My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Of Ponies and Humans

Chapter 3

Storytime, Kiddies

Rarity hummed as she sewed sequins into the dress Spike had inadvertadly destroyed 2 days earlier. She made sure that Spike or Sweetie Belle weren’t around to bug her to the point that the dress would be destroyed or maimed again.

The door opened and made the familiar jingling sound. Rarity dropped what she was doing and trotted on over. “welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is--” she stopped her trademark motto and gasped when she saw Twilight standing there with Trixie’s torn cape and hat.

“Twilight! What…”

“Rarity, please. I have no time to explain. I just need you to fix these.” Twi said, giving Rarity Trixie’s accessories.

“but Tw--”

“just fix them ASAP, please?” Rarity wasn’t sure what Twilight was talking about but begrudgingly nodded. “thanks.” Twilight turned and ran to the door. She stopped for a moment. “I made a huge mistake.” she said as she bolted on out.

Rarity just stood there with a big question mark on her face. “what ‘big mistake’?” Rarity thought for a moment as she looked at the tattered clothes. “oh no. oh, Celestia she didn’t. she didn’t… kill Trixie, did she?”

A hollowed out Trixie laid in Twilight’s bed, still stunned in horror by the last 2 days, the worst of which peaked with her trailer being destroyed. Halo used his magic to pull the blanket over his sister.

“sorry for the past couple of days, sis.” Halo muttered. He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. He walked away and headed downstairs, shutting off the light as he left.

Halo reached the bottom floor as Twilight closed the door behind her. She looked up, saw Halo, and sighed. “how is she?”

“she ain’t dead. That’s the good part. Usually, with that big a shock to the system, one would die.”

“right….” Twilight droned. She couldn’t bare to look at Halo.

Halo sighed and walked on over. “listen, Twilight. We need to talk. About--”

“about how I… was cruel to your sister for the past couple of days?”

Halo grunted in approval. He used his magic to drag two chairs over to them, which they both sat in. “so… what happened? What made you snap at her like that?”

Twi just gave a dry chuckle. “that’s the thing. I keep looking back and… I just can’t figure out why I did what I did. I guess… the main guess would be…” Twi just stopped right there. She didn’t want to reveal her feelings for him. If she did, then Halo would berate her for acting out for a stupid reason like love.

Halo curiously looked at her. “would be what?”

“I lost it. I lost my train of thought.”

Halo chuckled. “that can happen to any pony.” he jumped off his chair and turned towards the kitchen. “would you like some tea? This is bound to take awhile.”

Twilight nodded and just sat there as Halo went in. this was torture for her; sending her ex-future boyfriends sister into shock, treating her like dirt… her heart ached at what Halo’s response would be if her told him the truth. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The rest of the gang gathered at Sugercube corner for a sale Pinkie was having on all pink style muffins and cupcakes and cookies.

“Hurry hurry hurry!” Pinkie proclaimed, slamming a paper fan onto the counter. “half off all pink colored goodies! Get them before they’re gone!”

“getting them!” Sora said as she swiped a few cookies.

“I ever tell you how much I love sweets, Senorita?” Shadow asked Dash.

“This would be the first time, Storm.” Dash said as she took a bite out of a muffin.

Aura and Applejack walked in, still confused by what happened before. “find out what caused that gash in the farm?” Ash asked.

“nope, but I’m sticking with the monster that stuck us here.” Aura said as he took a cupcake. “unless there’s another giant beasty in Equestria we should know about?” he asked A.J.

“as far as I know, the big shadow’s the only thing that’s as big as Canterlot.”

“you know, that’s not a bad nickname for the monster.” Satoshi mentioned.

“Big Shadow?” everyone asked in unison.

Satoshi pouted his lips to the side and sat back. “it was just a suggestion. Gee Whiz.” he took a bite out of his cookie shutting him up.

Bahamut and Zilver walked in, each plopping down on the counter. “we searched high and low for Twilight, Halo, and Trixie and we haven’t found hair or hide of them. It’s like they vanished.”

“and who’d thought that was Twilight’s jealousy that made her snap. Who knew?” Req muttered as she tossed a grape into her mouth. “I mean, I never acted like that.” The rest of the humans, plus Bahamut, stopped what they were doing and stared at her with disbelief. “What?”

“the graves back home in Teria just rolled over thanks to that not true reply.” Aura exclaimed.

“oh yeah. Name 1.” Requiem dared.

“okay.” Aura scarfed down the cookie and wiped away the crumbs. “Remember back at Lylat when me and Krystal were hanging out, exchanging battle strategies against those Aparoid creatures? You and Fox just happened to think we were seeing each other on the side so you came up with a devious plan to get at us?” Requiem just sat there with her eyes half closed, no response planned at all.

Twilight, still in the same depressed mode she was in a few minutes ago, heard hoof-steps and looked to see Halo walking on back.

“Tea should be ready in a few.”

“Halo… some of the others told me that listening to Trixie’s story helped change their minds about her. Exactly what story were they talking about?”

“well, before you came back from Canterlot, Trixie explained what she did the past 2 years, and… and it’s pretty depressing. In fact, her whole life is depressing.”

Twi got curious. “Depressing? Depressing how?”

“it’s a long story. We could be here awhile.”

Twi shook her head. “I don’t care.”

Halo sighed as he took a deep breath and sat back. “well… it all began 17 years ago, I think. On the day we found her.”

“found her?”

“yeah. She wasn’t born into our family, we adopted her. We found her on the side of the road, bloodied and beaten. Guess her birth parents or someone hated her to a T.”

Twilight gasped. “oh my…”

Halo nodded. “well, like I said, after we found her, we took her home and patched her up. Guess she was beaten up bad enough to the point she lost her memory. She doesn’t remember a day before we found her. My best guess is that she’s either repressing it or truly doesn’t forget it.”

Twilight just glanced at the floor, not sure what to say about it.

“Well, after we patched her up, me and Zilver thought she should stay and be our sister. Our parents, who weren’t exactly keen on the idea, agreed.”

“why weren’t they?”

“remember, I was the first Unicorn born into our family in generations. Having two wasn’t exactly peachy with everyone. Some were so against it that… that some tried to kill her.” Twilight gasped. Who would wanna kill a foal? “they didn’t succeed, thanks to me and Zil informing the authorities but Mom and Dad weren’t happy with it. They weren’t exactly the nicest parents out there.”

“how so?”

“Well, whenever we did something bad; either mediocre or major, they’d beat us and Trixie got the worst of it. Dad was the worst, though. When he’d get angry, he’d come at us with a knife, cutting us.” Halo moved his hair to show his neck, and a pretty bad cut. “that was made during one of dad’s rampages. I was only 5 at the time.”

“oh my… Halo, I’m sorry.”

“don’t be. I learned long ago to dodge when it counted. He was trying to kill me with that swipe.” Twilight got a sad expression and looked down. “in fact, I always looked though our old house, searching for ways to hide. I was fascinated to see what lied behind that place’s old walls. Always found something new and cool. In fact, that’s how I got this Cutie Mark.” he said, showing off his binocular cutie mark. “Zilver was like me as well and got the same one.”

“So that’s why you 2 always work together. I knew there was something to that.”

“yeah. I’m the brains, he’s the brawn. Actually, Trixie was the main brain. Despite us not being related by blood, we sure behaved like brother and sister. We were inseparable, and in our house it was a good thing.”

“So what happened next?”

“well thankfully, someone next door called the authorities on what was going on-- not sure why took the neighbors 4 years but they did it-- and arrested our mother and father. Celestia sent them to prison and was going to send us to different orphanages but Trixie insisted we stay together. Celestia agreed and sent all 3 of us to the Canterlot Home for Orphans. It was more cheerful then our original home but was under-funded so there wasn’t much to do there. That’s where Trixie got the idea to put on performances for the other orphans. They loved it and she loved it. She loved it so much, that’s how she got her Cutie Mark”

The tea kettle suddenly started whistling, cutting their conversation short. “be right back.” Halo said as he went back into the kitchen.

Twilight lowered herself in her chair and gave a depressing sigh. “I’m such a idiot. She had such a depressing childhood and I made it worse by saying I wish she was never born.” she hit her head against the chair and lowered herself further.

The door rang and Rarity quickly walked in.

“hey, Rare. I was wondering when you were going to get here. I saved you the most impressive Cupcake.” Pinkie said, offering it to her.

“not now, Pinkie. I just have the most dreadful news!” she exclaimed.

“Dreadful news? What would be more dreadful you in a cold sweat?” Ash chuckled. Rarity got mad and used her magic to hit him in the face with a cupcake. “I deserved that.”

“jeez, Rare. Haven’t seen you this tense before. What, you see a ghost or something?” Rainbow asked.

“I think I will.”

“how so?” Bahamut asked.

“Well…” Rarity gulped as she used her magic to pull Trixie’s torn cape and hat in. “… I think Twilight murdered Trixie.”

Everyone, minus Marble and Jax, let out a collective gasp. Spike, on the other hand, just fell out of his seat laughing. “Twilight? Murder Trixie? She’d never kill someone that’s not a virtual character in a game. That’s not how she rolls.”

“Listen. Twilight came by the Boutique earlier and said that she was sorry for what she did. And she had a real sad look on her face.”

“that could mean anything.” Aura said as he took another bite of his goody.

“but… last I checked, Twilight was hating Trixie with a vengeance. Why would she give Rarity the hat and cape?”

Everyone looked at each other for a moment then came to the same conclusion: “a place to hide the murder evidence!” they all exclaimed. Jax and Marble looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

Trixie looked at the tattered clothes and immediately dropped them. “ew. I am not going to be a accessory for murder.”

“That does explain why we weren’t able to find Trixie or Halo but there’s no way Twilight would kill them.” Requiem said.

“well, not Halo. She’s obsessed with him.” Zilver said. “Trix, on the other hand…”

Everyone looked at each other and ran for the exit and clamored at top speed for the library.

Halo offered Twilight a cup of tea, which she begrudgingly accepted. “so…” Halo grunted as he got back in his seat. “where was I?”

“you left off where Trixie found her Cutie Mark.”

“oh, right right. Well, after Trixie found it, she provided the orphanage with plenty of entertainment and laughter. I’m guessing it all eventually went to her head by what your friends told us.”

“She was boasting up a storm.”

“Well, she eventually moved her shows out to the public and ponies started paying. We were able to make the orphanage better again over the course of just 4 years. But… as time passed, we could all sense it, even though she wouldn’t tell us, that she wanted to go out and perform at other towns. So, in secrecy, Me, Zil, and the others turned a old beat-up shed out back into the caravan she used. We surprised her on her birthday with it. She got all teary-eyed and was happy for the gift. And using money we made doing odd jobs here and there, me and Zil bought that Hat and Cape combo she used to admire though store windows. Just before she left, we took a couple of photos: one with just me, Zil, and Trixie. And the other was a group shot of the entire orphanage. Before she left, one of the littler orphans suggested she use the Ursa Major story in his favorite storybook. See she took it too far.”

Twilight took a sip of her tea. “what happened next?”

“Well, before long, me and Zil went out to do what we do best; explore. We found many a artifact and proved the existence of some species thought extinct or mythical. We were even on the cover for Equestrian Geographic for finding a long lost temple that foretold the end of the world… 200 years ago. But so far, with the mystery of the Everfree Forest‘s nature, the humans, and that giant monster you told us about, Ponyville is starting to shape up as one of our best.”

“and Trixie?”

“we haven’t seen each other for 10 years but we exchanged letters back and forth, explaining our escapades. she always sent 1/3 of what she earned back to the orphanage. And 2 years ago, we received a letter from her, saying she was heading to a small town outside Canterlot.”

“I think I know where this is going.” Twilight said, thinking back to the day Trixie came to town. “so we skip over that to get to…”

Halo sighed. “This is where things get really bad.” he warned. “after the incident, word spread about her boasting and shallow tricks. Nopony were coming to her shows anymore. Then… it got worst.”

“I’m not liking where this is going.” Twilight groaned.

“in Manehatten, about 3 weeks ago, she… ran into Dad. He had broken out of prison when he found out what me and Trixie were doing with our lives and he didn’t like it. When he met her, he said that Trixie was a curse brought upon on our family by the gods of death and said that mom died because of her. Then… he tried to kill her. In broad daylight, no less.”

“oh no.” Twi gasped.

“thankfully, a few helpful ponies were able to pin him before he could do anything bad to her and for the authorities to come and arrest him. Trixie said that Luna herself came a couple days after the incident and banished him out of Equestria.”

“I did hear that Luna went to the south on business, to help barter trade with the Gryphon’s. Guess she made a detour and dealt with that.”

“mm-hmm. Then we came to Ponyville and met you guys, then we got the letter from Trixie, saying she was coming, and… and you know the rest.”

Twilight sadly nodded. “I remember. I was the one that caused off of that… all of her grief and suffering for the past 2 days. If I didn’t snap at her like that… then maybe Trixie wouldn’t be in the state she’s in right now.”

“what caused that change in attitude? At first, you were ready to rip her throat out.”

“Zilver, Pinkie, Bahamut, and Marble… helped explain why I snapped the way I did. It was a stupid reason, too.”

“well, ponies have done stupid things and I’m sure one of the humans did a stupid thing once or twice.”

“I have heard that if you get Jax mad, you’ll regret it.”

Halo chuckled. “She does look like she’s prone to anger.”

Twilight chuckled as well but that slight happiness got replaced by dread yet again. “there’s gotta be… there’s gotta be something I can do to make up for it.”

Halo smiled, glad that Twilight was willing to do something. “I’m sure we can think of something for you. But for now, we better let Trixie rest. She’s been though a lot these past few weeks.” Twi nodded in agreement.

The door suddenly burst in, scaring both Twilight and Halo as the rest of the crew came charging in, crashing to the floor.

“ow.” Req groaned, being on the bottom of this pony and human dog-pile

“What the heck is up with you guys?” Twilight chuckled.

Pinkie shot up, separating the dog pile in one push. “we know what you did, Twilight.”

“what? What did I do?”

“we know you killed Trixie.” Sora added. Pinkie nodded in agreement.

“WHAT!?” both Twi and Halo exclaimed. They both looked at each other, smiled, and started laughing; Twi with a chuckle while Halo laughed out loud.

“I fail to see what’s funny about killing someone.” Requiem said, still on the floor.

“you dolts. Trixie ain’t dead. She’s upstairs, resting.” Halo explained.

“upstairs? Why’s she here? Twi hates her.” Dash said.

Twilight scratched the back of her head. “well… thanks to Zilver, I came to my senses.”

“OH! So… the cape and the hat… we thought you had killed Trixie and were passing these to Rarity so she can take the fall.” Applejack chuckled.

“you honestly think I would do that?”

“the way you were acting the past couple of days, yeah.” Requiem said.

Twilight got up from her chair and walked to the back door. “If you’ll excuse me, I gotta go do something.” she opened the door and left.

“you really change her mind, Zil?” Satoshi asked.

“well, Bahamut, Pinkie, and Marble helped. Heck, Marble’s the one who pointed out why Twilight was going bonkers.”

“why?”

“er… best to answer that while Halo’s not around.” he groaned.

Trixie depressingly looked out the window at the moon as Twilight walked on up. She stopped by Trixie’s head and sighed.

“Trixie… I don’t know where to begin to make this up to you… but… I hope this helps.” Twilight used her magic to put the orphanage group shot on the desk across from Trix.

Twi turned around and headed for the door. “Twilight…” Twi nearly jumped at that. She thought Trixie was still asleep, just with her eyes open. “please don’t go. I… don’t wanna be alone tonight.”

Twilight smiled. “Seems fair.”

The night carried on as Twilight and Trixie laid in the same bed but looked in separate directions. Both were wide awake. Twilight was thinking of ways to make up being a bitch to Trixie while Trixie was… was thinking of what her life would be like with Twilight.

The dreams she had for them both, what she had hoped her future would be with her… all that was gone now.

Trixie flipped over and hugged Twi from behind and held her tight. She was caught by surprise by the sudden hug. Twi looked back to see Trixie silently crying. Naturally, Twi didn’t resist or move her back. She just let her cry.

*Author's Notes*
wow. talk about a depressing childhood. anyone with abusive parents are just livin' in hell, aren't they? hopefully next chapter will be more cheerful.
and before you ask, i don't know why Twi's smiling in the picture. it was the only one i could find to fit this situation.