Chapter 19: Final Destination (Part Two) - The Edge of Darkness
It was the first cold day of fall down the river.
Despite being more slightly southerly than Ponyville, weather in the Ghastly Gorge was noticeably colder. Situated downstream from the Everfree Forest, the Gorge shared the Forest’s uncontrolled weather, though that sharing just tended to manifest itself as unseasonably cold and dreary weather year ‘round rather than the dangerous and chaotic storms that the Everfree regularly produced.
Trixie had learned this first hoof when she did her first crossing through Equestria. She followed the road supposedly going south and found herself freezing, despite the warmer climate to the north. Trixie remembered having to read the map many times to convince herself she hadn’t traveled towards the frozen north by mistake. Years later, she would snicker at the memory of her younger self looking up in frustration and discovering the Austraeohian Crucis right above her, shining brightly. All the stars were brighter that night. There was no moon, so Trixie had quickly found her way back to the closest settlement.
After that day, Trixie never saw a new moon again until the months following Princess Luna’s return. She made a mental note to ask her about it now she had mail privileges with Royalty… Because Trixie was a walking sin against nature.
“Stars above,” she muttered between smiling teeth. “This is depressing.”
Trixie was sitting at the top of a hill at north of Ghastly Gorge. It wasn’t particularly high, just enough to see Ponyville in the distance. After several days, Trixie’s sight had adapted to daylight without protection. It was a relief taking the lenses out of her mask when she realized, since she could finally see more colors than the heavy tinting would allow. That’s why the view she got of Sweet Apple Acres was so mesmerizing to Trixie. All the colors, from the red of the apples to the green of the grass and the blue of the nearby river, all of it painted in orange by the last rays of sunlight.
Then she looked slightly to the right where something big was floating and spinning in the air.
Trixie blinked a few times, making sure she wasn’t suffering from eye decay… again. After checking her eyes were intact, she focused once again in the strange object. No, she hadn’t been mistaken the first time. That really was—
“Fluttershy’s house?!” Trixie couldn’t help but ask it out loud. Then she remembered who was now in Ponyville, probably free to do whatever he wanted, if the flying, spinning house was any indication. It was enough for Trixie to agree with Twilight and the others regarding taking their younger siblings, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Spike, to keep them away from the draconequus’ madness. Since all of the girls would have their hooves full dealing with Discord, while most of the other ponies back in town were doing their best to keep the place in a fairly small number of pieces, only Lightning Dust managed to accompany them.
“May the gods have mercy on their souls.” Trixie took her hat off and almost lowered her head. “Ah well, no use in worrying over it.” She shrugged and turned around to go back at the same campsite she had stayed during that cold night, many years ago.
During the trot down the hill, Trixie picked up some pieces of dead wood and fallen leaves to start a fire for the night. At that time of the year, it was better to get the fire started while it was still daylight. She also enjoyed being able to go around without having to wear most of her outfit. Granted, Trixie still had the vest on to cover the mark of the Amulet on her chest, but left her mask hanging from her neck. However, without the gloves and cape, Trixie had a lot more freedom of movement.
When she was just around the final bend from camp, Trixie stopped for a moment to put the mask back over her face. It hadn’t been that long since she made a habit of using that mask, but Trixie was already thinking of it as her real face. As she told Twilight the day before, ever since the Alicorn Amulet took over her body the first time, Trixie hasn’t felt like her body was truly hers. Each time she ended up thinking about it, she felt more like being trapped inside something she couldn’t even recognize.
That was why she prefered to wear the mask when around other ponies. It wasn’t just because of the ‘scare effect’ of the Amulet’s residual magic or out of simple vanity. It was really because Trixie wanted to show a face she was actually willing to admit was hers. The silver theater mask with her cutie mark in the left cheek was more ‘Trixie’ than the long fangs and slit red eyes hidden under it. She wasn’t a monster.
“Hey, Trixie is back!” Apple Bloom called out as the demon pony came around a tree.
“Hello, girls,” Trixie said, looking around the campsite. “Trixie expects you didn’t got too bored without her around.”
A voice came from above Trixie. “Oh, I think I did a good part keeping them entertained, showmare.” She looked up and saw Lightning Dust holding Scootaloo in her hooves. “I’ve been teaching this little pest one or two things about flying, like maneuvering and currents. Not bad, so far.”
“We’ve been working on the use of currents to help gliding between clouds at different heights,” replied Scootaloo, her orange wings buzzing. “That was after she showed me bunch of her own tricks, like loops, spins, and cloud busting. She’s alright, but she’s no Rainbow Dash!”
Trixie snickered at Lightning Dust rolling her eyes and looking like she was biting her tongue to keep some acerbic retort down. Early in their trip, Lightning had taken a liking to the little pegasus filly. After learning about the difficulties Scootaloo had with flying, she had changed her own daily exercise routine to include her. It didn’t cease to amaze Trixie how much of a difference friendship could make for a pony. She looked down again to see Sweetie Belle and Spike joining the group as Lightning Dust landed carefully with Scootaloo.
“Does this mean no one needs of Trixie’s Terrific Travelogue of Tremendous Tricks for Long Trips?” She put a dramatic hoof on her forehead. “Oh, the Tragedy!” She looked away from the group.
Lighting could barely hold herself from smashing her own skull while facehoofing. Spike just grimaced, two claws hardly pressing against his nose bridge. Trixie wasn’t unaware of those reactions, but she still smiled under the mask. They weren’t her target audience anyways.
“No, wait!” Sweetie Belle piped up. “We do!” Trixie could barely hold her laugh as the other two fillies followed with puppy eyes for her to do that show she has been pitching the entire trip from Ponyville.
“Alright,” Trixie said in a more leveled, but still exaggerated voice. “The show shall go on, for the audience.” She waved a claw and made appear a wild rose out of thin air. “Here you go, my little fillies.” Trixie threw the rose in the air, but instead of falling alone, a daisy and a lily followed, lading each in front of one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As the flowers touched the ground, Trixie bowed for her miniature audience.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo immediately bursted into a round of applause against the ground.
“We get it, you enjoy showing off!” Lightning Dust walked next to Trixie. “But before you continue, please give me that wood. I can literally see it falling over your head if you keep moving like that.”
“What wood?” Trixie said as she got up from her bow and looked at her back. “Oh, right, that.” She scratched the back of her head, wondering in which moment she forgot she was carrying it. Without thinking too much about it. Trixie tipped herself to the side where Lighting was ready to take it. However, when the wood slid from her back to Lightning’s, the pegasus couldn’t hold it and fell over her knees almost immediately.
“Ugh--” Lightning said from under the mountain of wood. “Halp!”
Trixie immediately began to take away the logs on the top while Spike raced to help Lightning to lift what was left. With some effort and improvisation, the three of them managed to keep most of the falling wood in one single pile. Trixie thought about what happened, remembering that bit of her body being ‘denser’, as Twilight described it. Another reminder of how much different from a real pony she had become over the time.
“Alright. Alright! I got it,” grunted Lightning as she fully got her hooves under her. “No need to worry. Musta just winded myself from all the flying.” She staggered forward a few steps towards the fireplace, her legs shaking as she struggled to use her wings to keep the firewood on her back. Trixie swore she heard the pegasus mutter, “No prancing unicorn is stronger ‘en me.”
Something in the distance laughed stridently, causing Trixie to whip her head around towards the sound and stand at rigid attention. She looked into the north, to where the laughter came from, trying to focus her ears on what might have caused it.
“Uh, Trixie?” Scootaloo waved a hoof in front of her. “Are you okay?”
“Uh? Yeah, sur-- Ah-choo!“ She pretended to sneeze. “I-- Trix-- I mean, I just caught some dust under the mask.” Trixie shifted the mask to conceal her ears moving, but she couldn’t pick the sound again.
Whatever it was, Trixie distracted herself quickly by going forward with the mini-show.
It was less than an hour after sunset when the cold finally made the younger fillies go inside their tents to sleep. Spike wasn’t that far away from falling onto his own face himself, but he stayed awake to speak with Trixie. The two of them sat over a log while Lightning Dust kept working on the campfire to make sure it was well fed.
“So, you say Princesses Celestia and Luna thought it was a good idea to release Discord?” Trixie nodded. “The guy who single handedly turned Equestria, a land known worldwide as the most peaceful place in the planet, into a riot of madness and disarray in less than a day. That Discord?” Trixie nodded again, slower. “All of that on the grounds he’s older than them and may,” Spike took a pause to put both of his index claws up, “and I repeat, may know something about the Alicorn Amulet that may—and I feel the need to repeat that word again because it seems to be very operative for this whole scenario—may be useful.” Trixie just cocked her head forward this time. She was entirely on Spike’s side of the whole situation.
“Yeah, they’re pretty much making an ‘all or nothing’ bet here,” Trixie answered while Lightning finished tending the fire and sat next to them. “I guess the Alicorn Amulet really is that much of a danger if the Princesses are willing to go this far.”
“Or maybe,” Spike raised a single claw. “It’s because they really want to help you that much.”
“Yeah, let’s go with that one,” Lightning interjected. “After all, don’t you guys all work with that ‘friendship is magic’ deal?” She let herself fall back, using her wings to softly land on the grass behind the log they were sitting on. “Do note that I am quite thankful for that.” Lightning crossed her hooves behind her head as she let her eyes lid over.
“I guess you are right,” Trixie scratched her chin under the mask.
She looked back at Spike, finding the little purple reptile nodding off, his chin resting on his chest. “Heh, come on,” she rumbled with a pat on his shoulder. Carefully, she took him with her claws and helped him onto her back. Trixie carried Spike to the tent that Sweetie Belle and Lightning Dust were sharing with him. Very slowly, she opened the tent, just enough to get inside without letting the warmth get out, and let Spike off. He yawned one last time, waddled over to the the bed roll lying next to Sweetie Belle’s sleeping bag, and curled up under his blanket. Trixie couldn’t resist making sure he was good and tucked in. With the same care but quicker, she got out and closed the tent, and went back to sit next to Lightning, who was looking up at the starry night and making silhouettes with her hooves.
Trixie wanted to allow herself such levity, but there was too much on her mind.
There were two halves inside her debating over her present situation. On one side, ruled by the instincts she had forged over the years living on the road, she knew the Alicorn Amulet was too dangerous, and she knew the Princesses would do anything to protect their subjects, even if that meant throwing her at the draconequus’ claws. But on the other side, a less exercised one that she only remembered after getting to know Twilight, kept coming up with the idea that it was because they honestly wanted to help. Trixie wanted to believe the Princesses would want to help her, even to the extremes of risking Discord being free.
And of course, there was still the doubt if their giant gamble would even work at all. As Spike pointed out, it was a high stake bet on either astronomically big odds against them or microscopically small odds in favor. Probably both. Trixie didn’t want to think about any of that anymore, so she mimicked Lightning and rested her back on the grass to look at the stars too.
“Never thought you would be the astronomer type, Dust.” Trixie turned her head to look at her most recent friend.
“Astrono what?” Lightning turned to look at Trixie, who was pointing a claw at the sky. “Oh, you mean one of those star nerds. Nah, never had the patience to go through all those fancy names and complex stuff.” She went back to drawing shapes in the air with a hoof. “I just enjoy looking at them. Stop the engines, turn the rotor off and be quiet for a change.”
“Yes, I can get behind that.” Trixie looked at the sky herself, realizing they were right under the Austraeohian Crucis. Looking around it again, this really was the same campsite she had used that night, many years ago. She couldn’t help but snort at that.
Where did that pony go? That little mare, barely an adult, who just wanted to see the world, where was she now?
*wh* The wind sounded in the distance. *rstrned?*
Trixie immediately got up. She was sure she heard a voice this time.
“Hey,” Trixie whispered. Lightning Dust turned towards her, perking her ears up. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Lightning raised her head, looking from side to side, her erect ears swiveling about. She raised an eyebrow. “Where?”
“Something like a whisper…” Trixie frowned. “I think. I’m not sure from where it came.”
“Mmm-grrr,” Lightning groaned as she sat up, very slowly. “Trixie,” she said while trying to repress a yawn. “When was the last time you were actually out in the woods by yourself?”
“Well…” Trixie didn’t even want to make the calculation. “More than it should be for a Roani.” She had to admit it to herself, the constant problems and turmoil of her life had kept her oddly static.
“There you go,” Lightning rolled from her belly to her hooves. “It’s just the sounds of nature and you’re rediscovering them. After all, we are near the river.” She got up and trotted around the log to sit on it again, tending to their camp fire.
Trixie thought about it, the irony. There was a time she would have made fun of another pony getting scared of the sound of a river or the wind whistling against the trees’ leaves. She shook her head, putting a claw on her forehead. That was an essential part of herself, older than anything else she could remember, and she had nearly forgot about it. Trixie was sure if she had blood, the inside of her mask would be feeling really hot by this point.
She needed to go back.
Trixie looked at the denser part of the forest around the clearing they were camping on. As she expected, even though the nearly absolute darkness of the inner forest, she could see it clear as the day, maybe better.
“Lightning?” She asked while scratching a claw against the ground. “Would you be fine if I leave you alone?”
“Sure, why not?” Lightning replied while getting off the log. “I was about to go to sleep too, so have a good--” *cling* *clang*
The metallic mask landed next to Lightning.
“Night…” There was nopony to be seen.
Trixie galloped as fast as she could, taking any turn she came to and avoided looking where she was going. She stopped only after being sure she was well away from any path or campsite.
“In the middle of nowhere,” Trixie said to herself. “No road, no bounds, nothing but me.” She kept trotting at a calmer pace, looking around her. “And the world at my hooves.” Trixie smiled.
She desired to experience the smell of the wildness around her. The fresh air that once almost froze her to death, it was revitalizing…
Or it should have been.
Although Trixie was able to identify every smell around her, she wasn’t ‘feeling’ it. She sighed at the dullness of her senses. Another reminder of her condition. Trixie rubbed a paw down her face in frustration, but as she did, she noticed something else. She looked at the claws, looking for the sweat that should be there after a sprint like the one she just did. Instead, it was dry. In fact, she wasn’t even feeling tired, nor the usual adrenaline rush from doing such sudden exercise.
“Okay.” She raised an eyebrow. “This is kinda new.”
Trixie started to think. Ever since she awoke at Twilight’s room, she couldn’t remember feeling tired. Sure, she went to sleep, but that was thanks to Fluttershy teaching her how to meditate from when Trixie was a corpse. Trixie kept thinking about it. She could eat again too, but there was no real hunger behind it. There was also that whole ‘can’t get drunk’ thing going on.
She looked down at her chest, where the dark-azure fur changed color to black, grey and red, drawing a nearly perfect outline of the Alicorn Amulet on her body. Trixie didn’t need a medical examination or even a light tap over the area to know that the Amulet was there, encrusted to the bone and replacing her discarded heart. She still put a paw over it. She needed to know more.
Trixie’s claws ran over the entire drawing, stopping right in the middle, where the fur was red in diamond shape. She couldn’t feel any physical pulsations, but in the quiet of the night, Trixie knew the thing was pumping the magic inside her. She looked at her side to better examine herself. Despite Twilight’s constant measurements and testings, Trixie never took the time to appreciate what she had now. To look at what she was now.
She admired her own body, taking her time to examine all those details that couldn’t be measured. The feeling of her claws against the earth, the flexibility of her spine in movement. The awareness of her prehensile tail waving at will. Trixie kept experimenting, moving and feeling. Trixie sighed.
“What the hell am I?” she whispered to herself. Trixie wanted something familiar, that was why she went into the forest, but in the middle of it, engulfed in darkness, she could only feel alone. Alone and lost.
She looked up at the sky, trying to see the stars that always guided her so faithfully. However, a bank of clouds was passing over, blocking the light of the stars and the moon. For Trixie, there was no light.
Trixie didn’t want to think about her situation anymore. In fact, she didn’t even need it. Twilight Sparkle was right the whole time.
“Trixie is Trixie.” She said to herself, glaring down at the darkness around her. “Nothing can ever change that.” Trixie stomped the ground with her front paws. “This is who I am.”
“What are you?”
She looked around, searching for the source of the whisper. After glaring into the darkness for a time, she doubted there was any living being around her.
“Over here.” Trixie whirled around at the sound only to find nothing. “Here, here, here.” It echoed from nowhere.
“Show yourself!” Trixie demanded, spinning back around to try and find the sound, locating nothing.
“Here” It say from the left. “No, here.” From the right. Suddenly, Trixie felt the cold of the night. It was the first time she ever felt any weather at all since she died.
Trixie gulped a lump she didn’t know was able to have. She shook her head and planted her four paws firmly on the ground. There was no reason to be scared; she was already dead. What could possibly happen to her by this point?
“Here!” The voice came loud and clear from nowhere Trixie could recognize. “Here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,” it echoed getting lower and louder at the same time.
The mismatched teasings came from every possible direction. At first she tried to follow them, desperately trying to find their source. But all she accomplished was to spin in a small circle as each repetition came faster and quicker. The voice was never heard from the same point or at the same volume twice. It felt like a swarm around her, circling around and getting closer.
Trixie wanted to run away, but her legs weren’t responding anymore. The sounds weren’t even recognizable words anymore. Just a constant cacophony that flooded the air. Trixie felt panic overwhelming her, ancient instincts calling for her to break and run. Yet where could she go when she was surrounded?
From deep down within her, something else ancient was responding to Trixie’s panic.
It didn’t want to run, to flee. It wanted to attack the threat. To rip it apart, to destroy it, to make it regret ever daring to cross the Great and Powerful Trixie!
“Over here.”
One taunt, clearer than the others, was all it took to tell her were her tormenter was. The darkness welling up exploded within her head, her neck and horn screaming in pain as she spun around. The taunt muscles of her hind legs uncoiled, driving her towards her tormenter like a puma or a warthog. Trixie’s muzzle and forepaws were spread wide in attack, ready to taste blood. A roar burst from her throat.
Instead, all she tasted was air.
Bursting through a row of cedars, Trixie found herself airborne. In all her running, she had gotten herself right alongside the Ghastly Gorge. It had been hidden from her view by the trees, but now she could see it spreading before her. And below her.
Trixie’s roar of attack turned to a panicked shriek as she twisted and flailed in mid air. It was the trip to the Wonderbolts Academy all over again. She was falling through the air with no control. She managed to just turn herself, to reach out for the trees, and the balloon, and the rest of the girls, and for Twilight.
Except she didn’t, she never had, and she was still falling, and she was going to smash herself on the rocks again and it would hurt oh-goddess-it-would-hurt-so-much-and-shewoulddieshewoulddieandshedidn’twanttodieagainnotagain--
With a great whump, Trixie landed belly first on the rocky slope below the treeline. If she still had still required air, it would have been knocked out of her lungs. As it was, only her legs were knocked askew. Trixie recovered in an instant, all four of her paws frantically digging at the ground to try and stop her slide, her panic only aiding her. Dirt and stones tore at her paws as she slowed, her momentum rapidly dropping off.
Trixie’s hind legs kicked at the open air at the very lip of the Ghastly Gorge just as she finally came to a stop.
Her panic stopped slower than she did. Trixie kept clawing at the hill, not stopping until she had pulled herself back to the top, laying in a shivering heap at the base of the trees she had crashed through seconds earlier. If she had still been alive she would have been panting like a sprinter at the end of a race, her heart thumping hard enough that she’d fear it was trying to escape her chest.
But Trixie was not alive and so only lay in a quivering mass until her fright and the memories of that balloon ride weeks ago had finally faded.
Slowly, Trixie got up, sitting on her haunches. She looked at her paws. The hillside had torn up their pads and the skin around the claws during her scramble up it. Her belly was streaked with dirt and grass. The grass below her head was charred, and when she touched her cheek her claw came away with a touch of green from the necroplasm. She had a burning headache and her throat was sore, likely from screaming.
Trixie started to inhale and exhale slowly. It wasn’t doing anything for her body, but the motions calmed her. Once she felt ready to move again, Trixie wearily got back to her paws and started a slow trudge back to camp.
What was happening to her? Where had the voices come from? What had made her attack the darkness like that?
Was she finally going crazy?
Was she ever even sane to begin with?
The fire had died down to almost coals by the time Trixie got back to camp. She added a few more logs and branches to it, the fire responding rapidly. A quick check of the tents revealed that all was well on that front also, their five occupants curled up and soundly asleep. At some point Lightning Dust had curled up hugging Spike, but since neither looked bothered by the arrangement Trixie figured she’d leave them be and poke fun at them for it in the morning.
She wasn’t really in the mood for sleep right now herself.
The fire was crackling merrily and throwing off a warmth that Trixie wished she could truly feel. As with the smells before, she knew it was warm, but again, there was a cold emptiness in the feeling. With a sigh, Trixie settled herself on top of her bed roll and pulled a worn camping quilt Applejack had lent her around her body. Settling her head on her forelegs, she stared into the burning coals of the fire.
Trixie closed her eyes after a minute and stilled herself. Sleep may have been lost to her, but she didn’t think she could sleep anyway, not after what had just happened. A shudder went through her at memory of falling helplessly through the air.
“No,” Trixie whispered. She needed was to get control back, to center herself. Breathing in deeply and slowing letting it out, she began to go through the meditative techniques Fluttershy taught her. But there was a tempest in her mind, too strong and too old to be appeased. Trixie began to listen at the world around her, to the wind on the leaves and the water through the river. Slow as the summer breeze, she lifted her head. She was Roani; her hooves were restless. She needed to move.
Slowly, following the wind’s lead, she got up. Then, with the sound of the river as timing, she lifted her left paw while dragging the right one on the ground. Suddenly, as the wind changed its direction she turned her head, keeping her eyes closed. The left paw stepped hard on the ground, sinking the claws as the motions became more defined. The cool night air was caressing her fur and skin as she did that, softly directing her. She turned away from the fire to better feel where the cool night air might want her to go. When Trixie opened her eyes, she saw the light of the moon passing through the clouds, giving her a new road to follow.
And then, everything stopped.
Trixie didn’t know what had happened or what to do. There was no sound, no wind, no water. She sat back to her haunches, her eyes now wide and her ears carefully moving. The world she looked out at was still there, but everything appeared as if its color had been taken away. For a moment, Trixie wondered if the little traces of senses she still had were finally fading away, but then she realized that everything she looked at was also motionless. From the clouds in the sky to the leaves on the trees, everything was still. It was as if the entire world, even sounds and light, had become frozen in time.
Trixie looked down, where her shadow was still moving with the fire’s twinkle. She quickly turned around, expecting to find the fire a frozen grey spectre as the rest of the world had become. Yet, she saw a flame burning normally with colors and sound she somehow missed up to that point. Trixie took a step forward, but before her left paw could touch the ground the fire erupted in an enormous blaze that shone with the very colors of the rainbow. The effect stood out more due to the world around it being colorless.
Trixie couldn’t move, not that she would have tried. The spectacle in front of her was overwhelming. As the flames kept rising in a pillar of color and fire that seemed to touch the sky, a dark silhouette moved inside it. The black figure began small, but it grew with each motion, as if it was getting closer. Trixie gulped, not even daring to blink. The black stain was bigger than a pony, even bigger than Princess Celestia. The pillar of light melted down, revealing even more black as the colors flowed down.
Once the black took over, the silhouette took the colors for itself. Trixie saw two small streams of yellow making circles, as two eyes stared back at her. From the right side of the figure, a ferocious paw with claws shot forwards. Trixie clenched her teeth for the attack, but it never happened.
“Hello, my little… thing,” the voice of madness greeted her. In a world of black and white, Discord looked as bright as a sun. Trixie looked at the offered paw but didn’t take it. Her expression quickly changed from awe to anger at the sound of that voice, as she guessed what had just happened to her back in the forest.
“You sure do know how to make an entrance,” Trixie commented, lacing it with as much sarcasm as she could muster. She hated him.
Discord looked down at her and pouted. “Of all the ponies, I figured a showmare like yourself would appreciate a flashy entrance.”
“Pff, sure, the effects were amazing,” Trixie turned to a side to pick up a rock between two claws. She threw it away but it froze in place as soon as it lost contact with her. “But without an act, it’s just that. An effect.” Trixie couldn’t help but smirk a little.
She was talking to what was probably the most powerful and dangerous creature on all of Equus. But then again, one of her own internal organs was replaced by what could as well be the most powerful and dangerous object on all of Equus. Maybe she was a performer first and several other things after that, but there was an immovable constant at the end of that list; a gambler and a cheat. A trickster. She could beat the devil at his own game.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Discord jumped and floated over Trixie, forming an arc in the air as he got his head in front of her. “I admit it, I’m more a creature of an actions than actings,” Trixie pulled her head back, clenching her teeth again. “And I’m pretty sure you know I’m not here to ask for notes on presentation and performance.” He snapped his talons and they were surrounded by ponies cheering and applauding, except they were as drained and colorless as the rest of the world around them. No, there was more to them as Trixie looked closer; they were skinny and starved looking, their faces only masks that hid terror behind them. The clothes they wore were strange, looking older than anything Trixie had seen outside of museums. “After all,” Discord said, drawing her back to him. “I did once rule the world.”
Another snap and the ponies were gone, just the two of them and the fire.
“Trixie shouldn’t be surprised.” She sat down in front of the fire, putting on an air of nonchalance. “So what do you want this time?”
“Global mayhem,” the figure above her laughed, jumping up in the air and twisting about itself at its own joke. Trixie only clenched her jaw in response, but then she got a better idea.
*heh* “Don’t make me laugh,” she smiled, making sure she was showing fangs. “Seriously, you wouldn’t like it.” Those last words came out like a growl from her.
“Not bad.” The sound of hooves stomping in applause sounded from all around them causing Trixie to look around, half expecting the ancient phantom audience to have returned. “But even the greatest actor playing as the most evil character conceived in fiction... is still just an actor.”
Trixie snorted and turned back to Discord, letting her lips curl up to show her fangs. “Who said I’m playing.”
Discord just chuckled once at that, rocking back and forth in the air above the fire as his mismatched wing beat lazily. “Come now, Trixie. We both know that your… heart, just isn’t in it.”
“Enough, Discord!” Trixie shouted, quite tired of the charade. “Trixie is in no mood for your games. Besides, what kind of greeting do you expect after you try and run me off the side of a cliff? What are you even doing here and not back in Ponyville under Twilight’s watch anyway?”
“Oh, you know, I was just playing around, having some fun. Not my fault you decided to jump. Besides, little Purple Smart is almost as much a stick in the mud as old Sun Butt.” The draconequus floated down to her level. “Now, Trixie may not be in the mood for all this, but what about you?” Trixie gave him a snort and glare in response. She was annoyed to note the campfire didn’t seem to be bothering him. “Well, fine then. Be that way. Though since you seem to have to know…” He reached out, booping her nose. “It’s you. I’ve been quite curious about you ever since Celestia decided to pardon me from my permanent placement as a palace pigeon perch. So I decided to pay a little visit, see what had got her tail in such a twist that she’d turn to me for help.”
Trixie looked back towards the tents.
“Oh, don’t worry about them,” Discord said, having guessed what Trixie was thinking. “This is just between the two of us. I’ve been told — in no uncertain terms — that mares and growing foals need their sleep after all. Why else do you think I’m out here only now?”
Trixie started to retort only to be cut off by Discord.
“You know, I had been planning to do this in a dream,” Discord said, ignoring her heated glare as he picked at his snaggletooth. “But you see, that’s the difference between ponies and us; we don’t need sleep.”
Trixie’s compose broke a little at that, her eat twitching. What did he mean by ‘us’?
“What do you mean?” She got closer to the fire. The light started to hurt her vision, but she ignored it. Discord just kept smiling, slightly closing his eyes while the flames danced around him.
“Heh, and I thought the last Lulamoon would be smarter than regular ponies.” He looked aside, faking a expression of hurt. “Haven’t you asked how?”
“How what?” Trixie surprised herself growling again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew enough to recognize being baited and how much it was Discord’s game. “What are you even talking about?”
“Then I guess you haven’t asked yet,” Discord snapped his fingers and his old throne appeared next to the log Trixie was sitting on. “I see some things never change; that old white horse still isn’t telling everypony everything.
“But how about this; since you’re in the club now, I’ll give you a north.” As he said that, Discord pulled a compass out from his feathered wing. He threw it at Trixie, who couldn’t help the reflex and caught it with her paws. “In a matter of speaking.” She inspected the compass. The lid was stamped with a circle that had eight wavy arrows emanating from its center, and upon opening it she noticed the letters were different. Instead of N, S, E and W, it had W, T, A and H.
“Trixie…” she was about to say she wasn’t falling for his tricks—his lies—again, but it was that gamble she had to take. “Trixie is listening.” Once again, she felt the need to show her fangs, but she repressed it this time.
“Oh, splendid,” Discord smiled. Trixie could hear the ghost audience cheering once again. “But of course, it wouldn’t be interesting if I just handed the answers to you, would it now?”
“I’d be surprised if you did.” Trixie’s voice sounded deeper this time. “But let’s stop with the constant bluffing, Trixie wants to see your cards.” She allowed herself to smile this time, only looking at Discord out of the corner of her eye. “Unless, of course, you’re holding nothing to back up the bluff, in which case, have a good night,” Trixie stood up with her nose high in the air. “Good luck with the whole reforming thing. I bet my hat you will need it after Twilight and the others find out you were so close to their sisters.” With that same smile, Trixie trotted towards the tent.
“Whoa, wait, hold on there,” Discord hastily got up from his throne to glide over Trixie, landing headfirst in front of her to block her path. “Surely you’re not really going to rat me out to little Miss I-Want-an-Excuse-to-Shoot-at-Discord Sparkle?”
Trixie only replied by hardening her glare and showing her fangs. “Try me,” she said between her clenched teeth.
“Alright, alright,” Discord relaxed his body, still standing upside down. “Monsters these day, don’t know how to bargain.” He spun around in the air, making an uneasy sound of bones crackling. His head stood inverted as Trixie stood in place without softening her glare. “How about this then; I will give you answers if you don’t rat me out.” He extended his lion paw. “It’s a deal.”
“Trixie is not touching that.” She sat in the ground and relaxed her expression. “But she will agree to withhold certain information, for now.”
“Of course you will,” he said while fixing his head’s position, making the bones’ crackle like one of Spike’s breakfast cereals. Once that was settled, Discord smiled while lowering his head to almost her level. Trixie felt uneasy at this, he looked far too confident. “Let’s begin, shall we?”
Discord snapped his claws.
The world around them started to melt. Trixie got up, but her movements felt slowed down, as if she was underwater. Everything around them was losing form. She looked at Discord, who was laughing like crazy. Trixie reached for him with a claw, not sure of what she was doing. But as she did, the space between them somehow stretched. The draconequus became smaller and smaller in front of her eyes, ending up as a small drop of color in the middle of a black void. Then the black void contracted inside a white void. Then black again. Then white again.
Trixie was shaking. She didn’t know what was happening. She tried to scream, either to call for help or out of fear, both were good enough. But nothing came out. There was no air inside her lungs and nothing outside. The voids kept cycling in front of Trixie as she tried to move. Again, it felt like moving inside an especially dense liquid, but she still tried to advance. The time it took between each step felt endless.
A ray of light passed next to Trixie, too thin and fast to really appreciate. Then another, which she did see. Then two and three and five and eight. A barrage of thin lines of colored light flew from behind Trixie and into the endless horizon. The black and white voids constantly swallowing each other, got lost behind a new form of endlessness; infinite streaks of light forming a tube around Trixie and extending themselves. The bright colors made her close her eyes.
When Trixie opened them again, she was sitting alone in the middle of nothing. A spotlight appeared in front of her, illuminating Discord wearing a purple jacket with a bright orange vest over a black shirt, closed by a green bowtie. He was holding a cane between his two arms, hiding his face under a dark purple top hat. He hit the cane in the ground and Trixie heard all kinds of cheers around them.
“Spectres and chimeras, ghosts and ghouls!” He announced as Trixie looked around her, the ghost audience back again, standing in circle around her and Discord. “Welcome to the most unnerving, strange and, outright terrifying spectacle in all of eternity. Besides my mother-in-law.” A second spotlight appeared over Trixie, who was suddenly wearing her old costume. Not the one Rarity made for her, but the original, leaving the mark of the Alicorn Amulet on her chest completely visible. “I present you existence’s ultimate tragedy. Come, witness the pain, the struggle, and the eventual failure of…” He stopped for a second. “An average mare.”
Trixie shielded her eyes of the light and sound by pulling the brim of her old hat. With the other claw, she tried to close the cape around her chest, but it was made for a pony’s body, too small for her now.
“Oh, don’t be like that. After all,” Discord walked closer to her with a mocking swagger, “we,” he put his eagle talon over her shoulders, “have a deal.” He hit the ground with his cane again, making it jump and catching it by the other end. “And here they come,” Discord shouted for the audience while standing up, still next to Trixie. “First the heart of the matter and current conflict. Everypony, give a warm welcome to Trixie’s life!” He then looked to a side and added in a stage whisper “Or at least the closest thing to a life she has.”
Smoke came from around the ring. It wasn’t the usual white or grey vapor Trixie was used to or the bright colors one would expect in a circus. It was a thick screen of a darkened green mass. Trixie felt sickened as the green smoke poured over the ground and rose above her and Discord’s height. An invisible band of winds and brass started to play a slow and grave song with a few high string and xylophone notes here and there, which didn’t help Trixie uneasiness. Finally, a flash of red light sparkled in front of them and the smoke began to dissipate.
A red spotlight was pointing at the middle of the ring, where a tall mare was standing unmoving. Her fur looked black and her hair was tinted a faint red from the light. Drawings of bones all over her body shone brightly, reflecting the light as if it was projected by the mare itself. Trixie recognized the Bone Mare from the old stories in Neigh Orleans. She didn’t know why, but she felt a fearful remembrance at the Mistress of Death, as if this was not the first time their paths had crossed. The Bone Mare looked about, seemingly just as startled by her sudden appearance in the ring as Trixie. As her gaze fell upon Trixie she staggered back as if shocked. In an instant her expression went from surprise to something Trixie couldn’t quite describe. It was something between sorrow and rage. Contradictory in itself, but no less intimidating.
Discord smiled at how both ponies were entranced at each other. He clapped his hands twice, making the red spotlight turn off and the Bone Mare disappear from sight. Before Trixie could even react, a white spotlight lit up and the ground began to shake like an earthquake.
The music changed. Only percussions played a short beat, marking a excited tempo. The ground opened before Trixie’s eyes. Small pieces of the floor detached themselves and floated in a circle. The small swirl of earth became denser by the second until it took a solid form. Just as she recognized the structure as a watchtower, a lightning bolt struck it, making the tower crumble and fall.
The drums stopped and were replaced by a soft melody of wood winds. From the debris, a mare wearing a long blue robe emerged, floating upside down. She was wearing the crest of the sun, meaning she was part of the Solar Church. Trixie saw how the mare’s lips moved slightly as her forelegs were together. She was silently praying, oblivious to the fact she was upside down over what was left of a tower. Trixie felt melancholic at the sight. She never felt herself a religious pony, but the complete serenity of the mare, despite the madness around her, was saddening to Trixie. She never knew that kind of peace in her own life.
*snap!*
Again, the lights and music went off together. Then the music started again, playing only to darkness. It was an entire orchestra this time, performing a soft march, going up in tone and tempo. When the strings reached the higher notes, the brass entered and a slight ray of emerald light cut through the darkness. Unlike the sickening smoke from before, the light’s green was bright, almost empowering, and as the music went on, the light grew. Trixie knew she didn’t have her heart anymore, but she could have swore there was a missing beat inside her. From above, a chariot made of silver descended. The two ponies pulling it were made out of gold, with silver manes and eyes glowing like emeralds under the green light.
Two drops of necroplasm hit the ground under Trixie’s face. ‘Why am I feeling like this?’
There was something in the images Discord was showing her, triggering an emotional mix of thrill and nostalgia beyond what they should be provoking. Trixie wanted to ignore it but it was difficult. Last time she followed Discord’s games, her life ended. But the spectacle was entrancing nonetheless.
Another gesture from Discord brought silence and darkness again. This time it lasted longer. Trixie looked around her, searching for anything that would tell her what to expect. The seats around the circus ring were empty now, and Discord was just resting on his cane.
Trixie then noticed the silence was slowly being replaced by an instrument she couldn’t identify. It was some kind of clavichord, but the sound it made felt disjointed. It was less a melody and more like random notes. The spotlight this time was a barely even visible cone of orange and the smoke became thicker around it. A figure appeared inside, tall and sloppy. It looked like a stallion walking, but there was something off. Then the smokescreen cleared, yet the figure was still left in shadows. Trixie realized he was walking upside down, just like the priestess. This stallion was dressed too, but instead of religious attire, he was garbed as a magician. He raised up on his hind legs, with his cape waving behind him. His horn glowed with the same orange as the spotlight and fire came out of it.
The flames danced in the air, as the inverted magician directed the magic to form a sigil around one hoof, a circle with a seven pointed star inside it. Then, on the second hoof, a smaller circle with a five pointed star inside that appeared. The magician then brought them together and they flashed. In the air appeared a combination of both symbols; a five pointed star inside a seven pointed one inside a circle. The bloom of light they gave off momentarily stripped away his shadows and showed a tan earth pony with blond mane, wearing a trenchcoat instead of robes. The figure faded to black just as quickly.
Trixie snapped her head to a side. ‘No, not that one.’
“Stop!”
Trixie turned around and started to walk away. The spotlight, the music, the smoke, Discord’s ringmaster outfit; it all disappeared as she put the first claw out of the ring. Just as she exited it entirely, everything blinked and she was back at the frozen moment in the campsite.
“Oh boy, that’s not something you see everyday,” Discord commented as he floated in arc above Trixie. “What’s the matter? Got jelly because I can mount a better show than you— whoa!” He barely avoided the claw swinging at his face.
“You,” whatever came out of Trixie’s maw, it didn’t sound like her voice at all, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to inflict pain. Trixie took another swing, but Discord was floating too far away. Out of instinct, Trixie lowered her upper body in a crouch. It felt natural to do so. When she knew she was ready, Trixie took a jump, fangs and claws ready to tear Discord into shreds. But just as she reached him, he dissolved into a puff of pink smoke and confetti. Trixie landed, looking frantically for her prey…
‘What am I doing?’
Trixie staggered and fell over her barrel, covering the pain in her head with her claws. She wasn’t a monster, no matter how much she changed. Or at least that's what she’s been telling herself over and over since she came back. Trixie knew she was vulnerable, crying uncontrollably. She tried to steady herself. Trixie had to be strong.
But how?
“I have to say,” Discord softly landed behind Trixie. “You’re the most fun I’ve had since that time I cast a love spell on a pigeon and a housecat, and wound up with the first griffon as a result.” She kept her head low between her paws, unanswering. “So tell me, my little demon, which nerve did I touch?”
Trixie wasn’t even listening him. She was too focused fighting herself. At first she thought it was watching a magician performing that set her off. Seeing what she loved to do, her reason to be alive and knowing she could never do it again. Yes, it did give Trixie pain inside, but not enough to let herself succumb to violence like that. It wasn’t until Discord called her a demon when she realized what really happened. Once again, she let the Alicorn Amulet’s influence get the worst of her.
“Hello?” Discord knocked on a miniature door he made appear in the air next to her. “Is anymonster home?”
Trixie considered what he was doing. Did he know making her lost her temper would give the Amulet a window, or was he only testing to see what could happen? Trixie couldn’t allow herself to follow his game; her friends could be in danger if she did. Instead, she just inhaled and slowly raised her head, showing no emotion at all.
“Yes,” Trixie answered, repressing any emotion she could feel. “Are you done yet? I’ve grown weary of your antics.” It wasn’t pleasant, but if she had to get control of this encounter somehow and changing the act was a good step. With all the calm she could fake, Trixie slowly got up and began to walk away from the fireplace. “And please, would you kindly start time again. I don’t think Twilight will appreciate it too much.”
*snap!*
Trixie was brought up short by… herself.
Trixie was about to blink, but didn’t dare. Instead, she straightened her posture and looked again. It was just a mirror in front of her, but instead of showing her figure as she was, the image was her wearing her mask and costume. Once again, she suppressed any reaction she could show and simply turned around. She was met with another mirror. This one showed Trixie like she actually was, uncovered, but without the restraining collar and ring. In this second mirror, the marks of the Amulet on Trixie’s chest glowed with a red light, the same with her eyes. Those eyes bored into her, bringing a wicked sneer to her reflection.
Trixie turned to her left, only to encounter yet another mirror. This time Trixie couldn’t help but gasp and retreat away from the image. The mare in the mirror was a pony, but very thin and pale. Her fur and mane were neglected, and her eyes, despite having iris’ of purple, were mostly gray and showed no life. Trixie kept her head straight, but couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering down, to where the Alicorn Amulet was visible again, embedded in the reflection’s chest. She had to look at her own chest to make sure the Amulet hadn’t resurfaced. She turned again.
Each time Trixie changed direction to leave, a new mirror with another version of herself would appear. Some were recognizable, like when she was wearing a black hood, or when she had to dress in rags after losing her home. But the more unnerving ones were the mirrors that showed things she never was.
One of them looked like her, but taller and darker, her blue coat almost black. She was wearing only the cape, but it was folded between two leathery wings that looked like those of a bat or a dragon. Fangs poked from the corners of her lips. Although the image still had her red eyes, the Alicorn Amulet was nowhere to be seen. Next to that one, there was a more normal looking Trixie, all except her head and dress. This one had silver war armor over her and a crown made out of a dark and shiny metal. Her eyes glowed with a green and purple light, the curved horn on her head glowed a red to rival the Alicorn Amulet.
On the opposite side of the circle, two mirrors also showed reflections Trixie never saw in her life. The first one had Trixie looking like a totally normal pony, but clearly older. She stood surrounded by books and parchments with gold-rimmed glasses on, wearing her old magician’s attire. Yet there was some austerity in her stance, a confidence that came from position and high standing, not arrogance and assumption. The second reflection was Trixie as she was before any of this started and was the most unsettling thing she saw in any of the mirrors. This Trixie was surrounded by friends the real one didn’t know, and wearing a silver crown with a blue star in the middle of it. But what made it so unbalancing to Trixie was that the image in front of her was the only one that was happy.
Trixie decided to look up to avoid the mirrors, only to be met by one big circular one showing a familiar tombstone with a star engraved into it.
“Why?” She realized she was shaking, but she steadied herself again. “Why are you doing this?” Trixie couldn’t hold on more and finally closed her eyes, once again hanging her head low. She was suddenly very tired.
“Why, I thought you would find it interesting.” Discord walked through the circle of mirrors, shattering them as he did so. “I mean, I figured if seeing a show about your own life was too much, maybe seeing other realities would pick you up?”
Trixie didn’t answer.
“Are you a believer in philosophical optimism, then? That this is already the best of all possible worlds?”
Trixie looked back up at him. “What best possible world could have you as a part of it?” Her question clearly dripped with venom. “But no, I don’t believe in anything anymore,” Trixie realized as she said it. “In fact, I don’t care about what you do.” She knew what she had left to do. “And that’s why you keep up this farce, don’t you?” Trixie pointed a claw at Discord. “Despite having all that power, you’re not so above it all.” She smirked, this time sincerely. “You still crave attention like a very insecure filly.”
“Oh, ouch,” Discord put a hand over his forehead, pretending to fall back but stopping in mid air. “How ironic, don’t you think?” He reversed his fall and then continued in the other direction to be eye to eye with Trixie. “Look at yourself before accusing anyone of being an attention grabber, Miss Prancing Showpony.”
“Oh, I know I’m like that too,” Trixie sat down. She felt calm now she knew what she was doing. “I also know everything that has happened up to this point is my fault.” She shrugged. “Nothing else to do but accept it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Discord straightened up. “You can’t be for real.” Trixie’s only response was to tilt her head to a side. “Oh my me, you actually are for real.” She just smiled in response, nodding. Discord made a bell appear and hit it with a hammer repeatedly. “Hello! Are you high or something? Did you hit your head harder than I thought when you jumped over that cliff? Do you need a wake up call or one of those things ponies need to realize what’s in front of them?”
“You know, I actually don’t know,” Trixie answered. “What do I need to tell you to finish this conversation?” Discord facepalmed, knocking his head off his neck. After making a new head appear with a snap, he took Trixie by the barrel and lifted her in front of him.
“Why can you admit you’ve hit rock bottom?!” His voice carried a gust of wind that made Trixie recoil in his arms.
“But I just did,” Trixie answered, genuinely confused.
He shook her. “Then react accordingly!” Discord dropped Trixie, but she caught herself in time and landed smoothly on her feet. “Come on, you hit rock bottom a while ago, and since then you’ve just been digging yourself deeper.” His gestures become more aggressive. “You’re several sub-basements below rock bottom by this point! You literally have so little nothing that they need me to put you back at zero. You. Have. Nothing. Left!”
“Exactly. So why should I care?” Discord just dropped his arms, which made a sign appear that said ‘We Quit’ and crawled away from him. “Oh, wait, you expected Trixie to act like the last time you tried this?” This seemed to take Discord by surprise. “Oh yes, this is not the first time Trixie has had the misfortune of your company.” She began to display the emotion she wasn’t showing before. “You see, that’s the reason I can’t call you a true performer, you just repeat the same act, over and over, you cheap hack!”
“Wait, what?”
“The Day of Discord,” Trixie began. “I was making my first big show after a long time. It was my last shot so I was ready to put all on the table. But then you rolled in on that stupid pink cloud of yours, and that’s when all of Trixie’s magic began to fail her and her act to backfire. I tried to escape, but I couldn’t. When Trixie called for help, she found the ponies in the audience had turned on her, too. Instead of helping her, they just laughed at Trixie.” She closed her eyes at the memory, holding her right foreleg with the left. “I’ll never forget the look in your eyes as I felt the last of my resolve and hope drain away.”
“So what? I made half of Equestria go nuts that day and you don’t see them all going for cursed artifacts and personal vendettas.” Discord rubbed his chin with his tail. “But it’s not a bad idea for another time.” With a leg, he wrote it down on a notebook that had appeared on the ground with a snap of his toes.
“And if that had been the end of it, this might have been different.” Trixie glared at him. For a second, the red in her eyes became brighter. “Once things were back to normal, Trixie tried her show again. But the audience hadn’t forgotten the last time and would only laugh at her! At me.” As she kept talking, her voice got deeper. “That’s when Trixie realized she was never going to recover her life. You weren’t the final straw, but you were the tipping point.”
Trixie felt how the necroplasm was running down her face, but she didn’t even care to hide her tears. “Talking to you here and now, I can’t imagine how the Princesses ever thought that you could help Trixie. You only view ponies as toys for your own sick amusement. Everything you do is harmful to us.” She turned around one more time. “That’s why I keep walking away from you, because I’m not a toy and I’m not going to let you use me. Never again.”
“Okay, I’m actually impressed now,” Discord disembodied arms slowly clapped in the distance. “As fair player, I should gracefully admit defeat and actually help you out of pure goodwill.”
Trixie only looked at him over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye.
“But let’s be honest here for a change; last time I played fair, gravity wasn’t even a thing.” Discord made his arms grow back and clapped them together. “Now, I hate to end our little game this way, but Fluttershy and I have some angry beavers we’ll be dealing with tomorrow morning at Applesnack’s farm, and if I can’t make any headway here…”
Discord reached towards her once more, only this time Trixie felt herself held in place by his magic. For an instant when he touched a talon to her forehead, she felt his magic washing over and through her, her mind reverting to what it was the first time she had met him. Just like before, any thought she could recall was getting twisted. Her memories of her friends became overshadowed with how badly they treated her at the start and how they could never take that back. Trixie’s need to preform became moot at the idea of never being seen as anything other than a monster again. She knew those weren’t her thoughts, but she couldn’t stop feeling them. Discord was forcing her to forget anything good in her life and replacing hope with fear.
Trixie didn’t notice, but her own colors began to fade like the world around them. All except the red marks of the Amulet in her chest and the red of her eyes.
But something came up from behind her, within her, and hit back. Like a lightning, the invasion of her mind was stopped and repelled. The shock of it all left Trixie seeing stars and with a splitting horn ache. The quickly-fading glow of the mark on her chest was lost in the firelight.
When she was able to focus again, Trixie saw Discord standing above her. He was rubbing the thumb of his lion paw against the palm of the other, as if to alleviate pain caused from touching something he shouldn’t have. A very puzzled and almost… intrigued look was upon his mismatched face.
“I’ll tell you what, Trixie,” said Discord. He shook out his eagle talon as an oily grin crawled its way along his lips, pulling them off his face in an impossible fashion. “At first you just had my curiosity. Now you have my attention. I’ll see you back in Ponyville tomorrow.”
Before Trixie could say anything, with a snap of his talons and a flash of light, Discord was gone.
Wave Blaster: Back in the game, baby!
Okay, let's get the obvious out of the way. A lot of stuff happened IRL, some silly and lighthearted and other not so much. But that's now behind us so let's talk about the chapter.
Wow, this one was like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Only it was a yak out of a cup of tea. All I have to say is that without 'Wlaker, I would've never got this far.
Discord is not an easy character to write. Just his presence alone demands a lot of effort in atmosphere, specially the pre-redemption version which is more unrestrained. We went there because that's how he made a greater impact in the show and fits better the tone of the fic. Uncaring, all-mighty, destructive. Discord is the kind of character that can work on both sides, but personally I prefer to see as a villain where he has less restrains.
Also, Trixie has come a long way since the beginning of the fic and her character has become as demanding as well. Both her backstory character and the one she has been building in-story have a lot of divergence points. It's quite amazing to see a character we've been writing all along actually growing. There were points when I was asking what would Trixie do instead of just making her do so. Of course, the Alicorn Amulet was a wildcard all the time, so that's another variable to throw in the writing process.
In other words, having Trixie and Discord sharing a whole chapter was... a trip.
I like what we did with the Circus of Nightmares scene and forward. A very old scene I've always had in mind was Discord going 'The Killing Joke' on Trixie to discord her. Specially the part were Trixie doesn't get discorded, but not because she's that strong, but because she already gave up before Discord and he has nothing else to add. It's a very old concept I had, circa 2013, when I started in the fandom.
Anyways, I really hope the long wait and the hard work were worth it and you enjoyed this chapter. There was a lot of effort in this (the fic's longest chapter so far) and ho-ly-crap i can't believe we're just one chapter away from the end.
Nightwalker: Well, look at that, we're back! Only took us... crap, has it really been over 3 months?! 
Wow, um, we are sorry for that! I've had the upheaval of moving and all that that involves, but that was still several weeks ago. I do apologize to all our readers who have remained loyal to us throughout our far-too-long absence.
Since the show is now back on hiatus (Wasn't the season 6 finale just awesome? Trixie and Discord had such fantastic chemistry) this does seem a good time to come back with our story. And at least we delivered a heck of a chapter for all of you, the longest one so far.
Working with Discord is a fascinating exercise as always. Both Wave and I were very much in agreement with trying to keep him as close to Season 2 Discord as we could, meaning he was still a total and colossal jerk. As Trixie says, "You only view ponies as toys for your own sick amusement. Everything you do is harmful to us." But, might there be more to his actions than we see, him playing the long game? Ehh... you'll see. For right now we wanted to stick with big, loud, fantastic, bombastic, and obnoxious. I do hope we've managed to hit all those notes with you.
Dust was good to write again as well, and I couldn't resist having Scootaloo rub in a comparison to Rainbow Dash's skills. Plus we both agree we'd love to see someone do a Spike-Lighting Dust ship story. 
We have a couple of nods in this one; Austraeoh by Imploding Colon for one, Red Vs Blue for another, Django Unchained for a third. The alternate reality Trixies were fun to envision; what if she had gone with Nightmare magic, or whatever had corrupted Sombra, or even turned her life around otherwise and sought a better path.
But right now Trixie has the Amulet on her. Her anger is the avenue it uses, and whether its her letting it out (even subconsciously) or it pushing and influencing her... well, we'll see more of that next time.
Onto the finale! And we promise, it won't be over three months to get here!
Happy Halloween!
P.S.: Anyone caught the Predator scene?
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Well THAT didnt take forever or anything. Deep stuff tho.
Tenouttaten
This story looks very promising in my opinion. I'll try to read it asap but I promise nothing... also the upload Trixie with laser pointer cat toy is hilarious. Source would be nice.
Trixie, "Starlight, I need you to speak with dead."
Starlight, "Oh, okay, hello Trixie, what lovely whether we're having."
Well now, I have a lot to say but I will simply say this. My wish for this fic has officially come true.
What a glorious birthday present!
Thank you! 
*Unwraps and reads*
It seems that so far I'm the only one to notice your mentioning of another fanfiction.
Someone likes Imploding Colon(AKA Short Skirts and Explosions). Still need to catch up on that series.
7681579 Hey, at least we managed to break through the hiatus. Yay us,
Glad you enjoyed it.
7681629
Okay, be sure to leave a comment when you get around it, and whaaaa...
You mean this one:
derpicdn.net/img/2014/6/4/644878/large.gif
or this one?:
derpicdn.net/img/2016/4/11/1130102/large.png
And where did that came from?
7681655
Okay, I know you probably read this one enough times for it to lose any sense, but I want to tell you how much I admire your work.
With that one out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the reading.
7681716
You know I'm going to ask. Which wish?
7682705
Happy birthday, mate. Hope it's your likeness.
7683705
Nightwalker's idea, I've yet to even start that fic. Good eye.
7683752
Actually it's nice to know people still like my stuff.
7683752 It's good, but it's outrageously long. If you like adventure and sadness over a very long length it's the perfect kind of story for you. It also updates daily so the longer you wait the longer it gets.
7683752 Lightning and Trixie in the same fic and now Lightning AND Trixie are main characters.
7683793
Always, mate. Always.
7683856
Yeah, archive panic is usually the reason I have so many fics in my 'to read list' instead of 'tracking'. I guess I'll take a momentary case to fire now I managed to pull a chapter and start reading.
7683994
Oh, that one. Ever since the bar scene. Sure, Lightning had a rough start, but now she's as important as Trixie.
I have started reading this story like from when 5 chapter was published and just now noticed that I didn't fav it... My bad
Anyway AA in obliviously dark magic (Black Artifact), and Chaos Lord is soahC. Why I have a feeling this is a Bad (Epic) combo?
7684114 I have 14 million words to read in my "favourites list"* I like to keep a large stockpile of currently updating stories so that stories come to me, but I also have a stockpile of stories I need to catch up on in case the desire strikes me. Most stories I read I need to be in a mood to read. And of course now I'm writing again, which leaves less time to read.
*I never changed from the favorites list when libraries were added.
7684752
Yeah, when 'Walker and I realized that following the canon meant clashing Discord with the Amulet, we knew some off the charts stuff. And they barely really interacted here till the end. Imagine a more direct clash.
7684757
I understand that feel. Hard ti concentrate in a sci-fi when your brain is set for mystery.
I see what you did there.
7687165
All thumbs up to Nightwalker.
7688772 Yayyyy Me!
Now I'm just waiting for the day Twilight stumbles over Celestia's copies of the Guides...
"Princess? What is this 'Storm Watch'? It doesn't sound like a weather team?"
7689083
: He did what to his groin?!
Imagine if she stumbled upon the one containing the Dracula encounter.
2.bp.blogspot.com/faeX_-j67ju0v4V24ln3vtqvG1JCDg0DQL60yMZBdCkv1D-CctwRFQ-Uwf23FKn85RwNSabWA0t_JQ=s0 2.bp.blogspot.com/7EScnXgaZLF22ZyH5PvHiT2Ny5HP2BG_QkD9GYBjczU1I0Kidyq-GHLVVNezhGsoQJSB03zutilwAw=s0
The update didn't register on my list. But dayuum, wasn't it worth the weight?
cdn.squares.im/pony/pic/photo/2013/06/948008643911e31cf5e0dee037efb223_500.png
As for the developments with Discord - anything and evrtything I say wouldn't be enought...
7695226
I take you enjoyed the chapter then. Glad.
Not to be too cocky or prideful, but 'Walker and I really pulled a rabbit out of a hat with this one, specially since it got published before schedule and on time for Halloween, and no quality was lost in the rush.
7696613 You got lucky with the schedule then.
The intresting part is - does Discord kmow anything or not. I think that his suprice that the amulet resists his magic would say for a no but we'll see...
7697468
You could also argue he wasn't expecting the Amulet to work after Trixie was wearing two magical restrainers (horn and neck), or that he wasn't expecting the Amulet to defend Trixie. Hell, the fact he's mor interested than annoyed could mean that, while not expecting it, it wasn't something he ruled out entirely.
There's also the acid sequence before that. What was he trying to say with it. Was he even trying to say anything?
7698465 He tried to prove to Trixie she isn't a pony anymore but a monster. By showing her tragic story and the artistic drug drop he tried to awake grief and make her his ally to re-take his position as the Choas King.
He showed her downfall - pain and sadness. He wanted to put her against the world. Against the order of the world. But didn't say so directly, so she dug it out as a conclusion instead of telling her directly and deal with her open resistance.
7698513
That's an actually fair point and a good interpretation. If Discord is known for something is to use a pony's own demons against them, in order to further his own plans, which start and end with "get free". Although it calls the question of what was he expecting or if it was all an indy ploy.
7701606 If you look real closely: It's all he does. He doesn't kill, he doesn't even really pose a phisical threat. He is more like a mental deseace - better yet; a god of mental sickness. Of Madness.
But not nessesarily. He is the god of Entropy: distorting as a thing. Most just look at it and assume him to be a god of death and that he simbolises the experiences of live. The crazy extremes of it. Of pain and pleasure, as well as change.
The last Warhammer Ruinous Power I can't compare him to is Khorne. Discord is a pacyfist - Celestia and Fluttershy were the ones to see it first. So how can the one that doesn't want to kill you want your death? Yeah, there are ways but Discord is a consistant guy, even if random.
7701623
You know, of all things I've inducted into the story, from Black Lanterns to pirate curses, the W40K element never really crossed my mind. I'm not that well versed on how does the setting work, but I think I get your point of Discord operating under a similar logic.
If I get it right, the Gods of Chaos work similarly to the New Gods, like Darkseid. So they exist to perpetuate the concept they embody and by doing so, they keep existing. That would explain why he has that convulsion for making disarray. However, I think Discord is more in line with Tzeentch's m.o. in that he doesn't even have a major plan beyond existing and being able to exercise that existence.
That would put him at the oposite side of the table with death, as he needs living conscious beings. That would explain his interest in the Amulet, an artifact that can (repeatedly) bring a pony back from the death.
7701892 Well, I grew up on Warhammer. I like it to the point of it merging into my headcannon: there magic works like in Warhammer and 40k as well as alicorn have properties of gods. Connecting the universes in terms of phiscal laws makes a lot of sence when you se how magic works in both universes.
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/a7/FANMADE_"I_feel_the_warp_overtaking_me".jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140502035215
Just know I don't support pony astartes outside of memes.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/11/1/755333__safe_crossover_vinyl+scratch_dj+pon-dash-3_caption_piercing_warhammer+40k_horn+ring_chaos_wub.jpg
I present to you: The warp of the ponyverse!
i.imgur.com/PxFtZBA.jpg
In my headcannon Discord didn't live in the reflection of Fluttershy's house but Celestia's castle. The other thing is that the whole chaos dimension is populated by Discordian Ponies.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/15/b2/3f/15b23f965669fb896a2740740596ef34.jpg
7703181
Okay, I can respect that stance. I've been trying to wield DC Comics canon to MLP for years now, so I get the idea.
In fact, I also have a headcanon for Screwball that involves DC's elements. I like to think that she is actually hyper-sane (Joker), which leads to her being aware she's fictional (Ambush Bug). That leads to Screwball concluding the absurdity as Albert Camus proposed; The pony being seeks for meaning in their live, but life itself is so full of chance and anarchy that it can't have a defined meaning (Blackest Night). So, instead of looking for that meaning that may not even exists, she instead rides the wave as it comes and just enjoys the ride (Plastic Man).
7704870 Not a bad stance on the thing. I would ask why DC but I do wierder things myself....
I finally got to reading this chapter!
I rate 5 moustaches.
And what a chapter it is!
Trixie and Discord going at it was simply great.
And I'm sorta sad this wonderful story's coming to a end.
It's just one of those fic you want to go on (nearly) forever. Ya know?
7781244
Very glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Making Trixie interact with Discord was, as I said on the notes, a trip. Their personalities, despite being both flashy, go to oposites sides. Trixie, although confrontational and aggressive, usually responds to her surroundings, specially in the fic's own canon. We have made a point of treating Trixie and the narrative as the same. In contrast, high contrast, Discord is way more disruptive, clashing against the scene.
Yeah, after all the pain and punishment we went through pulling this fic off, actually reaching that far away end feels... strange. It's not something easy to describe, or even feel. As you put it, this one was a fic we all wish kept going, but at the same time everything has an end, even stories.
Thanks for keep on reading, mate.
This was a good read so far, I shall be patiently waiting for more!
7784081
Well, we did put a lot of effort on the trip from a one-seat one-shot to this point. Very glad you liked it, mate. A lot of thanks for putting it in your "recommended" folder.
7783492
Well, it fun while it lasted. At least this means possible other stories by you guys in the future!
7821062
Good to have you in the comments, mate.
I'm really glad my work is helping others with their own ideas. I think I've stated before that my main gol when it comes to writing is that of inspiring others. Bad art entertains and distracts, while good art forms and changes ideas. That may be not an axiom or even an accurate description, but it's one of my ideals. So, when someone like you tells me that my work is helping them, that's the moment I can call myself a writer by right. Thank you very much for the feeling and please, when you publish, tell me so I can see what you came up with.
Also, good you liked that griffin bit. Nightwalker came up with it. And fixed the typo.
P.S.: If memory serves me right, it's the scene in the jungle, when they keep hearing the whispers but never get to see the Predator.
An interesting dynamic between Discord and Trixie. Alternatively, Trixie has absolutely nothing left to lose, so Discord can't really threaten her, instead having to skip straight to brainwashing her (and it looks like that will not take).
If Discord created the griffons, then would they see him as their creator God?
I didn't realise this story was also doing comedy in addition to the tragedy and sadness.
7851395
Yeah, I had that scene sitting around almost since I began writing (circa 2013). It was after reading "Trixie Getting Back on her Hooves", when I first thought about it. In that fic Trixie gets discorded by non-Discord reasons. My idea about it was that, Discord can only discord ponies who have hopes to crush. Because, what would be the value of hell if we didn't now and want anything better?
That's where Trixie is psychologically. She's become quite nihilistic over her own life, even if she only shows it when really vulnerable (usually with Twilight). That means she also expects things to go for the worse, so when they do, she's kinda 'ready' for the impact. And finally, as Trixie herself said it, she already fell for that trick and it cost her dearly (this entire fic as an indirect consequence), so she also knows what to expect already when it comes to Discord (except for him cheating, which is exactly what he does right after).
I don't know how to take his statements. For all we know, he would be lying about it. If he isn't,then I don't think the proud medieval Griffins from the show would be too happy about it. Maybe they would treat Discord as some kind of abusive precursor? Like the Jötar in Norse mythology?
7853108
Stop presuming to know the fucking intent of my words better than I do. When I’m being caustic, believe me, you’ll know. HINT: this comment will be is an instance of it. There’s little more that pisses me off more than some presumptuous cunt assuming they know what I meant to say better than I do.
There are homophone substitution errors that anyone with a basic education in English should not be making because they should damn well know better. I can’t remember if the one I found just now is the same one, but it does meet the criteria I set out.
Correct; it doesn’t count as criticism in the technical sense. When I said criticism I was using it in the colloquial sense. Fucking sue me.
I wrote a single fucking sentence on how big the mistake was. I made mention of a homophone substitution error that nobody who passed elementary should be making. One sentence, one mention of the exact size and scope of the error. I have since then written multiple sentences on why I singled it out, and what was memorable about it, even if the error itself was not.
Jesus titty‐fucking Christ, have you never had an instance where you can’t recall specifics but you can recall shit tangentially related to it? Is your memory all‐or‐nothing? Good for you. Mine is not; sometimes I remember the most obscure, tangential bullshit about something even when I can’t remember the goddamn thing in question!
Believe me, I wasn’t being aggressive or petty at the time, nor was I insulting you, and I wasn’t when I replied to Strange Reasoning. I am being petty and aggressive now, but that’s because I detest presumptuous cunts. Grandstanding presumptuous cunts more so.
I had better things to do with my time. Quite obviously, this is no longer the case. Hell, I even had the time to proofread your first chapter. (You’re welcome, by the way.)
Horseshit. No statement of fact has ever been nor will ever become incorrect because you lack the knowledge necessary to know why it is correct.
No fucking shit, Sherlock! There was a reason why I didn’t take offence at Strange Reasoning reading more into than there was and why I do take offence to you doing the same: I clarified my ambiguous wording after he commented. Until that point you had an excuse.
No, it doesn’t. That it can and likely will be taken as it is not under debate. I admit as such and acknowledge this is a failing on my part. Your presumption that this is the only way it can be taken is wrong. Anyone familiar with me would know that that my tone was clinically detached. I don’t pull punches and I don’t sugarcoat facts, but nor do I express scorn so timidly. I am, in a word, blunt.
Usually I keep notepad open and make note of this sort of thing, but in this instance I forgot to. Now, I could have reread the chapter purely in an effort to list each and every thing wrong that I spotted — something I have done before — but your story was not compelling enough to drive me to do so. Especially since, what with how your inability to stick to one tense was endemic and how a listing instances of non awkward wording would have been shorter than vice‐versa, there was no way in hell I was going to waste my time going over the lot. Especially after your first snarky reply just happened to coincide with multiple releases of new chapters on stories I did want to read. Then your editor came in, said “whoops, missed those”, and I considered the matter closed. The homophone substitution error was a single instance that I made mention of purely because it left me incredulous. It was otherwise unimportant to the point of fucking irrelevance.
A pity that your argument was founded upon false premises now, wasn’t it? :^)
P.S.: Here are your corrections for this chapter. Happy now, chucklefuck?
Corn: typos and other miscellaneous gripes.
Crusta: grammatical errors.
Crimson: homophone substitution and spelling errors.
De York: corrections.
roles (Oh, look, a homophone substitution error that nobody outside of elementary school should be making.)
the
happened she (Comma is superfluous.)
news (Also, you should either unite these paragraphs or leave a blank line between them.)
started for (“First tried” implies she did try opening it which contradicts her statement that she did not even bother to test her theory.)
the (N.B.: While less awkward sounding this still implies that she knows which floor she is on. You may wish to adjust the entire sentence accordingly.)
felt (Everything up to this point has been in past tense.)
was (Feel and taste are different sensations. :^))
Alicorn Amulet
7856463 Such anger, such hate. Such lack of control... over so little.
Dude, I don't even know you and you don't know me, why are you taking this so badly and so personal? Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll take the corrections that apply, but this stopped being about grammar at this point.
Why don't you, someone with visibly the time and competence to do so, have any material to your name? Imagine the post, or the story, that could have come from the time and effort you just invested on this. I would actually want to see where this amount of energy would end up if applied in something of your own. In fact, there are a lot of elements in your replies that could amount to a good review.
Don't waste that potential in a comment section of a story you don't even like, and definitely not in following a pity fight over grammar. For what it matters, I want to encourage someone creative and competent as you to do something with it. I offer any help you think you may need to push your own project forwards, I think it would be worth it. That would be great.
So, that, i have nothing else to add to this. Have a reasonably bearable day.
7856463
P.S.: What's more, try these groups, if the idea of making reviews sounds good to you. I insist.
Rage Reviews
Readingsins
In fact, if you want, I don't have problems with you tearing my story apart if that ends up as a great Rage Review or Reading Sins article. Just notice me if you do so, for fairness' sake.
Wen update? Need moar of the humble and apologetic trixie!
7871848
On it.
7896399
Fixed.
7897065 Psst, I think you forgot to press save;
“Flutershy’s house?!” Trixie couldn’t help
Trixie looked at the offered pawn but didn’t take it
“Oh, esplendid,” Discord smiled
Small pieces of the floor detached themselves and floated in circle
made out of a dark and shinny metal
1. Fluttershy's.
2. Paw.
3. Splendid.
4. Floated in a circle.
5. Shiny.
I'm an idiot and only JUST NOW realized this is an Austraeoh reference.
Did Discord... Give her a Tarot reading?
9962796
To be honest, Nightwalker had to spell it out for me back in the day. I was more into a decaffeinated Latin reference to the South Cross constellation.
9962810
I wonder what would have happened if Trixie caught up on that at the moment.