The Princess and the Beasts

Chapters

Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V

Act I

“Spiiiiiiike!” Twilight rushed into the library and, slamming the door, she flew upstairs, where she was sure to find the dragon.

Once again her intuition hadn’t failed her; there Spike lay, curled up in his basket, snoring nonchalantly while Twilight was in dire need of his assistance.

Twilight stepped over to her bathroom and, on a whim, she turned on the water, let it form into a sphere via her magic and carefully levitated the precious cargo into her bedroom. As Twilight stood next to Spike once again, she floated the ball over his head.

Twilight grinned maniacally. “Wake up, Spike!” she yelled and, releasing her spell, she dropped the flood on Spike.

“Wha…what?! What’s going on??” Spike shot out of his now wet blanket and looked up at the alicorn standing next to him. “Oh, good morning, Twilight.”

“Seriously, Spike, with how often I have to wake you up like this I’m starting to think that you like it,” Twilight noted. “Now where was I? Ah, yes, do you know where my copy of Metamagical Spelltheory is? I thought I had given it to Pinkie Pie, but she wasn’t at home; I haven’t registered any checkouts either. It is of substantial significance that I find it.”

Spike thought for a few seconds, trying to remember who had last checked out a book like that. He nodded to himself, went over to Twilight’s bed and crouched under it. With flame for better view out and a quick movement of his claw later he crawled out, said book in hand.

The colour on Twilight’s face started to rival Big Mac’s coat.

“But, but… How did you do that?” Twilight stammered. “I’ve searched half the town for that book and you find it in five seconds.”

“Aww, Twilight, I’m not just your number one assistant because of my awesome looks. Professionals have their ways,” he said, a smug grin on his face. “I’ll be downstairs making breakfast. Want some?”

“Yeah, sure,” Twilight answered, still in utter disbelief. She placed the book on her desk and followed Spike to the kitchen. Being the good assistant he was, he had already prepared a mug of strong coffee for Twilight and was now whirling around to create a nice don’t be mad about freaking out for nothing omelette.

“What do you need that book for so desperately anyways?” Spike managed to ask while adding his secret spices to the dish. “I thought you had already read that one a long time ago.”

“That’s true, but recently I’ve had the feeling that there must be more to magic than just focussing energy and casting spells. I’m still at the beginning, but if I manage to explain the true workings behind magic I will be able to create a unified theory for both magical and metamagical phenomena.” Twilight was so lost in her fantasies that she barely noticed the omelette landing on her plate.

“Uh, that sounds important, but I think you better eat now, before you go on a research spree.” Spike directed Twilight’s attention at her meal and started munching on one of his gems.

“Right!” Twilight grinned sheepishly and took a big bite out of her homemade meal. “But after this I’ll go upstairs and I want you to keep every distraction away from me.”

“Roger, Twilight!” Spike saluted.

“Who’s Roger?” Twilight looked confused.

“Never mind,” Spike answered and continued eating a particularly tasty diamond.

_________________________________________

In the background the sun was slowly descending, bathing the sky in orange light, and leaving its place for the lights of Manehattan to shine.

A lonely azure mare in a slightly torn cape slowly pulled her trailer away from the fascinating scene into the darkness of imminent nightfall.

“Trixie is quite pleased with the income from that last show,” Trixie said, counting bits while walking. “It might finally be time to go back to where things have begun and do what must be done.” She opened one of her trailer’s windows and quickly threw the big bag of money in; after all a mare could never be too sure that there were no assailants waiting in the next bush trying to go after her hard earned bits. Although of course the great and powerful Trixie would have no problems dealing with them. For she was Trixie, conqueror of ursae, dragons and timberwolves, the unicorn who had looked into the depths of Tartarus and laughed at every abomination coming out of it.

“I should get a pack of timberwolves to perform with me on my next big event,” she said to herself. “Although that must wait until I’m done with this. For in a few days I shall be Trixie, conqueror of hearts.” She sighed happily and levitated a photo cut from a newspaper from inside her trailer. She hugged the picture and looked deeply into the eyes of Twilight during her coronation ceremony.

“She may not have invited Trixie, but during our last encounter Trixie definitely noticed the spark in her marvellous eyes; she knows it and Trixie knows it: we’re made for each other and there is no denying it.” Trixie kicked a stone into a nearby puddle and watched her reflection moving in the water. Her curly white mane, the radiating purple eyes, her flank, worthy of tales and legends. But she was getting distracted.

She accelerated her steps, because she needed to arrive in Ponyville before the moon was high in the sky or she would lose her chance to ask Twilight on a date for the following evening; her plans allowed for no delays. She had advertised her show in all of Equestria and she simply couldn’t let down her eagerly awaiting fans.

Trixie hummed happily, recalling all her previous shows. Because of imminent dangers like forests invading towns, gods of chaos rising and promises for eternal night, ponies went back to looking up at the tales of great heroes defeating beasts, saving the innocent and so on and so forth and Trixie happily delivered. So it occurred that, in reaction to those disasters, her shows flourished and had more spectators than ever.

After pulling her trailer across a river and pushing it up a steep hill, Trixie looked at the lights of Ponyville, shimmering far in the distance. Her target in plain sight, she mobilised her reserves of strength and went on pulling. Soon, her work would be rewarded; soon she would be able to let herself fall into a loving embrace.

Overjoyed, she started whistling a tune, ready to face anything life threw at her, knowing that somepony was waiting for her.

_________________________________________

“Your beauteous lavender form hath wrecked my heart, and since that day we first met—”“Could you stop trying to come up with lines, Luna?” Celestia tapped her hoof in annoyance.“But you know I can’t make any mistakes in this, sister. I have one chance and an eternal life-time to regret everything I do wrong. She’s seen enough of my bad side already; I want her to see the good too. Just the way she smiles every time our eyes meet, however brief it is, is just marvellous. I haven’t felt like this in a thousand years.” Luna sighed dreamily.“You’ve been on the moon for a thousand years,” Celestia remarked dryly.Luna blushed. “Regardless, I want her to get only the best and that’s why I can’t fail.” Luna paced around anxiously.“Don’t worry, Luna, there’s absolutely nothing that could go wrong with this.” Celestia was trying her best reassuring the younger alicorn. “Besides, even if things go wrong you’ll always have me to comfort you.”

Luna shivered at the prospect of lying in her bed, spotted with ice cream and crying into her sister’s mane. “At second thought, I might be able to make this work.”

Celestia noticed the reaction and poked Luna’s side. “Are buckets of ice cream and alcohol not good enough for the princess of the moon anymore?” she asked playfully.

Luna pushed Celestia’s hoof away, went over to her desk, picked up a scroll adorned by her royal seal and handed it to Celestia in a mock ceremonial manner. Celestia’s golden glow encompassed it and the scroll slid into her saddlebag.

“You just remember to send this off, or my wrath will be terrible,” Luna growled. Stopping her relentless pacing she started ransacking her wardrobe for clothes she would need for the special occasion.

Flying tiaras, horseshoes and dresses had Celestia take a few steps back. “Just remember what I told you and everything will go fine. She likes astronomy, books and magic; I’m sure you can find something to talk about.” Celestia dodged a platinum crown and, profiting from Luna’s sudden lack of ammunition, she approached her sister and dressed one of her alabaster wings over her in an attempt to calm her nerves.

The sudden warmth had the intended effect and, succumbing to the exertion, Luna dropped to the floor. Luna pulled herself up again, strode to her balcony door and stared into a far distance. Ripping herself from sombre thoughts she stepped back and turned her head to look into Celestia’s eyes. “I still can’t believe that you would be so kind as to allow me a rendez-vous with the most astounding mare in all of Equestria and I can’t thank you enough for it. I just fear that she will laugh at my plea, and then the whole town will point at me, call me names and I will eventually have enough of it, turn into Nightmare Moon, try to enslave the town and then you will have to banish me again and the moon is such boring place. I mean it’s my celestial body and I love visiting it once in a while, but I do also like being with our subjects and…” Luna’s rambling was ended by a hoof shoved into her mouth. “Shank you shishter.”

Celestia pulled her hoof out and after wiping it on Luna’s bed she glared at the dark blue mare. “I did not grant you permission for this so you could freak out over it. I’m sure that everything will be fine. You’ll go on a date, have some fun and if for any reason it doesn’t work out I’m sure it won’t have any world-ending consequences. Just go with it and you’ll be fine.” With that, Celestia turned, opened the door and left Luna to her preparations.

“Great, now I have to choose which things to take with me all by myself,” Luna grumbled. “Oh what the hay, I’ll end up on the moon anyways, no need for clothes up there.” She opened her balcony door and, launching forward, she spread her midnight-blue wings and flew off into the afternoon sun.

_________________________________________

Here we go, Trixie thought as she entered Ponyville. But first things first. She pulled her trailer to the nearby park and soon she found a nice secluded spot where she could leave it until later.

Freed of her heavy cargo, she started making her way in the approximative direction of the library; she had only been in this town twice after all.

As Trixie went further, she spotted the branches of her beloved alicorn’s majestic tree. Accelerating her steps, she passed closed shops, houses, trying not to draw anypony’s attention.

Finally she saw it: the wooden door to a realm whose wonders were soon to be shared with her. Only a few steps…

“Good evening, citizen,” a voice came from behind her.

“Who dare halt the great and powerful Trixie in her tracks?” Trixie snapped at the voice, while quickly turning around. Before her stood Princess Luna in full regalia, looking down at the smaller mare and grinning in anticipation of the usual reaction.

“It is I, Princess Luna of Equestria,” Luna said, mock bowing to Trixie.

The azure mare took a step back. “Trixie is truly sorry, Princess. She didn’t expect a guest of your magnitude to appear at this time of the day in a small town like this,” Trixie stuttered, blushing furiously.

“It is alright, little one, no one ever expects us to appear. ‘Tis quite amusing to see ponies tremble at our mere presence. Although rest assured that you have nothing to fear, lest your intentions are of evil nature.” Luna’s soothing voice reassured Trixie and at the mention of her trembling, she forced her legs to stop moving. “I am curious though, what business do you have at the library at this time of the day.”

Trixie ran a few thoughts and, after convincing herself that she could tell a princess about her plans, she started, “You might know that I have visited this town twice so far.”

Luna nodded.

“On every visit the newly crowned princess, Twilight Sparkle, has caught Trixie’s attention and Trixie is now here to conquer her heart, because she is the only pony that Trixie sees herself ever leading a life with. Twilight’s genius and Trixie’s greatness combined will grant both of us the power to make everything we touch gold.”

Luna was dazzled at the mare’s blunt manner to present things. She swiftly caught herself and, taking her best royal stance, she addressed Trixie, “Now it seems that fortune had us run into each other here in front of our common destination. It makes me sad to tell you though, that I as well am here to conquer the fair alicorn’s heart. For she was of unconditional kindness every time I met her and has filled my heart with joy. I claim my right as a princess to call dibs and ask you to step aside.”

Silence. Trixie took a step and positioned herself in front of the door. “No one, not even a princess will get between Trixie and her beloved,” Trixie bellowed.

Luna raised an eyebrow at her opponent’s surprising audacity.

“What’s going on out there?” came a soft call from inside the library.

The door sprung open and revealed a bedraggled lavender alicorn.

Both, Luna and Trixie jumped at the sudden appearance of their common interest and, rushing to her, they shouted in unison,

“Will you go on a date with me?”

Act II

“Mmmyes, Twilight, right there,” Trixie moaned at the alicorn who was lightly nibbling her ear. Twilight grinned mischievously and moved on with her ministrations, planting delicate kisses on Trixie’s neck.

Twilight flared her wings and pushed Trixie back onto the bed. “Oh Trixie, I’m so glad we chased Luna away. Now I can have you all for myself.” Twilight locked lips with Trixie, greatly enjoying the mare’s reactions.

The slow, enticing movement of their tongues sent Trixie to new planes of bliss; Twilight’s soft feathery embrace added and rendered Trixie unable to respond. Twilight’s fur pressed against her, moving in a slow dance; the exhausted breaths of the lovers between kisses; the vibrant air of Twilight’s bedroom; the alicorn’s readiness had taken Trixie by surprise.

Trixie traced a hoof along Twilight’s wings, teasingly caressing the taller alicorn’s feathers and eliciting sighs of pleasure.

Twilight ran a hoof through Trixie’s mane and looked deeply into her eyes. Purple met purple, and a whirl of emotions swept the last remainder of Trixie’s consciousness away.

“Oh, Twilight,” Trixie purred.

Twilight playfully moved to Trixie’s ear. “Thud.”

Trixie quizzically looked at the alicorn. “Pardon?”

“Thud. Thud.” This time Twilight’s voice was louder, slightly fazing Trixie and dragging her mind back to where it belonged.

“Huh?” Trixie shot out of her bed and looked around, only seeing the lonely walls of her trailer and the solitary window, which she had apparently forgotten to close properly.

She grumbled, and in a quick motion, she closed it and slipped back under her sheets.

“Right when I was getting to the good part,” Trixie mumbled sleepily and delved back into the realm of dreams once again.

_____________________________________

The sound of Twilight’s door slammed shut echoed through Luna’s mind as she slowly sipped her tea. Last night could have truly gone better. She should have spent the night at the library, talking about astronomy or her eternal love for a certain purple alicorn, but here she was: her back aching from sleeping on a couch and watching Fluttershy making breakfast.

Luna sighed deeply, drawing the pegasus’ attention.

“Oh my, Luna you should have slept in bed instead of taking my old uncomfortable couch,” Fluttershy noted in her calm voice. “After what you went through yesterday. Flying all the way here from Canterlot and then wandering around Ponyville at that time of the evening.”

“’Tis fine, Fluttershy, I’m glad that you were tending to a few bats and noticed me. Trust me when I say that your couch is better than sleeping on a bench in the park.” Luna gulped the rest of her tea, and looking up from her cup and out of the window she began observing the bustling activity of the outside world.

“Uhm, if you don’t mind me asking, what were you doing out there anyway,” Fluttershy asked between two bites of hay fries.

“Hmmm, to cut a long tale short, I was about to ask your friend Twilight Sparkle out on a date when I met that boastful excuse of a unicorn Trixie, who apparently has the same feelings for Twilight. Our fight woke Twilight and when she opened the door, we may or may not have just have both asked her out. Twilight didn’t take it all too well; it suddenly smelled like bacon. Soon enough, she slammed the door in our faces, and that’s when you found me.” Luna ended her narration.

Awkward silence filled the room. A group of mice hurried to their food tray and started munching on some cheese. A cat sitting on a higher position kept eyeing them hungrily. In all of this sat Fluttershy, muttering things into her hooves, a slight blush adorning her cheeks.

Luna took the can into her magic grip and poured Fluttershy another cup of tea. She solemnly watched as the pegasus drank it slowly, waiting in anticipation for something, anything to happen.

“I’m no expert in these things,” Fluttershy began,” but I think you might have overdone it a tiny bit with both of you asking at the same time.”

“I know, I know.” Luna waved her hoof dismissively. “The feeling to possibly lose Twilight to that Trixie had me overreact. Oh woe, with piercing daggers I attacked my beloved and by my own hoof have I shattered every hope at a future…”

“I really don’t want to interrupt you, but I think you still have a chance,” Fluttershy meekly interjected before Luna could continue her soliloquy. “I think you should go see Rarity. She’s the best when it comes to dating advice and I’m sure she can help you convince Twilight.”

“Oh thank you, my dearest Fluttershy.” Luna pulled the yellow pegasus into a bone crushing embrace. “She lives in that round building close to the library, right?”

Fluttershy nodded, and the last she saw of Luna was the trail her quick flight left in the room.

“You’re quite welcome,” Fluttershy whispered and starred into the depths of her cup of tea.

_____________________________________

Trixie leaned back in her chair and relished the vibrant rays of sunlight shining through the leaves of the massive tree she used to shelter her trailer. Birds were singing all around her, branches and leaves rustled in the cool morning wind and yet she couldn’t rid herself of the memories of her failure.

“Rushing Twilight like that... what was I thinking?” Trixie kicked a pine cone, sending it into the bushes. “I need a plan and I need it quickly before that pesky princess makes her next move and ruins all my dreams.”

Trixie paced around the small clearing, not noticing the cloud drifting through the clear blue sky. “Hmm.” Trixie tapped her chin. “I wonder if …”

A blinding flash of lighting and deafening thunder sent her flying.

Nature turned quiet once again, save for Rainbow Dash rolling around on her cloud in fits of laughter and Trixie standing beneath her cursing a set of deities.

“Oh Celestia, you should have seen your face.” Dash looked at Trixie, still chuckling slightly.

Trixie gave the pegasus a stern look and with a grin she dissolved Dash’s cloud, making her tumble to the ground.

“Ugh,” Dash groaned, “I guess that’s fair. Watcha doing here anyways? Back with another magical object that wants you to rule the world?”

Trixie frowned at the Dash’s remark and, walking to her comfortable chair, she tried her best to regain her composure.

Rainbow Dash followed her curiously and sat down next to her.

“For your information, Trixie does not plan to enslave this town ever again, but she might reconsider if domination over pegasi wouldn’t be worth a shot.” Trixie glared at Dash. “Trixie is here on a far more important mission.”

Dash moved closer.

“She wants to ask your friend Twilight Sparkle out on a date.”

Rainbow Dash’s mouth fell wide open; her eyes showed utter disbelief.

“And what makes you think that you can go out with the one pony you chased from town during your last visit,” Dash asked. “Have you talked to her about this?”

“Well, yes and no. Trixie asked her out, but that stupid blue princess butted in and asked Twilight the same thing.” Trixie fiercely kicked another pine cone.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you and Princess Luna both want a date with Twilight Sparkle? The most bookish and reclusive alicorn in all of Equestria?” Dash couldn’t hold back, and her laughter echoed through the clearing, chasing away the birds and every other creature in their immediate proximity.

Trixie stared at Dash, waiting for her to finally get a hold of herself.

“Would you stop making a fool of yourself and maybe be helpful for once,” Trixie hissed during a pause.“Alright, alright.” Dash wiped a tear from her eye and looked back at Trixie. “But first, why do you want to date Twilight so badly? There are a bunch of ponies out there that are more likely in your league.”

“I’m sorry, Trixie, but I can’t go out with you. I’d rather we just stay friends.” The ochre earth pony flicked back her green mane and headed for the restaurant’s exit, leaving Trixie at their table. Trixie held back her tears as best she could, but her quivering lip and her forlorn demeanour betrayed her suffering.

“Is that you, Trixie?” A purple unicorn made her way over to Trixie.

Trixie failed to recompose herself and looked up, her eyes a pink pool of bitterness.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” she mumbled into her hooves, not caring to move her head up from the table as she spoke.

Warmth.

She was startled by a rush of feelings, yet she didn’t pull out of Twilight’s sudden tender embrace.

“All’s going to be fine,” Twilight cooed, slowly caressing Trixie’s back.

“Thanks.”

“That’s none of your business, Rainbow Dash.” Trixie shot out of her daydream; reminiscing that particular moment at this time… unpleasant.

Rainbow Dash raised an eye brow. “Fair enough, but well, I’m not really known for that icky romance stuff. Too busy being awesome and such, but you should totally go see Rarity; she’s the unofficial expert for romance in this town.”“And you think she’ll help Trixie?” Trixie excitedly moved closer to Rainbow Dash.

“Probably, but you should go in the afternoon if you don’t want to lose your head because you woke her.” Dash smirked mischievously. “Her boutique is close to Twilight’s library; can’t miss it.”

“Thanks, Dash.” Trixie leaned back into her chair. “Now be a dear and let Trixie take a nap. She didn’t get nearly enough sleep last night.”

Dash shrugged and shot up into the air, darting off to find a few more targets to fill her prank quota for the day.

_____________________________________

Rarity pulled her pillow into a tight hug and let go a sigh. The good side to having such a considerate marefriend was definitely that she could sleep for a few more hours after Applejack had to leave for work. The fuzzy warmth of her blanket, enforced by the late morning’s sunlight, made her hum joyfully.

Not letting go of her pillow, she turned in bed and looked up at the white ceiling. There was no way that this morning could get any better…

An assertive knock on her boutique’s front door startled Rarity. “Who dares trouble my moment of fluffy serenity,” Rarity grumbled, and rolling out of bed she slowly made her way to the door.

“It better be impo— “ Rarity opened the door “—oh good morning Princess Luna. How can I help you? A dress for an upcoming event, or maybe something casual?” Rarity tried her best polite smile; getting her out of bed was almost unforgivable, even if it was the princess.

Luna smiled at the dressmaker. “Nothing of the sorts, though if everything goes right I may require your assistance in that matter at some point. I am here on recommendation by your friend Fluttershy. She thought you might help me plan a most important event.”

Rarity motioned for Luna to enter, and making her way to the kitchen to get some tea, she pondered Luna’s peculiar introduction.

Luna sat down on the couch and took the opportunity to take in her surroundings. After a night of hard work Rarity hadn’t found the force to clean the main room, so everywhere she looked there were still remains of the fashion mare’s craft. I think I know where I’ll get my dress for the next gala. Luna would have to attend this year for the first time ever, since her sister had so broadly advertised her appearance.

Rarity made her way back to the room, carefully balancing two cups of boiling hot tea in her magic. She floated one over to Luna and took place on one of her cushions.

“So, how exactly may I help you with your plans,” Rarity enquired curiously.

Luna shifted on her couch, took a sip of tea, with caution to not burn her tongue, and began telling Rarity the story of her nocturnal adventures.

A pause followed Luna’s explanations; Rarity stared off into the distance.

The fashionista searched for some way to wrap her head around this interesting outcome to the princess’ quest. “Princess Luna, are you telling me that you want dating advice from me?”

Luna shot her a smile. “I suppose that’s why your friend sent me here. She called you an expert in this sort of things and as you may know, I haven’t had the occasion to catch up on the changes to courting ponies that happened in the last thousand years.”

Rarity nodded, quietly making and rejecting plans. “Alright, Princess, I know what could work, but first tell me what you know about Twilight.”

Luna hummed. “She likes astronomy, books, magic; do you think she’d appreciate a nice poem that tries to grasp her beauty?”

“Alright, that’s good for a start. Yes, I think she would love some poetry, but don’t overdo it. Now for dating plans—“ Rarity squealed in excitement of her marvellous idea “—I think the best way to show your affection would be a romantic picnic; tomorrow evening if that works for you. You could try to do something special with the night sky, read her that poem and maybe make her a gift of some sorts to further show your affection. Oh, I can tell that this will be so cute.” Rarity squished her face between her hooves and looked at Luna, waiting for a reaction.

Luna had been listening intently. A meteor shower could be arranged; maybe some shooting stars. And a nice big moon of course; not too bright though, or it would make the stars look pale in comparison. A sudden idea struck Luna, and her radiant grin began to rival Pinkie’s. She tackled Rarity and pulled her into a bear hug.

Rarity gasped for air, flailing helplessly under the much larger alicorn’s form. Her need for oxygen was answered when Luna let go of her, blushing furiously, taken aback by her own unbefitting behaviour.

Luna cleared her throat. “Anyways, thank you very much for your assistance; I know just what to do to win Twilight’s heart now.”

Rarity nodded, still mildly shocked, and watched the princess quickly leave her boutique.

“Now this will make for an interesting week,” Rarity muttered to herself and made her way to the kitchen to get another cup of tea; her trembling hooves be her witnesses, she was in dire need of it.

_____________________________________

“Ugh, I don’t get this.” Twilight slumped down on the table. “None of these books give advice on how to choose between two ponies who are both in love with you. I just don’t get it. Why me? Aren’t there far more attractive ponies out there that should be dealing with problems like these?”

“Here’s another load of books from the romance department, Twi.” Spike stumbled under the weight of his payload. “I would love to help you, but I’m not sure how.”

Spike watched Twilight intently, worry written in his eyes. He hadn’t seen his big sis like this since that time when she had tried to figure out Pinkie Pie’s abilities. “Just try to calm down, Twilight. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

“I fear it won’t, Spike, if I choose the wrong pony I may regret it for my entire life, which will be quite long considering I’m an alicorn now.” Twilight skimmed through the books floating in front of her. “And the fact that I don’t know them all that well doesn’t make things easier either. I never even had the time to have a nice quiet conversation with Luna. The last time I saw her she was imprisoned by a mass of weird tentacles of darkness. Trixie’s even worse; the last time she was here she chased me out of town and tried to enslave everyone. It wasn’t really her fault, but that’s not the best time to get to know each other. And they’re both pretty attractive mares, so I can’t even use that as a factor. Every single calculation or statistic I made ended fifty-fifty; none of the books provide any useable advice.”

“Maybe you should date both of them,” Spike noted mockingly.

Twilight’s glared at Spike. “You know that that won’t work. Unless… Remember the mirror pool? I just have to open it again, jump in et voilà - two Twilights that can go on dates while I stand back, observe and find out who works best for me.”

The image of a horde of Twilights running rampage in town, chasing him around the library and multiplying over and over again crossed Spike’s thoughts. “Mmmaybe you should keep searching the books, Twi, I’m sure there must be some other solution than this.”

Twilight nodded sheepishly. “You’re right; the answer to all my problems must be in my books, because if I questioned that all our lives would become meaningless. Now where was I?” She looked over the titles, and after discarding a few she chose the most promising one.

Spike watched the flood of craziness slowly dissipate and went back to the romance department, hoping that at least Trixie and Luna knew what they were doing.

_____________________________________

A trip through Ponyville is a harmless, relaxing endeavour; unless you’re a showmare with a bad reputation and have to jump from hiding spot to hiding spot.

Trixie popped out of a particularly thorny bush to take cover in a tree, slowly making her way to Carousel Boutique. She could already see the door. Two jumps and she would have finally made it.

It had gotten late since her informative conversation with Rainbow Dash. Napping in the sun was a danger to every sleepy mare with appointments. Moving through town like this hadn’t exactly sped up her progress.

Trixie made a final jump and knocked on the door. Mane nicely kempt, hat in the right position, cloak ready for some action; but she would only meet up with a consultant, so why should she even worry about her appearance?

Inside a melodious voice asked for some patience.

Trixie worriedly looked around; no pony should see her, lest she risked a riot.

The door opened slowly and revealed a white mare running a hoof through her marvellously coiffed purple mane.

Her expectant gaze met Trixie’s.

Eyes widened in horror; both ponies took a step back.

“YOU,” Rarity yelled at the top of her lungs. “How dare you show your face after what you did to me?”

Trixie cowered on the ground; pictures of a mane turned green flashed through her mind; the look in her opponent’s eyes was horrifying.

Rarity towered over the mare. “What do you have to say in your defence?”

Trixie gulped. “Trixie is really sorry for what she did back then. She didn’t know better at the time. Can’t you forgive Trixie and take a moment to listen to her plea. She promises that she is a better pony now once and for all.” Trixie got back up and gave Rarity her most pleading look.

“Oh, fine. Nopony shall say that Rarity doesn’t give second chances. Come in then, but make it fast; I’m quite busy as it is.” Rarity stepped back inside, not even looking back to see if Trixie was following her.

Trixie entered. “The short version it is then. Trixie wants to court your friend Twilight Sparkle and she needs to outplay Princess Luna by going on a most wonderful date with Twilight. Is there any course of action you could recommend Trixie?”

This was an interesting situation. Rarity knew about Luna’s plans, but revealing them to Trixie was out of question. However, who was she to stand between her friend and her potential happiness. “Alright, Trixie, listen carefully. Have you seen the hayburger place when you came to town?”

Trixie nodded.

“Twilight really likes their burgers, so if you want a good shot at winning her heart you should take her there tomorrow for lunch. Make sure to bring her a gift of some sorts; I’m sure you can figure out something. Talk to her about spells, tell her about your shows and you should be good.” Rarity grinned. This plan could only go well.

“Trixie likes that plan; it’s so easy that it should work perfectly. Thank you very much, Rarity.” Trixie gave Rarity a hug and left the store to make her way to the library.

_____________________________________

Luna stood in front of the library, waiting for the inevitable. Making a princess wait like this… But when the one you’re waiting for doesn’t even know you’re waiting for them the faux pas could be excused. Nonetheless this was getting annoying.

Luna noticed an azure speck in the distance; her opponent was finally approaching. She noticed the frown forming on Trixie’s face as their gazes met and readied herself for the battle.

“So we meet again, young unicorn,” Luna said ceremoniously. “I knew that you would come back to this place.”

Trixie huffed. “The great and powerful Trixie never turns down a challenge. Even more so, now that it’s about a matter of heart and honour.”

Luna nodded. “Very well. I think it would be improper to re-enact yesterday’s events; shall we take it more slowly today?”

“Trixie always takes it slowly, but she agrees that we can’t stagger Twilight like that again. She proposes to play with open cards for now to ensure a successful encounter. Trixie planned to take Twilight out on a lunch date tomorrow.” Trixie took a step to close the distance between herself and the door.

“That’s a lucky coincidence; I planned to take her out on a date for dinner,” Luna noted, taking her place next to Trixie at the door.

“So be it.” Both ponies knocked at the door, intent on not making eye contact and waiting impatiently for the tree’s inhabitant to open it.

Spike opened the door and motioned for the two surprised ponies to come inside. “We’ve been waiting for you two.”

Inside Twilight sat on her couch, three cups of tea ready and watching expectantly as her guests took place.

“Good evening, Luna and Trixie,” Twilight said in a surprisingly calm voice. Nothing reminisced of the other day’s excitation. “I’ve spent my entire day searching for a way to properly answer your question, and I’ve come to the conclusion that, unless the two of you reach a consensus, there is nothing I can do.”

Trixie and Luna nodded at each other and Luna began. “Trixie and I have actually already come to some sort of an agreement.” Twilight curiously looked at them. “We have agreed that each of us shall take you on a date tomorrow. Trixie has something planned for lunch and I have made arrangements for dinner. At the end of that, you can choose whoever you see fit to be a better marefriend for you and the loser will retreat quietly. We only need you to agree and we’re set.”

Twilight’s smile expanded. “That sounds like a fair agreement to me. Very well, so tomorrow shall be a day of dates and decisions. But for now, let’s break up and get some rest.” Twilight stifled a yawn and solemnly looked in the direction of her bedroom.

Trixie and Luna bid her good night, gave an amicable nod to Spike and made their way out of the library.

“Let the battle begin,” Trixie declared. She was intent to win, no matter the cost.

“May the best suitor win,” Luna looked down at the smaller mare’s fiery glare and walked away for another night on the most uncomfortable couch in all of Ponyville.

Act III

Spike averted his gaze from the closed door. “I’m surprised you took it this calmly, Twilight. I thought for sure you’d faint when they said that they are both going on a date with you.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Would you mind handing me that pillow, Spike?”

“This one?” Spike brought her a fluffy purple pillow from the couch.

“Thank you.” Twilight took the pillow into her magical grasp and placed it on the floor.

She sighed and in a slow motion let herself fall onto it snout first. Her head rested there for a moment; the whole room went quiet. Twilight took a few deep breaths and, on the last one she let go of a high pitched scream stemming from the abyss of her soul. The deafening noise shook the entire tree, causing books to tremble and roles of parchment to fall down to the floor.

The library went quiet once again.

Twilight got up from the floor, single strands of her mane clinging to the pillow and looked at Spike.

“Feeling better now?” Spike was relieved to see some kind of a normal reaction from Twilight.

“Yeah, that’s what I needed right now,” she answered, her calm reclaimed. “You know, Spike if I didn’t know better I’d dismiss this as a nightmare and have you pinch me.”—Spike moved closer—“But this seems a bit too real to be a dream, and don’t you even dare do that.” Spike frowned and dropped his claw.

“It’s just that I still can’t believe that two mares like them could be interested in me. I mean there’s nothing special about me. I’m just an ordinary librarian that happens to be an Alicorn and slightly better at magic than others. I don’t see how that’s attractive.”
Twilight sighed and went to her desk. Maybe some writing would sooth her worries.

“I don’t know Twilight. There were plenty of ponies back in Canterlot that were interested in you. You just never gave them a chance to prove their worth.” Spike intently studied his claws.

Twilight looked up from her parchment. “Yeah, I know, but this is different. Neither of them cares about my status or me being Celestia’s student. Those opportunists always left me alone as soon as some resistance showed, but in this case both of them want to make it work no matter the cost. They even arranged it so that we could have both dates on the same day!”

“You know, Twilight I think there’s just one way to figure this out.” Spike paused, giving Twilight a chance to think.

“When we’re on our date I’ll just ask them why they are that interested in me.” Twilight shot Spike a relieved grin. “Thanks for helping me out, Spike. I guess I should be going to bed now. Good night.”

“Good night, Twilight,” Spike said, making his round through the library to check if all the windows were closed and the candles out.

Twilight found herself restless in her bed. Too many thoughts running through her head, too many things to contemplate. What was she to do in this situation? Don’t worry, she told herself, everything will be fine. Twilight slid deeper under her blanket and gathered all of its cosy comfort.

She contemplated her ceiling. Why was she doing this? Going on two dates really wasn’t like her.

“Oh brain, why can’t you help me with this?” Twilight sighed.

Maybe she was overlooking something. What was that feeling every time her mind wandered to the previous night? Was she growing fond of those two brash ponies? Being wooed like that was frightening, so unexpecting, but part of her was starting to like it. Two dates… the least she could do was trust them to do the right thing.

“Am I… no, that can’t be.” Twilight turned to her window.

The moon’s cold, white light illuminated her room. She wondered if Luna and Trixie were looking at the same moon. She noticed stars sparkling slightly, as if telling a tale only they understood. Moon and stars, united in the darkness of the night.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat; she sighed. What was that? This wasn’t her usual sigh of mental exhaustion. It carried something different, something new.

Maybe it was...

She groaned: confusing feelings had never been her forte. But for once it didn’t make her freak out completely, she reveled in it, took it in. It was warm, like the feeling when she used her magic for the first time. She knew that with this she could take on anything.

If only she could hold it. A cloud shrouded the moon’s light, leaving Twilight alone in the dark, prisoner of her mind. This was something she was more used to. The whirl of her emotions encompassing everything, attempting to drown her.

A gentle wind pushed the clouds away, reinstating the reign of the brilliant night sky. An anchor of pure light put an end to her inner turmoil, unleashing her mind. Soaring up high she overlooked all of Equestria. She watched the slow respiration of her body, moving in tact with the trees of the Everfree and the ocean’s tide.

The slow movement of the world lulled Twilight and with a last sigh she let go of the day and fell into a deep slumber.

________________________________

A single leaf gracefully danced in the calm night wind and fell down to the clearing. A pink hue illuminated the otherwise dark surroundings, giving the leaf a surreal shadow.

Suddenly a strong gust emanated from the magical glow’s centrum, throwing the leaf out of its plunge and into the darkness of the surrounding forest.

The glow became brighter, engulfing the shadows and the light of the stars. It reached its peak and abruptly disappeared.

“Ugh!” Trixie stomped a hoof in frustration. “Why does this spell have to be so difficult? Can’t fate be less cruel to poor Trixie?”

She turned her eyes back to the makeshift pedestal on which laid a slender silver hoof-ring. It was embroidered with an emerald on the right side, a ruby on the left side and a sapphire in the middle. The stones still had a faint glow from the magic they had been forced to absorb, but it slowly dissipated as Trixie waited for her magic to recover.

“Alright, let’s try this again.” Trixie sighed and took a step towards the pentagram she was using to check it for mistakes.

“This rune goes here, that goes there. Hm… Oh! How could Trixie not have noticed that?” Trixie lighted her horn and redrew a rune that had been incorrect due to a bump in the uneven forest ground.

“And this is why you should be inside to enchant things,” Trixie grumbled.

She stepped back and with a flick of her head she drew on every ounce of magic she had left in her body.

The forest was vibrant with energy and the pink glow was overthrowing the night’s peace once again. A whirl of wind started to form around Trixie, carrying figments of branches and leaves and lifting her off the ground.

One hoof up in the air, Trixie channelled her magic into the tip of her horn. She took a moment to check her position and, after readying herself for the rebound, she unleashed all of her force into a single beam, pointed at the centre of the circle.

The pentagram began glowing, emitting a low hum while devouring every drop of magic the unicorn fired. As the magical circle absorbed more and more energy, the hoof-ring’s jewels started pulsating in unison with it, slowly drawing from its magic and filling themselves with all their forms could keep.

Trixie noticed the tell-tale ringing, signalizing that her task was complete. Exhausted, she gradually decreased the beam’s size, letting it shrink into nothingness.

“Hah,” she huffed, “Trixie was powerful enough after all.”

She waited for the glow to dissipate and went to pick up the ring.

“And now that all preparations are done, there’s nothing that can go wrong tomorrow.”

She dragged herself to the nearby trailer and into her bed.

“After tomorrow, Twilight’s heart will finally be mine.” Trixie used a last glow of her magic to close the window and, before even turning around she was already fast asleep.

_________________________________

“Good morning, Luna,” Fluttershy chirped.

Luna mumbled an incoherent phrase into her pillow, trying to block out the sunlight as best she could.

“Pardon?” Fluttershy questionably looked at her guest.

Luna rolled around, her mane bedraggled and bags under her eyes. “I said that I hate the intensity with which my sister’s celestial body enlightens this room.”

Luna groaned and heaved herself off the couch. She took a look out of the window, only to perceive a familiar shadow moving around the cottage.

“I’ll go for a quick walk. Could you wait for me with breakfast?” Luna asked, already halfway out.

Fluttershy nodded and went to the kitchen to turn down the heat on the pancakes.

Luna stepped outside and after creating some distance between herself and the cottage, she took a right to enter the Everfree forest.

The place was ever so quiet, the only noticeable sound being the princess’ hooves breaking leaves and twigs scattered on the forest ground.

“I’m glad you’re finally awake.” The shadow stepped up next to her.

“Took you long enough to get here, but it’s good to see you.” Luna grinned. “But what are you wearing there?” She pointed at the black full-body suit.

“Oh, it’s the top recommendation in Pinkie Pie’s newest book: How to be a spy and get away with it. Don’t you like it?” The mysterious pony gave Luna a hurt look.

“It looks lovely on you. Black really complements your mane. Now down to business, do you have what I asked for in my letter?” Luna looked back at the cottage, worried that Fluttershy might come looking for her.

“Why, yes of course.” The pony held a flask with a mysterious pink liquid in her magical grasp. “But you have to promise not to use it unless it’s really necessary.”

Luna contemplated the liquid, planning for the best way to use it. “You have my word as a princess.” She took the container into her own grasp. “Are you certain that this will work? She is a strong pony and we don’t want her to resist this after all.”

“This essence won’t fail you and now get going, your host is getting curious and might come over here. You don’t want her to find out about this, do you?” The pony pointed at Fluttershy, walking towards the border of the forest.

“Farewell then, we’ll meet when all of this is over.” Luna hid the flask in her mane and hastily made her way to the exit of the forest to go back inside with Fluttershy.

The pony in black grinned. “Even after all these years one thing has stayed true: all is fair in love and war.”

_____________________________________

“Trixie?” Twilight gave her date a surprised look. “How did you know that this is my favourite place in this entire town?”

Trixie grinned. “Let’s just call it a lucky guess. Shall we?”

Trixie held the door open with her magic and motioned for Twilight to enter.

Once inside, a cacophony of sounds clashed with Trixie’s thoughts.

Children running around; parents shouting; employees cleaning tables and serving food. This most definitely wasn’t how she had imagined her first date with Twilight, but she was none to complain: her future marefriend was looking around blissfully as they made their way to the counter.

They dodged a couple of foals rolling on the floor to find themselves in front of a brown earthpony server with a greasy blond mane.

“Oh, welcome Miss Twilight,” the young stallion said with a smirk. “Will that be the usual for you?”

Twilight blushed fiercely, noticing Trixie’s unbelieving stare.

“Yes, the usual. What will you have, Trixie?” Twilight futilely tried to regain her composure.

“Trixie will have the same. How about you go look for a table while I wait for our food?” Trixie wanted to keep an eye on the overly friendly server.

The stallion decided to ignore her as best he could while placing half a dozen burgers, four serves of hayfries and two cokes on the tray.

“That will be fifty bits, ma’am,” he said, looking everywhere but into Trixie’s eyes.

Trixie’s jaw dropped. “Fifty bits?! You’re lucky Trixie is in a good mood or you wouldn’t get away with this outrageous robbery.” Trixie took her bag and handed over most of her money.

“No tip?” the stallion asked disappointedly.

Trixie turned around with a loud harrumph and taking the tray she made her way to Twilight’s table.

The alicorn, impatiently thumping her hoof on the floor, was looking in awe at Trixie’s cargo.

“Alright, here we go.” Trixie set the food down and, while she was getting seated Twilight snatched the first of her burgers and started fiercely devouring it.

Several foals had stopped their play just to watch the famous librarian take in what looked like it was her last meal before exile. Stories of banishments to the moon had been quite popular lately.

Trixie couldn’t believe what she was witnessing: her precious almost-marefriend, engaged in a battle against burgers and fries while she barely managed to eat her half of the share.

Twilight wiped her mouth after an especially juicy bite and noticed Trixie’s diffidence. She gulped down and, looking at her surroundings she became aware of the number of eyes resting on her.

“So, Trixie,” Twilight began, “how have your shows been going recently? I heard you’re quite successful at the moment.”

Trixie took a sip of her coke. “Yes indeed, Trixie can’t even find the time to visit all the places that want her to perform. It is marvellous to have so many ponies wanting to see the great and powerful Trixie show off her amazing skills. But she always has time to visit her friends whenever she feels like it.” She gave Twilight a not so subtle wink.

Twilight smirked at the hint, but the previous night’s worries crept back into her mind. “Say, Trixie, would you mind me asking a question. You know, even after all of this still I’m wondering why you want to be my marefriend, heck even take on a princess just to gain my affection. Aren’t there far more interesting ponies out there that are worthier of your attention,” Twilight blatantly asked.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie got up and looked deeply into Twilight’s purple eyes. “There is no other pony out there that rivals your amazing talent, beauty, intelligence and kindness and that is why I cannot be without you.” Trixie slid her hoof into her saddle bag, taking out a small silver hoof-ring.

“And that is why I want you to have this,” Trixie said, “as a sign of my eternal affection.”
Twilight’s eyes fell on the precious jewellery. “Oh, Trixie you shouldn’t have… I don’t know what to say.” A radiant smile split her face.

Taking Twilight’s hoof into her magic, Trixie lifted it and gently slipped the hoof-ring on. “Just take this and remember me whenever you look at it.”

Trixie grinned at Twilight’s reaction and she waited for…something to happen. Yet nothing happened. They just sat there, Twilight looking at the ring and Trixie waiting.

“I can’t thank you enough for this, Trixie, but I think we have to go now. It’s getting late and I want to rest before my date with Luna. Me falling asleep during that would be kinda rude and unfair.”

Trixie sighed and nodded. “Very well, let’s leave this place then.”

She placed their tray on the counter and followed Twilight outside.

“This has been a wonderful date, Trixie.” Twilight leaned in and gave Trixie a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re welcome,” the showmare stammered, the surprise at one dream come true making her blush furiously.
She watched Twilight walking back to her tree, lightly swaying her hips, fully aware of Trixie’s stare.

______________________________

“Twilight, Princess Luna’s here,” Spike yelled, hoping that the alicorn could hear him through the bathroom door.

“Thank you, Spike,” Luna said, stepping into the library. “Twilight, doesn’t know yet, but we’ll go do some stargazing and have a picnic. I didn’t find any blankets to use at Fluttershy’s, could you maybe look for something appropriate?”

“Yes, of course, I think we still have some old ones lying around.” Spike walked to the closet and disappeared in the dark room.

Luna took in the sight of the library: despite all the order it still reminded her of its inhabitant. Subtle hints like parchment on the floor, a number of quills distributed according to an unknown scheme, single books on the tables. It may be a library, but it was clear who spent most of their time in these commodities.

Upstairs, the bathroom door opened and down came Twilight, her mane shinier than usual and her fur nicely groomed, a light note of lavender girdling her.

Luna gazed at the apparition. She had been in love with the slightly disordered, bookish mare, not caring about her unkempt mane or the bags under her sleep deprived eyes. Twilight’s astounding beauty took her emotions to a new level.

Twilight became aware of the alicorn’s dreamy stare and gave her a slight grin.

“Good evening, Luna, it’s nice to see that you’re on time. Shall we go?” Twilight stepped closer to Luna.

“I asked Spike to get something we’ll need soon enough, so let’s wait until he gets back.”

On command the purple dragon appeared with a bundle of heavy blankets in his claws and handed them to Luna. “There you go, Princess. I hope those are alright.”

“They’re just what I needed, thank you. Now, Twilight, are you ready?” Luna took the blankets and, surrounding herself and Twilight with her midnight blue magic she broke the limits of space and teleported both of them to a hilltop outside of Ponyville. Why walk when you can use magic?

All across the sky stars were twinkling, the moon bathed the scene in a pale white light, giving everything a mystical hue.

Luna placed the blankets and silently the baskets with their dinner moved out of their hiding spot.

Twilight was delighted. She looked around in awe at the evening sky. Too long had it been since she had the time to just sit in the dark and look at the stars.

Luna watched the young alicorn with a smile and, quickly nodding she unleashed a shower of shooting stars, scintillating brilliantly before disappearing.

“Twilight, I’ve got something for you.” Luna’s deep solemn note drew Twilight’s attention.

Luna stepped forward, contemplating her creation for a bit and, in deep relieve that this part of her plan had gone perfectly she sighed and looked deeply into Twilight’s purple eyes.

“Each night while gazing through my restless mind
the fright of powers old and long forlorn,
in fortress doomed it had been torn;
soul purged to leave all foolishness behind.
The dark gate flooded by emotions fast,
a sombre whirl relentless, strong and fierce
devouring all and nursed by mighty fears;
the gates can’t hold, in shadows soul is cast.
And yet the moon in holy light remains.
For all of darkness’ fangs is battling one
who’s light outshineth all. Desire of my
relentless search for one who never feigns,
we met down deep . The purple eye has won
at last. Now moon and stars can meet in sky.”

Tears dwelled in Twilight’s eyes. She was breathless, overwhelmed by the amazing gift she had been given.

“I can’t even begin to thank you enough for this, Luna. No one has ever done something that romantic for me.” Twilight pulled Luna into a hug, drying her tears in the taller alicorn’s mane.

“I’m glad you liked it, Twilight,” Luna mumbled, “but I think we should start eating before our sandwiches get warm and spoil.”

Twilight nodded and, letting go of Luna she dropped her saddlebags, sat down on the blanket and took a daffodil sandwich out of the basket.

Luna smiled and took out two glasses and a bottle of aged cider. Since Twilight was busy eating she found herself responsible of filling the glasses.

So far the evening had been amazing, it truly couldn’t have gone better and yet she had doubts if the alicorn would take the right decision. Luna hadn’t been there to observe the first date, being too busy with preparations. Who knew what mischievous tricks Trixie had up her non-existing sleeve? She wouldn’t take any risks now, not after coming this far.

While opening the cider Luna sneakily pulled a transparent flask out of her mane. One drop would suffice. She filled Twilight’s glass with cider, but without catching her attention, Luna let a single pink tear meet the drink. Quickly putting the potion back into her mane she motioned for Twilight, who was still indulging in her meal, to take the glass.

Soon her lips would meet the mixture and everything would be over, she would have won.

“Noooooooo!” An azure flash shot from the close-by bushes, hitting the glass out of Twilight’s grasp and spilling the cider on the ground.

Twilight met Trixie’s panicked look. “Trixie? What is happening here?”

Trixie run a hoof through her ruffled mane and shot Luna an aggressive glare. “Trixie didn’t trust the Princess to play fair, so she watched your date from that bush over there. She didn’t want to interfere, but after she saw what was happening she couldn’t help herself.”

Trixie leapt forward and pulled the flask out of Luna mane. She opened it and, when poured on the ground, the liquid emitted small magical pink hearts, telling Twilight everything she needed to know.

“Luna, why did you do this?” Twilight’s eyes showed her heart breaking, tears welling.

“I, I didn’t…” Luna stammered, but soon enough she focussed her anger on Trixie. “How dare you interfere with royalty, lowly unicorn.” The use of the royal Canterlot voice fazed Trixie and had her stumble back, setting her hoof right into Twilight’s saddlebag.

Luna watched curiously as Trixie’s pupil’s shrank, only to widen suddenly while a magical buzz filled the air. Trixie pulled her hoof out of the bag and now she was wearing a stylish silver hoof-ring.

Trixie gave Twilight an unfamiliar look and turned her head to direct her gaze at Luna.

Upon seeing the midnight blue alicorn, Trixie’s pupils dilated once again and she shot forward, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“I love you, Luna,” Trixie screamed from the top of her lungs.

Twilight watched the grotesque play: her suitors in a tight embrace, one struggling over and over and the other pulling her back. Her heart ached.

“How could the two of you betray me like this?” Twilight’s silent tone carried more emotion than yelling ever could.

Luna tried to look past Trixie to get a better view of Twilight. The young alicorn was lost in thoughts, rambling incoherently.

“Twilight, please.” Luna tried to escape Trixie grasp.

“No, it’s over.” Twilight’s face was coated in tears, eyes broken, ears drooping. Voiceless sobs shook her limp form. The air around her became vibrant with purple magic. All emotions let loose, flooding the outside world.

There she stood: a sorrowful deity in the midst of a maelstrom of energy.

Luna gasped.

In a blinding purple flash Twilight vanished into the darkness of the night.

Author's Note

Much serious business in this one :pinkiegasp: .

Act IV

“Trixie, let go of me!” Luna struggled in the smaller mare’s iron grip. “We have to follow Twilight.”

“Twilight who? When I’m with you I need nopony else.” Despite the squirming Trixie managed to place a peck on Luna’s cheek.

“Oh, what in the name of Tartarus happened to you? Let go of me this instant or I will have to make you.” Incapable of stomping on the ground, Luna decided to glare at Trixie.

“But, dear, why are you so upset with me?” Trixie frowned and gave Luna her best puppy eyes, still not budging an inch.

“Alright, that settles it!” Luna summoned her magic and creating a bubble around her body she blasting Trixie away from her. However, before a nearby tree split Trixie in half, Luna caught her and brought her closer for inspection. Trixie dangling in Luna’s levitation, unconscious from the blow’s sheer force gave Luna the time to analyse the unicorn without any more interruption.

“Now, let us see what this silly unicorn has done to herself to be acting so strangely.” Luna scrutinized Trixie’s mind and body. The blue glow of her magic illuminated the hilltop, until finally her eyes fell on a small silver hoof-ring. “So that’s what caused us this grief.” She pulled the ring off Trixie’s leg and sat the unicorn down again. Sitting down next to her, Luna pressed her horn against Trixie’s, and chanting an old spell in a language long forgotten by all but the alicorns she gave Trixie’s mind a small push and the mare groggily opened her eyes.

“Luna? What’s going on? And where’s Twilight?” Trixie looked around frantically, searching the clearing for their purple friend, as if she was hiding in the next bush, just to surprise her.

Luna sighed. “After stopping my attempts at getting closer to Twilight you stumbled into your bracelet, setting off whatever spell you place on it.”

Trixie gulped.

“After that, Twilight freaked out and teleported off to Celestia knows where.” Luna finished her brief summary.

Trixie slumped down at the dramatic end. “So, what now? She could be anywhere and Trixie can’t stand the idea of Twilight being alone in the state she is in at the moment. Or even worse: she could have ended up in some dangerous place, surrounded by ferocious beasts, too tired to defend herself. We must find her, Luna, no matter what.”

Luna got up. “I agree, little one, we have to find Twilight, but first things first. What love spell did you use on that amulet to have you react so strangely?”

“I don’t really know.” Trixie blushed. “I found this in some ancient book. It just said that it’s really powerful and that it will work for sure, which it didn’t though in the end.”

“Of course it didn’t.” Luna gave a heartfelt laugh and put a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “You couldn’t know that alicorns are resistant to most poisons and spells because their magic is so much stronger than other ponies’.”

“Alright I get it. So, what now? Shouldn’t we go look for Twilight?” Trixie waved Luna’s piercing laughter off.

Luna gave a last chuckle and became serious again. “Yes, of course, but we shouldn’t search for her without a plan. Let’s go and gather her friends; I’m sure they know some of her hiding spots.”

“So be it.” Trixie jumped up, nearly losing her hat to the motion. “Let’s head back to Ponyville, assemble all of her friends and with their help I’m sure that we can get to her in no time.”

_____________________________________

For aeons Celestia has always had the same evening ritual. She would get a cup of camomile tea, a book of some sorts and lay down in her alicorn size bed with both items, to forget about all the hardships the day has brought.

However, this particular evening had taken an unforeseen development.

“What are you doing in my bed, Twilight?” Celestia slowly turned to her personal student. She noticed the purple alicorn’s dried tears, her broken magenta eyes and the quiet sobbing. She set her book down and pulled Twilight in a tender embrace.

“There, there,” she cooed as Twilight started crying. “Whatever happened to you?”

“I was there, and Luna… and then Trixie,” Twilight stammered incoherently.

Celestia let go of Twilight and wrapped her in a golden blanket. “Calm down first and then tell me everything when you feel like you’re ready.”

Celestia quietly walked to the door and ordered the guard to fetch Twilight some tea. The guard looked at her confusedly, not used to Celestia being still waking at this time of the night, but seeing the distressed look in her eyes he hurried to the kitchen. Celestia looked back at her trembling student and a wave of grief and anger hit her. Whoever did this to my poor Twilight will be wishing that I had banished them to the moon.

Twilight hadn’t noticed Celestia’s flurry of emotions yet, so she took her time and tried her best to regain her motherly smile.

A hurried knock on the door told Celestia that the tea had arrived. She thanked the guard for his haste and sat back onto the bed, offering the cup to Twilight.

Twilight glanced at her with blurry eyes and took the cup into her grasp, slowly nipping at the beverage. The taste of camomile with a hint of honey helped calming her nerves and the uncontrolled shaking of her body subsided.

“Why am I here?” Twilight asked, her gaze fixed on the bottom of her cup.

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Celestia pulled a few pillows over to get into a better position and watched Twilight intently, giving her time to recollect herself.

Twilight contemplated the movement of her tea, thinking back to the earlier events. Her eyes grew in shock when realisation dawned once again.

“Your sister and Trixie both tried to put me under the effects of love spells.” Twilight’s head sunk. “And all of this just because I couldn’t make a choice when they both asked me out. I’m so stupid.” The cup of tea escaped her grasp as Twilight let her head sink into a nearby pillow.

Celestia gasped.

The cup fell and shattered on the white marble floor.

“They did what?” Celestia shot up from her bed, eyes burning with righteous fury, her mane a blazing inferno and her voice booming through the castle, shaking its very foundations.

The door burst open and two guards skipped into the room, scanning it for intruders. They shrunk as Celestia’s burning glare met them and quickly backed out of the bedchamber. Turning back to Twilight, Celestia weakened her stare.

“Tell me what happened.”

The hearth’s crackling filled the void while Twilight focused on the last days. The scene would have been homely if it weren’t for the occasional sob shaking Twilight’s poor form and the blazing sun princess.

“It began three days ago with Luna and Trixie asking me out on a date.” Twilight mustered all her strength not to tear up again. “Since I couldn’t decide, they decided that it would be best if I went on a date with each of them and choose afterwards who I like more. All went pretty well —I had a great time— until this evening where everything went downhill.” The tears in Twilight’s eyes dwelled again. “I don’t remember much, but somehow Luna was trying to put a love potion into my drink and suddenly there was Trixie snuggling Luna and I can’t remember what happened after that.”

“Oh, Twilight, I’m inconsolable.” Celestia finally managed to put out her blazing mane and took a deep calming breath. “Rest assured that I will punish those two ponies personally, but for now there are more important things at hoof. I’m sure your friends are worried about you by now. Do you want to go back to Ponyville? Should I call you a carriage?” Celestia got up and took a step towards her desk.

“I don’t know… it’s just.” Twilight helplessly buried her head in another pillow.

“You don’t know how to confront those two eager suitors once you get there?”

A silent nod.

“I think I might have a solution for that. I will send a letter to your friends telling them that you’re staying here for the night. We currently have a special guest who might be able to help you.” Celestia took a quill and some parchment, quickly wrote a few lines and with a hint of her magic the letter blazed with golden flames and disappeared.

Twilight curiously tilted her head. “I suppose you’re not telling me who it is before we get there.”

Celestia nodded and, opening the door with her magic she walked out, her still awestruck guards huddled in a corner, and accompanied Twilight down the corridor to the door next to her old bedroom.

Celestia knocked on the door and opened it slowly.

“Who is it?” a sleepy female voice responded.

“Cadance!” Twilight busted into the room and pulled her sister in law into bone-crushing hug.

“I’ll leave you two then.” Celestia chuckled, and in a flash she teleported back to her room.

________________________________________

The evening was gone and night had descended on Ponyville. A gust of wind blew through the near empty streets, ruffling Trixie’s cape. Yet the refreshing chill flow of air was not unwelcomed after the stressing events of the evening.

Trixie took in the sight of Twilight’s gathered friends in front of Sugarcube corner. They had been surprisingly calm about being called out for a search mission in the middle of the night. Applejack nodded at Rainbow Dash.

“Now what exactly happened between the three of you to make Twilight disappear like that?” Rainbow Dash hovered menacingly above them, glaring.

Maybe not so calm, Trixie thought. She looked at Luna, but the Princess merely shrugged.

“Well,” Trixie began, “Trixie and the Princess may have scared Twilight off by an extensive use of magic. Unicorn stuff. You peasants wouldn’t understand.”

Rarity harrumphed, flicking her tediously coiffed mane. “Can’t be that difficult if you get it.”

Trixie glared at her for a moment, but quickly remembered her true goal.

“The great and powerful Trixie will ignore that for now. Anyways, rest assured that neither of us was about to cause Twilight serious harm, so could we please move on to the important things?” Trixie looked at them pleadingly while Luna nodded in agreement.

The four friends shot each other glimpses and on some silent agreement, they softened their gazes.

“Alright then,” Applejack spoke, “we’ll believe you, for now. So we have to search for Twilight and make sure that girl hasn’t gotten herself in some sorta danger. Here’s the plan: I’ll go look around town with Rares, see if she’s anywhere. Rainbow and Fluttershy, you check if she’s somewhere up in the sky, hidin’ on a cloud or somthin’. Princess Luna and Trixie, you go into the Everfree and make sure she’s not at the old castle or some other dangerous place.”

Everyone nodded as they were told their positions.

“Alright then let’s get movin’.” Applejack and Rarity made off to the outskirts of town, one checking every bush and doorstep while the other illuminated the night with the light-blue glow of her magic.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shot up into the sky, scanning individual clouds, taking them apart and going higher and higher looking for their lost friend.

Trixie meekly turned to Luna. “Do you know anything about that forest? I heard it’s a dangerous place.”

“We will be fine. Our old castle stood there and I know every danger by its name.” Luna smiled reassuringly.

Trixie shot out of her fright. Ursae and manticores can’t stop Trixie when she’s on a mission.

“Of course we will.” Trixie took her trademark demeanour, flicked her silver mane and turned around on. Without looking back, she made her way towards the looming forest.

________________________________

“Can’t breathe…Twilight” Cadance wrestled in the younger alicorn’s grip.

“Oh, sorry.” Twilight pulled back, and they engaged in their ritual meet-up dance.

After gleefully shaking her rear, Twilight looked back at her former foalsitter, grinning sheepishly. “I’m just so surprised to see you here. Why didn’t you tell me you were visiting? Is Shiny here too?” Twilight scanned the room for her brother.

“No, it’s just me.” Cadance said. “Luna invited me over, because she needed some –” Twilight started crying. Why does everything remind me of this evening?

She felt the soft sensation of Cadance’s wings caressing her back. Her former foalsitter’s breath on her fur, the soft heartbeat and the warm embrace calmed her aching heart.

Cadance pulled away slightly, not letting completely go of Twilight. “What did auntie Luna do to you?”

Twilight sniffled. “She tried to put me under the effects of a love poison and then my friend Trixie trapped herself in the lovespell she put on the bracelet she gave me on our date.”

The warmth vanished and Twilight felt lonely in the big room again. She pulled her head up to meet Cadance’s sad eyes.

“Twilight,” the pink alicorn shrunk considerably, seemingly trying to become one with the furniture. “I have a confession to make.”

No, oh Celestia please, no. Twilight near screamed in her thoughts. She didn’t want to hear it. One pony that wouldn’t betray her, just one.

“I gave Luna that potion.”

The world shattered. Somewhere a door slammed shut. Cold crept in from all sides. Twilight’s mind drew a blank. Breathe, Twilight, breathe. No, not anymore. All thought made place to her anger and its sole focus: the pink alicorn lying on the floor.

“Why?” Cadance shrunk even further under Twilight’s glare. “Why would you give somepony the tools to basically make me their toy? A puppet, no more, for the rest of my life.” The crescendo of Twilight’s voice echoed through the increasingly colder bedroom.

All went quiet safe for Cadance’s soft wimpers, desperately trying to recollect herself under the gaze of her assailant.

“It wasn’t a love poison.” Cadance mumbled, a last resort, her safety line.

Twilight crossed the distance between them, head ready to charge and tiny sparkles of magic forming at the tip of her horn.

“What? Speak up, traitor.” Twilight towered over the mare.

Cadance sighed. “It wasn’t a love poison, it wasn’t even a potion.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, her anger diminishing in favour of her curiosity.

“It was something that only I can make: the essence of my love magic.”

Love magic? So that means… “You didn’t want to make me fall in love with Luna.” Twilight’s anger vanished.

“Well I did hope you would choose her,” Cadance gave her a sad smile, “but you know that I can't make ponies fall in love with each other. All I can do is give them a little... push towards whoever they love. It was a gamble. I even told Luna not to use it unless she was really sure you were falling for her. It merely would have sped up the process of choosing one of the two.”

Cadance stood back up from the floor, pulling herself onto her bed. “I never should have meddled with your love life, but I just wanted to see you happy with a special somepony. And I kinda wanted to go on a double date with the two of you, have some fun.” Cadance blushed. “You can’t imagine how bored I am, sitting up north in the Crystal kingdom, listening to an endless procession of petitioners. So when Luna came up to me asking for some help I thought it would bring back some fun, give me a reason to visit more often and to spend more time with you.

“My magic would have vanished within a few days and you’d be left with somepony at your side. It seemed like a good deal,” she muttered, out of breath from her long explanation.

Twilight took a deep breath.

A second one.

A third and final one.

Everything’s going to be fine. It’s not as bad as I thought, not exactly helping, Cadance might need some therapy, but still better than the thought of Luna and her poisoning me.

“It’s alright.” Twilight sighed. “You only meant well, but you made things a lot more confusing.”

“Twilight, I’m –,” Cadance desperately started.

“I said it’s alright.” Twilight waved her off. “Besides, seeing how ambitious those two are, I should have been expecting something like this.” She feigned a yawn. “It has been a stressful day. I guess I should go to bed now, get some rest before I have to go back tomorrow.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Cadance eyed the purple alicorn suspiciously.

“Yes, Cadance. Good night.” With that Twilight turned around, pulled open the door and walked out of the room.

Out in the hallway, after closing the door, she groaned loudly. “Great! Another night with next to no sleep.” She burst through the door to her old room and slumped down on her bed, pulling the pillow over her head, trying to block out her thoughts.

________________________

Roots, low hanging branches and leaves. Lots and lots of leaves.

Chimeras, a hydra and a swarm of cockatrices. Oh Celestia, not the cockatrices.

Trixie had had enough of this forest.

For hours she had been following Luna around, trying to avoid getting scratches and bruises in the sheer endless darkness of the Everfree forest. Patches of poison joke sprinkled the outline of their path. The thick treetops blocked every source of light, leaving the two rivals wandering in the pale light of their own magic.

“Are we there yet?” Trixie asked for the umpteenth time, drawing a sigh from Luna.

“I’ll tell you when we’re there, now be quiet.”

Trixie harrumphed. “I’m sure we’ve already passed this tree five times. Just tell Trixie that you’ve lost direction and she will figure out something.”

A moment passed.

Luna halted her step making Trixie bump into her rear.

“Ouch, that hurt! Warn Trixie if you plan to do this again.” Trixie rubbed her snout.

“Could you please just shut up?” Luna turned around to face Trixie, her body shaking with anger. “You’ve been nothing but a nuisance and a hindrance during this entire search. Do I have to remind you of the hydra incident?”

Trixie shuddered. “If you want to play it like this, I can do that too. Remember how you tried blasting the chimera with your beam and only survived because Trixie was there to save you?”

“That wouldn’t have been necessary if the great and powerful Trixie hadn’t angered it in the first place.” Both mares started circling each other, assuming aggressive stances, ready to charge at each other.

“We wouldn’t even be in this situation if you hadn’t tried to poison Twilight, oh infallible princess of the moon.” Trixie focused a blur of pink magic in her horn.

“Oh, and tripping into your very own enchantment is so much better, you petty excuse of a showmare.” Luna blew air from her snout.

“Second rate princess!”

“Charlatan!”

“Sprinkle-butt!”

“Marefriend stealing trickster!”

“Oh go back to your own millennium, you old hag!”

“What could you even offer Twilight, you twenty year old virgin?”

Trixie winced, dropping to the floor and pulling her hat over her eyes. The shouting stopped and was replaced by a silent sobbing.

“Oh,” Luna said, snapping out of her rage.

Why? Trixie thought. I can’t help that they always walked past me, laughing, not taking me for serious. I’m just a simple mare too, despite being great and powerful. She heard Luna shuffling, felt a hoof being put on her shoulder. This is… comforting.

“I’m sorry.”

Wait, did Luna just apologise to me? Huh…

“I’m sorry, too.” Trixie heard herself saying despite herself. Hmm, this feels odd.

Luna pulled Trixie back up on her hooves and straightened her cape.

A hoof brushing that starry mane out of the blurred blue face. The warmth of entwined bodies, breathing heavily under the force of their embrace. The soft beat of wings, brushing against sensitive fur.

What was that? Trixie thought, baffled after the sudden rush of sensations. Her heart was still beating heavily. That was a very… vivid daydream. She confusedly looked at Luna’s hoof on her cape.

“Let’s move on to the castle and see if we can find Twilight.” The Princess, removed her hoof and turned around quickly.

Was that a blush?

“Yeah, let’s move on.” Trixie took a quick step, closing up to Luna.

Their magic illuminated the forest once again and all shadows were banished as they made their way through the labyrinth of black and green.

______________________

Her writing desk, the bookcases and her bed. All was just the same, as if she had never left the castle to live in Ponyville.

It feels good to be back here, especially right now. Twilight looked around taking in the sight of her old furniture. Purple was the prevailing colour: drapes, carpets, even her windows were slightly toned. And everything was bearing her cutie mark, the symbol of everything she was and would be. Maybe, but only if I can solve this conundrum.

Her bed was comfortable, just as big as Celestia’s, with loads of pillows and a few of her old plushies that were neatly arranged before she had cannonballed onto the bed and wreaked havoc on the orderly display.

“Let’s see then.” Twilight pulled a notebook and a quill from a drawer. “Do I still want to go out with either of them after this night’s fiasco?” Twilight drew a list, writing the name of each mare on one side.

“I guess so. I mean neither wanted to really harm me. I think.” She noticed she had been talking to an empty room, so she levitated her army of plushies and placed them in front of herself. Don’t want to make this look like I’m crazy, right mister snake?

“Alright, so Luna wrote that poem and arranged the picnic, while Trixie gave me bracelet at my favourite restaurant. That’s two points for each. Yeah, I know the bracelet was enchanted, but it was still nice, miss bunny. What else is there?” Twilight shuffled uncomfortably.

“Luna is a princess, while Trixie is a simple showmare, but I don’t really care about that.” She groaned and fell back onto her pillow. “Oh, this is tricky. Can’t any of you help me?” Twilight looked around expectantly.

“Yeah, I know you’re just figment of my imagination, mister otter, but you could still choose to help me.” She dropped her notebook and placed the quill on her nightstand.

“I might have reached an impasse. They’re still dead even, and no matter how many dates they’d take me on, I think that would never change.” She turned around, lying on her belly, head buried into her pillow.

“Looks like there’s just one thing I can do about it. That’s right, mister snake, I’ll just stay in this room for the rest of my very very long life and wait for them to settle the score in some way.

“I’ll just have my friends visit me from time to time, spend some quality time with Celestia and read books until I drop dead.” Another depressed sigh. That won’t work, will it?

Wait a moment, that’s it!

“No, not staying in this room, silly sea lion, letting them work it out. Since their scores are even they have to come up with a solution that will make all of us happy. Twilight grinned gleefully. “Thanks, guys, you’ve been really helpful.” Without getting up, Twilight moved the plushies back and turned around to look up at the ceiling.

I’m not quite sure, though, if this will help me fall as— She managed to think before her breathing steadied and a light snoring filled the void of her cosy bedroom.

___________________________

“And then he said ‘but I didn’t order the seafood’, so I took my salad and threw it into his face. And that’s why you never see any neighponese ambassadors during the nightcourt.” Luna finished her story, Trixie giggling.

After crossing most of the Everfree forest and finding that Twilight wasn’t in some kind of disastrous situation the mood of the two rivals had increasingly grown more light-hearted.

She’s not as bad of a pony as I thought, even though we still haven’t figured out who gets to date Twilight. If only this were the good old times where a duel could solve such problems. Luna mused, waiting for her companion to calm down.

Serious matters were at hoof. They still didn’t know where Twilight had run off to, and meeting with her friends had only revealed the fruitless state of their search, so they decided to make their way back to the library and ask Spike for assistance, even though the young dragon would most probably be asleep at this time of the night.

Soon it will be morning and I will have to lower my moon. Luna thought, looking up at her marvellous sky in awe of her own creativity.

“It’s a nice night sky.” Trixie shuffled restlessly. “When I was younger I’d look up into the sky and watch the stars’ silent conversation with the moon. It was so… refreshing, a break from my solitude. It was just me and the dazzling twinkling of my nightly companions.”

Wait, was that? “Thank you, Trixie, it’s nice to know that some ponies relish the sight of my night.” Hearing such words from a rival… a companion I should say after our nightly ventures. It’s odd.

Luna remembered her cause and accelerated her steps, already seeing the library in the distance. Her mane glistered in the lights of the late even, single stars shining brightly through the mass of hair, unperturbed by streetlights. She knew it was a truly regal display. Is she… watching me? Surely she must be searching my figure for her next tirade of insults.

“We’re there.” Trixie knocked on the door, breaking Luna out of her thoughts.

Steps echoed from within the library, someone stumbled down the stairs, and finally the door opened, revealing the purple dragon grumpily rubbing his eyes and holding a lantern in his claws.

“Oh, hey Princess, hey Trixie come on in, I’ve been waiting for you… kinda.” Spike motioned for them to come inside, and as they entered he closed the door behind them.

“Spike, do you know,” Luna began, before the dragon waved her off. His eyes showed some sort of anger behind the disgruntled glare of someone who had been awoken too early.

“I know what you’re here for,” he said. “And I hope you have a good explanation for this.” He handed them a piece of parchment, the seal already broken.

Trixie stepped back under the dragon’s piercing stare. Luna took the parchment and floated it in front of herself, so that Trixie could read it as well.

“Dear Spike,

Twilight will be staying in Canterlot for the night. If you meet Luna and Trixie, tell them that I’m very angry with them and that there will be rigid punishment for their acts.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia”

Trixie gulped and closed up to Luna, pressing against her.

I know what you’re going through, little one. Luna patted the unicorn’s shoulder sympathetically.

“Rest assured that everything will be explained at due time, Spike,” she said, gathering her remaining energy to resist the dragon’s fury. “But we just finished a march through the entire Everfree forest, so could you please give us some place to rest until the morn?”

“Couch. I’ll bring you some blankets.” Spike said coldly, turning to the closet to get them some warm blankets.

“Thank you,” Trixie and Luna said in unison, walking towards the couch and looking to make themselves as comfortable as possible, without any unnecessary bodily contact. They managed to get in a healthy position, curling up next to each other, and when Spike threw them a blanket, Trixie took it and draped it over them.

The dragon went upstairs again, taking his lantern with him and leaving the two ponies to the darkness of the library.

“I love you, Luna,” the unicorn said. A body pressed fast against hers, their hearts beating in unison. Fur brushing against fur, they stood as one, moon and star.

Act V

Light snoring filled the library. On the basement’s couch laid two ponies, curled up as much as possible, trying to hold on to what little blanket each of them had. The sun’s first rays scintillated through the leaves, giving the scene an unreal, picturesque glow.

Luna groaned.

Sleeping on a couch was one thing. Sharing that same couch with a full-grown unicorn was something else entirely. She freed herself from the blanket, trying her best not to wake Trixie, and got up, stretching her aching muscles and yawning generously.
The smell of breakfast suddenly invaded her nostrils, and soon enough she found herself following it to the kitchen.

“Morning, Princess Luna.” Spike didn’t even look up from his pan as Luna entered the room. “I thought I’d make breakfast for the two of you. Twilight should be returning soon and I kinda doubt that you’ll have time for it then.” The dragon smirked and added another pancake to the sizeable stack he had put on the plate.

“Thank you,” Luna mumbled. “I shall go and wake Trixie then, so she can partake in this.”

Luna went back to the couch, finding Trixie even further submerged in her blanket. This is going to be good. Luna grinned. Stepping closer to the sleeping unicorn’s form, she wrapped the blanket in a light glow of her magic, very slowly as to not wake Trixie prematurely. Levitating Trixie just a bit, she slid it beneath her, encompassing the unicorn in the purple cloth. When Trixie was fully hidden, not the tip of a hoof pointing out, Luna heaved her up, shaking her immensely.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” came a sleepy, nervous voice from inside the lavender prison.

“Thou art trapped, peasant. And now thou shalt pay for the damage thou hath done.” Luna growled in her most sinister voice, barely able to contain her laughter.

“Are you done playing?” Spike appeared in the middle of the room, tapping his foot in mild annoyance. “The pancakes are getting cold and I’m not waiting much longer.”

“Spike!” Luna threw up her hooves and let go of Trixie. “You ruined my prank.”

Trixie got up from the floor, disentangling herself and huffed. “So it was you all along.”

Luna ignored her glare and followed Spike to the kitchen, eager to start breakfast before Twilight would get back. I have a feeling that I’ll need it. She took a serve of pancakes from the plate and poured a massive amount of syrup on them.

Soon enough, between two bites, she noticed that Trixie had joined her on their last meal, digging in like there was indeed no tomorrow.

Spike watched the silent display of two desperate ponies trying to take in as much food as possible, munching on a few emeralds himself.

Someone rapped at the front door.

Both ponies looked up, gazing at each other in horror.

This is it. Luna got up from her chair, Trixie mimicked her action. They slowly made their way to the door.

___________________________

What’s taking them so long? Twilight thought, looking up at the slowly rising morning sun. She had taken the very first carriage available, driven by the desire to put an end to all of this. Well not all of it, just the mad part where everyone tries to control me.

She knocked on the door again. With Luna teleporting both of them from the library the previous night, she had forgotten to take her keys.

The door opened slowly, revealing a bedraggled Trixie and Luna, motioning for her to enter.

Looks like they didn’t get much sleep either. Twilight grinned inwardly. “Morning, you two.”

“Morning, Twilight.” They echoed in unison, Trixie closing the door behind her.

So far so good.

“Now, you’re probably wondering—” Twilight began.

“We’re truly sorry, Twilight.” Luna interrupted her.

“We both got carried away in the heat of competition and we kinda lost track of what’s within civilized limits. Please don’t let Celestia send poor Trixie to the moon.” Trixie added.

Gotcha!

Twilight paced around the two rueful ponies, feigning to study them meticulously.

She sighed, they winced. Interesting. “After yesterday’s disastrous events I have every right to send you off just like this.” Twilight waited for their reaction, both of them sunk lower. “But as it stands, none of us are infallible. I’ve committed similar errors in the past, so I know what can make a pony break the law and other ponies’ trust like that.” She put an emphasis on that, seeing as the two of them had been getting their hopes up again.

“Twilight—” Luna tried to meet her gaze.

“No, Luna, I’m not done.” Twilight glared at them. “I want to tell you that despite all of this I’m really disappointed with you two. Do you have any idea how much it hurt me, seeing how far you two would go…” Twilight steadied her breathing and regained her calm. “But when I got some distance from it, I decided to take it as a compliment; you must really want to be my marefriend if you’re going through this trouble and none of you wanted to cause any permanent damage so I guess that’s a start. But,” she raised her voice, “if I ever find you doing that again I will personally chase you to bloody Tartarus and I’m sure Cerberus will gladly guard you for a few hundred years.”

They trembled at her honest threat. Good.

Twilight took another deep breath and let the silence reign for a moment, giving her suitors some time to recover.

Morning light filled the library, and the only sound being Spike’s busy rustling in the kitchen, the library felt empty and quiet, despite the three emotionally shaken ponies in the basement.

Trixie and Luna shared a sympathetic look.

“So, what now?” Trixie broke the silence.

“Now you two go and figure out who gets to date me.” Twilight took a cushion and sat down.

Luna grinned. “I’ll shall go and fetch a judge for our magic duel.”

Trixie flinched.

Twilight facehooved. “No magic duels in this century, Luna.”

“Another pair of dates.” Trixie suggested.

Twilight shook her head. “That won’t lead us anywhere.”

Silence took over once again.

“We go home and live our pitiful lives, dreaming of what could have been?” Trixie was on the brink of crying.

“Sounds good.” Luna’s sad tone betrayed her true feelings.

Twilight sighed, restlessly thinking of ways to make it work. “If nothing else that sounds like a—”

“Hold on a sec.” A blur shot through the door and stepped in between Twilight and the two competitors.

“Nopony move! I have an alligator and I’m not afraid of using it.”

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight didn’t know if she should be confused or thankful for her friend’s interruption.

Pinkie stood in the middle of the library, holding her pet Gummy moving him nervously around, daring anyone to speak.

“No need to use your…pet.” Luna tried to calm the mare. “Now put him down and let’s talk like normal ponies.”

Pinkie took a deep breath, put Gummy back into her mane, and sat down in front of the three confused mares.

“So, Pinkie,” Twilight tried, “what are you doing here?”

Pinkie jumped up again, startling everyone. “So I came back from visiting my relative in Canterlot and when the train pulled into Ponyville I ran into a doorframe while my tail twitched twice, which means that someone’s about to make an enormerificly big mistake. Then my stomach growled three times while I jumped, so I knew it was somepony like really important to me having problems with their love life. And then when I got here I felt all of that itchy magic surrounding you, so I thought to myself ‘Pinkie, you have to act. It’s now or never.’ So I jumped through the door pulled Gummy out and stopped you from doing something horrifically stupid.” Pinkie ended her monologue with a gleeful grin and looked around expectantly.

Twilight’s mouth was agape. Even for Pinkie’s standards this was quite random; not to forget about another instance of Pinkie sense being used, but that was for later.

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘itchy magic’?” Twilight’s mind was grinding while Trixie and Luna looked even more confused than before.

“Well it’s like the one Princess Cadance used at her wedding to chase off those spooky bug creatures, just more…wrong. And it’s all over you too.”

Twilight gave it a moment. Who could have used magic similar to Cadance? I never drank Luna’s potion so that’s out. “Trixie?”

“Huh?” Trixie shot up.

“What spell did you use on that bracelet?” Twilight already had an idea what the answer would be.

“I don’t know.” Trixie mumbled. “Just some love spell I found in an old book.”

“Can I see that bracelet?” Pinkie seemed to be coming up with something.

Luna took the bracelet out of her saddlebacks and gave it to Pinkie. “ But be careful please, we don’t know what spell—” Pinkie pulled the bracelet over her hoof and giggled, while the other three stared at her in shock.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked carefully.

“It’s a doozy.” Pinkie grinned and pulled out her detective hat a blackboard and some chalk out of nowhere.

Putting on a smart expression, glee still written in her eyes, she started writing away, still wearing the bracelet.

“As per definition of Starswhirl the Bearded, a spell no matter how strong always wishes to fulfil its purpose and can therefore not be stopped by its user unless it necessitates a constant influx of energy as with beams and levitation.” Pinkie began, Twilight nodding. This was basic magic knowledge, even though it was peculiar to see that Pinkie apparently knew about it.

“However enchantments and such only need a one-time input and they’ll just run from there on. In this case, the magic used is a rip-off of Princess Cadance’s special magic and therefore it doesn’t exactly do the same as her spell.

“Trixie, do you love Twilight?” The unicorn nodded. “Then who did you fall for when putting on this bracelet?”

“Uhm, Trixie did—she felt this…fuzzy tingling spreading whenever her eyes beheld Luna’s form.” Trixie was stuck between confusion and embarrassment.

“That’s what I thought. The bracelet tried to enforce your love for Twilight, but since you already quite openly display that, there was nothing to add. Yet, since the spell had to be fulfilled it increased the love you felt for a second pony, and that was Princess Luna. Wow, you’re quite ambitious, aren’t you?” Pinkie nudged Trixie in the ribs.

“How do you know all of this?” Twilight tried to wrap her head around the fact that Pinkie had made progress where she couldn’t.

“I read it in a book, duh.” Pinkie continued smiling gleefully.

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Well last week was so suuuuper boring, so I thought ‘Pinkie, what should you do without any parties to plan.’ Then I came to the library to have a small party with you, but you weren’t there, so I looked at all those reaaaally old books you have here. And one had that funny looking cover and you know I like funny things – and cupcakes, but those are funny too, so I guess that doesn’t really add anything – so I read all of that weird magic stuff and when I put on this shiny, little bracelet it aaaaaaaall came back to me.” Pinkie dropped on the floor, pulled Gummy out of her mane and played with him, while Twilight still just standing there, puzzled.

“Hold on Pinkie.” Twilight’s eyes grew big. “Does that mean that Trixie’s also in love with Luna?”

“Eeyup.”

“And that’s the case even without that spell?”

“Yesssir. Or ma’am. My Princess?” Pinkie guessed, launching herself in a contemplation of titles to choose from.

“Trixie?” Luna had been quiet during the entire debate. “May we have a talk in private?”

The great and confused Trixie looked her way. “Yeah, Trixie thinks that would be helpful.”

“Use my bedroom.” Twilight exhaustedly pointed her hoof at the stairs.

“Thank you.” Luna motioned Trixie to follow her and they went upstairs.

___________________

The room was simple: a normal sized bed, some bookcases and books towering everywhere. Trixie could get used to this, but purple curtains with purple sheets? Somepony had a narcissistic streak.

Luna cleared her throat, begging for her attention. I have a feeling that this will be really awkward.

“So, Trixie, before we discuss anything else, what the pink pony said… is it true?” Luna’s voice trembled; she was visibly blushing.

Trixie looked down, focusing a dark spot on the floor, trying not to appear flustered.

“Before these events, Trixie would have said no.” Trixie began. Luna’s ears dropped. “But recently Trixie has been having some kind of flashbacks, of you and her... cuddling. Trixie supposes the bracelet’s effect is clouding her memory, but it’s coming back slowly. And… Trixie—no—I don’t think I mind. Then and there, as well as in the forest, it felt good.” Both ponies were blushing now, happy about the room’s dimmed light, the sun’s light barely transcending the thick curtains.

“I take that as a yes then.”

Trixie nodded coyly, very unlike her usual self.

“This puts us in an unlucky situation.” Luna paced around, contemplating the best course of action.

“Do you have feelings for me?” Trixie voice was barely raised, yet it pierced the room’s quiet.

I love you, Luna.

Oh, for the sake of Tartarus, not this again. Luna met the unicorn’s apprehensive stare.

“I don’t know.” Luna answered. “There is something, but I can’t pinpoint it. Something about you embracing me did feel…right. I don’t know if I love you, but it’s—”

Trixie jumped from her position and pulled Luna in a hug.

The alicorn was unsure at first, but that warmth was right; it was how it should be. She returned the hug with all she had.

“But what about Twilight?” Trixie regained her full consciousness after her rash act.

“What about her?” Luna flashed Trixie a predatory smile and batted her eyes seductively.

“Oh.”

_______________________

“What’s taking them so long?” Twilight restlessly paced around Pinkie.

“I dunno. Maybe they’re planning a super special surprise party for you,” Pinkie suggested, still playing around with Gummy.

“This can’t be good. What if they’re fighting? What if Luna accidentally banishes Trixie to the moon, or to Tartarus, or even worse.” Twilight stood eye to eye with Pinkie.

“Cupcake?” Pinkie pulled a cupcake out of her mane and shoved it into Twilight’s mouth. “Now chew, you silly alicorn. Everything’s gonna be superificiently okay.”

Twilight gulped down the treat. “That’s not a word, Pinkie, but thanks anyways. I’m all calm now.”

Her bedroom door opened and out came two ponies, grinning viciously.

Oh Celestia, what have I done? Twilight’s breathing accelerated anew.

Trixie nodded at Luna.

“In wake of the newest developments, Trixie and I have come to the conclusion that we have some kind of feelings for each other that we would like to investigate further.” Luna began.

Twilight sunk to the floor.

“Furthermore,” Trixie continued, “this also means that neither of us can continue to date you as of now.”

What? What!? Twilight’s brain stopped functioning.

“This being said we want to ask you one last question.”

Twilight perked up at Luna’s voice.

Her two former suitors grinned.

“Do you want to go on a date with us?”

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. You can find a post about this story and some other stuff over here http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/378619/story-done-and-other-stuff