//------------------------------// // A Hoof in Friendship // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// Ancient Scroll trotted into his study and made to check one of his many bookshelves when a small voice jolted him out of his thoughts. "Um... Uncle Scroll?" The old stallion turned back to the doorway to see Twilight standing there, shifting her hooves nervously. A moment later, Trixie appeared beside her, and they both looked to him questioningly. After a moments thought, he sighed and motioned for them to enter. Twilight beamed as she practically skipped inside with Trixie following more sedately. "You can stay while I'm in here, but don't touch anything unless I give the go ahead," he said giving Twilight a stern glare as she reach for a random book from one of his shelves. Twilight chuckled sheepishly and lowered her hoof back to the ground. Ancient Scroll nodded in satisfaction and returned to searching his bookshelves. "So, um..." Trixie began, watching Twilight wander around the study, "what exactly are you looking for, Uncle Scroll?" "'Clover's Guide to Magical Oddities'," he answered absently, "could've sworn I had a copy around here some - ah, here we go!" He levitated the book off the top of one of the shelves and trotted over to his desk. Trixie made her way to Twilight and jabbed her in the shoulder to get her attention. Together they followed Ancient Scroll to the desk. He set the book down and pulled it open as he seated himself in the chair behind the desk. Twilight and Trixie glanced at each other, then to Ancient Scroll, who already had his muzzle buried in the book. They were too small to see over the desk and there were no other chairs in the room, so the two fillies simply sat on their haunches in front of the desk and waited for Ancient Scroll to finish doing whatever he was doing. After a few minutes of watching the stallion mutter to himself and occasionally flip to another page, Trixie frowned and turned to Twilight. "Trixie doesn't think Uncle Scroll is going to finish anytime soon," she whispered. Twilight in turn, shushed Trixie as she continued to watch the muttering stallion with rapt attention. Trixie looked back to Ancient Scroll to see his horn light up as he levitated a few more books from the shelves without looking. She rolled her eyes and rose to her hooves. "You can stay and watch him read books all day if you want, but Trixie is getting bored." Twilight absentmindedly shushed her again and Trixie just shook her head as she trotted out of the study. The sound of the door shutting behind the blue filly startled Ancient Scroll enough to look up from his book. He blinked and looked at the recently closed door, then to the lavender filly in front of him. He thought for a moment and sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, Twilight, I might be at this awhile," he said with a gentle smile, "why don't you go with Trixie?" "But," Twilight tried to protest, "but what about-" "Don't worry, little filly. I'll let you know when I find the answers I'm looking for," he nodded his head towards the door, "now go on, you and Trixie find something else to do until I'm finished up here." Twilight tried once more, but Ancient Scroll just shook his head. She sighed in defeat and trotted out of the room. Outside the study, she spotted Trixie just as she was coming out of the kitchen with a daisy sandwich in her magic. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any... Trixie sat down at the table with her sandwich and as Twilight got closer, she could see a few books on the table in front of the blue filly. One of the books was open and Trixie was scanning through the pages as she ate. Twilight trotted over and hopped into the seat opposite Trixie. "So..." Twilight began awkwardly, tapping her hoof on the table, "you decided to come out here and read instead?" "Trixie has nothing better to do, so she might as well get some more studying done," Trixie answered without looking up, "also she was hungry." "Oh, right," Twilight said rubbing the back of her neck, "you haven't eaten anything since you passed out." Trixie gave a noncommittal grunt and otherwise ignored the lavender filly as she continued to read. Twilight frowned. Why is this so hard all of a sudden? I talk to Trixie all the time! "Um..." Twilight hesitated a moment before continuing, "so... did you need some help?" "Trixie requires no assit... asess... a-" "Assistance?" "No assistance at the moment, thank you," Trixie finished as she flipped to another page. "Alright," Twilight responded glumly, "just... y'know, you did ask for help so... I'm here if you need anything." Trixie paused her reading and looked up at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you have your own magic to study?" "Well... yeah," Twilight replied tentatively. She looked away, rubbing a foreleg, "but I figured it might be a good idea to take a break with everything that happened," she looked back to Trixie, "besides... Dark Magic is... well, it's not really a fun subject to read about when you have the problems I do." "Really?" Trixie asked, raising both her eyebrows in surprise, "and... what kind of problems do you have?" "I'd rather not..." Twilight cut off her immediate response and looked at Trixie contemplatively. No... this could be my chance to open up! Then maybe... Twilight nodded to herself and took a deep breath, much to the blue filly's confusion. "Actually, Trixie," Twilight began, looking at the other filly with a determined frown, "I think it is time I told a little about me - you and Sunset, when she wakes up." Trixie stared at Twilight for a moment with a thoughtful expression before marking the page she was on and closing the book. "...Trixie is listening." Twilight allowed herself a small smile of victory before responding. "Well... I grew up in Canterlot..." Twilight proceeded to Tell Trixie more about herself and her family. She told her about how she was born to a low ranking but well respected noble house, which made Trixie frown for some reason. The dour expression turned to an intrigued one as Twilight told her about some of the things she saw and places she had been to as a smaller filly. It was when she started talking about her personal studies regarding magic the she faltered. "I... didn't really think about it before," Twilight said, her head lowered in thought, "but with all the studying I did at home, I never really got out and made any friends at all..." "Trixie isn't surprised," Trixie responded with a sniff, "when we first started our assignment, you completely ignored everypony around you for an entire day." "What?" Twilight said indignantly, "It wasn't that bad... was it?" Trixie gave the lavender filly a flat look. "Trixie had to literally drag you to the table for dinner because you wouldn't respond after Trixie yelled your name no less than five times," she leaned forward and tapped a hoof on the table for emphasis, "even then you still had your muzzle in that book!" For a long moment, the two fillies stared at each other - Trixie with an exasperated frown and Twilight with a look of shock. "I don't even remember that," Twilight finally said. Trixie glared at her for another second before she snorted and burst into laughter. Twilight soon joined her and together they sat there doubled over in hysterics. "I..." Twilight gasped out between laughs, "I don't know why that's... that's funny, but-" her sentence dissolved into more laughter. "It... it wasn't!" Trixie choked out, "but - but the look on your face!" she pounded a hoof on the table before slumping further into her chair, "Trixie... Trixie can't!" The sound of their guffaws echoed through the house for another few minutes before dying down into chuckles and eventually stopping altogether as they tried to catch their breath. "Oh, sweet Celestia," Trixie exclaimed, wiping her eyes, "Trixie needed that." "You and me both," Twilight replied, nodding in agreement. She then grimaced and, after some hesitation, gave Trixie a serious look. I don't want to kill the mood, but I need to do this. "I hate to do this when we were having a good time, Trixie... but-" "You're going to tell Trixie how you got here, aren't you?" Twilight blinked in surprise as Trixie gave her a morose look. "I saw it on your face when you showed up here," she continued, "Trixie knows that look, Twilight Sparkle. Something really bad happened, didn't it?" Twilight stared at the blue filly across the table for a time, before slowly lowering her head with a small nod. "I don't... really remember everything yet, but some... some bad things happened. I panicked and... I think I accidentally cast a teleportation spell, which is how I got here..." she paused, trying to collect her thoughts. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply before looking back up at Trixie. "I... think my parents... a-and brother are... " her voice became strained as she tried to force the word out, "I think... I-I think somepony..." she grit her teeth and clenched her eyes shut as they began to tear up despite her best efforts to calmly explain. I can't! I can't do it! I want to tell her, but- "You think somepony killed your family." Twilight froze. She slowly turned to Trixie, shocked at the filly's blunt statement. Trixie gave Twilight a sad frown and the lavender filly could see a look of understanding in the other filly's eyes. "You don't have to say it, Twilight Sparkle," she said, sliding off of her chair. She trotted over to Twilight and rested a hoof on her shoulder as she spoke, "Trixie knows... I know a thing or two about losing family." Twilight continued to stare at Trixie with watery eyes. "I... may not have ended up here the same way you did, but..." Trixie looked away, the expression on her face conveying some kind of inner struggle, "well... let's just say I've been hurt too, just... in a different way." Twilight sniffed and wiped her eyes. "R-really?" Trixie nodded, before an unsure look crossed her face. "I... Trixie is glad you decided to tell her more about yourself, Twilight Sparkle..." she said gratefully. She gave a slow shake of her head, "...but Trixie... isn't ready to do the same - not yet anyway," she looked down, guilt evident on her face, "Trixie is sorry." "It's alright, Trixie," Twilight replied, giving her a warm - if teary - smile, "I do feel a lot better now that I told somepony." "Oh," Trixie uttered in surprise, "well, that's... good. Trixie is... glad she could help." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as Trixie shifted her hooves awkardly, not sure what to do at this point. She was about to leave when Twilight suddenly spoke. "Um... Trixie?" she asked quietly, "are... are we friends?" Trixie didn't answer right away, taken aback by the sudden question as she was. She looked at Twilight and nearly flinched at her pleading gaze. She cleared her throat and looked away. "Trixie... supposes she could be your friend... for now." "YES!" "Wha-" Out of nowhere, Trixie found herself tackled to the ground by a laughing lavender filly. "Unhoof Trixie at once!" the blue filly cried as she struggled to free herself from Twilight's grip, "Trixie warns you Twilight Sparkle, she will not hesitate to-" "Thanks, Trixie." Trixie stopped her struggles and looked at Twilight, who was giving her an earnest smile. "You're the first real friend I've ever had, and I wanted to say thank you." Trixie sputtered briefly before turning away, face red with embarrassment. "W-Well of course," Trixie announced dramatically, "naturally you'd be honored to be the friend of somepony who's as Great and Powerful as Trixie!" Twilight giggled as she rose to her hooves. She then frowned and turned her gaze towards the bedroom. "I just hope we can all be friends..." she muttered. "Did you say something, Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight turned to see that Trixie had returned to her seat at the table and was reading through her book once more. Twilight chuckled and shook her head as she trotted into the kitchen to make her own daisy sandwich. "It's nothing, Trixie."