Trixie huddled in her trailer, the blanket wrapped tightly around her. Her head throbbed, and she felt ravenously hungry. She had already kicked out the lamp, as the light hurt her eyes, which now had bags under them.

She felt almost anemic. Maybe it was a bad reaction to the wine? She knew she shouldn't have drank that much, but it helped to stop those memories and terrible thoughts. Unfortunately, those were beginning to surface too.

Sure, Trixie wasn't always as arrogant and the braggart she is now, it took time, and a lot of experience, both good and bad, to shape her into the maleable form that she is today. The struggle of rising from obscurity, the road to success, the reality crashing back, all of it played a minor role in her life. Now it was taking a turn for the worst.

A long time ago, no one would suspect the little filly standing on the street corners of Hoofington, peadiling her parlour tricks and such to the ponies who idly walked by. Some saw her as an attention horse, others an annoyance. A few did give her a few bits for her trouble, but it was nowhere near what she had hoped for.

Soon she began making up stories to attract more customers. She even began hustling ponies out of their bits, and didn't feel the least bit guilty for it. She had to survive too. Then one day, she had gotten that hat and cape from her mother. She wore them with pride, and ramped up her ego even more to match. Eventually, she had enough to buy a stage, and some cheap fireworks from Longguo dragons, even if she couldn't read the instructions. After a few mishaps, she was on a roll, and eventually made her fateful stop in Ponyville.

She would've had it made if it weren't for those two idiots. She didn't even remember their names. Why is it she always attracted the stupid followers? Then to make matters worse, she bravely stood up to that Ursa, put her life on the line, and no one acknowledged that. Twilight got all the praise.

Trixie's eyes snapped open at the sudden revelation. In this little game of one upmareship, Twilight was the role of Celestia, who could do no wrong. While Trixie was the role of Luna, who no one trusted.

She facehoofed at the sudden realization. It all made insanely logical sense. But that didnt' explain her current condition though. Was this what Luna went through before she became Nightmare Moon? Despite all the side effects, she did feel more powerful. But it seemed that using such power also worsened her physical state.

It was then she noticed that it was darker than usual in her wagon. She blinked a few times to see if it was just her eyes needing adjusting, but it wasn't that. A thick cloud of darkness hung before her. Hesitating, she reached out a hoof, and found the darkness to actually be a tangeable object.

This was a curious discovery. It felt warm and slimy, yet at the same time, cool and thick. The touch of the dark overwhelmed her senses and emotions, and unlocked doors in her mind that she kept locked. In the dark, the only fears are what you make them.

The darkness grew closer, snaking and slithering like smoke, wrapping around cannons and fetlocks, holidng the unicorn in a helpless position. Her touch had signed an unseen pact. She had agreed to the power it would bestow, but did not know how it would happen. Now she got her answer.

Trixie writhed in fear, finding that her strength had increased as well. She attempted a light spell from her horn, but nothing came out. Her power was only darkness now.

The cloud shifted her position, began to slowly pull her hind legs apart. She swore she saw a smile somewhere in the fog, but wasn't certain. Her conversion would be complete soon enough.

Elsewhere, the Doctor was getting to know Gilda a bit better, and found he sympathized with her somewhat. It seemed the griffon, Luna, and himself, were the three really seeking forgiveness. Of couse, he knew that he could never be forigven for what he had done, and not just because it didn't happen here.

“Well, I see that we have more in common than I thought.” the Doctor mused. “Never thought I'd relate to a griffon.”

“So we have to become friends, to get these Elements of Harmony to work, or else the world will be destroyed?” Gilda asked, appearing somewhat unimpressed by the story.

“Indeed.”

“What about Rainbow Dash?” she finally asked.

“Well, I'm afraid I don't know her personally. But from what I can gather from other sources, she is not here. In fact,” he stamped a hoof. “Her absence is partially what is causing all these events. Apparently your friend is more important than you realized.”

“Yeah...” Gilda replied, hanging her head and looking away.

Was she really the cause of all this? It certainly shed new light on the Pegasus. She wished she had seen it sooner. Her new friends are feeling the same way as she did when Dash dumped her. But because of their responsibilities, their sadness is shaping events to be as grim as they are now.

Now was the time to show Dash, she's not the only one capable of loyality.