When The Sun Sets

Trixie Lulamoon

Trixie sighed as yet another tomato splattered on the cape she just dry-cleaned. Seriously, she should definitely get a new profession.

Ponies boo-ed as Trixie took a final bow, overcome with exhaustion. But Trixie could only promise herself things would get better, though she doubted they would.

As Trixie entered her caravan, she sat stubbornly on her couch, levitating the letter of approval.

This was the most important thing in her life right now, this letter. It proved to her that things could get better. Better yet, it was a beacon of hope for the poor blue Unicorn.

Trixie was overjoyed when the mail pony dropped the letter off. She had sent a request for teaching over three months ago. Apparently, they had a long waiting list.

Although Trixie was a bit disappointed that she would not be the only pony taught by the Power, Trixie was proud of it. Anyway, of they had a long waiting list, they probably had to cut a few corners.

And it made Trixie so excited to think that maybe, if she works really hard, in the next few months (or years, or decades, she wasn't sure), she could be a Power.

In a few hours, she was scheduled to meet Princess Celestia. "Code name 'MAJOR'" she had said.

Well, the only thing Trixie could do was get ready for the meeting, and look her best. Plus, it would take at least an hour to ride to Canterlot itself, so she'd better get ready.

Soon enough, Trixie had put on her favorite wizard's hat and cape just as soon as the taxi-pony knocked on her caravan's door, ready to hitch it up to the back of his taxi.

The ride to Canterlot was pretty smooth, and not a lot of traffic. Good, she thought, better get there early and impress princess Celestia.

What she didn't think, however, was that the cab thought they were supposed to turn to Fillydelphia, another hour AWAY from the desired destination.

"Hey!" She yelled to the taxi-pony, who grunted. "We're supposed to be going to Canterlot!"

The taxi-pony mumbled something in derision and promptly turned around, making Trixie late once again.

Eventually, however, the caravan did make it to Canterlot. And half an hour later than the desired time, she grunted the code word 'MAJOR' to the guards and was escorted to a table where a fancy looking pony, a pony that looked pretty familiar to Trixie, and Princess Celestia sat, drinking tea.

"Ah, Trixie Lulamoon, wonderful for you to show up," Celestia said, in a tone that sounded a bit too sweet.

"I'm so sorry, your highness. My taxi got a bit back-tracked, and we ended up in Fillydelphia instead of Canterlot. I-"

"It's fine, Trixie. At least you're here now," Celestia replied. Then she pointed to the two other ponies sitting at the table. "This is Fleur De Lis, the other student you will be working with, and Sunset Shimmer, your mentor."

Sunset Shimmer looked anxious, gulping the tea like it was an espresso. Fleur De Lis, on the other hand, was daintily sipping bits of it into her mouth. Celestia beckoned for Trixie to sit down next to her, and Trixie happily obliged.

"We were just talking about your upcoming assignment," Celestia said happily, bringing another wave of melancholy over Sunset.

"Oh, yes, my dear Trixie," Fleur De Lis cut in, her voice sounding as sweet as honey.

Trixie could sense a bit of Manehattan accent. It seemed appropriate. Fleur De Lis seemed like a very spoiled pony, brought up in the richest cities of Equestria.

"Sunset Shimmer here was just saying about how much she is excited to be teaching us!" Fleur finished.

Trixie looked at Sunset. She looked anything but excited. In fact, Trixie felt sorry for her. She needs to teach not one, but TWO ponies who were terrible at magic. Especially Fleur, who seemed like the type of pony who was too stubborn to learn anything. On the contrary, Trixie would listen to anything Sunset would tell her, and accept it happily.

After a few more comments from Fleur De Lis, with Trixie zoned out the entire time, she began to notice something strange about Sunset Shimmer. Why, she looked...familiar. Trixie was about to say something about it when Celestia cut in, explaining what was to be done.

Sunset cringed the entire time. She was obviously not very happy to be doing this, or maybe she was just nervous. Either way, there was a lot of negativity in Sunset's face.

Soon, Celestia said her goodbyes and ushered the three to the private rooms Celestia had let them rent, Sunset's being the biggest suite.

"Okay, guys. See you in the morning," Sunset said, waving them away.

"Bye, bye, my darlings!" Fleur De Lis flipped her hair and entered her room, humming.

Trixie was the only pony left in the hall. What she wanted to do was go to sleep, today had been exhausting enough already. But for some reason, she didn't. With a great act of courage, Trixie knocked on Sunset's door.

"Um...Sunset?" she called.

The door opened, revealing a very tired and ticked off Sunset Shimmer.

"What do you want, Trixie?" she asked.

"I...um...I just wanted to ask you a question," replied a very scared Trixie.

"What?"

"Well, I recognized you back at the table," she started, "but I couldn't put my finger on it. So, um, is there anything that, well, you know, you would be known for?"

A look of pain flashed through Sunset's face. "Y-Yes," she replied.

Trixie knew she was pushing her luck, but she asked, "what was it?"

Trixie was replied with a door in the face. Sighing, she went into her suite, and threw off her cape. She jumped up on her bed, and the pressure immediately went off of her aching hooves.

Laying back, Trixie tried to remember from when she knew Sunset Shimmer...

Trixie jumped up on her father's shoulders, giggling. It was her seventh birthday, and her parents had something very special planned for the little mare.

"Here we are!" Her mother told her, and looking up, Trixie squealed.

Her parents had brought her to the annual Summer Sun Celebration, which happened to fall on her birthday this year. This year, Princess Celestia had something very special planned. She was going to show her new student today, a Unicorn by the name of Sunset Star, or something.

Anyway, Trixie and her family were offered a VIP to the event, meaning that they had a first-row seat to it.

Soon, the crowd settled and the princess walked up on the stage with a young Unicorn with frilly red and yellow locks. She looked nervous, and trailed behind the princess skittishly.

"Ladies and gentlecolts!" The princess announced, and the pony jumped.

"I would like to introduce my student, Sunset Shimmer!" Princess Celestia pointed to the small pony, who cringed.

Soon, the ceremony continued.

Trixie opened her eyes, stunned. This was Celestia's old student? No wonder Sunset Shimmer felt so awkward around her!

Trixie wanted to go tell her something, like "you're awesome!" or "so, howwasitliketobeCelestia'sstudentSunset?" with no spaces, really fast. But she didn't. She thought it best not to confront Sunset Shimmer with such childish words. So instead, Trixie leaned back and fell asleep.