"Trixie?"

The unicorn wouldn't answer Gilda.

"... Trixie?..."

After what felt like an eternity of silence, the showmare finally stood up. She used her levitation to place Hope's corpse on her back, just as she was whenever she'd ride there alive, and started to walk away, remaining wordless.

"Trixie, are you okay?" the griffon's voice croaked. She knew that the answer was obvious, but the fact that her lifelong best friend wasn't responding to her at all deeply disturbed her.

She started to walk after her, but Gustave stopped her. "Give her some time," he suggested somberly.

They stood still, watching her from off in the distance. Trixie continued without looking back once, making her way to a nearby pond. After freezing for a few moments, she seemingly effortlessly started to use her magic again, tearing off parts of several trees surrounding her and fashioning them into a coffin. The unicorn levitated Hope inside before removing the hat, cape and lachrylus and closing the newfound coffin. She then took them to the pond, soaking the items there, using her magic to help wash the blood away and dry them as soon as they were ready.

She placed the hat and cape on herself, staring down at her reflection in the water sadly. Noticing the lachrylus, she used her levitation to make it become the clasp of her cape, helping it stay around her neck and being displayed outwards. Trixie stayed there for several minutes, merely gazing deeper into her sad reflection, before she started to finally walk back off to the survivor camp, levitating Hope's coffin with her.

Once all three returned (Gilda and Gustave following behind, still unsure what to do or say), the showmare took the coffin to her traveling carriage and placed it inside. Then, she returned to the hut they spent the last several months living in, going into Hope's room.

The griffon cousins remained in the hut, the silence in the air heavy with apprehension and nervousness. Both wanted to whisper to the other about what to do with Trixie, but neither could bring themselves to speak, instead merely exchanging concerned looks. They had no idea how Trixie was feeling or what she was thinking; just that whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Finally, Gilda couldn't take it any more. She needed to comfort her lifelong best friend. She quickly walked to Hope's room and pulled back the curtains, seeing Trixie looking over the empty bed, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Why did you lie to me?" Trixie asked.

Gilda paused. "About what?"

"About karma," The unicorn continued, slowly turning around, her face still damp with tears. She started to slowly walk towards Gilda, who started to feel uneasy, backing away. "Hope never did anything wrong... She was the nicest one out of all of us, and yet she suffered more than any of us... And Garble and his dragons... They're the most horrible creatures I've ever met, and yet they get away with each of their sick crimes completely free, without so much as a scratch... NO ONE EVER GETS WHAT THEY DESERVE!!! YOU LIED TO ME!!!"

The griffons flinched, startled by Trixie's quiet stoicism instantly switching to a boiling rage.

"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM BEFORE THEY DID ANYTHING!!! BEFORE THEY HURT HER!!! YOU SAID THAT YOU CARED ABOUT HER, BUT YOU LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT!!! YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT HER, OR ME!!!"

"They would have killed us if we tried anything!" Gilda exclaimed fearfully, trying to explain herself and calm Trixie down. "We were scared! All of us were! We just took you and Hope and ran before any more harm could be done!"

"THEY'RE GOING TO KEEP ON HURTING AND KILLING WHOEVER THEY CAN, JUST BECAUSE THEY THINK IT'S FUN, JUST BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE IT!!! WE COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM IF WE WORKED TOGETHER, BUT BECAUSE OF YOU, WE DIDN'T!!! NOW ALL THE BLOOD THAT THEY SHED IN THE FUTURE IS ON YOUR TALONS, ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO COWARDLY TO DO WHAT WAS RIGHT!!!"

"I know that they're horrible! But there was no way we were able to stop them! There was just nothing we could do!"

Trixie shrieked, lunging after Gilda and wildly swinging her forelegs, rapidly punching her everywhere that she could in a blind fury. The griffon winced and cringed as the hooves painfully crashed down on her from all different directions, desperately trying to shield herself and move out of the way; she had no desire to harm the pony. Finally, Gilda saw an opening, and she quickly grabbed Trixie's forelegs in mid-swing, using a karate maneuver to painlessly and harmlessly restrain her, holding her down on the floor and pinning her limbs with her own.

"Trixie! Please calm down!" Gilda begged, distraught over her friend's pain.

The unicorn hissed as she panted between clenched teeth, squirming as she struggled to get out from under Gilda, but to no avail.

"Have you forgotten what they've done to us all?" she growled. "Everything they did to me? Everything they did to you?" her horn started to glow, and she felt a searing headache and nosebleed overwhelm her once more as she forced her magic to work.

"HERE -- LET ME REMIND YOU --"

Then, she broke Gilda's wings again.

The griffon shrieked in excruciating agony, feeling every bone in her flying appendages shattered to pieces. She released Trixie, completely immobilized by the sheer pain. Gaining the advantage once more, the pony turned both of them over, forcing Gilda to hit the ground on her back, injuring her wings further and producing more hurt cries. The unicorn forced one forehoof onto the griffon's throat, choking her and holding her in place, while the other repeatedly punched her in the face. In her furious state, her magic caused her to see her not as Gilda, but as Garble.

'How could you?!?'

Gilda was seeing spots, each punch a cacophonous explosion to her senses.

'How could you be so heartless?!?'

Trixie's hoof started to become bloodied, breaking skin beneath Gilda's feathers.

'How could you be so heartless enough to kill her... AND NOT ME, WITH HER?!?'

Gilda shut her eyes, starting to cough up blood.

Gustave was horrified. "Trixie, stop! You're going to kill her!"

Instead of seeing Gilda as Garble, she now saw her as Hope. She immediately stopped, her anger quelling into grief and despair.

Before she could do anything else, Gustave knocked her out cold with a frying pan.

Trixie groaned as she slowly regained consciousness, feeling a sharp ache in the back of her head. Somehow, she was able to distinguish it from the pain she felt from pushing her magic too far; this was caused by a physical strike. She winced and hissed as she rubbed the sore area with her forehoof, only to realize she was laying in her bed, with Gilda and Gustave watching over her.

Gilda was still bloodied and bruised, looking completely miserable. "I'm sorry we didn't save Hope," she murmured remorsefully.

Gustave was furious. "It's awful that Hope died, but that's no excuse for what you did, Trixie! You broke Gilda's wings! You could have killed her! I can't believe you did that after all we've done for you!"

"Gustave, shut up," Trixie growled.

"How dare you! You have no place to tell me to do anything! You beat the hell out of my cousin! I demand that you apologize!"

As Gustave continued yelling, the unicorn simply ignored him, gathering the rest of her things that were still within the hut, as well as Hope's possessions, and taking them to her traveling caravan, placing them inside. The two griffons followed, one shouting, the other remaining silent.

In spite of her wings and head being in excruciating pain, Gilda was more tormented by how Trixie was upset with her. She worried that the unicorn would never forgive her, that there would be no way to salvage their friendship.

Gustave's anger started to die down as he realized that Trixie wasn't taking in anything he was saying, or if she did, it seemingly didn't affect her. As soon as the unicorn finished packing her things and got inside her caravan, he sighed in defeat, becoming as morose as Gilda, but not quite for the same reasons.

Trixie closed her eyes as she tried to calm down, her breathing becoming slow, not wanting to screw up her magic now of all times. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and exhaled, simultaneously casting a "come to life" spell on her caravan, causing the wheels to start turning. Shortly afterwards, they started to jolt and lurch in clunky motions.

"Damn it!" the unicorn snarled, getting another headache as she forcibly pushed out more magic to get it working right. She sighed as the wheels resumed rolling without fault, rubbing her forehead with a forehoof as if trying to tenderly coax the ache away.

The caravan continued to leave the camp at a steady pace, while Trixie never looked back, refraining from saying so much as one word; a silent farewell, turning away from the only life she knew for the past several months without ever telling the others goodbye.

Gilda sadly watched her leave, falling to her knees as she cried, holding her face in her talons. She felt heartbroken that her oldest and best friend was completely torn away from her by a senseless tragedy, a tragedy that she blamed her for not preventing, when there was nothing she could have done. Gustave gently helped her stand back up, leading her into the hut. He whispered for her to get some rest and patted her head gently.

The rest of the griffons were completely bewildered. They all swarmed around the hut the commotion emerged from, bombarding Gustave with questions, wondering what all the shouting was about, why Trixie was leaving, and where Hope was; they had presents waiting for the filly to give her for her birthday, and Fiona was worried about the safety of her best friend.

But Gustave said nothing.

Trixie felt tears well up in her eyelids as soon as her caravan reached it's destination. Sprawled before her were the empty remains of Jennet. Once a small, yet lively little village, it was now nothing more than a barren wasteland, a faded echo of the lives that were burned away.

She slowly left her vehicle, still tired, hungry and thirsty from days of traveling without having anything to satiate herself. Still, she didn't care. Nothing seemed to matter to her anymore. Not after everything that she lost, finally losing one of the most important ponies in her life.

Even though it was practically burnt beyond recognition, Trixie had lived in the village long enough, and visited it often enough, to have a mental image of what it was like before. She mustered enough magical use to enable her levitation, retrieving Hope's coffin and a few other items as she made her way through the ruins, visualizing the homes and businesses and buildings that used to be there.

The unicorn continued until she found what she was looking for; where her house used to be. She continued to follow her memories, walking through where the front door was, making her way down the hallway, and into the room that was once hers and later became Hope's. Now, it would be Hope's again.

It was strange, to act as if she were inside somewhere when she was merely amongst rubble in the outdoors, but a small part of her mind convinced herself it was just her way of coping with seeing Jennet like this. The showmare found it so ironic that through so many times in her life, every time she'd return to her hometown, it became radically different than it used to be in some form or another. Now, it was going to remain like this forever.

Trixie toned down her levitation spell, letting most of the things she carried gently touch the ground, keeping only a simple shovel suspended. She got to work on digging a suitable grave for Hope, toiling away endlessly until it was ready. The unicorn sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow with a forehoof, taking a brief moment to let her magic calm down. After her short break, she softly lowered the coffin into the grave, and shoveled the dirt back onto it. Finally, she adorned the grave with some old belongings; Special, Lucy, Hope's violin, and Trixie's own crescent moon carving, once made for her by Euthalia.

The showmare stood back, trying to figure out what to say, but unable to speak. After pondering it for what felt like eternity, she finally did.

"Hope... I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I'll never be able to forgive myself for not saving you... If I was just there sooner, or tried a little harder, maybe it wouldn't have happened like this... I'm at least glad that I could comfort you in your last moments, however much good that did. Still, it's just, so unfair... There were so many things you wanted to do that you never got to... You had your whole life ahead of you, and they just, took it away..."

Her voice quivered as tears rolled down her face, and she squinted her eyes shut. "I just wish I had the chance to repay you for everything you've done for me... I'm not sure I ever could have even if you weren't murdered... Even if I you got to know me for the rest of my life... Losing you hurt more than anything that's ever happened to me... Even my Dad would understand how I could say that... I just... I never thought that you were going to die younger than him... It just doesn't make any sense..."

Trixie took a deep breath, slowly releasing a quivering sigh. "You were too good for this world, Hope... You belonged in a fairy tale, like the ones you loved so much... Maybe, now, Luna's allowing you to live in one, just like you always wanted to... I hope she is... And, I hope that one day, I can find you again, and be in there with you, too... My little princess... My number one assistant... Please, help the night princess take care of the stars while you wait for me, Hope. Let them shine on everyone and remind them of how good they can really be... A little more like you..."

The unicorn slowly conjured a bouquet of Jennet Orchids, and laid them on Hope's grave. She kissed her forehoof, and blew it onto the flowers. "I love you, Hope. I promise, I'll do everything I can to see you again one day. Until then... I'll do my best to be everything you ever wanted me to be. The Great And Powerful Trixie." Next Chapter: 12. Monsters Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 21 Minutes