Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone

by TheCrimsonDM

First published 17th of July, 2014

Trixie Lulamoon has led a hard life, especially after the events of her magic duel with Twilight Sparkle. Now trying to piece herself back together, can she learn the meaning of friendship from her first real friend, Maud Pie?

Trixie Lulamoon has led a hard life, especially after the events of her magic duel with Twilight Sparkle. Now trying to piece herself back together, can she learn the meaning of friendship from her first real friend, Maud Pie? What kind of events will happen between these two ponies? Can Trixie get through to Maud's heart? Will Trixie learn the true meaning of Friendship?

Special thanks to Crow for all the help.

There is a direct sequel up already called Heart of Stone: Recovery Light. Check it out here!

(This story is currently going through revisions.)

Book One: Dark Rising. Chapter One: True Love

[centerHeart of Stone

The alarm clock rang loudly like a sledge hammer being swung down upon Trixie’s skull. She rolled over in her twin sized bed, and slammed a hoof down on top of the alarm clock. The infernal ringing finally stopped. She was not ready to wake up yet, and if not for the promise made to her roommate, she would have loved to sleep in on what was supposed to be her day off.

The nightstand next to her bed held her alarm clock and several books, most of which were either light hearted fantasy adventure novels or self help books, designed to cheer one up on a sad day. The floor was covered in various types of clothing, and shoes obscuring most of the carpet. The floor itself was covered in a deep blue carpet visible between the clothing, and books, and pages of crumpled paper. All of Trixie’s shelves, and even her closet were nice, neat, and organized. It was too depressing to think about the mess on the floor too much, so she did like usual and ignored it.

A couple bottles of pills sat on the nightstand next to a bottle half full of water. She made sure that the first thing she did was find her pills for her schizophrenia and take one of the pills. Since she wasn’t struggling with anxiety yet she ignored the other bottles. Taking medicine in order to prevent your own craziness was not the most entertaining thing to do; in fact it only made the hollow feeling inside her heart grow.

Letting out a deep sigh, Trixie could feel the numbness setting in. The numb feeling didn't come from the medication itself, but rather it came from her battle with depression. Maybe one day she would wake up, and not feel bad for all the things she did to hurt ponies, or for the things that she never got around to doing for herself. At least that’s what she hoped.

It was a hard won battle but eventually she managed to get up enough energy to get out of bed and walk out of her room. The depression was not going to leave her alone any time soon, but the smell of coffee emanating from the kitchen helped perk her up a little. Following the lovingly crafted aroma that was freshly brewed coffee, Trixie found herself inside the kitchen staring at a half full pot of coffee. After pouring herself a cup half full of coffee, she poured sugar into it until the liquid filled up to the brim. She preferred to think that she didn’t drink coffee in the morning, but rather she drank a cup of sugar with coffee added to it for flavor.

Relaxing at the table she used her hoof and a spoon to stir the coffee. The first sip of coffee in the morning was a sacred moment, one that was to be savored, loved, and treated with the highest of priority. The hot liquid burned her tongue, but the sweet flavor coaxed her into whispered moan of pure pleasure. After a moment a gray earth pony with a pale purple mane walked in and sat across from her. The earth pony looked blankly at Trixie with a pair of dull blue eyes. Trixie continued sipping her coffee in silence.

This was Maud Pie; Trixie’s dull roommate, boss, and caretaker. Trixie didn’t mind Maud’s personality, or lack thereof. Truth was that it was probably the best thing for her anymore. It was only fitting that Trixie’s only and best friend would be a pony with all the emotional range of a rock. There was one good thing about rocks however, and that was rocks never complained when Trixie would start telling one of her stories. In fact they would listen quite attentively.

Maud sat across from Trixie quietly while continuing to stare at her flatly. After a few long seconds, Trixie’s checks began reddening a little as she wondered why Maud would be staring silently at her, maybe there was something stuck to her muzzle. That would be the absolute worst.

As if reading her roommates mind, Maud began speaking in a monotonous voice, one that carried with it an aura of safety, “We will be hiking to the caves today. You should eat before we head up.”

Trixie took the advice to heart, the last time she went hiking without eating it was terrible. She went to the fridge to get some breakfast. All she could find was some milk, and round oat cereal, but that would hopefully suffice.

Pouring milk by holding the handle with her mouth had proven to be complicated at first; Trixie like most unicorns had become too reliant on her magic. It had taken awhile for her to relearn how to do everything with her hooves and her muzzle, and it had become a small point of pride that she become pretty good at it.

Sitting down again across from Maud, Trixie began to eat while her roommate stared blankly at her. From her experience with the slate colored pony, Maud only stared blankly at ponies she wanted to talk to, or to be talked to by said ponies, honestly it was hard to read Maud.

Trixie looked away from her roommate shyly before asking as casual of a voice as she could muster, “was there something you wanted to talk about?”

Maud continued her blank stare for almost a full minute before Trixie began flushing red again. Again Trixie tried to get information about the stare from her roommate sounding a little more sheepish this time she said, “Um, if there is anything you need from me. You can ask.”

Maud continued her vacant stare in silence. Trixie was now feeling a little scared and frustrated. Hopefully this was not Maud being angry at her. Staying calm was the most important thing she could do right now, or paranoia would set in. So Trixie tried asking again this time her voice came out more of a hiss, “Why, why are you staring at me?”

Maud blinked for what felt like the first time in centuries before saying in solid flat tone, “Sorry, I was thinking.”

The rest of the morning went by with a little bit of awkward silence. Eventually the pair had saddle bags packed with food, water, and whatever things that Maud needed for the trip. While walking towards the nearby mountain named Absolution, Maud took the liberty to explain why they were heading up.

Maud explained, “I found evidence of a unique crystal formation higher up in the mountain. It may be what I am looking for. We are heading up the mountain today to verify my theory. I need a unicorn to help me test for magical properties.”

An old feeling began stirring inside of Trixie, something great, something powerful. Of course Trixie is the only pony who can help with this task. Trixie stopped walking and clenched her eyes shut. Standing very still she realized what the old feeling was. Mentally Trixie shoved that old persona of hers deep into a little box, locked it with a key, buried the key, built a house on top of the ground where she buried the key, and moved into the house that was built on top of the key.

Trying to ignore her crazy for the moment, Trixie found that there were still a few problems with Maud’s plan. The biggest problem was also one of Trixie’s greatest shames. Clearing her throat, she began speaking in as calm of a voice as she could, though even she couldn’t hide the regret hidden in it, “Maud, I don’t think I can help you with your work”.

Maud’s voice was a lot closer then what she had expected making her jump back a little in shock. “Why?” Maud asked blatantly.

Trixie opened her eyes trying her hardest to fight the tears and the feeling of pain rising deep inside her heart. Looking at Maud who was standing only a foot away. Saying it outloud was like trying to drink battery acid. This shouldn’t have happened to her, even if she did deserve it, all of it, she still couldn’t believe that it was true. “I can’t use magic anymore.”

Maud placed a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder and said in a softer but still bland voice, “That’s okay. I don’t need you to use any magic. I only require your presence for the tests.”

Wiping away the tears which had collected at the edge of her vision Trixie smiled at Maud, and together they continued onward up the mountain. “Stand around being useless,” Trixie mumbled mostly to herself. I can do that.

As they continued their hike up the mountains, Trixie began to think about her magic. There were several theories as to why she could no longer use magic. One theory suggested that the Alicorn amulet had caused some sort of damage to her mana lobe which only got worse after time, as well as driving her increasingly insane.

Another theory was that she was simply too afraid of her own powers. To the stable Trixie, magic was something that she had used solely to hurt ponies, no matter her intentions. She could only manage to destroy everything her magic touched. Her fear caused a mental block so large that she could not even lift a spoon with her magic anymore.

Most of the time Trixie was left feeling a lot like an earth pony, only with no special skills. Her magic was virtually gone. She had to take medication to keep from being insane. And to top it all off she was in a losing battle with the hungry void in her soul. Trixie really hoped that they would be at the mountain top soon, though that was still several hours away.

The majority of the trip was silent, save for the exceptions where a beautiful bird would be spotted by Trixie, or when Maud would find a unique rock. Maud had even found, and collected a few fossils on this trip in the past. Even Trixie had to admit that some of Maud’s discovery’s were pretty neat… for rocks.

At the top of the mountain were a series of caves though they were dark prompting Maud to bring out her Lantern, and Trixie her headlight. The caves were just larger than the two ponies in height, the hard gray stone echoed underneath their hooves. Going inside always left Trixie with a feeling that she might never escape, but she pushed that feeling aside. She was stronger than some silly old caves.

After a series of intersections, twists and turns they opened up into a large cavern. The cavernous area was a large open room, with a high ceiling riddled with stalagmites. There was a pool of dark water in the corner of the room, and a single pillar of obsidian that rose into the ceiling. A raised platform stood in front of the obsidian tower, almost like a naturally grown table. Trixie found it odd that there was a pillar of obsidian sticking out almost randomly in a cave made out of granite.

The Pillar aside, Trixie found herself in awe of the huge open space, and the further in they walked the more she could see. Various crystal formations had grown in patches on the floor of this room, when close Trixie could see that they all had unique colors. Some were clear blue, others dark green and even a few pink ones had been growing inside of here. Even though her muscles ached, and she had worked up a sweat hiking up this mountain, Trixie had to admit that the hike was well worth it just to see this place.

Near the base of the pillar was a strange collection of dark purple crystals growing out of the ground, Maud had decided to study these while Trixie explored the room. She did not want to stay near the dark purple crystals for too long, they had strange swirling patterns inside them, with letters that resembled some kind of language that she was had never seen before, yet they felt eerily familiar. They bothered her for those reasons, along with something else that she simply couldn’t explain. Maud had no such problems with them though, and went to work collecting them.

The room was vast with several smaller pools of water scattered about. Various tunnels connected to this chamber, coercing Trixie to consider just how deep these caves actually were, and how easily one pony could get lost in here. This place was beautiful though, and if there were more places like this in these tunnles it would be a treat to go hiking here with Maud again in the future. Maud might be boring, but she takes me to the most amazing places. Trixie mentally thanked Maud for bringing her along for this hike.

As Trixie continued to explore she noticed that there had been some black vines growing out of the ground near the pools of water. These plants must be pretty tough to grow inside of a cave with no sun light. That was when Trixie saw something huge creeping about in the distance, just out of her headlamp’s light. She could only make out the vague outline of it, but what little she could see bothered her. It was large, and stood on four legs; ridged spikes grew along its spine. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't friendly.

Returning as quickly and as quietly as she dared, Trixie made her way back to Maud. The gray earth pony was still collecting samples of the strange purple crystals into a container. Trixie decided it was best to whisper her concerns right away, “Maud, I think we should leave now. I just saw a huge monster.”

Maud looked at Trixie with an un-phased expression saying, “I know about the diamond dogs. I’m friends with them.”

Monsters and diamond dogs, that’s it, I am not coming back up here.

Maud went back to collecting samples for a few moments before a horrible roar echoed across the room. The sound of the roar had caused a slight frown to appear on Maud’s face along with her eyes being ever so slightly raised, and the fact that she was showing expression over this, scared the living tar out of Trixie. Maud looked Trixie in the eyes and said in a slightly worried tone, “That was not a diamond dog."

Lead by Maud, the duo sneaked behind her towards the entrance. They had gotten near the entrance before something whipped out of the darkness. Maud hissed and Trixie looked over at Maud’s leg. One of the black vine had struck out and wrapped around Maud’s leg! Maud wasted no time in smashing it with one of her hooves. Although the ground underneath the vine cracked, the vine itself simply squished flat before re-inflating itself before the Trixie’s eyes. Maud attempted this act a few more times before the roar sounded again making both ponies stop, and look in the direction of the pillar.

Dozens of yellow glowing eyes hung in the darkness. One single pair of eyes took a step forward its body became vaguely visible. The monster standing before them was a pony like creature that stood at least seven feet tall, with a large bulky and scaly body. Its mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth, and its eyes looked similarly to that of a piranha. Gils could be seen along the monster pony’s neck.

Maud stood to face them saying a serious tone, “Lulamoon, you need to go. Follow the chalk marks on the walls back to the entrance.”

Trixie took one look at the monsters before looking back at Maud. “Are you crazy?”

Maud looked away from the monsters for an instant to stare into Trixie’s eyes. Maud was not looking blankly this time instead she wore a stern expression. She was serious about staying here while Trixie escaped.

I could run away, get to town, and gather a group of ponies to come back and rescue Maud. It would only take a few hours, and that would…give the monsters more than enough time to eat her.

Trixie couldn’t just leave Maud, nor could she fight the monsters off herself. And judging by how many there were a diversion was probably not going to work very well. Why did that squishy marshmallow vine have to grab Maud? It’s too bad it wasn’t really made out of marshmallow because then she could toast it.

An idea came to Trixie. Moving to Maud’s side, Trixie knelt down and focused her attention on the vine. Trixie had received the award for most magic tricks learned while in school, even if she wasn’t able to master most of them, she still knew a lot of different spells, and was surprisingly good at evocations, and illusions.

Maud shuffled in place as the monsters continued their slow advance. Maud looked at Trixie and said in an agitated tone, “Why aren’t you running?”

Trixie focused all of her energy into the only spell she could think of. She continued her focus, and her head began pounding. “I will not leave you here by yourself.”

Maud spoke again this time her voice was approaching a tone of anger, “You need to run now. Only one of us will leave, and it’s going to be you.”

Nothing, her magic was still doing nothing. It was not this hard to make fire, it never was before. The firework spells had once been her pride and joy. Trixie had done it so many times before in the past. Why couldn’t she just make fire? A little bit of fire so that she could save the only pony in all of Equestria who actually cared about her.

“ARGH, stupid horn, make fire now,” Trixie verbally assaulted to herself.

Maud was now speaking in full blown anger, even though she didn’t yell at Trixie, her voice still carried enough weight to knock any normal pony over, “leave now. You can’t die here.”

Trixie was not a normal pony though, she was in fact one of the most stubborn ponies in Equestria. She would not be dissuaded by Maud, or fear of death, or even her own horn. Even if it killed her she would do at least one good thing in this life.

The sounds of hooves crunching crystals grew louder, and faster. Even if she died here, Trixie was not going to let another pony be hurt because of her weakness, especially not Maud. It hurt to focus this much energy onto her horn, but a little bit of pain never stopped her before.

Trixie began speaking to herself now, tears filling the corners of her vision. “Darn it. All Trixie needs to do is make fire. Trixie won’t allow her best friend to be killed like this, not like this.” She took a deep breath with the tears now streaming down her face. The nearest monster took off in a full gallop. Trixie cried at the top of her lungs, “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands FIRE!”
A sudden burst of flame surged out from her horn engulfing the vines, and incinerating them in an instant. A giant scaly four legged monster was now made frighteningly visible by the fire. The creature’s giant mouth opened wide over Trixie. She was about to be torn to pieces, but that didn’t matter because she had done the impossible, she had used magic.

A blinding gray-blue blur slammed into the monster’s side sending the creature flying off into the darkness. The gray blue blur quickly grabbed Trixie, and ran away at an incredible pace. Trixie’s vision became nothing but a blur making it hard for her to figure out what was happening, but she knew one thing for sure. She had used magic, and she had done so to save her friend. Closing her eyes from the pain that was now racking her brain, she felt herself fade out of conciseness.

Just outside the cave in the warmth of the sunlight Trixie awoke as she was set down on the hard earth. Maud stood just in front of her looking a little tired, but wearing a tiny smile.

Rubbing her aching forehead Trixie asked, “Are you okay?”

Maud nodded before embracing Trixie in a tight hug. “You should have run."

Feeling embarrassed Trixie attempted to explain, “I couldn’t leave you behind like that. Even I am not that bad of a pony."

Slowly Maud pulled away frowning a little bit. “You are not a bad pony. You’re my best friend, and… I don’t want to lose you.”

Trixie checks turned bright red. “I’m your best friend?” Maud simply nodded, making Trixie’s blush even worse.”That doesn’t make sense? Why me?”

Maud than explained, “Not many ponies try as hard as you do to listen to me. Most ponies think I’m weird and avoid me. But you listen to me, even when I’m boring you. You care, Trixie."

Trixie couldn’t believe that Maud actually liked her, and no matter how she tried she could not wrap her mind around the concept that anypony could like her. Trixie attempted to analyze the reasons why Maud liked her, but her mind stopped working when a hoof slid up to the back of her head. Trixie was quickly pulled into a tight embrace.

This time however Maud placed her soft lips against Trixie’s. Fire raced to claim territory across Trixie’s face from her lips to her cheeks. Her heart was galloping like crazy. Trixie suddenly wanted this to last forever, but Maud pulled away far too quickly, though Trixie would never forget that moment of beauty and wonder.

Maud pulled away and let go of Trixie who sat there dumbfounded and shocked. She found herself wondering about what exactly had just happened. They kissed, but Trixie simply couldn’t believe that it actually happened.

Maud turned to face the sun before saying, “Let’s go home, Lulu, it’s getting late."

Trixie had much better concerns at the moment then to wonder about why she was just referred to as Lulu. Staying very quiet, but very close to Maud she followed her down the mountain. A goofy smile was now permanently stuck on Trixie’s face, and Maud would occasionally look over at her with a small smile. The two of them headed home together, and Trixie had never felt so happy in her life, even if she was still very confused about the whole thing.

Chapter Two: Woeful Remorse

A few days later Trixie sat down at the kitchen table with a partially written letter lying before her, the only words written read.

“Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle”

It was about time that Trixie wrote the apology letter. But the words she needed simply wouldn’t come to her, maybe she could ask for help from Maud. But she was still ashamed of what she had done, and admitting those atrocities to a pony as special as Maud was simply too much for her to handle. Eventually Maud would realize that Trixie was not a good pony, and then she would be all alone… again, but until that time Trixie would enjoy every moment she could with the wonderful mare.

Maud walked into the kitchen and sat across from Trixie with a bright pink letter in her mouth. She laid the letter down on the table before saying in the monotonous voice that Trixie had become enamored to, “My sister sent me a letter.”

Trixie looked up from the letter she was writing, so that she could look into those beautiful blue eyes. “Which sister?”

Maud replied with a dull flat voice, “My sister Pinkie Pie. She is going to visit us tomorrow. I am looking forward to introducing you two.”

Trixie smiled feeling good about that, she had yet to meet Pinkie pie, or at least she really hoped that she had never met her. She felt much happier than she had in a long time. The depression was still there in the background but it was being beaten into submission by the magic of Maud’s friendship. Trixie smiled cheerfully and said excitedly, “I can’t wait to meet her. I really hope we can be friends.”

The alley was dark, the moon was bloated out by clouds. A cold shiver ran down Trixie’s spine as she looked around. Down back the way she had came were angry shouts. She pushed ahead with all her might but her leg simply didn’t want to work anymore. The voices were growing louder. She tried to hurry, and managed to round a corner but came up short as she stared at a solid brick wall.

“A dead end!” Trixie swore.

“I think I heard the piece of trash over here, let’s go burn it,” a stallion cried from somewhere behind her.

Trixie turned around, maybe if she hurried she could still hide. Of course ten ponies rounded the corner, each one of them looking at Trixie with evil intent. This time Trixie’s entire body was freezing, she took a step back. they closed in all around her.

“Trixie isn’t scared of you!” Trixie defended.

A teal colored mare stepped ahead of the gang, her brown hair was dirty and clung to the sides of her face. She had no eyes yet glared at Triixe with hollow spots in her head. A malicious smile spread over her lips. “By the time we’re done, you’ll be scared of everything.”

The gang charged.

Trixie awoke in her bed covered in a thick layer of sweat. She was breathing fast and hard, that nightmare was worse than usual. She began to Cradle her head between her hooves while her entire body shook, she whispered to herself, “It was only a dream Trixie. It was only a dream, you’re safe here. Maud’s here. She won’t let them get you.”

After a few moments she calmed down enough to stop shaking. Nightmares have been frequenting her the past few months. She was really hoping that her relationship with Maud was going to make them stop. Unfortunately this was not the case.

Doctor Timequill had explained to her that these dreams had been metaphors for the problems in her life, or on occasion memories best left forgotten. At first she has spent many hours trying to analyze her dreams, but has never been able to figure them out herself. Now it was easier to simply forget about them.

Letting out a deep breath she tried to gather enough energy to move. It was morning and soon she would be able to see Maud, and if she was lucky maybe they would kiss again. The past few days have been a little awkward between them. Maud has been a lot closer to Trixie ever since the kiss, lying next to Maud on the couch was one of her favorite and new activities. They even shared kisses on the cheek every morning and evening, which was always the highlight of her day.

Maud had a hard time expressing emotion, which made it a challenge to figure out if she really liked Trixie. She wondered if sometimes she actually made Maud angry, or if she pushed her away with something she said or did. But Trixie tried to always be the best pony she could be, every little mistake cataloged in her mind with shameful red stamps.

Trixie asked herself, “Why were there so many books about different kinds of rocks, and no books about the one rock I need to learn about?”

After taking her morning medicine Trixie walked out of her room wanting to take a shower. Maud’s room was at the end of the hall; her door was closed like always. Trixie found herself wondering about what Maud’s room really looked like. What kind of stuff did she keep around, probably a collection of rare rocks or something? While opening the bathroom door, Maud’s door opened up causing Trixie to freeze.

She still couldn’t get a good look inside Maud’s room, although she made a mental note about the fact that it was very dark inside it. Maud stepped out of her room wearing her classic stone blue dress. It occurred to Trixie then that she had never once seen her without the dress on. She began to wonder what Maud looked like without her clothing on. The image that Trixie conjured up made Trixie’s cheeks grow warm.

Maud looked at Trixie with her blank emotionless expression. Trixie looked away shyly fearing Maud’s reaction should she find out what Trixie was imagining. A single gray leg wrapped itself around Trixie’s neck pulling the shy unicorn into an embrace. Maud then kissed Trixie softly on the cheek before saying with an even tone, “Good morning, Lulu."

Trixie knew that the nickname was a good sign that Maud really did like her. After all only friends had nicknames for each other. Trixie returned the favor, kissing Maud on the cheek a little nervously. It didn’t seem to matter how many times she kissed Maud, it still made her nervous to be doing something so sensual with such a wonderful mare.

Trixie really was foreign when it came to relationships. It didn’t help her that she still had no idea what to call this beautiful thing she shared with Maud. Were they really marefriends, or was this some kind of miscommunication? Trixie really hoped that Maud liked her back.

Pulling away from Maud’s gentle embrace she found herself gazing deeply into Maud’s blue eyes. Although they usually looked bored, her eyes were a little more open right now, along with the slightest curl of her lips. Three days ago Trixie never would have noticed these subtle details about Maud. Subtle as they are, they managed to speak volumes about Maud’s feelings. Maud was not only happy right now, but excited as well.

A cheerful grin spread across Trixie’s face with the realization that she could evoke such emotions from Maud. Despite the nervous nature Trixie had adopted she couldn’t help but to wrap both hooves around Maud and whisk her up into a tight loving embrace, and if Trixie was strong enough she would have picked Maud up off her hooves too. Maud’s checks became the slightest shade of pink, making Trixie’s flush wildly. The two gazed deeply into one another’s eyes; they held each other like this for a few moments before pulling apart.

Maud began to explain in her monotonous voice, “My sister will be arriving in a few hours. I’m really excited.” Maud paused for a moment, seeming to be lost in thought before continuing with a quieter voice, “I hope she likes you.”

Trixie caught the change in volume, and knew that it was Maud being nervous. Maud was never nervous, about anything, not even about giant monster fish ponies. Trixie couldn’t make up her mind about whether that was a sign of Maud’s fragility or her embarrassment, and if it was the later. Was she embarrassed about Trixie?

She decided it was best not to voice her concern, or at least not yet. Instead Trixie gave another smile at Maud before walking into the bathroom to shower. If only she could share this shower with her new favorite rock, than life would truly be perfect.

After her shower Trixie walked out into the living room where Maud was setting up the living room table. The living room was set off the side of the hallway, and the front door was located inside it. The living room consisted of a coffee table with a couch on either side of it facing each other. A small book shelf was set in the corner with each of its shelves having been stacked so full of books that some of the older ones were actually hidden behind, or on top of the other books.

Maud was setting down some snacks on the table, chips with ranch dip. Tiny carrots were sitting on a separate table as well, along with celery sticks. There was also a plate full of cookies.

Trixie also noticed a selection of books on the table. One was a book about various types of rocks called “Unearthed Mysteries” there was nothing mysterious about it. The other two included a soft core romance novel entitled, “The Tale of Two Mares,” and the last one was a book on how to deal with surviving traumatic events called, “Day by day.”

The last book was one that Timequill had given her after her therapy sessions were completed in Manehattan. The book was very helpful to her as she recovered. She had been reading that book the other night, although she has already finished it, rereading it didn’t hurt.

The living room looked like it was designed for socialites, which was the exact opposite of Maud’s personality. Trixie wasn’t ready for a big social life either, at least not at the moment, however she hoped that one day she could become more social again. When that day comes she would love to have ponies over tea, or maybe start up a book club. This room would be perfect for a book club.

Maud looked at the table with what Trixie could only imagine was either skepticism or pride. Maud looked away from the table when Trixie approached her. “Do you think she will like it?”

Trixie realized now that Maud was probably nervous about being a good host for her sister. She took a look at the table, and despite the unnerving attention put into making sure there were an exactly even number of pieces of every food, and that everything, food items to plates were spaced apart evenly, it was still a beautifully set table. She never actually thought that Maud would know how to be a good host. Maud’s introverted nature was yet another reason why Trixie was so close to her.

“It looks wonderful.” Trixie replied with a smile. “Um is there anything I can do to help?”

Maud paused for a second seemingly to think the request over before saying. “Thanks, but I think everything is done. Didn’t you have something to do today though?”

Suddenly Trixie remembered that she was supposed to go out and pick up some things she had ordered. They should be at ‘Gear Dasher’s shop of Enigmas’ already. Trixie quickly went to the door saying. “I will be back soon, I promise… and I’m really looking forward to meeting your other sister.” After that Trixie walked outside and began heading towards the village.

The village of New Slate is built on a flat plain of hard earth, with several rock farms surrounding the village. There is a train station near the entrance of the village, and only a few shops inside the village. Gear Dasher kept his shop on the outskirts of town near an old mineshaft that he kept boarded off. The shop itself was a small house with the front porch converted into a shop stand with gray curtains hanging on the sides of the awning to create walls.

On her approach Trixie could hear a song being whistled, it sounded very much like a song from her foalhood, a song about wrapping up winter. A brown earth pony stallion with a purple mane was relaxing on a chair with a cowpony hat covering his face. The Stallion was named Gear Dasher; he was the go to pony for anything and everything that was broken. He was however asleep on the job again. Which was just as well, she didn’t feel like putting up any emotional walls just so she could talk to stallions at the moment.

A little colt with a matching fur and mane pallet to the older earth pony came walking out from the back room whistling to himself. The little one was Gear Dasher’s son, as ingenuitive if not more so than his father, this colt’s name was Dusty Soul.

The little one was chewing on a piece of straw as he whistled to himself without a care in the world. Trixie found herself whistling along with the little colt feeling a little nostalgic for her home town. The colt heard Trixie, he walked over to her, and standing behind the counter he continued whistling. The two whistled together in a duet for a few minutes before the colt stopped and grinned at her. One of his front teeth were missing, but he whistled without a problem.

The colt spoke in a high pitched southern drawl saying, “Howdy, Miss Moon.

Trixie spoke back softly not wanting to bother Gear Dasher while he napped. “Hey, Dusty, how’s the business going?”

The kid sat down disappearing from her view. She peered over the counter to see him sitting down with a hoof rubbing his chin, and pouting. He then stood up again saying, “Well I reckon shops been good, you came here didn’t ya?”

Trixie had to admit this kid’s logic wasn’t bad for a foal without his cutie mark. She then explained to him, “I came here to pick up some things I had ordered from your pa.”

Dusty smiled brightly at this, he always became amused whenever she spoke to him using southern words. And although she would never want anypony to hear her speaking like that, she really did enjoy making children smile. As Dusty ran back inside the house presumably to get Trixie’s package, she found herself daydreaming about being a magic teacher. Nothing as grand as what Celestia had done, but a small classroom of five or six fillies and colts would be ideal for her. This was just one of many dreams.

A full minute passed before Dusty came scampering back with a brown package held in his mouth by strings attached to the package. He set it down on the counter before saying. “Here ya go, Miss Moon. Paper says it’s all paid for. Hope ya like yer book.”

She went to grab the package before she realized that he only mentioned the book, but not the other thing. “Um, Dust, was there anything else for me in there?”

“Ayep it’s in the package, don’t worry Ah made sure it was safe.” He explained with a smile.

She couldn’t help but grin with the package in her mouth; she had been waiting for this for almost a week now. Originally it was going to be used for a way to connect with Maud, and now it should serve as a nice little surprise. Trixie really hoped that Maud would enjoy the present.

Trixie walked a few steps before she stopped, and opened the package pulling out the book that was inside it. The book was entitled “The creative process behind writing letters.” Trixie had never been good at writing letters, and the apology letter she was working on was already halfway done but it felt more like a mess of emotions and guilt, than a proper apology.

The apology letter needed to be perfect if she was sending it to a princess, and she was going to poor every ounce of herself into writing it. She had left the letter on the couch in the living room before going to bed late last night. She put the package into her saddle bags and got to walking.

As Trixie approached the little house that she shared with Maud, in truth it was more like a cottage, she could hear a few ponies speaking inside. They sounded happy and cheerful, so the voices definitely didn’t belong to Maud. Trixie could make out several different voices inside, meaning that there was more than just Maud’s sister inside. Maybe all three of Maud’s sisters were inside. Well it didn’t matter too much; she was really excited, and terrified to meet another member of Maud’s family..

Walking inside Trixie saw Maud sitting on the couch all by herself while the other ponies sat across from her talking. Half the food on the table was gone already, and the book about dealing with traumatic events was floating in the air illuminated by a pink aura.

Trixie took a few steps in while keeping her head down and shutting the door closed behind her softly with a rear leg. Trixie walked a few steps forward before hearing Maud greet her, “Lulu, did you get the book you wanted?”

Hearing Maud’s voice perked Trixie up a little, making her look up at Maud. Maud had a small smile across her face which indicated that she was exceedingly happy. Trixie set her saddlebags down at her hooves and smiled at Maud before realizing that it had gotten quiet, really quiet.

Trixie looked over to the other couch and found a group of ponies she was sadly familiar with. From Applejack to Twilight Sparkle, all the of the Elements of Harmony were here, and all of them on her couch. The only one she didn’t know by name was pink as could be with the most untamed curly mane that Trixie had ever witnessed. Twilight had the “Day by Day” book floating in front of her turned to the page Trixie had bookmarked.

All of them stared right at Trixie, and all of them looked very shocked. The one that Trixie didn’t know by name must have been Pinkie Pie. Memories of what happened in Ponyville replayed in her mind. Out of all the things she had regretted from that time. There was one single thing she did that hurt more than anything else now, what she had done to Pinkie Pie.

She had used magic to take away Pinkie Pie’s mouth, taking away the pink ponies ability to talk, to sing, to eat, or even to drink water. Trixie had done something horrible to Pinkie Pie, to Maud’s favorite sister and oldest friend. Even if the spell that Trixie had used had a set time limit, it was still an unforgivable act. When Maud found out about this she was never going to forgive Trixie for it. Trixie was only good at destroying anything and everything she touched, and now she just lost her best and only friend in the whole world.

Time resumed as Rainbow Dash began speaking in a loud voice on the edge of yelling, “Maud’s roommate is Trixie! How can Maud be friends with you after everything you’ve done, especially to Pinkie Pie?”

Rainbow Dash was right, how dare she make friends with Maud, it wasn’t her right. Trixie clenched her eyes shut to try and stop the tears before they came. Next she heard Pinkie Pie shouting at her, “YOU STOLE MY MOUTH YOU THIEF”!

Despite having closed her eyes she could feel the tears running down her cheeks, and she could feel the piercing gaze of Maud’s anger, and disappointment being burned into her very soul. Twilight Sparkle then spoke saying, “Calm down you two, I think there are things you need to kn-“

Pinkie Pie cut her off by saying in a venomous tone, “I don’t need to know anything about this, this, this… monster.”

A few ponies gasped at what Pinkie had said, but that didn’t make any difference to how Trixie felt. Opening her eyes slightly she found herself not able to see very clearly through the tears. Trying desperately to wipe the tears away with a foreleg Trixie let out a soft cry before saying, “I’m S-”.

With a sudden force a pink blur flew from the couch and slammed hard into Trixie knocking the blue unicorn off her hooves. Trixie landed on her back in just the wrong way, causing a spike of pain to shoot up her back. A pair of hooves held her down as a pink muzzle was shoved angrily against hers.

Pinkie Pie was now sitting on top of Trixie, with her teeth bared. She hissed as steam flew out of her nostrils and her eyes narrowed on the poor unicorn. Trixie tried to move but felt another jolt of force knock her down. Pinkie Pie spoke in very serious, very slow words, “What. Are. You. Planning?”

With tears now running down her face Trixie tried to speak, but she could only manage a pitiful whimper.

A pink aura surrounded Pinkie and the mare was torn off of Trixie. Pinkie Pie was now floating next to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight looked at Trixie with sad eyes and said, “I am so sorry.”

Getting off the floor she felt a surge of pain in her back, but Trixie shrugged it off as she walked to her room. She purposefully avoided looking at anypony, she didn’t have to look at them to see the disappointment they held for her. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash both proved that everypony still hated Trixie, and that they always would. Before leaving the living room, Trixie said just loud enough for everypony to hear, “Trixie is sorry everypony, for everything.”

Trixie got inside her room before shutting and locking the door behind her. Trixie went straight to her bed and laid down. The pillow was good for muffling the sound of her broken sobs. Everything she had kept bottled up inside, every ounce of fear and regret, every doubt, every ounce of pain. She let it out right there on her bed.

After a minute or two she stopped trying to hide her crys. Let the other ponies hear her if they want to. Maybe it would make them feel better to know how badly she felt.

After the way Pinkie Pie treated her, it became obvious that she was never going to be able to make up for what she had done. Maybe it would be better for her to give up on being happy, give up on being a good pony, and maybe even give up on life. There didn’t seem to be any point in trying anymore. She closed her eyes trying to ignore the throbbing pain from her back. After a while she drifted off into sleep, but there was nothing but sadness waiting for her there.

Chapter Three: Melancholy Blue

After a restless nap Trixie woke up with her pillow damp from the tears that had consumed her earlier. Now that she had stopped crying she could hear the ponies outside her room talking fairly clear through her wall. Trixie never realized that her walls were so thin, ha that’s fitting. She fought against snooping in on their conversation at first, but once she realized that her life here was over anyway she gave up.

Twilight was speaking in an authoritative tone. “I can’t believe you would do that to her. Why in Equestria would you attack her!”

Pinkie Pie answered her with fear clear in her voice, “I…I was just trying to protect my sister…I’m sorry.”

Twilight spoke again this time a little softer but her voice was laced with menace. “Pinkie, I am not the one you need to apologize too. When Trixie feels like coming out you will need to apologize to her. She has been through a lot of bad things since we last saw her.”

A softer voice spoke now, right outside of Trixie’s door. The voice belonged to Maud but it sounded weak, “Lulu… please don’t be mad. I really thought that you two could be friends. I am sorry for her behavior. Lulu…”

Another voice spoke next to her, it was very gentle sounding, and very soft, and caring. One that Trixie had to admit she actually missed hearing, it was Fluttershy, “I’m sure we can fix this, Maud. She just needs some time alone right now. Oh… please don’t cry.”

Trixie wondered if Maud was really crying, did she do the realization of what Trixie did to Pinkie hurt her that much? She didn’t know, and at the moment all she could focus on was the pain her back was in. A few minutes passed before she could clearly hear anything again, but she finally heard Pinkie Pie talking again, this time she was right outside of Trixie’s door, and she sounded very sad. “Trixie, can you hear me? I want to apologize for being such a meanie to you.”

Trixie turned her head to the side and tried to say as loud as she could without yelling. “Why? I deserved it.”

Pinkie replied, “Twilight and Rainbow Dash and Maud say that you’re not a bad pony anymore. So you’re not a bad pony anymore, right? You’re not going to like, kidnap Boulder and run away are you?”

The question made her sound nervous, but Trixie didn’t care much about anything at the moment. It hurt too much to care about things right now. So she replied truthfully. “After what I have done, I don’t think I could ever be a good pony again.”

“I… kinda understand. May I open your door just a crack. It would make it easier to talk to you. I pinkie promise I won’t come in, cross my hart, and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

It was rude for good ponies like Pinkie Pie to pretend that they could understand what it was like to be a bad pony, and to do such bad things. Feeling a little bit of anger, Trixie found herself responding without thinking. “And who gets to stick the cupcake in your eye?”

“… I suppose you would get to.”

She realized what she had said was rude. But couldn’t bring herself to apologize, so instead she compromised. “Fine, but only a crack.”

The door opened a tiny bit allowing the two ponies to speak to each other without being so loud. Trixie spoke first. “I really am sorry about everything I did. I know you won’t ever be my friend but maybe one day you can forgive me.”

Pinkie pie was quiet for a few moments making Trixie think that she had left, before Pinkie said in a quiet voice, “I forgive you. I hope that you can forgive me too. I know I scared you, but if you still want to I would love to be your friend. If you don’t want to though I can understand.”

Trixie was a little shocked to hear Pinkie Pie say this. She still wanted to be friends with Pinkie, if only for Maud’s sake. Maybe she could still recover her friendship with Maud, though she felt that any chance for a relationship was pretty much ruined now. Trixie took in a shaky breath before saying. “I forgive you too. I still want to be your friend as well.” After a moment she added. “I…I would also like to tell you something secret…if you want to hear it.”

Pinkie Pie sounded more cheerful as she said. “I would love to listen. I am really good at keeping secrets. Buuuut if you wanna tell me a secret, it would be better if I could come inside. We have somepony prying in on our conversation right now. Although their trying to hide from me, it doesn’t mean I don’t know that they have been behind the couch eavesdropping on us this whole time.”

Trixie didn’t doubt that a pony might be listening in. She didn’t care before, but this secret of Trixie’s wasn’t something she wanted to share openly. “Okay Pinkie Pie, you can come in… just please don’t hurt me again.”

Pinkie opened the door poking her head inside wearing a sad smile. She took only a single step forward before asking. “Did… I really hurt you?”

Trixie didn’t answer she only said. “Don’t forget to close the door.”

Pinkie Pie walked in and closed the door behind her softly. She then walked up to Trixie’s bed before sitting down on the floor. The two looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, Pinkie’s eyes looked very sad but there was a quiet power behind them, reminiscent of Trixie’s favorite rock. Trixie found herself with a small smile as she said. “You have your sister’s eyes. Did you know that?”

Pinkie smiled at that saying very softly. “I don’t have her eyes. There still inside her head you silly filly.”

Trixie smiled a little more at Pinkie’s literal interpretation of her complement. She looked away from Pinkie’s eyes before explaining. “I’ve got Schizophrenia. It was untreated until a few months ago, I… tried to… punish myself after what I did to ponyville.”

Pinkie Pie lost her smile for a second before shaking her head and putting on another sad smile. Pinkie’s eyes told Trixie that she knew what Trixie had gone through all too well. Pinkie Pie reached a hoof out slowly causing Trixie to flinch in fear before she placed her hoof on gently Trixie’s cheek. Pinkie Pie than said, “I am sorry to hear that, if I had been a better pony I would have helped you… but sometimes even I am a bad pony.”

Trixie wasn’t sure exactly how to take that but she was sure that Pinkie was trying to be kind to her. That meant a lot to Trixie, she always felt like everypony hated her after ponyville. Even after what she had done she found this whole event a little surreal.

Here stood one of the ponies she had hurt the worst, and yet this pony was being kind to her, trying to befriend her. Even if Trixie didn’t deserve this attention she really appreciated it, it was nice to have ponies care about her, even when she knew they were just wasting their time.

Pinkie Pie looked down Trixie’s back before she stopped moving and a look of horror spread across her face. What was scaring her, sure Trixie’s back hurt, but it wasn’t that bad…was it?

Pinkie Pie’s bottom lip began to quiver a little as she asked. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Trixie did not recall ever saying that she was okay, nor did she recall ever feeling that way. Looking at Pinkie Pie she raised her head to ask what was wrong. A fresh wave of pain spread across her back causing her to whimper. Pinkie now looked even more scared and yelled at the door. “TWILIGHT. HELP. NOW.”

It took only a few seconds before both Twilight and Maud came rushing into the room. Trixie tried to sit up, to show them it was all okay. The motion caused a fresh wave of terrible pain to spike in her back, she screamed in pain from the attempted movement. Something was wrong with her back, and it hurt to move. Twilight looked worried, even Maud looked worried. This was bad.

After being levitated to the living room Trixie found herself lying on the same couch as Maud, with Fluttershy examining her back. Trixie’s back was burning with pain, but with her head laying on Maud’s lap and with Maud softly petting her hair she found the strength to fight against it. Maud looked at Trixie with gentle eyes, the fact that Maud didn’t hate her was apparent as she tried to sooth Trixie’s pain. Trixie had been unable to resist snuggling her head into Maud’s lap as she lay there. Maud didn’t resist, she only continued to pet her mane softly.

Fluttershy spoke very quietly with a kind and caring voice. “I think I can help you, but it might hurt a little at first. Is that okay?”

Trixie was still struggling with her emotions unable to decide on whether to be happy, sad, or to cry in pain. A general numbness was creeping up from deep inside her heart. Trixie found herself fighting it as much as she could. The thought occurred to her that taking care of her back would not only help with the pain, but might give her something to focus on other than her depression so she agreed to let Fluttershy do her thing.

Fluttershy began gently massaging Trixie’s back while explaining. “There is a terrible knot in your back. I think you’ve been under too much stress, but… there’s also some old tension here too. When Pinkie um, pushed you, she might have added to it. I’m sorry… I’m going to try and fix it…um, okay?”

Trixie tried to nod but the quick motion of her head caused a twinge of pain in her back. She instead said in a pained voice. “Okay.”

The massage hurt a little bit at first but soon it began feeling good. Fluttershy even put some kind of oil on her back which was really cold and took a huge bite out of the pain. With every press of Fluttershy’s gentle hooves against her back a wave of warm tingly sensations would pass through her. Soon Trixie found herself completely lost in the feeling unable to fight against the tide of wonderful tingles. After a few minutes she became increasingly aware of just how cute Fluttershy really was, with her buttery fur, and long candy pink mane. From the way her mane hung down it was blocking out Fluttershy’s eyes, and keeping her face mostly concealed except for the light blush on her cheeks and the warm smile on her soft lips. Fluttershy’s mane fell down upon Trixie’s withers causing the azure unicorn to let out a tiny squeak.

Fluttershy stopped her wonderful massage for a moment to ask in a concerned tone. “Are you okay, I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Trixie tried to answer but felt a lump get stuck in her throat as she realized just how much she had been enjoying the massage. It felt wrong to enjoy it this much, especially with head lying Maud’s lap like a pillow. Her face felt like it was on fire. “It’s okay, your hair scared me a little.”

Fluttershy looked away her cheeks growing a little more flush as she apologized. “Um… sorry.”

Trixie closed her eyes as she took in the scent of Maud’s fur, it smelled faintly of lilac with a hint of dirt. Trixie didn’t mind though, Maud did a lot of work in the dirt, and the fusion of smells created something that reminded Trixie of a garden. Enjoying the smell Trixie said, “You can stop, my back doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Fluttershy placed her hooves down on Trixie’s back again, kneading and padding with her angelic hooves while saying firmly. “Your back is still hurt, if I don’t take care of this now than you could have some permanent damage. You are lucky to have chiropractor on hoof.”

After that the massage continued with Trixie feeling the warm tingly feeling again as every press of her hooves pushed waves of pleasant warm feeling through Trixie’s entire body. Trixie just relaxed allowing the magical pegasus to do her work. After what Fluttershy had said, it would be dumb of Trixie to argue after all. Even if it was embarrassing. Meanwhile there was some sort of awkward conversation going on with the others that Trixie tuned out.

A few more minutes passed by before Trixie begun to feel other warm feelings inside of her, feelings that made her feel guilty considering it wasn’t Maud giving her a massage. Trixie wondered to herself if this massage was entirely for medical reasons or if Fluttershy was putting a little too much attention into this massage. But that would require Trixie to be worth Fluttershy’s attraction and that was impossible.

Finally Fluttershy found a sensitive spot near Trixie’s croup, and with the soft hooves pushing down on her croup Trixie let out an involuntary moan of satisfaction. Fluttershy froze solid at the moan, and Trixie’s face began warming up far more than before, her entire face becoming a new shade of red. She then buried her face into Maud’s lap trying to hide her embarrassment. Trixie had to stop this, damage or no this massage was going way too far and there was no reason for Fluttershy to be touching her there anyway. “You need to stop.” Trixie said as politely and as firmly as she could.

Fluttershy tried to hide behind her mane, her face equally as red as Trixie’s before she said in a quiet voice barely above a whisper. “Sorry, I, um, didn’t know you were, um so sensitive there.”

Trixie stayed quiet as Fluttershy moved to the other couch, Maud was still stroking her mane gently which made Trixie calm down a little. She eventually looked up to see Maud wearing a small smile as she looked down at Trixie. Maud asked, “Are you feeling better?”

Trixie did have to admit that her back no longer hurt, although she was still embarrassed about the massage. With careful movements Trixie sat up on the couch next to Maud with no pain in her back. It was amazing her back didn’t just stop hurting, it was like she had a hundred pounds of lead weight lifted off of her back. For the first time in a long time she felt as light as a feather.

Trixie looked across the room at Fluttershy who was still trying to hide behind her mane, and smiled saying. “Thank you, Fluttershy. That was magic.”

Fluttershy only gave a short nod of acceptance. Trixie looked around and realized that some of the ponies were no longer here though. The only ones inside the house were Trixie, Maud who was sitting next to her, Fluttershy sitting on the couch opposite of them, Pinkie Pie was also there sitting quietly with a small grin on her face. Twilight Sparkle was in the kitchen though with a letter floating in front of her as she read it, the book Trixie had ordered was also next to her.

Trixie then remembered the present she had ordered for Maud was in the package, but where was the package. Looking around almost frantic Trixie couldn’t see the package anywhere. Looking at the three ponies near her she asked. “Where is the package that I had?”

Pinkie Pie answered her saying a high pitched tone. “It’s on the table in the kitchen. Twilight put it on the table to keep it safe.”

Trixie stood up carefully remembering the pain her back was in only a few moments prior. Thankfully it would seem that Fluttershy really did fix the problem. Pinkie Pie then offered. “I can go get it for you if you’re back still hurts.”

Trixie shook her head. “It’s okay. I want to get it myself.”

She walked into the kitchen where Twilight was sitting at the table. To Trixie’s relief the package sat next to her, unopened. Sitting at the table Trixie opened the package peeking inside, Maud’s present was safe and sound inside its package. She let out an exhausting sigh of relief. She could still give the present to Maud, and hopefully it would mean as much to her as she hoped it would.

Trixie stayed quiet as she sat there looking at Twilight for a few minutes before she felt like being quiet might be considered rude. It only occurred to her now that there might be special rules on how to properly talk to a princess. “Hi… um… greetings, Princess Twilight.”

Twilight sat the letter down allowing Trixie to clearly see her face. Twilight had a few tears running down her face. She had been crying over something, Trixie wondered if it was the letter or Pinkie’s behavior. Taking a look at the letter itself Trixie realized that Twilight was reading the apology letter, even half finished it was obvious who had written it.

Trixie looked at Twilight and felt a need to apologize again, not even sure what she was sorry this time. “I’m sorry. I know the letter isn’t that great, I tried my best though.”

Twilight smiled. Her voice came out softly, “You don’t need to apologize, not for anything. I know about what you have been through. In fact I have been meaning to tell you something for awhile now.”

She felt confused now, what could a princess want to tell her. She wasn’t important enough to garner such attention, unless she had done something bad. Trixie couldn’t think of how to respond so she simply said. “Oh."

“I’m sorry.”

Trixie felt even more confused for a few moments as she tried to think of why a princess would apologize to her. She guessed it was because of Pinkie’s assault. Trixie smiled back feeling happy that Twilight cared enough to feel bad about that and she tried to put Twilight’s guilt at rest. “It’s okay, me and Pinkie Pie are friends now, and thanks to Fluttershy I shouldn’t be having any problems with my back.”

Twilight shook her head sadly and her smile faded a little as she explained. “That’s not what I was apologizing for, although I am terribly sorry for that too.”

Trixie began feeling worried now, what could Twilight be apologizing for. Dozens of possibilities ran through her mind before she stopped herself, and took a moment trying to calm her fears down before asking, “What do you mean?”

Twilight’s smile faded completely now, and with sad looking eyes she explained shamefully. “I messed up Trixie. I am supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, but the one pony who needed a friend more than anypony else in the world was left all alone because I failed to realize just how badly hurt she was inside. I mean even Discord got my friendship, so how could I screw up this badly? Than that pony almost dies because I didn’t help her… I don’t deserve to be a princess if I can’t even help the ponies who need it most.

“Trixie I should have helped you, now that I look back on the past events, I realize just how obvious it was that you needed help. Even if all I could do was give you my friendship, that would have helped you a lot… but I ignored you. That is what I am apologizing for. I know that you may never want to forgive me, but maybe one day we could… be… okay with each other?” By the time she was done tears were running down her face.

Trixie recognized the look in her eyes. It was the same exact feelings that were eating up Trixie inside. Guilt, shame, and remorse were eating up Twilight. Trixie shook her head and walked over to Twilight. Wrapping her forelegs around her, Trixie gave the sad Alicorn Princess a hug while whispering softly, “There is nothing to forgive; you never did anything bad Twilight. Unlike me you’re a good pony, and forgive me if it’s not my place, but I would like to be friends with you, if you don’t mind being friends with a bad pony like me that is.”

Twilight embraced Trixie saying. “I would love to be your friend. Thank you Trixie, you’re a much better pony than I am.”

Trixie froze as she said that. She knew for a fact that she was not better than anypony else, neither was she a good pony. Trixie broke away from Twilight’s embrace saying in as polite a tone as she could. “I am not better than anypony. In fact I am a much lower than you. So you don’t need to pretend, I know how bad I am.”

Twilight simply looked confused for a moment before she asked in a hushed tone. “Is this a joke? You can’t actually believe that, not you.”

Trixie was beginning to panic, how come Twilight was pretending that Trixie was a good pony. First it was Maud, than it was Pinkie Pie, and now even Twilight was lying to her. This was not a funny joke, and it was not a nice thing to do. Trixie took a few steps back away from Twilight, her ears folded as she tried to explain to Twilight this very simple concept. “I really am a bad pony. You saw what I did to Ponyville. I am a terrible horrible pony. It’s okay for you to tell me the truth. I already know.”

Twilight’s expression became a mixture of sadness and concern as she said in a soft voice. “Trixie, you’ve suffered a lot in your life. You have done bad things yes, but that doesn’t make you a bad pony.”

Trixie shook her head again. “Trixie is not a good pony. She has done bad things Twilight, and that makes Trixie a bad pony.”

Twilight was now looking very sad now as she said. “I don’t believe that.”

Trixie did not like this conversation, Twilight was being either really mean by pretending that she was a good pony, or Twilight was being very naive. Either way Trixie decided to change the topic before she started crying again or something worse. “Um… where did the other ponies go? Trixie noticed they were not here.”

Twilight still looked sad but she took the hint and answered question. “They're outside, Rainbow Dash needed to fly. Rarity and Applejack didn’t want to interrupt your massage.”

Trixie blushed a little at the mention of the massage but at least she was beginning to calm down a little bit now. So she decided she would go lay by Maud and hopefully that would make her feel all better. “Thank you for being nice to Tri- er I mean me.

Trixie did bring the package with her when she went back to Maud though. After sitting down on the couch next to the gray mare that she adored, Trixie gave the package to Maud saying nervously. “I got this for you… I hope you enjoy it.”

Twilight had set down besides Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie as Maud opened the package with her hooves. Maud reached down and pulled out a chunk of broken concrete, there was a small graffiti drawing on the side showing an earth pony standing tall amongst black shadowy ponies rising out of a sea of pitch black tar, the earth pony was blue and held a mining pick axe in its hooves. Maud examined the chunk turning it over in her hooves a few times and even going as far as to sniff it.

Fluttershy asked, “Um… it sure is… a rock.”

Pinkie pie was quiet and looked at the chunk suspiciously for a moment before realizing what it was and with a manic grin spreading across her face she asked. “Is that what I think it is?”

Twilight looked at the chunk of concrete and said. “It looks old, what exactly is it though?”

Maud finally licked the rock before setting it down on her lap seeming to examine the taste of it in her mouth. Trixie was feeling a little nervous, if this was a fake than it would be very heart breaking. Maud stopped suddenly, her eyes opened wide and a large smile grew across her face, it was such a big smile that Trixie feared it might break Maud’s face.

Maud then explained in an excited voice, one that Trixie had never expected to come from her, “Oh my Celestia… this is really from the Great Wall of Depression. Erected by the evil King Sombra and torn down when the rebellion began. The wall is over a thousand years old, and most of it was either lost or protected by museums over the millennium. It was made using rare ore which was believed at the time to be indestructible. It was a formidable wall to break. The geological advancements made from this one wall were outstanding.”

Looking over at Trixie she asked in a less excited voice while still smiling, “How did you get this, a single Boulder sized piece is worth a small fortune? This is a full chunk, it even has original artwork on it increasing the value to that of… of… I am not sure that money could buy this.”

Trixie found herself blushing along with a smile before saying, “I kinda lucked out, I was afraid it would be a fake though.”

Maud’s eyes were still wide as she said, “I will forever cherish this gift. I never thought I would even get to see a piece of the wall in person, let alone own a piece.”

The ponies on the other couch were smiling, and Trixie felt like her heart was soaring. Maud pulled Trixie into a tight loving embrace “I am so grateful for having you in my life.”

Pinkie Pie let out a long drawn out, “Awwwwwww.”

Meanwhile Fluttershy blushed a little. “You two really are best friends.”

Twilight sat there quietly smiling. After a few minutes of Maud explaining in ever decreasing excited volumes about the history behind the Great Wall of depression, both Fluttershy and Pinkie decided to head outside. Twilight stayed behind and listened, her attention perked up after hearing about how Starswirl the bearded had spent years trying to destroy the wall with alchemy.

After Maud had gotten done detailing the deep and vast history involving this wall, mostly focusing on the construction of the wall and the vast geological aspects of its construction, she had returned to her normal flat voice.

After that was finally over Twilight looked around as though to check if it really was just the three of them inside the cottage. Twilight decided to pull a small gem from her saddle bags. This gem was a deep purple color, and it gave Trixie inexplicable chills to look at it.

Twilight explained, “This was found on a device inside of the crystal empire, I haven’t told anypony about this gem so I expect you two to keep this secret.”

Both Trixie and Maud agreed to keep this conversation under wraps.

Twilight smiled before continuing, “The device I found was inside a special chamber located in the crystal empire. I still have not revealed the location of this place to anypony because I fear the secrets that could be found down there. I do not believe that even Celestia or Cadence knows about this place. It seems to me that King Sombra had been doing research down there involving this kind of ore, and after your report on the gems found out here I suspected that the two may be connected. This is why I hired you to research this for me Maud; I can only trust you with this task.”

Twilight then looked Trixie in the eyes. “Now that you have been involved with the gems, Trixie, I need your assistance. I believe that you two may be the only ponies who can unravel the secrets behind these gems for me. The last time I encountered them being used, I saw a vision of my worst nightmare coming true. So take care while working on them, and you can’t let anypony outside of us three know about what we're looking into. I will be staying here with my friends for a while as we look into this together.”

Trixie looked at the gem on the table one last time before Twilight took the gem back placing it in her saddle bags. Maud than took out one of the samples the two had collected from the mountain cave and placed it down on the table. The unrefined crystal had the same color, and still gave off chills as Trixie looked at it. Whatever these gems were, she felt like they were simply wrong. Almost like they didn’t belong in this world, hopefully this research would be safe, and not involve any more monster fish ponies.

Chapter Four: Hopeful Dreams

Twilight looked up at the ceiling, almost relieved as she said, “I am glad that this little visit of Pinkie Pie’s came so soon, I needed a good excuse to come and visit you in person. This way there won’t be any suspicions raised."

She may not have known Twilight very well, but this whole secrecy thing felt wrong even for her. Perhaps Trixie was over thinking this, or maybe there was something bigger going on here. Whatever the case was she would be happy as long as Twilight kept Maud out of any sort of trouble.

Maud put the samples back inside the bag just in time as Pinkie Pie opened the door saying, “Twilight, we found a cool store, wanna come and look?”

Twilight smiled at Pinkie pie. “I heard there were a few good little shops here, of course I want too.”

Pinkie Pie bounced on her hooves back outside yelling at the small cluster of friends she had outside, “SHE SAID YES!”

Trixie had to admit that seeing these happy ponies brought a measure of peace to her heart that was still missing, despite having Maud in her life. She found the idea of having friends to be a wonderful thing. It was a much welcome shift from the dark thoughts that usually plagued her.

Trixie had a few friends now, that all seemed to actually care about her despite her horrible past. Or maybe they just pitied her, which was still a step up from loathing. She also had Maud in her life, although she still needed to know to what extent. Even Twilight Sparkle was her friend now, something that she never would’ve believed possible in the past. Lastly there was the fact that she had her insanity under control for the first time in her life. This was the moment that a glimmer of hope, like that of a flickering candle light, began to grow inside her damaged heart.

After Twilight left to follow her friends into town Trixie found herself sitting on the couch alone with Maud. She felt as though this was the time for them to talk about everything. After clearing her throat Trixie asked, “So… I need to know. Do you still like me?”

Maud took a moment to answer, adopting a slight frown before she finally spoke. “I really like you Trixie. I have… never really had a marefriend before… but I need to tell Pinkie about us. She already knows that something is going on between us. It’s better to tell her now, or else it might hurt her feelings.”

She had to agree with Maud there, Pinkie Pie was a smart pony and sooner or later she would figure it out. Better to tell her that they were marefriends now rather than…wait did Maud just say marefriends? Looking over at Maud, Trixie noticed a few small things that had escaped her from before.

Maud was wearing a small frown and staring down at the wooden floor. Her eyes looked more watery then before, and in the corners Trixie could see some redness. Had Maud really been crying earlier?

Pulling Maud into an embrace Trixie whispered into her ear, “I like you too.”

Maud turned and stared into Trixie’s eyes, before saying, “I’m sorry I let her hurt you.”

Trixie simply shook her head saying. “It’s okay, you were in shock. I wouldn’t know what to do if I was in your place either. Besides I… deser-“

Trixie was cut off by Maud kissing her on the lips. The kiss lasted for a second before Maud pulled away and a single tear ran down her cheek. “I don’t want to hear you say that anymore. You do not deserve anything bad, you have repented for everything. Believe me.”

Trixie felt tears running down her cheek now as well. Even if she didn’t believe herself to be a good pony deserving of anything good, Maud needed her to believe in this. Even with a new war beginning to rage inside heart she was able to come to a decision. If Maud needed her to be a good pony, than Trixie would be a good pony… for Maud’s sake.

Trixie nodded. “Okay, I… I believe you.”

Maud smiled at her words before pushing Trixie down on the couch. Trixie now on her back found Maud on top of her, with Maud moving her face closer to hers. Before she could fully understand what was happening she found Mau’s lips pressed against hers once more, this time Maud decided to slip her tongue into Trixie’s mouth. For a fraction of a second an old fear jumped on Trixie’s heart, but Trixie looked into those loving eyes and lost herself.

The two of them continued like this for awhile, holding each other inside a deep loving embrace, neither one of them seemed capable of fighting against their baser instincts. Trixie found that Maud’s mouth tasted a little like grape, not artificial grape flavoring but actual farm grown grapes. Trixie had kissed a few ponies before, and as it turned out everypony has a unique flavor. Her favorite had been butterscotch flavor, but now that she had tasted grape, she was addicted.

As Maud began to caress Trixie’s mane she pulled her head away. Trixie instantly missed the feeling of Maud’s lips, but when Maud moved down Trixie’s body and began kissing Trixie’s neck a new explosion of sensations rushed through her. Maud continued working her way southward slowly kissing every inch of her body. Causing tingles to spread through her body at every place Maud kissed.

Trixie found herself excited and scared at the same time. She had never been with some pony before, not like this, not with so much love and tenderness. Part of her was terrified of being that intimate but her heart knew that if it was Maud it would be okay. Trixie closed her eyes and brushed her hooves through Maud’s mane as Maud got down to her belly. Trixie let out a moan as Maud kissed her belly button, she never knew just how sensitive she was down there. After all nopony had ever shown her such gentle feelings before.

Maud paused just long enough to look up and lock eyes with Trixie. “Is this okay?”

Trixie swallowed hard. “Y-yes.”

Just as Maud’s head went back to kissing the front door swung open making the two young lovers freeze. Looking over to the doorway they spotted the last pony either of them wanted to see this; Pinkie Pie. Behind her stood five of her best friends, all of them looked confused, and unsure of exactly what they were looking at. Pinkie Pie’s mouth gapped open as she stood there, her right eye was twitching.

Maud pulled her head away from where it had been in between Trixie’s legs. Maud then sat up straight with a slight pinkness to her cheeks. Trixie on the other hoof tried to scream but only a squeaking noise came from her lungs. Her face had turned from blue to a shade of bright red in a matter of seconds. She rolled over facing the backrest of the couch and tried her hardest to burry herself into it.

Pinkie Pie finally spoke with her high pitched voice even higher than normal, “What’s going on here?”

Maud answered with her flat voice, “This is not what it looks like.”

Pinkie Pie spoke again, her voice somehow even higher than before. “Oh yeah, then what is… is… this?”

Maud answered her flatly, “We were about to have sex.”

Pinkie Pie’s voice rose to such a heightened pitch it hurt Trixie’s ears. “That’s exactly WHAT I THOUGHT!”

Maud shifted a little bit in her seat as Pinkie Pie took in some very fast breaths. Maud’s voice came out as a stillness against the rising sea that was Pinkie Pie. “Calm down, Pinkie. Take slow deep breaths.”

A few seconds passed with Pinkie Pie doing as she was told, before she finally spoke again in a much calmer voice, “When were you going to tell me about this?”

“We talked about it, and decided to tell you the next time we saw you.”

Pinkie Pie sat down near the door. “How, why, when, where, and why?”

Trixie was now feeling a little less embarrassed so she rolled over to look at the group of ponies, they all looked a little misplaced next to the still very confused Pinkie Pie. Maud let out a sigh before looking at Trixie. “It’s a long story.”

Pinkie Pie stood up and walked over to the opposite couch, she then sat down with a huff and crossed her forelegs. “I’m listening.”

Twilight poked her head inside the door and said. “Well um, we will leave you three alone to talk. Pinkie, you can meet us at the motel room.” Twilight then shut the door before leaving with her friends.

The room was beyond awkward silence for a few minutes before Maud began to explain, “Lulu, moved in with me a few months ago, she was simply my assistant at first. We became friends soon after though, she reminds me a lot of you.”

Pinkie Pie dropped her legs to her side and slouched in the couch before saying. “Oh… but how did you two get so close.”
Maud scooted a little closer to Trixie and placed a hoof on her leg. “Unlike most ponies, she actually listened to me. I know how boring I am. I push a lot of ponies away from me with my personality. Lulu, didn’t mind that though. She put the effort into getting closer to me, and she listened to me unlike everypony else. I guess that was why I started to have a crush on her.”

Trixie found herself staring up at Maud in disbelief. She remembered how hard it was to get close to anypony at first after ponyville. She had felt like everypony was judging her always, and the slightest changes in their attitudes would freak her out. Maud was on the other hoof completely emotionless, or so she thought at first. Maud was a safe zone where any and all changes in her emotions were so subtle that she actually missed them entirely at first. Thanks to Maud’s help, Trixie was able to relearn how to talk to ponies. It was somewhat ironic that Maud was the one to help Trixie become social again.

Trixie had spent so much of her time, and put so much effort into simply trying to become friends with Maud. She never thought about how much her actions really meant to Maud. It was almost as though she was really capable of doing good things. For the first time Trixie actually questioned whether she was truly a bad pony. Could there actually be a possibility for her being a good pony?

Maud continued speaking, “We had gone to some caves for my research. While we were inside we were attacked. Lulu, risked everything she had to save me. She gave her all… for me. I can’t explain just how much that means to me. That was when I was finally brave enough to kiss her.”

Pinkie Pie had tears running down her face now and big grin spread across her face. She whipped the tears away with a hoof before saying, “That’s the most beautiful love story I have ever heard. I’m sorry for being freaked out about this at first.”

Maud showed her appreciation with that small, almost invisible smile of hers. Pinkie then walked over to Trixie and sat down on the floor in front of her. Trixie was a little concerned about what Pinkie was up to. Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around her, embracing Trixie. “Thank you for being Maud’s friend. I just know that we are going to be the best of sisters.”

Trixie’s face began turning a little red from embarrassment again as she asked in confusion, “What?”

Pinkie Pie pulled back a little and explained, “Well if you’re going to be my sister’s special somepony then that makes you my new sister.”

Trixie was now even more concerned, too many things had happened in such a short time frame for her. She now had friends, a special somepony, and even a sister. Trixie found herself fighting against even more tears as she returned the embrace and promised, “I am going to be the best sister that I can be. I promise.”

Memories of Trixie’s family were not usually happy, her father had left her when she was very young, and her mother had lost her battle to insanity before Trixie even graduated. Now that she had Pinkie Pie promising to be her family, it was probably the greatest gift Pinkie could have given her. So many good things were happening for once in her life. She knew that something bad had to be waiting just around the corner, it always did, but if she could enjoy the good things for even a little while. She would accept whatever bad may come.

A few hours later, night had set in. With the sun was gone, the sky was left with stars, like little guardians in the sky. Although Twilight and the others were staying inside of a motel, Pinkie Pie had decided to stay with Maud and Trixie. Dinner was nice, with both Pinkie Pie, and Trixie telling stories to each other. At some point they must have gotten into a story telling competition because their stories became bigger and less plausible until they begin talking about their respective adventures in outer space.

Neither of them had ever been to space, but that didn’t stop them from both arguing that they had. If one had listened to the stories, then they would have been privy to the epic tale of Pinkie Pie fighting off invading hordes of space bugs by tossing cake at them, while Trixie had commanded a starship into a terrible war against the same bugs, ending with the two of them; Supreme Star Captain Trixie and the legendary scoundrel Pinkie Pie joining forces to finally defeat the evil menace of The Hive, and save the galaxy.

Maud simply listened in on their grand tales happily. The three of them enjoyed a wonderful night of eating, talking, storytelling, and newly found friendship. Finally the three went off to bed, Pinkie Pie fell asleep on the couch very quickly and snoring loudly. This left both Trixie and Maud to share a kiss privately before heading off to their respective rooms.

Trixie remembered how close the two of them had gotten earlier before Pinkie Pie interrupted. She really hopped that it was not a onetime thing, and by missing it she would never get another chance. Trixie really wanted to be with Maud like that now, and that raised some feelings of guilt. After her past, Trixie wasn’t sure she could really handle being with Maud like that, but for her she’d try.

She looked back at Maud’s bedroom door which was always closed. She had a faint hope that it would be open just a crack, a sign that Maud was ready to let Trixie into her room. The door was indeed closed firmly, but that didn’t stop Trixie from knocking on it ever so quietly before saying. “Good night, Maud… I’ll be in my room if you need me, I’ll leave the door open for you...”

She let out a sigh feeling a little silly after she said that, Maud probably wouldn’t get the hint. She really was hoping that Maud would hear her, and invite her in for the night. She waited a few seconds before walking into her own darkened room for the night. She left the door open just a crack just in case.

After a few minutes of restlessness Trixie finally began to nod off when she heard her door squeaking open, the noise was very quiet and made Trixie freeze with fear. Trixie prepared herself to scream should anything bad be in her room, but felt immensely better when she heard a flat, and tired voice ask, “Lulu, may I come in?”

Trixie smiled at the sound of Maud’s voice. “Yeah, I’m right here, did you need me?”

Maud’s voice was right next to Trixie as she spoke again, “I’ll always need you.”

Trixie felt Maud climb into the bed next to her, Trixie only had a small bed so it forced the two of them to become very cozy with one another. Trixie never thought that there could be a benefit to having such a small bed.

Although she couldn’t see Maud she could feel her fur pressed against her own, and she could tell that Maud wasn’t wearing her dress. She wanted to see Maud without her dress. Trixie wanted to see Maud’s cutie mark.

As she laid there being held in Maud’s warm embrace she gave up on the idea. Sleep was coming on very quickly for her now that she was being held by the pony she loved. She really did love Maud, and that was the best feeling in the whole world. She hoped that Maud loved her just as much.

Trixie fell asleep soon with Maud cuddling her. After the emotional day that Trixie had, she would have expected nightmares aplenty. But with Maud’s overwhelming love holding the nightmares at bay, Trixie found that for the first night in a very long time, she had good dreams.

Chapter Five: Caged Fears

Trixie woke up to the smell of hay bacon and eggs being cooked in the kitchen. Her room was brightened by the sun’s light shining through the window. After taking her morning meds she looked outside the window seeing the front yard. A flat expanse that went on forever, a few sparse trees, and mountains were all there to greet her. For a moment she stared out the window but hunger eventually drove her to the kitchen.

In the kitchen she found Maud cooking food, and Pinkie Pie sitting at the table looking excited as always. After taking a seat across from Pinkie Pie, Trixie looked at the empty table trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes. “Good morning."

Pinkie Pie returned the greeting. “Good morning, Trixie. Maud’s making breakfast, isn’t she a wonderful chief?”
Maud brought a cup half full of coffee to Trixie, and set it down before kissing Trixie on the cheek. Before Trixie could return the favor Maud went back to cooking. So Trixie did the next best thing, filling the cup up with as much sugar as she could possibly fit in.

Pinkie Pie stared in amusement at this before saying. “Wow. It looks like you love sugar almost as much as I do.”

Trixie smiled at her and took a sip of the sweet liquid. Oddly it was still a little bitter. She wondered If more sugar would help. After setting the cup down she smiled at Pinkie Pie. “I really like sweet things.”

Pinkie Pie grinned before saying with even more excitement. “You too. Then you should come over to the Sugarcube Corner. We have a lot of awesome sweets, especially chocolate.”

Trixie could feel her sweet tooth acting up, craving the fabled chocolate. She couldn’t help but ask. “Do you have Germane chocolate cake?”

Pinkie Pie nodded, and Trixie was salivating at the thought of sinking her teeth into the fabled treat. It had been awhile since she last had any chocolate, and now she wanted some more than anything. After taking a few more drinks of her coffee Maud set a plate full of food in front of Trixie, and Pinkie Pie. The coffee still didn’t taste right.

It looked delicious, not chocolate cake delicious, but still delicious none the less. On the plate was eggs sunny side up on toast with hay bacon on the side. This was truly a wonderful breakfast, made by a wonderful pony. Trixie looked up from the plate to find Maud staring at her blankly.

This stare could mean anything from her wanting to talk, to her being lost in thought again. Trixie looked down at the plate, and took a bite. It was delightful to say the least. She looked back at Maud and knew that she just had to complement her. “It’s wonderful, thanks for making it.”

Maud’s lip curled up ever so slightly. “You’re welcome, Lulu.”

The breakfast went by mostly quietly as Pinkie Pie was stuffing her face, and Maud was eating politely. Trixie was watching Maud’s careful manner, appreciating the care she took in something as simple as eating food. About halfway through her breakfast Maud looked up and met Trixie’s eyes. “I read that you’re not supposed to have caffeine with your medicine.”

Trixie paused for a second at the thought before wrapping a foreleg around the cup and sliding it closer to her. She thought about it for a second and said. “I need my coffee.”

Maud didn’t argue, or react for that matter. It was sometimes very difficult to read Maud, and this time was no exception. Trixie took another drink of the slightly bitter coffee, after that she added another five sugar cubes. Pinkie Pie seemed to be curious about Trixie’s obsession with the sugar cubes. Pinkie grabbed one too and after sucking on it for a few seconds changed her expression from curious to sour. “Eww I don’t like fake sugar.”

Trixie looked at the bowl of sugar cubes for a moment in confusion as well, before she grabbed one to taste. After a few seconds she became aware that this was not real sugar, it was the artificial stuff. Her coffee was half finished already, and with the new revelation of why it was still bitter she decided against drinking the rest of it.

How did the artificial sugar get into the bowl, there was real sugar in it yesterday. A conspiracy began stirring inside Trixie’s mind. Maud was still staring at her with this unreadable expression. Trixie took another bite of food.

Maud hadn’t touched her food again. “Don’t you like your coffee?”

Something wicked occurred to Trixie. “Maud… honey, why is there artificial sugar in the bowl?”

Maud’s expression and tone stayed the same that they always were. “I replaced the sugar, and the coffee. I want you to stay healthy Lulu.”

Trixie really enjoyed having such a straight forward pony, because this means she wouldn’t have to worry about lies. Instead she would just have to deal with the sugar and the coffee being replaced by a very sneaky although loving marefriend. Trixie’s first, and rather upset response came out as, “Trixie demands real coffee.” After a few moments of silence she regained her composer and let out a sigh. “It was very thoughtful of you to think of me, Maud. But you don’t need to go behind my back like this… also I want my real coffee and real sugar back.”

“I didn’t go behind your back. I made you coffee and gave you sugar. You didn’t ask what it was.”

Trixie continued eating while her brain processed what Maud just said, and tried to analyze what it really meant. After a few moments her caffeine deprived brain finally deduced that Maud may have been trying to introduce Trixie to something new, she wasn’t trying to be manipulative. She simply wasn’t very good at the whole social thing.

Looking up at Maud, Trixie began to imagine that maybe she had just hurt Maud’s feelings. Trixie frowned as the guilt built up deep inside of her. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to accuse you like that.”

Maud placed a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I should have told you I changed the coffee. I was trying to help you. It was rude of me too change everything without consulting you.”

Trixie was still feeling bad about accusing Maud, but at least it seemed there were no hurt feelings. This was probably just one of those odd things that new couples go through… probably. They may have a lot to learn about being in a relationship, and about each other. Trixie found herself enjoying the idea of a good challenge though. Trixie smiled at Maud and continued eating; she even finished the bitter coffee to show Maud that she really did care. Trixie had plans to make some real coffee with real sugar later.

After breakfast was done, Maud began packing some things into her saddle bags. This peaked Trixie’s interest. So she decided to stick her nose into Maud’s business. “What are you packing for?”

Maud replied, “I am doing some research today. I am bringing Twilight along with me.”

Trixie found it odd that she didn’t know about this earlier. It left her feeling left out of the loop. “Why didn’t Twilight want me to help, is she afraid that I will mess up her project?”

Maud frowned at Trixie and looked over at Pinkie Pie who was sitting on the couch with a book in her hooves. She was staring at them from over the top of the book. Pinkie Pie returned her eyes to the book after meeting Maud’s eyes. Trixie then remembered that the whole project was supposed to be a secret, and Trixie may have just blown the whole thing. Now Trixie was nervous all over again.

Maud looked back at Trixie. “She does want your help. I am the one keeping you out of this. I don’t need to worry about you right now. I would like you to stay with my sister and her friends. I promise that you can help when I return from the mountain.”

Trixie sat down hard. Maud didn’t want to worry about her. Does that mean Maud doesn’t want me? But she told me that she would always want to be with me. Trixie had to remind herself that Maud wasn’t the best at conveying emotions, so it was probably meant to sound a lot nicer then it came out. Maud gave Trixie a hug before leaving to meet Twilight. Trixie and Pinkie Pie were left at the house alone. Despite the company of Pinkie Pie, she couldn’t help but to feel lonely.

Pinkie Pie looked at Trixie and set the book down saying. “Me, and my friends were planning on a picnic today, and since Twilight doesn’t seem to be able to make it… do you wanna come with me?”

Trixie smiled at the pink earth pony, it may not help her feel all the way better, but being with other ponies should cure her loneliness. She agreed to go. After a few minutes the two of them set off to have a picnic.

The two ponies walked for about half an hour before arriving at the picnic. Actually Pinkie Pie bounced all the way there while Trixie walked. It was impossible to think that anypony could possibly bounce that much. When they arrived there were four ponies already waiting for them with a blanket laid out on the ground and various foods spread out, the cupcakes grabbed at Trixie’s attention more than anything else.

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Apple-something were all sitting on the blanket looking lively as ever. Trixie was beginning to get nervous now that she realized she couldn’t remember the apple one’s name. Pinkie Pie bounced over before sitting down by her friends. Trixie followed feeling a little bit out of place.

After sitting down next to Pinkie Pie, Trixie noticed the somewhat worried expressions on everypony’s faces. Pinkie Pie looked a little confused for a moment before seeming to understand and explain, “Twilight couldn’t make it. So I brought my sister along.” She pulled Trixie into a one legged embrace after saying this.

Trixie could feel her face warming up again, she wondered if there could be a medical condition for blushing too often. Everypony looked a little more confused before Rainbow Dash finally said, “Uh, Pinkie Pie, you brought Trixie with you… why?”

Trixie was trying to avoid looking anypony in the eyes, so she simply stared at Pinkie Pie. If she had not been living with Maud for so long she never could have caught the insanely quick transitions that Pinkie’s face made when Rainbow Dash spoke. Her face within a micro second had gone from happy, to sad, to anger, to sad, and finally ended on being happy again, and all within a fraction of a second. Trixie found this to be a sign that both she wasn’t the craziest pony after all, and that Pinkie Pie might be.

Pinkie than explained to everypony in joyful tones, that now felt very forced to Trixie’s ears, “Maud loves Trixie, so I adopted Trixie as my new bestest sister, next to Maud of course.”

Everypony looked a little misplaced for a few seconds, and then they calmed down a little before all looking at Trixie. Rarity spoke first. “Well darling, tell us about yourself. How is it living in New Slate? What is your affair with Maudie like? And most importantly, have you kept up on the latest fashions?”

Trixie felt a little odd talking about herself, which struck her as odd considering how she used to be able to do that without trouble at all. But she supposed that these ponies didn’t know her for anything other than being a monster. Secretly Trixie still desired their love and attention, although she would never admit it. It took Trixie a minute to realize that Pinkie was not letting go of her anytime soon, so she decided to cuddle in and talk about herself.

A smile spread across Trixie’s face as she began, “Uh well it’s kinda boring here, which is a good thing. I don’t handle stress too well anymore. Um, Maud is… the best pony in Equestria. Oh and um, not really, I do like the color purple though.”

Rarity exclaimed. “I love big hats. I have an entire line of purple ones that are anything from orchard to wild fire. I think you would love it.”

Trixie smiled. “There’s only one big hat for me.” Though I can’t really wear it anymore, too many bad memories.

Fluttershy spoke up after that. “Um…what’s your favorite animal?”

Trixie had to ponder this for a moment, she did love animals but she couldn’t really think of any to cal her favorites. There were a few beavers in Ponyville that were adorable. There was also that one dog from when she was in Canterlot that was super friendly and took a crap on Twilight’s lawn. Finally she remembered one animal that was kinda endeared to her from her old profession as a show magician. “I really like all animals, but I think Bunnies may be my favorite.”

Fluttershy made a sort of quiet squealing sound. “I love bunnies. I need to introduce you to Angel.”

That’s an adorable name for a bunny, I bet it’s the sweetest little thing in all of Equestria. It is named Angle after all. Trixie found herself feeling more comfortable around these ponies now that she was getting to know them. It seemed that the more she knew about them, the less she felt bad about what she had done to them. A wild idea came to her mind, maybe they could all be her friends one day. Though that was probably a selfish thought.

The Apple pony then began speaking, “Shucks looks like everyponies warming up to ya sugarcube, makes me wonder though, how do you feel about apples?”

Trixie began speaking before her brain began working, it was the lack of caffeine that made her brain dumb today. “I don’t really like apples. I like sweet things more.”

The Apple pony frowned. “So you are saying, that you don’t like apples ‘cus they aren’t sweet enough fer you?”

Trixie began feeling a little bad about telling her that. The mare’s freaking cutie mark was apples for crying out loud. “Um… I meant to say that I love apples. There my favorite… food.”

Pinkie Pie laughed. “But you said that your favorite food was Chocolate cake this morning.”

The Apple pony then shook her head. “I can’t believe you’d lie about apples.”

Now Trixie felt really bad, she didn’t mean to hurt the apple one’s feelings. Rarity jumped in with a strong voice demanding everypony’s attention, “Now hold on one minute, Applejack. She said she likes sweet things, are there not sweets made from apples.”

Trixie looked at the two ponies before thinking of some of the really good sweets she liked that had apples inside them. Finally she remembered one of her favorite treats from home. Trixie felt really dumb as she admitted, “Well I do love Apple Pie. I used to eat it a lot as a filly, the best apple pie in all of Equestria comes from my home town.”

Applejack perked up at that. Her smile showed that she was willing to forgive Trixie’s blunder. “I think I could find a better Apple Pie, if you’re ever interested.”

Everypony seemed to be happy now, all of them learning a little more about Trixie, all of them except for Rainbow Dash who was busy eating some of the cupcakes while everypony talked. After a few minutes of little talk Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash. “Do you have any questions for Trixie? You know, to become better friends with her.”

Rainbow Dash swallowed some of the cupcake she was eating before waving a hoof dismissively saying. “I saved her when she tried to kill herself. That makes us pretty good friends.”

Everypony froze staring at Rainbow Dash for a moment before turning their gaze to Trixie who was still laying against Pinkie’s side. The tightness in Trixie’s chest tried to steal away her breath. Now that everypony heard that, would they not want to be friends with Trixie? Why would Rainbow Dash even say that to everypony, she knew that it was a secret… right?

Rarity was the first to speak, her voice full of worry, “Darling… is this true. Why would you do such a thing?”

Pinkie tightened her embrace on Trixie a little, but there was no way that Pinkie was going to be able to make Trixie feel secure now. Trixie was beginning to shake a little bit as she tried to explain to everypony. “After what I did to ponyville, and to all of you. I didn’t deserve to live, not when all I could do was hurt ponies. Some bad things happened to me after that, and I… couldn’t handle it anymore.

“I promised Maud that I would be a good pony from now on, but I… I still feel like I’m a bad pony. Sometimes I still wonder if I deserve the second chance that Rainbow Dash gave me… I don’t know if I do.” By the time Trixie was finished her heart felt hollow all over again. Her skin was numb to the touch, even Pinkie’s warmth and tight embrace couldn’t reach her soul.

Everypony was quiet for a while after that before Applejack asked, “Do you mind if we ask what happened?”

Trixie’s body was still, and a cold calm had overtaken her. “I would rather not talk about it anymore… maybe Rainbow Dash could tell you later… when I’m not around. After all she doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

The next few minutes were very quiet with the only brakes being from when everypony would try and make small talk. It didn’t work though, and finally Trixie couldn’t take the awkward silence anymore. She pulled herself free from Pinkie Pie and said her goodbyes to everypony before heading home.

On her way home she decided to take a detour and walk around town. She walked around for at least a few hours before the clouds above began to look a little like rain. She decided to head home. It had been several hours since she had last seen Maud, and she was now becoming worried about the weather. Though Trixie had every reason to suspect that Maud already knew about Trixie’s suicide attempt, Trixie had to wonder if Maud would really accept her if she knew the whole truth surrounding it.

On her way back home she found Twilight Sparkle, and Maud walking down the road with a large cage behind them. The cage had a black tarp strapped over it. The cage itself was being rolled along the road behind them. They were taking care not to let the cage fall into the ditch next to the road. Trixie ran up to the duo, she would have loved to hug Maud and forget her troubles. The cage however made Trixie’s fur stand on edge, something was inside of it. She could feel it, a strange alien sensation crawled up her horn.

“What’s in the cage?” Trixie asked the two.

Maud was about to answer when Twilight put a hoof over Maud’s mouth. “That’s classified information. And apparently you can’t be trusted with such information.”

“What?” Trixie asked in shock, she felt a hint of anger at Twilight’s daring movement to silence Maud.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Trixie. “Maud told me about what you said this morning to Pinkie Pie. I didn’t help you out just for you to betray me like this.”

Trixie was silenced, she had angered Twilight. Trixie felt really bad about that but she was still a little angry at Twilight for cutting off Maud. Nopony had the right to do that to Maud when she already had a hard enough time talking.

Maud then looked at Twilight saying. “Trixie didn’t mean to say anything. It was more my faul-“

Maud was cut off by Twilight saying angrily, “Shush. Do you know, do either of you have even the slightest of a clue as to what Pinkie Pie would do to me if she knew I was working with Maud to do this. I would prefer to keep my eye firmly intact inside my skull thank you very much.”

Maud looked at Twilight with a blank stare, but her lip slipped ever so slightly downward. Trixie could see the frown that no pony else could see on her face. No pony made Maud sad, no pony ever. Stomping over to the Twilight, Trixie had several things in mind for the stuck up alicorn princess, but the only thing she was going to do right now was find out what was so important about the darn cage.

Twilight looked at Trixie with a threatening look in her eyes, but Trixie ignored it and gave Maud a big kiss. Twilight stared for only a second before looking away from the two with shyly. She was embarrassed to watch ponies being intimate. And Trixie was counting on this weakness of hers. Trixie quickly pulled away, and ran behind the two of them and pulled the tarp up, just enough to see underneath it.

Trixie saw a huge scaly pony with piranha eyes lying on its belly. She held completely still for a few moments staring at the monster as it breathed deeply, its eyes were yellow and its… maw had some burn marks on it. This was the same monster that almost ate her. Its eyes then moved and focused on her before it said in a low growl, “You.”

Trixie screamed as loud as she could while back peddling away from the monster, dropping the tarp back over it. She could still hear it breathing, she could still see its burns. Maud began saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear her over her own screaming. Finally she took one too many steps back and fell backwards into the ditch. Trixie tumbled down a few feet before she felt her skull slam into the hard earth beneath her as came to a sudden stop at the bottom. Everything began to turn black for the poor unicorn, the last thing she heard was Maud yelling, “Trixie!”

Everything then was devoured by the blackness.

Chapter Six: Memory Drift

Trixie found herself running away from Ponyville, galloping as fast as her tired legs would take her. She could hear some of the ponies from the village chasing after her shouting. Most were yelling the similar threats, “Get out and stay out.” That had been one thing she’d heard repeated in her career. Eventually she escaped the angry ponies, her body exhausted she found herself in need of a good night’s rest.

Looking around she found herself surrounded by dense wood with little to no trace of where she had come from or where she was going. She was lost, but she continued moving forward anyway. There were no more tears she could shed; she had finally lost to Twilight Sparkle. Was there any point in continuing to walk, she could just lie down, and never move again. Maybe it would be better that way.

Memories of what she had done in Ponyville were playing through her mind. Locking ponies in cages, mutating ponies, and finally enslaving them. She had even managed to hurt the only few ponies who actually cared about her.

Lying down on her belly she could only whimper to herself. She had once put her life on the line to protect both Snips and Snails. Even if no one else thought of it that way. Trixie tried her best, she always tried her best. Giving up was what normal ponies did. And The great and powerful Trixie is not a normal pony, she was best pony.

Or was she? Thinking about it now, Trixie realized that everything she had ever done only hurt her. Twilight may have started this, but Trixie had been the one to do most of the damage. It had to be Twilight Sparkle’s fault, it always was, she was the one who ruined Trixie’s life.

Even when her home was destroyed in the battle with the Ursa Minor, did anypony actually care about her? No and it was because Twilight made Trixie look like the villain. Since when did telling stories become a crime?

Did ponies not enjoy Trixie’s stories of heroic feats? Were they not entertained? Certainly she found herself enjoying stories as a child, stories of the great heroes of old and their feats of valor. Now she guessed that ponies simply didn’t enjoy a good story.

Looking around she decided it was time to try walking again. After moving for a few hours she found herself even more lost then before. There was however a cave she found that offered potential shelter for her. Though she felt like she didn’t deserve shelter, all she could do was survive now. She took shelter in the cave for the night but the thoughts of what she had done to Ponyville haunted her. She also found something sleeping deep inside the cave, something terrible.

A month later Trixie found herself broke, living on the streets, and fighting every night to survive. Bad ponies kept trying to hurt her, and when they realized who she was they would try even harder. Trixie fought hard not to think of all the bad things that they would do to her if they ever caught up to her, but from what they would shout at her, she knew it would probably kill her.

She was living in the back alleys inside Manehattan. Now in a bundle of filthy rags, hoping that she could stay safe every night, she had finally hit her lowest point. Going to sleep was a dangerous proposition but she couldn’t stay awake forever. So she always tried to hide when she could no longer keep her eyes open.

There was one night in particular, when a group of evil ponies tried to hurt a homeless filly. That night Trixie took it upon herself to take on those evil ponies. Even though she saved the filly, she ended up taking the punishment for her. The vile things those ponies did to her, Trixie could never forget.

It only took a few days before Trixie had managed to walk back to the Everfree forest. There was no point in trying to survive anymore. Ponies only wanted to hurt Trixie. After Ponyville she had been beaten, and after the attack in the city, she had been broken. She continued walking into the forest. This was the most dangerous place in Equestria, if anything could take her pain away. She would find it inside here.

It took Trixie almost a full hour before she came across the cave she had spent the night in after Ponyville. She remembered what she had found sleeping inside. The Ursa Major. Trixie was far from clean, covered in dirt, grime, and blood. Most of the blood belonged to her. She almost laughed to herself as she thought about the irony of her dying at the claws of the very beast that started this trip downwards.

She had beaten an Ursa Major before, or had she? Maybe that was her father with his magical sword. Sometimes it was hard to discern what really happened from what she imagined. She gave up on trying to make sense of her memories, either way she was going to let this monster kill her. It was her destiny to die at its claws.

Wouldn’t Twilight Sparkle be so happy to hear about this?

She knew the best way to anger this beast while it slept. Drawing on the reserves of power she had inside she created a bolt of lightning that streaked down into the cave and struck the monster. It let out a terrible roar of anger.

Trixie stood her ground as a giant bear, consisting of translucent purple light, with stars and constellations inside its fur, crawled out of the cave. Every step it took shook the earth. The Ursa Major rose up to it’s mountainous height, it’s eyes looked down at Trixie, and it snarled with fangs larger than Trixie herself.

Trixie shot a colorful ball of light into its eyes, the ball of light exploded into the shape of a giant blue pony similar to herself. Trixie was using her firework spell as an offensive weapon, of course it couldn’t actually do more than blind it, but that hardly mattered when it got her what she was looking for, it’s full and undivided attention.

The monster swept its paw down at Trixie, and she simply stood solid without moving. The paw smashed into her like a train, and she screamed in agony as her entire body broke under the pressure. She went flying into the air. Soaring into the air and over the trees the pain became almost unbearable. Soon her torment would be over; she wouldn’t have to deal with any more pain.

A rainbow colored streak flew out of nowhere catching Trixie in mid air. Trixie tried to struggle but her limbs were all limp. “Please… let me die. I just want to die.”

The blue Pegasus that had grabbed her then asked as she flew fast even though she was gentle with Trixie’s wrecked body. “Were you trying to get yourself killed?”

Trixie gave a pained laugh before saying, “Yeah, Trixie was.” She coughed out something red and nasty onto the flyer’s blue shoulder. “It’s too hard to live like this. Trixie… is a… bad pony. Please… let me…” She lost all strength to speak anymore. The darkness was creeping in on her, she was going to die.

The blue Pegasus’s voice came out strong and defiant. “I am not letting you die. I don’t care if life is hard, if it’s too hard then get some friends to help make it easier.” After a pause she continued. “I… I’ll be your friend… but you have to promise me. Promise me that you won’t do something stupid and get yourself killed.”

Trixie couldn’t speak, but if she could she would tell her savior that it was okay. Trixie needed to die so that everything would be alright again. Unable to speak, she let the darkness consume her completely. The darkness was warm, and reminded Trixie of her mom’s loving embrace.

Trixie woke up to the smell of something being cooked, some kind of stew. It smelled delicious but something felt wrong. She was floating, inside of a small room. There were various masks decorating the wall, and a zebra mare was stirring a pot of brown liquid.

Trixie pondered on what was going on for a few seconds before she saw a body lying on a bed in the corner of the room. This body was almost entirely covered in bandages except for a light blue muzzle and her purple eyes. The pony was alive, and awake, but she didn’t move. She looked emotionless, hollow. Her eyes had a glazed look to them.

Trixie found herself wanting to investigate this pony a little closer, so she tried walking. The sudden movement caused her to spin at a slow pace while floating in the air. This was not very satisfying. After a few kicks with her legs she stopped the spinning and righted herself.

Trixie could have sworn she had just been attacked by an Ursa Major, though that was odd because that was what happened a long time ago. Back before she met Maud. Suddenly Trixie remembered that Maud and Twilight had been dragging a cage into town and she saw the strange monster again… and then she fell.

Trixie knew where she was now, she was dreaming, although these dreams were actually her memories. They felt a little off and fragmented though, and she certainly didn’t remember this zebra.

Rainbow Dash walked through the front door, passing right through the floating form of Trixie’s consciousness before reaching the zebra. It felt wrong about having a pony walk through her. She tried to pay attention to the other two in the room as Rainbow Dash began a conversation with the zebra.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes looked worried. “Zecora… how is she doing?”

The Zebra, who must have been named Zecora, replied. “She will be fine, thanks to this potion of mine.”

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief before looking at the bandaged mare lying on the bed. “I’m so sorry Trixie. I tried to reach you before the Ursa Major hit you… I was too slow, and I failed, and I’m sorry.”

Zecora stopped stirring the pot, and using a spoon she poured some of the soup into a small wooden bowl. She then walked over to the injured pony. “She is awake, but she is not here. Her mind is somewhere far away I fear.”

Rainbow Dash looked confused by what she said. She walked over to the injured mare. “What do you mean by that? Is Trixie going to be okay?”

Why did they keep talking about Trixie while she was floating right behind them? Trixie looked around the room and couldn’t see anypony else here. Was Trixie not dreaming now, this could not be a memory of hers if she did not remember it. Looking down at the injured pony Trixie’s heart skipped a beat. The injured pony’s mane matched her own.

Zecora began carefully feeding the injured mare the soup, and when she did Trixie could taste the food in her mouth. It was an odd mix of vegetables the strongest flavor were the carrots. It wasn’t half bad.

“You see she’s awake, but she cannot comprehend. I think Twilight’s help would be good to this end?”

Rainbow Dash looked somberly at the injured Trixie. “Yeah I will. But if Twilight knew that Trixie had tried to… kill herself, I don’t know if she could handle it.”

Zecora didn’t turn away from her task of feeding the injured Trixie, but she continued the conversation anyway. “I can heal her body, but Twilight can heal her mind. We can save her, but we are running out of time.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and walked to the front door, she took one last look behind herself before speeding off. Afterward Zecora sighed and looked up at the floating Trixie. “You have been broken, but now you have awoken. Listen well little mare, for what I now say is in your future care.”

She narrowed her eyes on the floating form of Trixie’s mental image for a moment before she returned to the task of feeding the injured Trixie. “Darkness is coming, as the world falls into night. It is up to you to bring forth the light. The sword of the lords is yours to be had. Take heart little pony, no need to be sad.”

Trixie floated there stunned, was the zebra really speaking to her, in her dream. Or possible memory? She wasn’t sure anymore. The entire room began to fade and blur into a completely different scene.

Trixie blinked and the world washed away around her. The little hut vanished and light beamed into the little room that was now forming before her eyes. The windows nearby overlooked a sparkling city of splendor. She could see herself lying on the couch staring up at the ceiling while another pony sat in a chair with a notebook in his hooves, and a pen in his mouth. Trixie’s body still looked dead inside. There was also the faint smell of cinnamon in the air.

The earth pony had an egg white coat, which complemented his spiky mahogany mane and tale. He wore a scarf with white and green on it. His cutie mark was that of a clock, with a quill for the big hand. This pony was one she recognized, it was Doctor Timequill. He always had a way of understanding Trixie that nopony else had been able to do. He really helped her out with a lot of her problems, even helping her figure out which meds would work best for her, though that was always changing it felt like.

The Trixie lying on the couch got up and left to the door, she shuffled forward as though a great burden lay on her back. Trixie had been suffering from massive depression at the time. Following her past self out the door Trixie’s consciousness watched as the old Trixie continued to shuffle forward staring at the ground. It was hard to watch, the old Trixie looked so pitiful, always keeping her head low, and her tail seemed to droop as well. Trixie wished she could reach out and give a great big hug to her old self.

While following her past self, Trixie noticed that doctor Timequill was talking to somepony behind them. Feeling curious Trixie began following them. It struck her as odd that she could easily follow these ponies by just willing it. Yet using her legs only resulted in nauseating effects.

Timequill was speaking to a purple unicorn wearing a gray hooded cloak. She listened in on their conversation. Timequill sounded grateful as he said, “Thank you so much for giving us the funding for our program. A lot of ponies out there are damaged, and I only wish I could help them all. I am a realist though, so I know that my goal is impossible. But with your funding we have been able to help so many ponies. I’m surprised though, that the only two things you asked for were to remain anonymous and for me to personally take care of Miss Lulamoon.”

The cloaked pony spoke quietly. “How is she doing?”

Timequill looked down the hallway that Trixie had walked down and wore a small smile. “She is improving, although I would suggest pairing her with a stable friend. She has been hurt in so many different ways, I don’t know that she will ever be fixed, but I can at least help her become stable.”

The unicorn then asked. “What kind of pony would need to be her friend?”

Timequill pondered this for a long moment. “An impossible one. The pony would have to show no strong emotions outwardly, but still have strong emotions inside. That way Miss Lulamoon would not have any undue stress, and learning the ponies subtleties would be a great way to rebuild her social nature. This pony would also have to be filled with love and care.”
The unicorn took a moment of silence as she contemplated what he had suggested. “I believe we are in luck. I have met one pony like this. My friend’s sister, Maud Pie is very close to what you described. Maybe she could help? Though she does live on a rock farm.”

Timequill looked at the unicorn and said. “Really? If that’s really so then this would be the ideal location for Trixie’s recovery. It would be both familiar but also not connected to any bad memories.”

The unicorn smiled brightly. “I think I can set up a meeting with her.”

He rubbed his chin for a few seconds before saying. “Okay, but we need to keep your involvement to a minimum. There is no telling how she could react if she found out that you were helping her in secret. Once again I must thank you, Princess Twi-“

He was cut off by the unicorn using magic to shut his muzzle as she said. “We need to keep this secret remember.”

Trixie simply floated there for a few moments in silent shock. Twilight Sparkle had been trying to help her all along. She knew what Trixie had been through and was still trying to help her. Trixie couldn’t have been such a bad pony if she earned this much attention from Twilight. Yet again the world around her faded away only to be replaced with something new.

Trixie now found herself no longer floating. Rather she was sitting down at the base of a great willow tree surrounded by vast green plains of grass. The sun was shining down making everything look cozy and warm. Off in the distance a familiar stage wagon was resting upright and complete. Unfortunately the air had a bitter cold in it, along with a wet slimy feeling that coated every inch of her fur, thus ruining the picture perfect image.

A dark shadow began forming next to her taking a pony like shape. She then heard a deep growling voice speak, “Interesting."

Trixie looked over at the shadowy creature, and its glowing yellow eyes. This thing was simply wrong. It’s mere presence made Trixie’s skin crawl backward in an attempt to flee in the most opposite direction. Its voice penetrated her very being, molesting her ears, and torturing her very soul. Her throat dried as she asked, “What are you?”

The shadow took a moment to answer, and Trixie could hear a multitude of voices whispering incoherently before stopping to let the shadow talk. “We are the Deep One. Waiting for an eternity to cleanse the world of its corruption. Your cities will flood, and everything will become right once more.

“We find it amusing that you equines have done so much damage despite your misguided attempts at creating order out of the chaos that is the true nature of our world.”

Trixie gulped before asking. “What do you mean?”

“Controlling the weather for example, do you even realize how much damage you have done by interfering with nature like this? Even if you quit trying to control the weather right now, it would take centuries for the world to heal from what you have done. We created disruption, chaos, and even Discord to counter balance the effects of your order, your tyranny. What makes you think that you can control every little thing in the world? How do you feel about being controlled by others? What would happen if your mortal coil was suddenly made re-aware of the true owners of this world, of the very monsters that make your filthy planet spin.”

“I don’t think that controlling the weather is so bad.”

The Deep One let out a low terrible laugh that violated everything around it. “Oh but when you were chased out of town, was that not a form of control? When you tried to protect two colts from their own folly, who sacrificed their home to save them? Who was willing to lose their life to save the foals? And who was blamed for the young star eater, the Ursa Minor?”

Trixie could feel her fear mix with her sadness, and a rage that has been long suppressed beginning to surface. “I don’t care.”

“It was you, Trixie. Yet being an outsider was your downfall, they blamed you instead of their own. The children should have been punished, and you were still kind enough not to argue this point, again you protected them by taking their sentence and leaving ponyville for good.”

Trixie was angry at this thing, it was still talking about things it shouldn’t know, about things that shouldn’t be true, about things that still hurt her. She stared it in the eyes and her anger rose to new heights pushing back the tide of vile filth this thing spread. “I am not an OUTSIDER. It was my home and I was defending it. Nopony else was going to stand up and fight. Nopony even tried. I was the only one to try. I, the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The monster began laughing, and Trixie’s hatred of the thing only cemented itself further. She just wanted to go home, she just wanted to see her mom, but thanks to what she had done, thanks to Twilight Sparkle she was never going to get to go home again. She started screaming in frustration.

She could feel the cold power coming off of the thing standing next to her, she knew its potential. It was sympathizing with her. It was dark, and knew how the world should really work.

“You can make it all right again. You can control it. Just let us help.”

Trixie froze, her anger bit back by the sudden offer. She’d seen this before, and it didn’t turn out well for her than either. Some small part of her wanted to accept this offer, and to make her personal world alright again. The larger part realized something even more important. She was loved, by Maud, and Pinkie. She had managed to make friends with the very same ponies that had hurt her in the past. Even Twilight had gone out of her way to make Trixie be okay.

The creature began fading from her view and the air around her grew noticeably warmer and dry. “You can think on our offer, Trixie. After all, who else can really help a broken mess like you?”

Chapter Seven: The Coming Storm

Trixie awoke in a fit of panic. She sat up and quickly looked around finding herself inside her bedroom, with three ponies standing over her. Twilight, Pinkie, and most importantly Maud. Each one of them looked more worried than the first.

Trixie remembered very clearly the dream she just had. The Deep One was there talking to her, and explaining his goal of destroying Equestria. Trixie also remembered a long forgotten anger. The anger she held towards the ponies inside of Ponyville, especially Twilight. Seeing as how she was sure she’d been unconscious for a day at least, though it felt like it had been a few if she was going to be honest with herself, she tried to take some of her medicine as a reflex.

Maud reached out a hoof and stopped her. “It’s only been a few hours, Lulu.”

Trixie tried to calm down, and looked at her bed covers. Something was tied to her head, reaching up she found a bandage. She was hurt, and couldn’t remember exactly how. As she concentrated she began to remember what happened when Twilight and Maud brought the Deep One into town.

Trixie gave Twilight a look that could melt through steel. “Why would you bring such a monster back here? Trixie finds no reason for you to do this.”

Twilight’s worry all but vanished from her face as a bitter one replaced it. “Trixie, you hit your head, you only imagined that. I wouldn’t do anything so reckless.”

Pinkie Pie gave Twilight a suspicious look. “I thought there was something fishy about that cage.”

“There’s nothing in it,” Twilight confirmed in a tone of voice that brokered no argument.

Maud simply looked worried.

Trixie knew that the Deep One was real and worse yet it was evil. “The monster you brought, it’s called a Deep One. It was in Trixie’s dreams. It wants to destroy the world.”

Twilight shook her head, that bitter expression softened a little. “Sounds like a bad dream, but that wasn’t real.”

Maud gave Trixie a hug. “Shh, Lulu, you need to rest. You’ve had a rouge day.”

Maybe those two were right, maybe Trixie really did just imagine this whole thing? It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d hallucinated. She still felt angry at Twilight Sparkle, but that anger was quickly being replaced by a deep sense of loss. Trixie laid back down, all the fight had been taken out of her. “Trixie think she needs some rest.”

Maud pulled the blanket up over Trixie and kissed her cheek. “Good night, Lulu.”

Trixie closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Trixie woke up to somepony nuzzling the back of her neck softly. It was nice, the warm soft body pressed against hers, legs wrapped around her waist holding her tight. It was soothing, though it felt far too soft to be Maud, there was one particular pegasus that she didn’t mind cuddling though.

Taking a peak behind her, Trixie was remiss to find that it was only Pinkie Pie. Pinkie must have crawled into bed and fell asleep. Trixie was a little unsure of how to feel about this, but she didn’t want to wake up the sleeping pony. Maybe Pinkie had a nightmare, or was worried about her. Trixie enjoyed the idea of Pinkie Pie caring so much. Closing her eyes Trixie decided to simply snuggle in and go back to sleep.

Sleep however eluded her. She couldn’t stop thinking about how secretive Twilight was being, even to her closest friends. She knew that Twilight had wanted to keep this whole thing a secret, but this was going too far. Twilight might have had a tendency to be irresponsible in the past, but this clearly outweighed all of that.

Trixie did enjoy having a cuddly pony lying next to her, even if it wasn’t Maud. After awhile Trixie couldn’t keep herself quiet anymore. Her mind was assaulting her with thoughts about Twilight’s behavior, and she needed confirmation that it was indeed out of sync with who she was. Trixie cleared her throat before speaking up, “Hey, Pinkie Pie.”

A drowsy Pinkie Pie roused next to her. “yes?”

“Do you think Twilight is okay?”

Pinkie Pie wrapped a leg around Trixie and pulled her into a tight hug. “She’s more than okay, she’s down right sexy with that big brain of hers.”

“W-what?”

Pinkie Pie straightened up. “Uh, I meant that she’s been a little bit… off. She’s been acting strange ever since her last trip to the Crystal Empire. She’s twitchy and reserved. I don’t like it. Last time she did this, she nearly destroyed the whole town.”

Trixie felt the envy she held towards Twilight rising. Twilight was able to be forgiven for nearly destroying the town, and not Trixie. Still Trixie put that anger aside and decided to focus on her primary concern. “Trixie is concerned as well. She wants Twilight to be okay. Is there anything we can do to help her?” she was being truthful, even though she was envious and angry with Twilight, she still only wanted the best for her. They were friends after all… or at least Trixie hoped so.

Pinkie Pie let go and sat up in Trixie’s bed stretching her legs above her head yawning. After a moment she scratched at her flank. “Hmm… I might have an idea. But it’s a crazy one.”

Pinkie Pie hopped off the bed and reached her head down picking up a strange hat that didn’t belong to Trixie. It was a deerstalker hat with gray plaid designs. She flipped the hat into the air and landed the hat on top of her head perfectly. She then pulled a pipe from… actually Trixie had no idea where the pipe came from.

Pinkie Pie blew on the pipe letting loose a few bubbles from it. “I bet you didn’t know about my secondary profession. I am also a detective, although I haven’t worked on any investigations in a while. We will need to pick up my assistant, than we will get to the bottom of this mystery. I will need your help though; do you think you’re up for it?”

Trixie found the idea a little entertaining to say the least, but Twilight’s behavior was making Trixie unnerved. It was time to find out what was wrong and help out anyway she could. Besides hanging out with Pinkie Pie had been decidedly fun so far.

The two of them walked into the living room where Rainbow Dash was reading one of the books Trixie owned. Rainbow Dash was muzzle deep into the book and her entire face was a shade of light red. Examining the title Trixie was left speachless. The book Rainbow Dash was reading was her private copy of, “50 shades of hay.” This particular book was something that had been in her private book collection, but so long as Rainbow Dash didn't let Maud, or Fluttershy see it. It was okay.

Pinkie Pie bounced over to Rainbow Dash and crashed atop her. Now sitting on top of Rainbow Dash who had the book lying over her face, Pinkie asked, “We have a new investigation. This one should be a blast.”

Rainbow Dash moved the book off her face which was still red. She was about to say something before she looked Pinkie Pie down and up and let out a squeak. Pinkie Pie smiled brightly waiting for her answer. Rainbow Dash turned even redder before. With a push Ranbow Dash got out from underneath her friend. “Don’t jump on ponies. It’s… um… just don’t, okay.”

Pinkie Pie apologized before letting Rainbow Dash answer her previous question. “You said a new investigation?”

Pinkie Pie bounced in the air. “Yep, we are going to find out why Twilight’s being so weird and help her out.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth in protest for a moment but stopped just as the front door opened. Great gusts of wind whooshed throughout the house as three ponies entered. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack all walked inside looking terrible. Rarity’s mane was split and dirty. Applejack was positively filthy, dirt covered her legs and back almost as though she’d been rolling in the mud for fun. Fluttershy looked the worst as she shook violently and whispered things to herself.

Rainbow Dash shut the door for them in a flash before landing next to Fluttershy and embracing her. Rarity simply sat down, her eyes looked hollow. Applejack however seemed to be better composed and explained, “We need yer help. Twi and Maud were messing around with some cage. Twi opened it up and some kind of monster came out. Those two chased after the monster, and we chased after them. We nearly got lost inside a cave on this mountain. But we didn't find ‘em. And after we saw some more monsters, Fluttershy began to… uh, break… and so we came back looking fer you.” She looked at Trixie when she finished. Trixie knew that Applejack was talking about her specifically.

Trixie was admittedly terrorfied of the mountain, and of the things that lived inside it. “I-I… I can’t. I don’t have any… what can I do?”

Applejack tilted her hat back. “Yer the Great and Powerful Trixie, plus you’ve been in them caves before. We need you.”

Her legs were shaking with the thought of going anywhere near those caves again. Yet she knew that what Applejack had said was true, she was the only one who knew the caves inside and out. Not only that but Trixie knew about the threat, or at least more about it than the others did. Once Trixie thought about how Maud was in there with only a dangerous and probably crazy Twilight, there was no way she could avoid it. Trixie had to go back.

But if she was going to be walking back into Tartarus then she was going to do so in style.

Trixie looked at Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. “Trixie will need you two to come with her, you both have traits that will prove essential. Get yourselves ready, Trixie will be right back.”

“So you’ll really help?” Applejack asked.

Trixie tried not to, but she couldn’t help but flash a grin at Applejack. “You finally realized how much you need Trixie, it would be mean of Trixie to refuse your request.”

Trixie took one last look at Fluttershy before heading back into her room. She knew she had something to calm down and protect the scared Pegasus. An old folded piece of purple fabric with a blue star pattern on it, a pointed hat with a matching pattern sat right next to it. Ah my old cape this will help for s- she saw something else underneath her bed. A box wrapped up in gray gift wrap.

Pulling the box out with her mouth and placing it on the bed Trixie had to wonder where it had come from and how long it had been sitting here. She tore it open post haste to discover whatever contents the box hid. Inside the box was a bright purple cloak, with gold trim and gold six point stars stitched throughout, the cloaks clasp was a gray diamond. There was also a card inside. It was bright pink with some balloons in the background. Opening it up Trixie read it.

“Dear Lulu.

I wanted to give this to you for a while. I was scared you wouldn’t like it. So after you fell asleep, I hid this package underneath your bed. I hope you enjoy it, I know that you dislike things that remind you of your past, but maybe this will remind you of our future together instead.

Love, Maud Pie”

By the time Trixie had finished reading the card her heart felt like it was about to break. Maud, Trixie’s slate colored pony had given her a wonderful gift and was even nervous about it. Just knowing that Maud put such a high value on pleasing Trixie was enough to make her cry, but it wasn’t time to cry just yet. It was time for action.

Trixie placed the card carefully back into the box and put the new cloak on, along with her old hat. Even if the stars didn’t match she could always have somepony fix that later. She grabbed her old cloak in her mouth and carried it carefully into the living room.

Back in the living room the ponies were all sitting on the couch, except for Fluttershy who had crawled into a corner just out of sight. Fluttershy was curled up and shaking. Her eyes were shut tight and she just kept mumbling to herself.

Kneeling down besides Fluttershy she could now hear the things she had been whispering to herself. Fluttershy was almost crying as she whispered, “They come from somewhere dark, and they’re wrong. All the animals are wrong, everything is wrong. Why is it so wrong? What did they do? The Deep Ones are going to make everything wrong… were all going to drown in a sea of anger and pain. I don’t want to be angry again, don’t let them make me wrong too.”

With a gentle hoof, Trixie began to pet Fluttershy’s mane and said in as soft and caring a voice she could muster, “Trixie knows what you fear… I know what you fear.” Trixie became aware of her speech patterns and made sure to concentrate on speaking correctly before continuing, “I am going to fix everything, I promise.”

Fluttershy looked up at Trixie, she was crying. “How?”

Trixie didn’t know how she was going to do this, but she knew how to make Fluttershy feel better. “I have a secret plan. But I can’t tell anypony about it. I can make sure your safe for right now though.”

Fluttershy whimpered but seamed a little more relaxed. “How?”

Trixie wrapped her old cloak around Fluttershy and snapped the clasp shut, the purple color looked fitting against her yellow fur. Trixie. “You have to promise not to tell anypony the secret of this cloak if I tell you. Promise?”

Fluttershy gave a slight nod looking at Trixie in wonder. “My mom gave me this cape when I was little. There was a scary monster which followed me around, and so my father had Princess Celestia herself make this cloak. It was made to repeal all the scary evil things, and it also keeps you invisible from them. I am trusting you with this cloak because I believe you will take good care of it, and because I know it will keep you safe.”

Fluttershy nodded, but her shaking had almost completely vanished. “I-I promise to k-keep this safe.”

Trixie gave her a quick nuzzle and kissed her forehead. “Thank you.” Fluttershy had stopped shaking altogether, and the whispers didn’t return.

Trixie got up and turned around to see everypony staring with pleased expressions, Trixie coughed and looked away focusing on a dirty spot on the wall.

Rarity’s horn lit up. “Allow me to fix that for you, darling.”

Trixie looked back just in time to see Rarity’s blue aura surround Trixie’s hat. The stars on it went from blue to gold, thus matching the cloak. For a moment Trixie stood there speechless for the gift.

Rarity only offered her a kind smile, though her eyes still looked tired, tired and old. “What should we do?”

Trixie looked at her. “Trixie wants the three of you to stay here, if for whatever reason we don’t return, contact Celestia and have Fluttershy explain everything she can about the monsters.” Trixie looked out the window, the heavy storm clouds covering the skies above made it look like rough weather was ahead. “Trixie shall keep your friends safe Trixie makes that promise. But you must follow Trixie’s orders, you three are the only ones who know about the monsters and can convince the Princess to bring an army.”

Trixie led Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie outside, and Trixie knew that despite what the future may hold. She knew that these monsters were deadly, and more evil than the Ursa Major could ever hope to be. Yet they made one fatal mistake, they angered the one pony in Equestria who would follow them to the very depths of Tartarus itself to see them vanquished. They angered the Great and Powerful Trixie.

Chapter Eight: Into The Dark

Trixie and the others made their way outside with the storm brewing above them, and even though Trixie usually enjoyed the smell of rain, it was over shadowed by the threat they were about to face. Anger, sorrow, and regret all battled for control of Trixie’s heart. Rainbow Dash was flying next to them keeping a sharp eye on everything around them while Pinkie Pie took the lead.

Pinkie Pie seemed to know exactly where they were going, but it seemed impossible given the fact that to the best of Trixie’s knowledge Pinkie had never gone before. “How do you know where we’re going?”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Pinkie sense.”

Rainbow Dash flew down closer to Trixie’s side, “And the others told us where the monster broke out at.”

Pinkie’s face managed to get even pinker for a moment. “Oh yeah, and that too.”

Trixie smiled nervously at the two, she would have loved to enjoy their silly antics a little more but this whole thing with the Deep One was bothering her immensely. Whatever these creatures were, they did not belong in this world. The world of Equestria was a sacred place full of happiness and peace. Even if there were bad parts of it, the kind that Trixie could first hoof attest too.

Her driving force came mostly from the fact that somehow she knew that Maud was in trouble. Twilight was probably fine, she had stronger magic then anypony, but Maud although strong was not used to dealing with creatures of dark magic. Trixie let out a small prayer while they walked. “Please Celestia, keep her safe.”

It took only fifteen minutes before they arrived to the side of a knocked over empty cage along the side of the road. There was a black tarp waving harshly in the wind, it had gotten stuck around the cage door. The bars looked like they were in good condition, but further inspection showed a saddlebag lying near the cage.

Trixie investigated the bags while Pinkie looked into the cage a little more. Rainbow Dash circled their position keeping look out, although she had to fight against the wind. Inside the bag were some tools and even some samples of the purple crystal. The crystals gave Trixie a creepy feeling, so she avoided them. There was also a headlamp; this would come in handy inside the cave, so Trixie grabbed it.

Pinkie Pie looked at Trixie with a grave expression. “Trixie, I think I found something.”

A lump formed in Trixie’s throat. “W-what?”

Pinkie leaned over and whispered. “Allow me to shed some light on the situation.” She then picked up Twilight’s saddlebags, they had to be hers because they shared her cutiemark. A lamp was then pulled out of the saddlebags. “I found a lamp.”

Trixie blinked. “A… lamp. Wait, was that supposed to be some kind of pun?”

The silly grin spreading over Pinkie’s face was answer enough for Trixie. Terribly timed jokes aside, the lamp was going to be useful. They would need lighting for the cave. A thunderous crack of lightning went off above their heads. Then the rain came pouring down hard, forcing Rainbow Dash to become grounded. Trixie was used to such weather as despite the lack of many plants out here constant thunderstorms were a thing during spring.

The three each donned a head lamp, and Pinkie Pie wore the lantern she found around her neck. They didn’t turn them on yet but the trio would soon enough. Together they headed to the cave on Mount Absolution, none of them had any time to waste so they made haste.

It took just over two hours to get to the cave at their quickened pace, despite the rain and the wind pushing them back. They had made good time. The cave was dry, and dark. Trixie could hear whispers emitting from inside the cave, but the sounds they made were inequine. Nopony wanted to enter the cave, not even to get out of the rain, but they had no choice. Trixie knew that Maud was inside.

Stepping into the cave had a feeling similar to that of being covered in a thick nasty slime. Even if Trixie had to check to make sure she was in fact only soaking wet because of the rain, she still felt sick in here. Her skin was trying to crawl away from the cave.

The three of them made their way inside carefully. Their headlights cast odd shadows across the cave tunnels. Somehow it felt even darker in here than it did last time, almost as though the darkness was trying to swallow the light. The darkness looked like a thick wall of ink.

Pretty soon Pinkie Pie began twitching. “Who’s whispering?”

Rainbow Dash looked at her, and then at Trixie. “Do you hear it too?”

Trixie nodded. Although she couldn’t understand a word of what was being whispered to her she was pretty sure who was responsible for it. “It’s the Deep One. Trixie doesn’t know what it’s saying, but we need to hurry.”

As they approached the room with the black pillar Trixie began to hear Twilight speaking. She arrived at the entrance to the room and saw a dozen Deep Ones standing around the pillar looking up to Twilight. Maud stood next to Twilight, her eyes were covered by a white film that made her look like a zombie. There were torches lit all around the raised platform that Twilight stood on, next to her stood that flat platform, though now Trixie thought it was less of a table and more of an altar.

Twilight’s voice rose up and echoed across the room. “This vessel has potential beyond what we could have hoped for. Maud, would you get ready for the sacrifice.”

Maud crawled on top of the altar lying down on her back and spreading all four legs. Twilight went over to her and tied leather restraints around her legs keeping Maud from moving. A sinking pit formed in Trixie’s stomach.

Pinkie Pie nudged Trixie before whispering, “What should we do?”

Trixie didn’t look away from the scene but she knew what her two friends were capable of. She could feel her tail clamping down in fright. Still she summoned forth all the courage she had left, she was going to need it to save Maud. “Rainbow Dash, we need you to make a tornado or something to keep the Monsters busy. Pinkie Pie, you will follow Trixie and help release Maud, and then you take her out of here. Trixie will save Twilight.”

The two of them nodded in agreement of Trixie’s plan. It was the best she could come up with at such short notice. Normally she would have Pinkie Pie deal with the crazy unicorn keeping it distracted. But with how Twilight was acting, Trixie didn’t trust anypony’s chances of dealing with her.

Rainbow Dash took off in a flash leaving a rainbow streak behind her, and she quickly flew around the Deep Ones in a circle. A powerful wind picked up inside the cave and a rainbow colored tornado formed before Trixie’s very eyes. The deep ones were dragged up into the air and spun around helplessly. Pinkie Pie and Trixie ran forward to save Maud while Twilight spat curses at the rainbow colored tornado.

Standing next to the Altar Trixie focused on the four leather straps and although she could use her magic she still had her teeth. The leather straps were old, and tasted like copper. Maud simply lay there her expression was hollow and dead, emotionless even for Maud. It was like she was empty inside.

Trixie couldn’t help but to give Maud a soft kiss on the lips. “I love you Maud, and I will always will.”

Twilight’s inraged voice filled the cavern. “What are you two doing?”

Trixie quickly looked at Pinkie who had scooped up Maud. “Run, get her away from here, and away from any strange purple crystals.”

Pinkie Pie took one last glance at Trixie her eyes were wet with tears. Could she know what Trixie had planned? Rainbow Dash stopped her tornado all of a sudden causing the Deep Ones trapped inside to go flying off in every direction and crashing into the cavern walls. Trixie then yelled, “Go with Pinkie and keep her safe!”

Both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash ran off and left the cavernous room, leaving Twilight and Trixie alone. Trixie looked at Twilight. Twilight’s eyes began to glow with green evil intent and her horn held the same green menacing color. Trixie felt heavy, and she fell to her knees with a whimper. “It would have just taken one sacrifice and I would have had enough power to protect Equestria from anything. Even Lord Tirek would have bowed before me. But if I can’t take Maud’s magic, then I shall take yours!” Twilight said, in a chilling low voice.

Trixie could feel her energy being sapped out of her entire body as a strange green aura stretched out from Twilight and surrounded Trixie. Trixie was vaguely familiar with magic vampirism. It was something that was used by some of the worst criminal’s in Equestrian history, and most famously used by Lord Tirek.

Trixie heard the voice coming from Twilight’s mouth. Her voice was changing, growing deeper, every syllable not being heard just by Trixie’s ears but by her entire body. “This vessel is strong, though she was far too curious about how our magic worked. It was easy to manipulate her fears and create the catalyst we needed. With her in our control we shall return this world the natural state. The old monsters will return. Their power unfathomable, their terror unquestionable, and their power unstoppable.”

Trixie found her eyes becoming heavy as the voice continued. “We thank you Trixie, if not for you we would never have found such great ideas for how to start the return of the Old Age. We think we shall start with ponyville and finish what you started so long ago.”

The thought was painful and Trixie did not want to imagine what this monster would do to ponyville. She tried to fight it but felt her energy being evaporated even more. She was so tired now. All she wanted to do was sleep. The Deep One continued. “We shall rule this world. No pony will survive our wrath. We will destroy it all and rebuild it anew.”

Trixie closed her eyes and looked deep inside herself, she felt so powerless against this monster. Was there nothing she could do to fight it. Suddenly something snapped and she opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash tackling Twilight. At that instant the spell was cut off and Trixie felt her strength return.

There was no time to lose as Trixie got up and walked over to Twilight who was struggling to get away from the blue pegasus. Trixie knew only one way to fix this. And that was to take up an offer that she never wanted too.

She leaned next to Twilight and apologized as she touched horns with her. “I’m sorry, this happened. I’ll take all your crazy Twilight; I’ll carry your burden.” She then whispered in Twilight’s ear. “I will take your power now, Deep One.”

A light appeared from Twilight’s horn and latched onto Trixie’s without hesitation. It was like a new sight opened up, one layered right above her old one. She could see Twilight’s pink aura, still tinged by hints of red, and poisoned by splotches of black and green tumors. Those magical tumors leapt from Twilight and buried deep into Trixie.

“Very well, protect your friend, sacrifice yourself, and witness our true glory.”

After a few moments she pulled away from Twilight who was crying. “Trixie… what happened?”

Trixie felt something dark inside her growing at an incredible rate, she had only a few minutes at most before the corruption was too powerful for her to fight off. Trixie looked to Rainbow Dash but refused to allow her weakness to show. “Take her out of here, she’s all better now.”

Rainbow Dash looked sad. “You’re my friend… you know that right?”

Trixie felt something inside her head pulse bringing with it new agony. “I am going to finish this once and for all, quickly take her and leave.”

“But I can-“ Rainbow tried to say.

“Look you can only carry one pony and navigate those tunnels at a time. Now go.”

A pained look crossed Rainbow’s face as she picked up Twilight, Twilight hung limp like a rag doll, but at least she was free from the Deep One. Rainbow Dash turned to leave, but before flying off she glanced back at Trixie. “Don’t you dare break your promise.” She then took off into the dark tunnels leaving Trixie all alone.

Well not quite alone as something inside Trixie began speaking to her. It was something new, something alluring. It sounded a lot like her own voice only confident and sensual. “Can you feel it? Can you feel the pure power coursing through you?”

Trixie could feel it now, an incredible force was running through her. So much magical energy was at her hooftips that she could shake the very foundations of Equestria if she so chose. Maud would be so excited to see how much magic she now had.

The voice continued. “Yes you can make Maud’s world magical. Nopony would hurt her, nopony would hurt you. We can make sure that we never go through that again. Maybe even stop anypony from going through that again.”

Trixie agreed that this was indeed real power and that she could do so much good with it. The temptation to go outside and do something, anything was well worth it.

The voice went on to offer, “We can finally gain the respect we deserve from Celestia as well. Think of how happy she will be when she sees how much good we will do.”

Trixie laughed with pleasure at the idea. All she ever wanted in school was to be as good as Twilight. Now with this much power wasn’t just as good, she was better. The power was building inside of her as she sat there. It would be so nice.

“And we can create happiness in the land. We won’t tolerate any evil or meanness in our kingdom.”

Trixie was ecstatic about the idea, the idea of a kingdom of happiness. It sounded so good. A place where nopony would have to worry about being bullied, run out of their home town, or betrayed by their friends. A place where one could sleep in constant safety at night.

“Oh yes, it will be grand. It will be full of happy bouncy singing ponies, it will be just like ponyville.”

She could see all the new magic spells twirling inside of her mind, she enjoyed the power, the knowledge, and the ideals. So many spells were floating at the tip of her horn. All of them a little blurry until she focused on them. One in particular was quite fascinating; Emerald Lightning.

“Than we can make everypony love us. Nopony will be allowed to hate us. If they do, we will punish them. The entire kingdom would be ours to make safe and happy.”

The last time Trixie tried to make everypony love her, she had gone and enslaved an entire town. The ponies she grew up with, even if they didn’t remember or care about her were all punished by her. This couldn’t happen, Trixie knew she couldn’t be the one to decide what others did. Anger flared up as she realized that this voice whispering ever so sweetly to her was not her own.

Trixie sucked in a quick breath before shouting, “NO, TRIXIE WILL NOT ALLOW ANOTHER PONYVILLE!”

The voice inside of her turned deep and growling, it was the Deep One’s voice now. “Too late, in a few more seconds we will be in control and you will be our new puppet.”

Trixie would not allow this, and realized the mistake that the Deep One had made when giving her access to new magic. She looked at the black pillar and focused her magic into her horn. The one spell she had found interesting was luckily just the right kind. The Deep One seemed to know what she was planning to do. It said in a worried voice. “What do you think you are doing, you are our vessel. Stop this at once. We won’t allow this! He won’t allow this!”

Trixie did not stop. Instead she focused even more power into a green point of light at the end of her horn. She then shot the light out as a green streak of lightning at the pillar. It homed in dead center of the pillar. She could feel her horn throbbing from the magic use. She needed more power though.

Forcing more of herself into the spell a new surge of pain shot through her skull. Wet and hot liquid ran down her nose, it tasted like copper. The lightning was increasing in power and size. Ripples of crackling green electricity crawled up through the pillar. The Deep One let out a howl of tortured pain. She must have been doing something right.

Trixie realized that she needed yet more power if she was going to destroy this thing. Pushing herself any further was a poor idea, but she could not stop now. She poured every ounce of emotion, thought, and energy into the Emerald Lightning. Her entire body began to scream in pain. She yelled aloud as the pain racked her, every muscle exploding into white hot agony. Yet the pain fed into her lightning and it easily doubled in size.

Wet and hot liquid ran down her eyes and her ears. At first she thought maybe she was crying, but when she blinked her eyes open her vision was tinted with red. This spell was killing her but it was also destroying the Deep One.

Trixie wouldn’t give up, not now, not ever. Nopony could deter her now that she finally had real power. Biting back the sickly metallic taste in her mouth she focused solely on keeping the spell up and running. The pillar had cracks all up and down it. Off in the distance Trixie could see the fish ponies all writhing in agony as they began screaming in perfect unison.

With one more push Trixie felt something digging into her skull before violently tearing away. The pillar exploded in a flash of black light. The Deep Ones writhing in pain on the ground turned into stone. Trixie felt the last bit of the Deep One inside her scream as it vanished into oblivion. All the new found magic, power, and knowledge was taken with the Deep One and Trixie collapsed into a pool of crimson.

Lying on the cold ground Trixie felt herself fading off into the darkness again. It was hard to see through the red and breathing was harder still. Time lost all meaning as she lay there. Only the perfect agony kept her company. For all she knew it had been minutes, or days. Finally she blinked and found that a pair of purple hooves were standing next to her. A moment later Twilight knelt down besides her. Tears were running down Twilight’s face.

Trixie wheezed painfully. “Did I do good… Did I finally become a good pony?”

Twilight sniffled. “Yeah… you did. You’re a good pony now, Trixie.”

Trixie coughed. “Tell Rainbow Dash I’m sorry for breaking our promise.”

Twilight nodded. “I will.”

Trixie closed her eyes as her vision became too bright. “And tell Maud that… I love her.”

Twilight’s voice was fading away but Trixie heard her. “She loves you to.”

“Thank… you.”

And just like that Trixie was gone, falling into a bright white oblivion. Rainbow Dash would be proud, because although this may not be the most iconic of deaths, at least she could claim; that Trixie had gone out in style.

Chapter Nine: Into The Light

Trixie found herself was floating in a white oblivion. Part of her mind thought that maybe she should be worrying about this. Worrying about Maud. Yet she knew everything would be okay without her. The white all around her dimmed and vague shapes began forming around her. The forest grew all around her thick as a jungle. A lone hill rose up behind her and leveled off at the base of a mountainous wall that went on as far as her eyes could see. On the top of the hill was an old stone tunnel with moss growing thick along its walls. A willow tree was planted next to it creating what had once been a nice little picnic spot.

Laughter emitted from the tunnels as Twilight and her five friends exited. They quietly set up a picnic at the base of the willow tree. Pinkie Pie looked up at Trixie and offered, “Come and join us, Trixie. Oh and bring Maud with you.”

Trixie looked around and just behind her hiding amongst the trees was the earth pony she so dearly loved, although her mane was disheveled. Trixie got up and went to go take a seat next to her. She wrapped a leg around Maud.

Trixie asked, “What’s wrong, Maud?”

Maud whimpered slightly. “I don’t wanna be alone again.”

Trixie offered her a kind smile, “You’re not alone, you have friends, and a wonderful sister.”

Maud looked up at Trixie her eyes were wet and tears ran down her face. Her ears were folded back. “You can’t leave me, Lulu. Not like this.”

Trixie sighed before closing her eyes. Her heart was surprisingly calm right then, like all her troubles were very far away. She still felt pity for Maud. Trixie nuzzled into Maud’s neck before saying, “I won’t ever leave you.”

Maud then repeated only in a quieter tone, “You can’t leave me. Not like this, I can’t go through this. I don’t want to be alone again.”

Trixie opened her eyes and took another look around herself. This place was so familiar to her. It was the entrance to Old Ponyville, and was located in the Everfree Forest. Trixie had spent a good deal of time here by herself when she was very little. Of course she knew she couldn’t be here, she’d never return to Ponyville after what happened. So that meant that this was all a dream. Yet it didn’t feel quite like a dream this time. It was too still, too calm.

Memories of what happened before she fell unconscious returned to her. She had just defeated the Deep One, and destroyed the black pillar. But she had been hurt badly in the battle. She wondered briefly if she was actually dead. That didn’t feel right either. Maybe she was almost dead, dying as it were. For whatever reason that felt more accurate.

Trixie looked back at Maud. She wanted nothing more than to snuggle into that gray fur and rest for an eternity. Yet Trixie knew that if this was her time to go, she’d have to leave Maud all alone in this harsh world. Trixie let out a sigh, she’d never meant to hurt Maud. “I know I said I would never leave you. And I’m sorry that I lied. But at least I learned that I was a good pony in the end...”

Maud began crying loudly into Trixie’s shoulder. It broke Trixie’s heart to see her strong and usually stoic lover like this. Trixie kissed Maud softly on the forehead and wished with all her might that Maud could hear her words. “I love you, Maud. And no matter what I will always be there with you. If you listen hard enough, you will hear me singing in your heart.”

Maud looked up, her eyes barely open from the tears. Her voice was broken as she begged, “I love you too. Please don’t go.”

Trixie could only give her a sad smile, by whatever force that allowed her this one moment with her lover she knew that it had to end. Trixie pressed her lips up against Maud’s and attempted to put all the love she had into that one kiss. “I want you to be strong for me. Promise me that you will live a full life, with or without me.”

Maud began to hiccup as she said, “But-hic-I don’t want to.”

Trixie gave her a gentle look and nuzzled against her neck. “I don’t think either of us have a choice. But before I go, I want to thank you for everything that you have done for me. You came to me when I was damaged; you took me into your house and healed my heart. Then you gave me something that nopony else ever did; love. You even helped me make up for the things that I have done, and forgave me for the things I had done to your family. I love you, Maud Pie, like no other. Please don’t forget about me when I’m gone, and be happy.”

Maud let out a wail full of sorrow and faded from Trixie’s embrace. Trixie looked around and noticed that bit by bit everything around her was disappearing. First all the other ponies, then the mountain. Trixie relaxed against a tree before sighing and lying down on the grass.

A dark blue alicorn appeared next to Trixie, the alicorn had a deep blue flowing mane with stars shining through it. Her mane looked like as full of beauty and mystery as the night sky itself. The alicorn looked at Trixie with sad eyes. “I’m sorry this was the most I could do for you..”

Trixie gave a tired smile to the alicorn, she was already resigned to her fate. “Was this just a dream or was she really here with me? I guess it doesn’t matter, either way it was nice to see her one last time. Thank you, Luna.”

Princess Luna just looked sad as she stared at Trixie. “Again… I’m sorry. I wish I could do more.”

Trixie relaxed as the grass underneath her vanished into a white void as well, the only things left were her, the tree and Luna. Trixie closed her eyes just as even the tree vanished. “It’s alright. You can take me away now, Luna. I’m ready.”

Luna wrapped a wing around Trixie. “Then let us go my child.”

The two of them then vanished off to somewhere happy, someplace where Trixie would never have to worry about being hurt ever again. Somewhere quiet, somewhere peaceful.

Trixie opened her eyes slowly and was blinded by intense light for a few moments. Her entire body felt numb, and her ears were ringing. As her vision came into focus she saw a window on the wall next to her. There was a pony talking but listening to it felt like Trixie’s head was underwater. It took a moment for her to wake up enough to understand what was actually being said. It was Twilight talking softly, “…So glad that you’re awake. I was terrified you were going to…Trixie, can you hear me?”

Trixie moved her head and saw Twilight on the opposite side of her bed, along with a sleeping Maud whose head was lying on Trixie’s mattress snuggled into her side. Trixie smiled at the sight before reaching over and petting Maud’s mane. “I can hear you, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled warmly. “I promise I will do everything to make up for this. I Pinkie Pie Promise.”

Trixie gave her a small smile in return. “You don’t need to make up for anything.”

Twilight now looked a little shaken, “Oh… was it that obvious how I felt…”

Trixie just looked at Twilight and heard Twilight say, “I hope she’s okay,” but Twilight’s lips weren’t moving. Trixie then looked at Maud and could hear something from her. Trixie could hear Maud crying softly, although Maud was sleeping soundlessly next to her.

Trixie had heard once before that ponies who had near death experiences could sometimes hear the thoughts of others, but that only lasted temporally... right? Trixie wondered how long she would be able to do this. Even if it was an abuse of her new found power of telepathy she knew that she could never forgive Twilight unless she found out the hard truth. Trixie cleared her throat before asking, “Did you sabotage my life?”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before she lowered her head and looked away shamefully. “Why does she still think I hate her? She saved me, even though she really believes that I hate her. I just wish she would know how much I care about her.”

Twilight took an extra moment to say, “Of course not. I’m your friend, Trixie.”

She felt a little guilty for still distrusting Twilight, but now she had read her mind, she knew for sure that Twilight was indeed sincere about befriending her. Trixie gave her a small smile and said, “Thank you. I have to admit that I have been upset with you, even still after all this time I was mad.”

“I’m so sorry,” Twilight apologized. “But… may I ask why?”

“The town blamed the Ursa Major on me, and banished me. Yet you nearly destroyed the town and everypony just forgives you.” Trixie shook her head. “How is that fair?”

“It’s not.” Twilight said a little too quickly. “S-sorry. I just know that sometimes ponies give me special privlige, or overlook my faults and actions because of my status. Used to be that I was the personal apprentice to Celestia, but now I am an actual Princess. There’s a lot of things I could do and nopony would even accuse me of anything. So I only have my friends and myself to keep me in check. It… it scares me sometimes.”

“I wish I had that problem.”

“Do you really?”

Trixie gave it a moment to think on. “No, I don’t. If was in your shoes I would abuse my power. It would have been bad. At least you try to be responsible for your actions.”

Twilight smiled. “I was afraid that maybe I couldn’t make up for this one. But you came back to us. Trixie, I’m really, truly glad that your still here.”

That was an odd way to say it. Trixie recalled her dream with Luna. “Did I die?”

Twilight looked away and quickly said, “You were in trouble. We almost lost you.” Yet Twilight’s mind betrayed her. “You were dead before we got you to the hospital, and then you died again in Maud’s arms after they tried to help you. Then you came back, and it was scary, I felt like I was so powerless I even called in a favor with Princess Luna to try and drag you back to us. I’m just so happy your alive now. Please don’t die again.”

Trixie let out a sigh and was about to ask something else before Maud opened her eyes and murmured, “Lulu?”

Maud moved her head up and looked at Trixie, and Trixie looked back at her. The two locked eyes with one another. Fluttery feelings filled Trixie’s chest as she stared into those eyes still stained with red. Trixie could feel Maud’s affection; it felt like the warmth of the sun against her fur. Trixie couldn’t help herself as she said, “I love you, Maud.”

Maud blinked and a single tear rolled down the side of her face. Trixie put a hoof on Maud’s shoulder and that was all Maud could handle before letting out a wail as her emotional walls broke. “I love you too.”

Maud wrapped her forelegs around Trixie’s prone form and cried deeply into her chest. Twilight looked a little shy and Trixie could hear Twilight thinking to herself, “Oh dear, this looks private.” Twilight’s horn lit up and she teleported out of the room in a flash of pink light, leaving the two ponies alone.

Trixie couldn’t fight the tears back anymore and joined in crying with Maud. The two of them cried, then kissed, and then cried some more. Finally after half an hour Maud had calmed down and sniffled a little as she laid her head down next to Trixie. Trixie could only continue stroking her lover’s mane.

Trixie really had died, and it destroyed Maud to see the only pony who loved her go like that. Trixie knew that one day they would die, and it would destroy whoever was left. It was simply a fact of life, she just didn’t expect it so soon. Trixie could remember most of what had happened while she was dead. She remembered that moment with Maud by that tree, the one Luna had given her.

Trixie relaxed and refusing to go back to sleep she just lay there on that bed stroking Maud’s mane. Now Trixie felt a nagging feeling inside of her. She also didn’t know what to do now. Start a new life with Maud somewhere peaceful was the only thing she could really think of. Yet there were so many other things she wanted to do, things she had almost lost the chance to when she died. Yet through all of the dreams she had, and problems she needed to solve there was a single point of hope that would keep her strong; whatever she did next, she would do with Maud. Trixie whispered softly to herself and to Maud, “I promise I’ll never leave you again.”

Chapter Ten: The Best Night Ever

A few hours later and Trixie was released from the hospital. She was stunned to hear that she had been unconscious for three days, she didn’t want to go back to sleep anytime soon. Of course she had to wonder if she missed anything important while she was asleep, though from both Twilight and Maud’s accounts it looked like everypony was too worried to do anything other than wait.

On her way home with Maud, Trixie found that she was still able to hear other ponies’ thoughts, and feeling their emotions was something that she was growing accustomed too. It did gave her an advantage with understanding Maud, so that was always good. When she got home she found everypony waiting for her, they had thrown a surprise party for her. Trixie enjoyed the small party with the seven other ponies. The chocolate cake was delicious, and Trixie ate more than her fair share of it.

Near the end of the party Trixie found herself sitting on the couch while talking to Fluttershy. Trixie was concerned with how she was holding up. She still looked shaken and Trixie could feel how nervous she was. “How are you doing?”

Fluttershy was still wearing the cape that Trixie had given her. “I’m doing… better. Um, how are you?”

Trixie could hear Fluttershy’s worry and after Trixie looked a little further into Fluttershy’s mind. “Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.”

It worried Trixie that Fluttershy was only thinking these three words over and over again. “I’m fine, in fact I’m better then fine. For the first time in forever I have friends who care about me, and I… feel good.” It felt odd to think that things were actually looking up for her, but that was the truth and she knew it now.

Fluttershy smiled sweetly towards her before taking another timid sip of her cider. Trixie wasn’t sure where they had gotten all of the cider from, but it was nice watching everypony unraveling from the events of the past week. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t drink much of the Cider. Alcohol didn’t mix well with her brain. Trixie left Fluttershy on the couch and went into the kitchen where Rainbow Dash and Rarity were sitting.

The two were having a conversation about hats, although with how red Rainbow Dash’s face was, and adding the amount of empty mugs sitting on her side of the table. Trixie could assume that she was either drunk or enamored with the white unicorn, probably both. On Trixie’s approach the pair stopped their conversation to greet her.

Rarity took a sip of the cider that she had lovingly poured into a wine glass. “How are you feeling, darling?”

Rainbow Dash was balancing precariously on her chair. “Hi.”

Trixie nodded at the two and concentrated on their thoughts. Rarity’s mind was clear and precise. “That poor Maud, she was so upset over nearly losing her lover. I’ve never seen a pony cry that hard, not even me.”

Rainbow Dash’s thoughts were muddled and jumbled, but Trixie believed she had picked up the words, “I can’t lose you, Trixie.” After a short pause she also heard, “She’s hot.”

Trixie felt her cheeks grow a little warm. It was decided that Rainbow Dash’s thoughts were going to be off limits until she sobered up. Still Trixie needed to say something to the pair. “I’m sorry that I scared you like that. Somepony had to do something to save Twilight, and I was the only one who could do it.”

The pair of ponies smiled and then Rainbow Dash said, “Look it’s uh, scary being the hero and all. But um, something about being awesome?” Rainbow Dash looked confused by the time she finished.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I believe what she meant to say was, ‘being a hero is hard. Sometimes you have to make tough choices, so long as you can keep fighting for what you believe in though. Then it’s all worth it… oh and that you’re awesome.’ Is that right?”

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement and almost lost her balance on the chair from the slight movement. Trixie smiled at the two of them as she left. She then moved on to the front porch where Applejack stood staring at the night sky. Trixie stood next to her and looked at the beautiful shining stars that gently floated far above them. The air outside was nice and cool, and she could still smell the scent of fresh rain.

Trixie looked at Applejack and for a moment she couldn’t hear anything, so she concentrated. It was getting harder to read ponies thoughts but she managed to hear Applejack thinking, “I can’t believe it, we’ve survived so many things and never came so close to losing somepony we care about. We nearly lost Trixie to those monsters, I don’t want to lose anypony… again.”

Trixie then looked at the sky again and offered, “It’s a lovely night.”

Applejack pointed a hoof up at the sky near the moon and asked. “What do ya suppose that’s all about?”

Trixie looked to where she was pointing and to her surprise there was a message written in the stars. The stars were aligned in such a way that from her position she could read them. They said, “Get well soon, Trixie.”

She stood there in complete shock for a few minutes simply staring at the night sky in bewilderment. The only pony she knew of that could rearrange the stars was Princess Luna, but why would she go through all of that trouble just for her?

Twilight appeared at Trixie’s side. “Even Luna was worried about you. She came down to visit you in the hospital even. Celestia was busy, though she asked me to wish you well for her.”

Trixie looked over and found that Applejack had gone back inside. Even if it was odd Trixie felt so happy inside to know that so many ponies actually cared about her well being. “Thank you, all of you. I’ve never felt so loved in my entire life.”

Twilight smiled and gave Trixie a small hug. “Were family, all of us here tonight. I mean once Pinkie Pie adopted you, well you had no chance to avoid all of our love after that.”

Trixie returned the embrace. “Can you ever forgive me for what I’ve done to you?”

Twilight said. “Of course, you’re my friend after all.”

Trixie concentrated and heard Twilight’s thoughts. “I know why you blame me for all the bad stuff that’s happened. I’ve hurt you so badly by accident. I’ll do everything I can to get you home again.”

Trixie then said. “You don’t have to feel bad, I forgive you for what happened, and I don’t blame you for taking my home anymore. I’m sure that… that we can fix this somehow.”

Twilight blinked. “What? How did you know that I was worried about that?”

Trixie pulled away and misdirected the truth. “When I saved you I caught a glimpse inside your mind. I was inside your head, though only for a bit, I know how badly you regret hurting me. We’re friends now though. So please don’t feel bad.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you. I’ll get you home soon, and then you can visit your mom again… I never meant to take that away from you, too take her away from you.”

Trixie shook her head. “I wanted to be Ponyville’s pride and joy, but I came in too cocky and rude. I brought some of this on myself, although I can finally admit that a lot of what happened was not my fault… it’s hard not blaming myself for everything that went wrong.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

After that Twilight went back inside letting Trixie stare up at the night sky for a few more minutes. Pinkie Pie bounced outside and up to her. “Wanna dance with me?”

Trixie turned to face her and said. “I’m not the best dancer. I’ve got four left hooves.”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “You and Twilight both. It’s not about being good, it’s about having fun.”

Trixie sat there for a moment and then concentrated at Pinkie Pie, it was getting much harder to read minds then before. “Am I really your sister?”

Pinkie Pie said. “Of course you are.”

Pinkie Pie thought. “Of course you are, you’re the best…wait a minute, are you reading my mind?”

Trixie took a surprised step back and lost the connection she had to Pinkie’s mind. Pinkie Pie’s smile turned sly and mischievous. “You know it’s rude to do that to ponies.”

Trixie looked away feeling ashamed. “I’m sorry… I just wanted to-“

Pinkie Pie cut her off by saying. “I know, you just wanted to make sure that we actually loved you. If you were a normal pony I would tell you that friendship is about trust, and that’s why what you’re doing is wrong. But I… listened to your heart… you have been hurt so badly by ponies pretending to be your friends, so I don’t blame you. Just don’t abuse our trust okay.”

Trixie smiled and nodded. “I promise. Although I’m beginning to lose the ability.”

“That happens when you use it too much, try to only use it once a day at most. At least until your better at it, also practice reading emotions more often it’s much less invasive and more informative then mind reading.”

Trixie could only wonder at how the pink bouncy pony knew so much about this sort of stuff. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. It was too late to wonder about crazy things and Pinkie Pie was probably the craziest thing out there. After that conversation Trixie went back inside and enjoyed the rest of the night with the other ponies.

The party had calmed down just after midnight, with a few of the ponies having fallen asleep on the couches. The others decided to make small beds on the floor of the living room and sleep here tonight. Safer to let the drunk ponies sleep it off here, rather than having them walk back to the inn. As the last few ponies got snug in their beds Trixie walked back to her room. That’s when she noticed something a little bit different. Maud’s bedroom door was ajar.

Trixie pushed the door open with her muzzle. “Maud, are you in there?”

Maud responded as the door opened enough for Trixie to see a darkly light room. “You can come in, Lulu.”

Trixie opened the door all the way and felt excitement running through her as she saw Maud’s room for the first time. The carpet was light pink only a shade lighter than the walls. Pictures of Maud and her sister adorned the walls. There was even a small cat bed in the corner, with a small pebble lying on top of it. The bed had a name tag reading “Boulder”. Maud’s bed was queen sized and had pink everything. Trixie guessed that Maud’s favorite color had to be pink, and thinking about her sister it made a weird amount of sense.

Trixie however didn’t have time to think about these things, as the sight of Maud lying on her back in the bed had captured Trixie’s eyes. Maud held her blanket up to her chest with her left foreleg, the other one was patting an open spot next to her. Trixie stood their stunned.

Maud snapped her out of it by asking flatly, “Are you joining me?”

Trixie couldn’t say no to her, she walked in and using her hind leg she shut the door with a deft and quiet motion. Trixie joined Maud lying next to her in the bed. Maud had a nervous sort of energy about of her.

Trixie wasn’t sure what to do next, kiss Maud, hug her, something more? Trixie could feel her face heating up from embarrassment, which only got worse as Maud leaned in. Maud whispered into Trixie’s ear, “Shh, Lulu, just lay down. This is my present to you.”

Trixie laid down feeling very nervous as Maud began nibbling Trixie’s ear, Maud then moved to kiss her gently, she could feel Maud’s hoof sliding down her chest, sending tingly sensations running through her entire body. Maud’s hoof hovered on Trixie’s belly button for a moment. It was kinda like the first time, when Maud stopped to ask permission. Of course Trixie caught on and said, “It’s okay, I’m not scared.”

Maud then proceeded to make this the best, night, ever.

After the two of them had finally had their fill of each other, they lay together in a tight embrace with Trixie’s head lying on top of Maud’s chest. Trixie could hear her lover’s heart beat, steady and full of life. She could also feel something more from Maud it was a warm feeling almost like the sun was shining down on top of her. She wondered to herself if this was what true love felt like.

Maud’s voice came out as a whisper, “You were wonderful.”

Trixie snuggled into her chest and said, “I’ve never been… you know… You’re the first pony to love me like this.”

Maud ran a hoof through Trixie’s hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad I could be your first.”

Trixie looked up at Maud, she was so happy to be here in Maud’s legs. She didn’t want to die ever again. It was impossible to avoid looking into Maud’s wonderful eyes. Though for some reason Trixie now remembered her father, and how he had left his family when she was still a foal.

Maud must have caught on because she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Please don’t leave me.”

Maud’s smile grew as she said. “Don’t worry, Lulu. I won’t ever let you go again.”

“When I was young my father left us. Me and my mom all alone. It… changed us, changed my mom. It broke her.”

“Why did he do that?”

“It’s… complicated. He was always a wild pegasus. He said he was going on an adventure. Did you know that he once slew an Ursa Major?”

“No.”

“Yeah, he always told me the story. The story of how the great adventurer Moonlight Sonata fought for the defense of Hoofington. I always wanted to be just like him, but I was never good enough. Maybe now though...”

Trixie grew quiet and silence passed between the two for a few seconds.

“Thank you for sharing that with me. I love you, Lulu.”

“You’re welcome. I love you too, Maudie.”

Chapter eleven: friendly farewell

Trixie woke up feeling exhausted but satisfied. She looked around the room feeling a little more disoriented then she usually did in the morning. The room was a filled with pink, the walls, the floor, and even the bed she was in. The bed was also much larger than hers was, and the pictures on the walls were of Maud and Pinkie Pie.

A single photo of Trixie stood on a nightstand next to the bed. The photo was from when she first met Maud, she was scared of everypony, and paranoid of everything, but Maud had calmed her down and made her feel safe, the photo was taken so that the two could always remember there first time meeting. Trixie looked scared in the picture, and by contrast Maud looked as stoic as ever. It reminded Trixie of just how far she has come since first arriving here.

Trixie was inside of Maud’s room, lying in her bed, all of this felt so surreal to her. The memories of last night were replaying in her mind. Her face lit on fire as she realized just what she had done with Maud. Not to mention how much of it they had done.

Maud had placed Trixie’s medicine and a water bottle next to the picture for them. After taking her medication Trixie walked awkwardly to the door, every one of her muscles ached, including ones she didn’t know she had. Inside she was a chaotic mess of joy, shame, and nervous to boot. She wasn’t even married to Maud… yet.

Just outside Trixie smelled the fresh air in the hallway and became painfully aware of how badly Maud’s room smelled right now. The scents of sweat and… other things filled the air, and Trixie didn’t smell any better.

She closed the door softly and tried to sneak her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. As she approached the door, it swung open with Fluttershy walking out. Trixie tried to avoid looking into her eyes. Fluttershy turned beet red and looked down at her own hooves. Fluttershy was still wearing the old cloak. It made Trixie proud to know that Fluttershy had truly appreciated the gift.

Trixie walked past Fluttershy trying to pretend that she didn’t notice Fluttershy holding her breath.

After taking a nice hot shower Trixie felt a lot better, and much cleaner. She looked at herself in the mirror and looked deeply into it. She no longer saw a monster staring back at her, nor did she see a broken pony. Now she saw herself as the pony who was loved, by friends, new family, and a very special gray mare. She could now say with certainty that she did deserve to be loved, and that she would make up for what she had done, someway, somehow.

Outside in the living room Trixie found everypony meandering about the tiny room. Half the ponies looked up at her, and then quickly looked away their faces turning a deep shade of red. Maud looked as bored as ever, but Trixie could feel Maud’s emotions. Maud was amused by something, something she found absolutely hilarious. Trixie remembered Pinkie’s warning and decided against trying to read her mind to figure out what.

She then felt an immense wave of embarrassment coming off of everypony in the room, except from Maud and Rainbow Dash. The overcharge of emotion was almost enough to knock Trixie over. She looked around, everypony was avoiding her gaze except for Rainbow Dash who was hovering in the corner snickering. Trixie didn’t like this feeling, like everypony was avoiding her. It was reminding her of the past.

Trixie looked at Rainbow Dash and demanded, “What are you doing?”

Rainbow Dash began laughing. “Pfft why don’t I ask, what you were doing, all, night, long?”

“I… uh… guess you heard us”

Rainbow Dash stopped laughing just long enough to say, “Ya mean we heard you. Maud was as quiet as a rock.”

A spike of anger filled Trixie at Rainbow’s insult aimed at her adorable rock pony. “That’s only because her mouth was too busy- Kissing me. I mean she was kissing me all night.”

Rainbow Dash fell from the air and onto her back laughing too hard to breathe, and yet she still managed to somehow add, “Yeah, I bet, her mouth was busy, bwahahaha.”

Trixie decided the best course of action was to shut the hay up. She was simply digging herself into an ever deeper hole. She found a nice little spot to sit next to Maud and stayed quiet until Rainbow Dash calmed down.

As it turned out the train picking up the six ponies was arriving today, and all of Trixie’s new friends would be leaving soon. She didn’t want to see them leaving so soon. But she realized that they all had lives in Ponyville to take care of. It was far too kind of them too wait for Trixie to wake up before leaving. The party last night was one of the most wonderful things anypony had ever done for her.

Standing at the train station Maud and Trixie stood in front of their six friends. Trixie made a mental note that the little dragon Spike was on the train waiting for them already. He must have come in on the train so he could pick up Twilight in person.

Trixie didn’t want to see the only friends she had leave her, but she was going to be brave for them and see them off properly. Maud laid a caring hoof on Trixie’s shoulder, she seemed to sense her lovers distress. Trixie gave her a small thankful smile before returning attention to the six ponies ahead of her. The air had become somewhat silent and was quickly approaching awkward as none of them wanted to be the first one to say good bye.

Applejack stood strong and brave as she was the first one to speak. She tilted her hat down covering her eyes. “Well were gonna be off soon. Ah better see you in Ponyville soon though, ah wanna show you how delicious our apple pie is.” She turned and walked onto the train.

Rarity spoke next, she had tears running down her face ruining her makeup. “It was nice getting to know you, Trixie, next time you’re in Ponyville be sure to come by the boutique. I will… make… you… two.... each a… beautiful dress.” She then let out a wail as she sobbed, walking back into the train. Stopping only long enough to blow her nose into a handkerchief.

Fluttershy was still wearing Trixie’s old cloak. She tugged at the clasp a little with a hoof. “Are you sure you want me to keep this?”

Trixie nodded towards her saying. “Of course I do. If you keep that cloak with you, then I will know that you’re always safe. Besides I have an even better one now thanks to Maud here.”Maud’s cheeks grew a lovely shade of pink at the compliment.

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh thank you. I promise I will cherish this most wonderful of gifts forever.” She then walked off into the car, she looked a little more confident while wearing the cloak.

One of the train attendants walked to the door. “If you don’t get on now, were leaving you behind.”

Twilight Sparkle turned around and looked him dead in the eyes. “I, am, The, Princess, Twilight, Sparkle. You shall wait for me to be done, and be grateful for it.”

Trixie took a step back in fear along with the attendant who walked back inside looking very worried for more than just his job security. Twilight returned her attention to Trixie. “Sorry about that, I’m just sick and tired of not having enough time to do what I want. So I’m making time.”

Trixie made a mental note to never get on Twilight’s bad side. Twilight then added, “If you ever want help with that horn problem of yours, just let me know, I will do my best to help you use your magic again. After all you’ve done for me, it’s the least I could do.” She looked back at the train and said. “Well I’ll leave you three alone, and make sure the train doesn’t take off. Good luck, Trixie, Maud.”

Rainbow Dash was looking very worried now, she glanced back at the train and back to Trixie. She closed her eyes and said to herself. “Oh buck it.” Rainbow dashed at Trixie and embraced her into a tight hug saying. “Don’t you ever try and break your promise again. Because I will find you if you do, and save your rump all over again. And be safe or whatever… see ya both later.” Rainbow Dash then let go, there were tears in her eyes as she turned and streaked inside the train to join her friends.

Pinkie Pie smiled softly at the two and said. “It was nice staying with you two, even if it was a little weird. We had fun though, and I won’t forget you Trixie. Please consider my offer, and come visit me soon… see ya later.” She looked a little down, her hair even looked a little deflated as she turned to leave inside the train.

Trixie watched her approach the train and felt pressure building up inside of her. She clenched her eyes shut and stopped fighting it. Trixie galloped toward Pinkie Pie and tackle hugged her. Although unlike Trixie, Pinkie Pie didn’t fall over from the tackle, rather she caught Trixie in an embrace. Trixie sniffled a little. “I’ll come visit you, I Pinkie Pie promise. And… I love you… sis.”

Trixie felt very small in Pinkie’s legs, and Pinkie stroked Trixie’s mane a few times while saying. “I love you too, sis. When you come to visit I’ll set up an awesome party, and we’ll have a cake eating contest, and you can meet Gummy, and we can all have fun again.”

Maud wrapped an arm around the pair and they stayed in a group hug for a few seconds.

It was a little painful when Pinkie Pie let go and walked onto the train. Trixie stood there watching the train doors shut. Maud walked up and stood next to Trixie brushing against Trixie’s side. Trixie watched the train begin to roll off and then to her enjoyment a pink head sticking out of one of the side windows began shouting. “And we’ll play hide and seek, and we’ll eat Spike’s famous nachos, and Rarity will make a dress for you, and we’ll go to the gala, and we’ll be the best most awesome party ponies EVER. See ya, Trixie, Maud!”

Pinkie continued shouting about all the things she would do with Trixie until the train was gone and out of sight. Trixie turned to Maud and noticed Maud staring blankly down at Trixie’s cutie mark. Trixie then asked her. “Um… is something wrong?”

Maud replied flatly, “No.” There was the slightest curl in Maud’s lips.

Trixie and Maud began walking home together. With how happy she was, Trixie couldn’t avoid asking, “What are we going to do now?”

Maud then explained. “Pack for our trip to Ponyville.”

Act Two. Chapter twelve: Celestial reunion

HEART OF STONE
Act Two: Discovery
Chapter twelve: Celestial reunion
Written by TheCrimsonDM

A few days had passed since Twilight and her friends went back to Ponyville. Trixie and Maud had spent a lot of their alone time together being passionate. It was almost like they simply couldn’t get their fill of one another, and the past few lust filled days were both a wonderful, and a little shameful for Trixie. Some of the things she had done with Maud she knew she could never speak of.

Other than that Trixie found herself becoming more social with other ponies. Her confidence and strength were returning, although her magic was still virtually useless. The fact that she couldn’t even lift a pencil with her telekinesis without getting a headache was disconcerting; she was considering going back to Ponyville just to get the help she needed from Twilight.

Trixie was lying on the couch feeling more than a little exhausted from the night before. She stared up at the wooden ceiling and wondered at how her entire life had turned around. Just a week ago she was beating herself up over every little thing, and now she was enjoying every moment she had with Maud. It was almost like when she died, the broken pieces of her heart died too, only they didn’t come back to life like she had.

Maud walked into the living room. Trixie’s mind went blank as she saw Maud’s naked form walking up to her. Trixie’s eyes getting caught on Maud’s cutie mark, which resembled a stone cut into the shape of a diamond. Trixie’s new cloak had the exact same symbol for the clasp. Maud had made the cloak just for her, and the clasp was a symbol of just how much Maud truly did love her. Or maybe it was a symbol of how much she belonged to Maud.

Trixie wore a small smile as Maud crawled onto the couch and got on top of Trixie. Maud began nuzzling Trixie’s cheek while asking. “Have you considered moving to Ponyville yet?”

Trixie could feel Maud’s love radiating off her body, Trixie kissed Maud on the forehead and then said. “You haven’t given me very much time to think about it.”

Maud began nuzzling Trixie’s chest kissing her softly while saying. “When you get time please consider it. I would like to be near my sister again.”

Trixie agreed with Maud that it would be nice to live in ponyville, to be near her friends, to be near her mom. Unfortunately it would be hard to fix her reputation there, after everything she had done. The citizens of Ponyville would have a hard time accepting her, but maybe if she tried hard enough, they could one day forgive her.

Maud’s muzzle landed a soft kiss on a very tender spot of Trixie’s anatomy causing the blue unicorn to make a squeaking sound, and utterly disrupted her thinking process. Trixie gave up on thinking anymore right now, her thoughts were being generously interrupted by Maud again.

Some time and a hot shower later Trixie decided to get outside, before Maud could use her sensual tricks to stop Trixie from thinking again. The sun was shining brightly outside, in fact it felt a little brighter than normal. Trixie walked into town trying to get a breather from Maud, and some time to think about the proposal to move to Ponyville.

As Trixie approached town she saw “Gear Dasher’s shop of enigma’s”. She decided to stop by and say hello to Gear Dasher and his son Dusty. The shop had a large number of boxes sitting just outside with half of them were loaded into a wagon. The sign on the shop itself read. “Gear Dasher’s shop of enigma’s. Now out of business, talk to Gear Dasher if you’re still waiting on a package.”

Trixie looked around and found Gear Dasher sitting outside behind the shop and staring into the abandoned mine shaft. Gear Dasher was smoking a cigarette as he watched. Trixie walked up to him and asked. “Are you really going out of business?”

Gear Dasher looked over and tipped his cowpony hat up. He then smiled and said. “Ayep, it’s time we go and meet up with Dusty’s mom over in Saddle Arabia. Ah’ve been missin her like crazy.”

Trixie gave him a smile even though she was sad about him moving so far away. She then said. “I wish you the best of luck, you two were always so kind to me.”

He looked up at her and blew some of the smoke out of his nostrils, the fact he could do that always astounded Trixie. Then Gear Dasher said. “You’re a good mare Trixie, I know you haven’t always felt that way, but it’s the darn truth. Ah wish you an Maud good luck as well, ah know how scary a new relationship can be. But if ya’ll try, ya might just have something special.”

Trixie smiled even wider at him now. Then her smile faded as some clanging sounds began coming from the old mineshaft. Trixie looked over to it, and the memories of Deep One’s filled her mind. She took a step back and asked. “What is that?”

Gear Dash gave a small laugh and said. “Just watch, Ah think Ya’ll like it.”

She watched fearfully as something crawled out of the mineshaft. A small colt covered in black soot crawled out. This was Dusty Soul, Gear Dasher’s son who crawled out. Dusty had a bag in his mouth. He walked up to Gear Dasher and dropped the bag next to him before saying. “Ah am not doin that again, it’s black as Nightmare Moon down there.”

Gear Dasher gave his son a pat on the head before returning his attention to the bag. Dusty looked over at Trixie and grinned widely as he said. “Miss Moon, did ya come to see us off?”

Trixie smiled at the little foal and said. “Yep I sure did. I couldn’t just let you leave without a hug now could I.”

Dusty cocked his head to the side saying. “Ah don’t think-“ He was cut off as Trixie swooped him up into an embrace and hugged him tightly. He squirmed for a second before he gave up and returned the hug. After setting him down Dusty smiled while his eyes began watering up and he said. “Ah will miss ya Miss Moon.”

He then walked into the house presumably to clean up. Speaking of cleaning up, Trixie noticed that her legs and torso and even part of her face, was now covered in black soot. This was going to be fun to wash out of her fur later. Maybe she would have Maud help her with it, and all of a sudden Trixie’s face was turning red again.

Gear Dasher reached into the bag and pulled out a nice clean bottle of vintage alcohol. He gave a whistle as he examined it. Trixie sat down and asked. “What’s that?”

Gear Dasher looked at her with a grin on his face as he explained. “This is Celestia’s Hell Fire. It’s one of the most powerful alcohols made, it’s also extremely rare.”

Gear Dasher grabbed a clean cloth from next to him and handed it to Trixie. Trixie stood up as she began trying to rub out the soot in her fur he placed the bottle into a slandered looking saddle bag. Trixie was not having much luck wiping the black out of her fur. Gear Dasher then said. “You’re gonna be cleaning that off yer fur for a week.”

She looked back towards his house and said. “Totally worth it, I’m going to miss you guys a lot.”

Gear Dasher then put the saddle bags on Trixie’s back, surprising her and almost making her buck him. She then walked in a circle a few times in confusion, as she said. “What did you do that for, what’s in this, why is it on?”

Gear Dasher gave another chuckle as he explained. “It’s a present, you’ve been a good friend to us Trixie. Just thought I’d repay you for the kindness. Side’s that, you’re probably the only mare who’s ever beaten me in a drinking contest.”

That brought back pleasant memories. The drinking contest was something she did with Gear Dasher after she had first met him, she couldn’t remember much of it, but he fell asleep before it was over. Of course she was mentally unstable for the couple days after that, Doctor Timequill actually had to be called in to console her. That reminded Trixie that she was going to need to visit him again soon.

Trixie smiled back at Gear Dasher and said. “Thank you, I’ll cherish this present.”

Gear Dasher smiled back at her and said. “Don’t mention it, just make sure that the entire town hears how much you and Maud enjoyed the little gift.”

Trixie blushed a little as she asked. “What do you mean by that?”

Gear Dasher gave her a wink and said with a sly grin. “Ah suppose it didn’t occur to you, that anypony walking by your house these past couple of days has gotten an earful of you’re scream-“

Trixie cut him off by saying. “What. Oh crap, I didn’t…” her face became even redder as she stammered. “B-b-but me and M-m-m-uad are…ugh.” She couldn’t believe that she was that loud. There was no way that this was going to be lived down now, she simply knew that the entire town knew about it by now. Gear Dasher only grinned at her.

After that she decided it was time to leave and go get something to eat. There was a little restaurant she enjoyed in town. She had a few bits on her and figured she could go for a sunflower sandwich. There was a little shop that Trixie was a fan of called “The Slate Plate”.

It was a little restaurant ran by the Pink earth pony with a curly blue mane, named Bubble Delight. Trixie walked in and sat down at one of the booths, a few seconds later Bubble Delight’s daughter named Bubble Delicious walked towards her. The only difference between the two of them was that Bubble Delicious had a green mane with pink stripes and she was a few years younger than Trixie.

Trixie smiled at her and said. “I’d like a Sunflower sandwich please.”

Bubble Delicious used the pencil she was chewing on to write the order on a small note book. She then smiled at Trixie and said. “It’ll be out right away, gotta keep you nice and feed after all the work that Maud has been putting you through.”

Trixie’s entire face burned with embarrassment as Bubble Delicious walked away giggling like a young filly. Trixie laid her head down on the table and let out a long sigh. The entire town was already knew and she was never going to live this down now. Was Trixie really that loud when she was with Maud?

A few minutes later Trixie still had her face planted firmly against the table, when she felt a playful energy next to her. It must have been Bubble Delicious back to tease her some more. As the plate of food was set next to her, Trixie said lamely. “Thanks for the food.”

A very different voice spoke to her then sounding very motherly. “You’re welcome Trixie.”

Trixie looked up to see who it was and found the surprise of a life time. Princess Celestia was standing right next to her table, towering over the little Trixie. Trixie was shocked to see her here, and better yet her sunflower sandwich was here too. Trixie looked from the food back to the princess and asked. “Did you bring me my food?”

Celestia simply smiled and sat down on the bench opposite of Trixie’s before asking. “Is that a problem?”

Trixie blushed a little more as she replied. “N-no it’s n-not a problem at all. I…um…hi.”

Celestia continued smiling at Trixie, they sat there quietly for a few moments before Bubble Delicious looking very nervous brought out a cake covered in pink icing, and two glasses of iced tea. The cake was set in front of Celestia who looked at it with hungry eye’s, and each pony was given a glass of tea. Bubble Delicious didn’t seem to know what to do other then retreat slowly into the kitchen.

Trixie took a sip of the tea, it was nice and cold, but not enough sugar. As Trixie began pouring sugar into the cup of tea Celestia carefully removed a large slice of Cake and took a sample bite. After a moment she grinned and took a much larger bite of the cake. Trixie let out another sigh as she asked. “Do you always cause such a stir wherever you go?”

A few gasps could be heard from various ponies inside the restaurant. Celestia gave a small laugh and said. “Oh you remember what it was like for us in Canterlot don’t you?”

Trixie looked up at Celestia, way up. She then asked. “I don’t mean any offense but, what are you doing here? Twilight left here a few days ago.”

Celestia looked a little sad at what Trixie had said. She took another giant bite of cake and a sip of tea before saying. “I came here to visit you. I…nearly lost you. No matter what you may think of your self-worth Trixie, you should always remember that you were one of my student’s, one of my top students at that.”

Trixie smiled shyly at her and said. “Wow…you came all the way out here, just for me. I…I don’t know what to say. Why didn’t you come to my house?”

Celestia smiled and looked directly at Trixie and said. “Oh I did, but you sounded a little busy. I decided to wait a few hours and try again.”

Trixie’s face turned an entirely new shade of red as she nearly died from embarrassment. Trixie really was that loud. Looking in any other direction she possibly could Trixie said. “Oh yes. I was…working...”

Celestia then said in a quieter tone. “Oh you must have been working very hard in order to make those kinds of sounds. By the way who is Maud?”

Trixie tried to speak, and nothing but squeaks came out. Celestia smiled and said. “Go ahead and eat a little, that will give me time to…tell you some things. Things that you need to hear.”

Trixie listened and began eating slowly as Celestia continued. “You were always one of my very best students Trixie, in fact I always saw you as a second pupil. I know that I was unable to spend as much time with you as I wanted to, but I hope you understand that when you’re father asked me to take you under my wings, and take care of you. That I did the very best I could.”

Trixie stopped eating, and in shock she asked. “Did you just say my father?”

Celestia nodded and said. “Yes I did, he didn’t want me to tell you about his involvement with me, not until after you were an adult. I know it’s hard for you but I-“

Trixie did something that she knew would end up in regret, but she had to know if Celestia was telling the truth. She concentrated on reading Celestia’s mind as hard as she could, and asked aloud. “Are you telling me the truth about dad?”

Celestia nodded again and said. “I am. I know that he left you long before I ever met you, but he still loves you very much.”

Trixie couldn’t hear Celestia’s thoughts though, and the harder she tried the more she could make out a high pitched humming noise. Trixie closed her eyes and with all her strength she concentrated on Celestia’s playful personality, trying to force a connection to her mind until the hum became so high pitched that it hurt. Then the hum turned into a loud pop, and Trixie could hear Celestia’s thoughts for a few seconds.

Celestia thought. “Her father was such a close friend of mine, he was destroyed by what happened to his wife. I swore to him that I would take you in as my ward, but I couldn’t do that publicly and keep you safe. I know that I didn’t do the best job, but I tried...”

Celestia’s thoughts disappeared from Trixie again as she felt like she was slammed back into her chair by some intangible force. Celestia wore a concerned expression on her face as she watched Trixie closely. Trixie felt exhausted and dizzy, she was about to say something when she began to notice the warm liquid running down from her nose and down her muzzle.

In a very sluggish movement Trixie reached up and touched her muzzle with a hoof, she pulled her hoof away to see the blue hoof was stained red with blood. Celestia lifted a napkin up and wiped the blood off of Trixie’s muzzle for her. After she was done she said. “You shouldn’t try and do that again. I’m over a thousand years old, you would think I’d have a protective spell against,” she leaned in and whispered into Trixie’s ear, “mind reading.”

Trixie felt scared that Celestia knew what she had just done, but she also felt slow. Trixie looked up and said. “I’m sorry, it’s just my father…”

Celestia’s expression didn’t change from being worried as she said in a slightly louder tone. “You should get that checked up on when you talk to your doctor.”

She then returned to her perfectly normal voice and said. “I’m not mad. Like I said before, I nearly lost you, and that scares me.” Celestia let out a sigh and then smiled. She reached out a wing awkwardly and brushed back Trixie’s mane a little. She then asked. “Did you know that I almost sent you to Ponyville to stop nightmare moon, instead of Twilight Sparkle?”

Trixie looked up at her in surprise and admitted. “No, I didn’t?”

She shook her head and explained. “I didn’t have a clue on how to stop my sister while she was possessed by the nightmare spirits. I had to choose one of you two but I couldn’t figure out which one. If anypony could learn the spell to defeat her it would have been you, but on the other hoof Twilight had stronger magic, and may have been the only one powerful enough to actually accomplish the task.”

Trixie felt strange after hearing this. Her entire life could have been different if only a single thing had been changed. Maybe she could have become friends with everypony, heck maybe even become a princess. And all of it would have depended on who was sent to Ponyville on that fateful day. Trixie asked. “How did you decide who to send.”

Celestia smiled softly and said. “I sent the pony who needed friendship the most, Twilight was so lonely inside. I spent so much of my time just trying to keep her out of a deep depression. I feared that she would have become broken if I didn’t do anything. So I sent her based off of this information. Ponyville has always had a way of reforming ponies into the ponies that they were meant to be.” There was a long pause before she finally finished saying. “Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice.”

Trixie looked up at the princess and knew right then that Celestia was suffering from an internal conflict, similar to what she had been suffering from not but a week ago. Trixie gave her Princess, her teacher, and the closest thing to mother figure she had a smile. Trixie then said. “You made the right choice, even if I had been the one to find the magical spell to stop it, I would have done so selfishly, and I may have even hurt your sister. I was suffering from completely untreated Schizophrenia. You made the right choice.”

Celestia looked taken aback by what Trixie had just said. Celestia then asked quietly. “Do you really have…schizophrenia?”

Trixie felt a little angry that Celestia didn’t know, but she reminded herself that Twilight made sure that it was a secret. Trixie gave Celestia’s outstretched wing a hug and said. “Yeah, but I have my med’s, and a doctor. Twilight has done more to help me then I ever thought possible.”

Celestia smiled, but pulled back her wing. She then said. “There was another reason why I came here to New Slate to talk to you.”

Trixie could feel the playful energy inside Celestia shifting, it was becoming more serious. For a second Trixie felt something hard, hot, and violent coming from Celestia, it lasted only a second before Celestia’s emotions became simple and serious. Trixie didn’t like where this was going at all, but she still asked. “What’s that?”

Trixie noticed that the tea was gone, and so was most of the cake. They had been sitting there eating for longer then she had realized. Celestia looked serious as she asked. “What was Twilight really doing here?”

The memories of the cave, the Deep One’s, and of Twilight being possessed came to her mind. Trixie shook her head and lied. “She came here to check up on me.”

Celestia then asked. “Is that really all?”

Trixie nodded and shook a little bit, she felt as though there was a giant weight being pressed down onto her from Celestia’s emotions.

After a few moments of complete silence Celestia’s serious feelings began to become softer. Celestia then said. “I’m glad. Please promise that if Twilight gets wrapped up in something…bad. Promise me you will stay out of it.”

Trixie nodded again as the pressure came off of her. Celestia’s horn began glowing for a second and a bright yellow aura surrounds Trixie. After a few seconds Trixie stopped glowing and found herself completely clean now. Trixie got up and said. “Well I kinda need to go home now, your welcome to come and visit anytime.”

Celestia nodded and said. “Remember how much I love you Trixie.” As Trixie began walking out of the restaurant Celestia added. “And thank you for saving Twilight from the deep ones.”

Trixie turned and looked at her in shock, she then said. “What, how?”

Celestia then said. “Twilight still writes me letters every week.” She gave a little laugh before saying. “I told her she didn’t have too, but I secretly enjoy reading her letters. It makes me feel good to know that she cares.”

Trixie smiled and then headed off towards her home. Trixie wondered if Twilight had really told Celestia about this? It wouldn’t surprise her, but the way Twilight acted had been strange. Trixie wondered if she really was okay, and what the connection between her father and Celestia really was. It seemed like Trixie was beginning to uncover a secret world that had been around her all of her life, but it’s a world she had never seen before. Hopefully Celestia didn’t realize that Trixie had lied to her, but even if she did, she didn’t seem mad. Looking up at the brighter than normal sky Trixie said to herself. “I think I have an answer Maud.”

Chapter thirteen: Decision

HEART OF STONE
Chapter thirteen: Decision
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie arrived home and found it odd that Maud wasn’t there waiting for her. Trixie really wanted to tell Maud all about her meeting with Celestia. She would have to wait patiently for her return. Sitting down on the couch in the living room Trixie examined the bookshelf in front of her.

There were many books on the shelf ranging from romance to science. To Trixie’s surprise she discovered a couple of new books sitting on the shelf. She tried to reach out with her magic and grab one, but just as she grabbed hold of the book her horn began throbbing in pain. She stopped trying to use magic and simply walked over to the shelf instead.

There were a few different types of new books here on the shelf. One of them was entitled “Creatures of myth”. Trixie picked it up with her mouth and sat back down on the couch before placing it in her hooves to read.

She found a book mark already inside it. Trixie turned to that page and found something that surprised her a little. This section of the book, although small talked about the Deep One’s. Trixie read the section.

“The Deep One, a monster created from a pony that has been corrupted and mutated heavily by outside influences. Deep One’s are typically very basic monsters by themselves, although a large group of them has been known to develop hive mind intelligence. This intelligence always calls themselves The Deep One, and have a hard time distinguishing themselves apart from one another. This is a rare behavior but a very dangerous one.

“It is known that only ponies suffering from mental illness are able to speak with The Deep One, often times forming a cultic religion around such creatures. It is suggested that if signs of any Deep One activity are found, that extreme measure’s be taken to deal with them immediately.

“Deep One Mutation has been theorized to be caused by a strange ore, usually purple in color. Most ponies would only assume that it’s a type of crystal, but ponies who suffer from mental illness always report that the ore is somehow wrong, disturbing, and giving them chills They have also reported to see strange runes inside the ore, although none are able to properly read them. It is suggested that you destroy or get rid of any ore matching this description.”

Trixie sat there re-reading the small section on Deep One’s over and over again until Maud walked through the front door. Trixie instantly looked up and asked. “What did you do with the purple crystals we got from the caves?”

Maud answered with a flat tone. “I gave them to Twilight, she said she was going to destroy them.”

Trixie looked back at the book and asked. “Did she?”

Maud then said. “I don’t think so. I think she brought it back to Ponyville. Why is something wrong?”

Trixie felt a cold shiver run through her heart as the book’s implication of what may happen. Trixie then looked at Maud and said in a serious tone. “We are going to Ponyville.”

Trixie continued reading the book just as Maud sat down next to her breaking Trixie’s immersion into the book. Maud then asked. “Are we going to live in Ponyville, or just visit?”

Trixie looked at Maud and said. “I don’t know yet, I guess we are just visiting for now. We could take a look at some places for rent while we’re there.”

Maud then snuggled a little closer to Trixie and asked. “What if we find a nice place?”

Trixie thought about it for a moment and then said. “Yeah, I suppose we could move there if that was the case. It might be hard for me to adjust though.”

Maud began nuzzling Trixie’s neck, and then Maud began to kiss her neck softly. Trixie could tell exactly where this was going…again. This time however Trixie just didn’t feel in the mood for such an activity. Her thoughts were too focused on destroying those crystals.

Trixie gently pushed Maud’s head away saying. “Not right now, I don’t feel up to it.”

Maud looked confused, and she felt a little scared. Maud then asked. “Why?”

Trixie then said. “It’s just that we’ve been doing nothing but having sex with each other for the past few days. I’d enjoy it if we did something different.”

Maud then looked away, her feeling of fear didn’t go away though. Trixie began to wonder if Maud might have had a reason behind her obsession with physical intimacy. Trixie asked in a kind voice. “Is there a reason you’ve been so physical with me lately?”

Maud didn’t look at Trixie but she explained. “I have a hard time expressing my feelings for you. This is an easy way for me to show you how much I love you.”

Trixie could still sense some fear deep inside of Maud, so Trixie asked. “Is that the only reason?”

Maud was quiet for a moment, but she finally admitted. “I’m afraid of losing you Lulu.”

That was it, Maud was terrified of losing Trixie and her fear had made her more physically active with Trixie. Maybe Maud didn’t feel like she was good enough or maybe she simply was afraid of not spending the time she had with Trixie to the fullest. Trixie could relate and even though she wanted to dig into Maud’s mind to learn more, she didn’t.

Trixie brought a leg around Maud and pulled her into a tight embrace. Trixie then said. “You won’t lose me, I’m going to be by your side forever Maud.” Trixie gave her lover a kiss on the forehead and added. “But I want to spend my time with you in the best ways I can, just making love isn’t enough. I want to talk with you, go on walks with you, and maybe one day start a family with you.”

Maud looked up at her with a few tears running down her face. Maud was smiling though and she was radiating love. Maud then said. “You…just want to be with me?”

Trixie smiled and asked. “What, did you think I was only in this for the sex?”

Maud gave Trixie a kiss on the lips, and then said. “I was afraid you didn’t need me anymore.”

Trixie gave her a kiss back and said. “I’ll always need you in my life, you are the entire reason that I’m sane.”

The two of them simply held each other and cuddled on the couch for the longest time. Trixie really did love Maud, and cuddling her was one of her favorite things to do. It had been so long since they simply cuddled without it turning into something more, she took her time to enjoy every second of it.

A few days later Trixie began packing some things for the trip to Ponyville. She knew that they may only be spending a few days there, but looking for a new place to live was very important to Maud, so she would be trying her best to help her with that. Trixie had a few more goals while there such as making sure Twilight destroys those purple crystals. And Trixie had plans to go and visit her mother while she was there, hopefully it wouldn’t be too painful a reunion for her.

Trixie didn’t have a whole awful lot she needed to pack, and neither did Maud for that matter. The two of them had bought tickets to go to Ponyville, and were planning on staying with Pinkie Pie during their time there. Tomorrow was the day they go to Ponyville, and although Trixie was both scared and nervous she was also very excited to be going home again.

It had been so long since she had last seen it, and she couldn’t help but think about it. Ponyville, the place where she was born, where she turned bad, and the place where she will be living again, if things go well that is. Trixie let out a sigh and said to herself. “Please let this trip go well.”

Chapter fourteen: disruption

HEART OF STONE
Chapter fourteen: disruption
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The train ride from New Slate to Ponyville is a three hour ride. It wasn’t as tedious as trying to get to the Crystal Empire but it was still a long ride. At least Trixie was glad that she and Maud had obtained their own personal cabin.

Trixie could feel the nervous calm being pulled over her like a curtain, and with it came with all the terrible thoughts of what she had done in the past. There was no telling what the ponies in Ponyville would do to her once she returned. They had chased her out of town once before while shouting threats, the kinds of which she could not easily forget.

Maud looked at Trixie with her stoic expression and asked. “Are you going to be okay?”

Trixie gave Maud a falsely confident smile before saying. “Yeah, I’m just a little worried about how the town will treat me.”

Maud didn’t look away, or even change her expression, but Trixie could feel a nearly overpowering felling of protection coming from her. Maud then said flatly. “No matter what happens. I’ll keep you safe.”

Trixie truly appreciated the gesture of love from Maud. She’d been saved by Maud in the past, so there was no doubt in her mind that she would be safe with Maud at her side. Trixie stared out the window feeling pensive about this whole situation, she really wanted to go home but with everything she had done and the threat the Deep One’s still posed. It really was just too much to deal with by herself, how does Twilight Sparkle manage to save the world twice a year when Trixie could barely manage to keep her insanity in check?

The two ponies sat quietly in the train car for the rest of the trip. Thankfully only ten minutes passed before they arrived at Ponyville station.

Trixie and Maud walked together as they exited the train cart, Trixie tried to keep her head low and unnoticed. Just outside however bounced the one problem with her plan. Pinkie Pie bounced merrily in wait for the two and only a few seconds after stepping off the train did Pinkie Pie shout in a loud and joyful tone. “TRIXIE, MAUD I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!”

Trixie instantly felt the air around her go from being calm to intense, and with it she noticed a large number of ponies leering angrily at her. Trixie felt horrid and sunk her head low letting the miserable feelings overcome her. She would’ve cried if not for the kind hoof placed around her left leg. Trixie looked up into Pinkie’s big blue eyes and happy smile. She realized that no matter what others would say or do, Trixie had Maud’s love and her sister there for her. Trixie followed Pinkie Pie as she led them away from the train station and into town.

Pinkie Pie had insisted that they go to Sugarcube corner first, but Trixie had the unsettling feeling something was wrong and convinced Pinkie to lead them to Twilight’s first and foremost.

The walk through town was unsettling for Trixie. Everypony continued to stare at her and feelings of fear, anger, and rage were shifting through the crowds of ponies. The feelings became so powerful at some points that Trixie nearly collapsed from the pressure of sour emotions. She fought hard to try and keep the emotions away, but she found that no wall powerful enough could be erected in her mind to stop the tide of emotions.

The trio finally reached Twilight Sparkles Tree-castle; it looked very much like something from the crystal empire. For an egg headed princess this looked like a perfect palace, but Trixie felt as though she could never live in such a place herself. She would need a more quiet and subtle home. Maybe she could find such a place while on her stay here with Maud.

The inside of the palace was a little bigger then she thought it would be. Pinkie Pie led them up some stairs and into a long narrow hallway of purple crystal. Trixie loved the crystal empire look of Twilight’s palace, and from the sensations of wonder coming from Maud, it seemed she was not alone.

Pinkie Pie led them to a large double door made of solid looking blue crystal and knocked repeatedly for a full thirty seconds. The door finally opened causing Pinkie to begin swinging her hoof at empty air. Spike stood at the doorway looking a little surprised at the sight of the three ponies.

Pinkie Pie asked. “Hey is Twilight in here, we need to talk to her.”

Trixie began to hear a faint whispering sound from somewhere inside the castle. The sound deeply unsettled her.

Spike answered. “Yeah, she’s here. But she’s really busy doing experiments on these weird purple rocks.”

Trixie felt a small surge of raw magic emanate from deep inside the castle. Trixie could feel it above her, and she could also feel just how dark it really was.

Trixie looked at them and asked. “Do you hear those creepy whispers?”

Maud and spike both shook their heads but Pinkie Pie said. “You hear those too. Weird, I wonder what they are.”

Trixie closed her eyes and forced her courage to come up to the surface again. Trixie opened her eyes again and said. “Twilight’s in trouble and we need to help her now.” Without further announcement Trixie took off in a full gallop towards the sounds.

The other three followed closely, spike having to ride on Pinkie’s back to keep up. Trixie lead them through the mostly empty castle moving upwards. As she ran she noticed that only a few of the castles rooms had been furnished or even looked touched. Most of these rooms were filled with bookshelves.

After three flights of stairs the trio finally came to a stop. The whispering had become a loud mumbling to Trixie and Pinkie Pie. Even Maud and Spike looked physically ill, but they couldn’t seem to hear the voices.

Trixie opened the door that stood in front of them and was engulfed by a bright green light. It was blinding for a few seconds but then Trixie saw something she had never wanted to.

An incorporeal green tentacle had wrapped itself around Twilight’s throat and held her dangling five feet above the floor. It was slowly chocking her. Twilight was kicking in the air trying to fight it, but Trixie could feel Twilight’s magic being drained by this thing. The six purple stones sat on the table glowing in a sickly green light. The metal table holding them was warped as though it had been melted.

Trixie didn’t know what to do about this and she looked to the others for advice. The others were all frozen in fear, but none looked as horrified as Pinkie Pie. Trixie closed her eyes and knew she had to do something and fast.

Trixie took another look at the purple stones and knew what she had to do, what she had to sacrifice. Trixie focused on the round stones and forced her magic out to grab them. She lifted them up into the air slowly. Her horn began throbbing in pain. She began unleashing a green line of energy from her horn towards them. Her nose began to bleed. The stones were struck hard by the green light, and exploded into fine powder.

Trixie fell to her knees and winced at the pain in her skull just as the green tentacle dissipated into motes of pale green light before vanishing completely. Twilight was dropped onto the floor, hard. The mumbling voices fell to a barely audible whisper. Twilight looked up and gasped at the air for a few seconds before saying in a rough raspy voice. “There are more in the cabinet.”

Trixie looked over at the metal cabinet in the corner of the room. She could feel the stones inside of it, and they were afraid. Trixie stood up and walked to the cabinet. She opened it and found a small sack filled with the purple crystals. Some of them looked like the crystals in the cave while others looked more like the stones she had just destroyed.

Trixie wasn’t sure why, but she believed that the stones were changing shape. It was like the stones wanted to become rounded and smooth almost like they wanted to be used for something.

Trixie refused to let some freaky little rocks ruin her home, and so she summoned every ounce of strength she had left. With more pain than before Trixie fired a green laser spell to destroy the rocks. As the rocks turned to smoldering ash Trixie felt a tear running down her left eye and went to wipe it off. Her hoof came back red.

Trixie fell on her side feeling all the strength leave her body. Maud rushed to Trixie’s side, Pinkie along with spike went to Twilight’s side. Trixie simply lay limp while Maud picked her up and laid her across her back. Trixie couldn’t stand right now but she still felt strong enough to speak.

Trixie looked at Twilight and said. “That was very foolish of you.”

The two ponies plus dragon all looked up at her with wide eyes and shocked expressions for a few seconds. Pinkie Pie said in a near whisper. “Trixie your eye.”

Twilight Sparkle seemed to reclaim some of her composer but she still looked both worried and ashamed at the same time. Twilight then apologized. “I’m sorry, I…just wanted to understand how they worked.”

Trixie could feel the blood trickling down from her eye across her cheek and onto Maud’s neck. Trixie’s entire head was in pain, and her horn hurt the worst. Trixie closed her eyes and said. “I’m just glad you’re okay. But you need to be more careful about what you do in the future. Celestia’s already worried about the Deep Ones and your possession.”

Twilight then said in a shocked tone. “She knows? But how does she know about that? I had everypony swear to secrecy, even Applejack.”

Trixie felt confused now and looked at Twilight’s worried expression. Celestia had said that Twilight had written to her about everything that happened in New Slate, but if what Twilight said was true. Then that made Celestia a liar, and this…this was a political mess that Trixie did not want to enter.

Spike stopped looking at Trixie and focused Twilight before giving her a hug. He then asked her. “What just happened? I mean you were floating there, and then Trixie shot some crazy magic lasers at those rocks and you fell…what’s going on?”

Trixie didn’t want any more questions or weirdness; she just killed a bunch of evil rocks. Why does it always have to become so weird and complicated?

Pinkie Pie began looking a little better as well and explained to him. “Those rocks were making this scary tentacle thing that was attacking Twilight. Trixie just saved her life a second time, she’s a real hero.”

Trixie didn’t feel like a hero. Not even in the slightest. Trixie opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she saw a strange look in Pinkie’s eyes. It threw her off for a moment until she noticed a similar look in both Spike’s and Twilights eyes. Trixie was worried about the looks, after an uncomfortable moment she finally asked. “What are you all looking at me like that for? I know I’m not the best pony, but I tried to get here before this happened okay. Stop judging me already.”

Twilight examined her friends’ expressions before looking back at Trixie and saying. “Do you really think we’re judging you? That’s not it at all Trixie…we’re admiring you.” Twilight than began coughing for a few seconds.

Trixie was…being admired by ponies. This had all sorts of wrong written all over it. Trixie was very bothered about this new behavior, but as worried as she was…she enjoyed the good attention. Trixie wondered if this meant she was finally earning some respect from other ponies.

The more she thought about it, the more she believed it too be true. Trixie was amazed at just how good she felt knowing that her friends respected her. In the past when she had gotten any recognition it always felt so hollow. But now she felt…full inside. Despite being in pain Trixie couldn’t stop grinning ear to ear as she looked at these three ponies who truly appreciated her.

Chapter fifteen: deep sleep

HEART OF STONE
Chapter fifteen: deep sleep
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie opened her eyes slowly as the feeling of exhaustion washed over her. She could still feel the dull throbbing pain in her horn. She analyzed her surroundings as she lay on the bed. She was lying inside of a large guest room full of book shelves. The floor and the walls were made from a purple crystal. She wondered if she was inside the crystal empire for a half second before realizing where she was.

Trixie was inside Twilight’s tree-castle. She wasn’t sure how she got on this bed though. The last thing she remembered was when she had been forced to use magic to save Twilight’s life. Maud was carrying her after that. She concluded that she must have fallen asleep on Maud’s back.

Trixie simply lay there in complete silence for a few minutes before she finally heard a voice from next to her. “Hey, are you feeling any better yet?”

Trixie looked up to see Twilight Sparkle standing next to her. Trixie rolled away from her and said flatly, “I can’t believe you did that, I told you to destroy those rocks.”

Twilight replied, “I was trying to understand how the magic worked. It wasn’t my first experience with this kind of magic before…I believed I could handle it.”

Trixie looked over her shoulder and gave Twilight a stern look while saying, “Well you believed wrong. You could have killed yourself. You can’t do this kind of stuff now that you’re a princess.”

Twilight looked away shamefully and agreed, “I know…and again I’m sorry.”

Trixie closed her eyes and said in a softer tone. “I understand. Just don’t do it again…okay?”

Trixie heard Twilight stand up and walk away saying. “I promise I won’t.”

Trixie was concerned for Twilight Sparkle, she always was the curious pony and her lack of wisdom was always a concern back in school. Sometimes Trixie wondered if unicorns were simply cursed to go in head strong without thinking of consequences or taking any precautions. Trixie couldn’t say that she hadn’t been irresponsible in the past, but after her actions got others hurt she knew that she needed to grow up. Maybe it was time Twilight did so as well.

Trixie lay there on the bed for what felt like an eternity alone in that room. She couldn’t prevent her mind from wondering about the things in her life. Her mom was here in Ponyville, she may be completely insane but she was here at least. Maud was somewhere in the castle, Trixie could feel the presence of her mind, her emotions. Pinkie Pie was also in here somewhere talking to Maud.

Other ponies had entered the castle since Trixie first awoken. Trixie couldn’t tell who they were from the feeling of their minds alone, she was not as familiar with them. Judging by the fact that Trixie had felt five new ponies enter Twilights home it was safe to assume that these ponies were Twilight’s friends.

Trixie began feeling very lonely in the little room she was in. Trixie tried to go back to sleep while cuddling under the blanket Twilight had given her. After a while Trixie heard the door open very quietly and the faintest of taps on the hard crystalline floor indicating walking. The pony that had just entered walked over to Trixie’s side, this pony felt very sad for Trixie, and very scared, along with an emotion that Trixie couldn’t quite understand.

Trixie heard a soft voice begin speaking next to her. It was Fluttershy’s voice. “Um….hello Trixie. I’m…I’m sorry that you got hurt again, Twilight told us that you saved her. Pinkie Pie was…uh…a little more than upset when we got here. I think those two had a fight.”

Trixie planned on simply lying there and pretending to sleep. Until she felt Fluttershy give her a gentle hug. Trixie could feel that last emotion growing stronger, and she still wasn’t sure what that emotion was. It was almost like Fluttershy was really scared of something but also really happy at the same time. Fluttershy then kissed the back of Trixie’s head softly.

Fluttershy whispered in a voice so low that Trixie was only just barely able to catch it. Fluttershy said, “I’m in love with you.”

Trixie’s heart stopped. Fluttershy was in what with who now? Trixie began feeling a new sense of panic enveloping her entire being. Trixie wanted to let Fluttershy know that she was awake, but if she did then Fluttershy would realize that she just heard her. This was a sensitive situation, the kind that scared the crap out of her.

Fluttershy then explained, “I always liked your shows, I thought your showy personality was kinda silly. I used to think you did all that intentionally, maybe you did and you just didn’t realize it. I wanted so badly to be your friend. I could tell that you needed one. But my friends were always so…rude when talking about you. I was scared they would be mean to me for liking you, but I know better now.”

There was a pause before Fluttershy admitted, “When you helped me out over in New Slate…well that was very kind of you. You’re my hero Trixie…”

Fluttershy leaned in closer and whispered. “I know that you and Maud are special, but if anything ever happened to you and Maud, I would be here for you…I wish you could hear me right now.”

Fluttershy leaned away and let out a sigh before saying, “This is silly and maybe a little bad of me, I shouldn’t have snuck up here. Discord was wrong, telling you how I feel while you were sleeping doesn’t make me feel better…I only feel pathetic now.”

Fluttershy simply sat next to Trixie for a few more minutes in complete silence, and for every second that Trixie had to pretend to be sleeping she felt more and more terror rising inside her. Finally Trixie heard another Pony at the door to the room she was in.

Rarity spoke from the doorway. “Fluttershy darling, Twilight told us not to bother Trixie. Trixie needs her beauty sleep after all. Come on downstairs before Twilight finds out, last thing we need is to have another conflict. Pinkie Pie is already mad enough for all of us.”

Fluttershy stood up and began walking to the door. Trixie heard Fluttershy ask as she left. “Why would Twilight keep researching these monsters? Trixie ki-defeated them all already right?”

Rarity replied, “It’s complicated. I think she just wants to-.“ The door closed shutting off everything Trixie could hear from the other ponies.

Trixie laid there pretending to sleep for a while. All she could do was contemplate everything Fluttershy had said to her. Trixie was becoming afraid of what could happen in the near future, but the worst part was that Fluttershy had mentioned a name she was afraid of, Discord. If Discord had his talons, or hooves, or whatever in this, then he had to have had some chaotic purpose for it. He never did good things, not without causing an uproar first.

Trixie closed her eyes, she needed rest after using that much magic. Not to mention the emotional exhaustion she was feeling now after Fluttershy’s revelation. If she only closed her eyes and relaxed for a few minutes she may feel good enough to go talk to everypony. The exhaustion from before hit her hard, and Trixie found herself quickly falling into sleep

After a few hours Trixie finally decided to get off the bed and check out the situation downstairs. There was an odd blue tint to everything she could see. And everything had become quiet. There was no sign of anypony inside the castle, Trixie couldn’t feel anypony around. She explored the castle searching for signs of anypony still around but found no pony inside the castle.

An hour passed, than two, then four. Trixie searched but found nopony in the castle, and no pony in the village. Everything had become quiet and empty. Trixie was past the point of worry and panic. Nopony was around and she was alone, all alone. Trixie fell to her knees and closed her eyes; there was nopony around to help her.

Finally Trixie heard somepony coming towards her and looked towards them excitedly. What stood before her was a mirrored reflection of herself. The pony that stood before her was an exact copy of herself, the false Trixie was wearing a red cape with a black star pattern, she also had a matching magician’s hat.

Trixie stood up and stared at her reflection feeling confused. Finally the false Trixie grew a wicked grin and said. “Well now, this is a surprise.”

Trixie looked around for any answers she could find, she had to figure out what was going on here. The sky had begun crackling with a blue lighting calling forth a terrible storm over ponyville. Trixie was afraid.

The false Trixie looked at her with red hate filled eyes. The false Trixie then said in a low dangerous tone, “You should have known this was coming, that I was coming. You can’t stop what’s to come, Trixie Lulamoon your sins run too deep for you to simply run away from them. Why do you think you think your magic doesn’t work anymore, who do you think took your power away?”

The false Trixie’s eyes became green with a purple aura glowing around them. The false Trixie’s voice became a little deeper, and she said, “I’ve been sleeping for so long now. You were a most hospitable host but now I must ask that you resign control over to me for the meantime. I need to gather a few…things. Do not worry though, I won’t let any harm come to those you love. We will be done with our task…soon enough.”

Trixie felt very sleepy all of a sudden. This creature threatened to take her body, to force her to do whatever it wanted. Trixie couldn’t just let this happen it was offensive, wrong, and vile. However Trixie had no chance against the creature standing before her right now, it was too much for her to comprehend.

A veil of soothing calm overcame her, and as Trixie fell over from the exhaustion she had the most curious thought. What happens if you fall asleep while you’re dreaming?

Trixie closed her eyes and fell deeper into sleep…

Chapter sixteen: dark waters

HEART OF STONE
Chapter sixteen: dark waters
Written by TheCrimsonDM

It felt as though Trixie was in a deep sleep surrounded by blackness. She tried to wake up but she felt like all of her strength had left her. Weakened, defenseless, and alone there was nothing she could do except give up.

It wasn’t blackness all the time however, the blackness was continuously interrupted by flashes of images. Trixie could see glimpses of things, things she was doing, things she didn’t understand. It was like watching a movie, only she was both the star and the audience. There was nothing she could do but watch fearfully.

In one moment Trixie could see herself gathering the purple crystals in Twilight’s basement, she was gathering all of them. Thankfully there weren’t very many but she felt as though they would be more than enough for whatever dark purpose they were about to serve.

Darkness came again for a while before being interrupted by another flash. In this flash Trixie watched as she walked down a long cave tunnel, the tunnel opened up into a large cavernous area with a pool of luminescent water in the center of it. Trixie began setting the stones around the pool and watched as she began effortlessly using magic to surround the stones with green energy.

Trixie continued to watch in terror as the stones turned gray and all the energy from inside them flowed into the pool of water. Trixie then took a few steps forward and went for a swim.

Blackness became her world again and she simply lay there feeling alone and scared. It felt like an eternity but Trixie finally began to see light, it was faint at first and then it was brighter. The light got continuously brighter until it blinded her eyes.

***

Trixie opened her eyes and gasped for air as she awoke with a jump start. She was cold and wet, and the hard rocky floor she lay on was far from comfortable. She looked around and realized that she was inside a cave, the very same cave from her dream. The pool of glowing water rest behind her along with the ring of gray stones around its edges.

She wasn’t sure what had happened but she knew that whatever had occurred here, it was going to spell trouble for her in the future. She stood up slowly, she was still very tired but after waking up in strange unfamiliar place, the last thing she wanted to do was sleep.

Trixie examined the area she was in and saw a tunnel leading out of the room. A shadowy figure was watching her from the tunnel. It quickly turned away and ran from her. Trixie couldn’t explain why, but she knew that she had to chase after that shadow.

She ran up the slope that lead to the tunnel and raced inside the tunnel. It was getting progressively dark, and Trixie couldn’t use her magic for fear of hurting herself again. The shadow was just ahead of her, it belonged to a pony and Trixie needed to stop that pony.

Trixie heard a familiar voice calling back to her, it was a little deeper then hers and sounded almost sensual.

“I must thank you for sheltering me while I regained my strength. You were a much more…pleasurable host then Twilight was,” the mare said to her.

Trixie didn’t like what the voice was saying, and she really didn’t want to meet the mare this voice belonged to. But she had to stop them, she could feel it in her bones that this thing was going to be bad.

Trixie called out to the mare. “Why, what did you do? What are you?”

“Oh, I just borrowed your…body for a few weeks. If not for you going into Twilight’s mind and rescuing me…I never would have been free,” the voice explained back to Trixie.

Trixie could feel the exhaustion slowing her down. She wanted to stop and rest, but this was one race she couldn’t afford to lose. Finally the shadow stopped moving and Trixie caught up to it. There was nothing but a dead end waiting for this pony, as the tunnel had long ago collapsed. Trixie couldn’t make out any obvious details on the pony in question but that didn’t stop her from being afraid it.

The pony stood and faced her, and Trixie caught a glimpse at its red glowing eyes. The eyes cast only the faintest of light upon this mares light blue face and her blue and silver striped mane. Trixie stood frozen as she realized that this pony looked very much like her.

Trixie took a step back and fearfully asked, “What are you?”

The pony in front of her adopted a small grin and said, “Why I’m nothing more than a shadow my dear. At least that’s what I am anymore, but thanks to you…well let’s just say that I can fix all that now.”

Trixie took another step back as the pony stood there staring at her. Trixie began to shake as she asked, “What did you make me do?”

The doppelganger closed its glowing eyes casting the tunnel into an impenetrable darkness. The voice explained. “Oh I didn’t do anything naughty, you have earned some small favors from me. I am the element of domination, although I suppose I could use a new name now that my form has been changed yet again. How about you call me Scath.”

Trixie took yet another step backwards and her rump touched the cavern wall, causing her to let out a scream of terror. Scath began laughing as a dull green light from her horn illuminated the entire tunnel. Scath looked very much like Trixie, only Scath’s fur was a little paler and her cutie mark was missing.

Scath then surrounded herself with the dark green energy and melted into the shadows, the shadows then pulled themselves underneath the collapsed tunnel exit. Forever escaping Trixie’s grasp. Trixie was then left alone in the darkness with nowhere to go, and nothing to do. More than the darkness surrounded Trixie now, a sinking feeling deep inside her heart brought her down and into a inescapable numbness.

Trixie turned away from the tunnel knowing that she could not escape this way. She backtracked to the glowing pool of water and waited next to it. Somepony would eventually notice she was gone and come looking for her right?

***

Trixie laid on the hard stone spending most of her time sleeping down there. She couldn’t tell how long it had been since she first arrived inside this strange cave, but she had gone through two sleep cycles since. Unfortunately that didn’t tell her anything about the passing of time. She suspected that these sleep cycles were actually caused by her instincts kicking in. She could’ve been here for an hour, or for two days, she couldn’t tell.

Her previous attempts to find another exit all failed. This cavern only had one tunnel leading out, and that tunnel was blocked. The pool of water gave her light to see by, but it also gave her a chilling feeling. Something was very wrong with this place.

Eventually Trixie couldn’t sleep anymore her restless mind was bothering her with troubling thoughts. Trixie wanted to see Maud and tell her she was safe, she wanted to know if Twilight was doing okay after that attack, and she wanted to visit her mom. After having been stuck here for so long she finally realized that avoiding her mom had been the worst thing she could have ever done. So what if her mom was insane, Trixie was insane as well.

Tears ran down Trixie’s face and she knew that this was going to be her end. There was no way out of this cave, the only tunnel there was lead to a dead end. Trixie couldn’t’ even fathom how Scath had gotten into here. She must have used that shadowy spell of hers.

A strange presence filled the cave and Trixie could feel something new in here with her. Its thoughts were completely distorted and confused, unreadable. Trixie looked around but didn’t see anything around her.

“Are you having fun in here,” a male voice began saying, “all by yourself?”

“Who is that?” Trixie asked the voice.

“Why it’s just me, a little mischievous and handsome spirit,” Explained the voice.

Trixie shook her head feeling confused and fearful. Was she finally going insane again? Had it really been this long since she had last taken her medication? Trixie laid her head down and said lamely, “Whatever, you’re just a figment of my crazy anyways…”

The voice then offered playfully, “Oh well if I am simply a part of your crazy maybe I should help you out.”

Trixie didn’t feel much like entertaining a hallucination but she had nothing better to do. “How?” she asked.

The voice gave a small chuckle before saying, “why with your intellect I would have thought it obvious. Try using those mind powers of yours. If you can read minds, could you not implant ideas into them?”

Trixie would have argued about this plan if it didn’t make sense, but it did. Trixie concentrated on trying to find any minds around her, it took awhile but she began feeling a familiar mind close to her current location. Twilight Sparkle was somewhere near her and she was thinking about how to prevent some disaster or something. Twilights own thoughts were a little muddled to Trixie at the moment but she could connect to it, and that meant she had a chance. Trixie began pressing an idea into Twilight’s mind.

Trixie focused on showing Twilight the location she was standing in currently. The glowing pool of magic water was the best location marker she could find near her. It took her a few minutes of concentrating but finally Trixie could feel Twilight’s thoughts shift from potential future doom. Twilight was now thinking about Trixie’s location, and Trixie being there. For some reason Twilight became fearful about an army of Trixie clones, but Trixie could feel Twilight as she began planning on checking out the location.

Trixie waited patiently for a few minutes while staying connected to Twilight’s mind. A bright flash of pink light shocked Trixie out of her concentration. Twilight was now standing only a few feet away from Trixie and was giving her an odd look. Trixie didn’t care though because she finally had a way out of here.

Even with tears streaming down her face, Trixie managed to smile and say, “I can’t believe you came to rescue me.”

Twilight looked cautiously around the room as if trying to find something important. After a moment Twilight asked, “Why are you down here?”

Trixie wasn’t sure why she was down here, Scath hadn’t given her a proper answer. Trixie simple shook her head saying, “I don’t know how I got down here. I think my magic went crazy again.”

Twilight didn’t seem to accept the answer at first but after a moment she relaxed and said, “Alright let’s get you home Trixie. It doesn’t look like any harm’s been done so we should be safe.”

Twilight walked over and gave Trixie an embrace. After a second Trixie’s world was washed in a soft pink light as she was teleported out of the cave.

Chapter seventeen: worrisome nights

HEART OF STONE
Chapter seventeen: worrisome nights
Written by TheCrimsonDM

A flash of soft pink light and a moment later Trixie appeared inside of a small hut. She examined her surroundings. The dark moonlit room made it a little hard to see things but Trixie had gotten used to the darkness while in the cave. There were wooden masks hung from the walls, various herbs collected on the shelf and an old familiar looking bed at the side of the room. And lying on the bed was a very startled looking zebra staring with wide eyes at Trixie and Twilight. She was inside Zecora’s home.

Trixie opened her mouth to apologize to the Zecora for the intrusion, but instead of words Trixie’s breakfast came out…all over the floor. Twilight looked over and said, “Eww, that’s gross. Maybe teleportation was a little too rough for you.”

Trixie spat out the last piece of bile and looked angrily towards Twilight. Trixie then looked away and apologized. “I’m sorry for…this. I hope you’re not mad with us Zecora.”

Zecora got out of the bed and walked towards the two ponies. She then smiled to Trixie and said, “There is no harm in what you’ve done, being sick is never fun.”

Trixie couldn’t help but smile at Zecora’s odd way of speaking in rhymes. A sudden wave of dizziness hit Trixie causing her to sit down hard on her rump. It felt like the entire world was spinning out of her control. Trixie felt Twilight gentle help her to her hooves and together they walked to the bed and Trixie laid down on it. Trixie was beginning to hate beds.

Trixie listened in on the conversation between Twilight and Zecora. She would have given them their privacy but there wasn’t any way for her to ignore them. Listening in sounded like a good distraction for her, her insides still hurt after all. Trixie could still taste the vomit in her mouth and it was disgusting.

“So I came here to make sure that the…you know what is still secure,” Twilight said.

“The ground keeps its secrets safe and sound, you have no need to fear for the safety of the town,” Zecora rhymed in response.

Twilight looked down at her hooves and let out a sigh before saying, “I am so glad to hear that. Last thing I need is an extra worry, it’s been far too long since anything big happened. I’m getting paranoid.”

Zecora placed a hoof gently on Twilight’s for leg and said, “There is no need to fear, for you have many friends here. Why not go out and have fun, just like the rising of the sun.”

Twilight looked up at her with tearful eyes. Twilight then admitted, “I’m so scared. Ever since I moved to Ponyville two years ago things have gotten worse. I have to save the world once every three months, and things have been escalating exponentially. After Lord Tirek I finally realized that our country is going to face something horrible soon…I am terrified that it could be what destroys us.”

“There are things dark to be sure, but with some light you will soar. If you place trust in your friends they will fight with you till the end.” explained Zecora.

Trixie hadn’t considered how hard things had been for Twilight recently. Now she simply wanted to help Twilight out the best she could, but that didn’t mean that she would be able to do anything. Trixie felt something come up her throat and she quickly spat it out onto the floor. Trixie looked skeptically at the red glob that she just spat out of her mouth. That couldn’t have come from her…

Twilight looked away from Trixie and towards the door while saying. “I never wanted to be a princess, or a hero, or an anything. All of my friends have been through so much lately and I just want to make everything be peaceful for them. I don’t know what I can do though…”

Twilight gave a long pause allowing silence to fill the room. After a few moments of the oppressive silence Twilight said, “I have been trying to prevent bad things from happening. My…plans have been getting more secretive and more dangerous. I need help from my friends, but I’m scared to trust them with this. They look so much happier than me…why did she have to turn me into a princess, why did I have to be the element of magic,” Twilight’s voice raised to nearly shouting volume, “why is everything so freaking hard?”

Zecora walked over to Twilight and nuzzled her back for a few moments. As Twilight seemed to calm down Zecora said, “Life is full of hurt, and all we can do is work, day by day so that we may see the light that lurks just out of sight.”

Twilight looked up at her and smiled before looking at Trixie and giving her a smile as well. Tears were running down Twilights face and Trixie felt really bad for her. Twilights smile faded the longer she looked at Trixie and then she asked, “Are you okay?”

Trixie opened her mouth and spoke gently, her throat was still in pain. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Twilight walked over to her and said, “No you’re not, there is blood on your muzzle.” Twilight looked back at the pool of vomit that had settled onto the floor and looked a little shocked as she said, “Oh my Celestia, how did I not see that sooner. You were puking up blood.”

Trixie was unsurprised, and she already knew why, she had used too much magic. Either from when she saved Twilight or from when Scath had possessed her. Scath was the sudden realization that made her sit up in a jolt and say, “That doesn’t matter now, we have much bigger problems.”

Twilight looked at Trixie and frowned before asking, “What’s wrong?”

Trixie felt her body shaking from the sudden movement and her insides hurt a little. Trixie sucked up the pain and said, “There was another pony down there with me…and we need to stop her.”

Trixie had explained to them about her being possessed by the creature named Scath. How Scath used her to make a new body, and how Scath escaped. Trixie told them about the element of domination and that brought a new look of horror from Twilight’s face. Trixie even told them about how her cloned body, the one Scath was now using had no cutie mark. It looked like everything that Twilight was fearful of was already happening, now it was only a matter of whether they could stop it in time or not.

Trixie was enjoying the nice cool breeze on her fur coat as they walked back to town. Twilight and Trixie had decided to walk back, while Zecora checked up on whatever Twilight was so worried about being stolen.

Trixie looked up at the moon and wondered about how long she had been gone. Trixie shook with the idea of leaving Maud alone that long. Trixie had to ask, “How long was I stuck down there, and is Maud okay?”

Twilight looked over at her surprised and said, “You told her that you were going to be gone until nightfall. Said something about going to visit somepony I think, Maud didn’t seem upset about it…wait did you actually say that? Or was it Scath?”

Trixie looked away and said, “I didn’t do that. It had to be Scath…I really hope that Maud is okay.”

Trixie then remembered what Fluttershy had said to her when she was pretending to sleep. Trixie let out a sigh of frustration and said, “Darn it. I have to deal with Fluttershy too don’t I…I hate drama.”

Twilight gave her an inquisitive look prompting Trixie to explain, “Fluttershy has a…well she has a small problem that I might need to help her with. I only hope that I can do something good for her, I don’t want anypony to be hurt from this."

Twilight continued giving her the look obviously wanting to know more before she realized that Trixie wasn’t going to say any more, and gave up.

“You probably shouldn’t tell me, I am horrible at keeping secrets,” Twilight admitted.

Trixie gave a small laugh at Twilights words. “Yeah remember the time that I caught you trying to use dark magic. It took you all of five minutes before you cried to Celestia begging for her forgiveness,” said Trixie.

Twilight laughed back with her and said, “Yeah and then there was the time I had a crush on…well you know the fillies name. I think I got myself in all kinds of trouble with that one.”

Trixie laughed with her and said, “Yeah, if you had been in Ponyville that would of gone unnoticed. But there are a lot of stallions in Canterlot so it’s expected that you find a colt friend. You should of come here sooner.”

Twilight laughed along and joked, “Ponyville, hometown of the fillyfooler’s.”

Trixie smiled and said, “Well duh, my home town is the best home town.”

Together the two of them laughed happily, and joked alongside one another as they reminisced about their school days. They continued like this until they made their way back to town. Maybe they weren’t friends in school but they were beginning to realize that they had been closer than they once thought.

The two of them finally arrived in town, Trixie was still beaten and exhausted but Twilight looked on edge and paranoid. Trixie doubted that even a slumber spell would allow Twilight to go to sleep right now. Twilight brought Trixie over to the Sugarcube Corner where Maud and Pinkie were staying.

Both Maud and Pinkie Pie were sitting on the steps outside the small baker shop looking bored. Trixie could feel Maud’s anxiety as they approached. Twilight looked at Trixie and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll do research on this element of domination and see what I can do to stop Scath. You only need to rest and work on having a fun trip. This time let me save you, okay.”

Trixie nodded and began trotting towards Maud, she was happy to finally see her lover again. Twilight decided to leave her alone and return to her castle, she would begin doing research there.

On Trixie’s approach Maud looked up at her and usually bored expression turned into a small smile. Maud got up from her seat on the steps of Sugarcube Corner and began trotting towards Trixie. The two of them embraced each other and Maud gave Trixie a wonderful kiss that lasted for what felt like an eternity, and yet as she pulled away it felt like it had been so short.

Maud was wearing a slightly sour face and fought for a moment before spitting on the ground. Trixie felt bad and apologized, “I’m sorry, I kinda threw up at Zecora’s house. I didn’t’ get a chance to wash my mouth ou-“ Trixie was cut off as Maud kissed her again. This time she kissed her even longer than before.

When Maud finally pulled away she said, “I don’t mind. I missed you. Please don’t leave me like that again.” Maud truly had missed Trixie, and Trixie really hoped that it wasn’t hard for her in Ponyville. Trixie wanted to tell Maud about her doppelganger Scath so badly, but she decided to leave it for tomorrow. Twilight was going to handle this, and Trixie was going to simply enjoy her time in Ponyville. Tomorrow she would help Maud look for a place to move into, and afterwards Trixie would visit her mother. Hopefully things wouldn’t explode tomorrow, but if her luck held like was now…then everything would collapse tomorrow.

Chapter Eighteen: Home Sweet Home

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Eighteen: Homeward Bound
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie lay in Maud’s legs cuddling into her chest as she lay in bed. Pinkie Pie was snoring loudly from the other side of the room. Pinkie Pie had offered them her room to stay at while they were in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie managed to get a second bed up into her room just for these two to sleep in. As Trixie lay there nice and snug Maud became increasingly frisky with her. Maud’s hooves gently caressing the length of her body. Trixie found herself enjoying Maud’s touch thoroughly even with Pinkie Pie sleeping in the other bed.

“Maud, we should stop this before it goes too far,” purred Trixie unable to resist her lovers touch.

Maud didn’t say a word as she continued working her magic. Suddenly a second pair of hooves began rubbing Trixie’s withers. Trixie noticed that the snoring had stopped. Trixie looked behind herself and saw Pinkie Pie staring back at her with a seductive look in her eyes. Unsure of how to handle this new situation Trixie looked towards her lover for any indication of what to do, and to her surprise she found Maud replaced with Fluttershy. Fluttershy slowly moved her hooves down Trixie’s sides and onto her flanks. Pinkie Pie began to kiss the length of Trixie’s neck. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy leaned there muzzles over Trixie and kissed one another. Trixie had no idea what was happening or why. Suddenly a bright light blinded Trixie.

Trixie sat straight up in bed and covered her eyes as the morning sun blinded her momentarily. She was covered in sweat and trembling. The dream she just had was very exciting if not just a bit worrisome. She rubbed at her eyes and forced herself to calm down. She looked over to see the sleeping form of Maud Pie lying next to her. Pinkie Pie wasn’t in the room at the moment, so she must be awake already.

Trixie was concerned about her dream. A dream about both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie was a little odd in her opinion. She wasn’t sure whether to enjoy or fear the dream, perhaps both. Trixie already had a pony for that kind of stuff. A pony she loved with all her heart, this dream was just…weird. She decided that if she had to deal with this, it could wait until after she was done with today’s schedule.

Trixie laid back down on the bed and wrapped her forelegs around her sleeping mare friend. She just lay there snuggling Maud for a few more minutes, breathing in the sweet scent of lilac from her special somepony. Trixie couldn’t help but smile as she thought about how Pinkie Pie had been so keen on creating a list of fun things for the three of them to do together. After everything Trixie had been through since coming to Ponyville however, Pinkie Pie decided to re write the list and make it more…calm.

Trixie really needed rest, and although she had gotten a good amount of sleep last night, it just didn’t feel like enough. A sudden churning inside Trixie’s belly caused her to sit up and charge towards the bathroom. She had run down the stairs and bolted into the bathroom just in time to vomit into the toilet. After she finally finished she wiped her muzzle with her foreleg and felt shaky. Trixie went to flush the toilet and stopped.

There was a lot of red inside the toilet. Her foreleg and muzzle was red as well. Trixie didn’t want to think about this, she didn’t want to deal with this, she didn’t want any part of this. She flushed the toilet and told herself that it couldn’t be blood, it had to be something she ate…it didn’t work but she tried to tell herself this anyway.

After washing off her leg and muzzle Trixie emerged from the bathroom. She found Pinkie Pie waiting for her on the other side of the door. Pinkie Pie looked a little sad as she stared at Trixie. Trixie couldn’t help but look away and say, “It’s okay Pinkie Pie. I’ll be just fine…”

Pinkie Pie gave Trixie a hug and said, “That’s exactly what I said when I needed help the most. Trixie you’re my sister and I’m going to help you anyway I can, but you have to trust me okay.”

Trixie returned the hug and in quiet whisper said, “I’ve been dealing with so much stuff since coming here to Ponyville. I don’t know what to do about it all.”

Pinkie Pie sniffled and said, “I understand, but we’re going to fix that okay. I have the list of things to do, it won’t be hard on you. I promise, and if you need help getting around town I can pull you in my wagon.”

Trixie gave a little laugh and said playfully, “pulling Trixie around in a wagon, that will never happen. The great and powerful Trixie doesn’t trust wheels, remember.”

Pinkie Pie laughed a little at the little joke Trixie made, she enjoyed being able to joke like that with Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie took Trixie downstairs where she had prepared a wonderful pancake breakfast for her. Although Trixie insisted that she wouldn’t eat without Maud by her side. So Pinkie went up stairs to fetch her sister.

Aside from Pinkie Pie and the two young foals, the breakfast table was quiet. Trixie could tell that Maud was confused, and worried. The cakes seemed to be nervous. Trixie really wished that she couldn’t feel other ponies emotions sometimes. Trixie decided to try and kill the tension and be the first one to speak.

“You know I grew up here in Ponyville,” Trixie admitted.

Mr. Cake looked intrigued and said, “Oh really?”

Trixie smiled back as nicely as she could. “Yeah, back then ponies used to call me Little Lula, I’m Midnight Sonata’s daughter.”

The Cakes looked at one another before returning there gaze to Trixie. Misses Cake then said, “Oh, does that mean you’re the daughter who was sent to Celestia’s school?”

Trixie nodded and then Mr. Cake said, “I’m sorry about…uh…everything.”

Trixie looked at her food, she had hardly touched any of it. It was delicious to be sure, but she just didn’t feel like eating. She was emotionally upset still, and her belly still didn’t feel right.

Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I’ve had a hard life. But things are finally looking up, I have Maud, and Pinkie. I’m even friends with Twilight Sparkle…so I think that this might really be the start of a good life for me. I know I’ve done a lot of bad here in the past, and if I hurt either of you I’m terribly sorry for it. I’m going to make up for it somehow though, I promise.”

Misses Cake gave Trixie a kind smile. “There’s no need for that. Pinkie Pie has told us how good you really are, and how wrong we all were for judging you. I’m sure that the town will begin to accept you soon, you just need to give them a chance. This town is amazing for turning lives around you’ll see.”

Trixie felt herself grinning, it was nice to have support from ponies she barely even knew. If Misses Cake's words were true then her life could continue to improve. Trixie still couldn’t stomach more than a few tiny bites of breakfast, her insides were still tumbling around making her feel sick.

After breakfast Trixie simply lay down on the bed, Maud was kind enough to offer her flank as a pillow for Trixie to rest her head on. Trixie didn’t know what had caused her to become so ill, not for certain anyway. She still suspected that it was because of her use of magic to destroy the rocks and save Twilight. The thing with Scath on the other hoof was still worrying her, maybe Scath had done something to her. That could explain the blood.

Every second Trixie lay still she felt panic beginning to rise. There had to be a reason for everything to be like this. Maybe Trixie was simply cursed, that would only be fitting after all. Maud stroked Trixie’s mane gently. “It’s okay Trixie. When you feel better we can go out and look around town. I hear there is a nice restaurant in town that you may like.”

Trixie simply laid there enjoying the kind treatment from her special somepony. Their plan had been to look around town at the houses and hopefully find a good home. Trixie didn’t feel much like eating at the moment so the idea of going to a restaurant with Maud although pleasing was not the best idea at the moment. It was nice of her to suggest it though, a date with Maud would be nice…did Maud just suggest a date?

Trixie spoke softly as she asked, “Did you just ask me out on a date?”

Maud answered back with her flat tone of voice, but Trixie could feel her nerviousness, “Yes.”

Trixie smiled and cuddled into her mare friends flank a little more. Trixie then said, “I would love to, when I stop feeling so sick. The first thing I did today was throw up, after all.”

“Maybe you caught something on the train?” Maud suggested.

“Maybe,” said Trixie dully.

Trixie closed her eyes and listened to Maud’s soothing voice as she rested. “Rarity wanted you to come by when you felt better.”

Trixie began feeling sleepy and asked, “Do you know why?”

“I think she made something for you,” Maud answered.

Trixie just lay there in silence and allowed the world to sweep away as she fell asleep. Trixie’s last conscious thoughts were about how often she was sleeping lately, it seemed like a lot to her, and yet she was feeling so exhausted.

Later that day Trixie and Maud followed Pinkie Pie around town as Pinkie showed them a few houses. Trixie felt a little better but not by enough, she was still feeling sick and tired. She toughed it up and decided to go anyway. She was determined to find a nice little place to live sick or not.

The few places they visited were a little unlike what she had imagined. Trixie kept her eyes open for a particular building that she had wanted to visit. But after a while Trixie gave up on finding the old tree house that used to meant so much to her. It may not matter much anyway, she could find it again later. Her memories of the old library were very pleasant.

The first house they had visited was a two story house with straw roofing, there wasn’t anything wrong with it in particular. It was just too close to the town hall, meaning it was a little too busy for Maud to handle. Although Maud had denied it, Trixie could feel her anxiety over this house.

While Maud was exploring the upstairs Trixie took Pinkie Pie aside and into the kitchen. Trixie had been meaning to ask something for a while now but she had either been too busy, or too stressed to talk about it.

Pinkie Pie smiled brightly at Trixie making her feel a little bad for asking this, but it needed to be done. “Hey Pinkie Pie, I just wanted to tell you that the information you gave me about my psychic powers was really informative. But I am a little curious, how do you know so much about them?”

Pinkie’s expression continued looking happy, but Trixie could feel a shift in the air around her. Pinkie Pie was beginning to panic, or at least that’s what if felt like to Trixie. Pinkie Pie then said in her bouncy happy voice, “lucky guess.”

It felt almost like a lie to Trixie, but she decided to trust her and not press any further for information. Trixie looked around and felt as though it was time to continue the search somewhere else.

The second house was next to a candy store, and it was more suitable. At least until the owner came out, a pony with a pink and blue mane and two candies for a cutie mark, and made a snide comment to Trixie. Trixie wasn’t sure what she had done to this pony but the image of stealing all of her candy and eating it came to mind. Pinkie Pie and Trixie had to work together to pull an angry Maud away before things got ugly.

The third house was right next to the lake, and although it was a very pretty view of the lake. It was a little too close to Twilight’s tree-castle for Trixie’s liking. Although they were friends now, Trixie would prefer not to live so close to the princess, it was kinda like asking for trouble from every evil doer in Equestria.

Trixie had walked out to the surface of the lake alone and watched the water. It was really quiet right now, and Trixie enjoyed that. The pony from before had really upset her, but even worse the pony had upset Maud. Trixie had forgotten just how scary Maud could be when she was protecting the ponies she loved.

Pinkie Pie walked up to Trixie and said, “hey there filly…you okay?”

“I don’t know, it just sucks when some ponies are mean like that one was,” Trixie explained.

Pinkie Pie kicked a pebble into the water and looked back towards the house. “Maud is inside checking out the bed room. She might take a few minutes so I have enough time to tell you a story.”

Pinkie looked at Trixie meeting her eyes. Trixie became suddenly aware of a heavy weight that was on Pinkie Pie. It was something that felt very familiar to Trixie’s guilt. Trixie sat down and said, “okay, what’s it about?”

Pinkie Pie smiled but Trixie could feel Pinkie’s heart breaking. Pinkie then said, “Once upon a time there was a pink pegasus pony. She lived up in the clouds with her family. Her family worked on a rock-um cloud farm. And they were content…but the pink pegasus wasn’t happy.”

“What was wrong with her,” asked Trixie.

Pinkie let out a sigh and said, “the pink pegasus’s family-“

“Pegasi,” corrected Trixie.

Pinkie gave a small huff and puff before continuing her story. “Anyway, the pink pony’s family were a very different kind of pony. Her parents almost never said the words ‘I love you’ nor did they ever give out any hugs. Things were really dull up in the clouds. One day the Pink pony saw a magical rainbow explosion and realized that there was more to life then boring gray rocks.”

“Don’t you mean clouds,” Trixie corrected again.

Pinkie Pie smiled in appreciation. “Yeah gray boring clouds. Anyways, now that she learned that there was more out there she began searching for things that were different. Things that spat in the face of her old boring life. The pink pegasus got into a lot of trouble with authority during this time of her life. Eventually she discovered she had a knack for making ponies laugh. So she decided to try having some out of this world parties.”

Pinkie Pie paused for a moment causing Trixie who was very interested in the story to ask, “what happened?”

Pinkie Pie gave her a sly smile as she said, “well she might have caused a fire in the village after an out of control party. After that she was disciplined harshly and was not allowed to go out and party, or hang out with her old friends. Her parents were scared that there child was becoming a bad pony, they may have been right but locking her up only made things worse. The pink pegasus had a very hard time after this. Her parents didn’t understand, and they never even tried to. They kept her stuck on the farm with no outside contact. She still loves them but they are a very different kind of pony, the boring kind. After awhile the pink pony got really depressed, and soon she found a new friend…a lot of new friends actually.”

Trixie gave Pinkie an inquisitive look. Pinkie looked away from Trixie’s eyes and took in a deep breath before saying, “None of these friends of hers were actually real. But without contact with the outside world she didn’t have a choice, and when they began speaking to her, she was overjoyed for anything that would comfort her. Anything that would understand her.”

Trixie sat down and asked, “But what about Maud?”

Pinkie Pie didn’t meet Trixie’s eyes as she explained, “Maud was away in school. Learning about rocks and such. Maud is older than me after all, and she was working towards a degree.”

Trixie placed a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up. “It’s okay, why don’t you finish the story about the pink pegasus?”

Pinkie Pie smiled gratefully and said, “Okay.” It took Pinkie Pie a few moments but she finally continued. “One of her friends was a pile of rocks, named Rocky. Another one was ball of cotton he was funny, his name was cottontail. The pink pegasus eventually got a new best friend…”

Pinkie Paused as she closed her eyes and rubbed at her hooves. Pinkie Pie stayed quiet for a few moments. The seconds passed by slowly as Trixie waited for Pinkie to open her eyes. After a few more moments a few tears began to run down her face from under her eyes as she said, “Her new best friend was a knife named Cutie Cutter.”

Trixie simply stared in confusion for a few seconds before it dawned on her. A knife…probably a very sharp knife. Trixie stared in horror at Pinkie Pie who seemed more and more obsessed with rubbing at her…fetlocks. A deep fear began rising inside of Trixie as she could only imagine what the pink pegasus had done.

Pinkie Pie finally opened her eyes, they were all watery and she explained, “One day the pink pegasus had played a game with Cutie Cutter. It was game they would play a lot, it might’ve been a little painful but she was used to it by then. The problem though was that she messed up and accidently hurt herself a little too badly. The pink pegasus died that day. She actually enjoyed the otherworld while she was there. Because her family was waiting for her, members of her family long since passed. They told her all kinds of secrets, but they explained that she still had a purpose to fufill, a destiny. So the pink pegasus returned home…returned to the world of the living.”

Pinkie Pie wiped her eyes with a hoof and took a second to recompose herself. “After that the pink pegasus was seen as being too troublesome to take care of. She was the black sheep of the family, the one who would corrupt her younger sisters. So the parents sent her to live with her aunt and uncle who owned a small bakery, and she has been living there peacefully ever since. Now she refuses to let anypony be sad or depressed for even a second and uses every single skill she has to cheer them up. Few ponies can understand how hard things can get…as she does.”

Trixie looked to the house and then back to Pinkie Pie. “So…you can read minds because of this…accident?”

Pinkie Pie stood up and said, “I said that it was a pink pegasus, and it was only a story. If anything like that did ever happen then I suppose that this Pink pegasus would have some crazy powers…but she might also be a complete nut ball. Thankfully I grew up on a rock farm far away from the dark gloomy clouds of boring, lonely, and depressed grayness.”

Pinkie Pie then walked back towards the house. As she began walking away she said, “please don’t tell Maud about this story. She doesn’t need to learn of such sad things.” Pinkie Pie then winked at Trixie as she added, “and that’s how Equestria was made.”

Trixie couldn’t help but giggle a little bit at that last sentence, even though it had nothing to do with the story. Trixie watched Pinkie Pie walk inside the house with a new perspective on the pink pony. Maybe Pinkie Pie had some crazy stories she liked to tell, and maybe this truly was just another story. But Trixie didn’t believe that at all, it felt a lot more likely that this was Pinkie Pie’s way of dealing with a terrible event.

Pinkie Pie had once mentioned that she could understand Trixie’s feelings in the past. Pinkie Pie had a strange way of remembering things in odd ways, often times distorting them, but there was always a fragment of truth in her stories. That fragment of truth was what concerned Trixie the most about this story.

It was strange but Trixie felt a relieved to know that there was another pony who could understand her. It was so hard to talk about suicide to ponies who never attempted it, let alone considered it. Sometimes it was like a black mark that everypony tried there hardest to pretend never happened.

Trixie let out a sigh and whispered to herself, “you really are a great sister Pinkie Pie. I’m lucky to have you.”

Finally after two hours Pinkie Pie lead the young couple to a small single story house at the edge of town. Trixie could see the school house down the road, and children playing happily. Trixie looked back at the house, there was nice wide yard, it had its own well, and a small river running by it. The best news was that aside from the school house down the way, there was little traffic up here. Maud wouldn’t have to be bothered by a lot of busy ponies.

The house opened up into a small living room/kitchen area. There were four empty rooms, a small room for washing laundry, a nice and large bathroom. There was even a small fire place for staying cozy and warm during the winter.

Trixie could imagine herself living here, raising a child or two with Maud. Keeping warm and cuddling by the fireplace, the big open bath was planting all kinds of illicit fantasies inside her mind, and the general feel of the place was…romantic. It was perfect, now if only Maud liked it as well they could stay here.

Trixie looked at Maud who was staring down at the ground and realized that Maud had barely looked up at this place. It must not have been a very good home after all. Trixie took in a deep breath and resigned herself to not being able to be here if Maud didn’t like it. Trixie wrapped a foreleg around Maud and feeling very timid asked, “so…do you like this place?”

Maud stayed quiet staring down at the cobble stone floor for a few moments. After an uncomfortable amount of silence she looked up and said in her monotonous voice, “There are a lot of unique rocks used in the construction of this house. The bathroom floor is made of river rocks unique to Ponyville. The floor of the kitchen is made of cobblestone. The washing room is also made of cobblestone. I like this place.”

Trixie suddenly realized that while she had fallen in love with the fireplace, the bath, and the small cozy nature of this house. Maud had been examining the ground the entire time, she wasn’t disappointed by the house, Maud was in love with it. Trixie couldn’t stop herself from wrapping both of her hooves around Maud and kissing her.

Trixie pulled back and said, “You are the most wonderful pony in the whole of Equestria. We are totally moving here.”

Trixie looked at Pinkie Pie and said, “We want this place. How much is it?”

Pinkie Pie grinned so wide that her mouth was nearly bigger then her face. Pinkie Pie turned around and a pulled out a piece of paper from…actually Trixie still had no idea where Pinkie was grabbing these things from. Maybe it was some sort of magic, gypsy magic? Trixie abolished the idea quickly and took a look at the paper as Pinkie Pie showed it to her.

According to the document that Pinkie Pie was holding in her mouth. This house was owned by Twilight Sparkle and this document was actually a lease agreement. Trixie read it in depth. According to the document, Trixie and Maud would be allowed to live here, with full ownership. The house wasn’t going to cost anything, in fact it was free.

Trixie reread the document trying to find where the loop hole, or the trap was. There wasn’t any, from what Trixie could tell. It was like Twilight was just giving them a free place to live and all she had to do was sign this paper…but why?

Trixie sat down hard and asked, “why? Why would Twilight give us a nice house like this? What did I do to deserve this?”

Pinkie Pie sat down and grabbed the document with her hooves. With her mouth now free Pinkie explained, “You honestly don’t know? You have saved Twilight’s life twice now, she is a princess. Trixie, do you understand all the cool things she can do now that she has unlimited funding? If she wanted to spend ten thousand bits researching pony farts she could, and no pony would protest. You have died for Twilight, no pony has done that before, so she is going to do anything she can to help you out…”

Trixie felt like her pride was being smashed, a free home like this it was almost like pity. The old Trixie would have raged and fought about this, the new Trixie was smarter than that and would be humble about it, while still secretly disliking the charity.

Trixie grabbed the document from Pinkie Pie and let out a huff. Pinkie Pie looked a little scared, Trixie noticed that there was quill sitting on the ground next to Pinkie Pie along with some ink. Trixie let out a small growl and said, “I don’t need pity from any pony, not anymore. I’m better, I’m fixed, I am not broken.”

Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and begged, “Please don’t let your pride ruin this, you two could be so happy here.”

Trixie quickly picked up the quill and signed her name on the document before handing it over to Maud. Trixie watched as Maud signed it and then Trixie put the document back into Pinkie Pie’s hooves. Pinkie’s eyes opened slowly, and as she saw the signatures her eyes widened and her mouth gapped open in surprise.

Trixie crossed her forelegs and looked away saying, “But that doesn’t mean that I won’t accept this gift. Sometimes you need to do things for the better, even if you don’t like the feeling of it…and tell Twilight I said thank you.”

A voice from behind Trixie said, “She won’t have too.”

Trixie looked back and saw Twilight Sparkle standing behind her looking pleased. Trixie looked away and feeling a little shameful for acting prideful apologized, “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful…”

Twilight shook her head and said, “That’s okay, it was presumptuous of me to do this. I just couldn’t think of any other way to thank you for all the things you have done for me, and for Equestria.”

Trixie couldn’t help but smile a little at Twilight’s kind words. Maybe Trixie had judged Twilight too harshly in the past. Maybe she really was fit to be a princess, just maybe.

Now that Trixie and Maud were the proud owners of a new ponyville home, she decided it was finally time to do what she needed to. She still felt a little sick, but it was getting better. Trixie had decided to not invite anypony with her this time, this was something she needed to do by herself.

Trixie found herself being escorted by a nice looking nurse with a red cross as a cutie mark, she had white fur and a pink mane. This nice pony was named Redheart and she was working at the Ponyville hospital. Nurse Redheart lead Trixie to a long hallway filled with small padded rooms, at the end of the hall there was a door with the number thirteen written on it.

“Here we are. I have to tell you, Screw Loose doesn’t get many visitors,” said Nurse Redheart.

“Well I may be visiting a lot more often now that I live here,” Trixie said feeling nervous.

Nurse Redheart opened the door to the cell and just inside sat a teal earth pony with a messy silver mane. This pony was wearing a straight jacket. The walls were covered in black symbols but Trixie wasn’t focused on those, her eyes could only see the pony who sat before her. Trixie walked in and heard the door shut securely behind her.

Trixie took a look at the symbols on the walls now, and she seemed to recognize them but she wasn’t sure from where…they gave her chills by simply looking at them. Trixie refocused her view on the pony known as Screw Loose. Screw Loose looked back at Trixie and gave her a welcoming smile before barking like a dog. Trixie couldn’t stop the tears running down her face, even though she wiped them away with a hoof she just couldn’t stop them.

Trixie took a shaky breath and said, “I’m finally here to visit you…mom.”

Chapter Nineteen: Memories Aflame

HEART OF STONE
Chapter nineteen: Memories Aflame
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie stood there silently staring forward as the tears continued to stream down her face. Screw Loose sat there staring at the wall. Trixie finally took a step toward her and watched as Screw Loose turned around. There was a gentle smile on Screw Looses face filling Trixie with hope that maybe her mom had gotten better. Screw Loose then barked happily at Trixie before returning her attention to the drawings on the walls.

Trixie’s hope was shattered instantly, and Trixie began to wonder how this happened. Screw Loose had once been a sane pony. In fact she was the best mom, at least in Trixie’s opinion. One day a fire broke out and nearly destroyed her home, after that her father left the family to go on his big adventure. Things were never the same after he left.

Trixie was told that her father had left, because he was a bird who needed to spread his wings. She didn’t know what that meant, but she never saw him again, at least not until she had died. Her mom slowly went crazy over the next couple of years. It was hard enough being a unicorn who had both earth pony and pegasus origins, but with her mother slowly going crazy…things were difficult growing up.

Eventually Screw Loose lost her mind completely and believed herself to be a dog, it was a horrible time for Trixie. If not for Celestia coming down to Ponyville and taking Trixie in to her school…Trixie wouldn’t know where she would be. Maybe things would’ve been easier that way, perhaps they simply would’ve been harder. Either way Trixie can’t change the past, that was impossible.

Trixie stood there staring for the longest time, until she began to feel something different about her mom. Her mom was giving off a deep feeling of love for Trixie, the kind of love that only a mother could give. Trixie was surprised and wondered if that meant that Screw Loose remembered who Trixie was.

Trixie cleared her throat although her voice was still shaky when she spoke she asked, “Hey mom, do you remember me?”

Screw Loose scooted over and nuzzled Trixie’s chest for a moment before licking Trixie cheek. Screw Loose then barked happily. Trixie felt a deep pain welling up inside her heart. Trixie’s mom was still crazy, she had heard that Screw Loose had almost been cured a few times, but would always return to this state. Maybe it was easier to be a dog?

Trixie wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her tightly. Trixie couldn’t help but apologize for all things that were out of her control, and the things that were. She apologized for her father, she apologized for leaving Screw Loose behind, she apologized for not being able to visit, and finally she apologized for not being able to fix it.

The longer Trixie stayed there the more she began to hear Screw Looses mind, Trixie wasn’t trying to listen in on purpose. But with the close proximity and the broken state of her mother’s mind it was far too easy to listen in.

Screw Loose’s thoughts were disconnected from one another, like a lot random puzzle pieces that didn’t fit together. Screw Loose’s mind was also strangely familiar. Trixie was curious despite her sadness, and now she was looking in on purpose. Trixie was finding odd feelings sitting inside her mother, memories of Trixie when she was young, and something she never expected.

An image of a burning house, and a cloaked pony standing at the doorway appeared to Trixie. Trixie pulled back as she recognized the house. It was her old home that was burning. Trixie didn’t know anything about the cloaked pony but something was odd about the image. She found herself very curious and decided to take a deeper look.
Maybe this cloaked pony could explain why Trixie’s father left them. She wanted to know why so badly, and she didn’t expect to ever receive the answer from him. So this was her only chance to learn.

Trixie closed her eyes while taking a deep breath. She braved herself for whatever she may find inside her mother’s mind. Trixie opened her eyes again and stared into her mother’s purple eyes. Trixie focused on Screw Loose’s mind and began to feel herself being pulled into it. The room around her quickly began to fade and Trixie found herself in a very familiar place.

The moonlight was cast into the room allowing Trixie to see the wooden floors and walls. The pictures on the walls were all of a young Trixie and her parents. The bed behind her had two sleeping ponies laying on it. One was a young earth pony with a teal coat and silver hair. The other was a pegasus with a deep blue coat, and white hair. Trixie was standing inside her parents’ room.

She stood there unable to think properly and only watching for a few minutes until her father, Moonlight Sonata began to stir. He sat up and his long white mane fell in front of his face. He looked around cautiously before standing up and walking towards the bedroom door. Trixie prepared herself as he walked toward her, and then right through her. That old feeling of wrongness came back instantly.

Trixie realized that this must be a memory she was in. After Moonlight Sonata left the room her mom sat up in the bed. Screw Loose looked a little worried about what was going on. Screw Loose quietly snuck out of the bed and walked over to the door. Trixie backed out of the way, she didn’t like being walked through, and being able to stand on her hooves inside of a memory was a small blessing.

Trixie followed Screw Loose into the living room where they could hear Moonlight Sonata talking. Moonlight Sonata was standing at the front door talking to a cloaked pony who stood just outside. Screw Loose wasn’t able to get a very good picture of the pony, but the pony was much taller than the pegasus stallion, and she had white fur. Trixie didn’t have to guess too hard to figure out who it was.

Screw Loose hid just behind the wall of the hallway and listened in.

Moonlight Sonata yawned before saying, “so how long do we have?”

The cloaked mare replied, “I’m not sure. It could be only a matter of days before something serious happens. I would deal with this myself, but…I’m busy with a troubled student.”

Moonlight Sonata rubbed at his eyes while saying, “okay, I get it. I’ll get the group together. Celestia’s Heroes will save the day again…your heroes will save the day.”

The cloaked mare, which Trixie knew had to be Celestia at this point, gave him a reassuring smile before jumping into the air and taking flight. Moonlight Sonata closed the door after a few seconds and said, “sorry sweetie, looks like I have work again. I’ll be leaving tomorrow to deal with this little problem. It’s only some weird pony cultist in the southern mines. We’ll have them rounded up before the weeks over.”

Screw Loose stepped out from beyond the corner and asked, “why does she always send you on these dangerous missions?”

He grinned at her and said, “somepony has to kick flank and stop evil. Not everything can be solved with words. Some ponies are simply too bad and need to be beaten up and locked away in Tartarus.”

Screw Loose walked towards him and embraced him before saying, “we have a daughter now though. We need to be here for her. You need to be here for her.”

Moonlight Sonata nuzzled into her neck and said, “I know, but Celestia needs strong ponies. My group is one of the only things she has to keep the land safe. The border patrol is already dealing with increased Changeling raids, and the frozen north is acting scary again. If this all keeps up Equestria might be in deep trouble soon.”

Screw Loose snuggled into him and said, “I understand, please be safe.”

Moonlight Sonata was quiet as he held her for a few minutes before he asked, “is she showing any signs yet? You know, of being like you?”

Screw Loose simply cuddled into him and said, “not yet, but I didn’t begin showing signs until I was in my late teens. By the time my parents realized something was wrong with me I was already beginning to be barking mad.”

Moonlight Sonata smiled softly and said, “you know I don’t find that joke funny.”

Screw Loose replied, “humor is a way for ponies to defeat worrisome things.”

Moonlight Sonata pulled away from their embrace and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. Well I’ll be leaving tomorrow. Do you have enough of your med’s?”

Screw Loose looked back towards the hallway, towards Trixie. Even though she didn’t see Trixie, if felt like she was looking right at her. “Yeah I have enough med’s. It’s funny how these med’s make me feel like I’m on a leash even though there helping me stay…normal.”

Moonlight Sonata stretched a wing around Screw Loose. “You are perfectly normal. Being insane isn’t a bad thing, we will keep a close eye on Trix and make sure that if she inherits any of your problems…that she will be taken care of. Okay?”

Screw Loose cuddled into his wing and said, “that sounds like a good plan.”

The memory shifted into a new one taking place in the kitchen where Trixie could see her mom cooking something on the burner. It smelled delicious. It looked dark outside the windows and Trixie wondered what Screw Loose could be making this late at night. Trixie heard the front door open.

Screw Loose then let out a whistle and said, “I’m making dinner for you two. It will be done soon so I hope you’re hungry.”

After a few moments of silence Trixie began to worry. Something felt wrong here and it looked like Screw Loose thought so too. Screw Loose shouted again asking, “Did you two have fun at the carnival?” after a moment of no reply Screw Loose carefully grabbed the kitchen knife in her mouth. Trixie followed Screw Loose as she walked over to the door leading to the living room.

The front door was wide open but there were no signs of anypony in the house. Screw Loose looked worried. Screw Loose took another step into the living room and a pony quickly charged into her. Screw Loose was knocked her off her hooves and onto her side. The knife went sliding back into the kitchen.

A pony stood in front of Screw Loose wearing a dark red cloak with gold trim, most of his face was obscured by the hood but his red muzzle stood out. He looked down at Screw Loose and a sudden deep red glow surrounded Screw Loose. As Screw Loose was lifted into the air by the magical aura Trixie let out a scream. Screw Loose’s eyes began glowing red for a few moments before she closed her eyes and fell unconscious.

The cloaked pony began to laugh in a low almost growling tone before saying, “your husband should’ve stayed out of our way. We almost completed our sacred mission until he interrupted us at the mines. Now he will learn his place.”

Trixie could only watch in horror as she realized that this must have been one of the cultist her father was supposed to deal with. That meant that this memory was taking place at a much later date, and that her father had failed in his mission.

Screw Loose floated helplessly in the air. The cloaked stallion dropped her onto the ground and then looked away towards the door. As he began walking away a red aura surrounded his head and fire flew out from the aura. The fire landed on the walls and ceiling catching and spreading where it touched. The cloaked stallion then continued walking forward. “For Tirus,” were his last words before he walked out into the night and disappeared for good.

Trixie watched in horror as the fire grew larger and consumed more of the house. Screw Loose was still unconscious laying there on the floor. The fire raged around her. Trixie tried to grab her mom but her hooves went right through her. There was nothing she could do but watch horrified.

Trixie heard a shrieking filly outside the house looked to the door just in time to see a blue pegasus stallion runs into the house. He looked determined as he galloped to Screw Loose’s side. Quickly Moonlight Sonata picked up Screw Loose and brought her outside. Trixie fallowed him outside.

Just outside Trixie saw a small blue filly with a silver and blue stripped mane sitting down and sobbing with a group of ponies standing behind her. They looked worried as they watched the house burning down. Moonlight Sonata gently set Screw Loose down next to the blue filly and looked back towards the house. Trixie could see a deep festering rage burning in his eyes. He scowled towards the house and Trixie fallowed his gaze. On the ground just outside on the ground was a burned imprint of the symbol of a cage with fire inside it.

Moonlight Sonata stamped a hoof into the ground and said, “damn you Ash. I will find you, and I will gut you for this.”

Trixie looked back at Moonlight Sonata and watched his expression transform into worry. He turned back to his family and quickly wrapped the filly Trixie into a tight embrace. Screw Loose began to stir than and she sat up carefully. Trixie looked into her eyes and saw something different inside them, like something was missing.

Screw Loose looked very confused for a few moments before seeing Moonlight Sonata at her side. Screw Loose then barked and nuzzled into his chest. Moonlight Sonata looked taken aback for a moment, than he simply looked sad. He brought her into his embrace as well. A deep look of guilt was worn across his face as he said, “I am so sorry for bringing this home to you two. This should never have happened.”

Screw Loose pushed away and smiled at him. One of her pupils had shrunk but she looked a little less confused as she said, “it’s okay, it-it-it’s not your fault.” She then buried her head back into his chest and whimpered.

Trixie watched as the young form of her just hugged her mom, it was a memory that Trixie had remembered but seeing it again she realized that she had never noticed certain things. Trixie already knew what would happen next, and she didn’t like it. The memory began to blur around her and a strange sensation came over Trixie as she felt herself being drawn back into her own body.

Trixie found herself pulling away from her mother with a new found understanding. Trixie’s mom had always suffered from her insanity. And with the red stallion attacking her, and Moonlight Sonata leaving her alone with a young Trixie, it had simply been too much and broken her. Trixie wished she could fix her mom but there was nothing that she could do right now.

Trixie had an idea of why her father left on his big adventure now, he was trying to keep Trixie and Screw Loose safe. Unfortunately Trixie could also guess as to what his big adventure had been about. She could only guess that her father was trying to get revenge on this red stallion named Ash.

Trixie also had a name of interest, one that she could easily do research on. Celestia’s Heroes. That was the group that Trixie father had been a part of, so she had to be able to find information about him from doing research on that. Not to mention that the name Tirus could be useful. For once Trixie finally had leads, leads that she could do research on. Trixie didn’t feel so lost now.

Whatever Trixie’s father had been doing he had been doing for Celestia. Trixie felt determined to find out exactly what was going on back then, and just how it connected to what she had seen so far. Looking at the symbols on the wall Trixie could only wonder in fear as too what exactly these symbols meant. Then one of them stuck out to Trixie, it was the symbol of a cage with fire inside of it. This was the symbol that was left by Ash.

Trixie looked back at her mother and could still see something missing from her eyes. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, it was almost like her mother’s…spark was gone. Screw Loose gave a happy little bark and tried to lick Trixie again. Trixie backed out of reach though, she didn’t like being licked.

For some reason Trixie found it kinda funny how her mom acted. But at the same time, it was devastating for her. To see her mom, the pony who had raised her single hoofedly after her father left, to be reduced to…this. It hurt Trixie in so many ways that could not be easily explained, or even understood. Trixie couldn’t bear to see her mom like this any longer.

Trixie gave her mom a goodbye kiss on the forehead before leaving. Trixie felt pained from seeing her mother like this, but maybe if she could figure out what had happened she could feel at peace. As Trixie walked away she could hear her mother whimpering, like a lost puppy. Trixie began crying tears, tears that wouldn’t go away.

On her way out Trixie was left alone as Nurse Redheart was called away for some reason. She walked alone with all hope of seeing her mom sane again now gone. Trixie began to feel her heart sinking from seeing her mom in that state. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn’t stop thinking of her mom. This whole trip began to feel like a mistake.

As Trixie approached the entrance she saw a familiar pony. One that she had been trying to avoid, although she couldn’t think of why. Maybe she just didn’t like being reminded of the fact that she was only a few steps away from becoming like her mom.

Doctor Timequill stood at the hospitals front desk talking to a nurse. His Mahogany mane was still all spiky like a porcupine and his tail still looked like a raccoon’s tail. He saw Trixie and smiled, his green eyes looked surprised to see her.

He waved good bye to the nurse before walking up to Trixie and greeting her, “Miss Lulamoon, what brings you here?”

Trixie looked at him and said somberly, “I was visiting my mom.”

His happy smile faded a little and he asked, “Oh…and how did that go?”

Trixie looked away and said, “It reminded me that I’m teetering on the edge of a cliff.”

Timequill gave her a gentle smile and said, “You and your mother suffer from completely different issues. Lulamoon you don’t need to worry about losing your sense of self, you will always be the pony you want to be.”

Trixie was having a hard enough time dealing with her depression at the moment, she didn’t need or want any pony other than Maud to be kind to her. Trixie didn’t feel like she had deserved any kindness. Trixie didn’t look at Timequill but she said, “and what if I want to be an evil pony, a conquering pony. What if I want to enslave everypony who ever did me wrong. What would I be than, an evil crazy pony who leaves her only daughter completely alone?”

Trixie surprised herself with what she had just said. She opened her mouth to explain, but she didn’t really know why she had said all that. It just felt like she was going through too much.

Timequill looked at Trixie with gentle understanding eyes. He let out a sigh and said, “It’s been a hard adjustment for you, I know this. But I also know that you will be a wonderful parent someday. If you ever need to talk I’ll be here. I have been hired to work with your mother, I will be doing my best to help her. I promise you.”

Trixie was baffled by this revelation. He was a really good doctor, and if he was assigned to work with her mom…then maybe there was hope after all. Trixie pushed away all her fear and pain and said, “Thank you. I know you will do a good job.”

Trixie walked past him to leave. She had things to do and couldn’t spend any time more time here. When Timequill said goodbye she barely found the strength to return the gesture. There was no more Trixie could do here, and that hurt her. She needed to go to the library for some research, but at the moment all she wanted to do was lie down and cry into Maud’s chest. Her depression found its way, creeping slowly back into her heart numbing her slowly in the process. But worse than even her depression was the sickly feeling that Trixie was beginning to feel again.

Chapter Twenty: A Caring Sister

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty: A Caring Sister
Written by TheCrimsonDM

On her way back to town Trixie was mentally beating herself up. Seeing her mother in that state was simply too hard on her. She was so lost in thought that it surprised her greatly when she felt the air next to her pop, and with a flash of pink light the princess of ponyville appeared. Trixie calmed down after a second and gave out a long sigh. Twilight Sparkle stopped for a moment and watched as Trixie continued walking without giving Twilight a second thought. Twilight quickly caught up with her.

“Hey Trixie, how are you doing?” Twilight asked politely.

Trixie didn’t respond for a few moments, she felt too numb to want to say anything. After a few more seconds of drawn out silence Trixie knew that Twilight wasn’t going to leave her alone. Trixie continued walking forward and looking at the ground she finally said flatly, “I’m not doing too well.”

Trixie nearly tripped but continued walking without giving it a second thought. Twilight placed a wing over Trixie and asked, “what happened? Your'e walking so slow that you're tripping over your own hooves. In fact you’re dragging them ….does it have something to do with Maud?”

Trixie looked up at Twilight and said, “no it doesn’t.”

“Are you sure, Maud has been really quiet ever since you came to Ponyville. I mean she’s never been loud before, but she has barely said a word since she came here. I can tell something is wrong,” Twilight explained in a worried tone.

Trixie heard Twilight’s words but didn’t respond. She didn’t have the strength to do so. She did consider them though. Maud had been unusually quiet. Trixie thought that it was just because of the large crowds of ponies, but even in quieter circumstances Maud had been very quiet. Trixie didn’t like that, but she felt as though there was nothing she could do. Trixie was so powerless, and sick.

Trixie decided to change the topic, she couldn’t handle thinking about why Maud could be upset at the moment. “What did you want?” Trixie asked.

Twilight sounded a little nervous as she asked, “When did you lose your magic, when exactly?”

It was hard thinking back that far, a lot of those memories were scarred with hurtful things. Trixie felt herself cringe at some of the darker ones before she managed to answer, “I’m not sure.”

Twilight thought for a few moments while they walked together down the road towards town. Twilight then said, “are you positive?”

Trixie didn’t look at Twilight as the sinking feeling came down on her. She thought about it for a few moments and said, “I don’t know. I guess after my suicide attempt they stopped working right. Twilight, I was catatonic for a while, I can’t remember much of anything until after I got to the rock farm with Maud. My magic worked until my suicide attempt though, I know that much.”

Twilight was quiet for a few minutes as they continued walking. After they had gotten to the edge of town Twilight finally spoke up saying, “Hmm…so there is nothing new there…then it must be something else…”

Trixie opened her mouth to ask why this was important when Twilight disappeared in a sudden flash of pink light. With the focus of Twilight’s new questions Trixie’s depression began to make way for fear and curiosity. And with Twilight’s sudden disappearance she began feeling angry. All of these emotions were better than feeling depressed, so Trixie decided she wouldn’t forgive Twilight for her rude disappearance quite yet.

Trixie began walking away when suddenly a pink bouncy pony appeared next to her. “Sooooo what do you think of having children?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Trixie stopped moving and nearly fell over as Pinkie Pie stood there staring at her. Trixie had no idea where she came from or why she would dare to ask such a complicated question out of the blue. Trixie forced herself to calm down a little before saying, “I would love to have kids someday…I just don’t think that me and Maud are ready yet.”

Pinkie Pie then squealed before shouting, “YES!”

Trixie began walking forward and said with a little resentment, “well I’m glad you’re happy.” After a moment Trixie asked in a more gentle tone, “why do you ask?”

Pinkie Pie walked alongside her and explained, “oh, Maud is getting close to that age where children are very important, so I asked her what she thought about having kids.”

Trixie stopped, turned towards Pinkie Pie, and very slowly asked her, “what. Did. You. Just. Say.”

Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to speak and Trixie put a hoof up shushing her. Trixie very carefully asked, “when did you ask this, and more importantly why?”

Pinkie Pie looked a little confused at Trixie’s reaction, but she answered, “I asked her when you two first came to Ponyville. And I asked her because she is older than me, like by a lot.”

Trixie looked away and said, “Maud is only… six years older than me.”

Pinkie Pie smiled and said, “wow that’s like a fourth of my life…and wait so you’re only eighteen?”

Trixie replied, “yeah…so what?”

Pinkie Pie grinned and said, “wow, that explains a lot. You’re younger then both me and Twilight Sparkle. No wonder you were so jealous of her. Wait this make me your big sister.”

Trixie gave Pinkie Pie a smile. Although it was hard to explain why, it always seemed to Trixie that talking to Pinkie Pie was fun. Trixie began walking along at a faster pace and talking to Pinkie Pie. “So Pinkie, other than your meddling in my love life. Do you know if anypony is doing anything interesting?”

“Oh sure, There is Applejack, she’s working the applecart right now. And then Rarity has something special for you. And Twilight’s being all secret and paranoid again…I don’t like that, and then Fluttershy has been-“

Trixie cut off Pinkie Pie by saying, “okay I get it. everypony is doing something fun. Why don’t we talk about something else.”

Pinkie Pie was quiet for a moment as she thought of something to talk about. Pinkie Pie finally said, “oh, okay. How about we talk about your being sick?”

Trixie was getting slightly annoyed by Pinkie Pie’s questions. But despite how invasive they were Trixie couldn’t blame Pinkie Pie for asking about her illness. “I don’t know, I guess I used too much magic. I’m getting better though, I’m only a little sick now.”

Pinkie Pie gave Trixie a smile and that’s when Trixie began coughing. Trixie continued coughing hard for a few moments before she finally managed to stop. Trixie’s vision was a little blurry and her uneasiness forced her to sit down. Pinkie Pie sounded very concerned as she asked gently, “are you okay?”

Trixie wiped the spit off of her muzzle and said, “yeah. I’m okay. Just give me a minute.”

“But…the blood,” Pinkie Pie said nervously.

Trixie smiled and said, “there isn’t any blood.” She then tasted something disgusting her mouth and quickly spat it out onto the dirt road. Trixie stared at the red glob that now lay on the ground as it stared back at her resentfully. Trixie looked at her leg where she wiped the spit off. The red smeared stains on her fur were of concern.

Trixie closed her eyes and said, “darn it. it…it has to be something I ate.”

A kind gentle hoof was placed on Trixie’s shoulder, and Pinkie Pie said, “but you didn’t eat much of anything today. If fact I don’t think you took your meds either.”

Trixie didn’t open her eyes, she simply sat there fearfully. As her body began shaking Trixie said, “I couldn’t keep them down. I threw up remember.”

Pinkie Pie wrapped both of her forelegs around Trixie and embraced her into a soft hug. “You are going to be fine. Why don’t I take you somewhere to rest.”

The sun was nice and warm on Trixie’s back, and the breeze was nice and gentle. She was lying her head down on a table just outside a small restaurant. An oatmeal smoothie was sitting next to her alongside a basket of hay fry’s that Pinkie Pie was sharing with her. Trixie didn’t feel like eating much, but she did enjoy the smoothie.

Pinkie Pie continued to look worried as she watched Trixie. “Trixie, are you sure that I can’t tell anypony…not even Maud?”

Trixie was tired of talking about this. “Yes Pinkie, I mean it. No telling anypony, especially Maud. I’ll tell her if it becomes important.”

Pinkie Pie looked uneasy with the idea of keeping secrets from her sister, but the last thing that Trixie wanted to do was worry Maud. Besides that Trixie didn’t even know if this was serious or not, it could just be a passing thing…right?

“Okay…I won’t tell anypony…but can we change the subject at least,” Pinkie Pie suggested in a worried tone.

Trixie sat up and took another sip from the smoothie. The cool sensation felt really good on her insides. Trixie gave Pinkie Pie a small smile and said, “yeah let’s do that. Is there anything you wanted to know?”

Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her lip for a moment and looked off to the side. After a few seconds Pinkie grinned. “Actually there is something I am curious about. You and Twilight went to the same school so I want to ask you, where is your baby dragon?”

Trixie had no idea what she had meant for a few moments. Trixie never had a dragon, and why should she there weren’t any dragons in school. She did have a familiar but that was a different story altogether. Feeling a little confused she chalked it up to Pinkie Pie’s crazy and explained, “there aren’t any dragons in Canterlot Pinkie. If there were the whole place would probably be on fire.”

Pinkie Pie now looked a little confused. “But Twilight got Spike over in Canterlot, she got him from the test.”

Trixie stared at Pinkie Pie for a few moments before finally understanding where she had gotten this impression from. Trixie felt angry that Twilight wouldn’t tell her best friends the truth and snapped, “Twilight cheated on that test. Everypony who goes to that school was given a test involving a special colored rock. We were all told that they were eggs, but the test was only to see how much willpower everypony had. Somepony switched Twilight’s rock out with a real dragon egg. I don’t even want to think of how they obtained the egg, or how much trouble could be caused if word ever got home to the dragon home lands about it. Besides we didn’t need baby dragons, we have familiars.”

Pinkie Pie seamed to contemplate this for a few seconds before saying, “what if Twilight doesn’t know that the test was a fake?”

Trixie scoffed at the idea before saying, “of course she would know. Anypony who tried to cheat on the test would find out that they were just rocks.”

“But I don’t think Twilight would do that, she doesn’t cheat on tests,” Pinkie replied.

Trixie considered this for a few moments and finally came to a conclusion. “She didn’t really talk to many ponies…aside from my tutoring she didn’t seem to have any friends.”

Pinkie Pie looked shocked. She then grabbed a mouthful of hay fries and continued staring in awe. Trixie guessed she needed to explain a little more. “When I was in school with her, she had a hard time learning magic. So I was assigned to be her tutor because I could learn new tricks so easily. Twilight and me had some really good times together, even learned a few spells that were forbidden from us. I was in love with the illusion magic, and she was in love with…darker spells. I don’t know why she wanted to be able to shoot laser beams from her horn so badly, but it was important to her.”

Pinkie Pie swallowed the food and said, “wow. So you two were like really close?”

Trixie looked away and said, “yeah…I guess we were. Then something happened, we screwed things up and stopped being friends. Truth be told she was just as responsible as me, but…she was too cocky. That might have been my fault though, I might’ve rubbed off on her in the wrong way.”

Pinkie Pie was quiet for a few moments before she began blushing. Trixie wasn’t sure what was wrong. “Pinkie what’s wrong?”

Pinkie Pie seemed to be blushing more as she said, “the way you said that…it was…um…”

Trixie watched as Pinkie Pie began trying to stifle laughter. Trixie was getting annoyed, she had just told Pinkie Pie something that was really sensitive and all Pinkie could do is laugh at her. “What could I have said that was so funny?”

Pinkie Pie grinned and said quietly, “you rubbed off on Twilight, in the wrong way.” She then broke out into a explosive laughter complete with snorting.

Trixie was upset that all Pinkie Pie could think of was a perverted joke at first, and then she thought about what she had said. Slowly but surely Trixie joined in on the laughter as well. By complete mistake Trixie had just said one of the most inappropriate things she could have, and on top of that she said it about her old rival. The two ponies simply laughed together happily for a few minutes.

When the laughter had finally died down Trixie felt all warm and happy inside, if not a little embarrassed. It was nice to laugh like that, and Pinkie’s face was red from the laughter. Trixie snorted and said, “I, can’t believe I said that. I mean what if Twilight had heard me, I think she would’ve broke.”

Pinkie Pie smiled and said, “nah, she would be embarrassed but she wouldn’t be upset. In fact she might not even understand the joke.”

Trixie nodded in agreement and Pinkie Pie added, “oh and thank you, Trixie.”

Trixie wasn’t sure why Pinkie Pie was thanking her but she accepted saying, “you’re welcome, but what exactly are you thanking me for? Was it the silly thing I said?”

Pinkie Pie simply continued smiling as she explained, “I was pretty sure that you and Maud were going to do something together last night. I’m kinda glad that you two simply decided to go to sleep instead.”

“What,” Trixie began asking in surprise, “why would we invade your personal space like that. That would simply be rude.”

Pinkie Pie looked off to the side and stayed quiet for a while giving Trixie time to drink some more of her oatmeal smoothie. Pinkie Pie finally said, “you have been with Maud long enough to know how…active she is.”

“Well, I know that, but it’s not like she would ever…in public…right?” Trixie asked a little nervous.

“Well no, she wouldn’t do that in public…but she might not have an objection if she thought I was asleep…” Pinkie Pie answered shamefully.

The image of being intimate with Maud appeared in Trixie’s mind, complete with Pinkie Pie watching in the background while eating popcorn. It was a rather silly thought, but something about it was enticing and began leading Trixie into imagining what it would be like with both Maud and Pinkie Pie…

“Um…Trixie. If you really want to have a private party with Maud all you need to do is say so. I would leave you two alone for as long as you needed,” Pinkie Pie explained still sounding a little embarrassed.

Trixie wondered why Pinkie would suggest this right now, and then it hit her. “Are you reading my mind?”

Pinkie Pie looked away and said, “no…but you are giving off some very…sensual vibes right now.”

“Oh…are my emotions that obvious?” Trixie asked feeling a little ashamed, but still playing tantalizing fantasies in the back of her mind.

Pinkie gave Trixie a long quiet stare, making Trixie become more nervous. Idea’s about Pinkie Pie simply wouldn’t leave Trixie’s head. Pinkie Pie finally raised an eyebrow and asked, “is there something else you wanted?”

“Nope, I don’t need anypony else. Just Maud, no other additions I promise,” Trixie answered quickly.

A sly grin grew on Pinkie Pie’s face as she suggested, “oh I don’t think Maud would mind an addition, maybe a certain pink bouncy pony could join in for a game or two. You do know what my favorite game is right?” Pinkie pie leaned over the table and said in a very sensual tone, “it’s pin the tail on the pony.”

Trixie leaned back feeling all kinds of nervous, along with other feelings she didn’t want to admit existed. Trixie’s chair leaned back and began falling backwards before stopping mid air. Trixie’s heart was beating faster than it ever should, and Trixie heard a familiar pony say in a flat tone, “she is pretty good at that game.”

Trixie looked up into Maud’s eyes feeling guilty, but unable to stop her imagination from running wild. Trixie really hopped Pinkie Pie wasn’t reading her mind. Maud righted Trixie’s chair making sure that Trixie didn’t fall over. Maud then looked at Pinkie Pie and said, “we should have a threesome.”

Pinkie Pie face hooved and Trixie broke. She covered her face with both of her hooves and squealed from total embarrassment. Maud then looked at Pinkie Pie and said, “you two were talking about sex right?”

Pinkie Pie giggled a little before saying, “yeah we were, but I was trying to be tactful about it.”

Maud simply stared at Pinkie and asked, “why? There’s nothing wrong with sex.”

Pinkie Pie simply shook her head, and Trixie gave another little embarrassed squeal. Maud gently placed a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder and said, “I was joking about the threesome.” That made Trixie feel a little better, and then Maud added, “we would need different pony. I won’t do that with my sister.” Trixie tried to squeal again but nothing came out of her throat. Maud simply kissed Trixie on the cheek. Even though Trixie loved Maud with all her heart, Maud’s idea of a joke was way too much for Trixie to handle. But at least she was happy.

Chapter Twenty One: On the Rocks

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty One: On the Rocks
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The sun was beginning to get low in the sky, but enough of it was still up for Trixie to feel nice and warm. She began to notice that it didn’t seem like the sun was this bright, nor this warm over in New Slate. But then again, the sun over Canterlot was even brighter. Trixie was enjoying the sun as she walked alongside Maud. Ever since Pinkie Pie had left for whatever it was she did for fun, Maud had been unusually quiet.

Trixie leaned her head over and nuzzled Maud’s neck hopping to get a response. Maud was still quiet but Trixie could feel that there was something pensive about Maud. After a minute of silence Trixie finally asked, “Maud, honey…is there something wrong?”

Maud stopped walking all of a sudden causing Trixie to jolt forward and nearly trip. She had been focusing on nuzzling a little too much to pay attention to where she was going. Trixie didn’t see more than a few ponies around. They were almost alone for the time being.

“Lulu, I’ve been thinking about something,” Maud said in a dull tone. Trixie could sense that Maud was in a serious mood though. Whatever she was thinking about must have been very important to her. “I want to have kids one day. I’m not ready yet, but I wanted to know if you wanted the same thing.”

Fear and joy mixed together as Trixie heard these words. She had wanted children so badly, but she knew she wasn’t ready yet. And the fear of becoming like her mother was still in the back of her mind. Trixie fought to keep that fear back as she said, “I want to raise a family with you, more than anything else in the world. But I’m not ready for it either.”

Trixie was happily surprised to see a small smile on Maud’s face. Trixie could also feel Maud’s overwhelming joy. Maud wrapped a leg around Trixie and gave her a kiss. As she pulled back she said, “I love you, Lulu.”

Trixie smiled and felt her fear subsiding. Maud’s love was an overpowering emotion that Trixie enjoyed so much. Trixie couldn’t even begin to imagine what life without Maud would be like, and the mere idea of it was terrible. Trixie would be with Maud forever and nothing was going to change that for her.

“Do you want to do something fun?” Maud asked in a flat tone.

It was a little concerning that Maud changed the subject so quickly, but Trixie felt that a deeper conversation about this topic was at the moment not necessary. All the little questions about how they would go about raising, let alone getting children would be answered at some point in the future. So Trixie let the topic go away for now.

On the other hoof Trixie had forgotten about one of the reasons for this trip, to have fun. It was in part a vacation, so why should she stay feeling depressed all the time. Trixie smiled and asked, “what did you have in mind?”

“A rock hunt.”

Trixie had nearly forgotten about rock hunts. She had spent the last two weeks dealing with an emotional wrecking ball and forgot that Maud loved going on rock hunts. So long as they weren’t playing camouflage, Maud’s idea of fun was surprisingly entertaining.

Trixie smiled and said, “sounds fun.”

The sky was cast in a beautiful orange glow, and the surrounding forest was nice and calm. Trixie followed Maud as the two of them made their way through the woods near Ponyville looking for rocks. Maud had a small checklist of rocks she wanted to find before the end of the day, and Trixie was overjoyed to help her.

“Should we make this interesting?” asked Trixie feeling a little playful.

Maud looked at Trixie and asked, “but rocks are already interesting?”

Trixie thought for a moment and then explained, “whoever finds the most rocks on your list will win. If I win…I want you to sing, for me and all of our friends.” Considering Trixie had never heard Maud sing before this sounded like a great plan.

Maud looked down at the list she held in her hooves, she then looked back at Trixie and said, “alright. I’ve never heard you sing before. It will be fun when I win.”

Trixie began laughing and stopped as Maud put the checklist in her hooves. Maud looked Trixie dead in the eyes and said, “you will need this.”

Trixie sat still for a few seconds before she realized that Maud had no fear of losing this competition. That was fine, it was not like Trixie could lose. She grew up in Ponyville after all. Besides that, she refused to let everypony hear her singing. The hunt was on.

Trixie walked away and took a look at the list. The first rock to find on her list was flint. That should be easy enough to find, ponies go hiking all the time out here. So there had to be some. Trixie began her search.

It took Trixie nearly five full minutes before she found a white rock, it looked like it could be flint. Trixie concentrated on the rock and used a spell that allowed her to easily find all sorts of rocks in the past. Or at least she tried to. After only a few seconds of trying Trixie’s horn flared in pain and she dropped the spell. She had really hoped that her good mood would translate into good magic, but that wasn’t going to happen.

Trixie let out a sigh and as the pain began to leave her horn she placed the rock into her saddlebags. This hunt might be a little harder then she thought, but Trixie wouldn’t give up that easily.

Next on the list was limestone, Trixie knew this one would be easier to find. Trixie walked around searching the forest floor for a few minutes before coming across a dark gray rock riddled with white streaks. This had to be limestone, only a foal could get this wrong. Trixie quickly pocketed the rock and gleefully continued onward.

Eventually Trixie had found all of the rocks on the list and then returned to where she had left Maud. Maud was sitting down and staring at a particularly shiny red gem stone that she held in her hooves. Trixie had to admit that the gem was really pretty.

Trixie walked up to her and felt a little prideful as she dropped the saddlebag next to Maud saying, “I think tonight will be awesome. I have collected all of the rocks, and now I get to hear you sing.”

Maud looked up at Trixie and said, “so have I.”

Trixie cocked her head to the side trying to figure out who won. She now realized that leaving Maud’s side to search for the rocks, meant that she had no idea who actually achieved their goal first. Trixie felt silly now that she realized the contest was in vain. Trixie sat down next to Maud and stared at the rock. “Where did you find that ruby, it’s so pretty.”

Maud looked up at Trixie and said, “it’s a fire ruby, these are fairly rare. I was lucky to find sticking out of the earth about thirty feet away from here. It was caught underneath a tree.”

Maud pointed in a direction, and Trixie’s eyes followed. Trixie stopped breathless as she saw a tree that had been knocked over as though a hurricane had come through and ripped it out of the earth. There was a small hole just underneath the tree. Trixie suspected that the tree had not been destroyed like that until Maud came along. Maud’s strength was sometimes a frightful thing.

Trixie looked at Maud who was now digging through Trixie’s saddle bag and examining the rocks. Trixie grinned proudly at her hard work. Maud eventually picked up the white flint rock and looked at it for a few seconds before asking, “what is this?”

“It’s a flint stone,” Trixie replied happily.

Maud put the rock down next to her and then dug through her own saddlebags. Maud pulled out a gray rock with a thin layer of white on one side of it. Maud passed the gray rock over to Trixie and then picked up the white rock Trixie had found.

Trixie looked hard at the rock before her and noticed that this rock had an almost glassy appearance. Maud then asked, “do you see a difference?”

Trixie looked at the two rocks, and said, “this one is…um…glassy looking. The one I found is more rough in appearance.”

Maud smiled and said, “yes, do you know why that is?”

Trixie shook her head. She had the feeling that this wasn’t a good sign for her. Maud explained, “Lulu, you found chert. Flint and chert are related, but the list stated that you needed a flint rock. Do you know what that means?”

Trixie gulped and said nervously, “does it mean I get a do over?”

Maud leaned over and kissed Trixie softly on the cheek before saying, “no. It means that you get to serenade me tonight. While our friends watch.”

Trixie could feel her face blushing from having heard that. She was terrified of singing in front of ponies. But maybe if it was only her closest friends, and if it was for Maud…then maybe she could try singing for them.

On their way back home Trixie discovered something wonderful. A bed of beautiful blue flowers. Trixie began sniffing the wonderful scent of the flowers before Maud pulled her away. Trixie turned around to explain how wonderful they smelled when Trixie sneezed, all over Maud’s face. Maud looked surprised for a few moments as Trixie apologized.

Maud looked back at the flowers and said, “Pinkie Pie told me once that she had an allergic reaction to flowers like that.”

Trixie wiped her nose on her foreleg and said, “really, I didn’t know Pinkie Pie was allergic to flowers.”

Maud cleaned her face with a handkerchief before explaining, “Pinkie Pie didn’t know either. She tried to blame it on some kind of magical curse, but I know her. She has a funny way of talking about things. So it must have been an allergy. Her tongue swelled up from them.”

Trixie wondered how that would’ve happened and asked, “did she eat them?”

Maud looked at Trixie and said, “probably. I’ve caught her eating some pretty weird things before.”

Trixie could only giggle at the idea of what kinds of things Pinkie Pie might’ve tried to eat. For some reason Trixie could imagine Pinkie Pie eating rocks down at the rock farm, and that made her giggle harder. The two ponies continued walking after that. Trixie really hoped that she wouldn’t have to sing to more than just Maud and Pinkie Pie, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t work out that way.

By the time the two ponies got back to Sugarcube Corner the sun had nearly set. The sky was cast into a deep purple twilight. Trixie loved this time of night and wanted to watch the stars with Maud. But normal ponies didn’t stay up watching the stars, that was just one of Trixie’s favorite hobbies. Maybe she could stargaze with Maud some night, but tonight she had a performance.

The house was dark inside, and quiet. Trixie and Maud made their way upstairs quietly trying not to disturb anypony who was sleeping. The Cake’s went to bed earlier than Trixie liked. There was a light coming from inside Pinkie Pie’s room. That meant that at least Pinkie Pie was home, although it was really quiet inside for some reason.

Trixie opened the door only to see a surprised looking Fluttershy standing the room, and no Pinkie Pie in sight. Maud entered the room ahead of Trixie and made her way to the bed. Trixie walked in very slowly and stared in awe at Fluttershy.

It wasn’t the fact that Fluttershy was inside Pinkie’s room that surprised her. It was what Fluttershy was wearing. Fluttershy was wearing Trixie’s old cloak, and that was a little awkward for Trixie to see.

Fluttershy looked at the two ponies looking a little confused before saying, “um…is Pinkie Pie with you?”

Trixie shook her head and shut the bedroom door. Trixie was determined to completely ignore Fluttershy’s crush for now. Then Trixie saw something leaning against Pinkie Pie’s bed, something that was almost seemingly placed there just for her. A bright pink acoustic guitar.

Trixie picked up the guitar and sat on Pinkie Pie’s bed before she strummed it a few times. It sounded lovely, although Trixie despised the color of it. Pink simply didn’t belong on guitars. Fluttershy looked a little interested in what Trixie was doing, and Maud found a spot to sit down in front of Trixie. Fluttershy quickly sat next to her and looked up excitedly.

Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I promised that I would sing in front of our friends. Is it okay if I sing in front of just you two?”

Maud nodded. Trixie then looked at Fluttershy and asked, “would you like to hear? I’m not really that good at singing, but I’ll try my best.”

Fluttershy grinned and had a little blush as she said, “oh I would just love it if you sang for me, I mean um…us.”

This time Trixie actually enjoyed Fluttershy’s little crush. It was nice to know that ponies other than Maud might find her attractive, and actually wanted to hear her sing. Trixie knew she wasn’t very good at singing but she did know how to play a guitar.

Trixie began strumming up a nice soft tune for the song. She didn’t have any particular song in mind, she had a hard time remembering the words of any. So she decided to make one up, maybe she would luck out and make something half way decent.

Trixie inhaled slowly, praying that no pony would be too disappointed in her song, and began to sing a soft paced song for Maud.

After Trixie had sung the last line of her song she looked up from the guitar and looked into Maud’s eyes. Trixie had half hopped that Maud would enjoy the song, but didn’t expect to see her like this. Maud’s eyes were wet and glossy, her face was a deep shade of red, and there was happy smile across her face.

Trixie couldn’t help but smile and look away. That’s when Trixie noticed the four ponies sticking their heads out from behind the door way and watching Trixie. Pinkie Pie, applejack, rarity, and Rainbow Dash were all watching from the hallway just outside of Pinkie pie’s room. Trixie felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she realized that they had all been listening and watching her.

Trixie looked in the other direction fearing the insults they would launch at her for her terrible performance. Pinkie Pie said, “that song was awesome, I didn’t even know you could play a guitar. Isn’t Trixie talented?”

Trixie peeked over at them to see them all nodding in agreement. It was nice of them to lie for her. All of a sudden Maud stood up and picked up the guitar from Trixie. Maud carefully set it down on the floor and looked at Trixie. Trixie could feel an exceedingly warm emotion coming off of Maud, it was an almost hot feeling. Trixie wasn’t sure what was happening until after Maud kissed her deeply.

Maud pulled away after a moment and said, “Pinkie Pie I’m borrowing your room for tonight.”

Fluttershy gave a quiet squeak as Maud pushed Trixie down onto Pinkie’s Pie’s bed and climbed on top of her. Maud whispered, “no pony has ever song me a love song before…tonight I’m going to make you feel things you never thought possible.”

Trixie glanced over at the group of ponies and watched Fluttershy scurrying out of the door with a beet red face. Pinkie Pie’s ears were dropped and she looked a little misplaced. As Applejack closed the door Trixie heard Pinkie Pie say, “b-b-but…that’s my bed.”

Rarity said, “I’ll help you wash your sheets later, but for now let’s leave the-“ she was cut off by the door closing.

Trixie was then left to the devices of Maud Pie, and despite the embarrassment, she wouldn’t have it be any other way.

Chapter Twenty Two: The Poison Within

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Two: The Poison Within
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The air was cold against Trixie’s fur as she stood inside the dark room. She couldn’t make out anything in the darkness, but she could feel the uneven hard floor beneath her. Trixie tried to use her magic to light up the room but stopped just as she remembered her magic would hurt her. Trixie couldn’t help but feel afraid of this dark cold room.

A purple light began to glow around her, its dim light allowing Trixie to see where she was. Trixie was inside of a black room, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of some kind of black stone. Trixie was standing on a set of stairs leading down towards a large doorway. A dark ominous feeling was coming from down that way. Trixie didn’t like it at all.

“You know you’re responsible for this Trixie,” said a disturbingly familiar mare’s voice.

Trixie looked behind herself and saw her doppelganger standing before her with a purple aura glowing from her horn. Trixie scowled at her and said, “Scath.”

Scath smiled at Trixie and began to pace around her. “You don’t even know why Scath choose the name do you? Has it not occurred to you that Scath is your shadow? That Scath was sick of being pushed around? We had been part of you, we had been part of Twilight. And together we decided to become more than just fragments to be used by creatures of corruption like the Deep One. No we, the great and powerful Scath have decided to become the ruler of all.”

Trixie grinned slyly at Scath saying, “no pony will bow to a self righteous monster like yourself.”

“Oh but we are simply being the pony we were meant to be, before you abandoned us to make ‘friends’. You have ruined our good name, and become a pathetic creature,” Scath explained.

Trixie was staring at what she now believed to be some kind of twisted mirror. Scath may be a separate creature, and somehow connected to Twilight. But she was certain that she was staring at an evil version of herself, and it disgusted her.

Scath then stopped and looked at Trixie saying, “you know all Scath needs to do to cause you trouble, is to talk to Maud. We could hurt her, in ways you could only imagine, and she would blame you. Isn’t it wonderful what we could do?”

White hot anger flashed through Trixie at Scath’s words and Trixie lashed out with a hoof trying to punch her doppelganger. Scath teleported away just out of Trixie’s reach, and closer towards the open doorway. Scath grinned and said, “oh, so that’s what it takes to make you chase after us.”

Scath turned and fled through the doorway, and for the moment Trixie didn’t care what creepy monsters lay behind there. She was going to smack Scath silly for even suggesting the idea of hurting Maud. Trixie chased after Scath without a moment’s hesitation.

Inside the doorway Trixie found a room that was darkly lit by a fire pit. The purple colored fire cast a purple flickering light about the small black chamber. A pick axe lay on the floor next to a large statue. The statue didn’t make sense to her at first but as she stared at it, it seemed to become clearer.

The statue stood nearly ten feet tall, and was shaped like a long tall and skinny primate. The primate had its arms sticking straight up towards the sky in an anguished posture as though it was suffering from a terrible pain. The primate creature was far to skinny to be a living creature, it was nearly a skeleton. The statue was made completely of obsidian. In fact Trixie began to suspect that everything around her was made of obsidian.

Scath reappeared from behind the statue and said, “oh Trixie, did you really think that Twilight could handle us? We are after all, you. And we both know that Twilight has never really beaten us in a battle. The one time she had even tried, she cheated. And oh does that burn.”

Trixie nearly screamed at Scath in anger as she said, “even though she cheated in our magic duel, we deserved it. The things we did were terrible. Can’t you understand that?”

Scath replied with an angry tone, “no we cannot, for what the villagers did was horrible to us. We deserved their love and affection and they hurt us. We will get their love, or we will get our revenge. Can’t you understand us, and our pain?”

Trixie looked away and said in a quieter tone, “I’m through with revenge. All it does is hurt me, and the ponies I love. I still have flashbacks of the things I did sometimes, and it’s horrible. I think I locked Fluttershy inside a cage.”

Scath laughed villainously before saying, “oh you were going to, until she showed us how much she admired us. Hehehe the things that we did to that little butter yellow subject of ours. It is no wonder she still loves us. Too bad all you can do is forget about it, and hurt her more by being with Maud, right in front of her face. Even I wouldn’t do that to anypony.”

That was it, something inside Trixie broke and she charged at Scath. Trixie summoned all the energy she could into her horn and screamed. Just as Trixie was about to unleash the built up magic at her foe, a bright light blinded her.

Trixie covered her eyes and moaned as she tried to block out the light. She looked around and realized that she was no longer in that dark place with Scath. Trixie was now lying next to Maud inside of the bed Pinkie Pie had set up for them. The light came through the window and was directly in Trixie’s eyes. Trixie hated the light.

That dream she had just woken from was not by any means normal. There was something about it that was very off, and in some ways almost real. It was far too early to wonder about such dreadful things, she decided it would be best to not worry about it until after she had drank her coffee.

Trixie rolled out of bed and shook herself. She needed a shower after the things Maud had done to her the night before, but most importantly, she needed to pee. Maud stirred a little and said in a begging tone, “come back to bed Lulu. Hold me.”

Trixie smiled down at her sleepy lover and said, “I’ll be right back, I need to pee.”

Maud groaned and went back to sleep as Trixie left the room. She made her way down the stairs and into the bathroom located on the third floor of this four story house. Trixie made her way inside and quietly took care of her business. Afterwards Trixie washed her hooves in the sink and noticed scars around her legs.

Trixie had never had any scars before. She then looked into the mirror and found scars on her face. One over her right eye, one under her left cheek, one on her lip, and the last one was just over her left eye. Panic began rushing through her body as she looked at her sides and noticed scars over her flanks, especially on her cutie mark and going towards her rump. Trixie screamed fearfully.

A few minutes later Trixie was cowering behind the bathroom door shaking, it was locked and she was using her body to help keep it shut. She didn’t want anypony to see her like this, not like the damaged, scarred goods that she knew she’d always been. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed from the confusion and fear.

She had no idea how these scars had appeared. She had never been hurt this badly before. It was almost like all her emotional scars had been transformed into physical ones. Almost like some kind of horrid joke, but who would ever be so cruel to do this too her.

“Lulu,” Maud said softly through the door, “please come out. I’m here for you.”

Trixie let out a cry before saying, “no, Trixie is hideous. We look like a monstrous freak. We won’t come out. You can’t be allowed to see Trixie like this.”

Maud was silent for a few seconds before she said in a worried voice, “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

Trixie tried to quiet her sobs for a moment and calm down. She said, “you don’t know, you don’t know anything about Trixie. Not about how horrible she is, nor about what she secretly desires, nor about her darkest fears, you don’t know anything about the meek and powerless Trixie.”

For the longest time Maud stayed quiet, the only sounds audible to her were those of her own sobs. Trixie finally gave up on hearing Maud say something that would make her feel better about this when suddenly she heard Maud’s voice. “You’re right, I don’t know as much about you as I would like to Lulu. So I want you to tell me everything. I’ll listen, like always…I promise.”

Trixie heard the pain in Maud’s voice, she hadn’t heard Maud sound hurt before. If Trixie had somehow hurt Maud’s feelings then she could never forgive herself for the act. Trixie opened up the bathroom door a crack and saw Maud sitting patiently outside of it.

Maud was wearing a sad expression with some tears running down her face when Trixie opened the door. As Trixie stared at Maud she watched Maud grow a sad smile as she said, “you opened the door.” Maud quickly frowned and cringed as she tried to fight back her tears.

To an outsider Maud’s sadness might seem more normal, but Trixie knew her special somepony better than that. Maud’s shouldn’t be this upset over Trixie alone, something else must have happened. Trixie only opened the door enough for her to see through with one eye, she still didn’t want Maud to see her body like this.

“Maud, are you feeling okay?” Trixie asked feeling concern for her special somepony.

Maud looked confused for a second before looking surprised. Her eyes widened in shock as she seemed to realize something. Then Maud broke down and she clenched her eyes shut nearly crying again. “Lulu…I’m….scared…”

Trixie opened her mouth to explain that it was okay to cry sometimes, but stopped short at Maud’s expression of deep emotional pain. Maud looked around herself quickly before saying quietly, “please let me inside, before Pinkie Pie see’s me like this.”

Too shocked at her lover becoming so emotionally destroyed, Trixie couldn’t help but open the door for Maud. Trixie made sure to stay hidden behind it while Maud entered, so that no pony could see her body. Just as Maud entered the bathroom Trixie closed the door so fast she nearly slammed it shut. To her surprise she watched Maud jump forward in surprise from the sound. Could Maud really be this scared?

Trixie leaned her back against the door and sat on the floor. She watched fearfully as Maud turned around and examined her. Maud’s expression went from surprise to confusion, and finally ended on absolutely horror. Trixie cringed in fear as Maud looked at her.

“Lulu…those are new, and I should know,” Maud said in a quiet timid voice.

Trixie wiped her tears away with a hoof but they simply came back. The feeling of shame simply wouldn’t leave her alone. “Trixie doesn’t know what happened; we just woke up after a nightmare about Scath…and then this….”

Trixie began to feel her fear, shame, guilt, and pain all stirring together. She tried her best to not start crying and found Maud starting to join her. Maud quickly walked up and wrapped her hooves around Trixie before the two of them began sobbing together.

They held each other, crying in each other’s embrace for nearly ten minutes, with Maud nuzzling Trixie’s chest. Finally a knocking was heard at the bathroom door. Pinkie Pie said through the door, “is everything okay you two?”

Trixie watched as Maud’s expression changed from sorrow to terror. Maud looked into Trixie’s eyes and whispered, “S-s-she can’t s-s-see me like this. Lulu help me…save me.”

Trixie wasn’t in any better of an emotional state, but she felt Maud’s terror as well. Trixie cleared her throat before saying, “something’s wrong with us, we…don’t know what it is but we need help.”

Pinkie Pie then said, “of course you need help, and I’m glad that you finally asked. With how sick you have been. I’ve been scared, especially after you coughed out so-“

Trixie cut her off in a near shout saying, “Trixie has no time for your crazy talk. Go fetch Twilight Sparkle and tell her we have need of her services.” Trixie calmed herself down having now stopped Pinkie Pie from revealing something that was secret. “Please Pinkie Pie, we are…changed somehow. Our body has been transformed.”

Pinkie Pie was quiet for a moment causing Trixie to think that she had left on her assigned task. Pinkie Pie surprised Trixie when she said, “um…it’s hard to understand you when you talk like that Trixie. Are you saying that you and Maud fused into some kind of monster pony? Because you keep saying ‘we’.”

Despite the randomness of what Pinkie Pie had suggested, she used the word ‘monster’ and that was all Trixie could focus on and she couldn’t help it anymore. She broke down into sobbing tears again. Maud finally pulled away and gently opened the bathroom door against Trixie’s back. Maud only opened it a few inches to show Pinkie her red face. Maud had been crying so hard her face was red.

Pinkie Pie let out an audible gasp at Maud. Maud explained in a barely even voice, obviously attempting to sound like her normal stoic self, “I don’t know what happened, but Trixie has acquired scar tissue on her body over night.”

Pinkie Pie said, “wow that sounds like a curse…”

Maud’s eyes grew wide as she said in a fearful tone, “curse. Like the blue flower curse?”

“Oh no, you two didn’t come across any poison joke yesterday did you?” Pinkie asked concerned. “I know you went hiking in the forest.”

Maud looked down at Trixie and Maud’s lip began to quiver slighter. “Yes, and Trixie smelled them.”

Pinkie Pie let out a sigh before saying, “and let me guess. You joined in without thinking about it?”

Maud closed her eyes and said timidly, “I pulled her away from them…and then she sneezed on me.”

Pinkie Pie began laughing for a few seconds before saying, “that’s gross. Okay, I can fix you guys pretty quick. Just let me get Twilight.”

Pinkie Pie left, and Maud shut the door and returned to Trixie’s embrace. Maud shivered and whimpered in Trixie’s embrace. Maud was a little taller than Trixie but right now Maud was acting so small and afraid that Trixie was worried for her. Trixie and Maud cried together, whatever kind of curse afflicted them it was pure evil. For nothing had scared Maud before save for Trixie’s death.

A few hours had passed and Pinkie Pie had returned without company. By this time Trixie had made her way into Pinkie’s room and had wrapped herself into a blanket. She had wrapped the blanket around herself so tight that no pony could hope to steal her cover from her.

Maud on the other hoof, was acting scared still. Even Gummy, Pinkie Pie’s, pet alligator was scaring her. Trixie had to keep them separated after it tried to nibble on Maud. Maud had let out a shrilling scream as though she was dying. Even wrapped in her blanket cloak, and feeling hideous she still stood guard for Maud, protecting her from the dreaded toothless alligator.

When Pinkie returned alone Trixie began to despair thinking that Pinkie had been unable to find help. But Pinkie showed them a green potion, one that would be poured into a nice hot bath for the two ponies. A bath was something that they had desperately needed.

Pinkie Pie began to prepare them a bath downstairs leaving Maud alone with Trixie. Maud was avoiding looking at her sister, and seemed more terrified of Pinkie Pie then most anything else. Trixie was worried about that.

“Maud, why are you scared of Pinkie Pie?” Trixie asked gently.

For a moment she didn’t get a response but finally Maud said in a tiny voice, “I don’t want to talk about it. not now, not ever.”

Maud began to shake from the fear again, and Trixie didn’t feel like pressing the matter. Whatever might have happened, it didn’t matter because Trixie was here now. Trixie walked up and held Maud until Pinkie Pie came up and told them that the bath was finished. Trixie wasn’t going to leave Maud’s side anytime soon.

Chapter Twenty Three: Wet Lies

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Three: Wet Lies
TheCrimsonDM

Trixie soaked in the hot water of the bath lying on her side, her forelegs wrapped around Maud as they soaked in the green tinted water. She nuzzled into Maud’s strong chest and had her legs wrapped around Maud. She took in the sweet smell of the herbs used to cure them of the Poison Joke. Trixie had been surprised to watch as the bath water washed the scars away as easily as dirt.

Trixie would have loved to make this bath a little more intimate, but Pinkie Pie poked her head in almost every five minutes to check up on them. The idea that Pinkie Pie might be getting her revenge for what Trixie and Maud had done on Pinkie’s bed the night before had crossed her mind. Trixie let out a sigh hoping that Pinkie Pie wouldn’t hold it against them for too long. Maud was still quiet and Trixie couldn’t help but worry about her.

“Honey…um…I have a question,” Trixie said timidly.

Maud wrapped a leg around Trixie’s waist and said, “so do I.”

That didn’t sound good. Maud had a strange feeling about her. It wasn’t something that Trixie could quite place. Trixie didn’t feel that her own question was all that important at the moment, she could wait. “Okay what do you need to know?”

No reply came from Maud for a few long seconds, but finally Maud said, “actually I have a few questions. First of all who is Scath?”

Trixie felt Maud’s leg grip become a little tighter around her waist. She could also feel Maud’s concern. Trixie didn’t want to tell Maud about Scath, she didn’t want to worry her. She could lie to Maud, but that felt wrong. She really didn’t want to talk about it, or even think about it. Plus if Trixie could only keep this secret a little longer, it could keep Maud safe from harm, she just had to keep it secret until Twilight fixed this mess.

At the same time something told Trixie, that Maud didn’t need to know, because this didn’t concern Maud in the slightest. That Maud would only make things harder than need be, and keeping the secrets would be best. Trixie didn’t like that part of her, but she agreed with it.

“Wow, that’s definitely a…question,” Trixie replied nervously. “Okay so, Scath is…a nightmare I had. It scared me, and I don’t do very well with scary things…you know.”

Maud was quiet for a moment before saying, “so Scath isn’t a stallion?”

Trixie nearly sat up in surprise at hearing that, but couldn’t bring herself to pull away from Maud’s warm, fuzzy, and wet chest. “No, not at all. Why would you even worry about that?”

Again there was no reply for a long moment. Finally Maud said, “I was worried that you might be thinking about somepony else…you were saying that name in your sleep last night as well.”

“Stallions are disgusting. I mean they have…things. I don’t even want to think about a stallion that way. Besides that I would never cheat on you, Maud. You mean more to me then the whole world,” Trixie explained and finished by kissing Maud’s chest softly.

Maud then said, “thank you.” Trixie found Maud’s hoof beginning to slide a little lower down her waist. Maud then asked, “and what about your health, are you feeling okay? You’ve been throwing up?”

Trixie began to understand the rules here. So long as Trixie gave out satisfactory answers Maud would continue to slide her hooves lower. Maybe if Trixie answered them all she would get exactly what she wanted. Trixie liked this game now.

Trixie couldn’t help but purr, “mmm, I’m fine. Just fine, but if you were to give me an examination I wouldn’t be opposed.” Trixie opened her mouth to say more, but then realized exactly what she had just said to Maud and closed her eyes, her face beginning to burn from embarrassment. She didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“That’s new,” Maud said sliding her hoof a little lower. “I’m not a doctor. but I could try my ‘hoof’ at it.”

Maud’s hoof was indeed a magical cure to many problems for Trixie, although it wasn’t a mystery as to why. Trixie craved Maud’s hoof, wanting it to move even lower. Trixie then asked, “did you have any more questions?”

Maud kissed the back of Trixie’s head softly and said, “just one. What were you doing on the first day we came to Ponyville. You disappeared completely, and I didn’t see you until late at night. You got sick after that, and didn’t say anything else about it. So what happened?”

Trixie hadn’t realized that Maud was so observant, Maud was there to hold her when things got rough, not to examine every little detail of her life. It surprised Trixie that Maud would actually pay attention to all these small details. Trixie felt that her actions should not have to be examined. Trixie loved her observant pony though, if only Trixie could change Maud’s attention to something a little more personal…

“I was talking to somepony who saved my life,” Trixie said as she wiggled next to Maud. She wanted Maud’s touch so badly.

Maud slid her hoof down a little lower, now resting it over Trixie’s belly button. Trixie wanted it to move a little more. Maud then asked, “do you still love me?”

Trixie nuzzled into Maud’s neck before whispering, “Yes I do.”

Maud slid her hoof down right next to Trixie’s sensitive spot. Trixie stifled a moan and then Maud stopped moving. Trixie looked up at Maud with pleading eyes for her to continue when Maud said, “Trixie, I know you love me. But I also know that you have been lying to me.”

Fear stole away Trixie’s heart, and her eyes widened. How could Maud have possibly known, about any of this. Maud looked Trixie dead center in the eyes, Maud’s eyes seamed to almost pierce Trixie’s soul. “I know that something bad happened that night, something involving Scath. I also know that you are not well. You can’t hide these things from me.”

Trixie shrank back as far as she could against the small tubs interior wall. She had been caught, and Maud didn’t seem happy about his. Trixie could feel how upset Maud was. Trixie could only hope that Maud wasn’t angry with her and would understand that she did it to protect her loving earth pony.

“Trixie…Lulu. I’m not mad at you. But lying to me…” Maud said quietly.

Trixie looked up at Maud and said in a fragile voice, “I-I-I didn’t lie. You just asked me the wrong questions. I…” Trixie’s mind began working into overdrive to find an escape from this. “You asked how I was feeling, and right now I feel fine. You asked who Scath was, and she really is a nightmare…one that I wish didn’t exist. And you asked me what I had been doing, I was with Twilight and Zecora. They both saved my life. So you see I didn’t lie to you, I was just confused by your questions.”

Trixie pouted her lips in an attempt to make herself appear to be upset with the accusation. She stayed that way looking up at Maud for a few seconds before Maud finally said, “you’re right. I should have been more detailed with my questions…but now you seem to know what I wanted to ask right?”

Trixie looked away and said, “yeah…I do. And it was ‘probably’ wrong of me to not answer them properly. I…it’s just that these things scare me, and I didn’t want to think about them.”

Maud pulled Trixie back next to her and said, “so you admit lying to me?”

“Trixie didn’t lie to you. She only…I only misunderstood your questions…on purpose,” Trixie answered shamefully.

Maud let out a sigh and said, “I’m glad you told me the truth, about that. I have been worried about you Lulu. But you hurt my feelings. How are you going to make up for that?”

“I’ll tell you the truth. I swear,” Trixie said.

Maud was quiet for a moment before explaining, “but you hurt me more than that. How are you going to make me not hurt anymore?”

Trixie quickly spoke saying, “punish Trixie, please. But don’t be hurt, you can take it all out on us, Maud. We promise Trixie won’t complain so long as you are okay.”

Maud looked at Trixie and a wicked grin grew on her face as she said, “you know it was that mouth of yours that hurt me. Maybe it can also make me feel better, make me feel good? But I don’t know how you could do that with nothing but a hot tongue.”

Trixie’s face began warming up intensely from what Maud was implying. Usually Maud was very direct, but right now she was hinting at what Trixie would need to do to for forgiveness. Trixie’s face warmed up even more as she said, “I…okay. I can do that, I mean…it’s not like we haven’t done that before…right.”

Maud looked at Trixie and in a way that felt very familiar to her; Maud cocked her head to the side and said, “I don’t understand. You will need to be more direct with me.”

That was it, Maud was teasing Trixie in the worst way. Maud was forcing Trixie to say embarrassing things as punishment. Hopefully Maud wouldn’t make this any worse.

Trixie closed her eyes and said, “…I’ll…I’ll use my mouth…and…um…”

Maud put a hoof to Trixie’s lips stopping her from speaking. Trixie looked up with pleading eyes, she felt too embarrassed to say what Maud wanted her too. Maud then said in her monotone voice, “I will be nice and give you a choice. You can either say the words, or I can borrow some of Pinkie Pie’s toys to use on you. She has a gag to stop that lying mouth of yours if need be.”

“G-g-g-gag?” Trixie asked in a fearful tone.

“A ball gag to be exact. If that’s what you prefer,” Maud explained.

Gags and bondage were the only images Trixie could see in her mind now. And she really disliked imaging them. Trixie closed her eyes shut hard and said, “I’ll give you mouth sex.”

Maud patted Trixie on the head and said in a soft tone, “that’s a good pony. But it’s actually called oral sex. I have a book that you could read on the sub-“

“No, no more talking about things like that. I’ll just do whatever okay, “Trixie said quickly trying to prevent Maud from embarrassing her more. She didn’t know exactly how far Maud would take things, but she knew that Maud had no shame when it came to talking about this subject. Maud was a pervert and there was only one way to appease her.

Trixie began moving her head and body awkwardly in the tub, attempting to get a good position without hurting herself. Trixie finally got her head comfortably down near Maud’s flanks and it didn’t take a psychic pony to know that Maud was excited. Trixie began finding herself very excited as well. Usually Maud was the one doing things to her, but now she was returning the favor. It was a new experience and despite being very embarrassing she now wanted nothing more than to make Maud happy. Trixie was about to start when the bathroom door suddenly swung open and Pinkie Pie bounced in.

Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to react to the awkward Position that Trixie was in, and instead only smiled at the two ponies. Trixie quickly found herself trying to get back into a more normal looking position before Pinkie Pie asked any questions. Pinkie Pie grinned at them and said, “did you two wash up real good? Because I’m making, “Pinkie Pie then sung the last word, “breakfast.”

Pinkie Pie then turned and walked towards the door but didn’t leave. She looked back at them and added, “and it would break my heart if you two weren’t there to enjoy it with me.”

Pinkie Pie stayed until Trixie and Maud crawled out of the bathtub, then Pinkie decided to leave. Trixie began feeling immensely less embarrassed after drying off. But she was also now upset with Pinkie Pie, she would talk to her about personal space, but she remembered all the shameful things that she had done on Pinkie Pie’s bed. At this point it would probably be best to simply burn the sheets, washing them might be out of the question. Or at least that’s how Trixie felt about it.

Just after drying off with a towel Trixie was about to leave the bathroom when Maud asked, “did you take your meds today?”

Trixie stood still for a second trying to remember if she had. Between the scars, and being caught lying to Maud, and then being punished by Maud, Trixie couldn’t really remember. All she could really think about at the moment was how Maud was going to punish her again later, and Trixie would be dead from embarrassment if Maud even showed her what one of those gags looked like.

After a few seconds of thinking about what Maud might do to her, Trixie simply couldn’t think straight. Her stomach was also telling her that she needed food. She could deal with her meds afterwards. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I think so, let’s go eat breakfast.”

Chapter Twenty Four: Shadowed Hearts

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Four: Shadowed Hearts
Written by TheCrimsonDM

After they got downstairs they found out The Cakes were out with the little ones going to the doctor’s office. Trixie heard the word vaccine and began pitying the parents. It was bad enough for one child to receive a shot, but for two of them at once. When they get home it was likely the foals would cuddle up with their cousin, Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie had made some breakfast for Maud and Trixie, and Pinkie couldn’t stop grinning the entire time. Trixie couldn’t tell if it was the fact that Pinkie had succeeded in interrupting her private time with Maud, or if she was just being herself. Because Trixie suspected the former, she began disliking Pinkie’s smile.

Breakfast today seemed to be a good helping of pancakes, with chocolate chips baked inside them. Despite Pinkie’s rude behavior earlier, Trixie decided not to hold it against her. Because of how good the food smelled, Trixie found herself salivating long before the food reached the table.

Together the three of them ate in peace, save for Pinkie Pie who was singing a song about pancakes. It was the same song she had started singing while cooking them, only now she changed the words slightly to make the song about eating them. Trixie didn’t mind, she could barely hear Pinkie’s song over the sound of herself eating the wonderful chocolate pancakes before her.

Having finished the food Trixie laid back in her chair feeling satisfied and full. Pinkie Pie looked excited and smiled brightly at her. “So did you like the food? Trixie nodded and Pinkie Pie continued, “good.”

After that Pinkie Pie got up from the table and left the room. Trixie didn’t like why Pinkie Pie had asked her that question. Why would she bring up the issue of whether Trixie liked the food or not. She began to fear Pinkie Pie had done something to pancakes, but what could she have done? It was a scary idea, and Trixie attempted her best to forget about it.

Maud stared in silence at Trixie for a few minutes causing Trixie to wonder what Maud was thinking about. Maud had been a little too quiet during the meal, and Trixie didn’t like that. So Trixie decided to fix that problem. “So, Maud, what do you want to do today?”

Maud looked flatly at Trixie and stayed quiet. Trixie didn’t like this at all. Maybe Trixie had indeed hurt Maud more then she had believed. “Um…Maud…I am sorry about what I did. I’ll tell you anything you want to know, all you have to do is ask.”

Maud finally looked away from Trixie and said, “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. But I think I’ve been…I haven’t been listening to you. It’s my fault you were hurt isn’t it?”

Trixie didn’t know where this had come from but she didn’t like it at all. Trixie said, “of course not. I would have been in trouble at some point no matter what I did. Please don’t blame yourself.”

Trixie tried to get Maud to look at her and when Maud showed no signs of wanting to look at Trixie, she knew she had somehow hurt Maud deeper then she had thought possible. Trixie felt on the verge of tears when Maud finally said, “You didn’t want to come here originally, and then when you did…it was only to save Twilight. Then you got hurt, and I didn’t even realize something was wrong until the next day.”

It was painful for Trixie to see Maud worried like this. Maud had been blaming herself for what had happened…and she had tried to make everything better yesterday. Trixie hated herself for not noticing how much Maud cared. Something felt off inside her head, she had already known Maud cared about her. And that Maud paid attention to everything Trixie did, but why did Trixie forget that.

“I got hurt in the forest…my body was taken over by an evil monster. Whatever happened during that time, had hurt me. Her name is Scath, and now she is out there somewhere doing bad things. I just know it. Twilight has promised me that she would fix this, so everything will be okay,” Trixie explained to Maud, hoping that it would somehow make Maud feel better.

Maud was quiet again. After a minute of sitting still waiting, hoping for a response, Trixie gave up and let out a depressed sigh. Maud finally spoke again saying, “I’m sorry. I should have saved you Trixie, but…I didn’t even know something was wrong with you. You were possessed and I didn’t even know. I hurt you…just like…I’m sorry.”

Trixie heard Maud and although she couldn’t hear any difference in the tone of Maud’s voice, she could tell that there was something heavy weighing on Maud’s heart. Trixie closed her eyes and concentrated on Maud’s mind. It was a little harder for Trixie to hear Maud’s thought’s today, but she heard Maud thinking, “it’s just Pinkie Pie all over again…”

Suddenly Trixie was pulled back from Maud’s mind. It was hard to concentrate right now, but what she had heard was horrible. Trixie wanted to know what had happened and she needed to know now, before it got any worse.

“Something happened between you and Pinkie Pie didn’t it? Maud, you need to tell me what happened,” Trixie said in as steady a voice as she could muster.

Maud didn’t answer, instead she simply picked up the dishes and brought them to the sink. Trixie could tell Maud was going to ignore her, so Trixie decided it was time to press. Trixie was determined to fix this mess. Maud began washing the dishes as Trixie decided to speak up saying, “you need to tell me. Maud what you are doing right now is just like when I lied to you.”

Maud didn’t turn from the dishes but she replied with her monotonous voice, “now you know how I felt.”

Trixie’s heart stopped. Maud had just said something…hurtful. Something inside Trixie began breaking, it was as though all her inner pain was beginning to smother her in sorrow. Trixie felt something screw up inside her, she didn’t like it at all. “What did you just say?” she asked in such a tiny voice, hopping that she had misheard Maud.

Maud didn’t respond for a few agonizing moments, and when she did she said, “I told you I am not talking about this.”

Trixie couldn’t find any way to stop her heart from breaking further. Hot tears began running down Trixie’s face as she begged, “please Maud. You already know everything about me. I just want to know something about you…please.”

Maud finally turned around to look directly at Trixie and stomped her hoof into the floor. “I said I refuse to talk about what I did. Drop it Trixie.”

There was nothing but a cold silence for a few seconds as tears continued to stream down Trixie’s face. Trixie looked away from Maud’s face, and noticed the floor beneath Maud’s hoof. The kitchen tiles were cracked where Maud had stomped on them. Trixie had been neglecting her sensing abilities and just realized that Maud was angry. Maud was angry, terrified, and…ashamed.

After another long moment of silence Maud finally said in a gentler tone, “I’m sorry I snapped like that. I…it’s a painful memory for me. One that makes me fear what could happen, if I’m not careful. I won’t ever ask you to tell me about what happened during the dark times in your life, all I ask is that you do the same.”

Trixie continued staring at the broken floor. Her broken heart was fearful now. Trixie looked up and said in an almost whimpering tone, “I…I understand, I won’t ask about this anymore. But may I ask you why you were…mean to me?”

A confused feeling came over Maud as she asked, “I’m sorry. I’m not very good at talking, if I said something mean…I’m sorry.”

Trixie closed her eyes and said, “but why did you say ‘now you know how it feels’?”

Maud’s expression changed slightly as her eyes opened a little more. “I didn’t say that out loud…how did you know what I was thinking?”

This concerned Trixie, amongst everything else seemed wrong about this event. She began to wonder if she had just read Maud’s mind passively. If Trixie could do that passively and by mistake, then she had to wonder if it ever happened in the past? Trixie didn’t like the idea. Trixie also didn’t like how Maud just ruined the floor out of anger, but worst of all she didn’t like how Maud wasn’t letting her in.

Trixie closed her eyes and painfully told another false truth, “I heard when two ponies are soul mates they can sometimes hear each other’s thoughts…maybe that’s what I just did?”

Maud walked up and embraced Trixie gently with her wet hooves. Trixie’s broken heart and fear started to fade as she embraced Maud back. Maud then spoke softly into Trixie’s ear. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Trixie knew everything was a mess right now, but at least Maud still loved her. And so long as Trixie had Maud’s love everything should be okay in the end. They stayed together in that embrace for a while before Trixie finally felt calm enough to nuzzle back into Maud’s neck. They simply held each other for the longest time. After that though Maud returned to washing dishes and Trixie was still not sure what she should do.

After breakfast and the event with Maud Trixie decided to go and find a nice quiet place to relax. Trixie was content lounging on one of the chairs with her rear legs propped on top of the table. She stayed like that and rested for a while, and she would have stayed there in the peace and quiet forever should she have been given a chance. The bell just over the door rung as the door was swung open and in walked a disheveled Twilight Sparkle.

Trixie sat up straight and asked, “what happened to you?”

Twilight looked around suspiciously before answering, “I have been trying to track down Scath, find a cure for your horn, figure out how Celestia learned of our actions in New Slate, and on top of all of that, I have been trying to not freak out and destroy the town.”

“What…wait why would you destroy the town?” Trixie asked in worry for her friend.

Twilight gave a manic laugh before saying, “are you kidding me, I have been bouncing between anger, and depression for the longest time now. But your screwing around with the mirror pool has revived memories of the darn Pinkie Pie clones. I would’ve much preferred never to think about them again.”

Trixie pitied for Twilight, for she had been in a similar spot once before. But Twilight had friends to look after her, including Trixie. Then Trixie realized Twilight had said the words “Pinkie Pie clones”.

“What do you mean Pinkie Pie clones?” Trixie asked feeling curious and just a little excited about the idea.

Twilight looked away from Trixie and said, “Pinkie Pie made a bunch of clones once. It was a mess. I fixed it. End of story. Never talk about it again.”

Trixie was confused, why should she never talk about it again, wasn’t it an awesome idea? “Why, I think a Pinkie Pie clone would be awesome to have.”

Twilight gave an angry look to Trixie before saying, “no it was not awesome. They were annoying, and everypony suffered.”

Trixie rolled her eyes at Twilight. She was beginning to see what was going on. Twilight had probably not gotten any sleep since the Scath incident. That meant Twilight was all paranoid and silly, when she got sleep she would be normal again.

“Pfft, Pinkie Pie clones are only annoying if you keep them too close together,” Trixie said dismissively.

Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she asked, “what?”

It made sense to Trixie that Pinkie Pie could be annoying sometimes, if you had a bunch of Pinkie Pie’s you would need to separate them, or else the singing might never end.“Simple fix, separate them. Oooo maybe you could put a Pinkie Pie inside every town in Equestria. Then no pony would ever be sad or lonely again. Or you could give them out as pets…oh can I have one?” Trixie said now envisioning all sorts of ideas of what to do with Pinkie Pie clones.

Twilight’s mouth gapped open and she stood frozen. After nearly a minute Twilight said, “I…can’t believe that would’ve…I mean we could at least have tried it. Why didn’t we ask anypony else for advice.”

“So what did you end up doing? Probably locked them away until you figured out what to do huh. I guess you were always the smart one.” Trixie said while contemplating a cage full of bouncing pink ponies, and then thinking about how sad they were without any friends.

Twilight refused to meet Trixie’s eyes and said, “I didn’t come here to complain about my own issues. I needed to tell you what I’ve found out so far.”

“Oh what is it, something about Scath?” Trixie asked, feeling a little less excited for the news now.

Twilight let out a sigh before saying, “do you know what a dark heart is?” Trixie shook her head and Twilight continued, “it’s when a pony becomes a dark version of themselves. The worst cases have them becoming gray in color. It is a terrifying thing to see, and also really annoying. Well I have suffered from a dark heart twice. Once was when I first fought Discord.”

Trixie shivered when she heard that name. She didn’t know a lot about him, but what little she had heard was horrifying, especially considering the thing with Lord Tirek. Twilight gave a few seconds of silence before continuing. “The second time was after I fought Lord Tirek. My home was destroyed, along with everything I had ever once owned. Fluttershy was emotionally destroyed by Discord’s betrayal, and needed a lot of help. I don’t think she slept alone for a month after that. And there was destruction from the roles not being filled during Lord Tirek’s rain.

“My entire body was in pain for a few weeks from how much magic had been poured into me, and ripped out again. Not to mention that it was the first time I had realized that Celestia’s plans…well they suck. All of my pain, anger, and dark feelings began to pile up and explode and I went dark. I heard about what happened to you, and I did my very best to help you Trixie. But there were so many things happening. There was even a small rebellion that we had to quell. It was all horrible.

“Trixie it was the darkest time of my life, and I began searching for ways to keep Equestria and my friends safe. This included many trips into dark and forbidden places. I even broke into the Canterlot royal archives. But the worst thing I discovered was King Sombra’s old lab. Trixie, I did experiments there, things that I should not have messed around with, and eventually I became corrupted by my dark heart and went to Maud for help with the purple crystals. I…knew of their effects but I thought myself better than to succumb to them.

“After you entered my heart and pulled out my darkness. You took it inside of you didn’t you? And that…created a dark heart inside of you. But I believe that you already had one from the past. When you were…under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet. So it was then that I theorize my dark heart, and yours, fused. I don’t know what this element of domination thing is all about…but if I had been told that you were this element back in the old days…I might have believed it to be true.

“Trixie it is very likely that what we are facing is a great darkness, something belonging to both me and you. That is why I believe it is only we, who can destroy it and send it back to the mirror pool. This monster must be stopped and I need your help, because the only one who knows how to stop you is…you. Even I couldn’t beat you when you were at your best, I had to cheat. So please, will you help me with this?”

Trixie sat there feeling as though she was in some kind of dream. All of that information was…a lot to take in. but the last thing Twilight had said. That Twilight had cheated in their magic dual…it brought back memories once forgotten. Trixie closed her eyes and felt a cold shiver pass through her. She needed to do this, to take down her evil self…she had always wanted to destroy her inner darkness and now…she had the chance, together with Twilight.

Trixie looked into Twilight’s eyes and said, “I will help you Twilight, where do we start?”

Chapter Twenty Five: Burned

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Five: Burned
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Twilight smiled and said, “thank you. I’ll come and get you the second I get Scath’s location down. For now just try and have…peace. And be sure not to tell anypony, this is a secret.”

Trixie smiled and said, “alright, after I tell Maud I won’t tell anypony else.”

“No, that’s not acceptable. You have to keep it a secret, from everypony even from Maud, and especially Pinkie Pie,” Twilight warned.

“Hmph, I think not Twilight. I have kept secrets from Maud before and it was horrible. This time I will be telling her everything. I will not ask her to come with us, but you cannot stop me from telling her,” Trixie stated finishing with a stomp of her hoof.

Twilight stayed quiet for a long passing moment before she finally said, “alright you can tell her. But make sure she swears to secrecy on this. No pony can know that the mirror pool has been used again. If they think too hard about it…everypony might begin to crumble.”

Trixie wasn’t sure why Twilight was so worried about anypony learning about this, Twilight seemed even more paranoid about Scath than Trixie was. But at least Twilight was looking a little less stressed out after talking to Trixie. Trixie gave Twilight a friendly smile and watched as Twilight left.

Trixie looked towards the stairs wondering about what Pinkie Pie could be doing upstairs. Maud was in the kitchen so they could have a private conversation about this right now without worry of being heard by Pinkie Pie. Trixie only hoped that Pinkie wouldn’t use her powers to cheat…but Trixie suspected Pinkie Pie was above that.

As Trixie approached the kitchen she watched as Pinkie exited it, and blocked her way. Pinkie Pie said in a quiet tone, “follow me.”

Trixie hadn’t realized Pinkie Pie had come downstairs, and the more she thought about it, the less it made sense to her. Trixie could feel a serious air about Pinkie Pie though, and decided to follow her. Trixie began hoping that maybe she was about to get some of the answers that she needed.

After getting up the stairs and inside Pinkie’s room Trixie found her senses assailed by the strong scent of pine. “What is that smell?” Trixie asked covering her nose.

Pinkie Pie let out a sigh before saying, “that’s pine scented cleanser. It’s really strong, I spent the night at Fluttershy’s and borrowed some from her in the morning.”

Trixie looked up at Pinkie and said, “why would you need something that strong…oh...never mind.” Trixie looked away from Pinkie feeling ashamed of everything she had done with Maud the night before.

Pinkie Pie was quiet for a minute before she explained, “my Pinkie Sense went all crazy a little while ago. Did something happen between you and Maud?”

Trixie’s heart hurt a little as she remembered how angry Maud had been. Trixie refused to make eye contact with Pinkie while she explained, “I asked her about what had happened between you and her…I know something bad happened, I just wanted to help. But when I asked her, she got…angry. It…it scared me a little.”

Pinkie Pie wrapped a leg around Trixie’s neck and pulled her into an embrace. She held Trixie for a minute before finally saying, “I know how hard it is, but you have to stop asking her about that. It was all just a very bad accident.”

Trixie pushed away from Pinkie Pie and said, “but I have told her about everything that I’ve done, at least all that I can remember. My memory isn’t as good as it should be.”

Pinkie Pie cocked her head to the side and asked, “do you have memory loss?”

Trixie nodded and said, “it’s hard to remember things from when I went untreated. Sometimes a memory will come out of the blue and surprise me. But when it comes to the time I wore the amulet, my memory is virtually null.”

Pinkie Pie looked confused for a minute before saying, “of course it’s virtually no. you went through some tough things.”

Trixie opened her mouth to explain what null meant to the pink fluffy brained pony, but stopped as Pinkie put a hoof up. Pinkie Pie asked, “do you trust Maud?”

Trixie nodded and said, “of course I do, she means everything to me.”

“Good. Then trust her to talk to you when she is ready. Maud’s heart moves slowly, but surely. If you be patient then she will tell you everything eventually. She might tell you tonight, or maybe in a few years. But you need to wait for her to be ready. She doesn’t just fall in love with anypony, she chose you Trixie. Take pride in that fact that you pierced her heart…her heart of stone,” Pinkie Pie explained nearly giggling as she said the last part.

It was embarrassing to hear Pinkie Pie repeat that thing Trixie had said to Maud in her song. It was only a song. Hopefully this wouldn’t catch on with the other ponies. She could only imagine them teasing her about it. Trixie let out a sigh, and forgot her own embarrassment for the moment.

It made sense that Maud would take things slower than normal ponies. She never seemed to be one for moving fast in a relationship…Trixie then said, “but wait, Maud tried to sleep with me after only a week of actually dating her.”

Pinkie Pie looked away with a slight blush on her face saying, “I said her heart, Maud’s other parts have always been more active than that. She experiences things through physical actions.”

“Yes that’s true, but Maud’s still a pervert. I mean she has asked me to do some very um…never mind,” Trixie stopped complaining as she realized she might’ve liked those things a little more then she should have.

Pinkie rolled her eyes and said, “I know right. One time when she was in collage I spent the night with her in her dorm. She brought some stallion in late at night, and did things with him. I wouldn’t have minded if I was asleep but apparently he was so good that she began to whinny, so loud that everypony in that wing knew what she was up too…and I was stuck pretending to sleep on the floor.”

Trixie stared in amazement at Pinkie’s story for a moment before realizing that Pinkie Pie had just said that Maud whinnied…Trixie had never heard such noises while being intimate with Maud. Was Trixie not good enough? Was this stallion better than her? Did Maud prefer stallions? Trixie couldn’t figure out whether to be angry or depressed about this.

Pinkie Pie seemed to catch on to the fact that something was wrong. Pinkie Pie coughed a few times distracting Trixie. Pinkie then said, “soooo….you need to trust Maud okay. Think of this as a test, your first big test for your relationship. Don’t push Maud on this, or you will hurt her.”

Trixie forced her fears about Maud and stallions to the back of her mind before saying, “Of course, Trixie is the best at all tests. Trixie went through school with flying colors after all. Even graduating early and with honors.”

Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “wow you graduated. That beats me, by a long shot.”

Trixie grinned, she was proud of her talents. She then turned towards the door and said, “The great and educated Trixie needs to go research…and…oh crap.” Trixie hadn’t meant to say the great and anything. She looked towards her suitcase next to the guest bed and contemplated taking a look at her med’s. But she worried about possibly overmedicating herself, it was one thing to miss a day of meds but to overmedicate…could be very serious. Trixie convinced herself that she had been simply having a rough day, that’s why she broke into character.

Trixie walked back downstairs and into the kitchen. There she found Maud washing her hooves. All the dishes were now clean. It was only polite to wash the dishes since they had used them. She walked up to Maud nice and quietly hoping not to disturb her. When Trixie was close she leaned into Maud’s ear and whispered, “I love you.”

Maud jolted and jumped to the side. Maud had never been so jumpy before, and Trixie noticed Maud’s eyes had been raised in the slightest hint of surprise. Maud quickly recomposed herself before saying, “you shouldn’t do that Lulu.”

Maud was still acting strange. It worried Trixie to see Maud like this. “Is something wrong?”

Maud looked around cautiously for a few seconds before saying, “I’m sorry about getting angry with you.”

“You’ve had a rough day, so have I. But everything is better now right? So why are you still so jumpy and worried?” Trixie asked.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air that lasted for what felt like an eternity. Trixie finally gave up on getting an answer and said, “that’s okay. Look Maud I messed up when I kept secrets from you, and I’m sorry. I won’t make the same mistake again. I trust you.”

Maud gave Trixie a small smile, and Trixie could feel a warm happy sensation coming from Maud. It was still laced with an undertone of fear though, and Trixie didn’t like that at all. Trixie could only hope that she could help Maud out somehow.

After a moment’s hesitation Trixie finally said, “I…uh have business with Twilight today. I need to go and help her stop Scath…it’s supposed to be super secret and stuff. So don’t tell anypony, especially don’t tell Pinkie Pie anything about Scath.”

Trixie stayed quiet for a few moments longer and then added, “I’m also going out to do some research today. I’ll be busy at the Library so if you need me come looking there.”

Maud stayed quiet and even avoided Trixie’s eyes. She could feel a deep pain and fear coming from Maud as the happiness faded, but Trixie couldn’t think of how to help her. Trixie leaned in and kissed Maud softly on the cheek before turning and walking away. Trixie felt hurt that Maud wouldn’t let her in, but Maud was socially awkward. Maybe Maud just needed time to figure out how to say what was on her mind to Trixie.

Maud finally said, “Lulu…you aren’t the monster. You know that right?”

Trixie looked back and smiled saying, “of course. But I still need to stop Scath, she did come from me and it’s my job to clean this mess up. Maybe if I do this, I can be redeemed completely. I mean I will be taking down my own evil…so that could work…maybe.”

Maud wasn’t smiling, not even on the inside. Maud only looked away, saying, “be careful Lulu. I need you to be okay, for me.”

“I promise,” Trixie said. With that she left the house and made her way outside into Ponyville. Today she was going to find the library and do some research. Nopony was going to stop her from her research. At least nopony save Twilight should she find out where Scath was.

After an hour or so of searching the town, Trixie gave up on finding it by herself. She had searched all over for the Golden Oaks Library but she could not seem to find it anywhere. Although she didn’t feel any strong emotions towards her today, she still didn’t dare ask for directions. The lack of strong emotions from other ponies was kind of nice, though it was strange.

Eventually she found a nice quiet part of town to sit down for a rest. She laid her back against the trunk of giant, broken, and dead tree, and set her book bag softly on the ground. The body of this tree had been destroyed, and over half of the tree was missing. The idea of lightning having struck here played in her mind. The tree trunk was so big that it must have been impossible to remove.

Trixie relaxed and let out a tired sigh. She had many things to think about now, things she didn’t want to think about of course. Twilight had acted very strange when talking about the Pinkie Pie clones. That being said Trixie only half believed Twilight about them. For all Trixie knew it could simply be a paranoid delusion on Twilight’s part.

Maud was still acting strange, and walled off. It was very concerning to Trixie that Maud wouldn’t let her in, but Pinkie was right. This was a matter of Trust, and Trixie must’ve seemed pretty untrustworthy right now. Trixie still remembered how scary Maud had been when she got angry, and that worried Trixie.

Trixie then remembered what Pinkie Pie had said about Maud’s experience with…stallions. It hurt Trixie to think, that Maud enjoyed the touch of other ponies more than her own. At the very same time it made Trixie angry at her own failure to please Maud. Trixie wished she could only distract herself from these torturous thoughts.

If only she could find the library, she could take her mind of these things and do some research. But she simply couldn’t remember where the Library had been. It was a beautiful Library, made from a hollowed out but still living tree. It was lovely, simply lovely, and the owner was always so kind to Trixie and her mother.

Letting out another sigh Trixie began pawing at the dirt underneath her hoping it would distract her from the ever darker thoughts. To her surprise Trixie felt something hard just underneath the soft earth. Trixie began digging a little deeper and found a book. She had to wonder at how it had gotten there.

The book was in fairly nice shape, not having been damaged by the dirt at all. But there were scorch marks on the book for some reason. Trixie found this to be a very curious thing. Why would a scorched book, be buried just underneath a broken and dead tree. Trixie simply couldn’t figure it out. She was missing something.

Trixie quickly put the book she found into her bag. She had brought the book bag hoping to bring home a number of books from the library. Trixie then began softly digging into the dirt around the base of this large tree. She found some shards of glass, a few pages of burnt paper, and a broken burned picture frame.

Trixie sat all these things down and examined them. The picture frame was burnt and broken, with no picture to be found inside. The pages were all stained with dirt, and/or burned too heavily to read. The book however was something she could work with. There was a small purple lock on the side of the book, but it was damaged from whatever had befallen it. Trixie very easily broke the lock off with a rock.

Excitement filled Trixie’s heart as she opened the mysterious book to find out more about it. Looking upon the first page she found something she had never expected too. The book read.

“Journal entry: day one. Ponyville.

Princess Celestia has asked me to come down here to Ponyville to check on the preparations of this year’s Summer Sun Festival. That would be fine, if it wasn’t for the crazy inconsiderate ponies that all seem to fester in this little back water town. Everypony here is either completely insane, self absorbed, or rude to the point of driving me insane.

I have done well in not acting out, yet. I fear the longer I stay here the more I will lose control over myself. The worst part was when that pink haired freak broke into my new and temporary home, and with half the town threw a surprise ‘party’ for me. Surprise is quite right, but a party it was not. I can still hear them destroying my home downstairs with their loud music, and social…whatever.

Is it too much to ask for some peace and quiet for once? How am I to become the next Starswirl if I am bogged down by others like this. I have a terrible migraine and just want some sleep before the end of the world tomorrow. Did I forget to mention that, I probably should’ve started this log with that. Too late for that now, in fact it is too late for anything, especially a party.

Nightmare Moon is about to be released and I will have to be prepared to deal with her. None of my combat spells are going to be effective I fear. And my horn is not nearly sharp enough to pierce such a monster’s heart. If I am to win this, I will need to find these so called elements of harmony and use them to destroy her.

Destroying threats to Celestia is what I have been trained for after all.”

Trixie stared in amazement at this diary, it was written in such a familiar script. It reminded her of what her own diary used to look like, but that has long since been destroyed. Trixie was curious to find out just who could have written this book. Fascination had taken over Trixie’s mind and all she could think about was her curiosity. Although it bothered Trixie to hear that somepony would even joke about using their horn for melee combat. That was against everything that unicorns believed. Now held by a deeper curiosity she continued to read.

“Journal entry: day two. Ponyville.

As a habit I started a new journal when I came to Ponyville. However I had not expected it to turn out this way. I have an amazing tale of what happened with Nightmare Moon, but I won’t bother you with every little detail of the story. If you’re reading this, then you would probably have already heard most the tale by now anyway.

I was in despair when Celestia had disappeared, I feared the absolute worst. I ventured off alone to fight the evil that is Nightmare Moon but the ponies who I had considered to be rude, and inconsiderate followed me. I simply couldn’t shake them, but that was to my benefit.

The trials we faced in the Everfree Forest led me to believe that I had come across the very elements of harmony I was looking for. My…friends had come to my aid when I needed it most. I figured out that I was the element of friendship magic, and with that realization I was able to channel the Elements of Harmony into a rainbow beam of pure magical force.

At first I had hoped to destroy Nightmare Moon. However when the smoke had cleared I saw not a nightmarish monster before me, but the most beautiful mare I had ever seen. Princess Luna. She looks just about my age, and she is only a little taller then me. Her short light blue mane, and her soft blue fur. I couldn’t stop staring in wonder, I had never thought about what a young Alicorn would look like before. I was…pleased to say the least. Then I saw Celestia reappear.

Celestia and her sister Luna were brought together again. And for the first time in…a long time, I had felt truly satisfied…and happy. I was surrounded by friends, and had saved the day without killing anything. It was so nice to be able to be an actual hero for once. All I ever seemed good at in the past was destroying Celestia’s enemies.

Now I have been given permission to live in Ponyville, so I could stay with my friends. I might never have to fight again. It would be so nice if I could live here peacefully without ever needing to enter battle again. Celestia even promised that she would stop asking me to go on those dangerous missions if I studied the ‘magic of friendship’. That sounds like a load of excrement, but I can at least pretend to study it and enjoy peace for once. Spike also enjoys the idea of a peaceful life here.

I will miss my royal tower in Canterlot but at least the Golden Oaks Library will serve as a perfect home for me. Like Starswirl before me, I will become the best magician in all of Equestria. And never again will I have to deal with politics.”

Trixie closed the book and placed it very carefully back into her saddlebags. The element of magic was Twilight Sparkle, everypony knew that. It dawned on Trixie that this had been Twilight’s…diary. Trixie had no idea how this could have even arrived here at the base of this dead broken tree.

Looking up at the tree Trixie felt that she needed to know more about it. Maybe this tree was a favorite spot of Twilight Sparkle’s or…no Trixie refused to believe it could be true. She ran around the tree until she reached a large opening on the opposite side of the tree.

The inside of the tree was hollow. Burned ash and lumber were strewn around the inner base of the tree. The base of a broken staircase, badly burned, could be seen inside as well. Underneath the ash was what Trixie could barely make out as being books. Completely destroyed and ruined, but they were still books.

Taking a few steps back in horror at what she now knew was true. Trixie felt tears begin to run down her face. The old library, the Golden Oaks Library, was destroyed and in ruin. Trixie shook with a mixture of fear, anger, and loss. Twilight had not only destroyed her wagon home, and every single item she had ever owned. Now Twilight has taken from her the only place that she could remember fondly from her foalhood. Was Twilight out to completely destroy everything that Trixie ever cherished?

It didn’t matter, her hopes of learning anything about her father. Or Celestia’s Heroes for that matter were now completely gone. Trixie forced the pain back down and remembered Twilight’s diary that was still in her saddlebags. “Well if she thinks she is getting this back, then she is dead wrong. Trixie will keep this as a token of repayment for this tragedy. At least until Trixie has finished reading it.”

With that Trixie stomped off angrily in a random direction. She may not ever get revenge on Twilight but that didn’t mean that she was going to easily forgive her either. The sin of destroying a library, especially one that belonged to Trixie’s memories so fondly was simply unforgivable. It would take much groveling on Twilight’s part for Trixie to forgive her.

Chapter Twenty Six: An Apple a Day

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Six: An Apple a Day
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie marched through the streets feeling her anger towards Twilight increase with every step. The more Trixie considered it, the more she realized that there could be no coincidence here. Even if it was subconscious, Twilight was ruining Trixie’s life. Trixie couldn’t understand why Twilight would be doing these things to her, it wasn’t fair.

“Howdy, Trixie,” Applejack said from right behind Trixie. Trixie was so surprised from the sudden greeting that she nearly tripped.

“What do you want with Trixie, can you not see that she is angry at life right now,” Trixie answered back.

Applejack walked into Trixie’s view and gave her a serious look. “What’s wrong, sugarcube?”

Trixie really needed some way to release her anger and Applejack was willing to listen to her rant. “Trixie has just learned that Twilight Sparkle decided to destroy the most important of buildings here in Ponyville. The Golden Oaks Library is now gone, because Twilight decided that Trixie should not have any happy memories or nice places to visit. Trixie hates Twilight for hurting her so, why does Twilight hate Trixie so much. All Trixie ever wanted to do was help Twilight…that’s all.”

Hot tears were streaming down Trixie’s face by the time she finished, her anger now giving way to pain and sadness. Applejack placed a kind hoof on Trixie’s shoulder and said, “do you really think that Twilight destroyed her home on purpose? Trixie, Twilight has lost every single thing she had ever owned when the Library was destroyed. If anypony could understand just how horrible it feels to have everything taken away from ‘em in a single instant, I figured it would be, you.”

Applejacks words had sunk through to Trixie. It had destroyed Trixie when her wagon home was destroyed, but she barely remembered what happened after that. The more Trixie remembered that event the more she realized just how much of her memory was missing from that time. Trixie…could swear that she had gone to ponyville in an attempt to see a home coming but something was very off about the memory. It was almost blurry to remember, and it hurt her head slightly to try and do so.

Trixie took a few minutes to calm down as she followed Applejack around town until they arrived at a small booth that had apples for sale. Trixie guessed that this was Applejacks booth. Applejack stood behind the booth and relieved her older brother, a giant red stallion, from his position. Trixie made sure to stay out of the stallion’s way, he was big and looked very strong.

After a few seconds Applejack picked up an apple with her hoof and gave it to Trixie saying, “here, you might feel better if you eat.”

Trixie never liked the apples that came into New Slate, or the ones in Canterlot. But right now she was a little hungry. She sat down, and decided to take a bite. Trixie’s eyes widened in shock as the strong flavors of the apple went shooting across her tongue. Trixie swallowed the first bite and looked up at Applejack who was smiling down at Trixie. Trixie then finished the apple before saying, “that was delicious. I’ve never had an apple so good before.”

“Of course not, here in Apple Acers we have the best apples. Ya’ll won’t find another apple like ours in all of Equestria,” Applejack said, almost sounding like a sales pitch.

Trixie gave Applejack a happy grin, even her own troubles couldn’t stand up to the might of a delicious apple. “Thank you, Applejack, for the food and the company. I…was really angry, but I guess I didn’t understand how Twilight might’ve felt. Sometimes I am a little selfish…”

Applejack smiled and said, “hey we all have our bad days, that’s why there’s apples. Ah won’t tell Twilight about this, all you need to do is try and have a good time. And if you ever need anypony to talk to, Ah’m here for you.”

Trixie was glad to have a friend like Applejack, something about Applejack reminded Trixie of her mom…back before she went crazy. There was a motherly sense to Applejack, a sense of maturity that Trixie hadn’t seen in her other friends, save for Maud. Trixie’s heart sank a little at the thought of Maud being so…hard to speak with today.

Trixie leaned her back against the cart as Applejack continued working. The day was moving a little slower than usual and that bothered Trixie. All she could do was think, and that was her worst enemy right now. But maybe Applejack could help her in this regard.

“So…Applejack, do you mind if I talk to you some more right now?” Trixie asked, hoping not to disturb Applejacks work.

“Not at all, sugarcube, Ah already said Ah was here for ya,” Applejack replied in her friendly southern drawl.

Trixie grew a small smile before saying, “you know I used to be friends with Twilight back in school.”

Applejack said, “ya sure bout that, Ah mean she always told us she never had friends before ponyville.”

Trixie didn’t meet Applejacks eyes but explained, “well maybe we never used the word ‘friend’, but we were pretty close. Of course when she introduced me to her nerdy brother I knew she would be an awesome friend right away. Of course I related to Shiny a little more than I did to Twilight…but that might have been the schools fault.”

Trixie noticed Applejack had a costumer and stayed quiet until after the blue stallion left. Applejack said, “alright sugarcube, ya can continue now.”

Trixie let out a sigh feeling a little like she was interrupting, Applejacks business, but Applejack was being so kind about it. Trixie placed her hooves on the ground between her hind legs and leaned forward before saying, “I uh…school was always a little hard for me. Only the best unicorns are allowed into the school period. But the last year was the worst possible year for me, for any of us for that matter.”

Applejack giggled a little and said, “Ah’m sure that all them tests got hard.”

Trixie looked up at Applejack not sure if she honestly didn’t know how hard it was or if she did know and was actually making light of the schools idea of tests. Trixie decided to explain the tests a little more either way. “I’m not sure how much of it Twilight has told you, but in the final year the tests changed drastically. The new tests included actual live practice of our spells. The most common test was to send one of us into a dangerous area and we were not allowed to leave until we either subdued or killed the monster that was there waiting for us. Anything from mutant chickens, to giant spiders awaited us.”

Applejack looked astonished at Trixie’s explanation. Applejack was quiet for a moment before getting distracted by another costumer. After her business was completed she looked back Trixie and asked, “are ya tellin the truth? The school forced ya to fight monsters all by yerself?”

Trixie let out a sigh before saying, “well we had an instructor watching us. They were to pull us out in case there was trouble. That didn’t mean there weren’t accidents but usually it was kinda safe. In order to be the very best we could at magic, we needed to learn and practice combat spells. The very best of us got to serve in a special…class. You see, when parents leave their children at the school they have to sign all kinds of papers. The very best students tend to actually get adopted by the school…essentially by Celestia herself. Although that didn’t mean Celestia got to spend a lot of time with any of us.”

Applejack then asked, “wait, but wasn’t Twilight the best student? Does that mean she was adopted?”

Trixie gave a small chuckle remembering how similar Twilight was to herself. “Yeah. Me, and Twilight and a few others were all adopted. But the parents would usually come to visit their kids quite often…except for me and Twilight. My mom is…insane, so she was in the hospital during my youth. Twilight’s parents however seemed to be scared of her. But I heard she transformed them into inanimate objects when she was a filly so it would only make sense they would be.”

Applejack let out a sigh and said softly, “Ah didn’t know…what about yer pa, if Ah may ask?”

Trixie frowned a little as she explained, “I don’t know where he is. My only chance to find out was destroyed with the Library.”

“Ah’m sorry to hear that. Yer not the only one left alone like that. All of us, Twilight and our other close friends, we don’t have good relations if any with our folks,” Applejack explained.

Trixie looked up at Applejack and asked, “is that why you all bonded so well. You took solace in each other or something?”

Applejack nodded and Trixie smiled before saying, “that’s amazing. I mean it’s one thing to not have parents, but to have them live only a few miles away from you and never visit…because they’re afraid of you. That has to be more painful than anything else. I suspect that’s why Twilight began learning all her combat spells. If her parents thought she was a scary powerful creature, then that was what she was going to be. I on the other hoof just wanted somepony to tell me that I was the greatest thing in their life, that I was worth something.”

Applejack placed a caring hoof onto Trixie’s shoulder and said, “you are the greatest Trixie. and you mean everything to us.”

Trixie looked up at Applejack and upon seeing her smile Trixie found herself grinning back. “Thanks Applejack. That means a lot to me. I don’t remember a whole lot from my past, from when I went unmedicated and stuff. But I do remember enough to know that Twilight was a great pony. In the last year of school we all got put into this special class, the five of us, and Twilight was our leader. Of course that meant that when we were sent on the dangerous…tests, Twilight would try and do all the work by herself.

“We didn’t just get tests to prove our worth, because of our excellent skills we were actually sent on missions for Celestia. Usually it was go here, stop this monster, and come back with our heads held high. Twilight hated the fighting, she really did feel like all the fighting, or showing off, only proved that she was a monster to be feared. The worst part was she never tried to get close to anypony other than me. I guess the others just couldn’t understand how it felt to be unloved, like I could.”

Applejack was quiet for a little bit before saying, “you know, now that Ah know this, it makes sense why Ah have never really met Twilight’s folks. Ah have seen them once or twice at the really big events but other than that, they seem to want nothing to do with her. Ah mean they didn’t even come to her birthday parties.”

Trixie replied, “they never came to her birthday parties. The only presents me and her ever received were from Princess Celestia, or Shiny…did I mention how nice of a guy that big old nerd is.”

Applejack smiled and said, “you know it’s weird to hear you say his nick name. Ah only heard Twilight say it before now.”

Trixie pointed to herself and said proudly, “I will have you know that he formally adopted the great and powerful Trixie as a little sister, it also helped that Trixie was really good at role playing.”

Applejack suddenly looked surprised as she asked, “what did you just say? How old are you?”

Trixie was confused as she explained, “I’m eighteen. And I said that Trixie is a good at role playing with Twilight’s brother. Is something wrong with that?”

Applejack stood up straight and said, “of course there is. You were only what, fifteen and doing weird stuff with Twilight’s big brother. Trixie, Shining Armor is nearly twelve years older then you. It’s wrong to…er…role play with him.”

Trixie felt confused, role playing games were one of her favorite things to do. “But Twilight would join in as well? How is it weird?”

Applejacks eyes shot even wider and her face blushed rapidly as she nearly whispered, “what?”

Trixie then added, “yes it is true. Shiny was a paladin, Twilight a sorcerer, and Trixie was always the fighter. Trixie liked being the fighter.”

Applejack seemed to freeze for a moment as her mind worked out what Trixie had just explained. Then with a sudden outburst Applejack said, “gosh darn it Trixie, you had me nearly scared there. You could’ve said it was one of those weird dice rolling games before making me think it was something worse.”

Trixie didn’t understand what Applejack was saying and so Trixie said, “but we were not doing anything weird. The only pony who brought in costumes was Twilight. We had soda, and chips, and pens and stuff. It is not like Trixie was LARPing, that was Twilight’s thing.”

Applejack covered her eyes with a hoof before saying, “darn egg heads. Ya’ll gotta realize that most ponies would think you meant…er…tussling, when ya say role playing.”

Trixie thought for a moment, they did have a scuffle once or twice but it was never a big deal, it was mostly when Shiny would cheat. Trixie simply didn’t get what Applejack was trying to say. Trixie didn’t get into many hoof fights with other ponies, it was not her strong suit.

Trixie shook her head and said, “okay Trixie will not speak of role playing unless she is clear about the dice, and the board and the soda. Especially the soda.”

Applejack nodded in approval and Trixie decided to continue her little story saying, “well aside from the ponies who Twilight should have considered friends, and from Trixie’s old gaming days. Trixie and Twilight had a lot of fun, until Twilight lead us into one mission where everything went wrong. If Twilight would’ve simply changed her approach or if Trixie would have not argued with Twilight then nothing bad would have happened to Fire Light.”

Applejack asked, “who is Fire Light?”

Dark memories came to Trixie’s mind at the question, but Trixie shook her head and said, “she is…an old friend. Trixie and Twilight screwed up and ruined our friendship over her. Trixie blames herself for having ruined Twilight’s ability to trust others.”

Applejack gave Trixie a worried look before she wrapped her legs around Trixie pulling her into a tight hug. After a moment Applejack said, “it’s okay sugarcube.”

Trixie felt a lot better after the hug. She pulled back and said, “I am fine, it is not like anypony died. It was…an accident.”

Applejack smiled and said, “glad to hear it. Now try and calm down. If ya want to you can help me out here. I could use the help, and it will be worth yer time. Ah might make you an apple pie if you do good.”

Trixie grinned excitedly before saying, “I love apple pie. Alright where do I start?”

After a few hours of working alongside Applejack, Trixie felt some measure of pride inside at working at the simple applecart. The work also helped keep her focused and distracted from anymore dark thoughts. Trixie believed that Applejack had known that the work would do this for her.

At first ponies looked a little awkward when dealing with Applejack and Trixie but pretty soon they seemed to stop caring. The idea that maybe Trixie wouldn’t need to do something big to fix her reputation, but rather a lot of small things was a comforting thought. Trixie really felt that doing this was helping her reputation increase around town.

At some point Trixie was carrying a small sack of apples from the cart nearby to replenish the booth, she couldn’t lift the bigger ones. But she could handle the smaller ones just fine. On Trixie’s approach Applejack looked up at the sky and squinted her eyes. Applejack quickly exclaimed, “TRIXIE WATCH OUT!”

Trixie looked up a little too late to move as she witnessed a black square shaped shadow growing rapidly above her. Suddenly the shadow crashed into Trixie’s head forcing Trixie onto the ground hard. Trixie’s vision began to blur as she saw a wooden box lying next to her, that should have hurt, but Trixie could feel nothing at the moment. She then heard Applejack shouting her name. Trixie tried to find Applejack, but her world was quickly enveloped by darkness.

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Great and Powerful Trixie

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Seven: The Great and Powerful Trixie
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Everything was black for a few seconds until with a sudden burst of light Trixie found herself momentarily blinded. After a second or two Trixie could hear the cheers around her as she stood in the middle of a stage. Suddenly Trixie stood on her hind legs and said in a loud and powerful voice, “You all came to see magic, and tonight your wish has been granted, by the one and only, Great and Powerful TRIXIE!”

With that Trixie’s horn began to glow and she took off her purple wizard hat, the final trick of tonight’s show was about to start. Trixie created a magical glowing pink heart above the stage. Six white doves then flew out from Trixie’s hat and flew around in a spiral formation until each on passed through the glowing heart, and each time they did a spray of colorful magic would splash out from where they exited.

It had been hard work to train those doves, but the pay off was well worth it as the crowd before her made sounds of amazement. When they were done Trixie bowed before her audience, sweeping her foreleg wide and looking upon each member of the crowd in the first row. Amongst them was really cute yellow pegasus with a long pink mane.

Trixie grinned as she said, “and now you have witnessed the greatest show in Equestria. The Great and Powerful Trixie must now take her leave.”

After that Trixie used her final spell and disappeared into a poof of smoke. The audience all gasped and for a second nothing happened, but quickly they all began stomping there hooves and cheering in approval. Trixie’s biggest show yet was a success.

Trixie later found herself sitting inside her changing room. There had guards positioned outside her door just in case something bad were to happen. Trixie looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled. It was wonderful having an audience, and even more so, they enjoyed her show. Better still was the fact that Trixie’s horn didn’t hurt after the show tonight, usually it did hurt a little after long shows like tonight’s. She didn’t have the magical stamina that some other ponies did, but she knew how to run a show.

Trixie continued to grin at the mirror before getting a little bored. She began making silly faces at the mirror. Sticking her tongue out as far as she could, crossing her eyes and puffing up her cheeks Trixie managed to create a face so silly that she burst into laughter. Tonight had been a wonderful night for Trixie the magician.

All of a sudden Trixie began to hear the two stallions outside her room talking. Though not to each other, it sounded like they were talking to another pony, but Trixie couldn’t hear whoever it was. Trixie snuck up to the door and placed her head against it to listen more. She began feeling like some kind of ninja as she attempted to stay very quiet.

Trixie heard the other pony now, it was a mare with a very quiet voice.

“Sorry but the Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t talk to ponies after the show,” said the bodyguard his voice was deep, and a little scary.

“B-b-but I paid for a backstage p-p-pass. All I want is t-t-to see her,” pleaded the soft voiced mare.

“The answer is still no, she doesn’t see anypony after the show. Not even fans,” reaffirmed the stallion.

“But…it was so expensive…okay I-I-I’ll just...leave,” said the mare, her soft voice so full of disappointment.

Trixie had enough of this. She had the guards to protect her, not harm her reputation or even worse hurt her fans. Trixie opened the door and said, “how dare you treat one of Trixie’s fans like this, Trixie demands that you make way for her fan this instant.”

The bodyguards looked at Trixie for only a second before moving out of the way of the door. To Trixie’s surprise the fan that had come to visit her was the cute yellow mare that she had spotted during the show. Trixie smiled, pleased with this turn of events. “Come on in little filly, Trixie would love to speak with you.”

The yellow pegasus eyes lit up as she walked into Trixie’s changing room very carefully. She looked excited to see what Trixie’s changing room looked like. It was a little bit of a surprise to Trixie to see this mare so happy simply to be inside this room. It also surprised Trixie that her fan was little taller than her, but Trixie didn’t mind. She had a thing for taller mares.

Trixie closed the door behind them with her magic and asked, “so tell Trixie, what is it that you like most about Trixie?”

The yellow pegasus looked nervous and squeaked a response. It was a little hard for Trixie to hear the yellow pegasus. Not wanting to be rude to her nervous fan, Trixie sat down by the mirror and said, “I am Trixie Lulamoon, the great and powerful magician. What is your name?”

The yellow pegasus seemed to find her courage, or at least a little bit as she said in a quiet voice, “I’m Fluttershy…it’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah so Fluttershy, are you thirsty? Trixie has milk to offer if you want, it is chocolate,” Trixie enticed.

Fluttershy looked a little confused as she said, “um…okay, I…would’ve thought you had cider, or um something. N-n-not that I’m complaining, I’m just a little confused…I’m sorry.”

Trixie thought that Fluttershy was cute when nervous. Trixie gave out a small laugh before saying, “Trixie is only sixteen. Trixie not supposed to drink cider yet, or at least not the fun kind.” Trixie then went to the mini fridge and pulled out two small cartons of chocolate milk. She levitated one out towards Fluttershy who grabbed it and looked a little misplaced at the milk.

“How old are you, if Trixie might ask?” asked Trixie.

Fluttershy opened the milk carton with her mouth and hooves and said, “I’m…um…nineteen…”

Trixie grinned widely and said excitedly, “Trixie has a fan that old! Wow Trixie is really thankful for your support of Trixie’s show. Trixie used to only run shows for children before now.”

Fluttershy smiled with a small pink blush appearing on her face. Fluttershy took a drink from the milk carton and said, more to herself then to Trixie, “wow, I haven’t drank one of these since I was in school.”

They sat down and drank the milk in silence for a few minutes before Trixie finally said, “you know why Trixie’s show is the greatest show in all of Equestria, right?” When Fluttershy shook her head, Trixie continued, “because of her fans, ponies like you make Trixie’s show the greatest. Without you Trixie would be nothing, and that would be sad.”

Fluttershy looked away blushing a little more as she said, “oh, but I um…I don’t think you need to worry…you were so confident out there…on the stage I mean. I could never do that, although I wish could.”

Trixie smiled, she enjoyed seeing the cute mare blush. “Trixie was not as confident as you think. This has been Trixie’s biggest show to date. Trixie was scared of being heckled. If not for Celestia’s help, Trixie could not have accomplished this. Trixie even graduated early just so she could start her dream, her dream of being a famous magician.”

Fluttershy smiled at Trixie’s kind words and then Trixie had an idea. “Why do you think Trixie does this show?”

Fluttershy shook her head saying, “I don’t know, but it makes me feel like I could maybe be as confident as you one day, when I see you perform…”

Trixie smiled and said, “that is one reason for the show, but another one is that ponies sometimes ponies need a persona like The Great and Powerful Trixie. It makes them laugh, smile and be happy. Even the few times that ponies have rudely heckled Trixie’s show, Trixie has been able to make the audience laugh still. But you are still right, Trixie believes that everypony can be great and powerful, even you Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy’s mouth opened in shock but Trixie continued speaking before Fluttershy could say anything. “Fluttershy, you could go on stage. You could do magic too. You could even be almost as good as Trixie is, maybe one day with enough training you could even work with Trixie on stage. Trixie wants to be good, like Starswirl, or Kilic, or Midnight Sonata. Trixie doesn’t know if she will be that good, but she wants to try. And when Trixie gets old she wants to teach little fillies and colts how to be as great and powerful as she is. What do you think about that? It’s a little silly is it not?”

Fluttershy smiled gently as she said, “no it’s not silly. I mean…I thought you were older because of how good you are at magic. But now I know that you are really young…then I know you will only get better, maybe you could even be better than my friend is at magic one day.”

Trixie smiled up at Fluttershy and said, “Trixie really hopes so, Trixie loves magic. Magic is made to make ponies smile and laugh, not to hurt them. Trixie knows of a unicorn who really doesn’t seem to understand that difference, and Trixie finds it sad.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. And after that the two of them continued talking for a long time. Eventually Trixie even showed Fluttershy how to do a few magic tricks involving cards, Fluttershy seemed to have knack for it. The night wore on, and together the two of them simply talked for hours on end.

Eventually Trixie felt that she liked Fluttershy enough to say, “Trixie has decided. Fluttershy, you are to be Trixie’s new friend, you do not have a choice. Trixie has determined that you will be a wonderful new friend, and if you would like, Trixie would love to show you around Canterlot personally.”

Fluttershy blushed and Trixie grinned at the sight. Fluttershy then explained, “I…um…I uh won’t be in Canterlot for long.”

Fluttershy was even more attractive when blushing, Trixie’s mind to wonder about things that weren’t entirely proper. Trixie said aloud, “Trixie’s stage persona is kinda silly is it not?”

There was no answer for a moment but then Fluttershy said, “um…well it is a little bit silly. But I think that’s one of the things that makes it so wonderful. I really enjoy the kinds of shows where ponies act a little foolish, and um…full of themselves…and…um.”

“Arrogant,” Trixie finished with a smile. “Fluttershy that is on purpose, ponies are attracted to others who show themselves to be better than them. To be famous Trixie needs to be somewhat like an alpha pony. But there is no alpha pony without their wonderful followers. So Trixie does indeed respect and love all of her fans even if she does not act like it while in character. Trixie also knows that magicians do not work without being a little rude, but Trixie tries to not be mean about it. It is after all only a show. No pony should take what happens on stage too seriously. It is like getting angry at the actors who are in a play, because you did not enjoy the story.”

Fluttershy nodded, and was earnestly paying attention to what Trixie said. Not many ponies actually gave Trixie the time of day to speak to them. Trixie found herself wanting to do something special for the kind Fluttershy. It wasn’t often that Ponies did nice things like stay and talk to Trixie like this, so she wanted to repay the kindness. “Trixie thinks you are a very kind pony, Fluttershy. So tell Trixie, what can we do for you? Anything at all.”

Fluttershy looked away and said, “Oh...um…well…I would…no never mind, it’s not important.”

Trixie put her hooves onto Fluttershy’s shoulders, Trixie then looked deeply into Fluttershy’s soft teal eyes and said gently, “it is important to Trixie. You are the first pony to befriend us in a while. So please, tell Trixie whatever it is that you want.”

Fluttershy looked into Trixie’s eyes, her face was blushing again. Fluttershy said in a tiny voice, “I live in Ponyville, and I would like you to come and perform. I could invite my friends and together we could all enjoy your show. There are a lot of ponies who would enjoy your show. I think that everypony would enjoy your over the top performance…um if you don’t mind.”

Trixie leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. She had planned on going to Ponyville at some point, but not until she was already famous. Trixie was booked for the next four weeks; her show was quickly growing in popularity here in Canterlot. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “Trixie can be there in four weeks. We will send you a message ahead of time using our familiar, wherever that owl ran off to. Trixie will run her show in Ponyville, and on top of that it will be completely free of charge for anypony to see. It will be a show just for you, Fluttershy, and any neighsayers will rue that day, for Trixie values her friends over all else in the world. This shall be the greatest show in Equestria, and the greatest show of your life. This we promise you, Fluttershy.”

Trixie then leaned closer, and stuck her head up a little higher, and then Trixie kissed Fluttershy on the cheek. Fluttershy’s entire face turned a shade of red that Trixie had never seen before, and Trixie giggled at the sight saying, “that was a kissing oath. Now I am bound to deliver an unforgettable show, or I shall forever be cursed with bad luck.” Trixie really just wanted to kiss Fluttershy, but this seemed like a good excuse to do so.

Fluttershy couldn’t speak properly but through squeaks Trixie swore she caught the words, “thank you.”

After that Trixie yawned from exhaustion, and together with Fluttershy the two of them left the changing room. Trixie had a new friend, and a cute one at that. Trixie was overjoyed to be with Fluttershy, she had never met a kinder pony. Trixie’s heart began to beat more rapidly, as she walked with Fluttershy. A new feeling was growing her heart. Trixie walked Fluttershy back to her hotel room, to keep her safe from harm.

Standing outside the door Trixie let out another yawn, and then nearly fell over from just how tired she was. Fluttershy looked a little worried and said, “um…you probably shouldn’t walk home right now…I…um there are two beds in my room…if you um….need a place to sleep…”

Trixie smiled tiredly at Fluttershy and said, “I’d love to. I’ve never had a sleep over before.” Trixie then stumbled into Fluttershy’s hotel and laid down on the extra bed. The second she closed her eyes she was falling asleep. The show and the long conversation with Fluttershy had exhausted Trixie. With a final defiant yawn Trixie fell asleep.

Trixie opened her eyes and saw the clear blue sky above her. The fresh memory was a little awkward, but it was still very nice. At the height of Trixie’s career, before she lost it all, she had been a nice and kind pony. Unfortunately that didn’t last long. She played the part of an arrogant pony, and with purpose. Flashes of how happy the ponies looked at her ponyville show, how they laughed as she showed up those completely rude and horribly cruel ponies. They came in and ruined Fluttershy’s show…but wait, weren’t these ponies all of Trixie’s friends…and they were supposed to be Fluttershy’s as well.

Trixie’s old feelings of righteous fury for the defense of her friend were rising in her heart. As she sat up her head screamed at her in intense pain. She quickly forgot all about her anger as Applejack forced her back down saying, “shh, don’t try and move. You were hit by a mail carrier’s package. But yer lucky, this time it wasn’t a piano or anvil.”

A gray pegasus mare with a golden blond mane stood just behind Applejack. Trixie thought she was kinda cute, but then again Trixie liked gray fur. Trixie looked up at the gray mares face and saw a worried expression in the mare’s unaligned eyes. Trixie closed her eyes and said, “Trixie will be okay…Trixie just remembered something…something explains a whole freaking a lot about Trixie’s life.”

Chapter Twenty Eight: Story Time with Rainbow Dash

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Eight: Story Time with Rainbow Dash

With help from Applejack, Trixie stood up slowly. The gray mailmare was standing a few feet away. Trixie couldn’t help but feel pity for the mare after seeing at the guilt ridden expression she wore. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what went wrong,” apologized the mailmare, in one of the cutest voices Trixie had ever heard.

Trixie felt her face warming up a little, Trixie then said, “it’s okay, Trixie is just fine.”

The mailmare’s eyes lit up brightly as she asked, “Trixie Lulamoon?”

Trixie nodded and the mailmare explained, “I have a letter for you.”

The mailmare quickly pulled out a letter from her bag and gave it to Trixie. Trixie looked at the letter and noticed the royal seal on its back. It was addressed to Trixie, and it came from Princess Celestia. Trixie let out a sigh, the last time she received a letter from Celestia it was calling Trixie to battle something terrible. Trixie did not want to deal with that again.

“Is that a letter from the princess?” Applejack asked, in a surprised tone.

Trixie smiled and said, “of course, why would Trixie receive a letter any less amazing.”

The mailmare smiled at Trixie and said, “I have to go, I’m on a schedule after all. I’m sorry I hurt you, I hope you have a nice day.” The mailmare then picked up the box, and carrying it between her hooves she took off into the air.

Trixie watched her leave and felt a little sadness in her heart. She wanted to enjoy the company of such a cute mare a little longer. Crazy eyes or not, that mare was really nice, Trixie wished she knew her name.

Returning her attention to the letter in her hooves Trixie turned it over and began rubbing her hooves at the wax seal. Trixie seemed to be having trouble opening the letter with her hooves. After a few seconds of struggling Applejack said, “do you want a little help with that?”

Trixie nodded and gave the letter to Applejack, who opened the letter with no problem. Trixie had thought she had gotten good at using her hooves, but maybe she wasn’t as good as she had hoped. Trixie now took the letter out and began to read in silence.

“Dear Trixie Lulamoon.

I have tried to reach on several occasions now, but it would seem none of my letters have reached you. Has something happened to your familiar? If something has you can use Spike to send me a letter, I would love to hear from you again. If you ever find yourself in Canterlot please come and visit me.

Now on to the reason I have sent you this letter. I have recently sent Twilight Sparkle a few books about a group known as Celestia’s Heroes. This was the group that your father once belonged to. I hope the information you find inside will be helpful. Please do take care of yourself, if you need anything let me know. I promised I would look after you, and I do mean to keep that promise.

With love, Princess Celestia.”

Trixie stared at the letter for a few minutes rereading it. Finally Trixie let out a sigh of relief and said, “I can’t believe it, I’ll be able to finally learn about him…I guess sometimes good things do happen.”

Applejack smiled at Trixie and said, “and don’t forget the Apple Pie. You did a good job Trixie, so you earned yerself a reward.” Applejack took a hard look at Trixie’s head and added, “and stick by me until I get you back to Maud. Don’t want anything else to happen to you.”

Trixie didn’t mind having Applejack around but she did want to go get those books from Twilight. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “okay, I can wait for you. But you must take me to Twilight Sparkle’s as soon as you can, I need to do research.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. After a few minutes of waiting by the apple booth, the big red stallion came back. Applejack took a look at him and said, “alright, Big Mac. Ah need to take Trixie to a few places. She got hurt, and needs my help. Think you can do that for me?”

Big Mac took Applejacks place by the cart saying, “Ayep.”

Applejack asked playfully, “do you think you can handle selling apples all by yerself?”

Big Mac gave her a frown saying, “Ayep.”

Applejack gave a little laugh at his response before saying, “good. Ah will be back soon.”

Half way to Twilight’s tree-castle Trixie realized that although the castle was pretty, it really didn’t belong in Ponyville. It looked very awkward in the middle of this small rustic village. Trixie was beginning to wonder if maybe there was some sort of spell that could be used to make it fit in more. Some kind of transmutation spell maybe? This lead Trixie to wonder if there wasn’t some way to rebuild the old Library.

“Hey Applejack, Trixie, over here,” a familiar voice called out from Trixie’s side.

Looking over Trixie saw Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and even Maud all standing in a small group next to some houses just off the main road. Fluttershy was still wearing the old cape Trixie had given her. It made Fluttershy look adorable. Trixie felt a small amount of pride in knowing how much Fluttershy had enjoyed the gift. Trixie and Applejack naturally walked over to greet them. Trixie nearly trotted over to Maud and gave her a big hug before saying, “I missed you.”

Maud embraced Trixie back saying, “I missed you too.”

The group then got together in a circle before Rainbow Dash explained, “I was just telling everypony a story about the time I was stuck in the hospital. Wanna join in.”

Trixie loved to listen to stories, but she also wanted to get the books as quickly as possible. Trixie let out a sigh before saying, “okay, but I need to get some books from Twilight after your story.”

Rainbow Dash grinned before saying, “alright, now I have a proper audience for my awesome story.”

Trixie began to feel a little dizzy standing and sat down besides Maud before laying her head against Maud’s neck as a pillow. Maud smelled lovely today, she could still smell the scent of the herbs in Maud’s fur. Trixie caught Fluttershy staring at her for a second with a disappointed expression, before quickly turning her head and looking away. A sudden ping of guilt shot through Trixie’s heart at seeing Fluttershy. Trixie might have to have one very awkward conversation about Fluttershy with Maud later, hopefully it wouldn’t end badly.

“So I was doing the most amazing flying maneuvers ever preformed in Equestria, “said Rainbow Dash. “I mean these were some epic tricks I was performing. And then I crashed into the ground…yeah, I do that sometimes. But this time I actually managed to be so awesome that I injured my wings.”

Trixie had to wonder if Rainbow Dash was serious about crashing awesomely, but then again if she was using the proper definition of the word, Trixie could imagine the crash being awe inspiring…and quite dreadful.

“So I was in the hospital for like a week, with nothing to do. No sports, no games, and no friends,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Hey,” Pinkie interrupted, “we all came to visit you, every single day. I even spied on you at night to make sure you were safe.”

Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie Pie looking a little perturbed by Pinkie’s revelation. After a few seconds of awkward silence Rainbow Dash seemed to recuperate and corrected, “okay, so I had ponies visiting me…and spying on me, apparently.”

Pinkie Pie grinned before saying, “thank you. You may now continue.”

Rainbow Dash sighed before saying, “anyway, before I was rudely interrupted.” Trixie could understand how that felt. Rainbow Dash continued, “I was forced to read a book. I used to hate reading because it was for egg heads, but then I learned really quickly that reading was actually fun. Especially the, Daring Doo, books. So I spent the week reading.

“I had gotten to the last chapter of the book when the hospital suddenly kicked me out. I didn’t know that Twilight was willing to let me borrow any books back then, so I decided to sneak inside the hospital and get the book back.” Trixie was normally against thievery but all things are fair in love and literacy, or something like that.

Rainbow Dash continued her story, “so I was underneath the hospital bed, reading the book. I got to the last couple pages when suddenly the door opened and I was accused of trying to steal someponies slippers. I wasn’t going to stick around after that, so I ran off. I didn’t try flying or else they would know it was me, and my wings weren’t entirely healed either. I lead them through the entire town before finally they used a tracking hound to catch me. I couldn’t escape so I tried to hide at Twilight’s. It didn’t work as their dog caught me.

“I stood there hearing the snarling sound of the beast behind the corner, I was trapped and alone. They had me against the wall. The dog’s shadow grew larger as it approached and then it jumped out to get me!” Rainbow Dash jumped forward as she finished the last sentence.

Fluttershy gave an audible gasp at the story, before falling on her haunches. Rarity rolled her eyes and for some reason, both Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked a little upset with Rainbow Dash. Trixie however was on the edge of her none existent seat. The story was intriguing.

After a long pause Rainbow Dash finally said, “and out popped the so called dog. Turns out I was being hunted down by a crazy old mare, who thought she was a dog. She growled and drooled at me, and I was now afraid that I was gonna be bitten by a crazy pony, one that would drive me insane with pony rabies or something. Like a zombie.”

Trixie’s heart froze, and her brain stopped working. Rainbow Dash’s crazy pony sounded too similar to Screw Loose…Trixie’s mom. Trixie opened her mouth, but no words came out she was frozen.

Upon seeing Trixie’s reaction Rainbow Dash grinned and continued, “oh you like that, it gets much better. This pony was totally insane. She was all barking mad, and stuff. She took slow steady steps towards me, and I walked back in fear. The foam was dripping from her muzzle as she gave me the craziest snarling grin I have ever seen. I didn’t want to have to fight her, but I was afraid of her biting me. Suddenly the doctor came out after her and pulled back on the crazy dog-ponies leash while saying, ‘bad, Screw Loose, stay.” He then looked at me and if not for Twilight stopping him, he might have sicked the crazy dog pony on me again. He was furious that I stole the hospitals book, but in the end my awesomeness saved the day.”

Trixie couldn’t move, couldn’t think, and couldn’t even breath. All she could do was feel the cold numb feeling inside her growing rapidly into a burning hot rage. Trixie fought against it, trying her best to suppress it.

Rarity then said, “Rainbow Dash, that story is cruel the way you tell it. Screw Loose wasn’t vicious, she was only following you…it was more…playful.”

Applejack then glared at Rainbow Dash and said, “and what if somepony other than us heard you tell that rude story of yers. I think you would make Nurse Red Heart pretty upset.”

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof saying, “pfft whatever. I only tell that story to my friends. It’s not like any of you care about it.”

Pinkie Pie silently glared at Rainbow Dash for a few moments before finally saying in a low even tone, “you know that I know almost everything there is about everypony. And I know that you don’t really feel that way about poor Screw Loose. So why don’t you apologize.”

Everypony was a little quiet for a moment before Rainbow Dash said, “what should I apologize to, the air? No pony cares about Screw Loose. I mean…er…well.”

Something broke inside Trixie, an old forgotten pain, brought to the surface faster than she could stop. Trixie’s body moved on its own and within seconds Trixie had stood up, and charged Rainbow Dash. Tackled Rainbow Dash onto the ground and then while sitting on top of her punched her in the face. Trixie could then feel herself screaming at Rainbow Dash for a few seconds but she couldn’t hear her own words.

As Trixie’s hearing came back she watched Rainbow Dash’s eyes grow wide in fear, there was a small cut on Rainbow Dash’s lip. Trixie heard herself screaming, “AND IF YOU EVER TALK THAT WAY ABOUT TRIXIE”S MOM AGAIN TRIXIE WILL CRUSH EVERY SIGNLE BONE IN YOUR ENTIRE BODY. YOU. ARROGANT. SELF ABORBED. SLU-“

Trixie stopped suddenly as a pair of gray hooves lifted her off of Rainbow Dash with ease and moved her a few feet away where they finally set the enraged Trixie down. Trixie turned to yell at whatever pony had dared to move her away from the mother insulting Rainbow Dash, only to find Maud staring at her. There was a small frown on Maud’s lips. Trixie’s anger was quickly washed away by the overwhelming shame of what she had just done.

Everypony was in absolute silence, a dreaded fear began taking over Trixie’s heart. Trixie forced herself to look at the faces of her friends and saw them all looking at her terrified. She had done it, she had finally broke. It took this long, but Trixie had finally proven that she had been the villain all along. Trixie stood with the intent on running, swearing never to bother anypony else again.

Trixie turned away to run, and found Pinkie Pie standing right in front of her. Trixie was quickly embraced by Pinkie Pie who simply held her tightly saying, “shh, it’s okay. You are not the bad pony here. Shh you’re a good pony, you are. Just calm down, don’t run. Just calm down and let us talk about this like perfectly reasonable adult ponies.”

Trixie felt hot tears running down her face and she turned her view from Pinkie Pie to look at Maud. Maud quickly wrapped her legs around Trixie as well and together the two of them held a now shaking and terrified Trixie.

“Trixie didn’t mean to hurt her, “Trixie began trying to explain. “Trixie doesn’t know what happened, she, she made fun of Trixie’s mom. And suddenly Trixie went crazy…Trixie…Trixie is crazy. Please just…let Trixie go.”

Dark thoughts began playing themselves in Trixie’s mind. After attacking Rainbow Dash like that, the one pony who had tried her best to save her…Trixie’s friend. Trixie felt like she no longer deserved that extra chance that Rainbow Dash had given her. The pain, the anger, the fear, the confusion, and the sadness…it was too much, and Trixie just wanted some way to make it go away. There was only one way to do that, but at least no pony would need to worry about her anymore…

“NO,” shouted Pinkie Pie. A look of fear was seen clearly in Pinkie’s eyes as she said, “you cannot do that to yourself. I know how bad you feel about attacking Rainbow Dash, but you don’t have to hurt yourself. We have all attacked each other at least once, and usually it’s Rainbow Dash’s fault. Please don’t feel that way. Please don’t hurt yourself.”

Trixie saw the tears in Pinkie Pie’s eyes, and despite knowing that Pinkie Pie had just read her mind…she didn’t care. Trixie could see understanding in Pinkie’s eyes and she cuddled into Pinkie Pie’s chest and sobbed. All Trixie could say was, “Trixie just wanted to make Fluttershy happy. And everypony made fun of Trixie...”

Nopony other than Fluttershy, and potentially Pinkie Pie had any idea what Trixie was talking about. But they didn’t care if Trixie made sense or not, they all cared about her. Trixie felt the kind caring hooves of everypony as they all gave her a group hug. All except for Rainbow Dash, who stood back while wearing the guiltiest expression that Trixie had ever seen.

Trixie enjoyed the love everypony was giving her, but she still felt confused and lost, and scared. A sudden fit of coughing hit Trixie. Everypony quickly backed up to give Trixie her space except Maud who was helping Trixie stay balanced. Trixie continued coughing hard for a few minutes. By the time she was done, her throat hurt, and she felt tired. Everypony around her stared at her, a look of horror set in their eyes. Trixie didn’t have to look down to guess why. She could taste the disgusting copper flavor in her mouth. Trixie wiped the blood away from her muzzle and said, “it’s not fair.”

Chapter Twenty Nine: A Little Privacy

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Twenty Nine: A Little Privacy
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie lay uncomfortably on the bed staring at the green ceiling. Maud was at Trixie’s side, but she felt more distant than ever before. The group of ponies had become very worried when Trixie began coughing up blood, so they rushed her to the hospital. Rainbow Dash disappeared from sight at some point; leaving Trixie to wonder if Rainbow Dash would be okay. She wasn’t mad at Rainbow Dash anymore, not after seeing how guilty Rainbow Dash had felt.

“Ugh. I hate hospitals,” Trixie complained as she rolled over in the bed so she could face Maud. Maud was sitting next to Trixie’s bed, while wearing a blank expression. It was more than that though, Maud actually felt…blank; Trixie couldn’t get a read on her emotions at all. “Maud, how are you feeling?” Trixie asked.

Maud answered her flatly, “I’m fine.”

Trixie didn’t like the way Maud was acting. Maybe it looked like Maud was acting normal to other ponies, but Trixie could tell that Maud was lacking that little something that always made Maud come to life in Trixie’s mind. Trixie couldn’t help but feel guilty; maybe it was her fault that Maud was being so distant right now.

“Maud, I’m sorry. I…I don’t know what I did exactly, but I am trying my best. Is it because of what I did to Rainbow Dash?...Maud what did I do wrong?” Trixie asked, in a pleading tone.

Maud was quiet for what felt like an eternity. Finally Maud broke the silence and said, “Lulu I haven’t been taking care of you…you shouldn’t be like this. I love you, Lulu, but am I really good enough for you?”

Trixie’s heart skipped a beat as she heard Maud’s question; there was the tiniest sliver of fear laced into Maud’s voice. Trixie reached over and wrapped a foreleg around Maud’s neck saying, “you are the best thing in my life. I need you, Maud. You’re my stability…without you to come home to…I would be so alone. I won’t lie…Pinkie Pie stopped me from running away…and stopped me from doing something bad to myself. I tried to kill myself once before; I’m scared that I could do it again. You make me feel like, no matter what happens to me, that I have a place to go home to, and often times that is all I need to feel good.”

Maud nuzzled into Trixie’s foreleg and Trixie caught a single tear running down Maud’s face. Maud then said, “am I still your heart of stone?”

Trixie felt her face warming up a little, but despite being a little embarrassed she really liked hearing Maud say those words. “Yes you are, you will always be my heart of stone.”

Maud looked deeply into Trixie’s eyes and leaned a little closer before saying, “you know that stones get eroded after time. They are not invincible…sometimes things happen that make stones crack, that crack can grow until the stone breaks.”

Trixie gave a soft smile to Maud and said, “well that’s why you have me. I will keep you from breaking for as long as I can. Okay.”

Maud leaned in a little closer and just before kissing Trixie she said, “I’ll be right back Lulu. I need to get something.”

Maud then pulled away, and left Trixie’s room. Trixie was left alone for a few minutes in the hospital bed wondering what Maud could possibly be getting for them. Finally the door opened again and Maud walked back in…wearing a nurse’s hat. Trixie felt her face warming up again as she watched Maud close the door behind her, and then pull the curtains shut.

Maud approached Trixie saying, “I already told you that I’m no doctor. But I can still give you that examination.”

Trixie’s face felt like it was on fire now, Trixie tried to look away but simply couldn’t stop staring at Maud. Maud leaned in and whispered, “now lie down, I’m gonna run a few tests and see how you react.”

Trixie felt like screaming from embarrassment, she could barely believe that they were about to do this. Trixie laid down flat on her back and tried her best to be quiet as Maud climbed on top of the hospital bed. Maud began gently kissing Trixie’s rear hooves and Trixie shivered in excitement at her touch. Trixie could now feel Maud’s love radiating off of her. Trixie vowed to never turn down one of Maud’s advances ever again, if only she could feel Maud’s warm love every time.

The door opened and a white pony with a pink mane worn in a bun walked in. Nurse Red Heart looked at the two ponies her eyes wide. Trixie noticed that the nurse’s hat was missing. Nurse Red Heart took a hard look at Maud. “Ahem. That is not your hat.”

Maud reluctantly gave the hat back to the nurse and then Trixie said, “I’m sorry. She was just trying to cheer me up.”

Nurse Red Heart looked at Maud and then nodded towards the floor saying, “the hospital beds are not supposed to be used for this kind of activity. Although they could handle it, you should still consider it impolite to use them in such a way.”

Maud got onto the floor and Trixie could feel her face burning from embarrassment. For some reason though, it was still not as bad as when Pinkie Pie interrupted them. Maybe Trixie was being exposed to this behavior so much that she was becoming braver…or maybe she was being corrupted by Maud’s wonderful touch.

Nurse Red Heart explained, “The doctor will be coming in shortly, but your tests came back positive. It didn’t look like anything was serious; so hopefully that means everything is good.”

Nurse Red Heart walked away and just before leaving she said, “if there is anything I can get you, just let me know…and please don’t shut this door again. Or else I will have to come in here and check on you.”

Trixie contemplated trying to shut the door again, and finish what Maud had started. The fear and excitement of being caught was surprisingly enticing, but she really didn’t want to be known for this kind of behavior. Trixie let out a sigh, and resigned herself to waiting patiently for the doctor.

After a half hour of waiting, Trixie begun to feel like the doctor was taking his sweet time. Maud was generally quiet, but not so distant anymore. Maud was kind enough to lay her head down next to Trixie’s and nuzzle her gently. Finally Maud decided to speak, “earlier you asked me what I wanted to do today...do you like music?”

Trixie groaned and said, “I don’t want to play anymore music; I suck at singing.”

Maud gave a short tiny laugh, nearly surprising Trixie at the new sound. It was a rare day in a cold Tartarus when Maud would laugh, it was however one of the sweetest sounds that Trixie had ever heard. Maud said, “I wasn’t going to make you sing. I think we might destroy Pinkie’s room if you sang for me again. What I meant was that I was interested in what kind of music you like.”

Trixie was quiet for a moment thinking of her music tastes. She owned several tapes, most of which were either soft acoustic rock, or metal. Trixie liked both sad, and angry music. Although she never thought about Maud’s musical preference, and now she was curious as to what kind of music Maud enjoyed. Trixie finally sighed and asked, “ever hear of Suns and Roses, or Black Stallion?”

Maud shook her head and explained, “I never really listen to music outside of my interest. I have a few Two Steps From Tartarus records though.”

“Wow…records huh. I’ve never really gotten into those. Then again I used to be able to afford an album/cassette player. Now I’m lucky if I can find an affordable walkpony for my tapes,” Trixie explained. Between her medication, and her recent lack of work; Trixie had almost no money to spend on herself.

Maud nuzzled in a little deeper into Trixie’s neck and asked, “why don’t we listen to some music together when we get back?”

Trixie giggled a little as Maud kissed her neck. Trixie said, “okay, that sounds interesting. But I don’t know if you will like my music. It’s a little dark.”

Maud kissed Trixie again before saying, “I don’t mind. I just want to share things with you. You smell good Lulu.”

Trixie could feel her face heating up all over again from Maud’s comment. But she was happy to hear Maud say she wanted to share. “So does that mean you will tell me what happened between you and-“ Trixie cut herself off, praying that she didn’t just cross the line.

Maud stopped kissing her all of a sudden, and began to pull away. Trixie quickly fished for anything she could find to finish the sentence. Finally she said, “and Twilight?”

Maud looked into Trixie’s eyes and stayed silent for a moment. After a few seconds Maud said, “what exactly did you want to know, there has been a lot things between us lately.”

Trixie closed her eyes and said, “well it’s almost been a year since I came back to the rock farm. So I wanted to know…what did Twilight tell you about…me?” Trixie knew she was just saying whatever came to her mind first, but hopefully it would distract Maud.

To Trixie’s surprise Maud actually smiled, a very tiny smile, but a smile none the less. Trixie made sure to never ask about the Pinkie Pie thing again. Maud then explained, “Twilight told me that you had been hurt badly. And that you needed someplace quiet and safe to recuperate. She told me you might be acting weird for a long time. You were so emotionless when you first came to me. It was like you were dead inside…I understood how that felt.

“So I took care of you. I was surprised when you responded so well to my attempts to befriend you. I usually don’t try to make friends with ponies unless I know them first. But with you, there was something special. When you finally began acting like…normal ponies do. I was very happy. I remember how hard it was for you to talk to anypony other than me at first, and then when you would listen to me talk. You even enjoyed my poetry…no pony likes my poetry.”

Trixie interrupted saying, “your poetry is wonderful. Especially the ones about sapphires.”

Maud’s smile grew as she said, “you mean the ones about you.” Trixie felt her face warming up again. Maud said, “sapphires are a metaphor for you, Lulu. I’m glad you enjoyed my poetry. But maybe now you know how I feel about your music.”

Trixie’s face warmed up even more. Trixie looked away and said, “I guess so. Your poetry is pretty though.”

Maud kissed Trixie on the cheek and said, “so are you.”

Trixie’s face felt like it was on fire now, and so was another part of her body. Trixie wanted to do something outrageous with Maud, right there in the hospital, right at that moment. Trixie opened her mouth to voice her desires when she heard a knocking at the open door. Trixie looked over and saw Doctor Timequill looking at the two of them. He was smiling happily.

Trixie swore that they could roast marshmallows on her face with how embarrassed she was. Trixie quickly grabbed the blanket and covered her lower half with it, trying desperately to hide the shameful parts of her. Trixie saw a small grin on Maud’s face, and knew that Maud found this situation amusing.

Doctor Timequill walked in and said in a kind voice, “I’m glad to see you again, Trixie. How have you been?”

Chapter Thirty: Problem Solving

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty: Problem Solving
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The door was shut behind Doctor Timequill. Trixie stayed in bed with Maud by her side; she held tightly onto Maud’s hoof. Timequill gave a reassuring smile to Trixie as he explained, “I have some good news for you, Trixie. Physically speaking you are perfectly healthy; there were no signs of anything wrong.”

Trixie was a little confused about a number of things, but she had only one question at that moment. “Why are you the one telling me this, I thought you were a psychologist, not a medical doctor.”

Timequill continued to smile as he explained, “I have experience in the medical field. But you are correct; Doctor Horse was working on your tests earlier, but he was called out to see another patient. It looked serious, so they were going to send the nurse to release you. I thought it would be a kindness to come and visit you myself.”

Trixie was happy to hear that Timequill took the time to come and visit her. Trixie was smiling as she said, “thank you.”

Maud however asked in a flat tone, “what do you mean she is fine? She has been puking and coughing up blood for the past two days. What could make her do something like that, and still be ‘fine’?”

Timequill’s happy smile faded a little as he explained, “I apologize, I should have been more careful with my wording. Trixie is just fine physically, I’m not actually sure what it means. She could just have had a sore throat, maybe it was something she had eaten, but I agree that this does sound a little strange. Unfortunately there is not enough reason for the hospital to keep her here. My suggestion would be too keep a close eye on her, if it gets worse bring her in immediately.”

Maud was frowning at his words, and Trixie could feel Maud’s anger towards the hospital. Maud stayed quiet though and Trixie was just glad to get out of the hospital if for nothing else, she had a few urges that only Maud could fix for her at home. Trixie smiled softly and asked, “so that’s it, I’m free to go?”

Timequill returned the soft smile and said, “yes you are, the nurse is currently bringing up the release papers now. That being said I did have a reason for coming here to visit you.”

Trixie didn’t like the sound of that. She looked at Maud and then back to Timequill before asking, “what is it?”

“Trixie, I get the feeling that something is wrong; it would seem to me, that you might not have been taking your medication properly. Is there a reason you might have forgotten too?” he asked gently.

Trixie noticed Maud looking at her, and instantly she felt guilty. Trixie had no idea if she had actually taken her meds for the day, and she knew that she hadn’t taken them yesterday. On top of that, all the stress she has gone through in the past couple of days. Trixie let out a depressed sigh before saying, “I didn’t take them yesterday, I was sick. And today I…actually can’t remember if I have taken them or not.”

Maud nuzzled Trixie gently and said, “Lulu, you should have told me.”

Trixie looked at her and opened her mouth, but shut it. Trixie wasn't sure what to say, she should have told Maud, but she didn't. Trixie then said very quietly, “Trixie is sorry. She forgot all about them.”

“Trixie is there something you would like talk to me about. I’m here to listen to you if you need it,” Timequill offered.

Trixie smiled and said, “Trixie would like that…” Trixie then looked at Maud and said, “do you mind if Trixie talks to Timequill in private?”

Maud nodded. Maud was very understanding, and kind. Trixie knew that she had chosen the best pony to fall for. Maud left the room quietly, leaving the two to talk alone. Timequill waited very patiently for Trixie to feel secure enough to speak.

“Trixie…has been having a hard time, “Trixie admitted. Trixie decided to stop caring about speaking properly and spoke in a way that felt safe for her. “Things have been hard for Trixie in Ponyville. Trixie has had one of the worst days today, and worse yet, Trixie has remembered why she came to Ponyville in the first place. Trixie came here to run a show for a good friend of Trixie’s…Trixie came here for Fluttershy. Fluttershy invited all of her friends to Trixie’s show, because Fluttershy wanted to introduce them to Trixie’s show.

“Trixie knows that her show was a little...over the top, but that was on purpose. Trixie was angry when the ponies began making fun of Trixie. Trixie did not know that these rude ponies were actually Fluttershy’s friends. So now Trixie knows now that Fluttershy’s heart must have been destroyed by her friends…Trixie is so angry with them…but Trixie is also friends with them now too…so Trixie doesn’t know what to do.”

Timequill was quiet for a moment before he finally said, “that makes a lot of sense. It is too bad that you had blocked out a lot of your old memories. If we had known about this event earlier it could have sped up recovery. But we know about it now and that’s the important part.”

Timequill then proceeded to pull out a clipboard from…actually Trixie still had no idea where ponies pulled things out from. “Where did you get that? Why do ponies keep pulling things out of nowhere, next time a sofa will fall out of Rarity’s butt and then Rarity will dramatically faint on the magical butt sofa. Trixie demands to know what sorcery everypony is using to make items appear from nothing.”

Timequill had one of the oddest looking expressions on his face when Trixie had finished her rant. At length he said, “I…um…the clip board was attached to the end of your bed. I’m actually a little surprised it is sitting here, I believe this actually came from my desk.”

Trixie seemed a little confused about this just like he was, and asked, “may Trixie see the clip board?”

Timequill smiled and said, “sure, it’s the same one that you have seen before.”

Trixie held the clipboard as she lay on her back. She had indeed read this before, but she had been so emotionally dead that she had barely given it any attention. The clipboard was an analysis on Trixie’s personality, and her history. It was a rough overview but she read the first paragraph and noticed it hadn’t been updated since her last appointment with Timequill around a month ago.

“Trixie Lulamoon is a unicorn mare with a blue fur coat and a mane of blue and silver. She lives at the edge of Equestria on a small rock farm right next to the Badlands. Although she has worked here for nearly a year now, she has had a hard time connecting with anypony who she works with. A relatively quiet and nervous pony, she has been trying her best to stay out of the way, and with even more effort, she has been trying her best to not stand out.”

Trixie was a little perturbed at seeing the words “a relatively quiet and nervous pony”. She had never really thought about what her personality had lost when she attempted suicide. Or at least she never considered it too deeply before. Trixie didn’t like being a quiet and nervous pony. Trixie missed being talkative, and brave. But the more she considered it, the more she realized that she has been talkative, and brave.

“Trixie is not quiet and nervous. Trixie was working proudly at an apple booth earlier. And that apple booth was made better for having Trixie’s help. And Trixie was very nice to the costumers,” Trixie explained to the piece of paper before her hooves.

Trixie gave the clipboard back to Timequill and said, “Trixie believes you need to update that piece of silly paper again.”

To her surprise Timequill was actually smiling. Trixie felt a little weird that he would smile at her words, frowning was what she had expected. Trixie then asked, “what are you smiling at Trixie for?”

Timequill then gave a short chuckle before explaining, “I have waited over a year to see you act like this. Didn’t you notice that you are standing up for yourself? You’re finally proud to be yourself again, aren’t you?”

Trixie’s mouth was agape for a few seconds as she took in his words. He was right, it had taken her all this time, but she was finally defending herself for once. More than that, she was actually proud to be…herself. Maybe…”Trixie could become a magician again?” she thought aloud.

At seeing Timequill’s grin Trixie knew that she was indeed getting better. She might have done some bad things, and even got into a fight with one of her dearest friends, but Trixie was…Trixie. This revelation made her want to jump for joy and even do a little dance, but she would’ve fallen off of the bed.

Timequill looked at Trixie and said, “you know, this is wonderful. You should tell Maud exactly how you feel as soon as you leave the room. But first I feel as though there was something you wanted to talk about.”

Trixie felt a little bad as she remembered what it was that she was worrying about. Trixie took in a deep breath before explaining, “Trixie has a lot of problems right now, but she doesn’t know how to fix them. Maud is keeping something from Trixie, and it worries Trixie that Maud doesn’t trust her enough. Trixie also attacked Rainbow Dash, but Rainbow Dash was insulting Trixie’s mother…but that’s not an excuse. Finally Trixie is terrified that she is not pleasing Maud, when they're making love. Trixie just wants to make Maud happy. What is Trixie supposed to do?”

Timequill was silent for a moment but finally he explained, “to the first problem. Try talking to Maud about how you feel. Don’t try and push for an answer, but let her know you are afraid that she doesn’t trust you anymore. The second problem is easier to work out. Apologize to Rainbow Dash, and try to explain to her how it made you feel. Rainbow Dash is a little hard headed but she is an understanding pony. The last problem is a little different. If you want me to give out any honest advice about it, then I’ll need to know a little more about your relationship. I’ll understand if it’s too private for you to discuss with me though.”

Trixie was silent for a few moments before admitting, “Trixie does not have experience past Maud…when it comes to mare on mare…intimacy. What do you need to know?”

“Well first of all, who is usually the one…receiving?” Timequill asked.

Trixie’s face felt like it was going to catch on fire again, but this still wasn’t the most embarrassing conversation that she had ever had with Timequill. There was a much more embarrassing, and much darker one she had discussed once before. “Trixie…is usually…um…receiving.”

Timequill then asked, “has Maud asked you to do anything new, maybe a little weird?”

Trixie could swear that her face was a furnace now. “Trixie has been asked to use bondage, and to do…um…mouth…um oral…things to Maud.”

“In your case I wouldn’t suggest any form of bondage or anything that feels forced, that could damage you emotionally. But with regards to giving back to Maud, I would suggest it. In fact it could be beneficial if you surprise her, and give her all your attention some night. Maybe the change in pace could be all that Maud needs from you,” Timequill suggested.

Trixie imagined it, and liked the idea of giving back to Maud. Maybe Trixie would surprise Maud tonight or sooner if Trixie had her way. Trixie smiled nervously at Timequill and said, “thank you. Trixie doesn’t know how you know about all of this stuff. But Trixie thanks you for it.”

Timequill smiled back at her and said, “you’re welcome, Trixie. This is my job after all. Now I’m going to write you a prescription, it’s for your medication. I feel as though you could benefit from an increased dose. You have been put through so much stress lately that even taking your meds regularly might not have been effective enough.”

After getting the new prescription, and signing off on the hospital records Trixie walked outside to see all of her friends sitting inside the hallway waiting for her. Even Twilight Sparkle was here for her. Trixie gave Maud the biggest hug ever and said, “Trixie is…Trixie is,” it was hard to break out of her old speech patterns,”…I am proud to be myself. I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I am happy to be who I am.”

Everypony seemed happy about that. Even Rainbow Dash smiled, with her lip the way it was though, it hurt Trixie to see. Trixie walked up to Rainbow Dash and wrapped her legs around her saying, “I’m so sorry about attacking you. I…it’s just that ponies used to make fun of me over my mom…and you sounded so much like them. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me but-“ Rainbow Dash cut Trixie off with a hoof covering Trixie mouth.

“It’s cool. One time Applejack and me got into a hoof fight over a race, right in front of Princess Celestia. I mean that was pretty embarrassing for Twilight,” Rainbow Dash explained. “I screwed up Trixie; I messed up big time when I said those things. I…I’m sorry. I guess you can’t really forgive me for that but…I’ll spend every moment I can making it up to you. I promise.”

Trixie smiled as a warm feeling filled her heart. Rainbow Dash had apologized to her, and that meant more to her than anything else she could have done. Trixie felt a tear running down her face as she said, “thank you, Rainbow Dash. I forgive you.”

Twilight looked in much better condition then she had before, maybe she had taken a nap. Twilight smiled at the Trixie before saying, “I’m glad to see your feeling better. I heard that you wanted a few books from me, ones detailing the history of Celestia’s Heroes. I left them at Sugarcube Corner; I hope they help you.”

Chapter Thirty One: Under the Bed

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty One: Under the Bed
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Pinkie’s room was brightly lit thanks to the afternoon sun shining through the windows; the sun cast a shade of orange light over everything in Pinkie’s room. It was quiet up here all alone, but Pinkie Pie and Maud were trying to do something downstairs. Trixie wondered if her sudden need to rush back to Pinkie’s had upset anypony; she had forgotten to explain why the books were so important to her, after all.

On the guest bed Trixie found her book bag lying on its side; somepony brought the bag back to Sugarcube Corner for her, when she went to the hospital. Trixie saw the books she wanted on top of Pinkie’s dresser, but she was worried about Twilight’s diary. Trixie quickly looked inside the book bag only to find it empty, the diary was nowhere in sight. Two terrible thoughts occurred to her; first, she wouldn’t be able to read any more of the diary now, she did plan to return it next time she saw Twilight, but why not read it a little before hoof. The second thought was that this may mean that somepony stole it, and Trixie couldn’t have somepony reading her friends secrets.

Trixie began searching the room for it, just in case the book had been misplaced. After all Pinkie Pie, or Maud could have mistaken it for belonging to Trixie. First Trixie searched the closet hoping that it was safely tucked away. There were a bunch of boxes in the closet, all of them related to party decorations. There was also a really nice looking yellow jacket hiding in the back. Trixie moved it to the side hoping to find something behind it.

On closer inspection the yellow jacket wasn’t a jacket at all. It was some kind of full length one piece pajamas. It had a pink tail and mane as part of its design. Trixie stared at it in amazement for a few seconds, wondering why it looked so much like pony fur. Trixie very carefully pulled it out wondering what it was exactly. She followed the zipper with her eyes until she found Fluttershy’s face staring back at her.

Trixie fell back on her haunches as she nearly screamed at the skinned Fluttershy that now lay before her. Trixie didn’t understand what she was looking at; this couldn’t be the real Fluttershy. On closer inspection she figured out this was some sort of costume, but it looked exactly like Fluttershy. Where could Pinkie Pie have gotten such an item was beyond her understanding. She couldn’t look at the costume without thinking of it as being Fluttershy’s skin. Trixie quietly put the creepy costume back into the closet; she never wanted to think about it again.

After closing the door to the closet of horror, Trixie thought that maybe the book had simply fallen out and slid underneath something. First she looked underneath the guest bed, but found nothing. She then noticed a few books underneath Pinkie’s bed from her new vantage point. “Aha, so that’s where it went,” Trixie said to herself.

Pulling out the books from underneath Pinkie’s bed proved fruitless as all she found were some books that didn’t belong to her. There was a copy of “Fifty Shades of Hay” in the pile. Trixie owned a copy of this book, but to her shame, she had never gotten past the first chapter; the book’s depiction of intimacy was far too detailed for Trixie’s taste. Although she kept it, hoping one day she could read it without being too embarrassed.

There were quite a few things underneath Pinkie Pie’s bed. A shoe box was here for some reason as well. Trixie pulled it out after seeing that the box belonged to a popular line of dress shoes. Trixie just had to try them on.

The box did not contain any shoes though, instead there were some very lewd looking magazines inside. Trixie had almost no experience with these kinds of magazines and was a little curious. Trixie picked one up and opened it, the first page she turned to had two mares entangled together and doing some things that Trixie had not even thought possible. After viewing a few more pages Trixie looked around the empty room; she felt embarrassed, and terrified that somepony would see what she was looking at. Trixie quickly put the magazine back inside the box, closed it, and slid it back underneath the bed.

Trixie looked for anything that could distract her from the images that were now burned into her mind. There was a bigger cardboard box underneath the bed as well. Trixie grabbed it and carefully pulled it out. The word “toys” was written in red marker on the top. Trixie grinned at the idea of seeing what kinds of fun things Pinkie Pie might have kept from her youth; knowing Pinkie Pie, she probably still played with them.

Trixie opened it, and was disappointed by the contents. There was a bright pink back massager; this was most certainly not a toy. There were also some beads attached to a string; she decided that they were probably some arts and crafts thing. And few other strange objects that made very little sense to Trixie. She dug through the box and near the bottom found something truly strange. There was a red ball, with some holes going through it. It had black straps on either side that buckled together at their end. It was lying next to some hoof cuffs. Trixie could swear she had seen this kind of object before but she couldn’t remember where exactly.

The door opened and Pinkie Pie walked in. a glass of chocolate milk was balanced on Pinkie’s nose. Trixie looked at Pinkie Pie and said, “I don’t understand, why does this box say ‘toys’ on it, if there aren’t any inside? Do you just shove random crap into here when you can’t think of what to do with it?”

Pinkie Pie looked from Trixie to the box back to Trixie. Pinkie Pie’s eyes grew wide as she stood there. Pinkie then said, “um…I…um…put those back into the box and go wash your hooves.”

Trixie put the strange assortment of items back into the box, and then looked at Pinkie Pie saying, “there wasn’t anything gross on them or anything, so why should I-“

“Because they might not have been washed properly since they were last used, now go wash your hooves and I’ll give you some chocolate milk,” Pinkie said in an almost authoritative tone.

Trixie was a little surprised by the tone Pinkie had taken. She stood up and left the room to do as Pinkie Pie had asked without question. There was no way that Trixie was missing out on free chocolate milk.

Trixie had wondered why Pinkie was acting that way the entire time while she washed her hooves, and about half way up the stairs she finally recognized one of the items in question. The ball with straps, it was a ball gag…the kind that Maud wanted to use, and there were hoof cuffs next to them. Trixie put two and two together and realized that the box, of what she had assumed out of her ignorance was an assortment of strange objects might have actually been Pinkie’s…adult toys.

Trixie’s face was burning as she walked back into the room with her head held low. She didn’t know what she had been looking at exactly, or how they were used. But Trixie began suspecting that she didn’t want anything to do with the items. Pinkie Pie had hidden the box again before turning to face Trixie and said, “um…so you saw those. I know Maud wanted to introduce them to you in private, but I guess she never got the chance.”

Trixie looked away from Pinkie Pie and explained, “I’ve never had much experience with things like that before…you know...Maud.”

Pinkie Pie let out a sigh sounding almost relieved before saying, “I’m sorry that you saw those…kinda. I mean one day you’ll probably use them with Maud, you know, but I guess you aren’t ready yet. Did you really think that you were looking at a box of toys?”

Trixie nodded and explained, feeling like a child in the process, “I saw that the box said ‘toys’, and I thought that since you had a…youthful personality, maybe you had some cool stuff. The only thing there that I even recognize is the…um…gag. And that’s only because I’ve seen it in some artwork before. Although now I’m confused, why did you put aback massager into the same box as all that stuff? You can’t very well use that without washing it now, can you?”

Pinkie looked dumbfounded for a second before breaking out into laughter. Pinkie was laughing so hard that she fell onto the floor, clutching her sides, and began snorting in between laughs. Trixie felt embarrassed to say the least, to be laughed at for her innocence; innocence was a strange word for her. Trixie believed that she had lost her innocence, especially after her experiences with Maud.

Trixie found the chocolate milk on the dresser next to the guest bed. She grabbed the chocolate milk and sat down sipping at it with her back to the bed. She watched silently while she waited for Pinkie Pie to stop laughing.

After a few minutes Pinkie Pie had finally stopped laughing and said, “okay, okay…whew, Trixie you are one silly filly.”

“I’m not a filly,” Trixie grumbled in response.

Pinkie Pie walked over and sat down next to Trixie. “I brought that drink for you, so can take your meds. Maud said I have to make sure you take them now, or else you don’t get to eat anything tonight.”

Trixie took her medications while Pinkie watched her; Trixie couldn’t help but feel like she was back in the hospital where the nurses would force the medication down her throat if she didn’t take it willingly. Trixie let out a sigh after she took the last pill. She had gotten too crazy the last few days, and her meds could have helped keep her. She regretted not taking them, she never meant to hurt anypony, but that’s exactly what happened.

Pinkie Pie said in a playful tone, “you know that massager doesn’t go on your back.”

Trixie couldn’t think of what else a massager would be used for, so Trixie looked at Pinkie Pie in disbelief before saying in a slightly arrogant tone, “oh yeah, then what is it used for?”

Pinkie Pie leaned in and whispered into Trixie’s ear. After Pinkie finished explaining, Trixie’s eyes widened and she quickly turned to look at Pinkie and exclaimed, “it goes WHERE? But how? That thing was freaking huge!” Trixie then remembered what male anatomy was like and shivered saying, “ew…okay so…that…ew.”

Pinkie Pie gave another short laugh at Trixie’s behavior and said, “wow I can’t believe that Maud ended up with somepony so…innocent. How did you not learn any of this stuff in school?”

Trixie looked at Pinkie Pie and said, “ask me anything you want about the illusion school or cantrip magic or pyromancy. And I will have an answer, or a theory. Ask me about how to run a magic show, and I will have an answer. Talk to me about stuff that wasn’t taught by the school and I’m as clueless as Twilight.”

Pinkie Pie relaxed, leaning her back against the bed and asked, “how long have you been out of school?”

Trixie relaxed a little as well and began to tell the story to Pinkie Pie. She hadn’t told this story in a long time, and she could only hope she didn’t mess it up. “I got out at sixteen, ran my magic show for a few months. Came to ponyville where some rude ponies attacked my show…I forgive you though, and then I lost the stage wagon. Transforming wagons cost a lot by the way. I worked at the New Slate rock farm before it became a small village. Igneous Rock was nearly slave driver…but he was a good stallion to me.

“I guess worked there for about six months, I found the Alicorn Amulet and attacked Ponyville. I ran away after that, lived in Manehattan for awhile. I didn’t have a home though, I lost that when I left New Slate. I lived on the streets and after I was assaul…um…” Trixie felt a lump inside of her throat as she found it hard to tell the story to Pinkie pie. The memories were still painful for her…especially after all the stress she was put through today. She couldn’t ever forget all the horrible things those evil ponies did to her. Trixie cleared her throat and remembered that Pinkie could read minds, so she skipped that part of the story. “After Manehattan Trixie went to the Everfree forest and challenged the Ursa Major. Trixie managed to hurt it…we think.

“Trixie nearly died after that and was in a coma for a while. Trixie woke up one day at the hospital and found herself very depressed. Trixie spent a long time healing mentally before coming to back to New Slate. Trixie then lived with Maud and there she got her first true friend in over a year…Trixie has never been happier then when Maud first kissed Trixie on that mountain. It surprised Trixie to say the least, but Maud has good tastes…and taste good.”

Pinkie Pie lifted a hoof and gently wiped away a few tears from Trixie’s face. Trixie hadn’t even realized that she was crying. Pinkie Pie then embraced Trixie and said, “well I’m glad that you have Maud. Trixie, you are safe here with us. No matter what I-”

Pinkie Pie stopped speaking all of a sudden. Pinkie Pie’s ears twitched, and then her muzzle scrunched up like she was going to sneeze, and even though Pinkie Pie was sitting next to Trixie, Trixie could feel Pinkie’s butt shaking. Pinkie Pie then said in low even tones, “Rainbow Dash just broke a pinkie promise over at Applejacks farm. I’ll be right back.”

Trixie looked at Pinkie Pie and watched her get up to leave. Trixie had no idea what was going on, but she managed to ask, “wait, what are you talking about?”

Pinkie Pie didn’t look back at Trixie, but explained, “my Pinkie Sense will tell me whenever somepony breaks a pinkie promise, where they are, and what they are doing. Now I need to bring a cupcake all the way over to Applejacks house…why did Rainbow Dash tell her about that.”

Pinkie Pie left the room and Trixie felt a cold shiver of fear run down her spine. Whatever Rainbow Dash just did, it made Pinkie’s crazy go…crazier. Trixie leaned back against the bed and said, “Pinkie is truly a scary pony sometimes. Oh well, guess I know how to summon an angry Pinkie Pie whenever I need one.”

“I wouldn’t suggest doing that, not unless you want to have a cupcake shoved in your face,” Twilight Sparkle said from the doorway.

Trixie looked over in surprise she hadn’t expected to see Twilight here. Trixie then remembered the reason she began digging underneath Pinkie Pie’s bed in the first place. Trixie closed her eyes and whined, “Twilight. I found your diary but I lost it. I was going to give it back to you, but it’s gone…I think somepony might have stole it.”

Twilight walked over and sat down next to Trixie and said, “oh. So you weren’t trying to hide it from me?”

Trixie felt a little guilty that she had wanted to, and worse that she was planning on reading a little more of it until Twilight showed up. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I was going to when I was mad at you…but then I realized that I was just being selfish and crazy. I was going to give it back to you the next time I saw you though…but now it’s gone. I’m sorry I lost it.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment causing Trixie to worry that Twilight might be mad at her for losing it. Twilight explained, “it’s not lost. I found it in your book bag when I was putting the books I’m loaning you in it. I was under the impression that you might have been trying to steal it from me, but I had lost it myself over six months ago, so I had to question myself on that. I’m sorry for making assumptions about you, now that I hear you talking like this I…actually want to share something with you.”

Trixie looked at Twilight and watched as Twilight used her magic to pull out the diary from the saddlebags she wore. Twilight levitated the book over to Trixie and said, “this book has been completed. It covers my journey up my first few days of being a princess. I want you to hold on to it for now, it might help you out when you feel lost. All of my friendship lessons are in here as well, I hope they help you, I know they sure helped me.”

Trixie grabbed the book in between her hooves and looked at the old scorched book with eyes filled with wonder. Trixie had never thought that she could receive a gift so wonderful. This wasn’t just a book, it was a personal part of Twilight…and now it was in Trixie’s hooves. Trixie looked at Twilight and said, “thank you…I…I don’t know what to say. Is there anything that I even could say? This…isn’t this too much for me?”

Twilight looked down at Trixie with such kind eyes and said, “Trixie you…you have grown so much in the past couple of weeks. I think I can finally see what Celestia saw in me, when she saw me here in Ponyville with all my friends. You can keep this book but on one condition. You have to Pinkie Promise to never tell anypony about anything you read in here.”

Trixie nodded and felt tears of joy run down her face, Trixie quickly wrapped her hooves around Twilight’s neck embracing the alicorn who was taller than her. After some coaching from Twilight, Trixie was finally ready to make the Pinkie Promise. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I Pinkie Promise never to tell a soul about the things in this book. You have always been such a good friend to me Twilight, even when I wasn’t such a good one to you.”

“That’s okay Trixie, you have finally learned your lesson. The lesson, that friendship is important. I think that Maud was the one who really taught you that one,” Twilight explained.

A warm smile was stuck on Trixie’s face as she sat there with Twilight. Trixie was truly excited to have such a wonderful friend as Twilight. Twilight sat next to her quietly giving Trixie time to say, “so…does this mean that I have to write a silly letter to the princess about what I learned today?”

Twilight laughed before saying, “nope, but you do have to write a silly entry into my friendship journal.”

Chapter Thirty Two: Anguish

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Two: Resentment
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie sat alone in Pinkie’s room reading the journal. Trixie had never felt closer to Twilight then she did while reading the journal. Trixie had not gotten very far into the book before she began to smell something tasty wafting in from downstairs. Trixie’s hunger decided that it was time to go see about diner.

Downstairs Trixie saw Mrs. Cake cooking some kind of stew in the kitchen. Trixie walked over and asked, “hi Misses Cake, what are you cooking? It smells delicious.”

Mrs. Cake turned and said, “well I’m making an old family recipe tonight. If you’re interested I can teach it to you, considering your part of the family now.”

“Really, that’s awesome. I mean, I’m a terrible cook so you would be better off teaching it to Maud…speaking of Maud, where did my little earth pony go off to?” Trixie asked.

Mrs. Cake explained, “she went with Pinkie Pie a little while ago. Pinkie didn’t look very happy, I hope nothing serious happened. I think Maud went to calm her down, Maud has been the level headed one ever since she was a teenager.”

“What was she like before that?” Trixie asked wanting to know a little more about Maud.

Mrs. Cake returned to stirring the stew before saying, “oh, she was actually very aggressive when she was younger. She used to explode at every tiny little thing that upset her. After she hurt Pinkie Pie though, she grew up. Although I have to admit that I haven’t seen her be as happy as she is with you, since she was a filly.”

Trixie was surprised to hear Mrs. Cake’s words and for a few seconds could do nothing but think. Had Maud really hurt Pinkie Pie, is that why Maud has been so weird lately? Trixie began to fear that she had just crossed a line that she was not meant to. “I don’t think you were supposed to tell me that,” Trixie said, her voice full of worry.

Mrs. Cake gave Trixie a smile and said, “if you had been speaking to either Blinkie or Inkie about Maud then they would tell you horror stories about how she was the evil big sister. Of course they over exaggerate, but the one time that Maud had let her anger get the best of her…well they won’t ever let Maud live that down. I think it’s why neither Pinkie nor Maud are that close with their other sisters.”

Trixie closed her eyes and tried to tell herself that Maud was actually keeping another secret from her. Trixie didn’t want to know the secret if it wasn’t from Maud’s mouth. Somehow Trixie knew that this was indeed the truth, and she couldn’t lie to herself. Trixie finally let out a sigh and explained, “I think Maud was keeping that a secret from me…but maybe it is better to hear it from you then from the other sisters.”

“I could tell that she was trying to hide something from you. You’re right though, it is much nicer to hear it from me, the others add needless details and make Maud out to be some kind of monster,” Mrs. Cake explained.

Trixie was a little happier to hear that this could actually be a blessing in disguise. Besides that, Trixie didn’t need to let Maud know, that she knew yet. Trixie decided she would wait for Maud to tell her at her own pace. But for now Trixie had other questions. “When is the food gonna be ready?”

“In about ten, maybe fifteen minutes. If you want it to be done any faster you can do something for me,” offered Mrs. Cake.

Trixie found herself dragging a bag of trash, the strings of the bag being held between her teeth. There was a cart that the Cakes used for bringing garbage to the dump out behind Sugarcube Corner, and that cart was Trixie’s destination. Trixie wished she had a working horn; she used to be able to easily lift trash bags with her magic.

Trixie saw two stallions across the street, one of them was bright yellow with a dark brown mane, he had a lemon for a cutie mark. The other one was a brown stallion with blond hair, he had a knife for a cutie mark; they were both earth ponies.

The brown stallion said, “man we’ve been in Manehattan too long. It was nice there, but I think Ponyville will be a nice place to stay for a few days.”

The yellow one added, “yeah it will be. I hate having to leave the city so soon though, it was a really nice place.”

The brown stallion then said, “look we were there for long over a year. Now the gang’s been disbanded, we’re on our own. But don’t worry, we will be in Applewood soon until then we will need to be more quiet than we were this morning. Don’t want an angry horde of ponies on our tails.”

The yellow one laughed and said, “yeah I guess. I liked playing with that mare from earlier though…a horde of angry ponies huh. That sounds kinda fun, and it wouldn’t be any more dangerous than when we left Manehattan.”

Trixie lifted the bag up with her hooves and put it into the trash. Her legs felt disgusting after picking it up, and she wanted to take a bath. She had earned tonight’s meal now and planned on enjoying its delectable flavors. Trixie turned around to head back when she noticed the stallions had stopped talking. Trixie looked over and they were gone. Something felt wrong.

“Hey there, don’t I know you from somewhere?” said the brown one from behind her.

Trixie turned to face him and began backing away as she saw a wicked grin on his face. Trixie bumped into something warm behind her, she turned to see the yellow one right behind her. Trixie opened her mouth to scream in fright just when she felt something painful smash into her chest. The brown stallion had bucked Trixie in the chest. She was sent back into the yellow one’s forelegs as he grabbed her. All of Trixie’s breath was gone, and she couldn’t draw in any breath. The yellow stallion then shoved Trixie onto the ground hard and pinned her there.

The brown one eyed Trixie, his eyes were nothing but pinpricks and an evil sick grin was wrapped over his face. Trixie was just barely able to take a breath again when he put a hoof down on top of her muzzle and pressed down.

He ground Trixie’s muzzle into the ground painfully as he stared into her eyes. Trixie’s heart was beating faster than ever before as a deep routed fear took hold of her heart. Trixie stared up at him, unable to open her muzzle as he kept it pressed down. The brown stallion then spoke, “I guess you don’t remember us Trixie. Don’t you remember how we had to chase you, in order to show you how much we appreciated you?”

There was evil seeded into his voice and Trixie knew instantly that he had to have been one of her attackers. The stallions who…broke Trixie. Tears streamed down her face as she realized exactly what they were about to do to her…and just how powerless she really was without any magic.

Trixie couldn’t just lay here and let them have their way though, Trixie had to do something, anything. A shred of hope grew in her heart as she used all of her fear as a conduit and summoned all of her magic into her horn. The pain flared in her horn, and she felt something inside her head screaming at her in pain but she could feel the magic building strength.

Suddenly a brown hoof came down crashing into Trixie’s horn hard. Everything went black and she felt completely numb. A few moments later Trixie’s vision returned, along with a dull pain in her head. She realized in horror that she had lost the magic she had built up. Pain suddenly screamed across her head, especially her horn; she tried to scream. Something warm and wet tricked down from her forehead. The ground beneath her was also wet, and warm. Trixie couldn’t think, or do anything but whimper. The brown stallion then said, “Lovely.” After a pause he added, “I remember where you burned me the last time you used that horn of yours. This time I won’t let you fight back.”

Tears and blood streamed down Trixie’s face as she cried silently. She didn’t want to be hurt again, abused again, broken again. Trixie finally found a pony who loved her, one who gave her everything she ever needed. Trixie couldn’t believe her cursed luck. Trixie tried to plead through her shut muzzle.

The brown Stallion noticed and his evil grin widened as he said, “oh did you want to thank us for all the attention we gave you? For the fun time we showed you in Manehattan. Why didn’t you say so? But don’t forget, if you scream, I will cut your tongue out.”

He relieved some of the pressure on Trixie’s muzzle. Just enough to allow her to beg quietly; it was exactly what he wanted. But Trixie couldn’t speak, she couldn’t do anything. It would be better to be dead then to let them do what they had planned for her. Trixie whimpered and remembered how happy she had just been with Pinkie Pie. She questioned how things could turn so quickly for her. Why did Pinkie Pie have to leave, just because Rainbow Dash broke a promise or something?

That was it, Trixie’s only chance for survival. Trixie would have to do it; Twilight’s warning could go straight to Tartarus. With barely any strength left, Trixie whispered, “Twilight wanted to beat Pinkie Pie up for sicking the entire town on her over the gala ticket.”

The brown stallion stared at Trixie for a few long quiet seconds. Finally at length he said, “what does that have to do with anything?”

Trixie couldn’t hear an angry Pinkie Pie. She couldn’t sense anything other than her own fear right now. Trixie quickly gave up; Pinkie Pie had truly just been acting crazy. There was no such thing as Pinkie Sense, why did Trixie even entertain the idea. Trixie whimpered again now fully realizing how horrible this was going to be for her, resigning herself to her fate.

“YOU SICK BUCKING FREAKS ARE DEAD!” shouted the loudest, most anger filled, death laced voice that Trixie had ever heard. It took Trixie all of a second to recognize the voice as belonging to Maud. Trixie had never heard such anger from anypony before.

A gray, blue blur flew above Trixie’s head and collided with the brown stallion, the stallion went flying thirty feet sailing above the ground, before smashing against the hard earth, his body then bounced into the air. Trixie heard the sound of something breaking as the brown stallion landed a second time. He wasn’t moving save for a slight leg twitch.

Maud stood on her hind legs, Maud’s back facing Trixie; Maud truly looked like a hero. Maud turned and stared at the yellow stallion. Trixie could feel him shivering, and if she was in his place she would be too, for Maud looked like death incarnate. A scowl of pure unbridled rage was all that Trixie could see on Maud’s face. The stallion on top of Trixie stood up and just as he did Maud struck out with a hoof with such speed that Trixie had no idea what Maud had done until she had stopped moving.

The stallion was no longer on Trixie. She looked behind herself and couldn’t see him there either. Trixie was still for a moment before noticing the growing shadow around her. Trixie looked up to see the yellow stallion falling from the sky, just as he got close to the ground Maud struck him with both of her hooves. Trixie heard a horrifying cracking sound and the stallion went flying twenty feet away before hitting the ground and sliding along the dirt another five feet.

Trixie couldn’t move, or speak. She just lay there and began sobbing harder then she had ever before. The dirt bellow her was cold and wet and she just wanted to take a bath, and crawl into Maud’s embrace. She closed her eyes shut tightly.

“I knew something was wrong, hey are these guys dead?” asked Pinkie Pie, her voice sounded shaky.

Something heavy landed near Trixie, Trixie then heard Rainbow Dash saying, “who are these jerks…and no there not dead Pinkie.”

“Let me fix that,” Maud said in a harsh dangerous voice.

Trixie reached out towards Maud’s voice and found a hoof to hold onto. Trixie whimpered, and refused to let go. Applejack then said, “Ah, think she needs ya Maud. Let us take care of this…and uh…get her washed up. Ah’m sure she doesn’t want to stay like that.”

Trixie felt a pair of warm hooves wrap around her, she didn’t need to open her eyes to know it was Maud. It smelled like Maud, and felt like her. Trixie cried softly into Maud’s hooves. Maud whispered, “it’s okay now Lulu. I stopped the bad ponies…I’m sorry that I was late.” A kind gentle hoof wiped some of the blood off of Trixie’s forehead.

Trixie wanted to go inside, but she couldn’t even bare to open her eyes. It was too hard to look at the world, it was too mean, too harsh. Trixie just laid there in the cold, wet earth, it hadn’t been cold and wet before the stallions hurt her, why did they have to hurt her.

Trixie felt herself being lifted into the air and then set down on someponies back. Trixie opened her eyes and found herself on Maud’s back. Pinkie Pie looked into Trixie’s eyes and said, “that was smart Trixie…breaking a Pinkie Promise to summon help…that was really smart. I’m proud of you.”

Trixie closed her eyes and whispered, “just leave me…I’m disgusting.”

“I will never leave you Trixie, never,” Maud said in a gentle, caring voice, one that was reserved only for Trixie.

Rainbow Dash came back and said, “ok, these guys are still alive, but I don’t think they will ever walk right again.”

Maud said in a low voice, “good. Maybe they will learn how it feels to be broken now.”

Trixie heard the air pop and everypony let out an audible gasp. Trixie then listened as Twilight Sparkle said, “Holy Celestia’s flaming sun. What happened here and what…oh Celestia what did I step in? Why is the ground wet in this one spot? WHAT IS GOING ON?”

Pinkie Pie explained, “um…these stallions were…they….”

Pinkie Pie sounded unsure of what exactly she was looking at. Trixie figured that Pinkie Pie had never seen such brutality before. Rainbow Dash finished for her. “These stallions forced themselves on Trixie. Maud got them good before they could do anything too bad. But…they still did enough to make Trixie do that.”

Twilight exclaimed, “wait I just stepped in Trixie’s…ew. Okay I’ll take care of these guys. Rainbow Dash you’re helping me take them to the…er…I guess we don’t have a guard post out here...hmm”

“Actually I think these guys might die without immediate medical treatment,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Serves them right,” added Maud.

Twilight let out a sigh and said, “okay, we’ll get them treatment, and then I’ll have a contingent of guards take them somewhere. I don’t know what to do about this. I usually kill the monsters I fight, or petrify them, or send them to…that’s it. I’m sending these guys to Tartarus.”

Maud began walking with gentle steps, careful not to bounce Trixie around. Trixie felt herself falling asleep as they walked. Applejack said, “hey sugarcube, you took two head injuries one day. Ya’ll can’t sleep yet. Everypony we need to keep her awake, don’t want her to go into a coma. Ah mean…look at what they did to her horn.”

Twilight Sparkle was further away now as she said, “after you clean her wound out, and bandage it, keep her awake. I’ll be right back, I have a spell for concussions. And uh…be care when cleaning it, her horn doesn’t look right.”

Trixie just wanted to sleep, or die, or both. She didn’t know what to do, she couldn’t think straight. A deep numbness was crawling itself over her heart. It was old feeling, one that had kept her safe in the past; depression, Trixie’s first, and last friend.

Chapter Thirty Three: Survivor

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Three: Survivor
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Maud brought Trixie to Pinkie’s bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Trixie’s fear was battling fiercely with her depression; she couldn’t find anything to say, or do. Trixie just stayed quiet as Applejack did her best to bandage up Trixie’s horn. Trixie was a little surprised when Applejack swore a few times while cleaning the wound, and every time a surge of pain would shoot through the damaged appendage. After Applejack finally finished she had blood stained hooves and looked exhausted.

“Alright, sugarcube, it looks much better now. Ah swear it looked like that monster nearly broke yer horn off at first. But it wasn’t so bad…Ah hope. Um how are you feeling now?” Applejack said as she put the medical supplies back inside the first aid kit.

Trixie didn’t close her eyes, they wouldn’t let her keep them shut for too long. Trixie didn’t care if she would never wake up, but they still wouldn’t let her sleep. Trixie’s head also felt cloudy, and it was hard to think properly. She didn’t answer Applejack’s question, there was no point in talking anymore. She simply stayed quiet.

Maud was standing next to the bed. Maud’s face was void of all expression. Pinkie Pie on the other hoof looked shaken up and tried to smile, but Trixie could tell that it was nothing but a mask that Pinkie was wearing to hide how upset she really was. Applejack just gave Trixie a kind and caring smile.

After a long awkward silence Applejack finally said, “Ah guess you don’t want to talk. Ah can’t rightly blame ya…uh Maud do you have anything to say?”

Maud continued to stare at Trixie blankly while she said, “I’m here for you, Lulu.”

Pinkie Pie then said, “I guess we need to hold off on that party…again…”

The door opened and Rainbow Dash came in along with Twilight. Rainbow Dash said, “hey we took care of those guys.”

Twilight added, “I made sure that they won’t be moving until long after they’re healed. The guards will be here to pick them up tonight. It looks like the stallions were going to stay here a few days until the next train to Applewood came in. Ponyville is the only stop before Applewood after all.”

Rainbow Dash sat down and looked at Applejack saying, “I can’t believe those guys. It turns out they hurt somepony else today to. That poor mare had her leg broken; Doctor Horse has been working on her almost all day. We showed her the two stallions and she hoofed them just like that.”

Twilight rubbed a hoof across her face and explained, “what Rainbow Dash means is that Golden Harvest recognized them as her attackers.”

“What? Those fiends hurt Carrot Top,” Applejack said, her voice holding a mixture of surprise and anger. Rainbow Dash nodded.

Twilight walked up to Trixie and said, “hey, I’m sorry I took so long.”

Twilight’s horn began glowing and Trixie’s horn jerked causing Trixie to scream in pain. Then the pain was over and her horn felt better. Maud shot a glare at Twilight causing her to explain, “what? her horn was crooked, and cracked. Seriously I’m surprised that she is still awake. Most unicorns would’ve passed out or…well the pain could have done much worse to her.”

Twilight’s horn glowed again and Trixie’s head began to clear. The fog had been in her head ever since she had been hit, and she had been feeling numb. Now Trixie’s brain was feeling much better, and her numbness was disappearing, being replaced by understanding…and shame.

Twilight said, “alright, no more concussion. You can go to sleep now if you’d like.”

Trixie rolled over, unable to face her friends any longer. The feeling of shame hit her hard. She knew now that she was a broken, used, piece of trash; Maud deserved something better. The worst part was that she finally put the pieces together and realized that she had wet herself. It didn’t matter if it was perfectly normal for ponies to do that kind of thing outside; because Trixie was better than that, or so she thought. And anything associated with what the stallions did to her, felt wrong.

Trixie let out a soft cry before she begged, “just leave Trixie alone, Trixie is worthless.”

Maud reached out and placed a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. A sudden fear overcame her, and Trixie screamed and smacked the hoof away; a deep routed fear took her over and she nearly screamed, “do not touch Trixie.”

Maud pulled back and rested her hoof on the edge of the bed. It took a few moments before Maud asked, “what can I do?”

Trixie heard the other ponies walking away and Twilight said, “we’re going to leave you two alone. Take care of her, Maud, after today…she needs somepony to stay with her.”

The door closed behind the others and they left Maud alone with Trixie. Maud slowly removed her hoof from the bed, and Trixie began to fear that Maud would leave too. Trixie quickly begged, “please don’t leave, please don’t move.”

Maud was quiet as she put her hoof back onto the bed, Trixie could feel the weight of Maud’s hoof, and that made her feel safer. Trixie knew that she shouldn’t be scared of Maud touching her, and it hurt to know that even Maud’s gentle touch was too much for her now. Trixie began crying again as she said, “please keep your hoof on the bed…it makes me feel safe. Trixie is sorry that she is so broken.”

“I didn’t know how badly you had been hurt. You never talk about it. If I had known I…I wouldn’t have left you alone,” Maud said in her monotonous voice. Trixie simply continued to cry until she finally fell asleep.

The ally was unusually cold that night, and Trixie couldn’t find any warmth from the rags she was using for a blanket. She was lying down in between two dumpsters hoping that nopony would see her while she slept there. The Ally was almost empty save for a little filly named Valiant Heart that slept here sometimes. Valiant Heart wasn’t here tonight…or at least she hoped so.

Trixie hated Twilight for everything that had happened to her. Twilight knew exactly what would happen if she let Trixie go, and that was the issue. Twilight had wanted Trixie to be homeless, living on the streets, eating out of dumpsters. Everything about Trixie’s life was absolutely horrible. The only good news was that unlike most of the other fillies and mares that lived on the streets with her, Trixie had yet to be hurt by the stallions. Trixie made a practice of sleeping lightly, and hiding herself away in small places that most ponies didn’t want to look in.

Trixie closed her eyes and dreamed of her old wagon, and of a time when things were okay; a time when she and Twilight would hang out and play games. A time before Trixie argued with Twilight, but Twilight had been foalish and deserved the lecture. Even if it did come at the cost of a teammate’s wellbeing. Trixie was right, she was always right…wasn’t she?

Sleep came lightly, and roughly to the unicorn that night. Somewhere along the way she woke up to the sound of a stallion talking loudly. Trixie stayed quiet until she heard what he was saying.

The stallion was saying, “come on out. I have some food for you, if you’re a good little filly.”

Fear seized Trixie’s heart, she hadn’t realized that Valiant was here tonight. Trixie had heard this kind of offer before, and it was always bad. The stallion had to be a member of the Black Hoof gang; the mares of that gang were violent, and the stallions were twisted. The poor little filly that was always so kind to Trixie, was going to learn a hard lesson tonight. There was nothing that Trixie could do to help Valiant Heart. The last time she had tried to help somepony…things went badly for her.

The stallion shouted all of a sudden, “GET OUT HERE NOW! You little brat, I’m going to show you where your place is tonight.”

Trixie shuddered. Was she going to have to sit here and listen to the stallion hurting the poor filly all night? Valiant Heart didn’t even have her cutie mark yet. Trixie cringed at the thought. Trixie was safely hidden behind the dumpsters, if she tried to move the stallions would hear her, wouldn’t he?

Trixie didn’t want anything bad to happen to the little filly, she had spent a lot of time talking to the filly. Some nights Trixie would let the filly sleep next to her for warmth, Trixie had spent many an hour whispering stories to the filly before sleep. Trixie had grown attached to the Valiant Heart.

Finally Trixie had heard enough of the stallion threatening the little filly. Trixie stayed as quiet as she could and she snuck out of her hiding spot. Trixie saw the brown stallion, and his blond mane. He was trying to reach the filly with his hoof as she hid behind another dumpster. Trixie saw a clear view of the stallion’s hind quarters, and began summoning magic through her horn.

Trixie laughed to herself and said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks it is time that you learn to keep your hooves to yourself.”

Trixie summoned a storm cloud and arched a bolt of lightning into the stallion’s hind quarters. She was aiming for a very tender spot, and given the painful scream the stallion let out after the bolt hit him, Trixie believed she had hit her mark.

The stallion turned towards her, rage flashed in his expression and he charged Trixie. Trixie was too physically weakened to dodge him. As he knocked her down, something tore through Trixie’s leg and she screamed as she landed on her haunches. The stallion didn’t stop moving though and continued to run away. Trixie saw that his backside was actually smoking, presumably from the lightning bolt. Trixie was left alone…at least for the moment.

Trixie forced through the pain and stood up. Her leg was bleeding now. A red stained shard of glass was on the ground where she had been, that must have been what cut her. This was a very grave situation for Trixie. Wounds were always of great concern when you lived alone.

A tiny red haired, brown earth pony stuck her head out from behind the dumpster. The little filly ran up to Trixie looking scared. Valiant Heart never spoke to anypony, Trixie suspected that the little filly was mute. The only reason that Trixie knew her name was because Valiant Heart could write.

Trixie brushed some of the shaggy mane out of Valiant’s eyes and said in a soft voice, “Trixie thinks you need to find a new place to sleep for a few nights. That stallion will come back looking for you, and for Trixie. You can’t stay here tonight, Trixie is sorry.”

Valliant looked at Trixie and then at Trixie’s leg with worry. Trixie sat down very carefully and gave the little filly a hug before saying, “The Great and Fearless Trixie is okay, she will find a nice place to hide and heal. But you must promise Trixie that you will go find a new place to sleep in. Do you promise?”

The little filly was hesitant at first, but finally she nodded. Valiant opened her mouth, but quickly closed it. Tears ran down her face, but Trixie wiped them away and said, “it’s okay Valiant, Trixie has been through Tartarus and back. Go on now, before the stallion comes back.”

The little filly gave Trixie a hug before turning and running off. Trixie always enjoyed seeing Valiant’s tail, it reminded Trixie of a lion’s tail; it was adorable…but adorable was a curse here on the streets. Trixie said a silent prayer to Celestia for the little filly’s well being. Trixie crawled back into her little hiding spot and rested her injured leg. The pain in her leg was too great for her to find another hiding spot, and she was so tired. Trixie closed her eyes and drifted off into a cold sleep.

A few hours later Trixie awoke to the sound of metal grinding against something. There were a couple of mares pushing one of Trixie’s dumpster out of the way, and Trixie spotted the brown stallion from earlier, he had his yellow friend with him too. They looked very angry, and they were looking right at Trixie. There was a small opening on the opposite side of Trixie’s shelter. Trixie took off in a full blown gallop, it wouldn’t last long with the pain in her leg, but this was all she could do; that and pray they wouldn’t catch her.

The air was freezing around her, and the ground beneath her was hard and dry. Trixie found herself sitting in a barren field with the pale moon casting its dark light over everything. Trixie curled up into a ball and whispered, “it’s not fair. Why do I always get hurt when I try and do good stuff?”

“Because few ponies are willing to sacrifice everything to protect others,” said a kind and familiar voice from next to her.

Trixie looked up and found Princess Luna staring back at her. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “nothing good happens to me though, after all the good I’ve done…it seems like everything bad always happens to me.”

Luna smiled and asked, “so you no longer believe you deserve what happened to you?”

Trixie pawed at the earth beneath her and said, “no I don’t…I know that I’m not a monster, even if I have done bad stuff…I now know I’m not a bad pony. I’m just a worthless disgusting one.”

Luna wrapped a wing around Trixie and said, “I have rarely met a pony who was willing to sacrifice everything for the ones they love. Even Twilight has her limit. Twilight has simply lucked out most of the time, if any one thing had been different in many situations then she would have lost. You however try so hard to do everything you can, you have been broken but still you continue onward. That is a great strength for you. You have seen how bad it can get, so you fight even harder to keep it from being so bad again. I’m impressed.”

Trixie looked away and said sourly, “maybe, but how come nothing good ever happens to me. It’s like I’m a magnet that attracts crap.”

“Tell me, what has your day been like? What did you do today?” Luna asked.

Trixie explained, “I woke up covered in scars, those were washed away though…then I had a bath with Maud…then we had breakfast. Pinkie Pie made some of the most delicious pancakes ever. Then Twilight put her trust into me…she trusts me again. I found out the library was destroyed, but that I wasn’t alone in my pain. Applejack let me work with her…and she listened to me ramble about my past. Then I attacked Rainbow Dash, and was forgiven for it. I talked to Timequill again and got some good advice from him. And then I got home and had chocolate milk…and…Twilight gave me the greatest gift ever. But…but I was attacked after that…those stallions were going to ra-…hurt me again. They ruined everything.”

Luna was quiet for a few moments before saying, “I’m sorry that you were attacked. But I noticed that you mention some rather good things that happened today. Are you still positive that only bad stuff happens? Is there nothing that you are grateful for?”

Trixie was silent for a moment. Despite how much pain she had endured, Luna was right; there were things that she was grateful for. Trixie said very quietly, “I have Maud, I have friends, I have a sister…I am trusted by Twilight Sparkle…I met my mom again. I even have some information waiting for me about my dad…maybe…no I think you’re right. There is good stuff…but why is the bad stuff so…bad?”

“Sometimes bad things happen to you, and when they do you begin to appreciate the good things a little more. If you had a family, then would having a sister mean so much to you now? If you had many friends, then would your new ones mean that much to you? If you had never been hurt, would all the small things in this world that make you smile, truly be so special?” Luna asked.

Trixie thought about this for a few moments. The more she thought about it, the more she believed Luna’s words were true. Trixie may have been through the gutter, but broken as she may be, she came out of the experiences…stronger, wiser.

Trixie watched as the hard ground beneath her hooves began to grow warm, welcoming almost. The night sky began to shine with beautiful stars. Trixie looked in awe at them. This place reminded her of the rock farm. The days were hot, humid, and hard. But the nights were lovely, quiet, and safe.

Trixie then remembered how ashamed she was of what the stallions had caused her to do, in front of all her friends. The stars began to dim as she remembered.

“What is the matter?” Luna asked gently.

Trixie nearly cried as she explained, “during the…attack…I…I.I shamed myself.”

Luna looked confused at Trixie’s words. It would make sense that most ponies might not think of urinating outside as being wrong, but Trixie was always a little shy when it came to that subject. Trixie gulped as she explained, “I…um, I wet myself.”

A light blush appeared over Luna’s face as she said, “oh. I can see how that could be…embarrassing. I know most of the ponyville peons don’t have a shred of decency when it comes to that. I have seen many a pony lift there leg and, um yes it is normal for them. But I suppose you were brought up in Celestia’s school. It makes sense for you to feel embarrassed about it. Canterlot has higher standards after all. Do not feel shame over it though, Twilight has told me about what they did to you. I am surprised to hear that you did not do worse. Though if you had, that could have been a deterrent for them.”

Trixie wasn’t sure what Luna was saying for a second and then she felt her face warming up as she said offensively, “that’s disgusting. I haven’t even eaten that much today. How could I…you’re gross.”

Luna simply smiled and said, “I’m glad to see your feeling well enough to be offended, that is a good sign. However this issue is still not solved; I wish to know what you are going to do when you awaken?”

Trixie sighed and said, “I don’t know. I had plans today…I wanted to make Maud happy. But now…well I don’t know if I can touch her and not be scared.”

Luna looked up towards the sky and said, “you should at least try. If you can conquer your own fears then you should be able to move on and grow. I am also sure that Maud would enjoy it; she is worried that you fear her. You could try and make her feel better by simply holding her.”

Trixie smiled and said, “thank you Luna. I…I may not be okay for a long time, but now I think I might be able to move on…thank you.”

Luna smiled and said, “you are a survivor Trixie, and you should be proud of that fact.”

The cool night air was breezing through the room and Trixie felt a little shiver pass through her from the cold. The nights were beginning to grow cold; soon they would become unbearable without Maud’s warmth. Trixie rolled over in the guest bed and opened her eyes to see Maud standing by her side. The moonlight was shining through the window allowing Trixie to see clearly. Maud had fallen asleep while standing next to Trixie. Trixie could barely believe that Maud had stayed there standing all this time.

Maud shivered, and Trixie quickly placed a hoof against Maud’s cheek. Maud was freezing, and the room was far colder out of the blanket then she had guessed it would be. Trixie quietly said, “Maud, Maud, honey. Wake up.”

Maud stirred a little and opened her eyes before asking in a drowsy, and very cold sounding voice, “Trixie…are you okay? What can I do for you?”

Trixie closed her eyes and could still feel her fear of being touched by ponies deep inside of her. Trixie took that fear and shoved it into a tiny box. Trixie had survived terrible things, she could surely do this one thing for Maud. Especially considering how cold Maud felt. Trixie whispered, “get into bed you fool. Trixie is going to make sure you are warm.”

Maud smiled before climbing into the bed and lying on her side, Maud’s back facing Trixie. Trixie then sat up and placed her hooves on Maud’s side. Trixie rolled Maud onto her back and noticed the surprised look on Maud’s face. Trixie was in charge now, and she wasn’t just going to make Maud warm, she was going to make Maud feel hot.

Trixie climbed on top of Maud, bringing her head down to Maud’s legs. Maud’s entire body was freezing. Trixie found the nice little spot that she was looking for on Maud’s body. Trixie kissed it, and heard a little squeak come out of Maud’s mouth from behind her. Trixie looked over to make sure that it was indeed Maud who made the sound. To Trixie’s surprise she actually saw a slight pink tone to Maud’s cheeks. Trixie kissed again and heard the same sound, only a little louder. Maud’s cheeks were even pinker.

Trixie grinned in secret victory as she said, “so that’s how you work. Trixie is truly intrigued by this squeaking sound you make, she will need to investigate further.”

Trixie licked, and heard a moan escape Maud’s lips. Trixie looked back to see Maud closing her eyes tightly; Maud’s face was now red with embarrassment. Trixie had finally gotten what she wanted. Trixie quietly said, “Trixie is sorry Pinkie Pie, but Maud and Trixie need this more than ever.”

Trixie continued working on Maud, slowly. With Maud trying to stifle her noises…poorly. After a few minutes Trixie heard Pinkie Pie get off her bed, and watched as Pinkie Pie held a pillow in her mouth, and dragged a blanket with her as she left the bedroom. Trixie pitied Pinkie Pie, but there was no way of stopping this now. The room quickly became very hot, and very loud after that.

Chapter Thirty Four: Babel

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Four: Babel
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Either the room temperature had increased or Trixie’s did. Both Trixie and Maud lay on the bed panting heavily and sweating after everything they had just finished doing. Trixie knew she was still dirty and disgusting but Maud didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Maud was breathing heavily against Trixie’s fur. Trixie enjoyed seeing Maud like this, she had never seen Maud become so exhausted after intimacy, Trixie knew that it meant she had done really good.

“So, was it good for you?” Trixie asked slyly as she lay on her back petting Maud’s hair.

“That was wonderful…did…did you read my book,” Maud managed to ask in between breaths.

Trixie hadn’t read Maud’s book, she had even forgotten about it until now. It might be a good read, for when Trixie was a little less shy, but she did have an idea of why it was so good for Maud. “Nope, Trixie believes it was something much better.” Trixie then kissed Maud on the back of her head. It had to be Trixie’s confidence with Maud that had made tonight so wonderful.

Maud had curled into Trixie after their session, and rested her head on Trixie’s chest. This was this was the exact opposite of what usually happened afterwards…but Trixie liked it. Trixie laid there enjoying the new position for as long as she could, fighting an urge that she had been building up. Trixie gently pushed Maud away and said, “Trixie needs to use the little fillies room, and she desperately needs a shower.”

Maud rolled over and wrapped the blanket around herself saying, “ok. But you have to come back to me soon. It’s cold without you.” Trixie gave Maud another kiss on the head before getting out of bed. Trixie’s eyes lingered on Maud’s body as she lay there in the moonlight. After a few moments Trixie left the room.

Trixie looked at herself in the mirror wondering if she was going to be okay. It was easier for her to be brave with Maud around, but now that she was by herself it was harder to ignore what had happened to her. Trixie’s mind went wondering to thoughts of other things, she wondered how Valiant Heart was doing? Trixie had forgotten that she even existed, and that sent a sliver of guilt over her already fragile heart.

Did Trixie do the right thing in sending the filly away? It had saved her from the horror of that night, but was she really okay by herself. Maybe Trixie could try looking for Valiant Heart…but not without her friends by her side. Trixie couldn’t dare face such horrors by herself again. Trixie let out a sigh and tried to think of something less worrisome.

“Always with the sighing, if I did that as often as you, then I’d sigh myself away,” said a male voice from somewhere around her.

Trixie looked around in a panic feeling terrified that there was a stallion in here. After a few moments of searching the voice called again saying, “come now, do you think you will find me in the shower or something. Sorry little pony, but I’m not one for clichés.”

Trixie began to remember this voice. It was the same disembodied voice that saved her in the cave. Trixie let out a sigh saying, “okay, it’s just Trixie’s crazy. Trixie may need to take more medication after her bath.”

The voice gave a short laugh and said, “How rude, you would do that too little old me. I’m hurt, truly I am. And here I thought that we were beginning to become friends. Oh well. The good news is that I am not actually part of your crazy, I am crazy enough on my own thank you.”

Trixie closed her eyes and concentrated on trying to find out if there was another pony around her. She could sense the voices strange mind, it was shifting to fast for Trixie to get a good read on it. She then began feeling the presence of the Cakes, they were sleeping peacefully, even the foals. Pinkie Pie was downstairs sleeping as well. Trixie was a little surprised that if she only concentrated she could feel the presence of so many other ponies at once. Maud was upstairs; Trixie could feel Maud sleeping soundly, a feeling of deep satisfaction was oozing off of Maud.

Trixie opened her eyes and smiled at the mirror. “Okay, if you are not part of Trixie’s crazy, then who are you?”

The voice was quiet for a moment before saying, “I’m so tired of coming up with nick names for myself. Why don’t you make one up? It could prove entertaining.”

Trixie didn’t like this voice very much but decided for now, “okay Trixie shall call you Babel. For that is what you are doing.”

The voice laughed again before saying, “I don’t think anypony has ever given me such an honest name before. And here I thought that only Applejack could come up with a name like that. I may have been right in assuming you were a fun pony to help.”

Trixie closed her eyes and let out a sigh, talking to this voice…to Babel, was only making her assume that she was indeed insane. Trixie heard the sound of something falling to the floor snapping her to attention. One of Mr. Cake’s razors fell to the floor. Trixie reached over to pick it up with a hoof, and accidently cut herself with the razor; she quickly dropped it surprised. Trixie hated using her hooves.

“Oh did you cut yourself, does it make you mad to be a useless earth pony?” Babel called back to her.

Trixie looked hard at the Razor and said, “Trixie is not an earth pony, she is a proud unicorn.”

The voice laughed at her so she decided to show Babel just what she was made of. Trixie summoned magic into her horn and picked up the razor with telekinesis. She then levitated it and placed it down onto the counter. Trixie grinned and said, “there, is that magical enough for you?”

“I was wondering if that would work, I’m glad to see it did,” Babel said back to her.

Trixie looked up at the ceiling, for some reason it felt proper to look up when talking at disembodied voices. “What worked?”

Babel laughed and said, “why when you cut yourself, you were able to use magic without any problems weren’t you? I am so glad to see that Twilight’s theory was correct, you are using blood magic Trixie; and there are rules to it, rules that you have been breaking.”

“I don’t believe you, if Twilight knew what was wrong with my magic then she would’ve explained it to me,” Trixie defended. She couldn’t afford to distrust Twilight now.

Babel explained, “believe what you will, but she wouldn’t tell you about a theory that could only be tested by hurting you. I however have no such restraints. Just remember, in order to use blood magic, you must bleed. Whether it’s on the outside, or the inside, is your choice.”

Trixie felt the strange presence dissipate after saying that. Trixie had no idea what that voice was, but she made sure to memorize the way it sounded. Should she ever encounter it again, she would remember it belonged to Babel. Trixie sighed and began running her bath, now she was going to need another bandage for her poor hoof.

The next day Trixie had woken up, Maud made her take her medications, and then they went to breakfast. Trixie found herself watching Pinkie Pie work throughout most of the morning, Maud was sitting quietly next to Trixie. The books she had wanted to read were sitting in front of her on the table, but she couldn’t bring herself to open any of them. The idea of reading it scared her. What if she found out something that she didn’t like, something that hurt. Trixie didn’t know what to do.

“You don’t have to be afraid of the book, Lulu,” Maud said.

“Trixie knows this, she just doesn’t…want to be hurt again,” Trixie explained.

“I’m right here. If the book tries to hurt you I’ll punch it.,” Maud offered.

Trixie giggled a little at Maud and then came up with another idea. “Trixie has a better idea.”

Trixie had Maud get behind her and wrap her legs around Trixie holding her tightly. Trixie then felt secure enough to read the book. Her fears of being touched by anypony were almost completely gone after the night before; at least when it was Maud. Every single time a stallion entered the store Trixie felt herself freeze up.

Now focusing on the first book, a novel that was written about Celestia’s Heroes. Trixie opened it up and began skimming through it. She skipped the table of contents and found herself at the author’s notes.

“This novel was based on the true stories of Celestia’s Heroes. A group that proved themselves against many difficult odds, monsters, cults, and world ending disasters; have all been thwarted by these young heroes. All six of them were chosen for their exceptional skills and brought together to defend Equestria.
Special thanks goes out to these six heroes.

Gear Dasher and his wife Gear Attack for fending off many monsters.

Kilic the forgetful magician, for his priceless discoveries of the arcane.

Timequill for keeping the group together when everything seemed at it’s worse.

Morning Veil for his expertise in the art of deception.

And finally the leader, Moonlight Sonata. The cunning rogue who lead his team against unbelievable odds.

Together these six ponies made up Celestia’s Heroes, and together they faced dangers beyond most imagination.”

There were no words for Trixie to describe what it felt like after she read this. Trixie had met most of these ponies already, or at least heard of them at some point. The only one she was unfamiliar with was Morning Veil. It was amazing, and confusing to realize that most of these ponies had stayed close to her, even though she never knew how close they were to her father. She thought she would’ve found answers but only discovered more secrets. This was not to Trixie’s liking.

After reading some more of the book Trixie began to realize that she would not receive any answers about her father from it. Trixie felt despair at the idea, but she decided that it would be okay. She could now interrogate…er talk to some ponies that she knew, especially Timequill about her father. She was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery at some point, but just when was the question?

Pinkie Pie and Maud walked up to Trixie’s table.

Pinkie Pie was beaming today, Maud was as stoic as ever. Pinkie Pie then said, “hey Trixie, I’m gonna drag Maud off to go see Rarity…it’s about something special. I think you will like it.”

Maud added, “but if you need me I will stay here.”

It was hard for Trixie but she knew that she couldn’t keep Maud tied down with her all the time. Trixie smiled as brightly as she could and said, “of course I don’t mind. Go on you two, I will be fine so long as I am either here, or with one of our friends.”

Maud felt worried but Pinkie Pie dragged her off. Pinkie Pie really seemed excited about whatever this special thing was. Trixie hoped that it was a present. She didn’t want to get in the way of Maud spending time with Pinkie Pie, she would be fine here at Sugarcube Corner.

After another half hour of reading, Twilight Sparkle came in wearing a gray cloak and went straight for Trixie. “It’s time, Trixie. I found Scath, and I need your help…after yesterday I understand if you don’t want to help me...”

Trixie didn’t need to discuss this, she had made a promise, and it wasn’t like Twilight to leave Trixie all alone. Trixie answered, “I’ll help.”

Twilight smiled and gave her a gray cloak that was very similar to the one she was wearing. “If we wear these with the hoods up, Scath won’t notice who we are when we approach her; hopefully that will give us enough time to strike her down.”

Disguises were a good idea, Trixie just hoped that together they could stop Scath from causing any harm.

Chapter Thirty Five: The Stage

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Five: The Stage
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Together Twilight and Trixie walked through the town. The hoods of their cloaks were drawn over their faces. Trixie was beginning to question whether this was a good idea; until she saw the magic show.

A large group of ponies stood in front of a large stage, Even Trixie’s friends were there in the front row, as well as Maud. On the stage there stood a nearly perfect duplication of Trixie, the only difference’s were the red eyes, and slightly darker fur. Scath was staring at the crowd and grinning. Scath was wearing a red cape and a red magician’s hat. Trixie wasn’t sure where Scath had obtained them, but she had to admit that Scath had good tastes. Trixie and Twilight tried to blend into the side of the crowd and watch.

Scath stood firm and proud as she said, “The Great and Powerful…Trixie is finally here to show you Ponyvillians exactly what true magic is.”

Trixie was beginning to worry about how Maud was feeling about this situation, and tried to get a feel for her emotions. There were too many ponies in the crowd, their emotions were overpowering all the smaller ones. Trixie could only watch in silence as Scath continued her show.

Scath paced on the stage saying, “Trixie had come here two years ago, trying her best to give you all a show you could watch and enjoy. That show was for a very special pony, one who is very dear to Trixie’s heart. And you all ruined the show, you all hurt this gentle ponies feelings. Trixie vowed revenge, and finally the time has come. Either you will love Trixie, or fear her. Those are your only options now.”

Trixie followed Twilight through the crowd and around to the side of the stage. The crowd was beginning to get upset. Trixie knew this could end badly if nothing was done quickly. This show was terrible so far, one could not simply insult her crowd without proof of being better than them. It’s not ego if you can prove it.

Scath then said, “Trixie is disappointed with the towns behavior, and now Trixie will finally make this up to Fluttershy. Trixie has always cared for you Fluttershy, and now she will proclaim her-“

Trixie heard Fluttershy’s name mentioned and charged, just as Scath was about to finish her sentence Trixie swung a hoof into Scath’s face. Scath was knocked over onto her side and Trixie stood still. Her hood had fallen back from the quick movement and Trixie’s hoof was now sore. Trixie stood there staring down at the surprised Scath in anger. Trixie said, “shut your dirty rotten mouth.”

Scath stood up slowly and laughed before saying, “I can’t believe that you had the apples to come up here and do that. I The Great and Powerful Scath, am impressed.”

Trixie could feel the confusion from the audience, and quickly realized that she was standing on a stage. Everypony stared at her waiting to be told what was going on. Twilight was still cloaked and looked a little embarrassed; Trixie just ruined her cover. Trixie felt a great fear rising inside of her, the ponies were all judging her, all of them watching.

“Are you going to stand there and leave your captive audience in confusion, or are you going to give them a show to remember, Trixie?” Babel asked in a whisper next to her.

Trixie looked towards the sound of the voice finding nothing but air. But despite the fact that Babel was just a voice in her head, she knew that he was right. Trixie took a deep breath and prepared herself. Standing on her hind legs Trixie called out in a loud voice, “behold the true Great and Powerful Trixie! Trixie has come to stop this imposter from causing any more trouble for the wonderful citizens of Ponyville.”

Scath began laughing again and said, “oh and how will you do that? A magic dual perhaps?”

Trixie landed on all fours and looked at her, Trixie was unable to come up with a better plan for the moment, hopefully Twilight was working on one already. “Trixie shall challenge you, and show you, who is truly the greatest unicorn in all of Equestria!” Trixie realized with every single word the grave she was digging herself into was getting deeper and deeper.

Scath grinned, and Trixie noticed Scath’s red eyes had a slight glow to them. Scath’s horn began glowing purple and suddenly Rainbow Dash who was standing in the front row was lifted up into the air and dropped onto the stage. Rainbow Dash looked up looking a little agitated as she said, “you could’ve been a little more gentle.”

Scath scoffed at her and said, “bah, you have had more serious falls, Rainbow Rash.”

Rainbow Dash growled at Scath and Trixie’s ears fold back as she felt bad for Rainbow Dash being drawn into this. Scath grinned and said, “now watch everypony, as Scath turns this vibrant colored pony into a dull boring one.”

Scath’s horn glowed again and Rainbow Dash’s mane became gray, and her fur became white. Trixie was stunned to see Rainbow Dash missing her usual colors. Rainbow Dash examined her body and tail in horror before saying, “uh-uh-uh…please tell me you can fix this.”

Trixie wasn’t sure that she actually could, but she was going to try her best.

Trixie summoned magic into her horn and felt the power growing. Her head was beginning to hurt, and she closed her eyes fighting through the pain. This was a simple illusion spell, it couldn’t damage her that badly, right?

Trixie channeled the magic into a cantrip spell to change Rainbow Dash back into her usual colorful self. To Trixie’s surprise it wasn’t all that hard to use the spell, and her horn only hurt a little, but her hoof was beginning to sting where she had gotten cut during the night.

Trixie looked down at her hoof, a red stain was appearing through the bandage. Ignoring the slight pain, Trixie stood on her hind legs and declared, “Trixie is truly the greatest, you should give up before you embarrass yourself further, Scath!” the audience all cheered.

Scath growled at Trixie and said, “we are not done here.”

A magic glow surrounded Rainbow Dash and shoved her off the stage. Scath then pulled an apple from behind the stage and said, “Scath can turn this Apple into something wonderful.” Scath’s horn flashed and the apple glowed brightly for a second before dimming. Trixie stared in amazement, for what used to be an apple was now an orange. “Can you turn this back, or is it too difficult a task for a false unicorn such as yourself?”

Trixie snarled at Scath. Trixie hadn’t been very good at transmutation spells, this must have been something that Scath inherited from Twilight. Speaking of Twilight where had she gone off to? It didn’t matter Trixie had to perform the spell or risk losing this dual, and Trixie refused to lose to this imposter.

Trixie concentrated on the orange and summoned forth more energy then she had before. Scath had made a mistake in performing the spell in front of Trixie. Trixie now knew her spell, and if she could only reverse it then she could make the orange into an apple.

It took a few seconds, and the cut on her hoof was beginning to burn, and her horn was throbbing in pain, but she transformed the orange back into an apple. Trixie then proudly stated, “do you still wish to test The Great and Powerful Trixie?”

Everypony in the audience cheered at Trixie’s success; this drew scorn from Scath. As the cheers calmed down Scath said, “Scath is still not done, she still has one more test for you.” A magic glow enveloped Fluttershy and lifted her into the air. Trixie watched in horror as Fluttershy was gently set down on the stage. Fluttershy looked terrified to be on stage. Scath took a second to admire Fluttershy’s purple cloak, and her eyes lingered on Fluttershy’s legs for a second. Scath said, “Scath will now turn this shy little pony, into a brave, fearless one.”

Scath’s eyes began glowing green and a purple aura surrounded them, as well as her horn. Trixie wasn’t sure what would happen if she didn’t stop Scath now, but she had no choice. Trixie began charging magic into her horn and stopped suddenly as she saw Twilight just behind Scath.

Twilight unleashed a pink laser from her horn at Scath. Scath turned and created a shield of green energy blocking the laser just in time. Trixie quickly wrapped a leg around Fluttershy and helped her get going off the stage. Scath shot a green laser back at Twilight who brought up her own pink energy shield. Trixie watched Fluttershy get to safety next to Rainbow Dash.

The crowd was watching in awe at the battle between Scath and Twilight. Twilight fired another pink laser at Scath, but just as Scath made the shield Trixie turned and applebucked Scath. Scath’s shield broke before getting hit in the shoulder by the laser. Scath fell to the ground screaming in pain and anger.

Trixie turned and watched Twilight charge another pink laser spell into her horn. Scath took the time to shoot a orb of green energy at Twilight. Twilight brought up a shield spell just in time as the energy orb hit the shield and exploded. The force of the explosion knocked Twilight off the stage and onto the ground. Scath stood up and galloped away, her gallop had a slight limp in it.

Twilight stood up and shook herself shouting, “DARN IT! I’m going to get her for that.”

Twilight began galloping after Scath, and Trixie followed. After a few seconds of running Rainbow Dash caught up and asked, “hey, what in Tartarus is going on?”

Trixie looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “Trixie and Twilight are stopping an evil mirror clone. You should go back and wait with the others, we have this handled.”

Rainbow Dash said, “okay, we will hang back for a little bit. Take care Trixie…kick that poser’s butt.” Trixie nodded and then Rainbow Dash turned around and disappeared.

Trixie caught up to Twilight just as they entered the forest. Twilight slowed to a trot and said, “I know where she is going. And with her leg in that condition she won’t get far. It’s just like the Pinkie clones all over again.”

Chapter Thirty Six: Acceptance

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Six: Acceptance
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Twilight and Trixie trotted through the forest for nearly a half hour without talking. Trixie was becoming increasingly concerned with what Twilight had said. Eventually Trixie was unable to stay her tongue any longer and she asked, “what happened with the Pinkie clones?”

Twilight continued trotting in front of Trixie and said, “don’t ask.”

“Twilight…what did you do to the Pinkie clones?” Trixie asked again, not willing to back down from this question.

“I said don’t ask,” Twilight stated a little louder.

Trixie had already had her fill of unanswered questions, this time she was going to get an answer. “What happened, Twilight?”

Twilight stopped and Trixie bumped into her. Twilight then turned around and said, “I told you to stop bothering me about this. It wasn’t my fault okay, the town forced me to take care of them.”

Trixie sat down and said, “Twilight, I know you. Whatever you did is bothering you deeply, and I want to help you. That’s all I ever wanted. Please let me…”

Twilight turned her head and said, “I guess you would’ve read about it eventually anyway…I…I banished the Pinkie Pie clones.”

“With magic?” Trixie asked. Twilight nodded and Trixie said, “okay, easy fix. All we have to do is use a counter spell to un-banish them and then we can deal with them the proper way. Oh we could build a town for them.”

Twilight said, “no.”

“Fine…you don’t have to help build the town. Me and Maud and Pinkie Pie will do it. Maybe Applejack can help,” Trixie said.

“No,” Twilight said a little louder.

“Okay, if we can’t build a town for them then what? We can’t very well have a bunch of Pinkie Pie’s stuck in Ponyville. It would be party day, every day…wait a minute…that could be fun,” Trixie said.

Twilight grabbed Trixie by the shoulders, and their eyes met. Twilight then said, “we can’t do that because I turned them into energy before banishing them! They are essentially dead Trixie. I killed Pinkie Pie. I killed Pinkie Pie over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over-“

Trixie put a hoof over Twilight’s mouth silencing her. Trixie looked deeply into Twilight’s panicked eyes and said softly, “shhh. Calm down, and explain exactly what you did.”

A few tears ran down Twilight’s face as she said, “the entire town was angry…with me. They didn’t even stop to wonder if I even knew how to handle so many Pinkie Pie’s. I had no idea what to do at all…I was stressed and nopony gave me any time to think. Even Fluttershy was angry with me…Trixie I didn’t have any help and they all expected so much from me. I did the only thing I could and I sent the Pinkie clones back to the mirror pool.

“I had to use a spell that transformed them into magical energy, and then that energy would rejoin the mirror pool…we both know that pure energy doesn’t have a consciousness. I did some research after that and found out that mirror clones don’t have many, if any memories of the pony that made them. I also learned that after creation they can develop their own personality. They were clone’s but they were still living intelligent beings.

“I have been trying to hide my guilt from my friends for a long time now. Nopony realizes that what we did was wrong, and that I could have easily killed the real Pinkie. I never want anypony to find out…it would break them. Please don’t ever tell anypony.” By the time Twilight finished explaining she had broken down into a sobbing mess.

Trixie wrapped her hooves around Twilight and said, “I promise I won’t tell anypony. I Pinkie Pie-“

Twilight cut her off saying, “no. No Pinkie anything. She has weird powers and would learn of my secret if you did that.”

Trixie remembered Pinkie Pie’s special ability involving the Pinkie Promise. Trixie nodded and said, “okay. Trixie normal promises not to tell.”

Twilight smiled and said, “thank you. Now I only have one more clone to…banish. After that I might be able to sleep again…”

Trixie couldn’t let Twilight continue to do this to herself. Trixie said, “no, Twilight. This is my burden. I will take care of this, and you won’t have to kill anymore.”

Twilight smiled again and said, “thank you, Trixie.”

The two of them continued walking after that, Trixie’s small cut from earlier had grown into something a worse, but Trixie was determined to ignore it. With the quiet between them Trixie was able to consider how blood magic might work. It seemed that the cut from last night had gotten worse when she used magic, but the strain on her horn had lessened. Blood magic was a forbidden school; basically that meant that she was not taught about it in school, but Trixie could still use it without getting in trouble. Blood magic wasn’t illegal to use; the only magic ever outlawed was Necromancy.

“Hey Twilight, what do you know about blood magic?” Trixie asked.

“Everything, why?” Twilight replied.

Trixie opened her mouth to explain that she might be using it, but the two ponies finally exited the forest and found themselves looking at a sheer cliff wall and a vast gorge below. Twilight grinned and said, “were finally at Ghastly Gorge. And there are some hoof prints here.” Twilight pointed to a set of hoof prints going along the side of the ridge. A few splatters of blood were found alongside the hoof prints.

Trixie knew that the Ghastly Gorge was home to some scary monsters. Specifically the Quarry Eel was a threat, so long as they stayed on the ridge; everything should be okay. Trixie and Twilight began following the hoof prints.

Soon they saw some large boulders and heard some sobbing from behind them. The two snuck closer and listened. Trixie was surprised to hear Scath sobbing, and talking to herself.

“This is not fair. Why does bad stuff only happen to us, we only wanted to be loved. We only wanted to be special. Why does everypony hate Scath, isn’t Scath good enough for somepony…anypony to care about,” Scath cried to herself.

Trixie listened in and what she heard sounded very familiar. It hit Trixie, that Scath was Trixie’s dark heart. Scath was comprised of all of Trixie’s darkness; all the anger, all the arrogance, all the disappointment, self loathing, and pain. Unlike Trixie, Scath didn’t have any of the good things…like Maud. Trixie felt her heart breaking as she realized that Scath…Scath was as broken as she was, or more likely, Scath was broken because she was.

Trixie stood up and walked around the boulder leaving Twilight to stay hidden. Trixie saw Scath looking over the gorge, her red eyes were blood shot. Scath was holding her shoulder where she was wounded, blood coated her leg; it looked painful. Scath looked at Trixie and her expression turned to fear. Scath looked around and asked, “where is she? Did you bring Twilight here to hurt me?”

Trixie shook her head and said softly, “no, Trixie is…I am alone. How are you feeling?”

Scath looked away and said sourly, “why should we tell you? You were helping the mean one. Why did she even attack Scath, did she hate Scath’s magic show so much that she wanted to hurt us?”

Trixie walked up and sat next to Scath and looked out over the gorge with her. “You were going to hurt Fluttershy.”

Scath quickly defended herself in an angry tone, “Scath would never hurt Fluttershy. We love Fluttershy…we…we really love Fluttershy.”

Trixie closed her eyes and wanted to say that she didn’t feel that way about Fluttershy, but she couldn’t. Ever since her memories had began returning she realized that there had been a deep connection between Fluttershy and her. That being said, she was in love Maud, and no pony could ever take Maud’s place.

“Don’t let Maud hear you say that, she might just try and talk Fluttershy into a threesome,” Trixie joked.

Scath covered her face with her hooves, Scath’s face began turning a light shade of pink and she squeaked, “shut up.”

Trixie laughed at the sight. Trixie found it highly amusing to see what other ponies saw when they would embarrass Trixie. “Wow, no wonder everypony likes to make sex jokes around me.”

Scath squeaked again and her face became even redder. Trixie smiled and said, “okay, I’ll stop. But tell me something. Why have you been so rude and mean to everypony, especially to me?”

Scath was quiet for a moment before saying in a small voice, “if Scath is angry…then we don’t hurt as bad. You’re lucky…you have friends, and a lover…Scath is alone, nopony would ever want to be friends with something as…horrible as us.”

Trixie wrapped a leg around Scath and pulled her into an embrace saying, “You are not alone, you have friends. Scath, you’re a part of me, an important part.”

Scath nuzzled into Trixie’s chest and whimpered, “but we are so broken, this was our last chance to be loved…we just wanted to be special, to somepony…to anypony.”

“We are special. No pony is as good at illusion magic as us, and we have Maud. Our life is good. It’s been hard, it’s horrible, but despite all the bad things we have made it. We have made it to the good stuff,” Trixie said.

Scath looked up at Trixie with a tear stricken face and said, “Scath is sorry about what she said about Maud. Scath shouldn’t have threatened you like that.”

Trixie brushed some hair out of Scath’s mane and said, “shh, it’s okay. I remember when I used to say horrible things to ponies, because I was angry, scared, and alone. I’ve gotten much better about it now, but I still make mistakes.”

A cold wind blew by and Scath shivered in Trixie’s legs. Scath then said, “Scath is all the broken pieces of you. The pain, the torment, the…the crazy. Scath is…Scath is.” Scath began crying into Trixie’s chest. It was a little surreal for Trixie to be sitting there, on that ledge, literally holding herself together.

After a few minutes of crying Scath finally said in a tiny voice, “Scath just wants to be accepted, but even you couldn’t accept her…Scath is simply too broken.”

Trixie held Scath a little tighter and said, “I accept you, you are the darkness inside of me, you are my broken pieces, and my insanity, and I still accept you.”

Trixie’s heart began to feel warmer and Scath said, “Thank you, we promise that we will not hinder your magic, or your memories any longer.”

Trixie opened her eyes and Scath was gone. There was nothing in her legs, and no sign of Scath around her anymore. All Trixie could see was a pool of glowing silver liquid where Scath had been sitting just a moment ago. Trixie couldn’t figure out what just happened, but she somehow felt complete.

Twilight stepped out from around the corner and looked at the confused Trixie and then the puddle. Twilight looked intrigued as she said, “that looks like the mirror pool liquid, when it’s not in the mirror pool it changes color.”

Trixie looked back at Twilight and said, “Scath is…gone…just gone. Where did she go?”

Twilight smiled and explained, “I saw it. Scath seemed to…merge with you. Trixie you saved…yourself. I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was, well you saved the day again.”

Trixie let out a sigh and said, “Scath wasn’t doing anything bad…I thought for sure that my dark side would be going out and attacking ponies and being evil…I’m not sure what to think about this.”

Twilight looked away and said, “well I’m glad she wasn’t a big threat. We will have much to discuss later but for now let’s just go back and meet up with the others. I’m sure Pinkie is dying to finally get her party started. She has had to postpone it every single day that you’ve been in town.”

Trixie stood up and said, “I like that idea. Besides I feel like I have earned some private time with Maud.”

Twilight began walking off as she said, “just don’t be too loud. No pony wants to hear you squealing all night again.”

Trixie’s face felt like it was going to catch fire again; she walked alongside Twilight trying her best to not to show just how embarrassed she really was.

Chapter Thirty Seven: Apple Pie

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Seven: Apple Pie
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Together, Twilight and Trixie made their way back to Ponyville. They had been gone just over an hour before finally returning to the edge of the forest. The sight of Ponyville was a welcoming one indeed; the sight of six perturbed looking ponies was not. Trixie knew exactly where this was going.

Applejack was the first one to speak saying, “so…the mirror pool was used again, and you didn’t tell us.”

Trixie lowered her head feeling guilty. Applejack was right, Trixie should have told them, instead she went along with Twilight’s plan without question.

Rarity spoke next saying, “darling, you could have been hurt. You know we are here to support you.”

Trixie avoided any eye contact; she couldn’t bear to look at her friends after having kept a secret like this from them.

Pinkie Pie looked a little angry as she said, “that’s twice now that you have kept secrets from us.”

Trixie’s heart sunk now, everypony was going to give her their opinion and they were all correct. Rainbow Dash was silent but her legs were crossed and she looked pissed.

Fluttershy then said in a very quiet voice, “Rainbow Dash and me could have been hurt…”

Trixie felt tears beginning to run down the side of her face, she had screwed up everything with her friends now. Trixie closed her eyes and awaited the final blow. Rainbow Dash let out a frustrated, angry growl and said, “okay, there are so many things about this situation that are screwed up. First of all you almost got the entire town into a riot, secondly you hurt us very deeply, thirdly you hurt Trixie worst of all. Seriously, Twilight, why did you keep this secret from us?”

Trixie fell to the ground and cried, “I’m so sorry, please don’t hate me. Twilight made me swear not to tell anypony, I shouldn’t have made that promised, I know that now. but Twilight made it sound like you could be in danger if I told any of you. Please forgive me.”

After a few moments of silence Trixie opened her tear streaked eyes and looked up at her friends. They all looked a little confused as they stared back at her. Finally Rarity asked, “do you think we are made at you?” at Trixie’s nod, Rarity gave a kind smile and explained, “darling we are not upset with you, Maud already told us all about Twilight making you swear to secrecy. We are upset with Twilight.” Rarity then looked sternly at Twilight.

Twilight began speaking, her voice was cracking as she said, “I just did what I thought was the best. I didn’t want anypony to be hurt…I…I’m so sorry.” Twilight then lowered her head crying silent tears.

Fluttershy gave Twilight a hug and explained, “shhh, Twilight, you just made a mistake, we all do that sometimes. We are friends and we can forgive each other, so please don’t cry.”

Twilight wrapped her legs around Fluttershy tightly and buried her head into Fluttershy’s neck. Fluttershy gave a shocked squeak and looked a little stunned at first, but quickly recovered and relaxed. Fluttershy began petting Twilight’s mane while saying, “there, there.”

Trixie stood up still feeling shaken and looked at the others, none of them looked angry, upset but not angry. Applejack walked next to Trixie and said quietly, “sorry about that sugarcube, we thought that you were crying because of something Twilight did. Didn’t know how we must’ve sounded. Tell ya what, Ah got an apple pie at home with yer name on it, if yer still interested.”

Trixie smiled and said, “okay…Maud, do you wanna come too?”

Maud stood next to Trixie and gave her a hug saying, “yes.”

By the time Trixie finally arrived at Applejack’s barn house, her hoof was really sore from all the walking. Applejack brought them into the kitchen and together Maud and Trixie sat there waiting for Applejack. After a few minutes Applejack brought them a nice and hot pie, and some plates.

Maud looked at Applejack and said flatly, “could we get some privacy for a few minutes?”

Applejack looked at her and said, “of course.”

Just as Applejack left the room Maud turned to Trixie and said, “Trixie, there are a few things we need to discuss.”

Trixie never liked these conversations, they usually ended up with Trixie wanting to cry. “Okay…what is it?”

Maud looked down at the pie and said, “after today…Trixie, are you sure you want to live in Ponyville?”

Trixie looked out the window and admitted, “this place is a little crazy, but it’s nothing like Manehattan.” Memories of the crowd that stood before Trixie’s stage today replayed in her mind. Trixie didn’t have the ability to consider it at the time, but now she realized that the crowd was actually cheering for her. A smile grew on her lips as she added, “but Trixie thinks she will be just fine here.”

Maud began cutting the pie into slices and then gave one to Trixie, and one for herself. Maud then set the knife down and said, “Scath said some things at the show. The way she was talking about Fluttershy. I didn’t like that.”

Trixie wasn’t sure if there was a question in Maud’s words, but she figured that she might need to explain her past with Fluttershy now. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “before I ran my first show here in Ponyville, I met Fluttershy. I was only sixteen, and I was a little crazy, but I did kinda have a crush on her…” Trixie wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, so she decided it would be easier to explain how she met Fluttershy, and the promise she had made to her, it was going to be a long story.

When Trixie was finished Maud asked, “so you slept in her hotel room. Did you have sex with her?”

Trixie felt her face beginning to heat up quickly as she said, “what? No, of course I didn’t. I don’t even think she would’ve let me. I mean…um…the answer is no.”

The pie had been half eaten while Trixie told the story, Trixie had to admit it was darn good pie. Maud was working on her third slice. Maud said, “we should invite her to a threesome.”

Trixie’s face burned from embarrassment of the comment and Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but only squeaks came out. Maud smiled and said, “that was revenge for not telling me about your old crush.”

Trixie covered her eyes and said, “it is impolite to talk about old relationships…or anything like that.”

Maud took another bite of the pie, and chewed slowly, making Trixie wait to hear a response. Finally after several long agonizingly, embarrassing moments Maud swallowed and said, “it is only impolite, if your lover isn’t already friends with them. I noticed that Fluttershy seems to have her eyes on you a lot, but I’m not the jealous type…usually. Now that I heard your story; I pity Fluttershy, she has to watch you and me be happy together. While she doesn’t have anypony for herself, we should fix that.”

Trixie face hoofed, there was no way that Maud just suggested that. It had to be some kind of joke. “You have to be kidding, that is a terrible idea. Who do we know that is even available?”

Maud smiled and said, “Pinkie Pie.”

Trixie looked away and said, “this is a bad idea, and a terrible conversation. We do not need to be going around trying to hook our friends up with each other. Besides I think that Pinkie Pie isn’t the kind of mare that Fluttershy needs.”

“Then what kind of mare does she need?” Maud asked.

Trixie rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know, a nice, loyal, honest, sensitive, and understanding mare…maybe Appleja-“

“Enjoying the pie?” Applejack asked as she entered the kitchen.

Trixie was beginning to burn again, hopefully Applejack hadn’t heard their conversation. Maud looked up at Applejack and said, “the pie is good.”

Trixie wanted to crawl into a corner and never come out, why did Maud insist on having an awkward conversation in the middle of a friend’s house. It’s not like Maud to even be interested in this kind of thing. The idea then hit Trixie that this might have been all some elaborate way of getting revenge. Of course Maud wouldn’t do this to her; unless she was actually jealous of Fluttershy.

After a few minutes of awkward conversation with Applejack, Maud and Trixie were left alone again. Maud looked at Trixie and asked, “do you think it will be peaceful for us now?”

Trixie smiled before saying, “yes, I do.”

Maud was quiet for a few more minutes before saying, “I just want to make Pinkie Pie happy. She has been so lonely before. I want her to be like us.”

Trixie looked into Maud’s eyes, and could feel a deep sense of regret coming from her. Trixie smiled softly before saying, “I know you do. I do too. But Pinkie doesn’t need a special somepony to be happy, she needs us. Or at least that’s what I like to think.”

Maud looked away and said, “I don’t think she wants me.”

Trixie didn’t like hearing Maud talk this way, it was sad…and a little worrisome. Trixie then asked, “what’s wrong?”

Maud didn’t answer so Trixie added, “look I’ve done some horrible things in the past. There is nothing you could say to throw me off. I enslaved an entire town once, I have a monster inside of me now…so trust me when I say that there is nothing you could say to make me upset with you.”

Maud closed her eyes tightly and said, “Trixie…you aren’t the monster.”

Trixie had heard Maud say this before. When she had told Maud about Scath. Trixie said, “I know that already, Scath was the monster, and now she is inside of me…gone for good, maybe.”

Maud opened her eyes slowly and Trixie could see that they were watery. Trixie repeated Maud’s words in her head a few times, Maud was implying that there was still a monster…but if it wasn’t Trixie then who could it be….oh no.

“Maud you are not a monster,” Trixie quickly said.

Maud shook her head and explained, “the poison joke revived an old fear inside of me. Trixie, I…I hurt Pinkie Pie once. She had lost my pet rock, Boulder. I was so angry with her, I was so angry that I…I attacked her. Trixie, I broke her leg. I didn’t mean to, but after that Pinkie never acted the same again.”

Maud paused for a few seconds to breath and tried to calm herself. When Maud continued her voice was shaky. “After I hurt her, I knew that I was too dangerous. I’m too strong and my emotions made me a danger. So I decided to get rid of them, if I didn’t feel anything, then I couldn’t hurt anyone. When I first took you in, I saw a pony who was very similar to me, and I realized how wrong I had been to kill off my own emotions. You broke through to my heart, and saved me from being alone.

“the poison joke however reminded me off just how much of a danger I really am. The fears came back to me, and they felt fresh. I was afraid of everything, but more then that I am afraid of myself. I know I’ve been acting strange, and it’s because I don’t want to hurt you, ever…so you see Trixie, you aren’t the monster…I am.” When Maud finished there were tears running down her face.

Trixie stood up and walked around to Maud. Trixie wrapped her legs around Maud and pulled her into a tight embrace saying, “I will always be here for you, forever. I might even be the only pony who can truly understand why you would kill off your own emotions. I guess were just two broken ponies who found comfort and peace in one another, but even so, I believe that finding each other is the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. There is no way I would ever abandon you, no matter what happens, I will always love you. Don’t forget, you are my heart of stone.”

Maud and Trixie stayed quiet after that holding each other. It was true, they were both broken ponies. But they had each other, and that was all they would ever need. Only a broken pony could truly understand another broken pony.

As Trixie held Maud she noticed an old family portrait on the kitchen wall. It looked like Applejack’s entire family line had come over and taken their picture in front of the barn. There were a lot of ponies, maybe over a hundred of them. Trixie noticed a familiar looking mare, with blue fur, and a silver mane. She was young; maybe in her teens, and she looked a lot like Trixie…

Chapter Thirty Eight: Family of Apples

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Eight: Family of Apples
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie stared at the portrait for a long time. The young earth pony looked just like her had to be Screw Loose. Trixie wondered if Screw Loose was related to Applejack, and if so that would mean that Trixie was as well.

“Uh, sugarcube, you’ve been looking at that picture for a long while now…is something up?” Applejack asked.

Trixie turned to face her, Maud had finished off the apple pie and was sitting quietly looking satisfied with the finished meal. Applejack stood next to Trixie looking curiously at her. Trixie looked back at the portrait and asked, “who is that blue earth pony?”

Applejack looked at the picture and said, “Ah don’t rightly know. There’s nearly a hundred ponies in that picture, and a lot of them have…passed on. She looks a lot like you though, that’s strange.”

Trixie looked at Applejack again and said, “do you think that’s Screw Loose?”

Applejack looked at the portrait and back to Trixie before saying, “maybe, Ah am related to most everypony in ponyville after all. Ah even found out that I might be related to Pinkie Pie.”

Trixie looked away and asked, “well how do we go about finding out who it is in this portrait. I would like to know for sure.”

Applejack nodded and said, “follow me, Ah will take you to Granny Smith, she knows everypony in our family.”

Applejack lead Trixie into the living room, Maud followed close behind them. Trixie looked at the old green mare sitting on a wooden rocking chair, her gray hair was wrapped into a bun. Applejack walked up to her and gave her the portrait saying, “hey Granny, Ah have a question.”

Granny Smith took the picture in between her hooves and examined it for a few seconds. She then looked at Trixie and squinted her eyes. Granny stared at Trixie for a few uncomfortable long seconds. Granny’s eyes opened wide as she said, “Screwy…is that you?”

Trixie sat down and shook her head saying, “Screw Loose is my mother…is that really her in the portrait?”

Granny Smith smiled softly and her eyes began to tear up as she said, “Ah haven’t seen yer mom in near on twenty years now. What’s yer name young’en?”

Trixie cleared her throat before saying, “I’m Trixie Lulamoon.”

Granny Smith’s smile grew and a tear ran down her cheeks as she said, “so my granddaughter’s name is Trixie. Ah’m so glad to finally meet you.”

Trixie couldn’t believe it, how could she be so closely related to Applejack and not know it? How come her mother never spoke of her relatives? Trixie couldn’t stop herself from asking, “how come my mother never spoke of you?”

A sad frown formed on Granny’s mouth as she explained, “yer mother was always so headstrong. She fell in love with a rascal that had a bad reputation here in ponyville, Ah just knew that she was going to get her heart broken. So Ah forbid her from seeing this pony. She didn’t listen of course, but when she got engaged…Ah made one of the greatest mistakes of mah life. Ah told her she would be removed from the family if she went through with it…she loved him too much though. Feelings were hurt and she never spoke to us again. Ah wish Ah could go back in time and change the past, Ah never got to meet you…not formally. If you could stand to forgive an old mare like me, ah would like to git to know you.”

Trixie looked up at Granny Smith, it had never occurred to Trixie that she might have an actual family outside of her mom and dad. A warm filling began growing inside her heart and Trixie smiled saying, “I would love to get to know you.”

This brought a smile from Granny Smith’s face. Maud looked at Trixie and said, “but if Pinkie Pie is related to the Apple family, doesn’t that mean that we’re related too.”

Trixie looked at Maud and felt a cold shiver run down her spine. This was…weird. Applejack quickly said, “now hold on ya’ll, me and Pinkie are so distantly related that what yer worried about shouldn’t even be a concern. Ah mean, even if one of ya’ll was a stallion there wouldn’t be any problems with yer children.”

This made Trixie feel slightly less weird about the whole affair. This wasn’t going to ruin her relationship with Maud, but it could prove slightly awkward at any family reunions. Trixie decided to let this topic slide. She had an actual family now, and that was good enough to forget any weirdness that might be involved; besides Applejack was right, she was related to everypony in Ponyville…must be hard for her to find any marefriends here.

Applejack broke Trixie’s concentration as she said, “well, Ah guess that means yer officially an apple now. What do you say to doin some hard work on the fields with us?”

Trixie shook her head and said, “I’m okay…thanks. I, uh…think that I had an appointment with Fluttershy today anyway. Let’s go Maud.” Trixie hoped to leave before they could trick her into doing any hard labor.

“No you don’t,” Maud said flatly.

Applejack began laughing before saying, “Ah was just joking, Trixie. Just cus were cousins doesn’t mean that Ah’m gonna force you to work on the farm.”

A sudden thought hit Trixie prompting her to turn towards Granny Smith and ask, “why did you name my mom, Screw Loose? Wasn’t that a terrible name?”

Granny Smith gave out a short but vigorous laugh before explaining, “when Ah named mah kids, all five of them in fact, Ah named ‘em after whatever was goin through mah head when I was given birth. When it came to little Screwy, I was thinking of the loose screws on mah bed and how much noise they would make when me an mah husband would-“

Applejack interjected quickly saying, “Ah think she gets the idea gran.”

Granny Smith laughed again and Trixie could feel her face warming up, that was an embarrassing tale to be sure; Trixie feared what her aunts and uncles could be named. Maud wrapped a foreleg around Trixie and pulled her into an embrace before asking, “what time do you think Pinkie Pie will throw the party tonight?”

Applejack put a hoof to her chin and guessed, “Ah don’t rightly know, but she usually starts around seven or eight, and continues until twelve or later. We’re gonna be using Twilight’s castle for the party tonight.”

Trixie felt like she was missing something, so she asked, “what party?”

Applejack smiled at Trixie and said, “why it’s your ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party.”

Chapter Thirty Nine: Slumber Party

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Thirty Nine: Slumber Party
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie had spent a good deal of time talking with Granny Smith and learning more about the Apple family. By the time Trixie and Maud left it was getting late, and the afternoon sun was setting. A chilling wind was breezing past causing Trixie to shiver. Trixie almost envied Maud for her clothing.

Applejack caught up with them as they left and said, “alright ya’ll, were going to Rarity’s house first.” Applejack was quiet for a second before adding, “darn it, it’s this cold already…that ain’t good for the harvest.”

Trixie opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Applejack saying, “don’t you worry about it, me an Big Mac will take care of it. Just focus on the party.”

Trixie just nodded in agreement, she really did feel like she needed a break from darker things. A party sounded like just the perfect solution for this problem. Trixie asked “so what are we doing at Rarity’s?”

“Nope, Ah’m not sayin a word until we’re there,” Applejack explained.

Trixie hated secrets, but at least this one didn’t seem to be a bad one. If what Pinkie had hinted at the other day, this could be a wonderful secret.

It was getting far too cold outside, far too quickly. Whoever was in charge of making the weather so chilly was going to hear a mouthful if Trixie ever caught them. Winter was coming and Trixie really hated the cold.

The trio arrived at Rarity’s house just in time, and enjoyed the warmth of being inside. Rarity’s home was converted into a seamstress workshop. The walls were all a soft pink color, with deep purple drapes covering the walls. Mannequins lined the walls, most of them wearing one of Rarity’s fashions. One particularly lacey dress caught Trixie’s attention. It looked a lot less like a dress, and a lot more like some kind of saucy outfit; the image of Maud wearing it was now stuck inside Trixie’s mind.

“You would look good in that,” Maud stated from Trixie’s side. Trixie could feel her face warming up at the thought. Maud then added, “I could borrow Pinkie’s hoof cuffs and wear them for you. It would be fun.”

Trixie covered her eyes and almost screamed, her face was going to catch fire if Maud kept this up. Trixie forced herself to calm just enough to say, “we don’t need to talk about this in front of the other ponies.”

Maud nuzzled Trixie’s neck and said, “I’ll ask if we can borrow it later then.”

Trixie opened her mouth and squeaked at Maud in an attempt to shush her. Maud smiled and and said, “I agree, Rarity should join us when we try it. Maybe she has a whip.”

Maud then turned around and walked towards Rarity saying, “me and Lulu have something we would like to ask you.”

Trixie could not believe that Maud was just about to ask Rarity that question. Trixie stood up and walked towards Rarity saying, “no we don’t. Maud is just being silly.”

Maud turned and looked into Trixie’s eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, Maud looked determined to ask Rarity those embarrassing questions, and Trixie was determined to stop her. After a few seconds of intense staring Maud smiled and said, “wow, your much more confident now. You win Lulu.” Maud then turned to Rarity and asked, “why did you want to see us?”

Rarity looked thoroughly confused but answered, “I wanted to see you two because I have a present for you.”

Rarity had a box levitating it with her magic. Rarity took the lid off to reveal two identical scarves. One was a gray scarf with a dark gray diamond pattern. The other one was a light blue scarf with a light blue star pattern. These scarves resembled Maud and Trixie’s fur color; it even had their cutie marks for a pattern.

Trixie grabbed the blue one and wrapped it around Maud’s neck. It brought a smile to her face to see Maud wearing the blue scarf. Maud also looked pleased. Maud grabbed the gray scarf and wrapped it around Trixie’s neck. Trixie nuzzled Maud’s cheek before saying, “now you will always have a reminder of me with you at all times.”

“But…um…you two were supposed to be wearing them the other way…oh never mind, it looks cuter this way,” Rarity said.

Maud and Trixie choose to ignore Rarity’s implication and simply held each other for a while. Trixie caught a glimpse outside the window and really disliked the idea of walking out there in that cold weather again. Rarity caught onto what Trixie was thinking and said, “it is getting frightfully cold outside at night now. I will lend you and Applejack each a self hugging sweater, I could never have my friends walking around outside without something to keep them warm.”

A few hours later Trixie found herself sipping a cup of punch while listening to some overly happy party music. Maud was sitting next to her being rather quiet, but then again with six loud singing, dancing ponies in the same room it was hard to speak over the noise. Maud was simply not loud enough to be heard over the music and noise. So Trixie sat next to her and watched the marry ponies enjoying themselves.

It was a little surreal to think that she was now at an innocent, happy party, but just yesterday she had survived one of the darkest moments of her life. Things seemed to be bouncing around too rapidly for her to concentrate on. Spike was also here, and he was trying his best to flirt with Rarity. Maybe it was just Trixie’s imagination but she could swear that the dragon looked a little taller than before.

The atmosphere in the room was one of joyous celebration, and it was exactly what she had wanted so badly. She continued sipping her drink until the party began slowing down. The group got together and turned the music off before sitting around in a giant circle. Pinkie Pie was grinning as she said, “okay, I had this absolutely crazy, fun idea, and Twilight said yes.”

“What I said was that I would consider it,” Twilight began to explain, “and I have now decided that yes, it would be a fun thing to try.”

Trixie was sipping on her third cup of punch, and feeling very warm…especially around her sensitive area. She couldn’t help but imagine all the perverted things she could do with Maud; maybe that was part of what Twilight wanted to try. Trixie felt her face becoming warm, but it had already been warm from drinking the punch, now her face was simply toasty.

“Well, sugarcube, what did you have in mind?” Applejack asked.

Trixie took off the scarf in attempt to cool herself a little. Maud began nuzzling into Trixie’s neck, and then Maud began kissing her neck gently before whispering, “Twilight has a lot of empty rooms. We should find one.”

Trixie let out a quiet groan of pleasure before saying, “mmm, yes.”

“Would you two stop that already, this is the third time you began talking about running off to have sex,” Twilight said.

Had Trixie already tried to run off with Maud? She couldn’t remember it very well, but she didn’t have a reason to argue. Trixie nodded and felt very dizzy so she stopped and said, “I’ll stop.” Trixie then took another sip of the punch, the liquid giving her a warm feeling in her belly.

Twilight looked at the group and said, “there is this spell I want to try, it’s inspired by the same kind of magic that Luna uses to enter ponies dreams. I modified it a little so that we can all see a memory, I was thinking we could show Trixie a fun memory…like when we went to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

Applejack was the first one to comment asking, “is this really a safe idea, Ah mean, how long will it last, and how do we know what we will see.”

Twilight answered, “we will all go to sleep for about…five, ten minutes. But in that time we could witness up to a few days worth of memory if I wanted it. I am in complete control of what memories we will see. Don’t worry, I told Luna to check up on our dreams and wake us up if things went wrong.”

Applejack looked a little more relaxed as she said, “well…Luna might be a bit foalish sometimes, but she handles responsibility well. So I say what the hay, why not?”

Rarity said, “this does sound like an entertaining venture, and the gala was a wonderful little adventure.”

Rainbow Dash then said, “maybe we can see some of my awesome acrobatics, so I’m in.”

Fluttershy blushed a little and wrapped herself into Trixie’s old cloak a little tighter before saying, “well…um there were some pretty animals…even if they were a little shy…so um…okay I’ll do it.”

Pinkie Pie grinned like a mad mare at Trixie and Maud until Maud said flatly, “sounds fun. If Trixie is okay with it. So am I.”

Trixie felt the tense atmosphere around her, they were all hanging on her answer. Trixie quickly downed the rest of her punch and said in an accidental southern drawl, “ayep…Ah’m totally down with this…oops…Ah, er I spent too much time in New Slate.” Trixie heard a few giggles from the ponies around her after that.

Twilight’s horn began to glow and everypony one by one began closing their eyes and going into a peaceful sleep. Trixie was able to stay awake just long enough to watch everypony else go to sleep. Maud resting her head down on Trixie’s back, finally just after Twilight closed her eyes, Trixie laid her head down and drifted off into what promised to be a wondrous dream.

Trixie stood in front of her mirror positioning her hat and smiling like a filly. She looked into the mirror and felt almost as though somepony was watching her. She quickly dismissed the idea and said, “it’s finally time. The Great and Powerful Trixie finally gets to show Fluttershy just how much we care about her. Today will be the best show ever. Ponyville watch out, for the prodigal daughter has returned.”

Chapter Forty: Return to Ponyville

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty: Return to Ponyville
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie began using a spell to amplify her voice, one of the many cantrips that she was proficient in. She heard the gathering crowd just outside her wagon and smiled, she just knew that Fluttershy was out there waiting for her.

Trixie began speaking with her amplified voice, it sounded almost like she was using a microphone and a loudspeaker, “come one, come all, come and witness the amazing magic of The Grrreat and powerful Trrixie!”

The wagon transformed, its sidewall dropping down and forming a stage, Trixie used another spell to create a cloud of smoke and stepped through the curtains. When the smoke cleared it appeared as though she had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Trixie gave her crowd a cute smile and heard all the crowd’s excited voices.

Trixie saw the two little colts she had met earlier, one was short with blue fur and an orange mane, he had a set of teeth reminding Trixie of a beaver; his name was Snips. The other one was his older brother and stood almost as tall as Trixie, he had an orange coat, and blue mane; this one’s name was Snails. Trixie had asked them to spread word of her arrival and free show for Ponyville. It would seem that they did a good job.

Amongst the crowd Trixie could see Fluttershy in the front row, her face lit up like a light on Hearths Warming Eve. Trixie was very pleased to see her here, and was determined to run a wonderful show for the pegasus.

“Watch in awe as, The Great and Powerful Trixie, performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes,” Trixie said with energy. As she finished she used a Hypnotic Pattern spell to create flashes of wonderful, colorful magic that danced, swirled and shot up like fireworks all around her.

“My,my,my what boasting,” said a rather impolite mare from the front row.

Trixie looked down, fear seizing her heart, she hadn’t even gotten past her introduction before somepony started being loud and mean. The mare was a pristine white unicorn with a curly purple mane. Trixie could only assume that this was some sort of stuck up, high class pony.

A small purple dragon stood next to her talking about something, Trixie couldn’t hear him because unlike his unicorn friend, he was using a respectfully quiet voice. But Trixie recognized him, this was Spike…Twilight’s familiar and adopted son/pet thing. This meant that Twilight was here, hopefully she would stay out of Trixie’s business.

Trixie turned her head as the dragon ran off somewhere. Trixie stood on her hind legs and summoned a bouquet or roses much to the delight of the ponies watching her show. Trixie held the bouquet closely, they smelled good, and she wanted to eat them…but they were for somepony else.

Another voice one with a southern accent said just over the voice of the crowd, “except when she goes showin it off, like a school filly with fancy new ribbons.”

That was a low blow to a performer, the hayseed pony might as well of said, that it was okay to have a party, so long as you never invited anypony. Or tell a joke, so long as no pony ever heard it. How could a pony enjoy a magic show, without seeing it. Trixie kept herself calm and ignored the rude comment. Trixie levitated the bouquet out to the crowd and gave it to Fluttershy, who smiled at the gift. Trixie gave her a quick wink to let the pegasus know that everything was okay.

Trixie heard another pony, one with a rough voice say, “magic shmagic. BOOOO.”

Trixie noticed the group of five ponies near Fluttershy, these were the rude loud mouthed ponies who dared to ruin Trixie’s show for Fluttershy. The ponies around these five looked very odd to Trixie, they looked lost and confused…was something wrong with these ponies, or was this just nature kicking in and the herd was following the loudest voice.

Trixie saw the worried look on Fluttershy’s face and knew that the shy yellow pegasus wasn’t liking the look of these five ponies. The crowd around the three rude ones backed off a little, at least the citizens of Ponyville were being kind enough to not associate themselves with such rude folk. Trixie was going to need to turn the audience around quickly though, for Fluttershy’s shake.

“Well,well,well, it looks like we have some neighsayers in the audience,” Trixie accidently neighed in the middle of her sentence, well hopefully nopony would realize it was accident.

In an attempt to make ponies forget her accidental neigh Trixie quickly added “who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

The white one blew a raspberry spitting all over her purple friends face, before saying, “just who does she think she is?”

Trixie nearly laughed at the disgusting stuck up pony, as the purple unicorn was obviously trying to ignore the spit now covering half of her face. The purple unicorn however stood out just enough to stop Trixie from actually laughing. Twilight Sparkle was standing there staring at her, this was going to end horribly wasn’t it.

Spike jumped up and said, “yeah especially since we all know that Twilight here is-“ he was cut off as Twilight pushed him away. Trixie was actually grateful for Twilight’s unwillingness to stand out today, Trixie knew that it would be a hard won battle if she even could show up Twilight.

After that the rude ponies began quieting down, so Trixie assumed that they were following Twilight’s lead and backing down. Trixie stood again on her hind legs and used another Hypnotic Pattern spell to distract the crowd from the harsh words of the interrupting ponies. If these five didn’t like Trixie’s show then they could walk away, nopony was making them stay and watch a free show.

Suddenly the blue pegasus with a rainbow mane flew at Trixie, the surprise nearly made Trixie fall over. Trixie kept a brave face as the pegasus got into Trixie’s personal bubble. Trixie wasn’t sure if the crazy pegasus was about to attack or what, but she kept her guard up just in case.

The pegasus gave Trixie a judgmental look before saying, “so Great and Powerful Trixie, what makes you think you’re so awesome anyway?”

This wasn’t going to be introduced until later in the show, but Trixie felt that now would be the best time. “Why only The Great and Powerful Trixie has magic powerful enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major.” It might have been her father’s story, but Trixie was going to continue telling the story. Maybe one day she hoped her father would hear it, and realize that the young magician was actually his daughter…maybe this could reunite them. Trixie looked around before casting another spell and noticed that Fluttershy was missing.

Trixie then cast another illusionary spell, Minor Image. This was one of Trixie’s favorite spells. The giant image of an Ursa Major appeared over the crowd, causing all ponies to look up in excitement. Trixie kept the image looking very cartoonish, and foal friendly, no need to scare Snips and Snails.

Trixie then began telling the story, “when all hope was lost the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to, The Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic vanquished the Ursa Major, and sent it back too it’s cave deep within the Everfree Forest.” A cartoon illusion of Trixie began battling the Ursa Major appeared above the crowd, causing the Ursa Major to turn dark before the illusion exploded into colorful light’s obtaining more excited sounds from the audience.

After a few seconds Trixie could hear Snails saying, “that settles it, Trixie is the most magical, most awesome pony in Ponyville.”

Snips added, “no, in all of Equestria.”

Trixie heard Spike open his mouth and begin complaining again, thankfully Twilight summoned an illusionary zipper to cover the dragons mouth. Trixie looked for Fluttershy again, Fluttershy was still not in the front row, and no longer in the crowd even. After a second of searching she caught a glimpse of the yellow pegasus off in the distance, running away, her pink mane flowing behind her.

These rude ponies had scared away Fluttershy, no wonder she had vanished, the rainbow one must have scared her. After all Trixie had never met a pony who actually charged the stage like that before, it was abhorrent behavior.

Trixie let out an almost angry laugh, and said, “it’s true my enthusiastic little admirers. Trixie’s is most certainly the best in Ponyville.” Now that they scared Fluttershy away, she could no longer ignore them. “Don’t believe The Great and Powerful Trixie, well then. I hear by Challenge you, Ponyvillians; anything you can do, I can do better.” She knew these three awful ponies couldn’t ignore a challenge and they deserved some humiliation.

“Any takers, anyone, or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived,” Trixie said while standing triumphantly on her hind legs and using another Hypnotic Pattern. If this didn’t goad the rude ponies into a challenge then nothing would.

Trixie looked around pretending to be searching for a challenger, then she said, “how about.” Trixie quickly pointed a hoof at the hayseed pony, who dared mock Trixie earlier and said, “you!”

“Well how about it hmm.” Righteous fury was rising up in Trixie’s heart, she was going to win back Fluttershy’s honor no matter what. “Is there anything you can do that The Great and Powerful Trixie can’t? Well little hayseed?”

The orange earth pony stomped her hoof and said, “that’s it, Ah can’t stand for no more of this.”

Trixie noted that the orange earth pony had an apple for a cutie mark, that must make her an apple pony. The apple pony walked up onto the stage and grabbed a rope with her tail saying, “can yer magical powers do this?”

The apple pony began spinning the rope around herself and then jumping through the loop she had tied into the rope. Trixie had to admit that it was pretty neat how the apple pony could do this without any magic. The apple pony finally tossed the rope off stage grabbed an apple off of a nearby apple tree and pulled it back to herself and eating it. The apple pony then said, “top that missy.”

Oh Trixie was going to top that, and this was going to be fun. For the first time during the show Trixie took her hat off with a telekinesis spell and said, “oh you of little talent, watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie.”

Trixie used her magic to carefully used the Animate Rope spell on the rope and added a Hypnotize spell to captivate the apple ponies attention. With the other side of the rope she grabbed an apple and quickly tied the apple pony’s legs and lifted her up before setting her down on her back. Trixie then set the apple in her mouth. The apple pony now looked very comical, but she was most likely just the first one to get Trixie’s revenge.

The crowd all cheered Trixie on, they must be pleased that one of the loud, rambunctious ponies who was ruining their show was taught a lesson. As the apple pony began hopping of stage Trixie said, “once again, The Great and Powerful Trixie prevails.”

The rainbow maned pegasus came up behind Trixie and said, “there is no need to go strutting around and showing off like that.”

“Oh,” Trixie replied coolly.

“That’s my job,” the rainbow maned pegasus said while pointing to herself.

The pegasus flew off and into a windmill, and spun the windmill around several times faster than it should be going. The pegasus then took off into the sky flying straight through several clouds at high speeds. She stopped momentarily in the air, striking some dramatic pose, before coming back down through the same holes she had just opened up and spinning the windmill in the reverse direction. Trixie could only imagine the damage the windmill was sustaining from the trick. The pegasus then came flying back before stopping suddenly on the stage, rain water flew into her back and soaked her. A rainbow then appeared over the rainbow pegasus.

“They don’t call me Rainbow and Dash for nothing,” the pegasus said.

Trixie heard the crowd go wild for Rainbow Dash’s performance; she doubted that anypony even considered what damage might have just been done to the windmill from the sudden reversal of its blades. Trixie grinned and said, “when Trixie is through, the only thing they will call you is loser.”

Trixie cast another spell, this time creating a small tornado around Rainbow Dash. Trixie was surprised to see the rainbow that Rainbow Dash had made got sucked into the tornado as well and together they went spinning rapidly off stage. When the tornado stopped the pegasus looked ill, Trixie guessed that the dizziness would last a few minutes, maybe less for a pegasus.

“It would seem like anypony with a Dash of good sense would think twice before tussling with the great Trixie,” Trixie said before casting a small lightning spell. As the lightning zapped Rainbow Dash’s hind quarters Rainbow Dash let out a yelp and nearly jumped into the air. The crowd burst out into laughter at the sight of this. That would teach her not to get into someponies face for without due provocation.

Trixie watched the five rude ponies talking amongst themselves for a bit before finally the white unicorn walked to the front. Trixie only caught the last of what the white one said, “-may behave themselves like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with both beauty and grace.”

Trixie needed to goad this one into a challenge, and considering how well maintained Rarity’s mane was, that wouldn’t be too hard. Trixie said, “ooo, what’s the matter, afraid that you will get a hair out of place in that rat’s nest you call a mane?”

Rarity’s face became serious as she said, “oh it is on.”

Rarity quickly trotted up to the stage and began walking circles around Trixie saying, “you may think yourself tough with all your so called powers, but there is more to magic then your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle.”

Trixie saw the blue aura of Rarity’s horn flair up and then Trixie’s stage curtain was pulled down. She had no idea what was going on but if Rarity thought it was okay to destroy Trixie’s property then Rarity had another thing coming. The curtain began spinning quickly around Rarity and a bright light blinded Trixie for a moment.

When Trixie opened her eyes again she heard Rarity say, “a unicorn needs to have style.”

Trixie was stunned to see the curtain transformed into such a beautiful blue dress with gold trim and a gold saddle. Rarity’s hair was styled into a wonderful bun. Trixie had to admit that Rarity might be a self absorbed stuck up pony, but she was darn sexy. Rarity then said, “a unicorn is not a unicorn without grace, and beauty.”

‘That was a real nice sentiment to all the young unicorns who had insecurity issues, make them all feel terrible for not looking as good as you,’ Trixie thought sarcastically to herself.

Trixie was stunned, but only for a moment, as the crowd voicing their pleasure towards Rarity’s transformation snapped her out of it. Trixie grinned, there was one way to get under this mare’s fur for sure. Trixie’s horn lit up and she cast a devious cantrip.

The crowd all gasped and Rarity sensing that something wrong screamed, “QUICK GET ME A MIRROR, I NEED A MIRROR!” Rarity’s voice got higher pitched as she asked, “what did she do to my hair, I know she did something terrible to my hair.”

Twilight quickly said, “nothing.”

Rainbow Dash said, “it’s fine.”

The apple pony said, “it’s gorgeous.”

And Spike said honestly, “it’s green.”

Tears began pooling at the corners of Rarity’s eyes as she looked up and saw what had been done. Trixie had transformed the color of her hair green, disheveled it, and stuck some twigs and plastic worms in for good measure. Rarity’s hair would turn back to its original color in an hour or so, there was no permanent damage, and Trixie felt satisfied finally getting back at the mare who had started heckling her show in the first place.

Rarity began crying as she ran off saying, “no, not green hair. Such an awful, awful color.”

Trixie nearly face hoofed as she saw Rarity run right past another pony who had naturally green hair, while screaming the above. Some ponies were truly so self absorbed that they didn’t care if they hurt other ponies around them or not.

Trixie quickly cleaned a smudge of dirt off of her cloaks clasp and attempted to listen to Spike and Twilight’s whispering. She heard Spike say, “you’re better than her.”

Trixie walked up to the edge of the stage, her recent victories making her feel powerful, and invincible. Trixie quickly said, “you think you are better than Trixie. you think you have more magical talent.” It was no longer just about Fluttershy, if Trixie could avenge Fire Light now as well, then everything would be perfect. “well come on, show Trixie what you got. Show us all.” Trixie wanted to show everypony just how much of a monster Twilight really was.

Twilight looked around at the crowd and said, “who? Me, I’m just your run of the mill citizen of ponyville.”

Trixie knew these were lies, Twilight was possibly more powerful then Celestia and now Trixie was going to expose Twilight for the sins she has committed. Twilight then added, “no powerful magic here…I uh…I think I hear my laundry calling, gotta go.” Twilight then took off in a full gallop away from the stage. Trixie had heard Twilight try to lie in the past, but ‘laundry calling’ had to be the most pathetic lie yet.

Trixie stood victorious and said, “once again The Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria. Was there ever any doubt.”

Trixie turned and left the stage, it was time for a rest…then to check up on Fluttershy. She hopped that Fluttershy hadn’t been too upset over the rude ponies attacking Trixie’s show. And the stage curtain was now gone as well, Trixie added that to property damage on top of everything else those horrid ponies did to her today.

After closing the stage and resting against the side of the wagon for a little while Trixie began to feel lonely. She didn’t like being alone for too long, especially when a show went badly like today’s did. Her horn was also beginning to hurt, she should not have used the Hypnotic Lights spell so many times, she might not be able to do anything more than a cantrip or a jolt of lightning for the rest of the day now.

Snips and Snails walked over to her again. They looked pleased with themselves. Snips quickly said, “Great and Powerful Trixie, what can we do for you?”

Trixie relaxed and said, “I’m not really in the mood for acting right now…can you come back later.”

The two of them looked confused for a moment before Snails said, “oh, so you don’t want to pretend like you weren’t hurt by those mean ponies. Yeah me and Snips get bullied sometime, it’s hard to stay strong all the time eh.”

These two ponies were so innocent, they really believed that Trixie’s stage persona was really her. Who could believe that somepony could be so arrogant, it was inconceivable that anypony would confuse a stage persona for a real person…unless they were foals. Trixie smiled and forced herself to pretend a little more for their sake. “Trixie is just a little tired after dealing with those hecklers. But if you still wish to aid Trixie, then take her to the home of Fluttershy. Trixie needs to speak with her good friend.”

The two colts looked ecstatic as ever and said together, “Sure thing Great and Powerful Trixie.”

The colts lead Trixie to a small cottage at the very edge of town but stopped just before crossing the bridge. Trixie looked up at the cottage; its roof was covered in leaves and looked very close to nature. Trixie turned to look at the colts and asked, “do you wish to accompany Trixie up to the door?”

The two colts looked a little nervous and Snips explained, “um…Fluttershy kinda banned us from ever coming back to her home…”

Snails added, “we set all the chickens free.”

Trixie let out a sigh, made sense that these two would cause some trouble. The entire time Trixie had been here she had seen ponies being a little rude to these two. Considering how they have not stopped asking silly questions of Trixie until they arrived here, Trixie assumed that these two were nuisance’s to the town…but she couldn’t help but like them.

“I’ll…Trixie will go meet with Fluttershy, you two go and guard Trixie’s wagon. It is a very important job,” Trixie said.

The two colts looked excited to be helping their favorite celebrity, and ran off. Snips called back to Trixie saying, “we will guard it with our lives.”

Snails added, “and we won’t set any chickens free.”

Trixie smiled as they left. Those colts were adorable and silly if not a bit annoying, but now it was time for Trixie to try and cheer up Fluttershy…

Trixie knocked on Fluttershy’s door a few times and waited patiently. After a few moments of silence, Trixie knocked again, and then placed an ear against the door trying to listen in. She heard the sound of crying and Trixie knew that it had to be Fluttershy. Trixie then said, “this is Trixie, I just wanted to see if you were doing okay…”

After a few moments the crying stopped and the door opened. Fluttershy stood there, her eyes were red and her face was wet from the tears. Trixie knew that there was really only one thing she could do. She wrapped her legs around Fluttershy and pulled her into a gentle loving embrace saying, “shh…I am so sorry. I know you just wanted your friends to see my show, and those rude ponies ruined it…I’m sorry.”

Fluttershy wrapped her legs around Trixie and dug her muzzle into Trixie’s shoulder saying, “those rude ponies were my friends…”

Trixie’s heart skipped a beat as she heard Fluttershy’s words. Had those ponies who ridiculed Trixie’s show so rudely actually been friends with Fluttershy? If so then how could they do something so horrible to something that Fluttershy loved…this was not what friendship was supposed to be about.

Trixie held onto Fluttershy a little tighter and offered her the only thing she could. “Trixie still has her wagon, and she will still be here tomorrow, and maybe, if you would like to of course…Trixie could run a small show…just for you. That way you won’t be disappointed in Trixie.”

Fluttershy clung onto Trixie a little tighter and said, “I’m sorry.”

Trixie held on gently to Fluttershy enjoying the smell of Fluttershy’s mane. “Trixie can understand…after what Trixie’s failure of a show…is there anything else Trixie can do for you?”

Fluttershy let out a small cry before saying, “I’m sorry that they hurt you. I know how scary it must be to go on stage, and after what they did…I am so sorry. I should never have brought them there.”

Trixie felt a tear run down her face as she realized that Fluttershy was right. Those ponies not only hurt Fluttershy, they also hurt Trixie. Trixie wasn’t going to give in quite yet though, she could still make Fluttershy happy. “Trixie will go back to her wagon, if you come over tomorrow Trixie could…fix this somehow. Trixie isn’t sure how, but she will fix this somehow.”

Fluttershy pulled away and smiled at Trixie saying, “um…ok…if you are still here tomorrow…I’ll come visit you…and um…we can do something fun.”

Trixie nodded in agreement. This was a plan that Trixie would love to follow through with.

Trixie got back to her wagon only to find it absent of any her guards, it would seem that the colts got bored and left. Trixie was actually kinda relieved to be alone now, she could think about everything that had happened today. Something was bothering her about the way she had dealt with her hecklers. After setting her hat down inside, she stared longingly into her mirror and wondered what she could have done differently. She could swear that she was being watched, but she didn’t know why.

Suddenly Trixie heard the sound of something rolling down a hill. Trixie looked behind herself just in time to see a cart rolling down the hill towards her and her expensive wagon. She stood up and used her magic to pull the wagon out of the way just in time as the cart rolled by where the wagon had just stood. Trixie really couldn’t afford to lose her wagon, it was the only thing keeping her afloat.

The cart stopped just behind Trixie slamming hard into something behind her. A dark shadow began growing around Trixie, she looked up and closed her eyes just in time as a splash of mud covered her face, and mane. Wiping the mud out of her eyes with a hoof Trixie carefully removed her cloak and set inside her wagon, her hat was thankfully setting just out of reach of the mud.

Snips and Snails came running down towards Trixie and looked concerned. Trixie was already beginning to feel depressed, on top of her anger, and now these colts run up to her at the exact wrong time to see her like this. Today simply couldn’t get worse.

“Sorry about that eh,” Snails said.

“It wasn’t our fault honest, it was the wheels that made it roll down the hill when we let go of the cart,” Snips added.

So it was these foals fault that Trixie was now covered in mud. She took another look at her cloak and was thankful for it staying clean at the very least. Trixie grabbed a towel and said, “after Trixie washes up, we are having a discussion about responsibility.”

Three hours later Trixie found herself brushing her mane yet again, it simply wouldn’t stay down. The worst part is that Snips and Snails wouldn’t give her a second of rest. They continued to have her tell them stories; it was almost as though they had no shame over having gotten mud into Trixie’s mane. The worst part is they kept asking Trixie to tell them the same story involving the Ursa Major over, and over, and over again. Trixie was past the point of annoyance, but she was still kind enough to not break character. Apparently these kids really liked Trixie’s arrogant persona, she began to imagine that they saw Trixie as some kind of Princess…it was a little weird.

Snips distracted Trixie as he stuck his butt into the air, balancing a smoothie on his rump. He then said, “this is the oat smoothie you asked for, with extra hay, just the way you like it.”

Trixie had not said a thing about extra hay, but these foals brought her a free drink…she could at least accept it. As she picked it up Snails added, “mmm…hay.”

Trixie picked up the drink with her magic and took a drink from it, the colts stood there staring at her with big open eyes. Trixie looked at them and asked, “yes?”

“Tell us another story, Great and Powerful Trixie,” Snips asked, and then he bowed for extra measure.

“Yeah tell us about how you vanquished the Ursa Major,” Snails added.

This would be the fifth time she told them that exact story…within the last three hours. Trixie’s horn was still in pain, she was still upset with having been accosted on stage, and thanks to these ponies she couldn’t think of a way to fix Fluttershy’s heart. Trixie was not up for this anymore and desperately needed a rest.

Trixie made a sound of annoyance and said, “Trixie is far too exhausted from performing feats beyond imagination, be gone with you until morning.”

The two colts smiled brightly and backed off. Snails said, “oh of course Great and Powerful Trixie.”

Snips added, “anything you say, were at your beck and call.”

Trixie looked away and made a sound signifying her annoyance, and watched as their faces lit up even brighter. Trixie didn’t know why these colts enjoyed being talked down to, but whatever made them happy…and gave her a break. Trixie went back inside determined to get some sleep before she runs another show tomorrow. She felt almost empty after having expended so much magic on her show today.

Trixie woke up a few hours later in her bed, it was nice and warm and soft. Something still felt off, she felt like somepony was watching her, but nopony was there. A certain part of Trixie began feeling very warm, and Trixie realized she would have to take care of it. Trixie looked at her hoof and said, “who should it be tonight…Twilight, no I’m still mad at her over what happened to Fire Light. That Rainbow pegasus had a nice, toned body…I could teach her how to properly use her mouth…but alas no. hmm I think I will use Rarity for my imagination tonight, she was absolutely sexy at my show, it really is a shame that she was such a mean pony.”

Trixie stopped to think about whether having conversations with yourself about what you would fantasize about was considered weird….her head felt a little chaotic at the moment, so thinking was a little hard to do, but she was also used to holding conversations with herself…it wasn’t that weird…was it?

Trixie let out a sigh, and began sliding her hoof under the covers. She wanted to get this over with quickly so that she wouldn’t be distracted from sleep by her own biological needs any longer. Just as Trixie began she heard some screaming outside her room, it was completely dark outside, but they were screaming her name. She contemplated pretending not to hear them but she knew exactly who was pestering her this late at night.

Trixie stood up and walked over to her door, she looked down outside the window and saw both Snips and Snails. They looked both excited, and fearful. Trixie didn’t care, she had her private time interrupted by these two. “Trixie thought she said, that The Great and Powerful Trixie did not want to be disturbed.”

Snips giggled nervously before saying, “we have a tiny problem.”

Snails added, “actually it’s a big one.”

“What is so important that you cannot wait until morning to disturb Trixie?” Trixie asked in a scolding tone.

A thundering roar caused Trixie to look up, fear stole away her heart. The trees off in the distance began falling as something pushed its way through them. Suddenly a giant bear, with translucent blue fur emerged, and stars could be seen throughout its body. A pair of red eyes set themselves onto Trixie and her wagon. This had to be The Ursa Major.

It was rumored that an Ursa Major could smell the blood of a pony who had previously killed one, along with the blood of their kin. If Trixie was to believe her father’s stories…then she was now in deep trouble.

The Ursa charged Trixie’s small wagon seeking her blood. Trixie began screaming in pure terror, pushed opened the door to her wagon, and was about to run. She paused only briefly, while still screaming, to push the colts out of the Ursa’s path of destruction. Trixie then took off knowing that it would only follow her, and things that smelled like her. She heard the Ursa smashing her home into little bits behind her as she continued her speedy retreat. She could only hope that those two kids would stay away, hide somewhere and wait for Celestia, or her army to slay this beast.

Chapter Forty One: Major Problems

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty One: Major Problems
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The night sky was beautiful and full of bright colorful stars tonight. The gentle breeze was nice and refreshing. And the Ursa Major was loud and still chasing after Trixie with a blood thirsty drive.

Trixie’s legs burned from the strain of running so much, she had been galloping through the town for a full ten minutes. She needed rest, to catch her breath but the Ursa wouldn’t let up. Finally she nearly tripped and couldn’t run anymore. She had to stop or she would die of exhaustion plus get eaten.

Trixie stopped and turned around so that her back would be facing several houses and she stood her ground waiting for the Ursa to arrive. The two colts came running around the corner just as Trixie began catching her breath and ran up to her. She couldn’t believe that they had decided to follow her, of all the ponies they could have chosen, they chose to follow the one who was being chased by an Ursa Major.

“Get behind me you foals,” Trixie demanded as she heard the loud stomps of the Ursa growing in the distance.

The two colts didn’t object as they went behind her, and then she waited. She glanced back at the colts to see if they were actually okay. They looked okay, they might have been staring at Trixie with brain dead expressions but they were okay. That made Trixie wonder what exactly were they looking at, all that they could see from their position was Trixie’s butt…and then Trixie realized why these two were so obsessed with her. Perverted colts.

Trixie returned her attention to the sounds of the Ursa as it stomped around the corner of the street and made its way towards Trixie. There had to be something she could do, even though these colts were perverts, they still needed saving. She couldn’t think of any spell she knew that would be powerful enough to even stun the Ursa, and she also remembered that they were surprisingly resilient to illusions.

“Great and Powerful Trixie, you gotta vanquish the Ursa,” Snips said.

“Yeah vanquish so we can watch,” Snails added.

What in the world was wrong with these two ponies, first they stare at her butt all day, then they demand that she fights…for their amusement. These were possibly the two rudest ponies she had ever met in Equestria.

“Yeah, it took a lot of trouble to get that thing here,” Snips said.

Trixie’s brain might have just had a seizure as she attempted to understand exactly what Snips had just said. It was almost like he had said a bunch of words, that although formed a sentence, couldn’t possibly have come out of any pony’s mouth. She looked at their faces, they weren’t scared they were excited. These colt’s were psychopaths…and Trixie had been hanging out with them all day. No wonder Ponyville hated them.

Trixie turned and in a fearful tone said, “wait, you brought this here? Are you out of your little pony minds?”

The expressions on the colts faces began turning from excitement to concern. Maybe not psychopaths, but irresponsible was a still a good word for them.

Snips then said, “but you’re The Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Yeah remember, you defeated an Ursa Major,” Snails added.

These two actually believed her story was real…who could’ve believed it? You needed an ancient magical weapon to actually slay an Ursa, and pretty much any damage other than that was null. Trixie took in a deep breath, maybe if she died first these two would still get a chance to run away.

The Ursa Major roared, the force of its voice alone caused Trixie’s hair to get messed up again. Now covered in Ursa saliva, and breathing in its disgusting rotted breath. Trixie prepared herself to die…

“Okay,” Trixie said trying to reassure herself. Trixie swallowed air, fear threatening to seize her heart. “Stand back.”

Trixie used an Animate Rope spell and commanded a rope to tie up the Ursa Major, she looked back at the colts and said nervously, “piece of cake.” She could only pray that they would run.

The rope however was too small, and tied itself around the Ursa’s fingers. The Ursa snapped the rope easily and gave Trixie a confused look, almost as though it was asking her what she thought she was doing.

“Aw, come on, Trixie, “Snips said.

“Stop goofing around and vanquish it eh,” Snails added.

If Trixie was guessing right, Snips was very impressionable, while Snails was exceedingly rude. What was she to do now? She couldn’t think of anything, and she didn’t know of any combat spells that could even touch the Ursa…except.

Trixie took in a nervous breath, it was getting hard to breath all of a sudden. With an Ursa threatening to eat her on one front, and two ponies judging her from behind she was beginning to break inside. Trixie summoned forth the only combat spell powerful enough to do anything. Lightning Bolt.

A black storm cloud formed over the Ursa.

“Well that was a dud eh,” said Snails sounding very unimpressed.

“yeah, come on. Where’s all the cool explosions and smoke and stuff like earlier, ya know,” Snips added.

Trixie’s horn was beginning to throb in pain from the over taxation of magic, and these two colts ignorance of magic was not helping her any. Suddenly the lightning bolt struck out and hit the Ursa’s flank. A black scorch mark the length of a pony was left from the lightning’s impact. That lightning bolt would have killed most any pony, and certainly done damage to any flesh and blood monster. But Trixie had forgotten that Ursa’s are not flesh and blood, nor are they susceptible to most forms of magic, or weaponry.

The Ursa opened its mouth revealing it’s sharp jagged teeth before roaring again. Trixie knew she had just bucked up big time, but at least she could now lead the monster away from the colts. “uh oh,” were the last words out of Trixie’s mouth before she charged forward underneath the Ursa’s legs. If the colts stayed put, or turned and fled the other direction then they would be safe. Trixie looked behind herself only to see the colts still following her, were these colts trying to get themselves killed?

As Trixie ran she turned and looked at the colts and shouted, “why are you still following me? You should run away and be safe. I am trying to distract the beast, and you are ruining my efforts to save you. Stop ruining my efforts to save you.”

Snips yelled, “we want to see it when you defeat the Ursa Major.”

Snails added, “yeah, it will be a show eh.”

Trixie continued darting in between buildings the colts close behind her, as the Ursa was chasing them. After a short chase Trixie had to stop again, she was exhausted and out of breath and the Ursa was finally losing interest in them. It began attacking random buildings around the town.

Trixie heard Twilight ask, “what’s going on?”

Snips proudly explained, “we brought an Ursa to town.”

Twilight shouted, “YOU WHAT!”

Snails said, “don’t worry, The Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it.”

Trixie turned and faced Twilight. she was feeling conflicted, these colts stupidity was far beyond acceptable parameters and Twilight was surely going to judge her no matter how this turned out in the end. Trixie finally realized that these two colts needed to be told very bluntly, and directly. “I can’t.”

Snails shouted, “WHAT?”
Trixie explained, “well I can’t, I never have, no one can vanquish an Ursa Major, I just made the whole story up to make me look better.” It was better to say that then to explain she was borrowing it from her father.

Snails then said, “made it up?”

Trixie couldn’t meet Twilight’s eyes, she was admitting defeat in front of Twilight and it felt shameful. If Twilight had not been here, then this wouldn’t feel so bad, but Twilight Sparkle was going to somehow make Trixie feel guilty for telling stories…that was practically all Trixie could really do, and now she was beginning to feel ashamed of her special talent.

The moonlight was suddenly eclipsed by the Ursa as it stood, bearing its full height against all of Ponyville. The moon could be seen through its face, but the light did not reach past its body. The Ursa dropped back down to all fours and began walking towards Trixie, a mass of ponies all seemed to have gathered around her. They must have all come to see the fall of Trixie.

As the Ursa approached Twilight walked towards it, her horn glowing. A simple music spell began playing a soft melody causing the Ursa to wobble back and forth, Trixie recognized this spell. It was a level zero cantrip and it was actually working as a lullaby. Trixie was confused however by why there was an overglow to Twilight’s magic, was she really exerting that much energy to simply play music. A second overglow covered Twilight’s horn, and then a third. Whatever Twilight was doing, it was going to put her horn out for a week.

Trixie stopped watching Twilight just in time to notice the Ursa Major beginning to fall on her. Trixie flinched in fear and watched as the Ursa stopped falling, and then was lifted into the air by a light purple aura. A water tower was then set into its mouth and Trixie watched as the Ursa began sucking on it like a bottle. The Ursa was then lifted over the town and back into the Everfree Forest. Just as Twilight’s horn began to spark Twilight released her magic and nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

The entire town suddenly burst out into cheers for Twilight Sparkle, leaving Trixie enough time to examine her currant standing. Trixie had no home, no wagon, was deeply in debt now…and everypony was cheering for her ex-friend. Trixie felt like charging up a spell to unleash on Twilight but stopped as something felt very wrong around her...she could swear that somepony was watching her.

Trixie listened in on Twilight talking to her friends. It sounded like Twilight was afraid that her friends would hate her because she was good at magic, reasonable considering their behavior. But when they began bad mouthing Trixie for her show persona, whatever feelings of depression, or sorrow she could be feeling right now gave way to pure unbridled anger. None of those loud mouthed ponies made even the slightest of attempts to stop the Ursa, they all left Trixie and those colts to die. Only Twilight actually tried to do anything.

Twilight continued talking to her friends for a bit and Trixie felt her blood boiling with rage. A pink pony standing next to her said, “pfft, those guys are kinda mean sometimes. I didn’t think Trixie’s show was all that bad, the lights were really pretty, oh and floaty, got to mention floaty.”

Trixie looked at the pink pony, she looked familiar somehow, but she knew for a fact that she had never met the pony before. Trixie opened her mouth to thank the pony for her kind words, even if they hadn’t been directly targeted towards her when the pink pony added, “but you gotta follow the group. And I always do what my friends are doing, and think what they are thinking.”

Trixie wanted to face hoof at the pink pony for being a zombie, she didn’t’ know who the pink pony was talking to but considering the large amounts of ponies around her…it could be anypony. Trixie was beginning to worry about the debt she was in thanks to wagon now. The pink pony then turned and looked directly at Trixie and said, “you know there is a rock farm south of here, I hear they are hiring for extra help right about now. Maybe you could get a job with them.” It was very disturbing that the pink one would say that just at the right time.

“That wasn’t an Ursa Major, it was a baby, an Ursa Minor,” Twilight explained to her friends.

Trixie opened her mouth and said in surprise, “that was just a baby?”

“And it wasn’t rampaging, it was just cranky because someone woke it up,” Twilight explained while glaring at Snips and Snails. At least those two would get there punishment, but Trixie was not convinced that the Ursa was not rampaging.

Trixie noticed that the pink pony suddenly appeared next to Snips and Snails…but how did she move that far, that quick…and why? Trixie ignored the pink one’s teleporting abilities and focused instead on her anger. Twilight had been giving Trixie judgmental looks the entire time she was talking about the Ursa. Twilight still herald herself as being better than Trixie, well she couldn’t just let Twilight get away with that now could she.

Trixie marched up to Twilight and began saying, “ha you may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, show stopping ability of The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

Trixie then used a smoke spell and galloped away like the magicians of old. Trixie heard Rainbow Dash make some kind of rude comment before Twilight stopped her saying, “just let her go, maybe someday she will learn her lesson.”

Trixie continued galloping until she was a safe distance from the town, then she finally collapsed by the side of the road. Tears were streaming down her face, her anger was gone and now she was filled with pain. “What lesson, all I learned in Ponyville was that no matter how hard you try to make ponies laugh, and smile. You will still be accosted, judged and then run off by the more popular ponies. It’s not fair, all I wanted was to make Fluttershy happy, and everypony ruined it. Those stupid kids actually found an Ursa, and Twilight judged me for it? How come nopony ever thought about how I must feel, I got attacked on stage, I lost my home to a monster, and then I was judged by a stupid mean cruel purple unicorn.”

Trixie broke down and began sobbing into her legs along the side of the road. There was nothing she could do now, everything she had, plus some that she didn’t was placed into that wagon. Her dream was now over, and all because some ponies couldn’t distinguish reality from magic shows.

After lying there for a nearly ten minutes Trixie began to wonder if she might’ve been a little too mean in her humiliation of the ponies. Despite how rude they were, or how they hurt Fluttershy…she might have gone overboard…at least when it came to Rarity’s hair. Rainbow Dash and apple pony deserved there treatment.

“Trixie, are you okay?” asked a familiar voice.

Trixie looked up to see Princess Luna staring back at her. Luna looked down with gentle eyes before saying, “Trixie, this is simply a memory, you are dreaming. You need to wake up.”

Trixie looked up at Luna and began to remember that all these things had already happened, they were over, even if the pain felt fresh, it was still old pain. Trixie stood up and asked, “so am I having a lucid dream? Does that mean I can do anything that I want to?”

Luna gave a kind smile to Trixie and said, “yes, you are, and you can. But you really should wake up, you nee-“

Trixie stomped her hoof and made Luna vanish in a poof of smoke. If Trixie was having a lucid dream, and she wasn’t suffering from a terribly broken heart at the moment, then it was time to have a good dream, for the first time in…ever since she first came back to Ponyville.

Chapter Forty Two: Sweetly Dreaming

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Two: Sweetly Dreaming.
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie imagined herself standing inside a beautiful meadow filled with various flowers, and surrounded by a dense forest. The sky was bright and the sun was shining, but she could still see the stars in the sky. Dreams could be truly fantastic Trixie thought as she looked up at the sky.

Now she had only one question to answer. “Should I make this a sex dream, or a magic dream?” Trixie debated with this for a little while and then decided, “a magical sex dream. That sounds awesome!”

Trixie didn’t feel any embarrassment in her dream, after all that’s all this was so why should she? Trixie used her magic to summon forth two of her friends, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The two appeared in front of her and sat still, looking at her with blank expressions. “hmm, I want you two to make out.”

At her direction the two ponies began kissing each other vigorously, much to Trixie’s delight. Trixie watched them for a few moments and decided she would like a plaything of her own. So she summoned both Maud, and Pinkie Pie.

Maud appeared at her side and Trixie had Maud hug her. Pinkie Pie however stood up on her hind legs and said, “okay, Trixie…what are you doing?”

Trixie grinned and explained to the dream Pinkie, “I am dreaming, why what do you usually dream of?”

Pinkie Pie smiled as she said, “frosting…mmm lots of frosting.”

“Frosting…that’s the best idea ever,” Trixie exclaimed.

Frosting appeared on Pinkie’s body covering her lower region and chest area. Trixie grinned as she said, “oh no, Maud, look at your sister she is covered in frosting. Why don’t you go and help her clean up…with your mouth.”

Pinkie’s face turned into a deep shade of red as she backed away from the slowly advancing Maud. Pinkie then shouted, “STOP!”

The world around Trixie shattered and turned into a white blank canvas, just waiting for her imagination to shape it into anything she could imagine. And everypony except for Pinkie Pie vanished. Trixie stared at Pinkie and watched as Pinkie began wiping the frosting of herself. Trixie growled and said, “why did you do that dream Pinkie. I want to have a magical sex dream and you’re ruining it. After everything your friends did to me I think I’m entitled to it.”

Pinkie let out a sigh and said, “do you even realize that everypony has been stuck inside your head, we have all seen what happened through your eyes, felt what you did, and even heard your thoughts. Seriously Trixie, we have all found ourselves feeling like crap. I think I heard Rainbow Dash say that we were all a bunch of buttholes about twenty times now.”

Trixie sat there and thought about it for a little bit, she did have the feeling that somepony was watching, but she didn’t care. This was a dream, her dream and she was going to make it crazy if she wanted to. Trixie then said, “pfft I don’t care, now put that icing back on. If you won’t let Maud clean you, then I will…I’ll have Maud clean me next.”

Pinkie glared at Trixie and said, “no, Trixie, I am not going to make everypony go through that.”

Trixie stood up and said, “you are my dream, and I decided that I want to be weird. Now let me be weird.”

Pinkie stomped her hoof down and said, “I am the real Pinkie Pie. I am not a part of your dream, it’s just taken me a while to figure out how to get out of your head.”

Trixie stood for a little bit before giving up and sitting down. Trixie then crossed her legs and said, “fine, I won’t be weird with you…but I’m still going to be weird with Maud. Maybe she likes frosting…”

Pinkie Pie shook her head and explained, “do you remember that spell Twilight was going to use. The one that would let us view one of her memories…well it didn’t go quite as planned, instead we all viewed one of your memories, and now we are viewing one of your dreams.”

Things were beginning to make a bad bit of sense to Trixie. No wonder Luna wanted her to wake up so badly, but Trixie wasn’t ready to wake up yet. “Pinkie Pie…I don’t have good dreams. If I’m finally having a lucid dream…I want it to be good, and happy, and sexy. Can I please just have this one thing, just this one…I just want this to be a happy dream.”

Trixie could feel tears running down her face as she began crying. It wasn’t fair, all she ever had were nightmares of the past or dreams that she couldn’t recall. It was rare that her dreams were ever truly good…and even the sex dreams were scary for her sometimes.

“Stop that, Trixie I can hear your thoughts…I’m sorry you don’t have good dreams but don’t force us to watch and feel you have sex…please that’s just a little too much,” Pinkie Pie explained.

Trixie looked up at her and said, “but…this is the only place I can be special. I can’t use magic anymore Pinkie, my magic is corrupted by whatever the hay Blood Magic is, and it’s trying to kill me every single time I use it. This is the only place I can be a real unicorn again…it’s…it’s like I’m a pegasus without wings…I guess that doesn’t make sense to you.”

“Trixie I can feel your feelings, it makes sense to all of us…I…darn it. I don’t want to stop you from enjoying yourself, but can you be a little less perverted about it…please?” Pinkie Pie asked.

The world shifted and transformed into a beautiful cloudscape, with Trixie sitting on a cloud staring out at the night sky. Pinkie Pie was standing on the same cloud right next to her. Trixie smiled and said, “fine, I won’t let my deviant side take over…yet. How about this instead.” Trixie’s horn began to glow and the aura surrounded the two of them.

Pinkie Pie found herself with a new unicorn horn, and a pair of pink feather wings. Trixie had her own pair of blue wings. Trixie grinned and said, “we can be alicorn princesses and fly as free as any pegasus. Is that acceptable?”

Pinkie Pie beamed widely and nearly screamed, “that sounds awesome!”

Trixie then jumped off the cloud and began free falling towards the water below. She looked up and saw Pinkie Pie following her lead. Trixie stretched her wings out and caught an up drift and began soaring through the sky. She felt free, unrestricted and happy. As Pinkie flew up to her side Trixie asked, “so Princess Pinkie, how do you like the new wings? Is Trixie not the greatest unicorn..er alicorn ever?”

Pinkie Pie grinned and said, “you are truly the coolest Alicorn Princess ever. Thanks for letting me join in the fun.”

“The Great Alicorn Princess Trixie couldn’t leave you behind Pinkie. Despite how much of a pervert Trixie is, she still considers you to be her sister,” Trixie said.

“Good thing you didn’t try and do anything with Applejack then,” Pinkie said.

Trixie began imagining all the dirty things one could do with Applejack, some of them involved apples. Pinkie Pie facehoofed and said, “I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”

“This one is not Trixie’s fault, Trixie cannot control her thoughts normally, how could she control them in her dreams,” Trixie defended.

Memories of Pinkie’s secret box’s underneath her bed began playing in her head and she wondered what it would be like to use some of those toys on Maud. Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “Okay Trixie stop it seriously, if you can’t control your thoughts you are going to reveal everyponies secrets by mistake. We should wake up.”

Trixie hated to admit it, but Pinkie Pie had a point, there was no purpose in revealing everything she had learned. It would be especially painful if she revealed her old feelings for Fluttershy…darn it. Trixie screamed in frustration and suddenly she stopped in mid air. Pinkie Pie stopped moving as well.

“So are you ready to wake up yet, Princess Lulamoon?” Luna said as she flew up to their eye level.

Trixie let out a sigh and said, “yeah…it was fun while it lasted…no point in staying like this right, I’ll need to go back to being useless sooner or later.”

Luna stayed quiet when Trixie expected to hear her say something encouraging. Trixie then felt a little worse and added, “Trixie is useless, and worthless, and broken...no magic, no self confidence, no nothing to show for her long, hard life…why aren’t you stopping me?”

Luna gave a kind understanding smile to Trixie and said, “it sounds like you have a lot to get off of your chest. But I do have to ask, do you really believe all of that?”

Trixie was quiet for a few seconds while she thought about it, she did feel like those things were true, but at the same time she knew that they weren’t. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I guess that I don’t…but sometimes I just want to hear that I’m valued…”

“You know that you are valued, and I think that you will find everypony will be willing to offer you their love and support if only you should ask for it. I’m sure that your special somepony would love to tell you exactly how much she loves you,” Luna said.

Trixie grinned and said, “alright, but the first thing I’m doing is taking Maud into the bathroom and bucking her brains out,” Trixie paused for a moment and then added, “um…I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Can we go now?”

Pinkie groaned and said, “wouldn’t matter they would’ve heard it anyway.”

Luna stretched out her foreleg and said, “take my hoof and I will guide you to your waking self.”

Trixie reached out and said, “thank you Luna…you are truly too nice to me.” Trixie grabbed Luna’s hoof and everything became bright.

Trixie opened her eyes and found herself lying in Twilight’s living room. Everypony around her was still asleep, and Maud was lying next to her. She saw Luna watching the sleeping group of ponies and suddenly their eyes met. Luna turned and began galloping away. Trixie stood up quickly and chased after her. After having been helped so much by the princess, she couldn’t simply let Luna leave without giving her thanks in person.

Trixie chased Luna up the stairs until they reached a long room with bookshelves lining the walls. At the end of the room was a balcony and an open glass pane door. Luna was almost at the door, and she could fly off without getting thanks from Trixie.

Trixie reached out with her magic and forced the door shut. Luna then slammed face first into the glass paned window. Trixie slowed down and cringed at what just happened, she didn’t mean for that to happen, she didn’t expect her magic to work either.

Luna moaned as she stood up, and Trixie quickly wrapped her hooves around Luna’s neck saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

Luna pushed Trixie away and said, “we cannot be seen here, why did you stop us?”

Trixie sat down hard and said, “I wanted to thank you…for helping me in my darkest hours, for letting me speak to Maud when I was dying…and for the stars.”

Luna gave Trixie an inquisitive look as she asked, “what do you mean by, the stars?”

Trixie looked away and explained, “I’ve always like the night sky, the moon, the stars all of it. but when you came back to Equestria I noticed just how much prettier the stars looked, you made them truly come to life…and I’ve spent many nights just looking up at them and admiring their beauty…so thank you for giving us that gift.”

When Luna didn’t answer Trixie looked up and noticed a few tears running down Luna’s face. Luna then said, “nopony has ever thanked me for…the night before. I’ve met ponies who enjoy the night, but they never thank me for my hard work…I…I’m so grateful.”

Luna threw her legs around Trixie and gave her a hug. Trixie then heard some shouting from downstairs and the ponies calling out her name. Luna pulled away and looked at the rising sun saying, “okay, I really do have to leave now. But I promise I will give you that lucid dream you wanted some other time. I promise.”

Luna then opened the door and flew off into the sky before hanging to the right and disappearing from sight. Trixie was thankful for finally getting to meet Princess Luna in person and thanking her.

Trixie heard some hoof steps coming up the stairs and she was distracted from her thoughts as Rarity said, “oh thank Celestia you didn’t run away. Trixie I have something I need to discuss with you right away.”

Trixie didn’t turn to face her but said, “what is it?”

Rarity found a spot to sit next to her and said, “I’m sorry.”

That was not exactly what Trixie had expected to hear from Rarity. Trixie turned and asked, “what?”

Rarity simply looked out the window and explained, “we were so terrible to you…I said that unicorns need to have grace, and well…I was lacking in that quality when I assaulted your show. I was the first one to speak, I didn’t even give your show a chance. If I had kept my loud mouth shut, then maybe you would have had a better time in Ponyville.”

Trixie wasn’t sure how to handle an apology like this, so did the only thing she could, the only thing she ever could. Trixie wrapped a leg around Rarity and said, “I for-“

Rarity stood suddenly and said, “no you cannot simply forgive me, what I have done to you is absolutely abhorrent, you need to punish me.” Rarity was quiet for a moment with a contemplative look on her face. Rarity quickly said, “hit me.”

Trixie tilted her head to the side and said, “what?”

Rarity grabbed one of Trixie’s legs and touched it to her face while saying, “I deserve only the worst from you, so hit me. I will not hold it against you, no matter how badly you hurt me. Even a black eye will be forgiven.”

Trixie refused to hit Rarity, but she had another idea for a fitting punishment. Trixie began petting Rarity’s soft white fury cheek and said, “I won’t hurt you, but if you do intend to make this up to me there is only one way. Go ask Maud if you can join in a threesome with us. Don’t worry she’s been looking for a third party member for awhile now.”

Rarity’s white face turned pink and she said, “I-I-I um…oh darling I don’t know if…are you sure?”

“That is the only way we can truly make things up with one another,” Trixie said gently.

Rarity struck a determined expression and said, “then I shall ask her permission for this threesome. It will happen and then I will be forgiven.”

Rarity then stalked off and disappeared down the stairs. The second that Rarity was out of earshot Trixie burst into a fit of laughter. Maud might actually agree to this, but Trixie wouldn’t. It would be hilarious to see how this plays out, maybe this was a little mean but at least Trixie wouldn’t have to hurt the sexy unicorn. Speaking of sexy things, there was something that Trixie needed to take care of, and to Tartarus with the consequences.

Trixie made her way downstairs and found the others all sitting down. They all looked ashamed of their past behavior, and tried to apologize to Trixie the second she walked into the room. Except for Maud who was looking at Trixie with a flat expression, Trixie expected that Maud was waiting for Trixie to come down and get her.

“I forgive all of you for everything you have ever done,“ Trixie said.

Trixie then walked over the Maud and turned around. She made sure to sway her tail in just the right way for Maud to get a nice view before wrapping her tail gently around Maud’s neck and saying, “come on, Maud.”

Trixie lead Maud out of the room and everypony looked very surprised to see this behavior from Trixie. Rainbow Dash asked, “where are you two going?”

Trixie turned to face her, and noticed Maud’s eyes leering down at Trixie’s rump. A slight blush was on Maud’s face, another secret victory for Trixie. Trixie said, “we are going to the bathroom.” Trixie then left the room with Maud hot on her tail, literally.

Chapter Forty Three: The Stars Will Shine

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Three: The Stars Will Shine
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie Lay on Twilight’s bathroom floor, with Maud spooning her. Maud’s dress had been tossed into the corner the second they had reached the bathroom. Trixie’s face felt like it was on fire as she slowly began to realize exactly what she had just done…everything else aside, having sex in your friends bathroom…that was a surely breaking a few boundaries.

The bathroom itself was huge, Trixie couldn’t even figure out why one pony would need a restroom this big, it was as big as a bed room. Maud’s nuzzling distracted Trixie long enough for her to ask, “did you guys really see…all of my dream?”

Maud kissed Trixie’s cheek lightly before admitting, “yes.”

“Ugh…I can’t believe I did all that…do you hate me now?” Trixie asked as she lay in Maud’s warm loving embrace.

“No,” Maud replied.

“But I was dreaming of you and your sister…in a sexual way…aren’t you mad at me?” Trixie asked.

“No, I’m not. It’s perfectly normal to have fantasies like that. My sister might be a little round in the middle, but I have to admit that she’s attractive. I’m glad that she isn’t very sexually active, that way I don’t worry so much,” Maud explained.

Trixie rolled over and looked Maud in the eyes and said, “Maud, your sister has a box of sex toys underneath her bed…I think she is more active then you think.”

“Lulu, she mostly uses those on herself…she only has sex with the ponies she trusts with all of her heart. She isn’t like me, she is very shy around ponies she doesn’t consider close enough to be family,” Maud explained.

Trixie groaned at the mention of family, she still remembered fantasizing about Maud and Pinkie. Maud kissed Trixie gently on the lips and asked, “do you really want a threesome with me and my sister?”

There were no words for Trixie to say as her brain shut down. If she was hearing this correctly then Maud might actually be offering to do something tantalizingly taboo. Trixie sat up and instead of replying calmly in a cool collected mater she shrieked, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

Maud just lay on her side and smiled at Trixie. After a few seconds of silence Trixie’s heart was pounding ever faster in her chest, her breathing sped up, and she said, “that would be wrong, and disgusting, and weird, oh Celestia it would be so weird.”

“I would only do something like this for you, Lulu. I know I could convince Pinkie Pie to say yes, if you wanted it that is,” Maud said.

Trixie couldn’t respond properly to Maud’s words. She wanted to say no, she wanted to say that this was something they should never do, what she actually said was, “I-I-I um I don’t know.”

Maud sat up and leaned closer to Trixie, Maud’s hot breath fell upon her neck as she said, “I know that you want to say yes. It’s something just wrong enough that you really want it, don’t you?”

Trixie’s brain refused to work, and she didn’t know what to think. There was no way that Trixie could ever actually do something like this…right…Trixie opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Maud began gently kissing Trixie’s neck, and Trixie’s hooves curled. The mixture of emotions, were causing her brain to not work properly and her body to feeling hot. There had to be some reason why Maud was doing this to her. After a few more seconds Trixie found herself enjoying Maud’s kissing thoroughly and she moaned, “yes.”

Maud pulled away and said, “alright, I’ll get her to join us. I’ll also make sure she brings frosting for you.”

Trixie sat there her brain now completely dead, she didn’t mean yes to the threesome, she meant yes the kissing was good. She turned her head and watched Maud get dressed before walking out the bathroom door. Trixie opened her mouth and again no words could come out, as Maud left and Trixie found herself sitting there in disbelief…this was going to happen now, wasn’t it?

Much later in the day Trixie was sitting inside of Twilight’s tree-castle and looking out one of the windows. Apparently the group of friends had started this tradition of eating a big dinner together about once a month. It sounded nice, and the fact that they invited both Maud and her was even better.

The smell of the food coming from the kitchen was delectable to say the least. Trixie couldn’t believe she was going to get to gorge herself on free food tonight. After tonight though, it looked like she was going to need to head back with Maud and start moving all there stuff here to Ponyville.

“You okay, Trixie?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah…I’m just contemplative right now…I can’t believe that after all the crap I’ve been through, things are actually really good for once, I mean really, really good,” Trixie said.

“Yeah…I can’t believe it either. It looks like we finally broke the seasonal curse,” Twilight said.

“What’s that?” Trixie asked.

“I noticed that about once every three months or so, we get attacked by some huge monster or disaster. It was escalating drastically until Lord Tirek…but it’s been so long since everything exploded. I fully expected Scath to bring in an army of shadow monsters and for us to have to use the elements of harmony yet again…,” Twilight explained.

“Hmm…sounds like you have had a rough time being a hero, I guess it isn’t as good as one would think,” Trixie said.

“Not even close. It kinda sucks being the hero, but I don’t have a choice,” Twilight said. She was quiet for a few moments before asking, “you said something about blood magic earlier…is there a reason you asked.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t already know. My magic is all screwed up, and I’m apparently using blood magic now…what I wanted to know was if there was anything you could do to help me?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah there are a few things I could try, I’ve suspected that you had blood magic…but it was too scary to test for. After being inside your head though, I believe you are right, and that you are using blood magic. I have no idea how this happened, or if there was any one thing that did this to your magic, or if was multiple cumulative effects. Either way, I have a few ideas. The best one I can offer right now, is to teach you how to use blood magic without nearly killing yourself,” Twilight said.

Trixie smiled and said, “thank you…it would mean so much to me if I could use magic again.”

“You know that stage that Scath was using. Well it turns out it’s a transforming stage/wagon. Like the one you used to own, nopony really knew what to do with it…but I have an idea if you’re interested,” Twilight said.

Trixie looked her, curiosity and excitement was rising in her chest. Trixie nodded and Twilight asked, “do you want to keep it?”

Trixie jumped into the air and shouted, “YES!”

When she landed Twilight began giggling and said, “then it’s yours. Just try and be careful not to hurt yourself using any magic, not until after I teach you how to use it properly that is.”

Trixie couldn’t help but to wrap both of her forelegs around Twilight’s neck and pull her into an embrace saying, “thank you so much. I never thought that I would get another wagon…this is…it’s…I don’t have any words to describe just how awesome this is. Twilight you are the best princess.”

Twilight pulled away and said shyly, “well…I don’t know about ‘best’.”

The eight ponies plus one dragon sat around a dinner table in Twilight’s dining hall, and despite how large the room was the dining table was rather small. Mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed vegetables, bread rolls, and all sorts of other things served to entice Trixie. Every single bit of food smelled so lovely that she wanted to eat it all, and she was determined to try her best to do just that.

The ponies talked, the ponies ate, and most importantly they all had fun. Trixie loved seeing everypony so happy together, so close to one another. It was like they had all become family, and it was only strengthened by the fact that Trixie was legitimate family to at least one pony at the table.

“Hey, Trixie, you look like you have something to say,” Rainbow Dash said.

Trixie had a mouth full of food, but she swallowed it and said, “I’m enjoying this. Dinner with all of you girls, it’s lovely. I didn’t think I’d ever get to have a…family, not before I became friends with all of you anyways. I still remember how awkward everything was…and you know what? I’m grateful for all of you. Thank you girls; for being my friends, and for being my family.”

Everypony smiled at Trixie’s kind words. Rarity stood up on her hind legs, and lifted her wine glass up saying. “A toast, to our most wonderful friend, a little sister to all of us here; Trixie Lulamoon, thank you for joining us tonight, and for forgiving our past aggressions.”

Everypony agreed with Rarity’s words, and then Rarity took another drink of her wine and nearly lost her balance. She sat back down before saying, “maybe I’ve been enjoying myself a little too much tonight.”

Rainbow Dash laughed and said, “nah, you’re not drunk yet.”

Applejack added, “Ah think you might want to slow down on the wine sugarcube, you get a might bit silly when you drink too much.”

Rarity replied, “I am not getting drunk, just a little tipsy. And I don’t ever drink too much, a real mare does not disgrace herself in such a way.”

Applejack rolled her eyes and said, “yeah, that’s what you always say, next thing yer gonna say is that green is actually okay for a mane color.”

Rarity put a hoof to her chin and stuck out her lower lip in thought before saying, “you know, it’s not actually that bad of a color, so long as your fur matches. I mean Daisy is still cute and she’s pink and green.”

Applejack hoof faced and said, “Ah knew it.”

Pinkie Pie looked at Fluttershy and said, “so…tell me what you’re thinking?”

Fluttershy looked up from her plate. Fluttershy’s muzzle was covered in food, and she was still chewing on her last bite. It occurred to Trixie that Fluttershy had been eating a lot during the feast tonight. After Fluttershy swallowed she said, “this food is delicious. Who made it?”

Applejack raised a hoof and admitted, “it was me and Pinkie who made most of the food.”

Fluttershy smiled and said, “it’s really good, thank you, Applejack, Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight stifled a giggle as she levitated a napkin over to Fluttershy and said, “Fluttershy, you might want this.”

Fluttershy grabbed the napkin and studied it for a few seconds before her face when red and she quickly began cleaning the food off of her muzzle. Rainbow Dash laughed again and said, “that’s our Fluttershy, put some good food in front of her, and she forgets all about manors. I swear sometimes you forget that silverware exists.”

Applejack said, “now that taint fair, Rainbow, this here is good cookin, and Fluttershy only forgot to use a spoon when eating once.”

Fluttershy looked embarrassed and almost like she wanted to run and hide for a few moments. Fluttershy looked back down at the food on her plate, and seemed to forget her embarrassment as she began digging in again. If it wasn’t for the fact that Trixie had tasted the food already, not to mention her ability to read emotions, she would’ve assumed that Fluttershy was eating to hide from her embarrassment.

Truth was though, that the Fluttershy really did enjoy good food. Although Trixie had the feeling that Fluttershy only let herself enjoy food like this in the company of her closest friends, Trixie couldn’t imagine Fluttershy acting like this in front of Celestia. Celestia on the other hoof would be muzzle deep in the cake, if there was any.

After the dinner Trixie sat on the balcony staring out over Ponyville. The sun was almost gone from the sky, and the stars stood out as shinning, beacons of light. Maud was sitting at Trixie’s side. The cool wind breezed by and Trixie began feeling cold. Maud got behind Trixie and wrapped her legs around Trixie’s waist. Maud held Trixie tightly as the two of them looked out over the town.

“You know I’ve wanted to share the night sky with you for a long time now,” Trixie said as she stared up.

Maud was quiet for a few seconds as she snuggled herself into Trixie’s back. Maud then said, “I’m glad to share this moment with you, Lulu.”

A few quiet moments passed by before Pinkie Pie walked out and stood next to them. Trixie looked over at Pinkie and saw a green plaid quilt in her mouth. Pinkie Pie was balancing two cups of hot chocolate on her rump. Maud let go of Trixie and the cold air hitting her back made Trixie shiver. Maud grabbed the blanket from Pinkie Pie and then sat down next to Trixie before wrapping the quilt around the two of them. The quilt was nice and warm, and Maud had wrapped a hoof around Trixie’s waist pulling her closer.

Pinkie Pie set the cups of hot chocolate down before them. Pinkie Pie then turned and trotted away saying, “good luck, Maud.”

Trixie didn’t know what Pinkie Pie was talking about but she was used to the pink one’s crazy by now. She just lay in Maud’s warm embrace for the longest time, watching the sun disappear from the sky. The stars were shining ever so brightly tonight.

“Trixie…I have a question to ask you…a big one,” Maud said nervously.

Trixie was resting her head on Maud’s strong shoulder, and was feeling all warm and cuddly. Trixie giggled a little bit as she said, “okay, ask.”

Maud was quiet for the longest time, Trixie didn’t feel scared though. She wasn’t sure why, but Maud, although nervous was giving off the warmest vibes she had ever felt from her special somepony. Maud finally asked in a very quiet voice, “will you marry me?”

Trixie’s brain did a hop, skip, and then a jump, as she analyzed the question. Trixie pulled back and looked up at Maud wondering if she had just heard correctly. Trixie quietly asked, “…are you serious?”

Maud looked very nervous and began to ramble, “it’s just that we’ve known each other for a year now, and we’ve been dating for a few weeks, and we’ve already promised to never leave each other’s side, and I really am in love with you, and I really mean it when I say that I want to marry you with all my heart, and-“

Trixie cut off Maud’s rambling with a kiss. When Trixie pulled away she smiled gently at Maud. She very carefully got out of the quilt, and moved the hot chocolate a few feet away from the two of them. Trixie then returned to Maud’s side and said, “I only ever have one answer for you ,Maud.”

Maud’s eyes looked deeply into Trixie’s and Trixie suddenly couldn’t keep herself calm anymore. Trixie began bouncing repeatedly into the air while screaming, “YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!”

When Trixie finally stopped she looked at Maud and said, “you are the most wonderful pony in all of Equestria, and that makes me the most luckiest pony for having you by my side.”

There were tears running down Maud’s face as she smiled. Trixie smiled back and quickly kissed Maud again. Trixie’s brain suddenly turned on again and she asked, “are we having an earth pony traditional marriage or a unicorn high class one?”

Maud looked a little confused and asked, “what one do you want?”

Trixie grinned and said, “earth pony traditional. After all it would be a little awkward if we had a unicorn one, considering you’re an earth pony. Oh and earth pony traditional is more family oriented, and…oh sweet Celestia, I love you so much, Maud.”

Trixie felt more excited then she had ever been in her whole life, and it was hard for her to continue sitting down next to Maud when all she wanted to do was dance, and sing, and proclaim her love for Maud to the stars. Trixie fought her excitement down just enough so that she could enjoy sitting down next to Maud, wrapped up in that warm quilt. They sat together quietly, peacefully drinking their hot chocolate, and watching the stars. Today had truly been the best day in Trixie’s entire life. She was getting married!

End of Act Two.

Act Three. Chapter Forty Four: Stories of the Farm

HEART OF STONE
Act Three: Freezing Point
Chapter Forty Four: Stories of the Farm
Written by TheCrimsonDM

A few days had passed since Trixie’s engagement, since then both Maud and Trixie had moved their furniture and personal items into the new house in Ponyville. Trixie had almost no time to spend on things other than moving the past couple of days but they were finally finished. Trixie stood on her new porch admiring the little river running nearby.

“So do you like it here?” Maud asked flatly from Trixie’s side.

Trixie looked away from the river to face Maud. Trixie gave a small smile to Maud and said, “Do I? Of course I do, I love it here. And with this,” Trixie said while motioning to the gray ribbon tied around her left foreleg.

Maud looked down at the blue ribbon that was tired around her own left foreleg. These ribbons were a sign of their commitment to one another, and to Trixie it meant the entire world. Maud smiled at the ribbon and said, “I guess we will have a lot of things to do now.”

Trixie’s face adopted a sly grin as she said, “A lot of things indeed.” Trixie then walked inside the house and looked back at Maud and said, “Let’s make this place feel a little more like home.” Trixie began sweeping her tail back and forth rapidly in excitement.

Maud sniffed at the air a few times before looking Trixie in the eyes and saying, “Oh, okay.”

Maud followed Trixie back into the house and straight to the bedroom. This was their new home and Trixie was determined to do everything that she wanted to do in it, and Maud was not against the idea.

The two ponies lay on the bed exhausted, hot, and drenched in sweat. Maud was resting her head on Trixie’s chest again and Trixie stroked her lover’s mane gently. Maud was holding on loosely to Trixie. “Wow, you’ve gotten really good at this,” Maud said.

“I think it’s because of my confidence level,” Trixie said.

The two of them stayed in bed, cuddling in silence for a few minutes before Maud began moving her hoof down across Trixie’s belly and back underneath the sheets. Trixie let out a squeak as Maud’s hoof crossed a very tender region on her body.

“Maud, stop it. We just did this and I want to cuddle,” Trixie stated.

“Sorry, I was just looking for something,” Maud said.

Trixie looked down at Maud’s left foreleg and knew exactly what Maud was looking for. Trixie stretched her foreleg over and grabbed the blue ribbon that she had placed carefully on the night stand. Trixie gave it back to Maud and gently said, “I put it away safely so that you wouldn’t lose it, honey.”

Maud smiled up at Trixie and said, “Thank you.”

After a few minutes of cuddling Trixie let out a sigh and said, “You know I worked on your father’s farm…but do you know how I got there?”

Maud wrapped her hooves a little tighter around Trixie and said, “No.”

“Well after the whole event at Ponyville, I was in debt and the news of the ‘mane six’ disliking my show spread like wildfire. Apparently most ponies call our friends the ‘mane six’ and I don’t know if they realize it yet, but they are famous for saving the world on multiple occasions,” Trixie explained. “Well as it turns out, anything they say carries a lot of weight. So when they attacked my show and my performance, they completely destroyed my reputation.

“I didn’t do myself any real favors though, you see after that incident I was stressed out. My shows quickly became more erratic, and when I was heckled I would react more violently. One time I set some stallion’s mane on fire for calling me a ‘burn out’. I thought it was ironic. After that though I simply couldn’t get any gigs…so I began wandering, lost and alone.

“Eventually, and this was nearly two years ago now I came across the provenance of New Slate. It was winter, and the snow was building up. It almost never snows in the badlands, but it did that year and it was terrible. I got caught in a storm and eventually I passed out.

“I woke up somewhere nice and warm, my body was in pain but I was warm. There were two ponies there, one of them was Igneous Rock, and the other was Cloudy Quartz, your father and mother. It turns out that their daughters were staying with somepony for a little bit, while they kept an eye on the farm. They had saved me from dying, and Igneous spoke his first, and last words to me when I woke up. He said, ‘you will be safe here’.

“I don’t know why but I believed him, the stallion that never spoke a word was one of the few to be nice to me after Ponyville. Although your father never spoke, your mother did quite a lot. After I recovered they let me stay with them at the farm, I worked out in the fields alongside Igneous. It was quiet, peaceful, and safe. But I needed my show back, I needed my life back. I worked there until I got the money together to buy something that I thought would help me.

“The Alicorn Amulet. I originally wore it because I thought it would help me become a better magician, but the second I put it on…it was like my mind was scattered. I remember only bits and pieces of what it was like when I wore it, but I remember clearly the hatred that filled my heart. My heart became dark, in an instant I went from wanting to run a magic show to wanting to destroy Twilight’s reputation…like she and her friends had done to me.” When Trixie finally finished Maud tightened her grip around Trixie.

Maud said, “You’re never going to get over what they did to you are you? Even my sister…”

“Pinkie Pie is my sister too, and she never did anything to hurt me…in fact her words about the rock farm really helped me. So I will never hold anything against her…never again anyway. The others though…Maud can you keep a secret for me?” Trixie asked her heart full of worry.

“Of course, Lulu…I always will,” Maud promised.

Trixie was silent for a few moments before saying, “I won’t ever forget what those three did to me. And it’s a battle, every time I am reminded of what happened, for me not to hate them. Fluttershy didn’t deserve that, Pinkie Pie was nice to me, Twilight was trying to stay out of it, and those three attacked me. This is really hard for me, but if I can befriend them, if I can continue to forgive them…then I prove to everypony…even myself…that I really am a good pony.”

Maud was silent for a few moments as Trixie’s heart began beating ever faster. She loved those six ponies, but it was so hard for her to not to hate them at the same time…it was all so confusing for her. They had hurt her terribly, they had been nice to her, they had befriended her even…but in the end she only saw a giant ball of confused hate, love, respect, and worst of all fear, whenever she thought about them.

“Maud, honey…I’m scared of them,” Trixie said at length.

“Don’t be, they won’t dare hurt you again like that,” Maud explained.

“But what if they do?” Trixie asked.

“Then I will beat an apology out of them. Trixie I was angry with them at first, and at some level I still am…but I know how badly they feel about this,” Maud said flatly. “They will do anything they can to make up with you. I’m more worried about how far they are willing to go in order to apologize to you, I’m afraid they might go to some extremes to gain your forgiveness, they might even hurt themselves.”

Trixie was quiet for a few long moments as she took this information in. She couldn’t deny that these ponies were legitimately insane enough to hurt themselves in the name of friendship. In fact according to Twilight’s journal they had already gone and done some horrible things like that before. Especially to Fluttershy who seemed to be their punching bag, next to Pinkie Pie however who received even worse treatment. Trixie didn’t like reading the book sometimes, but at least the group usually learned their lessons.

Trixie let out another deep sigh as she said, “You’re right. I will try my best to not hold this against them, I don’t want them to hurt themselves ov-“ Trixie stopped talking midsentence to squeak as she felt a very soft hoof touching something very sensitive. Maud leaned her head up and kissed Trixie deeply, then Maud kissed Trixie’s cheek. Maud lowered her head and kissed Trixie’s neck, followed by her chest.

“Are you re-“ Maud stopped talking for a second and using her free hoof pulled a blue hair out of her mouth.

“That’s disgusting,” Trixie said.

“That’s what happens when we kiss,” Maud said before ducking her head under the covers.

Trixie let out a loud moan as her thoughts were completely destroyed by what Maud was doing. It was so nice to not be stuck at Pinkie’s house and having to wait until they were alone, or ask for permission for this kind of behavior. Now Trixie could have Maud anytime she wanted to, and her need for Maud’s touch was increasing lately.

Chapter Forty Five: Time for Answers

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Five: Time for Answers
Written by TheCrimsonDM

It’s been a few days since Trixie officially moved into Ponyville, and she had finally found the time to visit Timequill. It was time for some answers. That’s why Trixie now stood in front of Timequill’s office door staring at the door handle. She wasn’t entirely sure that she was ready to learn about her father, especially considering that she had met him only after dying. Trixie took in a deep breath and grabbed the handle. She then walked in, bracing herself for whatever information she was going to learn.

Timequill sat behind his desk reading a book. He glanced up at Trixie and smiled at her as she entered. “How are you doing, Trixie? Did you come to set up an appointment with me?” He asked kindly.

“No, I actually came here with another purpose in mind…and I’ll need to consult with Maud before setting up our next appointment, it would only be right,” Trixie replied.

Timequill looked at the gray ribbon tied around Trixie’s left foreleg, his smile increasing as he said, “I’m glad to see things are going well for you two.”

Trixie couldn’t help but grin when she heard his words. Trixie quickly looked around making sure that she was alone in here before jumping into the air exclaiming, “We’re getting married!”

Timequill kept his smile as he said, “That sounds wonderful. You deserve it, Trixie.”

Trixie took a deep breath and calmed her heart before saying, “I have questions for you, Timequill…and I really need answers.”

His smile faded a little as he said, “What’s on your mind?”

“What happened to my father? And where is he now?” Trixie asked.

Timequill’s expression hardened as he said, “I assume this means you learned about Celestia’s heroes.” At Trixie’s nod he continued, “I don’t know where Moonlight went, about twelve years ago he left, and after that nopony was able to find him. I tried to look for him myself for awhile, but was unable to find him, it was almost like he disappeared without a trace…but considering his skill set, it isn’t hard to imagine.”

Trixie sat down and felt her hopes withering away as she asked, “So you really don’t know anything about where he ran off to?”

“I’m sorry…if I did I would tell you,” Timequill said. “Before your father left, he told a select few of us to keep an eye on you. If we should ever meet you, we were to help you any way we could. Me, Kilic, and Gear Dasher…we vowed to help you out if we could.”

“How come you never told me?” Trixie asked, she made sure to look Timequill in his green eyes.

“You rarely talk about your father, it’s a sensitive topic for you, and I will always respect your space. It also didn’t help that you were in such rough shape when you first came to me, I didn’t want to upset you with anything shocking,” Timequill explained. He was quiet for a few seconds before he said, “You know, I’ve been waiting for a long time now…to have this conversation with you. I wasn’t keeping any secrets from you, I was only waiting until you were ready.”

Trixie could understand why he didn’t tell her sooner. It probably would have done much more harm then good for her to learn about Timequill’s connection to her father any sooner. If it hadn’t been for Maud, and her friends…well she might not have been able to handle this yet. As it was though, she wanted to know more, and more wasn’t going to happen here.

“I know, thank you for telling me…I just wish there was some way to find out what happened with him,” Trixie said somberly.

“Morning Veil was the last one to see him, it turns out that when your father left, he asked Morning for his help in finding somepony. I don’t know any of the details, but Morning helped your dad, and then your dad was gone. You could try asking him if you ever meet him,” Timequill explained.

Trixie forced as small smile as she looked at Timequill. Her hopes of learning anything now were destroyed, but maybe she could still learn something later on. Morning Veil, now that was a name that Trixie wasn’t going to forget anytime soon.

Trixie stood up and said, “Thank you. I still got things to do today, but this was…something.” Trixie then turned around and left.

An hour later Trixie sat in Twilight’s living room while the purple princess walked circles around her. Twilight’s horn was glowing softly as she used a spell to examine Trixie. Trixie had been sitting still for what was beginning to feel like an eternity until finally she had enough of this. “Twilight, are you just going to walk around in circles all day, or are you going to tell me what you found?” Trixie asked.

Twilight stood still and her horn stopped glowing suddenly. “Trixie, I’m a little unsure of what exactly has happened to your body. It looks like you have had a lot of things happen that have transformed your magic into something very different. I theorize that your magic was originally hindered by your fight with the Ursa Major, and then the dark magics that were inside of me gave you access to magic that you shouldn’t be able to use…that nopony should be able to use. The destruction of the Black Pillar however must have been the final nail in your magic’s coffin.

“That being said, your magic is actually beginning to return to normal…slowly. I believe that even though it might be hard at first, you can eventually relearn how to use some minor spells again. The higher level spells…those might take years to return…if it’s even possible for you to use them ever again,” Twilight finished lamely.

There really weren’t words to describe just how low Trixie’s heart was sinking at the thought of never being able to use her big magic tricks ever again. The small amount of solace she could take in being able to use small spells with time just wasn’t enough when she remembered how much fun she had with illusions. Her dreams of being a magician again seemed very distant, more so than ever before.

“Trixie, will you be okay?” Twilight asked gently as she looked at Trixie.

Trixie forced a smile and said, “Yeah…I’ll be fine…”

Twilight turned her attention to behind Trixie as her eyes grew wide for a second, before lowering into a scowl. Twilight then said in a low voice, “So…you’re getting pretty tall. I wonder why that’s happening.”

Trixie turned around to see Spike walk into the room. He was at least a head taller then he had been last time Trixie had seen him. And that was just a few days ago. Spike now stood at the same height as Trixie’s chin.

Spike looked a little nervous as he said, “I uh…I have no idea. Maybe I’m just growing up?”

Trixie thought back to what little she actually knew about dragons. They were creatures of magic, rumored to grow to the size of small houses in a matter of a few years. Their minds were also supposed to be far older than their bodies could ever indicate. Dragons were strange magical creatures, and not native to Equestria. So Spike jumping in height could be a normal thing for as far as she knew, but then again nothing about dragons was normal.

“If I find out that you are keeping another horde somewhere, I’m going to be very cross with you Spike,” Twilight threatened.

Spike folded his arms and said, “Yeah, and if you keep me small forever, then Rarity will never treat me right.”

“We are not having this argument again, especially not in front of Trixie,” Twilight said, ending with a stomp of her hoof.

“You’re right, we aren’t,” Spike said before turning around and walking away. “I’m too old to be treated like this by you.”

“That little,” Twilight growled under her breath as Spike left the room.

Trixie felt the need to ask, “How old is he?”

Twilight looked away from where Spike had left and said, “He is eleven years old, and he is getting on my nerves.”

“Wait, Spike is eleven years old, and he is still that small?” Trixie gasped.

“Yes, why? Is there something wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Well yeah, from my knowledge on the subject, dragons are supposed to be very large by the time they are eleven,” Trixie explained. “Why is he still so small?”

“Well…dragons get larger based on the size of their horde,” Twilight explained.

“He must have a small horde then,” Trixie said.

“Actually he doesn’t have a horde,” Twilight said pridefully.

Trixie was quiet for a few moments before she finally said, “So what you’re saying is, that Spike the dragon doesn’t have a horde. The most basic need, and instinct of all dragons is a horde, and he doesn’t have one…and you think that it’s okay? Twilight, that’s like changing the nature of an animal because you didn’t like what it was eating. It’s horrible and wrong.”

Twilight stared at Trixie with a dumbfounded look for a few minutes before finally saying, “Um…what if I already did that to an animal…twice?”

Trixie face hoofed and said, “Twilight, just let him be. Maybe if he was a little bigger he could help out around the castle more…or something. I’m sure he hates being the small one and all.”

Twilight sat down and said, “I’ll give him a chance, just one. You’re right, he needs to grow, I just wanted him to be…my, baby dragon…but…”

“There is a time when every parent need’s to let go, Twilight. And I think that it’s about time you do that for Spike,” Trixie said trying to comfort her friend.

Twilight looked into Trixie’s eyes, and Trixie could see the sadness in them. “Will he still be mine?”

“He will always be yours. You’re his mother, Twilight, and he will always love you…but he needs to grow up too. Just like the rest of us,” Trixie said.

Twilight wrapped her hooves around Trixie and embraced her. Trixie returned the hug and said in a gentle voice, “I’m here to talk to you if you need it.”

“Thank you, Trixie,” Twilight said in a quiet voice.

Chapter Forty Six: It Finally Happened

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Six: It Finally Happened
Written by TheCrimsonDM

A week had passed since Trixie’s last meeting with Twilight, and now she was getting impatient waiting for help from the princess. Twilight had promised to help her learn how to control her blood magic but Twilight has also been putting it off. Trixie was reaching the point where she was going to march in and force Twilight’s hoof on the matter. Right now however Trixie had only one thing she wanted to do; get out of the snow.

It was beginning to snow here in Ponyville, and right in the middle of a nice long walk too. Trixie scurried home as fast as her legs would take her, and the snow was increasing in strength. At this rate the snow might turn into a blizzard. Why were the pegasi making it snow this much, right now, and without warning?

Trixie made it home and slammed the door shut behind her. Trixie was shaking uncontrollably from the cold, and had snow stuck to her fur and mane. This was not fun. Trixie called out, “Maud, I’m cold.”

She only had to wait a second before she heard a reply from Maud, “I’m in the bedroom.”

Trixie walked to the bedroom and swung the door open and stopped. She looked inside and saw Maud lying on her side in the middle of the bed. Pinkie Pie was on Maud’s left and had her lower half underneath the covers. Rarity was on Maud’s right and rested her head on her foreleg looking a little embarrassed.

“What…what the Tartarus is going on?” Trixie asked her brain doing a metaphorical pirouette off of the metaphorical table.

Maud looked at her and said flatly, “I told you that I would give you a threesome with Pinkie Pie, and Rarity wanted in as well.”

Trixie stared flatly at the three of them with the realization of exactly what she was looking at creeping on her. Trixie opened her mouth and said, “Buh wha?”

Nopony answered for a moment, all of them looking a little more embarrassed by the second until Pinkie Pie pulled out a can of whipped cream from who knows where. “I brought the whipped cream…so you know you can do that thing…and um…stuff…” Pinkie looked rather embarrassed by the time she finished.

Trixie stood still for a few more seconds but her now wet and freezing cold fur was getting to her. She wasn't sure how to feel about this, it all felt too sudden. Should she be happy with Maud's attempt, freak out because this was weird, or be angry with coming home to a group of ponies lying in her bed. No mater how she thought about this, it just wouldn't make sense. Cold, confused, and just wanting to spend some quality time with Maud...Trixie decided to settle on being angry.

Trixie looked at Rarity and said, “I was only joking about the threesome thing. I wasn’t serious.” Trixie then looked at Maud and explained, “And I never actually agreed to do this, you just misunderstood me.” Trixie finally looked at Pinkie Pie and said, “And you…you can leave the whipped cream here when you leave.”

“Lulu, I know that you want to do this,” Maud said flatly.

Trixie turned around and said, “Nope.” Trixie then walked away and toward the front door.

Trixie opened the front door and a gust of harsh wind assaulted her with snow. Trixie quickly shut the door and turned around now covered in snow from head to tail said, “I hate snow.”

Four awkward ponies sat around the living room with Trixie wrapped up tightly in a blanket and sitting on a couch next to Maud. It seemed that aside from Maud, nopony was capable of looking into each other’s eyes, or into Trixie’s for that matter. Trixie let out a sigh and took another sip of her hot chocolate before whispering to herself. “This is lovely, trapped in a snowstorm after a failed attempt at a four…some…this is lovely.”

“It doesn’t have to be a failed attempt, Lulu,” Maud offered.

Trixie was not pleased with this situation, and she was still angry. All she wanted to do was come home and cuddle with Maud, alone. Now she was stuck inside the house with these three, she was still freezing, and worse of all she was aroused with no way of dealing with it. So although it was hard, she was still trying her best to stay calm after all this. Trixie looked at Maud and said in a low tone, “Not now, I’m still upset with you about this. There’s freezing blizzard outside, and I’m cold and wet, and…never mind.”

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie Pie asked quietly.

“Oh just read my mind already, it should be pretty obvious what the problem is,” Trixie retorted.

Everypony was quiet for a few seconds before Maud said, “My sister can’t read minds.”

Rarity added, “It’s impossible to read minds, Trixie…”

A few long seconds passed before Pinkie Pie said, “Maybe you should take a bath? You know get warm, and take care of that problem of yours.”

Trixie set the cup down on the table very gently and then looked Pinkie in the eyes and said, “I’m cold, wet, and turned on right now. I refuse to have sex with the three of you, and with Maud surprising me like this I’m too angry to let her touch me either. My hooves don’t work as well, and I really want her touch, but I refuse to let her. So now I’m stuck like this and it makes me even more angry.”

“You’re only making yourself uncomfortable and angry because you want to be,” Maud said from Trixie’s side.

Trixie looked over to see Maud leaning in towards her, Trixie leaned backwards and felt her face warming up as Maud continued leaning in. Trixie fell onto her back and Maud climbed on top of her. Trixie tried to scoot further away but she was already at the edge of the couch. Maud leaned in and gently kissed Trixie on the lips.

Trixie closed her eyes tightly and fought the warm feelings that were building up inside her body. She refused to let Maud win here, this was her final stand. Trixie felt Maud kiss her again and Trixie felt herself becoming warmer, her brain was beginning to fill with fantasies. Trixie placed her hooves on Maud in an attempt to push her away but instead Trixie began kissing Maud back and the two started kissing furiously.

“Are these two always like this?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. Just wait a few minutes, Maud’s gonna convince Trixie to let us join in…and we did kinda agree to do this,” Pinkie Pie explained.

Trixie let out a breath as Maud kissed along her neck. Trixie’s body craved Maud’s touch, and the idea of saying no to anything at this point was nonexistent. Maud continued her kissing down Trixie’s chest and across her belly. Maud found a nice little place to kiss on Trixie and stopped suddenly. Trixie looked up at Maud with pleading eyes.

“Say yes, and I’ll continue,” Maud offered.

Trixie covered her eyes with her hooves and said, “No, it’s too embarrassing.”

“It won’t be any more embarrassing for you then it will for the rest of us. Just say yes,” Maud said.

Trixie refused to open her eyes, and she tried to fight her body as it told her to give in to Maud’s desires. She fought as hard as she could before finally saying in a quiet voice, barely even a whisper, “yes.”

Maud leaned in and her hot, heavy breaths fell against Trixie’s fur before Maud asked, “What did you say?”

“Yes,” Trixie said a little louder.

Maud’s hoof began sliding across the inside of Trixie’s thigh sending shivers of excitement through her body. Maud then said, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t hear you.”

“YES!” Trixie shouted. In a quieter voice Trixie added, “I’ll do anything you want, just please continue doing magical things to me.”

Trixie imagined that Maud was grinning right now as Trixie felt a kiss being placed ever so gently on her fur. Maud quietly said, “Alright.”

Trixie opened her eyes slowly and found herself lying in her bed. The room was exceptionally dark. She felt a little tired, and sore as she thought about what she was just dreaming about. It had been a strange dream indeed, with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Maud…but not a bad dream. Maud shifted a little next to Trixie and so Trixie rolled over and wrapped a foreleg around her special somepony.

Trixie nuzzled into Maud’s curly mane and took in her scent. Maud smelled like frosting, Trixie kissed the back of Maud’s neck and whispered, “I just had the best, weirdest dream.”

Pinkie Pie replied, “Mmm me too. There was frosting, lots of frosting.”

Chapter Forty Seven: Cold Consequence

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Seven: Cold Consequence
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie laid completely still as her grasp around Pinkie Pie tightened. The covers of the bed might have been warm, but they couldn’t compare to the heat of Pinkie’s body. Trixie couldn’t help but burry her muzzle into the back of Pinkie’s neck as she tried to stave off the cold. But even though she was warm under the blankets with Pinkie Pie she couldn’t go back to sleep yet.

The thought’s of every dirty act she had done with the other three wouldn’t leave her alone. She had just sunk to a new level of depravity, all the kissing, the touching, the licking, and oh sweet Celestia was Trixie still turned on. She held on a little tighter to Pinkie Pie and tried to forget about what she had done.

“Trixie, your cuddling me a little too tightly. Could you loosen your grip a little bit?” Pinkie Pie asked in a strained voice.

Trixie suddenly released her grip on Pinkie Pie and stayed quiet for a long moment before asking, “Did we really just do that?”

“Yep, and it was fun…fun…fun,” Pinkie Pie said in a quiet voice.

Trixie didn’t like the sound of Pinkie’s voice, or the way she had said that. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just the fact that I haven’t…done ‘that’ before…and…Trixie, am I a bad pony?” Pinkie asked her voice now full of worry.

“No you’re a wonderfully good pony, why would you even think of yourself as a bad pony?” Trixie said.

“Because I just had sex with my sister…I…oh crap…” Pinkie whispered. Pinkie Pie rolled over in the bed and faced Trixie and she stared with her soft blue eyes into Trixie’s. “I just did something really bad, and if my parents ever found out about this…they hate me enough already, they would disown me for this.”

Trixie closed her eyes and nuzzled pinkie’s nose. Trixie felt the shame and disappointment that was ebbing off of Pinkie’s heart. Trixie knew exactly how Pinkie Pie felt right now, this was supposed to just be a little night of fun and nopony even thought about the consequences. This was exactly why Trixie didn’t want to do this in the first place. She knew that feelings would get hurt afterwards, just not in this way.

“Pinkie Pie,” Trixie whispered.

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie said before sniffling.

“You are a good pony, this was just a crazy thing that happened okay. There was nothing wrong with this at all…it was just for fun. Now go to sleep like a good little pony, and if you need me I’m here for you,” Trixie comforted.

“But I’m the big sister, I’m supposed to take care of you. Not the other way around, this isn’t right,” Pinkie protested.

“Pinkie Pie, you have done so much for me already. Now let me take care of you for once,” Trixie said.

Pinkie Pie cuddled into Trixie, and found a place for her head to rest against Trixie’s chest. Trixie kissed the top of Pinkie’s head and held her tightly. After a few seconds Trixie could hear Pinkie crying softly and quietly. Trixie vowed to do everything she could to take care of Pinkie Pie, after all that Pinkie had done for her, she only felt that it was right to return the favor.

After Pinkie Pie fell asleep in Trixie’s embrace it was time to go and see where the other two had wandered off to. Trixie very carefully climbed out of bed, taking extra precaution to not wake Pinkie from her hard earned slumber. Trixie made her way to the door and took one look back at the sleeping pink pony on her bed and let out a sigh. If only she was stronger she could have stopped Pinkie from getting her feelings hurt, but she had to give in to temptation didn’t she?

Just outside the door Trixie found Maud and Rarity playing a card game on the table. Trixie took a seat next to them quietly and watched them play in silence. It looked like they were playing poker, and Maud was winning…of course. As the game played on the two ponies barely even glanced at Trixie, they were locked in a serious battle of luck, and skill.

The dark sky outside was red as though it was burning, but the snow coming down told another story. The clock on the wall read nine pm and Trixie realized that by having slept so long in the day, she might not get any good sleep tonight. The snow outside was building up on the window ledge and was almost pretty, for snow that is. Something was in the sky though. Something almost pony shaped was flying circles in the sky. Trixie lost sight of it just as quickly as see found it, and came to the conclusion that it was probably just some crazy pegasus checking on the weather down below.

As the two ponies continued playing Rarity began winning, by a lot. Even though Maud was unreadable, she also had a hard time reading others expressions. At some point Trixie felt hunger kick in and she made herself a daisy sandwich as the two continued their game.

Eventually the game was over and Rarity sat proudly with her winning hand on the table. Trixie knew that neither of them were actually that good at the game, Twilight could beat them in a heartbeat but that’s what math geniuses did to poker; they destroyed it. Finally now that the two of them were done playing they gave some attention to Trixie.

“Darling, did you want anything from us?” Rarity asked.

Trixie shook her head as she took another bite from her sandwich.

“Lulu, did you want some dinner?” Maud asked. “I made some while you were asleep.”

Trixie nodded and set the sandwich down, it was almost finished but Trixie hadn’t eaten anything since lunch today and after such extravagant activity she was starving. As Maud began heating up the dinner which smelled heavily of some kind of vegetable soup she finished her sandwich before talking to Rarity.

“So when did the pegasi say that this blizzard would end?” Trixie asked.

“They actually never announced this blizzard. I’ve been thinking it was a fluke in advertising but that’s just not like them,” Rarity said.

Trixie stared for a few moments at Rarity as she considered her words, however Trixie lost her concentration as she stared at Rarity’s pure white muzzle. She remembered how good Rarity was at kissing, and then Trixie’s eyes flowed down to Rarity’s forelegs and she thought about how gentle, yet pleasing Rarity was her hooves. Trixie’s eyes settled on Rarity’s flank and Trixie remembered what it felt like when Rarity had began-

“Trixie, are you okay?” Rarity asked abruptly.

“What?” Trixie said as she tried to focus on anything in the room other then Rarity’s sexy flanks.

“I asked you if you were okay, darling. You looked a little lost, and your eyes were wandering away from you,” Rarity explained with a wink.

Trixie’s face began heating up as she realized that Rarity knew exactly what Trixie had been thinking. Trixie tried to find anything that she could latch onto other then thought’s of shameful activities. Suddenly Pinkie’s shame came back to Trixie’s mind and her heart sunk. Looking back at Rarity and deeply into her eyes Trixie said quietly, “I think this was a mistake.”

Rarity nodded and said, “I was worried that you might not be able to handle this. Especially after everything that has happened to you, I’m sorry if I did anything to upset you.”

Trixie shook her head and said, “I’m not…upset. But it’s just that what we did together…it changes our friendship doesn’t it?”

“I would hope for the better, after all I know how much you dislike me,” Rarity said before looking away.

Trixie couldn’t help but ask, “How?”

“We were inside your mind, remember? After everything the three of us did to you, it would only make sense that you would have a hard time trusting us again,” Rarity answered.

“Look everything we did together, I’m fine with that but…what if I wasn’t the one who was actually hurt by this? What if somepony else was having trouble with this?” Trixie asked in a whisper, praying that Maud wouldn’t hear her just yet.

Rarity leaned in and said in a whisper, “I don’t get it? It was just you and me who were enthralled for a while in there. Shouldn’t you be the one feeling badly about the fact that you were with another pony. After all Maud was busy with Pinkie Pie and that can of whipped cream.”

“You mean that Maud was busy pleasing her sister,” Trixie whispered.

Rarity looked confused for a second, then thoughtful, and then a look of horror crept over every feature of her face as she whispered in such a low tone that Trixie barely caught the words, “Her…sister.”

The next half hour was filled with an uncomfortable silence as Trixie ate the wonderfully reheated dinner. At first Maud didn’t seem to notice that something was wrong but by now she was staring at Trixie and causing her to feel very awkward. Trixie wanted to tell Maud exactly what was wrong, but it turned out to be harder then she imagined to find the words that she needed to speak. Eventually Trixie found the courage to say, “Maud, we need to talk about what happened today.”

Maud continued staring at Trixie, and no matter how hard she tried Trixie just couldn’t meet Maud’s eyes. Trixie quietly said, “I…I think this was a mistake. I knew that there would be consequences for doing something like this, but I didn’t think they would be like this.”

“If you’re worried about having enjoyed being with the others, then don’t. It’s normal to enjoy it, Lulu.” Maud said.

“That’s not the problem, I’m just fine with all that but…um…” Trixie said.

“It’ll be fine, darling. Continue,” Rarity said.

Trixie took in a deep breath and exhaled while trying to calm herself for what she about to say. “Maud, you just had sex with your own flesh and blood…your sister. Don’t you think that there is anything wrong with that?”

Maud was silent for a few long moments and nopony could speak a word after that. Finally at great length Maud said, “But I did that for you, Lulu.”

Trixie felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she contemplated the idea that Maud would do anything for her, even this. Trixie closed her eyes tightly and said, “But don’t you think it was wrong?”

“You wanted to watch me do exactly that to Pinkie Pie, so I did it. I saw it in your dream, Lulu,” Maud said.

“But was it wrong?” Trixie asked again, this time taking a serious tone.

Maud was silent for a few seconds before lowering her eyes to the floor and saying, “…it was just sex…wasn’t it…”

Trixie saw a single tear running down Maud’s cheek. Maud had been trying to lie to herself about all of this being okay, hadn’t she? Trixie moved next to Maud and wrapped a foreleg around Maud’s shoulder and held her close. “It’s going to be okay. You just made a mistake, honey…that happens sometimes and then we learn from them.”

“But I hurt my sister again. Didn’t I?” Maud asked.

“Pinkie Pie will be okay, she really will I promise. This was an awkward thing that happened, but we don’t have to let it hurt our relationship with each other,” Trixie consoled. It was strange to be the one giving advice to the others for once, but maybe it was because Trixie understood mistakes better than anypony.

“At first…I just wanted to make you happy,” Maud said. “And then when we were in the middle of it all…I began to think…I…thought maybe I could make it up to her if…if only I was…good enough.”

“Maud, that’s silly…but ponies are silly sometimes. Pinkie loves you more than anything else in the whole, wide world, just making her feel ‘good’ isn’t going to change your relationship…at least not in the way that you want it to,” Trixie said.

“I hurt her again. I just wanted to make you happy, and I wanted to make her happy, and I wanted her to forgive me…I…I just screwed up everything,” Maud said quietly before resting her head against Trixie’s neck.

Trixie tightened her embrace around Maud a little bit before saying, “It’s going to be okay, you two just need to talk about your feelings.”

“I’m not good at talking about feelings,” Maud explained.

“You’re talking right now aren’t you?” Trixie pointed out.

“That’s because you’re special,” Maud said.

Trixie kissed the top of Maud’s head and said, “I know that you use sex as a way to communicate with ponies, you have done that since long before you met me. But that’s not healthy…you need to learn to explain your feelings with words, and I’ll help you if you want.”

Maud wrapped both her forelegs around Trixie and said, “I’d love that, I really would…but I…I have a question.”

“Yes, honey?” Trixie said.

“Was it really so bad…to let you live out one of your fantasies? Was it really that bad of me?” Maud asked, her voice tinted with worry and fear.

“No it wasn’t bad of you, honey. You just wanted to make everypony happy, and that is a wonderful thing to do. You don’t need to feel ashamed of that at all, you are a good pony,” Trixie said.

The bedroom door opened slowly and Pinkie Pie walked out. Pinkie’s face was wet with tears, and her eyes were red. Pinkie Pie looked at Maud and Trixie and said, “I just wanted to have f-f-fun…I didn’t think about what I would feel like afterwards.”

Pinkie Pie sat down and closed her eyes before cringing. Pinkie was fighting back her tears, and trying her best to not cry. Pinkie Pie however was losing that battle as the tears streamed down her face and she finally said, “Why does it feel so wrong.”

“Darling, shh it’s okay we’re here for you,” Rarity offered as she walked towards Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie wrapped her hooves around Rarity and began whimpering. “Please don’t tell her, please don’t tell her, please don’t tell her,” Pinkie Pie begged repeatedly.

“Don’t tell who?” Rarity asked.

“Fluttershy,” Pinkie Pie managed to say, just before breaking down into an inconsolable sobbing mess.

A cold icy sliver crawled its way down Trixie’s mane, across her spine and then through her tail as she heard the name, Fluttershy. Trixie opened her mouth and whispered, “Oh crap.

Chapter Forty Eight: Pinkie Clean

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Eight: Pinkie Clean
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The bathing room was a little smaller then Trixie had originally believed, it was actually the bath tub itself that was large as it took up over half of the room. As Trixie laid back, the water going over her shoulders she admired just how large the tub was. It was big enough for four ponies to fit in comfortably, although that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Trixie blew some of the bubbles away as she sat in the hot water letting it cleanse her of the filthy things she had done earlier.

A small splash followed by bubbles floating into Trixie’s view distracted her from her relaxation. She looked over at Pinkie Pie whose wet mane was drooping down and covering half of her face. Pinkie Pie was enjoying the bubbles and playing with them, she made a small tower of bubbles vaguely shaped like Twilight’s Tree Castle, and then Pinkie Pie smashed it with her hooves and giggled as the bubbles flew everywhere.

Despite the fact that this was originally supposed to be Trixie’s private bath time, she actually found herself enjoying Pinkie’s company. Maud had suggested that Trixie allow Pinkie Pie to bathe with her, and suggested a bubble bath as well. It turns out that Pinkie Pie loved bubble baths and the mere mention of one cheered her up. Letting Pinkie Pie bathe with her was the least she could do for the distraught mare.

“So, Trixie, do you want me to wash your back?” Pinkie Pie asked with a giggle.

As much as Trixie wanted to take Pinkie up on her offer, this wasn’t about her. Trixie sat up and said, “How about I wash your back instead?”

Pinkie Pie smiled and turned away from Trixie saying, “Sounds nice. I haven’t taken a bath with anypony since Maud was last in Ponyville.”

As Trixie moved closer to Pinkie Pie and grabbed some of the shampoo from the counter Trixie asked, “Do you and Maud take baths together a lot?”

Pinkie Pie was quiet for a few seconds as Trixie squeezed some shampoo onto Pinkie’s back, and began working the shampoo into her wet fur. Trixie wasn’t really used to doing this, usually when Maud and Trixie took baths they would forget about cleaning themselves. Trixie tired to be gentle with her hooves as she continued washing Pinkie’s back.

“We used too…last time I took a bath with her though, things got a little weird,” Pinkie explained quietly.

“What happened?” Trixie asked kindly as she felt Pinkie’s back tensing up.

“Maud happened. I don’t think it was on purpose but…something happened and it was weird. Can we talk about something else?” Pinkie asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“Of course, what do you want to talk about?” Trixie asked as she found herself beginning to massage Pinkie’s back. It was strange to consider Pinkie Pie having tension in her back, for some reason it just seemed like the acrobatic, bouncy pony, should never have tension in her muscles.

“Actually…I want to talk about this…I need to,” Pinkie Pie said. Trixie stayed quiet and continued working through Pinkie’s fur. “Trixie, is it weird that…Maud is so…I don’t really know how to say this nicely…”

“Then say it rudely, She’s your sister and I know how much you love her. Whatever you say won’t bother me,” Trixie said.

“Is it weird that she’s so perverted? I mean I do things with my friends sometimes but we are usually pretty quiet about it. I know my sister experiences things physically and all but sometimes she is really perverted and it…it scares me,” Pinkie Pie admitted.

Trixie was quiet for a few moments as she began washing the shampoo out of Pinkie’s fur. She decided if she was going to do this, she might as well go all the way. “Lean back a little.”

Pinkie Pie complied with Trixie’s order and then Trixie began rewetting Pinkie’s mane. As Trixie brought the shampoo back to get at Pinkie’s mane she said, “Sometimes Maud’s perversion worries me a little. Not because she’s perverted, but because she has no shame.” Pinkie Pie closed her eyes as Trixie began pouring shampoo into Pinkie’s mane. Trixie then added, “I used to think it was because Maud had a more healthy understanding of sex, but recently I’ve been thinking otherwise.”

“Yeah…I think Maud tried to have sex with me last time we took a bath together,” Pinkie Pie said.

Trixie stopped dead in her tracks and blinked a few times as her mind shut down. It took a few seconds but her brain rebooted and Trixie asked, “Maud did what to you?”

Pinkie was silent for a few seconds before saying in a quiet voice, “I didn’t say anything important.”

“No, you just told me that Maud tried to have sex with you. Pinkie Pie, what the hay happened?” Trixie asked a little more sternly then she had meant to.

“Maud was just lonely…or something. Maybe she was in heat, I don’t know. It wasn’t a big deal, I mean all she did was wash me…a lot,” Pinkie Pie said in a shaky voice.

“Pinkie Pie, how far did you two go?” Trixie asked in a very careful voice.

“Too far,” Pinkie answered.

“Tell me what happened. I won’t judge you, I promise,” Trixie said as she began washing the shampoo out gently.

“Maud’s hoof continued slipping when she was washing me, and then it would stay slipped until I moved it. Nothing really bad, but it was still weird, and the worst part was the heart broken look she had on her face when I told her to stop …I’m not mad with her or anything I just thought it was weird. I didn’t really put it all together until tonight. I just thought she was being clumsy…or something,” Pinkie explained.

“So what why did you join in the foursome if this bothered you so much?” Trixie asked.

“I thought it sounded like fun. Thought maybe I would end up spending most of my time with Rarity, it wouldn’t be the first time after all. But then Maud spent most of her time with me…and I enjoyed it. I mean I really enjoyed it, nopony has ever done that to me before…and that feels wrong,” Pinkie Pie said in a quiet voice.

“Look Pinkie Pie, everything we did tonight was going to end up feeling weird or wrong in one way or another. I feel horrible about the things I did with Rarity, but I won’t let it get to me because that’s exactly what happens when you do this kind of thing. I just didn’t want anypony’s feelings to be hurt…are your feelings hurt?” Trixie asked.

“No…not really. I’m just confused is all. Maybe I shouldn’t do anything like that again for awhile,” Pinkie Pie said.

Trixie was quiet as she turned around and sunk down into the water again. She just wanted to help Pinkie, but sadly this sounded like something that was only going to be worked out between Maud and Pinkie privately. And the idea of Maud having tried to be intimate with Pinkie Pie in the past was concerning.

Suddenly Trixie felt a pair of hooves rubbing her shoulders gently followed by Pinkie Pie saying, “Sit up and I’ll wash your back.”

Trixie didn’t argue and sat up so that Pinkie could have access. The shampoo was a little cold as it landed on Trixie’s back, but when Pinkie Pie began massaging it into her fur the sensation was lovely. Trixie decided it was time to ask her the other question, “Why don’t you want any of us to tell Fluttershy?”

Pinkie Pie didn’t stop massaging the shampoo in as she explained, “Because she has a crush on you. Fluttershy already has reason enough to hate me, but if she ever found out about this then she might attack me. Seriously, she doesn’t get angry often but when she does it’s terrifying.”

“I don’t think she would ever hurt you. You’re her friend after all,” Trixie said.

“Well I’ve been a crappy friend. You know how sometimes I open my mouth and say things that are a little hurtful?” Pinkie asked. With Trixie’s nod Pinkie continued, “Well I’ve said a lot of mean stuff to her. One time she got her revenge though and she called me…simple minded.”

“That’s not really much of an insult,” Trixie said.

“It is when she’s implying that I’m retarded,” Pinkie retorted.

Trixie was quiet for a long time after that, and only after her back had been washed and Pinkie Pie had began working on washing Trixie’s mane did she finally ask, “Is there a reason that you’ve said so much mean stuff to her?”

Pinkie stroked Trixie’s mane gently while explaining, “In the social dynamic of our group, I’m on the bottom. I’m either treated like I’m childish or insane most of the time. Fluttershy is one step above me, and the only reason the others don’t pick on her is because their afraid of her getting angry. That doesn’t mean that they don’t disrespect her sometimes, but so long as it’s not a direct insult she seems to stay calm…unless of course it’s me saying something.

“One time when we first met, I called myself Auntie Pinkie Pie, and patted her on the head. I was only trying to be cute but she thought I was demeaning her and she nearly bit me. Considering how the rest of that party for Gilda went, well nothing was going to work out that day,” Pinkie Pie finished.

“So I’m guessing that dating Fluttershy is off the table for you?” Trixie asked.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened as she stared down at Trixie and then Pinkie Pie whispered, “Fluttershy hate’s me. Well maybe she just really dislikes me, but that’s basically like hating me for her.”

“How come you think Fluttershy hates you?” Trixie asked.

“Because she never hangs out with me, at least not when we’re alone…and the one single time that she tried too…I screwed it up okay,” Pinkie Pie said almost defensively.

“I could talk to her about how she feels about you if you want. Maybe she actually really likes you but she’s scared of how confident you are,” Trixie suggested.

Pinkie Pie was silent for a few moments as she washed the shampoo out of Trixie’s mane before she finally said, “Alright…I’d like that. It would be nice if she wants to get closer to me. Out of all of my friend’s she’s the only one that I haven’t been with after all.”

“What?” Trixie asked.

“Oh I’ve had sex with everyone of my friends except for Fluttershy. I’m actually still surprised that AJ agreed but you can’t beat pouty face,” Pinkie Pie said with a wink.

Trixie sighed and said, “Of course you did. Maud already told me a little about how active you are…”

“Yep, but only with the ponies I know and trust with my life…there are six ponies I trust that much now,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Six, if that includes me and Fluttershy, than what about Maud?” Trixie asked and then quickly hated herself for bringing it up.

A sad look overtook Pinkie’s face and Trixie heard Pinkie Pie whisper, “I nearly forgot about that…”

Chapter Forty Nine: Mare Talk

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Forty Nine: Mare Talk
Written by TheCrimsonDm

After the bath Trixie moved out onto the couch in the living room and sat next to Rarity. Pinkie Pie however retired into the bedroom for a good night’s rest. Trixie felt very awkward sitting next to Rarity, there were so many things running in her head after talking to Pinkie Pie and the worst one of them all was a new worry. Was everypony she knew secretly some kind of super pervert? Would that include Twilight?

“So…I have a question for you, if you don’t mind,” Trixie said.

Rarity leaned back further into the couch before saying, “You can ask me anything, after all we’re the best of friends.”

“Do the five of you have sex all the time or something?” Trixie asked.

“I…what? Why would you even think that?” Rarity asked her voice becoming tense.

“It’s just that Pinkie Pie told me that she’s had sex with you before…so I after a night like this I’m a little concerned that I’m surrounded by perverts,” Trixie explained.

“Trixie, you just joined in a foursome with us. I think that makes you a pervert too…but don’t judge yourself too harshly. You’re still young, and you should get to explore a little before you settle down for good, sow you’re wild oats and all that,” Rarity said with her voice beginning to relax.

“What about my question though?” Trixie asked trying to get an answer.

“I’ve been intimate with Pinkie Pie once or twice in the past. A long time ago mind you, since then I’ve confirmed that I do indeed like stallions more than Mare’s…so we aren’t all perverts,” Rarity said.

“But…Pinkie told me she’s had sex with all of you, well except for Fluttershy…but if all of you have had sex with each other then that’s weird…” Trixie said, as she tried to find the words to explain what she was worried about.

Rarity’s eyes were widened for a few moments as she whispered, “Pinkie’s done what?” after that she seemed to get a grip on herself and say in a calm voice, “I didn’t know that Pinkie had been so…active. I know that she doesn’t do ‘that’ all that often, and although she talks to me about what’s she’s done when she’s done it…she never mentions her partners name. I thought it was just because she was being tactful.”

“But why would you all just do that with each other?” Trixie asked, trying to comprehend what Pinkie’s role was in all of this.

“We don’t. I have been with Pinkie Pie a couple of times and that is it. And even then it was only in the worst of my heat cycles…she was kind enough to be there for me when I was going a little bit crazy,” Rarity explained.

“But…isn’t it weird?” Trixie asked.

Rarity was quiet for a few second as she thought to herself, and when Rarity did speak again she had a very kind voice. “When I was your age, or Pinkie’s for that matter, I would go out to the bar and look for a stallion whenever I needed one. That could be quite often and it was reckless of me, but thankfully I have never had cause to regret any of it. Pinkie Pie is however a little more cautious in this respect. From my understanding of her explanation, she refuses to be intimate with anypony unless she knows them fairly well before hoof. Unlike me who used to go to bars and…’get with’ Stallions whenever I pleased. Pinkie Pie isn’t even as active as I used to be, if what she tells me is accurate, and I have good reason to believe it is.”

“So…you would just trust any stallion that you met at a bar, to do those things to you?” Trixie asked, her mind having trouble understanding how one could trust another pony so easily, especially a stallion.

“Darling, you say that like I wasn’t enjoying it. Those stallions didn’t do things to me, we did things to each other. But I was reckless, and that is something that I want you to understand. Pinkie Pie is not a pervert for only being with ponies she knows, she’s very cautious about that kind of thing, and it’s not very often,” Rarity explained, there was a caring tone in her voice as she explained this to Trixie.

“Okay, I guess I understand that. But I didn’t do anything with anypony until I had Maud…my special somepony,” Trixie said. “So how come Pinkie didn’t try and date any of you first?”

“Oh she did, not me of course, because as I’ve said I prefer stallions. But she’s tried dating Rainbow Dash, and even Twilight at one point. Rainbow Dash has trouble with long term relationships, she gets scared if anything last longer than a week…sometimes I worry about her. Then Twilight and Pinkie just didn’t work out because of Twilight’s need for an intellectually equal partner.

“As you can tell Pinkie and Twilight are still very good friends, and no feelings were hurt. But Pinkie Pie isn’t what Twilight needs from somepony. Pinkie Pie on the other hoof…I think she’s lonely, and sometimes that loneliness must hurt. If there was anything I could do to help her, I would,” Rarity explained.

Trixie was quiet for a moment before asking, “So you have never had sex with any of your other friends?”

“No,” Rarity replied flatly. “In fact Pinkie Pie is the only mare…other then you two that I have ever been with in that way.”

Trixie looked towards Maud and was a little surprised by the fact that she wasn’t in the living room anymore. With the sound of running water from the bathroom Trixie could guess that Maud was cleaning up. Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I’m sorry for thinking that you were all perverts like that.”

“Trixie, we are all perverts on some level. But thank you for your apology,” Rarity said with a smile.

Trixie hugged Rarity and asked very quietly, “Do you think that Fluttershy would ever date Pinkie Pie?”

Rarity was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t know. After her break up with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy has been closed off romantically. It’s sad to think about, Especially considering I think that she’s a bigger romantic then even me.”

Trixie pulled away from Rarity and gave her smile before yawning ferociously and nearly falling over on the couch. Trixie rubbed her eyes which seemed to have gotten very heavy all of a sudden and then shivered as she began feeling cold. Trixie stood up and stumbled towards the bedroom door as she became increasingly tired.

“You’ve had a big day, Trixie. Let me help you,” Rarity said as she walked alongside Trixie.

Trixie leaned against Rarity for support as they entered the bedroom Trixie shivered again as the bedroom was slightly colder then the living room was. Pinkie Pie was already lying under the cover of three quilts and fast asleep. Trixie climbed in and still freezing cuddled up next to Pinkie. As Rarity turned away and left the room she said, “Good night you two.” The door closed behind Rarity and the room was dropped into darkness. As Trixie laid there she could see out the top of her window just as sleep took hold of her.

The sky was still a little red but darkening quickly, and the snow had stopped, at least momentarily. Trixie could make out an alicorn flying through the sky, and Trixie’s thoughts hovered over to Twilight. Twilight must be up there making the cold weather stop, and letting the warm weather come back again. That would be nice. Trixie’s eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Fifty: Cold Terror

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Fifty: Cold Terror
Written by TheCrimsonDM

A slight chill blew through the room, and Trixie snuggled a little closer to her blanket. Her mind slowly stirred as she listened with her eyes closed to the room around her. Silence, the room was filled with silence. Not only that, but the bed was empty save for her.

It’s so lonely in here.

Trixie awoke to Rarity shaking her violently shouting, “We have to leave, NOW!”
Trixie nearly jumped out of the bed and was stricken by the cold. She had hardly any time to analyze her surroundings as she ran out the bedroom door with Rarity. The carpet crunched underneath her hooves as she galloped, and the window was covered in a thick layer of white frost.

What’s happening?

The living room’s windows were in similar shape, and the wooden floors were slippery. Rarity stopped at the open front door and waited for Trixie. Maud and Pinkie Pie stood outside in the frozen snow, there horrified expression sent a shiver down Trixie’s spine. Trixie ran out towards them, she only wanted to make sure they were okay. The second Trixie got out the front door, Rarity gave out a terrified shriek and something knocked Trixie off her hooves and sent her into the frigid snow.
Trixie rolled over and onto her side. Made numb from the cold, Trixie pushed herself upright. Now covered in snow she turned around to find out what happened and her heart stopped. Rarity stood at the doorway of the house, she stood so perfectly still that one could confuse her for a statue. Rarity’s fur glistened in the sun light, and ice sickles ran down her underbelly.

“R-R-Rarity?” Trixie called but the white unicorn didn’t react.

Rarity’s body began cracking. Trixie tried to scream, but nothing came out. Finally she turned her head, and whimpered at the sound of ice shattering.

What’s going on here? What happened to her? It doesn’t matter now, we have to leave. I have to get the others out of here.

Trixie turned to face the others, the horrified looks on their faces confirmed what Trixie had heard. Rarity’s… gone…

The mound of snow behind Maud and Pinkie shifted. Trixie tried to run and but her legs were so cold, so numb, she could barely muster a few steps when the snow mound leapt into the air. The snow formed itself into the shape of a giant pony and charged at Pinkie. Maud jumped in the way and took a swing at the monster with her hoof. Maud’s hoof sunk into the snow, and suddenly her body went stiff. Trixie watched in horror as Maud’s body slowly leaned over.

“NOOO!” Trixie screamed in horror.

Maud’s body hit the snow like a brick and shattered into tiny frozen pieces.

Trixie fell to her knees. She wanted to look away, she didn’t want to see this, she didn’t want this to happen, but she couldn’t pry her eyes from the sight. Pinkie Pie’s cries broke Trixie’s paralysis.

Pinkie Pie backed away from the snow monster as quickly as she could. Trixie tried to stand, her muscles were too numb, the only thing she could move was her head. She could only watch as the monster jumped on top of Pinkie, swallowing the pink pony whole. After what happened from simple contact with Maud, there was no hope of Pinkie’s survival.

Hot wet tears streamed down her face as she tried to comprehend what was going on. Her friend, her sister, and her fiancé just… they were gone. She knew that she was next.

Trixie looked down at her hooves and waited for the monster to come after her. She waited and waited and waited some more. Finally she looked up and to her astonishment she didn’t see any signs of the monster. It was just her, left alone in a plane of cold snow, surrounded by the frozen corpses of her closest friends. She was all alone… again…

There was no point left in trying, Trixie laid her head down in the snow and closed her eyes. Maybe she could join them if only she stayed here long enough, if only she could close her eyes and disappear. Leave to someplace where she wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

I don’t want to live alone ever again. I… I couldn’t handle being on my own. The last time I was alone, I was hurt, I was hurt so badly that it destroyed everything that was good inside of me. Please don’t leave me alone, please.

Her silent prayers went unanswered.

As long as I stay here, I’ll never be happy again. Never…

A harsh wind blew, and frozen flakes began falling on Trixie’s’ back. At first only a few, but that number steadily increased. She didn’t move though, she just lay there.

I can’t do this without Maud, I can’t do this without Pinkie, without my friends. I… need them so badly. I’d rather die than be alone ever again. I’ve already died once, twice maybe… how hard could it be to do it again.

As the snow piled around Trixie, her body was quickly encased in the white fluffy powder. She refused to budge, refused to move, refused to fight.

Please forgive me everypony, I… I just can’t do this anymore.

Trixie’s breathing slowed, and the world became more and more cold. Something inside of her stopped, and for a brief moment everything was finally over. Until a dark, malevolent voice called out to her.

“You aren’t allowed to die yet, Trixie Lulamoon.”

Chapter Fifty one: Pillow Talk

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Fifty one: Pillow Talk
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Trixie inhaled sharply as she opened her eyes and saw nothing but blackness around her. Her body was shaking, and she was terrified. She was about to scream when she felt a warm leg wrap itself around her waist and Maud whisper, “Shh, Lulu. I’m right here.”

Trixie slowly began to calm down and closed her eyes. She stayed still as she enjoyed the warmth of the two ponies next to her. Maud who was on her left and holding her tightly, and Pinkie who was on her right. She felt safe in between these two, safer then she had ever felt before. Pinkie Pie snuggled in a little closer, sandwiching Trixie in between the two of them.

Pinkie was quiet as she asked, “Did we wake her?”

“No, I think she’s still asleep. She has nightmares…a lot,” Maud explained quietly.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad that we didn’t wake her though,” Pinkie said. There was silence for a few minutes and Trixie nearly fell asleep again but stopped just as Pinkie Pie asked, “Do you have sexual fantasies about me?”

“Why are you asking that?” Maud replied.

“What we did today was weird, and wrong…Maud, this isn’t what sisters are supposed to do,” Pinkie Pie said.

“It was just sex, Pinkie,” Maud replied.

“You always say that, but you know what? It’s never just sex, never. When I have sex it’s because I feel like I need to be loved,” Pinkie Pie explained.

“You are loved, Pinkie. By your friends, by your family, and by me,” Maud said trying to comfort her.

“Yeah well, maybe by my friends, and you, and Trixie…but our parents obviously don’t love me. They abandoned me, Maud. Abandoned their own daughter when she needed them most,” Pinkie Pie said quietly.

“What do you mean?” Maud asked, her voice as stoic as ever but Trixie could feel a growing sense of worry coming from her.

“Remember that accident that nearly killed me when I was younger. Well it wasn’t an accident, I was hurting myself and went too far one day. I used to cut myself and it nearly killed me. After that incident our parents thought that I was too much of a bad influence for the others and so they sent me to Ponyville to live with our aunt and uncle Cake,” Pinkie Pie explained with a serious tone.

Maud was silent for a few minutes, and Trixie could feel something in Maud, desperation. Trixie could sense that Maud was desperately looking for any answer that could explain why Pinkie did this too herself, and why their parents would send her away. Maud’s desperation continued until suddenly it stopped and she calmed down.

“Pinkie Pie, our parents do love you. They didn’t know how to help you, and they had two other children that needed help too. They sent you to Ponyville so that you could have somepony to take care of you, and give you all the love and attention that you needed. All the love and care that they simply couldn’t afford to give to you themselves,” Maud explained flatly, but Trixie could feel her kind heart with every word.

Pinkie Pie was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “You’re telling the truth…I’m…I’m sorry, Maud. It’s just so hard for me to handle things sometimes. It’s just so much easier to be crazy, nopony expects anything from me then…but now I have to take care of Trixie so I can’t afford to choose being crazy and reckless all the time. I have to be responsible and it’s really hard…especially after today.”

Pinkie Pie was quiet again for a long moment before saying, “You never answered my question. Did you want to have sex with me?”

“Trixie was asking me if I thought it was wrong to do this with you…and I don’t think what we did was wrong,” Maud said.

“Please just answer me for once, Maud. Don’t try and misdirect me or anything…I…I already know the answer but I need to hear you say it,” Pinkie Pie said in an almost pleading voice.

“Yes,” Maud answered simply.

An awkward silence filled the room and bothered Trixie deeply. Finally when the silence became too much to bare Maud added, “I love you, Pinkie Pie. You’re my sister and I know that what we did was different; some ponies would call it weird. But I have wanted to do this since we were young and now that I’ve finally got to do this with you, you’re upset with me. Why?”

“I’m…I’m not upset with you. I’m just confused, okay…and I’m trying to figure out how to help you but what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense to me,” Pinkie Pie said.

Maud began explaining, “It was just a sexual fantasy, and I thought that because of our close bond it would be more meaningful. You always know what I’m thinking, or what I’m feeling and I know it’s because of how close we are. I thought that if we did this our bond would only deepen, but it seems to have only made us grow further apart. Is it because it was just sex? Did you want something more from me and Trixie? If Lulu agrees then we could involve you in our relationship-“

“NO,” Pinkie shouted! After a few seconds of terrified silence Pinkie added in a whisper, “You need to stop saying and thinking those things right now. We are sisters, okay. Yes we share a bond that makes us super close, closer then you could be with almost anypony. But I will not be in any kind of a romantic relationship with you.” After a second Pinkie added, “And what about Trixie? Doesn’t she mean as much to you as I do?”

“Trixie is my entire world. She means just as much to me as you do, if not more…I know it’s wrong to love her more, but I love her so much, Pinkie,” Maud said.

“It’s not wrong to love her more than me. That’s normal. It’s the… the things you want to do to me that are not normal,” Pinkie Pie explained. “This became a problem last time we were close together for a long time too.”

“If you’re worried about Trixie being jealous, I’m sure she would love to have you join us,” Maud said.

“You just want a personal harem for yourself don’t you?” Pinkie asked.

“Of course not, it will be Trixie’s harem, not mine,” Maud said.

Trixie suddenly felt deep feelings of disgust and revolution that Pinkie had towards this idea. Trixie wasn’t sure what the Tartarus she was listening to, but it was one of the weirdest, and most perverted conversations she had ever heard. Maud couldn’t be serious about being in a relationship with her sister, or with the idea of having a harem. Trixie really wished she could go back to sleep right now.

“Maud, I will never agree to this…I don’t know how you could possibly be okay with all of this…but I think you need to think about a lot things. Maybe we might even need to take a break from each other,” Pinkie Pie said.

A sudden tension built in Maud’s heart, and then snapped. Maud’s fragile heart shattered in an instant and Trixie’s along with it. Trixie knew just how important Pinkie was to Maud, even if they were too close this was not something she wanted Maud to have to deal with. Soon Trixie began hearing some sniffling sounds coming from Maud. Pinkie Pie also felt this and suddenly said, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that…I. Maud, what can I do to fix this?”

Maud actually whimpered before saying in a pained voice, “I don’t think you can. I obviously screwed up again, and now I’m going to lose you.”

“You aren’t losing me,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Is it really so wrong of me to want to take away your loneliness? To give you something like what I have with Trixie,” Maud asked, her voice on the verge of crying.

Pinkie Pie was silent for a few seconds before reaching out with her mind. Trixie could feel Pinkie’s mind groping outwards and covering Maud’s as well as her own. A somewhat ticklish sensation covered Trixie’s mind for only a few seconds before it vanished.

“So that’s what’s going on… well let me just ask you this,” Pinkie Pie said. “If I had feelings for somepony else, let’s say that I had gotten my hopes up for the idea of being with them recently…would you still be trying so hard to get me to agree to this crazy idea?”

“Who is it?” Maud asked.

“Fluttershy. Both Trixie and Rarity seem to think it’s a possibility, and I would really like to try being with her… does that upset you?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Maud was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “No, that sounds really nice. I was afraid that you had settled on the idea of being alone and I just wanted to fix that. I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, Maud,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Yes I do, I had sex with you, and then I tried to drag you into a relationship because you’re lonely and, and…I’m so sorry. Please don’t leave me again,” Maud begged.

Pinkie Pie leaned over Trixie and kissed Maud quickly before whispering, “You’re my sister, and I do love you. I will never leave you, no matter how weird your ideas might be. Beside’s that I know now that you just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t lonely anymore, but, Maud, you don’t need to feel guilty over having such a perfect relationship with Trixie. You’re destroying yourself with your unwarranted guilt, and you’re going to destroy all your other relationships if you keep feeling that way.”

“So you aren’t jealous, or upset about me and Trixie?” Maud asked.

“Not even a little,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Thank you…and could you never tell Lulu about any of this? I…I don’t want her to know about what we talked about,” Maud said nervously.

“I Pinkie Pie Promise not to tell her about what you just told me,” Pinkie Pie said.

Maud relaxed in the bed and sniffled again a little bit. Pinkie Pie relaxed as well before she leaned into Trixie’s ear and whispered in such a quiet voice that it was doubtful that Maud would hear it, “Good night, Trixie.”

Chapter Fifty Two: Morning as Usual

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Fifty two: Morning as Usual
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Something warm wrapped itself around Trixie’s belly and held onto her tightly. Something else wrapped itself around Trixie’s back. Two walls of warm fur pulled themselves closer to Trixie and surrounded her with heat.

She didn’t want to move, not now after finally becoming so warm. She would just lie here forever if she could, and she tried to lay there with her eyes closed and on the very edge of waking up. But with building pressure in her bladder, she knew she couldn’t stay here forever, but she was determined to try.

She moved her head and her cheek touched something cold and wet. She quickly opened her eyes and saw Maud’s peaceful sleeping face. Maud’s usual stoic expression was missing, replaced by a small smile and a slight blush. Whatever Maud was dreaming, Trixie was sure she would die from embarrassment should she ever find out.

Trixie sat up carefully, trying not to wake anypony and wiped her cheek clean of the drool it had landed in, followed by the drool from her lips. She felt a little tired and her mouth had a strange flavor to it. Trixie tried to place what the flavor was, and failed to figure it out.

The room was still dark but with the light of dawn coming through the window there was just enough light to see by. Now decided to wake up she took a good look around, and realized only now that she was surrounded by sleeping ponies. Maud on one side, and Pinkie followed by Rarity on the other. Why everypony was sleeping in the same room was just a little bit beyond her.

With one leg she pushed herself up and then using the other two she carefully stepped over Maud. She placed her two right hooves on the other side of Maud very carefully. She pushed herself up and stared down at the sleeping pony underneath her and admired Maud’s smile. Trixie wanted nothing more than to kiss her gray earth pony, but decided it was best to let her sleep for now.

Trixie put all the rest of her weight on her right hooves and began swinging her left legs over. Suddenly Trixie’s right legs slipped off the bed and she fell on top of Maud before bouncing onto the floor, and she screamed.

Maud quickly sat up, and as Trixie stared into Maud’s shocked and worried expression, all she could think about was how she just ruined Maud’s perfect smile. Maud stared silently down at Trixie for a few moments and Trixie found herself shaking. She didn’t know if the shaking was from the fall or from waking up Maud but Trixie did know one thing, she was about to cry.

“Are you okay?” Maud asked with a kind voice.

Trixie looked away from Maud, the hot tears running down Trixie’s face made things a little harder to handle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up, I know you were having a good dream.”

“Lulu, you fell on me,” Maud stated.

Sudden fear hit Trixie as she heard that, she closed her eyes and tried not whimper. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

“Of course not. And I’m not mad. I don’t usually get to wake up to see a sexy pony on top of me,” Maud said her voice becoming increasingly flat.

Trixie wiped the tears from her eyes, but all that did was make her foreleg wet. Maud reached out with a hoof and stroked Trixie’s cheek gently. As Maud’s soft hoof brushed against Trixie’s face her shaking lessened.

“What in Tartarus was that?” Rarity asked with an aggravated voice.

“Trixie fell out of the bed,” Pinkie answered.

“Well, tell her to be quiet next time,” Rarity said. After a few seconds of silence Rarity added, “She was in the middle of the bed, how in Equestria did she fall out?”

Both Rarity and Pinkie sat up and stared at Trixie. Rarity was the first to ask, “Darling, are you okay?”

Trixie whimpered and rubbed at her wet eyes. “No, I hurt Maud.”

“You did not hurt me, Lulu. I’m really strong,” Maud said.

“Yeah, like a rock,” Pinkie added.

Trixie felt a little better after hearing this, somehow relating Maud to a rock was calming. Trixie looked over at the nightstand and grabbed her medication and her water bottle. Since Maud was awake and watching her, she figured now would be as good a time as any to take her meds. After she was done she felt an uneasy feeling as she realized that Rarity was still staring at her.

“What?” Trixie asked defensively.

“Nothing, I just haven’t seen you take your medication before. I actually forgot that you suffer from mental illness. I’m sorry,” Rarity explained.

Trixie let out a sigh, and was reminded by the taste in her mouth. “It’s fine, I’m crazy and I deal with it. Let’s not talk about this anymore right now, I haven’t had a good morning today. I fell on Maud, I had a nightmare last night, and my mouth tastes weird.”

“Did you brush your teeth last night?” Pinkie asked.

“No, I kinda forgot to…busy day,” Trixie explained feeling a tad embarrassed.

“Well that explains the funny taste in your mouth. You still have our flavors in there silly,” Pinkie Pie said before giggling.

It took a moment for Trixie to actually understand what Pinkie was talking about. Her face was heating up the more she thought about it, but she had to admit it made some amount of sense that she might still be tasting them. Trixie thought about their unique flavors and how strange it was that ponies came in such a variety of taste sensations. As Trixie’s face continued heating up, certain parts of her body followed suit. Trixie muttered to herself, “Bubblegum, grape, and marshmallow.”

“Don’t forget blueberry,” Maud added.

“None of you taste like blueberries,” Trixie said. A moment later Trixie’s face was burning at the implications of what Maud had said.

Trixie looked away from Maud but she noted that both Rarity and Pinkie were wearing a slight blush on their faces. This was probably not the best morning conversation, especially since Trixie had a craving for something sweet now.

Trixie sat at the table and stared blankly at the frost covered window. She couldn’t help but remember her dream as she stared at it. That snow monster in her dream was absolutely horrible, and she could remember it all too clearly. Even if it was just a dream, now that she was able to think to herself for a few minutes, the more it bothered her that she had watched her family die in her sleep. She didn’t want to think about this anymore.

Trixie shivered partially from the cold, and she took another sip of coffee in retaliation. The sweet flavor of the warm liquid reminded Trixie very much of what she loved about morning, breakfast. Maud wasn’t the one working on making breakfast today, this time it was Pinkie Pie who was cooking for her.

Much to Rarity’s dismay Trixie had added Marshmallows into her cup of coffee and it tasted wonderfully. She was a bit embarrassed by Rarity’s reaction at first, but quickly began to enjoy the way the white pony would squirm each time Trixie took a sip from her coffee. Maybe it was mean to enjoy it this much, but it was a great distraction from her thoughts. When Trixie began eating marshmallows, slowly sucking on them and licking them far too much, Rarity nearly fainted, Trixie couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was nice not to be the embarrassed one for once.

After breakfast was served and everypony began eating the pancakes that Pinkie had so wonderfully created for them. Rarity asked in an attempt to make Trixie forget about the marshmallows, “What was your dream about.”

“I watched everypony get killed by a frozen monster that turned you all to ice statues,” Trixie admitted quietly. After a few seconds of seeing Rarity’s worried expression Trixie allowed herself to think about it more deeply. The dream had been a horrible one, and it was rare that she would dream about ponies dying, she usually woke up before that would happen.

An unknown fear sized Trixie’s heart and she quickly wrapped her forelegs around one of Maud’s and held her tightly. Maud looked over at Trixie and nuzzled her cheek. Maud then said, “It’s okay, Lulu. I’d kill any monsters that tried to hurt anyone.”

“You tried that, and they froze you on contact…it was scary. I don’t want to lose you, Maud. Please don’t ever leave me,” Trixie begged.

“I won’t ever leave you, Lulu. I’d never abandon you,” Maud said quietly.

Three loud thuds were heard from the door breaking the romantic moment between Maud and Trixie. Pinkie Pie bounced up into the air and continued bouncing over to the door while singing, “La la-la-la la.”

Pinkie Pie opened the door and beamed at Twilight who was standing just outside. Twilight forced her way inside and past Pinkie Pie, along with her walked in Fluttershy. This was the first time that Fluttershy had entered Trixie’s home. Twilight looked very concerned, and Fluttershy looked worried.

“We have a huge problem! Rarity, Pinkie, I need you two to get your stuff and follow me quickly,” Twilight said.

By ‘get your stuff’ Trixie could easily assume that she meant get some warm clothes on. Twilight was wearing a blue and gold coat with matching socks, and scarf. Twilight was also wearing boots. Fluttershy was also dressed up, only she was wearing green.

Trixie noticed an odd look on Fluttershy’s face as her stare continued switching between both Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy seemed to be struggling with something inside her head for a moment and Trixie could feel that it was fear trying to take control over the shy ponies heart. Fluttershy finally managed to ask, “D-d-did you two have a s-s-slumber party?”

Pinkie Pie’s expression went from happy, like usual, to instant fear, and back to happy, all within an instant. Pinkie Pie quickly said, “Yep, we were visiting when the snow storm hit and we got stuck inside. So I said, ‘who’s up for a slumber party’, and Trixie said, ‘I’m cold’.”

Fluttershy looked thoroughly confused at what Pinkie Pie was saying but after a few seconds simply smiled at her in acceptance. Trixie didn’t need psychic powers to tell her that, Fluttershy had just written off Pinkie Pie as being a silly child instead of being a threat. Trixie really didn’t like being able to see that now, and wished desperately that Pinkie didn’t tell her those things last night.

Trixie heard something in the back of her mind, it sounded like Pinkie Pie saying, “I’m sorry.” Trixie looked over to Pinkie Pie and saw the pink pony staring back with a sorrowful expression on her face. Trixie tried to think at her the words, “It’s okay. I’m glad that you told me.” Instantly Pinkie Pie grew a small smile, and Trixie knew she had gotten the message through.

Twilight stomped her hoof down grabbing everyponies attention. “Everypony get dressed now. We need to hurry, I’ve already called the other two to meet me at the things corpse.”

“That’s horribly morbid, Twilight. What are you talking about?” Rarity asked.

Twilight screwed up her face as she looked ready to explode. Twilight calmed herself down and said impatiently, “Dead Windigo, middle of town, we go, NOW!”

Chapter Fifty Three: Trust

HEART OF STONE
Chapter Fifty Three: Trust
Written by TheCrimsonDM

They all stood still as dolls and stared blankly at Twilight for the longest time. Twilight began squirming underneath everyponies gaze, she looked very uncomfortable. Finally at great length she said, “We need to leave now, Pinkie, Rarity, get dressed it’s cold outside.”

With that everypony was broken out of there trance and began moving again. Rarity used her magic to summon forth a wardrobe of coats, socks, and shoes for herself and Pinkie Pie. Trixie couldn’t believe that there was actually a windigo in town, at least it was dead, unlike in her dream. Thinking on her dream now, she realized she couldn’t simply let these ponies go alone. She had to join with them as well.

“Alright, I’ll just get my stuff and we’ll head out,” Trixie said as she began walking briskly to her bedroom.

“No,” said Twilight, “I don’t want you to come with us. I only need the elements of harmony for this, Trixie. So stay here and just be safe.”

Trixie stopped mid step and a silence filled the room as she replayed the words in her head. She wondered to herself, about whether Twilight really just said that. Angry and heartbroken Trixie glared at Twilight and asked, “Did you really just say that?”

Twilight glared back at her in silence for a moment before saying, “We don’t need you, there is a dead windigo outside, and it’s very dangerous. So just stay here with Maud.”

Trixie stopped listening at the words ‘we don’t need you’. She had already had a nightmare, and a lot of confused feelings from the day before, this was just that final push that Trixie didn’t need. She closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds trying to fight back the tears. When she opened them again she lowered her head and walked towards the bedroom trying her hardest to not cry in front of the princess.

Twilight hadn’t been paying attention though, and was already leaving out the door along with the other two. Trixie heard Twilight say, “I’m so glad you were here at Trixie’s, I was dredging the idea of walking all the way over to your house next. Why were you over here anyway?” the door shut after that and Trixie didn’t hear them anymore. Now that everything was quiet, with just her and Maud, she broke down and cried.

Trixie sat at the table being held by Maud tightly for a few minutes while she cried into Maud’s chest. Maud was always such a good listener, and Trixie fully realized just how lucky she was to have such a good pony at her side.

“Why did she say she doesn’t need me?” Trixie cried into Maud’s chest.

“I’m sure that she didn’t mean any harm by it, Lulu. She has a tendency to speak without thinking,” Maud said gently.

“I don’t care, she still said it. I just thought that after all this time, that maybe we were finally friends again…guess I was wrong,” Trixie said very quietly. “She didn’t even notice that I was crying, did she?”

“Twilight was in a hurry she was halfway out the door before you actually started crying. And she is your friend. You can talk to her later and make up, when she isn’t so stressed,” Maud explained.

Trixie stomped her hoof lightly into the floor as anger fought with her sadness. “No, I won’t forgive her. Not unless she begs for it. She knows just how sensitive I am and she still chose to hurt me. And all I wanted to do was help.” A plan began forming in Trixie’s mind and her sadness was forced out of the way. “Well you know what? My sister is out there with her right now. And if it is really that dangerous then we need to go protect her. So how about we go and sneak after them, that sounds like something fun.”

Maud was silent for a moment before saying, “I agree. Pinkie Pie spies on ponies all the time, and she thinks it’s fun. So let’s try it.” Maud stood up carefully and walked to the bedroom saying, “I’ll get our things. It’s cold outside and I don’t want you catching a cold.”

Trixie smiled at her lovable earth pony before looking away and trying to find something to do while Maud was busy. There was a newspaper on the table, the headline read, “Mine reopens in the town of New Slate for the first time in eighteen years!”

Trixie also found an open letter with Maud’s name written on it. It was from some company with a long and rather boring name, “Equestria’s Fine Rock Society.” Sounded lame, but Maud probably liked it, so Trixie picked it up with her hooves and began reading the letter to herself.

“We at Equestria’s Fine Rock Society would be overjoyed if you, Maud Pie, were to join us on our next expedition into the northern caves of Hollow Shades. We have a full team of ponies on hoof to help you with the excavation and research. As usual we will pay you for your services at the end of this week long expedition. We hope you agree to venture forth with us, it would be our pleasure,” Trixie finished reading aloud.

The weird thing about this letter was the fact that Maud had not spoken of it to Trixie at all. Trixie looked at the date, Maud’s had this letter for a few days now… and the trip was scheduled for a week from now. This left Trixie with an uneasy feeling that Maud had been keeping secrets from her, but why?

Trixie waited impatiently for a few minutes at the table. When Maud returned she was wearing a blue jacket, with blue socks and brown boots on. Maud was carrying Trixie’s purple coat and socks on her back. Maud sat them down on the table. Maud looked straight at Trixie and said flatly, “I couldn’t find your snow boots.”

Trixie looked back at the letter in between her hooves and despite how much she adored her special somepony, she knew that it she needed to talk about this now. Trixie cleared her throat before saying, “Maud, honey. We need to talk. I just found this letter offering you work up at Hollow Shades… why haven’t you told me about this?”

Maud lowered her head and said quietly, “I don’t want to leave you.”

Trixie thought that it was something like this that had been bothering Maud. Trixie set the letter down and reached out with a foreleg and gently brushed Maud’s hair. “You don’t need worry about me so much. You need to go to work, for the both of us. Without you’re income, how do you expect us to live here in Ponyville?”

“But what if you need me and I’m not here for you?” Maud offered.

“I have Pinkie Pie to help take care of me,” Trixie said.

“What if somepony else helps you, and what if their better than me? You’ll abandon me,” Maud said again.

Trixie opened her mouth but no words came out as the gravity of Maud’s comment slowly sunk in. After a long moment of silence Trixie closed her eyes and slowly explained, “Maud, I am in love with you. I’ve never loved another pony like this, and I never will again. So you need to have faith in me, that’s what being married is about… it’s about trust.”

Maud lowered her head and refused to make eye contact as she said, “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry. You’ve been hurt before, and I’m here to help you as best as I can. Maud you mean the world to me, and there is nothing in the entire world that I would trade you for,” Trixie said gently.

Maud looked up and smiled at Trixie, as always it was such a tiny smile but it still meant everything to Trixie. Trixie couldn’t help it as she flung herself out of the chair and wrapped her legs around Maud embracing her tightly. Maud hugged her back.

They stayed like this for a while before Trixie remembered what she was going to do today. “Okay, we need to follow those ponies. I won’t let them ditch me just because I’m not part of their little group.”

“let’s go after them then,” Maud agreed. “And, Lulu, thank you for letting me go to Hollow Shades. I love it there.”

“Don’t mention it, I love you and if this makes you happy then I want you to go… also it pays our bills and that’s important too,” Trixie said with a smile.

Chapter Fifty Four: Spying on Ponies

Trixie and Maud walked through the snow covered roads of Ponyville thankful for being bundled up in so much warm clothing. The snow was a few inches deep on the ground, and although freezing and hard to walk through, Trixie couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of crunching the snow beneath her hooves. Maud on the other hoof was having trouble walking through the snow.

After a few minutes of walking towards the center of town Trixie turned to look back at Maud and said brightly, “Although I hate walking through a snowstorm, I have to admit its kinda fun to walk through the snow like this!”

Maud took a few more awkward steps before saying, “I don’t like this. I can’t feel the ground beneath my hooves.”

Trixie looked around and smiled before slowing her pace down to match Maud’s. Trixie gave Maud a pleased smile and said, “It’s just a little snow. You’ll get used to it.” Trixie then playfully bumped her shoulder against Maud’s.

Maud looked at Trixie with a blank stare for a moment before tripping forward. Without a second thought Trixie quickly lashed out with her magic and stopped Maud from falling. Slowly and carefully Trixie set Maud up right and then continued walking.

Maud didn’t follow but instead stood perfectly still while asking, “Trixie, how did you just do that?”

“Do what?” Trixie replied while stopping and waiting for Maud to catch up.

“You just used magic, without hurting yourself. How?” Maud asked again.

Trixie looked around and making sure that not a single pony was around she said quietly, “After that whole thing where you girls saw one of my dreams, I used my magic by instinct to shut a door. It didn’t hurt me at all, but I’m still a little scared to use it, you know? Twilight told me that my magic was healing a little bit, and that I might be able to use some minor spells without hurting myself now… though I don’t want them to know that I can do that. It’ll be our little secret.”

“You should have told me,” Maud said flatly. Maud then began walking again, only this time she was ahead of Trixie.

“You’re not upset are you?” Trixie asked. “It’s not like I have actually used my magic until now… I’m used to using my hooves and stuff now…” Maud continued walking without responding. After a few seconds Trixie added, “I didn’t actually believe that it was possible to use my magic until now, I was afraid, Maud.” Trixie followed behind Maud and waited for a response for a few moments, but she didn’t get one. “I’m sorry, Maud. I understand if you’re mad at me.”

“Do you think that it’s because we sorted out you’re past with that dream of yours? Or because you accepted yourself when you dealt with Scath?” Maud asked.

“I… um… maybe. Those make sense…” Trixie replied lamely.

“Maybe we should try and have Twilight use that spell again, then you maybe you could use more of your magic,” Maud stated.

“Yeah… I guess, I still have blank spots in my memory after all… Are you upset with me?” Trixie asked.

“Why would I be upset?” Maud said monotonously.

“Because after I used my magic you stopped talking to me. Are mad at me for not telling you? Or do you just not like my magic?” Trixie asked.

“I’m not upset, I was just trying to figure out how you got your magic back,” Maud explained. “I was lost in thought.”

“Oh, okay. Do you think it would be okay if we kept this a secret from the others?” Trixie asked still worried that Maud might be upset with her.

“I don’t see why they have to know. This only affects us after all, but, Trixie, could you do me a favor, and try to not keep secrets from me?” Maud asked. “I hate secrets.”

“I’m sorry, this was an accident I swear it. I didn’t mean to keep this a secret from you, I promise,” Trixie replied.

Maud slowed down her awkward walking and matched Trixie’s speed. Together they walked side by side towards their goal. Trixie looked at Maud and nuzzled her neck gently for a few seconds before Maud returned the favor. Trixie always enjoyed being nuzzled by the gray mare, every time they made physical contact it was like Trixie could feel Maud’s emotions inside of her. Right now Maud was a little nervous but even so, Trixie could feel Maud’s happiness overpowering it.

It took just over a half hour of walking but they finally managed to arrive at the center of town. The snow had been cleared away from the roads and shoved into mounds that rose up about six feet high; just high enough for two ponies to effectively hide behind. After climbing up onto the mound Trixie and Maud carefully peaked over the edge and saw the incredible sight.

A giant horse made of ice stood on its hind legs as it reared. A hole the size of Trixie’s head was missing from the ice horse’s chest. The surrounding ten feet was covered in a layer of thick ice, including half of the statue of Princess Celestia. The statue however was missing half of its body, with scorch marks along the jagged broken edges. It looked as though a terrible battle had happened here.

Lastly Trixie saw the six ponies who she called her friends gathered around in front of the ice horse and looking very worried. Twilight Sparkle’s mouth hung open, her eyes had become tiny pinpricks, and her right ear was twitching.

“Uh sugarcube, you’ve been staring at that statue fer nearly five whole minutes now. Are you gonna tell us about how a windigo got here anytime soon?”Applejack asked politely.

Twilight didn’t turn away from the ruined statue but she did reply, “I… who would destroy such a beautiful statue of Celestia? Who could do such a thing?”

“Twilight, you need to focus on the larger problem,” said Applejack.

“You’re right… okay,” Twilight said before she clenched her eyes shut and turned painfully away from the statue. She only opened her eyes again after she had turned and then she looked at the ice horse, at the windigo. “Alright everypony, I brought you here because things have been quiet in Equestria for far too long. I saw this and knew right away that we had a much larger problem on our hooves. I have no idea how this got here, nor how it was killed, but I believe that this windigo was the cause of yesterday’s freak blizzard.”

“Wow I didn’t even notice a battle going on. I mean we kinda just fell asleep last night around ten,” Pinkie Pie said.

“That’s weird, I fell asleep before ten as well,” Fluttershy said. Then in a much quieter voice she added, “Although I don’t often stay up later then that anyways…”

“I was listening to some awesome music and got all sleepy and stuff around then too,” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked at Applejack and asked, “Did you?” Applejack nodded in affirmation and Twilight hung her head low and said, “I got really sleepy around ten as well. I usually don’t get to sleep until two in the morning so it was weird… maybe that’s a part of what the windigo does.”

Trixie stared in amazement and wondered aloud to herself, “I wonder what time I went to bed at?”

“It was almost ten when you went to bed,” Maud explained. “I followed just after you, along with Rarity.”

Trixie thought back to what she had seen just before falling asleep the night before. She vaguely remembered seeing an alicorn flying in the sky, or at least something that looked like one. Trixie wished that she could go down there and ask Twilight about that, but she wasn’t sure how Twilight would react to learning about how Trixie followed her here.

Pinkie Pie grinned and said, “What were you doing last night Twilight, around ten?”

“I was working on some research; it took me three wonderful hours of searching through my library to find the books that I needed. I was disappointed when I fell asleep at the table, why do you ask?” said Twilight.

“Oh only because I saw an alicorn outside the window last night. It was flying around in the sky so I thought it must have been you, guess I was wrong,” said Pinkie before she grinned again.

Everypony was quiet for a few long moments before Twilight said, “It wasn’t me, and Cadence is still in the Crystal Empire… It couldn’t have been Celestia, and Luna didn’t come over last night… so who the hay was it?”

“What do you mean by ‘Luna didn’t come over last night’?” Rainbow Dash asked

Everypony refocused their attention squarely on Twilight. Twilight’s eyes bugged out and she looked back and forth nervously for a few moments before saying, “We do research together. That’s it, that’s all, and we are not discussing this any further.”

Nopony seemed exactly sure how to go on from here and so they all stood around awkwardly for a few long moments. Trixie had to try and stifle her laughter as she remembered a few particular mentions of the lunar princess in Twilight’s journal, not to mention how nervous Luna looked when Trixie had caught her standing inside of Twilight’s castle that one time. Maud just laid still and stared at the group blankly.

Finally Pinkie Pie asked, “So why did you leave Trixie behind again?”

Twilight looked suddenly relieved to have a new topic to speak on said, “I’m keeping her safe. This could be very dangerous and I’m not sure how to handle this situation.”

“I’d say,” Rainbow Dash said while looking away. This earned a glare from Twilight.

“Anyway,” said Twilight. “Like I was saying, I’m keeping her safe because every time we have had trouble with monsters so far she’s been hurt. I don’t ever need a pony to get hurt while following me ever again, not if they aren’t capable of taking care of themselves.”

“So you don’t think she can take care of herself?” said Pinkie defensively.

“She hurts herself every time she uses her magic. She might be able to lift a spoon with her telekinesis without getting a migraine one day, but that’s about all she will ever do again, and it’s all my fault for involving her in our adventures in the first place. So you tell me, what in Tartarus am I suppose to do? Let her follow us until she dies because I’m not good enough to protect her? Or am I supposed to keep her safe even if it makes her hate me again?” Twilight explained hastily. After Twilight finished everypony was watching her again and her breathing had become heavy.

Pinkie looked a little sad as she said, “Maybe you should talk to her about this? You made her cry after all.”

Twilight closed her eyes tightly and said quietly, just loud enough for Trixie to hear, “I did?” After a second Twilight added, “I… I’m sorry. I should’ve brought her. This thing is dead, it’s not going to get up and attack anypony, so I just messed up and hurt her feelings… why do I keep hurting her?”

“Maybe it’ll be okay. I mean what if she popped up from around the corner and joined us. Wouldn’t that make everything better?” said Pinkie Pie. And then Pinkie looked straight at Trixie and Maud.

Trixie quickly ducked as the others began to follow Pinkie’s stare, and Trixie used a hoof to push Maud’s head down as well. Maud looked at Trixie and asked, “Why are we still hiding?”

“Shh, we can’t be caught now,” Trixie replied.

A long moment of silence passed before Twilight said, “You know for a moment there I was sure that Trixie was going to walk right up to us and everything would be okay… guess you were wrong Pinkie Pie.”

Trixie heard somepony stomping their hoof into the ice breaking it, followed by Pinkie Pie saying in a louder voice, “Maybe Trixie will magically appear from around the corner and forgive Twilight!”

Trixie looked into Maud’s beautiful green eyes and said quietly, “Let’s leave before Pinkie walks over here and drags me out in front of everypony. I don’t want to be around Twilight right now.” Trixie was still a little angry, but she was also feeling guilty for having followed Twilight this far when all Twilight wanted to do was keep her safe. “Beside’s if Twilight didn’t kill that windigo, I want to know who did… maybe we could beat the Mane Six to the punch line?”

With that Trixie and Maud carefully climbed down the mound of snow, trying to be as quiet as they possibly could. Then they began walking away and Maud said, “I hope you’re right about this.”

Chapter Fifty Five: The Stray

As Trixie walked through the snow covered streets of Ponyville she couldn’t help but think about how Twilight was feeling. The further Trixie got away from Twilight and the others the worse she felt about it, especially considering how had Pinkie wanted her to come out of hiding so badly. She refused however, to return to the others and admit that she had been tailing them all along.

Maud was silent for the most part but Trixie could sense that Maud was worried too. In an attempt to ease both of their minds Trixie said, “So, Maud, if you were a badflank alicorn. Where would you go after killing a windigo?”

“I’d find a big rock,” Maud said flatly.

“Of course you would, you would probably be the Princess of Rocks as well… actually that could be pretty cool if you had rock magic,” said Trixie.

“I’d make rock golems to serve me,” replied Maud.

Suddenly Maud stopped walking and stared off into the distance behind Trixie. Maud’s eyes grew open slowly and her mouth hung open. Trixie stared at Maud with a mixture of confusion and fascination for never having seen Maud make such an expression before, it looked almost like Maud was dumbstruck by something. Finally at great length Maud asked, “Why is that pony peeing on a street lamp?”

With her curiosity now peaked, Trixie turned around to see what Maud was talking about. When Trixie saw the blue earth pony mare, she had wished she had never turned around. When Trixie saw the wild silver mane, she wished she was anywhere else. When Trixie saw the relieved expression the mare was wearing, Trixie wished she was invisible. When Trixie saw the mare’s leg lifted up, and a stream of yellow liquid melting the snow, Trixie wanted to be removed from existence. And finally when Trixie saw Nurse Red Heart running towards the mare while shouting, “Stop that right now, Screw Loose,” Trixie wanted to be dead.

“Screw Loose,” Maud said. “Isn’t that you’re mother’s name?”

Trixie turned away and refusing to look at anything at all, Trixie settled on staring straight at the snow covered earth and hissing quietly, “Yes.”

“Oh,” Maud said. After a long pause Maud added, “Lulu, you’re mother is peeing on a street la-“

“I know exactly what my mom is doing right now,” Trixie interrupted quickly.

After another pause Maud said, “Should we go talk to her? You’ve never introduced us.”

“NO! This is why I don’t go visit her,” Trixie replied.

“Because she has voyeuristic tendencies?” Maud asked flatly.

“What? No! It’s because she’s a dog, or at least she thinks she’s a dog,” Trixie replied. “Honestly I don’t even know why she is out here in the snow and doing that in public. Actually,” Trixie said as she refocused her attention onto Screw Loose, who was now a few feet away from the street lamp and rolling around in the snow, and then onto Nurse Red Heart, “I’m going to chew out Nurse Red Heart’s butt for this.”

“I wouldn’t advise it, you’ll be tasting it for a month,” Maud stated flatly.

Trixie turned and looked Maud in the eyes for a few seconds in stunned silence before Trixie found herself asking, “How do you know what a pony’s butt tastes like?”

Maud began walking towards Nurse Red Heart and right pass Trixie. “Let’s go talk to her.” Trixie stared in silence for a second before deciding that she didn’t actually want an answer to that question.

Nurse Red Heart was covering her face with a hoof while Screw Loose played in the snow. Trixie marched up to Red Heart and with Maud by her side Trixie felt more confident while she said, “What the hay is going on here?” Red Heart looked over at Trixie and her eyes suddenly widened. Red Heart was silent. “I asked you a question,” Trixie demanded once more.

“I… I was taking her for a walk when she got loose and… she’s really fast…” Red Heart explained nervously.

“You were taking her for a walk? Like she was some kind of animal? What is wrong with you?” Trixie said, her voice growing louder.

Red Heart looked nervous for a few seconds before looking back at Screw Loose who was still playing in the snow. Red Heart looked back at Trixie and said, “Would you rather we just keep her locked away in her room?”

“Yes, I mean no, I mean… I don’t know, but taking her on walks through the middle of town doesn’t seem like a good idea, especially when she does this,” Trixie argued while shaking a hoof at the street lamp.

“She gets depressed when she’s stuck inside too long, so we take her on walks, although these walks are usually limited to the hospital grounds,” Red Heart explained.

Trixie looked back at her mother who was playing in the snow and suddenly realized that Maud was no longer standing next to her. Maud now stood next to Screw Loose while she reached out with a hoof and held it near Screw Loose for a moment, Screw Loose sniffed it, then licked it. Trixie wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, in fact she tried but nothing came out, suddenly she realized she had been forgetting to breath and inhaled suddenly.

“Maud, what are you doing?” Trixie asked nearly jumping with anger and frustration.

“I’m getting to know you’re mother,” Maud replied flatly.

Red Heart was snickering.

Trixie sat down in the snow and looked at her hooves, she was both angry and mortified at the same time. Trixie just sat there in silence for a little bit, occasionally looking up to see Maud petting Screw Loose, or talking to Red Heart about Screw Loose’s condition. After a few minutes Trixie felt something hot, wet, and slimly smear across her face. Screw Loose had just licked her and was now standing in front of Trixie wearing an overjoyed expression.

“Hi, mom,” Trixie greeted her quietly.

“Woof,” Screw Loose replied, followed by another lick.

Trixie leaned back and wiped the slobber away from her muzzle and watched Screw Loose for a moment. Screw Loose’s happy expression faded and was replaced with concern. Trixie stared in silence for a few more moments before Screw Loose laid down in the snow and stared up at her quietly.

“You do know that she knows who you are, right?” Red Heart asked. Trixie looked up at her with a confused look on her face. Red Heart continued, “She might be a dog, but even dogs recognize their own puppies. She’s probably worried that you aren’t happy to see her.”

Trixie looked back down at her mother who was lying completely still, ears folded back, and eyes staring up at her sadly. Unsure of what to do, Trixie reached over with a hoof and gently began petting the top of Screw Loose’s head. This brought a smile to Screw Loose’s face, and another one to Trixie’s.

“I’m sorry mom, I guess I wasn’t sure how to handle this… I love you,” Trixie said.

Screw Loose jumped up and knocked Trixie onto her back and began licking her face. Trixie tried to avoid it but failed, and only after Screw Loose stopped and barked did Trixie get a chance to try and wipe her face clean with a foreleg. Screw Loose quickly turned around and returned to dashing around in circles while carving trenches in the snow.

After a moment Maud helped Trixie to stand and together they watched Screw Loose play. Red Heart simply stood watch. Maud looked at Trixie and said, “I like her.”

“I guess I’m glad about that… this is weird,” Trixie mumbled more to herself then to her special somepony.

Ten minutes later Trixie and Maud had gotten into a conversation with Red Heart about Screw Loose. Apparently they would take Screw Loose out for walks at least once a week around the hospital grounds before Timequill arrived, now they did this at least once a day and it’s really improved Screw Loose’s mental state and overall well being.

Suddenly Screw Loose stopped and looked around seriously for a few moments. Trixie watched, wondering what was going through her mother’s mind. Suddenly Screw Loose focused on something, a little brown squirrel. Screw Loose began a low growl at the squirrel and it ran away, Trixie watched in horror as Screw Loose chased after it, even deeper into town. Without even thinking about where they were going, the three ponies chased after Screw Loose, hoping to catch up to her, but Red Heart was right, Screw Loose was really fast.

It took nearly a half hour of chasing after Screw Loose before she finally stopped running. They had come up to the edge of town and were completely exhausted, except for Maud who looked as stoic as always. Screw Loose was busy sniffing the snow and trying to find the squirrel’s scent again, which meant Trixie finally got a rest.

“Howdy, Trixie, Maud,” Applejack greeted.

Trixie jumped into the air at the sudden appearance of Applejack by her side. Trixie gave Applejack a cautious look for a moment before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“Ah’m just walking Wynona, how about you two?”

“I’m walking… er visiting my mom,” Trixie replied.

“Sounds good, Ah never really met mah Aunt Screw Loose. Is she doing well?”

Trixie thought for a moment on how to best reply to that and just as she opened her mouth Maud asked, “What is she doing with that dog?”

Trixie turned towards Screw Loose and her mouth dropped as she saw Screw Loose and an actual dog walking around in circles. Screw Loose leaned her head down towards the dog’s rear and sniffed, the dog returned the favor. Trixie’s face began burning as she dropped down onto the snow and covered her face with her forelegs while repeating the words, “No, no, no, oh Celestia please no.”

“What… what the hay is she doing with Wynona?” Applejack asked in disbelief.

“I believe they are getting to know each other,” Maud stated.

“This is… exactly what I’ve come to expect from my life,” Red Heart said flatly.

After a long moment Trixie dared to peek out from beneath her hooves and saw Screw Loose playing with Wynona. Screw Loose actually looked really happy, and Trixie found herself, despite being more embarrassed then she had ever been before in her life, pleased to see her mother enjoying herself. Applejack was just staring; she looked confused about the entire situation. Maud was looking emotionless as always, but Trixie could sense that Maud was enjoying this. Red Heart was just sitting down and rubbing her temples with her hooves, Trixie couldn’t blame her.

After a few seconds both Screw Loose and Wynona stopped, their ears twitched and suddenly Trixie saw the squirrel from Tartarus staring at them again. Suddenly both Screw Loose and Wynona began barking at the squirrel which quickly took off towards the forest, Screw Loose and Wynona ran after it. Trixie jumped up and chased after her, with Maud joining along.

Applejack called out Wynona’s name which made the dog stop and return back to its owner, Screw Loose however did not. Red Heart joined in the chase although she was lagging behind. Trixie was beginning to hate this day.

Trixie and Maud chased after Screw Loose for another twenty minutes through the Everfree Forest; at some point they had lost Red Heart. Trixie’s legs felt like they were on fire from the exertion, and she wanted nothing more than to stop her mother from running, and then she wanted to go to sleep.

Finally Screw Loose stopped running and stood still while growling at a tree. When Trixie and Maud finally caught up they stood on either side of Screw Loose and stared at her. Trixie was breathing heavily and was exhausted, Maud wasn’t.

“Why. Did. You. Do. That?” Trixie said in between breaths.

Screw Loose stared intently at the tree and barked a few times before returning to growling. Trixie stared hard at her for a long moment before giving up, Screw Loose was a broken pony and there was just no way for Trixie to get through to her. “I guess you don’t exactly mean to make life hard for me…”

“She still loves you, Lulu,” Maud offered.

“Yeah there is that, I just wish that I could fix her though,” Trixie said somberly.

Trixie returned to looking at Screw Loose who was still looking up angrily at the tree. Trixie hated the stupid squirrel that had caused so much trouble for her today. Trixie looked up at the tree where Screw Loose was staring and said, “I hate squirrels…” Trixie stopped talking the second she saw what was actually in the tree. A wolf like creature made of interconnected wooden pieces and leaves was staring down at her.

“Timberwolf,” was all the Trixie could say before the creature leapt from the tree and down towards the three ponies, it’s claws ready to kill. Time seemed to slow down as Trixie stepped back, she was preparing to run when a sudden flash of red light illuminated the forest around her. A beam of red energy flew through the air and struck the timberwolf in its side. A second later the timberwolf’s entire body glowed red, and then turned gray. The timberwolf collided into Trixie’s body, and it disappeared into a cloud of ash against her.

Trixie stood still, covered in ash, and began shaking. She looked at Maud who was staring at her with slightly raised eyes, Screw Loose looked worried. Unsure of what just happened Trixie turned around towards the direction the red light had come from and saw a golden yellow unicorn, who was just a few inches taller than her. The mysterious mare had a long, straight red mane that threatened to touch the ground. Trixie stared into the unicorns red eyes and asked, “Who are you?”

The unicorn was wearing a brown cloak which obscured her cutie mark, but she gave a soft smile to Trixie and said gently, “My name is Red Velvet, how are you faring?”

Chapter Fifty Six: Red Velvet

The forest was still as the three ponies simply stared at the new unicorn. Nopony seemed to be sure of what exactly to say or do. Red Velvet stood proudly in front of the ponies, her poster told the others that she was brave and strong. Red Velvet gave a small smile to the others and suddenly Trixie felt her heart lift up, something about Red Velvet’s smile reminded Trixie of a certain peaceful and kind pegasus that she knew. Trixie’s eyes wondered around Red Velvet’s slender form, and finally settled on the golden unicorn’s face.

Trixie fished for something to say, some way to start a conversation with the new pony. “You know that you’re named after chocolate cake, right?”This earned a flat stare from the unicorn. Trixie added pathetically, “I guess you get that a lot…”

“Actually nopony has been so forward as to mention it,” Red Velvet said kindly.

Trixie looked at the ground feeling ashamed of herself for saying something that could be taken as rude. Slowly Trixie looked over at Screw Loose and wondered what to do about this situation. Screw Loose barked happily.

“Ah, I see,” Red Velvet said, “There is no need to apologize for your daughter’s words. She did not offend me, I am just not used to dealing with other ponies.”

Trixie looked at Screw Loose, and then at Red Velvet, finally she looked at Maud and said, “What just happened?”

“I think she was talking to your mother,” Maud stated.

“That’s what I thought,” Trixie said before refocusing her attention onto Red Velvet. “Can you really understand what she said?”

“Surely I am not the first pony that you have seen you can understand the language of animals. The surprising thing here is the fact that your mother is so fluent in speaking dog, I have a much harder time with speaking the language,” Red Velvet replied.

“So what, you’re like Fluttershy or something?” Trixie accused.

“Anypony can learn to speak with animals, it just comes more naturally to earth ponies then it does to unicorns or pegasi. Of course I know of a zebra who has learned how to speak with them even better then I, and I’ve seen a pegasus who is amazingly close to animals as well,” Red Velvet explained.

“That would be Fluttershy, she’s one of our friends,” Trixie said. She stared at the unicorn for a moment and a thought began to dawn in her mind. This pony was taller then her, about Twilight’s height, and she was slender, almost like Twilight. Trixie looked at the horn, and the cloak which perfectly covered the ponies back, sides and rump. A suspicion rose in her mind and she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you an alicorn?”

Red Velvet gave out tiny laugh that Trixie found adorable. “No, I am a simple unicorn who just wants to help out. Why would you think that I was an alicorn?”

Trixie almost let out a sigh but stopped herself, she sighed way too much for anypony’s enjoyment. “I saw an alicorn last night, I think that it killed the windigo in town.”

“No, that was me,” Red Velvet said.

“But… you were flying?” Trixie exclaimed.

“Yes, it was a simple spell that was very taxing. The battle was even worse on me, but I survived. Speaking of survival, do you require a guide back to town?” Red Velvet asked.

This was not what Trixie was expecting to hear from the unicorn at all. Trixie looked at the two ponies by her side before looking Red Velvet in the eyes and saying, “So what you are saying is that you are more powerful then Twilight Sparkle and you can speak to animals like Fluttershy? What’s next, being faster than Rainbow Dash?”

This earned an odd look from Red Velvet, and from Maud, and another one from Screw Loose. Red Velvet said kindly, “I do not claim to be more powerful then the princess, nor do I make any such claim to be like other ponies. I am simply as I am. And if you must know, I am only as fast as I need to be to survive.”

Trixie looked away feeling a little worse now, she lowered her head and sighed. “Sorry, I’m just a little paranoid… and for some reason I’ve got this idea that my friends are the best ponies... guess that’s kinda silly now that I think about it. I mean there has to be somepony faster than Rainbow Dash out there, and Twilight couldn’t be as powerful as Starswirl and he was just a unicorn.”

Red Velvet gave a kind smile to Trixie and said, “I hold no ill feelings towards you for this. It is hard to think that there are others out there who are as good or even better than your friends sometimes, but the world of Equestria is a large one indeed. If you still wish it, I can guide you back to the town.”

“That would be nice, thank you,” Trixie said before returning the smile.

Red Velvet took charge and lead the three ponies through the forest slowly. Trixie watched as the pony walked, she carried a slight limp and moved cautiously around obstacles. At some point Red Velvet tripped over her own hooves but caught herself. Trixie was becoming increasingly worried about the unicorn.

“Are you okay?” Trixie asked.

Red Velvet turned her head and gave another smile to Trixie before saying, “I will be fine. This is not the first time I’ve been in this condition. A few days of rest and I shall recover.”

“How long have you been out here in the forest?” Trixie asked. She wanted to get to know the unicorn more, there was an air about Red Velvet that Trixie really enjoyed.

“I’ve been here for almost two years now. The old castle has become a most welcome home for me, and the reading material is wonderful there,” Red Velvet said.

“But if you have lived in that castle for two years how come nopony has seen you? I mean Twilight’s been there at least a half dozen times in the past year,” Trixie asked. She had so many questions for Red Velvet, she wanted to know who she was, how she was so powerful with magic, and most of all, why she hasn’t made herself known to Twilight or the others?

“I have seen other ponies inside before, one night in particular had a group of six ponies running around and scaring each other silly. I did not want to interrupt their fun, so I stayed hidden until they left,” Red Velvet explained while taking careful steps around some large rocks in the earth. Maud eyed the rocks as they walked past.

“Have you been in town a lot?” Trixie asked.

“I visit every few months, mostly to restock on supplies that I cannot find in the wilderness,” Red Velvet explained.

“And what do you do out here?”

“I have been doing research, at one point in time I used to teach magic lessons to ponies who had trouble using their magic.” After a momentary pause Red Velvet added, “I’ve seen a few ponies in your condition before, my apologies.”

Trixie was left in shock after hearing Red Velvet say that, and she stared blankly forward for a few moments. Finally Trixie shook her head violently and asked, “What? How did you know about that?”

“I can sense it, your magical aura is all wrong. It has been corrupted by several sources of dark magic, although it looks to have healed a little on its own. Sadly without proper care, I doubt that it will ever return in full,” Red Velvet explained.

“How do I get proper care?” Trixie asked quickly.

“If I was in better condition I could help, but I need time to recover in peace. Although I might still require several… I’m sorry, I don’t believe that I can help you much,” Red Velvet said sadly.

“What do you need? I can get it, whatever it is,” Trixie offered.

Red Velvet stopped walking and looked back at her, Red Velvet’s eyes looked tired and held much sorrow in them. “I’m afraid that I can’t help you any further. We are back in town now.”

Trixie looked ahead of Red Velvet and saw Ponyville. The sun was still shining brilliantly over the snow laden town, and her heart soared at the sight of the town. Trixie looked back at Red Velvet and her heart sunk a little more. Trixie looked away and said, “You’ve told us your name, but you haven’t asked for ours.”

“That’s because it’s easier for me not to know your names,” Red Velvet said. Red Velvet began walking back into the woods and further away from Trixie.

Trixie stomped her hoof down in frustration at yet another chance of her horn being fixed going away. After Red Velvet was just out of sight Trixie shouted, “My name is Trixie Lulamoon!” Red Velvet stopped and looked back, Trixie could see the sadness in the unicorn’s red eyes. Trixie quickly added, “I’ll come back and visit you sometime, when you’re feeling better that is.” Red Velvet looked away and continued walking, she quickly disappeared into the forest. Trixie wanted to chase after her, and beg to know how to get her horn fixed, but something told her that if she did that now, she would never see Red Velvet again.

On their way back towards town they saw Nurse Red Heart galloping towards them. Trixie waved a friendly hoof at Red Heart as she slid to a stop in front of the three. Screw Loose barked excitedly before pouncing on top of Red Heart and licking her face. Trixie found it hard not to laugh at the sight, Trixie didn’t feel bad about laughing at Nurse Red Heart, after all the white pony had been snickering at her earlier.

Trixie took one last look at the forest behind them and wondered when she would see Red Velvet again, maybe she never would. Trixie felt somepony nuzzling her cheek and she looked over expecting to see Maud, instead she saw Screw Loose looking at her with a sweet expression that Trixie wasn’t used to seeing.

“It looks like she’s truly proud of you, Trixie,” Timequill said from behind Trixie. Trixie turned to see him standing there with a happy smile on his face. Trixie smiled back before looking back at her mother. Timequill then said, “Go on Screw Loose, give her a hug. You would like one wouldn’t you, Trixie?”

Trixie nodded and Screw Loose leaned her head in and nuzzled Trixie’s neck, before wrapping a hoof around Trixie and pulling her into a one legged embrace. Trixie returned the hug and they stayed like this for a long moment, Trixie felt that her mother had returned for once. Feelings of pride and love flooded from Screw Loose and Trixie’s eyes began to water.

“I love you mom,” Trixie said, her voice beginning to crack.

Screw Loose barked but being this close to Screw Loose Trixie could hear her mother’s thoughts with ease. “I’m so proud of you honey, thank you for still tolerating me,” Screw Loose thought.

“I’ll always tolerate you, it’s not your fault that you’re like this,” Trixie whispered, the tears now running down her face.

Screw Loose pulled back from the hug and looked into Trixie’s watery eyes, Screw Loose gave a kind smile to her daughter. Trixie focused on hearing her mother’s thoughts again, this time she heard, “I hope you come visit me more often, and I hope you bring your special somepony as well. I like her.”

Trixie wiped the tears away from her face and said, “Of course I’ll come visit you. Me and Maud will come and spend some time with you soon, okay.”

Screw Loose barked happily, and Trixie felt the connection to her mother’s mind waning. She tried to keep the connection to her mother’s mind, but it slipped away from her. It felt like she had just lost her mom again, but at least this time she knew that even though Screw Loose might be crazy, she was still her mother, and always would be.

“Were you talking to her?” Timequill asked, the slightest hint of worry in his voice.

Trixie gave him a glare and said, “What she’s my mom, I have a unique connection with her.”

Timequill looked like he was considering this for a moment before he shrugged and said, “Well I’ve seen much stranger. If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me.”

Trixie nodded and watched sadly as Timequill and Nurse Red Heart walked Screw Loose away. Screw Loose gave Trixie one last look before they got to far away, and Trixie could see the hopefulness in her mother’s eyes, Trixie vowed to visit her mother again, soon. After that Maud and Trixie walked back towards town although the walk was quiet, Trixie wasn’t feeling very much like talking at the moment.

On Trixie’s way back into town she found herself cheering up little by little. She began counting the good things in her life, she had her fiancé, Maud, she also was learning to accept her mother, and knowing that her mother still loved her was a wonderful feeling. Finally she had a small amount of hope for healing her magic, although it looked like Red Velvet was going to be hard to convince to help her.

Trixie continued counting off these things, not really paying attention to her surroundings, until she painfully bumped head first into somepony. Trixie fell back onto her rump and held her head in between her hooves. She looked up to see a teal colored mare, with a light blue and white stripped mane sitting on her rump as well and looking right back at her.

“Lyra!” Trixie exclaimed in surprise.

“Trixie!” the teal unicorn exclaimed back.

Maud looked at both of them with a flat expression.

Chapter Fifty Seven: Memory Lapse

Trixie sat still on the cold frozen ground while staring at Lyra for a long time before she finally managed to speak. “Lyra, is that really you?”

Lyra stood up and brushed the snow off her white jacket before replying, “Yeah it’s me. It’s been a long time, Trixie. I had heard you moved back to Ponyville, but I didn’t believe it until now.”

Trixie stood up and shook herself thoroughly, causing the snow that was stuck to her to fly off in random directions. Trixie then grinned and said, “I moved in here with my fiancé, Maud.” Trixie wrapped a foreleg around Maud’s neck and pulled her into an embrace. Lyra giggled a little at the sight.

“Wow, I can’t believe that you’re engaged. Sound’s a lot like what I’m doing with my marefriend Bonnie. You know what? We should totally go on a double date sometime,” Lyra said enthusiastically. “We can catch up about everything we did after we left school.”

Trixie nodded and said, “We’d love that. Right now I got to get back to Twilight though; she needs to hear something that I just learned.”

“Sounds terrible, I can’t believe that you’re still talking to her,” Lyra said with a frown. “I mean she is always acting like she’s better than everypony. I know that she’s a princess now and everything, but what exactly did she do to earn it?”

“She ruined her friends entire lives for a few months by changing their cutie marks around… actually that doesn’t sound like she earned it at all, does it?” Trixie said, now wondering why Twilight was an alicorn. It didn’t actually make as much sense as she once thought it did.

“Wow, if I did something like that I’d get locked up for it. Ugh, it’s not fair either, I mean do you remember the way she used to demean us all the time, you were the only one who ever stood up to her,” Lyra said.

“It’s not her fault, I mean when you tell her what she’s doing she apologizes for it. So she’s actually really nice when you get to know her,” Trixie said in an attempt to convince Lyra.

“Yeah, and what does it say about her when she screw’s up and can’t repair the damage she did? We both know a unicorn who has suffered that under Twilight’s command,” Lyra argued.

Trixie was quiet for a moment while contemplating this, at length she said, “Well at least she is not in charge of anything now… although she does still destroy things sometimes. I actually wonder sometimes if Celestia didn’t send her to Ponyville in part to keep her out of everyponies hair, but also so that when Celestia needed something ruined, like Tirek for example, she could send Twilight in to basically destroy everything by accident.”

Lyra laughed again, and looked towards the bright blue sky before saying, “You know I think that I saw an Alicorn last night. It didn’t look like anypony I remembered, but there’s apparently alicorns in other countries, so maybe it was a foreigner?”

“Nah it was just…” Trixie stopped as her mind went blank all of a sudden. She was going to tell Lyra something important about the mysterious alicorn, but she couldn’t remember what it was. The worst part was that it was on the tip of her tongue too. Finally she sighed and said, “I guess it was just some weird thing we saw last night. Maybe it was a foreign princess.”

Maud looked at the two of them and said, “We should go meet Twilight, we have something important to tell her.”

Trixie smiled and said, “Yeah, she’s right. Well we will definitely have that double date soon. First I got to meet with the Princess.”

“Be careful, Trixie,” Lyra warned with a worried tone in her voice. “I don’t want you to lose anything important. She’s dangerous to be around, in fact I’d dare say that all of those ‘heroes’ are dangerous to be around.”

“It’ll be fine, nothing too bad has ever happened to me because of Twilight,” Trixie said. “I’m the one who keeps her in line after all, because I’m the great and powerful Trixie.” Trixie finished by standing on her hind legs and spreading her forelegs wide. The truth however, was that Trixie knew that Lyra was right to be worried. Twilight was a hazard to be around sometimes, Trixie’s magic and psychic powers could attest to that.

After that Trixie said goodbye to Lyra, and walked away with Maud. Something was bothering Trixie though and it wasn’t until after Lyra was already out of sight that she remembered what it was. Red Velvet, the unicorn not alicorn, was the one flying around last night. How could she forget something so important, in fact this was exactly what she was going to tell Twilight about. Maybe something was wrong with Trixie’s head again, even so, Maud would remember for Trixie, so either way Twilight would find out soon.

After walking around town for awhile Maud and Trixie stumbled across the sight of three vary familiar ponies; Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle standing in a circle and talking to each other. Trixie motioned for Maud to be quiet as she snuck up on them.

“So what actually killed that windigo, it had to be gnarly as Tartarus,” Rainbow Dash said ending with an excited grin.

“I think it was an alicorn,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Well if it was alicorn,” Twilight said quietly, “Then there is no way we are dealing with one from Equestria. If it’s a foreign alicorn, then this is all very strange. Usually alicorn’s want to have parades thrown in their honor and when they do fight monsters like this, they demand to have a banquet to celebrate. Honestly speaking, Celestia and Luna are very tame compared to the others out there.

“And if worse comes to worse, it’s one of the alicorns from southern Equestria. Something like Queen Chrysalis wouldn’t be out of the question,” Twilight said her voice heavy with concern. “I still remember how hard it was to fight Chrysalis.”

Rainbow Dash snickered and said, “Yeah, well we have the six of us, plus Trixie and Maud. Chrysalis would be foalish to take us on again.”

“The big problem is that whoever did this, they killed the windigo while we were sleeping. Windigos as far as my research is concerned, and unfortunately there isn’t a whole awful lot on the subject, prefer their victims to be awake when they… devour them,” Twilight said quietly. “So it must have been the alicorn who put the town to sleep, but I want to know how.”

“Sleep powder? Sleepy time tea? Oh wait, the alicorn sung us a lullaby right?” Pinkie interjected. Twilight face hoofed and Rainbow Dash giggled.

Trixie wanted to tell them something really important, something about the alicorn perhaps? The thing was that Trixie forgot what she was going to tell them. She gave it only a second’s thought before deciding that it wasn’t important, and that now was the time to strike.

With sudden swiftness, Trixie leapt into the air and tackled Rainbow Dash bringing the blue pegasus down. Trixie grabbed hold tightly as the two of them rolled several times in the snow before they stopped with Trixie on top. Trixie stared down into Rainbow Dash’s wide purple eyes and grinned madly.

“Hi,” Trixie said happily.

“Uh… hi,” Rainbow Dash replied.

Rainbow Dash looked over at the surprised looking Twilight and the laughing Pinkie Pie. Trixie got off of Rainbow Dash and said, “So what were you three up too?”

Twilight still looked a little confused by what just happened as she said, “We were just talking about the windigo killing. We actually have no idea what’s going on here, and now I’m just waiting on a response from Celestia.”

Trixie scratched the bottom of her chin and thought about this. Windigos never appear this far south, actually they rarely even appear in the Crystal Empire. What was worse is that an alicorn, or possible monster as Twilight thought, was the one who killed it. This whole situation had trouble written all over it.

“This is actually kinda scary,” Trixie said. “I had a nightmare about a windigo, and then one appeared in Ponyville, not to mention the fact that Lyra and me saw an alicorn last night. I didn’t even know that there were other alicorns out there. I also had something important to tell you… but I can’t remember what it was.”

Trixie looked at Maud and said, “Why don’t you tell her. I’m sure that you remember whatever it was.”

Maud stared flatly at Trixie and said, “I can’t remember it either. Must not be that important.”

Pinkie Pie looked between the two ponies for a moment before settling on staring hard at Trixie. Twilight shook her head back and forth slowly before saying, “Well you’ll tell us later. Right now I’m just surprised that you don’t remember any of our studies from school. There was a whole class on alicorns and their influence on pony culture.”

“Like I’d remember something so boring; history is usually a pretty dull class,” Trixie said.

“Yeah, history, smishtory,” Rainbow Dash said in agreement with Trixie.

Twilight sat down and began rubbing her temples while saying, “Ugh, this conversation is giving me a headache. Seriously, history is wonderful. I just can’t fathom how you two find it so boring.”

Trixie shrugged and Rainbow Dash joined her. Trixie looked at Pinkie to gauge her opinion and was startled to see Pinkie’s nose bleeding. “Pinkie, are you okay?” Trixie asked quickly before trotting up next to her.

Pinkie Pie sat down and looked very sick as though she was about to vomit. Maud joined next to Pinkie and wrapped a leg around her little sister giving her a gentle hug. Pinkie Looked at the ground and wiped the blood away from her nose and said in a quiet whisper, “What happened to your mind. It’s like trying to read Celestia’s, only worse.”

Trixie wasn’t sure what to think or say, she had tried to read Celestia’s mind once before as well. It was not her smartest idea. But Pinkie had never been hurt when reading Trixie’s mind before, so what happened to change that now. Maybe that was what she was forgetting about.

Pinkie suddenly looked at Maud and her eyes grew wide and terrified. Maud stared back flatly at Pinkie for a moment and slowly Maud’s eyes began to look worriedly at her scared sister. Pinkie Pie began shaking before saying, “No. No. No. No. NO!”

“What’s wrong, Pinkie?” Trixie asked.

Pinkie pushed Maud away, and then pushed Trixie away before standing up and back peddling away from the two. She looked at them with a horrified expression and began shaking violently. “Why?” Pinkie asked.

“Why what?” Trixie asked hopping to get an answer that would help her in making Pinkie feel better.

Pinkie suddenly shouted, “WHY CAN’T I READ YOUR MIND?”

Everypony just stared at Pinkie in completely silence for a long unmoving moment. Pinkie shook even more then before as she said, “Reading your mind is the only way that I can connect with you, why the hell can’t I read your mind?”

“Pinkie, language,” Twilight said.

Pinkie gave a quick glare at Twilight before returning her stare at Maud, and saying, “I don’t give a flying rat’s hairy ass about language right now. I can’t read Maud’s mind. I have never not been able to read her mind, why can’t I connect with you, Maud?”

Trixie looked at Maud and tried to sense her lovers mind, and found something pushing her away. Trixie tried a little harder, and stopped the second she began to feel a headache coming on. She was completely unable to read Maud’s mind… or even feel her emotions. Trixie’s eyes widened and she looked back at Pinkie who was barely able to stand from how badly she was shaking. Suddenly Trixie stood up and said, “Pinkie Pie, it will be okay, I’ll fix this. I don’t know what happened but I’ll fix it.”

Pinkie Pie suddenly dropped to her knees and began sobbing, hard. Maud, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all went to Pinkie’s side to support their distraught friend. Trixie however looked away towards the forest, the only thing she could think of to explain what was going on was the fact that she had forgotten something important, and the only thing she knew was that it was in the forest.

Trixie galloped off at full speed towards the forest, with determination set in her heart, she was going to fix this. Pinkie’s entire relationship with Maud was based off of being able to sense her sister’s emotions, and to read her sister’s mind. This was the worst possible thing that somepony could do to Pinkie Pie, and Trixie was going to fix it, now!

Only after getting out of sight from the others, and reaching the edge of town did Trixie finally remember what she had wanted to tell Twilight about; Red Velvet. Trixie had no idea what the hay was going on, but for whatever reason she kept forgetting about that mysterious unicorn around other ponies, even Maud had forgotten. Pinkie had been able to read Trixie’s mind, and even Maud’s before they met Red Velvet. Whatever was going on had to involve her, and Trixie was determined to fix it at any cost, she couldn’t let Pinkie lose her connection with the sister that she loved more than anything else in the world. Even more so, Trixie couldn’t let Maud loose Pinkie like this, this could destroy the both of them if Trixie didn’t fix it.

Even though she wasn’t sure where she was going exactly, she had read Twilight’s journal, and she had snuck a few peaks into the Mane Six’s diary when nopony was looking. She had a good enough idea as to where she was going to find it; The Castle of the Two Sisters.

Chapter Fifty Eight: Web of Despair

Cold, dark, and dank were some choice words that Trixie would use to describe the part of the Everfree Forest that she now found herself walking through. There were no roads in sight, neither was there very much light coming through the thick forest canopy above her. Her thought’s went back to how Twilight and her friends had gone through this forest during the return of Nightmare Moon and how scary that must have been, at the very least Trixie had a little light to see by.

It was of very little surprise to Trixie that she felt so lost in these woods now that she was considering the fact that she had only read about how to get to the castle and never saw any maps. It would have been much wiser to actually have somepony guide her, but she feared it was far too late for that. She took another quick look around and felt even more lost then she had before.

Trixie continued onward though, she had already made her choice and now she only had to go through with it. The darkness around her grew even worse as she walked forward. Thick white vines covered the trees around her as she pushed ever deeper into the forest.

As the minutes passed by slowly she felt more and more like something was wrong. She looked at her surroundings again, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. The trees were as dense as ever and the foliage was dark and strange. The white vines were all over the place now forming walls that turned into a path for Trixie to follow. She looked up and saw even more white vines stretching between the treetops and only the faintest of light coming down.

A creaking sound startled Trixie’s heart and she quickly held her breath and stood completely still. She looked around with caution but unfortunately couldn’t see anything too far away. The darkness was simply too thick. She had a way to fight off the darkness though she had dreaded using it before, but that sound made her worry about her surroundings now more than ever.

Trixie’s horn gave out a soft purple glow as she concentrated on an old spell of hers. Her horn began to throb in a dull pain as an orb of light materialized out of nothingness in front of her. The pain swiftly went away but it was enough to remind her that she still couldn’t do any real magic tricks, not until she found out how to get it healed, and Red Velvet was the key to that.

The small orb of light hung just above Trixie’s horn a few inches away and gave out a soft blue glow on the area around her. The darkness around her became more apparent but she could at least make out more details about the things around her. The white vines were covering everything in sight, stretching from tree to tree and there was no end to them in sight. The thing that bothered Trixie the most about the vines themselves was how they looked to be stuck to the tree as though they were adhesive but she couldn’t figure out why.

A few leaves fell gently around her as she stood still staring at the vines. She looked up cautiously and saw six glowing orbs staring down at her. Her heart tensed up and fear shot coldly down her spine as she stared at the orbs. Slowly they approached closer, completely silent as they grew wider. A long green furry leg prodded very gently along the side of the tree, two large black fangs appeared just underneath the six orbs.

Trixie could only stare on fearfully as the creature above her got closer, the orbs revealed to be eyes, the fangs sharp and deadly. The green fur and eight legs prodding along the trees as it made its way downward. The two appendages around its fangs began rubbing against each other in delight as it stared down into Trixie’s wide terrified eyes.

“My, my, my, what do we have here. It looks an awful lot like dinner if you ask me,” the creature said right above Trixie’s defenseless head.

Trixie managed to mutter a response in the most dignified way she could possibly manage, “Sp-sp-spider.”

The giant green spider lunged forward and Trixie’s instincts kicked in as she rolled to the side. The spider slammed hard against the ground where she had just stood not but a moment prior. Just as the spider began to face her she reached out with her magic and unleashed a torrent of flame against the creature’s side. The spider screamed for an instant before the opposite side of the spider exploded and a boiling white substance shot out covering the tree line.

Trixie stood up, her horn was hurting and her head didn’t fare any better. She stood silently for a moment before noticing the vines along the trees were vibrating slightly. Suddenly Trixie knew that these were not vines, these were webs. Trixie cursed herself for not recognizing the signs sooner, had it really been so long since she had fought with giant spiders that she had forgotten what their lairs looked like?

Suddenly a familiar male voice whispered besides her. Babble said, “You may want to consider running an option, also don’t forget, blood magic.”

Trixie looked around and after seeing nothing decided to listen to her crazy and began running away. She didn’t know where she was going, but any direction was at least a chance to get away. She looked down gloomily at her right foreleg as she galloped through the woods and cringed. What she was about to do was going to hurt, but at least it wouldn’t kill her… or at least she hopped it wouldn’t.

Trixie leapt over yet another fallen tree branch as she galloped at full speed through this forest of nightmares. The forest was a maze of webs that blocked off her escape and made things progressively harder, on top that it was getting more difficult to maneuver through. She made yet another quick turn avoiding another wall of webs and came to a sliding stop. She stared with fearful eyes at the webs ahead of her, they were everywhere with no visible exit in sight.

“Darn it!” Trixie cursed as she turned around hoping to find another exit.

She began galloping back and found another path. She stopped just long enough to look at where she had come from and thanks to the floating orb of blue light she was able to see all the glimmering orbs staring at her. Spiders, spiders were everywhere and they were coming for her.

Trixie choose the new path and took off in a panicked gallop praying to Celestia that she could make it out alive. The walls of web that strung between the trees grew closer together causing Trixie to watch her step more carefully, but even so it looked like this was a straight path through. She could only hope that it would lead to an exit.

“Why?” Trixie asked herself as she continued her gallop. “Why did we do this?” She knew the answer to that though, she was trying to save Pinkie’s and Maud’s relationship; it was already damaged enough, if it got any worse their relationship would break.

As the walls got narrower around and the ground cluttered with branches, rocks, and bones she was forced to slow her gallop down to a quick trot. She could hear the sounds the creaking of branches behind her, and worse yet she felt like she was surrounded by the monsters on every side.

The corridor of webs she was in finally ended and Trixie stopped moving. Her heart sunk as she stared at the old brick wall that blocked off her exit and she knew then and there that she was a dead mare. “Trixie is so sorry Maud, we promised we wouldn’t do this to you… and look at what Trixie has done now.”

Trixie turned and using some more magic she expanded the orb of light and cast a brilliant blue light across the area. Trixie saw the spiders in the trees, each one as large as she was. She also saw the spiders that were on the ground chasing her. Each one looked at her with hungry eyes, their mouth appendages rubbing together in sheer delight of their new meal. Trixie walked backwards slowly while grinding her teeth together.

If she was going to go out, she was determined not to go alone. Trixie looked down at her right foreleg and frowned at the gash that had been torn into it. Trixie had purposely cut herself in hopes that it would let her use her magic with less hindrance; she had been right.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is about to show you what magic really is. Taste Trixie’s incredible blood magic!” Trixie shouted as she channeled magic into her horn.

Her leg began burning where the cut was and Trixie felt the hot blood running down her foreleg. She ignored it as she summoned forth the energy to destroy her enemies. Her horn flashed and a bright orange flame shot out like a flamethrower and the webs around her caught aflame. The fire swathed the area before her, smothering everything in sight with flame.

The spiders caught in her attack screamed and fell to the ground. Trixie’s stomach lurched every time one of the spiders exploded. The longer she kept her attack going, the more her leg burned. Trixie let up the spell after a few moments and watched as the spiders that were left began to retreat. Trixie had not expected to see them turn in terror at her stunning performance, but she was happy with this outcome. Maybe she would get out of this forest alive after all.

Trixie examined her foreleg only to find it coated in crimson, this was not a good sign at all. Suddenly the still burning webs that were around her fell to the ground and Trixie saw her doom. Two giant spiders with blue hair jumped out from the tree cover on either side of Trixie. She tried to move but her world spun suddenly and she fell forward. The spiders landed, their legs pushed her down with incredible strength and in conjunction they sunk there fangs into her shoulders.

Trixie let out a terrible cry as white hot pain flashed across her shoulders but quickly went numb. The spiders pulled their fangs out with a sickening pop and Trixie’s vision began to blur. Trixie felt the world spinning around her as the spiders rolled her over onto her back. She felt something warm and sticky covering her fur.

She wasn’t done yet though, and with a mighty effort she used her magic to summon forth another spray of fire and covered the two spiders around her with the hot flames. The spiders screamed, fell, and exploded. Trixie hated it when spiders exploded but it was the fastest way to kill them.

Her strength was draining quickly but she managed to push herself up off the ground. She saw a few strands of web were surrounding her middle section, she tried to pry them off with telekinesis but found that the web was not wanting to move. She left the web on as she walked with slow steps toward the brick wall. With the webs around her now destroyed she could see an old wooden door and moved towards it with increasingly difficult effort.

She used her magic to open the door and walk inside, she shut the door once inside. The orb of light illuminated the small building. The room was still very dark even with the orb of light, but she could see a table, a chair, a bed and some shelves. Books were scattered all over the floor and a layer of dust covered everything in sight.

With careful and slow steps she walked towards the table but with every step the room got darker. When she got half way to the table her forelegs went numb and she fell to the cold ground, hard. The fall didn’t hurt and she didn’t care, there weren’t any spiders in here and that was all that mattered. The room was getting darker.

She saw an open book in front of her lying on its side. Trixie carefully used telekinesis to lift it up and read the mouth writing. It was written with poor skill and she could only wonder why this was here. It didn’t look all that old, but it was here in the middle of the Everfree Forest.

“I know that this plan has taken a long time to come to fruition. I had to wait for so long just to be able to free that despicable creature from the depths of Tartarus. I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t needed, and I wish that I could only tell Celestia of what I plan on doing. Celestia would never agree to this though. We need to stop them, someway somehow. I will sacrifice everything in order to make this work, my reputation, my family, even my life.

Should you ever find this my princess, please know how deeply sorry I am for doing this to you. With the greatest of apologies, Starswirl.”

Trixie stared in silence at the book as the world got darker. She tried to read more but it was already too dark to read anymore. Trixie closed her eyes, they felt so heavy now, why? Her brain felt slow, and fogged but she knew one thing for certain. Twilight could never see this book, protecting Twilight’s faith in her hero was the least that Trixie could do.

The world slowly slipped away from Trixie’s grasp as she felt herself being pulled to someplace far away. Whatever it was, Trixie was too tired to fight it.

Chapter Fifty Nine: The Darkness Inside

Trixie opened her eyes and was blinded by an incredible light. Quickly she raised a leg up to block the sun’s light and squinted in an attempt to see where she was. As her eyes slowly adjusted she saw the open window that she had been staring at and felt the cool morning breeze brushing against her fur.

The wooden walls of this room were painted white which complemented the deep blue carpet. There was a single twin sized bed with a purple blanket, a matching purple pillow rested on it. A shelf lined with various role playing books from the famous Oubliettes and Ogres game, along with official miniatures from the game. A few comic books were scattered on the floor and Trixie quickly reached out with her magic and picked them up; no point in leaving a perfectly good comic on the floor after all.

A quiet knocking at the door raised Trixie’s curiosity. Had she not told everypony that she was going to enjoy her day off alone? Or was there a real reason that she was being bothered right now? Trixie let out a sigh and walked to the door.

She opened the door and looked at the young mare staring back at her. This mare had an egg white fur coat, and a short mane of orange and red that covered part of her face obscuring her left eye. Trixie smiled at the unicorn and said, “What can Trixie do for you today?”

The mare looked away from Trixie and said, “I’m so sorry, Trixie. It’s just that Twilight said that you were going to help us learn a musical spell today. Please don’t be mad at me.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and said, “I’m not mad at you, Fire Light. I just forgot that Twilight still needed help with such a simple cantrip.”

The unicorn’s head lowered and she nearly whispered, “My name is Candle Light…”

“It’s just a nick name Fire Light, there is no need to get upset,” Trixie said while walking past the unicorn. Trixie examined the mare’s tiny frame for a moment allowing her eyes to linger on Candle Light’s flanks for only a second before looking down the hall. Although Trixie admired her cutie mark, a flaming circle, the mark was not what Trixie was interested in.

The hall had five more doors each one of them belonged to another pony in the group. Each door was closed right now and Trixie assumed that half of them were asleep or had gone out somewhere fun. Trixie walked down the hall following that she went down a staircase which lead into the large living room. Candle Light followed quietly.

The purple unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle, or in the groups opinion, Celestia’s pet, was reading quietly to herself with a stack of five or six books next to her. Twilight looked up from her comfortable lying position on the giant pink pillow and stared flatly at Trixie. Trixie stuck her nose up at Twilight and said, “So you expect Trixie to teach you how to do a simple cantrip today?”

This brought a frown to Twilight’s face as she said, “Not if you are going to patronize me like that.”

Trixie smiled and said, “Then you shall never learn, however I will be teaching Candle Light either way. If you want to join us you are welcome.”

Normally Trixie didn’t take such tones with ponies, but Twilight was above her in the group and this fact really got on Trixie’s nerves. Having some noble pony, somepony who was also Celestia’s protégé and personal student being her leader was a dent in Trixie’s pride. Trixie lead Candle Light over to the kitchen counter and dragged over three wooden chairs. Trixie sat in the middle one and patted a hoof on the one to her right.

After Candle Light sat on the chair next to her Trixie used her magic to drag over three potted plants. These pots were filled with grass since Trixie assumed that it would be the easiest plant to work with. Trixie’s horn began to glow a soft blue and the grass began moving as though by wind, soon a simple song began playing, soft little notes came from the grass and sounded very much like a flute.

“Wow,” Candle Light said in surprise.

Trixie grinned. “This is a wonderful little cantrip and if you can learn it well you can play all kinds of wonderful songs with it. Trixie is a little out of practice so please don’t be harsh in your judgment of her music lacking any form or continuity.”

“Oh, I won’t judge. I think it sounds pretty,” Candle Light said before giving a wide smile to Trixie.

Twilight joined them at the table and examined Trixie and the grass. After a moment Twilight’s horn began glowing and a soft wind blew in the room moving the grass in the pot, but no sound came from it. Trixie gave a little laugh at Twilight’s failure.

“It’s not my fault, you didn’t tell us how to do the spell,” Twilight protested.

“Oh so you are interested in being taught by somepony like me?” Trixie said. She wanted to see Twilight suffer, just a little, by being taught by an inferior pony.

“I don’t really have a choice now do I? Celestia forced us together, but I’m sure that she has a good reason for it. Maybe I’m supposed to help you get rid of your attitude, after all I’m her protégé and it would only be expected of me to be an example for all of you,” Twilight said proudly.

Trixie’s grin faded a little as she said, “And maybe I’m supposed to make you less arrogant, you stuck up prissy pony.”

Twilight shot a death glare at Trixie and Trixie promptly ignored it. Trixie smiled again as she looked at the grass pot and explained, “The spell is a simple one, you need to channel your magic into the grass and think of the music you want it to play. It might take practice from a pony such as yourself but I’m sure that you can do this one day, Twilight.”

Twilight looked a little angry for a moment before turning her head and focusing on the plant. She closed her eyes and her horn began glowing. The grass pot in front of Twilight began move and after a few seconds noise was emitted from the plant. A horrible sour note was sounding loudly from the plant for a few seconds before Twilight finally stopped and glared at the plant.

“Hmm. That didn’t seem to work, are you sure that you’re teaching it right?” Twilight said sourly.

“Trixie is sure. Fire Light, why don’t you give it a shot? I’d love to see you try,” Trixie said.

Candle Light stared at the grass pot and squinted her eyes, her horn began glowing and nothing happened. Her brow furrowed and she frowned and suddenly the grass started to move. Trixie watched in anticipation hoping that it would work, and her eyes widened as the grass suddenly caught on fire.

Candle Light stopped concentrating and looked shocked for a moment then she looked sad as her horn stopped glowing. “I’m sorry, Trixie. I messed up again.”

Twilight laughed a little before saying, “Its fine Fire Light. After I learn the spell I will teach it to you.”

Trixie glared at Twilight before giving a kind smile to Candle Light and saying, “That’s assuming that Twilight learns it first. Personally I have my bits on you. So let’s try this again and I’ll try and find out what you are doing wrong. If I can figure that out, I’ll be able to help you correct your spell usage.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and Candle Light gave a tiny smile back to Trixie before saying quietly, “Thank you.”

Trixie smiled back at her but she knew how this would turn out. Twilight was going to learn the spell after a few hours of hard work, and then she would try her hardest to incorrectly teach Candle Light. Poor Candle Light admired Twilight so much that all of Trixie’s teaching would go right out the window at that point. How Trixie knew this she wasn’t sure. She even knew that at one point Lyra was going to walk in and giggle at the horrible music that Twilight would be playing.

Trixie put a hoof to her chin and pondered how she could know such things before they happened. It was like this had already happened once before, like it was memory. Suddenly the world around her grew dark and both Twilight and Candle Light vanished.

Trixie was now sitting in that wooden chair in pitch black darkness all alone. She looked around quickly trying to figure out what was happening and it began to dawn on her what she was supposed to doing. She was trying to find Red Velvet and get help for Maud and Pinkie. She was attacked by something, spiders, and then she fell asleep somewhere strange and dark.

A scarlet orb appeared from nowhere leaving a glowing trail behind as it flew around Trixie. Trixie looked at the orb and tried to discern its intentions. The orb seemingly grew brighter as a voice emanated from it. “Trixie Lulamoon,” The female voice said. “You are quite the specimen. You have died, and come back to life. You have dealt with dark magic and yet still live. You have fought creatures that would even give me cause to worry, and you did so valiantly. I think that if any of your pathetic race was going to deserve a gift from the gods, it would be you. Do you not agree?”

Trixie watched in silence as the orb stopped moving and hovered in front of her silently. Trixie took a moment before answering the mysterious little ball of light. “I don’t believe that I deserve anything special. All I do is screw things up for everyone I care about, and hurt them.”

“Then you have one up on that worthless pet of Celestia’s. You actually know when you screw up, and you feel bad for it. But you don’t need to, it is only a fact of life that a unicorn with a destiny such as yours would cause trouble on her way to power,” the orb said.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, and I don’t want to. I just want to help my friends and go back to my quiet life with Maud,” Trixie said.

“No, you don’t get that option. You have used those so called friends enough, now you need to seek greater power,” The orb replied.

“I do not use my friends. We are true friends and that’s the truth!” Trixie defended.

“Oh ho ho, really now? Let me examine exactly what you are doing with these so called friends of yours, shall we?” the orb said with a curious voice.

Suddenly Rarity appeared before Trixie, her eyes wet with tears and makeup running down her face. Rarity held out her hooves, they were red and swollen with bandages covering them. She looked into Trixie’s eyes and said, “All I ever do is give things to the ponies I love. I am killing myself and nopony ever gives me anything back.”

The orb laughed darkly before saying, “All you do is take from this pony, whether it is the gifts that she offers or her body. What do you give back to her?”

Trixie thought about it for a second, she didn’t give anything back to Rarity for the scarves, nor the friendship. All she had done was take from the generous pony, she had never even considered giving anything back. Trixie looked at the orb and said, “No, were friends. I do not abuse our friendship,” but even though she said this she felt like it was nothing more than a shallow lie.

The orb laughed again and Rarity vanished now being replaced by Applejack. Applejack had bags under her eyes and looked twenty years older and exhausted. She looked tiredly at Trixie and said, “Ah have to make sure that mah family is okay. Ah have to make sure that they are safe and well. Ah put everything Ah have into keeping them safe, yer all Ah have left.”

The orb flashed a bright red light momentarily blinding Trixie before saying, “So she is your cousin and yet you never spend any time with her. You have come over for dinner, what, once or twice since you moved into Ponyville. What have you been doing with your time if not spending it with family?”

Trixie lowered her head and said quietly, “She is my family, and I love her with all of my heart. I’ve just been busy lately.”

“Doing what exactly? Hiding in your tiny house with Maud? Is that all you do? Hide from the world so it can’t hurt you? You are nothing but a coward,” The orb said accusingly.

“No I’m not. I’m busy, I swear,” Trixie lied. Her heart was beginning to hurt the longer she thought about this. Had she really been abusing her friends, only using them for her own purposes?

Applejack vanished and was replaced by Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s blue fur was covered in dirt, with scrapes and bruises covering her body. She had blood shot eyes that pierced Trixie’s soul. Rainbow Dash took in a shaky raspy breath before saying, “I won’t let anyone I love die. I can’t let them be hurt, hurt me all you want but don’t let anypony that I love be hurt. Please.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Trixie called. “You’ll be okay, I won’t let you be hurt I promise.”

“Will you now?” The orb said in a dark voice that made Trixie want to hurl, she followed by saying, “Rainbow Dash is terrified that you are going to hurt yourself again. And you have not shown her many signs of improving, now have you?”

Trixie looked away and felt tears start to run down her face. It was true, it had to be. Trixie couldn’t see any other reason for Rainbow Dash to be like this, and the realization was too hard for Trixie to take. She wanted to leave now, before she learned how she had been hurting the others that she loved so much.

Rainbow Dash disappeared and Twilight Sparkle showed up. Twilight had sparks coming from her horn, her eyes were red and her mane a complete mess. Twilight was twitching and she couldn’t seem to focus on Trixie. Twilight said in a panicked voice, “I have to fix her, I have too. All I do is hurt my friends, and now I’ve gone and ruined another pony’s life, another unicorn’s. I have to fix her.”

“Twilight,” was all that Trixie could say as she stared at the sight.

“So she’s hurt you, and instead of trying to spend your time comforting her afterwards, you just walk away to have fun with somepony else. What a wonderful person you are,” The orb said sarcastically.

Trixie closed her eyes but couldn’t stop seeing Twilight looking so miserable. She opened her eyes after a moment to find Pinkie Pie staring at her. Pinkie’s eyes were watery and tears were streaming down her face. Pinkie’s mane was completely flat and Trixie noticed that her hooves were bleeding from two deep gashes.

Pinkie didn’t smile as she said flatly, “I give everything that I have to make other ponies happy. I feel their feelings as though they were my own, and when I see you so sad, so lonely, so broken… I break a little inside. Just a little each time, and you don’t seem to want to be helped. No matter what I do it’s never enough to help you is it?”

Trixie tried to say something but all that came out was a soft cry. Trixie’s cheeks were wet from tears, her eyes were red, and she only wanted to hug Pinkie. Something kept her glued to her chair and she felt as though leaving the chair would be the death of her.

The orb glowed a little brighter and Trixie felt as though it was smiling at Trixie’s pain. “You are a terrible person, Trixie Lulamoon. This pony only wants you to feel better, so why don’t you get off your depression wagon and feel better already?”

“I do feel better than before. I know that some days are still hard for me, but I don’t want to die, I know that I’m a good pony now. Stop telling me that I’m wrong!” Trixie nearly shouted at the orb.

When Pinkie Pie disappeared and Fluttershy took her place Trixie knew that this might be the one to break her. Fluttershy’s eyes were bleeding tears; she wore a dirty and torn version of Trixie’s old cloak. Fluttershy’s chest now had a hole in it, a hole that Trixie could see through with a chain coming out. Trixie followed the chain and found it attached to the heart that was being held in Fluttershy’s hoof. Fluttershy stared at Trixie with a smile, but everything about the smile was horribly wrong.

Fluttershy couldn’t stop smiling as she said, “I love you, Trixie. Look I took my heart out so that I can give it to you, please take it, for me. I will always love you and never leave your side, I promise. Even if you don’t want to be with me, I will always follow you.”

Trixie closed her eyes and looked away, she couldn’t stand looking at the wretched version of Fluttershy that sat before her. It was more painful than any of the ponies from before. “Please no more,” Trixie begged quietly.

“So you haven’t talked to Fluttershy about her crush on you, and now it’s destroying her to see you with Maud. What are you waiting for? Do you actually want to be with Fluttershy? Or is she a back up for if something goes wrong with your current mare?” The orb asked its voice becoming manic.

Trixie whimpered and wanted to leave this dark and horrid place. Suddenly she heard the most important voice that she had ever heard in her life. “I love you,” Maud said.

Trixie opened her eyes and her heart froze at the sight. Maud was made entirely of stone, and cracks covered the entirety of her body. Maud stared at Trixie with a blank stare saying, “I love you, and even though you lie to me, even though you have feelings for another pony, even though you will hurt me and tear me to pieces. I will still love you. Even though my love for you will destroy me, it’s better than the loneliness I felt before I met you.”

Trixie screamed at the top of her lungs. She couldn’t take this any longer, the orb was torturing her and this was going too far. Trixie looked at the orb and summoned forth her magic, all of it. She built up her magic until she felt the headache come in, she continued building up magic. Trails of hot crimson began to run down Trixie’s nose, then her eyes, following her ears, finally Trixie coughed, blood came out. She looked straight at the orb.

“Buck you!” was all she could say through blood stained teeth as she unleashed a blast of purple magic energy at the orb. For a moment the blackness was illuminated by the light and Trixie saw a horrible sight that she would never be able to take back. As the orb vanished in the stream, of pure magic, Trixie could only stare in pure horror at the mountains of dead ponies surrounding her. The furthest ones she didn’t recognize, the closer the bodies were the more she recognized them. Surrounding her chair were the bodies of her closest friends, but when she looked at the ground underneath her, she realized with complete horror that the chair she was sitting on was actually balanced on top of the body the most important pony in her life.

“Maud?” Trixie whispered in disbelief.

Chapter Sixty: The Lost One

A cold and wet sensation sunk through Trixie’s shoulders and she opened her eyes to see that the world around her was nothing but darkness. She wasn’t sure where she was or what was going on. She felt ill and her body ached dully all she wanted to do was throw up but judging by the sour taste in her mouth she already had. She knew that she was lying down somewhere soft, and that at the very least was a minor comfort.

Trixie still remembered that dream she had suffered vividly. The horrible red orb, the memory of olden times before everything fell apart, and finally seeing her friends like that. Trixie just couldn’t bear to imagine what had brought about that dream, but with the way she felt right now she knew that she couldn’t be dead. She wouldn’t be in pain and feel sick if she was dead. After another moment of thought she decided that she would be better off not focusing on the nightmare as of yet, she had those far too often to think too hard on this one, no matter how terrifying it was.

Suddenly the world around her came to life as light suddenly flooded the area blinding her. She threw up a foreleg to cover her eyes and block out the bright light. The sound of a mare gasping softly made Trixie look out from underneath her foreleg to see a surprised looking unicorn with yellow fur, a long red mane, and orange-red eyes.

“I-I-I’m sorry, did I disturb you,” Red Velvet apologized so softly that one would think she was contending against Fluttershy in a quiet mare contest.

Trixie groaned and said, “I feel awful.”

“You were poisoned by those monsters… I did my best to heal you, but the deer didn’t leave many supplies behind when they left this place,” Red Velvet replied.

As Trixie’s eyes adjusted to the light she found herself lying in a strangely crafted wooden bed. The blankets she was lying next to looked more like giant leaves then actual cloth. The room was shaped like a normal square room but the way the room looked to have been carved from a same giant piece of wood made Trixie feel very small. Shelves, dressers, and even a kitchen were all fused into the walls.

“Where in Celestia’s name are we?” Trixie asked.

“This is an abandoned outpost for the deer. They were forced to leave this place when a more voracious monster came along,” Red Velvet said quietly.

“You’re very quiet, you know that?”

Red Velvet looked outside the doorway before saying, “Yes well, um, the monsters can be attracted by noise sometimes.”

Trixie looked out the doorway and was surprised by the fact that there was no actual door, just an empty hole leading to the outside. Trixie looked next to the light source that was illuminating the room and instead of a lantern she found a flower growing from the ceiling glowing with a bright yellow light. Trixie then noticed a jewelry box that clearly didn’t belong to this room in the corner sitting alone on a table, something was shining with a red light reflecting against the wall from inside the box, the light was so familiar and she felt an unexplainable pull towards it. Red Velvet noticed Trixie’s interest and swiftly closed the box with her magic.

“What’s in there?” Trixie asked, something about the light from the box had deeply unsettled her.

“An old trinket. You needn’t worry about it, it’s safe inside the box,” Red Velvet replied. “Um… may I ask why you were in the forest fighting spiders?”

Suddenly Trixie recalled her purpose here and explained, “Something weird is going on, Maud and I couldn’t remember you when talking to other ponies. And now it’s like nopony can read our minds, do you know what’s going on with that?”

Red Velvet didn’t respond right away instead she walked around the room and began work on preparing something in a bowl. While Red Velvet toiled with her magic to stir something with a wooden spoon Trixie had plenty of time to examine the tall unicorn.

Red Velvet wasn’t wearing any clothing this time and with being able to see the unicorns shoulder’s Trixie was forced to acknowledge the fact that this was indeed a unicorn, that put a pretty big hole in Twilight’s theory about an alicorn. For some reason it hurt Trixie’s head to stare at the Red Velvet’s shoulders for too long. The poison must be affecting her still. Trixie also got to see the unicorn’s cutie mark, a red tear drop, an odd thing for a pony’s cutie mark, this left Trixie wondering exactly what Red Velvet’s special talent was?

Finally Red Velvet spoke up saying, “There is a reason that I know so much about curses and dark magic. You see when I was much younger, maybe around your age, I did something foolish and now nopony who looks at me can remember me for long. Talking about me also seems to be impossible for them unless I’m with them; as you can imagine this lead to me becoming a loner.”

Trixie felt pity for Red Velvet for suffering with this curse but she still needed her help. “Is there anything you can do to help Maud?”

“I can make a potion that lets her forget ever meeting me, period. Along with the memory the magic that’s blocking her mind will clear as well,” Red Velvet explained.

Trixie turned her view away from Red Velvet and back towards the door. “You also mentioned that you could fix my magic?”

“Yes, but the process to heal it could kill you. You would be forced to go down all of your darkest roads, and the end result could be death, or worse. All in all it would be much easier to fix your mother then to heal you,” Red Velvet explained gently.

“You could fix my mom?” Trixie exclaimed nearly jumping out of bed.

Red Velvet stopped stirring the bowl for a moment before saying nervously, “I could…”

Trixie stared silently at Red Velvet for a long moment waiting for the tall pony to add something else to that sentence, when that didn’t happen Trixie asked, “But what?”

“I didn’t say there was a but,” Red Velvet said. “It’s just that… I don’t have a reason to go out of my way to do that.”

Trixie felt a surge of anger flash for a moment before forcing it back down and saying, “Why would that matter? If you have the power, why not use it?”

“Because ponies would began to question why she was suddenly healed. I don’t have the need to expose myself like that,” Red Velvet said. Red Velvet then added in a somber tone, “I’m sorry.”

Trixie rolled over and said bitterly, “After what you did to Maud and me, I think you owe us a lot.”

A deafening silence filled the room as Trixie laid there in that bed with her anger on a low simmer. When at last the silence was broken it was by Red Velvet saying, “If I helped your mom, could you help me with something in return?”

Trixie looked over at the unicorn and stared flatly for a moment. Red Velvet quickly blushed and said, “I’m sorry, it’s not important…”

“I would do anything for my mom, especially if it healed her,” Trixie said.

“So… could you do me this small favor?” Red Velvet asked.

“If you heal my mom, I’ll do anything,” Trixie said.

“Oh o-o-of course. I’ll heal her mind first, and then maybe… if your still willing… you can help me,” The tall unicorn said meekly.

Trixie smiled and said, “That sounds like a good plan to me.”

“Okay, then after I finish making this medication for you I’ll start on the one for your friend,” Red Velvet explained. “This medication will take away some of the pain, and your nausea.”

After taking the medication Trixie was able to move around again without feeling any pain, or sickness. So she decided to walk outside and behold the ruined deer outpost. The old outpost was actually three giant trees with catwalks connecting them to one another, and strange mushrooms growing on the side of the trees formed a kind of staircase leading to ground level. Trixie was at the moment at least a hundred feet above ground level if not higher. The glowing flowers were blooming everywhere and although dim most of the time, they lit up suddenly on her approach as though they sensed her presence. This was impressive to say the least.

“So what are you doing out here in the middle of the Everfree Forest?” Trixie asked.

“Researching the lost history of the ancient empire, generally I move from safe house to safe house, this one is one of my favorites,” Red Velvet said.

“Which ancient empire?” Trixie asked.

“The Alicorn Empire,” Red Velvet replied quietly but happily.

“The what now? There aren’t enough alicorns to make an empire,” Trixie said.

“Not anymore, but apparently, a few thousand years ago there existed an entire empire of alicorns. They all vanished suddenly though, and so did all of their wonder and magic. Celestia and Luna are rumored to be two of the only alicorns to have survived from that time, and all the other alicorns since then are strange things indeed. I wish only to uncover the truth about what an alicorn really is, and what happened to the alicorns of old,” Red Velvet explained almost giddy with excitement.

“Sounds like you enjoy this subject,” Trixie replied. “I’d like to know more if you learn anything.”

“Oh really,” Red Velvet said surprised. “Of course I’ll tell you if I learn anything.”

Trixie smiled at Red Velvet who nervously returned the smile. After a while Trixie said, “I need to return home though, that potion you gave is going to save Maud and Pinkie’s relationship. Thanks so much for helping me… and my mom.”

“It’s okay, that you for helping me, or at least for helping me in the near future,” Red Velvet said shyly.

“Think you can guide me home again,” Trixie asked.

“Oh, um, of course I can. I don’t want you getting attacked again, that would be terrible,” Red Velvet said in a voice that almost sounded fearful of the prospect.

In some ways Red Velvet reminded Trixie of Fluttershy, only for some reason instead of that being endearing it came off strangely almost like a sense of déjà vu. Trixie shook her head to get the thought out and focused instead on the important things, she was going to go back home and save Maud and Pinkie Pie now, and if Red Velvet was telling the truth she also just saved her mom. The idea of trying to fix her magic right now however was a scary to say the least, and she could only wonder about what dark roads that she would have to travel through, after that horrible nightmare she had, Trixie really didn’t want to know.

Chapter Sixty One: Pinkie's Secret is Out

Trixie stood at the edge of the forest next to her much taller friend. She let out a sigh and slipped the memory wipe potion into her saddlebag before looking back at Red Velvet with a sad smile. Red Velvet returned the smile and nodded before walking back into the woods. Trixie couldn’t help but stare after the unicorn she had befriended.

“I’ll visit you again, Red,” Trixie said quietly.

Red Velvet looked back and her smile grew, for a moment she was silent but just as Trixie thought that she wouldn’t receive a reply Red Velvet said, “I will look forward to it. For now I will focus on healing your mother, while I do that, you may be better off helping your friend…”

Red Velvet looked away and continued walking, Trixie watched until Red was out of her sight. Trixie turned back towards Ponyville and started walking. She had to bring this potion to Maud and quickly, because if she didn’t, Pinkie Pie would only continue to suffer. Things were looking good though, and if Red Velvet spoke true, then things were about to get even better.

When she had reached Ponyville Trixie saw various ponies trying to clean up the snow around town. It was a little early for the snow but there wasn’t a whole awful lot that anypony could really do about it now. So everypony was simply trying to get as much as they could out of the way. Trixie was pretty sure where she would find Pinkie Pie right now, and so she began heading into the direction of The Sugarcube Corner.

Trixie stopped abruptly as a yellow coated pegasus wearing a green jacket walked into view. Something inside of Trixie stirred at the sight of Fluttershy, maybe it was the dream that Trixie had, maybe it was the green jacket, or perhaps it was the adorable green socks complete with leafy designs, but whatever it was that was doing it to her, she just couldn’t stop staring. After a moment Fluttershy’s cheeks began turning a light shade of pink and Trixie suddenly looked away feeling her own face heating up quickly.

“S-s-sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” Trixie apologized.

“N-n-no that’s okay… I um… I don’t mind if you want to stare…” Fluttershy replied.

Trixie looked over at Fluttershy again and couldn’t help but to examine Fluttershy’s tall and slender form. She had noticed it before, a long time ago, but right now it was impossible not to focus on how perfectly shaped Fluttershy’s body was. Trixie had an especially hard time not eyeing up Fluttershy’s tiny yet still curvy flanks. The hotter Trixie’s face became the harder it became to ignore the fact that she was currently eyeing up somepony that wasn’t her fiancé.

Trixie finally looked away and began walking toward Sugarcube Corner again. Fluttershy joined her side and smiled at Trixie. After a few steps a gentle yellow wing reached over and draped itself over Trixie’s back. Trixie was so surprised that she nearly bucked in response, but she managed to control that instinct… barely. Fluttershy shortened the distance between the two of them a little before saying, “I… um… it’s really cold out here. I don’t want you to get sick.”

Trixie knew that she should be pushing Fluttershy away, she knew that this was wrong, and finally she knew that she enjoyed this. Trixie opened her mouth in an attempt to tell Fluttershy to quit but all she could manage was a quiet mumbling sound. Trixie gave up and tried to ignore her embarrassment, and her enjoyment, for now.

Once at The Sugarcube Corner Fluttershy finally let go of Trixie and in that moment Trixie decided to get some distance between them by walking ahead of Fluttershy. Trixie wasn’t aware of the fact that Fluttershy could have this much confidence, but maybe this had taken Fluttershy a long time to work up to? Whatever was causing Fluttershy to start making moves, Trixie knew that she couldn’t talk to Fluttershy about it at the moment, she had already wasted enough time, she would have to bring this up to her later though. Trixie made her way up the first set of stairs, past the Cake’s who wore worried expressions and up the second flight.

Now at Pinkie’s open bedroom door Trixie could hear the soft muffled sounds of ponies talking. Trixie looked back at Fluttershy and put a hoof up to her mouth while whispering, “Shhh.” Trixie then snuck a little closer and peaked through the cracked open door.

It looked like everypony was in there, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie Pie was laying on her belly, on the floor, her head was lying on Maud’s lap. Trixie listened to the conversation that was currently going on.

“Pinkie Pie, I said I feel fine,” Maud said flatly.

“But how do you feel? Fine is not an emotion, are you happy, mad, or are you scared like everypony else is?” Pinkie said in a trembling voice.

Twilight gave a kind smile to Pinkie and said, “We are not scared. We are worried about you, that’s all.”

“That’s complete trash, I can feel your emotions, you are all scared of me now that you know that I can read minds,” Pinkie Pie said.

Rainbow Dash looked around and shrugged. “Yeah, well it is kinda a big deal ya know. I mean have you been doing that the entire time, like even when we were dating?”

Pinkie Pie gave a tiny cry before saying, “I don’t abuse it, I promise. Do you think that I like being able to do this?”

“Well I would, I would totally read Spitfire’s mind,” Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie just whimpered.

Twilight jumped in and asked, “Have you read everyponies mind? Ours? Trixie’s? Celestia’s?”

“I can’t read Celestia’s mind, and right now I can't read Trixie’s or Maud’s,” Pinkie tried to explain.

Trixie let out a sigh and bracing her heart walked through the door saying, “I have a potion that will fix this. Maud,” Trixie said while walking towards her lover, “If you drink this, Pinkie will be able to read your mind again and then she will be happy.”

Trixie levitated the bottle from her saddlebags and gave it to Maud who accepted it cautiously. Everypony stared hard at Trixie for a moment in silence and then Applejack asked, “Uh… sugarcube, did you just use magic?”

Trixie gave her a glance and then focused on Maud again. “Yes I used magic, now onto important stuff. Maud, please drink that so Pinkie will be okay.”

Maud looked at the potion and then she looked up at Trixie and asked, “Why?”

Nopony made a sound, and the still silence filled the room as everypony waited in both shock and wonder for Maud to explain what she meant. Maud didn’t answer though, she just stared flatly at Trixie. After a few minutes Trixie finally had enough of the silence and explained, “Because Pinkie’s only solace seems to be taken from the fact that she could read your mind. Now please drink it.”

“But why would I want somepony, even if it is my sister, to read my mind. My thoughts are private, Trixie,” Maud explained flatly.

‘Oh crap’ Trixie thought. Trixie coughed nervously a few times before saying, “But if you don’t drink it, Pinkie is going to continue being upset. You don’t honestly want that do you?”

“Of course not, I love my sister, but I don’t like the idea of my personal thoughts being read by somepony else. It’s disgusting,” Maud explained flatly.

Trixie had to look away in order to stop herself from letting on how much that statement hurt her, as well as Pinkie. Trixie could feel Pinkie’s heart shattering underneath the heavy weight of Maud’s words. Suddenly an idea came to Trixie, and she said, “Hey, Pinkie, what does your gift do to you? You know in regards to how you interact with others?”

Pinkie Pie sniffled, and then said, “When a pony is happy, I can feel it and it makes me happy too. When a pony is sad, I can feel it, so I go out of my way to cheer them up. I know that it was wrong of me to hide this from everypony, but I was so scared that you would all be afraid of me and not trust me anymore… and look at this, I was right.”

“Pinkie, I still trust you,” Maud said.

“Then why won’t you drink the potion?” Pinkie asked.

“Because I want my privacy, do you think that I want you to know about all the things I think about? Especially when it involves Trixie?” Maud asked.

“I don’t read minds very often, and when I do it’s usually an accident. I just want to be able to feel your emotions, is that so wrong?” Pinkie asked, tears spilling over and running down her cheeks.

Maud was quiet for a long moment and then she said in a stern tone, “okay, I’ll do this… on one condition.”

“What is it?” Pinkie asked.

“If you could read minds, feel emotions, and do all of that. I want you to tell me, tell… us, exactly what my parents were thinking when they sent you away from the farm,” Maud explained.

Pinkie closed her eyes and gave out a small whimper. Everypony else looked at each other and then Rarity asked, “What do you mean by that, darling?”

Pinkie Pie let out a quiet sob before explaining, “My parents sent me away… they didn’t want me anymore, they thought of me as being the black sheep that never belonged in the first place. They sent me to the Cake’s because I would fit in better here… and because I was nothing but trouble for them.

“I cried, I never cried so hard in my life. I raged, I broke things, and then I cried again. My own parents didn’t want me, I never belonged, I was never meant to be with them, I was nothing but their mistake. And all this is what they thought about me. If your own parents think those kinds of things about you, than how are you supposed to not believe that they are true?” Pinkie Pie finished just before breaking out into another sobbing fit.

Maud held her sister close, and stroked her mane gently. She only took her hoof away so that she could grab the bottle, pulled the cork with her teeth, and then drank it down. After a moment Maud’s eyes flashed green and then she smiled that tiny smile that she did when she was happy. Pinkie looked up at Maud and shook her head a few times. She then looked at Trixie and then back at Maud and a giant grin covered her entire face.

Pinkie Pie wrapped her legs around Maud’s neck and shouted, “THANK YOU!” Pinkie Pie looked back at Trixie said more quietly, “I can hear her heart again… it’s so peaceful. Thank you, Trixie.”

Trixie smiled and said, “It was nothing.”

“Where exactly did you get that potion again?” Applejack asked.

Trixie tired to remember but found a blank spot in her mind had suddenly appeared. She tried to think deeper on it, and felt a slight headache arise, but she remembered the Everfree Forest. Trixie shook her head and said, “The Everfree Forest.”

“Was it Zecora? I mean she has all sorts of potions and junk,” Rainbow Dash offered.

Trixie nodded and said, “Yeah, she does.” Although not actually a lie, Trixie knew in her heart that wasn’t Zecora. Whoever it was however had left their mark on Trixie, she felt like something really good was going to happen soon, and she couldn’t wait for whatever it was.

Chapter Sixty Two: Departure

Later that evening back at home, Maud and Trixie were finally preparing for bed. Trixie found her thoughts being drawn continuously towards what Maud had said about Pinkie’s mind reading abilities. If Trixie had been procrastinating about telling Maud that she too could read minds before, then she was now terrified of letting Maud in on that little secret. If only simple fixes to problems actually existed in this world then Trixie would be quiet pleased.

Trixie slipped off her jacket and examined it for a second, much to her shock there was no evidence of any spider bites on her jacket. Red Velvet must’ve fixed her jacket. Trixie tossed the jacket into the closet. A sudden and sharp intake of air from Maud made Trixie turn quickly to see what was wrong. Maud simply stared at Trixie, her eyes were slightly more open than normal and she stared with her mouth agape at Trixie. Trixie had a frightful suspicion as to what it was that Maud was looking at.

Trixie’s shoulders now had dark circular patches of fur, right where the spiders had sunk their fangs into her. Trixie couldn’t stare at the marks for long without feeling ashamed of them, and instead she decided to look at Maud. Trixie opened her mouth but stopped, she could tell Maud about the spiders but she knew that she couldn’t tell her about Red Velvet, if she even considered the idea she might forget her new unicorn friend yet again. Trixie braced herself to lie to Maud if necessary.

“What happened to your back,” Maud asked flatly.

“I was bitten by some spiders when I was in the Everfree, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. I’m okay though. They didn’t hurt me too bad,” Trixie said with a false smile.

Maud stared in silence for a moment and finally said, “You are not allowed to go into that forest alone again.”

That was a problem because Trixie had to go into the forest or else she would not be able to meet up with Red. It also didn’t help that Maud was trying to control her, although Trixie could understand the reason behind it, that didn’t make it much better. Trixie walked to the bed and climbed under the covers.

“You can’t tell me what to do. I know you’re worried about me, but that doesn’t mean you can control me, Maud,” Trixie said quietly.

There was nothing but silence for a moment as Maud crawled into bed next to Trixie. Trixie squirmed with delight as Maud wrapped a foreleg around her waist and said, “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

Trixie let out a sigh. “I know, and I’m sorry that I got hurt again. I’ll try my best to not get hurt again in the future…”

Maud’s hoof began sliding down Trixie’s belly, but after everything that happened today Trixie just didn’t feel up to it. She grabbed Maud’s hoof and said, “Not tonight, honey. I… I’m not feeling up to it.”

Maud’s hoof slid back up and held tightly around her chest. “Okay… Good night, Lulu”

“Good night, Maud,” Trixie replied.

It didn’t take long before the darkness of sleep smothered Trixie, dragging her into the depths of her subconscious.

Stone halls of crumbling stone decorated in ancient runes stretched on for miles. Bits and pieces of old rotting wooden furniture, or intact pieces of stone worked chairs and tables were strewn about the halls. Every now and then a pony skeleton could be seen poking out from underneath some of the rubble. These halls were long since dead and silent.

Trixie walked alongside one of her schoolmates, a particularly tall white unicorn named Moon Dancer. Together the two of them walked down these cold, empty corridors. Moon Dancer continued to stare out from underneath her red mane at Trixie. Finally Trixie had enough of being stared at and stopped dead in her tracks, looked straight at Moon Dancer, and said, “What is it?”

“I… um… well if you don’t mind I uh… nevermind,” Moon Dancer said nervously.

Trixie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Trixie is very busy trying to find the other members of our group. What is it that you want?”

“I… I wanted to ask you to go to the um… nevermind.”

Trixie stomped her hoof in frustration making the shy unicorn jump back. “Tell Trixie what it is that you want.”

“Dance, with me, will you go?” Moon Dancer spat out almost faster then Trixie could understand.

Trixie was speechless for a moment before realizing that Moon Dancer was asking her to go to the high school dance with her. Trixie smiled pridefully and said, “Trixie is honored that you would wish to take her, but Trixie has her eyes set on another unicorn. Trixie suggests that you ask Twilight instead.”

Moon Dancer’s eyes darted to the side and she said, “But… Twilight is um… she likes me doesn’t she?”

Trixie nodded and said, “Yes, and I like Candle Light.”

“But Candle Light likes Twilight… isn’t that a um… a conundrum?” Moon Dancer asked quietly.

Trixie let out another sigh. “Yes this has been vexing for us. It is like one of those terrible love triangles from romance novels.”

“Um… isn’t it more like a love square?” Moon Dancer asked shyly.

Before Trixie could respond the sounds of hooves clip clopping from the down the hall and drew their attention. Two more unicorns were trotting towards them, a teal mare with a mane of white and blue was on the left. Next to her was another unicorn, slightly taller with a dark blue fur coat and a mane of silver with a dark blue streak. The two of them looked rather anxious.

“Lyra, Minuette,” Trixie greeted as the two of them trotted right past.

“You might want to follow us,” Minuette said quickly.

A wave of dust appeared from where the two unicorns had come down from, and the wave quickly washed over the four unicorns. Trixie coughed violently a few times while cursing her luck before she heard the loud groan of rusted metal. Two glowing eyes appeared in the distance and seemed to look directly at Trixie.

It didn’t take anymore convincing then that for all four of the unicorns to begin galloping away at full speed. They needed to find Twilight Sparkle and Candle Light, and they needed to find them now!

The four frightened ponies galloped at an ever quickening pace. They moved with purpose and direction as they wound around the corridors. They knew where Twilight and Candle Light were hold up, and they were going to get their fearless leader at any cost. The sounds of metal slamming hard against the stone floors caused their hearts to skip with each succeeding step.

The four entered a large chamber filled with old dusty tables and knocked over chairs. Twilight Sparkle stood staring at the four ponies her eyes wide. Alongside her stood Candle Light who stared fearfully at the group’s frantic entrance.

Twilight quickly shook herself alert and spoke loudly, “Okay everypony, time to enact plan b. Trixie, use your magic to make Minuette invisible.”

“Invisible?” Trixie questioned, she didn’t know that spell, the most she could do was camouflage Minuette. Hopefully that would be good enough.

“Minuette, get that hammer ready,” Twilight shouted while jumping on top of a table. “Moon Dancer, get behind me. Lyra , start playing some music.”

A beautiful melody began playing throughout the room and Trixie saw Lyra with her lyre out. Lyra used her hooves to play the instrument rather than using her telekinesis which always stood out as being strange to Trixie, but with how wonderful her music was, Trixie couldn’t really complain.

Along with the music came a new found strength in Trixie’s heart and she quickly turned around. Trixie’s horn began glowing and Minuette disappeared from sight. Candle Light joined by Twilight’s side and together they stood on top of a table waiting for the monster that was coming for them all to arrive. Moon Dancer quickly hid behind Twilight’s table, her fearful eyes just barely visible behind her long mane. Trixie joined next to Moon Dancer.

The loud sounds of metal screeching and scraping against stone came to an ear piercing volume before the dust cloud arrived inside the chamber. A large shadow with two red glowing eyes walked in on all fours. Twilight’s horn began glowing and a sudden whirlwind swept the room clear of the dust cloud.

A giant mechanical dog stood in front of them, long blade like claws hung down from its now rusted paws. Its jaw hung open showcasing two rows of deadly sharp and crimson stained teeth. It scanned the room with its eyes and settled on staring right at Twilight. Twilight just smiled and nodded. The creature leapt forward.

In an instant the air next to the monster shimmered and shattered as a blue ethereal hammer swung down into the creatures skull casing sending it into the ground hard with bits of metal splintering off in every direction. Although only half its size in height Minuette stood proudly with a glowing hammer the length of her body floating next to her. Twilight Sparkle unleashed a lightning bolt from her horn and struck the mechanical creatures head. The creature tried to stand again but the effort only earned it another blow from Minuette’s fearsome hammer.

Twilight looked around and scoffed. “Were you fillies really running around this old place, scared out of your wits, because of that thing?”

The next week went by far too quickly for Trixie. She had spent time visiting her mother every day, but with no improvement in her condition Trixie’s heart was sinking. Pinkie Pie and Maud had an awkward relationship for a while but it was quickly repairing itself. Trixie watched as Spike had grown a few more inches in height, and how Twilight was actually accepting it. The snow had settled down to stay in Ponyville. Now that the day for Maud’s trip had finally arrived Trixie was growing nervous.

Trixie stood at the train station with Maud. The sky was covered in white fluffy clouds; it looked like it was going to snow again today. Maud was stiff and Trixie could feel the anxiety flowing off of her. Trixie nuzzled Maud’s neck a little while saying, “It’s going to be fine.”

Maud relaxed a little. “I know. I already talked to Pinkie Pie about this and she agreed. If you need to have sex you can do it with Pinkie. I’ll be home in a week… and thanks again for letting me go on this trip. I love rocks.”

“I know you do, honey,” Trixie said.

“And I love you,” Maud said quietly before lifting up Trixie’s head with a gentle hoof and planting a soft kiss upon Trixie’s lips.

Trixie’s face began to heat up and she replied, “I love you too.”

The train’s doors hissed open and with an uneasy start Maud walked aboard the train. Trixie could only watch in silence as the trains doors closed afterwards and then took off. A deepening sense of loneliness filled Trixie as she watched the train disappear into the horizon. The snow chose that exact moment to start flaking down around Trixie, thankfully she had been wearing her jacket almost none stop since the first day that it snowed. A few tears made their way down Trixie’s face and she wiped them away with a foreleg before turning to leave.

Fluttershy stood behind her with a kind and gentle smile. Trixie returned the smile and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um, I just heard that Maud was leaving today. I, um, wanted to say good bye but I guess she’s gone?” Fluttershy asked.

Trixie nodded and Fluttershy’s smile grew but quickly vanished a second later as she said, “Oh, I missed her… I’m sorry.”

Chapter Sixty Three: Lonesome Resonance

A growing sense of worry settled into Trixie’s heart as she stared in silence at Fluttershy, what is she here for? Standing on the platform alone with Fluttershy was unnerving for the blue unicorn. Trixie hardened her heart and began walking back home. Fluttershy followed.

Trixie walked silently for a few minutes leaving Fluttershy to attempt conversation, awkwardly.

“So, um, Trixie. I heard that Maud won’t be home for a whole week? Aren’t you worried about being lonely?” Fluttershy asked.

Trixie didn’t reply.

“Well, uh… if you need anything just let me know. I’m here for you, Trixie.”

Again Trixie refused to speak.

“Oh… okay. If you don’t want to talk right now that’s okay… are you upset that Maud left you?”

Trixie stopped suddenly and causing Fluttershy to accidently bump into Trixie’s rump before falling on her own. Trixie turned around and looked directly into Fluttershy’s confused eyes. “Fluttershy, what are you doing here? Didn’t anypony tell you that me and Maud wanted to be left alone when she boarded? I mean even Pinkie Pie respected our wishes, so I want to know what you are doing here?”

Fluttershy’s lower lip began to tremble and her eyes began darting left and right. “I-I-I just thought that m-m-maybe you would be lonely without a friend here.”

Trixie reached out mentally and probed Fluttershy’s mind. Surprisingly she found it difficult to get a good read on Fluttershy’s mind, almost as though the pegasus was hiding something. Trixie furrowed her brow and with extra effort she managed to break through.

The first thing that hit her was a tidal wave of fear followed quickly by a few romantic emotions that Trixie had grown accustomed to when dealing with Fluttershy. Trixie quickly began hearing Fluttershy’s thoughts, and they worried her.

‘Why is this not working? I thought that she’d like me more if I was there for her when she was alone, why is she mad at me? I just want her to love me… why can’t anypony just love me… not even Rainbow Dash loved me…’

Trixie pulled out of Fluttershy’s mind with a gasp. She hadn’t expected to feel, to hear all of that. It was almost as bad as Maud’s mind, or maybe worse. Trixie suddenly wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy startling the poor pegasus. Fluttershy had a fragile little heart that had been broken in the past, if this was Trixie’s fault she would do everything she could to repent for it, but at the same time she knew somewhere deep inside that this time it wasn’t her fault. No the blame rested on somepony else, but who?

When Trixie pulled away she saw a few tears running down Fluttershy face. With a gentle hoof Trixie wiped the tears away and said, “I’m not mad at you, a little upset, but not mad. You really are a kind pony for wanting to cheer me up, and I thank you for that. I just want to be alone for a little while though, if that’s okay with you.”

Fluttershy sniffed and nodded. “That’s fine. I didn’t mean to impose on you, but if you don’t mind I do actually have a um… a request.”

“What is it?” Trixie asked cautiously.

“If you don’t mind, and if you do that’s okay, but if you don’t… could I borrow you’re stage wagon?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

Trixie gave the pegasus an odd look and didn’t reply for a moment. A few seconds later Fluttershy began to look scared again. “Yeah, sure, you can borrow it. I mean I can’t even use it anyways so… yeah go ahead.”

Fluttershy make a cute, excited squeaking noise and jumped up into the air a few feet and hovered there. “Thank you so much, Trixie. This means a whole lot to me!”

Trixie just smiled and turned back towards her home. “Yeah let’s go back to my place and I’ll give it to you.”

Later that night, Trixie found sleep voiding her while she lay in bed staring at the stars just outside of her window. Her mind was racing with dark thoughts and her heart was filled with nothing but loneliness. Dinner had been quiet and miserable as she ate alone, she had hoped that Pinkie Pie would show up but that didn’t happen.

The stars shone brightly through the pitch black oceans of space and the moon danced across the night sky slowly. Time trickled by as Trixie lay awake watching the stars. Eventually her mind had reached a point where the darkness was beginning to scare her, old thoughts, and old feelings were coming back to haunt her now. Trixie couldn’t stay in bed doing nothing any longer; she desperately needed to occupy herself.

The house was cold when she got out of bed, so she put on her purple robe. Silence was a new roommate that Trixie was not a fan of, so she turned on the radio. After scanning over the few stations that were available from Ponyville, she gave up and put on some of her own music. One of Pale Ghoul’s more recent songs about Nightmare Moon began playing over the speakers.

“Block out the sun!
What has she done?
She feels so bad she feels so numb yeah!
Block out the sun!
What has she done?
She feels so good she feels so numb yeah!”

With her rock music playing in the background Trixie went about trying to distract her troubled mind. First she spent some time reading up on various books about how to be happy, but they were all useless. After that she spent some time trying to figure out how to make pancakes without burning them, and after twelve failed attempts she finally got one right. The sky was still dark outside, though on the horizon the sky was beginning to turn a wonderful shade of purple.

Trixie laid in the living room and practiced using her telekinesis. It was nowhere near where she had once been, but she could levitate three pencils and use them at the same time for various tasks without hurting her horn. This was a good sign.

“She’s awake,” A dark chilling voice called out to her.

The pencils hit the wooden floor as she looked around quickly searching for whatever the source of the voice was. When Trixie couldn’t find anything she quietly asked, “Who’s there?”

“Looks like she’s been working herself to death,” Another voice said coldly.

Trixie stood and looked around, she was indeed alone.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t make that for you. Please don’t hurt me,” begged a crying mare.

Trixie charged into the kitchen, still nopony was here.

“Mah family is trapped in here,” another voice called out angrily.

The bedroom was empty, the other rooms were filled only with unpacked boxes. The bathroom was also void of any life. Trixie found herself standing in the hallway trying to locate the source of the voices, but she couldn’t find them, it was like they were everywhere. Slowly the room began darkening, and a malevolent red light began illuminating everything in sight.

“Please don’t send me away.”

“Stop it, you’re hurting me!”

“I can’t go home.”

“Why?”

Trixie started running but something tripped her. The ground came rushing at her with incredible speed and impacted with enough force to knock the wind from her lungs. Trixie just lay there her body aching and her heart racing.

“Let us go, please.”

Trixie covered her head. She didn’t want to hear these voices anymore.

“I, I can’t feel my hooves, I need to rest.”

Trixie began shaking.

“She needs to eat.”

Unable to take it any longer Trixie screamed, “SHUT UP! SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!”

A chilling breeze hit Trixie’s body and she forced herself to look towards the front door. Pinkie Pie stood there with a very worried expression and Trixie couldn’t help but start crying. The voices seemed to halt their assault and the red lighting vanished. Pinkie Pie shut the door silently behind as she walked inside. Pinkie laid down beside Trixie and wrapped a foreleg around Trixie before saying, “What’s wrong.”

“The voices won’t stop, they just won’t stop… please make them go away,” Trixie begged. Trixie sniffled and the smell of alcohol coming off of Pinkie attacked her nostrils.

Pinkie Pie held Trixie closely and whispered, “Shh.”

After a few minutes Trixie had stopped shaking, and the voices had seemingly retreated to a dark corner of her mind yet again. Pinkie Pie made sure that Trixie received her medication and went back to holding the poor unicorn. It took a while but Trixie finally began to calm down.

“I didn’t get any sleep last night,” Trixie said quietly.

“I’m sorry, I… I was busy last night,” Pinkie Pie said.

Trixie snuggled into Pinkie’s embrace and whimpered. “It’s not fair, I hate being alone.”

“Well I’m here now, and I’m not going to leave you anytime soon. Kay?” Pinkie Pie said quietly.

Trixie closed her eyes and after a few minutes of quiet thinking Trixie said, “Do you think you could… help me go to sleep?”

Pinkie’s eyes widened and she looked very nervous for a moment before saying, “I was really hoping that you wouldn’t actually ask me to do that. I know that Maud decided that I would be having sex with you if you wanted it, but she didn’t exactly ask for my opinion…”

Trixie looked up at Pinkie and said, “I just want you to hold me. I don’t want sex.”

An instant look of relief covered Pinkie’s face and she hugged Trixie a little closer before saying, “Whew, I’m glad about that. It’s not that I don’t want to do it with you, you know, it’s just that Maud made everything so utterly awkward for us… and she hasn’t exactly improved lately. Maybe this rock trip will help her a lot.”

Trixie just laid her head down and sighed. “Me and Maud have been together for a year, a whole year… even if most of that time was just as friends it’s still so hard for me to not have her here right now. Pinkie, I don’t want to be alone.”

“Okay, I’ll… I have an awesome idea! How about I stay with you until Maud returns, and I promise that I’ll keep my partying to a minimum. Last night will be the last big one that I’ll do until she comes home,” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.

Trixie smiled at the thought. “That sounds really nice.” Trixie then let out a yawn before and her eyelids began to grow heavy. “Maybe I can finally sleep now that you’re here.”

Chapter Sixty Four: A Magical Performance

With her back aflame Trixie opened her eyes and began scratching at the burning spots on her shoulders with her hooves. The sudden movement caused Pinkie to open her eyes slowly and yawn. Looking into Pinkie’s soft blue eyes calmed Trixie down just enough to make her stop scratching.

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked tiredly.

Trixie opened her mouth but the burning feeling quickly faded leaving her to wonder what had happened. Still feeling exhausted she let out a yawn herself and said, “My back was in pain. It’s gone now.”

“That’s good,” Pinkie Pie said before rolling over and looking at the clock on the wall. “Hmm, guess it’s time to wake up.”

Wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep Trixie asked, “Why?”

“Because it’s past one,” Pinkie Pie explained before climbing out of the bed.

With great effort Trixie rolled out of bed and stood on her legs. “Six hours of sleep is not enough.”

The two of them went into the kitchen after that, and as Pinkie got the coffee started on the stovetop Trixie laid her head down on the table in silence. It wasn’t lonely in here with Pinkie around although from the sluggish movements of the pink pony it was clear that they both needed much more rest. Today Trixie decided was going to be a quiet and peaceful day.

The longer Trixie stayed in the kitchen the longer she became aware of a particular smell. After looking around for a moment she put her muzzle to her fur and took a whiff. She reeled back and said lamely, “Great, I smell terrible.”

“You were sweating in your sleep. You should take a bath or something.”

Trixie glared at Pinkie Pie for a moment before saying, “Not until after I have my coffee.”

Breakfast was simple yet filling. Coffee and peanut butter toast was what the two ponies ate together, of course during the meal Trixie became very much aware of the fact that Pinkie smelled just as bad if not worse than she did. Alcohol and sweat never did make a good combination. After breakfast was finished it was decided that they should both take a bath.

It was nearly two hours before Pinkie Pie and Trixie decided to finally leave the house. Pinkie needed to get some of her supplies from Sugarcube Corner if she was going to spend an entire week over at Trixie’s house. Trixie on the other hoof needed to get some fresh air, although after leaving the house she did notice a strange little sight over at the school.

A group of fillies and colts sat in front of a stage watching eagerly as a familiar pegasus stood on top of it. Trixie walked closer but decided to watch from a safe distance, a bushel of hay stood next to her providing some cover for her to hide behind.

“Ya’ll gonna like this,” Applejack said from Trixie’s side.

Trixie looked over and saw Applejack sitting on the other side of the bushel of hay. Applejack was eating a cupcake and looking quite pleased with the treat in her hooves. For a moment Trixie wondered where the apple pony had gotten the cupcake and whether she could get one for herself as well.

Trixie turned her attention back to the show and watched. Fluttershy was wearing the old cloak that Trixie had given her over a purple sweater. The pegasus stood before the young ponies with a pride and confidence that Trixie hadn’t seen before. There were three young ponies standing next to Fluttershy now as well. They all had red matching capes.

Fluttershy stood on her hind legs and gestured wide to the audience with her forelegs while saying, “Welcome fillies and colts, I am The Great and Powerful Fluttershy, and these are my assistants. We are here to show you the true wonders of magic. Yes even though we are not unicorns we can still perform feats of wonder for your enjoyment.”

The young fillies at her side jumped up on their hind legs, the pale yellow one which Trixie recognized as being Apple Bloom looked wobbly. All three fillies said in unison. “The cutie mark magicians are here to assist The Great and Powerful Fluttershy.”

Everypony in the audience Trixie included watched in amazement as Fluttershy began her show. At first she was pulling a rabbit out of a hat, an oldie but goodie. The rabbit however took some coaxing to come all the way out of the hat, and he did not look amused. The comical scene of Fluttershy begging the rabbit named Angel to come out of the hat was a wonderful touch to her show.

Next she began to saw the orange filly next to her in half. Although Trixie recognized the fake saw that was used it was still jarring when the orange pony began screaming in blood curdling terror. Fluttershy quickly fell on her rump looking absolutely terrified. It wasn’t until after the orange one shouted, “There’s a bug in here, get me out, get me out now!” that everypony calmed down. Fluttershy released the small pony and then apologized to the bug for accidently trapping it inside the box.

Fluttershy looked a little more than nervous now, but at least she was on her final act; the disappearing act. She was going to make a pony disappear the little white one named Sweetie Belle had volunteered. Sweetie Belle got into the box and then Fluttershy began her mystical chanting. Trixie however noticed the one problem with the trick. The little white filly’s cape had gotten caught on the box door when she entered. Trixie had the feeling that this was not going to end well. There was only one thing Trixie could do without cheating.

Trixie snuck up to the rest of the audience just as Fluttershy finished her chant. With a poof of smoke she opened the box and found not one but three fillies inside trying desperately to pull the white one free. The second the door opened the three of them tumbled forward and fell onto the stage. The audience of foals began laughing as hard as they could. After all it was a rather comical sight.

Fluttershy had made two new fillies appear, although that was the opposite of her original plan. Fluttershy looked horrified, then she looked heartbroken. Tears began to pool in her eyes and the three fillies began to apologize to her for ruining her show. Trixie now implemented her secret plan, the real magic if you will.

Trixie began stomping loudly and shouting, “Yeah, that was awesome. This is the best show ever.”

It took a few seconds but the colts and fillies joined in and began shouting things as well. Trixie heard things like, “That was the funniest show ever, I want to see more.” And, “I loved the bunny rabbit, he was so funny.”

Fluttershy looked around at the fillies and colts who had just watched her show, and although this was not her original idea. She accepted it, and gave a gracious bow, along with the three fillies that had been helping her. It took a few minutes but the applause slowed down and the kids began to scamper off, some of them were reenacting their favorite parts of the show. Some of them were even pretending to be The Great and Powerful Fluttershy. Trixie couldn’t help but smile at the fun all the foals were having; well all the foals save for two colts that after realizing Trixie had spotted them took off running in the opposite direction.

“Snips, snails,” Trixie whispered to herself. Self loathing was a common feeling that she had every time she saw those two, and it never helped the way they would run away from her. They might have been terribly rude, but she still wanted to make up for what she had done to them.

Fluttershy walked up to Trixie and said, “I… um… thank you.”

Trixie looked over at Fluttershy and grinned even wider. “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I loved watching your show, Fluttershy, if you have another one will you let me know so I can watch?”

Fluttershy blushed and smiled. “Oh well, um of course I will. And um… if you have any tips…”

Trixie couldn’t help but wrap her arms around Fluttershy and embrace her. “Of course I’ll help you. But I want this to be your show, so I won’t play any parts in it. However I will teach you anything you want to know about magic tricks.”

Fluttershy froze under Trixie’s hug for a few seconds before gently wrapping a wing around Trixie and saying, “Thank you.”

Trixie whispered, “I’m so proud of you, Fluttershy. I know just how hard it is to go up on stage and perform for an audience. I’ve experienced the best and the worst of it. So I want you to know just how much this means to me.”

Fluttershy began crying softly in Trixie’s arms and saying, “I was so worried that things would go bad, and that you would be disappointed. But things turned out good, and, and, and you're proud of me. Thank you so much, Trixie.”

Trixie pulled away but Fluttershy advanced, quickly. A pair of soft gentle lips found themselves being pressed against Trixie’s and before the unicorn even knew what was happening she had kissed Fluttershy. Fluttershy pulled back quickly and at the stunned expression on Trixie’s face, Fluttershy’s entire face became a deep shade of red.

Trixie opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Fluttershy spread her wings and quickly said, “I’m done with the wagon, thank you for letting me borrow it.” With unprecedented speed Fluttershy took off flying towards her cottage at the edge of town. Trixie sat down her heart was racing, her mind was confused, and she was smiling.

“What in tarnation is that filly thinking, Trixie are you okay?” Applejack asked with anger threaded into her voice.

Trixie sat up quickly and forced her smile away. She could easily beat herself up for enjoying the kiss later, right now she needed to stop Applejack from murdering her friend. “Applejack, just let it go. She’s very sensitive about this kind of stuff, and the only pony who will be able to talk to her without breaking her heart will be me. Please just let me handle this.”

Applejack stared silently at Trixie for a moment before warning her, “You do know that if Maud finds out about this, she will be more riled up then a prodded bull. Ah’ve seen her destroy boulders with her bare hooves before you know.”

For a moment fear gripped tightly onto Trixie’s heart but she pushed it away while saying, “I know. Just let me take care of this… I’ll explain it to Maud when she gets home, I promise.”

Applejack gave an odd look to Trixie for a moment before turning around and trotting away. The last thing that Applejack said was, “Alright, Ah’m trusting you on this one. And wipe that goofy looking smile off of yer muzzle.”

Chapter Sixty Five: A Mother's Return

The house was almost quiet, almost but not quite as Pinkie Pie was singing to herself while washing dishes in the kitchen. It had been difficult bringing the stage wagon back home all by herself, but Trixie had managed much more difficult feats in the past. As for now she was simply trying to distract her mind from the kiss that Fluttershy had given her, without much success of course. It didn’t take much coaxing for Trixie to run away from her thoughts so when there was a knocking at the front door Trixie was overjoyed to go and answer it.

She opened the door and suddenly her mind shut down. There were two ponies at the door, one that she had never expected to see come and visit her at home, the other one had already visited several times by now. Both Screw Loose and Timequill stood silently at Trixie’s front door.

Screw Loose looked very different then the last time Trixie had visited her. Screw Loose’s manic grin was gone completely now replaced by a small smile, her eyes were focused and full of intelligence, and most of all her mane was styled into a ponytail. It was also of importance to note that Screw Loose was wearing a dark blue dress.

“Trix, I’m… I’m finally back,” Screw Loose spoke calmly.

Trixie couldn’t do anything more than gape at her mother’s ability to speak so normally. The loud clash of a dish breaking snapped Trixie out of her daze and drew her attention to Pinkie Pie who was currently looking at the shattered pieces of glass at her hooves. In an attempt to regain her composer Trixie shook her head.

“I… I know this must be a shock, I know it was shocking to me and my doctors but I’m really here Trix,” Screw Loose said.

It was impossible for Trixie to care about the broken plate right now. All that she could focus on was her mother and suddenly she was beyond thankful for Red Velvet’s promise. Tears streamed down her face as she leapt forward and wrapped her hooves around Screw Loose while saying, “Mommy!”

Screw Loose returned the embrace and together they simply held each other for the longest time. Finally Trixie knew that she had to force herself to pull away from her mom and as painful as it was she did so. Even though Trixie knew that Red Velvet had been behind this she still wanted details so she looked at Timequill and asked, “How is this possible?”

Timequill adjusted the scarf around his neck before answering, “It was a new discovery in the field of conjuration. We actually had a specialist come over and assist us with the new treatment and to our surprise it worked. That being said we will be keeping Screw Loose close by for a period of time just in case the spell didn’t take.”

“So it was just a spell?” Trixie asked feeling slightly off put by how simple it all sounded.

“It wasn’t just a spell,” Timequill said. “It was powerful one, and it very nearly destroyed the mind of the unicorn who cast it. If we had been allowed to know the dangers that the spell came with I’m not sure that we would have allowed it to be cast, not without a lot of preparation first.”

Trixie didn’t like the idea that healing her mother could’ve hurt somepony but everything seemed to turn out for the best in the end. Looking back at her mother Trixie felt a warmth that she hadn’t felt in such a long time filling her chest. Unable to resist Trixie wrapped her hooves around her mother again and embraced her tightly afraid to let go.

“I love you, Trix,” Screw Loose said gently.

“I love you too, mom.”

So many questions were running through Trixie’s mind it was impossible for her to grasp at more than a hoof full of them. Sitting on the couch was also very difficult when she just wanted to bounce around with how excited she was, if not for her mother sitting on the couch next to her she would’ve been jumping up and down like an excited filly.

“So tell me, what have you been doing lately?” Screw Loose asked.

Trixie grinned with glee at the question. “I’ve spent the last year living with this mare name Maud. I introduced her to you once if you remember?” When Screw Loose shook her head Trixie continued, “Well anyway me and her are engaged to be married. I have never loved a pony as much as I love her. It makes me think about how you must’ve felt about dad.”

Screw Loose gave Trixie a sad smile before saying, “You’re dad was… an interesting event. I met him one day and instantly we made a connection. It wasn’t too much longer before I was pregnant and boy was your grandmother upset. Against her wishes I decided to marry your father and I have never regretted it. Even when he left us I still loved him.”

“Why did he leave?”

“Truthfully speaking your father didn’t leave us on the best of intentions. He had a vendetta to settle with one of his old enemies, and after an attack on our home he knew that he couldn’t just sit back and live a peaceful life any longer. After the fire he said good bye to me and left on a journey to go and… finish things with somepony called Ash.

“I tried my best to take care of you after that, Trix. I really did. But I guess that I wasn’t strong enough to handle all the pressure and I broke. For that I can never apologize enough to you, but I vow to be here for you from now on. Those doctors helped me out a lot, especially the unicorn they brought in, although I don’t remember the spell being preformed. It feels like I woke up after having slept for a very long time,” Screw Loose finished quietly. “It’s a little weird to see how much you’ve grown up.”

Trixie hugged her mother yet again. Her entire world was now bright and sunny, she only wished that Maud could be here to enjoy this as well. For better or worse all the depressing thoughts about Fluttershy, and her own darkness were gone. This moment might have been the happiest moment of her life, right next to getting engaged, and the happiest moment that she would get to enjoy for a long time. Even with her own darkness having been defeated for now, somewhere in the back of her mind she just knew that the universe was conspiring against her, but at the very least she had this one moment of happiness and peace to enjoy.

Pinkie Pie walked into the living room alongside Timequill and together they looked at reunion of mother and daughter with delight. Timequill however had some sour news to give to Trixie.

“Trixie, Screw Loose, I hate to interrupt you two but-“ he started.

“But it’s time for me to go back isn’t it?” Screw Loose asked.

Timequill looked downtrodden as he nodded.

Screw Loose looked into Trixie’s eyes and said, “Now don’t worry, I’ll come back and visit you. But right now I have to head back with my doctor. There are still tests that need completed, and they need to keep me under surveillance in case something goes wrong, but I’m sure that everything will be fine.”

It was hard for the lonely unicorn to watch her mother leave but she knew that it was important. Just as Timequill and Screw Loose walked out the door Screw Loose stopped just long enough to turn and say, “Meet her in abandoned outpost tonight.”

Trixie’s heart froze and Timequill stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at Screw Loose carefully and asked, “Meet who?”

“I… I don’t know. I just felt like I needed to say that, I’m not exactly sure why,” Screw Loose said worriedly.

Timequill looked back at Trixie and with a serious tone of voice he said, “I might be old now, but I’m just as perceptive as I once was. Be careful of whatever burdens you may have, Trixie.”

Trixie nodded and watched as the two walked away. Timequill was a smart pony and of course he would know that something was off about this whole ordeal but there wasn’t anything that Trixie could tell him, not with Red Velvet’s curse stopping her. Trixie knew exactly where the abandoned dear outpost was, the location was burned into her memory. She would go there tonight, and no matter what it was that Red Velvet wanted, she would give it to her.

Chapter Sixty Six: Theft

The room was as pink as always and as usual Trixie was enjoying herself here. Pinkie Pie was digging through her closet in a desperate attempt to find some ancient card game that she had bought. This left Trixie alone to try and amuse herself with whatever she could find in Pinkie’s room, and the loss of Maud was beginning to get to her again, only this time it was a little more annoying.

“Pinkie,” Trixie asked nervously, “Can I borrow one of your… um… secret magazines.”

A loud thud drew Trixie’s attention to the closet as Pinkie began rubbing her head. “Owie, that hurt. Anyway, did you just ask to borrow one of my adult mags?”

“Um… maybe…”

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes and returned to digging in the closet. “Be my guest, just leave the special one alone.”

“Special one?”

“You’ll see a familiar face on it.”

Trixie wasn’t sure who she could possibly know that would be in a magazine such as these. The box as always was located just underneath the bed and was a little heavier then she believed it should be. Just inside the box she saw the various magazines, all of them making her face heat up quickly. The magazines ranged from the simple Playpony to the much more kinky things like Cake Plot and Whips and Whinnies. One single magazine however stood out to Trixie and after seeing it there was no way she could avoid taking a peek inside.

Trixie levitated up the magazine that advertized itself as, ‘Including one of the shortest lived models of our time. One of the Elements of Harmony, and the most graceful pony to ever show up on their pages, the one, the only, Fluttershy.’ With a picture of the yellow pegasus taking a sensual pose on the cover Trixie just couldn’t believe this thing existed.

She opened up the magazine right to the article showing Fluttershy in the most intimate pose that she could have ever imagined the pegasus being in. With Trixie’s face now burning from embarrassment she couldn’t help herself from saying, “Oh… my.”

Again a loud thud came from the closet and Pinkie nearly shouted, “Trixie, I told you not to touch that one! That right there may very well be the very last copy of that very special and very rare book, now put it down thank you very much.”

“What do you mean the last one?”

“After Fluttershy’s short modeling career was over she begged Twilight to find and destroy the unreleased issues of this magazine. I had to steal one before it got sent to the incinerator… which was actually Fluttershy’s fireplace. It was never put into production so there were only about thirty ever made and twenty nine of them were burned,” Pinkie Pie explained. “That’s why it’s so special.”

Trixie closed the magazine and set it down inside the box gently. “Sorry, Pinkie. I just saw her on the cover and… well she kind of pulled me in.”

“Yeah… I know the feeling,” Pinkie Pie said almost dreamily.

A whimsical look struck Pinkie’s face and Trixie felt the need to ask, “Pinkie, do you still want to be with Fluttershy?”

“Yeah, I’d like that but I don’t think I’m ready to ask her out yet. I want her to be a little closer to me before hoof, ya know.”

Trixie took another look at the magazines and settled on a copy of Marvelous Mares, it looked normal enough to lack most of the weird stuff that Pinkie’s other things contained. Trixie let out a sigh before sliding it into her saddlebag.

“Grab a copy of Play Pony and Very Sexy Ponies as well. Trust me you’ll like those and they will give you some idea’s for when Maud comes back,” Pinkie suggested.

Following instructions she felt that it was really weird to be doing this. In an attempt to ignore just how awkward this whole situation was she decided to get to know more about Pinkie.

“Are you in love with Fluttershy?” Trixie asked.

For a little while silence filled the room and Pinkie retreated into her closet to find that card game. Things stayed quiet for about five minutes which made Trixie feel as though she had crossed a line with her question. When Pinkie finally came out of the closet she held a box of cards in her mouth. She put the cards into Trixie’s saddlebags before saying, “I think so… please don’t tell her that I said that.”

Although it took a minute for Trixie to realize what Pinkie Pie was referring to she quickly responded. “You know that Fluttershy is lonely right? She doesn’t think that anypony could truly love her, maybe that could be you’re opening?”

“Sadly now that everypony knows about my secret mind reading powers none of them really trust me. Fluttershy does seem to be the most okay with it, but she still has issues with me being able to read minds. It’s been hard trying to ignore the fact that they all don’t trust me anymore,” Pinkie Pie said quietly. “If only I could get rid of these stupid powers of mine, I’d be so much happier.”

Trixie reached out and gave Pinkie a one legged hug. “It will be okay, trust me, everything will be just fine. Now let’s go back to my house and we can play whatever card game you got.”

“Okay, that sounds like fun. By the way the game is called Mash Up. It’s really nerdy, I think you’ll like it.”

And with that said the two ponies packed up and left Sugarcube Corner. After the day she’d been having, Trixie knew that tonight was going to be rough.

Strange noises plagued the woods at night like giving Trixie the chills. Trixie hadn’t enjoyed sneaking out of the house but she couldn’t let Pinkie Pie know about what she was planning on doing. It was odd traveling through the woods alone at night, not because she was scared, because that was normal, no it was weird because she knew exactly where she was heading. It was like the abandoned deer outpost was calling her.

It didn’t take very long before she arrived at the base of the giant trees that the deer had converted into homes. A dark silence hung about this place leaving a frightful feeling to the air. Instinctively Trixie walked up the stairs and towards the largest of the tree homes. No light could be seen from it but this felt right.

After reaching it Trixie peeked inside the entrance way and saw a small light coming from the back room. Not wanting to be rude Trixie called out, “Red Velvet, are you home?”

The room’s door opened and for a brief moment absolute terror filled Trixie’s heart as she quickly realized that she had no idea who was actually here. When Red Velvet stepped out looking exhausted Trixie calmed down. Red Velvet walked with slow steady steps over to where Trixie stood at the entrance way. The ceiling flower lit up as Red Velvet walked past it.

“I got your message,” Trixie said cautiously, something felt off about Red Velvet.

Red Velvet smiled gently and spoke softly, “I’m glad. It was a lot more trying to heal your mother then I had originally thought.”

“You shouldn’t have used my mom like that.”

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any unrest, I just needed your help more so now than ever before,” Red Velvet said timidly.

Trixie couldn’t stop staring at Red Velvet’s shoulders. Although they looked perfectly normal something seemed off about them they looked a little larger then a normal ponies; probably a side effect of being such a tall pony. Trixie forced herself to look at something else and said, “They remembered you going in to help my mom.”

“N-n-no they actually um… well I actually gave a copy of the spell to another pony, and aided from the shadows. Their minds probably filled in any details that didn’t make sense to them,” Red Velvet said honestly.

Although Trixie believed that Red Velvet was telling the truth something felt off about the statement. Unfortunately for the blue unicorn she was having trouble making sense of things at the moment. In the end Trixie decided that the sooner she got this done the sooner she would get home.

“What do you want from me?” Trixie asked flatly.

“I need you to acquire a magical wand for me,” Red Velvet stumbled forward and barely caught herself. “I’ve been too exhausted to get it myself.”

It was dark outside but the moon was casting enough light for her to see by fairly well tonight. Without much hope of this task being easy Trixie let out a sigh before asking, “Where is it?”

“Thank you, Trixie.” Red Velvet said kindly.

Trixie gave a smile to the tall unicorn and said, “No problem. You saved my mom after all.”

“The wand was partially destroyed so you will need to get a new power source for it. The wand itself is located in an old tree house just north of here. It was once used as food storage for the deer.”

“Where is the second half, the power source?” Trixie inquired.

“In the basement of Twilight Sparkle’s castle. You will need to access the secret passage way in her basement and make your way to it. The power source is the heart of the castle,” Red Velvet explained.

Trixie gave a worried look at Red Velvet and asked, “Wait, do you want me to steal from Twilight Sparkle?”

“I’m sorry… I know that this is hard but it’s not like she even knows the heart exists.”

“Why should I steal from a friend?” Trixie demanded.

Suddenly Trixie’s heart sunk and she felt a terror rising up inside of her. There was nothing around to be scared of though. Red Velvet spoke gently but what she said put a poisonous pin into Trixie’s chest. “I know that this might sound wrong to you, but I put everything I had into healing your mother. If you’re mom were to return to her old self I would be unable to fix it at the moment.”

Despite whatever Trixie wanted to say in retaliation to this threat she didn’t dare speak rudely to the powerful unicorn. Her heart was filled with an unbeatable fear and she simply nodded and said, “I’ll get it right away.”

After that Trixie trotted away at a quick pace her heart was racing and her mind was trying to make sense of the darkness around her. Everything in this old place was so dark, so quiet, and so lonely that it made Red Velvet look like a ghost. Though Trixie didn’t want to believe that she was threatened into this she was to scared of Red Velvet’s power. For now she just concentrated on the task at hoof, get the wand and protect her mom. That was all she needed to know.

It didn’t take long before Trixie stumbled upon a sight that froze her in her tracks. The darkness of the forest couldn’t even begin to compare to what she was looking at now. Death, lots and lots of death lay before her. The trees were withered and rotted, the ground was dry and sticky, and giant dead spiders lay before her.

If one could possibly describe the scene they might say that it looked as though the spiders had all gone completely insane and began tearing into one another until they got stuck upon each others corpses. A select few of the spiders had exploded leaving the charred corpses behind. A burned down building rest amongst the dead and stood out instantly to Trixie.

This old building had been the one that she had crawled into but last she was here it hadn’t been burned and this entire area had been covered in spider webs. Upon closer inspection the house still smelled of burnt wood and the ground around it showed signs of a recent fire. Whatever had happened here had been recent, but why would this place be destroyed now? She had to wonder if her use of fire spells hadn’t accidently caused all this mess.

Well whether or not it was her fault she regretted only the loss of Starswirl’s old hideout and whatever information could have been found in there. Now nothing looked salvageable. A sigh escaped Trixie’s lips and she moved on from the scene.

An old tree loomed darkly over the surrounding forest with its branches grasping outward threateningly. Trixie didn’t like the look of it in the slightest but what bothered her the most was the black paint that had been splattered on the base of the tree. A large entrance way stood open but the darkness inside was not inviting. With ever growing caution she walked towards the entrance slowly, the flowers that usually grew inside the deer buildings were nowhere in sight leaving only darkness for Trixie to search through. A filthy smell hit Trixie’s nostrils as she entered.

“Why don’t you just use that horn of yours,” a familiar voice playfully said to Trixie.

“Babble, is that you?” Trixie asked already knowing the answer.

“Why but who else would keep you company while exploring such a dreadful place,” Babble replied.

Trixie just sighed. There was no way of getting rid of the voice in her head although it has proven itself useful on occasion it was still just a fragment of her crazy. Carefully she poured some magic into her horn and without much effort she created a small floating light. The room now shaded in purple was utterly destroyed. All the food stores had spilled over and rotted although no bugs had taken residence in the disgusting mess.

“Ewe, how can you possibly stand to walk into such a disgusting room,” Babble said in a tone that made it sound like the room had somehow offended him.

Trixie looked around in silence for a moment before seeing a bright blue wooden stick. On closer inspection, the stick had several branches that reached upward and outward as though something was supposed to be set between them and strange covered the shaft. Trixie vaguely recognized the symbols as ancient unicorn script.

“Hmm, this might be part of the wand. What do you think, Babble?”

“I think that we should leave before you look closer at the walls of this room,” Babble replied.

Almost by instinct Trixie looked up and for a moment the walls simply looked like they were messy, and covered in the same kind of paint as the outside. After a moment it became clear to her that the marks on the walls actually made out to be crudely drawn words that read, ‘The tide rises.’

“Why would somepony write that? And with black paint too, don’t they realize that it’s hard to read black paint in the dark?” Trixie asked herself.

“I don’t believe that deer use paint,” Babble said flatly.

Only moments later Trixie was running out of the old building with the wand held tightly in her telekinesis. She had a sudden terrifying suspicion that the walls were covered in deer blood. The place was already dark and creepy, she didn’t need to think about whatever dark things had happened in there, nor about what the words meant.

“I suppose that Twilight’s place is next. This should be quite delightful,” Babble said enthusiastically.

Trixie slowed down to a trot and aimed herself towards Twilight’s house. It was weird how she simply knew exactly where to go because normally she couldn’t go five feet into these woods without getting lost. She didn’t speak to Babble as she made her way through the woods, choosing instead to stay quiet and focus on her task. Even though she didn’t want to do steal from anypony she knew that she could; and that she would… for her mom.

With Trixie’s mane flowing in the cold wind she stood at the front of the castle’s front entrance. There was not an awful lot for her to think about now that she was already here. Breaking into Twilight’s home was wrong and stealing from one of her oldest friends was even worse, but she had to do this, for her mom.

Carefully Trixie tried the door and to her amazement found it to be unlocked. With slow and steady steps she walked inside. After living in Manehattan Trixie would never allow her doors to be left unlocked at nighttime, but Twilight lived in such a small peaceful town that maybe she had forgotten how dangerous the world could be.

Although she hadn’t spent a lot of time exploring Twilight’s castle she did remember where the basement entrance was. A large door led to a small staircase winding down into the earth. She was careful to walk slowly down the steps as she had a suspicion that with Twilight’s sleep schedule she might not be alone down here.

“Stop,” Babble whispered.

Trixie looked upwards by instinct and growled, “What is it?”

“That torch looks a little strange doesn’t it? Why not give it a tug?”

Babble was right on the mark about the torch looking odd. At first glance it was normal but on closer inspection the thing wasn’t properly fastened to the wall. Using her magic she tugged on the torch and it pulled outward with a series of clicking sounds. The wall next to it opened up into a tiny hallway just big enough for a pony to walk into.

The sound of hooves clip clopping from above and behind Trixie made her dash into the hall and begin searching desperately for a way to close the wall. Another torch next to the secret entrance was also movable and after pulling it out the wall slid back into place almost without a sound. With her heart racing she leaned against the wall and stayed silent.

The sound of hooves could still be heard from behind the wall and as Trixie listened she could also hear two ponies talking.

“So, Luna… how have things been at the castle?” Twilight asked.

“They have been much too dull without you around my love, I would love it immensely if you could come and visit more often. Because otherwise I still have to sneak away at night to visit you,” Luna said sweetly.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I’ll try and make more visits, but wouldn’t it easier to be caught by Celestia if we were in Canterlot?” Twilight inquired.

“Yes, but that is also what makes it the most fun.”

The voices quickly dropped off and disappeared after that leaving Trixie to wonder about how long this had been going on, and how they have managed to keep it a secret. It was no wonder why Luna didn’t want Trixie to see her over at Twilight’s castle that night now, she really wasn’t supposed to be there. A small smile stayed on Trixie’s face as she imagined what the two alicorns did together, it wasn’t any secret that both of these ponies could be socially awkward, and the idea of them trying to date sounded ridiculous enough to make Trixie want to laugh. She stifled the laughter though and continued moving forward.

Deeper into the castle Trixie walked until finally she arrived at as small chamber. The floor dropped about twenty feet and into a see through crystal window that showed a small lab underneath. Trixie stared in amazement at the two alicorns who were inside the lab currently entangled with one another rolling around the floor, their muzzles pressed tightly together and their tongues grappling with each other in an endless battle of lust.

“Wow, I didn’t know that Twilight and Luna were so… uh… yeah,” Trixie said to her imaginary friend. After receiving no reply she asked, “Babble, you still there?” No answer only silence.

Although difficult she turned her gaze away from the two alicorns a few floors below her and examined the room some more. A small bridge lead to a pedestal and on said pedestal hovered a small crystal heart about the size of Trixie’s hoof. The heart was just big enough it could easily fit into the wand.

She reached out with her magic and attempted to grasp the heart with telekinesis but felt something shock her horn. The heart was protected from magic but as far as Trixie could tell it wasn’t protected from anything else.

Taking extra precaution to stay quiet she walked across the platform. It took only a few moments before she realized that while standing on the bridge she could faintly hear the noises from below, and with increasingly loud moans escaping from the two ponies’ mouths she figured that she should probably hurry.

With her face heating up immensely from the current embarrassment and shame she held for having seen the two alicorns in action she quickened her pace. Within seconds she reached the bridge and with a swipe of her hoof she grabbed the crystal heart.

She stared at it for a few seconds now feeling the weight of her actions on her mind. She was stealing from her friend after breaking into her house and watching her attempt to breed with another mare. It suddenly occurred to her that even though these friends of hers had tried repeatedly to tell her that she was a good pony, the fact that she could so easily do something like this, no matter the intention, meant otherwise.

Suddenly the crystal heart faded to gray and lost its smooth texture. Trixie watched in horrified fascination as the heart she held in her hooves became stone. The pedestal was slowly becoming stone as well. She took in a deep breath and trotted away and back down the passageway. When she came to the end of the hall she didn’t stop as she used magic to pull down the torch and walked up the staircase. Without any trouble she walked out of the castle’s front door and straight towards the forest.

“Hello again,” Babble said casually.

“Not now,” Trixie replied.

Trixie tossed the wand and the stone heart onto the table with reckless abandon making Red Velvet flinch. Trixie stared the tall unicorn in the eyes and said, “Is my mom going to be okay now?”

Red Velvet nodded nervously and quickly glanced around the room frightfully. “Y-y-yes she will be just fine. I promise.”

Trixie turned and looked at the front entrance to the tree house and asked, “What did you want all this stuff for anyway?”

“This will fix everything, after I’m done with it I swear that I will return it in person and apologize. Twilight doesn’t have to know that you were involved,” Red Velvet said apologetically.

Trixie’s heart was numb after the long walk back to the old dear outpost. She had sunk and betrayed one of her best friends, even if it was for her mother this just proved that she was a bad pony. Anger, horror, sadness, all of these things had affected her before she finally arrived and now they were all gone, replaced by a feeling of emptiness. Right now she just wanted to go to sleep and pretend that this never happened.

“I will be able to fix your magic when I’m all better as well… it will still be dangerous though. So if you don’t want me to help you, I understand,” Red Velvet offered.

“Not interested. I still have friends, family, and Maud,” Trixie replied flatly.

“Yes, you do,” Red Velvet said pathetically. “If you ever change your mind, I will be here… studying.”

With that said Trixie was through with this night and left. She had only one goal now, and that was to get home and get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a better day.

Chapter Sixty Seven: Heat of the Moment

The morning came early for Trixie for as soon as the sun rose over the horizon a series of loud knocks woke up the tired unicorn. Still drowsy she got out of bed to go answer the door, poor Pinkie ended up waking from the early interruption as well. When Trixie opened the door the weight of what happened last night hit her like a ton of bricks and the only two words that escaped her mouth were, “Oh crap.”

Twilight Sparkle stood at the door with her four other friends and all of them looked upset. In the distance Trixie saw the once shining castle of crystal now completely turned into cold hard stone. There was no way that Trixie’s actions last night could have become more obvious.

“Pinkie Pie, we need to talk. Trixie, do you mind if we come inside for a bit?” Twilight asked.

It was freezing this early in the morning so Trixie couldn’t simply refuse her friend’s request, even if all she wanted to do was hide underneath her bed right now. After letting the five ponies inside Trixie began heating up a pot of coffee. It would be rude for a host to not offer a nice warm drink on such a cold morning after all, besides that it allowed Trixie to hide her face and guilt ridden eyes from the others.

“What happened to your castle, Twilight? It looks like somewhere Maud would live in if she became an alicorn princess,” Pinkie Pie said casually.

Trixie noticed that Fluttershy’s eyes seemed to be glued onto the blue unicorn’s bare flanks. With her face warming up a little Trixie gave up on trying to hide her face and turned around facing the group of ponies. The last thing she needed right now was to have Fluttershy eyeing her up. Twilight was visibly upset, but it was difficult to tell whether it was fear or anger.

“Pinkie,” Twilight said carefully, “I just learned that there is a secret chamber in the basement level of my Castle, just above the lab. And inside of that chamber there used to be a crystal heart according to… books, my books said that. Anyway, it’s gone now, and that I think that somepony stole it.”

“Oh that’s horrible,” Pinkie Pie said. “We need to find those thieves and show them that nopony steals from our friend.”

Trixie couldn’t be more thankful for Pinkie being unable to read her mind right now. Although the air in the room was shifting and suddenly she didn’t like the way that everypony felt right now. A tense emotion filled everypony, like a wire being drawn so tight that it might snap at any second. The only ponies who weren’t on edge were Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“Pinkie, I need to ask you to do me a favor,” Twilight asked.

“Sure what do you need?”

Twilight looked very nervous as she said, “I need you to use your… ability to find the criminal.”

“No.”

“But why?”

“Because,” Pinkie Pie said in disgust, “I refuse to abuse it. I already told you all that I don’t use it on purpose, and I’ve been trying harder and harder to make it stop.”

“There are no clues left,” Twilight said. “We already looked, we even used magic but there was nothing. It was almost like all the evidence vanished. The worst part is I don’t even know how they got inside, only my closest friends are allowed past the magical barrier that leads into my basement.”

“Wait who was helping you look, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“… my book was,” Twilight obviously lied.

“Right, and neither of you could find any evidence? None at all?” Rarity asked.

Twilight looked back at Rarity and said lamely, “Like I said there wasn’t any evidence inside the stairs or the basement. I did find a blue hair in the chamber itself but… that doesn’t really help.”

With a now pounding heart Trixie quickly turned away from the others for fear of her face revealing the truth. She quickly began focusing her attention onto pouring out seven cups of coffee. After that Trixie managed to find a spot to sit at her tiny table with the six other ponies squished around it. Her new seat was next to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. It was awkward to say the least.

“So what you are saying is that you want me to go mind reading everypony who has blue fur?” Pinkie asked.

“I have a list of possible candidate’s right here,” Twilight said as she levitated out a list from her saddlebag.

Pinkie Pie took one look at the list and said, “Trixie, catch.” With that warning she tossed the list at Trixie who barely caught it with her magic.

Trixie took a look at the list. Out of the list of pony names she really only recognized Minuette’s name, although the strong mare probably wouldn’t have been able steal anything stealthily. “What’s on this list that’s so important?”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “It’s not about what’s on the list. It’s about what’s not on it.”

Trixie reexamined the list and although she felt that something was indeed off, she couldn’t quite place what that was. “I don’t get it, Pinkie.”

“You are not on the list,” Pinkie Pie explained.

Twilight quickly jumped in saying, “Of course she isn’t. Why would Trixie ever steal from me, I’d sooner expect Rainbow Dash to steal from me.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash cried out. After a moment she added lamely, “You’re totally right.”

Guilt filled Trixie’s heart and she just knew that this new secret was going to explode in her face. She couldn’t very well tell Twilight what was going on and even if she tried to, she wouldn’t be able to talk about Red Velvet. Trixie gave the list back to Pinkie.

“Hey, Trixie,” Fluttershy whispered into Trixie’s ear. “Um… I know that this is really important but maybe later you could come over and teach me a few magic tricks?”

Trixie took a sip of her coffee. “Alright, but no more-“

“Wait why is she on the list!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Who?”

“Lyra?”

Twilight frowned. “Because her and Minuette both hate me.”

Trixie hadn’t even noticed Lyra’s name on the list so she had to ask, “Where was her name at?”

“It’s on the other side,” Pinkie explained.

There were not words to describe how it felt to miss something so utterly simple as the other side of a piece of paper. Trixie ended up just hanging her head and attempting to pretend that she had never gone to Twilight’s the night before. A kind, warm wing wrapped around Trixie’s back making the unicorn look up into Fluttershy’s eyes. For a moment Trixie’s heart stopped, something about the look in Fluttershy’s eyes told Trixie that everything was going to be okay.

Without a second thought Trixie laid her head down against Fluttershy’s tall shoulder and closed her eyes. Fluttershy smelled faintly of animals and flowers. Something about lying in Fluttershy’s embrace felt so good and put the world along with all its troubles on the back burner. This could have lasted forever if it wasn’t for Applejack.

“What are ya’ll doing,” Applejack asked accusingly.

Suddenly Trixie pulled herself away and sat up straight while saying, “Nothing!”

“Good,” Applejack replied sternly.

It took a few of hours before Twilight and her friends left Trixie’s home in a vain attempt to find whoever was behind the theft. What nopony realized was that they had been hanging out with the pony they were looking for all day, and after seeing the drive that Twilight had to find the criminal it only strengthened Trixie’s belief that she was going to get caught sooner or later. Pinkie Pie had ran off with Twilight leaving the sad unicorn alone with her thoughts.

After spending hours alone inside berating herself over her crime she decided it was best to leave and not come back to her house until Pinkie returned, being alone right now was a bad idea. Sadly she had no idea as to where to go. Being anywhere near Twilight was a terrible idea right now, and it seemed that going anywhere near most of her friends would prove upsetting. She remembered how nice it was to have Fluttershy holding her earlier, how it seemed that all of her troubles just left when she was around the gentle pony. A decidedly horrible idea began forming in Trixie’s head, and even though she fought against it, it felt like something was pulling her closer and closer to the making it a reality.

When Trixie found herself standing in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, not entirely sure as to how she had gotten there. She figured that maybe she was here for a reason. It was entirely possible that the only pony who could help her feel better was Fluttershy, and if Trixie only kept her guard up then maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Unsure about her decision and as to the exact reason she was here she inhaled deeply and knocked on the front door.

Moments later the door cracked open and Fluttershy poked her head out. Upon seeing Trixie, Fluttershy squeaked happily and swung the door open all the way. Trixie sluggishly walked inside. Dark thoughts had been left to soak in her mind for so long now that any physical movement had become difficult, all she wanted was to lie down and sleep.

“May I take your coat?” Fluttershy asked kindly.

Trixie undid the zipper and gave the coat to Fluttershy all with her magic. Something was strange about the way her magic was feeling right now, it felt stronger than before, but she was still too afraid to try anything more straining then telekinesis. Without a word Fluttershy grabbed the coat and hung it on the wall next to the door. Trixie crawled onto Fluttershy’s couch and laid her head down.

Her heart was filled with pain, the pain of knowing just how wrong it was of her to steal from Twilight. Trixie’s eyes burned as she fought with the need to cry and she fought even harder to not whimper. She wanted nothing more than to go and get that once crystal heart back but even if she did it wouldn’t change the fact that she had done something so horrible that her friends would all abandon her, and worst of all even Maud would judge her for this one. She would accept any form of punishment from them so long as they didn’t leave her.

A gentle wing found its way over Trixie’s back. This caused Trixie to look up sadly into Fluttershy’s eyes. No hate was held in the gentle pony’s eyes, only kindness and love. Trixie couldn’t handle it any longer and the tears began to run down her face, she had pretended to be strong long enough, now it was time to go back to being weak again.

“Shh, it’ll be okay, Trixie,” Fluttershy cooed.

“No, it won’t. I did something horrible, so horrible that now I’m going to lose all of my friends. I don’t want to be alone again. Oh please Celestia don’t let me be alone,” Trixie sobbed.

Fluttershy crawled up onto the couch next to Trixie and snuggled her side. Softly Fluttershy began nuzzling Trixie’s neck and whispering, “I will never leave you alone. I know how horrible it is to not have anyone to love you, and I refuse to let you go through that ever again. It doesn’t matter what you did, Trixie, I’ll be here for you.”

Trixie looked up and met Fluttershy’s eyes and something inside her broke. Fluttershy was telling the absolute truth, and Trixie knew it, she felt it. The love that Fluttershy held for Trixie was so deep that it could never be destroyed, not even when Trixie had hurt Fluttershy had the kind pony’s love failed. Inside Trixie’s heart she knew that if she just let Fluttershy in that all her pain could be taken away in an instant.

Slowly Fluttershy moved her muzzle close to Trixie’s until their noses touched, and yet Fluttershy refused to allow their lips to make contact. Something was burning inside of Trixie, something hot and wild. She knew that she wanted, no she needed this moment, but if she gave in to her own selfish desires, if she let Fluttershy take all her pain and guilt away even for a moment, then it would all be over. The life that she had fought so hard for, it would all end.

With great regret Trixie tried to pull away but found a gentle hoof was now caressing the back of her head. Fluttershy stared deeply into Trixie’s eyes and licked her lips with a wild look in her eyes one that Trixie had never seen before. Trixie had never seen Maud look at her this way, yes Maud had an eye almost constantly placed on Trixie’s rump but the gray earth pony had never looked so filled with lust, so wild, and so animalistic as Fluttershy did at that very moment.

“Fluttershy-“ Trixie tired to say but suddenly a pair of lips shot forward and pressed hard against her own shutting her up. A hot and wicked tongue slipped into Trixie’s mouth and fought against her own for dominance. To Trixie’s surprise she began kissing back and even managed to get her own tongue into Fluttershy’s mouth and thus tasting the sweet honey flavor that was Fluttershy.

They kissed and rolled over with Fluttershy climbing on top of her. Trixie’s hooves stroked Fluttershy’s back and slid closer and closer to the yellow pony’s rear. A sudden sharp pain hit Trixie’s tongue snapping her back into reality and forcing her to pull away. Fluttershy’s face suddenly became stricken with fear.

“What the hay? Did you bite me?” Trixie asked, more concerned with the idea of being bitten then by the fact that she was just making out with a pony who was not her fiancé.

“N-n-no it’s not… I’m sorry, I should have told you,” Fluttershy said quietly.

For a brief moment there was silence and the two stayed utterly still and then Fluttershy opened her mouth wide and Trixie saw the problem. One of Fluttershy’s teeth was sharp and curved. That one tooth obviously did not belong on a pony and raised so many questions; questions that were quickly cooling the fire in Trixie’s heart.

“What is that?”

Fluttershy looked away shamefully and explained, “Twilight turned me into a werebat, she tried to fix it but all she managed to do was slow down my… condition. I bet that you’re disgusted by me now.”

“A werebat, an actual werebat?” Trixie replied excitedly. She had only heard of such creatures. Yes werebats when transformed resembled bat ponies on the surface but there was so much more to them. They could control flocks of bats, suck fruits dry, and live for several hundred years maybe even longer. Fluttershy being such a rare creature was an absolutely beautiful thing, even if Twilight had created her by some manner of screw up.

Sadly Fluttershy clearly didn’t feel the same way. More than just the expression on the mare’s face, Trixie could feel the self loathing and terror that was ebbing off of the frightened pony. Surely when Trixie considered it, nopony chose to become a werepony. Fluttershy must’ve felt like an unloved monster, one that was to be feared rather than embraced.

One thing was for certain; if Trixie pulled away now, if she quit what she was doing with Fluttershy. The damage done to the fragile pegasus could be catastrophic. The one thing that Trixie understood and related to more than anything else was self loathing. It had caused Trixie to try and commit suicide in the past, and Trixie could already see the self destructive traits inside of Fluttershy, pulling away from her now would only lead the pegasus onto a dark road that she might never recover from. Trixie couldn’t allow herself to be responsible for such a tragedy.

On the other hoof if she continued along this track, she would lose Maud. Maybe Maud could forgive Trixie for having sex if that was all it was. But somewhere deep inside Trixie still held feelings for the pegasus. To both ponies this would be a wonderful experience while it lasted, but afterwards it would destroy everything for Trixie. Maud would also never forgive her for finding emotional comfort in another pony. This entire situation was the absolute worst.

It was hard but after quickly weighing the consequence of her choices, she bit the bullet. Even if it ended her own happiness she couldn’t allow Fluttershy to fall down the same dark road that Trixie was once on. Trixie lunged forward and kissed the scared looking Fluttershy. After pulling back Trixie stared into Fluttershy’s soft blue eyes and said the magic words that would save Fluttershy’s glass heart, “I love you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy was momentarily dumbstruck by the action but it didn’t take long before Fluttershy got the message and continued the behavior that was going to get them both into serious trouble.

Their mouths refused to part even and Celestia’s sun couldn’t make these two separate now. With a burning passion they kissed, and Trixie’s hoof quickly found its way to a sensitive little spot that made Fluttershy blush. When the two of them rolled off the couch it didn’t stop them, they simply continued despite any discomfort they felt from lying on the hard wood floor.

One last time the image of Maud appeared in Trixie’s mind and she slowed down. What she was doing right now was wrong and she knew it. This wasn’t simply for pleasure, nor was this simply Trixie taking emotional comfort from such a senseless act of depravity, now it was two broken ponies desperately trying to find a moment’s peace and comfort in each other.

With one quick and powerful motion Trixie was rolled onto her back and Fluttershy leaped on top. Fluttershy’s body rubbed up against Trixie’s causing the worried unicorn to let out a moan of pure excited pleasure, and then Fluttershy bit into Trixie’s neck. The bite wasn’t hard, but it was just enough to send shockwaves of pleasure throughout the blue pony’s entire body. The battle was now lost, and Trixie could no longer think as her mind was flooded with the sensations that Fluttershy was giving her.

Having never experienced the wild animalistic pleasure that Fluttershy gave her, there was no hope to fight back. Maud had always been so gentle with Trixie, treating the unicorn more like a porcelain doll then a pony. Fluttershy however had become like an untamed beast of nature the likes of which Trixie had never seen before.

Without any hope of stopping now, Trixie ceased fighting her own baser instincts and poured every ounce of her entire being into this one moment with her favorite pegasus.

Chapter Sixty Eight: Somepony to Talk To

Utter and complete silence surrounded Trixie as she stood alone in a dead forest. The lifeless trees all judged her and the black soil was disgusted by her very touch. The sky was overcast with thick clouds because even the sun had turned its head away from the unicorn in revolution. This place felt more like a graveyard, and that meant this must be her grave.

A few drops of rain fell to the ground around Trixie pooling into small puddles of murky water at her hooves. The smell now rising from the earth was pungent and strange noises were heard all around. She didn’t know why she was here but she knew that she had earned this, though she couldn’t clearly remember what her sins had been.

Suddenly lightning struck and the bolt as though on a destined course was sent flying right into Trixie’s back. As her shoulders lit on fire she fell forward screaming in pain and terror. The world around her became dark, so dark that she couldn’t see anything and the burning sensation only worsened. The world quickly tried to smother her and hold her down, warm and wet the worlds tendrils forced Trixie down into the soft earth and a loud noise was trying its best to slither into her mind.

“Please stop!” Fluttershy cried as Trixie tried in a futile attempt to throw the world off of her. “It’s okay,” she pleaded, “You just had a bad dream.”

The world was dark and the warm furry and damp hooves that were holding her down were shaking. Trixie suddenly stopped fighting and in a quiet voice she begged, “Maud?”

Silence filled the darkness that was all around her. All she could do was lay still and wait for her eyes to adjust. After a few moments she was able to make out the walls around her and the vague shapes of furniture. Fluttershy was sitting behind Trixie and holding her down with her hooves.

“What’s going on?” Trixie asked feeling very confused.

“I-I-I don’t know. You just started to thrash around in your sleep. I had to hold you down so that you didn’t hurt yourself… or me,” Fluttershy explained before gasping for breath.

Fluttershy gently let go of Trixie and crashed into the bed next to her. Trixie stared in silence at Fluttershy for a moment and her mind worked desperately to figure out where she was or why she was here. Very slowly the pieces of the puzzle began putting themselves together in her mind and she rolled away from Fluttershy cursing her life.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

At first Trixie didn’t respond but as Fluttershy began gently massaging Trixie’s shoulders she knew that silence wouldn’t work. It took every fiber of her being to not start crying then and there as she said, “I just had a nightmare… that’s all.”

“You were screaming in pain,” Fluttershy said. “You can tell me what’s wrong.”

“My spider bite wounds act up and cause a burning pain in my sleep sometimes. I thought that I was healed from the poison.”

“Spider’s actually have toxin… but um… I’m sorry that you’re still hurt. I don’t see anything evidence of any spider bites though,” Fluttershy analyzed.

“There are two dark patches of fur on my back in case you didn’t notice,” Trixie said quietly.

“I was wandering what those were. It’s odd though, spiders don’t leave marks like that. Changing the color of your fur, that sounds a lot like magic to me.”

Spider bite or magic curse, it didn’t matter to Trixie, the only thing that she cared about now was lamenting over what she had done. Trixie had already dug her hole and now she was going to burry herself. At the very least she could tell the truth to Fluttershy, after what she just did it’s not like she could be judged any worse by anypony.

Trixie inhaled deeply and quietly said, “I was the one who stole the crystal thing from Twilight’s castle.” The pair of warm hooves that were caressing Trixie’s back quickly withdrew leaving Trixie’s heart to sink even further. “I can’t tell you why I stole it, I… I just can’t. But that wouldn’t matter anymore anyway because I think that the heart is probably never going to return.”

The bed bounced as Fluttershy moved and for a moment Trixie was sure that Fluttershy was leaving to tell Twilight of her crime. When a warm leg followed by a large wing wrapped themselves around Trixie it stunned her. Fluttershy snuggled herself into Trixie’s back and said quietly, “I don’t care. Sure you stole and you lied, but you told me the truth. You trusted me enough to know about this and that’s all that matters to me. And I promise that I will never tell Twilight, I swear it.”

Those words lifted Trixie’s heart and it was like one of the giant weights that hung from her heart had vanished. She rolled over to meet Fluttershy’s eyes and saw the kind loving look that Fluttershy always held for her. A small smile grew on Trixie’s lips and she couldn’t help but nuzzle the pegasus.

“You really don’t hate me for stealing?” Trixie asked still in disbelief.

“Of course not. You didn’t think that you were the only one to have done a few bad things, did you?” Fluttershy asked.

“But you are so kind, and so… well I guess you aren’t shy around me, but with other ponies you are. So what could you have possibly done that was so bad?” Trixie asked quietly.

“I have gotten into hoof fights with a lot of ponies over some really silly things. I… I have an anger problem and although I’ve been taking classes sometimes it still comes out. I once sicked my birds onto a few of Pinkie’s balloons because I wanted to see her cry… that was a really mean thing for me to do,” Fluttershy admitted shamefully.

Trixie was taken aback for a moment but she quickly recovered and said, “Wow, who knew that the quiet one was actually the scary one.”

“It usually is.”

Trixie smiled even wider at Fluttershy. It was nice having a pony who openly talked with her about the bad things that they had both done, a pony who might actually understand what it was like to think of yourself as a bad pony, as a monster. The worst thing was that Trixie was quickly realizing that Fluttershy was being more open with her after only such a short amount of time then Maud had been over the course of a long time. This was a nice change of pace for the lonely unicorn.

Trixie leaned in and gently pressed her lips against Fluttershy’s before pulling away and saying, “I know that we are both covered in sweat but now that we’re both awake…”

“We were making love for nearly five hours straight… and you still want to go on?” Fluttershy exclaimed. In a sly little voice Fluttershy added, “You are my kind of animal.”

It was nearly ten in the morning before Trixie woke up in Fluttershy’s embrace. The thing that Trixie found the most strange about Fluttershy’s body wasn’t that she was tall, but unlike Maud, Fluttershy was soft not covered in muscles, instead she was mostly soft and a little boney. This made Fluttershy ideal for cuddling although after what they had done even the simple act of cuddling felt wrong.

After taking a bath in Fluttershy’s tiny tub Trixie went back home alone. She quickened her pace once she realized that she needed to take her medication. Once she got through the front door she closed it and locked it behind and threw off her coat. Thankfully it didn’t look like Pinkie was here yet, so maybe she would actually get away with having spent the night out.

Just as Trixie got to her bedroom door a familiar voice asked worriedly, “Where were you last night?”

Trixie looked over and in the living room she saw Pinkie Pie lying on the couch with red eyes staring at her. The pink pony’s nose was running and her cheeks were soaked. It was obvious that she had been crying, hard.

“I… I was out at a friend’s house,” Trixie admitted guiltily.

Pinkie sniffled. “That’s good. I was worried that you had gotten hurt, or that you had run away, or that something else had happened, but then I thought that if I left the house to go and look for you I might miss you when you returned, and then I would never see you again, and then Maud would hate me, and then all the others would think I’m irresponsible and- “Pinkie Pie stopped to inhale deeply before continuing, “then my life would be over. So I stayed here all night waiting for you.”

Trixie hung her head and apologized, “I’m sorry. I would have told you, but it was kinda a sudden thing.”

“I understand. Sometimes you just have to party and you can’t make any plans. You just have to let the crazy out.”

“I…” Trixie tried to say something but no words came to mind that wouldn’t be lies or give her away. In the end she just said, “Trixie is going to go take my medication now.”

With that Trixie walked into her room and took her morning meds. It occurred to her though that Pinkie Pie couldn’t read her mind, so maybe it was actually possible to get away with this new secret of hers. A plan, both dark and wicked began forming in her mind, one that involved her being able to stay with her loving fiancé and having a delicious pegasus on the side. She knew that it would only take a little planning and careful attention to detail, but she could pull this off.

The picture of Maud and Trixie hugging sat on the nightstand judging her. Suddenly she realized that she might be able to keep this one night a secret, but she couldn’t go behind Maud’s back like this ever again. She closed her eyes and vowed to never cheat on Maud again, this had gone too far and if it ever came out it would destroy the earth pony that she loved so very much. Not to mention how hurt Pinkie Pie would be if she ever heard about this.

The bedroom door swung open violently and Pinkie Pie rushed in her eyes were wide with panic and she stared fearfully at Trixie. “Trixie, who bit you?”

Trixie became strongly aware of the bite mark on her shoulder that Fluttershy had left. Instinctively she threw a hoof over her shoulder to hide it and said, “Trixie got into a scuffle, the other pony bit me.”

“You were in a fight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Did you win?”

“Nopony won, it was stopped just in time. Otherwise Trixie would have easily mopped the floor with said pony,” Trixie replied proudly.

“Awesome! But uh, don’t do that again. I’m supposed to be taking care of you, and if Maud heard about this she might kill me,” Pinkie Pie half joked.

Trixie waited until Pinkie Pie left the room before she quickly threw her robe on. There was no need to walk around the house with her shoulder being seen by the whole world. This was in addition to trying to hide the other bite mark on the inside of her thigh; if Pinkie had seen that one… things would have been made slightly more awkward.

Later that day Trixie and Fluttershy were sitting inside a small restaurant while enjoying a simple meal together. Originally Trixie had declined Fluttershy’s offer but after Fluttershy explained that they needed to talk she went along. A plate of hay fries and a half-eaten oat burger rested on Trixie’s plate, Fluttershy had ordered soup.

“So what do we need to discuss?” Trixie asked.

Fluttershy bit her lower lip and looked extremely nervous. “I… about last night. I don’t think we should let anypony know about it.”

Trixie let out a sigh and said, “I believed that was fairly obvious.” Trixie rested one of her hooves on the table and added, “Last night was wonderful, though I-“

Fluttershy quickly grabbed hold of Trixie’s hoof and held it gently while saying, “I’m so glad that you liked it. I was so scared that you were mad at me for being too… rough.”

“What? Of course I’m not mad. I mean you were a complete animal last night, but it was a new experience. Maud tends to treat me like I’m made of glass,” Trixie replied.

Fluttershy looked a little off put by Trixie’s remark. “Like glass? Is she afraid that she will break you or something?”

“Probably, she has a lot of issues when it comes to that kind of thing. Honestly though, it feels like she keeps things from me all the time. Did you know that she didn’t even tell me about her trip. She was going to keep it a secret and pretend that she never received the letter, I only found out because she left the mail out by accident,” Trixie explained.

Fluttershy’s expression sunk into a tiny frown. “I’m sorry. I remember when I was dating Rainbow. She would do things behind my back all the time, in fact I think that she cheated on me.”

“Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, cheated on somepony?” Trixie gasped.

“Y-y-yeah, she um, I don’t know if you were told but she has problems staying in relationships. Commitment scares her and so she tends to become self destructive. It’s not healthy.”

“Well I suppose that cheating is a sure fire way to destroy any rela-“ Trixie stopped as soon as she realized exactly what she was saying, and what she was doing. “Look, Fluttershy. Last night, that can’t happen again. I love Maud too much to let it ever happen again.”

“I know you do. That’s why I decided not to interfere with your relationship any longer. I shouldn’t have put you in that position, you just came over to talk to somepony and I abused your trust. I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said.

Trixie smiled at Fluttershy. Knowing that her friend understood so well was a wonderful feeling. It was surprisingly easy to talk to Fluttershy; it felt like she could talk to her about anything. “I like talking to you. It’s like we connect on so many levels.”

Fluttershy grinned with happiness at Trixie’s kind words. “I know, it’s so nice to finally have somepony that I can trust, and that understands me. Often times Rarity simply ignores me and talks about herself or she can’t understand what it’s like to be me.”

Trixie smiled and said, “I guess the only difference between us is that I tried to hide behind a false persona, while you hid from everything in general.”

Fluttershy looked thoughtfully at Trixie. “I can see that, though I would prefer to say that after having been in some bad situations we both understand what it feels like to be alone, to be vilified, and to want to go to sleep and never wake up… life’s not always fair to the fragile ponies like us.”

“No it really isn’t,” Trixie agreed.

Fluttershy smiled gently and asked, “Would you mind coming over tomorrow and actually teaching me some magic tricks? Or is that asking too much after what happened.”

“After talking to you today, I don’t think that I could say no. Pinkie Pie is nice to talk to and all but since she stopped being able to read my mind it’s been hard for her to get a good read on me. Conversations are beginning to feel awkward between us.”

“Yeah, at first I was a little bothered by her ability. But then I realized that no matter how much I had thought badly about her, she never once spoke rudely about me… not on purpose. She’s a one of a kind pony, sometimes I think it’s a shame that she’s just too childish. That makes it hard to hang out with her,” Fluttershy pondered.

Trixie let out a sigh. She had one secret that only Pinkie knew about, one that she was terrified to tell Maud about now, but if Fluttershy was really this open about it, then maybe Trixie could tell her. “Fluttershy, I… Pinkie isn’t the only one who can read minds, you know?”

“Oh who else? Twilight, Celestia, Applejack?” Fluttershy inquired.

“Actually, it’s me. I can read minds, and I have been able to ever since I died over in New Slate,” Trixie admitted.

“NOWAY!” Fluttershy shouted excitedly. At the odd looks of the other customers around them Fluttershy quietly added, “That’s so neat. I wish that I could do that. Oh do you ever read my mind?”

“I try not to,” Trixie said.

“That’s the same answer that I get from Pinkie Pie. Does Maud know?”

“No she doesn’t and after what she said about it to Pinkie, I don’t ever want her to find out. She would find me to be a disgusting invasive bad pony… a monster. I suppose that my ability makes me into a kind of monster doesn’t it?” Trixie asked her heart beginning to sink.

Fluttershy smiled kindly and said, “Well then we can be monsters together. Me a secret shape changing bat thing, and you a super powered master of the pony mind. We can always find comfort in each other Trixie, no matter what the problem is.”

This made Trixie smile widely at Fluttershy. It wasn’t often that Trixie found a pony who honestly understood her, or one that she could so easily communicate with on such an intimate level. Slowly a warm feeling grew over her heart and she knew that if it was at all possible she would want to be able to talk like this with Maud.

Chapter Sixty Nine: A New Trick

“So this is really happening?” Trixie asked her mind still reeling in shock from the unexpected turn of events.

Timequill sat behind his desk smiling brightly. “It really is. I simply can’t believe the change your mother has undergone in such a short amount of time. This has been such a beautiful thing to have happen that we are proud to reintroduce Screw Loose into society.”

The last thing that Trixie expected when she came to talk to Timequill today was to learn theat her mother was going to be released soon. “How long before it happens?”

“We still have property owned since the last time we attempted this, so maybe three days at the latest. It will be simply too wonderful to help her in this endeavor. Will you be willing to aid us?” Timequill asked joyfully.

“Of course I’ll help. What do you need?”

“For now just continue visiting your mother, and after she moves into her new home don’t let yourself become a stranger.” After a momentary pause he added quietly, “But I do have one very important question; do you have any idea how she has been healed so completely?”

Trixie avoided eye contact with him and quietly said, “No, I don’t. And even if I did I might be too scared to tell you. So please don’t ask me about this again, please.”

“All right, I will stay out of it. Just remember that you have a lot of friends to help you if you’re in trouble.”

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sickening feeling in her stomach. There was nothing but disgust inside for the sins she had committed recently. “I… I might have screwed up my entire life.”

A serious look crossed into Timequill’s eyes before they quickly softened and he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t know where to begin. Oh Celestia the things I’ve done are so horrible, why am I such a worthless evil pony. All I can do is cause harm wherever I go. Can’t I just be a good pony like everypony else?”

“Shh, just start from the beginning and we will see what we can do to help you,” Timequill suggested in a soft tone.

Trixie sniffed. Her eyes and her heart were hurting as she fought with the urge to cry. “Have you seen Twilight’s castle? The way it’s all stone now instead of crystal?”

“Yes, I did notice that.”

“That’s my fault. I stole something from the castle that turned it into stone. Twilight Sparkle trusted me, and then I turn around and stole from her. How am I supposed to reconcile with that?”

Timequill was silent and that made Trixie fear that he was contemplating doing something. Just as Trixie’s fear began to rise he spoke saying, “That is unfortunate but if we tell her what you did, and why, maybe we can fix this?”

“I wish that I could but I had to do this to fix her; to fix my mom. If I didn’t she wouldn’t be okay right now, please don’t let anypony know,” Trixie begged.

“So that’s how it is. Well in that case don’t judge yourself too harshly, if you had an actual choice in the matter then I’m sure that you wouldn’t have done this.” Timequill spoke so coolly to Trixie as though her actions didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“Thanks.”

“Is there anything else you would like to discuss?”

Trixie stared at the floor and she knew that this was her one chance to find out how to make her night with Fluttershy all better. Just as she opened her mouth to speak there was a furious knocking at Timequill’s door and somepony shouting, “She’s doing it again!”

Timequill stood and gave a serious look to Trixie while saying, “I’m sorry but we need to cut this short. I don’t want anypony getting bit again.”

Trixie watched as he grabbed his brown jacket from the wall and walked outside the office. Following closely behind Trixie began hearing a mare barking like a dog from down the hall. “Oh no.”

Around the corner an orange mare with a green mane was growling like a wild animal at anypony who got close. Trixie wasn’t exactly sure what she was staring at but it looked like the same thing that had afflicted her mother just recently. The mare barked and Timequill walked forward. Trixie watched in shocking silence as the world around the crazed mare and Timequill slowed down, literally. Ponies that were backing away previously had now been frozen in place as Timequill approached the still barking mare. Timequill raised a hoof gently at the pony who was now snarling at him.

The pony advanced slowly and sniffed his hoof. After a moment she calmed down and licked his hoof before looking up at him with round confused eyes. Trixie stretched out her mind and tried to probe Timequill’s but found it impossible to get a read on his thoughts. She wisely decided to give up on reading his mind before she hurt herself.

A clock on the wall showed the time and much to Trixie’s dismay the clock’s hands were frozen in place. It looked as though Timequill had somehow managed to freeze time for himself and the two mares. How Timequill had done this she didn’t know, but she did know that an earth pony should never have been able to do something like this. The fact that she was brought along to watch must have been a coincidence.

“Shh, Orange Peel, it’s okay,” He whispered ever so gently to her.

It took a few minutes of quiet talking but he managed to calm Orange Peel down and the world around the two of them began moving again. With the clock ticking and the ponies around the two smiling and giving thanks to Timequill things looked normal again. Trixie just stood still and waited for Timequill to return to her.

On his approach she tried to ask, “How did you-“

“I’m sorry, Trixie,” He interrupted, “I’m feeling a little fatigued. If you’ll excuse me I think that I might go home and take a nap.”

Timequill’s pupils had shrunk to the size of pinpricks and tired black circles were visible around his eyes. Suddenly Trixie had the idea that maybe whatever he had done was physically exhausting him. She watched as he walked away while putting his jacket on.

“I can’t believe that the doctor was able to help you again. Ever since we fixed that one patient you have been acting strange, I know how traumatizing it was to see Clover nearly die from using the spell. Maybe you should take a few days off to rest. Come back when you’re at full health,” A pink unicorn said to the Orange Peel.

“I… yeah, a few days off. That will help me,” Orange Peel replied unsurely.

Trixie turned and left. She had heard and seen enough to know that the spell that had fixed her mother might’ve caused trouble for another pony. She hoped they would be able to help Orange Peel out with her new problem. Between Timequill’s strange ability to stop time itself and Orange Peel adopting Screw Loose’s crazy, Trixie decided to stay out of everything. If she involved herself she would only cause an even larger mess.

It was late and Trixie was exhausted. She stood at the open doorway to her own bedroom and found herself deeply troubled. This room was where she spent her most intimate moments with Maud, this room showed how much she loved her earth pony, and this room was no longer meant for her. She could still sleep in here after what she did to Twilight because that action didn’t directly betray Maud, but after what she had done with Fluttershy…

Trixie closed the door and walked into the living room. She climbed up onto the couch and attempted to find a comfortable position. It was cold, it was hard, and it was tiny, but she could sleep here.

“Are you seriously going to sleep in the living room tonight?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah,” Trixie replied flatly.

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie said playfully. “It’ll be like a camping only in the living room, and in the same house. It’ll be awesome!”

It only took a few minutes for Pinkie Pie to come back with a mess of blankets and quilts that she made into a makeshift bed on the floor. It took some convincing but eventually Trixie joined Pinkie on the floor and together they cuddled underneath an extravagant amount of blankets. Despite how much hatred she held for herself she was able to get to sleep a lot easier then she had thought possible. Then again Pinkie Pie seemed to make everything better when she cuddled somepony.

The next day came and time passed by without much occurring. Not much until Fluttershy showed up at Trixie’s with a box labeled ‘Magic’. The two ponies stood in the kitchen and with the contents of the box spread out on the table it was becoming clear to Trixie that her friend really did have an invested interest in magic. Everything here were beginner tools sure, but there was enough here to start an entertaining little show. Trixie even found a few books on the table, along with a few magazines, including one with Trixie on the cover.

“Wow, this must be old,” Trixie stated while looking through the issue. She vaguely remembered being interviewed about her show while she was still in Canterlot. Things sure were different back then, simple, kind, and happy.

“Yes well um, it means a lot to me,” Fluttershy said quietly. She allowed a moment of silence to go by letting Trixie fully soak in the meaning of her words.

“Oh… thank you.”

Fluttershy shifted nervously before asking, “Do you remember a filly called the foal from the sky?”

“The what?” Trixie asked bluntly.

“You know from when you were a filly living in Ponyville?”

The title was only vaguely familiar to Trixie but the memories were so old that she had a hard time recalling them. “Sorry, I don’t remember very much about my childhood.”

“That’s okay. Um what do you remember about the first time we met?”

“That was at one of my earliest shows right? When you asked me to run a show for you at Ponyville. I remember that night pretty well, it really meant so much to me that a fan of mine would care so much about what I do,” Trixie admitted, her heart smiling at the happy memory.

“Oh no, I meant um… from when we were fillies…” Fluttershy added sheepishly.

For a moment Trixie was stunned but quickly an old memory was fished out from the back of her mind. There had been a rather tall and skinny looking pegasus who she remembered being friendly to when she was younger. The filly always looked a little awkward to Trixie and she couldn’t remember ever seeing the filly’s parents.

“I… think I remember you. Why do you ask?” Trixie asked.

“It’s just that when I landed in Everfree Forest I was left down here. The animals in the forest adopted me for awhile and I became one with them. Eventually though the ponies in Ponyville found me and forced me to rejoin society… I was always treated as an oddity though. They called me some mean names, the nicest one being the foal from the sky.”

It suddenly dawned on Trixie. “Wait you were the animal child? Wow, I had no idea that was you.”

“I don’t like that name…”

“Oh sorry, it’s just that I remember that you never once made fun of me for my mom’s condition. Huh, guess that means we were both outcasts weren’t we?”

Fluttershy smiled and said, “Yes, we were. I tried to go back to Cloudsdale but I was so scared of heights after falling the first time that I nearly had a heart attack. They decided that it was safer for me on the ground. I’ve spent a long time here in Ponyville, it’s my home just like it’s yours.”

“That’s pretty cool. Well Ponyville is lucky to have you, Fluttershy,” Trixie said honestly.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane and Trixie caught the cute pony’s cheeks becoming pink. Something about seeing the blushing mare was adorable, but it also made another part of Trixie began heating up. Now that she thought about it, inviting Fluttershy inside the house might backfire.

Suddenly Trixie’s eyes came across a pair of hoofcuffs and Trixie laughed. “No way, you’re trying to escape from hoofcuffs now? You do realize that without magic that it’s incredibly difficult.”

“I, um, figured that out. Actually I was wondering if you could help me learn to do that trick?” Fluttershy asked shyly.

“Oh yeah, this is one that I, The Great and Powerful Trixie can teach you without any magic,” Trixie said proudly.

The cuffs were an awkward fit on Fluttershy’s skinny legs. Despite being so tall, Fluttershy was incredibly slender, all of her was a little awkward and beautiful. Trixie quickly tugged on the cuffs and made sure that they were indeed locked. With a sly grin Trixie stepped back from Fluttershy.

“Go ahead, let me see you try and escape,” Trixie said casually.

Fluttershy sat down and gnawed at the cuffs at first, this achieved nothing but a sour look on the yellow pony’s face. Next Fluttershy tried to slide them off her legs but Trixie had made sure that they were tightened. The cuffs didn’t budge. Finally Fluttershy prodded them with the tips of her wings before letting out a sigh and saying, “I don’t know how.”

With a growing Smile Trixie pointed at the table behind Fluttershy. “First you need to get a lock pick from the table.”

Fluttershy stood and turned around and took two steps forward before falling face first into the floor. It was very difficult for Trixie not to laugh at the sight of Fluttershy’s butt stuck up in the air while her face had made fast friends with the ground. After a moment Fluttershy asked meekly, “Um, can you help me?”

Trixie let out a sigh and said, “Yeah I’ll help.”

Help was exactly what Trixie had meant to do. But when Trixie walked over and with her hooves wrapped around Fluttershy’s waist she began to pull the pony back up she stopped. A succulent smell was coming from Fluttershy, one that made Trixie’s heart race and her mind begin fog over. First Trixie tired to discern the source of the smell and found that it was coming from Fluttershy’s rear.

“I’m smelling your scent right now,” Trixie thought allowed, her body suddenly beginning to catch on fire.

“Eeek! d-d-don’t smell me there!” Fluttershy protested.

Trixie let go of Fluttershy’s waist and quickly double checked her surroundings. Pinkie was gone, and if she was right, the pink pony was going to be gone all day. With a gentle hoof Trixie stroked Fluttershy’s flank and played with the butterfly’s that made up Fluttershy’s cutie mark. She had already done this with Fluttershy once before, she had a hard time trying to find a reason to not do it again. Sure Maud would be angry but it wasn’t like Maud could get any more upset with Trixie for having had sex with Fluttershy, so a second round couldn’t possibly be so bad… right?

Trixie leaned in, her heart was pounding so hard that it wanted nothing more than to jump right out of her chest. Her mind was becoming even more foggy, and only one desire was left on her mind. With a gentle press of her lips she kissed Fluttershy’s cutie mark and felt Fluttershy squirming underneath her touch. She wanted Fluttershy more now than ever before.

“You know I can think of a magic trick that you may not have ever heard of before,” Trixie said.

“Um, is it safe?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh you might feel like you’re going to die, but that just means that it’s working,” Trixie replied slyly. “In fact I’ve never gotten to try this particular trick out before. Would you mind being my assistant for this private performance?”

With great pleasure Fluttershy’s tail lifted up and she spread her rear legs apart a little. “Um… it won’t hurt will it?”

Trixie’s horn lit up and Fluttershy squeaked. “Why don’t we find out?”

Chapter Seventy: Out of Body

The afternoon sun shone its brilliance down upon the two sleeping ponies on Trixie bed, Trixie held Fluttershy tightly against her chest. Despite still being hoof cuffed Fluttershy was sleeping with a silly grin that showed the world just how happy she was. Everything looked so peaceful and so quiet, this moment would have been perfect for the two sleeping ponies if it wasn’t for the fact that Trixie was also currently floating over her bed and staring at her own body asleep in bed with Fluttershy.

What in the actual… Trixie was unable to finish her train of thought as she felt herself being pulled away from her room. Without warning she flew through the ceiling and high above all of Ponyville. The entire town was enjoying this peaceful day and as Trixie soared over the town she could only wander at the strangeness of the situation.

Yes Trixie had experienced something similar in the past when going into other ponies’ memories, or on occasion her very own. Right now however she felt that this wasn’t just a dream, no this felt too real. The only experience she had ever heard of being even similar to this was called remote viewing but that was supposed to be impossible, just like mind reading.

She drifted lazily towards Rarity’s house and saw Pinkie Pie talking to Rainbow Dash outside the fashion pony’s backyard. Pinkie Pie was doing laundry although it clearly wasn’t hers.

“So you can read anypony’s mind but you refuse to read the possibly bad ponies minds?” Rainbow asked accusingly.

“I can’t read everyponies mind, Rainbow. Some ponies like Trixie, Celestia, The Cake’s, and to an extent Maud are still unavailable to me. Don’t know why, but I can feel most ponies’ emotions easier then read their minds. Trixie and Celestia are nearly impossible to read, I don’t get why,” Pinkie Pie explained cheerfully.

“So you would rather do everyponies chores then help Twilight find a criminal?” Rainbow asked.

Pinkie Pie frowned and said, “Rainbow Dash, it would be wrong of me to do that. I could never live with myself if I used my ability to forcefully enter and tear out information like Twilight wants me to do. It would hurt the pony if I was that rough, it could possibly cause permanent damage to their minds.”

“Oh… that sounds really bad,” Rainbow Dash said her tone deflated a bit.

Suddenly Trixie’s body or what she perceived as being her body was dragged through the air. She was flying south at increasing speeds, where she was going was unknown but she felt that it was imperative that she head there. It took merely seconds before she arrived at a very familiar location and her mind shuddered at the implications of her being here.

The small two story house looked the exact same as it always did. The acres of dirt and rock that surrounded it remained unchanged as well. Unwillingly she flew through the side of the house and found herself floating in the living room. Two ponies stood at the kitchen doorway with their heads poking into the living room, the mare on the right was a dull blue the one of the left was a light gray, their straightened manes almost matched each other’s fur color perfectly. These were the twins.

Three ponies sat in the living room quietly staring at one another. The brown stallion was named Igneous Rock and light gray mare was Marble Quartz, together the married couple sat on a couch. Opposite of the couch was a single chair that Maud was sitting on. The room felt deftly silent and an odd tense feeling filled the air. Trixie watched mystified as Maud interacted with her parents.

“I have a question about Pinkie Pie,” Maud stated.

Cloudy Quartz stared at her with a growing worry becoming clear on her face. “What’s your question?”

“Where did she come from?” Maud asked.

“She came from a mare’s-“ Cloudy Quartz began.

“I know how she was born,” Maud interrupted. “What I want to know is where you got her from. I don’t remember you being pregnant with her. In fact I remember Aunt Cake living with us for a long time, and I remember her getting pretty fat.”

The tense atmosphere snapped and Cloudy Quartz looked away from Maud. “We adopted her to keep Igneous’s sister’s reputation clean. If it had come out that she and her colt friend had a baby at such a young age it would have ruined her.”

“How young?” Maud asked.

“She wasn’t even eighteen yet,” Cloudy Quartz responded.

Maud stared at her with a stern expression. “Why didn’t you tell Pinkie Pie?”

“She never asked.”

Maud frowned a little and the air around Maud suddenly became red. Orbs of red energy began slowly ebbing off of the gray earth pony. To Trixie’s surprise nopony else seemed to see the red aura around Maud. One of the orbs floated nearby Trixie so she reached out with a hoof and tapped it. It popped and Trixie felt a flash of anger that burned at her very core. This must be the manifestation of Maud’s anger, but why can I see it?

“You didn’t even want her, did you?” Maud asked flatly.

Cloudy Quartz frowned. “We were just helping out. The plan was to send Pinkie back as soon as she was old enough.”

“You did not answer my question,” Maud said her voice rising in volume ever so slightly.

Suddenly to everyponies surprise Igneous Rock spoke up. His flat voice was even more monotonous then Maud’s, but his words carried a lot of weight. “Don’t raise your voice at your mother.”

“Neither of you wanted Pinkie. Did you know that she feels abandoned because of what you did?” Maud asked, her voice leveled out again but her anger was the same.

“Maud,” Cloudy Quartz said, “We do ‘care’ for her. She was just too hard to handle on our own.”

“She didn’t belong here,” Igneous added.

“What do you mean she didn’t belong here!” Maud said loudly breaking her normally stoic nature.

“What he means is that Pinkie was never going to be happy here, Maud. She is a Cake, and the Cake’s always were more rowdy,” Cloudy Quartz explained. Igneous nodded in agreement.

Maud’s mouth dropped and she looked at her parents with wide open eyes. It was obvious that Maud hadn’t expected them to be like this. Trixie had the notion that Maud had expected her parents to say something kind about Pinkie, maybe to say how much they loved her, not to tell her that Pinkie never belonged on the farm with them.

As if to change the subject Cloudy Quartz asked, “I noticed the ribbon around your foreleg. Did you find yourself a special somepony?”

Maud began rubbing at the blue ribbon and said flatly, “Yes.”

“Oh who is he?”

“Her name is Trixie Lulamoon. We are engaged,” Maud explained quickly.

Both of her parents stared at her, Cloudy’s eyes grew wide while Igneous kept his stoic expression. Cloudy quickly asked nervously, “I must have heard you wrong. You did say that you were engaged to a handsome stallion right?”

“No I didn’t,” Maud said. “I’m going to marry a mare.”

With a swift motion Cloudy clutched at her chest as though she had been physically wounded by the revelation and said, “Oh no, not you too.”

“What do you mean?” Maud asked her anger growing.

“You can’t be like Pinkie. Anything but that, please tell me that this was some kind of joke,” Cloudy begged.

Maud stared flatly.

Igneous stood from his seat and said flatly, “You should leave.”

“What?” Maud asked angrily.

“Until you realize the mistake you are making, you will no longer be welcomed in this house.” Igneous stated flatly.

In one swift motion Maud stood from her chair and shouted, “SO YOU ABANDON PINKIE PIE, AND NOW YOU’RE DISOWNING ME!”

“I told you not to raise your voice,” Igneous said flatly while pointing at the door.

With hateful steps Maud marched to the front door and kicked it open. The door flew off of its hinges and soared about ten feet before crashing into the dirt. Before Maud left completely she looked back and Trixie saw the tears in the corners of her eyes. Maud spoke flatly, “Now you’ve lost two of your daughters. How long before the twins grow up and leave you alone as well?”

Suddenly Trixie was sucked away from the scene. As she flew backwards through the air she knew that she was returning home, and all she could think about was how horrible this situation had become. Maud was just made an outcast by her own parents and to top it all off Pinkie was adopted. Was the entire world out to ruin ponies, because at this point it really looked like the universe was a spiteful being that wanted to only torture ponies until the day they gave up and died.

With a start Trixie sat up in bed gasping for breath. Her mind and heart were racing and she tried to get out of bed when her back began burning again. Trixie let out a howl of pain as the feeling of molten lead covered her shoulders. She fell out of bed and began crawling towards the door, she was going to save Maud. Maud was in trouble, Maud was alone, and maud needed Trixie to hug her right now.

“What are you doing? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked desperately.

“I must save Maud, I’ll save you honey,” Trixie swore to herself.

“But Maud is all the way in Hollow Shades, how are you going to get to her in time?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll hijack Twilight’s magic. I can do that right?” Trixie said as she crawled even further.

The pain in her back ceased as swiftly as it had appeared and Trixie stopped crawling. Fluttershy was right, this was stupid. How could she get to Maud when she was so far away? Although Trixie knew that Maud was currently in New Slate visiting her parents, she decided not to mention that to Fluttershy. Trying to explain strange dream powers that even she didn’t understand seemed a tad bit tedious right now.

Trixie heard the front door open and then slam shut behind. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who was here. As the clip clopping of hooves got closer and closer to the door Trixie suddenly needed an excuse to stop Pinkie from coming into her room. She looked at Fluttershy and noticed how much the hoofcuffs stood out, why didn’t they remove them sooner?

“Don’t come in, I’m… I’m having private time,” Trixie lied.

Pinkie stood at the front of Trixie’s door and said, “Oh… you’re using those magazines that I let you borrow. Sorry I’ll come back later, maybe I’ll let you borrow some more later, so long as you don’t touch the Fluttershy one.”

“The what?” Fluttershy whispered in absolute horror.

“Nope, but I’d like to finish if you don’t mind,” Trixie hollered back.

“Kay, Ima take a bath then,” Pinkie called out before trotting down the hall and away from the fearful couple.

Trixie stood up and with great speed hurried to the bed. She took one look at Fluttershy’s hoofcuffs and her horn lit up. The locks on the hoofcuffs suddenly exploded and Fluttershy was free. Next Trixie used her magic to open the window and then some fire magic to light the scented candles that lined the shelves. They were left over from the last time Maud was here with her. To her surprise these spells weren’t taxing her at all.

“You just destroyed my hoofcuffs,” Fluttershy complained. “And what was that about magazines?”

“I’ll reimburse you for the cuffs, and if you are really that curious about the magazine take a look underneath Pinkie’s bed. Just whatever you do please leave quickly and quietly, I can’t let Pinkie see us like this,” Trixie said quickly.

Fluttershy stood and shook herself a little. She grabbed the cuffs in her mouth and after one last glance at Trixie she flew out the window. Trixie watched as Fluttershy hugged the ground in her flight before turning sharply and soaring higher. It looked like Fluttershy was heading in the direction of Sugarcube corner, but Trixie couldn’t be bothered with that right now. She had to make sure that this room was clean before Pinkie Pie came in. Wait the box of magic crap was still left on the table, wasn’t it?

The next day Trixie sat quietly in her living room while reading a book about psychic abilities. It looked like Trixie had really been remote viewing and that although a little scary at first was a pretty neat idea. Hopefully Trixie would discover new mind powers like this, she especially like the idea of reading objects although her attempts at it proved less then fruitful.

Fluttershy’s magic tools were shoved back into the box and set in the corner for safe keeping. Thankfully Pinkie Pie had bought the excuse that Fluttershy was learning magic from Trixie. Right now however Trixie was trying her best to not destroy herself for cheating on Maud, because after what she had seen Maud go through for her, nothing could make the sins she committed go away.

The door opened and Trixie heard somepony walk in. Pinkie Pie had already left to party at Sugarcube Corner or something of similar, if she was back already then she had surely forgotten something. When Trixie looked up at the pony that was now standing at the side of the couch she had expected to see Pinkie Pie, but what she found was so much better. Maud stood in front of her with a small smile.

With her heart soaring Trixie tossed the book down and leapt off the couch to embrace her favorite pony while shouting, “MAUD!”

Maud wrapped a kind leg around Trixie and nuzzled into her neck. “I missed you.”

“Same here,” Trixie said.

“We need to talk to Pinkie Pie, do you know where she went?” Maud asked.

“Yeah she went to Sugarcube Corner to party or something. We can meet her there,” Trixie said. Holding Maud at that instant was pure bliss for the blue unicorn, even with the horrible things that she had done during the past week she knew that right now she had the love of her life back. “You're home early.”

“The caves were easier than expected. I had enough time to go visit my parents before coming home. Can we go meet with Pinkie, I have to tell her something,” Maud said flatly while holding Trixie a little tighter.

“Um, sure. Did your visit go well with your parents?” Trixie asked full well knowing the truth already.

“Let’s go talk to Pinkie,” Maud said, dodging the question.

Although Maud’s evasion tactics were a sour note in this reunion, Trixie could hardly blame the stoic mare for not wanting to discuss the things her parents said. After grabbing her jacket, Trixie and Maud walked outside into the snow. It was going to hard telling Pinkie Pie the truth, but at the very least Trixie knew that Pinkie did have family who loved her. The Cake’s had been taking care of her for years now, so they obviously loved their secret love child. Next to that Pinkie Pie had Maud and Trixie as well, so no matter what Pinkie would never be alone.

Chapter Seventy One: Pinkie's Despair

When Trixie and Maud arrived at Sugarcube Corner they had been expecting a lot of noise to be coming from Pinkie’s room, but they had expected loud music and a bunch of cheerful ponies. Instead they were treated to shouting and five very upset ponies along with one terrified looking Pinkie Pie. After seeing the magazine that was being held in Fluttershy’s mouth it became clear that Pinkie’s little secret had come back to haunt her, and this was all Trixie’s fault.

The Cake’s stood just outside Pinkie’s room glancing nervously inside her room. They wanted to say something but obviously they weren’t sure what to say. Trixie gave them each a small smile before saying quietly, “You two are going to have enough on your plate after we’re done here, why don’t you let me and Maud fix this current problem?”

“You’d do that for us?” Misses Cake asked.

“Do you even know what they are accusing her of? I don’t know if this can be fixed,” Mr. Cake added.

“I know exactly what’s going on, and to be fair this might be partially my fault. I’ll fix this, don’t worry,” Trixie said, though she wasn’t sure if she really could fix the situation.

Before Trixie walked in she analyzed the situation. Fluttershy stood in front of her other friends with the shameful magazine held tightly in her mouth. Rainbow Dash was hovering in the air with her forelegs crossed. Twilight stood proudly above the other ponies, well except for Fluttershy who at this very moment was standing slightly taller than even the alicorn princess. There was a look of disgust on Rarity’s face and a confused one on Applejack’s. Finally there was Pinkie who was cowering in front of them with a fearful expression the likes of which Trixie had never seen the pink pony wear before.

Fluttershy spat out the magazine onto the floor and growled. “One last chance, Pinkie. Tell me why you have this!”

“I-I-I don’t know,” Pinkie claimed.

“Right now before I start breaking things!” Fluttershy demanded.

The only thing that Pinkie seemed capable of right now was shaking on the floor and whimpering. Trixie began to wonder just how long this had been going on, hopefully not too long. Fluttershy walked over to Pinkie’s closet and using her hooves she threw open the closet’s door.

“And why do you have that thing?” Fluttershy asked while pointing at the costume of herself.

“Please tell us what’s going on, sugarcube,” Applejack offered kindly.

“NO!” Fluttershy screamed. “No being nice to her, she is nothing but a degenerate pervert who needs to be punished.”

This was when Trixie noticed the dark look that was held in Fluttershy’s eyes. There was something that she had never seen before in those eyes; an unrestrained hatred that only wanted to destroy everything in her path. The other ponies began looking at Fluttershy with fear threaded into their expressions.

“Darling, please do calm down. There is no need for violence here,” Rarity offered.

“I am sick of being pushed around by that pink jerk. She has had this magazine of me for two years now, and that means she has been pleasuring herself to shameful images of me that entire time. I want nothing more than to throw up at the mere thought of it. But now that I know about her obsession with me, I am afraid of what kinds of horrible things she has done with this costume as well,” Fluttershy explained.

“We all know that, but I’m sure that Pinkie didn’t mean to hurt you,” Twilight offered.

Slowly Pinkie stood up and asked, “Did this really hurt you?”

The room was silent for the longest moment as everypony looked at one another in contemplation. Finally while Fluttershy was growling Applejack asked, “Sugarcube, didn’t’ it occur to you that Fluttershy’s feelings would be hurt?”

“I thought she would be a little upset with me, but only because I wasn’t brave enough to ask her out…” Pinkie Pie admitted.

“Ask me out?” Fluttershy hissed. “You think that I would ever go out with you, especially after this?”

Pinkie lowered her head and sniffled. “I was scared. I know that you hate me already, but I didn’t think that you would be so mad at me for this. It’s just a few pictures, it’s not like you even did anything to naughty in them, you didn’t even masturbate.”

Rainbow Dash face hoofed and said, “Celestia darn it, Pinkie. The reason she doesn’t like them is because Photo Finish forced her to take these pictures.”

Suddenly Pinkie looked up at her flying friend and clear horror was seen across her face. “What?”

“What did you think these were?” Fluttershy asked, her anger quickly giving way to her repressed feelings of shame.

Pinkie Pie began shaking even harder. “I-I-I thought that you did this for fun. I’ve done things like this before, of course I only let friends see them but… did she really make you do these?”

A soft sound escaped Fluttershy’s lips and suddenly Pinkie gave up on standing and fell to the floor. She closed her eyes and said as sternly as she could, “Burn it!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I said burn it. I can’t stand the thought of somepony… hurting Fluttershy. So I want you to take that stupid magazine and drop it into a volcano, and while you’re at it toss that stupid meanie head Photo Finish in with it,” Pinkie said lowly. After a moment she added, “If I ever see that monster of a pony again I’m going to hurt her.”

For a moment nopony spoke and when Twilight’s horn lit up and the book was lifted into the air everypony watched. Suddenly the book was vaporized before everyponies sight and a collective sigh filled the room. Pinkie laid her head down and shuddered.

“You honestly thought that Fluttershy wanted to make those magazines didn’t you?” Twilight asked.

“I’m so stupid,” Pinkie Pie said. “Of course there are ponies out there that would try to hurt Fluttershy. She’s too beautiful, somepony was bound to be mean to her.” Pinkie covered her head with her hooves and gave out a short scream. After screaming she said softly, “Fluttershy, you don’t have to pretend to be my friend anymore. I hurt you in such a horrible way that you could never forgive me… I’m sorry.”

For a moment it looked like Fluttershy might start crying but she seemed to toughen up and say, “Yes you did hurt me. You hurt me so badly that I might never trust you again… but it does look like you did it out of ignorance. Maybe we… maybe we can still be friends?”

“No, Fluttershy. We can’t, after what I did I can’t be your friend anymore. I can’t ever hurt you by mistake again, just because I worship the ground you walk on doesn’t mean that I’m fit enough to be your friend. Leave me, Fluttershy, leave me and go be happy somewhere safe,” Pinkie said, her voice was cracking.

“You worship the ground I walk on? What does that mean?” Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie Pie let out a soft cry before saying, “You already hate so I guess it doesn’t matter now. It means that I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time now… I’ve just been too much of a cowered to tell you.”

The room was deftly silent again. This was when Trixie decided to walk in with Maud hot on her fetlocks. “Hello everypony, I just wanted to say that I’m so glad that everypony is still alive after this. Um… Pinkie, I’m sorry that I told Fluttershy about this.”

“You were right to, it was wretched of me to have kept it in the first place,” Pinkie Pie said. “She’s just so beautiful…”

Fluttershy looked at Trixie, then she looked at Pinkie, and finally she settled on staring at Trixie. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Trixie asked.

“What?” Pinkie asked.

“I got so angry at you, Pinkie,” Fluttershy she said while staring at the pink pony again. “I often forget that you are a child inside. The fact that you don’t read minds on purpose also hurt your chances at understanding how I felt about this whole thing.” She was quiet for a moment before adding, “So I would like to make things up to you. Maybe, I mean since it’s still early, and if it’s not too much trouble, could we go get something to drink?”

“Alright,” Pinkie said excitedly as she jumped off the floor almost completely rejuvenated. Although Trixie could tell that Pinkie’s energy was just a mask for how hurt she was feeling right now. “The six of us should go and-“

“Just you, and um, me,” Fluttershy interrupted.

“Just the two of us… like by ourselves… totally alone?” Pinkie Pie asked in complete shock. “Like a date?”

Fluttershy’s cheeks began turning a cute shade of red and she looked away saying, “Not like that. I just thought that if we could talk in private it would be easier to… connect with you. If you’re going to make it weird I’ll bring Rarity along too.”

“No that’s okay, I can do a friendly drink as friends, because that’s exactly what we are, friends,” Pinkie quickly said in an attempt to make things a little less awkward. Pinkie Pie turned around and quickly asked, “So what brings you two here, I know that I was trying to get everypony together for a welcome home party for Maud but you two shouldn’t have shown up for a couple of days…”

Maud stared flatly at Pinkie and said, “I have to talk to you.”

“Oh what about, is it about rocks, or candy, or rock candy. I really like rock candy, it’s delicious,” Pinkie rambled on cheerfully.

Maud was quiet for a moment before saying, “The fact that you have not acted out yet means that you haven’t been reading my mind. Thank you for that, Pinkie.”

It was clear to Trixie that Pinkie might not handle this new information so well. Maud was about to rock her world after all, no pun intended.

“You’re adopted,” Maud said flatly.

Pinkie gave a laugh before saying, “That’s funny. I’m glad that you took my joke training classes seriously, I thought that you might have been ignoring me because you fell asleep in the middle of one of them.”

“I wasn’t telling a joke,” Maud stated.

“Oh yeah,” Pinkie Pie said as her pupils began to shrink and her ears folded back, “And if I were to go along with your hypothesis, then who would my ‘real’ parents be?”

“The Cake’s,” Maud explained.

Pinkie Pie laughed again and said, “That’s a cool story. Now me and Fluttershy really have to go, and she promised drinks. I think I’m going to try some everclear.”

“That’s hard liquor. You’ll get drunk,” Maud said. “Is knowing the truth really that bad?”

“Ha ha ha,” Pinkie said frantically as she walked out her bedroom door. “Maud, why don’t you go buck Trixie or something, before you actually convince me about this. I’ll even let you use my bedroom.”

As Pinkie left Fluttershy followed behind her looking nervously at her friends. “Oh no, please don’t let her get drunk, please don’t make me take care of a drunk Pinkie alone.”

The others quickly followed behind Fluttershy each of them giving a worried look to Maud and Trixie on their way out. Finally when the room was empty Trixie just looked at Maud and said, “Well that went better than expected.”

“She’s mad at me,” Maud stated. “I don’t like it when she’s mad at me.”

“She’ll get over it, maybe we can work on a plan to get her and Fluttershy together and she will forgive you?” Trixie offered.

“Let’s go home before she comes back and yells at me. I don’t want that to happen,” Maud said.

“I don’t think she will yell at you… but we should probably leave her room before she comes back drunk off her flank,” Trixie said. As they left Sugarcube Corner Trixie caught the terrified looks on The Cake’s faces, and she just knew that this was going to come and bite her in the flank.

Chapter Seventy Two: Her Last Mistake

A few hours had passed since Maud told Pinkie the truth about her parents, and Maud was becoming increasingly worried about her sister. Eventually Maud was unable to stay inside any longer and left to make amends to her sister, this left Trixie completely alone again. Even though Trixie had offered to join her, Maud decided it was best to confront Pinkie about this by herself. Although it was hard for Trixie to agree to let Maud do this alone, she trusted Maud’s judgment.

After that Trixie was left alone for nearly an hour and the entire time all she could do was worry about the things she had done with Fluttershy. The thoughts bothered her deeply and left her fearful of what could happen if Maud ever found out. The last thing she would ever want to have happen is to hurt Maud, but the damage had already been done. Depression and self loathing settled back into Trixie’s heart, she knew that she deserved to be punished.

The house was always quiet when she was alone, and that was enough to drive anypony to the brink of insanity. Thankfully the quiet was interrupted just in time as Maud walked through the front door with her head hung low. Trixie could easily sense that something was wrong, Maud was giving off a feeling of disappointment which was something Trixie had never felt from Maud before, and it was something that she could have easily gone a life time without having felt.

“Did Pinkie hurt your feelings?” Trixie asked gently, though she feared that she already knew what bothered Maud.

Maud looked up at Trixie with sad eyes and a small frown, both of these traits stood out instantly. Something was troubling Maud deeply. Maud cleared her throat before saying, “I found Pinkie drunk and she had read Fluttershy’s mind. Trixie I know what you did.”

A number of things flashed through Trixie’s mind at that very moment, hurting herself, crying, and the urge to run away and cry all hit her at once. Instead of doing any of these she chose the hardest option and closed her eyes, “Oh… you did.”

Maud was as silent as a rock while she stood in front of Trixie. It didn’t take very long before Trixie looked up into Maud’s eyes and said, “I… I bucked up big time, Maud.”

“Yes, you did,” Maud replied flatly.

“What are you going to do?” Trixie asked while her heart plummeted to the depths.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry that I cheated on you, I told you that I was a bad pony, Maud,” Trixie said as she fished for anyway to fix this situation. “You shouldn’t have trusted me.”

Maud’s eyes shot wide open and a look of pure horror crossed over her. “You did what?”

It suddenly dawned on Trixie that Maud had never actually said what it was that she found out. Quickly Trixie began trying to explain herself, but only managed to ramble as the fear took hold of her heart. “Fluttershy was there when I needed somepony to talk to, and it just got weird and we had sex, lots of sex but it was um, she was like an animal, I mean I just needed somepony because I felt so alone, and oh Celestia please don’t hate me.”

The room was silent for a long drawn out moment as Maud closed her eyes. Pretty soon tears began sliding down Maud’s cheeks. Slowly Maud turned her head while saying, “I can’t, I, I’m going to stay at Pinkie’s for awhile.”

An even greater fear seized control of Trixie’s body and she quickly wrapped her legs around Maud while pleading, “Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. You’re the most important thing in my life, you can’t go!”

Maud’s body became stiff as she gently placed a hoof on Trixie’s chest and spoke quietly, “Let go of me.”

“No!” Trixie cried as she tightened her grip. She was going to lose Maud if she let go now, and that was something that she couldn’t have.

Maud began pushing Trixie gently but Trixie refused to let go of the one thing in her life that made her okay. Maud spoke in a very low tone, “Let go now.”

“I won’t let you leave me. You cannot leave me like this!” Trixie begged as the tears began spilling out of her eyes.

With a little more force Maud pushed again and Trixie felt herself losing grip, but she knew that if she let go that she would never see Maud again. “I’m warning you one last time, Trixie. Let go of me.”

“Never,” Trixie replied while tightening her embrace around Maud’s back as much as her feeble muscles would allow.

Suddenly with a force that Trixie had not expected Maud shoved the unicorn away. To both ponies surprise Trixie was sent flying through the air five feet away and only stopped as she slammed hard against the wooden wall. Trixie hit the floor a second later with a thud and she would have cried if she could breathe. For a moment Maud stared at the scene in abject horror while Trixie struggled to breath.

“I didn’t mean to use that much force, I’m so sorry,” Maud said her voice full of fear.

Finally Trixie was able to inhale a deep breath and as she released it, she began to sob. Trixie tried to speak but no words could be formed as she lay on the floor crying. Her chest and her back hurt, but worse then all of that was how wounded her heart was. Maud had just hurt her, even if it was an accident, even if Trixie had deserved it, Maud had still hurt her.

Maud backed away as her eyes grew even more worried and tears streaked down her face. To Trixie’s surprise Maud turned and fled out the front door with great speed. Trixie reached out towards her fiancé but could do nothing more than watch as Maud vanished from sight. A wail of torment escaped Trixie’s lips as she lay there regretting her every life decision. As she lay on the hard floor crying she could only wonder why she was still alive, if all she could do was hurt the ones she loved then how did she deserve to draw breath?

A couple of hours passed by before Trixie had finally managed to pull herself together enough to stop crying and go out looking for Maud. Even with her sore back she forced herself to move through the pain. The sky was overcast with snow clouds, the pegasi must have decided to add an extra layer of winter protection. First she hurt Maud, then Maud hurt her, and now it was going to snow, Trixie was knew that the universe was determined to destroy her.

Without the sun shining, the town became far colder then she had guessed it would be. Her white jacket and snow boots were not enough to keep her warm through this weather. Trixie wasn’t even sure what she would say to Maud, but she had to try something to make up for this, anything would be better than nothing at this point.

Trixie continued walking to Sugarcube Corner and only stopped when she saw the five familiar ponies that she came to call friends. They were all sitting outside and everypony save for Fluttershy were looking very upset. When Pinkie Pie poked her head out of the front door Trixie felt her heart stop.

“She’s asleep now,” Pinkie told them, her voice was quiet and sad.

Fluttershy could only look at her own hooves while the others all looked at Pinkie. Trixie walked up to them carefully and cleared her throat to gain their attention. Suddenly everypony looked at Trixie and glared at her. The only pony who still refused to look at anypony was Fluttershy.

“First we find out from Pinkie’s mind reading ability that you stole the Heart of Harmony from my castle, and that Fluttershy has been lying to us all the whole time, next we found out that you actually cheated on Maud, with Fluttershy none the less,” Twilight stated. “So let me ask you this just once, what do you think you are doing here?”

“Trixie doesn’t know,” Trixie admitted. “I just can’t lose Maud. Not like this.”

“Too late for that,” Pinkie Pie chimed in angrily. “You screwed up big time and hurt my sister worse than anypony has ever done before. I was right when I thought that you would end up hurting her.”

That was low and Trixie knew that Pinkie knew it, but with the way that she felt she couldn’t argue. Everything was coming to an end and Trixie knew it, but she stayed. Trixie lowered her head in shame, “Trixie knows, we told you that this would happen if you trusted us… we don’t know why you even gave Trixie a chance. You should have just killed us.”

“Darling, are you so obsessed with hating yourself that you did this to Maud just so that you could prove to her what a horrible pony you are?” Rarity asked.

“We don’t know, maybe,” Trixie replied lamely. It didn’t matter if Rarity’s words were true or not, because Trixie did prove that she was a horrible pony. Now she just needed to be punished for it.

“I saved your life,” Rainbow Dash said. “And you thank me by stealing from Twilight. I don’t even know what this Heart of Harmony thing does but it sure seems important. I mean it gots Harmony in its name!”

“You should have let Trixie die,” Trixie added as something broke in her. The walls that she had built up to keep her sane and happy were being destroyed by the very friends who had built them up in the first place.

“Now, sugarcube, yer mah cousin and Ah love you. But this is bad, Ah’m surprised that you actually did this to tell the truth,” Applejack said.

“Are you all done, or can Trixie go in and have Maud kill her now?” Trixie asked, she was sick of this conversation. For a second she paused and considered her words, they felt true. Trixie now knew what she was doing here, she wanted Maud to finish the job. Trixie believed with all her broken heart that the longer she lived, the more ponies that would get hurt by her.

“You can’t see my sister, in fact,” Pinkie Pie said, “I won’t ever let you see her again. Do you know that she was disowned by our parents for loving you?”

“Trixie learned of this only recently and unfortunately too late to fix her mistake,” Trixie answered. Maud had given up everything that she held dear for her, and now Trixie had gone and scorned that gift. If Trixie had planned on burning Maud’s heart to the ground and stomping on the ashes, well she couldn’t have picked a better way to do it.

Fluttershy looked up and stared into Trixie’s eyes. “Trixie, I am so sorry that I did this to you. I shouldn’t have let Pinkie Pie near me. Not after what we did… I promised that I wouldn’t ever leave you, and I meant it. I’ll stay with you if you want.”

Fluttershy’s words made something very clear to Trixie, the fact that she was dealing with a very sneaky and manipulative pony. The thought of Fluttershy purposely destroying her engagement crossed Trixie’s mind and a sudden flash of anger shot through Trixie’s entire body. “You don’t have to leave me, because I’m leaving you! You shouldn’t have invited me over and tricked me like that. I would have stopped too, I would’ve but you were so depressed, scared, and lonely that I was afraid you’d hurt yourself if I didn’t have sex with you the first time. And I bet that you knew that and used it against me.

“I’d have been better off if I’d just left you alone to die,” Trixie finished bitterly.

The broken look in Fluttershy’s eyes said it all. Trixie was done here. Nopony was going to let her in to see Maud, and even if they did there wasn’t anything that she could do to make up for her sins. She felt betrayed by all of her friends, and that left her with absolutely no one, and nothing. Trixie turned around and thankfully everypony was just shocked enough that they didn’t have time to react to her leaving.

“Trixie is done with all of you. We don’t need your forgiveness, your understanding, or your friendship. All Trixie wants now is for it to all be over, but don’t worry, Trixie will do what needs to be done,” Trixie said angrily as she stomped away through the snow. She was sure that even if they still cared enough to stop her, they would be too upset to do anything for a while. This gave Trixie time to write a stupid letter, one that nopony was clearly going to read.

Half an hour later the snow had already started to fall and Trixie’s letter had been written. She laid it down on the table before entering the bathroom. She saw her reflection staring back at her in disgust, it there was one thing she could count on; it would be her self loathing to see her off one last time. The bath water was running and her heart was in more pain than she had ever felt before. She stared in the mirror, the reflection of her holding a kitchen knife in her mouth was difficult to look at.

Her reflection quickly changed appearance slightly and Trixie found herself staring at a duplicate with yellow glowing eyes. One eye had a smaller pupil the other. The mirror Trixie dropped the knife and smiled a sickly grin that held one giant sharp tooth. Trixie quickly checked to make sure that she was still holding the knife and she was. Hallucinations were generally a horrible thing to experience, but right now it felt even worse.

“Hello,” the mirror Trixie said in Babble’s voice, hearing a male voice coming from her own mouth was awkward at best.

Trixie opened her mouth to speak and the knife fell to the floor carelessly. “What are you doing? Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

“Yes, yes, yes, killing yourself and all that melodramatic stuff. Listen I have a much better idea, and if you’re lucky it will still kill you. You interested?” Babble asked.

“I just want the pain to end. I’m sick and tired of trying to be something that I’m not, I don’t even have my magic so that makes my cutie mark, my destiny, completely worthless. Maud was all that I had left, and now she’s gone,” Trixie said.

“Good you are listening. First go into the forest and talk to Red Velvet, she offered to heal your magic right? And the best news is she said that it would probably kill you, so you either you get your magic back and become a magician again, or you die and nopony has to be hurt ever again. How does all that sound,” Babble offered.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Trixie said while picking up the knife with her telekinesis, “Too bad that I’m a bad pony.”

Trixie quickly used her forelegs to shatter the mirror in a single kick. As the glass shattered against her hooves shards went flying out in ever direction, many of them cutting her legs. With Babble now gone she crawled into the tub. The water was nice and warm, something she could relax in. The knife came in floating alongside her and for a moment she examined it. Babble did have a good idea, too bad that she had already started this. If she had been notified of Babble’s plan sooner she might have agreed to it.

The knife slowly hovered over her left foreleg at the fetlock, and she hesitated. I... can I really go through with this?

Her mind went back to earlier that day, an image of Maud crying appeared in her head and knowing that it was her actions that had hurt the strong mare so badly only reassured Trixie that right now she was doing the best possible thing. She pressed the blade against her fur, the bladed edge poked at her skin, but she couldn't force the blade across.

It's not that hard, Trixie. Just do it.

The knife wouldn't budge.

Honestly, what's stopping you? Is it Maud? Because she's gone now, you hurt her and she will never come back to you. Is it your friends? Well take a good look at what they did, they hurt you, they betrayed you, they knew you would do this if they left you... they knew.

Slowly The knife slid across her leg drawing a line of red that quickly oozed out.

There, see... that wasn't so hard. If everypony wanted you out of their life, well... they got their wish.

After dipping the newly wounded leg into the tub Trixie laughed. “With my Blood magic, I could probably be the most powerful unicorn in the whole town right now, and all it took was cutting myself.”

Trixie raised her other leg and brought the knife over it. This time there was no hesitating. Her mind fogged over but she kept concentration as the knife danced along her other leg. She recalled how each and every one of her friends had treated her after discovering that it was indeed her who stole the Heart of Harmony. It was funny how the Heart of Harmony would lead to so much disharmony among her friends. She rested her other leg into the bright red water now.

“It looks like wine,” Trixie said to herself as she stared at the water.

It took a little longer then she thought it would but soon enough the darkness came over her and didn’t fight it. She closed her eyes and drifted off to a place where she could never hurt anypony again. She thought of Maud and all the good times they had shared, it was too bad that those were now over. Her thoughts jumped next to all the friends she now had and how horrible it was to know that they would never be her friends again. Finally she thought of her mother and how destroyed she would be when she learned of Trixie’s demise, again even that was tainted by the fact that eventually somepony would figure out how to fix Orange Peel and Screw Loose would go back to being crazy again.

As her mind slipped away she heard a loud crash and Fluttershy shouting something, it almost sounded like a plea. A few more voices joined in alongside Fluttershy’s and something wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her away from the warm water, the air was cold against her fur, so very cold. It was too late for them for Trixie embraced the darkness

Chapter Seventy Three: The Rift

The long dusty hallways were exceptionally quiet as Trixie walked alongside Twilight Sparkle. There had been rumors of diamond dog poachers along the southern borders of Equestria, and their new assignment was to find them and if they possible to bring them in. So far little evidence of anything living in the northern half ruins could be found.

Trixie looked to her unicorn companion, doubt filled her mind as they traveled silently through the ruins. “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes, Trixie,” Twilight groaned.

Despite the rude response Trixie found herself more worried about the actual mission. “Should we really be here? What I mean to say is that although we may be powerful and all, these poachers are scary.”

“They have been convicted of slavery, murder, and horn hunting. Trixie, we need to bring them down,” Twilight said carefully. “Though I wish that there was another way around this, trying to reform them is like trying to kiss Queen Chrysalis. It’s a really bad idea that will most likely end up in your death.”

“Queen Chrysalis, seriously, not even Shiny would kiss her,” Trixie said with a smirk. The reference to one of Equestria’s oldest and most dangerous villains however didn’t help with any of Trixie’s doubts, and when she considered how close to Changeling territory they were as of the moment, she only felt worse. “Um… could we stop talking about her?”

“Yes we can, and while we’re at it you can stop calling him Shiny. That’s my word,” Twilight said with a growl.

Trixie snorted and explained, “Shiny loves it when I call him that. He’s adopted me as his little sister you know, so I guess that you will just have to deal with it.”

“He just got back from his term of service in the Border Patrol. I shouldn’t have to tell you how dangerous that was for him, so I’ll warn you now, don’t get too close to my brother,” Twilight warned.

“Relax, I’m interested in mares. You will not need to worry about any foul play from me,” Trixie explained, for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Well… good. Keep it that way, he’s mine,” Twilight said while sticking her muzzle in the air.

For a moment Trixie wanted to smack the arrogant unicorn but instead she chose a new approach to win her argument. Trixie leered at Twilight’s body, Twilight was a little overweight but that didn’t actually detract from the unicorn’s natural beauty, in fact it just made Twilight’s flanks a little more attractive.

“W-what are you staring at?” Twilight asked.

“You don’t need to worry about your brother, Twilight, but he might need to worry about you,” Trixie said seductively before licking her lips. Trixie then returned her attention to the hallway and trotted ahead leaving a stunned Twilight Sparkle to lag behind.

At first Trixie was enjoying her victory in shutting down Twilight’s ability to think, until the smell hit her. A horrid, wretched scent slammed against Trixie like a brick wall and she stopped to gag. She couldn’t place what the smell was, it was a rotten, hot, and sickly smell that made every fiber of being shy away in revulsion.

Twilight noticed it as well and quickly put a hoof to her nose. “What in Celestia’s burning sun did you eat?”

Trixie shot a death glare back at Twilight and said, “Such a foul smell could never come from The Great and Powerful Trixie. Besides whatever it is must be coming from over there.” Trixie pointed her hoof at the small wooden door at the end of the hall.

“Makes sense,” Twilight said, despite looking like she was about to vomit she was wearing a smile. Trixie realized that she had just lost their little battle.

Slowly they approached the door and the scent became worse. Twilight used her magic to slowly open the door and suddenly they both gasped, which was a bad decision since it only meant sucking in even more of the wretched air. It only took a moment before Trixie took a step back in horror, turned her head to the side, and vomited against the wall. Twilight’s constitution was slightly stronger as she managed to keep herself from throwing up.

Inside the room it was a mess of red stains and bins full of dark meaty chunks. A fire was stocked in the back of the room and a few slaps of the meat were being cooked on it. Large hunks of red meat hung from hooks throughout the room. Twilight poked her head inside and after looking around said, “Yeah, we got diamond dogs here. Not sure what poor animal their cooking but I can only hope that it’s not pony.”

Trixie tried to throw up again but only managed to dry heave. Twilight would have scoffed but something had caught her eye. Trixie looked at the plaque above the fireplace and her mind shut down as she saw the assortment of different colored horns hanging from it. One of them was blue.

Suddenly Twilight backed up and her eyes grew wide. A large lumbering shape walked into sight from the corner of the room. The diamond dog stood hunched over, his gray fur stained with red, and a cleaver held tightly in his paw. He snarled at the two unicorns and said, “Dog has had enough cow, now it is time for dog to have new food.”

Trixie’s heart stopped beating and for a moment silence filled the small hallway. As it turned out Trixie’s bladder was fully capable of handling all sorts of monsters, from giant spiders to mechanical dogs, but the sight before was so much to take in that her bladder had simply had enough and decided to give up. Trixie wet herself.

The dog pointed at the frightened blue unicorn and laughed. One red beam of energy to the dogs head later and the creature was on the ground motionless. With her horn still smoking Twilight turned to face Trixie and said, “We are leaving, now!”

It didn’t take very long before the two unicorns made it back to the rest of the group. Twilight quickly sent Minuette and Lyra off to check if the way out was clear, following that she posted Candle Light as the guard for the rear. Now somewhere safe Trixie was able to get enough of her wits together to confront Twilight about this situation.

“You told us that this was going to be okay,” Trixie said loudly.

“Trixie, shut up and wait until we are out of here before you start with me again,” Twilight said while looking at a copy of the map they had.

“We don’t care, you told us we would be safe. We saw horns, and, and meat, and sweet Celestia why are we here?” Trixie asked as panic began to set in.

“I said that I will get us out of here, after seeing your incident, I now realize that you aren’t ready for this,” Twilight said calmly. “Right now I really need you to shut up though, I have to plan a safe route out of here.”

“We are kids, Twilight. How could we possibly be able to handle this? And why is Fire Light guarding us? She’s a weakling compared to everypony else,” Trixie asked her mind racing and her heart refusing to slow down for anything.

“I already told you that Candle Light is part of our team which means that she is as powerful as anypony else here. Celestia wouldn’t give me a weak pony and then send me on a dangerous mission, well she gave me you, but you aren’t weak, you’re just a coward!” Twilight stated angrily.

Trixie stomped a hoof into the ground and shouted, “Celestia gave you a weaker student so that you can try and teach her. You have just assumed that we have all grown at the same rate as you, and although that is true for some of the others, me and Fire Light are lagging behind! The worst part is that you refuse to help us.”

“Um, guys?” Candle Light asked meekly.

With extra anger added into her voice Trixie shouted, “I broke into Celestia’s study, that’s how I know all of this. I found all kinds of things in there, Starswirl’s time travel concepts, and dark magic galore, but I also found her notes on why we are all here in this group.” A little quieter she added, “Please, Twilight, can’t we just leave?”

“We will leave after I’m sure that everything is secure,” Twilight replied coldly.

“Um, guys?” Candle Light asked again.

“We need to leave now, we don’t want to be here, and we don’t want Candle Light to be here either,” Trixie said again. “Twilight, please do this for Trixie, just this once.”

“No, we take caution and move slowly or not at all,” Twilight demanded.

“Guys, help,” Candle Light asked weakly.

Both Twilight and Trixie looked over to their fellow unicorn standing guard at the entrance, intent on solving whatever her problem was so that they could return to their argument. Candle Light’s problem was a fairly obvious one as she was currently being held by her neck a few feet off the ground by a diamond dog. A glowing dagger with a blade of green shimmering energy was held in the diamond dog’s other paw. The small blade was threateningly close to her horn.

The diamond dog smiled evilly and said, “Looks like dog finally got ponies attention. Now dog can finally do this.”

Before anypony could react he gently slid the energy blade across Candle Light’s horn and it cut through the bony appendage like butter. Candle Light’s eyes grew wide and panicked as she watched her own horn fall forward, past her face, and hit the floor with a quiet thud.

The dog smiled and the entire world slowed down to a halt. There Trixie stood staring at her crush, the unicorn that she wanted nothing more than to be with. Candle Light looked more perplexed than anything else at the sight of the severed horn on the ground. The worst part was that the blade had cauterized the wound, and even magic wouldn’t be able to help reattach it now.

A dark feeling in the back of Trixie’s mind crawled to the forefront of her consciousness. As the world stood frozen around her she felt the darkness calling to her and asking to be let in. She denied it at first, thinking that whatever dark entity was, it would only end up hurting her. But it offered one thing that she knew could help this situation. It offered power, unrestrained and great. It told her that if only she accepted it as a part of herself; that she could easily become that which she always desired. Trixie could become truly great and powerful.

Candle Light’s life was ruined beyond repair, and no matter what Trixie did or said, this would all end in tragedy. With that knife in the diamond dog’s paw he could easily take Candle Light’s life before either her or Twilight could get a spell off. This power offered a way to circumvent this and to succeed where she never could otherwise. Candle Light might never be a unicorn again, but she could still be saved.

Power beyond Trixie’s understanding flooded her entire form in that instant and showed her things that she never knew existed. An amulet of even greater strength would be needed for her complete rise to power, its red glow offered something that even Celestia refused to give out. A dark green light filled Trixie’s eyes with a trail of purple smoke coming off of them.

In an instant time resumed its normal pace and a powerful blast of dark green and black energy shot out from her horn and hit the diamond dog in between the eyes. The knife flew back even further into the hallway as the green light struck it as well. Once the blade was far enough to be safe, it exploded. Candle Light dropped to the ground simply staring at her severed horn.

Trixie took a step forward but her world began to blacken and she heard Twilight screaming. Soon the other three ponies appeared and quickly tried to calm Twilight down, but it looked like Twilight simply wouldn’t stop screaming. The world became darker as Trixie struggled to stand upright. Minuette swung a hoof at Twilight’s face and knocked their screaming leader unconscious. Moondancer moved to Candle Light’s side and attempted to use healing magic on the surprisingly calm unicorn.

Trixie fell to her knees and fought with every ounce of her being to stay awake. The only thing she could do however was watch as Candle Light slowly reached out with a hoof and poked at the useless horn on the ground, it rolled away.

The darkness came in heavier then Trixie could have ever imagined as she watched the light in Candle Light’s eyes die out. The last thing that Trixie saw was as a puddle slowly spread out from between Candle Light’s legs, everypony was speaking, Lyra was speaking at Trixie but to her confusion she couldn’t hear anything. Slowly Trixie closed her eyes and the darkness took over.

Trixie awoke lying on her side in a cold dark tunnel. Dark, cold, damp, and painful, these were all words that Trixie could use to describe her current location. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she could see where in Tartarus she was, though that felt like asking for a miracle. As she slowly stood up her mind wondered at the memory she had just relived. That last mission had served as the end to the small group Trixie was a part of, and the end of her friendships with Twilight and Candle Light. The room suddenly got colder. Trixie began walking in the only direction she could, forward.

Walking, that’s what she did, just walking in the dark with no light, and no hope. She walked for an eternity; it felt like this would never come to an end. She didn’t know where she was, or how she had gotten here, but she knew that she had to keep moving.

Finally she heard something it was faint but it was clear. Ahead of her there was sound, clashing of metal, explosions, and screaming. Whatever it was sounded horrible but it was better than the silence so she raced forward. It took only moments before her world was dimly lit by an eerie blue light and before her stood two ponies.

One of them was a blue pegasus with a glowing white mane, a sword hung from his side. The other one was a giant alicorn with pure white fur and a sherbet colored mane. A feeling began to fill Trixie’s heart, at first it was hard to place what it was, and then it became clear to her. She was feeling joy at seeing the two ponies.

“Dad, Celestia, what are you two doing here?” Trixie asked as her mind attempted to figure out where here was exactly.

The room was circular and carved out of a deep blue stone. Six distinct pony statues sat on top of thrones, each one was slowly crumbling into dust. There was no clear source of light and Trixie felt that she had been here at least once before, but she couldn’t figure out where that was exactly.

“Trix?” Moonlight Sonata, asked in a worried tone.

Celestia gave out a sigh before answering Trixie’s question, “We came here to destroy the judges, they have been interfering with the Cosmic Council and we can’t have that. How are you doing, Trixie?”

“I…” Trixie tried to find an answer but she didn’t know. She couldn’t even remember how she had gotten here. “I just woke up here… it was really dark.”

Trixie’s heart began with a single beat that took the breath out of her lungs. She fell forward in pain, her wrist started burning and she could see rings of fire dancing around her fetlocks. Another beat and her heart began screaming in agony. She looked up at the two ponies before her with pleading eyes, she just wanted the pain to stop.

“Trix,” Moonlight Sonata said gently, “It’s clearly not time for you to explore this realm yet. Why don’t you come back here in about eighty years and we’ll talk then.”

“Dad, where are you, I need to find you,” Trixie begged, her heart beat again and now her entire body felt like it was on fire.

“I’m here, Trixie. I’ve been here for years, and I’m not going anywhere else anytime soon. Now go home and take care of your mom for me, can you do that?” He asked in such a kind voice.

“Okay, I’ll go home. But… will I see you again?” Trixie asked, despite the pain she was in, it was fairly easy to continue talking.

“Yeah, but if we’re lucky not for a very, very, very long time. Now go on,” He said with a wave of his hoof, and suddenly the world blurred away and a blinding white light filled her vision.

Chapter Seventy Four: Somber Awakening

Completely blinded by an intense light, Trixie began to focus on her other senses in an attempt to figure out where she was. Her forelegs were in a minor amount of pain at the fetlocks, and she could hear a rhythmic beeping from her right side. A warm blanket was draped over her as she lay completely flat on her back. Finally there seemed to be something wrapped around her chest and back at the shoulders.

After her eyes adjusted she saw a familiar scene. She was lying inside a hospital room with a heart monitor at her side. Her forelegs were uncovered and lying at her sides, allowing her to easily see the bandages wrapped around her hooves. The room felt empty of all life as she stared at the green ceiling.

Slowly, but surely her memories began to come back, and the more that she remembered, the worse she felt. Right now she wasn’t so upset that she felt like making a second attempt at taking her own life. This probably had something to do with the I.V. drip which contained some kind of pain killer. It didn’t take long before she felt guilty for having tried to kill herself again. Rainbow Dash probably didn’t care at this point, but it still made her feel guilty to know that she broke the promise to the pegasus that had once lowered herself enough to become Trixie’s friend.

Nothing in this room made her feel secure or even tried to brighten her mood. The only thing that came to her mind was the grim realization that, out of desperation, she had done something so utterly foolish that nopony could trust her ever again. If only she could make up for at least a fraction of the sins she had committed within the past week. If it were possible she would return the Heart of Harmony, but it was in Red Velvet’s hooves now, and that was one unicorn nopony should ever mess with.

An idea began to form in Trixie’s mind. Red Velvet had offered a way to fix Trixie’s magic, it could kill her, and that would be fine too, but there was a slim chance that she could survive. If she did survive the process she would have her fully functional magic back, and then she could take that heart and defeat Red Velvet if it came down to that. Trixie was fully aware that this plan had suck written all over it, but it was the only thing she could think of to begin fixing even a small amount of the problems that she had caused.

Pushing herself out of the bed was a much more painful ordeal than she had counted on. Thankfully once she set up the pain in her back subsided. The I.V. stuck in her leg was of concern though, normally yanking it out would’ve never even crossed her mind, but right now she didn’t have much of a choice. After searching the room with her eyes she found something to aid her.

While taking great caution, Trixie pulled the I.V. out before quickly wrapping a bandage tightly around her leg. After feeling secure that she had not screwed up, she took one look at the floor and climbed off of the bed. This was a mistake for as soon as her forelegs touched the floor pain jumped up her hooves and burned at her fetlocks. She fell to the floor while giving out a yelp of pain.

For a while Trixie just stayed on the floor wishing that she had simply stayed in bed. Time trickled by slowly, and a growing sense of worry began to eat at her. She knew that if she was going to leave it would have to be now. It hurt, and it hurt bad, but still she forced herself to stand up. After a few moments the pain began to ease up. The last thing she needed to do for her escape was also the one that would draw the most attention; she removed the heart sensors from her chest and neck.

With the machine giving out an annoying beeping sound, she gently walked over to the door. Each step sent a new shockwave of pain through her body but she continued on regardless. Once she was at the door, she opened it with her magic and stepped out. It looked like she was making all sorts of mistakes today.

Six nervous looking ponies plus one familiar doctor all stood outside of Trixie’s door staring right at her. Trixie let out a sigh of defeat and wanted to give up on the idea of escaping. These ponies were simply not going to let her die. If they were going to be this serious about it, then they could simply take care of her. With great pleasure Trixie laid down on the floor. She enjoyed getting off of her injured hooves.

“Trixie, what are you doing out of bed?” Timequill asked, there was no hiding the concern in his voice.

Trixie let out a sigh followed by a mumble. She didn’t feel much like talking at the moment.

“We all read your letter,” Twilight said, cautiously. “We… we had no idea how bad you felt about everything. I don’t know what you did with the Heart of Harmony, but I don’t care anymore. Trixie, we all love you.”

“How?” Trixie asked, somberly as she laid her head down.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“How could you still care about me? I deserve nothing but the worst death possible,” Trixie stated.

“Nopony agrees with you there, we all just want to see you recover. I’ve already talked to Maud about this-“ Timequill started.

“You talked to my sister?” Pinkie exclaimed in horror. “I was trying to keep Trixie’s suicide attempt a secret from her!”

“And that would have only done more damage to both parties,” Timequill explained while giving a stern look to Pinkie. He softened his expression and turned back to Trixie. “Things are not as bad as you feel they are. After talking to-“

“I don’t want to hear this,” Trixie interrupted. After a moment she had come up with a lie to explain why she was out of bed, one that would make the others not judge her so harshly. “I just wanted to go pee.”

“Oh,” Timequill replied, embarrassed. “Okay, who do you want to help you?”

Trixie stared at him for a long moment in an attempt to figure out exactly what he was talking about. When she finally gave up she asked, “What are you talking about?”

It was now Timequill’s turn to let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Trixie, but after this event I’m afraid that we can’t leave you alone just yet. So somepony will have to go with you into the restroom. We’re afraid of what you might do to yourself, you do understand, right?”

This was not a fun experience to say the least but she didn’t have the will to fight anymore. After thinking about it for a moment she said, “I don’t know.”

“Oh I’ll go, and I can even help you-“Pinkie said.

Trixie interrupted, “Not Pinkie, and not Fluttershy. I don’t trust either of you.”

Pinkie Pie turned away sadly and Fluttershy looked wounded. Trixie looked up and hated the other four ponies she had to choose from. Not a single one of them was trust worthy, and each of them only stood in her way. Twilight was a no, and Rarity was out of the question, this left Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

Trixie looked at each of the two ponies and asked, “Which one of you wants to do this?”

“Um,” Rainbow Dash said, “Applejack is your cousin and all.”

Applejack gave a sour look to Rainbow Dash and said, “Ah don’t mind, Trixie. Yer family an’ Ah’ll help you.”

It was a little awkward but with Applejack’s help Trixie was able to stand up and walk to the restroom with relative ease. Unfortunately Trixie had truly been lying when she said that she had to go, because now that she was in here sitting on the toilet, she couldn’t, for the life of her actually go. It was already awkward with Applejack staring at the door away from Trixie, the fact that she couldn’t go was making it worse.

Nearly a minute passed before Applejack said, “Ah know it must be hard to go with somepony in here with you.”

“I’m engaged… or at least I used to be. Peeing in front of another mare isn’t a new experience. At least you aren’t brushing your teeth or giving a pet rock a bath in the sink,” Trixie explained, sourly. She wasn’t mad at Maud, or at Applejack at the moment, no she was angry with herself.

An even more awkward silence passed between the two. After a few more minutes Trixie gave up and said, “I can’t go right now. let’s leave.”

Applejack was more than happy to oblige her in walking back to the others. As they all stood outside Trixie’s room it wasn’t hard for Trixie to notice that two ponies had left, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were missing. A part of her mind was curious as to where they had scampered off to, but at the same time she didn’t have the energy to care. She just wanted to sleep.

“Trixie, if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to talk to you if you’re up for it,” Timequill said kindly.

Trixie shook her head and explained, “I just want to sleep.”

“After all the blood you lost on the way here of course you would need to sleep,” Rarity said.

This was the first time that Trixie noticed something horrifying about her own body. Her forelegs and lower half were actually stained a dark blue which stood out against her normal fur color. It became clear now that Fluttershy’s hooves and applejacks back were both stained a light red. Trixie let out a sigh and felt wretched for unconvincing her friends like this.

“Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said, “I… I’m sorry for hurting your feelings.”

Everypony suddenly looked at the rainbow maned pegasus and stared at her at her in shock. Trixie grunted in response. Rainbow Dash looked depressed as she added, “You know I’ll never quit being your friend… don’t cha?”

Trixie wanted to go bed now, but she had two things to do before she could do that. Trixie looked at Rainbow Dash and truthfully said, “You hurt me, and no amount of apologies are going to make it better. Not this time.” After seeing the tragic look in Rainbow Dash’s eyes Trixie looked to Applejack, and with an honest heart said, “I need to go pee, for real this time.”

Chapter Seventy Five: The Escape

Since they weren’t going to leave Trixie alone it was decided that Applejack would stay by her bedside until she was recovered enough to leave the hospital. This presented a problem in the way of Trixie’s escape plan. The longer she lay in bed pretending to sleep the more she felt like she was going crazy.

Trixie dared to peek over at Applejack and found the orange mare reading a book while lying on the couch against the wall. Thankfully Applejack had been kind enough to stay quiet as Trixie tried to sleep; she even turned out most of the lights in the room only using the small lamp to read by. It was late outside but Applejack seemed to be having trouble getting to sleep.

“What are you reading?” Trixie asked quietly.

Applejack smiled at Trixie. “Just readin’ up on a few plants for next harvest. It’s lookin’ like potatoes might be good for next harvest.”

“Don’t you like apples anymore?” Trixie asked, confused by the prospect of Applejack growing anything else.

“I spose that Ah haven’t been teach’n you about the family,” Applejack said more to herself than to Trixie. “Well it’s a bit of an explanation but here it goes; the land we own is huge, sometimes Ah see it for how big it is and feel overwhelmed. Thankfully we have a few families living on Sweet Apple Acers, their all our family even if they have different names. We have the Carrot family, the Corn family, and well the list goes on.

“Anywho Ah was considering the possibility of adding potatoes to the farm next year. We have practically everything else growin’ so Ah figure why not?” Applejack finished with an even larger smile.

“Wow Trixie didn’t know how large the farm was,” Trixie admitted. She felt a little ashamed for not having spent more time learning about her family.

“Ayep, Applebloom gets lost all the time, that just goes to show how large the farm is,” Applejack explained.

Trixie closed her eyes again and yawned. “Maybe you can show me around later.” This was assuming that there was a later.

“It’d be mah honor,” Applejack replied. “Good night cus.”

“Night.”

It wasn’t too hard to go back to sleep after that. The darkness grabbed hold of Trixie and sucked her in without any effort. She knew that there would be no rest for her in the world of dreams but she didn’t fight, she just gave in and let the darkness take her away.

Again Trixie found herself floating over her own body while she slept. Applejack stood at the doorway talking to somepony outside. Trixie willed herself to float over to the door so that she could see who Applejack was talking to. A pony wearing a light blue cloak with the hood drawn over her head stood outside.

“What are you doing here?” Applejack asked accusingly.

“I just wanted to check up on her,” Maud replied from underneath the hood. It wasn’t hard to recognize Maud’s voice.

“Yeah, well she’s doin’ fine.”

“Okay.”

Maud began to turn around when Applejack interrupted her by saying, “You know she’s suffered a few injuries that couldn’t have been caused by a knife. Her back is sprained, although with how much medication they’ve been givin’ her Ah doubt she’s noticed. And she has a large bruise on her chest. Do you have any idea where those might’ve come from?”

Maud was silent for a long moment before finally saying, “Will she be okay?”

“That’s not what Ah asked.”

“Will she?”

Applejack let out a frustrated huff. “She’ll survive, but she’s damaged, Maud. Ah don’t reckon Ah can help her on my own.”

“I’m supposed to wait until she asks to see me before I visit her.”

“Ah’m just gonna warn you now; Ah better not find any more strange injuries on her. Do you understand?” Applejack said dangerously.

Maud nodded and stood silently for a moment. Applejack finally gave in to the silence and asked, “So with that said an’ all, how have you been doing?”

“I’ve been crying.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. It also doesn’t help that Pinkie told me that she can read minds.”

“Well we all know that Pinkie Pie can do that now.”

“Never mind,” Maud replied flatly.

Again silence filled the space between the two and a new fear began to fill Trixie’s heart. She knew that after hurting Maud, Pinkie had been upset. But for Pinkie to tell Maud about Trixie’s mind reading ability, that was a breach of trust that couldn’t be easily forgiven nor forgotten. It occurred to Trixie that betrayal like this was exactly how Maud felt, the realization only made Trixie’s heart sink further.

Suddenly Trixie felt herself being dragged away, out of the hospital, and into the night. Although she didn’t know her destination, she didn’t fight it. Where ever she was going would be better off than the hospital.

Trixie traveled at a slower pace this time, which was a nice change of pace as it gave her time to actually think. Another good thing about this experience is that she knew roughly where she was heading. Canterlot quickly came into view although Trixie wasn’t nearly high enough to actually fly into the town. Instead she flew straight into the mountain, through a mineshaft filled with crystals and skeletons. Next she went sailing up through the mountain, the sewer, and then finally she arrived within the castle walls. When Trixie finally stopped she found herself inside a large bedroom which was home to a balcony, and the largest bed that she had ever seen.

Trixie leveled herself out and carefully tried to touch the ground with her hooves. Although it was awkward not being able to feel the floor beneath her felt accomplished as she managed to land. She took a few practice steps to make sure she was steady. The fact that she didn’t create any noise with her steps felt strange.

“Oh, Trixie, I wasn’t expecting you,” a surprised, but kind voice said to her.

Confused at the fact that somepony had actually seen her while she was remote viewing, she quickly turned around to face the voice. Celestia stood tall before Trixie. A golden silk nightgown covered the princess.

“Princess Celestia?” Trixie asked confused. “What are you doing here?”

A smile crept across the princess’s lips as she stared kindly at the unicorn. “This is my room.”

“I… oh… I see,” Trixie said still feeling very confused. “But what am I doing here?”

“Are you saying that you don’t know how you got here?”

Trixie gave a tiny smile to the princess before explaining, “I know how I got here. I flew here. The question is why am I here? Last time I was remote viewing someplace it turned out to be important.”

“Remote viewing? Trixie, are you asleep right now?” Celestia asked in disbelief.

“Yes I am. Right now I’m trying to find a way to escape the hospital room so that I can have Red Velvet fix my magic, or kill me. Either way I’ll be okay with it.” It took only a moment before Trixie realized what she had just said, “Wow, I’m not supposed to talk about Red Velvet. This is strange.”

“When you are asleep thoughts and words tend to become one and the same, it can cause some awkward conversations until you gain mastery over yourself. I remember when Luna had begun to remote view, she would come and talk to me about all manner of things, some of them were rather… flattering.”

“So you’re used to this kind of stuff?”

Celestia was silent for a moment as she thought about how to respond to that. “I wouldn’t say that I was used to it. This is still rare for me, but after a thousand years of living, the rare becomes less exciting. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Yeah, I have one. How can I escape when I’m being watched by everypony?”

A playful look crossed Celestia’s eyes as she said, “Well when I want to escape, I sometimes use illusions to hide in plain sight. It can be quite amusing to watch my subjects searching for me as I sit on my throne invisible to all. Though, I wouldn’t suggest trying to run away from your friends. They all love you, Trixie.”

“No, Applejack cares but that’s just because she’s my family. Besides, all I do is hurt everypony that I love, so what’s the point in trying anymore?” Trixie admitted shamefully.

“I can relate in a way. Once upon a time I did something so horrible that I will never be able to make up for it. No matter how many centuries I spend trying to get back to being a good person again, I know that I’ll never make it. All I can do is keep trying, and hope that by the time my life is over that I’ve at least gotten close to making up for all the things I’ve done.”

A kind smile grew on Trixie’s lips as she finally understood why she was here. “Thank you, Celestia. I think that was exactly what I needed to hear. I’ll start by making things up to Twilight. Because trying to get forgiveness from Maud is going to be impossible, I’ll start where I can actually accomplish something.”

Just as Trixie finished speaking she was sucked back to her little hospital bed and slammed forcefully back into her sleeping body.

For a while Trixie lay in that dark room listening to the sound of her heart monitor and trying to figure out how to escape. Celestia’s advice, although interesting, was impossible for Trixie to accomplish. Not without her old magic back. That didn’t leave her helpless though as she did have a plan.

With access to her cantrips, she managed to change the color of her fur to a pale white. She then turned the color of her mane red and purple. Finally she mentally practiced imitating the voice patterns of the exact pony that she was now pretending to be. Although a little shorter then Moondancer, Trixie was almost a perfect replica of her.

Carefully Trixie pulled the I.V. out and turned off the heart monitor, which allowed her a moment of silence before the nurse would realize something was wrong. She walked outside her room. Her hooves might have hurt to walk on but she knew now that she could force herself onward.

Only moments after escaping her room did a nurse walk past her and enter the room. It wasn’t even a moment later before she could hear some yelling from the room behind her. Trixie quickly turned a corner and found a jacket lying on a bench. She grabbed the jacket and slipped it on, the jacket was just long enough to cover her cutie mark which she couldn’t easily change.

A moment later Applejack ran past her and down the hall, a determined look worn on her face. Trixie felt bad for sneaking out and worrying the apple pony, but she needed to do this. Only a moment later did a nurse walk by her and stop her in the middle of the hallway.

“Miss, have you seen a blue unicorn anywhere? She needs help and could get herself hurt if we don’t find her soon,” the nurse asked.

In a tiny and shy voice Trixie replied, “No I haven’t, I’m sorry.” After a momentary silence she added in an even tinier voice, “Is she dangerous?”

“Only to herself. If you do see her, please let one of us know right away,” the nurse said before taking off.

Trixie let out a sigh of relief and continued onward. It was shocking just how easy it was for her to walk into the waiting room, though after seeing five of her friends all sitting in chairs around a small table she realized just how bad this could end. With as much speed as she dared Trixie walked towards the entrance, only to be stopped by Twilight Sparkle.

“Moondancer? Is that you?” The alicorn asked, worriedly. Twilight left her small group to go and meet the disguised Trixie.

“Oh, Twilight… it’s, um, it’s nice to see you?” Trixie said, making sure to sound weak.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“I’m here as part of my term, I’m training to become a full fledged doctor after all. Um, but it’s not really that big of a deal…”

“Of course it is, I’m proud of you.”

“Oh, really… okay, um, thank you…”

Twilight looked away shyly before saying, “You know, now that I’m a princess I can do all kinds of things. Have you ever wanted to visit the secret archives in Canterlot?”

“N-n-not particularly.”

“Okay… we could just get something to eat sometime, I know of a really nice place around here.”

“That sounds nice, but I’m, um… that is if you don’t mind I have a meeting to go too… please don’t be upset.”

Twilight smiled softly at Trixie and said, “Yeah, that’s fine. Maybe I’ll see you at the reunion?”

“Reunion?”

“Haven’t I sent you a letter yet? Oh well, I’ll just tell you now. I’m planning a reunion for the six of us soon, and if you want to join I’d love to have you there.”

“How soon? I have a lot of school work,” Trixie replied, nervously.

“About a month from now, we’ll be gathering in Canterlot for it. Even if you can only make a small appearance I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Suddenly Applejack ran up to the group of ponies and said frantically, “Trixie’s gone. Ah can’t find her, Ah need yer help.”

Twilight quickly said, “Sorry, Moondancer, but this is important. I’ll catch up later.”

After that Twilight and the others focused their attentions on Applejack, giving Trixie the time to walk out the front door. If it hadn’t been for Twilight’s recent increase in height this plan would have been ruined on the spot. Since her plan had somehow against the odds managed to work out, Trixie was able to walk outside into the cold snow. The snow came down lightly and told her that the trip to Red Velvet’s wasn’t going to be fun.

Chapter Seventy Six: Unexpected Betrayal

Yet again Trixie found herself in this desolate forest in the middle of the night. At the very least it was warm here in the Everfree, but then again it was always warm in the Everfree. With a small amount of pain building up in her head, Trixie managed to cast a light spell. Even with some light to see by, Trixie still found the darkness nearly impenetrable. The darkness crept in all around her and it threatened to smother the poor unicorn.

It took awhile with her injured hooves, but Trixie finally arrived at the old deer outpost. The old place creaked and groaned as Trixie made her way up the mushroom staircase towards Red Velvet’s home. Once there Trixie walked inside and found Red Velvet lying down reading a book.

“Fascinating,” Red Velvet said, casually. “The alicorn’s were truly wonderful. Did you know that Celestia has had several of her students ascend to alicornhood over the course of the past thousand years?”

“Yeah, I remember learning a little about that. They all left her after a few years though, right?” Trixie asked, as she stepped inside.

Red Velvet looked up at Trixie with a kind smile. “Hello again, and yes they do have a tendency to leave. It’s rather difficult for an ascended alicorn to cope with a few of the big changes in their lives. Immortality leads to them being forced to watch as their loved ones grow old and die, becoming immortal also leads to great difficulty in giving birth. These two factors typically lead her students to go out and attempt to find the meaning behind life, true inner peace, or anything that will give the will to continue living.

“I believe that only two of her past students have ever returned from their pilgrimage. One of them wanted to meet their old teacher again and discuss plans to grow the kingdom. The other one had learned about Celestia’s ancient sin, and wanted to fix it. These two alicorns got into a conflict, and after a long bloody battle, they were each cursed by Celestia in a vain attempt to stop the fighting.

“Following this Celestia banned all knowledge of the Alicorn Empire, and the origins of Canterlot. Anything that could possible spark a war between her students was made secret and locked away inside her castle. Celestia was enough intelligent to decide against destroying any of the information though. Unfortunately that action lead to another one of her students to go out and rebel, this happened within the past decade,” Red Velvet finished her explanation with a small smile.

“Wow, you really like your history,” Trixie said lamely.

“I simply want the truth. Sometimes the truth is hard to find, and can be difficult to acquire.”

Trixie found a place to lie down in front of Red Velvet before looking up at the tall unicorn with pleading eyes. “I have something to ask you.”

“If you need somepony to change your fur and mane back to normal, you may need to speak to a better pony than I. I’d only ruin it,” Red Velvet explained nervously.

“No, it’s not that,” Trixie said. She took a quick moment to change her fur and mane color back to normal. Now returned to her usual blue self she let out a sigh. “I want my magic to be fixed.”

Concern spread across Red Velvet’s face and for a moment silence filled the large open room. Just as Trixie believed that she would never receive a response Red Velvet finally spoke, “You do realize that this process could very well kill you.”

“I know.”

“And that it will change you.”

“I don’t care, I just want my magic back. I want to be powerful again.”

Red Velvet let out a sigh. “You may regret this afterwards, the changes will be with you for the rest of your life.”

Somewhere deep inside Trixie’s heart, she knew that this was all wrong. Her magic was improving all on its own, but that wasn’t exactly the point. Trixie wanted to be punished for what she had done to Maud, and this was the only way she could think of accomplishing that. Whatever Red Velvet was planning to do seamed horrible, but in the end it didn’t matter. If this killed her, then so be it, if this transformed her, then so be it, if everything ended up alright, she supposed that she’d have to learn how to live with that.

Red Velvet stood up. “I shall return swiftly, there are a few items that I’ll require to do this. If you want you may read up on alicorns. It may help pass the time.” Just as Red Velvet turned around she added, “And you will need to remove your jacket.”

Red Velvet vanished into the backroom afterwards. Trixie removed the stolen jacket and took Red Velvet up on her offer. The book Red Velvet had been reading was missing a proper cover but the first page said all that she needed to know.

Trixie forced herself to stop reading at that point. As engrossed as she was into the story of the alicorns it looked like Red Velvet was already back and with her levitated a small wooden box, and the very wand that she needed to take back. A sad smile was worn by Red Velvet as she said, “I’m sorry it took so long. Shall we get started?”

The wand held a soft blue glow as it was gently held in Red Velvet’s magical grasp. The blue glow from the wand, and the red aura from Red Velvet’s magic fused to make a timid purple light. The box on the other hoof looked much more sinister with its red glow. Something from inside the box drew Trixie’s attention, and a fearful suspicion began to rise inside her. With great effort Trixie forced herself to ignore the box and focus instead on what Red Velvet was doing.

“What are you going to do?” Trixie asked, a slight panic was beginning to rise in her.

Slowly Red Velvet used her hooves to open the wooden box and the malevolent red glow intensified. A sudden urge to peek into the box and take whatever was inside came over Trixie but she managed to fight it off, barely. There was something familiar about the glow which only raised Trixie’s suspicion.

“I will be using these two artifacts in conjunction with some ancient bones to change you. It will be an excruciating process, in fact there is a very high death rate for this ritual. This method was discovered a very long time ago, it’s almost like a shortcut to something that you shouldn’t be able to obtain without great effort, and death. Usually this ritual takes a sacrifice to work, but with this much magic I should be able to cheat, although it’s going to destroy one of the artifacts,” Red Velvet explained.

Suddenly Red Velvet’s horn became brighter as she lifted the object from the box. The amulet she pulled out was vaguely shaped like an alicorn with a glowing red gem in its center. This was the Alicorn Amulet, the very thing that started Trixie’s life into the downward spiral that almost ended in her death. Suddenly Red Velvet’s powerful magic made a lot more sense.

“I believe that we can thank King Sombra, and his cohorts, for this amulet, although I personally try to use it as little as possible. Its tainted magic is very dangerous over periods of prolonged exposure.” Red Velvet slipped the necklace around her neck and suddenly Trixie reached out with a hoof to grab it.

Trixie stopped as a red beam shot out from Red Velvets horn, hitting the wand and then bounced back into the box. The only thing she could do was watch in horror as a few bones were lifted out of the box and floated in the air for only a moment before turning into ash.

“Wait,” Trixie cried out, her heart racing as panic took over. “Please stop, I changed my mind!”

A soft smile crossed Red Velvet’s lips. “Well I haven’t.”

The ash flew with sudden eagerness at Trixie! The ash collided with her face, causing Trixie to cough as the bone dust filled her nostrils and lungs. It tasted like dirt and she wanted nothing to do with it. Her eyes watered and her throat constricted as it became harder to breath.

A dark feeling pressed over Trixie’s heart and spread out over her entire body. Her mind felt clouded as she tried to process what was happening. A burning fire filled her lungs as she continued fighting for air, the struggle was quickly becoming deadly. Finally her back screamed in agony, and burned at the shoulders, her vision began to turn black.

For the first time Trixie caught a glimpse then at the real Red Velvet; the manic look in her eyes, the wicked smile, and the crimson glow from her horn. The scariest moment was when Trixie saw Red Velvet’s shadow; it had wings! Trixie tried to beg for help but only managed to cough even harder. Red Velvet was enjoying this immensely.

“You see my friend, I’ve been watching you ever since my escape last year. If it hadn’t been for an old teacher of mine, I’d still be locked away in that horrible place. I needed somepony to help me. That pony needed to be broken beyond repair, and only after being shattered to the point of death, could they help me.

“Celestia once tried to wipe my existence away from everyponies memories, but thanks to the Heart of Harmony I was able to remove her awful curse. Now that the curse is out of the way, and my magic restored, we can get to work on what needs to be done. First I will transform you into my little monster, and then we will stop him, we will stop Ash.”

Red Velvet stood and the room became cast in a deep red light, black streaks became strikingly visible on the walls. “I’ve done a lot of experimenting for this and it would seem that only a self destructive pony can survive, a pony who wants to be hurt is the only one that can survive the process.

“I’m sorry that I had to break you so hard, Trixie. Nopony should have to suffer like that, but for my mission to be complete, I needed to ruin you.

“I’ve also been changing you, slowly, preparing you for the transformation for a while now. Why do you think that your back has been in so much pain recently?”

The agony in Trixie’s back hit a high point and then something inside her moved! She froze in terror and it moved again. Something was in her back, and it was pushing against her shoulder. A new understanding of the word pain was discovered as the thing slowly clawed its way out of her skin, this was when the screaming began.

Her mind had fogged over and her vision was almost completely black when she decided to look at her back, to see what was killing her. The flesh at her shoulder was torn open, blood running down her sides. A tiny bone was protruding from her shoulder blade, it looked small and strange, with glowing runes etched upon it. The cool night air singed at her open wound and she could do nothing more than whimper.

Suddenly the bone took on a life of its own and it wiggled out, growing slightly. With the new movement came new torment, and Trixie shrieked. Spit flew from her mouth as she screamed, again, and again, and again. Finally her mind gave up and with one final howl of agony Trixie was finally allowed to pass out.

Chapter Seventy Seven: Pain, Past, and no Pity

”Trixie,” called the gentle voice of a kind mare.

Turning away from her view on the balcony, Trixie saw Fluttershy walking up to her. Fluttershy looked away shyly. Trixie’s heart began racing. Out of nervous habit, Trixie began stroking the amulet around her neck.

“What is it?” Trixie asked coldly.

“I, um, well if you don’t mine that is,” Fluttershy stammered.

The air was still and Trixie felt the call of something powerful, it wanted her to succeed at her objective of humiliating Twilight, and ruling Ponyville. Fluttershy rambled on in the background but her words were lost on Trixie, as she stared blankly at the pegasus. Destiny had finally given her the power to control the things around her, and this time she would make sure that life treated her fairly.

“Stop your incessant mumbling,” Trixie demanded, effectively silencing Fluttershy. “Trixie is far too busy to deal with you at the moment.”

“But Tri- I mean my mistress,” Fluttershy said meekly. “I wanted to make you happy… I haven’t seen your smile in such a long time.”

“It has been two days, Fluttershy. Trixie has only been in command for two days. Maybe you should wait until,” Trixie began but slowed down as a dark thought came to her. The yellow one wanted to make her happy; maybe the yellow one could do something to please her. “Oh our beautiful servant, you only want to make Trixie happy. This can be arranged.”

Dark thoughts of the various acts of depravity she could enact upon the pegasus played in her mind. She had all the means to make this happen. Ropes, chains, and magic, those were the only things required to make Fluttershy squeal, whether it was in pain, or delight. The kind look on Fluttershy’s face stalled Trixie’s mind and stilled her racing heart. She regretted ever thinking of the mare in such context. The things she had imagined would be too cruel, even for the ponies in this traitorous town.

“Fluttershy, you need to leave,” Trixie said flatly.

“But, but I want to stay by your side. I don’t care about what happens to anypony else, I just want to be with you,” Fluttershy begged.

Trixie closed her eyes. “Then that is to be your punishment for not standing up for Trixie when she was attacked by your friends, when they ruined her show, and for when they ruined her life.”

A sad look came into Fluttershy’s eyes, but Trixie feared that she couldn’t keep herself away from the mare for long. Trixie needed to remove Fluttershy from Ponyville before things went sour. “Fluttershy, you will leave Ponyville, never to return. You will not say good bye to your friends, and you will leave in secret. Should you ever return, Trixie will hurt you.”

Fluttershy sniffed and said, “Oh, okay.”

Trixie looked outside again, and off in the distance she spotted a hollow log. Despite the dark influence from the power she now wielded she couldn’t afford to hurt Fluttershy. Fluttershy was the only pony whom she ever loved, that actually loved her back. Their relationship was awkward to be sure, but that didn’t mean she could let the gentle pony be hurt.

“Fluttershy, you will be safer out there than you are in here, with Trixie.” Trixie said, somberly. “There is a hollowed log by the outer wall. Go there and hide inside of it.”

“But, why?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

For a moment Trixie attempted to consider this. She was punishing Fluttershy by sending her away, and she was saving Fluttershy by the same deed. Trixie felt like her mind was clouded and her heart felt lower than she had ever realized was possible. Nothing was making sense to her, and so with very careful words Trixie said, “Trixie wants you to leave. Nothing else matters right now, so go. We will meet you by that log in an hour.”

Fluttershy lowered her head and left. When Trixie felt secure of the fact that she was alone again she looked at the mirror and said, “We are setting that one free.”

The mirror flashed a sharp toothed grin, and pleasure filled its yellow eyes. “You are truly delicious, did you know that. I’ll allow the yellow thing to be freed, she is virtually useless anyway. The others must all suffer though, especially that Twilight Sparkle and her little friends, for what they did to us.”

“Trixie knows this!”

“Good, then we shall continue our work tomorrow,” The mirror said darkly.

Trixie’s two most prominent servants were downstairs at the moment awaiting her orders. It was going to be fun punishing those two for what they did to her wagon. As Trixie left the room to go and meet her servants she stopped for only a moment and considered the fact that she had never wanted to attack Ponyville before she found the amulet, a dark presence took a cloth and wiped the thought clean from her mind. Trixie smiled and left the room.

Molten lead poured into Trixie’s right shoulder forcing her eyes wide open. With a new scream she looked at her back and found the bone had crawled even further out of her body. Her face was wet from the constant run off of tears, and her throat was raw from the constant screaming. The pain died down again and she looked around for anypony that could help her.

Red Velvet was missing. The sun was shining through the windows, its light spread into the large open room that Trixie lay in. It took her a moment to realize that she was actually in a new room. Trixie attempted to push herself up but her entire body suddenly throbbed in pain. She gave up before she even began.

A sickly feeling coated her back and following that a fresh wave of pain. It was as though acid was being rinsed over her shoulder and the new bony appendage. She tried to look at the bone but after seeing how long it was she nearly threw up, and she would have too if she had anything left inside her.

The bone as it were, was actually now a series of interconnecting bones. Muscle, nerve ending, and raw flesh were growing slowly from the base of the new appendage. Whatever Red Velvet had done to her, it felt wrong, and was more painful than anything she had ever experienced in her life.

“I see that you are awake,” Red Velvet said.

“Kill me, please kill me,” Trixie begged. This hadn’t been the first time she had woken up during the course of this transformation.

“It has only been two days, Trixie. When you get to the third day, than you may beg for death,” Red Velvet replied coldly.

Trixie attempted to understand how two whole days could have passed, but the pain killed any coherent thought. She wanted nothing more than death; somewhere deep down she felt she had deserved this, but the feeling only kept her from killing herself to end the pain, just barely. The thing that made her struggle to stay alive was the promise that she would be better; the idea that the pain would go away after this magic had been worked through her. When that happened she had only one goal; she was going to kill Red Velvet for this.

“I see that look in your eyes,” Red Velvet said. “I’m looking forward to how you act when this is all over.” With a swift motion, Red Velvet gently tapped the new bone sticking out of Trixie’s back.

The scream that escaped Trixie’s mouth after that could not be described as such. To call it a simple scream would do it injustice. The volume of her voice hit such a high pitch that the glass in the windows nearly shattered.

Hurting Trixie was one thing, but when Red Velvet grinned at Trixie’s howl of agony, it was insulting. Thankfully the pained unicorn was allowed the comfort of passing out again after that.

“Do it,” dared Minuette.

“I don’t want to kiss that thing,” Trixie replied. “It’s disgusting.”

“And covered in bird poop,” Lyra joked.

“Well actually it’s more like bird pee, birds don’t exactly-“ Twilight began explaining.

“Whatever, egghead. Come on, Trixie, you lost the bet so you have to make out with it,” Minuette said.

With a nervous look, Trixie stared at the statue of the monstrous creature before her. She had just barely gotten her cutie mark a week ago, and now she was going to kiss some kind of dragon, pony, deer, bird, and bat hybrid. The mere thought was sickening to say the least.

“You gonna chicken out?” Minuette asked playfully.

“I’m no chicken,” Trixie stated proudly. “I just don’t see why I have to kiss Discard.”

“Discord,” Twilight corrected.

“Whatever.”

Minuette let out a sigh before saying, “You made the bet; that I couldn’t beat the time trial for destroying bricks with my magic, I not only beat the record, I got my cutie mark. Now pucker up, and kiss that that rock.”

With a sigh, Trixie gave up on fighting it. Minuette was right, she had made her bed and now it was time to lay in it. “This is going to be weird.”

Trixie climbed up onto the statue but wasn’t nearly tall enough to reach the face. It took three fillies balancing nervously on top of one another’s back before Trixie could reach the statues mouth. She looked long and hard into the monstrous rock’s eyes before coming to a single conclusion. He must be singing, she thought to herself.

She leaned in and quickly kissed the monster on the bottom of his jaw before pulling back. She smiled at her success. When the statue turned its head to stare at her and grinned she stopped smiling.

“Oh my, I feel so utterly violated now,” The statue said to her.

A dark green aura surrounded the statue’s eyes and suddenly Trixie felt ill. Something was wrong with her and she looked down at the fillies still holding her up. None of them looked worried, so she looked back up and the statue had returned to its normal posture.

“Did you see that? That thing just moved, and it spoke to Trixie!” Trixie cried out.

“No it didn’t, and why are talking like that,” Minuette asked.

“Like what?”

“Like a weirdo.”

“I do not speak like a weirdo, you do!”

“You need to drink,” Red Velvet demanded.

Trixie shoved the bowl of water away and shouted, “I WANT TO DIE!”

Red velvet simply set the bowl back up and refilled it with water. “You can’t die yet. You are the only friend that I have.”

“Then I disown you, now you can KILL ME!”

Red Velvet looked hurt by Trixie’s words at first, but then she looked angry. “If you don’t drink, than I will step on your wound again!”

The threat was just horrible enough to make Trixie lean over and stick her muzzle into the bowl. As she tried to drink the water she coughed and cried from all the pain. In the end more water fell onto the floor than went down her throat.

Trixie was in constant torture over the limb, she wanted it gone, she wanted to die, she just wanted to stop hurting. The appendage had spread out several tendrils each one had flesh and meat spread between them. It was like looking at a disgusting spider web, but it felt like being thrown into a wood chipper and not allowed to die.

“Please let me die,” Trixie begged.

“Never,” Red Velvet replied coldly. “After everything that I’ve done for you, do you honestly believe that I would just let you die? If you survive I can promise you one thing, everything that you ever wanted will within hoofs reach.”

“No, I want to die,” Trixie cried.

Suddenly her body was racked with another surge of twisted agony and her vision went black. She fell into the darkness yet again and refused to come back out. This time the agony stayed with her as she descended into a world of blackness, and the pain increased tenfold. Her entire body felt like it was being torn apart and stitched back together; slowly the needles threaded themselves through her frame. If only she were lucky, than she could have been allowed to die then and there.

The world around Trixie was sparkling and the ground had become mere clouds. It was like she was floating far above the world but as she looked down there was no world to speak of. Orbs of bright light floated around her, and for the moment there was no pain. Blue white light streamed around her flying in random directions while leaving colorful trails behind them.

She may have had no idea where she was, but that didn’t matter for the world had finally stopped hurting. A soft smile could be seen on her face as she enjoyed the moment of peace. If this was heaven, then she wanted to stay forever.

The world began twisting around her, and bleeding into darkness. Slowly she felt the pain coming back and she cried softly. She didn’t want to return to the world, to her body, where all she would feel is torment. Without being given a choice Trixie fell through the clouds and into the blackness below where she knew only pain would be waiting for her.

The morning sun had come again and its bright rays of hope shone down upon the sleeping form of the light blue unicorn known as Trixie. Slowly Trixie opened her eyes and groaned. For a moment she waited in silence for the agonizing torture to begin anew. When it didn’t come back she smiled, exhaustedly.

She had won, the pain was gone, and now she could finally return home and be useful again. Trixie looked again at her back and her eyes widened in horror. Out from Trixie’s back a new limb had certainly been made, but she had expected anything but what she saw. A dark blue wing, much darker than the color of her fur, sprouted from her shoulder and lay limp by her side, dimly glowing runes could be seen where the bone was.

“W-w-what?” Trixie asked, confused.

“You survived the third day, Trixie. And look where you are now,” Red Velvet said gently. “You have a wonderful new wing and your magic is stronger than ever before.”

Trixie looked around for the source of Red Velvet’s voice but could find not find the unicorn around her. “Where, what, how?”

“I’m right here,” Red Velvet said from above Trixie.

Slowly Trixie looked up and saw the unicorn that had done this to her hovering in the air above her. Two yellow wings matching Red Velvet’s fur kept the unicorn aloft in the air. Trixie’s mind was unable to put together exactly what she was staring at.

“How?” Trixie asked.

“You see I once served our beloved Princess Celestia, only when I found out the truth I rebelled alongside one of my brethren, he and I fought about how she should be defeated, and eventually he betrayed me, leaving Celestia to curse and banish me. He didn’t escape unscathed though, as I got him back.

“My power and my identity were taken from me. I was then locked away in Tartarus alongside Tirus, or as you would call him, Tirek,” Red Velvet explained. “Unfortunately my brother in arms, Ash, was left on the surface to enact his dastardly plans. Ash believed that it was possible to defeat Celestia, only by bringing out the worst enemies she had ever fought. Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even Tirek were tools that he was not afraid to use. I disagreed with him, hence why Celestia defeated me.”

Trixie’s mind couldn’t wrap around the concept of what she was seeing before her. As Red Velvet landed Trixie could only gasp as her mind found a relation to the name that was just mentioned. “Ash is the name of the pony that hurt my mother.”

“I told you he was dangerous,” Red Velvet said.

Trixie’s mind went back to the limp limb at her side and she suddenly asked, “My back, my… wing. What the Tartarus did you do to me? What am I?”

“You are not exactly an alicorn, if that’s what you were asking,” Red Velvet explained. “After Celestia defeated the empire, a lot of research was done on how to artificially create an alicorn. The research, for the most part, was a complete failure. One experiment succeeded though, The Dark Wing Project. Most ponies that went through it would die, but the survivors were incredible to say the least.

“The most incredible feature was the way they healed from all physical and mental wounds… with time. Mental retardation, missing limbs, and even dark curses, there was not a single problem that this ritual supposedly couldn’t fix. Of course the ponies in question were not invincible, and often times their wings were completely useless aesthetics. It takes a lot of alicorn magic to complete the ritual, and in your case I had to supplement with both light and dark magic, thus my need for the Heart of Harmony, and the Alicorn Amulet.”

Trixie looked back at her new wing with deep regret. “What do I do now?”

“For the moment you can go home and live a mostly normal life.”

Suddenly the thought of Twilight and Celestia seeing Trixie with an alicorn wing, learning of her relation to Red Velvet, and being infuriated with her came to mind. “No, I can’t let them see me like this. Please take the thing away!” Trixie begged.

“I can’t just-“

“TAKE IT AWAY NOW!” Trixie demanded.

Red Velvet closed her eyes and levitated a knife over to Trixie’s face before dropping it on the floor. In a cruel voice, Red Velvet said, “I can’t help you get rid of your wing, but if you are that intent on that course of action. Well, I’m sure that you can figure something out.” An evil grin spread across Red Velvet’s face.

Trixie looked at the knife in horror at the contemplation. After a long moment Red Velvet added, “You shouldn’t worry too much however, the wing will disappear soon enough.”

“Okay, that…” Trixie was still dumbfounded by the whole situation. “I don’t, I can’t even…”

Red Velvet smiled evilly at Trixie before saying, “We still have one more thing we need to do. But it should be much easier than what you just survived.”

“What is that?” Trixie asked, concerned.

“We need to grow you another wing.”

While looking back in horror, Trixie realized that she only had one wing. All that pain, all that horror, all of that was just for only a single wing. There was no way that Trixie would agree to a second wing, not when she had never agreed to the first one. Trixie opened her mouth to protest, but Red Velvet’s horn lit up like a burning inferno.

With a cracked, and dull looking amulet around Red Velvet’s neck, and the Wand of Harmony at her side she quickly struck Trixie with another red bolt of energy. It only took a moment, but Trixie’s world exploded in pain once again. Red Velvet had lied, it wasn’t any less painful the second time around, if anything it was worse.

Act Four: The Monster Within. Chapter Seventy Eight: A bath for the Soul

Days passed by with Trixie fading in and out of reality. When at last the pain stopped, Trixie opened her eyes to the first rays of dawn lighting shining against her fur. The place was empty of any life save for her. A terrible smell filled the air. She breathed slowly, and painfully with her dry throat, she barely had the strength left to draw in air. A bowl of water was thankfully not too far away. With reckless abandon Trixie shoved her muzzle into the bowl and drank greedily until it was all gone.

With her throat in much better condition, Trixie tried to figure out where she was, or how she had gotten here. The room she was in currently was very different from the last one. First off the room was free of any dust, and despite the blood smeared into her fur, and the floor around her, it was actually in good condition. Strange potions lined the shelves, and a single bed rested behind her, although it was currently a blood stained mess.

Not wanting to stay here any longer than necessary, Trixie slowly pushed herself off of the wooden floor. Every muscle in her body ached from the strain, but she managed to pull it off. Now standing she took a look at her back, fearing what horrible things she would find there. Her back was bare, save for the two dark patches of fur, along with two long scars over her shoulder blades. The wings were gone.

The sound of hooves clip clopping towards the open doorway grabbed hold of Trixie’s attention. Without thinking about it, Trixie summoned energy into her horn and faced the doorway with grim determination. If Red Velvet was coming back to hurt her again, than this time Trixie was going to fight back.

A brown head with two antlers appeared from the other side of the door. Trixie unleashed a lightning bolt towards the stranger’s skull, as the lightning soared through the air, the stranger dropped down to the ground. Just in time too, as the lightning flew over his head. Trixie stared in horror at the creature she had almost hit.

The creature before Trixie had light brown fur, a white underbelly, and two antlers on its head. Trixie stared at the almost pony before her with confused interest. She also noticed that the creature’s tail was a tiny nub compared to her own, currently ratty looking tail. The last thing to grab her attention was the fact that the creature was missing a cutie mark.

“Um, sorry about that,” Trixie apologized.

It looked up at her with fierce purple eyes and smiled. “You were only defending yourself. No one was hurt so it is acceptable.” There was a flat tone to his voice.

Trixie took a few steps and ceased her movements when it occurred to her, that her horn wasn’t in any pain, nor did she feel strained from the effort of unleashing the lightning bolt. Had her magic truly been cured? This warranted further investigation, but now was not the time.

“I,” She began but stopped. Again she looked at her back, expecting to see two wings attached to her. When she had made sure that she was still a normal unicorn she continued, “don’t know how I got here.”

“Our scouts found you. You were found in the old village being held by the monster.”

“What monster?”

“The Crimson Tide,” he replied, with a nervous look. “She has been holding members of our tribe captive and working her dark magic on them. I can only pray that she did not hurt you to bad.”

“I… I think I’ll be okay,” Trixie replied. “My name is Trixie Lulamoon, who and what are you?”

The stranger gave a chuckle before saying, “I am known as Mystic Soul. I am a deer.” It took Trixie a moment to comprehend this fact, and what it actually meant, so Mystic Soul continued, “As the local alchemist for our small village, they put you in my charge. You will be wanting a safe return home?”

“Yes, and the sooner, the better,” Trixie said. Her mind was still racing from the possibilities of what was going on. Red Velvet had obviously ditched her, but what happened to those wings? Did Red Velvet, or as the deer called her, the Crimson Tide remove them? The questions she had were not meant for a unicorn who only wanted to go home and sleep.

The deer smiled at her. “We can leave now, or you could wash first.”

Trixie looked at herself, she was covered in blood, and other disgusting substances; left over’s from the torture she had suffered. She took a whiff of her own fur and realized much to her chagrin that the awful smell was actually her. She lowered her head and admitted, “I think that a bath would probably be a good idea.”

“Follow me,” Mystic Soul said.

Trixie followed the strange deer outside. With every step her body ached, but she wasn’t ready to argue with anypony, or any deer. After everything that had happened there was no point in resting. The outside was a lot different than what she had expected to find.

The sun shone brightly down upon the clearing around this tree house, clearly showing that winter had not touched this location. Green grassy fields and wonderful plants grew all around as though they had never even heard of the concept of winter.

There were quite a few more deer than Trixie had expected to see. Most of them looked a lot slimmer than Mystic Soul, and only a few of the foals had horns. Perhaps this was a sign of different tribes of deer, the horned ones may be able to perform magic.

Only a few buildings existed in the trees, although some of these buildings were quite tall. Trixie was led down another mushroom staircase and down to a small area where a hot spring existed. A few spouts lead from the hot springs and into an area shaped like large wooden bowl. At first glance the bowl was buried into the ground, on closer inspection the bowl was actually part of the tree’s roots.

Mystic Soul grabbed a rope with his mouth and pulled down on it, water quickly filled the spout from above and then drained into the bowl. After only a few moments the bowl was filled with water and Mystic Soul motioned for Trixie to get in. It hit Trixie that this was the bath tub.

“You want me to bathe out in the open? With everypony watching me?” Trixie questioned.

Mystic Soul looked confused. “I do not understand. Is there a problem with this?”

“Well yeah, I mean…” Trixie stopped trying to question it once she realized that there wasn’t really any problem with this. It was almost like a spa…“Never mind.”

With careful movements Trixie climbed down into the bath and suddenly felt refreshed. The water was perfect against her skin, and the best part was how the water sparkled in the sun light. She dunked her head under the water and stayed there for a moment before coming back out and exhaling deeply.

At Mystic Soul’s giggle, Trixie looked at him and asked, “What is it?”

“You seem to be enjoying the water thoroughly.”

Trixie looked up at the bright blue sky. “I guess that I’m just enjoying the simple things while I can.”

“Why is that, do you plan to not be able to bathe anytime soon?”

Trixie closed her eyes and fought off a dark feeling. “I don’t know how long I’ll have left. I could be dead soon.”

Mystic Soul looked displeased. “It would be tragic to lose you. You have been a kind guest so far.”

“You barely know me, how can you feel bad about my death?” Trixie replied sourly.

Mystic Soul was quiet for a moment before explaining, “I would feel bad for anyone who died before their proper time. I don’t feel like you should leave this world so early, is that so strange?”

Trixie let out a sigh and opened her eyes again. “I suppose it’s not that strange. I just don’t see how anyone could actually care about me. I’m nothing but a giant wrecking ball, the things I touch always get destroyed.”

Mystic Soul opened his mouth but stopped on the approach of another deer. This one was about a foot taller than Mystic Soul, and he had black fur with gold eyes. Mystic bowed his head a little before saying, “Dark Leaf, are you doing well?”

The taller deer, Dark Leaf looked down at Mystic Soul with a hard expression. “King Aspen has heard of our visitor. He is sending Blackthorn to retrieve her by tomorrow. She is to stay in your care until Blackthorn arrives.”

Trixie didn’t like the sound of this.

“That might work out for the best,” Mystic Soul said. “Blackthorn can guide us to Thicket, and then we will only be a few short hours from the pony village.”

“Wait, I thought you said I could leave now?” Trixie asked, she felt tiny compared to Dark Leaf.

Mystic Soul smiled at her and said, “And you still can, but even if you left now it would take you at least a day to reach the pony village.”

“You cannot allow her to leave early. King Aspen needs to know what transpired with The Crimson Tide,” Dark Leaf said sternly.

Mystic Soul’s smile faded a little. “She has the ability to leave, but I believe she will stay. She needs a guide after all, and I am no good at finding my way.”

“Hmm, you are right about that. She is your charge, remember that you are solely responsible for her actions,” Dark Leaf warned.

It didn’t leave a good impression on Trixie that this tall deer was talking about her as though she wasn’t there. In fact it made her feel even more worthless, and that was a feat in and of itself. When Dark Leaf finally left, Mystic Soul turned back to Trixie and smiled kindly at her.

“His words are harsh, but his heart means well. You survived what most of the bucks in our tribe could not.”

“The what now?” Trixie asked, alarmed by the phrase.

“A buck is a male deer, similar to your stallion. Our females are called doe, and our children, fawn. In case you did not notice on our way down, this village is comprised mostly of doe.”

Trixie looked out at the deer that lacked horns. “So, the doe are the ones without horns?”

“That is correct.”

“Deer are strange,” Trixie said casually.

Mystic Soul gave a short laugh. “To us it is the pony that is strange.”

To her surprise, she actually found herself laughing at the comment.

It's true, we must seem very strange to deer. But even so I think our species could be good friends, in fact I could be friends with him... what am I thinking? I mean sure he's a deer, but... he's a... he. I could never trust a stallion, never again... but he isn't exactly a stallion, now is he? He's a buck, and i don't even think that our two races could... besides that he's very nice to me, even though I don't deserve it...

After a moment Trixie made up her mind and said, “I am going to be your friend.”

“That is wonderful,” Mystic Soul replied.

“I figure that I might as well try and befriend a stallion, er a buck, before I die,” Trixie explained.

“And I hope that by being your friend, I can convince you to live.”

Trixie frowned and said, “I guess we’ll see.”

Chapter Seventy Nine: Smoke and Murder

The small village was truly quiet and peaceful, the fawn played games chasing each other around, the doe seemed content to watch the children and talking amongst themselves. Trixie was happy just lying in the grass and smelling the wild flowers, she was tempted to eat one. That was when Mystic Soul arrived with a basket of food. Various fruits, barriers, and flowers had been arranged in the basket, and they all smelled heavenly.

“You have not eaten since we found you,” Mystic Soul stated. “So I have brought you something to eat. I hope it suffices.”

Trixie looked at the food greedily and said, “Yeah, this works just fine.”

After setting the basket down, Trixie reached out with her magic and pulled a few strawberries out. These berries were not only larger than what she was used to, they were also much more flavorful. She’d never had strawberries so full of sweetness. It was edible heaven.

Though much to her dismay Trixie found that she was unable to eat very much. It struck her as odd that after being starved for a week, and left for dead, that she was unable to eat more than a hoof full of berries.

“Is there something wrong with the food?” Mystic Soul asked politely.

Trixie shook her head and after nibbling on flower she decided to speak. “I’m not very hungry for some reason.”

“I will take this for you then,“ Mystic said as he leaned over to grab the basket.

Trixie used her magic to hold the basket down while saying, “That’s okay, I’d like to nibble on them for a little while.”

“As you wish.”

And Trixie did just that. She nibbled on the food, basked in the warm rays of the sunlight, and eventually fell asleep.

The old deer house was silent, her back was in agony, and fresh blood stains covered her shoulders. The white cloak lying on the floor in front of Trixie was unfortunately stained red. The cloak in question had light purple trim and a star pattern along with a crescent moon symbol where the flanks were covered. The clasp was shaped like the sun.

Lying on top of the cloak was a wand, and a sword. The wand’s shaft was a blue stick that had woven around the heart shaped gem that was attached to it. The sword’s sheath was a deep blue with a red line running down it. These were very important and needed to be kept safe.

Darkness lined the edges of Trixie’s vision and she felt lost. She laid down deciding to rest for a moment. That’s when a familiar voice began to speak to her.

“You shouldn’t rest here,” Babble said. “After what you just did to get those things, you need a doctor.”

Trixie looked up at the source of the voice, upon seeing thin air, she was able to validate her crazy.

“I’m not joking,” he said.

“I don’t care if I die here or not. Nothing matters to me now.” Trixie laid her head down. “Red Velvet got her wish, and now I’m going to sleep.”

“She still needs your help, and honestly I don’t like the idea of letting her do her things alone,” Babble said.

“She’s going to fight Celestia over in Canterlot, isn’t she?”

“I can only venture to guess what’s going through her head, you’re the mind reader, not me.”

Trixie let out a tiny laugh and yawned. “I need to sleep, to heal.”

“Where are your wings?” Babble asked.

A small smile crept over Trixie’s lips as she said, “Gone. I can’t very well be an alicorn without any wings now can I?”

“She’s changed your entire body on a molecular level. I don’t think that cutting off your wings will change anything,” Babble warned.

“Too late for that now.” Trixie yawned again, her mind was finally slipping.

“Good night, Trixie.”

“Good night, Babble.”

Trixie’s eyes opened and instantly stood up. The dream she just had, it felt more like a memory than anything else. If that was the case, than that meant that when she was last at the deer outpost, she had had the wand of harmony. Furthermore, she had obtained that cloak and sword, they were so familiar.

Trixie looked around and spotted Mystic Soul about ten feet away, napping. Trixie decided to wake him. “Mystic Soul, who found me?”

The buck stirred to life and looked up at her with a smile. “Why one of my fellow deer did. She is a traveler and when on her way back here, she discovered you. Would you like to meet her?”

Trixie looked at the sky, she felt dead inside, but if there was even a chance that she could still get that wand…

“Take me to her.”

The walk to the small tent at the edge of the village was much slower and quieter than either of them would’ve have liked. When they did finally arrive, Mystic Soul stopped Trixie.

“She is an honorary member of our tribe. She is a pony, and yet she is a deer, you will hopefully understand more when you meet her,” he explained

“I don’t care, I just need to talk to her,” Trixie replied as she entered the tent, completely ignoring him.

The second she poked her head inside a horrible stench hit her nostrils and sent her reeling back out. After receiving an odd look from Mystic Soul, she braved herself and walked all the way in. The tent was hard to see in because of all the smoke, and the smell was the absolute worst. There was a fire pit in the middle of the room, which was where all the smoke was coming from. A green mare with a ratty orange dreadlocks sat behind the fire.

“Like, salutations fellow traveler. What brings you to this place of tranquility?” The mare asked.

It was obvious exactly what kind of pony this was, and Trixie almost wanted to smack the mare on mere principle. Trixie’s rage quickly left her and a deep calm took over. Trixie laid down and breathed deeply, Sure it smelled bad, but something about this tent was so utterly peaceful that it didn’t matter. A strange happiness began filling her empty heart, and suddenly she was confused as to why she came here in the first place.

“I’m looking for the deer who found me, I think,” Trixie said, confused.

“Whoa, it’s like the universe brought us together, because I’m the one who found you.”

“But I was found by a deer, and you’re a pony…” Trixie replied, she felt like she was stating the obvious.

“I’m an honorary member of the tribe. To them there is no difference between me and any other doe,” The mare explained.

“Huh… that’s pretty cool,” Trixie said, now fascinated by the idea. She had to remind herself why she was here though. “I wanted to know if you found any of my possessions with me?”

“Yeah, there over there by the door. A white cloak, and a magical wand and sword, right?”

“Yeah, that’s everything.”

“Cool, why don’t you sit down and bliss out with me.”

“Okay, sounds good. My name’s Trixie by the way,” Trixie said.

“And I’m Tree Hugger,” the mare replied.

For awhile the two of them lie in silence while breathing deeply. It was so relaxing here in this tent, and for whatever reason Trixie was just happy. Sure she had made some mistakes, but everything was going to be fine, she just knew it. The longer she stayed, the stranger she felt. It was only after Trixie began seeing Tree Hugger’s aura did she question it. Tree Hugger’s aura was yellow, like hay.

“You have a strange aura,” Trixie observed.

“And you have a sad one,” Tree Hugger observed back.

“I do?”

“Yeah, if you want you can talk to me. I’ll be your rock,” Tree Hugger said innocently.

A sudden feeling of deep regret hit Trixie, and she decided to take Tree Hugger up on her offer. “I’ve done a lot to be sad over. I cheated on the mare that I love, I can’t believe that I had sex with Fluttershy.”

“You had sex with a pony named Fluttershy?” Tree Hugger asked. “Way out, I had sex with a pony named Fluttershy too.”

“Was yours a pegasus from Ponyville?”

“Yeah, was yours?”

“Yeah… she’s not your marefriend or anything is she?” Trixie asked, now she was worried about whether Fluttershy was a cheater too.

Tree Hugger laughed before saying, “No, we just smoked a bunch of Joke together, and then we made love for, like, three days straight. She’s not mature enough for a serious relationship though. So I’m waiting.”

“That’s a smart idea. I wonder if I should have waited… instead I just hurt Maud. And then I tried to kill myself, twice.”

“That’s heavy. What made you do that?”

“It’s hard,” Trixie admitted, “To live that is. All ponies do is hurt me, and every time I defend myself, I only hurt the ponies I care about. All I want from life is to have a nice peaceful place to call home, to have a bunch of friends, and to be a world famous magician, and then a teacher… that’s not asking too much is it?”

“That sounds righteous, you should totally pursue that instead of killing yourself,” Tree Hugger said.

The idea wasn’t too bad. “Yeah, I think your right. I just wish that I knew how I got here.”

“I could totally help you with that,” Tree Hugger offered kindly.

Trixie smiled softly at Tree Hugger’s offer before looking back towards the entrance. She didn’t want to take too long, but she wanted answers. Well she was forced to be here until tomorrow either way, so she might as well do something useful.

“Alright,” Trixie agreed.

Tree Hugger reached over and grabbed a small pouch. After reaching in and pulling out some purple crushed plant, she tossed it onto the fire. The plant exploded in the flames and the smoke flew up into the air and turned into a purple alicorn. The smoke alicorn looked at Trixie and then flew at her. The sounds of chanting, and a steady drum beat filled Trixie’s ears as her world was enveloped by a strange purple fog.

It was cold, absolutely frigid. Wherever Trixie was, she couldn’t handle the weather at all. It didn’t help with just how hungry she was. Snow covered the ground and as she walked forward, her hooves sunk beneath the snow. With the raging blizzard that surrounded her she couldn’t see a thing. Hopelessness was quickly catching up to her.

“Move forward,” cried a menacingly cold voice, barely audible above the storm.

Trixie looked around and caught the faint red glow just ahead of her. “Red Velvet, is that you?”

“Follow me, or die!”

Trixie did just that. The snow was hard to walk through, and without any clothing on the snow had managed to freeze her wings against her body. That didn’t matter right now, because she still didn’t know how to fly, even if it wasn’t storming like crazy.

“He’s just ahead of us. You can keep up, I know just how strong you really are, Trixie.”

“Stop pretending to be nice. I will smash you into a thousand tiny pieces when this is over!” Trixie shouted back, her anger at Red Velvet for all the torture was still fresh. Even after the teleportation spell she wasn’t sure where she was, somewhere in the north she assumed.

After an hour of painful travel Trixie knew that she couldn’t hold up much longer. She was feeling sleepy again, and the darkness was coming in from all sides. That’s when the red glow finally got bigger and Trixie caught up to the alicorn who had done this to her. Red Velvet stood at the entrance to a cave, an evil smile was on her lips.

“He’s just inside, Trixie.”

“Then let’s kill him already.”

Red Velvet smiled in approval, it sickened Trixie. Only after Red Velvet began walking forward did Trixie follow. Even though they were out of the snow storm now, Trixie was still freezing. Though the aura coming from Red Velvet’s horn was warm and inviting, Trixie kept her distance. There was no way she was going to willingly walk besides the evil alicorn.

The cave was quiet, dark, and cold. Trixie created a small orb of light from her horn in an attempt to increase the light around them. The ground they walked on was black, obsidian Trixie guessed. A few pieces of mining equipment lay scattered around the cave. Eventually the two came to a staircase of obsidian and walked down it carefully.

The images carved into the walls looked horrifying. Monsters of various sizes, with tentacles, and strange shapes, adorned the halls. Whatever had been going on here was beyond Trixie’s ability to reason.

“Let’s proceed carefully, this place is built like a labyrinth, his labyrinth,” Red Velvet suggested.

Trixie scoffed at her, nothing mattered now. When Red Velvet was dead, she could go home… or maybe not. It occurred to her that she might no longer have a home to return to, if that was the case than she could just lie down and die somewhere. Freezing to death wouldn’t be too bad, right?

Red Velvet stopped, frozen in her tracks. Trixie looked up and her mind ceased working.

A lone pick axe lay at the foot of a statue, she remembered this. The statue was ten feet tall, and it didn’t even take a moment for Trixie to recognize the skeletal primate with its arms raised as though it was in constant torment. This statue should not exist as far as Trixie was concerned. The worst part was that it was made of obsidian, just like in that dream long ago, where she had her second meeting with Scath.

“Do you know what this creature is?” Red Velvet asked.

Trixie sent a small flame from her horn into the darkness, and it landed in a fireplace. The fireplace lit up the small room and Trixie knew that everything was wrong. She looked at Red Velvet, her anger quickly being replaced by fear.

“I don’t care, I’ve been here before.”

“How?”

Trixie didn’t have an answer, and even if she did, the slow chuckle of a deep and dark voice stopped her from being able to talk. The two alicorns turned around and saw a red earth pony with a golden mane staring back at them.

“Hello,” he said calmly.

“Morning Veil, I didn’t think that you would be here. Where is Ash?” Red Velvet asked, her voice was serious. Trixie just knew that this was about to become hectic.

“Oh, you’re looking for Ash as well? Well I could lead you two to him. Actually, now that I look at you two, I’m left wandering. Is that you, Trixie? Moonlight’s daughter?” Morning Veil asked, his voice was friendly, but the look in his eyes betrayed his intentions.

Trixie looked him dead in the eyes, she knew that there were a lot of problems with this situation. “First of all,” Trixie said with authority, “You were the one helping my father track down Ash. So what in the hay are you doing in one of Ash’s lair? Second of all, where is my father?”

“I could arrange a meeting if you wish. But would you rather meet him first, or Ash? They are both located in this dungeon,” Morning Veil admitted.

Red Velvet looked down at Trixie and then back to Morning Veil. “We’ll see to her father first. He may be able to aid us.”

“Hmm, sound reasoning. Well follow me.”

Trixie couldn’t believe that Red Velvet would postpone her vengeance track to look for her father. Red Velvet had tortured her for a week, this couldn’t have been anything more than a ploy, surely. But there was now a sliver of doubt as to Red Velvet’s true nature, now firmly in place in Trixie’s mind.

The two followed behind Morning Veil cautiously as they made their way down a labyrinth of tunnels. The further they went, the more ominous things became. Eventually, Trixie was sure that things would fall apart, and an ambush would occur. But when Morning Veil stopped and motioned for Trixie to step forward, her heart skipped a beat.

The room that she stared into was dark, but a faint blue light could be seen in the distance. The blue light was ebbing off of a sword, the sword in question had a single red line running down the blade. It was her father’s sword, the one that killed an Ursa Major, The Trickster’s Blade.

Trixie galloped into the room. For the first time she had finally found an actual clue to where her father was. She couldn’t help but go to the sword. As she approached the blade lying on the ground she used her magic to lift it into the air.

“The Trickster’s Blade!” Trixie gasped.

The very sword that Trixie was named after, was now in her telekinetic grasp. Her father never explained the true nature of the blade to any of his allies, but he did tell Screw Loose about it once, and a filly Trixie overheard. The blade had a tendency to cause the worst luck imaginable to his opponents, but it was an artifact. This meant that it choose it’s wielder, and it had chosen Moonlight Sonata.

The light from her horn revealed something else on the floor nearby. A crumpled figure was lying in the corner. A white cloak covered the pony like a blanket, and from the white mane sticking out from underneath the cloak, Trixie knew exactly who it was.

Carefully she used her magic to lift the cloak off of her father, she had a dark feeling of exactly what she was going to find, but she wasn’t ready for it. The skeleton she found stared at her with hollowed eye sockets, and her heart stopped.

“What happened here,” Red Velvet asked from the doorway.

“Oh, that, he’s been like that for a long time. Ever since he thought he could defeat me, and failed.”

Both Trixie and Red Velvet stared at Morning Veil in horror as he changed. A horn suddenly grew out of Morning Veil’s head, and two wings shot out from his back. A sick and twisted grin grew across his face as he stared at Trixie.

“Do you know what the last two words your father heard before I shot him down were?” He asked, before licking his lips.

Trixie stared in horror and shook her head.

“Bark, bark.”

In that very moment, something broke inside of Trixie. She had never suspected that one of Celestia’s heroes could have been a villain, but she knew exactly who she was staring at now. As Morning Veil’s mane began to glow with brilliant power, Red Velvet took a step back and shouted, “IT’S ASH!”

Morning Veil didn’t remove his eyes from Trixie’s he only stared with delight. A white hot anger flashed across Trixie’s body, and her mind went blank; she could no longer think, she could only act. Magic poured into her horn, and she gripped the blade with her teeth. The only thing she could see before her, was the stallion who was about to be gilded.

Trixie charged, determined to kill. It wouldn’t be any different than the diamond dog, than the spiders. She’s killed monsters before, and she could do so again, and Morning Veil was only a monster in pony's clothing.

Morning Veil’s horn lit up with a powerful golden aura, but a dark red beam struck him in the foreleg, and shot cleanly through it. Morning Veil fell to his knees, but his face didn’t show any amount of pain. He released a beam of gold energy towards Trixie.

A white beam of energy flashed from the Trickster Blade and hit the beam of energy. Suddenly a rock fell from the ceiling and intercepted the blast. The rock was disintegrated.

Trixie arrived, her blade flashed. Morning Veil stared at her in shock as a line of crimson was drawn across his neck. He tried to shoot another beam at Trixie, but the sword flash white again. His horn fizzled and popped, sparks flew out but nothing else happened. Clearly from his expression, he wasn’t prepared for the sword’s power. Trixie wasn’t done, and with one last attack, she unleashed her magical fury, and blasted Morning Veil into dust.

The light from the sword dimmed, and then faded completely. Trixie stared at the powder before her; the powder that used to be a pony. Red Velvet looked away shamefully before saying, “I’m sorry for your loss. But at least you retrieved his weapon, and it seems to be in working condition.”

Trixie dropped the blade and questioned, “That’s it?”

“The Trickster Blade gives your opponents the worst luck possible. If not for that sword, you would be dead twice fold. ‘That’s it’ is offensive to such an artifact,” Red Velvet explained.

Trixie looked angrily at Red Velvet and nearly shouted, “The stallion you wanted me to kill so badly that you turned me into a freak, the stallion that murdered my father, the secret enemy of Equestria and worshiper of the Deep One. That is what Ash was, what Morning Veil betrayed Celestia’s heroes to become. And he died like this?”

“Did you wish to do epic battle with an alicorn? Would that have made you feel better about this?”

“NO!” Trixie shouted. “I wanted to make him suffer, to cut his wings off slowly, to grind his horn into dust.” Trixie was silent for a moment before saying quietly, “This was disappointing…”

“Trixie, life works out like that sometimes. You cannot seek vengeance and expect it to be fulfilling. Now that he is dead, Equestria is safer, only Celestia has to worry now.”

“I don’t care about her.”

The wand of Harmony floated over gently to Trixie and was laid at her hooves. Red Velvet smiled softly and said, “I told you that I would give this back to Twilight. But I feel that you may wish to return it yourself.”

Trixie stared at the wand, a hollow feeling filled her heart. She looked back at Red Velvet and said, “You know this doesn’t mean we are friends.”

“I know.”

“But I won’t kill you… you helped me find my father, and retrieve his sword, even if it was by mistake.”

“Who said that I didn’t suspect that Ash had kept the sword as a trophy?”

“So you knew that my dad was dead?”

Red Velvet looked away shamefully. “I could only guess as to what happened to him when he challenged an alicorn. I did truly hope that he had only been kept prisoner…

“You should take pride in his courage to defend his family, even when it cost him his life. And you should take pity in knowing that he could never have guessed that it would be his closest ally who stuck the knife in his back.”

Trixie looked back at the skeleton. “I think I’d like to bury him.”

“I’ll help.”