Heart of Magic

by TheCrimsonDM

Chapter Seventeen: Spilled Milk

Heart of Magic

Chapter Seventeen: Spilled Milk

Written By TheCrimsonDM

Even wasted like she was, Twilight had to admit that Fluttershy’s house was a nice place for everypony to just lay around and cry at. The only two here not crying over the loss of Maud and Valiant were her, because she knew better, and much to her surprise Trixie. Trixie just stayed at the window staring out at the pouring rain.

Princess of Friendship eh, she should be able to handle this. Twilight walked over, or rather stumbled in the correct direction of Trixie and stopped only when she hit the wall next to the window. This was a successful move she decided.

Trixie glanced at her. “I can’t… I just… there’s got to be someway they survived, right?”

Twilight waved a leg around trying to blow off the depression. “It’s whateves. Jus drink, and it will be better.”

Twilight offered a share of her flask now refilled with more of that red wine, now that she was able to simply enjoy the flavor she decided it was strawberry. Trixie shook her head. “The others can get drunk. I need to go to New Slate. I have to search for them myself.”

Twilight’s ear twitched. “N-nope, you stay. Luna’s there. She’ll fix it.”

Trixie smiled at Twilight and shook her head. “Unless Luna can bring them back from the dead, no… she can’t. I just need to see it myself.”

Trixie began walking past Twilight to go to the door. Twilight’s mind ran into overdrive she had to fix this, and now. She slumped forward and aimed her fall right into Trixie’s side. The two of them came crashing down into the middle of Fluttershy’s floor. The others all turned to stare at them all of a sudden.

Twilight laughed. “Woops.”

Trixie glared at her. “Twilight… I know this is hard on all of us, but you can’t get drunk like this every time something bad happens.”

Pinkie chimed in. “T-Twilight… M-maybe you should g-go home. I… I need to just…” She closed her eyes and choked on her last words.

Fluttershy finished for her. “Pinkie just lost her entire family, Twilight you need to go home and sober up.”

Trixie growled. “I’ll walk her home.”

Applejack added, “Ah can go too.”

Trixie shook her head. “No, I’ll take her myself. I… could use the fresh air.”

With a bit of magic and an orchard colored aura Trixie lifted Twilight up and off the ground. She then started to the door levitating Twilight behind her. Well at least this was keeping Trixie busy, she wouldn’t find out about Twilight’s deception this way. Being drunk saved the day!

Once outside Twilight immediately regretted trying to keep her secret as the rain slammed into the two of them. Trixie let out a sign and shot a purple beam of light into the sky. The rain stopped but the clouds remained. “It’s the best I can do, I don’t even know how I summoned a storm in the first place.”

“Alicorns be crazy, amiright?” Twilight added tactfully. “Glad I ain’t one no more.”

Trixie blinked at her. “You just lost your wings, your still an alicorn.”

Twilight waved her hoof and blew a raspery as it was the only proper response for a lady of her stature.

Now that the rain had stopped though Twilight could stare out over the town of Ponyville. The river was raging, puddles of water were everywhere. Some of the roads had flooded. Was this all Trixie’s fault or was this destruction Twilight’s fault?

Twilight let out a sigh upon thinking of all the events she probably ruined. She probably ruined a lot of pony’s days. “What am I even doing anymore?”

“The best you can.” Trixie replied without a second thought.

Twilight didn’t believe her at all. “No, I’m not. I know I could do better. I used to know how to do better. When I was young…”

“When you were young everypony was able to completely abandon their home lives to help you. Now you have to worry about thinks like keeping Fluttershy’s kids safe, you can’t just drag them all into conflict anymore. So of course it’s harder. You have me and Amber though.”

Twilight wiggled her legs uselessly three feet above the ground. “Put me down.”

“You can’t walk.”

Twilight wiggled some more. “Sure I can. At least let me try.”

Trixie gently set Twilight down on her legs. She was unstable but standing. “Trixie, I… I think I need to tell you something.”

Trixie looked back at her. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t cause their deaths. I’m not ever going to blame you for that.”

Twilight felt her lower lip tremble. What was left of her heart was already beginning to break. She could just wipe Maud’s memories and make it so that nopony ever found out that she lied about their deaths, but for some reason she felt like she needed to come clean. She was too drunk to make this decision. She decided she would just keep her mouth shut until she got home.

The sound of wings flapping caught Twilight’s attention. She and Trixie both looked up into the sky to see two carriages flying through the air. Each one being flown by a single pegasus. One of them had Luna lying down in the back, the other had Maud and Valiant Heart.

Twilight swallowed. “Memory spell don’t fail me now.”

Trixie glanced at her for only a second before looking back at the carriages. Once her eyes saw Maud and Val they widened and she took a step forward. “Maud? Maud! MAUD!”

The door opened up behind them and Pinkie was outside in a flash. “I can feel her! She’s here!”

The two of them looked up in the sky as the carriages circled around and finally landed at top of the hill where Fluttershy’s house was located on. Twilight stumbled toward the one carrying Luna and prepared her magic spell in her horn.

Before Maud even touched the ground Trixie and Pinkie had already rushed her. They had Maud in their legs squeezing her tight before she could even speak. Valiant landed next to them and was dragged into the embrace via Trixie’s magic.

Twilight stared at them but as she tried to focus on them she started to see eight ponies instead of four, the ponies had doubled. Luna was staring down at Twilight with an odd expression on her face. “Twilight, what are you doing? Did you not order me to retrieve these two for you after you received Val’s letter?”

First Twilight heard a collective gasp, followed by a silence she had never before heard in her life. Twilight looked around to see all the ponies effectively staring at her. At least using a memory spell on all of them would be a lot easier than using it on any single pony.

Rarity’s eyes widened and before Twilight could even see it, a beam of light flew from Rarity’s horn zapping Twilight’s. It stung a little but that wasn’t the real issue. Her spell had been disrupted. How was she supposed to wipe out there memories if she couldn’t focus.

Rarity stepped forward. “You were planning on wiping out all of our memories!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Were implies that I’m not still going to do it.”

Trixie’s shocked expression changed into that of anger. “You! You… YOU LIED!”

Twilight shrugged and the motion almost knocked her over. “I got an alicorn princess back, now I can fix this. Just hold on a second while I charge the spell again.”

Pinkie spoke next, though she didn’t look angry. Her pupils had become pinpricks. And she was shaking. “You can’t be the real Twilight. She’d never lie to us about… is everypony else even hurt? Is the rest of my family still alive?”

Twilight’s ears folded back. “I… Don’t know.”

Luna answered that. “I don’t know what Twilight has told you, but New Slate is gone. Maud and Valiant Heart are the only survivors. Pinkie, I am sorry but the rest of your family are gone.” She paused a moment but then added, “Twilight did send me and two squads of guards to make sure that Maud and Valiant Heart were brought home safely if that helps.”

Applejack took her hat off and held it to her chest. “Twi, even if you did send help fer them, why did you tell us Maud and Val were dead. That’s mah family you lied about. Haven’t Ah lost enough family already?”

Twilight shook her head. She had to focus. There was a way out of this. Magic was the answer she was sure. Maybe though, maybe she could lie her way out of it. Twilight lifted her flask to her lips and was about to take another sip when a dark blue wing smashed the flask down into the mud spilling the contents all over the earth.

Luna’s voice was like cold steel. “You got drunk and told them that Maud and Val were dead? Why? Why would you do that?”

Rainbow Dash chimed in. “You heard her. It was so she could get Trixie to become an Alicorn Princess again.”

Twilight stared at the flask, now empty of her sweet elixir. She needed that. She really needed that. Anger filled her heart replacing any hurt or fear she might have had previously. That flask had her answer to solve this mess and Luna just went and ruined it. Twilight stood on her hind legs and put all of her weight into her forelegs as she shoved Luna. “YOU TOOK MY BOOZE!”

Much to her surprise Luna actually went down into the mud. She laid there for a moment, still, quiet. Her eye opened and stared up at Twilight, looking as if she was seeing some kind of strange fearsome creature instead of Twilight. It was only then that Twilight saw the injuries. Blisters, scrapes, a large scabbed over gash on her left leg. Luna was hurt, and hurt badly.

Twilight landed on her four legs and almost fell on her stomach. “N-n-no, Luna. I didn’t know, I didn’t see… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Twilight tried to take a step forward but Luna recoiled and closed her eyes tight. Twilight stopped. She looked around. Every single pony was staring at her the same way, as if they were looking at some kind of… changeling. Twilight half stumbled half ran to the front gate to leave, she had to get out of there. She stopped when she saw Amber standing on the hill leading up to Fluttershy’s house. She too looked at her the same way as everypony else.

Twilight didn’t have any answers. Her flask was still in the mud, there was no more booze, she couldn’t think. Her heart was racing, her mind with it too. She could feel her breathing fast and rapid, she was hyperventilating, but if she passed out here, she’d die, they’d surely string her up for what she did. Oh gods, how could she do this to her friends, she could see it now, she really was a changeling.

Twilight’s horn lit up and she could only manage to say, “I’m so sorry.”

The world around her vanished with a pop. She couldn’t stay there, not like that. She had to leave, and go far, far away.