Moving the Stars

Moving the Stars

Story 2

Prologue: Shame

By: FluttersIsAwesome

The large, ivory gates of Canterlot’s Comet Mansion loomed over me. Just the gate itself was enough to mesmerize any ordinary pony with its gorgeous design and grand carvings of Equestria’s royal sisters. It was here that I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, studied magic under a rather powerful unicorn.  "He’s so impatient, it would be best not keep him waiting,” I told myself. Shaking with both anger and a slight amount of fear, I opened the door and entered into the mansion’s courtyard. It was a beautiful landscape with multiple hedges cut into various shapes. On either side of the walkway to the mansion itself was a glorious fountain statue. On the left, Princess Celestia stood tall before all who entered into her presence, her head held high and a grin on her face. On the right, Princess Luna towered over her subjects, her mighty wings spread out and her piercing gaze centered on whoever looked upon the statue.

I finally reached the door to the mansion itself and pushed it open. The light of the moon pierced through the darkness of the mansion through the hexagonal windows positioned underneath the ceiling of the second floor. I approached the long, spiral staircase and took a moment to look at it. The golden rails that lined the stairs shined in the moonlight, and the gold was a pleasing compliment to the bright scarlet of the stairs themselves. I began climbed the stairs until I came to the large, white door. Carved into it was a shining crescent moon of gold, surrounded on three side by glowing yellow stars. Pushing it open, I entered into the pearly white dome that was the Meteor Observatory. Various books lined the shelves on the walls, and many different charts, graphs, and maps hung along the walls that were not already occupied by bookshelves. The grandest thing of all, however, was the enormous telescope extending from the northern edge of the dome outward about fifty feet. I then turned to the landscape window where the balcony was, and noticed the pony that held my future in his hooves: Astro Stellaris, my mentor.

"Trixie, I am pleased that you are not late for once." He turned to me and his emerald-green coat and rust-colored mane shone in the light of the moon. "I assume you know why I called you here?"

I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. I knew all, so answering his question was no issue at all for me. "Yes, I do. What of it?"

The piercing gaze from his cobalt-blue eyes caused me to sweat a bit. "So you do not remember your little show back in Ponyville, then?"

I nodded. "Yes, I recall." My legs began shaking again as I looked into his eyes, unable to look away.

He sighed. "Trixie, tell me something. What was one of the first lessons you were taught as my apprentice?"

Being as great as I was, I remembered the answer easily. "Humility, Astro. No matter how powerful a unicorn's magic is, they must never gloat and always act as if they have no power."

Astro nodded. "Good.” Now his tone was becoming harsher. “Now tell me, do you think you demonstrated this idea very well during your visit to Ponyville?”

"Yes." I struggled to try and find more to say. My heart was racing; despite the fact that I knew I had all the bragging rights in the world, Astro’s anger still frightened me to a certain extent. I forced back a lump in my throat as Astro stepped down and walked up to me with a considerable thump in his step.

"Let me ask you something else. What was the reason you gave me for wanting to study here in the first place?" As he always did when he was irritated, he began pacing back and forth.

"I wanted to be like you. I wanted to be a Sage." The title of "Sage" was given to a unicorn Celestia allowed to have their own constellation They were never major, and often went unnoticed except by a few astronomy enthusiasts. However, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, aimed to create the grandest of all constellations as a testament to my amazing power.

Astro stopped in front of me, his stare as cold as ice and as paralyzing as snake venom. "Ok then. So tell me, doesn't it make sense to you that an apprentice who wants to be like her mentor would try to mimic the bloody mannerisms of the mentor?!"

It was my turn to raise me voice. “I am not you, Astro. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. Nopony, not even you has the right to tell me not to

"Trixie, listen. I don’t know, nor do I care what youthink this is.” As I looked down a small bit, I noticed he was gritting his teeth. “All that matters is what you’re really here for: to harness that superb amount of raw magical talent you have and form it into the shining diamond I know you can be."

I might've thought he was trying to preserve my feelings if he had not raised his voice again. I stepped forward a bit, not willing to let him think that I was frightened, because a pony as amazing as me does not get intimidated.

"However, I can’t help you if you don’t listen. We may be the same age, but I have still been given superiority over you! Despite this, you continue to defy me and do whatever the hell you feel like. You had better straighten up, because I won't continue teaching you if you keep this up.” He stepped forward again, causing me to back up. “You always claim that you're my best student, but in order for me to acknowledge such a misguided statement, you must first prove to me that you deserve to be called my best student. Get the bloody hell out of my sight!"

I stomped the ground fiercely. “Who are to say these things about me?! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, and I will prove to you just how powerful I am.”

In complete contrast to his previous attitude, he grinned. His voice was calm and lowered, and his expression became soft.  “Very well then. If you really think you can prove to me how amazing you are, meet me in the front courtyard tomorrow at seven a.m. on the dot. Am I clear?”

I was still seething with anger, but I nodded. “I’ll be there.”