I Give A Magician What She Deserves
We took Trixie from the Pie household and gave them our apologies for scaring the hell out of the poor farmers, then stole a second to grab Maud for a hug on top of her angrier sister because I found fuming ponies just too cute to resist manhandling, before getting a few feet from the building to talk to the blue mare in private.
“W-What’s going on?” Trixie stuttered after we released our magic and set her back down on the ground. She looked around at me and Luna’s guards in worry. “W-Why is Nightmare Moon here? What do you want from Trixie?”
Since Luna was going to come off as a bit too…abrasive for a terrified pony after being called the N-word, we had decided to let me handle the whole talking her down. Luna showing up in the Pie household was one thing, but her actually being interested in a pony was something to make said pony unbelievably nervous.
I knelt down to run a foreleg across the cowering pony’s back to help calm her down. Although in retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best of ideas for the embodiment of terror to try and get a pony to settle down by touching her. “Relax Trixie. You’re not in trouble or anything,” I assured her as gently as a I could. “I just heard from my friends a few weeks ago about what happened in Ponyville, and thought I should come and help you out.”
Trixie looked up at me in confusion, still plenty terrified, but I think the question of why hadn’t I gobbled her up yet made the mare a little less afraid. Rational confusion and terror didn’t like to share space after all. “Huh?”
“Your wagon,” I clarified before giving the pony a smile that didn’t show my carnivorous teeth. That wouldn’t have helped in the least. “It was destroyed by a monster from the Everfree at night, when Equestria is under our protection. But, we were unable to protect you when you needed us, Trixie. We weren’t even able to try.
“As such, you’re entitled to get a replacement on the crown’s dime. It is our responsibility to protect you from these kinds of things after all. Since we didn’t even begin to fulfill our duties, it’s the crown that should pay to have it replaced, not you. I’ve already talked to a few carpenters back home and had them draw up some plans. If you come back to Canterlot with me, I’m sure we can build a suitable replacement for you.”
After I got done explaining things to Trixie, the mare’s fearfully wide-eyed confusion turned to…well, she was still looking at me with wide eyes, but a few tears appeared on the edges of them. “Y-You mean, you’re going to fix my home?”
I blinked at the sudden display of emotion from the little pony, not to mention what she called her wagon. Sure, it was a stage and all, but it had completely slipped my mind that wagon was also...well, Trixie had said it all. And mobile or not, losing her house...I could kind of see how such a blow to the poor girl had really helped start her down the path to revenge. After all, it was her home, the place was was supposed to be safe and comforting above all others.
To have that taken from her, it would have been unbelievably devastating.
“Well, yeah…and replace all the stuff you lost,” I added while doing my best not to get emotional after seeing Trixie nearly turn on the water-works by focusing on all the other things Trixie would need. I mean, what was a magician without her hat?
Trixie continued to look up at me, but the look in her eyes had changed to something somewhat...disturbing. The dampness in her eyes had made them kind of sparkle, and something approaching gratitude was plastered across her face. “T-Thank you,” she said to me in a whisper. “Thank you Princess, I-”
“Actually, I’m not the Princess,” I told Trixie before she could start blubbering. Now that she had a lot less fear in her, it was best to get that little bit of confusing information out of the way.
“That would be I,” Luna chimed in with her usual ‘I’m more royal than you’ tone that drove all the girls wild.
“It’s not that hard to tell us apart,” I said before smirking and getting down face to face with the blue mare so I could whisper in her ear, despite the fact that Luna would be able to hear it clearly. “Luna’s the one that sounds like she has something shoved up her plot half the time.”
“So speaks the commoner with her coarse tongue,” the real princess countered with her royal accent.
When Trixie just continued to stare at us, I let out a sigh and began an explanation that would more than likely take a few hours. Thankfully, we could teleport back to Canterlot easily enough, so it wasn’t going to take us all night just to get home.
After we popped back onto the balcony of Canterlot Castle, Luna dismissed our escort with orders to tell the rest of the guard not to wait for us to begin their nightly regimen. We had more important work to do. Trixie needed to get settled in, and…run into an old friend.
Since the initial surprise of meeting the ancient goddess of darkness was over and done, Trixie had managed to slip back into her more annoying speech patterns. But what was even worse was, well…
“Trixie does not see why you do not simply state your name when speaking as Trixie does. Trixie thinks that it would lead to less confusion,” Trixie told us as we led her down the hallway towards the guest wing of the castle. One of them at least, Celestia had about three of the damn things, but the one we were currently in was the one that had been prepared for six special mares.
Much to my horror, Luna ‘hmmm’ed at the idea. Not the bad kind of hmmm, either. The kind that sounded like she was actually considering Trixie’s insane suggestion. “Well, what you say does have merit-”
“No!” I exclaimed as terror filled my mind. As I fought to keep Luna’s mouth away from her, I looked around for something that would cast a reflection. Thankfully, the castle had a really good cleaning staff, and that meant the pure white marble walls could function as a mirror with enough light. “We are not doing that! I don’t care if you’re the boss of this body, we are not talking in third-pony!”
“Nighty-”
“Do you want eternal night?” I asked Luna with a bit more heat to my voice before I stepped closer to the wall to look Luna right in our eyes. “Because I promise having to hear you go Luna this, and Luna that, all the time will make me go insane and bring on eternal night! Eternally!”
Luna let out a groan and rolled our eyes. “If you would stop interrupting me,” she said evenly. “While it would lead to less confusion from the start, I do not think I could keep it up long enough for it to become habit. Modern speech still gives me some pause. To add another change on top of all the other diction training I have received would just be too much of a headache.”
I sighed in relief. “Okay…good.” Eternal night and my rather one-sided battle against the forces of good because I could probably get around their rather lax security with all my evil nightmare powers and IQ of over fifteen avoided.
With that disaster averted, I turned back to look at Trixie, who was looking at us with a bit of fear again. Not that I could blame her. It took ponies time to get used to their multiple personality goddess. In such situations, I found the best course of action was to just continue on like nothing was wrong rather than addressing the issue every five seconds.
And maybe give her a quick hug, followed by a kiss to the forehead. No pony could stay fearful of an overly affectionate goddess.
“So anyway, like I was saying before,” I went on. “You’ll stay here in the palace for a few days with us while we have everything remade. Since that wagon of yours doubled as a stage, it’ll have to be a completely custom job. We’ll also provide you with a new wardrobe and props. You used fireworks and a magician’s hat in your act…right?”
Trixie looked up at me with a raise eyebrow. “How exactly do you know all of this, Princess? Trixie does not remember performing for royalty. N-Not that her skills wouldn’t be up to the task!” she quickly added at the end.
While I had to stop myself from popping the ever-inflating ego, my better half answered the question. “One of our dearest friends sends us regular correspondence from Ponyville,” Luna explained to her. “That was how we learned of your plight.”
We came to a stop outside one of the larger guest quarters, meant to hold a foreign dignitary’s entire entourage. Not that Trixie would be staying there. It was actually where we put the girls. Trixie would be sleeping across the hall from them.
“Yeah, without her telling us about what happened, you’d still be homeless,” I said. “She’s here in the castle if you want to say hello.”
The blue mare blinked a few times as she visibly mulled the decision over before nodding. “Yes. Trixie is not one to shirk from her responsibilities. If she must give thanks to this mare, then show Trixie to her.”
A second later, the door that was conveniently placed between us at that very instant banged open, and I stumbled back as a rainbow contrail filled my vision.
“GET BACK HERE RAINBOW DASH!” a purple unicorn shouted as she ran out into the hallway with a piece of cake in her magic. It kind of matched the one decorating the top of her head.
“T-Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie exclaimed as the mare in question glared down the hall past me where Rainbow ad flown off to.
The object of Trixie’s anger turned around and blinked when she saw the other unicorn standing in the hallway. “Trixie?” she asked in cautious surprise before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What’re you doing here?”
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna exclaimed. “Trixie was just telling us how much she wanted to thank you for informing us about the plight of her home.”
Trixie blanched at the information. “WHAT? Trixie will not thank Twilight Sparkle for such a thing! It is her fault that Trixie has become destitute!” she shouted while pointing an accusing hoof at Twilight.
I looked back at the other mare as Twilight blinked. “What’d I do?”
“What did you do?” Trixie shouted. “You…you-!”
I stepped between the two girls and put my wings on both of them. “Okay, okay! Break it up,” I said before anything could really start. This was not a good start to the whole recovery process. “We need a referee.”
I grabbed both of the girls up in my magic and turned around to poke my head into the common room of the guest suite to look around. The place looked like a war zone, if the ammunition used for wars was cake, I mean. Rarity was working to get it out of her mane, Applejack had some frosting on her hat, Pinkie was suspiciously clean, Spike was nowhere in sight, and Fluttershy was…
The unfamiliar feeling of frosting impacted my head, and I looked up to see the butter yellow pegasus hovering above me with a look of horror on her face. “Ohmygosh! Princess Luna, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-I thought-I mean….” she stuttered before landing in front of me and Luna to begin groveling.
While I winced at the sight, Luna was the one to take care of it. “Ah, an excellent ambush young Fluttershy,” the alicorn congratulated the pegasus before smiling down at her. “Nighty does need to work on her situational awareness, especially when it comes to the area above us.”
“Oh like you saw her either,” I snapped in response, getting attacked in the same way twice in one day didn’t make me feel all that happy. Then, I looked around the room for the other pony that was supposed to be there. The one I needed to keep the more magical unicorns from mangling each other. “Where’s Celestia?”
I think Cadance had been invited to the party too, but...it was a pretty good guess Shining Armor had her pretty busy since the prisoner transfer to Tartarus was short enough for him to be back by now. One did not simply sleep with a stallion while his little sister was in the next room. They went across the building for that junk.
“S-She went out on the balcony,” Twilight squeaked.
I looked back to Twilight, and winced when I saw that the purple unicorn was nervously looking down at the floor as she floated in a blue glow surrounding her. “Horseapples,” I mumbled before quickly dragging both of the unicorns in Luna’s magic into the room and setting them down next to each other on one of the sofas as fast as I could.
Despite Twilight’s ability to get to Canterlot, her fear of falling was still pretty bad, especially when it came to just floating in midair. Celestia’s wingless flight spell hadn’t helped much in that department.
Unfortunately, that was when the rest of the girls noticed the blue unicorn.
“Trixie!” Applejack exclaimed with a frown.
“Ugh! What is that mare doing here?” Rarity grumbled.
“Hello pony I’ve never really met before! My name’s Pinkie Pie!” the pink one said in a friendly tone as she bounced up and down.
I rolled my eyes at the coming disaster and then grabbed up the rest of the girls in Luna’s magic to sit them down on the various couches, chairs, and a cushioned stool in the case of Fluttershy. “I need to go talk to Celestia. You girls…don’t…uh, on second thought, just…behave!”
With that, I stormed out the door while doing my best to get the cake Fluttershy had bombed me with off of my head. “Hey Tia, the girls need you inside for a minute,” I told her after shutting the door behind me.
The other alicorn turned to look at me and I…blinked at what I saw. Tired lines were showing beneath the white alicorn’s eyes, and there was a visible droop to the way she held her head. “Oh…Sister,” she said before blinking a few times and standing up straighter. As she did, all signs of her fatigue simply...vanished, as if by...you know, magic. “Is there something wrong?”
“OF COURSE TRIXIE IS A SHOWOFF! THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF PUTTING ON AN ACT!”
“Nighty, ensure we are not interrupted,” Luna commanded me as I winced at the shouting coming from inside the room. But even as the girls began a rather heated discussion, with the dark alicorn giving the orders, I put up a silencing barrier to keep the noise from getting outside. Then, Luna ordered me to look back towards Celestia. “Yes. Something is quite obviously wrong, with you!”
The other goddess let out a tiny laugh and gave us a little bitty smile as she closed her eyes. “Sister, you worry too much. I’m just a little tired from spending time with our friends.”
Luna snorted. “We may not be dreaming right now Celestia, but that does not mean I can not see thy falsehoods as clear as the stars on a cloudless night,” she told her sister before giving Celestia a more sympathetic expression. “Tell us what is wrong.”
“I’m just…I suppose I’m just dreading what is to come tomorrow,” she said with a sigh before plopping her big butt down. “I’m going to have to go to Dimondia and explain to them how fifteen of their number will never be coming home to their families.”
I raised an eyebrow as Tia’s head just drooped even lower. “Well…you were the one who sentenced them to Tartarus.” Although that part where they tried to eat me made it pretty hard to feel sympathy for a bunch of monsters that kidnapped Rarity and tried to force her into slavery.
Sure, they sucked at it, but...this apparently wasn’t the first time something like the double-Ds had done it, and I really don’t think all the unicorns in Equestria had Rarity’s vocal range.
The alicorn glared back up at me. “And what was I supposed to do?” she demanded in anger. “They violated the treaties, developed a taste for meat and took the lives of our little ponies! What other course of action was there? Let them go with a warning and a lie of a promise that they’d never do it again? Exile them to the far south? They would have been back inside a week to feast on cattle and sheep as unrepentant as they always are!”
“Actually Sister, that was Nighty’s suggestion,” Luna told her.
Celestia tensed for a second, then went back to her sulking stance. “Sorry for yelling. I’m just…” She let out another long sigh and looked up through the two windows that made up most of the balcony double doors. Back inside the room, I saw that the argument between Trixie and the Mane Five out of Six had developed into a pillow fight. “Luna, do you ever wish we could go back to the old days? Back before Equestria? When we lived in the Valley of the Sun. And just…lived, like them? No cares, no worries…”
“No tea, no well constructed housing,” Luna added in a dry tone. “Having to use our horns to poke holes in the ground for the seeds before we went to bed on week-old hay.”
A tiny laugh came from Celestia, but the bit of mirth she showed quickly disappeared. “Of course if we did, Equestria wouldn’t last the month,” the other alicorn said with a sigh.
I took a second to glance back in the room, and winced when I saw Applejack being held upside down by her own rope in Trixie’s magic for a few seconds before a blanket surrounded by a purple glow dropped on top of the blue mare to bundle her up.
“Nightmare, what do you think of me?”
The loaded question made me look back at the white alicorn. “Um…what?”
Celestia picked her head up a bit to look me and Luna in the eye. “For the past two weeks, I have told you of the world that those who came before me lived in,” she said. “And I have to wonder, am I a good princess? I have tried to bring harmony back to this world, I’ve tried to restore what once was under our great ancestors, but…time and time again I am beset by ponies that don’t seem to care about anything beyond themselves, creatures that demand what can not be theirs, and others that simply wish to cause disharmony because they find it preferable to living with others harmoniously.”
When Celestia finally finished, I looked back towards my neck and whispered as lightly as a dared. “Quick, Luna…say something reassuring!”
“Such as what?” the voice in my head demanded. “You are the one she wanted to talk to about this!”
I frowned at Princess No-Help, and looked back to Celestia. “Uh…I don’t really think I’m qualified to answer that question, Princess.”
Celestia shook her head. “You have spent every moment of your new life with myself or my sister,” she told me. “Your judgment isn’t clouded by my age, and you have argued with my course of action several times in the past. I think you are more than qualified to give your option.”
With Celestia verbally pinning me down, I slunk in on myself. “Didn’t you already ask me something like this before?” If I remember correctly, I had called her a good princess. And I, thankfully, didn’t have half as much information as I did now, so...it wasn’t like I was lying to her or anything.
“Not in such a way,” the alicorn said. “And that was before you knew what you know now. So tell me, knowing all that you do, what do you think of me?”
I gulped, unsure of how to answer. It was obvious Celestia was looking for reassurances, but I couldn’t just go on about how great a princess she was. Empty platitudes would just be seen right though by something like her. And to be honest, I was of two minds on the subject. More than two really, it was more like twenty. But I couldn’t really get away with stating more than two. “Well, I guess that depends on which pony you're asking, your friend, or Luna’s advisor.”
My bit of bait got a nibble from the alicorn. “I wasn’t aware there were more than two of you in there.”
“Well, it’s no different than you. You’re a pony, and a princess. And sometimes, what is the right decision for one is wrong for the other,” I said before taking in a deep breath to give me some time to organize my bullshit defense. “But the friend can’t judge the princess, just like the advisor can’t judge the pony.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Then what does the friend think about the pony Celestia?”
I sighed in relief. She wanted the easy stuff. I could do easy. Very easily in fact.
“I think you’re a great pony. You care about every living creature, even the ones that aren’t your responsibility,” I told her honestly. “You want everything in the world to live side by side in harmony and be happy as they work together. You offer olive branches and forgiveness to anything and everything that you can. And you are the example that everypony should follow.”
Celestia closed her eyes and nodded while I let out a sigh of relief.
“And as my sister’s advisor?”
I choked on my relief as Tia asked her second question.
“Well…when it comes to the other you and the opinion of Luna’s advisor,” I went on cautiously before bracing for the metal-covered hoof to smash in my face. “You’re a horrible princess.”
My rather harsh summarization of my opinion of Celestia’s job performance made the white alicorn hang her head. “I see.”
“Nighty!” Luna yelled at me before she swung our head around to look at Celestia. “Sister do not listen to this-”
I focused and managed to beat Luna back. “Hey! I’m not done yet!” I said as I tried to come up with something to soften the blow.
“You most certainly are!” Luna replied after snatching her mouth back.
“Luna,” Celestia spoke up, bringing a halt to our argument. “I asked her for her opinion, and I want to hear all of it. Now, please continue Nightmare.”
I gave Celestia my most sympathetic look. “Look…Tia,” I began. “I think the fact that you are a wonderful pony is what makes it so hard for you to be a good princess. I know you were at one time, Equestria wouldn’t exist if that wasn’t the case. But…just from the time I’ve been here and the little bit of what I’ve seen, the decisions that Princess Celestia has had to make are weighing you down as a pony. And I look around to see that many of the decisions you have been making are as a pony that thinks with her heart, rather than a princess that has to think more with her head. You…mother grown ponies that should be able to make their own decisions to the point where the government can’t even move without your say so, you fret over the removal of threats to this nation and try to force everything into this perfect little ideal of what everything should be without even looking to see if it can.”
Every leader had that problem. Well, the ones with a conscience anyway. It was why so many men of power left their offices looking thirty years older when less than ten had passed. But Celestia had ruled Equestria on her own for over one-thousand years, and many of those problems she faced were on a completely different level than what most human leaders had to deal with. Earth only had a single species that was in charge of everything, no matter the appearance, every single nation on my old planet boiled down to nothing but human beings with different ideologies. Celestia had to deal with at least half a dozen species that had very different biological makeups that made the differences between men and women look like nothing. Most of which I was pretty sure were not designed to have nearly as much free rein as Celestia was giving them.
After all, one did not simply let pets roam free.
Unlike her ancestors, who were sounding more and more like dicks the more I heard about them, Celestia was giving the non-ponies of Equestria both a chance and a choice in how they could live their lives instead of just getting rid of them via mass euthanasia or slapping a collar on the ones she wished to keep around like her great-grandparents apparently did. If anything, I respected the fact that she was able to hold onto so much of her moral center rather than throw it away like most of my former species would have done over the impossible number of years. Not to mention how easy it would be to demonize a group of creatures that didn’t even share any genetic similarities.
Plus, there was the normal pressures of ruling one’s own species. Sure, ponies were probably easier to manage than people, but a millennium alone on a throne was more than anything I wanted to even begin to take a stab at.
The white alicorn nodded at me. “Thank you for your honesty.”
“Sister, do not put much weight on the Nightmare’s words,” Luna told her harshly. “Despite her actual age, she is but a foal in many ways.”
Celestia gave us a little smile. “I never said I agreed with her Luna,” she said. “But, you’re right about one thing, the…harder decisions have been weighing on me these past couple of years. With Luna’s return, I thought things would be different, but-”
“Wait,” Luna said before Celestia could finish. “What do you mean? How were things supposed to be different when I returned?”
The question made the white alicorn’s eyes widen a bit, showing me just how much she was shaken up over this whole ordeal. I was pretty sure a completely collected Celestia would have never even said anything that put even the tiniest amount of blame on Luna for her current state. It made me tense at seeing Celestia so...out of it.
Celestia looked away from us. “I’m sorry Sister, I just…” She looked back to us, not even bothering to hide her tired expression. “Back before you returned, I thought that I could once again place some of the burdens of ruling on you once Twilight had used the Elements,” Tia explained. “I know, it was foolish. Even if I didn’t count the oddity of Nightmare Moon’s reformation, you will need months before you are truly ready to make any real decisions regarding the government of Equestria-”
My lips started moving so quickly I wasn’t even aware of Luna’s repossession of them before she started talking. “EXCUSE ME?” the Alicorn of the Night shouted. “What do you mean, I am not ready? Did you not less than a month ago tell that fop of a nephew that I am every bit a High Princess of Equestria as you? Equal in every way?”
“Well-” Celestia got out in response to the accusation before Luna started talking again.
“What it just empty words then?” the little sister demanded. “A lie for me to feel better about myself? Something you tell a foal before shuffling her off to bed?”
A shake of the head was all Celestia was able to do before Luna kept on going.
“Do you forget how I have been cleaning up your messes and oversights?” she demanded. “Or how much of a failure you have been when it comes to elevating our little ponies back to the heights that our ancestors once held? Yet, I am apparently incapable of matching the perfection known as Celestia!”
Rather than backing down from the verbal assault, Celestia grit her teeth and stepped forward to match her little sister glare for glare. “That’s not what I mean at all Luna!”
“Then prove it!”
Luna’s demand made Celestia’s anger turn to confusion. “What?”
“I said prove it,” Luna told her evenly. “While I can hardly agree with everything Nighty said to you, I do see that you are tired and need a break. So take one. For one week, I will have complete rule of Equestria in your stead. I will even raise the sun so you need not trouble yourself with anything.”
The suggestion had Celestia quiet for a few seconds before she shook her head. “Luna, if you think that me simply not going to the throne room for a week will mean ponies will stop coming to me-”
Luna cut Celestia off. “Then don’t stay in Canterlot! I see the way your face lights up whenever you receive one of Twilight’s reports. Instead of trying to live vicariously through your student you could actually go to Ponyville and do it for a week!”
That actually got Celestia to stop arguing for a moment.
But only for a moment.
“A week in Ponyville?” the other goddess mumbled before looking down at the ground. “Well…” Celestia looked back up at us.
“Do it!” Luna continued. “JUST DO IT!”
Either swayed by her argument, or afraid Luna might start using her royal voice to continue the pep talk, Celestia held up a hoof a second before she spoke. “I take it you will allow Cadance to assist you if things become too…hectic?”
“You mean the pink pony that passed on ninety-percent of the paperwork she was supposed to do when we were the ones dealing with the buffalo?” I deadpanned. Although, I thought that it was preferable to her going out and playing matchmaker.
Sure, it was probably a little unfair for me to think my…sort of still best friend just went around hooking up ponies she thought looked cute together.
But…Twilight had been pretty quick to whip out that Reform spell when Discord had been let out by Celestia. So, I had to wonder, just how much did ponies value freedom of choice as opposed to things like social order and Harmony?
And Society of the Brainwashed moral question aside, I wondered if it was the best idea for Celestia to go to Ponyville. I suppose they had gotten a bit used to seeing royalty just strolling around more than anyplace else in Equestria, but being on the edge of the Everfree, plus everything else that happened in that town...okay, that was actually a mark for going to Ponyville when I thought about it. The goddess that raised the sun wouldn’t cause more than a twenty-four hour ruckus.
My thoughts were cut short when Luna stopped her own internal debate about having Cadance do some princessing of her own. “If that is what it takes to get you to agree to a week off, then I will allow Cadance to handle a share of the responsibilities.”
“Then…I suppose that a relaxing week with the girls would-” Celestia suddenly stopped when we heard a crash sound from behind. We turned around to see one of the couches from the room behind us finish flying through the window and popping my sound dampening bubble before it landed in front of us. On it was Trixie, tied up in a way that had all four of her legs bound and dampening spell on her horn.
The mare looked up at us, blinked, and gulped. “P-Princesses, um…”
Without waiting for the blue mare to find her voice again, Celestia trotted forward and looked inside the room. “WHAT IN THE BUCKING PITS OF TARTARUS IS GOING ON IN HERE?”
After a rather predictable explanation of how a fight broke out between Trixie and the rest of the girls, I helped get the cake off the walls while Celestia undid Rarity’s newest dye job and pulled Rainbow Dash out of where she had apparently been phased into the ceiling. Then of course came the explanation of why it had broken out in the first place. That actually had Princess Celestia massaging the sides of her head with her hooves.
Which I knew from personal experience only made things worse.
“Twilight,” she groaned before lowering her hooves to look at her confused student with a disappointed frown. “Just because somepony is living their life according to a different philosophy than yours doesn’t automatically make them wrong.”
On the other side of the room, I watched Twilight’s head slant to the side, as if what Celestia had said just completely changed the laws of the universe. “But-but you always told me that I should never brag about my accomplishments and being prideful was wrong!”
Celestia’s body contorted just a smidge into a tiny wince, and she looked away from her student. “Well…that’s…I did say that...yes,” the alicorn admitted. “And I’ll admit that I might have driven those ideals into you a bit harder than I should have thanks to some…personal mistakes of my own…but...”
Then the goddess took a deep breath to steel herself and look back at the purple unicorn. “But that does not excuse you for attacking another pony because your ideals conflict with hers!”
As Twilight went into ‘crouch in terror’ mode, the blue unicorn just had to put her two bits in. “Yeah!”
“Do not think that I believe you blameless in this, Trixie Lulamoon,” Celestia said as she looked over to the unicorn, freezing her in place with a stern expression.
For her part, Trixie gulped. “Y-You know my full name?”
“Trixie, a giant space bear attacked Ponyville, partially because of what happened during your performance,” I deadpanned.
“While Nighty was still too inexperienced to offer assistance,” Luna added. “We did see the event and were given a complete accounting of the incident by the mayor of the hamlet afterwards.”
Trixie wasted no time in jumping on that particular lifeline. “But then you know it wasn’t my fault! It was those two colts that went into the Everfree Forest and brought that bear back! I was asleep in my wagon!”
Across the room, Applejack stomped her hoof. “And if you weren’t bein’ such a liar about it in the first place, that never would’a happened!”
As the rest of the girls offered their agreements and began to cast the blame on Trixie, Celestia silenced them with a stern look. Then, she turned her attention back to the magical unicorn. “Trixie, neither me nor my sister blame you for the events that transpired that night,” she said.
“And it was the Nightmare that brought the matter to my attention in the first place before we left Canterlot to find you,” Luna added. “So don’t put too much weight on her words or fear that she wishes to discipline you.”
I snorted and crossed Luna’s arms. “Hey, children are supposed to do stupid things. Sometimes, it really is the only way they’ll learn.” Or die and keep from polluting the gene pool should their stupidity be fatal, but that was a rare instance. Although how a pair of kids managed to just walk into a fucking mother bear’s den and come out alive was beyond me. “It’s the responsibility of the adults to make sure they don’t get any ideas that are too crazy,” I said before adding a few more names to the blame game. “And to be honest, Trixie barely registers on the list of ponies to point hooves at. I’m more curious about what the parents of those two were doing when their foals were off running around…or how they even survived a trip through the Everfree to begin with.”
Pinkie Pie nodded as she plopped her plot down and crossed her own pair of pony-arms. “It really doesn’t seem to be living up to its reputation as a forest that nopony ever comes out of.”
“Yes, well…” Celestia said before looking back over to the blue mare. “That said, you cannot tell me that the animosity between all of you girls is because of something that anypony can see was completely unintentional.”
Mustering up all of her courage, Twilight Sparkle got off the floor. “Well, um…Princess Celestia…like you said, Trixie’s philosophy in life is the opposite of mine and-”
“So is Rainbow Dash’s,” the white alicorn deadpanned. “But the two of you are the closest friends I’ve ever seen.”
A second later, Dashie was in the air to defend her egghead’s honor. “Yeah well, I never hogtied anypony or zapped them in the plot before!”
“You were trying to outstage Trixie during her own show!” Trixie fired back.
“That’s cause you dared us to!” Applejack yelled at her before Rainbow Dash landed next to her and formed a united front.
Luna cleared her throat. “Explanation please.”
And so began some rather...slanted synopsis of Trixie’s first appearance…
Trixie had decided to grace the meager town of Ponyville with her magnificent presence and perform a magical act the likes of which such a tiny town had never even seen! But when Trixie did begin her act, a trio of ungrateful, stuck-up, and hypocritical ponies did attempt to stop her. However, the Great and Powerful Trixie managed to triumph in the end, and was cheered by the towns ponies for her skill and bravery!
See, what happened was this blue braggart of a filly who thought she was all that and a bushel of apples came trotting into town like she was the cock of the walk, saying how much better she was then everypony and that us no-nothing’ hicks should get to Ooooin and Ahhhin at her.
Okay, so, it happened like this… Wait, Applejack, are you talking about me, or her? Cause, I’m blue too, and I tell everypony how awesome I am all the time. In fact, I’ll be doing that for a career when I get into the Wonderbolts…so…how is it you guys can be mad at her for pretty much doing what I wanna do for a living?
SHE RUINED MY MANE!
…which had Celestia raising an eyebrow, and Luna… “Nighty, shake my head in disappointment,” the dark alicorn ordered.
“The lot of you will apologize to each other about this foolishness right now!” the goddess next to me demanded before she focused on the six girls on the left side of the room. “I hardly think that throwing insults and booing a performer during her act is appropriate behavior. And you, Ms. Trixie, the fact that your act became a…one-upmareship contest hardly makes you any better! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!”
As just about every single one of the little ponies blushed in embarrassment, save for Twilight Sparkle. She actually raised her hoof. “For the record Princess, I didn’t do anything to-”
“Pony-up to defend your friends?” Rainbow deadpanned from her place behind the purple mare, causing Twilight to wince before the blue pegasus looked over to the other performer. “And uh, yeah…I guess I’d be wanting to do something about it too if somepony started shooting their mouths off if I was in the middle of an air show. So…uh…sorry, Trixie.”
The rest of the little ponies in the room got a few uncomfortable looks on their faces, and then found something interesting to look at on the carpet, walls, or ceiling as most of them rubbed their shoulders with their fetlocks. The exception of this was the Pie sister named Pinkie. She bounced over to Trixie and grabbed the girl up in in forelegs. “Great! That means we’re friends now! And if we’re friends that means you have to stay for our party to make up for Princess Cadance needing to leave!” she explained as Trixie grunted from the glomp Pinkie had given her. “Hugs!”
Celestia giggled at the sight. “Well my friends, I think that’s enough excitement for one night,” she said. “Although...before I go, I do need to ask you all something. Which among you has the biggest house?”
As every pony in the room except me and Trixie pointed over to Rainbow Dash, the pegasus gave a nervous laugh. “Hehe, yeah, I have a cloud house, so it was built on the cheap,” she said before her expression became curious. “Uh...why?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much really. It’s just that I’ll be stepping down from the throne for a week and I will need a place to stay during my vacation in Ponyville,” Celestia said with a tiny shrug casually, as if she were discussing the weather. “You know, a cloud house makes the most sense. I could just add onto it with a room or two built for a pony of my size. You don’t mind, do you Rainbow Dash?”
And thus, the floodgates of questions were opened.
It took about another hour for Celestia to explain to everyone what was going on. That she wasn’t really abdicating the throne and the sun would continue to rise as it always would. In the end, she summed it up by simply stating, “To be honest my little ponies, I need a break from princessing Equestria. A chance to rest and recharge, perhaps stretch my wings a bit and get away from the madhouse that Canterlot has become as of late. And I want to spend some time with you, all of you, as something other than some big pony with a crown,” she told them while taking off the piece of jewelry and holding it in one of her hooves before she gave them a yearning look. “That is...if you want me.”
All of the girls just stared at the white alicorn for several seconds.
I couldn’t really blame them for their shock. I mean, Celestia was supposed to be some sort of goddess of indomitable will. Not to mention life as a princess was perfect. So you weren’t supposed to want to take a break from it, and even if you did, Princess Celestia sure as hell wasn’t supposed to need one. To top it all off, Tia wasn’t just barging in like I tended to do, she was actually asking if they wanted her around. And looking pretty damn vulnerable while she was going it.
But, it only lasted several seconds before one of the ponies spoke up.
“Have the most awesome alicorn as a roommate for a week? As if I’d say no to that!” the rainbow pegasus said before she dashed over to put a pony-arm around Celestia’s neck. “And we can totally swap embarrassing stories about Twilight while you’re there.”
Said purple unicorn’s eyes went wide with horror. “Oh no.”
“Well shoot Prin-err...Celestia,” Applejack said in her country twang. “Ah recon Granny’d be happy to have ya. An’ Ah remember you sayin’ somethin’ ‘bout helpin’ with the harvest the last time you was in Ponyville, right?”
Twilight’s butt hit the floor as he hind legs gave out. “Bucking...apples,” she mumbled. “You want Princess Celestia to help you buck apples.”
Then Pinkie, with Trixie still in her death grip, chimed in. “Oh! Oh Oh! You can even come work in Sugar Cube Corner if you want Tia! With Ms. Cake getting all fat with her filly, we could use a part timer!”
As Celestia let out a laugh and agreed to lend her cake expertise to the baking enterprise, Twilight conjured a paper bag and began to breathe into it.
So, I decided that it was time for me to step in and keep what was left of Purple Smart’s image of a perfect Celestia intact. Or at least cracked but unshattered. “Okay girls, I think that’s enough. You’ll all have plenty of time to plan for what you’re all going to do with Tia on the train ride to Ponyville tomorrow,” I told them. “But, since I have to actually get up a lot earlier tomorrow, I think it’s time we turn in.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes. That seems like a good course of action,” she agreed before turning to walk towards the door.
Only to be stopped by Pinkie, and Trixie since the showmare was still being held by the pink pony...somehow, when the earth pony jumped in front of the door. “Hold it!”
The fact that a pony was actually stopping her from doing anything, or maybe it was how Pinkie just...zipped over to block her from getting to the door actually made Celestia stumble back. “Ms Pie?”
“Trixie does not feel so good,” the showmare mumbled as her head spun around in an attempt to readjust itself from Pinkie’s relocation.
Pinkie ignored the mare in her grip, and poked the big princess in the chest. “Sorry Princess Celestia, but I can’t let you leave,” she told the goddess evenly.
For her part, Celestia took the rather odd order rather well. She didn’t roll her eyes and shove the pink pony to the side for daring to order her magnificence around or anything else like that. She just cocked her head to the side and spoke. “Why is that Ms Pie?”
“Rule three-point-one-four-one-five-nine of the Pinkie Pie slumber parties says that everypony in the party has to sleep in the same room,” she stated before nodding at what was probably some kind of undeniable Pinkie-logic. “So if Nighty says it’s time to sleep, we need to haul the mattresses out here and...hmm, well...I’d guess some of us will have to double up since you and Princess Luna have such big booties that you’ll need twice as much mattress as the rest of us.”
I blinked at the explanation, then looked around to count all the doors in the common room that led to private sleeping quarters and bathrooms just to check if Pinkie was getting her mental math right. With each of the six girls getting a bed of her own, and the alicorns needing two, that left four for the six ponies. Unless of course Spike was taken into account, that meant there was three beds and...actually, counting Trixie, that meant we had seven ponies.
While I was still in the middle of my mental math and deliberations on what to do about Trixie, since she was now a slumber party participant and thus not allowed to leave, Twilight managed to recover from the latest blow her perfect image of Princess Celestia had taken. She took in a deep breath, teleported over to where the two ponies with the proportionally plumpest rumps in the room were standing, and shot her sugary friend a glare. “PINKIE! Y-You can’t just...order Princess Celestia around like that!”
Celestia giggled before her horn lit up, and all the doors around us save one opened to float in the mattresses from the bedrooms, complete with sheets. “It’s quite alright Twilight,” she told her frazzled student. “I did agree to attend this party, so I can hardly not obey the rules.”
“But-but...Cadance left!” Twilight exclaimed pointing out an obvious flaw in Pinkie’s explanation. “If she can leave, then why not Princess Celestia?”
In response to the question, Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. “She was going to have sex with your big brother, duh. It would be kinda awkward for her to give Shining Armor a ride right in the middle of the room,” she explained before getting a little thoughtful. “Plus kind of rude, giving him a ride and not offer anypony else a turn. Private parties exist for a reason you know.”
Silence descended upon the room, and I was pretty sure that Twilight’s brain encountered a critical error and had to shut down thanks to what I could only guess was the mental image that Pinkie Pie conjured in Purple Smart’s head with her words. Even Celestia got a little uncomfortable after hearing that.
So, frozen as she was, Twilight didn’t even notice when Rarity and Rainbow walked up behind her to help guide the unicorn away from Pinkie, and towards one of the mattresses that was laying on the floor.
“You see darling, this is why we don’t ask Pinkie Pie to explain things,” Rarity told her.
To which Twilight replied… “Gwa.”
“Come on Egghead, let’s hit the hay,” Rainbow said as she wrapped a wing around Twilight’s back and guided her down until she was spooning the little purple unicorn like they’d been doing it for awhile now. Which, thanks to the ‘magic glue’ incident, I was pretty sure they had.
As for me, I was left wondering how Dash was using that particular name before the Running of the Leaves. Which now that I thought about it...seemed to be late in the list of events that was supposed to have already happened.
And thanks to those thoughts, I didn’t get to snatch up the prissy unicorn or the country pony for my cuddle partner for the night. Instead, they just got in the same bed and provided what would have been the cover art pick for a RariJack ship fic.
“Applejack, get your knee out from under my tail!”
“Hey! Ain’t my fault. There ain’t much room on these things. Just...wiggle around it.”
Unfortunately, the fact they were mostly covered by the bed sheets, moving around a lot, and grunting like crazy didn’t help to put my mind at ease either. If I dreamed, I was pretty sure the scene in front of me would have made it a wet one.
With all the ponies paring off, I looked over to the odd pony out that was glancing to both me and Celestia while doing her best not to be noticed. Not that I blamed Fluttershy. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the girl that had to either go up to a goddess or a demon and ask if they could spare some room under the covers. But I couldn’t exactly invite her to spend the night with me either. Although she had warmed up to the ponification of evil that Nightmare Moon was, I wasn’t about to take Fluttershy out of her comfort zone by asking to sleep with her.
So...that only left one option.
“Okay Pinkie, I’ll take Trixie now,” I told the pink pony with the unicorn that looked as if she was starting to actually turn purple from the chokehold Pinkie had Trixie in as she was being dragged over to another mattress. To add some weight to my order, I unhooked Pinkie’s pony-arms from the showmare’s throat with Luna’s magic.
As soon as she was released, Trixie collapsed onto the ground, gasped for breath and then ran over to throw herself at Luna’s hooves. “Oh thank you. Thank you Princess. Thank you so very much.”
“Awwww, but I wanted to snuggle with Trixie,” the party pony wined.
Before I could give a counterargument, Celestia approached the pony and put a wing across her back. “I believe it would be best if Trixie is given some time to...adjust to your personality Ms Pie,” she said before looking over to Fluttershy. “And besides, isn’t there another pony here that has seniority in your friendship? While it may be good to give new friends some special attention, you shouldn’t neglect your old ones, right?”
Pinkie gasped. “Oh my gosh you’re right!” she replied before zipping over towards Fluttershy.
“Oh, it’s okay Pinkie, I don’t mind-AHH!”
As Pinkie worked to make up for lost attention with Fluttershy, which I’m not so sure if the yellow pegasus enjoyed or not, I made my way over to the combo bed set aside for me and Luna with Trixie in our magic. After getting settled, I rolled onto Luna’s back and brought Trixie in for a landing on our belly. Since the mare was still a bit discombobulated, I smiled at her and whispered gently into the girl’s ear. “Hey don’t worry, once everypony’s asleep, I’ll poof you out and into your own guestroom.”
The suggestion got a figit from the other pony. “T-Trixie...I mean, I don’t mind, Princess,” Trixie replied.
“Trixie,” Luna spoke up. “Is everything alright, my little pony?”
Unease made its way onto Trixie’s face. “It’s...well...this is...nice,” she finally admitted. “And aside from being dragged around by the pink one much too quickly...the hug was nice too. It has been a long time since Trix-I mean...I’ve been hugged.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. That hadn’t been what I was expecting to hear from Trixie.
Although...I suppose it did make a weird kind of sense. Ponies were sociable creatures, really sociable. Sure, running around a performing magic might have been Trixie’s talent/obsession, but just because it boosted her ego didn’t mean it was a replacement for whatever it was that brought ponies together and kept them that way through thick and thin.
“Okay listen up Trix, it’s Luna referring to herself in the third-pony that would drive me bananas. You can do it all day,” I told her with a smile before touching the cute little magician’s nose with my own for a second. “And if you want to cuddle for the night, I’m up for it if Luna is.”
“I have come to enjoy the feeling of another pony’s coat on my own,” my landlady replied. “Although I must insist we lay on our side. Being on the bottom of a two pony pile always makes for a terrible night’s rest.”
We rolled around a bit before I ended up on Luna’s side and pulled Trixie in close to hold her under my chin, careful not to mess with her horn. My snuggling experience with all of Luna’s helpers really came through in that regard. This was one mare that wasn’t about to have her eye poked out in her sleep.
But, before I could finalize my sleeping horse stance and dive into dreamland to wait for Twilight, Trixie spoke up. “Nightmare Moon?”
While the name from any other pony might have gotten my dander up, I was willing to give Trixie a pass. “One second,” I told her before mentally asking Luna to guide me through a Dome of Silence spell so our little conversation wouldn’t interrupt the others trying to get to sleep or be overheard. I’ll admit, it was mostly the second one though. “Okay Trix, what’cha need?”
“Well, what happens now?” she asked me.
But then Ms Second-Biggest Butt in All Equestria had to force her way into our conversation. “We thought it was clear. You will remain with us until your home is reconstructed, and then you may go on your way.”
“...oh,” the blue pony replied in a less than enthusiastic way.
“Of course,” I spoke up. “It’ll probably take awhile for everything to get done just the way you want it to be, and you’ll need to make sure the thing goes with your act. Which you’ll probably need to work on a little too. It’s been awhile since you’ve done a show, so you’re probably out of practice, right? Not to mention Luna could probably show you a few illusion spells even Celestia doesn’t know.”
Luna chuckled. “Sister is rather rough when it comes to some of the more delicate arts of magic. I shudder to think what kind of lessons she is giving over in that school of hers,” she mumbled at the end. “Something we will need to look into.”
The mare in our grip froze. “Y-You mean, you would be willing to take Trixie on as your student?”
The suggestion made me suppress a cringe. Aside from never being able to get into the Lunaverse story-line, the position of personal pupil was reserved for a short amber pony with a sun on her butt. “Hey now, let’s not go nuts,” I deadpanned.
“Indeed, I am afraid that I will be much too busy to take a student for some time,” Luna told her before she had me move her head closer to Trixie’s ear. “But I am willing to show a talented mare a few things, if she would be willing to wait for a week.”
As Trixie’s eyes widened, and alarm sirens began to sound in my head, I...couldn’t bare to crush her hopes. “Okay, but...since we’ll probably be having to deal with you during the daytime too. Tell me something, just what is it with that third-pony speak?”
“Oh...that,” Trixie replied as she got herself under control. “Well...you see...after Trixie-er, I graduated from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, I discovered a slight problem if my plans to become the most famous unicorn to ever perform in Equestria. Despite my skills in the mystic arts and performing expertise, I...um...well...I had a problem with...stage fright.”
I blinked, and took a second to process that information. “Come again?”
Trixie let out a sigh and looked down at Luna’s belly. “P-Princess, despite what I say, I know I’m not really special. Twilight Sparkle is far above what I could ever hope to be in magical power and prowess despite being years younger. I’m a fraud, and when I started out, I could just see that everypony knew it,” she said, much to my shock.
Then the little blue mare took in a deep breath, puffed her chest out just a little bit, and got a cocky smirk. “But The Great and Powerful Trixie? She was a mare worth watching, a mare that everypony cheered. She could put on a real show without an ounce of hesitation or nervousness to her voice,” she said before the air of confidence vanished and Trixie’s confident smile became more wistful. “While the scared little mare that barely ever got above average on her exams could just sit back and enjoy the show.”
I...blinked at the pony that laid herself bare to me and Luna, unsure of what to say to her.
“We thank you for this insight Trixie Lulamoon,” Luna told her before she frowned at the little pony. “Although, we find something odd about your story that we must correct.”
Trixie blinked. “P-Princess?”
“We have lived for more than a hundred of your lifetimes, and seen more of this world from the moon than even our sister,” Luna went on before she gave Trixie a smile. “And through all of that time, we have never met a pony that wasn’t special.”
As Trixie blushed at the praise, Luna continued speaking. “Now go to sleep my little pony. We shall speak of this desire for tutelage you have on the morrow, before we head to deal with the diamond dogs and their ilk.”
The mention of that quickly killed the mood for me, and a helped Trixie get to sleep with a little spell from Luna’s horn. After that, I managed to talk Luna into pulling Celestia into Twilight’s dreamscape so we could talk with her while we helped Twilight with her nightly therapy session.
If I really was going to have to deal with the diamond dogs tomorrow, then I wanted to know a bit more of their history rather than the bare bones that the alicorn sisters had fed me when it came to the founding of Equestria.
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Trixie was honestly 100% blameless. Real talk.
The worst thing during a performance are hecklers. They ruin the show not only for the performer but for the people who are enjoying the show. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash got exactly what they deserved for jumping onto the stage to attempt to upstage her even if she dared them too. If they didn't like it, just leave.
The feels have been DOUBLED and Trixie has gained +1 hugs while Pinkie talks about big butts while AJ cannot lie that neither Tia or Nighty can deny.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. More insights into Celestia, as well as Nightmare's opinion on her rule, and a very interesting and believable back story for Trixie's use if the third person.
Though I have ever to say, we are indeed getting further and further away from canon... And while I'm not sure yet how much I agree or disagree with it, I like how nightmare is trying to understand pony mentality nd morality compared to ours.
“You see darling, this is why we don’t ask Pinkie Pie to explain things,” Rarity told her.
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/569/491/fa8.png
There is probably more i could find and post, but eh, i'm too lazy to re-read everything and find relevant stuff from the internetz.
Honestly surprised that over 80 people were reading this at the same time.
Trixie is cute as button here. Her performer persona makes so much things more clear about her behavior, too. You made me want to cheer for her future to be bright.
Sunset Shimmer the student of Princess Luna... I approve.
Great chapter, once again. And I want to say, I really love your Pinkie Pie. Something about your specific dialouge/nuance makes her seem extra adorable.
Not that Twilight will ever feel that way now...
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Great chapter and it ties with my feelings about this event. I really like how you balanced Trixie's response to Hecklers against what Rarity, AJ, and Rainbow did. Of the main 6 I find those three the most prideful/boastful so I would think those three should be the most understanding of not interrupting a Show. AJ would not forgive that type of behavior at a Rodeo and the same for Rarity at a fashion show. You showed what those three did was wrong while not leaving Trixie out as completely innocent because of her reaction. Very tastefully done.
And Rainbow's reaction during the fight. Awesome.
Don't let your dreams be dreams,
DOITDOITDOITDOITDOITDOITDOITDOITDOITDOIT!!!!
I think this will end with Trixie and Twilight both sitting in a corner.
That... is a good point.
Bad idea, she'll eat all the cake in the place.
I want to see Celestia have some fun in Ponyville, but I can totally picture her visiting Cherilee's class as a special guest as her one Princess thing while she's there. It would be especially awesome if she got roped into helping the Crusaders try for a Cutie Mark and gets to know the other foals in town.
Celestia bucking apples all week? Oooooh kink...... uhhhh I mean shameful. Making a princess buck apples... Big Mac will have a good week though.
Why did you use short hand PI as the rule number?
Now that takes me back... I remember it was the Lunaverse which first convinced me to create an account here just so I could keep track of them. Ah, good times.
Oh damn, some good Trixie development? Whoohoo give us more~
Great chapter
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Love the Trixie back story, but most of all I love how we are starting to delve into things completely unrelated to the show timeline (aside from consequences). All though alternate versions of events are fun, the new original events are even more so. Like this temporary abdication of the throne!
Oh no! i'v been reading The Chase multiple chapters at a time and was dismayed to find no more chapters to read at the end of this one!
6991038
It was the Pinkie Pi rule.
awww. no rescue for marble?
6990540 This is true, but she did kind of demonstrate sociopathic tendencies in magical duel.
6991421 Genius! Pure Genius!
And the pun actually fits perfectly. Pie rules PI.
two stories in a day? you're on the roll.
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"of everything, no matter the"
"everything, and no"?
"a millennia alone"
"millenium"?
"every bit a High"
"bit as much a"?
"Although, I that it was preferable"
"I thought it"?
"what Celestia has said just"
"had said"?
"in this Trixie"
"in this, Trixie"?
"to out stage Trixie"
"outstage"?
"and not offer anypony"
"offering"?
Also, poor Twilight. :D
"one of the mattresses that was laying on the floor"
"that were lying on"?
"wondering Dash"
Is there a missing word there?
"Oh course"
"Of"?
So she is a 'Caretaker' rather than an 'Owner', lines have been crossed and her raised belief is not acceptable. The later comment that Equestria would fall apart in a month without her shows several things, that she does not believe her toys to be self sufficient, that she has coddled them into terrifying inadequacy, and that you are attempting to address our issues. I noticed that during Nightie's criticism the real issue was not addressed, their disposal of free will whenever it is inconvenient is sickening. Beyond the Immortals' lack of view on it, others seem to think the same of it. Their policy on ' forgiveness ' is that a quick spell and they're forgiven, no thoughts as to why they did what they did to begin with, because now they're in "their normal frame of mind."
Maybe I'm not expressing this right, but I find this sickening and unaddressed. Not wrong in that I lose interest, but wrong in that "I am waiting for this to be acknowledged as the real enemy."
MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!
Woohoo, another chapter of this awesomness!
I can't say that what happened between Trixie and Twi & co was unexpected.
But there still seemed to be a bit more hostility than there should have been. Oh well, they have the mentality of kids, so yeah... Unjustified grudges happen.
Also, Twi really needs to have her world views adjusted. Can't go around bluescreening everywhere if it doesn't fit with what she thinks
Still though, the insight which happened here, and the pure sweetness towards the end of Trixie opening up - that was wonderful.
This was yet another really enjoyable chapter. Not so heavy on the comedy, but still a great read
6991443
In Magic Duel, she was under the influence of an evil artifact. Hardly the proper setting to get a good read on who she is as an individual.
I ship it. Before Nighty, Luna and Trix would've made an adorable couple, both a bit of outcasts who attempts to shine in their own way.
Excellent chapter, absolutelly loved it, good work.
6991932 Trixe as we see in the show is a text book Narcissistic Sociopath.
• A driven quest for power. If a narcissistic sociopath cares about anything other than himself, it is destructive power and control over people.
• Behaviors that seek love and admiration. To be sure, this isn't needy love. It's not even emotional love. It's superficial. A narcissistic sociopath sees love and admiration as power tools to manipulate and dominate (Do Sociopaths Even Have Feelings?).
• No apologies, no guilt, no remorse under any circumstance. A sociopathic narcissist believes that she is a gift to the world who makes it richer and more colorful. Therefore, her calculated, even cruel actions are always justified, or not her fault. And any apology they give is simply another attempt at manipulation. 'See her manipulative lip quiver and this quote "Isn't the great and apologetic Trixe the most magnificent, humble pony you've ever seen?"
• self perceived Invincibility. The narcissistic variety of sociopath believes he is indomitable. Even punishment and prison can't stop him. They're merely part of the game.
• Wholly self-serving. The needs and wants of others are insignificant and undeserving of consideration.
• Act as the producer, director, and only actor of his own show. The narcissistic sociopath casts people in roles that increase his power and sense of importance and when bored, casts them aside.
6991903 That is a BIG problem for me too. (not a fan of mindfuckery)
I Wonder what will Pinkie Pie say next. Power armour is for >>cats<<?
free rein (it's a horseriding metaphor!)
a millennium (millennia is plural)
I thought that
why it had
Sugar Cube Corner
bear
6992566
You'd probably hold more weight if Magic Duel didn't happen after Ponyville effectively ruined her livelyhood and under the influence of an effectively cursed object.
6991374 I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught that
That was a snarky doctor who reference towards the end there. Nice.
6991932
Nearly all ponies can stand adversity, but if you want to test a pony's character, give them power.
ɪɴ ᴠɪɴᴏ ᴠᴇʀɪᴛᴀs
6993763
Except if there's a measurable negative effect from an outside force (see the amulet) that skews the results.
Also, side note, Celestia gives LuNighter full responsibility of the throne the day before she is supposed to explain why fourteen members of another's race will never return, not even to be tried under their country's (Side note, I must have missed the part where Diamond Dogs have land to rule over instead of being simply a faction) own laws.
She just handed off reins during a situation that is likely to result in crisis. Wars have been started for this, even when the diplomatic hold counsel to try and lessen the effects... And instead of the millennial diplomat and ruler, the negotiations shall be handled by a possessing spirit who has a severe dislike for the dogs, and Luna, who is still trying to understand the common tongue.
As a Princess Celestia is... Pure. A shining model for many to follow and believe in, but as a ruler...
...
Elements of Harmony----》all threats.
6994438 on the other hand, said spirit, unlike Celestia, doesn't consider eating meat an abomination nor the desire to do so in a sentient being a sign of inherent evil. There might still be hope for them if Nighty doesn't get too worked up into it.
Sudden fridge horror. Is that discipline spell an old remnant from the alicorn rule to make their pets behave?
YAY! New chapter! (found it only now)
When everyone is a special little snowflake no one is.
6991461
She would be the one to reach the end.......
6994902 Eating meat is no sin, but Nighty still finds it horrifying that they were eating Sentient creatures.
6996539 I might be mixing fics up then I guess.