Trixie

“I wanted to talk about some feelings that have been popping in my head for the past while.” Trixie said with her head held low. Spitfire could see that this was hard for Trixie to talk about so she waited patiently for her to talk. Trixie was fighting inside herself again as she sat in the seat across from Spitfire. After a few minutes of silence Trixie finally got out what she wanted to say.

“I kind of feel uncomfortable in the herd. I feel that I might not be completely loved by everypony here. I also feel that I might be a hindrance with James. I know that all of you have praised me for learning advanced spells so I could be more useful but I feel that it means nothing. Especially since Twilight is here and she is the master of magic so I don’t know what good I offer. James tried to reassure me that I am loved but I just don’t know anymore.” Trixie finished as tears started to form in her eyes. Spitfire could see that she really felt bad about herself and it hurt her to see her like this.

Spitfire did the only thing that she could do. She got out of her chair and walked over to Trixie. Trixie watched as Spitfire walked towards her feeling a little nervous. Trixie couldn’t read what Spitfire was thinking. What Spitfire did next surprised her very much. Spitfire grabbed Trixie by the hand and pulled her up. When she was standing on her feet Spitfire pulled her into a tight embrace. Trixie took a few seconds to recover from her initial shock before she hugged back. Spitfire rubbed her back as she cried onto her shoulder. As Trixie cried on her shoulder she was cooed by Spitfire as she spoke.

“Trixie you have no reason to feel that way. We all truly love you and want you to be a part of this harem. It may be true that Twilight is the master of magic but she was proud of you when you started to get further into your studies. She may have been a bookworm herself but you truly showed your dedication when you wanted to be more useful. Even I was impressed by your dedication to be better. I would even say that out of all of us you put forth the most effort. I can say with certainty that if you left then we will all be very sad if you left. You also shouldn’t let these feelings fester inside of you. If you ever need anything don’t be afraid to talk to any of us. We will be here for you and everypony else if ever needed.” Once Spitfire was done she started humming a song as she held on tighter to Trixie.

Trixie continued to cry as she let loose all her emotions onto Spitfire’s shoulder. As she listened to Spitfire she could hear that she cared for her. Trixie was able to settler herself down and break the hug off from Spitfire. Once the hug was broken Trixie smiled at Spitfire who returned with one of her own. Spitfire lead Trixie to the back of her desk where she opened one of the drawers. Inside the drawer was an old vintage bottle of wine from Prance. Spitfire pulled the bottle out along with two wine glasses. Spitfire filled both the glasses halfway and gave one to Trixie. Trixie took the glass and took sips from it. The two mares shared each others company as they had their wine.

Outside Spitfire’s Room

The mares listened in on the conversation that Trixie was having with Spitfire. Sure it wasn’t nice to eavesdrop on such a private conversation but they needed to know what was wrong with Trixie. As they listened to the conversation they couldn’t help the tears that were forming in their eyes. They didn’t know that Trixie was feeling so bad and they couldn’t help but feel bad for themselves. Trixie and Spitfire were done talking and the mares left to go think about what they heard. As they returned to their rooms they saw James walking from his entertainment room after holing himself up inside.

James headed for the void room so he could check on a couple of things. James past the mares and he could see that they were feeling down. He knew that Trixie was talking with Spitfire and was able to put two and two together that they listened in. Sure it was a bad thing that the mares did it but sometimes it is necessary to do something like that in order to solve a problem. James would wait for Trixie to come and talk to him if she needed to. For now though James would give her space so she could think this through.

Once James was inside the void room he stood in the middle and focused his magic. During his time training with his magic he wanted to try another idea that he had. After his failure with the earth element he was going to make it more like people that he knew. James focused his magic as fire, earth, ice, wind, and lightning came out of his hand. James moved his hands around as he formed the elements into certain figures. Once the elements were standing as he thought they should look he brought out his illusionary magic. Five black blobs fell from his hand and went towards the elements to bring them to life.

Shadow

Shadow followed the two pegasi to their house so he had a place to think and plan out his future plan. Once he was inside their simple one story house he placed the necklaces on the table and laid them out. Flitter left for the kitchen to get started on lunch and Cloudchaser joined him on the couch. She held Night Slash close as she looked at the necklaces herself. As she looked at them she moved four of them away to get a closer look. Night Slash let her look at the necklaces because if she recognized the design then it would be easier to get this done. Cloudchaser put the necklaces down and looked Night Slash in the face and spoke to him.

“I know who these belong to.” Cloudchaser looked him in the eyes as her mind was hazy not knowing that she wasn’t herself.

“You mind telling me who they are?” Night Slash asked as he tapped on her nose trying to tease her.

“These two belong to Colgate and Holly Dash who are both unicorns. Then these two belong to Lily and Daisy.”

“Do you know where I can find these mares?”

“Colgate works at the local dentist office here in town. Holly Dash is her part time assistant but if she isn’t there she might be at the schoolhouse helping Cheerilee. Lily and Daisy are the other flower mares here in town along with Rose.” Night Slash gave a slight shiver at hearing Rose’s name as it reminded him of James. He was able to hide it well enough though so that Cloudchaser didn’t get too worried about him.

“Thank you very much for all of that.” Flitter then came into the living room with lunch and they all ate in silence.

With lunch over Night Slash got up from the couch and headed out of the house. Night Slash headed for the local flower shop to get the two flower mares that were working there. He opened the door and the bell that was attached at the top rang. He was greeted by Daisy and Lily as they came over to help him. They smiled brightly at him and he had to fight from vomiting all over the place. Night Slash couldn’t handle all this happiness; it was just too much for him. He fought through it though since he needed to get this done.

Lily had a pale raspberry coat and her cutie mark was three lilies. Her mane and tail were a light amber with a streak of pale amber running through. Her eye color was a pale gold. Daisy had a pale magenta coat and her cutie mark was a large daisy overlapping a small daisy. Her mane and tail were a pale lime green. Her eye color was a moderated spring green. As Night Slash looked at the two flower mares he couldn’t help the blush that formed on his face. He shook his head as he needed to get these necklaces around their necks. He came up with the plan to trade the necklace for two separate flowers.

“I would like a lily and a daisy flower please.” The flower mares smiled at him and went to get the flowers he requested.

Once they returned with the flowers he gave them their respective necklaces and they looked at with confusion. Night Slash urged them to try them on since he wanted to give these to them when he first saw them. The flower mares blushed as they took the necklaces and proceeded to put them on. Once they had the necklaces on they came closer to Night Slash and started rubbing themselves against him. Even though Night Slash found these ponies repulsive they did have some admiring features. They came were coming in close but he stopped them from kissing him. They looked disappointed but Night Slash smiled at them.

“You may have a reward from you master if you can get the other two that require these necklaces.” As Night Slash said this he slightly pushed them down to the ground so they were on their knees looking up at him like they were dogs and he was their master.

The mares nodded rapidly as they took the necklaces and ran out of the store to get the other mares that he was looking for. As he was alone in the flower store he looked around at all the flowers. Night Slash smirked as he ran his hands around the room causing all of the flowers to die. He laughed maniacally as he left the store in a dead looking state now. As he exited the store he formed into a shadow and went across town following Daisy to see who she was going for.

Daisy arrived at the local dentist office and entered the building. When she was inside she was greeted by a unicorn mare wearing a tag that said Colgate. Colgate had a light blue coat and her cutie mark was an hourglass. Her mane and tail were a moderated blue with a light persian blue stipe in both. Her eye color was a moderate sapphire blue. Daisy sheepishly walked towards Colgate as she hid the necklace behind her back. As Daisy got closer to Colgate she surprised the unicorn mare when she kissed her. As Colgate was kissed Daisy quickly put the necklace around her neck and then pulled away.

“Master is waiting for us at home. He would like it if you came back home right now.” Colgate could only nod as her head was clouded with false memories and thoughts. Night Slash was surprised by this approach but was glad that it went so smoothly. Now that Colgate was his he headed back out to see what Lily was up to.

Night Slash headed for the schoolhouse since he didn’t see Holly Dash at the Dentist. Once at the schoolhouse he watched as Lily slipped in and made her way to a unicorn behind a desk. The mare had a pale pink coat and her cutie mark was a strawberry for some reason. Her mane and tail were similar to that of Rainbow Dash but only had three colors. The colors of her mane and tail were yellow, blue, and purple. Her eye color was a soft blue. Night Slash watched with interest as Lily walked up to this unicorn that he guessed was probably Holly Dash.

Lily was swaying her hips as she got towards Holly. As Lily got closer Holly looked up and seemed to blush at seeing Lily. Night Slash was now being filled with interest that this mare was getting flustered at seeing Lily. Deciding to see what they were up to he slipped inside and hid in the shadows and continued to watch them. Holly seemed surprised that Lily was visiting so early since she had work. Apparently these two mares were dating each other and Night Slash could only laugh at how enjoyable this was. Lily was able to easily get Holly to put the necklace on as she thought that it was a gift from Lily.

“Come with me my love as master is waiting for us to return.” Holly only nodded her head as she left with Lily their arms and tails connected with each other. Night Slash left back for the house chuckling to himself when he would destroy James and his harem using these mares as fodder for the fight.

Nightmare Moon

Nightmare hid in the shadows as she snuck around the forest avoiding all the dangerous creatures that resided in it. She could have easily dispatched them but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself using her magic. She headed out of the forest and went to look for Shadow. She didn’t know where he was residing so she used her magic to follow his dark trail. She followed it all the way to a one story house. She was confused that Shadow was staying in this house and so she decided to be careful. She slithered through a crack and entered the house.

Nightmare was inside the house and stayed in the air as she looked down at two pegasus mares. As she watched she saw the door open and four more mares entered the room. Behind the mares was a unicorn stallion that was giving off a dark aura. Nightmare knew that this could only belong to one being. She saw the unicorn leave for the kitchen and she followed him. Once in there she came out of the shadows and showed herself to the unicorn. The unicorn looked at the dark alicorn that showed herself and couldn’t help but smile.

“Nightmare so good to see you. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Yes Shadow I did and I must say that I was glad that I found it.”

“Oh yeah that reminds me since you don’t know but in this form I’m known as Night Slash.”

“I must say that this new form does suit you quite nicely than your old one.” Nightmare commented as she gave Night Slash a once over a slight blush forming on her face. Night Slash ignored her comment as he went back out to the mares that were sitting around the house.

James

James finished with the five elements after dealing with five failures before getting them to succeed. The elements then separated from the black goo and returned back to his body. Once James got through the pain that ran through his body he walked over to the bench. James pulled the bag out from underneath glad that he put the covering paint in the bag. James covered the marks on his hands as he headed back upstairs. Once he was upstairs he heard one of the mares gasp. James turned around to see that Trixie was coming out of the kitchen. Before he could say anything Trixie gave him a cold stare. James looked over his body and looked at the cuts and bruises that was on his body. He knew that Trixie wasn’t going to let this go so he headed for her room.

James was now sitting on the bed as Trixie ran her hands over his arms and body. James had to trash on of his shirts since it was nearly burned all the way. Rarity was almost ready to rip his head off for destroying one of her shirts. James made it up to her by promising that he would help her make a new shirt. James could feel his body getting better as the cuts started to close and the bruises began to shrink. James looked at Trixie and she seemed to be smiling more now than she was before. James was quiet and then was pulled from his daydream by Trixie.

“Thanks James for everything that you have done.”

“I haven’t done much but cause you mares a few problems and a few headaches.” James chuckled lightly but was silenced when Trixie lightly slapped the back of his head. James looked at her confused as to why she hit him but he saw that bright smile on her.

“Really James that is all water under the bridge. I was saying thanks for giving me the courage to be here with all of you. I don’t think that if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be this happy.” James gave Trixie a warm embrace and kissed her head. Trixie returned the hug with one of her own and sighed as she held James close.

James laid down on the bed as he let Trixie continue to heal his body. James let his eyes close so he could get some sleep for a bit after exerting himself. With everything that he went through he was glad that he got those five guardians under control. It was weird since they would listen but still perceived him as a threat. So in order for them to know that he wasn’t any trouble he had to beat it into them. James just really hoped though that they would still listen the next time that he summoned them. The books said that they would listen to him if he learned to separate the way he wanted them to be. Trixie saw that James had fallen asleep and she was feeling tired herself. Whatever James was practicing it took a lot of magic to heal the wounds that he had. Even then there were some wounds that wouldn’t heal like there was some type of magic keeping it from healing. Trixie laid down next to James getting some sleep herself as she made a mental note to look up why she couldn’t heal these wounds.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the help on this chapter.