NOt So Great and Powerful
It had been a long day, but at last, Twilight could relax. Equestria's latest Princess, although ascended to alicorn, had still tried her best to keep hold of many of the things that she'd loved about her past life. And above all else, was her love of books. So, with all of her daily duties and chores done, she'd retreated to her private study area in the Ponyville library, which had been her home for many happy years now. But, for as long as she'd lived here, she had still never managed to read every single book, so there wes always something new for her to learn.
One such tome now lay open before her on her writing desk. A history on Ponyville's founding by the Apple clan. Being friends with that family, Twilight was eager to get stuck into it. Her read through the first few pages though was interrupted by a sounds from behind her. Although annoyed at first, she smiled once she turned and saw that it was just Spike, sleeping soundly in his small bed. Smiling, she shook her head at the sight before getting back to her book, realising only now that it had started to rain rather heavily outside.
Still, she had little to worry about. This old place had survived fairly fearsome storms in the past, so there wasn't anything to be concerned about. Fluffing her wings out a little, she committed to pulling another all-nighter in this place. But, before she could even get past page one, another sound disturbed her. This time though, it was the unmistakable sound of the front door being knocked. That alone was strange to her, as it was unlike anypony to want to come here at this late hour. The sound had been loud enough to rouse Spike from his slumber however, and he looked up at Twilight with an annoyed look on his face.
She gave a shrug to him, indicating that she didn't know who it was either, before getting up and making her way downstairs, with Spike trying to get back to sleep. Once at the bottom of the stairs, she made her way to the front door and raised her hoof to open it. With the door open, Twilight's eyes widened with shock, for on the other side was a mare that, while certainly no stranger, was one Twilight had never expected to see again. Her fur was blue and her mane almost white, with a cutie mark of a wand and stars.
Trixie Lulamoon.
The unicorn was, at this moment, soaked from head to hoof in the rain which still poured ferociously, but she merely stayed where she was, staring at Twilight with a look of discomfort on her face. After what seemed like ages, she finally spoke.
"Princess Twilight. Can Trixie...come in?"
Although justifiably shocked by the appearance of the mare, Twilight soon snapped to attention and realised what had just been asked of her. Giving Trixie an unsure look, Twilight nodded and stood aside, allowing her in. The soaking mare entered the library and, once she was far enough from Twilight, shook herself to try and get dry. It would have been an understatement to say that Twilight had never expected to see her again, given the history between the two.
The last time they'd seen each other, Trixie had managed to get a hold of a powerful artefact, giving her incredible magical abilities, which she then used to kick Twilight out of the village and claim it as her own. Fortunately, she'd been relieved of the amulet and everything had been reverted back soon afterwards, and though reluctant, Twilight had forgiven Trixie for her actions. Her presence here however was still a mystery. Once the show-mare was reasonably dry, she glanced over her shoulder to the purple alicorn, her eyes fixed on the latter's new wings, clearly struggling to not show disdain for the sight.
"I suppose congratulations are in order...Princess".
It had not escaped Twilight's notice that the final word had been spoken through gritted teeth, so it was here that Twilight frowned at Trixie before approaching her.
"Okay, Trixie. Why are you here?" she asked.
The show-mare looked rather uncomfortable as she considered her answer to that.
"Well, if you must know, Trixie left her job at the rock farm some months ago to try and get her show popular again. The plan wasn't quite the success Trixie hoped for so she decided to instead look for work in Canterlot. A fine city like that could always use a good magic-user, so surely they'd accept Trixie for something."
Twilight rolled her eyes at her one-time rival's lingering bragging tendencies.
"But, the road to the city came through here. Trixie was going to just pass on through during the night when nopony was around to see her. But...the rain began and your house was closest."
The young Princess raised her eyebrow.
"Given everything that's happened between us, I'm surprised you'd want to come here, even if it was just for shelter".
Trixie looked away from her.
"In truth, you are the closest thing Trixie has to a friend, Twilight Sparkle".
The moment she heard that, Twilight's expression changed into one that even an idiot could interpret as meaning "are you serious?" So great was Twilight taken aback by that, she couldn't help but voice her incredulity.
"Friend? I know I forgave you Trixie, but every time we see each other, all we do is bother each other or do things that harm or humiliate one another".
Twilight hadn't meant for her words to come out as aggressively as that, but it had done so all the same. Trixie looked at her with a raised eyebrow for a moment before looking away and letting out a long sigh.
"Yes. And the fact that you of all ponies is a closer friend after all that should give you some clue as to Trixie's social life".
The young Princess calmed herself down after that. She'd let this mare into her home for shelter, albeit reluctantly, so she was going to act the good host until she left, however difficult it might have been for her. Approaching her, she pointed over to the kitchen.
"Do you need anything? Glass of water? Some food maybe?"
Trixie shook her head.
"Trixie does not need such things, Princess."
The show-mare glanced over at Twilight before continuing.
"But...thank you for offering".
It was a small gesture, but something as simple as a "thank you" from Trixie was already a nicer thing than she was usually known for doing, so Twilight nodded at her in acknowledgment of it. Trixie made her way over to a collection of book-cases, looking over some of the titles as Twilight used her magic to teleport her book from earlier down to where she was. Finding a nearby chair, Twilight sat herself down and began reading it once more, occasionally glancing at Trixie to see what she was doing. When she did glance, what she saw was the same thing over and over. Trixie would be reading a book quietly, then peek over to look at Twilight when she thought she wasn't looking.
Although she would never call herself an expert on reading people, Twilight knew something was up. But, she put up with it for the time being, instead wanting nothing more than to enjoy her book. Eventually though, she heard the sound of a book being closed, and looked up to see Trixie, whose face made it clear that she wanted to say something, but had difficulty putting the words together, as evidenced by her opening her mouth to speak only to close it several times over.
Eventually though, she finally got out a full sentence.
"Tell Trixie something, Princess. How do you do it?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, confused at the question.
"What do you mean? Do what?" she asked back.
Trixie pointed to her.
"Everything! You're better at magic than me, you make friends wherever you go, and you even managed to be made a Princess! How did you do it all?"
Twilight couldn't really understand where this was all coming from. As far as she was concerned, all of these wonderful things happened to her because she worked hard and tried her best to make friends. It wasn't some grand plan on her part, nor did she feel like she had anything going for her that she didn't just work for. Like she once said a long time ago, she was just "a regular old unicorn". Thinking on the question though, a thought came to mind for her, and she gave Trixie a quizzical look.
"Why are you really here?"
It was a suspicion that had been growing in her mind since Trixie first arrived, that she had not been honest with her about why she'd been here. And though Trixie's expression was clearly a look of guilt, probably from being found out, she quickly composed herself. However, as Twilight continued to stare at her, Trixie's air of self-confidence began to wear away, and eventually, she simply let out a long sigh. Twilight had seen through her, admittedly not very good, ruse. There was nothing left for her to do but come clean at this point.
"You're right. Trixie...I...lied to you. I wasn't on my way to Canterlot. I was trying to come...here."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, prompting Trixie to explain herself further.
"Ever since we last met, you've been all I can think about. I just couldn't ignore how much better you were than me at everything. You're magic was better, you make friends better, you're just...better!"
Twilight's expression began to soften as the once-confident mare looked down at the ground, with a look of utter defeat on her face.
"All my life, what I wanted most of all was to be good at magic, and for ponies to love me for it. For a while, with my performing, I had that. Then everything went wrong after that ursa minor fiasco a few years ago. And even after you forgave me about that alicorn amulet issue, I still couldn't stop feeling like..."
Trixie looked incredibly uncomfortable, which to Twilight meant that she was about to say something she really didn't want to.
"...like the one thing that brought me happiness just wasn't there anymore. My magic doesn't make me happy, and neither can I get other ponies to admire me for it like I could before. I just..."
The former show-mare looked up from the ground and right into Twilight's eyes.
"...I need to know how. How your life, your magic, your everything came to you so easy, while mine never did."
In all the times Twilight had known her, Trixie had never once shown this kind of vulnerability, not to her anyway. To see her this way now was unlike anything she'd ever expected of her, almost as though this wasn't Trixie at all, but somepony else. In that one moment, she could have sworn she saw the show-mare's life flash before her, a life always on the road, dedicating her entire life towards having ponies admire her for her work, and then for all of it to vanish because of her failures in Ponyville. Needless to say, it out her in a new light for the young Princess.
Thinking on Trixie's question, she found it hard to answer.
"I...I don't know. I've always loved magic, so I devoted myself to studying it. But that was because I loved it so much. As for making friends, I can't really say. It wasn't easy exactly, as any of my friends can tell you, but...I just never did all of those things for myself."
Trixie looked up at her, confused at her remark, leading to Twilight trying to elaborate.
"Making friends, trying to make my magic better, those things made me happy. But I never once did it because I wanted to feel better, or because I wanted ponies to like me. Quite the opposite actually. When I first came to this place, I honestly couldn't have cared less if they liked me or not. But when I made the friends I did, my life changed. I do all these things so I can help and benefit others, not myself".
The former show-mare seemed particularly taken aback by that last statement, as though the notion of doing things for others had never even occurred to her before. Trixie had done things for others benefit in the past though, like when she aided in Twilight's magic display the last time they met, but it was clear to Twilight that living for the sake of others was not something she seemed particularly comfortable with, or perhaps even knew how to do. Her next words attested to that.
"I...I'm not sure if I can do that. I've spent so much of my life trying to get ponies to admire me for what I can do...I don't know if I can be anything other than that".
Twilight looked at her with sympathy, which was not something she ever thought she'd feel towards her. It was not long ago that she herself had been in a similar position, alone and unable to make friends. But, just as she had managed to do it, so too did she know that Trixie had it in her to do the same. Realising this, a memory came to mind. It was immediately after her transformation into an alicorn that Princess Celestia had said to her that she was now a teacher, to spread the lessons of friendship she had learned prior to her ascension.
And here, standing before her, was perhaps the first pony she could pass on her lessons to. A pony who, like herself once upon a time, had neither wanted nor had the ability to make friends, yet now found herself needing some. Although Trixie was the last pony she'd consider for this, Twilight could feel it in her gut that she was the right person, in the right time. Knowing this, Twilight gave a smile as she approached her. She raised her hoof and placed it on Trixie's shoulder, gaining her attention.
"If you like, I can help you. It won't be easy, and I doubt others will be willing to forget everything you've done, but if you work hard and listen to what I have to teach you, I promise you that having friends will be the best thing that can ever happen to you".
Trixie looked at Twilight, at the earnestness in her eyes, and saw that there was no deception there. The Princess was truly trying to help her, even in spite of everything Trixie had done to her. She was surprised, shocked even. But even so, she knew she had a chance here. A chance to make her life better than it had been before. For it to come from one she'd caused so much trouble for in the past was unexpected, but even so, Trixie couldn't help but smile at what was now being offered to her.
"Thank you, Princess. I think...I would like that".
