Day... Spring? Spring: The Moon Rises
Looking back over her notes, Trixie realizes that time may have gotten away from her. I never claimed I was perfect, merely Great and Powerful. Also, a wizard. I also once claimed student status to get into
Point is, I will try, Journal, to be precise with my dates from now on.
You’re welcome.
And Trixie am is going crazy.
Day Twenty-something
Quick update, in case only a fragment of this Great Epic survives the coming centuries. Trixie went back in time by about a couple thousand years, give or take, and met Starswirl the Bearded as a foal.
Colt, fine. I wrote it down, you ungrateful
*the following section is illegible, as if two unicorns were fighting over the quill, and spilled ink everywhere*
Anyway, after meeting the incarnation of Time, and whupping her flank using Trixie’s Incredible Powers of Persuasion™ --
Fie! Lies and slander, all! Thou could’st bemuddle t’future such?
Gimme that quill back! You’re screwing with the Dictation Spel!!! [sic]
Ye be a mighty wizzard indeed, Fair Trixie, however thou shalt not catch meeee!
*more scribbles, foul language, and what appears to be a crude hieroglyph depicting Trixie blowing a raspberry into a tiny Starswirl’s belly*
Dictation spells are the bane of my existence. I know I fight monsters and plumb cursed and trapped ruins, but these things tick me off worse than anything Cabbie put me through back in the day. Dictation spells automatically make corrections as you talk, but they were all designed by ponies with perfect pronunciation and certain ideas about how to speak and enunciate. Nothing’s more infuriating that finishing a chapter, only to have to go back and rewrite the whole thing because the stupid enchanted quill kept thinking you obviously meant to say Darling instead of Daring six-hundred times! I probably went through hundreds of spell-crystals trying to dictate my books.
Oh, and obligatory, “Trixie just invented that spell centuries too early”. But, since Starswirl was credited with it anyway, I guess this is just one more paradox for the pile.
Day Twenty-something, again
Future readers of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Stuff happened. Enough said.
Swirly’s a pest, and I’m not doing a dictation spell again. Just gonna use a regular, non-enchanted quill. Like a peasant.
I just stuck my tongue out at the little cretin. And I had to manually write down that I did that. With my horn. Jerk.
So, me and Swirly had a talk. Like, The Talk. About how I was from the future, and that I didn’t mean to get stuck in the past. He was a bit confused, to say the least. Started quoting that Piggachad guy at me again.
Galen of Pegamon, though I’m stealing Piggachad.
Now, I didn’t tell him everything. But he’s a quick and clever one, so I’m sure he’s got a good idea about a lot of things. Maybe. Trixie, naturally, kept a few things under her hat. I managed to avoid naming names too often.
Though, to keep a tally, he’s now aware of:
- Cartnegie Hall, the place my mom and dad met.
- Celestia and Luna (though, not Nightmare Moon. Holy crud, would that have been bad!)
- The Hearths Warming Tale and Equestria in general (sorry, Future. He sussed me)
- The plot to the first three Daring Do novels
- My folks
- His reputation (sorry, again)
- And hayburgers
Oh, is that all? Just all of that!?
And she didn’t even say if he liked the books! I could use a new blurb, you know?
Actually, I promised to show him what those taste like. But, since there’s no such thing as a sesame seed bun, at the moment—
Wait, Journal. I met him before! Like, back up-time! How didn’t he recognize me?
Time travel sucks. Best not to think about it. Especially—
Alright. Confession time. I’ll toss a little Invisible-Ink spell here, just in case Swirly gets a hold of it.
So, the Great and Powerful Trixie knows how she got here. But, Starswirl doesn’t. He still thinks I got dumped in the past because of a miscalculated Time Travel spell that I now lack the material components to fix, but that at some point, my esteemed and talented apprentice, Starlight Glimmer (didn’t give him the name, naturally), will show up to get me out of here.
I’m still mad about that, Starlight. Leaving your own bestie trapped in the past? Uncool.
It’s not lying—
Well, fine, it’s a bit of lying. But, there’s no reason to prove I’m a total fraud, right? Right. Because Trixie isn’t a fraud. Totally.
Interestingly, the ‘Invisible-Ink’ spell is a very poor name for what Trixie actually did. See, the original page has all these little hashes around the section she ‘just’ wrote. These hashes are actually little Runes, old earth pony magic from a long, long time ago. As I understand it, they’re rare these days for being so inefficient at doing anything on their own, and are usually incorporated into larger spells and arrays.
I point this out, because the runes, while clearly damaged and not working at one-hundred percent efficiency anymore, were apparently still running up to a century ago. Very nice spellwork.
I wrote to Starswirl, to ask if he was the one who originally dispelled them (there’s markers for a dispel cast on the page), but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet. Odd.
Anyway. We’re in a bit of a pickle. See, we never did get rid of those Timberwolves, and Trixie thinks there’s more of them out there now, beyond the rocks of Ponhenge. Like, a lot more.
I’m going to try a breakout, using my cunning intellect, and Great and Powerful abilities.
Wish me luck, Journal!
You didn’t wish me luck, at all! Not that you could, being a book, but Trixie is Venting.
Turns out, legging it didn’t work. Timberwolves are fast, and they don’t fall for the ‘look out behind you’ trick. On the plus side, we got back into Ponhenge before they caught us, or the wagon, again.
Alright, I suppose we also got to see what happens when a Timberwolf crosses the line past the stones. They explode, in case you didn’t know.
So, with more kindling at hoof, Trixie was at least able to set up a warm fire tonight. Unfortunately, we’re eating through our food supplies quickly, at this rate. So, hopefully, Trixie will come up with a new plan by tomorrow.
Okay, Trixie might have one way out of here, but since I don’t like testing out new spells during a performance, especially one with such a hungry audience, I’m going to leave it til the last chance.
By the way, if you’ve found this journal in Timberwolf poop, congratulations. You have the worst job, ever.
Day thirty? Who cares anymore?
So, that was weird. Trixie isn’t talking ‘put on a dark magical amulet and lost control of my own mind’ sort of weird. I’m not even talking ‘getting a medal from Twilight and she doesn’t even comment on our rivalry’ sort of weird.
I mean, ‘dream about Princess Luna from a couple thousand years away’ weird.
Because that’s what happened. Among other things.
For once, I didn’t dream about Hyneighria. No, that night, Trixie dreamed of Cartnegie Hall again. Though, this time, the audience was completely filled with Timberwolves.
Actually, they were a pretty appreciative audience, when all was said and done. I was up on stage, performing a classic routine, with the legendary Grouchy Marks himself! And we were getting cheers and laughs like you wouldn’t believe!
Grouchy Marks, again, was one of the Marks Brothers, and a celebrated comedian and stage actor. He’s legendary for his quick wit and sharp delivery, as well as his ridiculous eyebrows, mustache, and glasses, which became his persona. I hear they got him to host a show over those new radios you set up a while back, You Bit Your Life? Caballeron and Zaldia are huge fans.
Oh, it was a classic scene, Journal! Trixie was playing the lead mare, and I was sharing the limelight with one of my old heroes!
“Just think,” he said, waggling those ridiculous eyebrows of his and mugging to the audience, “Tonight! Tonight, when the moon is sneaking around the clouds, I'll be sneaking around you. I'll meet you tonight under the moon…”
Even playing the Heel, for the bit, I almost swooned at the dream-stallion. Made-up or not, he always had a certain je ne say cwa to him. Nothing could have come from it, he being, like, a hundred years old, and being too short.
What can I say? I like tall stallions. Ones with muzzle hair, especially.
“Oh, I can see it now!” he said, the Timberwolves eagerly awaiting the classic punchline, “You and the moon. The Moon and you. You, wear a necktie, so I’ll… oh…”
He trailed off. That wasn’t right. In case you never got to hear the joke in real life
The Journal isn’t alive, Trixie. Stop talking to it. But who else am I going to talk to?
STAHP
Right. Grouchy just Fished the whole bit, right in front of me. I was actually shocked. I mean, he was still just a dream of Grouchy, but still. There were professional standards to be upheld!
“That’s not the line!” I hissed, trying to get the act back on course before the booing started. Oddly, and this should have probably tipped me off right away, the Timberwolves were howling with laughter, as if the line had been delivered right on cue.
Grouchy stared, wide-eyed, at something behind me, and I knew, right away, that I did not want to turn around. In real life, or in dreams, the look Grouchy gave whatever loomed behind Trixie was never a good sign.
The gray stallion glanced back towards me, with some sympathy. Then, he looked towards the audience, and shrugged.
“You know?” he said, clearly judging the distance he’d have to jump, “I’ve had a wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it!”
He then leapt off the stage, directly onto a four-seater bike with the other Marks Brothers – Banjo, Cheeky, and the unfunny one – and rode off into the night.
Hey, it was a dream. Dreams are weird. I’m justifying myself to a book again.
Well, Trixie knows you can’t get out of a bad dream by running away. And if there was a monster behind me, or something truly terrifying, like another bogus parking ticket, I was going to, at least, face it directly.
Oh, Journal. It was so much worse than a parking ticket.
It was Princess Luna! Trixie, let it be known, was shocked. Shocked!
Well, not that shocked.
Mostly, I was just confused. I’d completely forgotten about seeing the once and future Princess in my dreams, what with her mother showing up and doing the whole Timey thing before. Frankly, I still wasn’t convinced that hadn’t all been some weird dream, either.
“Trixie Lulamoon,” she pronounced, regally, “We have come to stop thee- you, from making a terrible mistake!”
“If you’re here to warn me not to crib off some other pony’s spells, you’re a little late,” Trixie snarked, beautifully.
Swirly’s reminding me not to embellish. Fine. I’ll be “truthful”.
But I did snark, and it was perfect. Even the Timberwolves laughed.
Swirly’s reminding me that the Timberwolves always laughed, but whatever.
Luna paused. Either she was waiting for the laughter to die down, or to marvel at how perfect my snarking was, I don’t know.
“Trixie,” she said again, “There is no shame in being bested by one such as Twilight Sparkle. But what you are planning to do next will make you a monster!”
I rolled my eyes, “Lady, if running away from Timberwolves makes me a monster, then everypony’s a monster.”
Good joke. Everywolf laughs. Roll on snare drums.
“Timberwolves? What?” Luna seemed rather confused by what I said, sparing only a glance to the audience. Then, she shook her head and pressed on, saying, “Trixie! I speak not of Timberwolves, but of the Alicorn Amulet!”
“Yeah?” I had no idea where she was going with that, “What happened to it? Did Princess Twilight dig it up again?”
“Princess… stop that!” Luna snapped, irritatedly, “I am trying to help you…”
“Stop what?” I asked.
“Knowing things!” she snapped back, to thunderous Timberwolf applause, “Things you should not know! Things you cannot possibly know!”
She was getting upset really fast, Journal. Like, more than most ponies I meet. And I meet a lot of angry ponies in my line of work.
I don’t think she’s put that together yet.
“Don’t you remember our last conversation?” I said, with as much tact as the Tactful Trixie could muster, “I’m from your future, relatively speaking. Of course, I know things.”
Luna snorted, “I understand you were under much stress before, to invent such ridiculous tales and… and tomfoolery.
“But,” she raised herself up, to a cry and a holler from the audience, “Even your mastery of the illusory arts cannot trick me, Miss Lulamoon! Nopony can travel through time. Even Starswirl, wise as he was, could not manage such a feat.”
“Then how does your mom do it?” I asked, innocently.
Luna’s eyes pupils shrank. Trixie could see her esophagus, the way her jaw dropped.
The Timberwolves Oooooh’d.
Trixie assumed that Luna was mad before, Journal. But I was mistaken. The look she gave those Timberwolves was something else entirely.
I know this, because she shot freaking lightning out of her eyes! The whole crowd went up like a house of matchsticks, blue flames consuming the entirety of the Hall! It was so much scarier than when I did it that once.
A few days into her Apology Tour, after meeting your old student, Starlight, Trixie performed at Cartnegie Hall. She didn’t actually burn the place down, but she was meant to be the fall-pony in an insurance scam the owner cooked up. Literally.
Six months later, once the place had been put back together, it was redubbed Carneighgie Hall, as an attempt to distance the theater from its arsony past. Trixie had, naturally, jumped bail in the meantime. She might not even know they dropped charges against her once the truth came out.
Princess Luna rounded back on me, and I instantly worried she might zap me too!
“What did… thou sayest… to me?”
Her voice was so cold, you know? It was like the most scariest, fearsomest thing I’d ever heard, times a kajillion! If I was in my waking body, I might have peed a little.
“P-Princess A-a-A-a-Aeva?” I managed to say, through chattering teeth. Trixie couldn’t be sure, but I think the stage lights were also dimming around us.
*several lines lost to water damage*
Now, to Luna’s credit, she was a very patient listener. I missed having Cartnegie Hall there, but I suppose reciting my whole adventure up til that point, surrounded by the picturesque views of dream-Ponhenge, even surrounded by dream-Timberwolves, wasn’t exactly a bad setting for it.
Idea: Performance at Ponhenge. The tickets’ll sell themselves!
I can’t find any records of her holding such a performance, so I assume she never got around to it. Probably for the best. If she did hold one there, I have no doubt she’d get sent to the distant future to battle a robot apocalypse or something.
“I’m sorry, Trixie,” she said, looking up at an unfamiliar sky, “I am just having a hard time comprehending this. Wrapping my head around it, as Tia calls it now.”
I only really ever met Luna after all the Amulet – not to mention changeling – business, so this was the first time I’d really heard her talk in Old Ponish. Apparently, according to Sparkle, she slowly lost her accent after returning from the moon. As with most Old Ponish, it’s easier to speak than to write, so I’ve been cleaning that up for you, Journal.
But Luna herself has the worst accent of them all, at least in Old Ponish. I think she must have either hung out with her generation of thespians, or she picked up another dialect entirely. So, for this whole conversation, just imagine me having to take a moment in between each line to translate whatever the heck she just said!
I managed to talk with Luna and Starswirl before on this, but it’s worth mentioning here. Luna’s accent is the result of her isolating herself from mainstream Equestrian society over the years from when she began to feel underappreciated, up until the whole Nightmare thing. Apparently, all her batponies share that accent, to one degree or another.
Before Starswirl suddenly disappeared on me, he said that one of the enchantments he got set to Permanent on himself and the other Pillars was a translation spell to allow them to communicate with anypony. I guess he hated having to learn whole new dialects whenever he had to speak between pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies.
Ever wonder why he could speak modern Ponish when you summoned him back from the great beyond?
Trixie snorted back, “You’re telling me! A month ago, I was doing shows in Manehattan, and counseling teenagers at Twilight’s Friendship School…”
After another moment, I remembered to add, “Please forget you heard that.”
Trixie isn’t sure she heard me, as the Princess just lay on her back, staring at, well, nothing, as far as I could tell. But, Trixie never did well with silence, so I began thinking up something to pass the time.
“So… you can time travel too?”
“Hm?” Luna glanced up down—
Wait, Journal? If she’s looking down her own barrel, but I’m above her, is it up or down? Whatever, I’ll leave that for the editor.
Like somepony’s going to edit this! Ha!
“Ha” indeed, Trixie. “Ha”, indeed.
She looked at me and said, “It is… something I inherited from Mother, yes. The Dreamrealm is quite malleable in terms of time and space. Otherwise, dreamers would feel every second of time pass them by, and that would be a most distracting feeling, wouldn’t you say?”
“But that means you could take me home, right?” I asked, hopefully, “I don’t want to just dump Swirly here all alone. But if I can find some of his family in Hoofburg…”
Sadly, the Princess was ahead of me on that.
“I am sorry, Miss Lulamoon, but my form of travel is very limited. Unless you have found a way to physically enter the dreams of others, you will not be able to accompany me in a meaningful way.”
“Rats!” I kicked at an imaginary dream-rock… who yelled something quite vulgar in Prench as it sailed away. Then, another thought struck me.
“Wait. If you can dream back in time…”
“That is not how I’d describe it,” the Princess splayed out her wings, like she was getting comfy on the dream grass. If she were physically there, I’d have offered some of those awesome mushrooms, she looked so chillaxed, as Dash might call it.
“My Dreamwalking ability allows me to visit the dreams of those long gone,” she explained, tracing a few unknown constellations across the sky with one wingtip, “And from there, if I have permission, I can peer into the memories of those long-lost souls. But there is always some amount of interference due to the ages I must cross, and finding one soul amongst the billions and trillions that have existed is an astonishingly difficult task, even under ideal conditions.”
“You found me twice,” I pointed out.
“True!” Luna nodded towards the stone pillars around us, “Ponhenge seems to be amplifying your presence in the Dreamrealm. I daresay, if I didn’t fear corrupting the timeline, I’d take a look at young… Swirly’s dreams, right now.”
Trixie will admit to flinching, when the Princess said the word ‘corrupting’. As much as I was happy with how Aeva had decided not to erase Trixie, I still hadn’t shaken the—
Sparkle would be better with the fancy, big words. She’d be better at a lot of things, to be fair.
There’s that thing where a pony thinks about thinking, right? And the thought of not thinking ever again, or never having thunk in the first place, is super-scary stuff. I’m still shook over what Aeva almost did, and the thought that I might be making doomed timelines, every time I sneeze wrong, almost makes Trixie want to scream.
The word she’s looking for is ‘Existential’, like in existential crisis, which is what’s clearly happening now.
“You can’t just, like, fix things then?” I asked, “Go back and warn me not to do this? Or warn yourself not to…?”
“Not to let my own jealousy overrule my reason and compassion?” she finished for me, “Not to allow myself to be consumed by darkness and shadow and hatred, until only the Nightmare remains?”
“You said it, not me!”
She chuckled at my little joke – which I made while not cowering beneath my dream-hat – and said, “No, Trixie. I cannot cross my own personal timeline. I did not show up in my own dreams at that crucial time… and so I cannot.”
“That… makes sense,” I lied, but put on a good show of not being confused, all the same, “But, if you can see the past, what did Celestia get?”
“If you ever hear stories and tales of my sister’s visions,” Luna rolled back onto her stomach, “Many will be the truth. Dearest Celestia has always been able to see the future… though never at will, or by choice. The fact that she can change the events she sees…
“I will admit that some of my jealousy may have been born from that, as much as the love of our little ponies,” she sighed.
One sister forever looking backward, on things she can’t change. The other always looking ahead, but perhaps tunnel-visioning to the exclusion of all else. Dang, now if that isn’t poetic, I’ll eat my helmet.
It never really hit Trixie before then, just how normal the Princesses were. You live your whole life with them there, being all perfect and made of sunlight and—
Cadance is the Love Alicorn, right? She’s not just the Princess of Pink, or something?
Why am I asking you, Journal?
Either way, with the sole exception of Sparkle, I’d never thought any of the Princesses were normal. They were always above us mere ponies. So, seeing one of them looking so lost, so forlorn, just didn’t sit well with Trixie.
“Did…” I thought to break the silence that fell on the two of us, “Did you ever see Aeva again?”
Luna sighed.
“A few times, here and there, over the centuries. Though, these meetings are quite limited by the… circumstances.”
“I’m sorry,” was all I could say, “Trixie knows what it’s like not to have your mom there for you.”
“Fear not, Trixie,” the Princess said, as she stood back up. She trotted quickly to where I sat, and threw her wings around me in a hug.
A hug! Journal! A Princess was hugging me!
“We do not blame thee… I mean, you,” she said, and I could almost feel her words wrapping around me as she said it, “Without you, Equestria would not be. If ‘twere not for my Sister and I being present, perhaps the three tribes would not ever have worked together.
“We owe you a debt,” she finished, letting me go again. I was sorely tempted to ask for another hug. Wings are so soft!
After that, the Princess started looking around at the surrounding tree line.
“Trixie?” she asked, “How, exactly, are you planning on getting out of this? From what I can discern, you are most terribly outnumbered.”
“Well, there’s a spell I’ve been fiddling with,” I replied, though slowly, as I knew there was one big hitch in that plan I hadn’t worked around yet.
“Show me,” Luna commanded.
Oh, yeah. Commanded.
“Uh… how?”
Luna smiled at me, and said, “Merely allow me permission to view your memories.”
Now, with that, I had some reservations. Nopony gets into Trixie’s mind. My mind is as a steel trap, impervious! Nothing in, and nothing out!
But. How often do you get the chance to have a Princess root through your brain?
Naturally, I said yes.
Nothing in or out, huh?
Instantly, blazing with pink fire and light, I watched my spell take shape in the air around us. Within moments, it held itself up between me and the Princess, like a perfect array of letters and numbers and mathimagical computations.
It was beautiful, if Trixie can say so herself. But, she doesn’t have to.
“It is… beautiful,” Luna admitted to me, her eyes locked on my work, “You actually write spells in musical notation?”
You better not tell anypony that last part, Journal. Trixie means it! It’s proprietary
Journal is a book, not a pony. Journal is a book, not a pony. Journal is a book, not a pony.
Right, Luna.
Trixie is never tongue-tied, though in this instance, having my greatness recognized by a real Princess was nearly overwhelming.
“Oh, it’s… it’s nothing, really…” I said, in my most humble and powerful manner, “It’s just, since magic and music are so…”
“It is quite clever, actually,” she went on, “I can see a great many applications for such musical notation. It reminds me, somewhat, of my old court conductor, Night Song. At least, in the execution. Bit of an odd one, I’ll admit. He never took the Draught, unlike his sister. Shame…”
No, I have no idea what that meant either, Journal. Kinda wish I’d asked.
Night Song, as far as the records are concerned, was a rather decent mage working in Luna’s Night Court right after the Diarchy was established. He was an odd figure, at court. I think ‘eccentric’ is the word most commonly attributed to him. That means he was crazy, but rich. In case you didn’t know.
Actually, recent scholarship found that one of the oldest paintings of Starswirl was, in fact, a portrait of Night Song. So, if you ever see that one picture of a blue Starswirl with pink eyes, hanging in the Maretropolitan Museum? That’s actually Trixie’s forty-something Great Grandpappy. Oh yeah! He was one of the earliest Lulamoons on record. And if you told Trixie that, I bet her ego would eclipse the freaking sun!
Also, Draught. Batponies, in case you don’t know, aren’t a natural species. Luna created them via an alchemical concoction called The Draught. According to her, and to what records remain, this was her first big attempt to avoid her loneliness, by transforming some of her subjects into creatures of the night. I guess Night Song’s sister, Midnight Melody, was one of the few ponies who accepted the honor. While the batponies eventually bred true, the initial turnout was so small that it broke Luna’s heart, and may have significantly contributed to her feeling isolated from Equestrian life.
Small things, right?
“A Shadow Clone spell?” Luna’s eyes lit up, “Ambitious! Such a spell would normally be beyond the capabilities of even the most extraordinary unicorns.”
“Well, I am the Great and Extraordinary Trixie,” said I.
Then, without any pomp or circumstance, she dropped the other horseshoe.
“You can’t cast this,” she shook her head, “It’d kill you.”
Trixie understands that there are certain things you can’t say to royalty. There is a certain decorum that must be upheld, from one powerful individual, to another.
That being said, I won’t repeat what came, unbidden, to my mouth just then. Just that it mostly described how I, the Great and Lovable Trixie, would not be insulted to my face by a mere Princess. Luna was a bit shocked to say the least, especially once I got to all the four-letter words.
I coughed, to cover this minor faux pas.
“I mean… what do you mean by that, Your Most Excellent Highness?”
My apology must have been outstanding. Luna didn’t even zap me!
“What I mean, Trixie,” I could hear her teeth lightly grind up against each other as she said this, “is that most unicorns have… oh, how does that infernal new mana rating system go?
“Regardless,” she clearly gave up trying to remember the stupid mana chart system thing, “Your mana reserves are below average for a mare of your age, and apparent ability.”
Ah, magical academia. Perhaps the one field of research where I still feel like everypony involved thinks I’m an idiot just because I’m not a unicorn. But, for quick reference, Luna was referring to the old Aptitude – or M.A.G.I.C. – system, invented by Starswirl himself. It assigned letter-grades based on one’s aptitude and general power level. Being an M-class mage meant you were Magnificently magical. A-class meant you were Adequately magical. Being a G-class magician meant you were Generally Good at magic. I-class stood for Indeed-that’s-Technically magic. And C-class just meant you Couldn’t. Starswirl’s a bit sassy, isn’t he?
The modern system was created by Abra Cadabra, a leading magical theorist of the seventh century, and instead uses actual math to determine how much magical energy, or mana, a creature possesses, and what percentage of it they’re able to tap into regularly. Don’t ask me to do the math myself. All I know is it’s a ten-point system, with Alicorns at 10 (theoretically infinite), non-surging foals at 1, and Trixie at a whopping 3.
To put that in perspective, you were rated as a 6 when you were a filly, and a full 8-out-of-10 when you were living in Ponyville. Most ponies never crack 5. But I suppose it isn’t the size of the number that matters. It’s how you use it.
I’d bust out some numbers on all your other friends and acquaintances, but I got more Trixie to edit.
“I am not the Great and Powerful Trixie because I am powerful,” I snapped back, perhaps a little too quickly, “There’s more to magic than being powerful! You also…”
“… Have to be clever,” Luna said, and at the exact same time as me, “So, that’s where Starswirl picked up that old nugget! How wonderful!
“Again, though,” she dashed the spell with a wave of her hoof, dispelling it to the ether, “At best, you’ll never be able to cast spells again. At worst, your mind will be destroyed and your heart will explode in your chest.”
She had me, and I knew it. There’s only so much you can lie, especially to yourself, when not on stage. So, I admitted to all this.
“Well then,” she laughed, and clapped me on the back, “I suppose I shall have to help!”
Trixie thinks her jaw hit the floor when she heard that. And, it being a dream, maybe it did? Dunno. All I know for certain is that the Princess started glowing just then.
It was beautiful. Like, no joke, absolutely beautiful. If nighttime had its own rainbow, that’s what Luna was doing, right then, in my dreams.
Trixie doesn’t have the ability to describe it any further. Should have sent a poet.
But, after all the cool colors and light faded, I was even more shocked than ever before!
Yes! Trixie was actually shocked! For there, sitting on the dream-grass, was a little alicorn filly! Sure, she was made out of the night sky, and her eyes glowed purple. But a filly nonetheless!
Then, in an instant, she was gone.
“What was that?” I asked.
Luna took a few deep breaths, before she returned her attention to me. But, before she said anything, she looked away again. Just for a second. I didn’t bring it up then, but she almost looked embarrassed.
“That was a dream-construct,” she said, averting her eyes again, “The Tantabus is experimental, as of yet… but I can put it to good use here.”
Now, I might be out of the loop here, but that sounds like the dream-golem those crazed, conspiracy-theorist newsletter groups are always talking about. Do you think there’s some truth to that?
Aha! There it was! Luna was embarrassed about showing off her own spells! I was honored NO! Trixie was flattered, that a Princess would blush at the thought of showing an accomplished spellwright, such as myself, her work.
I gave her the best, most encouraging smile I could. As a master of magic, even a teacher, I knew I had to encourage those who came to me for advice, and to have their work appreciated.
“While it lays within your subconscious mind,” she continued to explain, “the Tantabus will provide a link between us. That link will ensure I might find you again, even without the aid of Ponhenge itself.”
“Useful,” I nodded along, “But how…?”
Luna cut me off with a smile.
“The connection will also allow me to direct the greater portion of my magic through the Dreamrealm, and into you, Trixie.”
Trixie was stunned.
“Your magic…?”
“Indeed,” she said, the dream humming with her words, “Your own mana reserves are too miniscule to utilize this spell. But, with the added might of an Alicorn Princess, you may yet be able to make your planned escape.
“But!” she added, with a stern glare, “Be forewarned. Though your mana channels appear impressively robust, the sheer power will—”
“Mana Burn,” I nodded, knowingly, “Yeah, I’ve had that before.”
Again, Luna nodded, “Then you are aware of the dangers. Prepare thyself!”
Zaldia went through a bout of Mana Burn, back when she was just a filly. Tried to self-levitate, so she could get herself and Treasure some cookies one night. Thankfully, a week of horn-rest, plus some salve from Apple Bloom, was all she needed to get better. If Trixie suffered from Mana Burn before, there’s no hospital record of it, and the effects can vary significantly depending on the amount of energy used.
Trixie took a moment, just to brace herself. I’d been Burned before, and knew it wasn’t too bad with the right ointment. But this would be on a whole ‘nother level. And, I’d only get one shot at it.
Then, Trixie noticed a curious look in the Princess’ eyes.
“Trixie?” she asked, looking straight through me, “A thought occurs. I followed you, once I knew you were aiming to collect the Alicorn Amulet…”
I started to sweat, instantly. A memory, long-forgotten in the back of my mind, suddenly popped back up.
Trixie was a dead mare.
So, confession time. See, Journal, Trixie’s shows didn’t start failing because ponies had heard about the whole Ursa affair, back in Ponyville. Nopony cared what happened in a little Podunk town like that.
My show fell apart because I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, was a fraud. And no, not like that! The Ursa thing showed me that there were mares ponies out there who could do all the things I just said I could. How could I be Great and Powerful on stage, when there was somepony out there actually being Great and Powerful in real life?
I tried my hoof at rock farming, but all that did was give Trixie time to seethe, and focus on my misery. I’ll admit to becoming a bit obsessed, at the time. It wasn’t all that bad, since I made friends with the Pies, but in the end, all I could think about was beating Sparkle at her own game, and proving to myself that I could be Great and Powerful again!
However. I needed to try, just one more time, to be that Great and Powerful pony, without resorting to what I ended up resorting to.
And that performance went poorly. Like, cart crash poorly. Like, puking on your coltfriend’s mother when you first meet her, poorly. Like, assaulted royalty, poorly.
For one, very obvious, Alicorn-shaped reason.
“Trixie…” Luna narrowed her eyes at me, “I walked into your performance tent. And came out onto a stage.
“In the Dreamrealm,” I could feel sweat rolling down my neck as she kept staring, “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened to cause this… do you?”
“W-well,” I scuffed the dream-grass with one hoof, and took my own turn at avoiding eye contact, “I went back to my circus roots for that performance, and throwing horseshoes was my best act back in the day… and… you surprised me.”
“You knocked me out with a horseshoe!?”
“Technically, it was a coma,” I added, hoping this nightmare would end soon, “And, in any case, they banned me from throwing in my shows, so…”
“You put me into a coma with a horseshoe!”
“You promised you wouldn’t be mad!”
“I promised no such thing!!!”
Trixie was so, so relieved when the dream began to fall apart, just then. I could remember seeing the Princess’ eyes, and hoping – like, a lot – that her Tantabus thing wouldn’t find me again.
“We will discuss this later, Lulamoon,” she hissed. Then, her horn lit up like the sun itself, if the sun was silver.
Yeah, that was a doozy. Trixie woke up with somepony shaking her. And despite
Swirly is reminding me to be honest. So, fine. I woke up screaming my head off. Happy now?
Once I’d calmed down, I realized it was Swirly who woke me up. We were lying out under the stars, and it was still very dark out. I asked him what was going on, but he was oddly quiet.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
Still, he said nothing. He just pointed at the top of my head. I reached up, but couldn’t feel anything.
“Your mane…” he squeaked out.
Panicking, hoping that a bat or something hadn’t nested up there again, I spun around, and got lost instantly. There was like, this mass of flowing silver and white stuff in my face! I sputtered, and backed away, but this stuff kept following me. It was like an aggressive spiderweb!
It was only then, that I realized something.
It wasn’t a spiderweb. It wasn’t spiderweb, at all!
It was my mane. In fact, Trixie’s whole mane and tail wafted around her. It was so surreal, being able to watch them flow, like a banner caught in a high wind. It was like Celestia and Luna’s mane.
Like a Princess.
Ah, the wavy mane. Something every colt and filly dreams about, at one point or another. I remember listening to a Mistmane lecture once, where she said it was a natural “magic exhaust” caused by mana-overflow. Ponies like her and Trixie, with reduced mana reserves, actually get it easier than those like Starswirl and Starlight, who’ve got absurd amounts from their Record’s Syndrome. Alicorns, obviously, all have it. Though, I suppose you can turn it off and on at will.
Who would turn something like that off!?
Trixie did not spend five minutes dancing around, by the way, marveling at her magical ‘do and giggling like a schoolfilly. That would be entirely out of character for me. Truly. And if I did, what of it, Journal? The wavy, ethereal mane look is cool!
Everypony dreams of having that sort of mane!
And I finally had it! For, like, five minutes. Before I’d probably blow up, or something.
But for those five minutes? Trixie was on fire! Take that, Sparkle!
Which, naturally, was when Swirly came back into the story.
“Trixie!” I could hear him, whimpering at my side, tugging on my cape, “Trixie, what’s going on? You’re scaring me!”
My whole world stopped, like I’d been hit with cold water, but for the soul. I hadn’t seen that look in his eyes since Hyneighria. Instantly, all that coolness and Great and Powerfulness I was jumping for joy over just stopped mattering.
Guess I have a soft spot for kids.
“Everything’s fine, Swirly,” I reached out, and gave him a quick hug. I could tell from the way he fidgeted that I was burning hot with mana overflow, just then.
I tried explaining what had happened, but it mostly came out as a jumbled mess. So, in lieu of the truth, I decided a fib would suffice.
“Through communing with the Magic of Friendship itself…!” Trixie declared, “I have temporarily absorbed a whole heck of a lot of magical energy!”
“How much?” he asked, to which I didn’t really have an answer, yet.
So, I found him one. I closed my eyes, and tried to feel along my mana channels, right down into the center of my being.
And oh mama! The POWER! It actually stole Trixie’s breath away, to look down where I’d always felt my magic, the core of what made me special, and see that—
I can still feel the void left behind, Journal. To look at your own self, where once you felt so secure, so mighty, and then to know how utterly, inconsolably tiny you really are. My normal magic is a puddle, Journal. But, for a moment, I knew what it was like to sail the Ocean.
My eyes were definitely blazing with white light when I opened them again.
“Swirly?” I said, my voice radiating with Power, “Get in the wagon.”
We quickly gathered up our things, and got ready for what might possibly be my greatest, and last, performance. He tossed the cooking wares back into the wagon, and I rolled up the blankets. While I hooked myself up to the wagon harness, he followed my directions perfectly, gathering up two of the small mirrors I’d been able to get back in Hyneighria.
Trixie felt terrible about smashing them, but it was the only way.
See, Journal
I’m explaining things to a book. I need to talk to a pony about these things. Maybe if I come up with a name for the Journal? Then, it’d feel like talking to a pony, kind of. At least, I’d be able to pretend I’m not going crazy, and could be talking to somepony far off in the future.
Got it. Since I am Trixie Lulamoon, how about a sun-theme?
So, Celeste (yes! like Celestia!), the funny thing about mirrors is, they don’t actually show you yourself. All a mirror is, really, is a different version of you. It’s already reversed, after all, so it can’t be the real you!
So, by applying Venetian’s Fifth Hexograph, inverting the Quantum Entanglement Matrix, and drowning the whole thing in more magical energy than even Starlight’s ever seen, you get a classic Shadow Clone Spell!
I smashed the mirrors up with my bare hooves. I needed as many as possible, one for every Trixie the Timberwolves were going to chase. I’d always wanted to use this trick in a show, but I could never crack the mana issue. Making one clone took a gigantic amount of power. But, luckily, each one after that cost next to nothing.
If I’d only had more energy myself, like Twilight Sparkle, I could have done it. But now? Now, I had the power of Princess Luna on my side!
And as I cast the spell, two things became apparent.
One: I had a lot more energy than I thought I did. The clone spell started popping full-sized Trixies into the circle of stones. But, more than that! Each one had a cape and hat. And each one had a wagon, too!
And sticking out of each wagon? A little Swirly. How cute! I think he had a mild panic-attack at the sight, though. I could tell, since all of the clones, while moving and acting slightly off-model from each other, as part of the illusion, still displayed Swirly and I’s general emotions and movements. That included panic attacks.
And Two: I had a lot more energy than I thought I did. Too much energy. I hadn’t even bled off a third of Luna’s magic, giving me a sudden, and very unwelcome, idea of just how far ahead of me Princess Twilight Sparkle had gotten.
No time to dwell on that, I thought.
“Alright, Trixies!” I called out to the assembled masses of me. There were dozens of us, practically bursting at Ponhenge’s seams! I could see the same look on each one’s face, that look of grim determination, and eagerness. I could see in their eyes my own excitement!
And, I could see the Timberwolves’ glowing eyes, off in the tree line.
They looked worried.
“EVERY MARE FOR HERSELF!!!”
And like that, we scattered! Trixies went left, Trixies went right! North! West! Mirror-wagons kicked up mirror dust and smoke as they tore off in every direction. The wolves panicked, and many were simply overwhelmed by the sheer mass of wood and equinity that hurdled through their lines.
It was chaos! It was a masterpiece of the arcane arts!
And it had nothing to do with Swirly or me. Because, while all the Timberwolves were scrambling to catch their supposed meals, I was busy holding up an invisibility spell.
Those things are like pigs, by the way, Celeste—
Hm. I actually prefer Journal now.
So, Journal. Invisibility spells eat mana like it’s going out of style. Starlight could work hers because, as I’ve said before, she has mutant-levels of magic to spare. And yet, I was still no closer to burning away any of the white-hot magic flowing through my body.
Having that sort of magical stamina was cool, sure, and I wish I could have had something like that for one of my shows. But looking back, I probably wasn’t as scared as I should have been.
The last of the wolves had run off, by this point. At least, that’s what I hoped. Trixie’s eyesight may be unparalleled in the annals of pony history, but even she can’t see in the dark. I held the spell for another minute, just in case. But, when no more Timberwolves popped out, ready to snack away at us, I finally cut power.
“I can’t believe that worked!” I heard the little shrimp call out, from the increasingly visible wagon.
“Yeah?” I asked, though my attention was a little off at the moment. My mane was still wafting on an invisible wind, and that wasn’t a good sign. I could also feel my hooves vibrating, even standing still.
In case you don’t know, Journal, this was a bad thing. Mana Burn is no laughing matter, even for one so great and powerful as I, the Great and Powerful Trixie.
I seem to remember promising I’d try and stop doing that. The third-pony thing. Oh well.
“Well, I always believed in you!” Swirly said, doing a good job of walking back his little moment of doubt, “But that the Timberwolves fell for it? That was, simply put, amazing!”
Trixie noticed a clump of grass near me begin to blacken and curl up. Another bad sign. I quickly unhitched myself, before the raw heat coming off me could combust the harness.
Swirly started to realize something was wrong.
“Trixie? You’re still saturated with mana.”
I may have snarked a little hard back at him. “Oh? I hadn’t noticed that. Thank you, Swirly! I, the Great and Boiling Trixie, would never have—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish. A crackle of pink magic snapped off of my horn, and vaporized a small stone laying nearby. I needed to burn off this extra mana, and fast!
So, I started running through what spells I could do, that would use up a huge load of mana all at once. Sadly, the perfection with which I design my spells rendered this plan a bit pooey. All of my spells were designed with efficiency in mind. At least, all the ones I’d ever used on the road.
Which was when I had an idea.
Oh, I told Swirly what was going on during all this, Journal. Just pretend I’m having all sorts of witty, hilarious banter with him while all this is going down. Trust Trixie, it was good, but I don’t quite remember how it all went.
“What do you mean you might explode!?” was the most relevant thing he said all night.
Right, my idea. There was a spell I cooked up a long, long time ago. Heck, I think I was in Professor Thunder Wave’s Evocation Theory class when I came up with it. He was nice, if a bit of a lunatic.
Anyway, all I had to do, I figured, was recreate that spell! The one that got me kicked out graduated out of Celestia’s School. You know, for burning it down.
Specifically, I would need the Unabridged version.
The Magic Mortar.
Remember what I said before? About Trixie burning down a part of the school, and possibly immolating Celestia herself as part of a show and tell gone horribly wrong? If I could just see what’s about to happen, I’d bring popcorn.
Thunder Wave was the senior professor of Evocation and Conjuration magic at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns going on forty years. He attributed his long life with eating only bread dipped in hay-grease, and drinking one bottle of phoenix-brand cherry juice every day. Professor Wave is mostly remembered as a bit of a pyromaniac, and for the way he quit his job to pursue his dream. Of being an arsonist.
Seriously, the dude’s pushing one-forty, and he’s up for parole in another sixty. Let’s see if he makes it.
The spell that got me my life on the road was, more or less, a big old ball of mana conjured from the ether, and set on fire. Because “fire” works, right? Twelve-year-old me was kind of less Great and Powerful than I sometimes like to remember.
But, when I first came up with the spell, twelve-year-old me was also ambitious. Stupid, but ambitious. See, the spell had this little flaw in it that, while I wisely took out back then, could be easily added back.
That flaw? Infinite mana draw.
And that was precisely what Trixie needed now. A nice, big, hungry spell to soak up all this power. The air around me was beginning to shimmer, Journal. I had about a minute, I guessed, before I would probably actually blow up.
So, I began to build the spell. I waved Swirly off, as best as I could, but you know him. He saw this gargantuan ball of roiling pink magic building up at the tip of my horn, and he couldn’t help but start taking notes.
The whole of Ponhenge started shifting colors. The clearing turned a hideously unnatural shade of pink. Yes, I know that’s my magic-color, but Trixie wasn’t in the mood for it, just then. I could feel my mane beginning to burn.
Finally, when the ball had grown to the size of my wagon, I swept my head around, and let loose the spell! It arced up, and over the trees, carrying itself like a comet over the southern horizon! I was fairly sure there was just more Everfree that way, so there really wasn’t a chance of the spell hurting anypony.
Actually, Trixie solved another thousand year-old mystery just now. Yeah, I know.
Ancient pony astronomers, as well as some Griffin myths, stories from the Diamond Dogs, and tales from the Algonhinn tribe of donkeys, speak of a bright pink star that flashed through the sky one night. It was said to have lit up the night, then disappeared, followed by an even stranger event that I’ll let Trixie get on to mentioning.
But, before that, a fun fact! Said Pink Star, in addition to heralding major epoch changes in all the previously mentioned cultures, was also the cause of the downfall of the Doggone Empire, who suffered a major catastrophe when the “star” obliterated most of their surface kingdom. The area was glassed by the explosion, and over the centuries this blasted wasteland broke down into rocks and gemstones, due to the heat and pressure caused by Trixie’s attack.
That’s right. Trixie created the Rambling Ridge. I bet Rarity will love her now.
I felt like I’d just run a mile. Surely, I thought, that had to be enough. But, as I looked back into myself, I was horrified. There was still so much magic! Like, I couldn’t see the bottom of all that magic. Even if I had the time to cast the Magic Mortar again, it would take days of casting it before I would be at a safe level.
Fear gripped me, Journal. Trixie I was scared. This wasn’t fun or exciting anymore. My nervous system was going to start burning away, if I held onto this much magic any longer. My brain could melt, and my heart would explode in my chest! And worst of all, I’d leave poor Swirly all alone. Again.
I needed something. Anything. I needed an idea. Some magic-wasting, totally crazy move, or else the Great and Powerful Trixie was about to become a Great and Powerful crater.
That’s what I was thinking. And then, Trixie made the connection.
Crater.
Craters.
What also has craters and would take a monumental amount of magic to affect!?
No.
THE MOON
Sure enough, that brilliant, silver ball was right overhead! And, really, how hard could it be to shove around? The Princesses can do it, and I was currently channeling one metric buckton of Alicorn juice.
How hard could it be?
I wish I could stop saying things before I try them. Tempting fate is such a Sparkle move.
My fur was starting to crackle, so I reached out with my mind, like you’d do for any sort of telekinesis spell. My horn lit up, and my magic tensed, but nothing happened. I tried again. Still, nothing.
I was running out of time. I tried one more time, but the stubborn moon wouldn’t budge. Worse, was that I could actually feel it! I knew I’d made contact, but nothing was happening! It was like trying to get a cat to do what you wanted!
I wasn’t having it. I even said as much.
“This isn’t over!” I remember saying, out of sheer frustration, “I’m not going to be beaten by some big, glowy rock! Not another one!”
Still, the moon held. And it held. And it held.
“I am the greatest magician…”
And there it was. Sometimes, even Trixie surprises Trixie how tricksy and clever I am!
See, I have no idea what actually keeps the Moon and the Sun up in the sky. Outside of the Princesses, of course. But there weren’t any Princesses yet. So, what was holding the Moon up?
Whatever it was, all rules were made to be broken! And what better way to break this particular rule, than by falling back on my best trick?
Playing to the crowd.
My bones started vibrating, and I knew that I had one more chance at this.
Trixie reached out, one more time. I could feel my magic about to wrap its way around the Moon… when I pulled back.
It was faint, but I could feel something else there, too. Before, the Moon had pushed back when I tried to grab it. Now that I was just holding next to it, it almost felt like the Moon was curious.
Oh, but it was more than curious, Journal. I knew it. The Moon was surprised. Like a foal who just saw one of my tricks, and wasn’t sure if any magic had happened at all.
I moved my magic away, just a bit. And I could almost feel the Moon’s attention draw nearer. I wonder if Luna had to work with the Moon like this?
Either way, the more and more I moved my magic across the sky, the more the Moon took notice. Also, not to put too fine a point on it, but Swirly’s voice was beginning to fade from my hearing. The stars twinkled, and winked out. I couldn’t feel my hooves anymore.
I was probably dying just then. No biggie.
Finally, I felt something else, up there in the heavens. Something that was every bit as hot, and as energetic, as the Moon was cool and placid.
Just below the horizon, I could feel the Sun.
My magic tickled it, as I approached. It almost giggled, even.
“Oh, what is this? Who are you? Are you a friend?” it almost seemed to say.
I teased it, prodded at it. The Sun didn’t so much push back, as it did simply let my grip slide off of it, like water off a duck’s back. Honestly, I felt like it was teasing me back. If I had more time, the Sun would have probably let me move it.
But I didn’t have time. And the Moon was right there, just floating in the back of my mind’s eye. It was curious, still. But it wasn’t surprised anymore.
It was jealous.
Oh, yeah. The Sun and Moon were just like their Princesses would eventually be. And, if everything I knew about Luna was true, then all I had to do was make it think I wasn’t giving her the attention she demanded.
And that, dear Journal, is when Trixie struck back!
I slammed the moon with my magic, wrapping it all up like a Hearth’s Warming present. It refused! It snarled, and it bit… but there was no escape!
Even the Sun seemed shocked!
In fact, it was so shocked, that its guard was down.
In for a penny, I thought, and so I grabbed the Sun as well!
“My name is Trixie Lulamoon!” I cried, though I’m not sure if I could talk at the moment, “I am the Great and Powerful! The most magical unicorn of all time! AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!”
The Sun and Moon glared daggers at me. I know. I could tell. There was something ineffably angry at me. I could feel it through my magical connection.
But, see, when you glare at anypony, it’s the first to look away that loses.
The Sun and Moon blinked.
And just like that, the sky lit up. Sun and Moon rocketed up to the highest point of the sky, half the world in gold, the other in silver. All my magic, borrowed and not-borrowed, seemed to fall away as the two spheres roared in the heavens.
They crossed, and for a second, I felt nothing. The Sun and Moon eclipsed, and the whole world turned gray.
My stomach dropped out from under me. The power was gone. All gone. Every drop. My mane drooped, and my legs gave out.
I thought I died. The whole world disappeared.
All except for Swirly’s scream, that followed me into oblivion.
I honestly have no words. What could I possibly—
I just got the news. I’m coming. I’m getting on the train to Canterlot in the morning, and I’m bringing the whole journal. We don’t have time. Cabbie and the kids are coming too.
I am not going to finish this thing posthumously.
Behold: Night Song (Lulamoon)
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now that a show stopper
Trixie being the one being who can stop pony Skynet wouldn't even surprise me at this point.
Yes, and I quite like this explanation.
Did Trixie stutter?
Hey, sometimes you need to bend over backronym.
Also, Pinkie is somehow ☃ out of 10.
Ooh, guest-starring Moondog.
Trixie named her daughter after her journal. I shouldn't even be surprised.
Everyone who comes out of that class seems paralyzed with fear. Well, except the really well-grounded ones.
"Trixie casts Fireball! X equals lots!"
And then she one-ups even that. Amazing to see ever more of Trixie's hoofprints on history. Looking forward to more, but I can understand why this is a draining experience. Enjoy the cooldown.
ohno
Nuclear lunch detected.
Also Trixie used all Luna's magic to break law of gravity and write new one. I think noone else besides Discord can say something similar
I’m really enjoying the characterization Trixie is getting , and Darings notes are fun.
The End of this chapter:
i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/029/368/joji.jpg
Trixie broke the moon and the Sun. The reason they have to be moved is that she broke the Cosmos. Good old Trixie. And what she felt when trying to move them? Probably baby Luna and Celestia doing their job.
Oh boy... Grogar and creatures around the world saw the pink comet and both moon and sun move in the sky like this... there was probably mass panic and oracle trying to interpret why the gods are angry. Still a great way to kick off the next stretch of the journey.
And she just killed a whole lot of doggo. Not cool Trixie. They were probably bloody imperialist but still! That's a bit morbid to think she is responsible for killing that many even if most of the Kingdom is underground.
I can't help but feel like you are putting breadcrumbs in the story where Trixie keep getting the pieces she need for her grandest trick ever. Ponehenge, Luna proto-tantabus, time magic, a thousand year to travel through...
Jāger monster? We have a Girl Genius fan in the room I think.
Naruto feeling intensify...
I feel I've heard that phrase before
You realize you will have to write that sequel in the future, right?
And since that day, Trixie started befriending a lot of pegasus
And you think that will stop her? I'm sure Trixie would annoy death so much it would just make her imortal to nerver see her face again
I love this
Anypony who don't want their mane to be forcibly removed by any kind of fast spinning machinery
Tis but a scratch
Get in the goddamn wagon
Shinji!Swirly!This is taking the whole "infinite mirrors" thing to another level
My money is on that he makes it
I was actually expecting for ti to be The Badlands, but this one is better
YES.
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One night only, you could say...
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By complete and total accident, as it so happens. I'm just glad Moondog's creator was understanding about the mistake, and a super-chill person. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if an adorable little dream construct showed up tonight and let me have both barrels...
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OH YES.
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When your sandwich makes the Giger Counter happy, you know you're doing something right!
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I'm glad you're both enjoying the ride!
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I should add a note that the Diamond Dogs of the Doggone Empire had plenty of time to move out of the way of the slow-moving ball of ultimate destruction. But even still, having 99% of your above-ground infrastructure rendered back into elementary particles isn't something most empires can get over with a good night sleep.
Oh... and I believe Trixie would agree that any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.
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Grogar leans across the table, crosses his hooves, and lets the light reflect off his glasses.
"All according to keikkaku..."
Fear not, Trixie shall return in Trixie Lulamoon vs The Future!*
DISCLAIMER: That's not a thing, will never be a thing, why are you trying to add to my workload!?
So basically Trixie (U/R) was playing a game of magic and losing to someone running a mono-green token deck thanks to being mana screwed. Then Luna passed on by and added an arbitrarily large amount of Red mana to her mana pool out of nowhere, which the judges allowed because Luna was the judge. But this was being played with older Magic rules so the “mana burn” rule was in effect. Trixie found a way to bounce, phase out, or destroy all the Timberwolf tokens and their generators via creating a whole mess of tokens herself but she still has one metric shit-ton of mana in her mana pool and needed to get rid of it or else when it emptied from her pool it would cause her to lose that much life.
So she cast Fireball targeting a random other player in the same room but not even playing the same game, which the judge allowed because she’s not a very good judge, and yet Trixie accidentally didn’t put enough mana in when paying for X because she said “ten thousand” when she meant “ten million” or something.
And then here the metaphor breaks down.
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You were doing pretty good up to that point. Well done. :)
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Pretty damn accurate. Except when she said “ten million”, it didn’t help because what Luna actually did was hand/hoof Trixie an infinite combo for mana draw. Since 10 million less than infinity is still infinity, the problem remained. So Trixie, in desperation, declared that she wins the whole Friday Tournament, by playing a card she made out of a piece of paper right then that said “tap to spend infinity mana and win gaem”.
And Luna is a reeeally bad judge, so she allowed it.
10397881
That checks out.
Oh in hindsight I actually think Trixie is U/B/R, only not so much for the icky necromancy stuff. Just black is the color of individualism and selfishness, which even the Great and Humble Trixie still has large shades of.
Now how did that come up in the conversation?
Just
.
Those Timberwolves know what's going down, yo.
We feel your pain, Daring.
There's some truth to that.
Oh for heaven's sake--she DIDN'T!
Soooo.... let me get the straight....
TRIXIE broke the law of Gravity, so it’s literally HER FAULT that Equestria even NEEDED Celestia and Luna in the FIRST PLACE?!
Daring and Twilight are going to end up dying of heart attacks before Trixie with all of these revelations about Trixie’s impact on history.
Oh god. We need more!
10398600
Omar'sTrixie's coming, yo!10399012
You break it, you buy it. Writ large.
10399382
Glad to hear it!
If Trixie has gotten even a hint of the derision Daring has written in the edit notations and considering who Trixies daughter is it's likely.
Trixie would be well within her rights to tell Daring to get stuffed and refuse to assist and tell her to read and judge for herself what is the Truth.
And not be bothered in her last days by being badgered by those who have all that they need for their examinations considering that it'll never be allowed by the crown to ever be known.
So it's very likely that posthumous it'll be for daring
Trixie Lulamoon one of the greatest heroes of Pre-Equestria history forever known as a half baked stage magician after all AS per Royal edict of the Princesses it's sealed away.
Being the first to raise the sun and moon might qualify her for alicornication.
I've decided to follow you so I could know when you update this at least, I have time to read your other fanfictions now.
I been liking the details you been giving in this story.
Ewwwww lol that's so gross
Really you can travel through time in a dream wow that is some powerful magic you have their Princess Luna that's so awesome
“Fear not, Trixie,” the Princess said, as she stood back up. She trotted quickly to where I sat, and threw her wings around me in a hug.
A hug! Journal! A Princess was hugging me!
Lucky 😭
It was my mane. In fact, Trixie’s whole mane and tail wafted around her. It was so surreal, being able to watch them flow, like a banner caught in a high wind. It was like Celestia and Luna’s mane.
Like a Princess.
Ah yes one of those ever-popular alternate universe fanfiction story about Trixie becoming a princess alicorn.
“Alright, Trixies!” I called out to the assembled masses of me. There were dozens of us, practically bursting at Ponhenge’s seams! I could see the same look on each one’s face, that look of grim determination, and eagerness. I could see in their eyes my own excitement!
And, I could see the Timberwolves’ glowing eyes, off in the tree line.
They looked worried.
“EVERY MARE FOR HERSELF!!!”
Lol OK that part actually made me laugh so much 🤣
The moon?!?!?
Dang that was very unexpected I do like how Trixie and star swirls are just bantering with each other and it looks like he's getting better with his magic and basically texting just told him the truth about where she came from words that confuse sound but also amazed as well and it looks like Princess Luna found her again they kind of talked about how their events is been going on especially how Trixie told about her experience with the princess of time and it looks like Princess Luna gave some of the magic to Trixie but unfortunately she's having a hard time controlling it because her having too much power in her body so she has to use up all the magic to move the Moon and the Sun which that's pretty impressive and it looks like they discover pretty early sad the moon and the sun can be moved by Magic and it looks like daring heard about the news about Trixie situation and now she's heading for a Ponyville with her family.
Doggone Empire? Is it some reference?
10988833
Only insomuch as someone saying “Dog gone it” is a euphemism for a typical swear.