Back in the Castle of Friendship, both Sweetie Belle and Dinky were trying to improve their magic, Starlight was now teaching them how to transform items into different things.
"Just imagine what you want it to be, and focus really hard," Starlight encouraged.
Both Dinky and Sweetie Belle focused really hard, hoping to figure out this spell. It wasn't as easy as is sounded, plus this was a complicated spell for their age. Turning a cup into a bowl was proving to be challenging for the two fillies.
"Come on girls, I know you can do it," Starlight said, hoping to help them focus.
The two continued trying, their horns were glowing as the magical aura surrounded the cups. They struggled but couldn’t figure it out.
Eventually Dinky let go of her spell, sitting down in frustration.
"I can't do it!" Dinky complained.
"Sure you can, you just need to keep trying," Starlight said.
"It's not enough, this is too advanced for me!" Dinky said, wiping some sweat off her head.
Sweetie Belle also continued trying, though she too sat down in frustration. "Ugh, it's no use."
"Girls, I know this isn't an easy trick, but you shouldn't just give up," Starlight reminded. “Magic’s tough, but you both have it in you to learn it.”
"Come on Sweetie Belle, I know you can do it," Rumble encouraged.
Sweetie Belle's ears perked at the encouraging words of her coltfriend. She turned to face him, showing off her cute and affectionate eyes. "You really think I can?"
"Of course, I think you're talented enough," Rumble said, showing a cheery smile.
Sweetie Belle felt some extra confidence after hearing her coltfriend's motivational words. "Alright, I'll try again."
Dinky groaned a little, where are her words of encouragement she wondered.
"Come on Dinky, you keep trying too," Apple Bloom said.
Dinky shook her head a bit, at least one of the foals tried, too bad it wasn't her best friend. It's great that he wants to be there for Sweetie Belle, but he could at least give her some encouragement as well.
Sweetie Belle again tried to change the cup into a bowl, really believing that she can. After several seconds of focus, she finally managed to transform the cup, though instead of a whole bowl, she only managed half of one.
"That's a good start," Starlight said. "Keep practicing and you'll get it."
"Thanks, I owe it to Rumble, he's such a good coltfriend," Sweetie Belle said, affectionately gazing at Rumble, causing the young Pegasus colt to blush.
"Anything for you Sweetie Belle," Rumble said.
Dinky growled a little and focused more on the cup, hoping to transform it completely into a bowl to show up Sweetie Belle, but instead focused too much magic and destroyed the cup completely.
"Oh my...that wasn't suppose to happen," Starlight said.
Dinky slammed her hoof down in frustration. "Why can’t I do it!?"
"Don't worry Dinky, I'll get another cup. But take a moment to relax, otherwise it will affect your magic," Starlight said.
Dinky sighed and nodded, "Yes Starlight."
As Starlight left to find a replacement cup, Dinky took the time to somewhat glare at Rumble. It would have been nice if he at least paid some mind to her just now.
Rumble hadn't noticed though, he was being nuzzled affectionately by Sweetie Belle.
"I owe it to you Rumble, you're the greatest coltfriend," Sweetie Belle said.
"Only because you're an even greater marefriend," Rumble said.
"Aw, time for a kiss," Sweetie Belle said, pulling Rumble into a loving kiss, much to the annoyance of Scootaloo and Dinky.
"You two really like kissing and complimenting each other," Dinky said with a major hint of annoyance.
"Of course," Rumble said after breaking off the kiss. "She's my Princess and I'm her Knight."
"My Brave Knight, who will always be there for me," Sweetie Belle said, nuzzling Rumble muzzle to muzzle.
Dinky couldn't take any more of this, "You know you two can go be alone for that, I don't think everypony here wants to see you two kissing and stuff."
Rumble blushed a little from that, "Sorry Dinky, I can't help it."
"Can you blame him?" Sweetie Belle said, fluffing her mane. "I am pretty cute after all."
"Wow, such modesty," Apple Bloom joked, getting a giggle from Tender Taps and Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle turned her head away, "Well it's true, I'm cute and I have the perfect coltfriend to remind me of that."
"Yeah, we know, you tell us that all the time," Dinky complained.
Sweetie Belle scrunched her face, "You're starting to sound a bit jealous Dinky, lighten up."
"I'm NOT jealous!" Dinky partially shouted. "I'm just a little tired of hearing you two act all lovey-dovey, it gets annoying after a while!"
"It kinda does," Scootaloo said.
"When you get a coltfriend, you'll understand," Sweetie Belle said.
"I tried getting a coltfriend once, it didn't go to well, do you remember why Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked.
"Simple, you don't know how to express your emotions," Sweetie Belle bluntly stated.
"Hey!" Scootaloo shouted in annoyance.
“Don’t start arguing about that!” Apple Bloom shouted. “We already moved past that!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned away, looking really annoyed as Rumble looked on a bit worried. He needs to talk to Scootaloo soon, something Tender Taps had encouraged.
Moments later Starlight returned with more cups. "Ok everypony, let's get back to the lesson."
Before anything, the doorbell of the castle rang, surprising everypony around.
"Who could that be?" Dinky asked.
"I'm not sure, hold on I'll go check," Starlight said and trotted to the door, opening it to see a good friend of hers.
“Hello Starlight, great to see you again.”
Starlight blinked in surprise, “Trixie?”
Standing there was one of Starlight Glimmer's best and closest friends, Trixie Lulamoon. "Yes, it is I, The Great and Powerful, Trixie." After doing a quick pose, she gave Starlight a friendly smile. "I was hoping to see you Starlight, I missed you when I was away."
Starlight returned the smile as she pulled the other mare into a hug, "Same here Trixie." She pulled back and looked curiously at her friend. "What brings you here though?"
"I heard Twilight and her friends left to the Changeling Hive, so I came by to see you. I'm sure you're pretty lonely without Twilight...unless her pet Dragon is with you," Trixie said.
"No, he left as well, he wanted to see Thorax," Starlight said.
"Figures, I know the two are good friends, anyway since I'm here I was hoping we could do some stuff together, maybe practice a bit for my show, I'm working on something quite grand," Trixie said, expanding her forelegs for emphasis.
"That sounds great, but it has to wait, I'm actually tutoring some foals," Starlight said.
Trixie looked surprised, "Tutoring some foals? You mean the younger sisters of Twilight's friends?"
"Yes, well mostly Rarity's little sister Sweetie Belle, as well as another foal, Dinky Do," Starlight said.
"I don't really know who Dinky Do is, but perhaps I can assist," Trixie said. "It would be an honor to help tutor young foals."
"Oh I don't want you to trouble yourself Trixie," Starlight said, kinda hoping Trixie doesn’t help. She’s a great friend but not really the best at magic, despite her claims to be.
"Nonsense, The Great and Powerful Trixie can spare a few moments to help her dear friend Starlight Glimmer, now lead the way please," Trixie said.
Starlight shrugged it off and led Trixie inside the castle, taking her to the room where the foals were. She could see that Dinky and Sweetie Belle were once again attempting the spell, Dinky looking a bit more frustrated.
Apple Bloom was the first to notice that Starlight returned, and she saw who was with her. "Huh? Is that Trixie?"
All the foals turned their attention to the mare, who did an extravagant wave to them. "Hello young fillies. The Great and Powerful Trixie is here."
Scootaloo groaned a little, "Not her, she's such an overconfident pony."
Trixie scrunched her face a little, "Says the one who clings to Rainbow Dash, she's not exactly humble you know."
"She’s more humble than you!" Scootaloo shouted.
"Now, now, let's not get into stuff like that," Starlight nervously pleaded. "Trixie came by to see if she can help Sweetie Belle and Dinky with their magic."
"Um, isn't she lousy at magic though?" Apple Bloom said. "At least that's what mah sister told me."
"Same with Rarity, she said she only knows a few spells, some of them really mean," Sweetie Belle said.
Trixie groaned at the lack of respect, fortunately she had the support of at least one foal.
"Come on now, Trixie is Starlight's best friend, we should be a little nicer to her," Tender Taps said.
"Tender Taps, you don't know Trixie well, she can be a real pain," Apple Bloom said.
"If Starlight likes her, then we should give her a chance, I'm sure she's not so bad. She did help save Equestria after all," Tender Taps said.
"That's correct, my such a well mannered colt," Trixie said. "What's your name?"
"My name is Tender Taps," the young colt introduced with a slight bow.
"Aw, he's cute," Trixie said, rubbing his mane. "Are you related to any of Twilight's friends?"
"No, I'm just a friend of Apple Bloom and her friends, though Starlight did want to make me her little brother," Tender Taps said.
"That's right, it would be fun to have a younger sibling," Starlight said.
"Well you made a good choice," Trixie said, then looked around. "Which one is Dinky?"
"That one," Starlight said, pointing to Dinky still focusing on the cup.
"Oh, I think I might have seen her around, barely though.” Trixie then noticed Rumble. "What about that filly right there?"
With that, Starlight and the other foals cringed a little, even Dinky broke her concentration after hearing that. Rumble himself looked pretty annoyed, glaring intently at the other mare.
“That’s not good,” Dinky muttered.
Trixie looked confused. "Um...did I miss something?"
"That's not a filly Trixie, he's a colt, his name is Rumble" Starlight said.
Trixie analyzed Rumble a little, feeling confused, "A colt?"
"Yes, I'm a colt, not a filly!" Rumble said, still glaring at Trixie.
"Oh, my mistake then. That explains the mane, otherwise I would have told you to get a new style," Trixie said. "Wow, you really do look like a filly though, probably should make yourself look a little tougher, might be hard to find a marefriend looking like that."
"I already have a marefriend, she's right there!" Rumble shouted, pointing to Sweetie Belle.
"That's right, he's my coltfriend, and I don't think he looks like a filly," Sweetie Belle said.
"Tch, right, not what you said the first time," Apple Bloom said softly.
Trixie rubbed her chin, "Oh, I see. Weird though, I would have thought you'd like the more boyish types.”
"I am Boyish!" Rumble shouted, startling the other foals.
"Wow, somepony's got a bad temper," Trixie said.
Rumble gritted his teeth, then angrily turned away. "And somepony's too full of herself."
Trixie huffed at that, "That was rude."
"Trixie, that's enough," Starlight pleaded. "Rumble's a good colt, so please stop upsetting him."
"And to answer what you said before Trixie, I do like boyish types," Sweetie Belle started saying. "Rumble fits that just fine, he's my personal handsome knight who promises to protect me from everything."
"Handsome knight?" Trixie said. "Sounds...eh, okay I guess."
Starlight looked around nervously, hoping to find a way to distract the ponies from this conversation. "Anyway I need to get back to tutoring."
"Right, I'll stay and watch, I wanna see how well you do, plus I hope to show off what I can do as well," Trixie said.
"That's fine, just make sure to properly encourage them if you want to help, I don't want them to lose motivation," Starlight said.
"Of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie is great when it comes to sensitivity," Trixie said.
"How?" Sweetie Belle asked. "You just insulted my coltfriend."
"He's fine, right Tumble?" Trixie asked.
"You mean Rumble, not Tumble," Rumble corrected.
"Close enough," Trixie brushed off, much to the young colt's annoyance.
"Trixie, please stop upsetting him," Starlight pleaded. "Remember that he's Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, if you upset them, you'll likely upset Rarity, and I'm sure Twilight won't be too happy if that happens."
Trixie shrugged it off, "I'm not too worried about upsetting them, but since you care a lot about Twilight, and you are my best friend, I'll try to take their feelings into consideration."
"Good, that's all I ask," Starlight said, then turned to Rumble. "Please don't mind Trixie, she usually means well."
"Not making a good impression right now," Rumble said. "But my foalsitters always say to give ponies another chance, and it's worked well for me so far."
"Thanks Rumble," Starlight said, then turned to Trixie. "And can you please at least apologize to Rumble for what you said?"
Trixie sighed, "Fine, for you Starlight." Trixie then turned to Rumble, "I apologize for calling you a filly and getting your name wrong."
Rumble nodded, "Thanks, apology accepted." He then turned away, still feeling a bit annoyed.
"Let's resume our lesson," Starlight said, once again teaching the young fillies how to do transformations.
This went on for a bit, Starlight did her best to motivate the fillies, as did Trixie, though her motivational skills were unintentionally condescending, much to Starlight's annoyance.
Tender Taps pitied Starlight, he can probably understand why Trixie's her friend, knowing that each have been disliked at one point. But it seems like Trixie hasn't really learned to be that friendly.
The day went by, Starlight's lessons were done for the day and the foals started to make their way home. Tender Taps stayed behind a moment to talk with Starlight, though the others wasted no time leaving, especially since Trixie was really starting to annoy them.
"I'll see you kids tomorrow, especially the ones I'm tutoring," Starlight said, then mumbled. "Hopefully."
"And don't worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will also return for your pleasure!" Trixie said.
The foals stopped and cringed a bit in annoyance, but turned to face Trixie with a friendly smile, at least as friendly as they can make it.
"That's so great, I'm so happy to hear that" Sweetie Belle said, then spoke low. "Like one day with you wasn't enough."
"I just hope she remembers my name, and the fact that I'm a boy," Rumble said, still feeling very annoyed.
Sweetie Belle nuzzled Rumble, hoping to make him feel calmer. "Let's get going."
"Right...but first I need to ask Scootaloo something," Rumble said.
Sweetie Belle looked confused, "Huh? Um, ok then."
Rumble called to the Pegasus filly. "Hey Scootaloo, come here a moment please."
Scootaloo trotted over very curiously, "Yeah Rumble?"
"Would you mind if we talked sometime, just us two?" Rumble asked.
Scootaloo's eyes widened, why does Rumble suddenly wanna talk to her? Months ago she would have been more excited, though now she's more curious since she knows he doesn't like her that way. "Um, ok. How about tomorrow when we go back to the Castle."
"That sounds great, it'll keep us away from Trixie a little longer," Rumble joked.
Scootaloo giggled at that, "Yeah, it would."
Sweetie Belle looked really curious, and a bit unhappy. "Hey Rumble, why do you need to talk to Scootaloo?"
Rumble turned to his marefriend, "Oh, just to ask her some stuff. Tender Taps gave me the idea. You don't mind do you?"
Sweetie Belle shook her head, "Not really, I guess it's alright."
Rumble nodded and turned to Scootaloo, "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Right, see you then," Scootaloo said and trotted off.
Rumble looked relieved and turned to Sweetie Belle. "Come, I'll take you home."
Sweetie Belle grinned, "I wouldn't mind that. Maybe you can even stay a bit, keep me company."
Rumble blushed at her words, though he couldn't deny that he would love to do just that.
With Tender Taps, he was seen hugging Starlight good-bye. "I’ll see you tomorrow."
"I'll see you then," Starlight said, rubbing his mane.
Tender Taps looked to Trixie, "I'll see you tomorrow as well I guess."
"That you will, I'm starting to like you foals, for different reasons," Trixie said.
"You're pretty ok yourself," Tender Taps said. "For the most part at least."
Trixie glared at Tender Taps, "What do you mean, 'For the most part'?"
"Oh, nothing much," Tender Taps said, a bit nervously. "I'll see you both tomorrow." With that he trotted off, leaving the two mares alone.
"So why did you decide to tutor them?" Trixie asked.
"Twilight asked me too, it wasn’t easy though," Starlight said.
"Well you have me to help you, together we'll make great ponies out of those foals," Trixie said.
"Hehe, right," Starlight said, watching the foals as they left. She could only hope to do this well, and make Twilight proud.
Elsewhere in a old rocky field, some Changelings are seen flying towards a cave. They looked around to make sure they weren't spotted as they went deep into the cave. As they went further in, they heard a familiar voice.
"Are they at the Hive?"
"Yes my Queen," one Changeling said.
"Good, that leaves Ponyville open, try to make sure they don't leave, I'll focus my immediate attention on that Starlight Glimmer pony first, before I go for that bothersome Princess." With that, Queen Chrysalis made herself known. "Soon I'll finally have Equestria to myself."