As the smoke dissipates into the night sky, Trixie stares momentarily at the spot where Starlight stood talking to her. She then turns to the Starlight now walking towards her, unsure what to make of the scene. “Is that? … How did you? …”
“Duplication spell,” Starlight calmly and sullenly tells her friend and fellow unicorn. “I’ve been practicing it for a while now, but you’re the first other than Twilight to actually see me perform it.”
“Wow … I know you’re great with magic, but I had no idea you knew a spell like that! You know, ‘The Great and Powerful Starlight’ has a nice ring to it,” Trixie jokes; Starlight’s face shows no change in emotion. “Come on Star, what’s eating you? And what’s that around your neck,” she inquires, noticing the obsidian necklace for the first time.
“The necklace isn’t important,” Starlight quietly asserts. “Don’t you see? It has been me all along! I’m a threat to everypony in Equestria.” She turns around to face the clearing they had recently stepped away from. “I should be back in that cave, isolated from the world and left to …”
“How can you say that,” Trixie retorts. “How can you even think that? You think being able to clone yourself changes anything?”
“It changes everything, Trixie! I’m the one who attacked you, just like I’m the one responsible for all the chaos caused today. I can’t be trusted.”
“You were tricked by Chrysalis, Starlight! She set you up. She’s the one who caused the rockslide and entombed you. You said so yourself!”
“I told you all what I wanted to believe,” Starlight calmly replies. “No one else actually saw Chrysalis. Isn’t it convenient that she disappeared just as Rainbow Dash broke through the boulders? No … I must have fantasized the whole thing. I caused that rockfall, because the part of me that’s still redeemable knows what’s best for Equestria.”
“Then that part of you knows nothing, Starlight Glimmer!” The anger builds in Trixie’s voice as she continues. “After all we’ve been through … after we saved the Princesses … we saved Twilight and all your friends … you still believe you’re a danger to this world! If not for you, we would already be overrun by the changelings!” Her tone softens. “Please, Starlight, snap out of this! You have changed. You know this, deep inside. I have faith in you, just like Twilight and everypony else who knows you.”
Starlight’s horn illuminates the sky as her necklace hovers off her neck and onto the ground. “Pick that up,” she tells Trixie.
“What, that necklace?”
“Yes. Use your magic to levitate it off the ground.”
Trixie tries to focus her magic on the necklace, but is unable to muster any energy. “I don’t get it.”
Starlight closes her eyes as an aura envelops the necklace, causing it to rise once again. She places it back around her neck. “Do you recognize it?”
Trixie walks up to inspect the rocks forming the necklace. “Wait … is that?”
“Made from the remnants of Chrysalis’s throne. I found it on the cavern floor. Then I saw how it blocked Discord’s magic. Even a piece as small as this has a noticeable radius of effect. That’s why I had to run back into the cave, before anypony figured out the cause. That’s why I had to clone myself, so I could keep a safe distance away from the group as everypony headed back to the road.”
“But your own magic,” Trixie muses. “How come you can use magic in its vicinity?”
“I … I don’t know,” Starlight admits, “but the fact that I can … the fact that I now share an innate ability with Chrysalis, that only furthers my argument. The evil within me is growing in power … making me do things against my will … and I cannot allow that part of me to harm another pony. Never again.”
Silence pervades as Trixie ponders Starlight’s final points. “So why come out of the forest at all? Why follow us?”
“I had to make sure the others were gone from the area, so they wouldn’t try to find me again. By the time they realize I’ve disappeared, I’ll be long gone from here.”
“Uh huh,” Trixie deadpans, unconvinced. “Then why show yourself to me? You saw them all leave. You could have just broken your spell and left me alone out here.”
“The moment I do that, you run right after them and let them know. I need more time than that. And besides …” Starlight pauses and turns away from Trixie. “You deserve to know more than the others. I owe you that.”
“And exactly why do you ‘owe’ me anything?” Trixie continues, her tone increasing slightly in volume.
Starlight turns back to Trixie, the change in tone catching her off-guard. “Why? After all we went through, rescuing the princesses and Twilight’s friends? I mean, you’re my best friend—“
“Exactly!” Trixie interrupts. “I’m your best friend, just like you’re mine. And friends fight for each other, no matter what. And you really think you’re just going to walk away, and that I’m just going to let you?”
“Trixie, no. Don’t—“
“Don’t what, Starlight? Don’t fight you for trying to abandon your friends? Abandon your new life? I’m sorry, Starlight, but friendship doesn’t come with exceptions. I won’t let you leave. Neither will Twlight, or anypony else. You try to ditch us, and we will find you.”
“Trixie, I attacked you earlier! I hurt you!”
“YOU did no such thing, Starlight! Something attacked me, I won’t deny that. Something is causing you to doubt yourself. But that something isn’t you.”
“You don’t know that!” Starlight argues.
“And you do? You’re a rational pony, Starlight, so think about it: there are only two possibilities to consider. Two! And one of them is that this IS all Chrysalis’s work. That she did come to Ponyville to torment you, to cause you to run away, to lock you both in that cave … and from what you told us, to join her. And if that is the case, then you need your friends more than ever, to fight against Chrysalis again when the time comes.”
“And what about the other possibility, Trixie? What if it IS all my doing? What if the evil desires within me are fighting to break out, to take control?”
“Then that part of you is doomed to fail,” Trixie asserts. “That part of you cannot win … because your friends won’t let that part of you win ... and because you won’t let that part of you win.”
“I don’t want that part of me to win, but—“
“That’s my point! Starlight, if you really were turning against us, then why would you fight it? Why wouldn’t you just take your friends’ cutie marks? Why would you run away, rather than conquer. No, Starlight, the evil within you cannot defeat the good … you’ve proven as much in the cave.”
“What are you talking about, Trixie? If this is all me, then I just spent almost an hour talking to myself.”
“Yes, and what did you discuss, huh? Did you convince yourself to take over Equestria? No, you convinced yourself that you would rather die alone than allow that to happen. If this really is all you, then you’re protecting all of Equestria from a great evil. You will do anything to prevent that evil from spreading. Those are NOT the actions of a pony who’s giving in to her dark designs.”
A chill runs down Starlight’s back as she takes in Trixie’s argument. Tears begin again to form in her eyes. “I just … I just don’t know what to believe.”
“Believe in your friends, Starlight. Believe in me … and believe in yourself. You are the most incredible pony I have ever met, and have much to offer.”
Starlight embraces Trixie, unable to stop the flow of tears and choking up as she speaks. “I’m so sorry for all this. You really are the best friend a pony could have.”
“It’s been a long day, Starlight,” Trixie reassures. “Maybe we should head back to Ponyville and rest up for the night.”
“No … no, I’m not even tired. Why don’t we continue on to Canterlot … together.”
“I would like that.” Trixie smiles as a thought occurs to her: “But if you got that necklace on, you may need to sit in the back of the audience during performances.”