//------------------------------// // Oil and Blood // Story: In Reflection, The Same // by Faedelaide //------------------------------// "Gillian, let me go right now!" Twilight thrashed about wildly in her restraints. Gillian paced faster to stop herself from listening to Twilight's command. "Sorry, Princess, but I can't." "Gillian, please! I can talk to Twilice. I... I need to talk to her!" The griffon's lanky talons clacked on the polished wooden floor as she stopped her pacing and turned to the tied up princess. "And why d'you need to talk to 'er exactly?" Twilight fought desperately against the ropes that bound her, to no effect. "I'm nothing without her! If you kill her, I'll have nothing left! I'll end up the failure I know I am!" Gillian winced. Sam had dug his claws much further into her head than she expected, and in such a short time frame. All this only made Gillian feel more guilty. She should've stopped Twilight when she had the chance, but it was far too late for that. Something changed in Twilight's expression when she saw Gillian's face. The griffon couldn't quite tell, but somewhere among the nebulous sea of stars that were Twilight's eyes, something flickered. Perhaps it was the ember of empathy, or a small spark of realization, but Twilight's demeanor twisted. "I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me," She said quietly. Gillian's heart beat fast from equal parts anxiety and outright panic. She carefully positioned herself behind the small coffee table in the corner and sat down. Never taking her eyes off the unicorn, Gillian rested her hands upon her face with a tired groan. "You need to stop listening to her. She's using you, Twilight." Twilight didn't answer, leaving the room in awkward silence. Suddenly, the cabin shook, tossing small speckles of snow off the roof. An audible THUMM reverberated throughout the small home. Twilight stared up at the ceiling with a quiet gasp. "She's here..." As if called upon by an unseen force, Twilight spasmed and twisted in her chair as she violently tried to escape her bonds. Her face turned to a dark purple as her muscles pulled taut in strain. Her horn began to glow a soft violet, and Gillian immediately dashed towards the couch, ducking behind it. Twilight's horn continued to glow, but she neglected to cast any spells. Gillian peeked from behind the couch as best she could without exposing to much of her head. It seemed Cadance's pacify spell was still in effect, but it wouldn't be there for much longer. Gillian had to do something, but what? Gillian opened her mouth to speak, but a snarl from Twilight stopped her in her tracks. Fearfully, she peeked her beak out from the top of the couch. "Twilight, please calm down." "Don't you understand what's happening? I need to talk to her!" Gillian frowned. "Do you understand what's happening? What do you think Twilice is here to do, give you some pointers on how to be a better princess?" "How would you know? You've never even talked to her, you don't know what she's like!" "And why don't you tell me what she's like? Tell me one thing she did to help you during this trip." "She... she's been moral support, and she was the one who told me about Aether magic in the first place! She's done more for me than any of you have! The only thing the rest of you have done is talk about me behind my back! Some friends you are!" THUMM! "And were we supposed to let Sa-Twilice know about the fact that we didn't trust her one bit, and that she was messing with your head like she is right now!?" "The least you could have done was try and be there for me! The only one who's supported me this whole time has been Twilice!" THUMM! Gillian raised herself from behind the couch. "...is that really what you think?" Twilight leered at Gillian with a frenzied expression. "It's true! None of you have been there for me for the entire trip! I've had to do everything on my own! At least Twilice was there to keep me going when the rest of you weren't." THUMM! Gillian's expression calmed as she stepped away from the couch and towards the rabid princess. "Twilight... We've always been here for you. We're doing this because we want you t'be safe. This was never done in malice, we're trying to help you. THUMM! Twilight's irate face persisted, so Gillian continued, edging closer and closer to her. "I can't speak for ev'ryone else, not your friends nor th'other griffons. But Twilight, I would gladly call you a friend. And I, for one, would never leave my friend behind, 'specially not for some freaky ice princess." THUMM! There it was again. Once more, Gillian saw that wayward star in Twilight's eyes. It flickered and sputtered before descending into infinite pools of dark matter. Twilight's horn darkened as the magic faded from its grooves. She let out a pained, tired sigh. Gillian cautiously reached her hand out until it reached Twilight's shoulder. " I guess we shoulda told y'this earlier, but we do care about you... alot. I know your sister does, I think that's th'only reason she came in th'first place." "Yeah... I know..." Twilight mumbled quietly. She raised her head to stare the griffon in the eyes. "What's Twilice's name?" THUMM! Gillian stood back, taken aback. "W...what?" "When we put the books in the study room back, after I fell asleep, One was missing. I saw you holding something yesterday, which you showed to Cadance that convinced her to leave the kingdom and help us. Not to mention you seem to know alot about Twilice, despite me never telling you about her." Oh dear Grover. Gillian froze in place. Was she supposed to tell her now? What if she was still under Sam's spell? There were too many unaccounted variables. There was much too high of a risk for it to be worth telling her. As Gillian stood petrified, a barely audible scream squeezed through the thick wood of the cabin's walls and reached her ears. Twilight seemed to have heard it as well, for when she looked at Gillian again, her eyes were full of pleading. Unlike before, however, her eyes were devoid of any of her previous rage. "Gillian, please, you have to tell me! What's Twilice's name?" Gillian gulped. "It's... It's... Sammakott!" Twilight nodded as a single quiet "Thank you" escaped her lips. With a quick spell, her ropes were undone, and fell slack on the floor instantly.