“Coming!”

The voice is musical, and graceful. It’s happy, and carefree.

Trixie wants to run away.

But before she has the chance, the door to the palace creaks open, and Trixie can only stare as Twilight Sparkle steps out.

Twilight’s eyes are wide as she scans Trixie. Her lips part silently, and she hangs like that for a few seconds before muttering, “Trixie…? What in the world are you doing here?”

The first words Trixie has heard spoken to her in weeks. She tries to respond, but nothing comes out.

Trixie wants to run. She needs to run. Her eyes are burning and her lungs are collapsing and her hooves are shaking and she’s going to run away. She’s going to be alone she’s going to

Twilight takes a step forward and pulls Trixie into a hug.

Trixie tenses at first, but everything melts away as she catches the scent of strawberry rising from Twilight’s warm, silky mane. This… this isn’t something that Trixie has noticed before. She likes it.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asks, pulling away too soon. She lays a hoof on Trixie’s shaking shoulders and tries to look her in the eye. “You seem upset.”

The world goes blurry again. Does Trixie really think Twilight can help a mare like her—would help a mare like her? Trixie dips her head and tries to say something, but all that comes out is a pathetic squeak. Trixie is pathetic. Worthless. She deserves the nightmares. She deserves to suffer. She deserves

Twilight touches a wing to Trixie’s cheek, bringing her eyes up to meet Twilight’s wide smile. “Come inside,” Twilight says. “I’ll have Spike make us some tea, and we can talk. Okay?”

…Okay?

Trixie doesn’t answer at first. She just opens her mouth. It takes what feels like a full day for her to close her quivering jaw again and simply nod. She wants to smile, just like Twilight is smiling, bright and beautiful, but she can’t. Not yet. Trixie's spent her entire life forcing herself to look great, to look powerful—but maybe now, if only for a moment, she can allow herself to be weak.

Maybe being weak isn’t such a bad thing.

Twilight grins and walks back inside, gesturing for Trixie to follow.

The Great and Powerful Trixie takes one last shaking breath before I step inside Twilight’s home.

Author's Notes:

This story takes a lot of inspiration—both intentionally and unintentionally—from the work of my favorite singer/songwriter/poet/superhero of all time, Reese Roper. The original version of this fic, Fight Back, was directly inspired by his 2000 song, "The Greatest Story Ever Told."
This version of the fic takes both its name and quite a few themes from his 2004 song, "Something Like Laughter."
In addition, quite a bit of the style of prose here takes cues from his poem, "On Day Number Six," specifically the sixth stanza.

Thank you for reading. This piece was very experimental for me, so any and all comments—positive and negative—are greatly appreciated.