Trixie did not feel at all great and powerful as she slowly slunk back from the middle of the square. Rather, the mare felt an overwhelming sense of vulnerability as she hid herself from the crowds of Ponyville, finding refuge from the public eye in a small alleyway. Once in the shadows, the magician sat down, staring out at Twilight and her friends as they were surrounded by cheering ponies. Watching the praise and affection they received from the townsfolk stirred no envy in her. Her mind was still in shock, her thoughts reeling around in her head like particles in a snow globe.
Trixie was still trying to figure out what had happened. The unicorn gazed fixedly out at the ponies that had helped Twilight thwart her takeover of Ponyville. She saw now what had happened. The age spell was simulated with several different ponies, all made to look like the same two. The duplication spell had been done in almost the same manner, two pegasai made up to look like each other. Trixie’s face fell into a frown as the last few embers of her pride went out.
They had beaten her with stage magic, the one thing she was supposed to have been good at.
Trixie turned away from the town square, open-mouthed and silent as the grave as the mass of ponies behind her talked to one another. The mare didn’t hear them. She pressed her back against the wall, staring blankly ahead. The events that had transpired only minutes earlier played over and over in her mind. More power hadn’t changed anything. She had still ended up humiliated. But not by Twilight Sparkle.
Trixie closed her eyes, grimacing as she put her head in her hooves. Stupid. Loud and stupid. That was the only way she could describe herself as she remembered her defeat. She’d blundered right into that trap, never bothering to give any thought to the situation. Trixie had been so sure of herself, so confident in her abilities, that it had made her stupid. She could have denied Twilight entrance to the newly dubbed ‘Trixieville’ and avoided the whole situation. But she hadn’t.
Trixie looked back out to Twilight and her friends, all now latched together in a group hug. Watching the display of affection only made the magician compare her own behavior towards Twilight’s friends. She hadn’t been kind to them. At the time she had reasoned it was because they had aided in her humiliation with the Ursa incident. But now, upon retrospect, the unicorn remembered she hadn’t been kind to any of Ponyville’s citizens. As hard as she thought, Trixie couldn’t find a reason to justify her behavior.
A tear trickled down her face. Nothing. There was no reason for her to act like she did. Her lips parted to let a quiet sob out into the dark alley. She’d been cruel to everypony. She made them craft banners, statues, even a throne, when she could have easily made them with the power of the amulet. Trixie had flung ponies about, knocked pegasai out of the air, even taken away the power of speech. She remembered everything she had done that day, and with each thought she felt heavier and heavier.
The unicorn sniffled. She deserved the long, lonely years that would follow this defeat. News would spread of her deeds, just as last time. She wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near civilization. The Great and Powerful Trixie would never perform again.
“Trixie?…”
The magician looked up to see two unicorns standing just outside the alleyway; one tall and thin, the other short and stout. Trixie felt guilt take another stab at her heart as she looked at them. She had made them pull her about town in a wagon without wheels. The mare was amazed they were even speaking to her after all she’d put them through.
“Hey Trixie, what’re you doing back there?” said Snips. Trixie turned away from them.
“Hiding…” came the low, miserable voice from the shadows. A minute passed, and the two colts still remained. Snails tilted his head slightly.
“Why?”
“Because…I’m a bad pony.” The mare retreated farther into the alley, wishing that they would go away. But they didn’t. Instead they entered the alley and sat down across from her. The magician was again surprised when she didn’t see any hatred in their eyes. They only held the same enthusiastic respect they had always held when they looked upon her.
“Aw, don’t worry Trixie,” said Snails, “It’ll be alright.”
“This whole thing will blow over by tomorrow,” added Snips. Trixie stared at the two. She knew they weren’t very bright, but the unicorn had assumed they were at least smart enough to understand the magnitude of what she had done.
“I…don’t think it will,” she replied hoarsely.
“Of course it will,” said Snips, “It’ll be fine.”
“Like last time when we brought the Ursa to the town,” said Snails.
“Yeah,” continued Snips, “They were mad at us for a while, but they got over it.” The colts’ naïve smiles did little to comfort the magician. She had taken over and enslaved an entire town. Trixie doubted they would ever ‘get over it’.
“Snips, Snails,” she sighed, “You don’t understand. I’ve been horrible to everypony, and I…” Trixie could find no way to fully describe how rotten she’d been. It hurt to think about what she had done.
“It wasn’t all your fault,” said Snips, “Twilight said that amulet messed with your head.” Trixie’s ears perked up, and she stared wide-eyed at the pale blue colt.
“What?”
“She said it was corrupting you or something,” said Snails. Trixie’s face went blank as she considered this new aspect. If the amulet was corruptive, it might explain her horrid behavior towards the denizens of Ponyville. But rather than feeling relief that her cruelty might not have been all her fault, Trixie began to feel horror. How far would she have gone before she was stopped? How twisted would she have become?
“And you’re sorry, right?” Trixie blinked as she was snapped out of her trance, and looked back to the two colts.
“Of course I am,” she murmured, her expression pained, “I feel terrible.”
“Okay,” said Snails, “I forgive you.”
“So do I,” said Snips.
Trixie gawked at the two. She had figured that they harbored no ill feelings toward her the moment they’d began talking to her, but to hear them actually say that they forgave her…Trixie didn’t think it possible. She searched their faces for some trace of sarcasm, but could find none.
“Just like that?” she muttered once she found her voice again, “You…forgave me?”
“Yup,” said Snails.
“Yeah,” nodded Snips.
The cold, cloudy shame that filled Trixie gave way slightly to a peculiar warmness, one that seemed to emanate from her core. Her frown turned into a faint smile.
“Thank you…” Before she knew what she was doing, she had both of them in a hug. “Thank you both.” They staggered back as the mare released them, both looking stupidly dazed, but at the same time extremely happy. Snails muttered something about liking pudding. After a minute Snips cleared his throat and gave the magician a sheepish grin.
“Um…You’re, uh, welcome,” he said, “No problem. Um, say, do you wanna go with us to the celebration tonight?”
Trixie glanced out hesitantly at all the ponies in the square. She didn’t know if they were as forgiving as Snips and Snails.
But she wouldn’t know if she didn’t try. She looked back to Snips and smiled weakly.
“I…suppose so.”
