Chapter 15: A Rainbow Turnabout, the Start of Something, and a Lunar Reaserch
Well…lesson learned. Never post a chapter that had a slight chance of a war to break out in my comments. As a plus, you get a chapter earlier.
Chapter 15: A Rainbow Turnabout, the Start of Something, and a Lunar Research
It was rather funny in a strange way, how two words seemed to have such an effect on ponies that it was almost mystical. Images of courtroom and heated debates seem to enter the imagination and those present started to wonder what those same words would sound like coming from a highly driven defense attorney with a bad mane cut. Never the less, it was food for thought later and all that were present had push that thought from their heads and focused their attention on the owner of the voice who just happen to be Trixie.
She had removed her tack and rains, in violation of the rules of course, in order to be able to speak. Twilight was worried that Trixie was going to reawaken the drive that Luna displayed when she declared Rainbow Dash’s punishment. However, the Lunar Princess appeared more curious than enraged, and merely waited to hear what Trixie had to say.
Trixie, however, was in a state of mental shock. She had no idea what had come over her, and was still feeling the strange energy that seemed to flow through her body. She felt her pride urging her to back down, to give that loud-mouth pegasus what she had coming to her. Yet, there was a new voice, which urged her to beg Luna to remove or at least reduce the punishment that Rainbow Dash received. She could only assume that it was the other part of her that was at war with her prideful side, her Love.
She tried to figure out why this part of her was reacting to a pony that she had no feelings of love for; yet it seemed that part of her knew she was going to be asking that question and gave Trixie a mental image of Twilight in despair. It was then that the pieces fit into place, and Trixie realized that her Love wanted to save Rainbow Dash in order to get closer with Twilight.
When she realized this, she felt a sudden sinking feeling inside of her stomach. Was she really doing this just to get at Twilight? It wasn’t how she wanted to win Twilight over, if she did decide to love Twilight and not hate her. Yet, the love part of her was still present, and showed Trixie a new line of reasoning. Despite what her personal feelings were towards the rainbow pony; she could see the emotional devastation written all over face. Trixie knew what it was like when it felt like your whole world had ended and there was nopony there to comfort you. She knew she wasn’t going to let her suffer like she did.
Something happened at that moment of realization that caused Trixie to experience a flow of energy she hadn’t felt since her last performance on a stage. She felt the confidence surging through her body, steadying her legs and focusing her mind. She felt unstoppable, untouchable and on top of the world.
She felt Great and Powerful and she knew exactly what she was going to do. With a voice that was brimming with confidence and assurance, the show mare said “Princess, I was the one who provoked Rainbow Dash into hitting me!”
The clearing was silent, and it wasn’t just because of the guards. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were all in various states of disbelief while the Princess of the Night looked at the show-mare with the same curious expression. Luna said nothing but motioned with her hoof to let Trixie know that she was allowed to continue. Trixie gave a slight nod and began,“While Twilight and Applejack were talking, Rainbow Dash flew over and landed in front of me. She appeared to be trying to suppress her pride to say something but I ignored her. She got a little muffed up and said that she was trying to make amends, but I removed the tack and told her that she could take her apology and shove it up her plot, before adding that she never had anything shoved up their because she was a massive lesbian. That was when she punched me and I quickly put the tack back on to remove any implications that I provoked her.”
Luna now appeared to be lost in thoughts while the other ponies were in complete disbelief. Even the guards seemed to become slightly more interested as they watched to see how Luna was going to react. Luna had her eyes closed and her right front hoof was slowly tapping the ground; a familiar gesture to the guards that meant that she was deep in thought and was not to be disturbed.
Eventually, the tapping hoof ended with a strike to the ground, strong enough to capture everyponies’ attention, but not strong enough to leave a mark on the ground. Luna opened her eyes and said “Rainbow Dash!”
The pegasus looked up at the princess, hoping for a miracle but fearing the worst. She did notice that her features had softened a bit and that caused her to feel somewhat relax. It was then that Luna said “I can’t ignore the fact that you attacked a pony wearing the saddle…However, in light of the fact that you were provoked into doing so does cast a new light on this situation.” The Princess paused for a moment before saying “The law does state that I can grant leeway on this matter if the party was either forced or provoked. As such, I’ve decided that Rainbow Dash will be charged with a Class D crime and punished with a month of house arrest and a fine of no more than two month’s salary.”
Rainbow couldn’t help but feel a massive amount of relief at this turn of events. Most importantly, she was not going to lose her chance of joining the Wonderbolts. What was two month’s salary and a month of house arrest compared with regaining the opportunity of a lifetime.
Princess Luna wasn’t done yet as she turned her attention to Trixie and said “As for you miss. You should know that you are forbidden to remove your gear without permission from your ‘owner’ for a lack of a better term. Furthermore, you decided to go and provoke a mare who was trying to make peace. You leave me know choice but to extended you time of servitude. I hope the extra days will teach you to still that tongue.” Trixie nodded her head in understanding. She knew that something like this was going to happen, but seeing the joy on Rainbow Dash’s face made her the extra time worth it.
Luna turned her attention to Twilight and said “As for you, I would have expected you to at least remember the first rule of being in charge of a pony wearing the saddle ‘maintain constant eye contact’. You are dealing with a pony found guilty of a crime and I don’t want another repeat of what has happened here. As such, I’ve decided to hold off on that book you wanted me to give to you about distant stars until after the servitude is over. Think of it as a reward for doing a good job.” Twilight nodded her head in agreement. While she had been looking forward to the book, she knew that she had broken that rule in order to try and convince Applejack that Trixie was alright. It was a situation that could have been avoided if she hadn’t been so eager to appease her friend.
Luna then said “And Applejack…” Applejack gave a startle look and started to wonder why she was being targeted by the princess. As far as she could tell, she was just a bystander in all this. However, Luna couldn’t help the playful grin on her face and said “We just remembered that we wanted to tell you that my sister and I enjoyed that case of apple cider from your last cider season and plan on reserving two casks for the upcoming season. My sister is planning on sending you a letter about this soon but I figured that since I was here, I could tell you directly.” Applejack let out a breath of relief as she felt her heart trying to slow down from the sudden panic.
Luna did a quick mental check to see if there was anything she had forgotten. Once it was over, she turned her attention to her Champion and said “See to it that the house arrest of Rainbow Dash is taken care of. We must return to Canterlot to rest.” The Champion merely bowed his head before walking towards the other two guards next to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash was barely aware of her surroundings as she felt the bark being removed from her body. Her scattered brain was trying to process this turn of events and eventually decided to at least thank Trixie for helping her. However, when she turned to look at where the blue unicorn was, she saw that she was no longer there. In fact, she was also unable to locate Twilight as well. She wanted to go and find the two unicorns, but she didn’t want to antagonize the guards any more then she already had, and she found herself in front of Luna’s Champion, who started to explain to her about the concept of her house arrest.
Twilight Library: A Few Minutes Later
The walk back to the library seemed almost distant to the two unicorns. Twilight was still running on the adrenaline of what happened while Trixie was reminiscing on her own actions.
To Twilight, she was starting to feel a return of her feelings for Trixie. Despite the cliché of it, she was really thankful that Trixie stood up for her friend. Twilight had wanted to, of course, but she was unsure if her words were going to change the Princess’s mind. That strange warm feeling in her stomach was causing her to feel especially shy and unsure about what was going to happen. She was also felt kind of bad for Trixie that she had to have her time in servitude extended, but deep down inside of her heart; she was secretly glad that she would be able to spend more time with the blue unicorn.
Trixie, on the other hoof, was struggling to understand what had happened on that clearing. She had never felt such a rush like that before. Not even her time on the stage could match that sudden rush of energy in her body. For the longest time, she had believed that the source of that energy was coming from her pride and confidence. However, this newer power seemed to be born from the love that she had for the purple unicorn, and it was that love that gave her the confidence she needed to speak out. Was confidence something born from more than just pride, or was it something else?
Trixie didn’t have time to think on it, as the two unicorns made their way inside the library. It was still midmorning and the show-mare knew that Twilight still had things that she needed to get done. She also wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a moment. However, before Trixie could get far, she heard Twilight saying “Wait a minute Trixie.”
Trixie started turning her head to see what the purple unicorn wanted; however her entire body froze when she felt a strange sensation on her cheek. The sensation lasted for less than a second but the effects were staggering as Trixie felt her stomach doing a backflip and her body warming up despite the comfortable temperature of the library. She could feel the heat being directed toward her cheeks which started to show signs of turning a pinkish blue color, and it took a while before her mind was able to register what happened.
Twilight had kissed her on the cheek. It wasn’t much, merely a fleeting gift of expressing her thanks for earlier, or a possible sigh, or the purple unicorn’s real feelings. Trixie was still struggling with getting her mind and body to function correctly when the purple unicorn leaned into her ear and said “Thank you for helping Rainbow Dash. It means a lot to me.” Trixie felt Twilight’s breath hitting the sensitive nerves located on her ear, causing her to give an internal shudder of bliss. She barely registered the sound of the door opening and closing, leaving her alone with her thoughts about that unicorn that had managed to reduce her to a puddle of emotions.
Some time passed before Trixie had managed to get her body back under control, and made her way down to her room to rest. The lingering sensation on her cheek was still present as she laid her head to rest.
Canterlot Castle: Night
Luna was somewhat exhausted when she finished going over the scrolls that her sister left for her concerning events that happened. Of course that wasn’t including the part where she had to go to that clearing in the morning to carry out her duty as Overseer.
It wasn’t known by many ponies, but Luna was actually nocturnal. It made sense considering that she was in charge of the moon, and there for needed to get as much rest as she could. It also made it easier on her older sister, by giving her that time she needed to rest and vice versa. So having to do anything during the day, especially in the morning, caused her mood to become a little unstable at times. Looking back on it, she admitted that the she went rather ballistic on Rainbow Dash was partially due to her having to be awake when she should have been asleep. She planed on writing an official letter of apology to Rainbow Dash with tickets to an upcoming Wonderbolts show in Canterlot.
Her nocturnal habits was also reflected on her Night Guards. Unlike her, they had a spell cast on them that modified their sleeping habits to be allowed to perform their duties. The spell is voluntary of course, and possible recruits are always given prior notice so they could have time to think about it. Of course, like most spells, it could be undone in case a personal matter came up that required the guard to be present during the day.
Luna’s thoughts were interrupted with the sound of her door knocking. From the way the knocks sounded, Luna determined that it wasn’t anything urgent, but rather it was to let her know that somepony wanted to see her. After making sure that she looked presentable, Luna said “Come on in.” and watched as the door opened to reveal the pegasus that Luna had sent on that mission Private Starheart.
Luna noticed that she was trying to hide signs of fatigue and felt a flash of sympathy towards the guard. Luna didn’t like making her guards feel uncomfortable, which was part of the reason why the Night Guard was more relaxed compared to the Day Guard, and seeing them in any sort of discomfort managed to make her feel somewhat sad.
Still, before Luna could offer any kind of words of comfort, Starheart said “Princess, I’ve manage to retrieve the book you asked for.” Before reaching into one of her saddlebags and pulling out a very old book that was about the same size as any other textbook you might find in the Canterlot Library.
Luna reached out with her magic to grab the book, and replied, “Thank you Starheart. Now, why don’t you rest up for a bit? You look like you’re about to collapse on the floor.” Starheart couldn’t help but form a grin at the irony. She wasn’t that good at long distance travels, and she really did feel like she was about to collapse. She gave off one final salute to the Princess before turning around and heading back to her sleeping quarters.
As soon as Luna was sure Starheart was out of earshot, she opened the book and started reading. The book was written in a very old version of modern Equestrian, and Luna was lucky that she still remembered the correct form of writing in the language. Otherwise, she would have to risk getting a translator, and that would increase the chances of her sister finding out. Luna didn’t like keeping secrets from her, but she wanted to be absolutely sure that what she found was the truth, and would leave no room for doubt.
With determination in her eyes, Luna got down to work translating and reading the text, knowing that a very important part of an important pony’s history was riding on her research.
Hope you enjoy this nice long chapter, and I hope it is acceptable to you all.
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very good
"It makde sense considering that she was in charge of the moon" little typo there
Well, that was nice of Trixie. Lying like that to Luna in such a way that could easily lead to grave consequences!
Yes, I'm sure she was lying and I'm fairly sure Luna knew she was lying too. However, like all the best lies, it was based on the truth. The fact is that the provocation Trixie referred to actually happened a long time ago (during the episode Boast Busters). Rainbow, unfortunately, is the sort of one to hold a grudge and not let a debt lie until it has been settled. Which, of course, creates an intriguing situation here in that she is now in debt to Trixie. Very much in debt because Trixie has very possibly made her own life worse in order to protect Rainbow Dash from herself. I wonder how she'll propose to wipe that red off the ledger?
Now... what precisely is Luna doing. She's developing this habit of playing long games and setting up Batman Gambits to direct affairs to her liking. I'm not sure if she's learnt that habit from Celestia or if she's learnt the habit herself at the same time as her sister did?
I am so glad you didn't change the punishment. Excellent chapter. Just two things:
Were the scrolls left for Luna, or was Luna leaving the scrolls for Celestia?
Should it be 'hide signs of fatigue'?
I had a feeling Trixie would step in, wasn't expecting her to lie to Luna and say she provoked Rainbow however(though the actual provocation happened a long time ago). Luna likely knew she was lying but went along with it as it did showcast character development on Trixie's part.
1401169
They were scrolls left by Celestia for Luna and thanks for the heads up.
1400343
Thanks for the heads up.
Good job Trixie, and a nicely done update.
Nice
I really want to know more
1402865
Thanks for the heads-up.
This should be "nevertheless", "had to push", "and focus their attention to", "just happened to be"
Here, "know" should be "no"
This should be "reins", and there should be a comma after "rules"
This should probably be "get to", since at generally implies vindictive intent.
This might sound better if you rewrote it as "let Dash suffer like she had." simply because it maintains the sense of improper pronouns referring to Trixie, and not alternating between Trixie and Dash.
This should be "everypony's"
Here, "in light of" needs to be dropped.
This should end with a question mark.
This should read "As for you, miss, you should" and "for lack of a"
This should probably be "made the extra time", but you could also go with "made her extra time"
This should be "a startled look" and "started to" can be dropped while turning "wonder" into "wondered"
The "as well" here can be dropped.
This should be "Despite how cliché it was,"
This should either be "she was also feeling" or "She also felt"
This would probably sound better as "in her heart".
Here, the repeated use of "rest" reads awkwardly. One of them should be dropped, either ending the first sentence at "room" or ending the second sentence with a different word, like "sleep".
This should be "interrupted by"
This should be "I've managed"
This should be "she gave one"
I imagine this was supposed to be "that the reason she went"
And that's it! As ever, I'm loving this story! Definitely enjoying the slow acceptance of their feelings, the internal struggles, it's all well done and intriguing. Looking forward to more!
Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!
Finally, some more romantic developmentdl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Sweetie_happy.png
1403540
You missed something in that second quote - "know choice but to extended you time" has three errors, not one. It should read "no choice but to extend your time".
And I would actually recommend dropping the "of course" from "in violation of the rules of course". Or maybe the whole phrase. We already know it's a violation of the rules, we don't need to be reminded and we REALLY don't need it to be pointed out that we're being reminded.
1417811 Aha! Quite right, thanks! I could've sworn I had that corrected at some point... Must be going crazy.
Well... good on Trixie, but was looking forward to Dash's punishment. *Shrug* Ah, well.
Is it bad when I started laughing at Rainbow's punishment before Trixie's Intervention?
Ugh. Terrible legal system is still terrible, but at least the punishment was reduced. I hope Luna eventually gets a very long talking to from Celestia about the use of obscure punishments that nobody knows the consequences of or details about other than Twilight. Even the Mayor had no idea what the saddle was, that should be an indication of just how bad an idea it was. Combined with the fact that Trixie is only in Ponyville wearing the saddle because Luna manipulated the situation to insert her into the town?
Double ugh.
I died at that.