//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 - Responsibility // Story: Start Of A New Life // by Madox //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle waited anxiously outside of Carousel Boutique in the snow. She knew that she should stay calm, but she couldn't help it. It's been two weeks since Trixie has begun teaching her magic and she was eagerly awaiting the magician to pick her up for another lesson this morning. Till now there has not been much progress as far as she could tell, but Sweetie believed in Trixie and her teaching. "Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie looked besides her and saw Scootaloo running along the street in Sweetie's direction. She slowed down upon getting closer and came to a stop in front of her friend. "What are you doing, sitting around on the street?" Sweetie grinned. "I'm waiting for Trixie to pick me up for another magic lesson." Scootaloo frowned upon hearing that. "Aw, shoot. I wanted to ask if you are free to do something. I'm bored and Applebloom is busy with her chores on the farm." "Sorry, but I don't want to miss this, now that I found somepony who is willing to teach me." "Yeah, I understand," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "To bad that Rainbow Dash still needs to work." Sweetie frowned, but suddenly she got an idea and she began grinning again. "Hey, maybe you can accompany us. That way you won't be alone and we can do something when we are done.” Scootaloo thought for a moment before she shrugged. “Not so sure about it, but better than being alone all day. But do you think Trixie will be okay with it?” “Okay with what?” Scootaloo and Sweetie jumped upon hearing the voice. They turned their heads to see Trixie walking up to them. “Oh, good morning, Trixie,” Sweetie said. “Good morning to both of you.” Trixie said. “What are you talking about?” “Would it be okay if Scootaloo would come with us? She has nothing to do today.” Trixie looked at Scootaloo. “I don't know, she might be too much of a distraction to you, and for her it will be pretty boring.” “I will mostly wait till you are both done probably,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “I think I will practice my scooting a bit if it gets too boring.” Trixie was quiet for a moment before she sighed. “As long as you won't distract Sweetie too much I'm fine with it. But if I tell you to leave, you will do so. Deal?” “Deal,” Scootaloo said with a grin while Sweetie jumped around cheering. 'I truly hope I won't regret that decision,' Trixie thought. ~*~ As predicted it didn't take long before Scootaloo got bored. At first, it was interesting listening to the two unicorns talking about magic, but not long ago it became too much for her. She was laying on her belly on the enchanted blanket that Trixie got from Twilight to block out the cold of the snow beneath them, staring into nothing while Trixie and Sweetie were sitting beside her, the former watching while the latter had her eyes closed, a tennis ball in front of her. “Stay calm and keep your focus,” Trixie said in a quiet voice to not distract Sweetie Belle. “Concentrate and imagine that the ball is floating.” “I think I can feel something...,” Sweetie mumbled. “That's good, try to keep this feeling,” Trixie whispered. Scootaloo couldn't resist groaning quietly. It was just too boring sitting around doing nothing. Just as she was about to stand up and do some tricks on her scooter she felt a nudge from her side. She looked over and saw Trixie looking at her, a small smile on her face. She moved her hoof to her mouth, motioning Scootaloo to keep quiet, before she moved it to her horn and then to Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo looked at her friend, not seeing anything special. But after a moment she noticed a light, flickering green shimmer around Sweetie's horn. It took her a second to realize what it was, but after she did she stared at her friend, her mouth agape and eyes wide. She looked down at the ground in front of Sweetie and saw the ball floating in the air. It was not even an inch above the ground, but it was floating nonetheless. Sweetie did it, she was using her magic. “Wow...,” Scootaloo exclaimed, not able to keep quiet. The moment she said it Sweetie opened her eyes, the magic around her horn fading. “Huh, what's...” Before she could finish her sentence she noticed a motion on the floor from the corner of her eye and looked down. The ball, that had fallen down when the magic had faded away, was barely moving before it came to a rest. Sweetie kept staring at it for a moment, trying to understand what just happened. “Did... did the ball just move?” “Yes, Sweetie, it did,” Trixie said calmly. Sweetie Belle poked the ball with her hoof. “Did you or Scoots move it?” Trixie shook her head. “No Sweetie, neither Scootaloo nor I moved it in any way.” Sweetie finally looked into Trixie's face. “Does this mean...?” Trixie nodded again. “Yes, it does. You did it Sweetie Belle, you used ma...” She was interrupted by a white filly that tackled her to the ground and buried her face in her chest. “I did it, I really did it! Thank you, Trixie, thank you so much!” “You are welcome,” Trixie giggled as Scootaloo joined her friend in celebrating. ~*~ After a few minutes of celebrating Trixie managed to calm down the two fillies as good as possible, which means that Sweetie Belle would not stop grinning like Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush. “Now, Sweetie, I understand that you are more than excited that you finally did it, but don't forget that it is just the beginning. Now that you managed to use a spell with a bit of control it will be easier since you know the feeling, but it still means you need to practice getting better.” Sweetie nodded, the grin not leaving her face. “Understood. Can I try it again?” Trixie shook he head. “Not to discourage you, but I don't think right now would be a good idea. You are much to excited to find a calm thought, which makes it pretty hard to practice.” Upon seeing the disappointed face from the filly Trixie thought for a moment. “How about this. We take a small break for now, and later, when you calmed down enough, we will try once more for today.” Sweetie Belle perked up after hearing that, taking a break would mean that they would sit down and Trixie would answer some questions Sweetie got or tell her more about magical theory before they continued the practical lessons. “That sounds good.” “Very well,” Trixie said as she settled down on the blanket and Sweetie sat down besides her. As Trixie looked at Scootaloo's slightly bored expression she got another idea. “Hey, Scootaloo, since this will be pretty boring for you, would you like to go to Sugar Cube Corner and get us some cupcakes to celebrate? It's my treat.” “Sure, I can do that,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. Everything was better than sit down and get bored again. “Good,” Trixie said while she got a few Bits out of her saddlebag and handed them over to Scootaloo. “But don't tell anypony yet that Sweetie used magic. I guess she would like to tell her sister personally and not through gossip.” Sweetie nodded in agreement with a smile. “Got it,” Scootaloo said before she ran towards the town again, her mane ruffled by a breeze that came from the direction of the town. Trixie looked for a moment after the orange filly before she turned her head to Sweetie Belle. “Now, Sweetie, is there something you would like to ask or should I explain something?” Sweetie pondered a minute about a question she could ask as her gaze wandered around before it came to a stop upon Trixie's Cutie Mark. “There is something I wondered about for some time. When the others and I asked you about your Cutie Mark you said it's for your talent with magic, but Twilight also got a Cutie Mark in magic and hers is so much different from yours. Is there a reason for that?” “That's a good question, and there is a good reason for it. You see, a talent in magic is not necessary like another talent in magic since there are many different kinds of magic. “Magic is divided in different magic schools like fire or water magic. And many ponies with a talent in magic concentrate on one or two schools, that depends on the pony and the element they are good with. For example, a unicorn with a talent in fire magic might be able to use ice magic as well. If you take away the heat with magic, there will be ice, and if you take away the cold there will be heat. Of course, it's more complicated than this, but as long as your talent is not magic related you won't use much of this. “My special talent is in illusion magic, and I'm proud to say that it's one of the hardest magic schools to learn and perform. To explain it as easy as possible I manipulate your senses to belief in things that are not here, like I created the manticore weeks ago to chase away Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. At that time I tricked their vision and their hearing, that's as much as I'm capable of, but if I was stronger I would be able to manipulate other senses as well, like feeling and smelling. “Twilight on the other hoof is some kind of special case. I asked her myself soon after I moved here and she told me the best way to describe her cutie mark is an allround talent in magic itself. She is capable of performing spells of all the schools to some degree, some still easier than others, but with some learning and trying she might be able to perform such a big range of spells Equestria has not seen in a long time.” Trixie looked down at Sweetie besides her with a smile. “And that's roughly the difference between Twilight's and my magic talent. I could go into more details, but I don't think that's necessary right now.” “I think I got it,” Sweetie said. “Did you ever meet somepony else with a Cutie Mark in magic?” “There was a professor at Celestias school I remember, and I heard some stories about a former student of the princess with an amazing talent in fire magic. But besides these two I can't recall anypony right now.” “Are these magic cutie mark that rare?” Trixie shook her head. “Not necessary. Some just don't like the attention and prefer to be left alone, or others just don't realize their true talent at all.” Sweetie opened her mouth to ask another question, but before she could she was interrupted by somepony calling out. They both turned into the direction of Ponyville and saw Scootaloo ran up to them, a paper bag juggling on her back. Trixie smirked. “It seems it's time for our little celebration. Didn't expect her that soon, she is one fix filly.” “If it's about something to eat she might be faster than Rainbow Dash,” Sweetie giggled and Trixie joined. The wind shifted directions and brought something from the woods. “Eww, what is that smell?” Sweetie asked, her face scrunched up in disgust. “It's worse like the time Scootaloo tumbled into a skunk.” Trixie's eyes grew and a shiver ran down her spine. She knew that smell. She had more experience than she liked to have with it and knew what it means after years of traveling. “Sweetie, we need to run! Scootaloo, stay away!” Trixie yelled as she stood up. But before she was able to do another step three timberwolves stormed out of the woods and surrounded both unicorns. Sweetie Belle screamed in fear and scrambled closer to Trixie who did her best to shield the filly. Trixie watched the timberwolves circling her and Sweetie, doing her best to keep an eye on all of them. Out of the corner of her eye she could she Scootaloo frozen in place. Til now she has been ignored by the timberwolves, but it won't be long before they notice her. “Scootaloo!” Trixie yelled. This seemed to pull the filly out of her frozen state. “Run! You need to find help!” “B-but...” “No but! I can distract them for a short time, but not for long! Get the guards, quick!” Scootaloo hesitated for a moment, but turned around and ran away. The Timberwolf closest to her noticed the movement and took a step in her direction only to receive a stone Trixie threw with magic against it head. It turned again and snarled at Trixie. “Well, I got its attention...” “Trixie, w-what should we do?” Sweetie Belle squeaked from behind her legs. “Don't worry, Sweetie. Scootaloo will be back with help in no time, we only need to distract them for some time. Now climb on my back and hold on as strong as you can,” Trixie said while she lowered her back to Sweetie to climb on. The filly did as told and grabbed Trixie's neck as good as she could. Trixie meanwhile kept her eyes on the Timberwolfs around her and pondered about her possibilities. She was not a fighter, she didn't even know any attack or defense spells. In the past her tactic for dealing with this kind of situation was distraction with illusions and running away as fast as possible. But if she tries to run away now she would lead them into town with most of the guards on the other side of town guarding the border of the Everfree. Who knows what they would do in the middle of Ponyville? And Trixie was not even sure if she could run fast enough with Sweetie Belle on her back in the first place. So her only real option was to stall them long enough for help to arrive. Another idea occurred to her and she shot one of her magical fireworks up in the air. 'I hope somepony saw that and comes looking, just in case...' Slowly the Timberwolfs closed the circle around both of them, and while observing the Wolfs for any kind of weakness like cracked branches or something similar, Trixie noticed something purple stuck between some branches of one of the wolfs, something that looked like a piece of fabric. Trixie's eye grew in recognition. She knows what it is, but she can't believe it. The timberwolf behind Trixie noticed her distraction and made its move. It run closer from behind and jumped at Trixie, but she has heard the crunching of the snow and saw it at the last moment. She used her magic to throw up the blanket they had sat on in the path of the wolf and jumped to the side. The wolf got tangled up in the blanket and fell to the floor. Trixie used this opportunity to buck the wolf with both hind legs as strong as possible and Trixie watched as it broke apart into many branches and leafs. “Hah, that's the disadvantage of being made out of pieces of wood!” Just after saying that she saw the first pieces slowly reassemble themselves. Trixie gulped. “And that's the advantage of it.” A growl from behind her made Trixie turn her attention to the other two Timberwolfs who closed the distance between them. Trixie doubted the trick would work a second time, but nonetheless she brought the blanket between herself and the closes wolf which ripped it apart with its claws. 'Well, I guess I own Twilight a new blanket,' Trixie thought before she turned and ran to get some more distance between herself and the approaching wolves. She tried to create a fire wall illusion between herself and the monsters, but besides making them hesitate for a second before they rushed through it didn't help her much. 'That's what I thought,' Trixie thought to herself. 'Since they are magical beings they can see through my illusions quickly.' With her illusions mostly out of question, she instead threw anything she came along into the path of the timberwolves, even the snow to block their line of sight. When she did so she changed directions and dealt some kicks against their legs and bodies to buy precious seconds whenever she had the chance. At first Trixie managed to keep herself out of range of the two timberwolves, but as soon as the third one reassembled itself and started chasing her as well, things got much tougher. She did everything she could to stay ahead of them, but with only one of her and three of them there was no way for her to win. That Sweetie Belle on her back was slowing her down as well did not help, and with every passing moment she grew more and more tired. She had just managed to make two of the timberwolves collide with each other when they tried to cut off her way and she jumped to the side at the last moment. But she had no time to catch her breath when the third one drew closer and pounced on her. Trixie tried to change directions again, but to her horror she slipped on the frozen pond that was hidden beneath the snow and fell to the floor. Luckily the timberwolf had too much momentum and flew right over the fallen pony, but Sweetie Belle was not able to hold on any longer and fell from her back, rolling through the snow with a scream. To her horror Trixie saw that the timberwolf had noticed Sweetie falling from her back and raced up to her to catch the easy prey. She came back to her hooves as quickly as possible and ran up to the filly. “Sweetie Belle!” Sweetie Belle looked up and saw the timberwolf running up to her and screamed, trying to crawl away. Just as the timberwolf pounced at her, Trixie jumped as well without thinking and grabbed Sweetie Belle. She managed to shove her out of the well but got hit by the claws of the timberwolf. She screamed in pain while she hit the ground, still holding Sweetie in her forehooves. She groaned as she released the filly from her grasp. “Sweetie, are you okay?” The filly was holding on to Sweetie, crying into her breast. “Y-yes, but what about you? You're hurt!” Trixie looked down at her flank. Just beneath her cutie mark were three long slashes with blood tickling out and dying her coat red. She put on a smile. “Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks like.” She tried to stand up again, but the pain was too much as she clenched her teeth and fell back to the floor. “Okay, maybe it is worse than I thought.” Another now all to familiar growl made her look up and she saw that the timberwolves had surrounded them once again. But this time Trixie had no way to escape, neither had Sweetie on her own. As the wolf in front of her crouched down to pounce at them Trixie pulled even closer and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable and the pain. It never came. Instead, Trixie heard a loud crash and was hit by several small objects. She opened her eyes slowly to look at what happened. The first thing she saw were several small branches, sticks and leaves around her on the floor. She looked up to the place the timberwolf occupied moments before and saw a huge red shape standing in front of her. “Eeenope!” “B-Big Macintosh!” Trixie breathed out in relieve. Sweetie gasped upon hearing that and looked up at the stallion, tears in her eyes. Big Mac turned his head slightly in their direction without leaving the remaining timberwolves out of his sight. “Are ya alright?” Trixie nodded. “Mostly. I got hit, but Sweetie is alright.” “Glad to hear so.” He turned his glaze fully on the timberwolfves. “Now, if ya wanna brawl, bring it on!” The timberwolves took a few steps back, not sure what to do while the third one reassembled itself. The blue one with the kid has already been way more trouble than they expected, and now there was this big one protecting the other two. Before they could make a decision there were new sounds coming from the direction of the town. Trixie looked around and saw a group of guards rushing to them, Scootaloo sitting on the back of the captain at the top. Realizing that there was no prey for them to make the timberwolves ran back into the woods as fast as possible, followed by some of the guards to make sure that they won't return. The captain together with three other guards stopped in front of Trixie and Sweetie Belle. “We came as fast as we could when the little filly told us. Are you alright?” Trixie nodded. “We are, but without Big Macintosh we would not talk to each other. He came at the right time to safe us.” The stallion blushed slightly at the praise. “It was just luck. Ah saw the fireworks earlier and was curious what was going on.” Sweetie Belle wiggled herself free out of Trixie's embrace and ran up to Big Mac, throwing herself around his neck. “Thank you, thank you so much for saving us.” Big Mac smiled as he put a hoof around Sweetie. Trixie relaxed and allowed herself a smile. She tried to get on her hoof only to fall back to the floor with a grunt when the pain from the mark on her flank made itself known. Upon seeing her fall the guard captain rushed to her side. “You are injured, please lay down.” He turned to his subordinates. “You two, transport her to the hospital, and you run ahead and inform the nurses that we got an injured mare coming soon.” The guards saluted and began their tasks. Trixie relaxed on the cold floor with her eyes closed while the two guards packed out a stretcher for her transport. It was over, she had protected Sweetie from harm and only with a small injury on her own part. She shuddered when she thought about what might have been without Big Macintosh though. The guards hat put her on the stretcher in the meantime and were just about to start their track to the hospital when Trixie remembered something. She sat up as good as she could and looked around the meadow. “Is something wrong, miss?” one of the guards asked, but Trixie didn't listen. She knew that each timberwolf had broken apart at least once, so with a bit of luck it should be around somewhere. Finally, Trixie found what she was looking for. She used her magic to levitate it over to her and looked at the small piece of fabric in her hoof. 'I knew it...', she thought. ~*~ Not long after Trixie found herself in a hospital bed. Her wounds has already been patched up and she was waiting for the doctor for his final diagnosis. Sweetie Belle was by her side, covered in small plasters for her bruises. The filly had refused to leave her side even for a moment, and none of the nurses saw a reason to separate them. “So, what do you think how long it will be until your sister will arrive?” Trixie asked the filly. Sweetie Belle put a hoof on her chin in thought. “Well, it's been about 15 minutes since Scoots went to get her, so I think she should be here...” As if on cue there came a cry from outside their room. “Where is she?! Where is my sister?!” “...any second,” Sweetie chuckled. The door flew open and there was Rarity standing in the frame, frantically looking around with her eyes wide open before they fell on her sister. “Sweetie Belle!” Faster than Trixie could follow her she has traveled to the side of the bed and wrapped Sweetie Belle in her embrace. “Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened to you?” “Rarityyy. I'm alright, please let me breath,” the filly whined while Trixie couldn't suppress a giggle. “I'm really glad to see that you are both alright,” a new voice said from the door and Trixie saw Twilight walking up to the bedside. “When Scootaloo came running into the boutique shouting about both of you being attacked I assumed the worst.” “Luckily nothing serious, only some bruises for Sweetie and a small injury for me,” Trixie said while she motioned to her flank and the filly who was still struggling to free herself from her sister. Said filly finally broke free and after some quick breaths she motioned to Trixie. “But only because of Trixie. She shoved me out of the way and got hit instead. She saved my life!” Rarity regarded Trixie with eyes wide in awe. “Y-you threw yourself in harms way to safe Sweetie?” After a short hesitant nod from the blue mare Rarity drew closer and pulled her in an embrace. “Trixie, I can't say how grateful I'm for what you did. You saved my sister, the most precious little being in my life. Whenever you need help, feel free to come to me. I will do whatever I can do to help you.” “Please, stop it,” Trixie mumbled while she pushed Rarity away. Rarity blinked. “Trixie? Is something wrong, darling?” Trixie looked down with a frown on her face. “I don't deserve any praise for what happened.” Rarity was surprised and looked at Twilight and Sweetie Belle, hoping that they would know what Trixie was talking about. But judging by their faces they were as clueless as she was. “What do you mean, Trixie? You saved my sister. Clearly you deserve some...” “It was my fault that we were attacked in the first place.” Rarity took a step back, shock on her face. “W-what?” Trixie felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up slightly to see Twilight besides her, concern written on her face. “Trixie, what makes you think so?” Trixie said nothing at first. Instead, she used her magic to levitate the purple piece of fabric she brought with her over to the bed from the bedside table. “This was stuck in the branches of one of the timberwolves that attacked us.” The other ponies looked at the small piece. “I don't get it,” Sweetie Belle said. “It looks familiar, and is that yellow part the rest of a star?” Twilight asked before her eyes widened. “Oh, Trixie.” “What is it, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “Do you know what it is?” Before Twilight could say anything else Trixie spoke up. “It's a piece of my old cape I lost weeks ago while running from a timberwolf. It followed my scent and found me.” The room was silent for a few minutes while Trixie continued looking down, afraid to meet the eyes of her friends. She was sure that it would be like all the times before, and that she would be alone again. To her surprise she found herself in a group hug, started by the little filly she has saved earlier. Trixie couldn't help herself and she started crying quietly. “Trixie, it's not your fault,” Twilight whispered. “It wasn't your intention to bring them here, and you did everything you could to defend yourself and Sweetie Belle, even going so far to throw yourself in danger to save her.” The group released Trixie of the hug. “And besides, I doubt that the timberwolves were able to follow the scent from the cape all the way from the Everfree Forest around Ponyville into the Whitetail Woods. They must have been already inside the woods to find you. They could have attacked anypony else, someone who could not defend him- or herself.” Trixie rubbed her eyes with her leg and smiled. “M-maybe you are right, thank you.” “And no matter why it happened in the first place, darling, you risked your own life to save Sweetie Belle, and I will never forget this,” Rarity said with a smile. Trixie bit her lip and nodded. She felt something warm inside her she never felt before. These are her friends, or at least some of them, who truly loves her for who she is and she has not felt that way since her mother died. “No matter why they came in the first place, knowing that the timberwolfves and who knows what else has left the Everfree is terrible,” Twilight said with a frown. “I will inform Princess Celestia later and ask her for more help, the current amount of guards in Ponyville can't keep watch over the Everfree Forest and the Whitetail Woods at the same time.” There was a knock on the door which opened soon after and a brown maned stallion clad in a doctor's coat walked in. “Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?” Trixie shook her head while rubbing away the last tears. “No, it's alright, doctor.” “Good. So, miss Lulamoon, it seems everything is fine as far as we can tell. Your injury is only minor, and it should not even leave a scar, and if it does it should be hidden by your fur when it grows back. So you are free to go home, but since the injury was inflicted by a magical creature we would like to keep you here in the hospital overnight, just to be sure that there are no complications. It's your decision if you want to stay or not.” Trixie thought about it for a moment. “Well, I think I will stay. Better safe than sorry if something comes up.” “If that's the case I will make sure that you get anything you need for today, darling, and I will pay for all the expenses that might occur. That's the least I can do for you,” Rarity said. Trixie opened her mouth to say something but Rarity beat her to it. “And I will not accept a 'no' from you. I insist.” Trixie has learned early that there was no way to win against Rarity when she offers something with this tone of voice, so she simply nodded. “Thank you.” “Alright, I will make sure that the nurses are informed that you will stay the night,” the doctor said. “I wish you a good evening and night, and I will see you tomorrow, miss Lulamoon. As soon as the door was closed Trixie turned her attention to the filly by her side with a smirk and a wink of her eye. “Well, I guess you need to wait a bit longer for your celebration cupcake I promised you, Sweetie Belle.” The filly gasped, she had totally forgotten that she has succeeded in using magic before the timberwolves came along. “Celebration cupcake?” Rarity asked. “Did I miss something, Sweetie?” The next minutes were filled with an overexcited filly telling her sister and Twilight about her accomplishment. ~*~ Trixie was happy, probably the most happy in a very long time. Of course, she was in the hospital after the timberwolf attack, but that could not cloud her happiness. After Twilight and Rarity had left with Sweetie Belle she has been visited by all of her friends over the day, and for the first time since her fillyhood she really felt like she found true happiness. She looked around her room and snickered. It was filled with different small presents from each of them, even if she would only stay for one night. Rainbow Dash came with Scootaloo and has borrowed her one of her Daring Do books to fight the boredom. Fluttershy has left a small plush bunny on her bedside table, which creeps Trixie out since it looks exactly like Angel Bunny. Applejack came along with Big Macintosh and Applebloom, and Trixie used the opportunity to thank the stallion properly. They had left her a small basket with apples, to counter the bad hospital food. Pinkie Pie has left several trays of cupcakes and muffins on every surface that could hold one, and Trixie never saw her placing one, they just appeared every time when she turned around while the pink mare was in the room. The biggest surprise was to see Lyra entering her room along with Bon Bon, who seemed to be truly concerned for her. They even brought by a box full of Trixie's favorite candy. Trixie relaxed and snuggled deeper into her blanket. Visiting hours are nearly over, and all of her friends had visited her already, so she prepared herself for some well-earned sleep after the hardships of the day. Just as she was about to fall asleep she heard a barely audible knock on the door. She sat up again and yawned. “Yes?” The door opened slowly and the last one Trixie ever expected looked inside. “Spike?” “Uhm, Trixie? May I come in?” “Of course. Please, come in.” Spike stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. Slowly he walked up to Trixie in her bed, fidgeting with his claws and head slightly lowered. When he reached the bed he simply stood there, looking at the floor. After several moments of awkward silent Trixie levitated a chair besides Spike without saying anything, but Spike seemed to understand and took a seat. The room was silent for several minutes while Trixie waited for Spike to say something before she decided to start the conversation herself. “I must admit, I didn't expect you to come by,” Trixie said slowly “No wonder, after how I treated you...” He finally looked up into Trixie's eyes. “Trixie... I...” He kept hesitating until Trixie spoke up. “Spike, feel free to say whatever you want to say. I won't bite, and I won't be angry at you, no matter what you say.” He kept staring at her. “Why? After everything I said and did...” Trixie chuckled. “Spike, think about everything I did and how I was forgiven. I should be the last pony to hold a grudge.” Spike took a deep breath. “Trixie, I'm sorry for how I treated you these past weeks. I thought you were just waiting for the time to strike with whatever your plan was, but after I heard what happened...” He shook his head. “I don't think so any longer. You had no reason to risk your own live to save Sweetie Belle. If you had any kind of plan you could have just left her and think of a lie to tell, but you didn't. You stayed by her side and saved her.” He hesitated for another moment. “Do you think that you can forgive me and start anew?” Trixie closed her eyes and after a moment in which she seemed to think about it she replied. “That depends...” “On what?” Trixie opened her eyes. “Do you forgive me for everything I did in the past?” Spike did not hesitate this time. “Yes, I do. I did ignore everything when Twilight tried to reason with me before, but I should have listened. But now I'm willing to forgive you.” Trixie smiled. “Than I'm willing to do the same.” She stretched out her hoof to Spike. “What do you say? Friends?” Spike smiled as well and shook her hoof with his claw. “Friends.” The two of them chatted for a while longer while Trixie was thinking. 'I can't believe how lucky I'm to be forgiven and find such friends. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Lyra, maybe even Bon Bon and now Spike as well. I don't know what I would do if I lose them.' She frowned slightly which went unnoticed by Spike. Today has been way too close for her liking. She and Sweetie Belle only survived thanks to Big Macintosh. It was luck, nothing more. On her own she was nearly helpless against the timberwolves. That would not do in the future, she wants to protect her new friends as good as possible. But she was never good with any kind of magic that could truly help in a fight, and she doubted that she could figure everything out on her own. She needed help. Trixie blinked when she realized what that meant. With a groan she fell back with her head on her pillow. “Trixie, are you alright?” Spike asked in concern. “Yes, Spike everything is good. I just realized that it got very cold in Tartarus...”