Live in Tranquility

by StayAwhileAndListen

Rating: teen
Tags: Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Dark, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6521

Trixie has returned! With all new material for a brand new performance, she steps into the town of Greenhoof to blow everypony away. Yet, something is wrong with the townsfolk, all wearing creepy grins and removed cutie marks...

The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon had needed years to fully recover her respect as a performer after being humiliated twice in Ponyville. She had spent that time working on her magic, and rebuilding her pride with small shows and odd jobs.

Now, her confidence back in full force and with a new repertoire of magical feats to perform, Trixie trots into the quiet little village of Greenhoof, ready to dazzle the simple ponies with a spectacular show the likes of which they have never seen before.

Yet, she's greeted only by the town's dead eyes and wide smiles.

Published 2015-04-08 13:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-05 06:27:53 UTC

Renaissance

The Great and Powerful Trixie had been all prepared to get onto the streets of Greenhoof with her most incredibly display of power ever, thanks to her newest spellbook and enchanted pendant. True, neither would allow such an impressive amount of magic as to actually change members of the audience, but the new spells she had been practicing would keep her material fresh, and the pendant worked wonders for staving off the migraine from overuse of her abilities.

She had been performing the same show for so long that she had forgotten just how much heckling a pony could get from a crowd that was actually used to seeing a unicorn's true magical potential, and after a few rather... disastrous attempts at getting a profitable performance in Ponyville, Trixie had decided that it would be for the best to prepare something new, something that even the most adept Unicorn's could be shocked by! She had needed nearly two years of preparation, performing small shows and odd jobs to earn enough bits to purchase her newest mystical equipment. Then came the study, to which she went with a fervor that would have made a younger Trixie gag.

Trixie hadn't minded. For once in her life, she had wanted to see herself bettered.

Not that there wasn't a decent goal in mind, as she wondered what the Princess of Friendship might think about the New and Improved, Great and Powerful Trixie! Tonight was to be her first performance, and she doubted that there even were any unicorns in Greenhoof, which made it the absolute perfect place to practice her act before taking Ponyville by storm!

But of course, Trixie found herself running later than she had expected, her map having led her along paths that were confusing, or quite a bit longer than she had been led to believe. By the time the cobblestone streets and rather quaint looking buildings came into view, the sun had already set and night had come upon her rather suddenly. Not like that would have been enough to stop her should, it wasn't particularly all that late as of yet, and even the smallest of villages tended to be willing to see some entertainment after a good dinner. Besides, she had already been to Greenhoof once before, and they had always been rather amazed by her magical talent, and it's ponies were a friendly lot that always had something of interest going on.

Yet, as she trotted into town, all that she could hear was the squeak of her cart's wheels and the echo of her hooves clopping against the street below. Not a single pony shared the cool night air with her as she slowly pulled her cart through town. The only light came from the stars above, shining down just enough to let her see what was directly in front of her. After a minute of walking around almost blind, she stopped and let out a low sigh as her stomach gave a grumble of disapproval. She supposed the show would have to wait until morning, if nopony would be around to see it.

She unhooked herself from the harness of the cart, deciding it would be for the best just to find something to eat and hit the hay herself, exhausted from the days of travel. Even opening her cart just to climb inside was enough to realize just how much her poor legs ached! Honestly, the things she would do just to reclaim her respect in one town astonished even her sometimes.

Trixie hadn't even shut herself into her carriage when the sound of a door squealing as it opened hit her ears. Poking her head back out of her traveling home, she saw a small lamplight coming from one of the buildings, “Well, at least someone is ready to welcome the Great and Powerful Trixie.” She muttered, as a stallion slowly stepped from the door, grasping an old oil lantern in his mouth. A large grin was plastered upon his face, as his eye's stared directly in her direction. It was, in all honesty, a little creepier than she had remembered the denizens of Greenhoof being.

Still, she wasn't about to look a gift pony in the mouth, any acknowledgment of her arrival was appreciated! Trixie opened her mouth to greet the dimly lit Earth Pony, when the sound of another door opening echoed through the street. Then another, and another after that. It continued that way, with every single door on the street opening, the shadowy visage of different ponies emerging from each, all moving with the same slow steps, and all with the same, wide grin.

Trixie found herself surrounded nearly immediately by a mob of Earth Ponies and Pegasi, with only enough lanterns between them to let the unicorn know that she had most definitely been acknowledged. Her carriage was surrounded by them, with only more and more coming down the nearly pitch black streets to join the mass, “C-Can Trixie help you all tonight?” She didn't know what to make of them all, a hoard of smiling faces and vacant eyes all glaring.

A hundred calm voices responded, their tone soft yet cheerful, “Welcome to Greenhoof, Trixie!”

“My, the Great and Powerful Trixie has never received such a, er, warm...welcome!” She had been to the town before, of course some would remember her name. Her show had been one of the few things of actual intrigue to happen around there in decades, “Truly, Trixie is glad that this little town would remember such a Grand and Powerful Unicorn!” Emphasis on the power, she was better than before, a unicorn scholar's could be jealous of!

It didn't change the fact that they surrounded her, staring in dead silence with nothing but the weak lamp light bouncing off of their muzzles.

“...Well, it was truly wonderful to greet you all once again, but the great and powerful Trixie needs her sleep, it's quite late.” She didn't waste another second before climbing all the way into her carriage and shutting the door quite tightly, using the rather flimsy iron latch to lock it shut. Unfortunately the best she could do for the window was to close the curtains, “Good night, everypony!” She called out as she used every little spare item that was moderately large to block the opening on her cart.

The knocking upon her door afterward was rather light, a gentle tap tap tap that made Trixie's heart race as though she were surrounded by a pack of timberwolves, “Good Night, Trixie.” Their voices spoke together once again, as a cacophony of hoofbeats slowly marched away from her home. She sat within the small carriage for several minutes, curled up and just waiting for the mob to pull her from her home and do... she didn't want to even think about what it was they all wanted.

After nearly half an hour of silently waiting, her heart trying to escape from her chest, Trixie stood up just enough to peer out of her window. The streets had been emptied once more, and not a lamp was lit along the street, nor a door open.

Whatever had happened, it had ended, and Trixie wasn't about to let the perfect chance to escape before the lunatics all came back out. Rushing to the doors, she pulled them open and leapt outside... Only to be face to face with a massive, grinning Stallion. His eyes looked right through her, ignoring as she screamed out of shock. He breathing was rapid, and she backed up toward her cart once again, “I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were passing by when I-”

The last thing she remembered was a rather loud smash.

Remembrance

Remembrance

There had been a time before Trixie had struck out on her own. She had been a mere filly, living in Canterlot with her parents. Every day she had studied basic magic, determined to gain entrance to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Every new spell she mastered was a treat, for she could run off to go and perform it for all of the less magically inclined foals at her school. They had always been so easy to impress, so long as none of the snooty unicorn girls showed up to heckle.

They were the ones she tried to hide her new spells from, older mares who had already learned way more than she could have known at the time!

She told herself that they were only better because they were older, that she would show them when her time came. She was going to be a powerful wizard!

She just needed to pass her entrance exam first.

“You call that impressive? Any unicorn who can't do that might as well just throw their horn in the trash!”

“You'll never get accepted with that!”

“They're going to laugh you out of town!”

–

Trixie awoke with a start, her heart pounding hard enough that she could feel every individual beat reverberate through her chest. Her head throbbed with a sharp pain that made her wince, as she gently rubbed the spot with a lone hoof. She could feel the cold stone beneath her, pressing into her side and leaving her shoulder with a dull ache whenever she shifted it.

She was no longer outside, and obviously she was no longer within the comfort of her cozy carriage. Surrounded by stone walls on all sides, and enshrouded entirely in darkness, Trixie quickly realized that she had been placed into some kind of prison. She couldn't even see the walls in front of her, but it wasn't too difficult to discern how small the room was when she didn't even have enough room to properly stand or take a few steps. Reaching up with a hoof, she could feel something else, hard and slightly damp, the best she could assume was that it had to be the door!

She waved her hooves around frantically in a manner that likely looked rather silly, searching for the handle in a desperate attempt to escape whatever prison this demented town had thrown her into. Luckily she found the handle rather quickly, just an average metal handle that felt as though a bit of its plating had chipped away. Using her own magic, a soft glow emanated from her horn as she used it to grip a hold of that handle, trying her best to turn it, and giving a rather annoyed sigh when the knob refused to budge.

“Locked.” Trixie mumbled to herself, as the entirety of the situation started to catch up to her. She stood up tall on her back two hooves, one of the only ways to actually have a decent amount of room to move inside of that space, “Hey! This isn’t funny anymore! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to be set free! Are any of you mules listening to me out there?! Somepony open this bucking door!”

There was no answer, likely not even a single soul out there able to hear her anyway. It didn’t stop her attempts to get the attention of absolutely anypony she could. Trixie’s screams only grew louder, her own fear growing as nothing came. No help, no hoof beats from the other side of the door, not even an angry voice yelling at her to shut up. She just kept pounding upon the door, at times even attempting to use her own magic to force it off of its hinges, to no avail.

“Please! I’m still stuck in here!” How long had she been in that tiny room? Had they just locked her in and left her to rot? In the back of her mind she knew there was nopony on the other side of that door, but the rest of her just felt that if she kept trying to bust it down, to scream and yell for attention, that maybe, just maybe she could get herself free.

She lost track of time, not that there was any way to actually keep track of it in a room so dark that even when her eyes adjusted she could barely see her own hoof in front of her face. Her throat had gone hoarse, and she had worn her legs out to the point of just slowly banging her head against the door, “Anypony... Trixie is still here...”

It wasn’t much longer before the Great and Powerful Trixie finally gave up, just flopping down onto her side, legs curled up and burning with pain. She had overdone it for sure, but she had just wanted so badly to get herself freed. Trixie still wanted to free herself, as without her own constant screaming and pounding, the tiny cell grew rather eerily silent.

Being left alone with nothing but one’s own thoughts in a dangerous situation was unfortunately rather self-destructive. A pony couldn’t help but begin to wonder if somepony would come back for her. Perhaps they would, but even then, would that truly be preferable to remaining alone there? What if outside of that small enclosed space was her own demise, just waiting for somepony to drag her out? The growing migraine was more than enough reason to believe that anypony who could come for her in such a place would very likely be equally as violent as the stallion who had knocked her unconscious.

Trixie shut her eyes as a quiet whimper escaped from her dry throat. She was exhausted from her escape attempts, and the sudden grumbling of her stomach didn’t help calm her down any either. She hadn’t eaten in at least several hours, having pushed through much of the afternoon and evening just to try and get herself to Greenhoof. To think she had been so sure of her self that day, ready for anything the world could have thrown at her.

And now there she lay, hunger pangs hitting her, throat parched and her head pounding in a room too cramped to properly even stand in.

She was going to die there, rotted away in some tiny hole in a wall.

–

The day of Trixie’s entrance exam had come, and the poor filly had been stuck waiting out in a hallway, watching one by one as other young fillies and foals her age went in to impress the board. She had ended up next to last on the list of potential students, and though she had entered into that building confident in her abilities, she had grown only more and more nervous as pony after pony left their exam, head hanging down in shame as the instructors inside would coldly yell out, “Next!”

She could feel the energy draining from those halls as time passed, eventually only herself and her father left. Trixie had started to get up, heading over for the door, as she noticed one more filly who had been given her chance first.

There hadn’t been a single smiling face leaving the exam room that morning, and by that point Trixie had started to consider leaving, the harsh words of the older ponies still fresh in her mind.

Then she stopped herself, as she realized that she was quickly letting herself fall into the same trap! She needed to believe in herself, she had practiced for almost a full year in preparation to join a real magic school! Those other fillies and foals just hadn’t worked hard enough, or let themselves choke.

Taking a deep breath, she watched the young purple unicorn enter into the exam room. The poor thing hadn’t even gained her cutie mark yet, a sure sign that her test was doomed before it even began. Trixie had received her months earlier, a large showy magic wand that she had been sure to show off to nearly every pony in all of Canterlot! She was born to do magic, to become a great and powerful wizard!

With newfound confidence, she smiled up at her father, more prepared than ever to pass whatever challenge they could throw her way.

Confidence quickly gave way to shock and awe as the entire hall was rocked by what sounded like an explosion! She and her father rushed over to the window, watching in silence together as a magnificent, circular rainbow spread over the entire sky.

“Incredible...” Trixie’s mouth hung wide open as the spectacle hung in the air for only brief moments before dissipating away, though lost in awe, she had managed to ignore the bright flashes that shot through the window of the door to the exam room. By the time she had run back to it, she could hear... talking?

“I’ve never seen a filly with such marvelous talent!” An adult voice exclaimed, excitement dripping from his tone.

“I can’t believe we actually found a student this year! Somepony who could even impress the Princess!” Another said, obviously one of the exam proctors, “There’s one applicant left on the list.”

“I say we just end the exams right now, what could she possibly show us to improve upon that? Celestia found her pupil, let this one try again next year.”

Were they planning on skipping her?! Just because that blank flank managed to get in? No, she couldn’t allow such a thing to happen! Trixie had to get accepted!

“WAIT!” The filly girl yelled as she ran directly into the door, slamming into it and forcing it wide open, “You can’t just throw me out before I can show you everything I've learned!” She had studied so hard, she had worked for so long, despite what others had said about her skills never being good enough. She couldn’t let it end so suddenly!

Unfortunately, on the other side of that door had not been the waiting exam room, but instead an infinite voice of nothing that she had stumbled directly into, and found herself quickly being pulled through. She let out a scream, this couldn’t possibly have been happening! She had never even gotten her chance!

A calm, almost affectionate voice whispered into her ear, “It’s okay Trixie. Such ambition can only serve to drag you down. Your emotions will never let you live down the humiliations you’ve been forced to suffer. Wouldn’t it just be easier to do away with them?”

–

*CLICK*

Trixie’s eye’s fluttered back opened to the sound of a rather ear splitting squeaking of metal hinges, though she had to shut them nearly immediately as light penetrated into her tiny cell. She had no idea what was going on, but as she dared to open her eyes again, she could only see the door, practically wedged up to her face. Sliding back up to the back wall of the tiny room, she saw a red stallion staring back at her. His eye’s narrowed as he looked down at her, lips curled into a rather tight frown.

“Get up and get out of there, before they come back.”

Even half asleep, in pain, hungry and extremely thirsty, Trixie didn’t waste another second before leaping out of that hellhole.

Return

It had become quickly apparent to Trixie that the reason why it had been so overwhelmingly dark in that tiny cell was because it wasn’t actually a jail cell at all, more like an old closet that had been emptied out, there was even still a rod going from one side to the other one could hang clothing upon.

The rest of the room was lit only by a small lantern set down in the center of the room, burning with a dim flame, not unlike the others she had seen before. The rest of the room was equally as run down as the closet, old cracked stone floors and walls, a wood ceiling that was marked with jagged edges and cobwebs hanging from every corner and support post. There was only one other exit, a staircase that allowed in enough light to at least let her figure that it had to be daytime.

“Where am I?” Trixie asked after her brief moment of celebration had passed.

The stallion who had rescued her seemed to have his mind elsewhere though, as he bounded from one end of the small basement room to the other, even going back into the closet just for a look, “An old condemned house on the outskirts of Greenhoof.” He mumbled back to her, before rushing back upstairs.

Trixie had barely a chance to even register what had happened before he left, deciding that the next best course of action was to follow him upstairs. If nothing else, he seemed less creepy than the last several ponies she had seen.

Besides all of that, if he was right, and she was on the edge of town, that just meant running the buck away should have been a cakewalk.

The main level didn’t particularly look all that much better than the basement, given that the first thing she got a good look at was a rather massive hole in the ceiling, the sky bright overhead as sunlight shined brightly through, “How long was Trixie down there for?” She asked, looking over at the stallion, who had glued himself to a window, head on a swivel as he searched.

When he did turn back to her, she could see his lips curled down into a snarl, his gaze seemed to pierce through her, “Long enough. You’re lucky I heard you screaming for so long last night.”

So someone had heard, “Good!” She replied, her dry, sore throat making her every word out of her mouth burn, “What took you so long then? Trixie thought she was going to be left down there!” It hadn't taken her long to start feeling like her normal self though, if nothing else.

“Well, your screaming also drew practically everypony in town, and I had to spend most of last night and this morning hiding in a barrel until they finally left!” His face fell to the floor, before immediately turning back to her, teeth gritted in what she could only describe as seething rage, “So thanks to you, the ponies I was actually trying to save are gone now.”

Trixie gulped, as backed away from the stallion, her breathing starting to quicken again, “T-Trixie apologizes... She didn't have any other choice at the time! She thought.... She thought she was going to die.”

The stallion’s angry expression only remained for another moment, before finally he just let out a soft sigh, “You’re right. I’m sorry, all of this must be extremely confusing to an outsider. My little brother and a... a close friend were kidnapped just like you were, and until this morning, they were in one of the old buildings around here, just like you were.” He explained quickly, trotting over to the door, “And, I know where they have to be now.”

“Well that’s good, Trixie needs to be leaving herself, so she’ll leave you to finding your friends while she...” She trailed off, as the two of them looked at one another.

“Right,” The stallion interrupted her, opening the door and stepping out into the bright sunlight. None of the smiling ponies were around this time, thankfully, “You should get out of this place, and go home. Somewhere safe.”

“I’m glad we both have the same idea then.” Trixie gave him a soft smile, as she followed him out the door, the bright blue sky overhead an absolute joy to see again! Now she just needed a bit of water, some fruit and to get out of there before any more craziness came back to throw her into an even smaller closet.

Trixie followed him outside, finally able to get a decent look at the town in the daylight. The first thing she noticed was the rather large lake that the town sat upon, glistening beautifully in the late morning sunlight. She didn’t even stop to ask whether or not it was safe to drink before breaking into a gallop directly towards the lake, half of her body still aching from earlier, but yet the rest of her was just so glad to be free!

She ended up stopping in the water, hoof deep as she leaned down to get a drink. Her pained throat felt a brief moment of sweet relief as she drank the warm freshwater. It was admittedly not the cleanest thing she had ever done, but at that moment she didn’t particularly care about whether or not she would swallow a little bit of soil.

For the first time in a day and a half, Trixie felt rather comfortable, a large smile spreading across her features as she could start to remember what it was about that place that had made her want to visit again in the first place.

The rather enjoyable thoughts didn’t last however, turning around to find that the red stallion was already walking away, back into the city. He must have been absolutely mad, the town itself was where the crazed smiling ponies were!

“Where are you going?!” She called out to him, stepping out of the gentle caresses of the peaceful lake, and back out onto the cobblestone streets, “Isn’t it dangerous back in there?”

He stopped, but didn’t even turn to face her, “It’s dangerous out this way too, you shouldn’t stay too long!” All of the yelling to one another was beginning to make Trixie nervous though, as she quickly trotted back to him as he started to move again.

“So what are you doing then? Trixie thought we would leave the other way... the way that doesn’t, you know, go right through the town center?” She suggested, as she followed him a bit further than she was starting to feel comfortable with.

He turned to face her, as she caught up beside him, a large, dumb looking grin across his face, “I need to find the others. I know where they’ve been taken, and if I hurry, I can save them before... well, before they’re changed like everyone else has been,” The smile he now wore disturbed her greatly, “If you want to keep following, then I suggest you smile and look straight ahead. Don’t say a word.”

“Trixie does not want-” It was at this moment that she realized that she had trotted along too far, as she could see other ponies, easily within earshot. The previous night flashed before her eyes, as she found herself giving the largest grin she could possibly manage, eyes straight ahead as she spoke quietly through gritted teeth, “Trixie wanted to leave this pit! She doesn’t even know who you are and-”

She stopped speaking entirely as they passed by a group of three ponies. They stood facing one another, as though they were having a conversation, and yet not a single one of them opened their mouth’s. Instead, they just stood there, glaring directly ahead of themselves like manikins in a store. As before, their lips were all curled into perfect, overly large grins.

Trixie had to wait until the coast was entirely clear before she could finish her thought, “And Trixie is terrified.”

Things were silent for a while, the two of them walking next to the other, growing closer to the other every time that another face appeared. It wasn’t that hiding from the others was particularly difficult, but rather that Trixie had begun to expect that any moment their little facade would fail... and yet, as they grew closer to the heart of the village, not a soul gave them so much as a glance.

“It occurs to Trixie,” She mumbled through her false smile, “You never told me your name.” She had already let herself walk directly into danger with him, she felt that she at least deserved to know that.

“Honeycomb,” The red stallion replied, “I-I’m a beekeeper from just outside of town. I was... I was home when things started getting bad.” The way his words shook, and rapidly decreased in volume anytime his eyes would look over and spot somepony else was oddly comforting to Trixie. At least she wasn’t the only one on the verge of panic.

It was difficult after that to find a moment to actually speak, to say anything to break through the tension in the air, but as they trotted into the heart of Greenhoof, they found themselves surrounded on all sides. Trixie didn’t even know where Honeycomb wanted to take her, until finally he nudged her shoulder, nodding his head toward a three story, rounded purple building that sat right upon the edge of the town’s lake.

As they stood at the stoop of the small, yet admittedly flashy looking building, Trixie started to question exactly what it was that had her actually moving forward. She knew the trick now, she could just walk right out of town. She might even be able to find her carriage, were she so inclined! There was no need to go into a dark, creepy building that likely held some unimaginable nightmarish horror.

“Well, we’re here,” She whispered to Honeycomb, “It was nice meeting you, but the great and powerful Trixie really must be off.”

“You never had to follow me, but if you want to just do that walk again, alone I might add, be my guest.” His retort was enough to make her follow up the steps, as he hesitantly pressed a hoof up against the glass door.

There was a brief moment of silence, as Honeycombs smile broke, and he shut his eyes, “Okay.” He said, to himself Trixie assumed, just before giving a gentle push.

The door swung inward with a quiet squeak of the hinges, as inside the two found themselves at what appeared to be the lobby of some kind of office. There were plenty of padded benches, and even a table covered in a variety of magazines. Several ponies sat inside, some of which holding and staring holes through reading material, and at the far desk, sat a lone mare. She stared directly at the two with her pair of soulless eyes, fake smile stretched across her muzzle as they slowly stepped in, their facade back in place.

“Trixie doesn’t like this.” She whispered.

“Shh, we’re almost there.” He replied, taking the first step into the room. They could see an open doorway on the other side of the room, only about a total of ten feet from the entrance way, and yet it may as well have been placed halfway across Equestria.

Step.

Getting closer, so long as they kept quiet, they would be through the room in no time.

Step.

Why exactly had Trixie followed this Stallion, anyway? It wasn’t like she knew his particular friends and family.

Step.

Where were the Princesses in all of this? Couldn’t Luna tell when someone was obviously messing around with dreams?

Step.

Didn’t Celestia just kind of always know when something was wrong?

Step.

Why was she the one being put in danger all of the sudden? She just wanted to perform a few new spells and wow a few Earth Ponies!

Step.

Almost there, they had gone halfway through the room over the course of just a few seconds, and yet Trixie’s heart was practically trying to escape from her own chest.

Before they could take another step forward, a voice could be heard from below them, echoing through much of the building, “Everything is finally ready, you must excuse my friend. He’s quite difficult to wake.” Trixie recognized that voice, the same one she had heard at the end of her dream!

She had to stop herself from rushing, keeping up at the pace they had set. She dared to glance over at Honeycomb, a sudden look of determination on his face... Trixie had to bump him just to get him to keep smiling.

“Please Starlight,” A deeper, masculine voice echoed out, “You were right all along. Help us. Please.” He was pleading with the other as Trixie finally could see through the doorway, a staircase just a little further down the hall.

Trixie had nearly made it to the staircase when she turned back, noticing Honeycomb hadn’t moved a step. She cocked her head, and beckoned him forward with a quick head tilt. He didn’t move an inch, “Psst! Hey!” She hissed, “Get over here!” She was absolutely not going down there alone.

The stallion shook his head slightly when Trixie spoke, as though pulling himself from a trance as he trotted forward. A glance back into the lobby was enough to let her know that at least none of the other ponies had moved. Though, the longer she stared at them, the less comfortable she felt. Whatever had happened to them, she didn’t want to deal with any more than she had to.

“So, you have a plan, right?” Trixie asked, trying to keep her tone down.

“Uh, plan?”

“... To save your friends?”

“Yeah. Of course I have a plan.” He retorted, lying so obviously that she could only give an exasperated glare in response.

Another moment of silence passed between them.

“Now dear, just empty your mind, and allow me in. I promise you that your life will be peaceful from here on out.” The mare’s voice from below was enough to send both of them into action, as they began inching down the stairwell, clinging to the wall. Both dared to peek their heads around the corner, staring through the railing of the staircase. It was hardly a hiding spot, but Honeycomb was proving to be less than a brilliant strategist.

The room itself had their jaws hanging wide open. What had likely at one point been a pretty average storage basement, had been converted into some kind of deranged study. Pages from various spellbooks had been torn out and taped up to the walls, Trixie could even recognize some of them from her own practice. Any and all furniture had been removed, save for a lone table at the far wall, though one would be forgiven for simply believing it to be a mass of open books, ripped papers, and several ink bottles and quills.

In the center of the room though, stood a pink coated mare with a long, expertly crafted purple mane. A rather brilliantly shining red amulet hung around her neck, its chain made of pure silver as the gem inside of it glowed with a magical flare.

She stood tall over two others, a foal barely taller than one of Trixie’s legs, who seemed to have been unconscious on the floor. The other was a blue stallion, who knelt before the pony in front of him.

She approached the Stallion with a rather wide smile, “Now, accept my gift.” She whispered, as the amulet she wore grew brighter and brighter, surrounding itself in a white aura that quickly began to condense within the center of the gem, before firing out with a brilliant white beam, that pierced directly into the Stallion’s forehead.

His eyes burst wide open, mouth gaping open wide as he let loose with a shriek that echoed throughout the entire building... and then abruptly stopped. The white beam of magical energy faded quickly, leaving the stallion perfectly unharmed, as her mouth curled quickly into a smile, eyes focusing on the wall across from him.

“Blue!” Honeycomb yelled out, just before Trixie tackled him back behind the wall. He was going to get them both killed, or turned into a brain dead zombie, or any other horrible fate this mare could think of!

“It appears as though there are intruders within our community,” The pink mare said rather calmly, as the sound of hooves hitting the floor in the other room rang into Trixie’s ears, “Perhaps you would like to introduce yourselves? Or would you rather just continue playing hide and seek up there?”

Neither of them said a thing. They were trapped, no matter which way they went. Trixie knew that downstairs had no exits, and the front lobby was easily guarded by far too many of those freaks for her to even think about charging through. She could attempt to fight them with her magic... but there were still so many of them, and it only became more and more obvious that Honeycomb was in much deeper than he could have ever known how to deal with.

She was going to have to try and escape out through the top floor. With any luck, maybe nopony had actually been upstairs! Trixie didn’t have the time to think though, as she reached down to take Honey’s hoof, “Come on!” She said, starting to move... when the other below spoke again.

“Leaving? That’s a shame, I was just about to perform the ritual again, once this little boy wakes up.”

“No!” Honeycomb screamed, as he ran downstairs, “Leave my brother alone!” He stopped at the foot of the staircase, staring at the mare, “Starlight please! You’ve taken enough for your community! Please, just let me take my brother and go!”

Trixie’s eyes went wide as he left her side, barely able to see him from where she sat at the top of the staircase, as the sound of hoofbeats from outside came to an abrupt halt. What had he done? Trixie had her run in with magical amulets, and the power they provided her had been staggering! They had seen together what this Starlight could already do, and as such even Trixie had the idea to run away.

“I’m sorry Honeycomb. Your family has voluntarily chosen to come into my philosophy. I only wish you could do the same! It would make our family that much stronger if you joined us!” Starlight spoke to him calmly, almost even happily.

‘Come on Trixie, Run. Run. Run. Get on your hooves and gallop as hard as you can! You’re not that far from an escape... The lake! You can swim out of town! All you have to do is stand up and move!’ She thought to herself, as she pushed herself to her hooves.

“You’re taking ponies minds from them! This isn’t what anypony wanted! We trusted you, Starlight!” Honeycomb yelled back at her, tears welling up in his eyes as he fell to his knees, “I’m begging you. Just spare my brother.”

Trixie watched the stallion who had saved her, who had taken her across this town safely in her time of need, break down like a filly. Her heart betrayed her mind as she finally took a step, going down the staircase one by one as Starlight approached him.

“I can do you one better,” She suggested, as her amulet began to glow white once again, “I’ll allow you to live here, in perfect harmony with all of your family and friends. You can even go on beekeeping as normal. Doesn’t that sound lovely?” Trixie watched as that light began to condense again inside of the amulet.

“Wait!” Trixie called down the steps, continuing her slow, shaking descent.

‘Oh Dear Celestia. I’m actually going to die.’