Trixie wasn’t one for theatrics.

...Okay, that was a lie. She was always one for theatrics, and what wasn’t very theatrical to her right now was the current situation. With her, Starlight, and everypony but Twilight in the same abandoned house for the night.

She sat by the dusty window, peering out through the cracks between the boards that covered it up. She could tell that it was getting really dark. In fact, she could see a glimpse of the moon shining through.

“You know, we couldn’t always see the sky like this,” said a voice, startling Trixie. She turned, seeing the strange pegasus from before. What was this what’s-her-name’s name again…? Oh, right, Dust Weather.

“Aren’t you Dash’s little friend?” asked Trixie, a little… unexcited to be communicating with this newer mare.

“‘Friend’ is a bit of an overstatement,” Dust replied. “I’m just helping her survive, and, if we’re lucky, help her get back home.”

“I’m not usually one for friendship, either,” said Trixie. “The only friend I really have is Starlight.”

“She didn’t seem to say much during that fight earlier,” Dust pointed out. “She’s that one lilac unicorn, right?”

“Uh-huh,” said Trixie, a bit bored. “What’s your name again…? Dust Weather, right?”

“Dusk Feather,” the other mare corrected.

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Oh. Yeah, I’m not really focused on learning new names right now. I just really wanna go home.”

“I can really tell,” said Dusk, looking amused. “I’m kinda the same way.”

“Oh, really?” Trixie replied.

Dusk smiled softly and said, “I mean, yeah, we’ve got a lot in common. You don’t wanna be here, I don’t wanna be here. We both wanna go home and do our own business.”

“I guess we have that in common, but not much else,” Trixie reasoned. “I’m just hoping I can go home and eat peanut butter crackers. I don’t have a lot of business these days because my tour went on a hiatus.”

Dusk seemed perplexed. “Tour?”

Oh?~ A reason to brag?~ “Uh, YEAH!” Trixie replied. “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! I am a magician, so it’s pretty natural that anypony would want to see my shows. Some can’t travel to me, so I humbly go to them, traveling the world and putting on the performance of a lifetime!~”

Dusk Feather looked like she wasn’t very impressed. “Huh… neat.”

Trixie sighed, then said, “Look, it’s something I like to do and that’s pretty much all I can say about it.”

“I haven’t really heard all that much of you before,” said Dusk.

“Well, that’s a little offensive,” said Trixie. “I was certain everypony would know who I am by now, but I guess not everypony can take into appreciation what true greatness is.”

“Soooooo… What’s your home like?” asked Dusk. “I remember Dash saying everything was, uh, still in one piece?”

“Definitely,” said Trixie, looking at the dusty room she was in. “Much cleaner and nicer than… whatever this is.”

“Well, this is what you get when you’re at war, soooo, yeah,” Dusk responded. “You’re gonna be seeing a lot of dust around the place.”

Trixie pondered over the conditions both versions of Equestria were in. This particular version was the result of… war with the zebras? Meanwhile, in the other Equestria, they had faced off against tons of terrifying, potentially world-destroying enemies, yet everything seemed fine in the end, but that was because of… ugh… Twilight.

“I’m guessing Twilight didn’t do much here, huh?” assumed Trixie. “Is that why you all went to war?”

Dusk shook her head. “Nope. Relations between ponies and zebras were a lot more complicated than what many will probably tell you,” she said. “I don’t think Twilight could’ve really done anything about it if you ask me.”

“And… how long ago was this?” asked Trixie.

“Two hundred years?” answered Dusk.

Something seemed odd. “Now, hold on a minute,” said Trixie. “You’re telling me that, in the span of two hundred years, you guys weren’t able to rally back together and fix anything after the megaspells dropped?”

“I don’t think you could really understand unless you were there,” said Dusk. “Friendship wasn’t exactly on anyone’s mind during the war, and I doubt they would’ve changed their minds after. Some people are just… stubborn. You can’t reason with an idiot, let alone a mob of ponies and zebras who’ve been fed propaganda throughout the entirety of the war.”

“That’s so stupid,” said Trixie. “You’d think somepony would try to take charge and fix everything!”

Dusk seemed a little uncomfortable as she answered, “Well, there was, but…”

“But what?” pushed Trixie.

“He wasn’t exactly the leader you or I would find ideal?” explained Dusk. “He attempted to enslave everypony in order to rebuild society. He went by the name of Red Eye, and everypony pretty much feared him until Littlepip took him down.”

“That’s… ugh,” Trixie responded.

“That’s just how it happened,” said Dusk. “I know you guys are trying to help everyone, but that’s a tall order. It’s like trying to squeeze water out of a rock.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and stretched her legs as she said, “Well, we’re gonna do it anyway,” she said with confidence. “I’ve literally faced an entire hive of changelings.”

“From what Dash tells me, you guys don’t even have guns,” Dusk pointed out. “So, yeah, I can give you respect for facing an entire hive, but most enemies you’ll face out here are holding instruments of death.”

Trixie didn’t want to hear about any of it. Yeah, yeah, instruments of death and ponies with red eyes, yada yada yada. “Look, I’m just gonna go talk to Starlight. I’m confident we’ll get all of this done, with or without your support. I can understand criticism, but all your negative talk is gonna put us off track.”

As Trixie walked off, she could see a peeved look on Dusk’s face, making the blue pony smirk with conviction. As she went upstairs, she could see Starlight in one of the many open rooms, looking through some of the dusty books on a shelf.

“Well, I can say that whoever lived here was well-educated,” said Starlight. “A lot of the books here are on zebra culture and magic.”

“Any idea when we’re heading out?” asked Trixie. “It’s almost morning.”

“I mentioned to you earlier about it, but you weren’t really paying attention,” said Starlight as she tried to flip through a book with her hoof. She seemed to be having a lot of trouble.

Trixie groaned as she lit up her horn, turning the page for her friend. “You know, even if you did find a spell to fix your horn, I don’t think you’d be able to cast it, ‘cuz, you know, broken horn?”

“I’m gonna either get Twilight to cast it or I’m gonna teach you how to cast more complex spells,” Starlight replied.

“Ew, learning,” Trixie commented.

“C’mon,” said Starlight. “You’ve gotta admit you were pretty happy about transformation spells.”

Trixie remembered that day. She couldn’t stop turning things into teacups. “Well, you are right, but I don’t know. It feels like it’d be a lot more complicated than turning things into fine china.”

“I’ve got confidence in you!” assured Starlight with a smile. “You’ve got this! C’mon, aren’t you the great and powerful Trixie?”

Trixie couldn’t keep herself from smiling back. “Uh, yeah, I am!”

“And the great and powerful Trixie can do pretty much anything, right?” asked Starlight.

“Definitely!” said Trixie with a smirk on her face. “And maybe you can teach me how to teleport?”

“One step at a time,” said Starlight. “That’s, like, among the highest levels of spells just below time travel.”

“Is that a joke?” asked Trixie out of pure curiosity.

“Yes,” said Starlight. “And no. It’s still up there, but time travel is beyond pretty much almost everypony. If Starswirl were here…”

“If he were here, couldn’t we have just gone back in time to prevent this freaky wasteland from becoming a thing?” asked Trixie.

“I mean, yeah,” said Starlight. “But he’s not, so…”

Trixie sighed. If she had that kind of power, she’d fix everything in a jiffy. Then, as she was thinking, something suddenly hit her, a vision. She could see the entire wasteland at once. There was something wrong here, horribly wrong. She could see nothing but those crazy alicorns everywhere.

“We could have changed everything…” she heard a voice say.

Starlight poked her side. “Trixie?”

As Trixie came out of her strange vision with a slight daze, she shook her head. “Huh? What?”

“You okay?” asked Starlight.

“Uh… yeah,” said Trixie. “Just… daydreaming, I think.”

“Probably wishing you knew that time travel spell, huh?” Starlight guessed.

Trixie hesitantly nodded, then said, “Nothing we can do about that now. Let’s go see what else we can do right now. I wanna take my mind off some things.”

Something about that voice in her head seemed incredibly familiar. It sounded exactly like her, but… it definitely wasn’t her. There was malice in that voice. She followed Starlight downstairs, and as they reached the bottom, they both saw Zone and Taipan.

“Greetings,” said Zone. “We’ve found something rather interesting. A house full of radiation.”

“Felt dangerous to move ahead without pack,” said Taipan, quickly following up with, “Saw movement there as well.”

Trixie and Starlight exchange brief glances, then Starlight said, “I’m sure it’s probably something dangerous.”

Trixie nodded in agreement, but as Starlight said, “Let’s go investigate,” the blue mare switched from nodding to shaking her head.

“Nope,” said Trixie. “I don’t feel like becoming a mutant today.”

“It’ll be fine,” said Starlight. “With my magic, we’ll be– oh…”

“Uh-huh…” said Trixie. “If you had your magic.”

Zone looked at Starlight with some sympathy. “It is a conundrum, not having what makes a unicorn unique. Have you been looking into other talents in the meanwhile?”

Starlight and Trixie exchanged glances yet again, and Starlight replied, “Uh, not really, no. It’s kinda hard to use my hooves for anything.”

“I see,” said Zone. “Maybe you will learn sooner than later. Just keep trying.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Starlight. “My hooves are already pretty difficult to work with.”

“The Great Trixie uses her hooves all the time,” said Trixie. “I’ve used them to help open plenty of jars.”

Taipan rolled her eyes. “Go get cloud walkers. May need them to send message to others, oh, powerful jar opener.” She went the extra step and bowed as best she could anyway.

Trixie rolled her eyes back, the two creatures having a sarcasm-off. “Uh, sure. I’ll go get the pegasi. As if they’re gonna be any extra help without magic. This is radiation, so I’m pretty sure that stuff travels in the air.”

“More help is better than none,” said Zone. “And I believe anyone can be of some use, regardless of whether or not they wield the arcane arts.”

Trixie looked at Zone for a brief moment, shooting her a look before walking off to find Rainbow Dash. There was no way she could turn to Fluttershy of all ponies for a task like this. And then there was Rarity, a unicorn who probably wouldn’t be much help either. Then again… some magic could be considered better than none.

As Trixie walked into the living room, she saw Rarity looking at pictures on the walls. “What are you doing?” asked Trixie.

“I can’t help but notice… that these are misaligned,” said Rarity, her magic straightening out the frames.

“Why would you care?” Trixie questioned. “Nopony’s around to appreciate it anymore.”

“It’s no excuse for a house to be mistreated and messy,” said Rarity. “Besides, maybe somepony will move in one day and be thankful for the straightening out.”

Trixie raised a brow, then shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “Hey, could you come help us out? We’re apparently going to go investigate a dangerous place. I know your magic isn’t the best, but I suppose you could be of some use.”

Rarity didn’t seem very appreciative of Trixie’s tone towards her. “I don’t know, darling,” she said. “Are you certain you want my help? You don’t seem to want it.”

Trixie grumbled a little under her breath before saying audibly, “Yes, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, need your help.”

“I don’t suppose you could add a little word to that sentence, dear?” Rarity suggested with a small smile.

Trixie was not enjoying this at all. It was a blow to her pride. “Please.”

“There we are,” said Rarity, sounding pleased, her smile looking a little more genuine. “Manners will bring you far, darling.”

Manners didn’t exactly give Trixie the attention she deserved way back then, she thought. “Where’s Dash?” she asked.

“Oh, I believe she was upstairs with Fluttershy,” said Rarity. “You must’ve just missed her.”

“Not anymore,” said Dash as she walked into the room with Fluttershy. “Was checking out some of the rooms. Found a few Wonderbolts posters in one.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Trixie. “We need your help. We’re gonna investigate some other spooky place.”

Dash smirked. “Oh, really? Well, I’m always up for something spooky, and dangerous.”

“Oh, my,” said Fluttershy. “Someplace spooky? Are you sure, Dash?”

“Of course!” Dash replied with pride. “You forget, I’m always heading into danger!”

Trixie couldn’t help but feel something inside of her brewing, some kind of… anger. Seeing these friends of Twilight being their usual selves was messing with her head somehow. “I… need a moment,” said Trixie “I’ll be right back.”

“Sure, we can wait,” said Dash. “Don’t take too long. I wanna see this place you’re talking about!”

Trixie walked into the hall, stumbling a little halfway, her head feeling… dizzy. “Trixie isn’t liking this…” she quietly spoke. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come along…”

I’m a little nervous. Maybe I shouldn’t have accepted this opportunity?

Where’d that thought come from…?

Trixie felt it harder to breathe. The air felt warmer, the temperature around her seeming to rise. It was almost to a boiling point, like she had been submerged in hot water. “Starli–!!!” Trixie tried to call out, only to be hit with visions.

She was in some kind of cold, metal room. Large, with platforms hanging over vats of ooze. She could see ponies walking around in lab coats. A few flash-forwards later, she could feel the ground beneath her rumbling, making her lose her balance.

That was when it happened. She had fallen into something searing hot, something that changed her. She could hear foreign, but familiar thoughts floating through her head. I just wanted to be something more…

“Are you okay?” asked Starlight, poking at Trixie’s shoulder and pulling her out of her trance.

Trixie took a moment to recollect her thoughts and said, “I keep having these visions…”

“Didn’t Discord talk about something called a memory merge?” recalled Starlight.

“The what?” Trixie questioned, not really remembering much from the conversation.

“Memory merge,” said Starlight. “When two timelines begin to merge, the residents of both timelines begin to slowly start sharing memories with their alternate doubles.”

“I remembered being in some kind of big building,” said Trixie. “I fell into a vat of this… goop.”

“Didn’t Discord also say you were some kind of Goddess here?” asked Starlight.

Trixie was a little out of it, her mind wandering. “I… need peanut butter crackers,” she stated.

“I didn’t pack any, sorry,” said Starlight.

Trixie, although she was crackerless, shook off the strange feelings as best she could before returning to Zone and Taipan with Dash and Rarity. Zone seemed to notice Trixie’s tired expression, asking, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Trixie said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Can we get on with this mysterious investigation or whatever?”

Zone looked at Taipan, then back at Trixie, nodding in confirmation. “Let us go. Fluttershy should be safe with the others here while we’re away.”

As the small band of self-designated detectives walked through the neighborhood and approached the home in question, Trixie looked at Zone and Taipan, asking, “So, this house has, what, radiation?”

Taipan looked at Trixie and nodded before looking back at the house “Yes, I smell something here. Not sure what though.”

“So, what’s the plan?” asked Starlight.

Zone pointed her hoof to the door. “I will go in first, soaking up what radiation I can to keep you all safe while you investigate. I cannot say that I will be able to absorb all of it, however.”

Trixie and Starlight exchanged glances, then Rarity walked up to Zone, asking, “Do you mind if I ask a little more about radiation, Darling? There’s just so many new terms in this world that I can’t keep up with it all.”

Zone smiled. “I would be pleased to inform you, Miss Rarity,” she said. “Radiation is a strange magic that’s present in almost everything, but only in very small amounts. If there is a large amount of radiation in an area, a pony can become affected and made ill, but being ill is only the most minor of problems from it.”

“Like the monster we found in the sewers,” said Starlight. “I’ve been keeping up with the terms. Not too hard. I memorize things all the time.”

“You are correct,” said Zone. “Some ponies can be changed through mutation while others would simply just… die.”

“Like Taipan, right?” asked Starlight.

“Zone better example in opinion,” Taipan contributed. “She absorbs like addict on drugs.”

Zone shot Taipan a look of disbelief, but simply shook her head. “That is… somewhat correct. I’m not exactly a mutant, I believe. I’m not sure when, or how I gained my strange ability, but I do know I haven’t always had it. My tail is a result of my parents.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard anything about crossbreeds back home. The three pony tribes will often mix, but it doesn’t seem to give any extra or any less traits,” Starlight stated. “That’s as far as it goes, as far as I’ve seen.”

Zone gave a sad smile. “It is a rare occurrence in this world as well,” she said. “I would not be surprised if it was nonexistent in your own world.”

“We going in or what?” asked Dash, seeming a little impatient. “My legs are sore from just standing here.”

“I suppose we should start now,” said Zone as she opened the door. As she stepped in, her stripes slowly turned a hint of green. “Miss Rarity, if you would stay right behind me? If we are attacked, we may need to rely on your magic.”

Rarity, looking at the stripes on Zone, slowly and cautiously stepped into the house. “If you’re certain it’s safe, dear.”

As they went deeper into the house, Zone’s stripes turned more and more green, even beginning to glow. “When we are finished, I’ll need to expel the radiation far away from here. If I did it here, it would probably kill all my friends. It’d be much like a megaspell detonation.”

“Oh, that’s comforting,” said Trixie. “As if the glowing stripes weren’t concerning enough.”

Taipan smacked Trixie with her tail. “She only form of protection from radiation. Take or leave.”

Trixie rubbed her afflicted cheek, a little peeved at the nerve of this small creature. “Hmph. Fine,” she said. “So, where is the source of all this radiation? Can you feel it or something?” she asked Zone.

“I would suppose my stripes would be an indicator,” said Zone. “I am certain they would be glowing very brightly. Eventually, even I would get sick, but it would only be a mild nausea.”

“So, if you’re like a battery, you’d be able to put some of that to use, right?” asked Starlight. “Like in some appliances? Can radiation even be used that way?”

“I would not know,” said Zone. “I have never attempted to channel it into anything. It simply just exits like a shockwave.”

“Never hurts to try,” Taipan said before looking at her glow-in-the-dark friend. “Just not with this one. Too big of risk.”

Zone smiled as she led them down some stairs, where Trixie could only assume was leading to the basement. As they walked, Trixie noticed Zone’s stripes getting brighter and brighter until they no longer had to worry about being in the dark. She was like a radioactive lantern.

“Huh… I guess it is pretty handy in other cases besides avoiding death,” said Trixie.

Zone’s eyes didn’t look her way. The zebra hybrid seemed more focused on what was in the center of the basement as they reached the bottom of the stairs, and soon, even Trixie’s eyes were fixated on what appeared to be a blue alicorn.

The alicorn herself seemed to be sitting there, her head looking down, wings curled around her. Her eyes were glowing with energy as she just silently sat there. Trixie could feel the dizziness hitting her yet again, stumbling back a little against Starlight, who looked at her in concern.

“You okay?” asked Starlight.

“I feel weird,” Trixie forcibly replied through her increasing nausea.

“I haven’t felt her presence in… how long?” uttered the alicorn. “The Goddess. She lives? I feel her.”

“Oh, not this stuff again,” said Trixie, remembering back to the tower. A lot of alicorns had gathered around her once before, and she wasn’t too appreciative of that. Sure, she liked attention, but they kept squawking about some goddess.

Zone took a step back as the alicorn stood up, the glowing eyes looking directly at Trixie. “She lives?” the alicorn questioned.

“Can we not do this?” asked Trixie. “I’m not the pony you think I am.”

Zone stepped in front of Trixie, facing the blue alicorn, stripes glowing brighter and brighter. “Please, step back,” she said to the alicorn. “This is not who you think she is.”

“There is no mistaking her,” said the alicorn as she approached. “She’s alive!”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “If I had my magic, I’d have teleported us somewhere else by now.”

Zone looked down to Taipan and asked, “Do you think you can… uh… detain this problem?”

Taipan nodded before lunging at the strange alicorn in a flash. “Sleep now,” she said as her stinger connected to the alicorn’s leg, making her stumble back in surprise.

“But, the Goddess!” shouted the alicorn. As she said this, her legs seemed to grow weak, the creature having been forced to sit down.

Zone seemed surprised. “Hm… Slowed down, but not knocked out? How much radiation has she absorbed?”

“Does that matter?” asked Trixie. “She’s down.”

“Well, you see, Trixie,” said Zone, “An alicorn like her is able to soak up as much radiation as they desire. This can actually make them stronger, and can even increase their durability. From what I am guessing, she must have been accumulating radiation since the fall of the Goddess.”

Starlight rubbed her chin as she asked, “Can she still pose a threat while she’s down?”

“I would not doubt it,” answered Zone. “Alicorns were feared in the wasteland for a reason. She does not seem to want to harm us, however, as she believes Trixie is the Goddess.”

“Have we failed you?” asked the alicorn. “Do you blame your children?”

Trixie was a little disturbed by all of this. She liked attention, yeah, but this was a little crazier than she’d imagined it. “Uh… No, I don’t,” she played along. “You’re fine.”

“You forgive me…?” asked the alicorn.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” said Trixie with a dismissive wave.

The alicorn surprisingly stood back up, smiling. “This is… joyous news! The Goddess does not blame us!”

Trixie gave Starlight a look, who looked back with the same unsure expression. Starlight asked, “How long have you been here?”

“How long…?” repeated the alicorn, seeming to be at a loss for words. “I… cannot remember. It has felt like an eternity since the fall. How long has it been since…???”

“I would roughly put it at a week,” said Zone. “Not very long.”

“My mind had been wandering since then,” said the alicorn. “I… found my name, but I hesitate to use it.”

“Why?” asked Dash, stepping forward.

The alicorn looked at Dash in surprise. “I… You are familiar.”

Dash sighed. “Uh oh. First Trixie, now me?”

“I remember… the days leading up to the disaster,” said the alicorn. “Shortly before, I read something… what did you call it… a newspaper?”

“And it… had me orrr what?” Dash questioned.

“Doesn’t matter. Need to get going. Look at Zone,” Taipan said as she pointed at her zebra friend, who was starting to hurt the scorpony’s eyes from the brightness alone. “Too much time here.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. “We can recollect later. Do you think you can behave around Trixie?”

The alicorn went silent, yet gave a slight nod. Zone smiled and looked around her as she said, “I think we can safely say we’ve figured out the source. I will need to get as far away from here as possible.”

Rarity stepped up. “Now, I may not look it, but I believe I can help with that. I’ve teleported once or twice. Plus, I’d rather at least be of some use after having not been put into action here.”

Zone went up to Rarity, who closed her eyes, her horn lighting up. Zone turned to everyone and said, “Quickly, leave this building. Stay a safe distance away from our new alicorn friend for now until I can help to safely rid her of radiation.”

In agreement, everyone went back up the stairs and left the abandoned home. Trixie could hear Rarity’s teleportation spell going off, meaning they were likely now elsewhere. As they gathered around outside, Rarity popped back into existence in front of them.

“So, how far away is Zone right now?” asked Starlight.

As if to answer their question, the ground rumbled slightly for a brief period, a small mushroom cloud appearing in the distance. As Rarity lit up her horn yet again, Dash suddenly stopped her. “Wait! Don’t go back! The radiation!”

Rarity’s horn dimmed, the unicorn a little embarrassed. “Oh, I almost forgot about that! I’m sorry, darling. I must’ve been too focused on bringing our friend back to remember the dangers.”

“So we’ll have to wait for Zone to return before heading out,” said Trixie, sounding annoyed. “Great.”

The alicorn attempted to approach. “Is the Goddess displeased?”

Trixie, quickly stepping back with the rest of the group, shouted, “Hey! No, no! Bad alicorn! You’re still full of radiation!”

The alicorn halted, then stepped back, her ears drooping. “Forgive me, my Goddess.”

“It’s fine,” said Trixie. “Just stay there until the zebra comes back.”

“I stay as well,” Taipan spoke up. “Won’t leave pack member behind.”

“You know what’s kinda scary?” said Dash. “Zone could literally use herself as a weapon if she wanted. I don’t know why these other zebra would want to keep going after her if she’s got something like that.”

“Obviously because she knows it’s wrong, dear,” said Rarity. “What she has is dangerous, and so I think she tries to refrain from using it, regardless of who she’s near.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Dash. “But you can’t really rule out that she still can.”

“Dash? Are you okay?” asked Starlight. “You sound a little different.”

Dash tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“How do I say this…” said Starlight. “You sound… almost biased against her?”

Dash’s cheeks turned red from that statement. “E-Excuse me? I’m am not biased!”

“Weakling, you let other’s memories take root,” Taipan said as she smacked Rainbow’s ribs. “Remember what purple said. Merging.”

“H-Hey!” shouted Dash, stepping back.

Starlight shook her head. “Hm… I think what Taipan is saying is that your personality is mixing with the other Dash’s, but we don’t know if that other Dash was biased or not. Your change in behavior is a concern, though.”

“I can handle myself just fine,” said Dash. “I’m probably just a little irritated. I haven’t slept much since we started this adventure, you know!”

“I suppose,” said Starlight, still looking concerned. “But just be careful."

Dash grumbled a bit to herself. Meanwhile, Trixie was still trying to get over her own memory merge issues. She had these odd twinges of guilt that would nag at her every so often. She looked back towards the house they had been staying in. Fluttershy and the others should still be in there.

“So, what, the zebra’s gonna meet us back at the house we’re staying in?” she queried.

“Yep,” replied Starlight. “Maybe… the alicorn should stay outside while we go back in?”

“That’s a no-brainer,” said Trixie as she began walking back towards the house. Going inside, she felt a sense of relief, almost like coming back home to her trailer, but she knew they wouldn’t be staying here for long, either.

She could hear Fluttershy in the living room, talking to one of the newer ponies they’d come across. Some were okay, others were… most unpleasant. As Trixie entered the living room, she could see Fluttershy talking to what’s-her-face, Dust Weather.

“I never thought pegasi would react like that,” said Fluttershy.

“Yeah, well, when war happens, ponies can do some pretty extreme shit,” said Dust.

“What are you two going on about?” asked Trixie.

“The Enclave,” said Fluttershy.

“The what?” Trixie questioned.

“Enclave,” repeated Dust. “The government that currently runs pegasus society. I’m going to assume you didn’t pay much attention back at the tower.”

“I just want to go home,” said Trixie. “I couldn’t care less.

“Well, get over it,” Dust said with a bit of an annoyed tone. “You’re stuck here for now.”

Trixie was a little offended by Dust’s attitude. “Hey, it’s not my fault you all messed up and made this… whatever this place is.”

“We didn’t. Ponies from before did,” Dust countered. “I don’t really like your behavior.”

“Well, I’m trying to make sense of my own head!” shouted Trixie. “You know what? I’m just going to blame Twilight for this. She brought me here. She’s responsible for my suffering!”

“But Twilight didn’t bring us here,” said Fluttershy. “The Cutie Map did.”

“Well, if Twilight didn’t listen to an inanimate object, we’d be all at home!” Trixie yelled.

“Trixie, are you okay?” asked Starlight in concern as she approached from behind. “Listen to yourself! You’re making a fuss when it’s not going to help with anything!”

Trixie was having trouble organizing her thoughts and emotions. “I think I need to be alone for a bit,” she said.

“I think you need therapy right now,” said Starlight, grabbing Trixie’s hoof in hers. “Let me help you. We can talk this out and we can help you calm down, okay?”

Starlight always had the best intentions for Trixie when it came to their friendship. With that as a heavy reminder, Trixie hesitantly nodded, fighting her instinct to yell at everypony. “Y-Yeah…”

“Okay, just follow me and we’ll go upstairs, alright?” said Starlight, leading Trixie away from the rest of the group. As they walked to the stairs, Zone and Taipan walked in through the door.

Zone looked up at Starlight and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” said Starlight. “I’ve just gotta help Trixie calm down. Glad to see you’re back.”

“I see,” said Zone. “Do what you need to. Come on, Taipan. Let’s go speak with Miss Shy.”

Taipan nodded, taking the lead of the two. ”Cloud walker, we speak with you for moment?”

After leading Trixie up the stairs and sitting down at the top, Starlight asked her, “Are you okay? And I don’t just mean emotions. I mean your state of mind. Are you losing your grip right now?”

Trixie rubbed her forehead, the blue unicorn feeling like dirt. “I keep thinking about how ungrateful and rude everyone sounds.”

“Ungrateful?” questioned Starlight. “Trixie… You’re sounding like your old self, don’t you think? I remember Twilight telling me that you used to have a much bigger ego than you do now.”

“I… don’t know,” said Trixie. “How am I supposed to sound?”

“Like Trixie,” said Starlight. “The Trixie I know is a lot more earnest and can at least try to understand things from another pony’s point of view.”

Trixie was having trouble believing that. “But… how do I know that’s actually how I am?”

“Trixie, you admitted that you’ve made mistakes. Takes an earnest pony to do that, right?” reasoned Starlight.

Trixie nodded. She couldn’t help but look at Starlight and feel like she was… looking at her for the first time. It brought back memories of when they had first met. They were both talking about their past mistakes. They bonded over that, grew a friendship over that.

“What I’d give to go back to that spa right now,” said Trixie with a strained smile.

Starlight smiled back. “See? You remember. Everypony here is trying their best to get through this. You’ve gotta remember this. You may be The Great and Powerful Trixie, but even you have your faults. We all do.”

Trixie nodded in agreement, calming down a little, breathing deeply. “I just need to think about when we met.”

Starlight patted Trixie on the back. “We’ve got a long way to go. This is just the first step to getting home.”

With Starlight as Trixie’s mental anchor, Trixie felt a little more at ease. She just needed to rely on her friend. When all was done and morning had come, Trixie set back out on the trail with the group, the blue mare feeling a little more confident.

As they left the abandoned town, the wasteland just seemed empty again. In between pockets of scarce civilization, it always felt empty. It kind of reminded Trixie of her touring. In between towns, she’d be travelling through plains, forests, or dirt paths, but there was as least some sense of life, with trees, clear blue water, and the occasional animal.

Out here…?

Nothing.

Empty space.

No life.

Cold and barren with dry winds.

It uneased her a little, this alternate universe. Trixie’s mind would wander as they marched on, the mare constantly thinking back to when she had met Starlight. It kept Trixie sane, yes, but there were newer questions. What would’ve happened to her if she hadn’t met Starlight. Trixie didn’t want to know, but her brain was quite happy to dream up the scenarios.

Maybe her constant touring would’ve been fine, just a little lonely, or maybe she’d stop one day and go through internal debate. Maybe she’d run into trouble due to her unchecked behavior, and that trouble would lead to something much worse.

Was that possible in her world? This wasteland was something else, full of dangers. Trixie had literally almost become lunch when she had entered the sewers. There wasn’t anything like that in her world. But then she remembered the manticore.

On a day when she had needed Starlight the most, Starlight had shown up to both save her show and her life. So… this was twice that Starlight had saved her from certain death. As long as Starlight was nearby, Trixie lived, thrived even.

And then… came the self-doubt. With Starlight here, did that mean that Trixie could have never held her own against anything the world had to throw at her? Starlight had lost her magic, and so there was no way for her to effectively help Trixie.

So, this was a big test for Trixie, a test to see if she could survive on her own. Could she manage here? She… doubted it. It gave her a mix of negative feelings, ranging from self-pity to potential envy.

After some time passed, the group spotted a zebra settlement in the distance. Zone led the group in order to make it seem less hostile. A zebra seeing another zebra was one thing. It was familiar and safe. A zebra seeing a group of ponies, a scorpony, an abyssinian, and a hellhound? That was major trouble.

Many eyes looked their way. Those who had been doing work would move elsewhere. Others, who were simply sitting around, would cast serious glares. Trixie felt like this was quite possibly the worst scenario for a pony to be in, considering the messed up history between the two cultures in this world.

Zone walked calmly. Looking to Taipan, she said, “Be on your best behavior. This is not my settlement, and I would prefer we not make any move to harm in any way. Do you understand, my friend?”

“Will defend self if must,” Taipan replied, looking around the area, not feeling entirely safe.

“What you may consider defense, they may consider an excuse,” said Zone, her eyes glancing over at a few zebras. “Even if they hurt your pride, we must take it and not retaliate, or we will be in trouble. I’ve dealt with many settlements, and barely any are forgiving.”

Taipan scoffed, but said nothing more.

Zone softly smiled, a sweatdrop dripping down the side of her face. “Thank you, my friend. I assure you, I do not doubt your abilities. But our new friends…? We would never be able to protect them all at once.”

“Brute not enough for defense?” asked the hellhound in the group. “Brute takes offense.”

“Zebras and hellhounds have never mixed well,” Zone answered. “I’d rather we not have trouble. Besides… even if we could take them all on at once, that would not look good on us when we arrive at my old home village. We are trying to fix relations.”

Trixie walked a little closer to both the scorpony and the hellhound. These two were probably the major firepower in the group, considering she had recently seen the scorpony take out a zebra a day ago. As for the hellhound? His muscles were already a big indicator of strength. She felt a little safer near these two.

As they had passed the midway point, Trixie noticed a few zebras gathering together, a few with their eyes on her group. She gently tapped on Starlight’s side to get her attention, then pointed to the gathering bunch.

“Stay calm,” said Starlight. “I’m sure if we just ignore it, they’ll leave us be.”

“Starlight, do you remember what kind of twisted world we’re in?” Trixie replied.

Starlight’s demeanor stayed the same, but with a strained voice, she said, “I said to ignore it.”

They were slowly coming up to the end of the line, reaching the other side of the settlement. They were just about to exit the disgruntled territory when an older zebra stepped out in front of Zone, looking at her with a single eye, his other covered by bandaging that was wrapped tightly.

Zone looked down, avoiding eye contact with the elderly zebra. He said slowly, “Do you know where you are going, stranger?”

“We are simply passing through,” Zone calmly answered. “We mean no trouble and this group is merely trying to find their way back home.”

The old zebra seemed to notice Trixie, his pale, gray eye staring for a short while before he turned back to Zone and said, “You are… carrying quite the weight with you.”

Zone briefly glanced up at him before looking back down. “Indeed,” she agreed.

“Perhaps settle down for a minute or two,” said the old zebra. “Unlike my family, I am someone who is a little more understanding of the troubles that follow everyone.”

“We couldn’t,” Zone refused as politely as she could. “We just need to–”

“Sit down,” said the old zebra.

Without a second thought, Zone did as told. Sitting down and looking towards the rest of her group. The group, trying not to cause any trouble, sat down, minus Taipan. Taipan wasn’t really one to listen to anyone.

“I see a lot of trouble here,” said the zebra. “And not the purposeful kind. Many mistakes have been made here.”

Zone couldn’t help but look up at him. “What…?”

The old zebra warmly smiled. “I see many things, hybrid. I’ve lived through a lot of mistakes myself. Right now, I see one who has trouble with herself, one who has trouble with her own, and one who has trouble with identity.”

Zone looked back at her group, watching Trixie carefully for a moment before turning back to the old one and asking, “How can you see this?”

“It may not seem like it, but I’ve gone through the same exact thing,” said the elderly zebra. “I am merely sympathizing with you and your… friends.”

“Why have us sit here?” asked Zone.

“I could be trying to pass the time for myself,” the old zebra replied. “I could be curious. I could also be guided by the stars above to ask these questions, but for the moment, I cannot tell you why I am doing this.”

Zone stared at the old zebra in confusion. She seemed to be having trouble trying to figure out whether this was a joke or if he was serious. Trixie couldn’t really tell either.

The old zebra then looked at Taipan, chuckling to himself. “Such pride, I see.”

“What of it?” Taipan replied as she puffed up her chest to make herself look bigger than she really was.

“It might not be my place,” said the elderly one, “but I can see that it could lead to something terrible if left unchecked. This is no threat, no promise, but merely a guessed foretelling. Your kind is known for its pride, and although that has led it well, I cannot help but feel that you… may be an exception. You seem to be the type to learn from time to time. Do you see yourself as a pack leader…?”

“Yes, point?” Taipan replied, still uneasy about this whole situation.

“If I may take up more of your time,” he said, “I’d like to tell a tale of my youth…”

Taipan rolled her eyes and huffed, relaxing a little, but still keeping her tail ready just in case. “Sure.”

The old zebra chuckled at her behavior, then went on to speak. “When I was a young stallion, I was next in line to take leadership. My brothers and I fought over the matter constantly, and while blinded with my own pride, I continued on through life with arrogance.”

Trixie looked at the old zebra, his face slowly turning to one of sadness as he continued telling his story. She couldn’t help but immediately tell there was a bad ending to this.

“One day, that very day, in fact, when I took my title as leader, we were attacked by a group of raiders, quite possibly the largest group we’d ever encountered,” said the old zebra. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. “I was someone who was too prideful, thinking I could take them all on. I went out ahead of the rest of my family, and that was when I had made a terrible mistake.”

Zone wasn’t able to keep herself from asking, “What happened?”

The old zebra gave her a sad smile. His smile soon vanished, however, as he turned to look at Taipan. “My brothers were all slaughtered without my protection, and I was held down and tormented. They took an eye from me, but that pain wasn’t as great as when I had found out that my siblings were gone. I thought I was invincible, but that’s what youth does to someone. It makes you think you can fight the greatest of demons, only to cut you down to size.”

Taipan looked at the older zebra with caution. “I see,” she answered after a moment to gather her thoughts. “Scorponies different. Scorponies work together, follow alpha who strongest amongst pack.”

The old zebra chuckled. “Then… it’s a good thing that story wasn’t just meant for you alone,” he said, looking at Trixie. Trixie stared back, a chill going down her spine. The old zebra said in her direction, “Don’t forget what you’ve learned, or you will go right back to the old path you were once on. Do I make myself clear…?”

Trixie quickly nodded, trying to make the conversation end as soon as possible. Luckily for her, it seemed to work. The zebra turned back to Zone and said to her, “Thank you for letting an old zebra ramble, even if it might have been nonsense.”

Zone stared at the old one in confusion, but simply nodded her head in agreement. “You have strange ways,” she admittedly said.

“As an older generation should,” he said, stepping aside.

And so, the group continued on, their adventure continuing. According to Zone, they were getting close to her village. In fact, it was the next one they would run into. Trixie wasn’t quite able to figure out what the deal was with that old zebra. His words and actions scared her a little, his sanity most definitely in question.

However, that was no longer a matter worth worrying about to her. The moment had passed, and she was able to relax for now.

…

For now.

Author's Note

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