It was such a simple question
“Why don’t you do it?”
It had been such a simple question. She had planned on asking it ever since she’d set up her lunch meeting with Twilight, after all. What she hadn’t planned on, was Twilight going off on an unbelievably long tangent that seemed to be about everything but the topic at hand. From her new friendship with Starlight Glimmer to her upcoming show in Manehattan, Trixie listened intently as Twilight let her thoughts fly.
It didn’t take long for it to grow old. “Twilight?”
“Hm?” The alicorn paused, then blushed when she noticed the look the pony opposite her had on her face. “Oh, heh, sorry. I didn’t really answer your question, did I?”
“It’s alright. Trixie is just glad that you agreed to meet her,” Trixie admitted, stirring her drink around with the straw. Even after all these years, she was still referring to herself in the third person. Twilight wasn’t sure whether the scholar in her found it annoying, or the pony in her found it endearing. “Especially after all the trouble I’ve caused your town…”
Twilight frowned. “Don’t talk like that, Trixie. I’ve done some thinking and, well…” She let out a sigh before continuing. “It was unfair of me to try to keep Starlight from talking to you. If you two want to be friends, that’s none of my business.”
Trixie smiled. She had already heard Twilight say that, but hearing it again made her feel somewhat… safe. As if she wouldn’t have to do anything else to prove that she was sorry. “Trixie is glad that you see it that way. She never meant to hurt Starlight.”
“Starlight knows that, and she’s already forgiven you,” Twilight reminded Trixie, returning the unicorn’s smile. “You need to learn to forgive yourself, Trixie.”
“You still haven’t answered my question, though.”
Twilight rubbed the back of her head, chuckling lightheartedly. “I actually kind of forgot what it was that you asked…”
Trixie giggled at that. “I wanted to know why you don’t perform, as Trixie does?”
Twilight’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape, and she sounded a bit flustered as she tried to stammer out a reply. “Oh, well, um…”
“You’re clearly more magically gifted than Trixie is,” Trixie complimented her. The alicorn blushed, and Trixie went on. “And the ponies around you always seem to be amazed by your magical prowess.”
Twilight sighed. “When I was a filly, I wanted nothing more than to be one of Princess Celestia’s prized pupils. I wanted to make my family proud,” she recalled with a smile. “And they were. Mom said that she never would have thought one of her kids would be as magically gifted as Shiny and I ended up being.”
“I'm sure she’s even more proud now that you’re a crowned Princess.”
Twilight nodded. “I guess that’s enough for me, though. I never liked to show off my talent. Maybe that’s a side effect of being a shut-in for about ten years of my life,” she chuckled. Trixie raised an eyebrow at that.
“You were a shut-in?” She asked, confused. Every time she had seen Twilight, the studious purple pony had been with a friend, or out and about. In fact, this was the first time in a while that she and Twilight had had any extended interactions alone. “Trixie always assumed the other Element bearers were lifelong friends of yours.”
Shaking her head, Twilight replied, “Nope. I actually only met them because Princess Celestia forced me to come here a few years ago. If she hadn’t, well… who knows what Equestria might be like now.”
“I’m sure the Elements would have chosen another group,” Trixie guessed. She had no clue if that was actually true, though. What Trixie did know, was that they couldn’t have picked a better group of friends. Of course, she’d never admit that to Twilight, or any other pony for that matter. “Do you think you would still be friends with them, if not for the Elements?”
Twilight didn’t hesitate at all to answer that question with a nod. “I do. I think that the Elements picked us because we were destined to become close friends anyways. Why do you want to know about our friendship, though?” Twilight asked, a puzzled expression finding its way onto her face.
“Trixie wishes to know what it’s like to have someone she can call a friend. Until I met Starlight, I didn’t have anyone I could call a friend,” she spoke softly. Morosely. She took a quick sip of her drink, then slammed the cup back down. “And then I botched it all up…”
“Everyone makes mistakes, Trixie,” Twilight smiled, resting a hoof on the magician’s shoulder. “The important thing is that you own up to them. Running away from your problems only makes you a weaker pony, in the end.”
“I see. But still, why did you not trust me?” Trixie asked. “While it is true that Trixie may have held a grudge against you, I never meant to cause you or your friends any harm.”
Twilight’s ears flattened out at that, and she avoided Trixie’s gaze for a moment. “I know. I actually thought my friends were a bit unfair to you when we first met. It wasn’t your fault that the ursa minor attacked the town, after all. You couldn’t have known that Snips and Snails were as impressionable as they ended up being.”
“Well, thank y—”
“But,” Twilight cut off Trixie, her gaze shooting back up at her. Her ears perked back up as well, and she took a quick sip of her own water before she continued. “You didn’t do yourself any favors coming back with the Alicorn Amulet. Regardless of your intentions, you knew that it was a dangerous artifact, and you still tried to use it to exact some revenge on us.”
Now it was Trixie’s turn to look embarrassed. “You’re right. I was just so… I don’t know,” she sighed. “Humiliated? After that disaster of a show here, I couldn’t find work anywhere.”
“I remember the story. You ended up working on the rock farm Pinkie Pie’s family owns, didn’t you?”
Trixie nodded. “It was hard work, but it still paid. At least, until I broke their wagon trying to carry too many rocks,” she winced at the memory, then let out a sigh. “After that, I was lost, and I felt like my only chance at redemption was to best you in a magic duel.”
“I can certainly understand why you felt that way,” Twilight replied. “I’ve been desperate myself before. I almost sent all of Ponyville into chaos because I couldn’t think of a friendship letter once,” she laughed at the memory. “I thought Princess Celestia was going to send me back to Magic Kindergarten for all the trouble I caused.”
“I remember hearing something about that,” Trixie shared a giggle with the pony across from her. “But I thought it was all rumors and hearsay.”
The two giggled for a few more seconds, until Twilight cleared her throat. “Trixie, I, uh. Well,” she chuckled nervously, not sure what to say. “I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but I’d like to think we just got off on the wrong hoof.”
“Trixie agrees,” Trixie smiled. “Your friends are wonderful ponies. I was simply too blinded by my envy of your magical abilities to see that.”
“I would be honored if we could start over, and you could call me your second friend ever,” Twilight smiled. She swore she could see a tiny tear developing in Trixie’s right eye, but the showmare blinked and it was gone.
“I…” Trixie took a moment, but returned Twilight’s smile. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
Author's Note
Everyone seems to ship these two, and I do myself a bit, but I wanted to write something other than romance about them, especially considering this is the first Trixie story I've ever written.
I hope you guys enjoyed it for what it was. Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts if you have any outstanding questions or errors to point out!
