Hand in Handby PonyzillaChaptersVisitorA Cup of TeaTraining - Part OneSide Chapter: Trixie's Back Story - Part 1VisitorHand in Hand: Chapter One - Visitor Now before I begin, I want readers to know that I will be writing a prequel as to how Twilight loses her powers after I finish this story. Of course, the subject will be brought up and talked about briefly in this story, but it will not be explained in depth. All you really need to know is that she lost her powers, and that's all. Also, when you see a long horizontal line much like the one below, it means that there's a perspective change between Twilight and Trixie. It had been nearly two weeks since the purple unicorn had lost her powers. Ever since she found out that her horn had become defective, she went on a sleepless rampage for two nights, looking for ways to get her powers back. She tried researching, contacting Princess Celestia, eating special diets, and even consulted Pinkie Pie for advice, but nothing had worked. Twilight slumped back in her creaky wooden chair and heaved a sigh. It was 2:09 AM in the morning. Spike had already gone to sleep, much to Twilight's relief. The last thing she wanted was for somebody to constantly worry about her well being. The librarian was busy reading the most recent biography of Starswirl the Bearded. After all, reading novels and studying was all she was able to do now. When she lost her powers, she was incredibly grateful that the Princess had not given up on her. Twilight squirmed around in her chair as she recalled the conversation she had with the Princess the other day. "My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Just because you lost your magical powers does not mean I no longer want you to be my student, and nor do I wish for you to discontinue your studies regarding the magic of friendship. You have saved Equestria on multiple occasions, so I don't see why you think you are incapable of regaining your magic." "But how am I supposed to do that?" Twilight asked with an exasperated tone in her voice. She refused to believe that it was even possible to regain lost magic. It just seemed so unlikely for one to do so. "Just be patient, Twilight Sparkle. You'll never know which one of your friends may be able to help you." the Princess replied with a smile on her face. "Urghhh! Just what does the Princess expect me to DO?!" Twilight shouted at the ceiling. She immediately covered her mouth with her hooves upon realizing that Spike was only a floor away, sleeping soundly. She sighed again and began poking at the ground. Right now, I'm really no different from an earth pony, but I'm an earth pony with no meaning to her life. Pinkie Pie and Applejack are earth ponies, but at least they still have their special talents to help them throughout their lives. Twilight thought to herself. Oh, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do? Twilight fell to the ground and laid flat on her stomach. She covered her head with her two front legs, and began to cry to herself. Just where is my life heading? Nopony in the right mind would ever travel through the Everfree Forest alone at night, but then again, Trixie was never a level-headed pony. She trotted through the dark and eerie forest, completely ignoring the frightening howls of the canine animals behind her. In fact, she blocked out the terrifying noises with her own happy tune. She was humming to herself as she skipped merrily through the Everfree Forest. Twilight Sparkle lost her magical powers? The Great and Powerful Trixie must be The Great, Powerful and Super Lucky Trixie! she thought to herself. She had a large grin on her face. Trixie wonders how she must be feeling right now. Embarrassed, most likely! At least now, Trixie can show all of Ponyville who the better magician is! Trixie continued skipping until Ponyville was in full view. She snickered as her plans of getting revenge flowed through her mind. Should The Great and Poweful Trixie humiliate her in front of everypony? Or should she simply get her friends to turn on her? The showmare was unable to contain her excitement. She jumped up in the air, clapped her hooves together and ran towards the town at full speed. When she arrived at the library, she took a few deep breaths in, and exhaled. Trixie had to calm herself. She didn't want Twilight to get the wrong idea. After all, it's not like Trixie came all the way here just to see Twilight Spark-- Wait, no no no! Trixie is here with the intention of visiting Twilight Sparkle... but not in that way. Wait a minute, in what way? Trixie is simply here to see Twilight Sparkle embarrassed, nothing more! Trixie shook her head frantically to get her silly thoughts out of the way. Well then, here goes nothing. Trixie, ignoring the fact that it was late, knocked on the door as loudly as possible. She waited a few minutes. No response. Trixie raised an eyebrow. She knew Twilight was not the type of person who'd ignore a knock on her door. Just as Trixie was about to try one more time, she heard a 'hoot' noise coming from the side of the library. She whipped her head to find the source of the noise, and sure enough, she saw Owlicious, resting on one of the branches on the library. Owlicious pointed one of his wings towards the window, as if signalling for Trixie to take a peek inside Twilight's home. Curious, Trixie walked over to where the nocturnal animal was sitting, looked inside, and sure enough, Twilight was in there. She was curled up in a ball, laying next to her studying desk. She didn't have a blanket on, so she shivered every so often. Trixie couldn't help but gasp at the sight. Despite Trixie's usual obliviousness, it had been made more than obvious that Twilight had cried herself to sleep. "Did magic really mean that much to Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie asked herself aloud. The answer was obvious and right in front of her, yet, she couldn't help but think that there was more behind it. For a slight moment of time, for once, Trixie felt sympathy for somepony other than herself, but a few seconds later, she shook the thoughts away. "Twilight Sparkle, I have an idea, just you wait. The Great, Powerful, Super Lucky, Sympathetic and Wise Trixie can fix everything!" she whispered under her breath. Trixie gently tapped on the window, hoping for it to open, and much to her surprise, it did. She tried to sneak into the library, but did a bad job of doing so. Instead of landing where she wanted to, she fell onto the ground floor next to where Spike was sleeping, and made a loud crashing noise. Unfortunately for her, Spike jumped up and breathed fire out of his mouth and directly at her face. Trixie sat still for a moment, face burning so hot that she couldn't even move. However, it didn't end there. Spike rubbed his eyes, and looked in front of him, and there sat a pony he was unable to recognize due to the darkness of the room. He gasped and screamed. "THIEF! WAKE UP TWILIGHT! WE'VE GOT A THIEF!" Trixie's eyes bulged wide open. She tried to get up and run away, but Spike leapt up from his bed, ran over to her and kicked her legs off balance, causing her to trip. However, instead of falling forwards, Trixie tripped sideways and fell down one floor, and sure enough, she found herself laying next to a familiar unicorn, who was still sleeping peacefully despite the commotion. Trixie let out a 'phew' sound before she realized there was still a dragon running loose. Trixie heard sounds of footsteps running down the stairs, and within seconds, Spike entered the room and flicked on the lights. When he looked over at Trixie, his face suddenly had a confused look on it. "Huh? Trixie?" he asked, dumbfounded. Trixie nodded, not wanting to wake Twilight up. "Oh man, it was you the entire time?" Spike laughed to himself. Trixie rolled her eyes. Could he BE any louder? she thought to herself. "So anyway, what are you doing here? Came to see Twilight? It's already so late, though! If that's what you're here for, though, we might as well wake her up--" "STOP!" Trixie shouted. Just as Spike was about to reply, the two heard a grumbling noise coming from the pony next to Trixie. The librarian's eyes twitched a little. A few seconds later, they were slowly being opened. Trixie flinched. Twilight looked over at Trixie and Spike, and suddenly, back at Trixie. "Wait a minute-- Trixie? What are you doing here? How did you even get into my house?" Twilight asked as she sat up straight. Trixie planned out what she was going to say next carefully. "Trixie is here... because... because..." However, even though she planned out her reply, she was unable to get the words to leave her mouth because one, Trixie knew she wasn't that cruel, and two, it was hard to look into Twilight's bloodshot eyes. In fact, the colour of her eyes shocked and even frightened Trixie a little bit. Twilight cocked her head, and stared at Trixie, awaiting a reply. Trixie sighed, and looked down on the ground, not wanting to look at Twilight. "Trixie is here because she heard you lost your magical powers." the showpony replied. As soon as the words had left her mouth, she saw Twilight bear a sad look on her face. "Oh no, not you too..." said the lavender pony as she hit her hoof against her head repeatedly. "Did you come here to embarrass me? To rub it in my face?" Trixie looked away sheepishly. It was true that at first, she had the intention of doing so, but now, she wasn't so sure. However, she had to think fast. She saw how hurt Twilight looked when she was asleep, and she didn't want to see it again. "Not any more." Trixie replied. "Trixie came here to.... uh, help you?" She had a nervous and awkward smile on her face. Twilight raised an eyebrow in disbelief. After a moment, Twilight sighed. "I guess I have no reason not to believe you." Twilight said with a solemn tone in her voice. The solemness hit Trixie hard, and once again, she felt sympathy towards the purple mare. Trixie shut her eyes and gritted her teeth. Trixie heaved a sigh, walked up to Twilight and stared into her eyes, no matter how hard it was for her. "Twilight Sparkle, how can you be so grim? Was losing your magic really that bad?" Trixie asked. Of course, she knew the answer herself, but she wanted to hear Twilight's response. Twilight, on the other hand, was taken aback by this confrontation. She escaped Trixie's gaze, and replied. "Look Trixie, I don't want to talk about--" "Was it really that bad?!" Trixie raised her voice. She didn't want Twilight to avoid the question. The purple pony backed up as Trixie slowly began closing the distance between them. "I said, I don't want to--" "WHY DOES IT MEAN SO MUCH TO YOU?" "HAVEN'T YOU SEEN MY FLANK?" Twilight shouted in Trixie's face before bursting out into tears. Trixie was confused, but suddenly, she realized it. She looked over at Twilight's flank, and gasped at the sight. Even though it wasn't her problem, Trixie's head began to pound. She understood it immediately. Twilight had lost her special talent. She had lost her cutie mark. A Cup of TeaHand in Hand: Chapter Two - A Cup of Tea The two mares sat across from each other at a round table in Twilight's kitchen in silence, sipping away at their cups of tea that Spike had made from them only minutes ago. Twilight had a thin brown blanket draped across the backside of her body while Trixie just had her cape on. Twilight felt physically warm, but yet, she felt like she was ice cold, like nothing could ever thaw her frozen heart and mind. The two mares stared at the table. They didn't know what to say to each other. Spike watched them from afar, grimacing at the sight. The silence went on for a few more minutes until Trixie began to speak. "Twilight Sparkle," she said softly and gently, which took Twilight by surprise. The librarian looked up, and her eyes met the showmare's. "What... are you going to do from now on?" Twilight's eyes shot wide open. Although she knew that her life would be different, she hadn't ever once thought her future plans through. Feeling her eyes welling up with tears once more, she looked down at the table again, which made Trixie frown. "I-I don't know..." Twilight mumbled almost incoherently. "What does it mean when one loses their cutie mark? Does that mean they can no longer regain the special talent they had before?" Trixie stayed still in her seat. Twilight peered up, and saw Trixie staring at the skylight. Suddenly, she saw a tender smile creep onto the azure pony's face. "Maybe..." Trixie paused for a moment. She leaned over the table and stared at Twilight. "Maybe it means you have to find a new special talent-- or even try to regain your old one." Twilight looked up once more, and found that her face was less than two feet away from Trixie's. She could feel her face blushing a little bit. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, puzzled by Trixie's words. The showpony's smile turned into a big grin, and she began spouting out words like Pinkie Pie during parties. "Think about it, Twilight Sparkle! Just because somepony loses their cutie mark doesn't mean they can't get a new one. All you have to do is find a new special talent, but you can't do that by staying in your library all day, now can you? Trixie suggests for you to go out and find what other things you may be good at. See the world, open a one-mare magic show act like The Great and Powerful Trixie does, do anything! Twilight Sparkle, you should even try to practice magic again! You've still got a horn, don't you?" Twilight pondered about Trixie's ideas for a moment. She had to admit, they were not half bad, but they seemed too hard for Twilight to handle. "Trixie, I dunno... I don't know if I'm ready for all of that yet." Twilight confessed. Trixie stared at Twilight quizzically. "Why not?" she asked. "Well," Twilight replied. "Magic was pretty much all I had. It was that one special piece of string that roped me and my friends together. Magic was what brought me to Ponyville. Magic was my life. I spent years and years studying about it, learning and practicing spells. There was not one day where I've lived without magic." "... Well, you're still alive now, aren't you?" "I guess, but--" "But nothing! Just what makes you think that you can't regain your magical abilities anyway?!" "I tried reading through books and asking other ponies." "Twilight Sparkle, books can't teach you everything, and it's not like any other pony has ever lost their cutie mark either. This is a problem that nopony has ever encountered before and you, Twilight Sparkle, are the only pony who can find a solution to it. Forget reading books, make your own book." Twilight was taken by surprise. "Trixie, you can't possibly expect me to--" "Trixie expects a lot of great things from you, Twilight Sparkle." Trixie replied sternly. It was made obvious to Twilight that Trixie would not take 'no' for an answer. "Maybe you think you can't do it, but Trixie knows that you are more than capable of accomplishing it. You just have to put your mind to it." Twilight sighed. "I-I'm sorry Trixie. I can't..." Twilight said, now turning her back towards Trixie. The showpony raised an eyebrow. "And why not?" she asked. "It's hard, Trixie. I've lost my magical abilities. Now all I'm left with is information from books that I've read before, and that's it. Haven't you seen the other ponies, Trixie? Imagine my friends without their cutie marks. Applejack would still have strong legs useful for other tasks besides apple bucking, Rainbow would still be as fast as she is now because of her determination to win, Pinkie Pie would still be the best at partying, Fluttershy would still be kind to others and Rarity would be still great at sewing, but there's me. What am I good for now?" "Twilight Sparkle, your friends all have secondary skills because they get out a lot, unlike you, trapping yourself in your room all day reading books-- but you know what? You say knowledge is all you have left, but that should be enough to help you find your secondary skill." said Trixie, still trying to convince Twilight to not give up. "Trixie, like I said, it's not that easy--" Twilight found herself being cut off by a familiar voice. "Nothing is easy, Twilight." said Spike as he walked into the kitchen. "Oh Spike, not you too..." Twilight frowned. The lavender mare looked over at Trixie. "Why do you want me to do this so badly anyway? I thought you didn't like me." she asked. Trixie rolled her eyes. "Do you think The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to sit around with no rival to defeat? It's boring if you automatically forfeit, you know." Trixie said with a scoff. Twilight giggled. Trixie just seemed so innocent that her unbelievable excuse was enough to take off a bit of weight from Twilight's chest. However, Twilight was still reluctant to take the showmare's advice. Almost as if Trixie knew exactly what Twilight was thinking, she began to speak again. "Twilight Sparkle, Trixie will help you." she said. Twilight gaped at Trixie. "Why?" the librarian asked. "B-because... Trixie wants to be your friend." Trixie replied, sticking out a hoof, fully expecting Twilight to shake it. Twilight simply stared at the hoof and the pony standing right before her. Then suddenly, she thought back to what the Princess had said to her. "You'll never know which one of your friends may be able to help you." the words repeated themselves over and over in Twilight's head. Did Trixie plan this...? Twilight thought to herself. She stared skeptically at the azure mare. She hesitated for a moment before shaking her hoof. Well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with being her friend. "So?" Trixie asked. "Huh?" Twilight replied intelligently. "Are you going to let Trixie help you?" Twilight thought about it for a moment. There's really nothing to lose... Yeah, but I don't even think it's possible to regain a special talent... But she does have a point. Books can't teach me everything... Twilight argued with herself. Trixie cocked her head in confusion and stared at a dazed Twilight. Finally, once Twilight broke out of her trance, she slowly nodded her head. There were more pros than cons, after all. "Sure, Trixie. I'll do it. Please take care of me from now on." Trixie blushed a deep red colour. It took Twilight a moment before she realized what she had just said. "No, wait, that's not--!" she was speechless. Frankly, she meant exactly what she said. The two mares turned away from each other, both blushing furiously. Twilight began thinking of ways to reword her sentence, but little did she know, the showpony had taken her seriously. Trixie's heart skipped a beat. Author's Note Well, firstly, I'd like to say for the "secondary skills" monologue / speech thing, I'm assuming Rarity's cutie mark represents her love and knowledge of fashion, and not sewing itself. Otherwise, she'd probably have like, a sewing machine or a needle as her cutie mark or something . Next, I know I rushed this a little bit, but I wasn't exactly sure how to get my ideas out without rushing it. I also feel like some parts dragged on forever, so... it'd be SUUUPER appreciated if you guys could offer some constructive criticism. Thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be out in due time. For now, I've got a party to attend! Training - Part OneHand in Hand: Chapter Three - Training (Part One) Note: This entire chapter is in Trixie's perspective. She will use proper pronouns when being narrated and she'll refer to herself as, "The Great and Powerful Trixie", when she is actually speaking. The weather in Ponyville was fantastic. Beams of sunlight shone throughout the village, butterflies flew around freely and all of the citizens were having a great day. ... Well, all except two. Twilight Sparkle and I were sitting across from each other at her meal table, mindlessly chewing away at our hot and soft, honey drizzled cinnamon pancakes layered with icing and raspberries carefully decorated around the brims. I had to admit, if there's anything the little purple dragon was good for, it was cooking. However, even so, Twilight Sparkle barely touched her breakfast. I raised an eyebrow. "Twilight Sparkle, why are you not eating breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day, you know," I said pridefully. She stared at me for a moment. The huge bags and dark circles under her eyes made me shudder. Didn't get much sleep last night, it seems. I assumed. She sighed, and looked down at her breakfast. "Eat. We have a long day today," I said sternly. Twilight Sparkle was not one to forget things, so she obviously knew about our training today. The purple pony in front of me did not respond. She sat still in her seat, and poked away at her pancakes, but showed no intention of putting a piece into her mouth. I felt my mouth form a scowl, but I let it drop after a few seconds. True, I felt irritated, but I was in no position to get mad at her. However, after a few moments of silence, I had enough. I stood up and walked towards Twilight. I knelt down beside her. She peered up at me. Her eyes seemed empty. So empty that it frightened me and made me jump back a bit, but I shook my head and regained focus on what I was about to do. I returned to my position. I swiftly reached up, grabbed Twilight's fork, impaled her pancakes and quickly shoved them in her mouth before she could react. I covered her mouth with both of my hooves. For a sleep deprived and malnourished pony, I was surprised to find that holding her back was much harder than imagined. Finally, after a few minutes, she gave up, and began to chew slowly. I took my hooves off of her mouth. Phew, I thought to myself. I pretended to wipe off some sweat. Suddenly, after hearing a significantly loud gulping noise from Twilight, her back snapped straight, and she was no longer slouching. I jumped back in surprise. Her eyes no longer looked empty, and she began digging in mercilessly into the pancakes. I smiled. That did the trick, huh? Score one for Trixie! After breakfast, I took Twilight into the study. She seemed to feel a lot better. Her mouth was barely curving into a smile, but that was better than nothing. Much to my surprise, I found myself worrying about her. I whipped my head around, trying not to think about it. After we made our way into the study, Twilight just stood idly in the middle of the room with a puzzled look on her face. "So... what are we doing here?" she asked. I was almost ready to slap myself in the face with my hoof. Was this girl really that clueless? I felt absolutely compelled to make a snarky remark. "Twilight Sparkle, have the past two weeks really transformed you that much?" I said as coolly as possible. She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" I groaned. "The Great and Powerful Trixie thought we went through our day multiple times last night." "... You were here last night?" she asked, completely puzzled. That's when I realized it. She didn't talk at all during breakfast, and she offered such a sulky face simply because she didn't remember anything from the night before. I knew if I tried to argue with her, things would turn out badly. I played dumb. "Trixie, uh, guesses she must've dreamt that she was here." Twilight cocked her head, but shrugged it off almost immediately. "So, what are we doing here?" she repeated. "We're here to help you regain your magical abilities." "Regain? Trixie, I don't think that's possible--" "Anything is possible, Twilight Sparkle. You just need to put your heart and mind to it." "I-I guess..." she replied with a confused tone in her voice. I ignored it. "Well then, since you're willing to co-operate now, let us start with a simple page flipping spell, now shall we?" I offered as I pulled out the book on the shelf closest to me and plopped it onto a reading table. 'Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone', it read. I opened the book to a random page and waited for Twilight Sparkle to react. However, she just stared at the book. She wasn't even sure about what to do. My eyes twitched a bit. This was getting irritating. "Miss Sparkle," I said, "could you please try to flip this book to the next page?" "How?" she asked. No way, no way, NO WAY. She is COMPLETELY CLUELESS. It's like-- she was separated from reality! -- Huh? Wait a minute... I pondered for a moment. "With your magic, of course," I replied. Her eyes lit up. "Magic? I LOVE magic! ... But my BBBFF says I need to improve more on it. He's starting to think that I'm not actually a unicorn, you know... But I know he's wrong! I have a horn to prove it! See?" she pointed towards her horn that was standing on her forehead. As expected... She has made herself believe that she was a filly again. The force feeding, not knowing what to do without instructions... she's like a newborn foal that needs to be guided through life... But why? How? Why was she so sad this morning? I asked myself. Admittedly, a lot of questions flowed through my head, and I was unable to answer any of them. I paced around the room, and Twilight just stared at me. ThinkthinkthinkthinkTHINK, TRIXIE! What would you do if you had a little filly? How would you raise her? I paused for a moment and I felt my face blushing. I had never thought about raising a foal before. I slapped myself with my hoof. Snap out of it! I shouted in my head, but it was no use. I paced around even faster until I felt myself digging a hole into the ground. I looked up, and there was Twilight Sparkle, giggling at me. I blushed even harder. It was... pretty cute seeing Twilight giggle like a filly. But there was no time for that. I slapped myself even harder, and I began to focus on the task at hand. I climbed out of the shallow home made hole, and stood in one place. Almost instantaneously, an idea sprouted inside of my mind. "Come on, Twilight Sparkle," I said, "we're going to go see Zecora!" Twilight and I walked through the Everfree Forest until we reached Zecora's hut. I knocked on the door, and sure enough, the zebra opened the door and welcomed us. "Ah, friends, welcome to my hut. Can I assume you are in a rut?" she asked. "Actually, yes," I admitted, "Twilight Sparkle here has some... psychological issues." "Oh my, that doesn't sound good. I will find a book, sit down if you would," she offered. I found a tree stump to sit on. Twilight, on the other hand, was bouncing around the hut, examining everything Zecora owned. "Wow! Is this the legendary Ponyzilla mask?" she questioned as she poked a mask that looked much like a dragon, crossed with a pony's face. I shuddered. The hut wasn't exactly very... welcoming. Moments later, Zecora returned with a book and placed it on the table in front of me. Much to my surprise, the book didn't have a title. It was just a book with a brown leather cover and dust scattered everywhere. "This is a book I believe that should help you and your friend. Take it with you, consider it a lend," she said as she pushed the book towards me. I picked it up with my magic. A light blue aura encased the book. I smiled at Zecora, and bowed at her as a sign of gratitude. I signalled for Twilight Sparkle that it was time to leave. She frowned, but complied. She waved goodbye at Zecora, and we walked back to Ponyville. When we got back to the library, I placed the book down onto a random table, and opened it up. I skimmed the table of contents until I found the appropriate chapter. 'Disassociation', it read. I flipped to that chapter. I jumped back the moment I saw the page. "DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME CONSULTING A BOOK. SEE A PSYCHOLOGIST IMMEDIATELY." I groaned. What WAS this?! I flipped to the other pages, and sure enough, ALL of the pages in this book had the same phrase on it. Was this some kind of a joke?! I groaned, but thought about it for a moment. Maybe this was what Zecora really wanted to tell me. I should take Twilight to a professional instead of reading what was on a book. I sighed. It was pretty much inevitable. I shouldn't waste time trying to fix it by myself. I turned around and shouted. "Twilight Sparkle, get over here!" No response. I raised an eyebrow. "TWILIGHT!" Nothing. I got up and wandered around the house. Nopony. Nopony was in the house. The little dragon was in his room, taking a nap, but Twilight was nowhere to be found. A sudden pang of realization hit me. Oh no... I thought to myself. She must've ran away... But where to? Side Chapter: Trixie's Back Story - Part 1Hand in Hand: Training - Part Two QUICK NOTE: Training - Part Two will come after this chapter. Trixie's back story will more than likely be scattered within the story. If I'm ultimately unable to squeeze out more content for Trixie's back story, then I'll change the chapter name and just make this the back story. Enjoy! The moment I made the realization that Twilight Sparkle had ran away, I immediately left and went to go look for her. Being a foal in a mare's body meant she still had the physical capabilities of a mare. In other words, she could've been anywhere. The first place I decided to check was the town hall-- simply because the center of everything seemed like a good place to start. However, there was no sign of Twilight Sparkle. I groaned in frustration, and headed towards my next destination, but before long, I was stopped by an unfamiliar voice. "Trixie?" I turned around, and there stood a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. Oh, not THIS one... I rolled my eyes as I began to recall the memories of the day when I embarrassed her. "What do you want? Can't you see that The Great and Powerful Trixie, is busy right now?" I replied impatiently. The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Well, you know, I was gonna ask you why Twilight ran off in the direction of the Everfree Forest, but I guess--" "Wait, WHAT?!" I interrupted her. She let out a loud scoff. "Yeah, she just ran off as fast as she could towards the Everfree while muttering something about... wanting to learn magic," said the rainbow-maned pegasus. She paused for a moment. "But didn't she... y'know, lose her magic...?" She seemed like she was trying to choose her words carefully. I nodded slowly. "Psh, that egghead. I bet she read somewhere in a book that running towards your death was the best way to regain your magic or something. That pony believes everything she reads in books, you know." The pegasus stopped in her tracks, and stared directly at me. I gave her a strange look back. "What?" I asked gruffly. "We gotta go find her! What if she actually did find a book that told her she needed to run deep into the Everfree Forest to get her powers back? What if she dies? What if she falls into a deeper state of depression once she realizes she can't get her powers back?! Gah! We have to go after her, Trixie!" the pegasus panicked. I flashed her an, 'are you serious?', look, but she didn't seem to see it before she dashed off. I suppose I forgot to mention that Twilight has yet to read a book all day... I thought to myself. Oh well, this speeds up the process of finding her, I suppose. Just as I was about to start running head first in the direction of the Everfree Forest, the rainbow-maned pegasus zoomed back, grabbed me, and I soon found that my hooves were no longer touching the ground. "W-what are you doing, you ruffian?!" I shouted angrily at the pony. "Trixie does not remember giving you permission to touch her!" "You're really worrying about THAT at a time like this? You know what, Trixie? You're more self-centered than I thought," she replied angrily. "I don't want to hear that coming from YOU, you so-called 'Best Flyer in Equestria'" I fought back. I wasn't quite sure why I was being so rude. That has never been my intention, but I was unable to control whatever came out of my mouth. "Oh, so you've heard of me? I never knew ponies outside of Ponyville knew about me." the pegasus asked with a different tone in her voice. She seemed... flattered. Good, now I can take advantage of this... "Well, that's no surprise!" I started. I felt my lips curl into a smile, but in a devious way. I looked up and caught a glimpse of the rainbow-maned pony's face. Surprisingly, she was blushing furiously. "It's just that your HUGE ego can be heard from hundreds of miles away!" Instantly, her face dropped and she flinched. She let out a ferocious growl that was enough to frighten me. Uh oh... Did I go too far? I thought to myself. I cringed as I waited for what came next. "... You're lucky that I'm loyal to everypony, or else you would've--" she stopped herself from proceeding. She heaved a sigh, and kept quiet. I did the same. I was never good at expressing my feelings through words... or actions, for that matter. Whenever I wanted to make somepony happy by complimenting them or helping them, I'd always end up making them cry for whatever reason. It seemed that I brought misfortune everywhere I went. Sure enough, I was soon dubbed as, 'The Bad and Misfortunate Trixie', by my fourth grade classmates. Of course, I slowly began getting used to the horrible nickname and it didn't provoke me any more, but it still stung every time it was mentioned. I also began adjusting to the feeling of loneliness... or at least, I tried to. After graduating from high school (and suffering years and years of taunting and teasing), I had enough. I didn't want to be alone any more, or suffer through more days of being called 'misfortunate'. Then, one day, a stallion, about the same age as me, began talking to me, much to my surprise. Nopony had ever started a normal conversation with me for ages. The only ponies who came and talk to me were the ones who were planning to spit vulgar words at my face. The stallion introduced himself as Stardust. He was a white unicorn with sandy and shaggy blonde hair. His cutie mark consisted of a telescope and a star, which implied his special talent was astronomy. He was friendly, courteous, kind and just very... charming. We kept in touch for weeks. Sometime later, he asked to meet up with me at a sandwich shop. That was when he decided to ask me out. Of course, I was taken back by surprise and left in shock. I was confused as to why he didn't hate me like everyone else. Naturally, I questioned him. "W-hu-wha-- why?" I asked intelligently. Stardust cocked his head in confusion, but nevertheless, he still held a bright smile on his face that made me blush. "Why are you so surprised?" he asked innocently. I gaped at him for moment. Was he serious? "Well... Nopony's ever asked me out before, let alone even come up and talk to me! I figured that you'd probably hate me too..." I replied solemnly. I was no longer making eye contact with him. Although the butterflies were always there, they were fluttering more violently in my stomach... but in a good way. He paused for a moment, and I took that as a cue to continue talking. "After all, I am the Bad and Misfortunate Trixie... Weak, awkward, ugly--" Stardust leapt out of his seat and covered my mouth with a hoof. He shook his head as a signal for me to stop talking. "Don't say that," he started. "I personally think you're great. You have a nice smile, you're pretty, and you're not awkward at all." he responded sincerely. Suddenly, he moved his hoof towards mine and held it tightly. He shot me a grin that was enough to make me feel like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I sighed. To be frank, I didn't know what to say. I shook my head. "I don't know... I-I'm just not sure." "And that's okay!" he exclaimed with a gentle chuckle. "I wasn't expecting you to answer right away anyway. I just... really like you, and I'm willing to wait." I looked up and smiled back at him. My eyes were welling up with... happiness. I could feel it in my heart. I really liked him, but for some reason, I was unable to give him a proper response. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to give me time. I thanked him for the lunch before taking off. After that, I went over to the nearest park and sat down, deep in thought about what had happened. Then, suddenly, a group of mares that I recognized from high school came up to me. There were three of them, to be exact. One was an earth pony with magenta hair, another was a unicorn with red hair and finally, one was a pegasus with light purple hair that almost looked pink. I looked up at them. There was no doubt that they were going to cause me nothing but trouble. "Hey there, Dixie," said the earth pony coolly. She shoved her face in mine in an attempt to irritate and frighten me. It worked. I slid over a bit on the bench, but it was no use. There were three of them, and only one of me. "What's wrong, Mare of Misfortune?" the unicorn snorted. "Got no one to play with?" Her words stung. "... What do you want?" I asked quietly. "What was that? Got something to say?" the pegasus scowled. I shook my head in response. I could feel myself quivering. "Thought so." "Have a loser party here?" "You haven't changed a bit since high school, the Bad and Misfortunate Trixie." "Pah, it's no surprise that nopony loves you!" "Yeah, nopony except me," said a familiar voice. The mares and I whipped our heads up, and sure enough, there stood Stardust. "Oh hey, Stardust!" the earth pony exclaimed flirtatiously as she walked up to him and tried to hug him, but he simply smacked her hoof away, much to our surprise. "Stardust..." I mumbled. He smiled at me and gave me a reassuring look. "Just what were you doing with her?" he demanded for an answer. The three mares looked around sheepishly, frantically searching for appropriate excuses to make themselves look better. "We were just--" "Socializing with her." "Yeah! ... Socializing," muttered the pegasus. Stardust raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Leave Trixie alone!" Stardust shouted angrily. The mares exchanged glances with one another. They must've been thinking that Stardust was crazy for defending me. To be honest, I did too. Nevertheless, the three backed off. As they left, I heard them muttering dirty things about Stardust under their breaths. Why, if I wasn't so paralyzed back then, I would've chased after them... But unfortunately, I wasn't so 'Great and Powerful' then as I am now. It came as a great shock when Stardust blatantly expressed his feelings for me when he interrupted the scene. He said that he loved me. While I didn't believe him, there was something in his eyes that proved to me he wasn't lying. Unfortunately, ever since that happened, I started avoiding him-- just so we wouldn't have to get tangled up into awkward situations-- however, even up to this day, I still regret doing that. Only weeks later, he moved away. He left without so much as a goodbye, but I couldn't blame him. It was I who strictly decided on ignoring him. Days went by, and by then, I had finally realized that... my first love turned out to be a disaster. I shook my head to get myself back into reality. The pegasus pony continued to carry us both through the air, neither of us showing the intention of uttering even a single word to each other. Author's Note Originally, I had more written out for this chapter, however, the content I typed out was not related to Trixie's back story in any way, so I'll be leaving it for the next chapter.
VisitorHand in Hand: Chapter One - Visitor Now before I begin, I want readers to know that I will be writing a prequel as to how Twilight loses her powers after I finish this story. Of course, the subject will be brought up and talked about briefly in this story, but it will not be explained in depth. All you really need to know is that she lost her powers, and that's all. Also, when you see a long horizontal line much like the one below, it means that there's a perspective change between Twilight and Trixie. It had been nearly two weeks since the purple unicorn had lost her powers. Ever since she found out that her horn had become defective, she went on a sleepless rampage for two nights, looking for ways to get her powers back. She tried researching, contacting Princess Celestia, eating special diets, and even consulted Pinkie Pie for advice, but nothing had worked. Twilight slumped back in her creaky wooden chair and heaved a sigh. It was 2:09 AM in the morning. Spike had already gone to sleep, much to Twilight's relief. The last thing she wanted was for somebody to constantly worry about her well being. The librarian was busy reading the most recent biography of Starswirl the Bearded. After all, reading novels and studying was all she was able to do now. When she lost her powers, she was incredibly grateful that the Princess had not given up on her. Twilight squirmed around in her chair as she recalled the conversation she had with the Princess the other day. "My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Just because you lost your magical powers does not mean I no longer want you to be my student, and nor do I wish for you to discontinue your studies regarding the magic of friendship. You have saved Equestria on multiple occasions, so I don't see why you think you are incapable of regaining your magic." "But how am I supposed to do that?" Twilight asked with an exasperated tone in her voice. She refused to believe that it was even possible to regain lost magic. It just seemed so unlikely for one to do so. "Just be patient, Twilight Sparkle. You'll never know which one of your friends may be able to help you." the Princess replied with a smile on her face. "Urghhh! Just what does the Princess expect me to DO?!" Twilight shouted at the ceiling. She immediately covered her mouth with her hooves upon realizing that Spike was only a floor away, sleeping soundly. She sighed again and began poking at the ground. Right now, I'm really no different from an earth pony, but I'm an earth pony with no meaning to her life. Pinkie Pie and Applejack are earth ponies, but at least they still have their special talents to help them throughout their lives. Twilight thought to herself. Oh, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do? Twilight fell to the ground and laid flat on her stomach. She covered her head with her two front legs, and began to cry to herself. Just where is my life heading? Nopony in the right mind would ever travel through the Everfree Forest alone at night, but then again, Trixie was never a level-headed pony. She trotted through the dark and eerie forest, completely ignoring the frightening howls of the canine animals behind her. In fact, she blocked out the terrifying noises with her own happy tune. She was humming to herself as she skipped merrily through the Everfree Forest. Twilight Sparkle lost her magical powers? The Great and Powerful Trixie must be The Great, Powerful and Super Lucky Trixie! she thought to herself. She had a large grin on her face. Trixie wonders how she must be feeling right now. Embarrassed, most likely! At least now, Trixie can show all of Ponyville who the better magician is! Trixie continued skipping until Ponyville was in full view. She snickered as her plans of getting revenge flowed through her mind. Should The Great and Poweful Trixie humiliate her in front of everypony? Or should she simply get her friends to turn on her? The showmare was unable to contain her excitement. She jumped up in the air, clapped her hooves together and ran towards the town at full speed. When she arrived at the library, she took a few deep breaths in, and exhaled. Trixie had to calm herself. She didn't want Twilight to get the wrong idea. After all, it's not like Trixie came all the way here just to see Twilight Spark-- Wait, no no no! Trixie is here with the intention of visiting Twilight Sparkle... but not in that way. Wait a minute, in what way? Trixie is simply here to see Twilight Sparkle embarrassed, nothing more! Trixie shook her head frantically to get her silly thoughts out of the way. Well then, here goes nothing. Trixie, ignoring the fact that it was late, knocked on the door as loudly as possible. She waited a few minutes. No response. Trixie raised an eyebrow. She knew Twilight was not the type of person who'd ignore a knock on her door. Just as Trixie was about to try one more time, she heard a 'hoot' noise coming from the side of the library. She whipped her head to find the source of the noise, and sure enough, she saw Owlicious, resting on one of the branches on the library. Owlicious pointed one of his wings towards the window, as if signalling for Trixie to take a peek inside Twilight's home. Curious, Trixie walked over to where the nocturnal animal was sitting, looked inside, and sure enough, Twilight was in there. She was curled up in a ball, laying next to her studying desk. She didn't have a blanket on, so she shivered every so often. Trixie couldn't help but gasp at the sight. Despite Trixie's usual obliviousness, it had been made more than obvious that Twilight had cried herself to sleep. "Did magic really mean that much to Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie asked herself aloud. The answer was obvious and right in front of her, yet, she couldn't help but think that there was more behind it. For a slight moment of time, for once, Trixie felt sympathy for somepony other than herself, but a few seconds later, she shook the thoughts away. "Twilight Sparkle, I have an idea, just you wait. The Great, Powerful, Super Lucky, Sympathetic and Wise Trixie can fix everything!" she whispered under her breath. Trixie gently tapped on the window, hoping for it to open, and much to her surprise, it did. She tried to sneak into the library, but did a bad job of doing so. Instead of landing where she wanted to, she fell onto the ground floor next to where Spike was sleeping, and made a loud crashing noise. Unfortunately for her, Spike jumped up and breathed fire out of his mouth and directly at her face. Trixie sat still for a moment, face burning so hot that she couldn't even move. However, it didn't end there. Spike rubbed his eyes, and looked in front of him, and there sat a pony he was unable to recognize due to the darkness of the room. He gasped and screamed. "THIEF! WAKE UP TWILIGHT! WE'VE GOT A THIEF!" Trixie's eyes bulged wide open. She tried to get up and run away, but Spike leapt up from his bed, ran over to her and kicked her legs off balance, causing her to trip. However, instead of falling forwards, Trixie tripped sideways and fell down one floor, and sure enough, she found herself laying next to a familiar unicorn, who was still sleeping peacefully despite the commotion. Trixie let out a 'phew' sound before she realized there was still a dragon running loose. Trixie heard sounds of footsteps running down the stairs, and within seconds, Spike entered the room and flicked on the lights. When he looked over at Trixie, his face suddenly had a confused look on it. "Huh? Trixie?" he asked, dumbfounded. Trixie nodded, not wanting to wake Twilight up. "Oh man, it was you the entire time?" Spike laughed to himself. Trixie rolled her eyes. Could he BE any louder? she thought to herself. "So anyway, what are you doing here? Came to see Twilight? It's already so late, though! If that's what you're here for, though, we might as well wake her up--" "STOP!" Trixie shouted. Just as Spike was about to reply, the two heard a grumbling noise coming from the pony next to Trixie. The librarian's eyes twitched a little. A few seconds later, they were slowly being opened. Trixie flinched. Twilight looked over at Trixie and Spike, and suddenly, back at Trixie. "Wait a minute-- Trixie? What are you doing here? How did you even get into my house?" Twilight asked as she sat up straight. Trixie planned out what she was going to say next carefully. "Trixie is here... because... because..." However, even though she planned out her reply, she was unable to get the words to leave her mouth because one, Trixie knew she wasn't that cruel, and two, it was hard to look into Twilight's bloodshot eyes. In fact, the colour of her eyes shocked and even frightened Trixie a little bit. Twilight cocked her head, and stared at Trixie, awaiting a reply. Trixie sighed, and looked down on the ground, not wanting to look at Twilight. "Trixie is here because she heard you lost your magical powers." the showpony replied. As soon as the words had left her mouth, she saw Twilight bear a sad look on her face. "Oh no, not you too..." said the lavender pony as she hit her hoof against her head repeatedly. "Did you come here to embarrass me? To rub it in my face?" Trixie looked away sheepishly. It was true that at first, she had the intention of doing so, but now, she wasn't so sure. However, she had to think fast. She saw how hurt Twilight looked when she was asleep, and she didn't want to see it again. "Not any more." Trixie replied. "Trixie came here to.... uh, help you?" She had a nervous and awkward smile on her face. Twilight raised an eyebrow in disbelief. After a moment, Twilight sighed. "I guess I have no reason not to believe you." Twilight said with a solemn tone in her voice. The solemness hit Trixie hard, and once again, she felt sympathy towards the purple mare. Trixie shut her eyes and gritted her teeth. Trixie heaved a sigh, walked up to Twilight and stared into her eyes, no matter how hard it was for her. "Twilight Sparkle, how can you be so grim? Was losing your magic really that bad?" Trixie asked. Of course, she knew the answer herself, but she wanted to hear Twilight's response. Twilight, on the other hand, was taken aback by this confrontation. She escaped Trixie's gaze, and replied. "Look Trixie, I don't want to talk about--" "Was it really that bad?!" Trixie raised her voice. She didn't want Twilight to avoid the question. The purple pony backed up as Trixie slowly began closing the distance between them. "I said, I don't want to--" "WHY DOES IT MEAN SO MUCH TO YOU?" "HAVEN'T YOU SEEN MY FLANK?" Twilight shouted in Trixie's face before bursting out into tears. Trixie was confused, but suddenly, she realized it. She looked over at Twilight's flank, and gasped at the sight. Even though it wasn't her problem, Trixie's head began to pound. She understood it immediately. Twilight had lost her special talent. She had lost her cutie mark.
A Cup of TeaHand in Hand: Chapter Two - A Cup of Tea The two mares sat across from each other at a round table in Twilight's kitchen in silence, sipping away at their cups of tea that Spike had made from them only minutes ago. Twilight had a thin brown blanket draped across the backside of her body while Trixie just had her cape on. Twilight felt physically warm, but yet, she felt like she was ice cold, like nothing could ever thaw her frozen heart and mind. The two mares stared at the table. They didn't know what to say to each other. Spike watched them from afar, grimacing at the sight. The silence went on for a few more minutes until Trixie began to speak. "Twilight Sparkle," she said softly and gently, which took Twilight by surprise. The librarian looked up, and her eyes met the showmare's. "What... are you going to do from now on?" Twilight's eyes shot wide open. Although she knew that her life would be different, she hadn't ever once thought her future plans through. Feeling her eyes welling up with tears once more, she looked down at the table again, which made Trixie frown. "I-I don't know..." Twilight mumbled almost incoherently. "What does it mean when one loses their cutie mark? Does that mean they can no longer regain the special talent they had before?" Trixie stayed still in her seat. Twilight peered up, and saw Trixie staring at the skylight. Suddenly, she saw a tender smile creep onto the azure pony's face. "Maybe..." Trixie paused for a moment. She leaned over the table and stared at Twilight. "Maybe it means you have to find a new special talent-- or even try to regain your old one." Twilight looked up once more, and found that her face was less than two feet away from Trixie's. She could feel her face blushing a little bit. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, puzzled by Trixie's words. The showpony's smile turned into a big grin, and she began spouting out words like Pinkie Pie during parties. "Think about it, Twilight Sparkle! Just because somepony loses their cutie mark doesn't mean they can't get a new one. All you have to do is find a new special talent, but you can't do that by staying in your library all day, now can you? Trixie suggests for you to go out and find what other things you may be good at. See the world, open a one-mare magic show act like The Great and Powerful Trixie does, do anything! Twilight Sparkle, you should even try to practice magic again! You've still got a horn, don't you?" Twilight pondered about Trixie's ideas for a moment. She had to admit, they were not half bad, but they seemed too hard for Twilight to handle. "Trixie, I dunno... I don't know if I'm ready for all of that yet." Twilight confessed. Trixie stared at Twilight quizzically. "Why not?" she asked. "Well," Twilight replied. "Magic was pretty much all I had. It was that one special piece of string that roped me and my friends together. Magic was what brought me to Ponyville. Magic was my life. I spent years and years studying about it, learning and practicing spells. There was not one day where I've lived without magic." "... Well, you're still alive now, aren't you?" "I guess, but--" "But nothing! Just what makes you think that you can't regain your magical abilities anyway?!" "I tried reading through books and asking other ponies." "Twilight Sparkle, books can't teach you everything, and it's not like any other pony has ever lost their cutie mark either. This is a problem that nopony has ever encountered before and you, Twilight Sparkle, are the only pony who can find a solution to it. Forget reading books, make your own book." Twilight was taken by surprise. "Trixie, you can't possibly expect me to--" "Trixie expects a lot of great things from you, Twilight Sparkle." Trixie replied sternly. It was made obvious to Twilight that Trixie would not take 'no' for an answer. "Maybe you think you can't do it, but Trixie knows that you are more than capable of accomplishing it. You just have to put your mind to it." Twilight sighed. "I-I'm sorry Trixie. I can't..." Twilight said, now turning her back towards Trixie. The showpony raised an eyebrow. "And why not?" she asked. "It's hard, Trixie. I've lost my magical abilities. Now all I'm left with is information from books that I've read before, and that's it. Haven't you seen the other ponies, Trixie? Imagine my friends without their cutie marks. Applejack would still have strong legs useful for other tasks besides apple bucking, Rainbow would still be as fast as she is now because of her determination to win, Pinkie Pie would still be the best at partying, Fluttershy would still be kind to others and Rarity would be still great at sewing, but there's me. What am I good for now?" "Twilight Sparkle, your friends all have secondary skills because they get out a lot, unlike you, trapping yourself in your room all day reading books-- but you know what? You say knowledge is all you have left, but that should be enough to help you find your secondary skill." said Trixie, still trying to convince Twilight to not give up. "Trixie, like I said, it's not that easy--" Twilight found herself being cut off by a familiar voice. "Nothing is easy, Twilight." said Spike as he walked into the kitchen. "Oh Spike, not you too..." Twilight frowned. The lavender mare looked over at Trixie. "Why do you want me to do this so badly anyway? I thought you didn't like me." she asked. Trixie rolled her eyes. "Do you think The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to sit around with no rival to defeat? It's boring if you automatically forfeit, you know." Trixie said with a scoff. Twilight giggled. Trixie just seemed so innocent that her unbelievable excuse was enough to take off a bit of weight from Twilight's chest. However, Twilight was still reluctant to take the showmare's advice. Almost as if Trixie knew exactly what Twilight was thinking, she began to speak again. "Twilight Sparkle, Trixie will help you." she said. Twilight gaped at Trixie. "Why?" the librarian asked. "B-because... Trixie wants to be your friend." Trixie replied, sticking out a hoof, fully expecting Twilight to shake it. Twilight simply stared at the hoof and the pony standing right before her. Then suddenly, she thought back to what the Princess had said to her. "You'll never know which one of your friends may be able to help you." the words repeated themselves over and over in Twilight's head. Did Trixie plan this...? Twilight thought to herself. She stared skeptically at the azure mare. She hesitated for a moment before shaking her hoof. Well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with being her friend. "So?" Trixie asked. "Huh?" Twilight replied intelligently. "Are you going to let Trixie help you?" Twilight thought about it for a moment. There's really nothing to lose... Yeah, but I don't even think it's possible to regain a special talent... But she does have a point. Books can't teach me everything... Twilight argued with herself. Trixie cocked her head in confusion and stared at a dazed Twilight. Finally, once Twilight broke out of her trance, she slowly nodded her head. There were more pros than cons, after all. "Sure, Trixie. I'll do it. Please take care of me from now on." Trixie blushed a deep red colour. It took Twilight a moment before she realized what she had just said. "No, wait, that's not--!" she was speechless. Frankly, she meant exactly what she said. The two mares turned away from each other, both blushing furiously. Twilight began thinking of ways to reword her sentence, but little did she know, the showpony had taken her seriously. Trixie's heart skipped a beat. Author's Note Well, firstly, I'd like to say for the "secondary skills" monologue / speech thing, I'm assuming Rarity's cutie mark represents her love and knowledge of fashion, and not sewing itself. Otherwise, she'd probably have like, a sewing machine or a needle as her cutie mark or something . Next, I know I rushed this a little bit, but I wasn't exactly sure how to get my ideas out without rushing it. I also feel like some parts dragged on forever, so... it'd be SUUUPER appreciated if you guys could offer some constructive criticism. Thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be out in due time. For now, I've got a party to attend!
Training - Part OneHand in Hand: Chapter Three - Training (Part One) Note: This entire chapter is in Trixie's perspective. She will use proper pronouns when being narrated and she'll refer to herself as, "The Great and Powerful Trixie", when she is actually speaking. The weather in Ponyville was fantastic. Beams of sunlight shone throughout the village, butterflies flew around freely and all of the citizens were having a great day. ... Well, all except two. Twilight Sparkle and I were sitting across from each other at her meal table, mindlessly chewing away at our hot and soft, honey drizzled cinnamon pancakes layered with icing and raspberries carefully decorated around the brims. I had to admit, if there's anything the little purple dragon was good for, it was cooking. However, even so, Twilight Sparkle barely touched her breakfast. I raised an eyebrow. "Twilight Sparkle, why are you not eating breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day, you know," I said pridefully. She stared at me for a moment. The huge bags and dark circles under her eyes made me shudder. Didn't get much sleep last night, it seems. I assumed. She sighed, and looked down at her breakfast. "Eat. We have a long day today," I said sternly. Twilight Sparkle was not one to forget things, so she obviously knew about our training today. The purple pony in front of me did not respond. She sat still in her seat, and poked away at her pancakes, but showed no intention of putting a piece into her mouth. I felt my mouth form a scowl, but I let it drop after a few seconds. True, I felt irritated, but I was in no position to get mad at her. However, after a few moments of silence, I had enough. I stood up and walked towards Twilight. I knelt down beside her. She peered up at me. Her eyes seemed empty. So empty that it frightened me and made me jump back a bit, but I shook my head and regained focus on what I was about to do. I returned to my position. I swiftly reached up, grabbed Twilight's fork, impaled her pancakes and quickly shoved them in her mouth before she could react. I covered her mouth with both of my hooves. For a sleep deprived and malnourished pony, I was surprised to find that holding her back was much harder than imagined. Finally, after a few minutes, she gave up, and began to chew slowly. I took my hooves off of her mouth. Phew, I thought to myself. I pretended to wipe off some sweat. Suddenly, after hearing a significantly loud gulping noise from Twilight, her back snapped straight, and she was no longer slouching. I jumped back in surprise. Her eyes no longer looked empty, and she began digging in mercilessly into the pancakes. I smiled. That did the trick, huh? Score one for Trixie! After breakfast, I took Twilight into the study. She seemed to feel a lot better. Her mouth was barely curving into a smile, but that was better than nothing. Much to my surprise, I found myself worrying about her. I whipped my head around, trying not to think about it. After we made our way into the study, Twilight just stood idly in the middle of the room with a puzzled look on her face. "So... what are we doing here?" she asked. I was almost ready to slap myself in the face with my hoof. Was this girl really that clueless? I felt absolutely compelled to make a snarky remark. "Twilight Sparkle, have the past two weeks really transformed you that much?" I said as coolly as possible. She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" I groaned. "The Great and Powerful Trixie thought we went through our day multiple times last night." "... You were here last night?" she asked, completely puzzled. That's when I realized it. She didn't talk at all during breakfast, and she offered such a sulky face simply because she didn't remember anything from the night before. I knew if I tried to argue with her, things would turn out badly. I played dumb. "Trixie, uh, guesses she must've dreamt that she was here." Twilight cocked her head, but shrugged it off almost immediately. "So, what are we doing here?" she repeated. "We're here to help you regain your magical abilities." "Regain? Trixie, I don't think that's possible--" "Anything is possible, Twilight Sparkle. You just need to put your heart and mind to it." "I-I guess..." she replied with a confused tone in her voice. I ignored it. "Well then, since you're willing to co-operate now, let us start with a simple page flipping spell, now shall we?" I offered as I pulled out the book on the shelf closest to me and plopped it onto a reading table. 'Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone', it read. I opened the book to a random page and waited for Twilight Sparkle to react. However, she just stared at the book. She wasn't even sure about what to do. My eyes twitched a bit. This was getting irritating. "Miss Sparkle," I said, "could you please try to flip this book to the next page?" "How?" she asked. No way, no way, NO WAY. She is COMPLETELY CLUELESS. It's like-- she was separated from reality! -- Huh? Wait a minute... I pondered for a moment. "With your magic, of course," I replied. Her eyes lit up. "Magic? I LOVE magic! ... But my BBBFF says I need to improve more on it. He's starting to think that I'm not actually a unicorn, you know... But I know he's wrong! I have a horn to prove it! See?" she pointed towards her horn that was standing on her forehead. As expected... She has made herself believe that she was a filly again. The force feeding, not knowing what to do without instructions... she's like a newborn foal that needs to be guided through life... But why? How? Why was she so sad this morning? I asked myself. Admittedly, a lot of questions flowed through my head, and I was unable to answer any of them. I paced around the room, and Twilight just stared at me. ThinkthinkthinkthinkTHINK, TRIXIE! What would you do if you had a little filly? How would you raise her? I paused for a moment and I felt my face blushing. I had never thought about raising a foal before. I slapped myself with my hoof. Snap out of it! I shouted in my head, but it was no use. I paced around even faster until I felt myself digging a hole into the ground. I looked up, and there was Twilight Sparkle, giggling at me. I blushed even harder. It was... pretty cute seeing Twilight giggle like a filly. But there was no time for that. I slapped myself even harder, and I began to focus on the task at hand. I climbed out of the shallow home made hole, and stood in one place. Almost instantaneously, an idea sprouted inside of my mind. "Come on, Twilight Sparkle," I said, "we're going to go see Zecora!" Twilight and I walked through the Everfree Forest until we reached Zecora's hut. I knocked on the door, and sure enough, the zebra opened the door and welcomed us. "Ah, friends, welcome to my hut. Can I assume you are in a rut?" she asked. "Actually, yes," I admitted, "Twilight Sparkle here has some... psychological issues." "Oh my, that doesn't sound good. I will find a book, sit down if you would," she offered. I found a tree stump to sit on. Twilight, on the other hand, was bouncing around the hut, examining everything Zecora owned. "Wow! Is this the legendary Ponyzilla mask?" she questioned as she poked a mask that looked much like a dragon, crossed with a pony's face. I shuddered. The hut wasn't exactly very... welcoming. Moments later, Zecora returned with a book and placed it on the table in front of me. Much to my surprise, the book didn't have a title. It was just a book with a brown leather cover and dust scattered everywhere. "This is a book I believe that should help you and your friend. Take it with you, consider it a lend," she said as she pushed the book towards me. I picked it up with my magic. A light blue aura encased the book. I smiled at Zecora, and bowed at her as a sign of gratitude. I signalled for Twilight Sparkle that it was time to leave. She frowned, but complied. She waved goodbye at Zecora, and we walked back to Ponyville. When we got back to the library, I placed the book down onto a random table, and opened it up. I skimmed the table of contents until I found the appropriate chapter. 'Disassociation', it read. I flipped to that chapter. I jumped back the moment I saw the page. "DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME CONSULTING A BOOK. SEE A PSYCHOLOGIST IMMEDIATELY." I groaned. What WAS this?! I flipped to the other pages, and sure enough, ALL of the pages in this book had the same phrase on it. Was this some kind of a joke?! I groaned, but thought about it for a moment. Maybe this was what Zecora really wanted to tell me. I should take Twilight to a professional instead of reading what was on a book. I sighed. It was pretty much inevitable. I shouldn't waste time trying to fix it by myself. I turned around and shouted. "Twilight Sparkle, get over here!" No response. I raised an eyebrow. "TWILIGHT!" Nothing. I got up and wandered around the house. Nopony. Nopony was in the house. The little dragon was in his room, taking a nap, but Twilight was nowhere to be found. A sudden pang of realization hit me. Oh no... I thought to myself. She must've ran away... But where to?
Side Chapter: Trixie's Back Story - Part 1Hand in Hand: Training - Part Two QUICK NOTE: Training - Part Two will come after this chapter. Trixie's back story will more than likely be scattered within the story. If I'm ultimately unable to squeeze out more content for Trixie's back story, then I'll change the chapter name and just make this the back story. Enjoy! The moment I made the realization that Twilight Sparkle had ran away, I immediately left and went to go look for her. Being a foal in a mare's body meant she still had the physical capabilities of a mare. In other words, she could've been anywhere. The first place I decided to check was the town hall-- simply because the center of everything seemed like a good place to start. However, there was no sign of Twilight Sparkle. I groaned in frustration, and headed towards my next destination, but before long, I was stopped by an unfamiliar voice. "Trixie?" I turned around, and there stood a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. Oh, not THIS one... I rolled my eyes as I began to recall the memories of the day when I embarrassed her. "What do you want? Can't you see that The Great and Powerful Trixie, is busy right now?" I replied impatiently. The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Well, you know, I was gonna ask you why Twilight ran off in the direction of the Everfree Forest, but I guess--" "Wait, WHAT?!" I interrupted her. She let out a loud scoff. "Yeah, she just ran off as fast as she could towards the Everfree while muttering something about... wanting to learn magic," said the rainbow-maned pegasus. She paused for a moment. "But didn't she... y'know, lose her magic...?" She seemed like she was trying to choose her words carefully. I nodded slowly. "Psh, that egghead. I bet she read somewhere in a book that running towards your death was the best way to regain your magic or something. That pony believes everything she reads in books, you know." The pegasus stopped in her tracks, and stared directly at me. I gave her a strange look back. "What?" I asked gruffly. "We gotta go find her! What if she actually did find a book that told her she needed to run deep into the Everfree Forest to get her powers back? What if she dies? What if she falls into a deeper state of depression once she realizes she can't get her powers back?! Gah! We have to go after her, Trixie!" the pegasus panicked. I flashed her an, 'are you serious?', look, but she didn't seem to see it before she dashed off. I suppose I forgot to mention that Twilight has yet to read a book all day... I thought to myself. Oh well, this speeds up the process of finding her, I suppose. Just as I was about to start running head first in the direction of the Everfree Forest, the rainbow-maned pegasus zoomed back, grabbed me, and I soon found that my hooves were no longer touching the ground. "W-what are you doing, you ruffian?!" I shouted angrily at the pony. "Trixie does not remember giving you permission to touch her!" "You're really worrying about THAT at a time like this? You know what, Trixie? You're more self-centered than I thought," she replied angrily. "I don't want to hear that coming from YOU, you so-called 'Best Flyer in Equestria'" I fought back. I wasn't quite sure why I was being so rude. That has never been my intention, but I was unable to control whatever came out of my mouth. "Oh, so you've heard of me? I never knew ponies outside of Ponyville knew about me." the pegasus asked with a different tone in her voice. She seemed... flattered. Good, now I can take advantage of this... "Well, that's no surprise!" I started. I felt my lips curl into a smile, but in a devious way. I looked up and caught a glimpse of the rainbow-maned pony's face. Surprisingly, she was blushing furiously. "It's just that your HUGE ego can be heard from hundreds of miles away!" Instantly, her face dropped and she flinched. She let out a ferocious growl that was enough to frighten me. Uh oh... Did I go too far? I thought to myself. I cringed as I waited for what came next. "... You're lucky that I'm loyal to everypony, or else you would've--" she stopped herself from proceeding. She heaved a sigh, and kept quiet. I did the same. I was never good at expressing my feelings through words... or actions, for that matter. Whenever I wanted to make somepony happy by complimenting them or helping them, I'd always end up making them cry for whatever reason. It seemed that I brought misfortune everywhere I went. Sure enough, I was soon dubbed as, 'The Bad and Misfortunate Trixie', by my fourth grade classmates. Of course, I slowly began getting used to the horrible nickname and it didn't provoke me any more, but it still stung every time it was mentioned. I also began adjusting to the feeling of loneliness... or at least, I tried to. After graduating from high school (and suffering years and years of taunting and teasing), I had enough. I didn't want to be alone any more, or suffer through more days of being called 'misfortunate'. Then, one day, a stallion, about the same age as me, began talking to me, much to my surprise. Nopony had ever started a normal conversation with me for ages. The only ponies who came and talk to me were the ones who were planning to spit vulgar words at my face. The stallion introduced himself as Stardust. He was a white unicorn with sandy and shaggy blonde hair. His cutie mark consisted of a telescope and a star, which implied his special talent was astronomy. He was friendly, courteous, kind and just very... charming. We kept in touch for weeks. Sometime later, he asked to meet up with me at a sandwich shop. That was when he decided to ask me out. Of course, I was taken back by surprise and left in shock. I was confused as to why he didn't hate me like everyone else. Naturally, I questioned him. "W-hu-wha-- why?" I asked intelligently. Stardust cocked his head in confusion, but nevertheless, he still held a bright smile on his face that made me blush. "Why are you so surprised?" he asked innocently. I gaped at him for moment. Was he serious? "Well... Nopony's ever asked me out before, let alone even come up and talk to me! I figured that you'd probably hate me too..." I replied solemnly. I was no longer making eye contact with him. Although the butterflies were always there, they were fluttering more violently in my stomach... but in a good way. He paused for a moment, and I took that as a cue to continue talking. "After all, I am the Bad and Misfortunate Trixie... Weak, awkward, ugly--" Stardust leapt out of his seat and covered my mouth with a hoof. He shook his head as a signal for me to stop talking. "Don't say that," he started. "I personally think you're great. You have a nice smile, you're pretty, and you're not awkward at all." he responded sincerely. Suddenly, he moved his hoof towards mine and held it tightly. He shot me a grin that was enough to make me feel like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I sighed. To be frank, I didn't know what to say. I shook my head. "I don't know... I-I'm just not sure." "And that's okay!" he exclaimed with a gentle chuckle. "I wasn't expecting you to answer right away anyway. I just... really like you, and I'm willing to wait." I looked up and smiled back at him. My eyes were welling up with... happiness. I could feel it in my heart. I really liked him, but for some reason, I was unable to give him a proper response. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to give me time. I thanked him for the lunch before taking off. After that, I went over to the nearest park and sat down, deep in thought about what had happened. Then, suddenly, a group of mares that I recognized from high school came up to me. There were three of them, to be exact. One was an earth pony with magenta hair, another was a unicorn with red hair and finally, one was a pegasus with light purple hair that almost looked pink. I looked up at them. There was no doubt that they were going to cause me nothing but trouble. "Hey there, Dixie," said the earth pony coolly. She shoved her face in mine in an attempt to irritate and frighten me. It worked. I slid over a bit on the bench, but it was no use. There were three of them, and only one of me. "What's wrong, Mare of Misfortune?" the unicorn snorted. "Got no one to play with?" Her words stung. "... What do you want?" I asked quietly. "What was that? Got something to say?" the pegasus scowled. I shook my head in response. I could feel myself quivering. "Thought so." "Have a loser party here?" "You haven't changed a bit since high school, the Bad and Misfortunate Trixie." "Pah, it's no surprise that nopony loves you!" "Yeah, nopony except me," said a familiar voice. The mares and I whipped our heads up, and sure enough, there stood Stardust. "Oh hey, Stardust!" the earth pony exclaimed flirtatiously as she walked up to him and tried to hug him, but he simply smacked her hoof away, much to our surprise. "Stardust..." I mumbled. He smiled at me and gave me a reassuring look. "Just what were you doing with her?" he demanded for an answer. The three mares looked around sheepishly, frantically searching for appropriate excuses to make themselves look better. "We were just--" "Socializing with her." "Yeah! ... Socializing," muttered the pegasus. Stardust raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Leave Trixie alone!" Stardust shouted angrily. The mares exchanged glances with one another. They must've been thinking that Stardust was crazy for defending me. To be honest, I did too. Nevertheless, the three backed off. As they left, I heard them muttering dirty things about Stardust under their breaths. Why, if I wasn't so paralyzed back then, I would've chased after them... But unfortunately, I wasn't so 'Great and Powerful' then as I am now. It came as a great shock when Stardust blatantly expressed his feelings for me when he interrupted the scene. He said that he loved me. While I didn't believe him, there was something in his eyes that proved to me he wasn't lying. Unfortunately, ever since that happened, I started avoiding him-- just so we wouldn't have to get tangled up into awkward situations-- however, even up to this day, I still regret doing that. Only weeks later, he moved away. He left without so much as a goodbye, but I couldn't blame him. It was I who strictly decided on ignoring him. Days went by, and by then, I had finally realized that... my first love turned out to be a disaster. I shook my head to get myself back into reality. The pegasus pony continued to carry us both through the air, neither of us showing the intention of uttering even a single word to each other. Author's Note Originally, I had more written out for this chapter, however, the content I typed out was not related to Trixie's back story in any way, so I'll be leaving it for the next chapter.
