Midnight's Nightmare

Chapters

Prologue
The Student
The Mentor
Flashback: The Beginning
Settling In
First Lesson

Prologue

Far away from Equestria, 25 years before the return of Nightmare Moon

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn! The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus the two rulers maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects. All the different types of ponies, but as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, But shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness! Nightmare Moon! She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night!

Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom! The Elements of Harmony! Using the magic of The Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for the sun and moon and-

Midnight Sparkle probably would have kept reading, if not for the book’s sudden problem of not existing anymore-- normally Midnight would bring wrath upon whoever had decided to treat a book that way, but right now she thought herself justified, "So that's how Celestia let's history be known? Funny, I seem to remember the past much differently..."

975 years ago, in the waning hours of the longest night

"It is time to end this false battle even if Celestia must be forced to understand Our perspective!" Nightmare Moon spat out the name with such vitriol, one could be excused for wondering if she had ever loved her sister. "Even if We have to force Ourself into the castle just to see her shake in fear of Our presence again, she will give up on this façade and face the truth!"

Midnight Sparkle could not believe what she was hearing, they had fought together against the forces of day for the past 70 hours, and now it sounded like Nightmare Moon was going to give up. Having been her equal for years even before this fiasco, Midnight Sparkle held no reservations speaking out against this terrible plan. "Lu-" The syllable was met with a distinct narrowing of eyebrows, quickly needing to be amended. "Love," she tried again, making use of the similar sounding pet name to save face. "Thou knows I love thee dearly and support thou in all thy endeavors, but art thou certain that plan is wise? That it will not shatter everything we've worked towards the past five years even before we were forced down this admittedly desperate path?"

Nightmare Moon, the living embodiment of the night, and bringer of fears to all who opposed her, sighed. She clearly had been worried her fiancée would take issue with the plan. Unfortunately she was running out of options to continue battling the much larger forces that supported the day princess. For a moment she looked just like the Princess Luna that had proposed to a very surprised Princess Twilight Sparkle little more than a year ago, afraid and uncertain of what the future may hold. But to Midnight's eyes, that moment was all she needed to see just how scared her fiancée was.

Nightmare Moon turned her head, so that she would not have to look into those slit pupils that somehow still radiated compassion and worry. Then came back to those eyes with the cold calculated gaze that had allowed her to get this far. "I understand thy worry Midnight, my love, but if I do not do something soon our forces will be overrun, and we may never get the chance to explain to dear sister what has truly transpired to make us take such drastic measures. Poisoned as she is to the liars and suck-ups of her court, who seek only to turn her into a puppet for their own plans."

Midnight Sparkle of course knew logically her love was correct, but as her sister-in-law Cadance would so often point out to her, love cared little for logic. "But, “ she paused, taking time to word her response properly. “Nightmare, surely thou mean not to face her alone, surely 'twould be to the benefit of all three of us if thou brought me with."

Unfortunately for Midnight, Nightmare had already prepared for this argument, and batted it aside with ease. "Nay, love, I must face my sister alone, so she might see how serious I am, and that she might finally come to understand not just mine own pain, but of the pain thou have endured as well, becoming so close to me."

"Luna-- " Midnight blurted out without thinking, and continued speaking even through the glare that faded over her speech, "Thou knows I would endure such pain one thousand times over again, if it meant we would get to be side by side as long and even longer than we have?"

Nightmare Moon sighed again, knowing that nothing could convince her lover to stay behind whilst she dived into the proverbial lion's den that was once the shared home of Celestia and Luna. "Very well my love, I can tell when nothing will stop thee from following me to the old castle. Thou shalt accompany me to the throne room doors either through sneaking, or inevitably to break through sister's zealots." The last word came out in more of a hiss than anything else, venom leaking through to the word that described what were supposed to be their shared guard very well. "But I must insist, when we reach the doors thou shalt stand guard so that none may interrupt, understood?"

Midnight knew this was the best offer she was going to get unless she defied her fiancée outright, not wanting to do so in this matter she opted to nod her head, and close in for a kiss. "When thou finally brings thy sister to understand, will we finally get to tell her the happy news that we are to be married?" She whispered, naught but a hair's breadth from her lover's muzzle.

Nightmare Moon smiled, despite the hopeless situation they had found themselves in, "Of course my love, mine sister will need some good news after hearing the distressing tale of how her own court conspires not just against us, but against her as well." Then Nightmare brought their lips together again so that they might distract themselves just a little from the oncoming conflict that was sure to change their life forever.

One hour later, after a fierce battle with the majority of the royal guard's forces

"Finally we have made it my love, just as agreed upon earlier, thou shalt make sure We are not interrupted as We force Celestia to face the truth." Nightmare Moon stated through slightly clenched teeth, to ward off the noises of pain that surely would have escaped her just as they had when the wounds had been inflicted by many a lucky soldier. Now they all lay asleep at their hooves, too weak of mind to fight off the effects her non-lethal spells for long.

"Thou knows We still do not like this right?" Midnight Sparkle hissed out through her own clenched teeth also having been unable to escape the battle unscathed, though Midnight's own spell casting may have been the only reason they had made it this far. When Nightmare turned to face Midnight fearing another argument she was caught by surprise when Midnight captured her lips in a forceful kiss that spoke something quite simply. "If you don't come back to me in one piece, I'll kill you." As breathing wasn't fully necessary to alicorns, they broke only when they heard the sound of armored hoof steps coming from the corridor they had come from. Midnight sighed and spoke softly to her lover in what she didn't know would be the last time in a millennium. "Go my love, as promised nothing shall get through those doors whilst thou teach Celestia the lesson she's desperately been needing."

Luckily for Nightmare Moon after one quick peck she would not have to see the stress her love would go through on this night until centuries later when she had regained enough of her power to dreamwalk again. For as soon as the door shut behind her the one stallion Midnight Sparkle did not wish to see showed up leading the charge to the throne room doors. "Halt!" Shining Armor, Prince Consort to Princess Cadance, Captain of the Royal Guard, Shield of Equestria, and Big Brother to Twilight Sparkle yelled at the currently distraught alicorn. The dozen or so guards still in his command came to a stop behind him, lowering their weapons at the hostile alicorn. "If you surrender now I can promise no more harm will come to you until you are justly tried for committing high treason against Her Highness, Princess Celestia!"

30 minutes later, after Midnight Sparkle had defeated her brother and sister-in-law

Midnight Sparkle barged into the throne room, furiously glancing about to try and find anything that did not confirm her fears, unfortunately, the scene before her was anything but reassuring. Nightmare Moon was a few steps in front of her, locked in a vicious duel of power against Celestia from the other side of the throne room. Corpses lay strewn about, no doubt the traitors of the day court attempting to poison Celestia's mind further with their lies. Though, seeing Celestia wielding the full might of the elements to defeat her sister, there was little doubt that their attempts had worked. "Luna!" Midnight cried out.

Though Nightmare Moon could not turn to face her fiancée fully, she still turned her head so one eye could be easily seen. "Ah, just as defiant as Us We see? Choosing to come in against Our wishes to see this? We cannot blame thee, thine own elements probably warned thee of this occurrence. Truly there is nothing We can do, the elements will defeat Us momentarily, and there is no telling what fate they may bring upon Us. However, know We will return no matter what, nothing could keep Us from thee Twilight." The power of the elements was centimeters away from reaching Nightmare Moon now, and Midnight knew there was nothing she could do to stop it. "I love thee, Twilight, and I will come back to thee."

Midnight made to respond, but was too late, the power of the elements overtook Nightmare and the power surged upwards to the moon through the mostly destroyed roof. Seconds later it was clear what the elements had done as craters stretched out across the face of the moon, forming into the visage of a pony’s head with a long horn. There was a wide space in the middle where the eye should be, and in the center of that space was another crater that evoked the image of a tear, shed for the mare she loved. "LUNA!" Midnight screamed in anguish, creating an admittedly close approximation of The Royal Canterlot Voice. Then, as if the moon knew it had been up too long, it began to lower and allow the dawn to come for the first time in 72 hours.

The Student

17 Years Before The Return of Nightmare Moon, Las Pegasus Slums

Beatrix was not having a good day, in fact, if she weren’t an orphan, she would be confident ranking this as her worst day ever. The eight year old filly had been certain she would take Las Pegasus by storm when she had left the orphanage that morning and bought a balloon ride up here with the only bits she had. Yet any attempt in the main stretch of the city to show off how great a magician she was in the local buildings had been met only with threats of loitering fines. How was she supposed to show these ponies how great and powerful she was, if nopony would give her a chance?

After all else had failed she had run off to whichever direction she could and ended up here, where here was, Beatrix had no idea. Glancing up after an hour of trotting aimlessly did reveal one thing to Beatrix though, she had no desire to be here any longer. Taking in her surroundings she quickly noticed that she must be in the poor part of town where ponies who could afford no place else stayed. The buildings were small and smushed closely together so that things one could only generously call homes fit in tiny spaces side by side. Most of them had obvious signs of wear and tear that took the shape of damage either ponies didn’t care about, or could not afford to fix.

Beatrix turned around to come back the way she had come, but was not as relieved as she expected she would’ve been earlier to see somepony else. Several tail-lengths away was a unicorn stallion with an ash-gray coat and blonde mane and tail. That however, was not what made Beatrix nervous, the stallion’s lips were upturned into a smirk, and his eyes seemed to radiate a sense of danger to Beatrix. Beatrix turned to go down an alley to perhaps escape encountering the stallion, but there was an earth pony stallion with a similar look guarding the entrance. When Beatrix turned around to find a different path, all she found was a pegasus stallion that seemed to revel in the look of horror that crossed her face.

Beatrix glanced around quickly, looking for any possible escape route, and finding nothing in the process. During this time, the stallions had started to advance on her, until she was well and truly surrounded on all sides. Ducking beneath her hat, Beatrix attempted to make herself seem even smaller than she already was, hoping the stallions would decide she wasn’t worth their time. The unicorn stallion chose then to speak, his voice scratchy with overuse. “Now, what’s an adorable little thing like you doing all the way out here all by herself?”

Sensing that the stallion did not actually care, she tried to dissuade them from hurting her the only way she knew how, getting them to take pity on her… “Please!” She started, “Trixie has nothing valuable to take, and she simply wants somewhere to be alone and contemplate her day, all those mean ponies in the city wouldn’t even let her show them her magic tricks!”

Unfortunately, they seemed only slightly deterred by the filly having nothing for them to steal, and as one they quickly decided they would need to glean some entertainment from the filly instead. “Well go on then, “ the pegasus spoke. “Show us what ya thought would getcha noticed back in the city.”

Despite the horrible situation she found herself in, Beatrix knew to never turn down an audience. If she played her cards right, Beatrix may also find a way to escape whatever else the stallions had planned. So despite a slight tremor in her voice she started her practiced act. “Stand back and be amazed, as The Great and Powerful Trixie performs feats of magic greater than any witnessed by pony eyes!” At that, her horn lit up and she fired a couple blasts into the air to create impromptu fireworks. “For her first trick, Trixie will need a volunteer from the audience! Which lucky one of you is brave enough to stand with Trixie for this impressive feat?!”

The stallions looked at each other reluctantly, clearly unsure of how much they should be going along, but not wanting to lose out on possible free entertainment. Two of them seemed to come to a decision though, and quickly pushed the unicorn forward. “Ah! So, you are the lucky one? Please come stand beside Trixie so she may start the trick!” With practiced ease Beatrix doffed her hat with simply her hoof and held it before the approaching stallion. “Behold the magician’s hat, known for many feats, including the appearance of rabbits! Reach inside and tell Trixie what you find!” While Beatrix wasn’t powerful enough to create a pocket dimension that would hold a living creature, she did have the power and creativity to put a pocket dimension holding something in her hat.

The stallion, still somewhat reluctant, reached inside and rooted around for a bit. To the actual amazement of all three when his leg went deep inside, it did not tear a hole through the top, and actually seemed to disappear inside the headwear. It did however find something, and he pulled his leg back to present the item he had found inside. “Hey, what’s this then?” He asked impatiently as he stared in disappointment at the small gray sphere as the stallions behind him laughed cruelly at the magician’s seeming failure.

“An interesting item indeed that you’ve discovered from my hat, “ Beatrix started while putting her hat back on her head. “If you would kindly hoof it over, Trixie will reveal the magical powers it holds inside!” Beatrix held out her hoof and the unicorn quickly placed the ball inside, clearly wanting to know what the object did. Beatrix smirked as she held the object high and mentally prepared for what she was about to do. “Watch in awe as The Great and Powerful Trixie disappears before your very eyes!” Then, before the stallions could react, she threw the smoke bomb at their hooves and took off as fast as she could in the direction she believed she had come from.

Beatrix felt as though she had never run this fast before, her short filly legs barely able to keep up with the movements she wanted to put them through. Unfortunately she did not get very far, and was tackled to the ground a mere twenty seconds after fleeing the stallions. “Now that wasn’t a very smart thing to do, now was it?” The pegasus stallion asked menacingly from on top of her. “T’ think we may’ve just let ye go after making us laugh like that. Now ye’ve got to learn we ain’t to be trifled with!”

The clopping of hooves on cobblestone signaled the arrival of the other two, making Beatrix realize just why her plan had failed; unfortunately pegasi vision would not be fooled for long by a simple puff of smoke. Beatrix was then roughly yanked back up to her hooves and turned around so she could face the pegasus. “That’s right, look at me so ye can tell what’s ‘bout to happen. I want to see each cringe as my hooves beat the lesson into ya!” The stallion’s hoof reared back, ready to strike her, and Beatrix closed her eyes in anticipation of a blow, but it never came. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes to see what had happened and her mouth gaped open when she saw a dark magenta aura completely surrounding the pegasus. “What’s going on?! Don’t just stand there you idiots get her!” This caused the other stallions to reluctantly move towards her, though something caused them to stop.

Beatrix glanced behind her since she knew she couldn’t be the cause, and somehow had her jaw go lower than it had before. Behind her stood a lavender coated alicorn of all things, long pointed horn glowing with the same aura that surrounded the pegasus stallion. The alicorn’s mane and tail were a deep indigo, with a purple and magenta streak going down the middle of both. After moving her head a little Beatrix was able to glance at the cutie mark as well, which was a deep pink six-pointed shape surrounded by five smaller versions of the same shape. The mare Beatrix saw was beautiful, of that she was sure, though that thought did bring a blush to her cheeks.

Finally, after seeming to try to glare the stallions into submission for thirty seconds, she spoke. “Now that doesn’t seem to be any way to treat a defenseless filly now does it?” She asked in a somehow calm and cruel voice. “I would hate to have to take more drastic measures to make sure she remains unharmed.”

That seemed to only anger the pegasus more, and he grunted in effort to try and escape the aura around him to no avail. Feeling he could not escape he yelled at his subordinates again, jolting them into action. “Ye just gonna take that from a mare? Go on and show ‘er we don’ take kindly to threats!” This caused the stallions to clench up and get ready for a fight, clearly not wanting to flee just because they were scared of the magic power being displayed before them.

The alicorn frowned, a cruel and hate-filled expression coming over her face. “Fine then, if you wish to fight so much, have it your way, ” she stated just as calmly as before. If one had blinked, they would have missed the tiny increase in the glow around her horn as magic surrounded the other two as well. The stallions didn’t even have time to react before the spell put them to sleep and threw them to the ground where they fitfully kicked and rolled about, no doubt caught in nightmares beyond the comprehension of their mortal minds.

Then the alicorn turned away from the scene as though nothing had happened and started to trot away. “Wait!” Beatrix called out, before she could even think about who she was calling out to, “How’d you do that? Why did you save me?” The words seemed to have no effect on the mare, as she simply continued trotting away, forcing the filly to sprint to catch up with her. “C’mon, you gotta tell me something, even The Great and Powerful Trixie has never seen magic like that before!”

This seemed to give the alicorn pause, and she turned to regard the filly before her as if just noticing Beatrix was there. “The Great and Powerful Trixie?” She asked as though it was the first time she had ever heard a magician embellish their talents. “What a strange thing to call yourself when it was I that was powerful enough to save you.”

“Well duh, Trixie is only eight years old, and you look like a full grown alicorn, it’d be impossible for me to match up to you!”

Again the alicorn stared at her confused, seemingly not fully grasping the concept. “Ah yes, “ she finally spoke. “It has been so long since I have mingled amongst Celestia’s subjects, I had forgotten some of them could be so young. No matter though, I waste time simply speaking to you when I need to find somepony suited to being my student. My centuries of planning will finally pay off when I have found the perfect pony, ” she finished as though talking about weather.

Pausing slightly to try and comprehend just how long the alicorn had said she'd been planning, Beatrix responded, “The Great and Powerful Trixie could be your student! Trixie promises she is a dedicated and fast learner!”

That finally got the alicorn to show an emotion other than cold indifference, a warm smirk crossing her face. “Oh? You truly believe you could master the arcane in a manner sufficient for my plans in seventeen years?”

“Trixie does not just believe she can! Trixie knows she can!” Then Beatrix seemed to actually consider what she was agreeing to, and realized she didn’t understand something. “Um, just what are you planning?”

That got to the alicorn to giggle, holding a hoof up to her mouth to stifle the noise. “Oh, to be young again, “ she lamented. “To answer your question young Trixie, I’m planning world domination, does that sound like something you’re interested in?” Again, the alicorn stated this like most ponies would say the sky is blue, and if Beatrix had been anypony else, she may have found it concerning.

“World domination? Really? That seems like a silly thing to plan for, but as long as Trixie gets to learn that cool magic you used, I think Trixie would help you do just about anything!”

That seemed to finally give the alicorn pause, really taking in the filly before her for the first time. The filly seemed to be about the age she claimed, and had a powder-blue coat with a silver mane and tail; and her body was dressed with a purple hat and cape covered with crescent moons. A quick spell allowed the alicorn to find that the filly had yet to earn her cutie mark. “Are you sure Trixie? If I was to take you under my wing you would have to follow me out of Equestria so that I may teach you away from prying eyes.”

It took Beatrix little time to contemplate her answer as she had nothing besides the orphanage matron to tie her to Equestria. “Yes ma’am! Trixie was orphaned before she can remember, so it’s not like Trixie would be leaving anything behind!”

Again, the alicorn seemed saddened by this news, though quickly hid the expression behind another statement. “Ah yes, where are my manners? I am Midnight Sparkle, alicorn of magic and the stars, is your name really The Great and Powerful Trixie, or is that just a stage persona?”

That caused Beatrix to hesitate, not sure if she wanted to reveal her true name, fearful this alicorn would laugh like everypony else. So she asked a more pressing question instead. “Midnight Sparkle? Like that foal’s tale they use at the orphanage to try and scare Trixie into doing her homework?”

Midnight Sparkle glanced away from the filly, not wanting to show her annoyance for what her name had been relegated to in front of the filly. “My name is tied to that tale more than you know Trixie, and while I find myself annoyed by its existence, I do find myself quite cross with any foal trying to avoid their homework. Though, you did not answer my question, what is your true name?”

Beatrix glanced to the ground, not wanting to give the answer, but not seeing much other choice. “Trixie’s name is Beatrix Lulamoon, but all the other foals laugh at my name, so Trixie goes by Trixie to avoid their cruelty.”

That caused Midnight to go into deep thought, clearly thinking about something Beatrix would not understand until many years later. Finally, she smiled and spoke, “Well Trixie Lulamoon, I think you have a lovely name, and while I’m not certain I should be taking you with me, I also do not think it would be wise to leave you here all by your lonesome.”

The Mentor

Author's Note

Alright, this story has started off with some pretty good reception, so let's keep the ball rolling, maybe find a few more people to look at it? I wrote this chapter while I was a little distracted so the flow might feel weird in some places, or there might be sentences that don't make a whole lot of sense, so if you've got time, let me know about them.

The Mentor

17 Years Before The Return of Nightmare Moon, Deep In The Badlands

It had only taken a couple hours for Beatrix to get packed up to leave Equestria with Midnight Sparkle, but it had taken a couple days more for the alicorn to return and state she was ready to take Beatrix back to wherever Midnight had come from. Not wanting to waste magical power, and desiring to use her wings, Beatrix had collected herself and her things on Midnight's back for a flight. Beatrix had decided to use this opportunity to better learn about the alicorn that was going to mentor her.

“Miss Midnight?“ she started, but was quickly cut off by a sigh from the mare below her.

“Please Trixie Lulamoon, now that we are leaving Equestria, I must insist you use my real name, instead of that persona I created to put fear into the hearts of Equestria’s citizens almost a millennia ago, ” the alicorn began. “My real name is Twilight Sparkle, but you may refer to me simply as Twilight, ‘twil make things easier for both of us.”

Beatrix paused, she had heard of Midnight Sparkle before, but to learn that she existed, and was a fabrication even to the mare who first created the name was a lot to take in. “Okay– Twilight, you mentioned in Las Pegasus that you’re the alicorn of magic and stars. What are stars?”

“Oh!” Twilight flinched in surprise, but quickly righted herself again. “I forgot you wouldn’t know what those are. The stars were a tapestry I weaved every night as a gift to Equestria long ago after I became an alicorn. But after the citizens betrayed me, I decided they were no longer worthy of them, and I hid them from Equestria and the surrounding lands.” Twilight turned back to see Beatrix, “Surely you took notice of my cutie mark?” Beatrix only nodded. “Well, that’s what a star used to look like when you could see them in the night sky. The sun itself is actually a star, but is much closer than any other to our planet. The rest are so far away that they’re only visible as pinpricks of light in the night sky.”

Beatrix could only nod mutely in response, trying to figure out how to respond to that. It wasn’t every day you heard that the sky used to be filled with tiny versions of the sun every night after all. “Does that mean Trixie will get to see the stars when we get to wherever we’re going?”

Twilight again turned her head so she could see Beatrix, “Yes, I love my stars too much to hide them from view to my home in The Badlands, and while you’re probably not the first Equestrian in 900 years to see them, you’ll certainly be the first to know of their existence before you left Equestria.”

Beatrix was quite excited to learn about these stars, but found herself worried about something else her new mentor had said. “You live in the Badlands?! Isn’t that place super dangerous? What if Trixie runs into monsters while you’re not there and gets eaten or something?!”

“Calm yourself Trixie, my little portion of the Badlands is quite safe from anything else calling that place its home. Trust me, when you’re the most dangerous thing in the Badlands, the other creatures tend to give you a wide berth. The only other creatures you are likely to see are the changelings that serve my friend and I, and occasionally my brother Spike.”

Again, Beatrix was left with more questions than answers, not knowing what a changeling was, or why a pony would be named Spike. She decided to start with what was likely the easier question, “Spike? Is he an alicorn too, or is he immortal some other way?”

Twilight chuckled before eventually responding, “Oh no, Spike’s no alicorn, and he’s less immortal than I am, but he’s still going to live for much longer than most creatures on this planet. Spike’s a dragon, and I call him my brother because I hatched him from his egg when I was only seven years old.”

Beatrix was getting really annoyed with these answers, none of them got her any closer to understanding the alicorn before her. They only seemed to bring more questions. “Ooh– kay then. Trixie has never heard of a changeling before, what are they?”

This time Twilight giggled at the question, having forgotten just how rare information on the reclusive race was for Equestrians. “Ah yes, I suppose you wouldn’t have heard of them before, little is known about them in Equestria. The changelings are a race of insectoid pony-looking creatures that have the ability to take the shape of almost anything. They use this power mostly for defending their hive or procuring food for it. Changelings are emotivores, as such they can devour the emotions of other living creatures, usually at little cost to the one being feasted upon. Though, the emotion they find the most filling and tasty is that of love, and the easiest way to procure it is to take the form of a creature’s loved ones, and feed upon that love. You will likely meet my friend Queen Chrysalis before meeting any of the others, please be polite when you meet her, she can be quite testy if she does not feel she is getting the proper amount of respect.”

“Wow, a whole race that doesn’t eat anything physical to prevent starvation? That’s incredible, but also sounds a little weird, you’re sure it doesn’t hurt to be fed on?” Beatrix asked, now focused on this subject and the cool things she could do on stage if she had a changeling assistant.

“Hmm, perhaps being fed on does hurt the first time you experience it, I myself can’t really remember. Though, my experience is quite unique from most who experience it, because I willingly allowed the process to happen, and I knew it was going to happen. Most don’t meet either of those conditions, and will often become exhausted afterwards, though recover with a good rest. You will probably get to experience some form of being fed on when we arrive, so you’ll have an answer to your question then.”

Beatrix now had only one question left that she wanted answered today, but wasn’t sure what to expect from asking it. “Trixie, needs to know one last thing then, you mentioned Trixie would become part of your plan for world domination, why are you trying to accomplish that?”

Twilight chuckled again, this time devolving in a full-belly guffaw, before finally getting ahold of herself after a full minute. “I did say that, didn’t I? Well then Trixie, I apologize, that was just me being dramatic. I really only seek to rule Equestria, the rest of the world isn’t who wronged my fiancée and I millennia ago. You may find it hard to believe this, but Equestria was once ruled together by four princesses and now Celestia rules mostly by herself with Princess Cadance occasionally providing support for various issues. I was one of the princesses that used to rule alongside them, but Celestia allowed herself to become blind to the plight of the alicorn of the moon and I. Celestia was adored by our subjects and she let it go to her head, causing us alicorns with affinity for the night to become shunned in favor of Celestia’s day. One day, we could eventually take no more, and rebelled against Celestia. It was a long battle but eventually Celestia defeated us– “ Beatrix couldn’t see it because Twilight was facing away from her, but Twilight shed a tear as she continued the tale. “I escaped and vowed revenge, and have been planning for it ever since.”

Beatrix couldn’t believe what she had just heard, Princess Celestia hadn’t always ruled alone? And she hadn’t always been the wise and kind ruler every adult told her she was? She wanted to ask more questions about it but was cut off by Twilight speaking up.

“We have arrived, Trixie.” And Beatrix couldn’t help but gape in awe at what stood before her, there was a castle, built upon any foundation it could find in the mostly sandy area of The Badlands. It was as grand as the pictures she had seen of Canterlot Castle, but had a few key differences. The marble used to build the castle in Canterlot was as white as Celestia’s coat, made to make you think of the mare ruling the country from inside. But the material used to create the castle before her was a deep dark black, evoking the image of the night, and the tall spires had rooves of purple or blue instead of the gold used in Canterlot. But Twilight wasted no time in a tour, instead flying straight for an opening in the ceiling Beatrix believed would house a throne room. Sure enough when they landed on the floor Beatrix was able to view a wide open room with stained glass windows similar to the ones she heard were in Canterlot. The room seemed to be lit by several purple chandeliers hanging from high above that held candles of black wax, though the flame on top of them was not ordinary. Instead of the normal orange flames associated with fire, the candles glowed a bright white that was quite striking against the otherwise dark interior.

Finally, Beatrix’s eyes fell upon the raised dais where she found not one, but two thrones. The first on the left caught Beatrix’s attention first, as she had not expected to see anything like it. The throne was somehow darker than anything else she had seen so far, seeming to have been masterfully cut from the highest quality obsidian anypony could find. At the top of the obsidian throne was a carefully cut quartz, shaped like a crescent moon, and laid upon the seat was a deep purple pillow, the same shade as the violet stripe going through Twilight’s mane. The throne to the right of the first one was what Beatrix had been expecting to see, this throne seemed to have been made from a more standard material, painted lavender to match Twilight’s coat. On top of this throne was a beautiful tourmaline gem cut into the shape of Twilight’s cutie mark, and upon the seat was a deep blue pillow.

Beatrix began to turn to Twilight to ask about the second throne, but something else caught her attention, or more appropriately, someone. Standing to the side of Twilight’s throne was a creature that Beatrix could only assume was a changeling, though when she had first imagined them, the creature before her had not come to mind. The changeling blended in slightly with the dark marble building around them, since what could be chitin was colored a slightly lighter black than the wall behind them. That wasn’t what made the creature stand out however, instead everything else just seemed to scream look at me.

The changeling was as tall as Twilight with long thin legs that had holes riddled throughout the bottom, actually most of their body seemed to have holes at the end somewhere. The changeling’s teal mane and tail for example were fine near the base but got ragged and hole-riddled the further the hair got from where it started. The changeling had wings spread out behind them, and like the rest of their body, their wings also had holes riddled throughout. There were even some cuts into the edges where circular holes couldn’t fully form, if the creature could use them to fly, and how it worked, Beatrix had no idea. Also upon their back was a bright green piece of their body that looked sort of like a shell, though since the wings were not hidden beneath, Beatrix actually had no idea what purpose it served.

Beatrix raised her view higher and found that there were actually some gray spots in the changeling’s neck, like their body was going to form holes there, but hadn’t quite gotten around to it. Finally Beatrix got up to the head and found three things strange, upon their head were two of those things. First, Beatrix saw the horn of the changeling, a long jagged extremity that also seemed to want to evoke the image of holes, since had it not been jagged it would’ve looked like a normal horn with a slightly wider base than most. Second, behind the horn was something that looked like a crown, but also seemed to be part of the changeling, probably marking them as the queen that Twilight had mentioned before. Finally, glancing just slightly down to view the face of the changeling, Beatrix viewed the third strange thing as the eyes of the changeling staring right back at her. Actually, the changeling did not stare as much as they leered in annoyance. Beatrix found herself entranced by those bright green eyes and slit pupils, almost not able to believe that the beautiful creature before her was actually real. That thought however stopped the rest of the train, and she quickly turned her head and glanced away to try and hide the blush evoked by said thought.

When Beatrix glanced back at the changeling she was surprised to find the expression changed into one of mirth, in fact, the creature seemed to be barely holding onto a laugh. Then, when the changeling caught sight of Beatrix’s bewildered face, loosed a deep two-toned chuckle that bounced off the walls in the strangest echo Beatrix had ever heard, and continued for a full minute before the changeling regained their composure. Finally, the changeling spoke, and Beatrix was confident enough to assume that she was listening to a female. “My, my, this just got a lot more interesting than I thought possible, “ the changeling started. “When Twilight told me she was going on a trip to Equestria to find a suitable pony for her plans, I scoffed at the ridiculousness of it all. Even now, seeing she has brought back a nymph instead of someone more capable, I grow weary of Twilight’s plans for us all. So listen well child, I am the Changeling Queen Chrysalis, and if you disrespect my name for any reason I have not allowed, you will quickly find I am not as forgiving as your mentor to be. For now however, your childish emotions have brought me mirth that I have not felt in centuries, and for that you have my gratitude.”

Beatrix could only gape at Chrysalis, not quite sure how to respond. Instead she glanced to her new mentor, trying to find some way to proceed. No respite was found there either since Twilight was rapidly approaching the dais. Twilight climbed the steps in rapid succession causing Chrysalis to glance at the alicorn, only for her face to morph slowly into a look of horror at whatever she saw on the face of the approaching alicorn. “Twilight wait! Not with the child here!”

Instead the alicorn leapt from the last step over the dais and tackled Chrysalis to the ground, with a happy shout “Chryssy!" Twilight then planted a forceful kiss on her lips, quickly deepening it when Chrysalis became all too willing to reciprocate. Beatrix could only stare wide-eyed at the scene before her, having never seen such displays of affection. Though, something else somehow caught Beatrix’s attention, and she quickly turned her attention to the gray spots she had seen on Chrysalis’s neck earlier. As the kiss continued the spots on Chrysalis’s neck seemed to vanish to the same shade of black as the rest of her chitin, and then finally Twilight allowed Chrysalis to pull back. "You didn’t tell me you’d be here when I arrived back with my new student! If I’d known I would’ve dropped them off before coming to the throne room.” Beatrix was just barely able to see her new mentor smirking at the changeling below her while Chrysalis panted for breath.

When Chrysalis finally caught her breath she looked up at Twilight with exasperated indignance. “Must you have used that infernal nickname in front of the child? You know that I want no one else to know of it! Though, I suppose if you’d greet me like that every time you go on little trips I’d tell you to go on them more often, even if I am upset you wouldn’t let some of my changelings follow you.

It was as Twilight was about to respond that Beatrix found her voice, “Trixie has a name Queen Chrysalis! And Trixie would appreciate it if you two would cease making her so uncomfortable!”

Twilight gave a start, and glanced her way, as if just realizing Beatrix was there. “Ah yes, where are my manners? Chryssy, this is my new student Trixie Lulamoon, and Trixie, this my best friend Queen Chrysalis.”

“Best friend?!” Trixie started in astonishment, “You just had a full on make out session with her! Trixie was left to assume this was that fiancée you mentioned earlier!”

That caused Chrysalis to burst out laughing, and Twilight to grin unashamedly. “Ahaha no, child, Twilight has made it quite clear that only one mare will ever hold that title, and when she finally returns, it is unlikely that wife will not quickly become the title instead. Though, I have repeatedly told Twilight that if she wanted to make it official she would not have to wait for me.”

“And I always tell you that I would wait a millennia more if it meant I got to be with her instead. But she was very accepting of our open form of relationship, and what I have with both of you is special, and you know that.”

“Who is she? Trixie does not appreciate being left in the dark like this!”

That caused Twilight to frown in thought as she turned her head back to Beatrix, and for the first time since meeting Twilight, Beatrix saw the indifference that Twilight had given to the stallions in Las Pegasus when she had defeated them almost at the same time as ignoring them. “Ah– Trixie, you must understand something about me, I am a millennium old and once placed trust in someone I believed would never do me wrong. Then they single-hoofedly committed the worst act that has ever been committed against me before or since. The knowledge you seek is not something I am willing to trust you with yet.” Beatrix visibly wilted at that, not having considered the possibility of such a thing. “Fear not my young student, if you show the qualities that I need in you quickly enough, it will soon become necessary for you to learn the details of who she is.”

Beatrix perked up at that, certain that she would impress her new mentor as soon as her lessons began, nothing had stopped her before! “For now my student, you should go and rest, I chose to bring you here as early in the day as possible, as I myself prefer a nocturnal lifestyle, and so you will learn to live one as well. Don’t worry about finding your way, as soon as you give your assent, I’ll teleport you to your new room along with your things, and you can get to bed as soon as you want.”

Beatrix wanted to ask more questions, there was just so much she wanted to know, but impressing her mentor probably didn’t start by defying her right away, so she nodded that she was ready to go. “Oh, one more thing, teleporting for the first time can be an– interesting experience, try to keep your eyes and mouth shut.”

Of course, Beatrix opened her mouth and glanced up at Twilight to ask what she meant, and was promptly teleported across the castle to her new room. As Beatrix’s eyes spun and spun with the images she had witnessed in quick succession, she became unable to hold herself up, and fell to the floor while puking out the measly breakfast she had had before leaving with Twilight that morning.

Flashback: The Beginning

Everfree City, 20 Years Before The Longest Night

"Alright Twilight, it's time to go to the castle for your entrance exam!" exclaimed a very excited Twilight Velvet. "Then you can finally pursue your dreams of learning all kinds of magic in the Princess’s School for Gifted Unicorns!"

"Woo-hoo!" A seven year old filly Twilight exclaimed as a small burst of magic spilled out the top of her horn. "I can already feel the knowledge being soaked through the books and into my mind!"

"Now now, while I have no doubt you'll be able to pass the entrance exam, don't get excited too quickly Twilight." A surprisingly calm Night Light said.

"Alright Dad, I'll try to be more calm." A slightly embarrassed Twilight replied.

"You're going to want to get going if you don't want to be late!" A thirteen year old Shining Armor said, knowing very well the reaction the young unicorn would have to the word late.

"LATE?!! I can't be late! We better go now! See all of you guys there, love you bye!" And then Twilight was gone before anyone could say anything.

"Well I guess we better go after her... Thanks for getting her moving Shining..." A slightly confused and apprehensive Twilight Velvet said.

Everfree Castle

Shortly after Twilight got to the castle she realized none of her family had followed her at quite the speed she had left, and so she was forced to wait for them since she couldn't start the entrance exam without her parents there. Not that she really wanted to try to do it without her parents' support. It's a good thing her family knew her well enough that they got there quickly, now it was time for the entrance exam. They entered the wing designed for Princess Celestia and Luna’s school and walked up to the desk, Twilight was too busy being a 'little' nervous to pay attention to the conversation her parents had with the pony at the front desk.

Soon the conversation was over and they were on their way through the halls toward the exam room, and then, in what felt like a sudden flash they were in the exam room! Maybe I'm more nervous than I originally thought. Twilight thought to herself. A light colored earth pony opened a door from the other side of the room and rolled in a cart that had a nest looking thing in the top with a purple and darker purple spotted dragon egg nestled inside. The instructions on the cart were but a simple picture, and an obvious one at that. I'm supposed to hatch a dragon egg?! Twilight thought. Then one of the instructors spoke up, "Well Ms. Sparkle?" Twilight looked at the egg and gave off a nervous laugh, causing all the instructors to pull up their clipboards and scribble something down. Well that didn't help my nervousness... Twilight thought bitterly to herself.

Well– Here goes nothing... Twilight mumbled as she took a step back and tilted her horn toward the egg, willing any amount of magic she could to the top of her horn, which was to say... Almost none. Twilight was just much too nervous to put any magic to spell casting right now. And so after Twilight had tried to put magic to it again, and failed again, she looked sullenly at the dragon egg and the instructor spoke up again after another one yawned.

"We don't have all day, " The instructor commented harshly. Twilight then resorted to wild hoof gestures to get the egg to hatch while still trying to will anything out of her horn. Both Twilight and the instructors knew that these hoof gestures were getting her nowhere... After trying extra hard and failing, again... Twilight fell flat on her stomach and glanced up at the instructors, since she knew there was no way she would be able to do this.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time." Twilight mumbled out, not even caring if they actually heard her. Twilight then turned sadly away from the instructors just as one of them leaned forward for their clipboard and accidentally knocked over their coffee mug. The unexpectedness of the loud shattering noise echoing through the hall and the built up anxiety of failure was too much for Twilight, causing her magic to explode into action.

Unfortunately the magic was too much for the still inexperienced Twilight, and it flooded the room with its power. Still trying to control it Twilight first pointed it at a source of frustration, the unhatched dragon egg. The amount of power was more than enough for the almost hatched egg, and a baby dragon quickly emerged from the broken remains. The magic however, was not done yet, and quickly started affecting other things in the room, including living things. Twilight’s uncontrolled magic soon had all four instructors in her aura, easily lifting them several hoof-lengths off the ground and canceling any spells they tried to cast against the unpredictable magic. Twilight’s magic wasn’t done yet, and had soon surrounded the filly’s parents as well; unlike the instructors however, the magic wasn’t content to just hold them there, and had also transformed them into potted plants. Finally, the magic could find only one more outlet and turned back to the now hatched baby dragon, Twilight still desired to age the dragon and so the magic did. The hatchling’s body exploded into action, soon having a neck and head that couldn’t fit into the exam hall, causing it to break through the ceiling.

Through it all, the young filly stared around the room in terror at her out-of-control magic, sure that this would be the worst day of her life. Just as Twilight closed her eyes to accept defeat and allow this magical flare to run its course, probably ending with her waking up exhausted days later, she felt something touch her shoulder. Twilight quickly whipped her head around, staring in wide-eyed astonishment at the pony that had somehow pushed through her magic to lay a hoof on her. Seeing the Regent of the Day, Princess Celestia, smiling calmly down at her was such a strange experience for the young filly that her flare and all its effects ended almost instantly.

"Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia started after all the unpredictable magic ended its terror.

She knows my name?! Oh I'm doomed aren't I? Twilight thought. "Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean-"

"You have a very special gift! We don't think We've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities!"

"Huh?"

"But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study."

"Huh?!"

"Twilight Sparkle, We'd like to make you Our own personal protégé here at the school!"

"Huh?!?!"

"Well?"

Somehow Twilight still had the mental capacity to look at her parents to make sure it was okay and was quickly spurred into action by their facial expressions nodding very enthusiastically towards the yes decision. "YEEEESS!" Twilight shouted.

"One other thing, Twilight."

"More?!" Twilight queried exasperatedly as she stumbled to the floor at the suddenness of Celestia adding more to the already exhausting experience.

Princess Celestia said nothing, instead walking over to Twilight’s new place on the floor and pointing a hoof towards her flank. Twilight shifted around so she could look at what the princess was pointing at, and there adorning her flanks was a pair of her very own cutie marks! The cutie mark pictured a six-pointed magenta star with five other white stars surrounding it. Twilight could not believe her eyes, and soon exploded off the floor. "My cutie mark! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Celestia seemed content to let the young filly have her moment while Twilight jumped around her and chanted the same word over and over again.

Author's Note

So, here's the first flashback of the story. I have no idea how frequent these will be, and I'm fairly confident they will not be in chronological order. I'm a very spontaneous writer after all, and if I write something in a chapter I feel could be explained more thoroughly and interestingly in a flashback, there will probably be flashback for it. Hopefully it doesn't take away from the main story

Settling In

Author's Note

Hah, not dead, bet some of you weren't expecting that after what happened to my attempt at continuing A Dream Could Be a Wish... Or a Nightmare. Unlike that one however, I mostly know what direction I want to take this story in, I just am not a very motivated writer... But here it is months later, another chapter...

Settling In

Beatrix may not have entered her new room in the best state but she quickly recovered when a changeling guard on the other side had sensed her discomfort and had a maid gathered quickly to remove the half-digested breakfast from the floor.

Through the whole event Beatrix could do nothing but stare in bewilderment at the creatures before her, she had not asked for help, yet the chitin-clad creatures had known she needed it. Even stranger, the maid had not been there with the guard, but had seemingly appeared from nowhere when she was needed without anything being said between the guard or Beatrix herself. Beatrix however, doubted that the maid had just been making her usual rounds, as Twilight had just explained she lived a nocturnal lifestyle, so it stood to reason her castle staff also followed that lifestyle.

Beatrix was broken from her thoughts however when the guard that had checked on her still did not speak and made to go back to their post while closing the door behind them. “Wait, The Great and Powerful Trixie has questions for you!" The guard stopped, tilted their head, and made a questioning chirping sound, likely unsure what to do in this situation. Finally after several minutes of the guard just staring at Beatrix, the armored creature came inside the room, closed the door behind them, and sat attentively in front of Beatrix. When it became clear Beatrix would have to speak first again, she did. “How did you and the maid know Trixie needed help, she did not think she had been that loud?” Again the changeling just stared at Beatrix, though now, with them so close Beatrix could see that the eyes were not focused on her, instead seeming to stare through her and into the wall behind.

Finally, the changeling's eyes seemed to focus on her again and in a flash of green fire that caused Beatrix to flinch and cover her eyes, she was looking at a copy of herself. Before Beatrix could get her bearings and ask what was now a much more pressing question the creature before her spoke in a perfect imitation of her voice. “We changelings are acutely aware of most of the emotions of living creatures around us, as such I detected your distress when you teleported in. As for the maid, I called upon them using the hivemind when I saw there was a need for them.”

“Trixie now has more questions than when we started this conversation… Give her a moment to sort her thoughts.” After getting over her shock of the perfect copy of herself sitting in front of her, Beatrix finally brought herself to speak again. “Alright, why did you transform into Trixie to tell her that?”

“Most changelings are unable to speak Equestrian in our base form, since our vocal cords are not developed to do so.” The changeling Beatrix spoke almost robotically. It was very strange to hear her own voice so devoid of emotion, so Beatrix quickly asked another question.

“Trixie wishes to know what this hivemind is you mentioned, and how you used it to call a maid here.” Again, the eyes of the changeling unfocussed, and now Beatrix was sure that was because they were listening to the hivemind, maybe even asking what to reveal to Beatrix.

This time, after only a few seconds, the changeling spoke again. “The hivemind is the main source of communication between changelings and others the queen has allowed in, though, it’s generally very strange to outsiders, since communication within the hivemind is done by sending images along with associated feelings instead of words.” The changeling continued on, somehow sensing Beatrix’s next question. “The changelings also have a spoken language, though we do not usually write, so we have no alphabet of our own. The chirp you heard from me earlier were part of our spoken language, very few non-changelings have learned to understand it. Twilight Sparkle is the only non-changeling to have learned to speak it.” Beatrix opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off by the changeling. “Twilight Sparkle has also insisted that you get some rest, she will answer any more questions she is willing to reveal later tonight when she picks you up for her lesson.

With that the changeling dropped their disguise and disappeared out the door before Beatrix had even recovered from the flash of light caused by the transformation. Beatrix huffed lightly in annoyance before glancing around to get a view of her new room, and was suddenly very lucky she had a jaw bone preventing her chin from hitting the ground. The bed itself seemed to be larger than the tiny living space she had been given in the orphanage, and the rest of the room seemed to take up about half the space the whole orphanage had taken up. Lining the walls were dressers and bookshelves, and the floor itself was dominated by a plush carpet that seemed to soak all the tension Beatrix felt right through her hooves. Finally, looking up at the ceiling Beatrix found something she did not understand, the ceiling was mostly black but dotted throughout were spots of white. Connecting the white dots in some places were thin lines of the same shade seemingly without rhyme or reason, like a connect the dots puzzle without numbers to tell you an order to go in.

Giving up on understanding the abnormality of the ceiling Beatrix finally hopped on the bed to get some rest like her new mentor had suggested. Unfortunately her bed seemed to have other plans as she seemed to sink right into it and become trapped within its warm plushy softness… Giving up on escaping the trap that had been laid in her room Beatrix simply closed her eyes hoping she would get to sleep easier than she normally did. Luckily for her, she had woken up far earlier than normal for her, add that to the mental exhaustion of all she had learned that day, and she fell asleep faster than she could ever remember.

Within the dream realm

“Ah, sorry my dear Twilight, but it seems thy new guest has finally found her way into my domain, and I would like to take my own look at the filly that has captured thy attention.”

Twilight looked on at Luna longingly, not really wanting to let her leave, but understanding she had to. “Alright my love, just remember to not reveal your identity yet, as I do not fully trust her so soon after finding her. Also, please come back soon, there is still much to discuss and I so rarely get to see thee with how busy we have both become in preparation for thy return.”

Luna gave Twilight a peck on the lips, and then vanished in a flash of moonlight, quickly finding her way to Beatrix’s dream world. Inside nothing was really taking place yet since the filly had just recently fallen asleep. This allowed Luna to quickly take control of dream and place herself in front of a slightly startled Beatrix who Luna smiled warmly at as she sat down. “Hello Trixie, I am Twilight Sparkle’s dream construct she sent to check on you while you are within the realm of dreams, how are you?”

Again, Beatrix was taken off guard, unsure if she was even expected to know how to respond to such a statement. “Umm, Trixie supposes she is alright, I didn’t think my new mentor would continue to bombard me with new information even in my sleep…” Luna laughed lightly at the reaction, having somewhat expected it from the now overwhelmed filly, and relaxed even more by lying down and leaning her head on a forehoof to keep eye contact with the filly.

“Ah, but I’m not here to, as you say, bombard you with information. No, Twilight will be doing enough of that on her own, even if she does try to answer your questions, she’ll inevitably leave you with more. I’m here to collect information from you, since Twilight was rather tight-lipped on why she brought back an 8-year old filly so soon instead of the years-long journey she expected to take to find the perfect pony.”

Beatrix again seemed taken aback by the information, but decided to answer as honestly as she could. “Honestly, Trixie isn’t really sure why Twilight decided to take me, but when I revealed my real name to her, she seemed to get lost in thought for a couple seconds, and I haven’t really seen her get like that since.”

“Oh? And what is your name Trixie? Twilight just said you went by the stage persona The Great and Powerful Trixie, surely that wasn’t what piqued her interest?”

Beatrix shook her head. “Trixie doesn’t think so, though Twilight did seem confused when Trixie called herself that while Trixie chased after her to find out why she saved Trixie. Twilight only got surprised when Trixie told her Trixie’s real name was Beatrix Lulamoon.”

Luna was also taken aback by the information, though she hid it better than Twilight had. “Truly? A Lulamoon in this day and age? Are you sure that’s your name?”

Again Beatrix had to shake her head, though this time she hesitated before answering. “Trixie isn’t actually sure… Trixie has been an orphan as long as she can remember, the matron of the orphanage always called me by that name though, so she either named me herself, or got that name from whoever left me there…”

“Ah, I am sorry Trixie, I had not meant to bring up such memories, I was just surprised to hear the Lulamoon name spoken after not hearing it for so long. Though, I’m sure if that’s what caused Twilight to give you a chance, she likely confirmed your bloodline for herself somehow.”

“Wait, Trixie doesn’t get it, why would her last name being Lulamoon be important?”

“Umm… If Twilight did not already explain its significance, then I am afraid I have already said too much. Thank you for the enlightening conversation Trixie, and have pleasant dreams, goodnight!” Then in much the same fashion as she had left Twilight earlier Luna vanished a flash of moonlight, allowing Trixie’s unconscious mind to do what it was meant to, and start the dreaming process.

First Lesson

Author's Note

Alright, it's almost been a year, admittedly, I wanted to write this chapter much earlier than now, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do for it, so I hit a block and kind of just forgot about this for awhile. Finally I had the idea to base an Equestrian magic system off of Magic: The Gathering, which, is why, if any of the terms seems familiar, they were meant to... Yeah, I'm kinda just too uncreative to build a magic system from scratch, and MTG has been a part of my life since I could read, so rebuilding it for MLP just clicked in my head after all this time.

Also, I wrote most of this at 1:00 am, so if there's any word or string of words that doesn't make sense to you, feel free to comment about it.

First Lesson

Twilight Sparkle walked calmly towards her destination, thinking about the oddity of her impulsively taking such a young student so soon. It was not like Twilight to make such decisions, and she was unsure if it was just because she had found a member of the Lulamoon family, or the filly had gained her attention some other way. Whatever the reason, she now had a student, and she was not going to waste the opportunity. Soon she found herself in front of her new student’s room and after greeting the guard with a few clicks and chirps that had taken her years to master with vocal chords not meant to make those noises, she entered Trixie’s room.

Inside Twilight found essentially the same thing she had left when she made the room all those years ago to house the student she knew she would one day take. But the decor of the room wasn’t the reason she was here, so she quickly moved to the bed and tapped the filly Trixie on the shoulder to get her attention as Twilight spoke the filly’s name. “Trixie Lulamoon, it is time to awaken so we may begin your lessons.”

Unfortunately, the filly did not seem as enthusiastic as Twilight would have been to hear such words at that age. Beatrix only turned over in her sleep and mumbled something about “five more minutes.” before pulling the covers over her head to try and block the light Twilight was emitting from her horn.

Twilight, however, only rolled her eyes and lowered her horn closer to the filly’s head and gave it a gentle tap. A quick spell later and suddenly Trixie was wide awake and breathing heavily, having just experienced quite the scare in the dreamworld to get her up. “Ah, good, you are awake my student. It is time to begin your lessons. If you have any morning rituals you would like to take care of, please do so quickly, I will wait for you near the door if you do.

Beatrix quickly located the adjoining bathroom to her new bedchambers and went about some simple tasks to keep up her hygiene and then left the bathroom to join her new teacher. “Trixie is ready for her lesson now Twilight, what amazing powers of the cosmos shall you teach Trixie to wield tonight?”

That got Twilight to flash a wry smile as she lit up her horn and teleported the both of them outside. Luckily for Beatrix, it was no longer her first time teleporting, and she had yet to have breakfast, so there was nothing in her stomach to empty out this time even if she had needed to. “While I appreciate the eagerness to learn, my student, overconfidence will only burn you in the future. Tonight I will find out what you know about the arcane arts so I may know where to start with your teachings. So, please, Trixie Lulamoon, tell me what you know of magic.”

Beatrix thought for a moment, and eventually brought forth the hat that still adorned her head so that she could show off the pocket dimension she had learned how to create. Unfortunately, Twilight did not seem at all impressed by Beatrix’s display, and quickly held up a hoof to forestall further displays of Beatrix’s prowess.

“I see that you did not understand what I meant, Trixie. I intended to find out what you knew of the origin of your own powers, but it seems I will have to explain it to you. Magic is performed when someone draws mana from somewhere to do something, usually casting a spell. Most mana is drawn from the land, but almost everything has mana inside it, so really it can be drawn from just about anywhere. Usually a pony aligns themselves with the different types of mana that exist, allowing them to gain mastery over the things that mana can do. These different types of mana align with the Elements of Harmony, which are Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, and Kindness. You can align yourself with one of these, multiple of these, or even none of these, though when you are able to align yourself with all five you become aligned with the sixth element, Magic itself.”

Beatrix was stunned for a moment as she tried to take in all this new information. She seriously had never heard any of this before. All she knew was that if she thought hard enough about something and pushed magic to her horn, sometimes she was able to get things to happen. She decided to ask the most pressing questions she had after such an information dump. “What kind of mana do you think Trixie is aligned with then?”

“It is hard to say for sure with you at such a young age, but if I had to guess, your current goal of becoming a stage performer would cause you to become aligned with Laughter so that the magic you perform will come easily to you and entertain your audiences.”

“What kind of mana has Trixie already used to perform her tricks?”

“I have not seen all your tricks yet, but the pocket dimension you showed me is a form of mana that is unaligned, as it has no basis in the Elements of Harmony.”

“What kind of mana are you aligned with?”

That got Twilight to smirk again, “I told you before that I was the Alicorn of Magic, that was not a bluff. Aligning myself with any one type of mana did not agree with me even when I was your age, as such I saw fit to align myself with all of them and become aligned with Magic itself.”

“Do you think Trixie can accomplish that?”

“I cannot say for sure, and as it is not necessary for my plans for you, I will not be pushing you explicitly towards that goal, but I certainly will not try to dissuade you from pursuing that path.”

“What would Trixie have to do to become aligned with Magic?”

Twilight smirked again, quickly making itself a facial expression Beatrix was worried to see. “For now, you listen to what I have to say, so that your understanding of the arcane grows enough to figure it out for yourself.”

Beatrix slumped over and groaned at that, but quickly glanced back up to try and give her best attentive look to her teacher. She really wanted to learn how to do any of the cool things she’d seen Twilight do.

Twilight smiled sympathetically at that, and quickly began another lecture, something that seemed quite natural for the mare. “First of all, I said the main thing mana is used for is to cast spells, let’s go over what I meant by that, as there are different types of spells. The easiest to understand are those under the school of sorcery, when you use one of these spells, you call it into action, it does its effect, and then any trace of it goes away after the effect finishes. Things like my teleportation fall under this category. Next is the enchantment of places. Oftentimes we want a spell to keep its effect up after we cast it, to achieve this effect we usually place it on an area so that anyone nearby will experience the effects we desire. These can be helpful or harmful, depending on what we want to achieve, my castle for example has quite a powerful enchantment placed on it to instill a sense of fear in anyone I did not invite into it.”

“Trixie thinks she’s heard of enchantments before, isn’t the spell placed on her hat one of those?”

Twilight seemed genuinely excited to answer the question, like teaching was really what she wanted out of life, and not the domination of the most powerful country in the world. “An excellent question my student, but your hat actually falls under the category of artifact creation. This is achieved in a similar fashion to enchanting, but to create an artifact you cast a spell to be activated whenever you wish on an object, instead of on a place to be felt by those in its radius. Oftentimes we achieve this reactivation by pouring a certain amount of mana into the artifact again, but sometimes we just need to manipulate the object in some way, like pressing a button. Otherwise we can also set a timer so that the object casts the spell automatically whenever a certain amount of time has passed. Your hat falls into the first category, since to place an object in, or draw one out, you need to use a small amount of mana to achieve the effect.”

“Trixie thinks she understands, are there any other types of spells she needs to know about?”

“Yes actually, the final type of spells are those of summoning. Spellcasters often can not do everything on their own, so they’ll call upon allies to help them with whatever they’re trying to achieve. Usually these creatures become quite disoriented when called upon, so you’ll need to give them time after summoning them before you’re able to ask them to do things for you.”

“After being teleported twice without being ready for it, Trixie thinks she understands the sentiment.”

That actually pulled a girlish little giggle out of the alicorn, which seemed quite out of place coming from the ancient and mysterious alicorn. “Yes, I suppose you would, sorry about this morning by the way, I was just eager to get sleep, since I was excited to teach you tonight. Now, if you would like to continue what you started earlier, I’d like to see what type of magic you can perform already.”

There was no need to ask Beatrix twice, no matter who or what stood before her, the stage called, and she would not deny it. “Stand back and be amazed! As the Great and Powerful Trixie performs feats of magic greater than any witnessed by pony eyes!” She announced as she got onto her hind hooves and threw her forehooves over her in a grand gesture. But as she prepared to cast the spell to conjure fireworks she normally would at this point, something unexpected happened. A wave of rainbow light washed over the sky and passed the two ponies, and soon a sonic boom followed it, startling Beatrix.

The fireworks Beatrix had meant to cast quickly became a much larger issue than they ever would be, as they flew out of control, and detonated in much larger and dangerous explosions than they ever would. Soon Beatrix was faced with terrifying flashes of light rushing straight towards her, and she would have nothing to blame but her own spell work for the burns she was sure to receive from such explosions. But just as suddenly as everything seemed to be going wrong, large lavender wings enveloped her and kept her safe, which also had the added side-effect of canceling any more of the dangerous fireworks from being fired off.

Eventually, after the worst of the runaways spells had been cleared up, the wings encircling Beatrix drew away, and allowed her to see that even her teacher was unharmed by the explosions. “Trixie is so sorry!” She exclaimed immediately, hoping that her teacher would not dismiss her on her first day for the shoddy display of control. “Trixie was distracted by that rainbow light and lost control of her magic, please don’t send her away!”

A forehoof came up to forestall Beatrix’s worried ramblings. “It is alright Trixie, something similar actually happened to me the first time I tried to perform magic in front of others, though, the cause of my outburst was admittedly much less impressive. I am not mad, and am just glad I was able to keep you safe in time, you are alright yes?”

Beatrix just nodded, before overcoming her instinctual apprehension with the alicorn before her, and jumping at her chest in a hug. “Thank you so much Twilight, no one has ever cared enough about Trixie before to stop her from getting hurt, and now you’ve done it twice in just as many times as prolonged conversation with Trixie!”

Twilight was surprised at first by the contact, not used to being so close to anyone but Chrysalis in many centuries, but quickly allowed a hoof to come to rest on the filly’s back. “It’s alright Trixie, as long as you are my student, I will not allow you to come to harm that I do not deem necessary for your training, or that I can easily protect you from. Though, I think you may want to look at what your out of control magic has caused.”

Beatrix glanced up, and quickly backed up from the alicorn again, now realizing what she had done, then glanced around. A cursory glance around the clearing revealed nothing, and even scrutinizing the surrounding area more closely just revealed the same rocky area that had been there when they first arrived. “Trixie does not get it, what did you want Trixie to see?” Instead of a verbal response, Twilight just pointed at the filly’s flank. “Huh, you want Trixie to look at her own backside? Fine, but Trixie does not see what this will accomp- ” Beatrix suddenly no longer wanted to speak, as there adorning her flanks was her own cutie mark.

In the background of the image now adorning Beatrix’s flank was a sweep of blue in the shape of a crescent, like a wave a magic being flung from the object in the foreground. Which happened to be a wand with a shape that Beatrix had only learned the name for earlier today topping it. Right there on her flank was a 5-pointed star proudly proclaiming that whatever her destiny was, it was tied to the alicorn who was now her teacher.

“Congratulations my student, but before you explode with excitement over your achievement, would you sit with me in silence while the sun sets?” Beatrix admittedly did not want to acquiesce to that request, but nodded reluctantly anyway as she took a seat at the alicorn’s side.

Finally, the sun sank below the horizon, and the moon began to come up to replace it. Then, Twilight’s horn began to glow for a purpose unknown to Beatrix. Beatrix opened her mouth to question the alicorn, but that was when Twilight spoke. “I know you must have even more questions than when we started my student, but first, look up and tell me what you see?”

Beatrix was confused by the request, but acquiesced to it nonetheless, and when she glanced up she couldn’t help but lose her breath again for the third time that morning. The sky was beautiful! There were so many bright lights to fill up the usually daunting darkness of the night. Everywhere Beatrix looked something just seemed to grab her attention more and more, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Finally, a chuckle brought Beatrix’s eyes back down to her teacher, where she found Twilight’s eyes filled with mirth at Beatrix’s reaction to seeing the stars for the first time. “Those are the stars? Ponies all those centuries ago must have really been idiots to cause you to hide such beauty away from them!”

That got Twilight to adopt a more somber expression, undoubtedly thinking of events long passed. “For now Trixie Lulamoon, you do not even know the half of it. But dwelling on the past is not why I showed you the stars. For now, I just wanted to show you what your new mark came from, because you’re likely the first pony in a millennium to gain a cutie mark with a star on it. I also am aware that you probably have many things on your mind at the moment, but right now I need to investigate the cause of that rainbow light. It could be important that you gained your cutie mark after it passed over us.”

“You’re leaving Trixie already? But Trixie didn’t even get to learn any new magic!”

Twilight sighed then, but did not relent in her decision to leave. “Yes, I know, and I’m sorry we must part ways this early. For now, I have some reading that I would like you to get through in your room which you will find on your bed. You are also welcome to tour the castle while I am unavailable, anywhere you are not currently allowed to be, a changeling guard will prevent you from going. If you need any help getting around, ask one of the guards to summon Spike, I’m sure he would be willing to help out if he’s around like I asked him to be.”

“Spike? Didn’t you say that was your dragon half-brother or something? How can he even move around the castle?”

Twilight chuckled again, almost in a condescending manner. “Oh, not all dragon species grow to the size you’re probably thinking of. Though, even if he did grow to that size, we would have found a way to stay under the same roof, we’ve been through too much together to allow any other option. Goodbye for now Trixie Lulamoon.” And with that Trixie found herself back in her room in the castle, though, she felt like she might finally be getting the hang of this teleporting thing. Then she collapsed to the floor and almost passed out… Okay, maybe she still needed some time for that one.