Necessities
By Berry's Ambitions
A/N: I wanted to try writing some Trixcord and ended up with a rather abstract result. Reviews would be fantastic, as they seem to be few and far between these days.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own My Little Pony.
Trixie Lulamoon wanted only one thing for as long as she could remember: to stand out from the crowd. To prove to everypony else that was she was special.
Discord had long-since accepted that he was never going to belong anywhere, so he went out of his way to distance himself from society. If he was going to be excluded, then he would much rather be excluded on his own accord.
Attention is her nicotine, simultaneously relaxing Trixie and leaving her senses on high alert. If deprived of it, the life she's tried so hard to stitch together begins to come apart at the seams, just like it had when her mother began to ignore her.
More than once, she finds herself drawn back to the town of Ponyville. She's not exactly sure why, but suspects it's because Ponyville is the closest thing she's had to a home in years. Of course, that isn't saying much. Trixie knows that the only reason she is welcome back there at all is due to the pity of Twilight Sparkle - no, Princess Twilight Sparkle, she corrects herself bitterly. But as much as Trixie wants to hate the fledging alicorn, she simply can't - not after Twilight forgave her for those terrible crimes she committed. So she swallows back her resentment, forces a smile and attempts to move forward.
During her fourth visit to Ponyville, it becomes easier to recognize the more consistent personality traits of Twilight's friends. Rainbow Dash is headstrong, Pinkie Pie is cheerful, Rarity is sophisticated, Applejack is stubborn, Fluttershy is reserved...
And then there's the bizarre creature who decided to show up - quickly unexpectedly, as it was quickly pointed out - to crash their little get-together.
She doesn't even know what to begin to think of him.
Deep in Trixie's heart, she knows she is ordinary. In fact, she may be even less than ordinary. She is not capable of powerful magic, but convincing illusions - and she could only convince other ponies of so much before her skills are put to the test, which always almost results in total catastrophe.
She has nothing. No family, no friends, no reliable source of income, no sense of stability. And if you have nothing to live for, Trixie wonders, then what is the point of living at all?
Things remain the same for Trixie until her seventh visit, which takes place during lunchtime at Fluttershy's cottage. Trixie is half-listening to Rarity as her fellow unicorn prattles on about finding the perfect colours for winter when suddenly he shows up, flying in through the open window as if he owns the place.
"Why he-lo, my little ponies! What brings you here on such a fine afternoon?" The creature speaks briskly, his voice light and agile and elongating vowels. His yellow eyes seem luminous on his face, his body lithe and serpentine.
There's something almost childlike about this guy, Trixie observes. Childlike, yet so very old. She stares a bit too long, however, and suddenly those bright eyes are boring into hers.
"Now who would you be?" he questions, ears giving a twitch in what Trixie assumed to be curiosity. She is unsure if she should feel flattered or disgusted, especially judging by the scathing looks being shot in his direction by everypony else in the room.
It's Fluttershy who breaks the tension, clearing her throat and nodding in Trixie's direction. "This is Trixie," she answers, much to Trixie's annoyance. (She's perfectly capable of introducing herself, thank you very much.) "Trixie, this is our friend Discord - "
"Our friend?" The utter contempt of which Rainbow Dash spits out the word surprises Trixie. It's one thing to be brash, but Dash had never struck Trixie as a particularly resentful pony. At least, not until now.
Fluttershy lowers her ears immediately. "I-I mean my friend," she corrects herself, voice softer than before. "He likes to visits Ponyville sometimes…"
Discord snorts, examining his talons. Rather than looking offended or upset, he appears almost bored by the whole ordeal. Trixie gets the impression that he's used to it. "Only when I have nothing better to do, of course."
"Me too," Trixie finds herself chiming in. "This place is such a drag, but I don't have anywhere else to go."
Seven pairs of eyes shift towards her, ranging from exasperated to pitiful - all except for Discord's. He now regards her with undisguised amusement, and Trixie decides she may grow to like him, in time.
Trixie has no complaints when Discord takes an interest in her, gradual as it may be. If anything, she's quite touched, especially upon learning that Discord isn't overly-fond of most ponies (aside from Fluttershy, of course). Trixie can't say she blames him. Who wouldn't be irritated after a thousand years as Princess Celestia's lawn ornament?
They get a lot of strange looks, the two of them. The scorned ex-overlord of Equestria and the notorious con-mare who'd once been possessed by dark magic. Normally Trixie would have thoroughly enjoyed being in the spotlight, but when it comes to time spent with Discord, she wishes for something she hasn't in a very long time: privacy. What business was it of onlookers, who she chose to spend her time with? Was it so wrong for either of them to have found a friend, especially in each other?
Their most personal conversations happen late at night, lounging in Everfree Forest without a care in the world. Trixie talks about her father; the stallion who had encouraged her to pursue magic, to pursue her dreams. He had been the one to buy her first magician's hat, made of fleece and decorated with felt stars. He had been the first one - the only one, really - to tell her how much potential she had. He had been the one to pay for her private schooling, and the one who coaxed her into picking herself up no matter how many times she fell down.
Trixie also talks about her mother, in much lesser detail. She tells Discord how the once-beautiful unicorn would brush her daughter's mane and read her bedtime stories. How she would allow Trixie to help out in the kitchen, and shower the giggling filly with kisses.
Then her father passed away, and suddenly her mother stopped caring. Not about herself, and certainly not about Trixie.
Discord reveals that he is the last of his kind, the rest having been vanquished by the ruler who came before Celestia. He had been friends with the princesses once, during easier times. Perhaps he had even fallen in love with one of them, or both. Trixie doesn't know if Discord himself is sure anymore.
Before long, these chats become a necessity, along with the company of each other.
In Trixie, Discord has found peace - or at least, what he considers to be peace. (The definition varies depending on what sort of mood he's in.) He can be whatever he pleases around her, because he knows she will not judge him for it.
Discord hasn't experienced this sort of freedom in a long time, even around Fluttershy. With Fluttershy, one false move - one slip-up, one chaotic relapse - could cost him of her companionship forever. When he's with Trixie, he knows she isn't going to leave, no matter how many mistakes he makes. Because she's made them too, and she understands.
For the first time in thousands of years, somepony actually understands.
"How long do you suppose forever is?" he asks her one day, while they're watching the sunset atop of a hill.
Trixie ponders for a moment, sweeping her gaze across the trees. "However long you want to be," she answers finally, and judging by her tone, even she doesn't know what she's talking about. "Whenever you want it to stop, and maybe that's never. It all depends."
If that's the case, Discord muses, then perhaps forever is only seconds away.
"What sort of word would you use to describe me, Trixie?"
He is curled up beneath a tree, tail lazily flicking back and forth. She lies on her back, cornflower blue mane fanning out from behind her head as she basks in the shade. When she responds, her eyes are not fixed on him, but the sky.
"Entertaining," she says after a beat. "You keep Equestria on its hooves, and you're always one step ahead of everypony else. But that's not what I like about you the most."
"Oh?" Discord raises an eyebrow. "Then what is, exactly?"
"You make me happy."
The smile on her face is positively radiant, and he makes sure to take a picture of it in his mind's eye.
When he kisses her, it's long and tender, with the taste of cotton candy on his tongue and the warmth of a blanket surrounding them. He nuzzles her neck after it's over and she can hear a low, continuous hum from his throat, almost like a purr.
"I love you," she whispers, because of course she does. She loves him more than performing in front of an auditorium, she loves him more than peanut butter crackers, she loves him more than fleece hats and felt stars.
She no longer has nothing, but everything, and so much more. The missing threads in her life have been found and suddenly, all is right.
Inevitably, her times comes, just as it does for everypony.
She doesn't want to leave without him.
She is given no choice.
Years and years go by, and still his heart aches when he comes across old photographs. He will look at his friends - friends whose lives had long-since ended - and somehow manages to smile, despite the sharp pain in his chest and the lump in his throat. Because of all the things he has lost in his long, long life, she is the wound he will never recover from.
He remembers the way her violet eyes would sparkle with whatever brilliant idea she came up with. The intensity of those eyes when they bored into his. The light fading from them as she died in his arms.
The wound bleeds.
~The End~