Don't Say Her Name

“Alright, let’s make sure we got everything. Trix, you got the list?”

“Right here Star. Let’s see: lotion, bug salve, tent, sleeping bags, books, food...wait...books?”

“Sunset said she wanted to tell ghost stories and wanted to bring some tales to read.”

”Ah, okay, when are we meeting her anyway?”

“In an hour!”

Starlight and Trixie were currently laying on their bed going over what they needed for a special weekend retreat camping in the Everfree with Sunset Shimmer. The three mares had organized this awesome vacation to celebrate their victory over Chrysalis and saving the world from her wrath. “We really needed this. Eh, Trix?”

Laughing, Trixie responded with a smirk. “You can bet your sweet lilac colored flank we did. I almost went mad giving all those lessons to the dragons and yaks and...If I have to tell another changeling for the thousandth time, what the difference between making love and eating is, I swear I’ll scream. And then I’ll give them a physical demonstration!”

Starlight kissed her. “Oh shut up, you know you enjoy it!”

“Only because you and Sunset are there to keep me sane.”

Starlight laughed. “You? Sane? Anyway let’s go get her it’s time for the sun to rise!”

***

Sunset Shimmer poked her head of her window as she heard Starlight and Trixie calling to her. “Hey girl! Are you ready for our vacation?”

Her reply was as sunny as her smile. “You bet! It’ll be great to get away from the farm for a day. My hooves need a rest.”
Ever the ray of sunshine and gumdrops, Trixie laughed. “At least you aren’t holed up in some clothing boutique like me catering to those who wouldn’t know fashion if I beat them over the head with it!”

Starlight looked from Trixie to Sunset and back again. “You both really think your jobs are worth complaining about in comparison to mine?”

Trixie and Starlight nervously locked eyes with each other. They both knew that as Princess of Friendship, Starlight had the displeasure of working for and reporting to Queen Luna; the Nightmare who had conquered Equestria by successfully raising a coupe against her sister. The queen ruled with an iron hoof and immediately dispatched of anything that remotely irked her. Starlight definitely had it worse with the amount of stress she was forced to be under.

After a moment of awkward silence, they smiled at her. “Alright you win.”

Sunset closed the window calling down from the loft of her family barn. “Anyway, hold up I’m on my way down!”

Turning to Starlight, Trixie voice her opinions, making sure they were loud enough for Sunset to hear. “I hope she brought some actually scary stories this time.”

Nudging Trixie with her fore-hoof and giving a playful wink, Starlight chimed in. “Yeah, if it’s another ghost story about her apple orchard, I say we leave her behind for the next trip!”

Both began laughing. Sunset’s laugh could be heard as well. “Oh I think I found the perfect tale to raise your fur in the Everfree this time, girls.”

All three were avid fans of dark tales. Growing up in Ponyville, a place where all the fairy tales end in grim ways and where Queen Luna spoke in great detail about her slaying of Celestia once a year; it was to be expected. “Ha, you tell a scary story, puh-lease.”

Sunset ran up and hugged Trixie, grinning. “Oh c'mon Trix, give me a chance, this story gave me shivers; you’ll love it.”

Trixie’s cheeks took on a soft blush as she laughed. “Sunset, darling, no offense but you think rainbows are scary!”

Sunset kissed Trixie as Starlight laughed at the scene. “Shush, besides they are scary! Have you ever seen a natural rainbow? You know as well as I how they are made. Anyway, I bet you’ll be so scared; you’ll need a new sleeping bag!”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Alright then, I am intrigued. Let’s see what you got.”

Meanwhile, Sunset walked over to Starlight and laughed after giving Starlight a hug and kiss as well. “Trust me, I’m the pony of Honesty and Loyalty after all!”

All three had a good chuckle at that statement before grinning all three shouted out loud. “Let’s go! Our weekend begins now. To the Everfree!”

After a three-way high-hoof, the girls set out on their way to go camping in the Everfree; long since brought to knee before the might of Luna’s No Nonsense policy. As they walked along the pathway, the three chatted and bickered like friends often do. “Hey check out that stream! Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Oh wow, a frog! We don’t see many of those in Ponyville!”

“Ooh look at this cutie! I’m keeping him!”

“Trix put that down; it’s a snake!”

“And?”

“Oh let her keep it Starlight, you know Trixie loves animals.”

And so they made their way along the stream and even stopped to dip their hooves in the water for a while. During which Starlight tried in vain to get Trixie to release the “Cutie” of a deadly water moccasin she was snuggling, to no avail. “I’m naming it Snuggles. Stop laughing! I swear I’ll gut you if you keep laughing at me! Stop laughing!”

***

They sat by the edge of the stream, kicking their hooves in the cool, crisp water as Snuggles the snake lay happily asleep on Trixie’s midriff. The three began to discuss what they would do when they arrived at the campsite. “I think we should wait until the moon is at its apex to tell the story!”

“You seem pretty enthused about this one, Sunset. Care to share why?”

“Because this one isn’t fiction!”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah! It’s about a series of disappearances and an unsolved murder that happened in the Everfree itself!”

Sitting up quickly, with her eyes wide with interest, Trixie caused her new pet to hiss in annoyance as it woke up and bit her. “Really? Ouch! Snuggles, no biting!”

The girls stared in disbelief as she ignored the poisoned bite and began to gently stroke the snake’s head saying. “It’s alright, go back to sleep, mama’s here!”

“Trix are you alright?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well the snake just bit you, and it’s poisonous…”

Trixie laughed. “This is nothing; you should see my menagerie sometime, Starlight. Poison is nothing but a tickle to me anymore. I've quite the range of immunity. Especially after the whole black widow wedding fiasco.”

Sunset and Starlight just glanced at each other and shrugged, before laughing. Of all three, Trixie was easily the hardest to faze when it came to animals. “Alright, so what do you think?”

Trixie grinned as the snake on her midriff, now content, drifted back to sleep. “I can’t wait.”