For some reason Twilight really wanted to see Silverspoon now. Was Sunset magicking on her to do so? Maybe. Did it really matter though? It was most likely simply what Sunset had said had gotten to Twilight. She had a good friend in Silverspoon. One that even other people could see how good they where for each other. No homo. Of course she wanted to find her yesterday too and just like now, she had no way of doing so.
And so she followed her old motto. When in doubt: go to the library. It’s where they’d met so maybe, just maybe… nah. But she wanted to go there anyway and get a start on her report on the Appaloosan War for History. Also, why didn’t they make a bigger deal out of Star Swirl not being affected by that time magic? Too many questions being left unanswered.
But then she found it... the vending machine from earlier! On queue her stomach growled. When Twilight had thought about how little Rarity must eat that alone had made her stomach growl all on its own. The last two days she'd been starving by the time she got home and had scarfed down a muffin before she’d even gotten up to her room. There was also something in this machine that she had wante... OMG!!!
Behold! As soft as new snow! Bursting with artificial lemon flavour! Aerodynamically designed, so that every bite slides down into your stomach at the speed of maximum enjoyment! An Illegal Danish Super Snack. Twilight was still a small distance off from the machine but she could see it. She could taste it! She could smell it! Hell, she could hear calling out to her 'Eat me, I'm delicious!' and best of all... it was the only one left. But before she could get there, a white-ish-blue-haired girl stepped in front of her to use the machine first.
Trixie was the last person Twilight wanted to interact with right now. Best just stay back and let her go first. After putting on an overly exaggerated show to no one about pulling her 25 silver out of thin air, Trixie eventually got her snack and walked off. Twilight moved up to… yeah she should’ve saw that coming. The last Super-Snack was gone. GONE!!! “Ugh…” she groan. Nothing else in the machine looked good. Peanut butter and crackers? How many years do you think that’s been in there for? She decided there wasn’t anything she could do about it and just started towards the library… it WAS this way right?
After realising she was going the wrong way and doubling back only to realise she’d been going the right way the first time, Twilight finally made it to the library. She hadn’t really needed something for lunch before but now that she thought she was missing out on something, her body betrayed her, made her feel like she had no energy at all. And that extra walking didn’t help.
She made her way to the front desk and asked the librarian, who at some point Twilight had learnt was named Cheerilee. Also, according to Silverspoon, from what she’d heard from Diamond Tiara, from what she’d heard from ‘a reliable source’, Cheerilee was only twenty, working here as part of a teaching course. And to top it off, she was dating one of the students. Scadaless as hell!
“Hello.” Twilight said as she came up to the counter. “I was looking for a copy of Cowboys and Equestrians - Western History.”
“Hmm… I know we have at least one copy.” Cheerilee said as she quickly tapped away at her keyboard. “But I’m afraid the last copy was just checked out by… her.” she pointed and Twilight followed the direction.
“Please don’t be Trixie.” she muttered to herself. And naturally… “Oh not again.” the white haired girl was facing away, standing behind a desk holding the book. “It can’t be.” and then she turned around. It was actually Silverspoon. “Feww... Oh thank god.” she said as she wiped her brow.
Suddenly “Thanks for holding Trixie’s book while she tied her shoe.”
“D’oh!”
“No problem Cuz.” Silverspoon replied before noticing her. “Hey Twilight.” she added as she handed Trixie her book and waved. Trixie took note of Twilight and even acknowledge her existence: high praise coming from Trixie.
“Sparkle.” she stated before she turned back to her cousin “Trixie will be reading over here. Do not disturb her.” and walked off.
Twilight took a few steps towards them and met Trixie mid stride. She raised a hand to try and and speak “Would you mind if…” but Trixie just ignored her and kept on going past. “ok..." she sighed dejectedly. Twilight turned around and was practically face to face with Silverspoon. And you know what. It cheered her up. “I’ve been looking for you.” she said, moving back slightly so her lips weren't nearly pressing again Silverspoon’s forehead.
“Same here. I tried calling you. Did YOU try calling me?” Silverspoon asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and kinda the whole point of getting each other’s numbers the other day.
“I can’t bring my phone to school, remember?”
“Oh right.” she said and paused. “So uh, you know ‘The Great and Powerful’ Trixie?” Sil mocked.
“Unfortunately… she’s my math’s partner. I got the highest score, she got the lowest, so we got paired to balance it out. It’s horrible. And now she’s got the book I need”
“Uh… tell me about it. Same happened to me. I got like the second highest score and so I go paired with Sweetie Belle over there.” she said and pointed a thumb over her shoulder to an overly bubbly-happy cute girl. The kind of girl that’s just too innocent for their own good. She smiled and waved to them. “She wrote a ‘and then...’ story and I wrote a brilliant quick drama about a child’s uncle adopting her when her mother…” she pretty much described the entire story she wrote in sixty minutes in her English class.
“Oh wow… that sounds… really interesting.” Twilight offered mock enthusiasm. As good as stories usually are, amateur writers just can’t convey the true feelings they’re trying to express most of the time. “So Trixie’s your cousin huh? Any advice for dealing with her?” Twilight cut to awkwardly jamming in the conversation direction.
“Just agree with everything she says. It’s the only way I’ve come up with to deal with her.” Silverspoon answered with a smirk. One that said she’d given up a long time ago. “I’m smart. She’s a genius. So unless you’re a genius, and I mean like 200 IQ genius, then don’t even bother… wait. You got paired with her on best/worst… because you got the highest? And she got… the lowest?!”
“Yeah. That's just what the Doctor ordered.”
“Go over to her right now. And tell her that! And demand to get the book you want! Knock her down a peg. A whole peg!”
“Doesn’t that seem a little mean?” Twilight asked, legitimately concerned.
“So? You’ve met her. She deserves it. Besides, she’d just brush it off and tell you she’s better than you anyway. And as much as I’d love to keep hanging out with ya, and hate to hang out with her… I gotta go do my project with Sweaty Belle.” she said her name loud enough that Sweetie could hear it. Sweaty just giggle at her new nickname. "I can't even insult her..." Sil groaned as she shook her head and took off towards to partner.
Twilight stood there for a moment longer before she too left to 'study' with her partner. Steeling herself, she walked up, trying to keep what Sil had said in her mind and spoke calmly and authoritatively. "I need that book. Let me read it first, I'll be done in no time. Then you can have it afterwards." Twilight hoped this wouldn't just backfire on her.
Trixie raised an eyebrow to this "Tell Trixie precisely what you want. That way she can tell you why it cannot be." she said with a smug smirk that got the annoyed look from Twilight that Trixie had been hoping for. But that quickly turned into a smirk also...
"You're awfully stuck up for the worst student in our class. Or have you forgotten that you got paired with me because I got the highest score and you got the lowest. That's pretty big talk for someone so mentally small." Twilight said. She barely faltered mid sentence thinking it was just a bit over the top. But Sil knew her cousin better than Twilight did after all.
"Hahaha..." Trixie laughed. Defiantly not what Twilight had expected as a reaction. "So you wish to play it that way do you? Very well. Your score was a 99.7 and Trixie a was a 89.9. However as The Great and Powerful Trixie has told you before, though she is not surprised that an inferior mind such as yourself has forgotten already, Trixie did not answer one question as to fail the test and thus be paired with the second best student in the class rather than the worst. Should Trixie have answered that last question then she would've gotten 99.9, or barring some GRAND failure on Trixie's part, 99.8 at the very least. And while not a perfect 100, well, even Trixie is not perfect after all. Though this ploy may have backfired on Trixie if she is being paired with someone who thinks they could even come close to rivalling The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Now that she mentioned it, Twilight did recall Trixie saying something about that before, and it wasn't a half bad idea... if it was true. "Yeah, sure." Twilight answered, nodding her head sarcastically before adding "Listen, just let me read it and I'll have it back to you by the end of lunch. Who knows how long you'll take to read it."
"Trixie reads at a 17th grade level."
"18th" Twilight replied with her own reading speed. Was she challenging Trixie? Oh, it is on!
Trixie slammed the book down on the table, open on the first page and pointed to the first line. "Right here!" she practically shouted and began to read. Twilight started to read right along side her. Line after line, usually she would take a bit longer to make sure she fully absorbed every word. Now however, she was more focused on just finishing each page before Trixie did.
The two speed read like they'd never speed read before. Line after line after line. Reading to the max. Truly this was the most intense and interesting competition anyone would ever hope to witness!... EVAR!!! Of all time.
Eventually the two neared the end of the book. Lunch was almost over and Trixie was in the lead, just. Twilight thought she had the upper hand here and said "Finished this page."
Trixie just flipped the page and scoffed "Ages ago..." Twilight groaned and the reading continued. Shortly after, roughly about ten seconds or nearly all of the two pages later Trixie stood up and said "I'll get the dictionary." and turned to walk.
"Why?" Twilight asked.
"You'll see it when you get there: the word ‘stochastic’." and this was Twilight a chance....
“Pertaining to a process involving a randomly-determined sequence of observations, hahahaha.” she told and laughed. Trixie stopped and place and glared back at Twilight. The two stared at each other for a few moments ignoring the book over their loathing for each other.
"You know something? Trixie likes you." she said with a slight smile.
"She does?... I mean, you do?" Twilight asked, taken aback. This was the last to she was expecting from this know-it-all.
"Yes. Trixie has never met someone who may rival Trixie's intellect. And if what I've seen so far is any indication you MAY have a chance at one day being as great as Trixie is now. Though by then she will be far beyond that, it is still quite a feat for one to achieve." figures she'd find a way to say 'you're smart' while making you sound dumb.
"Thank you?" Twilight replied. It was horribly insulting but it was also high praise coming from Trixie. "I guess you're not so bad yourself... I mean... I guess." and that was the only compliment Twilight could give Trixie that was true. "So um... if you like me, think you could do me a favour?" Twilight added, getting a 'hmm?' from Trixie in turn. "The information I needed was on pages 117-129, think we could go back to those real quick?"
Trixie laughed softly. "Very well then. Trixie will let you read your book. And Trixie will admit that though she read all of this book, reading it over once more would do her good." though she neglected to mention that she barely remembered any of what she had read. Trixie took her seat back down beside Twilight and flipped to the pages they wanted.
This time the two read much slower, making sure to absorb all the info on the pages. Twilight could even hear the gentle whispers of Trixie mouthing each word as she read it. She couldn't help but chuckle a little, knowing that she often did the same. Trixie had even scootched in a little closer to Twilight. Now that they weren't sworn enemies she had not issue with getting close to her new friend.
"I don't get it..." Sweetie Belle said, looking over at them from the other tables with Silverspoon. "First they hate each other, now all of a sudden they love each other. Oh it just doesn't make any sense to me!"
Silverspoon just scoffed and said "Of course not, you're a robot."
