The Stone Temple

by Salchipipe

2. Striking Guilt

Trixie squealed excitedly at the sight of the stage “It looks so good!” she turned to Starlight, “everything is ready for tomorrow.” She wrapped her foreleg around her assistant and said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie, along with her great and powerful assistant, performing a trick never seen before!”

Starlight giggled, “I’m sure it will be great.”

“Well, obviously,” she presumed, “it’s Trixie’s show we are talking about here.” She lifted her hoof from Starlight’s back. “Just make sure you come in time, will you?”

“I will possibly have some business before, so I don’t expect I’ll be free for last minute changes,” Starlight clarified. “But of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The overused curtains, patched up with different color tones here and there, waved gently in the night-wind. The muffled noise of disappointed ponies, booing and complaining, filled the air. The nervous voice of a mare accompanied it, trying to calm down the crowd.

“W-well, that may be the fifteenth failed attempt, but Trixie still has tricks under her sleeve!”

The voices grew loud and furious, and after a few seconds, a blue unicorn with a silky, silver mane ran through the curtains, closely followed by flung tomatoes.

Trixie sat on her haunches, taking off her hat and swiping some tomato juice off it. Leaving it aside, she sighed, exasperated.

She had announced this show throughout the whole week. She was going to do a new trick, where she would hold the flame of a candle on her hooves, and then make it as if she was playing around with it. She would swirl it around the air with her magic and juggle it around, of course, with the help of her lovely assistant, Starlight Glimmer, who was going to cast a few spells to make sure everything was safe and sound, and specially, that the flame didn’t get blown out by the wind.

Problem was, Starlight never showed despite promising she would be there. Trixie wasn’t about to cancel the show, so she decided to go on without her anyway. She wasted fifteen matches in re-lighting the candle, and then was forced back-stage, unless she wanted to be soaked in red.

She sighed again, albeit shakily. She laid belly on the floor, and covered her eyes, ashamed.

She didn’t cry. She wasn’t sad, just embarrassed.

“She promised…” she said softly.

Suddenly she uncovered her face and hit the floor loudly. “She promised!” she hissed out, her face tightened into a scowl, almost as red as the audience’s projectiles.

---

The night had fallen over Ponyville. It’s tranquility served well for the rest of everyone, and its beauty removed any fear ponies could have about the darkness.

The friendship castle stood out with specialty. The soft moonlight reflected on its crystalline surface, making it shine beautifully, but not enough to make it blinding. It all added to the calm the absence of the sun brought, perfect for a good sleep.

Knock knock knock!

Sadly for those in the castle, the pounds a heated mare gave to the entrance door broke the calm. Trixie’s face was fixed in a stern frown, her irritation still driving her. She was going to give Starlight a well-deserved scold, maybe a little shouting. If she could do it with her, she might as well do the same.

Her eyebrows lowered further with the lack of a response. She hit harder on the door, her hoof hurting a little, but she ignored it.

“Coming!” called out a young voice.

The door opened, revealing Spike on the other side.

“Oh, hi Trixie,” he said, “how did-woah!” he was interrupted by Trixie walking through and pushing him to the side.

“Geez, talk about grumpy,” he commented.

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Where’s Starlight?” she asked flatly, not bothering to turn and look at Spike.

“She isn’t with you?” Spike responded in disbelief.

Now she did turn. “What does this face tell you?” she spit out sharply, gritting her teeth with her eyebrows almost knitted together.

Spike raised his claws defensively. “Okay, I get it, calm down!”

Trixie sighed through her nose, and rubbed one of her temples with her hoof.

“Who is it Spike?” a feminine voice called out.

“It’s Trixie!” Spike responded.

“Is Starlight with her?” she asked.

Trixie’s bitterness reached a boiling point.

Sparkle, she thought, just as always ignoring me.

Trixie’s relationship with the princess had improved since she had met Starlight, but she still held a grudge against her. It wasn’t about magic power, she had got over that already. It was that, unlike Starlight and that ‘Sunset Shimmer’ her friend sometimes talked about, Twilight had never reached out to her. It’s true she had ran away from Ponyville, but Twilight hadn’t even tried to contact her for help, after all, Trixie was still afraid the town would not welcome her after her actions. On top of all that, the unicorn-turned-princess still didn’t give her a chance when she came back in an attempt to make amends.

Thus, she wasn’t happy to bump into Twilight when she had other, more important things to do.

Before Spike could respond, Trixie turned to face Twilight. “Sorry, Miss Sparkle, but your student seemed to be far too occupied to come to my show,” she said in a derisive tone.

“Oh,” Twilight said a little surprised, “I thought she promised to come.”

“She did,” Trixie confirmed, “but it seems other business with her highness was of more matter.” She stared at Twilight accusingly.

Twilight was taken aback. She shook her head. “You got the wrong impression Trixie. Believe me, she went out after lunch and I haven’t seen her since. I’m just as confused.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes, then raised her head incensed, walking past Twilight.

Twilight tried to soothe the situation. “You can wait for her in the-”

“No thanks,” Trixie interrupted, “I’ll wait here in the center.” With that, she sat down on the floor, looking at the door.

Twilight didn’t respond. Instead, she turned and walked over to Spike.

Meanwhile Trixie turned her eyes to the floor. She was still angry at Starlight, she had the right to be, but the mare had never done this before. She always fulfilled her role as an assistant when she promised, especially since they had worked out some of their problems on the road trip. Maybe Twilight was telling the truth. Then what? Did she actually get in problems?

“G’night Trixie,” Spike said, walking past her. Trixie ignored him, eyes still fixed on the ground.

She turned her gaze back up when Twilight sat down beside her. The lavender mare looked crestfallen; her ears flopped to the sides. Trixie couldn’t help but feel a little curious.

“Something wrong?” she asked plainly.

“Huh?” Twilight was forced out of her thoughts. “Uh… well…” she sighed. “I think Starlight not going to your show may be my fault.”

Trixie’s interest grew exponentially.

“Starlight proposed something to me,” she began, “something to do with magic. She wanted us to experiment, peer into outer dimensions and other advanced stuff like that.” She rubbed her front hooves against each other nervously. “It’s not that I don’t like the idea, in fact, I was a little excited. But, the spells she proposed… ones that could… expand your perception of reality, open your mind in a way. They are dangerous, since we aren’t sure we will be able to bear the… revelations. And, there’s the chance we may… attract… something, you never know.”

“So I said no, and I think I was too sudden or harsh. I didn’t really tell her I liked the idea, just in another way that wasn’t through stuff like astral projection. So she got upset. I suggested that she go get some fresh air and reconsider, but I think she went out because she didn’t want to talk to me anymore. She probably felt I was treating her like a madmare…”

Trixie didn’t understand some of the things Twilight mentioned, but they weren’t necessary. Her face tightened.

Twilight noticed. “Trixie, I-“

Trixie grunted in anger. “Ugh! I just wish you stopped ruining everything I try to do!”

Neither of them continued, since their attention changed to the castle entrance, which was being hit hardly, not with anger like Trixie, but seeming desperation, or even fear.

Both mares stood up. Twilight stayed fixed in place, with a startled expression. Trixie, on the other hoof, wasn’t astonished at all, instead trotting towards the door with purpose. Upon opening it, she felt all her anger muster up when she saw Starlight Glimmer, who was looking behind herself and turned to face Trixie when the door opened.

“Well look who it is!” Trixie reprehended, “my lame and backstabbing assistant! I looked like an absolute buffoon, and it’s your entire fault!”

Starlight didn’t respond. Instead, she merely stared. Trixie thought it was at her, but those wide eyes looked past her. They seemed lost, hollow, drained of color.

Trixie’s features progressively softened as she looked closely at Starlight. The mare’s coat was dirty, and small scratches were all over her. Her mane was tousled, a few leaves tangled in it. The saddle bags she had on her back were all dirty. In the shock, she didn’t notice they were carrying something.

Rage was replaced by worry. “Oh… Starlight, what happened?”

Starlight’s eyes focused on Trixie, out of whatever trance she was in. For a moment, she mumbled quietly, then managed to muster up a few words.

“I’m… fine…” Starlight shook her head, and looked down. “Just… a little tired…”

“What?” Trixie got out of the way when Starlight walked in. “No, you don’t look fine! What happened? You didn’t come to the show.”

“I’m fine okay?” Starlight said, raising her voice.

Twilight had decided to approach. “Starlight? Oh no…” Her eyes turned a little glassy, “I… I’m so so-”

“I don’t have time!” Starlight interrupted, her brow furrowing. “It’s… it’s fine okay? We can talk tomorrow…”

Starlight resumed her walk, the noticeable tension on her body and responses betraying her.

Trixie insisted, “Starlight-”

“Now it’s not a good time Trixie!” Starlight shouted, staring at Trixie with eyes full of fire.

The show mare winced, taking a few steps backward, her eyes becoming teary.

Starlight sighed heavily, lowering her head. “I’m… sorry. I… I need some time alone.”

With that, Starlight went off to her room, leaving the other two mares confused and preoccupied.

---

Past the various wooden roofs of Ponyville, there is a considerable piece of land that was left unused, separating the loathed Everfree forest from the town. It is thought this was done out of fear, but there isn’t any kind of true reason written in the foundation or territorial documents which lie at the town hall.

Right there, all alone, laid a lavender wagon, with pastel yellow contours and star-decorated window panels and roof, the symbol of a half moon and a magic wand repeating prominently.

Inside, sobbing. Sad, hurtful whimpers of the mare whose cutie mark was that of the moon and wand. Laying on her hammock, between a few boxes filled with smoke bombs or flower-wands, Trixie buried her face on the pillow, drowning her weeping and staining it with her tears. Trixie hadn’t even bothered to take her stuff out of the backstage, all animus gone.

“Such an idiot…” she told herself, into the cushion, “why do you always have to mess everything up?”

Her guilt had taken hold of her. When she had seen Starlight’s decrepit state, the fact she had called her a backstabber plunged through her heart. Her failed attempt at fixing it only managed to get Starlight angry with her, no doubt, since the poor mare was already in a terrible state of mind.

A few minutes passed, and Trixie’s sobs slowly died down. She looked up from her headrest, and stared at the back window, from which the moonlight filtered, scaring off the shadows of the cozy interior.

She would have to talk to Starlight. But how should she approach the subject? Would Starlight still be angry at her? And on top of all that, would Sparkle remember how she spoke to her? She’d have to set things with the princess too, but it would be too much to tackle all at once.

And, every time she remembered, those distant, haunted eyes…

She whimpered, burying her face on the pillow again.

I really messed up, she thought sadly.

Then, an idea.

She could just wait for either of them to come out of the castle. She wanted to talk things out with Starlight first, so she would wait for her outside the castle, inside her wagon. If Twilight went out, she was free to enter the castle and face Starlight there.

Her lips parted into a smile, and she let out a small happy squeal. Things would work out, after all, the Great and Powerful Trixie would be the one to fix it.

She shifted around, looking at the ceiling, now with a smug smirk.

Genius as always Trixie.

Her eyelids slowly began to drop, and she finally drifted off to sleep.

---

Curtains were enveloped by light-purple magic. They shifted away and let the light in, the sun starting to reach the top of the sky.

With a yawn and a stretch, Trixie got off her hammock, and walked over to a mirror on the wall. She floated a comb that was lying on one of the boxes, and carefully brushed her hair. Finished, she left it back on place, and made a small pose on the mirror.

“Looking good Trixie, as always.”

She giggled, and walked over to the wagon’s entrance. Her horn lit up again, and the door moved open, letting in the fresh morning air. She took a deep breath through her nose, let it out through her mouth, and began to think about the upcoming day.

First, she would go to the stage and fit all the items she left there on her wagon. It would take some time, but she was sure she would be finished by lunch. After getting something to eat, she would bring everything right outside of Twilight’s castle, and wait there.

She stepped down, walked around, and put the harness on her back. Confident, she began the walk back to Ponyville.

---

Trixie threw herself back first on her hammock, finally finished.

There was much less space on the wagon now, but it gave her a safe feeling. As Starlight would say, it wasn’t small, just cozy.

She made sure to leave one of the windows clear, so she could see the castle’s door. She had stationed the wagon by the side of the castle. She didn’t want to draw the owners’ attention.

On her way through Ponyville, she had gotten some looks from the townsfolk. Fortunately, rather than judgmental, they seemed more on the curious side, as if they wanted to ask her what happened yesterday night. That made her confidence strengthen a little. Her reputation wasn’t ruined, but she would have to make things right somehow.

She sighed at the thought of even more work to do. Reorganizing her wagon had left her pretty tired already.

In any case, she just had one objective now. All she had to do was pay attention to the door, leaving the window open so she would hear it when someone went through. Meanwhile, she would read the newspaper. The headlines were particularly attractive this time.

Shifting a little to get comfortable, she floated the paper up in front of her face. Her eyes went right and left, trying to focus on the reading.

She started to feel a little lightheaded. Her eyes itched, but she tried to ignore it. She began to realize how exhausted she actually felt, all the walking and moving having depleted almost all her energy. Her pillow felt so soft, so warm. Her eyelids grew heavy, slowly going down.

They shot open, as Trixie brusquely raised her head, and rubbed one of her temples.

Not now body! Trixie can’t take a nap, she has some important business to attend to! she thought to herself, pinging her eyes onto the newspaper.

She couldn’t fall asleep, even if her body felt so heavy, screaming at her to close her eyes. She had to do this, for Starlight, for herself.

A few minutes later, she had passed out, face covered by the paper, snoring softly and sometimes mumbling, waving her hooves.

---

She carefully left her saddle bags on top of the boxes—like almost everything else she owned—filled with different kinds of fruit.

She sighed, and climbed on her hammock again.

Trixie couldn’t still believe she had fallen asleep. She found herself in the middle of the night, the newspaper messed up by her own unconscious drooling, too late to expect anyone. It only made her guilt rise further, along with her embarrassment.

She had gotten ready this time. As soon as the sun came out, she went out to buy the food for the day, thankful that Ponyville was an early rising town. She took advantage of the extra time to look through her stuff, and found a few things to pass the time. An unfinished adventure novel she had—probably—borrowed from the castle’s library under Starlight’s recommendation, and the Cool Magic Tricks for Little Mages book her mom had gotten to her as a filly, which always brought that sweet nostalgia, though she wasn’t going to read it.

The plan was simple, stay inside her wagon for the whole day, windows open for any indication that someone came in or out of the castle.

Thus, she floated the novel over to her, taking out the simple marker and beginning from the start, since she had already forgotten how it went.

She tried to immerse herself into the blooming descriptions the writer gave, but when she finished a paragraph, she had to read it again since she hadn’t gotten anything of it.

Her mind kept drifting away to her worries, about how the conversation with Starlight could turn out. She still wasn’t sure in how she would touch the problem. She had decided to take a hunch and trust that she would work it out in the moment, but now she was doubting. Besides, how did she know Starlight was even willing to talk? What if she was still angry?

She let the book drop open on her chest, and merely looked at the ceiling. She was nervous. Nervous that she would ruin things further. Maybe she should wait until Starlight went after her? No, that would be selfish, then Starlight would think she was a bad friend. She was the one who shouted at her friend when she was hurt. Surely Starlight would understand though, she didn’t mean it, she was angry and stressed.

She jolted, forced out of her thoughts by her growling stomach, demanding food.

“Oh, right, breakfast,” she said, opening one of her saddlebags with magic and floating an apple out. She would probably be able to concentrate with a fuller belly.

She bit into it, the sweet, juicy fruit making her forget her troubles for a moment. Looking around, she remembered she didn’t have a trash can to drop the core, but she shrugged, deciding she could just throw it out of the window. It was fruit after all, decomposes easily.

Finishing it and doing exactly what she decided, she stared at the ceiling for a while again, thinking.

Then, she took out another apple, biting without enthusiasm into it, trying to drown the butterflies on her stomach rather than hunger.

It didn’t work, so she just left it unfinished on one of the boxes beside her, and groaned in frustration. She was incredibly anxious, impatient. She looked outside, but no one was there. Her stomach felt as if it was trying to implode, her chest felt empty and faintly tingly.

She lifted the open book to her face, but quickly closed it and left it aside with the apple, sighing heavily. She turned on the hammock, facing the window.

She really wanted to get it over with, but she was still scared. First Starlight, then Twilight, that was the idea. But, every second felt like an eternity, no movement, no sounds, no nothing, even the grass being still.

She whined again, and turned to the ceiling. She took a deep breath through her nose, let it out of her mouth, and repeated.

Rushing wouldn’t help, patience was key. She had already done what she had to, she just had to wait for them to take the next step. She didn’t need to worry, it would be fine. She had fought with Starlight in worse situations before, they would get through this one.

A little more calm, her horn lit up, lifting both book and apple towards her. Once again, she forced her gaze on the printed letters, focusing, imagining what they told her.

And, she managed to concentrate. She took another bite of the apple, and flipped to the next page. Time now went faster, the sun moving through the sky. Hours became minutes, minutes became seconds.

However, everything around her was still incredibly silent for the whole time.

She had gone through over half of the novel, the sun was starting to set between the mountains, and no one had come in, or out of the crystal building. Not even Spike, who she was sure was completely okay.

By that time, she was once again growing restless.

She left the book away, and turned to the window. The stillness was getting to her, and she started to feel irritated too.

“Come on,” she said inwardly, “just one pony? Anypony! Please?”

The doors stood still.

She looked down from the window, and her eyes became glassy.

The sky took on a bluish-purple hue, and the moon began to raise so it could replace the day’s fireball.

She dug her face half on the pillow, closing her eyes as water filled them.

Her horn flared again, and the windows shut locked, curtains were closed and covered the soft moonlight, leaving her in darkness.

A few sobs went out, tears running down her cheeks, into the pillow once again. She cried herself to a light sleep, even after lying down for the whole day.

---

Such a light sleep was the reason she woke up by the sound of a door opening, even with every window closed.

Her eyes opened brusquely, but her body was still sleepy. She shifted on her hammock a little, deciding to go back to sleep.

Then, she realized what she had heard. The castle’s door had opened.

She almost jumped off her hammock, meaning she tried to get off fast and almost fell to the floor, which would’ve been disastrous with how much stuff there was in the wagon. Steadying herself up, her body still heavy from the sudden sleep departure, she opened the window to confirm what her ears had told her.

The moonlight was enough to see that the door was clearly opened, seemingly slammed open.

Wasting no time, she exited the wagon, and trotted towards the open door. An odd mix of confusion and hope filled her, coming from the mystery of someone going outside this late, and the opportunity of making paces with Starlight. She wasn’t precipitated, peeking through the open way, standing by the side.

The castle was expectedly dark, but the milky light of the moon was enough to walk around freely. Seeing there was nobody around, she entered with the purpose of reaching Starlight’s bedroom. She went slowly, careful to not make much sound. Even if a slamming door didn’t seemingly wake anypony else, she wasn’t taking any chances. She only wanted to speak with Starlight, and if she wasn’t here, she would return to her wagon and wait for her friend’s return. It wouldn’t be the best time to talk things out, seeing she would have to wake Starlight from her sleep, but if she didn’t do it now, she may not be able to wait another whole day.

She was thankful Starlight had told her where her room was. The castle was a maze to visitors, having long halls with seemingly hundreds of doors that look equal to each other. A single mistake could mean getting lost, so she kept her eyes open and concentrated.

Soon enough, she found Starlight’s room, saddening when she saw the door to it was open, which meant Starlight was the one who went out.

Then again, she wasn’t sure if Starlight slept with her door open or not. Unfortunately, her suspicions were confirmed when she entered and saw the empty bed, with disorganized covers.

Now, she realized, there wasn’t a reason for Starlight to go out in the middle of the night. She knew that the accomplished unicorn, with her new job as a Guidance Counselor, wasn’t one for nightly departures. Therefore, Trixie was slightly baffled.

She looked around the room as if she would find some kind of answer of what was happening with Starlight. Her eyes stopped at something that could hold them, a small, hardcover book that lay in Starlight’s desk. She had never seen it before, of a typical brown color and about the size and thick of the ‘Friendship Journal’ Sparkle and her friends had written. Plastered on its cover was Starlight’s cutie mark, which led her to believe this was her personal diary of sorts. Considering this was the first time she saw it, it could be very personal to Starlight, or maybe she just started using it.

A momentary qualm kept her from floating it towards her. It would be extremely disrespectful to read Starlight’s personal thoughts behind her back. There was a reason she wrote them there.

But, they could have something to go by, a lead as to why Starlight had been so scared that night, and why she wasn’t home this one.

Not without some guilt, she sat down on the small bench, and opened the journal on the first page. The first paragraph ended raising more questions:

The urge to tell someone is unbearable, but I can’t. This diary may finally be of use. Both books are safe, but I haven’t looked into them. I messed up things with Trixie and Twilight, but I don’t know what to tell them. As soon as I saw one of those things, I ran. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that revolting smell before. I forgot to put the plate back in place. I think I set them loose. What have I done?

“What?” Trixie whispered to herself. Over half of that paragraph made no sense to her, but at least she now knew this was for personal use. With the hopes of some kind of explanation, she kept reading, once again losing the trail of time.

Comments

[GrimDarkSurvivor]

This is starting to get good, I can't wait to see the creature that Starlight released next chapter.

[Toilet Sprinkle]

Like the build up here, gettin creepy!