The Unexpected Alliance

Trixie let out a loud gasp as she launched herself out of her nightmare, her heart was beating rapidly as she let out a soft sigh. She looked over towards the clock that was hanging on the nearby wall and sighed once again as she realized it was only three in the morning. She gently pulled the covers off of her as she hopped out of the bed, making her way out of the room. She made her way down the hall and turned into the bathroom. She closed the door quietly and flicked the light switch on, looking into the mirror. Her mane, as always after her nightmares, was flung in all directions. She looked at the fur of her face closer, easily noticing the marks from where tears had flown down her cheeks. She opened the several drawers under the sink as she searched for a brush. After looking through them for about a minute or two she finally found one tucked away under a couple of towels. She brought it to her mane and brushed it back to her natural style.

She had thought about heading back to bed but realized that it would just mean there would be another nightmare to come, so she ended up setting the brush down onto the counter and making her way down the stairs and towards the kitchen. She felt bad about raiding through Applejacks fridge without her consent, but she was far too paranoid to even think about waking the country mare from her slumber. She opened the fridge as silently as she could as she browsed is contents, there were some apple fritters, some apple pies, some apple juice and there were even some regular old apples. Trixie knew that the Apple family was fond of apples, but she never thought their fridge would be stocked on almost everything apple related. Eventually she had decided on having an apple fritter as she pulled it out of the fridge and went to sit down at the table.

She sat down at the table and took a small bite out of the fritter, smiling at the taste. She had also heard that the Apple family had some delicious apple products, but she had never tried them considering she was more of a blueberry kind of mare. She had been quite surprised actually, she had always thought apples would never compare to the taste of a juicy blueberry, but this apple fritter seemed to prove her wrong as she took another small bite. As she finished the fritter she heard a light chuckle behind her as a familiar voice spoke out.

"Ah see yer enjoyin' mah homemade fritters" Trixie turned to see Applejack standing there with a small smirk on her face, "What are ya doin' up at this hour anyways?" The orange mare asked, her voice turning to one of concern.

Trixie let out a small sigh, "Trixie had another nightmare as usual and decided it would be better to stay awake rather than deal with another one" Trixie explained.

Applejack nodded slightly as she took a seat at the chair across from Trixie, "Well, ah don't suppose it would be neighborly of me ta make ya stay up alone all night, ah might as well stay up too, besides, ah wanted ta talk to ya" Applejack said as the smile returned to her face.

"Alright, Trixie supposes she would enjoy the company...it has been rather lonesome after all," Trixie said as a small smile began to grow on her face as well.

The two of them had a long conversation, ranging from their lives as fillies up to what they had been doing since the moment that Trixie had first come into Ponyville. After a while the light began to seep through the blinds as the morning sun rose into the sky. Trixie was about to rise to her hooves before Applejack asked her one last question.

"How did ya get yer cutie mark?" AJ asked with a large amount of curiosity in her voice, "Ah mean, there ain't many cutie marks like yours, not that ah've seen anyways".

"Well..to be honest, Trixie would rather skip the details about it...there are certain memories Trixie would like to keep as distant as possible," She said, her voice dropping to a distant tone, as if she was thinking deeply.

"Ya don't gotta tell me if ya don't wanna" AJ said as she put a hoof on Trixies shoulder in a comforting manner.

Trixie smiled as she let out a soft sigh, "Trixie was alone throughout most of her life, mainly her time as a young filly," She began in a soft voice, "When Trixie was born her parents must have not wanted her..or at least, it's what it seems like since they had put Trixie on the front step of an orphanage..." Trixie frowned slightly as she continued, "Trixie had grown up in that orphanage and the other fillies and colts were not the nicest bunch of ponies...you see, they would always make fun of Trixie, she eventually learned to ignore it and moved on with her life..but after a while it became impossible...mainly around the time everypony had gotten their cutie marks," Trixie let out another soft sigh as she finally looked up from the table to stare at Applejack, "Trixie was the only one without a cutie mark which just made the others tease more and more until Trixie couldn't take it...She left the orphanage and lived on the streets for several weeks...she had turned into a scrounger...one who would search through dumpsters just for something small to eat...until one day Trixie was approached by a nice stallion with a brown coat who had introduced himself as Hoofdini".

"Hold yer horses, if this is goin' where ah think it's going then yer the one that was Hoofdinis assistant when he..." Trixie just nodded as she continued.

"He was nice enough to take Trixie into his house and give her not only food and shelter...but the closest thing Trixie could ever call a family...he was truly like a big brother to Trixie...and she was actually happy..." She closed her eyes with a light smile which quickly faded off her face as she continued once again, "Trixie had seen some of his shows and enjoyed them all, and one day during his performance she had wandered onto the stage, because of this Hoofdini merely played it off as part of the act and introduced me as his assistant...the whole show went great and once Trixie had gotten backstage with him...she noticed her cutie mark with a scream of delight"

"Interestin', sounds like a pretty wild life ya had," AJ said as the story came to an end.

"Oh, Trixie assures you that it was extremely wild as well as difficult, of course, if you knew of Trixies role as Hoofdinis assistant then you know what happened after that," Trixie added in after a light nod.

"Yeah...it was a terrible way ta go...ah'm guessin' ya were there that day?" She asked as she lowered off the chair and onto her hooves.

Trixie nodded again as she got up, "It was tragic...and it didn't help that he had left Trixie her beloved cape and hat on that very same night...just thinking back hurts Trixie a little inside...thinking that Trixie could have easily stopped him..if Trixie had just tried harder..." She said as she looked down, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Hey now..don't think like that," Applejack put her hoof onto Trixie's shoulder once again, "We both know he had way too much pride ta just give up..there was nothin' ya could have done more than ya already did".

Trixie nodded slightly as the small frown escaped from her face, leaving a blank expression as she stood up and made her way towards the door. Applejack noticed and looked over at the clock on the wall noticing the time and quickly following behind Trixie. The two of them silently walked as they made their way to Ponyville Square. They quickly noticed Twilight and the others already sitting and waiting for them. The four mares waved with smiles on their faces. Applejack and Trixie waved back before quickly galloping over to the group.