Chapters Chapter 1: The Return of the Humble Boaster
All of Ponyville lay asleep. Not a single light was on throughout the entire town. But it was not a quiet night. Thunderclouds raged with lightning and rain. Thankfully, the storm was not enough to awaken the Ponyvillians from their sweet dreams.
But it was enough to depress one blue unicorn mare, who was trotting through the shallow rivers that the rain was forming in the streets. She had been running aimlessly for some time. After having been freed from an uncontrollable corruption, she had fled from Ponyville and had been searching for a permanent home ever since. However the news of her tyrannical and temporary reign of the village had spread throughout Equestria in the blink of an eye. No town or city would let her in. Now, she had returned to the very village that she had earned her notorious reputation in, and she knew that nopony in the place would want to welcome and accept her.
But she had no choice. Ponyville was her last hope.
I have to find shelter, quickly. That was all that the poor mare could think of. Indeed, she was in no perfect condition to travel. With every step the drenched unicorn took, her mane, coat, and tail only grew soggier, and running faster to try and avoid the rain in vain exhausted her. The wide brim of her pointed hat and the length of her long flowing cape did not help her block out the rain. And for some reason, the more steps she took, the more her eyes felt like they were on fire, and the less she could breathe. Had she still had her wagon with her she would have used it, if it had not been for the one incident ages ago which included having her wagon crushed by a star-furred bear cub, making her a laughingstock, and forcing her to work on a rock farm to earn a living. The young mare had made many other wagons with the help of the Pie family after the original had been destroyed, but ponies would draw over them and mess them up every time, forcing her to abandon the method of transportation and travel by hoof many long distances. The unicorn gritted her teeth, trying not to remember those harsh days which had led to driving her insane and studying evil magic, up to the point of seeking the Alicorn Amulet.
The blue mare was growing more and more desperate with every step she took. There was a certain place she was seeking, she knew the pony she was seeking. But where was that pony's home? Her memory was usually outstanding, but this time, she could not remember where she was heading. She knew that the place was here, and yet, her head failed to understand where in Ponyville it was.
Then, she finally found it. A humongous tree in the middle of the thatched-roofed-houses with a red door that had a candle painted on it.
Waves of relief and relaxation flooded over the blue unicorn, but those cheerful surges were soon followed by intense anxiety. She knew that the pony who lived in the tree had already forgiven her long ago, but she was not certain if that pony would listen to her pleas. Worse, what if that pony had never forgiven her completely? It was highly unlikely that the tree's resident would allow herself to hear the unicorn mare's words if that was the case.
It was, nonetheless, worth a shot.
Cautiously, the blue mare trotted up to the door, and then and there she knocked. For a while, the mare, whose hooves have now been rooted to the spot, waited. But there was no reply. Worried, the unicorn began to back away when she spotted the lights of the tree house switch on one by one. As soon as the lowermost light was lit, the door glowed a magenta hue, and proceeded to open. Behind the door was another pony mare, a purple one, who had been aroused from her not-so-deep sleep due to her nighttime studies. The mare, annoyed, had opened the door, and she was about to give whoever that was at her doorstep the what-for, when she saw who had arrived in front of her house. The sight of the pony before her made her wide awake.
"Trixie?" the purple mare said, gaping. "What are you doing here?"
Here goes nothing, the blue unicorn, Trixie, thought to herself.
"Twilight Sparkle, I--" was all she could say before she was cut off by a sight quite unexpected to her. The purple mare, Twilight Sparkle, had two feathered structures folded up at her sides.
Wings.
Trixie blacked out before her body finished crumbling to the floor.
"I still don't understand why you'd take her in! I mean, think of all she's done to you, Twilight!"
"That's all in the past, Spike!"
"Still, think about it! She might strike when your letting your guard down!"
"Look, Spike, she's sick. She's got a fever and a cold. If you ask me, she's far too ill to try and get back at me," the purple mare said, turning to gaze at Trixie, who now lay soundly asleep on a spare bed, a thermometer stuck in her mouth.
"Well, I hope you're right," sighed a small, purple-and-green dragon. "I wouldn't want to think about Trixie taking over Ponyville again."
"Oh, Spike, you know perfectly well I don't want that either," Twilight said to the dragon. "Now, hurry up and get me Healing Wounds with Magic by Jewel Film."
"Um, Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you just get help from Nurse Redheart or Doctor Stable or somepony like that?"
Twilight sighed. "Spike, you know I'm not going to go out in the rain. Besides, I'm not sure if a lot of ponies would want to see Trixie, no matter what state she's in." Gazing out the window, Twilight continued, "We'll have to wait until everypony's ready to see her again."
"Meanwhile, Spike, why don't you just get me the book and go to sleep, and when you wake up in the morning be a little nicer to Trixie?"
Spike threw his claws up in the air. "Fine," he said, and carelessly grabbed a book on one of the lowest shelves and threw it at Twilight. Luckily, she managed to catch the book with her magic before it hit her.
She grumbled as the dragon climbed into his bed. Carefully, she flipped through the pages, until. . .
"Ah!" she exclaimed, and began to read the page.
How to Cure a Fever Using Magic: Part One
You Will Need. . .
Author's Note
Yay, so, here goes my first MLP fanfic. I'm sorry if the prologue stinks, but I'm not the best writer in the world. This is one of my first fanfics after all. I promise I'll get better as time passes. Meanwhile, please let as many as possible know about this new story and look forward to the next chapter~
"Ugh. . ." Trixie groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She felt groggy and weak for some reason. It wasn't as if she had fallen asleep, and it wasn't as if she had been ill recently.
Or. . . had she? Trixie couldn't help but feel that as likely as those thoughts were to be wrong, it would also be likely that her thoughts were right.
Her nerves finally connected with her eyes and snapped her out of her blank state. She finally saw the wooden ceiling above her.
Where am I?
Slowly, she sat up. Only then did she realize she was on something soft. She looked down, and found herself sitting up on a bed.
A bed? Trixie racked her brains. Had she actually been asleep?
She shook her head wildly; she would have to think about it later. She had to know where she was. Trixie swerved her head this way and that, taking in her surroundings. She first discovered that there were books. Lots and lots of books. Books on prophecies, history, magic, and etc. She even spotted a book on healing on the floor.
Then, a vague memory flashed into her mind. She was saying something, to a purple mare. . . then her vision grew a bit reddish. . . then she closed her eyes. . . when she opened them again, the red hue from her eyesight was gone. . . there was a red aura surrounding a ridiculously large tree. . . it lifted off the ground, flipped upside down, and shook. . . and out of that tree tumbled out books, many books.
Trixie frowned in puzzlement. As much as she hated to think of it, for some reason, she felt that indeed the memory was hers.
The back of her mind told her not to think much more about this vision, but her curiosity was too strong; she kept thinking about what she had just seen. Squeezing her eyes shut, she kept searching the memory for clues on what the situation was.
The memory crossed her mind again, but more vividly. And she could hear voices this time.
She was standing in front of a purple unicorn mare with a mane and tail mixed up with the colors of pink, blue, and indigo. "Now I want revenge," she heard a voice say. A voice that sounded uncannily like hers; a voice that was hers. "And I'll just keep casting spells till you agree," she continued. Then her eyes grew red and blinked slowly. A red aura surrounded the tree in the distance. Trixie couldn't feel herself using magic, but she undoubtedly felt the flow of it dissipating from her head. The tree lifted up, flipped upside down, and shook. The windows of the tree opened up, and a large amount of books toppled out, along with an owl.
Trixie was dumbfounded. She couldn't remember precisely what had happened, but she knew she had been involved, and that she had been bad.
Then she remembered something else. It was in that memory, but now, she could hear her voice. Not a vocal voice, a mental voice.
"Now I want revenge."
You don't have to be like this!
"And I'll just keep casting spells till you agree."
No! You don't want to do this!
The red aura of unicorn magic lifted the tree and shook the air.
You oaf! That's Twilight Sparkle's home!
Twilight Sparkle? Twilight Sparkle! Of course! How could she not have thought of it? The purple unicorn's name! And the books, on the ground, definitely the ones that had fallen out of the tree! Now, she could remember it! The bookworm unicorn! The one who knew more magic than she herself! Her house, the tree library!
Slowly, she felt her horror inkling into her blank face. So that was where she was. In the library. In Twilight Sparkle's house. In her enemy's house.
Her lower eyelids twitching with fear, she jumped out of bed, panicking. That could have been a mistake; her whole body suddenly began to ache. But her mind was going wild, and adrenaline coursed through her like mad. Why was she here? What was her nemesis planning to do with her?
Without thinking, she started running. . . and the ground gave way. Apparently, the floor that she had been on did not cover the entire diameter of the tree.
"Oof!" she cried as she fell face flat on the lower floor. She was in great pain now. Her head throbbed, her face was numb, her hooves were burning, and her legs were shaking.
Trixie could hear a faint, sleepy voice. "Ungh. . . what's going on?" She looked up from where she had fallen, and saw a purple-and-green figure of small size. A dragon.
Then, something else flashed through Trixie's mind. She was picking up a small purple-and-green dragon with her magic. The dragon was wailing with panic.
Stop! You're terrorizing him!
That thought was followed by another voice. A wicked voice. Another mental voice. Another one of her own voices.
So? That's exactly what you wanted to do!
Her magic rolled the dragon into a ball, and she began to dribble him on the ground.
"Trixie, put him down," Twilight Sparkle said.
That's right! Put him down!
Why should I? This is fun!
Her magic created a basketball basket, and she thrusted the dragon into the hoop.
"Why are you doing this?" Twilight grumbled.
"Why? Because you humiliated me!" Trixie retorted.
You know perfectly well that's not why, and I don't want to do this!
As her memory faded, she looked up fearfully. So, this was Twilight's dragon. The one she had tormented.
The dragon shook his head and yawned to wake up properly, and looked around. Then he caught sight of Trixie.
"Oh, you're awake."
So I had been asleep, Trixie grumbled to herself. Glad to know.
The dragon began to hop down the steps. Trixie backed away from the stairs until her rump hit a wall. She looked back and gasped. There was no escape now.
She clenched her eyes shut. This was how she would end. She would be slain by Twilight's dragon. How fitting it should be that she deserved this after what she had done to the Ponyvillians.
"Uh, what are you doing?" she heard a voice ask. Trixie opened an eye. The dragon was staring at her, frowning.
"Oh! Uh. . ." Trixie was lost for words. How come this dragon, the one she had taunted before, be able to approach her so calmly? But since the dragon was acting so casually, she decided to be casual about it, too.
"Um, hello!" she managed to say. "I, uh, think you already know who I am!" Trixie forced a smile.
"Of course I do," the dragon huffed. "You're the one who turned Ponyville upside down ages ago."
Trixie's smile disappeared as quickly as it had come. She sighed. "And I'm sorry for that."
"Anyways," the dragon said, "I'm Spike." He extended out his claws.
Carefully, Trixie reached out a hoof, allowing the dragon's claws to shake it.
After the claw-hoofshake, Trixie dared to ask, "Where's Twilight Sparkle? Isn't she supposed to be with you?"
"Oh, Twilight?" Spike said. "She's gone to the mayor to tell her about your arrival."
"She's gone to what?!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine. Twilight can get anypony out of anything."
Author's Note
Sorry this came up so late! Lot's of things have been going on:
My computer's been having a lot of technical difficulties, thus I have not been able to reach the goal of posting this sooner.
This is not the only fanfic I am working on! I am working on another fanfic unrelated to MLP, and the readers on the other were really angry I haven't been updating! It's difficult to write to stories at the same time, especially when your mom busts into the room to check how much homework you've done. If you want to read it, go to and look for the story "Bringing Back Life, Bringing Back Courage", and please review!
Our school has forced us all to install new apps on our computers, which allows the teachers and staff to monitor us when we are at school. So much for "security".
Will Twilight be able to tell the mayor the proper message successfully? Until the next chapter, dear readers~
Chapter 3: Accepting a Foe
"What?! She's back?!"
"Yes."
"You shouldn't have let her!"
"But there was that huge storm last night. I couldn't leave--"
"You could have just left her to fend for herself, then."
"Leaving her out in the rain like that last night wouldn't have done much good, either, Ms. Mare."
The Mayor just shook her head. "What you have done will affect everyone in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle."
"I know that, Ms. Mare," Twilight snapped. "But everypony deserves a second chance for everything."
Mayor Mare could only sigh. "Giving the same pony chances over and over again may only make the situation worse. They can take advantage of their second chances."
"I'll see to it that Trixie doesn't go around harassing everypony in Ponyville."
"How can you be so sure of that? She was a fraud when she first came, and the second time she came around, she attempted to be an empress! Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, are you sure giving this pony another chance will take a turn for the better?"
Twilight scratched the back of her mane with her hoof. "No, not really. . ."
"See here, Twilight! This isn't worth the risk!" the Mayor hissed, jabbing a hoof at Twilight's chest.
Gently pushing away the hoof, Twilight muttered clearly enough, "There is nothing that isn't worth the risk if it involves reforming a friend. We already told you what had happened when Princess Celestia left Discord up to Fluttershy."
True, the Mayor thought, that did go quite well. But she wasn't sure if Twilight could have the same capabilities and the kind pegasus pony Fluttershy had.
Hoof on her chin, Mayor Mare kept thinking. How was she to convince a unicorn like Twilight?
"Twilight, we still can't let Trixie stay forever," the Mayor said. After some hesitation, she continued, "I may sound like I am digressing, but. . . I'll just use zombie ponies as an example, for now."
"OK," Twilight breathed, taking great care not to burst into laughter. Who knew that the Mayor knew to talk about things like zombie ponies?
"Pretend," Mayor Mare said, "that you see a zombie pony from far away. What would you do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Twilight said. "You kill it."
"Exactly. Now, imagine if that zombie pony had once been somepony you knew, or somepony that was important to you. What would you do then?"
"Right then?" Twilight choked out, pupils shrinking. She couldn't imagine anypony like Shining Armor or Rarity or Princess Celestia falling under such an infection. "I'd. . . I'd run."
"And if you can't?"
"Then, I guess. . . I guess I'll have to let myself die."
"Be serious, Twilight Sparkle! You know you wouldn't actually do that if this situation was real!"
Ms. Mare's right, Twilight thought to herself. One would usually rather kill than die.
"I'd, I'd. . ." swallowing the lump in her throat, Twilight mumbled, "I'd kill that pony."
"Exactly!" cried the Mayor. Twilight cocked her head to one side. What was the Mayor's point in talking about zombie ponies?
Then something clicked in her brain. Nopony like being invaded by zombie ponies. And nopony in Ponyville had like being controlled by Trixie, either. Nopony would want to welcome Trixie to Ponyville now. They would want to get rid of her. The same way ponies would want to get rid of a horde of zombies.
It was now Twilight's turn to sigh heavily. "Ms. Mare, this is a completely different case."
One of the Mayor's eyes narrowed, questioning Twilight about what she had to say.
"Trixie is a live pony, a completely alive pony. Meaning she still has an intact mind and personality. You can't convince a typical zombie to fight on your behalf because its body can't listen to you. But Trixie can. Because she's a live pony. And we can always have a chance with her."
Mayor Mare hung her head. "I don't know Twilight. I just don't know."
"Do you trust me, Ms. Mare?" Twilight said. "I wasn't crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Element of Magic for nothing, you know."
The Mayor glanced up at Twilight, but said nothing.
"Do you trust me?" Twilight asked again. "Would I lie to you?"
The Mayor managed to give way to a slight grin. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle, I trust you."
Trixie gorged down the daffodil-and-daisy sandwich that Spike had made for her. Trixie had not been able to deny one thing during her stay in Ponyville all this time: the food was good. Really good. Now she was beginning to miss that smoothie with extra hay that those two foals had given her. What were the names of the colts again? She couldn't quite recall that.
"Wow, you must have been very hungry," Spike said.
"Hungry? I was starving!" Trixie chuckled. Chewing on the last bite of her sandwich, she thought about what had happened last night. Slowly, she had recovered her memory of the day. The storm, falling ill unknowingly, finding the library, seeing her former nemesis with wings, and then blacking out. And after hearing from Spike that Twilight Sparkle had cured her while she had been knocked out, she figured this was a lot to take in. She wanted to ask a few more questions to Spike, but figured it would be better to hold onto them to ask Twilight.
She was about to thank Spike for the sandwich, but she heard a door slamming open first.
"Spike! I'm back!" she heard a familiar voice call. She turned her head towards the doorway and saw her former rival walking in.
"Oh, hi, Trixie! You're awake!" Twilight said cheerfully, beaming as if nothing had happened.
She took in a deep breath and sighed. Time to get things straight.
Author's Note
You guys might probably think that I was insane to put in the whole zombie pony thing, but nothing else came to mind, so, yeah.
Oh my Celestia, this is taking friggin' forever! Sorry for having you guys wait so long for the exciting parts! But I want to make this story as thorough as possible. So please be patient with me! And, by Luna, do not mistake this story as a slice of life story!
"So," Twilight said, sipping her tea, "now that I told you what you asked me to tell you, I want you to answer what I want to ask you."
"O-OK," Trixie stammered, setting down her teacup carefully with her own magic. Her own, relieving, free magic, not magic powered by some stupid trinket that possessed ponies.
Trixie still couldn't comprehend what she had just heard. Twilight Sparkle had become princess by showing how friends could help each other. She imagined how great that would feel. She wished she would become princess one day. But Trixie knew she didn't deserve it, not if it involved friends in order to make it to royalty. She was far too behind for that.
Twilight pondered upon the million questions popping into her head about Trixie. She could only ask one question; Trixie hadn't been so nosy about her business, and the least she could do was to be just as polite.
After a long term of tension between their staring eyes, Twilight finally asked, "Why did you come back?"
Trixie's eyelids twitched. It was a hard question to answer. Her pride and faults laid upon the answer. She let out a huge sigh and mumbled, "I came for help."
"What?" Twilight breathed, pupils widening with curiosity. Trixie, coming to Ponyville, asking for help? That was hard to believe.
"I came for help," Trixie repeated, voice shaking. "Nopony wants me now, because they already know about what I've done to Ponyville. They wouldn't accept me, probably because they were afraid of me attempting to take over their community. So I came back to Ponyville, my last hope for a permanent shelter.
"I wanted to prove to them that I had changed. . . but I wasn't given the chance. Ponyville was the only town left for me. And you forgave me when I last fled," Trixie said, gazing into Twilight's eyes, filled with sympathy. "So I decided to ask you for help first. But when I went to you, I was shocked by the fact that you had wings. . . and I guess that's when my illness took its toll," she finished blandly.
"Oh, come on, Trixie!" Twilight exclaimed with a playful nudge. "I'd be happy to let you stay! Besides, the Mayor will probably tell everypony you've come, so you don't have to worry!" Twilight's mind was already racing ahead of time. To think that her former rival had been reformed and had reached a more tolerable state! Together, they would be able to do anything, brush up on magic, and maybe she herself could learn from Trixie how to put on a good magic show, but without the bragging--
It took a while for Twilight to realize that Trixie was not sharing the same joy. The blue unicorn was hanging her head, poking the handle of her teacup. "Um, Trixie?" Twilight asked, carefully bringing her face closer. "Is something wrong?"
"Th-thanks, Twilight, r-really," Trixie managed to say. "But I have a lot more to worry about than you think."
Trixie waited, expecting Twilight to come up with some sort of reply. But the young alicorn was silent. So she continued. "You say I don't have to worry, but. . . I think you're perfectly aware that most ponies haven't forgiven me for controlling Ponyville."
Twilight winced. How could she have forgotten that? Would anypony trust Trixie, or even her own self, to not bring Ponyville under forced corruption once more?
Then she saw the discomfort in Trixie's face, and off of Trixie's eyes, Twilight saw her own face of doubt, reflected. Twilight facehoofed. How could she?! She was supposed to comfort Trixie! With her face showing so much doubt, Trixie would never cheer up!
With all the bravado that she could muster, Twilight managed a brave smile. "Trixie, I still forgave you. And I'm a princess now," she added, giggling. "How could anypony challenge me?"
Trixie forced a grin, but it didn't last long. "Well, it's just. . . I've made mistakes in the past."
"Duh, Trixie," Twilight chuckled, flapping her wings slowly. "Everypony makes mistakes."
"Well. . . yeah," Trixie continued. "But although I haven't made too many mistakes, those mistakes were huge. Unforgivable flaws of mine. It's just. . . I. . . what if. . ."
Trixie couldn't hold it anymore. She thought her eyes would burst from hanging onto the saltwater welling up in her. She finally lost control.
"I'M SORRY!" she cried, with all her heart. "I'm sorry, r-really sorry. . ."
"Shhh," Twilight softly leaned forward and hugged the sobbing mare, allowing Trixie to cry into the hairs on her shoulder. "It's OK, I forgive you for everything. Really."
"S-sorry for breaking down like this," Trixie sniffed. "It's just. . . what if nopony else will ever grow to like me?"
Twilight sighed. "You're right, Trixie. You have made mistakes. Great mistakes. But it's all in the past. They don't matter anymore. . . they shouldn't matter to anypony. Nopony has the right to be angry at you anymore for what you've done. They've seen you ask me for forgiveness.
"But there is one thing that still matters," Twilight said, pushing Trixie away gently, tilting the unicorn's head up with a forehoof.
"What?" Trixie asked. "What still matters?"
"The only thing that matters now is that you don't make the same mistake again," Twilight said. Her words suddenly cast a gloomy air about them.
Or upon Trixie at least. Her mind was swimming with worry. What if she ended up making more mistakes, let alone the same ones?
"Trixie?" Twilight waved a hoof in front of Trixie's face. "Hello, anypony home?"
Trixie blinked. "Oh! Uh, sorry. I'm just, still worried."
"Seriously, Trixie," Twilight said, bouncing off her stool. "You should relax, friend."
Friend. The word struck Trixie like lightning.
Friend. . . she called me a friend. . .
Trixie swallowed the new lump in her throat. "OK, Twilight. I'll relax. . . and I'll behave as time goes along."
Twilight replied with a warm smile. "Of course you will."
The purple alicorn walked towards one of her bookshelves.
"Now, who wants to learn some serious magic?"
Author's Note
This chapter has been finished within a day, I am proud to say. . . and I am HAPPY. Wait, that's an understatement. Anyways, a little notification for you all.
Apparently, according to certain friends of mine who've read this, this should have a slice of life tag, since the story starts off like this. DON'T PANIC. I'm not going to change the main storyline or something like that. All I'll be doing is add a new tag.
Also, season 4 is officially out. . . I get it. BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED. NOT IN THIS STORY. If you are to read this enjoyably, just forget season 4. Not that I don't like it, but apparently "Daring Don't" will come soon, so it might get in the way with my personal headcanon. Unrelated news, I have more than one headcanon. Those stories will come along in the future.
Still, don't worry, the appearance of Daring Do will come after a few chapters. And happy Running of the Leaves, everypony.
Chapter 5: A Fresh, New Start
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.