Act: I
Chapter: 1: On Edge (Prologue) Pt. I
It has been a year since the plague ended, and two years since it began. The number of graves cannot be comprehended; the plague filled many, but the lives lost in the ensuing war soon outstripped them. It had started as a form of payback for spreading the plague, but nopony imagined that its scope would expand as far and as violently as it did.
In spite of watching it all happen, and even being at the forefront of the fight against the plague, Twilight Sparkle still wasn’t sure why or how the situation had devolved so far. How did being crowned Equestria’s newest Princess lead to so much pressure on her to stop the plague and the war? Was there somepony behind the sudden political push to bloodshed? What can one pony – even an alicorn as powerful as Twilight – do in the face of such pain and misery?
When Twilight first came to Ponyville with Spike she was told to learn the power of friendship. That had turned out to be easier than she feared; Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity had all quickly found their way into her heart, and she was sure they would have even had they not been bound together in the battle against Nightmare Moon. After being so distant from everypony for most of her fillyhood, it had been a very pleasant shock to discover that having friends meant much more than simply labeling somepony ‘friend’ and smiling in their presence.
Friends meant sharing and caring and sticking your neck out for others, and helping them in their times of need instead of thinking only about yourself. Friends meant you had somepony you could talk to so you didn’t have to hide from your personal feelings and emotions. Discovering friendship had meant Twilight was finally able to lift her head from books and studying and see the world moving around her, interacting with her... and even needing and desiring her attention and company. So she had gleefully divided her time and energy between learning in the library and discovering depths within her friends and their relationships that she had never imagined could exist, and she loved the results.
Then the plague came, and with it the war – and together they put an end to what she had so carefully built in Ponyville.
Equestria: Z.
More than a year after the last throes of the war had quieted, and still Twilight found it hard to cope. Her heart and memory were stained with the death and horror she had witnessed, and she struggled every day not to descend into the deadly trap of self-pity.
Scenes kept replaying in her mind: watching the land she loved fall to the ravages of war, her friends suffering under plague and torment.... The War of Equestria, or Z: Equestria as it was called in recent papers, had touched everypony, not least those she cared most about. More than once she had almost succumbed to the silence that surrounded her where once there was laughter and kinship. She understood why her friends had scattered, but the ache of their absence never left her.
The last time they had been together they had used the Elements of Harmony to end the war. The price had been staggering, though, and she still asked herself if it had been worth it. Since then she hadn’t had any contact with the ponies who were once her closest friends; only Spike remained close to her.
Her days now consisted of helping the few ponies left in Ponyville survive, studying, and sending messages to Celestia. That last tenuous connection to Canterlot gave Twilight a touchstone that she knew she wouldn’t have survived long without. News of the rebuilding of Canterlot, hearing about another pony found still alive hidden in a basement... even just the occasional missive about how her day had been gave Twilight a sense that she wasn’t entirely alone, though she prayed Celestia would one day find enough time to come and visit her. Or even better, that Ponyville would be sufficiently repaired that she felt she could safely leave it for a day.
With 95% of the town gone to the Pandemic and very few ponies left elsewhere, let alone any who might be interested in resettling such a remote place, the future of a small town like Ponyville was bleak. The marketplace was making a comeback, but with the bigger cities so in need of stability amid the still frequent riots and crimes there was little to spare for the outlying
territories.
Twilight understood all this in concept, but watching it all happen brought it home in a way that left a heady mix of pain and resolve in her heart. She might be alone, her friends spread throughout Equestria on their own missions of mercy and most of the other ponies she knew dead or gone from Ponyville, but what was left of the ponies – her ponies, given Celestia’s inability to help her now – relied on her, needed her.
And so she continued the fight: researching, rescuing, and being there for her little corner of the world.
Spike rolled over in his bed, his tummy rumbling. “Ohhh, Twilight! I’m hungry!” he said plaintively.
Shaking her head, Twilight sighed. “I know, Spike. I’m hungry, too. But we need to conserve food as much as we can, so we need to get used to it. There's still enough to last a while.”
Spike patted his stomach, hoping to quell its insistent growl. “I get it, Twilight. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rant. I just... I miss our old life. But I miss our old life. I know its been a couple of years, but things were so easy then.” He scratched idly at the floor with his claws.
Twilight walked upstairs to him and patted him softly on his scaly head, her voice quiet. “I’m sorry too, for everything. But you know I’ll never leave you to fend for yourself. We survived together, and we’ll keep on surviving, and help anypony we can.”
A little of her old excitement at new things crept into her voice. “We made it, and we’re certainly not going to give up now,” she said with increasingly confident tones. “We can’t. Things are pretty bad now, but we have to fight past every setback. For Ponyville, for Celestia, and for us.”
“Us?”
“Yes us, because giving up is not the right way to honor ourselves, honor Celestia, and honor our friends, wherever they may be.”
Spike brightened a little. “Our friends, yeah. I sure wish they were here right now, Twilight. Don’t you?”
“Of course I do Spike,” Twilight answered with a small smile. “And they are here in our hearts, just where we need them most.” She tapped her chest with a hoof, a sparkle in her eyes.
Giving a firm nod, Spike grinned up at her. “Yeah, you’re right. You know, I’m feeling a little better now. Thanks, Twilight!”
Laughing softly, Twilight gave the dragon a quick hug. “You’re welcome, Spike!”
Feeling more energized than she had in a long time, Twilight grinned. “You know, Spike, sometimes reminiscing about good times we’ve had can brighten up a hard day. How about we share a story about, oh, say, Pinkie Pie?”
“Oh, good idea!” chirped Spike, his eyes bright. “How about that time with Gilda and Rainbow Dash?”
Twilight smiled and looked off into the distance as she remembered. “Hee hee, yeah! I remember when she stormed into the Library, literally bouncing off the walls as she babbled on about Dash having Griffon trouble.” She felt a sharp pang of pain and regret, but quashed it mercilessly as she continued. “She could be a real hooffull, but watching her run around was always... so...” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes got even more unfocused.
“Twilight?” Spike squeaked, his pupils shrinking.
“Maybe... maybe old stories... not such a good...” Twilight’s legs wobbled, then she slumped down in a heap beside Spike’s bed.
Spike sprang up, eyes wide in frantic worry. He knelt beside Twilight, calling her name in a whisper. He gently shook her, his face screwing up with worry. He shook her again, a little harder, and when he got no response he sat down next to her and cried, feeling helpless and alone.
Just as Spike was about to run off to look for somepony – anypony – to help, even knowing it probably wouldn’t help, he heard a fluttering moan from Twilight.
“Twilight! Are you okay? Wake up!” said Spike, stroking her forehead.
Her eyes rolled in different directions as Twilight opened them to see a gradually resolving image of a worried purple dragon.
“What... what happened?” she said woozily.
“You blacked out again,” Spike answered in fearful quiet.
“I did? Oh, dear. I...” She shook her head slowly and carefully, then took a deep breath. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. And I thought I was feeling bad today!”
Twilight pretended to glare at him, though the effect was spoiled as she winced from the headache falling had left her with.
“Sorry, bad joke,” Spike said reassuringly. He frowned as a thought came to him. “Y’know, Twilight, you never told me why you get these blackouts. They’ve been happening more lately; I think that’s the twelfth or thirteenth time this month. What’s going on?”
Heaving herself to her feet, Twilight gingerly tested her balance. Satisfied that she could at least walk, she carefully made her way down the stairs to the window on the ground floor. She looked out at the bleak landscape around them and sighed heavily.
“I don’t know why,” she said sadly. “I just get these... moments. I’m so worried about Ponyville, Celestia, and my friends, and I don’t know how we can continue like this. I mean, we can probably survive for a long time, but survival isn’t enough. How do we move on?”
She turned away from the window and looked at Spike, her eyes shining. “Every time I start to think about the whole picture I tense up, and sometimes it just overwhelms me. It’s been a year, and we still haven’t managed to rebuild much of Ponyville or find many other surviving ponies... ooh,” she swayed on her feet, but after closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she managed to stay upright.
“Sorry, Spike,” Twilight said in a distant voice. “That kind of thinking doesn’t help me or you. I’ll work on controlling my anxiety so you don’t have to worry so much. I’m sorry you have to deal with it.”
Spike walked up to her and put a gentle claw on her shoulder. “You know, I do get it, Twilight. I know why you think about all that stuff. We’ll work it out together, okay?” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Just stop scaring me so much.”
Twilight nodded and rubbed her head against his affectionately. “Thanks, Spike. I’m glad you’re here with me.” They stood that way for a while, more relaxed than they had been in a long time.
Spike raised his head, looking a little excited. “I know! Let’s take a break from studying and go for a walk. A change of pace would probably help us both.”
Giving him a fond grin, Twilight nodded. “Good idea. Let’s go!”
It wasn’t long before Twilight and Spike regretted their choice, though the condition of the town had long since lost its ability to shock them. Most of the obvious evidence of the war had been removed, the bodies buried and the stains scrubbed away.
But one spot in particular hadn’t been opened, or even touched so far as Twilight knew, since the plague and battles had ended: Sugarcube Corner.
Twilight shuddered as she remembered the last time she had looked inside: bodies on the floor, their gutted remains so long rotted that little remained but dry skin taut over cracked bones. Some of the bodies had been gnawed on even long after the meat was gone.
The broken barricades at the doors to the shop were still strewn about: pieces of chair, tables, planks, crates, and even their heaviest pans were scattered just inside.
The Cakes had been more than willing to die to protect their family, and they still lay where they had fallen at the foot of the stairs leading up to the nursery.
A circle of fallen ponies around them with knives and forks sticking out of them gave mute testament to their final struggle to keep their babies safe.
Twilight struggled with herself as she passed the bakery, and part of her wondered why no one had bothered to clean it up; the broken doors and scent of death made it hard to be near.
But in her heart she knew the truth: Celestia had tried to send a contingent of ponies from Canterlot to help her, but her advisors continually rejected the notion, citing greater need within the cities and how few ponies were actually left within the Guard and the constabulary.
So Twilight had been left to do what she could, just her and Spike.
She had done her best in the main parts of town, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to set hoof in Sugarcube Corner, knowing what she would see. She sometimes hoped she would eventually become inured enough that she could do it – or at least burn the building down and all in it – but with an ironic sense of relief the pain never left her. And so it stood, reminding her of why she had fought so hard to end the plague and the war.
Pushing aside the sudden feeling that she was becoming more like Fluttershy in her avoidance of the problem, Twilight pulled her gaze away from the building and continued slowly down the street. As she did so she noticed Spike running ahead, his tail twitching with excitement.
“Wait, Spike, where are you going?” Twilight cried as she ran towards him. “Spike, we have to stay together! Wait!”
Spike glanced over his shoulder, a smile on his face. “Come on Twilight!” he called as he darted around a corner.
Seeing him disappear sent a jolt of panic into Twilight’s mind. She started galloping, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
The grief of Sugarcube Corner, the visions of death past and present, and her fear for Spike shattered her carefully hoarded self-control. As she approached the alley into which he had ducked rich cocktail of fear overwhelmed her and she continued past, running blindly, leaving a trail of teardrops on the ground behind her.
Spike darted out of the alley as she thundered by, dragging something behind him. “Twilight! Come back! Where are you going?” Fear made his voice strident. “Please, don’t leave me!”
His plea reached her just as she was about to turn a corner, and the sudden shock of the possibility of leaving her only remaining friend behind made her screech to a halt, panting heavily. Her eyes wild, she looked back to see him running up to her with a stained kite gripped in one claw.
“Twilight,” he gasped as he halted in front of her. “I... thanks for stopping,” he said, shaking as he fought the urge to collapse and cry on the ground.
Putting a hoof gently on his shoulder, Twilight struggled with her own tears as she caught her breath. In spite of the condition of the town she felt unwilling to burden him further with her sorrow, at least not at that moment, when they were trying to get some time away from such thoughts.
She gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Spike. I just... thought I heard somepony up ahead and ran in case they needed me.”
“Umm, okay. But I didn’t hear anything...” Spike said confusedly.
“I guess you were too excited about that kite you found,” Twilight responded nervously, hoping he would accept the distraction.
“Oh! Yeah, it’s still in good shape! Can we take it out to the old park and fly it?”
Sighing in relief, Twilight finally smiled. “Yeah, sure Spike.”
“Alright! Woohooo.”
A short while later, the kite flying gaily in the breeze and Spike running beneath it with a huge smile, Twilight felt a little more alive. It reminded her of times spent with her friends, doing simple things like going on picnics and talking about things that now seemed inconsequential. Rarity’s obsession with current fashion, Pinkie turning a simple outing into a wild party, or Rainbow Dash confidently declaring her imminent appointment to the Wonderbolts.
She did her best to hold on to those memories of how Ponyville was: a happy place, full of friends and shenanigans.
But the reality always returned.
Screams in the night of ponies she hadn’t been able to save. Blood on the streets that she still saw, even though it had been cleaned off with magic. Torturous visions that left her with a constant ache of guilt. Had she really done everything she could? Did she really try hard enough to save the town and her friends from the plague? Hadn’t she just stood idly by while the disease ravaged everything and everypony she cared about?
Twilight felt the blackness of despair start to creep into her vision, and her breath grew shallow as another blackout approached, carried on the backs of her memories of the sick and the dead. Just it was about to overtake her, though, she gasped at a flash of blue glimpsed between two buildings in town.
Struggling to her feet, adrenaline driving the blackout away, she called out. “Hello? Is somepony there?”
A muzzle preceded a quick glance of frightened eyes around the corner of a deserted house. The glance led to a shocked gasp of “Twilight? Twilight SPARKLE?”
Twilight was amazed to see a light blue unicorn wearing a dilapidated cape dart around the corner to trot up to her. Spike was too wrapped up in kite flying to see Twilight’s jaw drop in recognition.
“…Trixie?”
Thin and bedraggled, the Tired and Hungry Trixie stood blinking in front of Twilight, a hesitant smile on her face. Her bearing had lost all its old arrogance, her tattered cape the only visible reminder of her previous life.
“Twilight?” she said quietly, her eyes haunted. “Is that really you?”
Twilight couldn’t suppress a sudden smile at seeing a familiar face. “Yes, it’s me!” she announced. “Why do you sound so surprised?”
“Well I didn’t expect anypony still lived here,” Trixie responded with a vague wave of a hoof at the town. “I just thought there might be a study team here trying to figure out whether they could re-open the town, or more likely one of those awful scavenger gangs raiding for tools and food.”
She frowned slightly, finally meeting Twilight’s eyes. “I am glad to see you; I thought everypony I knew from here was either dead or fled. So why are you still in this horrible place?
Twilight looked around her, the question requiring more pondering that she thought it would. “Well... in spite of how empty and bleak it is, this is still home to me. Besides, it may not happen soon, but I dream of seeing Ponyville revived once again.”
She sighed and shook her head. “In the last few months a couple of shops have even tried to open – both food stores – but there just weren’t enough ponies around to support them, so they closed. But I’ve almost got the whole place cleaned up, so I’ve got some hope.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Well, more power to you.” She plastered a hopeful smile on her face and took a half step forward. “So, might you have a place for me to stay? If not I should be able to scrounge a place to crash before I start going through the ruins to add to my collection.”
Twilight gave her a puzzled look. “Wait, you’re taking ponies’ things from their homes?”
“Well yeah, I kind of have to now, you know. The world nearly ended, and it’s going to take years for redevelopment to bring the rule of law back to the world.” Trixie pointed at the half-fallen porch in front of a nearby house. “Small ruddy towns like this won’t see a bit of it for a long time, so why let things go to waste when somepony could help themselves out by using or reselling supplies the previous owners no longer have use for? Don’t tell me you haven’t done the same!”
Taken aback, Twilight floundered for a response. “No! Well, I... actually, I really haven’t.” She flushed as she remembered the times she’d been tempted to.
Trixie smiled and waved a hoof dismissively. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t hassle you over stealing, even if I thought it really was stealing. I don’t feel like it’s even petty theft, and even if it is, who’s to know or care, especially in a place like this?
Better I have it and be able to keep on living.”
Though it pained her, Twilight couldn’t find fault with Trixie’s argument, and since she was the first pony she’d seen in almost a year that she actually knew she decided just to let it go.
“I get it,” she said with a little nod, “and it makes a certain degree of sense.”
“There we are, all in agreement,” Trixie answered with a tiny touch of smugness. “Now, um... how about that crash space? Can I stay with you for a bit?”
“Oh! Hold on a minute, I need to ask Spike.”
“Of course!”
Twilight turned to see Spike watching them carefully, a little scowl on his face. “Hey Spike!” she called to him. “It’s Trixie!”
Spike reeled in his kite and walked warily up to the two of them, his scowl deepening as he approached. “Yeah, I remember you,” he grumbled at Trixie.
A touch of excitement sneaking into her voice, Twilight pleaded with Spike. “I know our history with Trixie has been... a little rough, but we haven’t seen anypony in so long. She’d like to stay with us a while, until she moves on to another town. Would that be okay with you?”
Spike turned to face Trixie directly, his claws on his hips. He looked her up and down, then snorted out of one nostril. “Fine,” he said grumpily, then pointed at Trixie’s face. “But I don’t trust you, so you’d better be good while you’re here.”
Twilight laughed nervously as she looked back at Trixie. “I guess you’re in, then. Come on, I’ll show you the library.”
They returned to the huge hollow tree that served as the Ponyville library and Twilight and Spike’s home. Trixie looked around with obvious curiosity, though the place was so Spartan – other than the many books – that she privately considered it rather dull.
“So, this is your house? Nice,” she said in a friendly tone. She grinned and ducked her head. “I promise I won’t steal anything. I have a lot of respect for you, Twilight.”
Surprised, Twilight paused in the tea-making she had begun. “You... do? I’d never have thought so. And, um, thanks for not robbing us.”
“Yeah, good thing, too,” hissed Spike, “or you would have been in a mess of trouble.”
Trixie pretended not to notice Spike’s glare. “You are very welcome. So, since I needn’t ask what’s up with the town, how is the gang doing?”
Twilight’s expression was wistful. “Well, they all managed to survive the plague and the war, but they all had family or other connections to check on, so right now they’ve scattered all across Equestria.” Her face fell. “And of course, any other friends I had in the town are gone, or dead.”
“Ouch,” Trixie winced in sympathy. “Well, I do wish you well in your mission to fix up Ponyville. It’s already doing better than most of Equestria that I’ve seen, other than that sweet shop or bakery or whatever it was.”
Twitching at the mention of Sugarcube Corner, Twilight finished making tea and levitated three cups to herself, Spike, and Trixie. “So, what exactly have you seen out there?”
Trixie sipped her tea. "Well, most ponies don't really have homes and are just wandering from place to place, sleeping under bushes or holing up in deserted homes for a while.” She frowned and stared at Twilight. “But you should know all this. Don't you?"
Embarrassed, Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “Well, I haven’t really focused on anything outside of Ponyville, and I still spend most of my time here in the library. I’ve heard a few tidbits from Celestia, but no details of how the world is doing.” She looked up. “What can you tell me?”
Trixie sighed and looked into her teacup. “Well after the war ended, my brand of entertainment wasn’t exactly high on everypony’s list of important expenses, and well, it took me a while to cope with the new reality.“
She sighed sadly, shaking her head. “Before that I had been so fixated on being the Great and Powerful Trixie that when everything hit the face I hardly knew what to do.”
She looked up at Twilight defiantly. “I’m not proud to say I became a crass looter, but it’s the only way I stayed alive. I took what I could, sold what I had to, and moved on when things got too hot.”
With a toss of her mane, she added, “Besides, I got lucky and came across a variety of weapons while the war was still going on. I fought, and I made sure others could fight, too, since magic seemed to have so little effect. If I profited by that, well... again, I did what had to be done to survive.”
Twilight found herself smiling in spite of herself. “Well, Trixie, if anypony understand that, I most certainly do. And for what it’s worth, I like the new you.”
Trixie stared at her, then started laughing. Twilight joined in, and even Spike lost his scowl.
“Thank you, Twilight,” Trixie said sincerely. “I think I like you better now, too. Too bad it took the end of the world for us both to get over ourselves a bit.”
She yawned hugely, covering her mouth with a hoof. “Excuse me! I’m really tired after walking all day, so if you don’t mind showing me where I can sleep? I’ll need an early start to my... scavenging.”
Twilight grinned at the weak euphemism. “Sure. Spike, will you please get a blanket and pillow for her? I’ve got enough on my bed, and the bench down here should be plenty big to sleep on.”
Seemingly mollified by Trixie’s story, Spike did as she was asked without complaint. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, Spike,” said Trixie with a smile. She walked over to the bench and lay down on it, levitating the blanket over her and tucking the pillow under her head. “Good night, both of you.”
Spike and Twilight went up the stairs to the room they shared. Spike closed the door behind them, then turned and beckoned Twilight closer.
“Hey,” he whispered, “Are you sure she’s on the level? She won’t steal from us? I mean, I know she says she’s changed, but last time you saw her she banished you from the town and humiliated ponies into doing her work for her. She’s a liar and a cheat!”
“I know, Spike, but what have we got to lose? She’s either changed or she hasn’t, but she’s the only pony I know in Ponyville right now. So I’m willing to take some chances if it means I can spend some time with her before she heads off to some other place.”
“What about Zecora?” asked Spike.
Twilight shook her head. “The Everfree Forest wasn’t exactly a safe place to travel before the war,” she said solemnly. “I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”
“Well, fine,” grumbled Spike. “But I’m keeping a close eye on her. Wouldn’t want her to steal your books, eh?”
Twilight giggled quietly. “Too true.”
In the middle of the night, Twilight woke to an unfamiliar noise. Her ears perked, she turned her head slightly to triangulate on it. She gave a worried frown when she realized it was crying, and it was coming from the lower floor of the library.
She slid silently out of her bed, careful not to wake Spike, who seemed to be sleeping through it. She crept downstairs on soft hooves, following the muffled sobs until she stood next to the bench where Trixie lay huddled under the blanket.
“Trixie? Are you...” Her voice cut off with a yelp as Trixie sprang from the bed, and she ducked just in time for a knife to pass over her head and stick, quivering, in the wooden wall behind her.
Trixie backed away from Twilight, eyes wide and panicked, another knife held in her magic aimed right at Twilight’s eyes. “What the bucking...”
She quieted when she recognized Twilight and saw her gesturing frantically up the stairs as she stepped out of the path of the knife. Above them, Spike grumbled in his sleep, but did not wake.
“Gah, I’m sorry,” Trixie whispered as she levitated the knife back into its sheath on one of her rear legs. “You startled me. Why did you sneak up on me like that?”
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Twilight responded quietly. “I heard you crying, and I wanted to help.”
“What? I wasn’t...” Trixie tried to look offended, but deflated at Twilight’s sarcastic raise of an eyebrow.
“Well, what did you expect?” she muttered, her eyes downcast. “I’ve barely survived the past two years, and you’re the first sane pony I’ve seen in months.” She looked back up at Twilight, her eyes bright. “And since you are sane you’ll no doubt do the smart thing and toss me out tomorrow.”
She pawed at the floor, once more unable to meet Twilight’s gaze. “I’ve fought for too long, since the outbreak and in the war. I’m not safe to be around any more.”
Looking troubled, Twilight cautiously stepped closer to Trixie. “I know what it’s like out there,” she offered. “You don’t have to run from me. I don’t care about what happened between us before. I’d much rather we find a way to get through this together.”
Trixie looked up at Twilight with tears in her eyes. “You don’t mean that.”
Twilight smiled. “I do. I really do!” She frowned briefly, wondering what to do, then brightened and took another half-step forward. “Can... can I give you a hug?”
Stifling a sob, it took a moment for Trixie to nod. “Yes, please,” she said in a tiny voice.
Twilight put her hooves around Trixie’s shoulders, and the mare shoved her face against Twilight’s chest, dampening her coat with tears as she let go of part of her pain and grief. After a while she raised her own hooves and hugged Twilight back as she got her breathing under control.
Raising her head, Trixie gave Twilight a watery smile. “Thank you, Twilight. It’s been so long since I’ve met a truly kind pony, I’d almost forgotten what it was like.”
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like,” said Twilight magnanimously.
“Thank you,” Trixie repeated, then took a deep breath and let it out.
“I think I’ve kept you awake long enough now,” she said with a little grin. “Shall we get some sleep?”
Twilight smiled happily as she responded. “Absolutely. Good night! See you in the morning!” She walked quietly back up the stairs, smiled back at Trixie once in the filtered moonlight, then went to bed, closing the door behind her.
“Good night,” whispered Trixie. She retrieved her knife from the wall, then stood looking at it in the faint light. Sighing sadly, she sheathed it, then bundled herself back into the blankets. It took her longer than usual to fall back asleep.
Before the sun was up the next morning Spike crept down the stairs to find the bench – in fact, the entire lower level – empty of anypony. “Gosh DARNIT!” he shouted.
Twilight bolted upright in her bed. “Wha?” she mumbled, then the alarm in Spike’s voice hit her. “What’s up, Spike? What happened? Are you okay?”
Glancing around, Spike couldn’t see anything disturbed in the library, and he reluctantly let go of his anger. “Aw, I guess it’s nothing. I just saw Trixie gone and assumed the worst for a second.”
“Oh. So everything’s okay down there?”
“Oh,” said Twilight sadly. She had been hoping that Trixie might stay a while after their conversation the night before. “So... everything’s okay down there?”
Spike sighed and shrugged. “Looks like it. I don’t think she took anything, and she did say she was going to get an early start.”
Twilight tucked herself back under the blankets, stifling a yawn and trying not to let show how depressed she was at Trixie’s flight. “Okay, then. Wake me when you want some help with breakfast.”
Later that morning they set out again together to patrol the perimeter of Ponyville. Twilight was startled to see a dandelion growing behind her house; it had been a while since anything had grown there now that the pegasi weren’t controlling the local weather.
She lay down next to the flower and stared at it, her mind going back to how it all began. She had been through so many trials she thought she had seen it all: Discord, King Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and Queen Chrysalis; even the less world-shaking conflicts with the Buffalo and the parasprites had tested her and given her many opportunities to learn and grow. She thought she had seen the worst the world could throw at her, and had been confident about her future and that of Equestria.
But nothing like the plague had ever even crossed her mind.