My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record

by The King of Hearts

A Chaotic Debriefing

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A Chaotic Debriefing
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Trixie slowly opened her eyes, her head ringing louder than it ever had in her life. The sun was once again shining in the sky, and it was beaming through the window next to her bed, right on to her face.

“Mmmm…” She groaned, raising her hoof up to protect her eyes from the glare.

“You’re awake!” An excited voice said, as Trixie looked to her left, and saw Pinkie sitting next to her bed, “Thank goodness!”

“How… how long as Trixie been out?” She asked, looking around for an indicator that might tell her how long she’d been asleep.

“Just a few hours,” Pinkie answered, standing up and stretching out her legs, “How are ya’ feeling?”

“My head hurts…” She responded, casting a spell to soothe the migraine pounding in her head, “And so does my back…”

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie said suddenly, reaching behind Trixie and rubbing one of her new wings, “Princess Luna said that she had a lot of trouble sleeping when she first got hers too!”

She suddenly went wide eyed, “I- I have wings!”

All at once, every little detail came back to her. Aurora, Twilight and her Element, and the Princess who had lost her wing.

“How is Celestia?” Trixie asked, blinking rapidly, “She lost her wing, didn’t she?”

Pinkie nodded, a small frown on her face, “It’s gone. It was too late to get it reattached. And nopony has the magic to make her a new one… not even Discord! The only hope Luna has, is that Twilight might be able to do something for her.”

“You think she could?” Trixie asked hopefully.

“Maybe!” She nodded rapidly, “She’s the Element of Magic! She’s built to do this kind of stuff!”

Trixie opened her mouth, before considering what she had just heard, “Twilight… isn’t awake yet, is she?”

“Nope,” Pinkie shook her head, her smile fading somewhat, “A lot of ponies are recovering after that big fight, and we still don’t really know how you ended it!”

“Yeah,” Trixie sighed, looking around the room once again for nothing in particular, “How is Twilight? Doing alright? What about her baby? And Alpha?”

“They’re all okay,” She said, “Twilight’s baby was checked out by the best doctor Canterlot has to offer. Nothing out of the ordinary, even after her transformation. Alpha is still resting too. He woke up for a bit to visit, but went back to bed.”

“What about you?” Trixie asked, seeing bags under Pinkie’s eyes, “You seem like you could use some sleep as well.”

“I will soon,” She said, gesturing to the door, “Dashie’s going to take my place any minute, and I’m going to catch a few hours of rest.”

“Well, why don’t you go look after Twilight till Rainbow arrives?” Trixie suggested, shifting uncomfortably on her new wings, “I’d like a few minutes to myself to think some things over.”

“Okay,” Pinkie nodded, “Dashie told us that you might need some piece and quiet.”

Trixie only nodded, as Pinkie turned around, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Sighing, she laid back on her pillow, and closed her eyes.

“Aurora…” She muttered, feeling her chest tighten at the name.

“Quite the little hero she was.” A familiar voice suddenly came from above the bed, “Tragic that things had to end the way they did with her.”

Trixie knew the voice.

“I lost my little sister for the second time last night, Discord.” She said, opening an eye to see the beast floating above her bed, “I’m really not in the mood for a conversation with you, no offence.”

“Well too bad,” he said, snapping his fingers, as the bed folded into upright position, “You and I need to talk about the little thing you stole from Twilight.”

Opening her eyes, she gave up on the thought of having a moment of silence.

“I didn’t steal anything,” Trixie shook her head sternly, “It was the only solution to the problem we were faced with.”

Stroking his beard, Discord couldn’t help but chuckle, “It wasn’t the only solution, my dear. Sure, your friend was doomed from the start, but you could have beaten Twilight with half the effort.”

Trixie gave him a grim look, “And how would we have accomplished that?”

“You erased Alex’s memory of course!” He said, slapping his knee, “I wouldn’t have minded seeing those two interact after what she put him through!”

“You saw his dream?” Trixie asked.

“Just the parts you were in,” He answered, “I’m of the belief that he would have blown her up with a single spell!”

“I think you’re overestimating his power,” Trixie disagreed, shaking her head, “He’s strong, but no better than Twilight or myself. And certainly no stronger than Aurora.”

“Well, I’d say that you’re half right.” Discord wagged his finger, slithering up to sit next to her, “He isn’t any stronger than you, your friend, or the Elements of Harmony. But! Hysteria is a powerful thing. Insanity can multiply power exponentially.”

Trixie frowned as he continued.

“A thousand years ago, when I still ruled Equestria, I was almost beaten by a crazed unicorn that had never studied magic before in his life!” He recalled, his eyes glistening at the thought, “You see, he had a simply huge family. There were dozens of them on this little turnip farm.”

“Why am I still listening to him…” Trixie muttered under her breath.

“And so, one day, I thought it’d be funny to start swapping his kids out for his precious plants!” Discord laughed out loud, slapping his leg once again, “And after a couple of weeks, he was alone in a house with a bunch of turnips that I had drawn faces on! He even began talking to them as if they were still ponies!”

Discord screamed out in laughter, rolling on to his back, his abdomen vibrating as tears poured down his face.

Trixie raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. At least he was about to tell her about how he almost died to the guy.

Gathering himself, Discord sat up and continued, after taking several deep breaths. “So! I went to him the next day, and told him that if he could boil and eat all of the turnips, I’d give him his family back! And, well, that’s where things went a bit sour.”

“Kicked your butt?” Trixie asked.

“In a sense,” He laughed, “The guy was so crazy, that he started shooting out magical beams at me! And they hurt! He chased me all over Equestria with a whole myriad of spells. Eventually, the only way to get him off my back was to give him his family back. It was a perfect example of my unending generosity.”

Trixie sighed, and rubbed her forehead, her migraine coming back, “And the point of this story was?”

“Hysterical strength is a very real thing!” Discord said, throwing his arms in the air and huffing loudly, “Alex would have turned Twilight into soup! Just like you, or anypony else would have, had you been forced to watch something so horrible.”

“You’re telling me that your thousand-year-old farmer would have been able to beat Twilight just now?” She asked skeptically.

“Well, maybe not him,” Discord shook his head, “But the Elements of Harmony make you much stronger than the average pony. So any of you would be able to.”

“I see…” Trixie sighed, her mind now brought back to the Elements of Harmony.

“Speaking of which, I almost forgot why I came here,” Discord said, shaking his head rapidly, “This belongs to you now.”

Suddenly, a large golden necklace appeared, floating in Discord’s hand. “The Element of Magic.”

Trixie wasn’t sure what to do at first, reach out and grab it? Push it away? Beg him to give it back to Twilight?

“You don’t seem very excited,” Discord said, levitating the necklace around her neck, and dropping it in to place.

“H-hey!” Trixie said, instantly trying to take it off, “I didn’t ask for this!”

Discord rolled his eyes as his magic kept the necklace held firmly in place against her fighting, “Asked or not, this is happening, little pony. Let Twilight have her baby, while you take her place on the front line.”

“B-but… I’m not an Element of Harmony! I’m just a- a mare that’s way too full of herself!” Trixie argued, giving up on the necklace for the moment, “When I first met Twilight and her friends, I almost got them killed by a giant bear!”

“Which you saved them from, if I remember correctly,” Discord pointed out.

“A dead pony would have been bad for business!” Trixie said, biting her lip as Discord smirked at her, “I- I don’t care—“

“Would you just stop?” Discord said, sighing and rolling his eyes, “This is getting painful to listen to! You’ve done plenty to prove that you’re a good mare. You just saved every Element of Harmony, for example.”

Trixie exhaled and slumped a bit.

“If you can’t see a plus side to having the Element, think about this,” Discord said, snapping his fingers, as a small version of Twilight appeared above his hand, “Now that every Element has been purified, all we have to do now, is wait for that mass of dark energy to reach Equestria. The final boss is on its way.”

The mini version of Twilight’s stomach began expanding as he spoke.

“From what I can tell, this is going to happen somewhere in the next several months. At least that’s what my antennae are telling me.” Discord said, pointing to his antlers with his free paw, as the small Twilight’s pregnancy progressed, “Now, I’m sure you know the average pregnancy period for an average mare. But, did you know that a half changeling baby will take several extra months?”

“It will…?” Trixie asked slowly.

“Yes.” He nodded definitely, “So, just think of things this way. You’re going to save a very pregnant mare from having to fight in what may be the biggest battle Equestria has ever seen. You know what’s worse than losing an Element of Harmony?”

Trixie gulped audibly.

“Losing a baby.” He said, his expression lacking all of its usual playfulness.

Trixie just nodded.

“Good, I’m glad you’ve been convinced!” He said, reaching forward and patting the top of her head, “Now, you should be celebrating! After all, you just saved Twilight, and got yourself a pair of wings.”

“Could you… just go?” Trixie asked, looking up to him, no enthusiasm in her expression, “I’d like some time to think about Aurora.”

Sighing, Discord nodded.

“I’m going to be gathering all of you in a couple of days,” Discord said, as a large portal opened behind him, “We’re going to be discussing the final plan of attack. And now that you’ll be leading the pack, I expect you to be smiling!”

Giving him her worst-fake smile, Discord gave her a thumbs-up in return as he passed through the portal backward.

“That’s the hero we all need!” He laughed, as the rest of him passed through, and the gateway closed.

And then she was alone again. Left in the depressing silence that was her new existence.

And once again, she cried.

Comments

[Super-Brony12]

Geez. That's a lot of information to absorb in one sitting. You're the new Element of Magic, your best friend died saving everypony, and you've become an alicorn to top it all off. Holy crap Trixie do I feel sorry for you.

~ Super-Brony12

[SageBrony07]

Great chapter. I like the logic and sort of Blessing that was given to Twilight. I can't wait. The final countdown has now begun.

[pahnazd]

Discord's a paragon of the rhetoric. Certainly knows how to soothe a grieving mare.

Well... but yeah, he did have a huge point about saving Twi from the fight while she's pregnant. Even though it won't sit well with her to be on the sidelines while her best friends are out there, fighting... but she won't be able to do much anyway.

I like how you have displayed Trixie here though - instead of boasting how she deserves the element and her wings, she's actually humble and does not want them.
Que Adam Jensen's "I've never asked for this".

I wonder if Celestia will ever regain her wing. Pinkie doesn't know Twi's lost her element, so she probably lost all the magic boost as well.
And well... we know that while Trixie is not dumb at all, she simply lacks the mind of Twi to be able to perform truly complex spells without having to study them extra long.

[FolkloreBrony]

Well, Celestia's fucked

[Mist Shaker]

I do hope you have some plan of having Twilight getting the Element of Magic back.

[ShadowKing1992]

WOW. Not only Twilight is no longer the Element of Magic. But Celestia also loss her wing.

[Lazydrill]

This took an interesting turn. I wonder how the other Elements and Twilight herself will react to this.

Poor Celestia... I think Twilight will not forgive herself for such an act...

[Black Ash]

Why do I get the distinct feeling Discord is still playing one massive and very elaborate game with everyone?

7988864 I want to say that most, if not all, magical artifacts of great power don't really work like that. But after that whole debaucle with the wands and ownership in Harry Potter, I suppose It technically can.

[LunarPrince]

I have to admit that I started reading this story a while ago getting to Haven station, but some things came up and I went on a hiatus of sorts to reading them for a while, but I came back starting Off the Record from the beginning and reading up to this point. All I have to say is Holy Fucking Damn. When I started to read I honestly began to have thoughts already thinking I had an idea how this story was going to go, as well as thinking that nothing all that much was really going to change; however, you honestly proved that fact wrong as I read in further to this point slowly seeing the butterfly affect work in so many ways until eventually it has seemed to reach a point of branching into its own thing. Way different than my assumption that this story would follow every or most of all the seasons that are out, yet reading I have a feeling that the end game and if I remember you had mentioned it in a note in a previous chapter I read is fast approaching. It
will be a shame when the story does come to a close, and yet at the same time, I am at the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen. You have by far, in my opinion, made a gem in a sea of fics, and hope that many other people get the pleasure of reading it.

[tsaukpaetra]

which begs the question, if Discord had transferred the Element of Magic into himself as part of plan a2, what would they do about the real threat? Surely they didn't think Cthulhu-Twi was it?