It was past lunchtime when Twilight and Trixie finally made their way back into town. They were both in a very down mood, making talk all but nonexistent between them. Although both ponies had their eyes focused on the road they were traveling, in their minds they were looking back on two promises made. Two promises that were now close to being broken.
Twilight had promised to help Trixie to have her life back, but how? As Trixie herself pointed out, even if Celestia were to find a way to separate Trixie from the Alicorn Amulet, it wouldn’t solve all Trixie’s problems. Twilight slightly shook her head when thinking back at Trixie’s story; ostracized, mocked and even bullied all around Equestria. Twilight could barely imagine how that would feel. All of that because an incident that was never Trixie’s direct fault. Twilight tried to avoid thinking how much worse it would get now that Trixie was actually responsible of what happened.
If only she knew how similar her thoughts were to the those of her co-traveler.
Trixie had promised to not fall down into the abyss of depression, but it seemed that when the abyss looked back, it was the stare of a hunter. No matter which way she looked, Trixie could only see two things; the past mistakes that destroyed her entire life, culminating in being stripped of her magic and becoming a grotesque mockery of the living; and the grim future of such a miserable existence with no visible escape from it. All her life, Trixie lived without boundaries and was only accountable to herself. Now, she was trapped in the darkness, knowing that the only two ponies that had showed her any form of real kindness were doing it out of guilt.
“Incoming!” A loud and technicolor blur interrupted the grim thoughts of the two ponies.
Through experience, Twilight was quick enough to duck and cover. The same couldn’t be said about Trixie, who had been so mired in introspection that she remained oblivious to the warning until the last possible instance, resulting in her being knocked off her hooves. Trixie landed some meters away, mentally thanking the heavens that, this time, her cloak actually covered her.
“Oh, sorry there, didn’t see you!” Dash looked down at the mess of black cloth covering a equine figure. “Hey, are you a zebra by any chance?” she asked while offering her hoof.
‘Why does everypony keep saying that?’ Trixie pondered if it had anything to do with the cloak.
“No, Trixie is not a zebra.” She leaned up, careful to stay hidden under the cloth. “But apology accepted, I suppose” Trixie was about to take Rainbow’s hoof, but it was withdrawn before she could reach it.
“Hold on!” Rainbow took a second glance. “You!” She pointed a hoof at Trixie. “I’ve been looking for a chance to talk to you!”
Twilight was quick enough to see this coming, too, and tried to stop what she knew was going to happen. “Rainbow, wait--”
“Not now Twi,” Rainbow stopped Twilight, looking her right at her eyes. “I have an issue with this mare!”
“Please,” said Trixie, rolling her eyes as she got to her hooves herself. “You have more issues than Equestrian Geographic.”
Twilight’s ears twitched back. “Oh no…”
“Oh yeah?!” Rainbow turned her neck so quick that Trixie was surprised it didn’t snap. But she wasn't impressed either. Not by this point.
“Actually, yes, but go ahead; tell Trixie how much she’s a screw up and how nopony likes her too,” Trixie’s voice was once again expressionless, as if it was a machine and not a pony talking. “You can mock me being homeless, or left completely powerless. Of course, there’s always the fact that I’m literally a rotting corpse, that’s always a fun one. There’s a lot of buttons you can push.” Trixie sat down on her haunches and crossed her forelegs over her barrel. Her head was bowed, the hood hiding her eyes. “Come on, take your best shot. Trixie has heard it all by this point and couldn’t care less.”
“Oh yeah, well hear this then.” Rainbow walked closer to Trixie, extending her wings like a predator would. “I don’t care about you -- heck, I could live a very nice life if I pretended you don’t even exist.” She spat that ‘you’ with all the anger possible.
“Then do it,” Trixie answered, her monotone slightly softer. “And leave Trixie alone to rest in peace.” With each word, Trixie’s tone became more inaudible.
“I can’t do that.“ The expression on Rainbow’s face was like a stone. “I can’t do that because, for some reason, the Princess and Twilight feel enough pity for you to try to help, and I’m too loyal to them to ignore that.” She took a moment to inhale. “But I warn you, do anything to any of my friends, or to anypony for what matter -- heck, just look at them in the wrong way -- and I promise, you won’t be between dead or alive anymore.” And with that said, Rainbow retreated from Trixie’s personal space, letting her ponder what was said to her.
“Heh,” Trixie muttered. "As though you could do anything worse to Trixie than she's already done to herself." She smiled, even if her eyes betrayed the despair she was feeling.
Uncharacteristically calm, Rainbow simply added. “If it's about my Friends I would never give up.” It wasn’t an idle threat. By Rainbow Dash’s tone and stance, Trixie understood that it was a fact.
“Well, aren’t they just lucky to have you,” Trixie muttered. “Trixie supposes that she deserves that too.” She chuckled while lowering her hooves. “Do not worry, by this point, Trixie is so much of a mess than a mere fly would be more worthy of anypony’s attention.”
“Trixie, don’t say that!” Twilight reached towards Trixie to comfort her once more, fearing she would try to escape again. “Rainbow, how could you?” she said, hugging Trixie protectively.
“How couldn’t I?” Rainbow threw her hooves in exasperation. “Every single time she comes around here, something bad happens and you have to pull her flank out of the fire.” She started to walk closer to the unicorns. “Come on, Twi, think about it. Last time you saved her life and she wanted revenge on you.” She took Twilight’s shoulders, forcing her to look straight. “Now you saved her life again and even offered her a room. If I were you, I wouldn’t turn my back to her, you know how are gypsies with knives.”
“Gypsy?!” Trixie asked, her head still lowered, but her eyes had shot wide open.
“Yeah, you’re a homeless traveler who tries to scam others for a living,” Rainbow said matter-of-factically. “A thief, really. It’s all pretty obvious.”
“Thief?! The only thing Trixie ever stole around here was your spotlight!” Trixie loudly retorted her head snapping up and glaring at the pegasus.
Dash’s wings flared out as she stepped forward. “What did you just say to me, narwal?”
“Just that like all other pegasi, your precious ego is more important to you than anything else,” Trixie snarled in return, shrugging off Twilight and stepping up to meet the other mare. “Trixie wasn’t even in town an hour before you and your friends came sniffing around her show. You couldn’t take the threat to your territory, couldn’t admit that another pony actually could be better than the Great Rainbow Dash!”
“I am the fastest pony in Equestria! Best Young Flyer! Only pony to ever perform a Sonic Rainboom!” Rainbow started to hover over the ground. “One day I’ll be a Wonderbolt, and you’ll still be a nothing street magician.”
“Now who's the pompous braggart? You would float there and accuse Trixie of flaunting her skills, you hypocrite," Trixie hissed in Dash’s face. “Admit it, you were there only to reassure yourself in front of others by beating up Trixie. You came not to watch that day, but to try and upstage Trixie at her own show, heckling and even openly insulting me in front of others.”
“Hey! That’s not how it was, I was--”
“You were in the front row! If it wasn’t to appreciate the show, it was to make sure Trixie heard your insults. If Trixie’s mere presence is enough for you to react that way, then she looks forward to the day you encounter your own first hecklers, because you’ll leave rainbow colored skid marks out the front door when the Wonderbolts throw you out afterwards!”
“Oh yeah? At least I can live up to what I say,” Rainbow and Trixie’s faces got even closer. “You’re all bark but no bite.”
“Trixie answered every challenge thrown at her, by earth pony, unicorn, and pegasi alike. The only one she couldn’t that day was the Ursa, and that was because it was a fiction ludicrous enough she didn’t expect any pony in their right mind would try and get her to prove it.”
“Don’t let your muzzle make boasts your magic can’t back up.”
“And you’ve never failed to live up to your boasts, right? Or just the ones you didn’t make against Trixie?” Trixie snorted and backed up. “You know what, Trixie’s sick to death of ponies like you passing judgement on her! Treating her as something inferior!” Trixie pressed an emaciated hoof against Rainbow’s chest. “You think because I am roani I deserve to be judged lesser than everypony else?! Well guess what, Trixie is as good as you, and Trixie refuses to be treated as your inferior!” There was fire in Trixie’s eyes.
“Hey... hey, mare-- Calm down and--” Rainbow Dash retreated a little, raising her hooves defensively.
“Trixie will not calm down! And you! You come here, so full of yourself being the ‘good one’ who has to take a shot on the ‘vile and villainous’ Trixie. Sure, because being homeless, starving, ostracized, and pretty much hated by everypony else was not enough for you.”
Dash tried to open her mouth again only to be cut off.
“Trixie would stay and see, only out of morbid curiosity, what kind of excuses do you have to cover your flank, but I have better things to do with my time, which I plan to do as far as possible from you. Farewell, and may the gods have mercy on you.”
With a final snort and flurry of her cape across the face of Rainbow Dash, Trixie turned and departed, leaving a stunned unicorn and still seething pegasus in her wake. Although Trixie was still hiding herself under the cloak, she walked tall and proud.
Dash snorted and shook out her mane. “Took her long enough.”
Twilight, still not believing what she had just seen, turned and gaped at her friend. “What are you even talking about, and since when are you like…” Twilight waved her hooves at Dash. “Like a bully! You acted like Gilda, that’s what you did!” She shook her head in denial. “Why?!”
“You think I overdid it?” Rainbow smiled at Twilight while cocking an eyebrow.
“I don’t even know what you did!” Twilight threw up her hooves in exasperation. “What the hay did you just do, Rainbow Dash!”
“Okay Twi, calm down. I’ll explain.”
Rainbow is waiting outside Ponyville’s Hospital, like a primal bird of prey, waiting for her target to show up. She’s been there for a hour, and she would wait another hour and another one and as many as necessary until she found her target. There is a threat to her friends on the loose, and she is not going to wait till it made its move, not under her watch. Rainbow Dash will stop this threat before it has any chance of hurting anypony else.
The hospital’s main door opens, and Rainbow’s target walks through it, wearing a classical villain’s black cape and walking dangerously close to one of Rainbow’s closest friends. The rainbow speedster takes position on her cloud, ready to assault the evil pony and--
Wait a moment. Is that the villain? The one hiding herself inside a cloak, as if she was afraid of even being seen?
Rainbow Dash is expecting to see evil incarnate, like the day before; a pony mad for power, menacing everypony around her and craving everypony’s fear.
What she sees instead is none of that. From her hiding spot, Rainbow sees a pony that has her head lowered, shuffling along at an unsure pace. A mare that seems so afraid of other ponies’ contact, she is doing everything she can to avoid any pony getting close to her. Rainbow Dash can’t bring herself to confront that; there is nothing left to confront. She decides to let the poor thing be, since it’s clear it isn’t a menace to anypony.
Rainbow Dash spends the rest of the morning thinking about it. What really unsettles her is how familiar Trixie’s attitude is. She has seen that before, during the Best Flyers Competition, right after looking into a mirror. And then, just after acknowledging that, Rainbow realizes a very strange truth about the azure illusionist; they’re not so different from each other after all.
Rainbow thinks back on her first encounter with Trixie. Sure, magic tricks weren’t the same as airborne stunts, but there was a lot of similarities between how they were presented. Both were all about the performer, and them doing their best to impress the audience. But there was a difference, and Dash had it at the forefront of her mind; she would never make a point of being the best one by embarrassing other ponies, unless…
“Unless they started it,” she says out loud.
Rainbow remembers again, trying harder to determine the exact point when the similarities stop and the differences begin. There must be something, anything that proves she’s not like Trixie. Dash’s mind goes back to the first moment when Trixie stopped her act to confront her and her friends... Which happened right after Rainbow herself started to heckle Trixie’s show.
“Aw, pony feathers…”
“You weren't entirely wrong about Gilda, you know,” Rainbow said, her muzzle quirked. “Growing up, she used to talk a lot of smack about ponies compared to griffons. I used to think it was just your usual locker-room trash talk and use it as such, psyching myself up so I could beat her, so I could do better and then she couldn't say that stuff.” Dash sighed, her wings wilting. “I didn't realize until she came back here that it wasn't just trash talk, that she really does believe it. Still, I figured that maybe I could use it to get to Trixie.”
"So why you'd go after her heritage?" Twilight cocked her head to a side.
“I needed a button to press.” Dash shrugged her wings. “I’d encountered some roani pegasi a couple years ago, back in Cloudsdale. They still live like the nomadic pegasi of old, drifting across Equestria on the wind currents in their cloud houses. When me and G tried to prank them, I learned that they could take a joke alright, but don't ever,” Rainbow gestured with her hooves for emphasis, “ever insult their culture. No matter what else, they're very proud ponies about that. I figured if there was any pride left in Trixie, that’s where it’d be. I needed her to find it and remember that.”
Twilight couldn't help rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief. “That was a very risky move, Rainbow! What if it didn’t work?”
“Ah, but it did work, that’s the important part.” She took off again, hovering in the air. “Besides, you don’t get to be as awesome as me without taking a few risks.”
“I just think there had to have been a better way of getting Trixie to remember that pride without, well, insulting her,” Twilight huffed.
“Hey, I’m a pony that’s all about results. And what I saw, was that at the end Trixie walked away with her head held high, not with her hooves dragging along the ground.”
That’s when Twilight realized it and began to frantically look around. “Oh no! Where did Trixie go to now?!” She raced off, following the same path that Trixie had.
“Hmm, maybe I should tell her the truth at Pinkie’s party,” Rainbow chuckled to herself as she went off her own way. With Trixie taken care of, it was nap time anyway.
"You really thought that I was that heartless? Think again! I'm too AWESOME! for that."
Nope, still heartless. Now there's just waiting until the shit hits the fan.
Oooh, burn.
One of the things I dislike the most about the way everyone writes Rainbow's character is that most people seem unable to portray "confident smartass" in a way that doesn't just make her look like an asshole. Under the bottom line, all of that self-confidence ought to serve to make her look more likable and caring, not less, which is what it usually ends up doing. I get where you were going with this, of course, but this is also exactly how a lot of people write the character unironically. I do hope you're planning to make up for that impression later.
So, how many believe that Trixie will now proceed to go Gomer Pyle on Ponyville?
Edit: Again
Strangely enough, I would indeed see Rainbowdash do something like this.
Of all of the main 6 I'm kinda curious how Fluttershy interaction would be for various reasons.
Anyway good story so far I will not repeat what I have said in previous comments so I will just wait until something appears for me to mention.
6095024
The thing is, unless you know the person, a confidant smartass sounds an awful lot like a smug asshole.
Good chapter. I was wondering if/when Trixie would vent on someone.
6095406
Well, in this particular case, I'd say we all know the "person" fairly well. I don't really think it's that hard to tell the difference, besides. That's really exactly what I meant - when someone's sounding like a smug asshole, it's because they're being a smug asshole. It's not exactly impossible to be confident and mouthy without sounding like a giant dick all the time, after all. It's just that too many writers here can't tell the difference between confidence and arrogance.
6095425 I.... agree with you. That's actually very accurate to some of the fics I've seen around that try portray Dash in her Season 1 roots and/or later seasons. There's a fine line between being a dick and being a smart asshat. Also Wave? Nice trick with the Batman Gambit. I got worried that it was Sweet Apple Acres all over again.
Deliberately aggravating someone to make them perk up?
While I can see how that works here since RD doesn't need to have a cordial friendship with trixie, how does this work in military settings?
Would not this just as likely breed animosity?
It just seems like self sabotage when the basic building block of armed forces is teamwork. Undermining fellow soldiers who you are gonna be relying on in a situation? How does this work out?
6095570
Exactly.
6095637
It varies. The point isn't really "motivation" as such, though, so much as it is about the ability to take orders under physical and emotional stress. If you can't deal with a noisy noncom being mean and shouting at you, you definitely can't deal with getting shot at.
Outside of certain parts of training, the general tone in the military is a lot more polite than that, though.
I had a feeling that Rainbow was trying to make Trixie have some pride in herself again. It was right after she called Trixie a 'gypsy' that I knew something was up.
So thats how you get someone out of a depression (sarcasm), Im sorry but no. Im sure Rainbow Dash would appreciate her friends insulting her and calling her pathetic when her turtle goes to sleep, Im sure that would have helped her in "tanks for the memories".
Good chapter but seriously this has to blow in Rainbow Dash`s face. She is not a trained military leader, she is not a psychologist, she doesn't know Trixie, this tactic could only work if she knew Trixie for years or if she was that good with personality research.
6095021
Oh! Come! On! I literally dragged her out of depression in one single talk, what else I have to do?!
6095024
Well, I did say that I wanted my Rainbow Dash to be less of a jerk and more of an actual person, with flaws but also with virtues. I've been always against flanderizing a character, and it really annoys me when in a story, a character losses its dimension for the plot's sake.
6095057
Well, she can actually do this:
6095320
Well, glad that someone sees my point, and I'm also eager to get at Flutters' part, it will be interesting, to say it least.
6095406
As I said some chapters ago, I'm really tired of every single Trixie's return fic being a constant verbal abuse on the poor girl. There was a need of this scene to happen.
6095425
I think that it's because from a third person POV, both are absurdly similar, and episodes like Tanks for the Memories really don't help RD's case in the eyes of some people.
6095570
It wasn't just a Batman gambit on Trixie, but also on the reader. It's really becomes a experience when the POV is so close to the main character that you can actually react like she would.
6095637
6095689
All of that comes from a real life experience a familiar once told me:
In their first day, some instructors use a paraphrase version of "you're scum and you'll have luck if one day you become maggots" to give the new recruits a challenge. In the following weeks, if they still don't respond, the next step is to change the speech to make it more explicit that the instructors wants to be proved wrong and that the new recruits are worth it.
6095712
I knew I was overdoing it. Well, it worked, didn't it?
6096058
Of course not! I swear to God, if anyone takes this as an example to follow when treating with depressed people I'll seriously lost my faith in humanity's basic common sense.
The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well
No, but she knows herself. That's why the flashback scene is so important. RD recognized that she and Trixie were an awful lot alike, so she expected Trixie to react like she would do in a similar situation. Also, considering Trixie's behavior in their first encounter (standing up to hecklers), Dash probably reasoned that it was worth the shot.
With any other pony in any other situation, this would have ended horribly wrong. And yes, Dash took a BIG chance here and Twilight celled her out for it in the narration,
Thanks for reading, and sorry, but I can not and will not spoil future details just wait till Pinkie's party.
6097256 Also surprisingly? THE MYSTERIOUS MARE-DO-WELL WORKED AS WELL! So in a sense.... you could also say she got the idea from that. Though less super hero and more motivational speaker.
6097256
Honestly, I'm not really all that sure about that. Now, the story itself is really just silly and you shouldn't take it seriously, but this chapter of the Liberty Prime Displaced story features a Rainbow Dash that I'd consider brash, confident and snarky-sounding, but despite all of that still managing to give the impression of being a likable and altogether not intolerably smug kind of person. It's frankly one of the only ones I've ever read that I think have managed that, but in my opinion, the difference is like night and day as soon as you see it.
6097261
That weird moment when the crossover obsessed writer, who has previously royally screwed with a character, manages to not only come up with a plausible explanation for said character's behavior, but it's also backed up by canon.
I suppose I'm getting better at figuring out the characters.
6097280
I think that this one is the same case as With AJ. Depending on the POV, rainbow can be an actual good pony with a heart of gold who knew what she was doing or a well-intentioned idiot who bet on someone's sanity and got lucky, as also everything in between those two extremes.
It seems to me that "rainbow colored skid marks" would be the result of her being too slow, if you get my meaning.
6097349 I think that the mare do well incident is a little bit different. The rest of the mane 6 already knew Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy has known her for years, so its not that hard to assume that they knew what they were doing, to a certain extent. I also think there is a difference between upstaging someone who is in a ego trip and insulting a depressed person to the face.
Nitpicks aside, I admit that you got me with this chapter (RD acting out of character like in many fics) and got me more invested in the storyline. Im moving it to favourites.
6097256 Yeah, it worked. Tell me. What do you think Fluttershy would think of how you treated Trixie? Especially, if Trixie runs into her next?
6097552
Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind.
In other words, it really depends on how much emotional complexity and maturity he's willing to give the characters.
6097466
I.... will let nightwalker handle that one.
6097549
All the points to you. Rainbow took an absurdly high risk immaturely, putting all her money on Trixie reacting like Rainbow would. Just like in The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, it's right between a legitly well planed Batman Gambit and an absurdly lucky Gambit Roulette. Twilight didn't lectured or outright confronted her on the spot because she was more worried about Trixie.
Anyways, nitpick is usually useful for further chapters construction, as the writer (that's me) can slip sometimes. Honored I am that you decided to fav the story, and I'll do my best to live up to it.
6097552
6097613
this will bite me in the flank, isn't it?
rs1ci.memecdn.com/465/5257465.gif
6097707
Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh....
6097707
Well, like I said, it really depends. Personally, I really agree with what you had your Rainbow Dash do. Trixie's exactly the kind of person that would respond better to being provoked into anger than to any amount of heartfelt compassion or pity. Antagonizing her and attacking her pride was really the best thing anyone could have done for her at that moment, in terms of making her pick herself back up again. If your Fluttershy has the maturity to understand that sometimes, hurting someone is the nicest thing you can do for them, then the situation will obviously go down a lot different than if she doesn't. If you were to adhere closely to the canon setting, then she certainly would not.
One way or another, I am already looking forward to how you're going to deal with that situation when it comes up. Making Rainbow play to the stereotype and have it both seem natural and make sense in the context of the situation has certainly done a lot to raise my opinion of your characterization skills. This is going to be more than just a silly comicbook pop culture reference crackfic, that's for sure.
This was so silly! I loved how Rainbow Dash used reverse psychology on Trixie there. She is truly the most clever pony in the world. Poor Trixie is gonna be so confused at the party though. I'm sure of it. Still, loving this!
6097613
Eehhh..... sadly he can't use this. I mean you can't actually have Fluttershy to be cruel to Trixie because that would be out of character for her. Why you wonder? Simple this is pre "Magical Cure." So that also mean pre "It ain't easy being breezie." it was that episode that Fluttershy learned that lesson and later used it in "Tanks for the memories." In other words Fluttershy shouldn't have that character development yet. Remember with exception of Applejack all the MLP characters have slowly through the show made character developments, most notable were Twilight and Rainbowdash.
Season 1 to 3 aren't in Chronological order it's hard to decide when a character development took place but from season 4 and onwards it seems everything is in Chronological order. So any character development that takes in Season 4 should be ignored in this story until the writer decides certain events have happened in this alternate universe.
6096058 Sometimes the best people to cheer you up (insultingly or not) are the ones who, at a fundamental level, understand what brings you down and can put you back up. And that also means being able to take return jabs.
No, Rainbow Dash is not the brainiest of the bunch. I suppose if we wanted to list everyone by raw intellectual strength she'd probably be the in 5th or 6th place (and if you listen to two of my other friends who don't frequent this site, Pinkie would be the dumbest, but I'm pretty convinced half of that is near-irrational and entirely misplaced rage and the other half comes from episodes like Filli Vanilli and A Friend Indeed (or whatever the episode introducing Cranky and Matilda was called); especially the Cranky ep. for one of them). But...you don't really need near-superpony intellect like Twilight to pull something like this off. Knowing what buttons to push and when to push them doesn't require years upon years of psychology, nor does it requires a word-for-word knowledge of her life. It really just requires knowing where they came from, what motivates them, and who they are personality-wise. In this case, RD and Trixie are pretty alike, so. If you mean a more refined motivational suck speech, then I'd agree that psychology would help, but what really amounts to a heavily verbal pep talk...isn't that absurd, especially from RD.
And...I'm not really sure how it'd be a blow to RD herself. Although Trixie would have a point if RD couldn't handle pressure from hecklers when she joins the Wonderbolts (well, if she does), that's far enough in the show's future to be moot for now. As for your point about Tanks for the Memories, I don't recall the other five being openly vitriolic about telling RD to let Tank sleep. And RD was in a different place than Trixie (same general zone of depression, I suppose, but Trixie was melancholic while Dash was hysterical). barb-filled pep talks can overlap with the two, but I doubt they really work on someone who's freaking out. Also, the other five (except maybe AJ) are too kind to go any farther than delivering such harsh yet necessary truths in anything more than a slightly rough fashion (like I think...Rarity did, and Flutters eventually did). Though, point of fact that I recall is that they didn't insult RD, so I'm failing to see the point of that.
6095425 As for this, I have no real comment, although I think it's in-character for RD to think that if it worked, it's okay for then. While the fallout of this has yet to be seen, I don't think RD would've done it if she thought Trixie would try anything drastic as, say, ruining Ponyville again.
Rainbow Dash... you're a fucking bitch. As soon as you say the truth to Trixie, she'll going to deck you in the snoze.
6097707
You have NO idea!
6097025 That of making friends (and to listen to them) is an ability too. Trixie is self-centred, that's her "original sin", not having friends, and so having to learn the harder way, is the way she pays for this.
Has it worked? It seems like, but I don't think so. I'm not psychologist, but from my point of view what RD did should harm Trixie more than help her. Why? Well, look at Trixie. She lost everything again, but this time it was too crippling. She lost her life, she lost her magic and more imporantly she lost herself. Performing was her life fuel. She loved beeing admired by her audience, but that is gone now. You may say that RD did right when she reminded her who Trixie is when she lost herself, but that's wrong. Trixie knows exactly who she is. She is a undead useless corpse surrounded by bunch of ponies who fell pitty for her. What she needs is that admiration and respect for what she is or was. Furthermore Trixie doesn't need more anger, she had ton of hate and anger indise her before DR made her even madder. You can't bent a stick forever, and Trixie's have been on 170° already. She already encountered too many bad things that I'm realy expecting her to break down. This method is good and is working on people who are low and depressed, but not at those who are on mental breakdown treshold. The reason why Trixie walked away with head held up is beacuse she didn't want RD to win, she didn't want to be seen as a weakling or as inferior.
IMHO as soon as she calms down she will fall even deeper, and if she coud she would start crying, but you know, she can't.
Don't get me wrong Trixie is my the most favourite pony and I realy, realy, realy like her, but Trixie is also only a mere mare and she have her limits.
6097775
PWNED!
All the credit for that joke goes to nightwalker. My original version was way more grim.
6097819
walker! where are you?
6097836 6098174 6098183
I'm sorry. Although I would REALLY like to follow any of those lines of thought, if I did, I would be revealing part of the plot, which I'm not doing. You guys have pretty good guesses, and some of them (I'm not saying which ones) may be correct or may be influencing the future (or maybe I'm lying, I don't know, I'm an accomplished troll creator after all). Many thanks for the feedback and keep thinking.
6098162
Not too much out of cleverness, but mostly of realizing that Trixie is the unicorn version of her, so Rainbow did the only thing she knew was going to work; confronting Trixie with reality.
6098264 6098269
Whoa, calm down. Even if it came as cruel and evil, she had the best intentions, I think. Rainbow?
: But it worked!
6098512
It reminds me of a Religion Teacher that once told me that Capitals Sins weren't bad just because it condemned us to hell, but becasue those seven condemned us in life too: Lust makes love senseless. Envy only makes us unhappy with ourselves. Greed turns hope into madness. Wrath blind us. Pride put us apart from others. Sloth destroys all we have, can or will build. Gluttony literally consumes everything.
I do believe that these notions can be applied to Trixie's terrible tragedy that drove her to the accursed Alicorn Amulet (alliterations, love them).
6100694
Oh boy, this one is going to be a long reply.
First of all, I'm not a psychologist either, I'm a journalist (in training), so most of what I'm going to say comes either from personal experiences or from other fictional sources' influence.
Now, about of if it worked or not, that depends entirely on what do you define as worked? Did it took Trixie out of her depression? Probably not at full scale. Depression is a very complicated matter, and there are no easy or quick solutions for it. With that said, it wasn't the wanted result either. What RD (and I) intended was to drag Trixie out of self compassion, which is a very important step out of a depression. In the end, all that Rainbow wanted was to give Trixie something to focus on other than self pity, like anger.
Yes, you are right, Trixie's condition is not only awful, but she has every right to fall apart and give up on everything. However, and this is a keypoint in Trixie's characterization here, she already went down that lane, which drove her to purchase the AA in the first place. Trixie is full aware of how bad things can get if she loses her focus again, so she's doing all she can to avoid it. Like in the previous chapter, when she tried to deal with it by attempting to revive her old days by telling a story again, running away from confronting the situation. Here, she's trying the opposite.
And no, Trixie is not an über-mare who can shrug off all the psychological abuse as if nothing. But (and now I'm really putting a RL case here) she's not giving up either. Trixie promised herself to let the darkness in that hospital room from the first four chapters and not fall down into that abyss again, ever. Life (or existence in this case) is all about choices, and regardless what happens, Trixie chooses to live.
Or, again, I'm still writing from the seat of my pants and most of it is being made up as we go. Hard to tell when it's me the one writing.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing your mind.
P.S.: BTW, let me show you a small part of the previous chapter:
Oh, she can cry. The necroplasm not only replaced her blood, but it seems it's also replacing other fluids.
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Heh, glad you liked that one! I've always done so myself, and when I saw the line Wave wrote about Dash having issues with Trixie, I just had to use it.
6097466
Aw, dude!!
Okay, I get what Dash was trying to do, and that she was she was trying to help, but I agree with Twilight. Instead of insulting Trixie's heritage, she could've given Trixie some compliments about her heritage. I kinda hope this is going to cause trouble for Dash later.
Personal thoughts after having read the last chapter.
"did you like it?"
"Meh... it was good, but it's probably the chapter I liked less so far. I felt like it did not flow naturally."
"Why?"
"..."
"It's cause RD acted out of character?"
"No, she doesn't. To bet all in one single desperate move is like her. Introspection is not really her thing, but she can do in the right conditions."
"So Trixie acted out of character?"
"No, she doesn't, she is the kind of character that reacts to offenses, she had been even too polite."
"So?"
"Is that it was too early. RD saw Trixie leave the hospital only a few hours before, after having literally died. She is depressed? No wonder. it's a miracle she can walk out of it on her hooves. A friend RD trust is in charge of the situation. A desperate move like that was not necessary yet, and it doesen't seem she can believe it could be necessary. RD is impulsive, but not so much, and she has not related to Trixie enough to make her lose her head and believe it was necessary to replace Twilight and personally solve the situation."
That's how I feel. It's like a part is missing. The part in which we learn why she cares so much.
6101489
I only wish that line worked in German. I really like it.
6102762
That's a legit criticism. In-story it hasn't yet been established why she would feel a need to bother. On the other hand, they do have a stated history with each other, so it's not too unexpected that she would feel a certain amount of investment. And hell, it's a friendship problem. Getting involved with that kind of thing unasked and caring absurdly much about things they have no good reason to care about is quite literally what those little technicolor abominations do. It almost justifies itself based on just that.
i am REALLY intrigued by your premise. this story has a tragedy sticker, but is it for the beginning of Trixies' condition, or is there more tragedy to come ? Trixie is resolved to get through this, but all twilights' friends are SERIOUSLY eroding that. I mean, they are ALL aware of trixies' present form of existence, but seem to be going out of their way to show a lot of distain for Trixie, seeing her only as a MONSTER now. The only ones to show some compassion so far, are twilight, pinkie, and applebloom... possibly ( if she got the chance ). i'm glad applejack was led to see how overreactive her outburst was. Her outburst was MONSTEROUS, to say the least, no matter how well-intensioned it was. In that instance, she acted more, a monster than Trixie. She has some serious apologizing to do. As for trixies' ninja tactics, I see Trixie, as a jack of all trades, master of none, whereas twilight is a jack of some trades, master of some. Trixie has more worldly experience than twilight, and has seen a great deal more, but twilight is still getting her toes wet. At this point, I wouldn't blame Trixie, if she decided to go to canterlot to seek help. She cant kill herself, because shes kind of dead already. I wonder if shes just stuck in time? I mean, the spell that the spirit of the amulet, was going to cast, was interrupted by celestia, leaving Trixie in the state shes in. I was not aware that there was a living entity within the amulet. WHO IS IT ? It is obviously malicious, in that it only wants to take over all of equestrian. If Trixie is released from the magic lock, on her horn, her transformation will be completed. That must not be allowed. I wonder if celestia would be forced to destroy Trixie, as a last resot. I hope that trixies' resolve will not be completely shattered by the" FRIENDSHIP" of twilights' friends. Trixie deserves better.
6102715
Pure impulsiveness. Dash could have been more subtle, but that would have took longer to get her the reaction she wanted, so she went for the quickest way to anger a proud roani; calling her a gypsy and talk about stereotypes as they were true.
Again, I can't and won't spoiler, but this is not the end of this.
6102762
The flashback, dude, the flashback. Put attention on when does it ends, right in the moment where Rainbow realized that all the events from Boast Busters started because of her.
To elaborate more, if you watch Boast Busters it all started with Rainbow randomly booing Trixie, making Trixie snap at them during the show, which lead to the challenges, which lead to the fandom fight between Spike and Snips n' Snails, which lead to the Ursa, with lead to the Trixie being homeless, which lead to... I think I made my point. In other words, Rainbow is trying to help Trixie because she's feeling guilty over it. But that's not it.
Note how part of the flashback is also Rainbow comparing herself with Trixie. If they're not o different, what says that Rainbow is not susceptible to fall that low as Trixie did? Rainbow needs to point a key difference between them or at least prove that ponies like her and Trixie aren't hopeless. Rainbow saw herself in Trixie, and she knows how does it feel so insecure and think that the world is against you (Sonic Rainboom MMDW). That, combined with the previous part, gives Rainbow a lot of motivation to get Trixie out of depression.
Also, a lot of Friendship Problems have been solved in half of an hour. Considering that since Twilight picked Trixie, the events of the previous part and the previous chapter took place, I would say that it's plenty of time for pony standards.
But as you said, it's all in my humble opinion too.
6102959 The flashback, dude, the flashback.
6104407
Long comment is long *ding*
Okay, let's see. First of all, as in most of my ‘serious’ works, I’m trying to give the reader only the information that the main character could possibly know, in order to help the former to feel in the position of the later.
Secondly, the reactions from the Mane Six. I think that they should be portrayed as humanly possible, with both virtues and flaws. They’re as susceptible to mistakes as you or me or any of us, thus they can literally screw everything up without even being aware of the damage done. That’s the case of Applejack, for example. As any overprotective familiar figure in real life, she didn’t meditate about what she was going to do, she simply reacted. And, as in real life too, after all was said and done, she realized by herself what she just did, but refused to acknowledge it till someone else pointed it out.
That part also serves to put the reader in the side-characters position; So far, most of the readers want AJ’s head for what she did, but all in all, it was an honest one-time mistake. Now, change the POV’s and that’s exactly what happened to Trixie; everypony treated her like crap for what happened in Ponyville. And yes, AJ was prey of the olde “he who fights monsters”.
Now, I completely agree with you on Trixie being the Jack of all trades. In fact, when I first saw Boast Busters, that was what I though was going to be the moral; yes, Trixie was quite good with various skills, but Twilight handled the Ursa for mastering one.
No, I don’t think that Celestia would do something like that. Celestia is basically MLP’s Superman, there’s just no way a character in that position would ever take the “kill one to save many” route. All the major villains so far being alive kinda prove that point.
And to finish, I wouldn’t expect Trixie to just surrender to the ‘evilness’ of friendship without a fight (whatever the heck does that means).
6106504
That may have been a bit too subtle for me, then. While that would be a good hint towards her motivation in a different situation, in this case I didn't really feel like you've established enough about her personality to make it clear that this is how she would feel about the situation. Remember, the biggest section featuring her so far consists of her tearing Trixie a new one - which doesn't really make her look like the type who would feel that way. I'm afraid your intended meaning didn't really communicate very well there.
6106504 Rationally, I understood it. But as a reader, It doesn't flew. In my opinion that part is not developed enough.
6106504 That's probably more like Dash to react on impuls, sonit's currently better this way (for the story that is, not for Dash and Trixie).
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6107209
And so, I managed to pull my very first base breaker. Was it worth? Well, for starters, it means that I have a fanbase (f*ckity f*ck yeah!). On the other hand, it means that I'm not above screwing things up... again.
6108418
Feeling a bit melodramatic today, are we? It's not that big of a deal to me, really. It's a minor slip-up. I can just see where the criticism comes from.
How the heck did Rainbow Dash know Trixie was a gypsy? How long before Pinkie Pie reveals that she's Trixie's sister?
6108418 Don't worry. It's not that bad. Look at it from the bright side: now things will get more interesting.
6109430
Geeze dude! Spoilers! At least you blacked out the critical part.
6108657
Mate, I am melodramatic by default. But I agree, is not that big of a deal, but I wanted to acknowledge that I managed to a) get a fanbase, which is AWESOME! and b) write characters likable enough for people to care about what happens to them.
6109430 6110261
Yeah, mate, keep the spoilers down. And as for Rainbow knowing about Trixie, it can be either because of how she saw others roani before, or how stereotypical was Trixie in Boast Busters (nomad, mysticism, hotblooded, loud speaking, etc.)
6110123
Again, I'm happy that one of my stories can get such a reaction.
6114340
> nomad, hotblooded, loud speaking, familiar with gypsies enough to identify one, mystical rainbow explosions unexplainable by unicorn science
wait, we're still talking about Trixie, right?
6114340
I still can't quite decide if I should kick you in the shin for that Roani pun or shake your hand. Maybe both.
6114497
It's really amazing how to opposing character are actually pretty similar.
P.S.: Forgot to put this on the previous reply, but dude, gypsy is actually the pejorative form, as in very very insulting. If you must, use Romani for real life and/or Roani for the ponies.
6114649
Okay, but remember that I never came up with it. It has been around before I was even aware that the pony's show was actually watchable and way before I realized I liked to write fanfictions, so I'm not to blame/credit for it's creation, only it's use.
In fact, and as a curious thing to say, because of my "english as not first language" thing, I'm still unaware of what is the pun in "Roani".
6116065
Don't worry, I'm equally disrespectful of all cultures.