trixie barked, startling the other three with the impatience in her voice. “Stand back. I’m going to try some magic here.”
Red Wings was a little bit nervous about letting a mare who obviously wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind perform magic, but he was conflicted. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and backed away. In the side of his eyes, he could see both Noire and Iceheart giving Trixie some space as well.
The living wind howled.
The plaza lit up at once as Trixie’s horn glowed an intense violet, the same shade as her eyes. Noire felt a brief moment of sadness as she recalled the lovely green shade that Trixie’s magic had once been, before it changed. The magic grew in intensity until it was blazing like a miniature sun, before it suddenly dimmed all at once, and a purple glow surrounded Trixie’s body instead. Noire backed away some more as Trixie’s hooves began to lift off from the ground. The last time Trixie had used this type of magic, the unicorn had also unconsciously self-levitated, and Noire didn’t dare stay too close, suddenly all too aware of the possibility of a magical backlash now.
Noire, Iceheart and Red Wings all stood there for several minutes as the glow around Trixie got brighter and brighter, to the point each had to lift a leg up to shield their eyes against the bright magic. None of them dared speak a word in case they distracted Trixie.
I hope whatever you’re doing, you finish soon, Red Wings thought as he looked around, trying to see if anypony was coming. While the town was peaceful, a bright magic light coming from the plaza in the early night hours would certainly seem out of place. They weren’t precisely doing anything illegal, but if somepony was to come investigate, Trixie’s magic would look suspicious.
It felt a little weird, being on the outside of whatever Trixie was doing. Before, in the Badlands, Red Wings had felt the magic peripherally affecting him when Trixie was casting. It had been an odd sensation, something between an itch and being ticklish, only for his body to suddenly have another wing. His left wing hadn’t regenerated out of his body, either. One moment, it had merely been a nub. The next moment, his wing was fully restored.
Suddenly, the bright light disappeared, and the magic around Trixie fizzled out, with a soft thump as she landed back on her hooves. “Ooooh, I don’t feel so good,” Trixie said. She attempted to get back up, only to sway on her hooves, and nearly tripped over into the petrified form of Stonehenge.
“C’mon, Trix, we’ll help you get back to the inn. Red, can you help me?” Noire asked as she moved next to Trixie. She had one wing out, attempting to use a joint-pegasus lift, a technique that involved two or four pegasi carrying a pony underneath outstretched wings.
“N—no! I can do this!” Trixie exclaimed as she struggled back up, passion in her eyes for the first time in hours. “I felt something, I swear I felt something!” Trixie started casting magic again, her horn once more lighting up. For a few seconds, it looked like Trixie was going to do something. Then the light dancing up and down her magic sparkled out, almost like an electrical short-circuit, and Trixie visibly wilted.
The wind stopped.
“Curses!” She shouted, stomping her hoof on the ground. “Why is this so hard? It should have worked!”
“Trixie,” Iceheart suddenly spoke up, walking around and in front of the statue, blocking Trixie’s view of it. “I have mostly refrained so far today, assuming you were simply a little under the weather, or that the stress of this might be getting to you. I let Noire do most of the questioning and comforting. Now, however, now I know something is wrong, so please Trixie, stop this foolishness and tell us what is wrong with you.”
Trixie shivered underneath Iceheart’s sudden laser focus. Iceheart softened her gaze upon seeing Trixie looking so defeated, but didn’t let up.
“Al—alright, everypony. I’ll tell you. I honestly should have told you before. I was just scared you would have disapproved. Let’s just, um, go back to the hotel first, please?” Trixie attempted to take a step forward, only to feel greatly exhausted. She looked sheepish as she said, “Er, I think I’ll take that wing lift.”
Red Wings and Noire traded eye rolls, even as they both looked a little bit grim. What could Trixie have wanted to keep secret from them?
It had been a little bit difficult for Red Wings and Noire to get Trixie back to the restaurant slash inn and into her bedroom, having to drag her through the front area instead of conveniently flying her through an open window. The unicorn had been mortified when they explained it off to Cato as Trixie having been a little tipsy, especially when Red had smirked and coined the nickname ‘Tipsy Trixie’.
But they finally managed to get her into her room and onto her bed. Noire sat down on the bed opposite, while Red Wings and Iceheart took seats on two chairs in the room. “Alright, Trixie, spill,” Noire commanded.
“OK, um, where to begin…” Trixie trailed off.
“From the beginning,” Noire said. It was clear the bat pony was not willing to let Trixie ‘um’ and ‘er’ her audience into exhaustion.
“Yes, the beginning, that makes sense,” Trixie said, nodding furtively. “It all started in the changeling hive, when I was reading in the library. I had an epiphany: a Changeling could change. I healed Red Wings through magic that ‘changed’ him, but it was only ever a physical illusion. However, at one point in the Hive, when I was running on fumes, I considered the other half of the equation: could I change myself, not my body, but my mind?”
Noire’s eyes widened. She clued in quickly about what Trixie was saying. “Oh, Trixie,” Noire said, sounding sad.
“I’ve never been the nicest mare in my life, and I’ve never been the hardest-working mare, either,” Trixie said, and Noire could feel more than a tinge of self-pity in her friend’s words. “I pulled my weight on the farms of Whinnychester over the years, and I studied, but there was always a part of me that I despised. I thought I was too carefree, too easy-going, that I should stop taking so much delight in my own whimsy. There was a little bit of self-loathing at myself too, for being forced to drop out, especially when I was in the same generation as Miss Perfect Purple Princess.” Trixie punctuated that last remark with a sneer.
“What did you do?” Iceheart asked. She said it in a gentle, non-condescending tone, genuinely wishing to help Trixie, but also unwilling to let Trixie get off-track.
“Right, that.” Trixie sighed. “After I healed Red Wings, in those same few moments, I considered the possibility of turning the spell inwards on myself. The ability to trick reality itself into thinking ‘this is the way things should be’...I was proud of myself for the paradigm shift in my thinking that allowed me to pull it off. I mean, I built in safeguards so it wasn’t permanent, I could regress any time I wished, like I did earlier today, but it just wasn’t enough.”
Trixie seemed completely oblivious to the looks of horror on the other ponies’ faces, unaware of how much what she was talking about sounded like brainwashing. Nopony could stomach the idea of mind control, even if it was something Trixie had performed merely on herself for a misguided reason. “I tried my magic again with Stonehenge. I tried extending the concept of what I could do, to make the world believe that the cockatrice magic that had petrified him had finally evaporated. I couldn’t,” Trixie said, choking down a sob. Despite her best efforts, tears were flowing down the unicorn’s face.
Red Wings traded looks with Noire and Iceheart. There wasn’t a precise consensus for how to respond in their brief verbal glances, but he could tell all three of them agreed on one point: it needed to be made clear to Trixie just how foolish the endeavour of changing her mental being was.
“Trixie,” Iceheart went first. Trixie blinked through her tears. “First, please understand, we are not angry at you. We are concerned, and a little bit disappointed that you did not run this cockbrained idea of yours past us. But we are not angry.”
Red Wings’ eyes widened at how forceful Iceheart was. The Crystal pony was still being delicate in her own way, impressing that they weren’t angry, but Iceheart wasn’t holding back her tongue-lashing either.
“You believe that you are flawed in some way, Trixie. It is good to work towards being a better pony, and you have your moments of vanity. However, you are not a bad pony. Would a bad pony have done what she did to help Noire, myself, and Red Wings? Each of us had a problem we were consigned to living with for the rest of our life, Trixie, and you solved every one of them. I enjoy being able to travel and explore Equestria and the rest of this brave new world in this strange future the Crystal Empire found itself in. But I also enjoy going around places with you, Trixie. You were the one who designed and pioneered the very system of magic that has gotten you this far. Trying to change yourself through such artificial means, however? I cannot approve of it. I would miss the Trixie that I got to know.”
Red Wings wasn’t sure he had heard a more devastating statement in his life. Iceheart seemed to have dug deep, however, as Trixie started crying.
“I—I’m sorry, Iceheart. I—I really should have kn-known better,” Trixie managed to choke out between sobs.
“Hush, Trixie,” Noire said, climbing onto Trixie’s bed and grabbing the other pony, wrapping Trixie up with her two wings in a tight hug. “It’ll be alright. We’re your friends, and we’re all here for you. You were alone for so long, weren’t you?” Noire whispered. “We’re not just going to abandon you or anything, that would be foolish. No harm was done or anything.”
They stayed that way for some time.
“Would it be possible for me to speak with Trixie a bit?” Red Wings asked, before adding the qualifying word, “Alone, that is.”
Noire frowned as she looked up at him. Seeing a troubled look on the pegasus’ face, she looked back over to Trixie. “What do you think, Trix?”
Trixie sniffed, wiping some tears off her face. “I don’t have a problem with it.”
“Very well. Iceheart, let’s go to your room, then,” Noire said, unwrapping her wings from around Trixie and hopping off the bed. As Iceheart lead her out, Noire said to Red Wings, “Come grab me when you’re done, please. I think it’s been a trying day already, and after this, I just want to get to sleep.”
“Will do.”
As Noire and Iceheart left, Red Wings turned around. Trixie was beginning to compose herself, but she still seemed a little skittish about what he had to say.
“I’ve only known you for about two weeks,” Red stated. “We first met in Dodge Junction, spent less than a day out in the Badlands, then talked to one another off-and-on while living in the Hive. When you used your magic to do your, I guess, personality shift, I did notice. I didn’t say much, however, since I couldn’t have been sure that wasn’t who you were, and that maybe your earlier outgoing self was rare for you.”
Trixie said nothing, but she showed interest in what Red Wings was saying.
“I’m, er, not too good with words, and I know I’m stumbling over them, being tongue-tied. Public speaking skills hasn’t really been a requirement for me ever.” Red Wings sighed. Why am I wasting time on this? That isn’t important. Steeling himself, he said, “You saved my life, Trixie. I wasn’t going to kill myself or anything, but life as a one-winged pegasus was lonely for me. With time, I probably would have moved on from Dodge Junction and gone somewhere else, picking myself up what little life I had established there and tossing it aside. Baltimare was a no-go zone for me thanks to my incident with the guard there.”
Red laughed at that thought. “And then we went through Baltimare for supplies on coming up here! I was terrified, but merely being around you gave me strength to go into the city. Nopony recognised me, and even if they had, I had two wings. There was no way they could get me on that, heh.” It was nervous laughter, but Red let himself laugh anyways. It was better than keeping his nerves inside.
“But, you know Trixie...I grew to like you, even if you were a little insensitive at times. You took some hard knocks early in life from what you’ve told me, and you fell down for a few years, but you got right back up and powered through it.” Red Wings looked longingly to his side, where his left wing was tucked in with nary a scar. “I owe you, and I wasn’t kidding about being loyal to you forever. Well, if you turn evil on us and decide to become a madmare tyrant, that promise of fealty is revoked, but I mean, aside from that. You saved me, Trixie. I can’t repeat that enough. You did something that was thought impossible, all on your own. That was you, without any magic that induced a personality change to become more ‘serious’. From what Noire tells me, you were the one with the strength of will to break free from your depression, to leave Whinnychester and journey Equestria. You’re the one who’s managed to drag the rest of us this far.”
“So maybe you’ve finally met your match here? Princess Celestia couldn’t restore Stonehenge, and she said it’ll be at least another fifty years before it’s possible? Well, it can’t hurt to try, because the possibility is still there. I don’t mean what you did out there just earlier. I refuse to believe you could have ever healed my body when you were in a state of mind like that. I think only you, the real Trixie, could have done that. So, um, Trixie, please, try, try again. I urge you to make a second attempt, but this time with a clear mind. I won’t be disappointed if you fail, but I believe you can do it. So, um, believe in the me that believes in you.” Red Wings took in a deep breath, then exhaled. He felt as if he had poured his heart out to Trixie. Now he just needed to wait for her response.
Trixie was silent for several seconds. Then she raised her head up, and said, “You stole that out of a comic book.”
Red Wings laughed nervously. “I did, so I did. The drill that will pierce the heavens, and all that.”
Trixie chuckled as well. “I read a few comics back in the day. I didn’t find them entertaining on my own, but I loved to use material from them for the plays I sometimes put on. I thought that sounded familiar.” Slowly, the unicorn rose up from her sitting position, before hopping off her bed and onto the floor. “You’re right, though. It was a stupid idea to ever try turning my illusion magic inwards,” Trixie admitted. “I thought I could pull off something that would deceive the world, but all I did was deceive myself.”
“So you’re going to try again?” Red Wings asked.
“Yes, but not tonight, Red,” Trixie said, looking out the window at the moon. “It’s too late for that, and I’m tired. I feel motivated right now, but it needs to be more than that. I have to be in the right state of mind first, and getting there requires a little bit of philosophising to myself as well. The statue’s magic feels a little bit different than I’m used to, almost like the Windigo ice I encountered several weeks ago, and I also have to account for that. I need some sleep before I do all that.”
“That’s good to hear, then."
“Yes, it is. Really, thank you though. That was sweet of you. I needed that,” said Trixie. Her eyes shifted left and right for a moment, before she darted forward and kissed Red on the cheek.
“Wh—wha?” Was all Red Wings could muster up in response, dazed by the sudden surprise kiss, chaste as it was.
“Pity, I forgot your coat is the perfect colour to disguise a blush,” Trixie said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Come on, let’s go talk to Iceheart and Noire, they’ll want to hear about this.”
As she turned around, Red Wings followed on instinct. That turned out a little better than I expected, he thought.