Trixie watched as the pink pony rubbed her face in various, silly manners in an attempt to remember what Twilight had instructed her to do after the pastries were done. She glanced over at the cupcake and thought to herself 'Even though she may be… different… she is still definitely somepony I'd consider a friend, both her and Twilight.' "Pinkie, I'd like to thank you agai-"but she was cut off by Pinkie.

"Oh, now I remember! We're supposed to go get Fluttershy! Oh, you'll love her, she's the friendliest pony I know, and I know every pony! Well, every pony in Ponyville, of course, I don't think anypony knows every pony! But if any pony did, it'd be me, because…" Trixie managed to tune out the party pony. 'Even friends can get a tad over bearing at times.' She justified. She nodded intermittently at Pinkie, feigning attention, and her mind wandered to what Luna, Twilight and Apple Jack were doing.

'Aw, shucks!' the farm pony thought. 'I know what I did was wrong, but Twilight's still my friend, and I did apologize!' She sighed out loud, although it wasn't intentional. 'Maybe I've been too harsh on Trixie… She apologized too, and she's been tryin' awful hard to be kind to me…' although the thought of Trixie made Apple Jack's blood boil. "No." she thought, and, had she been saying it, it would have been accompanied by a stomp of her hooves. 'I'm goin' to find a way to fix this, what Trixie's done is plum unforgivable.' Even though she pretended to be confident, the fact that both Twilight and Luna were silently excluding her was enough to rattle her morale. "At least… I hope I can find a way…"

Even with the previous events of the day, Twilight was thoroughly enjoying her conversations with the princess, since the only other unicorn she spent a prolonged amount of time with was only focused on fashion, she seldom got a chance to have an educated discussion on spells and their history, and Luna had no shortage of such information. "You KNEW Star Swirl, the bearded? What was he like? Was he nice? What did he do in his spare time?" She had more questions to ask, but several things were bothering her. She asked Luna, as quietly as she could, "Do you think we're being a little too harsh on her?" She could see the confused look on the princess' face. "Apple Jack." She quickly explained. The princess nodded her head to show she understood, and Twilight went on. "I know she acted inappropriately, but she only did it because she thought she was sticking up for me."

Luna considered the view point for a second. After a moment, she had no choice but to concede. "If what you say is true, then I will forgive her, although you are not to tell her. I am open to reconciliation, but only if she comes about it naturally, deal?" She offered her hoof, which Twilight gladly "shook." "Now, did you say you were taking me to meet your friend Rarity?" Twilight looked at the princess and nodded in confirmation. "I look forward to meeting another unicorn; tell me, does she study magic as dutifully as you?"

Twilight intentionally disregarded the question, knowing Luna wouldn't like the answer, and decided instead to ask a personal question. "So, Luna, how was it growing up with Princess Celestia? You know, before the uh…" She looked away out of guilt, fearing that the princess would take offense to the question.

"Well, a princess never speaks of herself at such lengths…" Luna began.

The amount of verbal protest she received from the studious mare was comparable to what would be expected from a certain pink pony.

"Go on, now, eat your veggies!" The yellow pegasus cooed to the baby mouse. "Don't you want to grow up big and strong like your daddy?" She was just scratching off her "baby mouse lunch" chore off the list when she saw two ponies strolling over to her cottage, one of whom she recognized completely, and the other rang a bell, but not very clearly. Not wanting to be rude (and feeling a bit more daring than she normally felt) she didn't run away screaming, and instead waited for her guests to arrive.

"See? What did I tell you, I can see that you two are going to be the best of friends! What? No, the blushing and backing away out of fear is a good thing!" The party pony was frantically reassuring Trixie that the cowering pegasus that stood- well, huddled in fear before them was actually a kind and caring pony, whom would be any pony's good friend, although Trixie was unconvinced and made no effort to hide it. She turned to Pinkie skeptically, feeling a bemused stare would get the message across, which shocked the pink pony, and was quickly rewarded, with a look of both shock and embarrassment from the ex-magician.

"Oh, Celestia… I can't believe I just did that!" Trixie quickly looked over to the now dejected-looking pegasus. "I- I'm Trixie." She stammered, mainly due to the sheer amount of guilt she felt. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Judging by the looks the Pegasus was giving her, Trixie could tell she'd have to do some serious work, even if she hadn't judged so harshly at first. She looked to Pinkie for help, but she was only rewarded with a shrug. She surveyed the area around her in hopes to find something to relate to the timid pony in front of her, and couldn't help but notice the overwhelming amount of animals that surrounded them. "So, Fluttershy… Pinkie tells me you're a fond of animals?"

It was as if Trixie had thrown a magic switch, the pegasus was talking a mile a minute! While she appreciated the fact that the pegasus seemed to have a much higher opinion of her, she couldn't help but wonder what the princess was doing.

Luna forced a smile. Twilight was desperate to hear some stories from her past, it didn't take a detective to figure that out, but there was something bothering the princess: She couldn't think of anything she would be embarrassed about, but there was something at the back of her mind that was… unsettling. She couldn't put a name to it, and yet… "I can't simply ignore her question, even though she did the same to mine." She pointed her head into the sky, looking at nothing in particular and said in a retired tone "What is there to tell? I lived in a wonderful home along side my wonderful parents, and my wonderful sister. My life was just that: wonderful." The blank stare she received from Twilight told her that she was clearly unsatisfied. Luna forced a smile in an attempt to convince her, but Twilights stare was unwavering. She sighed, defeated. "Any specific type of story you'd like to hear?"

Twilight was extremely pleased upon hearing this, although she hadn't planned on Luna taking requests. "I really don't have any particular story I'd like to hear, but you MUST have a favorite?" But the resulting expression worn by the princess told her otherwise. Twilight allowed herself to gush for just a moment. "Well, what was it like growing up alongside Princess Celestia?" but, when she saw Luna cringe, she could tell it was a sensitive subject. This, however, only succeeded in fueling her curiosity. She felt a nudge in her side, and looked over to see Apple Jack smiling at her in an amused fashion. Twilight looked away, but the silent contribution put her in a slightly better mood. The two stared at Luna, hoping she'd take notice,

The princess could feel the two mares' gaze on her, and knew there was no way out of this situation. "My sister did not lie, Twilight Sparkle, you certainly have a way of doing things…"

"…and that's why I think robins can perform songs much more fluently than the average blue jay!" Fluttershy was ecstatic, nopony else was very interested in animals, whereas Trixie hadn't interrupted her once during her whole rant! Suddenly, she came to a realization. "I've been such a blabber mouth; I haven't even given Trixie time to talk!" She scorned herself under her breath, and then politely asked if Trixie had any questions or thoughts.

"Can it be? Could she finally be done?" Trixie managed to contain her joy, and dismissed Fluttershy's inquiries. She was being sincere, she really did not have any questions or thoughts, although she didn't know whether to attribute that to the fact that Fluttershy was a rather eloquent speaker, or the fact that Trixie hadn't listened to a single word she had said. Either way, she decided to change the topic before she could begin a new tangent. She turned to address the butter-yellow pegasus, but decided to include Pinkie. "Have you two ever ventured outside of Ponyville?" True, it was a simple question, but Trixie couldn't tolerate another tale about the musical capabilities of birds. Much to her satisfaction (and misfortune) Pinkie decided to dominate the conversation for the next hour.

"Well, I've never been outside of Ponyville, although Twilight has given us tickets to go to Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala! Have you ever been to the Gala? I know you've been to Canterlot, heck, you've been all over Equestria! What was the most interesting place you've been to? What's the LEAST interesting place you've been to? Have you been to Phillydelphia? I've always wanted to go there; it just seems like boat loads of fun! I've heard ponies talk about how the weather is just peachy, and there are parties every night! Twilight always says those aren't the types of parties I'm used to. I asked her why, and she just laughed. Not like a "HAHAHA" laugh like when you laugh at a joke, but a "HEH HEH HEH" laugh, like when you don't want to say something. She said something about the parties being a little more "personal" then I'm used to, but that's not possible because I'm a personal pony, I know everything about everypony!"

The conversation, one sided as it may have been, went on like this for an awe-inspiring amount of time, with Pinkie asking questions but not allowing an answer. While this was going on, Fluttershy asked why the two had come for her. Trixie glanced over to Pinkie, happily bouncing around the group and paying them little mind, and explained that Trixie and Princess Luna had decided to host a picnic for the friends. She asked why the princess had decided to do so, and, after it was explained why, she asked why it was so late, shortly followed by her scolding herself under her breath once more. Trixie took notice of the frequency of this and told the pegasus to not be so hard on herself. Fluttershy looked at Trixie sheepishly and apologized once more, only irritating Trixie further.

"You need a little confidence!" She exclaimed which would, later, be similar to the efforts of a competitive cyan pegasus. In the same way, it elicited the same response, leading only to Trixie's frustration.

"As you'd imagine, my parents were very protective of the two of us, always making sure we got along nicely, never got into fights, never acted out of line, never faltered, no mistakes. They were raising the perfect princesses. For a brief period of our pony-hood lives, we were allowed to attend a private school in Canterlot, later renamed after my sister. She has always boasted a great string of achievements, whether it is making top marks in all of our classes, or winning the talent show, placing first in the spelling bee, or being class favorite, she's always been the winner of the two of us. Now one might imagine this to be a great bother to me, and at first it was. She was always picked first, never ate alone, always the favorite among the adults, and she maintained perfect composure in everything she did. Everything, that is, except the bed rooms. I was always the quiet one, or at least, I THINK I was, a judgment of a pony's character should come from others, not one's own self. I never spoke in class, never participated in the activities after school… never dared. She was the confident one who would succeed in everything that she did, but I digress. She always appeared to be upbeat and happy at school, but I was truly her diary. Whenever she had problems, I was the one she would come to. She had to go through so much pressure every day, the focus was always on what she did, meaning every mistake or error would be magnified to ludicrous extremes. One day I found her bawling in our closet because she didn't get the highest grade in the class on a test. I couldn't understand why this bothered her so much, but I consoled her nonetheless. She always would preach to me about how awful it was to be her, and how hard it was to be in her position. In this way, I began to hate her. Don't get me wrong, she is my sister and I love her, but she had no idea how hard it was living in her shadow, to be expected to match and surpass her standards, and she seemed oblivious to what she was doing. I'm sure I was selfish to some degree as well, but none so much as my sister was, she was always willing to throw someone under the proverbial chariot to better her own self." It was at this point that Luna looked back and saw the shocked looks on friends' faces. "Oh, yes, your darling princess was none to perfect as a school-filly. Care to hear the undeniable proof?" The two ponies nodded, but Luna had planned on continuing whether or not they wanted to hear it. "As I said, no expense was too great as long as it benefitted her, even if it meant the betrayal of family. Yes, Tia and I had always played little pranks on each other, and she was much better than I was at it, from unscrewing the pepper shakers top to hiding under my bed and scaring me, quite severely, as a very young mare, but I always assumed this was universal to siblings and acts of compassion, and not of malice. To this day, I still wish I were right. I found out one day, that Tia had always been talking about me behind my back. This did not bother me for the reasons you may expect, I never strove for, nor did I even want to be popular. What really hit me about this were the betrayal and the lies. What lead to this discovery was when, for the first time since school started, I tried to make a friend. He was the new stallion in class, although I never learned his name. He came from a rich family himself, and he, too, never spoke up. He sat alone for the first few days of class and ignored the idle chatter around him. Keep in mind, we were all fillies and colts at the time, and love had not yet been a part of our lives, but seeing Tia so happy around her friends made me envious, and I wanted to have that joy for myself. I approached him on his third day of class and asked if I could sit next to him. He looked me square in the eyes and said, without hesitation "No, I don't associate with Cry Babies." At first I dismissed this as a joke, but instead of humor, there was only judgment in his eyes. I demanded to know where he had gotten this judgment from, but his silence told me that he was no longer interested in conversing with the likes of me. I didn't know what else to do, so I ran to Celestia, in hopes that she'd be able to comfort me. I had initially planned on waiting until the day had ended, but my curiosity (and unsettlement) got the best of me. I approached her after lunch when most of her friends were in the lunch line and questioned her as to where the rumor could have started. She looked at me with genuine curiosity and asked what I meant. It was at this time when a friend of hers walked up to the table and shoved me aside, saying only "Move it, drama queen!" I looked at my sister pleadingly, but she seemed suddenly uncomfortable, like she wasn't in her own skin. Her friend, I believe her name was Solar, looked at her and said "Uh oh, looks like you'll have another crying session on your sister's part to deal with, huh?" Celestia just laughed awkwardly and agreed. She looked at me with an impossible combination of both wicked pride and shame." Luna cast another glance at the ponies behind her, expecting them to either look sympathetic or bewildered, but, apart from being wide eyed, they were otherwise expressionless. Luna continued on, more for her own sake than anypony else'. "You can understand how frustrated I was at that moment. She had been spreading lies about me to make her own self look better! And what's worse is that she was hypo critic about it! I couldn't think of anything else to do at the time but scream and flip her friend's tray of food at her. I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to give her friends the satisfaction of conforming to the rumors. In the end, I was sent to detention and suspended from school. My parents, having no tolerance for failure, punished me by giving me all of Celestia's chores. I could take most of this, albeit begrudgingly, but what truly did it in was what she told me after she was let out of school. She walked up to me while I was in the midst of cleaning the living room, a job which previously belonged to her, and whispered in my ear "No matter what you do, you will never exceed my accomplishments. With an outburst like that, who do you think mother and father will send to the "Young Mares School of Excellence?" She left me there, to realize that she had planned out everything that had happened, from the new foal to the outburst, everything had gone exactly as she had planned… The next year, she was sent to her new school, and I was left to be the ridiculed one in my school. Every day was a veritable jail sentence, ending in the same thing: Misery, shame, and frustration. No one was sensitive towards my position, not the kids, not the teachers, not even my own parents. In their eyes, I was a failure; a bad egg, the bad apple. They could hardly look at me except to berate me or discipline me, and it was never with pride. Everything- every SINGLE thing I had done from that point on was tainted by my outburst… Never good enough… inferior… pathetic…" She snapped out of whatever had briefly gripped her and looked at the ground in shame. "Anyway, that is my story… sorry for boring you."

The orange farm pony looked over at her librarian friend. Wordlessly, she walked over to the princess and nudged her flank. Luna was surprised, understandably, but she soon gave her attention to the farm pony nonetheless. "Don't worry none, princess, we're your friends here, and you're just fine to us." She could feel the princess sighing on her shoulders, although Luna remained dry eyed. Apple Jack pulled away and looked her in the eyes and repeated "you're just fine."

…and if someone tries to cut in front of you in line, you say…?

"Excuse me… I believe the line starts um… back… there…"

Trixie jumped with frustration. "No, no, no! Assert yourself! It's your spot, not theirs! Are you even trying to learn?" She recited the rules to the timid pegasus, but, in the end, the result was always the same. "Do you want to be a… a…" Trixie searched furiously for the words. "a door mat for the rest of your life?" The subtle nod elicited from Fluttershy had a much more strong effect on the show pony than either Pinkie or the cream-colored pegasus would expect: She rolled on the ground, laughing as hard as she possibly could, to the point where tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Why is that so funny?" She managed to gasp. Trixie's fit of laughter, the other two noticed, was infectious, and had them all laughing within seconds, but none so severely as Trixie.

As the sun reached its highest point in the sky, the two groups looked at each other and truly acknowledged the camaraderie they shared.

And now for something my "editor" (I put it in quotes because he's more of a co-author, he tells me where I can improve in the story and things like that, and he has never steered me wrong) told me while I was talking about how the idea of writing 4 more chapters was overwhelming:

The future is water, always moving, always changing but you cannot influence it, it will always be moving and changing, no matter what you do. We all want it, we all need it, but not all will get it.
The past is stone, unmovable, unchanging, but fading from view, some faster than others. We cannot stop this, though we can speed up the process of erasing it.
We all have stones weighing us down, we all have stones in our way, but we don't all have the same stone.
The present is fire. We can change this, we can make it bigger, better, we can make it smaller, weaker. We can lose control of it sometimes, and it can consume our life.
Fire is not forever, it is dangerous, it can be changed, and will be changed, and it can make you happy, it can make you sad, or it can start or destroy your life.

Just feed the fire.
Carry the stones.
and pray you get some water.

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