Wish

Chapter 7

“Hmm . . . those Tar Pits should be near here.” Says Valiari. We haven’t been walking for very long, but the very air of the swamp has gotten hotter and even more humid. A smoky mist has rolled in and I begin to hear the sounds of thick bubbles popping out in the distance. The trees’ dark bark has gathered condensation all along it, giving it this sheen of slime. “Oh yeah, we are definitely here.”

“How do you know?” I ask.

“Well for one . . . I’m a little stuck in it.” Turning around I see that Valiari has stepped into a puddle of a thick black goo. He attempts to lift his hoof but the goo moves with it stretching and resisting to let him go free. I hurriedly get a grip around his waist and pull as hard as I can until the strands of goo snap with the momentum causing us to fall on top of each other. “Yep, this is definitely tar. Thanks for the help!” He says smiling, but I can’t respond since he’s sitting directly on top of my stomach. “Aireal? Oh! My apologies.” He says finally getting off of me. I get back to my feet as Valiari takes a good look around the misty area. “Now, where to begin . . .” Valiari gasps in the middle of thinking. “Hey! What is that?” He whispers under his voice. I stand near him as he stares out into the distance. Watching to try and fix my vision so that I can maybe see anything behind the mist, but I still see nothing.

“I don’t see anything.”

“No, wait. . . I just saw something move.”

“Trixie?”

“. . . I don’t know. . . Come on, let’s go check it out. But be quiet.” I follow behind Valiari as he begins carefully walking through the mist. I notice that we are walking on a thin path of wet soil through extending pools of tar on both sides. After a few minutes of not seeing a single thing through the mist I begin to get the feeling that he must’ve just been seeing things; until he holds his hoof out to halt me from walking. “Wait . . . look over there.” He whispers while motioning me to crouch down behind a thick set of tree branches that block the path. He pulls back a couple of branches so that we can peer out into the mist. Looking closer I can now see what he has been talking about. A silhouette of something somewhat big is moving from behind the mist. At first I believe that it could be Trixie, but then another silhouette appears, then another, and then another. I can hear voices talking to each other, but it’s hard to make out what their saying. In fact it might not even be talking at all; it could just be animals making sounds. Valiari holds his ear out to try and hear the sounds clearer, but they stop after a few seconds of doing so, and the shadowy figures are now out of sight.

“What happened?” I ask.

“They stopped. . .” Both sets of our eyes jump around the mist searching while listening for whatever was in the distance to maybe show up again. The sudden silence and end of movement is slightly distressing. After a pause Valiari looks at me confusedly and shrugs his shoulders. As I’m just about ready to pass the incident off as just some mysterious animal the face of a purple unicorn appears through the mist in between the branches. It’s the same face as the purple unicorn from the library just with a gold tiara and the decoration of a pink sparkle-shaped jewel on the top. Seeing her face again brings back the memory of her shouting and attacking me. I remember what she said back at the castle, “If it’s not there, then I think we know what might be responsible for this.” Now they all believe that I am the cause for all that has been happening, and I do not believe there will be any convincing them otherwise.

“You again! You’re that creature that escaped! Girls quick over he—!” Valiari and I take one quick glance at each other before he let’s go of the branches letting them whack the purple unicorn’s face in the middle of her enraged shouting. She grunts upon impact and other voices appear.

“Twilight? What happened?” A familiar voice asks.

“It’s there! Behind the branches!”

“But what about Trix—?”

“We’ll deal with that later, that creature from before is right behind there!”

“Whah that no good varmint! Ah’ve got a bone ta pick wit that little rat!” A horrifyingly familiar voice shouts.

“Let’s get out of here!” Valiari shouts to me. The both our hearts jump start and bring us to running through the mist away form the voices. I can barely see a yard ahead of me, so I only hope that we don’t end up stepping in tar with all the twists and turns we’re taking. Our adrenaline doesn’t seem to calm with the sounds of several sets of hooves trotting against the wet soil behind us. Sometimes the path will curve and my shoe nearly gets stuck in the tar. We try jumping over fallen trees and outstretched roots to maybe slow them down, but our efforts are pointless as they are still gaining ground on us. I can’t keep up the chase to stay with Valiari’s speed. He’s going much faster than I am and the ponies aren’t far behind. “Come on I need to come up with a plan. Let’s see here think; think; think. . . I’ve got it! Aireal! Follow me this way!” Low on breath I follow him to a damaged tree that’s so tall it goes past the barrier of mist. I notice the tree is hollow with a huge gaping hole at the base of its trunk. “Come on in here!” Valiari squeezes his body through the hole and I follow him inside. Surprisingly there is just enough space for the both of us as his body is just gently pressing against my side. I don’t understand the plan; if the ponies were to pass by here they would most definitely see us. Valiari reaches back to his pants pocket and pulls out one of his paint brushes. Under his hat I can see a small neon blue glow peeking out between his forehead and the rim of the hat as the tip of his brush sparkles with the same color. He grasps the brush between his teeth and motions it around the opening of the bark. With every stroke it brings a new section of bark into the empty space closing up the hole between the broken bark. The bark his brush is creating appears so real that it begins to look as if the hole never existed. Everything becomes dark after he finally finishes; only the sounds of their trotting and wind inside of the tree remain. “Now let’s just keep quiet, and don’t touch the bark. If you do that’ll disrupt the spell and it will go away.” Their trotting gets louder and louder until finally coming to a halt outside the tree.

“What in the-where did it go now?!” One of them shouts.

“It could be anywhere around here!” Shouts another. The voice sounds like the rainbow pony from the castle.

“Oh, don’t you think you all are just being a little . . . mean?” Says a gentle voice.

“Us?! Fluttershy it’s because of that thing that all of this going on!”

“But you don’t know that. Maybe the poor thing is just scared.”

“Fluttershy, trust me. That thing is a nuisance and needs to be caught. We should all keep our eyes open incase we see it again as well as Trixie.” Says Twilight.

“Yeah where do you think she could have gone?” Asks the rainbow pony.

“I don’t know, but she couldn’t have gone far. I think we should all split up into pairs and try to cover as much ground as possible to find them.”

“Can’t we just take a short rest? My hooves are killing me with all of this walking we’ve been doing.” Says a sophisticated yet tired voice. Suddenly the wall of bark Valiari created dissipates revealing a thick, curled, royal purple tail poking through the hole near our faces as my breath lodges itself in my throat. We can’t see much past the tail and the pony’s white-coated back except a little of the misty outside. With the pony in our way hopefully the others do not see us.

“We can’t take a rest now Rarity. Those two and that one pony I saw with that creature are out there somewhere, and we need to make sure we stop them. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are counting on us. Fluttershy why don’t you and Rarity take the path down that way? Rainbow Dash you and Applejack will take the path down there; and Pinkie Pie you’re with me. If any of us see either of them we let each other know immediately, and be careful of the tar.” All of them assure they understand with a: “Got it,” or an “Understood.” Afterwards they all trot away and the white pony stands and leaves. Thankfully all of them were facing away from us, and as soon as their hoof steps become inaudible my breathing calms. Turning my head towards Valiari I see that his face is still full of shock as his hooves are wrapped around me. I must’ve been in the same kind of shock to not have noticed, also that my arms are wrapped around him. “O-Okay, Th-Their gone . . . That was a little too close. Come on, we should get going.” Valiari and I look at each other awkwardly and quickly let go of each other. Crawling out of the tree Valiari takes a few quick glances and attempts to explain what we should do. “I didn’t expect them to come here! Well now we need to watch out for them. I heard them mention your friend’s name. Why would they be after her? Come on we need to try and find her before they do.” I nod my head in understanding and am ready to begin the search.

Valiari and I walked and walked searching everywhere we possible could. We would come across the sounds of steps off in some areas and wouldn’t even attempt to search there believing that we would get caught by those other ponies. My hope begins to dwindle away, but I’m still holding on. Then, a sight that my eyes had hoped they would never see comes into view. At first I did not know what it was, but looking at it closer. . . It could have been a sign of hope, or a sign of grief. “Aireal uhh. . . Maybe we should go check this way! Heh. . .” Says Valiari trying to lure me away from the spot. Without paying any attention to his words I walk closer to the wide tar pit. Floating near the edge . . . is Trixie’s pointed hat. My legs begin to feel numb and collapse near it. My hands tremble as they reach out and grab hold of the tip of the hat. I yank it out of the tar and hold it in both hands. My heart aches and my stomach feels sore. Everything around me becomes a blur as tears fill my eyes. Holding them back is pointless as they endlessly drip down my cheeks. I can feel them falling from my chin down onto my hands. Clenching the hat beneath my fingers I shut my eyes and hold it close to my chest. This isn’t a sign of hope; it is a sign of death. Trixie is gone, and I can’t help but only blame it on myself. All because I wasn’t with her! That accursed bridge; those robed ponies; those six others! Maybe if I wasn’t busy being scared I could’ve gone through all of this without a pause and made it here in time! I feel the need to carelessly jump into the tar and maybe find her, but I know that wouldn’t solve anything. What I’m feeling isn’t anger, no, it’s far from it. It is the very sadness that I had hoped my heart would never have to bear. My cheeks feel as if their burning along with my heart. She’s gone, and there’s nothing I can do to bring her back. Images of her helpless body being swallowed by the tar flood my mind throwing me deeper into this despair. “Aireal. . . ?” Valiari puts his hoof on my shoulder, and out of feeling alone and lost I embrace him like a child clinging to his mother. He is the last one left in this dreadful life and already I fear losing him as well. “Aireal it’s . . . it’s going to be fine. Okay?” I don’t have the strength to speak. My throat is sore and breathing has become difficult. “Listen uhh . . . this doesn’t mean that she’s . . . you know. Maybe she escaped and is still out there.” I want to believe; I truly do, but my mind won’t accept it. He is only trying to relieve me from the tears but it’s no use. My mind is jumping around from thought to thought to the point to where I feel the need to tear at my hair. At one second I believe that she’s gone, and another I believe she just might be out there. Trixie. . . you’re gone. No, no you can’t be. You can’t be! I feel like shouting her name at the top of my lungs pleading that I hear her voice. Just the sweet sound of her voice would calm my heart and end the tears. “Come on, let’s go back.” Says Valiari.

Dragging myself along with Valiari I still clutch the hat in my hands. Neither of us speak a word while walking, and why would we? What words would have to be said? My heart once again feels hollow like in the beginning. Losing Trixie feels as though someone had just ripped it straight out of my chest. We are able to make it back to Valiari’s shack without hearing a warning sign of the other six ponies being near. Inside I sit myself down in a corner of the living room cradled up with the hat while Valiari sits himself up against a wall. I begin to remember everything we’ve done together. That moment when she wrapped me in a sheet and took me in. Those moments when we sat at a campfire together as she would weave a tale or two. Every show we had performed together plays in my head as vividly as if I was there once again. Those moments when I would look into her eyes and feel . . . something. That morning when she gave me this clothing, these stones; and I gave her the vase of flowers. How happy we were. . . Now it’s gone. I reach into my pocket for the bag of glowing stones and clutch it in my hands. Not even they can bring me that warm feeling like they always have. I feel nothing at all from them.

“. . . Aireal?”

“Please. . . J-Just.” I stop once I feel my eyes tear up once again.

“Look, I understand what you’re going through. But I need you to stay strong alright?”

“H-How. . . ?”

“You just have to tell yourself to. We can’t stay here for long. Soon those other ponies will find this place and us.”

“I can’t leave.”

“What are you talking about? We’ll get caught if we stay, so come on pull yourself together and let’s go.”

“. . . Do you think it’ll be th-that easy to get over?”

“Well no, but we have no choice. Just try and get her out of your mind.”

“. . . Get her out of my mind?” Immediately I see his comment as insensitive and begin to stand up and look him straight in the face. “What if I told you to do that about Aria? Huh? What if I told you to forget about her?”

“Hey! Don’t you dare talk about her like that!”

“Why not?! If you can talk about the friend I cared so much for then why can’t I talk about her?!”

“Because this is different!”

“How?! What makes it different?! You only want me to forget about Trixie just so we can get back to your life! You don’t care about me and how I feel!”

“I’m trying to help us! We can’t stay here or we’ll get found!”

“I’m going to stay in case she comes around.”

“She’s dead you idiot! And there’s nothing you can do about it! What’s it going to take to get that through your thick skull?!” His words feel like a gash at the heart.

“. . . You know what? Maybe Aria is better off without a cold heartless pony like yourself.”

“Why you little pest!” Valiari furiously trots up to me and kicks his hind legs into my stomach. Flying back I hit the wall and back down to the floor along with a few loose sheets of paper writhing in pain with my arms around my abdomen. My insides feel as though they’ve been shattered. My breath has been knocked straight out of me and is difficult to try and recover. I have dropped the bag of stones as a few of them scatter along the floor near me. I don’t have the strength to get up, so I lay fruitlessly on the wood floor. I have turned the only other pony I can call a friend against me. I just couldn’t have kept my mouth shut, and now here I lay hopeless and in pain. I suppose I really am just a worthless animal. Those words that I said to him are not what I had expected of myself. Suddenly I turned angry and wanted to retaliate, but this isn’t me. I never thought I would have reduced myself to something like this. It’s just when he told me to forget Trixie my mind was all of a sudden able to set aside sadness for a brief moment and replaced it with anger. I don’t want to forget Trixie. . . I just can’t. I difficultly reach my arm out and grab one of the glowing stones gripping it in my fist. “. . . What am I doing? Aireal I-I’m sorry I don’t know what got into me! Are you hurt?!”

“I deserved it.” I struggle to say.

“No you didn’t. It’s just, what you said made me lose my temper for a minute. I started this. I shouldn’t have told you to just forget about her. . . I know I can’t forget about Aria no matter how hard I try. I guess I just . . . stopped thinking about how you felt.” He says while taking a seat near me.

“. . . I’m sorry about what I said.”

“And so am I. . . So what do you say? Still want to be friends with a cold heartless pony like me?”

“. . . Yes.” I can feel Valiari rest a hoof on my back.

“I can’t believe it. You are capable of such emotion I never would have expected.” He mutters. “And look what I’ve done to you. Are you hurt?”

“I. . . No. . .”

“No? But how? I hit you pretty hard. Surely you must be feeling some kind of pain?”

“I did but. . . It’s gone.”

“That’s odd. . . How can—” Valiari is interrupted by a slow but heavy knocking at the front door of the shack. “What was that? . . . They must’ve found us. Quick! Get up and hide! Can you stand?” He whispers. At first I have a bit of a struggle to stand, but I find my balance. “Go on now find a place to hide!” Along the wall there is a tall wooden wardrobe big enough for me to fit in. Valiari trots off into the bathroom as I pry open the two doors of the wardrobe and climb inside. Shutting the doors everything is now black, and my body is covered by hanging clothes from the top of the cabinet. The knocking continues for a short while, but then stops. The door doesn’t creak open; not even an effort to turn the door knob was attempted. Silence overtakes the shack; not a single sound follows thereafter accept the slight chirping of crickets from the outside. “. . . Aireal! . . . Aireal!” Valiari whispers. “Aireal come out! I think they left!” I creak open the door to see Valiari poking his head out from the bathroom down the hall. He motions me to come over, so I step out from the wardrobe and sneak over to him afraid that whoever was out there is still listening. Valiari treats the situation with the same caution as he quietly steps over towards the door with me following close behind. Once we are behind the door Valiari puts his hoof over his mouth signaling me to keep quiet. He uses his magic to carefully turn the knob and pulls the door open. Outside is nothing, but on the ground lies a body that is half covered in black tar. My eyes cannot believe the color of her coat, the style of her silver mane, her familiar face, her starry purple cape splattered with tar. It’s Trixie . . . but her body lays motionless.

“Trixie!” I shout in disbelief.

“Quick bring her inside!” Says Valiari. I slide my arms under her body and lift her up into my chest. “This way! This way! Uhh . . . Ah! Here! Lay her down here!” Valiari and I hurry over to a table covered in papers in the middle of the living room. He brushes aside the papers scattered on it onto the floor. Gently I lay her down continuously calling her name just hoping that she will wake. Both Valiari and I are in a panic as he paces back and forth near the table and I, with both my hands on Trixie’s sides, examine her body. She’s cut, bruised, and the tar is clinging to large portions of her skin. Valiari leans over and feels her chest. “Okay let’s see. She’s not dead but. . . Umm . . . Well, the tar has set into her skin and it won’t come off easily if at all. Her skin is probably burned and unable to breath. Some of the cuts have tar inside them which isn’t good. . . I-I don’t know if I have the spells to fix this umm. . . What to do; what to do.” I lean in to see if I can hear her breathing. It’s there, but very faint. I can tell that slowly all the life that’s left in her body is leaving and I am lost on what to do. The tears then flow back to my eyes. I notice one of the cuts on Trixie’s hoof, and I rest my hand upon it. I can hear myself whimpering while laying my head on her stomach. As if it wasn’t bad enough that I could imagine her passing on, but now I have to watch. Valiari is still pacing without any idea on what to do as I’m full of tears clutching her hoof in my hand. Suddenly my hand begins to feel warm. I pry open my watery eye lids and see that a pink glow is peaking through the crack beneath my hand and Trixie’s hoof. Lifting my hand up I notice that the stone I picked up earlier is still in my palm glowing a bright pink and the cut underneath is slowly starting to close. I move hand down her body to the tar that has stained her skin and the tar itself is evaporating into the air. I stare in incredulity but it comes to my realization that the stone is what is healing hear wounds. Then an idea sparks in my mind. I move away from the table to the bag and few scattered stones on the floor. As I pick them all up Valiari watches in confusion. “Aireal? Just what are you doing? We need to come up with some kind of remedy!”

“I think I might have it.” I say while hurrying back to the table.

“What? What are you . . . ?” Now with a stone in each hand one glowing pink the other bright blue I hover them over her bruises as they quickly begin to fade away. “I don’t believe it. . . Those stones. . . Hand me one!” I hold out the blue one to him as he uses his magic to carry it and hover it over her body. I pull out another one from the bag as we deplete the tar, cuts, and bruises from her body. Once they it all disappears we look at her in amazement and how clean she looks compared to earlier. We set the stones down and gather around her watching for anything to happen. Her eye lids twitch and then peek open. Her eyes bounce at Valiari and then at me. My voice gets caught in my throat as I await for a word to leave Trixie’s lips. “. . . Aireal?”

“It worked! It worked! I can’t believe it worked! It’s incredible! These stones seem to posses some kind of energy. . .” Valiari shouts happily and then starts inspecting one of the stones. I step over to the table with my eyes now flowing with tears, not for sadness this time; but for happiness. Leaning over her it feels so calming to be able to see her again. I can finally put my mind and heartache at ease as my mind is clear of all thoughts, and my heart feels warm. Trixie now is beginning to tear up as her mouth quivers. Before I know it she wraps her forelegs around me resting her chin on my shoulder. At first I feel strange as I didn’t expect this kind of embracing, but I don’t care. I’m just so happy to be reunited with her that I place my arms around her as well. “I didn’t think I would see you again. . .” Trixie murmurs.

“N-neither did I.” I mutter as my voice feels weak.

“That is the sweetest thing.” Valiari comments sincerely.

“. . . Who is that?” Trixie asks.

“Me? Why my name is Valiari! It is a pleasure to finally meet you Miss Trixie! I must say you sure are lucky to have a friend like him. He wasn’t ready to give up on looking for you, not even for a minute.”

“Really? . . . You were looking for me all this time?” I then nod my head in response. “Thank you. . . Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“Now, Miss Trixie, just how could you have survived the Tar Pits? Once you get trapped in it there’s no way out.” Trixie and I then let go of each other as she begins to think to herself trying to remember.

“I’m not too sure. I remember. . . I was being chased by a pony in a robe, and then I fell. . . I got stuck and started to sink down. I couldn’t move, and I was so scared . . . I’m not sure what it was but . . . at that moment my magic felt . . . different. I was able to use it to grab hold of a nearby tree and pull myself out.”

“Really? Just you alone? That is truly incredible! Well Miss Trixie I assure you that I can explain everything. . . At least, what I know.”