On the Corner of Straight and Narrow

by Tatsurou


The Nightmare

Unfortunately, none of them actually knew how to fly a spaceship, and as a result crashed into their apartment building. After the crash, they dug through the rubble to see what they could salvage. Unfortunately, the only thing in the place that was undamaged was The Right Honorable Major Judge Ursa. Trixie was happy about that, although it didn't do much for Sam and Max's goal of finding somewhere they could sleep.

"So, now what do we do?" Max asked. "I didn't see any comfortable beds in the spaceship."

"Wouldn't help anyway if we did," Sam added. "It's on its side and the artificial gravity cut out."

"There appear to be large caverns under the building," Jane pointed out. "Perhaps the molemen can spare a few bunks until the building is righted."

"How are we going to get across the river to them?" Sam asked. "I could throw Max and Trixie, but I don't think I can throw myself-"

"There is a ladder nearby," Jane explained. "You can use it as a bridge."

"Alright!" Trixie said happily. "Let's go! Trixie is hungry and needs a nap!"


Upon entering the tunnel, both proved readily available. Only two molemen were present, both apparently members of some cult that worshiped - amongst other things - a prophecy about Max, Trixie herself, and a Toybox that made Trixie's horn ache just to be near it. They were happy to provide food and beds for Trixie...and Sam and Max by extension.

Trixie was happy to curl up with food under her cape and hat on the comfortable mats that the molemen provided, but Sam and Max were distracted by skeletons that looked like them, along with a movie projector that gave off eldritch energy. Sam decided to play the movie. After Max tried to fix the volume, his aura interacted with the demonic energy of the projector, and the movie suddenly had sound...and Sam and Max were able to influence the actions of their ancestors, Sameth and Maximus, within the film.

However, as there was no analogue for herself to influence, Trixie decided to take a nap after eating. Curling up to Major Ursa under her cape, she slept.

Unfortunately, she did not fully escape the influence of the aura of the projector. As she slipped into her dreams, memories long suppressed and thought lost rose to the surface, revealing a pain long forgotten.


Trixie wriggled about in the basket, crying and whining. It was too cold. She wanted to be held.

A stallion's hooves reached in, lifting her from the basket. "Hello, little Trixie," he whispered. "How's my baby girl doing?"

Trixie's upset calmed, and she cuddled into the embrace as the stallion nuzzled her. A mare in a white coat approached, addressing the stallion. However, Trixie couldn't hear what the mare said.

"How is she?" the stallion asked.

"I'm sorry..." The mare addressed the stallion by name, but Trixie couldn't quite hear. "The labor was...she didn't..." Trixie couldn't make sense of what was being said, but she felt the stallion sag around her, like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

He held her close, tears pouring from his eyes. As the tears landed on her face, Trixie began crying again.

...

Trixie played with some of her toys as she waited for her Daddy. He'd gone out for something or other, she wasn't sure what. However, she was eager for his return.

As the door opened, she gasped happily as she rushed forward. "Daddy!" she called happily, throwing herself at the stallion from the first memory, who embraced her happily. However, she paused as she stared at the young mare beside him.

"Hello, Trixie," the mare said softly.

"Who dat?" Trixie demanded.

Her Daddy chuckled. "This is..." Another name that didn't quite register. "She'll be staying with us for a while, helping me take care of you."

Trixie wasn't entirely sure she liked the mare, but she listened to Daddy.

...

Trixie was dressed up in a cute little white gown. She wasn't sure what was going on, but her Daddy was dressed in black, the mare from before was dressed in white, and there were lots of grown up ponies around. Some ponies told her that the mare was going to be her Mom now, but she couldn't make sense of that.

After a much older stallion said some words, there was cheering. Rice flew through the air. Trixie remained confused.

...

They wouldn't let her near her Daddy. She didn't understand why. She also wasn't going to listen. With her first intentional use of magic, she distracted several of the adult ponies with sparklers like fireworks and rushed in.

There was her Daddy, laying back in bed looking tired, like he was going to sleep. He was holding the mare's hoof as he coughed weakly. "Please...take care of my Trixie..." he whispered, and then faded away.

She walked up to her Daddy and nuzzled him, but he didn't move. "Daddy?" she asked. When the mare started to pull her away, she demanded, "Why won't Daddy wake up?"

...

Not two days after the funeral, Trixie was in the orphanage, and the mare her Daddy had entrusted her to had run off with everything that she had once had. All she had left was her bear, Major Ursa...a birthday gift from her father.

The other foals didn't like her. She was the only unicorn there, all the others were earth ponies. She was an outsider. She was different. ...she was alone.

"Please...take care of my Trixie..."

...but she didn't.

She was staring at her Daddy as he died again, begging the one beside him to take care of her. But it wasn't a stallion clutching a mare's hoof now. The image had changed...a dying lagomorph, clutching a dog's paw.

"Please...take care of my Trixie..."

"I promise, little buddy..."


Trixie awoke, her eyes full of tears. The movie had ended, and Sam was nowhere to be seen. However, her Daddy was lying nearby. She crawled over to him. "Daddy, Trixie needs a hug," she whimpered, nuzzling his side.

He fell over, unmoving.

Trixie blinked. "Daddy? Why are you napping?" Confused, she crawled over, nuzzling his fuzzy belly and paws, trying to get him to hug her or pet her, but he didn't respond. "Daddy?"

Sam stepped in. "Did Max watch the end of the movie without me?" he demanded. "Well, can you both at least tell me how it ended?" He paused, noticing Trixie's distress.

She looked up at him, her gaze agonized. "Why...why won't Daddy wake up?" she begged, the void in Max's cut open skull giving Sam the answer he couldn't bear to tell her.