Present Day - Hayburgers, First Dates, and Accepting Mortality
The noonday sun was shining brightly over the town of Ponyville as the doors to the Castle of Friendship swung open, and some of its occupants made a hasty exit from the premises. First, as the doors swung open, a pair of fantastically-and-mystically-dressed ponies, the Great and Powerful Trixie and her apprentice, Starswirl the Bearded, sauntered into town, tails entwined, and eyes made only for one another.
Following them closely, and quickly surpassing them, sprinted Starlight Glimmer, panic in her eyes, and Spike, the Brave and Glorious, held aloft in her magical aura. Their flight was followed by the curious sounds of Princess Twilight’s wails of despair and anguish as she took out her temporally-induced fury on the Cutie Map Table in her throne room.
But the paired ponies had no time to consider Twilight’s latest meltdown. They were heading towards the town’s famous Burger Princess. Trixie Lulamoon had a promise to keep, and it came with hayfries and a soda.
“It’s so good to be home!” she cried. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the sights, and she walked with a joyous bounce to her step. “Nothing’s changed!”
“Trixie,” Starswirl chuckled, even his exasperated tone was brimming with gladness at the return of his mentor, “You’ve only been gone a few minutes to everycreature else.”
Trixie shrugged, “No matter! Now, if I remember correctly, there should be a sale on hayburgers this time of day. Oh!” she squealed excitedly, “You’re in for a treat, Swirly!”
“Ah, Trixie?” he leaned in as they walked together, “I haven’t gone by ‘Swirly’ for over a thousand years.”
“Well, duh!” Trixie rolled her eyes, “Trixie wouldn’t have it any other way! Starswirl is such a… dramatic name, after all. Perfect for wowing the crowds.
“I, of course,” she glanced up towards the, now, much taller stallion, “still have the privilege of referring to you by that other name?”
Starswirl grimaced, though not about the name. It had been one-thousand years, and he still couldn’t resist… that look. That pouty, sad, happy look that she used to get her way from before.
He loved that look.
“Of course,” he nodded, at last.
“Great! Now,” Trixie licked her lips, “I’m thinking of getting myself a Double, with onions and spicy hayfries in the burger. For your first time, I think we should do the classic. The Royale with Cheese!”
Starswirl winced. “Um, Trixie? About that…”
“Sure, Sparkle’s on the box, but I don’t hold that against them. I wonder if they still sell the toy, though… “
“Trixie, I’ve already…”
“Hm…” Trixie frowned in deep concentration, “We need to stop by my wagon and gets some bits, now that Trixie thinks of it. Wish I’d kept some of the local coins now. They’d probably be worth a fortune in the present…”
“Trixie!” Starswirl half-shouted.
Trixie almost tripped, but recovered quickly. They both came to a stop in the middle of the street, just down from Sugarcube Corner. She turned a startled look back towards the stallion.
He blushed. Then, in a softer voice, he said, “I… already know what a hayburger tastes like.”
She blinked.
“Oh…”
“I’ve been in this time period for a couple years now,” Starswirl tried to explain.
“No, no,” Trixie waved down his concern, “There’s nothing to apologize for. It was Trixie who missed her deadline.
“Typical Trixie,” she snorted, and looked away. She said, quietly, “Never there when you need her.”
Starswirl looked on as Trixie seemed to deflate before him. The way her eyes misted up, and the low set in her shoulders, brought a pang to his chest. He almost hissed at the sight.
He stepped forward, and carefully pulled her into a hug with one foreleg. Even compared to the sunny day around them, she was warm.
“Heh,” she chuckled, lightly, and then nuzzled into his beard, “Since when did you get so tall?”
“Growth spurt,” he smiled, sadly, “After our time. I took after my father’s side, after all.”
Trixie slowly pulled away from him, and gave a weak smile of her own.
“How…” she coughed, clearing her throat, “How long…?”
Starswirl’s smile faded, leaving only the melancholy that living for years will settle into a pony. He sighed, and closed his eyes.
“A long time. I was alone for… a long time,” he said. Then, looking back to the mare who meant so much to him, he continued.
“I spent decades studying the mystic arts, Trixie. I was determined to bring you back, no matter what it cost me.”
“But I wasn’t dead,” she tilted her head to one side.
“I didn’t know that at the time!” Starswirl’s brow knotted tight, “I thought you were, and I would do whatever it took to change that. But…”
He sighed, and for the first time, Trixie could see the lines of worry and age under his eyes. The youthful, vibrant, lively little colt she once knew had turned gray and tired beneath an avalanche of time.
“… No matter how many time-spells I created,” he whispered, voice crackling, “no matter how many times I tried to return your spirit to the mortal world, it never worked. I devoted my life to becoming the greatest wizard, ever… for you.
“My only consolation,” a smile touched his lips, and the sight of it almost ripped a cry from Trixie’s heart, “is that those efforts were unnecessary. You… came back to me.”
Though her eyes glistened, Trixie would not blink. She would not look away.
“Swirly?” she asked, “How old are you?”
At this, he snorted, and let loose a low, earthy guffaw.
Trixie frowned, “What’s so funny?”
“Sorry! Sorry,” he slowly brought his chuckling back under control, “It’s just… I don’t rightly know anymore. One thousand years in Limbo notwithstanding, a lot of my testing with Time Magic ended up with me skipping back and forth a fair bit. I’ve also got a few spells running right now that will keep me in prime form for… well, centuries, probably.”
“Hm,” Trixie hummed, “Guess that explains the silver mane…”
Starswirl glanced down at his beard. “Ah, no. I just… went silver a bit early.”
It was Trixie’s turn to snort, and hide her laughter behind a blue hoof.
“What?” Starswirl pouted, indignantly, “My mother’s side all had it… apparently. And Mistmane said it made me look distinguished…”
“Just…” Trixie took a deep breath, and composed herself, “Just tell me you’re not, like, a hundred years old, or something.”
Starswirl frowned. Then, to Trixie’s concern, he looked like he was doing a little math in his head. A few moments later, he nodded, affirmatively, and said, “I believe that I am no older than forty summers. Biologically.”
“Seriously,” she laughed, and shook her head, “How much time-screwery did you get up to while I was gone?”
Starswirl tilted his head back, and chuckled, “A lot, I suppose. I didn’t stop until…”
He grew silent. Trixie noticed, but said nothing. It was disconcerting, seeing her apprentice so melancholy and withdrawn. Not at all the jumping, jittery, excitable Swirly she once knew.
Finally, he said, “When Aeva returned, Celestia and Luna in tow, I realized that you were beyond my grasp.”
The two ponies resumed their walk. As they passed by a large fountain, Starswirl indicated one of its smooth, stone seats with a nod of his horn. Trixie reached out and held his hoof, giving him a few moments to listen to the bubbling water.
As he sat down, Starswirl sighed.
“I was already training Clover at the time. Having one rambunctious colt in my life was stressful enough, with my own studies taking up time. But now, having two Alicorn Princesses dropped in my lap? I couldn’t…”
“A colt?”
Starswirl paused. He quirked an eyebrow, and muttered, “Pardon?”
“A colt,” Trixie repeated, “You called Clover the Clever a colt.”
He looked around, as though he were expecting Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie to leap out and yell ‘Gotcha!’.
“I don’t understand,” he frowned, “Clover was most certainly a colt. I taught him myself. I essentially raised him!”
“Then why is Clover always played by a… oh, no…” Trixie’s eyes widened, and her breathing instantly turned shallow.
Starswirl noted the change, and started leaning in.
“Trixie?” he poked, “Are you…?”
“I changed something,” she whispered.
“You…?”
He didn’t say much else, as a pair of hooves wrapped around Starswirl’s collar, and pulled his muzzle almost to touching Trixie’s.
“This is the consequence!” she gasped, fear in her eyes, “The consequence of my meddling with History!”
“Trixie,” Starswirl sighed, “You didn’t…”
But Trixie would not be ignored. She spun around, and held up one hoof, in a dramatic pose. “It was the butterflies! The hurricane ones! I changed the events of history! Don’t you see!? If I hadn’t gone back… if I hadn’t fought Grogar, or Bray, or Sombra, then…”
A silver light appeared, and clamped down over her muzzle. Trixie squirmed, panic – and the rage of being interrupted – seizing her, for a moment.
But, as she noticed Swirly’s nonplussed expression, she began to dial it back.
“Trixie?” Starswirl held back a smile, valiantly, “If you’d changed Clover’s gender through time travel… then why do I remember the original timeline?”
That gave her pause. Trixie frowned, and scratched at her chin. Then, the logic of her apprentice’s words finally getting through, she gave a chagrined smile.
The aura faded from her mouth, and Trixie quickly said, “Sorry. I guess I was just… worried.”
“No need!” Starswirl’s horn flashed with light again, “I shall sort this out post-haste!”
A moment later, and with a faint pop, a book had materialized in the air before him. Starswirl immediately cracked open the yellow-covered tome, revealing the dark-green, four-leaf clover on the front.
“Let’s see here…” Starswirl hummed to himself as he read. Trixie waited, patiently, as she listened to him hum and murmur and ‘oh’ over and over and over again.
“We’re probably going to miss the lunch special,” she muttered darkly.
The book snapped shut, startling her. But, the look on Starswirl’s face completely arrested her attention.
He was smiling.
“Good for you, Clover,” he said to himself, “I’m happy you got that spell working.”
“Uh, Swirly?” Trixie tapped one hoof irritably, “You mind filling me in?”
“Never mind,” he said, vanishing the book in another puff of magic, “You didn’t change anything, Trixie. I just… didn’t see something clearly back then.”
He cleared his throat, and spoke again in a more… theatrical tone that caused Trixie to smile.
“Anyway… with three fillies to look out for, I realized that I had too many other responsibilities to keep chasing after your phantom. I had to found Equestria, to give you a home in that far, far distant future you showed me.”
A shadow passed across his face, and the wizened stallion glanced away. In shame or fear, Trixie couldn’t say.
Yet, she thought, sadly, though I want to make you feel better… I couldn’t be prouder of your dramatic skills, Swirly.
Starswirl clenched his jaw, and then said, “I’m not proud of what I did. I… used a memory charm to lock you away in my mind, where I wouldn’t be constantly reminded of you.”
“You…” Trixie’s throat felt dry, suddenly, “You forgot about me?”
He sucked on his cheek a moment. “I had to,” he said, pain in his eyes, “I couldn’t go through with erasing the memories, but I needed to focus! I had children, apprentices who needed me to be there for them. So, I re-read your journal…”
Trixie ‘eeped’ at this, but did not interrupt.
“… left a few of my own notes, and had one of Peachy’s grandfoals hide it in Gusty’s Tomb.”
“Where’s that?”
“No idea,” Starswirl shrugged, “My obsession with you more or less drove me away from the others.
“Anyway, that being done… I cast the charm, and that was that. And, perhaps, that was also a mistake. I can’t imagine treating Stygian as I did,” he sighed, and looked away, “Had I remembered all that you had taught me of Friendship. Maybe that, more than anything, was why I could never finish the Alicorn spell…”
As Starswirl fell silent, Trixie wiped at her eyes, and smiled.
“Trixie understands. She is, after all, a Great and Powerful distraction. It’s no wonder you had to wipe your own memories just to be able to do anything other than reflect on her… awesomeness.”
The older stallion chortled, but said nothing.
Trixie nodded, and laughed, “Well, that certainly explains why you didn’t recognize me when we met!”
Starswirl looked back to her, a quizzical eyebrow raised.
“I… wouldn’t have known you when we first met.”
“Not in the past!” she frowned, “Back in the Crystal Library! You remember? That whole craziness a few months ago?”
For the briefest of moments, for the splittest of seconds, Trixie knew something was up. Something was so very up. Starswirl’s eyes sank, slightly, into their sockets, and his lips puckered tight under his beard and mustache.
He coughed, in that very dramatic way that told Trixie he didn’t actually need to cough.
“Yes!” he said, a bit too loudly, and hopped up to his hooves, “That was… entirely what happened. Where did you say the Burger Princess was?”
“Swirly…”
“I’ve heard the Double Pickle is a real humdinger, as Big Mac keeps telling me…”
“Swirly I-don’t-know-your-middle-name the Bearded!” Trixie snarled, and stamped one hoof against the dusty ground.
Starswirl flinched at her tone, reflexively straightening up on the spot. He spun on one hoof, fast enough to get his hat-bells jingling, and came to a stop facing his old mentor.
Trixie folded her forelegs in front of her, and fixed the stallion with a scowl.
“What’s going on?”
Looking about, and finding no easy out, Starswirl sighed.
“I did recognize you,” he said, staring down at his hooves. “The memory charm wasn’t supposed to make me forget you, technically. Seeing you pop up in the Crystal Empire made it all rush back to me. But I didn’t want to risk altering the timeline, so…”
“Swirly…” Trixie warned.
Starswirl rolled his eyes, and groaned, “Alright! Alright! I…”
He looked about again. And seeing nopony near, he leaned in, as close as he could, to Trixie.
“You can’t tell anypony about this, right?”
She met his gaze, and felt the seriousness of what he was saying bear down on her. Trixie couldn’t help but see just a little bit of that little colt she’d wandered Equestria with for a year, staring back at her. But where once, she would have held his gaze, and comforted him with whatever words she had on hoof, now… she found a touch of iron, staring back. A stallion who had seen things, and done things, that would leave the rest of the world struggling to get out from under his looming shadow.
She was a little intimidated.
And proud of him, at the same time.
“A magician would never share another’s secret,” she said, a playful smirk appearing on her lips.
With his own smirk, Starswirl’s horn flared to life again. Silver light burned across his horn, and down his coat, changing all the colors in his hat and robe to gray.
Trixie watched, stupefied, as the grayness passed over to her, next. Her hooves changed first, then her legs. Her cloak soon followed, until the silver light caught up to her face.
Suddenly, the whole world was gray.
“You…” she examined her hat closely, to see how thorough the spell had been, “You created a color-filter spell? Swirly, even I can… I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie is more than capable of…”
“Trixie, it’s fine. But, no. It’s not a color filter,” Starswirl said. Though, oddly, Trixie felt like something was off about the way he said it.
“Swirly?” she blinked, “Did you take up ventriloquism?”
Starswirl stood stock-still. He looked more like a photograph of a pony, holding his breath. At least, that’s what Trixie thought at first. His silver mane stayed as it was, but she could tell from the little details, like the tiny amount of pink and red on his cheeks that had disappeared, or how his cloak and array of golden bells were completely ashen, and still, that there was something more to this.
Then, she started noticing how the fountain had grown silent. And staring at it, she also noticed how it wasn’t moving. And how it was gray.
Everything was gray.
Including the mare in the showmare outfit standing next to her.
“Uh…”
“How do you like it?”
“GAH!”
Trixie jumped to one side, neatly fading through her own grayed-out doppelganger. Starswirl – one who wasn’t a photographic cutout, and was full of color – stood at her side, a smirking, smug grin on his face.
“What!?” Trixie swiveled her head around, “What’s…? Huh!?”
Everywhere she looked, the Ponyville she knew was utterly, and completely, devoid of color. Two pegasi flying past, in Wonderbolt finery, were mere gray streaks. The apples and carrots on display in the market may as well have been rocks on display.
Trixie looked down, and saw her own color was back.
“What is this?”
Starswirl chuckled, then held out one hoof in a dramatic wave.
“This, my dear,” he said with a flourish of his bells, “is the secret to my success!”
Trixie stared, in awe, at the towering stallion as he struck his most showpony pose. To see Swirly… her Swirly, so grown up, and so debonair…
“You froze time?”
He nodded, eyes closed.
“But… why?”
“I’ll admit,” he said, as he walked back to her side, casually passing his ghostly hoof through his own, frozen form, “There’s not a whole lot of applicability for something like this. But it gives me time to think.”
“Time to…?” Trixie’s eyes widened, “Wait… you do this often?”
Starswirl blushed, and kicked at the dirt, “You know how terrible I was at thinking on my hooves, back when. So, when I can, I like to take a moment to… plan out what I need to do.
“I was never as clever as you, or Clover,” he smiled, “But, power? Now, that I had in abundance. So why not use it a little?”
Trixie grinned, her eyes sparkling as she listened.
“And you say you’re not clever? Swirly! That’s ingenious!” she laughed, and pranced in place, “The ultimate sleight of hoof! You actually stole time! Is that how you came up with so many smart ideas?”
His smug smirk only grew.
“So, when you saw me before…?”
“I spent a few…” he coughed, “… days trying to perfect my poker face. I was serious about not letting something happen to the timeline, you know? I had to reapply the memory charm, and try very… very hard not to say or do anything that might trigger those memories.”
She smirked, “Well? Did I trigger any more of them?”
“Constantly,” he shook his head, and laughed, “I probably aged a few months, just hopping back and forth through this spell while you were around. And…”
“… And when you saw me return just today,” her smile grew, “You realized you didn’t need to hide it anymore?”
“Precisely—”
Starswirl didn’t know what hit him. For one instant – theoretically, since time wasn’t a thing at the moment, for one eternity – he was standing before his mentor, his friend, and the most beautiful mare in the world.
And in the next, she was kissing him. Her lips, pressed to his.
With a soft smeck, she pulled away, and looked up with half-lidded eyes into his own, starstruck ones.
“Hm,” she smiled, “How many stallions can say they won the affections of their foalhood crush?”
“Ah,” said Starswirl the Bearded, mightiest and wisest of Equestrian mages.
Trixie nuzzled him, gently, just under his chin.
“Alright,” she said, “I think a thousand years is long enough. By my right, as an official member of the Guild of Equestrian Magicians, I dub thee, Starswirl the Bearded. You are no longer an apprentice, my student. You are a Showpony, at last!”
“Ah.”
Trixie pecked his cheek, and then walked past the comatose stallion. She lightly flicked his nose with her tail as she did so.
“Right,” she sniffed, “I’m thinking onion rings, to celebrate!”
Twenty-Five Years Later…
It was late afternoon as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s chariot finally made its landing approach towards Ponyville. The Royal Guards who pulled at the harness, one a pegasus mare, the other a buck hippogriff, were near exhaustion from the mad pace they’d set to get here in so little time. Their Princess hadn’t needed to order them to push so hard, but they could tell at a glance that speed was of the essence, and she hadn’t corrected them.
The chariot wheels clattered across one of the few paved squares in town, stopping just before an old fountain. While the guards unlatched their harnesses, Twilight and her Captain of the Guard, sitting beside her during the ride over, leapt out of the chariot, and began the brisk march towards Ponyville General.
“Soldiers!” Gallus called out, and waved his talons with authority, “Wait right here. This might be a while.”
“Sir!” both snapped to attention at the order. Gallus nodded in approval at their crisp, military bearing, and took up his place; at her side, one step behind.
Twilight glanced backward at her trusted Captain, the urgency of her stride not lessening in the slightest as she said, “Gallus, you don’t need to follow me in there. I’ll be fine.”
“Begging your pardon, Princess,” he responded, with a clip of his beak, “But I’d like to go in anyway, if it’s all the same to you.”
She didn’t say anything, at first. She merely observed her friend, Guard Captain, and former student with a studious eye, honed through the years. His armor was slightly loose around the back-harness buckles. The muzzle-strap was undone. And though he moved with almost mechanical perfection, she could see the way his talons scratched at the ground, and how his wings bunched behind his shoulders.
How many times was Trixie there for you, she thought, somberly, when you had nocreature else?
“I’m sure your old counselor would love to see you again,” she managed a light smile, and turned her attention back to the road.
“Thank you,” he nodded, curtly. If he trusted his voice to hold up, he didn’t show it then.
Ponyville General slowly loomed into view. The hospital had been renovated many times over the years, as new medical technologies were adapted from the world beyond the Mirror, and the population of the once-sleepy town ballooned. It was over twice as large as it once was, but the same familiar yellow-and-pink exterior was there to greet the Princess as she arrived.
Despite the late hour, there was still a hooffull of staff ready for the Princess’ arrival, including a rather familiar purple mare with a golden mane.
“Your Majesty!” the doctor knelt down to Twilight as she and Gallus reached the front desk, “We’ve been expecting you.”
“Good evening, Dinky,” Princess Twilight managed a soft smile for the young mare, “How is the patient?”
There was a flash of something in Dinky’s eyes, but she covered it quickly, and picked up a clipboard in her green aura.
“Come with me,” she said, evenly, “I’ll show you to the patient’s… to Trixie’s room.”
The hospital was deathly quiet. With normal visiting hours over, and most of the patients encouraged to rest, even this close after sundown the place was just about shut up for the night. The only sounds, to Twilight’s ears, were the clip-clop of their party’s hooves on hardwood, and the occasional sound of a vital machine beeping behind a closed door.
Princess Twilight was, naturally, fully aware of the movement of the sun and moon as the latter’s light began to beam into the building from its tall windows. She was glad to see it, and glad to have given the heavenly orbs a little extra inertia this time around. She wasn’t in much of a mood to keep exact track of them.
Finally, after a long, silent march up multiple flights of stairs, the three arrived at the top floor of the hospital. Trixie had been given the Princess-Room at the very front and center of Ponyville General, partly due to the large amount of ponies and creatures that would no doubt be in to see her, and partly how Doctor Feel Good, the Chief of Medicine, didn’t want to be turned into radioactive slag if Starlight Glimmer found out Trixie hadn’t been given the best room.
The area was a bit of a mess, Twilight noted, as they approached Trixie’s room. It was clear that nearly every chair on the floor had been confiscated by visitors and stacked all around the door to accommodate them all. Twilight could still see some bits of frosting from around where she guessed Pinkie’s family had sat.
Dinky stopped a few feet from the door.
“Trixie and her immediate family are still inside,” she nodded, after confirming something on her clipboard, “But, um… Your Majesty?”
“Yes, Doctor?”
Dinky glanced, nervously, over to Gallus, who was otherwise staring straight ahead at the door in front of them.
Twilight nodded, slowly. “Gallus? Why don’t you go on ahead?”
“Princess?” he asked.
“I want to talk with Dinky really quick,” she said, smoothly, “But you should go in. I’m sure seeing you will make Trixie’s night.”
“Heh,” he laughed, but then started forward immediately, “If she hasn’t already bumped into everycreature she’s ever met!”
Twilight watched her Guard Captain go, right up until the door clicked shut behind him. Then, she turned back towards the Doctor, the one she better remembered as a bright-eyed filly around the town, and sighed.
“You wanted to talk, yes?”
The warm, inviting smile Dinky had worn since the Princess’ arrival seemed to melt away as a torrent of concern, and professional weariness furrowed her brows. She set her mouth into the hard line of a pony whose tasks often had to be amended with a sorrowful, ‘I’m sorry, we did everything we could’.
Dinky took in a deep breath through her nose, and said, “Trixie was found collapsed in her office by a student. We don’t know how long she was out, but there was a two-hour gap between her meetings today.”
She flipped through some of the paperwork attached to her clipboard, eyes furiously searching for the right lines of ink.
“When we got her, her oxygen stats were rock-bottom. She could hardly breath without a ventilator, and even after we managed to get her respirating normally, it’s taking an Oxygenation Crystal on her nightstand to keep her stable. We think…”
“Dinky,” the Princess interrupted, “I don’t think this is appropriate. Trixie is awake, and I’m sure she hasn’t authorized you to share her medical record with me.”
Here, Dinky’s magic slipped a note out from her clipboard. It looked like a list of names, with Trixie’s signature at the bottom.
“Actually,” she said, holding the paper up, “You are. You, Trixie’s daughter Celeste, Starswirl, Starlight, and somepony named Human Trixie are all authorized to receive her diagnosis.
“Plus…” Dinky placed the paperwork back together, but did not return to look Twilight in the eye, “You’re the Princess. And you’re here. And… you might be able to help…”
Twilight stood still, and listened, as Dinky spoke. Hearing what Trixie had done, adding her to such a list, left the Princess feeling odd. Sort of unbalanced. She mulled the thought over in silence for a few moments.
Then, she gave Dinky an affirmative nod.
“Very well. What’s your diagnosis?”
The hospital staff really spared no expenses, Twilight was pleased to see, as she opened the door to Trixie’s room, and found that it was spacious enough to accommodate more guests than usual. Even accounting for the various medical machines of human-origin in the room, there was plenty of space for the flowers, candy, apples, and other gifts and treats left by visitors.
It was a gladdening sight, the gifts and shown affection for the showmare and school counsellor, as was the commanding view of Ponyville her room’s windows held. The breathtaking view could almost make Twilight forget she was standing in a hospital room.
Trixie, of course, held no such illusions for herself.
“Hey, Sparkle,” a scratchy, hoarse whisper grated against Twilight’s ears, and left a cold streak down her spine, “Didn’t think you’d show up.”
Trixie lay at the nexus of an array of medical devices. Plastic tubes carrying oxygen and various liquids ran from her small, frail form like a vast, life-supporting web. And yet, tucked into the large white hospital bed, she looked smaller still. Frailer, still. Like a little blue dot in a cloudy sky.
Gallus stood at Trixie’s right, holding up one of her hooves. He stood resolute and soldierly, despite the darkened tract of feathers beneath his eyes. Near him, Celeste Lulamoon, Trixie in all but color and mane – which she shared with her father, Starswirl – maintained her own silent vigil, her eyes hidden by the brim of her green wizard hat.
And on the other side, Twilight’s heart broke as she took in the form of Starswirl the Bearded. He sat in a chair, near Trixie’s left, his back to the windows. It looked like he hadn’t eaten in days, brushed his coat, or washed his mane. His eyes were hollow, and lifeless, dull orbs looking out on a scene he had no agency to alter, nor prevent.
“Of course, I came,” Twilight smiled, and tried to focus on Trixie alone, “I came as soon as I could.”
Oh, but worst of all was the showmare herself. Her colors had paled, and her coat was messy and unkempt. Her hair was almost as bad, drooping here and there, heavy with sweat, and yet almost dry and crackling.
There was something unnatural about Trixie Lulamoon sitting still, or lying down. Her shows were often daring exhibitions of acrobatics, in addition to her illusions and fireworks, and so to see her limbs listless at her side was a disquieting thing to behold. To see the loose skin pooling at her neck, her jaw, and along her exposed leg joints, without the supple strength and alacrity Twilight was used to seeing in her; it chilled the Princess’s very blood.
It’s like Granny Smith, she thought, as she approached, all over again.
Gallus made some sort of excuse, and tried to leave the room. Celeste, after inquiring with her father – who moved only to shake his head slowly – and watching Twilight a moment, went out with the Captain.
Twilight hadn’t heard a word of what passed between them. She was too preoccupied with the sunken, pale eyes that looked up at her with a sneer.
“Hmph,” Trixie sniffed as the door shut behind Gallus and Celeste, “At your earliest convenience, no doubt.”
“Yes, actually,” Twilight nodded, just managing a calm tone to her voice, “There were still a few things I couldn’t clear away before now, so…”
Trixie scoffed, though it was a hollow, little thing, choked by the breathing tubes sticking out of her nose and down her throat, “Bah! Even Grogar managed to come by and console his Greatest Rival!”
She pointed, weakly over towards Starswirl, who hadn’t moved as of yet, “Swirly here threw him out the window!”
Twilight frowned, and turned her attention to the aged stallion. “Grogar forgot about the restraining order?”
Starswirl said nothing.
“Swirly?” Trixie asked, her voice… softer than it was a moment ago. Starswirl’s ears instantly snapped to attention, though his eyes were a bit slower in following.
“Oh,” he said, quietly, “Um… yes. He remembered. But he didn’t realize I’d be here when he came by.”
Princess Twilight blinked. And then, pressing one hoof to the base of her horn, in a vain attempt to block out the coming headache, she sighed.
“… Trixie is Grogar’s rival… of course…”
There was a moment of quiet, ruined only by the hiss of an oxygen machine. Twilight glanced up, to find Starswirl sinking back down into whatever dark place he was in, eyes forward and unfocused.
Trixie, on the contrary, fixed the Princess with a steady gaze. Perhaps ‘glare’ would have been more appropriate, but Twilight could feel there was less than malice behind that look. There was something of a searching quality to Trixie’s glare.
She was hunting for something.
“Swirly?” she croaked, and half-turned her head towards her husband, “Could you see if there’s some more water outside?”
Starswirl blinked. His dull gaze lightened, a moment, as he beheld his wife’s face.
“Hm?” he questioned.
“I need water,” Trixie said, flatly, “Could you get some more?”
“Oh…” his mind seemed to take a moment to ponder this problem. Then, he stood up slowly, like a zombie rising again. His long legs carried him, with a mechanical gait, across the room, nearly crashing into Twilight, had she not taken another step into the room. In this way, he staggered out of the room, hardly even noting the half-filled jug of water on Trixie’s nightstand.
One of the monitors beeped.
“So…” the Princess glanced about, “They gave you the nice…”
“Sparkle,” Trixie said, with just a skosh less hostility than before, “How’re things?”
“How…?” Twilight blinked, “How are things?”
Trixie bit her lip, and narrowed her eyes.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Sparkle,” Trixie said, finally, then chuckled darkly. “You’re sort of jumping the party cannon there, aren’t you?”
“Trixie, please,” Twilight winced at the gallows humor, “Don’t talk like that. There’s…”
The glare came back, this time accompanied by a scowl.
“Rarity’s already got my measurements,” Trixie said in a cool tone, “Big Mac said he’d do the coffin ‘up proper’, whatever that means, and I guess Little Cheese will be providing the funerary cupcakes at the wake.”
She snorted, weakly, “I just need to talk to you about getting a nice spot in a cemetery. I like Ponyville, don’t get me wrong, but the only open plot is next to Filthy Rich, and you know how we never got along…”
Twilight slipped in as Trixie took another deep suck of air, “There are always options…”
“Not this time,” Trixie closed her eyes, “And… and I’m fine with that. Really.”
Twilight held her breath. Then, when Trixie said nothing else, she took a seat to her left. Seeing Trixie up close… the damage looked worse than from across the room. This close, the Princess couldn’t help but notice the little scabs from where tubes and needles scraped Trixie while they hooked her in, and marks from her fall back at the School.
Trixie almost looked asleep.
“Dinky filled you in?”
Twilight looked away.
“Breaker’s Disease,” she focused on the medical data she’d seen on the Doctor’s chart, “Type 2, so it’s genetic, as opposed to stress or infection-induced…”
“Dad left me a bunch of unpaid bills and some angry Bitalian debt collectors,” Trixie groaned, “and Mom left me her lungs. Trixie wins the lotto yet again. At least I’m older than she was when it happened. Small victories, right?”
“The…” Twilight shook her head, “Dinky said you should have manifested symptoms years ago. It looked like somepony was slowing down your lungs’ deterioration. Did you learn any medical magic when I wasn’t looking?”
“Scrapes and bruises… maybe a broken bone, if I’m on the road,” Trixie shrugged as best she could without ripping an IV out, “Can’t regrow lungs.”
Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up.
“Trixie? Did… did Starswirl teach you any Time magic?” she licked her lips, “Anything that tried to arrest the damages…?”
Trixie opened her eyes, and looked to Twilight with a tired smile.
“I didn’t get any mutant genes, Twilight. I’m just a regular unicorn,” she sighed, “I couldn’t cast those spells even if I gave it my all.”
“That’s not true,” Twilight leaned in, one hoof reaching for Trixie’s, “You’re resourceful! I bet you could have… could have torn up those spells, and whipped up something useable!”
“… maybe,” Trixie closed her eyes again, “But we’ll never know now.”
“No!” Twilight said, her voice rising by degrees, “I know so!”
“Yeah?” Trixie turned her pale eyes back to the Alicorn, “And how do you know?”
“Because, I read your… your…” Twilight coughed, covering her mouth with the hoof she had been reaching out to Trixie, “… your… patents.”
Trixie’s ears perked.
“My patents?”
“Your patents,” Twilight lied, smoothly.
“My spell patents?” Trixie looked over to her, and raised an eyebrow, “Really?”
“Really.”
Trixie’s eyes, as pale as they were, narrowed in on Twilight’s own. It may just have been Twilight’s old instincts flaring up, a need to please those of scholarly and scholastic authority, but that stare was already starting to bore down into her.
Images of past teachers sensing a misbehaving student’s lies from across the classroom started dancing in her mind’s eye.
It doesn’t take a great actor to know a bad one, Trixie’s look seemed to say.
“And…” Twilight took a deep, slow breath, and steadied herself.
She met Trixie’s stare.
“I read your journal.”
The room was silent, save for the machines. Trixie’s eyes, somehow, narrowed further.
But, as the seconds passed, a smirk crossed her muzzle.
“Joke’s on you, Sparkle,” she said, “But I don’t keep a journal. Everything is committed to my Great and Powerful memory.”
Twilight’s face slipped into an unamused frown.
“Your journal, Trixie,” she repeated, “The one in Gusty’s Tomb.”
For an instant, Twilight might have been forgiven for thinking Trixie’s whole illness was nothing more than a ruse. Her ears stood straight up, and her eyes became like gleaming gems, full of light and life. But, within the blink of an eye, her expression drew back in on itself, and she was suddenly guarded, unsure.
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Then, hesitantly, she asked, “Where was the tomb?”
Twilight quickly recalled the location Daring had scoped out, drew up the relevant information, and said, “The tomb was set down in the ruins of Tambelon, just near the…”
A wretched, hacking sound erupted from Trixie. Twilight gasped, and leapt out of her seat, only to watch, in growing horror as Trixie spasmed, coughing and sputtering…
And laughing.
“T-Trixie?” Twilight blinked a few times, just in case the blue unicorn had finally lost it.
Trixie’s laughter wracked her body, and she sounded like she was choking on her oxygen tube. Twilight pressed the ‘up arrow’ amidst the bed’s controls with her magic, quickly bringing Trixie up into a sitting position.
As Trixie’s laughter faded slowly, it was largely replaced with more wet coughs and gagging sounds. Twilight fetched a tissue box from the nightstand, and tried to help as best she could, but Trixie’s body wasn’t cooperating.
It took minutes for the heaving coughs to subside. By the time it was over, Twilight was afraid they’d gone through about half of the tissues. She carefully removed the bloodied things, tossing everything in a medical waste bin with her magic.
And with Trixie’s attack finally winding down, the sickly showmare’s energy appeared as low as Twilight had ever seen it. She practically sank into her bedding. An inner flame, alight in her eyes, was the only thing that gave Twilight pause in thinking she’d fallen asleep right then and there.
“Heh,” she croaked, “Swirly owes me fifty bits. Told him…”
“Trixie,” Twilight said, and came back to sitting at her friend’s side, “I’m so sorry this is happening. But… if you could create all those spells, and manage to do… everything you did…”
One of Trixie’s hooves weakly cut her off.
“How far did you get?”
Twilight’s mind reflexively brought up an almost eidetic recollection of the last entry she’d read.
“You just dealt with Aeva,” she recounted, “You convinced her not to erase you from the timeline…”
Trixie blew a little raspberry.
“… and I was just about to read what happened between you and Swi- Starswirl,” she corrected, “when I got the news.”
The showmare sighed, the light in her eyes dimming.
“So, do you believe Trixie now?” she said, low and quiet.
Twilight rolled her eyes, and groaned, “Trixie… lying about your accomplishments was how we met, if you’ll recall the Ursa Minor that…”
She stopped, and took a long, relaxing breath. She even swept one hoof out as she breathed. Twilight hardly ever needed that trick, these days. It was only when dealing with Trixie.
Trixie, who’d been telling the truth.
“I still should have given you the benefit of the doubt,” Twilight nodded, slowly, “When you first came back to the present, I didn’t want to believe you. It all just… sounded so much like your usual nonsense that I blocked it out. I didn’t want to hear about you… ‘saving Gusty’, or ‘mentoring Starswirl’, or whatever it was you said about Grogar and Bray.
“But I should have,” Twilight looked to the ceiling, as if an answer was up in the florescent lighting, “Because we were friends. Are friends. And… I’m sorry, Trixie. I’m sorry I never believed you without having to factcheck. Can you forgive me?”
“Yeah?” asked Trixie, her brows furrowing as she listened, “Nice to hear, I guess. Twenty-five years late. But nice.”
“I’m sorry, Trixie,” Twilight reached out again, and gripped one of her hooves, “But I believe you, now. You were… you are one of Equestria’s greatest heroes.”
“… and most Powerful?” Trixie tilted her head to the side, the shadow of a smile touching her lips.
Twilight chuckled, but pressed on, to Trixie’s slight annoyance.
“I would be honored if you would tell me the rest of your legendary adventure,” she smiled. And it was a gentle, almost motherly, smile.
Trixie’s grip tightened on Twilight’s hoof, but weakly, like it was a Breezie pushing on it. She looked away, and breathed slowly through her nose.
“No,” she said.
“… What?”
Trixie looked back, with a weary gaze.
“No, Sparkle,” she repeated, “You never could believe me without some kind of proof to look at. Even with Swirly backing me up, you never believed me before.”
“You two were practically engaged your first week back!” Twilight scrunched her nose, and said, “He wasn’t a reliable witness…”
“Even so!” Trixie’s monitors chirped a warning as a renewed vigor seized her. But, with that warning, she seemed to settle again, letting the softness of the bed hold her down.
“Even so,” she said, eyes misting, “You need the journal. You need evidence, Sparkle. So just head back, and finish it. I’m not dying for at least a week, if Dinky’s doctorate is worth anything.”
“I can’t just read it,” Twilight rolled her eyes, and waved one wing in the general direction of Canterlot, “Daring has to go through a process to restore the damaged bits before I get the entries.”
There was another spasm, though this one was mercifully short, and left only a spittle of blood splashed across Trixie’s sheets.
“Daring Do!?” she hissed.
Twilight nodded, and she dragged another tissue across Trixie’s blood-splotched lips, “She’s an excellent editor…”
“Eugh… that means Indeedy got her mitts all over my journal,” Trixie pouted, briefly releasing Twilight’s hoof until she realized what she’d done, and snatched it back up.
“I still don’t know why you dislike her. Indeedy’s pretty cute, and her books, while a little young, are very well written.”
“She stole the Alicorn Amulet from the woods that one time, and got me blamed for it,” Trixie snorted, “And then, she had the gall to reduce Trixie’s role in the tale to that of a secondary character! I deserved top-billing, and she knew it.”
The fuming unicorn glared into the distance.
“If the movie rights ever get optioned, I better get played by Carmare,” she scoffed, “She’s the only one of Daring’s brats who can carry a tune. And she’s almost pretty enough, I guess…”
“Wait, when did you meet Carmare…?”
Trixie shook her head, and spoke, hoarsely, “Not the point, Sparkle. Not the point, at all.” She huffed, but said nothing else.
But, to her mind, Twilight was fine with the sudden, companionable silence. It gave her a moment to check her old friend again. She’d need rest soon, Twilight reasoned, looking over the flecks of blood on the sheets, and the way her eyes twitched, striving to hold off sleep for just a bit longer.
Something was pushing her to continue, though her own body rebelled against anything other than sleep.
“Look,” said Trixie, in a low whisper, “Like I said. I don’t have… long. Magic won’t help me now.”
“You’re forgetting how stubborn and unreasonable I can be, Trixie. I won’t stop until I’ve completely exhausted that avenue,” Twilight leaned forward, and pressed another hoof to Trixie’s. Perhaps, with enough pressure and contact, she could will a bit of her own strength into the frail creature before her.
“You have my word.”
Perhaps, in spite of herself, Trixie smiled at that.
“Just…” she coughed, and cleared her throat, “Just make sure the statue captures my eyes. They’re my best feature. And, instruct a few guards to look appropriately shook up by my passing, if that’s alright?”
Twilight managed a little smile herself, though, like Trixie’s, it didn’t really reach her eyes.
“Of course, Trixie.”
“And make sure wherever you bury me,” Trixie’s eyes began to leak, and she brought her other hoof to hold Twilight’s, “It’s near a road. Old wanderer tradition. I have to be able to… see the crossroads, or else I’ll just be stuck in one place…”
“I will,” Twilight took a shuddering breath, “Don’t worry about it.”
“And…” Trixie swallowed, “Look out for Swirly. I left him... I already broke his heart once. You know how stallions are, sometimes. So emotional.”
“I’ll make sure Celeste takes good care of him,” Twilight agreed, biting her lower lip, her eyes never wavering from Trixie’s own.
The two mares held their silence. There were no cries. Sniffing, snuffling, gasping and sobbing were not permitted here. Only the resolve of two rivals, comfortable with one another, in the dark of a hospital room.
That was, until Twilight heard a strange sound. She realized, after a few seconds, that it was Trixie. The ephemeral unicorn’s lips were quivering as she held back a strangling cry, made so much more difficult by the tubes keeping her airways productive.
Trixie’s eyes, pale, pink, brimming with tears, locked with Twilight’s.
Her hooves tightened their grip, but only a moment. The urgency was there, but not the strength they once wielded. Twilight held her friend tighter still.
“Twilight,” Trixie said, her voice a frail shadow of the bravado that had dared an Ursa Minor, changelings, and demons of the darkest depths. Hot tears streamed down her face, and a whimper escaped from her lips.
“I don’t want to die. I’m… I’m scared…”
At last, the silence ended.
Twenty minutes later, once all her tears were shed, Trixie Lulamoon fell into a deep slumber. Twilight carefully dried her eyes, tucked her in to her bed, and quietly wished her friend a good night’s rest.
“Luna,” she whispered to herself, “Look after her?”
There was no response. Of course not.
Still, before the towering Princess left, she leaned over one more time, and placed a gentle kiss on Trixie’s brow. Perhaps it was the strange lighting of the room, or of Ponyville beyond, but Twilight liked to think that she saw Trixie smile, even if only in her dreams.
She made her way from the room, silent as a shadow. She made sure to coat the door in her magic, and apply a short-timed silencing spell before she closed it behind her. No need to accidentally wake Trixie up, after all… that.
The hospital was quiet. Deathly quiet. Twilight was not so fond of that phrasing, not today.
Sprawled over a couple of chairs, with a set of blankets lovingly placed over him, Starswirl slept soundly in the hall. While she could only see part of his face, it was clear his dreams would be troubled.
Princess Twilight looked up, and saw Captain Gallus, standing guard like a gargoyle by the end of the hall. It was clear he’d managed to straighten himself out, at least physically. Regardless the reality of his composure, she could tell, even from that distance, that he would need time to fully come to grips with today.
However, it was not loyal Gallus who caught the Princess’s attention. It was her student, the one and only Celeste Lulamoon, standing in the middle of the hallway, and facing her mother’s room.
She looked ready for a war.
“Princess,” she nodded respectfully, if stiffly. Celeste removed her hat with a steady, gold, telekinetic grip, setting it down on a nearby, unoccupied chair. Without its wide brim, her reddened, tired eyes could be seen, glaring through the gloom.
The lack of theatrics put Twilight on edge. Celeste was serious about whatever she had to say.
And I know what you will say, my faithful student…
“Celeste,” Twilight nodded back, respectfully, waiting to see what had her student in such a mood, “Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?”
The gray unicorn was staring daggers.
“Well?” she asked, unwavering, “Are you going to help her?”
Twilight was startled, somewhat, by the directness.
“Of course,” she said, solemnly, “Once I’m back in my lab with Dr. Dinky’s notes, I should be able to start working on some medical spells that should—”
“Not like that!” Celeste hissed, keeping her voice low in the halls of the hospital, “I mean, are you going to help her?”
Twilight’s mouth drew into a line.
“I don’t understand what you mean,” she lied.
Celeste glanced over her shoulder, towards Gallus, and then down at her sleeping father. With a gesture of her hoof, she bid the Princess to follow her. They went around the nearest corner, Twilight signaling Gallus to wait behind.
Once they were out of sight, and of earshot, Celeste whirled around at her teacher. Her eyes were hardened, and fearless.
“You know exactly what I mean,” she said, in a whisper, “You could fix this, right now.”
Twilight took even, measured breaths. It was now impossible not to have this conversation, despite having dreaded it for so long, wishing it would never happen.
“Celeste,” she said, slowly, trying to project calming thoughts into her words for both their sakes, “Princesshood is not something that can be given lightly. It…”
“Must be earned,” Celeste rolled her bloodshot eyes, “Yeah, I know! It’s not like I helped you explain that to Luster Dawn, back when she found out about her sister’s whole deal.
“Actually, speaking of Sunset Shimmer,” her face slipped into a scowling smirk, “What exactly did she do to earn her wings, hm?”
“Sunset was a special case, as you well know,” said Twilight, “And there isn’t a means of reversing that transformation. We just have to live with it.”
“But not my mom, apparently,” Celeste said, and came back with a biting snarl, “Because that’s what this is about. You two have always had this stupid grudge thing, and it’s making you both act nuts! You already know the spell, so it’s not like it’d be hard to do!”
“Celeste, I said no,” Twilight held her student’s gaze, not willing to look away now, nor willing to admit how hollow her own arguments sounded, “Such a power can’t be used lightly. I love her too, but the precedent could have disastrous effects! Trixie has done great things for Equestria…”
“Then, make her an Alicorn,” Celeste said, flatly, as if it wasn’t an epoch-changing event she was advocating.
Twilight shook her head, if only to shake loose the rising bile in her stomach that came with arguing with her student.
“Even the Pillars don’t get to become Alicorns, and they’ve saved Equestria just as often as my friends and I.”
“But your friends will get the option! I even helped you prove you could do it for them!” Celeste cried.
Twilight’s old love of decorum and procedure reared its head, forcing the Alicorn to snap-cast a spell. Within the span of a breath, their little corner of the hospital was wrapped up in a purple bubble of sound-dampening magic.
Twilight sighed in relief, but Celeste had hardly slowed down.
“So, is being an Alicorn like, a club? Can only your friends join? Why them, and not my mother!?”
“Celeste,” Twilight pressed, “I don’t want to have this discussion. Not now.”
“Why? Because you’d lose?”
“No,” Twilight growled, “Because I don’t have the right to make anypony an Alicorn.”
Celeste stepped up, and jabbed the Princess in her chest, “I’m not asking to make anypony an Alicorn!”
She stepped back, and waved her hoof about, “You have the means to help. It’s right there, in your head! You can walk into Mom’s room, right now, and make her better. Doesn’t she deserve that? Hasn’t she done enough to…?”
Her voice faltered. The anger in her eyes flickered, for a moment. Then, it began to fade.
“Is this all just because she… made fun of you and your friends once?” she asked, with the same quiver in her voice as Trixie had, and her eyes that same, haunting, pale pink, “Are you really holding that against her? Still?”
Twilight watched her student for another moment. She took her own step forward. Her wings wrapped around Celeste, and pulled her in close. Then, she laid her neck over the smaller pony, and held her tight.
So, this is what that was like, thought the Princess, as another silent tear rolled down her cheek. Thank you, Celestia, for being there for me, when it was my mother…
“Celeste,” she whispered, “Being an Alicorn isn’t a reward. It isn’t just for those I personally care about. It’s a responsibility. If I went around making everypony who was special an Alicorn, there wouldn’t be any ponies left.”
“Would that be so wrong?” Celeste whispered back with a crackle in her voice.
“Maybe,” Twilight answered, “Maybe not. But I can’t make that decision. It’s too big. And doing it for anypony, even a pony like Trixie… or my other friends… would be wrong, if they hadn’t done something to earn it.”
“But…” Celeste started to say, then fell silent.
“When I became an Alicorn,” Twilight spoke, quietly, “It wasn’t because Celestia decided I was ready, or chose me to become one. She had faith that I would do it. She believed I could. I bound Magic, Friendship, and Harmony into one force, and became its nexus.”
From the way Celeste shook beneath Twilight’s wings, the Princess could tell she was holding herself together by threads.
So, she continued, “Cadance was able to reverse a spell that would have destroyed all love in the world. And, in doing so, ascended, through her love, to become what she is today.
“Though your mother has done great things for Equestria, and for the world,” she paused a moment, to steady herself, “can you say, truly, that she has performed an act such as those?”
Celeste said nothing, at first. Then, in a trembling voice, she said, “No…”
Despite her size, Twilight was nearly bowled over as the smaller unicorn threw herself into her teacher. Two thin hooves wrapped their way around her barrel, and she felt the tear-stained face of her student press into her chest.
“I’m sorry,” Celeste wept, her words almost lost amid her sorrow, “I-I’m just… scared. I d-don’t know what to do…”
“I know,” Twilight closed her eyes, “I know. It’s not easy… and it’s not fair.”
She could feel Celeste press deeper into her hug. It was an old, familiar feeling. A feeling from a dark night in the palace, when a scared little foal came running to their teacher, and sitter, whenever the lightning struck.
“But,” she said, with terrible purpose, “I will do everything I can to help your mother.”
Celeste’s cries grew silent. Twilight opened her eyes, and looking up at her was that same little foal from all those years ago.
And in her eyes, there shone just a little more light than had been there before.
“You have my word.”
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Oh, this hurts. Cutting Grogar's presence was definitely the right move; he would've killed the mood, reanimated it, and destroyed it all over again.
Also, some very interesting choices in the background. I don't think I've ever seen Dinky as a medical professional, to say nothing of Luster as Sunset's sister.
But yeah, the hard truth is that you can't just staple wings onto a pony's back and call it day. There's a lot more to it, and all of Trixie's Greatness and Power never quite got there. Still, Twilight's stubbornness is definitely on par with Trixie's. If anypony's going to beat a congenital respiratory condition, it's Queen Purpleplus Ultra.
...Time for StarSwirl to show off that time stop spell?
Oh Trixie.....I have a lump in my throat now
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If immortality and divinity were easy...
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Who says he wasn’t using it constantly?
I'm not crying, you're crying!
Great, now I'm going to have Queen stuck in my head all day long. Not exactly a bad thing, but distracting.
This was, appropriately, the last song Freddie Mercury recorded. By this point AIDS had already ravaged his body and he was extremely sick. Freddie was brought into the studio and it was anticipated that they were going to have to do many takes in order to get the song right. But according to Rock n' Roll legend, Freddie knocked back a shot of scotch, said "right, let's fucking do this", and proceeded to belt it out in one single take.
I love this chapter a LOT but I feel Twilight making the promise to "Do everything she can" is proverbially shooting herself in the hoof..
Now let me go onto explain my reasoning for this.
First off, by saying EVERYTHING, Celeste can take this to mean the use of any medicines, sciences, potions, skills, AND SPELLS. The fact that Twilight COULD turn Trixie into an Alicorn to save her life but wont means that she technically cannot keep her promise to do EVERYTHING to save Trixie. I really feel Twilight should have better worded her promise. Sure Celeste seems to Accept Twilight's words but does she really? If I were personally (ponally?) her and KNEW my teacher could save my mother, promised she'd do everything, and HAD a spell to do so? I would not just get it go.
there would be no equestria, no celestia and luna as princess, no friendship or harmony but cruel rule of grogar and if a alicorn can just be born like flurry heart i say Trixie deserves it twilight
This was definitely a chapter that hit you in the feels. And despite all that, I am still hoping that Trixie has one last trick up her sleeves. Something she was building for a lot of time or a 'Get out of jail free' card stashed somewhere, waiting for activation.
Damn it, for everything she have done, none get to the level needed for Alicornhood apparently.
There is still Aeva but... it would feels a bit like a Deux ex machina at this point.
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I'm glad I could break your hearts today.
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Freddie was the definition of Rock God. He may even have been the Platonic Ideal of it.
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Promise someone the world, and they'll be disappointed by the moon.
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An Alicorn ex Machina might be needed, in the end.
Trixie did some amazing things. She changed the world. But sometimes that's just not enough.
I suppose we'll see...
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well twilight refusal to ascended trixie will make the world ascend trixie anyway just to piss her off
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that would be funny!
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Ascension through sheer spite...
If anypony can do it, that would be Trixie, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL!!!
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I would say it's would have been more the case of Starlight or Sunset at some point.
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trixie the princess of antagonism
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Eh. Sunset got the shortcut in this timeline. And Starlight...
Well. She's complicated. And at this point in her life, she may not even want it.
Now that I think of it, what if Aeva decides to Ascend Trixie herself?
10350417
Um... the story would end, I guess?
More seriously, Aeva did something very unpopular with her people. Pushing the limits of that oath could have... dire consequences.
Mm, would have to dye her mane in order to do it convincingly, though...
Auuuuugh, I always hate it when this argument comes up, because there's no good answer to it, somebody always gets the short stick in the end, and either option always seems...well...selfish in some manner, either for the receiver of the princesshood, or the one giving it...and it doesn't seem any different for Trixie here either.
It's why I've always, from the start, preferred to think it's not something any of the princesses have any actual control over--whether or not one achieves alicornhood depends entirely on that pony and the universe...not that I have any say in the matter.
BUT...that being said, I already like how this fic's handling it a heck of a lot better than some others I've read.
...I wonder, if Trixie would even want it, though? I mean, it seems weird to even suggest that she wouldn't, but...if this fic's proven anything thus far...Trixie's not as full of herself as she might seem, and when push came to shove...she does know when to humble herself. And I sort of feel like...this could be one of those moments...but just thinking out loud here.
Wouldn't surprise me if we don't even have to resort to alicornhood at all in the end, though. Because Trixie.
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I'm sure I've read that story somewhere
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I'll gladly admit to being a hack, my good sir. But I'll try my best to at least be an entertaining one!
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So have I, and I will forever seethe at it being a oneshot. I need horswords to read too, dangit!
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Read Sunset Glimmer, that pretty much gives you insight on how Sunset turned out to be Luster's older sister
Someone’s seen Pulp Fiction!
Also, FINALLY we got to see the immediate aftermath of the one-shot and deal with some plot holes that needed filling. I really like the idea of that time-stopping spell. Also, Starswirl having unfinished spells makes so much sense when you consider that he could have easily been trying to bring Trixie back, but had to stop.
As for the rest of the chapter, I LOVE how the Present-Day storyline makes this not just Trixie’s story, but Twilight’s too. Once Celeste mentioned the Alicorn spell, I was overjoyed! So excited to see this plot point carried over from Anarchy’s story.
Also, I’d like to point out a slight hole in Twilight’s arguement: Flurry Heart. What exactly is her whole deal then? She was BORN an Alicorn, so what’s the deal there.
Really worried for Celeste. If Twilight isn’t careful, we might have a villain origin story on our hands. I knew the Alicorn spell would be dangerous as soon as I heard they were working on it, and things like that don’t help matters.
Also, I LOVE Gallus getting some time with Trixie. Any chance we’ll find out what he says to her?
It’s kind of amazing to think that while Ann and her friends are living their lives right across town, this is happening. This is why I love this world so much. All these characters are connected, but they all have their own lives. Their own stories. Ann’s is full of youth, life, and friendship, but Trixie’s and Twilight are on the verge of one of their deaths, reckoning with the ethics of ascension, and finally confronting their feelings for each other. Twilight’s shock over Trixie doing great things make for great laughs, but this chapter explores the REAL consequences of that.
In short, phenomenal chapter! Well done!
Well, Twilight better come up with something unless she want to deal with Celeste's grudge and holding her promise against her
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I can see Trixie saying something like that.
"I know it will not be easy to live in a world without The Great and Powerful Trixie, but the show must go on!":
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I keep forgetting the same person wrote both stories... though this latest chapter of this one definitely acts as a good reminder.
Oh, right.
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And then we get a heartsong by Queen. Then again, Mercury would probably be afterlife-amused.
50 bits say Trixie and Gusty did not have the best of first impressions and for the first weeks hate each other
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Dude...I really wish that would happen. I just want to see the look on Twilight's face being proven wrong. I get it might not go that way, but one can hope.
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). I'm very, very fond of Trixie, as a character, and writing this has only deepened my appreciation for her, and for the show in general. Though... yeah, making the timeline make sense is a bit trickier than when I first started. 
It's comments like this that really, spectacularly make my day (and my birthday as well!
For what it's worth (and you all only have my word to go with) most of the 'plot holes' people seem to notice are accounted for! I promise! It's just finding the right time and place to toss those ideas into the story in a natural way is somewhat difficult at times. Starswirl's explanation for not remembering Trixie came in pieces because the first time it naturally came up, Daring couldn't have known about Starswirl's spell. Likewise, there's an explanation for Flurry Heart... and Cadance, as well. It's partly already come up, but now wouldn't make sense to fully explore that. So, you'll just have to wait and see...
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It is the way.
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Oh... maybe I need to start posting the whole verse timeline in the author notes...
Heh, I would find it funny if its Grogar that has the cure and Starswirl tossed him out before he could present it.
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Trixie probably wouldn't be a fan of lichdom. It's just a little icky.
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So is death and far more permanent.
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Yes. Maybe I can use it to mess with my sister...
This story is just so good. I've gotten a little jaded in my reading and it's harder to hit the feels than a few years ago, but this story is doing a great job in a way that feels natural, as opposed to stories that not so subtlety push the feels and/or the laughs.
And being a bit late to the party, I'm only now realizing this is part of a larger 'verse. I've got some catching up to do!
Looking forward to the next chapter. I'm following the story too.
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"But what about Trixie's mane? Trixie's smoking hot flanks!? Undeath would ruin that!!!"
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Well, despite being mean to your sister, I'm happy you've been enjoying it so far!
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Aw~... I'm happy that I could make your heart feel again.
... this hurts, but still a wonderful chapter., thanks ^_^
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Your pain and suffering is nourishment to my soul. Thank you for continuing to follow the story, and I hope to continue extracting that pain for a while yet!
Dr. Dinky, Medicine Mare.
Anyway, good chapter.
Now, I can't wait to read your other fanfictions. I just don't know in which one that is.
Hot take: if you have the key to immortality and massive power and can give it way at no cost but hold it back from the public because they haven't earned it... you might be a villian.
Probably because Clover the clever was pretty young back then and they probably needed somebody who was younger sounding kind of like voice actresses playing a kid male characters because of their high pitch voice. I mean it's the only possible way and that's why Twilight played as Clover the clever
“Begging your pardon, Princess,” he responded, with a clip of his beak, “But I’d like to go in anyway, if it’s all the same to you.”
She didn’t say anything, at first. She merely observed her friend, Guard Captain, and former student with a studious eye, honed through the years. His armor was slightly loose around the back-harness buckles. The muzzle-strap was undone. And though he moved with almost mechanical perfection, she could see the way his talons scratched at the ground, and how his wings bunched behind his shoulders.
How many times was Trixie there for you, she thought, somberly, when you had nocreature else?
Aww I guess during her time as a counselor Trixie helped gallus out so much throughout his years so of course he'll be more worried about her
Oh dang that's so sad man so in the beginning of this chapter when I read the previous story that I read it looks like Trixie and Star Swirl are catching up on what's going on and how they been and it's a pretty cute interaction with each other seeing a student and a teacher talking to each other after all these years it was kind of sad that Star Swirl had to live not knowing what really happened to Trixie after what happened back then when she disappeared but he was also happy to see her once again after all these years years later it looks like we found out what's wrong with her she was sick and it looks like Trixie and Twilight had there a little conversation and apparently Trixie still kind of holding a grudge against Twilight not believing that she did all this but deep down Twilight knows she did believe her sometimes it's just hard and it's also really hard to see Trixie so weak and everything and Twilight and Celeste was talking to each other and she felt like she owned Trixie for all she's done I wonder what's going to happen next