//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Desperate times call for... Friendship? // Story: Out of Sight... // by Star-Killer89 //------------------------------// Written by Star-Killer89, Edited by TheFallen HOOFINGTON GENERAL HOSPITAL - TWILIGHT AND TRIXIE’S ROOM PRESENT DAY - JUNE 17 - 12:11 P.M. “B-but…how did that happened?” Asked a still shocked Trixie. Twilight sadly sighed in reply “I don’t know...” This answer confused Trixie. This small statement wasn’t enough for her “What do you mean you don’t know?” “What I meant is that I’m not sure.” Replied Twilight “Honestly, that was the first time I ever tried to perform a medication spell…I might have made a mistake somewhere in the process.” She then suddenly smiled “But that’s not important.” Trixie couldn’t believe what Twilight had just said “Not important? NOT IMPORTANT? You’ve lost your magic! Your own talent, the best thing you were good at. And you became blind too. How can this not be important?” “The most important thing is that you’re still alive.” Nonchalantly replied Twilight Trixie was speechless for the way Twilight was acting. She had saved her life, but she’d also lost two of her most precious senses, and yet she was still more worried for her conditions instead of herself. She didn’t have the time to reply, though, as one of Celestia’s guard just knocked at their door. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but since miss Lulamoon is finally awake, I need to ask you both something. May I come in and have a talk with you? In Private?” He added, referring to the nurse. “Oh right.” Replied Twilight “I almost forgot about that. Trixie, they may have found some traces of one of the two ponynappers, but they need your help to recognise him. Do you think you can do it now. You know, since you just woke up?” Trixie, totally relieved that this sudden setback was giving her the opportunity to not thinking about Twilight’s situation, didn’t have to search her thoughts too much on the answer. “Of course I can do it. I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie, after all.” She proclaimed, raising her free hoof in front of her “Come in.” As the nurse left the room, the guard approached Trixie’s bed and showed her a photo of a smiling and younger Storm Loneshark “Is this one of the two ponies that kidnapped you?” “Yes, it’s definitely him.” Replied Trixie, after taking a quick glance “I really hope you’ll get him soon and give him what he deserves.” “Actually, we’ve already found him.” Replied the guard “And, believe me, he got even worst.” Both mares were caught by surprise “What do you mean with that?” Quizzically asked Twilight. “Well, thanks to your account, Ms. Sparkle, we were able to locate the abandoned warehouse where Ms. Lulamoon was held captive, and started our investigations there with the help of the Hoofington Police Department.” “One of their detectives had found a huge stain of dried blood 30 hooves away from the entrance, and a trail of blood that led further into the forest.” He then stopped for a couple of seconds “We’d found his corpse a couple of miles away, half mauled, maybe by a pack of wolves.” Both Trixie and Twilight brought the hooves to their mouth with a sigh of terror. “Are you saying that he was killed by some wild beasts?” Asked a doubtful Trixie. “No, we’ve excluded that possibility. The coroner’s autopsy showed that the beasts’ wounds have been dealt post-mortem. The cause of death seems to be connected to a deep cut at the level of the carotid. Also, the hide around the wound was burnt, like he was killed with some sort of magical weapon.” “The other stallion! That unicorn!” Immediately replied Twilight “He was able to create various weapons made out of magical energy. It must have been him!” “That’s the same conclusion we’ve reached.” “What about him?” Asked Trixie “Have you find that unicorn too?” “Well, near the stain we’d also found a trail of blood drops that headed towards a nearby village, nameeeed...” The guard took a moment to pull a notebook out from under his armor and to check the name “Here it is... Bedfoalshire, and some of the inhabitants confirmed that they had seen an unicorn corresponding to Ms. Sparkle’s identikit.” “Unfortunately, that resulted into a dead end, as we’ve lost his traces there.” He added, as he put aside his notebook again. Trixie was deeply worried abut this turn of events and moved her look over Twilight, fearing that the henchpony might have decided to conclude his job and killed her. The guard seemed to read her mind, as he added “Don’t worry. Under the direct order of her highness Princess Celestia, a group of guards is patrolling this hospital and will protect you throughout your stay here. I have also been told to tell you that, if you’ll consider it appropriate, we will provide you an escort when you’ll return to your homes.” The guard than took a deep breath “That’s all I had to say.” “Thank you very much. Please, keep us informed on any news about that other ponynapper.” Twilight dismissed him. “Of course. I wish you a good recovery.” He concluded, before bowing his head towards the two mares and leaving the room. Almost immediately, Trixie sunk in the bed, letting out a snort of stress. A part of her still wanted to talk about Twilight’s conditions, but she didn’t have the courage to start the speech again, aware that she was the one to blame for what had happened to her. “Isn’t there anything they can do to heal you? Giving you back at least your view?” She finally asked, after a couple of minutes had passed. “It doesn’t seem so.” Replied a helpless Twilight “The doctors said they didn’t find a logical explanation for my blindness, and they also fear it will be permanent.” “I can still use some spells though.” She then tried to cheer Trixie up “You know, I can still levitate lighter objects and perform basic telekinesis. Also, the doctors said that, with proper practice, in a couple of years I may be able to recover even 20% of my magical power.” She added in a cheerful tone. Trixie was starting to admire the way Twilight was trying to see the glass half full, but the concrete was crashing. Basically, her magical abilities just returned to those of a filly unicorn, if not even worst. She was still thinking to a solution, when the idea hit her suddenly “Of course! The Elements of Harmony! You could try to use them to change your conditions. I’ve read that they were able to change reality back to normal when Discord spread chaos over Equestria.” She was really surprised to notice that Twilight’s expression didn’t change, as she said “We’ve thought about that too.” “So what’s the problem? Why haven’t you used them already?” Twilight took a couple of seconds to answer the question “The Elements turned into stone.” “THEY WHAT?” replied a shocked Trixie. “Yes, they turned into stone. It seems that, since I’ve lost my ability, the Elements lost their powers too.” She lowered her head and kept saying “After all, the first time we found them, they were already in a stone form, maybe because the Princess had lost the right to wield them when she banished her sister to the moon.” “Princess Celestia always told me that the Elements of Harmony were some strange and complex artifacts, that worked only when all the six of them were combined under the spark of friendship.” “Maybe that’s why they didn’t work the first time we tried to use them against Discord, because I tried to replace Rainbow Dash with somepony who was not the representation of Loyalty.” “Also, since it seems that it is Magic that keeps all the other Elements together, without it even the other Elements became useless. At the most, they could be used as paper holders as they are now.” Trixie saw their last hope evaporate into thin air. She tried to consider other solutions, but she couldn’t come up with any other ideas. Luckily for her, another distraction came to her aid, this time in the form of another nurse, who entered the room pushing a wheel chair “Miss Sparkle, it is time for your physical therapy.” “Yes, thank you.” Twilight replied, as she sat with the hind legs hanging down on the bed, waiting for the nurse to approach the wheel chair to sit on “Sorry Trixie, but Doctor Joint is very strict about punctuality.” As the nurse started to push her, she turned her neck back “We’ll continue the talk later.” She said, before exiting the room. The time to continue that conversation though never came, as Trixie, feeling the guilt of what her actions caused to Twilight, decided to pretend to have felt asleep once she had returned from her therapy. --- HOOFINGTON - OUTSIDE HOOFINGTON GENERAL HOSPITAL 6 DAYS BEFORE - JUNE 11 - 8:34 P.M. It was the seventh day in a row that Princess Luna had spent visiting Twilight and gaining knowledge about her conditions. As the automatic doors opened, she felt the cool night air brush across her coat, which matched the color of the sky. After she gave one last look back at the building, she lowered her head, eyes closed and face contracted in a deep expression of sorrow ‘How could that happen to her?’ “Weren’t you supposed to raise the moon like half a hour ago?” A voice interrupted her thoughts. “TIA!” Luna replied, took by surprise by the sudden appearance of her sister “We…well, thou see …” Princess Celestia smiled in response “Don’t worry, I do understand there are other important concerns to you right now that required your attention, so, I covered it up for you this time.” “That was really kind of thee, and we thank thou.” Said Luna “But that doesn’t mean we should neglect our duties towards our subjects. We promise that we will never let that happen again!” She then proclaimed, raising her right hoof to the sky, with a serious expression on her face. “Well, since we’re both here and without anything to do, why don’t we have a talk?” Proposed Celestia, pointing at a bench nearby “I need to ask you something.” “Sure, sister.” replied Luna and both the princesses headed towards the vast garden that surrounded the hospital. “So...” Celestia started to ask “...how are the conditions of the girls lately?” “We are afraid they are not so good.” Replied Luna “The doctor said that azure unicorn is still comatose, but it seems she finally stabilized. As for Twilight…” Luna had to stop for a couple of seconds, trying to recollect the exact same words the doctor used “He said that her optic nerves are fine, and all her primary visual… nuclei of the brain are intact. Still, it seems she really is blind, and they still could not determine the source of this phenomenon.” A cold feeling started to fill Luna’s heart again “What`s worst, is that it seems she will indeed lose most of her magical power.” She added. “How bad is that?” Celestia worriedly asked. “The doctor is not sure about that either. He said it could be 70%, maybe 80%. Maybe even higher, if not completely. They still need to conduct a couple more tests.” At this point, Luna had to stop, since tears started to flow towards her face “Oh, sister! Why did something so bad have to happen to her?” She screamed, while grabbing her sister’s neck, burying her face into her shoulder. Celestia tried to comfort her sister as best as she could, wrapping a hoof around Luna`s back, while even on her face started to flow down a pair of tears “We must be strong, Luna! The days that are to come will be even harder, but we must not waver. For her!” ~ ~ ~ That day, though, Luna was not the only visitor Twilight received. As a matter of fact, all her friends had decided to spend, in rotation, at least a couple of days with her, trying to provide a moral support; and so, that day it was the turn of Rainbow Dash, which had lingered a little after the scheduled visits time, and was only now exiting Twilight and Trixie’s room. ‘I still can’t believe what those doctors are saying about Twilight’s conditions.’ She was thinking “And all to save the life of that useless mare!” She added with anger in a whisper, as she left. As she was heading to the stairs that would have lead her to the lobby, her eyes fell on the hospital courtyard, visible from one of the many windows in the corridor she was crossing. In the distance, the whiteness of the mantle of Princess Celestia shone under the rays of the half-moon, making her clearly visible to the young pegasus. ‘Isn’t that Princess Celestia? Why didn’t she come to visit Twilight with her sister?’ Getting closer to the window, she could see that both Princesses were sitting on one of the many benches that adorned the garden, and seemed like they were calmly discussing about something. That was until Luna started to hug her sister, and both the alicorns stood there for a dozen of seconds, a veil of sadness on both their faces, visible even from the distance at which Rainbow Dash was. ‘They're definitely talking about Twilight.’ She thought, with a slight sad tone. Rainbow Dash then started to concentrate the look on their mouths, trying to decipher what they were saying, but after thirty seconds she had spent with her eyes reduced to the size of two cracks, she snorted loudly “Damn, I thought lip-reading was way easier!” Suddenly, she saw a change of expression in Luna’s face, followed by her screaming. “ ’TIS A LIE!” she could feebly hear her shouting to her sister, her voice crossing all the distance that separated them and getting through the windows “THAT COULD NOT BE POSSIBLE!” Rainbow Dash jumped from that rapid change in the tone of Luna “What the…how powerful is that Royal Canterlot Tone of hers?” “CALM DOWN? HOW COULD WE?” Luna kept shouting, but after that it seemed like she was able to regain part of her composure, as Rainbow could no more hear what they were saying, even though she noticed that Luna had started to cry again. She kept watching the two alicorns for a couple more minutes ‘What the hay is happening? What do they know that we do not?’ ~ ~ ~ Luna remained hesitant for a couple of seconds, but when she raised her head, nothing but determination could be seen in her eyes “What do thou want us to do?” --- HOOFINGTON - HOOFINGTON GENERAL HOSPITAL JUNE 29 - 10:48 A.M. It was finally the day for Trixie and Twilight to leave the hospital. During the previous days, Twilight received many visits, both from her friends and relatives, and, in more than one occasion, even from the princesses themselves. Although the first ones seemed to still bear a grudge against Trixie, especially because some of them blamed her for what had happened to their friend, Twilight’s parents seemed to be much more understanding, as they cared about her state too, and one day Fluttershy even brought her a get well soon card, which read: ‘We hope for you to get well soon, oh Great and Powerful Trixie! Snips and Snails’ Trixie spent those days almost entirely in bed, as the doctors wanted to make sure she wouldn’t have to face a relapse, while Twilight had to handle long hours of rehabilitation. They also both had to join in some therapy sessions with a psychologist, which, as for Twilight, were focused on letting her face her new handicaps in the most positive way, while, as for Trixie, had the purpose to let her get over with her ponynapping experience. And now they were there, one next to each other, a couple of hooves away from the exit. “So, shall we go?” Asked Twilight, as she was levitating a white cane in front of her right foreleg, and she started to cautiously head towards the doors. “Y-yeah!” Replied a hesitant Trixie, before following her outside the hospital. “TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled towards her friend, just a few moments before he started to rush towards her and jumped in her direction, holding her between his arms. “Oh Spike, there was no need for you to come here to pick me up all alone.” “Who said he was alone, sugarcube?” Replied Applejack and, in a flash, Twilight was able to hear all her friends and relatives gathering around her. Trixie, in the meantime, decided to remain aloof, feeling like she didn’t want to take part in that touching reunion and, at the same time, she couldn’t avoid to sense how much she felt alone. As she was starting to think about the possibility to silently leave everypony, she heard a feeble barking coming towards her, and she finally noticed the figure of her little pet approaching. “Blacky!” She cheerfully said, as her dog was happily jumping in front of her, trying to reach her cheeks to lap them. “Uhm, I hope you don’t mind if I’ve brought him here.” Shyly said Fluttershy, as she was approaching her “I-I mean, he was really sad during these days he has spent away from you and…well…I thought it would might have cheered him up to see you as soon as possible.” Trixie couldn’t even tell the pegasus how much joy she’d brought in her heart too “Yes, you did good bringing him to the Great and Powerful Trixie. Thank you very much, miss Flittercry!” “Ehm…actually, my name is…Fluttershy.” she replied in a murmur. “Come again?” “Ehm…nothing, nevermind.” “Anyway, Trixie wanted to talk to you about her cart.” Trixie continued, resuming her overbearing tone “Twilight told Trixie you’ve brought it near your house.” “Oh yes. Since I was going to look after your pet, we decided it would be better for him to have a well-known place in hoofy, so we brought it near my cottage.” She then paused for a second and added in a worried tone “Ehm…Unfortunately, I’m sorry to tell you, but it seems that most of your belongings were shattered into pieces.” She then gasped “N-not that I wanted to snoop around in your cart…I-It’s just that one day I couldn’t find Blacky anywhere and I thought…well…that maybe he was inside your cart, so I…kinda ventured inside and saw all the mess.” She gasped again “N-not that I believe that’s how you normally live…although maybe that may be true…b-but I know it was that evil unicorn that…” ‘Sweet Celestia, how much of a scared cat is this pegasus?’ Trixie thought, as she was starting to get bored of Fluttershy’s chitchats. “Listen.” She finally decided to interrupt Fluttershy, which, in response, let out a high pitched Eeep “The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you for taking care of her pet and her house, but Trixie needs you to show her where do you live and where she can find a company that may help her to move the cart outside your village.” “Oh, you mean you’re going to leave Ponyville right away?” Asked in reply a bit disappointed Twilight, who was now approaching her with the help of her friends. “Yes I-…Trixie doesn’t want to cause you any more trouble.” “Tsk, a little too late for that!” Replied an acid Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow!” Twilight scolded her, before resuming her speech “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?” “We would suggest thee to accept Twilight’s offer.” Said a nearby voice. Princess Luna, escorted by two of her night guards, was approaching the group, with a big smile on her face “We are glad to finally see the both of thee out of the hospital.” “We’re honored by your visit, princess.” Said Twilight, as her and all of the presents bowed towards her. “Please, everypony, there’s no need for such pleasantries.” Replied Luna “Also, we’re sorry that our sister could not be here too today, but she had to greet some Griffons diplomats back in Canterlot.” “We understand princess...” Replied Twilight “...but what did you mean just a moment ago?” “Well, thou see, my sister and us had spent the last few days thinking of a way to restore your conditions, but the only solution we could find was trying to use the Elements of Magic.” “Wait a second, I thought the Elements had become more useless than Trix-” Rainbow was starting to reply, when she was suddenly kicked in the flank by Applejack “Ouch! I mean, didn’t they turn into stone?” “Yes, as they are now, we cannot use them, and that’s also why we suggested miss Lulamoon to accept Twilight’s offer and stay in Ponyville for a while.” “Pardon me, Princess, but we cannot understand how…her staying in Ponyville may help Twilight with her problem.” Said Rarity, emphasizing her resentment against that idea. “Thou see, for the Elements to work we need to restore the Element of Magic, but is also true the opposite. We cannot restore the Elements, and consequently Twilight’s conditions, without someone who can represent the Element of Magic. And that’s where miss Lulamoon comes into the picture.” “You mean…” Started to say Twilight. “Precisely!” Replied Luna “After a long reasoning, we thought that miss Lulamoon may be a valid temporary replacement for the Element of Magic.” “WHAT?!” Shouted most of the presents in reply to that statement, Trixie included. “But, princess, I thought the Elements could only work if they are ignited by the spark of friendship.” Replied Twilight. “Yeah, and that presumptuous mare is surely not one of our friends!” Added Rainbow Dash, flying a few inches in front of Luna and pointing her hoof towards Trixie. “That’s why we suggested for her to stay in Ponyville. That will give all of you the time to put aside your resentments and, maybe, just maybe, even form a bond of friendship with her.” Calmly replied Luna. “B-b-b-but even if her special talent is magic, Trixie surely does not have the same magical power that Twilight possessed.” Said Rarity “I-I hardly believe she would be fit to replace Twilight as the Element of Magic.” “That’s also why we’ve decided that, starting from today, we will take miss Lulamoon under our wing and make her our personal protégé, so that we will instruct her and increase her magical abilities. Of course, if that is fine with thou, Trixie Lulamoon.” Trixie was totally speechless. Not only she was finally given the chance to improve her magic skills, by Princess Luna herself nonetheless, but she was also given the opportunity to make up for having ruined Twilight’s life. Furthermore, that was also the chance to make amend for the way she acted towards Twilight’s friends during their first encounter. “Trixie accepts. But only if that’s also okay for Twilight’s friends.” Firmly replied Trixie. The girls were caught by surprise, but Applejack almost immediately said “Can ya’ll give us just a minute please?” as she and the other mares moved aside and gathered in a circle. “What do ya’ll think about that?” “Are you crazy? That mare is an arrogant foal. Cloudsdale will crush to the ground before she’ll become my friend!” Stated Rainbow Dash. “Don’t you think you’re a little too harsh towards her?” Asked Fluttershy “She wants to help Twilight out.” “Or, maybe, she just wants to take advantage of the situation to become Luna’s protégé.” Replied Rarity “Personally, I agree with Rainbow Dash. I don’t trust that mare.” “Yeah, I don’t trust her either.” “Spike, what the heck are ya doing here?” Asked Applejack, as most of the other mares turned their heads towards him, just now noticing the presence of the little dragon, who, speaking the truth, was there from the beginning. “Hey, I thought I had the right to tell my opinion too.” Replied an irritated Spike. “Girls, I think we should give her a chance.“ Added Pinkie “I mean, no one should spend their life alone, without friends... and I believe Flutters is right. Maybe she really wants to help Twilight.” “Well, it’s 2 versus 2. It’s up to you AJ.” Stated Spike “What do you think?” “Ah’m not sure, Spike. Sure, Ah don’t like her either, but Ah would never forgive mah`self if we just let the chance ta help Twilight flow between our hooves just because we don’t like her.” AJ then stopped for a moment, pondering about her decision. ~ ~ ~ Meanwhile, Trixie was still incredulous about that sudden turn of events, but her excitement quickly turned into doubt, as she approached the princess, saying “Uhm, I’m sorry, your highness, but could Trixie ask you a question?” “What troubles you, miss Lulamoon?” Quietly asked back Luna. “It’s about what that white unicorn, Clarity-“ “Rarity.” Twilight corrected her. “-Rarity, said.” Trixie continued “Trixie believes that she might be right. Trixie is not really sure that she will be able to keep up with the task.” She then lowered her head in self-pity “Let’s face the truth. Trixie isn’t really that Great and Powerful as she says she is. The best she can do is perform some poor magic tricks.” “Oh, Trixie…” Twilight whispered in a compassionate way. When she raised her head once again, though, her eyes were full of hope and determination “Do you really think Trixie will be able to improve herself? Is it even possible to do that?” “But of course thou will be!” Luna firmly said “Thou see, enhancing your magical potential is not too different to what earth ponies do to increase their strength, or pegasi their flight endurance. With the right training and a proper teacher, your magic abilities will make dragons strides.” A little smirk appeared on Luna’s face “And, believe us, we`re sever in our teachings and our lessons are tremendously arduo-...challenging.” Luna reworded her sentence, before putting a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile “There’s no way thou are going to fail us.” Trixie rubbed her hoof on the eyes, wiping off the tears that were starting to form, and smiled back at the alicorn “Thank you very much, princess. Trixie will do her best to not disappoint you. That is, as long as Twilight’s friends will be willing to give Trixie a second chance.” ~ ~ ~ AJ sighed deeply, and finally said “Ah think we should let her stay in Ponyville.” “Ugh, fine. She can stay.” Reluctantly said Rainbow Dash. “Well, It seems like I’m the only one who still thinks this is a bad idea.” Added Rarity “But I guess I can try to bear her. For Twilight’s sake.” They then returned near the others and AJ said “A'right, she can stay and we’ll try out best ta put our quarrels apart.” “Splendid!” Replied Luna, clapping her hooves a couple of times “Now, we will also want to regularly check on Twilight’s conditions, so we believe it will be better for the two of thee to live closer to each other.” “I have a spared bed for the guests in the library.” Proposed Twilight. “No Twilight, thank you. Trixie doesn’t want to be any more of a hindrance to you. The bed in Trxie’s cart will be good enough, once Trixie will have replaced it with a new one… and the furniture too.” “Well, at least I hope you will move your cart next to the library for the first periods.” Trixie pondered the possibility for a couple of seconds “Yes, Trixie thinks she can do that.” “Whatever thou need, do not hesitate to ask my sister and I.” Replied Luna before she started to head back to her carriage “Our presence is required elsewhere, but we will see thou tomorrow afternoon for the first lesson, miss Lulamoon.” “O-of course. Thank you very much, princess.” Said Trixie as she, as the others, bowed before the princess one last time. --- “At the end, you couldn’t tell them your concerns, your highness.” Said one of the night guards on the way back to Canterlot. “They do not need to know them right now.” Replied Luna with a serious tone “At the proper time and with the proper conditions, we will tell them our suspects. For now, let’s just see how things will evolve.” END OF STORY ARC 1 TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 8