Chapter 1

Starlight looked out the window, where Twilight’s Castle obscured most of the view, its crystal structure sparkling under the sun now raised by its owner.

A new day in Equestria, a new day in the School of Friendship, and hopefully, a new day for Starlight’s future.

Assuming she finally gathered the guts to do what she wanted once and for all.

Hoofsteps sounded out her office’s door, and she turned just in time to see a blue mare popping her head in. “Good morning, Starlight!” Trixie greeted with a smile.

“Hey Trixie,” Starlight kept a perfectly normal smile on her face. “How was your night?”

“Great! Same as always,” the mare finally trotted inside and closed the door behind her. She carried a cup of tea with her, and she took a seat on the cushion in front of Twiligh- Starlight’s desk. Her eyes narrowed as she looked around the room and sipped on her tea. “This office is so… big,” she said with distaste. “It feels empty.”

“I know,” Starlight sighed. “But it is the headmare’s office, so I don’t have much of a choice.”

“Well…” Trixie smiled mischievously, which was never a good sign. “You are the headmare now, so you could make the decision to move out of here.”

The purple unicorn froze. “Move out?!” she exclaimed on instinct.

Trixie leaned back, frowning. “Alright, alright. You’re not gonna do it, geez, no need to get angry about it.” She sipped on her tea with a pout.

“Eh? Oh, right,” Starlight closed her eyes and chuckled nervously, putting a hoof to her head. “Sorry, I’m just… on edge,” she looked away, pretending to examine the shelves with countless books Twilight had left behind for her.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Trixie finished her cup and put it down on the desk. “You need to relax, Starlight. You have me as your student counselor—and I guess Sunburst as vice headstallion is nice too—so stop worrying, what more could you need?”

“That’s not… I…” Starlight hesitated, deciding it was best to leave things be for now. “Thanks, Trixie. You should probably get to your office, though, the school day’s about to begin.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Trixie stood. “Don’t work too hard now, Headmare Starlight,” she said with a playful smile.

“Can’t promise that, heh,” Starlight waved at her as she left the office.

Once the door closed, she let out a long sigh and tried to gather her wits. “You’re fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine! Don’t you agree, Phillis?” She looked at her plant for reassurance. Of course, her leafy friend didn’t reply. Starlight sighed. “I wonder if I should cast a spell to let you talk…”

Throwing the idea aside for the sake of focus—and avoiding the potential shenanigans that usually came out of her experiments—she stood from her desk and started pacing. “I mean,” she still spoke to the plant, “she’d like it, right? I know she loves that wagon, but the castle is great! Plus she always parks right behind it, so she practically lives there already, right?”

A knock at her door made her jump and teleport back to her seat on instinct. “Come on in!”

This time, the one to step into the office was Sunburst. He pushed his glasses up with a hoof before looking at Starlight with some uncertainty. “Were you, uhm… talking to your plant? Again?”

“What?” Starlight waved a dismissive hoof. “No way. Pfft. Who does that?” She tried to play it cool. She understood she was failing completely, so maybe changing the subject was a better option. “So, what did you need?”

“Oh, right. Silverstream’s brother is having a party next week for his birthday, and you need to sign the papers to give her a few days off to go and come back,” he explained, levitating a sheet of paper to her.

Starlight read it as quickly as she could before signing it. “There.”

“Wonderful…” The yellow stallion paused for an awkward second. “Do you need to, I don’t know, talk to somepony who can actually understand you?”

“Oh, that,” she chuckled nervously. “Nah, I’m fine, I…” she paused. With another sigh, she accepted maybe she did need a proper talking companion. “Ugh, ok. The thing is: I’ve been meaning to ask Trixie to move into the castle for a while now. Twilight doesn’t live there anymore, so that’ll avoid awkwardness problems, and I think it’d be fun having her around.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Sunburst nodded with a smile. Then he stopped, raising an eyebrow. “But I suppose there’s something more to it?”

“Yeah,” Starlight gave him a dejected nod. “She’s really attached to her wagon. And I’m afraid she’ll be offended by the offer. Or say no. Or both.”

“Well, I don’t see why she’d be offended,” Sunburst shrugged. “And I can’t really do anything about her saying no, but it is her choice.”

“You don’t understand. When we went on that road trip I… Well, I already attempted to get rid of her wagon once. What if she thinks this is the same?”

“I sincerely doubt that’ll be the case, but if that’s what worries you, then just talk to her about it. That’s what friends do, right?”

Starlight deadpanned him. “One would think that after Twilight left I’d receive less lectures on friendship,” she said.

“I am the School of Friendship’s vice headstallion, though,” he puffed out his chest with pride. Then, he smiled kindly at Starlight. “And you’re its Headmare. Besides, it’s not that big a deal, you still see Trixie every day, right?”

“R-right…” Starlight trailed off.

“Well then, glad we could talk, but I should really get back to my paperwork,” he turned and walked out while shuffling some extra papers he’d been carrying, leaving Starlight alone once more.

“He’s right,” Starlight said in a low voice. “It’s not a big deal, right?” She looked at Phillis for reassurance. “But if that’s so, then… why do I feel like it is?”

“It’s just a little question, Starlight, you can do it,” the unicorn in question spoke to herself before knocking on the door. She’d just finished doing her rounds around school and she had no more paperwork to deal with right now, so she had some free time. The sooner she got things done the better.

She knocked on the counselor’s door.

There was no answer.

After a few more tries, Starlight frowned. Her horn glowed as she opened the door: The inside of the office was dark, the curtains covering the window. “Trixie?” she asked. She walked into the office, squinting in the darkness. It’s the middle of the day, where could she- “Ah!” she yelped as something tripped her.

With a spin and a thump, Starlight hit the floor and laid there for a second, dazed. “Huh?” Trixie’s voice spoke from the spot where Starlight had tripped. The curtains opened, only to reveal the blue unicorn sitting up with drowsy eyes, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked around.

“Trixie…” Starlight said in a menacing tone as she levitated herself up. “Were you sleeping at work again?”

Trixie, suddenly coming to her senses, froze. “No! I was just… resting my eyes…?” She tried to pull a smile of complicity.

Starlight wouldn’t have it, regardless of how… convincing it was. “You promised no more naps at work,” she chastised.

“Sorry, sorry,” Trixie sighed, walking around the room and to her desk while Starlight sat on the couch in front of it. “I lied.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“No, not that. I really meant to keep that promise,” Trixie insisted. “I mean, I lied when I said my night had been great. ‘Same as always’ usually means I’m barely rested enough to function,” she explained.

Starlight saw an opportunity in the comment. “Really, now?”

“Yeah. You’ve slept in my wagon; you know it can be… rough. I like to stay in fancier lodgings when traveling, but I can’t justify staying at an inn every day, you know? It doesn’t help that sometimes I have my hooves around in my sleep and tip over my box of smoke bombs,” She rested her head on her hoof. “So I’m a teensy bit tired. Sorry about that.”

“So you’re saying you’d enjoy sleeping in more… permanent room?” Starlight raised her eyebrows inquisitively.

“Of course. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but…” she leaned closer to speak in a whisper, “it’s hard to be great and powerful when I don’t sleep well.”

Starlight chuckled. “I’ve seen that first hoof,” she said. Then she carefully eyed her best friend. “Uhm, so… What would you say if, I don’t know, Iofferedyouaroominthecastle?” She asked in a low, rushed tone, drawing circles on the couch with a hoof and feeling some heat rise to her cheeks.

“What was that?” Trixie leaned closer.

Taking a deep breath, Starlight steeled herself. “What if I offered you a room in the castle?” She asked, properly this time, trying to look Trixie in the eyes.

The magician blinked. “The… Castle?” she looked out her window. “The giant castle made of crystal?”

“Yep, that same castle,” Starlight nodded, growing a bit nervous.

“Can you even do that? It’s not your castle, is it?”

“No it isn’t, but Twilight did leave me in charge of it, and she’s not gonna be using it, so…” she looked down, still fidgeting with her hoof. “You don’t have to agree if you don’t want to. It’s just a proposal, you know-Ah!”

For the second time since coming into the office, Starlight ended up on the floor—only this time she’d been tackled. “Yes, yes, yes!” Trixie agreed, hugging Starlight with the strength to squeeze the air out of her lungs. Not that Starlight minded. “Of course I want to, thank you so much!” Then, she stopped, as if realizing what she was doing, and let Starlight go, much to her disappointment. She cleared her throat and put up her showpony façade. “I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie humbly accepts your offer,” she bowed in fake respect.

“Come on, cut it out,” Starlight pulled her face up with a smile. Trixie met her eyes and, for a moment, Starlight forgot what she was doing. Then she stepped back, what was she thinking? “I’m glad you accepted. Oh, I was so worried…”

Trixie dropped the act and lifted an eyebrow. “Worried?”

“Yes, well, last time we spent a couple nights together it didn’t go too well, and I know you love that wagon, and…”

“Oh, Starlight, that’s silly,” Trixie snorted at the idea. “I love travelling with my wagon, sure, but I much prefer proper beds when possible.” She then seemed to reconsider. “Though make sure our rooms aren’t too close together. Wouldn’t want to be attacked by a bear at night,” she said with a smile and a wink.

Starlight chuckled. “Of course,” she said. “Then I… guess I’ll see you for dinner tonight?”

Trixie’s smile widened. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun.”

And it was, to Starlight’s surprise.

Living with Trixie in the castle wasn’t too different from having her outside in her wagon. Only now they saw each other for breakfast. Sure, Trixie could be cranky in the mornings, but Starlight was on that same camp. Even still, the castle was big enough for the both of them to not have to see each other, should they need time alone.

Having Trixie around really was what she’d expected. Getting to see her so much was fulfilling in a way she couldn’t explain.

It was… perfect.

Suspiciously perfect.

It bothered Starlight, for some reason. Usually things like these didn’t go smoothly for her. So she decided to take it with another creature experienced in these hijinks. “So, let me get this straight,” Spike said, looking at Starlight with skepticism. “You came to ask for advice because… nothing’s wrong?”

“When you put it that way, it does sound a bit silly,” Starlight sighed.

“It is silly,” Spike said. “You’re probably just a tad nervous, but everything’s gonna be fine. It’s Trixie, what’s the worst she could…” he trailed off. “You know what, let’s not finish that. But you’re there, and you said everything’s alright, so I fail to see why you needed my advice.”

“Well, originally I wanted to talk with Applejack, since she has her family, but she’s busy. Then I considered Ocellus since, well, everyone at the hive is her family… or something like that, but I can’t ask my own students for help. Then I went to Fluttershy, but I didn’t want to bother her in the sanctuary, and-”

Spike deadpanned her. “Good to know I’m appreciated.”

Starlight paused. “Sorry. But, well, you’ve lived with Twilight all your life. And I recall a story about you having trouble when her owl pet moved in, so…”

“Yeah, but those are different,” Spike shrugged. They were in his quarters in the Canterlot castle, with a nice red carpet and a bed a bit too big for the small guy, atop which rested his actual bed. Starlight wasn’t certain how comfortable that could be. “Twilight’s like a mother to me, or a big sister, and Owlowiscious wasn’t really an invited guest for me. Instead, you’re living with your best friend.

“I know it’s not the same, but… I don’t know,” Starlight pressed her hooves against her eyes. “I just feel like something’s off!”

“Well, maybe it’s not a lack of ‘problems’,” Spike turned away from her and started searching in a small bookshelf packed with Power Ponies comics. “You’re looking for something you can easily solve, when it’s probably not that simple. Maybe try to talk with Trixie about it.”

“I don’t want her to feel like it’s her fault,” Starlight shook her head. “Plus, I’m just being silly, right? There’s no point.”

“You may be being silly, but there’s still a reason for it. Maybe stop looking for outside problems and start looking into yourself?”

This made the unicorn nod slowly, the idea lodging into her brain. “Yes, that’s… a good guess. Maybe I’m just too self conscious of living how I normally do and that’s why it feels weird. Or maybe I wanna do a sleepover with Trixie but I just haven’t realized it. Or-”

“Eh, Starlight?” Spike interrupted her train of thought. “You’re not gonna figure it out sitting here.”

“Oh, right,” she smiled awkwardly. “Thank’s a lot Spike, I knew you were the right dragon to talk to.”

“After who knows how many others,” he said, still offended by that. Starlight, however, barely heard the comment as she waved and disappeared in a flash of light.

Starlight woke up the next morning with a smile. With it being a day off school for everycreature, circumstances were perfect for her to figure out whatever was wrong with her. She didn’t waste any time with her morning routine, after which she went straight to the castle kitchens. She prepared a breakfast for two and sat there, waiting. Trixie’s schedule on off days could be wild, but working at the school did make her wake up earlier than she used to. Not that Starlight kept track of that… Wait, did she?

No time to wonder about it, as with a yawn and the look of somepony who’d just waken up, Trixie strolled into the kitchen. Her hair frizzled, her eyelids about to fall down, and her fur a mess. She was still quite pretty, though. “Good morning!” Starlight said, levitating a plate full of pancakes to her best friend. She looked at the smiley face drawn on it with syrup for a moment before picking the plate up herself.

“Morning, Starlight,” she said in a drowsy voice.

“You didn’t sleep well?” Starlight lifted an eyebrow.

“No. I mean, yes. I mean… I slept well enough. I just had strange dreams,” she explained, rubbing her eyes.

“That’s weird,” the purple unicorn tilted her head. “Princess Luna usually steps in to help with nightmares. No, wait,” she frowned, putting a hoof on her chin for optimal thinking. “Does she still do that? She stepped down from the throne. But Twilight only stays up during the day, so…”

“They weren’t nightmares,” Trixie explained. “I didn’t mean ‘scary’ strange, I meant ‘weird’ strange.”

“Oh, I see,” Starlight offered her friend a coffee. She took the cup and sipped from it. “What were they about?”

Trixie started, spitting the coffee and coughing at the question. “I, uh, don’t remember,” she said, pointedly looking away. Was she bushing? “A-anyways, what’s all this for?” she asked, pointing at the breakfast.

“I just wanted to do it for you,” Starlight explained.

Some of Trixie’s tiredness seemed to go away as she smiled. “Thank you.”

The words were said far more sincerely than Starlight expected, and they caused… something to happen inside of her. Like… like if her heart had skipped a beat. “It’s what friends do!”

“Hmm…” Trixie hummed as she sipped on her coffee. She hadn’t touched the pancakes yet. “So… are you busy today?”

“Not too much. I have some paperwork to attend to, but I can get that done in a jiffy. Got any plans in mind?”

“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve had time to properly put on a show, so I was gonna do one today, and I could always use an assistant.”

“Sounds great, count me in!” Starlight nodded.

“Ah, wonderful. Then finish your paperwork and meet me at the wagon after you’re done, we have work to do,” Trixie said, finally tasting the food. “Wow, this is delicious. Thanks again, Starlight.”

“Don’t mention it,” Starlight said, even if the words did make some butterflies flutter in her stomach. “I’ll go do that paperwork and we’ll meet outside.”

Trixie just nodded, too busy now with her pancakes, so Starlight teleported to her room to get started. She was excited about putting up a show with Trixie again. She was excited about doing pretty much anything with Trixie, she figured. Work with her, live with her… Just spending time with her seemed to be fulfilling.

What was wrong, then? Why did Starlight still feel like something was off?

She still had time to figure that out. For now, she should really get this done.

Starlight pointed at the massive water tank in which Trixie floated chained and weighed down, and pretended to be scared for the small crowd of ponies. “Oh no!” She dramatically put a hoof to her cheek. “How can she get out of this one?! With all those locks and chains, she’s never going to make it!”

The crowd looked with a mixture of fear and anticipation at the blue unicorn, who kept shaking inside the tank occasionally letting out bubbles of air. It was a dangerous trick, but she’d performed it before—and if something went wrong, Starlight could simply save her.

But there was no need. After a few extra moments of struggling, one of the locks behind Trixie dropped, loosening the chains and allowing her to move just enough to make herself smaller, and smaller, until she looked like nothing but a ball of chains.

“Look out, folk, she’s not out of this one yet! Will she be able to remove the chains completely before…” she trailed off as the ball of chains suddenly fell down, limp and empty. “What?!” Starlight shouted with exaggerated surprise, which helped her earn a gasp from the crowd. “Where did she go?!”

A puff of smoke from the back of the crowd drew everypony’s attention, and amidst the cloud surged the magician herself, standing proudly. She was soaking wet, which did somewhat diminish the impact. “Here! You should never have doubted, my great and beautiful assistant!”

Starlight paused. Had she heard that right? She blinked as Trixie stood there for an awkward moment, waiting for Starlight to close the act. Oh, right. “Wowee, I sure am glad that went well!” Starlight said, yet she was now far less convincing than she’d been before. Everypony stood and stomped the ground for her, and with that, the show ended. Ponies started walking off towards Ponyville—they’d performed at the other side of the river today, as Trixie figured that may attract travelling ponies—while Starlight rushed into the improvised scenario to try and hide the furious blush that was creeping up her face.

After everypony had gone, Trixie walked backstage too. She wore a satisfied smile on her face, which Starlight found herself looking away from and pretending to sort through some of Trixie’s props. “And once again, my splendid act has managed to captivate the ponies of the audience,” she claimed. She walked closer to Starlight and threw a hoof around her shoulders. “Not that I would’ve been able to do it alone,” she said in a more genuine tone.

“Y-yeah!” Starlight found herself suddenly seizing up at the touch. Her entire world suddenly focused on the hoof around her shoulders. She’d hugged Trixie dozens of times, what was going on?

“Hey, you alright? Is something wrong with the hoofkerchiefs?” Trixie asked.

Only then Starlight realized she’d been staring straight at a bunch of folded hoofkerchiefs, the ones Trixie used to cover her hat o other stuff before performing a trick. “Of course! I was checking for… stains.”

“Always so thoughtful. But enough of that,” Trixie slapped the items away and let go of Starlight, which finally allowed her brain to resume normal function. “The show’s over, we still have half a free day, what now?”

Taking a deep breath, Starlight faced her friend and eyed her. “For starters,” her horn glowed and after a flash of magic the blue unicorn was dry again, “what do you say we head to the spa?”

“Great idea!” Trixie nodded energetically.

Great and beautiful…

“Yep,” Starlight said in a quick burst, trying to shake the word out of her head. But she couldn’t. Had she misheard? “Uhm, Trixie?”

“Yes?”

“Did you, maybe, mix up your words there, at the end?” She asked in a tentative tone.

“How so?”

“W-well,” Starlight looked away, feeling that heat in her face again. “I thought I heard, uhm… great and beautiful,” she said while feeling like her chest tighten.

Trixie blinked. “D-did I?” Her smile turned awkward, her eyes wide, and… she blushed? “I-I mean, of course! It was no mix-up, you are as beautiful as you are powerful, after all!” She raised a hoof into the air, striking the showpony pose she liked so much. “Nothing less would be expected of Trixie’s assistant!”

“O-of course,” Starlight laughed nervously.

Trixie returned an equally nervous laugh, and both of them slowly faded away awkwardly.

“So, to the spa, then?” Trixie said.

“Let’s go,” Starlight nodded, deciding she’d rather not be in this very private backstage place alone with Trixie.

Things were starting to make sense in Starlight’s head.

And Sweet Celestia, knowing what was going on didn’t make it any easier.

Ah, spas. A place to feel pampered while you forgot about worries of the outside world. Thanks to her status as Twilight’s friend, headmare of the School of Friendship, and savior of Equestria—she’d done that at least two times. Well, more like one and two halves… so two, right?—she could use the most powerful magic of all: The Magic of Nepotism, to get a spot for her and Trixie in the busy spa despite making no reservations.

Spas, by nature, were meant to be relaxing.

Starlight, however, was all but.

You’re overthinking it, she told herself. She often overthought things. This was totally that.

Nevermind the fact that since realizing it she’d been certain it was true. Or how now, as the two of them sat in the sauna, Starlight had to make a conscious effort not to look at Trixie too much or too little. What was natural, anyways? She’d never had to worry about this before.

At least in here she could use the heat as an excuse for how pink her cheeks must have gotten whenever her thoughts edged too close to that central problem. To the happiness she felt at living with her best friend, at working with her. That was it: Friendship. Trixie had been her first new friend after redeeming herself, after all. Maybe this was…

“Ugh,” Starlight shook her head.

“What is it?” Trixie asked. She also seemed tense. Starlight had half a mind to guess why that was.

“Nothing, I’m just…” she looked at the ceiling, noticing that the steam made it harder to think. “You know…”

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Trixie nodded, likely just pretending to understand what Starlight herself didn’t.

Under normal circumstances, they’d be talking about something. Now however, there wasn’t anything to chat about. Not without Starlight growing self-conscious, or Trixie mysteriously stumbling over words. She… had to be on the same page as Starlight. But it was too big a coincidence, right? That they should both realize it on the same day? There had to be something else at play Starlight wasn’t seeing.

Or… Was she overthinking the overthinking? What if it was that simple?

Why is this so hard?! She thought, annoyed. Come on, Starlight. You’ve tackled things far harder than this. You’ve dealt with world-threatening villains, with angry parents, and with your own innermost traumas.

However, before she could properly pump herself up, a small bell rang, signaling the end of their session in the sauna. Trixie stood fast—too fast, maybe?—and walked over to the door. “Alright, now’s time for a nice hoofiture, let’s go!” Her smile was stiff and her movements too hyper, as if she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“Sure,” Starlight stood and exited the room. The two of them threw their towels into the laundry bin as they walked away, and for a second, Starlight noticed just how… shiny Trixie looked. Not that she got to stare much, because the next pony in line for the room bumped into her with a grunt and snapped her out of it.

Focus, focus, Starlight repeated inside her head. Yes, you can handle this. Maybe a spell- NO. No, but then what…? Her thoughts kept going in circles until they reached the massages room, with its cool toned walls and a far fresher ambience than the sauna. Well, duh. Great, now she was having stupid thoughts.

They laid down on parallel stretchers and sighed, waiting for the massage ponies.

In silence, as seemed to be the theme today.

“So, Starlight…” Trixie started. “Completely random question: What would you do if, I dunno, a friend of yours asked you to be their very special somepony?”

It was a lucky thing Starlight hadn’t been drinking anything, otherwise she would have certainly spat it at the obviously not random question. “M-my, that’s a… question, eh? Yeah, it sure is… questiony, ha ha,” the purple mare’s brain went into overdrive. What was she even saying? “I, uhm… I guess I’d have to see who it is! I mean, Ilike all of my friends, but… You know, I wouldn’t say yes if it was just anypony,” she deflected.

“No, yeah, totally, that makes sense,” Trixie said. “But let’s just, for the sake of argument, say it was somepony really close to you, then-”

“Trixie,” Starlight turned her head just to deadpan her friend; this was getting ridiculous—for the both of them. “Do you like me?”

“What?!” Trixie jumped up and Starlight looked up. “What made you think that?” she tried to lean into the stretcher in a ‘cool’ way, but she only tipped it over and crashed into the floor with a loud noise.

Worried, Starlight got up and levitated her friend into the air. “Sorry, are you hurt?”

Trixie, floating upside down, looked around with a disoriented look. “Yes, I’m fine, I just…” She trailed off as Starlight put her back on the floor. “Was it that obvious?”

“Yeah,” Starlight smiled.

“I’m sorry,” Trixie put the stretcher back in its place and sighed. “I’d understand if you wanted to get away from me right now.”

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Because I’ve been acting weird all day because I had dreams about you,” Trixie explained, turning with confusion. “And that’s why you’ve been acting weird in return, right?”

“No! I’m the one that’s been acting weird,” Starlight said. “I’ve been feeling strange since you moved into the castle and… Well, I…” Suddenly, everything that had happened in the past minute fell on her. “I kinda figured I like you too…” she said in a far weaker voice.

“Oh, wow. Huh. Hmm…” Trixie looked even more confused.

“Is that weird?”

“Eh? No. Ok, maybe it is weird that we both realized it on the same day, but…” Trixie smiled. “I’m just trying to piece together when exactly it all happened.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the Attentive and Insigtful Counselor Trixie has been dealing with a lot of troubled students lately—and you’d be surprised at how much teenager struggle with love. Or maybe not—most of which seem to struggle with the realization that they’ve liked somepony for a while. So I’m trying to figure out for how long I’ve liked you,” she explained, scratching her chin.

Starlight snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. “That’s… Kinda cute, actually,” she said with a smile. “It has to have been a while. I do wonder sometimes how we stayed friends even after that wreck of a road trip.”

Trixie nodded. “Or… Well, everything we’ve been through. We’ve had a lot of rough deals, eh?”

“Most of them your fault,” Starlight made sure to point out.

The blue mare opened her mouth, but ended up sighing. “Yeah, you’re right. But you forgave me each time because you love me,” she said with a knowing smirk.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s right,” Starlight returned the smirk, and their eyes met.

In that one second, all Starlight’s worries were blown away. That’s what had been bothering her all along. She’d been growing closer to Trixie, they were living together even, but they weren’t together. She wanted to take that final step. Subconsciously, at least.

“One would think we’d be better at figuring this stuff out, given the circumstances,” Starlight added, taking a step forward.

“Or not, as we both seem to influence each other for the worse.” Trixie also took a step forward, leaving them muzzle to muzzle.

Starlight didn’t feel the need to hide the blush probably appearing on her cheeks right now. “I don’t think I’d mind being influenced for the worse more often from now on,” she said.

“You were reading my mind,” Trixie’s tone dropped a few octaves, and Starlight understood what it meant. Not that she’d ever done this, but something inside her told her to just lean forward and…

A sudden clearing of a throat made the two of them jump, startled. “Uhm, are you still going to want your massages…?” Lotus, one of the sisters running the place asked. She looked a bit uncomfortable, but a knowing smile was plastered on her face alongside a blush.

Starlight and Trixie laughed awkwardly in unison. “We’d better find a more… private place, I think,” Trixie said.

“Yeah, maybe trying to figure this out in public wasn’t the best choice,” Starlight added. “Thanks a lot for your services, but I think we’ll cut the session short.”

“Oh, go right ahead,” Lotus waved them away. “And next time you come, make sure to ask for the couple’s discount,” she winked at them.

The two of them chuckled at that before Starlight teleported them back to the castle, right into the map room. There, in the silence of the familiar, the two unicorns finally looked at each other with as much meaning as they could muster.

“Is this going to be private enough?” Trixie asked, looking around. “Wouldn’t want to have a bunch of ponies running in here for the sake of solving some friendship quest or whatever.”

Starlight shook her head. “The map stopped working like that after Sombra destroyed the Tree of Harmony, so... we’re all alone.”

Trixie smiled again, extending a hoof and placing it on Starlight’s cheek. “Then what are we waiting for?”

“Nothing,” Starlight said in a whisper, allowing Trixie to pull her in.

Experience or not, Starlight was determined to make her first kiss a success.

She failed

When her lips met Trixie’s, she grew… excited. They were warm, soft, and filled her with energy. Too much of it. For the first time since her filly days, a sudden surge of magic came out due to her wild emotions. Love, happiness, excitement. Before she could even react, the three-seconds-long kiss was ended by the fact that she and Trixie were suddenly upside down and the map room was in disarray.

“It seems my Great and Powerful lips were too much for you to handle,” Trixie said with a smirk.

“Well, I’d say that was a magical experience,” Starlight offered. Still on the floor, the both of them laughed. “Alright, let’s try that one more time,” she said, levitating them both to a standing position in front of each other.

“Shouldn’t we fix the room first?” Trixie pointed at the toppled thrones and the tilted map.

“Eh, leave it be,” Starlight shrugged, pulling Trixie closer with her horn. “Who’s gonna notice, anyways?”

“I like it when you go against everything Twilight represents,” Trixie said with a smirk.

“Then maybe I should do it more often, eh?” Starlight leaned forward again. This time, when her lips met Trixie’s, she kept her magic on check. And this time it was a far more satisfying experience, with her muzzle pressed against hers, their lips locked together for what felt like an eternity.

But nothing lasts forever, and when they separated, Starlight couldn’t help feel a bit sad. “Does this mean you’d say yes if I ask you to be my special somepony?”

“Do you even need an answer at this point?” Starlight lifted an eyebrow.

“I’d like to hear it,” Trixie made puppy eyes.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Alright. Yes, Trixie, I would love to be your special somepony.”

Trixie smiled and trotted in place with excitement. “Oh, I’m so happy…” She paused. “I mean, Trixie of course knew, from the second she placed her eyes on you, that you’d accept her offer to-”

Starlight lounged forward, placing another light kiss on her to shut her up. “Hush, you,” she said in a soft voice.

“Alright,” Trixie agreed, staring into her eyes.

And they kissed again.

And again.

And many, many more times through he course of that day, and the following days, and for a very long time after that too.

Author's Note:

First MLP fanfiction in ages. Starlight's my favourite character, and every single episode she shares with Trixie is gay as hell and fuck Sunburst (Not really, I also love him and it's an understandable shipping option for Starlight). I went with 'special somepony' over 'girlfriend' because I'm a boomer in that regard, ha ha.
Also first time using FimFiction as a publisher, too.

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