A Blueberry and Her Greenery

[Gentian]

As Kadae patiently heard me complain, this chapter took quite a bit more time and effort to convert than I thought. It's the longest single scene in the green version, and because of that I briefly toyed with the idea of breaking it in to 2 chapters. Unfortunately I couldn't decide on a satisfactory place to make the break, so here it is, all in one.

We hope you like it!




A Blueberry and Her Greenery

4 – Savoir faire a la Trixie

From every throat pour sounds of praise and gratitude. Trixie, The Great and Powerful stands on stage, her fore hooves raised, basking in the sun high above, and the adoration close below. At that moment, she wouldn't be able to say which is warmer. Her breath is deep, and her smile broad, and genuine.

That was a good show!

With a flourish of her foreleg she throws herself in to her flashiest bow: balanced on one hind leg, with a fore hoof held to her waist, her other limbs thrust out behind her. She stands, flipping her stark white mane back over her shoulder, and hops down from the stage.

Suddenly, a pin-drop would seem deafening, but her stride stays smooth, and her hips sway as she strolls nonchalantly toward the wand, laying quietly in the dirt. The surrounding Diamond Dogs part like water at her approach.

“Not e-ven the Empyrean's horrors can best the Great and Powerful Tri-XIE.” She emphasizes that last sound, savoring the taste of her own name on her tongue. “But really...” her horn glows and in a pink flash, the wand leaps to her cloak-pocket. Her audience leaps too. “...was there ever any doubt?”

With another smirk, and shake of her head, she saunters back to stage, obviously relishing the feeling of so many eyes on her flanks. With her fore hooves, she pulls herself back up, and sits with her hind legs crossed at their cannons, letting them dangle languidly off the edge.

Time for the goodies!

“Now then, The Great and Powerful Trixie, quondam royal student, triumphant in countless duels and contests of magic, and fearless, even in the face of sanity-shattering monsters, has juuuussssttt...” raising her voice and nose, smiling smugly, holding that last syllable, drawing it out, then quickly: “...saved your bacon.”

What a phrase, she thinks. Who would have thought something with such je ne sais quoi could come from the Gryphons? At her words, a murmur passes through the crowd, and a trio of dogs break from the group, sprinting into the gloom of the cave's broad, bone-strewn mouth. She pretends not to notice.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will accept your adulation...” a brief pause, a faint smile “...now.” As one they rush to her hooves, yipping, cheering, and whining. I hope they don't piddle this time, she thinks, closing her eyes, and raising her perfect face to the warm disc of the sun.

A warmth swells in her chest as the sounds, and more importantly the feelings of veneration wash over her. With her eyes closed, she lets them carry her to her own little world: a world of contentment, a world where everyone loves her. She smiles more broadly and looks toward the cave, being careful to allow only the briefest of glances to fall on her worshipers.

They should be returning soon! Last time they presented a basket full of glittering gems; I wonder what it'll be today? Two of the sprinters emerge. Ah, there they are! They're empty-handed, she notes with an invisible frown. Behind them: a movement in the gloom. That must be number three!

“…”

What under Celestia's sun is that?!

______________________________


He stands amid the stones and rubble of the cave, breathing in ragged grunts as he beats his chain with a pick. It falls again, and again; flakes of stone flying from his makeshift anvil, but the links themselves refuse to burst.

They're gone! At long last, they're gone! Those things haven't given him a moment of peace since they bound him in iron. Everywhere in the foul caves they followed. driving him to mine their gems, and push their carts by the faint light of the stone. Even in the dark caves, the ones with no crystals to light the way, their harsh voices yipped and cackled at him from the blackness.

Then, moments ago, a great cry echoed through the caverns, cascading from throat to throat down the endless tunnels, and in an instant, his captors forgot all about him. They ran away, to a head, practically stampeding over one another in their excitement. He stood dumbly in his pain, and exhaustion, watching them go. Then, he remembered.

Not everything. He still doesn't know who he is, where he is, or how he arrived. But he remembers the sky. He remembers the way it boomed and wept when it drove him to this waking nightmare. He remembers what it looked like before the storm: shining, blue, and beautiful. He hasn't seen the sky since his agony began, and now he desperately wants what he never really missed before: to see the sky again.

So he raises his pick, and brings it down with all his might. Over, and over, though his calluses tear, and his blisters weep. Though his bones jar and his ears ring, over and over, until the stone crumbles. The stone, but not the chain. Tears of frustrated rage fill his eyes, but what's this? A link has bowed! A new-found strength courses through his veins, and he raises his pick again.

“...too much to carry! Where slave at?”

They're coming back! To his horror, the big, blue hunchbacked one skids around the corner at a full sprint. Where he is the other two are never far behind. It slows momentarily, sniffing the air, then makes a bee-line right for him.

No! Fuck! I'm so close!

They're on him in an instant; The little one grabs his chain while the big one shoves something over his shoulders. It's wooden, and heavy, with baskets dangling from the sides. They hurriedly stuff one of the baskets with gems, and the other with bottles taken from a padded bag. The one holding his chain jerks, and he stumbles, nearly falling.

“No, no no!” Screeches the mid-sized one. “Don't pull so hard! If he falls the bottles'll break!” The little one's eyes grow almost as big as his body, and he immediately lets the chain go slack. The big one roughly grabs a handful of his shirt, and shoves him quickly, but carefully down the tunnel.

______________________________


Something has emerged from the cave. It's something Trixie has never seen before, and that fact alone is enough to hold her riveted. Not that she lets it show, of course. Trixie, The Great and Powerful is an expert showpony, and can don or doff her emotions with the skilled ease of a fashionista at her wardrobe.

With expertly worn indifference she watches it approach, pushed and poked along by...Fido, is his name? The biggest of the Diamond Dogs, whatever his name is. Rover and Spot elbow their way through the crowd and genuflect at her hooves. Their tails are stiff, just the clubbed ends lightly beating the ground; they're excited, but trying to be subtle about it. She pays them no mind.

What is that?

“Oh, Trixie...” Rover begins.

Fuck that! “Ahem!” He pauses and sneaks a questioning glance up at her, then doubles down, his nose to the dirt.

“Oh Great and Poooowerful Trixie!”

“You may continue.”

“Thank you for saving us! Thank you, thank you!”

“Look! Look!” Spot, adds. “Our servant brings you treats: gems, cider, and even Gryphon ale too!”

So it's their servant? Why anything would serve Diamond Dogs, she laments, is beyond even the Great and Powerful Trixie's ken. Maybe it's not worth my attention after all.

It's getting closer now, picking its way around the litter as slowly as Fido will let it, obviously having trouble seeing in the light. Its back is bent under its burden, and wait a moment! What's that on its limbs? Chains?

The warm, bouyant feeling in her chest suddenly chills, and sinks to the pit of her stomach.

Chains.

Unwelcome memories rise, they always do, but never so soon after a show. Memories of an amulet, and its incredible power coursing through her veins. Flowing from an even more incredible cruelty mired in her heart. Watching through her own eyes, yet somehow not really comprehending as she did things. Things she still wouldn't believe she could have done, if she hadn't been forced to watch them herself, an outsider within her own mind.

But I did, I did, oh, those poor ponies! And Twilight...No!

No! No! No! No! No!

…...

In the privacy of her own mind, Trixie smiles as she slams the door of her memory palace. Her will is triumphant; the specters of her past have been quelled; squashed back to the oubliette where she keeps what she doesn't want to remember, but won't allow herself to forget. While under the sun, and over the Diamond Dogs, not a strand of her snowy mane has come out of place.

Damn, I'm awesome.

______________________________


Sunlight! Piercing his closed eyes and setting them sweetly afire! It's touch blinds him, but he can't stop; the beast won't let him. It forces him on even as he stumbles over obstacles he can't see. Finally, squinting through the blur of aching, watery eyes, he can make out a crowd of brutes clustered around a stage.

There seems to be a blue pony sitting on it. A blue pony, with a white mane, wearing a robe and wizard hat.

Maybe I have been in the dark too long.

______________________________


It doesn't look like an animal, but what a sight it is: walking on two legs, covered in dirty, tattered cloth, sporting a mane, of sorts, but no coat, and struggling under the weight of a well-laden yoke. As soon as it arrives, the dogs push it to the ground, and laugh. Trixie isn't laughing. Neither is it. Its face is so oddly flat, but even though its eyes are small, and its ears stuck in place, she can read it as clearly as any pony's: exhaustion, frustration, fear, comprehension. This thing, whatever it is, understands its situation; it is no thoughtless beast.

“Why would I want your prisoner?” Blase, but not overly so.

“No, Great and Powerful one, our servant only brings treats!”

“Look, look!” says Spot, pointing to the baskets. “Sparkly jewels!” Rover holds up the bottles.

“Gryphon Ale! Apple Cider! Even Changeling Nectar! All for you, Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Wow! How did Diamond Dogs get luxuries like these? They're really going all out this time; the show must have been even better than I thought.

Memories. A stab of conscious. Damn it. Trixie shifts her eyes from the baskets, to the creature. It's looking at her, but won't hold her gaze.

What's your story? She's heard tales of the Dogs baiting creatures and capturing them. They use them for labor, if they're strong enough, and eventually, when they're not, food. But as horrible as that is, it's always been animals, she's never even heard rumors of them capturing sapients. But the chains...

I must do something, she thinks, but what? Hard experience has taught her time and again that reckless action is trouble. She must know more before she acts.

“Why does your servant need chains? His pay is his chain, is it not?”

“He's a thief!” Shouts Rover.

“Come to side cave in forest, steal Diamond Dog treasure.” The little one nods.

So that's it? He's a thief? But even if he is, does he deserve what they have in store for him? Even worse, what if he isn't? I need to know more, and honey catches more flies than vinegar.

“Well, then, congratulations on capturing a thief! The Great and Powerful Trixie applauds your prowess!”

“Oh, thank you, Great and Powerful One!” gushes Spot, his tail wagging furiously “His pockets bulged when we found him!”

“Yes, yes, they were so fat we almost couldn't net him!”

“Pssha! Exaggeration, I'm sure!” She sardonically replies.

“Yeah,” grumbles Fido “he didn't even get them all. We laid out too many jewels in the bait line.” Her heart sinks; they did lure him. She knows what she has to do now.

______________________________


On hands, and knees in the dust, he listens. They're all talking about him; knuckle-walking dog-things conversing with a blueberry wizard pony. He'd laugh at the absurdity if he could, but he can't.

So, this is all for the blueberry, he thinks. I wonder who she is. Why does she – not human, but clearly female – keep looking at me? Not like the others do; they leer, and scowl, but in her eyes...is that remorse? Pity? Only a split second, then it's gone; the set of her face, the carriage of her body, everything about her exuding power and confidence.

The dog-things extol their gifts, and she actually looks somewhat impressed. Her eyes meet his, and he quickly looks down.

If she's as important as she seems, I'd better not provoke her. She asks about him again. They say he's a thief! Anger overcomes his fear; he's just about to say something when the big dumb(er) one drops the truth.

They wince and look at him, tails tucked, no longer wagging. He stands there with a confused scowl on his face, not seeming to realize what he just said. But the blueberry does, and she doesn't seem happy.

“Well, The Great and Powerful Trixie has need of a new servant.”

What? Does she mean me?

“She will graciously relieve you of this burden.

______________________________

“But Great and Powerful One, he's not a treat, he's a thief!”

“What Trixie wants, Trixie gets...” she scowls, letting an edge creep in to her voice. Especially from Diamond Dogs. “...and Trixie. Wants. Him.”

“But...but...” Rover seems to wilt beneath her gaze, his ears laying further back, and his tail tucking more and more deeply at every stuttering word. “If you take him, maybe he tries to steal from you! Great and Powerful Trixie might get angry at us!” Trixie only laughs, a silver melody lilting on the breeze.

“If it steals from Trixie, it will be punished. The Great and Magnanimous Trixie would not hold you responsible.”

“But...but...” stammers the dog.

“BUT!” Her voice hardens. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will get angry...” they whimper at this “...if you deny her! The Great and Famous Trixie will tell all she meets 'Diamond Dogs have no gratitude! I saved their town from unspeakable terrors, yet they refused my simple request!' Who will trade with you then?” The dogs look back and forth at each other, indecision crumpling their jutting brows.

“Ok” Spot relents.

“No!” Shouts Fido “He mine!”

“But Trixie saved us!” Spot growls. Rover jumps between them.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie wants the thing, so give it to her! But we keep the jewels!” Fido thinks a moment. It looks painful for him.

“And drinks” he says finally.

No. Hell no. Not only that, but hell fuck no!

“Fine!” Trixies horn flares in searing pink light, and the wand jumps from her pocket to the sand. “Maybe I should leave that here?” She says with a malicious smirk. “Maybe you can find a way to protect yourselves from whatever comes out of it next?” Their eyes widen, and tails droop. “Or maybe you can't?

I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, will have it all, or you will have this...” she gestures pointedly with her hoof, “...and all that comes with it!” A subtle touch of her magic, and a faint wailing fills the air. Most of the Dogs flee to the cave, crying and yelping in panic as thin trails of smoke begin to leak from the tip. She locks eyes with Rover, head high, and cocks an eyebrow. He grimaces, staring at the nascent cloud.

“It's all yours, Great and Powerful One” He whispers, looking at the ground. “Just take away magic stick.”

Especially from Diamond Dogs!

In an instant the wailing stops and the smoke clears. The wand flies back to her hoof, and she tucks it safely into her pocket, regarding her new help.

“Can you speak?”

“Yes, Great and Powerful Trixie.” That brought a smile to her lips.

Well, he picked up my name, and the proper way to say it! I like him already. “Good, come with me if you want to live. And bring the baskets.”