//------------------------------// // Chapter 29: Better Than Daffodils on Rye. // Story: My Little Fantasy // by GuyWhoWritesThings //------------------------------// Chapter 29: Better Than Daffodils on Rye. "You did this on purpose." I say, looking from my breakfast to Trixie. "Did what, Dusk?" She asks, feigning innocence and looking away, moving toward the window. "You got me scrambled eggs for breakfast." I look down at the rather generous plate of eggs. It's a nice change from pancakes, and far better than a flower sandwich. It doesn't hurt that it actually smells fairly good, too. "Trixie doesn't know what you're talking about." She places her hooves on the windowsill, looking out for a moment before turning back to face me. "It's the perfect breakfast for a carnivorous monster like you!" I look up and turn to her, meeting her eyes and giving her a small smile. "You're a total bitch, you know that?" She returns to all fours and turns to face me, flipping her hair to the side with one hoof and giving me a half-lidded, smug look. "It's just another facet of Trixie's domineering personality and unmatched charisma, she assures you." I keep eye contact with her for just a moment more before I lose it, triggering a fit of laughter I'm sure we both need. It only lasts for a short time though, as I wince, the laughter jostling my chest wound. "Are you okay, Dusk?" Trixie asks, her own finally-happy demeanor giving way to concern. "I'm fine." I reply quickly, the pain subsiding into a dull throb as I turn down to the food. "Didn't you get yourself something?" "Trixie... isn't hungry." She turns and looks wistfully out the window. "Trixie..." I suppose it was too much to hope for her to be back to one-hundred percent already. "It's okay, Dusk, Trixie... I, was just reminiscing." She says, turning her head up to the sky, first-person pronouns again returning to her vocabulary. "I've always traveled the road alone, with my stage wagon, visiting all the cities in Equestria and playing up my title of The Great and Powerful Trixie. Ponies enjoyed being entertained, and I enjoyed entertaining them. I used to feel the same thing Twilight felt when she performed with me." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "But, all that traveling... maybe I just got lonely? I stopped being able to connect with other ponies, and after enough time by myself... I started becoming The Great and Powerful Trixie, instead of just playing her character. Acting like her, talking like her... instead of just failing to connect with ponies, I humiliated them and pushed them away. And I enjoyed it. Before I knew it, I didn't know how to stop anymore. That's when Ponyville happened. I'm sure I've told you about that plenty." I nod, not wanting to interrupt. "After that happened, for a while, I... or rather, The Great and Powerful Trixie, became obsessed with getting payback on Twilight Sparkle. My cart had been destroyed, and local tabloids had blamed the incident on me, making it impossible for me to get my old crowds." She closes her eyes, collecting herself. "It wasn't her fault the ursa minor came to Ponyville, or stepped on my cart, or that those publications ran their stories. But I didn't care. I hated her regardless. While working on a rock farm for ponies far nicer to me than I deserved, I concocted revenge scheme after revenge scheme in hopes of making her rue the day she messed with The Great and Powerful Trixie." She spits the title as she finishes her sentence. "But then..." Trixie continues. "But then, I met you. Someone who didn't judge me for the past. Someone who wasn't even a pony. Instead of wanting to immediately prove my superiority, I was... curious. I became the closest I had been to friendly with anyone in a really long time. I still spoke like The Great and Powerful Trixie, moved like her, acted like her, but slowly... the me that had disappeared so long ago finally started coming back." "Trixie..." I still don't know what I'm supposed to say in a situation like this. "I'm sorry to say all this now, Dusk." She lets out a small sigh. "I know that, now, with everything being how it is, my life story must sound really insignificant in comparison. It's just... what if... something happens, and I never see you again? I..." "It's not insignificant, Trixie." I assure her. I think back to a time long ago, one that sits on the edge of the memories I recently regained about Nibelheim. It's of myself as a teenager, at the well that had stood in the center of Nibelheim. I'd invited my childhood friend there that night. I'd told her I'd be leaving the town soon, going to join SOLDIER, so I could become great... like Sephiroth. She even made me promise that once I'd become great, I'd come protect her if she was ever in need. And... I'd done that, hadn't I? Maybe I'm not as strong as Sephiroth, but I'd achieved SOLDIER, First Class, and later, when Sephiroth razed the town, I had protected her, at least. So... why would Trixie's story make this memory come back now? "Dusk..." Trixie speaks up, pulling me out of my reverie, turning her head to look at me from the window. "You look like you're the one lost in some old memories now." "It's... nothing." I reply half-heartedly. "...Alright." She replies, obviously seeing through my lie but not pressing me about it. She turns back to the window, collecting herself for another moment before speaking. "How much longer are you going to stand there eavesdropping, Sparkle?" I turn my head to the doorway on the opposite side to indeed see the bookish unicorn there, now wide-eyed like an animal caught in headlamps. "I'm... I'm sorry. I came to see if Cloud was recovering okay, and the door was open, and then..." She trails off, running out of excuse to sputter. "...How much did you hear?" Trixie asks her after it's clear Twilight has no more explanations to give. "Only uh... a little bit... maybe a quarter... or half..." She laughs nervously, "...or maybe that you got the kitchen to make him scrambled eggs for breakfast." "Why didn't you shut the door like a civilized person, Sparkle?" Trixie asks, feigning her usual aggressive self in language, but her voice passive and hard to read. "Well... it just looked like you two were joking around a bit, so I was going to wait until you were done to say I was here..." She looks down at the ground. "And then, you started talking about all that, and I knew you'd never talk to me yourself, so I just started listening in, and... I'm really sorry, Trixie." "Forget it, Sparkle." She finally turns to face Twilight. "So, what now? Care to take a laugh?" "No!" Twilight exclaims, shaking her head and taking a moment to come into the room proper and shut the door tight with her magic. "You know I would never do that, Trixie..." "You're right..." Trixie replies, using her magic to pull the chair she slept on last night up to the window and sits in it, facing us. "Sorry." "It's alright." Twilight replies sympathetically, sitting next to her in the chair's remaining seat. "I shouldn't have been listening." "...You best not tell anypony else about this, Sparkle." Trixie gives her a sidelong glare. "Why not?" Twilight asks in reply, giving her a dumb smile. "I'm sure you'd get a lot more friends if you showed people the real Trixie!" "No, Twilight!" She turns to face Twilight properly, though her anger quickly gives away to depression. "It's too late for that. People only see The Great and Powerful Trixie now. It's easier this way." "Trixie..." Twilight's own tone falls. "Why would you want to be something that makes you so miserable?" Trixie looks away from her. "You already know the answer to that, Twilight." "Oh... right..." Twilight looks away as well, and the two fidget uncomfortably, finding extreme interest in the opposite walls of the room. Have I... missed something? I'm pretty sure they didn't somehow have part of that conversation without me. "Dusk," Trixie starts, turning to face me, "your eggs are getting cold." "It's alright, I'll just..." I look around for a moment, and notice my bangle full of Materia is missing, as well as the Materia from my pocket. I didn't exactly expect to find my sword sitting in the bed next to me or anything, but the rest... "...Where's my Materia?" The stand to my left glows a bit with Twilight's magic and the drawer slides open, revealing both the loose Materia and Bangle I'm missing. "The sword's under the bed." She explains. "Wait a damn minute, Dusk." Trixie says, making me turn from the open drawer of Materia back to her. "You were going to fireball those eggs!" "...I was not." I reply, folding my arms with a pout, leaning my back against the wall my bed is pressed up against to maintain my sitting position. "You so were! You are unbelievable!" Trixie pulls the plate away from me with her magic, hopping down from the seat and making her way to the door, which opens from a separate magical tug. "The kitchen staff can handle reheating food. The last thing you need to be doing is flinging fire around while you have a hole in your chest." She walks out, shutting the door behind her with a slam as she heads... wherever she's going. I turn to Twilight, whose staring at the door Trixie left through with her mouth hanging slightly open, the exchange having left her a bit dumbfounded. I let the silence hang for a moment before speaking. "Are we still in Canterlot?" "Oh!" Twilight snaps back to reality, turning to me. "Yes, we're in a special wing of the castle reserved for Princess Celestia. I figured Trixie would've told you already." "I never got to ask." "Well, then," she replies, her exposatory switch flipped, "if you remember yesterday, Princess Celestia brought us to her chamber to speak with us originally. While she usually makes use of the main facilities instead to make other ponies feel less intimidated around her, she does have her own kitchen staff, medical, so forth in that wing of the castle as well, though they tend to only be used for special occasions. After you passed out, she brought us here so that she could get her personal doctor to take care of you without raising too much of a commotion." I nod. "Makes sense, I guess." "Though... my brother... wasn't very happy once he heard what happened." Twilight looks idly down at the floor. "I've never seen anypony that angry with the Princess before. She didn't even say anything back to him most of the time. Though... I think he's mad at himself more than he is at her. He chose to leave with Spike and let us go alone, and then... that happened." I fidget a bit in my bed. "Do you think it would've been much different if he had been there?" "That's not the point, Cloud..." She sighs. "I'm his little sister. He's always done his best to look out for me, even if I found it frustrating sometimes. We've always had a really good relationship, but... when I was younger, I wasn't the best with other ponies, myself. And now, we don't see each other much anymore. He's in Canterlot as Captain of the Royal Guard, I'm in Ponyville and a bearer of an Element of Harmony. I worry about him a lot... and I'm sure he worries about me even more. It's just..." "It's hard to see two people you care about fight, right?" I ask, seeing the direction the conversation's heading. "Yeah... something like that." She finally looks up again. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Thanks for listening, Cloud." She smiles a bit. "I think I'm starting to see how you and Trixie get along so well when she's not putting on a show for everypony else." "Yeah..." I say idly, not wanting to leave her entirely unanswered, but not quite knowing what to say. "So... how are you feeling?" Twilight asks, filling the void of the previous conversation. "Could be worse." I give her a small smirk. "But don't be fooled. Death hurts like hell." She giggles. "I bet. I'll see if the doctor can do something about the pain after Trixie gets back." "That'd be great." I nod before continuing. "What about what we originally went down into the caves for?" "You mean finding some kind of Equestrian Materia?" Twilight asks in reply. "After Celestia got us out of the cave and put you in the care of Gauze Wrap - that's the doctor - she-" "Hold on." I cut her off. "The doctor's name is Gauze Wrap?" I look down at the wraps around my stomach. "I'm suddenly feeling far less confident about this recovery." "It'll be fine." Twilight smiles. "Celestia says he's the best, despite the name. Anyway, after she got you set up here, she left us to watch over you and went back into the cave with some guards and some of the loose Materia you had with you to compare with - that's why we had it in the drawer when you woke up. They went hunting to see if they could find anything comparable enough that you might be able to make use of while Celestia oversaw them, but..." her good demeanor fades a bit, "they didn't find anything. Most of the crystals down there are massive, and without an exact knowledge of how their properties work, we can't cut them to be smaller and expect them to do anything." "It's fine, Twilight." I lean my head back against the wall, already feeling a bit stir-crazy from not being able to get out of the bed. "It was a long-shot of an idea anyway." Suddenly, the door bursts open. "Breakfast is served!" Trixie declares as she walks in, turning to me with a small glare. "Again. And without fire." This time she's levitating a second plate with a small sandwich on it as well. "Thanks, Trixie." I say as she lays the new plate of eggs on my lap. There's even more this time, a fresh layer of over-medium eggs placed on top of some now darker-cooked scrambled ones. I'm starting to feel more than a little famished now that I've been awake for a while, so I'm not going to complain. "Ohhh, he's learning manners." She declares, giving me a sly grin. "Soon he'll be ready to be house-trained!" "Right..." I reply, picking up my fork in my right hand and turning down to the food. "We'll just go with that for now." "I'll leave you two alone for a while." Twilight says, hopping down from the chair and walking toward the door. "I need to go talk to my brother, anyway. I'll come back later with Spike. He'll be glad to know you're awake already, Cloud." She pulls the door open with her magic, slipping out and shutting it quietly, leaving me alone with Trixie. "I see you got your appetite back." I say to Trixie in-between bites of egg. She's taken up her seat in the chair again, nibbling a sandwich filled with things that are clearly pony-specific. "Just a little." She replies. "...Are you alright?" I ask, realizing the stupidity of the question as soon as it leaves my mouth. She ignores the question, closing her eyes and taking a breath as she takes another bite of her sandwich. "Are you sure about this, Dusk?" "About... letting Twilight use her magic on my head?" I ask, picking up on the context. "Yeah... that." She replies. "There's no choice at this point, is there?" I put down my fork. "If Sephiroth is planning anything like I can remember him planning for my own world, we need to stop him before his plan gains momentum. If there's a reason I've been avoiding it, or if something goes wrong, well... it's not like I can defeat him the way I am now, anyway." She nods. "Finish eating then, Dusk." Not one to argue over food, I pick my fork up again. "Though, it sounds like we'll need to wait until she gets back later today to try." "Don't worry about that." She replies. "Just finish eating. We'll handle it then." "But..." I start, but she cuts me off. "We won't need Twilight Sparkle." Won't need Twilight Sparke? "What do you mean?" "I can do it, Dusk." Trixie answers, before taking another bite of her sandwich. Once she swallows, she continues. "It's based on a spell that Twilight Sparkle used when she and the other Elements of Harmony fought a creature named Discord." I think I remember Celestia mentioning the name Discord when she spoke of how the Lifestream on this planet works... "He attempted to use his magic to make them unable to use the Elements of Harmony by messing with their minds, but Twilight Sparkle undid it by using this spell that allowed them to regain the memories they shared together, then use the Elements to trap him in stone. The spell she's devised to help you works on the same concept. The side-effects are just... different." "But... when did you learn to do something like that?" Outside of the time I was unconscious from being near-death, Trixie's been at my side more or less the entire time we've been with Twilight. Where would she even get the time for Twilight to teach her something that sounds so complex? "I cheated a bit. Magician's specialty." She replies, smirking. "My limit as far as magic goes is nothing like Sparkle's, so this spell will put a lot of strain on me, but... I can do this much, at least. I promise." "Cheated?" Now I'm just getting more confused - how do you cheat at learning magic? "Don't worry about it." She takes a final bite of her sandwich, swallowing it. "...Unless you would prefer Sparkle to do the spell. I'll understand, Dusk." "Does she know you know how to do this, Trixie?" I ask, instead of giving her a direct answer. She nods. "Yes. She approves, if you're okay with this." I take another bite of my eggs. Not many are left now. If things go wrong, then who knows what will happen. But, I look sidelong at Trixie. This is... "If you think you can do it Trixie," I start, causing her to look up at me, "then let's do it." She smiles at me. It's something she's done plenty, but this time it's different. It's not the confident smirk of the traveling showmare. For possibly the first time, she looks genuinely happy. "Then finish eating. We'll start when you're done." We go silent as I finish eating my eggs, a final pit forming in my stomach and slowing my progress. It doesn't matter any more, though. Whatever's in there, stashed away in my memories, I don't have time to run away from it anymore. I hear scraping against the floor and look up, to see Trixie pushing her chair directly against my bed with her magic, her eyes closed in thought. I hope you're right about being able to do this, Trixie... "Ready?" She asks, looking to my now-empty plate. "Yeah..." I reply, setting the plate onto the table to my left. She leans in closer, her face close to mine, eyes closed. "When you're ready, lean your forehead against my horn. Then... I'll start." Part of me wants to ask if she's sure about doing this, but I can see her body trembling with each breath. If I add any doubt into the mix... No, I'll just have to have the faith she's ready to do this. I press my forehead against her horn like she instructed, surprised at just how rounded and not stabbing-into-my-skull the tip of a unicorn's horn is. I close my eyes, and a bright flash meets my eyelids.