• Published 8th Apr 2021
  • 4,898 Views, 171 Comments

The Schools of Stalliongrad - Nadir



Commoners are given nothing, only having what they take. Twilight, lowborn that she is, won't settle for nothing. She'd rather have it all.

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Parties and Shows

Another day, another lesson that went well. The visions had, once again, made their way into the ‘understandable’ category. Now, Twilight could definitely see what happened to the city, how it destroyed itself, how Luna - and her in that position - could do nothing about it.

Next lesson, apparently, would go beyond what they’d worked on for the last few months. Instead of seeing the same vision over and over and working on it’s clarity, they’d start scrying the steps that lead up to the problem. That way, they could start forging the future so that these sorts of things didn’t come to pass. Apparently, it would be quite delicate work, but Twilight looked forward to it. Just like she looked forward to every lesson of theirs.

Today, she wore her ‘sexy librarian’ outfit - Trixie’s name it, not hers - and Luna herself wore nothing more than a simple blue gown trimmed with silver. Much more calm than her normal attire, but today had been a calm day. No court, no duties, mostly just relaxation and some time with Twilight. At least, that’s what Luna had told her. Twilight wasn’t entirely sure if she believed her. When did Luna ever actually rest? Hardly ever.

Still, as the lesson came to an end and Twilight started to pack up her notes, she found a question on the tip of her tongue. “I’ve been thinking, Luna,” she started, carefully.

“Oh, well that’s quite dangerous, isn’t it?” Luna drawled out, teasingly, playfully, yet still regal all the same. What a trick.

“Only for you,” Twilight shot back, only blushing the smallest of pink. She’d started to get used to their relationship - Luna no longer stood as this godlike figure in front of her. She still was, in every aspect, godlike, but she had become far more approachable. At the end of the day, she at least acted like a regular pony for the most part, and that meant Twilight could tease right back.

“But,” Twilight went on, actually starting her thought as the last of her notes joined the rest in her bag. “Could I possibly start seeing more of the governmental side? Maybe some events? A few meetings with your council? I know it’s sort of inappropriate for a commoner, but I don’t really think I’m just a commoner anymore,” she went on, rather matter of factly. “And I think it’d be good for my education to learn the ins and outs of the legal system and how all that works!”

The question gave Luna pause, the alicorn looking down at her student with an imperceptible expression. Perhaps another could have deciphered it, but not Twilight. “What do you think you’ll gain out of long, droll meetings?” Luna asked, magic starting to levitate bits and pieces from their lesson away.

Of course, Twilight already had an answer to this since she’d basically planned the entire conversation the day before. “Archmage is a hybrid position. It does a lot of research. A lot of magic, a lot of helping people and fighting battles. But it’s also a court position, one that’s made to advise on magic and act as a pseudo noble when it comes to decisions that need to be made. I need to be prepared for that as well when I become archmage,” she finished, with a nod of her head.

The words alone earned a laugh from Luna, and a curious glance back towards Twilight. “You’re so sure of yourself, are you not?” Luna asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, being the Princess’s student is the path for Archmage,” Twilight pressed, taking steps closer to get beside her tutor, trying to meet her eyes with her own eager ones - as well as a smile that stretched across her lips. “And I’m sure that you’d hardly want your archmage to be unprepared, right?” she asked. Some of the tension had melted away from her time spent with the Princess. One never quite found themselves comfortable with regality, but every little bit of time helped and Twilight had started to get there.

But no amount of getting used to things could stand the sudden turn from Luna, and the sudden close inspection. The princess moved her face mere inches away from Twilight’s, blowing air from her nostrils as she looked her over. Naturally, Twilight wilted backwards, something that earned a fanged smile from Luna - how odd that she always had fangs considering they were herbivores, but it definitely added to her character. “An archmage wouldn’t have flinched for that, my little star,” Luna reminded her, with the lightest of chuckles. “You have a long way to go, but the ambition is…” A thought while she pushed it around in her head. “Good. It’s good of you. And I would be remiss if I left my future archmage unprepared, yes?” Luna finished, with yet another of her chuckles.

Twilight took the time to recover, unflustering her flustered self and swishing her tail lightly behind her. She didn’t move quite so close this time, if only so that she’d have some time to prepare if the Princess suddenly turned on her once more. “You would,” she agreed, though with a slightly pink face this time. “So does that mean that I can come to one of your court sessions? Maybe a council meeting?” Twilight asked with enough hope that her eyes had even started to sparkle.

Luna drifted her way towards the door - time for the night to progress on. “Very well. My next appearance is something quite simple and at a friend of yours place. The Lulamoon household is hosting a small get together this Saturday. Small, simple, a few friends, but there will be a few ponies there that are quite important. A good first step where you have a bit of comfort already. How does that sound?”

Well, it did sound quite nice. “That would be lovely, Luna, thank you. Are you sure that Trixie’s going to be okay with her schoolmate crashing the party?” she asked, with a small snicker.

One that Luna returned. “From what I’ve been told by her father, the young Lulamoon is quite fond of you. Speaking of, why don’t you run along and let her know the good news then? It’s high pastime that our lesson ended, and no matter how much I enjoy your presence, the both of us have duties and things to do,” Luna reminded her, with a nod towards the door.

That, of course, begged the question about whether or not Trixie would even be awake that night, but the dismissal seemed clear enough regardless. “Of course, Luna. I’ll be seeing you in a few days then?” she asked. Another nod and a warm smile. With that, Twilight took her leave, stepping back to her dorm in the silence of the night. Step by step, she made progress every day.


It turned out that Trixie wasn’t awake when she returned, but they found each other the next day, after morning classes. Trixie had suggested they go into town for lunch, just a quick trip to a local corner store that everypony at the school knew. It did, however, mean that they could talk while they walked down the small lanes.

“So anyways, I said, oatmeal, are you crazy!?” Trixie asked. Twilight burst out laughing, giggles going through her while her tail wagged back and forth. Even Trixie chittered at her own joke, smiling as if proud of herself.

It took her a second to calm down, but calm she did as she nudged her friend. “Your dad is totally weird,” Twilight teased back. “Oh! Speaking of your dad,” she started, carefully. “You know how you’re always trying to get me to come to your house on midnight capers or what have you? Well, how would you like it if I did come? Like, this Saturday for instance.” Twilight supposed, looking ahead and down the road rather than at her friend. For some curious reason, this made her feel rather nervous. She had, after all, been invited to Trixie’s house through somepony else entirely unrelated to the family. Where she lived, that might have been rude.

But apparently not here. “Twily!” Trixie squeaked out, so high that her voice actually cracked. “It is about time! Wait- Saturday? You mean the day of the part- TWILY!” Trixie squeaked out all the louder, stomping her hoof against the ground and staring over at Twilight with a long, accusing look.

“You’re only coming over for that absolutely dreadful party, aren’t you? Did the Princess put you up to this!? Ugh! If you go, I’m gonna have to go,” she drawled out, with a harumph that ended her words with a snort out her nose. “Do you even have anything to wear? Because I refuse to let you go as the ‘sexy librarian’!”

Twilight blushed, if only because she’d absolutely worn that for Luna - and the Princess hadn’t even said anything about it. “Well, I have a meeting with somepony called Rarity-”

“THE Rarity!?” Trixie interrupted again. Twilight suddenly found her face gripped between two hooves, held dangerously close to Trixie’s as she stared her in the eyes. “How. Did. You. Do. That?! She’s booked out seven months in advance! Trust me, I’ve tried to get an appointment with her for ages!”

That, Twilight hadn’t realized. With her ears going back, Twilight shrinked away from Trixie with a blush on her face. “Um, Cadence got me an appointment for Monday? Which I guess is too late for the party, so maybe I can-”


Another interruption, Goddesses dammit. “You talked to Mi Amore Cadenza?! Twily!” Trixie practically stalked her this time, so much so that she found herself pressed against a wall as Trixie’s snout pressed against hers. “You must tell me everything! How did this happen!? She’s the most popular mare in the entirety of the city! Besides the Princess, of course,” she added, finally pulling back and glancing up to the castle. Her hooves came out, pressing against the wall on either side of Twilight and pinning her there. “Tell me, tell me, tell meeee!” she whined out, even closing her eyes to punctuate her words.

Twilight rolled her eyes. Trixie could absolutely be the most dramatic mare that Twilight ever met, and every time she saw this sort of display, that simple fact got pounded into her head. “It’s not that big of a deal!” Twilight protested, with a face that had rapidly started to turn red. “Cadence and I met at a restaurant that I just happened to see her at. She saw me and thought I was interesting so we talked and had dinner together. She’s really an interesting pony though, even if she and Luna don’t get along!” Twilight prattled on, answering the question as best she could. “She’s really pretty too! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mare so pretty - except the Princess,” Twilight added. Luna was transcendent, not pretty.

Trixie lowered her hooves, but she still kept a close, tight eye on Twilight, as if judging the story for falsehoods or not. “Just at a random restaurant?” she asked, with disbelief etched across her face like a mask. “Do you really expect me to believe that?” A huff, forelegs coming back to cross against her chest instead.

“Yes!” Twilight answered back in a squeak. “Because it’s the truth! I mean, it was one of those really high class ones. I was uh, using some of the money that Luna lets me have to try out something like that since I’d never been! And there she was, in a toga style dress and just… radiating elegance.” Twilight sighed, a dreamy look in her eyes, if only for a second. Luna was the most wondrous mare that she’d met, but she’d be remiss if she didn’t put Cadence up there too. And really, Twilight was a young mare with needs, could anypony blame her for thinking about them sometimes?

Trixie apparently didn’t blame her at all, because she nodded along with the explanation. “Hmph. Well, you should consider yourself very lucky! She’s usually very busy, and for her to take an interest in you-” Trixie didn’t make it offensive, “-no matter how wonderful you are as a friend, is strange. Then again, you are close with the Princess,” she mused, as the two started to walk once more.

A nod from Twilight confirmed that. “That’s kind of what she said in a roundabout way, that I was interesting because of how I’d come from nothing and suddenly found myself as the Princess’s student. I thought she was just as interesting considering that she was an alicorn and all, and somepony born from outside Equestria.”

Their walk down the street took them closer to the corner store, where a small line of students was already reaching out the front of it. Quite popular at this time of day, lunch break meant that you could either spend time in the cafeterias - which admittedly had great food - or go get something a little different. The cafeterias did fall into something of a routine, and while they changed it up every now and then, going somewhere outside changed it up all the more. “But really, it’s not a big deal. I think I just lucked out with my connection to Luna and all that. I mean, can you imagine either Cadence or this uh, Rarity person talking to me normally?” she asked, with a roll of her eyes.

Of course, Trixie held no punches. “Absolutely not!” she scoffed as the two settled into line. “Twily, you know that I love you so very much, but you are absolutely unimportant… save for Luna. I mean no offense by that and-” Twilight knew that she didn’t, yet she sent a withering glance Trixie’s way to punish her regardless. In response, Trixie had the wherewithal and the good nature to actually shrink away, coughing to get back on track. “I mean, you’re amazing and powerful, and studious, but not a noble!” she finished, with that squeak to her voice.

That felt more acceptable and Twilight would let her live. For now. Joking, of course. “You’re right,” she admitted, glancing down at her hooves. “It is kind of strange, I’ll admit. But Luna has to have a good reason for picking me beyond the whole display in front of the guards, so I’m going to trust her the best that I can,” Twilight finished with a nod of her head.

“So loyal,” Trixie droned, half in sarcasm, half teasing. “I think she could kill somepony in front of you and you’d still be all about her.”

A twist of her muzzle and another roll of her eyes dismissed that thought. “A false equivalency. If she killed somepony, there would be a damned good reason for it, don’t you think so?” she asked, with an arched up eyebrow. “But I’m really digressing here. You’re okay with me coming this Saturday, right? I mean, it’s really important for me to be there. And can I maybe borrow a dress for it? Just for a few days! I’m sure you’d have something that would make me look better than ‘sexy librarian’, right?” Yep, that had started to become a thing, and that worried Twilight because Trixie only needed to say it at the wrong time once and then they were in trouble.

A roll of her eyes and a nod of her head. “Sure, Twily. We’ll get you set up. For now,” she finished, quite convincingly. “Now come on, the line’s gonna fill up if we don’t hurry!” Trixie commanded.


The day of the party came and Twilight had done her absolute best. She’d borrowed a dress from Trixie, a blue bodice with glimmering sequin like things and a skirt that went over her back half like a wave, colored deep blue with a light blue sash tying the two parts together. She’d even done her mane up, tied it up into a bun with two little curls coming down on either side of her face to frame it nicely. An attempt at makeup had been made, but then removed once she realized that she had absolutely zero idea how to do it without looking like a clown.

Regardless, now she played the waiting game, nervously fidgeting with her dress. This had to be, by far, the most expensive thing that she’d ever worn. Her traveling clothes were sturdy and good quality, but they weren’t well put together in the same way, they weren’t a veritable work of art in their own way. She hadn’t asked the price tag of it, and Trixie hadn’t told her - it probably helped the both of them that way.

Eventually, a knock on her door caught her attention, focusing back on something other than her own worry. Trixie let herself in after a moment, her own dress rather pretty as well. The back of her dress was a white and gold trim, layered in a way with the top of it being a deep blue, dotted with stars. Two golden and blue sashes tied it around the front of her, giving it a half toga look as well, similar to what Cadence wore before. It seemed to be the style, at least as far as Twilight could tell. “Finally!” Trixie whined out, reaching out to try and start pulling Twilight along with her. “Come on, we’re already late!”

Twilight resisted the pull, but only for a second before going with it. She rolled her eyes, and looked over at the other mare. “You know, I’ve been waiting on you for like an hour! I don’t wanna hear any of this ‘finally’ stuff!” she protested. Still, she let herself get dragged through the halls of the school and out onto the street, heading up the hill towards where the nobles lived. “So how far is your house anyways?” Twilight asked, nervously smoothing her skirts with magic.

Trixie’s horseshoes clopped against the ground, something Twilight realized that she hadn’t worn. Should she have? She glanced down, peeking at the crystalline things - they did look quite nice. But hey, if she didn’t have any, she didn’t have any, plain and simple. Another thing to add to the list. Jewelry had found its way on there too, especially seeing Trixie’s pierced ears, but that would be a longer term thing. Stupid money.

“Not far,” Trixie assured her, with a flick of a hoof. “Just up the road.” Granted, up the road could describe roughly half the city from the school. It held a rather unique position between the commoner districts and the more noble ones, a reminder that anypony could attend. Or should be able to, even if that hadn’t been the truth lately.

As they walked, Twilight watched the houses progressively become nicer. What started as small town homes that fit roughly together became homes of roughly the same size but with lawns and gardens, then bigger homes, then even bigger. The transformation of wealth fascinated Twilight as she watched it happen before her eyes, the different priorities of each house ever so interesting.

It showed what ponies valued, really. This house had a particularly large space around it, meaning they’d spent more on land than their actual house and thus, likely valued privacy quite a bit. Another had developed gardens, greenery and plants everywhere, likely a pony that wanted to get outside. Still another she passed had white marble statues gleaming in the moon’s silver light, works of art each and every one of them. Granted, as they walked further and further, it seemed like ponies needed to compromise less and less to get exactly what they wanted, as more and more spaces seemed fully filled out.

Twilight briefly wondered what Trixie’s home would say about her family.

“Not far,” Twilight repeated, squinting up towards her comrade. “This seems like it’s a bit far,” she protested. Now, the houses were mansions, each and every one of them, practically a block of city to themselves. The usual square like structure of the streets deviated to something more twisting and organic instead of planned, this area either having come first or been shaped by the owners rather than city planners. Twilight didn’t know which.

Good thing Twilight’s conditioning had developed so far. Trixie rolled her eyes and gestured ahead, towards something at the end of the block. The road ended there, in a pseudo cul-de-sac, though only one house occupied the tail end of it. A great thing, stretching out from side to side, with at least three stories - as Twilight could see three lines of windows staring back at them. Made of a red brick,and topped with a sloping roof of blue, the house stood out like a veritable palace. The windows were white and and shuttered in the same blue of the roof, and a full on garden led up to the place.

The entryway had a single path leading to double wooden doors, though it was half obscured by a great fountain of a stallion unicorn, standing on two legs with water erupting from it’s horn into a wide basin around it. On either side of the path, flowers and plants blossomed, some magically enhanced as they glimmered and shone in the light of the moon.

Coronets decorated the roof, lovely little spires that stretched out into the night sky. They weren’t the only ponies arriving now, a few fancily dressed sorts going up the path as well, towards the great house in front of her.

For a second, Twilight stopped moving. She knew that Trixie’s parents were nobles, but she didn’t expect them to be that wealthy. Ever so slowly, day by day, Twilight realized exactly how out of depth she’d found herself. A simple village girl, taken in by a princess, friend to nobles, doing things that somepony like her should never do.

It suddenly made her feel quite out of place.

No. She banished that thought. She deserved these things. She had worked hard, she had talent, she’d devoted her life to her craft and it had paid off. Not just a simple village pony, but a soon to be archmage. Right?

“Why are you just standing there, Twily?” Trixie asked, her voice cracking at the start of Twilight’s little nickname. A glimmering blue field surrounded Twilight, pulling her forward with a huff from Trixie. “Come on, you have to meet my dad! You’re really going to like him!” Trixie asserted.

Just like that, the two started to move once more. “Sorry, sorry,” Twilight apologized, though she really didn’t feel like she should’ve. “I didn’t expect this. I expected you to have a nice house and everything, but this?” she asked, nodding towards the doors that they rapidly approached.

Trixie rolled her eyes in the most exaggerated of ways. “It’s unimportant, because it’s grandeur is nothing compared to the Most Great and Powerful Trixie, and you are able to stand in my presence without bowing in awe. So this should be easy,” Trixie finished, with a harumph and an upturn of her head.

A smile broke out across Twilight’s face as she chuckled, the sense of worry starting to melt away. If anypony could get her acquainted with a place like this, it had to be her best friend, didn’t it? Not to mention that her best friend had grown up here. The air around them started to fill with conversation as ponies clustered around the entrance, talking and chatting about who knew what. Twilight didn’t try to listen in - she couldn’t have, not when she needed to concentrate to hear Trixie.

“So, this is the foyer,” Trixie started, showing off an entryway the size of the common room back at the school. Hardwood and colorful walls decorated it, sitting furniture here or there with lavish decoration, including what Twilight figured was a portrait of a distant Lulamoon ancestor considering the similarities - a dark blue stallion with Trixie’s lighter mane, and a rogue-ish smile on their face.

“I can see that,” Twilight answered, though distantly as she looked around the room with quite a bit of interest. “It’s nice.” The small rug underneath her hooves certainly felt quite nice as well, comfortable enough for her to shift back and forth on.

Trixie shrugged, grabbing her friend with magic once more and pulling her deeper into the house. Of course, the connecting rooms looked much the same, or at least had the same style. The hallways were different of course, but styled the same, though with long rugs running the length to make walking along them quite nice. “It’s okay. That’s not where the party is though, and not where I want to show you either. You need to see my room,” Trixie asserted.

Why not? She’d come this far, she could totally see her friend's room. Twilight did her best to smile every so often at whoever they passed, trying to be social enough even as Trixie pulled her along. “Wow, there’s a lot of ponies here. Are your parties always this big?” Twilight asked, looking along. She even spotted a few of the royal guards, in their full regalia and everything. She didn’t know they did private security! Or perhaps they were here because Luna intended to be here.

They took a right, leading into a hallway that emptied out quite quickly. A couple spoke near the entrance of it, but other than that, it seemed utterly empty, a quieter part of the house. “Father loves his little… shindigs,” Trixie settled on the word with something of a drawl. “So yes, they’re nearly always this boisterous. Admittedly, I wasn’t a huge fan of them growing up but now they’re simply a place for me to hone my magic show!” she finished, gleefully. Yet, her smile dropped quite quickly and she scoffed. “When father lets me. Time and place he says, time and place.” A sigh punctuated Trixie’s words and Twilight read just a bit of frustration.

Still, she couldn’t feel that bad for her. Not when she lived here of all places! Twilight would have killed for a place like this growing up, especially since she had always wanted a place to practice her own magic as well. “You can show me sometime if you want,” Twilight allowed, looking to lightly nudge her friend in the side. “Your tricks are pretty awesome and I bet in a show they’re even more impressive,” Twilight figured as they plodded down the halls.

“Of course they’re impressive,” Trixie answered back, quite haughtily. She stuck her nose in the air, though Twilight could see the ghost of a teasing smile on her face. “They’re by the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Right as she said her words, she stopped near a door, one that stood out from the regular wooden doors that she’d seen before. Granted, there were only a few out this way, which Twilight figured meant that they were in Trixie and her father’s personal wing.

The door that Twilight found herself in front of had sequins on it. Not only that, but big, accentuated wings made of some sort of shiny cloth material arched out on each side, enveloped a few feet of the wall on either side of them. A purple plaque presented itself in front of Twilight, inscribed with Trixie’s full name in golden lettering as well. The rest of the door kept on with the splendor, with golden and purple sequins dominating most of it. Oddly, there didn’t appear to be a door knob so Twilight didn’t exactly know how to get itn.

Trixie stayed by the door, perching beside it and looking over at Twilight with quite the enthusiastic look. “Are you ready to feast your eyes on my room? Are you ready to enter my safe haven, the most precious place in the entire world? What you see here must not be shared anywhere,” she warned, her eyes flashing with magic as she spoke. Of course, Twilight couldn’t help but smile a goofy smile the entire time. Trixie looked so serious, but honestly? This all just felt like a fun time for her. She nodded her head along with each question, giving her consent.

Twilight’s amused smile didn’t leave even as she started to talk. “I’m absolutely ready, and I will take your secret to my grave,” she swore, even bringing up her hoof to swear over her chest. “You’re my best friend, right?” A wink punctuated her words and something about that sent a tingle through Twilight’s chest.

She hadn’t had a best friend before.

That thought would have to wait as Trixie’s magic flung open the door, revealing the room before her. The first thing that Twilight noticed was the color purple. That also happened to be the second, the third, and the fourth things as well. Like, so much purple.

Of course, it looked nice as well, but everything seemed to be in some shade of that cool color, either purple itself, or close to it with blues and the like. The only colors that seemed not to be in that spectrum were gold accents and white parts on the bed and furniture. Everything else? Purple as could be.

“Wow,” Twilight finally managed to get out, hardly wanting to leave Trixie hanging. Not that the other pony would let her mind, magic gripping Twilight once more to bring her forward into the room. Behind her, the door slammed shut, sequestering her away from the world outside and leaving them within Trixie’s miniature palace.

Trixie’s foreleg reached around Twilight, holding her close, her other one gesturing out to the world, showing it off. “Welcome to paradise, welcome to the most wondrous place in the world, welcome to my humble abode!” Trixie finished.

Naturally, with Trixie being a showmare and all, she couldn’t deal with Twilight just looking around. No, she had to ignite her horn and let out a wave of magic, one that sent glittering sparkles throughout the air, the things suspending in the air around her and giving a certain air of magic and mystery to the space.

Now that Twilight had a chance to actually see things closer too, she could really appreciate it. Trixie’s room had a certain elegance to it that she hadn’t seen often, likely because she hadn’t lived with this kind of opulence before. The bed drew her eye the most, something that she could imagine herself laying on for days and days of reading. A white skirt with lace trimmed the bottom of it, with the top bit embroidered with shimmering gold strands. It transitioned into a lovely lilac bedspread, with wispy, ethereal white and purple curtains hanging around the thing. The pillows alternated between white, gold and the purple of the spread, blending the colors together perfectly.

For the most part, Twilight could recognize most of the furniture in her room, she just didn’t understand why ponies could need so much of it. Two night stands of blues on either side of the bed, two dressers, a couple chests, rugs layering over each other on the floor in thick coats of purple, blue and white - with the tiniest touch of gold in there too. Even multiple bookshelves pressed against the walls, six or seven all in a line. A golden chandelier made of colored glass hung above them, providing sparkling light beneath that flashed different colors depending on the angles, giving the room an ethereal feel to it.

In the dead center of the room sat the center piece as well, a great stage of wood, the base painted a white with golden filigree and the backing to it the splashes of blue and purple that Twilight started to associate so strongly with Trixie. Different sorts of props and magical materials scattered across it, some that Twilight actually knew to be magical and some that seemed more trickster in appearance - like a loaded deck, for example. The top of the stage even had a few pinwheels spinning in a wind that didn’t exist, likely enchanted special for the purpose.

All in all, Twilight couldn’t have expected this. Her mind, her expectations and knowledge of how the world worked still needed to adapt to high, fancy living. After spending so long in a village, small and out of the way, she expected everypony to live like her. So far? She’d been nothing but wrong.

Trixie suddenly appeared in front of Twilight’s face in a flash of purple smoke. “So!?” she asked, pressing close enough that their muzzles nearly touched. “What do you think? Isn’t it just as I told you, the most wonderful, amazing place to live in the entire world?” Trixie asked. Apparently, Trixie decided that today should be the day that she got touchy-feely with Twilight, because once more, she’d find herself gripped tight by the sorceress.

Twilight smiled, a wide, toothy smile as she looked to extricate herself from such closeness. “Yes,” she answered, fully and openly honest. “It really is amazing.” How could she not think so? Once she found herself free once more, Twilight started to take her first real steps through the room, gradually approaching the stage.

Quietly, Twilight reached out a hoof to touch against the thing, letting it glide over the smooth wood. “This is all really impressive Trixie. I’m so glad you were able to have something like this in your childhood.” Twilight should be a better pony. She should be selfless. She should be kind. She should be happy that other people were able to live in such comfort.

Yet… all she could feel was some sort of bitter pain and regret. Why could so many ponies live like this while her own kind struggled to put food on the table? How did they have such opulence when Twilight’s family had nothing? All of Twilight’s relatives had nothing, everypony in her village had next to nothing. And here these nobles sat living on wealth that would last lifetime after life time. It could have been used for something other than this. Yes, some part of her did love that Trixie managed to grow up and not suffer, but everypony should have had that same privilege.

And Twilight hadn’t. That’s what hurt.

Still, Twilight kept that mask on her face, a smile even as internally she fought against her own emotions. Luckily, neither of them actually had to say anything about that simple fact, because someone knocked on the door. That somepony didn’t even wait for an answer before opening the door, letting it magically fling open to let themselves in.

Twilight really couldn’t have guessed who it’d be either. Who else but Luna? Well, to be fair, Twilight had expected literally anypony but Luna, but alas, it was her. The Lunar Matriarch wore a lovely white gown trimmed with gold, with a doubled up skirt to give it an airy look with each movement. The brocade had gems flashing across it in light blues, the same kind of sky appearance that Luna always sported.

“I wondered where my student hid from me,” Luna intoned, though her words were clearly teasing judging by the smile on her face.

Trixie, however, had other thoughts. The sorceress stomped her way forward and placed herself in between Twilight and Luna. “You are intruding on my room! This is my safe haven, this is my home, this is my stage and you shouldn’t-”

Luna held a hoof up, and Trixie knew enough to stop talking at that sign. But Luna didn’t seem mad or angry, she seemed amused beyond all else. “I know, and I am deeply sorry, my little pony. It is your haven, and I only intruded because I too wanted to get away from the crowds, and I wanted to ensure that my student had arrived safely at her first real party. I also wanted to remind her that she should spend some time around the nobles since it was her goal, as lovely as your room is.” Luna finished her words with a gesture to the room around them, as if showing off it’s grandeur with each move.

A bit of guilt wormed its way into Twilight. But, before she could speak, the lights in the room disappeared, and new lights turned on, focused on the stage. Trixie appeared rearing back on her hind legs and dressed now in a purple cape and wizard’s hat decorated with stars. “You may take her, but first you must watch the show of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” she announced, sparkles and glitter erupting into the air and falling all around them.

Twilight glanced over towards Luna and Luna looked back. Were they doing this?

Oh.

They were doing this.

Author's Note:

This and the next chapter were supposed to be 1 chapter but I'm afraid that I have zero self control.