/Oh my freaking GOSH you guys... I am SO sorry this chapter took so long! School started up last week and I got super distracted. I'm gonna try to upload every weekend, though, okay? Does that sound good to you guys? Huge thanks to Random-stranger53, To Define Life, and Guest for the reviews! You guys are so sweet! Sorry again for the wait, I feel awful. But here you go!/

Cadence swoops down to a blood-smeared tent and pokes her head inside.

"This is where the medics are. They have a lot of patients right now, but I'll see if they can fit Trixie into their schedule." She says with a small smile.

Pinkie lays down in the sand, gently rolling Trixie off her back. Her blood soaks the pristine white sand. She's been drained to a very pale blue and tears stream from her weak eyes.

"Don't bother... I'm t-t-too much of a burden. Just leave me here to die." She stammers.

"We're not going to leave you here to die, Trixie." I insist. "You're too important to us. Without you... We'll never get Rainbow Dash to come back. If you die, you've sentenced all of us to death, too."

"No... You'll survive without me... I know." Trixie pants.

I can see the life draining from her as the blood continues to flow. Her eyes grow darker. Suddenly she seems centuries old.

"Trixie... Please... Stay with us." I beg. Hot tears fill my eyes and spill onto my cheeks. "We need you... I need you..."

"Twilight," Fluttershy whispers, coming up beside me. "It's her time."

Trixie's breaths come out slowly and shakily. Her hide is stained with dark crimson blood that spills from her lips, as well. Her body shakes weakly. No matter how much I want to deny it, Fluttershy's right. She's dying. But that doesn't mean we can't still try to save her. She knows what goes on in Canterlot. She knows how to get through the doors. She can help us save Rainbow Dash. And once we've saved Rainbow Dash, we can save Equestria. I need to keep her alive so she can see the end of the war. I don't want her to die with only memories of death and misery and blood-soaked streets. I don't want her to die having her last memories of what should have been her saviors giving up on her. I want her to see the rainbow before she dies. I have to save her.

"Girls... Step back." I order quietly.

"Twilight, please," Fluttershy begs. She can't stand seeing anyone suffer.

"I said step back." I shout.

The girls all oblige. Cadence still hasn't returned. Shouting comes from behind the tent. It's obvious the medics have more pressing issues to deal with. Patients in more pain than Trixie. With that, I've made my decision. I'm going to save Trixie myself. I dig my hooves deep into the sand and clench my teeth, firing up my horn with the best healing spell I know. I focus on Trixie's stab wound. My forehead burns. This is the hardest spell I know.

"Twilight, don't! You're not a registered medic!" Fluttershy screams.

I ignore her, unable to answer without breaking my concentration and ruining everything. The stab wound illuminates in sorcery. I grunt, pushing the magic to work as hard as I possibly can. An agonized scream escapes from Trixie. I can hear her throat scratching with the volume of the scream.

"You're hurting her!"

"I'm saving her!"

"Twilight!" Pinkie shouts. "Don't make the same mistake you did with Rainbow's mother! Stop!"

I freeze mid-spell and drop to the ground.

"Girls! It's done! It's finally done! I can do it!" I shouted in triumph, screwing a cap over the bottle of potion.

We ran to the hospital, where Rainbow Dash's mother, Ruby Fractal, was resting. She was in shock-coma from a recent accident, and the doctors feared she would never wake up. All the girls knew that Rainbow would lose it without her mother, and I had promised to save her. In fact, Rainbow Dash was there now. Standing beside the bed with her unresponsive mother.

"Girls?" Rainbow asked. I levitated the potion towards the unconscious mare. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Extremely so." I assured her.

"Somepony get the nurse in here, I'm sure she'll want to see this medical breakthrough!" Spike exclaimed. I blushed.

Pinkie bounced out of the room and returned moments later with Nurse Redheart.

"What's going on here?" She asked.

"Magic!" Spike said. "Might want to take notes, Nurse Redheart!"

"Spike. Hush."

I gently unscrewed the potion bottle and tilted Ruby's chin up. I poured small drops of the potion down the unconscious mare's throat, giving her exactly a quarter of the bottle before stopping. Everything seemed to be going fine. Ruby's eyes opened slowly. Nurse Redheart stood in shock whilst Rainbow was ecstatic.

"Mom!" She exclaimed happily.

But she rejoiced too early. Suddenly, Ruby's body began to shake violently. She thrashed. A lime green aura glowed around her body. Her eyes lit to an empty white color.

"EVERYPONY GET DOWN!" I screamed.

We all threw ourselves to the ground as Ruby breathed her last heavy breath. That would have been it, had an eerie green fog not slowly emptied itself from her limp body and gathered at the ceiling. Ruby Fractal was dead. Rainbow stood up and took in her mother's form.

"MOM!" She screamed, shaking the mare. Nothing happened. "NO!"

Nurse Redheart ran out the door for the doctor, who quickly concluded it had been a single mistaken ingredient that turned the potion into a poison. I was quickly escorted from the hospital as Rainbow screamed over her mother's body.

"Don't try to make medicine ever again." Nurse Redheart ordered.

"...Yes... Ma'am."

It had been a mistake that killed Rainbow Dash's mother. She could have gone peacefully, painlessly, if I had just left well-enough alone. But I didn't. Do I want Trixie to die peacefully, or do I want to increase her pain? I realize I'm still holding the spell where it was. Trixie continues to scream.

"Trixie..." I mutter.

"It's her time, Twilight!" Fluttershy cries.

"I'm... I'm ready to die!" Trixie howls.

"Then I will let you." I release her carefully from the spell and she falls limp on the sand. Her stomach still rises and falls, however, so she isn't dead yet. I walk slowly towards her. "I'm so sorry..."

"N-no... Don't be. I've been ready to d-die this whole time. Just stay with me. Please." She stammers.

"Of course."

I sit beside Trixie and steer her mind away from her death. I don't want her to think of it. I want her to die thinking of beautiful things. Not the world she died in.

"Twilight. I need you to p-promise me something." She interrupts me suddenly.

"What do you need?"

"Find Sunset Shimmer. She can s-save Rainbow Dash. She's undercover, j-just like me." Find her... Find Rainbow Dash..."

Sunset Shimmer? She came back from the mirror world? How did she know about the war? I have so many questions, but obviously there will be no time for that now.

"We'll find her, Trixie. I promise." I assure her. "Now where was I... Ah, yes. The stars in a clear night sky. Do you ever spend nights stargazing, Trixie? I've always thought of the stars as perfect little fireflies, sustained in a beautiful deep fuschia painting. The clear nights are always the best, because there are no distractions from the stars. You don't have to focus on anything but the teensy balls of light thousands of miles away from us."

I feel the last, soft breath escape from Trixie's weak lungs as I describe the night sky. The light leaves her eyes and her body goes limp, but a comforted smile strays on her lips.

She's gone.

/Oh dear, I've killed off Trixie. I surely hope no crazy fans will come flame me for killing her off. Haha sarcasm. I'm sure you guys won't. You're all cool. Woah, okay, did they change something on here? Where'd the little time-passy line thingy I've been using go? Is it just not a thing anymore? If anybody knows can you do me a favor and let me know? Thanks! Sorry if the time periods were confusing, I just can't find those little lines.../