> I Can't Stop!
>  by MerlosTheMad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> You Can't Have Just One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Chapter 1



Twilight hummed in delight as she kicked the door shut behind her and danced across the polished-smooth floor of the Ponyville library. Her magic gently lowered the multiple parcels she had carried home from the post office onto the floor beside a wide table with other recent releases.

Still humming, she carefully removed the brown paper covering the first package. Inside was a string-bound stack of fresh, first edition books that were to be added to the library's collection. Yes, it was that oh-so-delightful day of the year when updates to encyclopedias, dictionaries, and history books alike were sent out and she got to read them all again.

"Ah, I love the smell of fresh parchment in the morning." Twilight inhaled deep, reveling in the yet unread knowledge that sat all around. A giggle of anticipation leaked out of her as she ran a hoof over one beautifully bound cover.

Her magic swirled from pile to pile, meticulously working until every stack was unwrapped, untied, and organized in neat rows, ready to be reorganized a second time into their appropriate places on the bookshelves.

“All right, my pretties! Let’s do this.” Twilight cleared her throat and set to work. 

A quill floated up beside her and began to check off the boxes of her checklist, while the books themselves floated one at a time to their new homes. At the same time, she debated whether or not to begin an impromptu re-shelving day in honor of the large influx of new arrivals.

As the parade of books danced their way to the shelves, a particularly captivating title floated past Twilight, and she stopped to give it a closer look.

"Oh, 'Enchantments and Advanced Magical Tampering for the Curious' by Professor Murphy!" she read aloud. "I've been waiting months for this to get here!" She let out a girlish squeal of delight, dancing briefly in victory. "Finally, I should be able to reference this and get started on my potion project again."

Twilight lovingly floated the book to the nearby desk, perfectly lining it up with the edge as it was set down. While she was at it, she straightened a piece of paper that was slightly off kilter with the chair's angle, too.

Twilight checked another of the books from the bundle, then floated it to a shelf before grabbing a second. All the while, she noted with glee what order she might like to read each one later on. "Tonight, I think I'll just curl up with some tea and maybe convince Spike to cook one of his mouth watering soufflés. When he gets back of course—"

Without warning, the door to the Ponyville library burst open and banged against the wall with a crash. A painting on the small table there fell, shattering and adding to the chaos.

Twilight gasped, and several books clunked to the floor as her magic released them.

"Twilight Sparkle," an angry, familiar sounding voice hissed out. "It is I, The Great and Powerful Trixie! And it's high time you paid for your crimes!"

"What the—" Without looking, Twilight quickly realized precisely who was trying to stand menacingly in her doorway. Her shock quickly melted into calm exasperation, and she began picking her books up again. 
    
"Trixie?" Twilight sighed quietly. "What are you doing?" If Twilight had met the mare ‘Trixie’ only once before, she couldn't have forgotten her even if she tried. Lately, Twilight was having the misfortune of seeing the uninvited guest far too often.

"As Trixie suspected.” Trixie stared down her muzzle at her quarry. “You thought you could hide from her here in your hovel? Well, she’s outsmarted you, and through cleverness alone has gained entrance! Now, you'll pay in full, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight stared back glumly, catching on that Trixie hadn't exactly listened. She tried again. "It's a public library, Trixie. Of course you got in. Now what are you doing? And haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
    
Trixie's scowl deepened, her grand entrance not having the effect she had wanted on her most hated nemesis. She recovered and stepped in, walking slowly as if she owned the place. "Ah, Trixie is glad you asked, Sparkle. Not about knocking, mind; Trixie does not need to knock! But as for why she is here… you see, after the embarrassment which your stupid town—"
    
Twilight groaned out loud, wiping a hoof down her face. 

She tuned out the speech, which was the same one Trixie always rambled off when she "returned" for revenge. This intrusion was the fourth time for the month, the last one having been in the middle of her friends' monthly tabletop session the night before.
    
On top of that, it was only the fifth day of the month.
    
The door didn't seem to be destroyed, at least, but the glass on the floor would need cleaning and replacing.
    
"—and ever since that day, Trixie hasn't been able to so much as sleep at night! But she’s trained, studied! All to pay you back! And is finally ready to make good on that promise." Trixie gestured to the heavens with an outstretched hoof. "So, Trixie is here now to—"
    
Twilight looked up, not sensing any sign that Trixie was slowing down soon. "That's nice, Trixie, but look, I'm very busy right now, and I don't have time to mess around. I hope you got that job that Mayor Mare said you needed to get and have some spare bits. It's illegal to be a squatter in Ponyville, you know. So can you pay for this?" She gestured to the broken glass with a hoof.
    
Trixie raised an eyebrow at the mess she'd made, then snorted derisively. "Such a lowly matter is beneath the Great and Powerful Trixie, Sparkle." She grinned wickedly, though it lessened into a proud smirk as she swept off her tall hat onto a nearby bench. "At least, it will be, now that Trixie is about to exact her full revenge on you!"
    
Twilight's expression became more worn out and annoyed by the second as she began cleaning the mess up with her magic. "Oh, is that so?" she asked distractedly. "Okay, Trixie. What genius scheme have you cooked up this time?"
    
"They are not schemes!" Trixie shot back. "They are carefully laid out plans, all of them hoof-crafted by yours truly to bring about your utter and complete humiliation! Just as you had done to me, Sparkle..." She drew out the name slowly, glowering her challenge.

"Ah huh." Twilight unceremoniously dumped the glass into the nearby waste bin. I wonder if I could talk Spike into making a pie for dessert, too. She trotted slowly over to the door, where she planned to wait patiently until she could coax Trixie into leaving. Typically, the crazy mare would just stay until she was bribed off with lunch, and would often claim that had been her plan all along.
    
"But now Trixie has you right where she wants you!" Trixie went on, puffing out her chest and sizing up her sworn enemy. "You have fallen into a trap, you see. This whole time Trixie has been studying you, watching you for weaknesses, and she’s discovered where to hit you hardest."
    
Twilight rolled her eyes, amazed that she had actually listened the whole way through. "If you're talking about you skulking in my bushes over the last week, I knew you were there. I just didn't have the heart to tell you to go away."
    
Trixie's eyes widened. "You mean you saw through the camouflage spell!?" She gave her nemesis a disbelieving look.
    
Twilight blinked. "Were the leaves in your hair supposed to be the disguise?"
    
Trixie spluttered briefly. "Of course not you fool! As if just leaves would be sufficient cover. Are you completely empty headed?"
    
Twilight suppressed another sigh and leaned against her door.
    
"You weren't supposed to be able to see me at all!" Trixie balked. After, she raised a hoof to her chin slowly. "Perhaps I... Perhaps Trixie didn't cast the spell quite right..."
    
"Nooo," Twilight intoned while absently looking around the room, or anywhere but Trixie. "There's no way that's what happened. After all, you're the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She sat on her haunches and waved her hooves around a little in the air. A tired breath escaped her, and she deadpanned at her home's intruder. Normally, she wouldn't be so mean, but revisiting the same situation, and the same scenario over and over was getting old.
    
Is Trixie crazy, or in denial? Gotta be one of the two— Twilight waited for the inevitable outburst of bravado from Trixie, but it didn't come. Trixie merely seemed to study her, not wearing any emotion or discernible mood on her muzzle. 

Too late, Twilight finally noticed the steadily brightening glow that was emanating from the other mare's horn.
    
Trixie slowly drew in a deep breath, her front hooves spreading out before her as she squared herself up. "Laugh while you can, Sparkle! But Trixie has been studying from the very books she borrows from your library! She’s researched dozens of spells, and they were hoof-picked to get her perfect revenge!"
    
"Those books are overdue, Trixie." Twilight held a foreleg over her eyes, impressed, but not yet blown away by the show of magic from the normally lackluster magician. For all she knew, Trixie was just casting a really strong light spell or something showy.
    
"Enough!" Trixie shut her eyes. "You'll soon be singing a different tune!" she cried out defiantly. "And it will be one to my liking!" Her face became strained as whatever spell she was conjuring built in intensity.
    
Twilight's eyes widened, impressed. "Oh, wow! Trixie that's really good. I haven't seen somepony channel that much energy since—" She wasn't able to finish her sentence, cutting off with a strangled gasp of surprise.

A blinding flash of bluish magical aura filled the room as a spell of unprecedented power from Trixie zapped Twilight right in the face.
    
    
 
 

    
    
Twilight slowly picked herself up off of the ground, a groan of pain escaping her as she did. "Ohhh, what happened?" She blinked around herself as the room came into focus from being a hazy blur.
    
A blue spot in that blur bobbed up and down, and said, "Did it work? How do you feel? Did I actually get it right!? Get up, Sparkle, I need to know!"
    
Twilight's eyes spun around in her head as the blur with Trixie's voice began shaking her roughly. 
    
"Fwha— Hey, stop it!" Twilight pushed back, regaining her balance just in time to catch herself on the way down. She narrated her assessment of things in hopes of better understanding what had happened. "Oh, wow, dizzy, vision is returning slowly, horn hurts..." After looking over herself, she concluded everything seemed normal. She blinked around at the blurry room, settling a narrowed glare at an impatient looking Trixie. 

"What in Celestia's name did you do?" She barely had time to finish her question before Trixie's lip, surprisingly, began quivering. Her scowl lessened slightly, at a loss.

"Nothing, apparently!" Trixie burst out, and devolved into a fit of crying.

“Uhm… Trixie?” Twilight rubbed a hoof behind her head, unsure of what to make of the sight. 

Trixie bit back a choked sob while glaring at the ground. "I tried so hard! Months of practice just for this moment!" She cast a foreleg over her eyes and whipped around to face away, hiding herself as she sobbed harder. “Thi-This is your fault! Your taunting pushed me over the edge and I wasn’t ready yet to exact my revenge!”

Twilight frowned, unsure if this were an act. Trixie had even dropped speaking in the third person. “Don't you do this almost every other week?" It was true, Trixie would show up during picnics, get-togethers, and even followed her to Canterlot once. The only thing new was Trixie's sudden crocodile tears. “You can still… try again next time?”

Twilight really didn’t want to encourage another return visit from Trixie, but the waterworks were getting to her.
    
"I j-j-just can't believe it didn't work!" Trixie went on, wailing and ignoring Twilight.
    
Mmhm, failure was definitely never a possibility for the Great and Powerful Trixie, Twilight thought, but managed to at least keep herself from saying it out loud this time. What she did say was something kinder, productive, and utilitarian, which was far more befitting of the Princess' prized student.
    
"Trixie, look, I'm still really sorry about what happened back then to you and your cart." Twilight paused momentarily to recall just how many times she'd repeated this to Trixie. The other mare’s stubbornness was certainly second to none. "You don't need to do this to yourself, or try to get petty revenge. We could be friends, or at least just get on with our own lives! You shouldn't be so concerned with others' opinions of you in the first place if it affects your happiness like this—"
    
Trixie interrupted, her back still to Twilight. “F-Fine! You want to know the truth? I’ve tried letting go, Sparkle, but I just can’t! I d-dwell on my failure and your success every time I see your stupid face in the papers.” She sniffled harder and looked over her shoulder. "What others think of me is what makes me happy. Dazzling them, impressing them, but how can I when I'm so far in the shadow of somepony else like you? While my pride is in such tatters because I’m so weak? I was living a lie before, and I can’t go on like that any longer!” 

Trixie gave a frustrated shake of her head as she confessed every embarrassing detail. “And I doubt you’d understand what that feels like at all, Sparkle. You who have success in everything you do, like some perfect little pony princess or something!"
    
Twilight stared blankly at the blubbering mare, before rolling her eyes and floating a tissue over to her. Trixie snatched it out of the air, then proceeded to blow into it hard enough to create a honk that would rival a dragon, or possibly Rarity on a bad day.

"I guess I wouldn’t know, Trixie," Twilight said slowly, and rested a hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "But maybe we could figure it out together, if you'd accept my help?"
   
Trixie wiped the tears in her eyes away fiercely to stare at the hoof on her shoulder. She then looked up and held Twilight's concerned, earnest stare. "Help? You always offer that… Why would accepting pity from you make me feel any better, huh?”

“Trixie.” Twilight smiled reassuringly. “You’ve already admitted to me what the problem is. The next step is to try and overcome it. Look, I’ll be honest, I don’t owe you anything, but I’m still willing to help try and make you feel better if you are.”

Trixie’s eyes shifted quickly between the floor and her old rival. “I won't be made a laughing stock?" she asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Of course not, Trixie. You just need to give a little to get a little. That's what friendship's all about!" She turned around swiftly, already hatching a plan. She had scheduled a day of respite and relaxation already, but if she could help Trixie out, finally, it would be worth it to give that up. "Here, I'll put on some breakfast, and then I'll show you this fascinating book that just came in the mail that's all about friendship and forgiveness!"

Trixie levitated another tissue her way, not really sure what to think, other than perhaps it was really time she tried something different. Maybe her rival wasn't so bad after all? 

Twilight sifted through one of her piles of newly received books, quickly finding the one she wanted. "It covers being happy with who you are in order to enjoy the company of those around you, and more! Oh, and before I forget again, your wagon is fixed and is parked by the Ponyville... your wagon... your... uhm." She stared at the hardback, and suddenly her stomach gave a rumble.
    
Before Twilight knew it, she had a portion of the book stuffed in her mouth, and as if compelled, bit a sizable chunk out of it. She had a moment to register that the book tasted a great deal like... the best chocolate she had ever eaten. After that brief horrifying thought, she swallowed, and the pages were gone.
    
From across the room, Trixie gasped, then let out a cheer in victory. "It worked! It worked after all! Hahaha!" She let out a manic, if girly cackle before proceeding. "Yes! Now, Sparkle, now you'll feel every ounce of the shame that Trixie has ever felt because of you!" 
    
"What!?" As Twilight voiced her complaint, she again stuffed the book in her mouth. She tried to fight it, but couldn't. "Why can't I stop!?" she yelled, but with her mouth full it sounded more like, "'y ka'c't aye ‘top!?"
    
Soon, bits of paper and bookbinding littered the floor, with Twilight sitting astride the carnage and gasping for breath. "Ah!" she squawked, and desperately tried to save what was left of her book on friendship, but it was too late. "Why did I— Why did I do that?" She stared along with Trixie at the remains of book on the floor. "What, did you do?"
    
"Why, Trixie has finally gotten even with you, Sparkle," Trixie answered simply, her smug sneer growing with every passing second. "That's what she did. And she’s going to enjoy every single second of it."
    
Twilight only just managed to keep from screaming. Only just.
    
    
   
 

    
    
    
Next time on My Little Pony!





    
Twilight blinked, then looked down in horror. "Nonono!" she screamed, her mouth suddenly half full of the delicious parchment that held her salvation. "I just had these ordered!" She rounded on Trixie. "How could you!? Y-You monster!" She formed a plan, furious that after everything Trixie would still gloat.
    
"Hah!" Trixie harrumphed smartly, her smirk growing by the second. "Now, Trixie is actually feeling a little generous, perhaps if you beg for help, Sparkle, she may just decide to try and— W-Wait a second, what are you doing? Stop that at once!"
    
	
	
	
	
	
	
> The Battle Be Joined
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2



“Trixie has won, Sparkle. Admit her your superior!”

Twilight glared across the room at the other unicorn, eyes wide and full of malice. She noted that with the other mare’s sudden ‘victory’, she had also started using third person again. "Trixie, look, I'll forgive you for this because we were just making progress... finally, but you have to undo this enchantment right now." All the while that Twilight issued the order, she felt her eyes straining to slide over to the rest of her precious books.

Trixie turned her nose up, grinning, and answered with simply, "No."

Twilight bared her teeth in a strained smile. "What do you mean, 'no'?" After a split-second she added, "You don't know how, do you?" Without noticing, a book lifted itself up in her magical grasp, and floated towards her.

Trixie shot a glare at Twilight. "Why you— Well, now Trixie is not even going to try! So there! Besides, it looks like you're quite enjoying yourself, anyway."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What 're 'hyu talkin' abo—" She realized after a moment that she was speaking around a mouthful of pages and book cover, and gasped. She managed to spit out some of it in her panic, only to stop and swallow the rest. "Darnit, Trixie! Fix this!"

“Never!” Trixie sneered, then gave a boastful laugh.

Twilight let out a giant groan of frustration, while also trying to wrap her head around what had been done. "I can't believe that you'd actually want to hurt somepony else so badly that you’d go to the lengths of enchanting them!"  

Trixie snorted. “Well maybe now you will understand Trixie's position.”

In response, Twilight stamped a hoof and stormed over towards Trixie in an intimidating way. “This is a serious enchantment, Trixie! It’s a compulsion spell!”

Trixie nodded, her smug grin stretching from ear to ear. “Indeed it is. I— Er, I mean, Trixie had worked tirelessly to get the hang of magic like this, something that you with your pampering and royal instruction could hardly appreciate!”

Twilight’s jaw dropped at hearing all of this. A moment later she caught herself slowly putting yet another book near her face, and threw it away with a gasp. “That’s not fair at all! Trixie, would you please undo this?”

“Hmm, let Trixie think about it…” Trixie turned up her nose soundly. “Nope.”

A groan of frustration escaped Twilight. “Fine! Be like that, I don’t need your help anyway.”

Twilight dashed over to the library’s bookshelves, desperate to find a book on unraveling advanced enchantments on the equine psyche.

Her hoof carefully drew itself across the spines of the books as she scanned the names—each one looking more delicious than the last—until finally she found the volume she was after. She pulled it down and hurriedly scanned the index, right up until she noticed she was licking the page. 

“Ah!” Clutching the book fiercely against her barrel was the only thing she could do to stop. “Blech! Augh, why does it have to taste so good?” 

Twilight put on a desperate expression and looked away, unable to even read her own book. The sound of giggling and amusement from across the room got her to open her eyes again.

"This is simply priceless." Trixie let out a contented sigh as she wiped away a tear.

"Trixie!" Twilight stomped a hoof, her deep well of patience nearly dried up. “Listen to me, we will never be friends if you don’t try to help me and fix what you’ve done!”

"Bah, Trixie doesn't need your friendship, Sparkle.” Trixie let out a quick, villainous cackle. “She’s finally beaten you! Look at you, once so high and mighty and incapable of admitting your shortcomings, now brought low by a true magician!"

Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that.

“Now,” Trixie went on. “Trixie is just going to enjoy your suffering for a bit, then she’ll be on her way! Thanks may even be in order for you, Sparkle. Trixie definitely does feel better now.” She giggled again, then pointed a hoof at her opponent. “Oops, you may have needed that.”

Twilight blinked, then looked down in horror. "Nonono!" she screamed, her mouth suddenly half full of the delicious parchment that had held her salvation. "I just had these ordered!" She rounded on Trixie. "How could you!? Y-You monster!" She could feel tears in her eyes fighting to surface at the sight of a second book meeting a grizzly fate.

"Monster?" Trixie sneered toward Twilight. "You mean like yourself after you turned the entirety of Ponyville on one another with that horribly misguided love spell of yours? Or the time you almost allowed Ponyville to be devoured by parasprites through, you guessed it, recklessly enchanting them all!"

Twilight goggled in confusion at Trixie. She wondered for a split second how the other knew about that stuff, then recalled the frequency that Trixie skulked around Ponyville. "Hey, none of that was my fault! Well, mostly..."

"Hah!" Trixie harrumphed smartly, her smirk growing by the second. "Puh-lease, Sparkle, spare yourself this embarrassment. And besides, calling me names isn't the best idea if you hope to actually get any of Trixie's brilliant help!" She settled back, admiring one of her hooves idly. "Trixie is actually feeling a little generous, so perhaps if you beg for help, she may just decide to try and— W-Wait a second, what are you doing?"

Trixie looked up, having caught sight of her adversary making a move from the corner of her eye. She thought she could see smoke pouring from Twilight’s ears. Actually… there really was smoke coming from her ears. A purplish glow was also building in intensity around the other mare’s horn. But more worrying than both of those details combined was the furious look of anger directed towards her.

Trixie began to back up. "S-Stop that at once!"

"Stop? Oh no, it's too late for that! You wanted a rivalry? Well you got one!" Twilight could only see red as she formed a hasty plan, furious that after everything Trixie would still gloat and try to get petty revenge. Her rage was fueled on by the poor helpless book that lay ripped asunder in her hooves, every page devoured a footnote in the annals of history of an atrocity committed unfairly against an innocent.

"I hope you're ready, Trixie!" A spell of truly, truly malicious design coursed through Twilight's mind, forming the base for the magic that even now gathered in strength, ready to be shot from her horn at the would-be unicorn magic user that had foolishly chosen a fight she couldn't possibly win.

“I-I-I—” Trixie felt her backside hit the wall, unable to retreat any further. Her adversary, it seemed, was keen on striking back after all—a small oversight on her own part. Nevertheless, she had gotten her revenge, and it was time for a retreat.

"W-Well, Sparkle, I've put you in your place so... I'll be going now!" Trixie slipped a hoof into her cape and found a smoke pellet there, ready to make her cunning get away.

"Running away already Trixie?" Twilight opened her eyes and put on a proud grin, her spell nearly finished.

Trixie stopped fast, and anger bloomed anew within her. "What did you say!? Running? Trixie does not—!"

A bolt of purple magic zapped across the room, and caught Trixie straight in the mouth.

Twilight whooped in success. "Hah, gotcha! I can't believe you fell for that, Trixie." She watched as the other unicorn picked herself up from the ground, staggering a little. "You really need to get your pride in check." While she chuckled, her gaze locked back onto the leather bound volume in her grip. She fought desperately to stop herself from taking another bite of one of her books, but couldn't. Her teeth sunk back into the book and created another sizable hole in its pages.

Meanwhile, Trixie shook her head in order to regain her bearings. "What— What did you do to Tri-iiii—?" Her mouth drew itself down into a horrified look as she croaked on her own name. She tried again to speak.

"Sparkle..." she began. "What did you just do to Tri-iii..." What had been done dawned on her. "I can't— I can't say my name!” Her hooves pushed at her face, while across from her a grinning unicorn fought to stop chewing on a book.

Twilight began laughing between bites. "Exactly!" She had to laugh and speak between chewing, but it was worth it to see that horrible smug look wiped off Trixie’s face. “At least, not in that context. You won't be able to so much as speak in the third person, or mutter your name until I release you from my grammar spell!"

Trixie ground her teeth, face blustering with effort. “Trii-ix Tri-i-x! Darnit, Sparkle! Now who’s the villain? You just got done saying how wrong I was to use that compulsion enchantment on you!" She bit her lip, trying to keep her nerve, regain the upper hoof on her rival, and recall another of the spells she'd practiced to get even. "And... and what kind of a giant loser has a grammar spell anyway!?”

“Hey! This is different!” Twilight managed the willpower to spit out her current mouthful of pages and toss aside the book she held. It was ruined, anyway. “That spell is a grammar training tool for foals! Fitting, right? And Applejack that one time... But what you did is destroy precious literature and private property!”

"Oh... Trii-ii— Curses! I'll damage more than property this time, Sparkle!" Trixie panted, and once again drew on her magic for another spell. She hadn't been able to recall one of her own, but a bit of poetic justice seemed in order for her rival. "Take this!" she screamed.

Another beam of magic raced across the room, and even caught Twilight off guard with just how quickly it had been fired by Trixie.

Twilight winced and shook her head, having been struck dead on. "Ho taerg, won tahw did uoy... tahw!? Eixirt!? Uoy edam ti os D'i kaeps sdrawkcab!?"

"It... It worked?" Trixie had to shake her head too, a little dizzy from improvising a spell like that. "Wow, Tri-iii... Uggh, I guess I really have gotten better at spell-casting." She grinned up at her horn, more than a little proud of herself. "Hah, well, what do you think of that, Sparkle!?"

"I t'nac eveileb uoy dluow tsac a lleps os ylsselkcer!" Twilight groaned, hooves on either side of her head as she quickly recalled the counter-spell for grammar. A moment later and a quick summoning of power, and she felt her speech clear. "Phew. That was easy. Next time, Trixie, maybe don't try casting a type of enchantment that I already memorized the counter-spell for, you big copy-cat!"

"Copy-cat!? Oh, you little—" Trixie scowled. "Well, I won't make the same mistake twice, Spa—!"

"Too slow, Trixie!" Twilight beat the other unicorn to the punch, and released her rebuttal.

"Augh!" Trixie flinched away, covering her face with a foreleg. After peeking out, she couldn't yet tell what was amiss. "What did you— Where is my hat!? My cape?" She twirled in a tight circle, searching both her own figure and around the room for her precious performer's ensemble.

"Hah! Tit for tat, Trixie! You replace my books, and maybe I'll return your stuff to you." Twilight crossed her forehooves in front of herself soundly. "Now, are you ready to put an end to this stupid fight? It's getting us nowhere!"

In response, Trixie let out a growl, and warmed up her horn immediately. "Never!" she screamed, and released a quick spell to get the upper hoof.

The beam hit Twilight's tail, and immediately the thing sprung to life with movement.

"What the hay!? Ow, Owowow!" Twilight cried out as her tail yanked her in one direction across the floor, then the other, only to stop as it began tying itself into a complicated and messy knot. Once the spell ceased, she whirled to face her enemy, who already seemed to be preparing another spell. "Trixie! This is your last warning! Stop!"

"Not until you beg me for mercy! You hear me, Sparkle!?"

Twilight dodged the next ray, and returned fire with yet another of her own. "Darnit, Trixie! Fine, I'm begging you to stop!"

"You call that begging?" Trixie reeled back as the return fire slapped her across the cheek. "That wasn't very convincing begging! Now what did you do this— Ah! Ah! Make it stop! Spark— Pbht, Sparkle!"

Trixie found herself being assaulted by her own tail, suddenly swatting at her face repeatedly as if it were alive.

Thanks to the brief respite her spell bought her, Twilight rolled onto her back, giggling. "That'll keep you busy. Good luck concentrating with a face full of hair! That animation spell won't give up until I tell it to!" She picked herself up, watching as Trixie ran across the room in a comical effort to outrun her own butt.

"Alright, Sparkle, new rule! No hair!"

Twilight paused in trying to untie her own tail. She looked up, a darkness crossing her features. "Oh. Oh! No hair, huh?" A wicked grin crept her face. "Alright, deal!" Perhaps it wasn't the right thing to do, she considered, but the tangle that her tail had turned into deserved retribution. A purple ray of energy burst from her horn, one targeted at Trixie’s own fat head.

"Gah!" Trixie spun in place from the force of the blast, shaking herself afterward to regain her bearings. "Why you—!"

A strange sight made Trixie stop short, that of a few strands of platinum blue shaded mane on the floor. Those few strands soon turned into many, and realization dawned on her in the same moment that stark terror gripped her stomach.

Across the room, Twilight began cackling in sheer laughter. "You're going to need a new title, Trixie! How does the Great and Hairless sound?"

"I need a mirror!" Trixie dashed across room. She found just such a mirror on the wall, and skid to a halt after shoving Twilight out of the way. Once she saw herself, she let out a shriek. "How could you do this!? My great and glorious mane!"

A shiny bald head stared back at Trixie, along with a smug looking Twilight standing just behind her.

"Oh, how could I? I'm the one who should be asking you that!" Twilight sighed, but started chuckling again while Trixie visibly mourned the loss of her mane, trying to cover up her bareness with both forelegs.

“What did you do to my mane!?” Trixie repeated, her voice shrill and piercing.

"Oh stop, it'll grow back, unlike my books!" Twilight devolved into a fit of sinister laughter, feeling a bit vindictive. “Besides, now you look like your character from our tabletop games!”

Trixie panted whilst staring starkly at her visage. At the same time, she wracked her brain for more spells, and the perfect way to get revenge... again. “Tabletop… games?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion, but mostly just buying time.

"Oh, well,” Twilight cleared her throat and began an explanation, chuckling nervously. “You see, me and the girls play this tabletop game every other week... Actually, it was that thing you walked in on before, and you’re in it as a joke character. Funnily enough we were really entertained by you...”

With Twilight successfully distracted, Trixie tuned her out and set in motion her cunning plan to take advantage of the situation.

"Maybe if you could be as tolerable as that, then— Oh Celestia!" Twilight had just enough time to duck as a bolt of energy whizzed towards her. Sadly, she didn't make it, and the bolt barely grazed her.

"Hah! How do you like that?" Trixie had blasted the mirror itself, reflecting a bolt back at the infuriatingly overconfident Twilight. "I rather think that look suits you."

Twilight gasped as she caught sight of the mirror. There was red and black suddenly replacing her normal blue and rosy pink stripe in her mane. "Gah!" She stared angrily at her new colors, then snorted resolutely and squared herself up against the other mare. As a precaution, she warmed up yet another spell. "Now look, Trixie, this is the last time I'm going to tell you to stop! I'm really going to get serious if you don't give up, and you can't possibly beat m—"

With a calm look and without waiting for retaliation, Trixie made her next move, pointing a hoof above Twilight. “Oh Sparkle, do look up, won’t you?” She gave the other mare a wicked grin.

Twilight blinked, but looked up without thinking about why that might be a bad idea all the same. “Wha— Aaah!”

A runny black liquid streamed down from the heavens out of a glass bottle, covering her mane and face. Undoubtedly, it was ink.

“Hah! Score six for me!” Trixie cheered, pumping a hoof in the air.

Twilight felt the bottle clunk her on the head, and then, she felt her rage begin to boil over completely. With a burst of magic and a scream, she hurled the ink bottle across the room at Trixie, only to miss and shatter it on the wall.

“You’re even dumber than you act if you think you’re going to get away with this!" Twilight whipped her ink-doused head towards her adversary, a new spell flying off her horn's tip and already streaking across the room.

"Don't you mean dumber than I look? Which is your fault, by the way!" Trixie had seen the spell on its way, and used the wall mirror to reflect it away from her and into the ceiling.

"I know what I said!" Twilight shouted back, and fired off another spell.

Trixie heard the mirror crack as the second spell rebounded, causing a giant mustache to grow out of the woodwork a few yards away. She had just enough time to consider how bizarre a spell that was to know, and think of another way to get more time to come up with some way to get the upper hoof.

"Twilight, catch!" Trixie charged towards the bookshelves in the home, grabbed several in her magical grasp, then hurled them throughout the room.

Twilight zapped and zapped, trying to get an angle on Trixie around the mirror, only to stop and gasp at the sight of books, delicious and ripe, soaring through the air towards her. 

"Nooooo!" she had time to scream before her hooves, unbidden, picked up the closest novel and stuffed it into her waiting face. "'amn you 'rixie!" she cursed around the book, which tasted as if it was a delectable dark chocolate candy with a cherry filling.

Twilight fought it, but couldn't stop herself. She realized quickly she needed another plan, and fast.

"Good, you just sit there and enjoy your lunch." Trixie tittered at the sight of her rival being rendered helpless. She took a moment to brush some of her remaining hair strands off her shoulders, and drop her ruined mirror shield onto the ground, its usefulness spent. "Now where was I—"

Trixie cut off with a strangled gasp as a bolt of magic energy slammed into her chest.

"Hah' 'ah!" Twilight cheered through her mouthful, then swallowed. "Maybe I can't stop this... abomination of a spell, Trixie! But I can still focus on casting, despite it!" She had to stop, another book already getting shoved into her face. I'm so sorry my babies! You won't be forgotten! "Blech, uggh, now, are you ready to give up? There's no way you can match spells like this one, so are you convinced yet that I'll win if this keeps up?"

Trixie, meanwhile, was busy staring at herself over what had been done. "This... this isn't permanent, is it?" The sight had entirely stunned her, but for the moment it seemed Sparkle was content with just talking.

Twilight harrumphed, crossing her forehooves—though mostly in an effort to keep them under control. "It is, or until certain command words of my design are spoken. It's quite a refined spell, hm? But really, I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. We were going to use it for an undersea trip with Fluttershy. She's always wanted to see some sea life up close. We got the idea a little while after we gave Rarity wings to fly wi—"

"Oh come off it, Sparkle," Trixie hissed, interrupting the other mare’s gloating. "It's not that impressive."

The spell which Twilight referred to, and which had afflicted Trixie, took the form of a rather bright blue tail which resembled that of a fish, or some other aquatic animal, that had replaced Trixie's rear half of her body.

"And if you think that this is going to slow me down, you're sorely mistaken!" Trixie didn't wait for a reply as she screamed her challenge renewed, and shot another spell that had come to her. She was quite far from done.

"Darnit, Trixie!" Twilight flinched, but stopped and looked up slowly when no beam came. "Huh?" Then, it dawned on her that she was floating in the air. "What the? Levitation? Oh, come on! That's the simplest spell in the book!"

Trixie blew a raspberry at the purple unicorn being suspended from the ceiling. "As if! This is Trixie's patented long lasting horn-free levitation! I need not even concentrate to maintain it, as the spell does so on its own. It's the perfect thing for many of my single-mare performances. Hmph."

Twilight blinked, then nodded appreciatively. "Oh, wow, that's actually a really great idea. But how does it work? A spell network? Or does it draw ambient energy to maintain itself?"

Trixie smirked, rubbing a hoof proudly under her chin. "Oh, it draws ambient energy of course—"

"Hah, gotcha!" Twilight shouted, and fired another enchantment straight at the infuriating house-invader below her.

"Darnit!" Trixie managed to get out, before bright purple light filled her vision.

A thump sounded through the room, followed quickly by some light snoring.

Twilight stared below herself for a few tense moments, making sure the crazy mer-mare unicorn hybrid below was without a doubt, asleep. "Phew, alright, so that narcolepsy spell should keep her under for a little while, I hope." She hadn't ever studied the spell, only read about it in passing as a possible alternative for fighting monsters. Hopefully it would last. Truly, she considered, that the mother of all beasts was in her home right then.

"Now, to get to work on unraveling these spells. I just gotta— Hrrrng! Uhm, I just gotta..." Twilight furiously tried to swim towards the nearest wall, but found herself unable, instead merely floating in mid-air. "Uggh, great." She looked around for an alternative solution. "No idea what the spell structure of this enchantment that she cast is... It'll take me hours to figure it out... And I can't trust myself near my books to get a head start either..."

As Twilight slowly spun in the air, she began growing more and more nervous. She was dirty, sweaty, several different colors, her home was a mess, and there was a crazy fish pony knocked out on her floor that wanted nothing more than to antagonize her. 

Should I get help? That... that might scare Trixie into stopping. I mean, wow, she's really not holding back. I definitely didn't think she could pull off a spell like this book thing... or even this levitation enchantment. She's much smarter than I've been giving her credit. If only she could get her pride in check.

Twilight sighed, looking over herself dejectedly. So who should I get help from? Not the Princess... even if Spike were here to send a letter, I'd never be able to face her again if she saw me like this. The red and black mane positively seemed to glare at her from her peripheral vision. And that's not even mentioning the book enchantment... As for the girls, even if they would laugh at me a bit, they could help... but I've got no way to call to them. She winced, looking down at Trixie, who could very well wake up from any loud cries for some assistance.

"I guess this is up to me. I've gotta try and break these spells myself. Well, I'm more than capable of undoing something Trixie came up with!" Twilight grunted, and focused on casting her strongest counter-spell. "Maybe if I concentrate on—"

"Who?"

"What?" Twilight turned her head in time to see Owlowiscious flapping his wings lazily and looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, Owlowiscious! Excellent, you can go get he—" That happened to be in the same moment that her spell was being released.

The aura of magic that surrounded Twilight burst with an audible pop, and a scream left her as she plummeted to the ground.

"Wah!"

Luckily, she landed on something soft.

"OOF!" Twilight and Trixie both exclaimed together as one fell upon the other, their eyes bugging out in tandem.

Overhead, the pet owl had no idea what he was looking at. Whatever it was, it smelled of something wrong that had happened, so he flew closer to his owner, intent on finding out what it was. "Who?" he questioned briskly.

"Ow..." Twilight winced, rubbing a hoof over her now sore bottom. "Owowow... Wow, it worked, even if that was a rough landing. Oh! Owlowiscious! Thank goodness, look, you've gotta go get help! I—"

"Sparkle!" Trixie roared and reared back, her new fish-tail flipping Twilight off smoothly and back into the air, where she soundly smacked the other unicorn across the rump, sending her flying across the room, only to land several strides away in the largest pile of her books.

Twilight groaned again, only to gasp and begin chanting, "Nononono!" as she began to gnaw on a dictionary.

"Hmph." Trixie turned her nose up at the other mare, only to catch sight of movement in the air. "A pet, hm? How droll. You're not going anywhere, owl!" Her magic smoothly slammed shut the window across the room, preventing escape.

Owlowiscious froze, only to turn about and point a wing at himself. "Who?"

Trixie scowled. "Yes, you!" She jabbed a hoof at the animal. "I don't have time for you interfering with my duel. Only the best mare may walk away from this! Er... or in my case, flop away from this!" The hasty correction ensured she wouldn't have cheated herself out of a fair win later on, but more importantly, her horn warmed up for another spell.

Twilight watched as Owlowiscious disappeared in a poof of smoke, and gasped, pages and book-cover falling out of her mouth. "What did you do to him?" she choked out.

Trixie batted one of her remaining hooves at Twilight. "Oh fret not, I merely sent that thing to my hat."

Twilight growled and stood up, gingerly stepping over her fallen books. "Your hat!?"

"Calm down and focus on what's important! Besides, I keep at least a dozen rabbits and pigeons in that hat, I assure you there's plenty of room for your pesky owl." Trixie's patience grew thinner with her adversary, eager to resume their honorable combat.

"But, I sent your hat to the good-will!" Twilight bolted for the door, no longer caring that she looked absolutely horrible and would be made a laughing stock for years if anypony saw her. "I've got to go there and get it bac—"

"The good-will!?" Trixie screamed, and yanked back on Twilight's rear hooves with her magic, causing the other unicorn to collapse with a grunt. "How dare you! You said you would return both it and my cape to me!"

Twilight whirled around, and without hesitation flung a real doozy of a spell at the other pony. "I was!"

"Liar!" Trixie cried, and took cover behind a nearby table, flipping it over and hiding behind its broad area.

"No! I am not! I was hoping we could walk there together while we! Talked! Things! Out!" Twilight punctuated each word as she shot blast after blast at Trixie, blowing holes in her own display furniture.

Trixie weathered the storm, eyes clenched shut as purple flashes washed over her table fort and her face. At the same time, she thought of, and began charging a good spell for distractions. She waited for Twilight to end her foolishness about friendship, then rolled into the open and let loose her greatest and most powerful spell yet.

"Take this, Sparkle!"

Twilight gasped as magic zapped her once again. She had time to think, Oh great, what now? before an overpowering sensation began to assault every fiber of her very being. "Hehe! Oh no, what di— Not that! Hahahaha!"

Trixie watched in relief as Twilight's horn began to dim, and the mare helplessly started to roll about on the floor, squealing in girlish laughter.

"There. Now, you have been rendered unable to cast magic, Twilight Sparkle! I do believe that makes Trii-ii... Trix-x-x!"

Trixie let out a groan of frustration. "Blast! You've taken my well prepared victory speech away from me, Sparkle! Well, no matter, I have still won." She watched, smirking, as Twilight laughed on and on, unable to so much as lift a hoof against her now.

"Alright! I don't care anymorr-re-re! Y-You win, Trixie-Hehehe! You win! I give up! Please just make it stop!"

Trixie grinned, and trotted swiftly up to her fallen foe. Well, her front hooves trotted, while her fishy back-half was merely dragged.

"I can't believe I've finally done it. It wasn't even that hard! To be honest, I really didn't think that I'd actually pull it off, either. Well, Sparkle, I accept your terms of defeat! Perhaps after this is all done, we really can be—" Trixie gasped as magic shot-gunned her in the face, knocking her backward to flip end over end.

Twilight shuddered as she sat up, laughter still crawling its way out of her. "Oh no, hehe, hah! No no, we're not going to be friends, Trixie!" Her magic picked up a book as she stalked towards the other mare, taking a bite out of it swiftly before unceremoniously tossing the book aside. "No, I'm getting even before we're done here! I'm getting even for every last defiled work of literature!"

"How are you standing!?" Trixie snarled. "Give up!"

Twilight ignored her, and shouted as she cast another enchantment, intent on making Trixie's horn look like a bike horn, while at the same time, Trixie recovered, and screamed outrage while casting a spell to turn Twilight different colors even more varied than the rainbow. The spells met in the middle of the room, exploding outward in a corona of magic.





> No End In Sight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3


Twilight had her back to the balcony of the library’s upper floor ledge and was quickly losing ground. Still, she maintained her focus, swinging her horn left and right skillfully as she blocked Trixie’s attacks again and again. She now fought back on sheer determination alone to put the other mare in her place.

The lances of light extending from each unicorn’s horn cast eerie blue and violet glows across the walls.

“Sparkle, just give up!” Trixie grit her teeth before every strike, each one bursting into sparks of magic residue. 

Sweat from exertion flew off the brow of both unicorns, but neither yielded to the other.

“Never!” Twilight yelled back. She focused harder on the beam of light extending from her horn. “Trixie, you’ve trashed my home, ruined my books, and humiliated me to no end! I’m not letting you get away with this!”

Trixie cackled with delight. “Yes, let the hate flow through you! Friendship is pointless, you see!” She pressed the attack, forcing Twilight to the very edge of the upper landing. Annoyingly, the other unicorn rolled away, moving toward the staircase. Although Trixie still sported her mer-mare fishtail, she was more than able to keep up.

Trixie snarled, charging after. “Come back here!”

Halfway down the stairs Twilight turned around again, her temper a raging storm as she took up a defensive stance. “Come and get me!” 

Trixie stopped and struck a grandiose pose atop the stairs. “Surrender, Sparkle! It's no use, I have the high ground!" She followed up with a lightning fast thrusting attack.

“For the last time, no!” Twilight jumped away down the staircase, barely reacting in time to reflect the nimble showmare’s pirouettes and slicing strikes. “You’re going to lose, Trixie! Your overconfidence will be your undoing!”

Trixie growled, thrusting fiercely at Twilight and following close. “Well your faith in your stupid friends is yours!” she countered. 

Twilight dodged backward, only to trip, then stumble down the rest of the steps. “Wah! Owowow!” 

She rolled all the way down, thumping loudly once she reached the bottom. At the same time, the light beam extending from her horn winked out, though not before shattering a lone nearby vase, possibly the last thing in the entire library that hadn’t yet been destroyed.

“Ooh, that hurt.” Twilight nursed her head, only to look up in time to see Trixie’s light beam swing towards her. “Aaah!”

The light beam struck her dead on the head, and made a loud bonk sound.

Twilight opened one eye. “Huh?”

“Curses!” Trixie scowled up at her horn and bald head. 

“Hah, you didn’t get the spell right!” Twilight giggled, and her horn again burst alight with a resounding whum. “If you had, it would’ve done this!” 

Trixie had time to gasp before the beam of light Twilight sported poked her in the barrel, and a ripple of blue lightning streaked over her fur. “Aah!” The result frizzled her tail and coat, turning Trixie into what looked for all intents and purposes to be a very fluffy looking stuffed animal. “Wha-hah…? Oh boy.”

Trixie teetered on the spot for a moment until her eyes crossed slightly. She attempted some form of remark, but failed to produce more than a raspberry. “Phhbtt, pbht.” She then fell forward onto her face.

Twilight, beyond exhausted, followed suit, falling backwards with all four legs outstretched while panting. She was grateful for the rest, despite the fact she could probably take advantage of the opening.

“Another five minute break?” Twilight asked, breathing hard.

“Sure,” Trixie responded, her chest heaving. “But after that, I’m going to destroy you.” She struggled to turn her head enough to glare at her rival, but a black eye she’d earned earlier in their tussle prevented it from being easy.

“Yeah, me too.” Twilight laughed in an unstable way. “Destroy you, I mean. Yup.”

The two mares did their best to catch their breaths as they lay there in the barren wasteland that had formerly been Twilight’s living room. The walls bore scorch marks, a roaming band of animated food goods paraded across the floor, the kitchen door hung ajar on but one hinge, and there was no longer a single book left on the shelves.

That last one, at least, was due to Twilight hurling them into the basement and locking the door after Trixie fell victim a second time to the narcolepsy spell.

As for the rest of the library’s contents, the large telekinetic magic blast the two had first mustered against one another had been fierce enough to shove all of the furniture against the walls around them, forming a sort of battle arena out of the main room.

The duel, which had really become more of an all out war, was utterly wearing both ponies down. 

Twilight realized tiredly that she was completely out of ideas. Somehow, or perhaps even amazingly, she was at a stalemate with the cocky, brazen, offensive mare collapsed on the floor just a few strides from her. Maybe it was dumb luck or just sheer determination, but  despite just barely hanging in there, Trixie wasn’t giving up.

“Alright, that’s enough of a breather. On your hooves, Sparkle! We finish this now.” Trixie, her legs shaking like thin saplings in a strong wind, struggled to stand back up, her horn spitting a few pathetic sparks before blazing alight once again.

In response, a weighty sigh escaped Twilight as she raised her head from the floor. “Trixie, look, I’m just as upset at this point at you as you are at me, what with the ink you put in my mane, the dozens of books that have been destroyed, and not to mention the property damage—”

Trixie growled. “You completely removed my mane, destroyed those books yourself, and you’ve caused the majority of these burn marks while trying to zap me!” 

“Right, right… and let’s just ignore that all of it was caused by you starting this whole debacle.” Twilight would have rolled her eyes, but she’d done it so often they now legitimately felt sore. “My point is that there is no point to this anymore, Trixie!”

Trixie determined look shifted into a frown, the light glowing from her horn casting shadows over the expression. “...What do you mean?” she ventured. “I still haven’t beaten you yet.”

“And you’re not going to!” Twilight raised her voice once again and flung her hooves up in exasperation. “And I’ve already tried everything I know to stop this! I even tried surrendering, but that apparently isn’t good enough for you!”

Trixie growled and shouted back. “Only your total defeat and humiliation will suffice, Sparkle!” With that, she released her spell. 

Another blast of magic raced across the room toward Twilight. “This fight is still stupid!” She rolled quickly to one side, dodging the energy blast, which just barely managed to singe her red and black mane. “We have no settled terms for an eventual resolution! We need to stop fighting and talk things out.” 

Trixie gritted her teeth, fighting to summon the strength for another blast. “When you get every bit of what’s coming to you and I’m satisfied with the result, then things will be resolved for me!”

Twilight jumped back up to a fighting stance, ready to dodge. “But you instigated all of this!”

“You could have backed down from the start!” Trixie barked back, sweat pouring from her brow.

“Augh, you’re crazy!” 

“And you think you’re better than me!”

“You… you—! AUGH!” Twilight, once again more frustrated than focused as a result of trying to talk through Trixie’s sheer bullheadedness, lashed out with yet another spell despite knowing it would only perpetuate things.

Trixie’s hold on her magic broke as Twilight’s spell caught her once again in the muzzle. The spell she herself had been trying to charge shot straight up into the ceiling, resulting in bits of wood and debris raining down on her head from the small hole created there.

“Hah, there, now maybe you’ll be bearable to actually listen to.” Twilight sat down with a smug grin and crossed her forelegs.

Trixie held a hoof to her muzzle while hacking and coughing.

“Honk, honk-ho—” Trixie ceased trying to speak and threw both of her hooves over her mouth, a shocked look crossing her features. “Honk…? Honk!”

Twilight giggled tiredly to the sound of Trixie’s sudden bike horn noises, only to stop and groan after another few seconds of the rather excruciating racket. “Okay, that’s actually much worse than before… which is really saying something, Trixie.”

Trixie continued to honk and honk, stomping a hoof every once in a while to punctuate her meaning, right up until another wave of violet magic washed over her.

“And another thing, you lame-brained, high and mighty foalish little bi— Oh you undid it.” Trixie looked down at herself to look for anything else out of the ordinary, before glaring back up at her rival full force.

Twilight glared back just as fiercely, but also sighed. “Of course I did, and I’ll undo the rest if you’ll just agree we should put a stop to this—”

The sound of knocking at the front door to the library made both Trixie and Twilight look over in surprise.

“Who could that be?” Trixie asked. Her voice dripped with annoyance over her duel getting interrupted. “Sparkle, get rid of them.”

Twilight groaned at hearing the command. “Next you’ll want a glass of water.”

“That would be excellent, actually!”

“Uggh.” Twilight approached the front door rather than pay anymore mind to her uninvited nuisance. She gave her home a cursory worried glance, but quickly decided that she needed to keep whoever it was from seeing the fallout from tussling with Trixie. 

Rather than use her aching horn, Twilight opened the door with a hoof. “Hello?” 

“Hey Twilight, why was the door locked? And— What in the name of Celestia’s t—!?” 

“Spike, language! Now what’s wrong?” Twilight scowled down at him. She pulled the door shut a bit more to be sure, deciding she probably didn’t want him to see the embarrassing mess the library had become.

In response, Spike stared wide-eyed up at Twilight’s mane strangely red and black pattern for several silent seconds before saying, “Twilight, what’s with the palette swap?”

Twilight briefly looked up at her mane before then blowing it out of the way. “Never mind that.” She pushed back on the door just in time to stop her assistant from getting in. “Uh, Spike— Look, you can’t come in right now!”

“What?” Spike’s voice sounded confused, but quickly moved into ‘worried’ territory. “Twilight, is something wrong? Are you okay? Why can’t I come in?” 

In order to dispel any fears, Twilight tried her best to answer her assistant’s nosiness with a calm, rational reply. “Spike, look, it’s fine. I’m just… taking a break from my studying is all, okay? Nothing to be worried about!”

“Oh my gosh! What’s wrong? I knew something was wrong!” Spike almost squeezed in, managing a brief glimpse of his home’s interior, only for Twilight to block him with a light headbutt.

“Ahaha…” Twilight laughed nervously and gave a worried glance behind herself. 

The sight of Trixie laying on the floor, her bald head, poofed-out fur and fishy lower half surrounded by a war zone met her.

Twilight faced Spike again. “Yeah, look Spike, nothing’s wrong. Could you just go? It’s not a good time right now.”

“Wait a moment…” Spike paused, then gasped aloud. “You’re not really Twilight, are you!? You’re some changeling spy that’s trying to assume her identity and get rid of me!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, that’s ridiculous. Well, not completely… but it’s pretty ridiculous. The reason I want you to… Look, the reason I…” She was too tired to come up with a good excuse. “Spike, can you just go?”

Spike rubbed his chin and peered up at Twilight suspiciously. “Wait, is there somepony else in there…? And is that a burn mark on the floor?”

Twilight groaned, and jammed her good hoof out the door, along with a small bag she had quickly summoned. “Spike, if you stop asking questions and just go, here are those gems I promised you last week as a reward for doing your chores, and forty bits. Go buy a pizza and stay at Rarity’s or Pinkie’s tonight, okay?”

“Woohoo!” Spike didn’t wait a second longer, accepting the gift and turning to go. “Thank you, Twilight! See you later!”

Twilight watched him race down the street on his short little dragon legs, before finally closing the door with a sigh of relief.

“Alright, now where were we?” Twilight half expected to be caught by surprise by a spell from Trixie, and had held a teleport spell at the ready just in case. What she saw instead surprised her. “Trixie, are you okay?”

Trixie, for her part, was looking down at the fishtail she’d been saddled with morosely. “Twilight, get rid of this thing, would you? It itches and I hate it.”

Twilight blinked. Normally, she would acquiesce to such a request without pause, buuut the circumstances struck her as special. “Uuuh, Trixie, why would I do that? Aren’t we in the middle of something here? Or are you ready to call it quits finally?”

Trixie looked up with a glare, her brow furrowed, until her expression relaxed a short moment later. “Yes. Yes, Tri— er, I think that I am done, if you will undo this silly and bothersome curse.”

“Well... if you're willing to talk this out, then fine, I'll undo just this one.” Twilight rolled her eyes again, but nonetheless warmed up her horn. “And it’s not a curse, it’s an enchantment. You should know the difference, Trixie.”

The release spell for one of Trixie’s several handicaps swirled out from Twilight’s horn, then encircled Trixie. A moment later and her form was restored to normal.  

Trixie nodded at her lower half appreciatively, before turning a slightly pouty look toward Twilight. “And what about that grammar spell you put on me? Undo that as well?”

Twilight hesitated, but gathered the energy required and did so. It was difficult, and made her grunt with effort, but she pulled it off. “There, now I think we have a lot to talk ab—”

“Haha!” Trixie interrupted, threw a hoof up to the sky. “It was a ruse, Twilight! Trixie had no intention of giving up so easily, and you have fallen so predictably for her—”

“Oh in the name of Celestia, please no,” Twilight murmured, and placed a hoof against her forehead, doing her best to block out whatever third person speech Trixie had jumped into. 

Trixie wrapped things up, standing tall on her hind legs and pointing at Twilight with a hoof. “So, in conclusion, Sparkle, you will never defeat the Great and Powerful Tri— Oof!” 

Twilight had heard enough. “That’s it!” With a battlecry, she leaped forward, tackling Trixie at her middle. “I’ve had enough! I’m just teleporting us to the local police department. I should have done this to start with.”

Trixie regained her bearings and shook her head. “What? Y-You wouldn’t! This duel should stay between you and I!”

Twilight didn’t answer, she just continued to gather strength for her spell.

Trixie’s courage quickly broke, her haughtiness melting. “Wait, Twilight, I can’t go back! If I get any more misdemeanors, it’ll be my third strike! I hate community service!” She struggled to get free, but Twilight’s hooves held fast. Her eyes shut closed in the face of the brightening light on Twilight’s horn.

“Should’ve thought about that sooner, Trixie! You had your chance!” Twilight resigned herself to all the explaining she’d had to do, but she really hadn’t thought things would ever escalate the way they did. 

She released her spell.

...

Ever so slowly, Trixie cracked one eye open, dreading what she would see. Oh no, they’re going to put me in hoof-irons, and throw me in a cold cell, and then— Wait a second. Her eyes popped fully open. 

“Sparkle?” Trixie watched as the other unicorn looked up at her horn with a clear face of worry. “Are you… out of magic?”

Twilight looked at Trixie cautiously. “It— Uhm, I think so. I must have used too much unraveling those spells from you—” She barely finished speaking before cringing and leaning away from her adversary’s outburst.

“Haha! Yes! I did it! I have done it! Me!” Trixie began to break down into a fit of giggles, holding herself in her own hooves. “Trixie has won!”

Twilight started to try and back toward the front door, but it seemed Trixie’s revelry wasn’t quite enough to keep her unnoticed.

“And you.” Trixie grinned wickedly, looking at Twilight. “Any last words, Sparkle?”

Twilight swallowed hard. “Why, what are you going to do, Trixie?” She knew Trixie was a jerk, selfish, egotistical and a bunch of other things, but not actually dangerous. Still, hearing that phrase sent a chill through her.

Trixie shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh please, Sparkle. Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you, but this little tussle with you has given me some excellent ideas about how I can get even.” She lit up her horn, intending to levitate over several sheets from a newspaper thrown into the corner. 

“For starters, how about we go for a little walk through town?” Trixie sneered at Twilight victoriously. “I think letting everypony know firsthoof that you lost to me, and—”

A sound akin to a bug zapper flickering out filled the room, followed by the disappearance of Trixie’s magic aura from around her horn.

Trixie stared up at her forehead in confusion, her mouth making a little ‘o’ shape. “Oh. Uh oh. That isn’t good.”

Twilight burst out laughing, her worry immediately replaced with amusement. “Hah, who’s laughing now, Tri—”

Trixie interrupted Twilight. “I ran out of magic second, so I still win! Hah!” She jabbed a hoof at Twilight’s chest. “Take that, Sparkle!”

Twilight stared a moment. Then she just covered her face with her hooves. “Right, sure, whatever.” 

After a moment, Twilight picked her head up again. “But… But you hadn’t cast anything since before I removed that enchantment from you, so that means you’d already run out of magic before that. So don’t I win?”

“Silence!” Trixie shouted, wearing a stern look. “You can prove nothing!”

Twilight groaned. “Whatever, I don’t care, this whole debacle was a pointless exercise meant to satisfy your ego. Even my trying to calm you down or put you in your place was impossible because you’re so thick headed!”

Trixie stomped a hoof in frustration. “Trixie’s revenge and inevitable domination of Twilight Sparkle is not pointless! Nor is she thick headed… her head is of a perfectly normal size, thank you.”

“Gah!” Twilight threw her hooves up in exasperation. “You’re completely impossible, you know that? I mean, look at us!” She began waving a hoof to indicate the two of them. “Look around you. You can’t honestly say either of us won anything after today, can you?”

Trixie looked everywhere, even at her own bald head, before nodding slightly. “Perhaps you are... right, Sparkle.”

“Ugh, why do I even—” Twilight blinked in brief confusion. “Wait, really?”

Trixie let out a snort of resignation. “Indeed. Half right, anyway. Trixie must agree that this is far from the absolute victory that she wished for.” Once again pointing a hoof to the sky, Trixie declared, “But it is victory nonetheless! So, I’m leaving.”

With that, Trixie casually began to trot toward the door.

Before she could reach it, however, Twilight slid to block her path.

“That’s not what I meant, Trixie, and anyway, you can’t just leave all of... this!” Twilight paused to point back at her home. “You’re going to stay and help me clean all this up before you can go anywhere.”

Trixie gave the mess a brief look, then made a harrumph as she turned up her nose at Twilight. “Trixie shall do no such thing.” She looked down to glare at Twilight next, poking her in the chest with one hoof. “Trixie is tired and sweaty. She needs a shower, a wig, and a trip to the good-will to collect her things. What Trixie does not need is to clean up some other pony’s mess!”

One of Twilight’s eyes twitched in time with each and every poke Trixie gave the sore spot on her chest. 

Without warning, Twilight roughly shoved Trixie back, keeping her from the door. “Trixie, you’re helping me and that’s final! The broom’s in the closet, now hop to it!”

Trixie gasped, holding one fore hoof up in an offended gesture. “You dare!? I— Trixie will—” She went silent, then shoved back at Twilight.

Twilight recovered from the shove, glared in return, and then shoved the other mare back again.

“That’s it!” they both said at the same moment.

Twilight let out a scream as Trixie suddenly charged towards her. She braced for the coming impact only to realise Trixie’s true intentions when the mare skidded to a stop in front of her and reared up as if to strike at her with her front hooves. Without thinking, Twilight attempted to respond in kind, rearing up to defend herself.

“Have at thee, Sparkle!” Trixie bellowed with all the bravado she could dig up, sending a flurry of swinging hooves at her opponent.

“I’m going to kick your teeth in, Trixie!” Twilight spat.





The two continued in this way until Twilight landed a lucky blow, throwing off Trixie’s wobbly balance and giving her a second black eye to join her first.

“Hah, take that, Trixie!” Twilight shouted, only to let out a solid, “Oof!”

Trixie squeezed Twilight’s middle as she tackled her. “Payback time, nag!” 

The two began to roll on the floor, their fight going on to whole new levels of vicious.

Trixie pulled on Twilight’s hair with hooves, Twilight bit Trixie’s leg, blows were exchanged and words that were so dastardly they could curdle milk were yelled back and forth.

It was so intense and consumed so much of their attention that neither of them noticed the front door creaking open.

“Your mother was a hamster!”

“Well your father smelled of elderberries!”

Twilight and Trixie snarled and growled, the two of them rolling there, exhausted and more than spent. Both of their breaths caught, however, at the sound of voices in the front door’s opening.

Several darkened silhouettes entered the doorway, bright light flooding in behind them. Both Twilight and Trixie raised up a hoof to shield their eyes, until finally the shapes turned out to be five other ponies and a small, baby dragon. 

"See, I told you the place was trashed,” Spike proclaimed. “And— Woah, Twilight, why’s Trixie here?" 

“Whoa nellie.” Applejack promptly moved up to Spike and placed a hoof over his eyes, only to be shoved out of the way by a speeding white blur.

"Twilight!" Rarity cried. "Don't tell me, you actually have a special someponyyy-IIIee!?" Her girlish squeal of delight cut a bit short, interrupted by a shrill sound of horror. "Oh my word! Twilight, what happened to your mane? It’s hideous! And... Oh. Oh dear. Is that... Trixie you’re with? Ick." She followed up with a brief look of disgust, her prior horror forgotten. "Well, I'll judge you not, Twilight. The important thing is that you’re happy, and you can rest assured that we’re all happy for you, too."

Twilight blinked at her friends, three of whom were giggling, then at Trixie—who looked equally as confused and abhorred—then back to her friends. Rainbow Dash was laughing the hardest out of them, unsurprisingly.

“No. No! Guys, this isn’t what it looks like!” Twilight struggled to get free from under Trixie, but it was difficult. Her struggles likely weren’t helping her case. “Spike!” She stuck her assistant with a glare. “What are they doing here!?”

Spike was scratching a claw behind his scales in confusion. “Uh, well, after you gave me that bribe I figured something had to be wrong, so I went and got everypony, and then I wrote a letter to—”

Twilight groaned, letting her head fall back to the floor with a thump, trapped under Trixie as she was.

Meanwhile, somepony else let out a gasp of delight.

“Does this mean I get to make a wedding cake!?” Pinkie burst out. 

“Absolutely not, Pink one!” Trixie jabbed a hoof at Twilight’s friends, also trying to stand up on shaky legs. “What Sparkle said was true, but I was only here to beat her! Get revenge! Nothing else.”

The room was quiet.

“Sooo, Twilight’s into that sort of thing, huh?” Pinkie head tilted.

Twilight’s face reddened fully in less than point-three microseconds. “No! This is a huge misun—”

“And back up, no cake!?” Pinkie looked at her like she was crazy. “Is that a Gypsy thing? Because I don’t want to discriminate… Pft, well fine, no cake, but if you two are going to elope that’s going to upset a looot of ponies around here.”

Spike tried to look around at somepony for answers, specifically as to why Twilight was entangled with Trixie, but quickly found a wing over his eyes and Fluttershy leading him outside. “Hey, but, what’s going on?”

“I think we should have a talk outside, Spike. Oh dear.” Fluttershy gave a cursory glance behind herself, before rounding the corner and shutting the door behind herself. “What do you know about, uhm, birds and bees, Spike?”

“Uh, some of them sting and the other ones sing?”

Twilight gave a final shove, the last of her strength, and stood up from under the dead weight that had invaded her home. “Dash, stop laughing! Look, everypony, listen carefully. Trixie came over trying to look for a fight as usual, and then—”

A blinding flash of light interrupted Twilight mid-speech.

Everypony present let out a mild cry and covered their eyes with a hoof. When the light dissipated, a voice entered the room.

“Twilight Sparkle! Are you alright?” The voice was unmistakable as Princess Celestia’s.

Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked up at a large figure suddenly standing over her. Her pupil’s slowly shrank into tiny pin-pricks. “Oh. Princess. Hi. Yes, I’m fine.” She stared a bit longer and could have sworn her life flashed before her eyes, then in a rush she whirled to face Applejack. 

“You sent for the Princess!?” Twilight cried.

Applejack rubbed a hoof behind her head, her stetson tilted back. “Well, Spike said it might be serious, so we just went ahead and did it, Twi’.”

Twilight collapsed—again—onto the floor, this time in anguish. “Oh nooo.”

Princess Celestia, in the meanwhile, had been looking around the entirety of Twilight’s home, taking in the responses to her presence, as well as studying the sheepish and shifty looking blue unicorn staring sheepishly at her from a far corner.

“Twilight, am I interrupting something?” the Princess asked, smirking coyly.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. It took her nearly a full minute before she could recover enough to speak. She looked around the room, then at herself, then at the disheveled showmare some ways away. “Princess Celestia… I can explain.”




> Curtain Call
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Four



The groan that worked its way out of Twilight spoke volumes of the toiling and hard work she'd endured after a day of being on her hooves nonstop. As she further relaxed against the back wall of the small wooden stage, the painful memories of her punishment from Princess Celestia herself played through her mind. 

Twilight couldn't help but think, How in the name of magic did I get myself into this predicament?

The fact that she, along with Trixie, had been sentenced to a month of community service in order to pay for the library’s renovations hadn’t been that bad, but once it became clear that Celestia intended for them to work together, and as entertainers for the Ponyville town square, Twilight had nearly fainted on the spot. She could still hardly believe her misfortune.

"And that, ladies and gentlecolts, is why I am called The Great and Powerful Triiixie!"

"Whoooo, go Trixie!"

"Quiet, pink one! And thank you to everypony else! Please come again to tomorrow night's show to once again see...!" Trixie's sigh carried to the backstage through the curtain where Twilight could clearly hear it. "The Greeeat and Powerful Twilight and Trixie show!"

Twilight sighed as she looked up to release the rope holding the stage’s curtains. Her horn, though it had been aching most days from the debacle the week before, was at the very least able to use magic again.

"Phew, aaand we're done, finally." Twilight reached up with a foreleg and wiped away the sweat she had started to work up. “Another day down… twenty to go.” 

Trixie let out a tired breath upon trotting through the second layer of curtains that separated the stage's front from the backstage. She cricked her neck, but otherwise held her posture as if she herself were royalty. "What a show! It feels pretty good now that we've gotten into the swing of things. Oh assistant, where's my water?" As her back turned to Twilight, a sly grin played up a corner of her muzzle.

“I’ll assist you, alright,” Twilight muttered grumpily.

“Did you say something, Twilight?” Trixie raised an eyebrow at her community service partner.




Twilight considered dumping the nearby pitcher of ice water over the other mare's head, but lately she'd built up some additional resistance against the baiting.

"Very funny, Trixie, and you almost made it through the whole day without saying anything mean, too." Twilight allowed herself a smirk with that. “Still, I’ll have to include that in the friendship report to Princess Celestia."

"Oh, come on!" Trixie whipped around, her magic tossing her cape and hat onto a nearby rack. "I was holding in far worse insults all day and you know it!"

Twilight tsked softly. "And now you're admitting to thinking up even worse? For shame, Trixie. And here I thought we were making such progress, too. I had almost believed you'd really changed and learned your lesson."

Trixie scowled, eyes shut tight, and harrumphed loudly. "Now you're the one trying to bait me!" She crossed her forehooves angrily. "So I'm putting that in my friendship report to the Princess!"

Twilight's ears pulled back, and she almost escalated things, but caught herself. "You're right, Trixie." She let out a breath to calm down. "I'm—"

"Sorry," Trixie finished for Twilight, and opened her eyes, smiling a joyful smile that was a relatively recent thing to see. "I am, too. I guess I just couldn't resist teasing you, after all of this. And, for the record, I really was just teasing you. I really meant it when I told you and the Princess I'd take this reconciliation thing seriously..."

Trixie strode over to the stairs leading out of the show-wagon, pulling the curtains along with her to be packed up for the night. "And the Great and Powerful Trixie always keeps her word! I promised I'd beat you, after all, and I did!"

Twilight was a little taken aback. Over the course of the last week, Trixie had been mostly silent on the matter of Celestia sticking them together. 

“O-Oh. I see.” Twilight wasn't sure what exactly had changed for Trixie. “Well, I’m glad to finally hear you feel that way, Trixie.” Honestly, all of the little needling remarks Trixie kept trying to sneak in under the guise of innocence had given Twilight doubts… 

Perhaps Trixie's willingness to move on was simply from constantly being forced to work together in order to regain their property, or the threat of being charged with public endangerment by Celestia, or even that Trixie was truly satisfied with causing so much chaos and pretty much getting away with it... but it was anypony’s guess.

After the moment of silence and a staredown between the two, Twilight smiled back at Trixie. "And that magic duel was a tie, if you ask me," she said, rolling her eyes while she began to help put things away.

Trixie threw back her head and let out a great hah! "Well, we'll have to have a rematch sometime, then." She turned and gave a wink above a rueful grin.

Twilight sighed as she finished putting away the boxes of stage props. "Never mind, then, it was your win."

Trixie giggled. She actually giggled.

Twilight looked up in disbelief, but joined after a split second with laughter of her own. 

Interrupting and catching both mares off guard was a third pony's laughter. However, this third laugh was far more raucous and entertained sounding, rather than filled with genuine happiness or the beginnings of a friendship.

"Hey, you two lovebirds have any plans tonight? The weather's supposed to be nice out." Rainbow Dash grinned around the canopy of the wagon’s stage like a wolf that had cornered its prey. “You two make a pretty cute couple, by the way. Don't you think so, Pinkie?" She did a poor job of concealing her snickers with a hoof. 

“Dash, cut it out,” Twilight protested, and was echoed by Trixie grumbling.

Pinkie, suddenly sitting at the opposite end of the stage, shrugged. “Eh, I dunno. They seem like they’re just beginning to get along after fighting a really personal battle of both magical strength and wills. The kind that would really hide more beneath the surface than would be apparent to other ponies.” She took a sip from a soda pop she suddenly produced from her poofy mane. “Like, Trixie’s insecurities, and Twilight’s unspoken guilt were—”

Dash groaned. “Pinkie!”

“O-Oh! Right. I mean, yeah! Twilight and Trixie, sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i—!”

Twilight sprinted over to Pinkie and slapped a hoof over the other mare’s muzzle. “OKAY! That’s enough of that.” She looked behind herself to see Trixie unsuccessfully swatting at a cackling Rainbow Dash with a broom.

Twilight groaned. “Girls, if you’re going to poke fun like this, you could at least wait until after we’re done cleaning up.”

“Relax, Egghead.” Rainbow Dash nonchalantly dodged a broom a final swipe and glided past overhead. “Me and Pinkie—”

“Pinkie and I,” Twilight correctly.

“Whatever.” Dash landed, rolling her eyes. “Jokes aside, we were just wondering if you guys were going to do a show together one of these nights. It’s always only one of you out there.”

Twilight blinked. She looked over at Trixie, who seemed to have the same look of mixed surprise and apprehension that she herself wore.

“I dunno.” Twilight smirked over at Trixie. “What do you think?”

Trixie blinked at that, then put a hoof to her chin. “Hmm, a good question, Sparkle.” She adopted a cool, thoughtful look, but there was a wideness to her eyes that hinted at a lot of thought over the question. 

“I… suppose since our arranged punishment is a temporary thing, and the goal is for us to get along… the Princess would likely look favorably on us sharing the stage rather than simply helping one another perform.” Trixie nodded to herself sagely. “Yes, perhaps she’d even lessen our sentence.”

“Are you sure you haven’t thought about this before?” Inspecting her hoof, Rainbow looked as if she’d only half paid attention, but the smug grin she failed to hide gave her away. “Because that explanation sounded really well scripted.”

Trixie swiped at Rainbow again with her broom. “As if!” The swing failed to connect and was dodged smoothly. “Trixie merely saw a possible opportunity for a more immediate closure! Twilight—!”

Twilight ceased her building giggles and sat up straight. “Yes, Trixie?”

“Tonight we will rest for early morning rehearsals of a paired magic act! Be back here at dawn. Trixie already has some— I mean, Trixie has just thought up some ideas for an act this very moment. Just now.” She coughed. “F-Finish up things here if you would. I’m going to get dinner. It’s getting a little stuffy here for me.” Trixie again donned her hat and cape, and left the stage with a huff. 

Twilight sighed, shaking her head at Dash and Pinkie as the other mare left. “I wish you two wouldn’t tease her like that, or me, for that matter. I think she’s really put aside her interest in being a nuisance and gotten over her hang ups against us.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow shrugged, finally landing onto the stage with a thump now that the risk of being broomed was gone. “And I think you mean Trixie’s hang ups against you.”

Twilight lightly thwacked Rainbow just behind the ear.

“Ow! What? I’m not wrong. She was obsessing over getting you back.” Rainbow shrugged. “Honestly I’m surprised she didn’t do something drastic even sooner.”

“What she did was drastic enough.” Twilight frowned. “Still, she really seemed to be in a dark place before all of this. I do wish things could have been resolved better, but now that it’s over I’m glad it happened.”

Rainbow rubbed a hoof behind her head. “Yeah, I hear yah. I wouldn’t be teasing her if I wasn’t willing to give being friends with her a shot, though.”

Twilight chuckled. “I know, and thank you for that. I just hope Trixie feels the same way.”

Pinkie hmmmmed loudly where she stood, staring after Trixie over by the stage wagon’s edge.

Twilight and Dash each raised an eyebrow over at their pink friend.

“Pinkie? What’s wrong? You’re being quiet.” Twilight began folding a curtain, as Trixie had managed to leave about half of the clean up for her to do. She’d have to get her back for that.

“Ohhh, it’s nothing… but it’s also probably definitely something!” Pinkie began nodding to herself, looking more and more sure. “I think you should go finish that conversation you two had going on, Twilight.” She bounded across the stage and wrapped a foreleg around Dash’s shoulder in a vice grip.

“Dash and I will finish cleaning up Trixie’s wagon!” 

”What!?” Dash tried lifting off at first mention of cleaning, but the Earth Pony grip holding her down made the struggle pointless. “Dangit.”

Twilight snickered, and looked out the wagon in the direction Trixie had gone.

“Alright… You’re probably right, Pinkie. Thanks you two!”

Dash and Pinkie waved encouragement to Twilight, and waited until she rounded a corner down the street to let out the breath they’d held. 

“I’m really glad Twilight’s feeling better.” Dash sighed as she floated up to take down another curtain.

“I know! I’ll bet she’ll feel even better when Celestia lets her change her mane back to its old colors.”

Dash snickered devilishly at that. “You have no idea how hard it is for me to not joke about that.” She turned, and made a thoughtful sound as she landed beside her friend. “You know, Pinkie, speaking of manes, you really need to get a manecut. It looks like it's getting pretty long from here."

“Pssch!” Pinkie rolled her eyes and whipped out a measuring tape from her mane. “Look who’s talking, Dashie! If your mane gets any longer you might actually look like a girl!”

A blush materialized on Dash’s cheeks. “Hey!”







“I wonder where she’d go to eat?” Twilight trotted the streets of Ponyville at a brisk pace, eyes peeled for a brooding showmare at any of the outdoor restaurants. Checking every building for Trixie didn’t seem feasible, but she was willing to give the search a respectable go.

“Oh, bingo!”

Luckily, Twilight spotted Trixie just outside of a hayburger joint not far off. She trotted forward only to feel a pang of hunger as she drew nearer to the delightful aroma of crispy fried foods. It only made sense to get food for herself, too, she decided, and detoured slightly to the counter in order to get something for herself, as well. 

With her food in hoof, Twilight approached the showmare sitting by her lonesome at the furthest table from the restaurant crowds.

“I’m just being ridiculous… Of course they’re being sincere. They’re the Elements after all. Why can’t I just get over myself? ...No, I’ll just leave town again after this is all done with.”

Twilight paused from approaching at hearing Trixie’s whispers, but continued after opting to not eavesdrop. “Heeey Trixie.” She grinned as she slid nonchalantly into the seat across from Trixie.

The other mare looked up and nearly choked, mouth and cheeks full of hay fries. “Gr-lk!”

“Oh geez, Trixie? Are you okay?”

Trixie pounded her chest with a hoof, then reached in a hurry for her drink and took several long gulps. 

“Sparkle!” Trixie gasped. “W-What are you doing here? You always leave immediately to go work on the town library.”

Twilight rubbed a hoof behind her head. “Ehheh, yeeeah, but I thought maybe we could eat together. You know, and talk.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Of course. It will look good on our reports, too, after all.”

Twilight nodded slightly, agreeing. “Yes, it will, but also—”

“Did you finish putting things away at the wagon? That was awfully quick.”

Twilight frowned. “Well, Pinkie and Rainbow said they would take care of it so I could come join y—”

“You left the pink one alone with my home!?” Trixie blanched.

Twilight sighed, closed her eyes, and counted to three. “Trixie, Pinkie helped rebuild half of your wagon herself. I think it’s fine.” 

Trixie wilted back into her seat, ears pealing back. “Oh… of course.

Quiet settled over the table, and they ate in silence for a bit.

Twilight coughed, speaking up again first. “Sooo, good job out there with that finale tonight."

Trixie looked up from her food wearing a look that said she was curious as to what was going on. She shrugged. "Thanks, Sparkle, and good job fetching those glasses of water.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anything for a friend.”

Trixie’s hayburger froze mid-air at Twilight’s utterance of the ‘F’ word.

“A friend?” Trixie repeated back. “So we’re friends now?”

Twilight shrugged, smiling. “Sure.” She took a healthy bite of her food, acting as casual about the statement as anything else. "'f you want to be."

“Then, I guess we are,” Trixie returned. “It’s aggravating, though, really.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at this. Trixie’s hang ups over being friends really ran deep, and her notes on the subject spanned about five journals, so any insight into the matter always helped. 

“Now that we’re friends, it’s aggravating?” Twilight asked. “I thought our rivalry was the aggravating part.”

Trixie leaned on a hoof, staring at her empty fries box. “For you, perhaps. All of it’s aggravating to me.” She sighed. “Twili— Er, Sparkle, after our first encounter here in Ponyville, after I started to… get a little zealous with trying to beat you. I knew from your reputation that you or your friends would try to befriend me, first.”

Twilight blinked, unsure as to where this was going, but she nodded anyway.

Trixie looked over, continuing with a serious look. “You get what I’m saying, right?”

Twilight thought about it, but shook her head when nothing came to her. “Uhm, I dunno, Trixie. I always thought you just hated me.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Well, of course, but that’s not it… My point is, if I had become your friend—” She pointed a hoof at Twilight, frowning as she explained. “—then you would have won.”

Twilight looked away, nodding. “Oh.” She thought on that, and was forced to admit she may have failed in not seeing that sooner. “Oh, well, I guess that makes a lot more sense now.”

“Yes, yes, well the mind of Trixie is often beyond the understanding of other lesser ponies.” Trixie waved a hoof airily, smirking. “Nonetheless, it’s all in the past now. Soon I’ll be out of everypony’s hair and we can all put this behind us.”

Twilight took her own turn at quiet, thinking a moment on things. When she spoke again, she wore a coy smile. “I dunno, Trixie. If we’re friends now, doesn’t that mean I won in the end?”

Trixie stared back, then smirked, facing away from Twilight and her claim. “Don’t ruin things, Sparkle. I was just beginning to tolerate your insufferable presence.”

Twilight chuckled wryly in response. She took the bait, though, and fired back with her own retort. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you. Do you ever listen to yourself?” She smirked and lightly pushed Trixie’s shoulder. “Or do you really believe all the crazy things you say?”

Trixie turned back around, just long enough to get a good glare in, then harrumphed and once again faced away. “I’m no crazier than that madmare that makes all those gaudy clothes. Or the pink one, though with her that’s not saying very much.”

Twilight’s laugh was full, if a little hesitant over the prods at her other friends. “That’s fair, I guess. Still, crazy or not, I wish you’d give them a shot at being your friends, too.”

“Oh? Perhaps I could, but I doubt I will.” Trixie faced the table and and leaned onto it, abandoning her pretend anger. “I feel like we’ve developed a bit of a bond over our strife, Sparkle, but most ponies find my…”

“Pride? Bravado? Vanity? Arroganc—”

“That’s enough, thank you, little Miss librarian.” Trixie shook her head. “Yes, those things. Most ponies find it to be disagreeable. But they’re a part of who I am, and they’re how I cope with being a performer. Tricks are what I’m good at doing, and yet I’m a terrible public speaker, bad with crowds, I hate talking to ponies, and I’m… I’m overly sensitive. It’s a cruel joke, is what it is.”

“Being better than others protects you, you know.” Trixie crossed her forelegs, looking away angrily. “You lived in the capitol your whole life, behind closed doors, yes?” She sighed, whispering, “”Well, my whole life I’ve been an entertainer standing on a street corner or up on stage for a crowd.” She looked up starkly. “And crowds aren’t always nice.”

Twilight frowned as Trixie looked away.

“Crowds are whatever they feel like being,” Trixie mumbled the last bit. 

Twilight hesitated, not sure how to respond to all of what she’d heard; it was a lot to process. "Well, nopony’s perfect… But still, Trixie, you could try being nicer and more considerate to others in general if you really wanted, and then maybe it would just feel more natural. There’s a big difference between a crowd and your personal friends."

"Who says I haven't tried already, hm?” Trixie scowled and folded her forehooves grumpily. “Maybe Trixie really has turned over a new leaf and you're just too dumb to realize it?"

Twilight leaned forward, smiling. "Well, other than the fact you just insulted me... You're literally eating my hayfries right now."

Trixie glanced down at the fries held in her magic, scrunched her muzzle, then harrumphed and looked away, an embarrassed blush forming on her cheeks. “Touche.”

Twilight giggled at the struggling visible in Trixie.

“You’re right, Sparkle… As usual. But it still isn’t that easy. I can’t just switch off like some ponies can.” 

Twilight grumbled as Trixie took another magic-full of her fries. “Hey, as long as you’re putting forth the effort, Trixie, you know we’ll be happy to give you a shot.” She reached over the table briskly with her own magic and snatched her fries back. “One day at a time.”

Trixie stared back wide-eyed, until a sight that was almost unbelievable struck. An expression broke out on her face, one that didn’t contain any smarminess, held no air of superiority, and was completely void of sarcasm. 

The smile that was on her muzzle and look in Trixie’s eyes was profoundly different from any Twilight had seen before from the other mare.

“Thank you, Sparkle. You’re… a truly inspirational pony, you know that?” Trixie’s revolutionary expression disappeared in a flash then, as if she had abruptly and suddenly realized something. “But you had better never tell anypony I said all of this, either! Nothing about me, or you, or this friendship.”

“Aw, we were so close to making progress.” Twilight grinned. After a moment... and not stopping to think better of it, she blurted out, “Did you really mean it when you said you were leaving? As soon as we’re done with these shows?”

Trixie stared at Twilight for a good stretch of seconds. “I really don’t think I have a choice in the matter, Twilight…”

Twilight frowned at that. “Uh, what do you mean? You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. If there’s one thing the town really needs it’s some more entertainment. Pinkie kind of works herself half to death trying to get to everypony in a single day…”

Trixie tsked lightly. “That’s not the issue.”

Twilight scratched her head with a hoof. “I’m not sure I follow then. Why don’t you want to stay?”

Trixie sighed, getting up and putting on her cloak to go. “Because, Twilight.” She stuck the other unicorn with a serious, dour look. "The worst part of all of this, is that after your friends walked in on us the other day half the town thinks we're dating now. Heck, since I won't be the one stuck here to deal with the rumors, I might even egg it on a little bit before I go… Wouldn’t that be fun? Well, good night, Twilight." With that, she trotted off.

“Ohhhh…” Twilight wilted, shoulders slumping as she stared off into space as everything clicked into place. “Wait, Trixie? I don’t suppose you’ve got room for company when you leave then, huh? Trixie? Oh, come on! We both know Celestia herself couldn't get them to change their minds!" No matter what she said, the other mare just kept trotting, her head held high as if she'd won something. “Trixie, come back here! Don't ignore me! Friends don't ignore other friends! Trixie!”




The End!