Twilight had spent the past two days restless, barely able to concentrate on any sort of reading. Try as she might to think about something else, her mind had always wandered to the impending date with Gr8nPwrful – whoever she was. Now it was Wednesday, the day of the date, and Twilight’s mind still dwelled on it, even moreso than on previous days.
Thankfully, Twilight had woken up on time, and managed to catch the right train, so the day was off to a good start, as far as she was concerned. But as she stood in front of Jack’s Java Shack, the café where she was supposed to meet her chat partner, doubt began to crawl into her mind. What if I’m not good enough for her? What if she doesn’t even show up? What if Applejack was right and she’s just going to take advantage of me?
Twilight shook her head vigorously to rid her mind of such thoughts. “No,” she chided herself under her breath. “Everything will turn out fine. You’re going to have a lovely time with a lovely mare – there’s nothing to worry about.” She glanced at the clock tower and saw that it would be three o’clock in five minutes, just like she had planned. After all, she reasoned, it’s better to be a bit early than to be late.
Taking a deep breath and working up all of her courage, Twilight strode into the café. The pleasant fragrance of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods caused a smile to appear on her face; despite the nervousness she felt, it was practically impossible to resist showing a bit of joy. She scanned the café for any sign of her date. The bar where a couple of ponies were serving tea and other drinks held no mares, let alone a mare with a rose in her mane. The tables towards the front of the café had a similar story – the only occupants of those were couples and single stallions. After a few moments she finally spotted the tell-tale sign, a red flower in a silvery blue mane.
The mare in question was seated in a high-backed chair at a table towards the back of the café, facing away from the entrance; unfortunately obscuring any hint of her coat’s color from Twilight. Not particularly caring what her date looked like, she approached the mare, anxiety and glee both rising up inside of her. “Excuse me,” she began, “are you Gr8nPwrful?”
“I certainly am,” replied the mare, in a strangely familiar voice, as she turned to see just who was speaking. “I’m guessing you’re FaithfulStu-” She interrupted herself with a gasp, an action repeated by Twilight upon realising who her date was.
Twilight was standing face to face with Trixie, the unicorn that had caused so much trouble for Ponyville a year ago. The azure mare was wearing a rose in her mane, leaving no doubt that she was Twilight’s date. The lavender mare slapped her hoof against her forehead in disbelief. “Ugh, how could I have been so oblivious? Gr8nPwrful, Trixie, I can’t understand how I missed that!”
“Your lack of intelligence doesn’t surprise Trixie,” commented the azure mare. “Though she is forced to admit she didn’t realise the mare she was talking to was Twilight Twinkle.”
“It’s Twilight Sparkle,” replied the librarian, more surprised that Trixie had partially remembered her name than offended that she didn’t quite get it right.
Trixie scoffed. “Oh whatever. Like Trixie cared enough to remember the name of the pony who drove her out of Ponyville. It’s not like you ruined her life or anything!”
“Ruined your life?” asked Twilight. “All I did was save Ponyville from an Ursa Minor; how could that have ruined your life?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Sparkle,” retorted Trixie, her gaze becoming angrier by the second. “You deliberately humiliated me in Ponyville, just like you’re here to humiliate me in this café!”
Twilight blushed as she realised the truth in Trixie’s words – practically everypony in the café was staring at the pair of them. Trixie’s loud claims of humiliation had attracted much unwanted attention. “Um, can we talk about this elsewhere? That outburst was a little loud… Everypony’s staring at us…”
Trixie slammed her forehooves onto the table before standing up. “Oh, are you embarrassed? I guess now you know how it feels!” she shouted.
“You’re overreacting, Trixie,” said Twilight in an attempt to defuse the situation. “Please, just calm down and then we can talk about this like two rational ponies.”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m out of here.” With that, Trixie’s horn glowed a brilliant magenta, and with a flash of light, she was gone, leaving nothing but a teacup and the rose from her mane lying on the table.
Dozens of thoughts flew through Twilight’s head as she stood there, still the focus of everypony’s attention. The reveal of her date as Trixie had been a surprise, and she was still unsure whether it was comforting, terrifying, or awkward to see her again. What did she mean by knowing how it feels? Did I really ruin her life by doing what I did? “No, that’s silly,” she muttered under her breath. “I saved her. I saved Ponyville.”
The approach of one of the ponies that had been standing behind the bar stirred Twilight from her thought. “Uh, your girlfriend left without paying for her drink,” the pony said in a haughty tone. She was, like much of the population of Canterlot, a unicorn, with a fiery red mane and a yellow coat. “You’re gonna need to pay for it before you leave.”
“She’s not my girlfriend!” shouted a very flustered Twilight. She realised this would not deter the barista from seeking payment, however, and retrieved her bit purse. As she levitated a few coins to the frowning pony, she considered her options. She could just forget about the whole thing, and return to Ponyville, but that would mean she would be forced to admit to Applejack that the date had been a bad idea, and she would still be unsatisfied with her love life. On the other hoof, she could follow Trixie, and attempt further conversation. While that held the risk of angering the azure mare, Twilight had to admit that she was both curious to discover why the computer had paired the two of them, and eager to dispel the notion that she had done any wrong in Ponyville.
Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her, and with a shout of “Keep the change!” to the barista, her horn summoned an aura of magenta light, and she teleported away, hoping that she would be able to find Trixie.