Act I: Path of Fomalhaut.

“You did pretty good in there. Celestia doesn’t suspect anything. Though requesting your things back after the dinner...” Summer Fields frowned, rubbing her forehoof along the carry bag. “The journal will be safer with Luna, and she already sealed it, so...”

Trixie glared, spitting her train ticket out of her mouth and pinning it to the ground with a forehoof. “Starswirl’s journal is mine by birthright. I made my conditions for working with Celestia, but...” Trixie reached over and tugged the bag away from Summer Fields, protectively holding it between her forearms. “But if Luna wants to have Trixie’s cooperation, she will meet my conditions.” Trixie’s eyes closed as she tilted her muzzle to the air, flipping her mane.

Summer Fields blinked, her wings flexing. “Geez, you get a small bit of freedom and you’re already trying to run the show.” Summer’s gaze flicked down to the bag then up to Trixie’s closed eyes. “Well... are you going to tell me what they are?”

“No. Trixie will contact Luna on my own terms. Now leave. The Great and Powerful Trixie is tired and desires to wait for my train undisturbed.”

The two mares stood on the empty train platform, illuminated by the full moon that peeked over the mountains. Summer Fields shifted her weight forward. Trixie continued to hold her position, refusing to acknowledge the guard. The pair stayed in their respective positions for a moment, then Summer Fields turned and began the trot back to the Castle.  “Fine, we'll play things your way... for now. Trixie... Starshine.” Summer Fields slipped around the side of the building as she finished.

Trixie flinched at the name, biting her bottom lip as her eyes opened to drink in the night sky. Her tail swept around her legs as she sat, bag before her. A small smile etched itself on her muzzle. “I’ve still got it...”

“Luna? Trixie is reque--”

“I know, Summer.” A faint, bitter smile graced Luna’s lips. “We were friends for several years, after all.”

A loud crack reverberated throughout, the sky, flashing past the floor-length window into Luna’s bedroom. The room grew quiet then as the storm clouds churned, obscuring the moon. Luna tilted her head to the window as thick droplets hammered against the glass..

Summer frowned as another distant bolt lit up the room. Then, taking a hesitant step towards the Princess,  “Luna, you’re doing it again.”

Luna turned away from her companion, ethereal mane flowing as if it felt the winds that were building outside. She didn’t react when Summer Fields sat down beside her and wrapped a forearm around her back. “Luna, I know it’s frustrating, but you need to keep calm. We can’t afford another withdrawal side effect.” Summer slowly slid her hoof along Luna’s spine, humming a simple lullaby as the storm continued to throw its tantrum across the sky, punctuated by flashes of lightning.

Princess Luna didn’t respond, instead favoring silence as she extended a wing over her companion, holding Summer close like a child with their stuffed toy.

“You know she is going to get drenched at this rate,” Summer observed idly, watching puddles form on the balcony.

Luna shook her head, a grim look in her eyes. “Trixie enjoys it... She...” Luna’s gaze dropped from the storm and found them lost in the space between her hooves.

Summer Fields stood on her hind legs and wrapped her hooves around Luna’s head before pressing it against her chest. As the Alicorn relaxed to the sound of Summer Field’s beating heart, the storm ebbed.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Just calm down, Luna. Everything will be okay.” Summer Fields looked out the window, eyes filled with determination as she comforted her charge. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“My, this is rare!” The conductor chirped as he hopped off the train, his hooves kicking up puddles of water. “We never get a pony on the midnight train that isn’t some guard doing their oh so very important business.” He gave an amused waggle of his eyebrows while his cheerful grin threatened to pull his face apart.

Trixie simply stood in the rain, bag held below her barrel, drenched mane hanging limply over the left side of her face.

“Ah, the silent type, I see! Never fear! I am used to dealing with your kind!” He nodded energetically, tipping his hat with a brown hoof that just managed to poke out of his simple, dark

blue uniform. “After all, I see them almost nightly,” he bitterly mumbled under his breath before looking back up with renewed excitement. “Down to business then! Do you have your ticket?”

Trixie cocked her head faintly. The conductor did the same, seemingly oblivious about the storm raging around them as a torrent of rain mercilessly hammered the two ponies.

Trixie unceremoniously thrust a hoof into her bag, rummaging through the objects inside for a few moments before successfully fishing out a golden ticket.

“Ah! First class! Somepony has friends in high places, I see!” With a merry bounce, the stallion hopped forward, taking the edge of the ticket in his mouth. “Ihn yah go!” He slid to the side, taking a low bow while elaborately waving his forearm.

Ignoring the conductor, Trixie bit onto the handles of her bag before trotting into the train with it held below her.

The train was lit only by beams of silvery light that streamed through the windows, broken by the erratic flickering of the storm. Shadows danced on the plush seats, standing witness to the drenched mare as she made her way through the isle. With a small squeak, she plopped down on a middle row seat, her bag positioned next to the window.

Trixie squirmed, letting her hind legs hang off the seat while her body pressed against the back. The train lurched, rocking as it begun to inch forward. Trixie found her eyes drawn to the window as the scenery lurched past at ever-increasing speeds. Gaps appeared in the storm’s canopy as the train left Canterlot behind. Smatterings of stars zipped by as streaks of light, as if the night sky was watching the train with a montage of mocking grins.

Trixie winced and locked her eyes on the back of the seat in front of her. She didn’t react as the conductor made his way ponderously along the aisle, pausing just behind her seat. Trixie tensed, but remained silent.

A towel was draped over her the top of her head, causing the mare to look over the seat at the conductor as he walked past her. He tossed a look in return, the brilliance of his grin matched only by the optimism in his eyes. “Don’t mope. It doesn’t help anypony!”

“I’m not moping,” Trixie moped as her hooves subconsciously kneaded the towel against her mane. She hardened her gaze at the back of the conductor’s head until he slipped out of sight. Nothing changed, a voice in her head whispered. Trixie gritted her teeth. Equestria is still full of arrogance in the form of naive, optimistic idealists that choose to live in ignorance, regardless of the pain they cause. They’d make a martyr out of their neighbors if it meant retaining their own peace of mind the voice idly observed. The weight of the words hung in the air for a moment, as if considering themselves. Doesn’t it just make you... sick to your stomach to see something so blindly abusive? Equestria is drunk on its own fantasies, leaving you to clean up the mess they dare call a ‘society’.

Trixie felt moisture on her chin. She absent-mindedly wiped the offending spot with her towel. A glimmer of red passed through the peripheries of her vision before her sight was consumed by a flash of lightning tearing across the sky.

Everything was dark, the world silent. Even the soft chugging of the train was subdued. Trixie nuzzled into the crook of her forearm, her mind lost in the blanketing haze of deep sleep.

“Trixie?”

Her ear twitched. Half-formed thoughts swum through Trixie’s head as she slowly slipped out of sleep. “Mneeeh...” she grumbled defiantly.

“Trixie...” the voice reverberated above her, bludgeoning through Trixie’s grogginess with a tone equal parts annoyed and nostalgic.

Trixie sat up, reaching for her blanket. However, her hoof grabbed at thin air. Trixie blinked, then then took in her surroundings.

Stars peeked through the windows of the train from clear skies. Shadows stood motionless within the stationary train beside the Ponyville train station. Trixie’s eyes slowly turned right and were introduced to the sleep-deprived eyes of a Unicorn.

Twilight and Trixie stared at each other for a few moments, neither moving.

“You? You’re supposed to be my ‘therapist’?” Trixie rubbed a hoof across her face, “They must be more desperate than I thought.”

Twilight visibly ignored the latter comment with a faint glare, that retreated into confusion. “Um, according to my report; Celestia specifically told you I’d be in charge of your behavior.”

Trixie shrugged. “I didn’t remember your name.”

Twilight blinked, then with a nod of her head, led Trixie down the aisle of the silent train.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight looked over her shoulder as Trixie followed behind, mutely staring at the sky through the windows. “I haven’t seen you since your last visit here, but I distinctly remember you being much more vocal... and, uh, confident.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t follow the papers, Sparkle,” Trixie responded blankly as her eyes followed the path of the new constellations not visible from her tower.

Twilight blushed, looking away. “That’s not what I meant! It’s just... When you left, it’s like you became a completely different mare.”

Twilight began to ramble on about her observations of Trixie’s behavior. Trixie’s eyes glazed over as she tuned her out. Distracted from the stars, whispers echoed through Trixie’s head as a wave of ever-shifting images washed over her consciousness. In the final moment before her thoughts were consumed, a voice whispered in her head. She’s right... for all the wrong reasons.

Crickets chirped in farewell as the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon took its place on the opposite end of the sky, banishing threats of darkness with its sanguine silver glow.

Trixie stood on her stubby hind legs, straining to peek out of her bedroom window. As the moon broke the horizon, its full form sliding out from behind the trees, Trixie’s mouth shifted into an ever larger grin. Her tail twitched, with an elongated squee she pushed her forehooves against the windowsill and leapt at her bed. Bouncing onto the mattress, Trixie beelined to her pillow and shoved her forehooves underneath it, digging around for her treasure.

Her hooves clasped around cool stone and with an elongated squee Trixie pulled the object out from under her pillow. A thin, flat, white stone sat in the filly’s hooves, perfectly round and as large as her head. Trixie’s eyes sparkled as she ran a hoof along the middle, enjoying the sensation of the flawless stone against her fur.

Trixie glanced back to her window, her eyes following the pillar of moonlight that extended from the opening to the corner of her bed. She gripped the stone in both of her forehooves and dragged it to the column of moonlight.

As the light reflected off the stone its surface shifted and rippled like water. Trixie’s breath caught in her throat as she stared intently, her body locked in place. The light faded as the stone slowly shifted, colors swirling through the rippling surface spinning and whirling around each other in a mesmerizing display that filled the room with the shades of a rainbow.

Trixie’s eyes widened as she struggled to comprehend the shifting pool of colors. She slowly started to tip forward into the lights as they enveloped her body with their warmth.

Trixie blinked, her room was dark, her body cold. The lights had retreated back into the stone with such speed that Trixie was forced to wonder if they ever existed at all… a thought she was almost instantly distracted from.

“Hello, Trixie.”

Trixie looked down, snapped back into reality. In place of the lights, she saw a cratered white mass with a starry-maned Alicorn sitting in the middle, smiling up at Trixie through the stone.

Trixie’s grin threatened to overtake her face as Trixie stared at her best friend. “Hai, Princess Luna!”

Luna’s bedroom door was yanked open as the mare in question stomped to her balcony, Summer Fields trailing behind her. Storm clouds rumbled on the horizon as Summer Fields quietly closed the door behind them.

“Every time I deal with those spies my sister dares to call my advisors it makes the moon seem less of a prison and more of a pleasant summer cottage,” Luna seethed as her ethereal mane billowed behind her.

Summer Fields turned from the closed door and faced the princess. “I’ll admit, most of your Night Court is on Celestia’s payroll, but you need to keep in mind what you do have.” Summer paused as she moved to stand next to the princess as they watched the sleeping city. “A few loyal members from within the court. The remaining noble families, and the descendents of your original supporters. As always, you have eyes everywhere, and isn’t that how you operate best?” Summer flashed Luna a confident grin.

Luna smiled weakly while rolling her eyes. “I hardly think eight or so ponies qualifies as ‘everywhere’, Summer.”

“Hmph, maybe, but you have enough of us in the right places, don’t you think?” Summer looked back at the city, following narrow alleyways with her eyes.

Luna inclined her head slightly. “They voted against presenting the idea of stopping Trixie’s medication to the Third Circle.”

Summer slowly turned to look at the Princess, the sides of her mouth raising into an expectant grin.

“However, she won’t be able to prepare herself for what is to come if it continues.” Luna turned her gaze to the stars, her expression blank. “Tell Locke to handle the situation.”

“Right away, Princess Luna,” Summer murmured as she silently vanished into the night sky.

Trixie slowly trotted through the empty streets of Ponyville, a saddle equipped with various tools strapped to her back. Squat homes stuck out of the earth around her like tombstones. A chill wind shuddered through the city, weaving through abandoned streets and alleys.

Trixie strutted through, unfazed as she marched steadily towards her goal, eyes locked on the stars above her. Save for the rhythmic panting of the wind the city was silent, and yet Trixie paused, her ears twitching. She heard the faint sound of hooves digging into the dirt behind her. Trixie’s eyes hardened into a stern glare as they slowly fell from the sky to look straight ahead.

Trixie pushed her hoof against the library door, her hastily gathered tools packed in her saddlebags.

“Trixie?” Twilight whispered from upstairs, glancing out her bedroom door. “What are you doing? It’s past midnight. You don’t need to start working until tomorrow.”

She pushed her hoof against the library door, sliding it open without looking back. “I prefer to operate at night. I’ll be back at dawn.”

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but found herself staring at the library door as it slammed shut behind Trixie.

  “Leave me alone, Sparkle,” Trixie snapped as she shot a glare behind her. Instead of the lavender Unicorn, Trixie was presented with an empty street.

A muffled bang rang out as a garbage can fell out of an alleyway. Trixie snapped her attention to it, her limbs locking in place, purple light emanating from her horn.

A stray black cat sprinted out of the alley, across the street, and down another. Trixie sighed, then turned her gaze back to the stars as she made her way to her destination. As her eyes followed the constellations she found them drawing ever closer to Canterlot, to the hole in the sky she saw from her jail cell. Trixie frowned as her gaze locked on the distant city, the castle’s silhouette blocking her view.

A faint whisper snaked up from behind her, before being consumed by the wind. Trixie’s gaze snapped back, but again she found nothing save the dark streets of the sleeping town. Trixie narrowed her eyes as she slowly turned her gaze forward. The local school lay just ahead of her. She glanced back a final time before stepping onto the school grounds and making her way around the building.

Almost immediately she was greeted by a moderate section of the fencing, knocked over as if something large had rolled over it. Trixie sighed as she slid the work saddle off her back and grabbed her hammer. With her right hoof she lifted one of the planks, while her left raised the hammer over her head. Trixie breathed in, concentrating on the plank, then rammed the hammer against it. The plank drove itself into the ground at the same time a twig behind her snapped.

Trixie’s ears perked up as she looked behind, coming face to face with a mustard-coated Pegasus with a grayscale mane.

The Pegasus grinned. “Don’t you think it’s a bit too late at night for yard work?”

Trixie blinked, looking over the Pegasus’ body. She snorted and turned around, repeating her process with the next plank.

Unfazed, she continued. “Guess not, and judging from that look in your eyes, you are really quite the angry type… You trying to manage your anger issues by hitting things?” She hummed. “Very constructive of you. I approve.”

Trixie snapped her third plank in, hammer coming down hard enough to crack the surface. Her eye twitched.

“But~!” The Pegasus slowly paced around Trixie until she had a good look at Trixie’s Cutie Mark. “You seem to have a talent for entertainment and storytelling, not manual labor. Couldn’t you just tell a violent story or something?” She paused, waiting for a response. Trixie snapped a fourth plank back into the ground.

“Have something against your destiny? Or, well… both of them, I’d imagine?” The Pegasus sat and looked up at the stars. “It’s kinda funny how many ponies these day forget that. You are destined to do something in life depicted by your Cutie Mark, something personalized that you will enjoy doing. But then you have your second destiny, and that is your role in society… Life.”

Trixie’s hammer stopped in mid-air, her eyes widening as she stared at the plank she held in place.

“That one... That one is not there to make you happy. it’s there because society demands it, so to speak. Even if they don’t realize it. Of course, for the most part we all get dealt the same second destiny… Destined to work together in harmony. So it’s easy to forget things like the archivist Starswirl the Bearded becoming destined to burn down the original archives of the three tribes, along with himself.” She stretched her forearms, covering her muzzle as she let out a muffled yawn.

“Shut up.” Trixie slammed her fifth plank in and closed her eyes as her hoof moved for the next.

The mare’s eyes widened as she adopted an expression of pleasant surprise. “Oh, would you look at that! You can talk!”

Trixie’s eyes opened as she planted her hoof over the next plank.

The Pegasus extended a forearm, her hoof pointing Trixie. “Hi there, I’m Dar--Ow!”

Trixie smacked her extended hoof with the plank and set it into the ground with one smooth motion, half-heartedly trying to make it look accidental.

“What was that for?” The mare asked accusingly as she cradled her sore hoof.

“Shut up. You aren’t even real.” Trixie snapped her sixth plank in and slid over to the last two.

The Pegasus huffed indignantly. “What are you talking about? I’m Daring Do! Famous explorer and hero!” She paused. “... Actually, now that I think about it, normally I get much more enthusiastic reactions, especially from the Minotaurs…”

“That’s my point.” Trixie ground her teeth as she pulled up the seventh plank. “Daring Do is fictional. If she was anything more than a few stupid cosplayers and a character in fictional adventure stories, then Equestria would not be what it is. A real hero wouldn’t stand for a place like this existing.” Trixie bit into her bottom lip, her eyes hardening as she violently smashed her hammer into the plank.

The sky rumbled as rain started to splatter down around the two mares. “Hmm,” Daring hummed, her mood not changing in the slightest. “That is rather interesting… You have the noble and self-righteous philosophy of a ‘hero’. But, you know what else you have?” Daring waited for Trixie’s gaze to reluctantly turn to her. “the hatred and attitude of a petty villain and bully.”

Trixie snarled as Daring Do merely continued to smile. “What? Do you think petty anarchy will overthrow your destiny? That destroying the society that created it will stop it from happening? That temper tantrums and running aimlessly will delay its inevitable execution?” Daring stepped forward. “That you’ll even change anything in the slightest outside of the size of your own ego?”

The rain poured down around them as blood dribbled down the sides of Trixie’s mouth, her entire body shaking as the burning anger within her chest rapidly expanded until there was nothing else.

She gripped the hammer between both hooves and held it over her head. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

Daring just smirked. “See? You aren’t any more of a hero than I am.”

Trixie snarled as she swung the hammer at Daring’s head. Daring Do made no attempt to evade the attack, instead following the path of the hammer with her eyes.

A flash of lightning blinded Trixie just as she felt the hammer make impact, a loud crunch ringing out through the night sky.

Trixie blinked, letting the blotches in her vision fade away as her head cleared. The night was silent as she looked down to see her hammer buried in the ground, a wooden plank snapped in half around it. She quickly turned around, but found nothing but the empty darkness of the schoolyard greeting her.

Trixie looked back down at her hammer; a droplet of fresh blood stained the handle. She blinked and pressed a hoof to her mouth, it was damp. Trixie felt light headed as she moved her hoof away, seeing it stained with her own blood. Trixie stumbled on the damp grass, her body refusing to function as she pushed her hoof against her muzzle, trying to stop the bleeding.

She sat on the grass for a few moments, her eyes closed as she rubbed her hoof against her muzzle. After the bleeding stopped, Trixie let her eyes slide open. She moved her hoof away from her mouth and found it clean. Trixie simply sighed and planted it back on the ground, her gaze turning to the clear skies over Ponyville. Her bloodstained hammer lay forgotten on the ground.