Of Men and Insects

by VeganSpyro97

Chapter 27: The Magician's Heart

Allan watched the memory spell shift again in the sky as he and Shy continued watching the last of the Star Wars movies he had seen before coming to Equus. Fluttershy, like many had been in the audience when he had originally seen it, as well as the one currently watching the movie with them, was weeping over the final acts heart-wrenching turn of events.

“Nooohooohoo!” She managed to blow her nose on a paper towel she’d bought to use as a napkin. “Wh-wh-why would he do something so cruel?!”

“He’s an emotionally unstable young man who thinks that power is everything, and will do anything to get it.” Allan commented, levitating a banana up to his muzzle so that he could take a bite. “Did you notice the symbolism in the lighting effects though? Genius.”

Fluttershy’s balled up tissue smacked into his eye. “You’re heartless!” She accused. “He just murdered him!”

“Yes, and now he’s been shot.”

Fluttershy’s eyes zipped back to the screen so fast that Allan nearly got whiplash simply by being close-by. “Good!” She barked with conviction. “He deserves it!”

“Wow. Didn’t expect that from you.” Allan eyed Fluttershy carefully, noting her tense muscles and grinding teeth as she realized the “meanie-pants” on the “screen” was still alive.

Fluttershy said nothing, instead snarling at the “meanie-pants” as he started fighting the heroes with his sword.

Allan grinned, enjoying Fluttershy’s reactions to the movie. He munched on more banana and pulled the peel off, discarding it in the paper bag the pair had brought along on as a makeshift trash bin for their little picnic. There was an ear jerkingly wet, *splith*, sound that drew attention from all those present, including Twilight, who Allan could sense, annoyingly, in her hiding place in a nearby bush. Why their friends insisted on spying on the pair, Allan had no clue, though he supposed it could just be Twilight’s obsession with learning about….well, everything. Being a Changeling and having been human made him a goldmine in Twilight’s eyes. Maybe that was why….

Lifting up the bag to peer inside, Allan quickly found the problem. The bottom was soaked, as was the blanket underneath, no doubt from the rain. Since Pegasi and Changelings had natural protection from the elements, it was easy to see why neither of them had noticed.

“Uh, Shy? The blanket’s wet.” Allan said, still maintaining the memory spell.

“Oh no!” Shy gasped, forgetting the movie and quickly grabbing the blanket, pulling it out from underneath everything, including Allan, and examining it fearfully. “Oh! It took me ages to make this! It’s going to get stained now!”

Allan took his tumble with grace and charm, the words, “grace and charm” here having the meaning: “Face planting, and profusely swearing through a mouthful of mud and grass.”

Shy quickly shook out the blanket as best she could, regarding it with a downfallen expression that just helped make Allan's heart in its attempts to implode from witnessing cuteness. The navy blue sky above, as ever, to impassively regard the entire situation from afar, as Allan sorrowfully tried to help dry the blanket as best he could. There were a few chuckles from close by, and Allan good naturedly laughed along. It was a little funny how Fluttershy was acting so protective over a simple blanket.

As he helped Shy ball up the blanket, he felt a familiar tingle in his horn, before a burst of magic deposited a scroll on the blanket in front of him.

“Oh, that’s from Princess Luna, isn’t it?” Shy commented, returning the blanket to the bag they had brought it in. With his concentration disrupted, the movie faded from view, and Allan quickly made his apologies to the other movie goers who had gotten invested in the space-fantasy. “What does it say?”

Allan unrolled it, and gazed at the words written on the page, and frowned. “Luna needs my help with a difficult Nightmare. It’s firmly entrenched in it’s hosts mind and won’t let go.”

“Oh, how dreadful! Does it say who?”

Allan's eyes alighted on the name written underneath, and his eyes went wide. “Trixie Lulamoon.”

************************

Allan flew through the abnormally dark expanse of the dream realm, before alighting in small grove. Luna stood close to the center, her intense gaze fixed on the violently flickering light in the middle. No doubt the dream appeared to be a door being assaulted from inside to her.
Luna barely even looked his way when he arrived, a slight shift of her head and a flick of her cyan eyes being the only indicators she even took note of his arrival.

“Miss Lulamoon is having great difficulty with this nightmare. It is preying on her insecurities.” Luna finally said, taking a step back, ethereal mane curling in on itself as she started to manifest a series of armour pieces, each a deep navy blue with silver trimmings. Her scythe appeared in short order, the pieces of armour strapping themselves in place as Allan watched take several practice swings with both hoof and magic. “We must admit, it has been some time since We last faced a foe this strong within the dream realm. We will most certainly require your assistance to drive the beast off and protect Miss Lulamoon.”

Allan made a point not to mention her slipping back into archaic speech again. Instead, Allan summoned his own blade with a thought, his own nightmare creature forming the familiar weight on his foreleg within seconds. Luna eyed his exposed form critically without nary a word, but Allan got the message. “Think you can help protect the rest of me too?” He asked, picturing an armoured suit of similar style to his teachers, though less fanciful and more practical. While Luna’s still left a large portion of her flanks and even chest and neck exposed, his covered as much as he could get it to.

The helmet fit his head perfectly, to the point that it would have to be split into pieces to remove in the waking world. A large breastplate covered his chest, and a pair of slim pauldrons hid his shoulders from view. His long legs were likewise protected, both fore and rear, with a pair of matching pauldrons on his hips.

“Art thou ready?”

Taking a deep breath, Allan nodded.

“Then let us go.”

The two dove into the dream and were immediately buffeted by thick, dark clouds that choked the light from the sky...if there even was a sky. Allan could not hear anything over the roar of the winds and of the creature that had taken residence here.

The howling winds brought an acrid smell of sulfur and decay to his nostrils, and before his very eyes, the clouds withdrew from his vision, revealing a scene from the depths of hell.

It was as though the Acropolis of Athens had been thrown into the middle of an ocean of lava that stretched for miles, it’s Grecian buildings slowly collapsing under their own weight and the boiling heat from below.

Towering over the structure was a figure of literal darkness, an oppressive shadow with blazing red eyes that stared intently down at the only thing living in the ruins below. It was speaking, it’s massive, featureless face rippling as the words repeated over and over. “Hate you. We hate you. Everyone hates you. You’re a failure. You’ll always fail.”

Luna pointed to Trixie below, and without explanation, soared towards the pitch black thing, scythe ready by her side as she charged into battle.

Allan did not follow, instead following her directions and buzzing down to where Trixie was desperately trying to preserve a series of bridges that lead to the only pristine and intact things in the ruins, a series of statues that Allan recognized immediately. There was Twilight, reared up on her hind legs, looking resplendent in her royal regalia. There were the Elements, staring judgingly down at the space before them with contempt, their bodies perfectly sculpted in marble. There was Starlight, casting powerful magics without any trouble. There was himself, learning dream magic from Luna, walking side by side with Fluttershy, and ignoring Trixie no matter how she howled at him to look to her, or say something.

Allan alighted on the ground behind Trixie as the bridge she was struggling to construct with her magic fell apart, and she galloped back to where the bridge leading to Twilight’s had started to crumble again. Trixie’s frantic attempts to reinforce the bridge only made it crumble faster, until it too shattered and fell away.

Trixie galloped over to the bridge leading to Allan's island, only for a huge plume of lava to burst up from beneath it and rip it apart. Trixie screamed in frustration and collapsed onto her side, clutching her head in her hooves as she wailed miserably. “Why?! Why can’t it ever work?! Why does everything I do amount to nothing?!”

Dark tendrils reached from the shadows in the dream, even Allan's own, and started leaching the raw emotion from Trixie like a sponge. The demonic presence overhead grew stronger, easily knocking Luna aside as she attempted to fight it. The Alicorn slammed into a pillar not far away, which toppled out of view and into the sea of death below. The entire region shuddered, and as Allan stared, aghast, the largest building, perched atop a mountain peak beyond the islands Trixie was trying reach, lost a huge chunk of itself as part of the rock face beneath it collapsed.

Luna stood, shaking off marble dust, a look of weariness on her face. “We have already delayed too long in aiding her! I cannot stop it. It must be her.’

“I don’t think she can.” Allan pointed to the mare, who screamed as the Islands around her shook again.

“If we can somehow reach her, mayhaps we can stop this beast and reverse the damage!” Luna suggested. “Come!”

Allan did not need telling twice. “Trixie! Trixie!”

Trixie meekly peered out from behind her tangled, matted mane, and her tear clogged eyelashes, seeing Allan, she whimpered and drew away from him.

Allan was having none of it however, and moved to stand in front of her. “Trixie.”

“Go away….You hate Trixie. Trixie knows it.”

Allan winced. This was his fault. “I don’t hate you.”

“You said you did! You said it to Trixie’s face! Told her you hoped she died! I tried to be your friend and I screwed it up! Again! Just like Sparkle! Just like Starlight! Like all of them! Just go away!”

Allan frowned, before forcing a hoof under Trixie’s own and pulling on it. “Get up.”

“No! Just let me die here! I deserve it! You said so!”

Luna joined him, grabbing Trixie’s other hoof with her magic. “Stand, Trixie Lulamoon. My student does not despise you.”

Trixie yelled in protest, trying to drag herself back, but she was powerless to stop the two dreamwalkers. They hauled her onto her hooves as the island continued to crumble.

“Why are you even bothering to save me?” Trixie demanded. “I’m a failure! I screw up everything! You’re all so great! Why would you ever want me around?”

Allan staggered as a large portion of masonry came tumbling down. “You’re not a failure!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. “You have friends who care about you!”

“They’d be better off without me! All I do is hurt them!”

“That’s horse-shit! Starlight has been worried about you! You honestly believe she’d be fine if you just disappeared? She’d be heartbroken that one of her best friends was gone!”

“She’d-uh, she’d get over it! Besides, even my audiences hate me!”

“They were cheering your name at the show I helped you with. They loved you!” Shards of stone grazed across the trio as the huge shadow beast above readjusted it’s position, one of it’s formless limbs sending a spray of detritus across the island chain. A large boulder knocked over another pillar, and clouds of dust rolled over the three of them. “You’re wrong about being a failure!”

“And what about you!?” Trixie retorted. She managed to get her hooves between her body and Allans, and shoved him away. “You wanted me to be eaten by a monster!”

“I was wrong to tell you that!” Allan snarled, pushing aside his own guilt in order to speak. “I spoke in anger, in the heat of the moment! I don’t believe anyone deserves to die!”

Trixie stared at him as the rocks stopped clattering down around them, and the entire region fell silent. A kind of stasis held everything but the three ponies still, as if the dream was holding its breath. The moment lasted, the only sounds being the uneasy breathing of Luna and Allan, and the shallow rush of air from Trixie’s nostrils.

Allan dared to break that silence. “I don’t hate you. I…..actually kind of admire you.”

“You….you do…?” Trixie’s eyes were wide, but still disbelieving.

“Yes. Everything everyone’s told me made me think you were nothing more than an ego driven showpony. That you didn’t care. That all the effort you put in was just to make yourself look good.” Allan walked towards the edge of the platform, gazing out towards the statue islands, as he continued to speak. “But after I met you....even despite our falling out, I could tell that wasn’t true. You put effort into your shows because you love to entertain ponies. To see them cheer and be happy. You kept trying to be a better friend with Starlight and the others because you wanted them to like you. You wanted to be their friend. You pulled that stunt at the show because you wanted me to open up about Shy. Even if the method was wrong, the reason was right. You aren’t a failure. You never gave up even after all those setbacks, all that struggle.” Allan turned back to face Trixie again, smiling. “That’s why you were so determined to build these bridges. Why you were so devastated when they collapsed. Because for all that show, all the acting, referring to yourself in third person..there is an ordinary pony underneath, with real feelings and real drive. Just like me. Just like Starlight, and Twilight, Rarity, AJ, Rainbow, all of them. You’re right when you say you aren’t perfect, but that’s fine. We aren’t either. We’re all flawed in different ways.”

Luna smiled too, removing her helmet and letting it fall to the floor. “It is true miss Lulamoon. No pony is perfect. Not even my sister and I. We are imperfect, each of us.” The Princess chuckled, gazing up through the thick clouds of smoke that shrouded the skyline from sight. “I would hardly call myself a paragon of perfection after my misdeeds as Nightmare Moon, miss Lulamoon. We have both been motivated to wrongdoing by jealousy and envy. For a long time, We….I, punished myself over and over for my mistakes, until I nearly ruined myself, and all those I cared for. I shunned any attempt to assist me, no matter how truthful or earnest. I implore you…” Luna held Trixie’s hoof in her own, and allowed Trixie to truly register the fact that she was dreaming. She blinked, understanding growing in her eyes as she looked about in confusion. “...Learn from my mistakes. Let us help you.”

Trixie’s gaze slowly shifted between Allan and Luna, before she finally spoke. “You’re really here…”

Allan nodded, smiling. “Yes. We are.”

“You need not fear losing what you have worked so hard to build. We will help you to build these bridges anew.” Luna’s horn glowed. “Though, in truth, I think you’ll find that you do not require any assistance at all.” The dream shifted, revealing the two, very much intact bridges, and a third that was only partially built, which connected the Island with Alan's statue to the central one. There was a distinct lack of any lava. Pleasant fields instead extended in all directions, the sun shining over head. The islands were whole and intact, and the only darkness in sight was the shadowy figure that growled and hummed in response to the shift in scenery. “You have constantly strived to be a good friend, and you have been noticed in that regard. Starlight Glimmer is your friend, as are Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony.”

“I…” Trixie stared at the floor, struggling to actually accept the words as truth. But she could not keep them out for long. Her eyes brimming with tears of joy, she brought Allan and Luna in for a heartfelt hug, and the entire dream realm shuddered at the Nightmare creatures garbled shriek. “Thank you! Thank you thank youthankyouthankyou!”

The Princess and Knight took the hug with grace, grinning happily as Trixie squeezed them as tightly as she could. “Come back home, Trixie.” Luna requested, still beaming. “I think you’ll find you have quite a few friends waiting for your safe return.”

“I will Princess! I will!” The magician wasn’t even bothering to refer to herself by her name anymore, as she was too happy to put in the effort. She let go of the pair, and stood, facing Allan, an awkward smile on her face. “I’m still sorry about what happened though…..do you….do you think we could try again?”

Allan looked at the hoof she offered, raising an eyebrow and letting his smile fade into a serious expression. Trixie paled a little as she saw the expression. “Trixie.” Allan said, slowly. He stared her in the eye, not breaking eye contact. “I thought you’d never ask!” The Lunar Knight swept Trixie up in a hug of his own, getting a startled cry out of her before setting her down again, a madcap grin on his face. “Silly filly….you’re still gonna do something embarrassing as an apology though, right?”

Trixie laughed, before she shimmered brightly, and vanished, her voice lingering just long enough for him to catch the reply. “In your dreams, bug boy! Trixie won’t let anypony make a fool of her that easily!”

Then, just like the dreamer, the dream world vanished, leaving a much weakened, and desperate Nightmare trying to flee from the guardians of Dreams. It didn’t get very far.

********************************

Far away, in a star covered bed, a pale blue mare woke up with a start, before the same grin that she had been wearing in her dreams split her muzzle. She threw off the bedclothes and began to hastily pack up all of her things, the trunks slamming shut almost as quickly as they were opened. A stallion with similarly coloured fur appeared in the doorway, a sleepy and confused look on his face.

“Trix, honey, what are you doing?”

“Packing! Gotta go!”

“But, where? Why?”

“Ponyville!”

“But you said they never wanted to see you again!”

“I was wrong.” The last trunk shut with a bang, and Trixie started dashing to and from the room, grabbing another bag each time. By the time she reached the last one, she was panting, but her grin remained unwavering.

“Sweetie, are you sure about this?” The stallion asked, standing in the doorway. “The Great and Powerful Trixie could still be a great hit all across Equestria, you know.”

Trixie stopped, letting the last bag drop onto the back of her wagon with a slight thud. She turned to look the Stallion in the eye, and he saw not just a spark, as he had once in her youth, but a fire of determination, beyond anything she’d ever shown before. “The Great and Powerful Trixie can wait. I’ve got another kind of magic trick to perfect.” Shutting the door to her wagon, she give the stallion a warm hug, and stared fondly into his eyes. “I’ll miss you, Daddy.” With a quick peck on the cheek bade, she him goodbye, hitched herself to the Wagon, and started to thunder down the road, a trail of dust clouds in her wake, as her father stared after her, unsure of what he had witnessed, but certain of its importance. His daughter was back.

The elder Stallion chuckled as his daughter galloped away, before he turned back inside and closed the door behind him. As he went to go up the stairs and back to bed, a picture on the wall of bearded, grey coated stallion, wearing an old, tattered hat adorned with bells, and a star spangled cloak, seemed to shudder in the breeze, and the stallion laughed. “Think she finally bested you, grandpa. Never could get the hang of friendship, could you?” The painting said nothing.
Still chuckling, the stallion trotted easily up the stairs, and promptly went back to sleep.

*****************************

Comments

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

Woo an update!

[VeganSpyro97]

8946751
Sorry it took so long! I got lost in Fallout 4....

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

8946839
You dont have to wander alone. Also FO4 is an excellent excuse.

[VeganSpyro97]

8949395
Yep. Only got it two weeks ago and I've already reached past if I 25.

[harts fire]

a grate chapter i really like any thing with the real Trixie in it.
and the last bit just makes you stop and wonder.

to bed, a picture on the wall of bearded, grey coated stallion, wearing an old, tattered hat adorned with bells, and a star spangled cloak

^^^^ this is vary interesting.

[VeganSpyro97]

8950016
Yes. I've sprinkled hints of my plans and lore into the story, little details that may, or will, become important later on and in potential sequels.

[A.P.O.N.I.]

“Think she finally bested you, grandpa. Never could get the hang of friendship, could you?”

[VeganSpyro97]

8953150
Ain't I a stinker? :3

[Asolem2]

The elder Stallion chuckled as his daughter galloped away, before he turned back inside and closed the door behind him. As he went to go up the stairs and back to bed, a picture on the wall of bearded, grey coated stallion, wearing an old, tattered hat adorned with bells, and a star spangled cloak, seemed to shudder in the breeze, and the stallion laughed. “Think she finally bested you, grandpa. Never could get the hang of friendship, could you?” The painting said nothing. Still chuckling, the stallion trotted easily up the stairs, and promptly went back to sleep.

Now that's an interesting idea, Trixie being the descendant of Starswirl