Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone

by TheCrimsonDM

Chapter Eighty Three: Tall Tales

TRIXIE AND MAUD: THE HEART OF STONE
Chapter Eighty Three: Tall Tales
Written by TheCrimsonDM

A couple of hours later, both Rarity and Pinkie Pie had left, leaving Trixie, Maud, and Applejack alone. Trixie currently found herself in the bathroom, staring at the empty place on the wall where a mirror once stood. Although it was understandable, Trixie still wasn’t okay with Applejack hanging out in the bathroom with her. All Trixie needed to do was wash her face, but even that was apparently too much for her to do by herself.

“How long am I going to be watched like this?” Trixie asked.

Applejack let out a sigh and said, “Ah don’t rightly know. When the doctor says you’re okay, Ah s’pose.”

The floor looked clean, but on closer inspection it was actually stained. It seemed like this room would serve as a constant reminder of how she had hurt Maud. Carefully Trixie looked around the bathroom, which got her an odd look from Applejack.

“What’cha lookin’ fer?” Applejack asked.

“I’m not sure,” Trixie said as she continued her search. She really wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she felt something off in here.

“Um… you want mah help?”

Trixie gave a slight smile to the orange pony and nodded. “If you find anything out of the ordinary let me know.”

“Well I found one thing out of the ordinary,” Applejack said playfully while looking at Trixie.

Trixie turned around attempting to see what Applejack was looking at before it dawned on her what her cousin had meant. “Real funny,” Trixie grumbled.

Carefully, Trixie continued her search for a few minutes, she knew it was somewhere in here. It was like there was something calling out to her, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. She scoured the bathroom, time and time again. She let out a sigh as she slumped against the bathtub. Was the feeling she had just part of her crazy? Was she really just being weird again?

Trixie stared at her reflection in the tub’s metal faucet. She looked pathetic and exhausted. Her tired yellow eyes stared back at her with a growing sadness to them. Wait… her reflection had yellow eyes?

She leaned into the faucet and whispered quietly, “What are you doing here?”

Babble’s voice called back to her ever so quietly, “Oh me, I’m just here to remind you of something important. Why don’t you go check the front door?”

Trixie stared with distrust at her imaginary acquaintance. Despite being a part of her imagination, Babble had yet to steer her wrong. With nothing better to do she simply said, “Okay.”

“Um, sugarcube, are you feeling okay?” Applejack asked, with concern threaded into every word.

With a startling quickness, Trixie pulled away from the faucet and lied, “I’m fine, just thought I saw something in my reflection. There’s nothing on my face right?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and said, “No…”

“Good,” Trixie replied while trotting out of the bathroom. “Okay, then I’m done in here.”

Applejack and Trixie both made their way towards the living room. They stopped halfway there as somepony knocked on the front door. Without a word, Trixie went to the front door and opened it. When she saw the two ponies standing on her front porch, her heart stopped.

A small chubby colt with light blue fur and an orange mane stood next to his tall skinny brother who wore a swapped color palette. Snips and Snails stared up at Trixie with anxious expressions. She couldn’t help but stare in surprise at the two standing at her front door, for during her entire time in Ponyville, these two had done their utmost to avoid, if not run away from, her. After how she had treated them though, who could blame them?

“Uh… Oh great and powerful Trixie,” Snips started in a shaky voice.

Hearing that title again, spoken so fearfully, could only serve to make Trixie cringe at the reminder of her dark past.

“We’ve come to visit you,” Snails finished.

Her initial surprise gave way to an uncomfortable feeling. She attempted to speak, but upon finding no words she could only stare awkwardly, prompting the two unicorns to shuffle nervously. It wasn’t until Applejack poked Trixie’s shoulder that she finally remembered how to greet ponies. Awkwardly Trixie took a step back and asked, “Why don’t you two come inside?”

***

With the two colts sitting across from Trixie at the kitchen table, things were looking very awkward. Applejack made sure to keep a constant eye on everypony while Maud stood next to Trixie. Silence had filled the room, and Trixie wasn’t entirely sure what to do about this. On one hoof she wanted to talk to these colts, and apologize for the things she had done, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to apologize for enslaving them. On the other hoof, she wanted to know what brought them to her now.

In the end, the decision was made for her when Applejack asked, “What are y’all doin’ here? Ah thought you were scared of Trixie or somethin’?”

“Well…” Snips said shamefully.

“We were scared until,” Snails added.

“We heard that The Great and Powerful Trixie had been hurt,” Snips finished.

The way they finished each other’s sentences was a little weird, but at the same time almost endearing in a way. She couldn’t help but smile at them. How can they still care about me, especially after everything that I’ve done to hurt them?

“Well now,” Applejack said kindly, “That’s mighty nice of y’all. Hear that, Trixie, it looks like you have two fans.”

Without a thought Trixie blew off what Applejack said and replied, “Don’t be silly. Nopony really likes me.”

This brought some odd looks from the two colts. Almost instantly Trixie wished that she had never said that out loud. Maud placed a hoof down gently on Trixie’s shoulder and said, “We all like you, Lulu.”

“Yeah, no sense in beating yourself up anymore than you already have,” Applejack added.

The two colts examined Trixie in complete silence for the longest moment. The longer they stared at her, the more they seemed to relax. Finally Snips asked, “You’re still the greatest unicorn in all of Equestria… ain’t ‘cha?”

Now made aware of the fact that she was no longer a pure unicorn, Trixie couldn’t help but stare down at the table. At least she could be thankful for her cloak hiding her wings from plain sight. It also didn’t hurt that after reuniting with Maud, her wings had folded in like a normal pony’s, dragging them behind in the snow had been a terrible experience.

Trixie looked at the two colts with sad eyes, she knew that she wasn’t the greatest, far from it in fact, but these two had so much expectation for her. Carefully Trixie said, “I’m different now, I don’t need to be the best unicorn.”

Both Snips and Snails looked at each other, confusion clearly labeled on their faces. For a moment Trixie was sure that these two were finally going to realize just how different things were now, at least until they smiled.

Snips looked at Trixie and said, “Oh Great and Powerful Trixie, you don’t have to be modest around us.”

“Yeah, we already know you’re the best.”

I could just let them believe in their little fantasy, but that wouldn’t actually make things any better for anypony now would it?

“Lulu,” Maud said gently. “I’ll make us some cookies.”

That got Trixie’s attention. “Wait you can make cookies?”

“Yes, Pinkie Pie gave me a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies,” Maud said with as much enthusiasm as a rock. Though despite the lack of emotional range in Maud’s voice the slight curl in her lip told Trixie that Maud was truly excited about this.

“Okay, what should we do in the meantime?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, you can tell us a story,” Snips said excitedly.

“Yeah, tell us a story,” Snails added.

A prod to the shoulder from Applejack told Trixie that she should try. It had been such a long time since she told a story to anypony, at least one that was any good. Her cutie mark was partially based off her ability to weave a tale, but after everything that had happened she couldn’t actually believe anypony would want to listen to her tell a story.

“Come on,” Snips begged, “We’d really like to hear how you defeated the ursa major.”

“Or how you defeated that imposter that came to town,” Snails suggested.

Seeing these two served as a reminder of one thing that Trixie had always loved; children. Trixie loved kids, to make them smile and laugh and to inspire them to go after their own future. She might’ve been out of practice, and had little to no faith in herself, but she could at least give it a shot. She’d tell a story to these two. After all, the worst that could happen was that they didn’t like it.

Maud had left Trixie’s side at this point and began making some cookie dough. Telling a story would be the best way to pass the time.

“Okay,” Trixie said in a quiet voice. “I’ll tell you a story, but this time it’s a little different than what you’ve heard before. Have you heard of the tale of Nightmare Moon and her defeat?”

“Yeah, we all already know that story,” Snips said.

“Well,” Trixie said with a sly grin, “Have you heard about what really happened?”

As the two colts eyes lit up with excitement an old warmth filled Trixie’s heart. Seeing these two so happy to hear one of her stories made her feel… good. Although she couldn’t quite figure out why they would actually want to hear anything she had to say, she was pleased to know that they did.

“Well you see, Nightmare Moon was returning after her thousand years of banishment,” Trixie explained coolly. “And if left unopposed she would leave the world in eternal darkness.”

The two colts sat on the edge of their seat. The story wasn’t even interesting yet, and these two were already invested.

“Our dear Princess Celestia had the wisdom to get her best student, a small nerdy unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, and sent her on a quest to find the five elements of harmony. Without the elements there would be no chance in stopping Nightmare Moon,” Trixie explained. “And so she went on a grand journey, searching both far and wide for the ponies who would save the world.”

Applejack rolled her eyes in disapproval, and Trixie’s heart sunk a little. Is the story that bad?

“What happened next?” Snips asked, his voice full of wonder.

“Yeah, what did Twilight Sparkle do?” Snails added.

With a smile, Trixie continued the tale. “First Twilight had to search the countryside for the one known as Applejack. There were rumors that this earth pony had special powers, and was a prime candidate for the first of the elements. You see the elements of harmony are not found in physical trinkets, no the powers are found inside your very soul.

“After finally finding an old apple farm, Twilight was met by a pack of timberwolves. Their snarling mouths, dripped with green poison and things looked dim as they surrounded her,” Trixie said darkly.

“Oh no, not Twilight Sparkle,” Snips cried.

“Yeah, she can’t get hurt,” Snails added.

Somehow Trixie grinned even more, these two were eating out of her hoof, even though her story was practically crap. It’s time to add some atmosphere.

With a light purple glow surrounding her horn the room grew dark, and a green baleful light appeared behind Trixie. “There was no escape for the unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle, she was a goner. She watched the wolves circle around her but there was nothing she could do as one of them leapt at her from behind!”

An ethereal timberwolf made of green light jumped from behind the two colts and landed on the table. Snips and Snails both gave a yelp simultaneously. The room began to brighten a little as a bright orange light appeared from the opposite side of the table.

“But all hope was not lost,” Trixie said, as she worked her magic to make a transparent illusion of Applejack wearing a suit of full plate mail and carrying a large warhammer in her mouth. The armored Applejack stood only half the size of the timberwolf but yet she walked up onto the table to challenge it. “The great hero Applejack walked up to the giant monster, challenging it to a duel.”

The two glowing figures battled on the table, Applejack doing her best to dodge and weave between the monstrous timberwolf’s attacks, the timberwolf attempting to strike her down with its giant claws. Finally Applejack got the upper hoof and knocked out one of its legs with her hammer. As it fell onto its belly, the illusions disappeared.

“After the difficult battle, Applejack was left the victor and with the Timberwolf leader defeated what was left of the pack ran away. Twilight Sparkle was saved that day, by the brave paladin Applejack.” Trixie explained. “Twilight Sparkle explained the situation to Applejack, and so she won her first follower; Applejack, the element of honesty.”

Trixie dropped the spell and the room returned to normal. She looked at the two foals and for the life of her, she couldn’t stop smiling. The two colts were just as eager and happy. Her chest was warm and fuzzy, and her mind was racing to come up with new ideas for how the story could progress.

“What happened next?” Snips asked excitedly.

“Yeah, what happened?” Snails added.

She shook her head and said, “If you want to hear the rest of the story you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” She paused, and then added, “The Great and Powerful Trixie deserves her rest after all.”

The two colts looked a little disappointed but they were clearly overjoyed to have heard such an outrageous tale. Applejack, however, didn’t look pleased. Trixie’s heart sunk a little at the stern glance from her cousin.

She’s not really upset about my story is she?

Applejack took a few steps up to the table and said flatly, “Trixie, did you honestly just do that?”

Quickly Trixie’s heart sunk even further and she looked away shamefully. “I’m sorry.”

“Well you should be, you forgot the best part,” Applejack said.

“What?” Trixie asked. She was surprised to say the least.

With a smile, Applejack explained, “She forgot to tell y’all about how after Ah defeated the timberwolf leader, me and mah family fed Twilight until she was about ready to explode. It was a victory feast fit for a… er, hero.”

The two colts scowled at Applejack and Snails scolded, “You can’t give out spoilers like that.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t very nice.”

Applejack just shook her head and laughed. “Mah Bad.”

Maud swung the oven door open and after sliding a baking sheet full of chocolate chip covered dough, she said, “The cookies will be ready shortly.”

***

An hour flew by as the group ate cookies, talked, and had a wonderful time. Eventually exhaustion caught up to her, and Applejack sent Snips and Snails home. After the two colts left Trixie allow herself to slump over onto the table and sigh. A faint smile was still plastered onto her face, and the warm fuzzies were beginning to leave

“Now Ah might not usually like yer big over the top stories,” Applejack said casually, “But Ah do enjoy seeing you happy.”

Happy? Trixie looked up at Applejack and considered the word. “Happy…”

“I like it when you tell stories,” Maud said flatly. The gray mare then nuzzled Trixie’s neck a little.

A slight giggle escaped Trixie’s lips as the back of her neck was tickled by Maud’s nose. Trixie couldn’t help but smile even wider as she realized just how right Applejack was. The warm fuzzy feeling and the smiling weren’t the only things to remind her of how it felt to be simply happy, even the air was feeling lighter now.

“I had forgotten how it felt to entertain,” Trixie said quietly, honestly.

“Well, Ah’m glad that those two could remind you,” Applejack said. “And if Ah might be honest with you… Ah’m lookin’ forward to seein’ yer story continue. It’s gonna be Rainbow Dash next time, right?”

Suddenly, Trixie sat up hastily and exclaimed, “That’s right! I need to write her part down. I can’t be lazy and make stuff up on the spot this time. As a pirate, she’s going to need a ship, and a crew, I can probably make Scootaloo her first mate… would that work?”

“Um…” Applejack said nervously.

“Quick, somepony get Pinkie Pie, I need her assistance,” Trixie said as she got up from the table, and happily trotted into the living room. “I’ll start writing notes down, but she needs to help me put it all together.”

Applejack let out a sigh. “Will you be okay until Ah get back?”

Maud nodded at Applejack, and watched the apple pony as she walked out the front door. With a notebook and a pen Trixie was now sitting and writing all of her ideas down. Trixie caught the cute little smile that Maud was giving her, and she couldn’t help but smile back at the mare she loved more than anything else. Things were looking up after all.

Comments

[Not another word]

even though her story was practically crap

i.imgur.com/VaJvOa0.jpg
That moment when you make a better story inside the first, and now you have to roll with that.
sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-just-kidding--29.png
In all honesty, this was done very well. I can really feel invested now that things have been brought back down to earth, where its all bright and sunny. It also makes me feel pretty good to see my suggestion so well implemented.

[TheCrimsonDM]

6144437 Hey I'm glad that you liked it. After you pointed it out I realized that I needed to fix it, and I'm so glad that I was able too.

PS did you like the paladin Applejack story? XD

[Not another word]

6144467
I was just mucking about, but I did like the 'Apple story' but I'm a sucker for DandD'esk stories.

But, communists weren't aliened with the church, so I don't think Apple Jack would be a paladin .

[crowscrowcrow]

6144540
Are you suggesting ponies are communists?

[The Batmane of equestria]

This story gets even better with each chapter!

[TheCrimsonDM]

6150219 So glad to see you've caught up to the current chapters. I'm a little surprised by how quickly you got here. And thanks for enjoying my story so much. XD

[The Batmane of equestria]

6150355 I have a lot of free time so I read a lot. I also read quickly. And you don't need to thank me for enjoying the story, I should be thanking you for writing it

[Not another word]

6147538
No, not all of them.

Personally, I think Apple Jack is more than enough communist for this franchise.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Babble’s voice called back to her ever so quietly, “Oh me, I’m just here to remind you of something important. Why don’t you go check the front door?”

The more and more I think about it this is Discord, he would do this probably.