Ticket Holder
Chapter 2
Twilight was backed into a corner as both of her friends Blossomforth and Trixie were demanding Twilight to give either one of them her extra ticket. She knew in the end only one friend would be going and the other would be disappointed. She closed her eyes and hoped for the best. Just as Twilight was about to make her decision, out of nowhere Honey Do flies down and lands in front of Twilight, shielding her from Trixie and Blossomforth's approach.
"HEY! Give her some space will ya!?", yelled Honey as she shelters Twilight with her wings.
Twilight then opened her eyes and sees her friend protecting her. Honey looked behind and gives Twilight a nod to indicate she's got her back.
Daring returns her gaze to the other two and with a demanding voice, "This isn't how you're supposed to act with your friend. You two are pressuring her into a corner and are making her choice pretty stressful. I don't care whose intentions are better or have more meaning to them, it doesn't mean badgering your friends to get what you want. So back off a bit and give her some room."
After being told off by Honey, Trixie and Blossomforth looked to each other then to Twilight and see her looking stressed out. Realizing their mistake they both backed up and gave her some space. With the space now open, Honey also moved away so Twilight can speak.
"You have the stage Twilight," said Honey as she motioned with her hoof.
Twilight looked to both Trixie and Blossomforth for a couple of seconds and said, "I know you two want to go to the Gala more than anything, and you both have good reasons for going. Either one of you going with me to the Gala would make my night even better and know that I'm there with the accompaniment of a friend I've made ever since I left Canterlot. I don't want to deprive you of the opportunity, but right now I can't make my choice."
Trixie and Blossomforth turned glum as neither of them got the ticket. While they both wanted the ticket more than anything, it wouldn't have been fair to force her decision right away. Twilight then used her magic to pull out the ticket and handed it over to Honey.
"When I've made my decision by tomorrow morning, I'll give the extra ticket to Honey for safe keeping. I can trust her to hold onto it, and I know she won't give the ticket to you two without my consent," explained Twilight.
After hearing her explanation, Trixie was the first to respond, "Trixie supposes that this is the right choice, and that the both of us have acted rather harsh," she then looked towards Honey, "Trixie was acting not like herself, and was acting more like a dragon wanting to get his claws on gems."
Blossomforth also replied towards both her friends, "Same here. I acted like a foal wanting candy and didn't give the time and space you needed to make this choice. This isn't how a pony is supposed to act."
Trixie and Blossomforth bowed their heads with shame and said, "We're sorry Twilight."
Believing that they had both come to grips with her decision, Twilight then said, "Apology accepted."
Honey, seeing that the matter has been settled, she stuffed the ticket away in her sweater and said, "Now that this has been taken care of, I'm going to put this away at the museum for safe keeping until tomorrow morning. All three of you can come by to get it once Twilight chooses who gets to go with her to the Gala. Agree?"
All three of the ponies nodded in agreement as Honey then took off towards the museum leaving the three ponies alone on the sidewalk. Trixie and Blossomforth then turned their attention back towards Twilight.
Trixie then quickly said, "Well, Trixie is going back to her home and practice her magic."
She then walks off towards the edge of town.
Blossomforth also said quickly, "Me too, I've got to water my garden and maybe get something to eat. Bye Twilight."
She then heads off in the direction of her home.
That was unusual for even Twilight to see her friends mood swing like that after what they've done to her. Now the only thing left to do was to decide who will get her extra ticket. Not knowing how to solve the problem, she tried to come up with an idea on how to make her decision by tomorrow. She quickly recollects why both wanted to go to the gala. Blossomforth wanted to see the garden, and Trixie wanted to perform at the Gala in front of a crowd. Although good reasons, Twilight wondered if there was more to their reasoning for going or if they can go more in-depth with their explanation.
Snapping out of her train of thought, Twilight saw her friends continue to walk off in opposite directions towards their homes. Before they could continue any further, Twilight shouted, "Wait! Come back here!"
Both Blossomforth and Trixie stopped in place and ran back to Twilight. Having got their attention, Twilight asked, "Why don't you both come back to the library with me and we can discuss about the Gala? Maybe if I talk to both of you in a calm and selective manner instead of demanding me, I can get a clearer reason why you both want to go to the Gala."
Trixie deep in thought replied, "Well, Trixie wasn't planning on doing anything until later tonight. So why not. My magic act practice can wait."
Blossomforth also replied, "I'll come too. My plans for tonight can wait as well. I suppose watering my plants isn't too important at this moment."
Twilight smiled and is happy to see the both of them act normal again without pestering her.
"Alright, let's go....." said a cheerful Twilight.
Then her speech was cut off from Blossomforth's stomach growling from hunger, since her sandwich was gone after falling on Twilight's head.
Twilight heard her friend's stomach and replied, "...and also get something to eat. Spike should still have some snacks made."
All three then headed back towards the library.
-Manehattan Library-
Upon returning the library, Twilight saw that Spike was at the top of the ladder and was continuing to reshelf the books in the library. Spike saw Twilight enter and slid down the ladder to greet Twilight back home and welcome her guests.
"Welcome back Twilight, any luck with the ticket?", asked Spike.
"I may have found two of our friends who really want to go, but I still need to think this through. So I invited them over so we can discuss about it," explained Twilight.
The chat was quickly interrupted by Blossomforth's grumbling stomach once again.
"I've got just the thing!", Spike said quickly as he dashed for the kitchen.
Spike then returned to Blossomforth with the mini sandwiches he made earlier and gives one to her. She takes the sandwich and eats it, then thanked Spike by giving a nod of approval.
Spike then whispered to himself, "Thank Celestia I didn't make Macaroni and Cheese like last time."
Blossomforth caught a bit of Spike's whispering and confusingly asked, "What was that Spike?
Spike then caught himself and quickly replied, "Nothing!", as he shifted his view somewhere else.
Spike then went back to reshelf the books as the three ponies went over to the lounge area to sit and talk. As they all sat down, Twilight decided to get to the point and asked her friends the question, "Why do you two want to go to the Gala? I want each of you to go into more detail on what you want to do once at the Gala, and speak one at a time in a calm manner."
After hearing Twilight's explanation, Trixie and Blossomforth both looked to each other.
Trixie then said, "Trixie will let Blossomforth go first. Then Trixie will see if her reasons are better than I."
Blossomforth was swallowing down another sandwich when Trixie was speaking. When finished, Blossomforth catches her breath and spoke to Twilight, "Okay, here's my full reason to go to the Gala. I did say I want to see the palace garden, but there's more to it."
"The royal garden is said to house some of the most extravagant plants and flowers from all corners of Equestria. From the common Poison Joke, to the rare Middlemist Red, I want to see all of the amazing plants there. If I could, I want to also visit the royal greenhouse and see how they take care of their plants and learn some of the gardene'rs tips and tricks of caring for exotic plant life. While having a dance in the royal ballroom sounds wonderful, I might get a little overwhelmed from all of the ponies there. So a trip to the garden will be better for me."
Blossomforth finished her description of her dream going to the Gala. Twilight nodded in approval as she did get a better explanation for her understanding of wanting the ticket.
"I can understand where you are coming from," said a delighted Twilight, "I've heard great things about the garden as well. There's also supposed to be a hedge maze as well, and holds some great works of art like statues and fountains."
"Really?! I need to see it then," said a surprised Blossomforth.
"You should," Twilight responded, pleased, "I can also see why you wouldn't want to be in the Grand Ballroom. An event like this with crowds filled to the brim with hundreds of ponies can be quite crowed and a bit overbearing for somepony like you. So doing something relaxing like having a moonlit stroll through the garden would suit you perfectly."
Blossomforth sighed in pleasure as if she was imagining herself there already. With this thought in mind, she might as well have gotten the ticket already. Then Trixie coughed to get both of their attention. Blossomforth snapped out of her daydream and turned her attention back to Trixie.
"If it doesn't trouble you both, do you want to hear Trixie's explanation for going to the Gala?", Trixie requested.
Twilight almost have forgotten her then said, "Oops, silly me. Guess we both got lost in thought. Go ahead."
Trixie then said, "What I told you before was the truth, but not the whole truth of why I want to go."
"After you went through everything you could to get me back home from my mother, I still performed in front of all the nobles in Canterlot and even impressed my mother with my magic skills. Even though my sister had jealous intentions, she's the rightful heir of becoming head of the Lulamoon house. Where her talents are in Canterlot, my talents are to spread all over Equestria. In short, while Trixie wants to perform at the Gala with her magical expertise, she also wants to show her family how much she has learned over the years, how much she learned from Hoofdini, and also rekindle the relationships with her family so we can heal the wounds after all of those years she has been away from home. Plus with the lessons I've been given from Celestia's school, I can also show how much I've studied as well."
Twilight was more blown away by Trixie's explanation than Blossomforth's, as Trixie had a deeper and hidden reasoning for going to the Gala.
Twilight then responded, "Your first explanation doesn't hold as much weight against Blossomforth's if all you were only trying to do was just perform your magic act at the Gala. Now you add that you're doing this to showcase more of your magic then what you did at the Night Court to your family, specifically to your mother and sister. With those in mind, I believe that can put you on equal terms with Blossomforth for going to the Gala."
Trixie is glad to hear that she wasn't ousted of getting the ticket, but not any better now that she was on equal ground with Blossomforth. Yet she may need to fight back a bit more to guarantee herself getting the ticket.
Twilight then got up from her chair and said to both of her friends, "Now that I've heard both of your explanations, I'll deliberate tonight and give my answer tomorrow morning at Honey's museum. Whoever gets the ticket, I hope the pony that is left out doesn't get disappointed by my choice, okay?"
Both her friends nodded in approval. Twilight then levitated the empty plate where the sandwiches were and took them away with her.
"I'll be back with more snacks," said Twilight as she left for the kitchen.
When Twilight was out of sight, Blossomforth and Trixie turned to each other and glared into each other's eyes.
"Trixie knows for sure that she isn't going to go down without a fight," said a for certain Trixie.
"Neither am I. The ticket will up for grabs for any one of us to get," Blossomforth replied sternly.
Trixie smiled with confidence and said, "Then let's have a clean fight, and whoever wins, no hard feelings."
Trixie then motioned for a hoofbump. Blossomforth then responded to the hoofbump and said, "Agreed, may the better mare win."
Twilight came back with more sandwiches and saw her friends sitting across from one another and hoofbumped each other.
Twilight was happy to see her friends getting along again.