The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Heart to Heart

"Alright, fillies! Rise and shine!"

Twilight groaned and tucked herself deeper into her blanket as she tried to block out the chipper voice. The owner of said voice wasn't having any of it and with a pop, the lavender filly suddenly found herself minus one thick, warm wool blanket.

Grunting in annoyance, Twilight cracked open a bleary red eye to glare at the old stallion trotting about the living room.

"Ah, glad to see you've joined the world of the living, little filly," Ancient Scroll said with a wink, "just in time too, Sunset just got out of the shower so you can start getting ready."

Twilight blinked a few times before turning her tired gaze to the window. She gave another groan of dismay and flopped her head back onto the armchair when she saw that the Sun wasn't even up yet - far from it from what she could tell.

"Come on," Ancient Scroll joked as he packed his saddlebags, "surely a studious little filly like yourself has had to wake up early after pulling an all-nighter before?"

"No," came Twilight's muffled reply, "I haven't actually."

"Ah well," Scroll responded with a shrug, "first time for everything. Now up with ya, come on."

Twilight let out one last irritated groan before dragging herself off the chair and trotting lazily towards the bathroom. As Twilight enter the bathroom, Sunset left the bedroom, followed by a tired and surly looking Trixie.

"And how are we feeling this fine morning, Little Miss Lulamoon?" Ancient Scroll greeted cheekily.

Trixie just grunted noncommittally, unable to muster up the energy to argue with the old stallion.

"Did you need anymore help, Uncle Scroll?" Sunset asked, trotting over to Ancient Scroll.

"Nah," Scroll replied absently, "you go on and make yourself some breakfast, litlle filly. Make it quick though, once you and the other girls have eaten - and Trixie's gotten ready - we're hitting the road."

Sunset nodded and headed into the kitchen where Trixie was already grabbing some cereal. A few minutes of silence ensued as Ancient Scroll continued to pack while Sunset and Trixie ate breakfast.

Twilight stepped out of the bathroom looking cleaner and slightly more awake than she had previously. She made her way to the kitchen to get something to eat, but faltered slightly as she caught sight of Trixie sitting at the table.

She winced and lowered her head, quickly trotting her way past the blue filly. Trixie gave her a brief glance out of the corner of her eye, but didn't say anything otherwise. Sunset looked between the two before turning to Ancient Scroll worriedly. Ancient Scroll merely shook his head and went back to packing.

Trixie quickly finished the rest of her cereal and made her way to the bathroom just as Twilight was coming out of the kitchen with her own breakfast. The lavender filly watched her go with a frown and sighed dejectedly as the bathroom door closed.

"You can't put this off, Twilight," Sunset chided as Twilight pulled up a chair, "things are just gonna get more awkward between you two until you apologize."

"I know," Twilight replied with another sigh, "I just... don't know how yet."

Sunset swallowed a spoonful of cereal and raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

"How about a simple 'I'm sorry, Trixie' or 'I was wrong to do what I did' or something?"

"Yeah, I... guess I could say that," Twilight replied without much confidence, "but I don't feel like that would be enough."

"Don't try to overthink it, little filly," Ancient Scroll added, snapping his saddlebags shut, "you'll know what to say when the time comes."

Twilight idly swirled her spoon around in her cereal bowl as she thought about what Ancient Scroll said.

"I hope you're right, Uncle Scroll," she muttered.

A few more minutes passed and Trixie exited the bathroom. With their breakfast and morning routines finished, Ancient Scroll floated three smaller saddlebags over to each filly. Sunset raised an eyebrow at the bags and looked to Ancient Scroll in confusion.

"When did you get us all saddlebags?"

"Got them awhile back, a little bit after Twilight showed up actually," Scroll flipped open Twilight's saddlebag with his magic and pulled out a dark purple scarf, "I know it's a bit late what with winter being over, but I got this in town not too long ago."

Twilight took the scarf in her magic and wrapped it around her neck, giving Ancient Scroll a grateful smile.

"It looks great, Uncle Scroll," she said, feeling the material, "thank you."

"Ah, not a problem, little filly," he said, floating Sunset's and Trixie's scarves over to the other two fillies, "besides, there's still a bit of chill left over, and you're all gonna need these for the first leg of the journey - least until the Sun comes up. Now come on-" he pushed the front door open "-we gotta move if we're gonna make good time."

The three fillies levitated their saddlebags over their backs and followed Ancient Scroll out into the somewhat frigid early morning. They all headed left down the path and began the long trot to Faranda Way Village.

---

The barren dirt path gave way to a sparsely forested one as the four continued their trek to the village. The Sun had yet to fully rise, but that didn't stop a certain lavender filly's gaze from wandering around, marveling at what she could see through the relative darkness. This was the first time she had been past the river and she was drinking in her new surroundings every chance she could get.

That, and trying desperately not to make eye contact with a certain blue filly.

The trip had been mostly quite up until now, but it was a very awkward silence for everypony as Twilight continued to avoid any communication with Trixie. Trixie for her part, was content to ignore the lavender filly, and so the silence dragged on.

Eventually Sunset had had enough and not-so-gently nudged Twilight. Twilight looked over to the orange filly with an irritated scowl - one which Sunset returned as she jerked her head in Trixie's direction. Twilight irritated scowl changed to a nervous frown as she looked over to Trixie.

She gave Sunset a pleading look, but the orange filly just shook her head before gesturing to Trixie once again. Twilight sighed in defeat and made her way over to Trixie. She hesitated a moment before opening her mouth, but before she could get one word out, Trixie spoke first.

"So you finally grew a spine and decided to confront Trixie, did you, Twilight Sparkle?" the blue filly said without even a glance towards Twilight. Twilight flinched - her ears flattening as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, I..." Twilight sighed, "I'm sorry, Trixie. I know it doesn't excuse what I did, but I really did want to help you. I just wanted you to be able to talk to me about your problems."

"And Trixie dis... distinctly remembers telling you that she wasn't ready to talk about those problems," Trixie shot back, finally turning to face the lavender filly with a scowl, "how did you know about Trixie's pouch anyway?"

"Well," Twilight's eyes flickered in Sunset's direction briefly and she looked back to Trixie with an apologetic frown, "Sunset kind of... told me what happened when you first showed up at Uncle Scroll's cottage."

"Did she now?" Trixie replied, narrowing her eyes at the orange filly. Sunset saw this and rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't like it was some big secret, Trixie," Sunset remarked, "you never said I couldn't tell her."

Trixie eyed Sunset for another moment before snorting in irritation and turning to Twilight once more.

"Well nevertheless," Trixie continued with a glare, "you had no right to go through Trixie's things, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight cringed and nodded meekly, "I know, Trixie and like I said, I'm sorry. I... I just felt like you were never going to talk to me about it, so I figured if you weren't going to talk to me, I'd find a way to talk to you instead."

"That's no excuse," Trixie responded with a shake of her head, "Trixie has every right not to tell you or anypony else about her past, and if you were Trixie's friend, you'd respect that, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight's eyes widened briefly before she turned away and stared at her hooves guiltily - eyes shining with the beginning of fresh tears.

"Trixie, I... no..." she hesitated and shook her head rapidly. She wiped her eyes and turned back to Trixie with a determined frown, "you're right, Trixie. It's like Uncle Scroll said, I shouldn't have tried to force the issue before you were ready to tell me."

She looked at the old stallion in front of her, and Ancient Scroll gave her a knowing nod over his shoulder. She looked back to Trixie and continued speaking.

"I really did want to help you with your issues... but..." she hung her head in shame, "but I... was also curious about the pouch, and I think that's the reason I actually ended up going through with it," she looked back to Trixie hopefully, "can you ever forgive me, Trixie?"

Trixie didn't say anything for a long time as they trotted along and Twilight began to get worried.

"Trixie?"

Silence.

"Trixie, please," Twilight pleaded, "I'm sorry about what I did! I won't do it again, I promise!" she trotted ahead - and in front of - the blue filly, causing her and the other two to stop, "I know I wasn't being a very good friend, but... I..." Twilight trailed off as she watched Trixie's face go from unreadable to unsure.

Twilight backed away and wiped her eyes again as she observed the blue filly.

"Trixie?"

After a moment Trixie gave a resigned sigh followed quickly by a groan of exasperation.

"How much longer until we get to town, Uncle Scroll?" Trixie asked suddenly, turning to Ancient Scroll. Twilight and Sunset both looked at the blue filly in confusion as Ancient Scroll answered.

"I'd say we got about another two hours of trotting to go at this pace," he replied with a raised brow, "why?"

Rather than answer Ancient Scroll's question, Trixie looked back to Twilight with a smirk, catching the lavender filly off guard.

"You want to know more about Trixie, right?"

Twilight nodded unsurely.

"And... you've already seen Trixie's note," Trixie said, the smirk falling off of her face.

Twilight gave another tentative nod.

"Then Trixie supposes there's no point in hiding it anymore..." Trixie said with a dramatic sigh. She looked between Twilight and Sunset with a soft smile, "...not from her friends anyway."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock and she looked at Sunset to find her with the same expression. They both looked back to Trixie.

"You mean, you're going to tell us?" Twilight muttered in disbelief, "after what I did?"

"Indeed," Trixie answered with a nod. She gave Twilight a stern glare, "Trixie will forgive you this once, but know this, Twilight Sparkle. If Trixie doesn't wish to speak about something, you will respect that, got it?

"I got it, Trixie," Twilight said, nodding with a grateful smile, "I promise it won't happen again."

"Good," Trixie replied with a satisfied nod. After a moment, she looked away with a thoughtful frown, "Trixie... I overheard you, Sunset, and Uncle Scroll talking last night, and..." she looked back to Twilight, "and I thought about it for a long time. I thought about it so much that I didn't get any sleep."

She shook her head and gave a wry chuckle before looking between the other two fillies.

"I realized that you two were also the only friends I had... have, and I don't want to lose that either. Besides," Trixie puffed out her chest proudly and confidently as she spoke, "Trixie is stronger than the weak little filly she used to be and she won't be defeated by something that happened a long time ago."

She faltered and looked away momentarily.

"Well, it wasn't that long ago," she conceded quietly. She quickly regained her composure, "but it's over and done with regardless!"

Twilight and Sunset gave each other another look and, unnoticed by any of the fillies, Ancient Scroll gave a small smile of his own before turning back to face the path ahead.

"Are you sure about this, Trixie?" Sunset asked with a concerned frown, "like you said, you're not obligated to tell us anything you don't want to."

"On the contrary, Sunset Shimmer," Trixie said with a shake of her head, "once I share my story with you two, we won't have to worry about keeping secrets from each other anymore, so it's better this way."

She inhaled and exhaled deeply before locking eyes with the two fillies.

"Now then," she waved a hoof dramatically, "allow Trixie to tell you the tragic tale of Beatrix Lulamoon!"

Author's Note:

You guys like cliffhangers, right?

But seriously though, the next chapter (or more likely the next few chapters) are gonna be a bit rough and deals with some heavy things so be warned.

Comments

[The oracle]

Oh yes, I like like cliff ha gets. Just as much as I love in-grown toe nails.

[Punk]

Tfw you look for the 'next chapter' button only to realize you're now up to date.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Looks like Trixie's finally opening up.... And we might get an answer as to how she got those scars....

[The Cynical One]

You guys like cliffhangers, right?

It’s become a bad habit man. Switch it up with a twist! Or something more cliffhangers please.

[LegionCenturionMaster]

"That's no excuse," Trixie responded with a shake of her head, "Trixie has every right not to tell you or anypony else about her past, and if you were Trixie's friend, you'd respect that, Twilight Sparkle."

Oh no. Not about this, Trixie. Not after the several psychology papers and documents I’ve read for the psychology course my college required.

[Pharaoh]

10616342
Psychologists are mostly scum.

[Victor07]

Trixie was more reasonable than I expected (certainly more than I would be)