S7 E2: All Bottled Up (What If?)
Despite it having only been a day or two since the award ceremony and Starlight's "graduation" from her friendship studies (the mare considered it more of a promotion to learn on her own timetable, rather than an outright revoking of her learner status), the light grayish-purple coated mare was making the most out of the new developments in her life. Thorax and Discord had left, but Trixie apparently had some time off from her magic show and wanted to hang around.
It soon turned out that the magician had another motive for staying, she wanted to put that horn of hers to good use and learn some actual magic. However, she was finding it so hard. "Come on, stupid horn. Work!" She complained, as she tried to no avail to transform a tea cup into a poodle.
Starlight was busy frosting some cupcakes to give her friends, so she at first payed little mind to Trixie. Still, she took the time to correct her friend. "You're not gonna get anywhere if you force it. Magic happens when it happens."
"But it's just not fair!" Trixie pouted. "You can do magic, Princess Twilight can do magic, heck even Rarity can do magic. So why can't the Great and Powerful Trixie do the same?! It'd be just what she needs to spice up her magic show."
Starlight sighed, setting the froster down. "Look, Trixie, if you're really that torn up about it I'll be glad to give you some lessons later on. But for right now, I really need to put the finishing touches on these cupcakes."
"What are they for? And how come you are gonna teach me? Why can't Twilight do it?" Trixie inquired, shooting off questions a mile a minute.
Starlight groaned, struggling to keep herself from getting too angry. "I already told you, Trixie. Twilight and her friends are going on a friendship retreat in Manehattan. Twilight mentioned something about Manehattan Escapes, whatever that is."
"Shouldn't you be going with them? I mean, you're part of their circle of friends now and everything." Trixie questioned.
"I've never been on a friendship retreat, and Twilight says I need to rest and think about the next phase of my life," Starlight replied to her friend. "We'll have the whole castle to ourselves to practice magic. Now if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get back to my cupcakes. If I can't go on the friendship retreat, at the least I wanna contribute to my friends having a good time."
"But we're friends too, Starlight." Trixie corrected.
The grayish-purple coated unicorn mare groaned again. "I was just about to say that, Trixie. And the more you keep bugging me, the longer this is gonna take," She then suggested. "Why don't you go bother Spike or something, okay?"
Trixie blinked, she swore she'd just seen what looked like a red cloud of some sort seep out of Starlight's horn. But the magician shook her head. "No, it couldn't be. I must be imaging things." She mentally convinced herself.
Starlight, meanwhile, was giving herself a little mental pep talk of her own. "Deep breaths, Starlight, deep breaths. Trixie's not doing this on purpose. You know she gets excited easily, but you were the same way once upon a time. Besides,
you know what happens when you let your temper get the best of you." Unfortunately for Starlight, that little secret of hers was not going to stay secret for long. By the end of the day, Trixie was going to learn just what happened when Starlight's emotions got the best of her. And their friendship would be pushed almost to the breaking point!
The two unicorns stood on the platform at the train station about an hour later, watching as Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity all boarded the train bound for Manehattan.
"Are you sure I can't come along with you, Twilight?" Starlight pleaded to her teacher. "I'd really like to get away from Ponyville, even just for a little while."
Despite shaking her head, Twilight kindly replied to her student. "Normally I'd be all for it, but you've been through a lot the past few days. I think it'll help if you stay behind and rest, give yourself time to adjust. Just try not to nearly burn the castle down this time."
The grayish-purple coated unicorn mare whined. "Twilight, for the last time, it was an accident! It won't happen again!"
"I'm sure it won't, but I can't help but worry. Especially since you and Trixie will have free range of the castle all day," Twilight replied in a tone of caution. "You both mean well, but trouble seems to always follow you around."
But Spike (who was also on the platform) vowed to Twilight. "Relax, I'll keep an eye on them for you. You go ahead and have your little friendship retreat. I'll just catch up on some reading."
"Forgive me for asking but, what's a friendship retreat? Is it some kind of code word or something?" Trixie wondered aloud.
Starlight whispered. "A friendship retreat is exactly what it sounds like, a get away for friends. And if I know Twilight and the girls, they're probably gonna end up singing a song or two. Don't ask, I can't explain," And then the unicorn remembered. "Oh, before you all go, here. I packed some cupcakes for you to enjoy."
Twilight smiled. "Thanks a bunch, Starlight. Don't bother waiting around for us, we'll probably be gone all day." And then she stepped aboard the train, just before the doors to the coaches closed. And with a puff of steam, the locomotive chuffed out of the station and down the tracks, soon disappearing over the horizon.
"Now can we get to the magic lessons, mini-Twilight?" Trixie playfully ribbed, lightly jabbing a hoof at Starlight.
"'Mini-Twilight'?" Starlight questioned, seemingly flinching at the comment and Trixie's reaction.
"What, can't Trixie give a nickname to her best friend?" Trixie questioned. "In many ways, you're like Twilight when she was just a unicorn. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were her clone or something."
Starlight tried to laugh genuinely, but a hint of malice still slipped out. "Haha, you're hilarious, Trixie. But how about we cut the jokes?"
The magician nodded. "Suit yourself, Trixie was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. In fact, here," The light blue coated unicorn dug into her saddle bag and used her horn to float a gold pendant around Starlight's neck. "A little symbol of our special bond, and a thank you present for being the best assistant a magician could ever have. So long as you wear this, you can rest assured we will always be, the best of friends."
"Wow, that's.... surprisingly thoughtful of you, Trixie. Thanks," Starlight smiled as she accepted the pendant without question. "You're not just saying all that to butter me up before the lessons, are you?"
Trixie shook her head. "Perish the thought, Starlight. You know that I know that you know Trixie too well. You'd see right through my tricks in a heart beat."
The two unicorns made their way back to the castle, and Spike soon wandered off to tend to his comics. Though not before he warned both mares. "You be careful not to leave anything out of place. Remember, this isn't just a castle, it's my mom's home, and my home too. If Twilight comes back and finds anything other than it was when she left it, I have a feeling she won't be very happy."
Starlight and Trixie made their way to the throne room, and Starlight asked her friend. "So, what were you thinking we should learn first? Any preferences?"
Surprisingly, Trixie actually had one. "Yes, Starlight Glimmer," She said with an exceptionally bright smile. "Trixie wants to learn how to do teleportation. You and Twilight make it look so easy, and it would be just the thing to add to Trixie's shows. Think about it, no more smoke bomb exits or relying on an assistant to pull off impossible feats of amazement! And Trixie could teleport to wherever she needed for supplies, without having to haul her wagon with her everywhere she goes!"
Starlight wasn't so certain. "Teleportation is quite an advanced thing, Trixie. It's not something you can just learn in a flash, let alone a day. Twilight attended Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and learned from the princess herself, I had years of book lessons and the occasional tutoring from my parents whenever they could spare time. And if you mess up a teleportation spell, the results can lead to disaster. Maybe we should try something a little more basic first, like levitation or transfiguration."
Trixie refused to listen. With a shake of her head she boldly asserted. "The Great and Powerful Trixie knows what she wants, Starlight Glimmer! She never does thinks halfway! It's everything or nothing! And if Trixie wants to try teleportation, she's gonna try it whether you want to help her or not!"
"Well when you put it like that, I guess I don't have much of a choice," Starlight reluctantly conceded. But a sigh escaped her lips as she stated. "For the record, I think this is a very bad idea."
Trixie giggled. "Oh come on, don't be such a don't be, Starlight. Be a do be, like Trixie."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Starlight cautioned to her best friend. "Now then, since teleportation is such a high end thing, we'll start with something basic. Luckily, I planned ahead," She levitated her saddle bag from earlier into the air, and pulled out an apple, setting it down gently on the table map. "I was hoping we'd use it for transfiguration, like say turning something into a teacup."
Trixie lightly scoffed. "Pah, something as basic as that Trixie could do in a heartbeat, watch!" But although she had no trouble lighting up her horn, she found that she couldn't get it to aim at the apple, let alone transform it. "Stupid horn! Why isn't it working?!" She grumbled.
For what felt like the tenth time already that day, the grayish-purple coated unicorn standing next to the frustrated magician ended up sighing. "Look, Trixie. I find magic is tied to my emotions, and I reckon the same is true for a lot of other unicorns, and even Princess Twilight. The stronger my emotions, the more powerful my magic becomes," She then advised. "Try to think happy thoughts, clear your mind of distractions and just focus on the apple. Think you can handle that?"
Trixie nodded. "Of course! Now get ready, Starlight! And prepare to be amazed as Trixie not only turns that apple into a teacup, but teleports it effortlessly across the room!"
"Wait, what?!" Starlight exclaimed! But it was too late to stop Trixie, who lit up her horn again! Taking Starlight's advice, she tried to think of nothing but happy thoughts. She thought of how delighted she was that Starlight was teaching her magic, and how wonderful it would be when she could do all the cool things she'd seen her best friend do on so many occasions. Nothing else mattered, she was going to pull off the teleport and impress Starlight.
With a pale, light pink glow, Trixie fired a beam of magic at the apple! But instead of transforming and telporting the apple as intended, the table map the apple had been resting on disappeared in a flash! "Uh-oh, was that bad?" Trixie innocently commented, as the apple fell to the ground and splattered.
"Bad? BAD?!" Starlight hissed, before all of a sudden it seemed like a huge red cloud of some kind was sprouting up from her horn.
Trixie blinked and rubbed her eyes. That gave Starlight just enough time to dash out of the throne room in a panic! "Was it something I said?" Trixie wondered aloud. "I didn't mean to teleport the table map if that's what Starlight's thinking." Alas, Starlight wasn't around to hear.
Starlight didn't bother to look back towards the throne room! Her mind was practically on auto-pilot at this moment, her destination already clearly in mind, the library. Upon reaching it, she unceremoniously tossed book after book aside in search of something! "Come on, come on! Where is it?! WHERE IS IT?!" She frantically commented! In her panic stricken state she didn't care that she was making a mess that she'd have to clean up later! Right now, all that mattered was finding that important something. "I hoped it would never come to this! But desperate times call for desperate measures!" She thought, all the while it was not hard to notice the huge red cloud that loomed over her head, clearly emanating from her horn.
"Starlight, what's going on here?" Spike asked with concern as he entered the throne room. To see the mare he'd come to consider as something of a big sister figure in such a desperate state, and overturning the whole library like there was no tomorrow, it was definitely not something he had any familiarity with. Never had he seen Starlight look so upset.
"Can't talk now, Spike! I gotta find a scroll! A very important one at that!" Starlight all but shouted back, not even bothering to turn around and acknowledge the little dragon with eye to eye contact.
"A scroll? What are you talking about? What's going on here?" Spike questioned. "Starlight, what did you do?!"
"It wasn't my fault, it was Trixie's! Now the table map's gone and I have no idea where to find it and I really really really need to find that scroll!" Starlight angrily and frantically shouted! "So either help me or get out of my way!" Seconds later, the mare found what she had been looking for, hidden away behind two rather old books. "Aha, here we go! Just what I needed!" She declared and snatched it up with a hoof. In her current state, she didn't dare use her magic.
"Now will you tell what this is all about?" Spike pleaded. "You said something about the table map?"
"I'll... tell you in a minute, Spike! I need to do something really quick here!" Starlight interrupted, her eyes frantically scanning the scroll. She began to chant something to herself in a language Spike couldn't understand. All the dragon knew, was that one moment there was a huge red cloud of some kind coming from Starlight's horn, and the next it had vanished. Starlight breathed a sigh of relief. "That was too close!" She declared, wiping the sweat from her brows.
Convinced it was now safe to approach the troubled unicorn, Spike carefully walked up to her. "What was all that just now? You know, with the red cloud and everything?" He inquired.
With a sigh, Starlight confessed. "I didn't want you to have to find out, Spike. Twilight and I agreed you were too young to worry about such things," In an ominous tone she narrated. "Not long after Twilight took me under her wing, we ran some 'tests' for lack of a better term, trying to figure out the source of my insanely strong powers. What we found... was anything but pretty."
"Why? What did you find out?" Spike reluctantly asked.
"My emotions power my magic, Spike, just like any other unicorn," Starlight told the dragon. "But the problem is, my emotions are incredibly volatile and unstable. You saw them close up during the time travel incident, and the spell combination when I scheduled all those friendship lessons for the same day by accident. But that's just the tip of a much bigger iceberg."
Spike gulped. "So you're saying..."
Starlight nodded and confessed. "In the worst of circumstances, like what you saw just moments ago, my emotions all but overtake me. I become a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at a moment's notice. And then there's no telling what I'll do, or who I'll unleash my fury upon. I don't know what my magic's going to do in those circumstances and I don't wanna find out. So Twilight and I came up with a scroll that, in case of an emergency, could surpress my emotions. I'll still have them to some extent, but they'll be much more controlled. And when the stressful situation wears off and I can calm down, all I have to do is read the spell backwards, and everything goes back to normal."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Spike questioned with noticeable concern. "Couldn't you just find a pillow and give it a good punch or two? That always works for me whenever I get mad or upset."
Starlight shook her head. "In my case, I'd end up punching right through the pillow, destroying it. And if I could do that to a pillow, just imagine what I could do to a pony. I've got to get that map back one way or another and... I don't wanna lose Trixie," She hung her head in sorrow. "If she knew what I was thinking right now, she'd probably think I'm a freak and never wanna talk to me again."
"So what's all this about the map? Did you two do something to it?" Spike questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Trixie teleported it to somewhere. Where, I haven't a clue," Starlight answered. "But I could barely even think straight back there, my anger was all but ready to explode. Now that the spell has helped calm me down, hopefully I can get some leads out of Trixie, and we can track down the map before Twilight gets back from Manehattan."
"So uh, what exactly happens if something makes you feel really angry or sad or frightened? What happens then?" Spike pondered. "Does the spell take care of that too?"
"It bottles everything up inside of me, and only when I undo the spell does it all leave me. But I don't feel a thing the whole time it's part of me," Starlight answered. "I'll just keep it close at hoof, just in case I have to redo it. I've never field tested it before, so I don't know how long it will last."
Spike reluctantly responded with. "O...kay. I guess if it helps calm you down it's not bad. I'll see if I can't find the map on my own. If I do, I'll be sure to let you know. Best of luck." And then he departed the library.
Trixie was waiting for Starlight when she finally came back to the throne room. "Is everything alright, Starlight? I thought I saw a red cloud of some kind coming from your horn."
Starlight shook her head. "You must be imaging things," She commented in an almost flat tone of voice. "I just... needed to use the little filly's room was all. And you know how hard it is to find your way around this castle."
Starlight's excuse completely fooled Trixie, she suspected nothing. "Well why didn't you just say so? The Great and Powerful Trixie completely understands," She flashed an innocent smile. "So, good news. The table map is definitely not in any of the surroundings rooms of the castle."
"So you teleported it somewhere outside the castle?" Starlight concluded, immediately following up this statement with. "Any idea where it might have gone?"
"Well, that's the bad news," Trixie confessed. "You should've asked me that earlier, Starlight. Because now it's totally slipped Trixie's mind. My bad."
Starlight's face appeared to briefly contort itself into a glare and a snarl, but when Trixie looked again her friend's face was as it had been before. It must've been another illusion of some kind, one that the magician would hopefully learn on her own time.
As for Starlight, she just calmly declared. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to search every nook and cranny of Ponyville til we find it. And you know what they always say: 'Two heads are better than one.'"
"We should probably check my wagon first," Trixie suggested. "I might have been thinking of all the useful things I could store in my wagon with a teleportation spell."
The two unicorns trotted out to the wagon, which just so happened to be parked not far from the castle entrance. But although they searched both the exterior and the interior of the wagon thoroughly, they failed to find a trace of the table map.
"Great, back to square one," Starlight grumbled. "But it's fine, just a... mild setback. I can roll with that."
"Uh, Starlight. You're talking to yourself." Trixie spoke up.
Starlight nearly flinched and seemed ready to jump, but then her body language suddenly shifted to a more relaxed state. Almost as if her emotion had been magically surpressed.
"Sorry, bit of a habit," Starlight nervously chuckled. "And besides, who doesn't talk to themselves every now and then? A-heh-heh-heh."
"Starlight? Are you feeling okay? You're kind of starting to unnerve Trixie a little," Trixie questioned her friend. "Is there something you want to tell Trixie? Or maybe some kind of secret you're trying to hide?"
Starlight shook her head. "What would I have to hide, Trixie? We're best friends, remember?" And the grayish-purple coated unicorn quickly changed the subject. "So, any ideas at all where that table map might be? Any leads, clues? Anything at all you can remember?"
"Hm, now that you mention it," Trixie pondered as she put a hoof to her chin. "I think I remember thinking something about apples and apple trees. Maybe Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Any lead's better than no lead, Trixie! Come on, let's hightail it over there and see if anypony's found it!" Starlight declared and raced away as fast as her legs could carry her! Or rather, she would've, but the instant she took the first fast paced step, her eagerness seemed to drain away. "Let's go, Trixie." She said in a more neutral tone.
"Okay, that was definitely not normal. Something's going on with Starlight, and Trixie intends to find out what." Trixie thought to herself, as she followed her best friend on the path towards Sweet Apple Acres.
"A what now?" Granny Smith uttered in bewilderment.
"Table map. Trixie may have been thinking of this place when she teleported it here," Starlight explained to the elderly mare. "Have you seen it? I mean, you can't really miss it. It's big, and round, and glowy, and... well I'm sure you'll recognize it if it's here."
But Granny Smith shook her head. "Sorry, Starlight. I got plenty of tables and maps in my house, but I ain't seen or heard anythin' 'bout this here 'table map'."
"What about the orchard? Anything there?" Starlight asked, hoping beyond hope for the answer to be yes.
Granny Smith firmly replied. "Nope, afraid not. Big Mac's been out workin' in the fields all day. If he saw somethin' that wasn't supposed to be there, he'd have mentioned it to me by now. How'd you youngin''s manage to teleport somethin' so heavy anyways?"
Trixie boasted. "For the Great and Powerful Trixie, nothing is too heavy! With just a little bit of practice, she was able to teleport such an object with the greatest of ease! And she'll be glad to show off those talents when next she performs!"
"Trixie, is now really the best time to be boasting?" Starlight questioned, her tone of voice briefly reflecting what sounded like harsh anger, before it went to something a bit more subdued.
The magician just smiled. "Starlight, Trixie was merely building up your talents as a teacher. She was just about to mention you, her best friend."
"Sounded more like you were tooting your horn to the high heavens." Starlight mumbled under her breath.
"What was that, Starlight? You say something?" Trixie questioned. Her ears had apparently not overheard Starlight's latest statement.
Starlight hastily answered with a nervous giggle. "O-oh, nothing, absolutely nothing. Heh heh. Just more of that talking to myself stuff. No need for you to worry."
"Are you sure? Because it sounds to me like-" Trixie began.
But Starlight cut off the magician by immediately asking. "So, what others leads do you have, Trixie? Come on, give me something, anything."
"Maybe something about the town in general," Trixie commented, before a powerful smell reached her nose and the magician licked her lips in delight. "Ooh! Or maybe something else was on my mind!"
"You got a lead?!" Starlight hopefully asked.
Trixie just continued to lick her lips. "Even better! Follow me, Starlight!"
"At last, we're finally getting somewhere!" Starlight thought with delight! She would've expressed it outwardly, but her spell would've taken the emotion away. Speaking of which, it was a good thing the unicorn mare had had the foresight to bring the scroll containing spell along with her. It was getting harder and harder for the spell to contain her emotions, so that meant a re-doing of it would be necessary in the near future. Assuming they didn't find the table map before then.
Trixie's "lead" turned out to not be on the table map's location like Starlight had hoped. Instead, the magician had become entranced by the smell of cinnamon nuts, which just so happened to be in a cart that was being pushed around by the buff pegasus stallion himself, Bulk Biceps. "Nuts! Get your nuts here! Fresh, cinnamon coated nuts!" He called out.
"Cinnamon nuts are my most favorite of favorite snacks, besides peanut butter crackers of course!" Trixie fondly declared, rushing up to the cart.
Starlight, for her part, could hardly believe her eyes. "Trixie? Why are you doing this? We have more important things to be thinking about." She complained. By now, her mane and tail were all but flat against her face, as if someone had drained all the energy out of them.
Trixie, unaware of anything being wrong, just smiled as she said to her friend. "Trixie's taking a bit of a brain break to re-energize. Even The Great and Powerful Trixie can't think on an empty stomach. Maybe something in the nuts will jog her memory."
"Seriously?" Starlight weakly commented.
Trixie nodded. "I'm close to a realization, I just know it. It's on the tip of my forehead, I just need something to remind me," Then, after purchasing a bag of nuts from Bulk Biceps, she looked at Starlight. It was now that the magician noticed just how... exhausted for lack of a better term, her friend seemed to be. Her usually curly mane and tail hung limp, and her brilliant blue eyes seemed faded. Heck, it looked like bags were starting to form under them. "Maybe I should get something for you as well, Starlight?" She asked with concern. "You look like you need some kind of refreshment or something. Are you sure you're feeling okay? Maybe you should go back to the castle and rest."
Starlight weakly protested. "No. I can't rest. Not until we get that map back. Just hurry it up with your snack."
Trixie was about to do so, when her dark grayish-violet eyes were drawn to something that seemed to be sticking out of Starlight's saddle bag. "Starlight, what's in the bags?" She innocently questioned.
"Nothing, Trixie. Just go back to stuffing your face." Starlight insisted with almost no emotion.
The magician wasn't content with the answer, she wanted to find out for herself. It was part of her curious nature after all. The unknown was always a fascinating thing for her. "Come on, Starlight. Just let Trixie take a good look at it. Please."
Starlight could feel Trixie's magic tugging on her saddle bag, and she tried to use her own magic to fight back. It was a losing battle. "Trixie, don't, please!" She pleaded, only for the scroll to glow brightly as Starlight's sudden emotional outburst was drained away.
"Ooh, what have we here?!" Trixie grinned in delight, suspecting nothing.
"Trixie, if you know what's good for you, don't open the bag." Starlight weakly insisted, as she felt her magical grip loosening.
Everything seemed to happen at once! Starlight's saddle bag was flung open, the scroll inside it tumbled out, and a gust of wind caught the scroll and blew it far away! Surprised by the unexpected outcome, Trixie stumbled back and fell on her rump, fortunately not very hard. "Well, that was disappointing. All that for some silly piece of parchment." She declared.
And those very words, coupled with the loss of the scroll, triggered a devastating reaction from Starlight! Unable to contain her emotions any longer, she loudly screamed! "Trixie, you idiot! Can't you ever leave well enough alone?!"
Trixie gulped, hastily rising to her hooves. "S-Starlight, please don't yell at Trixie. Whatever she did, she's sorry."
But Starlight only narrowed her eyes at Trixie and bellowed! "Oh, now you're sorry! But you sure weren't sorry when you were treating this all as a joke! You kept acting like it's no big deal if we don't find that table map! But if it's not there when Twilight gets back, she'll kill me! And it'll all be your fault! You didn't listen to me!"
"Starlight..." Trixie began in a desperate plea.
"Twilight was right all along about you!" Starlight went on. "Ever since you came into my life you've been nothing but trouble! And I've been too blind to see the reality for myself until now! But if this is how you treat me when I'm in a jam, by blowing off my concerns and stuffing your face, I guess our friendship isn't that important to you! Admit it, all this time you've just been using me to try and settle your score with Twilight!"
Trixie protested with a gulp. "That's not true, Starlight. Trixie has been sincere about wanting to be your friend, you know that."
"But you didn't listen to me!" Starlight snapped, her eyes glowing an ominous shade of red! "You ignored my warnings, bugged me while I was trying to make cupcakes, and now you're dragging me all over town because you can't remember where you sent that map that I HAVE to get back! And on top of that you decided to just snoop through my saddlebags like it's no big deal, dismissing the one thing keeping me under control as 'some silly piece of parchment'!"
"T-the Great and Powerful Trixie had no idea that scroll was so important to you, Starlight, honest," Trixie insisted. "Please, this isn't the Starlight Glimmer I know and love. Something's come over you."
"You're right, something has, YOU!" Starlight accusingly pointed a hoof! "You are the worst! I befriended you against Twilight's initial wishes, and all this time I led myself to believe that you really, sincerely cared about me! But now I see it was all just another one of your acts, and like a foal I believed it! Well now my eyes have been opened, I see you for the below-average illusionist you truly are!" She then grabbed the pendant Trixie had given her earlier that day, yanked it off, and threw it on the ground!
Trixie was most frantic, rushing forward to grab the pendant before Starlight could do anything to it! "Starlight, please! Whatever's causing all this, you must let it go!" She pleaded in desperation! "Trixie's sorry if she caused you any stress, she really didn't mean to make you upset!"
"It's too late for that! You're too late! You only wanna help yourself!" Starlight coldly retorted! "Now give me that pendant so I can smash it! Maybe then you'll understand that your actions do have consequences! That you can't just run away from your past mistakes and pretend you never made them in the first place! From this moment onward, I am no longer your friend! And I don't ever want to be AGAIN!"
That did it, Trixie's composure was completely shattered! With tears in her eyes, Trixie dropped the pendant to the ground. "Do whatever you want, Starlight, Trixie doesn't care anymore. It seems she has brought this upon herself." She sadly declared, and prepared herself for whatever sort of punishment her former friend was about to inflict on her.
But as luck would have it, at that moment, Spike came upon the scene! Clenched firmly in his claws, was the very scroll that had been blown away earlier! "Starlight, quick! Read the scroll backwards! Let it all out!" He called, as he chucked the parchment at the unicorn's front hooves.
Despite her anger, Starlight obeyed the request. Struggling every step of the way to hold the scroll steady, she started chanting again. And like magic, the red glow in her eyes faded completely. A massive red cloud formed above her head for but a second before a gust of wind blew it away completely, as it if was never there to begin with.
When Starlight returned to normal with a shake of her head, she saw the pendant now laying on the ground before her, slightly broken as a result of being dropped not once but twice in the span of only a few minutes. And to make matters worse, she saw the clearly frightened and depressed form of her illusionist friend, the same one who had considered her a "best friend". And in the heat of the moment, because of a spell, Starlight had said words she would never have dared to say otherwise.
But Trixie wouldn't believe that. And even if she did it didn't take away the impact those words had had. Some friend Starlight had turned out to be, Trixie deserved better. Somepony who was more "stable" with their emotions.
Without saying a word, and with tears in her eyes, Starlight ran off back to the castle. She didn't care who saw her in this current state, all that mattered was that she get out of here before she suffered another emotional outburst.
"Trixie, are you alright?" Spike questioned the magician, helping her to her hooves. "Whatever Starlight said to you earlier, she didn't mean them. There's something about her you need to know, something Twilight or I should've mentioned sooner. About her emotions..."
But Trixie threw up a hoof and said sadly. "Save it, Spike. The Sad and Pathetic Trixie knows what she heard and what those words meant. They were clearly intended for her, and every statement rings true. Trixe is no friend, not to Starlight anyways."
Having seen everything and sensing that things were getting most uncomfortable, Bulk Biceps innocently whistled. "Uh, I think I'll just get out of here. I'm gonna be late for my other job."
"Hang on, don't you work at the spa?" Spike questioned. "I swear I remember Aloe saying something about you."
"What? I wear many hats," Bulk Biceps acknowledged. "A stallion's gotta make a living somehow." And the buff pegasus took off without another word.
Having overheard Spike's conversation with Bulk Biceps about the spa, something suddenly came flooding back into Trixie's mind! In an instant, a major realization struck her square in the muzzle! "Of course, that's it!" She exclaimed!
"What's it?" Spike wondered.
"I know where the map is!" Trixie declared! "And this time, Trixie is telling the truth."
Spike barely managed to keep up with Trixie as the magician madly dashed across town to the spa! By the time he'd made his way inside the spa proper, the little dragon was out of breath and panting heavily.
But sure enough, just like Trixie had said, there was the table map. It was right in the center of the reception area, and Bulk Biceps was currently using it to give a massage to an earth pony mare with a light brown coat, and a cutie mark depicting a heart and a baby bottle.
"So, mind telling me how the hay the table map ended up here?" Spike questioned Trixie.
"When Trixie was preparing her teleportation spell, she was thinking back to when she and Starlight first became friends," Trixie explained. "And she recalled our fateful meeting right here, at the Ponyville Spa," A sigh of longing escaped her lips. "Oh how long ago such happy memories seem. If only Trixie had known they were too good to last forever."
"We'll worry about that later," Spike protested. "For right now, let's just focus on getting this table map back to the castle before Twilight comes back!"
"Oh, right," Trixie realized and started to light up her horn. "Trixie will get it right this time! Teleportation spell, take two!"
"Or we could just haul it back, and not risk sending it somewhere else entirely," Spike remarked with a groan. "And I thought Starlight was trigger happy with her spells."
It took a great deal of effort to move the table map all the way from the spa to the castle, especially since Starlight running off meant one less unicorn to aid in the attempt. But eventually, with a great deal of effort from pony and dragon, the table map was back in the throne room and not even an inch off in any direction. If one didn't know better, they would assume it had never moved at all.
Trixie then departed from the castle, though not without first writing down something on a piece of paper and planting it on the table. "If Starlight asks, just have her read it." Was all the magician bothered to say.
Not long afterward, Twilight and her friends returned from their friendship retreat. They were most surprised when it was Spike who was there to greet them. "Hey girls," He innocently greeted. "So, how was the friendship retreat?"
"You mean, to Manehattan Escapes?" Rainbow Dash replied with a slight groan. "'Cause that's where Twilight ended up taking us. An escape room was... an interesting change of pace."
"Ooh, ooh, don't forget about the fact that we almost broke the record for fastest escape!" Pinkie Pie mentioned. "Seriously, we were off by two whole seconds! Just two whole seconds!"
"And all because we sang a song and forget to turn the key." Applejack frowned.
"Wow, that's... unfortunate," Spike commented. "But hey, second best isn't bad, right?"
"The experience is what mattered the most. And I for one don't intend to go back to that escape room anytime soon," Rarity declared. "If the others wish to try their luck in it without me, they're most certainly welcome."
Fluttershy, meanwhile, noticed something. Or rather, a lack of something. "Um, where are Starlight and Trixie? Shouldn't they be here to greet us too?"
Spike sighed and his shoulder slumped. "Well, about that... Don't quite know how to break this to you..."
Starlight hadn't left her room at all since she'd arrived back at the castle, and neither had she payed any sort of attention to the sights and sounds. For if she had, maybe she would've been aware of what had transpired in her absence.
As it was, the unicorn was attempting to distract herself with her usual stress relief, floating wooden blocks while laying in her bed and looking up at the ceiling with a forlorn look.
Suddenly, there came a knock on the door. And the next thing the mare knew, her teacher (or former teacher as the term might best apply now) came trotting in. "Starlight?" Twilight called, attracting the unicorn's attention. "I heard about what happened with Trixie and the map."
Glumly, Starlight turned and buried her head into her pillow. "It's all my fault, Twilight. I thought there'd be no harm in teaching Trixie magic, but it all did it was cause me to blow up in her face and reveal my big secret. Now I've gone and chased the first friend I ever made on my own away, probably forever," Amidst tears of sorrow, she muttered. "What did you ever see in a freak like me in the first place? I couldn't even make a friend on my own without ultimately driving her to tears."
Twilight approached the bed and lightly stroked Starlight's backside with a hoof. "Starlight, you're not a freak, or a monster. We've been over this already," She softly added. "So you have a little bit of trouble controlling your emotions, and that spell we created worked a little too well. I'm sure if you just explain everything to Trixie, she'll understand. That's what friends are for, best friends especially."
"Easy for you to say!" Starlight retorted. "You've never truly had trouble making friends, be they new or old! Even your friends from Canterlot were willing to still hang out after all the years of never acknowledging their presence. You're the princess of friendship, and I'm just some freaky unicorn with out of control emotions."
"Starlight, your emotions are what make you what you are. You can't surpress them forever and lock them away, that is the same as denying who you are," Twilight explained. "What you can do, is work to overcome them, control them instead of them controlling you. Whatever happened with you and Trixie while I was gone, it doesn't have to be how your friendship ends. And you should know that I'm not mad about the map getting teleported. Trixie and Spike were able to track it down, and even if they hadn't I'd have understood. It was an accident, nopony intended for any of this to happen."
Amidst the sobs, Starlight croaked out. "And yet it all did. Just what am I supposed to do now? Even if I wanted to make amends with Trixie, I'm still mad at her for all the unnecessary stress she put me through. How do I let her know I didn't mean what I said, but I'm still upset with her for something? I don't just want bygones to be bygones and pretend like it never happened, but is that what I must do to preserve our friendship?"
"Well, I don't know the exact answer for that. But I do know you can start by coming out from under that pillow," Twilight coaxed her student. "We may no longer be teacher and student in the traditional sense, but it's obvious you still have much to learn about friendship. Just as I still have much to learn about being a teacher. And whenever you need my help, you need not hesitate to ask me. That's part of what it means to be friends."
Reluctantly, Starlight forced herself to emerge from beneath her pillow. Her eyes had been stained red from all the crying she had done, and her mane and tail still remained in their flattened state (she hadn't bothered to groom herself, she was too distraught to even think of doing so). Her breathing was quite heavy. "So, what happens now?" She asked her teacher, barely mustering up the courage to look her in the eyes.
Twilight levitated over a piece of paper. "Spike told me that Trixie left this for you. I haven't had a chance to look it over yet though, seeing as I had more pressing concerns."
The still distraught mare read the paper carefully. By the time she had finished, her still redened eyes widened to very nearly the size of dinner plates! "I have to go, now!" She declared and rushed out of her room without even a second's thought to her appearance! In the process, she dropped the paper she had read, allowing Twilight to pick it up and read it. It went like this:
Starlight,
By the time you receive this letter it'll probably already be too late. Spike filled me in on your emotional issues and how you supposedly didn't mean what you said.
Well we both know that's a load of sour apples.
I'm sure you meant every word of what you said, and even if you didn't the accusations still ring true. You were right about me, I could never truly care about you more than I care about myself.
Knowing what I now know about you, I realize that there's little hope for us to just move on from this, and no way I can pretend it didn't happen. We both deserve better friends, ponies who are more on our level.
Trixie has decided to pack up her things and leave Ponyville, probably forever. If she hangs around here for too long, she's likely to cross paths with you, and right now it's best if we never meet again.
If someday, a long time down the road, we've both matured and become better ponies, perhaps it'll possible for us to become friends again. Maybe even best friends.
Until now, enjoy the friends you already have. The ones who truly understand you, and the ones you can count on to be there for you when you need it most.
Wishing you well,
The Lonely but Humbled Trixie
Twilight gasped in horror! "Trixie, what are you thinking?! Abandoning Starlight now will only makes things worse for both of you!" She thought to herself! But the alicorn knew it was out of her control. Starlight and Trixie would have to try and patch things up on their own.
Starlight was frantically running across town! With all the running she'd already done today, her hooves were aching all over, pleading with her to stop any further movement! But the mare ignored the pain, there was a more pressing concern at the moment!
Namely, she had to stop a friend from making the worst decision she could possibly make.
The unicorn rushed across town, following the wagon tracks left along the roads. All the while she was mentally pleading. "Please don't let it be too late! Please!"
Sure enough, just on the outskirts of town, Starlight was relieved to catch up to Trixie. The magician was still hauling her wagon, but it was remarkable had far she'd gotten in what seemed like a short amount of time.
Not willing to let the stroke of good luck go to waste, Starlight shouted out! "Trixie!"
Trixie stopped in her tracks and spun around. But when she saw Starlight, she only hung her head. "Starlight, didn't you get Trixie's note? Our friendship is through, I'm no good for you. Forget about me."
"Trixie, please, I'm sorry about all I said today!" Starlight pleaded! "I was under a lot of stress and... and I lashed out!"
"But all of it was true, Starlight. I should've listened to your advice, and I should've taken everything more seriously," Trixie sadly protested. "And yet because she didn't, here we now are."
"Darn it all, why do you have to be so stubborn, Trixie?!" Starlight complained, and held up the pendant Trixie had given her earlier. The same pendant that had been on the receiving end of Starlight's outburst fueled actions. "Do you see this, Trixie? It's the very same pendant you gave to me as a sign of our friendship. That we would always be best friends, no matter what."
Trixie shook her head. "Things change, Starlight. And it's time Trixie started changing. Until she does, she isn't fit to be your friend, or anypony else's. Trixie needs to be able to think of others before she thinks of herself."
Starlight groaned. "You were overeager, Trixie, and I wasn't in my best state of mind. We both made mistakes," She pleaded. "At the least can we start over as friends? Maybe if we both try our hardest and agree not to keep such big secrets, these kinds of things won't happen."
Trixie contemplated this for a few minutes, before she managed to force out. "I... shall... think about it, Starlight. Maybe our friendship can still be salvaged, but for right now Trixie needs some time to think. Besides, The Great and Powerful Trixie has been away from the show circuit for too long," And she declared. "The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot give up her life on the road, even if she would appreciate getting to spend more time with you, Starlight Glimmer."
"Then... I'll come with you!" Starlight insisted quite firmly. "You still need me to be your assistant, and you still need me to teach you about magic!"
But the magician mare protested with a firm shake of her head. "No, Starlight, your home is in Ponyville. It's where you've made a new name for yourself. I can't ask you to uproot that, even for me. But," She added. "Trixie will return someday, just as she promised the last time she departed. And when she comes back, you'll know. And then, hopefully, we'll be able to resume our friendship anew."
"Then at the least you should consider taking this with you," Starlight suggested, floating the pendant over to Trixie. "That way you'll always have something to remember me by while you're out on the road."
Trixie firmly nodded, as she clutched the pendant preciously in her hooves. "Oh Starlight, you're truly the best of best friends! Trixie doesn't deserve you!"
"Maybe I'm not the friend you deserve, but I'm most definitely the friend you need right now," Starlight smiled and embraced her best friend in a hug. "I'll never forget you, Trixie, and that's a promise."
"For once, The Great and Powerful Trixie is at a loss for words." Trixie commented, as she returned the hug full force. And the two friends just stood there, enjoying the hug. Whatever tomorrow might bring, at least their friendship would still be intact.
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Again, this is an superb re-write. Personally, I would have left Trixie out of the story completely (beyond a VERY passing mention of being on the road), had Starlight and Spike accompany Twilight and the others on the Friendship Retreat and have the B-Story be the main plot (the B-story was ironically better than the A-story [it might have been largely forgettable, but at least it wasn't cringeworthy bad]) and then save the song for AFTER they completed the challenge (meaning they actually SUCCEED in breaking the record).
Still, I can see why you wrote this the way you did. Anyway, the exchanges, characterizations and general episode wrap-up were well done in all the right places. I particularly liked the reference to your version of the "Cutie Re-Mark" AND how you do a MUCH better job on Trixie's character development than the actual show (which, to be fair, isn't difficult in the latter case, but still - ).
At any rate, on to the next chapter.
Does anyone at least know a story of which The Mane 6 in this episode DON'T miss the record at all and then sing the song as victory?