Start Of A New Life

by Madox

Chapter 5 - The Curse Of The Amulet

Chapter 5 – The Curse of the Amulet

“Trixie, stop hesitating and get into the chariot,” Twilight groaned. She sat in the chariot that arrived a few minutes ago and was getting annoyed about Trixie behavior. “I told you already, nopony is going to arrest you.”

Trixie stood outside of the library near the front door, not moving an inch toward the chariot. “Are you really sure about that after anything that's happened? Why else would the princesses have been searching for Trixie all over Equestria for weeks?”

Twilight was surprised as well about that part of the letter, but not as concerned as Trixie was. “Yes, I'm sure. Trixie, Princess Celestia told me after the incident with the amulet that there would be no consequences for you. She knows that it was the influence of the amulet that made you enslave Ponyville. And besides, do you really think that Princess Celestia would send a chariot with two guards pulling it, that are now patiently waiting for you instead of arresting you on the spot by force?”

Trixie hesitated a few moments more before she trotted over to join Twilight in the chariot. “Thank you,” Twilight huffed with relief. She turned her attention to the two guards at the front of the chariot. “We are now ready for our departure, sirs.”

The guards nodded and after a short run, got airborne and started their flight to Canterlot.

During the flight Twilight kept staring at Trixie, who was watching the passing scenery. ‘Not much longer and we'll meet with the princesses, then Trixie will finally be able to sleep in peace again.’ “You’ll see Trixie, everything will be fine by the end of today.”

“Trixie hopes you’re right, Twilight,” Trixie said before she turned around to face her. “How long till we arrive at the castle?”

“Not long, maybe a hour or so. The princess sent the fastest guards to get us. Just look ahead. With every moment Canterlot is getting bigger in the distant.” Trixie moved her eyes to the front of the chariot. There in the distant she could make out the approaching capital of Equestria in the distant. “It's an amazing sight to behold, don't you think?”

Trixie just readjusted her eyes to the opposite direction with a frown. “Trixie would prefer not to see or even visit that place as long as possible. If this were not the only place to find a solution to the nightmares, she would never return.”

Twilight was taken aback by that comment. ‘Return? Did she used to live in Canterlot? What happened? Why does she hate Canterlot?’ From the way Trixie said that, she could conclude that this was something she’d rather not talk about talk about, but Twilight's curiosity got the best if her. “Wait, you’ve been to Canterlot before?”

Trixie stayed quiet for a moment as she stared at Canterlot before she answered, with a tear running down her cheek.

“Memories...Bad memories...”

~*~

Trixie remained silent for for the rest of the trip. ‘I’m really curious about Trixie's past in Canterlot, but if she doesn't feel comfortable sharing, than I will respect her wishes.’ So Twilight refrained from asking Trixie anymore questions.

An hour later, they arrived at the front gates of the castle and exited the chariot after it had descended to the ground. While Twilight thanked the guards for the flight, Trixie stared in awe at the big front gate of the castle.

She'd never seen the castle up this close before. From afar it already looked amazing, but now seeing it right in front of her was beyond everything she ever dreamed of. And this was just the front gate. She couldn't wait to see the interior behind these doors.

Trixie's thought were interrupted by a purple hoof that bumped her on the shoulder. She turned her head around to look at Twilight. “Ready to go inside or would you like to look at the gate a bit longer?” Twilight asked with a chuckle before she walked towards the huge door, which were opened by the two guards guarding the entrance. With a slight blush on her cheeks Trixie followed Twilight inside.

On the other side of the gate they both were welcomed by a cream colored, gray-haired unicorn with a mustache. He wore a dark red coat with a gray cravat and a small pair of glasses on his muzzle.

“Welcome, Miss Sparkle, Miss Lulamoon,” he greeted with a small bow of his head. “I hope you had a good flight from Ponyville.”

“Hello, Kibitz. It's good to see you again. The flight was... quiet and interesting,” Twilight answered. ‘In regards of Trixie's comments about her past at least.’

The stallion nodded and turned to the side. “The princesses are waiting for you in the West Wing conference room. If you could just follow me...”

Kibitz began to lead them to their destination. While Twilight talked with Kibitz during the walk, Trixie looked around in awe. She'd visited a lot of places during her travels across Equestria, but none came even close to the breathtaking castle of the rulers of Equestria.

There were beautiful carpets on the floor, such hoof-made masterpieces, that it made Trixie
feel guilty walking upon. Amazing tapestries hung on the walls with the emblems of the sun and moon as well as embroidered pictures of the royal sisters. Trixie felt a little uneasy seeing how many guards were patrolling the castle.

Trixie was so lost in thought that she didn't notice that Twilight and Kibitz had stopped in front of a door until she bumped into Twilight. She mumbled a small apology before they both turned to the door.

Kibitz used his magic to open the door and walked inside with both mares behind him. “Your Majesties, Miss Sparkle and Miss Lulamoon have arrived.”

“Thank you, Kibitz. That will be all for now,” Trixie heard a calming voice say. Kibitz bowed his head and left the room. Now Trixie was able to take a look inside the conference room.

There were tapestries with the emblem of Equestria on the walls on the left and right and a huge window with a balcony on the opposite site of the room. Outside of the window, was one of the most stunning sights of Canterlot Trixie had ever seen.

In the middle of the room was a big round table that could easily sit at least ten ponies. At the moment, however, it was vacant save the two princesses.

Trixie didn't know how to feel. On one hand, she always dreamed of meeting one of the princesses, and now she was about to meet both of them at the same time. Under normal circumstances, she would be thrilled.

However, due to her past, she was afraid as to what might happen. While Twilight was more than confident that they would not do anything, something inside of Trixie’s mind still begged to differ. Plus, it didn’t help that both of the princesses had indistinguishable looks on their faces.

Trixie’s first thought was to turn and run away, but there was no way that she could escape the princesses inside of their own castle. Seeing her uneasiness, Twilight laid one hoof on her shoulder and whispered,“Trixie, everything will be fine. Trust me.”

Twilight’s voice managed to reassure Trixie. She composed herself and took a deep breath. With a nod, she signaled Twilight that she was ready and both mares walked forward to meet the princesses. They bowed and both spoke in unison. “Your majesties.”

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, it is good to see you again,” the solar princess addressed Twilight before she turned to Trixie. “And I'm delighted that you are here as well, Miss Lulamoon. Before we start there is one thing I would like to do.”

Celestia started to walk closer to Trixie who stepped back, hanging her ears. ‘That's it,’ Trixie thought. ‘She is going to punish me. She’ll arrest me, banish me or worse, she’ll-’

“I want to apologize to you.”

‘Wait, what?’ Trixie thought in confusion. ‘Why is the mighty ruler of Equestria apologizing to me? Did I miss something?’ “Y- your highness, why are you apologizing to Trixie? She doesn't understand.”

If the princesses were confused about Trixie’s third-person speaking they didn’t show it. “It is our task as Equestria’s rulers to keep our little ponies out of harm's way. However, we were not able to keep the Alicorn Amulet from the public. Because of that, you were able to get it in your possession and for that I want to apologize to you for everything you had to endure since you used the Amulet.”

Trixie was confused,she had no idea how to respond to that.

“So you are not going to arrest Trixie? O-or punish her?” she finally managed to ask.

“What could make you think we would arrest you?” Celestia asked, wondering how she could think that they would do such a thing.

Before Trixie could say anything, Twilight joined their conversation. “Your Highness, when we got your letter this morning, she heard you were looking for her for some time and she believed that you would arrest her for everything she did under the influence of the Amulet. I tried to tell her that you would not do anything, but she still wasn’t convinced.”

“So that's why.” Celestia turned her attention back to Trixie. “Be assured, Miss Lulamoon, we would never arrest somepony for our mistakes. You needn’t be afraid of us, we only want to help you with the after effects of the Amulet.”

“So these nightmares, are they really from the Amulet?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, but let us explain. But first, we should get comfortable. This could take a while and the tea is getting cold,” Celestia said with a smirk.

Trixie was relieved that she now knew for sure that she didn't need to be afraid of the princesses. After they all got comfortable in their seats at the table, Trixie picked up the cup of tea in front of her and took a small sip of it. 'Chamomile, not my favorite, but still pretty good.'

“Very well,” Celestia said, getting the attention of the mares in the room, “I believe you both have some questions about the condition Miss Lulamoon is in. My sister and I will try to answer them to the best of our abilities, however, I cannot promise an answer to every question you might have. The Alicorn Amulet is a powerful artifact that still holds mysteries that even we have yet to solve.”

“What kind of mysteries are there that even you don't know about, princess?” Twilight asked with concern. It was hard to believe that her wise and immortal teacher with knowledge of countless centuries, if not millennia, did not know something about a magical artifact like the Alicorn Amulet.

“The most troubling of these mysteries,” Celestia said looking down at the table. “We don't know who created the amulet in the first place, nor how they did it. The first time my sister and I encountered the amulet, we learned from it’s wearer that he found it in a mountain cave, so it's origins are unknown to ponykind. To think that somepony was able to create an artifact with such powers worries us even now.”

“Most of the other mysteries about the amulet are about it's capabilities,” Luna took up the explanation from her sister. “One of the only known ability of the amulet is it’s increasing potential of the magic of it's user and the corrupting side effects it has on the the mind, however these are not the only ones. Thy condition, Miss Lulamoon, is one of those mostly unknown ones.”

“But what exactly is happening to me?” Trixie asked. “Will there be more terrible things that happen to me than the nightmares?”

“We can assure you, the nightmares are the only thing you have to worry about, but you should not takes them lightly.”

“Princess, I think it would be the best to explain what’s going on with Trixie,” Twilight said. “It would be easier to understand if we knew about the source of the nightmares.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “You are right, Twilight. As you both know, the amulet increases the magical capabilities of the pony that wears it, but at the same time, it corrupts the soul and mind through the amulets own magic. When the amulet is removed from the wearer, the magic retreated inside of the amulet, but a very small part remains. This part is so small, that it is nearly impossible to be noticed, but it cannot affect the mind and soul like the amulet did before.”

“However, this small part of the amulet’s magic is the source of thy nightmares. Miss Lulamoon,” Luna began. “It affects the subconscious of thee. Thou will not notice anything if thou are awake, but in the night, when the body and the mind are resting, it can affect thou through dreams.”

“There is something I don't understand, Princess Luna,” Twilight said. “You are the Princess of the Night, you protect the ponies from their nightmares by entering their dreams. Why can’t you just help Trixie the same way? Why did you need to find her personally?”

“The amulet magic inside of Miss Lulamoon may not be strong enough to affect her stronger personally, it is still able to protect itself. It is even capable of blocking our entrance in Miss Lulamoon’s dream. That is the reason why we can not help her this way.”

“Y-you mean, even you can’t help Trixie with your strong magic? Neither of you?” Trixie asked worried while she looked at both princesses. Even Twilight was shocked to hear that the princesses were helpless.

“Please, don't misunderstand us,” Celestia began to explain, “we could rip this dark magic from you at any time with our magic, but we won't do that.”

Trixie stared in disbelief at the two princesses in front of her. She couldn’t understand why the princesses would do something like this to her. Was it still some kind of punishment for what she did?

She was so lost in thought that she didn't even noticed an angry Twilight standing up and staring at her mentor in fury. “Princess, how can you say something like this! She made mistakes, but she had suffered enough for these. Why won't you help her?”

“Because if we do this, it might cost her her life,” Celestia said calmly to her student.

“WHAT!” both of the mares shouted as one.

“As we mentioned, the magic affects thy subconscious, Miss Lulamoon,” Luna said. “If we were to rip the magic from thee forcefully, it might do irreparable damage to thy mind, from light memory damage to complete destruction of thy mind. That is the same reason why I can not enter your dreams by force. It would be easy for us, but more than dangerous for thee.”

“S-so there is n-nothing you can do?” Trixie asked, starting to sob, her eyes facing the table. “T-trixie has to live with this for the rest of her live or take the risk and maybe lose her mind?”

“No, there is a way for you to release yourself from this curse,” Celestia said. Trixie raised her head at these words, a new spark of hope igniting inside of her, “but this is something only you can manage, Miss Lulamoon. We can not help you with this part, we can not even say what you need to do.”

“What do you mean, your highness? Trixie is confused.”

“A few hundred years ago, a unicorn from a distant town fell for the power of the amulet, and he went against his own hometown. He brought a great deal of destruction, before I arrived and managed to get him to took of the amulet, similar like Twilight did with you. After the removal of the amulet he started to get nightmares as well, and he lived with it for some time.”

“One day I got a letter from him. The nightmares had stopped, but he was not able to tell me what he did to manage that. We were never able to figure that out, and without Luna's ability to dream walk to do more research in the dream realm, there was no way for me figure it out.”

Luna looked Trixie in the eyes. “We believe that this is your only chance to defeat the curse, Miss Lulamoon. Thou must figure out how to free thyself. And thou must do it post haste.”

“Why? Is there more about this curse I need to know?”

“It seems that this curse goes through 3 different phases,” Celestia started. “In the first one, the nightmare will not be that much different from the usual ones you experience from time to time. In the second one, however, everything changes. You will see events from your daily life, but transformed into terrifying nightmares, no matter if your day was the best of your life, in your dreams it will be the worst.”

“That's... horrible,” Twilight said with shock on her face. A moment later she realized something and turned her head to face Trixie. “Trixie, what did you dream of last night in the library?”

Trixie was taken aback by Twilight's questioned. “W-why is that important now? Trixie don't think that this is impor-”

“You dreamt of Spike, am I right?” Trixie stared at Twilight with her mouth wide open. “That would explain your reaction when you saw him in the kitchen. You were not just afraid of him, you were terrified.”

Trixie lowered her head and dropped her ears. “Yes, it was Spike, and it was horrible. Trixie couldn't help herself this morning when she saw him.”

“Then you’ve already reached the second phase of the curse,” Celestia mumbled, “this is not good.”

“What do you mean, princess?” Twilight asked while comforting Trixie.

“The time between the different phases of the curse seems to depend on the pony and how long it wore the Alicorn Amulet. Since Trixie only wore it for a few days we hoped that she got more time, but we were wrong. And, we can not predict how long it will be before she reaches the third phase, which will be the hardest.”

“What could happen that is worse than the dreams Trixie already has?” Trixie asked with worry.

“After some time the magic will get access to your memories. When this happens, your dreams will change once again and you will re-experience your worst memories, but even worse than they originally were.”

Trixie's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “N-no, oh please, no. T-there is no way that Trixie could stand that.” After a few moments of mumbling to herself, Trixie looked back to Celestia. “Is there nothing you can do to help Trixie?”

“As I said, there is nothing we can do to lift the curse without risking your life,” Celestia said sadly. Trixie lowered her head again and was at the edge of tears. “But, there is one thing we can do to help you to bear this burden.”

“There is?!” both Twilight and Trixie exclaimed, the latter with new hope in her eyes.

“Yes, there is.” Celestia used her magic to levitate a small chest from behind her on the table. “As you can imagine we’ve had several encounters with the Alicorn Amulet over time and some cases of the curse after these encounters. So we learned every time something new about how the amulet works and were able to create this.”

The chest opened and inside was a golden amulet with two gems as the centerpieces, a ruby in the shape of the sun and a sapphire in the shape of a crescent moon. Celestia levitated it from the box in front of Trixie who only stared at the piece of jewelry.

“We both created this amulet to counter the magic of the curse,” Luna said. “If thou wear it, it will create a shield in thy subconscious to protect thee from the nightmares. Sadly, it can not give thou other dreams, so thou will be dreamless as long as you wear the amulet.”

Trixie used her magic to attach the amulet around her neck. She really didn’t like the feeling of it since it reminded her of the Alicorn Amulet, but this was her only chance to live a normal life again. “That is way more than Trixie could hope for, princess. Trixie don't know how to thank you,” she said, looking up at the princesses.

“Don't thank us yet, Miss Lulamoon,” Celestia said with concern, “there are a few things you need to know about the amulet. First, it will not work immediately after you put it on. It needs a few hours to adjust to your own magic and the curse magic. But, it should be ready by this evening.”

Celestia took a deep breath. From what she knew about the mare in front of her, this could be the hardest part. “Second, the amulet can not function on it's own all the time. It uses the magic stored inside of it to protect you, but this magic must be restored after some time. How long it takes before it needed to recharge depends on the strength of the curse, but we think the magic should hold at least a week now.”

“Trixie don't thinks that that should be a problem, she can recharge it during her travels and –.”

“We are afraid that the magic necessary must be very powerful, Miss Lulamoon.” Luna said. “And even if thou would possess this powerful magic it would not be possible. The magic of the curse inside of thy is too close to your own magic. It would be able to counter it, rendering it useless.”

“At this moment we only know about 4 beings in Equestria who are able to recharge the amulet. Three of these beings are us Alicorns. So our first suggestion for you, Miss Lulamoon, is either to move to the Crystal Empire or to stay in Canterlot so that one of us princesses can recharge the amulet. However, since Princess Cadence does not have any experience with the curse, we believe it would be the best to stay in Canterlot, or at least close enough that in case anything unexpected were to happen, we could help.”

“But, what about Trixies' career? She's a traveling show mare, she just cannot stop traveling and abandon everything in her life. And she don't want to be in Canterlot any longer than necessary.”

“We can't and won't force you to do anything, Miss Lulamoon,” Luna said in a calm voice, “but it is either abandon your life on the road and live a mostly normal life till we can break the curse or suffer from the nightmares every day. It is your choice.”

“Trixie, calm down,” Twilight said with concern in her voice. “Your career is not running away from you. Since winter is coming soon, you could see it as a small break to prepare your shows and let the ponies forget about the incident with the Alicorn Amulet for some time. And, hey, as soon as we break the curse, you can go back on the street with the best performance Equestria has ever seen.”

Trixie had to admit, Twilight's suggestion was pretty good. The winter season was always the hardest for her. No matter how good her caravan was, it was always cold, and most ponies were not eager to go on the cold streets to watch a magic show, no matter how great and amazing it might be. “That doesn’t sound too bad, but Trixie still doesn't like the idea of being back in Canterlot for that long.”

Twilight didn't know what she should say. Just what happened in her past that Trixie doesn't want to be in Canterlot no matter the reason? Simply asking her about it don't seems to be a good idea, it is clear that it is a delicate issue for Trixie.

“With your concerns about living in Canterlot, there might be another solution for you,” Celestia said before she continued with a smile. “As I mentioned, there is another pony that can charge the amulet, and I'm pretty sure that she could help you immediately.”

Trixie looked over to the princess in confusion. She could not think of anypony who would just help her without any reason. “Really? Who would that be? Who would be willing to help Trixie?”

“The mare I'm speaking of is right beside you,” Celestia said, still smiling.

It took both mares a few seconds to process the words before they looked at each other, their jaws wide open. After a few moments Twilight turned her head to look at the princess. “You mean me?”

“Of course, Twilight. Who else would I think of with a task like this? You are not only my most faithful student, you are also probably the most powerful unicorn in Equestria and not to forget, magic is even your element.”

Twilight blushed slightly at the comment. “I-I don't think that I'm that special...”

“Wait, what do you mean magic is her element?” Trixie asked confused. “Trixie admits that Twilight is really powerful and that she is your student, but why would you say that magic is her element? That seems a bit much to me.”

It was silent in the room, none knew what to say. Lastly, Twilight coughed slightly. “Trixie, do you know about the incidents with Nightmare Moon and Discord in Ponyville with the Elements of Harmony?”

“Of course she does, that was the reason why Trixie went to Ponyville the first time. Trixie wanted to hear the story from some of the townsponies to be sure the newspapers didn't write any of the story wrong. But, what does that have to do with anything right now?”

“Trixie, the ones who defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord with the Elements were my friends and me.”

After a few seconds Trixie realized what Twilight had said and her eyes turned small like pinheads in shock. “Y-you mean... You and your friends are... And you... the Element of Magic?!”

“Well, I'm not the Element of Magic directly, I'm only its bearer, but yes, you could say that.” It took a few moments for Twilight to realize that Trixie seemed to be frozen. “Trixie, are you OK?” She asked while she waved a hoof in front of Trixie's eyes.

“T-trixie enslaved the bearers of the elements and even banished one of Equestria's heroes from her town,” Trixie muttered to herself with a twitching eye. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

It took Twilight a few minutes, but she finally managed to calm Trixie down again. “Trixie's sorry for her behavior,” Trixie said. “This was a big surprise and much to take in. Trixie knew that Twilight was your student, your highness, but she didn't know that she was one of the element bearers.”

“No need to apologize, Miss Lulamoon,” Celestia said with a smile. “We did our best to make sure that Twilight and her friends could keep their privacy. But now let's go back to the matter at hoof.”

“As I said, Twilight is the other pony who should be able to charge the amulet. So, the other option for you besides living in Canterlot would be to live in Ponyville so that she can help you.”

Trixie thought about that for a few moments as well. She didn't like the thought to live in the town she enslaved, but at least she would not be forced to stay in Canterlot. “That sounds much better, your Highness.”

“And I will do anything I can to help you, Trixie,” Twilight said. “You can live with me in the library, I got a spare bed and...

“No.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Trixie?”

“Trixie will not live in the library with you.”

Twilight was taken aback. “Why not, Trixie? You haven’t a home and I want to help you.”

“You already helped Trixie so much, Twilight, and she's grateful for your help. But, Trixie don't need your pity, she can and will live on her own. Trixie also doubts that Spike would appreciate it if she started to live under the same roof as him.”

“Trixie doesn't know where she will live yet, but she will find something. After all, how shameful would it be for the Great and Powerful Trixie to not find a place to sleep.”

Twilight thought about that for a moment and realized that she had a good point with Spike. He’s already angry about Trixie being at the house in the first place, he would never forgive her if Trixie started living with them after she assured him that it is only temporary. “I think I understand you, Trixie,” Twilight sighed, “but at least stay for a few days, so that we can find a place for you to stay, OK? I won't let you sleep on the streets.”

“Trixie guesses a day or two won't do any harm,” Trixie said. She would also like to have a proper bed for once after her time on the streets. “If Spike is OK with a few more days, than Trixie will accept your offer.”

“I'm glad that we could find a solution, but there is one more thing I must bring up to you,” Celestia said. “The amulet might protect you for now, but I'm afraid that it can not protect you forever. You will notice that the time between the charges of the amulet will decrease. The magic of the curse increases over time and more magic is necessary to hold the barrier. You might experience some nightmares when the amulet run out of magic without you noticing it, but one day it will become strong enough to break through the protection. From this day on, the amulet will be worthless for you.”

“Trixie understands, your Highness,” Trixie said with a gulp.

“Princess, may I ask a question?” Twilight asked. After a nod from Celestia she continued. “Do you know why this curse exists at all? Is it only to punish the former bearer of the Alicorn Amulet, or is there a purpose behind it?”

“I'm afraid that we don't know for sure, we can only guess from our experiences of the past.”

“We believe that the purpose behind the curse is to drive the cursed one to seek the Alicorn Amulet again,” Luna said. “To look once again for its power and to wear it again, so that the amulet can once again take control.”

“Did this happen before?”

“Sadly, yes,” Celestia said sadly. “It happened once to a former student of mine. We both managed to free her from the amulet and the nightmares started. After some time she became so desperate that she tried to break into the chamber in which the amulet was stored to get it back. She was so desperate that she even attacked us. She somehow managed to distract us and got her hooves on the amulet again, and we had to fight her in the end. And that time, we were not able to help her...”

“We expect to get a letter whenever thou notice that thy curse is growing stronger, to prevent thee from this fate,” Luna said. “If thou ever reach this phase, Miss Lulamoon, we still can try to rip thou of the curse with force, if you wish so, but we won't let you get your hooves on the amulet again.”

“T-trixie understands, your Highness.”

“I think that was everything you need to know about the amulet and the curse. Do you have any more questions?” Celestia asked.

“I've got one more, Princess,” Twilight said. “There is one thing I don't understand about the Alicorn Amulet. You said that you had to fight against it multiple times over the centuries. How could it get away from you if you got your hooves on it so often? I would imagine that you would’ve lock it away.”

“We did lock it away every single time, Twilight. That’s another mystery we can not explain yet. Somehow, the amulet seems to disappear after some time without any trace. We don't know how that is possible, we had enough protection spells around it that not even one of us would be able to dissolve the spells without the other to notice. It might be possible that there is some kind of teleportation spell on the amulet, that teleports it away if there is no bearer for some time.”

“That is hard to believe, but the only explanation we have,” Luna said, “besides the possibility that there is someone out there that can break through our protection spells.

“We do anything possible to find the amulet every time it disappears, but that is not always possible, as thou can see. We can’t track it down through the magic inside, so we mostly rely on luck that it appears somewhere and gets reported.”

“On this matter, Miss Lulamoon,” Celestia said, “where and how did you find the amulet?”

Trixie thought for a moment before answering. “Trixie found a book lying around in the streets, with a bookmark at the side of the amulet and a note where to find it, but nothing about the corrupting ability. It was in a curio-shop in Manehattan where Trixie bought it for a large amount of bits from the shop-keeper.”

Both princesses looked at each other in concern before they turned back to Trixie. “Could you tell us where to find the shop, so that we can investigate further?” Celestia said. “We would also like to see the book you found.”

Trixie nodded. “The location should not be a problem, but Trixie has no idea what happened with the book. One day it was simply gone without a trace.”

“That does not sound good,” Luna spoke. “It might be possible that somepony arranged everything so that thou would find the amulet.”

Trixie looked at the princess with fear in her eyes. “That’s terrible, who would do something like this?”

“There is no way for us to say at this moment, but we will investigate this and find the one behind it.”

The tension in the room was immense, just thinking about the possibility that the whole incident was planned caused shivers running down Twilight’s back. There were a few long moments with silence, before Celestia spoke again. “Now, you’re sure you do not have any more question that you’d like us to answer?”

“One more question, princess,” Twilight said. “If the amulet is that dangerous, wouldn’t it be the best solution to destroy it once and for all?”

“Usually this would be the best solution, but we are afraid what might happen if we try to destroy it. Inside of the amulet is a huge amount of dark magic stored. If we destroy the amulet, the magic might do much more harm than it could do inside of the amulet. Was that all the questions you had?”

She received a few nods and went on. “Very well, Miss Lulamoon, I'm glad that we were at least able to help in some ways. Now it is up to you to find out how to cure yourself. But, if you ever have any questions, feel free to write to one of us and we will try to answer you.”

“Thank you, your Highnesses.”

“Twilight, if you would come with me, then I will teach you the spell to recharge the amulet.” Twilight and Celestia walked over to the window to discuss the spell and Trixie stayed at the table with Luna.

“Miss Lulamoon?” Trixie looked at the princess of the night. “There is something we want to ask thee.”

Trixie didn't know what Princess Luna might want from her, but why should she question the princess. “If Trixie can, she will answer your question, your Highness.”

“Thou must know, the Lulamoons are an old family, and they used to be some of our most loyal subjects before Nightmare Moon and our banishment.”

“After our return some of the old family relatives approached us and we were delighted to find so many of our loyal subject after such a long time. But, we never heard anything of the Lulamoons. We expected the worst, until we learned of thee. So, we would like to know how your family is doing.”

Trixie was silent for some time, staring at the table without any motion. “Trixie's sorry, your highness. But this is something Trixie would like not to talk about, if you don't mind. It's too painful.”

Lunas' eyes grew when she heard that. “Thou has our deepest apologies, Miss Lulamoon, we are sorry that we mentioned it. We can see that this is hard for thou to talk about.”

“Thank you, your Highness...”

~*~

Twilight didn't need long to learn the spell from Princess Celestia. Celestia also explained that her and Trixie both had to look out for the glowing of the gems to know when the amulet needed to be recharged.

After they departed from the princesses, Twilight and Trixie were brought back to Ponyville by chariot, but Twilight noticed during the ride that Trixie was sad again. She didn't know why, but she concluded that it was because of everything she’d heard about her condition.

Twilight discussed with Trixie that they would tell Twilight's friends about what was going on with her, so that they can help both of them and, so that Twilight doesn't need to hide something important like this from them. Trixie was OK with it, as long as it would only be her friends and nopony else. Both mares arrived in Ponyville in the late afternoon and walked over to the library.

“Don't worry, Trixie. Everything’ll be fine, you’ll see. We will find a way to break this curse and then, you can go back to your career.”

“Trixie really hopes so,” Trixie said solemnly.

“For now, get some sleep. You really need it after more than 3 months of nightmares. Tomorrow we will go to explain everything to my friends about the situation. I'm sure they’ll help you as well.”

There was a moment of silence before Trixie spoke again. “Twilight, why are you helping me?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“After everything I did to you and this town, why are you helping me?”

Twilight didn't know how to answer at first, but finally found the right words. “Trixie, whatever happened before, nopony deserves what is happening to you now. And I believe that you will try to be a better pony. Everypony makes mistakes and everypony deserves forgiveness and a second chance.” Trixie's frown turned into a small smile. “And you know, that's what friends are for.”

Trixie stopped walking after she heard that. “F-friends? You see Trixie as a friend?” Trixie seemed to be lost in thoughts for a moment with a small smile on her face. But, that smile turned into a frown. Trixie turned her head away, and for a moment Twilight thought she saw a tear in her eye. “Trixie doesn't need any friends, she has herself and that’s enough.”

Twilight was taken aback, not knowing how to response. She could hear sadness and grief in Trixie’s voice, as well as a hint of anger. Whatever might have happened, Trixie seems to be hurt deep, so Twilight decided to not go deeper into this subject.

“I'm sorry, Trixie. If you don't want to be friends, that’s OK. Now come on, tomorrow will be a long day and we both need some sleep.” Sleep, however, was not the only thing Twilight was thinking about. She still had to talk to Spike about Trixie and how she is going to explain everything to her friends tomorrow, but there was still some time.

Both mares walked to the front door of the library again. Tomorrow will be a really long day, but she was sure that with a good plan everything would be fine. What could possibly go wrong?

Twilight opened the door with her magic and they both got a load of confetti and streamers in their faces.

“SURPRISE!”

Author's Note:

Well, this is it, the chapter that explains what's going on with Trixie. And the whole idea for this story started with Twilight's question that came to me when I saw the 'Magic Duel' reaction of a friend on Youtube: How could it get away from you if you got your hooves on it so often? I would imagine that you would’ve lock it away.

With this little question everything started
I hope that the rest of my ideas for this story will be good, but you have to wait for these a little bit longer

And at this point my biggest Thank You goes to TheDawgBrony who helps me by editing my story and keeping up with my terrible grammar

Well then, let's see how long it will take me for the next chapter, there are a few future chapters in my head I can't wait to write

Comments

[DracoDarastrix]

Well this is an interesting development.

[Starlight Nova]

What episode is that picture from? I've seen all the episodes with Trixie, but that particular scene is new to me.

[Madox]

7358230 it's not from an episode, it's simply a picture from deviantart
Trixie Lulamoon

[Frankie2]

Why do people (ponies in this case) always have to invite Murphy to enforce the law?
What could possibly go wrong?
There is no way such and such will/won't happen?
How hard could it be?
There's nothing to worry about. Oy!

[Pete100]

I did not expect the meeting to go like that.