Lake of Reflection

by Richer19

Chapter 9: The Reunion Part 1

Here is chapter nine for you all to enjoy. I really do appreciate all the comments that I have been getting but I do encourage you all to leave constructive feedback in order to improve my writing skills.

Chapter 9: The Reunion Part 1

Present Time: Twilight’s Library

“As you can see darling, the slight change I had to do on the cape does nothing to affect the overall quality.” Rarity explained to her friend with a hopeful tone. She took a quick glance and saw that her friend was still staring at the cape and she could see her eyes almost twinkling in delight. Rarity could tell that she was really happy about the results and Rarity couldn’t help but feel the small amount of guilt lifting from her shoulders.

She still remembered that night, haunting her in her dreams and refusing to be forgotten. She could remember holding on to the devastated unicorn as her control of her emotions was lost and she collapsed on the ground in tears. She could still feel the wet spots on her own face where her own tears had fallen as she cried for forgiveness from her friend.

Eventually, they both had no more tears to shed, and Twilight was able to recover some part of her famous intelligent curiosity. Rarity knew that her friend was a smart unicorn but she was a little surprised to find her knowledge on the concept of love to be somewhat lacking. Of course, Rarity thought that her mentor might have been more focused on actual magical training then about the mysteries of the heart, one of the few magical experiences shared by all creatures.

It was then that Rarity came up with an idea to try and make it up to the purple unicorn. She offered to repair the cape out of her own pocket and restore it to its original state. Rarity then went on by offering to teach Twilight to the best of her abilities about love. She remembered her friend looking up at her with those tear-stricken yet hopeful eyes and quietly agreed before the emotional strain caused her to collapse in exhaustion. Rarity gently tucked her into her bed before gathering the remains of the cape and placing them into Twilight’s saddlebags, which were lying nearby. She made her way back to her boutique, pausing only long enough to inform Spike about Twilight’s condition.

The days passed by in a blur for the two unicorns. Most of Rarity’s time was spent repairing the cape and helping Twilight to understand her feelings for the blue showmare. Rarity didn’t really understand what Twilight saw in her, but she wasn’t one to pry too much into someponies personal life. In terms of the cape, Rarity would have been able to restore it in about a week. However, Canterlot silk was a material that even Rarity had little experience working with, so she had to spend a good amount of time practicing with the regal fabric. She had to admit that she was lucky to have close ties with the Princesses otherwise she would have taken much longer to complete the cape.

The rest of her time was spent helping Twilight come to terms with her feelings for Trixie. Those conversations were either spent in Rarity’s house or Twilight’s. Twilight was eager to learn, though Rarity admitted that her knowledge was limited to what dreams she remembers about Blueblood and the few romance novels that she kept in her personal bookshelf. Still, she did her best to try and help Twilight as much as she could. They even had a few ‘practice’ dates to try and get Twilight familiar with how one would work. It was the least she could do to repay the debt she owed.

Now, all her work had come to the end and she waited with baited breath for Twilight’s response. Twilight looked over at her best friend, unaware of the internal thoughts that were going through her head, and said “It looks just like before Rarity. I really can’t thank you enough.” Rarity gave a gentile smile and replied “But of course darling, it’s the least I could do to repay you for…for what happened.” Despite all that she had done to make up for it, Rarity was still feeling the needles of regret and sadness from what happened that night. Twilight heard that moment of hesitation and knew what Rarity was thinking about. Slowly, Twilight wrapped Rarity in a warm embrace and said in a quiet tone “It’s okay Rarity.” Rarity gave a small sniffle before replying in an equally quiet tone “I know Twilight.”

However, the moment was cut short by a sudden knocking. The two unicorns broke their embrace and made their way to the front door. Twilight opened the door and saw that it was her friend Applejack. She appeared slightly out of breath but managed to say “Twilight…and Rarity, I’m glad that I managed to find both of you.” Rarity gave a curious gaze and replied “What seems to be the problem dear Applejack.” Applejack managed to catch her breath and replied “You all remember that blue showpony a while back, Trixie.”

Twilight felt a sudden flash of fear in her heart before managing to force it away long enough to reply “Yes I remember her. Why is that important?” Applejack replied in a matter-of-fact tone “Because she’s now standing right outside Ponyville.”

Upon hearing that information, Twilight let out an involuntary gasp of shock. She never imagined that Trixie would actually return to Ponyville. In truth, she hoped that the lessons that Rarity was teaching her would allow her to be able to move on from this crush she had on Trixie but now face with the prospect of meeting her again was sending waves of nervous energy through her body. Rarity for the most part was almost as surprised by this information as Twilight was, and couldn’t help but take a side glance at the purple unicorn to see if she was alright.

Applejack was a little perplexed by the rather unusual reactions from the two unicorns. Rarity, sensing a rather uncomfortable question forming in the farm pony’s mind said “I’m sorry Applejack, Twilight was helping me work on a new design and our thoughts must have been lost.” Applejack nodded her head in understanding, having moments herself when she was lost in thought while working out on the field. She said in a comforting tone “Well…if you all want to take a look, she’s out near the western entrance.” Rarity nodded her head and Applejack made her way over to the entrance.

Once Applejack was gone, Rarity turned to Twilight and asked “Do you want to go? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Twilight had managed to recover herself in time to hear what Rarity asked. There was a part of her that wanted to stay inside the library, but she felt somewhat obligated to go and make sure that nothing bad was going to happen. She slowly shook her head and replied “No…no it’s fine. I want to go and make sure that nopony does something they might regret.” Rarity nodded her head in understanding and the two unicorns made their way to the western entrance.

Once they got there, they saw that there was already a small but sizable group of ponies around the entrance. A few of the pegasus were in the air to get a better view and they even saw the familiar rainbow-color mane mixed among them. Quickly, Rainbow Dash flew down to them and said “So you two finally decided to show up. Applejack managed to save a spot next to her and the mayor in the front. Rarity and Twilight nodded their heads and started making their way through the crowd.

Eventually, the two unicorns managed to make it to the front of the group and they both saw the blue unicorn. Trixie was currently standing just a couple feet away from the entrance. Her face was glued to the ground which made it almost impossible to see her face and eyes. She also appeared to be slightly undernourished; her barrel slightly smaller then what Twilight remembers.

However, the most striking part about her was what she was wearing. She was wearing a saddle, which in of itself was not that strange. What was strange was that the saddle she was wearing appeared to have a dull, muted brownish color and looked slightly uncomfortable. There were two saddle bags strapped that also shared the same brown color. Slowly, Trixie raised her head to face the audience and revealed that she was wearing a rather plain bridle with a tack in her mouth. Reins were attached to the tack but it was hard to tell where they rested. Located on her chest was a breastplate and martingale colored in that same brown color. Twilight was unsure but she thought she saw what appeared to be a brown ring around Trixie’s horn.

Slowly, Trixie started making her way towards the town. The sound of the jingling harness rang through the air and her movements make it appear as if she was walking towards her own funeral. The ponies made no movement to stop her, still curious about the strange equipment or cautious about her motives. Twilight, on the other hoof, was feeling a strange sense of familiarity. She swore to herself that she saw this equipment before but she was having some trouble figuring it out.

Bored and still miffed about what happened that day, Rainbow Dash proclaimed “Forget this, I’m going over there and giving her a piece of my mind.” However, it was at that moment that Twilight remembered why the equipment looked familiar and shouted “Wait Rainbow!” At the same time, she reached out with her magic and grab the rainbow colored pegasus by the tail. Rainbow was stopped in the air and asked in a mildly frustrated tone “Why’d you stop me?!” Twilight replied ‘Because you could get in a lot of trouble if you attacked her.”

Applejack, who was also thinking about giving the blue unicorn a piece of her own mind, replied “And why’s that Twi?” Twilight looked at her friend a moment before returning her attention to the blue unicorn. She gave a deep breath before saying “Because she’s wearing the Saddle of Servitude.”
You all know I only leave cliffhangers because I don’t want you to lose interest right. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I just want to let you all know that I do have a side story currently available if you want to read it. Also all the horse equipment that I used in the chapter I got of wiki. I don’t pretend to be an expert in that field.

Comments

[demanji]

sooo many cliffhangers

[Frankie]

The Saddle of Servitude.
From the sound of it, it looks like Trixie is willing to serve and make penance, possibly to the whole town (NOT THAT WAY), in order to talk with Twilight.
I can't wait to see how Luna convinced her to wear that thing.

[suplup]

When a new character is speaking, they need a new paragraph. Not a big deal here as it is clear who is talking, but grammatically, they need a new paragraph. We all have a bit of Nazi in us. Other than that, good chapter, and I'm glad Rarity repaired the hat and cape.

[Phaoray]

Interesting, I kind of expected her to go to town and be trying to figure out in her head if she wants to try to be friends with Twilight, or to challenge her to a fight or something, guess Luna may have taken that choice out of her hands. Curious as to what happens next, and what the whole 'saddle' thing is about, like if she is serving as something for Luna, or if she is meant to help the town out in some way, or just what it means.

[alexphoenixwing]

Wait!! AGAIN!!!CLIFFHANGERS
You never learn do you

[Lone Ranger]

Another cliffhanger
Another great chapter!