Chapter 1
Twilight hummed in delight as she kicked the door shut behind her and danced across the polished-smooth floor of the Ponyville library. Her magic gently lowered the multiple parcels she had carried home from the post office onto the floor beside a wide table with other recent releases.
Still humming, she carefully removed the brown paper covering the first package. Inside was a string-bound stack of fresh, first edition books that were to be added to the library's collection. Yes, it was that oh-so-delightful day of the year when updates to encyclopedias, dictionaries, and history books alike were sent out and she got to read them all again.
"Ah, I love the smell of fresh parchment in the morning." Twilight inhaled deep, reveling in the yet unread knowledge that sat all around. A giggle of anticipation leaked out of her as she ran a hoof over one beautifully bound cover.
Her magic swirled from pile to pile, meticulously working until every stack was unwrapped, untied, and organized in neat rows, ready to be reorganized a second time into their appropriate places on the bookshelves.
“All right, my pretties! Let’s do this.” Twilight cleared her throat and set to work.
A quill floated up beside her and began to check off the boxes of her checklist, while the books themselves floated one at a time to their new homes. At the same time, she debated whether or not to begin an impromptu re-shelving day in honor of the large influx of new arrivals.
As the parade of books danced their way to the shelves, a particularly captivating title floated past Twilight, and she stopped to give it a closer look.
"Oh, 'Enchantments and Advanced Magical Tampering for the Curious' by Professor Murphy!" she read aloud. "I've been waiting months for this to get here!" She let out a girlish squeal of delight, dancing briefly in victory. "Finally, I should be able to reference this and get started on my potion project again."
Twilight lovingly floated the book to the nearby desk, perfectly lining it up with the edge as it was set down. While she was at it, she straightened a piece of paper that was slightly off kilter with the chair's angle, too.
Twilight checked another of the books from the bundle, then floated it to a shelf before grabbing a second. All the while, she noted with glee what order she might like to read each one later on. "Tonight, I think I'll just curl up with some tea and maybe convince Spike to cook one of his mouth watering soufflés. When he gets back of course—"
Without warning, the door to the Ponyville library burst open and banged against the wall with a crash. A painting on the small table there fell, shattering and adding to the chaos.
Twilight gasped, and several books clunked to the floor as her magic released them.
"Twilight Sparkle," an angry, familiar sounding voice hissed out. "It is I, The Great and Powerful Trixie! And it's high time you paid for your crimes!"
"What the—" Without looking, Twilight quickly realized precisely who was trying to stand menacingly in her doorway. Her shock quickly melted into calm exasperation, and she began picking her books up again.
"Trixie?" Twilight sighed quietly. "What are you doing?" If Twilight had met the mare ‘Trixie’ only once before, she couldn't have forgotten her even if she tried. Lately, Twilight was having the misfortune of seeing the uninvited guest far too often.
"As Trixie suspected.” Trixie stared down her muzzle at her quarry. “You thought you could hide from her here in your hovel? Well, she’s outsmarted you, and through cleverness alone has gained entrance! Now, you'll pay in full, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight stared back glumly, catching on that Trixie hadn't exactly listened. She tried again. "It's a public library, Trixie. Of course you got in. Now what are you doing? And haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
Trixie's scowl deepened, her grand entrance not having the effect she had wanted on her most hated nemesis. She recovered and stepped in, walking slowly as if she owned the place. "Ah, Trixie is glad you asked, Sparkle. Not about knocking, mind; Trixie does not need to knock! But as for why she is here… you see, after the embarrassment which your stupid town—"
Twilight groaned out loud, wiping a hoof down her face.
She tuned out the speech, which was the same one Trixie always rambled off when she "returned" for revenge. This intrusion was the fourth time for the month, the last one having been in the middle of her friends' monthly tabletop session the night before.
On top of that, it was only the fifth day of the month.
The door didn't seem to be destroyed, at least, but the glass on the floor would need cleaning and replacing.
"—and ever since that day, Trixie hasn't been able to so much as sleep at night! But she’s trained, studied! All to pay you back! And is finally ready to make good on that promise." Trixie gestured to the heavens with an outstretched hoof. "So, Trixie is here now to—"
Twilight looked up, not sensing any sign that Trixie was slowing down soon. "That's nice, Trixie, but look, I'm very busy right now, and I don't have time to mess around. I hope you got that job that Mayor Mare said you needed to get and have some spare bits. It's illegal to be a squatter in Ponyville, you know. So can you pay for this?" She gestured to the broken glass with a hoof.
Trixie raised an eyebrow at the mess she'd made, then snorted derisively. "Such a lowly matter is beneath the Great and Powerful Trixie, Sparkle." She grinned wickedly, though it lessened into a proud smirk as she swept off her tall hat onto a nearby bench. "At least, it will be, now that Trixie is about to exact her full revenge on you!"
Twilight's expression became more worn out and annoyed by the second as she began cleaning the mess up with her magic. "Oh, is that so?" she asked distractedly. "Okay, Trixie. What genius scheme have you cooked up this time?"
"They are not schemes!" Trixie shot back. "They are carefully laid out plans, all of them hoof-crafted by yours truly to bring about your utter and complete humiliation! Just as you had done to me, Sparkle..." She drew out the name slowly, glowering her challenge.
"Ah huh." Twilight unceremoniously dumped the glass into the nearby waste bin. I wonder if I could talk Spike into making a pie for dessert, too. She trotted slowly over to the door, where she planned to wait patiently until she could coax Trixie into leaving. Typically, the crazy mare would just stay until she was bribed off with lunch, and would often claim that had been her plan all along.
"But now Trixie has you right where she wants you!" Trixie went on, puffing out her chest and sizing up her sworn enemy. "You have fallen into a trap, you see. This whole time Trixie has been studying you, watching you for weaknesses, and she’s discovered where to hit you hardest."
Twilight rolled her eyes, amazed that she had actually listened the whole way through. "If you're talking about you skulking in my bushes over the last week, I knew you were there. I just didn't have the heart to tell you to go away."
Trixie's eyes widened. "You mean you saw through the camouflage spell!?" She gave her nemesis a disbelieving look.
Twilight blinked. "Were the leaves in your hair supposed to be the disguise?"
Trixie spluttered briefly. "Of course not you fool! As if just leaves would be sufficient cover. Are you completely empty headed?"
Twilight suppressed another sigh and leaned against her door.
"You weren't supposed to be able to see me at all!" Trixie balked. After, she raised a hoof to her chin slowly. "Perhaps I... Perhaps Trixie didn't cast the spell quite right..."
"Nooo," Twilight intoned while absently looking around the room, or anywhere but Trixie. "There's no way that's what happened. After all, you're the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She sat on her haunches and waved her hooves around a little in the air. A tired breath escaped her, and she deadpanned at her home's intruder. Normally, she wouldn't be so mean, but revisiting the same situation, and the same scenario over and over was getting old.
Is Trixie crazy, or in denial? Gotta be one of the two— Twilight waited for the inevitable outburst of bravado from Trixie, but it didn't come. Trixie merely seemed to study her, not wearing any emotion or discernible mood on her muzzle.
Too late, Twilight finally noticed the steadily brightening glow that was emanating from the other mare's horn.
Trixie slowly drew in a deep breath, her front hooves spreading out before her as she squared herself up. "Laugh while you can, Sparkle! But Trixie has been studying from the very books she borrows from your library! She’s researched dozens of spells, and they were hoof-picked to get her perfect revenge!"
"Those books are overdue, Trixie." Twilight held a foreleg over her eyes, impressed, but not yet blown away by the show of magic from the normally lackluster magician. For all she knew, Trixie was just casting a really strong light spell or something showy.
"Enough!" Trixie shut her eyes. "You'll soon be singing a different tune!" she cried out defiantly. "And it will be one to my liking!" Her face became strained as whatever spell she was conjuring built in intensity.
Twilight's eyes widened, impressed. "Oh, wow! Trixie that's really good. I haven't seen somepony channel that much energy since—" She wasn't able to finish her sentence, cutting off with a strangled gasp of surprise.
A blinding flash of bluish magical aura filled the room as a spell of unprecedented power from Trixie zapped Twilight right in the face.
Twilight slowly picked herself up off of the ground, a groan of pain escaping her as she did. "Ohhh, what happened?" She blinked around herself as the room came into focus from being a hazy blur.
A blue spot in that blur bobbed up and down, and said, "Did it work? How do you feel? Did I actually get it right!? Get up, Sparkle, I need to know!"
Twilight's eyes spun around in her head as the blur with Trixie's voice began shaking her roughly.
"Fwha— Hey, stop it!" Twilight pushed back, regaining her balance just in time to catch herself on the way down. She narrated her assessment of things in hopes of better understanding what had happened. "Oh, wow, dizzy, vision is returning slowly, horn hurts..." After looking over herself, she concluded everything seemed normal. She blinked around at the blurry room, settling a narrowed glare at an impatient looking Trixie.
"What in Celestia's name did you do?" She barely had time to finish her question before Trixie's lip, surprisingly, began quivering. Her scowl lessened slightly, at a loss.
"Nothing, apparently!" Trixie burst out, and devolved into a fit of crying.
“Uhm… Trixie?” Twilight rubbed a hoof behind her head, unsure of what to make of the sight.
Trixie bit back a choked sob while glaring at the ground. "I tried so hard! Months of practice just for this moment!" She cast a foreleg over her eyes and whipped around to face away, hiding herself as she sobbed harder. “Thi-This is your fault! Your taunting pushed me over the edge and I wasn’t ready yet to exact my revenge!”
Twilight frowned, unsure if this were an act. Trixie had even dropped speaking in the third person. “Don't you do this almost every other week?" It was true, Trixie would show up during picnics, get-togethers, and even followed her to Canterlot once. The only thing new was Trixie's sudden crocodile tears. “You can still… try again next time?”
Twilight really didn’t want to encourage another return visit from Trixie, but the waterworks were getting to her.
"I j-j-just can't believe it didn't work!" Trixie went on, wailing and ignoring Twilight.
Mmhm, failure was definitely never a possibility for the Great and Powerful Trixie, Twilight thought, but managed to at least keep herself from saying it out loud this time. What she did say was something kinder, productive, and utilitarian, which was far more befitting of the Princess' prized student.
"Trixie, look, I'm still really sorry about what happened back then to you and your cart." Twilight paused momentarily to recall just how many times she'd repeated this to Trixie. The other mare’s stubbornness was certainly second to none. "You don't need to do this to yourself, or try to get petty revenge. We could be friends, or at least just get on with our own lives! You shouldn't be so concerned with others' opinions of you in the first place if it affects your happiness like this—"
Trixie interrupted, her back still to Twilight. “F-Fine! You want to know the truth? I’ve tried letting go, Sparkle, but I just can’t! I d-dwell on my failure and your success every time I see your stupid face in the papers.” She sniffled harder and looked over her shoulder. "What others think of me is what makes me happy. Dazzling them, impressing them, but how can I when I'm so far in the shadow of somepony else like you? While my pride is in such tatters because I’m so weak? I was living a lie before, and I can’t go on like that any longer!”
Trixie gave a frustrated shake of her head as she confessed every embarrassing detail. “And I doubt you’d understand what that feels like at all, Sparkle. You who have success in everything you do, like some perfect little pony princess or something!"
Twilight stared blankly at the blubbering mare, before rolling her eyes and floating a tissue over to her. Trixie snatched it out of the air, then proceeded to blow into it hard enough to create a honk that would rival a dragon, or possibly Rarity on a bad day.
"I guess I wouldn’t know, Trixie," Twilight said slowly, and rested a hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "But maybe we could figure it out together, if you'd accept my help?"
Trixie wiped the tears in her eyes away fiercely to stare at the hoof on her shoulder. She then looked up and held Twilight's concerned, earnest stare. "Help? You always offer that… Why would accepting pity from you make me feel any better, huh?”
“Trixie.” Twilight smiled reassuringly. “You’ve already admitted to me what the problem is. The next step is to try and overcome it. Look, I’ll be honest, I don’t owe you anything, but I’m still willing to help try and make you feel better if you are.”
Trixie’s eyes shifted quickly between the floor and her old rival. “I won't be made a laughing stock?" she asked.
Twilight shook her head. "Of course not, Trixie. You just need to give a little to get a little. That's what friendship's all about!" She turned around swiftly, already hatching a plan. She had scheduled a day of respite and relaxation already, but if she could help Trixie out, finally, it would be worth it to give that up. "Here, I'll put on some breakfast, and then I'll show you this fascinating book that just came in the mail that's all about friendship and forgiveness!"
Trixie levitated another tissue her way, not really sure what to think, other than perhaps it was really time she tried something different. Maybe her rival wasn't so bad after all?
Twilight sifted through one of her piles of newly received books, quickly finding the one she wanted. "It covers being happy with who you are in order to enjoy the company of those around you, and more! Oh, and before I forget again, your wagon is fixed and is parked by the Ponyville... your wagon... your... uhm." She stared at the hardback, and suddenly her stomach gave a rumble.
Before Twilight knew it, she had a portion of the book stuffed in her mouth, and as if compelled, bit a sizable chunk out of it. She had a moment to register that the book tasted a great deal like... the best chocolate she had ever eaten. After that brief horrifying thought, she swallowed, and the pages were gone.
From across the room, Trixie gasped, then let out a cheer in victory. "It worked! It worked after all! Hahaha!" She let out a manic, if girly cackle before proceeding. "Yes! Now, Sparkle, now you'll feel every ounce of the shame that Trixie has ever felt because of you!"
"What!?" As Twilight voiced her complaint, she again stuffed the book in her mouth. She tried to fight it, but couldn't. "Why can't I stop!?" she yelled, but with her mouth full it sounded more like, "'y ka'c't aye ‘top!?"
Soon, bits of paper and bookbinding littered the floor, with Twilight sitting astride the carnage and gasping for breath. "Ah!" she squawked, and desperately tried to save what was left of her book on friendship, but it was too late. "Why did I— Why did I do that?" She stared along with Trixie at the remains of book on the floor. "What, did you do?"
"Why, Trixie has finally gotten even with you, Sparkle," Trixie answered simply, her smug sneer growing with every passing second. "That's what she did. And she’s going to enjoy every single second of it."
Twilight only just managed to keep from screaming. Only just.
Next time on My Little Pony!
Twilight blinked, then looked down in horror. "Nonono!" she screamed, her mouth suddenly half full of the delicious parchment that held her salvation. "I just had these ordered!" She rounded on Trixie. "How could you!? Y-You monster!" She formed a plan, furious that after everything Trixie would still gloat.
"Hah!" Trixie harrumphed smartly, her smirk growing by the second. "Now, Trixie is actually feeling a little generous, perhaps if you beg for help, Sparkle, she may just decide to try and— W-Wait a second, what are you doing? Stop that at once!"