In just four months, Trixie had gone from the new face in town who more often than not shied away from social gatherings, to a pony who none of the other residents could imagine a day without. And better still, she now managed Starlight's stall every second day without fail. Both took turns to care for Thistle back at what was now considered their home. For once in her life, the unicorn who had gone from a travelling magician to an integral part of a community felt happy.

"Morning Mr Lumber. How's the new plantation holding up?" Trixie immediately set about pulling together his usual order. Jack Lumber was the head pony of the pine business in Vanhoover. Thus, he often prepared food for the other timber gathering ponies. And as a result, they had become quite good friends during their regular transactions. Today was salad day for the yard, which for Trixie meant a rather easier order to fill than most other days.

"Very well. The beavers did an excellent job with the dam. Next downpour won't drown out the saplings for sure. Good thing too, because the main plantation is up for harvesting in a few days. Wouldn't be much time to take care of the others." Beavers, Trixie recalled them well. Not exactly the most polite of Equestrian residents, but they certainly were resourceful. And a good group to have in Vanhoover, a dam could prove crucial in the event of a flood.

"I'm glad to hear that. Here you go." The appropriate amount of bits tumbled onto the counter as the bags containing Jack's order floated down into his saddlebags. "I hope that the salad goes well. Have a good day!" Jack nodded to her in thanks before heading off. It gave Trixie a moment to look around the marketplace. This time of the week was typically quiet, A majority of ponies would be at their jobs for the end of the working cycle.

Her break would be coming up in a few minutes. Of course, given how quiet the market was, it didn't seem like anypony would notice if she slipped away a little earlier than that. "I don't think they'll mind, really." It was decided then. Trixie casually pulled out the appropriate sign for her coffee break from underneath the counter. A pair of hooks was set into the top of the stall so it could hang down, thus becoming very visible to anypony walking by. And that was that, she could now grab a bite to eat.

"Oh Trixie, you are quite clever when you need to be." She took the first steps towards the coffee shop right across the open plaza. The smell of freshly baked pastries, delicious desserts and of course aromatic coffees was enticing. Within moments, she found herself trotting, as opposed to merely walking. Yet, at that moment it didn't feel quite right to her. Something was stirring in her mind. Everything suddenly felt very still, too still for any time of day. The sensation came down to something like Equestria itself holding it's breath. Had she done something wrong by taking her break a few minutes earlier than usual? Even then, did it really warrant the very world around her slowing down to a stop?

What is going on... The answer was quick to arrive. A bright green fireball exploded outward right in front of her, throwing her clear into a stall of oranges. Much to her surprise, that turned out to be something which saved her life. As the inferno of green dissipated, a large plant was left in it's place. It rivaled a small house for size, but the sudden arrival of such a plant was not the reason at all that ponies began to panic. This plant had a mass of vines, and two long, thick tendrils. Shivers ran down Trixie's spine as a deep, dark chasm opened up in the middle of it. Three guesses wouldn't be necessary as to what it was. A mouth.

"Trixie!" Starlight half tackled her with use of her magic in a charge from the right side. Both rolled clear as the orange cart was torn to shreds by the two tendrils. Trixie guessed that they were searching for the presence of a pony in the wreckage. Her. "Get up you silly filly! Run!" Starlight was back on her hooves and running for safety by then. Trixie took a bit longer to get up, but was soon able to follow to the shelter of a nearby wall.

"What is that thing!?" One of the tendrils smashed the corner of the building wall clean off to her horror. A very fine line remained between her foreleg and the grasp of the tendril in that shocking moment. Was it after her in particular, or just anypony nearby? In the tense moment that followed, she hoped with all her will that it was the former. At least then it would suggest intelligence, and not just a ravishing hunger for ponies.

Either way, she couldn't stand by and let it wreak havoc on Vanhoover. It was her home, the residents were her friends. Starlight was the closest she had to family. And Thistle. She hadn't seen the little filly with her mother... "Starlight, you need to get Thistle to safety. I'll distract it with my magic. And please don't argue, you two are far more important than I am." There was no point in waiting for a response. The path she needed to take was clear.

As she prepared to lead an attack, hesitation locked her body into a frozen state. She was potentially putting her life on the line for another pony, who she had only known a few months. Despite what she had said about not being important, there was still a hint of self concern. I might not make it out of this alive... As it passed, she leaped from her cover right into the open plaza

"Come and fight me you monster!" A volley of fireworks launched right from her horn at the main body of the plant. Each impact was met with a shuddering roar of fury. The most likely case was that she had only upset it, but the effect was what she wanted. Now the focus had been turned to her alone. Starlight would have a chance to get her daughter and run to safety. That was all that mattered at that moment.

The battle itself was quickly devolving into a matter of dodging the tendrils, and shooting back fireworks whenever she could get a clear shot at the beast's mouth. In the midst of that, a single memory began to pierce the very centre of her being. The Ursa Minor... How different was that battle from this one? All she was really doing now was throwing party tricks at the monster, no better than her previous encounter. You didn't have a pony and her foal to protect back then...

"Look out!" The memory had distracted her enough to conceal the crumbling of a chimney stack right above her. Had Starlight not warned her from the doorway of her home at that moment, Trixie would have been knocked unconscious by the collapse. As Trixie moved to avoid the impact, one of the tendrils closed in around her leg. The falling chimney was a mere distraction to ensnare her. And she wasn't the only pony that the beast had caught.

All seemed lost in that moment, until her body went into turmoil. A hard kick to the base of the tendril caused it to recoil violently. Now Trixie was hurtling through the air in a wild spin. Gravity became meaningless as she stopped moving upward, and started to twirl back down out of control. She barely felt the impact, it was the after effects that had overwhelmed her. Too disorientated to see anything but the fluid tumble in her eyes. Too incoherent to speak as Fleethoof began to drag her to safety. He had been the one who delivered that life saving kick at the key moment.

"I gotcha. Just hold on and you'll be fine. I promi-" Trixie attributed his sudden cut off to temporary loss of hearing. By then her eyes had begun to settle enough for vague vision. But she hadn't gone deaf, there were still screams in her ears. Instead, she watched as the blue grey stallion was thrown into the gaping maw of the plant monster. It had grabbed him instead of her. It hadn't been after her in particular then, she was just one of the closest ponies...

"Fleethoof... No, Fleethoof!" Deep within her, the urge to stand began to burn furiously, in defiance of the enormous struggle against gravity it entailed. Each movement of her head caused her vision to swing, beating her down. And still she continued to raise herself off the ground with sheer determination. Trixie couldn't see much, nor did she need to. Fleethoof couldn't take the fall after saving her. Not like that. Not to a big plant that ate ponies.

There was a stinging pain in her eyes as they continued to clear. For a moment, she was grateful of being able to see more colours. Bitterness over what she did see soon overwhelmed that gratitude. Had she remained blind, the sight of the plant beast vanishing in a column of green fire wouldn't be burned into her memory. What remained came down to a darkened patch on the cobble plaza, and some dead leaves scattered about. Several buildings had been damaged, a few ponies had been hurt. Trixie was oblivious to all of that. Fleethoof was gone. The one pony who had stopped to help when she was on the side of the road, instead of continuing on his way. The hard working earth pony of the Saddles family. Gone.

Trixie collapsed out of exhaustion. It had happened again. She couldn't defeat the monster threatening the town by herself. Only this time, Twilight Sparkle wasn't there to handle the situation. This fight was up to her to win, and she had failed. Not only had her pride taken a catastrophic blow, ponies had been lost as a result. It was her fault. She hadn't changed one bit from her old self. She was still Trixie, the arrogant and stupid unicorn...