A/N: This is a continuation of what happens after Trixie is shown up by Twilight Sparkle and she takes off running down the road. Please be gentle with your reviews, it is so, SO hard to write dialogue for a character that speaks in couplets. Also of note, this is BEFORE the mane 6 met Zecora.

One Hoof Clapping

Trixie’s heart was pounding, pounding so hard. She held her pointed stars and moons hat to her head with magic as she went full-tilt down the winding road. Her hooves burned a bit. The flash powder that had been hidden in her horseshoes had been a little too much this time around. She could vanish now and then in a puff of smoke, but perhaps she’d been a bit too hasty in how much she’d put in that night. One of the interesting things about her shows was that, sometimes, a good trick or slight of hoof was better than any magic. Huffing and puffing she saw a split in the road. To her left was an endless set of hills and green, and to the right was a dark secluded forest. If she was to hide she would need cover. Panting, she veered into the woods.

Darkness enveloped her and she collapsed into a group of giant ferns. Their cool, plastic-y leaves hid her well. Panting and fanning herself with her hat, she slumped against a waiting tree gratefully. “Worst. Show. Ever.” She said, beads of sweat going down her temples and cheeks. Flopping back to just try and breathe, she recanted everything that had happened. Not only had those two idiot stallions disturbed an Ursa Minor, but dragged it to town for her to fight! Her most impressive bluff had been called in a very, very dangerous way. She sighed, face-hoofing lightly. Then had come the purple one, what was her name? Twilight something. It didn’t ring any bells. She didn’t have the same pizzaz to her name as the Great and Powerful Trixie! But… her magicks had been far more powerful, and certainly nothing to make light of.
The mare studied her hat, turning it around and around in the hooves. A few spare cards, a plastic flower, some string, a child’s lollipop, and a pair of marshmallows fell out. Trappings for any number of tricks. Stuffing both marshmallows bitterly in her mouth, Trixie mentally crossed Ponyville off of her list of towns that she could visit to do her shows. Some towns went far better than others, but – a crowd suddenly rushed to the fork in the road, angry ponies one and all!

“Did she go this way?!” someone shouted. “What a troublemaker!” they had actual torches and pitchforks! Trixie winced, pressing herself into her hiding spot and trying to hold her breath. “We should throw her right into a cage! Somepony could’a gotten hurt bad, that fraud!” she shuddered at all the anger. She couldn’t afford to be caught like that! “Fan out, maybe she’s hiding!” Trixie pressed her pointed hat hastily to her head, turning and fleeing deeper into the forest. Whatever was in there, it was sure to be friendlier than an angry mob like that.

=-=-=-=

Zecora was up late that day, though when one lived alone and provided for oneself with nature, it was hardly a pressing matter to be up with the sun. It was high in the sky when she emerged, rested and ready for another day. Humming to herself and setting her staff on her back with her saddlebags, she trotted out of her little hut to greet the day. What was she going to do today, again? “Oh yes! Herbs, leaves, and grasses too. All to make a brand new brew.” She chuckled a bit, nodding in confirmation. Trotting merrily along a hidden path that was marked with tree scratches, she went to the nearest source of water, a large pond that was connected via a river. Heaving a great, content sigh, she almost didn’t see something odd on the shore to make her stop. It was blue and covered in designs like a fancy bag. Cocking her head and wondering who would leave such a thing in the middle of the woods, she went to get a closer look.

The zebra leaned over it curiously, and found it to be a light blue pony, curled up in a fretful sleep. She blink-blinked. Early autumn nights were not very kind to sleep outside during. Especially near a source of water, which might conjure fog in the night. Frowning, she put her hoof on the stranger and gently shook her. The mare moaned, turning until she was flat on her back. Her cutie mark was a star-headed wand with a whisp of sparkling dust around it. Zecora had never seen her before. She shook a bit harder until her eyes fluttered open.

“Whossat?” Trixie said throatily, putting her hoof over forehead to block the sun. Blinking her eyes into focus, she saw a large figure looming over her in a cape and cowl, yellow eyes ignited with inner light. Trixie screeched in fear, tumbling over herself and then into the water with a splash. Sputtering and coughing she flailed this way and that. Zecora took her staff off her back and, using the collar of the cape the stranger wore, heaved her back onto the shore.

The zebra stepped back a bit, removing her hood. “Forgive my intrusion strange blue mare, I was passing by and saw you sleeping there.” She said apologetically. Trixie stared. Zecora waited patiently while the mare took in her features. Her straw-stiff mane, stripes and neck ornaments. She was no pony, after all. Zecora waited for some cry of fear or revulsion.
“A zebra. All the way out here?” Trixie said, staring at her in awe.

It was Zecora’s turn to be surprised, her brow rising. “You are among the first not to turn and run, a zebra’s face is not a common one.” She let her surprise and delight show, appreciative of being treated normally for once. Replacing her staff on her back, she and Trixie stared at each other.

“Well, I can hardly be surprised, you know.” Trixie’s shields were already coming up and she tilted her muzzle up at the stranger. “It’s hard to be shocked by appearances when you’re as well travelled as the Great and Powerful Trixie!” she reared up on her hind legs with a flourish of her front ones. Her cape flared dramatically with a phantom breeze her horn conjured.

Zecora cocked her eyebrow, unimpressed. She’s seen the shift in attitude. One did not sleep so fretfully and then just conjure such enthusiasm and bravado. “Your lack of fear is truly welcome to me, but tell me now what makes you flee?” The zebra said sagely.

Trixie almost choked on her own spit, coming down on all fours again. “Wh-what makes you think I’m fleeing from anything. Nothing can withstand the awesome might of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Maybe I felt like sleeping outside--! By a lake--! In autumn!” With each detail she added it only became more comical. Zecora chuckled.
“You are funny, Trixie the Great. But to this place here, there’s no path to take.” Zecora gestured with a hoof. “You cape is torn and your hooves caked with mud, if a show-pony you are, your show must’ve been a dud.” Sure enough there were brambles in Trixie’s cape and cowl, where she’d been fleeing through the night before dropping in exhaustion next to the pond.

“STOP READING ME!” Trixie shouted before she could stop herself. Her hoof leapt to her face and her face colored. She tilted her head down, using the wide rim of her pointed hat to hide her face. “I— I mean… No! All of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s shows are works of art! I just needed to get away from my adoring fans for a night or two, and decided to camp out alone for a bit.” There were the same shields, Zecora observed. A bold-faced liar, this one was. The zebra shook her head a bit.

Zecora went on as though she hadn’t been lied to just then. “In a show, on a stage for too long, perhaps a respite from where you belong?” she offered gently.

Trixie cocked her head. It would probably be a good idea to at least hide until the heat was off, then she could get back to her trailer… oh wait, that had been destroyed. Well, she could get to her magic bag and… that was in the trailer, also gone. It suddenly dawned on Trixie that everything she owned and didn’t have on her at the moment was gone. That included her money, her food, everything. A look of horror flooded over her face, replaced by panick, and her pupils shrank into dots.

Zecora stood there, then tilted her head. Trixie appeared to be fighting some sort of serious mental battle with herself. Her face would change every few seconds, and she was hyperventilating a bit. Something was seriously wrong with that mare. If whatever it was drove her to hide in the woods and sleep by a pond in the autumn of the year, it must’ve been serious. Pity stung Zecora gently, and she nodded as her conscious whispered in her ear. She nodded to herself. “No place to go, I can practically tell. But if you stay outside Trixie, you won’t be well.” The zebra gestured to her soaking coat and cape. “To my humble abode we may go, and perhaps we can find a set of dry clothes.”

“Do you always speak in couplets?” Trixie asked rudely before she could stop herself. Here this stranger was offering aide and she just kept shooting off her mouth. She hunched just a little guiltily. “Er— yes. Alright.” She took off her hat, shaking some of the water out of it. She really did look pathetic, and after losing everything she owned… well, what else was there to lose? “I’ll come with you.”

Zecora decided to forgive the rude outburst. Clearly there was more to be learned, not just what her torn clothes and odd demeanor revealed. Everypony had a story, and she was no exception. Pulling her hood up as they went into the foliage again, she checked over her shoulder to make sure Trixie was following. At a distance, but sure enough.

=-=-=-=

Trixie sat rather awkwardly in the one-room house. Thousands of trinkets and potions and knick-knacks hung from every surface. There were bottles of Luna-knew-what hanging from every beam and branch of the place. Strange long masks leaned against the walls, affixing her with their creepy smiles. It was true, Trixie had been to the land of the zebras long ago, but it felt like it had been ages. She’d long forgotten how very strange they could be. Rather hunched and sitting on her haunches, she watched Zecora set a cup and saucer in front of her, then pour a strong-smelling tea for her.

“In my home your may stay, Trixie the Great, but while we take tea, please elaborate.” The zebra poured her own tea, sitting across from Trixie. But, the unicorn was too busy staring at the quietly bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room. What was that green stuff she was simmering in there? It had no scent but, “Ahem.” Zecora said gently, and Trixie’s head snapped back to attention.

“Oh! Well!” Trixie searched for words for a moment, nursing her tear between two hooves and staring down into it. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was performing a live show in Ponyville, you see—” she didn’t quite know why, but everything seemed to just pour out of her after that. From her arrival in Ponyville, all the way until she’d used the flash powder to make her rather graceless escape. Zecora did not interrupt or make faces, only occasionally leaned to sip her tea. By the time Trixie was finished and telling about the angry mob that sought her, her tea had grown cold.

Zecora nodded slowly, pensive as she thought things over. Trixie stared at her, waiting for some sort of judgement or angry reply. It occurred to Trixie that she’d probably just cast herself out of her benefactor’s aide, telling her everything that had happened like that. “So Great and Powerful you say you are.” Zecora took Trixie’s teacup and tossed the contents out of the open window. Trixie frowned at her, her wide-brimmed hat once again shadowing her face. “Yet here you are, a fallen star.” Zecora sensed the mare’s shields coming up again.

“Well what do you know, zebra woman!? You’re not the Great and Powerfu—!” she stopped mid-sentence, for a new cup of steaming tea had appeared before her. She fell to all fours again, mid-gesture, staring at Zecora.
“Perhaps my tea will help calm you. I grow it myself, a special brew.” Zecora smiled mysteriously. There was an infinite patience in her face that might’ve reminded Trixie of Celestia, if the mare had ever seen the goddess face to face. The zebra smiled with her eyes, as though they were sharing a giggly secret with you just by looking into yours.

Trixie stared down into her steaming cup of tea with a quivering lip. It was like she was looking at her own mother or something, the great patience one might have with an angry child. Heaving a quivering breath, she finally raised the tea to her lips. “What does Trixie call you?” she asked after a moment, not looking up at her.

“You may call this one Zecora my dear, and it is with me you shall rest your fears.” Zecora gave a ginger bow, then sipped at her tea again. At Trixie’s questioning look and wrinkled muzzle, she continued. “Your face is sad and often cross, perhaps it is time to accept your loss?” she rhymed gently. “Though town Ponyville has thrown you out, perhaps a better mare now could come about?” The zebra gestured to Trixie’s heart, and she hunched a little like she might’ve been struck.

“They learned I was a fraud, I can never show my face anywhere near here again.” Trixie said with a sigh, holding the bridge of her muzzle with her hoof. “My home was destroyed, all my possessions are gone… I’m nothing.” She suddenly despaired, her face slamming down onto the table. Zecora winced, then watched her struggle to get her horn out of the wood. The zebra learned a few new Equestrian swear words as she watched the unicorn struggle. She lifted both teacups, drained of their contents, and by the time she’d come back to the table, Trixie was sitting on her haunches and trying to look dignified. There was definitely a set of issues to this mare that needed to be melted through. Her personality was up and down like a yo-yo.

“With all your things gone and your hoof to the turf,” Zecora said wisely, gesturing to how far she’d come from Ponyville. “What better time for a real rebirth?” She came about the table, then reached boldly and took Trixie’s hat off her head. She opened her mouth to protest, but Zecora’s disarming eyes stopped her. The hat was hung from one of the hundreds of hooks in the hut, and left there like a sagging knick-knack among hundreds of others. Trixie felt a twinge of guilt. All the glitter and glamour she’d poured into it… really made it look gaudy, when it was sitting amongst all those other curiosities. Like it was trying too hard to be noticed. Poor hat.

Trixie stared at it for a long time as Zecora returned to the table. She pawed at her mane a little, feeling naked without the wide brim of the hat to hide under. “What… must I do?” she said, finally gathering the courage to look the zebra in the eyes. She was met with love and kindness.

=-=-=-=

It was dark. The cloudless night was a rare one in the Everfree Forest. Zecora and Trixie sat on a hill together under a great tree, overlooking the valley. Ponyville was below, and in the great distance, there was a speck that was probably Canterlot. Trixie stared longingly at both, craving the attention and adoration of the masses. “This entire region will know my name soon.” Trixie sulked. “About what a fraud I am.” The mare sighed aloud, drooping a bit. “How can I possibly show my face?”

Zecora nodded gently. There was no denial in her face. She seemed thoughtful, and Trixie was sure she was composing another couplet in her head before she could speak. Not for the first time, she wondered why the striped one insisted on speaking in rhyme ( …D’oh!). “If it is social skills you think you’re lacking, perhaps learn the sound of one hoof clapping.” She said sagely.

Trixie puzzled over this for a long time while Zecora watched the stars. She raised her hoof and looked at it. Flapping it about on its ankle joint for a bit, she frowned. Then she stomped it up and down a bit. Some ponies stomped the ground to clap, after all. She grinned at Zecora in triumph, and was swatted on the head by her staff. WHACK! “Ow! Jeez, what was that for!?” she shrieked, rubbing her head.

“One hoof clapping makes no sound, does your mouth run when others are not around?” Zecora said a little angrily. Trixie rubbed her head with a frown, huffing and looking away. Had she just been told to shut up? Growling a little, she turned to go. Zecora stopped her with a hoof.

“What?!” Trixie snapped.

“From your big mouth your fraud and lies are told, perhaps when silent more friends you’ll hold?” Zecora riddled her again. Trixie stared at her. She did tend to just bark at ponies now and again, without thinking about it first. But it was all part of the show, being the Great and Powerful Trixie! What wasn’t to defend, when any lesser pony wanted to talk smack to her? Zecora pulled her gingerly forward to where she’d been sitting before, then pushed rather rudely on her butt to make her sit on her haunches again. “Watch the sky Trixie, and the stars as they glisten. You’ll find life so much easier if you just learn to listen.” Zecora said. The mare cast her eyes skyward, her mouth a little agape.

Eternal night stared back at her, endless streams of stars. She could hear herself breathing. She could hear the frogs, the cicadas, and the rustling of the grass. Trixie looked down again to a nearby pond. The cattails bent, whistling so quietly you had to hold your breath to hear them. The showpony stared at it all, like some greater force had pointed out nature to her for the first time. The wind rustled playfully on her mane.

The scent of fireworks and gunpowder faded from her muzzle when the wet kiss of dew found her. The plastic-y scent of fake flowers she often kept in her hat. Her pupils expanded slowly, glistening as her heart trembled upon the very fabric of nature. Then, she heard a quiet mumbling next to her. She turned her head to look at Zecora. The zebra’s eyes were closed and she was mumbling what sounded like nonsense to the mare. A magic incantation? Was she casting a spell on Trixie to make her commune with nature?! HOW DARE SHE!! Trixie opened her mouth accusingly and Zecora snatched her right hoof, showing it to her. The sound of one hoof clapping. Silence. A few minutes felt like an eternity while Zecora’s mumbling continued for a bit. She looked over at Trixie with a quiet smile, “Self control you’ve had for a time. I hope you enjoyed my nursery rhyme.”

“That was in your native zebra tongue… a nursery rhyme.” Trixie felt a wave of guilt hit her. She’d thought Zecora was putting a hex on her or something, but she was merely trying to be comforting while they stood there under the stars. She smiled as her eyes lidded just a little, a smile found only in those of guilty conscious. “Thank you.” She said at last.

“Your first lesson is now complete,” Zecora bowed her head gently, having seen Trixie almost but not quite have an outburst only a moment ago. “Let us stay for awhile, then go home and eat.” She returned her gaze to the stars. Trixie did the same, her mouth in a somewhat neutral line. Even that little hurtle had been painful. But… worth it.

=-=-=-=

More than a month passed, and Trixie saw the pattern. Zecora’s lessons of rebirth included self-control. Her fiery temper took more than a little proverbial water to control, and her indignant ego even more than that. But, the zebra had the patience of a plowing Macintosh as she smoothed Trixie’s jagged ways. Simple exercises like the one at the hilltop were many and just as mysterious.

Zecora watched as Trixie, away from her wagon-tailer and her magic hat and everything that had to do with her magic shows, melted from the ice that contained her egotistical heart. She became quieter, less obnoxiously enthusiastic. She’d stopped rearing up to proclaim herself Great and Powerful (though she still referred to herself in the third person). It seemed that the lack of crowds watching her did her good. Zecora could see she craved them, though. One night she spotted Trixie talking to a stack of rocks, then conjuring forest flowers out of nothing and giving them to the stack of rocks adoringly. Still putting on a show, even with no one watching.

The zebra thought of it like… like cutting a gem. Sure, one could wash big chunks of dirt and muck from the stone at the beginning. Progress came in great bursts early on. But, to make it really shine and be worth something, it would need to be polished and made into what it was meant to be. She pondered over this. Zecora knew she had no right to change Trixie entirely, but her rebirth would have some sort of breaking point eventually. She would need to decide where to go from there, not Zecora.

One morning, the zebra was shocked to find Trixie without her cape. It hung on the wall next to her pointed hat. With no clothes covering her like armor, she really did look like a normal mare. She smiled a bit more, like she’d shed a great weight. “Zecora?” Trixie asked when she saw her staring.

Zecora snapped out of her cocoon-into-a-butterfly philosophical thoughts, coming to attention. “Uh?” she said wordlessly, then conjured a new couplet. “I was merely admiring your coat dear Trixie, with your hat and cloak gone you look much less shifty!” she complimented.

Trixie beamed at her, embarrassed but knowing she had little to fear from her wise zebra friend. She glanced over at the hanging hat and cloak and frowned. Strange to have no desire to don them, she thought. “Thank you.” She said finally, trotting outside. Zecora smiled after her and shook her head. Her student was learning. In more ways than she knew.

“We’ve a new activity for today, a test of strength without magic to play.” Zecora said, following her. Trixie was peering around the little yard. A set of heavy-looking round stones had appeared there overnight. “Move the stones to make a shape, and we’ll expand your mind agape.” Trixie automatically lit her horn with magic and Zecora WHACKED her with her staff again.

Trixie whimpered, rubbing her head but not protesting. Yelling at the zebra was like yelling at a wall. It just used up energy. Huffing, she moved forward to set about her new mysterious task. She’d long given up trying to decipher the true meanings of her friend’s tasks. All she could do was trust all would be revealed in time. After much time and effort rolling the rocks by pushing them with her forehead, she labored the stones to form a vaguely circular shape together. She smiled, huffing and puffing, backing up to admire her work and get her teacher’s approval. “Well?” she asked, to learn the hidden meaning behind the stone moving. She blinked in shock, for Zecora was balancing upside down on the point of her staff. She looked very zen-like and appeared to be in a trance, until—

“And now a square, my dear mare.” Zecora said without opening her eyes.

Trixie groaned. Late into the evening she kept moving the stones about. A square. Then a rectangle. Then a star. Then a line. Her head was hurting so much it pounded. Finally she could take no more. “Zecora… I don’t understand.” She said, flopping onto her belly and panting. “How does moving rocks help me in my rebirth? Trixie is confused.” She sagged, unable to comprehend.

“And with that, you have passed.” Zecora said, coming down from her perch and upright again. The staff landed smoothly on her back, tucked in her cape and cowl. “Much ruder about it, you would’ve been in the past.” Trixie stared. Politely saying no? That was it? The blue mare fell over, fainting in exhaustion. Zecora smiled serenely. She was learning faster than before, and it was starting to stick.

=-=-=-=

Zecora and Trixie sat on the sandbar at a shallow area of a river. It flowed serenely about them. It was chilling and made Trixie shiver violently, but her stubbornness remained while she awaited her next challenge. Her zebra sensei did shake, but only just a little. The chill put the blue mare on edge. Water was perhaps five inches deep about their seated haunches. After some time of sitting in silence, Zecora reached over beside herself and plucked a stone from the riverbed. “Try to obtain the stone from me, and we shall see if your mind is free.” The striped one held it out between them.

Trixie’s tongue came out, curling upward in a look on concentration. There was a trick, there had to be. Reaching slowly, the tip of her hoof grazed it—WHACK! She yelped, falling backward and soaking herself in the river. She squealed, rising up on all fours and hunching forward. Rigid with cold from the mid-autumn chill of the river, her teeth chattered. “Wh-wh-why!?”

“The stone is mine my little Trixie, I thought you’d obtain it much more quickly.” Zecora shook her head as Trixie made for the shore, shivering like a defeated foal. She sat there in the river’s flow, her breath steaming gently. Trixie stared at her from the shore, shaking.

“How can taking a stone from you mean anything?!” Trixie shouted miserably, shaking uncontrollably as she spoke. It was just— so— cold! “What if I don’t want it?!”

“The point of this exercise is to obtain, now calm you rage before you complain.” Zecora said with all the sereneness of a Buddhist monk. Closing her eyes she seemed to meditate there, stone in her hoof, held out.

Trixie huffed some, shuddering and splashing back into the shallows of the river. Approaching Zecora from behind she reared up to snatch it—WHACK! She yelped and was knocked aside by the punishing blow. Whimpering, she rubbed her head. She should’ve known better. Any conventional means of just snatching the stone from her hoof would result in pain. She would need to be more clever than that. She splashed out of the river and Zecora waited for her return. Some minutes later, Trixie returned with a long branch that had a fork on the end. She leaned forward, trying to fish the stone from the zebra’s hoof while out of range of the dreaded staff. Zecora whacked the branch away heartlessly. Trixie shuddered in frustration, but held her ground. Coming to her teacher with empty hooves, she sat across from her once more. The water rushed up about her haunches. But, because she was already chilled so it didn’t feel as bad. Her body had grown used to the cold now.

Zecora watched her student sit in silence, staring intently at the stone. She saw the flicker of magic start in her horn and gave her a dirty look. It winked out before the zebra felt the stone even shudder. Heaving a great, cleansing breath, Trixie stared at the stone for a very long time. The better part of an hour passed. The serene sounds of nature soothed the blue mare’s frustrations so she could think clearly, then-her-hoof-LEAPT-forward-WHACK! Trixie yelped and fell backward, her eyes in swirls. Zecora sighed and shook her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly the blue mare sat up with a realizing yelp! “May I please have the stone?!” she said, sounding desperate in her words. The zebra nodded, beaming at her. She dropped it into Trixie’s waiting hooves. The blue mare squealed, coddling it to her breast like an infant.

=-=-=-=

It was sometime during the ninth week of her stay that Trixie approached Zecora. “Zecora, I… I’m leaving.” She said timidly. Almost as though asking permission. “I think I’ve stayed here long enough.”

“What brings about your change of heart? Suppose I said the training were still at it’s start?” Zecora said slowly around her teacup, having set out a second teacup for her student.

“Trixie has been staying here and eating your food and sleeping in your home for too long.” She said, smiling a little guiltily. “I… I think I understand now, what you’ve been trying to show me all this time. In all of your lessons.” She reached by habit to have one last cup of tea with her teacher.

“Then there is only one more lesson to be had my student, and as your teacher you will find it prudent.” Zecora said after some silence. Trixie nodded gently as Zecora rose, getting her cloak and staff. Pulling up her hood to hide her face and cast her eyes into a yellow light, she put her staff on her back. She hoofed at the ground a bit. Trixie rose and made for the door to join her, but Zecora gestured. Trixie turned, looking at her hat and cape hanging on the wall. The Great and Powerful Trixie’s cloak and cowl, she’d once called it. Slowly, she crossed the room and pulled them both on. The felt alien, and the hat felt heavy.

“Please, lead on.” Trixie said softly.

=-=-=-=

Trixie and Zecora stood before the Ponyville library, Twilight Sparkle’s home. There was animated chatter going on inside. Many voices talking about who-knew-what. Luckily, it was on the edge of town so few ponies had seen the approach of not only the Everfree Forest zebra, but the Great and Powerful Trixie as well. They made an odd pair, both standing with cloaks and shadowed faces. “This… is your final test my dear Trixie the Great.” Zecora said softly, turning her hooded face towards the blue mare. Trixie looked back at her, trying to ignore the quiver in her hindquarters. “And its importance you must not abate.”

“What must I do?” Trixie whispered to her beloved teacher of only two months. Her expression was soft, vulnerable. Even the wide brim of her hat would not conceal her quivering lip and hunched forward body language of vulnerability. She could guess, but she had to hear it.

“That my dear Trixie is for you to decide.” Zecora gently pulled her hood back. “But you will come out alright, if by your new self you abide.” She was talking in a low voice so that no one would come to the door until it was knocked upon.

“But you always at least tell me something basic to go on!” Trixie whined, but the zebra shook her head slowly. “Zecora, please tell me—!” she stopped and gave a little yip, for Zecora had pressed her muzzle past Trixie’s hat brim, folding it up. The zebra’s lips were pressed lightly to her forehead. Trixie froze, flushing gently. Whatever frustrated words she had melted away into childish shame. Begging like that to her teacher, how shameful.

“As I said before it is a final test, it is time I kicked you from the nest.” Zecora said in a motherly way. Trixie looked at her with an expression that was hard to read. Then, slowly, she pulled her pointed hat from her head. Leaning forward on her front knees, the blue mare could only silently thank her teacher without bursting into tears. Zecora’s staff lightly tapped her forehead with a thock-ing sound, affectionate. When Trixie gained the courage to look up again her teacher was gone, whisked away in a swirl of snow.

Trixie stood there in trembling silence, watching the snowfall. Sure, she could follow the hoof prints to see where she’d gone, but… that wasn’t the point. This was it. Swallowing, the Great and Powerful Trixie raised a hoof and knocked firmly on the door of the Ponyville Library.

A purple mare answered the door with a neutral smile, which instantly fell as she recognized the mare on her doorstep. “Trixie?” she said, a little dumbfounded. All conversation inside the library stopped instantly.

“Uhm… may Trixie enter?” she asked, blushing when she had to lean down to retrieve her pointed hat from the snow. She put it on her head, and winced when the powder rained about her face.

“It’s a public library.” Twilight Sparkle said with some suspicion, moving aside so she could come in out of the cold. “I could be closed today because of the snow, but with ponies staying inside because of the weather they might want something to read.” She watched the blue mare enter with her ears tucked back, like she was expecting to be struck when she went by. Twilight eyed her with a stiff sort of politeness.

Trixie went a little pale when she saw the gathering of voices had faces. It was some sort of pajama party. The fireplace was roaring, casting the room in a romantic orange light. Around the fireplace lay the farm pony from before, the loud-mouthed flyer, and the fashionatta unicorn too. There was also a yellow pegasus, a pink earth pony, and a little dragon as well. Trixie felt ashamed that two months had erased the names of the ones she’d encountered before from her memory entirely. All should could remember was Twilight. But that did not keep them all from staring at her with varying levels of suspicion and even malice. She gulped.

“You got quite a set on you, showin’ your face here again.” The southern drawl was just as thick as Trixie remembered. She rose aggressively from the sleeping bag she’d been laying on, shoving her hot cocoa mug aside to advance on Trixie with an angry expression. The blue mare fought down a fearful shudder, but held her ground.

“Heyyy, aren’t you that showpony from a couple’a months ago?!” The pegasus’ wings popped open and she hovered close to eyeball Trixie uncomfortably closely. Trixie removed her hat so she could be seen properly, saying nothing. “Sure enough!” the blue Pegasus said, equally as frowny as the orange earth pony.

“You’re the one that turned my hair green! Do you have any idea how long that took to fix?!” it was the other unicorn in the room now.

They surrounded her with great angry glares, and Trixie feared for a moment that they might just lynch her. The orange one did have a rope after all. The blue mare stood there, trying to be stalwart as her teacher had taught her. Her hindquarters quivered under her cape. She licked her lips, trying to find the proper words. “I…” she began, but she was interrupted.

“You caused a whole mess of trouble, y’know!” The Pegasus said, practically pressing her face into Trixie’s. “What’ve you got to say for yourself?! Put ‘em up, c’mon!” She made a fisticuffs motion at Trixie, landing upright with her wings aggressively unfurled. “Put ‘em up! Put ‘em up!”

“Oh my…” said the yellow pegasus, quivering under a pillow in her sleeping bag. Such violence!

Twilight Sparkle raced forward. “Hey now, there’s no need for violence!” she mediated. All three ponies menaced the silent Trixie angrily, and the blue mare tried to stand brave. “If you start swinging I’m gonna throw you all out in the snow!” the librarian threatened. Egghead or not, telekinesis would be more than a match for wings or muscles. The tension relaxed a hair, away from physical violence.

Trixie gingerly let go of her pointed hat and let it fall to the floor between herself and the angry onlookers. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I’m so sorry.” She sank to her front knees, lowering her head. “I’m so, so sorry.” She closed her eyes. “I was a monster. A monster and a fraud.” There was no blunter, more forward way to put it.

There was dead silence, for everyone was taken aback. Fluttershy peeked from her hiding place under the pillows and blankets. Twilight Sparkle approached cautiously, sinking to all four knees to be eye to eye with Trixie. “It… it takes a lot of guts to just come apologize like that.” She said gingerly. Trixie looked up, into her eyes. They were soft and forgiving.

“In fron’na all of us at once.” Said the orange earth pony.

“Mega guts.” Said the Pegasus cautiously, cocking her head.

“Indeed…” said the purple-maned unicorn.

None of them seemed to know how to react, and Twilight saw the sudden build-up of raw emotion in their unexpected guest and barely managed to rush her to her breast before the wracking sobs began. “I don’t know what happened to you since you left, Trixie.” Twilight whispered soothingly, stroking her mane as she wept openly. “But you certainly seem to have changed for the better.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Trixie had completely fallen apart, and soon the other ponies had pressed in around her for comfort. Her tears flowed freely, having dissolved away from her formerly arrogant and icy heart. “Forgive meee-heh-hee…!”

“There there…” Twilight whispered softly.

From the window, a yellow-eyed hooded figure watched, then whisked away into the snowy afternoon with a sagely smirk. Pinkie Pie waved to her silently, though she was the only one to see her.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that even the most stuck-up, arrogant and fraudulent ponies have changes of heart sometimes. When they look around themselves one day and see they have no friends, they realize that while they might think themselves the best, it’s lonely when all you have to talk to is yourself. Seeking forgiveness might just be the hardest thing anypony has to do, especially if so many ponies don’t like you for what you’ve done. But, in the end, all one can do is say sorry from the heart, and hope that the ones you’ve wronged are willing to listen.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

The End