Dear Twilight Sparkle

by Penmore

Pre-Show

The meeting with Mayor Mare went quickly as she had already drawn up the paperwork before turning in the night prior. Twilight stood by as Trixie and the Mayor posed for a few photos and the magician was handed the papers without a problem. They thanked the Mayor once more before walking out and encountering some of the ponies that had gathered to see what the commotion was about. Trixie took the chance to promote her show as they asked if she was the one to save Sweetie and Twilight was once again stuck on the sidelines.

After an hour of shaking hooves and self-promotion Trixie once again joined the purple mare who at this point had simply sat on one of the benches just outside City hall.

"Ready to go?" the illusionist asked to the seemingly spaced out mare.

"Yea." Twilight joined her as they walked back to the wagon. "So, what exactly do you need me to do in terms of setting up?"

"Well, It's nothing too complicated. The side of my wagon opens up to form a small stage but in order to perform the way I want to today I need to get the bigger stage ready."

"So you want me to make the stage?"

"Let me finish Sparkle."

"You can just call me Twilight."

"No thanks."

"Oh... Can I ask why?"

Trixie stopped mid-step causing Twilight to abruptly stop before crashing into her. "Look, Twilight Sparkle. For what it's worth, you seem like a good enough pony to get to know but with what you've told me I'd really rather not associate myself with you more than necessary. No offense but you're not exactly what I'm looking for in a friend. Not to mention that I travel, not just around Equestria, I mean around the world. I have no idea where I'll be until I arrive and having friends in one place is simply impossible due to how little erratic contact could end up being."

"You can't have possibly gone this long without having a few friends, right?"

"Well, you're correct on that part but, like I said I'd really rather not make any friends." Trixie turned and continue to walk towards her wagon. "Its always bad news either way." she mumbled low enough to barely register as anything.

As the pair approached the wagon Twilight noticed a shadow disappearing behind the side of the wagon. Before she could say anything Trixie picked up her pace which prompted the impromptu stage hoof to follow. As they rounded the corner Twilight skid to a halt as Trixie suddenly stopped just as she turned. The resulting hasty brake caused her to fall flat on her face next to the showmare.

"Whoa. Are you alright?" an orange pegasus filly asked coming closer as Twilight wiped the dust off her fur.

"Y-yea. Thanks."

"What exactly are you doing around my wagon?" Trixie asked interrupting the two's exchange.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know when the show would start."

"Ah, It's not going to be ready until some time later tonight." Trixie replied with a smile at the potential fan. "What's your name little one?"

"Scootaloo. Sorry if I caused trouble I've just never seen a traveling magic show before."

"Tut tut. It's not a magic show my dear Scootaloo." With a trained hoof, she quickly threw something down which caused a cloud of smoke to appear. Once it cleared she was gone causing the two ponies left behind to search for her.

"It is a magic event! One that will forever change your views on magic as you know it!" Trixie's voice echoed as her wagon shook and the two backed away from the mobile home. Latches came undone and a small wooden stage released from the side as fireworks shot up and some trumpets released a blast once another puff of smoke appeared in the center. "Behold, the wondrous feats of The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

The showmare was in her signature hat and cape as a crowd began to form and she began to perform for them. As the crowd began to settle down Twilight noticed A.J and Rarity in the crowd and left Scootaloo to enjoy the show.

"Hi, Applejack." Twilight said coming closer to the two and was about to greet Rarity when she saw her turn and walk away with a slight scowl.

"Hey, Twilight. You holding up okay?" A.J asked walking some distance away from the stage as to not interrupt.

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"Twilight, we both know what happened last night and you agreed to start fresh before any of that happened. Well, I can't rightly keep my end of that if you aren't honest with me."

"I'm sorry." Twilight sighed "I seem to keep saying that more and more these days."

"It's certainly become a regular for you that's true but it wouldn't be if you didn't make these types of situations yourself."

"But, I didn't mean for any of that to happen."

"It don't matter whether or not you wanted it to happen. What matters is that it did and your decision is what made it happen. Mac told me about you being at the schoolhouse rather than looking after Sweetie but nothing else. What was so dang important that you left that filly by herself?"

"You won't tell Rarity will you?" Twilight asked with a pleading look

"Well, that all depends on whether or not it's a good reason. I've known her longer than you so if she asks directly there's little I can do than tell her."

"Fine. That's fair I guess." a boom went off behind them and they both turned to see a living light show that formed the shapes of Trixie and a bear of some kind. The crowd seemed to be impressed and shocked as they stomped.

"You were saying?" A.J said breaking them both from the rather glamorous distraction.

"Right, I uh... might have gone after Fluttershy when I saw her at the schoolhouse with a filly."

"So you were with Fluttershy the whole time?"

"N-not exactly?"

"Exactly what were you doing then?" A.J eyed her suspiciously at the response.

"I might have been kind of... maybe been spying on her?" she tried to hide behind an awkward smile only to be reward with A.J taking a deep breath as she took off her hat.

"Twilight... I thought you learned your lesson the first time you did something like that."

"But, I couldn't help it! I'd never seen that Fluttershy interact with anyone other than the five of us and her walking away with that filly was strange enough considering how she usually acts around strangers."

"Fine, let's say this isn't as bad as it sounds. Why exactly couldn't you just tell Rarity the truth then? By what she said you left her sister go off on her own just so you could spend some time alone."

"I couldn't. I promised her that I wouldn't go see Fluttershy without her."

"So you broke a promise?" A.J brought a hoof to her face as she tried to rub her eyes. "Is this going to be what's like being your friend? You just breaking promises and spying on others when you feel like it? Listen sugarcube, the thing between you and me is one thing but the fact that you just took all of that happened with us and did this just says you don't view anyone on the same level as you."

"That's not tru-"

"I ain't done." A.J said lifting a hoof to stop Twilight from talking. "I know that I said I'd give you a second chance but all of this is really making me rethink even that. Now, I know I'll probably regret this but I'll go ahead and try to calm Rarity down from completely trying to ignore you so you can talk to her."

"Really?" Twilight said with obvious surprise in her voice.

"Yea, I'll do my best anyways but I ain't gonna promise nothing other than that. However, if and when you two actually talk I expect nothing less than the truth from you. Got it?"

"Y-yes, of course. I'll tell her everything."

"Good, but now this is the real catch. If you can't or won't tell her everything then I will and at that point you can consider this thing between us over. I'm not about to try being friends with some pony that treats promises like nothing. We may be part of the elements but that doesn't mean I have to be anything other than professional towards that regard."

Twilight was about to speak when another loud crash rang through the air and made her turn to see more fireworks shoot out from the stage as Trixie bowed to the thunderous stomping of the ponies. She presented her hat which was soon filled with bits and waved the audience goodbye as they dispersed. At that, Twilight turned back towards A.J only to see her walking away. She started to go after her but was caught off guard as a sudden figure appeared out of the sky in front of her.

"What did you do?" the prismatic mare yelled causing A.J to stop halfway.

"Rainbow? What do you mean? What's going on?" Twilight started to panic as the pegasus mare stalked towards her.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the scruff and pulled her closer to stare her down. "What did you do to Fluttershy?" she yelled causing the petrified pony in her hooves to start shaking a little.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't spoken to her since at least two days ago." Twilight struggled to say as Rainbow made it hard for her to focus on much else.

"Rainbow Dash! You let her go right now!" A.J yelled as she separated the angry pegasus away from Twilight.

"Stay out of this A.J! This is between me and her!" she shoved A.J away only to be stopped by a blue field of magic before reaching Twilight.

"Alright, that's enough of that." Trixie said coming up from behind to stand next to Twilight.

"Who do you think you are?" Rainbow yelled trying to bust through the bubble that now formed around her.

"Someone that knows the general idea of social grace. In case you haven't noticed, you three are attracting a lot of attention with all this yelling so I suggest you cool off before your business becomes the town's business." she waved a hoof around which caused the other three to see other ponies whispering about what was happening.

"Fine, whatever. I get it already, just let me out." Rainbow took deep breaths and blew the hair out of her face as A.J stepped between her and Twilight once more. "A.J, I need to talk to Twilight. Now."

"No. You're not in the right state of mind. I know you Dash and this isn't you calm. Now, come with me back to the farm until you are calm. Otherwise, you can forget about having a private talk with Twilight."

"Are you serious?" she yelled.

"Do I look like I'm not?" A.J yelled back.

The two stared at each other for a good minute before Dash turned around and headed for the farm with A.J close behind. She stopped and turned around once more to face the two unicorns. "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in when you did Miss Trixie."

"Just Trixie is fine. You don't have to thank me for anything. I just don't particularly like witnessing any type of violence. Not to mention that if I have ponies fighting right after my show it'll be bad publicity. Now, if you'll excuse me I have another show to set up for so I'll be taking my helper back now. Let's go Sparkle."

Twilight who had been standing there dumbfounded throughout the whole exchange could only nod slightly as sweat dripped down her brow. She waved goodbye to A.J who did the same and followed close after the showmare.

"Trixie... I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything then. It's like I told your farmer friend there, I only stepped in for my own interests and nothing else. So if you're done being an emotional punching bag for the day, I suggest we get to work as I have a show to put on in a couple hours."

Twilight watched the azure mare continue towards the wagon in awe of her ability to deal with such situations with ease. Regardless of whether or not it was for the right reasons, she knew that the way Trixie handled herself was from a point of experience. Time passed as Trixie gave out instructions as to where to put certain props and helped set up the major stage for the show that would go on that night. At little past three in the afternoon they stopped for a lunch break with no obvious sign of A.J or Rainbow returning.

"Alright, I've got some daisy, kale, and spinach sandwiches along with a pitcher of peach juice." Trixie said levitating the table from that morning along with the items out of the wagon and setting them down near the completed stage. She took the pitcher and served herself some of the juice and began drinking as Twilight began to eat.

"You're not having any of the sandwiches?"

"No, I already ate some as I was preparing them. Besides, I need to go to get my cape mended before the show."

"Oh! I almost forgot about that." Twilight said with a mouthful of the delicious meal.

"Ugh, have some manners Sparkle." she levitated a napkin to the purple mare who accepted it with a blush.

"Sorry. Thanks again Trixie."

"Enough already with the constant thanking. I keep telling you it's nothing and yet you keep making it more than it really is by doing that. Now, go ahead and finish your meal while I head over to the shop and don't worry I'll be sure to keep my end of the deal. Look after the place while I'm gone and make sure no one touches anything. If even one thing is moved slightly then it'll cause any of the acts to go wrong."

Trixie left and Twilight sat by waiting for her return. She didn't know how long it would take but with the skill Rarity had it shouldn't be too long. She looked out onto the stage and props and wondered how some of them would be used. While she might have been Celestia's personal protege and the embodiment of the element of magic, it didn't mean she knew everything that dealt with it. The things Trixie could do were astounding from what Twilight caught of her act hours before.

Lost in her imagination of the acts to come she failed to notice the shadow that passed by from above until she heard hooves touch the ground. She looked behind her to see Rainbow Dash once again looking a lot calmer than earlier that day.

"Rainbow..."

"Let's talk."

Author's Note:

I said it would be longer and I came through with it. Nothing else to say than here is the next chapter.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique as any critique helps me as a writer. A like is appreciated and have a great day!

Comments

[twidash1993]

Man are any of the manesix not jerks in this story?

[RadicalDishonesty]

7845819
I don't see why it wouldn't fit the backstory: having Twilight basically already went through the process of losing a group of friends but was totally oblivious to it seems in character for this incarnation of her.

Hearing that Twilight avoided friendships like that makes my mind draw to Spike again. We know Spike is happily sociable, but we have basically no confirmation he has any long term relationships other than Twilight, and his relationship with her is pretty unclear... is he somehow better than she is or is he just as bad but unlike Twilight nobody worries about whether he's lonely or if his friendship needs matter.

I mean, what is he doing while Twilight is out of the library? As far as we know he's alone in the library, while Twilight is spending time with her friends.

[Penmore]

7849749
Well, I can't say you're wrong about that at all regarding Twilight. As for Spike, you'll find out relatively soon is all I can say.

[Penmore]

7849560
I don't think it is so much that they are outright jerks. I like to think that before Twilight even came along they had a very limited circle of friends. The show itself shows how they actually spent time together for the first time and how they interacted with each other. I've rarely seen a time when any of them had friends outside the six of them. Sure, there might be some episodes that show they do like "Griffon Brush Off" but they make almost no mention of friends outside of just themselves. With that in mind, my train of thought is that they never really encountered someone as anti-social as Twilight trying her best to get the concept of friendship.

[AortaHeartless]

7849560 I think Fluttershy won't be a jerk... However, Twilight does seem to be making it her unofficial life mission to piss others off.

[Kit Wolfkat]

So will you be continuing this, or will this fic will be forever in hiatus?