Hours had passed. Had it been hours or days at this point? Honestly, I had no idea anymore. For all I knew, though, none of that seemed to matter seeing as how I was probably going to be trapped here forever, or at least until Discord decided to save me.

That was just the problem, though. He wasn’t saving me. Was he angry about me coming to Everfree City despite telling me not to come here? Did he even notice I was gone? It made sense that he didn’t realize I had disappeared, because then that would mean that he didn’t see Cozy Glow take me here against my will. Maybe he really had noticed, though, and he just didn’t care whether it was against my will or not. Maybe he was just angry that I was here in the first place, regardless of whose fault it was.

How long had it been since I had started debating all these possibilities with myself? Minutes? Hours? The sun never set in parallel worlds like Everfree City, and without clocks to help me keep track, there was no way for me to know how much time passed, even between thoughts.

Pulling out my magical phone for probably the eighteenth time since Autumn Blaze and Last Gambit abandoned me, I saw the same message that I was despairingly hoping would have disappeared by now: “No service.” Up until that point, I had never seen it lose service no matter where I was, but then again, it made sense that I wouldn’t be able to get ahold of others if I was trapped in an alternate universe. Either that or Discord took service away from me as punishment.

If only I had asked Discord for the ability to leap through dimensions. Now that I thought about it, the ability to travel through portals seemed like a pretty fun power to have, but just as soon as I entertained the thought, a searing pain travelled through my skull, giving me the clue that it was probably related to my wiped memories somehow. Had I encountered a girl with that power before? Just how many girls had I killed? I couldn’t help but smile at the idea that I may have killed Lulu Lemon, but once again, the pain came back through my mind, making me grunt with discomfort. It didn’t matter thinking about those things since seeing as how I would never be able to remember them anyway, but there was still one question that wouldn’t leave my head.

If I had to kill Autumn Blaze’s magical girls to resurrect girls who had been killed in Discord’s death game and all the girls from Everfree City were already dead, did that mean… there could be girls who weren’t revived from Platinum City? Autumn Blaze said that there were three survivors from the death game, but I didn’t get to hear who that last person was. My initial theory would be that Marrow had been the one to survive alongside us, seeing as how I couldn’t imagine her ever losing a fight, but Autumn Blaze also said that this person moved to Canterlot with me and Palette. As far as I knew, though, the two of us were the only girls who had moved from Manehattan. Was there another member of Platinum City that I didn’t know about?

The pain was growing louder, sharper, more severe. The more questions I asked, the more I found myself grabbing onto my scalp, trying to soothe the agony that was pushing through my eye sockets. I couldn’t stop, though. As each question was more or less answered by the pain in my head, it led me further and further down the rabbit hole, connecting more and more pieces as I tried to make sense of my missing memories. What else had I forgotten? What else was I missing?!

Before I could let my thoughts drive me to the brink of death, however, I heard something off in the distance. It sounded like footsteps, making me quickly pull my head out of my hands as I jumped to my feet, looking around in every direction. It didn’t look like there was anything out of the ordinary, but I knew someone was there. The only two I could think of would be Cozy Glow or Autumn Blaze, but if it was really one of them, why would they be sneaking around like that?

Wait! Or maybe…

“Discord?” I asked, silently regretting my words just in case it really was Autumn Blaze or Last Gambit, but as I should have guessed, it was just a rabbit hopping out from behind a tree. I immediately slumped my shoulders in disappointment, embarrassed that I thought the god of chaos was legitimately going to come and save me. “Of course. Have you come to torment the Great and Miserable Trixie too?”

The rabbit then tilted its head as it looked at me, lifting up one of its large back legs to scratch behind its floppy ear. When it did, though, I couldn’t help but notice that the fur on its body was being scratched off, falling to the floor like drops of water rather than hair in the wind. Then, raising an eyebrow, I slowly walked towards the rabbit, examining the spot it had left behind as it leapt away in fear. As I expected, this wasn’t fur that had been left behind. It was…

“Trixie!”

I jumped in shock. “Y-yes?!” Turning around, though, I was met once again with Last Gambit’s fiery glare, allowing me to calm down as I placed my hand to my chest while I caught my breath. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Well, duh! Who else would it be?” She then narrowed her eyelids and leaned her head forward with her hands on her hips. “Just what are you up to?”

She probably knew what I knew, but I still had to play it off just in case there was any chance left of escaping.

“Obviously, Trixie is trying to catch that adorable little bunny rabbit. If she’s going to be trapped here for all eternity, she may as well make a friend to help pass the time.”

“But… Everfree City doesn’t have any animals!”

“...Uh-oh…”

Then, channeling my magic into my hand, I stuck out my palm and hit Last Gambit with a forcefield, pushing her into the air and sending her back several feet. I had no idea what kind of power she could use, but I didn’t want to just wait for her to use it before I found out the hard way.

“Palette! Now!”

Upon calling her name, a magical girl in a multi-colored dress jumped from the trees, grabbing onto my waist with one hand while holding her teleport gem in the other. We had to get out of there before either Last Gambit or Autumn Blaze did something that would prevent us from leaving, especially since it looked like that was their very next course of action.

“Autumn Blaze!” the girl shouted as she lifted herself up from the ground. “Destroy her teleport gem!”

Before the ruler of Everfree City had the chance to arrive, however, the colors around me began to blur, dissolving into each other as the weight of my bones began to grow heavier. In the next moment, Palette and I fell to our knees in some secluded area in a place that I had never seen before. It was hard to say for sure what the surroundings were due to how dark it was outside, but it looked like we were by a small pond somewhere in Canterlot, surrounded by trees and bushes.

My heart was still racing so fast that I was unknowingly panting, leaning over with my hands on my knees. Everything had happened so fast, but it seemed like the two of us were going to be OK.

I noticed back in Everfree City that the rabbit wasn’t alive in the traditional sense. It was just a live painting, the power Palette had to make anything she drew come to life, and it looked like she was trying to make sure the coast was clear before she came out of hiding. My guess, though, was that Autumn Blaze tipped off Last Gambit about someone being in Everfree City, and if Autumn Blaze really had the power to break our teleport gems, we were lucky to have escaped.

“Are you safe?” Before my mind had fully wrapped itself around the situation, Palette grabbed onto my shoulders in urgency. “Zey should not be able to find us here. At least not any time soon, but I need to know. Are you safe?”

“Yes, yes! Trixie is fine!” I quickly shrugged Palette off of my shoulders so I could go back to breathing, eliciting a sigh of relief from the girl across from me as we both got up to our feet. “How did you know to come get me?”

“Discord told me zat he needed me to rescue you, but he didn’t tell me what happened. Who was zat girl who appeared so suddenly?”

“Well, do you remember that girl who’s been spreading those rumors about me around school?”

“...Ah… So she is a magical girl, zen.” Then, exhaling a deep breath, she folded her arms and looked out towards the pond. “And is she supposed to be zat Divinity Mädchen you told me about?”

“No. Her name is Last Gambit, and apparently she’s Autumn Blaze’s last magical girl.”

“I’m sorry, Great und Powerful Trixie, but… who is Autumn Blaze?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Wait… You don’t know who she is?”

“Am I supposed to?”

That settled it. My memories weren’t the only ones that had been wiped. There was still the chance that both Autumn Blaze and Last Gambit had been lying to me, but everything just seemed to make sense based on what they told me. It also explained why I couldn’t remember becoming a magical girl in the first place, something I definitely would have remembered under normal circumstances.

But wait…

“Palette!!! Can you tell Trixie about the day you became a magical girl?!!!”

“Alright! I’ll tell you!” I didn’t even realize that in my urgency, I had gripped onto Palette’s slender arms, making her tremble uncomfortably before I let her go with redness in my cheeks. “I was ten years old at ze time when I saw Marrow, Night Seam and Storm Rose rescue mein papa from a car accident that almost tossed him off of ze Manehattan bridge. I asked them if I could help zem save people like they had helped me, and zey allowed me to make my covenant with Discord.”

Wait… why did she remember how she got her powers but not me?

“Is zer… somezing I’m not understanding correctly?”

“Huh? Oh! It’s just that… Autumn Blaze said that she knew you.”

“Vas?!”

“Yeah. There’s more that I want to tell you, but…” I needed to take a deep breath for this next part. “...Trixie thinks we need to call Discord for this next part.”

“...Again, vas?!”

“You need to trust Trixie on this one!” Palette looked confused, as expected, but there was no way for me to really explain the situation without her bringing up the same questions that I had. Besides, some draconequus had some explaining to do. Then, taking out my magical phone and scrolling to Discord’s contact information, I held out the device and shouted, “Appear, o spirit of chaos! Discord!”

It had been as long as I could remember since I had been the one to ask for Discord to come to me, and when I did, the method of arrival he chose sent shivers down my spine like it was the very first time. Clouds and fog surrounded the sky and surrounding environment, giving the already dark atmosphere a deeper shadow, but not dark enough not to notice the serpent-like creature swimming through the air. Palette and I put our backs to each other out of reflex, as if the creature we had summoned were really some dangerous beast ready to take our lives away at a moment’s notice.

Then, finally, the creature rose from the dense fog, stretching out his eagle claw and lion paw with an ear-shattering cackle, making our legs grow weak from sheer terror. Once he started speaking, however, all of our fear quickly transformed into agitation from the monster’s goofy tone of voice.

“Well, if it isn’t the Great and Powerful Trixie! It’s been ages since you last rang. I was beginning to think you’d never call!” His eyes then switched to the magical girl at my side. “Oh, and I see that Palette managed to rescue you while making it out alive herself. Isn’t this wonderful?”

“You erased our memories, Discord,” I said sternly, refusing to wait another moment to hear whatever his excuse was. Palette, though, switched glances between Discord and myself, her face in total shock.

“...Again, vas?!”

“I see you had a little chat with Autumn Blaze,” Discord replied in a much less pleasant tone than before.

“Trixie had no choice! Cozy Glow took me to Everfree City against my will!”

With a sigh, Discord folded his arms, shaking his head in disappointment. “I’m not upset with you. I saw what happened. I’m just… curious as to what the two of you spoke about.”

I then folded my own arms, looking at the ground rather than face the demon’s eyes. “We spoke about… everything. She told me about Divinity. She told me about the death game. She mentioned that you wiped our memories, but… why?”

“Death game?” Palette asked, again switching very concerned glances between the two of us. “What death game? Why do I not remember zis?”

Discord, however, groaned, creening his large neck back in annoyance. “Don’t you think I would have told you if I could? I’m under solemn oath that I would make sure you didn’t remember any of the details between when you gained your powers and just before you moved to Canterlot.”

“What solemn oath?!” I shouted. “Who made you promise?!”

“Hmm…” Discord then rested his chin onto his monstrous tail, looking out the corner of his eyes as he thought deeply. “Well, I guess I’m not under any obligation to keep that a secret. It’s not my fault someone else spilled the beans, anyway.”

Finally, with a sadistic smile, he looked me straight in the eyes and quietly said the name I had already suspected.

“Marrow.”

Of course. The one girl who had dedicated her life to making mine full of torment and misery. I had no idea why she had chosen to make us all forget about our memories, but there was no doubt that she had done it partially to hurt me for some reason. If it was supposed to be directed at me, though, why were Palette’s memories also affected?

“Whose memories have been erased?” I asked.

“Everyone’s! That includes people who may have had any kind of relationship with you prior to your memories being erased, including your classmates.”

“So…” Palette began, obviously scared and confused. “What other memories have you erased?”

“I’m sorry, Palette, but I’m not at liberty to disclose that with you. Try asking something else.”

Crap. There were rules to what he could and couldn’t say. Of course there were! I just had to rely on what I did and didn’t know to figure out what question I would ask next.

First of all, I knew that there had been a death game that he had subjected everyone in Platinum City to, but based on the fact that those memories had been erased intentionally, there was little chance that he would be able to tell us about that. I also wanted to know whether or not any girls had been killed who hadn’t been brought back to life, but based on the pain I felt in my head from earlier, there was a good chance he wouldn’t be able to talk about that either. I had to think outside the box, ask questions that Discord wanted to be asked.

“Autumn Blaze,” I said quietly, to which Discord raised an eyebrow. That was a good sign! I was on the right track! “Why did you seal her away in Everfree City?”

Discord, however, brought his paw to his chest in offense. “Me? I think you’re speaking to the wrong omnipotent being here! It was Divinity who sealed her away for all eternity.”

What?

“But… Autumn Blaze told Trixie that the reason the two of you were so mad at each other in the first place was because Divinity decided to leave Platinum City for Everfree City! The whole purpose of Cozy Glow bringing Trixie there in the first place was so that I could break the seal and--”

Suddenly, the snake-like creature slithered as close to my face as he could, staring deep into my eyes as he urgently asked, “Are you saying that you can undo the seal?”

“Uh… Th-that’s what Trixie assumes, but--”

“Do it. I’m sending you back right now.”

Discord then reeled back his eagle claw, which began to glow a bright green aura until I backed away, held my hands up and shouted, “WAAAAIIIITTT!”

The draconequus froze in place, one eyebrow higher than the other with his head tilted to the side. “Yes, o Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Don’t I get some say in this? Trixie doesn’t know how she feels about letting Autumn Blaze out into the real world.”

“She did help in kidnapping ze Great und Powerful Trixie, after all.”

“Oh, shut up, Palette,” Discord exclaimed, rubbing the corners of his eyes in frustration. “Doesn’t anyone ever care what I want?”

“YOU WANT CHAOS!”

“AND WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH THAT?” Discord seemed obviously disgruntled by my reply, but I couldn’t change my position now. I didn’t know what would happen if I allowed Autumn Blaze into Equestria, but I knew it wouldn’t be good. “I could take away your powers with the snap of my claw. You know that, right?”

I flinched at the thought, but as far as I knew, the reason I became a magical girl in the first place was to protect Equestria and all its inhabitants. I couldn’t just go back on that now.

“Yes.”

Discord groaned. “Well, I guess I need you if I’m going to ever reverse Autumn Blaze’s seal. I don’t know how they plan on using you, but I don’t see why else they would bring you to Everfree City just to keep you alive. Hmm… I just need to find a way to convince you.”

That, however, wasn’t a good sign. Discord knew all my weak points, what I cared about, what would destroy me the most, and he could easily destroy my life without a moment’s hesitation. What I really needed to do was shift Discord’s mindset, make him want to change his mind, and I think I knew exactly how I was going to do that.

“What if…” I began, taking a deep breath and hoping my plan worked, “...we turned this into a game?”

Discord’s eyes lit up. Yes! It was working!

“Go on.”

“Cozy Glow is the only magical girl Canterlot has. She goes by the name Last Gambit, and I think I can get her to agree to a deal.” Discord’s smile was widening. Honestly, I was just riffing at this point, but I was at least on the right track. “The two of us will play a game, and the winner gets to decide what to do about Autumn Blaze’s future.”

Discord was smiling a little bit less, but my guess was that these were still terms he could agree on.

“And I suppose if you win, you’d prefer Autumn Blaze to remain in Everfree City forever?”

“Yes, but if Trixie loses…” I couldn’t lose, but if I did… “Then Trixie will release Autumn Blaze and let you take care of her. Does that sound fair?”

Moments passed with Palette and I holding our breaths, waiting for the spirit of chaos to give us his response. Then, I heard a low rumble, a sound that eventually grew to a deep chuckle, shifting into a maniacal cackle, and then erupting into a deafening roar of laughter, the kind to break even the strongest magical girl’s spirits. I knew it was never a good thing when Discord laughed, but based on the choices I had, this was the best alternative I could have asked for.

“Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie, you sure know how to haggle. Alright, I’ll agree to your terms. You find Last Gambit and come up with a game to play. Just one piece of caution, though.” Discord once again came closer to my face, making me gulp in nervousness as he smiled his wily smile. “That seal that has the power to hold Autumn Blaze in also has the power to keep me out. You’re going to be on your own, not that I would have helped you anyway.”

Then, with another cackle and a roar of thunder, the draconequus disappeared in a flash of lightning, leaving Palette and I standing alone with hearts filled with dread.

“Vut was zat?!” Palette shouted immediately, placing her face into her palm. “Ach, I am so confused.”

“It’s alright, Palette. Trixie has a plan.”

The magical girl beside me slowly turned her head in my direction, shooting me an unbelieving stare. “Vut game do you have in mind zat you are so confident you vill win?”

“Trixie has an idea, but she’s going to need your help.”

“...I already want to say no, but I am listening.”

I gulped, already fearing Palette’s response.

“Trixie was thinking about a death game.”

“VAS?!” Yup. About what I expected. “No. No, no, no, no, no! I have no idea vut you are thinking, Mädchen, but you vill not be dragging me into it!”

“Palette, listen!” I literally had to grab Palette’s ankles as she struggled to march away. “I promise you won’t get hurt!”

“Oh, right. Nobody has ever been hurt in a death game before.”

“Trixie needs to pick a game that Cozy Glow will agree to! If we do a death game, she won’t be able to resist!”

“And how are you--ugh--so confident--urk--zat we vill win?”

Palette was still trying to break free from my grip, but I held on regardless. “Because we’ve already won twice!” Finally, she had stopped moving, but I was still on a timer for how long I had to convince her before she tried leaving again. “Autumn Blaze told Trixie that the two of us were the winners of Discord’s original death game, and since we’re both alive now, I’m guessing that means we were able to beat Divinity and the other Everfree City magical girls with no problem. Trixie doubts Cozy Glow has ever had any life or death experience before, which means that if the two of us compete together, there will be no way we could lose!”

Again, Palette remained frozen, sighing loudly as she looked up to the sky. “Und you really think zat zis vill work?”

“It’s better than letting Autumn Blaze go without a fight. A real magical girl would stop her at all costs.”

The two of us remained still for several moments, maybe even minutes as I held onto her legs, literally begging on the floor for her to go through with my plan. Finally, Palette sighed, turning her head to the ground while I looked up at her with the biggest smile I could muster.

“If zat is ze only way, then yes, I vill go through with your plan. However,” she held a finger down towards the tip of my nose, “I vant you to at least think of somezing zat doesn’t involve us getting killed.”

“Don’t worry!” I quickly let go of her legs and leapt up to my feet, wrapping her body into a tight hug that she immediately wriggled to get out of. “Trixie has an idea of how this whole game is going to work, and nobody is going to die.”

Palette raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but I was beginning to work out a plan in my mind, a plan that just might end up saving both of our lives as well as the rest of Equestria. The only thing I needed to do now was convince Last Gambit to play. Then, maybe things could go back to exactly how they were before I ever laid eyes on Cozy Glow, and maybe I’d figure out what the rest of my memories that had been erased were supposed to be.

Maybe… I’d find out who that third magical girl was supposed to be, the third winner of Discord’s original death game.

Author's Notes:

Second day of Trixmas