Trixie and her Destiny

by Stark Trist

Chapter 5: Shadow

Author's Note:

Big plot changes added to this and future chapters in the 2020 updates.
Special thanks to Tales19 for editing this chapter!

The sun lay low over the horizon, its golden rays waving across the sky in a glorious array of stark reds and soft ambers. At the top of Canterlot tower, the tips of the fiery ball could be seen flickering against the distant hills, its figure now dwarfed by the brilliant stars above. The figure of an alicorn sat, patiently waiting for all remnants of the solar mass to vanish, her light blue mane flickering strangely as it swayed in both the physical and ethereal wind of the cosmos.

Princess Luna rose, looking to the east for her glorious celestial body. Luna found it, her pristine home over the past thousand years, her prison. Luna concentrated grabbing hold of the colossal mass as its mass weighed heavily on the weak Princess. Taking flight with a few beats of her wings she rose several feet into the air, pulling the moon from the far east to its path across the night sky. The alicorn then unceremoniously dropped toward the ground breathing heavily as sweat dripped down her face. The magic in her mane dissipated, firmly rooted in the physical realm once again.

“Luna, are you doing alright?” Her sister asked affectionately from inside the tower.

“Just fine, my dear ‘Tia” she let out between breaths. “just, out of practice, that's all.” She bit her lip, regarding her own excuse as a weak explanation.

It had been only a few weeks since Luna had returned to Equestria. Her memory and very being had been reshaped by the Elements of Harmony. Luna was glad for the transformation. She felt healthy much as she did in her youth. The Elements had left everything she cared about and removed all but the most important bad memories of her previous life.

Luna couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness for the loss of her former self. Her memory, now altered, revealed a spattering of her years with Celestia before Nightmare Moon, and even some of the memories of her time as Nightmare Moon. A shiver ran down the alicorn’s back as she recalled the atrocities she committed during those dark days. Luna only felt shame about her past life, though the particulars of her darker deeds were hidden even from herself.

Luna entered the tower, receiving a worried look from her sister as her rigid body trotted into the room. Celestia sat gracefully enjoying her evening meal at the dining table. Plated in front of her was a large salad with some exquisite dressing from their neighboring countries. Luna eyed the dish enviously.

“You know Luna if you want...” she said cautiously “I can set the moon in place until you get your strength back.”

“Nay! I am the Princess of the Night, it is my duty to raise the moon,” she yelled loudly in the traditional Royal Canterlot voice which carried throughout the castle.

Celestia wore a face, not unlike her usual, but with a slight frown upon it. “I also think you know that the Royal Canterlot voice hasn’t been used in centuries.”

“Sorry” she yelled slightly quieter this time. “I am having trouble speaking normally,” she said quieter still.

“It’s okay Luna. . .” Celestia paused for a moment as if choosing her words carefully. “I want us to rule together and for ponies to look up to you. This transition requires a certain amount of change from both of us.”

Luna frowned at the remark, considering her words. Luna hated the idea of changing any more, but her sister was never wrong. She considered what Celestia wanted of her, but also what she wanted of herself.

Luna could never really get past what it felt like to get blasted by the elements. She was wholly the same pony her memories told her, but also so very different from what her subconscious told her. On top of the mental and physical chaos, everything was different now. The customs, the culture, and even the way the general populous viewed her and Celestia. Luna’s new life was all so... new. She wasn’t sure she even liked it, much less did she desire to embrace this new life.

At the same time, Luna was worried that she might change back into Nightmare Moon. The transformation wasn't completely impossible. After all, If you could become instantly good, why couldn't the opposite happen? What if she were to remember something important and turn evil again.

The elements of harmony were extraordinarily powerful, but above their legendary power, they were renowned for how little was known about them. The magical artifacts would give their wielder extraordinary powers, but no-pony knew exactly how. No one knew they could even have these effects on Luna, and how long would they last? Celestia herself had told her that she was happily surprised by the results and wouldn’t have had it any other way. As a precaution, Luna decided for the time being it would be best to delay her recovery.

“Luna?” Her sister called again, successfully grabbing her attention after the third attempt. “I have heard from the royal chef that you haven't been eating much. I don’t want you to hurt yourself with your duties because you aren't eating properly.”

Ohh Tia, why are you so attentive? Luna thought. She had at one point considered the possibility that Celestia had the power to read minds. Luna wondered how transparent she had been, but she reasoned that her sister already knew everything.

“I know. . . It is just that. . . uhh. . . everything they were serving. . . had spinach in it. . .?” The words leaving the startled Princess’s mouth as an awkward smile crept across Luna's face.

Celestia returned her smile with an unamused glance as if to say, you and I both know that is a terrible lie.

“Well” Celestia’s tone perked up, “If you don’t feel like eating, then I have a job for you.” Luna’s face which was previously facing the ground now looked up at her sister raising her eyebrows and a slightly pained look as her vacation was coming to an end .

“A Job?” She yelled out in surprise, not even trying to speak quietly.

“Yes” The Alicorn replied, a slight hint of irritation etched across her face. “I want to visit Ponyville in a few weeks on our next parliamentary break. I would like you to go visit Twilight Sparkle’s dreams tonight and let her know we’ll be coming. I am sure Twilight would be pleased to see you again.”

Luna began to open her mouth in protest.

“And unfortunately,” Celestia cut her off before she could begin “I am all out of paper and I don’t expect another shipment for months...” She stated matter-of-factly.

Luna shut her mouth acknowledging her sister’s plight. ”Fine. I’ll do it,” Luna gruffly agreed. It would be both tiring and trivial, but it was something Luna could do well.

“Thanks, my scholars surely appreciate it.” Celestia smiled at Luna broadly.

A few moments later Celestia let out a slow wink toward Luna. Her face grew bright red in embarrassment at the realization.

Out of paper. . . Luna facehoofed at her own stupidity. Luna never did find much enjoyment in her sister’s unique sense of humor.

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you do it tonight?” Celestia added.

“Fine, I’ll do it tonight.” Luna replied in an annoyed tone. She sat outside on the tower balcony overlooking a small portion of Equestria from her perch.

“Thank you sister, I’ll be heading to bed for the night. See you tomorrow.” She gave Luna a small hug, then went inside to sleep.

It's been more than a thousand years since I last was in a pony’s dream, she thought to herself.

Well, here is to hoping it is like flying and you never forget. Her horn glowed, shifting her consciousness out of her body into a cloud of ethereal smoke. She let out a small breath as her mind entered the cloud of magic. She was right, moving into the cloud felt very natural to her, almost more so than her alicorn body which felt rigid and heavy at times.

Leaving the alicorn body resting on the balcony, the cloud drifted, directed by an invisible force as the massless vessel left Canterlot.

Luna’s heart raced as the sensation of her spirit form overtook her mind. The ponies below her in Canterlot fading from her mind as she drifted across the sky. She wafted through the air, careful to mind her direction, she headed to Ponyville.

A few moments later she arrived to find the city in ruins. The houses were destroyed, and claw marks struck into the ground. Luna was shocked to find Twilight directing a few orders to the ponies throughout the streets. She had an assistant dragon carrying a long scroll which stretched several dozen feet behind them as they made notes for repairs.

“Spike, don’t forget to write that we are going to need a construction crew from Cant. . .” The unicorn stopped herself short.

“Ohhh no!” The unicorn’s eyes grew huge “Spike! What am I going to tell Celestia? She’ll be furious with me!” She said exasperated. The purple unicorn trotted about aimlessly mumbling to herself for the next few minutes developing an answer.

“You could just tell her.” Spike interjected.

Luna hovered above the pair, antagonized by the situation. Her people had been attacked. She was the Princess of the Night, She should have been the one to protect them. She began to curse at herself for not keeping a watchful eye over the town earlier. Now she could only observe from her cloud waiting patiently for an answer in their dreams.

The two wandered about the town for another half an hour before heading back to the library for the night. Twilight with a tired and rather drained expression on her face plummeted to her bed at the top of the library tree. Exhausted, her troubled mind drifted into obscurity.

Luna entered the unicorn’s mind, enshrouded by the vast knowledge of Twilight, a dream began to play out in her consciousness.

Celestia sat tall in her royal throne which seemed irregularly large. Luna watched for a moment as Princess Celestia yelled at Twilight for her negligence in stopping the damage to Ponyville. The purple unicorn quivered on the stone floor, ashamed and broken before the almighty alicorn. Luna, unwilling to wait for the dream to unfold shattered the scene replacing the cold sanctuary with an open field and star-covered sky. The unicorn still quivered on the grassy plane, unable to open her eyes for fear of a non-existent Celestia.

“Twilight!” Luna’s voice boomed.

The unicorn snapped to attention, unfamiliar with the voice.

“Princess... Luna...” The unicorn said in between sniffs caused by her crying earlier.

Before anything more could be said, Twilight hugged Luna. Clinging to the alicorn, Luna hugged her back. Then a torrent of tears started to flow, soaking Luna’s coat.

“Luna, Celestia hates me!” She said in a sobbing, delirious voice. “S-she says I can’t be her student anymore and thinks that I destroyed the town.” A torrent of tears flowing into Luna’s chest. Luna, shocked by the entire scene, redoubled her efforts to comfort the mare until she was ready to talk rationally.

“I didn't though.” She sniffled loudly, trying to stop her crying. “She hates me,” she continued mumbling deliriously.

Luna couldn’t take this any longer, Twilight’s weeping face scared her. What have my sister’s teachings done to this poor filly?

“Twilight!” She yelled loudly.

Twilight recoiled from the alicorn in shock. Then her face turned sad again, a tear began to form in her eyes.

“Stop,” she bellowed, shocking the mare again as her powerful voice cut through her delirium.

“What happened?” she said flatly and with the least amount of emotion as possible. Although she felt a good deal of rage surging throughout her body back in Canterlot.

“Well,” the mare said cautiously, “Trixie came to Ponyville and then an Ursa minor showed u-”

“And where is this Trixie?” The alicorn demanded.

“She left, she even left all her stuff in the town square.”

“Twilight, I will tell Celestia what has happened. Sleep in peace knowing that I will not let my sister hurt you for your brave actions tonight.” Her voice rang throughout the plane, as she shifted out of the dream.

Luna watched the unicorn contort slightly as she left her mind and entered back into her ethereal cloud. She cast a simple spell on the unicorn which would prevent her from dreaming that night. Luna shuddered at why Twilight feared her sister like she did. Celestia was imposing, manipulative, and wore a mask at times. However, she’s good natured and there wouldn't be any reason to fear her. . .

Her mind shifted back to the moment she was banished to the moon. Celestia's face was covered in tears as the elements of harmony shot toward her. Celestia’s face was sorrowful, hurt, and guilt-ridden, her expression was etched into Luna’s mind forever. That face sang a lullaby, and it was that single moment that kept her from hating Celestia for the next thousand years. Luna hadn't ever seen Celestia cry before, which she reasoned was also the reason why she could forgive her for everything leading up to Nightmare Moon’s creation.

Her eyes drifted back to the unicorn. She concluded that she was just paranoid or crazy, either would explain her delirium.

Either that or the dream had been corrupted by some other factor. Maybe food? Luna’s stomach grumbled.

Luna hung in the air a moment longer, planning her next move. She set out for the town square, searching for Trixie’s stuff. What she found surprised her, in the distance she found a medium-sized cart smashed to bits. Wood shrapnel scattered across the yard in all directions.

Nearing the wreckage, Luna smelled the magic which surrounded the highly sophisticated cart. The scent reminded her of a friend she loved long ago.

After a short search through her belongings, Luna found an enchanted item that seemed out of place. The trinket was a very high-quality voice transmitter, similar to those the royal guard used to convey messages from city to city. Luna’s mind began to question this Trixie’s allegiances. Why did she have such a valuable device? Who was she communicating with? Questions bombarded the princess, increasing her suspicion.

Luna took another smell of the magic concentrated about the cart. She elevated herself into the sky and hovered there a moment. The brief reprieve let her notice how strained her alicorn magic was from maintaining the spell.

Luna hadn’t used much of the magic which composed her ethereal cloud, but after entering Twilight’s mind she was now far less comfortable than when she entered it hours earlier. She contemplated the idea of waiting until morning to search out the unicorn, but her negligence from not intervening during the Ursa minor’s attack still weighed heavily on her and did little to encourage a rest.

Determined to talk with this Trixie, she concentrated on the tracking spell. The unicorn’s trail was weak, but she felt it, a slow somewhat erratic pulse of the magic was resonating slowly from inside the Everfree Forest. Luna swiftly shifted across the sky heading into the dense forest.

The Everfree Forest was filled with a diverse set of creatures. The lively forest contained hundreds of prey-predator relationships, and no sentient life within its boundaries. The forest would be the ideal place to plan a coup d'état, if it weren't for its inhabitants.

With this danger in mind, Luna had tracked Trixie hidden deep in the forest. Trixie resided inside a massive, hollowed-out, cedar tree that had fallen eons ago. The tree’s massive hollow shell, which was covered in mysterious purple moss, was a testament to the age and mystery of this forsaken forest.

Luna’s cloud of consciousness approached the unicorn cautiously, not wanting to alert the restless mare inside.

“No!” Trixie's voice called out, a hint of terror in her shaky voice.

Luna, suspecting she has been seen, hid out of sight. She hovered for a few minutes waiting for Trixie to move, but nothing happened.

“I am sorry.” the trembling unicorn’s voice echoed out in the still forest. “I won't do it again!” Trixie mumbled weakly.

Luna came to the realization that Trixie was asleep, or rather she was somewhat awake in her sleep. Prompted by the nightmare which was being revealed to her, she quietly shifted to enter the massive hollow log. She found the mare covered in sweat, her mane a tangled mess. Her tail split in multiple directions frayed with sticks and leaves caught within.

Luna couldn’t help but feel a morsel of pity for the unicorn. Trixie was after all one of her subjects, and depending on her story she might vouch for the vulnerable mare.

Trixie's magical scent smelled foul to the princess as the mixture of negative emotions concentrated in the ancient tree's small cavity. Luna reached out with her magic to enter Trixie's mind.

As Luna entered she felt an aura of dark magic surround her, a sense of evil lurking in the depth of Trixie's subconscious.

~~~

“I didn't mean for this to happen, it was a mistake I swear!” Trixie yelled defensively. She was surrounded by her peers, she hadn’t had this particular nightmare for months. They stared at the mare, a mix of hatred and shock etched across their faces. After a few minutes, one of the ponies in attendance came forward. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to. Trixie fell through the black trap door below her. She hit the ground to a sea of faces looking at her.

"You weak, useless, forgetful mare!", yelled one of the black faces.

"I have a family to feed! How am I supposed to help them now?" yelled another.

Trixie responded, "I am sorry. I messed up. I won't do it again."

"There won't be the next time, Trixie. You've doomed everypony!" Another voice yelled.

Trixie finally snapped, "Just stop, go away!" tears streaking down her face as they continued to berate and accuse.

"That’s all you’re good at: running!"

"Be a good little mare and take responsibility for once!"

"Celestia be damned, if you aren't the scum of the earth!"

Trixie cried, rocking herself back in forth. The voices continued, unstoppable reflections of her past.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a chilling voice echoed through space as the ponies faded into the background.

"My my. Little pony, you seem to be in need of my assistance."

Trixie looked up, noticing the specter. A black shade almost equine in shape. Its black fur writhing into itself. Trixie panicked.

"Ohhh, noo... We can't have you losing your head like that. That won't do at all." The specter's horn started glowing taking Trixie's voice and will.

Trixie slumped to the ground, the black specter now in full view. Its terrifying body should have scared her senseless. Trixie felt numb to the horror and any desire to act was swept away.

"Now that I have your captive attention. It seems as though you aren't having the best of days, am I right?"

Trixie couldn't nod but felt her head move up and down.

"Quite a pickle you've found yourself in. And the nightmares to boot. Well, I'll tell you what, how about we make a deal?" the specter said, grinning from ear to ear.

"If you can help me with a few errands around Equestria, I'll keep your nightmares at bay. I've got a thing for nightmares you see." The spectator grinned wildly like he had made some sort of exalted joke.

"Hahahaha, as an added bonus I may even let you keep your soul." The spectator pulled out a small white orb out of his mane.

"I really am feeling generous today, but my patience grows thin. What do you say? Live and have a good job, or die where you are now. It seems like a simple choice to me."

The specter's horn began to glow again, expanding Trixie's soul gem to fill the space.

Once Trixie's form entered the sphere it became animated. Trixie took a deep breath and screamed loudly. She tried to run but found that she was restrained.

"There is no escape little pony, do we have a deal or shall I find another?"

"What... Who are you?" Trixie demanded.

"Who I am is of no concern to you. Answer the question. My patience is wearing thin."

Trixie, noded, "I'll consider it. What do you want me to do?"

"That's a good little pony. Now let's see...", the specter lit its horn again. Moving them to another place in her soul.

Trixie and the specter were now inside a golden, well lit room. On the walls lay two long scrolls in red ink. One showed the symbol of her Cutie Mark, while the other was strictly text. Trixie couldn't read the fine print of the scrolls from where she was restrained, but she could guess what they were.

"Here we go. Hahaha, it appears that you've been busy my dear. Normally I would take the time to read all of this but it seems our time has been cut short."

The specter's horn glowed again, summoning a new scroll onto the wall. This contract was much more complex and written in an unknown language.

"Sign right here, darling, and we will be on our way!"

Trixie was moved before the parchment, her eyes began to read. "Ok, I want to read it first."

"There is no time. Sign in now, or I will end you."

Trixie continued reading, trying to buy herself time to decide.

"NOW GIRL!" the specter roared.

Trixie's heart jolted in terror. Panicking as she signed her name.

Trixie Lulamoon

As the pen dropped, Trixie felt herself break. A loud crunch as a piece of the specter tore into her. Unlike the loss of self from earlier, she was enveloped in pain as blackness filled her eyes.

Then the world shattered.

"Stop right there fiend!" Luna roared as the world became light. With the light, the specter and all his restraints vanished.

“Trixie!” Luna's ferocious voice echoed out into the abyss.

Trixie fell to the ground again, the Princess of the Night's power demanding submission.

“What have you done?” She sternly interrogated the unicorn.

“Hahahahaha. . . “ Trixie began to chuckle quietly. New thoughts, ideas, and plans forming in the newly created dark corner of her mind.

“HaHahaHahaHa. . .” her laughing growing slightly louder and increasingly hysterical.

“What's so funny!?” The alicorn yelled, her eyebrow furrowed.

“HAHAHAHAHA. . .” Trixie started kicking wildly into the air, an aura of madness filling the endless void.

The laughing stopped abruptly. She rolled over and stood tall facing the alicorn. An expression of determination and rage etched across the unicorn’s frazzled face. Trixie’s magical senses perked up, a new kind of magic, one she had never felt before poured into her horn. Its power emboldening her toward defiance.

“Buck you!” Trixie barked merrily at the alicorn. Luna’s face contorted at the remark, rage viable escaping her nostrils. A small silence followed as they stared at each other.

Trixie continued, “Buck Celestia and her school!”

Princess Luna let out an animalistic snarl and prepared a spell to silence the traitor.

“You dare disgrace my sister’s name?” Luna’s powerful alicorn voice boomed, “You shall pay dearly, traitor!”

A fight befitting The Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie grinned as she prepared a force field spell. Trixie yielded the first strike to Luna. She was confident in her newfound magic.

The Alicorn’s magic coalesced into a tight mote of energy, the ball of magic bolted at the mare, battering against the newly formed shield, which easily absorbed it.

Trixie orchestrated the dream, playing it out in her head like a performance. The world shifted as a new physical plane started to materialize from the black void. The alicorn’s face grew colder as she glared at the unicorn who forced the scenery to change.

“Is that the best you can do?” Trixie taunted, as another bolt shot at the mare, only to be intercepted by a materializing wall.

~~~

Luna cursed, the situation going from bad to worse. The dream world of another took an incredible amount of energy to alter or banish, and Trixie was masterfully crafting a dreamscape for a one-sided battle. She was already quite weak and could feel her physical body wasn’t faring very well as she felt sweat dripping down her face. She would defeat Trixie, knocking her unconscious for a few days. Then go and claim Trixie’s unconscious body when she had gained her strength back.

"While you're here why don't we show you around the place. Being the Princess of the Night, I know you care about your subjects very much. Hahaha..." Trixie's voice trailed off.

The scene warped replacing the scene with Trixie’s memory.

The sun shining down upon the light blue alicorn blinded her temporarily. Her eyes adjusted within seconds to reveal Canterlot. She was in the upper district outside of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. The school was perched proudly with a view over all of Canterlot. It had been built into the side of the mountain stretching hundreds of feet up into the rocky incline. Its entrance seemed irregularly massive to Luna as she cautiously approached the building. A massive white stone statue of Princess Celestia greeted her as she entered. Luna entered the main foyer. The sound of her hooves, clicking on the hard stone floor, echoed throughout the empty building.

Luna began to hear quiet voices chatter quietly in the hallways. She turned to look, but no one was there.

“Did you hear?” a voice whispered playfully, “One of the students was picked by Celestia herself to be her protege.” the quiet female voice echoed out over the others.

“Yeah, I heard that she performed an aging spell” a bright male voice added in.

“Enough!” Luna roared angrily. “Trixie, stop this meaningless game and face me!” Luna yelled a hint of weakness as her voice gave a little.

“Haha. . . Don’t worry my princess,” Trixie’s voice sarcastically echoed through the hallways. “We will fight, but first, I think you should get to know me; THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” her voice rang out wildly through the stone halls, but was cut short as the world began to shift again.

Luna winced as the stone began to warp, it shifted slightly, blurring as the cold stone materialized into painted drywall and soft carpet as the walls closed in. Luna, not wanting to miss the opportunity to take a shot at Trixie prepared her spell in advance. The walls closed into a bedroom, furniture materializing into existence as a small bed and desk filled the otherwise vacant room.

The door opened a crack.

KSHHhh! Luna released the energy bolt blasting the door asunder and searing its frame. A light blue filly entered out of the smoke pushing the now non-existent door all the way open.

Luna's heart skipped a beat upon seeing the filly, dread filling her heart for reasons unknown to her. Luna shook her head, focusing back on the task at hand.

The young unicorn walked over to Luna, her illusion warping as she did.

Luna let out a quiet dry laugh, “Ha. Nice one. . .”

"Trixie, this doesn't have to end badly. If you give up now, we can figure out something." Luna tried a new approach since her intimidating voice and attacks weren't proving effective.

It will be painless, totally nothing like the door we just destroy. Luna mentally berating herself for her sorry attempt to parley.

Luna relaxed a little, taking an interest in the younger Trixie who started to do a few spells in the room. The filly was attempting a rather difficult form of telekinesis and began to throw a series of books at Luna, several warping through her head and abdomen to smash the wall behind her putting holes in the drywall. Luna frowned at the obvious irregularity of the dream.

“Is this necessary for me to understand, Trixie?” Luna roared at the soft walls as they trembled under her boisterous voice.

“Oh come on, my little princess. . .” Trixie said in a tone used for addressing fouls. “Learn to have a little fun!” she ended in a stern voice.

“This ‘fun’ you speak of has hardly begun!” Luna yelled.

There was no answer. Luna fumed for the next few moments and considered the gamble of banishing the memory to try and attempt a shot at the rebellious unicorn. She was about to, but her train of thought was cut off by a sound from the outside hallway.

Trixie sprang up and darted for the now partially re-materialized door, opening eagerly.

She frowned looking down the empty hallway. Disappointed she shut the door, realizing that it was just one of the apartment’s many neighbors.

The filly nervously vibrated her tongue as she lay on the floor waiting. The filly looked around her room eyeing the comfy bed. Her eye caught a glimpse of a piece of paper on her desk. The light was shining especially bright this morning and as such her desk next to the window was illuminated by several glowing rays which danced about the piece of paper on her desk.

The filly approached the desk, grabbing the note with her magic, she lifted the note down.

The voice of a mature Trixie read the note aloud.

"Dear Trixie,

Unfortunately, your mother and I must leave. We have left you everything we own, so you shouldn’t need to move out unless you want. If you need any assistance, speak with your appointed lawyer, Portrait Potters at the Elizabeth Social Court. I had hoped to talk to you about this change in-person, but unfortunately, my time has come and I must go.

Good luck, and Goodbye.

~Your father"

Luna noted how similar the note was to those used a thousand years ago for the Equestrian secret service. It was a quiet way to disguise ponies who were lost in service to the crown’s more discrete operations.

At the end of the reading, the world started to shift again. This time the room darkened and the world expanded slightly. The walls changed from painted drywall to stained oak boards. The room smelled like rotting lettuce and the air was very stale. Luna also noted the moist dirt underhoof, as this was the most vivid memory yet.

Luna’s ears perked up, the stillness was broken by boisterous cheering above. A few rogue rays of light shone down through what appeared to be small cracks in the stage above. Luna walked slowly across the dirt floor waiting for something to happen. The crowd’s cheers died down as Luna was left to the stillness of the dark trap room.

Moments later, a trap door opened up letting a bright orange earth pony wearing a flashy red shirt fall from the stage. He vanished out of Luna’s vision as he fell from the stage.

A small door in the back for the room opened, revealing Trixie. The energetic unicorn was holding a towel and dry shirt identical to those the orange pony was wearing.

“Oracle, we need to hurry,” Trixie whispered, in an annoyed tone.

Trixie waited for a moment, then entered the trap room, a worried look on her face. “Oracle?”

Luna followed alongside the illusionary Trixie as she quietly trotted up to the drop zone below the trap door.

Trixie and Luna both froze, bone-cold ice running down Luna’s spine as Trixie let out a blood-curdling scream.

Trixie had misplaced the drop zone. Oracle broke his neck during the fall. He lay there, dead, his eyes open, staring into the abyss of death as blood dripped down his lifeless face.

Other ponies started streaming into the trap room all with similar reactions.

But Trixie just stood there, staring into Oracle’s eyes, guilt and horror on her face. Her eyes glanced at the drop zone which was a few hoof length out of place. Tears filled her eyes as she wept.

Luna stood there motionless, the sight of the dead pony playing out in her mind. The alicorn stood there for quite some time. Flashes of the atrocities she committed as Nightmare Moon dancing across her eyes. A tear dropped down from her eyes, both for her own shame and the tragic death of Oracle whose body lay only feet away.

Luna’s physical body sent an urgent message of pain to the sorrowful alicorn indicating the urgency of her fatigue. Luna perked up at the sensation, her sorrowful demeanor leaving her slowly.

Luna stood there examining her options. She could either wait until Trixie was done explaining her past, then face her without having to fight through her memories, or she could try and settle this on her own terms with a banishing spell. Luna decided against the gamble of waiting, her body was just so weak right now, and holding together the ethereal cloud was quite draining. She rationalized that she had just enough energy to banish the dream and get a few attacks off before it would no longer be safe to remain.

She noted that at first, this was a solid world, but now it began to crumble. Now would be the perfect time to strike. Luna thought to herself, planning her next move cautiously. Taking notes from her older sister she tried to increase her odds.

“How well did you know Oracle?” Luna asked in a low voice.

The world trembled as Trixie’s mental body became visible through some of the ripples in the dream. Luna seizing the opportunity, banished the remainder of the dream alerting the unicorn to her intentions.

Another dream started to enshroud the alicorn. Luna battered it aside uttering a quiet groan as her body strained to keep herself contained within the cloud.

“Face me, Trixie!” She roared at the unicorn.

“Or are you not The Great and Powerful Trixie? Are you not one who has seen death? Are you not one who has lived a desperate life striving for purpose? Are you not a proud graduate of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?”

“Buck Celestia,” the Trixie snarled, “I was The Great and Powerful Trixie, but today, we are Trixie Shadowbane!"