//------------------------------// // Will You Fail Me Now? // Story: We Remember Everything // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: A/N: Special thanks to Guilop, Cadmium, ZeroInfinity, King Sombrony, ArcaneVisions, JaceArveduin, Chaos5367, Mutie Genic, New Spark, Obsidian Raindrop, Killabyte, Drgnwolf, Evowizard25, for your comments last chapter! They certainly have helped me, so I'm really grateful for your support. Chapter title now brought to you by Trust Company's "Stronger" A big shout out to RainbowBob, who featured this story the other day in their journal! Thank you for your support! So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter even if it is a bit intense! I'd love to hear what you have to think afterwards in the comments, and remember, comments are Knowing that Trixie could have gone anywhere was not a settling thought to Luna. Outside of the castle Trixie had nothing, so if she had just run away she would be left destitute. But, with Trixie’s low level of confidence shattered, Luna feared that she may do something more than just run away. What that was, Luna had no idea, but she was not going to leave things to chance and wait to find out. Luna’s first stop was to check Trixie’s room again for clues. The room was sparsely decorated outside of the elegant furniture it had started with, but one thing did catch Luna’s eye. On Trixie’s desk was the moon necklace that Luna had since deduced that Loki had taken. It seems Trixie had taken it back, yet not returned it. Also on the desk were some of Luna’s books, as well as a framed picture taken from a magazine that had both Luna and Trixie together in it. Luna would be more appreciative of the shrine if Trixie was not missing. Upon further inspection, Trixie’s room left no obvious clues outside of the now missing hat and cape that Trixie had not even asked to have mended during her stay. The next place Luna thought to check was her own office, where Trixie spent a great deal of time when she was not in the training field or asleep. She was pleased to find that the door was unlocked despite having been closed earlier, as not only was it a sign somepony had been using it but also meant Luna did not have to fumble around for a key since she had no magic to open it with. Luna rushed across the empty room to her desk, where Trixie would work. Perhaps Trixie had left some indication of her destination there? A note? Surely enough, Luna found what she was looking for. But it was no note or message. “Of all the—” It was a monster report with its map torn off. A report regarding a constant menace Luna had not been able to stop yet, one that had claimed quite a few pony lives in recent times. Trixie had left to stop the Ursa Major of Everfree Forest. Light was beginning to fade from the day when Trixie arrived, although not to the point where seeing was impossible. In fact, the sun was just at the point where through the trees it shined perfectly into the cave Trixie was now standing before. The cave was not the deepest of caves, although it was quite large and had a ceiling high enough to fit the monster that called it home. Monsters would be more accurate, Trixie thought. After all, there was both an Ursa Major and an Ursa Minor that took residence there. And because of their savagery caused by the change in Everfree’s environment, there were less residents of nearby pony towns. The sleeping forms of the two bears brought pause to Trixie, who only hesitantly began to approach them. “Princess Luna, I am sorry, but this is something I have to do. Not just for you.” The deep breaths of the large creatures put her more on edge, but Trixie’s mind was made. She was going to do this even if it killed her. Even the pony who had taken her in was disappointed in her. Trixie could care less about her own safety. Trixie took a breath in of her own as she continued to enter the cave at a careful pace. She did not want to upset their sleep just yet, “Okay.” The bones of a deceased pony greeted Trixie partway into the cave. Not the most comforting of greetings, but Trixie pushed them out of her mind to instead focus on her plan. Her attention was on the Ursa Major, eyes locked on the purple monstrosity that Trixie had come to make pay for its crimes. She placed the bag she brought with her down. Her horn began to glow its purple aura as Trixie called forth as much power as she could. With focus and attention Trixie aimed at the closest ankle of the sleeping Ursa and unleashed her strike, a barrage of bright fireworks shooting out to burn the fur and skin there. The beast howled as it awoke in pain, its sleep being interrupted by the stinging in its ankle. The Ursa flailed briefly as it tried to rise to its full height in the cramped cave. Trixie, meanwhile, powered up another strike to fire at the monster. “I seem to have gotten your attention. Your cub and I are already quite familiar.” Just as the Ursa finished rising Trixie’s second strike slammed into the same exact spot as the first, burning the fur and skin ever so slightly more than the first strike. The Ursa Major roared down at Trixie while its cub began to stir from its own rest. The paw strike that followed the roar slammed into the cave’s floor where Trixie had been, though a singing strike to its leg from a different location revealed that Trixie had not perished. Trixie had teleported at the first sign of the bear’s paw moving, ending up instead to the side of the creature where she was able to fire off her next attack. As the creature turned its large body in the cave Trixie continued to unleash blast after blast into the same general area on it, moving to keep up with the more cumbersome being’s own movement. After turning enough the Ursa leapt forward with its body, which was again avoided by Trixie who teleported to the entire other side of the creature. “The reports have said you two have slain fourteen of my kind,” Trixie let loose another barrage of sparkling fire to strike the Ursa as her voice slowly morphed into a yell, “As Princess Luna’s apprentice, I will make sure you harm nopony else!” The Ursa shrugged off the blast because it did little more than irritate what was already singed. Trixie’s strikes lacked the power to cause the Ursa more pain than what a papercut might be like. With a growl the Ursa swung around in a sweeping motion to try and hit as much area as it could. Having anticipated this, Trixie avoided the attack by leaping to one side at which point she shot out a beam of magical energy into the minor wound she had created. “Can’t beat what you can’t hit, beast!” The Ursa bellowed as her magic broke the skin on its ankle and drew blood. While still horribly insignificant, repeated cuts to the same place were taking their toll on the outermost layers of skin now that fur had been burnt off. In blinding anger the Ursa Major rushed forward again, but when Trixie teleported to avoid it the cramped nature of the cave caused the Ursa to crash its head into a wall. Trixie sneered, ignoring the rising feelings of exhaustion as she continued to use her most powerful magic, “Does that hurt? I’ve grown stronger since your cub humiliated me!” With no time wasted reeling after connecting its face with the wall, the Ursa kicked a leg out to where Trixie had fired from. Unfortunately for the towering monstrosity, the pest who had come into its home was not there when the strike hit the spot. This time Trixie had teleported right beside the leg she was focusing on, knowing that because of its outstretched limb the Ursa would have trouble swiping at her at that very moment. With her point blank range, Trixie wasted no time pouring blast after blast of her relatively weak energy at the Ursa, “I lost everything!” Trixie preemptively teleported away and to the side, finding herself next to the now awake Ursa Minor. The Minor was watching the fight with a mixture of fear and anger, not liking that this small pony was harming its caretaker but also not able to join into the fray with how the Ursa Major was beserking. “My house!” Trixie shouted as she quickly shot at the Major and avoided a quick strike from the Minor with her teleportation. The Ursa major stomped down on the ground, letting out a small quake that shook the entire cavern. As Trixie reappeared by the cave entrance where she first shot the Ursa, she too was caught in the shake and lost her footing. Despite this, Trixie fired another round of explosive magic at her enemy, “My job!” The shots were not exactly on target, with some even hitting the cavern ceiling, but that did not stop Trixie from continuing her grievance list, “My life!” As the Ursa Major moved to attack her at the cave’s mouth, Trixie again teleported to another place in the cave. The stress was increasing every time she performed the trick, having already used her powers earlier in the day and not had a night to refresh herself. Still, Trixie powered through the minor exhaustion to strike out again from the Ursa Major’s flank. She charged up her power as the bear tried to locate her, finishing her charge just as its face turned to her. “Princess Luna gave me all of that back and more, so I will do anything to deserve her kindness!” Despite its size the Ursa moved with great speed, its paw striking Trixie just as she blasted into its leg again. The impact sent Trixie flying back into the cave wall, though mid-crash Trixie used her magic to teleport away so that she could avoid the Ursa’s follow up strike that right then smashed the wall. Trixie stumbled after she appeared in the center of the cave, now behind the Ursa. The hit she took left her completely winded, not that she was running at full energy before it. This did not stop her from using her telekinesis to open her bag by the cavern’s entrance, nor did it stop her from sending a small vial hurtling at the Ursa’s face as it turned around again. Trixie coughed up some blood as she sped up the projectile, “Even if you do hit me, I’m not going to back down. I’m through being pushed around!” To the Ursa’s surprise searing hot liquid crashed into its leg and shattered glass entered its wounds, both warranting another roar of anger from the beast. This anguish gave Trixie a moment to breathe as the Ursa flailed hopelessly to remove the poison now stinging its limb. “Hurts, doesn’t it?” Trixie taunted the beast. The Ursa Major did not hear her words due to its own rage. Its vision became partially blurry as it prepared to murder Trixie once again. The Ursa stomped its front paws down where Trixie was, or rather where a blue fuzzy thing was that ought to have been Trixie. Instead the paws passed right through Trixie’s illusion of herself, purposefully less defined that it could have been to conserve on her own waning energy. The festering and profusely bleeding leg of the Ursa found its other side being bombarded next, as Trixie had used the moment of distraction to reposition herself and attack again. “That’s basilisk venom. My Princess took it from one she slew and stored it in her desk. She wasn’t using it, so I thought I might make good use of it.” The Ursa Minor moved to try and attack Trixie itself, but its parent got in the way as it turned towards Trixie’s voice. “And for the next act, I’ll cut your leg in two!” Luna knew exactly where the Ursa’s location was even without the report’s map. Unable to teleport there, Luna was not sparing the precious moments she had to inform anypony else. She bolted out of the nearest door and took flight, not caring if she made a scene at all. She had found her desk drawer open as well with some of the supplies and things kept inside missing. Interestingly enough, Trixie had not taken anything akin to the Alicorn Amulet she once used even though Luna had such trinkets, but instead took basilisk poison among other things. Luna could tell her apprentice wanted this to be under her own power, even if it meant throwing in a few tricks. Now that she knew what Trixie was planning and where she was going to be, Luna found her in almost no time. Upon landing at the cave Luna peered inside to see her student dancing around the Ursa Major who lived there. Trixie was suffering from some major bruises and was seemingly exhausted, no doubt having been using everything she had to fight off the monster. Just as Luna arrived though the Ursa, with a very wounded leg that was beginning to show inner flesh, connected its paw with Trixie’s side. “Trixie!” Her student crashed and rolled across the rough ground before coming to a stop a few dozen feet away from where she had been standing. The Ursa moved in for the kill, bearing its claws down on her— Only for the claws to embed themselves in the ground, Trixie’s illusion fading away. Surprised, Luna looked around for her student, “What in the—” Trixie hacking up blood gave away her new position to the Ursa. One side of her had a gash going down from shoulder to hip, and blood was flowing freely from the wound. Other scrapes and cuts marred her blue body, but Trixie ignored them all to continue on fighting against the Ursa. As Trixie shot at the Ursa’s wounded leg again Luna, out of fear, snapped at her, “What do you think you are doing?!” Trixie created four illusions around the room to throw off the Ursa, who was beginning to slow down due to its crippling leg wound around its ankle. With this moment of safety, Trixie shouted to her teacher with indignation, “I don’t need your help! Stay back!” By the cave’s entrance, Luna tried to think of what to say. Even if she got involved, she had no magic. Luna would only get in the way if she tried helping, being no more than a tall horse in this situation. She couldn’t help her student even if she wanted. Luna felt her stomach drop at that realization, not having thought of it until that point. The Ursa took no time in swiping furiously at the fake Trixies as the real one dashed across the cave to get a better shot at the wound she had been cultivating. Trixie felt as if her ribs were broken, but her single minded determination kept her moving. Just as Trixie reached her new position the Ursa ran out of illusions to test, though it was too late as Trixie already shot off another magical blast that collided directly with the wound. Despite her wounds and mounting exhaustion Trixie had retained her pinpoint aim from the competition earlier. The Ursa’s leg buckled underneath it temporarily, lending Luna an opportunity to call out to Trixie again. After all, despite what damage Trixie had done thus far, Trixie was even worse off than the Ursa and was far more exhausted than it was. “Trixie, you don’t have to prove anything to me!” Trixie used her magic to summon a cloud in the air, with which she shot a decent sized bolt of lightning down at the wounded Ursa Major’s leg. Teleporting to the side would have been too much of a waste of energy, so she needed to think of other ways to keep the pressure on that joint. The Ursa Major began to rise again, largely ignoring the lightning that continued to strike it as a mere nuisance. Trixie, meanwhile, spoke back to her princess, “I am sick and tired of being looked down on! I’d rather die than lose everything again!” Despite previously not being willing to get in the way, the Ursa Minor leapt forward to pound Trixie. The bear missed as Trixie rolled away and created illusions of herself to throw them both into confusion again. This would prove useless as the Ursa Major rose up and blitzed Trixie with its impressive speed, slamming her straight into the wall and pinning her there with its body. Now having its prey in its grasp, the Ursa grasped her with a paw and lifted her up into the air. Luna gasped as she watched the beast begin to clench its paw, crushing her student’s body within it with only Trixie’s head poking out at the top. “Get away from her!” Trixie screamed in agony as certain bones in her body broke under the pressure. Still, she did not stop fighting. Trixie’s horn flashed before she shot out a weak shot at the Ursa, striking the eye of the beast that gripped her so tightly. Despite the relative weakness of the strike, it was enough to get it to loosen its grip. Trixie began to fall as it let go of her, but to avoid dying from the fall she teleported in mid air to the ground beneath her. Upon hitting the ground she crumpled down, unable to stand right away because of her sustained damage. As the Ursa shook its head in pain from the eye damage it took Trixie coughed out blood onto the ground, saying with a weak but determined voice, “Y—you haven’t beaten me yet!” The Ursa Major’s issue with eyesight did not stop the Ursa Minor from trying to intercede once again, the smaller but still gigantic bear charging at Trixie feverishly. Hearing it roar got Trixie to pull herself up, her voice raising to a very loud level as she turned from the Ursa Major to the Minor, “You better stay outta this!” Luna watched in awe as Trixie telekinetically grabbed the Ursa Minor by the limbs on one half its body as well as some of its torso. The beast’s momentum was instead turned into a swing as Trixie collided the Minor with the Major’s weakened limb, sweeping out both of its rear legs in the process. The sweeping arc continued until Trixie let go of the Minor and let it continue on its way until it crashed into the cavern wall. The cave shook and fragments crumbled from the ceiling, but the Ursa Minor did not stir. Still watching, Luna felt tears roll down her cheeks as Trixie nearly collapsed after accomplishing this. If Trixie died fighting these monsters Luna was not sure she could ever forgive herself, because she knew that she was partly to blame because of her own ignorant dismissiveness earlier. The Ursa Major did not particularly like seeing its cub beaten like that, so its next strike was with a speed that Trixie was forced to dodge with teleportation. She was already wounded and weakened, so having to use a chunk of energy she barely had was causing her to feel unthinkable anguish. A thought came across Trixie’s mind that made her smile despite her pain though. Given her level of torment and agony, what was a little more pain? It would only hurt a little longer anyways. This fight could not last much longer. Trixie cast, with a scream of pain, Loki’s mass illusion technique. Now having a total of sixteen extra Trixies in the room, the mare swapped places with one of them that gave her a better shot at the Ursa’s leg. Knowing what Trixie was about to do, having instructed her about how to almost beat Twilight with the same technique, Luna gasped. At full power Trixie could do this maneuver for a minute before growing tired, so doing so while half dead… “Trixie, you’ll kill yourself!” Luna sobbed as she cursed herself for her own lack of magic. She could not do anything at all to save Trixie, since running up to them would only get herself killed. Trixie ignored Luna as she began to first attack the Ursa from one direction only to teleport and attack it from another when it discovered which of the Trixie’s attacking it was the real one. Trixie’s wounds bled more and more as she continued the high-strain technique, but she ignored them as she continued to focus on the Ursa’s leg. As the attacks continued, more and more white bone could be made from underneath the layers of flesh being burned, blasted and occasionally electrocuted from the floating cloud in the room. The Ursa squealed in pain while hunting down Trixie, now trying to use its nose to determine which Trixie was which. This proved difficult however because of how much of her blood was strewn about the cave. Trixie managed to actually tear through to the bone completely by the time the Ursa got lucky in its thrashing and struck her with a paw. The Ursa did not realize that it had connected a hit with Trixie, so it continued to strike at illusions while Trixie fostered an intimate relationship with the ground, being unable to leave it. She coughed up blood as she tried to rise, but her hooves were failing her, “If I...” The Ursa Major continued thrashing madly, some of its strikes colliding with the walls and shaking everything. As it continued to do this however its exposed leg began to feel the strain of its upper body weight, causing the Ursa even more pain than what had drove it mad in the first place. Forgotten and ignored on the ground, Trixie first pushed one hoof fiercely into the ground to prop herself up, “Everypony wants me to do this…I can’t return to what I was unless I win…” As she finished speaking, Luna found herself beyond impressed with her apprentice. Part of her wanted to run in, grab Trixie, and just escape with her, but the rampaging Ursa was in-between the two of them and she was not sure she could do it. Trixie, despite her exhaustion, broken bones and bleeding lacerations, was standing again. One of her legs was bent and almost limp, while blood streamed from her lips and body wounds freely. Still, she was both alive and standing to Luna’s relief. There was still a chance that they could run and prevent this from getting any worse. The Ursa seemed to hear the panting of Trixie as she rose up. It turned to face her as she struggled to breathe, “I…” Trixie inhaled deeply before coughing up more blood, a purple glow forming around her horn, “I’m—” The Ursa finished turning to her just in time to receive an explosion of fireworks to its face, Trixie simultaneously yelling at the top of her lungs, “I AM PRINCESS LUNA’S APPRENTICE! I AM GOING TO BE THE STRONGEST MAGE EQUESTRIA HAS EVER SEEN! DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!” As the Ursa reeled back in pain from her burst of fire, Trixie quickly went about pressing her advantage. The Ursa’s wounded leg snapped and broke beneath it, causing it to tumble and crash into the back of the cave. The Ursa being unable to move, Trixie’s long gambit had worked. She knew that an immobile creature was as good as dead and fought accordingly, so this success only spurred her onward. “I have not come this far to be stopped! I will not let my future be jeopardized by some mongrel!” “Now—” Trixie hacked up blood twice before catching her breath enough to finish speaking, her horn glowing bright as she stored what little power she had left in her, “Now you’ll taste my true power!” Unable to protect itself or move to avoid Trixie’s power, the Ursa Major soon found its forehead being assaulted by the beam of energy coming from her. Blue ethereal fur began to burn as Trixie gasped in pain, the strain of her efforts literally pulling her closer and closer to the brink of death. Luna slowly moved towards Trixie, still not able to help her in any fashion without getting in the way because now the Ursa Minor was stirring. This did not stop her from realizing that one way or another this would soon be over, at which point she would need to grab Trixie and run. One of Trixie’s legs buckled completely under her, causing her stream of magic to go from the Ursa Major’s head to the cavern wall and then ceiling as Trixie jerked around in an attempt to aim again. Despite her bones being bruised, with some even broken, Trixie forced the leg to straighten out so she could stand straight again. Her magic pounded back into the Ursa’s face where the burnt fur began to peel away to show the skin of the bear. Blood appeared where the magic struck, not to mention that which continued to pour from Trixie’s various wounds. Her straining efforts were causing her wounds to reopen and drip more of her life fluid to the ground. Soon enough bone became visible on the defeated Ursa, and it was not long before a hole large enough was formed in its head that it stopped all struggling. Trixie had won. “She—She did it,” Luna gaped as she tried to process what just happened. As rocks began to fall from the ceiling, Luna pondered how she wouldn’t be burying Trixie. Her tears of sorrow morphed into tears of happiness as Luna discovered just how much that meant to her. Her feeling of relief and elation did not last long. A harsh growl from behind Trixie sent Luna’s heart into her throat, her mind jumping back to the Ursa still not slain. “The Ursa Minor!” Luna yelled as she leaped to action. The younger bear had partially recovered from its previous defeat, now able to stand on four legs. Seeing its parent slain drove it to madness too, its eyes focused on the blue mare who had done the deed. It was seeing red, both literally with its own blood dripping down its forehead as well as figuratively with how rage swelled within it. It prepared to charge and spring forward as Luna prepared to do the very same, “Trixie, watch out! Behind you!” Despite the warning, Trixie had hit her limit. There was not an ounce of energy left in the apprentice as the cavern began to collapse around them all. Teleporting with its great strain was beyond her power, not to mention just plain walking. Trixie knew she could not get out of the way of either the Ursa or the many falling pieces of the cavern ceiling, so she made no attempt to. With this moment she instead turned to her teacher with a sad smile. “I’m sorry for letting you down…princess.”