Trixie stretched languidly, sighing with a deep content that stemmed from being on a relaxing beach in the warm sun. A chill breeze blew in off the ocean and cooled her coat, keeping her comfortable despite the lack of an umbrella. The sounds of waves and tropical birds filled the air, creating a soothing ambiance that Trixie deeply appreciated. She shifted on her back, digging her shoulders and haunches a little deeper into the sand and throwing one foreleg over her eyes. She giggled as a wave from the ocean went a little higher than normal, getting the very tip of her white tail wet, and she flicked her tail a little higher on the sand. It would be a pain to get the grit out of her coat, but that was a problem for later.
It was almost perfect.
Her ears twitched slightly as she heard a voice getting louder further down the beach. She resisted the impulse to look up, a small frown crossing her features briefly. The voice grew louder as it grew nearer, and Trixie struggled to tune it out, without much success. The ambiance of the idyllic island was swiftly shattered, leaving Trixie to clench her teeth.
"... but no! Some ponies don't listen to reasonable, carefully prepared coaching. They just like to wing it—which is a pegasus term for being an idiot—and then they try a four point spell matrix to achieve a more powerful teleportation spell, which, incidentally, they haven't even practiced yet! And then, when it goes bad, they overload their horn trying to make the spell happen!"
Trixie scowled, reluctantly uncovering her face and sitting up to glower at Starlight Glimmer as she trotted across the beach in small, quick, angry steps. Starlight's eyes rolled as she expressed the level of exasperation she had achieved to the world, and she tossed her mane angrily for emphasis with every sarcastic syllable. Trixie bit her lip.
She was so cute when she was mad.
Trixie shook her head, trying to focus as Starlight pointedly ignored her, and carried on with her expressive rant. "Oh, and what's more," Starlight said, raising her voice for Trixie's benefit—not that she needed to, Trixie was right there—as she fumed, "when their mentor tries to dispel the botched spell, they push so much power into the spell—because they are stubborn and have a pathological need to be proven right—that it causes their mentor's horn to overload as well!"
Trixie frowned. "I do not have a pathological need to be proven right!" Starlight stopped in her tracks, and turned to glare at Trixie for a moment. Trixie considered her previous statement and realized how it sounded, and she puffed out her cheeks in exasperation. "Glim, come on, you need to relax."
"Relax?!" Starlight said, hitting such a high note of exasperation that her voice broke. "You... I... how can you possibly expect me to relax?"
Trixie patted a hoof on the warm sand next to her, hoping that the gesture looked inviting. "Lie down, soak in the sun, and take a nap."
"How can you possibly consider taking a nap at a time like this? We're lost, Trixie! You teleported us to some deserted island in the middle of nowhere!" Starlight replied, glancing briefly at the offered nap spot before turning her head away.
"Ah! That is where you are wrong! Trixie," Trixie said, affecting a haughty tilt to her head and rolling the 'r' in her name for added effect, "teleported us to a beautiful deserted island in the middle of nowhere." She winked at Starlight. "So lighten up."
Starlight groaned in exasperation, sitting down on the sand as her tail flicked in irritation. "Why aren't you taking this seriously? Why aren't you taking me seriously?"
Trixie frowned. "Starlight, I am taking you seriously. I promise. But I don't think that stomping around and yelling at me is going to make things any better. Both our horns are burned out, and until our magic recovers, we're going to be stuck here. We can't accomplish much, unless you're planning on building a raft and sailing back to Ponyville!"
Starlight stared at Trixie for a moment before sighing. The tension drained from her body, and her head slumped and shoulders sagged. "You're right. I'm just... frustrated."
Trixie stretched out a hoof, pressing it into Starlight's cheek in a comforting manner, and Starlight leaned into the gesture a bit. Trixie felt her heart skip a beat. "I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated. It's my fault we're here... so it's my job to cheer you up!" Trixie declared.
Starlight frowned, looking down at the sand as her ears drooped. "Are you sure you can manage? I'm in a really bad mood, and if you... well, if you mess up again," Starlight began, her eyes flickering up to Trixie just in time to catch the hurt expression on her face. Starlight sighed again. "I'm sorry. Maybe I should take a nap."
Trixie set her hoof down in the sand and stood up, shaking herself to get the sand off of her coat. "Maybe I deserved that. Just a little. But you're right. Maybe you should take a nap, because if you're this upset, you're not doing either of us any favors, and we're gonna need your smart little brain to get us out of this mess!"
Starlight smiled a little bit, looking up at Trixie. "Thanks."
Trixie smiled back, and turned towards the interior of the island. Dense green foliage and trees blocked any deeper view into the island, but she could hear birds and other creatures inside. There would be food there, and maybe some useful plants. Trixie was suddenly overcome with a vision of a palm-frond hut, built on the beach, and a hammock woven from grass and vines. She and Starlight were sipping mimosas and sharing the hammock, giggling at a spectacular joke Trixie had just told. That'd be so much fun...
"Uh, Trixie? Equestria to Trix, come in, Trix!"
Trixie blinked, the vision dispelled, and she turned to face Starlight, a blush washing over her features. "Huh?"
"You've been standing there staring at the jungle for like three minutes," Starlight said, giving her a concerned look.
"Oh! Uh, just... considering! Um, h-how I'm going to get through the brush and not mess up my mane," Trixie said with a nervous giggle.
"... Okay. Be careful?" Starlight offered.
Trixie smirked. "I shall be the Cautious And Careful Trixie!"
That got a giggle out of Starlight, which made Trixie feel much better about everything. She turned around once more and trotted into the dense underbrush. Right away, Trixie noticed that the air was cooler in the shade, and she felt a little shiver run down her spine as she flicked her damp tail. She'd spent months on the road, in various kinds of wilderness. Ponies might not guess it, but she knew a thing or two about living in the wild places of Equestria. She'd never been wildly successful at it, but she'd managed to get by with what she needed.
Taking in a deep breath, Trixie began to walk carefully through the brush, peering at the plants and trying to find something worth eating. Her eyes followed the sounds of a flock of startled birds, looking up into the trees above, and spotted exactly what she'd hoped to find. Green clusters of coconuts, hanging in the tops of several of the palm trees. Trixie trotted up to the tree and reared up on her haunches, putting her front hooves on the bark of the palm tree. She gave the tree an experimental shake, and frowned. This was a sturdy tree, indeed. She clenched her teeth and squinted, trying to eke some magic from her horn. Her horn throbbed painfully and spat out a few pitiful sparks, but nothing more. Trixie sighed, getting back down onto all fours and turning away from the tree.
Starlight was right. This was all her fault. She hadn't taken the time to listen—really listen—to her friend and mentor, and she'd gotten them stranded. Now, she was in this dumb jungle on this dumb island, and even though she was trying to play it cool for Starlight, she was feeling progressively more useless and afraid. Trixie clenched her eyes shut, willing away the stinging tears that filled them, and she let out a yell of frustration, bucking her back legs out in a fit of impotent anger.
Her back hooves connected with the palm tree behind her, making her yelp and wobble off-balance as she fell, nose-first, into the dirt. Trixie clenched her teeth, growling as she got up, and spun around to face the tree. "Fuuuuuuu—!"
Two coconuts fell down in front of her, hitting the ground with a loud thunk and making Trixie jump back in surprise. A few more followed moments later, joining their fallen brethren in a jumble on the jungle floor. Trixie shut her mouth and blinked, staring at the coconuts in disbelief. She could hear movement in the underbrush behind her. "Trixie! Trixie?!"
It was Starlight. She'd obviously heard her yelling, and was coming to check on her. Trixie hurriedly brushed the sand from her nose and wiped her cheeks, and reached down to the coconuts at her hooves.
Starlight burst through the bushes, looking frantic, and found Trixie holding a half-dozen coconuts and looking smug. Starlight let out a relieved gasp, holding one hoof to her heaving chest. "Trix! I heard you yell! Are you okay?"
"Oh, that? Pfft," Trixie said, grinning confidently over the pile of coconuts in her forelegs, "Just mustering up a little gumption to, uh, coconut-buck that palm tree! And look! I totally found some food."
Starlight's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked from Trixie to the indicated tree. "Wow! I can't believe you managed to buck that tree hard enough to knock down those coconuts!"
Trixie flipped her mane, grinning a confident grin. "Yeah, well, ponies underestimate Trixie all the time."
Starlight smiled awkwardly, scuffing one hoof in the dirt. "Sorry, Trixie. I didn't mean it like that."
Trixie felt a brief spike of panic, as she realized that Starlight was taking her comment the wrong way. "Oh! No! Not you, Star. Never you."
Starlight giggled, reaching over and giving Trixie a light nudge on her side. "Well, sometimes me."
Trixie snickered, shrugging. "Okay, okay. Sometimes you. But, that's not important! Coconuts!"
Trixie dropped the bounty of fruit at her hooves, and she and Starlight shared a laugh. "Okay. Coconuts. How... how do you eat them without magic?" asked Starlight, batting at one of the fruits with a hoof.
Trixie stared at the green fruit, and a frown slowly covered her face. "... Well, we have to get the husk off."
Starlight nodded, "Okay, neat!" She stared at Trixie expectantly.
Trixie blinked, and realized that Starlight assumed she knew how to do it. Trixie glanced around, trying to spot something that she could use to husk the fruit. Her eyes landed on a rock, and she trotted over and picked it up with a grunt of exertion. "Okay, stand back."
Starlight moved a few paces away, and Trixie dropped the rock onto one of the coconuts. The rock bounced off of the fruit and landed in the dirt, just barely mashing the fibrous husk. Trixie sighed and bent down, picking up the rock again. This time, she brought it down with force. The rock gouged the green husk, breaking some of the fibers off, and revealing a hint of brown beneath. Trixie smiled triumphantly. "See? No problem."
Trixie hacked at the husk with increasing gusto, but little progress, making a mess of gritty pulp on one side. With each strike, she let out a little frustrated grunt. Finally, panting for breath, she looked up at Starlight, "Maybe... you could help?"
Starlight blinked in surprise. "Oh! Oh, yeah, of course! How do you—"
"If you could just—" Trixie said, shifting around as Starlight joined her.
"Yeah, and if I—"
"No, no, grab it like—"
"Got it, so—"
"Like that! Yes!" Trixie said. Starlight stood, shoulder-to-shoulder with Trixie, both her hooves and Trixie's on the back edge of the rock. Trixie grinned, leaning in a bit against Starlight. "Okay, ready?"
"Ready!" Starlight said, nodding.
"One!" Trixie said, tensing up.
"Two!" said Starlight, gripping the rock tight.
"Three!" They said together, heaving the rock down onto the coconut.
There was a spectacular cracking, splashing sound as the two unicorns positively destroyed the coconut with their combined strength. Coconut water and meat splattered their fronts. Trixie and Starlight stared at the smashed coconut, dumbfounded, and then they began to giggle. The giggles escalated to full-blown laughter as they looked at each other and noticed the mess that covered their faces. Trixie and Starlight leaned against each other, falling onto their haunches, sides heaving and eyes closed as they snorted and gasped for air.
"Oh my goodness!" Starlight managed to say, pointing at Trixie's spattered face.
"Y-you," Trixie gasped, pausing to giggle, "got a little something on your nose!"
"Oh, ya think?" Starlight said, laughing and clutching at her sides.
"Here, let me get that!" Trixie said, wheezing with laughter as she reached out and licked a piece of coconut off of the tip of Starlight's nose.
Starlight laughed, blushing and shoving Trixie away good-naturedly. Trixie snickered and leaned in again, biting another bit of coconut off of her friend's cheek. Starlight's blush deepened, "Trix! You're ridiculous!"
Trixie crunched down on the coconut piece, smirking happily as a bit of warmth spread to her cheeks. "Of course I am. Ridiculously good looking!"
Starlight chuckled, reaching up with one hoof and brushing some of the mess off of Trixie's cheek. "Sure, sure. So, uh, that definitely didn't go as planned."
Trixie smiled a smooth smile, winking at Starlight, "Or I totally planned on splattering us with coconut oil. Can anypony say perfect tanning?"
Starlight smirked, wiping at some of the coconut water on her front. "Sure. I've heard coconut oil is great for massages, too. I think they use it at the day spa."
Trixie felt a blush rise to her cheeks, and she stared at Starlight. "A-are you... going to give me a massage?"
Starlight snickered, "I think you're the one that owes me a massage, after you got us stranded here."
"Deal!" Trixie shouted immediately, leaping up in excitement.
Starlight laughed, waving a hoof towards the coconuts. "Maybe we should figure out how to get these coconuts cracked open, first?"
"O-oh! Yeah, of course!" Trixie stammered, realizing she was being a bit too eager. She turned to consider the coconuts, and then looked up, considering the trunk and leaves above. "Hm..."
Starlight stood up and retrieved the rock they'd been using to hack at the coconut. "Oh! Look!"
The rock had broken in half, leaving two jagged edges behind. Trixie brightened, grabbing one half. "Perfect!"
She grabbed a fresh coconut and picked up the sharp-edged rock, and hit the coconut at an angle. The edge bit deep into the husk, shearing off a large portion and skimming off the brown seed inside. With a little work and some care, the brown shell of the fruit was revealed. Trixie grinned, offering the coconut to Starlight. "There. If you give that a solid whack, it should crack open. Be careful not to spill the water, though!"
Starlight nodded, smiling, as she took the coconut and lined up her half of the rock with it's top. She slammed the sharp edge down on the coconut, cracking the brown shell partway. A little water dribbled out, and Starlight grabbed it quickly, tilting her head back and pouring the water into her open mouth. Trixie watched as coconut water dribbled down Starlight's chin and neck, and she briefly considered trotting over and licking it off. She snorted, shaking her head, and went to work on another coconut... perhaps a bit more forcefully than was necessary.
Within an hour, Trixie and Starlight had cracked open the coconuts, drank the sweet water, and carved out the meat inside the fruit. They leaned up against each other, sheltering from the sun on the windward side of another palm tree. Trixie yawned, feeling exhausted after breaking apart all the fruit. Starlight giggled, munching on the last few pieces of coconut meat, and reached over and rubbed her nose against Trixie's spontaneously.
Trixie stiffened, her ears splaying back in surprise as she blushed. "What was that for?"
"Because you're great," Starlight said simply, finishing off the last bite of the improvised meal and leaning into Trixie's side, resting her head on Trixie's shoulder.
Trixie sat very still, trying not to disturb Starlight as her breaths evened out and she slowly fell asleep. A nap sounded wonderful, of course, but Trixie didn't want to move and risk waking up Starlight. In fact, she was sure that she wanted to stay like that forever. Trixie sighed, smiling at her sleeping friend. "You're pretty great, too, Star."
Trixie reached up, shifting Starlight carefully, and wrapped a hoof around her, pulling her close to her heart. Starlight leaned in against her, resting her chest against Trixie's and folding her hooves around her friend's midsection. Trixie felt a shiver go down her spine, and she giggled, nuzzling her nose into Starlight's mane. She smelled like soap and sweat and coconut oil, and it was wonderful.
They lay like that for nearly an hour. While she let Starlight nap, Trixie slowly began pushing magical energy into her horn. It was giving her a mild headache, but as she focused, she was able to maintain her magic for a little longer every time. She carried on this exercise, an exercise unicorn parents taught their progeny in order to help them develop their magical senses and gain a sense for how their horn functioned. It was the most basic magic, manifesting itself as a shimmering glow around the tip of her horn.
Trixie winced after a particularly long period of focusing her magic, and the glow at the tip of her horn sputtered out. She was regaining her magic. Maybe not fully, but enough that she could hopefully help the better-rested and more powerful Starlight with a spell to get them home. Trixie reached up absentmindedly and rubbed at her temple, closing her eyes and relaxing a bit. Maybe... maybe she could rest for a few minutes. Starlight's warm body curled against her, and the cool wind played across her face and mane, creating a relaxing sensation that lulled her towards slumber. Her head drooped, resting on the top of Starlight's own head, and she drifted to sleep.
"Trix."
Trixie cracked one eye open. The light had waned and the shadows had lengthened, filling the beach and jungle with new colors, deeper and more stark in their contrast to one-another. Overhead, the cloudy blue sky was shot through with color, scarlet and tangerine and violet reflecting off the bottoms of the clouds. How long had she been sleeping? Starlight stood over her, smiling gently, and she bent down, nuzzling Trixie's nose with her own. Trixie blushed, her eyes snapping open. "S-sorry. How long was I—?"
"A few hours. I woke up about an hour ago. My magic is almost back to full capacity," Starlight said, her cheeks rosy.
Trixie yawned, sitting up, and looked around the beach. "What have you been up to?"
"I made a kite!" Starlight squealed happily, pointing into the sky.
Trixie squinted, staring up into the sky. Indeed, there was a kite; a small, diamond-shaped kite with braces made from thin wood, and lashed together with what appeared to be some kind of creeper vine. The body of the kite was leaf-green, and looked like it had been woven together from palm fronds. A long series of vines expertly tied together formed an impromptu line, and it was pulled taut as the ocean breeze kept the kite in the air. Trixie whistled. "Wow, Starlight. How the heck did you manage that?"
"Well," Starlight started, scuffing one hoof in the sand as she focused her magic and adjusted the kite's vine-string, giving it some slack, "back in Our Town—"
"You mean Glimmy's Home for Unspecial Ponies?" Trixie said, sticking out her tongue impishly.
Starlight rolled her eyes, ignoring Trixie. "—one of the things we often needed was baskets for hauling around stuff. We all had to learn to weave them together. So, I applied that technique and used it as an exercise to focus my magic. It took a bit longer than normal, but after I got the body together it was a cinch to get the rest of the kite built."
Trixie giggled, trotting over to bump her side against Starlight's. "You're such a nerd, Glimmer."
Starlight blushed. "You love it."
"I do," Trixie agreed, smirking up at the kite.
"So, are you feeling better? Do you need to start exercising your magic and get yourself into shape?" Starlight asked.
"Actually, I did that while you were asleep. I should be ready for whatever you have planned." Trixie eyed Starlight, looking at her with sudden uncertainty. "You... do have a plan, right?"
Starlight smiled, nudging Trixie in the side with one hoof. "C'mon. It's me. Of course I've got a plan."
Trixie beamed at Starlight and settled down to sit beside her, watching her friend fly her kite. The ocean breeze had taken on a chill touch, as the daylight waned. After several long minutes, Trixie piped up. "Uh, Starlight?"
"Hm?"
"...What's the plan?"
"Oh!" Starlight blushed, giggling to herself, and she began to reel the kite in, landing it on it's bottom-most point on the beach. "Well, now that my magic is mostly back, and your magic is mostly back, we're going to need to work together to make a teleportation matrix that can get both of us home."
"Sure, sure," Trixie said, trying to sound confident.
"You and I worked on teleportation spells before, Trix. We can do this if we work together, but you're going to have to follow my instructions and trust me. We've got one chance to do this right, otherwise we're probably going to burn out our horns again and end up stuck on this island overnight." Starlight said, giving Trixie a serious look.
"Not that I would mind being stuck on a tropical island overnight with you..." Trixie muttered.
Starlight smirked, "I heard that."
Trixie coughed, blushing. "S-sure! You're the boss. The magician and... magician's apprentice!"
Starlight set her kite aside and strode down the beach, standing about ten paces away from Trixie. Trixie stood up and faced her, squinting her eyes in concentration. Starlight exhaled, closing her eyes briefly. Her horn began to glow, her turquoise magical field glittering. Trixie warmed up her own horn, building her rose magical field up cautiously. They slowly arrived at a decently powerful charge, and Starlight opened her eyes, staring at Trixie. Trixie was struck, briefly, by her friend's amethyst eyes. Their power, confidence, and trust. Trixie felt a warmth in her chest, and she smiled a gentle smile at Starlight. Starlight returned the smile, and nodded. "Are you ready?"
"Absolutely," Trixie breathed, focusing once more on keeping a steady flow of magic into her horn.
"I want you to picture Ponyville. Specifically, inside Twilight's castle. The room with the friendship map table," Starlight instructed.
"Why there?" Trixie asked idly, even as she began to picture the exact room in her mind.
"You've used the teleportation spell in that room before. It should help your subconscious focus on the magic needed to perform the spell, which should make it easier," Starlight explained, closing her eyes as she did so. Trixie could see Starlight's magic build up more, her horn glowing brighter.
Trixie chuckled, despite herself. "The last time I used the teleportation spell in that room, it didn't go so well."
"It went extremely well, just not in the way I wanted. You did a great job casting that spell. You teleported Twilight's entire table! Compared to that thing, teleporting ourselves should be easy."
Trixie smirked, but closed her eyes. She felt a little more confident for Starlight's words. She pictured the room, the table, the big chairs, the tree-root chandelier hanging above. As she did so, she pushed more magic into her horn.
Immediately, Trixie realized that she was having a problem. Her head began to throb, and she felt her heart rate increase. She bit her lip, peeking one eye open. "Star... something's wrong!"
"Stay focused, Trixie!" Starlight said, clenching her jaw as her magic began to brighten, the sparkling field expanding and reaching towards Trixie.
Trixie grit her teeth, pushing more magic into the spell, trying to stay focused on the destination. Slowly, weakly, her own magical field began to grow, slowly pushing outward before halting again, not quite closing the gap between her magic and Starlight's own. Trixie's temples began to tense with pain, and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. "Starlight," she gasped, locking her legs as she felt her knees start to buckle.
Starlight's eyes opened, suddenly, and she locked her gaze on Trixie. "The Trixie I love wouldn't give up. She's strong, and capable. She can do this."
Strong and Capable. Trixie felt that resonate with her, perhaps more deeply than her usual moniker of "Great and Powerful" ever had. Trixie closed her eyes, believing in her friend's words more strongly than she believed in herself, even, and she pushed her magic to its limit. Her pink magic field grew, connecting with Starlight's turquoise magic and intertwining.
All at once, the spell solidified in their minds. There was a flash of light and a rush of displacing air, like a thunderclap.
The sand was golden and blue, colored with the last rays of the setting sun. The ocean lapped calmly at the beach, deepening to the darkest green before black, just the very crests of each breaking wave glittering with light. The jungle's bright greens had turned to shade and shadow, growing mysterious and dark, the trills of birds and small creatures the only sound. Alone on the beach, Starlight's kite caught an errant gust of wind and it fluttered along the sand, moving out towards the ocean before rising up and floating towards the sunset.
It was almost perfect.
