Whistling merrily, Twilight cantered down the stairs into the library proper. She had slept well, awoken easily, and was looking forward to Princess Luna’s latest letter. It had been six days since the last, and they always came on time. She liked that about Luna; Twilight was always one for being punctual.
Almost bouncing on her hooves, Twilight entered the kitchen to find Spike glaring at her. “What?” she asked happily, grabbing a short stack of flapjacks. She coated them in whipped cream and chocolate chips, as was her usual.
“Do you have to be so cheery so early in the morning?” he grumbled. His stack was plain, and half eaten already.
“I’m looking forward to the mail, Spike.” With a giggle, Twilight dug into her meal. Rolling his eyes, Spike continued his. The pair ate in silence, except for the occasional morning grumble from Spike. When the mail slot squeaked open, its old, rusted hinges protesting loudly, Twilight jumped up and ran to the door. She usually let Spike get the mail, but when she was expecting a letter from her pen-pal, she couldn’t resist. That and Spike had been wary of even touching the twine bound scrolls ever since his claw had caught on the seal and received mild frostbite for it.
Gathering up the mail in her magic, Twilight separated Luna’s letter, then sorted through the rest. Most of it was the usual coupons and mail-adverts, though there was a flyer for a new bar opening in town that caught Twilight’s eye. “Nothing important, Spike,” she called out, knowing he liked to be informed.
Extending her magic to the other side of the door, Twilight flipped the sign to open while making her way to her desk. The sounds of Spike cleaning up after breakfast floated in from the kitchen by the time she sat down. Mrs. Cheerilee was bringing her students over in a few hours to gather books for a research project they were working on, and Twilight wanted to be able to give her full attention to that. So she settled into her chair, opened the letter, and quickly read.
The expression on her face started out joyful and full of optimism. With each line that her eyes scanned, that joy faded, slowly replaced by confusion, before concern set in, with a twinge of panic. By the time she had finished, Twilight was chewing on her lower lip, her hoof tapping out a fast staccato rhythm on the floor.
Spike walked in, an eyebrow raised at the noise. “Everything okay, Twilight?” Though he was mostly used to Twilight’s nervous twitches, he always asked.
“NO!” Twilight squeaked back, her voice cracking with worry. “Remember Trixie?”
“Of course. She turned Rarity’s hair green!” The young drake growled, clearly still upset about that.
Twilight deadpanned. “Really? That’s what bothered you the most about her?” Spike shrugged. “Whatever. Anyways, she’s royalty!”
“WHAT?”
With a twitch of panic, Twilight leapt to her hooves and began pacing. “So, Princess Luna, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, had a foal. Through the years, the line has survived. Trixie Lulamoon is Princess Luna’s great times a hundred granddaughter!”
Spike chuckled. “Wow. Guess the apple does fall far from the tree sometimes.”
“Spike! This is serious!”
“Twilight, seriously. Chill out. It’s not like Trixie knows or anything.” With a flippant wave of his hand, Spike started to head into the stacks with a cart of book returns. “Actually, how do you know?”
“Because, Spike, Princess Luna just told me. In her letter. She met with Trixie a few days ago and loved her performance!” A muscle in Twilight’s temple had begun to twitch. “And she’s heard Trixie’s side of the story of what happened!”
Spike stuck his head out from behind a bookshelf. “Oh. So she’s not happy with you.”
“She wants to, ‘Hear my side of things,’ before she decides anything!” Twilight made air quotes with her hooves before returning to her pacing. “How am I supposed to defend myself against Trixie? Who knows what she’s told Luna!” With a sympathetic smile, Spike returned to shelving books.
Grumbling, Twilight grabbed a quill, wet it, and started scrawling a response.
Luna,
I’m glad to hear you’ve found your family. I imagine reconnecting with them after all this time must have been wonderful.
Twilight stopped, biting her lip. She didn’t know how to smoothly transition into what she wanted to say. She couldn’t just come out and accuse Trixie of being a self absorbed, self-important braggart, not if she was technically royalty.
Could she?
Twilight pondered that a while. She and the princess had been growing closer other the past few weeks. Kinda funny how we’ve grown closer through letters than we ever did while actually together…
With a sigh, Twilight took a step back, metaphorically. She went back to one of her best skills, analyzing a problem. If this was any of my other friends, anypony else in Ponyville, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell them about Trixie. I’m only worried because she’s the princess.
She’s asked me to not treat her as a princess, but as a friend. She said she doesn’t want that layer of formality between us. Perhaps that’s why it’s been easier to talk with her; I don’t feel pressured to be my best for her over letters. I can just be honest.
Nodding to herself, Twilight wet the tip of her quill again, and returned to her letter.
However, I must share my concerns regarding Trixie. As I’m sure she has told you, she was in Ponyville a few weeks ago. Her performance, to start, was actually quite good. She is a talented showmare. However, my friends thought she was being too boastful, made their thoughts known, and it went downhill from there. I won’t lay the blame for what happened beyond the scope of her act at her hooves. No, that is squarely upon two colts.
Her act, however, did devolve into petty acts of one-upmanship, insults, and bragging. It was bad. I don’t think she meant ill. It was a bad situation all around. I hope she learns to brag a little less. She’s certainly a talented magician, but I fear her self-centeredness is hurting her career.
As I said, the blame for the incident with the Ursa Minor falls wholly upon the two young colts. While it was Trixie’s bragging that pushed them to it, one could argue, they still ventured into the Everfree Forest and woke the poor thing. I would also like to state that when confronted with her lie, Trixie owned up to it and admitted she couldn’t handle it.
You asked me for my side of the story here. Well, that’s it. Nopony is perfect. If she’s willing to work on her pride, I’d be willing to give her another chance. She is a great showmare, and clearly a talented magician. I would appreciate the chance to talk to another pony studied in magic.
Yours,
Twilight Sparkle
Nxe5
Twilight pulled back, lifted her letter, and read over it. The writing wasn’t her best, certainly not to the level of a letter she’d send to Celestia. But, she reminded herself, I’m not writing to the princess. I’m writing to my friend.
Nodding to herself, Twilight wound the parchment, tied it shut with a length of mulberry ribbon, and set it aside. She’d drop it off in the mail when she went for lunch.