Trixie had just finished reading the little filly a bedtime story and kissing her sleepy forehead when she heard the loud, frantic knocks on the door. She trotted out of the small bedroom quickly and closed the door, not wanting the loud knocks to wake Hope up. Trixie sighed wearily, knowing that the knocks were probably from the disgruntled tenant, who would soon be demanding her in order to make up for the many months of unpaid rent. The fur on her coat prickled and rose just at the thought of it, but still- that wouldn't keep him from evicting Trixie and her foal for long.
“I’m coming!” she called out, trying to get him to stop castigating the door to her precarious and cramped apartment. Still, that didn’t stop him from assaulting the door, nearly tearing off the hinges from the walls. Not that he was a particularly strong stallion, on the contrary; he was skinny and his coat, although once a vivid brown — from what he had told her — was now a light, sickening brown that seemed to be permanently sticky and oily, making her cringe every time he felt entitled to touch her.
She neared the door, lowering her ears and sighing. ‘Remember, Trixie; this is all for Hope. She deserves it.’ she gloomily thought, already preparing herself for what was very likely to be another torturing night. “The hyena comes, laughs and goes away,” she muttered in a nigh audible tone. Wiping the newly formed tears from her eyes, she took a second to wear her snobbish mask before unlocking the door and opening it.
To her surprise, it wasn’t the tenant waiting for her outside. Instead, there stood a cyan earth pony dressed in an astounding dress. The earth pony wasted no time and quickly entered Trixie’s house, eyeing everything inside with disdain through her hot-pink glasses.
“Y- you?” Trixie uttered in disbelief, for she knew who that pony was. Practically everypony on the streets would recognize her and remember what had happened to her in the blink of an eye. And this is exactly what made Trixie feel a bit uneasy; she didn’t have a reason to be here. The dressed mare merely turned around to her and stared at her purple eyes for the longest of times before a smirk slowly crept up on her face.
* * *
“Mommy, where are we going?” asked the beige unicorn filly walking beside Trixie. Hearing her daughter speaking those innocent words made her leg muscles nearly falter for a moment; Trixie was once again reminded of the choice she had made the night prior. As both unicorns walked side-by-side through the appalling streets of Trottingham, the cerulean mare began to remember the odd proposal she had received the night prior. Her head shook involuntarily; she couldn’t think too much about that right now.
“You’ll see when we get there, sweetie,” she said, trying her best to remain with a positive, happy posture towards her. The wintry cold ruffled against both ponies’ coats, prompting Hope to shiver and stop dead on her tracks.
“Mommy...” she half-whined and looked at Trixie, giving her the old puppy-eyes trick. “I’m cold.”
“Oh, dear.” Trixie’s horn glowed and soon, a lavender aura had enveloped Hope completely. The filly was gently plucked from the ground and placed over Trixie’s back. Hope’s only answer was to smile and hug her mother’s neck, something that brought a smile to the cerulean mare’s muzzle. She nuzzled the filly and continued walking, frowning a bit at the thought that she had to sell both her cape and her hat — her most precious belongings, and the only things she was able to salvage from Ponyville after the Ursa Minor incident — in order to buy some food for herself, long before Hope was born.
The filly seemed very content in hugging her mother. Although it did nothing to stop the cold that sent tingles down her spine, the proximity with her mother brought her another kind of warmth, one that soothed the physical one that was now making her little cream hooves numb. Minutes passed with the two mares walking through the decrepit town. The constant howling symphony of the gusts chilled them to their bones and made Trixie aware of just how hungry she was. She inaudibly sighed, knowing that Hope was probably as hungry as she was. ‘She is such a good filly... she hardly, if ever, complains,’ she thought as the wind seemed to lacerate her cheeks wherever the tears had ran through.
Trixie paused before an impressive mansion. One which contrasted against the whole city; the architecture was sublime and imposing. The many marble sculptures of ponies were intimidating and seemed omniscient. ‘So archaic...' Trixie thought as she measured the whole structure. ‘She had always hated the most classical forms of art. What does she see in these, then?’
Her thoughts trailed off when the sturdy iron gates of the mansion opened, prompting Trixie to give a fearful step towards the mansion that stood a few yards away from her. Hope was mesmerized by it all; she had never before known the world of wealth inhabited by the elite. With wide eyes, she took mental notes of absolutely everything around her, thinking that by drawing those beautiful sculptures she would finally discover her special talent in drawing.
When Trixie and Hope were halfway through the gardens, the mansion’s front lights turned on, bathing the two in a unnecessarily bright white light. Hope covered her eyes with her little forehooves, while Trixie telekineticly gently placed her on the floor. The front door opened and that cyan mare stepped out, flanked by three bulky and angry looking stallions. A sense of urgency hit Trixie like a brick and she kneeled before her daughter, who was working her little brain into trying to comprehend the situation that was unfurling before her.
“Hope, whatever happens today... know this,” she said and inched closer, nuzzling the filly. “Mommy will always love you.” Hope glanced away from the mansion up to her mother, her eyes widening when she noticed the tears welling up on her purple eyes.
“Mommy... you’re scaring me!” she mumbled as tears began to form on her eyes as well. “P- please, take me home,” she begged, walking forward and gripping her mother in a tight embrace.
“Ah! I see zat you have finally agreed!” the pony dressed in her unique outfit proclaimed, walking forward. Her bodyguards never more two steps behind her. She stopped dead on her tracks and smiled when she saw the cream filly that was desperately clutching her mother. With a swift flick of her white mane, she commanded, “ze filly. Take her.”
Hope’s eyes widened even further; her face bearing the image of panic itself. “Mommy! Please!” she begged, unwilling to believe what was going on. The stallions galloped towards the pair. Each step reverberating against the cobblestone floor and sending waves of fear that completely locked Hope’s muscles.
“I’m... sorry...” Trixie mumbled, much to the filly’s dismay. “I’m so very sorry...” She closed her eyes and began to cry openly, caring little for who were to hear her wails. The two stallions neared the pair and yanked Hope away from her mother. The cream filly tried to fight back; her crimson locks swishing with each tiny struggle, but the stallions carrying her were bigger and stronger than she would ever hope to be.
“MOMMY! MOMMY PLEASE!” her screams were nearly as loud as Trixie’s wails. And yet, she could only remain perfectly still, unable to fight the disgust that she was currently feeling at herself for being so weak. “PLEASE MOMMY! I’LL BE A GOOD FILLY! I’M SORRY IF I DID SOMETHING TO UPSET YOU! MOMMY!” No matter how loud and miserable Hope sounded, nopony around her seemed willing to be compassionate about her situation. The stallions carried her to the interior of the mannor, as Trixie kept crying, lying motionless on the ground.
“Tsk, tsk. Now, don’t be so dramatic!” she said, smirking at Trixie. “Come, sister. We have a lot zu talk about.”
* * *
“What?!” Trixie screamed, unwilling to believe what the white maned mare told her. “You come into my house and you have the audacity to ask me such question?!” She had to fight the irresistible urge to throw her sister out the window. Even though Trixie’s horn was flaring up with a bright surge of lavender light, the other pony merely shook her head at her, not impressed in the slightest.
“Ach! Think about it, du imbecile!” she said, slowly walking closer to Trixie. “You could have your status back! You could have your fame! You could be lo-”
“Spare me, Photo Finish!” Trixie stomped on the precarious wooden floor, caring little about the downstairs neighbour’s complaints that would be sure to follow. “Everypony may know who you are, but your time in the galleries and runways is over. I’m betting that you don’t even have enough to sustain yourself!” She flared her nostrils with the last taunt, trying in vain to intimidate her sister.
“Ach, but I do! A pony as smart as me doesn’t go zu ze fashion vorld unprepared. You may have inherited our vater’s horn, but I got his brains. I’ve found... ways zu... circumvent my current predicament.” Her voice was calm and nearly emotionless as she spoke. The contrast of it with her thick accent was something that infuriated Trixie even further.
“Get. Out.”
“Humph, fine! But mein offer still stands! Bring ze filly and you vill get your money.” Photo Finish turned around and calmly walked outside, where a group of stallions was quick to let her pass and turn around as she pranced through them, following suit. Trixie magically slammed the door shut and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
“Mommy?” a small voice echoed through the small apartment, breaking her thoughts. Trixie looked at her daughter, the small filly was rubbing one forehoof against her drowsy eyes while the other clutched her blanket. “I heard a noise. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Hope... everything is okay now...” She sighed and closed her eyes, trying her best to forget about her twin sister’s little visit. “Go to your room, sweetie. It’s way past little fillies’ bedtime.” Hope nodded happily, but galloped forward and hugged her mother’s leg before breaking in a fit of giggles and storm to her room. The gentle smile that was on Trixie’s muzzle was slowly drooping, being replaced by a feeble and pathetic expression.
What had ired her that night wasn’t Photo Finish herself or her proposal. Trixie bit her lip and glanced to Hope, watching as the filly climbed her bed and closed her eyes, hugging her blanket tightly and bearing a serene smile. The cyan unicorn knew that everything her sister had said was true. With the money, she could start a new life. A better life. She could be adored once more... buy a new wagon and make her life worth something, for a change. And then, there was Hope.
While she had been something unwanted at first, — and something Trixie nearly got rid off — Hope had quickly proved herself to be a strong pillar that helped support her life. During the nights in which she thought about ending it all, not being able to stand the touch of another stallion, Hope was there to comfort her and show her that love was a different thing. During the times in which they both needed to ration their food, Hope was always willing to share half of what she was having with her mother. Countless times Trixie found herself scared of the future like a foal, only to have Hope to act as a mother towards her.
Still, the nagging was present in the back of her mind. Trixie knew it wouldn’t be a completely selfish decision, for Hope herself would benefit from the money afterwards. But one thing that the azure mare could not even begin to formulate an answer to was, ‘would it be worth it? Would it be worth sacrificing the innocence of my own daughter just so we can have a more stable life?’ Many times before rich patrons have asked — some even with a certain degree of fervor — Trixie to allow them some time alone with Hope. Some went even as far as to ask for both of them at the same time. Trixie would’ve bucked them or worse were she not desperate for the money. She would make up the most strange of excuses; from a very contagious disease to be waiting for her to grow more so she could sell her to the highest bidder later.
Lies all the same, but it was something needed to keep Hope from falling down the same rabbit hole. It, however, would be impossible if Trixie couldn’t change her situation in time. Although her sister’s offer bore some likeness to those of the rich patrons, she couldn’t stop asking herself, ‘this is different though, isn’t it? It’s... it’s not the same thing... is it? It... I...’ She thought about how it would deeply traumatize little Hope. But at the same time, some possibilities crossed her mind; she could return to Ponyville and ask for the help of that purple unicorn. The one who helped the town when the Ursa attacked and whose name she had forgotten.
With that much money, she would be able to buy Twilight’s secrecy and force her to cast a memory erasing spell on Hope. With that much money, Trixie and Hope could be truly happy. But deep inside, she knew that she would never be able to forget what her daughter would have to go through in order for her to achieve happiness. ‘Is it... selfish of me?’ No, Trixie didn’t get angry with her twin sister. She didn’t get angry with the offer. She got angry because, deep down, she already knew the answer.
She did not sleep that night.
* * *
“She... Hope... she’ll be safe, right?” Trixie asked, wiping the tears off of her eyes while she followed her twin sister through the many corridors of the mansion. Photo Finish did not reply, and only kept on walking like nothing had ever happened. They arrived in a very wide living room, something Trixie thought to be at least ten times bigger than her whole apartment. As Photo Finish sat on a very strange looking couch, Trixie couldn't help but stare at it. The seat seemed like an open dragon claw, with the spiked nails pointing to the ceiling, Photo Finish seating at its palm. Trixie sat down onto another, more simpler black couch, noting the many surrealist paintings hanging from the walls and the many sculptures that adorned the corners of it. ‘Those statues must’ve been hoof-sculpted... the level of detail put into them and emotion they convey practically radiates from them,’ she thought as she looked at all the gloomy looking pony statues before plopping herself on the black leather couch.
“Ja! Ze filly vill be fine!” she said and took a glass filled with a strong smelling drink that one of the servants — who seemed to appear out of nowhere — served her. He walked to Trixie and offered her another cup of the same liquid, which she quickly took and downed in one swift movement. The liquid burned her throat, prompting her to cough a bit as she felt the warmth spreading through her stomach, burning in a somewhat soothing sensation. Grimacing, she placed the empty cup back on the tray and the stallion walked away, leaving the two alone. “Don’t like vhisky? Hah! You were never one zu understand ze grandeur zat often follows sacrifices.” She chortled.
Trixie’s ears drooped to the sides of her head in shame; she knew that she had already crossed the situation’s event horizon. She opened her mouth to ask Photo Finish another question, but she hushed when a feminine looking, slender stallion with a gray coat galloped towards her sister, whispering something in her ear. Photo Finish seemed to beam at this, seeing that her smile widened considerably. “Vhat? Already? Oh, Muzzy... du were always so loyal, so prestative,” she said, stroking his delicate black mane with a forehoof. Trixie was able to see that one of his eyes was of a deep purple tone, an interesting contrast against his coat and mane. “I just can’t vait for when your time comes!” The stallion simply smiled and turned around, galloping out the way he came from without muttering a word. Photo Finish got up from her seat and motioned with her head for her sister to follow.
She got up from the couch and immediately was hit by a dizzyness. She blinked a few times in confusion and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the feeling that she thought the alcoholic beverage had brought upon her. With a few haggard steps, Trixie readied herself and followed suit. The ponies walked through a big archway and into a narrow, dimly lit corridor. All around them stood many statues of heads, looking sorrowful and gloomy, with eyes that seemed to pierce Trixie’s very soul. She couldn’t help but feel a bit doleful by looking at them; they seemed so vivid and their emotions so strong that she wouldn’t be surprised if one of them were to blink or scream, reflecting their expression of agony.
They reached a wider area with two wooden doors, one a few hooves away from the other. Photo Finish walked into the right door and disappeared inside the near total darkness of the room. Trixie followed, dreading what was before her; she wouldn’t be able to face Hope after what had happened. She already felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she was basked in total darkness. She dared a few steps forward before halting completely, not wanting to bump into one of her sister’s many expensive decorations or mementos.
“Open!” she heard her sister announce and instantly, some sort of window panel was lifted, revealing a brightly lit room before her. Probably where the other door would lead to. Trixie shielded her eyes from the brightness with a forehoof and waited for her vision to get accustomed with it. When she removed her forehoof, her jaw nearly hit the floor when she realized what stood before her. On the other side, stood Hope above a small pillar that made her stand as tall as her mother. It was with a pang of guilt that Trixie acknowledged that her daughter had been crying a lot; her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were stained with the trails of tears.
The filly was donned in a breezy, semi-transparent pink skirt that cut just before where her cutie mark would be. She had a hot-pink collar attached to her neck, one that was strapped to the very pillar she was on, making her unable to run away. Spiked bracelets adorned her small forehooves and her mane had been brushed and made into pigtails. Worse yet, Trixie was able to see four cameras mounted around the filly.
“Why did you bring me here?!” Trixie asked her sister, who was sitting upon a couch, unceremoniously smoking a cigarette. Photo Finish blew her smoke, but remained in absolute silence. “HOPE!” she screamed as she trotted up to the glass panel and began to pound on it with both forehooves. “HOPE! MOMMY’S HERE! JUST HOLD ON, I’LL SAVE YOU!” Hope remained still, sniffing from time to time and looking dejectedly to the floor.
“Ze filly can’t hear you,” Photo Finish said and blew more smoke. Trixie stopped and turned around. She approached her sister, glaring daggers and swords at her. Her sister merely huffed, “Ze glass is soundproof. And it also acts as a mirror. Ze filly can’t hear or see us, but ze microphone from the other room vill allow us to hear them.”
“Photo Finish, why am I here?!” she asked once more, looking at her sister’s eyes through the hot-pink glasses she wore. “You already... you did... it’s done...” When she didn’t answer right away, Trixie placed a hoof on her chest and pressed hard. “ANSWER ME!”
With a quick, swift movement, Photo Finish slapped Trixie’s hoof away and rose from her chair. “Du are here to vatch! And no! It hasn’t happened, yet.”
“Watch it?! Are you insane?! How in Equestria did you think that I would sit here and wat-” Trixie trailed off when the door to the room she was in opened and four stallions walked inside, one of them carrying a video camera that was mounted on a wheeled tripod. The camerapony rounded the apparatus and focused the camera on Trixie. A red light glowing on its front was a signal that it was already recording. Her eyes went wide as saucers when the full extent of the situation made sense inside her brain. She quickly approached Photo Finish and smacked a hoof across her face, prompting her to fall to the floor and making her infamous glasses fall from her face. The reaction of the brutish ponies all around Trixie were not what she was expecting; they remained still, as if they wouldn’t do something if Finish didn’t order them to.
Her reactions was also something Trixie didn’t expect; she cleaned the blood that trickled from her mouth with a forehoof and laughed, sending waves of panic and fear that crawled up Trixie’s spine. She stood immobile as her sister slowly got up from the floor with her eyes closed. Her laughs amped up, reverberating against the cushioned walls of the dark room. Slowly turning around, she looked at Trixie with her emerald green eyes of hers and furrowed her brows. Her breathing was slow and labored, as if Photo Finish was trying her best to conceal her temper.
“You will watch. And you will enjoy it,” she slowly proclaimed. The anger was practically dripping from her voice, making her abandon her mock Germaneighc accent. “Or else, the deal is off!”
“Fine! The deal is off! Return Hope to me and you will never see either of us again!” she said, unwilling to keep her up until now bottled anger from exploding.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.” She smiled and looked to the brutish stallions behind Trixie, nodding to them. Trixie immediately turned around and flared her horn in self-defense. She focused her magic and wrapped one of the stallions in a lavender veil. He levitated some hooves off the floor, flailing around in panic. Before her could toss him over the others, her magic faltered and the stallion dropped to the floor. Trixie’s head began to pound, making it a strain just to keep standing up on four hooves. Her body faltered to the side and she smacked against the cushioned wall before slowly dropping to the floor.
“What... what did you do to me?!” she blurted out as her headache slowly faded, leaving just her vision partially blurred.
“If you had any taste in real beverages, you would have known that that wasn’t whisky alone.” She smiled, before turning around and bucking her sister. When she had her revenge, the stallions picked Trixie up and placed her over the couch Photo Finish was seated on moments ago, holding her forehooves and her head in place.
“You’re insane!”
“Insane? No... look at my cutie mark.” She pulled her long dress with a forehoof and showed Trixie her cutie mark; a six pointed pink star with five white, smaller stars around it. Trixie couldn’t help but be reminded of a purple unicorn from Ponyville at the sight of it. “Both our talents are magic, dear sister,” she spat out, as if she were disgusted with the family bond. “But, as you can see, I don’t have a horn, so I have to do other kinds of magics. And I have,” she said, walking around and placing a forehoof on the glass panel. “My art has more magic than your horn, Trixie. My art... is alive!”
Trixie watched as the door across the glass panel opened, making Hope cringe and whimper. She struggled against the leash that kept her over the pillar, but it was of no use. Four of her sister’s bulky assistants entered the room, wearing long robes that left only the tip of their hooves and their head uncloaked. She looked fearful to every one of the robed stallions as they placed themselves around her. Through the speaker on her dark room, Trixie was able to hear that her filly had begun to cry once more.
Her tiny sobs and wails seemed only to make Photo Finish more excited about it. She nodded once, without even looking behind and a stallion in the dark room said something — Trixie couldn’t quite understand what, being so focused on her daughter — on the microphone. On the other room, a stallion placed his forehoof on his ear and nodded once before walking towards the shuddering filly, who looked at him pleadingly. He nonchalantly placed a ball gag on her mouth and strapped it to the back of her head. She fought with her little hooves, trying to hit the stallion, but her collar allowed her little movement.
The stallion that placed the ball gag on her backed off before undressing himself. Trixie’s eyes widened instantly; all the stallions surrounding her had their colthoods fully erect. Hope’s eyes also widened and, for a filly who had never seen a male’s nether regions, she let out a very understanding whimper. They approached her, prompting the small filly to curl up and start to cry.
“NO! STOP IT! PLEASE, SISTER!” Trixie begged, but the only thing she managed to achieve with the outburst was to make her even more annoyed.
“Shut her up! I want to enjoy this.” Trixie immediately began to struggle against the stallions that were holding her in place. She felt her muscles already aching from the strain, but that didn’t discourage her from continue trying. One stallion walked to her and began to cover her mouth with duct tape, rolling it around her head five times before stopping. She shook her head but it was to no avail; her mouth was now completely covered with duct tape. “Yes... yes! This is perfect!” Photo Finish muttered, prompting Trixie to open her eyes and look to her daughter.
The sight nearly made her vomit. Tears were streaming down her face as she watched the four stallions abusing her daughter. Although none of them was actually penetrating her, they kept rubbing their shafts against her haunches, body and muzzle. Their thick pre cum was already leaking, staining her coat and her mane with it. It mixed with the tears that were continuously dripping from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks and pooling on the pillar she was standing on. One stallion gripped her hind legs and forced her down before going on top of her and rubbing his stallionhood against her folds and her tailhole.
She screamed as hard as her little lungs allowed to, but the gag she was wearing muffled her voice almost completely. This seemed only to fuel the stallion’s fire, as they also began to touch her with their hooves. Trixie closed her eyes, unable to watch another second of it.
“Madam, she’s not doing it,” spoke the camerapony, whose only concern seemed to be capturing her reactions on camera. Photo Finish turned around and ran her emerald eyes through her sister.
“Then force her to.”
Trixie arched her back and tried her best to hide her face from them. The sobs and wails that were able to escape her muffled mouth did nothing to stop the stallions or her sister, no matter how desperate they sounded. A unicorn approached her and magically wrapped her eyelids, prying them open and also nearly tearing them apart in the process, adding yet another muffled scream to the cacophony of pants and groans that resonated through the speakers. Her eyes were invaded with the sight of her twin sister looking at her art, engrossed with it. Trixie was also forced to watch a stallion rub his shaft all along Hope's face. She flinched away, but the stallion gripped her head with one hoof and forced her cheek against it.
The sick “ritual” continued for many minutes and Trixie was forced to watch every second of it. Every second that those stallions desecrated her daughter while she howled, screamed and tried her best to beg for them to stop. The stallions were frantic, nearing their climaxes. They anxiously rubbed against her and one of them was even prodding her marehood, backing off when he felt that his tip would penetrate her should he continue pressing against her. They seemed like machines, just acting out based on their lust, unable to comprehend that the act they were doing was much deeper than just physical.
They flipped Hope on her back and begun to rub against her. The filly had had enough and her mind seemed to shut down in order to protect her from the trauma. She stood with her legs up in the air and with a soulless expression across her muzzle as the stallions began to jack off on top of her. Soon, the first one came, followed by the other three, coating the filly with their cream. Their seed landed on her rump, face and belly and yet, she stood still. Her shallow breathing and the tears streaming down her cheeks were the only things hinting that she was still alive.
Trixie herself tried to howl in anger and disgust. She knew that she was responsible for this. She knew that it was all her fault and, if it wasn’t for her and her selfishness, things wouldn't end up the way they had. What was she able to achieve? She had hoped for happiness, but now everything she had was an empty shell of a daughter. Like Hope, her own spirit had been broken. She suddenly stopped struggling against the stallions’ grip, prompting one to look at the other. They nodded and let go of Trixie, who fell unceremoniously to the floor and stood still. Photo Finish turned when she heard the sound of her sister falling to the floor. She walked over and sat near her.
“You said... you wouldn’t going to... harm her,” Trixie managed out in a strangely nonchalant voice.
“I didn’t harm her... yet.”
“... why?”
“The deal has changed, Trixie. I too thought that this would all be over by now,” she said, still caring little for her accent. “But when I saw her face! Her fear! No artist in the world could ever hope to reproduce those emotions... and I want that!” Photo Finish turned around and nodded to one of the stallions, who was quick to gallop outside. “Her emotions were so perfect! So... pure. I want to immortalize her magic. Set it in stone, so she will always be able to show us her feeling, even when the centuries roll.”
“No... I... I won’t let you...” Trixie uttered and tried to stand on four hooves, only to fail and fall to the floor once again. She felt so pathetic; not only she was the one to force her daughter through this situation, she was also powerless to save her life. And for what? For the promise of a happy life from then on. Trixie couldn’t believe how stupid she had been.
“Well, I certainly hate to sound like a broken record but, I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. Trust me, she will be put to much better use as one of my statues.” Trixie tried to flare her horn once more, only for the migraine to pound against her skull as fiercely as it did before. Her hooves felt numb and her vision began to blur. Through her tear stained eyes, the last thing she saw before her consciousness faded were her sister’s beautiful eyes.
* * *
“Ask anypony who lives on the eastern suburbs of Trottingham an’ they are sure to tell you about Trixie, the madmare,” a olive green stallion said to the mare before him. “Boy, one poor soul, that Trixie is. Lost her kid and went insane, I reckon. Spends all day hugging an old blanket, muttering something about being hopeful or something.”
“Ach, I see...vell, hasn’t anyone ever called ze police about it? I mean- she claims zu have lost her kid.”
“Well, we tried at first. The police came an’ listened to her but couldn’t find out anything; poor mare has gone completely bonkers. On some particularly dark nights, she keeps crying an’ howling something about losing hope and her daughter. Other times she’s very quiet and reserved, like she doesn’t even see you in front of her. But if you stop to say hello, she is pretty quick to be friendly and show you her blanket, calling it her daughter.” At this, the mare nodded and looked towards the stallions right behind her. They quickly understood what she intended and went for her carriage waiting for her.
“Oh, thank you so much, for being so helpful. Zat pony is very dear to me, you see.”
“Oh, not a problem ma’am! Good to see that there are some kind, good souls still around on this world that care about a helpless mare! Well, take care!” he said and continued trotting away. Photo Finish waited until the stallion was out from her line of sight before walking towards the narrow alleyway, in which a cyan pony was quietly humming a gloomy tone whilst stroking a blanket.
“Trixie!” she snapped, prompting the lying mare to look up to her. “He liked the video, Trixie. He bought Hope and the videos, but now he’s claiming that he is missing the other half of his creation.” She spoke in her perfect, natural voice, thinking that it wasn’t necessary to maintain her charade around her sister.
Trixie stood up and looked at Photo Finish quizzically, as if she was trying to figure out who she was. When she finally recognized her, a smile formed on her face. “What are you talking about, sister? Hope is right here with me,” she said and pointed towards the blanket on the ground, lying amongst a pile of scattered, rotten food.
“Really? That is Hope?” she asked, unable to contain herself.
“Yes, it’s her. Don’t you recognize her beige coat?” she turned her head to look at the blanket, smiling warmly. Her gaze kept fixed on the linen and her expression began to shift to a despondent one. “But... sometimes... sometimes I’m not so sure,” she turned around and looked at Photo Finish with wide eyes. “Sometimes... I can’t feel her breath... I can’t hear her heart...”
Photo Finish backed away a few steps when she acknowledged that Trixie was starting to panic. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon as she blurted out words faster and louder. “I... I don’t know what to think... sometimes she doesn’t talk to me and... and I can’t feel her coat! I can’t feel her warmth! Sometimes... I... no... sometimes I can’t feel Hope... No!” Her legs faltered and she sat on her haunches looking to the blanket and back to her twin sister with a despondent expression. “No... NO! This isn't Hope! THIS ISN’T MY HOPE! MY HOPE IS GONE! GONE! THEY TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME! I KILLED MY HOPE!” she howled.
“Trixie!” At the mention of her name she stopped and fixed her eyes on Photo Finish.
“... you.”
“Trixie, calm down! I- I know that we’ve-”
“YOU!” Trixie got up and galloped towards Photo Finish, who backed away slowly. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she cursed herself for leaving her servants in the carriage. Trixie jumped in the air and tackled her sister. Both ponies fell to the floor and rolled a bit before coming to a stop. Photo Finish braced herself, raising both her forehooves in defense, but the hit she was expecting never came. Instead, she felt a pair of forehooves embracing her tightly.
“YOU HAVE TO HELP ME FIND HOPE, SISTER!” Trixie pleaded with tears in her eyes. “Y- YOU HAVE THE MONEY! WITH YOUR HELP, WE COULD FIND HER!”
Photo Finish was quick to understand the situation and smiled. She hugged her sister back, fighting the urge to gag at the strong scent that reeked from her. “Shhh. It’s alright,” she said, tenderly stroking her mane. “I’ve already found out where Hope is.”
Trixie’s head instantly shot up. “Y- you do? Oh, sister! Please tell me where! I need to see her again!” Photo Finish laughed and kept stroking her unkempt mane.
“Oh, yes. She’s back at my mansion. Come with me, dear sister, there’s a chariot waiting for us.” Trixie immediately got up and offered a helping hoof to Photo Finish. She took it and, once she was back on her four hooves, Trixie hugged her once again.
“Thank you, sis! I... I know I’ve called you jealous of me when we were little... and I’m sorry. I... I love you, sis!” she said, crying on Photo Finish’s shoulder.
“Yes, I know.” Both ponies walked side-by-side to the carriage Photo Finish had shown Trixie. She couldn’t help but laugh internally at how well the situation had played out. “Come, sister,” she said, opening the door to the carriage and allowing her sister to enter first before following. “I’ll make sure you two stay together forever.”
Hörst du Schwesterherz?
