The Wyrd of a Dragon

by Gizogin

The End

The Wyrd of a Dragon
Chapter Six

---

"Miss Trixie!"

Trixie blinked at the sound of her own name. It took a moment for her to realize that it meant somepony was calling for her. "Yes?" she answered automatically.

"Can you sign my poster? Please?"

Sign? Poster? "Oh!" That was right; she was in the lobby of her theater, signing autographs for the fans. The voice that had snapped her out of her daydreams belonged to one of them. Specifically, a little unicorn filly with a messy, yellow mane and a pink coat. She was too young to have earned her cutie mark yet, which wasn't much of a surprise. So many unicorns, once they were old enough to have learned a few spells, saw no reason to pay to see what they could do themselves for free. Any unicorn can make rope tie itself in knots, they'd say.

Maybe they have a point, Trixie thought. With a flick of her horn, she scrawled her name on the poster thrust in her face, then called for the next pony in line. Forget unicorns; Trixie can think of a few earth ponies who could have put on a better show than that.

As a rule, Trixie wasn't one to dwell on a bad performance. Fix what went wrong and move on; that was her creed. This show, though, had been harder than usual to let go, particularly because nothing had gone wrong. Trixie had practiced her repertoire so many times that she could do it in her sleep, and none of her props had broken down or caught fire this time.

Even so, as Trixie stamped out half a dozen more autographs on whatever surfaces were placed on the table before her, she couldn't help but feel that she'd put on a bad show. Her heart hadn't been in it, she realized. She'd been distracted and unfocused; though her performance had been technically flawless, it hadn't been Trixie.

It's Twilight's fault, she thought, but it sounded hollow even to her. Twilight may have been the one to ask for her help, but it had been Trixie who had decided to give it. After Trixie had brought Spike's mental representation of his body back together with his mind, the dragon had woken up. There had been tearful hugs and heartfelt thanks, or at least there would have been, had Trixie not run out of the hospital and back to her apartment as soon as possible.

I didn't even say goodbye. Trixie had done her job; more than that, she'd woken Spike up. All she'd had to do was find out why he was unconscious, and in truth she hadn't actually done that. Perhaps it was the lack of closure that kept her from moving on, or maybe it was how she'd run off without asking for a reward. Something in her mind kept screaming that she wasn't finished with Spike and Princess Twilight just yet.

A commotion at the back of the line brought the magician back to the present. It's just somepony shoving, she guessed. It wasn't too common, but her older fans sometimes got the idea that they were too important to wait like everypony else. The building's security guards would put a stop to it soon.

Sure enough, a burly stallion in a vest trotted over to the disturbance. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked, his booming baritone carrying easily across the lobby.

"He's trying to jump ahead!" answered a shrill, female voice. From her seat, Trixie couldn't see the speaker, but she didn't bother trying to get a better look. That is, until she heard the accused.

"No, I'm not!" That voice! It sounded eerily familiar and yet unlike any pony she knew. "I don't even want an autograph! I just came to give Trixie a message."

"Wait in line like the rest of us," came the shrill voice again.

"Listen, bub," the guard growled, "The Great and Powerful Trixie's time is very valuable. Either wait in line like everypony else or speak to her manager."

"Fine," the troublemaker muttered, clearly unhappy but unwilling to make an issue of it.

I know that grumble. "Spike?" she yelled, standing on her hind legs to see over the crowd. Sure enough, between the guard and a diminutive pegasus, she spotted a row of green spines that jumped at her voice.

"Trixie!" Spike yelled back. "Tell this guy to back off, will ya?"

He doesn't seem any worse for wear, Trixie noted dryly. "You heard him, Rope. Let him through."

Spike at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed as he walked past the ponies waiting dutifully in line. When he got to the table, he stopped and twiddled his claws. "Hey, Trixie," he greeted, not meeting her eyes.

"Hello, Spike. How are you feeling?" She had to reach for the words, but it was better than sitting in awkward silence until Spike found his voice again.

"Better. That's kinda why I'm here, actually."

"I figured."

"Yeah." For a moment, neither of them said anything. Suddenly, Spike seemed to notice the crowd of increasingly-less-patient ponies beside him, and he said, "When you're done here, can you come outside? Please? Me and Twilight wanted to talk to you."

Don't let her hear you say 'me and Twilight', Trixie thought. If anypony were the type to fuss over proper grammar, it would be Princess Twilight. "Sure," she agreed. Before Spike could make his exit, she called to the guard, "Hey, Rope, can we wrap this up?"

Rope wasn't surprised, or, if he was, he didn't show it; he was a professional, after all. "All right, everypony, show's over. No more autographs today." Over a chorus of complaints and dark mutterings, he kept his voice level and commanding. "Please proceed to the exit in an orderly fashion."

As the crowd of disappointed fans herded out onto the street, Trixie felt a pang of guilt. These ponies had come to see her, after all; it wasn't fair to deny them that for her own personal reasons. She couldn't do much about it now except hope for them to forgive her. Once the lobby had all but emptied out, Spike and Trixie headed for the exit.

---

Twilight had chosen to meet Trixie in Manehattan's Central Park. She was waiting on a bench when Trixie and Spike found her; as soon as she spotted them, she stood up.

"Hello, Trixie," she called, giving the showmare a little wave.

"Hello."

"I, uh, brought her," Spike said. He walked quickly over to Twilight's side, taking comfort in her presence. It was not intended to be a slight, but Trixie noticed the way the tension left his shoulders as he put some distance between the two of them.

"Thank you, Spike." Turning to Trixie, Twilight said, "You didn't give us a chance to thank you yesterday."

"Trixie didn't do it for thanks." If Spike had been uncomfortable standing next to Trixie, it was nothing to how Trixie felt now. She wanted nothing more than to forget this whole thing and go back to her show.

The princess matched Trixie's scowl with a smile of her own. "Well, thank you anyway."

"Yeah, thanks, Trixie," Spike added. "Twilight told me what happened."

"You don't remember any of it?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really. The last thing I remember was getting a carrot dog outside the hotel. Then I woke up in the hospital."

Trixie blinked. 'The key to waking him up is somewhere in his memories,' isn't that what Twilight said? If he only remembers some fast food, maybe it's a good thing I didn't find it.

"It was a fungus," Twilight said, in answer to a question Trixie hadn't asked. "It grows in some types of grains. That bun he ate was contaminated."

"Oh." Somehow, Trixie had expected it to be more dramatic. Maybe it was just the amount of trouble she'd had to go through because of it, but a bit of food poisoning seemed like a let-down. "It put him to sleep?"

"It usually just makes ponies go numb for a few days. Spike's young enough that it knocked him out instead." She dropped her gaze to the ground, shuffling her wings nervously. "He would have woken up on his own by this afternoon."

As if expecting this bit of news to make Trixie explode, Spike rushed to add that they were both grateful all the same and that they were sorry for taking up her time for nothing. Instead of screaming or running away or any of the other things Trixie really felt like doing, she just sat on her rump and laughed at the absurdity of it all. What else could she do?

"If there's anything I can do to repay you, just name it," Twilight said. The laughter seemed to have taken her by surprise.

"Do you know why I agreed to help you, Princess Twilight?" Trixie asked, once she had her breathing under control again. She didn't wait for an answer. "I thought it might make up for all the trouble I gave you in Ponyville. What kind of a reason is that?"

"But I never—"

"I know. That doesn't mean I didn't want to make it right. And then it turns out Trixie was doing all that for nothing."

Twilight and Spike looked at the ground, ashamed. "If it means anything, I think you're a much better pony than you were in Ponyville," Spike said quietly.

Trixie smiled. "You're right. And Trixie knows how you two can repay her."

"Oh?" The old Trixie, the one who had traveled across Equestria to humiliate ponies and talk herself up, would have exploited a favor like this for her own gain. They all knew it. From the way Twilight looked up and smiled, it was obvious she agreed with Spike's assessment, even if she wouldn't say so. She didn't seem worried about what she might be asked to do; if anything, she looked proud.

There was only one thing Trixie could demand that would make things right. It really was obvious. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has one more show tonight. The two of you will attend and witness feats of magic beyond imagining!"

Trixie's words were punctuated with an explosion of confetti and a fanfare. As she dropped back to all fours, the most magnificent magician in Manehattan coughed and added, in a much quieter voice, "And, um, can I get your autograph?"

Author's Note:

Well, here we are. The end of the sequel to the first story I ever wrote.

This is the part where I tell those of you who are interested about all the little secrets and behind-the-scenes trivia that went into writing this story. The first thing I can say is that this story fought me every step of the way. Believe it or not, Trixie only came into the picture at the last moment. Every time I envisioned a pony venturing into Spike's mind to help him through some issues, it was always Rarity. I got so wrapped up in trying to make her fit with the image I wanted to create that when I couldn't make it work I nearly scrapped the whole thing.

This story started in my head much like all my other story ideas do: with a single scene. In this case, it was Spike in a dark cave, facing down the brave knight from his dreams and the massive beast from his nightmares. Behind him stands Rarity, wanting to help but knowing that she can't, as the little dragon is torn between the hero he wants to be and the dragon he fears he will become. He is stuck there until he decides who he is.

You may recognize some of the elements of this scene that made it into Chapter Five, with a few obvious changes. The absence of Rarity is a pretty big one. I wanted to address Spike's crush on her, among other features of their relationship, but I couldn't find a way to do it that I was satisfied with. I didn't have a way to get her into his head, either, since there always seemed to be another pony that Twilight would choose instead (though Trixie was never one of them ).

Enter The Great and Powerful Trixie. Immediately, I have a way to justify her presence; Twilight is too powerful, but Trixie has shown some subtlety (so has Rarity, but I digress). That then gives some opportunity for character reflection, since Trixie has to acknowledge the fact that Twilight is on another level when it comes to magic. I have a location (even if Trixie's stage show is only mentioned in the comics; I'll come back to those in a bit), and that gives me a few ways to introduce the conflict. As soon as I swapped out Fashion Horse for Purple Hat, everything just fell into place.

Believe it or not, I didn't realize I was writing a piece on Freudian psychology until around chapter five. The three mental representations of Spike line up almost perfectly with the id, ego, and superego. Honestly, had I spotted this earlier, I would have changed it, because I don't have a very high opinion of Freud's work. It worked for the story, though.

Now, I mentioned the IDW comic series. The impetus that got me to actually start putting ideas to paper was "Friends Forever #17", funnily enough. Those of you who've read "The Soul of a Pony" might have noticed a few similarities between the two; for everyone else, both SoaP and #17 involve Twilight hopping into ponies' heads to learn more about them as their central themes. #17 only has two ponies–specifically, Big Macintosh and Twilight herself–while SoaP has six, but in both cases Twilight's head is a library, while an Apple family member's is Sweet Apple Acres. Personally, I think it's a case of great minds thinking alike with hilarious levels of resemblance. (Ted Anderson will be hearing from my lawyers as soon as I find some. And some money to pay them. ) I can't really say why that comic ended up being the last push to get this thing done, but there you go.

Anyway, the actual writing of the story was a breeze once I got some momentum going. As with everything I write, the story and the characters follow their own paths; I just record where they go. The only other thing I want to comment on is the ending. It's the last thing readers take with them, and I can never get them quite right. In this case, I went with something that made me smile. I think that's as good a reason to choose it as any.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Gizogin]

It's over!

[DracoDarastrix]

Hmmm kinda disappointing that all that work was in the end for nothing. None the less great story.

[RadicalDishonesty]

I am... not sure what this is trying to do with Spike's character. There's quite a bit of stuff that is implied by it, although I think... especially the intellectual aspect of Spike is rather debatable, but the aspects are ultimately interesting bits of Spike's character that I liked reading about.

However, it doesn't seem like there's much exploration of them or tying of them together, nor any real... progress for Spike. The ending particularly doesn't really reconcile his different aspects, nor even goes into their conflicts, it just says "Oh! That's right, I'm one person. Okay." and then it ends.

I suppose it fits together with the idea that this wasn't Spike actually having a psychological problem so much as falling ill, but... it still leaves me a little underwhelmed. Like there was this buildup to a resolution, but instead of a resolution we just get a cessation of the buildup.

[RTStephens]

From my perspective, it seems we learned more about Trixie in this story than we did Spike. I suppose that's to be expected since we see all the events through Trixie's perspective.

Not sure how to think about this ending. It just sort of ends. Well, I at least got enjoyment out of the journey, so congrats on that!

[NeccAnon]

Your writing here for the first fanfiction and sequel you've ever done is better than some other writers who have done many more. Keep writing!
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? You should!

[PiMan]

Did I miss something? Because I don't see why Twilight didn't go in herself.