Sacrifice: Trixie's Lament

Trixie trusted them…

Trusted them…

I trusted them...

I trusted them...

I trusted them...

“That was a bad dream,” Trixie yawned and sat up. Rubbing one eye with a hoof, she looked down at her pillow to see dark spots on it where she had been crying all night. “Or maybe that wasn’t a dream,” she said with a hard gulp. Shaking her head, Trixie removed herself from the humble mattress she laid upon and sat down at her vanity.

Looking in the mirror, she saw the matted fur beneath her violet eyes and also the melancholy on her own face. Recalling the events of the previous day now took Trixie back to how it had started out in the exact same way as her just waking up did. That is when she remembered Ember Crown, a snobbish and stuck-up unicorn from when Trixie was but a filly, and their intense fight too.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie narrowed her eyes at her reflection as she said the name of the pony whom Trixie despised the second most.

/~/~/~/~/~/

Today was a new day. The day when Trixie would show Ember Crown who was boss and the day she would teach Twilight and her friends not to call her a liar. Trixie would have her revenge, and how else to have it than to put on a small show for the denizens of Ponyville?

As Trixie moved her coach into Ponyville Square she was met with resistance; stallions and mares alike giving her darker stares than usual and holding nothing back whenever they made a comment about her shows, or remarks about the scuffle between her and her childhood enemy. That was okay with Trixie. She was going to put Ember Crown in her place and prove to Twilight that she was wrong, not Trixie, in whom the victim was during that altercation.

“Now that Trixie has made camp she can begin the show!”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” an elitist mare cackled.

“Ember!” Trixie turned around expecting to meet Ember Crown face-to-face, but what she was met with was instead the bratty unicorn escorted by two vaguely familiar mares, both of whom were a tapioca creme-color with muddy brown manes.

The two were sisters, evident by their blue eyes and nearly identical mane-do styles, gave Trixie indifferent looks as they sized her up in comparison to their sorority sister, Ember Crown.

“You weren’t kidding, Ember,” the one sister on Ember Crown’s right said with a giggle.

“Pudgy hasn’t changed at all,” the other sister laughed, finishing her counterpart’s sentence.

Pudgy. Trixie is not… “Trixie is not pudgy, you hags!” Trixie shouted, now making her way towards the clique.

“Typical.”

“Yup,” the sisters agreed as they stood their ground with incessant giggling as Ember Crown met Trixie halfway for a second time.

“Wanna go for round two, Pudgy?” Ember Crown asked Trixie with a grin.

“Trixie is not pudgy, you cretin,” Trixie retorted. “You won’t get away this time. Trixie is going to prove to you that she is the Great and Powerful Trixie!” she proclaimed. “Trixie will also enjoy exposing you for what you are: a liar.”

“Liar? Me?” Ember Crown rested on her haunches and brought a hoof up to her chest with a gasp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she haughtily objected, “what I do remember though is how you attacked me.” she recollected.

That got Trixie to grit her teeth and fuel the fire she had burning inside of her now. Ember Crown, having seen the look in the show mare’s eyes, knew her prompt worked. All she needed to do now was push Trixie a few more steps and she would win for a second time.

“So, Trixie,” Ember Crown sneered purposely, saying Trixie’s name slowly, “instead of having a repeat of yesterday, how’s about we do something different, hm?”

“Why would Trixie listen to anything you would say, liar?”

“You keep going right back to accusing me of being the liar,” Ember Crown laughed loudly. “I think you’d like what I am bringing to the table. Just hear me out,” she offered.

Trixie will hear you out but then make you admit you lied. Trixie thought before she sat on her haunches and waited for Ember Crown to speak. “Speak, cretin.” Trixie could hear the sisters talking about her in the peanut gallery and ignored it as they were only trying to buck her off more than she was already getting.

“How about a little wager, Pudgy?” Ember said with a smile.

“Wager? You want to bet the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Oh indeed, yes. Since you claim to be so great and powerful, I think you would like a friendly gamble,” Ember Crown continued on, pursuing her endgame. “I heard the story of what you did the last time you came to Ponyville. You remember, don’t you? Aggravating that Ursa Minor and then losing to it only to be humiliated when the Princess had to save your sorry flanks, and the entire town.”

Trixie winced at the horrendous outcome of that visit, and how she had been shamed. The memory was painful indeed but she acknowledged it. “What of it?”

“I also heard you left Ponyville for a while only to return and challenge the Princess to a Magic Duel.” Ember Crown smirked. “So here’s the bet, Pudgy: if you win, I will come clean and tell Princess Twilight myself that I lied to her and framed you yesterday. Sound good?”

She would really tell the truth if she lost? “And what does Trixie have to do if she loses?” Trixie asked.

“If you lose, then you have to leave Ponyville. Forever.”

It’s just like when Trixie told Twilight… “Deal! A Magic Duel it is!”

“She’s still stupid,” one sister said to the other.

“Sure is,” the second sister agreed.

Ember Crown smiled darkly to herself when Trixie agreed to her terms of the duel to be had. And what little did Trixie know was that she would see to it that Trixie lost again. Looking over her shoulder at her friends, she winked to them both then turned back to Trixie. “Let’s begin, shall we?” she asked the show mare. With a nod of her own head, Trixie planted her hooves against the dirt and gave Ember Crown her own smirk.

Ember Crown shot first, sending a mediocre magic blast speeding towards Trixie. With a blast of her own, Trixie nullified the missile, then launched three of her own in retaliation. Ember Crown easily stopped their advance with her own and laughed loudly. Trixie didn’t like that laugh one bit.

“This is foal’s play!” Ember Crown cackled, yet again trying to provoke Trixie.

“You started it! So you’re the foal!” Trixie retorted.

By this time their playful melee had started attracting citizens, all eager to see what the commotion was all about, and before the tiny group knew it, nearly every pony in Ponyville was in the square watching, enticed by the spectacle.

As the battle raged on and both Trixie and Ember Crown saw they were getting nowhere, their spells began to become more complex, more aggressive even, that the crowd quickly began to spread out just to avoid being caught in the crossfire of flying, magical missiles.

“What the hay is goin’ on here?” a country drawl sounded amidst the herd.

Hearing Applejack’s voice caused Trixie to lose her footing, which gave Ember Crown the perfect opportunity to blast Trixie with her most powerful spell. Trixie felt the magic strike her in the chest and send her reeling across the ground and into her stage coach.

“Trixie?” Applejack looked at the beaten mare, then snapped her head towards Ember Crown and her cohorts. “Who are you?” she demanded, stepping up to Ember Crown. “And why’re y’all attacking Trixie?”

Ember and the sisters both stepped back when the earth pony confronted them and demanded answers. They knew not who this pony was or where she thought she had the authority to demand answers, but that didn’t mean Ember Crown wasn’t going to snake her way out of an unnecessary discussion.

“Her and I are old pals, and we were just having a duel,” Ember Crown answered the farm pony, “which, remember Trixie, since you lost...” she gave Trixie a broad smile, beaming with the delight of being victorious yet again.

“Old pals? Duel? Trixie-” Applejack turned around to get Trixie’s side of the story but she was already walking away, her hat down over her face and ragged cape hanging down her left side, hiding the scuff marks, dirt, and anything else that might stain the sheen of her blue coat.

But while Trixie was able to hide her shame and tears, she could not hide the visible limp in her gait, or how she seemed to be nearly crawling because one of her front hooves was injured just as badly. Behind her back she heard Ember Crown’s friends snickering at her shameful defeat.

With the brawl over, ponies dispersed and returned to their daily activities as did Ember Crown. After the clearout, Applejack was left alone with only Trixie’s abandoned stage coach. She cantered over to Trixie, wanting to know if the mare was okay and to hear her out.

“Trixie, wait!” Applejack called out. Trixie ignored her, continuing her walk of shame towards the edge of the village. “Trixie! Wait!” she hailed. Again, Trixie did not answer, only sniffling to herself. “Gosh darn it, Trixie.” She finally had enough and cantered past the wounded mare before confronting her.

Trixie stopped and slowly sat herself down on her haunches, whining in pain as she did so, keeping her face hidden from Applejack’s view. Who does this pony think she is? Trixie wondered.

“Trixie, what happened?” AJ questioned the mare, looking over how grimy Trixie was. “Did you really bet that mare?” she inquired, getting no response yet again; only silence from the defeated Trixie.

Now Applejack was getting annoyed, irritated really, so she did the only thing she knew that would force Trixie to say something to her. Applejack pushed a hoof against Trixie. She got a reaction. Trixie squealed out in pain and clenched her injured hoof.

“What do you want?” Trixie screamed at Applejack, staring her down with hate-filled, teary eyes.

Applejack was taken aback when she saw the pain she had just put Trixie in. “Ah’m sorry, Trixie, ah didn’t mean to hurt ya,” she apologized. “Ah just wanna know what’s goin’ on, that’s all.”

“‘Going on’? Trixie lost a bet!” Trixie shouted at the mare. “Trixie lost a magic duel, again! She has been shamed for a third time!” she answered before pushing past Applejack. “Now leave Trixie alone!”

“Where ya goin’ though, Trixie? Your coach is back there.”

“Trixie lost a bet!” Trixie hollered, facing Applejack. “Trixie must now leave Ponyville… Forever.”

“Say what?” AJ blinked and stood in a stupor. Trixie had bet that she would leave Ponyville forever if she lost the magic duel? Applejack couldn’t believe it one bit. “Trixie, wait, ya ain’t gotta leave. You can come stay at mah place for a while,” AJ offered Trixie.

“Your place? You really think Trixie wants to stay at a farm with a pony who lied to her?”

“Lied? Ah never lied—”

“—You all lied to Trixie! Trixie thought she had made friends with you, but no! You were never my friend, none of you ever were!” Trixie broke out into sobs. “Trixie trusted you!”

“Trixie, what in tarnation are you talking about? Ah never lied to ya, an’ neither has anypony else!” AJ insisted.

“Yes, you did!” Trixie faced Applejack at last, her eyes red and puffy. “Trixie trusted all of you to believe she wanted to be a better pony, but did Trixie get that? No! She got called a liar instead!” Trixie spat as mucus ran down her nose. “Stay away from Trixie!” with her last words Trixie charged up her horn and disappeared in a flash of white light.

“What the hay just happened?” AJ asked herself, rubbing the back of her head. “Ah sure hope Twi knows what’s gotten into her.”

/~/~/~/~/~/

Rain. It had to be rain. The Pegasi really knew how to ruffle her mane, that much was certain. And what’s worse is Trixie couldn’t even blame Rainbow Dash for it because she was near Canterlot now. The dumps, sure, but it was still close to the royal, hoity-toity city of the Royal Sisters and no matter where you were, you’d always know—whether it be by the stink of the dumps, the filthy and smelly ponies of all ages, or how nopony gave a buck about another after bumping into them—that you were there.

“Trixie should have gone to the Everfree Forest,” Trixie whimpered as she walked along through the alleyway. No! Trixie does not want to see them ever again! “Trixie will just rest here and find a place to clean up.” Her breathing had intensified and become labored.

The longer she moseyed on for, the quicker she tired herself out, and soon her leisurely walking became slow trudging, until finally she fell back against the side of a building and slid down onto the pavement.

“Help,” Trixie whimpered breathlessly. Her eyes grew heavy and began to slip closed, the light slowly fading into darkness. Her chest rose and fell with heavy gasps as she heard the beat of her heart. “Help,” she called out again in a mere whisper.

“Trixie?”

Help…

Trixie…

Trixie…

While Trixie begged for help she slipped into unconsciousness and when she came to hours later, it was to her hearing somepony calling her name.

“Trixie.”

“Who-”

“Oh, you’re awake!” a squeaky voice giggled.

Trixie opened her eyes, blinking a couple times as she tried to focus them. “Who’s there?” she mumbled. Trixie again blinked her eyes in hopes of clearing up her vision, because seeing blurs and blobs, even two or three on the trash can, were enough to start grinding her gears.

“You had me worried,” that same chippy voice spoke to Trixie.

“Who-” Trixie stopped herself and raised her head slightly. Opening her eyes once more and being able to actually see this go around, she saw sandstone brown framing a pair of cyan eyes.

“Aurora?” Trixie droned as she tried to sit up but the moment she put her hoof down, a searing pain shot up into her withers and caused her to faceplant into the concrete.

Aurora, Trixie’s self-proclaimed ‘Number One Fan’, gasped when she saw her idol had hurt herself. Instantly, the filly brought over a makeshift heating pad made of a dirty and stained pillowcase filled with kernels. Using what little magic she had and knew, Aurora heated the pad up then gently placed it down on Trixie’s injured shoulder.

Trixie tensed up and let out a tiny yelp of pain before she slowly felt the heat against her battered bones and the bruised muscle around them relax. As the heat sunk beneath her dirt-covered coat Trixie let out a soft sigh and looked up at Aurora. If it were not for the filly’s copycat mane-do to look like Trixie, she might not have recognized her simply from how dirty the filly’s face was with splotches of black dirt and mud covering it.

“I’m glad I found you. You had me worried when you didn’t answer me calling your name.” Aurora frowned, worry present on her face and in her bright eyes. “So I brought you here.”

“‘Here’? Where is here?” Trixie smacked her lips together as the dryness of her throat finally hit her. Trixie felt like crap. She was hurt, shamed, lethargic, and above all, helpless. She was at the mercy of Aurora, her biggest fan, and stuck in the dumps of Canterlot. Trixie should have put herself in the Everfree.

“We’re in Canterlot,” Aurora responded surely.

“We are?” Trixie coughed.

Trixie’s eyes shot open and she got a good look at the scenery before her. She had in fact stared at a rather dirty Aurora and they were in a dank, rundown, and smelly place where the stale air tasted like rotten apples, the water was as black as a moonless night, and anypony who lived beneath the high-strung, fancy metropolis was worse than those that Princess Twilight and her friends have ever faced.

We really are in Canterlot. So Trixie really did send herself here. “What day is it?”

“Umm, Thursday, I think.” Aurora cocked her head to the right and blinked. “Why?”

Thursday? Trixie has been out for two days? “Trixie has been asleep for two days?”

“Yup! You were really, really, really, really tired,” Aurora presumed, reheating the pad and moving it to Trixie’s hind quarters against her injured leg.

Why is Aurora tending to Trixie?

Being a little more conscious and aware of things now, Trixie lifted her head and looked at Aurora. Part of her wanted to thank the little pony for saving her life, but then a part of her wanted to deny ever having been in such a condition that required aid of any sort. The latter won the rather quick debate.

“Trixie does not need your help,” Trixie scoffed and forced herself up onto all four hooves, her two injured ones nearly giving out on her, but Trixie’s boastful ego corrected that in front of Aurora. “Trixie must be going. She needs a shower,” she told Aurora before raising her hat and cape and adorning herself in the soiled attire.

Trixie limped away but only made it a few feet before she fell over, crying out in pain. Aurora wrapped Trixie in her magic and helped the wounded mare back to her hooves. Trixie grimaced at Aurora’s help and hoped that nopony else saw the show mare’s disgraceful trip, much less that she got help from a mere filly. Trixie limped again, stubborn as ever, ignoring Aurora’s voice. She needed to get to Canterlot and clean up before she hid out for a few days, let her body have time to heal and mend, then she’d be on her way.

Trixie wants to beat Ember Crown, but a bet is a bet, and Trixie lost. She can’t return to Ponyville and face Ember again. Trixie’s thoughts fell heavily onto her withers as the weight of her choice finally made its impact. Trixie stopped mid-stride and lowered her head. Her ears folded down, her hair seemed to deflate, her stuck up smile became a long frown, and her bluish-purple eyes filled with silent tears.

Trixie will never be able to return to Ponyville… Ever. Her thoughts grew heavier.

Trixie’s home is in Ponyville. Does this mean Trixie is homeless now? What had she done to herself?

If Trixie cannot return and retrieve her stage coach then that also means she cannot get her saddlebags, which means… The realization finally hit Trixie. Trixie is homeless and poor!

Aurora saw her hero as she seemed to fall from her place and frowned. She had never once thought it possible for the Great and Powerful Trixie to be sad, much less allow herself to get so beat up or covered in muck, but here she was.

“Trixie, what’s wrong?” Aurora ran in front of the show mare and looked up at her.

Trixie wiped away her tears and sniffled before putting on her stoic resolve. “Nothing is wrong. The Great and Powerful Trixie got something in her eye,” Trixie lied, and Aurora wasn’t buying it.

“Trixie, you’re hurting. You should rest,” Aurora argued.

Ha! As if! “Trixie does not need to rest. She needs only to find a shower,”—Trixie’s stomach grumbled, loudly—“and something to eat.” Trixie’s face heated up as a blush of embarrassment overtook her composure and she retreated into a ball.

Aurora covered her mouth and let out a high-pitched giggle at her idol’s embarrassment, then seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke as she ran over to a cardboard box with a yellowish-white blanket thrown over the top of it and emerged seconds later with a bag.

“Here, eat something.”

“Wha?” Trixie cocked her head to one side curiously at the brown paper bag that Aurora held in her magic field.

Aurora pulled out a bagel and handed it to Trixie. “Here, eat up.”

Still uncertain at the food brought before her, Trixie took the bagel and inspected it. It looked like a toasted bagel, nothing more, so Trixie took a bite, and while she was expecting some toughness, she felt like she had just bitten into a rock.

“Yuck!” Trixie tossed the bagel away from her and spit out the chunk in her mouth. “It’s stale and hard!” she proclaimed. “Where did you find that disgusting bit?”

Aurora backed up, ears pinned down and an uncertain expression on her face. Her body shook as Trixie yelled at her shamelessly. Aurora’s eyes welled up with tears.

“It was the best one I could find!” Aurora told Trixie.

Trixie gasped in a mock expression. “You obviously didn’t look hard enough!” she retorted before she walked away, leaving Aurora behind, in tears.

“It was the best I could do!” Aurora yelled out to Trixie before she ran into her homemade shelter, wrapped herself up in her tattered blue blanket, and cried to herself.

As she walked to the best of her abilities, minus the obvious limp in her gait she had, Trixie kept her nose in the clouds and tried to show everypony around her that she was above all of them. It didn’t work out so well for her since she was downright battered, tattered, and smelly now like everything around her. But still, Trixie’s stubbornness would not allow for her to be disgraced again.

As Trixie made her way through the rundown place she had been brought to, she came upon an elderly stallion who seemed better off than three others around him. He had a rather newish-looking cloak wrapped around him and a blue bowl that wasn’t damaged in any way like others she had seen in the last five minutes. But what really caught her attention was the steam rising from the bowl. The stallion had a warm meal. Trixie’s belly roared again, knotting itself to cause her pain and remind her that she had not eaten yet.

“Excuse me,” Trixie greeted the stallion as she sauntered up to him, using her wounded state to her advantage, “That soup looks good. Trixie was wondering if she could,” she stopped when the coot gave her a suspicious and very unfriendly glare. “No need to be rude! Trixie is hurt and starving!” she declared to the man.

“Oh yeah? Well I’m hurt and starving too, prissy!” the stallion hollered back before he splashed some dirty water at Trixie.

“Trixie has never,” she stared at the miser and, with her magic, stole his soup from him then tied the blanket around his arms and head before knotting it and walking off. “That’ll teach you to mess with Trixie.” she laughed as she sucked down the warm vegetable soup. After she was done with it she tossed the bowl aside and licked her lips.

Trixie had gotten rather used to the many sounds that surrounded her from stallions and mares arguing and fighting over who got whatever spoiled food was found in a trashcan to the sounds of little fillies and colts whining and pleading for food or water only to be rejected outright by selfish ponies who could easily go a day without either source of nutrition.

This caught Trixie’s attention and got her to take a moment to just sit down on her haunches and take in the environment all around her. When she did, she saw she was in a tiny shantytown and just beyond the horizon stood Canterlot itself. She never knew such places existed but taking another look around, it really did.

She saw around her the poor, the sickly, the miserable, and the helpless. And while Trixie only ever thought the poor could be mares, stallions, and the elderly, she saw the young too. She stood idly by and watched as another group of young ponies sat together.

The two colts and filly all slurped out of the same bowl, the top rim cracked and missing a piece, as they were caked in dirt, dried mud and grime, and wore nothing more than worn, shredded articles of cloth as clothing to keep them warm.

Those poor children. Trixie thought from afar. She reflected back upon her own past, her thoughts quickly taking her into deep rumination. Her eyes stayed focused on the ponies only a trot away. The colts had let the filly have the last bit of what may possibly be rotten, cold soup before they both gave her the rags off of their backs and then cuddled up on either side of her, trying to keep her as warm as possible.

Trixie is hurt and shamed and she is suffering greatly…

The sight of the young ones all huddled up together hit her harder than she’d ever been hit by anypony, especially Ember Crown—twice!—and Trixie never thought it would ever be possible.

...But she is not suffering nearly as much as those ponies are.

As Trixie was thrown back to her own filly days, reliving each and every hardship she endured, she watched the present and how an elderly stallion nearly crawled his way over to the little ones and, without a second thought or feeling of self-preservation, set down the large bowl of hay, lettuce, carrots, and water before them before he ripped the quilt from his back and tucked them into it before he slowly made his way back to his corner.

Unbeknownst to herself, Trixie could not identify the strange emotion that had risen up in her chest in that instant, but the warmth that it sent throughout her entire body was enough to snap her out of her own head and bring a hoof to her eye, finding that she had started crying again.

Trixie is crying? She wondered and looked around for some kind of mirror or piece of glass to look at, but she found nothing of the sort until she had found a sizeable puddle of water. That would have to do. When Trixie approached the puddle, she was resistant to gaze into it for fear of seeing the epitome of disgrace and shame, but that warmth in her chest gave her the strength needed to look anyways.

And when she did, though frightened to see her weak self, Trixie found something completely opposite: she found a mare smiling back at her. Trixie saw that she was not only crying, but smiling too!

Trixie felt relieved, renewed even, and felt like she had a purpose now. She knew what she had to do. If Trixie was serious about becoming a better mare, then she’d have to give more than she wanted to take.

She remembered how she came back to Ponyville and Twilight’s friends had approached her abode out of curiosity. It was then that she asked them for their help to teach her about the magic of friendship. At first, they were hesitant and weary, but then Fluttershy and Rarity stepped up and gave her a chance.

“Fluttershy, Rarity,” Trixie, when she looked back up at the colts and filly, thought she had seen Fluttershy and Rarity both standing in front of them. Her eyes showed her Rarity giving them the quilt while Fluttershy set down the bowl of warm food for them before they looked right back at Trixie.

Friends. They gave Trixie a chance to change and they… They became Trixie’s first real friends. Trixie gulped as the thought hit her and made her eyes water up more. She rubbed at them, trying to dry her tears, but was failing miserably until she finally just gave up and walked away. She traveled in no particular direction, just someplace that wasn’t lively.

No matter how sad and painful it was to see, Trixie needed solitude; to be alone, to cry openly without being judged, so she found one such place down a deserted alleyway and between two garbage cans.

When was the last time Trixie was happy?

Was Trixie ever really happy, or was it all for show?

Trixie cried herself into an exhausted slumber just as she had become accustomed to doing in the past month, but moreso now if she ever wanted to fall asleep. Just as she had fallen to sleep, Twilight landed and approached her and as if the princess could feel Trixie’s lethargy, frowned before huddling up to the sleeping mare and whisked her away in a flash of light.

When Trixie awoke hours later she was surprised to find herself in the warmth of a bedroom that smelled of lilac and lavender and not some cold, smelly alley. She shook her head, even smacked her cheeks with her hooves to see if maybe she was dreaming but sure enough as the beating heart in her chest, Trixie was alive and actually in a room that looked like royalty would occupy.

“Where is Trixie?”

“Oh, you’re awake, Trixie,”

Trixie looked to her left and saw a closed door with a purple alicorn trotting over to her. “Twilight?” Trixie shot the mare a piercing glare only for her to laugh it off. Confused, Trixie raised a brow and crossed her hooves as she tried to decipher what Twilight was planning.

“How do you feel, Trixie?” Twilight inquired with a friendly smile.

“Fine. Now what do you want?” Trixie demanded. Again, Twilight laughed it off and laid a lap tray on her with fresh, warm soup and a glass of milk and juice on the side.

“Trixie, you’re probably starving. Go ahead, eat.” Twilight insisted.

Trixie lifted the spoon and dipped it into the vegetable soup. “What do you want?” she reiterated her previous inquiry.

“Well, I, uhh,” Twilight looked off at an angle while she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. Trixie noticed the nervousness in the alicorn and grew even more curious as to what Twilight had planned for her. “I wanted to apologize,” Twilight bowed her head and Trixie nearly choked on her meal.

“Apologize?” Trixie was flabbergasted. Twilight Sparkle, alicorn princess and arch rival of Trixie’s, apologizing to her? Now Trixie knew something was up but rather than call the mare out on what she suspected to be a really good bluff, she quietly sipped at her meal and let Twilight continue.

“I wanted to apologize about the other day, Trixie, when I accused you of lying to me,”

Did Twilight just blush? Trixie had to take a second look just to see if she actually had seen Twilight’s cheek redden against her royal purple coat or not, and as if to surprise Trixie for a second time in just five minutes, Twilight wasn’t just rubbing an arm with a hoof and looking down awkwardly for no reason—she really was sorry and was blushing nervously.

“Why apologize to Trixie now? You already called Trixie a liar, took the real liar’s side, and banished Trixie from Ponyville forever.” Trixie soon accused, purposely mixing both events together to spite the Princess of Friendship.

“I never banished you!” Twilight digressed, holding a hoof against her chest before getting back on track, “I know I was in the wrong to call you a liar, Trixie, and if it hadn’t been for Applejack and Onyx Shine, I may never have actually seen the error of my ways.” she explained to Trixie.

Trixie nearly choked on her fourth spoonful of soup when Twilight had admitted that she’d been wrong and her ragged coughing alerted Twilight to that fact, but after she’d managed to swallow and not kill herself, she looked at Twilight. “AppleJack and Onyx Shine?”

At that moment, the door opened and Applejack and the colt, Onyx Shine, trotted inside. Trixie blinked as she now thought she was really dreaming. Heck, Trixie was beginning to believe she had died and this was her eternal punishment. Forever in the presence of Twilight Sparkle and company.

No! Trixie refuses to believe she is dead! Trixie screamed at herself before looking down at her half-empty bowl.

“Glad to see you, Trixie,” Applejack greeted, lifting her stetson off her head and holding it against her chest, “Ah wanted ta apologize, Trixie,” she began. Trixie raised her head. “Ah just wanted ta say sorry fer how brash ah was three days ago. Ah know it wasn’t none of mah business to demand answers from you, but you seemed so upset and as yer friend, ah jus’ wanted ta help,”

Trixie blinked as she stared at Applejack throughout her entire apology. And when she concluded her apology to Trixie, Trixie looked at Onyx Shine.

“Trixie, you can come back to Ponyville now!” the colt yipped happily.

“No, Trixie cannot,” Trixie looked down with sadness renewed at the thought of not being allowed to return to Ponyville.

“Why can’t you, Trixie?” Twilight and AJ both asked her.

I lost a bet you idiots! “Trixie lost the duel which means she lost the bet, so she is never allowed to go back,” she whimpered sorrowfully.

“That doesn’t matter,” Twilight spoke up smiling, “After Onyx Shine came to me and told me what had really happened between you and Ember Crown, I confronted her.” she told Trixie.

“You what?” Trixie’s head snapped up and towards Twilight. “You talked to that liar?”

“Oh, I did more than that, Trixie,”

“We all talked to her and her ruffians,” AJ stepped in, “when we called them out on their story and showed them what pain they caused, all three of them changed their tunes and left Ponyville.”

They talked to Ember Crown and made her see how much she hurt Trixie?

Trixie turned her head away and closed her eyes. She couldn’t let Twilight, Applejack, or Onyx Shine see her fighting back a sad smile nor how under appreciative she had been to all three of them. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but sure enough, they were telling the truth and Trixie could not deny that.

“Thank you,” Trixie’s resolve shattered. Her words, once solid as stone, were now as brittle as dust and her three visitors picked up on that even before she looked at each and every one of them, “Trixie is sorry,” she responded in kind with dejection, “she said mean things to you, Applejack, Twilight. Trixie said that you were not her friends and that you betrayed her because she trusted you but you did not trust her.”

“Trixie, finish your breakfast,” Twilight interjected before the melancholy air could have a chance to begin suffocating any of the four of them, “then we can get you in a bath and back to Ponyville.” she said, looking at Applejack and Onyx Shine, “could you give us a moment?”

AJ and Onyx Shine both nodded and obeyed Twilight’s directive and as soon as the door closed shut, she looked back at Trixie with a smile. Trixie gave Twilight a curious look.

“Trixie, I just wanted to say that I’m really proud of you,” Twilight told her, “You came back to Ponyville in search of learning from us what friendship is, and to make friends. Sure, we were all skeptical at first, but then you surprised us by showing you meant every word of it,”

Trixie’s eyes held a light in them that Twilight had not seen in some time and it brought a smile to her face before Trixie reached out for her and pulled her close. Twilight embraced the crying show mare without a word and let her cry and apologize.

“Trixie, I have something I want to ask you,” Twilight whispered once Trixie had stopped sobbing and could hear her clearly. Trixie looked up at her and waited to hear what Twilight had to say. “If you are still serious about becoming a better pony and wanting to learn from myself and our friends, then I think you’d make an excellent student,” Twilight told her, “So, would you like to become my student, Trixie?”

Your student? Learn from you, Twilight? Learn of friendship and magic and how to be better at it? All Trixie would have to do is become your student? Crossed Trixie’s mind and while her thoughts were all for it, her iron-will was a lot tougher than that. “Trixie has a better idea,”

“Oh? Better than being the student of the Princess of Friendship?” Twilight’s interest was piqued now.

“Twilight, Trixie knows she has done bad and doesn’t deserve any help from you. That is why Trixie doesn’t want you to help her. While Trixie was out in the dumps of Canterlot, she saw things that hurt her more than ever being shamed or defeated. Trixie wants you to help them. Do this for Trixie, please?”

/~/~/~/~/~/

Since her return to Ponyville, Trixie has turned over a new leaf and demonstrated this new change when she apologized to the many citizens of the town and even donated some of her hard earned bits. And while these were small victories for Trixie, her biggest was when Twilight and Princesses Celestia & Luna found the shantytown Trixie spoke of and soon started a food & clothes drive. Princess Celestia also helped the colts and fillies find good homes and got them into the best doctors in Canterlot for much needed check ups.

Even though Trixie had learned what kindness and generosity were, she still had a long road ahead of her for while she showed generosity to the less fortunate, she still had to overcome her own demons and selfish ambitions.

But there was one little problem that Trixie had to fix first, and that problem’s name was Aurora.