Crystals of Rosewood

by Jamming

Rating: teen
Tags: Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Spitfire, Limestone Pie, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 17230

Trixie, Spitfire and Limestone are the only three ponies not frozen in time. Together, they travel to try and restart time, but it turns out that the problem is a lot deeper than they initially thought...

Trixie is celebrating the new year when suddenly everypony stops moving. She finds Spitfire and Limestone who also remain unfrozen and together they travel to try and restart time, but on their travels they realise there is a lot more wrong than they initially thought...

Rated Teen for mild violence and some romancey parts.
This story is dedicated to DarkiniVonBlessy and Tomas for welcoming me so nicely into the brony community. Also dedicated to Ace Play (AKA MrKat7214, the best brony streamer) and CaptainFlamey for introducing me to the show (the best non-brony streamer).

Published 2022-09-02 00:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-01-10 16:29:59 UTC

Chapter 1 – A Shift in Time

Trixie Lulamoon sat atop the balcony of Twilight’s castle, staring into the night’s sky at the celebrations and festivities. It was close to midnight on New Year's Eve and fireworks and disco lights and confetti filled the air above Ponyville. Squashed up next to her on a sofa was her best friend in the whole of Equestria, Starlight Glimmer, who was snoring loudly with her head resting on Trixie’s shoulder.

Trixie had searched the castle from top to bottom to try and find a comfortable seat for the two of them to sit on. Most of the castle’s chairs were made of crystal and Trixie couldn’t think of anything less comfortable, so she located a small sofa which she’d dragged up to the balcony. Unfortunately, the sofa was a bit too small, and she’d spent the whole night with Starlight squeezed up against her side.

Originally, Trixie was thinking she would be spending the new year alone, but Starlight had insisted that she stayed up so that they could spend it together. Trixie was not surprised that she had fallen asleep so quickly; Starlight’s weeks were packed full of commitments that she needed to attend to. Since Twilight’s coronation, Starlight had been working as head-mare at the friendship school and had helped creatures from all over Equestria get settled into Ponyville.

Yet somehow, she also managed to schedule in time for Trixie. Although she knew she would never be as good as Starlight, Trixie was slowly improving her great and powerful magical abilities. By practicing different skills with Starlight and working on them in her own time too, she could now perform more advanced spells such as short-distance teleportation and summoning a strong shield.

After having spent so much time with her over the past few weeks, Starlight had grown even closer to Trixie. They’d been sharing the castle between them, as Twilight had moved to Canterlot shortly after the coronation. Trixie had never had a better friend in all of her life, and she was sure Starlight felt the same way too. Affection bubbled in Trixie’s stomach when she looked at Starlight sleeping peacefully at her side and a blush spread across her cheeks as she thought about what was to come in the new year: more time to spend together, perhaps Trixie could offer to work extra time at the school – Starlight would be pleased – then maybe Trixie could put on a magic show just for her. That would impress her! Then, possibly Trixie could finally tell her—

Starlight stirred in her sleep which snapped Trixie out of her fantasising. Her eyes blinked open groggily and she lifted her head up slowly before glancing over at Trixie who was watching her expectantly.

Her eyes widened when she realised that she’d been sleeping. “Oh! Trixie, I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed. “I said I’d spend the night with you, how long was I asleep? What time is it?”

“It’s almost midnight,” Trixie replied. “You’ve been asleep for the best part of an hour. Trixie was going to wake you, but it looks like you’ve done that yourself.”

“I’m so sorry, I was just so tired and—”

Trixie held a hoof up to Starlight’s mouth. “It’s fine, Starlight. The great and understanding Trixie realises you’ve been very busy lately. Honestly, Trixie is just surprised you find her shoulder so comfy.”

Starlight glanced down at Trixie’s slightly matted fur where her head had just been lying. She blushed and looked away, but she couldn’t supress a giggle; Trixie had been stuck in her seat with Starlight sleeping on her for almost an hour.

Trixie smirked, then glanced behind her at the clock on the wall inside. Just twenty seconds until midnight! She squeezed out of her seat on the sofa, stretched her hooves out and trotted over to the edge of the balcony. Ponyville was famous for its incredible new year’s firework display and Trixie had always made sure she was around to see it every year. And every year it always got better and better.

She stood there and waited for twenty seconds to pass. And then thirty. Nothing had happened.

“Well, it looks like they went and messed up the firework display. What a great and powerful start to the year.” She turned round to face Starlight, but found her staring into the sky, a vacant expression on her face.

Trixie trotted over to her, and when her focus remained on the sky, Trixie’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you okay?” Starlight remained motionless. “Starlight?”

No reply. Trixie waved a hoof in front of her face, but her expression remained blank, her eyes misty and devoid of emotion. Trixie started to panic and rushed over to the balcony, peering over the edge. The ponies below were all unmoving, just like Starlight. Even a group of pegasi who had gathered to watch the display appeared frozen in mid-air above the roofs of Ponyville. It was as if time had suddenly stopped – as if someone had just pressed pause on the world.

But why was she still moving? Sure, she was great and powerful, but this didn’t make any sense.

Trixie turned and looked at the clock inside. It sat there, frozen at midnight. Trixie felt her blood run cold. Her first thought was to protect Starlight, so, with some difficulty, Trixie managed to heave the sofa – with Starlight still on top of it – into Starlight’s bedroom and close the balcony doors.

Trixie ran down the castle stairs, through the map room and onto the plaza situated just outside the castle entrance to take another look around the town. At first glance, she couldn’t see any movement whatsoever. She tried shouting out, but her voice was meaningless in the still night air.

Her next idea was to use magic to attract the attention of anypony else who remained unfrozen. That was if there was anypony else unfrozen. Trixie shuddered. Luckily, Starlight had recently taught her a spell perfect for the situation and, despite the growing sense of foreboding, Trixie was delighted that she had managed to find the perfect scenario in which to utilise it.

Her horn lit up and she fired a beacon of light into the night’s sky. It lit up with a flash, but the beam died down after only a few seconds; Trixie was still trying to get the hang of that one.

Once the beam had dissipated fully, to Trixie’s delight, she spotted movement in the sky. A yellow and blue pegasus mare flew down towards her. As the mare got closer, Trixie immediately recognised her to be Spitfire, leader of the Wonderbolts, wearing her trademark blue Wonderbolts uniform. Although Trixie and Spitfire had met at events before, they had never really spoken to each other, but at least this was another pony who was actually moving.

Spitfire landed just a few metres from Trixie and hastily trotted over. “Oh, thank Celestia I’m not the only one still moving,” she panted exhaustedly. “I was prepping the team for our big new-year fly over, when suddenly everypony in the room around me froze. It was like nothin’ I’ve ever seen before. And now I come down here to find everypony in the entire town frozen too!”

“I don’t know what happened!” exclaimed Trixie, pacing around uneasily. “I was just sitting, waiting for the display. I went over to the balcony to see the fireworks, and when there were none, I turned around to find Starlight staring into space, not moving at all! I looked at the clock on the wall. It’s frozen at midnight.” Trixie recounted the whole situation with a shaking voice. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to come loose, so she turned away from Spitfire, not wanting to embarrass herself.

Spitfire wrapped a forehoof around her back. “C’mon, don’t worry yourself too hard. I know you’ve had more than your fair share of this sorta stuff in the past. And I’ve seen your magic shows.”

“Y- you what?”

“I’ve seen your shows. They’re awesome. The stuff you come up with and pull off is impressive. It’s that sort of intellect that we could use now.”

Trixie turned back around, wiping her eyes, and smiled determinedly at Spitfire. She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out before formulating a plan. “Okay. I hate to say it, but Twilight’s castle is probably the first place to look if we want any information on what this could be. She has tons of books, and I mean tons.”

They started back towards the castle, trotting briskly. “You’re Spitfire, right? Leader of the Wonderbolts?” Spitfire nodded. “I’ve heard Rainbow Dash talking about you. Several Times. In a lot of detail.”

Spitfire grinned as they trotted into the castle. “That sure sounds like her. I already know that you’re Trixie, as I—"

“I prefer the grrreat and powerful Trixie, best magician in all of Equestria! But, eh, that works too.” Spitfire laughed as they stepped through the castle’s large doors.

As Trixie led the way through the castle, it dawned on her just how big the task ahead would be, and when she rounded the corner into the library, Spitfire’s aghast expression made it clear that she too had underestimated the extent of their undertaking.

There were rows upon rows of bookshelves towering high up into the room, much further than Trixie could reach with her hooves. The shelves spanned the entire library, stretching around so that not an inch of wall was left in view. Clearly, Twilight had run out of space on her shelves as there were more books placed in piles or on desks around the room.

Trixie watched as Spitfire took it all in, her mouth still agape. Finally, she regained her senses. “That… that’s a lot of books.”

“Told ya so. Well, let’s be strategic about this. I’ve been through some of this with Starlight before.”

Spitfire looked over at Trixie. “Starlight? Is she…”

“Frozen? Yeah,” replied Trixie solemnly, though the thought of Starlight just made her more eager to get started.

Trixie moved over to one side of the room. “Over here are books about magic. Over there are books about history.” She pointed a hoof at a shelf on the opposite wall. “I’ll start here, you start there. Just pile any books you’ve looked through in the middle, it’s not like anypony is here to do anything about it.”

Spitfire nodded and peeled off her uniform before getting to work. After a while of painstaking research (neither of them could tell how long as all the castle’s clocks were stuck at midnight), the castle lights suddenly switched off, plunging the room into immediate darkness. Trixie lit up her horn and peered upwards at the lights.

Spitfire trotted her way towards Trixie, cautiously glancing at the floor as to not trip over any books. “Power must be bust. Nopony's gonna be working the power generator, so I don't think it's gonna come back on.” She yawned loudly. “I could probably do with some shuteye anyway, we can start again in the morning when it’s light outside.”

Despite her tiredness, Trixie’s eyes widened at Spitfire’s words. “There won’t be any light in the morning! If it is the whole of Equestria that’s frozen, Celestia won’t be there to raise the sun!”

“Oh, hay,” Spitfire cursed. “What’re we gonna do?”

“Well, I could probably do with some sleep too,” Trixie replied, stifling a yawn. “You can sleep here if you’d like. I think there’s a spare room already made up just upstairs next to mine.” Spitfire nodded and they made their way out of the library and up the stairs.

On their way across the upstairs corridor, Spitfire glanced at her left foreleg on which Trixie spotted a stopwatch. Spitfire noticed Trixie glancing and held it out for her to look at. “Since the clocks have stopped working, I’ll try to set a timer. I can set it for eight hours, and if it does go off in the morning then I’ll come and wake you.”

Trixie nodded, and after making sure Spitfire’s room was fit for sleeping, she said goodnight and headed over to her room. However, before she entered, she made her way down to the castle’s kitchen and opened up the freezer. It was still cold inside, but Trixie knew it wouldn’t be for much longer. She took out a large tub of vanilla ice cream, found a spoon and took it back upstairs.

Ice cream always helped Trixie get her emotions in check, and she really needed it after the day’s events. But before going into her room, Trixie went into Starlight’s, just to check on her. She sat there, frozen, in the middle of the room where Trixie had left her on the sofa. Trixie trotted over to her and sat down in front.

“Oh, Starlight,” Trixie murmured. She sat there for a few moments in silence, then moved her hoof up to touch Starlight’s cheek. “I promise I’ll find a way to get you out of here.” She lowered her hoof, wrapped Starlight up in a blanket then made her way back to the door. But she couldn’t leave, not without… Oh, Celestia.

She trotted back up to Starlight and planted a light kiss on her cheek. “I love you, Starlight.” Trixie truly meant it. She’d been holding onto those words for a while, but saying them without being able to receive a response crushed her heart. Tears shining in her eyes, she turned away and left the room.

Trixie walked over to her own bedroom, shut the door and sat on her bed, all whilst levitating big scoops of ice cream into her mouth. After she was contentedly stuffed, she lay down in bed and closed her eyes. Thoughts and emotions buzzed about in her head, but she eventually drifted off to sleep.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

Trixie awoke suddenly to Spitfire’s voice calling through her bedroom door. She sat up in her bed, but upon remembering the situation she was in, slumped back down with a groan.

“Trixie! Wake up!” Spitfire yelled, banging on the door even harder.

Reluctantly, Trixie removed herself from under the covers and trotted towards the door. Her memories of the previous day were all tangled, not unlike her morning mane. She opened the door just a crack so as not to subject Spitfire to her mane and the bags under her eyes.

Spitfire looked disgruntled and her eyes were half closed. “If it’s all good with you, I’m gonna head home to Cloudsdale to put away my uniform… and I should probably take a shower.” When Trixie didn’t say anything, she added, “We have cloud-powered showers back home.”

Trixie nodded in understanding. “Trixie’s gonna” – she yawned loudly – “go back to bed now.” Spitfire glared at her sternly. “Fine,” she grumbled, “Trixie will look for breakfast.”

After that, Spitfire looked somewhat content and briskly flew off out the window. Instead of doing exactly what she’d just said she was going to do, Trixie jumped back on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. Realising that she definitely was not going to be able to get back to sleep, she dragged herself out of bed for the second time that morning.

Trixie moved over to her bathroom and turned on the tap to get some water to rinse her face, but nothing came out. Trixie groaned and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, why does it have to be this waaay?” she whined, stamping her hoof on the floor.

She made her way outside, lighting the way by illuminating her horn. The stream by the Friendship school would have to do. Despite the bitter cold, Trixie took some solace in seeing the beauty of the cloudless night reflected in the stream; the ripples sparkled in the moonlight which helped to calm her anxiety. Once her face was properly clean and her mane at least slightly presentable, she made her way into the kitchen and quickly located some packs of cookies. This’ll do, she thought to herself as she opened a packet and levitated a cookie into her mouth.

Trixie was halfway through the first pack when Spitfire flew back in. Despite her flight, Spitfire’s expression was tranquil and her breathing still. Trixie furrowed her brow. “You’re looking pretty zen,” she mused.

“It’s pretty peaceful having the sky all to yourself, I’ve never felt anything quite like it.” Spitfire eyed the cookies In Trixie’s hooves. “Is that all there is to eat? Cookies?”

“What? Trixie really likes cookies and- and Trixie couldn’t find anything else, so…”

Spitfire opened up a drawer and immediately found a selection of fruit. She frowned and glared at Trixie. “D’you mean you couldn’t find anything else, or you couldn’t be bothered to.”

Trixie shrugged. “Hmm. Both?”

“Well, I’m gonna eat these,” she said, picking up a couple of apples in her wings. “I’ve gotta keep up my physique for the Wonder—” Spitfire cut herself off and frowned discontentedly when a cookie levitated its way towards her. “Trixie, I don’t— fine, have it your way.” She took a bite of the cookie and immediately brightened up at the delicious chocolatey taste. “Oh, what the hay. Hoof over some more.”

Trixie complied and between them they ate through most of the cookies, although Trixie found some more packs in another cabinet to save for later.

Regretting having eaten quite so many cookies, Trixie and Spitfire got back to work searching through the library. The shelves were looking emptier and emptier – and the floor messier and messier – and Trixie started to lose hope, but her ears perked up when Spitfire called out, gesturing with a hoof to usher her over.

In her hooves, Spitfire held a dusty, ancient-looking, red tome titled ‘Crystals of Rosewood’. She opened it to a page with a diagram depicting a large yellow stone with a mysterious glyph engraved on the front.

Spitfire pointed a hoof towards the elegant cursive text beside it:

Crystals of Rosewood – The Time Crystal

This artifact was taken from the Witch of Time, Shift Rosewood, under the first full moon of the year 1000 when Princess Luna banished the three witches to Tartarus for their sins. It possesses the ability to manipulate the temporal stability of objects and send them back through time. The stone can alter vast quantities of objects at an unlimited distance, essentially giving it the ability to pause time completely, which can have cataclysmic repercussions.

The Time Crystal was damaged during the witches’ battle with Princess Luna, although the extent of the damage and the effect on the stone’s magic is unknown.

According to the Princesses of Equestria, few have been able to conjure the stone’s magic and nopony has done it to anywhere near the extent that Shift herself managed. The stone has now been locked away somewhere around the city of Canterlot, the Princesses alone know of its location.

Trixie looked away from the page and stared at the wall, lifting a hoof to her chin and stroking it in thought. Witches and crystals rang vague bells in her head, although she’d assumed it was just an old mares’ tale.

Trixie looked back down at the book and leafed through the surrounding pages, but there didn’t seem to be any useful information on the stone’s whereabouts.

She looked up and realised that Spitfire was eyeing her expectantly, so she verbalised her thoughts. “Well, if by some miracle this stone is what’s causing this annoying time pause, either this Witch of Time is free from Tartarus and has managed to find the stone and use its ability again, or somepony else has found the crystal and figured out how to use it.”

Spitfire took a deep breath and nodded. “So, how in Equestria are we gonna find it? This book is less helpful than a pony in a full-body wing-and-hoof cast drinking through a straw.”

Despite the dire situation, Trixie chuckled at the ridiculous comparison. “Hmm, the grrreat and powerful Trixie has one idea in mind of where we could go!”

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

Trixie grew more and more apprehensive the closer they got to Maud’s cave. Sure, out of all ponies in Ponyville – or in all of Equestria for that matter – Maud knew the most about rocks, so she might be able to provide some information on where to find this magical time crystal. But, deep down, Trixie knew that the chances of Maud not being frozen in time were incredibly slim. Still, maybe she had some books or something that could help. Trixie had also made sure to pack the book they found into her saddlebag so that she could show Maud, provided she was in a state where she could actually read. The more she thought about it, the more unlikely it felt they’d get anything out of the trip.

Not wanting to let the nerves make her change her mind, she decided to focus on the world around her. The only sign of movement – other than Spitfire trotting along in front of her – was the slow blowing of the leaves in the wind. As she looked closer at the trees, Trixie saw a dove tending to its chicks nested in the branches. She paused for a moment to stare at it, glad that nature seemed to be doing fine despite the time pause. It seemed that it was just pony life that had frozen.

After a short while the two mares rounded a corner and got a first look into the cave. Trixie quickly rushed over towards Maud’s gazebo. As she trotted up the stairs, she saw not just Maud, but Marble and Mud Briar too, all frozen in place. Trixie sighed and looked at the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.

But then Spitfire called out to her and she immediately turned around after hearing the excitement in the pegasus’s voice. Spitfire was pointing a hoof out towards the small pier that stretched out into the cave’s large aquifer, and sitting on the pier was a lone grey mare who turned her head to look at them. Trixie’s eyes lit up as she called out her name.

“Limestone!”

Limestone stood up and trotted slowly towards them. “Trixie. What the hay is going on? Why are you moving? And more importantly why are they not moving?” She gestured a hoof over to her frozen sisters. Her tone was accusatory, and her voice trembling.

Spitfire moved forward. “Relax, filly. We’re just as confu—”

“Don’t ‘relax, filly’ me!” Limestone practically yelled, eyes narrowing. She stomped her hoof forward, causing Spitfire to take a cautionary step back. “I’ve been sitting here in this cave for Celestia knows how long with no explanation to why my sisters and the whole of Ponyville have just stopped moving.” Limestone stomped her hoof again and turned away from them both, but Trixie saw tears forming in her eyes. This strong love for her family was the main thing Trixie remembered about Limestone from when they had worked at the rock farm together, and it’s what really allowed them to get along in the first place.

Trixie wrapped a hoof around Limestone’s back and moved to stand alongside her. “Limestone. We don’t know what’s happening either, but we have a theory and we need your help.” Spitfire nodded as Trixie turned back around to face her. “You see, we found a book in Twilight’s library. It said that somewhere in Equestria there is a crystal that can basically pause time, and we were wondering if you knew anything of it.” Trixie levitated the book from her saddlebag and opened it to the bookmarked page with the diagram of the stone.

After skimming her eyes down the page and staring curiously at the image, Limestone looked up at them. “I think I’ve seen something like this before. It’s a huge cut topaz crystal. Carved gemstones like this get an engraved glyph if they’re imbued with magic. But the glyph; it looks like one I’ve seen cut into the walls of the Rosewood caves in the side of Canterlot mountain.”

Trixie grinned. “That must be it!” she exclaimed, pointing a hoof to the writing next to the crystal. “It says there that the witch’s name was Shift Rosewood.”

Spitfire’s eyes sparkled. “That’s our best lead yet! Let’s check it out!” She started making her way back towards the cave’s entrance, but turned round when she realised Trixie and Limestone weren’t following.

Trixie sighed. “How are we going to get to Canterlot? We’ll have to walk the whole way there.”

“You can just teleport us there, right?” Spitfire opened her mouth as if she was about to continue, but no more words came out.

“I may be great and powerful beyond your comprehension,” Trixie started, “but I can’t teleport us the whole way there because I haven’t learned advanced teleportation yet. We’d need Starlight for that, and she’s uh…” Trixie trailed off, and looked down at her hoof which she was drifting through the dirt.

Spitfire exhaled deeply. “Hey come on. I didn’t mean to upset anypony, I just wanna fix this as soon as we can.”

Limestone made her way towards Spitfire before turning around to address Trixie who was staring at the ground muttering to herself. “Cheer up Trixie. We can take your wagon.” Trixie brightened at that and she looked up. “But first we have to fill it up with supplies, and I’ve run out of supplies down here.” She turned back around and continued towards the exit, glowering at Spitfire as she passed.

Spitfire threw a worried glance at Trixie which she returned and then they quickly followed Limestone out of the cave.

Over the next couple of hours, the three spent their time going back and forth between the castle and Trixie’s wagon, packing as many supplies as they could think of to last them for the next few days. Limestone had insisted that they empty it completely of all the ‘magic junk’ as she had put it, and after some deliberation, Trixie obliged, but she made sure to pack it all neatly into the castle for when they got back.

“Canterlot is like fifty miles away, right?” Spitfire asked. Trixie nodded and Limestone mumbled in agreement. “We could make that in a day at a decent pace.”

Trixie furrowed her brow and glanced back at the wagon which was packed full of enough food and water for at least three days of hiking as well as several headtorches and lanterns and a two-pony tent. Trixie had also packed some spare saddle bags in case they needed to leave the wagon somewhere. “Hmm, Trixie disagrees. We’ve packed so much into my wagon that it’ll be super hard to pull, especially since most of the journey is uphill.”

Limestone shifted her gaze between them. “Well let’s get going then.” Without waiting for a response, she pulled herself under the backband at the front of the wagon. “I’ll go until I’m tired, then one of you can take over.”

The three mares set off after Trixie strapped a lantern to the front of the wagon so that they could actually see the path ahead. During the walk, they idly chatted about random things that had been happening in their lives before the time pause. Limestone wasn’t talking much, but Trixie tried her best to fit her into the conversation when she could. Eventually, the trio stopped by the edge of a small wooden building with a pickaxe hanging decoratively above the door. Limestone slid out of the metal ring and stretched out her hooves.

Spitfire glanced at her stopwatch. “Wow, Limestone, you’ve been going for three hours. That’s gotta be some sorta record…”

Limestone stared at her curiously, surprised at receiving such a compliment. She nodded her head, then made her way towards the hut. After knocking on the door loudly and hearing no reply, she let herself in, but halted at Spitfire’s shout.

“Uh, Limestone, I don’t think we should really just be barging into other pony’s houses, even if they are frozen.”

“Relax, filly. I just want to have a look around.” she said, ignoring Spitfire’s advice and trotting inside anyway.

Spitfire recoiled at her previous words being thrown back in her face. She looked – mouth hanging open – towards Trixie who gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about her, Spitfire. She was exactly the same with me when I first met her. She’s just going through a hard time at the moment.”

Spitfire sighed and nodded. After a short moment of silence, Limestone’s head poked back around the door. She closed it behind her and trotted back down the path.

Spitfire immediately volunteered to take the wagon and slid into the ring, wincing slightly as the metal ruffled her feathers. After she was comfortable, they set off again.

For a while, they walked in silence. Trixie got bored quickly and tried to start a conversation to involve all three of them, but Limestone didn’t seem intent on talking. Spitfire was happy to comply though, and they talked about what they’d done since the coronation. Spitfire talked a bit about her Wonderbolts shows, whereas Trixie’s mind immediately went to her magic lessons with Starlight. Since they really did have all day, Trixie went into a lot of – probably slightly too much – detail, and to her delight, Spitfire listened along without interrupting.

After another hour or so, Trixie eagerly offered to take the wagon from Spitfire, who smiled cheerfully at her enthusiasm. “Wow, how’re you still so pumped up about walking? We’ve been going for hours!”

“Because I’m so great and powerful!” she replied, exaggerating her dwindling energy levels. “I… think it’s just nervous energy,” she admitted, smiling meekly. “The first thing I want to do after we restart time is go back to see Starlight and make sure she’s okay, and I want that to happen as soon as possible.” A frown creased her features as she thought about Starlight again for the millionth time that day. How would she feel waking up on a sofa indoors with no great and powerful best friend beside her?

Spitfire nodded. “She must be really special to you, huh?”

“Yeah…” Trixie’s cheeks tinted purple and she tilted her head downwards to look at the floor. She smiled to herself, thinking about what they could do when they got back and Starlight was safe.

“Trixie.” Limestone spoke for the first time in a while. Her voice was still gravelly but had a lighter tone to it. “Are you sure she’s just your friend?”

“What do you mean?” Trixie looked up to see the corners of Limestone’s mouth turned up in a grin. Flustered, Trixie spoke quickly. “Well, she’s my best friend. She enjoys spending time with me and I enjoy spending time with her. She’s loyal and smart and funny and cute and—”

Spitfire laughed. “And cute!?”

“That’s what I thought,” Limestone teased, chuckling at Trixie’s horrified expression and cheeks which turned straight from purple to a burning crimson.

“I- I… Trixie didn’t mean to say that.”

“So, d’you like her?” Spitfire giggled, raising her eyebrows.

“O- of course I like her!” Trixie stammered, trying to make sense of how this conversation had gone so wrong so quickly.

“I mean do you like like her?”

Trixie said nothing as she concentrated on removing the rosiness in her cheeks which she definitely hadn’t asked for.

A smirk grew on Limestone’s face. “Relax, Trix. If you like her, you tell her that when we get back.”

“Trixie never admitted to any of that!” Trixie exclaimed, bewildered.

Limestone furrowed her brow. “Really? Because I distinctly remember you saying just now that you thought she was cu—"

“Stop! Starlight can be cute without- without me being in love with her!”

“Uh, that’s not exactly what I said,” Limestone chuckled. Trixie stopped talking at that point and Spitfire burst out laughing but stopped abruptly when Trixie jabbed her in the side with her magic.

“Well at least you have somepony,” reassured Spitfire. “I feel like I’ll never find a special somepony.”

Trixie looked back up. “Sure you will. You’re one of the most popular pegasi out there!”

“But that doesn’t make it any easier to find somepony! If anything, it just makes it harder. I wanna find a pony I can spend the rest of my life with, not someone who just likes me because I’m famous.”

Spitfire frowned, but Trixie flashed her a reassuring smile, then turned around. “What about you, Limestone?”

Limestone looked down, a faint blush spreading across her face. “I… I don’t want to talk about my feelings,” she replied in a half-whisper, speeding up slightly to walk in front of the other mares.

Trixie and Spitfire shared a concerned look but didn’t push any further. The three walked in silence for a while longer before stopping by a large river.

Trixie gazed out at the flowing water. There was a small island in the middle of the river that cut it off into two separate streams which re-joined at the end before travelling off into a small waterfall. The sight was alluring and was enough to finally distract Trixie from her thoughts and worries.

After their short rest at the river bank, the three moved back closer to the path and sat on the grass to eat some of their food, chatting amongst themselves. Limestone actually joined in on some of the conversation, which delighted Trixie, although she tried not to show it.

When Spitfire flew off to stretch her wings, Trixie seized the opportunity to talk to Limestone about their earlier conversation.

“So, have you ever had a special somepony?”

Limestone hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. “Yes, but as I said earlier I don’t want to talk about it. It’s complicated.”

Despite her fervid curiosity, Trixie thought it best to stop pressing. “Well, if you’re sure. Y’know, back home they call me the great and understanding Trixie, so if you want to talk to somepony, I’d be happy to help. And I’m sure Spitfire could help out too.”

A fierce blush crept onto Limestone’s cheeks, but before Trixie could say anything, Spitfire landed back down next to them. Limestone immediately headed back for the wagon. “Let’s go. We’ve still got a lot of walking to do.”

Realising that that was definitely the end of their conversation, Trixie headed over and joined her as she stepped back under the backband.

The three mares walked for another few hours before stopping at the edge of a forest to set up camp. Limestone and Spitfire went off to look for firewood and Trixie was left to assemble the tent. Before she did so, she admired her surroundings. Although it was incredibly dark, as it had been all day, the forest felt warm and cosy.

A twig snapping echoed out from behind her. She turned around swiftly, but could not see the source of the noise. An uneasy shiver crept down her spine; perhaps the forest wasn’t quite as calming as she’d first thought. Another crack sounded to her side and she let out a slight yelp before realising it was just Spitfire coming back with some sticks.

“Woah there, filly. I’m not that scary.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and said nothing.

After Limestone came back, they set to work lighting the fire. Once they’d made sure it was burning properly and that it wasn’t going to go out, they all sat around it and Trixie levitated a deck of cards out of her wagon for them to play with.

Trixie shuffled the cards with her magic and dealt seven cards out to each of them. “So, what are we going to do when we reach Canterlot?”

Limestone picked up her cards in her hooves. “Probably head straight to the cave. There’s no point going into Canterlot,” she said, tapping her chin with a hoof. “Spitfire, any fours?”

“Two,” Spitfire said, hoofing the cards over. “Yeah, I agree. There’ll be nothing to do in Canterlot anyways, what with everypony being frozen. Trixie, any aces?”

“Go Fish.” She levitated their map over from the wagon, and briefly scanned her eyes over it. “Okay, I think it’ll be another couple of hours of walking tomorrow before we make it there. I hope whatever we find is actually helpful, for Starlight’s sake. Limestone, any fours?” Trixie smiled slyly.

Limestone groaned, hoofing over three cards. “Okay, where are we all sleeping tonight? Trixie, any threes?”

“Haha! Go Fish!” Trixie exclaimed, punching the air overenthusiastically.

Spitfire grinned. “Well, the tent sleeps two ponies, right? Whoever wins the game gets to sleep in the wagon. Limestone, you got any threes?”

Limestone grumbled and chucked a card over.

Trixie frowned. “Trixie doesn’t think that seems very fair, it’s Trixie’s wagon.” She hesitated for a moment before smiling smugly. “Then again, Trixie’s probably going to win anyway so… Spitfire, any tens?”

This time it was Spitfire’s turn to frown. “How do you do that!?” she exclaimed, hoofing over three cards to Trixie’s glee.

When Trixie inevitably won the first game, they decided to make it a best of three. When Trixie won the second, they made it a best of five and when she was on track to winning the third game, Limestone and Spitfire stopped trying.

Trixie beamed at her cards fanned out in front of her. “Limestone, any twos?”

Limestone chucked her cards into the air. “This is ridiculous, I’m going to bed.” Spitfire nodded her head in agreement as Limestone made her way into the tent.

“The grrreat and powerful Trixie has bested you! I shall enjoy a comfortable sleep in my wagon!”

Spitfire rolled her eyes, said goodnight and made her way to the tent as Trixie tended to her cards which had been unceremoniously thrown all over the ground. As soon as it was all put away, she made for her wagon, but before she opened the door, she heard muffled voices coming from the tent.

“Spitfire. I didn’t mean to get angry with you earlier today.” Trixie’s ears perked up at the genuine apology from Limestone.

“It’s all good, don’t worry about it,” Spitfire half-whispered, clearly also surprised.

“I just get worried… about my sisters… I get angry—”

“I forgive you.” After a short pause, Limestone was clearly content with that response and they both settled down, leaving Trixie with her thoughts. She smiled to herself, somewhat relieved that Limestone and Spitfire had at least started to settle their differences. With that, she made her way into her wagon, closed the door, turned out the lights and drifted off into a restful sleep in her hammock.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

When Trixie’s eyes opened, she immediately noticed something was off; she felt an unexplainable fear and a chill ran down her spine, but she didn’t understand why. She slowly pushed open the wagon door and found the entire area surrounded by a pale green ethereal glow that gave Trixie a great sense of unease.

A rustle behind her made her turn sharply to find a shadowed figure trotting their way deeper into the forest, disappearing round a large boulder. Being too confused to think straight, she slowly crept towards it. She rounded the boulder and instantly recoiled after seeing a ghostly unicorn mare standing right in front of her, surrounded by a much thicker green glow. It was almost as if the glow around the forest was emanating from her. Her face and body were surrounded by a dark cloak so that all Trixie could see were her hooves and the end of her muzzle which both appeared to be a dark green, although the glow made it hard for Trixie to tell. A green symbol was stitched onto either side of the cloak, around where the unicorn’s cutie mark would be.

“Don’t be afraid, Miss Lulamoon. I am not like my sisters.” Her voice was very rough, even more so than Limestone’s; it was so bad that to Trixie it almost sounded distorted.

“Y- your sisters?”

The mare didn’t answer and instead pointed a hoof towards a cave entrance just a few metres away that somehow Trixie hadn’t previously noticed. Another eerie glow seemed to be coming from an opening deeper within the cave, this time it seemed to be a mixture of colours. Apprehensively, Trixie trotted into and through the cave, the hooded mare following close behind.

As the cave opened up, distinct mumbling could be heard in the distance.

“W- what is this?” stammered Trixie, heart pounding in her chest.

“Keep going.”

Trixie did as she was told, trembling nervously, until a hoof reached out and lightly tapped her flank, causing her to flinch and turn around.

The cloaked mare stepped slightly in front of her. “Listen closely.”

Trixie strained her ears and heard another painfully raspy voice reverberate around the cave. “… and thanks to Rift’s retrieval of the space crystal, we now have all three crystals back in our possession, ready for the ascension. The only piece left is the magic source. Shift, I trust you are close to finding the pony we’re looking for.”

Despite her ever-growing fear, Trixie stepped forward slightly more and poked her head around a corner. She was met with a large room with torches mounted along the walls in dark steel frames, burning dimly. The cave roof was filled with so many stalactites that it was almost impossible to see the top.

But the thing that immediately caught her eye was the three dark figures standing around a large levitating stone slab which they appeared to be using as a table on the far side of the room. Each pony wore a similar cloak to that of the mare behind her and each was surrounded by a glow of different colours: red, blue and yellow. Trixie’s eyes widened when she looked at the yellow mare’s cloak and saw a very familiar symbol stitched into the cloak material; it was the same glyph as the one she’d seen in the diagram of the time crystal from the tome Spitfire had found. It was then that she knew, without a doubt, that she was looking at the witch of time, and presumably the other witches too.

“I have the town name. It is called Ponyville.” Trixie cringed at the screeching voice coming from the yellow glowing unicorn which was somehow even worse than the ones she had already heard. Trixie’s mind was foggy, but she realised that if they were talking about Ponyville, she should probably listen in.

The raspy voice, it turned out, was coming from the red witch. This time, the words exiting her mouth sounded frustrated. “I expected better of you, Shift. You must find the pony before the time pause desists.”

At that, Trixie’s mind fog cleared and she immediately knew that what she was hearing was vital information.

“I will do my best, sister.”

“You are dismissed.”

The blue and yellow witches vanished, leaving just the red one who turned to look directly at Trixie. Trixie let out a muted scream before the cave started to morph around her with a scarlet glow. She turned around to see the hooded mare she’d come in with was staring at her with glowing green eyes.

“Miss Lulamoon, whatever you do, do not give them her name. You may endanger the whole of Equestria.”

“The whole of Equestria!? What do you mean?”

The mare turned away and Trixie felt the air cool as the cavern began to melt around her.

Trixie found herself running away but glued to the spot.

Then she woke up.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed. Chapter 2 is already in development and it gets a lot more intense.

If you notice any mistakes, you can DM me on Discord @Jamming#3504

Chapter 2 – A Stolen Heart

Trixie wasn’t sure if it was the horrifically vivid nightmare or Spitfire’s loud stopwatch that jolted her awake. She found herself drenched in sweat as she climbed out of her hammock; it was as if she had been sleeping next to the fire all night. She stretched out her hooves and yawned before opening the doors and stepping into the cool outside air. Limestone and Spitfire were both already sitting around the remains of their campfire, the only light coming from the full moon and the lamps on the back of the wagon. Despite the dull lighting, Trixie could see bags under the other mares’ disgruntled eyes.

Trixie’s mind wandered back to her dream and the many questions that plagued her mind. Were those cloaked ponies the witches? Why had they shown up in her dream? Why was the dream so lifelike? Who was the figure that had guided her through the cave?

“Trixie. You look awful,” Limestone growled, slightly widening her drooping eyelids.

“Gee, thanks,” Trixie replied, glancing between them. “You’re not looking much better.”

Spitfire stood up and stretched her wings. “Everything okay, Trixie? You look kinda… out of it.”

“It was just… just a very vivid dream. It felt so… real.” Trixie’s concerned expression was matched by the others as she dragged herself forwards to sit with them.

“Wanna talk about it?” Spitfire inquired.

Trixie nodded and recounted the story to the best of her ability, although some of the finer details had already faded from her memory. Once she had finished describing her nightmare, she realised her voice had been shaking, so she took some deep breaths. They sat in silence for a while, but Trixie shuddered every time she thought about the way the red witch had glared at her. It all just seemed too real.

Limestone pulled herself up off of her haunches, trotted towards Trixie and sat back down next to her, putting an arm over her shoulder. “Trixie, it’s just a dream. Stop getting worked up about it.”

“But that’s just it, Limestone. I don’t think it was just a dream. I think somepony out there is in danger.” Her heart skipped a beat when a sudden realisation occurred. She would have fallen off of her seat if Limestone didn’t still have a hoof around her. “What if- what if it’s Starlight!? She’s got to be the most powerful pony in Ponyville! We need to get back and—"

Trixie was cut off when Limestone hastily interjected. “Trixie, stop,” she said tersely. “I know you’re really worried about Starlight and you can’t wait to see her again; we’ve each got ponies back home that we want to see.” Trixie looked up and nodded. “But there’s no reason to overwork yourself. It was just a dream, Trixie.”

Spitfire nodded at Limestone. “And besides, even if it does mean something” – Limestone glared at Spitfire – “which is doesn’t! But if it did, it makes the most sense to head to the cave anyway and we can go straight back to Ponyville afterwards.”

Trixie nodded her head again, this time more confidently, and smiled. “Thanks, guys.”

It only took a few minutes for the three to eat, pack up and get ready to continue their expedition. Despite Trixie’s hopes that the journey would only take another couple of hours, due to their fatigue from the previous day and their horrendous night’s sleep, two hours in and they were only about half way there.

Trixie pondered over what they might discover in the cave. Truth be told, she hadn’t really thought this far ahead yet. What exactly was she supposed to look for? An engraving on the wall? Who knew whether they’d actually find something to help desist the time pause?

Trixie was jolted away from her thoughts when she was nudged in the side by a yellow wing. “Trixie, are you doing okay?” At Trixie’s quizzical expression, Spitfire added, “you’re lookin’ more nervous than some of the ponies back at the academy, and trust me when I say that they can get really nervous.”

Trixie smiled. “I was just thinking, what are we actually going to look for in the cave? What if there’s nothing there? What if—”

Limestone interrupted her. “Trixie, what happened to your self-confidence? Back on the rock farm you wouldn’t stop spouting about your great-and-powerful-ness.” Trixie stared at the ground to avoid Limestone’s serious gaze. “I’m the rock expert here, you leave me to worry about that. Now, perk up a little.”

The trio continued on up the mountain. It took another very long and painful two hours with constant breaks and wagon-swaps, but they eventually made it to Canterlot’s entrance.

Despite Equestria’s drastic condition, the entrance to the capital looked as gold and grand as ever. Trixie presumed everypony had gone to celebrate the new year, hence why there were no guards posted there. Beside the entrance was a piece of flat land and a waterfall flowing into a lake. After dragging the wagon up onto the grass, Trixie collapsed onto the ground, legs weak from the tedious hike.

Collapsing onto the ground wasn’t easy when you were strapped into a wagon, so Limestone darted over to help her out. As soon as the wagon was parked and definitely not going to roll back down the hill, Trixie lugged herself over to the lake and jumped in. Despite the water’s bitter coldness, it felt incredibly relaxing and soothed her aching muscles. She then slid under the waterfall to wash off the grime and sweat that had been building up in her coat ever since they’d left Ponyville. The cold water was not only soothing to her body, but calmed her mind too. This was exactly what she needed, and after just a moment of hesitation, Spitfire and Limestone jumped under too.

After another few minutes, Trixie’s eagerness to continue on to the Rosewood caves outweighed her dread, and she heaved herself over to the wagon to dry off with a towel. Once the three were dried and had regained at least some of their energy, Limestone took charge and they headed off around the side of the mountain, leaving the wagon behind next to the waterfall. Trixie made sure to pack some emergency supplies into a saddle bag to take with them.

Trixie shuddered when the cave entrance came into view, not because of the gaping entrance itself – though that was quite intimidating – but because of what surrounded it; there were multiple cracked and weathered signs that displayed several different warnings. Their message was immediately clear: danger, keep out. There was even one that had a childish drawing of a headless pony.

Spitfire furrowed her brow concernedly. “Do we really think we should be going in there? Those signs really want us to stay out.”

Trixie stepped forward determinedly. “We can’t stop here or the journey would have been for nothing. Plus, Limestone’s been here before so I’m sure it’s safe, right?” Although there was confidence in her words, she couldn’t mask the fear in her tone. She glanced at Limestone for reassurance, but even she appeared to be slightly hesitant.

Well, the cave’s not going to walk into itself, Trixie thought, slowly trotting into the gloomy entrance, Spitfire and Limestone following close behind. After Trixie had adjusted to the murky darkness, her eyes widened upon examining the cave roof; it was completely covered in tall stalactites, dripping with moisture. She lit up her horn so she could have a better view.

Her heart pounded in her chest as the room lit up. The stalactites stretched onwards throughout the entire cavern – and deeper too – like hundreds of rows of sharp gnarled teeth. Trixie had to squint her eyes to see the back wall which was littered with small, wet passageways.

Limestone switched on her head torch and shone it at a large flat wall just to their left. There was a large symbol engraved into the rock; it was the exact same glyph that Trixie recognised from the book and it was clear from the others’ expression that they recognised it too.

Limestone trotted towards the back wall and spotted a large, empty pedestal. Scattered beneath the pedestal on the cave ground were chunks of a dark rock that looked to Trixie like something had been shattered. Limestone picked a shard up in her hoof an examined it closely. “When I came here before, I remember there was an unexplainable basalt structure sitting right here in front of the symbol. However, even with diamond-tipped drills, we couldn’t manage to chip it.” She turned back and stared concernedly and Trixie and Spitfire. “Something incredibly strong must have been used to break through this.”

Trixie hummed thoughtfully as she trotted towards the pedestal to get a closer look. “Trixie thinks it was probably protecting the time stone. Somepony must have broken into the rock and stolen it. Ooh, it could have been the witch of—" she faltered when she noticed Spitfire and Limestone staring wide-eyed behind her. “Oh no, what are you looking at?”

Trixie turned around to see the engraving on the cave wall lit up with a yellow glow. The glow looked exactly like the mysterious ethereal glow surrounding the witches in her dream. Trixie felt the ground shake beneath her as she darted for the cave exit, but a set of magical golden bars materialised in front of her, keeping them in as if the cavern were a prison. They turned back around to find a silhouetted figure standing in front of a large boulder deeper into the cave. The figure stepped closer and then into the light, revealing themself to be a yellow mare wearing a pitch-black cloak with the symbol Trixie had become all-too familiar with stitched into the sides.

Trixie felt Spitfire take another step back, as far as she could possibly get without quite touching the bars. “Trixie. Tell me that’s not…” Trixie didn’t even need to answer.

The witch’s screeching voice was like nails on a chalkboard. “Hello, ponies. I’m looking for somepony in particular. A pony I think you all know. All I need you to do is tell me the name of the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville, then I will let you leave. Oh, and as a bonus I will unpause time for you.” She levitated something out from behind her and when it came into the light Trixie realised it was the crystal of time. It was a lot bigger than she had expected, almost the size of the witch’s head.

Trixie took a step forward. “Why should we tell you anything?”

The witch slowly removed her hood to show off her glowing horn, but what Trixie was most astounded by was the mare’s mane, or lack thereof. The pony was completely bald. Trixie continued gawping until she felt her hooves being lifted off of the cave floor which forced her to glance downwards. Her panic was echoed by the others as they levitated several feet into the air before stopping and hovering in mid-air. Trixie could still move her legs and head, but she was completely immobilised other than that.

An incredible pain shot through Trixie’s entire body. She let out a scream in unison with the others who must also have been suffering the same agony. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before and evoked a constricting, instinctual fear from deep within her. It felt like her insides were being twisted and her skin was on fire. She clutched her hooves to her heart which throbbed and was beating hard. Gritting her teeth, Trixie opened her eyes and looked down at the witch. She tried to call out to her friends, but all that came out was a stinging, sickening sob.

Not at all put off by the wailing, the witch grinned. “I am twisting your bodies through time.” She waved the crystal in front of their faces so that Trixie and the others could see it. It was glowing with a burning golden aura, but Trixie could see dark green cracks on its surface that did not look natural. The witch lowered the stone back to the floor. “Tell me who the pony is.”

“Trixie knows exactly who the pony is.” Trixie found it hard to sound boastful through the crushing pain. She really didn’t want to give up Starlight’s name, but would she be willing to die to save her? It wouldn’t really save her anyway; time would still be paused if they didn’t let the witch have her way. Trixie thought for a moment about what to say next. “It’s me! Trixie! I’m not only the greatest magician, but also the most powerful—”

Another, even more intense pain slithered its way through her body. It felt like she was being sliced by thousands of tiny fangs all over, their venom soaking through her skin and stabbing at her soul. The pain was so incredibly immense that her vision went blurry and she almost blacked out.

She vaguely heard Limestone cursing at the witch to her left, who scowled. “Don’t play games with me. Now, if you don’t want to hurt yourself or your friends any more, tell me who the pony is.”

Trixie, through the unbelievable pain, rotated her head to the side to check on Limestone and Spitfire. Limestone’s eyes were closed, but Trixie could still see her body tensing. Spitfire’s wings were stretched out wide as if she couldn’t retract them. Her expression was determined, but the tears in her eyes betrayed her pain.

The witch cackled below her but, not ready to give up just yet, Trixie conjured up as much strength as she could and fired a small blast of magic towards her. It impacted on the witch’s right forehoof and left a blackened mark where it had singed the fur.

The witch glanced up and glared at Trixie, irritation creasing her features. Trixie smiled smugly. The small victory was short-lived as the pain doubled once more. Trixie’s eyes were forced shut and her limbs closed in impulsively. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the other two. Limestone was definitely unconscious and Spitfire’s eyes were closed. Seeing her friends in such a state was almost more painful than the magic itself.

Tears poured out of Trixie’s eyes. She wasn’t going to die here and there was no way in Tartarus she was going to let her friends die here either. But the only way she was going to be able to stop the pain and restart time for everypony else was to tell the witch what she wanted to know.

So, through her immense pain and streaming eyes, she sighed. “Her name is Starlight Glimmer.”

The witch immediately vanished and the three mares fell to the floor and landed with a crunch. The pain from the magic released its grip to leave just a dull ache, though Trixie could not tell if that was lingering magic or heartache. She glanced over to the others, lying on the floor unconscious, unaware of the weight of what Trixie had just said. She buried her head in her forehooves and cried.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

At least twenty minutes must have passed before Trixie heard one of the others stir. Limestone stood up shakily onto her hooves and glanced around, the memories slowly creeping back in. She glanced down at Trixie, and Trixie looked back up at her with damp eyes.

“Limestone. I- I told her.” Trixie confessed through her sobs. “I- I couldn’t manage the p- pain anymore a- and I didn’t want to hurt you guys. I just… I just need to see Starlight again.”

Limestone nodded, laid down next to her and wrapped a hoof over her back. They said nothing for a while longer, and shortly after Trixie’s tears subsided, Spitfire awoke. She didn’t even try to stand and instead stayed lying on the floor, mentally and physically exhausted. She dragged herself forward, but winced in anguish, lifting up her left forehoof. Trixie could see it was badly bruised from the impact with the ground and her Wonderbolts stopwatch was in several pieces.

Trixie buried her face in her hooves again, now feeling even more guilt seeing her friend hurt like that. Spitfire sighed. “It’s okay, Trix. You did the right thing. I don’t wanna think about what would’ve happened to us if you hadn’t said anything.”

Trixie nodded, but Spitfire’s comforting words did little to extinguish the pain burning inside her. “We should head back to the wagon and think about what to do.”

Limestone, having recovered slightly from the pain and the shock, helped Trixie up onto her hooves and trotted with her out of the cave and back around the mountain, Spitfire following close behind. Trixie took some comfort in seeing her wagon again, exactly where they had left it. She opened the door and sat on her hammock whilst levitating a can of lemonade over. She opened it with the ring pull and took a deep sip. The bubbles helped to sooth her anxiety as she thought about what to do next.

After eating some cookies to regain some energy, Spitfire flew off slowly towards Canterlot to see if anypony had started moving again, whilst Limestone kept Trixie company. Limestone sat down beside her on the hammock. “Trixie. Do you want to talk about something? I mean, to keep your mind off of…” She trailed off.

Trixie tapped her hoof on her chin in thought. “Okay.” Her mouth curved into a slight smile. “Well, last night before I went to bed in my wagon, I heard you apologising to Spitfire.” Limestone looked down and blushed embarrassedly. “I thought you didn’t like her very much, why did you suddenly decide to say sorry?”

Limestone was silent for a while, shuffling her forehooves around on her lap, trying to think of an answer. “I like Spitfire,” she eventually replied, turning to face Trixie.

Trixie gave Limestone a puzzled look. “But you argued with her so much before.”

“I know, and I felt bad about it. So I apologised.” Trixie mulled this over in her head, but Limestone continued on. “And… and I hope she likes me too.” She smiled at Trixie, and Trixie couldn’t help but notice the rosy blush that still adorned her cheeks.

Trixie thought back to their conversation the previous day when Spitfire had flown off to stretch her wings. Limestone had told Trixie that she didn’t want to talk about her feelings and Trixie had explained that if Limestone wanted to talk, she was there to help. But then she’d immediately brought Spitfire into the conversation and that had flustered her.

Trixie’s ears perked up. Oh, I see. She turned to look Limestone right in the eyes. “Limestone, do you ha—"

A shout from the sky made Trixie and Limestone jump. They both ran outside to see Spitfire land and trot carefully over to them, beaming. “They’re moving! Everypony’s moving again!”

Trixie’s face lit up to match Spitfire’s, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Even Limestone beamed. Trixie stomped her hoof on the ground determinedly. “We’ve got to get to Starlight before they do. We need to go into Canterlot and talk to Twilight.”

Spitfire eyed the wagon. “What’re we gonna do with the wagon? We can’t just leave it here.”

“Starlight’s more important than my wagon, we can and will be leaving it here.”

Despite the aching and the staggering tiredness, the three mares set off at a run towards Canterlot.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

Trixie bashed loudly on the large golden doors that were the entrance to Canterlot castle. The guards seemed flustered when three panicked ponies were knocking on the door, insisting that they needed to see the princess immediately. Trixie thought that her impatience to get in would kill her, but eventually a guard came back and told them they could head on in.

Upon entering the throne room, Trixie ran straight up to Twilight. “Twilight! Starlight’s in danger, we need you to warp us back to Ponyville right now!”

Twilight looked confusedly at them. “Trixie? What are you talking abou—"

Trixie recounted the events of the last day and a half as quickly as she could, Twilight’s expression becoming more and more bewildered by the second.

“A day and a half!? I knew something felt off, but that’s just crazy-talk! Trixie, are you sure this isn’t just another one of your—”

“She’s not kidding.” Limestone stepped forward and stared at Twilight with a gaze so fierce she recoiled back into her throne. “Teleport us back to Ponyville so we can see Starlight,” Limestone growled, eyes narrowed.

“You don’t even know Starlight! Why are you even here?”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Princess, with all due respect, this is urgent. We’ve been through a lot and all we’re asking for is one tiny favour.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll teleport us there. Now, everypony come up to the throne.”

Trixie ran up towards Twilight, the others following close behind. She felt a remarkable jolting sensation and forced her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she was out of Canterlot and back at Twilight’s castle in Ponyville, sitting in the map room.

And sitting on the other side of the table, a very confused expression on her face, was none other than her favourite mare in Equestria, Starlight Glimmer.

“Starlight!” Trixie’s glee was immeasurable. She bounced towards Starlight with such force that they toppled to the ground. Trixie wrapped her forehooves around Starlight’s barrel, enveloping her in a tight hug. “I love you so much Starlight…” Trixie blushed as she realised the words had actually come out of her mouth, but luckily Starlight just appeared to see it as a friendly gesture.

“I love you too, Trixie, but what the hay is going on? And why are they all here?” Trixie followed her eyeline to the very random assortment of ponies on the other side of the table, watching them rolling about on the floor.

“Trixie is going to need a while to explain all that.” She released her fervent grip on Starlight and stood up to face the others. “Shoo! I would like to talk with Starlight alone, if you please.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and Spitfire and Limestone both grumbled, but they headed through the door opposite the entrance into a different part of the castle.

Starlight turned to her and smiled. “So, are you going to explain to me how I suddenly ended up in a different room for no reason with no Trixie in sight?”

Trixie explained the story in as much detail as she could recount, of course exaggerating how great and powerful she had been throughout it all. However when she noticed Starlight’s eyelids starting to droop she sped it up a bit.

“… and using her incredibly great and overwhelmingly powerful intellect, Trixie managed to convince the Princess to teleport us all back here, and now here Trixie is, talking to you.” She booped Starlight playfully on the nose.

Starlight’s dazed expression said it all.

“So, perhaps Trixie could stay with you until we’re sure you’re safe? Y’know, watch over you?”

“Sure thing, Trix. This is… it’s a lot to take in. Are you sure this isn’t just some wacky fantasy your brain has conjured up?”

Trixie frowned and crossed her hooves in a huff. “Hmph. Twilight said the same thing, of course it all—"

“WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME IS THIS!?” Both Trixie and Starlight jumped at Twilight’s voice echoing down the hall.

Trixie pulled a guilty face at Starlight. Starlight frowned. “Trixie. What have you done?” she said slowly, clearly dreading the answer.

The two rushed into the library and were faced with an infuriated alicorn princess standing next to an enormous pile of carelessly discarded books, a guilty-looking Spitfire and an unimpressed Limestone.

Starlight gasped and opened her mouth so wide Trixie was worried her muzzle might fall off. “Trixie! What the actual hay is this!?”

“We were doing research! Research to try and help save you!” After a dubious stare from Starlight, she added “and everypony else, but you were at the forefront of my mind!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “And who is we?”

Trixie glanced over to where Spitfire and Limestone were standing. Limestone hastily stepped away from Spitfire. “Don’t rope me into this, you hadn’t found me yet.”

Starlight glanced between Trixie and Spitfire. “And you didn’t think to put each book back on the shelf after you looked at them?”

Trixie lifted a hoof to her chin. Now that she thought about it, that would have been smart. Starlight always has the smartest ideas, she thought to herself.

When she didn’t receive any answer, Starlight rolled her eyes. “Alright, well I think I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long night.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Well you can say that again.”

Twilight groaned. “Well I have busy things to attend to. A pause in time without explanation will not go down well with the press. I want to see this all reorganised according to the Star Swirl Decimal Classification.” She levitated a small book out of the pile over to Trixie. The front cover had a picture of Star Swirl the Bearded surrounded by books. “And I’m sure your friends wouldn’t mind helping out either.”

Limestone glared at Trixie with a jaded expression.

Trixie turned back around to look at Starlight and practically jumped out of her skin when she realised Starlight wasn’t there.

“Starlight!?”

Starlight’s head poked around the door to the library. “I just said I was going to bed, I’ll see you in the morning.” Trixie heard her trot off upstairs.

“Wait!” Trixie glanced around at the others before settling her eyes on Spitfire and Limestone. “Uh, you two can go home and you” – she pointed a hoof towards Twilight – “can go home too, I guess.” All three of them looked frustrated, but Trixie turned away from them.

Without waiting for a response, Trixie bolted out of the room and started up the stairs, but she backtracked a few steps when she spotted a parcel lying in the middle of the floor, tied up with a string. Trixie picked it up with her magic and found a small gift tag attached to the side of the parcel. Trixie read it aloud to herself.

“From your friend, AA.”

Trixie mulled this over in her head. AA? Who in Equestria was that? She undid the string with her magic and removed the paper, discarding it carelessly to the side, revealing a beautiful purple saddle bag with Trixie’s cutie mark embroidered onto each side.

Trixie opened up the pouches to see if anything was inside, and found a small gold ring within. She levitated it out to discover that it had a dazzling emerald placed within it. Upon closer inspection, Trixie could see a small symbol carved into the stone, showing that it was imbued with some sort of magic. She also noticed that the insides of the bags were coated in a dark-grey papery material, possibly to protect the bag’s contents? Trixie wasn’t entirely sure.

Remembering why she’d left the map room in the first place, Trixie placed the saddle bag neatly to the side and rushed upstairs to find Starlight. She knocked loudly on Starlight’s door.

“Come in!”

“Starlight! I said I need to look after you, remember? I’m staying here with you for the night.” Trixie trotted over to Starlight who was lying on her bed reading a book.

“Well that’s very thoughtful of you, Trix, but there’s nowhere for you to sleep. I only have one bed!”

“One bed should be enough.” Starlight blushed slightly and Trixie smirked, jumping onto the bed and leaving Starlight not much room at all.

“Well… if you say so.”

“Trixie does say so! But, uh… Trixie also has a very important question.”

“Go on.”

“You couldn’t, y’know, see or hear while time was paused, could you?”

“Um, no? Why?”

This time Trixie blushed. “No reason! I mean, Trixie was just curious is all.”

Starlight scratched her chin with a hoof. “I wonder. I might be able to relive the events with a memory projection spell.”

“No! Please don’t!” Starlight raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at Trixie’s outburst. “I mean, please don’t Starlight. It’s late and we should, y’know, sleep.”

“Now I’m curious.” Starlight got out of bed and sat in the middle of the room. Trixie swiftly followed as Starlight’s horn lit up. A foggy hologram of Starlight’s balcony appeared in mid-air above the two mares. Trixie could see a blur of herself standing at the edge of the balcony, looking over the edge and waiting for the fireworks display.

After a few seconds, projection-Trixie turned around and spoke, but the voice was so muffled it was unintelligible, as if she was speaking through a thick sheet of glass. As she moved closer, her words became more distinct.

“Are you okay…? Starlight?”

Projection Trixie ran around in a panic for a bit before disappearing completely.

Real-life Trixie glanced at Starlight whose eyes were glistening. She shuffled over and sidled up to Starlight. “It’s fine, Starlight. I’m here. We’re here.”

Starlight placed a hoof over Trixie’s shoulders.

The projection fast-forwarded until the perspective started to shift. Trixie realised this was when she went back upstairs to move Starlight back into her room.

“Oh Celestia, you’re heavy Starlight.”

Real-life Starlight glanced over at Trixie and faked a fatally wounded look. “Cutting.”

“Shouldn’t have eaten quite so many cupcakes, Starlight,” Trixie giggled.

Starlight chuckled and turned her head back to the projection. After a while longer of projection-Starlight slowly being pulled back into her room, Trixie’s face appeared right in front of her.

“Don’t you worry Starlight, the great and powerful Trixie will do her best to free you.” Projection Trixie hesitated as if she wanted to add something else, but then just smiled and stepped back. She trotted back over to the door and left, leaving past Starlight in silence.

Present-Starlight frowned and said nothing. She fast-forwarded the projection more until Trixie showed up one more time.

“Starlight, please stop it, I don’t want to watch this one.”

Starlight – far too intrigued to listen to Trixie’s pleas – continued to watch. This time, past Trixie looked glum and as she trotted closer, present Trixie spotted tears in her projection’s eyes that she hadn’t even realised were there before.

“Oh, Starlight.” Real-life Starlight’s mouth hung open when she saw projection Trixie hold a hoof up to her cheek. Her mouth stayed agape while she watched Trixie move over to Starlight’s bed and pick up a blanket to wrap around her.

Oh, hay. Thought Trixie. Oh, hay. It’s about to happen now isn’t it!?

Present Trixie was prodding Starlight to get her attention. “Starlight, turn it off.” But it was clear that Starlight fully intended to watch the whole thing, and so Trixie sat there, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

The projection of Trixie walked towards the door, but turned around before exiting. She rushed up to Starlight and lightly kissed her cheek.

“I love you, Starlight.”

Despite the muffled audio, the words were clear as day.

Starlight paused the projection and slowly glanced down at her forehooves.

Trixie’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, however it dropped when she saw Starlight’s expression looked more embarrassed than happy. “St- Starlight?”

There was a pause, Starlight staring at her hooves and Trixie staring at Starlight. When she finally spoke, her voice was shaky. “You love me.” It wasn’t a question, it was more like Starlight was confirming what she’d just heard in case she’d heard wrongly. She made eye contact with Trixie for the first time since she’d paused the projection. Her eyes seemed to flicker through many emotions all at once – so quickly that Trixie couldn’t keep up.

Her first instinct was to hastily decline the allegation, but seeing a glimmer in Starlight’s eyes, she nodded her head and smiled. She took Starlight’s hooves in her own. “Yes. I love you Starlight Glimmer. You mean more than the world to me. I would hike to and from Canterlot a thousand times just so I could be by your side.”

Trixie’s heart warmed when a smile spread across Starlight’s lips. “Only a thousand?”

Trixie giggled. “A million. A billion. However many time necessary.”

Starlight continued smiling. It was a polite smile. Not a romantic smile or a playful smile. Just a polite one. Trixie didn’t think it was possible for her heart to be beating this fast.

Despite her slight frustration, Trixie did not let her own smile falter. “The point is Starlight, I love you. And I would do anything for you.” She sighed. “Trixie was just really hoping you would feel the same way.”

It was at that point that Starlight’s polite smile transformed into an ardent beam. Her gaze was like a dappled ray of sunlight through the treetops, but Trixie needed to know for sure.

And then Starlight reached out her hooves and pulled Trixie into a tight hug. Trixie’s heart leapt and she overbalanced, landing on her back with Starlight on top of her.

“Oh, hay. I love you too, Trixie.”

Trixie almost fainted with glee. The dappled sunlight now beamed down on her, bringing to light parts of her heart she wasn’t even aware were there.

Trixie wrapped her hooves around Starlight and they lay there on the floor in a caring embrace for several moments until Trixie’s lungs ran out of air.

“Starlight! Can’t… breathe!”

Starlight laughed and hoisted herself off of her friend. She was smiling ecstatically and a bright red blush adorned her cheeks, making her even more adorable. Trixie felt a similar flush growing on her own cheeks.

Starlight trotted over to her bed and ushered Trixie over with a wave of her hoof. “Come on, we need to get some sleep.” Trixie rolled herself off of her back and stood up, legs trembling a little at the excitement of it all.

Starlight lay on top of the bed on her side, watching Trixie as she trotted closer. Trixie rushed up and lay down on her side facing Starlight. The bed was fairly small and really only meant for one pony, so as soon as Trixie rested her head on the pillow, their muzzles were almost touching.

They lay there and stared at each other for a while. Trixie took in the fine details of her lilac fur, her beautiful amethyst eyes and the way the turquoise in her mane flowed so brilliantly into the purple.

After what felt like hours of staring at each other, Trixie decided it was time to break the silence. “We should probably try and get some sleep, Starlight.”

Starlight let out a giggle. “I’m not sure how I’ll sleep. A lot has happened in the last few minutes, Trix.” Starlight shifted her tail and intertwined it with Trixie’s.

Trixie smiled softly and her cheeks flushed deeply. “I can make a lot more happen.”

Starlight blinked and looked back at her inquisitively.

Trixie gulped and leaned in, pressing her lips against Starlight’s, and to Trixie unimaginable delight, Starlight pressed back. Trixie held Starlight closer, letting all her worries and anxieties melt away into overwhelming, blissful joy.

It felt like the kiss lasted eons, but it still felt too soon when Starlight broke away. Starlight looked stunned and rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling.

They lay there for a while longer, Trixie making sure never to take her eyes off of Starlight. She watched as her stomach rose and fell with every breath, her heart beating gently through her chest, her blinking eyes staring up at the ceiling, her lips turned up into a smile. But the smile turned into a frown.

“Everything okay, Starlight? Busy thinking about moi?”

Starlight giggled slightly. “I’m thinking about us.” She turned back round to face Trixie and flashed her a heartfelt smile. “What will everypony think?”

Trixie frowned. “What do you mean? We’re best friends anyway, what difference will it make?” That cheered Starlight up slightly and she moved in to hug Trixie again. Trixie hugged her back. “Besides, we don’t need to tell anypony, at least not straight away.”

Starlight used her magic to pull the bed covers over them. She yawned loudly. “We can talk about it more in the morning.”

Trixie nodded and gave Starlight a quick peck on the cheek, tinting her cheeks red for what felt like the millionth time that night. Starlight switched off the light and snuggled in towards Trixie.

They both fell asleep quickly in each other’s hooves.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

Trixie awoke surrounded by a darkness so pitch-black that she couldn’t see her own hoof, even when she waved it right in front of her face. She couldn’t see or hear anything, but she could feel her own presence. Trixie’s mind was foggy and she found it hard to think of something without her thoughts drifting off to something else entirely.

After a short while of random mind wandering and confusion, Trixie realised she must be dreaming again, and with this sudden realisation she could now take a lot more control of herself.

A glow lit up the area, illuminating Trixie, but her surroundings were still unfathomably dark. She turned around to see a very familiar green glowing mare standing behind her, wearing the same dark cloak she had been in Trixie’s dream the previous night.

Trixie frowned at the mare. “What do you want this time? Starlight is safe and cuddled up next to me right now.”

The mare pulled down her hood, revealing a mane so pitch-black that Trixie had to squint to see it against their dark surroundings. The mare transfixed her with a serious stare, her eyes glowing bright green. “This battle is far from over, Miss Lulamoon. My sisters are still out there. You and your friend are not safe. Starlight Glimmer will be taken from you tonight, and you will not be able to save her.”

Trixie slumped down onto her flank, dumbfounded as to how this was all even happening. “Don’t be ridiculous. Starlight is perfectly safe asleep with Trixie right now, and if it’s alright with you, Trixie would like to wake up now and give her some much-needed great and powerful snuggles.”

The witch raised her eyebrow and continued on, completely ignoring Trixie’s remark. “Listen carefully. You can rescue her. You will need to retrieve the four crystals that belong to each of us.”

“Four? I thought there were only three.”

The witch faltered slightly, but regained her composure quickly. “It would appear I have been forgotten in history. I aided Princess Luna in the banishing of my sisters over a thousand years ago. But, being a sister to the three most powerful and most destructive mares in Equestrian History, Princess Luna trapped me into a dimension where I was locked away from everypony. Until now.”

This time, Trixie raised an eyebrow. She tried to think of something to say, but was interrupted when the witch lit up her horn and projected an image – similar to Starlight’s memory projection spell earlier. Different coloured figures faded into view within the image.

“By most ponies, my sisters are called witches. This name came from the older ponies back when we used to attend magic school.” She furrowed her brow. “They’re known as Shift, the Witch of Time, Rift, the Witch of Space and Swift, the Witch of Magic.” As she listed their names, each pony came into view so Trixie could see: yellow, blue and red respectively. They looked very different to how she remembered them; they were all a lot younger, each had an ink-black mane and tail and they were smiling joyously. But the most remarkable thing about them was their cutie marks, or rather their lack of cutie marks, despite clearly being adult mares.

“Each of my sisters have their own stone. The stone acts as a vessel for their magic and is required should the witch intend to use the full extent of their powers.”

Trixie nodded in understanding. Her confidence in Starlight’s safety was starting to dwindle and the reality of her situation frightened her to her very core. “And so, you are the fourth one?”

“My name is Gift Rosewood. I have the power of control, the ‘Witch of Control’, you could say. It was my power that disoriented my sisters for long enough for them to be banished to Tartarus.” The witch winced, as if in pain.

“Gift Rosewood,” Trixie repeated, mulling over everything she had just explained.

“There is something special about you Trixie.” This caused Trixie to look up. Her tone had changed; it had a hint of sadness, or maybe hope, but her expression remained emotionless. “I’ve been locked away here for over one thousand years. I’ve seen glimpses of other ponies before, but you’re the first pony I’ve talked to.”

Trixie thought about that for a moment. “Well, if anypony is going to be able to get you out of here, it’s the great and powerful Trixie!” she exclaimed, holding a hoof to her chest heroically.

“It is Equestria that is more important to save at the moment, Miss Lulamoon. I’ll sort out my own situation. My sisters have regathered their stones in order to allow Swift, the Witch of Magic, to ascend.”

Trixie gasped. “You mean into an alicorn!?”

“Yes. And with the magical capabilities that ascending grants together with the power of the stones, she would be easily powerful enough to overthrow the throne and take down Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Woah, woah. I don’t think so. Trust me, Twilight is not easy to defeat. She’s beaten even the great and powerful Trixie several times.”

Gift broke eye contact with Trixie and looked down at her hooves. “Their power is simply too much for the princess to handle. Eventually, she will fall and the witches will go after Princess Luna…” she trailed off, scraping her hoof against the ground.

Trixie eyed her curiously. “Princess Luna? Why her?”

The witch snapped out of her daze. “We’re running out of time, Miss Lulamoon. I shall explain another time. For now, you must know this: In order to stop my sisters and rescue Starlight Glimmer, you must retrieve the stones. The time stone will be located back at the cave next to Canterlot.” The witch turned to look at the projection which was showing the Rosewood cave’s wall engraving.

Trixie shuddered at the memory. She still ached from the witch’s magic and she had bruises on her forelegs from where she had impacted the ground after their levitation had ceased. “What if the witch is there again? She could kill me, easily.”

Gift turned sharply and looked at Trixie as if insulted. “My sister will not kill you. Or your friends. If you play your cards right, you will be able to retrieve the stone.”

Trixie was unsure whether she should trust half the stuff coming out of her mouth. A shiver ran down her spine.

“Good luck, Miss Lulamoon.”

The witch’s projection flickered out and she trotted off into the distance, fading away into a blur.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

Trixie jolted awake to the sound of muffled shouts. She looked around to see Starlight being forced away by a horrifyingly familiar crimson magical aura. Trixie didn’t have time to think of where the Witch of Magic might actually be because her best friend in all of Equestria was being helplessly hauled out of the room. She lunged forwards out of bed, missing Starlight’s outstretched hooves by mere centimetres, landing with a crash onto the floor. Trixie stared up at the terrified lilac pony; around Starlight’s mouth was a black grazing muzzle preventing her from shouting out and atop her horn was a dark grey magic suppressor. Both of those items were illegal in modern-day Equestria and seeing them being unwillingly attached to Starlight disgusted Trixie deeply. Her eyes narrowed in rage.

Starlight was thrown out of the doorway in the direction of the map room. Tears forming in Trixie’s eyes, she pulled herself up and rushed forwards out of the door. She clambered down the stairs after Starlight, her panicked expression reflected in Starlight’s eyes.

She reached the map room and grinded to a halt as Starlight was lifted up into the air next to a red glowing mare who was floating above the map. This was the first time Trixie had seen one of the witches in-person without a cloak on; her mane and tail were completely shaven off and her flank bore no cutie mark.

Trixie glanced around the room and saw the other two witches guarding the castle exit. They were both wearing their cloaks and smiling triumphantly.

A booming voice echoed around the room. “Thank you Miss Lulamoon for so graciously providing us the location of this pony,” she taunted, spinning Starlight around in her magic as if she was no more than a stage prop.

Three bright gemstones materialised in mid-air and floated around the witch in the centre of the room. Trixie recognised the yellow one as the stone of time, she assumed the blue and red ones were the stones of space and magic respectively. All three stones were glowing brightly with their own colours, but each had a dim green glow to them too.

Seeing tears forming in Starlight’s eyes, Trixie didn’t even think twice before using her magic to bounce towards the witch and knock one of the crystals out of the air with her hoof. The gemstone fell out of the witch’s magical grip, but she caught it moments before it would have impacted the ground.

The witch snarled. “Going to play it like this are we?” Then she let out a horrifying cackle that reverberated through Trixie’s bones. The noise was so appalling that Trixie flapped down her ears to try and stop it from rupturing her eardrums.

When she looked back up, the witch had created a sharp shard of magical aura and was holding it close to Starlight’s head.

“Don’t! Don’t hurt her! Please…”

Trixie screamed in anger as the witch moved the weapon over to Starlight’s flank and cut through her skin, right across her cutie mark. Starlight shrieked in pain through the muzzle and a small amount of blood trickled down her hindleg and dripped onto the map table.

“Try anything stupid and I can do a lot worse to your marefriend,” she spat. Trixie fell to her haunches and watched forlornly as the witch closed her eyes and muttered an incantation in a language Trixie didn’t understand. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again and laughed at Trixie’s powerlessness.

And then, just to rub salt in the wound, the witch jabbed Starlight on the flank she’d just cut with a pulse of magic. Starlight squealed in pain and Trixie let out an enraged yell.

“I said STOP IT you- you…” There wasn’t a word fit to describe the burning hatred Trixie felt for the witch, but her anger just made the witch laugh harder. The stones around her began to glow. Trixie turned to address Starlight, both their faces in anguish and wet with tears. “I’ll save you Starlight. That’s my great and powerful promise.”

And with a blinding flash of light, the witches, the stones and the pony Trixie had only just confessed her love to vanished into thin air.

Trixie felt an overwhelming, crushing sense of loss shatter her heart into a million pieces and her legs buckled with the sheer weight of fear and dread she felt. She thought the last few days had been painful, but the emotional torture that the witches had just created for her made it like going from being trampled through mud to being trampled through a pit of spikes.

She stared up at the map.

The only thing that remained of Starlight were the droplets of her blood on the table.

‒‒ ●★● ‒‒

Trixie must have fallen asleep in the map room at some point because she woke up in bright daylight to see Limestone and Spitfire rushing in through the castle’s main doors, calling out her name.

She groaned and buried her face in her hooves to hide the new waves of tears as the memories bombarded her mind.

Spitfire got to her first and lifted her chin up with a hoof. “Trixie! Oh Celestia, what’s wrong?”

Trixie didn’t say anything, but instead moved forwards to hug Spitfire. Spitfire wrapped her hooves around Trixie’s shoulders and brushed her mane out of her eyes comfortingly. Limestone rushed over and hooked a hoof over Trixie’s back. None of them really knew what to say, so they sat there in silence for a while.

Limestone was first to break the silence. “Trixie. Where is Starlight?”

Trixie looked up and spoke slowly, her lip quivering. “She’s… she’s gone… I couldn’t stop them,” Trixie sobbed. “And it’s all my FAULT!” She yelled the last word and bashed her forehead on the floor, hard.

Spitfire was quick to react. “Trixie! Oh, hay, don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself.” She turned Trixie over in her hooves and examined her head, but there was only a slight bruise. Spitfire sighed and looked up at the map table. Trixie looked up at her and watched as her jaw dropped when she spotted the dried blood.

Spitfire scanned her eyes across Trixie’s body to check for injuries, but Trixie shook her head. “It’s Starlight’s blood.”

With Limestone’s help, Spitfire hoisted Trixie up onto her hooves and they slowly trotted over towards a doorway which led into a more comfortable seating room. Spitfire took a seat on a sofa on one side of a table alongside Trixie, and Limestone sat across from them on a beanbag.

Trixie leaned on Spitfire’s shoulder, too exhausted from her emotions to hold up her own weight. They sat for a while in silence, but eventually Trixie decided she was willing to open up a little about the situation.

“I had another nightmare. The same pony as before was there.” Trixie sighed. “I think these dreams are actually happening. Somehow.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“She explained to me quite a lot of things, but the main thing she said was that the other witches were going to come for Starlight. I didn’t want to believe her, but deep down I think I did.”

Limestone looked deep in thought, but then glanced at Trixie with a curious expression on her face. “But how did they take her? She’s got some of the most powerful magic in Equestria.”

Trixie cringed as she flashed back to when she watched Starlight being dragged out of the room. “I woke up to hear Starlight’s muffled yelling; she was being dragged out of the room by a magical aura. They’d—” Trixie flinched and lifted a hoof to wipe her eyes. “They’d put her in a grazing muzzle an- and a magic suppressor. She was completely helpless.”

Limestone slammed her hoof hard against the table and growled. This news had clearly struck a nerve. Trixie gave her an inquisitive glance, but ignored her slight outburst and continued. “I ran out of the room after her and chased her down to the map room. I tried to stop them but every time I tried to help Starlight, they—” Trixie sobbed again, this time she needed a moment before explaining the rest. Her whole body shook, but she was relaxed slightly when Spitfire rubbed her back comfortingly. She continued. “Every time I tried to help they hurt her. The pony cut her with her magic across her flank. Straight through her cutie mark.”

Spitfire gasped and raised a hoof to her mouth. “Who did this?”

Trixie shifted her gaze from her own forehooves to look into Spitfire’s eyes. “It was the witches. All of them. From my dream. They looked exactly the same.”

The three sat in silence for a long while after that. Trixie had stopped crying, but her chest still felt heavy. To Trixie’s bewilderment, it was Limestone who broke the silence. “We need to cobble together a plan. We need to rescue her.”

Trixie looked over at her and the determined expression adorned on her face. Her eagerness to help warmed Trixie’s heart, and to her delight, Spitfire nodded in agreement.

“Limestone, get over here!” Trixie said, beckoning Limestone over with a hoof. Reluctantly, Limestone stood up and trotted over. As soon as she was within hoof’s reach, Trixie reached out and pulled her in for a hug. Limestone groaned and rolled her eyes, but didn’t resist.

Trixie smiled for the first time since Starlight was taken. “You ponies are the best.”

Author's Note

Thanks so much for reading Chapter 2! It got a bit more intense here, so I hope you enjoyed!

Unfortunately, I am leaving for university soon so progress will be much slower. I have an intermission planned out for between chapters 2 and 3 and chapter 3 is already in progress, so hopefully it won't be too long a wait.

Make sure to look out for a reference to The Enchanted Library by Monochromatic (a very good fic) somewhere in this chapter!

If you notice any mistakes, you can DM me on Discord @Jamming#3504

Intermission 1 - The Experiment

Gift followed close behind as Princess Luna guided her and her sisters through Canterlot’s cobbled streets. The night was dark, the only illumination being provided by the moon and Luna’s glowing horn. Her sisters were all bouncing about excitedly in front of her, pestering the princess with questions and giggling at each other’s snarky remarks. It seemed as if Gift was the only pony who felt apprehensive about the spell, and nopony would listen to her.

Swift turned around and bounded over to walk alongside her. “Perk up a little, sis. Princess Luna’s about to turn us into the most powerful unicorns in Equestria! Isn’t that exciting!?”

“I guess— ow!” she exclaimed as Swift playfully tugged her ear with her magic, trying to beckon her forwards, but Gift was perfectly happy walking behind, alone with her thoughts.

They rounded a corner and were immediately looking up at a tall white building with a thatched roof and colourful flowers in the windows. The light from two ornate sconces illuminated the front door with a spooky orange glow. Luna trotted inside, followed by the three eager fillies, but Gift froze just outside and sat on the cobbled path. She glanced down at her flank, still without its cutie mark. Was she really ready to become one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria?

Luna spoke softly inside – probably instructing the three fillies to be seated – and then trotted back out to find Gift. “Come now, my little pony. Your sisters are already waiting inside.”

“I’m scared, princess. What if something goes wrong?”

Luna moved over and tenderly stroked her sparkling emerald mane. “Don’t you worry, little one. This spell has been tested.”

“Tested? Tested how?”

“We have our finest unicorn scientists working on it. If I had even the slightest doubt that this would work, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Gift couldn’t help but feel like Luna had dodged her question. She frowned, but slowly trotted through the door. Inside the building, there were several unicorns wearing lab coats at different stations around the room. As soon as Luna entered, a stallion levitated over a roll of parchment with many small glyphs and symbols etched onto its surface.

The stallion quickly trotted over to Gift and ushered her over to sit in the centre of the room with her sisters. Shakily, she sat down next to Rift who was fidgeting with her bright blue mane and tapping her hoof excitedly on the floor.

Luna stepped forwards, close enough that Gift had to crane her neck in order to look at her. The scientists around the room each made their way out of the room, leaving just the Princess and the four sisters.

Luna spoke softly to them as if this was no more than just a normal class at magic school. “Alright, little fillies. I shall read this incantation and you should feel a surge of magical power enter your bodies. Do not resist it otherwise the spell will fail and we will have to start again. Are you all ready?”

Shift, Rift and Swift nodded their heads, a mix of emotions spread across their faces, but Gift shook hers. “Do we have to do this? It sounds… dangerous.”

Luna raised a hoof as if she was about to answer, but before she could, Rift wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and squeezed her in for a hug. “It’ll be fine, sis. We’ll all be extra magic at the end of it!”

Rift was squeezing her tighter and tighter and all she could do was splutter a quick, “mhm.” Rift released her grip as Luna scanned the parchment.

Gift tensed as Luna started reading. None of the words she spoke were ones that Gift recognised. After a while, she felt a very odd tingling sensation in her horn. She looked towards her sisters and saw them all stealing glances at each other’s horns which were emitting a soft glow. After a while longer, her body was tingling all over; it felt like her horn when she was using magic, but all over her body.

Luna finally finished reading, and Gift felt like she was going to explode. And she did. The entire room exploded into a dark mist. Gift could hear things falling over and glass shattering as it collided with the floor. A burst of heat erupted from somewhere in the room and Gift could hear the crackling of fire.

“Quick! Everypony out the door!” Luna’s voice was panicked and Gift heard as her hoofsteps exited the room, leaving four fillies abandoned in a choking black haze. Gift slowly stood up, the mist so thick that she saw no difference when she closed her eyes. She yelped in pain as another hoof came out of the darkness and trampled her own, but nopony seemed to hear her. Tears escaped her eyes as she fought through the smoke towards the door, and eventually she made it, joining her sisters in a pile of coughing and spluttering, lying on the cobbles.

Luna’s face was creased in concern, as she stared at the fillies lying on the floor.

She wasn’t staring at the fillies themselves, but at their manes.

Their manes which were jet black.

Author's Note

Well, it certainly has been a while and this is not very much work for that time! Don't you worry, chapter three is already written and is being edited!
This intermission is following the Rosewood sisters as fillies, 1000 or so years before the main story took place.

If you notice any mistakes, you can DM me on Discord @Jamming#3504