Twenty years ago
Twilight was standing on the stage inside the cafeteria and rubbed her chin. She promised Sunset to help with the setup for her friend Trixie’s magic show this evening. A few months ago, she probably wouldn’t have helped Trixie to do that sort of thing. But since Sunset befriended her, Trixie often partook in group activities. So, Twilight came to hang out with and even like her. Plus, she could do a lot of planning and she would aid her friend Sunset, which in turn was reason enough to help.
Carefully she laid out the plan of the setup in her head. Speakers had to go on either side on top of their pedestals. Without really thinking about it anymore, her hands glowed and a purple cloud formed around the speakers to lift them up and hover them on stage.
Trixie provided a banner which read “The great and powerful Trixie” in all caps. Twilight couldn’t help herself but chuckle. Trixie was kind of sweet in her overcompensating, self-doubt overriding, hyper-boastful way of life. But only in small doses. Her sweetness deteriorated rapidly, when all of her characteristics were on max level for more than an hour or so.
That’s why Twilight couldn’t pinpoint how Sunset was able to be friends with her, giving her sometimes impatient nature. But she told her that Trixie was only doing it when others were around and that it had become much better since they were friends.
That was something Twilight could attest to if she thought about it a little. When all of her friends were around, especially Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Trixie pumped up her volume to the top, to outboast even Rainbow Dash. And that in and of itself was a feat not easy to accomplish.
But whenever Trixie, Sunset, and she were alone, her demeanor changed subtly. She sometimes dropped the stage-act entirely and spoke and laughed with them in first person form. That’s when she liked her the most.
Still thinking about that, Twilight fixed the banner with her magic and tied the knots at the top of the stage. Some props that were lying around next to the stage flew up and made their way to the stage when something clattered to the ground.
Since she had already looked another way, to simultaneously tie the curtain to the side, she looked back, surprised at the sound.
She finished strapping the curtain and set down the props on the stage. She went to the side and looked down over the rim curiously. On the ground, a metre and a half down, two of the three juggling pins laid there on the floor, one still rolling around.
That was odd. She looked back and saw the box they were supposed to be in. She actually saw them there earlier. Granted, they were placed on top of it, so they could easily be dropped when someone was carrying it. But with her magic everything was safe inside the purple cloud.
She reached over the rim and the pins were slowly lifted upwards by her powers to her outstretched hands.
Just before she could catch them, she felt the magic amulet around her neck getting hot and a mild static twitched through her hand. The purple glow around her hand and the pins flickered and then went out. She snapped the pins before they could fall back down and looked at her hands in shock.
What. Just. Happened?
Today
Raising her hands to her eye level, Twilight squeezed the top of the pipette, letting a single drop of clear liquid fall into the test tube. Her eyes were closing almost in slow motion as the big droplet plunged into the gooey substance she had formulated earlier today. The moment she opened them again - and stared through her safety goggles at the experiment - the substance hissed, and her eyes widened in shock.
Without skipping a beat, Twilight grabbed the handle of the fume hood and yanked it open with a violent push, threw the test tube inside the ventilation shaft, and pulled the hood back down as fast as she could. In an unnecessary but reflexive motion she turned her back and kept her head down attempting to shield herself from whatever happened next.
Her lab partner looked over to her across the room, raising her eyebrows in astonishment. "Everything alright there, Twilight?"
A sudden plopping sound and a low sizzle from under the hood let Twilight flinch a little, before looking back at the failed experiment. "It appears so. Thanks for asking." She straightened herself up and smoothed the wrinkles out of her lab coat. "That was rather disappointing," she mused, pushing the button for the ventilation and watched the toxic fumes being sucked into oblivion.
"Back to the drawing board then," she sighed and wrote something in her notebook as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and frowned at the screen, "Huh-," she exclaimed, earning another look.
"What is it?" Scribble asked while she came over to look at the notes Twilight had written down. "Something wrong?"
Twilight looked up at her friend and shrugged. "I'm not sure." She took her safety goggles off and used her index finger to push her glasses up her nose as they were coming down again. "I got a message from Sunset. She said it's urgent and I should meet her in the city. She just ran into Trixie Lulamoon."
"Trixie? From High School? Wow, I haven't thought about her in a long time." Scribble laughed and looked amused. "Do you think she still refers to herself in the third person? That was so weird."
"I guess we all were," Twilight answered absentmindedly, "But I'm not sure why Sunny wants me to meet up with them. It's not like Trixie and I were close or anything."
"I guess you have to go there to find out. Knowing Sunset Shimmer, she is not going to tell you via text, just to tease you."
"Yeah, you're right." Twilight looked back at her experiment and down at her notes.
"Don't worry, I’ll clean it up"
"You would? Thank you, Scribble." She grabbed her notes and put them neatly in her shoulder bag, sorting them just behind her pencil case and in front of the Laptop, as usual. Zipping the bag shut and already moving to the door, she half turned to say something as her ponytail whacked her cheek, causing her eye to twitch. "Ow!"
Scribble Dee smiled, "Yes, Twilight, I will be careful. I know the compound is unstable and highly responsive to phenylalanine. I helped you develop it, remember? Plus, I saw you throwing it under there" – she jerked her thumb over her shoulder – "because you used too much of the reagent."
Feeling her cheeks burn up from the inside, Twilight just nodded. "Right. Yes. See you tomorrow, Scrib"
"Just go."
Twilight skipped down the stairs in front of the university to get to her car. On her way to the parking lot, she waved at Micro Chips, who just arrived for his first lecture after he was appointed to a professorship. “Micro,” she called and waved.
He smiled wearily and waved back.
The way he looked, he must have prepared all night long. She tried to give him an encouraging smile “Good luck in there. You are going to ace it, Professor.”
This seemed to motivate him a great deal and he straightened up, to take the steps in front of him with more energy than before. “Thanks, Twilight.”
Twilight chuckled and put her bag in the back seat before she got in the front and started her car.
On her drive over to the city her thoughts began to wander around. Sunset knew she was at work and still she felt the need to text and ask her to get to her as soon as she could. That was very peculiar, since she really hadn’t thought about Trixie in ages. She knew that Sunset and her were friends for a while.
But Sunny went on a travel spree after High School, before going off to college. She stayed in touch with Twilight and her friends because they used to hang out together all the time.
Trixie however didn’t; that’s just how things are sometimes. As far as Twilight knew, she stayed here in Canterlot her whole life. But what happened after their time at CHS was beyond her.
Thoughtfully, Twilight pursed her lips and tried to remember what Trixie was like at school. But all she could ever think of was her attitude and her over the top stage persona that led to more than one laugh she shared with her friends. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t a very nice thing to do.
As her mind pondered what the last 20 years had been like, she realised that she circled the café that Sunset and Trixie were supposed to be in at least twice. “Oops,” she chided herself and pulled over to get a parking spot nearby.
As soon as she entered the small shop, she spotted both women at a table towards the back wall. She waved and went to greet them. She gave her friend a heartfelt hug, before she turned around to meet Trixie’s eyes. “Hello, Trixie,” she addressed her, “It’s nice to see you again. I mean, It has been a long time, hasn’t it?”
She nodded. “Yes it has,” she replied, and then sniffled a little under her breath.
Twilight frowned at her and then looked back at Sunset. Both of their eyes were reddened, and Sunset clutched a handkerchief in her fist. “Have you been crying?” She asked rather baffled.
Trixie inhaled to let out an all so familiar rant about how the great and powerful Trixie would never cry or something like that, but Sunset laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
“Yes, Twi, we have. Why don’t you sit down and we tell you everything there is to know about what happened.”
Twilight listened intently while Sunset summarised the last couple of hours. The closer she got to telling Twilight about using her magic, the lighter Trixie’s blue skin went as she paled. Twilight saw her shifting on her chair uncomfortably.
Sunset stopped talking when Twilight laid a hand on her forearm, using her chin to gesture towards Trixie.
For the first time since they arrived, Twilight realised that Trixie without her swaggering demeanor that she was used to, looked very tired. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and she looked as though she hadn’t slept properly in a long time.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked and smiled warmly. “You look like you could use a glass of water.” She looked over her shoulder and tried to get someone from the staff to see her.
“No, it’s alright,” Trixie replied, “I-I just need to-” she gestured towards the restrooms and stood up.
Before any of the other two could muster a response, Trixie was already in motion and made her way to the door she had pointed to.
“If she weren’t so stressed out, I’d make a joke about her at least not using a smoke bomb.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile at Twilight’s remark.
“Come on, that was a classical magician’s exit. At least it would have been twenty years ago. She would have avoided such a situation at all costs. Just like that.” She pointed after her. “And the way she looked, and the direction your story was taking, I fear that you were only missing the big ending, huh?”
The redhead buried her face in her hands and sighed heavily “You are right, it’s not funny at all,” came her muffled voice from underneath her hands. She wiped her face and drew in a deep breath. “You see, Trixie is in a very bad place right now. Her whole life seemed to be one pitfall after another.”
“Hold on. She actually told you that? You meet her after 20 years and the first thing she does is spill her guts just like that?”
“Well, not exactly,” Sunset confessed, “Twilight, I texted you to come right away, because something happened.”
She looked around, as if she thought someone would attack her at any moment, automatically clutching her amulet as she often did when she talked about her magic. “I saw her memories.” She raised her head and looked at Twilight pleadingly “It hasn’t been this strong in years, Twi,” she almost whispered. “I could see everything. Her thoughts, her feelings. Everything! Even things from her childhood.”
Twilight’s eyes went round and she touched her own violet pentacle that hung around her neck. “Are you serious? What does that mean? Did Princess Twilight write to you? Did she find a way to reopen the portal again?” Twilight bombarded her friend with questions who sat there, helplessly shrugging her shoulders at every single one of them.
“I-I don’t know,” she just said, “I haven’t checked the book yet, it just happened an hour ago.” Sunset held up her hand and touched her temple, squeezing her eyes together at the same time. “Thinking back… it-it was a lot to process. I feel very mushy.” She opened one eye to look back at her friend. “Twi? I think Trixie was the reason my magic surged.”
Worried about her, Twilight reached over and took Sunset’s other hand, smiling encouragingly. “Since nothing else is out of the ordinary and the only thing different is you meeting Trixie; I think you might be right.”
Sunset nodded and seemed to regret that decision right away, judging by her face distorting in pain.
“Ok, maybe we should get you home first. Then we can talk about it.” She looked across the room where Trixie had vanished. “And maybe her, too,” she contemplated. “Do you know if she has anybody who could take care of her?” she asked, looking back at her.
“No,” Sunset replied, “I mean, no I don’t know.”
“Hm, do you think we should take her? You know, let her sleep in our guest room? She looks really exhausted. Maybe –” she stopped and put on a small smile “– maybe she needs a friend right now.”
Sunset returned the smile and nodded “I think that is a good idea. I do hope she will come with us.” She turned her head just in time to see Trixie leave the restroom and make her way back to them.
“Let’s ask then, shall we?” Sunset got up and wobbled as she came to her feet, but found her balance eventually.
Twilight tried to stabilize her and put an arm around her waist. “Careful.”
With a barely noticeable indecision, Trixie arrived at the table. She looked fresher and the bags under her eyes were hardly visible anymore. “Well, it was nice meeting you two again,” she chirped in a cheerful manner, “Let’s do that again sometime shall we?”
Twilight raised her eyebrows and both she and Sunset looked at each other at the same time. She could see the surprise in her eyes as well as a hint of scepticism. Sunset had the same thoughts apparently.
She turned back to face Trixie again and started talking: “Trixie, Sunset and I had an idea. Would you like to accompany us back to our flat? Maybe we’ll find a way to get you back on your feet.” Twilight instantly blushed as she saw the look of displeasure on Trixie’s face “Wait no. I meant that I know some people who might like to hire a professional magician. We could talk about that if you’d like.”
A wide smile appeared on Trixie’s face “Well not that Trixie needs to have help to get a gig, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to check out new options, am I right?” She gestured towards the entry of the café. “Lead the way.”
Twilight shared another look with her friend and finally led Sunset to the door, paying the bill as they walked past the counter.
A few steps away from the car she stopped and looked over her shoulder to see Trixie following her, smiling disturbingly bright.
Before getting into the car, Sunset glanced back at her as well. “I’ll text you the address.”
Trixie nodded and walked down the street to get to her own car.
Twilight shook her head and removed her arm from around her friend. “Let’s get you home, ok?” She proceeded to put Sunset in her car and walked around the hood to get to the driver’s seat.
For a second, she stared after Trixie, her fingers gently touching her amulet again. She looked at her other hand and then up. The aerial seesawed gently in the wind as she concentrated and tried to move it. Purple sparks erupted from her fingertips, but fizzled out after a few centimetres. “Hmm,” she mused and finally got into her car.