Chapter 11 - Reconnection

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

My name is Trixie, I am a close friend of Sunset’s. You’re right, she’s been struggling a lot lately. I won’t go into any details as I’m not sure what she’d be comfortable telling you, and I do not want to betray her privacy anymore than I already have by writing in her book. I don’t know why she seems to be avoiding you, but I believe part of it has to do with her own personal conflictions.

I know you’re a princess, and you must be quite busy, but perhaps you could visit soon? I’d like to formally meet you- and apologize for my behavior at the Battle of the Bands. Additionally, I believe it may be a good idea for you to talk things out with Sunset. She’s been very fragile lately, but I feel that your friendship is one that is invaluable to her; as I’m sure you’ve noticed, she’s not exactly the best at approaching difficult situations that involve her own wellbeing.

I eagerly await your response,

Trixie Lulamoon

Twilight Sparkle was shocked, quite frankly, to receive such a sensitive and not-at-all-egotistical note from none other than the human version of Trixie. She read the entry again, noting how articulate and caring the human Trixie appeared to be. One thing was missing though…

“Ha,” Twilight thought with a smirk. “At least this confirms the third-person speaking isn’t permanent,” the purple alicorn chuckled to herself as she dipped her quill in ink and began her response.

Dear Trixie Lulamoon,

I thank you for your compassionate message, and I’m glad Sunset has a friend like you to lean on over there. I certainly agree with you and want to visit as soon as possible. Would tomorrow, Saturday, be alright? I could stay the weekend.

Sunset Shimmer is very important to me. She’s a wonderful person and an incredible friend, and I want her to be able to talk to me when things get bad. Thank you for helping me reconnect with her, I greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Warmly,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight finished the entry with a flourish and drop her quill into the inkwell with a satisfying plop.

“Huh,” Twilight pondered as she waited for Trixie’s reply. “When Sunset said she had made some new friends, I definitely did not expect one of them to be Trixie Lulamoon of all ponies- er, people.”

Soon enough, Trixie’s clean cursive writing was once again spreading across the page. Twilight leaned forward and read the words as they appeared on the worn, yellowed pages.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Tomorrow would be perfect! Sunset and I will meet you at the statue along with our other friends. You’ve met them before, but I think it would be best to explain in person.

Thank you for being there for Sunset. She needs all the support she can get right now.

We’ll see you soon,

Trixie Lulamoon

The purple pony smiled to herself and shut the journal, though she was a bit confused about the mention of Sunset’s other friends. “Eh, I’ll see them tomorrow. No use worrying,” she thought as she left her desk.

***

Saturday morning brought with it a warm breeze as the harsh weather of March softened, paving the way for the upcoming Spring. Five girls stood outside the otherwise empty school, chatting and smiling as they waited for the arrival of another.

“I still can’t believe you stole Sunset’s journal,” Sonata joked at Trixie.

Trixie scoffed. “It wasn’t stealing, I just borrowed it while Sunset wasn’t looking!” She crossed her arms, and Sonata laughed.

Sunset wasn’t paying much attention to her friends’ playful back-and-forth. She anxiously tapped her foot, sending glances to the Wondercolts statue every few seconds, as though she feared a ghost would pop out at any moment. As she looked to the marble structure for what must have been the hundredth time in five minutes, a fist punched her lightly in the arm.

“Hey pony girl!”

Sunset glared good-naturedly at Aria, who nudged her again. “You got that worry face on. What’s on your mind?”

Sunset bit her lip. Still unused to sharing her feelings, she considered giving a generic ‘I’m fine’ with the hopes that her friends would drop it, but she knew better. The four had made it clear to Sunset that they were dedicated to her recovery.

After a minute of quiet contemplation, in which her friends waited patiently, Sunset sighed. “I’m just nervous about seeing Twilight again,” she admitted. “I pushed her away after the Rainbooms ditched me. I feel really bad about how I treated her.”

Sonata smiled and wrapped her arms around Sunset’s body. “Don’t worry, Sunny! Twilight’s super nice, she won’t hold that against you,” she said as she squeezed her friend tightly.

Everyone laughed as Sunset awkwardly tried to return the hug- a task made difficult, as her arms were pinned to her sides by Sonata’s strong grip. “Besides,” Adagio added through a giggle. “It’s a common thing for people to push others away when something stressful occurs. Your reaction was completely natural.”

Sonata finally released Sunset, who smiled at each of her friends. “Thank you, guys,” she said earnestly. “I really appreciate the reassurance.”

The four grinned back at Sunset just as the portal started glowing. The girls turned and watched as the statue spat out a disoriented Twilight Sparkle.

Sunset nervously shifted on her feet before walking over to the pony-turned-human and offering a hand and a timid smile. “Hey Twi,” Sunset said as Twilight graciously took her hand and got to her feet. The two just looked at each other for a moment before Twilight tackled Sunset in a hug that could rival Sonata’s.

Sunset froze for a split second before returning the embrace in full. The two simply stood in each other’s arms for a minute, enjoying their reunion.

“I missed you, Sunset,” Twilight said as she released the other girl from their embrace.

Sunset sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. She was about to respond, but was beaten to the punch by another voice.

“What did we say, Sunny? Told you she’d be good about it,” Aria smirked as she approached the two. Adagio, Sonata, and Trixie followed close behind.

Twilight’s jaw dropped when she recognized the three former sirens. She looked to Trixie, who just smiled and shrugged. “Wh- how did- they’re-” Twilight stumbled over her words as she looked between the three sisters, who each gave smiles with varying degrees of mischief.

Sonata’s expression was open and welcoming. Aria was amused, and appeared to be enjoying every second of Twilight’s bewilderment. Adagio’s grin was downright predatory and her eyes were lidded. “Hey there, Princess,” she purred.

Twilight’s face flushed and she let out a tiny squeak. She turned back to Sunset. “Them?” She questioned. “They’re the friends you mentioned?”

Sunset laughed at the wide-eyed expression on her friend’s face. “Don’t worry, Twilight,” she placated. “They’re cool now, I promise.”

Trixie nodded in agreement. “I was skeptical at first too, but we’ve all been hanging out for a few months and they’re really now that bad anymore.”

Aria feigned offense with a dramatic scoff. “Not that bad? What’s that supposed to mean, magic girl?” The punk slung an arm over Trixie’s shoulder and brought her in close, ruffling her pristine blue hair.

Adagio ignored the spectacle and strut up to the flustered princess with her usual confidence, though her expression had softened into something more genuine. “All jokes aside, Twilight, we really are different. It’s a long story, but we’re pretty much just humans now.” She stopped in front of Twilight and met her gaze with nothing but authenticity. “I know this is all pretty shocking, but Sunset and Trixie have become our family. We’d never do anything to hurt them- or you, by extension,” Adagio finished with her signature smirk.

Twilight bit her lip and cast her eyes to the ground, contemplating the influx of new information. Finally, she sighed and met the elder sister’s gaze once more.

“Alright,” she said. “If Sunset trusts you, then I guess I can try to as well.”

Sonata let out a cheer as she scooped a very shocked Twilight into a bear hug. “New friend!”

Once she was finally freed from Sonata’s vice-grip, Twilight straightened herself up. After she patted down her skirt, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find Trixie grinning at her trough hair still messed up from Aria’s earlier teasing. “Welcome back to the human world, Princess,” she said warmly. “It’s nice to officially met you, now that there isn’t some sort of magical threat looming over everyone.”

Twilight smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too, Trixie.” She turned to address the rest of the group. “Now, I believe we have a lot to catch up on. Should we go to Sugarcube Corner to talk?”

Sunset winced at the name of her ex-friends’ usual hangout. “Eh, maybe not there. I don’t want to run into the Rainbooms.”

“Ah, sorry...”

Silence descended on the group, which was broken by Sonata just as it was starting to get uncomfortable. “Trixie and I found this super cute café just down the road, why don’t we go there?”

Sunset smiled at the blue girl. “Sounds great, thank you Sonata.”

As the group started in the direction of the café, Sunset couldn’t help but feel a tiny ball of dread settle in her stomach. “Yet another difficult conversation,” she thought anxiously. “Hope you’re ready for some depressing shit, Twilight.”

***

Several coffees and sugary pastries later, Twilight was nearly caught up in everything that had happened over the past months. Sunset kept up her nonchalant facade throughout the entire explanation. She and the others took turns speaking, sometimes interrupting each other to interject details that were forgotten.

“...then a few days ago I was released from the hospital, and Trixie and the Dazzlings gave the Rainbooms the verbal beatdown of the century- thanks again, guys- and now we’re here,” Sunset finished the story with forced calm in her voice. Reliving the months of pain was difficult, but necessary. Twilight needed to know what happened.

Trixie had gotten good at detecting when Sunset was uncomfortable, even when the girl was trying to hide it. She silently laid a hand over one of the red-head’s clenched fists underneath the table, working her fingers around until their hands were joined. Sunset relaxed slightly, and shot Trixie a grateful smile. Trixie pretended not to notice the light blush that dusted Sunset’s freckled cheeks.

The quiet that had blanketed the table was tense as Twilight processed the horrors Sunset had barely lived through. Twilight’s jaw was clenched tightly, and her eyes held a rage that Sunset had never seen before.

A loud bang broke the silence as Twilight slammed her hand on the table, startling the girls seated around her.

“How dare they?!” Twilight barely managed to keep her voice down as she let the rage simmering in her heart leak out. “Those bastards were supposed to take care of you, for Celestia’s sake!” Her wild gestures nearly knocked over her half-eaten blueberry muffin.

The Dazzlings exchanged shocked glances. They thought the Princess was all ‘friendship and rainbows;’ they had no idea she could be so severe. Adagio was sort of loving Twilight’s newfound intensity.

Twilight let out a humourless laugh as she continued her rant. “I mean, I never should have trusted them. I didn’t take the differences of our worlds into account. I can’t believe I mistook them for my friends.”

Sunset’s eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean, Twi?”

Twilight huffed and took an angry bite of her muffin. “My friends never would have been so horrible,” she lamented. “I made the mistake of thinking they were the same Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie from my world. The ones that I’d trust with my life, the ones that I’ve been through so much with.” Anger flooded Twilight’s senses, and it was visible through her tense posture and flaming eyes. “The ones that never would have betrayed you.”

Twilight looked up at the stunned faces in front of her. Her voice was venomous when she spoke again.

“I want to speak with them.”

Sonata blinked. “Uh, we sorta beat you to the punch, Princess, remember?”

“I don’t care,” Twilight bit back. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. It only half worked. She continued with a little more control over her anger. “I don’t care. I want them to know that they’re essentially dead to me now.”

There was a beat of shocked silence before Aria burst into laughter.

“Damn, Princess, I didn’t think you had it in you!” The punk guffawed, soon joined by the rest of the girls.

As the giggles died down, Sunset looked over to Twilight, who had softened a bit during the laughter. “Honestly, Twi?” Sunset chuckled one last time, and her voice faded into seriousness. “Fuckin’ have at it,” She was just as angry as Twilight was, if not more so.

Adagio spoke up, bringing Sunset and Twilight out of their respective hateful thoughts. “Well, as much as I love seeing Twilight get all worked up,” she shot a flirtatious wink to Twilight, who squeaked. “I suggest we move onto less depressing topics for the time being.”

Sunset gave Adagio a grateful glance, Aria shrugged, and Sonata and Trixie nodded in agreement. As the conversation switched to more uplifting subjects, Trixie felt a hand softly squeeze her own underneath the table. She fought a blush as she realized that she and Sunset had never unclasped their hands. Looking up at the red-head seated next to her, Trixie was met with a warm smile. She understood the silent message Sunset was trying to convey.

“Thank you.”

For inviting Twilight over? For offering comfort? For what, Trixie didn’t exactly know; but what she did know was that she loved the feeling of Sunset’s hand in her own, and that she never wanted the other girl to stop smiling.

Author's Note

First chapter of two tonight! Again, sorry for the tardiness (and for the shameless TwiDagio I sprinkled in )

~Bitty Bug