After the duel
The offer
Everypony knew that the night was dark. But until they traveled at night they couldn't really say just how dark it was. While the moon and the stars provided a decent amount of illumination it simply wasn't adequate to properly highlight the treacheries of the road. Upturned tree roots, half buried stones, pot holes and countless other hazards just eagerly awaiting to snag a hoof and twist an ankle on some unsuspecting pony.
It didn't help any that a rainstorm was currently raging away, the thick clouds effortlessly blocking out whatever light Luna's night sky had to offer, and the sheets of rain doing much to dampen the light that was emitting from Twilight Sparkle's horn right now. This storm had definitely not been scheduled for tonight!
She was far away from her library home in Ponyville right now. Away from her nice warm bed and a stack of wonderful books to read, trekking through only Celestia knew where. She'd been out here for hours, leaving the moment she could slip away without being missed by either Princess Celestia or the visiting dignitaries from Saddle Arabia. And in those hours she'd covered...she didn't even know what she'd managed to cover in that time, she was ashamed to admit she'd lost count of how many feet, yards and perhaps miles she'd crossed since setting out.
Normally she'd be at home right now and reading, curled up on her favorite cushion with a good book that talked about the hypothetical theory of the atomic structure of mana and how the exchange between electrons and neutrons fueled the use of magic in the real world. But instead she was out here performing the difficult feat of casting not only an illumination spell but also a forcefield so she could both see where she was going and not get drowned in the downpour.
Technically though she was currently casting three spells simultaneously, two of them active and one passive, the third one being a locator spell designed to home in on a specific magical frequency she'd picked up on back in Ponyville. She was following it like the needle of a compass and desperately searching for any sign of her quarry.
"Where can she be?" she asked herself rhetorically, feeling like the locator was going around in circles right now. She had never been so thankful for a time that she hadn't accepted Spike's offer of assisting her in her endeavor.
"Alright Twilight let's just think about this from a logical perspective. Taking into account the current weather activity, possible athletic qualities, existing physical conditions, uncertainty on the part of the locator beacon..." she mumbled to herself as she looked around, straining to keep everything balanced at the same time. "Think. Where could she possibly be?" she asked herself rhetorically as if an audible query of the question her mind was asking would make the difference in the matter.
"ACHOO!"
"Bless you," Twilight said without even thinking. She certainly hadn't sneezed. And nopony else was present who could've sneezed. She immediately froze in her tracks and looked around again, harder this time. "Could it be?" she asked herself.
She concentrated on the locator spell, switching it from passive to active to try and boost its reliability, the light coming from her horn now dimming as the division of magic was interrupted. Now it was starting to come in stronger and give a more stable reading in a single direction. She followed close behind.
The locator spell lead her over to a large tree, or more accurately the base of the tree. Well to be absolutely precise who was at the base of the trunk of the tree and seeking refuge from the torrents of rain, no matter how flimsy it was.
"Finally. Thank Celestia," she said to herself as she stepped closer and looked down at her quarry.
Her mission had been to find Trixie. It wasn't an assignment hoofed down to her by Princess Celestia with regard to her using the Alicorn Amulet. Nor had it been a task assigned by the mayor of Ponyville so she could be brought to trial for the chaos she'd caused. No this was of her own free accord. And after so many hours of wandering about that task had been completed. She found the former showmare resting uneasily under the canopy of the tree, curled into a little ball and shivering as she tried to keep dry and warm, her cape and hat offering little in the way of protection against the elements. Even the canopy of the tree seemed to be doing little against this unplanned tempest.
Wordlessly Twilight approached and extended her forcefield, blocking out the rain with a far greater level of protection than the fabric goods.
"Now I don't need this locator spell anymore," she said to herself and mentally cut off the flow of magic to the third spell, allowing her resources to more directly fuel the forcefield and the illumination spell. That was much better. "Trixie," Twilight said softly as she shook her shoulder in an attempt to rouse her from her uneasy sleep.
The showmare's eyes slowly opened as she lifted her head to try and identify the source of her disturbance. She'd been expecting to meet with the darkness of the night and was surprised to see actual light instead, making identification easier. "T-Twilight Sparkle?" she asked hesitantly, caught off guard by the purple unicorn's presence. she was the last pony she'd ever expected to see out around these parts and at this hour...whatever hour it was anyway. "W-what are you doing out here?"
"I came looking for you," Twilight said as she stepped a little closer.
"For what purpose did you seek out Trixie?" she asked hesitantly. She'd left Ponyville under less than good circumstances, leaving before any of the residents could forcefully drive her out for her actions while under control of the Alicorn Amulet. And even though some seemed to understand that she wasn't in control of her own actions others had not been so quick to accept the fact.
"A lot of reasons really. Mainly because I feel that I'm partly responsible for everything that's happened," Twilight replied. When Trixie simply looked at her in a confused manner she took it as a sign to continue. "When you first came to Ponyville you were just trying to do your routine with your usual flare and make some bits doing what you knew. Granted you were a bit arrogant but..." she paused and stopped herself, "sorry. I didn't mean to turn this into anything resembling a lecture. Anyway we shouldn't have taken offense to your style of doing things since it was your own. None of us are in show business so we really weren't the best to be determining what was best."
"You are correct so far," Trixie stated but said nothing after that.
"The town didn't blame you for the Ursa Minor showing up. It's not your fault Snips and Snails couldn't tell when somepony is telling an entertaining story that's designed to wow rather than educate. But you left so quickly nopony had any chance to talk to you. We couldn't even help you salvage anything from your wagon that might've survived. Not that much did but we would've tried anyway. And when we tried looking for you the first time we couldn't find you anywhere, you were long gone."
She paused to let Trixie talk. However the showmare continued to remain silent as she watched her and listened, shivering the entire time from the cold dampness that clung to her.
"And then when you showed up again and started causing havoc with the Alicorn Amulet..." Twilight paused again. "Trixie I'm so sorry for what you went through. I heard your story about your experiences after your routine was ruined by the Ursa Minor. I'm sorry you had to work on a rock farm for whatever they'd pay you, how you must've saved up for months to buy the Alicorn Amulet to boost your own magic, whatever you must've been forced to do to scrimp and save your money. And then...all that hard work for nothing. Being controlled by that accursed relic, shunned for not being in control of your own actions, your investment gone in the blink of an eye and you left with absolutely noth-"
"Is there a point to your story Twilight Sparkle or did you simply come to rub salt in Trixie's wounds?" she asked pointedly, clearly annoyed with everything being recounted to her in such graphic detail when it was still fresh in her mind.
"I was just about to get to that point, honest. I know that in some way I'm responsible for everything you went through and I feel terrible for that. I want to make it up to you if I can. Will you come back with me to Ponyville?" she asked.
"So you wish for Trixie to accept your offer because you want to assuage your own guilt over making her suffer?" she asked as she looked over at her and scowled. "Trixie has no interest in making you feel better about your own problems."
"It's not that at all. I didn't come out here looking for you because I feel like I need to make reparations. I came out here because I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through and I want to be your friend," Twilight stated.
"You...you wish to be Trixie's...to be my friend?" she asked, caught off guard by the other unicorn's words.
"Yes I do. Before I came to Ponyville I didn't have any friends, I didn't think it was important. But then I started learning about the magic of friendship and how wonderful it is. And now that I have friends I can't imagine ever going back to what it was like when I lived in Canterlot. Looking back it was so lonely and I was blind to see it. And I wouldn't wish that loneliness on anyone no matter what. Nopony deserves to be without friends no matter what they might've done, deliberately or otherwise," Twilight explained. She paused to let Trixie think over what she'd said before continuing. "Can I be your friend Trixie?" she asked.
"Trixie appreciates your offer but she has no intention of returning to Ponyville a third time. She is fine where she is. You may go Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said in a dismissive nature as if she were holding attendance at a classroom.
Twilight remained silent and unmoving from her spot. Trixie was firm and unyielding about wanting to be left alone and was more stubborn than Rainbow Dash and Applejack combined. She sighed and closed her eyes as she sat upon the wet ground and dropped her shield, allowing the rain to continue beating down on Trixie once again, but also herself.
"I'm not leaving you out here alone Trixie," Twilight told her as her coat quickly became soaked. "Whether you stay here or pick up and move on tonight I'm going to stay by your side so you at least have somepony to talk to," she said as calmly as she could even as the chill of the rain began to set in and make her shiver.
"Hmph! Trixie does not care what you do one way or the other Twilight Sparkle. It is no concern of hers if you catch cold standing in the rain," she said and turned to look away.
"You'll catch pneumonia long before I catch cold, you've been out longer," Twilight pointed out. However her tone softened as she began to speak again, employing another plea to the other unicorn. "Please come back to Ponyville? You'll have a warm bed and a dry place to sleep. You can stay in the library with me for as long as you need. You won't have to go hungry for days at a time. I'll even let you study some of my spell books so you can increase your range of magic and its application. And I'll even ask Princess Celestia myself if she can talk with the merchant who sold you the Amulet and see about getting you some of your money back."
"You..." Trixie paused, finding herself stunned by Twilight's words. "You would do all of that for Trix...for me, if I were your friend?" she asked.
Twilight wanted to say that she would, but the coldness of the rain was making her shiver harder than before and she found it more difficult to talk and instead she had to settle for simply nodding in response.
Trixie didn't know what to say. She'd left Ponyville harboring still smoldering resentments and doubts about where she would go from there as she had no money left, not even a bit to pay for her next meal. In the middle of a sudden and unexpected rainstorm she'd taken shelter under a tree only to be sought out by Twilight Sparkle who sat there in the middle of the downpour allowing herself to be soaked to the bone and extended the most...generous offer she'd ever heard before in her life. And she was asking nothing in return except for her to be her friend. She was...she was genuinely touched by the generosity.
"Trixie...I mean I accept your offer Twilight Sparkle, I will be your friend," Trixie said as she stood up and approached her.
"T-t-thanks Trixie," she stuttered, unable to stop her teeth from chattering. "L-l-let's go back to Ponyville now, it's not fit for even Discord out here!"
"Ponyville is a long way's back, Twilight Sparkle. Are you certain you can walk the distance?" Trixie asked, already wondering if she would need to carry the purple unicorn on her back.
"N-n-no need t-t-to walk. We can teleport back," Twilight pointed out. "Are you ready t-to go back and get warmed up and dry?" she asked.
"Yes Twilight Sparkle, I am more than ready. Let us depart from this cold, damp, inhospitable piece of the forest for someplace better. You need a warm bath or you will wind up quite sick. And right now I am quite hungry and in desperate need of something to eat," Trixie stated.
"W-whatever you say, friend," Twilight stuttered as she wrapped a foreleg around one of Trixie's to hold onto her. The glow of her horn increased as she focused on a new spell.
In the blink of an eye and a puff of smoke they were gone, departing for the library and the warmth and comfort it had to offer them both.