BeTrixed
"Mmmrph!" "Mm-mm-MmMmMmMm-Mm!"
"Yes, you're tied up in my basement for hitting me upside the head with that cheap pot. No, I'm not ungagging you until you promise not to start screaming." Twilight filed the edge of her hoof as she sat upon a cushion brought over from the corner of the room; having set it out so she could watch over her friends as they struggled in a set of enchanted ropes that had wrapped them up up to their chins. It was probably overkill, but given that Pinkie was in the room it was probably safer that way.
Pinkie rolled her eyes, wriggling a foreleg free of her bonds. Then, as she began mumbling something through her gag and dodging the attempts of the animated rope to recapture her limb, she made a cross over her heart, flapped it in the air, then stuck it into her eye in a way that looked pretty painful. Twilight shuddered slightly, hoping Pinkie hadn't hurt her eye.
Wait, how had she escaped her ropes?
"Pinkie, what was that and how did you-" Twilight scooted back as the rest of the ropes fell from Pinkie's form.
"What, the Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie poked her hoof against her chest as she started once more. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Nopony ever breaks a Pinkie Promise." Pinkie rushed over to Twilight, dragging her into the one-legged hug of conspiratorial doom. She leaned in close, whispering into Twilight's ear. "Eeeveeeeer."
Twilight jerked away, watching Pinkie in terror as the mare leaned back away, then zipped back towards the pile of ropes still wriggling on the floor. Pinkie bounded up to the top of the pile, glaring seriously at Twilight before she sank down out of sight into the knotted depths. After a moment, she rolled out of the pile once more lightly hogtied with the gag somehow replaced in her mouth.
Twilight edged around until Rarity was lying on her back between her and Pinkie, afraid to ask. "How did you- why did-? You know what? Forget it." Twilight pressed a hoof to the side of her head, massaging at her temples where a terrible headache was building. She had been getting a lot of them lately, now that she thought about it. "Rarity, do you promise, too?"
Rarity scraped her head against the ground as she craned it back to look Twilight in the eyes. Seeing the irritated look of utter exasperation on her fellow unicorn's face, she nodded as quickly as she could while mentally lamenting the horrible things the gesture was doing to her hairstyle. The gag was lifted, letting her take a full breath once more with a deep gasp. "Oh my word, that was dreadful, simply awful! The thread count was all wrong, silk would have been a better choice than whatever that was, and the pattern didn't match my coat style or colors! Oh, what was it made out of, steel wool? And let us not even begin with that utterly atrocious knot you tied! Ooooooooooh!"
"Maybe I should put yours back on..." Twilight began to slip the gag back on, earning a choked squeak from Rarity as the fashionata began to frantically shake her head.
"Eeew! No! No! NoNoNo! I'll stop now; please don't put it back on! Take it away, take it awaaay!" Rarity squirmed backwards from Twilight, squeaking in terror at the thought of wearing the wretched piece of cloth again.
The pitter-patter of a pair of paws waddling down the staircase caught everypony's attention, freezing them awkwardly in place. Spike looked over the strange group, blinking with a blank look on his face as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Rarity? You didn't tell me you were taking Damsel in Distress lessons from Twilight, too! But, if you're taking lessons from her... does that mean I'm a bad partner?"
Twilight worriedly glanced up to Spike, and then turned back to Rarity who blushed ever so slightly. Twilight's voice grew a little harsher as her imagination ran wild, inquiring coldly after a few moments. "Damsel in Distress Lessons? What exactly have you been doing to Spike, Rarity?"
The bound-up fashionata found it oddly frustrating that she couldn't distract herself by tapping her forehooves together nervously. After all, what happens between a mare and a dragon should stay private. Though, at the same time Twilight was slowly leaning in closer and closer with that big frown upon her face. Ooh, confound her weakness! "Spike and I were practicing my techniques for being a damsel in distress! While one must on occasion rescue oneself, it's always better and more romantic to be rescued by a knight in shining armor!" She didn't notice the subtle wince that crossed Twilight's face. "After all, how droll is it to break free of your own bonds and subject yourself to the hideous fashion torture of escaping when somepony else can so selflessly give their fabulousness up for you?"
Twilight jerked back and blinked, wondering when Ponyville had stopped- no, wait. Ponyville had never made any sense. Her first mistake was starting to believe that it had. The second was moving in instead of being a friend who came over to visit. Sigh. She turned to Pinkie, who shrugged while mumbling behind her gag. "You couldn't take that back off yourself?"
Pinkie rolled her eyes, shrugging her way out of her bonds effortlessly. "Fine. Sheesh, everypony is a grouch lately. Is there some kind of meaniepants field over town lately or something?"
Twilight rubbed at the base of her horn, feeling a headache unlike any before building up there. "No, Pinkie. The Stupendous and Spectacular Sparkle has-" Twilight stopped mid-sentence as she realized what she had been about to say. The slightest intake of a gasp from Rarity reached her ears, proving that she had indeed said that out loud. "Okay, I really am getting stressed out from everything if I slipped into stage speak that easily."
"Stage speak?" Rarity nervously twittered for a moment as she looked up at her anxious and aching purple counterpart. "Um, whatever exactly do you mean, darling?"
"Well, I-hey, wait a minute!"
'Thank you, Sparkle. Trixie... ugh, I was worried that I was going to have to point that out.'
'Quiet, you.'
Twilight stepped back up to Rarity, leaning down to look her in the eyes and horn to horn, growling under her breath. "Nice try, trying to distract me. You still haven't explained why the two of you were waiting in the dark to ambush me in MY basement."
Rarity spluttered, looking to Pinkie. The pink party mare shook her head violently and immediately became fascinated with her mane, pulling it down in front of her face so she could pull strands of rope from it. Rarity swallowed nervously, trying to come up with a proper story to explain herself with. "Well, I-uh... oh dear, this is rather frightful. Oh, Pinkie darling, I'm afraid you're better at explaining this than me. I don't even know where to begin."
Pinkie growled rather uncharacteristically before pulling forth a record from her mane. She slid a record player over from the side of the room and set it up, grumbling under her breath the whole way. At last, though, Pinkie cleared her throat as she reared up in time with the scratching of the start of the recording. "Razza-frazzing can't believe I've gotta repeat a blarging song."
"Oooooh, we think you've fallen to an evil enchantress;
Who goes and chants and prances!
And you've looked into her eyes and she's put you in trances!
And beware whatever you do,
Because Rarity thinks she's gonna gobble you up in a big tasty stew!"
Twilight stepped back again, yelping slightly as she rubbed her rump against Spike's hanging tail and the edge of the stairs. She had never seen Pinkie so... frustrated and unenthusiastic about a song and dance number before. Ohno. Evil Enchantress!? They had found out about Trixie! They were going to pull out holy water and dunk her in it until they washed Trixie's soul away into the abyss!
'Trixie has to ask before we go any further, but is Ponyville infectious? Or is it that everypony in this town is CRA-ZY!? That does include Trixie, by the way.’
Before Twilight could answer her mental roommate, Spike spoke up. "RARITY! How could you? I said I would explain the whole Trixie thing later, all you had to do was ask-" Spike blurted out his accusation without thinking, realizing only too late that he was confessing his guilt. His claws slapped across his mouth, shutting it instantly as he gulped back ever so slightly fearful bile.
The first strands of Twilight's mane to go twanged as they popped out of place, highlighting her extreme stress. "Spiiiiiiiiike...." Twilight's voice was disturbingly and sickeningly sweet as she turned around, hiding a frothing sea of screaming frustration roaring within her. Her eyebrows twitched above pin-prick focused eyes as she grabbed Spike's tail with her magic and sauntered up until she could run a hoof gingerly across the tips of his scale fringe. "Would you be my beeestest number one assistant in the world and explain to me just what you were about to explain to Rarity?"
"She used her little mane-tossing, eyebrow-flashy thing that I could never resist and came over while you were saving Trixie's things even though you told me not tooooo!" Spike wailed out apologetic explanation and covered his head. He shook there as he cowered, knowing his doom was neigh. "Please don't turn me into a cucumber or zap me to the mooo-ooo-ooon!"
Twilight tried to growl at him, but found that her heart just wasn't in it anymore. Spike's cowering and wails of apologies reminded her of just how beastly she must have looked in her frustration. And, more importantly, they reminded her that the real culprits were right behind her. "Oh, Spike.... I'm sorry I got so angry with you." She wrapped him up in a deep hug, patting his back as he sniffled.
The twin 'awww's of affection at the sight of sibling bonding reminded her of who she was supposed to be really angry at. She picked Spike up with her magic, patting him as he hiccupped and sniffled, turning on the once again cringing pair of mares against the wall. "No, I'm not mad at you, Spike. I'm mad at my 'friends' who decided that instead of asking me what was going on they had to break into my house and then tried to bash a cheap pot over my head to knock me out when they jumped to conclusions off of half the facts from a distressed baby dragon!"
Pinkie's mane slowly drifted back into place from where it had been windswept back by the force of Twilight's rant. The unicorn slowly panted, catching her breath as she glared first at Pinkie, then at Rarity who guiltily averted her gaze. Oh hay no; she wasn't going to get off that easily. Pinkie put her on the spot with her next words, knowing just what to say. "Yeah, Rarity. You were the one who didn't want to just ASK Twilight like I suggested!"
"ME!? It was not I who saw this basement and threw an utter fit, declaring that all our worst fears were true!"
"Only because YOU! worked me up with talk about how Trixie was eating Twilight's soul and how she had come to get revenge upon us all!"
"Why I should-"
Twilight's horn crackled with energy, her mane smoldering as miniature bolts of electricity arced out from her horn. She screamed an utter wail of exhausted patience as she picked up her friends and forcibly separated Pinkie from Rarity. The purple glow that had taken up residence in her eyes faded as she let her magic slip back from her and out into the world at large harmlessly once more.
Spike clambered down from her, hiding behind her frame as she glared at Pinkie and Rarity once more, taking control from her impulses and forcibly calming herself down. "It sounds like both of you are at fault! This was exactly the kind of reaction Trixie was trying to avoid!" She could hear a slight sniffle from her mental passenger as she all but screamed; and Twilight could feel tears of frustration quivering at the corners of her eyes.
Rarity plastered a forced smile onto her face as she came to terms with the idea that Trixie might not be in town for nefarious reasons. Oh, what HAD she done? She hoped she hadn't hurt Twilight's feelings too badly with her rash actions; but her hopes faltered as Twilight slowly slumped to the floor and planted her face in the smoothed out rock foundations.
Shame coursed through Rarity's veins, tweaking her consciousness with the need to repent and forgive. It plucked at her heartstrings until at last the rightful question freed itself from her lips. "May I be so bold, if I haven't overstayed my... er- welcome, but what exactly was Trixie doing with you, then?"
A slow sigh of utter defeat escaped Twilight as she languidly lifted her head from the floor to look Rarity in the eyes. "She was helping me put together a show for the Ponyville Orphanage. All this stuff-" Twilight raised her hoof, gesturing vaguely at the decorations, mystic and creepy props, and various personal effects. "-was meant to help. But between you guys interrupting me, and my problems with pulling a Spike instead of Angel Bunny out of a hat, I guess I'm going to... fail."
Rarity wiggled once more in her bonds as she bemoaned how she had selfishly jumped to conclusions. Again. "But that's so noble! Even with the way that she was- and the bear- and oh goodness, WHAT HAVE I DONE!? We chased somepony who could have been so good to the community with the right friends, and turned her away from friendship forever! I'm tainted, TAINTED by my Eeevil! Don't look at me, Twilight! Save yourself!"
"I dunno about evil." Spike piped in from behind Twilight, looking at Rarity through his guardian's legs. "I mean, all you did was harass her in the middle of her job as a performer even if she was a jerk, then according to her helped a bunch of ponies chase her into the Everfree forest with torches and pitchforks until she ran into a cocka- me and my big mouth." Spike reached into the crate behind Twilight, pulling out another strip of cloth that he tied off into a gag keeping his self-proclaimed big mouth shut.
Rarity paused as she was freed at last by Pinkie, processing what Spike had just said. "Spike? Darling, I was rather busy saving somepony else that dreadful night, I certainly never went into the Everfree-eE-e-EEEEII! Dust! DUST! Uncleaaan!" Rarity had topped over to the floor, rubbing the chalk dust and dirt across her side in the process.
Pinkie cleared her throat, stepping around her white-coated friend as Rarity began scrubbing the dirt from her fur with a zeal that only a Zebabwaeian Shaman could match in fervor. "Um, Spike... I hate to be cooompleeeeetely confused, but how could Trixie be helping Twi-Twi here throw a show for the Orphanage? I mean, doesn't running into a cockatrice put you into a rockier situation than my family's farm like... always? They have a go at you, throw you into the hospital and leave you stiff on the bill. Fooor-EV-ER!"
Twilight's eyes widened and she shook her head wildly. The normally straight-laced mane sprung out like a hedgehog, betraying her inner horror and panic as she tried to cut them off. "No, no, no! Trixie is JUST fine! She's hiding in the forest right NOW! At Zecora's place!"
Pinkie walked over to Twilight sadly, knowing Twilight must have been in denial. She leaned in close, tapping her chin as she inspected the crazed-looking mare, before she beeped Twilight on the nose and swept her up into a hug. "Fibber."
"I- what? No, I am not!"
'This is starting to get ridiculous, do these mares ever actually LISTEN?'
Twilight pulled back out of the hug, tripping over her own hooves as Rarity walked over. The white coat was clean once more, picked within an inch of its fuzzy life. Not that it mattered to Rarity as she swept up her dirty and dust-riddled companions into a hug. With a look of great pity, she let her head rest on Twilight's shoulder to offer comfort. "Oh, darling! It's okay. You're as terrible a liar as Applejack, why you even have her tells! I can tell how much her loss must have hurt you! Her spirit's watching on, helping you make the best memorial show possible for her!"
"Memorial show, WHAT?" Twilight tried to figure out where in the hay Rarity had gotten that from, and if it was the same place Pinkie got her props from.
"Why yes, it's as clear as day! You must have known her from before, a friend from school, or a rival, or... a lover! Your marefriend!" Rarity continued on, leaving reality lost and confused far behind. "Yes, of course, how could I not see it?"
A bolt of blue energy rushed up from Twilight's horn, exploding against the ceiling in a cascade of blue sparkles and an anguished scream of frustration. Pinkie and Rarity scrambled back from Twilight, falling on their rumps as they sparkles pulled back in on themselves. A moaning wind gripped the room as they formed a glittering whirlpool of crackling white energy in the center of the room. In its heart, amidst the crackling and buzzing a white glowing form rapidly took shape, and amidst a final burst of light, Trixie's translucent form was revealed at last. "Oh, what in CELESTIA'S SOLAR-FLARING SUNBUTT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!?"
Pinkie's mane deflated instantly as she raised a trembling hoof to point shakily at the translucent form. Rarity, meanwhile took the more dignified approach. She took a single deep breath, and then passed out cold. Pinkie kept on trying to get out a word out, only getting the first syllable out. "Gh-Gh-Gh-ghh-h-h-h-gh!"
"Yes. Trixie is a ghost." She saw Pinkie's eyes widen a little further as she began giggling in terror. The ghostly showmare sighed, then zoomed in close to Pinkie, almost in her face. "OOOOGA-BOOOGA-BOOOGA!"
Pinkie turned as white as Rarity, falling over with a bleat. Trixie snorted back the start of a maniacal laugh as the party pony's legs twitched in the air, enjoying the scare. Or she was, before Twilight interfered with her projection, canceling it out."Hey! What did Trixie do?"
--------------------------------------
It took most of the evening to calm Pinkie and Rarity down once more. It didn't exactly help that at one point Pinkie had explained to Trixie that she was constantly giggling to try and exorcise her from the building.
Thankfully, they were willing to listen to Trixie's story as soon as the ghostly mare had offered it. More than willing, as she went on. The tale of how her mother had evaporated into thin air, leaving her trapped in the Canterlot Orphanage system brought tears to the pair's eyes, and more than one hug attempt from Pinkie that left the party mare sprawled in the dust. Rarity found herself smiling in recognition from one artist to another as Trixie recounted how she had slowly become known in parts of Equestria as a great magician and had been about to move to the 'bigtimes'. Eventually, though, her tale turned to its dark and foreboding twist and her petrification at the fowl clutches of the cockatrice.
"W-we did that?" Pinkie had a look of utter horror on her face, as if she had taken all the candy from every foal and Ponyville and kicked everypony's dogs.
Rarity shook her head, not wanting to believe that anypony she knew would be so heartless as to actively chase somepony deeper into the Everfree. "No! It couldn't be! I would never do something like that, no matter how much i might despise them."
"Well, it might not necessarily be somepony we know, or even have happened at all." The mares all turned to Twilight, who was going through the file cabinets recently installed across from the stairs. "I know that Trixie thinks there was a mob chasing after her, but it's been scientifically documented that in stressful situations the mind can misinterpret information. It's part of what causes hallucinations." Twilight buried her head in the drawer of one of her farther cabinets, searching for the checklists and documentation regarding the Night of the Ursa. "Ah-HA! Here it is!"
Trixie turned her spectral apparition towards Twilight to signify her interest. "Trixie is fairly certain as to what she saw and heard. A line of ponies chasing her into the forest with torches and pitchforks."
Twilight rushed over to her map of the Ponyville area, laying out the files on the table beneath the wall-mounted map. "Well, Trixie, if you crossed through the Stickles Brushline like you say you did, then it's just not possible. The group's lighting was provided entirely by a group of unicorns with specializations in lighting spells, who had blue, white, and purple auras."
Twilight scanned down the list, inspecting every name in turn and cross-referencing it with what she knew of the town and the constellation of notes she had taken. Most of the party had not even seen Trixie's show, and were unaware of the connection between her and the Ursa. All save for one. "Rarity? Why didn't you tell me you were on the Stickles team?"
"I wasn't darling!"
Spike leaned in through the upstairs door, looking down at the group with concern. "Rarity? I heard your voice raised, you okay? Trixie's not doing that thing where she pokes her hoof in and out of your eye again, is she?"
Rarity turned slightly green as Spike spoke, and Trixie spluttered as she tried to defend herself. "No, Trixie- ugh, I'm not doing it!" The ghostly entertainer stamped her hooves silently as she protested. "Rarity is having a hard enough staying awake without fainting as is! Trix- Augh! I am not about to intentionally induce stress to the ponies who I owe my life to!"
Spike rolled his eyes, getting the message. "Alright, alright, you're an ethical entertainer, already heard that. Say, does everypony else want honeyed tea, or that chai stuff from Neighpon?"
"Surprise us, Spike." Twilight beamed a smile up to the grumbling dragonling, who grumpily shut the door once more. "So, Rarity, if you weren't with the Stickles team, where were you?"
"I was with the team following the old Fillydelphia road, Darling." Rarity confusedly trotted over, leaning deep into Twilight's bubble of personal space to look at the list. Certainly enough, there was her name, even though it couldn't possibly have been- well that wasn't right either! "Cloudkicker? No, that can't be right. She was with my party, and she nearly drowned in that dreadful swamp that swallowed up the road. Oooow, eww... I still feel that mud-ewewew!" Rarity shivered in discomfort, remembering the feel as she had waded in after the fallen pegasus.
"It's okay, Rarity! No uncleanliness that I see! Okay, you were a little dingy the next day, but you're all sparkling white again!" Pinkie gave Rarity a big smile to cheer up her spirits, before demonstrating the lack of dirt by pulling over one of Twilight's magnifying glasses and examining Rarity closely.
Meanwhile, Twilight tapped her chin in thought as she examined the map, mentally tracing the most obvious routes of travel and calculating transit times. One had to take into account Rarity breaks, stops for aching hooves and detours due to streams on the map and a cliff face, which came out to-"Rarity, the Sticky End Bog is only an hour away. Wow, weird name for a swamp. The Stickles team left near midnight, you could have made it back well before then."
Rarity dodged and weaved, trying to avoid letting Pinkie get a close look at the roots of her mane as she responded to Twilight. "Midnight? That's too late to be the ponies that Trixie claimed chased her. Stop that Pinkie! Besides, we were out there rescuing Cloudkicker and I until nearly daybreak. We never made it back." Rarity swiped the magnifying glass from Pinkie with her magic, sliding it under a pillow and sitting on it to prevent Pinkie from discovering her true mane color.
"And if they departed at midnight, that's too late to be the ponies who were chasing Trix- AUGH! Too late to be the ponies chasing me." The showmare distressedly whined, pawing her intangible hoof against the floor.
Pinkie nodded in turn. "Yeah, no way that Rare-bear made it out that fast, it's called Sticky End Bog for a reason. Nine times outta tine, you walk in and BLUP! Down you go to meet Momma Earth's tummy."
Trixie felt the oddest sense of absolute certainty that Pinkie was wrong. Almost as if she had insulted the laws of physics... why? "Trixie is fairly certain that is just folklore. Bogs aren't that powerful and deep. And besides, Trixie passed along the outskirts of one trying to avoid a big... crawling thing with tentacles in her running and screaming. Of course, Trixie may have just been Great and Powerful enough to walk on water."
Pinkie snorted and turned back to irritating Rarity, who rolled her eyes at Pinkie's giant comb waiving in her direction and the still city-sized ego of the performer. Twilight sighed happily, feeling the call of the lecture as she pulled out a piece of chalk and began writing on the floor. "While it is possible to run atop quicksand and deep mud by moving fast enough, it's pretty unlikely since you would have to be Dash fast to keep from falling into it as you motion liquefies the surface. So, no Trixie, you likely didn't actually enter into a bog."
Trixie tried to turn her head to the general direction of Twilight's friends, hoping her fears weren't true. "Tri- I have to ask, does she know enough for a lecture on every subject of study in the world?" She winced mentally as Pinkie shrugged noncommitally on the edge of Twilight's vision. "Trixie was afraid of that."
Twilight tapped her hoof against the floor three times loudly to break up the pair's sidebar. "If the class is finished talking..." She waited as Pinkie began a complicated set of motions that began with zipping her mouth shut before she continued, best to let Pinkie have her fun than to try and talk over her. "Anyway, as I was saying, not only did Trixie probably not pass by... 'Sticky End Bog', the mystical powers attributed to it can't possibly exist. Quicksand and mud are too thick for ponies to go 'blup!' It's not scientifically possible."
Twilight drew a further set of pictures on the floor, depicting several stuck ponies in a bog. "See? In water, we float at about withers deep normally. But bogs are where there is so much water in the ground that it makes the sand and earth spread apart until they turn to a liquid. But since it's still denser than water, you would float at belly deep, though your legs would be stuck."
Twilight took a little too much of an interest in showing that on the floor, before continuing with a set of guards with armor on. "Granted, it is possible if you are extremely weighed down, like a whole battalion of guards in heavy armor. But I never heard of losing a bunch of ponies like that to explain a local legend." Pinkie and Rarity were a little pale as she looked up, and possibly worried about their friend, judging from their expressions. "Alright, it is possible a bunch of ponies got stuck out there and died of exposure, or got tangled up in a bunch of roots that kept them from floating, but seriously, nine out of ten ponies who go out there can't possibly go 'blup'."
"But it happened just last year, Twilight! A travelling merchant coming from Fillydelphia tried taking the old road to save time. Dashie was in the area on weather patrol and saw her unhooking herself from her cart to find a way through, and marched right on in ignoring Dashie! Then the ground started bubbling and down she went, so fast that Dashie couldn't get ahold of her and nearly went in herself!" Pinkie made motions and sounds to accompany her story, with bubbling effects from a bubble pipe and miming out somepony sinking into the earth. After stopping, she seemed to almost deflate a little. her coat fading a little. "I just wish Dashie could have saved her, I didn't know her, but it's just not right that she- she..."
"Trixie still doesn't buy the idea of evil places. Err, I mean I'm having trouble buying the concept. It would require corrupting magic beyond anything anypony has to pull off."
Twilight shook her head, grumbling in disbelief. "No, no... seriously? You believe Dash on something only she witnessed? Especially a creepy tale about eeeeevil swamps?"
Rarity huffed, inspecting her hoof for any remaining traces of the ghastly mud as she spoke up. "Well, don't take just Dash's word for it. When Cloudkicker... well, nearly drowned, she had landed in there after spotting what she claimed she had spotted Trixie's head sticking up out of the bog. She swore that she could hear her calling for help, and she rushed in and found what she thought was a stable set of roots. But, they parted beneath her, dropping her into the muck a hundred yards in from the edge." Rarity began telling her tale, emphasizing the unearthly nature of the earth in the swamp as she did.
"Rarity, I- you know what? Just forget it." Twilight rubbed her head, feeling for the hot point of pain where it felt like it wanted to split. Better to just get it over with. Who knew, maybe her head would split due to magic and bud off a Trixie head, solving most of their problems! Ponyville was weird enough for it. 'Evil' swamps, stoned annoyances, friends who had a dim view of the concept of private property-UGH! "So, you were busy all night. But, if the lists are wrong, and the times are wrong, then who chased Trixie?”
Pinkie had procured a hat somehow while Twilight had been looking away, a tweed thing that smelled of old woods. Pinkie tapped her hoof against her chin in thought, mumbling something after a few seconds. "Hey, didn't Trixie run straight from town without stopping?" Everypony took a doubletake as Pinkie adjusted the scale felt diorama of the surroundings near Trixie's presumed path. Pinkie pulled a cornflower blue piece of yarn out from under her hat, carefully laying it down to match Trixie's path.
"Yes, Trixie did. She was pursued nearly all the way." Trixie's weak and flickering telekinetic field picked up a large pin, sticking it into the side of a felt hill to show when she had noticed she was being chased.
"And no naps?" Everypony looked at Pinkie again. "What? Naps are important, just ask Dashie!"
"No, Trixie did not take a nap at any point. Running screaming for her life tends to do that."
"Then it couldn't be ANYpony from Ponyville."
Twilight paused in the middle of reshuffling her files into the folder as she caught Pinkie's declaration. Bad enough that she was going to have to go through her records with a fine-tooth comb, but how did Pinkie know? "How are you so certain, Pinkie?"
Pinkie rolled her eyes while smiling goofily, as if she had been asked the dumbest question in the world. "Well, DUH. I'm Pinkie Pie, remember? When I say I know everypony in Ponyville, it's not a boast, it's a guarantee. When BIIIIIG stuff like a BIIIIIG Ursa come into town, I go and find out everything that happened during the event, just so I can prepare for anything that happened!" Pinkie wildly gestured with her hooves to emphasize the BIIIIIG-ness of things that happened that night, before sitting back down.
She cleared her throat, pulling a little card out of her mane. "So, let's see, everypony was either still asleep like Princess Luna at high noon, or rabble-rabble-rabbling in the town square, or still running around like the flower sisters going 'AAAAAUUUUUAAAGH!' over the fact that the city-sized bear nearly turned Ponyville into hoof jam!"
Rarity's eyes fluttered for a moment as she considered the absolutely dreadful metaphor Pinkie had offered, and then shuddered as she realized Pinkie was being literal. "Well, thankfully that awful bear did not in fact turn us into your utterly horrid metaphor after all. But, that begs the question, darlings, if I wasn't chasing her, and nopony else could have inspired her... hallucinations, then who did?" Rarity leaned into the semi-circle of ponies a little further, looking at each of them in turn with worry.
"Does it matter?" Trixie's apparition slowly slumped to the floor, her face disappearing into it as she all but gave up. "No matter what happened, Trixie is still as good as dead, and her body- my body is still in Zecora's hut gathering Zebrican graffiti."
Trixie's avatar was pulled up with Twilight's magic, its nose turned ever so slightly solid with effort through the purple mage's magic. Twilight nuzzled that tip, letting the sensation feed back to her occupant. "You're not as good as dead."
"Yes, Trixie is. She's nothing more than a shade in your mind now, an object of pity at best. And she's- I'm growing tired of fighting to stay aware, of fighting whatever it is her soul is becoming." Trixie let her spectral body fade out again, so that Twilight couldn't try and comfort her anymore. "I can't even teach you how to do magic tricks, I nearly got the town destroyed, and just looking for me nearly killed two mares."
"Trixie? Could you please come out? Look, we aren't mad at you- well, we were but we still want to help." Twilight mentally reached out for Trixie, feeling her presence deep within her, trying to draw in on itself.
"Darling, I've been such a dreadfully wretched mare, I must fix this! I MUST!" Rarity held her hoof up towards the skies as she declared her unbending will.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE BETTER THAN TRIXIE!" The showmare's voice blasted through the room alongside a pulse of blue magic from Twilight's horn. She continued on, quiet and sobbing as she did. "Even at your worst, it's because you cared, not because you just had a bad week. You're better than me; I don't deserve your help."
"Well, DUH! That's what friends do, though! We're loyal and honest and generous and kind and all giggly-wiggly with each other. And seriously, with a story like that? Of COURSE we're gonna be your friends! Why, I need to start planning the party right now! I've gotta get Applejack and Dashie, and Fluttershy too! Why, once I get the icky-sticky nastiness between you and Dashie worked out, you'll stick together like glue!" Pinkie jumped up to Twilight's head, all but yelling into an ear.
Rarity grabbed Pinkie by the tail, stopping her from escaping the room to go find the others. "Pinkie, dear... I don't think Twilight is ready to tell the others. Especially since you seem to have rendered her deaf in that ear."
"Friends... Trixie-I've never had friends. Aquaintances, allies, contacts... but not a friend." Trixie slowly faded back into view; with little tear streaks running down the sides of her cheeks.
Twilight wanted to pull a Pinkie and just hug Trixie until she started laughing. It had been getting worrying there for a few moments, scaring her into thinking that Trixie was going to try and rip her soul out of its magic protection. 'Not so bad, is it, Trixie? You get used to them. Or go insane. Oooh! I know, a friendship report!'
‘Hmmm.... nah. Trixie is loathsome at writing.’
'It'd be fun!' Twilight's eager voice said it all about her need to document everything. Even friendship.
'If by fun, Sparkle means 'Dorktacular', then yes. It will be fun.'
'Studying the hidden depths of friendship is not 'dorky'! It's analyzing the building blocks of the very force that saved us all in order to become a better pony!'
'Celestia on her throne, do you ever stop studying!?'
'Hey! Stop mocking studying!'
A white hoof grabbed Twilight's shoulder, shaking her roughly. "Twilight, are you alright? Speak to me! Good heavens, somepony find my fainting couch!" Rarity shook Twilight harder, afraid for her after she had become unresponsive. The yelp of surprise as Twilight refocused on the outside world caught her offguard, as did Twilight's momentary flailing before the pleasantly plump scholar toppled over atop her.
Twilight's impromptu unicorn-based cushion squeaked in discomfort beneath the weight, wriggling in place. "I said get my fainting couch, not use ME as one!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Twilight rolled off of Rarity, clambering back to her own four hooves. Wait... Rarity. Spike's... disturbing new black cape and top hat... Trixie on special effects, Pinkie on... yes! YES! YesyesyesyesYEES! Oh crud, everypony there had seen her momentary Happy Hooves Dance. "Uh, right, Rarity, you said you would do anything to make it up to me and Trixie?"
Rarity wondered if she should say yes, given the disturbing off-kilter look in Twilight's eye and the sickeningly sweet edge of madness in her voice. "Um, yes?"
"That'll be Just... Perfect." Twilight's eye twitched ever so slightly as she began to giggle quietly. "I know exactly what we can do with you, and don't worry, it'll be safe. Perfectly safe. Well, except for your coat and manestyle. But that's okay, you could use a change."
"Can I change my answer to no?"
-------------------------------------------
Zecora hummed the songs of her people as she cleaned up her hut. The petrified look of horror on Trixie's face was assaulted by the Great Duster of Cleanliness, stolen from the temples of the gods in her homeland. Its feathers brutally swept away the grime that accumulated in all the corners and crevices of the sculpturized pony, leaving her more sparkling and spotless than the day she had arrived. Zecora smiled and stepped back, admiring the stripes she had painted on Trixie's form to make her match the decor. It wasn't as good as having another zebra with her, but oh well.
The fire in her hearth crackled lightly, slowly warming the blue pot above it with its carefully horded flames. Zecora hadn't left her warded safe zone for several days; her new neighbors were responsible for that. The zebra walked over to a window, nudging its latches open with the tip of her nose to see how they were coming along.
A startled squak rang out outside, along with a heavy thump signaling the fall of her latest trespasser from her roof. Zecora reached to one side, grabbing an old friend from its rack.
Virulent red eyes rose up from beyond the windowsill, quickly blotted out by two protective caps of white-hued magic as the hut's wards protected Zecora. The cockatrice screeched in frustration as its stare didn't work, lunging at her instead. Unfortunately, at least for it, despite having an excellent sense for ponies who were lost, distressed, and defenseless, Cockatrices didn't have senses for impending pain and involuntary flight.
Down swung Zecora's family staff, around went the cockatrice's eyes as thirty pounds of pain was introduced to its head at high velocities. Up reared Zecora, transferring her staff from her mouth to her forehooves. Out swept the staff once more, slamming into the cockatrice in its belly and launching it off into the darkness of the forest beyond the wards.
Zecora could feel her throat hurting, her adrenaline-rushing brain unable to figure out why until her ears got done consulting each other. She was still screaming her tribe's traditional war chant. A simple phrase, one that would roughly translate into common equish as, "Come 'ave another go if you think y'er 'ard enough!"
Nothing came. But she could feel them out there, watching for her. They had blockaded her in, and were lying in wait for Twilight. She had tried to warn the pair that this would happen, but Twilight hadn't wanted to hear any of it. If Twilight tried to reach the shaman's hut again without teleporting, she would be caught just like her passenger. The creatures wanted Trixie's body back. Badly. It called to them, an devoured soul trapped in their web. They could wait for its guardian to starve to death...
"Twilight Sparkle, Please hurry. Far worse things are coming, I worry."
Thunder crackled overhead, echoing the shamaness's foreboding worries. From the dim light of the overcast clouds, rain began to drip down into the trees, smelling odd to her nose. The skies lit up once more with the crackle of energy, but not as she had ever known it. The tendrils of electrified light high above twisted and contorted in their outbursts, transforming into brilliant multicolored bolts crackling across the skies. Some arced towards Ponyville, but many more wreathed the skies above the region of Canterlot, menacing in their unnaturalness.
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I started reading this way back when, before I was a FimFiction member, and it was really good . . . but I couldn't remember the title.
Congrats on making it in the feature box! (and lucky me for finding it again!)
FFffff. Man this story. It always feels kinda intense. Even though they're going on with their lives perfectly normal, you just know something is about to go horrible wrong, and the tension kinda builds with every chapter. I don't think I'll be able to make it through the chapter where it all blows up.
Nice to see more of this
Okay, so Twilight manages to resolve the misunderstanding with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and she has "recruited" them to help with her stage show, but we still haven't answered one important question.
Who or what was imitating Rarity as they chased Trixie?
And the cockatrices are clamoring to get Trixie's body back? SHIT JUST GOT REAL! There's only one way to deal with this problem: Fluttershy! Too bad in this universe, they haven't had a chance to learn that The Stare > a cockatrice's gaze...
Here, you have earned 4/4 badges of pony approval!
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fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/282/4/e/rarity_approved_by_ambris-d4cdq6y.png
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/345/f/a/the_great_and_powerful_trixie_approved_by_ambris-d4ivli5.png
Later!
2971746
Well, it sorta started to asplode, then didn't.
Then it got a ticklish expanding feeling before getting hit with Zecora's autographed soccer ball in the head and going back down, even as Discord is frantically pumping air into it to make the balloon go up.
It'll all sort of be timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly when it's done.
2971799 See, the false starts just make it even worse!
When it finally pops, it's gonna be a big bang.
Reference to an obscure SF classic in the title? You have my attention.
EDIT: Not bad. Potential for some interesting dark tones here. There's a few issues with sentence structure and grammar, but seeing as it's only the first chapter, I can forgive that for the time being. I'll go through the rest of this once I have time.
2971796
"Oh you silly little tool. You've ALWAYS been used. Your mother used you for her own little bit of undeserved happiness. Your so-called fans used you to advance their own social position or just for cheap thrills. I use you to hurt your 'oh-so-pure and WOOOONDERFUL' mother, Sparklebutt's using you to advance her own studies and prove she's a 'good' mare. Nobody cares about you. Even the whole turning you to stone thing? Nothing personal, just the best way to hurt somepony else. You're NOTHING, Trixie. And you've always been nothing."
OH GOD. D: Is .... is that .... Demoman??? C:
2971872
No.
It's worse.
Zecora is a Zebabwaen Soccer Hooligan by moonlight. It's like an English Soccer Hooligan, except... more jedi master.
2971840 ...what.
I'm sorry, but unless you explain this one, I will NOT understand who or what that was supposed to be.
"I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream" WOOT, go me for getting a semi-obscure cultural reference. And by the way, they did a test back when there weren't nearly so many rules, most people will loose it after 3 days of sensory deprivation. I guess I need to actually read the story now.
2971882 Oh God....
2971796
Technically, the Stare is not greater than a cockatrice's gaze per say, but is useful in forcing the Cockatrice to do things it would not normally do. One has to wonder: what is a cockatrice afraid of?
P.S.
If only she knew which Cockatrice was responsible for Trixie's condition, then maybe she could grab a few and put out their eyes or kill them.
P.P.S.
More, please. :) These asides are fun to read, but still cliffhanger-y.
2972032 I'd say The Stare Master is an episode that says otherwise.
The cockatrice was using its gaze on her, but she kept scolding it, with The Stare turned up all the way, and she got it to back off and undo her petrification before it could finish.
She then ordered it to free Twilight.
2972122
The point I'm trying to make is that it isn't as though she could stop the petrification or reverse it by herself. She had to make the cockatrice do it. That in my mind means it isn't as powerful as the Gaze, but perhaps is in a separate category.
That like to dislike ratio is amazing.
2971799 I spy a whovian amongst us...
2972926
More of a...
Discordian? *cue monty python scare cord*
You do the best Rarity EVER!
Holy fuck! This is like Johnny Got His Gun, one of my favorite stories/movies! If I ever see you in life I swear that I will kiss you on your mouth!
I almost died laughing!
...
Stupid dog!
before reading im not used to reading dark a or tragedies cause the hit my feels too hard i need to know should i be scared before i read this?
This is based off I have no mouth and I must scream the Dos horror game
2973857 is it really similar to that? I read the short story that the game was based off of, and I don't want to be disappointed by reading this.
Dat scare word.
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m45ej3UG581ruyfj5o1_500.gif
"Damsel in Distress Lessons"? Nice.
Rarity is stealing the show quite thoroughly this chapter.
That description of the bog is rather suspicious, I have to wonder if that's going to be meaningful later.
Holy crap, that ending. Sounds like something is about to hit the fan.
Damsel in Distress Lessons.....riiiiight
We all know that it's BDSM 101 for their up coming relationship.
lol
Obsessed Twilight is best Teilight; semi-schizo Twilight, not so much.
2974228 I think any story with and must scream is based off the horror Dos Game.
This story has the problem all such stories have with 'super-dangerous Everfree monsters of soul-eating evil': If these things are so dangerous and their effects so incurable... and they're living right next to a highly populated town... WHY THE BUCK HAVEN'T THEY BEEN EXTERMINATED?!
Seriously, it's just retarded to leave such monstrosities roaming around, especially in a world where the ponies are not living in the TV happy fun land. These ponies see death frequently. You'd think they'd go the human route and wipe out anything dangerous after a while.
It's a logic break that stands out quite unacceptably to me.
3002121 Its because the ponies are too much of a bunch of sissies to do that. And those few brave enough to do it don't have the tools necessary for doing it alone.
Backlog, damned backlog... Anyway, catching up. Great Rarity and pinkie, there. great Trixie, Twilight, Zecora and Spike. So... great all around.
Ordinarily, I would not think of doing anything cruel in the world of Equestria, but considering that cockatri eat souls, the fact that one is willingly attracted to one guarded spot means they could capture it and extrapolate a cure from it.
It actually is possible to step into a bog, go 'bloop', and not come back up: If you make the mistake of stepping onto a kettle bog, you will probably punch right through the layer of vegetation on the surface into the water below. Unless you get really lucky and find the tiny hole you made, you aren't coming back up.
This is why, in places like the Canadian Shield, you don't walk across a clearing in the woods without checking what kind of clearing it is.
3002121
Because being smart in fiction is so old school.
It's more fun to be stupid.
Horror movie characters can vouch for that
Silly Ponk! You can't giggle at this ghostie.