//------------------------------// // Shattered Friendship Part 2 // Story: Diamonds of Stardust // by Lulamoon-Crystal //------------------------------// Her heart dropped when instead of hitting Nightshade, she hit the vase, shattering it into pieces. She watched as the pieces fell to the floor, she was terrified. “S-Starlight helped him win that in an auction!” She shouted in shock. Trixie felt a pit of guilt as she looked at the shattered remains laying on the ground. She made a mental note to find the superglue or tape before they came back, she knew this wasn’t going to end well. Nightshade made multiple tentacle-like limbs form from its formless body. Each one grabbed onto a different antique. Cups, books, vases, wands, portraits and more were held in the limbs. ”I’ll ask you a question, I’ll not break these if you answer honestly... but if not... then you’ll suffer,” Beads of sweat ran down Trixie’s face, she wondered what the question was. She knew if she answered correctly, then she would only have to explain two broken antiques, but hopefully she would be able to glue or tape them back together before Sunburst and Starlight returned. She knew if she answered incorrectly, then she would kiss the friendship with them goodbye. Her heart raced as she looked at the strange but dangerous nebula-like being in front of her, moving in place like a cloud. She gulped again, she thought about making a dash for the door, but then she realised that if she ran away then Nightshade would destroy everything. Trixie stood there for a few minutes before deciding what to do. She took a few deep breaths before staring at Nightshade with an idea. “The great and powerful Trixie won’t fall to your tricks!” She shouted. As she said that, she sent a blast of pink magic out of her horn, the spell went at the speed of light right towards the nebula. Trixie grinned, but soon her face fell when she saw her spell only made Nightshade do a noise in pain and create a hole in the nebula body that quickly filled herself. She looked onwards with defeat. ”That tickled,” Nightshade lied. Trixie quickly spoke before the antiques could be destroyed, “Wait! No! I’ll answer the question, just give me another chance!” She begged. ”Hmm... well I am feeling generous,” Nightshade chuckled, “Here’s the question; Did you care about Stardust, at all?” Trixie stared at Nightshade, she sighed and went to explain. “Y-yes I... I cared about her as a friend... She was my friend... She really was a special filly,” Trixie responded, “I miss her... I wish she was able to come with me on this whole journey, but now I think about it... it might have been pretty traumatic for her, the shooting at Manehattan and Gumdrop’s death...” She sighed, “But I also wish she was here, I often think how different it would have been... she was a little annoying, but... she would pull a little joke or sung a song and that would have lightened the mood...” Trixie didn’t even notice she had teared up, “I do care about her, and wherever she is now I hope she’s having a great time, I saw her in my... after my nightmare when you knocked me out... so she must be alive! She has to be!” She exclaimed. There was silence, Nightshade didn’t make a noise, neither did Trixie. Trixie felt sweat run down her face and neck as she watched Nightshade. Nightshade was still, no noise or movement beside its body moving like fluid, like water, or jelly. Parts of it thinned and swelled and swayed, all at different times and in different amounts. Nightshade was a weird creature, almost like it cake from another world, maybe it came from Stardust’s. Trixie started to daze and wonder what was Nightshade exactly, then she remembered that cloud of magic that came from Starlight’s horn when she accidentally teleported the map. It was a scary sight, and she almost got hurt from when it possessed those three ponies. Nightshade resembled it in a way, was Nightshade the result of something similar like that? But possibly more sentient, since that cloud of magic was just Starlight’s anger towards her. She started to think a bit more, perhaps Nightshade was her own anger cloud thing like Starlight had, but maybe not anger towards someone else, but to herself. Potentially, some anger she ever felt towards herself escaped her horn without her noticing, became sentient, but it lost track of her until now. But Trixie didn’t remember a time when she was angry at herself, except now, where she broke an antique in a stupid way, and Gumdrop dying. But she met it before Gumdrop dying, so that can’t have been it. Then she gasped when she realised, Stardust. This whole time she felt guilt for Stardust going away, or she might have, but bottled it up and hid it. She wiped some tears away before thinking of what she wanted to say, surely forgiving herself for Stardust’s fate should make it go away, or weaken it. Trixie thought of a plan. “If... I forgive m-myself for Stardust’s fate, will you go away?” She asked with fear in her voice. There was silence before Trixie screamed and jumped back when realised a part of Nightshade was touching her forehead. She shook in fear slightly. Nightshade gurgled before speaking. “No... I’m not from this world... my true form... was broken... leaving me bodyless, I’m in search of my other half, so we can be whole again,” It gurgled. ”Oh...” Trixie sighed in relief, “Wait... shouldn’t your missing half be in your world? Like, I don’t see why it would come to Equestria,” She raised a brow, “Unless Stardust-“ ”Was not my other half! She was our experiment!” It said before breaking the antiques it was holding, by either smashing them on the ground, smashing them with a weapon or with its own body morphed as some sort of weapon or animal. Trixie froze in fear as she watched, “No!” She shrieked, “Stop!” She blasted a random spell at Nightshade but to her utter disbelief, it simply shot a hole through it that filled itself quickly and hit something behind the fluid nebula body. “Stop!” Trixie shrieked louder as she watched antiques get thrown to the ground, torn apart or crushed, “Please stop!” She begged, “No one messes with the great and powerful Trixie!” She said before shooting multiple random spells, but most of them hit antiques instead, shattering them or turning them into teacups. Her heart raced as she hopelessly watched as antiques get trashed, soon enough about half the room was nothing but dust and debris! She screamed as she watched a portrait of Meadowbrook portrait get torn into two, Fluttershy brought that for Sunburst for a Heartswarming present. Trixie’s heart raced and body got sweaty as she watched Nightshade, now morphed in a shape of a wild cat such as a panther or leopard and destroying antiques. A very rare book was in its jaws before Trixie shouted. ”Hey! Nightshade! You think you’re more great and powerful than Trixie!?” She stood on all fours and got ready to charge. Nightshade chuckled as Trixie ran towards it, it only broke in half, letting Trixie run straight into a wall before putting itself back together. Trixie slapped into a wall and stepped back annoyed, she rubbed the part of her head that hit the wall with her hoof. She sighed and growled a bit before feeling something grab her tail. She looked back and saw Nightshade had a part of it wrapped around her tail. ”Oh shoo-“ Was all she managed to say before being thrown like a Frisbee at a shelf that held Sunburst’s collection of vases that resembled all dangerous creatures, they were made around the time those beasts were discovered, making them really ancient, and a complete collection was very rare and sought after. The second Trixie hit it the wood shelves collapsed, taking the vases down with them. ✨⭐️✨ Trixie coughed from the dust of the remains of the vases and the wood from the shelves. She was covered in cuts, bruises and splinters. Getting up was hard, she tried but only collapsed again. There was no hope, she watched hopelessly as each and every antique in the room was destroyed, the floor was covered in debris from the destroyed furniture, shelves and antiques. She wasn’t great and powerful enough to stop Nightshade, she was just weak and useless... the weak and useless Trixie. Trixie failed, she laid on her stomach and watched in defeat, she felt sick to the stomach, Nightshade showed zero signs of stopping. But just before a pot was thrown, she levitated it before it hit the floor, but then Nightshade grabbed it and tried to pull it away. ”No!” Trixie shouted, “No... the great and powerful Trixie has been harassed enough from the likes of you!” “Very well then...” Nightshade said softly as it let go. A sigh of relief came from Trixie, “Thank you...” But then Nightshade shrunk its size small enough to go through the neck of the pot and into the main part of it, Trixie watched in confusion, and before she knew it the pot exploded as Nightshade expanded to a much larger size suddenly. She quickly closed her eyes, luckily, but the pieces missed her face anyway. Trixie looked around in horror, the room was unrecognisable, it used to be filled with rare antiques and collections. It was now instead a mess of shards of glass, clay and more pottery along with shreds of material. She could hardly speak, she muttered in disbelief as she looked at the destroyed room, a tear went down her eye. What was she going to tell them? A bit of dust filled the air, making Trixie cough. “I saved the best for last,” Trixie looked up in shock and fear, Nightshade was holding that heart made of rare crystal and was about to drop it. She coughed and weakly put her hoof out. ”N-No!” ”Why wouldn't you want to break it?” Asked Nightshade, “They left you out,” ”If it broke then they’d be heartbroken,” Explained Trixie, “I’m very upset they left me out... but... I know now that breaking it won’t make things better,” “Is that what you really think? Just admit it, you wanted to shatter it for revenge,” Nightshade replied ominously. ”Of course not!” Shouted Trixie, “Yes it was tempting, but I would never do that to my friends,” She explained, “I’m far too great and powerful to do anything like that to my friends,” She said eagerly. “Great and powerful, huh?” Nightshade responded. ”Obviously, I’m the most great and powerful friend, I would never do something like that, because breaking a friend’s property is neither great or powerful,” Nightshade crackled, “That’s just weakness! You’re being weak, you’re the weak and powerless Trixie, you have no power against me or Dark Matter, you’re a pathetic, weak being,” ”No I am not! You’re the cruel and cold-hearted Nightshade! I, the great and powerful Trixie, won’t fall to the likes of you again! Because I am much better!” Trixie shouted loudly with determination. ”If you’re really as great and powerful as you say...” Nightshade said ominously, “Then catch this!” It seemed to happen in slow motion as the rare carved crystal was thrown towards the wall, Trixie screeched as she jumped towards it to save it as it travelled through the air. It was getting closer and closer to the ground, Trixie cut herself on some sharp pieces as she landed on the floor with her hooves out to catch it. But then here was a pink aura around it, saving it just seconds before it hit some hard remains of a pot. Trixie wiped beads of sweat from her forehead with a foreleg as she levitated the heart in her magic. She slowly smiled as she looked at it in success. A sigh of relief escaped as she looked at it happily, she let all her fears and worry wash away, ignoring the ruined room. “Heh, the great and powerful Trixie did indeed save it...” She said quietly. ✨⭐️✨ Trixie stood on her hind legs and proudly flipped her cape as she spoke, “Woo! Go Trixie! You’re so great and powerful!” She waved her hooves and cape around proudly and chuckled. “Well, yeah, I know I am, thank you,” She did a bow, “Ha! Was there ever any doubt?” Then there was a Nightshade coloured flash right where she was levitating the heart shaped rare crystal. She slowly turned her head to the side in terror to see Nightshade morphed as a strange looking object pressing against the wall. The shape was strange, when Nightshade moved away from the wall and made the other side face Trixie. Nightshade was a fist shape, but strangely had five strange looking claws on the hand, they didn’t even look like claws. More like a hand from the human world that Starlight described. Trixie wondered why she couldn’t go there, but Starlight never told her why, it was unfair since Starlight got to go. Trixie realised she was going off-topic and watched in horror as Nightshade went back to its shapeless and formless self and went out the way of the crystal. ”No...” Whispered Trixie as she saw the shattered remains. Shards of aquamarine coloured crystal laid scattered on the ground, many pieces. Trixie’s ears were drooped and neck down in guilt as she approached it, she looked down at it, back facing the door to the room. ”Why?” Trixie whispered. She didn’t even know what to say to Starlight. Trixie looked down at it, wondering what to do next. Was this the end of their friendship, was it as shattered and broken as the crystal? “I’m sorry...” Trixie said silently while wiping some tears. Then a voice boomed behind her. A voice she thought she would never hear angry “Out!” Shouted Sunburst next to Starlight, who had an angry face. They stood in the doorway with furious faces. Trixie slowly turned around, and much to her horror, the rest of the squad was with them. She gulped. Gamecube shook her head, “Not cool dude,” ”I’m disappointed,” Minty sighed as she kicked her hoof on the ground. ”I don’t want to talk to you right now...” Sunrise mumbled, she wiped her eyes and hid tears. Trixie looked at them with fear, scared that their friendship was over. Loophole poked her tongue out, “I’m clumsy yet I wouldn’t have done something like this! This is your fault,” Trixie stared in shock, “I-“ ”I don’t want to hear it!” Shouted Starlight, “I shoulda known you’d do this! You were planning on getting your revenge because you weren’t on the pictures!” Trixie stepped back with a heartbroken expression. ”It was-“ Trixie was just about to point at Nightshade before realising it was gone, “A monster!” ”Likely story...” Snarled Starlight. ”If you can’t respect a friend’s property, then you don’t deserve friends,” GC responded. Trixie sobbed out loud, “It wasn’t me! It was this dark being named Nightshade! It’s dangerous and has don’t terrible thing to me as it followed me on this journey! Plus it was part of the plan for it to do this! I tried to stop it but-“ ”Woah, woah, woah, wait-there is a dangerous being following you this whole time, and you knew about it?” ”You never told me this?” Sunrise explained. ”Yeah,” Gamecube noted, “Why were you hiding this? Or are you lying?” ”So, you brought a shadowy being into the Crystal Empire, an Empire of ponies that were traumatised by a shadowy being named Sombra!? You could have put the whole place in panic or worse! Nightshade could have gone for the Crystal Heart!” She gasped, “Where is Nightshade now!?” ”No clue...” Trixie replied. Starlight started to stress out, “What are the chances of it going to the Crystal Heart or tormenting the crystal ponies like Sombra did!?” Trixie sighed, “Now that you are saying that, it seems likely Nightshade would do that to torture me further...” Starlight growled, “This isn’t about you!” She snapped and have Trixie a slap right across her face, “We must warn Princess Cadence and Shining Armour!” Starlight alerted. Starlight and Sunburst ran out of Sunburst’s house leaving Trixie with the Starry Squad. Trixie rubbed to sooth the spot she was smacked. “So... anyone wanna go get the white-“ Trixie was about to ask but noticed her friends had all walked away, “Diamond... with me?” She sighed. Trixie slowly walked to her wagon, knowing that she had screwed up really badly, everyone upset at her. She felt none of them would forgive her, she felt ashamed. As she arrived to her wagon she saw extra guards marching around, she quickly entered and shut the door behind her. ✨⭐️✨ As she got ready for the white jewel, the pink one started to glow softly. None of the others were doing the same, Trixie looked at it curiously, wondering why it was glowing. The urge to touch it came to her. Surely it wasn’t going to hurt her or anything, they were basically the weapon to defeat the darkness, her curiosity got the best of her, and she rose her hoof towards it. It was warm to the touch, she felt warmth sleep through her body, and the physical pain and all her bruises and scrapes went away with a pink glow. ”Woah...” Trixie commented, surprised at that the pink jewel did, “I’m pretty great and powerful now!” She exclaimed before she put on her snow gear underneath her cape and got ready to face the snow alone. She had packed some saddlebags with what she thought was important. It felt lonely, she felt some heartache as she thought about her friends. Nightshade could be destroying the whole empire, and it’s all her fault. She walked to the border of the empire and sighed. Trixie glimpse back with sorrow. Her bags were packed with a heated heat pack, water bottle, rope, dagger and a map. “Guess the great and powerful Trixie is on her own... again...” She sighed regrettably.