Chapter 6
“Aagh!” Tatterdrop yelped when Starlight and Trixie —popped— into existence next to her. “Do all you unicorns make a habit of doing that?”
Trixie smiled. “No, it’s just her. And maybe her friend Princess Twilight. But anyway, Tatters, this is important. Where’s Drifting Melody?”
“Um… having a nap in the drawing room, I think. Why?”
“We need to get her to the castle.”
Tatterdrop nodded. “I’m coming too, okay? Want me to go wake Melody?”
“I’m awake…” came a placid voice from the next room over.
“Great.” Starlight caught Trixie’s eye. “To the inner sanctum?”
“If you’d be so kind,” replied Trixie with a smile.
—pop—
The foursome arrived in the colonnade in front of the locked door. Trixie stared briefly at the raven motif, then tried to push it open, with no avail. She nodded.
“Drifting Melody, can you do what you did to open this last time?”
“Sure.” Trixie watched her nudge the door open with seemingly no effort. “Do we really want to go back in here though? It’s all dark and gloomy…”
Trixie peered into the secret room, full of unmoving gargoyles. “If I’m right, that shouldn't be the case for much longer.” She trotted to the ruins of the dais and beckoned the others to follow.
“Melody, I need you to imagine all the gargoyles in the world.”
Drifting Melody’s eyes went wide. “All of them? Whoa.”
“Yep. Every last one. Treat it like a creativity game for me. Can you picture them all in your mind?”
Her friend’s face filled with concentration. “Okay.”
“Now I need you to tell them all: come home. Fly in the sky over Nightcrag.”
“Huh. I can do that…” Drifting Melody’s voice took on a gentle tone, like talking to a puppy. “Time for you all to come home, my friends. Come back to Nightcrag. Come and see me in the sky over the castle.”
Immediately the gargoyles in the room sprang to life. They moved towards the exit, but calmly, not frenetically like last time Trixie was here.
Trixie exhaled a deep breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.
Starlight and Drifting Melody were watching the gargoyles file out. Tatterdrop, though, was looking speculatively between Trixie and Drifting Melody. She nodded and said softly, “…Oh. I see.”
Trixie walked up to her and murmured, “We probably shouldn’t tell her.”
“Tell Melody?” Trixie nodded. Tatterdrop contemplated briefly. “Okay. She might figure it out herself at some point, though.”
“You’re probably right. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” replied Trixie brightly.
Starlight Glimmer walked up. “Wow, this room feels brighter already now there’s more room to move around in here.”
Trixie smirked and said, “Yeah, that’s not a coincidence. You should probably go and check with Twilight, but I’m pretty sure she’ll find the Penumbra is receding now.”
“Ohh,” said Starlight. “So… it’s not that it lets the gargoyles fly, but rather that the gargoyles spread it wherever they fly?”
“Got it in one.”
Starlight nodded. “I’ll see what Twilight’s found. What are you going to do?”
Trixie took a deep breath. “I think… I need to arrange an appointment with Queen Heartslash.”
Twilight Sparkle had been shocked to see how worn-out Queen Heartslash looked. It had been over a year since she’d met her last, Twilight mused. The opportunities to catch up with other Equestrian royalty always seemed to be scarcer than they should be.
She looked around the ostentatious throne room. The gothic style would communicate ‘evil’ in most other places, but here in Transylmaneia it was just… the way they did things. The batpony named Tatterdrop stood at the back of the hall, looking uncomfortable. Ethereal Requiem was maintaining an aloof silence while Trixie addressed the Queen... whose iron throne, Twilight thought irreverently, looked unpleasantly hard to sit on for several hours each day.
Trixie had wanted to be the one to explain the situation to the Queen. Twilight had wondered whether Trixie had just been wanting to put herself in the most positive light, but to her credit, Trixie had been forthright and apologetic about her deception, and taken the blame for the destruction of the Distribution Dais.
She had, of course, dropped in the revelation that Ethereal Requiem was not actually the Queen’s niece. Ethereal Requiem had looked heartbroken when Trixie spelled that out, but Queen Heartslash remained impassive. The only detail Trixie hadn’t quite explained to Twilight’s satisfaction was quite how Trixie had managed to use the broken Dais to summon the gargoyles back to Transylmaneia, bringing the Penumbra with them. But Twilight didn't mind that much; the important thing was that the Penumbra was gone, not how it happened.
“...So ultimately I guess I just need to beg your forgiveness. Your Majesty.” Trixie bowed to the Queen, although Twilight couldn’t help noticing it wasn’t at quite the correct angle according to the etiquette lessons she’d had with Celestia.
The Queen continued gazing straight at Trixie.
Twilight was just beginning to wonder whether the monarch had actually expired while Trixie was talking, when Queen Heartslash suddenly burst into rasping laughter. Trixie looked as shocked as everypony else around.
“You two princesses have been practicing a fine amount of intrigue, haven’t you?” murmured the Queen. She smiled once more, revealing her fangs. “And intrigue and plots are one of the oldest and most well-established Transylmaneian traditions of all.”
The Queen’s horn lit up mahogany and she effortlessly lifted Trixie and Ethereal Requiem before her. She looked between one and the other, and then said conversationally, “So neither of you is eligible to rule Transylmaneia. And yet I find that both of you are eminently qualified.”
“...Your Majesty?” Trixie asked quizzically as the Queen placed her back on the lush carpet.
“I decreed this vote, this test of popularity, to see how you reacted. Both of you,” added the Queen with a nod to Ethereal Requiem. “And neither of you disappointed me. I approve both of your actions.”
“Surely not when she—?!” “You can’t approve her—!” The two in question exclaimed, before glaring at each other.
“I still find myself without my true heir,” Queen Heartslash mused. Trixie raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “But I have two more than capable candidates before me. So my decree is this: Trixie Lulamoon, Ethereal Requiem. Will you two work together as co-reigning monarchs and equals, to rule Transylmaneia and ensure its prosperity?”
A moment of stunned silence filled the throne room.
Trixie spoke first. “…If that is your desire, my Queen, then the Great and Compassionate Trixie is willing.” She turned to Ethereal Requiem. “Whaddaya say, my fellow fake princess? Shall we do this thing together?”
Ethereal Requiem stared at Trixie’s proffered hoof for several seconds. Twilight found herself holding her breath.
Then the batpony scowled and swatted Trixie’s hoof away. “With you? Never. I can not imagine the damage you would do to this nation. Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider. Perhaps return to your prior decree, the votes of the council…?”
Twilight was briefly terrified at the look in Heartslash’s eyes. She suddenly found herself able to believe the rumours about what happened to the Transylmaneian Queen’s enemies, and what parts were found afterwards.
But all the Queen said was, “This is my decree, Ethereal Requiem. You can rule alongside Trixie, or you can disobey me and be disowned.”
Ethereal Requiem’s eyes went wide, briefly. But then they narrowed in defiance once more. “You are making a mistake, your Majesty. And all of Transylmaneia will pay for it. But I will have no part of this.”
The batpony flared her wings and flew out of the throne room, leaving Trixie, Tatterdrop and Twilight with the Queen.
Heartslash sighed. “A pity. She is a capable politician. It is my hope that she will reconsider, in time.” Then she turned her eyes to Trixie.
“But we do not always get our wishes. Given the situation in which we find ourselves, then: Trixie Lulamoon. Will you rule Transylmaneia as my successor, and ensure its security and prosperity?”
Trixie bowed once more. “I will, my Queen.”
“The security and prosperity of… all its citizens,” the Queen added, almost as an afterthought. “It is possible you were correct at our first meeting, that my reign has been too focused upon the nobles and the rich. I entrust you with the well-being of our proud province.”
“The Great and Compassionate Trixie will not let you down, your Majesty!” Trixie proudly proclaimed. Then she turned her attention behind her. “On which topic… Tatterdrop.”
“Me?” The batpony slouching by the door jumped. “Um, yeah?”
Walking towards her, Trixie admitted, “I’ve realised that… there’s a lot I don’t know about ruling a province. I’m going to need some good advisors.” She looked at Tatterdrop earnestly. “Including some who understand the concerns of the ponies who live outside the capital. That is… unless you’re too attached to the baker’s life…?”
Tatterdrop blinked, then smiled. “Hmm, yeah, you are going to need somepony to keep you in line, aren’t you? I’d be happy to help, Trix.”
“A wise choice,” rumbled Queen Heartslash. She coughed, a long, drawn-out rasp. “We should begin arrangements for you to move into the palace.”
“Yeah. I think my friend Drifting Melody should have a room here too,” Trixie mused. And then a wicked grin filled her face as she added, “And then we have to arrange the most great and powerful coronation ceremony Transylmaneia has ever seen!”
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Wow, not how I was expecting this to end. The lead up, sure, but the final conclusion... good thing Trixie's picking up some good friends.
Overall, this was great. And powerful. But mostly great. All the little ticks that make me love Trixie are here along with a healthy dose of humor.
Let's hope Transylmaneian, and the rest of Equestria, are ready for her.
Awesome story, well rounded with an engaging plot. My ONLY nitpick is that you didn’t use Romanian city names like Brasov “brashoof” Timisoara “Timidsoara” or Cluj “Clopj” to give Transylmaneia a more, well, Transylvanian theme
I actually figured out a mystery before the reveal! That usually doesn't happen.
In any case, fantastic stuff, from Trixie's Kenobi-level "truth"telling to the kind of fumbling intrigue I'd expect from a good D&D campaign to the satisfying ending that still leaves potential for more. Thank you for it, and best of luck in the judging.
9936342
And what probably really sticks in Twilight's craw is that Trixie was able to save the day (literally, in this case), despite more or less bumbling into the solution and now has all this new responsibility. She's never going to hear the end of it. It's going to be a looooooong sovereign for Twilight...
A pretty good read overall! I liked how things turned out in the end...even if some bat ponies were too stubborn to try and accept a good deal when given to em...heh. Still, if there's a possible sequel it invites some intrigue and possibilities. Besides, TGaPT does best with someone to butt heads with more often than not.
And Drifting Melody...well, that also has some fun prospects for her too. All and all, I enjoyed it immensely! 
9936350
Yay! Which mystery? The end of ch4 reveal about Trixie, the end of ch5 reveal about Requiem, the "real princess", or how Trixie could stop the Penumbra? Each of those were designed to be at least theoretically guessable, though I'd be somewhat impressed if many people managed the second or fourth.
Kenobi-level "truth"telling is a highly entertaining characterisation, even if not quite fair... Trixie did take care over the exact words she used and left a lot to implication. I think "destined" is perhaps the most quibbleable "truth", but the rest are quite carefully worded.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
9935464
Thanks for the kind words! I wish I had thought of using horsepuns on Romanian city names, but the thought sadly didn't even occur to me
9936460
9935419
Thanks for the kind words! I was trying to give a satisfying ending that still leaves potential for... well, perhaps following up if FOME gives the contest a third run
And especial thanks to RTStephens for leaving his thoughts on each chapter as he went along, because I do so love it when readers do that
9936532
The latter two. Guessing how a "blood door" works is fairly simple, and confusing cause and effect is a very clever but frequently used way of obfuscating things.
And hey, everything Trixie said was true from a certain point of view. I'm sure Obi-Wan could make verity crystals turn any color he pleased.
Mhm.
So... this is how the civil war started, right?
9937260 It's definitely why Las Pegasus is now hovering over Trotsylvania and Flim and Flam are repelling gargoyles from their rollercoaster.
9936551
Nicely done!
9937260
9942318
Hahaha. That's another delightful mental image, and yes, the Flim Flam Brothers would be another fantastic pair of larger-than-life characters I'd love to write.
I'd imagined Twilight (and Starlight) would support Trixie in her new endeavours, albeit somewhat grumpily in Twilight's case. Civil war? That'd need something to go very badly wrong. And fortunately there aren't any batponies with a grudge against Trixie who have a vested interest in things going very badly wrong for her, so we should be fine...
Real fun story! Loved the framing setup like others have said it's great to see Twilight and Trixie put in a room together and just grate away at the nerves.
I particularly liked the truth telling gem and Trixie's mastery over it. Either by her self delusion or artful truth bending. I also do love it that she's gotten a bump in intelligence while still very much sounding like Trixie still.
The heist-movie quality when the rest of her 'team' shows up is great too and I love me some Startrix relations. The details and backstory of the batpony society could have filled a fic twice as long as this one. Very interesting and very nice! I hope you revisit the setting sometime in the future. Perhaps showing how Trixie settles into her role
Ooo, this was fun. I have to say I’m unsure about the colored text—I had to stop reading once the red text came in because it didn’t show up well on my screen and I had to fiddle with it and I’m not sure it added enough to justify the distraction. Minor gripe, though.
The other thing that bugged me, I hesitate slightly to mention, because it’s quite subjective, but in the interest of honesty: I didn’t like Trixie’s narration as much as I wanted it to. It wasn’t bad, I just wanted it to be more Trixie, I suppose—there were moments where it did, certainly, but also some where I thought it could’ve been anypony talking,
I really like the use of the narration, though. Quite a few stories in the competition have relied on big exposition dumps to get backstories across, so this one taking a more thoughtful approach was a breath of fresh air and really helped me stay engaged.
Nice work!
9946872
Thank you! "Heist-movie quality" is a nifty description: I hadn't quite thought of it in those terms myself, but I'm happy with the comparison :)
Once I knew I was writing about Trixie's exploits in Transylmaneia, it was always a necessity that Starlight turn up somehow. I love their dynamic (and Starlight generally, really), especially if there's an opportunity for a situation where Starlight can jump to a magical solution where something else might have made more sense
Amusingly, that's what this fic was actually originally going to be: Trixie dealing with the batpony aristocracy and the challenges of actually ruling a province. But then I realised the details of how she came to be ruler had enough going on that they would fill a fic all by themselves. I am definitely keen to write some more in this setting, though it probably won't be till the spring.
9951320
Yeah, I think the coloured text was an experiment that didn't quite work. I was trying to make it be a colour that works both on FimFic's light mode and dark mode, but that interfered with the legibility somewhat. I might go back and just edit the colour out... I'm pretty happy with how distinct Trixie's and Ethereal Requiem's narrative voices have come out.
Interesting you wanted more Trixieisms in the narration: I was worried I'd overdone it with her little narrative asides and "great and powerful"s and so on. I did try to read out everything in blue back to myself in Trixie's voice to make sure it fit coming from her. I shall bear this in mind: Trixie's voice in the series is so exaggerated that fanfics can take a lot of overdoing it
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fun little story! Great job with Trixie's voice, too--I think you really got her down!
One question, which I hope hasn't been answered--any thoughts on Requiem's relation to Heartslash? Is she an illegitimate child, too?
9964566
Thank you!
In my mind, Ethereal Requiem's real deal is something like she's actually one step further removed than she says, so her official position in the line of succession is a lot further down the queue than she claims. Her dad was a cousin of the Queen, or cousin once removed or some such. She was an ambitious young teenager when she perceived that the Queen had no true heir - think Diamond Tiara or Sunset Shimmer - so she falsified some evidence that her dad was actually the Queen's younger brother; then she got that evidence accepted as official history - hence the "it is a matter of public record" line at the start of ch3 with the echo in ch5. I never worked out the precise details but I intended it to be something like that. Sensible question!
9956410
For me, it was odd to see Trixie use first person pronouns, especially when talking to somebody, but that's really a minor gripe.
Overall, this was a really nice mystery story, and Requiem's reaction was both interesting and believable - kind of reminiscent of Chrysalis, if in slightly different circumstances.
9966759
Ah, now that was a point that I did take care to check when writing this. In the show, Trixie does actually say "I" and "me" a lot, much more than "Trixie". Even right in her first appearance, she chops and changes between third person and first person all the time:
She's mostly third person in season 1, but the distinction all through the show is basically between when she's in performer mode and when she's being honest. The other first person moment in Boast Busters is when we see her at her most honest:
By the time of No Second Prances and Student Counsel, she's using "I" and "me" almost all the time, just seasoned with third person enough to keep the habit going. No Second Prances of course includes the line which was kind of the inspiration for this entire fic, and also shows Trixie casually talking in first person:
I'm glad Requiem's reaction seemed believable to you. I wasn't sure of it, whether I should have her take Heartslash up on the offer, but I thought it just felt better to have her (as you say) do a Chrysalis and angrily refuse.
Thanks very much for the kind words - I'm glad you enjoyed the fic!
This was an immensely fun read. I always love seeing Trixie being great and powerful.
You've been reviewed
10270233
And a very kind and complimentary review it is too! Many thanks!
A truly Great and Powerful fic. It was a joy to read and really showed Trixie at her best, good job and thank you.