Okay, getting a lot of reviews from people who apparently haven't watched MLP: FIM. All I can say is that I'm sorry; if you haven't seen the show, not much of this Book will make sense. You could skip it and wait for the next Book, but there's gonna be plenty of events and plot threads introduced in this Book that will effect later Books. So you should probably try watching the series online.
Oh wait, Hasbro's got a stick up their ass about removing episodes, so… Yeah, sorry non-Brony fans of my work, but I think you're pretty much fucked.
On a side note: the "plan gone awry" teased at the end of last chapter has been moved to next chapter. As for the Big Damn Rescue? Well, read on…
PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
The character of 'Checker Monarch' is a creation of and used with the permission of author 'Kendell'. She will make an appearance later in the fic, more than the simple mention she gets in this chapter.
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Everfree Forest
Five Days Later – 8:45 PM
"I still don't see why ya gotta go into the Everfree Forest at this time of night, Twi" Applejack said.
"There's two reasons, Applejack" Twilight replied. "One is that I need data on a flower that only blooms in a certain part of the forest after sunset. The other is that Zecora has mentioned reports of strange happenings lately – sounds and tracks from animals she's never heard out here before."
The two walked down the dark, dusty, overgrown dirt trail, their way guided by a Light spell from Twilight, a shining white light hovering over her horn. Both were on high alert, eyes and ears tuned for the slightest hint of danger. And after the incident with the Diamond Dogs two days ago, this included keeping an eye on the very ground beneath their feet.
"Hey, Twi" Applejack stopped, pointing at the ground. "Do those look like hoofprints to you?"
Twilight bent close to the ground, illuminating the tracks. "They do" she replied. "And they look fresh. Should we follow them?"
"…Eh, why not? It might lead us to whatever Zecora's been hearin'."
They followed the pony tracks a little ways down the trail, and then into a cluster of trees and bushes. A little ways in, they stopped as a bush up ahead rustled slightly.
"H-Hello?" Twilight called out. "Is anyone there?"
Silence was the response.
"Hello?"
"…Go away…" a girl's voice, small and weakened, replied from within or behind the bush.
"Who are ya?" Applejack asked. "What're you doin' out here? Do ya need help?"
"I said go away" the hidden mare replied. "Let me die in peace. Please…"
Twilight and Applejack exchanged worried looks, and then began carefully making their way closer to the bush.
"S-Stay back…" the voice said weakly. "Please leave me alone…"
They moved closer and peered behind the bush… and gasped with shock as they saw what was on the other side, lying against a tree. The mare let out a little groan and weakly raised a bone-thin limb up to shield her face from the light of Twilight's illumination spell. She was dangerously thin, her ribs and other bones showing. Her blue fur was dirty and dull, as were her silvery-blue mane & tail. Numerous wounds, only partially healed and some of them looking infected, marred her body. But what drew the girls' attention was the familiar Cutie Mark.
"Trixie…" Twilight breathed out in shock.
"Who is that?" Trixie murmured weakly, trying to see without uncovering her eyes. Twilight dimmed her illumination spell, allowing a single bloodshot eye to open and look at her. A frown formed on Trixie's face.
"Sparkle…" she murmured. "Come to see me off, have you?"
"What the Hell happened to you?" Applejack muttered.
"…Everything…" the girl replied. "Lost everything… Lost myself… I c-can't do magic anymore… I can't find food… I… I was never special… I should never have tried to deceive myself into thinking I was anything more than worthlessly average – a background pony. I…"
And Twilight & Applejack looked on in horror as the Mark on Trixie's flank slowly lost its color and faded away, only the tiniest bit of shading difference in her fur showing where it once was.
"I shouldn't have existed… I'm done… No more of this… It's so cold out… and I f-feel… s-so, so tired…"
Applejack cursed under her breath as the implications set in. "H-Hey! Hey! Come on, now!" She walked over, kneeling down and putting her face in front of Trixie's. "Don't you dare go to sleep right now! Hey, c'mon gal, look at me! Look! Hey! Yoo-hoo! Keep those eyes open, girl! Focus on me!" She turned to Twilight. "Help me, Twi!"
"Huh? H-How?"
"Help me get her up on my back. We need to get her back into town and to the hospital pronto, or she ain't gonna make it!"
"R-Right" Twilight nodded, telekinetically lifting Trixie up (despairing over how light the girl felt) and draping her over Applejack's back. The farmgirl then tied her rope around herself & Trixie, and pulled it as tight as she could.
The two quickly hurried out through the foliage and back to the old path.
"I just hope we can make it in time" Twilight said.
"Why…?" Trixie weakly asked. "What I've done… Worthless…"
Applejack was about to reply, when she heard a loud hiss behind her. She and Twilight slowly turned around… and their eyes – and Trixie's – went wide with fear as they looked up… and up… and up.
"A-Applejack?"
"Y-Yeah, Twi?"
"Is this some… rarely-seen native creature of Everfree?"
"I do not think so."
It was huge, towering over them at around 10 feet. Its lower body was like that of a snake, and its upper half was clad in chitinous armor. Two long, muscular arms ended in four huge blade-spikes of bone. A bony head-crest extended above two glowing red eyes, which in turn sat above a huge mouth filled with large, needle-like fangs. It hissed again, and two extra mandibles extended out from the sides of its lower jaw. It reared up a little, bringing an arm high.
"Run like frak" Twilight said.
Applejack closely did so, with Twilight close behind. The beast's claws dug into the ground where they'd been standing, and it let out a hissing roar. As the two ran for their lives, they soon heard more screeches and growls, along with the sound of footfalls. Twilight changed to look back, and saw a pack of smaller creatures, about the size of the average stallion, chasing them, bounding after them on all fours; their eyes glowed red, and they had similar – albeit smaller – head-crests to the first creature. From their backs extended long, thin limbs that ended in tearing spikes.
"Run faster!" Twilight shouted.
The two ran as fast as they could, hearing the pursuing creatures slowly falling behind. However, they skidded to a halt as, up ahead, one of them burst out of the ground, screeching, claws bared to rip them apart… and was blasted from the side in midair. It fell to the ground next to them, twitching. They looked to their savior, finding a biped covered head-to-foot in red armor with orange accents, wielding a white and orange shotgun.
"Twi, AJ, you two alright?"
Twilight's eyes bugged out briefly at the familiar voice. "Teana?"
"Yeah, this is my real form."
"…Nice armor."
"Thanks. …Who's that?"
"Long story" Applejack replied. "But she ain't doin' so well. She's dyin' from starvation; we gotta get her to Ponyville Hospital ASAP! And now we got these… things chasin' us."
Teana walked over to the dead creature, and behind her visor she scowled. "So he's fielding these against us now…" she muttered.
"Pardon?"
"I've fought these creatures before. But it's been a while since I last saw them, and I've never seen them outside their home realm before. They're called the Zerg, and they're extremely dangerous." She nudged the dead Zergling with her foot. "These little ones are pack hunters."
"Yeah, their pack was chasing us a minute ago" Twilight replied. "But I think we lost them."
On cue, around 20 more Zerglings burst out from the ground all around them.
"Or not."
Teana switched Cross Mirage to one pistol (loaded with .45-cal SAP-HE rounds) and one Longsword. "Stay out of their reach, girls. And strike to kill."
The first Zergling charged, and got a bullet between the eyes for its troubles, dropping dead. In response, the rest of the pack rushed in all at once. Teana waded in, pistol firing and sword swinging, blasting and slashing at anything in range. A Spartan-strength kick cracked a Zergling's skull, and another Zergling was decapitated by a swing of her energy blade. Twilight telekinetically picked a Zergling up and then threw it with all her might into another one.
Applejack spun and bucked a jumping Zergling in the chest, shattering its ribcage and sending it flying. Another Zergling hit Applejack with a tackle, knocking Trixie free; the half-dead unicorn weakly struggled to get up, survival instincts compelling her to try to flee these creatures. AJ rolled to her feet and stared the Zergling down. It charged at her, and at the last moment she sidestepped a claw-stab and lashed out with a kick that knocked the offending appendage clean off. The creature screeched in anger and went at her again, only for her to jump and land on top of it. With all her might, she stomped down with both rear legs on its neck, silencing it.
Suddenly, there was a piercing scream. The trio looked to see a Zergling pinning Trixie down. Twilight teleported over and telekinetically picked it up by the neck, and then slammed it into a nearby boulder a few times until it stopped moving. But Trixie was still screaming, fore-hooves frantically clutching at her face. Twilight got a good look at her… and went pale.
"By Celestia…" she muttered.
A large, jagged gash had been slashed along Trixie's right side. But much worse was the slash that went down across Trixie's right eye, which was squinted shut and bleeding profusely. Another Zergling charged at the two unicorns… only for a now-enraged Twilight to blast it with a conjured fireball; the creature screeched and writhed as it roasted.
"BANZAAAAIIII!-!-!"
A rainbow-hued blur swooped in from above, bulldozing through a half-dozen Zerglings. Seconds later, a telekinetically-launched barrage of jagged-sharp stones flew in, downing two more. The other four Element Bearers had arrived.
"What the hell are these things?-!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she came in for a landing beside Applejack.
"Teana called them Zerg!" Twilight replied. "She says she's fought them before, in another realm! But never mind them! Dash, I need you girls to go ahead back to Ponyville and warn the Hospital to be expecting-"
"Hey, I'm not gonna leave you guys like this!" the pegasus snapped. "Why would I abandon you to go talk to the docs? Give me three words why!"
In response, Twilight telekinetically pulled Dash close, and pointed: "Trixie. Is. DYING!"
Rainbow Dash and the others looked, and caught sight of the familiar boastful showmare… and then gasped with horror as they saw how emaciated was, and her horrific injuries. She was trembling and whimpering, beginning to go into shock from her wounds, and blood pooled beneath her. Rarity almost fainted, Pinkie's mane & tail lost much of their poofiness, but Fluttershy's expression hardened, becoming dead serious as she, ever the experienced veterinarian, entered Trauma Mode.
"Pinkie Pie, lift her head up so it's higher than her heart! Rarity, give me one of your blankets; we need to warm her up and get her secured to one of us! Twilight, get my medical supplies out of my saddlebag; we need to try and staunch the bleeding!"
"What about the Zerg?" Applejack asked as the Zergling horde pressed their attack again.
In response, Fluttershy walked toward the charging horde, eyes closed as she focused her will. And then, her eyes snapped open as she delivered the most powerful Stare she could muster.
Immediately the Zerglings felt the effect, stopping their charge and screeching in fear and anger. A few of them hissed/roared at her, taking steps forward, only to falter as she focused her baleful gaze on them.
"Whoa…" Dash murmured.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Fluttershy lurched, and she was thrown aside as something surface. Knocked out of her Stare, she looked up in petrified terror at the Hydralisk towering over her. It roared, raising a spiked claw… and a purple Super-Missile shot hit it in the face, blowing its head and upper torso apart. The headless body toppled over backward. Everyone looked in the direction the attack had streaked in from, and saw another full-armored figure, a massive cannon over her right arm.
"Marie!" Teana shouted. "Damn good timing!"
"I came as fast as I could, Boss" she replied, switching Charon to Plasma Beam mode.
More Hydralisks emerged from beneath the earth, as well as many more Zerglings.
"Girls!" Pinkie shouted. "Trixie's fading fast! By the time we've beaten these things, it'll probably be too late for her!"
Teana made ready to cut loose, but something beat her to the punch. As the swarm charged, a ball of glowing golden light formed in the middle of the path, between the Zerg and the girls. It faded to reveal Princess Celestia, eyes glowing with power. The Zerg screeched and roared, charging at her. The Hydralisks fired their high-velocity armor-piercing venom-tipped spikes at her, only for them to bounce off of her aura. Then, she attacked. She flapped her wings forward, and a wave of white fire raced out. Any Zerg hit by it was reduced to ash within seconds, while the plants & trees touched by the pure flames were left completely unharmed. Celestia fired a thin golden beam from her horn, and it engulfed and incinerated a Hydralisk. The long surviving Zerg, another Hydralisk, went down to a particle-beam shot from Mirage Sniper.
Celestia turned to the girls. "Are you girls alright?" she asked.
"We're fine, Princess" Fluttershy replied. "But Trixie isn't! She's losing a lot of blood and I think her body's starting to shut down from lack of food! We need to get her to a hospital now!"
Celestia, quickly realizing the gravity of the situation, nodded, as her horn lit up with a Teleport spell. In a flash, the entire group vanished, bound for Canterlot Grand Hospital, the finest and most advanced medical facility on the entire continent.
The staff there would have their work cut out for them.
-SCENE BREAK-
Canterlot Grand Hospital – South Waiting Room
Same Night – 12:15 AM
Everyone waited nervously, fighting sleep in the waiting room. The sounds of doctors & nurses moving about could be faintly heard. Teana & Marie had returned to their pony forms, and the rest of Gamma Team had been 'ported in as well. They'd sat and waited for news for what felt like forever now. Celestia was with them; Luna was presently leading a special-ops team in sweeping the Everfree Forest for any remaining Zerg presence.
As one, their heads all turned to face the door to the ICU as it opened, a weary-looking stallion coming out, an untidy doctor's coat on him.
"Status report?" Celestia asked.
"Yes, your highness" he replied. "The patient was in truly terrible condition. She had several wounds that were infected to varying degrees and weren't healing properly; severe malnutrition; a large wound along her right side that cut deep enough to almost trigger a pneumothorax; brain scans show clinical depression, which among other things weakened her immune system, exacerbating her condition; her right eye was, essentially, totally destroyed; and, to put it in layman's terms, she was suffering the beginnings of starvation-induced multiple organ failure. …Between that, and the shock & blood loss from her eye, Trixie was on the knife's edge of death. Her… Her heart stopped three times while we were trying to stabilize her."
Shocked murmurs rang throughout the room as they learned just how bad it was. "I-Is she…?" Fluttershy asked.
"We managed to save her… barely. She isn't going to be dying, most likely, but she's in a very bad way. We have her on antibiotics, hydration, and IV nutrient feeds. The damage that malnutrition did to her body will heal, but she'll have that scar on her side… and we couldn't save her right eye."
A mixture of relief and sadness swept through the Mane Six.
"There is… another thing, Your Majesty. I mentioned she has clinical depression… She may be alive, but she no longer possesses the will to live. A powerful psychosomatic block is sealing her magic. And…" he sighed sadly "she's lost all faith in herself and her talent, such that her… her Cutie Mark has disappeared."
Several shocked gasps filled the room. To become so lost in sadness, sorrow, and self-loathing as to lose one's Cutie Mark? It was unimaginable; even Celestia had only heard of it happening eight times in 1,300 years. Hearts filled with sadness and pity for the broken mare.
"C… Can we see her?" Twilight asked.
The doctor sighed. "Only registered healers and the Princesses are allowed to enter her room at this time… though the rest of you are allowed to view her through the room's hall-side window."
"Mai here is skilled with healing magic" Teana gestured to her friend, whose horn-tip glowed with a green spark of light.
"Very well" the doctor replied. "If you would all follow me…"
The group quietly followed the doctor past various staff members, heading for one of the rooms; the door was closed. The doctor pressed a switch, and the curtains blocking the window view to inside slid open. There was Trixie, lying in the bed with the sheets up to her chin. IVs ran into her forelimbs, and a bandage was over her… over where her right eye used to be. Celestia and Mai quietly made for the door, and the Princess stopped.
"Doctor?" she said. "Twilight Sparkle is my personal student. She had a hand in saving young Trixie's life. May she accompany us?"
"…If you will it, milady."
The alicorn nodded, and Twilight followed her and Kaede in.
"I asked for this…" Rainbow Dash said lowly, pressed against the glass, looking forlornly at the delicate little thing clinging to life in the bed. "When she threw that last boast and ran off all full of herself, I wished 'I hope something happens to break that haughty bitch's overinflated image of herself'. I wished for this to happen…" Her voice came out in a croak, choking up a little as she squinted her moistening eyes shut. "And I got it. And I wish to Ouranos above that I hadn't…"
"It's not your fault, Dash" Pinkie said softly, gently putting a forelimb around her close friend. "None of us could've known this would happen."
Inside the room, Mai's horn glowed softly as she began a diagnostic jutsu. That glow, along with the light from the vital monitors and from the open window, was the only illumination in the otherwise-dark room. Celestia looked down at her broken subject with sadness, which was equaled by Twilight. They watched as the emaciated blue-furred mare's chest slowly rose & fell.
"I did this…" Twilight murmured out, barely audible, her eyes and voice filled with pain and sadness. "She ran into the Everfree Forest because I showed her up. She lost all faith in her abilities because she saw mine."
"Twilight…" Celestia said softly. "It's not your fault."
"Then why does it hurt like it is?" she snapped, still keeping her volume as low as she could. "Why do I feel responsible for this? Why does seeing her like this fill me with such… guilt and hurt? …I l-literally can't imagine how much sadness is inside her, to leave her the way she is. …S-She asked me & Applejack to let her die, Princess. …H-How did the boisterous, boastful girl who rolled into town that day become this?"
"She most likely had a difficult past" Celestia replied. "A great deal of pain and doubts bottled up deep inside, so deep that she wasn't even fully aware of them. I know her type – acting proud to hide their issues, much more fragile than they appeared to be or assumed themselves to be, carrying a great weight in their hearts that they didn't even know was there until something happened to crack the façade that they fooled themselves & others with…"
Mai's horn's glow ceased as she finished her scan. "The doctor wasn't kidding" she said. "I'm gonna go talk with him and his coworkers. I have a few UNSC medical devices in subspace storage. I'm gonna see if they'll let me forge a cybernetic eye for Trixie."
Mai turned and walked out… just as Princess Luna walked in.
"The forest is clear, sister" she reported. "None of those 'Zerg' remain."
"Good" Celestia replied. "Good…"
Luna watched her elder sister with empathy as she focused on the broken young girl in the bed. Twilight Sparkle was there was well, laying a hoof on one of the wounded mare's. Suddenly, Trixie began to groan and whimper lightly in her sleep, head moving back & forth, eye squinting shut, as her heart rate went up. Luna walked up to her, and touched her horn to Trixie's. For that brief moment, Luna saw within Trixie's mind and Heart, and she was struck by the depths of despair and self-loathing she found. Then she got to work, doing what she had come closer to do. After a few seconds, Luna stepped back, eyes opening. Trixie had stopped tossing & turning, settling down, her heart rate going back down.
"W-What was all that?" Twilight asked.
"A nightmare was plaguing her" Luna replied. "I have given her a deep, calm, dreamless sleep, free of any specters that sought to haunt her rest. …I suspect that this may be the first sleep lacking in bad dreams that she has had in a long time."
"We should leave her to her rest" Celestia said.
As the three left the room, they found the others waiting for them, Mai among them.
"I'm going to stay here tonight, girls" Twilight said. "I wanna be here when she wakes up."
"I'll go watch the house," Ahsoka said, "and fill Spike in when he wakes up tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Ahsoka."
"We'd all better get home" Sarah said. "It's late, and a lot of us are dead-on-our-feet tired."
"The Cakes are probably a little worried" Pinkie said. "I've got to fill them in on what I've been up to."
"Sister, you should go to bed" Luna said. "I will teleport these girls back to Ponyville."
Celestia nodded. "Thank you, Luna."
Seconds later, a flash of deep-blue accompanied the group vanishing.
-SCENE BREAK-
Canterlot Grand Hospital ICU, Room 27
Next Morning – 8:15 AM
Trixie awoke feeling weak and sore all over. She didn't open her eyes yet, taking everything in by sound and touch first. The first thing she was aware of was feeling comfortably warm, more so than she had in a while. Rather than the rustling of leaves and the chirps of an occasional bird that dared live deep in Everfree Forest, she was greeted by rhythmic beeps, which she soon recognized as a heart monitor. She could tell she was lying in a bed. Bandages covered her head, her right side, and a few of her older wounds. That put everything together: she was in a hospital. Somepony had found her and taken her to one.
She tried to open her eyes a bit, and only her left eye responded. After a few seconds, the memories of last night came rushing back – Twilight Sparkle, the orange farmgirl, the attack of those monsters, and… losing her eye…
'Why did they save me?' she thought.
Forcing her remaining eye open, Trixie slowly looked around. The lights were off, but some light spilled through the curtains covering a window that led to the hallway. There were IV lines in her forelimbs. And, curled up like a cat on the foot of the bed, was a sleeping Twilight Sparkle.
'And I find myself thinking she looks cute like that…' Trixie thought.
The impression was magnified as Twilight woke up, yawning as she stretched out just like a cat, joints popping. She looked around with half-lidded eyes… that widened when she caught sight of Trixie watching her.
"Interesting sight to wake up to…" Trixie rasped, and then coughed, her throat dry.
"T-Trixie!" Twilight promptly levitated a glass of cool water to the other unicorn, who gratefully drank it. "Thank goodness you're awake!"
"…Why did you save me?"
Twilight's expression fell. "…Why did you want to die, Trixie? What happened to you?"
Trixie sighed. "I suppose I should start from the beginning. I am the third of four children. There's my big brother Cirrus who's three years older than me, so he'd be… 22 right about now; then there's my older sister Nixie, who's a year older than me; then there's me; and then Pixie, who's a year younger."
"…Nixie, Trixie, and Pixie?" Twilight said with a bit of deadpan to her tone.
"Dad thought it was funny, and apparently mom agreed. Anyway… I never stood out growing up. My sisters and I look almost exactly alike, and our voices are pretty similar, too. Because of that, ponies were always getting us confused; this was made worse because, while I hated it, Nixie & Pixie loved playing it for all it was worth – talking in synch, finishing each other's sentences, insisting on doing everything together and dragging me into it every chance they got… Mom was always busy making ends meet for us, and she often confused us for one another. My big brother Cirrus could tell us apart, but he was often busy with school."
"What about your father?"
"Dead. He died of illness when I was five; Big Bro survived it, dad didn't. Dad was an Earth Pony, and yet all four of us turned out as unicorns like mom… He and Cirrus were the only ones who could consistently tell the three of us apart.
"I got made fun of a lot growing up, for several reasons – the fact that my sisters & I looked so alike, the fact that I'm half Earth Pony, the fact that I wasn't noticeably good at everything… I've always been average, Twilight. Not really good at anything, just… average. And 'average' never gets noticed, never makes it anywhere. I got my Cutie Mark after a wave of color that raced through the sky inspired me to come up with a magic act for the school talent show. But even that didn't break the routine for long.
"My sisters were awful to have. Sure, they never really teased me, didn't mean to cause me harm, but… well, you probably know that somepony can cause others distress without meaning to or even knowing they're doing it. But a good chunk of my misery came from…" Trixie shuddered with fear "my cousin."
"Who's she?" Twilight asked.
"Checker Monarch" Trixie replied. "She's three years older than me. And she's a monster in pony form. Manipulative, cold, ruthless… She singled me out, and made it her life's mission to make me miserable. Lies, misdirection, cruel pranks, leading the local bullies and 'arming' them with knowledge to use against me, feeding my insecurities, and countless other things that I'd very much prefer not to think about right now.
"I spent years as a nopony, stuck in the background, occasionally yanked into the spotlight just to be teased and tortured, unable to make anything of myself, with even my own mother and brother unable to see how much I hated it all. So one day, when I was about eight years old, I finally had enough. I left a note, and I ran away from home. And I never looked back."
She stopped to take a deep breath, composing herself. Twilight sat at her side, attentive.
"I wandered the country, never staying in one place too long, so Foal Protective Services couldn't find me and… bring me back to the place I ran from. To make ends meet, I started my own traveling show. I cultivated a showman's personality… and over time I became it, convincing myself that I really was Great & Powerful. I… was able to take care of myself, more or less."
Her eye closed. "And then I came to Ponyville. And everything went to Hell. …That day… that night… showed me how wrong I'd come to be, how badly I'd been fooling myself. When I was in the Everfree Forest, my eyes were opened to the cruel truth. I'm not special. I'm not skilled, or powerful. I'm not even average. I'm nothing. I was born as nothing, and I will die as nothing. That's the fate that has been set out for me. And I was a fool to try fighting it. Twilight… I'm sorry I put your friends through all that I did… and I'm sorry you wasted your time saving someone who's already dead."
Twilight felt heartbroken as she saw and heard the depths of the other girl's hopeless despair. She crawled forward, and Trixie gasped lightly in surprise as she hugged her. Despite herself, the broken girl found tears coming to her remaining eye, and she found herself hugging back as best she could. They stayed like that for a few minutes.
"If your old life is full of such pain and loneliness…" Twilight finally said, "then maybe… you could try starting a new one. With us, in Ponyville."
"I… W-What's the point? I'm nothing!"
"Then let us make you into something!" Twilight pleaded. "Let us give you a better life! Let us help you get back on your hooves! Let us give you a home, security, safety, friendship! You may not think you deserve happiness, but you do! Everyone does! Let us help you find it! Please, Trixie! Give yourself a chance! A chance to start over! Let us help you!"
"I… I…" Trixie couldn't form words at the moment, and she couldn't understand why she was crying from what Twilight was saying. In the core of her Heart, beneath all the fatalistic despair, she felt a tiny spark of something she hadn't felt in a long, long time:
Hope.
She took a deep, slow breath. "Okay" she whispered faintly.
Trixie then found it a bit hard to breathe from how tight Twilight hugged her, but that was fine.
"Thank you" Twilight said. "I promise you, we will make things better for you. I swear it."
"…What about the townsfolk?" Trixie asked. "I imagine they won't be happy to see me."
"The girls and I will explain everything to them. And if any of them still want to try and hurt you, we'll hurt them. We won't let the mistakes of your past jeopardize your future any more. …Thank you for giving yourself another chance to find true happiness."
"Mm… Twilight… Who and what exactly was that who saved us in the Forest?"
"That was my friend Applejack."
"Not her. The armored biped. Who and what was that?"
Twilight took a few steps back. "It's a looong story" she said.
"I obviously have plenty of time" Trixie replied.
Twilight nodded, as she began to tell Trixie everything she knew.
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: The Crusaders' plan hits a "snag", and Trixie's healing begins.