Evenfall

by Yinglung

Chapter 7 – Tricks of the Trade

“Twilight, do you think that I’d look better with a moustache?” Spike asked, as Twilight was busy writing letters to ponies in Canterlot. She had been maintaining contact with her Canterlot acquaintances, as well as asking for news about Sunburst, the estranged friend of Starlight Glimmer.

But for now, she was specifically writing to her own brother Shining Armor. It’s been some time since they met, and she longed to reconnect with her big brother.

Twilight turned left and right briefly to track down the source of his voice. Eventually, she turned to Spike and said. “Um, you will look positively enticing with a gentleman’s bar I’m sure. But I’m afraid Rarity isn’t into the mustachioed Romeo look.”

Spike sighed. “Screw that, then.”

Twilight put down her quill and slowly trotted to the side of Spike. “What’s wrong, Spike? I thought Rarity is not against the idea of spending more time with you?”

“But… the thing is… it is too slow!” Spike frowned. “Ever since Rarity agreed to go to the Gala with me, we haven’t talked very often. Even when we do, things just turn awkward quickly, you know?”

“Spike, Rarity will need time. She has works to do and duties to tend to. She also has a little sister to take care of. Besides, she has to get used to the idea of going out with you.” Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. “After all, she’s a mare and you’re a dragon.”

Spike looked hurt with Twilight’s comments, he looked down to the floor and went silent.

Twilight realized that her words have upset the purple dragon, and hurriedly added, “I’m sorry, Spike. I didn’t mean that your being a dragon is a problem, or that you and Rarity don’t match… It’s just that ponies around Rarity will have to accept this with a bit of time, since some of them may not be as open-minded as us.”

Twilight looked at Spike in the eyes and assured, “I tell you what Spike. I knew Rarity harbored some feelings for you too, she just, uh, won’t quite admit it.”

Spike’s jaw dropped hearing Twilight’s proclamation. “What?! Is that true? Why did I never notice?”

Twilight knew that in actuality, Rarity’s not really into the purple dragon. She probably loved Spike simply because some of Twilight’s motherly love for the young drake was transferred during their mind meld. That applied for everyone indeed, but some of them were able to translate it into something platonic, but others, like Rarity, was clearly in a mental quagmire. It must be a bit awkward for Rarity to face a love-struck dragon that she probably cared for in another way.

Heck, if Spike someday suddenly said he loved her as a mare and wanted to be with her…

Twilight pushed away the unsettling thought like she would do to a quesadilla. She then said. “Rarity’s a lady, Spike. She is not going to just openly show her affection. Especially not to someone she’s met just a few weeks ago. You need to slowly build up your relationship and show Rarity that you’re more than a small dragon, but a reliable coltfriend that she would feel safe and proud to go out with.”

Spike nodded, as he slowly processed Twilight’s words.

“Anyway, have you seen any new pony come into town?” Twilight asked in expectation.

“Oh yes, finally there’s one,” Spike replied quickly, as he was asked this question every day in the past week. “I saw somepony in a cape, a unicorn I think, camped at the edge of the town this morning. She seemed to be packing up and preparing to move into town.”

Suddenly, loud knocks was heard in the treehouse library. “I’ll get it,” Twilight said, but Spike followed her to the door anyway.

At the door were two young colts. “Spike, Missus Twilight, there’s something you must see!”

Twilight knew what was coming as she mentally prepared herself. Spike asked, “Snips, Snails! What's goin' on?”

Snails said with a surprised voice, “Wha, haven't you heard? There's a new unicorn in town!”

“Why yes, my good colts, Spike was just talking about this with me.” Twilight smilingly nodded.

“See, they say that she's got more magical powers than any other unicorn ever!” Snips replied with a hurried tone.

“Aw, no way, tha—” Spike was interrupted by a gentle poke from Twilight, who instead politely said. “Oh my, that’s definitely a must-seen, then!”

“Ho, she's in the town square. Come on!” Snails grinned widely, as he and Snips scampered out of the front of the tree library and went to another door to tell other ponies the news.

Spike watched the two young colts who were running around town. “Twilight, why don’t you let me correct them on who’s the most powerful unicorn?”

For Twilight, she was far from powerful enough for her to feel good with herself. She never felt easy with her level of control on her mind magic, seeing that she once nearly submitted to Fluttershy’s Stare, and might have to engage numerous opponents that bend minds in the future. Even in terms of raw magic, Starlight Glimmer could have matched her in certain situations had she not possessed the magical know-how inherited from the ancient tome.

Besides, she had some ideas for that new unicorn. “Spike, it’s true that because my talent is magic, I’m naturally disposed towards having more magic than most other unicorns. But that doesn’t mean there are absolutely no other unicorns in Equestria that are more talented than me. While for most unicorns, their magic was adapted fully to their specific trade or interest, it doesn’t mean that you can’t teach an old pony new tricks… so to speak. Just like how I tutored Rarity on different magic other than her original repertoire.”

Twilight took a long breath and continued. “In any case, I dislike ostentatious display of abilities. When you always show off all the tricks in your saddlebag, you would then never be able to surprise or impress other ponies. Also, being humble about yourself made ponies that already know you’re good like you more. So Spike, I ask of you, no matter what happens when we meet the new unicorn, do not boast about my abilities in front of all ponies. If she was a fraud, I’ll have my ways to deal with her.”

Spike gulped and nodded, it’s as if Twilight could see what he was thinking in his mind. Or could she? Spike sometimes wondered about Twilight, who had grown to be incredibly prescient and sometimes enigmatic even.

They walked out of the library together and towards the town center, where a big crowd of ponies were already gathered to witness the new unicorn who purportedly wield the greatest amount of magic in Equestria.

Twilight and Spike trotted to the front row, where they saw their friends already waiting in the audience.

“Oh hi Twilight!” Pinkie cheerfully greeted.

“Finally arrivin’, eh?” Applejack smirked.

“It’s your time to shine, y’know.” Rainbow Dash added with a grin.

“Uh, to be honest, I haven’t thought of a foolproof way to deal with that pony, if she’s just boastful. I’m really interested in her though, I want to talk to her… without that many ponies surrounding us of course.”

The plaza boomed with a high-pitched voice all of a sudden. “Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The blue unicorn named Trixie said with a grin.

“Ooh.” The Mane Six joined in the crowd, in a barely lukewarm manner.

“Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” Trixie proclaimed, as fireworks and fanfare flared up on the stage, earning calls and awes from the audience.

“That’s actually quite competent stage management, I say.” Rarity commented.

“The fireworks went off in perfect tandem with her magic. While this is just sleight of the hooves, I’m quite impressed with her show abilities.” Twilight agreed. “Her actual maneuver with various objects and tools was not half bad, either.”

“Yeah girls! The fireworks were super-duper awesome! I have to ask her about how she managed to make them pop even without moving or pressing buttons!” Pinkie beamed.

“If only she was not claiming to be actually using powerful magic.” Spike groaned.

“Spike, we should just sit back and enjoy the show for now. As I said, I’ll find a way to make Trixie… honest.” Twilight grinned with a hint of wryness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ha! Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria. Huh, was there ever any doubt?”

Without the intervention from the Mane Six, Trixie successfully dispatched the few challengers to her magical abilities with a combination of tricks and actual magic. She boastfully proclaimed herself the most powerful unicorn of all Ponyville. Although many ponies were uncomfortable with her pretentious attitude, the town residents had to grudgingly admit Trixie’s magical talent, if simply for the fact that no one could beat her.

After the show, Trixie took a rest next to her wagon and combed her mane. Suddenly, Snails and Snips sneaked up to the blue unicorn and gave her a cup, briefly giving Trixie a scare.

“Oh! It’s just you two.” Trixie said with a somewhat annoyed tone.

“Here's your smoothie you asked for, with extra hay, just how you like it.” Snips reverently gave the cup to Trixie while Snails looked on.

Trixie noticed that the two hadn’t gone away, and said, “Well?”

“Ooo, tell us another story, Great and Powerful Trixie.” Snips beseeched.

“Yeah, tell us about how you vanquished the Ursa Major.” Snails also begged.

Trixie glared at the two, and dismissively shook her hoof, “Guh! Trixie is far too exhausted from performing feats beyond imagination. Be gone with you until morning.”

“Oh, of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie.” The two bowed and left.

The mares and Spike looked on from across the street. Spike were stunned at how his two young friends groveled at the fraud and how vainglorious the blue unicorn Trixie was.

“Umm… She would make for a good student material.” Twilight nodded at the scene, which made Spike did a double-take.

“What?! Twilight, you’re planning to take… Trixie as your student?! But, but it’s Trixie! And you’re still, uh, the Princess’s student! How can a student have a student of her own?” Spike asked in shock.

“That doesn’t stop me from teaching you and Rarity, hmm? The student has to become the teacher someday, may as well starts from now.”

Twilight grinned. “Besides, it upsets me to see a unicorn with potential like Trixie, who could improve her magic by proper training, fell to the sideways and used tricks to cover up her inadequacies. She obviously had a talent for show, organization and magical fine-tuning. Even though she might not reach my level of raw magical output, she might be able to grow into an expert creator for magic artefacts.”

“But if you want to do that, we need to find some way let her confront her weakness in magic.” Rarity said to Twilight.

“Well, she did say something about an Ursa Major just now…” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“… Hm, that might be a bit drastic, but it might be warranted because it’s Trixie.” Twilight said. “Um, Spike, I think we’re going to look for an Ursa Major for Trixie’s dueling pleasure.”

Spike’s eyes shot wide, as Twilight continued, “… If you’re weak of heart, Spike, you should go back to the li—” Spike was gone before Twilight even finished her sentence.

“… Uh, you know, we aren’t going to just find any Ursa. But oh well, now we can act.” Twilight looked at the madly dashing Spike and smilingly shook her head.

They walked towards the show-mare, who had finished combing her hair and leaning on her wagon for rest.

“Good day, you must be Trixie. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a student currently under royal tutelage in Canterlot. I come here for your magical talents.” Twilight politely greeted.

“Twilight Sparkle…?” Trixie narrowed her eyes briefly, but she soon smirked at the mention of her talent. “Indeed, the Great and Powerful Trixie greeted the less powerful unicorn Twilight Sparkle. What do you want?”

“We’ve heard of your exploits, and we’re greatly impressed.” Twilight said, trying her best to suppress any hint of insincerity.

“Twilight knew someone from the Canterlot court.”

Rarity shot a side glance at Twilight. “She might be able to introduce you to someone up high, even the princess. Then you might be able to obtain a sinecure with good pay as a recognition of your superb magical talent.”

Trixie couldn’t help but beam at the prospects of receiving not only bits, but royal recognition for her magical power.

“But—” Twilight immediately added, “It’s just a formal procedure, still I’ll have to witness your magical prowess before granting you the honor.”

“Twilight will temporarily serve as your magic examiner. Cheers!” Pinkie winked at the blue unicorn with a smile.

Although Trixie was pleased with the possible reward, she was a bit distrustful of these ponies who suddenly trotted up on her and offered her such goodies. She scowled at the mares. “What, are you ponies trying to trick Trixie or make Trixie show her magic for free?”

“… Not at all, um, here is something to cover your expense and time.” Fluttershy replied, as she flew to Trixie with a small bag of bits.

“Huh, very well then. That’s easy,” Trixie grinned at the bits and huffed triumphantly. “Let Trixie just make some preparations here and show you why Trixie’s the greatest equine who has ever lived!”

“That’s the spirit.” Twilight said. “But sorry Trixie, there are usually set procedures and venues for something like this. Since we’re not at Canterlot, we’ll have to make do. I’ve set up something at the edge of the town. You just have to pass several challenges and the honor is yours.”

“Don’t worry, Trixie.” Rainbow Dash said, barely able to suppress her mocking tone despite her best efforts. “If you are anywhere as powerful as you’ve claimed, you should be able to breeze through all of them!”

Trixie glared at the impudent cyan pegasus, and huffed. “Of course Trixie is going to excel at every magic test you throw towards Trixie. Show Trixie the way!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mares walked towards Fluttershy’s cottage. After passing the bridge, they made a detour and arrived at a small woodland clearing. Trixie pulled her wagon to the side.

“Trixie, you may go and prepare yourself. We as examiner and witnesses will need to take some time to set things up,” Twilight said to the blue unicorn, “Just tell us so when you’re ready.”

“Very well, Trixie will announce to you when Trixie’s ready to prove why Trixie’s the most powerful unicorn in Equestria!” She looked up and haughtily laughed.

Twilight then trotted aside and waved at Fluttershy. Twilight leaned in and whispered into the yellow mare’s ears. “Be careful, even though we did get in touch with the Ursa for this, he’s still much larger than us.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. Mr. Ursa might look gruff and aggressive outside, but he’s actual very peaceful and kind once you know him.”

Twilight suppressed an urge to roll her eyes. “Good luck, I have already got the materials ready.”

Fluttershy nodded and quietly flew into the thick bushes and entered the Everfree Forest.

The mares patiently waited for Trixie to don the proper attire and set up the ground for her purposes. Afterwards, the blue show-mare stepped up with a confident smile. “Show Trixie what you’ve got, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight nodded, and began her prepared list of challenges. She lifted a few vines from the nearby trees and bent them into circles. Then she kept the rings of vine in the air with her magic. Applejack grabbed the remaining vine with her mouth and put it down next to Trixie.

“Use your magic to grab hold of this vine, and guide it through the middle of all the floating rings within ten seconds, without touching the ring of course. Sounds simple enough?”

Twilight said with a thin smile. “The catch is, I will move the rings around during the exam. Not too quickly of course. But it should spice things up a little bit.”

Trixie stared at Twilight, then at the rings. The exam was indeed simple and somewhat easy for her. It played rightly into her strength of magical manipulation.

Trixie was also a bit surprised at Twilight, who talked without a hint of exertion as she floated multiple rings in the air at the same time. It seemed to Trixie that this royal student did have considerable magic potential herself, not that she would openly admit it.

“Very well, Trixie will show you how expert use magic.”

She casted her magic, and a blue glow engulfed the fallen vine. It promptly moved as if it had come to life, and shot into the air. Trixie effortlessly guided the short vine through the moving rings. Even as Twilight sometimes moved the ring abruptly out of the way, Trixie still managed to direct the vine into the dead centers of the rings like an arrow. She flawlessly completed the task and laid the vine back onto the ground.

“That’s very impressive, Trixie, you’re quite talented.” Twilight praised, knowing well that this was just a scenario set up to suit Trixie’s strengths, but she indeed sensed an experienced manipulation of objects in Trixie. The blue show-mare harrumphed but grinned.

Then, Twilight presented Trixie with a few more magic trials, including turning a rock into different specific shades of color, creating a mix of flashes and smokes to stun ponies, and some basic illusion magic. Trixie excelled at each one of the challenges, and her heart swelled as high as her pride.

Twilight nodded at the show mare, and said. “You’re good, Trixie, very good indeed. We now approach at the second last challenge… me.”

Twilight stepped forth from the stump that she was using as a makeshift chair. “I will cast a magical shield in front of me for five minutes. Try your best to attack the shield. Don’t worry about me, I have ways to protect myself even if the shield is broken.”

Trixie’s eyes bulged a bit, it’s as if somepony has poured a bucket of ice water on her head. Raw power was her worst weakness, and she at heart doubted her chance of dissipating, or even just weakening, Twilight’s defense shield.

But Trixie was a professional magician, she would never show her weakness on her face. Also, she thought she couldn’t possibly give up, not after all those troubles. She gritted her teeth and said, “Alright, Trixie will blast open your shield in no time!”

Twilight grinned, and casted the magical shield. True to Trixie’s appraisal of Twilight’s magic potential, the sprawling magic shield was, unlike those casted by other unicorns, felt almost solid and tangible. An elastic hood of purple magic materialized around Twilight.

“Hit my with your best, Trixie.” Twilight smiled.

Trixie gulped slightly, then casted her strongest magic at Twilight’s shield. The arrow-like glow struck the shield, but was deflected away like small pebble on a giant balloon. Trixie tried again, this time tucked at the seemingly weakest point of the shield. Even as she was focusing at maintaining the thick shield, Twilight nodded slightly at Trixie’s correct identification of an area of uneven magic distribution on her shield. Nonetheless, Trixie’s magic simply plucked at the surface of the shield like a lute, then dissipating, simply leaving a shallow ripple.

Trixie then tried to distract Twilight’s magic casting with some bright flashes and illusion, then splitting her magic into multiple strands to attack her at multiple angles, some even towards her back where she could not see.

Twilight muttered in satisfaction. The show-mare’s attacking strategy almost resembled professional unicorn attack mages of old. However, the strategy of diversion was not really effective to a veteran like Twilight, and the strength of split magic was even weaker than Trixie’s initial attack, so the attack was easily dissipated again without much trouble.

Trixie continued to use various ways, even some of her most secret conjuration tricks in hope of stunning Twilight. But the purple pony endured, unmoving like a rock mountain. Finally, just as Trixie was close to giving up and sitting down in exhaustion, Twilight suddenly negated her spell and dissipated the shield.

“That’s it, Trixie. You’ve passed the test.” Twilight said.

“What?” Trixie asked in astonishment.

“The test was about magic versatility. I simply want to see how quick your immediate responses to situations are and how resourceful you are with difficult obstacle.”

Twilight explained. “It was never about breaking the shield to begin with, and it matters not if the magic attacks themselves did not possess enough power to tear the shield open, as I will simply repair it with my own magic. You’ve done well, in my opinion.”

Trixie was speechless at first, as she slowly understood she had passed the difficult challenge with some luck, but also her own ability, which pleased her greatly. But Trixie then realized that Twilight was implying something with her statement.

“Wait, what do you mean that Trixie’s magic attacks are not po—” Trixie was stopped by a smiling Twilight.

“Fret not Trixie, we have plenty of time for that after this exam. Now, we have to move onto the last challenge, which are tailored towards the stories of your epic exploits.”

Twilight lit her horn, and a bolt of magic shot up to the sky like a signal flare. After a while, the mares could hear loud stomps and angry huffs booming from afar. Then it became clear to Trixie—an absolutely gigantic bear-like creature has emerged from the tall trees of the dark Everfree. The fearsome bear was at least as tall as forty ponies standing back to back, and its coat was the color of night sky, even adorned with star-like glimmers. It’s also somewhat translucent, which was a sign of the strange ambient magic that surrounded the ancient forest.

Trixie blanched and her teeth clattered, as she called out to Twilight. “W—What is that?!”

Twilight, to the utter stupefaction of Trixie, do not seem concerned at all. “Oh shouldn’t you recognize? It’s an Ursa Major, the one you vanquished in Hoofington? I think he knows you did something to one of his kind. He seemed upset. Anyway, we lured him out of his cave with great difficulty, and it is your task to, uh, convince him back into the forest.”

Trixie’s eyes stared at the unbelievable events occurring in front of her. Were these mares nuts? Luring out a bucking Ursa Major just for a dang magic test? This creature could level a small hill and stomp a pony into flattened paste without even noticing! Not to mention, her story about defeating an Ursa Major was all but weak lies, especially because Ursa Majors usually didn’t leave the cave that they have claimed as homes, except only very occasionally for food or emergency. Trixie still could not believe that they somehow brought over the creature here in the first place. How in Equestria did they do that?

Trixie’s mind was filled with so much fear and so many questions, that she barely noticed the timid yellow pegasus that followed behind the giant bear and rejoined the group.

“… Um, Trixie, what are you waiting for?” Twilight asked quizzically. “Go banish the Ursa Major back into the forest like you’ve once done, and this test will be concluded.”

Trixie looked at the towering bear, who looked at her angrily and let out the occasional ground-shaking roar. She closed her eyes and knew this was mad-mare’s talk. She turned to Twilight and said. “Trixie can’t do this, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Why?” Twilight simply asked.

“Uh… Because Trixie doesn’t want to harm innocent creatures?” Trixie offered weakly.

“Don’t worry for a bit. The Ursa’s hide is as thick as a city wall. And even if something does happen, Fluttershy and I will offer immediate medical help. Now go!” Twilight urged Trixie.

Trixie struggled greatly. She gritted her teeth again and clawed at the dirt on the ground with her hooves. The Ursa Major let out a well-timed roar, lowering his head towards the show-mare, which scared her so much that it almost caused her to buckle and fall. Eventually, she looked up to the mares with a defeated sigh.

“.. Trixie can’t defeat it. Tri—I can't, I never have. No one can vanquish an Ursa Major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better.” She sighed, shedding her boastful show persona.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the show-mare rightly at the eyes, and slowly said. “We know from the very beginning.”

Trixie’s head shot up in shock, as she wondered if the whole demonstration was just a silly farce designed to humiliate her.

Twilight simply walked towards Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus nodded at Twilight, and then flew up and said something into the fearsome Ursa’s ear. The Ursa Major huffed and nodded, as he sat down on the ground, causing another round of tremble.

Twilight then gestured to Rarity, who then trotted together with Twilight into a bush. There they lit their horn together, several giant cylinders and rolls of cloth rose up in the air in purple and blue glow, and flew towards the arms of the Ursa Major. Trixie looked on with wide eyes, as the two unicorns seemed to have lifted several tons of materials into mid-air. The Ursa Major pawed the incoming gifts, and gruffly nodded. He then glanced at the gentle yellow mare one last time, stood up and walked back into the tall, dark woods with loud thumps.

“We are acquaintance with that Ursa Major, by the way. We helped him out in the forest once, and he agreed to help us if we hand him… some baby food and cloths.” Twilight said, barely able to hide her amused tone.

“Heard his gruff tone? Clearly someone’s been bossed ‘round by his lovin’ pardner.” Applejack chuckled heartily.

“… What is the meaning of this, Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie asked, almost with a low hiss.

Twilight’s expression turned serious. “Trixie, I meant you no malice. I simply witnessed your magic and wanted to offer help.”

“What help, Twilight Sparkle? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need any help from other ponies.”

“As I said, I study magic. Heck, even my talent itself is magic. I knew a magically-talented and versatile pony when I saw one.”

Twilight calmly said. “But I simply cannot allow it, when I saw a unicorn sundering her gifts by relying on mere tricks.”

“What mere tricks?!” Trixie angrily asked, and then continued with great suspicion, “And what are the gifts you’re talking about?”

Twilight groaned at her careless choice of words, but continued. “Let’s be frank, Trixie, your raw magical potential… fell short compared to your other magical talents. So you made up for it by spreading wild claims and making use of theatrics. Having a bombastic show-mare persona is completely fine in my eyes, veritable even, as it brings awe to ponies’ heart and brings bits through actual work.”

She then sighed and added, “But when you began to convince others, or even yourself, that those acts of yours are part of your true ability, you’re simply tying up your own hooves and hindering possible improvements.”

Trixie glared at the purple pony, and huffed, “I don’t need a dull holier-than-thou pony preaching to me about what I should do.”

Twilight grimaced at her ineffectiveness at getting her message to Trixie, so she changed tactics. “… You came to Ponyville, not just because it is the closest town near the capital, isn’t it?”

“... I’m tired of your vague insinuations, Twilight Sparkle, spit out whatever that is you wanted to say.” Trixie snapped disdainfully.

Twilight gritted her teeth. “I am part of the reason, ain’t I?”

“Huh? What no! I—”

Trixie was interrupted by Twilight, who said. “I remember you from the School for Gifted Unicorns, Trixie. I figured that you might have heard of my exploits here and in the Everfree, and wanted to see what the fuss is about this so-called powerful unicorn, who studied under the Princess and somehow defeated Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight mentally sighed. That was but a half-truth. Her memory of Trixie being in the same school as her was at best fleeting. It was not until she gained the experiences from the ancient tome that she was sure of it and knew of her less-than-ideal treatment in the school. Trixie gazed at the purple pony with a resentful look, but said nothing.

Twilight drew in a breath and said. “… I was also looking for you, Trixie.”

Twilight words shocked the blue show-mare. “As I said, we both studied in Canterlot. I had known you since then, although you might not be aware of it. I’ve seen ponies giving you dirty looks when you can’t perform some of the more demanding magic spells. I’m truly sorry for not lending you a helping hoof at the time.”

Twilight placed a hoof on the shoulder of the show-mare, who was too stunned and emotional to even swat her off. “Ever since I’ve heard that you’ve been moving towards Ponyville, I’ve been watching the gate to the town every day for your arrival. I want to do something to make up for my terrible mistake, now that I, may I shameless say, possess better magical knowledge that can be used to help out other ponies.”

Twilight looked at the show-pony, who was shaking under her hoof. She leaned in further and said. “Trixie, I care for you as an old classmate and friend, so please do not close your hearts to me, and let me help you bring out your true potential. The little arrangements here were as much as for me to examine your abilities, as for you to actually experience what you are good at and what you need to improve.”

Twilight turned and pointed to Rarity. “Before my arrival, Rarity was only adept at common telekinesis and gem finding, her specific talent. After we practiced and learnt, she’s now much more acutely aware of her magical potential, as you just witness her moving huge objects around.”

Twilight then turned back to Trixie and gently embraced the show-mare, who was startled by the sudden expression of intimacy, but did not resist. “Trixie, you don’t need to wear that façade anymore, come and learn with me in Ponyville. We can be friends.”

“… Tri—Trixie is confused by your long-winded speech.” Trixie said with tears in her eyes, “She… I need time to think about this.”

“Well, you’ll need it. Just remember, the door of the Golden Oak Library is always open for you.” Twilight smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Dear Princess Celestia,

I have learned a very valuable lesson about friendship: Sometimes, ponies hid their fear and weakness behind a high and mighty mask. It takes an open mind to make these ponies see there is no harm to occasionally admit to their shortcoming, and accept help into their own hearts. Only then, their lives can move forward and become the ponies they actually are.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle”

“So um, Twilight, did you manage to make Trixie into your friend or student yet?” Spike asked.

“Not now, Spike. But I’m confident that she’d eventually knock on the door of this Library. That would be the day her life can finally move forward.” Twilight said to the purple dragon, who despite his nagging doubt of Twilight’s plan, eventually nodded.

Twilight then let out a sigh of relief. Thanks to the combination of her knowledge from the future and the past, not only there was little chance than Trixie would become resentful and fell foul to the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, but she might become their ally one day. This first small victory warmed her heart.

Author's Note:

Some set-up that might be construed as obsession on part of Trix. Please don't crucify me.