Having happily traded back Trixie’s beloved wagon and returned to Ponyville, Starlight and Trixie in the fresh air, happy to be back on familiar turf. It was certainly an experience, but a very valuable experience that taught them that long-distance road-tripping wasn’t really their forte. Like the journey, it showed that there were bumps in their friendship, but they were friends that were willing to humiliate each other to get Trixie’s wagon back.
Trixie parked her wagon behind Twilight’s Castle of Friendship, and now both friends were currently lying on the fresh grass rather than the hot desert sand. They breathed a sigh of relief as a comfortable silence sounded the pair of unicorns. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence as both were just happy to lie there with their own thoughts, contemplating how the trip went. The birds tweeting, bees buzzing and the bustling sounds of Ponyville surrounded them as they continued to lie there. They were exhausted, as they took it in turns to haul the wagon back to the town. They have crossed scorching desserts, crocodile-infested swamps and firey marshlands.
Something was nagging at Starlight’s mind as she continued to lay there. Something about that embarrassing friendship chant they made up on the spot was, for some reason, playing on her mind. She tried to shrug it off, but it came back to the front of her mind. She sighed, causing her friend to crack an eye open, giving Starlight a confused face. Though they have been friends for a short while, from giving Trixie a chance to reforming the changeling and confessing their feelings with each other and not magically storing one’s anger, Trixie could tell something was wrong. She was going to regret asking, but she asked anyway. Isn’t that what friends are for in the end?
“What’s the matter?” Trixie asked.
“I was just thinking about that ridiculous friendship chant we made on the spot to get your wagon back,” Starlight sighed as she looked up, lazily watching birds and pegasi fly as the clouds drifted by.
“I know,” Trixie had a smile tugging on her lips, “It was ridiculous, wasn’t it?”
“It was,” Starlight chuckled, “But maybe we got your wagon back by sheer luck.”
“And what does my Great and Powerful Assistant mean by that?” Trixie asked in confusion.
“The pony I traded away your cart only traded it back to us as he appreciated the fact that we were willing to humiliate each other for each others’ friendship,” Starlight explained, “There comes a time when we have to prove to each other that we are truly best friends.”
“Spike’s right, you know?” Trixie shook her head, “You do tend to miss the point here and there. Relax, we have my wagon back and we are back in Ponyville. End of the story!”
“I’m serious, Trixie,” Starlight lamented to her increasingly annoyed friend, “We need a-“
“Please don’t say it,” Trixie glared at her friend.
“Proper friendship chant,” Starlight announced.
“You said it…” Trixie trailed off.
“And I know just the ponies to help figure one out,” Starlight smiled, “Princess Cadance still has a couple of days left until she and Flurry Heart return to the Crystal Empire. She and Twilight will help us come up with the perfect friendship chant for the both of us.”
“By the end of the day, I will call myself the Great and Humiliated Trixie,” Trixie moaned.
“Come on,” Starlight smiled in encouragement, “What’s the worst that can-“ A hoof was placed onto Starlight’s mouth.
“Please don’t make the situation any worse than it already is,” Trixie gave a hard stare. Starlight gave her friend a pleading look. Trixie battled with herself internally before sighing.
“Fine, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t regret this,” Trixie huffed and crossed her forelegs.
“This is going to be interesting,” Starlight thought out loud, causing Trixie to pout.
“Yay, fun,” Trixie said in her usual sarcasm.
It wasn’t hard to find both sisters-in-law, both wanting to be in each others’ company as it was Flurry’s nap time. Twilight practically jumped at the chance of teaching Starlight and Trixie how to do a friendship chant. Cadance, being a more experienced royal, was more restrained in showing her enthusiasm in teaching the unicorns, but was more interested in where this was going to go. Twilight strictly instructed the unicorns to meet her and Cadance at the library.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Starlight gulped as she looked at the double doors that opened to the library.
“You think?!” Trixie said through ground teeth. Starlight sighed and held a hoof and was about to knock on the door.
“We could always run away,” Trixie interjected.
“Trust me,” Starlight warned, “When Twilight misses something on her schedule, you don’t want to know what will happen next.”
It was Trixie’s turn to gulp, beads of sweat trickling down her main as she turned towards the ominous doors.
“Let’s just get this over and done with,” Starlight sighed and knocked on the doors.
“Come in!” Came a cheery voice from the other side. The show-pony and assistant looked at each other and they pushed open the door and abandoned their dignity on the other side.
“Glad you decided to let me and Cadance the art of a proper friendship chant,” Twilight said with a smile. Starlight dreaded that smile. It was the smile the warned her that lists, charts and long talks were involved in this. There was seriously no need to go through a list about friendship chanting, right? Unfortunately, only Twilight would believe it was necessary to have a checklist for everything.
“I have gone through various charts and formulations to figure out what the best chant involves,” Twilight danced around the library. Numerous scrolls were played across the reading tables, along with many blackboards with charts drawn with chalk sticks. Cadance was sat on a reading cushion, amused by her sister-in-law’s antics. Knowing Twilight for many, many years, it was simply best to let her have her moment.
“Rule number one,” Twilight Sparkle began, “For the best optimal friendship chant-iness, you must have known each other for a good period of time.” Twilight then moved to be next to Cadance and put a hoof over her.
“Of course me and Cadance go way back, so we have that to our advantage. Sure we have our disagreements and bad moments together, but that doesn’t stop the fact that we’re family and friends. Like how Cadance used to use a love spell when I was a foal to make me eat my greens.”
“And how Twilight learnt to hack my scrolls to Shining when he was away during Training,” Cadance teased back.
“Well, we certainly have had our fair share of disagreements and regrets together, even with our road trip,” Starlight said, “But we will always remember the good times as friends over the bad ones.” Trixie and Starlight both hugged at that.
“Known each other for a good length of time, check,” Twilight ticked it off her list, “Now onto rule number two, the theme. It must be something you two, as friends, must have something in common. Me and Cadance chose the theme of things we like to do when she would come over to foal-sit me. Knowing my fear of ladybirds from what Shining told her, she would sneak one into my closet when I go and comb my mane. That’s why we use the phrase, ‘ladybugs awake’.”
“The good old days,” Cadance giggled, earning a pout from her younger sister-in-law. Cadance continued.
“Sunshine comes from Princess Celestia. With Twilight being taught by her and me being her niece, it also fit.”
“So where does the ‘clap your hooves and do a little shake’ come from?” Starlight asked. Both Cadance and Twilight looked at each other and blushed.
“It was something we just came up on the spot,” Twilight quickly said.
“Okay,” Trixie thought long and hard, “We can both do magic or at least different types of magic. Whilst Starlight is more professional in the fancy stuff, I’m more into the show magic thingy-ma-jiggy.”
“Okay, we can build on that,” Twilight said as she gave them a piece of parchment paper, a quill and inkwell.
“Spider diagrams are the best way to work things out,” Twilight clapped her hooves together, “Themes, words and everything in-between. The sky’s the limit!” Cadance chuckled at Twilight’s usual enthusiasm as she rambled on and on.
“I’m starting to regret this now,” Starlight sighed.
“Aww, doesn’t Starlight want to get a gold star for being a good pupil?” Trixie teased.
“You know what I mean,” Starlight glared at her. Since there was no way out of it, they both sat down and began jotting down different words and themes. They agreed on something to do with magic and magic shows as a whole, trying to find the right words that rhyme, but make the whole chant not too embarrassing for both of them.
“And now for the fun bit,” Twilight danced on the spot, “Actions!”
“Great,” Starlight sighed, “Hopefully we won’t be as bad as Princess Celestia.” Twilight and Cadance shot Starlight a quick glare, causing her to silence herself.
“Celestia was always too busy with royal duties to have some proper time for herself,” Cadance explained, “She was teaching me a lot about how to be a princess. Always do this and don’t do that, warning me about public taste and a few funny stories of how things went wrong for her.”
“So I guess she had little time to perfect the art of drama?” Trixie giggled sheepishly.
“Little to no time at all,” Twilight said smoothly before lightening up, “But anyway. Your actions must be easy to interpret and memorable to the words of your chant. You really need to think it through.”
Starlight and Trixie looked down at the spider diagram with their many words and thought about their actions. They mined with the hoofs and stood up a few times so they could get some idea. There was a bit of accidental hitting and falling over at some places, causing Cadance and Twilight to giggle, but soon it seemed like they were both getting the gist of it.
“Are you going to teach Flurry some time about friendship chanting?” Twilight asked as she watched the two of them bicker over finalising their routine.
“Depends, I don’t want to be the embarrassing mother over her,” Cadance answered, “Even on my head, I sense that she was a bit embarrassed whilst we were performing our friendship chant in front of Starlight and Trixie.”
“Well, maybe when she finds her own friends,” Twilight suggested, “Some-pony who doesn’t see her as royalty like on that zeppelin and just sees her as a friend.”
Cadance smiled and nodded. Being a mother, she knows that Flurry will be growing faster than she will ever believe.
It was then Starlight and Trixie came over to the alicorns.
“It took us some time,” Starlight smiled hesitantly, “But I think we may have got the perfect friendship chant that we both like.”
“Without ruining our dignity,” Trixie cut in. Twilight gave a deadpanned look but smiled nonetheless.
“Alright, let’s see it,” Twilight motioned them to the centre of the library. Twilight moved to sit next to Cadance as Starlight and Trixie, who both wore blushes on their faces. Faced each other.
“You owe me a week’s worth of roasted peanuts after this,” Trixie hissed.
Starlight gulped and nodded.
It was now or never. They began to chant in unison.
“Horns at the ready.”
They point to each other’s horns, glowing in their signature aura.
“The stage is steady.”
They stood on their hind legs, with their forelegs outstretched.
“The crowd goes loud,”
They waved their arms around, showing that there was a crowd around their imaginary stage.
“And we all take a bow.”
With but a hoof around each other and bowed, Trixie lowered her hat with her magic.
Twilight and Cadance looked at each other, smiled and clapped.
“A bit rough and simplistic, but it got the message across about what you do and the theme of magic and performance was well imagined,” Twilight evaluated.
“And that’s how you do a friendship chant,” Cadance smiled, “Will you be doing it together more often?”
“If there was another time when we have to prove that we’re best friends, then probably,” Starlight chuckled warily, “Otherwise, I think not.”
“The Great and now Humiliated Trixie agrees,” Trixie huffed.
“Well, at least you have something,” Cadance smiled, then turned towards Twilight, “I’m afraid my visit is at an end. I must wake up Flurry and get ready to get the train back to the Crystal Empire.”
“I can help you pack,” Twilight beamed and both princesses walked out of the library, leaving the two unicorns to themselves.
“Remind me to never be involved in one of your ideas again,” Trixie jabbed a hoof at Starlight.
“Seriously though, who could live on so many peanuts. I caught you wanting to perform for peanuts with Princess Celestia,” Starlight moaned.
“Do not talk about my peanut dreams!” Trixie shouted out.
“I would never dream of such things, literally,” Starlight teased, “Now, let’s say our goodbyes to Cadance before she leaves for the Crystal Empire.”
Both friends smiled as they walked out of the library.
