Several days later, one of the pegasi that had been tasked with delivering rushed mail across Equestria finally landed in the small town of Ponyville. The light brown mare stretched out her sore wings, mumbling under her breath about how it would have been easier to take the train.
"No no, that costs bits! It's cheaper for the pegasi team to deliver it!" She rolled her eyes as she mimicked her boss' voice.
The mare reached under her Tall Tale Postal Service cap and pulled out a list of where she was supposed to deliver to. Several of the items on the paper were already crossed out. Near the bottom of the list was Twilight Sparkle - Ponyville, and she took a quick glance around, hoping that she would already be out-and-about so she could finish deliveries. Like most of Equestria, the mailmare had a basic idea of who Twilight Sparkle was, but had never seen the mare with her own eyes. She assumed--being Princess Celestia's personal protege--that she would be treated like royalty, with guards and a line of ponies following her and catering to her every whim. Yet no one fitting such a description was around the town square she landed in. The mailmare trotted up to a couple--a teal unicorn mare and a cream-colored earth pony mare--and cleared her throat until they noticed her standing over them.
"Hey, do you know where Twilight Sparkle lives?" She asked, hoping that it wasn't too far away.
It was the cream-colored mare who spoke first. She moved her curly pink-and-blue mane from her face with her hoof so she could see who she was speaking to. "Yeah, she lives in Ponyville's library."
Her companion pointed a hoof behind the mailmare, "You see that big tree? That's it right there. Can't miss it."
With a tip of her uniform cap, she thanked the two mares and turned to rush to the giant tree. I can't believe the Princess' personal student...would live in a library, of all places. She stopped at the giant oak's front door, straightened her posture and knocked on the door. On the other side she heard what sounded like a colt's voice.
"You don't have to knock! It's a public library! Why don't ponies get that..."
The door opened, and the mailmare was frozen in place from what she saw. A small, purple-and-green dragon was staring at her expectantly, waiting for some kind of response. She blinked and took a step back.
"You're a...a..."
"Dragon. The name's Spike." He grinned, pointing a claw at the bag that was across her body, "You have mail?"
The pegasus shook her head and regained her composure. "Oh, yeah! A letter of importance for Twilight Sparkle?"
On the other side of the library, she saw a purple unicorn mare walking down the stairs, levitating several books with the intent of returning them to the shelf. After placing the books to their rightful place, she walked up to the door with her head cocked to the side after glancing at the uniform's cap.
"Tall Tale? I don't think we know anypony there. Do we?" She asked her small dragon, who simply shrugged.
With a nod, the mailmare dug in her bag and pulled out the scroll. Twilight's violet aura surrounded the scroll and unraveled it. Her expression changed from confusion to worry as she read.
"Spike, take a letter please. And miss, would you mind staying for a bit? I know you must be awfully busy but I believe this has to be returned post-haste."
Spike immediately grabbed a nearby quill and parchment, ready to write down whatever Twilight would say. The mailmare resisted the urge to let out a groan, and instead stepped inside the library, wearily looking around the library's first floor. Twilight was just about to convey her letter to Spike, when her mouth just hung open with no words coming out. She turned to her assistant and grabbed the items from Spike's hands. The dragon, confused, looked to the unicorn for an explanation.
"Actually, I believe what's written here is private, and so I should write it myself. Do you mind getting the rest of the books upstairs and organizing them?" She watched as Spike grumbled to himself and walked up the stairs. She gave the mailmare an apologetic look before focusing on the task at hand:
Dear Trixie,
I have never heard of a 'human' before. What does she look like? Does she look like she's from Equestria? If that's so, then all it would take to send her home is to find out where that "home" is. I'm sure I have several books about Equestria's species, and I'm sure there are even more books in the Canterlot Royal Archives.
I'd like you to find out as much as you can about this human and where she comes from, it would certainly make finding where she needs to go much easier. Ask her about where she comes from, and if it's near any of our cities.
How did she just 'appear' in your caravan, anyway? Unless she has magic, or your door and windows were unlocked, I don't understand how she could just be there. All of these things could be extremely important with getting her back home.
I'm also including a Direct Message spell. It's similar to the one Princess Celestia and I use to communicate through Spike. But this spell will make letters appear directly in our respective mailboxes. All you have to do is enchant your mailbox and the letter you want to send with me. I will do the same to my mailbox, and they will be linked. But remember--only the letters we also enchant will be transferred.
You've really changed since you were last in Ponyville. The old Trixie wouldn't have gone out of her way to help a stranger. I'm glad that you've changed for the better.
Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight lifted another piece of parchment and quickly wrote down the specifics to the Direct Message spell. Once she was finished, she placed the two together, rolled them up, and handed the scroll to the mailmare. Taking the scroll, she put it in a separate section of her bag, reserved for return-letters. She tipped her cap in thanks and quickly took off out the door.
Twilight immediately went to the shelves and started pulling out as many books on Equestrian Wildlife as she could find. Seeing the new mess as he descended the stairs, Spike let out a groan.
"Not again, Twilight!"
Trixie's eyes scanned the letter she had received from Twilight earlier that morning. Every day since she had sent the original letter, she had been going back and forth from the park to the post office, asking if she had gotten a response. And while she had gotten short with the employees and other patrons, she tried to not fall back into her old routine of humiliation to those who cross her. She reread the letter again, then glanced at Clara, who was laying on the floor drawing.
Clara had been excited--elated, even--when Trixie returned to the caravan with not just paper and pencils, but a whole sketchbook and a box of crayons that reminded her of her own set of crayons. When she wrapped her arms around Trixie's neck in an embrace, thanking her repeatedly as she did so, she could feel Trixie tense up less than she did when they first met. And that made her even happier. Clara, while she wanted to return home more than anything, also wanted to be Trixie's friend--if not for a little while.
Feeling the unicorn's gaze, she looked up from the sketchbook and smiled. Trixie smiled in return, rolling up the scroll and placing it on the desk. Slowly, she stood on her hooves and crossed the space between them. She laid down next to the human child on her stomach, and she took a deep breath before she spoke.
"Trixie got a response from her friend. She says that in order to get you to return home, you have to give me some answers about it. Otherwise, we won't know where to send you off too. You understand?"
Clara nodded and adjusted her position so that she was facing the unicorn, her knees hugged against her chest. "Just ask me anything, Miss Trixie. I'll try to answer the best I can."
Trixie asked as many question she could come up with: What was her world like? Did she live in any cities? What was that like? How did she travel? How different was her world compared to Equestria? As Clara answered every question the best way she could for a seven year-old, Trixie was jotting down notes for her next letter to Twilight. She realized that Clara really wasn't from anywhere near Equestria, much less Equestria itself. She almost considered that Clara had, somehow, dimension-jumped from "Earth" as she called it to Equestria.
She did say she came through the mirror...but that's just foalish, there's nothing special about the mirror!
Yet Trixie couldn't shake the feeling that Clara had been right. All her questions answered, she left Clara to return to her drawing and started writing the letter to Twilight. She referenced her notes, provided her own theories, and asked what the next step should be. After rereading the letter for the third time, she concentrated and cast the spell Twilight had given her. The paper had a yellow glow around it, confirming the spell at worked.
Trixie opened the caravan door and, after enchanting the basket for a mailbox, dropped the scroll inside. She watched it disappear in a puff of yellow smoke.