I Can Be Sensitive!

by Philosopher01

Chapters

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11

Chapter 1

“Don’t I usually have to make an appointment first?”

Twilight stood confused at the Ponyville Spa’s reception, where a smiling Aloe dismissed her fears.

“No no, it’s an honour to have Your Highness visit our humble spa; we couldn’t possibly turn you away!” the masseuse insisted.

“Oh come on Aloe,” Twilight argued, a blush forming on her cheeks at the use of her title; ”you don’t need to call me that, I came here plenty of times before I was a princess; we’re friends!”

“Oh but we pride ourselves on our service, we want to show that even royalty will be treated to a blissful afternoon at our spa! Please, enjoy the full package!”

“Ah... thank you,” Twilight conceded, choosing to accept her host’s generosity rather than argue further.

“Please, go right ahead in,” Aloe motioned to the door to her left. “Be sure to grab a complimentary robe from the rack on your way!”

Twilight grabbed a robe from the wooden hanger by the door and pushed through to the familiar bathing room, where a large wooden pool of steaming water lay ahead of her. She climbed up the stairs and approached the water.

Twilight released a satisfied sigh as she lowered herself into the steaming waters of the bath, its salted waters tingling as it washed over her coat. As she inhaled, eyes closed, the thick fragrance of the salts travelled down her nose, leaving their pleasant scent behind in her nostrils. The hot water seeped into her pores, relaxing her taut muscles. The water sat just over her shoulders, soothing the tightly knit muscles in her neck. She unfurled her two wings from behind her back to better allow the tendons there to melt away like the rest of her body. A peaceful silence hung over the bath in Ponyville spa that morning, and the young princess relished it.

“WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

Twilight cringed as a loud voice shattered the idyllic surroundings she only had moments to enjoy, its source emanating from the reception hall she had just entered from.

“This business of yours is a joke! I made an appointment days ago!”

Twilight recognised the voice complaining almost instantly, but she could only hear the muffled tones of Aloe trying to calm her.

“Fine, whatever, I’ll share it then, but there is no way I’m paying the full price!”

With that last announcement, the door to the bathing room swung open, revealing a disgruntled blue unicorn wrapped in a thick, fluffy, purple robe. She was muttering to herself as she approached the bath, her head hung low, eyes locked on the ground below her. Twilight could only catch snippets of her irritated mumbling.

“Stupid spa… nothing works in this town… special guest…”

So intent on her irritation, Trixie was entirely oblivious to the fact that she was not alone in the room. Even after climbing the stairs up to the tub, removing her robe and slipping into the bath, she still made no acknowledgement of the princess sitting across from her, perhaps due to the fact that she closed her eyes upon slipping into the tranquil waters of the tub, her anger momentarily subsided by its soothing liquid.

“I wonder who this important guest is,” she grumbled to herself, eyes still closed.

Twilight held a hoof to her mouth, unsure whether to announce herself or let Trixie make the discovery on her own.

“So important that they override paying customers… bah!”

Trixie swung a hoof in frustration, sending ripples across the bath and causing some of the scented salts to swirl around the air. They now passed Twilights nose, and a particularly heavy batch attacked her nostrils, causing them to tingle.

Uh oh… Twilight thought as she felt the tingling build in her nose.

“Ah… AH… CHOO!”

Twilight released a loud, forceful sneeze as her nose dispelled the salts. She groaned and rubbed her face, and now looked forward to see two bewildered eyes staring back at her.

“YOU!” Trixie yelled. “You’re the special guest that ruined my private bath?!”

“Uhh… I guess so, but I had no idea I was ruining anyone’s bath when I came in,” Twilight grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck where the fur had begun to stand on end.

“Why is it that you seem to turn up and ruin whatever plans I have in this town?”

“Coincidence?” Twilight offered, raising her hooves in an unknowing gesture.

Trixie only grunted in response, folding her fore-hooves across her chest and looking away from Twilight. After a few moments she spoke up again.

“What makes you such a special guest anyway?”

“Uhh…” Twilight spread her wings nervously, their top halves breaching the water’s surface.

Trixie’s eyes narrowed as they focused on tips of Twilight’s new limbs peeking out of the steamy water.

“Oh! So now that you have a pair of wings suddenly you're better than everypony else?!” Trixie raised an angry hoof in the air after making her assumption.

“Hey! I don’t think that!” Twilight rebutted, her tone defensive. “I told you I had no idea I was intruding, I just came in here a few minutes ago and they ushered me inside…”

“Bah, whatever…” Trixie sulked, folding her hooves across her chest and falling silent once again.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, Trixie fuming on the far side of the tub and Twilight fidgeting nervously across from her. After a time, Trixie spoke up again.

“You don’t even seem like the spa type anyway,” she observed.

“Wh- whats that supposed to mean?”

“You just don’t strike me as a pony too concerned with her appearance.”

“Excuse me?!” Twilight’s voice raised.

“Yeah I mean, just look at your mane.”

“What’s wrong with my mane?” Twilight cried, throwing her hooves over her head.

“That style… it’s just so last decade, and those stripes, what are you supposed to be, a race cart?” Trixie giggled.

Twilight’s eyes opened wide at the barrage of insults, before drooping half shut, her lips curling into a pout as she stared down at the bath water.

“Geez… why do you have to be so mean…” she responded quietly.

Trixie observed the depressed face that Twilight had just taken on, her head turned down to the water, glaring mournfully into its reflective surface. The grin dropped slowly from her face as she realised she had genuinely hurt the princess’s feelings. The dejected look on her face did not bring the satisfaction she had expected it would.

“Oh come on Sparkle, no need to take it so seriously, are you really so soft that you can’t take a jibe? Don’t any of your friends ever make fun of you, or are they all just so perfect and nice?”

“Well… they do sometimes but, with them I know they are kidding,” she answered, still looking down at the water.

“Sure, so why would the words of some stranger bother you so much?”

Twilight raised her head at the question.

“I… I’m not sure…” she pondered. “Besides, you’re not that much of a stranger Trixie… not in the traditional sense.”

“I guess technically not but… I still…” Trixie struggled for words, a frown forming on her face. “Wow you even make arguing complicated… look, forget it.” Trixie dismissed the discussion with a hoof. “Anyway, I’m starting to wrinkle up in this tub anyway, I’m heading to the grooming room. Were you just here for the bath or did you get the full package as well?”

“Um… the full package?” Twilight answered with a nervous grin.

“Of course…” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Come on then.”

“You… want me to come with you?” Twilight questioned.

“Well there’s only one grooming room, you’re going to be in there eventually. If I’m going to be stuck with you for a while I may as well get it over with.”

Twilight sighed as Trixie managed to make a potentially friendly gesture into an insult once again with deft skill.

The pair hopped out of the bath, dried themselves and donned their bath robes, Twilight wearing a deep blue robe that matched Trixie’s coat, and Trixie’s purple robe resembling Twilight’s.

“Hey… we kinda match,” Twilight observed with a giggle.

“Your right… I need to buy a new one of these now.” Trixie replied as they walked towards the grooming room.

“Wow… do you really hate me that much?”

“Ah… I only hate you a little. It’s not the sort of, I’d wish death upon your family kind of hate, but more of a, I’d like to see you fall over, kinda hate.”

“Gee thanks…” Twilight mumbled, sorry that she asked.

*

“Ah! Darn it!” Twilight frowned as the feathers of her right wing ensnared the small preening comb again, having lost count of how many times its had gotten stuck in the last twenty minutes, each failed attempt forcing her to painfully remove the utensil from the tangled feathers.

Trixie rolled her eyes as she watched from her lounge chair, combing her mane with much less suffering. The ordeal of Twilight failing to preen herself had been amusing at first, but had now become irritating to watch. When the princess released another cry of pain as the comb got caught again, Trixie jumped off her seat.

“Here, give it to me, you’re doing it all wrong.”

Trixie snatched the comb in her magical aura, levitating it gently out of its feathered prison, eliciting a small yelp from Twilight as it left her wing.

“Honestly, you’d think this was complicated or something, aren’t you supposed to be smart? Don’t you like, live in a library?”

“Hey, it’s harder than it looks ok…” Twilight threw back feebly.

“It’s simple, you need to angle the comb like this,” Trixie demonstrated, inserting the comb in between a knot of ruffled feathers and sliding it through them, straightening them out. Twilight watched as the comb slid unburdened through her wing. The feeling was quite pleasant, her sensitive feathers picking up each stroke. Twilight was unsure if it felt nice because it was finally being done properly, or if Trixie just had good technique. She blushed slightly at the thought, but felt compelled to question it.

“Wow, how do you know so much about wing care?”

“Haven’t you ever dated a Pegasus?” Trixie asked with a grin.

“Can’t say I have.”

“Not your type?”

“It’s not that… I… I haven’t dated anyone before really…”

Trixie released a snort of laughter

“Seriously? Like… how old are you?” she giggled. “Guess you spent all your time with your head in those books?” she continued her amused laughter.

Twilight’s head dropped again, and her face adopted the same defeated expression that it had in the bath earlier. Trixie only noticed this moments later, and responded with an irritable sigh.

“Are you really getting all depressed again? Jeez, learn to lighten up Sparkle.”

With no response from the unicorn, Trixie just shook her head and continued to preen her feathers with the comb.

“There, I hope you managed to pay some attention to that, because I’m not doing the other one as well,” Trixie tossed the comb back to Twilight.

“I want to say thanks but… I’m not sure it’s appropriate after all the insults.” Twilight responded in a low voice, picking up the comb in her magic.

“Pfft whatever,” Trixie dismissed. “You’re just way too uptight, learn to shrug off what other ponies say once in a while. I can’t bear to think what you’re going to be like as a princess. Think of the amount of ponies who will be saying stuff about you when all of Equestria knows who you are.”

Twilight’s head sprung up at this revelation.

“Wow… you’re right, I never really thought about that…”

“Exactly, and if you are going to let one pony insulting your mane get you down, you’re not going to get too far.”

“So I need to get used to people being bothersome all the time? Maybe I should hang around with you more often.”

Trixie gasped.

“Was… was that a jibe Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie asked in mock surprise. “Whoever thought you’d be capable!”

A smile began to form on Twilight’s face.

“You know, your company is actually kind of fun Trixie, in a weird, self-deprecating sort of way.”

“What can I say? I’m pretty good at making other ponies feel terrible about themselves, enough to make it fun, why do you think I made a stage show out of it?”

“Because you’re a stuck up brat?” Twilight offered.

“Sure there’s that,” Trixie agreed. “But also for the fun thing.”

“And what about kicking ponies out of their town and enslaving the populace, is that a typical weekend for you?”

A shadow formed across Trixie’s face at the remark.

“I… that was one of my less proud moments I’ll admit.” the magician responded, her tone significantly dejected.

“Oh sorry, wasn’t sure if that was a sore spot,” Twilight apologized.

Trixie rolled her eyes again.

“You’re an idiot Twilight,” she spoke up again, her tone returning to normal.

“Uh, why now?”

“You finally say something that makes me feel bad about myself, and you apologize! That defeats the whole point!”

Twilight laughed at Trixie’s absurd logic.

“How about trying to say stuff that makes each other feel good?”

“Hmm I dunno, it’s a crazy idea…”

“Give it a try, I’ll go first, hmm…” Twilight raised a hoof to her chin as she thought. “I think you have quite a pretty mane Trixie!”

A light blush crept up on Trixie’s cheeks

“Uhh… thank you…” she mumbled, clearly surprised by the genuine compliment.

“Now you go,” Twilight instructed.

“I uhh… you… I guess your mane isn’t totally out of fashion…”

“Hmm, good effort, could use a bit of work though.”

“Whatever, this is dumb.” Trixie stammered. “I’m uhh… going to the sauna.”

“I’ll come along after I finish my wing!” Twilight responded with a smile.

*

The two ponies sat across from each other in the thick heat of the sauna, both silent, the heavy air making even the small effort of speech difficult. Trixie sat with her front and back hooves spread out wide to her sides, her neck slung back over the wooden bench circling the small, steamy room, her eyes closed as her skins pores opened themselves to the hot air.

Twilight sat across from her, slightly dazed from the intense heat and humidity of the room. She wiped some sweat from her forehead, and looked across to the magician’s body in front of her. Her watery eyes became fixated on a bead of sweat that had formed on Trixie’s cheek, and was now sliding down her neck, past her shoulders, making its slow descent down the side of her chest. She followed it as it slid down her midriff and around her curved hips, before disappearing just under her thighs.

“Are you trying to take off in here Sparkle?”

Trixie’s voice snapped Twilight out of her daze.

“Take off…?” she repeated sleepily, before glancing to her sides to find that her new limbs had spread themselves apart, and were now doing their best to reach the ceiling. She released a yelp of embarrassment at the involuntary action of her wings, and quickly withdrew them to her sides.

“It’s ok Twilight, I tend to have that effect on most ponies,” Trixie teased, a sly grin on her face.

“I… I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Twilight stammered, cursing her new appendages.

“It’s ok to like what you see,” Trixie responded with a knowing look.

“I uh… um… I think that’s enough sauna for me!” Twilight jumped off her seat, dashing towards the sauna door, Trixie’s laughter following behind her.

*

Outside the spa building, the heat of a warm summer day greeted the two ponies.

“Well, that was fun. It may come as a surprise but, it was actually kinda nice to see you again Trixie.”

“And you managed to not completely ruin my private spa appointment,” Trixie responded. “So I guess that’s a plus.”

“Still working on the compliments then?”

“Oh of course!”

Twilight shifted nervously before asking her next question.

“So… are you staying around Ponyville for a while or what?”

“I have some more business here, sure.” Trixie answered mysteriously.

“Well, maybe I will see you around again sometime soon?” Twilight suggested, the non-committal phrase requiring a staggering amount of effort to spit out.

“You might, what of it?” Trixie asked with a grin.

“I uh… nothing, I just thought… you…” Twilight tripped over her words, struggling to find the ones she wanted.

“Relax Sparkle, remember what I said about lightening up? I’ll be in Ponyville for a few days, if you have something to say to me, I’m staying in an inn at the centre of town.” Trixie turned on her heels and began to walk away at this announcement.

“But I…” Twilight released a sigh as her embarrassment overtook her, her final words never leaving her mouth.

Chapter 2

“Hey Twilight!”

The sound of her name being called dragged Twilight out of her thoughts and back into the present. She looked up to see a small purple dragon regarding her with a smile in the hall of her library home.

“Oh um, hi Spike,” she mumbled, as though snapped out of a daze.

“Something on your mind Twi?” Spike asked, taking note of her confused reaction.

“Yeah,” Twilight responded, closing the front door behind her. “I ran into somepony I really didn’t expect to at the spa today.”

“Oh, was it Rarity?” he asked with enthusiasm, his eyes rolling to the ceiling as his thoughts took him from the room.

“No Spike, why would I be surprised to see Rarity at the spa?” Twilight’s response held a hint of irritation. Spike only shrugged in response.

“Anyway, the pony I saw at the spa was… Trixie.”

“Trixie?!” the dragon yelped running over to Twilight. “Are you ok, did she hurt you, did she blow up the spa?!”

“Relax Spike, I’m fine and so is the spa. She was actually just there for a relaxing morning like me, and believe it or not; she was actually kind of friendly, in an aggressive sort of way…”

“I’ll choose not to believe it, there’s no way Trixie is back here without being up to something.”

“I don’t know Spike, I actually think she isn’t up to trouble this time.”

“Just… be careful ok, she could be planning to catch you off guard or something.”

“Oh Spike, I’ve dealt with much worse than Trixie before; I think I can handle her!”

“Yeah well, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Aw, thanks Spike!” Twilight smiled and pulled the dragon into an embrace with a forehoof. “I promise I’ll keep an eye on her, but if Trixie is really willing to be friendly this time then I think she deserves a chance.”

*

Trixie lay on her bed in her small room in The Horse And Carriage Inn, located in the centre of Ponyville. It was a modest little place, with dated furnishings and a cosy atmosphere. It was just inconspicuous enough that not many ponies would notice a new resident in it, and that’s just how Trixie liked it. The elderly mare innkeep didn’t even seem to recognise her as the unicorn who had briefly enslaved the town. Having only been back in town a couple of days, Trixie had been fortunate enough not to run into anypony who recognised her yet, except for Twilight of course.

Trixie looked down at the photograph where the smiling face of the newly crowned Twilight Sparkle, clad in her spectacular princess gown; looked back up at her. Her eyes lingered on the picture as she sat in silence on her bed. Her silent contemplation was shattered moments later by the raps of a hoof on her door. She quickly shoved the picture into a drawer beside her bed and went to answer it. On the other side stood Twilight Sparkle, not dressed in a magnificent gown, but still looking none the less radiant.

“Hi Trixie,” she smiled.

“Ah so you’re back!” Trixie responded with a grin. “Can’t get enough of The Great and Powerful Trixie in one day?”

“Yeah that must be it,” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Well come on in, I swear my trailer had more room than this inn but what can you do?”

Twilight closed the door behind her, and hopped onto a small chair by Trixie’s bed. Trixie herself sat on the bed.

“Seems kinda cosy to me,” Twilight said as she regarded the room.

“It’s alright for the money I suppose. You know, I’d never go back to it; but there was a surprising amount of cash to be earned in rock farming. I never did find out who the farms actual customers were though…” Trixie trailed off as her thoughts went back to her time spent on the bizarre form of agriculture.

“Anyway what brings you back to Trixie?” she asked after putting the thought behind her.

Twilight sat for a few moments in silence, looking as though she herself was also deep in thought.

“I’m just going to be straight with you Trixie.” she began, her tone serious. “If you can promise me that you’re not back in Ponyville to cause any trouble to me, my friends; or the town, then I’d be happy to be your friend as well; assuming you want to of course.”

Trixie opened her mouth and leaned forward with a hoof raised, looking prepared to respond with one of her usual aggressive, quick-fire quips. Instead she just exhaled a breath of air, and leaned back against the wall by the bed. Her eyes glanced to the drawer containing the picture she had just hidden, before resting back on Twilight’s.

“I’m not here to cause any trouble to anypony,” she replied, her voice uncharacteristically solemn. “At least I have no intention to anyway.”

Twilight caught Trixie’s eye with her own as she said this, and the two sat, eyes locked for a few moments. The silence brought with it a heavy tension

“Ok, I can believe you,” Twilight said, cutting through the thick silence. “In that case, I’m having a birthday party tomorrow. All my friends are going to be there, that can include you now too.” She smiled at Trixie as she extended the invite.

“Alright, I think I can make that.” Trixie agreed.

“Great! Head over to my place any time tomorrow. Do you know where it is?”

“Yeah, the big tree right?”

“That’s the one! I Hope to see you there. I have some more preparations to do, so if you’ll excuse me.” Twilight got up to leave, but stopped at the door. She turned her head to look back at the magician.

“I’m just wondering, what did bring you back to Ponyville anyway?”

Trixie’s eyes grew wide at the question. They darted once again to the drawer containing the picture of Princess Twilight.

“Its… its private business,” she responded after a few moments.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed.

“Private wouldn’t happen to be synonymous with troublesome in this case, would it Trixie?”

Trixie swallowed, a bead of sweat forming on her head from the powerful glare Twilight was throwing her way.

“Its… I…” Trixie took a breath. “Look, just because we’re friends now doesn’t mean I have to tell you everything about my personal life right away ok? My business is my own.” Her words now had their usual confidence behind them.

“You’re right,” Twilight agreed. “Just know that if you are up to something, I’m not sure I could forgive you again.”

A grin formed on Trixie’s face

“You need to lighten up Sparkle,” she teased.

Twilight shook her head with a smile and left Trixie’s room, closing the door behind her.

Trixie exhaled a relieved breath of air. She slid open the drawer to look at her secret possession once again. I can't tell you why I'm back, not yet she thought as she gazed at the photo.

“Oh and Trixie,” a voice called from the slowly opening door. Trixie yelped, slamming the drawer shut with such force that it would have shattered the wood. It would have shattered it, were it not for the very unfortunate fact that Trixie’s hoof had not completely vacated the drawer in time with this action. She shrieked again as the closing drawer smashed against her hoof. She grimaced as she removed her throbbing limb, gently closing the drawer with her other hoof.

“Everything ok?” Twilight asked, one eyebrow raised as she took note of Trixie’s grimacing expression, along with the loud slamming noise and Trixie's pained scream.

“Uh yeah, my… my hoof slipped. What is it?” Trixie groaned as she cradled her injured limb.

“I was just going to say that I’ll talk to my friends for you before you arrive, so at least they won’t be surprised when you show up tomorrow.”

“Wonderful,” Trixie moaned in response.

“Ok… see you later.” Twilight left the room, more confused than ever.

Trixie exhaled another ragged breath as she was left alone once again.

"Stupid egghead," she grumbled to herself.

Chapter 3

Trixie stood outside Golden Oaks Library, its tall branches and high balconies looming over her. Stars shone brightly in the night sky above her. She opted to turn up to the party a little later, hoping to minimize any unpleasant encounters. She looked up at the bizarre building with a sense of mixed excitement and dread. There was one pony she wanted to see in there, but she wagered there were many others who didn’t want to see her. She briefly contemplated turning around right then and forgetting about the party, unsure if the potential abuse from Twilight’s friends would be worth it, but the thought passed when she remembered she is The Great and Powerful Trixie, and she won’t be turned away by the snarky words of some other ponies! With her resolve sufficiently built up, she approached the door of the library and knocked on it loudly with a hoof. It swung open a few moments later.

“Trixie, you made it!” Twilight greeted with a smile. “Come on in.” Twilight turned to lead Trixie into the party, but only took a step forward before suddenly spinning back around.

“Oh shoot I forgot to mention, she isn’t here yet; but Princess Celestia should be arriving to the party soon.”

“WHAT?!” Trixie yelled.

“Yeah, I know some ponies get a bit intimidated by her presence, so I thought you should know.”

“Ugh, this just gets better and better,” Trixie groaned, throwing a hoof to her face.

“Are you really that nervous to see the Princess?”

“It’s not nervousness it’s… awkwardness. I haven’t spoken to the princess since I dropped out of her school for stupid unicorns.”

“Umm… her school for ‘gifted’ unicorns?” Twilight corrected.

“Yeah, that one.”

“I had no idea you were in that school.” Twilight frowned. “I went too.”

“I figured as much, there was no way Celestia missed you but… I don’t remember seeing you around the school.”

“Yeah well, I didn’t make a lot of friends back then, or go out much, or really talk to anypony…”

Trixie’s eyes opened wide, as if a revelation had just struck her.

“You were the princess’s pet weren’t you? The one who wouldn’t talk to anyone and just studied all day!” Trixie pointed a hoof at Twilight as she revealed her identity.

“Yeah… that was me.” The hint of a blush crept upon Twilight’s cheeks as she admitted to her less social past.

“Wow, you’re even more of an egghead than I realised.” Trixie chuckled.

“Just get inside.” Twilight frowned, closing the door behind Trixie as she entered.

Trixie entered the lobby of the library to find it saturated in party decorations of various blinding colours, although an overwhelming level of pink was on display. Streamers, balloons and confetti littered the room, and a gigantic pink, sequenced banner with the words ‘Happy Birthday Twilight’ in purple letters hung from the ceiling, stretching the entire width of the circular room. A long table lined the right side of the room, where an assortment of cakes and various candies sat surrounded by party hats. Two large glass bowls containing a bright pink liquid sat in its centre. The room was filled with all sorts of ponies, some of which Trixie recognised from her previous visits to the town, and many she had never seen before. Music blared over the din of my voices nattering away to each other. Nobody seemed to take notice of her entrance. GOOD, she thought.

“You don’t half do the decorations do you?” she pointed out, raising her voice over the racket.

“Oh, you can thank Pinkie Pie for that, parties are kind of her thing!”

“KIND OF my thing?” a high pitched voice cried. Trixie recoiled as a pink pony appeared as if from nowhere beside the two. “They are only my most super-duper favourite thing ever! Besides my friends of course!” She gave a wide grin to Twilight before turning to look at the startled Trixie.

“And meanie-pants Trixie is here!” she announced with a smile.

“Hmm, I suppose meanie-pants is pretty tame all things considered.” Trixie replied.

“Well, me being a meanie to you wouldn’t help anything would it? It would probably just make you an even meaner meanie-pants.”

“Sound logic,” Trixie agreed. “I just hope the rest of your friends follow it.”

“They will,” Twilight answered. “But you might need to give them a bit of time and, you know, show you can be kind too.”

“I dunno, sounds like a lot of work,” Trixie replied with a grin.

“I think you can handle it,” Twilight responded. “Anyway make yourself at home, grab a drink or some food!”

Trixie eyed the large glass bowls of pink liquid on the table. Beside them stood a familiar orange earth pony wearing a large brown Stetson. She was talking to an equally memorable Rainbow-maned Pegasus. She approached the bowl beside the pair.

“What’s in here, punch?”

“Yeah, its-,” Applejack cut off mid answer as she turned to discover who had asked the question. “Well well, look who we got here!”

“Looks like a loudmouth to me,” Rainbow remarked.

“Yup, I’m the horrible and evil Trixie et cetera, but before we start into the name calling, can you at least tell me if there is alcohol in the punch?”

“Uh yeah,” Applejack answered. “The one on the left has my strong cider mixed in it, the right one is alcohol-free.”

“Wonderful!” Trixie turned to the left punch bowl and filled one of the nearby plastic cups with its contents. She then proceeded to pour the liquid down her throat in one gulp.

“Woah there partner, it’s called strong cider for a reason!” Applejack warned.

Trixie finished her cup and inhaled a breath of air, breathing it out with a satisfied smile.

“Is it called that because it will get me very drunk if I drink lots of it quickly?”

“Well yeah but-“

“Wonderful!” Trixie repeated, scooping out another cupful of punch. “Just let me get through a few cups of this and you can call me whatever you like.”

Applejack released an irritated sigh. “Look, we’re not here to pick a fight. Twilight told us she wants to be your friend, and if it’s true that you’re gonna be friendly to her from now on well, we can put the past behind us, right Rainbow?”

“I dunno, I’d still like an explanation for the whole amulet business before I start being all friendly to the pony who enslaved my hometown. Twilight said you apologised, but you only apologised to her.”

Trixie downed her second cup of punch, and turned to fill it once again. With her third, she opted to only take a mouthful initially.

“Alright, gather the rest of your little group around and we can get the whole amulet thing out of the way alright? Not the whole party though, I’m not telling this story to everyone.”

“Why not? You kind of took over the WHOLE town that day.”

“Rainbow, calm your jets. The rest of the group hearing this will be good enough for now.”

With an irritated agreement, the pair disappeared into the din of the party to find the rest of their circle of six. Trixie glanced down into the pink liquid levitating before her as she was left alone. It's going to be a long day she thought to herself.

A few moments later, six ponies and one young dragon had gathered before Trixie.

“You wanted to tell us something Trixie?” Twilight asked.

"It had better be good," Spike frowned, crossing his claws across his chest.

“Sure, I already apologized to you before, but I suppose I may as well explain the amulet business so I don’t keep getting bugged about it, so listen up, I’m not going to talk about this again.” Trixie took another mouthful of punch and looked over to Twilight, who responded with a smile. The sight of it gave her tingles. She swallowed her drink and leaned back against the table to face the others, holding the cup in her fore hooves.

“I’ll make this quick,” she began, her tone strong and direct. “I’m not used to getting showed up. Before I came to Ponyville the first time, I hadn’t met a unicorn my own age who I couldn’t outwit or out-perform in a magic competition.” Trixie paused to take another mouthful of punch. She caught Rarity rolling her eyes, and Rainbow raising an eyebrow in disbelief. She ignored them and continued on.

“Other ponies had always been impressed by my magic, and I got used to having fans. After a while I started making a show of it, travelling from place to place to gain more. Then I came here. Now, I’ve dealt with hecklers like you ponies before with little problem, but never, NEVER have I come across the sheer, unbelievable idiocy that is Snips and Snails.” Trixie’s voice raised as she spoke about the two young colts that had caused her so much trouble, a frown crossing her face at the mere thought of the pair. She calmed herself with another sip.

“I made up some stories to add more flair to my travels, what harm would they do? Then those two geniuses decide to actually go and find an Ursa Major, just because I said I banished it once! Anyway, you all know who steps in next.” Trixie glanced over to Twilight, who responded with a sheepish smile, red creeping into her cheeks.

“So Twilight here sends what was thankfully just an Ursa Minor back to its cave with sheer, singular magical power. I couldn’t believe my eyes, she made it look almost easy. I left, and suddenly all I could think about was getting one up on the one pony who had outdone me in a public light.”

The rest of the group turned to look at Twilight, who was still engrossed in Trixie’s story. It took her a few moments before she noticed the seven pairs of eyes on her.

“What?” she said, looking at her friends, the blush glowing brighter on her cheeks. “I just did my best!”

“For sure you did!” Rainbow agreed. “You are one awesome egghead!”

“Uh thanks, I think?” Twilight responded.

“Anyway,” Trixie continued, calling the attention back to her story. “I remembered reading about magical relics in school, trinkets that could multiply a unicorn’s power just by wearing them. I figured it was a perfect way to get back at Twilight. So I found one, the Alicorn Amulet, and started practicing with it, but the more I used it, the angrier I got. Suddenly showing Twilight up wasn’t enough, I wanted to make her suffer, I wanted to hurt her. Everytime I cast a stronger and stronger spell with the amulet, my anger just built. By the time I got to Ponyville I wanted to take the whole place over. The amulet fed on my anger, and made it worse. I’m sorry I ever put the stupid thing on and…” Trixie hesitated for a moment, “I’m sorry if it caused any trouble to this town. Now, can we get on with this so called party?” with the conclusion of her story, she downed her cup of punch and turned to help herself to yet another.

“Trixie I-,“ Twilight’s voice was interrupted by the abrupt silence of the room around her. The music had suddenly cut out, and a few ponies could be heard gasping in shock.

The rest turned around to see a tall white Alicorn standing in the doorway to Twilight’s home.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight cried, rushing over to greet her former mentor. The rest of her friends turned to look at Trixie.

“We all make mistakes,” Applejack offered. “If you’re really sorry, and don’t plan on causing more trouble well, any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine.”

“I’m always happy to make more friends!” Pinkie agreed.

“If we can get along with Discord, I think you deserve a chance too,” Rarity pointed out.

“Wait… Discord? The lord of chaos? You’re FRIENDS with him?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re friends well… Fluttershy is.” Rarity explained, eliciting a blush from the yellow Pegasus.

“Seriously?” Trixie asked.

“It’s… complicated,” Fluttershy answered softly.

“Anyway, we’re willing to give you a try, right guys?” Applejack asked the group. Three out of four heads nodded.

“We’ll see…” Rainbow replied.

“Good enough for me,” Trixie shrugged.

“Alright! I suppose we ought to go greet the Princess!” Applejack suggested.

The group moved to welcome Celestia, all but Trixie, who just frowned, and sulked over her new cup of punch. She looked over with irritation to see the Twilight embracing the Sun Princess. Trixie stood her place, staring into her drink. A few minutes passed as the party guests greeted the monarch, and eventually the music and din of conversation enveloped the room once again. It was only a few moments after the noise returned that Trixie heard a voice in her ear.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise!” Trixie turned around to see the tall form of Princess Celestia, a warm smile on her face. “It’s been a long time, Trixie Lulamoon.”

Trixie groaned, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. I am too sober for this she thought, even though the punch had begun to take its effect; a light dizziness invading her head.

“Hello Princess,” she greeted, turning her head away from her and drinking some more.

“I’m glad to see you are doing ok Trixie, I heard you had gotten yourself in a bit of trouble of late.”

“I can’t possibly imagine what you mean Princess,” she mocked, taking another sip of punch. Her response elicited a soft chuckle from the Princess.

“Same old Trixie I see. I hope you have been looking after yourself.”

A frown covered Trixie’s face at this comment. “Why would you care how I’ve been doing?”

“You were a promising student Trixie. Of course I was disappointed the day you left.”

“Yeah? Didn’t seem that way to me.” Trixie took another drink.

“It’s true. I was pre-occupied with many issues back then, but you shouldn’t mistake that for me having no interest in a unicorn with your talent.”

Trixie was silent for a few moments as she took in her old teacher’s words.

“Well, it’s all said and done now isn’t it,” she responded eventually. “No point still talking about it now.” She swallowed the remaining contents of her cup.

“That’s not true Trixie, my doors are never closed to you. Now that I have Luna back, and Twilight, Cadence; and to quite a lesser extent Discord, are helping me, I have a lot more time. If you were willing, you could always come back and finish your studies. Of course, I imagine you’d need some more advanced material than where you left off, Great and Powerful Trixie!” she added with a wink.

Trixie turned to look up at the Princess, half expecting to hear the punch line of a joke; but she knew Princess Celestia, she was the very embodiment of sincerity. All she saw was the honest smile on her face.

“I’ll… think about *hic* it,” Trixie hiccupped, the effects of the cider making their rapid appearance.

“Please do, I’d be thrilled to work with you again.” With a smile that never reached Trixie’s eyes, the Princess left the magician to her brooding.

Trixie sat by herself, feeling the effects of the cider cloud her mind. The princess’s words swirled through her head. A few minutes passed before a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“What was that all about?” Twilight’s voice asked next.

“Huh?” Trixie turned, blinking as she tried to focus her blurring vision on Twilight.

“With the Princess? Is everything ok?” Twilight asked with concern, or perhaps just curiosity.

“The prinshesh *hic*” Trixie covered her mouth with a hoof as the air jumped out of her lungs, a slur starting to invade her speech. “The prinshesh seems to think I’d want to go back to her dumb school.”

“And, would you?”

“I don’t know!” Trixie responded, her drunken voice growing louder. “I haven’t really thought about it.” She wobbled on her hooves.

“Are you ok Trixie? How much of that punch have you drank already?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little face about me Twilight Shparkle.” Twilight scrunched her face as Trixie placed her hoof over it, swinging forward on unbalanced legs. “And I’ll tell you what, since I’m being all great and rec… rec… reconshiling Trixshie today,” Trixie smiled, pleased with herself for getting the word out. “I’ll deal with Princess Sheleshtia.”

“You’ll… DEAL with the Princess?” Twilight repeated, her muffled tone under Trixie’s hoof still carrying an audible concern.

“Yeah!” Trixie teetered to the left, and threw her hoof from Twilight’s face and back onto the floor to catch her balance. “I dealt with your friendsh, may as well hit two stones with *hic* one bird!”

“Uhh… I think you may want to just lie down for a minute.” Twilight suggested. “Maybe get some water?”

“III’m fiiine,” Trixie dismissed, swinging a hoof in the air. “Now if you’ll excushe me, the prinshesh and I have some mattersh to discush.” Trixie glanced around the room until her blurred vision caught sight of Celestia, and made her wobbly way over to the Princess, leaving Twilight behind with a worried expression on her face.

Upon reaching Celestia’s table, Trixie announced herself loudly.

“Prinshesh!” she cried, pointing a hoof at the monarch. “The Great and Powerful Trixshie has some words for you!”

Celestia turned to regard the unicorn who was swaying from side to side.

“Oh does she now?” she responded with an amused smile. “I’m all ears.”

“Trixie!” she began loudly, before her volume suddenly dropped. “Trixie… I… *sniff*,” Trixie’s head suddenly dropped to the floor, and when she looked back up at Celestia moments later, tears were filling her eyes.

“I’m soooorrrrryyyy,” she wailed, throwing herself around Celestia’s foreleg. The princess, taken aback by the sudden attitude change, sat with her mouth hanging open, before smiling with a chuckle.

“Whatever for Trixie?” she asked, placing her other hoof on the sobbing unicorns head.

“I, I jusht left,” she cried, still clutching the princess’s leg. “I didn’t even tell you *sniff* why. I ruined my chanshes at a good educashun because I was stupid and impaishent!”

“Calm down Trixie, there’s no need to cry.” Celestia took Trixie’s chin in her hoof and looked into her eyes. “I told you my doors were never closed to you. I have plenty of free time lately, would you like to come back to school and finish your studies?”

Trixie nodded as she sniffed through her running nose, and wiped some of the tears from her eyes with a hoof.

“Very good, now, I think you should get some rest. I see a friend of yours is worried about you.”

Trixie turned to see Twilight with a concerned expression on her face, looking over at the pair from across the room. Celestia waved her over.

“Is everything ok Trixie?” she asked as she approached the pair.

“I believe Trixie is suffering from a potent mixture of hidden emotion and far too much cider punch!” The princess chuckled. "Do you have somewhere she could go and lie down?”

“Sure thing, I have some room upstairs, come with me Trixie,” she took the inebriated unicorn by her hoof and led her upstairs.

*

Twilight stood for a moment, looking over the slumbering form of her new friend. She had passed out almost immediately upon her head hitting the pillow. Trixie did not say a word as she staggered to the bed with Twilight, only falling into it as directed. That had been a couple of hours ago, and the party had just began to wind down. She had asked the Princess what had happened, and she explained about Trixie’s desire to return to school, leaving Twilight with a letter to remind Trixie in the morning. She had come back up to check on the magician, and was now lost in thought as she watched her sleep.

You were there in Celestia's school all along Twilight thought as she observed Trixie’s face on her pillow, her mane a tangled knot around her head. To think we might have been friends if it wasn't for all the misfortune that followed you into Ponyville.

Trixie jerked in the bed, mumbling inaudibly to herself. It did not seem like she was having a very peaceful sleep.

Maybe if I had of actually made the effort to make friends back in school we would have gotten on great. Twilight sighed in the silence of the dark room. Well, what’s done is done, at least you’re trying to set things right for yourself, although I still don’t know what brought you back here in the first place. Maybe you’ll give me some answers one day, if we really are friends now. Twilight smiled at the thought, and left Trixie alone to rest in the room, hopeful that the enigmatic unicorn would come around. Today had certainly been a change in her usual attitude.

*

“Rise and shine!”

A jovial voice pierced Trixie’s ears, dragging her from her fitful sleep. The sound of curtains being dragged across their railings followed, a blinding light attacking her eyes. She groaned and shielded herself under the bed covers.

“Where am I?” Trixie asked, clutching the sheets over her aching head.

“In my bedroom, oddly enough!” the same peppy voice answered. Trixie peeked out of the covers to see the smiling face of Twilight Sparkle looking back at her.

“Why am I-,“ Trixie stopped herself mid-sentence as the horrors of last night began to form in her memory. “Oh nooooo…” she groaned, embarrassment adding to her splitting headache and violently unsettled stomach.

“I’m assuming you remembered how yesterday went?”

“Unfortunately…” she admitted.

“Well, as much as I’m sure you’re feeling pretty bad right now, you gotta get up, I have things to do!”

“How about just… ten more hours?” Trixie pleaded.

“That’s a bit longer than I can spare,” Twilight giggled. “Come on, up you get!”

Trixie released a confused grunt as she felt herself being enveloped by a magical force. It was soothing, as though she was being wrapped in blanket of warm air. She found herself being lifted from the bed as it circled her. Her headache and pained stomach were reduced, and she felt imbued with a small amount of energy. She hovered over to the floor as the aura set her on her hooves.

“What is this?” Trixie asked. “I suddenly feel a little better.”

“It’s a new spell I learned recently,” Twilight explained, still concentrating her magic around the magician.

“It’s great, you’re going to need to show me this one before I go drinking again!”

“Well, only if you plan on helping another pony’s hangover. Come on, lets go.”

Twilight beckoned Trixie to the bedroom door, still concentrating on the spell.

“What do you mean?” Trixie asked as they left the room.

“The spell only works on other ponies. It’s from a school of compassionate magic. Princess Cadence showed me how to do it.”

She led Trixie down the stairs to the library hall, where a small cart sat beside a purple dragon.

“Well that kind of blows doesn’t it?” Trixie retorted.

“I think you’re pretty happy for it right now!”

“Twilight, hurry up!” Spike moaned. “I’m starving, let’s go!’

“Relax Spike, we are leaving now! Oh, I almost forgot, can you grab that letter for me?”

“Sure,” Spike picked up a sealed envelope from a nearby table and handed it to Trixie.

“What’s this?” she asked, taking it on a hoof.

“Celestia left it for you.”

“Oh…” she responded, the memories of last night flooding in.

“Anyway, bad news is the moment I drop this spell that hangover is going to come back with a vengeance, but I can at least take you to the inn since it’s near the market.”

“Wonderful, I can’t wait,” Trixie groaned.

*

The trio arrived outside Trixie’s inn a little while later, the magician still wrapped in Twilight’s soothing aura. Trixie had asked Twilight how one of her friends had become pals with the spirit of chaos, and Twilight regaled the story of Fluttershy’s mission to her. Trixie looked up with dread as they arrived at her temporary home.

“I guess this is it right?”

“Yeah… sorry about this.”

“I earned it… ok,” Trixie braced herself. “Let’s have it.”

Trixie gasped as Twilight removed the spell from her body, a bitter coldness replacing its warm aura. She groaned in pain as a splitting ache shot through her head once again, and she felt as if a hurricane had started up in the pit of her stomach. Twilight looked with empathy as Trixie slumped against the door of the inn, pushing her body through it.

“I guess… I’ll see you around sometime soon Spark- umm… Twilight.” Trixie corrected herself.

“Yeah absolutely!” Twilight agreed with a smile. “Get some rest for now.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Trixie answered, staggering inside the inn.

Chapter 4

“Trixie! Open this door now!”

The sound of a hoof hammering on a wooden door accompanied the angered voice of Twilight Sparkle. This torrent of sound was the first thing Trixie heard that morning.

“Go away!” the magician cried, taking shelter under the feather blankets of the inn’s bed.

“Trixie, if you don’t open this door right now, I’ll do it myself!”

The next few moments produced only silence as Trixie made no move to give in to Twilight’s demands.

“That’s it Trixie, I’m coming in!”

A high pitched ringing sounded from the door, followed moments later by splintering wood, and finally the sound of metal shattering on the floor. Trixie popped her head out from under her warm haven to see a furious Twilight Sparkle standing over the scattered remains of what was once a doorknob.

“You’re paying for that,” Trixie said, propping herself up on her elbows.

Twilight stood in the doorway, heaving with fury. Two saddlebags hung from her sides, crammed to breaking point with books, the tops of them peeking out from the bags pockets which were too filled to close. In between ragged breaths, she glanced down to see the doorknob she had just annihilated, suddenly realising she had just destroyed some of the inn’s property.

“Uhh… fine, whatever; just get up now, you’re going to be late!”

“But no sane pony gets up at this hour!” Trixie flopped down back on to her pillow with a groan. “The sun is only coming up!”

“Exactly, and that means Princess Celestia is going to be expecting us soon, and we are not going to keep her waiting! It’s a long trip to Canterlot, now get up!”

“Ugh, just give me another couple of hours.”

Twilight stomped over to Trixie’s bedside.

“Up, now!” she screamed, gripping the bed sheets between her teeth and heaving them off Trixie. Nothing unleashed the wrath of Twilight Sparkle like forcing her to be late to an engagement.

“Alright, alright, don’t pop a blood vessel.” Trixie stretched with a loud, drawn out yawn. She lay on her side for a few moments on the bed, her head propped up on a fore hoof, her other stroking the mattress in front of her body. She smiled as she took in Twilight’s face, tinged red with anger. Adorable she thought to herself. After a few moments of Trixie’s lingering, half-lidded gaze, Twilight’s expression turned from anger to confusion.

“What… why are you looking at me like that?” The red in Twilight’s face increased, no longer caused by her anger.

“Oh… its nothing,” Trixie replied. A few more moments of silence passed.

“Quit stalling!” Twilight cried, attempting to combat her new nervousness. “You had better be packed! I have business in Canterlot today too, I thought it’d be nice to accompany you since you’re starting back to school, but I am not going to have you keep me late!”

“Uhhh…” Trixie’s gaze fell to Twilight’s side, and Twilight followed the look to find an empty suitcase, the floor around it littered with various garments and Trixie’s other belongings.

“Trixie!” Twilight cried again as she caught sight of the thoroughly unpacked suitcase. “You’re unbelievable!”

“Yup, that’s what most ponies I meet say!”

“GET PACKING NOW!” Twilight’s voice squeaked as her vocal cords struggled to accommodate her fury.

“Ok, ok!” Trixie jumped off the bed, genuinely worried that Twilight might actually burst an internal organ if she did not comply.

The pair proceeded to toss Trixie’s belongings into the case. It wasn’t a long process as Trixie seemed to be travelling light, her possessions consisting mostly of beauty products and grooming utensils. The floor was eventually cleared of all objects, and Twilight turned to scan the room.

“Is that everything?” she asked, her hoof tapping the floor impatiently.

“I think so,” Trixie replied as she neatly folded her signature cape and placed it into the suitcase along with its matching hat. Her eyes then fell to the drawer beside her bed, and she suddenly remembered its contents.

“Uh, just one thing.” She stepped over to drawer and opened it, the picture of Princess Twilight looking back up at her. She hesitated as she considered leaving it behind to avoid the risk of Twilight seeing it. But it’s such a great picture of her… but I could always buy a new one… what if they don’t have it in print anymore? Trixie debated with herself internally.

“What is it?” Twilight snapped. “Come on, we’ve got to go!”

“Just a second!” Trixie cast a quick spell on the picture, then levitated it out of the drawer.

“Is… is that a picture of yourself?” Twilight asked, catching sight of the photograph hovering before her.

“Yeah! Can’t a mare appreciate a good photo of herself?” Trixie slipped the picture into her suitcase and shut it tight before releasing the spell.

“You’re… a strange pony Trixie.”

“I’m strange? I’m not the one who lives in a tree with a dragon, is a unicorn who recently sprouted a pair of wings, and is on friendly terms with the spirit of chaos!”

Twilight opened her mouth to retaliate, but no response came at first.

“Fair point,” she admitted, scratching her chin with a hoof, before a frown covered her face. “Why are we arguing again? Let’s go!” Twilight stomped towards the door she had victimized in her rage. Trixie smiled with glee once again at the sight of the worked up unicorn, following her out of the room, magically towing her suitcase behind her.

*

After leaving a hastily scribbled note of apology behind to the inn-keeper (who Trixie made the point of highlighting that even they were not awake yet) the pair walked down the streets of Ponyville towards the train station, before Trixie stopped suddenly.

“I’m hungry, let’s get some breakfast first.”

Twilight let out an irritated groan. “Can’t you wait? We really should be catching the next train.”

“You can’t just pull Trixie out of bed at this hour and not feed her, it’s simply not done.” Trixie stood in place.

“Ugh fine.” Twilight conceded when it was clear Trixie had no intention of leaving without getting fed first. She looked ahead to see a pink pony opening the doors to Sugarcube Corner. “There’s the bakery Pinkie works in, you can grab something there, quickly!” She trotted towards the shop, Trixie following.

“It’s no wonder you have never been in a relationship before Twilight, you have no idea how to treat a pony right.” Twilight just rolled her eyes in response, but Trixie continued her teasing. “You know,” Trixie’s voice grew quiet, and she leaned in to Twilight’s ear. “Ponies who treat me right are usually well rewarded.” She turned to wink at the now highly confused unicorn, the combination of Trixie’s gaze and tone leaving her befuddled.

“I… will you just hurry up and get some food!” she snapped as red crept into her cheeks. She walked on ahead to the bakery, avoiding eye contact with Trixie.

“Morning Twilight! You’re up early today! Oh, and morning meanie-pants!” Pinkie greeted as she caught sight of Twilight and Trixie.

“Yeah well, we are supposed to be getting to Canterlot, but somepony is trying their best to hold us up.” Twilight cast a piercing glare at Trixie, who only smiled in response.

“Really? Who?” Pinkie asked, oblivious to the daggers Twilight’s eyes were throwing at Trixie.

“It’s… never mind; Trixie, what do you want to eat?”

“I dunno, what’s good?”

“Everything is good here!” Pinkie exclaimed, dragging Trixie inside. “Let me show you!”

“Ugh, we do not have time for this!” Twilight groaned.

After a few tedious minutes of Pinkie pointing out her wares to Trixie, the magician finally decided upon a large raspberry muffin with purple icing. When Pinkie announced the price in bits, Trixie turned to look at Twilight.

“Are you serious?” Twilight asked.

“What did I tell you about treating a pony right?”

“But we’re not dating!”

“Not with that attitude!”

With another thoroughly irritated groan, Twilight rummaged for the bits in her saddlebags and tossed them on the counter.

“We’ve got to run, bye Pinkie!”

“See ya later Twilight, bye meanie-pants!”

As the two walked at a brisk pace down the road, luggage in tow, Trixie munched happily on her muffin, while Twilight fumed in silence.

“How are you so awake at this hour?” Trixie asked through a mouthful of muffin.

“I’m just used to getting up early.”

“Nah, I think you have some spell, something that helps you wake up faster, like that hangover spell.”

“It wasn’t a hangover spell… and I don’t have a trick for everything you know.”

“Why not? I bet you could find one for every little thing you needed doing.”

“Perhaps but, that’s not the point in magic. It’s not there just to take shortcuts all the time.”

“Why not? If it’s not there to make life easier then what is its point.

“Well, it’s fine to use it to help with a few things but, if you become reliant on magic as an easy way out of everything you become lazy and disrespectful of it. The ponies who created charms like the Alicorn Amulet were most likely the extreme form of this kind of thing, and their corruption was bound to their creation. They probably had no respect for magic, just seeing it as a tool to achieve power, or an easier life.” Twilight’s voice grew in volume and determination as she spoke.

Trixie swallowed down her muffin in silence as she listened to Twilight, a little in awe at how knowledgeable and passionate she was about the arcane arts.

“I can’t say I’ve ever really looked at magic as something to be respected.” Trixie admitted as she consumed the last of the muffin. “I always just saw it as a tool.”

“Well, it is a useful tool but, it’s also a gift and an art, and you can’t truly master it without being aware of this. It’s one of the first things Celestia taught me.”

“Great, so I guess I can look forward to hearing this lecture again from her?”

“Possibly,” Twilight agreed with a giggle, “but only if we make it there on time! I’m speeding things up!”

Before Trixie could ask what she meant, she felt Twilight’s hoof touch her own, followed by a brilliant flash of purple light, and the high pitched tone of a magic spell being cast. When the purple light subsided, Trixie could make out, through blurred vision, the Ponyville rail station. As her vision swayed in front of her, her stomach suddenly lurched, and she swung to one side on unbalanced hooves, smashing into a pony beside her and ending up in a heap on the floor.

“Uh, sorry, I forgot first time teleportation can be a bit of a doozy.” Twilight’s voice sounded from beneath Trixie.

“Great… thanks for the warning,” Trixie groaned. “It feels like we were just shoved through a tornado.” She raised her head, holding a hoof to the side of her face. She looked down to find herself face to face with Twilight lying beneath her.

“So… you wanna get off me?” Twilight asked.

“Eh, I’m good here.”

“Do you want me to teleport you again?”

Trixie promptly jumped off Twilight at this threat. “Do you not feel sick after that?” she asked, shaking her dizzy head.

“You get used to it after the first few jumps.” The high pitched ring of a train sounded after Twilight finished her sentence.

“Just in time!” she announced with a smile. “Let’s go!” The pair gathered up their luggage and boarded the train after it pulled up to the station.

*

Trixie stared out the window of the moving train, watching the town of Ponyville shrink in the distance. She and Twilight sat in a private booth large enough for about four ponies to sit comfortably on the benches that lined each side. An empty space sat next to her, but across from her sat Twilight, the space beside her occupied by a stack of books, and she currently had her eyes buried in one. A wooden door with a narrow glass window separated them from the rest of the train.

“I have to say, I’m not at all sorry to see that town behind me.”

Twilight looked up from her reading.

“So I assume you took care of the private business you were there to do?”

“It’s not quite taken care of just yet, it’s still a work in progress.” Trixie replied, still staring out the window.

“Still being all mysterious then huh?”

“Still being all nosy then?” Trixie turned to grin at Twilight.

“I suppose you got me there.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I can say it’s quite likely you will find out what I was back in town for.”

A frown covered Twilight’s face.

“Why does that make me feel uneasy?”

“I don’t know, but maybe it should.”

“Trixie…” Twilight’s voice now raised genuine concern, her expression nervous.

“Relax, I’m just messing with you, lighten up! I promise I’m not up to anything that will be intentionally upsetting to you or anypony else.”

“But it may possibly be upsetting?”

“Perhaps, you never know how things turn out.”

Twilight sighed, turning her eyes back to her book.

“I’m deciding to trust you Trixie, don’t make me regret it.”

I hope you don’t Trixie replied in her mind.

Chapter 5

Trixie released another loud, drawn out yawn as she and Twilight stepped off the train into the already busy Canterlot Station.

“Could you please cut that out?” Twilight asked irritably as she pushed past throngs of ponies attempting to board the train they had just left. It seemed that her royal status was quickly forgotten when ponies were in a hurry, as they shoved past her with little acknowledgement.

“If you’re going to wake me up at such a silly hour, you can learn to deal with me being tired,” Trixie responded.

The pair began their journey towards Canterlot Castle, pushing through the noisy crowd of ponies beginning their morning commute.

“You can’t still be tired, you’ve had hours to wake up by now.” Twilight had to raise her voice over the din of the station.

“I’ll be tired until I get back to a bed, I’m at least 4 or 5 hours behind on my usual amount of sleep.”

Twilight only rolled her eyes in response, concentrating on weaving her way through the rapidly growing crowd in the station. She let out a sigh of relief as they finally pushed their way out into the pristine streets of Canterlot, escaping the claustrophobic conditions of the packed station.

“Please tell me Princess Sunbutt doesn’t have a lesson scheduled for me today?” Trixie whined, dragging her hooves as they made their way down the street. “There’s no way I’d be able to stay awake during it.”

“Princess what?” Twilight turned to look at Trixie.

“You never heard that one? It’s what some of us used to call her back in the school. Did you literally talk to nopony while you were there?”

“I did! Sometimes… anyway, she doesn’t have a lesson for you today, but there is some preparations you need to do, get your room in the castle and such.”

“Better be a comfortable bed in this room.”

“Let nopony tell you that you have a one-track mind Trixie.”

“I won’t!” Trixie said with a smile.

The pair made their way down the streets of Canterlot as the city woke up to begin its day. They were in the financial district of the city, and they passed many ponies opening stores to begin their trade for the day, walking around carriages delivering food and other commodities to the businesses. They continued on until they heard Twilight’s name being called out.

“Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight!” An excited voice called.

The pair turned to find a young mare standing outside what appeared to be a small art gallery, its large glass windows displaying paintings of various well-dressed ponies encased in ornate gold and silver frames. The mare herself wore a dark beret on her head and a short, straight, brown mane framed her face. A frock speckled in splashes of every colour of paint one could think of. The frock ended just where her hind legs began, revealing a blue coat and a cutie mark of a red handled paintbrush, its bristles dripping with green paint. Her expression was of the utmost excitement, and she was visibly bouncing on the spot.

“If I could spare a moment of your time, Your Highness!” The artist requested, bowing her head. Even when bowed, she continued to bounce with energy.

“Uh, we are in a bit of a hurry,” Twilight responded. “Will it take long?”

“No no no, not at all Princess, I simply wish to present you with a portrait I made of you!” The eccentric mare spoke in a rapid voice.

“Oh, ok then,” Twilight responded, feeling both nervous and curious.

“Thank you Princess! Please step inside, I’ll be back in one moment!” The artist pony dashed inside the store, disappearing into a room at the back.

“Well well, aren’t you the popular little princess.” Trixie said with a grin as they walked inside the store. Twilight looked uncomfortable.

“It’s nice that ponies want to do stuff like this for me, but I really wish they wouldn’t make such a fuss.”

“Typical…” Trixie muttered, her voice agitated.

“What?”

“You get made a princess and all you can do is complain about the attention everyone gives you. Can’t you learn to enjoy something for once?”

“Not everyone likes being smothered with attention Trixie, I know that may seem hard for you to believe.”

“You could at least try to enjoy it a bit.”

Their argument was interrupted by the return of the artist pony, pushing a wheeled tray on top of which sat a wide canvas.

“May I present to you,” the artist announced with enthusiasm as she waved a hoof to the painting with a wide smile, “the beauty of Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight’s face suddenly turned the deepest shade of red.

The painting was a wide, body-length portrait of Twilight lying on her right side on what appeared to be red silk. Her head was propped up on a hoof, and her eyes looked out towards the viewer with a sultry half lidded gaze, her mouth curved up into a welcoming smile. Her other hoof lay on her hip, the curves of which had been very accentuated by the image. Her left wing was flared out to full length, flowing down behind her body. A brown background covered the rest of the image.  The high skill of the artist was evident, as the painting could have been mistaken for a photograph at a glance.

Twilight’s mouth moved wordlessly as she took in the provocative image of herself before her eyes, her cheeks burning.

“Its uhh… I uhh…”

“Ah! My work has left you speechless!” The artist observed, hopping with joy.

Next to Twilight, Trixie stood mouth agape. She paid no attention to the saliva that had begun to pool and drip from her mouth as she stared in awe at what seemed to be one of her dreams put to canvas.

“It’s certainly very good, but…”

“Oh no, you don’t like it!” The artist spoke with horror, her voice filled with a dramatic dread.

“No! It’s great! It just… conveys an image that I’m not sure matches me.”

“Ah, I see I see.” The artist regarded her work again. “If you’re not happy with it I won’t sell it. I’ll scrap it and go back to the drawing board.”

“SCRAP IT?!” Trixie yelled.

Twilight jumped in surprise from Trixie’s outburst, as she had been silent during the exchange so far.

“You like it Trixie?” Twilight asked.

Trixie mind fumbled for words as she realised she had just yelled out in surprise.

“Well… she clearly put a lot of time into it, you can’t just let her destroy it!”

Twilight regarded the painting again. It was true that, while embarrassing, it was also very impressive, and the painter had obviously sunk hours of time into its creation.

“You’re right…” Twilight spoke as she observed the picture’s impressive quality. “I would feel bad if you just discarded it,” she told the creator.

“But I couldn’t possibly sell a painting you’re not happy with princess.” the artist explained.

“Have it sent to the castle!” Trixie suggested.

“But… everypony there will see it!” Twilight cried.

“And? I’m sure most of them will be able to appreciate the wonderful work this artist did.”

“I had no idea you were such a connoisseur of fine arts Trixie,” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.

“What? You don’t think I’m a cultured mare? I appreciate all the finer things in life.”

Twilight sighed. “Ok, have it sent to Canterlot Castle, we’ll find a place for it.”

“Fantastic! To think! Some of my work, in the castle itself! I am overjoyed Your Highness!” The ecstatic artist cried.

“I’m… happy to have made you feel this way,” Twilight responded, still lethally embarrassed by the whole situation.

“Fantastic! I’ll have it sent as soon as possible!”

“Please, take your time!” Twilight responded. “Anyway, we have to get going!”

“Farewell your highness, thank you again a thousand times!”

Twilight dashed out of the shop, eager to get away from the mortifying situation.

“Well… that was a strange start to my day.” Twilight said as Trixie followed after her.

“See what I mean, you don’t appreciate anything, a mare spends hours painting a picture of you and you nearly let her destroy it.”

“Did you SEE that picture Trixie?” Twilight felt embarrassed just thinking about the image.

“Yes, I thought it was a very fine piece of art, clearly you don’t grasp artistic appreciation.” Trixie spoke in a smug voice.

“I… ugh, let’s just get going.” Twilight stormed ahead of Trixie towards the castle, wanting to forget about the situation as quickly as possible.

"Oh, hold on a minute I uhh... think I left one of my bags inside." Trixie dashed inside the shop. Twilight saw her speak quickly to the owner before emerging again.

"Nope, everything is here after all, lets go!"

*

Twilight and Trixie’s hoofsteps on the marble floor of Canterlot Castle’s entrance hall echoed as they walked its length toward Princess Celestia, who was awaiting them by the large staircase that sat at its end.

“Morning Princess!” Twilight greeted.

“Good morning to you too, Princess,” Celestia replied with a smile.

“I still haven’t gotten used to that,” Twilight said with a sheepish grin.

“It will come with time,” Celestia turned to Trixie. “Ah, and here is our new guest. Good to see you again Trixie; you’re looking a deal fresher than when we last met.”

“Can you please not keep bringing that up?” Trixie requested.

“My apologies,” Celestia said with a chuckle. “Please follow me, there is a lot of work we need to do in preparation for your lessons.” She began to ascend the stairs.

“Ughhh, do we have to do it now? Princess Sparkle here woke me up at a ridiculous hour so we could be here on time,” Trixie moaned as she followed.

“Gee thanks for the company on the journey to Canterlot Twilight, it was so nice of you to make sure I got here on time.” Twilight spoke in a mocking tone.

“You think I’m going to thank you for dragging me out of bed that early?”

“It seems you two are getting along well.” Celestia observed with a smile.

“I suppose for Trixie this is what counts as getting along,” Twilight agreed.

“What, would you rather I complimented you all the time? Told you how wonderful you are? Paint pictures of you,” Trixie snorted out a laugh as she spoke the last suggestion, recalling Twilight’s embarrassment at the image.

“In any case,” Celestia interrupted, “It will only take about an hour, I just have some things I need you to sign and some other secretarial duties. After that I can show you right to your room.”

“Let’s get on with it then.” Trixie trotted after her new teacher.

*

Trixie sat with her face mashed into a hoof as Celestia pondered over the large amount of tedious sheets that Trixie had just finished filling out. Trixie was sure the process had taken far longer than an hour. Twilight had long gone to take care of whatever business had brought her here, and Trixie realised how much she missed arguing with the egghead. It was infinitely more interesting than the task at hand. As she was thinking about Twilight, her mind wandered to the painting of her they had been shown earlier. A smile formed on her face as she daydreamed about the provocative image of the normally innocent bookworm.

“…now the only thing is to show you to your room,” Celestia announced.

“Huh… what?” Trixie looked up, breaking out of her daydream.

“I said we are done, I can show you to your room now if you’d like.” Celestia levitated a small silver key from the table that the various forms, now neatly stacked and stamped, were resting on.

“Please! Had I have known drinking that first cup of punch would have led to this…” Trixie released another loud yawn.

“I’d say it was an overall positive turn of events.” Celestia replied with a smile.

“Not sure I could agree so far, I feel like I’m going pass out.”

“Well, let’s see if your new room can brighten your view on the situation a bit,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Gladly.”

Trixie followed Celestia out of the throne room, where most of the morning’s deeds had taken place. She guided Trixie through the castle’s many halls until they reached a tall wooden door with a gold plaque sitting in its centre with the words ‘Trixie Lulamoon’ engraved upon it.

Celestia levitated the silver key into the keyhole in the door’s ornate silver handle. With a click, the door unlocked.

“Go ahead in,” Celestia gestured with a smile.

Trixie pushed the door open and was met with a welcome sight. The room was amazing. A queen -sized, four poster bed with red silk sheets and gold curtains sat at the far end of room, enough to fit at least four ponies at one end comfortably. The room itself was at least 2 or 3 times larger than the room back at the inn. A vanity mirror encased in a shining gold frame sat on a large desk to the right side, holding various creams, perfumes and other beauty products. A large table sat in the centre of the room, surrounded by four comfortable-looking cushioned chairs. A window with a chest high cushioned sill took up a large amount of the left wall, framed by thick red curtains. It looked out over the grounds of the castle. To its left, a large stone fireplace had been built into the wall, containing wooden logs in its cavity. A clock hung over the fireplace. A door sat to the right of the bed, between it and the mirror.

“Through there is the bathroom,” Celestia pointed to the closed door. “If you need anything else, I’m sure any of the castles servants will be happy to oblige.

Trixie took in the stunning room before turning to Celestia. “I think I’m going to like it here,” she said.

“I figured as much,” Celestia smiled. “Welcome back Trixie, I’m always glad to see another pony willing to learn. Our lessons will begin early tomorrow, but you won’t have to get up as early as you did today, I can promise!”

“Fantastic, thank you! Now, if you don’t mind, I have to catch up on the sleep Twilight made me miss.”

“Of course, rest well Trixie. We will speak soon.” Celestia left Trixie alone in the room, closing the door behind her.

Seems going back to Ponyville has worked out far better than I could have imagined, Trixie reflected, smiling as she walked over to the soft sheets of the bed and feeling their cool, welcoming texture. She jumped up onto its mattress, and groaned in pleasure as she lay back, sinking into its delightful softness. It was only moments before she was fast asleep.

Chapter 6

“I think you should be able to handle that one Twilight… Twilight?”

Twilight blinked as her awareness was dragged back to the throne room, where she and Celestia stood alone. She looked up to see Celestia’s concerned face gazing down on her from above a stack of parchments.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Twilight murmured, her tone anything but certain.

“Is something on your mind?” Celestia asked, standing up from her throne and approaching the young princess. Twilight looked up at her former mentor.

“It’s nothing serious, it’s just… what do you think of all this business with Trixie?”

“I’m afraid you may have to be a bit more specific,” Celestia answered with a smile. “Let’s talk outside.” She walked to a pair of gold-framed glass doors leading out onto a balcony overlooking the castle grounds. Twilight followed behind.

As Celestia swung the doors open, the cool, high-altitude air breezed across Twilight’s face. She approached the balcony’s rails, and took in a deep breath of the fresh air. The view from the balcony would have petrified any height-fearing pony, as the throne room was located in one of Canterlot’s many tall towers, which hung over the side of the sheer cliff the castle was built upon. Hundreds of feet below, a river flowed by, disappearing into the distant horizon. The view used to make Twilight uneasy in the past, but as she got the hang of using her new wings, the dizzying height was almost no bother to her now… almost. Celestia sat to her side, patiently waiting for the new Princess to share her thoughts. After a few moments, Twilight began again.

“What I meant was, do you find anything suspicious in the way Trixie has been acting?”

“I can’t say I have, but then I have only been in her presence for a short amount of time since she returned, and she wasn’t exactly in a clear state of mind at your birthday party. Why, have you noticed something odd in your time with her?”

“Well, she’s acting… nice to me. Well, somewhat friendly, nice may be a stretch, but still. She genuinely seems like she wants to be my friend, but after what she did before I can’t help be suspicious.” Twilight hung her hooves over the railing, gazing out to the distance.

“And I believe it is very wise of you to keep your guard up around somepony who has wronged you in the past. Only a fool would immediately forgive and forget.” Celestia fell silent for a few moments, as though her own words had an impact on herself. Twilight noticed the smile slip from her face as she too gazed out into the horizon.

“To forgive a pony who has wronged you is to decide that their friendship and trust is worth the risk that they may wrong you again.” Celestia’s tone had lost its normal warmth and direction, and it now sounded as though she was simply talking out loud than giving advice to a pony right next to her. A few more moments of silence passed, before Celestia’s smile crept back on to her face. “Think about Discord,” she said, the warmth returning to her tone as she turned to look at Twilight. “I have taken a big risk in allowing him freedom and even board here at the castle, but his help far outweighs any mischief he might cause, even if I’m certain he will cause more.”

“Well, I really do believe Trixie is sorry.” Twilight responded, stepping back from the railing and raising a hoof to her chin. “She doesn’t seem like a truly cruel pony to me. She wasn’t herself when she was under the amulets influence, but I just don’t understand why, after she went through all that just to get back at me, why she would want to suddenly be my friend.”

“Well, it may be worth trusting her, so that you may one day find out.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“I think you have more to gain than to lose in this situation. I have not known Trixie for many years, but from what I do remember of her, I don’t believe she would be plotting something truly terrible. Besides, I think you have handled far greater dangers than Trixie Lulamoon in the past.”

“That’s true,” Twilight agreed, the embarrassed smile that always appeared on her face when Celestia praised her spreading across her lips. “And besides, what can she possibly get up to right under your nose?”

Celestia chuckled at this remark.

“What?” Twilight asked in response to Celestia’s amusement.

“She managed to get up to plenty of trouble under my nose when she was here before!”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. She’s a natural troublemaker, even when she was young. But she never did anything truly awful.”

“So, do you think she is really interested in coming back here just to learn? Especially if she caused all that trouble when she was here, and then just up and left one day?”

“Well, I’m going to take her request at face value. I am eager to teach her if she is eager to learn, and so long she says that’s what she wants, I’m happy to oblige.” Celestia’s gaze went back out to the horizon, but this time the smile only grew wider on her face, and the tone of her voice now sounded as though a laugh threatened to jump out of it at any moment. “I do believe Trixie genuinely liked to learn, and she is quite naturally gifted at many forms of magic. It just seems that a combination of impatience and a short fuse led her to going her own way. I also don’t think I need to tell you that she most certainly did not like to be told what to do, or when!” At this last remark the laugh finally escaped Celestia’s lips.

“You certainly don’t!” Twilight joined Celestia with a chuckle of her own. “It’s just so strange though. She just popped up in Ponyville one day, and she won’t tell me why she was even there, but keeps saying that I will find out eventually, which makes me very nervous.”

“I’m sure Trixie is aware enough to realise that is suspicious behaviour. If she was truly trying to hide something, I would think she would have the tact to at least come up with an excuse. To me, that kind of behaviour sounds more like she actually wants to tell you something, but for some reason she cannot, not right now anyway.”

“Asking you about her has just made me even more curious and confused!” Twilight whined, propping her head up on her hooves on the balcony’s rail. This elicited another laugh from Celestia.

“Just be patient. Give Trixie some time, and take the risk of her friendship if you think it’s worth it.”

“Well I have to now don’t I? It’d be like leaving a book unfinished if I never found out!”

“Well then, I think you have found your answer!” Celestia laughed again.

“I think I’ll go visit her later, before I leave tomorrow. Maybe I can get some more answers.”

“I did say to be patient Twilight; I would not go pressing her for more answers so soon.”

“No, you’re right, I have a better idea! Does Trixie have a fireplace in her room?”

*

“Trixie?” Twilight spoke through the wooden door as she tapped a hoof on it. A heavy feeling of Déjà vu swept over her. She thought back to earlier that day when she was hammering on Trixie’s room in the inn. When no response came, a smile spread over her face as she realised she was going to wake the irritable unicorn up once again. The thought was quite satisfying.

“Oh Trixie!” she called again, louder, this time with a jovial tone to her voice. Again, no response. She placed a hoof to the door and pushed. To her surprise, it swung open. It seemed in her haste to get to bed, Trixie forgot to lock the door. The grin on Twilight’s face widened as she crept into the room.

Twilight could hear Trixie’s soft breathing from the large four poster bed at the back of the room. She took in the room around her, noting that Trixie had been put up in some particularly luxurious surroundings. Likely more of Celestia’s attempts to encourage Trixie to stick to her decision to return to education. When she reached the side of the bed, she found the blue unicorn sprawled on her back on top of the sheets. She had not even managed to pull the covers over herself before she passed out. Twilight supressed a giggle at the sight, caused by a mixture of Trixie’s ridiculous laziness and anticipation of what was coming next. She approached the side of the bed and stood up at its side, resting her front hooves on the mattress. Twilight inhaled, taking in as much air into her lungs as she could before…

“TRIXIE!” she yelled.

“GAH!” Trixie yelped, throwing herself upright on the bed. She looked around, her face panicked. “What the-?”

Twilight fell back into a sitting position on the floor as she released a torrent of laughter. The look on Trixie’s face was priceless.

“YOU!” The magician yelled as she took in the giggling Twilight at the side of her bed. “Are you serious? Did you really come to wake me again in the same day?!”

“Sure did!” Twilight said with a wide smile in between laughs, which were abruptly cut off as her face was struck by a thick, soft object hurled toward her at high speed. She yelped, and looked down to see one of the pillows Trixie had been lying on at her hooves. She then looked up to find Trixie had retreated under the blanket of the bed, her head facing away and resting on the beds remaining pillow.

“Maybe you should remember to lock your door if you don’t want unexpected visitors,” Twilight suggested, her voice thick with mirth.

“Maybe you should get out of my room, now!”

“Aww, but I came to say goodbye.”

This caused Trixie to turn back around and face Twilight.

“You’re leaving?” she asked, the anger suddenly disappearing from her voice.

“Yeah, I have a lot of business up here in Canterlot, but Ponyville is still my home. I’ll be visiting here a lot though, but I came to tell you we can still keep in contact while we are apart. We’ll write to each other!”

“Sending letters?” Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it just be faster to wait until you came back?”

“Not if you are using dragon fire!”

“Dragon fire, but who has… oh, you mean the one you keep in your house?”

“Yeah! Spike has been helping me send letters to Celestia from Ponyville for a long time now. We could easily do the same to keep in touch.”

“But how do I send them?” Trixie asked, sitting up in the bed.

“See the fireplace over there?” Twilight pointed to the unlit brick fireplace on the left side of the room. “Celestia will cast an enchantment on it for you, so any letter you toss in there will come through Spike!” Twilight’s face dropped as she realised what she had just said. “Try not send too many too often!” she added quickly.

“Does it only work with paper?” Trixie asked, a sly grin appearing on her face.

“Yes! It only works with special parchment that Celestia will give you, so don’t try tossing anything else in there.”

“Bah, that’s no fun.” Trixie pouted and crossed her fore hooves across her chest.

“Just, try not to send more than one a day at most.

“What makes you think I’ll have something to write in a letter to you every day?”

“Well you don’t have to, but I’d like it if you kept me up to date with what Celestia is teaching you, I’d love to hear what you are learning.”

“Alright, fine, I’ll write you some letters.” Trixie yawned and retreated back under the covers. “Now, can you please let me go back to sleep?”

“Sure, I’ll see you again when I’m back in a week or so.” Twilight turned to leave the bedroom.

“Twilight, wait.”

“Yeah?” Twilight turned back to Trixie.

“Are you leaving tonight?”

“No, tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, well…” Trixie was hesitant, as though she was struggling with what to say next. “Come see me before you leave tomorrow.”

“Really? I’ll be leaving pretty early, I’d have to wake you up again.”

“Well, I’m giving you permission to, this one time.”

“Hah! How could I possibly refuse that?” Twilight accepted, clapping her hooves together in glee. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, bright and early!”

“Great… can’t wait. Now get out!”

Twilight left the bedroom, and moments later heard the clicking of the door being locked. She smiled at the sound. She began making her way to her own bedroom, her mind racing as to why Trixie wanted to see her before she left. Maybe she finally had some answers for her? As she walked, Twilight became suddenly aware of how excited Trixie seemed to make her. There was definitely something intriguing about the brash magician that Twilight was drawn to, and she was eager to discover more about mysterious Trixie.

Chapter 7

Knock, knock, knock.

For the third time in twenty-four hours, Trixie was awoken by the tapping of hooves on her door. Already she knew who those hooves belonged to, the very same pony who had awoken her the last two times as well. She yawned, rubbing her eyes with her hooves.

“Coming!” she groaned to the door. She knew she should not be angry at this alarm call, as she had brought it on herself, but nonetheless she was fighting a losing battle with her early morning crankiness. With another loud yawn, she dragged her body out of the bed and stumbled to the door. She slumped against it, expecting it to open, and cursed to herself when it didn’t co-operate. Mumbling more irritated complaints to herself, she turned her head; struggling to focus her bleary eyes on the key. She swore again as she dropped the key from her magical aura as it missed its target under the handle. Eventually, with much more grumbling, she had the door unlocked and pushed open.

“Morning Trixie!” a bright-eyed and smiling Twilight Sparkle greeted her. Trixie responded with another yawn, her eyes barely half open as she regarded the fresh-faced Princess.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Trixie mumbled. “How can you be so awake first thing in the morning?”

Twilight grinned at Trixie’s slurred response, regarding the unkempt, groggy pony before her. “It’s just routine; you get used to it after a while.”

“Ah, routine; no. Trixie does not do routine.” Trixie leaned back and let her flanks fall to the floor, raising a hoof to cover another long yawn.

“Well, you wanted me here this morning!” Twilight reminded her. “Did you want to tell me something?” she leaned forward, making no attempt to hide the eagerness in her expression and voice.

“Oh right,” Trixie hesitated, turning her head to avoid Twilight’s gaze. “I just wanted… you…” Trixie’s eyebrows knitted into a frown as she felt her cheeks begin to glow. “I just wanted to say thanks ok!” she blurted, the sentence fired out with violent speed and volume. “Now don’t you have somewhere to be?” Trixie suddenly sat up and turned before Twilight could respond, dashing back into the room. She grasped the door in her magic and went to slam it shut before she heard Twilight call out.

“Trixie, wait!”

Trixie considered ignoring the cry, her embarrassment eating her from the inside out. However, with a sigh; she kept the door open.

“What?” she asked curtly.

“You’re very welcome,” Twilight responded with a smile that, in Trixie’s semi-conscious state; made her heart sink, and the blush on her cheeks intensify. “Don’t forget to write!”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Don’t you have to get going now?”

“Yeah, I do,” Twilight giggled. “Enjoy your lessons Trixie.” Another smile from Twilight made Trixie’s stomach flutter.

“Right, sure; bye!” Trixie swung the door shut, rushing to escape the Twilight’s hypnotic face.

She exhaled a relieved breath as she sat alone in the room.Reeeeeaaal smooth Trixie she lamented to herself, throwing a hoof to her face. “Stupid, stupid egghead!” she muttered into her hoof. After a few more moments of battle with her embarrassment, she glanced at the clock hanging over the fireplace. Well, at least I can catch some more sleep before the lessons start.. She made her way back to the bed, jumping onto it and wrapping herself in its sheets. She released a satisfied moan as her head hit the pillow and the duvet’s warmth encircled her again, shutting out the cruel cold air of the morning.

Not ten minutes passed before she heard the tapping of hooves on her door once again. She growled to herself at the noise. “Who is it now?” she groaned. She stumbled out of bed once again and opened the door.

“What?!” she growled.

“Oh hello, good to see you again!”

Trixie recoiled in surprise as her ears were assaulted by the loud, enthusiastic and very familiar voice, one so unique that it was not quickly forgotten. Before her stood the very same painter that had created the magnificent picture of Twilight they had seen in the town. She was once again adorned by the paint speckled gown she wore the day before, and the black beret was once again perched on her head. To her left, a sheet covered a rectangular object on a wheeled trolley.

“Oh, its you.” Trixie’s tone lightened as she recognized her visitor. She smiled as she remembered what she was here for. “I believe you have something for me?”

“I do! It’s right here! Is this the room my art will be displayed in?” she asked eagerly.

“Why, yes it is! Please, bring it inside.” Trixie instructed, all traces of irritation having vanished from her voice.

“Oooh I’m so excited!” the artist said as she wheeled the painting inside the room. “This is such an honour!”

“Yeah sure, just close that door behind you first would you?” Trixie requested, all too aware of how strange this situation may look to a passer-by. The artist complied, swinging the door shut and concealing their secret trade.

“Now, let me see this beauty again!” Trixie asked, standing in front of the trolley.

“Most certainly!” the painter said as she placed a hoof on the cloth. “Voila!” with a dramatic pull, the painter swiped the sheet away from her creation. Trixie’s mouth hung open as she once again laid eyes on the magnificent painting of the symbol of her beloved princess. It was even better than she remembered. She stood in a stupor for several moments as she took the sight in again, completely forgetting about the painter standing beside her.

“So, where shall it go?” she asked excitedly, snapping Trixie out of her daze.

“Oh, Umm…” Trixie glanced around the room. Spotting the clock hanging over the fireplace, she quickly grasped it in her magic and tossed it on the bed.

“Up there will do! Who needs to know the time anyway?” Then, with the utmost care; Trixie hung the frame holding the painting from the stand the clock had previously been resting on. When she set it in place, she sat back to admire the picture again.

“Gotta hand it to you my friend, you can sure paint a picture of Princess Sparkle,” she said, her eyes never leaving the picture.

“Why thank you! She is an absolute pleasure to capture on canvas. It’d be a dream come true to have her model for me in the flesh one day!”

“It seems to me you hardly need her in front of you; this picture is perfect!”

“Oh no no no,” the painter argued, raising a hoof to her chin. “The proportions are all off. The hips are far too wide.” She gestured to the picture as she spoke.

“I don’t see any issue with that,” Trixie droned back, mouth hanging open.

“Ah, well; we are all our own worst critics,” she replied, clearly having no idea who she was speaking to. “Anyway, I must run back to my gallery. Thank you so much for having my art in your room!”

“My pleasure!” Trixie turned to the artist. “I don’t think I caught your name?”

“Oh, the name is Paint Splash! Pleased to meet you miss…” she extended a hoof towards Trixie

“Trixie, Trixie Lulamoon.” she responded, taking the hoof in her own and shaking it. “I can safely say I’m already a big fan of your work!”

“Wonderful!” Paint Splash’s smile beamed across her face. “Do stop by the gallery someday soon!”

“You know I just might, considering your work here. Think you will be doing any more paintings of Twilight Sparkle?”

“Oh, most certainly!”

“Fantastic! I’ll have to come by sometime then!”

“Great! I look forward to it. Farewell for now!”

“Let me get that for you!” Trixie opened the door to allow Paint Splash her leave. The artist waved as she strolled away from the bedroom.

With a quick wave of her own, Trixie slammed the bedroom shut and turned to regard the picture again. She felt her skin heat up as she looked upon it, and no longer did she feel the slightest bit sleepy. Dragging her eyes away from the wonderful image, she approached the bed and craned her neck to see the clock she had tossed on top of it. I think there is time for a nice, long shower before the lessons start! she decided, dashing towards the bathroom.

*

Trixie trotted towards Celestia’s throne room, a satisfied grin on her face. A warm glow surrounded her body after her relieving shower. She swung the doors to the throne room open, prancing inside.

“Alright Princess, let’s get this show on the—“ the sight before her stopped Trixie in her tracks, the smile on her face disappearing as her jaw dropped open.

Before her, next to Princess Celestia, stood a tall, snaky figure with a mismatched goat horn and deer antler on a horse-like head. A single, long fang protruded from the mouth underneath two bright yellow eyes with mismatched pupils.  The right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat were attached to its thin winding form. The sight could be described as nothing less than terrifying.

“And of course you assume it was me,” the creature spoke to Celestia in an annoyed voice.

“I didn’t say it was you, Discord,” Celestia replied, her eyebrows furrowed. “I was simply asking if you happened to see what happened.”

“No Celestia, I don’t keep an eye on every one of your clumsy castle guards. I can’t be held responsible for every mishap that occurs around here.”

“I’m not… uh,” Celestia grunted in reply, her usual characteristic calmness broken.

“Now, if you are done accusing me of things for the day, I’d like to go—“ Discord turned on the spot to leave, but stopped in his place before he could take a step.

“Well well, who have we got here?” he said, a grin forming on his face as he laid his strange eyes upon the frozen form of Trixie.

“Leave her alone Discord, just go back to wherever you were going,” Celestia’s irritated voice commanded.

“Oh come now Celestia, can’t I say hi to a new guest?” Discord pleaded, raising his mismatched arms towards Trixie. “How am I supposed to discover the magic of friendship if you won’t let me talk to anypony?”

Celestia just sighed in response, knowing it was far too late to persuade the troublesome spirit otherwise.

“So, who might you be?” Discord asked as he snaked his body around Trixie, his feet standing to her left while his head hovered over her to the right, gazing down upon her.

“I… I’m…” she stuttered, the shock of discord’s bizarre form still overwhelming her. A few moments passed as she gazed up at the impossible creature, before her eyebrows knitted into a determined frown.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She cried with conviction, calling forth the full strength of her stage voice, and spreading her legs into a powerful stance. “A name you would do well to remember!”

“Oooooh!” Discord uncurled himself from around Trixie, taking a step back to regard her. “This one has spunk, I like it!”

“Of course you do, what’s not to like?” Trixie flashed Discord her most confident smile.

“Hmm,” Discord began to float into the air, raising his eagle’s claw to his long chin. “You’re an interesting one,” he raised his claw up to his face, and moments later stretched it out towards Trixie, a yellow orb with a large red dot in its centre sitting in the palm of his claw. “I’ll have to keep an eye out for you.”

Trixie recoiled slightly at the eyeball. “I do tend to have that effect on those that meet me,” she quipped, focusing her own eyes on discords disembodied one.

“Hah! Celestia, where did you find this one? I want more like her!” he asked, returning his eye to its home and turning to the princess.

Celestia was clearly not amused by the situation.

“Discord, Trixie and I actually have a lesson planned for this afternoon, so if you wouldn’t mind, we are already behind on schedule.”

“Fine,” Discord moaned. He quickly leaned into Trixie’s ear raising his lion’s paw to his cheek to block out Celestia. “If you’re going to learn from this one, don’t let her make you boring like all the others.”

“Don’t worry, nopony could possibly do that to Trixie!”

“Excellent! Well then, I must take my leave before Celestia here decides to encase me in stone again. Farewell Great and Powerful Trixie, I do so hope we get to meet again. Good day princess!” With a click of his fingers, Discord vanished into thin air with a pop, and the room fell silent. Trixie swore she could actually feel the energy of the room drop instantly as his presence left it.

“I apologize for that Trixie,” Celestia spoke, approaching her new pupil.

“Not at all. I must say, I’ve seen so many pictures of Discord, but the real thing really is quite something.” Trixie looked to the spot where Discord had vanished from moments ago as she spoke.

“Indeed,” Celestia replied, her tone still irritable.

“He’s also far more charming than I imagined.”

“That’s exactly the issue, Trixie. Don’t be fooled by him,” Celestia warned.

“Don’t you worry about me, Princess. I can handle myself.” Trixie raised a hoof to her chest.

“Alright, shall we begin our lesson?” Celestia suggested, eager to get off the topic of the trickster spirit.

“Let’s do it, Trixie is ready!”

Chapter 8

Trixie narrowed her eyes, focusing her vision on the shining red apple. It sat on a wooden table in middle of the deadly silent throne room. In the corner of her vision she could see Celestia silently observing. She concentrated on her target, and the light around her horn began to shift and shimmer as she focused. Seconds passed as the disrupted light spread and swirled around her horn, refracting and reflecting as it passed around it causing various different colours to appear. With a deeply inhaled breath, Trixie released the built up magic, firing the beam of light at the apple. It struck the fruit in a brilliant white flash, obscuring it from the vision of the two ponies in the room for a split second. When the fruit was visible again, the apple was nowhere to be seen, and a perfectly rounded orange had taken its place.

“Well, that was… interesting,” Celestia said as she stood up from the floor and approached the table. She lowered her long neck down to reach eye level with the fruit. She squinted, inspecting it closely; before grasping it in her magic, peeling its skin and pulling a section of the fruit out. She levitated it into her mouth and bit down.

“How is it?” Trixie asked in a smug tone, taking a seat on the floor.

“It’s certainly an orange,” Celestia answered after swallowing the fruit. “Although I’m more interested in the manner in which you cast the spell. You didn’t actually cast what I asked you to.”

“So?” Trixie replied, pointing a hoof to the fruit. “You got your orange didn’t you?”

“I can’t fault you for your creativity, you cast the spell in a most… novel manner. I could see you used a combination of many different spells in order to achieve the desired effect. I admire the unique approach, but sometimes we need to do things by the book.”

“You mean the old, boring ways.” Trixie rolled her eyes.

“Your way worked,” Celestia said, looking down at the orange again, “but you couldn’t apply it to every situation. If I had have asked you to transform the apple and make it grow larger for instance, you wouldn’t have been able to use your way.”

“But you didn’t ask me to do that.”

“No, but I did ask you to cast the spell as I demonstrated. Why did you do it differently?”

“I like to do things my way,” Trixie shrugged.

“You can’t always do things your own way Trixie, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that.” Celestia removed the orange from the table. She turned to a nearby wicker basket and levitated another fresh, red apple onto the table. “Now come on, I know you are capable of doing this the way I showed you.”

“Fine,” Trixie groaned. She stood back up on her hooves and straightened them out. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Moments later the light around her horn began to swirl again.

I wonder if the egghead can cast this spell her thoughts interrupted suddenly. An image of Twilight popped into her mind, and moments later the air around her horn returned to normal.

“What’s the matter?” Celestia asked.

“Nothing!” Trixie answered quickly, shaking her head. She closed her eyes again, and her horn began to glow seconds later.

I bet she does it easily she thought, her mind wandering again. She pictured Twilight lifting a giant, transparent blue bear into the air. The light around her horn stopped glowing soon after.

“Damn it!” she cursed.

“Alright, you are clearly distracted by something,” Celestia spoke as she approached Trixie. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah it’s… no big deal.” Trixie answered weakly.

“Trixie.” Celestia spoke her name in a way that prompted the magician to look up at her teacher. A warm smile met her gaze. “I know you may not have appreciated my teaching in the past, but please know that I’m not just your magic tutor. I’m very willing to lend an ear to any issues you may have, magic related or otherwise.”

“I thought this was a magic class, not sharing time?” Trixie pointed out, returning Celestia’s smile with a frown.

“Well, if there is something on your mind distracting you from your magic, I would think it is relevant to your lessons. And if I can do anything to help I will.” Celestia replied. Trixie turned her head away with a sigh, falling silent for a few moments.

“Your old protégé has me distracted,” she answered eventually.

“You mean Twilight?” Celestia asked. “How so?”

“Well she--“Trixie looked up to catch a grin forming on Celestia’s face. Something about the look gave Celestia’s thoughts away to Trixie instantly.

“You know already, don’t you!” she cried, pointing a hoof at the grinning princess.

“I don’t know anything you haven’t told me,” Celestia answered, the grin never leaving her face.

“Then you have an idea don’t you?”

“Well unless you tell me I can’t be certain, can I?”

“I’m not buying it!” Trixie yelled, her voice now thick with irritation. “Just admit you know what I’m going to say next!”

Celestia chuckled. “Ok, I can admit I have an inkling that you are looking to get closer to Twilight?”

“Pfft, an inkling is it?”

“Just a passing thought,” Celestia answered. “But if this is something that’s bothering you I’m sure it would help to talk about it.”

“Well you already figured it out, I imagine it was obvious, and now I’ve pretty much admitted it, so what else is there to say?”

“Well, I could give you some advice, if you’re willing to hear it.”

“Might as well.” Trixie sat down, crossing her hooves across her chest.

“Well, quite simply Trixie, if you’d like to get closer to Twilight; all you need to do is what you are doing here right now. Confide in her; open up to her, be less Great and Powerful Trixie and more Trixie Lulamoon. If you tell Twilight how you feel and show her more of you, the real you; she will feel like she can do the same.”

“That’s it? That’s your brilliant ancient Princess advice? I could have gotten that off a fortune cookie.”

“Perhaps you could!” Celestia laughed, “and the cookie would be just as correct as myself! In a situation like this though all I can do is give you advice. It’s up to you if you want to heed it or not.”

“You could also put a good word in for me, tell Twilight how awesome I am and how good an idea it would be for her to date me.” Trixie suggested with a grin. This elicited another laugh from Celestia

“Well, I can definitely tell her your magic is coming along well.” Celestia offered.

“And maybe throw in how great I look every morning?”

“Maybe,” Celestia chuckled, shaking her head.

*

Trixie sat at the writing desk in her castle bedroom, staring down at the blank parchment in front of her, two hooves holding up her head. This had been her stance for the last ten minutes, her eyes fixed on the parchment which, despite giving it her most fierce look; remained stubbornly blank. With an irritated sigh, she lifted her head and leaned back on the cushioned wooden chair she was sitting on, letting her hooves fall to her sides and the taught muscles on her forehead relax. She rubbed said muscles when the pain of releasing them revealed to her just how long she had been frowning at the paper.

I’m thinking far too much into this she decided. Stupid Celestia confusing me.

She leaned back over the paper and, with a determined frown; grasped the nearby quill with her magic, dipped it in the inkpot to its side, and began to scribble furiously on the parchment.

Twilight

You wanted to know what I did in my lessons, so here it is.

The first lesson today went well, except Celestia got all preachy on me as expected. I swear she just can’t stop herself dishing out advice, it’s like an addiction for her. We did some transformation magic. I turned an apple into an orange, nothing too difficult, although Celestia was oddly specific on how I was to do it. I did it my way and it wasn’t good enough for her. Suppose I better get used to following her specifics.

Anyway, I hope you had a safe journey home. I also want to apologize for being short with you earlier this morning, I just woke up and I am not a morning pony, as you might have already guessed.

Anyway, hope to hear from you soon.

Trixie

Trixie glanced over the words she just wrote, taken aback by how easy it was to speak openly on paper as opposed to face to face with her crush. She quickly grasped the letter in her magic and tossed it into the magical fire burning in the fireplace before her more closed off sensibilities took over. She watched as the bright orange flames flashed a startling green as they enveloped the letter, before returning to the normal colour. She then realised she was holding her breath, and released it in long sigh, becoming aware of how nervous the process of sending Twilight a letter had made her.

“Stupid egghead,” she muttered irritably to herself.

*

The front door of the Ponyville library swung open to allow an exhausted unicorn to stagger into its foyer.

“Ugh, that journey took forever!” Twilight groaned as she swayed towards the nearby couch, slumping into it.

“Oh, you’re back!” a voice called from the kitchen. “It is much later than you said you’d be,” Spike pointed out, glancing out the window to see a bright moon shining in the dark night sky.

“It takes so long for me to leave Canterlot now!” Twilight complained. “Everyone has something extremely important to tell me these days.” She sprawled back on the couch, shutting her eyes as her exhausted body relaxed into the comfortable piece of furniture. She felt her hooves throbbing as they were released from the weight of her body.

“Well, at least you are back now--*hurk*” Spike was interrupted by a torrent of flame leaping from his mouth, a crumpled scrap of parchment materialising in its centre and dropping to the floor.

“Seriously!” Twilight groaned as she laid eyes on the paper on the ground. “I just got back and somepony is sending me letters already? Which impatient pony is it from now? They didn’t even have the decency to seal the thing before they tossed it to me!”

Spike picked the letter up and unrolled it, glancing at the signature at the bottom.

“Its… from Trixie.”

Twilight’s frown suddenly lifted from her face.

“Oh… give it here Spike,” she requested, leaning forward from the chair.

“Why is Trixie sending you letters now?” Spike asked.

“I asked her to keep me up to date with how her lessons are going,” Twilight answered as she regarded the letter. A smile formed on her face as her eyes ran over the words.

“Wow, transformation magic already huh?” she mumbled to herself. She jumped up from the chair and approached her writing desk, grasping a quill in her magic.

Dear Trixie

I’m impressed to hear you are performing transformation magic already, I had no idea of the level you were at! I’m Glad to hear things are going well.

You should listen to Celestia’s advice, she has never steered me wrong in the past, and I’m sure any help she gives you is both accurate and very reliable.

My journey home was actually quite irritating. I know you find it annoying that I don’t appreciate my royal status, but you should have seen how much hassle it was for me just to get to the train station! Like you said before, I sprout a pair of wings and suddenly everypony has something incredibly important to say to me! I’m exhausted, and I’m looking forward to hitting the hay very soon.

“I’m also happy to see you decided to write to me and keep me informed on your lessons, please continue to keep me up to date with how things are going!

Your friend

Twilight

With a satisfied smile Twilight rolled the parchment up, wrapped it in a purple ribbon and levitated it to Spike.

“Could you send this to Trixie for me please?” she asked.

“Uhh, how do I do that? I usually only send things back to Celestia.

“Just breathe your fire as normal, I’ve cast the enchantments so the letter knows where it’s going.”

“Alrighty.” Spike inhaled a deep breath, and released a mighty torrent of flame that took his feet from the floor as he forced it out. It enveloped the letter, which vanished in the white hot centre of the flame.

“Right, now it’s definitely time for bed,” Twilight announced, hauling herself up from the couch and staggering towards the stairs.

Chapter 9

Trixie strolled along the lush red carpet of Canterlot’s throne room, her teacher waiting patiently upon her seat of power. She greeted her student with a smile as she approached, stepping down from her golden throne. The sound of trickling liquid from the thrones water founts filled the hall. A nearby door leading out to one of the castle’s tall balconies was wide open, letting in the bright sunlight of the morning, along with a refreshing summer breeze.

“Good morning Trixie,” Celestia spoke warmly, sitting down in front of Trixie at floor height. “I wanted to ask, is there anything in particular you’d like to learn or try today?”

Trixie stopped before Celestia, sitting to consider the question with a hoof raised to her chin. A smile crossed her face after a few moments.

“Ooh, I know,” she said, her tone mischievous. “Is there anything Twilight wasn’t able to do in your time teaching her that I could try?” She looked up to her teacher with an eager grin.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I hope these lessons are not just ammo for you to show off to Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh no no no, they are ammo for me to show off to everypony!”

Celestia laughed at this. “For entertainment purposes I hope!”

“Sure, let’s go with that. So, is there anything?”

Celestia hesitated, as though she was choosing her next words carefully. “There were a couple of things Twilight was not naturally adept at, but despite the impressive ability you have shown me so far Trixie, I don’t feel you are quite at that level yet.”

“Aw come on, let me at least try it.”

“No Trixie, it’s dangerous. Magic of that strength is far beyond what your able to handle right now.”

“Oh, but the egghead is able for it?” Trixie retorted. An image of Twilight flashed through her mind, and her face contorted into a frown. “How do you know I can’t do it if you don’t even let me try?”

“Because I know Trixie, you still don’t have precise control over your stronger spells.”

“Why ask me what I want to do if you’re just going to throw it back at me?” Trixie’s tone grew louder, and she stood up on all four hooves as she directed the increasingly loud questions at her teacher. This tone was not sitting well with Celestia, whose eyebrows were now also crossed.

“Trixie,” she began. “I think you should take a minute to calm down.”

“Bah, I’m starting to remember why I left the first time.”

“So am I. I would have thought you had matured a little in that time.”

“You know what? I don’t need this right now.” Trixie turned on the spot and began walking towards the door out of the throne room. She only took a couple of steps before Celestia’s booming voice sounded from behind her.

“Trixie!” she yelled, her voice filling the room as it echoed down the long hall. “I have given you a place to stay and my own free time to teach you! I found your attitude a welcome break from the usual fearful respect that many others regard me with, but I will NOT abide by this complete lack of gratitude! If you walk out that door now you can go straight to your room, pack your things and leave!”

Trixie stopped in her tracks, staring fiercely at the ground. She stood still and silent for many moments, battling internally with logic and her own stubborn pride. The image of Twilight, shocked and disappointed at her being kicked out of the castle passed through her mind. She let out a sigh, her anger subsiding. She turned to the princess.

“I’m sorry,” she said, making only momentary eye contact with Celestia as she apologized.

“I’m glad you have proven to me that you have matured a bit since you were last here. Now, if there was nothing else you had to suggest, we can move on to something new.”

*

Trixie stared with an angry face at the blank parchment on the writing desk in front of her. She hated blank parchment. She felt like it was mocking her, daring her to write her secrets and innermost thoughts on it. It was always so difficult to know where to start, what to say; and yet, she was able to say more on this parchment to Twilight than she would ever have been able to say to her face. This fact made her hate the blank parchment more, as if it was better at talking to Twilight than she was.

“Stupid paper,” she muttered to herself. “Joke’s on you, you’re going in the fire.”

She picked up the nearby quill, dipped it in ink, and began scrawling the first words that came to her mind.

Hey Twilight

So I nearly got kicked out of the castle today. Honestly I’m surprised me and Celestia haven’t gotten at each other’s throats earlier. Don’t worry though, we squared things out, it was just me being impatient again.

I’ve told you before how impatient I can be. The only thing I hate more than waiting though, is being told what I can and can’t do, and that’s exactly what happened today. I got upset because Celestia told me I wasn’t ready for some magic. I still feel like she could have at least let me try, but what can you do?

Anyway, I’ll try not to get on her bad side again, and if I do, you’ve got my back right?

Trixie

P.S. Are you visiting here soon or what? It’s been like three weeks.

Trixie immediately leapt from behind the writing desk and tossed the parchment into the fire, eliciting the bright green flames that transported the letter to its destination. All her letters were sent in this hurried motion, lest she read over them and cringe at the words the horrible parchement had drawn out of her. That last line had felt especially desperate, but she couldn’t help it, she wanted to see her egghead again.

It’s going to be so weird she thought to herself. I’ve told her so much in those stupid letters. Celestia better have been right, if this doesn’t get me in with Twilight, I’ll never listen to Sunbutt again.

*

“It looks amazing Rarity!” Spike spoke dreamily as he stared at his idol, barely registering the long, frilled white dress she had just created, and was currently modelling on herself.

“I suppose it’s good,” Rarity replied, eyeing the dress in one of Carousel Boutique’s many mirrors. “I feel like its missing something though. What do you think Twilight?”

Twilight was sat at a desk which was littered with Rarity’s dress making materials. She was busy scribbling away intently on a piece of parchment which she had pushed some of the debris aside to make room for. She gave no response to the question Rarity had asked.

“Twilight?!” Rarity called, louder.

It wasn’t until a purple claw prodded her shoulder that Twilight realised she was being addressed. She looked up to see Rarity regarding her with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, sorry!” Twilight took a moment to observe the dress that Rarity was currently modelling. “It looks fantastic Rarity!”

“It seems your attention is elsewhere, what has you so distracted?” she asked, eyeing the letter laying by Twilight’s hoof on the table.

“Oh, sorry. Spike received another letter from Trixie. I was just writing back to her. Spike, if you wouldn’t mind sending this for me.”

“That was a quick response, am I going to be coughing another one out in a minute?” he asked irritably as he took the parchment from Twilight.

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to respond to that one fast because she seemed kind of upset in it.”

“All right,” Spike balanced the parchment on the tips of his claw before engulfing it in green flame.

“So, you two are sending each other letters now?” Rarity asked.

“Oh yeah!” Twilight’s face lit up as she responded to the question. “I asked her to keep me up to date with how her lessons are going, plus I’ve learned a lot about her. You wouldn’t think it but I actually have quite a lot in common with her. She even told me in one of her letters how she dressed up as Starswirl the Bearded one Nightmare Night, and that she even modelled her hat and cape after his!” The excitement leapt out of Twilight’s voice as she spoke.

“Well I certainly agree that I didn’t expect you and Trixie to have a lot in common.” Rarity approached Twilight and Spike as she spoke, walking carefully in the new dress. “I’m surprised you can get on so well with her after how she has acted.”

“Me too, but the more I learn of her the more it seems like we could have been great friends if it wasn’t for the more unfortunate circumstances that we met, and I believe she is genuinely sorry for the trouble she caused in the past.”

“I see…”

“Don’t worry Rarity,” Twilight said, picking up on the suspicious tone to Rarity’s response. “I feel good about this.”

“Well, you do seem happy,” Rarity admitted. “I noticed you smiling ear to ear reading that letter.”

“Oh really?” Twilight’s ears drooped downwards, and she gave an embarrassed smile. “It’s strange but, I just get kind of excited when I think about her.” Twilight’s eyes wandered to an unoccupied corner of the room.

“You should see her when I get another letter from Trixie,” Spike said, rolling his eyes. “Like a foal opening a Hearth’s Warming present.”

“Is that so?” Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “Do you find yourself thinking about her a lot?”

“Huh?” Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, I was just thinking about Trixie again. What’d you say?”

“Twilight, I don’t want to alarm you but…” Rarity paused for a moment. “It’s starting to sound a lot like you may have a crush on Trixie to me.”

“WHAT?!” Spike yelled. “Twilight, you couldn’t really have a crush on her could you?!” he asked, turning to look up with horror at his housemate.

“Relax Spike,” Twilight chuckled, raising a hoof to her mouth. She turned to Rarity with a dismissive expression. “I think you may be getting ahead of yourself Rarity. I think I’d know if I had a crush on Trixie.”

“Is that so?” Rarity responded, a grin forming on her face. “Tell me Twilight, how many other ponies have you been romantically involved with up to now?”

Twilight opened her mouth, hoof raised to answer the question. However, no words followed.

“I’d still know though!” Twilight responded instead, the smug confidence lost from her voice.

“I’m not so sure you would!” Rarity answered, her voice growing excited in contrast to Twilight’s. “Tell me, what do you think of her physically?” She had now gotten much closer to Twilight, who was shifting nervously on her seat.

“Rarity…” a blush crept on Twilight’s face.

“This is getting too weird,” Spike interrupted. “I’m outta here.” Spike dashed to the front door of Carousel Boutique, quickly letting himself out.

“Come on Twilight, dish! Let me know all about it! You can tell me!”

“About what?! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Twilight’s voice was anything but convincing.

“Just tell me what you think of Trixie, when you are around her in person.”

“Well… she is quite pretty…” Twilight admitted, scratching the back of her neck with a hoof. “…And her coat and mane always look really well groomed…” Twilight’s eyes began to drift as she thought of Trixie in her mind. “…And she usually smells pretty good…”

Rarity placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this Twilight, but you’ve got a crush on Trixie,” the mirth in Rarity’s voice was barely hidden.

“But I… how…” Twilight fumbled, trying to fight the truth.

“I was just kidding Twilight, it’s nothing to be upset about! In fact you should be happy!

“But I can’t be!” Twilight cried. “How am I going to be able to talk to her now that I know this?!”

“The same way you always talked to her?”

“But now I know I’ve got a crush on her! It’s going to be all weird and-“

A sudden deep gasp cut off the end of Twilight’s sentence.

“I JUST INVITED HER TO STAY AT THE LIBRARY FOR THE WEEKEND!” she screamed, leaping off the chair. “THIS IS AWFUL!”

“Twilight, calm down,” Rarity placed a hoof on the panicking alicorns shoulder. “Deep breaths.”

Twilight closed her eyes and took a few long breaths, slowly regaining her composure.

“It doesn’t have to be any different than before, you’re just aware that you like her more than you realised. You should be excited about this!”

“But it’s all I’m going to be able to think about now when she visits! You have to come with me to meet her!”

“I really think-“

“You have to help me Rarity! This mess is your fault now!” Twilight argued.

“Its not my fault you’ve got the hots for Trixie!”

“I know just… be with me when she arrives, please! Just so I can feel a little better.”

“Ok, fine, I’ll help you break the ice with her.”

“This is a disaster…” Twilight muttered in response, throwing her head in her hooves.

Chapter 10

Twilight shifted back and forth on the platform of Ponyville train station, her hooves repeatedly lifting and falling to the ground below, making a clacking noise each time. She furled and unfurled her wings as she danced on the spot, adding a loud flapping to her nervous cacophony. Rarity, to her right, frowned in response to the noise.

“Twilight, can you please sit still?” she requested. “I’ve seen Pinkie Pie less energetic than you right now.”

“Ooh, I can’t Rarity! I’m just so nervous,” Twilight replied, continuing her tapping. She paused for only a moment to levitate a small, brown paper bag in front of her face.

“What’s that for?” Rarity asked.

“Hyperventilation,” Twilight explained.

“Hyper-“

Rarity was cut off by the high pitched shriek of a train’s whistle in the distance. Moments after this she looked to her side to see Twilight’s explanation in action. She had the bag around her mouth, and was now inhaling and exhaling large breaths into it, the bag expanding and contracting with each puff.

“Oh for the love of…” Rarity placed her head in her hooves, and got the feeling that this was only the first of many times she would do so within the moments to follow.

The train eventually appeared over the horizon, a large cloud of grey smoke billowing out from its engine. It slowed down as it approached the platform the two ponies were waiting on, slowly screeching to a halt. Its many doors swung open, releasing a throng of ponies onto the platform. Among them, Twilight spotted Trixie stepping off the train.

“There she is,” she squeaked, dropping her paper bag to the ground. “Rarity, what do I do?” she asked, throwing a panicked glance to her friend.

“Say hi perhaps?” Rarity suggested. “And be sure to compliment her, tell her she looks nice. Go on, I’ll wait here”

“But… I’m scared!” Twilight’s legs began to tremble.

“Of what? It’s just Trixie! You two have spent lots of time together already, remember that. I’ll stick around to help out if you need me.”

“Right, right… ok, I can do this,” Twilight took a deep breath, before making her shaky way towards the waiting Trixie, who was currently craning her head over the crowd. She finally turned to catch sight of Twilight approaching her, and threw the princess a grin.

“Ah, there you are!” Trixie hailed. “I hope you brought me something nice to greet me with!”

Twilight stopped in her tracks, eyes widening, her nervousness now reaching panic levels. Was I supposed to bring her something?! Rarity didn’t mention anything about bringing something!.

“Uhh…..” she managed to mumble out, frozen in place. Trixie raised an eyebrow in response.

“I was kidding Twilight, you feeling ok?” she approached the panicked alicorn.

As Trixie approached, Twilight caught a waft of the sweet smell floating from Trixie’s mane.

“Twilight?” Trixie repeated. Twilight only responded with a high pitched squeak that would make Fluttershy proud. A few meters away, the sound of a hoof slamming into a unicorn’s forehead could be heard over the fading din of the crowd.

“Oh, hey there Twilight!” Rarity called as she ran to the rescue. “Oh, and hello Trixie, I was told you’d be arriving today. I was just passing by and spotted Twilight and I figured I’d say hi!”

“Uh, yeah…” a thoroughly confused Trixie greeted. “Have you any idea what’s wrong with her?” Trixie pointed at Twilight, who had not moved an inch in the last few moments.

“Oh she’s just uh, feeling a little under the weather! Right Twilight?” Rarity asked out of the corner of her mouth, throwing a hoof into Twilight’s side. Twilight grunted as the hoof slammed into her side, and seemed to be knocked from her daze.

“Uhh, yeah, that’s right!” she agreed, her nervous grin stretching across her face as she nodded.

“Alright then…” Trixie responded.

The three ponies stood awkwardly in silence for another few moments.

“So… maybe you should show Trixie back to your place Twilight?” Rarity suggested.

“Uh, yeah, of course! Umm… this way!” Twilight began to stagger out of the train station. Trixie followed, her raised eyebrow threatening to leap from her forehead.

“Under the weather? Did you get a knock to the head or something?” A hint of irritation began to creep into Trixie’s voice as she followed Twilight.

“No, no…” Rarity answered. “She’s just been a little overworked lately and is just a little nervous because she wants to show you a good welcome.”

“Alright, and why are you answering everything for her?”

Twilight let out a quick sigh.

“I’m sorry Trixie,” she responded eventually. “I was just a little nervous about you coming over.” Twilight chose her words carefully, trying her best to be honest without explaining everything.

“Oh, well I guess that’s understandable,” Trixie’s voice had lost its irritation, being replaced with its usual smugness. “I’d be nervous too if someone as important as me was coming over.”

Trixie’s attitude managed to turn Twilight’s nervous grin back into a genuine smile, calming her nerves a little.

“Exactly, you're very fussy Trixie, anyone would have a hard time pleasing you.” Twilight began to relax as she fell back into the familiar jesting banter she and Trixie always engaged in. She paused for a moment, remembering what Rarity said. “You look nice today,” she said nervously.

“You say that like it’s a strange thing, I always look great.”

“Just thought I’d point it out. You uh… you also smell pretty good.” This comment caused Rarity to grimace, and Trixie to chuckle.

“You’re such a dork,” Trixie said as she laughed.

“Hey I was being nice!”

“You were, in an incredibly dorky way.”

Rarity stopped suddenly.

“Oh, look, there’s the Boutique!” she piped in. “It was nice running into you Twilight, I’ve got to head back to the store-”

Twilight’s eyes suddenly widened as she realised she would be left alone with Trixie.

“Uhh… are you sure you don’t want to come back for some tea Rarity? Just for a little while?” Twilight’s voice held a sudden desperation to it.

“Oh I don’t know, I have a lot to do…”

“Please rarity, I insist,” Twilight locked eyes with Rarity, pleading.

Rarity sighed. “Alright, fine. Just for a short while.”

“You don’t mind, right Trixie?” Twilight asked.

“No fuss to me…” Trixie responded, her tone confused once again at Twilight’s strange behaviour.

“Good, good. The library isn’t too far now.”

A few moments later, the three ponies stood outside Twilight’s treehouse. Twilight opened the front door.

“Come on in! She offered.” Trixie and Rarity entered the tree. “I’ll go make some tea!” Twilight suggested, closing the door. “Why don’t you find a seat over there Trixie?” she pointed to some nearby stools and a table. “I’ll be right back.” Twilight dashed into the kitchen

“Uhh, sure…” Trixie made her way to the seats.

“I’ll go help Twilight, if you don’t mind!” Rarity said. “We’ll be right back!”

Inside the kitchen, Rarity found Twilight dancing nervously on the spot.

“Why are you keeping me here?” Rarity asked in a hushed but sharp tone.

“I just don’t feel ready to be alone with her yet!” Twilight responded, also in a hushed voice. “Just stay for a little while until I feel a bit more relaxed, please.”

“But you two were getting on fine on the way here!”

“I know but, it made me feel calmer with you being here. Look you don’t have to stay long, just help me break the ice a bit more.”

“Uh, fine. May as well make some tea I suppose, should help you relax.”

Rarity used her magic to open a nearby cupboard. Her eyes lit up when she caught sight of its contents.

“Or, even better…” she said as she levitated a large bottle of cider out from the cupboard. “I think some leftovers from your party will help us here.”

“What? How’s cider going to help?” Twilight asked.

“Just have a glass or two of it, it will calm you down.”

“Hmm… I suppose it could work.”

“It will! Now go out and ask Trixie if she wants some, I’ll grab the glasses.”

Twilight left the kitchen to find Trixie sitting at the table, her head held up at her cheek by one hoof, her other tapping impatiently on the table.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Trixie,” Twilight offered nervously. Beside her the bottle of cider levitated in her magical grip. Trixie’s lifted her head as she set her sights on it.

“That doesn’t look like tea,” she pointed out.

“Oh, yes umm… I had some of this leftover from my birthday party. Would you like some instead?”

“Of course! I can’t miss an oppurtunity to see what Twilight Sparkle is like after a bit of cider.”

Twilight blushed at this remark. “I’m not much of a drinker.” she grinned.

Moments later Rarity entered the room, levitating three wine glasses beside her. She placed them on the table before sitting down. Twilight joined her, sitting across from Trixie. A few moments of silence passed as Twilight opened the bottle and poured a glass of cider for each of them.

Trixie took a sip of her glass and made a satisfied hum.

“This stuff is as good as I remember it,” Trixie noted.

Twilight swallowed her own mouthful of cider, a quip racing instantly through her mind.

“I’m surprised you remember anything from that night,” she responded with a grin.

Trixie narrowed her eyes. “I’d like to see you drink that much Sparkle, we’ll see how clever you are then.”

“I wouldn’t suggest it,” Rarity giggled. “I imagine Twilight would be unconscious after half that amount.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad, I’ve drank Applejacks cider lots of times before.”

“True, and you’ve fell asleep after doing so lots of times before too.” Rarity explained.

“Aww, don’t tell me you’re a sleepy drunk Twilight, that’s the most boring kind!” Trixie interjected.

“I’d prefer that over yelling-at-Celestia drunk,” Twilight grinned again.

Trixie pointed a hoof, stopped, took another gulp of cider, and then continued.

“Have you been practicing being snarky since I’ve last seen you or something.”

“Not really, I’ve just been reading your letters. They are like snarkyness one-oh-one.”

“I do what I do best,” Trixie shrugged, finishing off her glass. She looked around to notice the other two ponies had only drank almost half of theirs.

“Well, put your money where your mouth is Sparkle, drink up! See if you can keep up with me.”

A nervous look crossed Twilights face, and she glanced over to Rarity.

“What are you looking at me for?” Rarity said innocently, amused at the situation she had put her awkward friend into. “I can’t get drunk, I’ve got clothes to make later.” She gave Twilight a quick wink.

“Fine Trixie, you’re on.”

*

“Feeling dizzy Twilight?” Trixie asked, watching the purple princess swaying left and right on her seat over the two now empty cider bottles between them.

“No!” Twilight lied, struggling for balance on the stool. “I’m fine!” she slurred. “I’m not drun- gah!” Twilight threw her arms out as she teetered back on the stool, swinging them in circles. As she struggled to prevent herself falling, her wings flew out from her sides and began flapping wildly. This caused a number of loose feathers to free themselves from her wings and sail across the room.

“Twilight!” Rarity yelled as she observed the spectacle. The tipsy alicorn had just managed to find her balance again. “Have you not been looking after your wings? Look at all these feathers.” Rarity’s voice had the tone of a schoolteacher scolding a troublesome child.

“Uhhhhh, its haaaaard,” Twilight whined. Trixie began to laugh.

“Still haven’t gotten the hang of that wing comb?” Trixie observed.

“Twilight, you must take care of yourself, you’re a princess now, you can’t be going around with feathers flying out everywhere.”

“Bah! I’m tired of what I am and am not allowed to do just because I’m a princess now!” Twilight threw back. “Why does everypony have to keep treating me differently? I’m still the same Twilight!” Her voice grew louder, her speech speeding up. “But now its all, ‘oh, you have an image to maintain’ or ‘oh princess Twilight, can you get me a meeting with Celestia’?” I can’t even tell anymore if ponies just want to talk to me because they want to talk to me, or if they want to talk to a princess.” Twilight stared at the table, breathing heavily.

The other two ponies were silent for a few moments, before Rarity spoke up again.

“Twilight, I’m sorry, I had no intention of upsetting you. You know if I seen Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy with their wings in such a condition I’d complain to them too. I just brought up the princess thing because it just came to mind. I didn’t know it was such a point of irritation for you.”

Twilight sighed. “Its ok Rarity, you couldn’t have known. I haven’t really spoken much to anypony how frustrating it’s been. Well, I’ve told you Trixie, but you don’t seem to believe me that it’s irritating.”

“It’s just sorta hard to believe being a princess is such a terrible gig,” Trixie agreed.

“It’s not terrible, it’s just tedious at times. I appreciate ponies like you Trixie who don’t feel the need to treat me all special just because of some title.”

“Hey, anytime you need me to put you down or disrespect your position, I’m happy to help!” Trixie smiled. Twilight returned the smile, the two locking eyes for a few moments.

“Look at the time!” Rarity said, noticing the gazes the two ponies were sharing. “I really must be going Twilight.”

“Oh, alright, let me-“

“No its fine, I’ll let myself out. Good evening girls!” Rarity ran out the door, quickly shutting it behind her.

“Well that was kinda odd,” Twilight pointed out. Trixie shrugged.

“Any more bottles left?” she asked with a grin.

*

Another bottle of cider later, the two ponies found themselves splayed across Twilight’s couch in the library foyer, each ponies head lolling over the sides of its cushioned arms, their lower hooves crossing each other’s in the centre. Outside, the sun had set over the horizon. Twilight let out a loud yawn.

“Still awake there princess?” Trixie asked with a smirk, a slight slur in her speech.

“Yeah! I’m absolutely *urp*” Twilight interrupted herself with a loud burp. She threw a hoof to her mouth. “Excuse me.” she said, embarrassed.

“I will admit you’re handling the cider better than I expected.” Trixie offered.

“You shouldn’t underestimate me Trixie,” Twilight responded with a smile.

A few moments of a comfortable silence passed as the two ponies lay on the couch. The silence began to make Twilight grow nervous as she became aware of her lower hooves crossing Trixie’s, and how their current position could be interpreted as somewhat intimate from an outside glance. Her mind began to race as she remembered Rarity’s words, and the nervousness from earlier in the day, and she began to wonder if she should do something about it, the alcohol giving her a slight boost of confidence. She decided to try approach the matter indirectly.

“Hey Trixie, I wanted to tell you something about the letters you wrote to me.”

“Oh no…” Trixie groaned.

“What’s the matter?”

“I don’t wanna talk about those letters.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s weird!” Trixie threw her front hooves into the air as she answered, her voice raised. “It’s weird that you know all that stuff about me now.”

“But, there was nothing particularly strange in them for you to worry about.” Twilight argued. “You just told me a little bit about your childhood, how you didn’t get on with Celestia and your mom, and how you were still having some trouble with Celestia now. No big deal.”

“I never tell other ponies about my mom though.”

“Well you didn’t tell me much, just that you didn’t really get on with her.”

“Well whatever, that’s still more than I tell most ponies. It’s weird.”

“Well, all I wanted to say was that… I really liked the Trixie from those letters. She seemed kinda sensitive, sweet.”

“Exactly, that’s why I don’t like talking about those letters. The Trixie in those letters sounds like a dork, I don’t like it.”

“Well you think I’m a dork, don’t you like me?”

“That’s different, you're supposed to be a dork, ponies know you for being a dork. It works for you, it’s not my thing.”

“Well, maybe it is, you just don’t know it,” Twilight said with a smile.

Trixie responded with a yawn.

“You know what, I’m tired of this conversation.” Trixie lifted herself on the couch, turned herself around, and shimmied her way up the couch until she was able to lay her head on Twilight’s chest. “It’s sleepy time.”

“Wuh…” Was about all Twilight could manage during Trixie’s migration, her new position bringing a heavy blush to Twilight’s cheeks. Her tipsy mind blanked as she felt Trixie’s head resting on her chest, the magician’s hooves curled around her torso. She struggled to find something to say. “Bluh?” Was all she managed after many more moments of confused silence.

“Is there a problem?” Trixie asked, her eyes closed.

“Um, I’m just confused as to why I’m being used as a pillow now,” Twilight explained.

“Well, you’re doing a fine job as one, except that you keep talking. Pillows don’t usually keep me awake by talking.”

“Right…”

“Also, I think you’d make a good blanket too,” Trixie said as she raised her head and gently tugged at one of Twilight’s wings with her magic.

“What the…?” Twilight exclaimed as she extended her wing in response to Trixie’s magic. Trixie then used a hoof to curl the wing over herself, laying her head back on the confused alicorns chest.

“Night Twilight.” Trixie said contentedly, making herself comfortable.

“Umm, night…” Twilight responded, her face now burning red. A couple of minutes passed as Twilight lay with Trixie curled onto her chest. It was amazingly comfortable, Trixie’s body heat creating a warm blanket for her, the couch cushions beneath her beginning to feel softer and softer as she began to drift to sleep. I should say something she thought as she was drifting off. This seems like a good time.

“Hey, Trixie?” she whispered. Her only response was the sleeping unicorn’s soft breathing.

I guess it can wait until morning Twilight decided, her heavy eyelids closing.

Chapter 11

“A-A-ACHOO!” The explosive sound of nostrils being evacuated rang throughout the halls of the library. A panicked alicorn's eyes shot open, hooves flailing. This resulted in a dazed Trixie sailing off the couch. She hit the ground with a thud, a single purple feather lay atop her nose. She swatted it away.

“Damn feathers!” she whined, rubbing her snout.

“Sorry...” Twilight replied. She looked around the room, her eyes being greeted mostly by darkness. It was the middle of the night. She extended a hoof down to the faint blue blur she believed was Trixie. “What time is it?”

“Late.” Trixie replied, grabbing a hold of the hood and groping around in the darkness to find the couch. She swung herself back onto it, landing onto Twilight's chest with a thud.

“Oof, easy there!” Twilight complained. Trixie only yawned in response, squirming her way back up Twilight's chest to find her comfortable resting place once again. “It could be early.” Twilight thought, reaching out for a nearby alarm clock. She held it close to her face, squinting at the clocks hands in the dark. “10pm.” Trixie stretched and yawned again.

“Well you did decide to get drunk pretty early in the day.” she reminded her.

“I didn't decide to get drunk...” she responded. “I was just trying to make myself less nervous.”

“Geez you are always nervous.” Trixie lay on her back, staring upwards. The shape of the libraries ceiling slowly formed in front of her as her eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight shining into the room. “What were you freaking out about this time? You looked like you had seen a ghost back at the station.”

“Oh umm...” Twilight felt the anxiety creep back in as she woke up. The conversation with Rarity and its implications hitting her again. She could feel Trixie's body against hers, the sweet smell of her mane wafting into her nostrils. It made her feel both amazing and sick to her stomach with worry. “See, I had this talk with Rarity a couple of days ago and...” she trailed off, realising she had not decided how the rest of this sentence was going to go before starting it.

“And?” Trixie asked. When Twilight only shifted nervously in response, she got irritated. “Oh come on. Just spill it. I've told you all this stuff about me in those damn letters. You can share something with me surely?”

“Of course I can!” Twilight replied, picking up on her genuine annoyance. “Its just that I wasn't quite sure about it myself at first...”

“Well, what is it?” Trixie asked one more time, hooves folded on her chest, her short patience already diminshed.

“I think I probably have a crush on you, maybe...” The words spilled out of her mouth like vomit, since her stomach already felt like it was going to evacuate itself from nerves. Twilight couldn't decide if she would have preferred actual vomit over what she just said.

“Wow is that it?” Trixie responded, bored dissapointment in her voice.

Twilight blinked in confusion. She had said the words correctly didn't she?

“Uh, is that not like, kind of a huge deal?” Twilight asked.

“No,” Trixie responded flatly.

“Oh...”

A few moments of silence passed.

“I mean look at me,” Trixie said, grinning in the darkness. “Who wouldn't be attracted to this?”

“That, doesn't make you feel weird?” Twilight asked.

“Why would it? I'm pretty used to other ponies fawning over me.” She turned over onto her belly, resting her chin on her forehooves to look up at Twilight.

“The real question is, what do you want to do about it?” she asked with a smirk.

“Uuuh, I dunno, what-” Twilight was cut off as her mouth was suddenly hijacked for other purposes. Trixie had shoved her lips into hers, shifting her body up to press them against her. She felt Trixie's body press against hers, the magicians hooves curling around her neck. She leaned herself into the kiss, her own hooves awkwardly fumbling around Trixie's waist. It didn't last very long, and Trixie soon pulled her lips away to smile at the befuddled Twilight.

“Something like that?” Trixie asked. If there was ever a picture next to smug in the dictionary, it would be Trixie's current expression.

“Sure...” Twilight squeaked, her heart racing.

Trixie looked down at the blushing alicorn.

“Don't tell me that was your first kiss right? You're not THAT much of a dork are you?”

Twilight looked defensive. “No! It wasn't... I've just never kissed another girl before...”

“More importantly, you've also never kissed another me before, so that must have been pretty amazing right?”

Twilight smiled. She soon realised one of the things she liked most about this smug pony.

“How do you manage to make jokes in such nervous situations?” She asked this question the same way she might ask a teacher. With genuine curiosity.

“They aren't 'nervous' situations to me.” Trixie said with a shrug. “What's there to be nervous about kissing a friend?”

Twilight thought about it, but she certainly could not find a good answer to that question.

“I just always thought it was sort of a big deal...”

“Well then that's you're problem. Always thinking too much. Just try to... not sometimes.” Trixie got herself comfortable on Twilight's chest again.

Twilight took Trixie's advice, and said the next sentence without a moment's thought.

“Can we do that again? The kissing?” she asked.

“Later, sleep time now.” Trixie responded, waving a lazy hoof in the air. “And try to keep your feathers off me this time.” A few moments passed before soft breathing indicated Trixie had already fallen back to sleep.

Twilight of course was still wide awake. Her mind racing with a hundred thoughts. She then blinked, and thought of her friends words. Just try to not.

She cleared her mind, and a few moments later she too passed into a blissful sleep.