Penance

by Cool Carth

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Trixie
Length: 3851

Luna tells Trixie about their shared history.

After wrecking Ponyville for the second time in under a year, Trixie is summoned to a meeting with Princess Luna. What she assumes to be a punishment turns out to be a chance at self-improvement.

Published 2020-07-14 08:30:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-07-14 08:30:00 UTC

Meeting

Trixie eyed the castle nervously. Canterlot was never somewhere she'd stayed for long - guards here actually asked if she had a performance license - but she wasn't a stranger either. As a filly her parents had taken her to see the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot a few times, so she was familiar with both the city and the castle grounds. What unnerved her, however, was the way the outside of the castle looked after dark.

Gone were the crowds she saw at the Celebration and the random civilians and nobles she would expect on a business day. The light of the moon cast deep shadows over everything and gave everything unconcealed a darker tint than in the daytime. Trixie also noticed less guardstallions than on her previous visits. She couldn't tell if security was decreased as castle activity slowed or if the bat-winged night guards were simply better at blending into the shadows. Nopony really knew what the night guard did as they were only reestablished after Nightmare Moon's defeat and Princess Luna's return, but the stories of them that survived suggested they worked largely from the shadows. Trixie thought it was beyond creepy but tried to conceal any shakes of fear by keeping most of her body under her cloak.

Trotting up to the castle, Trixie felt naked without the weight of her wagon pulling behind her. In all of her years on the road it had been her one constant companion, although she would never admit to being attached to it. I shouldn't be this nervous she thought, I only left it in front of the gates. Trixie didn't dare look back at it for fear that the night guards could sense fear. Unconsciously, Trixie saw those yellow, cat-slitted eyes and immediately felt like she was prey in the presence of a predator. Despite having invitation to enter the castle she couldn't help feeling a sense of fear.

Or maybe it's more than just those strange guards Trixie thought. Maybe my adventures in Ponyville have just fried my nerves. After both the incident with the Ursa and the Alicorn Amulet Trixie was not feeling particularly confident. Shown up twice by Twilight Sparkle and made the laughingstock of Ponyville. What had she done wrong? Okay, maybe enslaving the town was wrong. But I wasn't in control of my actions! Not entirely at least...

Trixie was so enamored with her thoughts that she almost slammed muzzle-first into the castle gates. She was surprised none of the guards had said anything to her. Shouldn't they stop ponies well before now?

"Hello, Trixie Lulamoon."

Trixie jumped. Turning around, she saw the voice that had called her. Princess Luna, as silent as ever, had appeared behind her. Her dark blue coat blended in well with the dark, making her nearly invisible when she wanted to be. Trixie wondered if she flew down from a window, or maybe teleported behind her. No, I didn't notice any flashes. But how does she hide the shimmering mane?

Trixie realized that she was standing there staring at Luna. Standing and staring at a princess. Standing and staring at the princess who just addressed me directly!

Trixie quickly bowed down, levitated off her cap and responded. "Your highness, it is an honor to be in your presence. I thank you for inviting me to the castle tonight."

In reality, Trixie was terrified that she had been summoned to the castle. Normally a princess inviting somepony to meet them in person at the castle was a dream come true, but circumstances were different for Trixie. Getting a summons with no stated reasoning from the Princess of the Night herself was odd on its own, as she was something of a recluse since her return. However, getting summoned right after wrecking Ponyville? It left her a bit nervous for their meeting.

"Rise, Trixie, and follow me. We shall be meeting in private tonight. I would like to talk to you about your recent exploits in Ponyville."

Trixie supposed that made sense. Why use the entire royal court when it was just Luna judging her. Equestria had courthouses and typically had juries for lesser cases, but when a princess was involved there was no room for debate. Their words were law.

But why is Luna judging me? I attacked Celestia's student, not hers. Was she the judge before her banishment?

The walk was largely uneventful. Trixie's eyes adjusted to the darker interior of the castle and she thought she could see the night guards hiding in the shadows. They never stayed in one place long enough for her to be sure, however. Instead Trixie looked at the beautiful design of the castle. She had never been anywhere beyond the entrance of the castle before and had assumed the entire palace was a white and gold like the outside. But this section seemed different. It was filled with blues and purples befitting the Moon Princess, as opposed to the sunny rest of the castle. Inside were many tapestries of the night sky and Luna herself standing opposite stained glass windows showcasing her exploits. Trixie didn't recognize any of the scenes playing out before her. She wondered how Luna could vanish completely from the public mind when her sister was still in power, then she noticed that there were no references to Nightmare Moon. Not a tapestry, window, statue or anything. This wing has to have been here since before Luna's banishment. 1000 years and that story's never been recorded in stone.

It was then that they came towards the end of a long hallway. Luna stopped beside a door and turned to open it. As she did, Trixie noticed the last window, facing this room. It seemed newer than the others, although not because it looked cleaner. No, this window was the only picture of Nightmare Moon in the entire lunar wing. It, like it's counterpart in the solar wing, depicted the fall of Nightmare Moon at the hooves of the Elements of Harmony. However, where the other glass showed the Elements fighting Nightmare Moon, this window showed the aftermath of two long-lost siblings reuniting.

I wonder which sister put it in.

As they entered the room Trixie expected some kind of judicial hall, or a room with a desk where she would be interrogated. She was not expecting a library.

The personal library of Princess Luna was just as beautiful as the rest of the castle. The library was spacious and had two tiers, with catwalks running across the upper level between the sides. The walls and ceiling sparkled like the night sky, filled with gems that were enchanted to shine like the stars above. In the center of the ceiling was a large, crescent moon-shaped gem which provided a deceptive amount of light while still keeping the the room's appearance of eternal night. Along the walls were shelves containing all sorts of books and scrolls interspersed with couches for reading. In the middle of the first floor were long crystal tables with matching chairs that could accommodate many ponies.

"Sit wherever you would like," Luna said "and feel free to hang up your hat and cloak over there." She gestured to a coat rack near the entrance. "I apologize for the lack of servants to take your things, but I've always enjoyed this library as a place to truly be in private."

"Thank you, your majesty." Trixie said as she took off her things.

"Please, in private call me Luna. I don't wish to make this meeting more formal than it needs to be." Luna said, "I also hope you don't mind if I change as well?"

Without waiting for a response, Luna started to shimmer and slowly changed. First, her ethereal mane began to shrink in size and become more clear until it disappeared entirely to reveal a short, light blue mane. Her coat shifted as well, changing from the dark blue to a pale blue very similar to Trixie's own, albeit still spotted black around her cutie mark. While both of these changes took place the mare herself shrank. Not quite down to Trixie's eye level, but much closer to her size than before.

Trixie, who had been sitting down when this happened, stared with a chair pulled out in her magic grasp as the transformation shocked her. It wasn't shocking like the transformation of a changeling, rather Trixie was confused about the new look. The princesses were more powerful than normal ponies and were fittingly much bigger than normal ponies. For Luna to be so small was... odd.

"I will never understand how my sister can be comfortable in that form for so long. Are you alright, Trixie?" Luna inquired. "I had been told you were somewhat more talkative than this." Luna said with a slight smile.

"Oh uh I, um was just feeling a bit..." Trixie stammered.

"Nervous?" Luna asked politely. "What ever for?"

Trixie squirmed in her seat as Luna took hers across from her. How could she tell a princess she was scared of her?

"Well, Princess Luna, It's just that I'm not quite sure why I've been called here." Trixie said truthfully. "I thought this would be some kind of trial for what I did in Ponyville but now I'm not so sure. This doesn't really feel like I'm being judged."

"Oh I assure you Trixie, you are being judged. Yet not in the sense of trying to determine a punishment."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll get to that soon. I had hoped to make you feel more relaxed although social skills have never been my strongest suit. So: how do you feel about what has happened in Ponyville?" Luna questioned.

"I feel deeply remorseful. " Trixie said, trying to appease Luna like a foal caught doing something bad. "What I did was foolish. Many ponies got hurt because of my desire to beat Twilight Sparkle." Trixie hung her head, hoping Luna would let her off easy.

"Yes, the temptation of such a thing has a strong pull on the mind. But the incident with the Alicorn Amulet was not the only time a ruckus has sprung up around your appearance in Ponyville. Tell me, how do you feel about your first encounter with Twilight Sparkle?"

Trixie looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, that was what led to the latest incident. I shouldn't have bragged so much about my abilities." Trixie once again looked remorseful.

"Oh come now Trixie, do you think you can fool me that easily? Tell me how you really feel." Luna said.

"What? But I really do feel bad about what happened!" Trixie protested.

"You told the truth about the Alicorn Amulet, but keep your true feelings about the Ursa Minor incident hidden." Luna accused. "Please, Trixie, I'm not here to punish you. I simply wish to know how you feel."

Trixie swallowed. She couldn't tell a princess this and expect her to understand, could she? But as she looked at Luna, she felt she was with somepony she could trust. Somehow, Trixie was able to forget for a second that she was talking with a princess and let out emotions she had been holding in for months because she knew nopony would listen.

"You're right. I don't really feel bad about the first incident. Well, I feel bad about the Ursa but..." Trixie struggled to find her words. Luna waited patiently for her. "Well, I'm a performer! How can I feel bad about bragging when it's my job? I don't really think I'm the greatest unicorn of all time, that's absurd!" Trixie relented.

"So you believe none of that incident was your fault?" Luna asked with a neutral expression.

"Well ok, maybe I did some things wrong. I might've been a little too harsh when showing up those hagglers. What was I supposed to do? If I don't at least prove neigh-sayers wrong I'd go out of business!" Trixie tried to explain herself. "And then that Twilight Sparkle had to show me up with those insane magical talents of hers. I'm just a stage magician, I don't expect ponies to believe everything I say. But then she goes and does something that would make an alicorn sweat in front of the whole town! Uh, no offense." Trixie smiled.

"None taken. Although I think you underestimate the amount of power needed to move the moon. " Now it was Luna's turn to smile. "But I understand your feelings, Trixie."

"You do?" Trixie was genuinely curious.

"Certainly. I know quite well the feeling of being considered the lesser of two ponies." Luna said. "And I also know what that can do to a pony. I don't think you are a bad pony for what you did Trixie, but I also don't think you are guilt free."

Trixie was shocked. Was she really being told that Luna herself thought she was a good pony after all she'd done? All she'd heard these past few weeks was jeering and hatred from ponies who had heard about the Alicorn Amulet incident. She'd just gotten used to it, along with the poor turnouts for all her shows.

"Then why am I here?" Trixie asked. "Did you just want to talk?"

As weird as it sounded, that was the only reason Trixie could think of from what Princess Luna had told her so far.

"Not exactly," Luna answered. "Although that was part of it. Trixie, do you believe in fate?"

Trixie was confused once more. "Fate? Like, how ponies get cutie marks for what they're good at?"

"That is a part of it. But fate is much more than the force that drives ponies to discover their cutie marks. 'Fate' or 'Destiny' as most cultures perceive it is a force of sorts that guides ponies towards certain paths in their life. It subtly and invisibly pulls the strings behind the curtain to make ponies move as it wishes. I am not sure if such a thing truly exists, but there are similar forces which I can confirm do indeed exist."

Luna turned and levitated a book off of one of the shelves. It was old yet well-cared for and Trixie couldn't read the title on the cover. Luna opened the tome to a page she had bookmarked and stared at it for a moments without showing it to Trixie.

"Tell me Trixie, did you learn your unicorn magic from books or from practice?" Luna asked.

"Umm, a little of both. I mostly learned from watching my parents but I know how to read book magic pretty well. That's how I learned some of my fireworks spells."

"Well, I doubt 'pretty well' will be enough to read these, but that may be a good thing." She showed the book to Trixie.

Trixie's eyes widened. These spells were more advanced than anything she'd ever seen! She'd bet even Twilight Sparkle would have trouble reading these!

"This is an old spellbook Celestia and I received as a gift from our mother, long ago. It contains many spells that the Alicorn Tribe invented before they were driven away from Equestria by the Draconequui. This book and its derivatives are never allowed in public libraries and any found copies of the spells within are either destroyed or brought to Canterlot. In short, this is a very secret spell, so I wouldn't recommend sharing knowledge of it around."

Trixie gulped and nodded. She got the message.

"Good. Now, onto this spell itself. This spell adds a... 'gravity' to certain objects. Now hold on." She held up a hoof as Trixie's mouth opened. "It will make sense soon. This is not a literal attraction, but a force, much like fate, that makes it so that an event is very likely to happen. The more powerful the caster the more likely this event will come to pass, yet few mortal unicorns could even attempt this spell. Only alicorns have ever been able to cast it, and it is one my sister and I are quite familiar with. I know she's used it a number of times to nudge her students in the right direction. Do you understand so far?" Luna paused.

"I... think so." Trixie made a face. "I'd always been told that spells to change destiny, like cutie mark spells, were next to impossible."

"Cutie marks are a very strong magic. I do not know if it's possible to change something such as that, yet these small attractions are both far simpler to change and much more powerful." Luna continued her explanation. "I know my sister became quite familiar with these spells in the past millennium to keep the kingdom running smoothly when she couldn't make up for all of my duties. I, too have found a recent use for this spell. During my thousand year banishment I was not fully corporeal, yet I was completely conscious."

"What do you mean by not 'fully corporeal'? Like, you were that misty stuff ponies say appeared the night of your return?"

While Luna didn't appreciate the interruptions, she was at least glad Trixie was no longer scared of her.

"No. I should say I was not within this world, and was instead in a pocket dimension that seems to have been connected to the moon." Luna corrected herself.

"Like those stories about a magic earth pony who has a blue box that's bigger on the inside?" Trixie asked.

"No, it was a large open area, stuck in eternal daylight with a large tree in the center, bigger than Twilight's library. There were some odd creatures there who at first appeared to be foals, but acted quite oddly. They wore otherworldly masks and wanted to know what I thought it meant to "do the right thing". I distanced myself from them very quickly. I once thought Celestia made that area to torment me with an eternal noon and questions of "friendship", yet something about those creatures has made me wonder if the space existed before my banishment... no matter. Back to the point." Luna realized they had become sidetracked.

"Whilst on the moon, I plotted how I would make my return to Equestria. Expending my energy on the seal seemed only to make it stronger, so I quickly stopped and tried to think of a solution. Eventually I remembered learning this spell with Celestia years ago and began to make use of it. First, I set it so that the stars' alignments would move slightly to form a leyline leading to the moon so I could make my escape. I could normally move them as I pleased, but Celestia had anticipated that and designed the banishment spell to stop my most powerful magics. Changing the stars' orbits was a relatively easy task, yet the event would not come to pass for a long time. Afterwords I still had many centuries left to wait before my return, and I realized that I could extend my influence once more in order to ensure that my return would not be met with another banishment. I put minor power into many spells, some obscuring where I would return, others to weaken Celestia's powers. But the spell I spent the most time on was the one I deemed most important: the spell to create an ally."

"Now, even with my full powers I would not be powerful enough to create life. Nopony can truly create a fully functional life form, although some transmutation magics create constructs that are very difficult to distinguish. They always vanish quickly, however. I knew I would need an ally, even one who didn't know about me, and so I set about creating the circumstances to create one. I wanted a capable unicorn yet one who wouldn't be powerful enough to be taken into Celestia's school. One who would have a strong will and desire to succeed. Most importantly, I wanted her to be a loner that would be easy to sway to my cause quickly once I returned. I poured much energy into spells to bring this about, and Trixie... I think it created you." Luna paused to examine Trixie for any mental damage.

Trixie took it pretty well. "So are you like a third grandma?" Trixie was oddly nonplussed.

Now it was Luna's turn to be shocked. "I... what?" Luna was very confused. After a moment's thought, she saw the logic behind it. "I suppose. I would go with something closer to 'godmother,' personally." Luna pulled herself together. "Is that your only question? I expected this to be quite shocking."

"Well, I suppose being descended from royalty does explain my greatness." Gone was the nervous mare who had walked in thinking she was going to be eaten by a batpony. Having realized she was in no immediate danger, Trixie's ego returned full force.

"You aren't my blood descendant, Trixie. And no, you don't get to be a princess." Luna said.

"Aww, but why not? You even look like me!" Trixie whined.

Luna struggled to reply. She had powered down specifically to make Trixie feel familial, as she suspected she was responsible for Trixie's coat colors. Now, she wasn't sure sharing such information would be a good idea.

"Please focus for a moment, Trixie. I would like to make you an offer."

Trixie calmed down but still had a little smile on her face as she listened.

"I brought you here to see what kind of a pony you are. From what you've shown me you are a mare who wishes to do good but lets her own ego get in her way. You have the capability to do great things, but are unrefined in your talents. If you will allow it, I would like to take you under my wing and help you hone those talents as my personal student."

"Wow, really?" Trixie hoped she wasn't dreaming.

"Would you like that Trixie? It will be much work, yet I know I can help you reach your full potential. You'll be the best magician in all the land by the end of this." Luna boasted.

"Of course!" Trixie responded.

Here's my chance! Trixie thought. I'll show the whole world that Trixie Lulamoon is more than some charlatan!

"Wonderful. Now, you and I shall meet here every week at around - oof!" Luna gasped. Looking down, she saw Trixie had jumped out of her seat to embrace her.

"Thank you so much, Luna! I won't let you down!" Trixie exclaimed.

Luna recovered and smiled genuinely. "You're very welcome, Trixie."

Author's Note

Comments and criticism are welcome! This is based off of some headcanons I had back when I first started watching the show in 2013. It leaves room open for a sequel, but I'm not sure if anything will come of that. The premise is kind of silly and I'm not sure if I could continue it.
This is the first fiction I've written in at least 5 years, so apologies if it's kind of hard to read. I did this just as much to shake off the rust as anything.