Twilight couldn’t say she enjoyed Manehatten. It didn’t offer the same welcoming feeling Ponyville did, and she wasn’t as familiar with it as she was with Canterlot. The hustle and bustle of the big city was just something she was unaccustomed too. It unnerved and discouraged her.
But she pushed onwards, through the crowds, through the traffic, and through the maze of skyscrapers. She was here for a reason, to take care of something that had been on her mind for far too long. ‘I should have gone after her’ she thought solemnly whilst reminiscing about her former foe.
She was distracted from her thoughts when a particularly rude pony barged past her. She huffed as she continued onwards. She didn’t understand city ponies, they seemed so… disconnected from each other, always on the move. When she looked at them she didn’t see a member of a community, or somepony who was a part of a bigger story, she saw an individual, a lone wolf, in it for themselves and no one else.
Of course not everypony was like that, but it was still just another reason she didn’t enjoy the city, maybe it was because she was friends with everyone in Ponyville. She knew who could be relied on, who to trust, and basically everything you could want to know in order to have a healthy relationship with someone. But here? Amongst the strangers? She was just another pony in a sea of thousands.
The fact she was alone wasn’t exactly helping.
She may be alone, but she chose to be, even though her friends gave compelling arguments as to why it might not have been such a great idea. She couldn’t explain why but it just felt appropriate, like this was something she had to do by herself. It was her failure, and it was her that had to correct it.
She veered off the lightly crowded path and entered a darkened alleyway, taking care to not venture to far in, and unpacked a map from her saddlebag, concealed beneath her dark cloak. It was Rarity who asserted that a Princess wandering the streets of Manehatten seemingly aimlessly in the early hours of the evening would likely attract some unsavory attention that should be avoided, something Twilight herself disputed at first but the others agreed with. The cloak did well to conceal her wings, and the hood to hide her easily recognizable face.
She levitated her map in front of her, lighting up her horn in order to see in the fading sunlight. She spotted where she was and how far her destination was, an area marked on her map by multiple red crayon circles, compliments of Apple Bloom, who profusely apologized for ruining her map afterwards. Twilight was tempted to have her scolded, but the fact she had given her the information she had wanted for so long was enough to make her look past her carelessness and board the train to Manehatten the same day her friends had returned from it.
With the route to her destination fresh in her mind, she repacked her map and set off again, swiftly entering the Manehatten theatre district. Floodlights shined and smartly dressed ponies made their ways into their desired shows, with Twilight looking out of place amongst them all. As she continued onwards past the queues of ponies the color of the buildings seemed to dull, the streets darkened and before long Twilight was walking alone, the noises of the crowds echoing behind her like a fading memory.
She became conscious of the environment, the eeriness of it unsettling her. She attempted to pay it little thought, after all she’d faced far worse and prevailed before, a darkened street was hardly something she should be afraid of.
She was tempted to take another peek at her map, just to make sure she was nearing her location, an area marked ‘Amnesty Street’, but decided against it, after remembering another piece of advice her friends offered, “Don’t look at a map too often, you don’t want to look like a tourist, ponies single out tourists!” At the time she laughed it off, but right now the environment mixed with her own paranoia made her decide it was best to avoid attracting attention.
‘Oh Twilight what are you doing!’. She subconsciously continued to walk forward down the street, the distant sounds of the high society crowds still reaching her ears. ‘I’m in the middle of Manehatten and the moon is coming up. I should have just waited till morning, got a taxi, asked for directions. I’m gonna get lost, then robbed, then I’ll have to give a statement!’. She was prepared to turn and gallop back to find a hotel for the night, if she hadn’t spotted a sign spelling out ‘Amnesty Street’ in large letters just off to her left.
“Oh." She became embarrassed at herself for her lack of composure, but it was quickly forgotten as she made her way down the street. ‘This is the place’, she thought relieved. The buildings weren’t as high as they were in the ‘richer’ side of the city, and the lights weren’t bright enough to light the whole street, making it look quite ominous, but Twilight continued onwards, searching for the caravan she was informed was here.
Within seconds she spotted one, and only one, parked next to an alleyway, out of the way of street, but not concealed from view. She quickened her pace, becoming both eager and anxious at the same time. Rather than burst her way into the first caravan she saw she decided to examine it, just to make sure she had the right one.
‘Well, it’s the same make as the one she had in Ponyville…’ she reasoned as she did laps around the cart, ‘But there’s no cutie mark sign, and the colors are different, and…’, Twilight paused when she walked past the caravans door, she signed, before turning towards it. ‘I may as well take the chance that this is hers, I can’t see any others’.
She rose her hoof, but hesitated, her leg shaking as she debated knocking. ‘Come on Twilight, just tap the stupid wood…’, she stood frozen, her leg swaying back and forth. ‘It’ll be fine, you only ruined her life’.
Twilight gulped, an infinite number of bad scenarios running through her head. Against her better judgment she hastily tapped on the wood three times, before bringing her hoof back and standing as still as she could.
She stayed standing, not wanting to give a negative impression, but her paranoia was making her unconsciously shuffle her hooves. ‘It’ll be fine, we’ll talk, get to know each other, and put everything else behind us! Everything can be solved by talking!’ With a renewed sense of optimism she knocked once again, her eagerness returning whilst the fear faded.
“Trixie? It’s Twilight, you know? Twilight Sparkle. Um… I heard you were here from my friends, they saw one of your shows, I think? And… I decided to come by and say hi! Since we’ve never really spoken before, I thought it would be great to get to know each other a bit, you know? Talk about our interests, our pasts, assuming you want to of course, I wouldn’t want you to feel pressurized or anything and you’re not home are you? So I’m just talking to myself…”.
Twilight gave a groan, leaning her head on the door. ‘I finally catch up to her… and she’s not home’. She gave a much louder and more frustrated groan, stomping her hooves as she began to make her way back to the ‘nicer’ side of the town to find a room for the night, in order to try again in the morning. But she stalled herself upon hearing a door open to her left, making music and various voices audible to her.
She turned in the direction of the sounds, noticing two obviously drunk mares exiting a building, a bar of some kind Twilight reasoned. Seeing as it was across the street from the caravan she decided to go and see if the occupants knew were Trixie was. ‘Maybe they saw where she went, and if not then it was worth a shot. I don’t exactly have any other leads…’.
She solemnly made her way across the street to the outside of the establishment, it looked rather out of place when compared to the angular designs of the other buildings, and from the window she could see there weren’t many ponies inside. She saw a sign dangling overhead, forcing her to squint in order to see it as the sun had long since set. “The Prance's Past," she read, slightly bemused, she never understood why these places were often named so strangely.
She unenthusiastically made her way inside, relieved to be out of the quickly chilling air. One or two ponies gave her a look, which she ignored as she trotted across the wooden floor, before returning to their drinks. Twilight approached the counter, catching the attention of the barpony who had been busy cleaning glasses. Her knowledge of these types’ places was limited, seeing as social gatherings with her friends were usually handled by Pinkie to an unnecessary degree, though she had read a book or two on the subject of taverns.
The barpony made his way over to Twilight, who was trying and failing to not appear awkward,. “What can I get you?” He stated simply, still rubbed a glass in his hooves.
Twilight was bemused for a moment, before understanding his question. “Oh! Nothing thank you, I just have a question?” she said unsurely, as if she needed permission to continue.
The barpony just remained stoic. "Shoot," he replied.
Twilight turned to point at the caravan through the window. “Have you seen the pony who lives in that? She’s a unicorn, blue coat, often talks in third-pony?”
“You mean Trixie?”
Twilight gave an excited eep. “Oh! You know her? Where can I find her? It’s really important." Her eagerness from before was returning, along with the uncertainty. She reached out with her magic to pull out her map, shoving it in the barponys face much to his confusion, “Just point it out, I have a different map of Manhatten if you need it. Do you need a quill? I have a quill. You can use my quill. Honestly, I should have packed more quills. Is she far away. If so could you-”
“She’s upstairs!”
Twilight’s concentration broke, causing her to drop her map and eight quills that had been floating in the air, prompting her to lie down and pick them up one by one. “She’s here, right now?” Her items shook in her magical grasp as she returned them to her saddle bag, before she turned to the barpony, her hooves shaking again, “You sure it’s her? There has to be a few unicorns round here right?”
“The mare that lives in that cart is upstairs; she’s been coming here every night. Honestly that’s all I know, she's a quiet mare, heck I only know her name from her posters. Who are you? Friend of hers?”
‘I want to be’. “Something like that”, she responded lamely, noticing the stairs off to the right of the counter. She muttered a thank you to the bartender as she trotted to and up the stairs. The barpony simply shook his head, returning to his chores.
'Quiet mare? That doesn't sound like her' she thought as she made her ascent. Once Twilight reached the top she whipped her head around in order to catch sight of her target, her gaze froze when she caught a glimpse of a silver mane, poking out over a red seat.
She gulped, the plans of her quick and concise introduction and apology flooding back into her mind, muddled and in the wrong order. Biting her lip as she shakily made her way forward, the rest of the room was deserted, dull, and dark, making her debate how quiet she should make her hoofsteps as she approached the flickering light emanating from the only occupied table.
‘I need to take this slow. I caused her a lot of grief, I don’t know how she’ll react’, she marched forward with purpose, but she couldn’t stop the fear from showing on her face. She wished she could delay her approach, if only to calm herself, but she knew she couldn’t, wouldn’t, and shouldn’t. ‘I owe her an apology, I won’t run from it’.
She found that Trixie was drinking when she came into view, red wine of some sort Twilight reasoned. Her face was illuminated by the candlelight, her hat and cape resting on the seat opposite her. Her eyes were closed and Twilight couldn’t tell if she had noticed her yet. It was almost as if the mere sight of her made Twilight fearful.
“Um… Trixie?”
The purple glow of Trixie horn seemed to flare for a moment upon hearing Twilight's voice, the glass held by her magic lowered to the table, making a noticeable ‘clang’ that made Twilight wince.
Trixie’s eyes opened and she turned to face her. Twilight noticed a range of emotions flash across her face, some only for an instant, namely confusion, shock, anger, annoyance, curiosity, before it all melted into a look of complete indifference.
Twilight avoided eye contact, suddenly finding Trixie’s hat and cape very interesting, “My friends said you were around here…”, she stated slowly, noticing Trixie lean backwards, “I uh, thought we could, I could, maybe just…”.
“Twilight Sparkle”.
The princess froze, it was a tone of voice she couldn’t recognize, but it was enough to make her face Trixie, the same stoic look still on her face, continuing to unnerve her, “You may as well sit down, you wouldn’t have come all this way unless you had something to say”.
As Trixie finished she grasped her hat and cloak in her magic, levitating them out of the opposite seat and onto another table. Twilight followed by removing her own cloak, and took a seat in the booth, shuffling awkwardly which made Trixie roll her eyes. She decided it was best to get started as soon as she could.
“Trixie I-”.
“You want a drink?”
The interruption confused Twilight, ‘Drinks? I just want to talk’, she just continued to look at Trixie perplexed, who seemed to be quickly losing her patience waiting for a response, ‘Oh no! I’m annoying her! Maybe drinking is what she does with her friends! I don’t want to offend her! But I don’t drink that much!’ “Oh sure! I’ll have whatever you have; you’ll know best I bet!”
Trixie acknowledged the response letting off a spark from her horn which raced off down the stairs, before turning back to Twilight, who had a sudden look of horror on her face, “I didn’t mean you’d know best in a, you know ‘You’re an alcoholic’, sort of way, I mean it as in, ‘You’re more informed about this sort of thing than me silly old me’. I’d hate for you to get the wrong impression since-”.
“It’s fine”.
Twilight gave a meek ‘okay’, seeming to shrink into her seat as Trixie turned back towards the stairs, ‘Oh this isn’t going well. I haven’t even told her why I’m here yet and I’ve already indirectly insulted her!’
Twilight clopped her hooves together in thought, taking a breath as she watched Trixie, ‘She’s acting so… strange, she's not being as, in your face, as she used to be, what changed?’. She remained silent, staring at Trixie, who occasionally glanced back at her, still not showing much emotion.
Within a minute or so the same bartender from before emerged from the stairs, responding to Trixie's spell. He approached the two mares, an exaggerated smirk on his face, “Ms. Trixie. Ma’am. What can I get you, the usual?”
Trixie glanced at the stallion, not looking directly at him nor Twilight, “No, it’s my last night here, let’s make it special. Get me and my… acquaintance here wine fit for a Princess”.
The bartender looked momentarily perplexed, as did Twilight, noticing that Trixie's comment was obviously aimed at her, “You sure?” he replied, “That stuffs expensive, like sixty bits expensive.
“You’ll chip in, won’t you Twilight”, she stated, rather than questioned, though Twilight didn’t object.
“Oh yes of course. Thank you”, she hastily responded, still musing on Trixie's princess comment.
The barpony nodded, “Well okay then, our finest wine coming right up”, he said before taking his leave, Twilight wondered for a moment if he recognised her, but moved away from those thoughts to focus on the matter at hoof.
Trixie turned back to Twilight, grasping her previous unfinished glass of wine and downing what was left, while Twilight remained sitting awkwardly, “Did you really need to get the most expensive wine?” She asked, not trying to sound condescending.
“I’m making money again and you’re a princess, I’m sure we can afford the classiest wine this dump has”.
Twilight’s brow furrowed, “If it’s such a dump why did you come here?” She didn’t want to sound angry, but she couldn’t help it, Trixie's uptight view just irked her the wrong way.
Trixie didn’t seem to react to her tone of voice, but shrugged, “I like the atmosphere, I don’t get disturbed, and the ponies are for the most part pleasant, at least at this time of night. I love my fans sure, but I just need a break sometimes. Ponies don’t come looking this side of town, though apparently I was wrong”.
Twilight noticed Trixie's gaze lock on her, “So princess, what brings you this far east? Don’t you have royal duties or something?”
Twilight's focus returned to the why she was there in the first place, she took a deep breath before starting, making sure to choose her words carefully, her momentary anger forgotten.
“We… didn’t exactly meet or part under the best circumstances, so for a while I’ve been wanting to just… talk to you. I’ve been looking for you for a while now, but this is the first time I’ve been able to catch up to you before you head off for another show”.
Trixie nodded, turning her head from Twilight to glance out a nearby window, “Hmm, I take it your friends mentioned we encountered?”
“Yeah. Apple Bloom, you know her? Marked your caravan out for me. They recommended your performance to a lot of ponies; I’d like to see it someday”.
“I’m scheduled in Canterlot in about two months, the royal hall”.
“Wow that’s great! That’s a tough place to book. I could drop a few hints to the Mayor of Ponville if you ever…”.
“As if I’m ever going back there again”.
Twilight decided not to continue, Trixie obviously wanted Ponyville to be mentioned as little as possible, ‘Not like she doesn’t have her reasons’ she thought to herself.
Trixie turned back to Twilight her expression unchanged, “As much as I would love to discuss myself, I’d rather you tell me what exactly you want Princess”. Twilight winced, there was something about the way Trixie said princess that sounded condescending, but she ignored it as best she could.
“I came to… apologize”.
Trixie’s head rose, but swiftly sunk again, much to Twilight's displeasure, ‘It’s still a sore spot’, she noted before continuing. “Whether I intended to or not, I caused you a lot of pain. I realized a long time ago that I could have helped you; I could have gone after you when you ran away from Ponyville after the Ursa. I wasn’t thinking long term at the time, and I didn’t… anticipate how badly you would have been affected”.
Twilight paused looking up at Trixie, who had begun fiddling with her empty glass, Twilight frowned, but continued. “None of it was even your fault, after all it’s not like you brought that Ursa to town personally”, Twilight was too distracted choosing her words to notice Trixie’s grip tighten, “And you even stood up to it! Even though you knew you couldn’t, that was really brave, honestly it pretty unfair you were blamed for the whole thing”.
“What’s your point?”.
Twilight stopped dead, Trixie’s icy interruption threw her off balance, she watched her eyes narrow, and suddenly felt very small. “What’s the point of reminding me?”
“Well… I, I though…”
“You thought you’d come by, we’d have a pleasant chat, you’d apologize, then suddenly were best friends forever. Right?”
Twilight bit her tongue, things were beginning to fall apart, much faster than she anticipated, “Well, there’d probably be more discussion involved but I don’t really-".
“Am I right?”
Twilight stumbled over her words, trying to think up a response that didn’t sound pathetic, “Well… can’t we be friends?”
Trixie gave a mocking ‘ha’, which didn’t help sooth Twilight's nerves, “Seriously? After everything between us, you thought we could just move past it? 'Hey Trixie! We had no reason to like each other, I ruined your life and you enslaved my town, lets hang out!'”
Twilight was scowling now; Trixie's mocking was starting to annoy her, “Well I thought you changed! After the amulet you said you were sorry and you…”.
“Changed? Changed from what?” Trixie's look was one of utter confusion, as if she was being accused of something.
Twilight had a similar look, “Well you were really obnoxious and braggy the first time you came to Ponyville, talking in third-pony and what not, and you’re so against the idea of us getting on even though-”.
“You can’t be serious…”. Trixie's interruption broke Twilight's concentration, further confusing her as to what she meant.
“Serious of what?”
Trixie groaned, holding her face in her hooves as Twilight watched perplexed, shifting her eyes, feeling as if she had gotten an answer to a question no one asked.
Trixie leaned back again, her frown deepening on her face, “Who do you see in front of you Twilight Sparkle?”
“Is this a trick question?”
“It’s only a trick when the observer doesn’t understand”.
Twilight matched Trixie's frown, staring into her eyes, while she waited for a response, “I see you Trixie”.
“Good”. She responded, like she was praising a child. Twilight watched as Trixie levitated her hat onto her head, shifting it around until it was comfortable.
“Who am I now?”
Twilight gave a deadpanned look, feeling like Trixie was mocking her again, “Still see Trixie”, she responded dimly.
“Only Trixie? Trixie thinks you feeble mind cannot accept the reality that you are in the presence of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie’s tone had changed along with her posture; it was much more projective, as if she had just walked out onto a stage in front of thousands.
Twilight stared dumfounded, not fully grasping what Trixie was implying, “I don’t really get-”.
“You dense mare!”
Trixie’s outburst made Twilight jump, the magician remained glaring while Twilight became uncomfortable, “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not who I am”.
Now Twilight was completely lost, “But you just…”
Trixie gritted her teeth, her body giving a single, violent shake, “She’s a fiction! A persona! A mare all the little fillies aspire to be like, a stage presence! Did you really…”, she continued muttering inaudibly as she threw her hat back to her cape, placing her forehead back in her hoof.
Twilight's eyes widened, finally understanding what Trixie meant. “You mean… in Ponyville, the bragging, everything was just an-".
“An act! Of course it was an act. What? You thought I always act the way I do on stage? Where’s the sense in that?”
Twilight shifted in her seat, “But, you acted so grandiose for Snips and Snails, and when you had the amulet you-”.
“It was to maintain the illusion! The Great and Powerful Trixie is the mare all mares want to be, slayer of beasts, crusader for Equestria, that’s who she was! Everything I’m not…”.
Twilight remained silent, Trixie began tapping her hoof on the table and fidgeting in her seat, as if the very idea of being reminded of the past was distressing her. Twilight didn’t want to interrupt, both out of fear, but also curiosity.
“She was all I had after Ponyville. I didn’t want to be Trixie Lulamoon, amateur stage magician, fake… I wanted to be her, the mare who struck back, who didn’t let anypony get the better of her… the winner. And we both know what that led to”.
Twilight simply stared at Trixie, the pieces fitting together in her mind. She attempted to give a sympathetic smile, though Trixie didn’t notice, “Trixie you’re more than just a persona”.
Trixie huffed in disagreement, “The masses don’t care who you are, only what you’ve done, or what they think you’ve done. That amulets been shadow over my life the same way you are”.
“Me?”
“You said it yourself, intentionally or not, you ruined my life”.
Twilight's shoulders sank, she stared at the floor, unwilling to look Trixie in the face. The feelings of guilt she held for so long returned in full force, feeling as if they were weighing her down.
“I know I hurt you Trixie, and I can’t change that, as much as I wish I could. But we don’t need to remain like this, I don’t want to, why can’t you?”
“Because I just don’t like you Twilight Sparkle”.
The weight on Twilight's mind seemed to increase, she had expected there to still be some animosity between Trixie and herself. But Trixie wasn’t just dismissive of the idea of friendship; she was actively fighting against it.
Trixie huffed, as if she was explaining a concept to a child that they couldn’t grasp, “I can’t just… go back on the way I felt about you after the Ursa, the one thing that kept me going was my hatred of you. I hated you so much I put that amulet on, and then I only hated you more”.
Trixie wasn’t looking Twilight in the face, who felt the same guilt from before, topped with disbelief, as if she didn’t what to accept the possibility her and Trixie couldn’t get along, “So you still hate me now then?”
Trixie gave a low groan, not truly knowing the answer herself, “I don’t know. I just can’t… I don’t like you, both for what’s happened, and just for who you are. And frankly you shouldn’t like me either, I did enslave you town”.
“You were sorry”.
“I am sorry! But simply being sorry doesn't change the past”.
Both mares sat in silence, neither knowing where to go from there, Twilight was debating whether or not she should leave, chalking this encounter up as failure, even though the idea made her scream internally.
“One bottle of wine, fit for the princesses themselves, you’re welcome”. The wine was on the table and the barpony gone before Twilight could even comprehend it. She just remained still, running different ideas through her head on how to convince Trixie to forgive and forget. Trixie meanwhile was pouring out wine for herself and Twilight, startling her out of her thoughts when she levitated a glass in front of her face.
Twilight looked at it anxiously, she’d drunk wine before of course, but the whole idea of drinking was just so foreign to her. Trixie jingled the glass around in her grip, spilling some of the red liquid onto the table.
“Come on. You can’t be that boring”.
Twilight scoffed, taking the glass in her own magical grip, holding it much more elegantly than Trixie was, ‘I’m not boring’, she thought defensively.
She thought about proposing a toast, her etiquette training taking over, but by the time she rose her glass Trixie had already begun drinking, much to Twilight's annoyance. Trixie seemed to notice Twilight's change of expression, even though she wasn’t looking at her, “Have I disappointed you Princess?” She said lamely, though Twilight heard the malice in her tone.
Twilight slammed her glass down, much harder than she intended, whilst Trixie remained drinking. For some reason this just annoyed Twilight more, ‘She’s not taking me seriously’.
“What’s your problem Trixie?” Twilight questioned, Trixie remained drinking, “I came here to make up with you. You’ve made mistakes, and I’ve made mistakes. We accept that. So why are you being so… snide with me?”
Trixie didn’t seem to acknowledge that Twilight had spoken, taking another gulp of her drink, which only made Twilight angrier, “You honestly think that you hating me for the rest of your life is the best course of action here? What’s the point? What do you gain?”
Still not acknowledging Twilight, Trixie finished off her drink, placing it back on the table before grasping the bottle, intending to fill up her glass again. She suddenly felt resistance, whipping her head around to meet Twilight's own glare, her horn ablaze her own shade of purple.
“Give me the bottle”, Trixie spoke with as much venom as she could, fighting against Twilight's grip. It angered her that Twilight gave no reaction to her efforts, instead she only remained glaring.
“Stop fighting me Trixie. There’s no reason for this”.
“No reason?!”
Trixie released the bottle, making Twilight almost falter as the tug of war ended; she placed the bottle out of Trixie reach, not taking her eyes off her, though her bravado from before had diminished slightly.
Trixie was leaning towards Twilight, her pale mane swaying between her horn, baring her teeth in an almost feral way, “You want me to spell it out for you, you entitled ponce!”
Twilight cocked her head back, still staring at Trixie, not wanting to falter under her gaze. “You’re just so perfect aren’t you? Who could hate ‘Princess’ Twilight Sparkle, Celestias perfect little student, daughter of two of the most respected ponies in Canterlot, sister of the freaking Captain of the Royal Guard”.
Twilight hated this; it made her sound like a spoiled high society pony, listing out her privileges like she was somehow unappreciative of all she had. She didn’t want to give Trixie the final word however, “What’s your point Trixie? What’s my life got to do with us?”
“Your life isn’t the point, the point is, you can’t accept the fact that I don’t like you, because everything in your life has always gone your way”.
Twilight didn’t know why but that offended her, she wasn’t a spoiled little princess who always got her way, “How dare you Trixie! I’ve been civil with you and you’ve just been so, well, rude, like the way you keep calling me ‘Princess’ likes it’s a bad thing”.
“You literally just sprouted wings one day! What have you actually done that makes you worthy of being a princess?”
Twilight couldn’t help it but she smiled in disbelief, giving a false laugh, “Oh I get it now…”, she met Trixie stare again, her fake smile vanishing, feeling quite confrontational, “You’re jealous of me”.
Trixie snarled, leaning further into Twilight face, their snouts almost touching, “You think I envy you Twilight Sparkle? Of course you would, I’m just a commoner after all!”.
“I think you're just trying to justify hating me; you don’t want to accept my friendship just because you can."
“I think you’ve put yourself on so high of a pedestal that you can't see just how unlikeable you actually are!”
That was enough to make Twilight falter for a second, an opportunity which Trixie didn’t waste, “You think just because you’re you we would get along just fine. Hunky dory. My princess that came to make everything better for me, bribe me with show opportunities, go 'Oh it’s okay, it’s my fault not yours, we can be the best of friends now!'"
“That’s not true! I… I…”.
“I. I. I. Me. Me. Me. Just shut up!”
Twilight was stuttering, trying to form a response with words before she had even thought of one, “You ruined me! Made me sleep in the dirt, and you’ve been constantly rewarded for everything you’ve done that you can’t even fathom the possibility that things won’t go your way. That it must be my fault that I don’t like you, because you’re just that perfect of a pony!”
Twilight was seething just as much as Trixie, leaning back, using her natural height to tower over Trixie, “Well you’re not so perfect yourself Trixie! You’re petty and hate-filled, and frankly I expected more from you”.
Trixie leaned forward again, standing on the table using her forelegs, though her height didn’t match Twilight's, only adding to her displeasure, “Then it’s a good thing I don’t care what you think of me Sparkle”, she sneered, “I crawled out of the dirt all by myself, with no false assurances from friends who are only around as long as its convenient”.
As Trixie was leaning forward, she reached out with her magic and grasped the bottle again, Twilight making no attempt to stop her. Trixie sat back down, pouring herself another glass, seemly avoiding the still seething Twilight's gaze. “Stop trying to convince yourself the world's all sunshines and rainbooms, nopony rallies behind the loser”.
Twilight sat back down also, still glaring at Trixie, not interrupting, instead thinking up a rebuttal for when she did finish. “You’ve been surrounded by ponies with influence your entire life Sparkle, a rich uncle here, a Princess foal sitter there, you have no idea what it’s like to be alone”.
Twilight's gaze softened, though she was still angry at Trixie for her insults and insinuations, “Trixie my friends are my friends because they’re my friends! It has nothing to do with status or wealth; there is always somepony willing to be there for you, even if you yourself don’t believe it.” Her gaze softened further, though it still held authority, “Once I thought I was fine by myself too Trixie, but now I can’t imagine being without my friends, Princess Celestia even dubbed me the Princess of Friendship!”.
Trixie's frown deepened, she took a gulp of her drink, her eyelids drooping ever so slightly, she then snorted, her cheek twitching as a thought apparently crossed her mind, “If that’s true Princess…” she began, her cheek twitching again.
“Where were you?”
Twilight blinked, recoiling slightly at the unexpectedness of the question, “I, I told you, I’d been looking for you but you’d always left by the time-”.
“Before that.” Trixie interrupted taking another whisk of her drink. Twilight's glare faulted still trying to process Trixie's question, “Before the amulet, after the Ursa”.
Twilight's anger was overcome by her nervousness, she stuttered again, trying to form a rebuttal, “Well I had just met you… you ran. I. I didn’t know you! You just appeared then…”.
“Where were you when I needed your 'friendship' most?”
Twilight's mouth was agape, her tongue flicking around as if it was trying to form words before Twilight knew how to respond, Trixie took the opportunity to beat her down, “You say friendship is out there for everypony, you proclaim yourself Princess of Friendship, but when I was at the single worst point in my life… you have the audacity to show up here and say we should just move past it all”.
Twilight was still unresponsive, Trixie shook the wine bottle, finding it still about half full before turning back, “I got myself this far. Me. You grow a castle, get given a title, and suddenly think you're some sort of friendship expert. I was happy before I met you Sparkle, and I’ll be happy when you leave. If you cared about being my friend as much as you claim, you wouldn’t need to be called the Princess of Friendship before coming to look for me”.
Her vigor gone Twilight simply looked at the table, at her still full wine glass, “Trixie I’m…" she began, but couldn’t finish.
Trixie meanwhile finished what was left of her glass, about to pour another before she halted herself, bringing her hoof back and leaving the half empty bottle alone. “I have so many things I want to say to you Twilight Sparkle, but quite frankly, I don’t care anymore and neither should you, I don’t need your friendship and you don’t want it, so…”.
"That’s not true!”
For the first time Trixie gave a look of surprise, not expecting Twilight's outburst, which she noticed was not one of anger, instead one of anguish, “I changed Trixie! You were just some unpleasant mare who came out of nowhere and then was gone, but you came back. I can’t fix what has gone wrong, I can’t fix… we don’t need to be enemies anymore”.
Trixie looked down, as if she was contemplative, before her face returned to the stoic look she had when Twilight first walked in.
“Just because we're not enemies doesn’t mean we have to be friends”.
With that, Trixie levitated a sack of coins out of her cape, fastening it on herself as she did. She counted up precisely thirty bits before placing them on the table, next to the half-drunk bottle of wine. She left the booth, turned around wordlessly, levitating her hat onto her head as she went.
“Wait” called Twilight quietly.
Trixie's ear twitched back, as she paused near the stairs, Twilight looked at her somberly, feeling as if she was watching an opportunity slip away without her, “Is this it?” she said simply, not exactly knowing what else to say.
Trixie remained motionless, Twilight unable to see the conflicted look on her face. She sighed before she spoke again, “Maybe…” was the last thing Twilight heard before Trixie hastily made her way down the stairs, to her caravan outside Twilight presumed.
Twilight gave a deep sigh, holding her head in both her hooves; she reflected on the encounter, feeling completely drained from it. She turned her head on its side, taking in the sight of her still filled wine glass. With little hesitation she levitated it and took a gulp, gagging at the taste. She put it down as quickly as she picked it up.
'How does Trixie stomach this?' She thought, grudgingly taking bits out of her cloak, taking care to count the ones Trixie had left, just to make sure she hadn’t swindled her. While doing so she also noticed how the bottle was also half full, half full of a concoction Twilight had no intention of finishing. But nevertheless, seeing how Trixie hadn’t taken Twilight's promised half, for some reason made her think more highly of the mare.
Leaving her bits, Twilight fastened her cloak and left as well, blowing out the candle as she went. The bar was still deathly quiet, making Twilight realize it was still only early into the night, the Manehatten nightlife had yet to begin, not that Twilight wished to be around when it did mind you.
Walking past the barpony, who seemed to be glaring slightly only made Twilight quicken her past, reasoning that he probably wasn't too happy with their most certainly loud argument.
Walking outside, Twilight noticed the cart owned by Trixie, a light flickering through the curtained window, she stared at it longingly, never really taking into consideration that she would have truly failed in achieving her friendship.
She turned to walk away, almost doing so if not for a lingering thought in the back of her mind, she breathed in, deciding to push past her hesitation one final time, if only for this.
She turned back to the caravan, trotting over in a defeated haste. She stood outside the door, hearing shuffling coming from inside, deciding that knocking on the door was pointless, since she didn’t expect to be let in, she simply began speaking in a longing tone.
“Trixie…” she fumbled, not really caring what impression she gave, or if Trixie had even heard her, only really focused on getting her words out, “I used to send reports to the Princess Celestia, telling her what I had learned about friendship, it was one of the reasons she considered me worthy of being a Princess. I haven’t done one for a while, for a time I thought maybe I'd learnt all there was to know about friendship. I see now I was wrong”.
If Twilight had taken the time to listen, she would have heard the shuffling from inside stop, “I learned something about friendship today Trixie. I learned that the best friends you could ask for… are the ones you don’t have to ask for”, Twilight paused, sniffing, and still unaware of the lack of noise from inside the cart, “I came and I asked to be your friend, I had no reason before, and I have no reason now except I wanted to. You said that just because we're not enemies doesn’t mean we have to be friends, I agree. But I say that just because you don’t want to be my friend, doesn’t mean I can’t be yours".
Twilight could feel the dampness of her eyes against the chilling air, taking a moment to rub her hoof across her face, “Friendship isn’t about leeching, or selfishness Trixie, it’s a special kind of love, one I’ve chosen to share with you. You don’t have to return it, I see that now, just know that I can be there for you, even if I wasn’t before, you don't need to ask for it, because you don't need to ask for something that's yours to take”.
With her words said and done, Twilight began walking off again, away from the caravan housing a pony she may never see again.
She would have continued too, if she didn’t feel a light tap on the back of her mane. Hearing something make contact with the ground, she looked down to see a crumbled up piece of paper, she couldn’t see any pony who could have thrown it, and the mere sight of it seemed to annoy her.
In her dampened state she unraveled the crumpled paper, the journey to the city, the encounter in the tavern, and the previous conversation with Trixie's door leaving her drained to the point of exhaustion. She just wanted a room to sleep in now, but the contents of the paper invigorated her when she noticed exactly what it was.
It was a flyer, proudly displaying an expertly draw Trixie, hiding mysteriously behind her flowing cape. What caught Twilight's attention however was the venue advertised, 'Presenting The Great and Powerful Trixie! Limited Time Only at the Canterlot Royal Hall!' It was scheduled for two months time, right at the start of the scheduled snow falls.
Twilight stared at the flyer in wide eyed bemusement, wondering again where it had come from. Her eyes fell on Trixie's caravan, where the previously securely shut window was now open. Twilight became giddy, slipping the sheet in her saddlebag before turning again, making plans to catch the earliest possible train back to Ponyville as she trotted away.
The mistakes of the past may linger forever, damage caused can sometimes be permanent, and an opportunity can pass us by. The thing is though, failures can be built upon, damages can be worked around, and a new opportunity can present itself.