The Only Chapter
"So, you want to know how the Great and Powerful Trixie got into this mess?"
The strange mare nodded.
☆
It was a few days ago when this all started. Trixie was travelling from Dodge Junction to Canterlot, along a road — more of a dirt path really — that took Trixie along the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. It might have been easier to go through Ponyville, but, well, Trixie was avoiding that place. Sorry, Trixie should stop talking like that… sorry, I should stop talking like that. These things easily become a habit.
There was a particularly steep incline, where the path ran through a patch of poison joke, though thankfully none of it had grown onto the path. Pulling my wagon as I was, I could only walk slowly. As I went past a large oak tree, I happened to notice a sign nailed up on its trunk. The Winter Moon Celebration — the longest night of the year — was being held in Ponyville again, and I suddenly thought that it might be an interesting idea to pop in and see a few old friends.
I took the next turn off the road into Ponyville, setting up my wagon at the edge of the settlement. I took down the hoardings advertising my show, for once not wanting to draw attendance to my presence in town. Evening was coming so I went looking for somewhere to have some supper. I found a reasonably priced burger joint and ordered a hayburger and fries, taking a window seat to watch the world go by.
Having finished my meal, I went looking for the library as I wanted to pay a visit on the town librarian. Imagine my surprise to find a hole in the ground where it had once stood. Asking around, I found out that the librarian, Twilight Sparkle, was now living in a castle at the edge of town, coincidentally not far from where I'd parked my wagon.
I'd known of course that Twilight had become a princess — everypony in Equestria knew that — but I'd assumed she still lived in the library. Anyhow, on the way back to my wagon, I saw the shining castle looming over town. I don't know how I'd missed it on the way in. I noted its position for the morning.
I slept well and awoke with a sense of purpose. First thing after breakfast I trotted to the castle door and knocked. It was answered by a sleepy little dragon, who showed me in and went to fetch the princess.
Twilight came in looking suspicious of me, but who could blame her? After everything that had gone on between us in the past, surely I'd be back for revenge. But I quickly put her at ease, apologizing profusely for my past arrogance, and asked her out for dinner the following evening.
The princess was surprised, charmed even, and accepted straight away. As I was leaving, she realised her error: the following evening was the Winter Moon Celebration, and she along with Princess Luna, the princess of the night, and Princess Celestia, her mentor, and almost an adopted mother to her, would be hosting the occasion. She asked if I could possibly rearrange the date to the evening before the celebration, or the evening after.
"Alas," I told her, "Trixie is not in Ponyville for long, and Trixie shall be very busy today and tonight. It has to be tomorrow night or not at all. You do forgive Trixie, don't you? You will come to dinner with Trixie? With me?"
She thought for several moments, and I worried she would really turn me down, but eventually she smiled and invited me to be her 'date' to the Winter Moon Celebration. Everything was going to plan.
I spent the rest of the day with my preparations, gathering supplies, and making arrangements. It was exhausting work, but that night I slept soundly, knowing I'd finally found a way to humiliate Princess Twilight Sparkle.
The time came for me to collect Twilight Sparkle for our date. I turned up and knocked on the castle door, expecting to be greeted by the dragon again, but was surprised when the door was answered by Twilight herself, wearing a long, flowing pink dress with yellow trims, a diamond necklace, and a thin gold tiara. I probably shouldn't say so, but yes, she looked pretty stunning, and I found myself wishing I'd made more of an effort.
"Of course," I said, "you're all dressed up for the celebration."
Twilight looked at her dress. "What, this? No, later on I need to get changed into the traditional lunar robes and my crown. This is just for our date."
"Oh," I said, surprised that Twilight had made such an effort. "It's not really a date date. Trixie is just taking you out to apologize for her behaviour."
Twilight shut the door behind her. "As far as I'm concerned, that's a date. You know, Spike and Applejack almost managed to talk me out of this, but Fluttershy reminded me that everypony deserves a second chance. So where are we going?"
I tried to recall the name of the café I'd booked a table at — a rather smart-looking establishment near the centre of town. "The Hayfare? That might be what it's called."
"Oh, Savoir Fare's place. The food is very good there."
We trotted along the streets of Ponyville until we reached the town centre, which was already busy, with ponies milling around, decorating the town with crescent moons (which Twilight pointed out were inaccurate as Luna would be raising a full moon that night), setting up the stage for the princesses, and generally getting everything ready.
I waved to Snips and Snails who were helping with the stage set-up — two ponies I knew from previous visits to this town, and whom I'd reacquainted myself with the previous afternoon. They hadn't been keen to assist me with my endeavours, but I may have brought up a certain cosmic space bear they'd brought to town, which I'd taken most of the blame for, and they were eager to make it up to me.
The waiter offered us an outdoor table, but in mid-winter it wasn't really the weather for it — although it was unseasonably sunny and dry, it was too cold. We took an indoor table and looked through the menu. Twilight had recommended one of her favourites, a wildflower soup, so we both had that for starters.
Excuse the pun, but Twilight really was a sparkling conversationalist over dinner. I'd expected her to drone on about becoming a princess, and being a princess, and being an Element of Harmony, and being, well… sorry… Miss Perfect Purple Pony Princess, but she wasn't like that at all. She wanted to talk about me, about the new tricks I'd added to my act, about the places I'd toured recently, and the ponies I'd met.
For a main course, Twilight had a daisy sandwich, and I ordered a hayburger, which turned out to be a much better one than I'd had at the burger joint a couple of nights previous.
We got to discussing my firework spell. Twilight said she'd been attempting something similar as a surprise for a friend's birthday, but hadn't been able to get it looking quite right. She said it was a shame I had to leave town so soon and that she'd like me to teach the spell to her. The Element of Magic wanting me to teach her a spell. I have to admit, I was more than a little bit flattered.
I wasn't sure I had room for dessert, but Twilight insisted I try their strawberry ice cream, so we ordered a bowl to share. I do not regret that decision — it was delicious.
At the end of the meal, Twilight insisted on paying half, which, frankly, I was grateful for. I walked her back to the castle door so that she could get prepared for the celebration. As I turned to trot away, she asked, "aren't you going to come in?"
"I-I… umm… I thought you'd want to get changed for the celebration."
"Yes, but you'll come with me to the celebration, won't you?" Twilight paused and looked down to the ground. "I mean, unless you have something else to do. I know you're leaving town tomorrow. You probably need to pack."
I'd been planning to go to the event, of course, and watch Twilight's humiliation from a distance. The chance to see it up close was at once both delicious and terrifying — I worried about how I might feel when I saw the look in her eye afterwards. My revenge might not seem quite so sweet. "I hadn't really thought about it. You don't really want me there, do you?"
"Of course I do, Trixie. I told you, I've forgiven you for what happened in the past. We're friends now, right?"
I blushed. "Well, if you put it that way, it would be an honour. Thank you, Twilight."
She led me to a seat where I could wait, and went upstairs to get changed into her ceremonial robe. I was surprised upon her return a few minutes later to see her levitating a spare robe behind her.
"Well, if you're my date, you need to look the part," she explained.
I was flattered. It was a smart-looking purple robe with a diamond clasp. "Well, thank you, it's lovely." I took off my cape and fastened the robe around me.
Twilight hung my cape up on a hook by the castle door, and told me that I could pick it up after the ceremony. I had a feeling I might be ponysona non grata afterwards, but I had plenty of spare capes; I could sacrifice this one.
We trotted together back into town, discussing spells and such. In the short time we'd been in Twilight's castle, the crowds had grown considerably. Twilight led me through the gathered ponies and up to the stage.
I stood at the edge, near the curtains, while Twilight took her place in front of a barrel on the stage. Snips and Snails were standing behind the curtains at the opposite side of the stage, and gave me a nod. The trap had been set.
A murmur erupted amongst the crowd and ponies strained their necks upwards to see Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, Twilight's former mentor, fly in and gently land on the stage.
Each of the princesses stood in front of matching barrels. At the climax of the ceremony, the barrel behind Celestia would release a dozen white owls who would fly off majestically, the barrel behind Luna would release the same number of nighthawks who would soar over the crowds in formation, and the barrel behind Twilight would blast her with poison joke petals.
Of course, it was supposed to be grey owls, but I'd made arrangements with Snips and Snails to… should we say, alter the evening's programme of events?
The ceremony started as planned, with the traditional songs and readings performed perfectly. At last it was time for Luna to raise the moon. I thought she looked a little nervous, but she glanced towards her sister for confirmation. Celestia nodded and smiled, and Luna seemed reassured by that.
Luna reared up onto her hind legs, unfurled her wings to their maximum reach and rose into the sky, the bright, pearl white moon behind her, silhouetting her form — at least for those ponies who had had the wisdom and foresight to get a place in front of the centre of the stage. The moon high in the sky, Luna slowly descended to the cheers of the gathered crowd.
The lid of the barrel behind Celestia lifted and the owls flew into the air, upwards in an ever-widening spiral, with the crowd looking appropriately awed by their synchronised flight display. The owls formed a circle in the sky before scattering in each direction. I have a natural eye for showponyship, and I can tell you, I was very impressed by it. I made a mental note to find out who had trained those owls and get in touch with them. Adding something like that to my act would be… sorry, I'm digressing.
Luna instinctively ducked when she heard the lid of her barrel open. The nighthawks flew out at speed, swooping low over the heads of the ponies in the audience. I chuckled to see several of them flinch at the birds narrowly missed their heads.
I looked at Twilight, who was standing bathed in the soft light of the moon, without a clue about what was going to happen and suddenly felt sick. How could I do this to a pony who had been nothing but kind and forgiving towards me? As I saw the horn of the unicorn in charge of lifting the lids start to glow, I knew what I had to do. I dashed across the stage and shoved her out of the way.
I saw her stumble and fall into Luna as the poison joke petals began to rain down on me.
☆
"So that's how I ended up here," Trixie said, finishing off her story.
The zebra looked up from her cauldron at Trixie's red nose and curly hair, which gave the unicorn the appearance of a clown. She suppressed a giggle. "That can't have been easy to regale. Thank you for telling me your tale." Zecora threw some leaves into the pot, and the potion bubbled. "But one last question to make things clear: Twilight why did you come here?"
Twilight walked over to stand beside Trixie, wrapping a hoof around her. "Trixie may have made a mistake, but she's owned up to it, she's apologised, and she's put it right."
Trixie smiled. "Thank you, Twilight. That means a lot to me." A slight blush came to her cheeks.
Zecora lifted a ladle of the brew she'd been making. "Trixie, the potion is now ready. Here's the spoon, so hold it steady."
Trixie took the spoon into her magical field and guided it towards her mouth. She drank down the bitter-tasting mixture and shuddered. "Thank you, Miss Zecora."
Zecora chuckled. "Just Zecora, not so formal. Look, your mane is back to normal."
Trixie put a hoof to her mane. It certainly felt normal. "Twilight, has it really worked? Do I look okay now?"
Twilight smiled. "Better than okay."
A grin formed on Trixie's face. "Thank you, Mi— I mean, Zecora."
The unicorn and alicorn said goodbye to Zecora and started the journey back to Ponyville.
Twilight looked at Trixie who seemed lost in thought. "What's the matter, Trixie?"
"I was just thinking about how after this latest stunt I need to take you out on a whole new apology date."
Twilight smiled. "But you didn't do anything. You might have planned to, but you changed your mind."
Trixie's ears drooped. "Oh, okay."
Twilight stopped and prodded the ground with her hoof nervously. "Of course, we could still go out for dinner some time, right?"
"Of course!" Trixie said, smiling widely, her eyes shining in the bright moonlight. She flung her forehooves around Twilight in a hug that almost knocked the wind out of the alicorn.
"Okay, okay!" Twilight extricated herself from the unicorn's embrace. "Next time you're in town, come by the castle, and we can go out for a meal or something."
Trixie regained her composure and nodded. "It's a date!"
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Ah, I like how trixie speaks in this piece. It fits her well.
This was very sweet. And very Trixie.
Its good to finally see it.
This was very very sweet and beautiful.
6128463 Thanks. I knew that the speaking in third person thing would get annoying, so I needed to find a way to nix it early on.
6128757 Thank you.
6128823 Thanks. And thanks for pre-reading.
6129570 And thank you too!
(TLDR: thanks everybody)
THIS GOT FEATURED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6130311 Holy guacamole! You're right!
6130322 I'M SO HAPPY 4 U!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello!
6130512 I didn't mean you, but hello anyway.
Only way i have figured out how to give these stories i LOVE, the multiple ways of showing it i feel i can express is to make lots of bookshelves and just add them to them all along with the likes. Congratulations. Again.
6130002 I guess I'm a bit weird, but I like Trixie's typical mode of speech.
Obligatory music reference:
6130616
Don't get me wrong. I do like it. In my headcanon it's because most show ponies would have an announcer saying things like, "and now the marvellous Marveloso will eat a bee sandwich," or whatever, but Trixie either can't afford to hire one, or prefers not to, so she does her own announcements in the same style, referring to herself in the third person, and has gotten so used to it that it spills over into her everyday speech.
But I think in a story that Trixie is herself narrating most of, it gets a bit tiring.
6130595
Thank you.
6130666 You know, I was actually thinking of that song a quite bit while writing it. My tentative title for the story was She's Poison. Though of course, the title doesn't really refer to Trixie, does it?
Imma just leave a comment here because of reasons.
Why is this in Uncommon Shipping Pairs? I thought Twixie was kinda popular.
6131000 My mistake. Gone now.
Pretty good however when Trixie mentioned the poison joke in the beginning then decided to go to Ponyville was pretty subtle. The rest of the times you mentioned what Trixie was planning was more obvious, I just wish the first part was a little more obvious.
6131399 It's subtle deliberately. The impact that Trixie is definitely plotting something is supposed to hit you when she goes to sleep in the evening after she's asked Twilight out on the date.
6130805 Sameeee.
This is a cute story, but you know poison joke doesn't work like that right?
Poison Joke remedy is a bath, not a drink.
6132297
Like what? You mean the overnight effect in Bridle Gossip versus the more immediate one here? Consider that to be a difference between walking though it and a bit of the pollen rubbing off on your ankles versus getting blasted in the face with a whole barrel full of it, possibly causing you to inhale some. In Daring Do and the Eternal Flower (one of the MLP chapter books), a character eats some Poison Joke and the effect is instantaneous, like what Trixie experiences in my story.
6132339
There may be more than one way to cure it. And possibly different cures are applicable depending on how the poisoning occurred (e.g. walking in the flowers versus inhaling them).
Though ultimately the answer to both of these issues is: I chose what worked best for this particular story.
Aha, you wrote "LyraxLyra"! I knew I recognized your name!
Three good stories, I'd say time for a watch.
6132879 Huh? I did not know that. You learn something new every day. I was also refering to the cure, it's a bath not a drink.
6132983 Yes, that's me. Though I like to think I've written more than three good stories.
Nice story
6133638 Thank you!
6130666 I was thinking more this:
Commented, 25 June 2015!
Why would Twilight have suddenly accepted a date with Trixie? Given their minor knowledge of each other, and the only two interactions they've ever had in the show... yeah, I'm not seeing it happening.
And why would Snips and Snails agree to do ANYTHING Trixie asked of them, especially something potentially bad, after the way she'd treated them in both episodes?
None of this is natural to any of the 3 characters who must behave according to Trixie's plans. All 3 would find her behavior suspicious, especially Snips and Snails. She'd have done better to tempt Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who are already on their way to villainy.
It was a bit weird at the middle, when Trixie suddenly felt guilty of fooling Twilight into her plan. It was a great story, but I think you can expand on the feelings of Trixie as becoming less revengeful. I did like this and added it to my favorites though, because it's a good story with a good ending.
6133523
Mhm.
Three stories is just the point where I am usually thinking, "I like these stories. I think I had better start watching this person."
6134310
Trixie's asking her out as a friend rather than as a romantic date. And what kind of Princess of Friendship would she be if she didn't accept? Besides, at the end of Magic Amulet, Twilight doesn't seem to harbour any remaining animosity towards Trixie.
Regarding Snips and Snails, one of the pre-readers pointed out the same thing, which is why I added this sentence:
So essentially she just guilt-trips them into helping her out. They're not the sharpest tools in the shed, so probably quite easy to manipulate.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are not villainous. They're petty and occasionally cruel, but they're still children. Lots of kids act like that yet end up perfectly nice people when they grow up. I can't imagine ever using either of these two as serious antagonists in any story. Also they're total Twilight Sparkle fangirls (see Twilight Time), so wouldn't want to be involved in a plot against her.
6135861
I like how you say kids are not villeins then say kids are villeins one sentence later
6137712 I'd wager they're totally gonna end up capturing the CMCs for Starlight Glimmer and turn into evil henchponies... only to fall into the lava pit themselves when Con Mane shows up at the secret volcano base.
Nice and sweet story. I like it.
Friendship conquers all! Even someone as thick-skulled as Trixie.
Nice!
The writing is flawless, the characterisation is spot on...
Yet I didn't find that connection that was needed to make me feel like what I'd read was a good romance fic. I'll be rejecting this in the GoodFic Bin submissions.
Details are here.
Man, nobody writes Twixie anymore. Glad to see that's not entirely the case. :D
6540890
Oh, I ship Twilight with everypony.
Trixie and Twilight sitting in a tree K.is.s.i.n.g!
Such lesbians
6705927
Well observed.
6705935
Thanks.its not hard to notice how they feel towards eachother.
Old Trixie is long Trixie.
That was nice