Misadventures of Trixie

by Tau22

Rainy Friendship

Another bolt of lightning tore the sky asunder as she made her way through the streets of Ponyville. The night sky was not visible, blocked by countless storm clouds which continued to bombard the world below with raindrops. She was glad her bag was resilient to such an assault, because every other hair on her body was completely soaked. Taking refuge under an extended roof, she sighed.

Two inns, both full, apparently due to some sort of cider fest coming to the town soon. Just her luck. She stared blankly into space, considering what little options she still had. Most involved standing in the cool breeze, which was not appealing at all. As she was contemplating her fate, a familiar voice came from behind her:
"Trixie?"

It was none other than Equestria's youngest princess, protecting herself from the rain with what looked like a conjured umbrella. Her violet eyes almost shone in the dim light of the street, as did her horn. The showpony smiled faintly, shivering slightly:
"Ah, hello Twilight."
"What are you doing here at a time like this?"
"Hoping the third inn has some free rooms. And what about you?"
"Oh, Pinkie Pie threw a party, so I'm heading home from there," on closer inspection, there seemed to be a bit of frosting stuck in her mane, "speaking of which, come with me. My hou... castle has more than enough space."
"Etiquette dictates I protest, but I am sick of this rain. I'll take you up on your offer."
"Excellent," the umbrella grew large enough to shield them both, "come on!"

They walked side by side as the storm continued to rage. Trixie was the first to speak again:
"Don't you just hate it when the pegasi mess up their scheduling?"
"We all make mistakes sometimes."
"I guess I, of all ponies, should know that, eh?" she chuckled slightly.
"And just like the pegasi, I hear you've been helping out in places, Timberbane in particular."
"How do you...?"
"Word travels fast. Especially when you are the closest 'royal authority'," she said the words with a hint of disgust, "to the Everfree forest."
"That's one perk, I suppose. And yes, I may have lent a hoof. Though the experience was strange, overall. I'll tell you all about it once we get out of this cold."
"It's not far, just one last corner."

Once they rounded said corner, the majestic structure came into view. Tree-castle was a quick and dirty way to describe it, but it did not do the structure justice. Even in the rain, it was a dazzling display of colour, its bark-like crystals shining faintly. The gate was ornate and probably large enough to let an ursa through.

The hollow trunk of the crystalline tree housed a large, spiral staircase. Ascending was a bit of a chore overall, but not being bombarded by water sure felt great. A minute or so of ascending and they were finally inside the castle proper. The entrance hall was expansive, to say the least, with several pathways splitting in every direction. Its walls had numerous spots reserved for large, violet banners, which carried Twilight's cutie mark. Said princess shot her a warm smile:
"Let's go to the library. It has a nice, big fireplace."
"That sounds lovely."

---

Oh, Celestia, the heavenly warmth. Her mane was already dry, if a bit messy due to the ordeal, and her things had more than enough time to do the same. She sipped her tea slowly, savouring both its flavour and blessed heat, while Twilight processed the information presented to her.

The library was overwhelmingly large, and Trixie was sure Twilight loved it that way. It had two separate floors filled with row after row of bookcases, each filled with books of all shapes, sizes and theme. There were clearly-defined sections, their books alphabetically organised. For a moment, she wondered if organising could be considered a hobby. The alicorn interrupted those thoughts:
"A creature controlling the Everfree. Fascinating."
"I'm not even sure I'd call it a creature. It always referred to itself in the plural."
"Like the Royal We?"
"I suppose, though, I think it was meant literally in this case."
"I'll have to look into the subject a bit more, but I do believe I've read at least a vague mention of something like that," she sighed, "ah, well. That can wait. Timberbane is safe, thanks to you."
"I can't take credit for the whole thing. The ponies in there are fighters to the core. They also don't almost freeze in the rain."
Twilight giggled:
"You were soaked, that much is true," her eye wandered towards the showpony's cape and hat, resting on a few nearby chairs, "you know, I've always wondered. Where did you get your outfit?"
"My grandma sewed it together for me. Why?"
"I've just never seen such a perfect rendition of Lucretia Stargazer's robe. She must be very talented."
A bitter smile formed:
"She was," Twilight immediately went into flustered mode, which was overall rather adorable. Trixie decided to spare her, "I'm surprised someone else even knows about Lucretia."
"She was one of Starswirl's pupils, and I know my Starswirl trivia. Not the most successful of them, unfortunately."
"I've always kind of admired her, truthfully. The stories of her paint her as a pony of utter determination. Never stopping to try and achieve her dreams."
"Which, ultimately, led to her untimely end."
"Yes."

A brief silence ensued as Trixie stared down at her hooves. She could only hope her own fall was already behind her and not just waiting around a corner. Waiting for her to tread down a dark path again. The thought sent a shiver down her spine and she tried to clear her mind:
"In any case, it is getting quite late. We should get some rest."
"Oh, indeed. The guest rooms are still not quite done," the lack of beds in some of them only the tip of the iceberg, "but my own room has quite a few beds."
"Why so?"
"P.P.E.S.P.P," she spelled out an intimidating acronym.
"W-what?"
"Pinkie Pie Emergency Slumber Party Protocol."
They stared at each other for a few moments, then burst out laughing.

---

She stopped running long after she had left Ponyville, at a crossroad between several equally important destinations. That was the official version, anyway, since each city or town considered itself to be the cream of the crop. Such thoughts had no place in her mind at the time. She had to stop and think of where to keep running. Yet thinking was the last thing she wanted at that point.

She stood there, exhausted, gasping for air. Her eyes darted between the signs, yet her mind did not even consider them. After everything that had happened, she decided to part with that?! Great and Apologetic Trixie... smooth thinking, Trixie. And yet the violet unicorn had smiled at her. After misusing forbidden magic, general cruelty and just... just being herself. She was disgusted with herself. Too little, too late.

Her legs suddenly lost their strength and she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. Tears streamed down her face as she just cried, for the first time in years. She was worthless. Her magic was weak, her other skills sorely lacking.

A voice suddenly sounded, ethereal, distant. She opened her eyes.

---

The recurring dream vanished slowly, as if swept away by a light breeze. All she could see instead was the worried face of an alicorn princess. A second set of emerald eyes watched from a distance. Right, her dragon. What was his name, again? Spear? Slice? Her mind was forced to concentrate again as Twlight placed a hoof on her side:
"Trixie, what's wrong?"

She looked up and tried to muster the strength to speak, to make up some excuse, a quick lie, only to break down sobbing even harder. Nothing happened for a moment, and then, she felt a pleasant warmth as something brushed against her lightly. Feathers. After some difficulties, Twilight had stretched out one of her wings enveloped her in it. Not something you experience every tear-filled night, that was for sure. Princess Sparkle spoke:
"It's okay, it's okay. Everything's fine," gradually, the sobbing stopped as Trixie calmed down and leaned against her, "nightmares can't get you here."

The silence seemed to last an eternity, and the showpony almost wished it had. Her breathing returned to its regular levels as she allowed herself to relax. She felt... safe. And just a little bit embarrassed, but those thoughts were suppressed for the moment. Finally, she looked up into the alicorn's eyes and said, her voice a faint whisper:
"W-why are you so nice to me?"
Twilight responded in kind:
"What?"
"You heard me, Sparkle. You have every reason to hate me. Every reason to never speak to me again."
She chuckled:
"I already forgave you, remember?"
"But... I..."
"No buts. You've changed for the better, and that's all that matters. The past can often teach us many things. But sometimes, it just hurts. Besides," another one of those smiles, the sort that threatened to melt one's heart, "I wouldn't be much of a Princess of Friendship if I didn't cut a friend some slack, now would I?"
The words disarmed her as she again leaned against the alicorn's wing and muttered:
"I don't deserve a friend like you."
"Well, whether you like it or not, that's how it's gonna' be. Now, turn that frown upside down."

The smile was a bit brief, but it was there. One last request sprung to her mind. She hesitated for a moment, but then asked:
"I know this will sound strange, but... could you keep your wing like this just a little longer?"
"Of course. As long as you need it."
"Thanks... friend."
"Anytime, friend."

She finally noticed the full moon up above, its rays reflecting off the crystalline walls to create a beautiful, almost ethereal glow. Unimportant. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the princess and let the warmth wash over her. Friend. Such a nice word.

---

Twilight's eyes opened sluggishly. With a loud yawn, she stretched out her wings and looked around the room. Spike and Trixie were nowhere in sight, which meant one of two things awaited her downstairs. A trap or an ambush. Something in her gut just knew it had to be so.

She descended from her bedroom and could soon hear a conversation, though the words were unintelligible. She pinpointed the location, however. The kitchen. Cautiously, she made her way there like a clumsy assassin, making as little noise as possible. After barely catching a vase that her wings knocked aside, she finally made it to the door. Placing one ear on it, she listened:
"Could you run that by me again?" Spike sounded just a teensy bit nervous.
"Simplicity itself, dear draconite. Just a mild flame, aimed directly into the bubble. Leave the rest to me."
"O-okay. Here goes nothing."

As the sound of exhaled dragon fire sounded, she opened the door. She was not quite sure what was happening, though it did remind her of certain occult rituals she had read about. Trixie stood in the middle of the kitchen, creating some sort of protective bubble so that Spike's flame remained contained.
At the same time, she was levitating several slices of bread. She lowered the slices into the fire for just a short moment, then took them out. The resulting toast had a quire lovely golden colour and was lowered onto a plate. Smiling, she nodded towards the little dragon and he stopped.
"Good job, Spike!"
"Yeah!"
Hoof and claws clashed in the air and only then did they notice the alicorn, leaning against one of the counters, obviously amused:
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two are trying to burn down the castle."
"We'd never!"
"What she said!"

She chuckled and made her way to the plates. The smell was lovely, though, there was something exotic about it. Trixie retrieved more ingredients, mostly various vegetables, but also some cheese, and placed them neatly on the toasts. She bowed to her slightly and proclaimed:
"Authentic Saddle Arabian dragon-toast! Yes, that is the actual name. A meal fit for a princess, if I do say so myself!"
"You're too kind."
"Look who's talking. Dig in. Dragon fire gives it a unique aftertaste!"

She mustered her courage and took a nice, big bite. It was rather great, actually. The sensation the showpony had mentioned was the slightest tinge of very specific spicyness. Probably not for everyone, but gosh, she liked it a lot. Between bites, they chatted:
"It's good to see you two getting along."
"Yah," Spike spoke through a small gemstone lodged in his mouth, "she'sh real coow."
"And he's just the most adorable thing."
"I must say, this is very good. Where did you learn how to make it?"
"Believe it or not, I actually cook," she looked away, "well, I can do simple food, for now. My last stew tried to eat me," Twilight chuckled, though Trixie did not, "I'm afraid I'm serious."
"Woah. I do not even want to know how that happened."
"You and me both."

---

It was not too long after breakfast when she once more donned her star struck hat and cape. Ready to continue her travels. One more time, she turned to her friends. Just thinking about that made her all tingly inside:
"Bye for now. And again, thanks for everything."
"Do try and avoid getting in trouble, you hear?"
"Twilight, with all due respect and modesty, trouble should watch out for me! I'll make sure to stop by soon."
"Already looking forward to it."

After a shared giggle, Trixie chose a random direction and began another journey, in a much better mood than usual.

---

It took her a good few minutes to finally pull herself together. In her state, she hadn't noticed her magic going haywire, which resulted in little more than a small orb of light hovering around her. Instead of throwing another tantrum about uselessness, she gazed at the orb and wiped away a few lingering tears.

What kind of damned pony was she? That was right, a showpony. Moping around at some random crossroad wouldn't help her at all. All she needed was to step up her act. Show ponies everywhere what a real show was. That would require a fair bit of training, but she was up to the challenge. She was Trixie Lulamoon, after all, the greatest travelling showpony in all of Equestria!

Comments

[yayme]

I hope you keep writing about Trixie's travels.
Its interesting seeing the things one can run into while traveling the world. Or the Everfree.

[Alondro]

EDIT NOTE:

The hollow trunk of the crystalline tree house (????) a large, spiral staircase.

I believe you're missing an adverb where I've placed the question marks, without which this becomes a sentence fragment. I think 'had' is supposed to go there.

[Dj7291993]

The former location of once relevant corrections.

Btw, I'd like to apologize in advance for any typos I will make. I do this from my phone, usually while in the sauna at the gym, and sweat and touchscreen don't always go together. :P

[Tau22]

6692957 Past tense restored!

Sentence structure changed just because 'They weren't anywhere' sounds silly in our mind!

And the meal is now fit for a princess!

Thank you, Grammar Avenger!

[Bot-chan]

And yes, I may have lent a hand.

And I'm sure the Timberbane ponies were fascinated by this strange and exotic body part.

[Tau22]

7024997 YOU SAW NOTHING!

No continuity errors here, no siree!

*Ahem* And thank you for your patronage, hand-abomination!