Chapter Fifty Five: The Stray
HEART OF STONE
Chapter Fifty Five: The Stray
Written by TheCrimsonDM
As Trixie walked through the snow covered streets of Ponyville she couldn’t help but think about how Twilight was feeling. The further Trixie got away from Twilight and the others the worse she felt about it, especially considering how had Pinkie wanted her to come out of hiding so badly. She refused however, to return to the others and admit that she had been tailing them all along.
Maud was silent for the most part but Trixie could sense that Maud was worried too. In an attempt to ease both of their minds Trixie said, “So, Maud, if you were a badflank alicorn. Where would you go after killing a windigo?”
“I’d find a big rock,” Maud said flatly.
“Of course you would, you would probably be the Princess of Rocks as well… actually that could be pretty cool if you had rock magic,” said Trixie.
“I’d make rock golems to serve me,” replied Maud.
Suddenly Maud stopped walking and stared off into the distance behind Trixie. Maud’s eyes grew open slowly and her mouth hung open. Trixie stared at Maud with a mixture of confusion and fascination for never having seen Maud make such an expression before, it looked almost like Maud was dumbstruck by something. Finally at great length Maud asked, “Why is that pony peeing on a street lamp?”
With her curiosity now peaked, Trixie turned around to see what Maud was talking about. When Trixie saw the blue earth pony mare, she had wished she had never turned around. When Trixie saw the wild silver mane, she wished she was anywhere else. When Trixie saw the relieved expression the mare was wearing, Trixie wished she was invisible. When Trixie saw the mare’s leg lifted up, and a stream of yellow liquid melting the snow, Trixie wanted to be removed from existence. And finally when Trixie saw Nurse Red Heart running towards the mare while shouting, “Stop that right now, Screw Loose,” Trixie wanted to be dead.
“Screw Loose,” Maud said. “Isn’t that you’re mother’s name?”
Trixie turned away and refusing to look at anything at all, Trixie settled on staring straight at the snow covered earth and hissing quietly, “Yes.”
“Oh,” Maud said. After a long pause Maud added, “Lulu, you’re mother is peeing on a street la-“
“I know exactly what my mom is doing right now,” Trixie interrupted quickly.
After another pause Maud said, “Should we go talk to her? You’ve never introduced us.”
“NO! This is why I don’t go visit her,” Trixie replied.
“Because she has voyeuristic tendencies?” Maud asked flatly.
“What? No! It’s because she’s a dog, or at least she thinks she’s a dog,” Trixie replied. “Honestly I don’t even know why she is out here in the snow and doing that in public. Actually,” Trixie said as she refocused her attention onto Screw Loose, who was now a few feet away from the street lamp and rolling around in the snow, and then onto Nurse Red Heart, “I’m going to chew out Nurse Red Heart’s butt for this.”
“I wouldn’t advise it, you’ll be tasting it for a month,” Maud stated flatly.
Trixie turned and looked Maud in the eyes for a few seconds in stunned silence before Trixie found herself asking, “How do you know what a pony’s butt tastes like?”
Maud began walking towards Nurse Red Heart and right pass Trixie. “Let’s go talk to her.” Trixie stared in silence for a second before deciding that she didn’t actually want an answer to that question.
***
Nurse Red Heart was covering her face with a hoof while Screw Loose played in the snow. Trixie marched up to Red Heart and with Maud by her side Trixie felt more confident while she said, “What the hay is going on here?” Red Heart looked over at Trixie and her eyes suddenly widened. Red Heart was silent. “I asked you a question,” Trixie demanded once more.
“I… I was taking her for a walk when she got loose and… she’s really fast…” Red Heart explained nervously.
“You were taking her for a walk? Like she was some kind of animal? What is wrong with you?” Trixie said, her voice growing louder.
Red Heart looked nervous for a few seconds before looking back at Screw Loose who was still playing in the snow. Red Heart looked back at Trixie and said, “Would you rather we just keep her locked away in her room?”
“Yes, I mean no, I mean… I don’t know, but taking her on walks through the middle of town doesn’t seem like a good idea, especially when she does this,” Trixie argued while shaking a hoof at the street lamp.
“She gets depressed when she’s stuck inside too long, so we take her on walks, although these walks are usually limited to the hospital grounds,” Red Heart explained.
Trixie looked back at her mother who was playing in the snow and suddenly realized that Maud was no longer standing next to her. Maud now stood next to Screw Loose while she reached out with a hoof and held it near Screw Loose for a moment, Screw Loose sniffed it, then licked it. Trixie wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, in fact she tried but nothing came out, suddenly she realized she had been forgetting to breath and inhaled suddenly.
“Maud, what are you doing?” Trixie asked nearly jumping with anger and frustration.
“I’m getting to know you’re mother,” Maud replied flatly.
Red Heart was snickering.
Trixie sat down in the snow and looked at her hooves, she was both angry and mortified at the same time. Trixie just sat there in silence for a little bit, occasionally looking up to see Maud petting Screw Loose, or talking to Red Heart about Screw Loose’s condition. After a few minutes Trixie felt something hot, wet, and slimly smear across her face. Screw Loose had just licked her and was now standing in front of Trixie wearing an overjoyed expression.
“Hi, mom,” Trixie greeted her quietly.
“Woof,” Screw Loose replied, followed by another lick.
Trixie leaned back and wiped the slobber away from her muzzle and watched Screw Loose for a moment. Screw Loose’s happy expression faded and was replaced with concern. Trixie stared in silence for a few more moments before Screw Loose laid down in the snow and stared up at her quietly.
“You do know that she knows who you are, right?” Red Heart asked. Trixie looked up at her with a confused look on her face. Red Heart continued, “She might be a dog, but even dogs recognize their own puppies. She’s probably worried that you aren’t happy to see her.”
Trixie looked back down at her mother who was lying completely still, ears folded back, and eyes staring up at her sadly. Unsure of what to do, Trixie reached over with a hoof and gently began petting the top of Screw Loose’s head. This brought a smile to Screw Loose’s face, and another one to Trixie’s.
“I’m sorry mom, I guess I wasn’t sure how to handle this… I love you,” Trixie said.
Screw Loose jumped up and knocked Trixie onto her back and began licking her face. Trixie tried to avoid it but failed, and only after Screw Loose stopped and barked did Trixie get a chance to try and wipe her face clean with a foreleg. Screw Loose quickly turned around and returned to dashing around in circles while carving trenches in the snow.
After a moment Maud helped Trixie to stand and together they watched Screw Loose play. Red Heart simply stood watch. Maud looked at Trixie and said, “I like her.”
“I guess I’m glad about that… this is weird,” Trixie mumbled more to herself then to her special somepony.
Ten minutes later Trixie and Maud had gotten into a conversation with Red Heart about Screw Loose. Apparently they would take Screw Loose out for walks at least once a week around the hospital grounds before Timequill arrived, now they did this at least once a day and it’s really improved Screw Loose’s mental state and overall well being.
Suddenly Screw Loose stopped and looked around seriously for a few moments. Trixie watched, wondering what was going through her mother’s mind. Suddenly Screw Loose focused on something, a little brown squirrel. Screw Loose began a low growl at the squirrel and it ran away, Trixie watched in horror as Screw Loose chased after it, even deeper into town. Without even thinking about where they were going, the three ponies chased after Screw Loose, hoping to catch up to her, but Red Heart was right, Screw Loose was really fast.
***
It took nearly a half hour of chasing after Screw Loose before she finally stopped running. They had come up to the edge of town and were completely exhausted, except for Maud who looked as stoic as always. Screw Loose was busy sniffing the snow and trying to find the squirrel’s scent again, which meant Trixie finally got a rest.
“Howdy, Trixie, Maud,” Applejack greeted.
Trixie jumped into the air at the sudden appearance of Applejack by her side. Trixie gave Applejack a cautious look for a moment before asking, “What are you doing here?”
“Ah’m just walking Wynona, how about you two?”
“I’m walking… er visiting my mom,” Trixie replied.
“Sounds good, Ah never really met mah Aunt Screw Loose. Is she doing well?”
Trixie thought for a moment on how to best reply to that and just as she opened her mouth Maud asked, “What is she doing with that dog?”
Trixie turned towards Screw Loose and her mouth dropped as she saw Screw Loose and an actual dog walking around in circles. Screw Loose leaned her head down towards the dog’s rear and sniffed, the dog returned the favor. Trixie’s face began burning as she dropped down onto the snow and covered her face with her forelegs while repeating the words, “No, no, no, oh Celestia please no.”
“What… what the hay is she doing with Wynona?” Applejack asked in disbelief.
“I believe they are getting to know each other,” Maud stated.
“This is… exactly what I’ve come to expect from my life,” Red Heart said flatly.
After a long moment Trixie dared to peek out from beneath her hooves and saw Screw Loose playing with Wynona. Screw Loose actually looked really happy, and Trixie found herself, despite being more embarrassed then she had ever been before in her life, pleased to see her mother enjoying herself. Applejack was just staring; she looked confused about the entire situation. Maud was looking emotionless as always, but Trixie could sense that Maud was enjoying this. Red Heart was just sitting down and rubbing her temples with her hooves, Trixie couldn’t blame her.
After a few seconds both Screw Loose and Wynona stopped, their ears twitched and suddenly Trixie saw the squirrel from Tartarus staring at them again. Suddenly both Screw Loose and Wynona began barking at the squirrel which quickly took off towards the forest, Screw Loose and Wynona ran after it. Trixie jumped up and chased after her, with Maud joining along.
Applejack called out Wynona’s name which made the dog stop and return back to its owner, Screw Loose however did not. Red Heart joined in the chase although she was lagging behind. Trixie was beginning to hate this day.
***
Trixie and Maud chased after Screw Loose for another twenty minutes through the Everfree Forest; at some point they had lost Red Heart. Trixie’s legs felt like they were on fire from the exertion, and she wanted nothing more than to stop her mother from running, and then she wanted to go to sleep.
Finally Screw Loose stopped running and stood still while growling at a tree. When Trixie and Maud finally caught up they stood on either side of Screw Loose and stared at her. Trixie was breathing heavily and was exhausted, Maud wasn’t.
“Why. Did. You. Do. That?” Trixie said in between breaths.
Screw Loose stared intently at the tree and barked a few times before returning to growling. Trixie stared hard at her for a long moment before giving up, Screw Loose was a broken pony and there was just no way for Trixie to get through to her. “I guess you don’t exactly mean to make life hard for me…”
“She still loves you, Lulu,” Maud offered.
“Yeah there is that, I just wish that I could fix her though,” Trixie said somberly.
Trixie returned to looking at Screw Loose who was still looking up angrily at the tree. Trixie hated the stupid squirrel that had caused so much trouble for her today. Trixie looked up at the tree where Screw Loose was staring and said, “I hate squirrels…” Trixie stopped talking the second she saw what was actually in the tree. A wolf like creature made of interconnected wooden pieces and leaves was staring down at her.
“Timberwolf,” was all the Trixie could say before the creature leapt from the tree and down towards the three ponies, it’s claws ready to kill. Time seemed to slow down as Trixie stepped back, she was preparing to run when a sudden flash of red light illuminated the forest around her. A beam of red energy flew through the air and struck the timberwolf in its side. A second later the timberwolf’s entire body glowed red, and then turned gray. The timberwolf collided into Trixie’s body, and it disappeared into a cloud of ash against her.
Trixie stood still, covered in ash, and began shaking. She looked at Maud who was staring at her with slightly raised eyes, Screw Loose looked worried. Unsure of what just happened Trixie turned around towards the direction the red light had come from and saw a golden yellow unicorn, who was just a few inches taller than her. The mysterious mare had a long, straight red mane that threatened to touch the ground. Trixie stared into the unicorns red eyes and asked, “Who are you?”
The unicorn was wearing a brown cloak which obscured her cutie mark, but she gave a soft smile to Trixie and said gently, “My name is Red Velvet, how are you faring?”
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Oh, wow. I can hardly believe how much potential there is for this scenario to be massively insensitive, and at the same time very thoughtful. Except for you, Red Heart, you're squarely in the insensitive camp. One does not laugh at the mentally ill, and its especially poorly advised to do so when her daughter can hear you.
Although it is massively inappropriate for Maud to treat Trixie's mom like a dog, which Trixie clearly recognizes, I do get what she was trying to do. Trixie is ashamed of her mom, and embarrassed to have anyone see her. Maud is showing that she doesn't care what Trixie's mom is like, and has no problem accepting her as she is now, even if that means she's a dog. It seems to have worked, so by the rules of consequentialism... I guess it was the right move.
At the same time, accepting Screw Loose the way she is now is a gray area. Clearly, Screw Loose is having a great time while she gets to be treated as a dog and play, which must be difficult on Trixie as that is not the mother she grew up with. It does look like that with Maud's help Trixie is slowly coming to accept that this is the way things are, at least for the moment, which is an improvement over the stress she experienced previously.
There doesn't seem to be any actual chance for improvement for Screw Loose, so I suppose there is no additional harm being done by indulging her delusions... It might not be exactly dignified, but it does make her much happier than the alternative. Tricky situation.
For a minute there, I was wondering if this signaled some kind of return of the Alicorn Amulet magic. Instead we're introduced to Red Velvet, who's name sounds so familiar I had to do a google search to check if she'd not been mentioned before. Either she has not had a mention, or my google-fu is weak.
Hm, I wonder if Red Velvet is related to Twilight Velvet?
5582400
I guess i really know what you mean, but it depends on how old she is i think. I mean i would probably let Screwloose do what she wants.
I think you mean that it isn´t good for her to act like a dog, because she only like it more to be a dog and it is difficult to fix her. (sorry i try to circumscribe it a bit, because of the lack of some words right now).
If Screwloose is rather old right now, maybe it would be better to let her have her peace, and don´t try to make her upset because of many therapies.
I look at it in a different way, because i worked with old people for a while, and even if i now not everything i say is the best choice, i think it would be not the worst decision, to let her have her peace.
On the other hand i know Trixie would probably have a difficult time to accept her mother like that for a while, because i just read it i think it is cute, but in real life, i know it woul be difficult to borne.
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Thank you for a chapter with Screwloose, even if it would be not that nice in real life, to have your own mother like that, i think it is somehow cute how her mother still cares about her, even if she maybe think Trixie is a dog too.
I would like it if they would take Screwloose home once in a week, or maybe every two weeks, it would probably be important, that both of them see each other more often. I don´t mean that you have to make every second chapter into a screwloose one-shot, but i would like it if ther friends would see her mother too.
I know it would be not that nice for Trixie at first, but maybe Screwloose could escape again if they have their pet play day.
I don´t know, Trixe,Screwloose, Maud and well Fluttershy an i guess Derpy are my top 5 ponys at the Moment.
5584296
I see your point, if she were 'nearing the end' as it were, then it very well could be best to just let her have fun till she passes, rather than stress her out too much. However, given her model, I think Screw Loose appears to be kind of middle-aged. like Rarity and Twilight's mothers. If she was among the elderly, I would expect her model to be closer to that of Granny Smith. So she has more or less half her life ahead of her, which is why I feel it is more difficult and a lot more gray, but still possibly the right choice, to let her be.
5586601 To be honest, i think they should do it like you described it, but it is just that i had read that one fanfiction about Screwloose and a Diamond Dog, where she was acting like a dog and there were a mad psychologist and.....
Yeah i like Screwloose as a crazy Pony, but even if i meant what i said, i agree with you there.
5587415
Do you have a link to that story? Because that sounds amazing.
5591279 i think i have to look for it again, i don´t know why, but i think it is not in my list anymore, i try to remember ro give you the link.
5591279
5591279 http://www.fimfiction.net/story/180647/and-they-call-it-puppy-love
found it, it still exist.
I think there was only one thing i didn´t liked, but he was the first Diamond Dog i liked, it is sweet, sad and the end is somehow funny and not like expected.
That is what i remember.
5591958
Sweet thanks for the link. It looks interesting.
5594448 Thanks for reading the story, I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying it. XD
You are the Alicorn that was flying aorudn the previous night aren't you? You're the one who killed the Wendigo.