“What we got wasn’t blood at all.”
Dr. Stable waited several moments to see if any of the six ponies opposite him had anything to say on the matter, particularly Twilight or Fluttershy in their condition of scholar and veterinary respectively. When they didn’t appear forthcoming with anything, he moved on.
“We still don’t know what it was that we drew out of her. We tried a blood transfusion, but to the best of our knowledge, it proved ineffective. As did the rest of our techniques. It was only by the efforts of Zecora and Princess Celestia that Ms. Lulamoon’s condition is as good as it is.” He stopped again, waiting until one of the others had something to add.
“So, what did happen to her?” Rarity was the first to say anything.
“As I said before, it’s very difficult for me to explain.” He sighed deeply bowing his head to his chest to gather his thoughts. “The Alicorn Amulet is not only dark magic, but also very obscure dark magic. Besides that text from the library that Twilight provided, we couldn’t find anything else. Even the Princess herself was of limited help. As it was--”
“Will Trixie be okay?” asked Fluttershy without realizing she just interrupted somepony.
“All I can say right now is that we have her stabilized. Or at least as close to something as I would call stable for a pony in her condition. As far as I understand, Trixie now depends on having the Amulet on her at all times to be out of danger.”
“Hold on!” cried Rainbow Dash shaking her front hooves before her. “You’re telling us that, after all the problems we went through to get that thing off of her neck, you just gave it back to her?!”
“Dash’s right,” Applejack added, more calmly. “I reckon that it was the Amulet what caused her to go mad with power. We should be lookin’ for a way to take it off of her as soon as possible.”
“I’m afraid that it won’t be possible, Applejack,” a new voice joined them. From the main door, the imposingly tall and pristine white figure of Princess Celestia was making her way towards the reunited group. They all took a bow in respect, except for Dr. Stable, who remained in his chair but still inclined his head towards her.
“I assume you were explaining them the situation, Granary.” As usual, Celestia referred to her ponies, not as subjects, but as equals.
“I was doing my best, your majesty,” he faintly smiled. “But it’s hard to do when I don’t fully understand it either.”
“And having them interrupting every two sentences, surprisingly, doesn’t help matters,” Nurse Redheart added, taking tiredness a little worse than the doctor.
“You have already done your job here, Granary,” Celestia said in the same way a mother would address a child who did something good. “You and Redheart rest while I explain to my little ponies the rest of what transpired.” Taking their cue, both doctor and nurse walked out of the room together. After the door closed. Princess Celestia spoke again.
“As the doctor was saying, Applejack, taking the Alicorn Amulet from Trixie would not be only harmful to her, but it has become all but impossible.”
“WHAT!” The six friends exclaimed at the same time.
“I’m afraid so.” She leaned closer to them, sitting down to be at their eye level. “The good news is that at least we have found a way to contain the Alicorn Amulet’s corruption by placing a restraining ring on Trixie’s horn.”
“Of course,” Twilight said. “The corruption occurs through her magic. If she can’t access it, then the Amulet can’t corrupt her.” Everypony looked expectantly at the Princess, who confirmed the information with a nod.
“So, with all that, what will happen to Trixie?” Applejack wasn’t a pony who liked to beat around the bush. “Ah mean, after all she did.”
“That’s more complicated,” Celestia looked aside, as if wanting to avoid having this conversation. “Legally speaking, she’s only responsible for buying the Amulet, which is not a crime in itself. And since everything she did after that was under a spell, she’s not responsible for that.”
“No way!” Once again, Rainbow Dash was the most vocal. “Come! On! After all she did the last time and now this, are you going to let her walk away scot-free?!” Her five friends just stared in awe at her outburst, even if some of them agreed with the statement. As patient as a pony who had walked Equestria for centuries, the Princess didn’t even blink.
“I never said that.” This time though, her voice was much lower in tone. “But in the view of the latest events, it’s my personal judgement that she has already been punished enough.”
The room fell silent. The Princess’ grim tone, combined with declaring it her judgement, made the statement a very serious matter. Seeing as nopony was ready to ask yet, Celestia let herself sigh as any civilian pony would and resume her explanation in a more familiar tone.
“You see, what happened to Trixie is not only a very rare occurrence, but it’s also a terrible, terrible curse. Trixie has been placed in between states; she isn’t dead , but she’s not alive either.”
The silence stayed.
The once-Trixie was still lying down in the floor. She awoke long ago, too haunted by her own past to fall asleep but too scared of her present to do anything about it. Trapped in this contradiction she was, waiting for anything to happen. Maybe her captor would come back at some point, even if just to check if the freak was still strapped to the bed.
In another time, the once-Trixie would have tried to hide and escape. In an even older time, the real Trixie would have even tried to face her captors, showing them the huge mistake that was to cross the Great and Powerful. Even a few hours ago, Trixie would have burst her way out of the room and razed everything to the ground on her way to get back at whoever had put her in that situation.
But the past is in the past, and the once-Trixie was not the same pony anymore. She wasn’t even sure if she was still a pony. Without really knowing who, or what she was, the once-Trixie didn’t know what to do, so she took the only option left; lie down on the floor and hope for the best, or fear for the wors--
“No.”
It was the smallest of whispers, the softest of sounds, but to the the once-Trixie it was the loudest of declarations.
She opened her eyes. Not the lifeless orbs she saw in the mirror before, but two shiny stars, burning in determination. She forced some air into herself as if drinking.
“No. No, no, no,” she managed to say, just slightly louder than before.
The real Trixie would never let herself fall this low. She would have done all in her power to get back on her hooves. The once-Trixie rolled onto her front and planted her forehooves firmly on the floor. She used her mouth to force out the air inside her.
“Hay no!”
It was a curse she spat at the cold floor with as much venom as she could muster. Magic or none, the real Trixie would have a plan already. The once-Trixie pressed down on her forehooves, lifting herself. The real Trixie would not remain curled up on the floor like some frightened foal.
"I am roani! We do not lie down for anypony!"
She reached up her hoof and grabbed the sink, pulling herself upright. She hung on with both hooves and glared at the abomination in the mirror. The abomination's dead eyes looked back at hers, its lip curled in a sneer that mimicked her own. The once-Trixie lowered her gaze to the Amulet still encrusted in her chest, its ruby center glowing with a faint and malevolent light.
"I am Trixie Silverlight Lulamoon, daughter of Hope Pearlshine Lulamoon. I am the Great and Powerful. I have faced worse than you. I will beat you, too."
It would be a pleasant day in the nine circles of hell before the real Trixie Lulamoon gave up. While the once-Trixie could stay in that bathroom choking on her own problems, the real Trixie would get out of it, ready to fight the world if necessary. There would be a proper time to ponder what happened to her and how to solve it, but there were other priorities first.
Trixie looked down at her foreleg. The black, dead blood had not stopped seeping from its ragged wound. In fact, the fall had made it worse, smearing the blood all over the leg and along her side and barrel. She pressed her other hoof over the wound, pulling the leg up to her chest to try and stop the bleeding. She had just started looking around for something to wrap it with when the door clicked open and a group of ponies trotted into the room.
Twilight, Princess Celestia, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy all came in the room. While they were quick to notice the cast off restraints, all seven froze when they turned and saw the room's occupant behind them. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Pinkie Pie, but the rest just stood and gaped, too stunned for anything else.
Straightening her back, her regal manners reasserting themselves, Trixie calmly addressed the group of ponies. "Could somepony please fetch Trixie a bandage?"
Rarity screamed and fainted.
5975544
You mean.... like this:mlpforums.com/uploads/monthly_04_2013/post-3492-0-41858900-1366047322.jpg
5976015 Pretty much.
It's nice to see another chapter of this. For a moment it showed up as "Complete" on my end, so I am excited to see what goes down.
This still bugs me every time I see it, specifically the "last time" part. Trixie didn't do anything truly "wrong" last time; the girls did. She was a traveling performer, albeit an obnoxious one, and the girls were hecklers trying to ruin her show for her and the rest of the audience who was enjoying it, all because they personally took offense. Trixie had the right to lash out at them.
Ask any performer, hecklers are the worst kind of people. They actively seek to ruin the good times of others while messing with someone else's livelihood. Trixie was just trying to make a living; had Rainbow, AJ, and Rarity just kept their mouths shut, than Snips and Snails wouldn't have gone to get the Ursa.
5976100
Rainbow is a big hypocrite, given that she wants to be a performer. I foresee her getting arrested for doing much worse to her hecklers.
Trixie the great and powerful lich
sounds good to me
Okay. So the magic restraint prevents the corruption. I buy that. Now, as for Rainbow Dash, I hope she sees what Celestia meant by 'she has already been punished enough'. Trixie will never be able to perform again. Never be able to hear the cheers of a crowd. Always be viewed as some kind of freak and/or monster. The worse kind of punishment for someone like Trixie who lives for the attention and adoration of others.
What's a roani?
Final nail to the coffin, oh yeah.
Fascinating, so she is pretty much a wight or a lich then?
This intrigues me. I want more!
5976641
It's the pony version of Romani or gypsy. I've seen it crop up in other stories with Trixie. Not sure who originated it.
5976690
That line and Rarity's reaction were my favorite things that I've contributed so far. The image of all that still makes me smile.
And this story is getting better and better.
Erm... use the Elements of Harmony?
Amazing! Glad to see interaction between everyone. Going to be really interesting with what happens with Trixie from here.
5977241 Oh, interesting. This sort of thing should be better communicated though. Unless everyone apart from me knows the word...
Holy mother of Christ, that's a lot of comments.
*sniff*
My dream come true.
5976083
I'm trying to keep the expectation factor up, so the initial effect doesn't fades too quickly. hope you like what i have in storage.
5976100
That is totally going to be part of the conflict. You know, there's this wonderful writer, RK_Striker_JK_5, who made a review of Boast Busters that addresses the same problematic with the episode. I recommend you to read it. Aslo I even made my opinion known in the comments
5976109
How wasn't she arrested in Tanks for the memories is beyond me.
But something that fascinates me is how similar can Trixie and Rainbow be. In a different story, they could even be twins (like in A Family Reunited), so i think there's a very dynamic relationship these two can have here.
5976226
Why is everyone keep calling her lich. I wasn't not even familiar with the term before writing this.
5976538
Come to think about it, she also lost her magic (or the ability to use it at least). Even if she wasn't a performer, Trixie already lost a big part of what makes her Trixie (it's like if Rainbow lost her wings). After that fridge horror, the "walking dead" look is just a kick after she fell.
With that said, if Burton fans are anything to go by, maybe Trixie just won a brave new fanbase. also Imagine how BADASS! would be "Friends on the other side" sung by someone who actually has a hoof in 'the other side':
5976641 5977669
Well, it's one of those hadcanons from the "old fandom" (circa 2011 if i'm right). When I first found it, I realized it made some levels of sense. You can see my take on it in my My Trixie's head canons blog.
Personally, I think that the best author to develop the idea has to be Gabriel LaVedier, especially in the chapter ... And I'm Roani.
5976690
Sorry, I'm still not familiar with some English expressions. Care to explain?
5976983
I would say yes or no if I knew what are those concepts. But if you're interested, I posted a blog with a Top 11 Guesses
5977241
5977247
Thanks for helping with the comments.
5977293
Thank you, that's very kind from you.
5977474
No. The Elements can't... ehhh... No!
media.giphy.com/media/f7YosRgEEYwGQ/giphy.gif
5977504
That's one of the cores of this new style I'm trying out, giving more space to the characters to interact. Glad you liked it.
5977991 A lich would be something like a dead corpse possessed by a living soul , A lich can't die from old age because it's already dead but it's not a simple undead, the soul is still Inside, the whole mind is still alive.
it's like being between life and death, they usually possess great dark powers
example :
that's a lich...kinda ugly ( you can find lot of them in video games usually)
th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/105/c/f/lich_by_mattdonnici-d4wbid5.jpg
5978026
Oh, right. Well, when you put it that way, it kinda looks like Trixie is a lich.
5977669, 5977991
Yeah, was going to point out Gabriel's stuff as well for the roani, but was at work on my phone and that would have been a royal pain to try and link to. His work was where I first encountered the term myself, and he's done a bunch with it. It's all really good.
He also ships Trixie with Gilda, which while very odd, he makes work quite well.
As to expanding it more... Well, there will be plenty of opportunity to explore that as Trixie relates her past and ponders her (dead) future. I think you can work with that, right Wave?
5978062 we may never know what she really is, after all, the whole fic is based on the mystery
5978123
*shrugs* I can only do what I always do; my best.
5978143 Come to think, should I submit this one to the Murder, mystery and murder mystery group?
5978152 just checked their page and yeah, they want sories about Mystery, yours totally fit in there
That is some dark crazy shit there. I wonder what Trixie will do in time given her situation. I can easily see Daring Do becoming part of this to help find some artifact to help counter the alicorn amulets effects.
Well, I humbly await the next chapter!
5981418
I don't think that Trixie would be too happy on trying another artifact. I mean, look at how bad it went with only one!
Also, on it.
5981771 Then she needs to make one herself! Problem solved!
5981782
error 404 - smart/snarky/ironic/funny answer not found.
5981804 Doomed to obscurity forever.
img03.deviantart.net/cd3f/i/2015/110/c/8/our_404__page____404_cutie_mark_not_found_by_bronifyme-d6p6x31.png
I love how dramatic Trixie is, she's falling over dead and her only regret is that she doesn't have the strength left to /magic a mournful rainshower in time. Even the narration of her is showy and over the top, like she's recounting her experiences later for us. Entertainer Trixie is best Trixie.
Not really a nitpick, but she does actually makes the normality of the mane6/etc stand out noticably; Trixie delivers us this engaging showiness, then we transition over to everyone else, and it's like "oh." I don't feel it's bad or telly or anything, but I am pretty sure it means you've created The Correct(tm) Trixie, who has stolen the spotlight from the start and is staunchly refusing to let go. Congratulations!
Plus this means potential for great oneupsmanship and other such lulzery later on, which is always fun (and occasionally Fun ).
Actual nitpick: AJ doing the "Ah" thing, but that's just me.
This is quite a fascinating take on that episode -- and I'm curious to see where the story goes from here. An Undead Trixie with the Alicorn Amulet poses a danger, even with an inhibitor ring.
5983611
I really like to think about fictional characters as representations of ideals, be it platonic or subtle, and the narrative should go accord to the idea. For example, if it's about superman, then there's little to no space to be dark and edgy, but instead inspirational and goodhearted.
With Trixie, we're talking about the lost daughter of Billy Mays with Doctor Doom, really, even when apologizing she managed to stay in "large ham" mode. Half-joking, half-serious, she chews so much the scenery that the universe around her gives up and says "okay girl, we'll do it your way" so everything around Trixie becomes about Trixie.
And yeah, the difference of narrative was kinda sorta intentional. You see, when writing the Mane Six's parts I try to listen things like this:
For Trixie is something like this:
P.S.: Yeah, I'm not good with english accents. Maybe I shouldn't be using those Jonah Hex's comics as a reference.
5984818
You got it right, Trixie is probably the magical equivalent to a grenade; take the pin/ring off and ka-boom!
Come to think about it, even if Trixie can't take the ring now, she seems to be an escapists. Who says she can't figure out how to take it off?
5984788 That's a weird song. =_=
But I think The Tell-Tale Heart fits.
5985036
Again, just the drums.
*Gasp* DANM!!!!! This is definitely getting real by the second!
Keep it up, Wave!
5993374
...and there it is.
6012422
Oh Rainbow Dash, why is so easy to put you under the bad light?
I mean, she literally zigzags between "jerk with heart of gold" to "jerk with a heart of jerk", even in canon.
Genius ending XD It really works with the way Trixie speaks!
I'm enjoying this story so far! I think it was a bit of a rocky start in terms of how you got the plot started, but other than that it's been good!
6286736
Well, nightwalker came up with Rarity's fainting, I was more or less going to end it with Trixie kick opening the door and accidentally slamming Twilight with it.
I'm very glad you liked it, specially since your stories are some of my favorites ones.
Somehow, I foresee the ultimate end game here as Trixie accepting true death in exchange for destroying the Alicorn Amulet and the source of the curse altogether so it can't afflict another poor soul.
5977241
5976641
5977991 Actually, Roani is also a conjugated form of an obscure Italian noun for a horse. Wiktionary tells me the base form 'roan' can be used to refer to a horse with darker hair with white hair mixed in, a particularly apt use for Trixie given her white/silver mane and tail, and her more recent colouration issues.
6594197
Well, a WMG always is a good think to have present, but I can't confirm or deny how accurate it was.
Ans as I said before, I took the term from some of the olde fandom's works and rolled with it.
For someone who once bore the Element of Kindness, that was unnecessarily cruel of you Celestia.
This is actually good, color me impressed with this. Nice work with getting the great and stubborn pony back to her hoods.
6685467
Could you specify? I'm not quite sure on which part are you referring to?
6689730
Oh, good to know you enjoyed it. Yeah, the first act is all about showing Trixie's character; motivations, feelings, reactions...
7285880
Well, as the notes said, this one was written either very late in the night, or very early in the morning (I honestly can't remember which).
Nos vemos.
-Wave
Lol! Still a good ending of a chapter after all these years.
Gods I remember the first time I read this. It was one of my favorite Trixie stories.
The characterization and the growth is just
10783467
How long since? Almost five years, right? Damn, where does time go?
Anyhow, I also remember how we started. And to think this was going to be an Ugly Americans parody.
You dumb bitch she's DEAD. (mostly)
I don't think her embarrassing you on stage (rightfully so for heckling her) warrants her death.
11315185
I mean, Rainbow Dash can be a wee bit vindictive.