Trixie galloped through the forest, tears wetting the fur around her eyes. Her hooves ached and her leg was sore, but she pushed on, hoping to get as far from Ponyville as she could. "How dare they?" she yelled, not caring what could hear her, "how dare they question Trixie's power? Trixie is not some blank flank, she is the most powerful magician in all of Equestria. They will see...oh yes...they...will..." Her words were cut off just as quickly as the ground from under her hooves.

The cyan mare tumbled head-over-hoof down the steep, rocky hill face, her vision blurring as she desperately channeled a crude, magic shield. Every weak spell that was cast was instantly shattered upon the rocks and vines as they ripped at her cape. Suddenly, Trixie's scream echoed through the forest as her hind hoof slammed roughly against a rock, the bone snapping like plywood. Trixie closed her eyes as she saw what was next, a free-fall of about fifty feet. Her stomach was tingling from altitude change as she weakly fumbled with her memory, trying to call upon some form of magic to save her, only to think of something to dull the pain. The sound of her own breath encapsulated her, sharply in and stuttering out. She yelled as she neared the ground, stars erupting as the shield shattered, the weak mare slipping into unconsciousness.

The unicorn opened her eyes slowly, the moon still high in the sky. Trixie's vision was weak at best, but as she blinked, the ground became clearer. She tried to rise but found that only her front hooves would move. Her mind was in disarray but she slowly began remembering everything up to the fall, cringing as she re-lived the pain of her hind hoof snapping. She went to roll over, but found herself too weak, so she simply looked behind her at the mangled mess of limbs. Her hind leg bones had snapped upon impact, and the blood had dried, indicating that it had been at least an hour since her fall. She was glad unicorns have a naturally fast recovery procedure after major damage. Her body clotted her blood rather quickly, and because of all the magic flowing through the mare's body, she was immune to infection for the time being. Her magic didn't make her much less hurt, but for the time being, she felt minor pain.

"Ah, shit...T...Trixie, what do you d...do now?" she murmured to herself, her voice peppered with a mild stutter. The pony's body was as crippled as it could be while still providing mobility, and she planned on using that to her advantage. She lifted herself up so she was putting pressure on her front hooves as she slowly began dragging herself forward. She was in the middle of nowhere, with trees and plants being the only landmarks. Since they were all the same to her, Trixie decided she had just better keep going at the snail's pace she was moving, and hope somepony would find her.

She now had all the time she wanted to think...but Trixie had no desire to begin recalling past mistakes. Now that her anger had subsided, she was able to view her actions with more insight. "Well...Trixie supposes that she has been a bit...boastful...and maybe she shouldn't have lied." She looked down as she continued dragged herself along the rough forest floor, slowly losing energy as the realization hit her. "T...Trixie brought this upon herself...Trixie deserves this." She fell to the grass, breaking into heavy, stuttering breathing as she leaned back (Lyra style) against a tree. She hung her head and wept loudly, realizing her fate had been sealed. The mare shivered some as her mental uneasiness caused her to fire off a firework of magic into the sky, making her jump and whimper before falling to her side, holding herself as she looked up at her horn. There was a hairline fracture running vertically down its length from tip to base. It sparked as it went silent, no magic flowing through it as Trixie desperately tried to make it work.

The mare cried heavily, her sides sore as pain slowly began coming back to her, causing her to cry out as her hind legs shot pain up her form."T...Twilight...that was your name wasn't it? The unicorn that bested me?" the unicorn whimpered, "Yes...your f...your friends called you by that name. Trixie is sorry, she didn't mean to question you...she...wants your... forgiveness." Trixie cried as she spoke to nothing, her eyes watering over with guilt and shame as she faded in and out of consciousness."Forgive Trixie, Twilight...forgive...forgive 'ME' Twilight...I...I'm sorry." She hadn't spoken in the first person in a long time, but she cared little about that...her life was over as the ghost image of Twilight faded away. "TWILIGHT!!!" she called out, reaching forward and hearing her bones crack as they adjusted to the movement, making Trixie howl in pain. Tears streamed down her face as she dug her hooves into the grass, dragging herself forward, her hind legs sending out immense pain as she tried to move."F...forgive me...Twilight..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A fixed smile greeted Trixie as she woke up. Her body tingled as she tried to move, soon finding that her lower half was immobile. The mare staring at her gave a light squeal of happiness before fleeing the room, leaving a confused, cyan mare confused in the sterile room. Trixie finally had time to take in the situation. She was in a type of hospital, everything around her was bright and clean. She took the small cover off of her and noticed an impenetrable magical force field was snug around her waist. She laid back down, sighing as she waiting, nothing to do but stay put and wait for someone to explain what happened.

Almost like an answer to her request, the clopping of hooves made Trixie's ears tilt. She wasn't in the mood to listen to another squealing nurse, so she simply kept her head against the pillow, fixing her sights on a tile of the ceiling before a light blue alicorn came into view, making Trixie bounce up immediately. "PRINCESS LUNA!? Wha...wha...how did Trixie...erm...how did I get here?" She stammered, trying to speak before Luna raised her hoof to silence the mare.

"You may calm down Trixie, or should I say, The Great and Powerful Trixie? You seemed pretty set on calling yourself that before fleeing Ponyville." She smirked.

"I...um...it's just Trixie" she said with a light blush, hoping everypony would have just magically forgot about that overnight. "How did I get here? I was against a tree and...wait...how do you know I was in Ponyville?"

"Well...Twilight of course." Trixie's face went as pale as it could after hearing that name, making her face expressionless as Luna spoke. "Twilight is Princess Celestia's protegee, she sent a note about you and the actions that occurred just after you fled. I read it last night before I saw your magical discharge, and from what I heard as I approached you, you seem quite guilty. Care to explain?"

The alicorn looked down at Trixie with a mix of a demanding posture and genuine curiosity. Trixie made an effort not to blush in embarrassment as her secret was found out, but swallowed her pride and spoke regardless. "A...after I fell, I was able to think with a clear head. I realized that I was my own downfall. I didn't care about anything other than that...and strangely enough...all I cared about was the fact that I made myself look like a fool in front of that purple Unicorn..." she paused as Luna gave Trixie a devious grin, making the unicorn blush a deep shade of red."I DON'T LIKE HER OR ANYTHING...I...I...respect her...yea." She looked away and tried to be subtle about her blushing.

"Well..." Luna blurted out to break the silence, staying as composed as before "Your legs will be healed in a few days if you're patient...and then I wish to know something" she added. Her words trailed off as she thought, the alicorn attempting to compose her words in a most opportune fashion."I sense your willingness to learn magic and become a better mare, and as such, I wish for you to remain here in Canterlot and be my personal Protégée. You would be like my assistant...except more of a student as I watch you grow. It worked wonders on Twilight, and if you will accept, then we can begin."

Trixie's eyes lit up as if she had been electrocuted, her hooves shivering as she was computing exactly what Luna was proposing. Teach? Teach me? Oh yes yes yes she thought. If she hadn't been bound by her lower half, Trixie would have skyrocketed into the Princess' grasp."Oh yes Princess, anything for you" she said eagerly.

"Well then rest up...come visit us in our room when you heal, we will tell the guards to let you in...and here...for your other injury" she said as she trotted over, kissing the tip of Trixie's horn. The cracks lit up bright and Trixie gasped as she watched the horn become fully mended. A gentle hiss escaped as the crack forced air out of itself as it sealed from the inside-out. Trixie looked to Luna, but the regal mare was gone. She was in disbelief as she simply lied back and shut her eyes...again...ready to think.

Author's Note

Bleh bleh, tragedy shmagety. Regardless, it looks like Trixie is going to get out of this with a new teacher. Suck it Celestia. This all goes to show you...if life is shit...get hurt and you'll get attention :D (Actually no, please don't hurt yourself in exchange for sympathy...I'm just being a butt :I )