//------------------------------// // Left for Dead // Story: A HEART-warming TAIL // by PirateCattheShipper //------------------------------// An icy cold wind struck Trixie's face as she struggled through the snow, pulling at her wagon desperately. The fleece shoes that were supposed to keep her hooves warm were starting to fall apart and icicles clung to her fur and even mane. Then, all of a sudden, her wagon seemed to dip and then stop working. Trixie swung her head back to take a quick look, and what she saw and knew she did not want to believe, though the cold dread was dropped like a stone into her churning belly. Ice covered the Illusionists wheels like frosting and snow was quickly piling near the wheels, burying them in its white, freezing depths. Anxiety pinned Trixie's ears flat against her skull, and she gasped. "This can't be happening! If my wagon gets stuck in this storm, I'll freeze to death!" She rubbed her nose briefly with a trembling hoof--not that the rest of her was not trembling. "Trixie would never see Starlight again! Nonetheless confess her silly emotions to that caring mare!" A wobbly frown shuddered on her red muzzle. Trixie gingerly took the metal strap from her flanks and raced into her wagon, fear flaring inside of her. "It can't be!!!" She whinnied, shutting her door, which slammed harder than she'd intended since the wind was so strong, causing her to stagger back. "Somepony save me!" Starlight Glimmer felt a twinge of cold as she hoisted herself to stand on her hind hooves, her forehooves resting on her windowsill as she gazed worriedly out of it. Wherever could Trixie be? She wondered, scanning the thick snow outside. "Why would that crazy pony even leave?" Starlight tapped her chin with a hoof, her earlier smile curving to a frown. Wouldn't Trixie want to spend Hearthswarming with me? We had so much fun at the Summer Sun Festival. . .I'd hate for us not to spend Hearthswarming together! Especially since Twilight is considering sending me away. . . Tears flooding in her blue-purple eyes, Starlight rested her head between her forelegs. Her jaw pressed against her windowsill, leaving a sliver of pain in her wake, but she was too concerned about Trixie to care. "I hate to admit it," The powerful Unicorn began, slumping to the ground with her back against the wall, "but I really think I'm getting some feelings for her. . ." Even just thinking of the Illusionist dawned something fuzzy inside of Starlight, and almost every thought in her sophisticated brain was taken up by that blue mare. "I just hope she's okay. . ." Starlight positioned herself to look out the window, and to her surprise the snow had already built. Wow, looks like the pegasi have really outdone themselves, She observed as fresh snowflakes coated the somewhat older ones. "Starlight!" Twilight slammed her door open, her smile stretching skin over her joyous violet eyes. "Uh, yes, Twilight?" Starlight got to her hooves and faced Twilight, her necklace dangling from her neck. "Pinkie Pie made us cake! Care to join us? Plus, soon we'll be starting some games! You can invite Trixie, if you want. Thorax is already here, and so is Discord!" "Do you even have any idea where Trixie is?" "Er, no. You guys were so close"--A jolt sliced through Starlight--"that I just thought you knew where she was. Also, because you could have been hiding her in you room." Twilight finished with a small giggle. "Well, I don't either. I haven't seen her since the day before Hearthswarming Eve!" Panic jeered Starlight until she panted, a shaky hoof on her fluffy chest. "I'm so scared for her, Twilight! I mean, what if she is stuck in the storm?? That pony has no mo--she isn't rich, and she doesn't have heat!" The tears that were welling in Starlight's eyes finally slid out--no, gushed out--as she vented to Twilight. "And I think I have a crush on her, but, no, this isn't some dumb filly crush! I really love Trixie, and I'm just horrified! Twilight, what's the worst that could happen?" Starlight danced on her hooves and the bright red heart on her necklace was shiny with salty tears. Twilight was shocked, but Starlight was speaking too fast for anypony to say a word. "I mean, what if the Wendigos come back? And, and, and, what if I never see Trixie again?!" She finished, still panting as though she'd run a million miles within three heartbeats. Tears cascaded down her face like water wood from a waterfall. "Starlight," Twilight still couldn't brush the shock off of her, but she tried her best to look calm, "I'm sure Trixie feels the same. In all the seasons we've known each other she's never acted so kind, so dedicated to anypony. I'm seriously not just saying this, I've never seen Trixie act so compassionate. She really loves you, Starlight. . ." The Alicorn princess wrapped a caring hoof around her friend's neck. Starlight sniffed, wiping away a tear as she stepped out of the hug. "Are you sure?" She asked, her eyes shining. "Why, yes, of course. If you would want to go looking for Trixie, though. . ." Twilight's soft gaze turned hard as she stared out Starlight's iced up window. "I won't allow that. You have started to teach Trixie magic anyway. Plus, she could maybe teleport or even walk. Possibly levitate herself?" Twilight tapped her chin with a furry purple hoof. "But what if Trixie's really stuck?" Starlight breathed, her heart practically leaping to her throat. "Trust me. Somepony would have noticed her. Now," Twilight wrapped a foreleg around Starlight's bristling neck and said with a smile; "come and join us." Trixie huddled, quivering excessively, under the covers of her freezing bed. Her eyes were wide with fear and cold, and she could feel ice start to freeze onto her thick blue horn. "Alright. It's fine. Trixie will just use her magic to turn the wheels." Trixie gulped and, mustering up all of her strength and fluffing up her coarse blue fur, trotted outside, her mane and tail flailing in the heavy wind. "Focus, Trixie." She willed out loud to herself. "This will work, and you will turn those wheels! Turn the wheels, turn the wheels. . ." Scraping a hoof over the ground and then tilting her horn towards the snow, Trixie's magic sparked on her horn and a lazerbeam of it struck her wheel. A heating spell. Surely it would work? Nope. Trixie's wheel burst to flames, crumbling to black ash that stung the showmare's nostrils. The fire burned her eyes, and she reeled backward, taken aback. Well, on the bright side, it didn't turn into a teacup. . .Though, I have to admit, I would like that more. "Oh, no!" Suddenly, Trixie raced into her wagon, snatching a towel in her jaws, and pelting back outside. Feverishly, she waved it over the fire. "If it burns my food, then I will starve and freeze!!" Once the raging fire had burned out and her wagon slumped to the side from the loss of a wheel, Trixie pelted yet again inside. The Illusionist skittered--slid, even--to the corner of her Wagon, where her food would be neatly stacked. Would be. Tears swelled in Trixie's eyes like blood from a paper cut, and she felt her lips quiver and her heart shatter. The word swayed beneath her stiffened hooves and a desolate sorrow clung to her belly, where a ferocious storm was raging, as was one outside as well. Hopelessness rose from her like a foul stench and her nostrils flared as she drew in a deep, tense breath that was corrupted by fear. Tears started to burst from her purple eyes and she collapsed on the wooden boards of her Wagon's floor, shoulders shaking in anguish. Her stomach flipped so many times she felt bile rise in her clenched throat, and she choked on her breath, salty tears filling her mouth. She swallowed them absently, gasping for air and slamming a hoof on the floor. "However will I survive?? It's not like Starlight will come back for me!!"