Trixie could barely contain her excitement.

It was her last night at the survivor camp. Tomorrow, she, Hope, Gilda, Gustave, and everyone else there would finally get to leave. The caravans they required were completely built, moved from the cave to near their huts; the food and supplies they needed were stored away. Months of endless progress were finally about to pay off.

Hope jumped up and down excitedly next to Trixie. "It'll be my birthday tomorrow! And we'll be out of here! We can do all those things we've been talking about, and everything will finally be okay!"

The unicorn chuckled, then hugged the filly. "That's right! Just make sure to save your energy! One more night, and we'll be onward to a better life!"

Her fan reciprocated the hug, cuddling closely against her.

Suddenly, Trixie started to mentally sense a presence nearby. She froze in shock.

'Oh, no.

What are they doing here?!?

They were already here yesterday -- they weren't supposed to come back for another week!!!

What are they doing?!?'

"Hope, go hide in the hut," she briskly whispered.

The filly blinked in confusion. "What? Why?"

"The dragons are coming!" Trixie replied.

Hope immediately obeyed her, quickly warning Fiona before she ran off, both hiding in their respective rooms.

The remaining survivors all became still with fear once they saw the dragons return.

Garble looked furious. He glared disapprovingly at all the caravans and packed belongings. He gestured to them as he looked back at his repeat victims. "What the hell is all this, hmm? Are you trying to be nomads now? Thinking that we wouldn't find you again if you all just migrated somewhere else?" he breathed smoke out of his nostrils, stomping towards them. "Well, guess what? We would, anyways. But we like you right where you are, so we're going to make sure you stay that way." He looked back to his three cronies. "BOYS! RIP ALL THIS PATHETIC CRAP APART!"

The dragons immediately lunged at the caravans the survivors had spent months putting together, sinking their claws and fangs into them and tearing them asunder, sabotaging them to the point of being completely inoperable. It was almost ridiculous how something the ponies and griffons worked so hard on for so long to create was torn down in a matter of mere minutes.

The victims gasped and recoiled at the sight, disheartened and furious at how their extensive labor, their means of escape, had been taken from them.

Garble was panting when they were done. He leered back at the camp's occupants, and then pointed a claw towards them. "That's what you get for thinking you can escape."

He signaled to the other dragons, and they started to walk away, off into the distance.

Once they were gone, Hope came back out from the hut, gasping when she saw what happened. The filly lowered her head, sniffling as she struggled not to cry.

Trixie immediately went to her, hugging her reassuringly as she caressed her mane. "I'm going to fix this," she insisted. "We'll still get to leave tomorrow."

Hope wiped away her tears, looking at her hero. "Are you sure?..."

The unicorn nodded. "Yes. I'll get started right now. I'll fix all of this tonight, and we'll still get to leave in the morning. I promise."

She immediately started working, walking over to the sorrowful sight of the wreckage and using her magic to put all the debris back in their original places and fuse them together, fortifying them back to their original strength. Some of the other griffons, like Adia and Roul, came to her aid, repairing the caravans manually through tools and physical labor.

The filly quickly returned to the showmare. "Do you need my help, Trixie?"

"No, Hope, it's okay. Go ahead and go rest in the hut; you need some sleep. I'll come in as soon as I'm done."

She seemed a little discouraged at her reply, but trusted that Trixie had the matter under control. "Okay..." with that, she went to her room.

The repair took hours, and since it was already dark outside when they started, the unicorn needed to cast a spell to provide light in addition to straining herself on fixing the caravans. Just as the griffons who offered to help were becoming exhausted, so too was Trixie fatigued, pushing her magic about as far as it's ever gone. She felt worn out, and filled with agonizing aches all over. Once she saw that they were finished, she wiped the sweat off her brow with a forehoof, sighing in relief before she started to pant breathlessly. Grunting from the dull pain coursing through her, she trudged off back to her hut, looking forward to getting the rest and recuperation she needed.

As Trixie headed straight to bed, Hope saw her from behind the curtains of her own room. Her ears lowered. "Won't you tell me a bedtime story, Trixie?..."

"I'm sorry, Hope, but I'm way too tired," Trixie panted. "Just try to get some sleep... It's all fixed, so we'll get to leave in the morning..."

The filly quietly sighed sadly to herself. "Okay..." she murmured. Then, she went to bed, just as Trixie did.

The next morning, Hope woke sooner than anyone else in her hut. Gilda and Gustave had helped Trixie the night before, and were almost as exhausted as she was; it was still fairly early in the morning, sometime before the sunrise. The sorrow the filly experienced last evening had turned into eagerness and joy; she sprang out of her bed, expecting her roommates to be readily awake and greeting her on her birthday, only to sink back into disappointment when she realized they were all still asleep.

She briefly pulled back the curtain to Trixie's room once more, seeing the showmare dead tired, still sweaty and dirty from toiling so hard at the repairs. It was tempting to wake her up, to seek reassurance in her comforting embrace and sweet encouragements yet again, but the filly resisted, realizing her hero probably felt as miserable as she looked. She would have to be patient. Hope sighed, wishing that her journey away from the survivor camp and the celebration of her birthday would come sooner.

Seeking a way to occupy herself while she waited, the earth pony stepped outside of the hut, seeing the dawn that still had yet to bloom. Even though it was still fairly dark outside, it was just bright enough to see the world around her. She smiled, reminded of the beauty of Luna's skies she often stayed up to admire while she lived in Jennet, and when Trixie first moved into the survivor camp with her.

"Hey, Hope. You couldn't sleep, either?"

The filly was startled by the voice, looking off to it's source. "Oh, hey, Fiona. Good morning."

The griffon smiled, hugging her. "Happy birthday!"

Hope giggled. "Thank you..."

Fiona pulled away. "So, what are you doing up so early?"

Her friend shrugged. "I'm just anxious for Trixie to get up, and for all of us to finally leave this place..."

The griffon nodded. "I can understand..." She then frowned. "Still, I'm going to miss you..."

"Oh, I'll miss you too, Fiona... But, we'll get to see each other again... Trixie and Gilda used to part ways to do things all the time, but they always found one another eventually..."

She sighed. "Yeah..." After hesitating for a few moments, she added, "Why don't we go for a walk while we wait for the rest of them to get up? Just a short one. Just to say goodbye to this place."

Hope's ears lowered, immediately having doubts about the safety of the idea, but she was feeling bored and restless, and wasn't sure what else would quench those feelings. "... All right. But, we should stay really close to the camp... And I'm going to let Trixie know real quick."

"Okay!"

With that, the filly briefly returned to her hut. She briefly considered waking Trixie up, but wanted the unicorn to conserve her strength after exerting herself so much. So, instead, she retrieved a paper and crayon from her room, writing her a note that she was going to go for a short walk in the forest with Fiona. After leaving it next to Trixie's bed, she returned outside, seeing the griffon again.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

The two walked and talked into the forest, getting lost in their conversation, reminiscing about all the memories this small place had for them for so many months. They revisited the horrors they witnessed and suffered at the claws of Garble and his dragons, and indulged in nostalgic, warm memories of what Trixie and Gilda did for them, and how they became close friends and befriended all the other griffons at the camp. The two continued to express how much they would miss one another, comforted by the promise that they would be allowed to see each other again before too long. The children who lost all their friends when the dragons destroyed their homes found new ones in each other, forging a bond that only strengthened with time.

They were enjoying the farewell stroll so much that it only dawned on Hope far too late that they had been astray for quite some time. "Hang on," she interrupted firmly. "We've walked a long time... We should probably get back to the camp..."

Fiona frowned, feeling a pang of guilt, but realized both of them were too distracted to notice it before. "You're right... Let's go..."

As they reversed directions, beginning to return to the camp, they were frozen in place by a loud, cacophonous crack, causing the girls to become chilled with fear.

"What was that?" Hope whispered briskly.

"I don't know," Fiona answered.

Suddenly, they heard Garble's laughter. Both children silently gasped, immediately darting behind the cover of a tree. Peeking out from behind it, they saw all four dragons, thankfully oblivious that they were nearby.

"That was hilarious, Blaze!" Garble guffawed. "But I bet you I can do better... Watch this..." He raised one of his arms, the other holding a phoenix egg in it's claw. Placing the egg in his armpit, he bent his elbow and brought his arm down, breaking the shell to pieces, causing a lava-like yolk to trickle down. He scraped it off of his scales as they all laughed at their antics.

Smokey was the first to catch his breath. "Wait, wait, wait! Watch this!" He retrieved another phoenix egg from the batch they managed to steal from their nests. The grey dragon placed it in Pain's mouth before he could register what was going on.

"... What're you --"

Smokey's claw clenched into a fist and crashed across Pain's face, causing him to bite down on the egg in his mouth, spilling the lava yolk out from between his fangs. The other dragons laughed even harder.

Pain spit the rest of the remains out, growling at Smokey and grabbing him by the neck. "Screw you, man!" he yelled, pulling his other claw back for a punch.

"Come on, take it easy, Pain! He was just kidding! It was funny!" Garble insisted.

The slim purple dragon released Smokey. "Sorry, Garble..."

"Don't sweat it." He sighed happily, grabbing another phoenix egg. "You know what my favorite thing about phoenixes are? That no matter what you do to them, they never die. At least, if you let them hatch first. We should do that next time. You can just do whatever you want, kill them over and over, and they'll keep coming back and you can keep torturing them... Their screams and cries sound even funnier and more pathetic every time, knowing what you did to them in their past lives..."

Blaze laughed. "Yeah! It's awesome when you do that!"

"It's too bad we don't just do that with these..." Pain lamented.

"That's only because they'll take too long to hatch at this point. I just don't feel like waiting that long," Garble explained.

Smokey rubbed his chin with a claw in thought, then smiled, snapping his claws. "Oh! I have a great idea, Garble! Frying pan!"

The red dragon laughed in agreement. "Yeah! Frying pan!"

All four dragons started clapping together, chanting "Frying Pan! Frying Pan!", continuing as they started to dig into the dirt with their claws, forming a small hole in a wide circle. As soon as they were done, each dragon stood back on a different side of the hole, and then started to prepare to spit, hocking up phlegm, until each of them released a stream of salival lava, filling the hole with their combined efforts.

"Yeah!" They shouted in unison. Garble immediately cracked open the nearest phoenix egg directly above the pit, pouring the yolk out into it. They all laughed, continuing with the rest of the eggs for their own sadistic amusement.

The hidden children were sickened by the sight.

"That's so disgusting!" Fiona hissed.

"I know... Those poor phoenixes..." Hope whispered.

The filly surveyed what she could see of the situation, noticing that the dragons were starting to run out of eggs. She hated what they were doing, but knew she was unfortunately powerless to stop them. Her heart pounded as the very real and serious danger she was in made itself known to her.

"Fiona, listen... If we don't do something soon, those dragons will be out of eggs, and they're probably going to find us... We need to get out of here as fast as we can, but we can't let them find us," Hope explained.

Fiona quivered, trying to keep herself from crying as she sniffled. "O-okay... Wh-what should we do?..."

Thinking quickly, Hope replied, "You get ready to run, and I'll let you know when they'll be too distracted to hear you..." She turned to face the griffon for a moment, gently stroking her face. "It's okay to be scared... I'm really scared, too... I'll find you again as fast as I can, but until then, try to get back to the camp and tell them what's happening..."

Fiona quickly nodded, fighting to maintain her composure.

She prepared to run, waiting for Hope to alert her. The filly continued discreetly watching the dragons, noticing that soon they were all about to collectively break eggs against each other all at once. As soon as they were about to impact, she signaled her friend with her hoof. Right then, each egg burst open, and the dragons loudly cheered in unison, masking the sound of Fiona running away. Hope was about to follow, but the noise died down before she could.

Some minutes later, the dragons released another simultaneous whoop of mischief at their numerous methods of breaking eggs. Hope quickly started to gallop off, bolting away through fear, but she was too distracted to notice a fallen tree branch before her. She tripped, exclaiming loudly out of shock before she hit the ground with a loud thud.

Garble and his cronies immediately stopped, looking to the source of the noise and seeing Hope. She froze for a moment, terrified, scrambling back to her hooves to try to run away. Before she could, Pain and Smokey quickly flew to her, picking her up with such force that her hat and cape fell off.

"No!" she shrieked, struggling to break free as her two captors flew over to Garble.

The red dragon smiled as he crossed his arms. "Well, well, well... Soft Hide Junior thought she'd do some morning sightseeing... Didn't think it'd turn out like this, did you?"

The other dragons laughed at his taunts.

He grabbed Hope away from Pain and Smokey, holding her up to meet his eye level. He whispered menacingly, "You don't have any grown ups around to save you, now. What happens to you is entirely up to us, and you asked for it by walking in here. I'm afraid you're just too dumb to live..."

"No! Please don't kill me! I never did anything to you! Why can't you just leave me alone?!?"

Garble walked over to the lava pit with Hope in his grasp, dangling her over it, causing her to gasp in fear as she looked below her. He shot glances at the other three dragons, silently gauging how much they wanted him to drop her in, encouraged by their escalating cheers, clapping and laughter. He threw Hope straight up into the air, causing her to scream and flail helplessly, only to catch her by her tail just before she could fall in the lava.

The terrified filly was sobbing hysterically. "No! I don't want to die! Stop it, just stop it!"

Garble cupped his other claw against the side of his head as if struggling to hear her. "You've gotta wail louder if you want the wambulance to come to your rescue, Hope! Keep singing out that sweet music for us!" He started to sadistically toy with her further, pulling her up and lowering her down, forming an unpredictable rhythm that kept Hope's nerves constantly jolted with horror.

"Drop that namby pamby pony in there, Garble! I want to see her skin melt off!"

"Yeah! Let's cook her and eat her!"

The red dragon continued grinning wildly, savoring the pony's suffering and the enjoyment of his unscrupulous comrades. Each of their jeers and demands made it all the more tempting to drop her, but he wanted to squeeze every bit of agony and fear that he could from the child before she was finally gone.

Hope stared into the fiery liquid below her, watching her tears fall in. She'd never been more scared in her life. The helpless filly whimpered, shuddering, hoping that she would somehow get out of this.

Back in the survivor camp, Trixie was finally just then waking up in her hut. She grumbled, wiping the sleep from her eyes with her hooves, blinking a few times and suddenly realizing how long she slept. The unicorn quickly retrieved the lachrylus from under her pillow, using her levitation to tie it in her mane again, smiling eagerly as she stood up and walked past her curtain, expecting to greet Hope. Instead, she was bewildered to find Hope's note, explaining where she had gone. While the showmare believed her to be safe, she still felt worried.

"Gilda, Gustave, Hope's gone for a walk," she stated loudly enough to awaken her two griffon friends. They quickly left their rooms as well. "Let's go find her," Trixie continued. "I just want to make sure that she's safe..."

They nodded in agreement, and then left the hut, quickly walking towards the forest. The three were startled when they were suddenly interrupted by Fiona running up to them, terrified and out of breath.

"We saw the dragons! I think Hope's still out there!" she pointed towards the direction from which she came in the forest. "They're that way!"

Panicked, Trixie immediately galloped off, causing Gilda and Gustave to struggle to keep up as they lagged behind. They were just as worried, but the unicorn's closeness to the filly fortified her efforts.

Mere minutes later, the trio finally found Hope, still at Garble's mercy. Hope's eyes met Trixie's, and the unicorn instantly focused on her magic. The dragon saw this, and just as soon released Hope's tail, causing a searing bolt of torment to explode across the showmare's mind as she forced herself to levitate Hope to safety while enduring such terror; thankfully, the filly was miraculously unharmed.

Trixie briefly winced from her splitting headache and sharp nosebleed. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!?" she screamed furiously to the dragons.

Garble seemed just as amused as he was annoyed by the unicorn intervening. His scowl turned back into a smirk, and he started to take a deep, fiery breath, suddenly looking back at Hope.

The showmare gasped. With the rush of adrenaline coursing through her system, time seemed to slow down for her; forcing out more of her magic in spite of her emotional state and agonizing discomfort, she leapt in front of Hope while levitating her out of the way of harm once more. Unfortunately, she pushed herself too far, causing a crippling jolt of pain to temporarily stun herself as she hit the ground, leaving Hope completely open as she landed once more.

Garble quickly fixed his aim back onto Hope, and spewed forth a large gust of flames that coated the filly's entire body, causing her to release a bloodcurdling scream at the top of her lungs.

"NO!" her hero yelled. She tried to force out her magic once more, managing only to merely extinguish the flames, but the damage had already been done. Immediately, the terrified Gilda and Gustave took to their wings and swooped around the scene, picking up the two ponies and Hope's nearby discarded hat and cape.

They just as quickly started flying away, but the whole time, Trixie glared down at the dragons.

"YOU FOAL-KILLERS!" she shrieked furiously. "SHE WAS ONLY A CHILD! ALL SHE EVER DID WAS BE NICE TO EVERYONE, AND YOU KILLED HER! YOU HEARTLESS, WORTHLESS MONSTERS! I HOPE YOU ALL ROT AND BURN AND SCREAM AND SUFFER IN TARTARUS FOR BEYOND ETERNITY!"

Gustave and Gilda flew as far away from the dragons as they could in the short amount of time that they had. They knew that Hope had little time left, if any, and if anything was going to be done about it, it had to be now. The two mustered all of their effort to slow down from their vigorous flight, gracefully and gently landing so as to not injure Hope further.

The sobbing, inconsolable Trixie immediately held her in her forehooves, having used her levitation to wrap Hope in her cape as if it were a blanket. She started to try using a healing spell, pushing out more magic and concentrating with everything she had in spite of how much it hurt, but nothing happened; Hope was too badly injured for her to possibly save her.

"No..." The showmare whimpered, refusing to accept there was nothing she could do. She next tried a spell to at least numb Hope's pain, but this, too, was fruitless; her suffering was too great to alleviate in even the slightest form. She would at least be physically hurting very terribly.

The unicorn felt her heart drop into her stomach like an anchor when she realized there was only one other thing she could do. The only way she could stop Hope from hurting any further would be to put her out of her misery. Her heart skipped a beat as she was suddenly reminded of the last night she ever saw her father so many years ago. The tears copiously poured down her face as she gazed into Hope's eyes, silently acknowledging this.

'Trixie... Please...' Hope mentally begged to her.

The showmare's eyes squinted shut, squeezing tears out as she clenched her teeth, trembling and sobbing. She did her best to compose herself, trying to stay strong enough to do what Hope needed her to, nodding in acceptance. Opening her eyes again, she continued to stare into Hope's as her horn started to glow with the aura of the life extinguishing spell.

'Please... Don't...'

Bewildered, Trixie suddenly stopped her spell. "Huh?" she sniffled in an audible reply.

'... I won't leave you alone again... I want to spend every last moment with you...'

The unicorn was deeply touched. She slowly smiled, feeling somewhat relieved in knowing that at least Hope was willing to share her final minutes with her hero. "Okay, Hope... Okay..." She held her closer in a comforting hug, heartbroken that soon, they would never see each other again.

Suddenly, Trixie remembered what she brought with her from their hut. She was just barely able to levitate the lachrylus out of her mane and into her forehoof. "Happy Birthday, Hope," she croaked sorrowfully, gently resting it on her chest.

Hope smiled weakly. '... My lachrylus... It's so beautiful... Thank you...' She gently wrapped her forelegs around it from beneath the cape, holding it close to her.

The unicorn squinted her eyes shut, nodding, trying to force herself to smile. She did her best to refrain from sobbing too much as she continued trying to comfort Hope, although nothing could be done to hold back her tears.

Hope's eyes slowly looked from the lachrylus back to Trixie. '... One... More...'

Again, Trixie was surprised. "... One more what?..."

'... One more bed time story...'

The showmare tried to keep from bawling. She took a brief instant to remain as calm as she could, and then nodded in acceptance.

The filly's smile widened, and she slowly closed her eyes, patiently waiting.

Trixie mustered the effort necessary to give her number one assistant the same kind of illusions that comforted her on so many other nights, giving her sights, sounds, and other experiences that weren't exactly there.

This time, it wasn't a memory they shared to indulge in.

It wasn't even a story that either one of them had invented.

It was a dream that almost came true.

Trixie and Hope walked together through the gates of Hoofington's carnival. They marveled at all the wondrous sights it held in store for them; the candy, the games, the rides, all openly inviting them to have fun and forget all of their problems.

The unicorn smiled at her fan, gently stroking her mane with a forehoof. "Are you finally ready for this?"

"I can't wait!" Hope exclaimed joyously.

The two laughed as they purchased their tickets, immediately running inside and heading for the first attraction they could find.

Trixie closed her eyes, releasing a sobbing, shaking sigh, the agony she experienced from pushing her magic this far almost matching Hope's.

"... Happy birthday to you..." she whispered, singing faintly.

First, they won a plethora of toys and stuffed animals for Hope through all sorts of fun challenges. Whether it was throwing a horseshoe in the right place or spraying targets with a water gun, from whack-a-mole to skee ball, Trixie shelled out enough bits until Hope got enough tries to win all of them. Whenever she received a prize, the filly would immediately name her new imaginary friend and create a backstory for them, preparing them to be Lucy, Special and Irene's newest comrades.

"... Happy birthday to you..."

Next, the two indulged in all of the sweets that they found appetizing served at the carnival. Hope loved everything she got the chance to eat, including cake, ice cream, pie, lollipops and pink popcorn. She was just then getting to try cotton candy for the very first time, loving the way that it dissolved on her tongue, enjoying it's rich taste and fun texture. She shared other pieces of it with Trixie, and the two laughed over how it stuck to their hooves and faces. The filly was ecstatic from all the new treats and flavors she got to enjoy, hyper and energetic from the sugar rush she acquired, quickly listing off all kinds of newly invented recipes she wanted to try with this new knowledge, much like the peanut butter and cheese sandwiches and orange milk she'd sometimes eat.

"Happy birthday, dear Hope..."

Hope yelled in jubilation as the wind whipped past her. She and Trixie continued to feel thrilled as the roller coaster they rode persevered through several loops, twists and turns, rocketing them across the track at breakneck speed. They both laughed, exhilarated as if they were experiencing an exciting flight, filling every cell in their bodies with the palpable sensation of an incredible rush. As the ride stopped, returning where it began, they took a moment to readjust to their regular speed of movement, before being humorously amused by how dizzy they felt when they got to walk off. Making their way to other parts of the carnival, Hope began suggesting that Trixie could utilize her illusion spells to give the audience a similar experience in their shows.

"Happy birthday to you..."

Trixie and Hope stared in awe at the beauty of the fireworks show going off before them that evening. Fantastic colors and patterns exploded into the sky in majestic showers of sparks, lingering in the air as they slowly descended after bursting forward loudly, only to fade away and be replaced by new ones. They held each other's forehooves as they continued watching, stunned at how the radiant designs only became more beautiful and incredible with each display, gradually raising the bar further and further. This culminated in one final, spectacular array of fireworks that perfectly formed the image of Princess Luna, glittering in the air for several moments before finally disappearing.

The unicorn and the filly smiled at one another.

"I love you, Trixie," Hope proclaimed.

"I love you too, Hope."

For the last time, they hugged.

Trixie's magic finally ceased, the dull ache in her head only slowly ebbing away, just as she felt that Hope was about to die.

The filly continued to smile, tears forming as she opened her eyes, deeply touched and comforted by the final gift that her hero had given her.

'... Trixie and Hope, now and forever...' With that, her side of their mental connection completely stopped.

She was gone. She was free.

The showmare stared down in disbelief at the dead filly in her hooves. No longer would her honey golden peanut butter brown eyes shimmer with life and wonder. No longer would she spend every moment she could with her, telling her what a difference she made in her life. It was all over.

The sun finally started to rise in the dawn, it's light and warmth reaching across Trixie's back, casting her silhouette over Hope's corpse until it was completely submerged in her shadow.

She never cried that hard again.

Next Chapter: 11. Departure Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes