//------------------------------// // Episode 74: Ultra Despair // Story: Life of a Wanted Changeling Season 3: Tyrants, Terrorists, and Tiaras, Oh My! // by Down with Chrysalis //------------------------------// There can be no true despair without hope. -Bane Phase Three whips about you, your tusks jut out and your eyes and chest scar burn bright. You’ve never formed directly to this phase, it’s always taken immense rage and the other phases before before. This time, your tranquil fury has skipped the middle man. The clouds that had been gathered above finally let loose with the water they’ve been holding. Trixie’s hair begins to plaster to her head as she looks at your monstrous form. “H-Hoody, I don’t understand…” Trixie stammers. She has the gall to act confused? To act like this wouldn’t happen?!!! ThePonySpartan’s Comment You glare at Trixie with all your hate. She's the reason you live this terrible life. It's ALL. HER! FAULT!!! You slam your tails in front of you to propel yourself forward, towards the dazed and confused Trixie. “Psycho Crusher!!!” She barely has time to respond as you land a satisfying direct hit and land on your hooves. You look onwards to see Trixie in another crater that her impact made. She gets up weakly and says, "H-Hoody please..." You ignore her words and teleport in front of her, “Falcon Punch!!!” you cry out as your hoof strikes her in the gut, lifting her upward. She gags and coughs up a bit of blood. While still in midair, you spin with a cry of, “Falcon Kick!!!” and strike her into fountain, breaking it. “Blah!” Trixie heaves as her stomach fluids empty, with a bit of blood into the water. She looks up, hurt and confusion written on her face. “Wh-Why?” You don’t answer. You close your orange eye while widening your scarred red one in pure rage. You point your piercing red eye at Trixie... "AMATERASU!!!" Trixie gets inflamed with the black flames and screams in agony as she flails about in the fountain, her coat disintegrating. You hold your eye as the piercing pain that comes with that move causes you to falter. “YYYYAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!” Trixie yells, trying to scream the pain away. With your own pain subsided, you open your eyes just in time to see Trixie’s horn flash a blinding red and stop her screaming. The black fire is gone, as is her cloak, but the amulet remains, and though her coat smokes, she doesn’t appear seriously burned. She just gasps in and out, trying to catch her breath, her eyes looking to you for answers. Kersey’s Comment "B-b-but this doesn't make any sense." Trixie says in disbelief, "Y-you wanted this!" She gestures towards the rain soaked town. “I did this all for you!” Rolling your eyes you reply sarcastically, "Yes Trixie, I wanted you to enslave the whole town! It makes so much sense. This would help clear my name and keep the authorities from finding me and- OF COURSE I DIDN'T WANT THIS YOU CRAZY B!%$#!!!" With that you reach out with your tails, gripping her by the horn as you slam her face into the fountain stone, messing up her nose. While she’s still disoriented, you toss her up into the air… Kichi’s Comment And quickly reach into your Inventory taking out Nightshade’s Dark Canon out of her Inventory. You aim it at her form as gravity takes a hold of her and pull the trigger, while simultaneously yelling, "Would You Kindly... BURN BURN BURN?!!" The laser strike, and your torrent of flame cross streams in midair. Before they strike true, you see panic in Trixie’s eyes before they flash and a red bubble appears around her. The strike only serves to keep in her in the air a bit. But four of your tails strike at the bubble before it can land and send it and the mare inside skidding down the street. “Get out of that bubble!!!” you roar as you launch yourself towards her. By the time you reach her, she has gotten her footing and holds the shield more stably. “GRAAAGGHH!!! *Punch* Get Out *Punch* And Take *Punch* Your Punishment!!!” you yell as you wail on the bubble, the results being the same as the more giant one surrounding the town. “Hoody, please, I don’t understand…” she cries out as your tails slam again and again upon her protection. “I just wanted you and I…” her eyes flash along with the amulet itself, as a sudden creepy smile adorns her face “To Cause Despair…” With that, the dome around the town pops, and the bubble around her seems to somehow get stronger, and not only that, it seems it is starting to actually strike back at your tails. FalxofLume’s Comment "That amulet thing is so b#$5ing unfair!!!!" you shout in frustration as you continue your relentless assault. I can see that. Her power is immense and she is repelling our Nightmare Tails, Selena says, equally frustrated by the ineffectiveness of their attacks. This is the power of darkness. With this…I would have won, Sombra muses. Quit geeking out druggy! You yell back in irritation as your attacks continue to do nothing. "Offender? Why are you so angry? I'm right here, best buddy. We can work together now" Trixie says, almost loopy the way she's ignoring the situation as a whole. That creepy as all smile is still on her face, and her eyes are more steadily glowing red. The crimson shield around her thrums from power that almost seems to come to her too easily. This is Bullspit! I’ve fought more powerful than her and won! Perhaps not. At least when we fought other foes, we could deal damage that we could actually see. Aside from our earlier sneak attack we are no match for her magic. This is so frustrating. Selena groans. "GAAAAHHHH! B#$%ING B$%^ YOU!!!!!" You shout before just rushing straight at Trixie's shield, your frustration finally overwhelming your sense of reason. But even with your full body attack, with all of your tails to help, you bounce off of Trixie's shield with nothing but a small ping. "Owwwwwwwwww…” you groan rubbing your face and one of your tusks. "Come one Hoody, why are you so angry with me?” Trixie asks, still looking loopy. She then pulls out some weird looking Teddy bear that’s half white and half black, with one glowing red eye. “The Buck?” “Yeah Hoody, why are you trying so hard to hurt your best friend in the whole wide world after all she’s done for you?” “The Bear” asks, as she puts on a different voice for it. “For all she’s DONE FOR ME?!!” You yell out. She holds the bear down and looks at you with an almost hopeful smile. “Of course, I did all of this for you. I remember how you told me about the ponies in this town. How they hunted and hurt you. And then on that night, they tricked me into betraying you,” She explains, as if she actually believes that lie. “I won't ever fall for that again!” she shouts out. Her face then softens, and the glow even starts to dampen a little, “And I'll protect you…like I should have done in the first place. I’ll be nothing but your best friend…I promise.” The hopeful stupid grin on her face makes you light up even more. “Friends?” you growl. “You want to be FRIENDS again?!” Your tails then whip about you in a frenzy. “After What You Did…After Every Bad Thing That’s Happened To Me Since That Night…YOU THINK THAT I WILL JUST BE YOUR FRIEND AGAIN?!!!” Her eyes lose the look of hope as the red glow replaces them once again. “Yes,” she answers with her loopy grin. Kersey’s Comment With a roar of rage you punch the ground in frustration with both your hooves and your tails, when suddenly a crystal juts out of the ground below Trixie and hits the showmare in the gut, winding her and making her drop the forcefield. "How did I-" you stammer looking at your hooves. My crystals!!! Sombra groans out in displeasure. You take those from me too?! Smirking you think, Thanks for the crystal-bending Roomba! You then rush in and strike Trixie with a crystal covered tail, through a wall and into a two-story house before she can catch her breath. You thieves…You filthy little thieves, he growls. Calm your pepperonis or I'll have Selena zap you again you warn as you rush into the hole in the building. I will do so anyway, she says matter of factly. While Trixie is disoriented, you crouch low grabbing her horn with one of your tails to negate her magic before you hit her in the left side with a disorienting uppercut as you wrap one of your tails around your other arm and scream, "SHADOW SHORYUKEN!" Before sending your tail-covered hoof smashing into Trixie's midsection in a vicious rising uppercut. She spits out more blood and you feel several ribs cracking under your hoof. This is followed by midnight-colored afterimages that launches her through both stories of the building. "Alright, time to bring back a classic!" you declare as you raise your nightmare tails in the air before smashing them to the ground with earth-shaking force, knocking down any bystanders stupid enough to be around, launching yourself high into the air. At the height of your ascent, you see Trixie flailing in the air trying to reorient herself. You start to cast a midnight forcefield around yourself as you launch yourself at the showmare, tackling her with your forcefield at high speeds as you both descend to the ground crying out, "METEOR IMPACT!!!" Before both of you smash into the ruined house in an explosive shockwave that blows out the ceiling, doors, and windows. When the dust clears, you find yourself in a crater in the floor standing over the battered showmare. Her eyes are closed, but you notice that the Amulet is still glowing bright red. Before you can think to do anything else, you hear something odd and unsettling. DWC’s Comment You hear…laughter. “Hahahahahahaha!!!” You look around in confusion...till you realize the laughter is coming from Trixie. “Ahahahahahahahaaaa…” she laughs through split lips as her eyes open and they are almost completely red, even the whites are being overtaken. You look at her in confusion as you ask, "Why are you laughing?” you ask in confusion, and a bit creeped out. She doesn’t answer you, but continues to laugh in that unsettling way. “Stop It!” you growl, but she doesn't stop, in fact her laughter only gets worse. "PUPUPUPUPUPUPU! Oh this wonderful feeling in me! Is this...true despair!? OH it feels so...so....so WONDERFUL!” she teleports in a flash of red and is suddenly in your face causing you to take a step back. “Oh Hoody, I thought you were actually mad at me, but now I see the truth! You just wanted me to feel this wonderful feeling. The feeling of pure and utter despair of a best friend fighting with you!" Your cloak actually falters a bit at just how deranged Trixie is sounding. You take another step back as she brings the bear in front of her face. “That’s right Trixie. The Hooded Offender sure is great isn’t he?” “Oh he is the absolute best,” she responds to her toy. Dear Luna! What is wrong with her!? Truly she has clearly lost her mind. I told you, the amulet corrupts. Sombozo's comment draws your attention to Trixie's neck, where you can now see the cursed necklace is glowing now more than ever, and with it Trixie's insane ramblings seem to get even more nuts. "This feeling of despair...you inflict onto to me so I can learn! Learn how to spread it by knowing how wonderful it feels so I can make other ponies feel it too! Oh Hoody...you really shouldn't have PUPUPUPUPU!" Gritting your teeth you respond, “Insane or not, you’re going down! And that stupid piece of jewelry along with you!” you reach out and grip the amulet and attempt to pry it off of her…but it’s as if it’s heavier than a mountain. You can’t pull it off. “What the…?” you sputter as the amulet glows even more. “Hoody…” Trixie says, almost too sweetly causing you to look into her glowing eyes with your own. Kersey’s Comment “You too want to know this sweet feeling don’t you? To know your own despair?” her hollow voice asks. “He sure does Trixie. He’s already given you the sweetest gift, it’s time for you to return the favor,” “The bear” adds. Still trying to pry off the amulet you ask, "What the buck are y-" "*Gasp* Of course! That explains everything! It will show you how great of a friend Trixie is. If it's despair you want, then it's despair the GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE WILL PROVIDE!!!" You don’t have time to react as Trixie hits you with a red spell blast from her horn that smashes you through several buildings, where you finally stop at the Quills and Sofas. “AAAAAAHHHHH!!!” you scream in pain as you hold onto your chest. It’s been awhile since you’ve felt the pain from your Orichalcum scar, and that blast was enough to make it scream as if it were brand new. That blast. We have not been struck that hard since… “Since the other me, I know. But even he didn’t hurt this hard,” you groan as you stand up. Wrapping two of your tails around your scar you stand up, only to be blasted in the face by another magic shot, which causes you to crash through several couches, ruining them. You look up and see Trixie standing on a sofa with a dramatic pose, smiling creepily. ThePonySpartan’s Comment "Oh Hoody, isn’t it glorious? We’re sharing it with each other. Our bond will strengthen our friendship…" “Not! Your! FRIEND!!!” you yell as you strike out at her, but she teleports out of the way and lifts you up in her telekenisis. “Of course I am silly,” she replies nonchalantly as she throws you through a wall and out into the street. Landing roughly, you look up in time to see her fire a magic beam at you, which you slam away with your tails. Gyah! It’s just like hitting that dome! But at least we can deflect it. Kersey’s Comment Remember how in those stories you always watch, the hero saves the finishing move for last? Yeah, but what does that- Do the reverse of that. "Got it!" you say as you whip out the Power Glove and declare, "Would you kindly buzz off!" unleashing a small swarm of hornets and wasps. While Trixie deals with the insects, you slam two Nightmare Tails into the ground and shove the third one forward to push you back. When the tails are at maximum stretch, you slingshot yourself towards Trixie as you bring a hoof back, wrap it in one of your Nightmare Tails, and declare, "FALCON MIS-!" “Begone Foul Insects!” Trixie shouts with an area blast, scattering the bugs. It also serves to make you skip off the rounded surface of her magic and go flying. “Gorramit!!!” you yell as your own momentum carries you past the outskirts of town and towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Wait! Come Back My Friend!!!” Trixie calls after you. After sailing over a few trees, you come to land through the roof of a small structure. “OOMPH!” you groan as you land on a bed, breaking the frame. As you stand up, you feel dizzy as your eyes spin. “Okay, maybe that’s why they call it a FINISHING move. Trying to do it prematurely ends badly.” That was just a coinici…Uh Oh…Are we…? You look around and your eyes widen as you have the same realization. “Oh Buck…” ThePonySpartan’s Comment Kersey’s Comment “I landed through the roof of my own shack!!!” you yell in dismay. You look back at your ruined tiny bed, and the hole in your roof. “Of course. Of bucking course it had to be my shack!” you yell and pant. You then look away from the damage. “It’s Okay, It’s Okay. I’m leaving anyway. Besides, it’s nothing a few boards and duct tape can’t fix…” *BLAST* “OH COME ON!!!” The left side of your shack is blasted apart revealing the still pure red eyed Trixie. “There you are Hoody. Now’s not the time to play hide and seek,” she declares. The shack is now leaning thanks to the obliterated wall, and your Shrine to stupid sexy Spitfire has been vaporized. You look into her glowing eyes with your own as you reach into the Inventory, pull out Second Law and aim it at her. "Okay. I was annoyed with you before," your eyes glow brighter with rage as you roar in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "BUT NOW I'M BUCKING PISSED!" Nightmare energy flows into the Second Law as you pull the trigger making it fire a midnight-colored cyclone that sends Trixie spinning back out the hole she made and through several Apple Trees. With smoke still trailing from the barrels, you step out of the hole yourself…just in time for you to hear the rest of the shack crumble behind you. You stiffen at the sound, before turning your head and giving a forlorn look at your little abode, which is now just a pile of debris. Sure it was small and dingy and didn’t have any hot water, but it was mine… We’ve had treasured memories within that dwelling, Selena adds with a bit of sadness. You nod your head and declare, “You deserved better shack. I will avenge you,” before looking back to the blue mare who comes floating out of the orchard, laughing that strange laugh of hers again. “Pupupupu! There it is. There is the feeling of despair! Hoody, now you have felt it too,” she squees excitedly. You notice that she has a fresh batch of injuries, and splinters sticking out of her legs, but she doesn’t seem to notice. “Did that hovel have meaning to you?” she asks. “Yeah…Yeah it did…” you seethe before raising your air gun to her. “Add that to the list of what you’ve taken from me!!!” You then send out another dark cyclone, but she teleports behind you. You turn around and see that she is still floating in the air. “You want more? Oh how wonderful you are,” she says dreamily as she starts blasting at you repeatedly. You dodge some and block others, but you’ve all but had enough of this fight. Dodging behind the remains of your house, You reach into you The Inventory and pull out Nightshade's Dark Cannon and Junk Jet, and your Boomstick. You use 3 of your tails to hold the Cannon, Junk Jet, and Second Law like stationary turrets while you carry your BoomStick is in a fourth. This allows you to move faster with all four hooves. “Time for OverKill!” you shout as you leap out and fire a shot with Second Law. She dodges and floats over the debris of your shack. “Would You Kindly Buck UP?!” you yell using Bucking Bronco, which lifts the debris all around her. With her vision momentarily impaired, you rush forth and, just as she flings the debris out of the way, you use your tail holding the Boomstick to hit her right in the Amulet. “AAAHHHH!!!” she screams out as the magic momentarily cuts out and she is flung down into the ground. With that you take your opening. Loading some shack debris into your Junk Jet, you rush forth as Trixie shakily gets up. “Wh-What is…” she gasps in a daze, but you interrupt her as you slam the Boomstick right dead center of the Alicorn Amulet jewell. “AAAAHHHH!!!!” she screams again, losing her aura. You then aim all three guns at her. “Would You Kindly COOL IT?!!!” you yell as you pull the triggers on all of them. Each projectile takes on a property of ice as she is hit with Debris, A Dark Cyclone, and a Laser. She has no breath to scream in pain as she is launched upwards into the air You then send out your shadow whip as your tails are occupied. Just like that time with Discord, Red Sharp Crystals line it. The Whip wraps around Trixie, cutting her in some places. “GET OVER HERE!!!” you yell as you yank her back down. She comes flying right towards you as you yell out, "NO SHADOW BARRAGE!!!" You kick her relentlessly, not letting up, not letting the Amulet or her magic come back online. You hear her gasp and cry out in pain, but you don’t let up. You end your volley by using all of your weapon holding tails to strike her. The hard metal of your guns gives her plenty of blunt force trauma, as your Boomstick strikes true once again. This time, she is leveled into the ground creating a sizable crater. Panting you look inside the hole and see her panting and coughing surrounded by crystal shards. Her lip is cut open again, and there are cuts along her sides. You notice that her left hoof appears to be broken. But most notably, there is a crack on the Alicorn Amulet Jewel. The jewel itself is shining brightly. Growling, you leap down into the hole just as she opens her eyes. “H-Hoody…*Cough* Hoody…” she whimpers out. As she does, you notice the red glow enveloping her wounds, closing them and healing her as another bubble appears around her. “OH NO YOU DON’T!!!” you roar in the RCV. ThePonySpartan’s Comment BrownDog’s Comment Sharp77’s Comment You crystal bend a spire from underneath her, but this time it is deflected as she is entirely in a bubble and not a dome. “Hoody, that’s enough for now. We’ve given each other despair, now let’s-” she responds tiredly. “It Will Never Be Enough!!! Will You Kindly Shock!!!” you yell sending the electrical current through the shield and into her body, causing her to spasm and yell. I should have done this from the beginning, but I was just too pissed I forgot! "I have no one who can support me!" Trixie looks at you just as you send another jolt of electricity into her. “Glluugghhh,” she groans, but still the bubble does not fall. "I'm always on the run!" “We can fix that,” she pipes up. “We can-*Shock* AAAHHH!!!” "My daughter is always in danger!" “I-I…*SHOCK* AHH!” "Everypony hates me!" You then lean your face to the bubble’s surface so that you can see your hatred. "And it's ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" You then press your glove point blank to the bubble and yell. “Would You Kindly Mix It Up!” You switch the glove to both fire and electricity. “Hoody, Please. We can work together. We can fix all of this,” she pleads, her eyes only faintly glowing. “THERE’S NO FIXING IT!!! WOULD YOU KINDLY BURN!!!” Your electric fire travels through the bubble and envelopes her. As she screams in pain, the bubble pops as the magic is used to diffuse the fire. "FALCON PUNCH!" You punch her in the horn, keeping her from fighting back. You then jump atop of her, using your tails to hold her in place as you strike her face again and again, using both hooves. “Without You! None of this would have happened! I’LL HATE YOU FOREVER!!!” you cry out with another punch, followed by a crunch. “Almost as much! *Punch* That I Hate Myself…” you add as all your past pain hits you. You punch her again and again and again, as the pain of the last three years is transferred to her. You hear faraway voices, some young, some dark and feminine, but they don’t come through to you, your anger is all encompassing. It could have been seconds, or a hundred years that you wailed on her, you don’t know. All you know is that when you raised your right hoof for what may have been the hundredth time, something stopped you. A familiar soothing voice… ...Do not become the monster everyone believes you to be... The voice is not quite said aloud, nor did it come from within your head, it came from a different channel. A channel you’ve forgotten you had… Panting, you then bring yourself to reality and look down at the mare below you. She still breathes, which is the one good thing you can say about her. Even with all of your beatings, she still isn’t as seriously hurt as she should be, probably thanks to the amulet. But even still her face is black and blue, has cuts and is swelling. And though the amulet glows, her eyes are shut tight. You slowly back away from her. Did…Did I almost lose it again? You regained your senses, just as I knew you would, Selena whispers sounding relieved. You nod and catch your breath as you hear others whispering above you. You turn your head and see that Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are looking down at you in the whole. They have mixed looks about them, mostly they look shooken up. “Is…Is she…?” Applebloom stammers. You sigh and reply, “She’ll live.” She still seems a bit apprehensive but she gives a nod to your answer. “I…I knew you would never have sided with her,” Scootaloo says aloud. “I’m just glad you stopped. We didn’t know if you could hear our shouts,” Sweetie Belle shudders making you wince. “I…I did. Thanks kids.” Spike then looks to you and asks. “O-Offender?” “Yes Spike?” “B-Before you showed up, Trixie disappeared with our friend. She’s a dark unicorn filly with-“ “Nightshade is with her father,” you respond causing their eyes to widen. “You know her name?” “Her father brought me here. She’s fine. They’re both safe and far away from here by now,” you tell them, which causes their ears to wilt. “Take solace in the fact that they’re safe. Now, all four of you, Go. Go and get your sisters. Have them deal with this piece of trash. I’m done…” They all look at each other before they back out of view and you hear them trotting away. You let out a sigh as your Nightmare Cloak fully dissipates. You then hear coughing come from behind you, and you whirl back around. Trixie hobbily gets back on her hooves, even through all her injuries. “You’ve- *Cough* You’ve won…Can we be friends again now?” she whimpers out. You stare at her, not saying anything for the longest time. “I’m done…” you sigh before you turn around and begin walking out of the crater. FalxofLume’s Comment "H-Hoody? Where are you going? Aren't you glad that I'm here to be a real friend again?" Trixie calls out to you in confusion. You don’t answer as you continue walking through the strewn crystals and scorched earth. "If-If you're still angry about me betraying you, I'm sorry! I made a mistake that I wish I could take back, but I'm making up for it right now!" Trixie pleads some more. You don’t halt your progress as you reach the edge of the massive crater. "Please, wait!!! Stop!!! Say something!!! Anything!!! What do you want me to do?!" She keeps pleading. Perhaps once your heartstrings could have been tugged by her desperate tone. But as it is, you are done with her. “Is it the Despair?! It’s a gift!...Isn’t it?!” she shouts in confusion. “I thought…WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” You turn around at the top of the crater as you answer the mare with the desperate look in her eyes. Eyes that no longer glow red. “I want YOU, to leave this town and never come back. I want you to take your stupid crazy Amulet and disappear. But mostly, I want you to leave me alone, to never speak to me or my daughter ever again!” You declaration echoes across the farmland as the wind whips smoke and dirt around the two of you. Her swollen jaw works up and down, trying to form words, before she finds her voice again. “B-but…I want to be your friend again…” she whimpers. You just glare at her. "Do you honestly think... that anything you say or do now... will ever make up for what I had to go through?" you ask in a voice edged with venom which causes her to flinch back. "You Betrayed Me. You Put on that damned Amulet. You Enslaved This Town. You Put My Daughter in Danger…And You made me wear this cloak again…” “I…I…” she stammers as you see her eyes starting to turn red again. "You wanted Despair Trixie, and now you have it. You made your choice. Now live with it." You then turn back and start walking towards the apple trees. You hear hoofsteps and shifting dirt behind you as Trixie crawls out of the crater. “But…But the despair…It was mine. Why did…How could I have…” she rattles sounding confused. “Hoody Wait!” she calls but you keep walking. Suddenly you hear the sound of metal hitting dirt and a huge gulp of air which causes you to stop. Turning your head you see Trixie leaning on the ground as she clutches her sides, the Alicorn Amulet on the ground next to her. She keeps blinking her eyes as though understanding has flooded them. “It’s…It’s so much clearer now…Will this make you happy?” she asks in a sad tone. Instead of replying, you walk back towards her, as a hopeful look begins to cross her pained visage. You pick up the Alicorn Amulet and stare at the thing that’s caused your latest in a long list of headaches. You then toss it away from you and Trixie, towards the road. In the distance you can see ponies coming your way. You glare one last time at Trixie, before you turn to leave her, but are stopped as she wraps her hooves around your foreleg. “Wait…Please…” she whimpers. You don’t say anything back to her, but you feel her shudder and begin to speak. Fireheart1945’s Comment “I…I never wanted this. I never wanted any of this to happen,” she says as she begins to sob. “I just…I just…” she sniffles one last time before looking up to you. “I just wanted my friend back…” You tug your leg out of her grip causing her to kneel in the dirt again. “You lost that friend the night you stabbed him in the back,” you scold. “DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!” she yells out suddenly before she looks to the ground and continues sobbing. “Don’t you think I know that I made the biggest mistake of my life that night? That I haven’t kicked myself every single day for the last 3 years? That I sold out the only friend I ever had?” You look down on the crying mare at your hooves, listening, but saying nothing. She blubbers through her tears, “I…*Sniff* I know I screwed up. I knew it that very night after I saw what I turned you into.” She then gives one more sniff and lifts her face off the ground. She still doesn’t look to you, but at the puddle of her tears. “After that night, I lost everything. My wagon, my show, my honor…and my friend. No one would take me in, no one would show me the kindness you had. The kindness I’d thrown away. For three years, I would look in the newspaper, and I would read about the things you’ve done. All the destruction, all the mayhem, all the anger…it was all my fault,” she admits. Still you don’t say anything as you listen to her confession. “I knew you were hurting throughout all those times. I…I wanted to help you. I wanted to make it all better, but I didn’t know how. “For what I had done to you, for what I had done to the country, I fell into despair.” She then pulls out the black and white bear plushie. “One day as I toiled on that accursed Rock Farm, I found this toy in one of their rooms and things became clearer. It reminded me of the Ursa Minor and Major, About how black my soul had become, and how dark yours became because of me.” She then looks back up to you, her eyes red, but not from magic. “But this bear is not completely taken. There is still a light side to it, just as there is still light in you and I. I knew I had not completely fallen, and neither had you because of this light side. For there can be no true despair without hope, and that’s what the light side is…hope.” She then stares into the teddy bear’s eyes. “Hope that I could still set things right. Hope that I could find you, Hope that we could…that we could start again. So I set out to find the Alicorn Amulet I’d heard of in legend, for then I could have the power to find you again,” she then holds the bear to her chest. “But when I found it, that’s when everything went wrong,” she shudders and you listen intently. “I had only wanted to do what I’d always done best. Put on a show. Similar to the mock battle we performed that day. A big bad villain that would show up in Ponyville that only the Hooded Offender could stop. I just wanted word to get around to you so that you’d come back…but the Amulet it…it…” You finally speak up. “It corrupted you,” you reply without emotion. She nods and hugs the bear tighter. “It made me believe things…Do things. It made me want to spread the pain I felt to others. It corrupted my plan and my emotions till I…” she sniffles again, “Till I became an even bigger monster than I already was…” She then begins crying again, snuggling her bear to her face. “I’m sorry…I’m so so sorry. Those ponies I hurt, that I tormented, and to you most of all for all the pain you’ve felt for the last three years…I’m so sorry. I didn’t want this…All I wanted was to apologize to you…Not to spread despair…I’m sorry.” She then breaks down in sobs. Despite your best efforts, a bit of guilt does spike in your chest. She wasn’t fully in control…I know the feeling… You then shake your head from that thought. But still, all of this happened because of her decisions. You hear distant voices, and out of the corner of your eye you see that many of the townsfolk have spotted you. You don’t have much time. “Trixie,” you say in a tired voice causing her to stop crying and look to you. “I understand. That amulet was bad news, and you wanted to make things right.” She sniffles and nods. “But…it’s far too late Trixie,” you say with a shake of your head, causing her ears to droop. “Far too late to apologize, far too late to make amends, and far too late for me to forgive you.” You don’t say it angrily, you have no more rage for this day. Only emptiness and exhaustion. “Y-You can’t *sniff* You can’t forgive me?” she blubbers. “I…I don’t think I can Trixie. Too much pain has been spread because of your actions. The rage has lived in my heart for so long, I don’t think I can feel anything else for you…” She then drops the bear at your hooves as her eyes well up again. “Before I met you Trixie, I didn’t have much experience with trust and friendship. I had earned it with a princess, an animal caretaker, and a shaman, and it was new and exciting. It was…wonderful to have anyling that cared for me…And I thought that I had met a fourth friend to add to the mix…” You stare into her eyes your own sad, hurt expression. “She found me beaten, she took me into her wagon and gave me food and shelter. She could have turned me in right then and there, but she didn’t. We traveled for three days, making plans to help the both of us...we had bonded…” You then look down at the bear on the ground. “But it was all a lie…she betrayed me, betrayed everything we had built. She…she broke my trust in the world.” Your voice hitches in your throat. With all of your rage burned away, you now see clearly the root cause of all your anger. Hurt and Sadness. She hurt you so much with just one single action, a hurt that none of your former bullies, or the Deadly 6 could inflict upon you. Because it was the hurt of being betrayed by a friend. You look back into her eyes. “You were my friend Trixie. You were. But that’s all over now.” Her lip starts to quiver, “B-b-but we can try again. We can…we can make a new wagon, we can travel again and put on a show, we can start over and do it right…” Shaking your head you respond, “No we can’t Trixie. Not after everything I’ve done since that night…” you flashback to the Gala, Discord, Fillydelphia, all of the Knights…and The Otherworld. “Trixie…You ruined my life…” You don’t say these words in malice or anger, and that’s what makes them boom. You know your words have hit her harder than any of your punches. She does not start bawling though, her tears silently stream down her cheeks. Only an immense look of guilt graces her face. The distant voices behind you are much louder now. Soon they’ll reach you. Yet still, you do not move as you look upon her face. Eventually it falls as she looks down at her dropped plushie. You let out a sigh and are about to make your exit when she responds in a hollow tone, “You’re right. I did ruin your life, and it is far too late to start again…” she then smudges the white part of the bear with dirt. “You, Nightshade, all of those innocent ponies…they’d all have been better off if I wasn’t around…” she then pauses before her voice takes on a different tone, “If I wasn’t around…” She then looks to you with an almost enlightened look which makes you take pause. “I know how to make this right…” “What do you mean?” you ask a bit unnerved. “I know what I have to do make all of your lives happy…” she says with a smile. She reaches down beside her hind leg and picks up a sliver of one of the crystals you bent. You look from that to her smiling face, warning bells going off in your head. “I’ll make it all better…” Bugze! Stop her! She’s going to- In a flash of panic, you realize what she’s about to do. “No Wait! Sto-“ Your warning comes a split second too late as Trixie takes the crystal by both hooves and rams it into her gut. “NOOOOOO!!!” you yell as you run forward. You catch her just as she’s about to fall forward, which would have driven the crystal further into her. “Oh gods Trixie! Trixie!” you call out in panic as her blood begins to fall. She starts shuddering and panting in pain as you lay her on her back. “Oh No, No NO!” Her eyes are rolling up as she sounds like she’s choking. More on instinct, rather than thought, you grip the crystal and pull it out, which only serves to make her bleed more, soaking your hooves and coat. “No! Don’t do this!” you yell as you place one of your hooves over her wound. “Gotta stop the bleeding, Gotta stop it! Would You Kindly Burn?!” you shout, as you use your glove to burn and cauterize the wound. This causes her to scream anew and for her eyes to focus somewhat. The bleeding seems to stop, but she still continues to cough wetly. “Trixie look at me. LOOK AT ME!!!” you yell. Her eyes try to focus on your black shrouded visage, but she can’t find an anchor as her breathing gets raspy. Gripping the top of your hood, you pull it off so that she can see your eyes more clearly. “Trixie, for the love of Luna focus on me!” This serves to do the trick as her gaze focuses and she smiles. “You have such pretty eyes…” she mutters accompanied by a wet wheeze. “Trixie Why? Why did you do this?!” you blare out in shock cradling her face. “To *wheeze* To make it all better. *Wheeze* Everypony will have happier lives *Wheeze* Without me…” she replies in pain. She then coughs up some blood, and unlike the fight, this is thicker. She continues to cough and shudders again. Still aghast, you hold her head up so she can breathe better. “No, NO NO! This won’t make anyone’s life better or happy Trixie! Don’t you die on me! Please!” you desperately plead to her as her eyes get heavy. “You can…Live out the rest of your days in peace now…” she struggles to say as her breathing gets shallower. “No I can’t! Not like this! Please Trixie, I’m Sorry! I don’t want you gone! I’M SORRY!!!” you desperately apologize as tears come to your eyes. She reaches a bloody hoof out to touch your cheek as she gives you a sad smile “Please do not cry Hoody…It is OK *wheeze* You don’t have to *wheeze* pretend to care anymore…” “I-I-I’m not-I’m not Pre-pre-“ “I’m sorry… I was such a monster…” She apologizes as her eyes close. She lets out a long sigh as her hoof falls from your face, and her body goes still. “Trixie! TRIXIE!!! NOOOO!!! TRRIIXXXIIIEEE!!!”