Magical Girl Trixie

Everything was cold. I couldn't feel my body enough to shiver, but I still felt the sensation like I was standing in a freezer, only the freezer was my body, something I couldn't get away from.

What happened? All I remember is black. Wait! Am I still alive? No, that couldn't be. Lulu--or I guess Marrow--stabbed me to death. There was so much blood. I wonder what my mom is gonna say when she hears about this. What am I even going to tell her? Will I ever see her again? Where am I?

I wanted to open my eyes, to look around and see if I was still at school, but I was still too weak to regain consciousness, even though I was self-aware in my dreamlike state. There was nothing around me but darkness, making me naively believe that maybe Night Seam had saved me and that she brought me somewhere dark where nobody could hurt me. Even though I couldn't move my real body, I could at least picture myself falling to the ground and crying into my knees.

“This is it,” I sobbed. “I should have just left everybody alone. I should have just done what I was told. I should have stayed out of her way, but because I just had to believe I could be someone important, here I am.”

“And where is here, exactly?”

“I'm on the brink of death! At least, I think I am. Maybe I'm already dead.”

“The only one who can decide that now is you.”

“Don't give me that! I just got stabbed! I don't always have a choice for what happens to me!”

“You have a choice now, though, Trixie. After all those times when you said to yourself how much you wanted to die, someone hands you a free pass on a silver platter, yet here you are, fighting back and trying to keep yourself alive.”

“What… What should I do, then?”

“How would I know? I'm just a voice in your head.”

“But whose voice is it, I wonder?” I said, giggling as I began to recognize where I had heard it before. “Will I need to answer some riddles first, do you think?”

The voice laughed.

“No, Trixie, but it sounds like you've made your decision. Don't forget, though, that whether or not you decide to play in this game will impact everyone, not just yourself.”

“I know… But… Can you tell Dreamdrop what happened? I think I need her right now.”

“I'm not going to mention Marrow, but I'll tell her where you are and let you explain the rest.”

“Where… Where am I?”

“Why don't you open your eyes and find out?”

The voice began to disappear, but not without a long-winded, diabolical laugh that echoed through the darkness as it faded away. Then, I could feel my body being pulled as the darkness faded away into a bright, blinding light.

***

“Ugh…” I groaned, weakly opening up my heavy eyelids to see bright ceiling lights and white walls. I could feel a rough, thin fabric covering my body, something clamped to my finger, and a severe pain in my abdomen, keeping me from sitting up.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice said. “The princess has finally woken from her slumber.”

I couldn't move enough to see who was talking, but I didn't need to think twice about who the voice belonged to. “M-mom?”

“Honestly, Trixie. Can you not go one day without getting into trouble? I get woken up early in the morning from the hospital calling me and telling me that my own daughter tried to commit suicide in the middle of school. Yet, here you are, alive and well. Was that some kind of publicity stunt? What were you trying to prove?”

“Mom…” I said with the little energy I had as tears filled my eyes. “I love you so much. Thank you for coming to see me.”

“...I'm going to go get something from the vending machine. Don't die while I'm away. I've still got a lot of shit that I need to get off my chest.”

I then heard a chair screech across the floor as footsteps tapered out of the hospital room, leaving me again alone to my thoughts. What would this mean for the game? There was no way I'd be able to use magic in this state, let alone compete against other magical girls! Not to mention the fact that it would be at least a couple of days before the doctors would even let me leave the hospital.

“G&PT!” called another familiar voice out of nowhere. Did I just imagine it? Was that Dreamdrop? No, it wasn't bubbly enough to be Dreamdrop. “I came as soon as I heard what happened! The other magical girls wanted to come see you too, but it's just too risky for them to be seen in public or come in their true identities. Oh, and don't worry about your mom coming back in. She thinks she's talking to a doctor right now.”

“Paradox!” I exclaimed in a little more than a whisper, using as much energy as I could to force a half-smile. “How did you hear about what happened?”

“Discord sent us all a message telling us that someone tried to stab you. Do you know who it was? Maybe we could find them and teach them a lesson! I'm sure Dreamdrop and Marrow would come along too!”

Marrow… Of course they didn't know. If I tried telling them what really happened, none of them would take me seriously anymore. They'd never believe that the magical girl they all look up to, the one they idolize as the strongest and most talented magic-user of the group was a schoolyard bully dedicated to making my life Hell.

“No, sorry,” I muttered. “I didn't see who did it. They knocked my glasses off, and I didn't get a good look at their face.”

“That's a shame. Do you have an idea of when the doctors will leave you alone for a little while? We could start looking for them tonight if you wanted.”

“Tonight? I can't move my body. I don't think--”

“Trixie, you're a magical girl. Remember yesterday when Dreamdrop saved you from that classmate of yours? Remember yesterday when your mom--Oh, wait, that's probably a sensitive subject. Well, do you remember transforming into the Great and Powerful Trixie after that and all your wounds were gone?”

“Would something like that work on a wound like this, though?”

“Sure, it would! Oh, and by the way, catch!” I squeezed my eyes, ready for her to throw something at me without realizing how much pain my body was in even when I wasn't moving, but instead of feeling the object land on my head or stomach, she slid the item right underneath my hand. “You didn't think I was really gonna throw it, did you? Don't you know anything about me by now? Oh! Your mom's getting angsty. I'd better get out of here. Let me know tonight and we can do some magical girl stuff! Later!”

I didn't see or hear her walk out, but then again, I doubt anyone in the hospital did. Instead, however, I heard the sound of footsteps walking into my room and falling onto a chair, opening a can of soda and sighing loudly.

“That doctor of yours just would not stop pestering me. The two of you have a lot in common. I think you'd get along.”

Then came the silence. I wanted to talk to her, but what would I even talk about? I couldn't exactly mention that I was now a magical girl, competing in a game against nine other magical girls to see who would be allowed to keep their powers or that one of those girls just stabbed me so that there would already be one cut made.

“So why did you do it?”

“Huh?”

“C'mon, Trixie! Don't make this any harder on me! Why did you try killing yourself?”

“It…” I trailed off. There was no way I could tell her what really happened. “It was an accident.”

“An accident? You're telling me that a switchblade going through your stomach with, from what the doctors said, had enough pressure to kill any other normal girl, was an accident? How the hell did you even get a switchblade?”

This lie was getting harder and harder to keep up, but then again, it would still be easier than telling the truth. "A girl at school asked me to give it to someone in the next class over, and on my way, I tripped and fell on top of it. I was afraid they would make fun of me if I said no. I'm sorry, mom."

“A girl asked you to deliver a switchblade for her?! Who?!”

Crap. Time to make up a name.

“Rarity.”

“Who in the fuck is Rarity?”

“A girl at my school.”

“Ugh…” Following a long, exasperated sigh from my mother came an even longer silence, but even though this kind of silence would be awkward for any other girl, to me, it was the sound of peace, especially with my mom so close by. “You know I have to work tonight, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I'll stay with you until then, but after work, I'm going straight home! I'm gonna need it after waking up so damn early to be here.”

“That's fine. I'm just glad you're here now.”

“Well, duh! You think I'm just gonna ignore a call from the hospital saying my daughter might die? What kind of monster do you think I am?”

Even though it was painful, I shook my head, smiling from ear to ear as I said, “I don't think you're a monster. You're the sweetest, kindest mom in the whole world.”

Even without my magical girl enhanced hearing, I could hear her heart beating faster from the other side of the room, making me imagine her face glowing a bright red. However, after fidgeting in her chair for a minute or two, she stood up, making the chair squeak against the ground again.

“I need to use the can. Think you'll be alright until then?”

“Go ahead. I'll be alright.”

Then, as soon as I heard her footsteps fade away completely, I quickly grabbed the object that Paradox gave me, ignoring the searing pain in my stomach as I sat up to see what it was. My magical phone! Upon turning it on, I saw over twenty messages waiting for me, and it looked like every single magical girl had sent me at least one message!

“OMG! Great and Powerful Trixie, please be OK! I want to see you as soon as you're better!”

“Whoa! You got stabbed?! You deserve to be a magical girl more than any of us! I'm rooting for you!”

“Great and Powerful Trixie, my dear! I wanted to come see you in the hospital, but you can imagine the consequences of that, can't you? The next time you're in Platinum City, I promise to treat you to anything you'd like as an apology! XOXO”

Most of the girls only sent me one message, some two, Palette sent three, but Dreamdrop, the one I wanted to hear from most, sent eight!

“Trixie! Please tell me you're OK! Please, please, PLEEEEASE tell me you're OK! I need to hear from you right now!”

“I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you! I'm sorry I'm not there now! Please text me back!”

“Trixie, why haven't I heard from you?! You're OK, right? Please tell me you're still alive! You can't leave me!”

“I'm sorry. Your name is the Great and Powerful Trixie. Is that why you've been ignoring me? I'm sorry!”

“Please! I'll do anything! Just let me know you're OK!!!”

“OK, Paradox just told me that she went to see you. She told me that you didn't have your phone and that you're awake now. I feel so much better, but I'm still worried.”

“I'm going to see you tonight. If you can't leave the hospital, I'll come see you in my real identity. I don't care. I just want to tell you in person how sorry I am.”

“OK, last message, I promise! I'm going to get you something with my brownie points. Don't worry about paying me back. This is my gift to you! Trust me, it sounds like you'll need it… K, byeeee!!”

Hearing from all the girls put such a wide smile on my face, and even though it hurt, I couldn't stop reading all the support they were all giving me. That is, until I scrolled to the bottom and saw the last message that was sent to me.

“Why did you have to survive? Do you not realize what kind of pressure you're putting on all the other magical girls? Do you not care? How would you feel if someone ended up losing their powers just so you could flaunt yourself as ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’? You were better as a punching bag, but since you had to go and push things too far, I'm going to make sure you die. I'm just trying to protect Platinum City as well as all the other magical girls. Next time, do us all a favor, and don't survive.”

My smile was now gone. All the joy that the girls had given me through their overwhelming support had disappeared, leaving me emotionless as I stared at my magical phone. Then, once the initial shock had worn off, I finally began to feel something, only it definitely wasn't joy. My teeth were grinding together, my hand gripped my phone to the point of nearly crushing it, and though pain was screaming through my body, I bent my entire upper body forward as I heaved air in and out of my lungs.

Suddenly, however, I heard footsteps once again approaching my room and quickly hid underneath my crappy hospital blanket once more, sliding my phone under my butt as an added precaution.

“You know what, I can't tell you what smells worse,” my mom said, taking her seat again, “the bathrooms or all the old people they've got in here.”

“Mom, you don't need to stay right now,” I said, trying to sound like my normal, sweet self behind surging anger. “Why don't you go home and get some rest before work?”

“But… Are you gonna be OK by yourself for that long?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine, and can you tell the doctors to not come in for a little while? I'm actually thinking about going back to sleep.”

“Alright, but… Do you promise you'll wake up again?”

“I'll be fine, mom!”

I had never snapped at my mom before, mostly because I thought she would break my ribs if I ever did, but in this scenario, my mom was the one showing concern for me while I directed my anger at her. I was cursing at myself internally as soon as it happened, but I knew that I would just inadvertently blow up at her if she stayed any longer. Besides, I had somewhere I needed to be.

“Well… OK. Just ask the doctors to let you use the phone if you need me to come back. I'll come see you tomorrow. I hope you start feeling better.”

“...Bye, mom.”

“...Yeah…”

As she walked out, she closed the door behind her, leaving me all alone. Finally she was gone! I hated myself for being so cruel to her, but I had to get out of there fast. Pulling my phone out from underneath me, I quickly typed a message to Paradox and Dreamdrop that said, “Meet me in Platinum City. I'll be there in 5 minutes.”

Then, once the message was sent, I allowed all the magic within me to rise to the surface, illuminating the whole hospital room as I began to levitate from my bed, glowing a bright white. Once the light dissipated, all the pain was gone. My wound was no longer there, and I had free range over my body again.

Staring down at my phone, I saw that the both of them had already sent me messages back.

“I'm on my way right now! ”

“Yay! You're back! I can't wait to see you!”

As I looked down at my messages, though, the one that I couldn't stop reading was the one message sent by that stupid fucking skeleton girl. Despite how angry it made me to look at it, I got a sick thrill in reading how pissed off she made me over and over again.

Clenching my phone with a twisted smile on my face, I said aloud, “Some bitch is gonna die tonight.”