//------------------------------// // A Fractured Friendship // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// The morning was bordering on afternoon when Trixie finally awoke. She felt much better than she had when she had first gone to bed, and for that she was grateful. She climbed out of bed and stretched her legs, looking about the room idly as she tried to fully wake up. Her eyes fell upon the closet for a brief moment and she furrowed her brow in thought. Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? She was sure she had put everything back the way it was after... She shook her head and trotted towards the bedroom door. Well, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll remember it later if it's really that important. Trixie stepped outside the room to find the other two fillies sitting at the table with their muzzles in their respective textbooks. They looked up when they heard the door close behind the blue filly. "Hey, Trixie," Sunset greeted with a careful smile, "you sleep good?" "Trixie slept quite well as a matter of fact," Trixie replied with a nod. She looked away uncomfortably for a moment, "admittedly, Trixie was feeling... out of sorts yesterday," she looked back to the other two with a reassuring grin, "but she's feeling much better now." "That's great, Trixie!" Sunset replied with a more relieved smile, "I'm glad to hear it." "It's good to see that you're doing okay, Trixie," Twilight agreed with a nod, "we were worried about you." "Well, worry no more, Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said as she made her way to the kitchen, "Trixie is once again her Glorious and Radiant self." As Trixie passed by Twilight, she noticed the lavender filly giving her an odd look, but when she turned to ask about it, Twilight had already gone back to reading. Shrugging it off, she trotted the rest of the way to the kitchen to make herself some brunch. After a few quite moments of food preparation, Trixie finally spoke up from within the kitchen. "Is Uncle Scroll still in his study?" "No, he left a little bit ago," Sunset called back, "went into town to help prepare for the Spring Festival tomorrow." "Oh... right," Trixie muttered with a grimace, "of course." Twilight's ear gave a slight twitch and turned a worried gaze towards the kitchen doorway. "Is everything alright, Trixie?" she asked, "are you... still sure you want to go?" "It's alright, Twilight Sparkle," Trixie assured as she trotted out of the kitchen with a bowl of mac and cheese, "Trixie just... doesn't like crowds, that's all," she took up a seat at the table and levitated over her own textbooks from the other table near the front door, "Trixie will deal with it when the time comes." "Alright, if you say so, Trixie," Twilight replied with an unconvinced frown. She went back to her book and the three of them spent the next few hours or so studying in relative silence, occasionally asking each other a question or getting something to eat or drink. Eventually, Trixie snapped her book shut with an exaggerated sigh. "Trixie thinks that's enough for now," she exclaimed, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "she needs a break... badly." Sunset looked over to the clock hanging on the far wall and nodded, marking her page and closing her own book. "Yeah, I guess I could use a break too," she dropped down from her seat and turned to the lavender filly, "Twilight?" Twilight gave a slight shake of her head as she focused on the notes she was taking. "I'm good." Sunset raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about it and instead turned a questioning look to Trixie. "So what did you want to do?" she asked curiously. "It looks warm out, so Trixie is going for a trot," Trixie answered as she head towards the front door. She stopped and turned to Sunset with a raised eyebrow, "are you coming, Sunset Shimmer?" "Well I already went with Twilight earlier," she said with a shrug, "but I guess I don't mind going again. And besides," she added with a smirk, "I want to see what the deal is with you and the squirrels." Trixie groaned and trotted out the door with Sunset following right behind. "Trixie swears those blasted rodents have it out for her! Aren't they supposed to hibernate in the winter or some... The door clicked shut and Twilight was left alone in the living room. She eyed the door for a few moments before sliding out of her chair. She looked around the room, her tail flicking back and forth nervously. A small pang of guilt stabbed at her as she thought about what she was planning to do. I know Uncle Scroll told Sunset not to snoop, but... I'm worried about Trixie. She sat on her haunches as she continued to rationalize her decision. This is my chance to learn more about her, and maybe I can find something I can use to help... although, she did seem to be okay earlier... Twilight groaned and shook her head in exasperation at her own indecisiveness. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and set her face in a determined frown. "I have to do this," she muttered to herself, "I want to help her, but I can't if she doesn't tell me anything," she trotted towards the bedroom door. Hopefully she'll forgive me once I explain that I only want to help. She gave another nervous flick of her tail as she opened the door and stepped inside the room. She swept her gaze around the bedroom and furrowed her brow in thought. "If Trixie still has that pouch, it's probably in here somewhere..." she said quietly. Her eyes stopped on the closet and, after a moment's thought, she trotted over and opened it. I'd imagine the likeliest place would be the closet... She stepped inside the rather spacious closet and looked left and right. As it turned out, she didn't have to look very hard. From what Twilight could see, it was clear that several things had been shoved aside recently to get to something near the back wall. To Twilight's surprise, that something just happened to be exactly what she was looking for. She carefully stepped over all the random things on the floor and made her way to the dirty brown pouch. As she stared at it, her heart began to race in her chest and the nervous flick of her tail intensified. I... I shouldn't... she licked her lips, a small amount of sweat beginning to build on her forehead. She was becoming more unsure by the second as she sat there in front of Trixie's private keepsake. I know I shouldn't... but... Before she could talk herself out of it, she lit up her horn and pulled the pouch open. She let out a shaky breath, pointedly ignoring the slight tremor in her legs and the rapid beating of her heart as she lifted the contents out of the pouch. She blinked in confusion as she eyed the torn and dirty cape and hat, not quite sure what to make of them. As she brought them towards herself for a closer inspection she noticed something fall from beneath the cape and hit the floor. Looking down, she saw it was a tiny wrinkled piece of parchment paper. Curious, she dropped the outfit and floated the crumpled piece of paper closer to get a better look. She unfurled the bloodstained note and looked it over. HOOFDINI, YOU NO GOOD HACK! I KNOW THIS IS YOUR FAULT! EVER SINCE YOU SHOWED YOUR UGLY MUG, ME AND THE MISSUS CAN'T GET THE BRAT TO BEHAVE NO MATTER WHAT WE DO! WELL YOU KNOW WHAT? IF YOU LIKE THE USELESS, UNGRATEFUL, SORRY EXCUSE FOR A FOAL SO MUCH, TAKE HER! WE DON'T NEED A KID WHO WON'T DO WHAT HER PARENTS TELL HER ANYWAY. YOU'D BE DOING US A FAVOR. ~LUCIANO LULAMOON Twilight's eyes slowly widened in horror as she read the note. She let the note drop to the floor once she had finished and slowly backed away, tears making their way down her face as she thought about the implications of what she had just read. She let out a surprised yelp as she backed into something soft and unmoving. She whipped her head around to see an expressionless blue filly staring back at her. "Trixie!" Twilight cried as she stumbled backwards, "I... I didn't mean - it's... I'm so sorry I just..." Trixie ignored Twilight's rambling as she trotted past the lavender filly. Twilight watched silently as Trixie levitated the cape, hat, and note back into the pouch without a word. "...Trixie I didn't-" "It was a lot colder outside than I thought it was," Trixie said quietly, though Twilight didn't miss the slight quiver in her voice, "my scarf wasn't on the rack, so I came in here to find it." Twilight went to take a step towards Trixie but froze when the blue filly glanced at her from over her shoulder. Just from that one glance, Twilight could tell. She was absolutely livid. Trixie turned back to her pouch as she continued speaking. "Then I remembered what I had forgotten before, though I guess it's too late to fix it now, isn't it, Twilight Sparkle?" "Trixie, please," Twilight pleaded, "I was just worried about y-" "Get out." Twilight flinched and backed up a step, tears now freely flowing from her eyes. "But... Trixie... I just wanted to-" "GET OUT!" Trixie screamed as she rounded on the startled lavender filly. Even through Trixie's fury, Twilight could tears of her own streaming down her face, "I TOLD YOU I WASN'T READY! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST LISTEN!?" "I... I didn't - ah!" Twilight let out a startled cry as she was shoved out of the closet by a pink aura. The closet door slammed shut and Twilight sat there in stunned silence as she listened to the muffled sobs coming from within. After a moment, she shakily rose to her hooves and slowly trotted out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. It was at that moment that Sunset came into the cottage alongside a tired looking Ancient Scroll. They both stopped their conversation as they noticed the lavender filly standing there with her head hung low and tears falling from her face. "Twilight?" Sunset slowly trotted over to Twilight with a worried frown, "Twilight, what's wrong? What happened?" When she didn't answer, Ancient Scroll made his way over with a grimace of concern. "What's got you in such a state, little filly?" he asked softly. Twilight sniffed and finally looked up at the two with watery eyes. "I... I messed up, Uncle Scroll," she sniffed again, fell to the floor, and - to Sunset's and Ancient Scroll's alarm - began sobbing uncontrollably. "I-I... I think Trixie... I think T-Trixie hates me!"