Chapter 33: Obsessive Sephiroth Disorder.
Chapter 33: Obsessive Sephiroth Disorder.
I awake that night with a start. The room is dark, but I look around, quickly spotting Trixie still asleep on the two-seater next to the bed, just as I had left her before going on the Quest for the Missing Shoulder Guard with Twilight and Shining Armor. We'd parted ways, Twilight taking Spike with her, after getting the items we raided from the old armor storage back up and into my room. Shining Armor's presence turned anyway any normally curious eyes wondering why we'd be lugging an old crate across the castle. Since Trixie hadn't stirred, despite our less-than-silent stowing of the crate in the room's corner, I'd gone to sleep early as well, figuring the trip to investigate the diamond dog burrows would be better done with an early rise. Now, however...
Now, there's a familiar stirring in my gut. It's weaker than I remember, but it's still there, so I sit up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and placing them on the floor. I grip the bed, ignoring it, but the more I try to will it away, the more insistent it becomes.
I stand up, unable to handle sitting anymore, and begin pacing around the empty front of the room, arms crossed, hands gripping tightly against my shirt. This contemptible feeling, it's the one I remember from when Sephiroth would try to manipulate Jenova's cells inside my body. Apparently, messing with my dreams as he did all these nights since my arrival in Equestria isn't enough for him anymore. He's compelling me, trying to force me go somewhere by reaching out with whatever power he's accumulated since coming to Equestria, making my skin crawl. I clench my eyes shut, the stirring in my gut, in my head, under my skin only getting worse, and turn to the door, winding back to punch it in frustration.
As I swing, though, I open my eyes and stop. Until now, between the bustles of ponies, adventures for missing shoulder pieces, memory spells, and pain of having a hole in my gut, I'd never actually gotten to look at the back of this door. On it is a large, full body mirror, easily large enough for Celestia, and in turn, myself. More importantly, however, is that the mirror has a hook, probably meant for a coat, and from that hook dangles a familiar cowboy hat. The poncho isn't here, though I assume it was unsalavagable or, simply, nobody cared to, but the hat is. I unfold my fist, plucking the hat from the hook and turning it over in my hands. Until now, I'd forgotten about this thing.
I turn my eyes to the mirror, the wavy, sky-blue Mako-eyes staring back at me clearly despite the darkness in the room. "Cloud Strife? What a joke..." I mutter to myself, the image of my eyes in the mirror only serving to remind me of the Crystal Caves, with the duplicate Sephiroth's eyes staring at me through the haze of debris before his final attack. "But..." I slip the hat I've had for nearly my entire stay in Equestria on my head, as I always had in the past, lowering the brim slightly. I smirk, and slowly, my eyes glide from the mirror to Trixie's sleeping form across the room. "But maybe, this is fine, too." My eyes linger on the sleeping mare a bit longer, and in that moment, my resolve hardens, and I make my decision.
I head back to the bed, tossing the hat on the mattress near the foot as I reach into the drawer, pulling out the Restore Materia again. I grip it tightly, and slowly the outpouring of green magic flows over me, working itself to further reduce the damage to my abdomen. This'll have to be good enough. I place the Materia back in the drawer, then bend down and pull the armor, harnesses, and sword out from under the bed, placing it on top. For now, I set the sword and its harnesses aside, focusing solely on the armor, slipping the leather SOLDIER armor, gloves, and wrist guards on first before making use of what I obtained from the field trip with Twilight and Shining Armor.
This is a trap. It's not even a question. Like always, Sephiroth is messing with me, trying to make himself an opportunity where he can get rid of me and not have Pony Princesses interfere. I pull the belts on one of the arm guards tight, eyes again moving to the form sleeping on the chair. The midnight chest armor slips over my leather just as expected, creating a well-fit chestplate, and I have to resist giving another knock against the metal. The sword harnesses are next, fitting on much as they did when I wore the poncho, allowing me to carry the blade along the small of my back. I clench my fist for just a moment at that thought, then turn to the drawer with the bangle and Materia. I set the bangle on the bed next to the sword, and begin unslotting all the Materia from each. I sort out which ones I want to keep using, putting them in a pile, then fill out the remainder with Materia from the drawer.
It doesn't take me long to re-slot either the sword or the bangle, an advantage of actually knowing how the Materia works now, as I press each gem into its slot. The glistening mix of blue and green gems from the sword, with a single piece of yellow near the hilt, glimmers in the bit of moonlight seeping through the window. The bangle, in turn, glistens with a mix of all four colors, arranged in a pattern whose fashion sensibility I'm sure would make Rarity wince.
The sword slots comfortably on my back, and while the bangle fits on my wrist, the mix of the armguard, the SOLDIER wristguard, and the bangle barely leaves enough room for them to co-exist together. It works, though, and that's all that matters. I place the remaining Materia in the drawer, leaving it open. If things go badly, they'll need the Materia more than I will. Trixie and Twilight should be more than capable of using it.
I turn to the cowboy hat, the only piece left, now. I flip it onto my head with my left hand, placing the right on the hilt of my sword and sigh. I take the hat by the brim between two fingers and pull it back off, walking around the bed to where my azure roommate is stirring slightly in her sleep. Her forehooves stir, one reaching forward to rub against her face, and I take the opportunity to place the cowboy hat between her hooves. Her two front limbs absentmindedly grip it in their sleep, pulling it closer to her chest.
I turn and leave, opening the door quietly and slipping outside. As I close it, I can't stop myself from taking one more look back inside. It doesn't matter if this is a trap. It doesn't matter what Sephiroth's planning. I grip tighly at the hilt of my sword again with my right hand. My knowledge, my memories, I have to believe those will make me stronger. Strong enough to defeat Sephiroth.
I think back to the Crystal Caves. When you wanted to leave, I'd been the one to convince you to stay. I'd done that, but now that I feel another encounter with Sephiroth coming near, I can't help but wonder... was that the right choice? Or was I just being selfish, convincing myself it was for your sake? It's too late to change any of that now, but that's why I need to do this. If I can beat him now... if I can do that...
If I can do that, you won't have to fight again, will you?
The fire in my stomach keeps burning as I walk the halls of the castle. I don't know where I'm going, but I don't need to. As long as I follow it, Sephiroth's summons will handle the directions for me. Despite there being a Princess of the Night, the castle itself seems unusually empty and dark, not a single soldier or servant in my path.
"Cloud?" Which is why the soft voice of a certain lavender mare makes me stop cold. "Cloud, what are you doing?" Had I walked past her room at some point? It's possible. I don't actually know where in the castle anyone else is staying. "I was getting a drink and thought I heard you walking around." She explains, after I'm silent for a moment.
"Heard me?" I ask, not turning to face her.
"Duh. You don't have hooves. Different footsteps." She explains, and I can perceive the eyeroll without needing to see it. "So, what are you doing?"
"...Just taking a walk." I lie weakly. "Go back to bed, Twilight."
I can feel the eyeroll turn into the deadpan stare. "Cloud, I'm not an idiot. It's three in the morning, and you're fully decked in stuff we haven't even owned for twelve hours. Tell me what's going on."
"..." I try to think of an excuse, but Twilight's right. She's not an idiot, so lying will just make this take longer. "Sephiroth is calling me." I say, after a moment.
"What?" Comes the confused reply.
"Remember, I said Sephiroth used the Jenova cells to manipulate my dreams?" I ask, before explaining. "Right now, he's using them to call me to wherever he is. I think he wants to finish this."
"And you're just going to go there, by yourself, and walk into what's probably a trap?" She asks, laying my stupidity bare.
"..."
"Why not just go bed and ignore it?" Her voice becomes softer. "We were going to check out that burrow tomorrow. We can just go wherever you're heading now, instead. You know, together. As a team."
"I can't ignore it." I insist. "I..." My voice trails off, words getting stuck in my throat.
"Why not?" Twilight's once-soft voice is now argumentative. "What reason could there possibly be to do something this stupid?"
I pause for a moment, needing time to collect my words before speaking. "...Did you see what happened with Trixie in the Crystal Caves?"
Now it's Twilight's turn to pause, the argumentativeness gone as soon as it came. "I've been pretending I hadn't, but... yeah. Princess Celestia and I both saw it as we were flying in to help."
"Do you really think she'll be okay if we fight again?"
Twilight's angry tone resurges, more fiery than ever. "Don't you have any faith in her at all?" She fires back.
"..."
"Do you think she stood up to my brother to come with us if she didn't think she could do it?" The sound of her hoof stomping accentuates her question.
"..."
"Sure, she's not the strongest or the bravest, but she's your friend, Cloud! You know that! She did things to help you that she would've never done for anypony else! Can't you believe in her, even a little bit?"
"But, that's why I..."
"Why what?" Twilight cuts me off. "You're going to try to spare her by running off and probably getting yourself killed? Don't you think that'd make her a tiny bit more upset than some more fighting?"
"Twilight..." I pause. She's not wrong, but at the same time... "I need to do this, Twilight."
"Trixie's right about you." Twilight says. Her hoofsteps sound behind me, indicating a turn around as she runs down the hallway I just came from. "You really are an idiot!"
Her final declaration leaves me rooted to my spot as her footsteps echo down the halls until they finally disappear. My right hand trembles, so I steady it by gripping my sword's hilt and taking a deep breath. It's not that I don't have faith in her. My feet begin moving again, continuing on my path for the castle's exit. It's that I don't have faith in myself. The look in her eyes, back in the Crystal Caves, in that one moment... I don't think I can handle seeing that again.
As I reach outside, however, a glance up to the sky shows me something new. The Lifestream is coalescing in a single point, to the southwest of Canterlot if my direction sense applies to Equestria. A trickle of it flows down from the coalescing point, trailing down toward the ground... trailing directly to the area Sephiroth is compelling me to go. He might as well send up a smoke signal so I don't get lost.
"Dreamer." Another voice to stop me where I stand. A flap of wings and the sound of shoe-adorned hooves against brick announces the landing of Princess Luna behind me. "You hear the call also?"
"Also?" I ask, turning my head, confused as to how something without Jenova's cells can sense it.
"It is a strong psychic impulse. We believe it meant for you." The Princess explains. "However, our foe did not realize We can also perceive it, as it is in its essence not far removed from the mechanisms behind a dream."
"I... see." I reply, not really understanding.
"Also, its signal in the waking world is difficult not to notice." She continues, motioning her head to the Lifestream's current behaviour. Was that... her attempt at humor? A flap of wings quickly makes the alicorn move from behind me to in front of me, blocking my path. "You seek to confront the creature alone?" Similar to the time in Ponyville, she's wearing shaped battle armor instead of her regal attire.
"Are you going to try and stop me, too?" I ask impatiently.
"Why?"
The question is simple, but like with Twilight, I can't help but hesitate, not wanting to put the reason into words. I turn my eyes to the side, away from her. "Because I..." My voice trails, and a silence hangs in the air between us, accentuated by a gust of wind as it stays and goes, something like a conversation in its own right.
"Does guilt always weigh so heavily on your heart, dreamer?" She asks as the breeze passes.
"What?" I look up at her, confused.
"You are not the only one for whom guilt weighs heavily upon the soul."
"Nightmare Moon?" I ask without thinking, immediately regretting the two words the second they've left my mouth.
She moves slowly closer, her expression unreadable. "It seems you are more well informed than anticipated, dreamer."
"Just the name." I reply half-honestly. I know some details, but not enough to have a coherent idea of what actually occurred.
She lets out a short, amused laugh. "Is that so?" She asks, circling around me once before strolling back in front of me. "Come. You shall accompany Us on Our hunt for the fiend that distorts the Weave, now that it has revealed its location to Us."
"Accompany you?"
"You wear Our armor." She responds, turning her head back to me over her shoulder. "That makes you a member of the Night Guard. Therefore, you shall accompany Us." I honestly can't tell if she's teasing or serious.
"..." I let the silence hang, not knowing how to reply, trailing my left hand along the emblem of Princess Luna on the front of the armor I'd taken, which is glowing a vibrant silver in the moonlight.
"It is not a request, dreamer." She continues, once it becomes obvious I won't reply. "Either you shall accompany Us, and together we shall slay this foe, or We shall embark alone, arriving faster than you can on hoof, and leave naught for you upon your arrival." Her delivery is serious, but I can't help but let out a small snicker regardless.
"Let's get going, then." I nod.
With another strong flap of her wings, she's in the air above me, reaching her front hooves down. "Take my hooves then, dreamer, and we shall make haste. However, know well that our foe currently resides in the Ghastly Gorge, south of even Ponyville." Noticing my quizzical look at the offered hooves, she speaks again. "Surely you did not expect to ride upon Our back, treating Us as one might a lowly mount?"
"...Of course not." I turn so that I'd be facing forward with her once we take flight and grasp her front hooves, and feel the ground disappear from under me in tandem with another flap of the Princess' wings.
Her speed, even with me probably doubling her weight and greatly impeding her wind resistance, is quite impressive. The wind against my face forces me to squint my eyes shut as we clear ground faster than the train I had jumped to the top of with Trixie when we first met. After my moment of being impressed wears off, I decide to actually contribute to our travel, the Time Materia on my bangle glowing as I use the spell to accelerate the Princess' speed, not wanting to waste any more time. There isn't any reaction to the Haste spell's casting, though, and a quick glance up shows why. It's hard to see her face between the angle and the wind forcing me to squint my eyes, but what I can see is determined, focused on the goal ahead - a spire of Lifestream reaching from the Weave to deep inside what I now see is a giant ravine that's getting closer by the second.
If Princess Luna is anything like her sister, Celestia, then... yes, it'll be possible. Even if the only difference in myself is having the knowledge of my skills and Materia again, combined with the power of a Princess, it should be more than enough to defeat Sephiroth. I take a breath as the wind whips against my face. But would this be the real Sephiroth? Just another duplicate? Something else? Even if it ends up being just a duplicate, it should make things easier for us if we defeat it now, right?
Her wings flap and our flight path curves left. The Princess flies in a spiral along the descending stream of green energy, her wings open to catch the air and slow our flight speed. I look down as we spiral toward the ground, seeing the gorge clearly. The Lifestream is descending down, into a stream at the bottom of the gorge, the green wisps seemlessly connecting to the waters and plunging deeper, into the stream's depths. We land on a strip of land, the water to our right, walls of the gorge rising high on either side. At the stream's edge, where the Lifestream meets the water and flows further below, is a figure dressed in black, running the fingers of his right hand through the flowing Lifestream as it descends... a figure that I know all too well.
"Sephiroth!" I yell as Princess Luna touches down next to me.
"Took you long enough." He replies casually.
"So you are the creature known as 'Sephiroth'?" Princess Luna asks, lowering her head in a combat stance.
"More pony friends?" He turns his head to peer over his left shoulder at us. "The little blue one's not here. That's too bad."
"What do you want, Sephiroth?" I ask as I slide my weapon from its sheathe, letting it rest at my side but gripping the hilt tightly. I just need to focus and not let him get under my skin. "Or, is your new plan just to waste my time?"
He turns around to face us fully, letting out a snide laugh. "With how often you play dress-up, you do that without my help."
I ignore him again. "Is this another puppet, Sephiroth, or can we finally finish this?"
"Puppet." Sephiroth throws his head back, his shoulders shaking as his jeering laugh echos throw the ravine. "What an ironic word, coming from you."
The whole 'ignoring' thing stops working, my feet moving before my brain as I try to charge him. Halfway through closing the gap, though, my sword refuses to let me take it closer. I turn my head to it to see it covered in a sickly green, but familiar glow, and in a single motion, it's pulled about ten feet into the air, with me still dangling from the handle. Turning back to Sephiroth, his eyes are glowing a matching, deep green, his left hand open, making me finally notice that his signature sword, the Masamune, is missing.
"Didn't you learn last time that doesn't work?" His continuously casual but mocking tone is doing well to get under my skin despite my best efforts.
It takes my brain a moment to click the pieces together and figure out what's going on. "This is-!" The force holding my sword throws it and I back, sending us sliding across the rock-filled ground, coming to a stop back at Princess Luna's hooves.
"What's the matter, hm?" He throws his arms open as I pull myself back to my feet. "Don't tell me you're surprised. It's a new world! New possibilities! Although..." His adamant declarations trail back into his usual tone. "I suppose, a new world should also require a new look. Don't worry... the knowledge inside this world's Lifestream has given me the perfect one to use."
"What...?" I watch as tendrils of sickly green light, the same one he used to throw back my sword with what appeared to be unicorn magic, reach out from the stream behind him and wrap around his body. His form is soon completely obscured, the light wrapping him like a cocoon, only needing a moment to do its task before slowly unwinding itself. However, what's standing there is no longer Sephiroth, at least not visually.
Instead, what exits the cocoon is an alicorn, black-coated with a wispy, blue mane. Its teal eyes have eyes slit like a cat, and its body is adorned with blue armor, designed to be a mix of formal a combat attire. When it speaks, its voice is shrill and sinister, but decidedly feminine, and I can't help noticing the fangs lining its mouth, a jarring sight on a pony.
"I think this one will do nicely."
"Dare not mock Us, foul creature!" Princess Luna yells, rocks from across the ground hurling themselves at the once-Sephiroth alicorn, who blocks them with a shield of green magic.
The black alicorn smirks. "Have I touched a nerve?"
Princess Luna kicks from the ground, taking to the sky with a wingbeat, glaring daggers. "We art Princess Luna of Equestria, Mistress of the Night, Moon, and Stars, and We shaln't be mocked by a wretch such as thee, foul cretin!" A beam of solid light fires from Luna's horn, aimed directly at the alicorn-Sephiroth, only to be blocked by another green shield.
"What's your game, Sephiroth?" I yell out before Luna wastes more of her energy on a second attack.
The alicorn throws its head back, laughing shrilly. "Game? There is no 'game.' I just thought finally being rid of you would be the perfect test for my new body."
"New body?" This time it's my turn to laugh. "Did getting beat up by Princess Celestia hurt your ego so badly you decided to become an alicorn yourself, Sephiroth?"
"You really are dense." He, she, whatever, mocks, feigning annoyance. "It's always 'Sephiroth, Sephiroth, Sephiroth' with you, isn't it? You can't even see the answer in front of your face."
"Why don't you explain it, then?" I dig my feet in, taking my fighting stance. "You're already so fond of talking today."
The alicorn-Sephiroth beats its wings, jumping back so that its above the stream, its hooves skimming the water. Wait, no... it's standing on top of the water, somehow. "Surely you've wondered why you've become weaker?" This time it isn't a jeer, but a simple question. "The day I first graced your dreams, the day you first started regaining memories, the day you felt you'd gained some missing strength back - what do those all have in common, you miserable little vessel?"
Those things - thinking back, there's only one thing I can find in common with them that matters, from the night before I'd left the Golden Oak Library and Ponyville behind and met Trixie in the Everfree Forest. "The timberwolf that attacked Ponyville."
It smirks, revealing its fangs. "And you remember what happened then, hm?" Yes, I do. I didn't know it back then, but it was like I had... absorbed the cells of Jenova that had infected that timberwolf, taking them into my own body. "So, do you understand yet? Do you understand what you were missing, and what you regained the smallest fragment of that day?"
"Quit talking in riddles!" My hands are trembling, wanting to lunge again but also wanting to keep him talking as long as possible, in the hopes of dragging out some answers. Princess Luna seems to be in the same mindset, her body trembling with the tenseness of held-back aggression.
"Perhaps I should." It closes its eyes. "After all, it was building you, in Cloud Strife's moment of weakness, that enabled me to cross the stars with Gaia's Lifestream and bring my cells to a vibrant world like this one, to regain the power I lost those thousands of years ago." ...What? It smirks, wider, noticing the tremble in my limbs. "There! That's the look! You finally get it, don't you?" The body of the alicorn begins descending into the depths of the stream below, quoting from my memory to drive home its point: "The ability to change one's looks, voice, and words: That is the power of Jenova."
As the alicorn disappears, the sickly green glow of magic appears again, this time changing the entire stream's color with its glow from below the depths. The light this time is bright, intense with power, casting the walls of the gorge in its glow, long shadows drawing from the sparse rocks and trees that populate the ground. After a moment, the glow fades, and the water wells up in front of us, cascading to the sides to reveal the being that's risen from its depths.
It's just as I remember from five years ago, during that fateful night in the Mako Reactor at Mt. Nibel. A distorted parody of the female human form, with its blue-gray skin, tubes trailing from different parts of its torso down like giant veins, and two broken remnants of leathery wings stemming from its back. Its hair is long and matted, hanging in front of its face so only one crazed, green eye is visible. However, its torso curves as it goes lower, eventually running parallel to the ground, and it doesn't take me long to see why: The heart that once simply replaced its feet has become massive, like the abdomen of a spider, pulsing and beating with a grotesque sound that reverberates through the ravine, with four spindly, spider-like legs trailing down into the water. That's when I finally notice what the 'top' of the abdomen-like heart contains - four massive, artery-like openings. The Lifestream trail we followed from the sky is being pulled down, trailing into two of the openings, while a black, inky leftover is expelled like waste out the others.
Both Princess Luna and I take a step back. "...What manner of twisted abomination art thee?" Luna asks, the disgust plain in her voice.
"Princess Luna of Equestria, Mistress of the Night, Moon, and Stars," it spits the title out like a jeer. Its voice is distorted, layered, an echoing rasp that sounds both male and female at the same time, "I am that which has consumed countless planets, and have been known by countless names. You may believe me an abomination," it raises one of its hands up, opening it then balling the fist tight, and in an instant... the entire gorge goes dark, cast in a barely-visible, green, wavering glow, the only true light source left being the trail of Lifestream being consumed by the 'heart' that is its abdomen, "but compared to me, Princess, you are just a trifle. A pitiable being, soon to be tossed aside."
I look up, and see the cause of the gorge's new lighting, or lack thereof. The stars, the moon - everything, except for the glowing Lifestream in the sky - is gone.
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Well, if the Princesses can't defeat it, they only have two weapons left... The EoH or release Discord and let the Titans fight each other
It was never Sephitroth but Jenova the whole time nice
Well, then.
FUCK
This would be the point of the game where the planet goes, "Screw this. Release the Weapons!"
Aw, we didn't get to see Trixie and Twilight decked out in their cute Luna armor. Maybe next time.
Looking forward to more!
6750785 or the equetrain version of te Weapons
thats it! knights of the round followed by mimic spam!
6751215
Heh, you said Leon.
Sorry, inside joke.
Anyway, the one you're thinking of is Final Fantasy VIII, and his name is Squall in that game. And yeah, I've heard that theory, and while it's cute, it's kinda bogus. There's also theories with the other characters but I don't want to fill up poor GuyWhoWritesThings' comment thread with talk of other games. I will say that the plots in Final Fantasy I - VI are fairly straight forward, with a group of good guys taking down a group of bad guys with the occasional twist here or there. But, if you can get past the menu based game play and 90's graphics, then they are worth checking out.
That's one of the problems with that whole friendship fetish thing... there's believing in your friends and there's being plain unrealistic. A little street performer having a chance or even just surviving a run-in with a professional killer who was considered a fearsome monster even by the standards of a world filled to the brim with fearsome monsters? Not bloody happening. Once is a miracle. Twice is impossible.
6751388
You were so close to the end (so far), too!
6751091
This story in general has far too much fun playing dress-up to let those go unused now that they've been introduced, don't worry.
6751178
Alas, I don't think I can write an infinity-word Chapter to simulate that properly, even if Cloud were an expert Chocobo Breeder and had all that stuff.
6754440
(Below reply has a Spoiler bar because it references a concept in Final Fantasy VII that hasn't been touched on heavily in the story yet. As usual, since that's the case, it's put behind a bar for safety of anyone prefering to not have that content be spoiled.)
I wouldn't call Twilight's perspective here 'friendship fetish'. It wasn't the intent, at least. Twilight and Cloud are both well aware of both the risks if Trixie comes and what will happen to her rebuilding confidence/mental well-being if she doesn't, and I'm sure everyone reading is too. Twilight simply wants to rebuild her mental state before it becomes worse and Trixie becomes a depressed husk of an ex-street performer that probably won't ever open up again. Meanwhile, Cloud's insecurity at not always being able to live up to the idea of being a hero that Zack instilled in him leaves him without confidence that he'll be strong enough to prevent Trixie losing her nerve again, or worse, from happening, since he feels an (understandable) urge to protect her in those situations.
I wouldn't say either perspective is quite wrong. It'll probably take more than potentially-magical infantry armor from over a millenium ago to protect Trixie from a sword-wielding psychopath that's (at worst) slightly weaker than an alicorn and has a fetish for targeting her to screw with Cloud. It could be said to come down to the question a lot of stories ask: Is it better to protect her from being killed at the potential cost of mental well-being, or take the risk to preserve the mental-well being at the potential cost of the physical one?
They've both, for their own reason, answered that question differently.
6754783
It's not quite wrong... but it's also not quite right. I said the friendship fetish thing because the whole "always, always, always trust your friends and rely on them to help you through anything" is just such a stereotypically FiM-y notion. It's quite literally the moral of a decent number of friendship letters, after all.
The thing is, though, like anything, you can take even a good thing too far. The reality is, even the best of friends cannot help you with everything - there are some things they cannot do for you and there are some things you just can't do for them. Trixie is a performer, that's just the reality of it. She doesn't have the training or the skills to be helpful or even just remotely safe in a fight and she shouldn't expect herself to be. In any real situation of danger, she is a liability.
This is not, however, a bad thing in and of itself or even something she should feel bad for. Fighting is simply not what she does. Nobody, not even she, should expect herself to. By feeding into her complex of needing to help, they are not and would not be doing her a favour. It is an unhealthy behaviour and attitude to herself that she needs to get over, not be enabled in. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for a friend is to protect them from themselves, even if they might not want you to. Putting her into serious and immediate danger to her life just to make sure her unreasonable and self-destructive feelings aren't hurt isn't the right thing to do.
6754814
I'm not denying that the trend she shows in the Friendship Letters isn't, in this case, a potential character flaw for Twilight, since the threat they're dealing with has proven to be more destructive and malevolent than the ones she's faced in the past, even if so far it hasn't shown to be quite as powerful. I'm just hoping she wasn't actually just coming off as "FRIENDSHIP FRIENDSHIP FRIENDSHIP", as that conversation wasn't meant to be a moment of indulging into "friends helping you do everything is dumb" moralizing that some stories like to do.
Also, it's more than possible for both of them to be wrong. I didn't mean to imply one of them had to be correct, either, just that they have two separate answers to a complex problem based on their experiences.
6755010
It did a little, I guess, but that may just be me. The whole thing seems kind of out of context and too obviously a bad idea for her to say that otherwise. I was taking it as an in-character failure of judgment, though, not a preachy thing from your side.
6755392
Alright, fair enough then. I don't see any problem with that interpretation of events. Your initial comment just made me wonder if it had come off in the moralizing direction, as that was something I was actively trying to avoid, so I wanted to be sure. That's all.
6755525
Oh, no, I assure you, I didn't interprete it as being moralizing from your side in any way at all. I just have this thing about commenting on characters' behaviour from the perspective of what might be going on in their own heads. I think it's one of the most interesting kinds of thing you can do with a story. Characterization is what makes or breaks it, after all, and putting yourself in someone's head like that is fun.
Not in it's current condition
1. Its.
At least, I think this error is in here. I can't remember after working earlier.
6756544
Nope, that one's not here. Checked Chapters 31-34, I couldn't even find the words "current condition".
Must be some other poor guy's it's / its mixup, for once!
Dude just let it rip then crack a window after. The smell probably wont even wake Trixie. Just pray its not a loud one.
7790808
I laughed at this far longer than I care to admit and is probably healthy. I'm a terrible person.