A Fallen Star

"Twilight..." Trixie spoke. She almost whispered. The name which she clung all blame to, belonging to the pony now sitting before her. She just stared blankly at the lavender Unicorn, not showing any anger, surprise, or any other emotion for that matter. Zecora had quickly finished changing her bandage, and left the hut to give the two some space.

With every second that passed, it seemed like a whole day for Twilight. Sweat formed on her brow, which she couldn't bring herself to wipe.  Trixie just continued staring at her, causing her to grow more and more unsettled. She instinctively started to bite on her lower lip, waiting for the blue Unicorn to speak her fill of angry words. She deserved every insult Trixie would throw at her.

The former show mare could see exactly what it was Twilight was expecting, and she was half-tempted to give her what she wanted. She resisted, however, denying the other Unicorn the satisfaction. All she did was close her eyes and look away.

Twilight's jaw loosened as she realized what was going on. Trixie knew that she wanted to be yelled at, to be blamed. It's not that she wanted it, more like she deserved it. So why was Trixie refusing to do something that was probably second nature to her? She couldn't comprehend what was going on, because she hadn't expected it.

Without even realizing, Twilight was now standing, legs spread out, and actually leaning closer to Trixie. "Well?" She heard herself say. She wasn't quite sure why she was talking. All she knew was that she WAS talking. "You're not even gonna say anything?" Twilight questioned Trixie, starting to grow angry.

Trixie didn't even move. She just stayed there, laying on her belly, facing the wall opposite of Twilight.

"Don't you want to blame me?!" Twilight's voice started getting louder. She just couldn't understand. "Isn't it my fault?! It has to be! There's no other logical explanation! So why aren't you giving me what i deserve?!" She started slowly walking towards her, closing the gap between them.

The blue Unicorn, however, just listened to Twilight rambling. She was right, Twilight wanted to be blamed. By not saying anything, Trixie was getting better payback than she could have imagined. The purple Unicorn would tear herself apart with guilt.

"I showed you up! It doesn't matter if an Ursa Minor was attacking! Didn't I ruin your career? Your reputation?!" Twilight continued, nearly yelling whatever her mind was thinking of without filter. As she stood beside Trixie, she started to feel horrible. The hurt mare in front of her was an effect of her actions, and she was not being blamed, yelled at, scolded, not even spoken to. Tears formed in her eyes as her legs wobbled, and her voice lowered in volume. "Don't you hate me?"

Part of Trixie would have enjoyed this if it weren't so pitiful. But she still did not look at Twilight. She could tell they were close now, but kept her shoulder cold.

Twilight couldn't speak any more. She ground her teeth together, trying to hold back her tears. But upon looking over Trixie's body, and seeing her leg injury again, she couldn't hold it any longer. Twilight collapsed to the floor, sobbing. She could feel not a thing but guilt in her heart, despite all of the logical thoughts that told her otherwise.

Trixie finally opened her eyes and turned to see the collapsed Unicorn beside her. She didn't feel any joy upon seeing this. She just sighed at the pitiful sight. Trixie got what she wanted, but it didn't seem like enough.

She couldn't tell how long she was crying, or if Trixie was even paying attention. All Twilight knew was that she apologized over and over. A nudge on her head caught her attention, and she looked up, only to feel a hoof come into contact with her face, drawing her from her teary delusion. Twilight stared at Trixie with a shocked look.

Trixie glared at the pony before her, pulling her hoof back beneath her to stabilize herself on the bed. She was very tempted to say something horrible, or something that would make her cry harder, but she just stared again.

Twilight sniffled once before shaking her head free of the tears on her face. "Why don't you hate me?" She asked, plainly to Trixie's face, her cheek starting to sting.

"Because I'm the only one to blame." Trixie looked away again. After all this time, after seeing Twilight in this state, it finally became obvious. It all started with her, but she had to blame it on somepony else in order to deal with it.

Taking a quick breath, Twilight could at last relax, just a bit. She couldn't accept that fact until she heard it from Trixie herself.

"You want to know why i boasted so much about my abilities?" She said as she turned back to Twilight. Trixie didn't wait for confirmation, but just continued. "I was just a filly when my life started down a pretty rough road..."

Twilight stiffed her tears, and listened intently. She couldn't think of anything but listening to her story for now.

"When i was in school, every Unicorn in my class was able to start using their magic, except for me. My mother, who was a Canterlot Royal mage, always told me that i was a late bloomer. That i would get my magic soon." Trixie shook her head slowly. "But she soon lost that hope after i visited a Unicorn specialist. He said i might be a rare case of Unicorn that doesn't inherit magic, because one of their parents was an Earth Pony."

Upon hearing that, Twilight couldn't help but tense up. She was a daughter of two Unicorns, and was the living element of Magic, so her feelings of modesty started to twist around inside her. Like the last time she saw Trixie.

Looking at Twilight, with more of a depressed look this time, she continued. "So my mother was devastated by that. She felt like she betrayed my childhood innocence. But she found a way to make it up to me. Even if it was only for her conscience. Very selfish of her, if you ask me."

The little filly was nearly out of breath after running so much. She chased after her mother after she ran off. A royal guard came to their house just a few minutes ago. Her mother quickly threw on her star-adorned purple cape, and ran off with him. Trixie didn't even know what was going on, but she didn't like it one bit. So she chased after her mom.

They all ran to the town gate, where the royal guards were already engaged with a huge, blue bear-like creature. It swatted the Pegasi Guards easily, and the even 3 Unicorn Guards couldn't see any damage being done with their spells.

Nopony knew what had drawn the beast to Canterlot, nor why it was openly attacking. But the guards had to do their best to hold it off until some reinforcement arrived. Trixie's mother, as a Canterlot Royal Mage, was a part of that reinforcement. As soon as she approached the other Unicorns, they recognized her signature cape, and parted, giving sighs of relief. "Thank Celestia! Miss Lulamoon, this beast just climbed up the mountain and began smashing everything in it's path! Our magic isn't doing anything against-"

The Mage cut him off with a raised hoof. "Just call off the Pegasi! I'll take it on!" The blue Unicorn planted her hooves firmly into the dirt, starting to summon her magic, her cape starting to billow behind her.

"Mommy!" A voice called from behind them. The guards and Mage turned to see a small blue Unicorn filly come to a stop behind them. She went to ask a question, but then noticed the rampaging beast farther down the road. "What is that thing?!"

For a moment, all four Unicorns were silent, before the filly's mother stepped forward, angrily. "Trixie! What are you doing?! You shouldn't have-" She was cut off by the bear's loud roar. All four Unicorns turned and saw the translucent bear barreling towards them, no longer distracted by the Pegasus.

They formed a line, and simultaneously cast a blow back spell. All four combined was enough to lift the bear off of it's feet and hurtle it backwards through the air. It crashed into what was remained of the Canterlot front gate, and groggily tried to get up.

It was obvious that the city would be in danger if they didn't stop it here at the gate. Trixie's mother ignored her daughter, and started charging a spell while the brown Unicorn Guards proceeded to assist the wounded white Pegasi.

The mage's horn arced with lightning before blasting a bolt of electricity into the blue bear's left side. The monster howled with pain and covered the now burnt flesh with it's large right paw.

It didn't stall the beast for long, however. It soon recollected it's strength, and made a wild charge at the Mage. She was still weak from launching her most powerful spell, and wasn't able to create a barrier or focus on another attack. It seemed that the Unicorn would be done in.

But before the injured bear reached the mare, it slowed to a stop. The Mage was wondering what it was doing, but it seemed to be looking around, unable to see her anymore.

"Mommy!" A small voice caught her attention. She turned and saw Trixie, with her horn glowing. She was using magic. At last she looked at herself and noticed that her daughter made her invisible to the bear's sight.

However, Trixie was still quite visible. The monster turned it's large, red eyes to the filly casting the spell. It narrowed it's eyes and raised a massive paw to crash down on her.

The next few moments felt like an eternity, but everything happened too fast for Trixie to understand. One moment, she was staring at a translucent blue paw, moving down on her. The next, she felt a large mass plow into her chest, pushing her back. There was a loud smashing sound, and Trixie was on her side.

She pulled herself up to see what happened. The bear's right front paw was planted in the ground where Trixie was just a moment ago, and was already raising his other paw to make sure he hit his target. Her eyes were wide and focused on the first paw, hoping that there was nothing underneath.

As the beast went in for the kill, he found that his body was frozen still, a golden aura now over it. Before the bear could even think of what was going on, it found itself hurtling through the air. This time, much faster and much farther.

Even after the bear was thrown into the horizon, Trixie could not take her eyes off of the crater. She could see the edge of a purple cape sticking out, and prayed that it wasn't what she thought it was. The filly felt a wing spread over her, like a blanket. That drew her attention to see that the wing belonged to a large white pony, Princess Celestia. She had taken care of the bear, but did not get there fast enough.

Trixie, still in shock, just leaned her head against the Princess, unsure what to think. Celestia arched her neck over the filly's head to comfort her while the guards regrouped.

"What was that?" A Pegasus Guard asked one of the Unicorns.

"It must have been an Ursa Major. They're supposed to be gigantic bears. But what was it doing in Canterlot?"

Celestia softly stood up, careful not to startle Trixie, and walked to the guards. "Even I have not seen an Ursa in hundreds of years. And this one attacking Canterlot, not antagonized, is an ill omen."

They continued to talk, but Trixie grew very tired and quickly fell asleep on the dirt path.

"...Ironically, it was that incident that got me my Cutie Mark." Trixie looked over at Twilight, to see if she was still paying any attention. Surprisingly, she was. "After that, my schoolteacher took me in, because I had no other relatives. I started my pursuit of show business a few years later." She started to feel weird. Trixie had never shared her tragic history with anypony before, yet here she was, blabbering away.

Finally detecting an opportunity to ask a question, Twilight spoke up. "So, you didn't try to join the Canterlot Mages?" Her voice nearly stuttered at the end. She didn't want to sound rude, but wanted to ask still.

"Well, of course I tried. But they told me my magical abilities were not 'up to par' with the other applicants." A scowl found it's way onto her mouth, just from thinking about it. "But everypony knew my mother, and I was not about to let the Lulamoon name disappear. I entered the performing arts to keep the name in every pony's minds. I guess the 'Great and Powerful' part came from me just being insecure about my abilities."

Twilight looked away now. She had entirely misjudged Trixie. Right from the beginning. "Trixie...I-"

"I don't need an apology." She quickly cut her off. Apologies were the last thing she wanted to hear,

"N-no. It's not that, just..." She took a deep breath. The purple Unicorn was just unable to find the correct words for what she wanted to say. Getting a different thought, she quickly turned to Trixie and asked very confidently: "Trixie, will you stay with me in Ponyville?"

The question took a moment to register. But when she did, her eyebrow raised far higher than it would on it's own. That was a question she had not even imagined would be asked of her. Let alone by Twilight. "What?" Was all she could say, even with all the thoughts now buzzing in her mind.

"Come back to Ponyville with me. I owe it to you to help you start over. Besides, where were you going to go after you were healed up?" She started to grow a smile on her face.

Trixie still couldn't fully figure out what was going on. "I-I don't know. Trottinham, maybe? Manehatten? I just would have gone wherever I wanted."

Twilight narrowed her eyes, seeming to stare right through Trixie. "I can tell you really wouldn't like that. Besides, it would not only be a good experience for you, but for me as well. We could both learn a little something from each other." Twilight extended a hoof to Trixie, as a friendly gesture. "What o you say?"

"You can't honestly expect me to say yes, can you? I'm still not old news in that town. Nopony will be so easy to just welcome me."

"You'll find it's much easier than you're making it sound." She giggled a bit, still holding her hoof out. "And yes, I do expect you to say yes. You'll be the subject of my best friendship report yet."

Trixie looked away for a moment to rub her eyes. She couldn't believe how one question managed to turn the entire situation into not only a chance of redemption, but an inside look to how naive Twilight was.

"If Trixie is who you are going to take, then more of her medicine i should make." A thick voice sounded from behind them. The two Unicorns turned to see Zecora, in all her striped glory. "But wait, before you go, there is one thing you must know." She walked over towards the two.

Twilight stood up straight, and faced Zecora. "What is it, Zecora?"

"If Trixie wants her leg to heal, she will need my medicine applied after every meal." She picked up a basket with a jar full of gel inside, and set the basket near the Unicorns. "Rub this on her wound for a whole week, otherwise her leg will be forever weak." Zecora stressed this, but seemed to be hinting that she wanted Trixie to go.

Picking the basket up with her magic, Twilight eagerly answered her. "That won't be a problem, Zecora! I'll make sure to take care of her." She lowered her eyebrows and put a determined grin on her face. She immediately formed a plan in her head. This was her chance to make it up to her.

Trixie, on the other hand, decided to protest a bit more. "Who said I was going to go home with you?! Besides, I can't walk. How do you expect me to-" She was cut off by her body being lifted in the air by a lavender aura. Trixie flailed for a bit before realizing that it was Twilight who picked her up.

"Well, it's getting late, Zecora. We'll go so you can have your peace. Bye now!" Without missing a beat, Twilight happily trotted to the door, carrying her basket and the still-flailing Unicorn.

After the door was closed, the Zebra blinked a few times, before shaking her head. Whatever craziness that goes through ponies' minds was always too much for her. After chuckling a bit, Zecora returned to brewing a new potion she had been trying to make just right.

"I said put Trixie down, you insolent brat!" At this point, she wasn't even aware of what she was yelling. She did learn not to thrash her injured leg, but still tried to fight the magic with the rest of her body. They had been walking for a few minutes now, forest surrounding them on all sides, save for the dirt path.

A quick shake silenced her antics, and pulled her attention to Twilight. "Trixie, what were going to do for a whole week with Zecora? And what about after? You know as well as I do that it would be a rocky road getting back into show business." She stated that sentence with the intent of making Trixie think.

And it worked. Trixie could feel her face loosen, thoughts of how difficult a show career would be popping into her head. "W-well. That doesn't mean-"

"That's exactly what it means!" Twilight grunted softly. "Look, I'm trying to help you. And when somepony tries to help you when you need the help, you accept it. That's just how it goes, okay?"

She wasn't really sure how to react, staring wide-eyed at Twilight. After a sigh, her resistance vanished. "Fine." She let herself go limp in Twilight's magic aura. "But Trixie has just one question." She noticed that she said her own name, and a look of embarrassment crossed her face.

At the same time, a giggle escaped Twilight's mouth. "And that would be?" She asked in a very playful way, causing Trixie's face to turn a little red.

Trixie turned her head away. "C-can I...?" She couldn't focus while embarrassed like that. She shook her head, and asked again. "Could you try to carry me on your back instead of in the air?"

Twilight stopped laughing, just now realizing she still held Trixie suspended in the air. "Oh! Sorry about that." She levitated Trixie over her back, resting her down carefully. The weight of another pony was something she wasn't used to, after always carrying Spike around. But now was no time to complain. Once she adjusted to the new weight, she arched her head to look back at Trixie. "Better?"

Wrapping her front hooves around her neck, Trixie felt like a child. She just clung a little tighter, happy to be resting on something other than the air. "...yes."

Laughing to herself, Twilight started walking slowly onwards to Ponyville. It would be a long trek back, but they would be able to make it back to the library by dark. Maybe this will work after all.