Her stomach hurt. That was the first sensation that rippled through Trixie when she regained consciousness. Her stomach hurt. When was the last time she'd eaten? Oh, right, breakfast with Twilight...

Slowly, she realized she was crying again. Not the gut wrenching, stomach churning sobs that assaulted her the night before, but tears none the less, subtle and silent. Why did it hurt so much? Why couldn't she let it roll off her shoulders, like so many hecklers and jeers during a performance? Why was the world suddenly so cold? Why was everything was so cold?

Idly, Trixie wondered if any pony would notice if she didn't come back. If she stayed here, in her bed, never setting hoof outside again. Why should she? What was the point of going outside anyway? What was the point to any of this?

Her stomach hurt.

Twilight liked Daffodils on toast. That was her favorite. Trixie could make that. She could climb out of bed and into her silent cottage, where she would cook breakfast for herself and sit alone at the table and stare at the wall. She would get up, afterwards, and put the dishes in the sink.

Or maybe she'd leave them out.

It didn't matter. No one was around to care. She could spend all day in bed if she wanted to, and nopony would notice. That sounded ok. She didn't feel hungry anyway. She could ignore her tummy and drift back to sleep. Back to restless dreams and lonely nightmares. And that sounded ok, too. Maybe she could sleep forever. That would be ok. It would be easier that way, and she was so tired.

The smell of something burning rippled through the air.

Was there a fire? Maybe something was wrong? Trixie opened an eye. Maybe the fire would swallow her up. That sounded ok, too. Her little cottage would burn down, and the wagon, her silly magic tricks and props. Her cape and her hat. All of it would be gone. Burnt up and vanished and gone. Yeah. That sounded ok.

There was a crash outside of her door. Bandits? Some highway ponies that came across her little hidden wagon in Everfree forest and figured out how to travel into her enchanted portrait? Sure. Why not. That made sense. Wait. No it didn't. Bandits? Robbers in her cottage? That seemed unlikely. No pony would know that the portrait would lead to an enchanted scene with a cottage. It was highly unlikely anypony would ever take a second glance at a portrait...unless...they knew it's secret.

...

Trixie ripped herself out of bed with a strength she didn't know she had, and scrambled to her bed room door and threw it open.

pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease...

The book on the counter read: An art to dueling, volume 33, with a purple ribbon wrapped around it. The smoke from the stove billowed up in huge, wet fluttering clouds, and Twilight was frantically trying to put out a fire on the skillet, spilling a bowl of Rainbow berries all over the floor as she tried her best to get the kitchen under her control.

Twilight.

Trixie's eyes were blurry again- her vision swimming. Not because of the Mana sickness, but the fresh, wet tears that rolled down her cheeks. It was cruelty at it's finest, Trixie realized. Twilight had returned, but for what? Just to laugh at her, Trixie surmised. Just to dangle that life she dreamed of in front of her face like a carrot. Why? Why did she come back!? Trixie had KIDNAPPED her! Threatened to torture her! Threatened to make her suffer, and never let her see her friends again! WHY HAD SHE COME BACK, IF NOT TO TORMENT TRIXIE? To tease her, to laugh at her, to revel in her suffering isolation. That was the only answer. It was too cruel. Trixie couldn't stand it. She dropped to her knees, and tried to figure out how her mouth worked, but only raw and sputtered words spilled free.

"Why....T, Twilight...why..." Trixie sputtered, her voice choked with her own tears. Twilight (Who had finally managed to put out the grease fire on the stove) Slowly turned around at stared at the sobbing unicorn. Trixie shook her head. She couldn't figure out what was happening, but it felt like her heart was splitting in two. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. There was no reason for Twilight to be standing in her kitchen. No reason what so ever for them to ever see one and other again- and yet here she was.

Slowly, Twilight approached the crying filly and stopped directly in front of her, peering down at her with tears in her own eyes. Silently, she knelt down until she was at eye level, reached out, and wrapped her arms around the other girl, pulling her into a tight hug.

They stayed like that. Minutes. Maybe hours. Trixie wasn't sure, but Twilight didn't let go. She held on until Trixie's tears dried, and the only thing she could remember was Twilight's embrace.

"I'm so sorry." Twilight whispered. Trixie shook her head, but the words wouldn't come out. There were no words. So they shared none. Twilight didn't know what to say. Pinkie would have said something funny. Applejack would have said something honest. Rarity? Something romantic, probably. Rainbow Dash would just be blunt. Fluttershy would say something kind. But none of those seemed like the right thing to say. None of them seemed fitting, and Twilight was at a loss. Still, she held onto Trixie- the filly needed her, and thats all she cared about. They had started as bitter rivals, and now...now Twilight found herself sitting on the floor of a cottage, in the middle of the Everfree forest, holding Trixie Lulamoon against her as tightly as she could.

Slowly, Twilight eventually pulled away and took a few steps back, looking Trixie over. Her cheeks started to flush warm and she turned her back, before Trixie could ask what was going on- Twilight started to speak.

"I'm...I'm not very good at this." She sputtered quietly. "I was really really mad when I found out what you did to me. You kidnapped me and put me in a painting, with you for an entire week." Twilight explained. Her voice was soft and shuddery, oddly enough.

"But I...I'm not mad anymore. Because we dueled, and read books and um...I...really had a lot of fun, actually. And um...I guess...I never really...had another pony who understands magic. So I came back. I just...I had too. I couldn't just leave you here sick, and...and I realized that...you're my friend. I don't even know when it happened but...Trixie? You mean a lot to me." Twilight explained, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"All the books, all the magic, all the studying. Even if we study different things, we both study a lot. I don't have any friends that are so good at magic. I mean, the illusions you showed me were spectacular, and I, I never got to duel before. I never got to really put effort into figuring out unique ways of casting spells. I never got to read something and then immediately try to apply it in a situation like our duel, it was such an exciting experience! I could take notes on it all day! And I've never seen magic like yours before. The concentration needed to focus all those illusions, AND tell a story, AND conjure items... I...I could study you all day." Twilight forced each word out, her cheeks blazing- and if she had turned around- she'd have noticed the same condition in Trixie. There was a long silence that filled the room. Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It really was a strange kind of magic...

"So...I was thinking...I could um, use a place to study sometimes. When I'm not trying to save the world, or deal with parties, or apples, or dresses or animals, or rainbows. The library is nice, but sometimes, it gets really busy and I could use someplace really quiet...Do you think...maybe...I could stay here? Every now and then?" Twilight asked shyly. Trixie shuddered, unable to speak, her stomach curving in on itself at the proposal.Twilight's ears perked when Trixie said nothing and she swallowed. Had she over stepped her boundaries? Said something stupid? She was asking a pony who kidnapped her if she could stay over? What was she thinking?! She was so dumb!!

"...I, if not that's ok too. I didn't mean, I mean, this is stupid. This is dumb. I'm dumb! I, I'm sorry!" Twilight squeaked suddenly, and raced forward, past Trixie and into her room. The Portrait!!

The tackle came out of nowhere- Twilight had not predicted Trixie's strength or speed with the poor girl suffering from Mana sickness- but tackled she was, the two of them crashing into Trixie's bedroom in a tangle of arms and legs, squeaks and yelps.

"Don't go!" Trixie sobbed, and suddenly they were holding each other again. Tightly. Trixie wouldn't let go. She wouldn't lose this again. Never again. "I'm sorry, I, I'm so sorry, Twilight, I didn't...it wasn't supposed to...I, I don't know what I'm doing..."Trixie blurted out. To her surprise, Twilight pulled back, until they were nose to nose and nodded her head.

Twilight swallowed and nodded her head, a sly grin slowly wrapping its way around her lips. "Me either. Friendship is a really hard magic to learn sometimes, But if anything, I'm really good at studying, and we're both really good at magic. It's our element." Twilight smiled. Trixie nodded her head shyly, cheeks a vibrant tinge of crimson.

"W, well maybe you could use a study buddy? We could compare notes and practice. Maybe we could explore this magic....um...together..." She stammered. The smile Twilight gave Trixie burned its way deep into her heart, and she knew, from that moment on, she'd never be lonely again. Twilight blushed deeply and slowly nodded her head.

"I...I would love to be your study buddy, Trixie." Twilight whispered, holding Trixie in her arms.

The kiss caught her off guard. Impetuous and passionate, Trixie's lips suddenly and furiously mashed against Twilight's. Awkward. That was the perfect word to describe it. Awkward. Twilight didn't kiss back. She sat there, frozen in place, wide eyed and shocked. Trixie's kiss wasn't terribly romantic- not practiced or invited- just eager and raw. She pulled back after a few seconds, and the silence weaved through them again. It wasn't like in the cheesy romance novels Rarity lined her shelves with, nor was it like the stories Trixie heard while on the road. A first kiss wasn't magical. It wasn't incredible.

It was just awkward.

Trixie had gone off script. Tried something new. An impromptu act without a planted audience member. Something that froze her heart solid, when she took note of the confused expression on Twilight's face. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. This wasn't right at all!

"I...I'm s...sor.."Trixie sputtered, but Twilight turned away from her- peering at the portrait quietly, keeping her back to her- while her muzzle turned from purple to scarlet.

"..." It was torture. Again. Something horrid and soul crushing and decimating. Pounding in her ears, and stabbing at her heart, Trixie watched in horror as Twilight shook her head slowly.

"I...don't...I'm not sure....um...I've never..." Twilight stammered before taking a deep breath. She turned around, and stared at Trixie for a few moments. Not like the romance books at all. Not like the stories. It wasn't love at first sight, and it wasn't something that burned passionately in her heart.

But there was something there. Twilight just didn't know what it was. Quietly, she smiled, leaned forward and to Trixie's surprise, pecked her gently on the cheek.

"Lets...start with Study Buddies. And then...see where we go from there...ok?" Twilight asked. Trixie nodded her head sheepishly, and yelped when Twilight pulled her into a sudden, squeezing hug.

"And I'm really good at studying." She whispered. Trixie's ears perked and a smile slowly crept across her red flushed face.

That one single sentence was all it took.

To make her blood boil.

Author's Note

Annnnnnnnnd we're done!

...

Thank you SO much for reading! Lady Rarity hopes you enjoyed her silly little romantic fiction. No, Twilight and Trixie aren't going to sex each other up (in this story), they aren't madly in love with each other- they're stumbling into a relationship together, trying to get through it, and learning at the same time. Young love, darlings. The kind that blossoms into something real, or something unimaginably tragic- but thats the entire point, isn't it? The journey. Hopefully, these two will have a fantastic one, regardless of what happens.

Thank you for reading <3