The crowd of young ponies muttered among themselves, their voices the only sound within Ponyville's town square. Without warning, a voice rang out from the little house that stood before the crowd. "Hey everypony, where do you wanna go?"
The crowd cried out in unison, "Trixie's Clubhouse!"
"That's right!" said the voice again. "It's time to go down to Trixie's Clubhouse!" Triumphant music was pumped from the nearby speakers and the audience clapped and stomped their hooves with smiles on their faces. "Aaaand here's your host, The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
A blast of light and smoke appeared in front of the small, vibrantly-colored house, and the audience cheered even louder. The smoke cleared with unnatural speed, revealing the blue-coated unicorn that was the star of the show. She wore her signature cape and hat as she reared up and spread her forelegs wide. Fireworks in a plethora of colors went whirling and bursting all around the little house.
Trixie's voice rang out across the stands. "Yes, fillies and gentlecolts, The Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived! What wonders will she bring? What unimaginable feats of magic will she display? What tantalizing tales will she tell? The answers to all this and more await you... at Trixie's Clubhouse!"
Another array of colorful fireworks sent the audience into another wave of cheering as Trixie reared up again. The showmare shut her eyes for a few seconds, breathing deeply and letting the applause die down before opening her eyes and starting her show.
"Now for this first feat, Trixie will need a volunteer from the audience. Who will have the honor of aiding The Great and Powerful Trixie today?" She leaned forward with a hoof held above her brow, scanning the crowd. It was for show, of course, as they'd already selected a volunteer before the performance began. They couldn't risk randomly picking some crazy little pony who would ruin the show or set the clubhouse on fire (again).
The young ponies hopped up and down, each one wanting to be picked, and Trixie was about to point to the colt they had already selected when someone in the audience shouted above the others, "I volunteer!"
Trixie stood up straight, looking around for the source of the outburst. "Sorry, filly, but The Great and Pow-" but Trixie and the rest of the audience fell quiet as the volunteer made her way down to the stage. "Oh," Trixie said with flat disappointment. Maybe a few years ago she could have simply told the mare to take a seat, or even had security escort her away, but there wasn't much Trixie could do now that Twilight Sparkle was a princess.
Seeing the purple alicorn brought back some very unpleasant memories. This was why she hadn't wanted to perform in Ponyville, and why it had taken her producers two years to convince her to come. She quickly put on a smile for the audience again. "Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Take note of this day, fillies and gentlecolts, for two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria are about to perform together for the first time."
"Most powerful ponies?" Twilight muttered disapprovingly.
"You may be a princess and the element of magic, but my face is in every city and my name on the lips of every foal in Equestria," Trixie whispered back, unable to resist taking a quick stab at her old acquaintance. She returned to full volume as an oversized deck of cards slid out from under her cape. "Now, Trixie's assistant will pick a card from this deck. She will show it to the audience, but not to Trixie."
Twilight complied, grasping a card in her magic and pulling it out. She held the five of spades up to the audience as Trixie looked away.
"Now, put it back into the deck and shuffle it."
Twilight did as she was told, taking a whole minute to rearrange the deck of playing cards before passing it back.
"Thank you," Trixie said through gritted teeth as she took the deck and held it up in front of her. "Now, was this your card?" The two of diamonds rose from the deck, and the audience chuckled a little. "No? Hmm.... How about this one?" Trixie pulled out the ace of hearts, and the crowd laughed a little louder. Trixie tossed the card aside and pulled out another. "Still not right? Dang. Hold on."
Trixie started going through all the cards one by one, tossing them away as each wrong card was drawn. After six more cards, she dumped the whole deck onto the stage and looked it over. "Are any of these your card?" she asked, turning to Twilight.
"Um, no, actually," Twilight said flatly.
"Well, what the hay?" Trixie exclaimed just before slapping a hoof to her face and smiling. "Oh, silly Trixie! How could she ever forget?" Trixie pulled off her hat and turned it upside down.
The crowd let out an audible "ooh" as a white and black butterfly flapped gracefully out of the hat and landed on Trixie's hoof. The butterfly unfolded itself and flattened until it was a nice rectangle, and Trixie held the card up to display the five spades printed on it.
"Is this your card?" she asked with a smirk. The crowd cheered and stomped happily as Twilight nodded. Trixie waved a hoof and the princess trotted back to the stands. The alicorn stayed there for the rest of the show, much to Trixie's relief.
After a few more little tricks, some impressive illusions, and a pair of adventure stories, Trixie was walking off the stage and into the skewed clubhouse which was her traveling home. The young ponies in the audience were chanting her name as she stepped through the colorful entryway. Down a short hallway and into her dressing room she went, sitting down on a stool in front of a massive mirror.
Trixie looked over her reflection. Her mane was tidy and well-shaped as usual, though her hat was a little askew. Instead of straightening it, she removed the hat and placed it gently on a nearby rack. Variations of both that hat and her cape were all over Equestria, and it was rather common to see Trixie costumes on Nightmare Night.
She knew it was only a matter of time before the alicorn in the audience would come knocking on her door. She wasn't going to bother telling her security to keep her out. After all, how could they defy the will of a princess? Sure enough, a few minutes after the show ended, the dressing room door opened as the purple mare let herself in.
"Hello, Princess." The title dripped with venom as it came from Trixie's mouth.
"Hello, Trixie," Twilight said as she shut the door behind her. "I see that you're doing well."
Trixie wanted to tell the alicorn to climb into a changeling hive covered with Hearts and Hooves Day candy, but she knew that Twilight could have Trixie locked up or even banished from Equestria on a whim. She had to play it cool, but there was no need to prolong the encounter. "Not as well as you, it would seem. What brings you to Trixie's show?"
"Old times, I guess. You're a household name, as I'm sure you're aware. I'd seen recordings of your show, and I thought it was pretty good, so when you came here to Ponyville.... How have you been?"
"Trixie has fame that stretches from one end of Equestria to the other," the showmare scoffed, "Trixie is doing very well, as you've already pointed out."
"That's good to hear. I was honestly a little concerned when you last took off from Ponyville."
At last, Trixie looked up from the counter, gazing coldly at Twilight through the mirror in front of her. "You must have hidden it quite well, then."
"Hmph. Well, I may have been a little bitter about the whole hostile takeover business. I did start to worry after a while, though. I didn't hear anything about you for two years, but I was relieved to know that you were still going strong in the entertainment business." Twilight chuckled a little as she approached the showmare. "I was also pleased to see that your act had gotten a little less, shall we say, abrasive. The target audience was a surprise, though. What's the story behind that?"
Trixie rolled her eyes. How much more of this stupid interrogation must she endure? "Trixie was discovered by a pair of producers in the Crystal Empire."
"The Crystal Empire? What were you doing all the way out there?"
"It was the only place that hadn't heard of Trixie yet, and therefore the only place where she could perform." Trixie stood up, shrugging off her cape and letting it rest on the floor. She plucked up a bottle in her magic and poured a reddish liquid into a glass. She took a sip before continuing, not bothering to offer Twilight a drink. "Trixie was performing on the street, as she had before. The Crystal Ponies were not used to seeing unicorn magic very often, so they were more-than-suitably impressed with Trixie's prowess. The producers were in the Empire looking for fresh ideas, and they liked Trixie's show."
Trixie set about putting together a sandwich while she talked. "They offered Trixie a job, and she took it. The audiences which tested best were primarily made up of little fillies and colts, so that became the show's target demographic. As for Trixie's reputation, well, it truly is amazing what public relations specialists can do when one throws enough bits their way. Within a year, The Great and Powerful Trixie was a name that was associated with dazzling tricks and laughing foals."
"I guess that makes sense." Twilight tilted her head a little as Trixie bit into her sandwich. "I'm also a little surprised that you don't have somepony to make your food for you."
"It's an old habit from a time when Trixie could not trust anypony not to poison her."
"Poison you?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Trixie was," the showmare paused, looking down at her sandwich, "not popular after the incident with the Ursa Minor, and even less so after her second trip to Ponyville. Many ponies throughout the nation felt she got off too easy for what she ended up doing under the Alicorn Amulet's influence. Many ponies attempted to rectify this themselves.
"Trixie had a difficult time getting money, as well. Not even the rock farm would take her back," Trixie continued, turning back toward the mirror. "They said something about Trixie doing something terrible to their 'little Pinkamena,' whoever that is."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know. You should have written to me," Twilight said, reaching out and putting a hoof on Trixie's back. "I could have—"
Trixie winced and slapped the purple hoof away. "Don't touch me!" Twilight backed away slowly as the showmare pulled her cape back on with a shudder. "Why have you really come here, Twilight? Did you want to humiliate me again?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, I—"
"To make me relive all the horrors that have followed me ever since I met you? Or are you just here to look down your muzzle at a simple entertainer after you've gained such grand status?"
"Of course not! I would never—"
"You have no idea how far I've come! No idea what I had to do to climb out of the hole you pushed me into! Do you know what it's like to have no job, no place to go, and nopony who will even look in your direction without scowling and spitting at you? No! You don't! Everypony just loves Princess Twilight!"
"Hey, I earned everything I've gotten!" Twilight retorted with a glare. "I finished a spell that even Starswirl the Bearded couldn't figure out, and I've saved Equestria how many times, now?"
"Oh, now who's boasting? And I'm sure you earned the status of being Celestia's favorite student, and all the posh privileges that come with it as well." Trixie held up a hoof. "You don't need to preach your accomplishments, as they've already been plastered on every newspaper in Equestria. Is that all you came here to do? To rub your achievements in my lowly face?"
"For the last time, no! But if all you want to do is yell at me, then maybe I should just go."
"Perhaps, but it's not like it's my place to tell a princess what she should do."
Twilight growled as she opened up the door, but gritted her teeth and took a moment to breathe before she stepped through it. She turned back to the unicorn after a moment. "Listen, Trixie," she started, her glare no longer present, "I'm sorry for what you've been through, and for the part I played in it all. I'm happy that things turned out okay, and I hope they stay that way." She shook her head, adding, "But I won't be sorry for what I've achieved for myself. I got where I am through just as much work as you, if not the same kind."
"Save your pity for the weak, princess," Trixie spat, facing away from the alicorn once again.
Twilight ignored the comment. "I hope you'll come back to Ponyville someday, and we can move past all this. Even if you don't see me as such, I want you to know that you'll always have a friend in me."
Trixie scoffed again. "With one such as you, Trixie will need no enemies." Twilight pulled the door shut with a final snarl, and Trixie let out a long, slow breath. She looked down to the sandwich she'd dropped on the floor and tossed it into a trash can as she settled back onto her floor pillow.
She picked up her glass again, bringing it almost to her lips before she choked on a squeak and shut her eyes. Trixie barely managed to put the glass back down before she collapsed into a heap. She curled up slowly, pulling her cape in against her shuddering body as she sobbed into the floor pillow.
