“So you see, my dear Starlight, I simply cannot stand around any longer. The time for action is upon us! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall save this village from the monstrosity that bedevils it!”
Starlight Glimmer listened intently to her friend’s overly-rehearsed speech. Her ears flicked idly and her dark purple tail swished. Her blue eyes fixed upon Trixie’s unblinkingly. A small frown graced her muzzle. After a moment, however, she shrugged and nodded slowly.
“Alright then,” she said. Her eyes twinkled slightly and her ears pricked forwards. Trixie huffed at that and turned her head away, stomping a hoof and making a small cloud of dust.
“But Starlight, don’t you see, Trixie must—wait. Woah, woah, woah. Did you just say yes?”
Starlight nodded once. “Sure!” she yipped.
Trixie took a step backwards and cocked her head, suddenly looking less confident than usual. She rested a hoof against her wagon to steady herself. “But you’re not meant to just agree! That’s not how this works! You’re meant to fight me; to tell me what a stupid idea it is! And I, being the even greater and powerfuller Trixie, would then convince you that I am now strong enough to finally defeat that monstrosity once and for all!” Trixie stomped a hoof again indignantly. “Why can’t you do things properly?”
Starlight frowned and stepped up to Trixie’s side, draping a hoof over her back. “Well, as you said, you are—“ She wrinkled her muzzle in disgust at the mutilation of an otherwise perfectly good word, “—powerfuller now. You’re a lot stronger than when I started teaching you. If you were strong enough before to banish an ursa, I genuinely believe that you could have a good shot at defeating it for good this time.” Trixie’s tail wagged excitedly. She gave a little buck.
“Oh, Starlight, this is why we are best friends!” she squealed. “You understand me so much better than Princess Twilight and her little group of—“
“Trixie, they’re my friends too,” Starlight growled. Her eyes suddenly grew colder.
Trixie gulped visibly. “I was just going to say, ‘her little group of mares’. Obviously.”
Starlight raised a brow. “Right,” she said slowly. A terse silence sounded before she then shook her head and said, “Look, I do genuinely believe you can do it, but we are still talking about an ursa here. I’ve not had your experience with them, but… well, it’s an ursa. Do I really need to say anything else? And as your mentor and friend, I’d feel really bad to send you out there alone. So, won’t you let me come too? Please?”
Trixie was quiet momentarily before she beamed. “But of course, Starlight! I wouldn’t make you miss this for the world!” She squealed, trotting on the spot. “Isn’t this exciting?”
Starlight’s eyes widened slightly and she took a small step backwards. Once she had regained her brief loss of composure, she sighed and nodded. “I’d say it’s more exhilarating than exciting, Trix, but sure. It’ll be a real test of our strength, both as sorcerers and as friends!”
Trixie stiffened. “Well, yeah, sure, that would be nice… but… you aren’t planning on getting in my way, right?” she asked. “You’ll let me do this alone?”
Starlight’s ears fell back slightly and she raised a hoof, drawing small circles on the floor below her.
“Well, I—“
“Starlight! This is really, really important to me!” Trixie whined with her ears fallen back and her tail now clamped. Hey eyes thinned slightly. “This is my big chance to finally see how much I’ve improved since my days of being an arrogant, selfish show-off! To see how much stronger I’ve become. To show that I am a responsible mare now and that I can stand on my own four hooves!” She paused and sighed, her head hanging. “But, of course, I understand if you don’t really believe in me… After all, nopony ever wants to give Trixie a chance to prove herself…”
Starlight watched as Trixie’s face morphed into a teary, blubbering mess. Her lips formed a pout and she looked down at the dusty ground, hiding her face slightly with her forelock. Starlight could only keep her severe scowl for a second at the sight. Her body slouched and she let out a small breath.
“Alright, alright, I’ll just watch from the sidelines, yeah? I’ll only intervene if… If you’re about to get your head bitten off or something.” Starlight grinned and held out a hoof. “Deal?”
Trixie’s blubbering stopped instantaneously and she clapped her hooves together. She then shook Starlight’s vigorously. “It’s a deal!”
Starlight winced and yanked her hoof away, holding it somewhat tenderly to her chest. She watched Trixie quietly, not sure of how to continue. “So, what now?” she asked eventually, lowering her aching leg to the ground with the utmost of care. “Do you know where this thing lives, or…?”
Trixie smirked. “Way ahead of you!” she yipped. “I know the exact location of its cave and everything! See, I did my research!”
Starlight frowned. “How long, exactly, have you been planning this?”
Trixie only shrugged. After a silent pause, she then smiled again and turned, flicking her tail merrily. Whilst walking away she then said, “Well, it’s settled then! You and I shall head out to defeat the dreaded ursa tonight!”
Starlight froze on the spot and her mouth fell open. “Wait, tonight?” she yelled. Trixie only giggled with continued merriness.
“Trixie will meet you at the entrance to the Everfree at midnight, ‘kay?” she yelled back, squealing all the while. Starlight was left frozen for a moment; by the time she had come to her senses, Trixie—and, amazingly, her wagon—had already gone.
Starlight huffed and stomped a hoof. “Well, great,” she hissed, hanging her head. “Ursa hunting in the middle of the night. What could possibly go wrong?”
And with that, she vanished with an audible poof to the library—next to the “Magical and Dangerous Creatures” section, to be exact.