Though the snow had melted and days were becoming warmer, winter had yet to fully relinquish it's hold and that evening was rather chilly. Twilight had been inconsolable over the afternoons events and Ancient Scroll, along with Sunset Shimmer, had decided to give the lavender filly some space until she was able to speak about what happened.
They found Trixie much the same.
The two had tried to enter the bedroom, but the door had been locked from the inside and they could hear the blue filly weeping from within. In light of this, Sunset and Ancient Scroll had left the two distraught fillies alone for the time being.
Eventually night had fallen and, while Trixie had still refused to come out of the bedroom, Twilight had calmed down enough to tell them what happened. As they listened to the lavender filly in the privacy of Ancient Scroll's study, both Ancient Scroll and Sunset were understandably disappointed.
"This is why I told you to drop it, Twilight," Sunset admonished with a frown, "you knew she wasn't ready to tell you about what happened."
Twilight didn't say anything, her still moist eyes firmly directed at the floor.
"She's right, little filly," Ancient Scroll added, "you can't force an issue like this," he shook his head sadly, "and now you know why I didn't tell Sunset about it."
"I just wanted to know more about her," Twilight muttered, keeping her head low, "if I knew what was wrong, then maybe she would feel better talking about it, like me or Sunset."
Sunset shook her head and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"I may have been able to share my problems - and I'm glad I did, Twilight," Sunset spoke, giving Twilight a sad frown, "but from what we can guess, Trixie's problems probably run much deeper than either of ours," she looked back to the old stallion behind the desk, "if Uncle Scroll's guess is correct, then Trixie's been dealing with her pain for far longer than either of us."
Ancient Scroll nodded and took that opportunity to speak up.
"Forcing the issue out into the open like that wasn't the way to go about things, little filly," he leaned forward in his chair and gave Twilight a stern look, "even if she hadn't caught you going through her stuff, she would've known something was going on if you had tried to talk to her, and then you'd be in the same situation you're in now anyway."
Twilight winced and lowered her head further. She had been so focused on getting Trixie to talk about her problems that she hadn't thought about how the actual conversation would go.
Only In hindsight did she realize this plan was doomed to fail from the start.
"...I'm sorry," Twilight said in a small voice, "I didn't mean to upset Trixie, really. I just wanted to help my friend."
Ancient Scroll's frown softened and he sighed as he rose from his chair. He trotted over to the now silently crying filly and lowered himself so that they were face to face.
"Look at me, Twilight," he commanded in a soft tone.
Twilight sniffed and slowly brought her head up to face Ancient Scroll.
When he had her attention he rested his hoof on the filly's head, the stern frown back in place.
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," he chided, "I know you didn't mean to hurt her, but you did, and now you have to find a way to fix things between the two of you."
"But," she sniffed again, "but how? She was... w-was so mad. I don't th-think she ever wants to talk to me again."
"Don't be so sure," Ancient Scroll replied with a small shake of his head, "there will be more opportunities to talk things out with Trixie properly," he tapped Twilight's chest with a hoof, "but it's up to you to figure out what to say to make things right."
"Just do like I said before and give her some time first, Twilight," Sunset added as she stepped up next to Ancient Scroll, "if you're patient and watch carefully, you'll know when it's the right time to say something - although at the very least you should apologize the first chance you get, even if she doesn't forgive you right now."
Twilight flinched, the last statement hitting her like a knife to the heart. Nevertheless she nodded silently and wiped away the tears from her eyes.
"Do you understand what you did wrong?" Ancient Scroll asked.
Twilight nodded.
"And you know not to do it again?"
Another nod.
"That's a good filly," Scroll said, patting Twilight's shoulder with a reassuring smile. He straightened up and trotted back over to his desk as he continued, "this is a lesson everypony learns at some point in their life. Once you and Trixie patch things up like I know you will, you two will be that much closer as friends."
"You... you really think so, Uncle Scroll?" Twilight asked, giving the stallion a hopeful, almost pleading look, "Trixie was the first real friend I ever had. I don't want to lose her."
"And what does that make me?" Sunset teased, causing Twilight to blush, and paw at the floor awkwardly, "of course you're my friend, Sunset," Twilight clarified, "but it was Trixie that I asked to be my friend originally."
Sunset chuckled and wrapped Twilight in a quick hug before backing off with a small smile.
"Don't worry about it, Twilight," she said, shaking her head, "I know what you meant."
Ancient Scroll gave a small chuckle of his own before speaking.
"To answer your question, little filly," he continued, "I'm certain things will work out between you and Trixie, trust me. I've seen ponies reconcile their friendships over worse offenses than this."
Twilight finally gave a small hopeful smile at that.
"Now off to bed with the both of you," Ancient Scroll said, glancing at a clock on the far wall, "we've still got to leave early tomorrow if we want to make it to the festival on time."
Both Sunset and Twilight bid Ancient Scroll a goodnight before trotting out of the study and back into the living room. Sunset's ear twitched and she stopped just outside of the doorway with a frown.
"Sunset?" Twilight asked, eyeing the orange filly in bemusment, "what's wrong?"
Sunset turned a narrow eyed gaze towards the bedroom door on the far side of the living room.
"I... could've sworn I heard the bedroom door shut just now."
Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion and followed Sunset's gaze. She turned back to Sunset with frown a moment later.
"I didn't hear anything."
Sunset stared at the door a moment longer before shaking her head and trotting over to the lit fireplace.
"Nevermind," she said dismissively, "anyway, I'll sleep out here with you tonight so I don't bother Trixie."
"Really," Twilight asked in surprise as she grabbed her wool blanket, "alright then, um..." she looked at the blanket, then back to Sunset awkwardly, "did... you want to share the blanket?" she asked holding it up.
"I'm good," Sunset replied as she threw another log onto the fire, "I can sleep just fine without a blanket, and the fire should be enough to keep me warm."
"Oh... alright then," Twilight said with a shrug. She hopped onto the armchair and wrapped the blanket around herself, taking a few moments to get comfortable, "good night, Sunset."
"Night," Sunset replied as she curled up in front of the fire.
Twilight had a bit of difficulty sleeping as all of her thoughts were focused on what she would say to Trixie - how she would apologize to the blue filly. Eventually she began to drift off to sleep, only to snap wide awake again at the sound of Sunset's earsplitting snores. The lavender filly slapped her hooves over her ears with an irritated groan.
This is gonna be a long night.