Trixie took a deep breath as she stood at the entrance to Ponyville. It had been a while since her performance in this town, which ended in her home being destroyed. She didn’t plan on coming back any time soon, mostly afraid of another potential Ursa attack, but she had no choice; there was only one pony in the world (that she knew of) who could help her now.

“Excuse me,” she said to a pair of passing ponies. “Do you know where the Ponyville libwary is?” she asked. She hated her new childish voice, but she had hoped that she wouldn’t have to put up with it for long.

“Yeah, it’s the big tree down this road, next to the florist’s shop,” Flitter answered, looking down at Trixie with a smile.

Trixie bowed and thanked the mare, and then continued on into Ponyville. She made her way past many ponies, most of which stared at her with mixed expressions. She guessed it was because they recognized her, but were confused by her appearance. It could also be down to the fact that her cape was way too big for her body, and she had almost tripped over it many times.

She eventually reached the library, and brought her hoof up to knock on the door. She hesitated for a moment, reconsidering asking the pony who had embarrassed her before for help. A passing pony commenting on how cute Trixie was brought back her resolve, and she banged her hoof against the library door.

After a few seconds, the door opened up, and before Trixie stood the purple Unicorn that she had sought out. Twilight was obviously expecting an older pony, looking up above Trixie’s head, and looking confused when nopony was there. “Twilight,” Trixie said, causing the librarian to turn her head down. “Twixie needs your help.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the site of the filly standing before her, looking up at her with a deadly glare. “T-Trixie? Is that you?” she asked, kneeling down and examining the filly closely. “Nah, impossible. Trixie’s not a filly,” she said, laughing nervously.

“She is now,” Trixie said, walking past Twilight and into the library. “And she needs a cure. You’re good with magic, so Twixie thought that you could help her.”

Twilight closed the door and followed Trixie into the library, looking at her sceptically. “Now hold on, back up a bit. So, you are Trixie?”

Trixie turned back and glared at Twilight once again. “Does Twixie need to wecite how she vanquished the Ursa Major by hewself?”

Twilight frowned and let out a sigh. “Ok, you’re Trixie,” she said, the showmare’s arrogant tone being the biggest clue. “But…What happened? Why are you so small right now?”

“Well,” Trixie began, but stopped when she smelt something good in the air. “What’s that?” she asked, sniffing a few times. “Did you bake cookies?”

“Uh, yeah,” Twilight answered, tilting her head. “But, your problem-”

Twilight was cut off by Trixie suddenly rushing off into the kitchen. Twilight followed her, and found Trixie looking up at a tray of freshly baked cookies on the counter, drool pouring from her mouth. “Twixie’s hungry! She wants cookies!” Trixie shouted, jumping up and down, trying to reach the tray.

Twilight looked at her in confusion and surprise, and also in slight amusement. ‘What’s going on? She doesn’t just look like a filly, she acts like a filly!’

Twilight walked over to Trixie, a stern look on her face. “Trixie, those cookies aren’t for you. They’re for me and friends, for our picnic later today.” Trixie stopped jumping and looked up at Twilight with pleading eyes, her lower lip quivering, and her ears drooped. Twilight stared at the face for a bit, and felt her heart melting. She let out a deep sigh, and levitated one of the cookies towards Trixie. “You can have one, ok?”

Trixie’s face suddenly lit up, and she grabbed the cookie with a loud cheer. “Yay! Twixie wins again!”

Twilight slammed a hoof against her face. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’

Twilight managed to get Trixie to settle down in the front room of the library, and offered to prepare some tea for the two of them. Trixie’s response was: “Ew! No way! Don’t you have any juice?”

Twilight prepared some tea for herself and poured some juice for Trixie, and brought them both into the front room. She saw Trixie writing in a puzzle book that Twilight was using earlier. She didn’t mind, since Trixie was only doing the dot-to-dots, which Twilight wasn’t interested in.

“So, Trixie-”

“Gweat and Powewful Twixie!” Trixie corrected.

Twilight rolled her eyes, and continued. “How exactly did you get like this?”

Trixie shrugged her shoulders, and continued connecting the dots in her puzzle. “Twixie made a mistake,” she said.

Twilight rubbed a hoof against her forehead. She could tell that this was going to be difficult to deal with. “Doing what? What kind of mistake turns you into a filly?”

“A magical one.”

Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground, startling Trixie. “Stop messing around! Do you want me to help you or not?”

Trixie stared at Twilight in horror, and tears started to for in her eyes. Twilight saw Trixie starting to cry, and calmed herself down. “I-It’s Twixie who’s a filly. W-why are you the one that’s mad?”

Twilight felt somewhat guilty for snapping at Trixie, and reached over to hold her, but Trixie backed away. “I’m sorry, Trixie. It’s just, if you want me to help you, you need to co-operate with me better. Do you understand?”

Trixie continued staring, and then lowered her head to the ground, slowly nodding. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and sat up straight. “Twixie was twying to cast a memowy westowation spell,” she started explaining. “Twixie’s memowy isn’t so good. The spell messed up, and Twixie became like this.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. Behind them, the door suddenly opened, and a cheery voice said: “I’m home!”

The two ponies turned to the door to see a small baby dragon entering the library. “Welcome home, Spike,” Twilight said. “And good timing. I need your help.”

Spike noticed the purple cape and hat by the door, and flinched. “Wait! These are Trixie’s!” he shouted, running over to Twilight’s side. “Don’t tell me she’s going around terrorizing Ponyville or something!”

“Hey!” Trixie shouted, looking annoyed at the baby dragon.

Twilight laughed, and rose to her hooves. “No, Spike. She’s not terrorizing Ponyville. Just the library.”

“Twixie’s right here!” she shouted, turning her annoyed look to Twilight.

Spike looked over at the filly, and then turned back to Twilight. “Who’s that? Trixie’s sister?”

“Twixie is Twixie! Stupid dwagon!”

“What!?” Spike shouted, looking back at Trixie. “You’re Trixie!?”

A silence passed between the three for a moment, before Spike finally couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore. He fell onto his back, holding his stomach as he laughed so hard that tears ran down his eyes.

“This isn’t funny!” Trixie protested.

“Y-Yes it is!” Spike shouted through his laughter.

Twilight rolled her eyes as Spike continued laughing, whilst Trixie ordered him to stop, threatening to vanquish him if he didn’t. ‘Well, I was going to ask him to help me find the right book, but I guess I’ll just have to find it myself.’

She moved over a nearby bookshelf, quickly scanning through the book titles, looking for the one that contained memory manipulation magic. She had to silence the sounds of Trixie chasing Spike around the library, threatening to slay the “evil dwagon”, and eventually found the book that she was looking for. “Got it!” she shouted.

Trixie turned to Twilight with a big smile on her face. “Weally!? You found a spell to fix Twixie!?”

Twilight turned to Trixie and shook her head, lowering Trixie’s spirits. “Not yet, but the answer should be in this book.”

Trixie ran up to the table in the centre of the room, and took a seat at one end. “Huwwy up! Wead it, wead it, wead it!” she demanded, like a foal waiting for a bedtime story.

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at Trixie, although for a different reason than why Spike was laughing at her. “Alright, let’s see,” she said, walking over to the table and sitting down. Spike joined her, taking a seat right next to her. “First, we need to find out exactly which spell you used, since there are a lot of memory restoration spells,” Twilight explained.

She flipped through the pages slowly, asking Trixie to point out which spell she used. Eventually, they reached the right spell, and Trixie pointed it out with her hoof. Twilight looked at it with a sceptical look. “You sure? It’s a fairly easy spell.”

Trixie nodded, looking annoyed at Twilight calling it an easy spell, considering she had obviously messed it up. “Of course Twixie’s sure! This is indeed the wight spell!”

Twilight examined the items needed to perform the spell, and then looked back up at Trixie. “Did you use the right items?”

Trixie glared at Twilight, and slammed her hooves on the table. “Of course! Don’t insult Twixie! She’s no magic hack! She-” Trixie took a look at the list of items needed, and her eyes widened as she noticed something odd. “Wait, Twixie’s book didn’t mention Pegasus feathers…”

Twilight and Spike facehooved/faceplamed in unison, as Trixie insisted that her book must have been defective, and that it wasn’t her fault. “So if you don’t include the Pegasus feathers, the spell reverts you to a younger age, but with all of your memories intact…Fascinating.”

“Yes, yes, vewy fascinating,” Trixie said sarcastically. “Now fix Twixie!”

“Sound like somepony needs a nap,” Spike said, still having fun over Trixie’s dilemma. Trixie shot a death glare at Spike, but he wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

“Well, it shouldn’t be hard to reverse…I just need some ground sapphire. I have the rest of the ingredients, but…”

Spike snapped his fingers and turned to Twilight. “Rarity! She has plenty of sapphires! I’m sure she’d let you have some if you ask her!”

Twilight turned to Spike with an unsure look on her face. “I don’t know. She’s not exactly on the best of terms with Trixie…”

Spike rubbed his chin with his hand. “Hm, true…”

Trixie watched the two having their own conversation with increasing annoyance. “Hey! Don’t leave Twixie out of this! Who is this Warity, and whewe can we find her?”

Suddenly, Twilight remembered the picnic that she was supposed to be at, and turned her head to the clock. “Oh no! I was supposed to meet the others ten minutes ago!” Twilight shouted as she started pacing around the library, grabbing her saddlebags and tray of cookies.

“Twilight, calm down! I’m sure they won’t mind if you’re a little late,” Spike said.

Twilight shook her head and rushed towards the door. “I’m late, I’m late, I’m laaaaate!”

Spike followed Twilight out of the door, chasing after her to make sure she didn’t run into something or somepony.

A confused Trixie was left all by herself in the library, looking at the door with an annoyed look on her face. “Um…Twixie still needs help, y’know?”

Twilight arrived at the picnic in the Ponyville park, where her friends were sitting down and talking to each other. “Sorry I’m late!” she shouted, stopping when she reached her friends, panting from the long run from her library.

“No prob, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said, turning to her friend. “You’re not that late.”

“But…I’m still late!”

“Calm down, sugarcube,” Applejack said, walking up to her friend. “What’ve we told ya ‘bout stressin’ yerself out over nothing’?”

Spike caught up to Twilight, panting just as heavily as her. “Twi…Light…You gotta…Learn to…Slow down…A bit,” he said between breaths.

Pinkie hopped up to Twilight. “Yeah, you worry too much! Sometimes you need to learn to relax a bit!” she said. She reached into her mane and pulled out a Rubik’s Cube, and offered it to Twilight. “Here!”

Twilight looked at the cube with a confused look on her face. “Um…Why?” she asked.

“Well, if you feel yourself getting stressed out, you can use this to calm yourself down!”

“Wouldn’t that have the opposite effect?” Rarity asked, glaring at the cube. “I myself still have nightmares about those horrible things.”

The rest of the group shared a laugh, and Twilight lowered the cube to the floor with her magic. “You’re right, I was getting worried over nothing. Sorry, guys.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all, Twilight,” Fluttershy said.

“But still,” Applejack started. “It’s a might unusual for Twilight to be late to…Well, anything. Did something happen?”

Twilight turned to face Applejack, and then gasped as she realised that she had left Trixie all by herself. As if on cue, she felt a cold chill down her spine as an annoyed voice behind her shouted: “SPARKLE!”

“Oh, horseapples,” she said, slowly turning around to see a very angry Trixie approaching her, dragging a bag behind her. “T-Trixie! Uh, sorry, I kind of…Forgot about you, for a second.” Twilight slammed a hoof into her face. ‘Great, Twilight. Make it worse by saying you forgot about her.’

“Hm? Trixie?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking into the same direction as Twilight. She saw the little filly approaching them, and stopping just in front of Twilight, panting along with Spike. “Who’s the kid? Your sister?”

“You’re supposed to be helping Twixie, Sparkle! How dare you leave Twixie all alone back there! What if Twixie had hurt herself!?”

Applejack walked forward to face the filly, a confused look on her face. “Whoa, hold on here. Are you sayin’ Trixie’s in some kinda trouble?”

“Well,” Twilight began, but was cut off by Trixie.

“Can you not see for yourself!?” she shouted to the farmer, not helping to ease her confusion. She turned back to Twilight. “Have you got the sapphires?”

Twilight knelt down to look Trixie in the eyes. “Uh, not yet. But don’t worry, I’ll get them for you, and then we can work on getting you back to normal.”

“Not good enough!” Trixie shouted. “Twixie has legions of fans waiting for her! She can’t leave them without their idol! She needs to change back! Wight now! She needs to-” She was cut off by a Rubik’s Cube floating in front of her, being held in Twilight’s magic. “What’s this?”

“I’ll get you the sapphires soon, but I’ll still need some time to prepare the spell,” Twilight said. “Play with this, and I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

Trixie grabbed the cube with her magic, and examined it. “Hmph! Watch in awe! Twixie will have this silly cube solved in ten seconds flat!” she said, wandering off to the side to work on the cube.

Twilight turned around to face her friends, each one waiting patiently for an explanation. “So, uh…That’s why I was late,” she explained.

Rarity was the first to speak up. “Is that…Really Trixie?” she asked, looking over at the filly.

Twilight nodded. “Hold up!” Applejack said. “How is that possible? She sure wasn’t a filly when she left Ponyville, and ponies don’t grow down in my experience!”

“Magic mishap,” Twilight said simply, knowing that would be sufficient explanation for her friends, and that anything more detailed might take a while for some of them to properly understand. “Anyway, I know how to fix her, but I’m missing some ground sapphires…Rarity, do you think-”

Twilight was cut off by a loud “damnit!” from Trixie, causing everypony nearby to momentarily turn to face the filly.

“Trixie, language!” Twilight shouted, almost on instinct.

“Twixie’s not a child! And you’re not her mommy!” Trixie shouted back, still fumbling with the cube.

“Uh, guess not…” Twilight said, scratching the back of her head nervously. She turned back to Rarity, with almost pleading eyes. “Please tell me you have some sapphires you can lend me. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“Wow, she really is a filly, isn’t she?” Rainbow Dash asked, staring at Trixie and not doing so well to suppress her laughter. “Oh man, that’s too rich!”

“I must admit, it’s rather satisfying watching her get what she deserves,” Rarity said, grinning at the filly Trixie.

Trixie held the Rubik’s Cube up triumphantly, four of the six sides now a solid colour. However, on the last two sides, she noticed that there was one miscoloured tile. She let out a loud scream of frustration, throwing the cube to the ground. Rarity and Rainbow Dash both laughed at the scene, but Twilight was visibly less amused.

“Come on, guys,” Twilight started. “She pulls a few pranks on you, and you think she deserves this? Not to mention I have to put up with it, too!”

“Why?” Applejack asked, facing Twilight. “Ah mean, it’s not like you have to take her in, if ya don’t want to.”

Twilight considered that for a second, and realised that Applejack was right. Twilight was used to being a good host, and hadn’t even considered the possibility of just sending Trixie home. Twilight turned to Trixie, who was attempting to pry off the two miscoloured tiles with a stick.

“Um, Trixie?” she asked.

Trixie jumped and threw the stick away. “Twixie wasn’t cheating!” she shouted, turning to face to Twilight.

“Uh, no, I wasn’t going to talk about that,” she explained. “I just wanted to ask if your parents know about this. I mean, you may have to live with them if I can’t help you.”

Trixie turned back to the cube, this time attempting to solve it legitimately again. “Twixie’s pawents are buwied somewhere in Canterlot,” she said.

The group fell silent at this, and looked at each other with saddened expressions. They then turned back to Trixie, and were somewhat concerned that she didn’t seem to show any emotion at all when talking about her dead parents. Then they considered that Trixie was technically an adult, and that she had probably already made her peace with it. Even so, seeing a filly talk about her dead parents as if it were nothing was unnerving to the group of young mares.

Rarity took one more look into Twilight’s pleading eyes, and sighed. “Fine. I can get you some sapphires…”

Trixie’s ear twitched, and she dropped the still unsolved cube to the ground and ran up to the group. “Weally!? Thank you thank you thank you! Now Twixie can go back to being the Gweat and Powewful Twixie again!”

“Great,” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Trixie asked a confused Rarity. “Come on! Twixie has all the other ingwedients here! She just needs the sapphires!” Trixie opened the bag that she had brought with her to reveal a collection of items that she had taken from the library.

“Hey! Did you go through my things without permission!?” Twilight asked, glaring at Trixie.

Trixie nodded, and started giggling to herself. “You have some strange books under your bed, Twilight,” she said, causing the librarian’s eyes to widen as she blushed. Trixie started dancing on the spot, chanting “Twilight’s a pervert!” in a sing-song voice over and over.

With the exception of Fluttershy, the rest of the group were trying their best not to laugh. In the end, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie couldn’t hold it in any longer, and exploded with laughter, soon joined by Trixie. Rarity managed to escape by saying that she would fetch the sapphires from her store, and Spike joined her.

Applejack walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder, giving her a friendly smile. “Don’t worry, Twi,” she said, taking a moment to glare at the three laughing ponies. “It ain’t nothin’ ta be ashamed of. It’s only natural to have…Those kinds of interests.”

Twilight’s blush intensified, and at this point, all she could do was wish for Rarity to hurry up, so that she could turn Trixie back to normal.

“Ah, cookies!” Trixie shouted, her laughter stopping when she laid eyes on the tray of cookies that Twilight had set on the picnic blanket. “Twixie loves cookies, but Twilight’s mean, and won’t Twixie have any,” she said, falling down onto her stomach and pouting.

Pinkie Pie hopped onto her hooves and faced Twilight. “Aw, that’s not good, Twilight! When you make yummy stuff, you’re supposed to share it with everypony!”

Twilight frowned at her pink friend. “Pinkie, those cookies were made for you guys, not Trixie,” she said. “I only let her have one because I made an extra by mistake. If she had more, I wouldn’t be able to split them evenly amongst the rest of you.”

Pinkie grabbed a cookie from the tray, and split in half, offering one half to Trixie, whose face immediately lit up. “Here ya go! It’s best to share good things with friends, after all!”

“YAY!” Trixie shouted, jumping up and grabbing the half-cookie, before wrapping her forelegs around Pinkie in a tight hug. “Pink one is Twixie’s favourite out of all you guys!”

Pinkie laughed and stroked Trixie’s mane. “Aw, she’s so cute!” she shouted, causing Trixie to blush. “And my name’s Pinkie Pie, by the way! But you can just call me Pinkie, like all my friends do!”

Moments later, Rarity returned with Spike, who was carrying a cartload of sapphires. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the huge stack of sapphires in the cart. “Um, Rarity? We only needed a few…”

Rarity turned back to her pile of sapphires, and then back to Twilight. “Well, better safe than sorry, right?” She levitated a few sapphires to Twilight, and gave one to Spike as thanks for assisting her.

“Well? Whewe’s the spell?” Trixie asked, running up to Twilight with an excited look on her face. She looked like a filly opening her presents on her birthday.

“Alright, let me just prepare the recipe,” she said, levitating a bunch of items towards herself. “Can everypony except Trixie stand back? The spell will affect everypony in range.”

Everyone obeyed, backing away whilst Twilight mixed the items together. A few minutes later, and Trixie was starting to grow impatient. Finally, the spell was ready, and Twilight gathered some energy into her horn. “Ok, here we go,” she said, aiming her horn at Trixie.

Trixie’s eyes widened and her heart started to beat faster as a flash of light was fired from Twilight’s horn. The area was covered in smoke, causing everypony around to cough until it started to clear. “Did it work?” Trixie asked as the smoke finally started to die down. She looked around to see that Twilight’s friends were still much bigger than her. “What!? Why didn’t it work!?”

Trixie turned to where Twilight was standing when the spell was cast, but instead of finding the purple mare she was expecting, she instead found a purple filly, sitting on the grass and examining her body. “Well…That wasn’t supposed to happen…”

Everypony around her gasped in shock, except for Pinkie, who gasped out of excitement. “Oh my gosh! Twilight, you turned super cute!” she shouted. Spike couldn’t contain his laughter, falling onto the ground and exploding in laughter almost immediately.

Trixie stared at the filly Twilight in surprise at first, but then grinned and started to laugh. “Ahahahaha!” she pointed her hoof at Twilight as she continued to laugh at the purple filly, whose anger was starting to rise. “You messed up! You messed up!” she started singing.

“Shut up, Trixie!” Twilight shouted, her face turning red.

“Twixie thought you were smart, but obviously she was wrong if you can’t even cast such a simple spell!”

“You couldn’t cast it either, y’know!?”

Trixie flinched, and then glared at Twilight, who was glaring back. “W-Well, that was…Shut up!”

“Stuuuupid!” Twilight said, sticking her tongue out at the blue filly.

Trixie rose to her hooves and charged at Twilight. “Say that again! Twixie dares you!” she shouted as she charged. Twilight also rose to her hooves, ready to defend herself, but Trixie was unable to reach her before she was suddenly picked up by Rainbow Dash. “Let Twixie go! Let her go!”

“Whoa, calm down, Trix!” Rainbow Dash said, trying hard to keep a hold on the struggling Unicorn.

“Stuuuupid, stuuuupid!” Twilight sang, only to be stopped Rarity’s hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see a stern look on Rarity’s face, and started to panic.

“Now now, Twilight, such petty insults are hardly like you at all,” she said, turning to Trixie. “And you, I understand you’re a little on edge, but violence is not the answer.”

“Shut up!” Trixie shouted, startling Rarity. “You’re not Twixie’s mommy, old lady! Don’t lecture Twixie!”

““O-Old lady!?”” Rarity shouted, her right eye twitching.

Applejack put a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder and offered to take over for her. An offer that Rarity was more than happy to accept. “Trixie, listen,” she started. “We want to help you, but you’re makin’ it real hard by actin’ like this.” Trixie calmed down a little bit, and looked down at the ground. “Now, ya can either calm down, or we can just leave you like this, and ya can grow back the ol’ fashioned way.”

Trixie looked up at Applejack with a horrified look on her face. “N-No fair!” she shouted, pointing to Twilight. “She started it!”

Twilight looked offended, and pointed a hoof back at Trixie. “No, you did!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Did NOT!”

“DID TOO!”

“Ah don’t care who started it!” Applejack shouted, taking Trixie from Rainbow Dash and placing her down next to Twilight. “Ah’m finishing it, right now!” The two fillies exchanged death glares, and then turned their heads away from each other. “Now, ya don’t have ta get along, but if ya ever wanna turn back ta normal, ye’re gonna have ta put up with each other. Y’think ya can do that?”

The two fillies mumbled: “Yeah…” quietly.

“Beg pardon?” Applejack asked, placing a hoof to her ear.

“Yeah,” the two fillies repeated, slightly louder this time.

Applejack smiled at the two fillies, and then turned to Twilight. “So, what d’we do now?”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well, in my current form, I don’t think I can cast any spells to turn us back…”

“Hey, what about the Princess?” Spike asked. “Surely she can do something!”

“Good thinkin’ there Spike!” Applejack said.

“I’ll go write her a letter!” Spike ran off from the group towards the library.

The rest of the group decided to continue their picnic whilst they waited. As the older mares sat down, they heard a scream coming from the direction of the two fillies. They looked back to see Twilight on her hooves, staring at Trixie and shaking.

“Trixie! There’s a bee in your mane!” she shouted.

Trixie immediately jumped up and screamed, too. “Whewe!? Get it out, get it out!” she shouted, flailing her hooves above her head.

“Oh, fer Pete’s sake,” Applejack said, getting up and approaching the two fillies. She heard a yelp come from Trixie, and then saw a wasp leaving Trixie’s mane. “Twi, that was a wasp, not a bee,” she pointed out.

“Does it matter!?” she asked, still shaken from the whole experience.

“It stung me!” Trixie shouted, holding her right forehoof with her left one, tears rolling down her face. “It huuuurts…”

Fluttershy walked over to Trixie’s side, looking down at the crying filly. “Oh, you poor dear,” she said gently, taking a hold of Trixie’s hoof to examine it. “Rainbow Dash, could you please bring over the ice cooler for me?”

“Uh, sure,” Rainbow Dash replied, lifting up the cooler and brining it over to Fluttershy. She noticed Trixie bravely holding back her tears, and felt kind of bad for her. “Um, hey, come on now, kid. It’ll be alright.”

“T-Twixie’s not a c-child,” Trixie said, scratching the sore hoof.

Fluttershy moved Trixie’s other hoof away. “No, Trixie, you shouldn’t scratch it. You’ll make it worse,” she said. Fluttershy took out her yellow hoofkerchief with a pink butterfly pattern, similar to her Cutie Mark, and wrapped it around some ice from the cooler. She applied the icepack to the stung area, after checking to make sure that the stinger wasn’t left behind.

“Ok, now just leave this on for about ten minutes,” she said, patting Trixie’s head. She lifted a cookie from the tray and gave it to Trixie. “Feel better now?”

Trixie’s grabbed the cookie and started to nibble at it. She nodded her head, her tears slowing to a stop. “Hey, no fair!” Twilight complained. “Why does she get a cookie just ‘cause she got hurt?”

“‘Cause Twixie is better than you,” Trixie replied.

Fluttershy took another cookie from the tray and gave it to Twilight. “Here you go, Twilight.”

Twilight happily took the cookie, and stuck her tongue out at Trixie. “See? They like me better than you.”

“Nuh-huh!” Trixie responded.

“Yuh-huh! That’s why my cookie’s bigger!” Twilight held her cookie up triumphantly.

“Is not!” Trixie said, holding her own up to compare them. When she saw that Twilight’s was in fact bigger, Trixie frowned and lowered her head. “Well, obviously they like you better…They’ve known you longer…”

Pinkie Pie appeared suddenly from behind Trixie, startling both her and Twilight. “Then why don’t you tell us about yourself?” she suggested. “If we know more about you, we’ll be even closer as friends!”

“Um, just to be clear, I don’t pick favourites between ponies,” Fluttershy said, though she wasn’t sure if anypony actually heard her.

“You wanna know about Twixie?” Trixie asked. Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack, although not quite as enthusiastic as Pinkie Pie, also nodded. “Well, you should’ve just said so!” she said, suddenly a lot more cheerful. “Now, where to begin?”

“Well, how about your job?” Rarity suggested. “Have you always been a travelling performer, or did you do anything different before then?”

“Hm…” Trixie put a hoof to her chin, and then turned to Rarity. “Twixie did work as an awtist at one point, when she was a filly.”

Rainbow Dash found it hard not to comment on that. Rarity saw this, and cut in before Rainbow Dash could say anything. “Really? What kind of artist? A painter? Musician?”

Trixie picked up a nearby stick with a levitation spell, and drew a picture on the ground. “Twixie had to dwaw this stallion, many times over,” Trixie explained.

The group leaned in to examine the drawing. “Isn’t that Prince Blueblood?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed it is…Strange, I feel like I’ve seen this drawing bef-” A gasp escaped Rarity’s mouth as she reached into her bag and pulled out a 50 bit note. She compared the picture of Blueblood on the note to the one on the ground, and saw that they were identical. “T-Trixie, darling, why exactly did you draw Prince Blueblood so many times?”

Trixie shrugged. “Dunno. They just paid Twixie ta dwaw, so she did. And then, when Twixie was nine, she bwought her first magic set.”

“Bought,” Twilight corrected. “Not brought. That means moving something from one place to another.”

“Trixie did,” she said. “She moved it from the shop to her twailer.”

“That’s not the same thing!”

“Is too! Don’t attack Twixie’s ponyese! It’s pewfect!”

“Now, now, girls,” Rarity said, putting the note away. “Remember, we’ve got to get along if we’re going to make this situation tolerable.” She turned to Trixie after the two fillies huffed and turned their backs to each other. “Trixie, do you remember who asked you to draw those pictures?”

“Not weally. It was a long time ago. Like, a million years ago!” Trixie said, emphasising her point by waving her arms in an arch shape.

“That’s not even possible,” Twilight said.

“Don’t take everything so literally, bookworm!”

“I’m not a bookworm! I’m well-read!”

“Girls!” Fluttershy shouted, startling the two ponies. “This is your last warning. Stop bickering, or I’m going to have to put you both in time out.”

Trixie and Twilight both glared at Fluttershy. “We’re not children! You can’t do that!” Trixie shouted.

“Yeah, what she said!” Twilight followed.

“Do you want to try me?” Fluttershy challenged. The two fillies gulped and calmed down, and a smile returned to Fluttershy’s face. “Good girls. I know you don’t mean to be bad. You just need to stop and think about your actions a bit, that’s all.”

“Wow, Fluttershy. You didn’t even have ta stare ‘em,” Applejack said, impressed with Fluttershy’s ability to control rowdy foals.

“Oh, they’re not so bad. They’re a lot easier to handle than Angel, that’s for sure.”

“Angel? Who’s that?” Trixie asked.

“He’s my pet bunny,” Fluttershy explained. “He can be a bit of a hoofful, but he’s got a kind heart.” Fluttershy removed the ice package from Trixie’s hoof, and put it inside the cooler. “Now, let your hoof warm up for about five minutes, and then we’ll reapply it.”

Trixie looked down at her wound, and then looked back at Fluttershy. “Um…” Trixie began, a slight blush crossing her face. “T-Thank you,” she said.

“It’s no problem. I’m always happy to help those in need,” Fluttershy said with a warm smile.

Twilight noticed the blush on Trixie face, and began to giggle. “Hey Trixie, your face is turning red!” she said. Trixie turned around so that nopony could see her face. “Trixie likes Fluttershy! Trixie likes Fluttershy!”

“N-No I don’t!” Trixie shouted, turning to Twilight.

“Yes you do,” Twilight teased, grinning at Trixie.

“Shut up, Twilight!” Trixie shouted, rising to her hooves.

“Ooh, scary!” Twilight said, getting up and running away. “Can’t catch me!”

“Oh yeah!?” Trixie shouted as she gave chase, although it was slowly due to her wound.

“Girls,” Fluttershy began, but a hoof from Applejack on her shoulder stopped her. “Applejack?”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” she said, smiling as she watched Trixie chasing Twilight, who had slowed down somewhat to make it easier on Trixie’s hoof. “They’re not fightin’ this time. They’re just playin’ around a bit.”

“Man, even though they’re really adults, they totally act like fillies,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Maybe we should keep them like this!” Pinkie Pie said. “They’re so adorable! I almost wanna take ‘em home with me!”

“Yeah, but what if another enemy comes along?” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “We can hardly expect Twilight to help us in her current state.”

“Sheesh, Rainbow, don’t take everything so seriously,” Applejack said. “I’m sure she didn’t really mean it…Right Pinkie?”

Pinkie didn’t say anything, but instead just cheered Trixie on as she chased Twilight around the park.

At around that time, Spike raced towards the group carrying a scroll in his hand. “Hey, guys! I just got a letter back from the Princess!” he shouted, stopping in front of the group in order to catch his breath.

Rarity lifted the scroll with her magic and opened it up.

Spike,

I’ve looked into the spell that you described to me, and I can assure you that everything will be fine. While missing that one vital ingredient does have the nasty side effect of regressing one’s age, it is easily fixed with a simple remedy. Attached to this letter is the remedy in question. I am given to understand that there is a herbalist living close to Ponyville, who is a close friend of you and Twilight. If you ask her, she should be able to prepare the remedy in no time at all. The remedy itself will not happen immediately, but instead should take effect a few hours after applying it.

Please do not hesitate to write back to me should more complications arise. And also, please give my best regard to Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

Yours faithfully.
Princess Celestia

“Well, thankfully the items listed aren’t hard to procure,” Rarity pointed out, reading through the list of ingredients for the remedy. “We should be able to secure everything rather quickly if we split up.”

“Sounds good ta me.” Applejack turned to Twilight and Trixie. “Hey! We got the recipe ta cure you guys!” The two fillies either didn’t hear Applejack, or were just too caught up in their playing to care. Applejack sighed and turned back to Rarity. “Maybe we should just leave ‘em here an’ come back later.”

“Then, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash shouted enthusiastically. The five ponies and one dragon split the items amongst themselves, and went off in separate directions to secure them. They agreed to meet back at the same spot where they left as soon as they got all the items on their list.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Trixie continued to play their game of tag, completely unaware of the other mares leaving them. Twilight stopped when she heard Trixie yelp, and moved over to check on her. “Are you ok?” she asked.

Trixie held her stung hoof tightly. “Twixie’s fine,” she answered.

Twilight remembered what Fluttershy had said earlier. “Maybe we should put the ice back on. It’s been more than five minutes already.”

“How can you know that?” Trixie asked.

“The position of the sun. I just looked at our shadows and compared them to when you took off the icepack. I can’t be exactly sure, but my estimations say it’s been around 7-9 minutes since you removed the icepack.”

“Twixie’s impwessed,” Trixie said, causing Twilight to blush. “But don’t worry. Twixie will be fine.”

“No, Trixie,” Twilight said sternly. “When it comes to your health, you can’t be too safe. Now come on.”

Trixie sighed and followed Twilight back to the picnic area. “Fiiiiine.” When they got there, they both noticed that the other mares had gone. “Huh? Where is evewypony?”

“Dunno…Maybe they went to get us ice cream!” Twilight suggested hopefully.

“You think so?” Trixie asked, suddenly excited.

“Anyway, we should wait for them, so they don’t have to chase all over Ponyville to find us,” Twilight said, opening the ice cooler and levitating the icepack over to Trixie.

“But waiting’s bowiiiing,” Trixie complained, holding the icepack to her hoof. “Come on! Twixie wants to see Ponyville!”

“But-”

“Come ooooon!” Trixie held the icepack to her hooves with her magic. “It’ll be fine!”

“Well…I guess Ponyville’s a small town, so it shouldn’t cause too much trouble for them,” Twilight reasoned. Trixie’s face lit up, and she told Twilight to lead the way. “Fine, but just a quick tour, ok?”

Trixie nodded her head enthusiastically, and Twilight led the filly away from the park and into the town.

Twilight began her tour of Ponyville in the town square, where she told Trixie about the history of the town, from when it was formed, up to the current day. While Twilight was having fun giving a history lesson to the blue filly, even using a cardboard box as a podium to make it feel like a classroom, Trixie was visibly quite bored.

Looking around the town, not really listening to Twilight’s lecture on the town’s history, Trixie spotted several houses and a few shops around her. One shop in particular caught her eye, and she interrupted Twilight’s lecture to point it out. “Twilight! It’s a sweet shop!”

Twilight frowned at Trixie’s interruption. ‘Just when I was getting to the best part!’ She looked at the shop that Trixie was pointing to. “Oh, that’s Bon Bon’s store. She sells the best sweets in Equestria!”

“Weally!? Twixie wants to twy some!”

“But…The history lesson-”

“Forget the bowing stuff! Come on!”

Twilight sighed and followed Trixie towards the sweet shop. As they entered, they were greeted by a cheerful Bon Bon, and her assistant for the day, Lyra. They looked down at the two fillies with confused looks.

“Oh? She looks like Twi!” Lyra pointed out, pointing a hoof at Twilight. “Are you her cousin by any chance?” Lyra asked, knowing that Twilight only had a big brother, and no sisters.

“Actually,” Twilight began. “I’m Twilight. And this is-”

“You’re Twilight!?” Lyra asked in shock. “No way! What happened?”

“Magic, obviously,” Bon Bon answered, walking around the counter and kneeling down to look the fillies in the eyes. She slowly extended her forelegs, and then pulled the two fillies into a tight hug. “They’re so cute!” she shouted as the two confused fillies struggled to break free. “Lyra, I take it back, magic is AWESOME!”

“Wah! Let Twixie go! Now!” Trixie shouted, flailing her hooves.

Lyra approached Bon Bon and convinced her to release the two fillies. “Sorry about that,” Lyra said to Twilight and Trixie. “Bon Bon really likes foals, y’see.”

“It’s fine, Lyra,” Twilight lied, catching her breath. “Anyway, Trixie wanted to see your sweet shop, so-”

“Do you have fwee sample?” Trixie interrupted. “The store Twixie visited as a foal gave out fwee samples! You should do the same!”

“Well, I don’t usually give out free stuff,” Bon Bon said. “But I suppose I could give you two a few sweets, if you’re hungry.”

Trixie nodded quickly, but Twilight was quick to decline. “I can’t do that. I may look like this, but I’m still a full-grown mare.”

Bon Bon smiled down at Twilight. “That’s very mature of you, Twilight,” she said, making Twilight’s face beam with pride. “Well then, I guess I’ll just get some for Trixie, then.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as Bon Bon gathered some sweets in to small paper bag, and handed it to Trixie. “W-What? But…” Twilight watched as Trixie happily levitated sweets from the bag, and dropped them into her mouth. Twilight was started to feel jealous, but didn’t want to admit it and lose face. She turned head away and frowned towards the wall.

She felt a bag being pressed against her cheek, and turned to see Lyra levitating a small bag of sweets towards Twilight, smiling at the small filly. “Here,” she said, dropping the bag into Twilight hooves. “Take ‘em. Then come back and buy some more when you turn back to normal, ‘kay?”

Twilight looked down at the bag of sweets, and then back up at Lyra, smiling at her. “Thanks,” she said, opening the bag and levitating a few sweets from it, placing them into her mouth with a bit more grace than Trixie.

Twilight and Trixie skipped happily through the town of Ponyville, carrying their bags of sweets in their magic and eating as they walked. “Next stop is the school,” Twilight said.

“School? But Twixie alweady gwaduated!” Trixie shouted.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s just ‘cause it’s an important landmark in Ponyville. We’re not actually going in.”

“Oh…Twixie knew that,” Trixie said, rolling up her bag as she finished it and throwing it into a nearby bin. It went in, and Trixie shouted: “2 points!”

The two fillies eventually reached the school, and sat down on a nearby bench as Twilight tried to explain more of Ponyville’s history to Trixie. However, she was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Oh, Twilight, Trixie.”

The two turned around to see a pink-purple pony approaching them. “Cheerilee?” Twilight asked, somewhat disappointed that her lecture was cut off before she could even begin.

“Your friends have been looking for you, you know?” Cheerilee said, stopping in front of the two fillies. “They’ve been gathering ingredients for your remedy. Where have you been?”

“I’ve been showing Trixie around,” Twilight said. She then turned to Trixie, to introduce her to Cheerilee. “This is Cheerilee,” she said, pointing a hoof at the smiling mare. “She’s the teacher at the Ponyville school.”

Trixie turned to Cheerilee, and bowed her head. “Nice to meet you,” she said. Twilight was surprised by Trixie’s sudden politeness, but then remembered that, in Canterlot, foals were brought up to have the highest respect for their teachers. “Twixie’s alweady gwaduated, so don’t give her any homework!” she shouted, pointing her hoof at the teacher.

Twilight sighed and rested her head on one of her forehooves. Apparently, the whole “respect for your teacher” thing only went so far for Trixie.

Cheerilee simply laughed it off. Trixie noticed Cheerilee’s Cutie Mark, and raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what subject do you teach…Gawdening? Botanology?”

“Well, I teach all of the subjects at this school,” Cheerilee explained, confusing Trixie. “Ponyville’s a very small town, so there isn’t a need for a lot of teachers. And the school can’t really afford more than three teachers, anyway.”

“Oh…Then does your Cutie Mark show what you specialise in?”

“No, it shows my passion for teaching young fillies and colts, and my desire to bring them up in a warm, happy environment.” She looked down at her Cutie Mark with a smile on her face, and then turned back to Trixie. “Why do you ask?”

“…Just cuwious,” Trixie said. “So, you actually like teaching?”

“Well of course. Why else would I do it if I didn’t like it?”

Trixie put a hoof to her chin. “Twixie thought that ponies only became teachers to pay the bills, or to satisfy their supewioity complex.”

Cheerilee flinched a little at the way the small filly was talking, but reminded herself that Trixie was still mentally an adult…Somewhat. “Well, I don’t know how it works in Canterlot,” Cheerilee began, gaining Trixie’s attention. “But here, teachers are chosen based on not just their academic abilities, but also, their love for children, and desire to nurture them into bright, happy ponies.”

Trixie stared at the teacher with a look of wonder. She looked to the ground for a few moments, collecting her thoughts. Through her experience, teachers only cared about foals getting good grades, and convincing the less intelligent foals to drop out, to make the school look better. She had to spend a lot of time of her time after school studying in order to meet the standards that her teachers had set for her.

She wondered how things would have turned out if she were raised in a place like Ponyville. Would she have made more friends? Would her grades have suffered? Or would her grades have been better, because the teachers actually cared for her?

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Cheerilee had to say goodbye to the two fillies. They both waved goodbye to her, and Trixie watched she left, the teacher’s kind, gentle voice still echoing in her mind.

“Now, as I was trying to say,” Twilight began. She went off talking about the town’s history before anypony could interrupt her, and didn’t notice that Trixie had gotten up and wandered off on her own. “And so by convincing all of the townsfolk to work together-” Twilight stopped when she realised that the blue filly was missing, and looked around to find her. “Trixie?”

Trixie walked through the streets of Ponyville with a lot less energy than she had earlier. She kept her head low, frowning at the ground as she walked through the town. Ever since her talk with Cheerilee, she kept thinking about how everypony in Ponyville seemed so friendly, and for some reason, it made her uneasy.

She sat down on a bench just in front of the town hall, and sighed deeply. She didn’t understand why thinking about Twilight’s friends made her feel so depressed. It just did.

“Wow, sounds like you’ve got some worries running through your mind,” said a voice next to Trixie. She turned her head to see a white Unicorn with blue hair and purple shades covering her eyes, looking down at her. “You’re still young. You shouldn’t waste your time worrying ‘bout things.”

“…Who’we you?” Trixie asked.

“Name’s Vinyl Scratch, resident DJ of Ponyville,” she said proudly, pointing down at her musical note Cutie Mark. “How ‘bout you?”

“Twixie Lulamoon,” Trixie answered. “The Gweat and Powewful Twixie, at your sewvice.”

“Trixie? Whoa, so the rumours are true,” she said, looking down incredulously at the blue filly. “So, what’s on your mind?”

Trixie remained silent at first, not wanting to share her problems with Vinyl Scratch. However, her filly mind started to kick in, and she was soon unable to hold it in any longer. “Twixie…Wealised today that her life…May not have been to her liking.”

Vinyl grinned and nodded, letting out a sigh that suggested she knew exactly where Trixie was coming from. “Yeah, I’ve been there,” she said. Trixie looked up at Vinyl with curious eyes. “I think everypony feels like that sometimes…Well, maybe not everypony, but it’s not uncommon, that’s for sure.”

“Twixie had never thought about it much before. She just convinced hewself that her life was pewfect. That she didn’t need anything else.” A tear rolled down Trixie’s cheek, and she felt a gentle hoof against her head. “But the twuth is that Twixie was feeling incwedibly lonely. She would twavel fwom town to town on her own, and shwugged off anypony that got close to her. Why? Why did Twixie deny what she desiwed for so long?”

“Maybe you were too proud?” Vinyl suggested, stroking her hoof through Trixie’s mane to calm her down. “Or maybe you were afraid. You’d been alone for so long, that you probably lost faith in the whole idea of making friends. You didn’t want to risk getting your hopes up, just to have them crushed, and end up even lonelier than before.”

Trixie sniffed, and looked up at Vinyl Scratch. “You sound as if you’ve expewienced something similar.”

Vinyl laughed and turned her head up to face the sky. “Yeah…My first love…I had to make a difficult decision. Her, or my music.” Trixie’s crying had slowed down, and she was now listening intently to Vinyl’s story. “I couldn’t follow my dream in Canterlot, but at the same time, I couldn’t see her again if I left to pursue my dream. It was unreasonable to ask her to wait for me. She would defiantly find somepony while I was away. It was a difficult decision, and it nearly drove me crazy.”

“What did you do?” Trixie asked.

“…Maybe I made the wrong choice,” Vinyl said, lifting her shades to reveal her big, violet eyes. “I chose to pursue the dream that I had had since foalhood. I spent so much time yelling at my choice, convinced that I made the wrong choice. But, it was too late. I had already set my path, and there are no do-overs in life.”

“So you just gave up?”

“Nothing else I could do. My life was set. Better to just roll with things, and face every day with a smile, than spend each day regretting my decision.” Vinyl lowered her shades, and looked back at Trixie. “Anyways, that’s just what I think. I wouldn’t exactly put too much stock into it.”

“So…Twixie should just feel content with her past, and not let it affect her future…”

“Pretty much,” Vinyl said, shrugging. “Well, in the end, it’s your life, your decision.” Vinyl rose to her hooves and began to walk off down the streets of Ponyville. She stopped for a moment to turn back to Trixie, and shouted: “Cheer up, eh!? Life can be cruel, don’t give it the pleasure of watching you squirm!”

Trixie watched Vinyl Scratch walk away, and thought about her words. A smile managed to creep across her face, but was interrupted by somepony calling out to her. “Trixie!”

Trixie looked up to see Twilight glaring into her eyes, a look of annoyance on her face. “Twilight?”

“Why did you wander off like that? I was trying to teach you some of Ponyville’s grand history!”

Trixie looked at the young filly’s pouting face, and managed to complete the smile that she had started just moments ago. “That’s ‘cause it was bowing!” she shouted, jumping off the bench and tapping Twilight on the nose. “Tag! You’we it!”

Trixie ran off, leaving a dumbfounded Twilight staring at her in confusion. Twilight soon snapped out of it, and began chasing after Trixie. “That was a dirty trick, Trixie!” she shouted, chasing Trixie through an alleyway.

She stopped when she saw Trixie standing still, and staring off into the distance. Twilight walked up to the filly’s side, and looked into the same direction that Trixie was facing. In front of her was nothing at first, but then, slowly but surely, a big, blue rectangular box appeared seemingly out of thin air.

“W-What’s that?” Trixie asked, startled by the sudden appearance of the strange box.

Twilight shook her head, equally startled by the blue box’s sudden appearance, and even more so when it began to open up.

“Now, you two just wait in there,” said a voice from inside the box. “I’ll take a look outside and see where we are.” A rather old, pale Earth Pony emerged from the box, wearing a black cape on his back that just barely covered his hourglass Cutie Mark. His mane and tail were white as snow, and held a cane in his right forehoof as he walked out of the box. He turned to the two fillies, who were staring at him with curious looks on their faces. “Well, it seems we’ve landed in the right world, but…”

The old stallion examined the scenery around him, and moved over to a nearby box lying at the side of the alley. “Hey! Doctor!” shouted another voice from inside the box. The two fillies were startled once again as another two ponies emerged from the box, which seemed way too small to hold three ponies in.

They were both Pegasi. One was pink, with blue hair, and two blue lightning bolts as her Cutie Mark. She reminded Twilight of Rainbow Dash, not just in terms of manestyle, but also, the sure, confident expression that she wore on her face.

The other Pegasus was white, with blonde hair, and four red balloons as her Cutie Mark. She was hopping up and down excitedly next to her pink companion. “So? Are we home?” the pink Pegasus asked.

“Patience, my dear Firefly, is a virtue you would do well to have,” the Earth Pony “Doctor” said. “I told you to wait inside the ship. Anyway, we’re on the right planet…But it seems we’ve landed in the wrong time.”

Firefly rolled her eyes at Doctor, and leaned against her white friend. “So, what, a couple of years off? That’s no biggie.”

“No, more like a couple of millennia off, my dear,” Doctor answered, causing Firefly to stare at him with wide eyes. “At least according to this newspaper I’ve found,” he said, holding up said newspaper for the two Pegasi to see.

“Well that won’t do!” the white Pegasus exclaimed. “Now we’re defiantly late for Megan’s surprise party!”

Firefly facehooved, and turned to her friend. “I think that’s the least of our concerns, Surprise!”

Surprise put a hoof to her chin, and then raised it into the air, somehow making a snapping noise with it that confused her two companions. “Oh yeah, that’s right! We can just use Doctor’s machine to go back to before the part even started!” she shouted, knocking her hoof against her head.

Firefly sighed, and then turned to the two fillies in the alleyway, who were still staring at the three ponies. “You got a problem? It’s impolite to stare, y’know?”

The two fillies flinched, and backed away slightly, but then Twilight suggested they apologize and introduce themselves. “S-Sorry, we were just…Kinda startled,” she said, bowing politely. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you.”

Twilight nudged Trixie to make her bow, too. “Twixie Lulamoon,” she said.

Doctor let out a gasp, and then double-checked the date on the newspaper. “Twilight…Trixie…The same Twilight and Trixie who saved Equestria from…” He put a hoof to his chin and started mumbling to himself. “But wait, they shouldn’t be fillies right now, and they shouldn’t meet until they’re fully grown mares…Oh dear, this is troubling, most troubling…”

“Uh…Excuse me?” Twilight asked, confused at Doctor’s rambling. “Oh, if you’re wondering why we’re like this, it’s because-”

“‘Cause Twilight messed up!” Trixie interrupted, grinning wickedly at Twilight. “She was supposed to fix Twixie, and now we’re both like this.”

Twilight frowned at Trixie, and then glared at her. “Well maybe if somepony hadn’t messed up such a simple spell in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Trixie returned Twilight’s glare with equal ferocity. “That was ‘cause Twixie’s book lied to her! You’we just…Stupid!”

Twilight gasped in shock, and then increased her glare’s intensity. “I’m stupid!? If I’m stupid, then you must be…A moron!”

“What did you call Twixie!?”

“You heard me! A MORON!”

“You’we just jealous that Twixie is supewior to you in evewyway!”

“Superior in being stupid, yes!”

“ARGH! TWIXIE HA-”

“Stop!” shouted Surprise, interrupting the two fillies as she suddenly appeared in between them. “I don’t know what’s happened between you two, but you’d better think carefully before you finish that sentence,” Surprise said, looking down on a confused Trixie. “Because once those words leave your mouth, there’s no taking them back.”

Trixie turned from Surprise to Twilight, and then towards the ground. Surprise sighed, and lowered a hoof onto each filly’s head, patting them gently. “We all mess up sometimes, and we all feel like we need some time away from our friends to cool down when things get a little…Stressful.

“But in the end, it’s our friends who are always there for us when we feel down. And once you say something hurtful, it’s not easy to mend that friend’s broken heart.” The two fillies turned to face each other, guilty looks on their faces. “Don’t take your friends for granted. ‘Cause you never know when you might never see them again. And when that time comes, you want to make sure there are no regrets, and that you can send them off with a smile, right?”

Tears were starting to roll down the faces of the two fillies, as well as down Surprise's face. Firefly walked up to Surprised and wrapped a wing around her, enveloping her into a warm hug. “She’s right, girls,” Firefly started. “Friendship doesn’t last forever. Make the most of it while you still can.”

Twilight and Trixie jumped towards each other, pulling each other into a tight hug, and began crying into each other’s shoulders. Firefly and Surprise decided to give the two fillies some space to reconcile their differences, and moved towards Doctor’s machine.

“Indeed,” Doctor said. “You never know when a day with your friend may be your last. It could be something as simple as walking through a park together, or just a casual day, where nothing special happens…And then they’re gone.”

Firefly looked at Doctor with a sympathetic look. “You sound like it’s happened a lot to you…”

“Indeed…900 years, and it never gets any easier…” Doctor flipped a page in the newspaper he was reading, and gasped suddenly. “Oh dear, this is rather concerning…It’s a good thing we haven’t ventured too far…”

“Hm? What’s up?” Firefly asked, leaning over to read whatever had Doctor so flustered. She saw a picture of a brown Earth Pony stallion, with an identical Cutie Mark to Doctor’s. “Who’s he? Your son?”

Doctor shook his head, and then placed the newspaper back where had found it. “That was me…Or rather, a future version of me.”

“Future?” Firefly asked. “But he’s so…Young.”

“Regeneration…” Doctor whispered. “Oh my, that’s most disheartening…In any case, we can’t stay here. There’s too much risk that we’ll run into him.”

“And that’s bad?” Surprise asked. “I think two Doctors would be fun! We could totally have a party, and there would be two guests of honour!”

“No!” Doctor shouted, startling Firefly and Surprise. “Absolutely not! Under no circumstances must two forms of the same pony ever be allowed to meet!”

“That would cause a…What was it? Pandabox?” Firefly asked, trying to remember the word that Doctor had taught her on a previous journey.

“Paradox, my dear,” Doctor corrected opening the blue box up and signalling for the other two to get in. “And yes, that’s why we must leave. Immediately.”

Firefly walked in without too much fuss. Although she was curious how much the world had changed over the course of thousands of years, she was more interested in finding her way home, and reuniting with her friends.

Surprise walked in a bit more reluctantly, and with a frown on her face. She paused to take one last look at the two fillies, who were still holding each other, but were now also throwing apologies at each other. “Cherish your friendships! They’re what make life worth living!”

Once the three ponies had entered the strange blue box, it began to fade out slowly, until eventually, it disappeared entirely.

Twilight and Trixie didn’t pay much attention to it, instead pulling apart from each other and wiping their tears away as they finally started to calm down. “Twixie’s sowwy, Twilight. She knows…It wasn’t youw fault. You wewe just twying to help…”

“I’m sorry too, Trixie,” Twilight sniffed, and wiped away the last of the tears from her face. “You’re not stupid, and I should’ve been more careful. If I had taken some more time to consider the spell I had cast, I would’ve seen that it wouldn’t work…”

Trixie turned her head towards the ground, not sure what to say at this point. Twilight decided to say something, since she was sure that Trixie was at a complete loss for words right now. Twilight extended a hoof forward, and in a gentle voice, asked: “Friends?”

Trixie turned her head back towards Twilight, sniffed a few more times, and then extended her own hoof, smiling at the purple filly as their hooves connected. “Friends.”

Rainbow Dash soared through the skies of Ponyville, looking for the two filly forms of Twilight and Trixie. She and the rest of her friends had finished gathering the ingredients for the remedy that would cure the two, and had asked Zecora to prepare it.

Everypony was waiting for them at the spa, but when Rainbow checked the park, she found that they weren’t there. According to many eyewitnesses, the two fillies had been sighted all over Ponyville, and it was anypony’s guess where they were now.

“Man, why couldn’t they just stay still? And why do I have ta find them?” Rainbow Dash complained as she looked down at the streets as she passed over them. Finally, she spotted the two fillies that she was looking for; a purple Unicorn filly and a blue Unicorn filly were sitting on a bench in front of the ice-cream stand in the market place, sharing an ice-cream cone together. “A-ha! Found ‘em!” she shouted to herself as she prepared to descend.

She landed behind the two oblivious fillies, and decided to sneak up on them and make them jump. As she neared them, she could hear their conversation.

“So between Applejack and Wainbow Dash, who’s the better athlete?” Trixie asked, taking a lick of the ice-cream.

Rainbow stopped when she realised that they were talking about her, and listened in on their conversation. Twilight giggled, and also took a lick on the opposite side. “There was actually a contest the two of them set up to find out,” she said. “Turns out they’re both as good as each other.”

“Oh? Twixie would’ve put her money on the wainbow one,” Trixie said, taking another lick of the ice-cream. “Of course, Twixie could beat either of them with her hooves tied behind her back.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh. “Really? You don’t seem to be the athletic type.”

“No, but Twixie's magic can keep them at bay while Twixie casually makes her way to the end.”

“Isn’t that against the whole point?”

“Maybe, but it’s not against the wules.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin to remember the rules of athletic events. “True,” she said, shrugging. She noticed that the ice-cream was dripping down the cone, and quickly licked up the leaking trail. “But then in that case, you’d come in second.”

Trixie looked at Twilight in confusion. “Then who would be fiwst?”

“Me, naturally,” Twilight said, grinning at Trixie.

Rainbow Dash extended her wings and got ready to separate the two from the fight that was sure to break out at any second now. She looked over at Trixie, who was frowning disapprovingly, and waited. However, what happened next surprised her. Trixie laughed. Not a mocking laugh, but a sincere, happy laugh.

“Maybe now, you can beat Twixie,” Trixie said. “But it won’t be long before Twixie catches up to you, so you’d better watch out, wival.”

“And on that day, Rarity will take up mud wrestling.” Twilight laughed, along with Trixie, and Rainbow also found it hard to suppress the giggling that was building up within her. Twilight noticed the ice-cream about to fall off, and took a big bite of it. Moments after swallowing it, she felt her head splitting open, and held it in her hooves. “Owwww!”

The intense pain caused Twilight to lose her magical focus on the ice-cream, and it dropped to the floor. “Ah! Twixie’s ice-cream!”

“My head!” Twilight cried out in pain.

Behind them, Rainbow could no longer hold in her laughter, which alerted the two to her presence. “Sorry, did I interrupt your date?” she asked, grinning at the two fillies.

“‘Bout time,” Applejack said as Rainbow Dash approached her in the spa’s lobby, with Twilight on her left and Trixie on her right. “Where in Equestria have you been?”

Rainbow grinned mischievously at Trixie, and then turned to Applejack. “These two went on a date around town, so I had ta track ‘em down.”

“We wewe NOT on a date!” Trixie shouted, her face bright red.

“That’s right! I was just showing her around!” Twilight followed up, her face an equal shade of red to Trixie’s.

“And sharing ice-cream,” Rainbow said, giggling as she walked further into the spa.

“Wait, wha?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow at the two fillies. “Really Twi? You like Trixie?”

Trixie took offence to Applejack’s words, but to her surprise it was Twilight who spoke up first. “What’s wrong with Trixie? Sure, she can be a bit obnoxious sometimes, but when you get past that, she’s pretty cool, and kind!”

Applejack looked at Trixie with a sceptical look on her face. Behind her, Applejack could hear Rainbow Dash say: “Careful, that’s her marefriend you’re dissin’.”

“She’s not my marefriend!” Twilight shouted, stomping her hoof. “I don’t like her in that way! We’re just friends!”

Trixie wasn’t sure if she should be thankful to Twilight for sticking up for her, or be insulted that Twilight took such great offence to idea of Trixie being her marefriend. So she just followed Rainbow Dash into the spa, staring straight ahead with a look of annoyance on her face.

Twilight and Applejack soon followed, and they eventually arrived in the bathing room, where Zecora was preparing a special bath to cure the two fillies.

“Now, the letter says that you must soak in this bath for no less than 30 minutes, and no more than 1 hour,” Rarity explained to Twilight and Trixie as she read the instructions sent to the group by the Princess. “The effect won’t be instantaneous; it will take effect after a few hours. If you enter the bath now, it should happen overnight.”

“Great! Come on Trixie!” Twilight shouted enthusiastically, running up to the bath tub. She placed a hoof in slowly, and then continued by putting the rest of her body in. She let out a pleasant sigh as the warm bath water relaxed her entire body. “Come on! The water’s great!” she said to Trixie, who still hadn’t moved from her spot.

Trixie stared at the bath water for a few moments, and when she refused to move closer, the rest of the group grew concerned, and asked her asked what was wrong. “Twixie…Doesn’t think she wants to turn back, after all,” she said, shocking everypony in the room.

“What are you saying!?” Rarity asked, grabbing Trixie’s shoulders and shaking her small body. “Surely you don’t mean that! The only other alternative is to grow back into your old self!”

“What Miss Rarity says is most true,” Zecora said, walking up to Trixie and placing a hoof under her chin, lifting Trixie’s head up to look into her eyes. “Perhaps you should tell us what is troubling you.”

Trixie’s eyes widened with fear, and tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, despite her best efforts to fight them off. Her entire body started shaking, and she backed away slightly to escape Rarity’s grip. “Twixie…Doesn’t wanna go back to her old life.”

“Why not?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Were you poor? Were you not getting enough ponies to watch your shows?”

“She didn’t exactly seem to be in any trouble earlier today,” Applejack pointed out. “She seemed to be rather happy, and she had enough money for that spell that made her like this.”

“Twixie…Doesn’t wanna be alone anymore,” she said, the shaking in her body increasing. “The old Twixie has been alone for so long, she forgot how to wely on others…She wanted to weach out to others, but she was afwaid, and her mind had settled on keeping others at a distance…Her heart was filled with jealousy at those who had fwiends, and anger that she couldn’t bwing herself to befwiend others…

“I don’t wanna go back to that!” she shouted, kneeling down and holding her head in her hooves. “Evewy night was so painful! I had nightmawes of dying on my own, with nopony even knowing whewe I was! And dreams that I had finally made fwiends, only to cwy the next mowning ‘cause it was only a dweam!” The sounds of Trixie’s crying started to fill the place, and everypony else remained silent, waiting for her to calm down. “Evewy day was dawk…I don’t wanna be alone anymore…”

The other ponies, Spike, and Zecora, all exchanged looks of worry and sympathy, but none of them could find the right words to comfort the crying filly. Finally, a voice from the back of the room broke the long silence that was otherwise only filled by Trixie’s sobbing. It was Twilight’s voice. “So you’re gonna give up?”

Trixie didn’t stop crying, nor did she lift her head to look at Twilight, so Twilight continued. “You’re just gonna run away, because you scared of going back? Come on, Trixie. That doesn’t sound like you.” Trixie’s ear twitched, and she moved her hooves slightly to look at Twilight. “You’re just running away from your problems. That won’t make them go away.”

“But…This way, I can start again…Fix all the mistakes I made in my life…”

“It don’t work that way, hun,” Applejack said. Trixie turned her attention to the orange farmer. “Even if ye change yer body now, yer past ain’t gonna change. Ye’re gonna have ta live with it forever, an’ ah can assure ya, even if ye stay as ya are right now, one day yer past’ll catch up to ya, and you’ll surely regret it.”

Fluttershy walked up to the still shaking Trixie, and placed a wing around her gently. She felt Trixie start to calm down, although she was still mumbling uncertainly. Rainbow Dash approached the blue filly, with a stern look on her face.

“So this is the “Great and Powerful Trixie”?” she asked. “I knew you were only exaggerating before, but I still thought your magic was pretty cool! And even I could tell it was much better than the average Unicorn!

“Some part of me wanted to give you another chance. Somehow, you reminded me of myself; you had dreams of being big, and you wanted everypony to know your name, so you showed off your talents everywhere! And you boasted your big feats because you honestly believed that you could make them reality.

“But I guess I was wrong.” She stomped a hoof to emphasis her last point, startling Trixie. Fluttershy held Trixie tighter in her wing. “You’re nothing like me. I would never give up just because I was afraid! Even if it seemed hopeless, I would do my best, and if my best wasn’t enough, at least I can say I went down flying!”

“Rainbow, aren’t you being a little hard on the poor dear?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, and continued her lecture. “So what if you fail once? Just try again! Keep trying no matter what! You’re afraid to get close to other ponies? Then try a different angle! Try taking a break from your showmare business and just have some time to yourself! Find some ponies who share a common interest, and make them your friends! But giving up and just pushing the problem to one side? That’s totally not cool.”

Trixie’s shaking and crying had stopped by this point, but she still kept her head buried in her hooves. She was still unsure about what she should do, and the others saw that she still needed an extra push.

“Wait, I don’t get it,” Pinkie Pie shouted, gaining the attention of everypony in the room. “Why can’t we just be your friends? I mean, is friendship even so complicated in the first place?” Everypony remained silent as Pinkie hopped merrily over towards Trixie. “I don’t think the problem is that you were afraid of making friends. It’s that you were afraid you wouldn’t be worthy of being somepony’s friend, right?”

“W-What do you mean?” Trixie asked, slowly removing her head from her hooves.

“Well, you’ve been alone for so long, right? You probably think you were alone because you did something wrong. Eventually, that thought engraved itself into your mind, and you were certain that you would only hurt anypony who you befriended.” She lifted Trixie off the ground, and spun around so that Trixie was facing Twilight.

“As proof, you became friends with Twilight thanks to being a filly again. If the problem was that you were too shy or afraid to approach somepony, that shouldn’t have changed even as you became a filly. In fact, it should have gotten worse, if anything. But if the problem is that you blame yourself for being alone, then it makes sense, since you hadn’t yet reached that conclusion as a filly.”

The rest of the group stared at Pinkie Pie in astonishment. Finally, Rarity was able to break the silence and ask what was undoubtedly on everypony’s minds: “Pinkie Pie, how in Equestria did you ever think of all of this?”

Pinkie turned her head to face Rarity, still smiling as wide as she possible could. “How d’you think I’m able to make friends with everypony I meet? I know how the pony mind works!”

Twilight and Trixie were perhaps the only two not concerned with Pinkie’s surprising knowledge on pony psychology right now, and were instead staring into each other’s eyes, Trixie with a worried look on her face, and Twilight with a pleading look.

“Trixie…If you need help, I’d be happy to share everything I’ve learned about friendship with you,” Twilight said, extending her hoof towards the blue filly. “We’re friends after all, right?”

Trixie was about to raise her hoof, but was still uncertain. “B-But…That’s only right now…What if, after I turn back, you-”

“I’ll still be your friend!” Twilight interrupted. “I don’t care if you’re the “Great and Powerful Trixie”, or just “Trixie the innocent little filly”. All that matters is that you’re Trixie Lulamoon, somepony who I wanna be friends with.” Trixie slowly raised her hoof, and just as she began to extend it forward, Twilight said: ““Cherish your friendships! They’re what make life worth living!””

Trixie’s eyes widened, and her hoof suddenly shot forward with much more speed than she had intended it to. Pinkie loosened her grip on Trixie, and the blue filly flew forward as Twilight pulled her into the bath tub, causing water to fly into the air as she splashed down into it.

Once Trixie wiped her eyes clean and was able to see again, she saw Twilight sitting in front of her, smiling at Trixie, and laughing at her wet mane as water dripped down from it. “Sorry, Trixie. I didn’t think Pinkie would let go all of a sudden,” she said, obviously lying.

Trixie stared for a few seconds with a dumbfounded look on her face, and then grinned at the purple filly. “Oh, you awe so gonna wegret that!” she said as she began splashing water into Twilight’s face, who responded by yelping and fleeing to the other side of the bathtub. “Take that!”

“Counter attack!” Twilight shouted as she spun around in the tub and began splashing water back at Trixie, whilst covering her own face with her hooves to shield it.

“Stop!” Zecora shouted, startling everyone in the room and causing the two fillies to stop their little water fight. “The remedy took a long time to prepare! I would appreciate if you treat it with care!”

The two fillies lowered their hooves and settled down in the bathtub, mumbling apologies quietly.

Once they were finishing bathing in the remedy prepared by Zecora, the two fillies decided to return to the library and settle down, their bodies tired from all the running around that they had done earlier that day.

Fluttershy asked if they would like her to stay with them, but they insisted that they would be alright on their own. Despite this, their friends still imposed on Twilight that night, all curious to see if the remedy would truly work.

Since there wasn’t enough room in her bedroom for everypony, her friends agreed to sleep downstairs, and Twilight offered them some spare blankets and pillows for them. Twilight allowed Trixie to sleep upstairs with her, still concerned about Trixie after what happened in the spa.

Twilight offered Trixie the guest bed, while Spike took his own bed in between the guest bed and Twilight’s bed. Trixie looked over at the guest bed, and then back to Twilight, who was climbing into her own bed. She felt her heartbeat increasing, and her face flushing up, and gathered up the courage to ask Twilight: “C-Can Twixie sleep with you tonight?”

Twilight and Spike turned to Trixie in surprise, and she immediately apologized, saying that she’ll take the guest bed. “Oh, I don’t mind,” Twilight said, stopping Trixie in her tracks. “But, why?”

“Well…Twixie…Doesn’t want to wake up alone…” she said, keeping her back to Twilight. “But, if it’ll cause a pwoblem, Twixie will sleep in the other bed.”

“No, it’s no problem at all,” Twilight said, lifting the covers to invite Trixie into her bed. “I can understand the feeling. When I finally made friends here in Ponyville, I was so sad when I thought I had to leave them. And I was willing to give up my life in Canterlot, just so I could be with them every day.”

Trixie turned towards Twilight, and hesitated for a moment, before finally approaching Twilight’s bed and climbing in, lying down on one side of it. She remained silent as Twilight turned the lights off, and shut her eyes tight, resisting her body’s desire to hold Twilight close.

“Good night, Spike, Trixie,” Twilight said as she rested her head onto her pillow, closing her eyes to drift off into sleep.

“G’night,” Spike replied.

Trixie opened her eyes and watched the purple filly resting peacefully next to her. Her uneasiness started to fade away, and a smile formed on her face as she closed her eyes once again, allowing herself to drift off into sleep. “Night, Twilight.”

The following morning, Trixie was awoken by something against her face. It felt like the wind, only it was warm, and making a strange noise. She opened her eyes slowly to find out what it was, and saw a purple Unicorn mare sleeping right in front of her, her face mere inches away from Trixie’s, and breathing into the showmare’s face.

Trixie’s eyes widened as she tried to make sense of the situation, but as the purple Unicorn’s eyes started to open, Trixie reflexively pushed her away. A loud bang after that caused Trixie to rush to the other end of the bed that she was sleeping in, and peer over the side. She saw Twilight Sparkle lying on the floor, rubbing a hoof against her left flank, and groaning in pain.

“Um…Oops?”

“Trixie has already apologised multiple times!” Trixie shouted, moving around Twilight to try and look her in the eyes, but for the 47th time, Twilight simply turned around to avoid Trixie’s gaze. “Stop being foolish already! It was just a simple mistake!”

“I let you sleep in my bed so that you wouldn’t feel lonely, not so that you could try to kill me!” Twilight shouted, still refusing to turn around.

“Oh, come ON! You’re overreacting!”

“Says the one who wasn’t pushed out of bed so violently this morning!”

“It was your fault for sleeping so close to Trixie! What was Trixie supposed to do!?”

“Well, I can certainly think of better solutions than pushing your best friend out of bed and possibly breaking their leg!”

“It wasn’t even that big of a fall!”

The rest of the group simply watch in both amusement and amazement at how a simply accident had somehow led to a huge argument between the two. Applejack leaned over to whisper into Rainbow Dash’s ear: “Uh, those two are friends now, right?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, and lifted up one of the pancake she was currently eating to her mouth. “Well, Trixie did make us all this sweet breakfast, so she’s alright in my books.”

“Um, Twilight did just refer to her and Trixie as “best friends”, so…” Fluttershy said, but retreated when attention was drawn to her.

Rarity simply sighed, and levitated a piece of pancake to her mouth. “It’s one of those friendships,” she said, drawing confused looks from Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “You know, where both friends are so stubborn that they bicker at every little thing. To outsiders, they seem like enemies, but to them, they have fun competing in this way, and are determined to outdo each other…That’s what I think, at least.”

“That’s it! Trixie’s leaving!” Trixie shouted, stomping towards the front door, making sure to grab her hat and cloak before opening it. “Good day!”

“Awww, you’re leaving already?” a saddened Pinkie Pie asked.

“Trixie has a busy schedule, and she’s already had to cancel some shows because of this…Incident.”

Pinkie looked down at the floor with a frown, but understood that Trixie, like everypony, had to work. “Alright…I guess it can’t be helped then…”

Trixie opened the door and started to make her way outside, when the librarian’s voice stopped her. “You’re going to come back, right?”

Trixie paused for a moment, and then, holding her head up high, responded: “If Trixie feels like it.”

With that, Trixie left the library, closing the door behind her. Twilight simply smiled at the closed door, and levitated some of her breakfast to her mouth. “I’ll be waiting then, Trixie.”