Forgotten Bygones

by Catpaw616

Chapter 21: The Talk

Trixie found herself in a dark, empty world. She looked around for any ponies or creatures, but found none. The only thing she found was darkness.

"Trixie doesn't like this place..." Trixie muttered to herself. As she walked, she somehow felt her hooves cold from the ground. It felt like she was standing on an iceberg. But nevertheless, she continued walking to seemingly nothing. She looked side to side. Still nothing.

"I swear, somehow I get myself in these weird situations—"

"You're alone."

A shiver went down Trixie's spine when she heard an eerie voice whisper in her ear. She jumped and she turned around. "W-W-Who was that?" she quivered.

"Did I startle you?" The voice responded again. It's voice sounded excited.

Trixie started taking a step back. "Who are you?" she asked frantically as she looked around wildly, desperate to find a living form. But she still found nothing

"Yeah, continue to be scared. It would only kill you in the end." The voice whispered again.

Completely terrified, Trixie started running in the darkness, desperate to get rid of the voice that continued to ring in her head, and to find someone to comfort her.

"Starlight! Discord! Where are you?!" Trixie wailed aloud while running in nothing. Right now, she wanted her friends more than ever.

She looked behind to see if the voice's creator was chasing her. As she did that, she crashed into a figure, knocking her down. After rubbing her head, she saw Starlight towering over her. She looked confused.

"Are you ok?" Starlight asked her.

At that moment, Trixie immediately got up and hugged Starlight tight for comfort and protection. "T-T-T-There's a voice out there!" she stammered.

"Oh, don't you mean me?" the voice was heard right next to Trixie.

Trixie jumped by how close it sounded. She looked back at Starlight. "See?! I told you—" she immediately stopped dead when she saw that Starlight suddenly gained blood-red eyes, and her coat looked more darkish-red, mixed with Starlight's lilac color.

Like a rabbit, Trixie quickly hopped back and stared at Starlight with a horrified look. "Starlight?"

"Do not mistake for that sensitive fool." "Starlight" spoke, although her voice was a mix of the eerie voice, and Starlight's own voice.

"What did you do to my friend?" Trixie demanded, somehow having her anger power over her fear.

"I figured that it would be easier, and fun for me to communicate through the pony that you care so deeply for." She said.

But that made Trixie angrier. "Release her now!"

"What's amusing to me is that you think that you have the power to tell me what to do." "Starlight" snickered.

Trixie continued to step backwards, trying to process what she was witnessing.

"Starlight" rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine!" She closed her eyes. Then she reopened them again. "There. Happy?" She asked Trixie, making her voice sound exactly like Starlight's.

"Of course not!" Trixie said, aghast.

"Starlight" rolled her eyes. "Picky, picky, picky."

Trixie couldn't bare to look at her any longer. Despite knowing it was fruitless, she turned around and ran away.

"Seriously? Again? Surely you know that running means absolutely nothing, right?" She called out.

When Trixie looked forward, she saw Starlight right in front of her again. She had a cruel smirk on her face as she continued to run away. "It's pathetic that you think you can win when you're in darkness."

Trixie didn't want to say it, but she had no choice. "Don't worry! With the power of friendship, we will defeat any evil that stands in our way—"

She was interrupted as something pounced on her, knocking her down. She looked up to see Twilight pin her to the ground. She also had blood-red eyes.

"But how would the power of friendship win if the Princess herself is mentally dead?" She snarled, showing her new fangs.

"Dead?!" Trixie echoed in horror. Before she could do anything, "Twilight" bit down her neck, and Trixie started to scream as the pain seared through her body.

---

"Trixie! Trixie! Trixie, wake up!"

Trixie felt herself shaking violently. Her eyes opened to see Starlight shake her body with her hooves, while a worried Discord stood next to Starlight. Trixie started breathing heavily.

Starlight sighed. "Thank Celestia you're alright." she said thankfully.

"But is she though?" Discord said with an eyebrow raised. "Look at how she's panting."

Trixie looked at Starlight in desperation, which made Starlight flinch. Her friend probably didn't expect Trixie to look at her with a terrified expression.

"Starlight? Is that really you?" Trixie said in between pants.

Starlight looked confused. "Yeah, of course."

"But are you really?" Trixie interrogated.

"Trixie, what happened to you?" Starlight asked, ignoring her question.

Calming herself down, Trixie opened her mouth to tell about what she saw, but she didn't want to worry her friends. They already have enough on their minds. Why worry them more about a silly nightmare? "It's nothing, sorry." Trixie muttered.

Starlight now had a fierce gaze. "Trixie, you were screaming for help and you acted like you were dying. That does not sound like nothing."

"Which definitely did not help our ears." Discord said as he yawned. Once Starlight glared at him, Discord shifted his hands to the side. "But I'm worried for you too. Really."

Trixie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Did you dream about the curse?" Starlight suddenly asked her. This made Trixie shocked a little. How did she know that? As much as she wanted too, she couldn't lie to her friends. "Yes."

"Oh." Starlight and Discord looked at each other. Both were not sure of what to say.

"You guys had nightmares too?" Trixie asked them.

Discord only shrugged. Meanwhile, Starlight nodded. "Ever since this journey began, I had nightmares quite a few times."

"Really? What did you dream about—" Trixie asked, then she stopped herself. She didn't want Starlight to relive her nightmares again just so she could explain it to a curious Trixie. "You... don't have to answer that."

But she didn't seem to be bothered by the question. "Well, I had dreams about you two sometimes. But most of them centered towards Twilight and... Spike."

Trixie's eyes squinted when she mentioned Spike in a sad tone. Strangely, she sounded sad when she said Spike's name, but not Twilight. The one more that kept causing more trouble on their mission.

"What's wrong with Spike?" Trixie tilted her head.

"I'll give you guys some room." Discord said as he headed towards the door.

After he left, Starlight started to explain. "Well, it's just... it's hard for me to lay a hoof on him." she told her.

Trixie scoffed. "Starlight, he's a tiny baby dragon. You're acting like as if he's some unstoppable beast—"

"I meant it's hard to hurt him!" Starlight said angrily at Trixie, much to Trixie's surprise. As she saw the sadness and anger in her light lavender eyes, she knew that she said the wrong thing.

"Oh, I didn't understand that correctly. Sorry—" Trixie tried apologizing, but Starlight didn't calm down.

"Now the worst part is that it might happen again!" Starlight started to rant.

Trixie was surprised by her sudden burst of anger. "Wait, hold on, calm down—"

"Who knows what that stupid spell is gonna do next? The spell infected Twilight twice, when we thought she was free. Turns out she was not." Starlight ranted as she got up and started to walk around the room.

Trixie had to do something fast. "Starlight take a deep breath—"

But her efforts were once again interrupted by Starlight. "Now Twilight is unconscious for who knows how long, and now we realize that the other ponies that have been freed now have a chance of being infected again. Including Spike."

Trixie opened her mouth to speak, but as always, no effort.

Starlight turned towards Trixie. "Do you know how much pain I went through that night?"

Trixie was grateful that her friend finally gave her a chance to speak. "Yeah, the claw scratch looked pretty bad. But Starlight, things will be ok—"

"The scratch on my flank wasn't nearly as bad compared to the pain I felt when I had to fight him, and the fact that I had to physically injure him!" She continued her rant. As she continued, Trixie noticed that Starlight was starting to sound more sad and distressed than angry.

Starlight stopped pacing and looked at Trixie with desperation in her eyes. "What if he gets repossessed? What if I have to go through that same pain again?"

Trixie took in her words with a heavy heart. She had no idea how much the dragon meant so much to her. For the first time since her rant, Trixie had nothing to say.

After moments of silence, Starlight sat down dejectedly. Tears started coming out of her eyes. "I can't let that happen again. Not to me, and not to Spike."

Trixie approached Starlight and sat down next to the depressed unicorn. "He really means so much to you?"

Starlight nodded. "I-I love him as if he were my little brother." she stammered. "I can't bear to see him get hurt. Especially by me."

Trixie took in her words with a heavy heart. She looked and listened to a broken and angry version of Starlight. She kept trying to wipe her tears away, but they kept coming down her face like a waterfall. Not long after she didn't try to wipe them anymore, instead, she simply let them run down her face, and let the tears drop to the floor. Meanwhile she gritted her teeth in the process, as if she was trying her best to not wail her sorrows.

Thinking carefully this time, Trixie put her hoof on her back in an attempt to calm the crying mare. "You do know that whenever he's possessed by the curse, he's in pain."

Starlight opened her eyes, which were starting to get red. "Thanks for letting me know." she said blankly. She lowered her body and her head and she started crying while she covered herself with her hooves.

"You didn't let me finish." Trixie told her blankly. "What I was trying to say is that Spike is in pain whenever the spell takes control of him. At least, according to Twilight. But..."

Trixie got up and turned to face Starlight. "You were also the one that saved him."

Starlight looked up at Trixie, tears still coming out of her eyes.

"Think about it. The mere thought of hurting him hurts you mentally. But you have to understand, while the pain might be hard for you, Spike is taking it way worse. Could you imagine him watching himself injure you like that?"

Starlight sniffed. "It wouldn't be pleasant."

"Exactly." Trixie nodded. She started to tuck in her hooves so she could be on the same level as Starlight. "Listen. I know how it feels. Could you imagine how I would feel if I fought you? But either way, we are only fighting our friends for one reason. To set them free from pain."

Starlight raised her head from the ground. The tears were finally starting to stop as she stared at Trixie.

I'm finally reaching her. Trixie told herself proudly. I need to tread carefully here.

"You are only fighting so he would be free." Trixie told her. "So he won't be in more pain. No more sorrow, and he won't be able to see himself hurt you and the friends he loves. Is that what you want him to deal with?"

Starlight wiped the tears from her eyes. "Of course not."

Trixie got up and extended her hoof to Starlight. Trixie felt Starlight's wet hoof touch hers as she helped her get up. "Then we have to fight the friends that we love. But always remember that we are doing it for a great, and loving reason." she told her as she wrapped a hoof around her shoulder.

"Well, when you say it that way..." Starlight said a little hesitantly. Trixie was a little disappointed that her words didn't seem to reach her completely. Then she had an idea. One that would encourage Starlight for sure.

"And always remember that you're not really fighting Spike. You are simply fighting the curse controlling Spike. Would you like to give mercy to the curse that caused us misery? The curse that caused Twilight, Spike, and their friends complete misery?"

After hearing her words, Starlight narrowed her eyes in rage. "Why would I ever do that?" she said bitterly.

"If you give mercy to a possessed Spike, then you are giving mercy to the curse. Are you willing to let the curse control your friend? Are you giving mercy to the curse when the curse wouldn't do the same for Spike and his friends?" Trixie said, trying to rile up Starlight's anger.

That time, Starlight stomped her hoof. "I'll never give mercy to that curse." she said in raw hatred, which made Trixie shocked. Sure, she had experienced Starlight's anger before, but not on this level.

But at least her plan was working. She smirked. "See? You don't seem concerned for Spike now that the curse is on your mind. After all..."

Trixie looked around for something. On one of the desks, she saw a photo of Twilight, Spike, and Starlight smiling awkwardly in front of the castle. In the picture, Starlight still had her bangs like the ones she has currently. She levitated the picture back to Starlight.

"...Spike would most likely be cheering you on as he watches you break the curse for him."

Starlight looked at the picture that Trixie levitated. After one good look at the picture, she stared back at Trixie with a smirk.

"I'll fight that curse a thousand times if it makes Spike get away from the pain." Starlight told her in determination.

Trixie smiled even wider. "Do you mean it?"

Starlight nodded slowly. "More than ever."

Comments

[starcoder]

I find it strangely funny that she cares more for Spike than Twilight. Still, though, I'm intrigued and excited to see what happens next!

[Catpaw616]

11520664
I figured that her harming Spike took a big toll on her. Because she had sworn to never harm the dragon after what happened with the time travel drama and stuff. I guess she really hates hurting the ponies and dragons that she loves. But if it helps them to not be in pain anymore, and in this case, for Spike to be free, then she is willing to harm them. But she won't do it lightly. It took one giant pep talk from Trixie to finally realize what must be done in that situation.

[6-D Pegasus]

new chapter woot!

[Catpaw616]

11520668
Hope you enjoy it!

[Starlight Fan]

Starlight nodded. "I-I love him as if he were my little brother." she stammered. "I can't bear to see him get hurt. Especially by me."

The OP is currently repressing a gigantic squeal at this comment.

Oh what the heck, you earned it.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, I love this Spike and Starlight bond so much. Ahahahahahahahahaha!

I’m so glad Trixie gave Starlight that pep talk she desperately needed. She’s definitely right, Starlight can’t show mercy to Spike in that brainwashed state.

[Catpaw616]

11520823

I’m so glad Trixie gave Starlight that pep talk she desperately needed. She’s definitely right, Starlight can’t show mercy to Spike in that brainwashed state.

I agree

The OP is currently repressing a gigantic squeal at this comment.

Lol