//------------------------------// // A Terrible Discovery // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// Fia and Corona trotted into their room, with Trixie following reluctantly behind. They immediately spotted Fell Wind lying in one of the cots, her eyes closed in apparent slumber. Ancient Scroll stood next to the pegasus mare with a deep frown -- his body hunched over and his horn glowing bright green. Fia went to say something, but both Corona and Trixie stopped her short, neither wanting to disturb whatever process the old stallion had started. So they all sat back and waited until Ancient Scroll finally noticed them. It took the better part of five minutes before the glow of his horn died down and he let out a heavy sigh. They watched as he rubbed his temples, closed his eyes, and softly groaned wearily. "Ah what a fine way to wake up," he muttered as he shook his head. He addressed Trixie as he continued to rub his temples, "I'm not one hundred percent sure what you've done to this mare, little filly, but whatever it was, it's done quite a number on her mind." Fia and Corona glanced over to Trixie, who winced, flattened her ears and hung her head low. She looked up and at the dark green mare a moment later with a look of worry. "Is... is she going to be okay?" she asked quietly, "Trixie didn't mean to hurt her, Trixie just... she... I just wanted to help her." Ancient Scroll eyed the azure filly critically for a moment before giving another small sigh and looking back to Fell Wind. He stood their for a moment before falling to his haunches and speaking once more in a clinical sort of tone. "As far as I can tell," he explained, "her limbic system, the region of the brain responsible for memory, has suffered some very... significant magical damage." Trixie eyes widened in horror and she took a shaky step back. "Did... d-did I... is she--" "She'll live, filly," Ancient Scroll interjected, his face grim, "I've managed to fix the damage done, but..." "But what?" Trixie asked desperately, "what happened to her? Trixie doesn't care if you punish her, she deserves it, but at least tell Trixie she's going to be okay!" "Like I said, little filly," Ancient Scroll repeated, "she'll live, and there's no physical damage that'll impair her, but the damage done to her memory is extensive -- far more than I've seen in quite some time." He looked from Fell Wind to Trixie with a somber, if thoughtful, look. "I have no blasted idea what spell you used to pull this off, but I never want you to use it again, Trixie," he said, his expression settling into a disapproving glare, "all of Fell Wind's memories -- from the time she met you, to the time she woke up here, are completely gone." They all stared at Ancient Scroll in shock before Corona and Fia slowly turned to a stunned Trixie. "You... you mean... permanently?" Trixie nearly squeaked in horror, tears building in her eyes, "she's... s-she's never getting them back?" "Whatever went wrong with your spell caused some sort of chain effect that triggered when she tried to recall the affected memory," Ancient Scroll explained, "the more she tried to remember, the more widespread the effect became." He turned back to Fell Wind And tapped her forehead with a hoof as he spoke. "Instead of recovering the memory, trying to recall it would only destroy it -- and I say that for a reason," he cast a side glance at the azure filly, "if I were to describe what I sensed when I probed her mind, it would be something akin to several blasted out holes in her memory." Trixie fell to her haunches heavily as she stared at the old stallion, her eyes now streaming silent tears of regret and dismay at what she had done. Nevertheless, Ancient Scroll relentlessly continued his explanation despite the effect it was having on the filly. "I mended what I could, and was able to stop the reaction," he said, trotting away from the mare and towards the fillies, "but she's permanently lost months, or possibly years of her past as a result of your spell, Trixie." That was it. Unable to take anymore, the filly in question gave a single choked sob before galloping out of the room. Fia and Corona called out and tried to go after Trixie, but Ancient Scroll cut them off. "Don't," he commanded with a shake of his head before looking in the direction Trixie had gone, "she's aware of the dire consequences of her well intentioned actions, and its clear she regrets them... deeply." He stood there a moment more before trotting back over to Fell Wind. "I've no doubt what she's done is going to haunt her, and to me that would be punishment enough," he said before sitting back down next to the pegasus mare, "but all the same, I'm going to have to restrict her study of Mind Magic -- at least for the time being... although..." He frowned contemplatively. "I have no idea where or how she even learned such a spell," he muttered, "to have been able to insert herself directly into the memory should be far beyond a foal's capability -- even I don't know if I would've been able to pull it off, not without years of study anyway." Fia and Corona shared a significant look that Ancient Scroll just happened to catch out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the remaining two fillies suspiciously. "You two know something about what Trixie did," he stated more than asked, "I want details, fillies... now." Fia swallowed nervously while Corona merely sighed in resignation. Trixie galloped past the sitting room, ignoring Yojimbo's and Rouge's cries of alarm, and threw open the back door of the Vardo with her magic. She continued to sob loudly as she fled from the caravan and galloped out into the night. The filly didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get away from Ancient Scroll, she needed to get away from her friends, she needed to get away from Fell Wind. She needed to get away from her own terrible mistake. The distraught filly sped past the long since snuffed out campfire and furtther into the thicket of trees, unaware of the calls of both Rouge and Yojimbo who were following after her. She had been right all along. This kind of dangerous magic wasn't something anypony should have. She was an idiot to think she had the spell mastered just because the Mare of Dreams fed the knowledge directly into her mind. Just because she knew how to use the spell didn't mean that she wouldn't make mistakes. She was a filly -- a gifted filly granted, but still far too young and inexperienced to be handling magic like this. The Mare of Dreams had been crazy to let her have this kind of power, and now look where it had gotten her. She had caused somepony permanent brain damage just as she had feared she would ever since she started learning Mind Magic. She had never told any of the others about this fear, and hardly thought about it herself, but it had been there. Now that fear had become reality and she couldn't take it back or make it better. Now she had to live with what she had done to the mare, and she didn't think she could forgive herself for it. Her chest ached from the weight of what she had done and her lungs burned from galloping at full speed for so long, but she didn't stop. At least, until she felt herself being lifted off the ground and wrapped in a pair of furry limbs. "No! Let me go!" she cried as she thrashed about uselessly, "let me go! I can't go back! Not now! Not after..." she let herself go limp. She sniffled and spoke again in a hoarse voice, "not after what I did... I can't show my face to Fell Wind again." She was suddenly pulled into a gentle embrace and, looking up in confusion, she found herself looking into the understanding and warmly smiling face of Rouge. "I'm not sure what you've done, little one," Rouge said calmly as she continued to embrace the filly, "but running out into the forest alone at night is no way to act." "B-But... but I--" Rouge put a furry finger to Trixie's lips for a moment before gently setting the filly down on the ground. "Whatever terrible thing you've done can't possibly be enough to warrant us losing you in this forest," the Abyssinian continued, "I'm sure Ancient Scroll and your sisters would be devastated if they found out you got lost... or worse." "They're..." Trixie sniffed and hung her head, "they're not gonna want to be my sisters after this, a-and Uncle Scroll probably hates me too," she sat down and wiped her eyes, "I should've never listened to that stupid Dream Mare." Rouge furrowed her brow in confusion before putting that thought aside for the moment. She may not have fully understood the gravity of the situation, but the filly was clearly hurting and needed help. "I'm sure Twilight and Sunset have come to consider you family just as much as you have them," the feline assured, lowering herself down to Trixie's level and looking her in the eye, "you three may not have known each other for all that long, but you've all been through so much together." "And I ruined that because I was stupid and reckless," Trixie replied with another sniff, "I just wanted to help and I messed things up and now Uncle Scroll is mad at me and Fell Wind is permanently brain damaged and--" "Beating yourself up over it ain't gonna do you any good, pup," came a gruff voice from behind the two, "you gotta face your mistakes head on with your tail untucked and your head held high." The filly and feline both turned to see Yojimbo leaning against a nearby tree. When he noticed he had their attention he shrugged. "Well, that's what my pop would always tell me anyway," he continued, "good advice though, and it's advice I still follow to this day," he straightened up and walked over to the others as he spoke, "yeah you may have messed up something fierce, Trixie, but you gotta own up to that mistake and move on." He lowered himself down on one knee and gave Trixie a toothy grin as he ruffled the filly's mane. "As long as you learn from your mistake, you'll be a better person -- er, pony for it in the end," Yojimbo finished with a chuckle, "trust me, I know from experience." "But I... what I did to Fell Wind--" "is apparently so terrible that you had to run out here in the dark," Yojimbo finished, shaking his head, "I get it, you messed up bad, but you need to learn that problems can't be solved by running away, pup." He jabbed her in the shoulder and smiled a moment before his expression turned serious. "Now come on, Trixie," he said, rising back to his feet, "let's get back to the Vardo." "But I--" "No buts," Rouge admonished, rising to her feet as well, "we'll all go talk to Ancient Scroll together, and you're going to tell him exactly what's on your mind, little one. He and the other girls will understand, trust me." Trixie was silent for a long moment, her head hung low and her ears flat against her skull as she thought about their words. Eventually she looked back at them with a resigned, if still somewhat nervous, nod. "Great!" Yojimbo exclaimed, scooping up the filly and starting back the way they came, "now let's get out of here already, this forest gives me the creeps this late at night." Rouge chuckled and shook her head before following after the old husky.