WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

SIX MINUTES LATER

As a sudden flash of light appeared directly above her head, Trixie was forced to cover her eyes for a few seconds before squinting them in order to get a good look at her new surroundings. The room that was once completely dark was now being illuminated by a small lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and it appeared to be a library of sorts with the walls resembling the interior of a giant tree. Even the table she was sitting at looked to be carved out of wood and sitting at the opposite side of the said table was a very stern-looking Twilight Sparkle, whom Trixie correctly assumed to be the librarian of this humble but fine establishment.

When she finally finished observing the new environment she was placed at and fully opened her eyes in the process, she gave her signature wicked smile to Twilight and said, "Hmmm... I should be mad that you didn't go for any of the options I've presented to you, Sparkle, but I do very much appreciate it when ponies start thinking outside the box and use unconventional methods to solve difficult problems. In fact, I already sense some kind of kinship between the two of us and I really am curious to see what you've got planned for us this evening. By the way, where is that little dragon that was always following you around the last time I was in Ponyville? I sure hope I didn't scare him off or anything."

Twilight responded by taking a deep breath and declaring, "Spike is still at the hospital, because he wanted to stay by Rarity's side. In case you don't remember, you gouged out her eyes and tricked her into murdering her own sister earlier today. Now, if you don't have any other questions, let's get one thing straight before we start, Trixie."

"We are nothing alike. I strive to defend Equestria and its citizens from dangerous threats, while you strive to cause destruction and chaos wherever you set your sights on. The only reason I brought you here in the first place was because none of those options of yours could help repair the damage you've done to Ponyville and the rest of Equestria. So, unless you prefer to see the very civilization that me and my friends worked so hard to protect crumble into nothingness in a matter of days, then I suggest you take this seriously. Understood?"

Trixie simply let out an amused chuckle in response and motioned for Twilight to proceed. Twilight then sighed in utter exasperation and continued, "Right after your first visit to our town a few months ago, I did a little background check on you to find out why exactly you seemed so upset about your broken horn. There weren't many sources to conduct a proper research from, mind you, but thanks to those I did manage to find, I could get a good grasp on why you did all those horrible things today. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is... I am so sorry, Trixie."

The said clown immediately stopped smiling upon hearing that last sentence and tilted her head in confusion as Twilight continued in a much more somber tone than before, "Even though it doesn't excuse or even justify the things that you did today, I do understand the reason why you felt the urge to lash out at my friends. If only I had known about what you've been through a lot sooner. We could've prevented so much devastation from happening to both sides. My friends wouldn't have been horrifically injured and you would've been living happily with your brother by now. I have brother too, actually, and I can't even imagine how I would've acted if I had lost him the way you lost your own brother. So, if there's any pony around here who could understand what you're going through, it's me."

After hearing all this, Trixie frowned at Twilight and lowered her head in deep contemplation for several seconds before finally asking, "Can you, though? Can you really understand how I feel about all this without experiencing it yourself?"

Twilight became a little confused by that question, but still managed to reply, "Well... not exactly... but I CAN understand if you talk to me about it. I may be the only pony in this whole town whom you can talk comfortably about your feelings. I know that sounds kinda lame, but it's the only way I can help you resolve your problems."

"Why?!" Trixie angrily questioned Twilight as she lifted her head back up to meet her gaze. "Why would an upstanding citizen such as yourself even think about helping a filthy degenerate such as myself? Just look at what I did to your home and your friends in the span of a few short hours. The only rational explanation for helping me is so you could write a bestseller book about it and add that book to your already impressive collection here!"

"NO!! No, it's not about that at all!" Twilight began to explain while also trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. "I genuinely want to help you, because even if my friends don't feel the same way, I actually do feel responsible about what happened to you. I may not have had any direct involvement in the things that caused your life to be bent out of shape, but I also did nothing to prevent those things from happening in the first place. I didn't act quick enough to stop the Ursa Minor from smashing your horn to pieces and I didn't defend you against the townsfolk when they were laughing at your misfortune. I didn't help you then, but I do have the chance to help you now. Please, let me use it. You don't have to be alone anymore."

As she listened to this explanation, Trixie's facial expression visibly softened and she began thinking about Twilight's proposal. After several seconds of pondering, however, she looked at Twilight straight in the eye and declared with a very serious tone of voice, "I'm sorry, but you're wasting your time. I can't be helped. It's far too late for that."

Twilight's eyes widened in horror upon hearing that answer and she frantically said, "No... No, don't say that! You know as well as I do that this is not true! There is still plenty of time to save what remains of your soul. Just because you wanted to get back at the ponies who wronged you in the past doesn't mean you-"

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

Trixie's sudden burst into laughter and the resulting interruption of Twilight's speech caused the latter to be both utterly confused and a little intimidated at the same time. After the former was finished with the said laughter, she took a moment to catch her breath and then gleefully said, "Oh, come on, Sparkle. Do I seriously look like a pony who would care one bit about something as petty as revenge? I maimed your friends simply because they were awful. In fact, there just so many awful ponies like them all over Equestria that I thought we'd all benefit from the absence of a few. You know, so that actually decent ponies wouldn't suffer tragedies similar to mine."

Twilight responded to this statement by raising an eyebrow and asking, "What do you mean there are so many awful ponies all over Equestria? Which kind of ponies are we talking about here?"

"You seriously don't know?!" a now legitimately baffled Trixie inquired. "Do you have any freaking clue about what life is like in places other than Ponyville and Canterlot? Have you ever actually traveled to anywhere besides those two places? Well, I have and I can say without a shred of doubt that almost all the ponies I've encountered out there are as awful as those bullies you call friends! Not one of them bother to spend enough time to get to know ponies other than themselves or even try to understand what the other pony has been through! They all just YELL and SCREAM at each other! No pony's CIVIL anymore! I mean, if I had been the one who was maimed by a psycopath and then left bleeding on the sidewalk, they would all walk over me without a second glance!"

Even though Trixie's eyes had become full of tears as she finished her loud rant, Twilight simply stared at her in complete disbelief for a handful of seconds before stating, "That... That's not possible. I'm sorry to say this, Trixie, but it almost sounds like you're making excuses for the bad choices you've made in your life. I've visited more than a few places outside Canterlot and Ponyville, and none of the ponies I've seen displayed those behaviors you just described. Now, I know no pony is perfect, but I also know not all ponies are awful."

Upon hearing those words, Trixie once again looked directly at Twilight's lavender eyes with an expression full of repressed rage and declared, "You're awful too, Sparkle."

"Me?! I'm afwul?!" Twilight exclaimed with a completely flabbergasted look on her face. "H-how am I awful exactly?"

"Sneaking me in here without any pony's notice," Trixie began. "Trying to talk me into changing my ways in the guise of helping me with my emotional problems. You actually have no intention of helping me whatsoever, do you? You don't even like listening to me. You just wanted to convince me into forgiving your friends so that I wouldn't tell anyone about the fact that they played a role in the death of an innocent foal. If that's true, then I guess I was wrong about sensing a kinship between us. Was I?"

Twilight only response to this question was staying completely silent for nearly half a minute while her facial expression slowly but surely changed from one of bewilderment into one of panic. Trixie immediately took notice of this change, as well as the few drops of sweat pouring down her head, and after letting out a deep sigh of utter disappointment, she revealed, "Looks like I was, indeed. Well, guess what, Sparkle? There's not a single force on this world that can stop me from revealing this dark secret of ours to the public. You can try to keep me here as long as you want, but consider for a moment what's happening outside this very moment. Like you said earlier, the whole town is in chaos and the authorities are no doubt knocking on every door to find the one responsible for this mess. So, the only question is how much longer do you think we can stay here before their little witch hunt reaches us?"

Just before Twilight could have the chance to answer that question, she heard a loud banging on her front door and a rough voice shouting, "In the name of the Royal Guard, open this door right now!"

Then, the moment she turned around to answer the order, Trixie pulled out a small knife hidden inside the sleeves of her suit and lunged towards Twilight before putting her in a chokehold with her free hoof and using the one holding the knife to cut the purple unicorn's horn. While the said purple unicorn struggled as hard as she could to free herself and even tried to use magic against her assailant, she was simple unable to concentrate while also gasping for air, which bought a manically laughing Trixie plenty of time to completely sever the horn from Twilight's forehead.

Right after she had finally managed to do so, the front door was broken down and two white-coated pegasus guards entered while holding their spears at the ready. Upon spotting the two mares struggling with each other on the floor, they quickly rushed to seperate two and grabbed Trixie by her forelegs before dragging her towards the entrance in order to take her into custody. As they did so, however, Trixie looked back at the mutilated and utterly devastated Twilight while also exclaiming, "I hope you're now happy, Sparkle! I just helped you take take the first step towards understanding me! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

She kept laughing even as the guards dragged her outside with no resistance from her whatsoever. Meanwhile, her latest victim was left wallow in her sadness and terror at not only what had just happened to her, but also what was about to happen to the rest of Equestria.