Author's Note

Shout out to my dear friend SoniKawaii for creating Dairy Queen and Copa Cabanna, just for this story. You're awesome!

Chapter 10: A Trixie Situation

Immediately at the door, I was taken back by the rather loud music that was playing throughout the whole bar. The first reason being that it was some sort of electronic/techno/dubstep thing, which I sort of had a fondness for. Secondly, due to the fact I had to stop my ears from bleeding due to the crazy bombardment that the now rather sensitive receptors were receiving from the heavy bass that was blasting through the air. Cringing ever so slightly, while trying to adjust myself to this now somewhat hazardous environment, I barely managed to glance about the place without finding myself letting out a soft whine.

“Welcome to The Grapevine!”, came a rather cheery voice, shouting over the music. Looking toward where I thought it came from showed a rather excited looking mare, leaning over from atop a counter. I couldn’t help but find her a bit peculiar due to the more bovine-like pattern her coat had. “Please, allow me to take care of that fantastic hat and cape of yours, Miss!”

Trixie’s expression faltered for a second at the statement as she backed away from the out-stretching hoof that was before her. “L-Lay back your hoof, thief! You will not touch The Great and Pow- Ooph!” I immediately began ushering Trixie past the mare, smiling apologetically.

“Um, I think we’ll both be fine!”, I said, or rather shouted, politely as I continued to pull a now protesting mage. “Thank you, though!”

“Oh, uh…” The mare paused for a moment to watch us in mild confusion before regaining her smile. “Not a problem. Please enjoy yourselves!” She ended that statement with a wave.

Once we had made our way into the actual club area, Trixie was quite fast to draw away from me with a look of pure hatred. I knew she was more than likely going to start yelling at me about butting in or pushing her, or something like that… But I was quick to cut her off before she had a chance to blurt out one word.

“What would you rather be doing?”, I asked aloud, staring the mare in the face with a neutral expression. The sudden question seemed to catch her off guard, allowing me to continue. “Yelling at some random mare, who by the way was just trying to do her job, or go and pretend to have a good time? Maybe have a drink or two?”

The unicorn let out a growl, still glaring daggers, but soon passed right by me. She seemed to be heading towards the bar, where I could see Berry Punch was running. With a small shake of my head, I quickly made after her. It didn’t take long for the magenta mare to see me coming.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Nick!”, Berry announced over the counter with a grin slowly forming on her muzzle. “About time you paid my little bar a visit. Here on business, or..” Her violet eyes watched me as I took a seat next to Trixie, who was still looking grumpy. Her smile shifted to a look I was starting to get used to seeing on the mare. “...Pleasure.”

The mage’s eyes squinted at the bartender’s wording, before looking over at me with an expression of disgust and… A slight blush?...

“This creature is simply attempting to make amends for the embarrassment that it had almost caused the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The unicorn closed her eyes as she lifted her nose at me before turning away. “Nothing ‘pleasurable’ about it...”

My own expression turned rather sour as I looked over to Berry, leaning onto the counter. “...Well, at least I’m trying to be friendly.” I couldn’t quite read whatever BP was thinking, but judging from the sly smirk she was wearing, it couldn’t have been anything good.

“I must say, you really have a knack for picking ‘em, Romeo.” There was no hiding the rather provocative tone the mare had, and the small wiggling of her eyebrows wasn’t lowering any expectations on whatever she was thinking, either.

I didn’t really have much time to reply though before the club owner grabbed a few empty glasses. Taking out something that I could recognize as a liqueur bottle, she proceeded to pour the liquid into the two glasses before sliding them over towards Trixie and I. I stared at the beverage for a brief moment, before looking back up to Berry Punch in mild confusion.

“I-I told you before that I—”

“Seems you’re in luck, Mr. Nick.”, Berry cut in with a chuckle. “It just so happens that the legal drinking age in this, here, town of ours is eighteen, exactly.” I wasn’t sure why, but I could feel my face pale at that statement. She seemed to notice, however, and let out a rowdy laugh. “It’s not all too strong, either. So you shouldn’t have to worry about getting too tipsy from it.”

Trixie had simply gone to watch with what I could only guess was a slightly amused expression. More than likely from the fact of seeing me in an uncomfortable state. Taking her own glass in her magic, she daintily levitated it over to her muzzle before taking a small sip. I, however, was a bit more hesitant.

“U-Uh…”, I stumbled over my thoughts as I reached out for the liquor with a slightly shaking hand. “...Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it!”, Berry let out, leaning onto the counter with a snicker. Her gaze seemed glued to my face when I went about tasting the drink for myself. “Consider it a donation to my newest employee, and his mare-friend.” I wasn’t sure which one of us reacted first, but both Trixie and I were soon in coughing fits.

"She is not my--"

"I am most certainly not his mare-friend!"

I could tell from the look on her face that Trixie was not amused... If anything, she looked rather appalled. Which I actually couldn't help but feel rather insulted by. I mean sure I may have said some things about her, and maybe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Or hoof... Whatever. Then again, why should I have been getting upset about what she thought about me? She was a bloody horse, for crying out loud!

Rubbing at my temples to try and ease my already aching head, I let out a heavy sigh before turning a wary gaze back towards the Great and Powerful menace. While it took a bit of waning control, I managed to speak in a relatively calm tone.

"I am simply taking this young lady out as an apology for an outburst I caused early today." Trixie glared back at me with as much suspicion as she'd kept on that face of hers since walking here. "I was hoping that with a bit of time talking with one another, we could both leave that event behind us and start on a fresh note. Maybe with some luck, we might even become friends before the night is over." However unlikely that may be...

The mare wasn’t having any of that, though. She simply got up from her seat, jimmies quite rustled, while muttering "Like that would ever happen..." And with a roll of her eyes, she trotted off further into the club, towards the dining area from the looks of it.

Berry Punch had been rather silent throughout the whole exchange, simply swapping a blank stare from one of us to the other, until she watched Trixie pout off as well. I couldn't quite tell what she was thinking, but I was hoping it didn't have anything to do with having second thoughts about hiring me. My concerns, however, seemed to be put to ease when the bar owner`s muzzle stretched into a rather wide grin. With a light chuckle, the magenta-colored mare shook her head before giving me a slight nod.

"Well, whatever the case may be between the two of you..." She let me have one of her winks that were starting to become rather iconic. "Just try to stay out of trouble, and enjoy yourselves. Get an order of hay fries on me, too." And with that, Berry left me to go attend to a couple of other customers.

Still a bit jumbled up by the mage’s ‘storming off’, I couldn’t show any other response to my new employer’s words than a half-hearted chuckle and thanks. It seemed that with Trixie, trouble was the only thing I would be getting into. But, it was for the greater good, right? ...Right?

Releasing a heavy breath, I got up from my own seat before heading off in the direction ‘The Edgy and Intolerable’ Trixie had gone. Even with the rather large crowd, and almost disorienting light show from the DJ’s booth, I was still able to spot the mare out from everybony else. Sitting alone at a table, her forelegs crossed over her chest as she stared rather—

...Does she look sort of sad?

I was busy puzzling over her sudden change in demeanor when a random stallion seemed to have caught sight of the troubled-looking mare as well. I just managed to see a small smirk on his muzzle before he casually began strutting over to her table, saying something I couldn’t quite make out, even with my super ears. The music probably wasn’t helping either, but it sounded like it was starting to tone down a bit. I could, however, see the rather uncomfortable expression growing on the mare’s face. Which caught me even more off guard seeing as she had had no problem taking shots at me no more than five minutes ago.

A frown was quickly forming upon my complexion. It took me less than ten seconds to be standing directly behind the stallion, my fists clenched tight enough to make my knuckles white. Clearing my throat, and grabbing the stallion’s attention, I quickly glanced over towards a somewhat startled Trixie before setting my gaze down on the stallion once more. Judging from his own face, he knew who I was and what I’d done with the last critter that had ‘irked’ me. I didn’t even need to say anything before the guy was quickly making his way towards the other side of the room.

With a slight, toothy smirk, I mentally chuckled to myself before looking back to Trixie. She appeared to be fine, once more looking at me with a rather annoyed sneer before rolling her eyes. Knowing she was back to her old self once more, I carelessly took the seat across from her before leaning back into it. I almost fell out of the chair when a soft, nearly drowned-out voice spoke out under all the sounds of the club.

“Th-Thanks.”

Still a bit awestruck that the very mare, that had taken great pleasure in threatening to saw me in half, was now thanking me--for anything--I was only able to give her a small nod in response before glancing away in slight unease, scratching at the back of my head. It hadn’t really occurred to me what I’d just done until right then, and to be honest, it was a bit embarrassing on my part.

Trixie and I sat there for a few minutes, not making eye contact or saying anything else. I could literally smell the tension building between the two of us. For what had supposed to have been an attempt to gain Trixie’s favor, so I could eventually explain to her that she may just happen to be the incarnation of a negative, supernatural power... My plan had really taken a nosedive. But, out of all the things I disliked, the one thing I hated most was awkward silences. Well, that and broccoli—

*CRASH*

The sound of plates being dropped onto the floor came from rather close by, shattering the silence that had been building. Needless to say, I jumped about ten feet into the air in a start, and from the looks of it, Trixie had been shaken up by the sudden noise as well. I was quick to recover, though, almost feeling somewhat relieved that the disturbance had occurred. One more second of that, and I would have gone mad! However, this did bring on the new fear that the magician in question would begin to go on about how ‘obviously horrible’ this was going.

After a few seconds of our hearts racing from the shock, a groan could be heard in the distance as a mare in some purple skirt started sweeping the mess up. Odd as it may have been, I couldn't help but stare at her. I’d admit that I may have been a bit stressed out in the situation I found myself in, and in times like those, sort of tended to just zone out. But it wasn't anything about this mare’s outfit that had caught my random attention in the first place. Instead, it was how she was holding a worn-out, wooden broom in her mouth. Realizing that reminded me of how ponies didn’t actually have hands, and most likely had to do a lot of difficult tasks like that with their mouths. That was unless they had magic to help them.

How does she not get splinters in her mouth from that?!

The sound of a prissy throat clearing next to me dragged my mind back to Earth, or whatever planet this was. Trixie was waving a hoof somewhat in front of me in what must have been an attempt to get my attention. Because, you know, we were obviously so invested in each other that she just had to pull gaze back onto her. It was like she was trying to make me suffer as we sat there and rotted from boredom.

Just as I was getting this close to suggesting Trixie cool it, the working mare that had been sweeping up those broken plates started making her way over to us. I was going to try and pay the pony no mind, and instead, see what the heck Trixie wanted. At least, that was up until a strong scent hit my nostrils like a nuclear warhead. What the hell is that, perfume?! Whatever it was, it didn’t look like I was the only one being choked up by it, as Trixie appeared to be trying her hardest not to gag, as well.

Well, look at that! Something we can agree on. This mare’s overuse of scent products...

"Well, are ya gonna order? Or just stare at me all night?", the mare questioned in a rather scratchy, feminine voice, blowing a piece of her stringy, brown mane away from her face.

I was hesitant to even reply in fear that I’d get another nose full of this pony’s overpowering aroma. Forcing myself to not seem in total anguish, I swallowed down my discomfort before smiling as best I could.

“U-Uh…”, I said with a forced chuckle, before looking back over to Trixie. “Y-Yeah… Berry said we could get a basket of fries on her.”

The waitress, to my nose’s despair, didn’t walk off like I’d hoped she would… Instead, she scrunched her muzzle up into a look of confusion or irritation. Releasing some form of pent-up breath, the mare rolled her eyes before speaking out in a rather criticizing way.

“Handing out free food to total strangers now, are we? Wonder how this place even stays in business...”, she spoke under gritted teeth and all.

After a small five seconds of unneeded glaring from her end, she let out a big sigh before shaking her head and pulling out a notepad and pencil, jotting our order down while holing the writing utensil in a similar fashion to the broom she’d been using before.. The object didn’t hinder her highly irked look, though. It was actually surprising to see she could actually look any angrier than she had already. Even more so than these damn ponies' ability to write with their mouths.

“W-Well, you see-”, I began.

“I do not think that is any concern of yours, servant.”, came a quick whip from the mage sitting across from me. Her sudden interruption actually caught me a bit off-guard. “I do not require any individual’s charity, nor have I requested it.” A single one of her eyebrows raised slightly as her expression became somewhat questioning. “...That is unless you are trying to say that the Great and Powerful Trixie needs hoof-outs from others?”

"That..." she stammered out. "Do you not get the point of a restaurant, kid? We come to you and help out with fillin' your empty stomachs for a minimum wage–maybe even less with the low tips we get–so we can go home and support ourselves. Ya know why?" At this point, she was waving her hoof all over the place in sheer disbelief. "That’s. The. Point!"

Welp, this escalated quickly…

“Well!”, I said in a rather loud, and oddly cheerful voice. “Ma’am, it was a pleasure meeting you! I certainly look forward to working with you all in the near future!”

The fact I’d revealed myself as a future employee, myself, or the random act altogether, seemed to confuse her long enough for me to get up and grab Trixie by the hoof. Of course, she immediately began to struggle. Tossing her over my shoulder seemed to counteract that, though. Giving the quickly recovering waitress a light wave, and while ignoring all the stares I was now receiving, I simply made my way towards the exit with the yelling magician in tow. It took us no time at all to be standing outside The Grapevine, a furious Trixie shouting rather ghastly nouns at me.

“You put me down this very instant, you boorish brute!”

I complied with her rudely given request, placing her down once we were some ways away from the club. I quickly regretted doing so, however, when a hoof was soon slamming into my gut.

“Trixie warned you about doing that!”, the mare yelled out before making off in a rather furious tone.

While the impact had caught me off guard, it surprisingly didn’t knock me down like I’d have expected. I was soon recovering well enough, and chasing after her with a rather annoyed look on my face.

“Hey, I just didn’t need you getting in an argument with someone I’ll be working with…”, I muttered aloud after catching up with her.

She simply kept her eyes forward, not seeming to care about any excuses I may have had one bit. Naturally, I was rather off-put by this. I mean, was it wrong for me to try and avoid problems like that? Then again, it didn’t seem like Trixie came off as the listening type…

Releasing a sigh, a small thought came to mind as a small smirk started to form. Glancing back over towards her, I simply continued as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. “Besides.” I placed my hands into my pockets before letting out a small chuckle. “If we hadn’t left soon, I was going to find myself yelling at her.”

I could just catch the showmare glancing over at me with a slightly raised brow. I just looked back at her with my toothy grin, getting an eye roll in return. It was true, though. That waitress was starting to rub me the wrong way. Out of all the things I was looking forward to when it came to working for Berry Punch, that mare was not going to be one of them…

My attention was brought back towards Trixie when it appeared like she was ready to say something, though she didn’t get to speak when the sound of yelling and screaming started to come from someplace ahead of us. We both found ourselves stopping in our tracks, exchanging a look of confusion between the two of us before focusing on two forms quickly approaching. It didn’t take me long to recognize them as the two unicorn colts I’d seemingly been running into quite a bit this past day. What made this all the odder, though, was that they seemed to be calling out for Trixie.

“What the heck got into those two?”, I asked aloud.

My question didn’t go too long before getting answered…

No sooner had Snips and Snails come to a stop right in front of us, rambling incoherently through attempts to catch their breath, did I catch sight of something over the rooftops a small distance off. At first, it seemed as if a section of the night sky had come to life, moving on its own. Then I saw the pair of yellow and red eyes, a white emblem that strangely resembled Twilight’s cutie mark floating above them. I found my own eyes widening in slow realization that something rather large was actually leaning over the houses, staring right back at us. Details began to become clearer as my heightened night vision took effect. I couldn’t help but notice a very close resemblance creature appeared to have with that of a… bear.

That’s not what I think it is… Is it?

The sound of the large beast roaring snapped me back to reality. That, plus the hysterical scream the mare next to me had let out. I barely had enough time to glance at her before she bolted off in the direction of her cart. I made like I was about to stop her, but found myself being held back by something pulling on the collar of my shirt. Turning around, I soon spotted the perpetrator, who had ducked into a nearby alleyway.

“...L-Luna?”

She hadn’t gone through the trouble of disguising herself like last time, though I’d supposed given the current situation, not many ponies were going to be noticing her. She was waving me over with a rather frantic look on her face. I spared one last glance towards Trixie, just in time to see her dive away from her wagon before it was crushed by the large celestial bear’s paw. Frowning, and not really liking the idea of leaving the rather hopel- helpless mare on her own, I reluctantly ran over to the lunar princess.

“Not really the best time for a chat, princess.”, I spoke out with a bit of tension. I just caught Trixie and the two younger stallions darting around the street corner with the bear on their heels.

“I know,” she replied, seeming in a bit of a panic as well, “but we have a much bigger problem than the Minor.”

Had I been in any other situation, I might have questioned why I was hearing the sound of a stopwatch ticking above my head. “...Minor?”

Luna nodded, somewhat confused. “The Ursa Minor. The one that was just here?” Her look of worry came back. “The mother is not too happy about her baby missing.”

It was at about this time that I realized what she was talking about.

"That's just the baby?!"

I'll admit it, the thought really hadn't come to mind until after she told me. With this world, just about anything was starting to seem possible. But even then, I was still having a hard time believing it.

Could something that big really be no more than a cub?!

Luna would nod her head, her eyes still holding a sense of outright dread. She then turned her gaze away, biting her lip. "...I attempted to calm her myself, but was not able to get her attention in my current state."

"Well,", I rolled my hand at her, widening my eyes in an assuming manner. "You inform Celestia about it?" Her ears dropped almost immediately, along with all my expectations.

She shook her head slightly, her gaze turned away. "I was hoping I could take care of this all on my own." She quickly looked back at me with a rather distraught look. "The whole while I've been back, I’ve not been able to aid my sister in anything more than raising and lowering the moon." She frowned heavily, before adding, "Of which I've only recently gotten the hang of once again."

I let out a hefty sigh, leaning my head back to stare at the sky. Why was it always with the drama in this world? Really. If it wasn't misunderstanding friendships one second, it was trying to prove worth to your sister the next. Common sense must be an elusive talent in these parts…

"Did you ever think that she might just be happy to have you back?", I asked, returning my gaze to her. "You've been gone a pretty long time. Maybe just taking the time to sit and catch up with her is all she really needed." I rolled my eyes, feeling like I was stating the obvious. "Doing something stupid like trying to calm down a giant-ass star bear on your own is only gonna worry her!"

The alicorn's gaze was stuck toward her hooves, her wings drooping somewhat.

"...But you don't understand.", she stated rather flatly. "Celestia doesn't get much time to just chat with me because she's so busy trying to take care of all the royal duties on her own." She gained a rather stern expression. "She strains herself, without her own realizing. How she was able to rule for so long without my aid is a miracle in itself. I want to spend time with her, but so long as she continues to do all the work, we will not be able to. I've asked her to give me something to do, even something simple, but she thinks I should still try and get accustomed to things!"

She was now speaking in a louder tone, glaring at me. "I need to show her I'm capable of co-ruling with her once more!"

I grimaced a tad bit from the shouting, glancing about to see if anyone else had noticed. But, what was I thinking? A giant celestial bear was rampaging throughout the town. Who would notice an alicorn and a human in an alleyway?

A shiver suddenly ran up my spine, a single entity coming to mind.

She'd notice…

I quickly shook my head at the thought that a certain pink pony was anywhere close by, focusing back on the task at hand. "So, instead of getting your sister's help, you want mine…" I lifted my hands up in a rather confused manner. "If this thing's mother is, undoubtedly, a lot larger than it is, how could I possibly lend you any help?"

Luna's expression softened somewhat, perhaps under the impression that I was actually considering helping her, now. "While in your wolven form, you should have the power to intimidate other creatures. I was hoping that you might be able to grab her attention long enough for me to speak with her."

I found myself grimacing once more after hearing her plan.. "...And what if she decides I'm not that intimidating?"

The alicorn's face seemed to match my own for a hair fraction of a second before she shook her head. "I have the utmost confidence that you'll be able to, at the very least, get her attention."

Wow… Nice deflection. You might just be on your way back to acting like an official, yet.

With a lowering of my gaze, I attempted to shove away all the doubts that were, for quite good reason, clouding my mind. But I eventually nodded my head, hesitatingly saying, "...Lead the way then, Princess."

Her demeanor appeared to lift some, a soft smile forming on her muzzle before her horn began to glow a cobalt blue.