For the first time since Trixie moved into the survivor camp, the dragons returned.

No one was prepared.

They arrived earlier than usual, intentionally catching their victims off guard. Adia wasn't the only one who always wanted to try to strike back, since the adults among the camp outnumbered them by eight to four, but most of them were in too weak a condition to fight, and too afraid in the first place, but with good reason.

Hope was simply minding her own business, playing her violin, when they arrived; she stopped as soon as she saw them, frozen in fear.

Their leader, sporting red and yellow scales, noticed her. "Oh, my! Look at this poor filly, weighed down by these heavy objects! Why, I don't think she can get anywhere, lugging these around! And the Noble Dragon Code says we're obligated to relieve her of her burdens, aren't we, boys?" With that, Garble snapped his claws.

Pain, a slender purple dragon, ripped Hope's violin from her hooves.

"Hey! Give that back!" She protested.

Pain broke it in half over his knee, and then breathed fire over both parts, smoldering them into ash.

While she watched that in horror, Hope's lachrylus was yanked off of her by Smokey, a slim dark grey dragon, who promptly swallowed it.

The filly immediately started bawling.

Trixie snarled, pointing her horn at the dragons as she tried to prepare a spell.

"You'd better point that thing somewhere else, before I break it off and use it as a toothpick," Garble threatened.

Trixie tried to cast a spell, but found she was too upset to use her magic properly in the moment.

Garble then perked, realizing something. "Hang on a second... There's another soft hide here! A celebrity, even! Trixie The So-Called Magician!"

He and his dragon cronies laughed.

"And she's a unicorn! You know what that means, boys? She can help us find more gems to eat!"

"What makes you think that I'm going to help you?" Trixie growled.

Garble scowled. "Uh, because I'll hurt everyone here if you don't? Is your namby pamby brain as soft as the rest of you, pony?"

The dragons laughed again.

Trixie frowned. 'Damn it...'

"... Fine," she sighed in defeat. "But, only if you leave them alone. And give me a few minutes to be ready."

Garble put a claw to his mouth in hesitation, then shrugged. "What's fair is fair. That's not a lot to ask, boys." He smirked at the griffons, who either glared angrily back at him or cowered in fear. "See, guys? I can be nice sometimes." He returned his attention to Trixie. "Five minutes, and we're off. You get us gems, you come back here, everything'll be fine."

Trixie grimaced. The situation was far from desirable, but she didn't argue any further out of fear of making it worse for Hope, herself, or the other survivors. As the dragons waited, laughing and sharing sadistic jokes among themselves, the unicorn briskly retreated to her hut with her three beloved roommates.

She hugged the sobbing Hope, who clung to her tightly. "That one dragon ate my lachrylus, Trixie... That was my last present from my Mom..."

Trixie gently patted her, nodding in sympathy. "I know... I know..."

"And, they destroyed my violin... The one that you signed..."

Trixie tried to think of something to help Hope feel better, then got an idea. She returned to her belongings, rummaging through her things, and found something else to give her. It was the hat and cape she wore when she was a filly; she'd long ago grown out of them, necessitating the mare-sized replica Gilda commissioned, but she always held on to the original outfit out of nostalgia.

"Here, Hope," she said, levitating them to her. "This is the hat and cape that I wore when I was your age... Before that, even... It looks like it would fit you perfectly..."

Hope gasped in excitement, touched that Trixie offered yet another personal belonging of such significance to her. She quickly tried it on, looking into the first mirror she could find. "I love it!" she exclaimed, overjoyed. "Thank you so much, Trixie!"

The showmare smiled, relieved to see her put at ease for the moment. "Your welcome, Hope... Now, you'll look the part of my assistant even further..." she gave the filly a last parting hug for the time being. "I'm sorry, but I have to go find gems for these dragons now, so they'll leave us alone... I'll be back, though... Just stay here and wait for me, okay?"

Her fan hugged her back tightly. "I'll miss you... Be safe..."

Her hooves stumbled as Garble pushed her forward.

"Hurry up, Soft Hide, we don't have all day!"

The unicorn glared back at him, but she quickly resumed focusing on her task, not wanting to further earn his ire. She and the four dragons were walking through a part of the canyon at least a mile away from Adia's survivor camp, scarce of any flora or wildlife. She slightly shook her head, resenting that she was basically catering to their every whim in order to keep Hope and the griffons safe.

They stopped as soon as they arrived at the entrance of a large, dark cave. "Check in there," Garble demanded, pointing into it with a claw.

Trixie sighed under her breath as she obeyed, feeling slightly relieved that the dragons were too lazy to follow her in and try to navigate through the darkness. As soon as she could sense them, she struggled to use her magic to locate and unearth the gems within, placing them into the saddlebags adorning her sides. The further she trekked in, the more she was struck with bittersweet nostalgia, finding the experience ironically similar to how she used to help her father in Jennet.

"Very good, Beatrix," Heavy-Heart praised her, finding that her horn was producing a significantly helpful amount of light. He and the other miners were previously unable to go this far in without torches, and even then they weren't able to see as well.

Beatrix smiled at the compliment, simply happy to be such a great help to her kind, loving father.

She continued to light the way, her control and comfort regarding her magic much more stable than usual with Heavy-Heart's constant verbal approval.

The stallion beamed in delight when he found another large silver vein with the filly's help.

"Look at all of that silver... It's so beautiful... Just like your mane and tail," he mused.

His daughter smiled at the comparison.

"Maybe someday, if we look hard enough, we can find you a genie, like Special did," said Heavy-Heart.

Beatrix giggled. The very idea filled her with glee.

She wiped the tears from her eyelids with her forehoof, grateful that once again, the sweet memories of her father allowed her magic to persevere at a crucial time. Having spent the last several minutes spacing out as she merely went about her task, she only just then noticed that both of her saddlebags were almost completely full of gems. Trixie felt even more relieved now that this arduous task was almost over, for the time being. Her hooves made their way back to the entrance of the cave, only for her to trip and fall, landing face first into the dirt and spilling gems out of the saddlebags.

The dragons laughed in unison as Smokey withdrew his tail from the unicorn's path. They took turns exchanging high fives while Blaze crudely pried the saddlebags off of the pony.

Garble kicked Trixie in the ribs. "Pick the others up," he spat disdainfully.

The unicorn winced, glaring at him as she slowly got back onto her hooves. She would have levitated the spilled gems off of the ground, but her sudden change of mood rendered her horn useless for the moment. Instead, she picked them up one by one with her teeth, placing them in the saddlebags which were set aside and leaning against a pile of rocks.

Garble glanced back at Trixie, only to scowl back at her. "Don't you look at me like that!" he raised a clenched fist, causing her to flinch, and she frowned as she looked away. "That's more like it," he added as the three other dragons nodded.

Their leader shook his head and scoffed as he returned his attention to them. "I'm telling you... Ponies these days, they have no respect," he claimed. "You'd think it'd at least be a sign of intelligence for them to show manners to something that could easily kill them... But, no. They're complete hypocrites, a weak blight wasting this world's resources. Here they are, claiming to be so peaceful and compassionate, only for even the 'kindest' among them to hate us dragons because we're 'fierce' and 'scary'!

"So, what do they do? They hide behind all these cannons and catapults and bombs like complete cowards, killing our kind in drones and destroying our homes merely because they're scared of us! Because we did nothing but happen to live nearby them! But when our fully grown, adult dragons retaliate in nothing but their own scales, we're not fighting back or defending ourselves, we're 'terrorists' and 'mass murderers'! I mean, talk about the pot calling the kettle black!"

"Yeah!" The other three agreed in unison.

Trixie rolled her eyes and shook her head as she continued putting the rest of the gems away.

"I mean, they should be thanking us! We're doing them favors, after all! Like those older dragons who've been destroying all those icky slums full of those Luna lovers they hate so much! You're welcome, Equestria!"

Pain started to laugh. "Yeah! Didn't we even get one of those sometime back? That stupid little place... What was it called again?"

"Tarpan?" Smokey chimed.

"Right!" Blaze confirmed. "That was awesome..."

"Yeah," Smokey agreed. "Especially what Garble did."

Pain snickered. "You mean when he boiled all those foals alive and forced their foster parents to eat them? That was the best! Those pathetic ponies wouldn't stop crying and vomiting!"

Garble chuckled. "Guilty as charged," he confirmed.

Trixie started to grind her teeth, seething in fury. It was bad enough that Lunar loyalists like herself had long been persecuted and mistreated by fellow ponies, but being tormented by dragons in such a manner was awful in a way she didn't know how to describe.

The dragons looked back at the saddlebags, noticing that they were finally full.

"Nice," Garble commented. "We'll bring these bags back next time we need you. Now, run on back to your namby pamby griffon scout camp," he sneered condescendingly.

Trixie refused to look at him; she couldn't stand to. She was more than willing to return back to the more desirable elements of her predicament, and immediately started doing so.

"Aww, don't run off all mad, Soft Hide! Don't you know that going through hardships make you a better person?" Garble mockingly called after her.

Trixie and Gilda went off to talk in private.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Trixie asked.

Gilda sighed, clearly looking embarrassed. "Well... It's going to sound really stupid, but... I was feeling bad about something, and I thought I should tell you about it," she explained. "You see, I've been feeling bad because... Well, I've been feeling jealous of you... As in, how close you and Hope are... I know she's your best fan and you've spent a lot of time together for the last few years, and you're closer than ever because you both lost your home town, but, some irrational part of me got paranoid that you would let her replace our friendship, or something like that... I know it's ridiculous, I just, feel that way for some reason..."

Trixie scoffed, shaking her head. "Gilda, I'd never replace you..."

"I know, I know..."

"Look... I guess I can see where you're coming from, but... That would be like me being jealous of you for being friends with Rainbow Dash," Trixie said. "... Actually, to be honest with you, I've sort of always been jealous of you, too, I just never really said or did anything about it. It used to bug me to see you and Gustave get to be so close, because I wish I could have had that with Myrtle. I thought I did, for a little bit, but it was all just fake, and disappeared."

Gilda chuckled, amused by the irony. "It's funny you say that, because things haven't exactly been that great between us, either," she explained. "Sure, it never got so bad that one of us ever tried to kill the other with a shovel, but, well... I don't know how close it ever got to that point... You see, the thing is..." she paused, struggling to find a way to express herself. "Speaking of Rainbow Dash... I know I told you you're my best friend -- which is still true and everything -- but, I haven't seen her in a really, really long time, and I was wanting to see her again..." she sighed, frowning, starting to reminisce more about her drifting away from Gustave.

"A little while after we went our separate ways, before... All of this, I started getting a little sick of how Gustave was constantly focused on what he wanted to do, and never really cutting me a break even though I helped him more than anyone else ever did. I tried to ask him to cut me some slack, to let me try to live my own life here and there, and he said he would as soon as I finished helping him with the next big thing. Only, this continued on in an endless cycle, he'd keep throwing out 'the next big thing' every time I was ready to do something, and it went on for just, way too damn long... I couldn't take it any more, I thought I was going to go crazy," she laughed bitterly.

"Even when I told him about how important it was to me that I finally get to see Rainbow Dash again... I always wanted to help her with what she really wanted to do, to repay her for being so nice to me, just like I tried to do with you and your shows... I thought it would be cool to do something that would allow me to fly real fast just like I enjoy, and also earn respect for griffons from ponies, so, I convinced Dash to let me try out to be a Wonderbolt with her... That's the most screwed up part about all this, Trixie, it was never even just me trying to help my friends -- you and Dash -- it was for me, too," she sighed.

"I just got so sick of most of the ponies I met always calling me a filthy sharpclaw, no matter what I was doing... I didn't want to be better than any of them or anything like that, I just wanted them to treat me as an equal... So, I thought they might do that if some really cool pony like you or Dash really liked me, and if I could do the kinds of things that they could do... I just wanted them to respect me, like I respect them, you know? I got tired of them hating me all the time when I never even did anything to them... And, all of this lead me to do something I really probably shouldn't have done, but I just couldn't help it, because I was so sick of it all," Gilda continued, shaking her head.

"Gustave was ready to get on to some really awesome cooking competition, I can't even remember what it was called... Anyways, he insisted that he couldn't do it without my help, and practically begged me to be there... He counted on it, since I put up with his crap every other time... But, I decided that enough was enough, and that I should give him a taste of his own medicine. He knew I'd been wanting to see Rainbow Dash for a long time, and kept guilt tripping me into putting it off for even longer whenever I was finally ready to go, so I bailed out right before his competition to do that. He didn't even enter because he was so sure he wasn't going to win without me, and it really pissed him off," the griffon lamented.

"At the time, I didn't regret doing it to him, and thought it was completely worth it... At the very least, Dash and I got to share some good times after so long... But, when I inevitably had to go back, I saw how torn up Gustave was about the whole thing... It was exactly how bad I felt when he denied letting me see my friends all those times... I thought seeing that happen to him for a change would make me feel better about it, like I could get those times back somehow, but, it only made it worse... I was letting it get to me so bad that I went out of my way to really hurt someone I really cared about, and completely meant it..." she shook her head, ashamed.

"Ever since then, we've slowly patched things up, and started to be a lot more lenient towards each other... I gave a little more to help him out with his chef stuff, and he finally gave me a break on a regular basis and things... But, even now, I think both of us are still not completely over it. There's this quiet tension sometimes, like he's thinking about it and doesn't want to say it, and I just ask if he's okay, but I don't pry any farther than that... I guess, no matter what we do, it still doesn't change that it still happened, you know?..."

Trixie sympathized with her. She gently rubbed Gilda's back with her hoof. "... You've never really tried to figure out what you want to do, have you? I mean, as in... All on your own, for you, without your friends or anything..."

The griffon paused, seemingly experiencing an epiphany. She blinked, all at once surprised and saddened. "... Gee, Trix, I guess not. I was always too angry with everyone who'd judge and mistreat me for being a griffon, I just never took the time to think about it... That's part of why I think we always got along so well, because we could understand each other. You had to put up with the same kind of things I did just for being a Lunar loyalist. I just can't believe I'd spend all this time being so upset about what others would say or do to me that I couldn't enjoy my life, or find out what I really want to do with it..." she sighed. "I'll find something out, eventually... Until then, we just have to deal with... All this..." she looked at Trixie. "Wasn't there something else you wanted to say?"

Trixie tensed up, then took a deep breath and slowly released it, trying to prepare herself. "Well... I'm kind of worried you might think what I have to say is stupid, too, but... I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing with Hope..."

Gilda frowned, tilting her head to the side as she blinked, bewildered. "Why not?"

"I was so ready to send her away with those other survivors when the carriages I hired left," admitted the unicorn. "I just knew it would be unsafe here..." She bit her lip and lowered her ears, forcing herself to raise her eyes and gaze into those of her best friend. "Do you... Do you think I made the right decision? Keeping her here?"

"Of course you did," Gilda insisted. "Just look at her. She's alone. She's hurting. She's depressed, she's mourning. She needs you here with her right now. Someone she knows. Someone she trusts."

"I just... I don't know," The showmare sighed, starting to pace around her friend. "I can't help but feel like I could have done something better, something different... I could have asked Princess Celestia for help, but I didn't because I thought she'd still be mad that I dropped out of her school..."

The griffon winced, then shrugged. "Well, I could have gone straight to Princess Celestia instead of going to you, but I didn't. We both had knee-jerk reactions. We're suckers together in the same boat on that one."

Trixie shook her head, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. "I just hope I haven't made some horrible mistake..."

Gilda frowned. She approached her best friend and patted her on the back. "Everything's going to be fine. Trust me," she said. "We're all going to make it out of this completely okay. You'll see."

Trixie wiped the sweat from her brow, panting breathlessly. For hours, she and the others had started building the caravans that would eventually liberate them from this canyon, and they collectively decided it was time to take a break.

The children and most grievously injured were understandably allowed to refrain from helping, even though Hope would frequently attempt to offer her assistance, only to be politely declined. The ones most worn out were Roul and Tristan, who tried to continue longer than everyone else until they were persuaded to stop by Adia, who reminded them they needed to save their energy in case of emergencies.

Having formed the survivor camp in the first place, and running it for such a long time, she thought out many important details far in advance. This was demonstrated by her choosing to have her group work on this project away from their camp, so that the dragons who regularly tormented them and other potential predators could not steal or destroy them; thanks to Adia's cunning and familiarity with the canyon, they were able to hide them inside a cave in the forest, covering the entrance with foliage surrounded by various trees whenever they were absent. It's also where Trixie's traveling show caravan was going to wait until they would eventually be ready to leave the huts for good.

Trixie and Gilda walked past each other as they looked for spots in the cave to rest.

"Just like old times, huh?" the griffon joked, referring to when they created the show wagon together.

The unicorn laughed in agreement.

She sat down next to Hope, who had been waiting for her to finish the chore for the time being.

The perceptive filly frowned, her eyes indicative of some kind of epiphany. "You know, I never really thought about it before, but... Things in Jennet, as bad as they were, were quite okay compared to here... Back there, I just worried about bullies and getting my cutie mark, and being poor and stuff... But, over here, it's so much worse... Everyone's... Fighting for their lives... I never realized how unimportant my problems used to be until now..."

The showmare looked at her in concern. "When you lived in Jennet... Did some of the ponies there try to make you feel like your problems weren't important?"

"Well, no... Um... I mean... Maybe, I guess... Yeah..."

"If something bothers you, that means it's important," Trixie declared. "... I know that not everyone might look at it that way, but... I just want you to never forget that whatever it is that bothers you, I'm always going to care about it."

Hope smiled sadly. "You don't have to worry about every little thing with me, Trixie..."

"But, that's the thing," Trixie continued. "I've traveled to so many places, all of them different and unique... But one of the parts that seems to stay the same, no matter where I go, is that nobody wants to confront what's bothering them, especially if anyone else thinks that it's unimportant. Before I started doing shows, when I was training with Gustave for them, he taught me about psychology... One of the things I've learned there is that if you weigh a thousand little problems against just a few big problems, the smaller ones all put together take a bigger toll on you.

"I thought it was a sort of silly idea at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense... There were times in my life where others would think I had everything pretty good, but they didn't know how I was hurting inside from the little bad things that continued to happen every day... It ended up making me just as miserable, if not more, than I was when things were 'worse' for me. Especially if others would try to convince me that I had no reason to be upset about those things... It was like they were trying to make me lie to myself. To ignore wounds, and let them fester."

The filly nodded, starting to comprehend the unicorn's explanation. "I think I see what you mean..."

"Very good," the showmare answered with a smile. "So, you'd see why I always care, no matter what it is you're worried about... Nothing's more important to me than making sure you're okay. I'm going to be looking after you as much as I can."

The earth pony returned her joyous expression, scooting closer to her idol so that they could cuddle. She soon noticed Fiona, who was watching them from afar, sad and alone. The young griffon frowned as she turned away, hoping that the ponies wouldn't have noticed.

Trixie nearly shuddered as she recalled what she learned about her upon first moving into the camp.

'I know all too well how painful it is to live out a difficult youth... No one should ever have to go through that.'

"I wish I knew how to help her," she suddenly thought aloud.

Hope perked, immediately realizing they were thinking of the same person. "Yeah... Me too... She seems like she could be nice, but, she's... Well, hurt really bad... Inside... In her soul..."

The showmare nodded somberly.

"... I know this one time she was really interested in Adia's flute," the filly recalled. "I think she mentioned once or twice that she used to play one, but I haven't heard her bring it up in a really long time..."

Trixie suddenly got an idea. "Excuse me for just a minute, Hope..." She promptly got up from her seat, looking around amongst the griffons until she found Adia.

The leader noticed her. "Is something the matter, Trixie?"

"Not exactly... I just wanted to ask you a favor," she replied.

"And what would that be?" said Adia.

The unicorn looked back to the lonely young griffon sitting by herself. "Hope said she heard something about Fiona being interested in your flute... Do you mind if we borrow it for a few minutes?"

The older griffon blinked at first, not expecting this request, but nonetheless, she shrugged. "I don't see the harm in doing that. Go ahead," she answered, quickly retrieving it as she spoke and surprising herself when she found that she even brought it with her at all.

"Thank you," Trixie said sincerely. She returned her attention to Fiona, slowly walking towards her, all while starting to cast a spell with her horn. The young mare focused on maintaining a calm and content mindset, managing to go into Fiona's thoughts and find the song she loved to play the most with the flute. Then, she cast an illusion making it so that only the young griffon suddenly heard this song again, within her own mind.

Fiona perked, taken aback, freezing in nostalgic wonder. She soon looked to the showmare and realized what happened, unable to help but crack a small smile upon noticing that she brought Adia's flute with her.

The unicorn greeted her with a warm smile. "I noticed you looked like you were feeling a little down... So, I thought I might bring you this to cheer you up," she explained.

The young griffon nodded in silent thanks, gratefully accepting the instrument. She looked over it again, slowly charmed by her pleasant memories playing the flute to start again, having missed the chance for a very long time. Her talons slowly rested on the right places as she brought one end of the flute to her beak.

As soon as she started playing, it captured the attention of everyone there. Their weary bodies and souls were gradually coaxed by the serene melody Fiona created, sharing the momentary appeasement of her soul with them all. One by one, they started to smile, allowing the song to help them relax.

"Well, look at that," Roul murmured under his breath, feeling proud and surprised. "I think that's the first time I've ever seen her smile the whole time she's been here."

They mostly remained silent and motionless, perfectly content to merely watch and enjoy as the youth continued. Trixie was particularly impressed, finding that Fiona exhibited the same potential and aptitude with the flute that Hope had with the violin; she felt so relieved that she made the choice to help her rediscover this, noticing how much better she seemed to feel.

Once she was done, all of the listeners applauded, causing Fiona to smile widely.

"That was very good, Fiona!" Hope sincerely complimented her.

"Indeed, it was," Adia agreed, thinking that her flute was put to really good use. "Perhaps you can borrow it from me again whenever the mood strikes you... Such as when Trixie could use you as a volunteer during her shows," she speculated.

The young griffon beamed at the suggestion, and the two ponies nodded in agreement.

"... I'd really like that," Fiona answered, her voice softer and calmer instead of bitter and hard. "Thank you... Thank all of you, so much..." she released a huge sigh of relief, feeling a damning burden being lifted off of her. For the first time since she could remember, she felt at peace.

Once again, Trixie and Hope were walking in the forest, scavenging for fruits. Trixie tried to start some conversation, but could tell that the filly wasn't in any mood for talking, so the last several minutes were spent walking in silence while she rode on her back. She frowned, trying to determine which among their various unpleasant circumstances were specifically vexing Hope at this particular moment.

Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer. Seeing the sweet, innocent filly so heartbroken was an excruciating, unbearable sight. And so, Trixie's hooves came to an abrupt stop as she gingerly levitated Hope off of her back and onto the ground in front of her, much to her surprise.

"You miss playing your violin, don't you?"

Hope's ears lowered, looking as if she was ashamed of having something for Trixie to be concerned about. Still, she couldn't bring herself to lie to her hero.

"Yes..."

The showmare shared her frown. "... Would you feel better if you got to play it again?..."

The filly slowly nodded.

She sadly looked down at her forehooves, aware only of the silence surrounding them, oblivious to the unicorn's efforts. After several more moments of quiet struggling, Trixie's horn sparked as she managed to cast a conjuration spell. With a brief, bright flash, Hope's jaw dropped in astonishment as the very same violin she once had suddenly reappeared right before her. She looked at her idol in disbelief.

"It'll last just a little while... Just long enough for you to play one song."

She initially frowned again, but Hope soon smiled, grateful to have this desired method of catharsis, even if it was only for the time being. The filly grabbed her violin and bow out of the grasp of Trixie's levitation, closing her eyes as she prepared to play.

Trixie immediately felt relieved, noticing the peace that began to return to the filly. The bow rested on the strings, and Hope frowned, lowering her ears once more, her head turning aside. She winced, her pursed lip and squinted eyelids displaying the pain she was trying to set free as she drew out the first note, a single low hum breaking the silence pervading the atmosphere.

More notes followed, one after the other expressing the earth pony's deep sadness regarding how horribly wrong her life went in the recent past. The sounds were just as sweet and beautiful as they were morose, as if crying out for something lost, mourning sentimental pieces of her soul that had forever been destroyed or stolen away. A dirge for Jennet, and the life she once knew.

Trixie struggled, holding still and maintaining the conjuration of the violin even though the emotional song was increasing the difficulty of using her magic. She didn't care how badly she hurt, keeping the instrument in existence; Hope's heartfelt emancipation was far too important to deny.

The minutes passed, blending together in a seamless stream of musical expression, the melancholy echoing throughout the woods. The more she played, the more Hope's expression softened, her pain and sorrow melting away into relief and a peaceful calm, wordlessly completing her farewell to her family, her friends and her home. The song started to draw to a close, the final notes gradually fading away with the promise of a soothing resolution, like a mother's kiss goodnight.

Once the violin sang no more, Hope's bow rested motionless on the strings as she held still. The filly took a deep breath, and then exhaled, her ears slowly rising as she opened her eyes. A few cathartic tears streamed down her face, and she watched as her instrument slowly faded away from her forehooves.

Her attention turned to Trixie, who cringed as she finally ceased using her magic for the time being, recovering from the toll it took on her. She grunted under her breath as she struggled to keep her balance, only for the filly to notice and swiftly leap forth, helping to prop the unicorn back up before she could fall down. They then looked at each other, and embraced in a hug.

"Thank you..." the filly whispered.

"Just let me know whenever you want to play a song, and I'll make it again for you, okay? Whenever you want..."

"Okay..."

Trixie tried her best to tuck Hope into what passed as a crude attempt to build a bed. They didn't have very much to work with, but they did the best with what they had. The showmare frowned unsurely, looking between the resting area and the filly within it.

"Are you sure you're comfortable in there?"

Hope nodded, smiling awkwardly. "Thank you for putting me to bed, Trixie..."

The young mare gave a warm smile in return, starting to finish pulling Hope's blanket over her. "Sure thing, Hope. Have a good night."

"Okay. You too."

The unicorn nodded promptly, starting to slowly turn and walkaway. Hope frowned, realizing that she forgot to ask Trixie if she could hear a story before she went to sleep. While she hadn't had any for the last few years, missing her parents and enduring these traumatic times made her long to start that tradition once again.

She was about to open her mouth to ask, but before she could, Trixie stopped in place just before leaving, almost as if coming to the exact same realization.

The showmare slowly looked behind her, back at the filly. "Hope... Would you mind if I... Practiced an illusion spell with you really quick?..."

She was puzzled, not expecting this, but she nodded nonetheless.

Trixie gave her a reassuring smile, slowly approaching her bed once more. She sat beside her, her expression tinged by a bittersweet sense of nostalgia.

"... You're so very brave, Hope... I remember how tough everything in my life felt after I lost my father... How much of a challenge it was just to keep everything together... I think you're holding up a lot better than I did," she complimented her, gently patting her mane with a forehoof.

"... Still, I know it's never been easy... Especially the first few months, the first few years... I missed him so much... I didn't want to believe he was gone... I'd go to his room, or other parts of the house he'd often be in, expecting him to be there, only to find out I forgot he wouldn't be... I couldn't bring myself to do anything that reminded me of him, because it just didn't feel the same... To have a whole part of you just... Go..." she sighed.

"For most of my life, he was the only one who was there for me when I needed help... After he was gone, I felt so alone... I was alone... He used to be there whenever I was going through hard times, and then I had to face them all by myself for a long time..." she frowned, shaking her head. "And as much as I wanted to go back in time to when things were better, or just lose myself in some imaginary world in my mind without any problems... I just couldn't."

The unicorn's eyes met Hope's as she started to softly smooth a forehoof over her mane. "I could try to pretend I wasn't being bullied or dealing with troubles all I wanted, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep my ears from hearing them, or my eyes from seeing them, or my body from feeling them... No matter how much I wanted to shut it all off. It was like... Like I could only ever get to imagine anything good in my life, but never actually have them or feel them, and the only real things were all the ones giving me so much heartache. I wished with all my heart that it could be the reverse... To see, hear and feel only good things, and only imagine bad things. For a while, like recently, here with these dragons... It seemed like it would never be that way, and... It just hurt so bad that it couldn't be like that."

Hope nodded sadly in agreement.

"Still... As unlucky as I was for a long time... I set my mind on trying to change that as much as I could... And for the first time, I had something no one else had. Something I pitied others for being unable to experience. I just kept practicing with illusion spells as much as I could, to change my sights, sounds, and feelings, to make fantasy seem real and reality seem fake, until it all turned inside out for me... So that, as long as I was alone, I could completely escape to that place wherever I wanted... Where things were peaceful... The way they used to be. I... I got to feel like I lived the sort of things I'd only ever dream about before... And even... See my father again... My memories of him, in my heart," she explained.

Tears brimmed in the unicorn's eyelids as she continued to coax Hope by stroking her mane. "Looking at you now, I can see... You're just like I was... Missing your family... Missing the better times... Before all of this..." She quietly took a deep breath. "So, that's why... If you're okay with it... I want to try to let you go where I did. To see what I saw, to hear what I heard, to feel what I felt, except... From within your heart, instead of mine... Do you want to try that?"

The filly nodded eagerly in acceptance.

Trixie smiled. "Okay. Just relax... Close your eyes..." Once again, she quietly took a deep breath. The young mare slowly wrapped her forelegs around Hope in a soft embrace, gently pulling her close and resting her head against hers, almost chuckling as she was reminded of when she and Gilda first started their mental connection.

After a long moment, the darkness Hope saw with her eyes closed started to illuminate, colors and shapes making their way in as if her eyes were open, gradually forming to recreate a vivid memory of Jennet long before the dragons attacked, during the years where Trixie would regularly revisit her.

The filly's smile widened as she started to relive fond memories, nostalgic bliss overwhelming her. One by one, warm, comforting thoughts long forgotten finally returned. There were dear experiences of playing with her kindly doting parents earlier in her youth, of helping her father create and devour delicious meals and assisting her mother with beautiful flowers. There were her first times hearing about Trixie, inspiring her to aim for greatness, to befriend others and help them master their most desired talents.

Next were the times that Trixie shared with her family, from first meeting her on a Nightmare Night years ago to the last time she was ever in Jennet. Every meal they shared together, every time they trained for the stage, every laugh and smile and heartwarming moment they experienced in unison.

While the showmare had recovered these memories back into Hope's full awareness for a mere few minutes, it felt like they had spent much longer reliving these treasured experiences.

Tears of joy leaked down the filly's face as she opened her eyes to look at Trixie again. "Thank you for that..."

Trixie smiled warmly. "Even though we're going to be here for some time... I promise, at the end of the day, you and I can always go wherever you wish to go." The showmare briefly hugged her one last time. "Goodnight, Hope."

She started to pull away, but Hope surprised her by seizing her in another hug, squeezing her tightly.

"I'm so glad you're here..."

"... Me too, Hope." She gently patted the filly's back. "Me too..." Next Chapter: 7. I'm Always With You Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 9 Minutes