The Adventures of Trixie - Nightime Eternal

by SigmatheAwesome

Part 1

Trixie was speechless.

Around her was a swirling void of black and white, and a horrible screaming. Trixie covered her ears, but that didn't even dull it. Then, with a sickening jerk which knocked her to the floor, it ended.

One eye cracked open. She was, more or less, in the same spot in the library, minus the runic circle she had sketched before. She sat up and dusted herself off.

"That's one way to make an entrance..." She muttered to herself. She glanced at the clock, which was covered in webs. It read at about 12 at night, though it was hard to tell that with the cobwebs.

Another thing that stood out was the sheer disorganisation of the shelves. And some books were missing. It was, in her mind, very peculiar... and a little unnerving.

Then she noticed the night. The entire library was pitch-black, save for the sliver of light that shone behind her. Trixie turned the library's light on from a distance, and it glowed dully.

She made her way down the stairs and to the door, moving slowly out of slight fear. Once she opened the door, she could see the entire street. It was bathed in a silvery light, a full-moon at double strength, providing plenty of light but no warmth. Around, ponies lumbered around in no particular direction, heads low in terror or depression. From the door of the library, she could see that almost everypony was mumbling indistinctly, and to themselves. What really hit home was the familiarity of some of these ponies. She recognised the mint-green mane of the lyrist unicorn, and a pink-coated flower salesmare, amongst others.

She walked up to a desert-coated, red-maned earth pony that she knew as Rose. "Excuse me, but-"

Her question, one pertaining to the time and date, was interrupted by an increase in the volume of Rose's mumbling, making it audible to her. "...Night forever... No point... She sees all..."

"If you could plea-"

"...The sun has left... Night forever..." Rose repeated cryptically.

Trixie grabbed Rose by the shoulders. "What's the time?!"

"No point! She sees all! The sun has left!" Rose started screaming her message this time. As soon as Trixie let go to cover her ears, Rose reduced her scream to a loud mumble.

Trixie went up to another pony. The pegasus stallion responded slightly differently in way of words, but the message was the same. The next pony she tried was much the same.

She approached Sugar Cube Corner in a state of frustration, and was glad to see that the lights were on. She pushed it open, and saw one of the adults who worked there, tending to one of his foals.

"Hey there." He said in a mixture of mock and real enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, but we're all out of stock at the moment."

Trixie approached. "It's ok; I'm not here to buy anything."

The stallion froze. "Y-you're not one of Her agents, are you?"

Trixie wanted to just say no, but her sense of justification broke through. "Well, if I don't know who She is, then-"

"You don't know who She is?" He seemed genuinely confused.

Trixie grinned sheepishly. "I'm new here."

"That explains it." He turned his attention to the orange-maned foal. "So, what can I get for you, miss?"

"I just want to know the time and date. Make sure I've arrived at the right time."

"Well, I don't remember it, sorry. It's been too long. I think the Mayor's office has a Timekeeper there."

Trixie said her thanks, and was just turning to the door when a familiar voice called out. "You want to know what's wrong with those ponies, don't you."

She turned to see Twilight's pink friend, in duller colours and with a straight mane and tail. "How did you-"

"I heard the shouting of Rose, Thunderlane, Vinyl and Rarity. Only someone who wants to know what's wrong with the Lost approaches them."

In truth, Trixie had only approached them to get the time (a futile attempt), but she did want to know what was wrong. "The Lost?"

"The Lost," The stallion started. "Are ponies that, over the course of time, have lost their ability to do anything except amble around and mutter."

"They're kinda like zombies in the fact that they don't feel any physical pain, only sadness." Pinkie added. "They also don't need to eat or drink or sleep very often. Everyone from around here eventually turns into a Lost pony."

"How long have you fought off this?" Trixie inquired

"We've been going for about two years." The stallion said. "Well, I think it's been two years."

"Me and the twins have some... immunity to it. I wasn't born in Ponyville and the twins were born during this time. When the Cakes eventually become Lost, I promised them that I would look after the twins and move out of Ponyville."

"So, what you're saying is that if you were not born in Ponyville, you can't become one of the Lost."

"Pretty much." Pinkie said.

After a moment's silence, Trixie sighed. "Well, I have to go. I need to find out the time."

"Are you sure you'll be ok to go? I mean, you're not from around here."

Trixie's mind flashed back to her hour of stumbling around Ponyville. She could only remember the library-Sugar Cube Corner route. "Actually, I might need some help."

Pinkie smiled weakly.

---

"So, what's your name?"

Trixie looked at the pink mare in a fit of confusion. Haven't I already... Oh, right. "I'm Trixie Lulamoon."

"Pinkamena Diane Pie." Pinkie replied, not as cheerfully as she did in Trixie's universe. "I was called Pinkie, back when I was an expert party thrower, but that was years ago."

The air was unnervingly cold, the sound of the Lost creating an eerie atmosphere. Trixie thought all it needed was a disturbingly quiet violin soundtrack and it'd be complete. "So, what happened?"

"Ages ago, Princess Celestia was killed there." She pointed to the town square, a broken statue of Celestia strewn across the ground. "But not before months of watching Equestria suffer under eternal night."

Trixie swore she could see a spear of blue magic dart through the bushes, but she blamed it on the light. "That would be so horrible for her."

"When she was placed back on land, Celestia had been weakened to Her level. Celestia still refused to defeat Her, and was eventually killed." Pinkie stopped. "Here you are. I'll wait here."

"Thanks." Trixie made her way up the stairs, and then stopped. "Hey, just curious, would you know somepony called Twilight Sparkle?"

Pinkie thought. "Hmmm... No, I haven't. And I know everyone in Ponyville."

---

Sitting at the large desk was the Ponyville Mayor, looking rather distressed but holding up an aura of authority. Paper was strewn all over the room, and Trixie noticed that the one she had just stepped on was a death certificate of somepony called Vinyl Scratch, dated around a year ago (which was unusual, considering that she'd seen Vinyl mumbling to herself on the street). Next to the desk was a blue mare with a thoothpastey mane, looking over several clocks and calendars and other notes, seeming very stressed.

"Excuse me," Trixie started. "But I'm just after the time."

The blue mare turned. "It should be 1.45 PM. Hang on." She turned to her notes, sending several papers flying. "Sorry, 1.52."

"And the date?"

"I'd love t' tell you, miss, but I've lost some track, so I might be a few weeks off." She looked at a calendar. "It's at least a Thursday."

It was Thursday when I brought myself here... Trixie calculated. "Thanks anyway."

"Hey, if you want a correct date, you should see a higher-ranked Timekeeper. Try Manehattan or something."

At this point, Pinkie had walked in. "Is there one in Canterlot?" Trixie asked.

Dead silence, save for the ticks of clocks.

"Are you for real?" The Mayor asked, honestly shocked. "Everypony knows Canterlot's a death sentence."

"Well, you could say I'm not from around here, so I don't know."

Pinkie walked up. "According to legend, much of Canterlot was destroyed after Celestia's death, and everypony who lived there died horribly. Not from the rubble, but from something else."

"Well, it shouldn't do anything to me. I know how to handle myself." Trixie said smugly.

"You couldn't even find your way around Ponyville!" Pinkie yelled. "I'd doubt you could even deal with Canterlot."

Trixie chuckled. "Trust me, I know Canterlot quite well."

"How-"

"I think I'll be fine."

"Well... I'm coming with you!" Pinkie blurted out.

"Very well then." Trixie didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Hey," The blue unicorn added. "I'd love to ask if I can come along, but my shift ends in a few hours, and I have to keep time here. But-" She lifted an unusual set of barding. "-here. It's a chronoharness. When worn, it keeps time for you, and it's accurate to the microsecond. It also has the capacity of visual time travel, but that soaks up a lot of energy, so unless you have some charger stones, you'll be stuck without time."

Trixie lifted it up and had a look. "Then why haven't you used it yourself? You know, for keeping time."

"There are rules for Timekeepers. One of them forbids using a chronoharness as a time-measuring device. It's for travel only, and I ain't moving any time soon."

Trixie thanked the mare, and set out.

Along the way, Pinkie ran in front of Trixie, holding them in her tracks. "What the hay did you mean by 'you know Canterlot?'"

"I grew up in Canterlot." Trixie replied, trying to get past but didn't go anywhere.

"Then how come you don't know anything about the past few years? Canterlot and Ponyville were the centre of the events."

"It'll take a while to explain."

"Are you sure you're not one of Her agents?"

"Who the hay is She, anyway?" Trixie hated ambiguity.

"If you tell me who you are and where you come from," Pinkie started. "Then I'll tell you who She is."

"Look, I don't have time for this. I have to go, and you don't have to follow me." Trixie started trotting.

Pinkie galloped up and kept to Trixie's pace after a few seconds "Why are you even going to Canterlot anyway? You have the chronoharness, which tells you time accurately, and there's no Timekeeper there."

"Three reasons," Trixie started. "One: I'm going to find some charger stones there, supposing they're not all broken. Two: I want to find out what happened. By myself. Three: I might find someone in Canterlot."

"But everypony died there. There'll be no one."

"Well, then consider the other two reasons." Trixie said, and continued walking. "Are you going to follow Trixie or not?"

Pinkie just stared at her. "As long as you don't refer to yourself in third-person ever again..."

---

No skycharriots meant no quick flying. No train means no travel. So all there was left was...

"We have to walk this?!" Pinkie yelled.

"You didn't have to come." Trixie chimed. Truth be told, she wasn't much happier about this herself.

"I- It's- J- Shut up!" Pinkie stuttered. "Just shut up."

Trixie smiled, and then looked along the tracks, a snake along the mountain, and her smile dropped. "Let's go."

No more than twenty minutes along, a blood-curdling shriek was heard.

"Uh oh." Pinkie said quietly while crouching. "Bloodwings."

"What?"

"Keep your voice down!" Pinkie yelled through her teeth, but quietly. She continued softly. "You know how Ponyville has the Lost?"

Trixie crouched to Pinkie's level, wishing her coat wasn't so bright. "Yeah?"

"Cloudsdale got a worse effect. Everyone born there ended up a savage, carnivorous monster."

"This day just keeps getting bette-"

Something large landed next to them. Actually, it was three pony-sized things landing (one unceremoniously crashing) at once. One of the creatures stood proud, dishevelled rainbow mane rippling in the breeze, strange, simple magenta eyes that faded to black scanning around them. It turned to the crashed pegasus creature, it’s terrifying appearance nullified slightly by its misaligned, golden eyes. The third one seemed to shy away from the two of them when the blue one barked at the grey creature as it stood up, and hid behind its filthy pink mane. So far, none of them had noticed the two normal ponies.

The two ponies remained silent, watching the bloodwings looking around. The yellow one's teal eyes finally tracked over them, unable to see them due to the shadow cast by a huge rock.

It spoke in the same manner as the rainbow bloodwing, but Trixie swore she could hear the name 'Dash' in that speech. Without warning, the three took off; the rainbow bloodwing launched herself quickly, a jagged trail of spectral light in her wake. The grey one took off next, scanning two areas at once with those borked-up eyes. The last to leave was the pink-maned bloodwing. She looked over the shadow once again, and left slowly.

After a few minutes, Pinkie spoke softly. "Bloodwings don't have the best sight. They're like bats, in some ways."

"Is it scary that I recognised them?" Trixie asked.

"It was Fluttershy, Derpy and Rainbow Dash." Pinkie said, and stood up gingerly. "We should get going."

---

Another ten minutes passed, and they were already half-way up Canterlot Mountain. Pinkie stumbled a bit, and then straightened herself up.

"Hey Trixie, can we take a short break?" Pinkie slowed to a snail's pace. "My hooves are getting sore..."

Trixie sighed, and then noticed her own hooves' soreness. "Alright, let's-"

The same ear-piercing scream. Both of them instantly ran for shadows, but they had just hit a point where there were no long shadows for a good distance. They heard something akin to a jet engine just before a jagged rainbow ran straight into Pinkie, sending her flying. Trixie ran up, dodging a grey missile on the way, but something knocked her to her side. She looked up to see the yellow bloodwing staring down at her with teal orbs.

"Is it alright," It said in a raspy yet also soft and gentle voice. "If I eat you. I mean... if you don't mind..." Trixie noticed that the ex-pegasus couldn't keep her eyes on Trixie at all, and was looking rather sad.

"Fluttershy!" The rainbow bloodwing exclaimed, in a similarly raspy voice, but it was more energetic and aggressive. "Just eat her!"

"I'd rather not be eaten, thanks." Trixie said, standing back up. The yellow bloodwing hid behind her mane again.

"Oh, ok..." She flapped her wings to gain some air. "I'll just... leave you alone then."

The grey bloodwing poked her head up from the ground. "We make her into muffin?" It seemed that this one had trouble speaking Equine, though the real Derpy likely had better linguistic capacities from what Trixie has seen back in her dimension.

"No, we don't have kitchen." The rainbow bloodwing spoke harshly. She turned to her pink prey, trapped under her hooves. "You look like candy." She bared her teeth and ran her elongated tongue over them. "Should taste good."

"Hey, let me have first bite!" Derpy flew up ungracefully, skidding next to Rainbow Dash. "I bite, you bite, 'Shy bites-"

"I don't actually..." The yellow bloodwing said, before she was interrupted.

"-Then we make muffins."

"Well," Pinkie objected. "You can't actually make muffins from meat."

Derpy shoved Rainbow off the pink pony. "I make you muffin anyway!" She took a massive bite into her shoulder, and Pinkie screamed in pain.

Trixie reacted suddenly. She grabbed a bar of metal off the rails, and swung it at the grey monster. It was hit with a wet crack and flew into the mountainside, leaving a giant red splatter in her wake. Trixie dropped it and grabbed the biggest loose rock she could sense and lifted it above the rainbow bloodwing.

She was about to drop it when the yellow bloodwing screamed at her to stop. The rock hovered, surrounded in a field of magenta magic and slowly spinning.

"Dash's my friend! Don't kill her!" She flew next to the stunned rainbow bloodwing.

"She tried to eat my friend!" Trixie froze. Did she just... call Pinkie her friend?

"And I'm very sorry about that." She helped her pegasus friend up. "We weren't expecting any resistance, honestly."

Dash grinned. Her maw was unnervingly pointy. "You've got guts, unicorn. I think I'll avoid eating you guys."

Fluttershy turned her heat to the bleeding Pinkie. Her entire shoulder had been torn out. Immediately, the three rushed to her side.

"'Shy, can you do something?" Dash asked.

"No, you?" She turned to Trixie.

She gulped. "I think I know a healing spell. Hold on."

Trixie closed her eyes, trying to remember her spell. After no luck, she remembered a bandage spell that would stop it from getting worse. She tensed up, focusing on the shoulder and the metaphysical matter (a fancy term for magic) around it. She binded strands of it in her head, and then binded the straps around the hole. A flash of magic in her mind told her that the spell was complete, and she opened her eyes to see Pinkie's shoulder glowing with azure magic. The pink pony sat up gingerly, rubbing her hoof along her shoulder.

"That's pretty nifty. But why didn't you completely heal me?"

"I don't have a heal spell." Trixie explained. "But if I know who's in Canterlot, then she'll have a heal spell herself."

Dash looked at Fluttershy. "Join them, Flutters."

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash with shock. "Huh?"

"You're still stable. Just. I'm half-way to feral, and I don't want to be around when It appears. I'll fly to Baltimare if I have to. Nopony lives in Baltimare"

"B-but you can't leave me!"

"You've got these two. You'll be safe." Dash gave Fluttershy the most intimate hug Trixie had ever seen, muzzle pressed against the shy bloodwing's cheek, wings wrapped all the way around. Dash pulled back slowly and, in a jagged rainbow, took off. Fluttershy hung her head.

"W-we were very close." She explained through raspy sobs. "She and I didn't turn into these monstrous forms for a good few months. She protected me, a-and..." She fell to the ground. "I was the first to change. She still protected me, even though she knew that I was unintentionally hungry for her flesh. But now, I'm all alone." She stood up, in a pose that contrasted her mood. "But if I don't keep to her directions, I'll never forgive myself." She turned to the two of them. "Let's go."

She hid behind her mane again. "I mean... if that's ok with you..."

---

The rest of the walk took nearly twice as long, what with Pinkie unable to move herself. Between Trixie and Fluttershy, they were able to make good headway, and Fluttershy's flight allowed for a good view of upcoming terrain. Eventually, they reached the stone gates of the railway into Canterlot.

"Hm... Needs a good clean." Trixie said as they passed under the stone, mossy monolith.

Their eventual trails led them to a stone pathway, littered with skeletons of different sizes and race. Trixie was slowing her pace as if to not disturb the spirits and incur impossible wrath.

A crimson bolt of energy rushed just passed Trixie's head and narrowly missed Fluttershy's. The pegasus panicked and hid behind a tree, which was quickly destroyed by another bolt. Fluttershy flew surprisingly fast over the slag and into a pile of rocks. Another crimson bolt rushed past, but Trixie knew a trick or two.

Trixie wrapped the bolt in a field of suppressive magic, and looked at it. It wasn't much more than a sphere of crimson energy. She dropped it on the ground when a familiar lavender unicorn, holding an intricate arcane weapon in her magic, emerged from the dead foliage.

"Who sent you?" The pony asked aggressively.

"We came on our own. Would your name be Twilight Sparkle?"

Trixie recoiled as the gun was brought to her head. "Who told you my name?"

"I-"

Twilight turned to her right suddenly, blushing. "Shut up, Shining! I do not have a crush on her!" Silence for a few seconds. "We just met her! And she came here with a bloodwing! How can-" Twilight stuttered. "I know you have nothing to do except sit there until I die, but don't go meddling in my life! Go away!" She turned to Trixie, suddenly tired. "Sorry... brother acting stupid again."

"What... Is..."

Twilight turned to her left this time. "What should I tell her? ... I should just tell her about this? Ok, if you say so." She turned back. "This'll take a while."

---

Trixie was struggling to understand. "So what you're saying is... You have the entire populous of Canterlot in your head?"

Twilight nodded. "Like how Ponyville is suffering the Lost phenomenon, and Cloudsdale the Bloodwing mutation, Canterlot turned into free-flowing spirits. Most moved on, but others entered my mind. I now have unparalleled knowledge, but at the cost of-" She smacked herself in the head with her hoof a few times. "-constant migraines and noise in my head."

Fluttershy flexed her wings. "Really? It's that simple?"

"Indeed. And what's your story, Trixie?"

Everyone leaned in to listen to Trixie. She felt happy to have a crowd for once, and she cleared her throat. "I'm from an alternate universe."

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed, then held her head in pain. She turned behind her. "Not all at once! I need to think!" She turned back. "Really?"

Pinkie facehoofed. "That explains everything. Like, how you know Canterlot and Twilight, but you don't know anything about the past two years."

Fluttershy was merely on the ground in mild shock. Pinkie prodded her a few times to no avail

"So," Twilight asked. "What's your world like?"

Trixie coughed. She went into detail from how Celestia was alive, the sun still moving and her best knowledge on those surrounding her.

"That sounds like a paradise!" Pinkie exclaimed, slightly miffed. "What the heck happened here?"

"In my world," Trixie continued. "Twilight went to Ponyville to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebrations, and along the way made friends with you two," She gestured to the earth pony and the bloodwing. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack. You six were the Elements of Harmony."

"That's it!" Twilight jutted in. "That's the shift in time! I didn't go to the Summer Sun Celebrations, I got somepony else to do it!" She smiled proudly to herself. "I'm surprised I managed to convince them, myself."

"I think the Ponyville library has a book on the Elements." Pinkie said. "Under E. We should go and find out."

Twilight stood. "I think I can teleport us there. Hold on."

Lavender energy wrapped around the four ponies, spiralling around. Trixie's rudimentary knowledge on magic told her that there wasn't enough power. Without any warning, a streak of the most golden magic she had ever seen shot through the field, and she felt her entire being thrown across a vast distance. The four ponies scattered around the library room, Trixie crash landing back where she had placed her runic circle a while before.

"Everypony ok?" Twilight said as she pulled herself out of one of the many shelves. "Not you, Spike, you're in my mind."

Pinkie raised her hoof out of a pile of books. "I'm fine."

Fluttershy flapped out of a bush suspended off the ceiling. "I'm ok..."

Trixie looked up from her faceplant. "Trixie is fi-" Her words died on her lips.

She had just noticed something unnatural. Something that wasn't supposed to be even possible. The sheer sight both explained the huge light and terrified her entirely, and the fact that she hadn't even noticed it didn't help at all. She couldn't even hear her new-found companions talking to her, or even Pinkie complaining about her use of third-person.

There was a second moon.

Author's Note:

Edited on 20/03/2015

Comments

[SuperChaosKG]

Oh wow. Such a simple switch.

And AHA!! THE MOON HAS BEEN DOUBLED!!