Trixie Did Nothing Wrong!
"Wait, Trixie! That spell is too powerful!"
"Don't doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie!!"
******
The light blue unicorn gave a mighty yawn upon awakening, the echoes of her dream fading away. It had been a long week, or a month, maybe a year. It was rather hard to keep track anymore. It could have been a bad decade for all she knew or longer. Either way, she stepped out of bed and gave her body the same old long stretch that had been her routine for… however long she had been doing this. "Just another day in paradise."
Grabbing a towel off the rack, she flung it about before throwing it back on the same rack. Giving no mind to the repeated event and entering the shower. Turning it on presented the first problem of the day. She waited patiently for several moments, minutes, or hours, unsure how long, for its arrival and nothing happened.
"No water... again!!" Trixie yelled into the open air. The shower head remained as dry as her mouth and the rest of her body. Conluding it was going to be another one of those days... again. She gave a long sigh and pulled the towel off drying herself out on pure reaction, throwing it back on the same rack, in the exact same place. It was always the same thing, the same place, the same routine.
She spent the rest of the morning shuffling through her cart for her cloak and her hat until she fell out the door and crashed into a large red earth pony with an apple cart tied to his back. He gave no reaction to her crash, didn't even move. Not that she noticed, screaming at him. "Will you please stop barracking Trixie every morning?"
He gave no reply. He never did, and she waited several minutes for a response, or was it hours? Again, time had become rather hard to track now. "Hello!" She shoved him rather hard, and he never budged. Turning to his little sister sitting just as still in the pile of apples, Trixie screamed like a wild animal, tossing out every offensive comment she could think involving her hatred for apples. And still no response from either of them.
Huffing, she left to two alone, frozen in place. The greatest mare in the town had more important things to do today than concern herself with a stubborn pair of apple farmers. She made her way to the nearest source of running water in the town. Or rather the completely still water of the river. Dipping her head down and taking a drink. Quickly she pulled back in revilement as the wild taste and the minerals. "Such stuff is not worthy of lingering in Trixie's mouth." She spat, and the spit froze the moment it left her mouth. Her eyes glared at it and the several other floating waste of spit from every time she went for a taste on previous days... previous months... "Is somepony mocking the Great and Powerful Trixie?!" The flawless mare didn't have time nor care to count how many attempts were made.
"Stupid water! Trixie commands you to start flowing again!" Her demands were pointless as the water refused to flow again, staying as still as everything else. "Fine!" She jumped into it, only to not sink at all. Trixie, in all her magnificent glory, found herself walking upon the surface like some blessed alicorn of legend. She blushed, cheered, and puffed up her chest at her accomplishment. "Ha, Trixie has proven her legendary status."
However, now the taste for food lingered in her mouth. Her stomach didn't growl, rather she couldn't remember the last time it ever did so. But occasionally a feeling best akin to taste lured her toward the nearest source of food. Walking off the stream and back onto the solid ground, she spotted the cucumber bar. A large yellow and purple striped building with a rather attractive waiter she had been trying to woo. The owner was a nice enough mare, but her prize was on that fine stud.
As she approached the stall, she found herself in a very familiar situation. "Hey!" Trixie snapped, glaring at the absolute silence. "Trixie is here!" Her hoof tapped the bell multiple times, but not a single echo came from it, nor was there any reply from the stall. Just like last time... and the other times. The sign above her head said open. She could even see workers inside making cucumber sandwiches. Or rather they stood so still, halfway between making them and wrapping them for takeout.
She stared at them, hoping they would move faster. They never moved at all. Not a single inch, cucumbers floating in the air between pieces of bread yet to be laid upon them. The sight was so intense that it left her drooling the remaining spit from the stream. Yet no matter how long she stood there, no order came to her. Her favorite waiter, a yellow unicorn with blue hair held up two plates of cucumber sandwiches, right in her view. However, he never came forward to present them to her.
The echoes of the memories of smell lingered in her nostrils and her mouth. The taste was driving her crazy even if no hunger burned in her stomach at all. She wanted those cucumber sandwiches so badly, but the waiter never moved and the owner stood still. It was all the same. Every time she came to the stand, they never reacted.
"Stupid sexy unicorn, Trixie commands you bring forth the sandwiches and offer them to her!" She demanded, but still no response. The memories of smell were overwhelming her now, the taste was so close. If she could just reach over the counter to them. The distance was too much, and the upper window prevented her from simply jumping inside.
Frustrated and annoyed, Trixie would wait forever if it meant getting a sandwich delivered by the handsome stud. She gave a long sigh and sat patiently. Only for her to give up after what she assumed was an hour and left. The taste had faded and the moment with it. She would have to try again next time.
Trixie wandered aimlessly through the town and took in the sights. There was something profoundly wrong, very, very wrong, but she didn't care at all. She viewed it all with the same level of demeanor as she did every day. Glancing at each scene like they were quick and perfect snapshots, an eerie tableau frozen in the bright moments of everyday life. And Trixie was the only one moving through it all.
Three strong pegasi, their wings outstretched, were caught mid-flight in a game of frisbee. Their faces remained imbued with that carefree joy only a sunny day could inspire. She wanted to smile with their faces, and give into the joy they had each day she passed by them. However, she felt only a hollow pang of boredom. She tapped the frisbee while crossing under it. It stayed motionless in the air.
Three flower mares stood not far off, their expressions radiating admiration for the three players. One had her mouth open mid-gasp, frozen in her delight, while another had her foreleg raised as if she were about to gesture enthusiastically. The last one was shaking her rear end, her eyes fixed on the male pegasi's muscles. Trixie gave a bold sneaker and slapped the bottom, no reaction came. The unicorn huffed at the lack of a pissed-off mare screaming at her. No, just like every time she passed them, they continued to watch the still event in front of them.
She turned her gaze toward a nearby shop boasting a spectacular sale. The fashion mare, adorned in her stylish ensemble, presented her colorful array of clothing with a constant unfading exuberant flair, her smile dazzling yet tense against the backdrop of her sister’s struggle to hold everything up. Trixie stopped by and watched with anticipation, waiting for the filly's will to break and drop all the clothes over the ground. The poor younger sister was caught in place with the throes of burden, stacked high with boxes, a painful grimace etched on her face as she wobbled under their weight. Any more and all of it could come crashing down, all she needed to was wait... and wait... and wait. Again, nothing happened.
Trixie sighed and began walking away, her gaze shifting back to the main road, which was full of ponies. A mother and her child, the mother had a wide grin across her face, a look of utter delight and affection for her son and his spinning hat, a sight that brought warmth and longing to Trixie's heart.
Next, she noticed the cutest of scenes between two young mares, who floated mid-gallop, hooves clasped together, their gazes locked in some spark of romance that shimmered just out of reach. They appeared to be lost in one another’s eyes, blissfully unaware of the world's stillness around them, frozen in a moment that Trixie wished she could step into. She wanted to throw them apart and maybe kick some mud in one of their faces. But each attempt resulted in the same, they wouldn't fall, tip or crash. In plain sight were her previous attempts to lift the mud up, only for it to freeze midway in the air the second it left her hooves.
These images, these moments, were nothing but mundane snippets of life, stuck in motion. She quickly grew tired of them. With a flick of her mane, she turned down another street, hoping to find something that would ignite her spirit. She wanted to feel alive, to be swept into an experience that wasn’t frozen and stale.
Well, there was one group of frozen figures that always made her laugh. Stopping to take the moment in, she giggled and slowly broke into a long fit of laughter. It was a scene of the annoying pink pony rushing over to save a black pegasus stallion with white hair as the derpy mare accidentally dropped a massive piano, ten boxes of broken glass, and thirty spears on him, all three trapped in the moment before his very gruesome death. "This Thunderlane truly has worse luck than Trixie."
The scene was so funny. It was almost worth it just to watch the freak-out faces stuck in place. All unmoving and unflinch, but pressed firm with total fear and panic. She could stare at their failures for hours, or days, maybe months. Again, it long became impossible to track. Especially with the Sun in the same view, unmoving as much as them.
"Trixie will never get bored of you," she told them, calming down her giggles. However, soon enough she did though and turned her attention to her final destination, the Castle of Friendship. Seeing it get closer, she put on a strong and bold posture, moving with a mission. Her hooves stomped loudly as she climbed the steps and burst the doors open.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived!!" she bellowed as she made her grand entrance. No answer or reply of any kind, not even from the apple mare and the rainbow mare, stuck in mid-motion just before reaching the entrance. Her eyes scanned the opening scene of the two stuck in place before giving her commentary. "Applejack, Applejack, you attempt this every day!" She pranced around the two of them, as they never responded. "You'll never beat her!" She pointed at Rainbow Dash, a few centimeters ahead of the apple mare. "It's not like you can ever reach Trixie's epic glory either!" She gestured back to herself with a prideful dance before leaving the two alone.
She continued into the castle, passing through the kitchen with a dragon dripping a griffin over his leg and passionately making out with her. Both locked in a bright red blush, leaning over a boutique of flowers. The two are eternally stuck together in a blissful sweet moment, frozen like everyone else. Upon spotting the boutique, Trixie quickly trampled them and screamed, "Get a room, you two freaks!" They didn't reply, or react at all. Even as she attempted to step into their boutique for the tenth, or hundredth time. She was unsure how many times such a droop sight had left her unamused. She turned away, and despite her work ruined their moment. The flowers were somehow untouched by her destruction.
She moved into the dining room where a large table was set with a wonderful meal. A cake with the words, "Happy 10000th Birthday Princess Celestia." Two alicorn princesses cheered around Celestia while Twilight held the cake. There was a smile on the smaller alicorn's face, but it was also mixed with a sense of confusion and a tiny bit of horror, looking toward something in the map room.
Not that mattered to Trixie just yet. This was her second favorite part of the day, pestering her immobilized rival. "Twilight Sparkle!" She snapped, stomping up to the lavender alicorn and standing right in her face. "Trixie commands you bow down to her and accept that Trixie is the greatest magician in Equestria!" No answer came. So Trixie repeated even louder. "The Great and Powerful Trixie commands you bow down to her and accept that the impossibly beautiful visage standing before you is the greatest magician in Equestria!"
And nothing just as the last time and the time before that and the time before that. So she raised her voice louder and even more powerful, "TRIXIE COMMANDS YOU BOW DOWN TO HER AND ACCEPT THAT TRIXIE IS THE GREATEST MAGICIAN IN EQUESTRIA!!" Still no reply at all, Twilight just kept staring off at something in the map room.
So, Trixie screamed so loudly and angrily that her voice echoed through the entire castle. "TRIXIE COMMANDS YOU!!" The whole place bellowed with her rage and malice, reverberating back and forth until it crashed back into Trixie's ears like a cruel mockery. She took a breath and looked her in the eyes again, raging and growing to its greatest peak.
"TRIXIE COMMAND YOU TO MOVE!!" She roared and shook the alicorn. Twilight didn't even twitch, not a single movement or any response. She kept staring into the map room. After attempting ten, twenty, maybe a thousand more times, she caved and turned toward the source of lavender alicorn's attention.
"You are not worthy of Trixie's presence!!" Still, no answer came. Trixie gave a heavy sigh, tired of screaming at her, and stepped back. She caved and left the dining room, entering the map room. "You win... this time." She mumbled ever so silently to herself.
Moving through the halls slowly revealed the map room, her final destination every day, week, or month. The last spot was where everything finally fell into place and she remembered what started all of this. The room was frozen too, but with one major difference. Her gaze came upon a massive black void.
"You're still getting bigger." She grumbled and glared away from the mass on the ceiling. "It's not like Trixie cares. She's doing nothing important in her life otherwise." Her anger faded upon finding a familiar unicorn mare frozen too, just under the center of the black mass. Seeing her once more popped all sources of pride and valor that Trixie had put upon herself since it happened. All the memories started flooding back.
The final room was suffused with an eerie stillness, broken only by the soft whisper of Trixie’s voice as she sank into her mane, her eyes fluttering shut. After a long moment, she managed to summon the strength to greet her best friend. “Hello, Starlight.” The response she longed for never came. Instead, she was met with an expression frozen in absolute shock and horror, a visage that haunted Trixie like an echo in a lonely canyon.
Her gaze drifted to the ominous scroll lying before them, its edges curling like the tendrils of smoke, a cold weight settled in the pit of her stomach. Clearly displayed upon the ancient parchment the owner of the spell, Starswirl the Bearded. Trixie felt a pang of confusion, not knowing any tales of this legendary figure. Maybe it was somepony her rival, Twilight, was a big fan of.
With hesitant resolve, Trixie stepped further into the room, taking her spot in Twilight's chair. She positioned herself directly across from Starlight, their shadows lengthening as the black mass loomed larger between them, slow and menacing. Trixie couldn't help but feel a surge of irrational bravado. Standing proud among the horrors around her, trying to be a shining beacon.
“Another day in paradise,” she quipped, though the words tasted bitter on her tongue now. As her eyes drifted toward the expanding void, a frown settled upon her features like a heavy cloak. She turned back to Starlight with an exaggerated glare. “What, no reply? You’re getting colder and colder. You used to be so good to Trixie.” Each word dripped with a tinge of longing wrapped in sarcasm, directed not so much at the suffocating darkness, but at the still figure that had been her closest companion.
The silence was maddening and relentless. With every unbroken moment between them, it felt as if the very air conspired against Trixie, a shroud muffling the confessions that maybe could break a reaction from her friend. “Trixie would never say it out loud,” she continued, her voice a soft murmur reflecting the depths of her heart. “But everything you did would bring her joy. Even if it was just hanging out with those other friends... Even around that annoying Twilight. Just the sight of your face... left Trixie fluttering. Sunburst might have stolen your heart... but you stole..." She bit her lip, trying her best to get these words out. "When we were alone... or the few times Trixie nearly slipped out those words...”
The echoes of their shared experiences flooded her mind. It whispered secrets under still skies, and those fleeting moments when their eyes locked with unspoken promises. Rare chances where she nearly stole Starlight's lips from the messy nerd and his rather dashing beard. Each heartbeat drew it closer, taunting her with the pending threat of loss.
No matter the pitch of her speech, Trixie was met with a wall of silence. Starlight remained ensnared in her frozen state, unflinching, oblivious to Trixie's emotional outpouring. The other entity, the black mass, offered no compassion, only a slow, menacing expansion that threatened to engulf what little light remained in the room.
It was always the same. Though Trixie returned time and again, hoping for something to shift, wishing her friend. Neigh, the mare that stabbed her heart with an arrow, might find a way to shake off the paralysis of fate. Every effort seemed a hollow echo. Frustration clawed at her spirit, and desperation turned to resolve. A final spark ignited within her core, demanding an answer. A desperate need to fight for her friend, to breach the silence that shrouded her.
After hours, days, months... years repeating, holding onto her patience with all the pride she had until there was none left to give. Looking up at the massive dark void on the ceiling and turned back to Starlight once more. "Please... say something."
Anger surged through her veins, merging with sorrow and desperation. She winced and flinched, gritted her teeth before letting it all go. “Trixie did not spend millions of years talking to a silent and cruel... no, a hateful best friend, just to have her ignore me!!” Her voice cracked against the unyielding ether, a revelation of vulnerability amidst her facade. Yet, the black mass remained an indifferent witness, untouched by her frustration, untroubled by her heartache.
Trixie stepped down from where she stood, her heart pounding violently against the unyielding wall of silence. Wrapping her forelegs around Starlight, she sought solace in her warmth, a fleeting hope that maybe, just maybe, the connection they shared could break the curse binding time and motion. “Please... answer me,” she whimpered, the words trembling with both longing and dread.
As she nestled against Starlight’s shoulder, a bitter chill engulfed her. A painfully stark contrast to the heat of her tears that began their slow descent down her cheeks. “Starlight... I... I command you to move.” The words clanged against her heart, contrasted by its futility.
“I order you to move!” she cried out again, the desperation escalating, cascading through the hollow framework of her words. But the silence was the unwavering guardian of that moment, her requests ghosting into the stillness like the autumn leaves outside caught in midair, never to touch the ground.
“Please...” Trixie’s voice softened, the edges of her sharp command fading into a quiet plea. “Please... please move." She buried her face into the unmoving shoulder of Starlight, feeling the weight of despair pressing against her. Trixie closed her eyes, a cascade of tears flowing freely as she surrendered to the inconceivable reality that her best friend was trapped in time, an icon of stillness that mocked her anguish.
The world around them remained unfazed; flowers stood motionless, birds perched in treetops with wings poised only for a flight that might never come. Trixie was separate from it all, able to move, plead, and scream, but never connect to that world ever again.
Perhaps there was a ray of truth in her suffering. A cruel echoing of love transcended the frozen moment in time, even when it is met with silence. Turning her attention back to the scroll she stated the obvious that came to her long ago. Her screams of absolute malice and hatred roared out at it, filled with so much shame. She stepped away from her friend and walked back out of the room. She stopped at the door and gave a quick glare back to the black mass above Starlight.
The words were meant for somepony, but she could no longer accept whom. "You killed everypony..." It slipped from her lips so fast, heavy with the weight of betrayal and loss. Each utterance was laced with malice that engulfed her entire being. A visceral response to the truth that had been gnawing at her conscience. Who could she blame but the dark mass above them?
In her friend’s absence, Trixie found herself facing the bitter realities she had tried so hard to escape: the laughter vanished, the magic dulled, and the friendship that once sparkled with the possibility of far more, now lay in tatters. Starlight Glimmer, once vibrant and full of life, seemed a mere shadow of her former self, driven into absolute and utter silence.
“You’re the reason Starlight is ignoring me,” she hissed a the scroll, venom lacing her words. The closing of her eyes, a futile gesture to shut out the world, did little to drown the guilt that pulsed through her veins. It was unbearable, almost suffocating. "You did this!!"
With a heavy heart, Trixie pivoted from the scene, leaving the castle completely and back home. The weight of her accusations lingered over her throat, like a tightened rope. Her only solace from it lay in the small, comforting space of her cart. She jumped inside, a desperate flight from reality, and slammed the door shut with a resounding thud.
“Just another day in paradise. Trixie’s cold and heartless paradise!” she muttered bitterly, wrapping herself tightly in the blankets that felt more like chains than comfort. As she curled up, memories flooded in, but they weren’t the bright, festive recollections of her performances; instead, they were tainted by remorse and despair, swirling in an endless loop of melancholic reflection.
A relentless cycle of forgotten events, or stubborn denial of the problem, quick pitches of laughter for other's trauma, caved into solely so she could ignore her own. The heartbreak and self-loathing that left her feeling powerless. Trixie had become a prisoner of her blame, shackled to the belief that she was not the harbinger of this misfortune. Somepony else was to blame. It was easier to redirect her fury, to blame the shadows above Starlight than to confront the gnawing ache of her mistakes.
And thus, in the cold, heartlessness of her cart, Trixie drifted into an uneasy sleep. Always haunted not just by the shadows of the past but by the glimmering promise of what the future could no longer hold. Maybe one day, surely that one day when time would resume once more. Maybe it could come to pass, and she could accept her failure.
******
