Twilight gave a small groan from her bed. She couldn’t feel any light filtering through her closed eyes, so she must have woken up earlier than normal. Her left hoof tried to reach up and pull the covers over her head, but the slightest action caused her to ache.
Ugh, my left side feels horrible. Did I sleep on a book again last night?
Her ears twitched a little at a familiar crackling sound.
“Spike….” Twilight grumbled out sleepily. “It’s Summer…we…we don’t need a fire. Put it out…”
Twilight heard a strange chuckle come from Spike. Her mind started to become a little less fogged as the entirety of her left side started to ache in earnest. She then began taking stock of her memories, trying to remember what she did last night that was causing her so much pain this morning.
Pinkie didn’t talk me into going to another club, right? No, she didn’t, I ached all over last time, not just one side. Did Rainbow crash into me again? No, that’s not it either…
Slowly Twilight partially opened one of her eyes, revealing a grey stone wall. A half second later both of her eyes opened in shock as the memories began streaming back to her. She was currently facing the wall of a greyish cave, whose ceiling was maybe ten feet above her head. She was very grateful for being able to see, apparently due to a fire from somewhere behind her. It was comforting to Twilight to have such a light source near, despite how eerily the shadows crawled along the walls.
Twilight mustered her courage and slowly looked away from the wall and down to her pained left side. Oddly enough, she couldn’t see most of it, due to the amount of white bandages she was covered in. Her left wing and hoof were completely covered, and moving either proved to be a bad idea, causing Twilight to blanch from the pain. Her ribs hurt a little when she breathed, but asides from a few cuts and a lot of bruises, that was the extent of her damage.
“How are you feeling, Twilight?”
Twilight was startled and jumped a little from the sudden voice, causing her to clench her teeth in pain. Looking over, Twilight saw Trixie several feet away, laying down by the fire and looking at her. At least, she thought it was Trixie.
Twilight leered at her, looking the unicorn over and comparing the Trixie in front of her to the one she had met twice before.
No cape and hat…wait, they are lying over by her bag. Okay, a changeling wouldn’t have something so…odd on them all the time. Still…
Twilight couldn’t quite grasp it, but something seemed very off about Trixie. She was just too…whole.
Right…that’s it! Besides that bandage over her left eye, I can’t see any scars, and there’s no frown line around her cheeks. It’s like i’m looking at a model in a magazine.
Twilight’s leer turned to a glare. The alleged Trixie raised her visible eye at Twilight in confusion.
“Are you okay, Twilight? Is there something on my face?”
“Ha! You’ve already giving yourself away changeling! The Trixie I know doesn’t speak at all like that!” Twilight waved her right hoof, pointing at Trixie’s head, and then down the rest of her body. “And she doesn’t look so…perfect!”
Wait…why did I just say that!? I should have pretended to be fooled and got away when its guard was down! Ok Twilight, you can still…wait…what’s it doing?
The disguised changeling was laughing at Twilight. “P-perfect, am I?” chuckling a little, the changeling stood up and exercised its limbs, giving Twilight a good view as it slowly stretched them out. “I’ve always been perfect Twilight, a few…beauty tricks just made it easier for you to realize it.” She giggled and gave Twilight a coy wink. “You’re not so bad yourself you know, Miss Alicorn Princess.”
Twilight blushed and looked away, confused and flustered. “Y-you can’t be Trixie. You don’t sound like her, I mean, you’ve got the bragging down, but not the rest.”
She heard a sigh come from the supposed Azure mare. “Twilight, watch me while I feed the fire. What you see will prove to you I’m not some disgusting bug.”
Twilight slowly looked over to the fire and the changeling. The changeling’s horn glowed a light magenta as a small line of magic swept out of it and connected to the fire. Twilight then sighed in relief, knowing the one thing a changeling can’t hide is its magic aura. Her curiosity quickly overcame her after this revelation and she inspected the fire.
No logs, no smoke. Is it an illusion? But the light is real, and I can feel heat coming off of it.
Twilight’s horn gave off a small spark of magic, causing her to wince. Her eyes glowed a gentle lighter Magenta than Trixie’s as she looked over the fire and tried to ignore the small jolts of pain that ran up and down her horn.
Hmm…the fire seems to be fake, an illusion? But if it was just an illusion it wouldn’t give off heat or shadows. However it isn’t giving off smoke, so it must be fake. There’s more to this. Okay, so, the main structure looks like an illusion, but then what are these other sections inside it? Argh!
Twilight’s horn abruptly stopped glowing as she gave out a pained groan and rubbed her head.
“Huh, if you can already cast again then you must be feeling better. You were quite a mess when I first found you.”
“Well, Alicorns tend to heal a lot faster, both physically and magically than other equine races. But I’d like to talk to you about something more important…” Twilight removed her hoof from her head and gave Trixie a serious stare, causing her to slightly squirm from nerves.
“What...is that spell!?” Twilight’s hoof pointed over to the small fire. “I didn’t have time to fully look it over, but it’s definitely not in any of the books I’ve read.”
Sighing in relief and grinning proudly, Trixie gestured towards the fire. “Well, you won’t find it in a spellbook actually. It’s one of my own.”
Twilight’s expression clearly showed disbelief for a split second before she shot Trixie a small grin. “It’s okay Trixie, you don’t have to try to impress me.”
Trixie frowned at Twilight and stuck her nose in the air. “As if I have any need to impress you, Sparkle. It’s a spell I designed for when I was traveling. It’s easier than having to lug all of the firewood I’d have needed in my trailer.”
Yep, still as conceited as ever I see.
Trying to hide her slight irritation with Trixie’s continued lie, Twilight smiled at Trixie and did what she did best, lecture. “Now Trixie, we both know you couldn’t have made this spell. I mean, I’m still learning spells made by other unicorns. And I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I was taught by Princess Celestia. Even with that teaching, I’ve only finished a spell that somepony else did half the work on beforehoof.”
Better not mention it was a spell from Starswirl himself, she’d think I was bragging.
Oddly enough to Twilight, Trixie simply tsked in her direction and imitated Twilight’s lecturing tone. “Now Twilight, just because you’re not adequate enough in magic to make up your own spells doesn’t mean I am too.”
Feeling a vein in her head start to pulse, Twilight responded to Trixie with a hint of heat in her voice. “I am not inadequate! I am far more capable of making spells than you Trixie!”
“Hmph, is that so? All right Twilight, name the spells you’ve made, or even you’ve majorly altered for another purpose.”
Twilight shook her head. “I’ve not done anything like that yet Trixie. It takes years and years of study to make your own spells. You need to first see what spells others have made and memorize enough of them to form a good foundation. Then, read the proper books on spell alteration. After several years of slightly changing other unicorns' spells, you work on major changes guided by a certified unicorn to make sure you are following the proper ethical standards and safety procedures. I’ve been learning spells my entire life Trixie, and I’m only up to minor alterations. If I continue like I am, by the time I’m thirty I have a good shot of being the youngest certified spell creator in history!”
Instead of being impressed or acknowledging the spells origins, Trixie had put a hoof over her face while Twilight explained the proper procedure for spell creation. “By Celestia…you…you actually follow all of that, don’t you?”
Smiling, Twilight nodded. “Of course, if you don’t follow proper procedure, then you’re doing it wrong. Now, is the spell from Flashbang’s ‘Alterations and Illusions vol.3’ by chance? I’m not through the second one quite yet. Or maybe Smokescreen’s ‘Guide to Faking the Eye’?”
Trixie responded with an annoyed expression on her face. “I’ll have you know those hacks have nothing on my skills! Flashbang was a good illusionist, but his spells are for novices, and haven’t been properly updated in ages! And Smokescreen? You’d have to be an Alicorn to have the magic to pull off the stupid formulas and runes he used! Did you know he only performed his shows once every month because of how exhausted he was after each one?”
“Hey! I’ll have you know the teaching from those two came highly recommended from my professors at school! And Flashbang and Smokescreen were both certified spell creators!”
Rolling her eye at Twilight’s statement, Trixie then proceeded to walk over to her. She continued to speak, while checking to make sure none of Twilight’s bandages needed replacing. “Right, that’d probably be Professor Displacement and Quick Glance who recommended those useless things to you. Hold still already!” Trixie emphasized her last point by whapping Twilight on her good side with a hoof.
Twilight glared at Trixie and grumbled, doing her best to hold still while Trixie inspected her. She blushed a bit as she felt Trixie’s hooves slowly roam over her bandaged side. “T-that’s right actually. Did you meet the professors before?”
Trixie’s finished her inspection and slowly backed out of Twilight’s personal space, despite feeling a strong desire to linger close for just a little longer. “You could say that, I suppose. I did attend that school for several years after all.”
“You went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns!?”
“Now just why in the hay are you so surprised about that? What part of “Great and Powerful” did you not understand?”
Twilight gave Trixie a deadpan look. “Trixie, there is no title “Great and Powerful” given out at the school, so it’s not related at all. And I am pretty sure I would have remembered somepony like you in my classes.”
Trixie grinned a bit at Twilight’s words and brushed a hoof down her own chest, her anger subsiding at the unintentional compliment. “Of course you would have, everypony I met there couldn’t help but remember me. But you and I didn’t have the same classes. I did see you, but you were always this little purple unicorn with her muzzle stuck in a book that ignored everything around her. So I didn’t pay attention to you. Besides, I left when I was eighteen. That place was so stifling I can’t believe I was able to stand living there for six years.”
Twilight looked confusedly at Trixie. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense. I was there since I was six, and was forced to graduate at nineteen. How did you complete everything in just six years?”
Trixie’s eyebrow rose a bit in a questioning manner. “Forced to graduate?”
Blushing, Twilight nodded. “I had everything required to graduate done at sixteen. But, who would choose to leave school? There were still so many classes on different types of magic I hadn’t taken yet. Since I spent so much time being taught by Celestia, I missed out on a lot of the professors' lectures and their views on what Celestia was teaching me. I just kept taking classes and discussing my finding with the teachers whenever I could. I think it was the day after Professor Strainer and I had a wonderful three hour discussion during one of his lectures that I woke up to my bags packed and a diploma being put into my hooves. I never did learn why.”
“….Right. Anyways, I was…busy with things until I was twelve. And I never said I graduated. Pfft, as far as I’m concerned, it wouldn’t have been worth wasting another year there.”
Twilight’s feathers ruffled out as she threw a death glare at Trixie and tried to stand. “WHAT!? What do you mean!? That school made me who I am today!”
Trixie quickly went over to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder to keep her from trying to get up. Despite putting little weight on it, the pressure was enough to keep the Alicorn on the ground. “Calm down Twilight! I used most of the bandages on you already! And I didn’t say it was a bad school per se, it just wasn’t for me. It may have made you who you are, but I was already who I was by the time I went there. The professors there were horrid to me about spells. It was all “Trixie, you didn’t use the proper power in this part of the spell” or “It’s not your talent Trixie, just wait like the others while I explain this to those who can use it properly.” My illusion classes with Displacement and Quick Glance were the worst of it! I was the only pony with illusion magic in the class, so the others took notes while I learned some of the most pointless and wasteful ways to do spells I already knew.”
Twilight sighed at Trixie’s explanation, irritation lacing her words. “So, you joined late, mocked the teachers for showing you the proper way to do spells, then abandoned your studies early, and did what? Travel and boast about making up spells and defeating Ursa Majors?”
Something akin to a growl came out of Trixie, followed by the weight of Trixie’s hoof holding Twilight down becoming strong enough to make her wince. “Shut. Up. Fine! You just sit there, Sparkle. Sit there like an injured foal who got caught in a cave-in and blasted the only pony dumb enough to come rescue them. While you do that, I will explain to you how this spell works and then you can search through that pretty little head of yours to see if any of your spellbooks or so called wise Professors taught you anything like it.”
Twilight’s ears had pinned themselves to her head right after Trixie’s reminder of the rescue, and the anger followed shortly after at the reminder of how she had obviously injured Trixie.
“Trixie, I’m sorry, I-“
“The illusion to make the fire appear is pretty simple-“Trixie started, glaring at Twilight as if daring her to interrupt. After staring at each other for several seconds, Trixie resumed speaking. Her tone was angry, and her tail twitched back and forth as she paced and explained the spell to Twilight. Twilight, on the other hoof, kept herself low to the ground and simply nodded when she thought it was appropriate for her to, not wanting to anger Trixie any more than she already had.
Ask her…
Trixie continued to pace back and forth after her lecture on the spell. She felt agitated and restless. Twilight quietly laid in Trixie’s sleeping bag and tried to hide the fact that she was looking over at Trixie whenever her head was turned.
What is she thinking? Trixie wondered. Why? Why is it every time I encounter her it always turns out so horrible? Even when I save her I turn out to be the bad pony.
Just ask her…
Trixie bit her lip and looked over to Twilight, admiring how she looked in the firelight. Twilight’s head was on her hooves while she kept her eyes on the fire, but kept sneaking concerned looks over to Trixie.
It’s cute how bad she is at being subtle…
She shook the thought out of her head and finally stopped pacing. The feeling of wholeness she had since she first gazed at herself in the mirror after her recovery felt skin tight now.
You can’t go forward until you ask her…
Giving a resigned sigh, Trixie slowly made her way over to Twilight, stopping just a few feet from her. Twilight noticed this and turned herself as best she could to face Trixie.
“I-I answered some of the questions you asked. So, it’s only fair I get to ask you a few in return, right?”
Twilight nodded and gave Trixie a small smile. “Of course Trixie, ask away.”
Twilight smiled at Trixie, trying to encourage her to speak about whatever it was that was bothering her.
I screwed up a bit earlier. I know she’s…temperamental. And she’s probably irritated about that blast, and my disbelief about her spell. I still can’t believe she actually makes spells without going through the proper channels.
After scuffing her hoof on the ground a few times, Trixie gave Twilight a sideways look and quietly started. “A-after the Ursa incident, when I ran off; what happened? What were you thinking, or doing for the next few days after?”
Twilight brought a hoof to her chin as she thought. Why’s she curious about something that happened so long ago? Maybe she feels guilty?
“Well, the town cleaned up the small mess the Ursa had made, along with your trailer. After that, everything was back to normal for a little bit. I wrote out my report on the incident to Celestia, and I guess everypony was just glad it was over with.”
Trixie nodded and kept her eye glued to Twilight’s face. The way Trixie held herself and watched her made Twilight feel like alot was riding on her answers to Trixie’s questions.
“So, I didn’t come up again? No one thought to look for, or go after me? You didn’t really think about the incident after that at all?”
Twilight swallowed, feeling Trixie’s eye bore into her own. I swear she’s looking for something, but what? Okay Twilight, just answer truthfully.
“Well, a week later we had an incident with a dragon, and then parasprites shortly after that. I had just moved in and was spending a lot of time learning about friendship and getting acquainted to Ponyville. Between my studies, friends, and solving issues around the town there was just always something to be busy with.”
“I see…w-well…what about the Amulet incident? After I ran off again, did my name come up at all?”
“You did, in a sense. I made another report to Celestia on what I learned from that encounter. There were a lot of ponies that said some nasty things about you as well. But I promise you Trixie it didn’t last long. Ponyville gets over issues like that all the time, so in the end it wasn’t a big deal.”
Twilight’s eyes widened as Trixie flinched like Twilight had hit her. Trixie looked back at Twilight, starting to shake in rage as her face came within a few inches of Twilight’s. Twilight licked her lips nervously, unable to look away from Trixie’s piercing stare. I-I don’t understand. I’m saying the right words. Why’s she getting so upset?
“Then what about later? When you became an Alicorn? Did you think to come to any of my shows? Find out where I was? See where I ran off to?”
“T-Trixie, look, if you’re worried about getting in trouble for the amulet, I promise you’re not. It’s all in the past, and it’s long forgotten. I swear, I haven’t thought of you since I last saw you. I’m not a pony to go after somepony else for some stupid revenge. Between being a Princess, my studies, and my friends, I’ve not had time to think about any of the obstacles I’ve faced in the past.”
Trixie looked at Twilight with her one eye for several more seconds. Then, she slowly moved her face away from Twilight and turned around. the soft clops of her hooves and the crackling of the fire where the only sounds in the small camp as Trixie walked away from Twilight.Twilight knew something was wrong. She couldn’t place it, but something was…different in Trixie’s body language. From the corner of her eye, Twilight saw the folded cape and hat float over to Trixie and don their usual places on her.
“Obstacle…right.”
“Trixie … I didn’t mean it in a negative way. But my friends and I encounter somepony or something new every month that we have to deal with. Heck, I want to forget about Discord, but he’s just so irritating and won’t leave me alone! You and I, we resolved things. You apologized and left. Then I just, went from there. I … I don’t understand why you’re upset over this.”
“Never mind, Sparkle. I …T-Trixie understands … and is just fine now. Y-you should rest while Trixie sees if she can clear us a way out.” Trixie slowly started to walk down a tunnel connecting into their camping room.
Twilight’s anxiety was running high by this point. Trixie clearly wasn’t fine, and her sudden switch in speech unnerved her. “Trixie, calm down! I didn’t mean-“
“JUST REST IT SPARKLE!”
After shouting, Trixie glared at Twilight, letting her briefly see that Trixie’s face had become wet before she hid her eye by pulling her hat down. She then trotted off, becoming engulfed in the blackness of the adjoining cavern before Twilight could find anything else to say..
Groaning, Twilight tried to get up and follow her, knowing she had somehow hurt Trixie's feelings. But her body refused to respond.
She’ll be back. I don’t understand what’s wrong, but she’s clearly upset at me.
Twilight continued to ponder over Trixie’s actions, happy to at least have the fire now to keep the darkness away while Trixie was gone. But her mind was heavily weighted down by how upset Trixie was with her.
Happy now Trixie?
Trixie sniffled as she continued forward, barely conscious of casting her vision spell as she walked in the direction of the collapse.
Trixie was right all along, wasn’t she?
After the Alicorn Amulet incident, Trixie apologized to Twilight, not wanting to be hated by somepony she so secretly admired. And Twilight had forgiving her like it was nothing.
That’s just it, isn’t it? Trixie knew she was nothing to Twilight, she just needed it confirmed to sink in…
Her right eye continued to leak out tears that dripped to the floor as she walked, while Trixie's left burned from the salt gathering in her wounds as the bandages became wet. Coming to the collapsed tunnel, Trixie held in a sob and gave a hard glare to the fallen rubble. She started to channel magic into her horn while thinking about the entire horrid outcome of her and Twilight’s meeting.
Not a friend, not a rival, Trixie’s just a little pain in Twilights perfect purple hide that came into her life twice and left just as quickly. Twilight never cared to see if Trixie was okay on her own when the Ursa crushed her wagon. Twilight hadn’t cared when Trixie revealed how hard her life became after that incident, and she didn’t care when Trixie had run away a second time into an even worse life. Twilight didn’t care because Trixie is beneath her notice...
As Trixie railed against the unfairness of it all, the rubble began to glow with magenta energy, some of the smaller rocks floating up in the air before being shattered into dust.
Sparkle. All Trixie wanted was to get closer to you. She was so sure the Alicorn Amulet would give Trixie the power to rival you, to intrigue you to travel with her and explore magic together. It’s not Trixie’s fault she couldn’t match your power on her own. It was fate. Well to Tartarus with fate!
The sounds of boulders being crushed to dust could be heard all around Trixie. More stones fell down from the rubble but never reached the ground, each one being grabbed by Trixie’s magic and reduced to pebbles. The sounds of rocks being torn apart continued until the pathway in front of her was finally cleared.
Heaving a large sigh and wiping the tears from her eye, she turned back to the tunnel leading to Twilight and started weaving a portal back to the waterfalls. She hardly focused on her casting as her emotions took over her mind. A particular phrase of Twilight’s floated to the top of her thoughts while she worked.
“Heck, I want to forget about Discord, but he’s just so irritating and won’t leave me alone!”
Stepping through the portal, Trixie found herself back on the ledge overlooking the waterfalls. She levitated the vial out of her cape and uncorked it, silently watching as the pink liquid poured out and into the water below. Within seconds, the water started turning pink. Within a minute, the pink coloration was actually proceeding up the waterfalls and spreading out to Celestia knows where.
Trixie tried being a friend and got forgotten. Discord upsets Twilight enough that she thinks about him all the time. Discord has enough power to force Twilight to notice him, and Trixie doesn’t. But Discord’s plan will change that. It has to change that!
Growling a little, Trixie turned around, feeling the need to walk and cool down before returning to camp and seeing Twilight again. Walking proved to be a bit more difficult considering her state of mind and being half blind.
Trixie doesn’t have time to take care of her eye now. Discord said the Princesses sent somepony after her, and now Sparkle’s down here? It doesn’t take a genius like Trixie to put two and two together. After Trixie gets Sparkle out of these caves, it’ll be a matter of days before she is on Trixie’s trail again. Trixie can’t waste time in a hospital. Not if she is serious about keeping Twilight’s attention for herself.
Twilight had laid down for close to an hour, contemplating what she knew of friendship and Trixie’s personality. She cursed her own stupidity as she reviewed their conversation in her head.
Trixie’s so different than my other friends, asides from showboating like Rainbow. It’s no excuse for what I did to her, but at least I know more about her and what I did wrong.
Giving a small sigh, Twilight decided to re-re-re-review what she had come up with over the last hour.
“First, Trixie wants attention. While that's kind of obvious, it turns out she wants attention whether it is bad or good.”
That explains why she was so upset about what I said, I was trying to assure her that her actions weren’t anything odd in Ponyville so she wouldn’t fear being punished, but she didn’t want to hear that. She wanted to be remembered even if it was in a negative way. She’s a show mare for crying out loud!
“Second, Trixie is good at magic.”
I argued with her about what you need to know about proper spell creation when she’s been making spells since before she arrived at Celestia’s School. She knows magic, crud, she’s good at it if this campfire spell of hers is any indicator. I insulted her by telling her she wasn’t good enough to make spells when she clearly is and she already has.
“Third...Trixie’s more confident than I am. Even if I think she’s not right.”
I can’t even imagine not going by the book. If she really was in Celestia’s school, she knows the proper channels she’s supposed to follow, but she doesn’t use them. I’d say that was crazy and dangerous, but she’s still alive and whole. So it must work for her, somehow. She must have made her own system to create and alter spells by now. C-could I really make my own system like her and get results? Should I ask her to show me hers if we get out of this as friends?
“And last, historical data of our interactions prove that I’ve...I’ve not been a good friend.”
Not seeing her shows, it’d be like not coming to see Rainbow perform, or never going to Pinkie’s parties. She travels alot, but I should have at least found the time to see a few of them every year if I really counted her as a friend. I’ve never even thought to see if she was doing okay after her life took such drastic downturns. Come to think of it, what has she been up to all this time? And…
“…Why is Trixie down here anyways?”
Twilight realized she had been so caught up in spells, and the sheer fact that she was alive and relatively safe, that she hadn’t bothered to ask such an important question.
It’s too odd to just be coincidence…but she seemed to learn her lesson after the Alicorn Amulet incident, right? She wouldn’t try to get another artifact just to be more powerful, would she?
Nervously, Twilight looked over to her pack.
I should trust her, but…
As her horn glowed and gave off sparks, Twilight’s saddlebags lethargically levitated over to her. When they were well within reach, she quickly shut her magic down, letting the bags fall with a soft thump to the ground. Gasping from the pain emitting from her horn, Twilight decided to stay still for a few minutes before enacting the next part of her plan. When she felt she was in no immediate danger of blacking out, she felt around in her saddlebag and took out her compass.
Nervously, she looked down the path Trixie had taken.
Please let me be wrong about this, I don’t know what she’ll do if she thinks I’m hunting her for the princesses.
Twilight opened the compass and…sighed in relief. The compass pointed almost directly behind her, nowhere near the direction she had seen Trixie go.
Well...I’m glad to be wrong about that. I really need to stop doubting Trixie if I want her as a friend. And I really do now. It’d be wonderful to finally have a friend interested in magic. Maybe we could even trade spell theories.
Smiling a little, Twilight put the compass back and rested her head, feeling her eyelids getting heavy as she let out a soft yawn.
Once I’m done with this task, I’ll see if Trixie wants to meet up, maybe come to Ponyville for a bit even.
Closing her eyes, Twilight slowly drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
Yeah…once this is over…I’ll make it up to her.
Trixie yawned as she finally stumbled into camp, having walked out most of her anger and what energy she had left after such a strenuous day. Or days, she couldn’t really tell down in these caves.
Trixie walked over and ensured the campfire had enough energy to hold up for a few more hours before making her way to the sleeping Alicorn. She sighed as she looked over Twilight, whom was sleeping on her stomach with all her legs but the bandaged left front hoof tucked in as much as possible. Both her wings were fully spread out and touching the ground.
Maybe…just for now…Trixie can pretend everything is okay.
Trixie carefully removed and stored her cape and hat. Afterwards, she carefully laid down and inched her way under Twilight’s right wing. The feathers felt wondrous to Trixie, and the faint lavender scent and heat coming off of Twilight helped Trixie’s tense body relax almost immediately. She carefully rested her head against Twilight’s shoulder and listened to Twilight’s rhythmic breathing.
Trixie really does like you, you stupid purple Alicorn. Even though you are leaving Trixie to sleep on the ground because you didn’t think to bring your own sleeping bag.
She gently nuzzled Twilight’s cheek as she started to drift off.
This is probably the closest Trixie will ever get to you, huh? Well, perhaps if Trixie’s strong enough, she’ll be able to curl up with your unconscious form after some of our battles.
“Trixie…will become…the only rival…you ever need, Twilight.”