I own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Because I own Hasbro shares, therefore I own a part of Hasbro who owns MLP: FiM. Lauren Faust may or may not own MLP: FiM depending on whether she owns any shares herself, but she does have perpetual creator credits. Seriously though, claiming she owns MLP? That’s like saying Michael Bay owns Transformers. Boy oh boy, wouldn’t that be scary?!
“Trixie demands to be freed at once!”
“Nice try, sugarcube, but ah can’t do that,” Applejack said. “Twi said not to let you out and that’s that until she claims otherwise.”
“Hmph!” The unicorn mare locked up inside the cell grunted, “And who does she think she is to keep Trixie imprisoned in this, this dump?!”
In truth, Applejack was amazed she had been capable enough to even respond to Trixie the last time. Holding her tongue, she looked over at Rarity, who was ever the picture of grace. Rarity took over for her, using her more diplomatic way with words, “She isn’t, but Mayor Mare is, and Mayor Mare listens to Twilight’s suggestions. And while Twilight and I both believe you’re free of the Alicorn Amulet’s influence, we can’t let you go or use magic until we’ve verified otherwise.”
“Hmph!” Trixie let out a second grunt in as many minutes. “Verify, schmerify! Who’ll it be, that witch doctor, or perhaps a mad unicorn proctor?”
“If you’re looking for a mad unicorn, look in the mirror at yourself and your horn,” Applejack responded tartily. “Oh shoot, she’s got me doing it now too.”
“Actually,” Rarity hesitated to reveal it, but decided Twilight hadn’t told her in confidence, “Princess Celestia is coming to town after her ambassador duties for the crown. I believe Twilight was going to ask her to come here.”
The other unicorn’s reaction was immediate. Trixie’s eyes widened to the point they seemed to nearly take her own head, and she banged up against the bars of the makeshift cell. “Princess Celestia?! No, you can’t! Please, you have to let me go at once, please!”
Both Applejack and Rarity found themselves taken aback at Trixie’s sudden fierce action. Surprised by the blue mare’s sharp change in attitude, Rarity seized on the most banal of changes, “Hey, what happened to your third-pony spee-“
“You don’t understand!” Trixie squeaked, her head already through the bars. Rarity blinked. The bars were spaced pretty wide apart, but she didn’t expect there to be that much room. “Princess Celestia can’t see me! Please, don’t do this to me!”
Applejack snorted, “Why’s that?! Did you do something before Ponyville to catch her attention? Maybe steal from her treasury?” Whatever Trixie had done, it didn’t bode well for her.
Trixie visibly recoiled, backing away, and Rarity felt ill to her stomach as she saw the showpony somehow remove her head from in between the bars. “N-no,” Trixie said, “I w-would never do th-that.”
“Oh?” Applejack asked in a confrontory tone, “Then what did you do? Something bad enough to warrant getting banished and locked up in a dungeon in the place you’re banished to?“ Applejack realised it wasn’t very nice of her to say such things, but given Trixie’s attitude over the last week and her first visit, she felt the other pony deserved it.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Rarity and Applejack both spun around at the unmistakable voice, then bowed as Princess Celestia walked in. The Princess looked over them, then over to the pony sitting in the cell, cowering against the back wall, and then back to Rarity and Applejack. “You may arise, my little ponies.”
The two did that. Rarity allowed her eyes to wander past the Princess to see the two ponies behind her. There was Twilight Sparkle, who no doubt had fetched the Princess once she had finished her meeting with the Saddle Arabian delegation. As for the other pony…Rarity’s hackles slightly rose. Although she had patched things up with him before christening Fancy Pants’ new airship in Canterlot, she still had little desire to be in the same room with him.
“P-P-P-P-Pri-“ For the short period of time Rarity had known Trixie, she had never thought she would see the day the other unicorn get tongue-tied. However, Rarity supposed being in the presence of royalty could do that to anypony, especially if you didn’t know how casual and informal Princess Celestia could be.
“You gave us quite a fright, young lady,” Princess Celestia admonished Trixie through the bars as she turned her full attention to the renegade unicorn. “Do you know how long the authorities were looking for you?”
Trixie mumbled something unintelligible.
Princess Celestia managed to hear whatever it was Trixie had said, as she responded, “A note? Oh yes, that note! No, Bellatrix, leaving a note doesn’t stop your family from worrying about you.”
Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle all traded glances with one another. Trixie had a family in Canterlot that she had left behind? Rarity attempted to read Prince Blueblood’s face, but the only stallion in the room might as well have been carved out of stone. The storyline was thickening, and Rarity felt a little bit giddy at the first-hoof gossip she was about to be audience to.
The Princess managed to keep her smile on her face, voice and body language kind and serene as well, even as she continued to give Trixie a tongue-lashing, “We had quite a scare for a few days, until one of the pegasi searchers found a poster you did for your great show.” Celestia’s smile slipped into an amused grin, “The Great and Powerful Trixie, indeed. How many escape acts did you perform on your pursuers, exactly?”
Then Celestia’s grin hardened, and Rarity felt herself trembling slightly. She had seen Celestia’s anger a hoofful of times before, mostly directed at Discord, and even if she wasn’t the target of the gaze, it was always an intense stare. “I was worried when I heard about the Ursa Minor, but some investigation turned back you weren’t truly responsible for that. Then you dropped off the map for several months before coming back to Ponyville with a dark magic artifact. What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”
Rarity actually began to feel pity for Trixie. Sure, her reign over Ponyville had been a dark few days, but the blue pony seemed to wilter over Celestia’s words.
Trixie mumbled again.
“Speak louder, please.”
“I…I’m sorry, Princess Celestia.”
To the surprise of the three Element Bearers in the room, Celestia frowned. “I miss when you used to call me Grandma.”
“WHAT?!”
The cry of surprise didn’t come from one pony, but three of them, as Applejack, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle’s heads all snapped over to face Princess Celestia, who seemed nonplussed about the sudden outburst. “Pardon me for asking, Princess,” Rarity began delicately, taking a few seconds to form the question in her head, “But isn’t that a little bit, er, too informal of address?”
“I don’t see why not,” Prince Blueblood spoke for the first time since he had entered the room, and Rarity locked eyes with him. The stallion grimaced slightly under her look, feeling the attention of everyone else in the room as well, “After all, they’re both Princesses, and I call her Auntie.”
It took Rarity about a second to process that, and then…
“She’s a Princess? Why haven’t I heard about this until now, Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, her own eyes wide in surprise. Suddenly realising that her tone had sounded demanding of her mentor, Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof, sitting down on her haunches.
Applejack said something far more unpleasant, and Rarity winced.
Princess Celestia thankfully ignored what Applejack had said, switching her focus to her student. “Perhaps if you attended more than one garden party in a hundred, my faithful student, you may have actually met her.” She was definitely amused right there.
Twilight groaned. It always came back to that, didn’t it? She had missed out on a lot while keeping her nose stuck in a book for nearly every waking hour of every day while she was under the Princess’ tutelage.
“Auntie, please,” Blueblood said with a slight begging tone.
Princess Celestia sighed, then with a glow of her horn, the cell door opened. Trixie spotted the path to freedom, but didn’t budge. Making small talk, Celestia continued, “But I am curious, Bella. Where did you go after the incident with the Star bear? We found a merchant who sold you another wagon, and then a few more towns where you performed, and then you seemed to disappear entirely. We were terrified, we thought you had died.”
That did the trick, as Trixie burst out of the cell, running right into the Princess. “I’m so sorrrrry~,” She wailed, tears rolling down her cheeks as Princess Celestia swept her up into her front legs for a hug, “I-I was so ashamed, I didn’t dare return home. I, I s-saw this amulet for sale, b-but didn’t have any bits left. I-I hated Ponyville, those two i-idiots went and grabbed an Ursa and I n-nearly died, I, I wanted revenge, so I went to work on a farm for several months t-to be able to buy the Amulet.”
It had been a few shocking minutes for Rarity, Applejack and Twilight already. The sudden outburst had only left them more stunned still. This was the unicorn who had originally embarrassed several of them, then returned for revenge against Twilight Sparkle with the Alicorn Amulet?”
“There, there,” The Princess said in a soft tone, patting the unicorn on the back, attempting to calm her down from her panicked outburst. Turning her head over, she looked over at Prince Blueblood, “A farm, huh? She certainly gained an independent streak when we weren’t looking. That makes her a harder worker than some of the other nobles you like to complain about.”
The white-coated stallion rolled his eyes, even as a few tears were leaking from them and a relieved smile had broken out on his face, “She gets it from her mother, I swear. I don’t do it for the thrill of it like they do, I just like drawing maps.” He sighed, “I suppose I can’t be too angry. Considering she’s effectively a drop-out from your school, it’s a good thing she seems to have kept up on her studies since she left Canterlot.”
Suddenly, something seemed to click in Rarity’s head. During her time in Canterlot when the Prince and her had made up, he had revealed to her he was secretly married, with only a handful of ponies in the know to deflect attention away from his wife. While it hadn’t excused his attitude towards her at the Grand Galloping Gala, she could understand where it had come from – if Rarity herself had been a typical mare, then Blueblood must have dealt with dozens of potential suitors when he was already wed.
“Wait a minute!” Rarity blurted out, then covered her mouth in embarrassment. It was too late, as the attention of everypony in the room was directed at her. Even Trixie, whose crying had subsided, had looked towards her. Rarity bemoaned her luck, but then mulled it over. Prince Blueblood had come into the room, and Trixie…Princess Trixie, she was never going to get used to that, had been outed as a Princess. Twilight and Applejack were bound to come to the same conclusion right away, if they hadn’t already. “Er, does that mean Trixie is your wife, the one who likes to explore and goes on multiple expeditions every year?”
“Ewwww!” Trixie said, her thoughts instantly made clear. “No, he’s my daddy!”
“Say WHAT?!” The three Element Bearers exclaimed as one, each of them feeling as if they were a broken record-player that day.
“I thought you were only thirty!” said Rarity as she spun around to face Prince Blueblood.
The Prince seemed out of sorts whose jaw was still wide open from the audacity of Rarity's earlier question. Shaking his head, he seemed to recover enough to answer, “I am only thirty!" However, in place of his earlier shock, Blueblood now seemed just a little bit too amused.
“But that means you must’ve had a kid when you were like, were like, twelve or something!” Twilight responded, individual strands of hair springing up on her mane.
“I assure you Miss Sparkle, while I may not have waited as long to marry as your brother did, I certainly waited until I was of legal age to wed and have a child.”
“B-b-but that’s impossible,” Applejack said, not even sure why she was stuttering, “Look at her, she’s practically our age! Or did she do something like one of Twi’s fancy time-spells and go back several years instead of a week?”
“Applejack,” Twilight hissed at her, frantically looking back and forth between her farmer friend and the Princess, panicking at the thought of being sent back to Magic Kindergarten if Princess Celestia disapproved of her use of a time spell, “You promised not to tell anypony about that! And time spells don’t even work like that!”
Prince Blueblood just reared his head back and laughed, “Hahahaha!”
“What in tarnation’s so funny?” Applejack asked with a snarl. She had had a bad week already, and now she was being laughed at this joker who she only now was beginning to remember had insulted her family’s secret pie recipes at the last Gala.
“Oh, forgive me,” Blueblood wiped the tears from his face, these ones distinctly from laughter and not sadness or joy. “I just expected that for being my auntie’s student, Twilight Sparkle would have at least been able to notice an illusion spell.”
“A what?” Twilight asked, eyes bulging as she realised just what he was implying.
Through this all, Princess Celestia had been fairly calm, acting as the eye at the centre of the turmoil happening in the room. Looking down at the unicorn still held in her front limbs, she said, “Well, Bella? As impressed as your father and I are at your magic, I think you’re still grounded until you’re eighteen.” The alicorn paused, then asked, “Wait a minute, were you maintaining that spell even when you were fighting the Ursa? No, never mind. Please, deactivate it, I want to see how you’ve grown in the last year.”
Trixie hmmphed one last time, seemingly unwilling to leave the hug of her ‘grandma’ figure. “Fine,” She said. Her horn lighting up, a soft pink glow washed over her body, and where there was an adult mare before, now there was a blue filly Applejack and Rarity instinctively identified as being about the same age as their younger sisters.
There was silence for a few moments, then Applejack spoke. “Wait a darn apple-picking consarnit minute, you mean I got shown up by a filly?!”
“I can’t believe I didn’t realise it the first time she came around, or this week either,” Twilight Sparkle said, pacing back and forth. “Oh, when I get home I’m going to ask Spike to grab all my books on illusions. Oh! Maybe I can ask Trixie if she has any tips if she was able to pull one off so seamlessly at such a young age!”
Blueblood grunted from his sitting position at the desk. Princess Celestia had returned to Canterlot with his daughter in tow, as her sister Luna was the better expert on mental influences left behind by dark magic artifacts. In turn, the Prince had volunteered to stay behind to process the paperwork related to his daughter’s temporary incarceration. “You’ll have to come to Canterlot for it, Twilight Sparkle. Not during the week, either. Until she’s been given the all-clear on this Alicorn Amulet, Bella will be under constant guard at home and at the School. She certainly won’t be going out with her mother on any more trips for a long time either. She won't be grounded until she's eighteen, but it isn't going to be a manner of months either.”
“Oh,” Twilight said, reminded that the Alicorn Amulet incident had been a thing that had happened. “What are the doctors recommending these days, a full year of monitoring after being tainted by dark magic?”
“A full year for an adult, three years for fillies and colts,” Blueblood said. “At least Bella has friends her own age at the school to act as an anchor. It’ll be a nightmare to get her reinstated after she’s been gone for a year, but I imagine at least one professor or two will be interested again after seeing what she’s picked up over the last year if that illusion spell is any indication. If not, well, Auntie Luna has been going on about finding ponies with moon Cutie Marks. I suppose I should thank you. Had she given us the run again today, she might not have lasted with any lingering side-effects from the Alicorn Amulet. My wife and I both joined the search for a while, but she had to go to Hoofuras and I had too many functions in Canterlot that I couldn’t delegate.”
Rarity, the only other pony left in the room after Applejack had left for her homestead, took this opportunity to intrude. “Pardon me if I’m being overfamiliar, but Bella? Not Trixie?”
“Her full name is Platinum the 42nd, Princess of Canterlot, Bellatrix the 17th, Duchess of Hoofington,” Blueblood explained. He sounded tired. Rarity supposed she could empathise with him, given he had reunited with his daughter for the first time in a year, only to see her go after an hour to clean up the mess she had left in her wake. “Almost nopony remembers the Hoofington title but she goes by it instead. She doesn't like attention based on her status, which she would get if she took the name of Platinum, just based on her personality and figure. Her mother, my wife, calls her Trixie. Auntie and I call her Bella. Given her stage name over the last year, I can see which one she prefers.”
“Ah,” Rarity said. She supposed she could understand Blueblood a little bit better now. Figuring out the sequence of events over the last year and a bit, she realised Trixie must have ran away from home before the Grand Galloping Gala, and possibly even before the Longest Night incident. If Rarity hadn't made sure Sweetie Belle was safe before leaving for the Everfree Forest that night, she was sure she would have been terrified too. That Blueblood had even been able to function at the Gala while worrying for his daughter was a testament to his strength.
Suddenly, something Blueblood said clicked in Twilight’s head, and the unicorn stopped pacing. Turning around, Twilight asked, “Wait, who is your wife exactly?”
“A.K. Yearling.”
Author's Note
For whatever baffling reason, a lot of people ship Prince Blueblood and Trixie, to the point it's the third-most popular Trixie ship by listings on Derpibooru. So I basically spoil Trixie being a Princess right in the title, but the synopsis doesn't state what this 'shocking truth' is. If you knew how inexplicably popular Bluetrix is, then you can see the red herring: Trixie is a Princess, Blueblood is in the character tags and description, Bluetrix is a semi-popular shipping, so Trixie obviously must be married to Prince Blueblood. If you care to re-read the dialogue, what those in the know are actually saying reads a lot different in context
This idea originated following some discussions on other forums about Trixie's age relative to the Mane 6, and how Trixie could conceivably still be the equivalent of a human female teenager in age. Put that way, her mental and emotional issues suddenly make a lot more sense (though it also makes Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash look even more like jerkasses if they're early 20s equivalent). I just ran with the idea of Trixie being younger than the main cast a little bit further and thought "Hey, what if she's actually even younger and like, say, a filly pretending to be an adult?" Then along came her 'official' Cutie Mark origin story in some European magazines, where apparently grown ponies have no issue at all with a young filly traveling across Equestria and putting shows on by herself and this idea was fully born.
Following that, the main issue really was whether to go off from the ending of Boast Busters or Magic Duel. In the end, I decided to use Magic Duel because Trixie was more clearly villainous in it and I had a better reason for Celestia to find out about her by using the Alicorn Amulet. Also, I found the idea of filly Trixie being so fixated on Twilight Sparkle that she'd work for months on a rock farm. That's one Princess who might still grow up spoiled but can't be called lazy. When trying to think of a way to end the story I came up with the 'But who's the mother?!' punchline. After failing to think of insane-but-plausible possibilities I seized upon Daring Do who, at this point, the Mane 6 don't know is real. Since fandom Blueblood is sometimes a cartographer, it's not actually that bad a fit. Trixie's just following in their footsteps by being independent from a...really...early age.
I didn't want Rarity and Blueblood to have antagonism that would dominate a full scene. Then I remembered Blueblood actually showed up in Sweet and Elite, twice, once when he was christening a new airship standing alone with Rarity. Most people either don't know about that at all or ignore it but it's possible they made up between scenes.