Trixie knew better this time. Sure, she knew she was a bit egotistical and maybe a tad self-absorbed, but she knew it this time and wanted to make it right for once. She wanted to be a good friend to Starlight Glimmer which meant she needed to get her the perfect gift. The only question was what to get her.
It couldn’t be any gift. It needed to be a great gift, something only Trixie could think of and that could only come from Trixie herself. Her first thought was to transmute the most elegant teacup she could as a token of their friendship. The only issue was that her magic was, well, functional at best. She could levitate things and transmute teacups, but her levitation isn’t stellar and all of her teacups look the same. Her mind drifted towards a gift representing her magic tricks since that was her very essence. She considered a fancy wand, a seemingly bottomless top hat, or even a box that was actually enchanted to split a pony into two halves before fusing them back together (without killing the pony, of course). The only issue was that they were all tacky, even for her. The gifted needed to signal equality between her and Starlight and be a true token of respect.
And that’s when it hit her. There was only one gift that could fulfill those goals.
— — —
Starlight walked out of the friendship castle late Hearth’s Warming afternoon. She trudged through a few inches of fresh snow with a saddle pack on her back. In it were a few gifts from Twilight and her friends, none of them being particularly special. Rainbow Dash got her some Wonderbolt-branded warmups which admittedly she should use considering her slightly pooching belly. Twilight got her a book of intermediate-level enchantments focussed on inanimate object transformations through alchemical processes as opposed to typical deformation processes. To a unicorn of her ability, the spells were more for leisure rather than educational. Still, she was itching to take them home and try a couple if at least to see how the different process changed the result. Her last gift came from Applejack who gave her a compiled book of recipes from the Apple family. Starlight didn’t expect anything else. But just the smell of Applejack’s apple tarts that morning made her want to try a recipe or two.
Although none of the gifts were exactly what she wanted, she had been disappointed enough times growing up to understand nopony could read her mind. But the time spent exchanging gifts and the anticipation upon opening one still was fun.
“Hey, Starlight!”
Starlight jumped at the voice, not mistaking who it was. “Trixie? Where did you come from?”
“Nowhere in particular.”
Starlight didn’t want to contemplate what that entailed.
“But instead of coming to show off or appease my fans, the great and powerful Trixie comes with a gift only for my greatest friend.” She plopped a present down in front of Starlight, giving her a nod and a little wink.
Starlight leaned back and looked back and forth between the present and Trixie. Gradually, her horn lit up and unraveled the bow.
“It was difficult coming up with a proper gift for my best friend.”
Starlight tore the wrapper off, opened the box, and pulled out its contents.
“But when the realization came, it was obvious. There was no other gift that could better symbolize Trixie’s friendship and respect.”
It was a replica of Trixie’s hat and cape.
Trixie threw her hooves into the air. “What could be better than gifting the likeness of the great and powerful Trixie herself.”
Starlight stared at the hat and cape for a couple of seconds. “Um…”
Trixie closed her eyes and smiled. “Yes?”
“Isn’t this… how do I put this?”
Trixie put all of her hooves back on the ground. “Huh?”
Starlight averted her eyes. “Don’t you think this is, you know, a little bit weird?”
Trixie stood dumbfounded for a second. “What do you mean by weird?”
“Um… where do I start? It’s kinda…”
“Kinda what? Trixie pressed Starlight.
Starlight paused. “You’re my friend in all, and I like to be around you. But being like you?” She held up the hat and cape. “I don’t know about that.”
Trixie froze. “You don’t like my gift?”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
Trixie brought her hooves to her face. “I got the wrong gift.”
“Trixie, please don’t…”
She started to tear up. “How could I be so stupid?”
“Trixie…”
She held a hoof up to Starlight, wiping a tear. “Don’t even bother. I can’t believe I… I…” She ran away, leaving Starlight behind in a puff of snow.
— — —
“Twilight, I need your help.” Trixie sat in front of Twilight’s desk with wide puppy dog eyes.
Twilight paused her quill atop a long scroll and tilted her head. “Oh really?”
Trixie bobbed up and down. “This is serious!”
“You must be pretty desperate if you’re coming to me for help.”
“You know Starlight better than I do.”
“I do?” Twilight sighed and put her pen and draft decree down. “Fine.”
Trixie hesitated. “I got Starlight a bad gift for Hearth’s Warming.”
Twilight stared into her eyes. “Well, what did you get her?”
Trixie looked around the room. “Well, uh… a replica of my hat and cape.”
Twilight let out a snort.
Trixie rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. She said it was weird too.”
“You think?” Twilight held back a smile.
“But I thought really hard about what to get her. Like, it just made sense to me. I really tried and now I don’t know what I did wrong.”
Twilight paused for a few seconds, leaning her head back and letting out a long “oh.”
“What?”
Twilight put her elbows on the desk and rested her head on her hooves. “That explains a lot, actually.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Trixie, I need you to understand that this isn’t going to be easy for you.”
“I don’t care, I’ll do it.”
“It’s not that kind of…” Twilight took a deep breath. “I need you to think as hard as you can about how Starlight saw that gift.”
Trixie sat still, trying to process what Twilight just said. “But… but I tried.”
“I believe you. But a good gift in your eyes is not the same as a good gift in Starlight’s eyes.” Twilight sipped some tea as Trixie sat in silence. “I’m gonna be honest, this is hard for most ponies, but even more so for you. But if you want to get her a great gift, you need to see that gift through her eyes first.”
Trixie sat still for a second and slowly nodded. “I’ll try.”
— — —
Starlight stood in front of her bedroom mirror in the friendship castle. A nagging sense of curiosity forced her to open the present from Trixie and pull out the hat and cape. Gently, she placed the hat atop her head and tied the cape around her neck before striking a pose. It didn’t look that bad giving her a wizardly appearance. But it was a tad too purple for her tastes. And with her pink coat and purple mane, it was too overbearing. Perhaps she could get the hat and cape dyed to a more complimentary color.
Three knocks rang from her door.
She ripped off the hat and cape and threw them behind her bed, ensuring they were both out of sight. “Coming.” She trotted to the door and opened it, revealing a frowning Trixie. “What are you…”
“I’m sorry, Starlight.”
Starlight paused. “For what?”
Trixie sat dumbfounded for a second. “For your Hearth’s Warming gift.”
“Oh,” Starlight feigned some ignorance. “Yeah, that was kinda weird.”
“Not just for the gift, I’m sorry for not thinking about what you want and only thinking about what I wanted to give you. I’m sorry I couldn’t see through your eyes.”
Starlight smiled and rolled her eyes. “Trixie, most gifts are terrible. Nopony can see through another pony’s eyes, let alone read your mind. All we can do is try our best and hope our friends appreciate what they get. Because let’s be honest, the act of giving is more important than the gift you give.”
A tear ran down Trixie’s cheek. “Thanks, Starlight. But if I can have a second chance…” Her horn glowed as she levitated a potted plant into view. Starlight recognized it immediately. It was a philodendron. “I thought Phyllis might appreciate a friend.”
Starlight smirked and wrapped the plant in her magic. “I’ll name him Phill.”