//------------------------------// // Recurring Nightmare // Story: A Twixie Love Story // by Yukito //------------------------------// It was afternoon, and at this time every day, either Spike, Twilight, or Trixie would be preparing lunch, depending on whether or not the two Unicorns were busy. Today, though, Twilight Sparkle was in no mood for doing anything other than lying in her bed, her head buried into her wet pillow, as she reminisced about the past. Her past with Trixie. Spike had offered to make her some dinner, but Twilight only responded with a weak nod of acknowledgment, and even when he had brought her her favourite meal – a daisy-daffodil sandwich with extra daisies – she simply ignored it and continued to stare blankly into her pillow, her tears drying up as the seconds ticked by. Later that afternoon, Applejack and Rarity stopped by to see how the Unicorn was doing. They entered her room with Spike, and found that she hadn’t moved from her spot even once, save for one moment when she needed to answer nature’s call. The sandwich by her bed was untouched, and the bread had hardened over time. Spike also noticed that the glass of water that he had poured for her that morning was still full. He couldn’t stand to see Twilight, the pony he respected more than anything, looking like this, but he put on a brave face and approached her side, the two mares following him. “Twilight? Applejack and Rarity are here,” he said, not sure if she was actually aware of their presences. “Oh? Tell them I’m not in the mood to talk right now,” she responded, not lifting her face from her pillow. “Too late,” Applejack said, startling Twilight. “We’re already here, an’ we’re certainly not gonna leave ya alone. Not until we’re sure ye’re okay.” “… I’m fine,” Twilight insisted. “Really?” Rarity asked. “You haven’t eaten anything today, have you darling? And I can tell by the sound of your voice that you’re parched.” “I’m just tired. I want to get some sleep.” “Ah understand,” Applejack said, walking over to Twilight’s bed and sitting beside the purple Unicorn, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “But jus’ ‘cause ye’re… ‘tired’, doesn’t mean ya should skip out on eatin’. Ya need ta get some grub in yer belly, Twilight, otherwise, you’ll regret it later.” “I don’t feel like eating right now.” Spike hopped up onto Twilight’s bed and gave her a little nudge. “C’mon, Twilight. I’m worried about you. Just ‘cause Trixie dumped you-” Rarity immediately placed a hoof over Spike’s mouth, and the three waited in silence for a bit, until they could hear Twilight’s sobbing starting up again. Applejack sighed, and shot the baby dragon a glare. Spike tried to apologise, but it was muffled by Rarity’s hoof. “How could she do that to me?” Twilight asked. “After all we’ve been through… Everything was going so well. I thought she loved me. I thought she wanted to be with me, so why did she say that all of a sudden?!” Applejack reached down and pulled Twilight into a hug. The purple mare buried her face into her friend’s chest, bawling her eyes out once more as she remembered Trixie’s parting words. Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances, and then nodded to each other. Whilst Applejack continued to comfort Twilight by holding her, and stroking her mane, Rarity asked Spike if he could bring some tea and a new sandwich. After she released him, the baby dragon grabbed the current sandwich and the glass of water, and sped off towards the kitchen. Rarity approached her two friends, and sat down beside Twilight, so that the librarian was in-between the other two mares. “Twilight darling, we’ve been talking about… this whole incident, ever since you came back yesterday, completely in tears.” Twilight sniffled a few times as her crying slowed down. “‘We’?” Applejack nodded. “Us two, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, an’ Pinkie Pie.” “That’s right. We were so worried about you, and we want to help you in any way that we can. Therefore, we all met up at Sugarcube Corner to discuss the situation.” “… And?” Twilight asked weakly. “Let me guess: you’re just going to tell me to forget about Trixie. That she isn’t worth my time. That there are other mares out there.” Twilight sat up and turned to Rarity, her eyes burning with anger as she faced the white mare. “Well you’re wrong! Trixie was the only pony who ever made me feel that way! She was the pony I loved more than anything! I felt so many new things with her! We had fun together, and whenever I was with her, it just felt… right! Like there was nothing in this world that could have ever hurt the two of us! “… And… I was certain that she would be the mare I ended up marrying…” Twilight’s glare softened, and new tears began to form in her eyes again. “Why did she do it? Why doesn’t she love me anymore? What changed?” “That’s actually what we were discussing, Twilight,” Rarity said, leaning forward and pulling her friend into a hug. “Something about this just doesn’t seem right.” “Ah can’t believe she’d do somethin’ like that! Ah can’t believe ah trusted her!” “I guess it really was all just an act, huh?” Rainbow Dash said. “That little… Well you can believe she’s not gonna get away with this!” “Darn right, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack agreed. “Ah warned that mare what would happen if she hurt Twilight, and ah intend ta live up ta that warning.” “Hey, guys?” Pinkie Pie interjected, her voice lacking its usual cheer. “I think we should focus more on cheering up Twilight. She’s super sad right now, and I…” Everypony looked at her expectantly, and Pinkie let out a deep sigh. “I don’t think my parties will help.” Everypony at the table gasped, and exchanged serious glances. Clearly, the situation was far worse than they had realised. “She’s right,” Rainbow said. “Trixie can be dealt with later, but first, we need to make sure Twilight’s okay.” Rarity nodded, and let out a depressed sigh. “Still, I wonder what could have happened? I was sure that Trixie’s love for Twilight was genuine.” “I find it hard to believe that Trixie would go to so much just to hurt somepony,” Fluttershy said. She then added in a much quieter voice: “I’m worried about her.” “Don’t worry, sugarcube,” Applejack said, giving the down Pegasus a smile. “We’ll go over there later an’ make sure she’s alright.” “Not Twilight,” Fluttershy corrected. “Well, her too, but I was actually talking about Trixie.” Rainbow Dash jumped up out of her seat and slammed her hooves on the table, startling the ponies both sitting there, and sitting around them. “You’re worried about her?! Fluttershy, what’s wrong with you?! There’s a limit to kindness, you know?!” Fluttershy ducked back behind her mane, and Rarity quickly wrapped her forelegs around the frightened Pegasus to calm her down. “Now now, Rainbow Dash. I understand that you’re angry, but there’s no need to take it out on poor Fluttershy.” Pinkie Pie and Applejack nodded in agreement, and Rainbow Dash, after letting out an annoyed groan, sat back down. “And besides,” Rarity added, “I agree with her.” “WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, bolting up out of her seat again. Rarity, however, did not flinch. “It’s highly unusual for somepony to just suddenly change so drastically like that. Something must have happened to her. Something dreadful. I just know it!” “Like what?” Applejack asked. “What kind of ‘something’ could justify what she did to Twilight?” “Who knows? But I think we should find out, before we just jump to conclusions.” Fluttershy eased her way out of Rarity’s hold, and nodded in agreement. The five ponies just remained silent for a while, and the atmosphere around them grew tense. Eventually, Rainbow Dash couldn’t take it anymore, and turned around to leave. “Where’re ya goin’?” Applejack asked. “To find Trixie, of course!” Rainbow Dash answered. “I don’t know about any ‘reasons’ for dumping Twilight like that, but I’m gonna find out! And if she isn’t willing to talk… well, I’ll make her if I have to!” “Wait-” But it was too late; Rainbow Dash had already left the bakery, and was on her way to gather whatever information she could about Trixie’s current location. She was on her way to Canterlot. “… For now, let’s go make sure that Twilight’s okay,” Applejack said, and the other three mares nodded in agreement. “And that’s basically it,” Applejack said after she finished her story. “Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are already packin’ their bags. We’ve decided ta go after Trixie too, and find out why she did what she did.” “You know Trixie better than any of us, darling,” Rarity said to Twilight, who was still staring blankly at Applejack. “You know that there has to be a reason for her sudden change in attitude. Surely you aren’t just going to lay around here all day, when you could be out there, finding the answer.” Twilight turned her attention to Rarity, and then lowered her head. “But, what can I do? She said that she didn’t want anything more to do with me… Besides, she said that she would come to pick up her stuff later. So if I just wait-” “Twilight, no offence, but how stupid can ya be?” Applejack asked, surprising both Twilight and Rarity. “If she wanted nothin’ more ta do with ya, but still wanted her stuff, surely she would have packed it all up before breaking up with you, right?” “B-But-” “And besides, are ya really willing to just sit around an’ wait for somepony who might or might not show up? Ah thought you loved that mare more than anythin’ else in all of Equestria! Surely ya aren’t just gonna give up and let her get away without at least getting’ some answers!” Twilight stared into the space in front of her. She could recall a conversation that she had had with Trixie during their time together on the S.S. Blueblood. “Trixie ran away from you back in Ponyville… You’re afraid she’ll do the same now. But Trixie won’t! That was one of Trixie’s biggest mistakes, and she won’t repeat it!” “No, Trixie! That was my fault! I should have gone after you! I was stupid to let you run off like that…” Twilight’s eyes widened as she remembered the next thing that she had said to Trixie. “Well, I’m certainly not going to repeat that mistake. It’s just a dumb dream, and I have no intention of letting you get away from me again!” Steeling herself, Twilight raised her head up, and slowly turned to face Applejack. “… Screw getting answers,” she said. Applejack and Rarity were both very surprised to hear such a thing coming from the purple Unicorn, but she continued before they could say anything. “She’s my marefriend, and if she thinks she’s getting away from that, she’s got another thing coming! I’m not going to let her get away from me again!” At that moment, Spike re-entered the room, carrying a tray with three cups of hot tea, and a brand-new sandwich for Twilight. “Uh, did I miss something?” he asked, excited to see Twilight looking much livelier than earlier, but a little concerned with the fire in her eyes. Applejack simply smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Twilight’s back! And soon, Trixie will be, too!” She turned back to her newly-revived friend, who reached out for the sandwich brought to her with her magic. ‘At least, ah hope so… for Twilight’s sake.’ Trixie stared up at the sky above her, as she felt the cart that she was in beginning to slow down. She felt the frigid temperature of the surrounding area, and knew that she was close to her destination. “Miss, we’re here,” the stallion pulling the cart said. Taking a moment to ready herself, Trixie adjusted the clasp on her cloak, tightening it around her neck, and pulled her hood up over her head. She then jumped off of the cart, and circled around towards the owner. “Here,” she said, handing over a few bits to the stallion for the lift. “Thank ye kindly, miss.” The stallion began to unhook himself from his cart, but was stopped by Trixie. “I think you should leave this area, quickly.” The stallion shook his head. “I know it’s cold here, but I can take it! ‘Sides, I’ve been walking for hours now without a break, and my legs feel like they’re made of jelly!” Trixie sighed, and reached into her cloak. What she withdrew took the stallion by surprise. It was a pouch, absolutely filled with bits. There must have been at least a hundred there, and to his even greater surprise, she placed the pouch into his saddlebag! “Go,” was all that Trixie said, in a harsh, cold tone. The stallion quickly hooked himself back into his cart. “Yes, ma’am!” he said cheerfully, before continuing his journey along the dirt path before him. As soon as the stallion and his cart were out of sight, Trixie turned around and began to venture north, towards the snowy mountains in front of her. “That was rather kind of you,” a voice said. Trixie stopped immediately, and began looking around for the source of the voice. “You don’t even know that stallion, yet you’re worried he might get caught up in our affairs.” “That’s because you kill anypony who happens to have the misfortune of witnessing your crimes,” Trixie said, turning her attention to a tree not too far in front of her. “Which makes me wonder: why did you wait all this time to kill me?” From behind the tree that was receiving Trixie’s full attention, a cloaked figure emerged. He looked directly at the blue Unicorn, and shook his head. “You are correct, little Trixie Lulamoon. I should have killed you back then. And naturally, it was my intention… But something happened. Something which warranted me ensuring your survival. “Unfortunately, the Royal Guard arrived sooner than I expected, along with that cursed Captain… The one that trained Captain Armour, who I believe is a dear friend of yours?” “He is an acquaintance, nothing more,” Trixie responded in a stern voice. “I see. Anyway, because of them, I had to flee quickly, leaving you behind. And then, when I had finally managed to find out what they had done with you, I found that you had already left that orphanage.” “You visited the orphanage?” Trixie asked, feeling even more relieved that she had fled when she did. But then, a horrible thought crossed her mind. “… When did you visit the orphanage?” “Well, let’s see… I believe it was twelve years ago? No, eleven years ago. My, how time flies.” Trixie’s glare hardened, and she was finding it hard to restrain herself. Her horn began to emit sparks, and her right forehoof was lifting off the ground, and moving towards the inside of her cloak. “… Eleven years ago,” she started, gritting her teeth as she continued to glare daggers at the stallion before her. “The Matron in charge of that orphanage died. I had gone back to take the camera she had, not wanting anypony to find out that I used to live there, and that’s when I heard… that she had suffered an ‘unusual death’. To this day, her death has never been explained…” “That Matron… knew that I was interested in you. I couldn’t let her live, after I had asked her all of those questions.” Trixie’s forehoof shook, and she grasped a firm hold of something inside of her cloak. “… So it was you! You killed my family, then you killed the Matron, who had saved my life! And now…” The stallion removed his hood, revealing his face to Trixie. His yellow-coated face, that spiked-back, brown mane, and those deep blue eyes. All of the features of the Unicorn stallion that had haunted Trixie’s memories for as long as she had memories. And, to top it all off, that sadistic grin as he revelled in the pleasure of taking what was most precious to the blue Unicorn mare. Trixie walked into the small building that acted as her former gang’s current hideout. She was expecting to see the usual setup: Boss and the gang sitting around, drinking and playing cards or some kind of game, whilst ponies took turns watching through the window. What she instead saw made her blood freeze, and her body shake. The first thing that caught her eye was the green Pegasus that she knew as Sly Swift, lying in a pool of red liquid by the door. She then shifted her gaze further up into the room, and found Boss lying on the table, and then Haze sitting against the wall behind him. She recognised the scent that filled the room. The room was full of bodies, painted with red, and filled with the scent of blood. “W-What?” was all that she could say as she stepped inside. She looked around, trying to find something to make sense of the situation. “… Feathermay?” she asked, noticing that the Pegasus wasn’t there. “Where is she?” “… Trixie?” a voice called out. Trixie jumped, and turned her attention to the wall beside her. The wall popped out of place, and then slid open. A purple Pegasus mare sat inside the small, hidden room behind the fake wall. “Trixie, it’s you,” she said in a relieved tone. However, her face showed that she was anything but relieved. Her eyes were wide and shaking, and she shook about on the spot as if she were absolutely terrified. “Feathermay, what happened here?!” Trixie asked, running up to the frightened mare and placing her hooves on her shoulders. “I… There was… somepony here… A yellow coat, a brown mane… He killed them all, and I… I…” Feathermay dove her head into Trixie’s shoulders and began to weep, begging Trixie to tell her that everypony was fine. That it was just a horrible dream. Trixie put a hoof on the back of Feathermay’s head, keeping her from looking past and seeing all of the bodies littered around. She then took another look around, and found a note resting on the table in the room, underneath Boss’ hoof. She took it with her magic, and her eye widened as she saw the symbol on it – the emblem of Nightmare Moon. She then read the wording underneath. Trixie Lulamoon, your presence is requested at the Northern Mountains as soon as possible. I will be waiting for you there, but please do not keep me waiting for too long. Otherwise, another tragedy may take place. Below the message, was a collection of photographs. The first one was of Boss, and had a red ‘X’ over it. The next seven were of the rest of the gang members, minus Feathermay, all crossed out in the same way. She was expecting the last one to be of Feathermay, but not crossed out, since she had managed to hide herself. However, she was wrong. The last photograph was of a purple Unicorn mare, walking through a street with a saddlebag full of books, looking up at a bird flying just above her head, with a most beautiful smile on her face. “Twilight…” The photograph didn’t have a red ‘X’ over it… yet. Trixie gritted her teeth together, and unknowingly began to put more pressure on her hold over the crying Pegasus in her forelegs. “T-Trixie,” Feathermay said, trying to pull away. “That hurts…” Trixie immediately loosened her grip, and allowed Feathermay to pull back and begin coughing. She then turned back to the photograph of her marefriend, and she felt her blood boiling and her eyes burning as she thought about the stallion she knew had to be responsible for all of this. “How did you even know I was going to visit them?!” Trixie asked, resisting the urge to charge the stallion for two reasons: the first being that she still wanted some answers, and the second being that this was somepony who had bested Shining Armour in combat. He was not to be taken lightly. “You did all of that on the chance that I would have dropped by to see them?!” “Not at all. We were actually going to send you a message, with forged hoofwriting similar to Boss’, summoning you to the hideout. It was just a stroke of luck that you happened to go there all on your own.” “And you couldn’t have just sent the message you left there? You had to kill everypony, and leave their rotting corpses for me to find?” Shadow began to walk closer to Trixie, causing the showmare to raise her guard and light up her horn threateningly. He stopped just a short distance in front of her. “I had to make sure you had a reason to come and visit me. Besides, a peaceful lifestyle doesn’t really suit you.” “… I was finally happy,” Trixie said. “I was finally with somepony that I cared for, and who cared for me! My shows were starting to pick up, Boss and the others were doing well, I had found a nice little town to settle into, and I was making friends left and right!” “Like I said, it doesn’t suit you. Alone and isolated is more your style.” “WHY?! Why did you leave me alive back then?! Why did you kill my entire family?! Why are you always tormenting me?! Answer me, Shadow!” The stallion looked puzzled for a second. “Shadow? Oh, that’s right… That’s the codename that Shining Armour gave me, isn’t it? I would prefer you use my real name: Amaranth.” ‘‘Amaranth’…’ “And to answer your questions… it became necessary to leave you alive, as I said earlier. To be honest, when we lost track of you thanks to the Royal Guard, we were all but convinced that we would never find you again. We figured the Royal Guard was keeping you safe somewhere, under a fake name. Imagine our surprise to find you not only using you real name, but performing shows all over Equestria, drawing attention to yourself, and practically revealing yourself to us.” Trixie growled, angered by her own stupidity for not using a fake name. “Then why did you not come to me sooner?” “The time was not right. But we did keep a watchful eye on you. We needed to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed before we were ready. That’s why we’ve been protecting you ever since we found you. “But now, the time is just about right… Yes. I’d say you’re ready to undergo the transformation. You just need a little push now…” “The ‘transformation’?” Trixie asked. “What’s-” “Sorry, but I’d like to end our little Q&A session here. I have a rather busy schedule, after all.” Trixie gulped, and looked around herself. ‘It’s a wide-open area. There are few places to hide… No, he’s alone right now. I can tell. Therefore, if I can just-’ Trixie’s thoughts were interrupted as she heard the stallion moving towards her. She quickly pulled the knife out from under her cloak and turned her attention back to the other pony, but was shocked to see that he was already right in front of her. Before she could react, he swung a forehoof across her face, sending her flying backwards and crashing onto the ground behind her, dropping her knife in the process. “Like I said, I won’t kill you. So you can relax… But I will need to cause you some pain, so bear with it for a bit.” Amaranth charged magic into his horn, and fired a yellow beam of energy towards the downed Trixie. Trixie quickly charged her own magic, and put together a teleportation spell before the beam could hit her. Unfortunately, she landed a little closer to her opponent than she had intended, and was immediately assaulted by his forehoof again. This time, however, she was able to raise her own forehoof to defend herself. “I’ll make you pay for taking my family away from me!” she shouted, reaching out with her magic to the knife lying nearby. She teleported back a bit away from Amaranth, and grabbed the knife with her right forehoof. She gasped as she saw Amaranth aiming a loaded crossbow at her, grinning as he pulled the trigger. “And that’s all you know?” Twilight asked, sounding more desperate than she intended to. The mare she was talking to nodded, looking like she was feeling uncomfortable with the Unicorn’s questioning, and Twilight simply sighed. “Alright, thanks for your help.” Her voice completely lacked any cheer, and her head hung low as she slowly made her way over to Rarity and Fluttershy, who were both sitting outside of a nearby café. “That was the last one,” Rarity said, looking not quite as depressed as Twilight, but still rather upset. “And all we know is that Trixie was sighted walking along the train tracks yesterday, not wearing her cape and hat, before entering this town…” Fluttershy looked up at the sky above her. “Oh, Rainbow Dash.” Said rainbow-maned pony arrived from behind Twilight, and landed next to the purple mare. She was followed by Applejack, who was panting and sweating from chasing the Pegasus, and Pinkie Pie, who was skipping after the Pegasus merrily. “Did ya find anythin’?” Applejack asked, quickly sitting down with her friends and wiping the sweat off of her brow. Fluttershy offered her a drink of her juice, which Applejack quickly downed, before returning the empty carton to the yellow Pegasus. “Phew! Thanks, Fluttershy.” “Um… I-It’s okay,” Fluttershy said, carrying the empty juice box away to a nearby bin, and entering the café to buy a new one. “And to answer your question: no. We have not,” Rarity said, before turning her attention to Rainbow Dash, who looked like she was ready to pounce somepony and beat them up at any moment. “Dare I ask?” “All we found out is that she paid somepony to let her ride in his cart, and that they left town to the north, but that’s it!” Rainbow Dash slammed her face down onto the table in front of her. “… Oh yeah, and she was apparently wearing a black cloak when she left.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “A black cloak? What for?” “How should I know?!” Rainbow snapped, causing Twilight to flinch. “Uh, sorry… Anyway, I guess she was worried we’d come after her! I swear, when I get my hooves on that mare…” “Calm down, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie said, a worried look on her face as she held onto Rainbow Dash. “Um, excuse me.” The five ponies at the table turned around to see a purple mare approaching them. Her face was wrapped in bandages, obscuring it for the most part, and they could just barely make out bulges in the sides of her dress, suggesting that she was a Pegasus. “You… Do you k-know a T… Trixie Lulamoon?” Twilight’s face immediately came to life, and she practically leapt forward towards the mare, who backed away told the Unicorn to stay back. Rainbow Dash was quickly in this new mare’s face, glaring her down as she moved forward whenever the frightened mare took a step back. “That’s right! You know her? You’d better tell us everything you know, right now!” “I-I… I…” Applejack quickly pulled Rainbow Dash back by her tail, and offered an apology to the mare. Twilight then took Rainbow Dash’s place in front of the mare, but her eyes were more pleading than angry. “Please! If you know anything, please tell me!” The mare gulped, and slowly took a step back. She was thankful to see that, this time, the other pony allowed her to distance herself a bit. Suddenly, the mare’s eyes widened as a realisation hit her. “Y-You… are Twilight Sparkle, right? Trixie’s marefriend?” “Well, I was,” Twilight said, a frown forming on her face. Before she could continue, though, the bandaged mare quickly reached forward, and grabbed Twilight’s shoulders. “Please! You have to help Trixie!” she shouted, sounding desperate, and afraid. She removed one of her hooves from Twilight’s shoulders, and reached into her dress, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. “She’s in trouble! You have to help her!” An explosion behind Trixie conjured a large cloud of smoke, obscuring her pursuer’s vision. The showmare quickly ducked down behind a nearby rock, and looked down at her stomach, which she was clutching with her right forehoof. She moved her hoof aside, and winced as a sharp pain passed through her body. “Damnit… I’ve got to get this bolt out,” she said to herself as she reached for said projectile, sticking out of her stomach. She nudged it ever so slightly, and yelped as pain passed through her body once again. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Amaranth said, circling the rock and leering down at Trixie. “You’ll bleed out pretty quickly if you do.” “Oh yeah?” Trixie asked as she performed a firework spell, aiming it directly at the stallion before her. Amaranth dodged it, and swung his hoof towards the blue mare. Trixie rolled aside to avoid the blow, and reached into her cloak to pull out her knife again. She thrust it forward towards Amaranth’s chest, but the stab was intercepted by his magic. “You can’t beat me, little Lulamoon. You lack the will to kill anypony, and that’s why you’ll lose.” Amaranth took the knife from Trixie’s hoof, and used it to slash her face, cutting her along her cheek and prompting her to quickly teleport back, twice. He sighed as Trixie once again turned tail and began to flee up the mountain, and promptly gave chase. “You can’t get away, either.” As Trixie ran, her breathing increased drastically, and she could feel her legs becoming much heavier. In addition, her wound was burning, like it was on fire! She knew that she wouldn’t last much longer. She knew that she would have to turn the tables on him somehow. But how? He was simply too strong for her to take on. There was nothing that she could do… ‘No, wait! There is something that might work, but…’ Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, Trixie quickly turned around as she heard the hoofsteps of her opponent drawing closer. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get away, so there really wasn’t much choice. ‘I hope Twilight’s suggestion works…’ Magic gathered into Trixie’s horn, growing larger and larger as Trixie grunted and groaned under the pressure. ‘Temporal illusion, go!’ Twilight and her friends leapt out of the chariot that had given them a lift, along with their new companion, Feathermay. Fluttershy offered the driver some bits for the ride, whilst Twilight immediately began to look around the area, desperately looking for Trixie. “Where is she? Where is she?!” she asked, grabbing Rarity’s shoulders and beginning to shake her. “T-Twilight, darling, please calm down!” Twilight stopped shaking Rarity, and the white mare gently placed a hoof on her shoulder. “That’s better. Now, let’s-” Before she could continue, the sound of an explosion sounded in the distance, drawing the attentions of the seven mares. In the distance, the seven ponies could see a bright, purple light shining on the mountains. Twilight wasted no time in racing towards that light, her mind flooded with thoughts of Trixie in danger, and praying that she wasn’t too late. Trixie lay down on her back, her eyes closed and her breathing slowing down as her horn began to spark wildly out of control. Looming above her, Amaranth shot the showmare a cold, hard glare. “You bitch… How dare you do something like that! Are you trying to kill yourself?! I don’t care about you, but of the Queen-” A sharp pain suddenly passed through his system, and Amaranth fell down to the ground, passing through the fading form of the downed showmare. Behind him, he could hear hoofsteps approaching, accompanied by the sounds of irregular breathing. “It seems it worked… Twilight Sparkle, you managed to perfect a safer way to use the temporal illusion spell, as if it was nothing.” Trixie stopped behind Amaranth’s body, and leaned down to pick up the knife that he had dropped after suffering her magical attack. “You really are something else…” “Y-You used a temporal illusion?!” Amaranth asked, shaking as he tried to right himself. “And then two more illusions during that-” Trixie extended her hoof forward as soon as the stallion was facing her, knocking him down to the ground. With her other hoof, she pressed the blade of her knife against his throat. He could see the look in her eyes… Cold. Merciless. Filled with hatred… Those eyes… they were perfect. “Oh, how the tables have turned,” Trixie said as she pressed the knife just a little more against his throat, digging into it a little bit and starting to draw blood. “I lack the will to kill you? Maybe if I had encountered you before yesterday… but you killed my second family, and you also threatened to kill Twilight. There’s no way I can forgive you for that.” Amaranth glared at the blue mare, and extended one of his hind legs forward, kicking her in the stomach and pushing her back. Trixie performed a teleport spell before she could hit the ground beneath her, and quickly righted herself. She noticed Amaranth charging towards her, and assumed a defensive stance. ‘Damnit!’ Amaranth thought to himself. ‘She hit me pretty hard! But I should still be able to take her… The question is, can I avoid killing her? My Queen…’ Trixie dodged Amaranth’s kick, and returned with her own. Amaranth grabbed her leg, and attempted to throw her over his head. Instead, though, Trixie fired a beam of magical energy towards the stallion, forcing him to let go and jump back a bit. He charged forward again, this time pulling his crossbow and loading it. “Just give up already!” he shouted, aiming his crossbow at Trixie’s stomach. “I’d rather not hurt Her Majesty’s body!” Trixie completely ignored him, and charged another beam of magic into her horn. Amaranth fired, and Trixie released her attack shortly afterwards. The bolt hit Trixie, and her beam hit the crossbow in Amaranth’s hooves, at roughly the same time. Amaranth grunted as he held his hoof, which suffered some of the damage from Trixie’s attack, and then looked up to see the blue mare teleport to just in front of him. He gasped, and quickly raised his hooves to defend himself… but then lowered them again, when he saw something in Trixie’s eyes. ‘My Queen!’ He could see the lack of life in Trixie’s eyes… The colour that was fading away, the cold, unfeeling look that she gave him. And, to match her eyes, her face had also changed. She was no longer showing any signs of fear. Right now, she was fighting him out of pure, unrestrained anger. And that was the signal he needed, to know that he had won. Right now, she was dangling on the edge of the pit of no return. She simply needed a push to drop down into its dark depths… Amaranth was determined to give her just that. Lowering his hooves completely, Amaranth’s look of anger faded, and he simply grinned at the blue mare in front of him, who had raised her hoof high into the air, clutching her knife with the blade pointed down. Trixie didn’t even notice. She didn’t notice the stallion dropping his guard. She didn’t notice the stallion grinning as she raised her weapon. She didn’t notice that her vision was starting to become hazy, or that her breathing was slowing down, or even that her hearing was starting to fade. She didn’t notice, because she didn’t care. Right now, there was only one thing that mattered to her. With one, swift motion, her hoof came swinging down, travelling quickly towards the side of Amaranth’s neck. She felt her foreleg stop for a second, and heard a loud gasp coming from Amaranth. She quickly resumed her attack, and found that she had to put more effort into thrusting her knife further into the stallion’s neck. As soon as she could feel the other pony’s neck against her hoof, and his blood running down it, realisation hit her. Her eyes widened, and her vision started to return to her. She hoof shook as she looked at what she was doing. She ran her eyes across her right foreleg, which was getting progressively redder as she eventually reached her hoof. Attached to her hoof, was a small knife, which was currently buried deep into somepony’s neck. She then turned her focus to Amaranth, expecting to see fear, or anger, coming from him… What she saw instead, was that same grin, from when she had first encountered the stallion. Amaranth coughed up a little blood, and laughed. This caused something inside of Trixie to snap. He was laughing… He had pushed Trixie over the edge, and drove her to commit murder, something which she had been determined never to do in her entire life. And now, he was laughing at her… Laughing at her situation… Mocking her, after taking everything she had away from her! “You basTAAAAAAAAARD!” As Trixie’s cry echoed throughout the landscape, she withdrew her knife with one lightning motion, causing blood to spurt out from the wound in Amaranth’s neck. The stallion fell to the ground, his body shaking as he let out a few weak pants. Trixie looked down at his body, and watched as his breathing began to slow down… Slower, and slower, until eventually, it stopped entirely. She then looked over at the knife that had ended his life… No. Not the knife. It was her. She did it. She ended another pony’s life! She had resolved herself to do it, but… “Why…” Tears began to roll down Trixie’s face, and then fell down to her haunches and dropped the knife in her hoof. She held her head tightly, clenching her eyes shut and screaming as she tried to force the dead pony’s image out of her mind. “NOOOOOO! Why?! Why did you do this to me?! Why can’t I just be allowed to live a normal, happy life with my friends?! WHY?!” “Because you are merely a tool.” Trixie gasped, and began to look around for whoever had just said that. “But you can relax. Now that your job is done, you may rest.” A warmth began to spread throughout Trixie’s body. A familiar warmth. One that she was sure she had felt somewhere before, but she couldn’t quite place her hooves on it. Soon, the warmth was followed by a shock passing through her system. “This again?! Your mother was thorough, wasn’t she?!” “My… mother?” Another shock passed through Trixie’s body, and the blue mare fell down face first onto the ground. Her vision began to fade away, and she felt her body cooling down. The last thing that Trixie heard before passing out was the sound of somepony calling her name. ‘Twi… light…’