Hero Antagonist

Chapters

Chapter One: Sorry to Interrupt
Chapter Two: Splash Damage
Chapter Four: Fascinating Eyebrow
Chapter Five: Ignored Epiphany
Chapter Six: OOC is Serious Business
Chapter Seven: Diabolus ex Machina
Chapter Eight: Escape from the Crazy Place
Chapter Three: Didn't Think This Through

Chapter One: Sorry to Interrupt

She'd done it.

Trixie had found the audience for her next performance.

After days of searching, weeks and weeks of travel, and months of steady work re-designing her entire act from the ground up, she had found them.

They were perfect.

...Well, not exactly. A perfect audience would be an audience of thousands of drunken, easily amused, wealthy Canterlot aristocrats, all ready to shower her with patronage and accolades.

But for the beginning of Trixie's grand comeback, this out-of-the way little town would be a good start.

She'd traveled far abroad to get to this point, heading beyond the core of Equestria looking for far-flung communities where nopony had heard of her. Or her past mistakes. Out here, Trixie's act could be judged by its undeniable brilliance and style, rather than the stories ponies had heard about it. Here she could garner a new following and reputation, that she could then carry back with her to Equestria.

Sure, having to start from the bottom all over again was going to be tough. I mean, one could argue that in some places she was below the bottom, as far as some ponies were concerned. But she was the Great and Powerful Trixie. She had built herself up from scratch once before. And that was when she was still learning to perform and apply her magic. Now Trixie knew everything she needed to know.

...Apart from the name of this town.

The roadside innkeeper that had set her after this rumored town didn't actually know what the town was called. All he said was, that they were strange folks out here.

Which was good enough for Trixie. She'd accept any sort of audience with open hooves, at this point.

...Besides, even strange ponies needed to eat and Trixie was flat-out sick of grazing.

“Trixie may have bought a few too many fireworks...” The mare complained aloud, as she began dragging her wagon once more.

At first, the math had sounded right to her. Trixie needed to amaze ponies anew, which meant she needed some more glitz, glamour and excitement, to at least hook the ponies long enough to get them to see her act. And it's not like there were many places a pony could really starve in Equestria. Or even beyond Equestria, for that matter. Provided they weren't too picky about what they ate.

But Trixie really, really wanted to be a bit picky about what she ate right now. A sophisticated, classy mare like herself could only survive for so long on grass and the occasional wildflower. She'd even found herself eying the odd pine cone, out of sheer desire for some much needed variety.

Past-Trixie had really screwed over Present-Trixie with that whole spend-all-your-money-on-fireworks idea.

At least, the rest of the journey looked to be all downhill from here, nestled as the town was in this valley. Trixie took another look down upon the small community with all of it's buildings arranged into two immaculately precise rows, but for the lone house at the far end.

'They must be big fans of urban-planning...'

It would certainly be easier navigating than the winding, multi-level streets of Canterlot or the criss-crossing boulevards and back alleys of Manehattan. Very little chance that Trixie was going to get lost here...

...who would have thought that Manehattan even had a system of catacombs anyway?

Apart from all the crocodiles that had been living down there. And that nice elderly couple she met, when she burst up from their basement while being chased by the aforementioned crocodiles, were probably aware of them too. After successfully beating back the angry reptiles, the couple assured her that they had ponies escaping from their basement every couple of weeks, and they always looked forward to the company...

Trixie still had no idea how she was going to ever work that story into her act. Maybe something with magic tunnels and a fake crocodile? Trixie had been trying to work more of the things that had actually happened to her over the course of her travels into her new act, under Twilight Sparkle's advice.

Shortly after the incident with that stupid amulet, she'd received a letter from her rival in the ways of magic, by way of a mailmare with some...odd eyes. It had turned out to be a surprisingly benign correspondence. Rather than being all condescending, or worse, sending her a bill for the damages, it seemed the purple unicorn had simply wanted to follow up and make sure that Trixie was doing alright.

Trixie didn't know how to respond at the time, so she didn't. Then she received another letter at the end of that month, checking in on her. And like clockwork, she'd received another letter the next month. At that point Trixie finally started responding to the letters. Mostly just to let Twilight Sparkle know that she was doing fine on her own and that, no, she didn't need any extra help getting back on her hooves.

Trixie was a bit thrown, when Twilight's next letter mentioned how she just wanted to make sure that the offer was out there. And that she understood that Trixie wanted to stand on her own abilities, but wanted to make sure that if she needed help that Trixie would ask. The part where Twilight compared it to similar situations that had arisen between herself and her other friends, had really messed with Trixie's head.

The implication being that Twilight wanted to consider Trixie a friend...

Trixie refused to bring any attention to that in any of her response letters. Not that it was hard, as she managed to find plenty of other things to talk about in their correspondence. Like the notion that perhaps Trixie could tell stories about her real adventures, rather than the fabricated ones. Twilight had rather generously pointed out that, details aside, Trixie had faced down an Ursa Minor and defeated Princess Celestia's personal student in a magic duel.

Despite Twilight's surprisingly relaxed perspective on these things, Trixie still couldn't bring herself to use those stories in her act, regardless of embellishment. Both were terribly embarrassing for her, albeit for different reasons, no matter what Twilight's opinion might have been.

It was still nice knowing that at least one pony didn't begrudge her too much for those encounters.

In any event, that really left her with just the one story about the creepy, old couple and the sewer-gators. It was a story which even Trixie found hard-to-believe, despite having lived it. And if Trixie couldn't believe in it, how could anypony in this town buy into it?

She might as well declare herself Queen of the Diamond Dogs while she was at it.

There probably wasn't anything as weird as that story going on in this quaint little village. From her approach, the place looked almost aggressively boring and drab. Not the sort of place one was likely to run into gargantuan star-beasts, crocodiles, creepy old ponies or anything that was at all interesting.

“Welcome!”

Trixie shook herself from her ruminations, as she turned her attention to the very welcoming stallion that was currently standing in front of her. And his big, toothy grin.

Blinking, at the almost rictus-like smile he was sending her way, Trixie had to take a moment to recall her planned introductions “Oh, yes. Trixie is pleased to-”

“Welcome!” Called another mare, that was walking by.

“Right...As Trixie was saying-”

“Welcome!”

“And it's very good to be welcomed so-”

“Welcome!” A pegasus mare said from above, again cutting Trixie off from her planned grandstanding.

Resisting the urge to shoot a glare at this latest of interruptions, Trixie cast her gaze along the dirt path that went through the center of the little town. Waiting now, to see if anymore townsponies were planning on cutting her off with another enthusiastic 'welcome', the azure mare found her brow furrowing. Trixie wasn't normally the one to turn down an attentive audience, but the focused cheer being sent her way was a bit unsettling.

'What they lack in monsters and creepy old ponies, they've made up for in unsettling smiling...'

“...”

After a few more seconds bereft of excessively friendly and ill-timed greetings, Trixie slapped on her own confident grin, as she again prepared to introduce herself.

“Trixie-”

“Welcome!”

“Graarrhhh!” Trixie bit down on a snarl, as a group of passing foals gave another chorus of welcomes.

“What's all this here?” Came yet another optimistic voice, though this mare's voice also carried with it a tinge of authority. Judging by the way the other townsponies immediately turned their collective attention to the approaching pink-coated mare, it was not wrong to think she was in-charge.

“Starlight Glimmer.” Came the murmur from several of the ponies, before a dark-blue pegasus mare with a white mane and tail set down a few steps away from the newcomer “Somepony new has come to the village, Starlight.”

Starlight gave a somewhat condescending smile at this, before using a hoof to push a stray hair from her purple mane back into it's place. Turning towards the other mare, the unicorn replied in a sugary-sweet voice “Wonderful! Just wonderful, Night Glider. I take it we've all been very welcoming to our new friend?”

A quick chorus of affirmations and nods came from the smiling ponies, leading Trixie to glance between the townsponies and this new arrival, at this oddly coordinated response.

The showmare's attention was turned back to this Starlight Glimmer, as she approached Trixie's wagon with a confident stride “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Starlight Glimmer and this, as you can see, is our perfect little community! I can see that-”

“Yes, yes, Trixie is very pleased to meet you and see your little town.” Trixie irritably cut-in, leaving Starlight's perfect smile just a bit strained “But, if you don't mind, Trixie would like to take care of her own introductions now?”

“Oh...” Came the forcibly calm response from Starlight “...Well, isn't that a lovely surprise. I had no idea that you were traveling with somepony else.”

Several of the nearby townsponies looked ever-so-slightly anxious, at the glance Starlight sent their way.

“I do so love surprises, and we would be happy to meet this Trixie, as soon as we're through with our own introductions.”

“What are you talking about? You're meeting Trixie right now.” Trixie said, even as she furrowed her brow.

Starlight was given some pause at this, before giving a slightly uncomfortable laugh “I'm afraid I don't recall meeting this-”

“Trixie is Trixie! You're staring right at her!” Trixie exclaimed, her own patience running thin.

Though, if one were to listen carefully, they might hear the sound of Starlight Glimmer's own patience being worn down, as well. Along with the sound of her teeth grinding against one another.

“Well...I think, that I might understand our little miscommunication a bit better now, Trixie.” Starlight slowly said, tilting her head as she kept on her own radiant smile.

“Yes, well...” Trixie said, mostly to herself, as she reined in her annoyance. She'd yet to even get through her introduction, and Trixie already found herself trying to contain her contempt for this town.

'Come on, Trixie. It's the Compassionate and Humble Trixie now. It's all about the audience, not you...'

The consummate and incredibly professional magician took in a deep breath, before sending her own smile back towards Starlight. Trixie let loose her own awkward chuckle before speaking up “Miscommunication. Yes, Trixie sometimes runs into that problem.”

“Well, we'll need to work on that, won't we?” Came Starlight's reply. The pink mare then cantered in a small circle, to face the gathered crowd of mostly-smiling ponies “But, that is for later. Please everypony, grant me the pleasure of welcoming Trixie to our-”

“Actually, Trixie has already been quite thoroughly welcomed.” The azure mare matter-of-factly pointed out.

Starlight Glimmer, slowly turned around to face Trixie once more, before smiling as she again tilted her head towards the other unicorn “Oh?...I must say, I am very glad to hear that.”

Trixie gave a grin at this, finally sensing the opportunity to segue into her act “In fact, Trixie believes it is her turn now to welcome all of you to something.”

This garnered some murmurs of confusion and curiosity from the townsponies, which elicited some pointed glances from Starlight Glimmer, in turn.

Smiling again for Trixie, the pink mare once more spoke for the community “And, just what is it that we're being welcomed to?...If I might ask?”

“You may.” Came Trixie smart response, accompanied by a very self-satisfied grin. She quickly used her magic to undo the harnesses holding her to her wagon, glad that she was finally getting a chance to kick things off.

Starlight found herself giving a rather strained laugh at that “I would certainly-”

“I'm getting to it.” Trixie said, a bit sharply, as she cantered over to a particular part of her wagon.

This quickly got the townsponies murmuring amongst themselves, their smiles fading, as their curiosity won out. Others were looking to Starlight Glimmer for some answers, only to find the mare locked in place with a 'friendly' expression on her face.

“It is Trixie's very great pleasure, to welcome all of you to...” The showmare paused for dramatic effect, before using one of her backhooves to knock against a nondescript point on her wagon...

The quiet wore on for several seconds.

Trixie's grin became a bit strained, as she gave another kick to her wagon.

For the first time since the aggravating mare had arrived, Starlight Glimmer found herself the slightest bit amused.

Trixie gave another frown, before giving one last sharp kick to the side of her wagon.

“Is something wrong, dear?” Starlight asked, in a saccharine tone, as she spared a seemingly compassionate look for the frustrated Trixie “I'd hate to think-”

Starlight was cut-off by a loud clanking noise, before being chased back, as the Trixie's wagon exploded into motion. Rearing back, as the hidden mechanisms in the caravan cranked into motion, Starlight quickly found herself falling over backwards into the hooves of her followers.

Within a few seconds, a large stage had unfolded itself from the wagon, complete with it's own purple curtain. There was a spare moment of silence, after the stage had finished unveiling itself before the air was cracking with the sounds of fireworks launching. The townsponies quickly found themselves staring upon the multi-colored starbursts of light and sound that had been unleashed over their humble community.

A sudden plume of smoke erupted on stage, before dissipating to reveal Trixie, as she struck the most dramatic pose she could manage.

"As Trixie was saying...let Trixie welcome you all, to the Greatest Show in the World!"

Author's Note

So, this is a little idea that got stuck in my head, after my latest blog post. Takes place quite a bit of time before Season 5.

Obviously, this is a very short opening chapter, but I don't see this being an exceptionally long story. Mostly it's just going to be an opportunity for me to practice writing Trixie. And for Trixie to drive Starlight Glimmer up the walls.

As always, I welcome questions and criticisms. I hope everyone enjoys this latest story. Enjoy.

Chapter Two: Splash Damage

“Thank you! Thank you, ladies and gentlecolts! I'm happy to be here!”

Starlight Glimmer couldn't quite keep the anger from crossing her face, as she heard these words “Are you insane?! You almost-oomph!”

The aggravated unicorn was cutoff, as the hooves that caught her before stopped supporting her weight, causing her to finish falling over backwards. Coughing, at the small cloud of dust that rose up around her, she spared an unnoticed glare for the townsponies that were coursing past her to get a better view of the upcoming show.

“But, before Trixie gets started-” The interloping showmare continued to ramble on, as Starlight got her hooves back under her. Shooting a worried glance for her flank, the pink mare soon turned her attention, and ire, back towards this...completely unacceptable turn of events.

Starlight Glimmer quickly began pushing her way to the front of the crowd of murmuring ponies.

“-Ah, yes! We have ourselves a volunteer! Just what Trixie was hoping for!”

“What? No, I-” Starlight Glimmer started to protest, when she took note of the blue hoof pointed her way.

“Come, come, no need to be shy. Let's give our volunteer some encouragement, everypony!” Trixie beckoned to the audience, earning a chorus of excited muttering and hopeful looks being sent Starlight's way.

The town's leader had to resist the urge to scowl, as the rubes around her tried to egg her on into accepting the aggravating showmare's invitation. Sparing one more glance for her flanks, Starlight gave a friendly chuckle, before settling into a big smile for those around her “Well, I suppose it does fall to me to be a good host, doesn't it?”

There was no reason for Stalight to lose her cool.

If she had to steal the limelight from this very...disruptive pony, in order to get things back on track, what better place to do it than a stage? All it would take was a chance to get a word in edgewise, and she was quite sure she could find a way to get along with this new pony.

Starlight Glimmer had always managed to find a way before.

“Excellent! We have our volunteer! Come now, and join Trixie!” The blue unicorn called, gesturing to a foldout stepladder jutting out from one side of the stage.

A few moments later, Starlight was crossing the stage to join her fellow unicorn. She couldn't help but notice the way her townsponies collective gaze followed her across the stage, and was inwardly a bit pleased that she had their attention for what was to come.

“Very good! Now, if you would be so kind as to introduce yourself to our lovely audience?” Trixie suggested with a gesture of her hoof and a slightly condescending tone.

Starlight gave another 'friendly' chuckle, before nodding “Well, thank you so much for the opportunity, though I'm not sure it's really needed. I'm afraid you'll find that in our town, everypony knows everypony already. Ask anypony here and-”

Trixie turned to the side, to avoid letting anypony see the roll of her eyes, before pointing a hoof to a member of the audience “You there! Perhaps you could do Trixie the honor of introducing her lovely assistant for today?”

“What, me?” A stallion with a dull-cyan coat asked, pointing a hoof at himself.

“Of course! It's only fair that Trixie's assistant have a bit of assistance of her own. Surely you know this lovely mare's name?” Trixie prodded along, not noticing the momentary strain on Starlight's self-control this elicited.

“Oh, well-...” Party Favor hesitated, before glancing towards Starlight Glimmer for guidance.

The pink unicorn mare sent her own encouraging smile towards the stallion “By all means, Party Favor, introduce me to our new friend here. Quickly now, before Trixie here moves on without us...again.”

Trixie entirely missed the pointed look Starlight sent her way, and the subtle reaction it caused amongst her audience.

“Ok, then...uhm, her name is Starlight Glimmer?” Party Favor hesitantly offered with a gesture of his hoof.

“And there we go! We have Trixie's wonderful assistant, the lovely Starlight Glimmer! Now it's on to-”

“Your magic show?” Starlight Glimmer cut in with a raised eyebrow, before taking a few hoofsteps to the front of the stage “Where you'll perhaps be showing us magics, the likes of which the rest of us could never achieve ourselves?”

Without missing a beat Trixie gave a hearty chuckle at Starlight's words, raising her own hoof to her chest “Now, now, you're being much too kind to Trixie-”

“I'm sure.”

“-for while Trixie is quite proud of her skills, this show you'll find isn't about her.” Trixie continued on, seemingly as if she had rehearsed these lines, for exactly this occasion.

“What is the show about then?” One of the ponies called out, which was quickly echoed by other members of the audience. Whatever point Starlight had been trying to make had been overtaken by the wave of curiosity sweeping through the onlookers.

Trixie gave a wide grin at that “Trixie is happy to hear you ask that question. For you see, while Trixie's magical prowess is indeed without peer, there does exist a greater, more mysterious magic!”

“Really, now?” Starlight asked, somewhat intrigued by this claim, almost as much as the ponies in the audience. For entirely different reasons.

“Very much so, my lovely assistant! It is a power that Trixie has traveled far and wide to find, a power that she has spent years mastering, a power that if lost would reduce Trixie down to a mere pony amongst ponies!” Trixie continued on, her tone growing louder and more dramatic with each passing word.

“What is it?!” Called out a member of the audience.

“All of this and more is embodied in the lowly material form of-...Trixie's very lovely cape.” Trixie finished in an anti-climatic tone, holding out her star-studded, purple cloak with her hoof. Judging by the confident grin the showmare still sported, the looks of disappointment and confusion coming from the audience were entirely expected.

“Your cape?” Starlight dryly asked, rather disappointed herself in the revelation.

“Exactly so, my lovely assistant!” Trixie quickly replied, leaving Starlight Glimmer feeling as if she was still serving out her role as the 'assistant' despite very much not wishing to do so. The pink mare didn't care for the notion that she was being lead around by the nose.

“This seemingly mundane bit of fabric was fashioned by none other than Star Swirl the Bearded himself, to serve as a repository of magics the likes of which have rarely been seen!” Trixie exclaimed, while failing to notice the rolling of her assistant's eyes. Letting the cape settle back down around her, after a particularly dramatic flourish, Trixie continued on “It is this very cape, along with Trixie's also quite stylish hat, that has been passed down through the ages, from one great magician to the next. Before finally falling into Trixie's very capable hooves.”

"It was passed to you? Did you not just say that you had to search 'far and wide' for it?"

"Details." Trixie replied with a flippant wave of her hoof.

“Really now? Details? In all of my studies regarding magical artifacts, I've never heard of Star Swirl the Bearded having any especially noteworthy work with capes. A hat, yes, though it featured bells, if I'm recalling correctly. How curious.” Starlight noted from the side, with a bit too much nonchalance.

“Don't be too hard on yourself, my lovely assistant. Even the most studied of ponies can have a few gaps in their knowledge.” Trixie confidently replied, not at all bothered by Starlight's attempt to undermine her claims. Taking a few steps forward, Trixie then leaned towards the audience “But, there's no need for anypony to take my word for it. We'll clean away all lingering doubts with a little...demonstration.”

Starlight Glimmer couldn't entirely resist the urge to take cover, diving to the floor and covering her head with her hooves, when all around the stage the screaming sound of launching fireworks began to erupt. Just as the explosions of color and sound began to go off overhead, the pink unicorn managed to get a hold of herself in time to catch sight of Trixie kicking things off with her act.

“Ladies and Gentlecolts please!”
“Would you bring your attention to Trix~ie.”
“A grand feast for your eyes to see.”
“An explosion of Magic~ality!”

On cue, Trixie reared back before bringing her hooves crashing back down to the stage, triggering a colorful explosion of smoke and sparkles. A colorful explosion of smoke and sparkles that Starlight Glimmer had been standing entirely too close to, leaving her to swipe away at the smoke with a hoof while covering her mouth with the other. She quietly hoped to 'accidentally' smack the showmare in the process, but was disappointed to find that Trixie had disappeared from the stage. Darting her gaze back forth, the pink unicorn couldn't help but note that she now seemed to be covered in glitter, leftover from the explosion.

There was some murmur from the audience, as they too wondered where Trixie had gone. That came to an abrupt halt, as everypony turned their attention to a voice in their crowd, where the azure magician was now walking amongst the townponies.

“Like nothing you've ever seen before!”
“Watch closely, as I move to the fore.”
“Prepare yourselves for what's in store.”
“After this you'll be calling for the encore!”

The crowd quickly parted for Trixie, allowing her plenty of room to appropriately flourish her cape. Each pass of the fabric lasted little more than a second, but without fail served to facilitate another trick. One pass left a lovely ring of flowers around a mare's neck. Another let Trixie proffer a slightly stale cupcake to another pony, seemingly from nowhere, complete with a burning candle on top. The crowd let out a collective gasp, when a number of songbirds flew out from beneath the cape.

Trixie came to a brief stop in front of Night Glider before, instead of another flourish from her cape, she lifted off her hat to reveal a deck of cards perched just above her horn.

“Pick a card, any card!” Trixie urged to the surprised mare. It took only a moment before Glider hesitantly pulled a card from the deck with her mouth. She, along with the rest of the crowd, backed away as another explosion of smoke was triggered, one that sent the rest of the cards flying through the air.

Starlight wasn't entirely surprised, when Trixie reappeared back on stage. She was a bit vexed, as to how the showpony managed to appear directly behind her, without her noticing the trickery involved.

“Welcome to the sh~ow.”
“Please won't you jo~in me.”
“Ladies and Gentlecolts!”

Without warning, Starlight felt the distinct sensation of another unicorn's magic taking a hold of her. Briefly letting out a yelp, the pink mare quickly jerked herself free, before turning to chew out the other unicorn.

She was cut-off by the collective gasps and applause of the audience. Back in the crowd, Night Glider was holding the card she had picked up for everypony to see; the Queen of Hearts, with Trixie's picture serving in the role as the Queen. This wasn't so very amazing, until Starlight followed the collective gazes of her ponies to her own flanks. There, she found, were two copies of that same card stuck to her skin, covering over her own Cutie mark, one on each of her flanks.

Before Starlight could even begin to take exception to this gross invasion of her personal space, she found herself reflexively diving back down, as three more salvos of fireworks were launched into the air.

Boom.

“Do you want it?”

Sweeping her cape, to conceal her own form, Trixie was revealed a moment later with a pink coat.

Boom.

“Do you need it?”

Before Starlight could process the sight, Trixie made another flourish of her cape, this time towards her. Unable to back away in time, Starlight blinked as she looked down to see her normally pink hooves had been replaced with a pair of azure hooves. The rest of her body, of course, matched her hooves.

Boom.

“Let me hear it!”
“Ladies and Gentlecolts!”

Starlight found herself growling, as she again was slapped in the face by the, she was quite sure now, entirely mundane cape. She quickly found that she was again sporting her native pink coloring once more, with Trixie's own coat back to its native, offensively in-your-face coloration once more, as well.

There was another popping sound, before another billowing cloud of smoke formed up around Trixie, again dazzling the rubes in the audience. A bit more prepared for it this time, Starlight didn't flinch away, and rather focused on waving away the smoke. Likewise, she was unsurprised to find that Trixie was no longer standing where she once was.

What was odd was that she had left her thrice-cursed cape behind. A momentary silence reigned over the area, as both Starlight and the crowd stared at the pile of cloth, wondering if something was about to happen.

“Croak!”

Starlight blinked as the croaking sound echoed out from beneath the cape. Unable to stifle a desire to know what was going on, the pink unicorn trotted over, before using her own magic to cast the cape off to the side.

Revealing a frog.

She tapped it with a pink hoof. No reaction.

“Croak!”

A fake frog.

A fake frog that happened to be sporting a smaller version of Trixie's own hat. This sight got the audience murmuring in confusion and wonder, and left even Starlight tilting her head in momentary surprise.

It took Starlight a moment to notice the slip of paper the frog was sitting on, and another to read the message, presumably meant for whomever was assisting Trixie at the time.

-Back away before 3rd Croak-

“Croak!”

'This can't be good...'

Starlight was quickly proven right, when the little rubber frog promptly exploded, in a blast of light, color, and streamers that put the earlier fanfare of the show to shame. She found herself blown over backwards, spots in her eyes and her ears ringing a bit from what had just happened. Her eyes and ears, however, weren't so overwhelmed that she couldn't catch the 'Oooos' and 'Aaahs' coming from the others.

“My ponies, you've got to hold to that feel~ing!”
“It's time to see, that seeing is believ~ing!”

Even as the stage was taken up by the sight of drifting sparks and streamers, Starlight could see Trixie seemingly form up beneath where Starlight had tossed the cape earlier.

'Trapdoors, obviously.'

Starlight didn't get much time to pat herself on the back, as her ears caught a light sizzling sound and her nose picked up the smell of smoke.

Her eyebrows were on fire.

"Frog!"

Starlight blurted out before she began vigorously smacking the area directly above her eyes with her hooves. The pain that came with essentially slapping herself in the head, didn't detract from her relief when the smell of smoke faded away.

Then she noted the smears of ash left on her forehooves, which were, presumably, the last remaining bits of her finely maintained eyebrows.

Something briefly snapped in Starlight, as she stared down at the dirty smudges that were once her eyebrows.

She lunged for the other unicorn.

Only for 'Trixie' to fall apart the moment the pink mare's hooves touch her. Literally. Trixie, literally, broke apart into a pile of straw and fabric.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“There's more to this show that will leave you reel~ing!”
“Trust me, and hold off on leav~ing!”

Somehow, the magician mare had managed to slip back to the front of the stage without Starlight noticing. She could almost imagine the smug, condescending grin, that the interloper had to be sporting, as she continued to wave her shiny bit of cloth in front of everypony's face. It seemed like she was actually hypnotizing her town with the power of pretty colors, as each pass of the cape seemed to cause it to assume some brightly offensive new color.

Starlight didn't care to figure out how it was done, even as all the colors of the rainbow flashed from the cape, as Trixie continued her little dance.

With a final flourish, a flash of colors flew out from Trixie's cape towards the back of the stage, forcing Starlight to move forward to avoid being caught up in whatever was about to happen next. Seven approximately cape size bits of fabric, each a different color of the rainbow were lined up along the back of the stage. It was far too neatly arranged to have not been guided by Trixie's actual magic, she quickly concluded.

“Hold tight, cause the show is not over yet!”
“If you will please move in closer”

Starlight's attention briefly turned back to the front of the stage, as another pop signaled the use of another of the showmare's smokebombs. Predictably, Trixie had disappeared from sight once more.

This did nothing to slow down the show, as Trixie's voice now echoed out over the stage.

“You're about to be bowled over”
“By the wonders you're about to behold here!”

Suddenly, another series of pops sounded off. Seven puffs of different colored smoke formed along the back of the stage, each one corresponding to the color of the cape that had been left behind. As the smoke cleared away, there stood seven ponies, each one sporting the likeness of Trixie, but for the different color schemes each one sported, each matching the capes they wore.

Being closer than any of the ponies in the audience, and having just slammed into one of Trixie's other props a few moments ago, Starlight quickly recognized the dummies for what they were.

Which was why Starlight was thrown, when it sounded like a whole chorus of Trixies was continuing the song.

“Welcome to the sh~ow!”
“Please come in~side.”
“Ladies and gentlecolts!”

Without warning, the red and violet Trixies standing at the ends of the line-up each burst in a shower of fireworks and colorful smoke.

Boom.

“Do you want it?”

Starlight began to back away, just in time to see the next to outermost Trixies, orange and indigo this time, explode next.

Boom.

“Do you need it?”

The pink mare, not wanting to be caught up in another explosion, didn't look back as she ran for the edge of the stage. She could guess that it was the yellow and blue Trixies that burst behind her this time.

Boom.

“Let me hear it!”

Starlight Glimmer, now at the front edge of the stage and with nowhere left to run, turned back to see the last Trixie. The last of the dummies, the green one, was surrounded on both sides by huge displays of pyrotechnics.

“Ladies and gentlecolts!”

Boom!!

The final blast was, by far, the largest, sending a billowing wave of multi-colored smoke and sparkles her way. Trying to back away and not get caught up in what was coming her way, Starlight quite completely forgot that there was no more stage left behind her.

Starlight Glimmer let out a very unimpressive yelp, as she slipped off the front of the stage.

Managing to cling to the edge of the stage with her front hooves, Starlight had a front row view, as the large cloud of rainbow-colored smoke and sparkles began to swirl together. Ribbons of neon-light seemed to briefly dance amongst the swirling smoke, as it rose a dozen feet into the air. Starlight would refuse to admit that she was staring, despite being as caught off-guard as everypony else, when the miniature funnel cloud burst outward.

Starlight Glimmer let out another yelp, as she lost her grip on the front of the stage and completed her fall. She ended up landing on her back, just in time to catch sight of the wave of colors passing overhead.

The townleader ended up lying there for several moments, staring up at the sky, unable to process just what had happened.

“Thank you! Thank you! You're a wonderful audience!”

The showmare's grating voice served to shake Starlight from her brief stupor. That and the raucous applause that her ponies were giving the interloper.

Starlight couldn't help but be offended, when none of her ponies could pull themselves away from their spectacle to give her a hoof up. Picking herself up, she had to shake her head, in order to shake away the last lingering spots of color in her vision. This also happened to reveal that all of the explosions going off in her face had done quite the number on her mane.

It looked as if she had just stepped out of windstorm.

“And let's everypony give a big round of applause to Trixie's beautiful assistant! Trixie couldn't have done it without her!”

The congratulations and cheers being sent her way, rather surprisingly, didn't improve Starlight's mood.

“Trixie thinks her assistant might even have it in her to follow in Trixie's hoofsteps! What do you think? Does she deserve another round of applause?!”

Starlight had to very carefully force her scowl towards her own hooves, not letting the applauding ponies around her see just how much her mask had slipped, over the course of the show. After a few moments, Starlight managed to pull back the muscles around her mouth, into something resembling a smile.

Lifting her head once more, she gave out her signature beaming smile to all of her loyal, cheering followers “Thank you, thank you. It was a real pleasure to assist our newest guest.”

Starlight was quite sure that if her smile became anymore forced, she was going to crack a tooth “And, I must say, it was quite the experience working with somepony so very talented.”

“Oh, do go on!” Trixie said, with faux modesty.

“No, no, I don't think I've ever met anypony as special as you! So, please, let us all give our applause to one that is more deserving than myself.” Starlight continued, even as she used a hoof to pat down her mane and bring it back into order; a futile effort, really.

“Oh, well. If you insist, Trixie-” Trixie began.

This time it was Starlight that lead with the applause, beginning to slowly stomp her hooves for the showmare. Trixie utterly failed to notice the few moments of hesitation that gripped the rest of the crowd, before they too followed suit.

She was enjoying the moment far too much.

“Thank you, thank you! You really are all too kind!” Trixie said from the stage, dramatically bowing for her audience a couple of times.

“Truly, Trixie would not be where she is today without ponies like you!”

Starlight's smile became ever so slightly more genuine.

“With audiences as welcoming as all of you, Trixie is sure that her comeback tour will be a smashing success! Trixie's already feeling more like her old self again.” Trixie admitted, just overcome with giddiness for how well-received her new act had been. No hecklers, no boasting, no giant-bears, and only a modest amount of lying.

“Who did you use to be, Trixie?” One pony called out from the audience.

She had to smile again at that, as she surreptitiously positioned herself near one of the stage triggers, hidden along the floor of the stage.

“Why, Trixie was once known throughout Equestria! And she will be again soon! Today is the day of the return of...The Great and Powerful Trixie!” The azure unicorn declared, as she reared back and dramatically flung out her cape to her sides.

Click.

There was some polite applause from the audience, but not much else, as Trixie again set back down on all four of her hooves.

After a few seconds of this, Trixie quietly cleared her throat, before rearing back up “...The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Click.

Nothing, apart from some confused looks from the townsponies. And a small smirk on Starlight Glimmer's face, that went unnoticed.

“Oh my. Is something wrong-” Starlight began, with false concern.

She was cut-off, as Trixie stomped her hooves, before again rearing back “I said...The Great and Powerful Trixie!!!”

Starlight had to dive to the side, as a single firework was launched outward, narrowly zipping past her head. Fortunately, the small rocket had been angled slightly upwards, soaring over the heads of the rest of the ponies gathered there, though quite a few still ended up ducking and diving to the side.

Starlight picked herself just in time, to see the firework shoot itself all the way down the single street of her perfect little town. It quickly reached the end of their one perfect street, right where her perfect little home was situated. There it promptly crashed through one of the three perfectly arranged windows along the front of her house.

Everypony there watched the house, as a number of sharp whistles, unseen crashes, and zipping noises came through the now shattered window. From the stage, Trixie sheepishly cringed at each sound of destruction that echoed out across the town. After several seconds more of this, things finally quieted down, as the little rocket ran out of fuel.

Trixie wasn't entirely sure just how angry Starlight Glimmer was. The lack of eyebrows made it a bit of challenge to tell, but she was willing to wager that it was somewhere in the range of 'very'.

Trixie gave an uncomfortable laugh, before swallowing down her own anxiety “Uhm...Trixie would be happy to-”

She was promptly cut-off, as a loud popping sound came from Starlight Glimmer's home. Looking that way would reveal a stream of sparks flying through the still-broken window, accompanied by a shrill whistling sound. A few seconds later, the stream of sparks began to stutter, before cutting off with another popping sound.

Trixie cleared her throat, and very much did not pay any attention to the few wisps of smoke that her rogue pyrotechnic had left behind “...Trixie would be more than happy to pay for any damages she may have caused, over the course of her show.”

She was fairly sure that Starlight's scowl had deepened a bit. Though, again, it was very difficult to tell, what with the lack of eyebrows.

"You know...if Trixie had any money."

'Note to self: The Frog-trick still needs tweaking.'

Author's Note

First of all, yes:

So, that's part of the reason it took me so long to get this relatively short chapter out. I was thinking about this story while driving, heard this song on the radio, and immediately thought...Trixie.

It's my first swing at trying to implement a musical number into a story, so it took some time. Ran into some mild writer's block. Had some really busy weeks. Had to spend time with family and friends. All kinds of stuff.

Not sure how well things turned out. It feels right, but I'm biased. So, if it comes off as clunky or otherwise doesn't feel like it works do let me know in the comment section. If it comes off weird, I need to know how to improve. :twilightsmile:

Next update is probably going to be for "Diamond Tiara Goes to Boot Camp". Need to get some more done for that story.

As always, questions and criticisms are welcome. I hope every enjoys this latest chapter of Hero Antagonist.

EDIT: Oh, and expect some tweaks and corrections over the next couple of days. As per usual.

Chapter Four: Fascinating Eyebrow

Trixie slowly creaked one eye open.

The inside of her wagon was starting to warm up, under what she could reasonably assume was the morning sun. Letting her sleepy gaze wander about confirmed the small streams of light working their way through her wagon, slipping through the gaps in the window shutters.

Murmuring senselessly to herself a bit, the unicorn rolled over in her tiny bunk, pulling the blankets with her. She found herself letting out a quiet sigh, pleased to hug herself against her pillow, as the streams of light settled somewhere other than across her face.

She hadn't slept well, despite having gotten to bed at an early hour. Which was odd, as she almost always slept incredibly well after a successful show, even when they weren't incredibly successful in a financial sense. It wasn't exactly something that she wanted to let out, but she often got anxious before her shows. When they went smoothly it was almost always a big relief.

Trixie could sleep like a log after a good show.

But, her conversation with the twitchy mare from the day before had inadvertently set off a lot of thoughts in her head last night.

And she was trying very hard to not hold it against the lovestruck, pink-coated yokel.

She'd even written something to that effect down before, as part of her new set of rules for being a better Trixie:

-Try not to hold the stupid, insensitive problems your adoring fans cause for you against them. It's not their fault...even when it very clearly is, even though everyone's still probably going to blame you for it, Trixie.-

It was actually one of the first things she decided to work on, this list, when she was just getting started on her big comeback. She'd even sent a copy to Twilight to look over with one of her response letters.

The showmare still didn't see what Twilight had found so hilarious about the new code Trixie was trying to live by.

Trixie let out another sigh, as she kicked her hindlegs about a bit to get more comfortable, shifting the blankets about in her tiny bunk. It was actually the perfect size, as far as she was concerned. Just enough room for her to get comfortable, but small enough to feel...cozy.

Between the various bits and pieces she used for her shows, her small collection of personal possessions, and the inner gears and levers of her wagon, there was only just enough room in there for Trixie. It was so cramped in there, she couldn't invite in another pony even if she wanted to.

Which is how she liked it

It was a space meant solely for Trixie.

It gave her a place to just be herself.

To not have to perform.

To relax.

To think.

Of course, thinking is what had kept her up all night, preventing her from relaxing, right after she had gotten done performing.

Her chat with Starlight Glimmer had weighed too heavily on her mind to sleep...

...Well, Trixie had gotten some sleep.

But, she'd still spent a lot of time thinking about things.

Things like family.

The mistakes she'd made.

Her days spent learning magic...

...and only barely keeping up with her fellow students. Sometimes not even keeping up.

It was stupid to even be thinking about that sort of the thing, Trixie had to remind herself, as she rolled over again in her bunk. She passed all the same tests they did. Nevermind that she only passed most of the practical exams through almost habitual loophole abuse. If she could think her way around a problem where others couldn't, that wasn't really Trixie's problem. Or so she liked to tell herself.

And if she could cast the spells, well, why should anyone care about some stupid written exam?

Eh, Twilight Sparkle probably would.

She'd probably tell Trixie to come clean about any sort of academic wrongdoing, all in a very understanding manner, while offering to teach Trixie everything she'd need to pass for real. Twilight would probably be all for wasting days and days over something that wasn't even important anymore, just so that it was done the right way. She wouldn't make Trixie come clean about anything, but be so encouraging about it that Trixie would feel like a huge disappointment if she didn't...

Rolling her head about, Trixie could hear a couple of bones popping in her neck, before shoving the blankets off. The morning sun was starting to warm her wagon and she wasn't quite ready to get out of bed.

It hadn't turned out to be that hard for her to find out that Twilight was Princess Celestia's personal student. She felt kind of excused for not knowing about Twilight before ever setting one hoof into Ponyville; Trixie had always been on the move, so she often got her news in fits and bursts.

Trixie had been showing off, claiming to be the greatest magician in Equestria, right in front of Princess Celestia's personal student. Twilight hadn't said a word, at the time.

One supposes that if you've been picked by the Princess of the Sun herself, you've got to have some sort of bewilderingly improbably moral fiber. So, that would probably mean that Twilight was probably just all-around a better pony that Trixie ever would be.

Trixie was jealous of Twilight.

Trixie knew that way back when she breaking open rocks and planning her ill-considered revenge scheme. It was the obvious answer for why the azure pony would hold such a grudge against someone that hadn't even done anything to her. Even after Twilight had saved her life from an Ursa Minor.

Trixie could admit that if she had even half the things going for her that Twilight did, she'd probably never shut-up about it.

Smart.

Pleasant.

Fairly good-looking.

Powerfully talented in magic.

A happy and wealthy family.

Taught by basically the greatest pony in the world...

...Trixie was definitely jealous of all that, even now. She might not resent Twilight for all of that anymore, but Trixie would trade her left hoof to be able to check off even half of that list.

Sure Trixie might have her beat when it came to good looks, but Twilight blew her out of the water in pretty much every other category.

It was selfish, but Trixie dearly wished at times that Princess Celestia had chosen Trixie over Twilight. Worse, she even had reason to believe it wasn't such an impossible idea, that it could have been her instead of the purple unicorn.

Trixe rolled over to stare up at the ceiling of her bunk, before giving a huff of a sigh.

Twilight deserved it more than Trixie.

Even if she had been the one chosen to be Princess Celestia's student, it wouldn't have been because Trixie was some sort of amazingly talented pony. It wouldn't have meant what she wanted it to mean.

Rolling over again she hugged her covers to her belly for a few moments, before taking in a deep breath.

No, if Trixie was going to be called the best, it was going to be because she was the best. Not out of pity. Not because Trixie just wanted it to be so. Not because she was living in the shadows of the past...

If she wasn't the best, it just meant she could still improve. Maybe she could even be a proper rival for Twilight, a friendlier sort of rival. If Trixie explained it to her, Twilight would probably be pretty understanding about the idea.

Aspiring to surpass Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight would probably even offer to help her do it.

Trixie could even form a whole new act built around the idea. Everyone loved a story about an underdog, loved the idea that a regular individual could reach the lofty heights that ponies like Twilight sat at through determination and hard work.

The idea brought a smile to her face.

Maybe she would visit Twilight after this, to start over with her fellow unicorn.

It would be a long trip back into Equestria, but it wasn't as if she was going to be making any bits in this little village.

She had to frown as she thought about it a bit more. Twilight would probably want Trixie to properly make amends with the residents of Ponyville, over the whole Alicorn Amulet incident.

That would kind of suck.

But it could work.

Making up for that fiasco would be difficult, but Twilight would be there to help smooth things over. And if she could fix things in Ponyville, it would be a big step towards restoring Trixie's own reputation.

Of course, Twilight would also want Trixie to make-up with her friends.

Her face got a bit pinched at that thought.

Trixie could probably stomach apologizing to that lot for Twilight's sake. At the very least, she could manage to apologize for the stuff with the amulet. But she had no intentions of apologizing for the Ursa incident. She didn't care what they thought about it, it wasn't Trixie's fault that a giant, cranky starbeast had wandered into Ponyville. She'd even tried to stop the stupid animal...

She'd probably just have to avoid Twilight's other friends.

They were jerks anyway. Probably end up heckling her again or something...

...Eh, whatever. If it could make things work, she could probably just fake an apology for Twilight's other friends. And then avoid them.

A few moments of thought, and Trixie nodded to herself with a smile.

That could work.

She liked this idea.

Reaching a hoof blindly for a pillow, she could even admit that she really liked the idea of seeing-

“Gyah-umph!”

Angrily shoving her blanket off of her head and with her face smarting from being planted into the floor of her caravan, after having fallen out of her bunk, Trixie glared into the floor.

Grumbling quietly to herself as she shuffled about in disorientation, the showmare quieted herself before standing-

Thunk!

-before collapsing back to the floor of her wagon, whilst grasping her head in her hooves. Rubbing the top of her head, in an effort to soothe away the pain, Trixie shot an irritable look upwards to her, perhaps, too-small-of-a-bunk. There was even a small dent in the wood where her horn had dug into her bed's underside.

“Stupid Twilight Sparkle...” Trixie muttered to herself, knowing it wasn't the purple pony's fault, but still needing someone to blame for her pain.

This time being mindful of her head and anything it might collide with, the drowsy magician slowly clambered to her hooves. Blindly reaching a hoof out to steady herself, she was almost too late in realizing what she was about to blithely lean against.

“Gyah!” Trixie quickly snapped her hoof back away from the precarious pile of props and fireworks that occupied most of the remaining cabin space in her wagon. Breathing a sigh of relief as she realized that she had managed to avoid disturbing the poorly organized tools of her trade, Trixie started working her way to the back of her wagon. She really needed to take some time to strap all of that stuff down, or one of these days she was going to end up buried in a pile of pyrotechnics and playing cards...

“...Eh, I'll get to it later.” Trixie quietly said to herself, as she used her magic to undo the latch on the backdoor of her wagon.

Stepping out into the fresh morning air, the azure unicorn let out a yawn before running her hoof over the top of her noggin once again. Satisfied that she wasn't going to have too large of a lump on her head, Trixie turned her attention outward. She was rather pleasantly surprised to find that, although there were a number of townsponies already up, they were mostly mind their own business.

Trixie half-expected the oddballs that made up this town to spend most of her morning greeting her, all the while sporting those painful looking smiles.

Stepping out of her wagon, Trixie was almost too busy letting loose another loud yawn to keep from bumping into something. Blinking for a moment as she looked down, it took the drowsy magician a few moments to realize that there was a large barrel sitting right in front of her.

Staring with a distinct lack of comprehension, Trixie had to wrack her mind on the question of why somepony would have set a barrel just outside of her wagon since last night.

Trixie quietly hummed to herself, recalling how she had asked the local ponies for a fresh barrel of water just the other day. Considering the barrel for a few seconds, she had to ponder whether these ponies could screw up something as simple as water, as badly as they did with muffins.

She still had that half-eaten travesty stuffed in her hat, waiting for a time when she could safely dispose of it. Perhaps with fire.

Trudging over, her horn lit up in a pink light, Trixie used her magic to unseal the barrel before setting the top to the side. Leaning over to give an experimental sniff, she took a careful eye to its contents, looking for any weirdness that would suggest that the village's inhabitants had managed to mess up clean water.

Glancing from one side to the other, just to be sure that no one intended on bothering her, Trixie leaned in with pursed lips to take a sip.

Leaning back up, Trixie gently swished the small amount of water about the inside of her mouth. Getting a good taste for it even as she cleared away that mouth gunk that was always waiting for when one woke up, she was pleasantly surprised by how cool and refreshing the water was. Letting out a loud gulp as she swallowed it down, the showmare gave a happy smile at this.

Apparently, you didn't need any sort of special talent to gather up some fresh water.

Taking one of her forehooves, she quickly splashed up a small amount of water, before wiping the gunk from her eyes. Trixie then gave a vigorous shake of her head, clearing the remaining liquid from her face. A bit cleaner thanks to her efforts, she took in a deep breath, before going in for a much larger drink.

Leaning back up, her eyes closed, Trixie briefly enjoyed the cool droplets cascading down her face and the soothing water heading down her throat. Going back in for one more big gulp of water, she tilted her head back. Gargling the water to clear up any remaining funkiness left in her mouth, she reared back before then-

“Good morning!”

-spitting.

Surprised by the intrusion of the vaguely familiar voice into this relaxing moment, Trixie found more than a bit of water sliding down the wrong pipe. This lead to her giving an awfully wet snort, that ended up simply moving a good portion of the fluid into her nasal cavity. So it was no surprise that Trixie utterly failed to notice Starlight Glimmer standing in front of her, as the showmare worked very hard to cough out the offending liquid.

It was also no surprise that, concerned with her own problems, Trixie failed to note the stricken way Starlight Glimmer was standing or the look of anger, shock, and disgust that the pink mare was sporting.

Nor did she notice the dripping of her recently expelled gargling-water, as it worked it's way down Starlight Glimmer's frozen face.

Dragging a slow, perhaps too forceful, hoof down her face, Starlight Glimmer found herself caught up in a desperate struggle to not physically assault her little town's newest arrival.

Her coughing starting to settle down, Trixie was using her own hoof to rub her nose in an effort to dislodge the water trapped up there. Without looking towards her fellow unicorn, she gestured her hoof towards the one that had startled her “Y-you can't just go sneaking up on the Great and Powerful Trixie like that! There's no telling what sort of-...magical things she could be doing. You-...Oh, it's you.”

Staring for just a second, Starlight Glimmer found herself putting her not inconsiderate willpower to the task of stretching her mouth into smile that utterly failed to reach her eyes “It's me! Just thought I'd take the time to check-in on our esteemed guest!”

Finally taking notice of the pony that had intruded upon her peaceful morning, Trixie found herself looking a slightly soggy pink unicorn over “Yeah. Thanks...Uhm, so Trixie's not sure if you remember, Starshine, but we had a certain-”

“Starlight.” The pink unicorn said through gritted teeth.

Raising an eyebrow at the interruption, Trixie paused to look back up “Huh?”

“My name. Is. Starlight.” Starlight Glimmer very carefully clarified.

“...Are you sure about that? Because you kind of look like a-”

Closing her eyes to avoid glaring daggers at the noisome magician, Starlight cut off Trixie with a sharp nod “I am actually pretty sure about this.”

“Well, if you're sure about that...” Trixie conceded after a moment before making an obvious show of looking over the unicorn opposite her “Why are you wet?”

Starlight Glimmer could feel her eye twitching.

Confused by what she felt was a bit of an awkward silence, Trixie found her gaze wandering. This inevitably led to her eyes resting upon the open barrel of water. The same barrel of water that she had been drinking from a moment ago. And cleaning herself with. And gargling-

Suddenly putting the pieces together, Trixie quickly gave an abashed look towards Starlight Glimmer “Oh...Trixie is supposing that she is the one that-...?”

Starlight Glimmer was rather impressed with herself when she managed to give out a hearty and not-at-all-crazy-sounding chuckle “What? This? There's no need to concern yourself with this. A happy accident is all this is.”

“Happy accident?” Trixie repeated with apparent skepticism.

“Yes. In fact, it's all very...refreshing. Yes. Refreshing.” The pink mare responded even as she tried to shake a bit of the spittle-laced water droplets from her hoof.

“Uhm, Trixie's really sorry about-”

“It's fine.”

“Trixie could help you clean off a bit, if you-”

“It's fine.”

“...You're fine being covered in my-”

Closing her eyes once more, in an effort to rein in the twitching, Starlight doubled down on her upbeat attitude “You know, I think a change of topic would be good for us.”

Trixie gave a slow nod at this, even as she kept her eye on the pink pony “Alright...Your eyebrows are sagging.”

“What!” Starlight blurted out before bringing a hoof up to her brow. Briefly feeling about, she quickly brought her appendage back in front of her eyes, revealing a series of wet smudge marks on her hoof.

Wiping her forehead again and with more force left her hoof covered in even more smears matching the color of her make-up pencil. Staring down at it, she found herself quietly cursing the merchant that had sold her such shoddy make-up supplies.

Her eyes darting up towards Trixie briefly, Starlight Glimmer slowly breathed in, before letting it out in a carefully measured laugh. Casually brushing her hoof on her side, she pushed as much of her tension and anger to the side as possible “Well...that's easy enough to fix, now isn't it?”

“Uhm...yes?” Trixie slowly agreed, even as her eyes remained focus on the area just above Starlight Glimmer's eyes.

“Something wrong?”

There was actually quite a bit of make-up left smeared across the pink unicorn's brow; it ended up looking quite a bit like the townsleader was sporting a particularly bushy unibrow.

Considering her options carefully, the azure mare just gave a quick shake of her head.

“Good...After all, it's certainly far too lovely a day in our town to while it away talking about make-up, isn't it?” Starlight said, finally feeling as if she was gaining just the smallest amount of control over things.

Resisting the urge to let her eyes wander back towards the other mare's unfortunate brow, Trixie kept her answer short “Uh-huh.”

Frowning a bit at the noncommittal response from the traveling pony, Starlight decided to move on to keypoints “So, tell me...just how are you taking to our lovely little community?”

“...Uh-huh.” Trixie replied again, even as her eyes inched upward once again. Blinking as she gave a sudden shake of her head, Trixie had to take a moment to re-focus on the question “That is- It's- Uh...Yeah. It's going great for Trixie. Really...taking to things.”

“Excellent. It really is nice to hear you're acclimating. Some don't always immediately grasp just how marvelous life can be out here.” The pink mare said with a demonstrative wave of her hoof to their surroundings “I truly think you'll only grow to love it here all the more after our little tour.”

“Well, Trixie's not so sure-...wait, tour?”

“Why, of course. It really is quite a relief to see you up so bright and-” Starlight began, as she began to extend a hoof over her fellow unicorn's back.

She was rather abruptly interrupted, as Trixie quickly slipped out from beneath her hoof. Keeping an eye on the pink pony, she started sidling back toward her wagon “Actually, the Great and Powerful Trixie has some...things to take care of. So, now might not be the very best time for this.”

Briefly given some pause as the showmare dodged her, Starlight briefly narrowed her eyes, before lowering her hoof again “Oh, but surely you're going need somepony to show around our town sometime soon. You certainly can't go on not knowing your way around here and I do recall some talk of introducing you to the Staff of Sameness.”

“...Trixie is starting to think that she may have given you the wrong idea, at some point.”

Blinking, it took a moment for Starlight to draw any sort of conclusion. She couldn't help but let a brief look of disgust cross her features, as the townleader recalled the...misunderstanding that had abruptly ended her previous conversation with the showmare “You can't seriously be-”

“It's really nothing against anypony here, but-” Trixie began.

Her fury briefly reignited by the presumption of the showmare, Starlight tried to put an end to that line-of-thought “I am not in love with-”

“-Trixie's has plans that will be leading her elsewhere.”

“What?” The pink mare blurted out, being quite caught off guard for more than one reason, her anger and disgust was quickly replaced with...well, the anger was still there. But, there was also some concern mixed in there now, as well.

“Trixie knows it's a bit sudden, but she really does need to be going. Morning really is the best time to travel, in Trixie's humble opinion and-”

“You can't leave!”

That loud exclamation was met by a startled and somewhat worried look from Trixie, one that Starlight couldn't help but notice.

But, she couldn't be allowed to leave. Not yet. Not when there was still so much to do with the deeply flawed individual standing in front of her. She wasn't ready to accept failure after everything she had already dealt with.

Awkwardly smiling for her benefit, Starlight carefully cleared her throat “What I mean is, you can't possibly be leaving already. You've only just arrived and I do believe there was some talk of repairs to your lovely wagon.”

“Trixie's pretty sure her wagon isn't in any danger of falling apart.”

“Well, of course not.” Starlight Glimmer said with a wave of her hoof and an uncomfortable laugh “But...I just know everypony here will be terribly disappointed.”

Trixie raised a skeptical eyebrow at that “How so?”

“It's just that you've been such a welcome addition to our town, with so many of our residents...admiring you, so much.” Starlight Glimmer very nearly had to say that through gritted teeth “I just know that they would feel ashamed if they did not get a chance to personally thank you for your wonderful show. Perhaps even with gifts!”

The showmare found herself pursing her lips at that thought, unable to completely dismiss it. It really did combine two of the bombastic unicorn's favorite things: Ponies adoring her and getting free stuff.

“Maybe...”

“And wasn't there something about a second show? I'm sure everypony here would just be heartbroken if you could not grace us with a farewell show, at the least.” The pink pony continued with growing certainty, relieved to see that she was getting through to the interloper.

“Trixie's not really sure she can afford another show here...”

“A small show then! Just as a way to bidding a proper farewell to all of your adoring fans.” Starlight quickly suggested.

Trixie had to stop herself from chewing on her lip, as she considered all of that. That did sound like the sort of thing she should be doing, as the New and Improved Trixie. Sure, her original plan felt more like something she would do, disappearing all of a sudden without any warning; there was definitely something of a pattern in her life. And she didn't really want to stick around this place any longer than she already had. What with the total lack of money to be made in this town and the moony-eyed mare that couldn't respect her personal space, it seemed like the most pragmatic route.

Really, the only time Trixie had held off for anything more that a quickly shouted goodbye was when she had made her apology to Twilight...

Trixie let out a heavy sigh at that thought.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie supposes one more small show couldn't hurt...”

“Marvelous! I'm certain you won't regret this very wise decision. Now or in the future.” Starlight Glimmer assured.

“Not really sure how wise it is...” The azure unicorn muttered to herself. It probably didn't matter much in the long-run, as she still had plenty of fireworks and magical supplies. And the ponies here, though dirt-poor, had been really nice to her. Shaking away the rationalizations and concerns, Trixie put on a bit of a smile “But, Trixie can't very well leave her fans without an encore!”

“Certainly not.” Starlight Glimmer quietly agreed, her smile becoming an almost predatory smirk for a few seconds. Reining in her brief exultation at having stalled Trixie's departure, she quickly resumed her friendlier countenance. Starlight soon gestured a hoof towards the rest of the town, before extending it to Trixie “And if you are going to be staying a bit longer after all, perhaps it is time for a more proper introduction to our town?”

Trixie had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the painfully obvious attempt by the pink mare to spend more time with her “I-...that is to say, Trixie can't think of a reason why not.”

She really couldn't.

Whatever.

Trixie was still going to be gone by tomorrow, so why not let this lovestruck fan live the dream for one more day? It was annoying, but it really was Trixie's own fault for being as charming as she was, or so she told herself.

“Excellent.” Starlight Glimmer crooned, before turning back towards the rest of the town “If I could have everypony's attention!”

“We're doing this now?” Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I have some truly marvelous news for our town!” Starlight continued without acknowledging the question “It seems that Miss Trixie has decided to forego her travel plans-”

“Just for a day.” Trixie added, though her contribution seemed to largely go unnoticed by the crowd.

“-and partake in the bounty of our lovely town!” The town's leader finished.

This declaration quickly got the townsponies murmuring excitedly amongst themselves and before Trixie could get in any words several smiling ponies quickly crowded around her.

“That's so great, Miss Trixie!”

“You're going to love it here!”

“You'll never have to worry about being left out again!”

“I'd be happy to show you around!”

Trixie found herself taking a couple of steps back, as the townsponies quickly swarmed her, unsure how to respond. She was spared from having to do so, when Starlight Glimmer stepped over and waved the crowd back.

“Now, now. We must remember to be put our best hooves forward, everypony. After all, it does fall to us to properly demonstrate just how much better life can be.” The pink mare reminded. Striding through the crowd of excited ponies, the pink mare started moving towards the center of town “Now, let us everypony give a proper welcome to Miss Trixie! Let's all see those-”

Starlight came to an abrupt stop, as she started to pass by Sugar Belle.

The baker's faded purple eyes quickly darted up, as she glanced up towards Starlight Glimmer, suddenly very aware of just how conspicuously absent her own enthusiasm seemed. After all, how could she be anything but ecstatic at the thought of a new pony-

Resisting the urge to cringe as she noticed the attention being sent way, Sugar Belle quickly stretched her mouth into a welcoming, if somewhat painful, grin.

She briefly started, when she felt a hoof under her chin, gently forcing her head upwards.

“Let's hold that head up high, Sugar Belle. We got to let everyone see that smile.” Starlight said in a syrupy-sweet tone. Letting the hoof drop a bit, the pink unicorn brought it to her chest, as she closed her eyes for effect “For we all must remember that in our town, that we stand together! Heads high! With no pony forgotten!”

“...Uhm.” Came the town baker's hesitant response.

Starlight Glimmer found herself waiting for far too long for the expected cheers from her townsfolk. Cracking one eye open, the pink mare found her earlier annoyance flaring a bit, as she noted the vacant stare being sent her way by Sugar Belle.

Shutting her eyes again, Starlight Glimmer briefly cleared her throat “As I was saying to everypony, we all must work together to show Miss Trixie how wonderful life here can be!”

Again, this failed to get the reaction she was hoping for. Namely the beginnings of an up-tempo musical number that would have perfectly described the utopia she was trying to fashion for everypony.

Instead, she found herself greeted by uncomfortable staring and quiet muttering. Trixie, in particular, seemed to be avoiding looking anywhere near Starlight's direction.

Gritting her teeth a bit, as her ponies all managed to succeed in missing their cue, the pink mare forced herself into giving out a light chuckle “Well, I can't help but think that perhaps we need to work on our sense of...togetherness a bit more. It's almost as if we were just...wasting time in all of those rehearsals...”

“Uhm...Starlight?” Sugar Belle quietly spoke-up.

“Hmmmm?”

“Your-...Your eyebrows are a bit-...”

Staring for a moment at this hesitant response, Starlight looked across the crowd to find that most everypony present was either staring or very apparently trying not to stare at her face.

Bringing a hoof to her face and feeling around for anything unusual, she quickly realized that wasn't revealing anything. Her face pinched, the pink unicorn quickly pushed past the crowd to approach the still open water barrel sitting by Trixie's caravan. Using her forehooves to prop herself up, Starlight quickly took in her reflection...

Revealing the huge, uneven, smear of a unibrow that was taking up so much space on her forehead. Or rather, it was the huge, uneven, smear of make-up that uncannily resembled a unibrow that was revealed in that moment.

“Uhm, Starlight?” Night Glider called out, while reaching a hoof out towards the unicorn.

She quickly jerked it back, as Starlight Glimmer abruptly set all four hooves back on the ground. A moment later, the crowd of ponies was clearing a path, as their town leader steadily stomped her way back towards her own abode. Fairly few smiles were left on anypony's faces, as an uncomfortable silence descended over the street.

Rubbing the back of her head with a hoof, Trixie glanced towards Night Glider uncomfortably “Uhm, so...”

The pegasus, along with several other nearby ponies, gave a collective jump at the showmare's attempt to speak-up. Collectively turning their attention towards their guest, there were a few awkward moments where nopony seemed to know what to say.

Clearing her throat rather loudly, Night Glider tried to put on a smile for Trixie's benefit “I'm sure Starlight will be back soon...”

“That's right! She's probably just going to get freshened up!” Party Favor rather loudly suggested. Quickly moving to the front of the group, he turned back towards his fellow townsfolk “And I'm absolutely certain that she would want us all to make sure Miss Trixie feels entirely welcome, in the meantime! Isn't that right, everypony?”

This lead to a slight recovery in everyone's excitement, as Party Favor quickly earned himself a chorus of agreement from everypony else.

Still uncertain about all of this, Trixie found herself giving a tilt of her head “Uhm, sure...you guys aren't going to start singing and dancing, right? Cause Trixie doesn't think she can handle that right now.”

Several hours later...

“What do you mean you're not staying?”

After Starlight Glimmer had stormed off, Trixie had found herself on the receiving end of an entirely unwarranted tour around the little town. Unwarranted due to the colossal lack of anything interesting in the bleak little community.

Trixie honestly couldn't believe just how excited all these ponies were to be living in this place. She didn't want to be mean about it, but these townsponies didn't seem to be all that good at anything. One might have thought those horrific muffins were the absolute worst thing about the town, but just about everything else seemed to be vying for the position.

That 'cloak' Party Favor had offered her had been truly depressing to behold. Especially when compared to her own fabulous, eye-catching, and entirely lovely star-spangled cloak.

She was pretty sure she hadn't completely concealed her distaste for the...garment.

By the end of that sad little tour things were getting pretty awkward, as Trixie found it increasingly difficult to feign interest and everypony else found it increasingly difficult to pretend not to notice.

Trixie was pretty sure that the fact that she felt vaguely bad about this meant that she was doing a pretty good job at the whole being-a-better-pony-thing.

Still, she was rather relieved when the tour came to an end about an hour later, letting her finally head back to the snug confines of her caravan. Only to discover that the almost annoyingly earnest townsponies had just started working on her wagon's squeaky-wheel problem.

...Now that Trixie thought about it, she was actually feeling a bit skeptical about letting these ponies work on her precious wagon. They didn't seem to be all that good at...anything.

Regardless, she couldn't exactly retreat to her mobile sanctuary while a bunch of ponies of questionable ability were trying to fix it.

Which is what lead Trixie to her current circumstances; quietly nursing a glass of water in Sugar Belle's bakery...

...and once more explaining that she had no intention of sticking around in their quaint little town.

“Trixie's pretty sure she said this earlier, but she still plans on leaving tomorrow.” The showmare said with an off-hoofed gesture.

“But, that can't- Starlight Glimmer said-” Party Favor began at Trixie's side.

The blue mare let out a sigh, before slumping over the counter “Trixie heard what she said. If you'd heard what Trixie said, you'd know that she was eager to be on her way.”

“But...what?” The unicorn stallion blurted out, as if he literally couldn't understand what Trixie had just told him.

“Uhm, maybe Trixie has some business she needs to see to?” Sugar Belle quietly offered from the other side of the counter.

Considering that for a moment, Trixie gave a tilt of her head “Yeah. There's that.”

“I-Well, I suppose-...it's certainly not as if you're never coming back!” Party Favor declared in a upbeat tone, as he tried to reconcile the thought of somepony leaving.

“...Sure.” Trixie agreed with a forced smile.

Party Favor gave a vigorous nod at that “And perhaps you can even bring-”

“Do you not like it here?” Sugar Belle quietly asked.

Trixie was cut-off from responding by a loud gasp coming from her side. Glancing that way revealed Party Favor, a hoof over his mouth, staring towards Sugar Belle with the most scandalized look one could imagine. One might have thought he just saw someone kick a foal in the face, rather than ask a not unreasonable question.

“Sugar Belle! How could you?!” The stallion exclaimed, to which Sugar Belle could only duck her head in embarrassment. Party Favor quickly shook his head, before gesturing a hoof towards Trixie “How could Miss Trixie possibly not like it here, Sugar Belle?”

“Well, Trixie isn't entirely sure that this is the sort of place for her...” The showmare carefully offered.

Tilting his head in utter befuddlement, Party Favor seemed at a loss “But, don't you like it here?”

Trixie brought a hoof up to rub the back of her neck “It's not the worst place Trixie's been to.”

Unlike before, Party Favor seemed to finally pick up on just how unenthusiastic the mare was about his home. For the better part of the day he had faithfully accepted whatever politely noncommittal responses she had offered in favor of their little utopia. Watching her now, it was now painfully apparent that there was just something that just wasn't clicking for their latest arrival.

His jaw flapping helplessly for a few moments, he tried to smile once more “Uhm, perhaps Miss Trixie can explain how we can improve things here?”

Slumping her head forward, said mare started shaking her head “Trixie's getting a headache...”

“We came on too strong, right? I mean, we can always give you some more space if you want?” The stallion pressed on. Bringing his hoof up as if to declare that something had just occurred to him, Party Favor stepped a bit closer “It's the cloaks, right? I know it must seem like you're giving up a lot, but you'll get used to it! There's nothing wrong with being like everyone else, after all.”

“Party Favor...” Sugar Belle tried to interrupt, as she stepped around the counter.

“Maybe you're hungry! I haven't seen you eat anything yet, so you must be starving! I'm sure everything will look nicer on a full stomach!” Party Favor declared. Quickly turning towards the approaching Sugar Belle with an outstretched hoof “Can you go get Miss Trixie some more of those muffins-”

“No!”

Trixie was rather surprised to find that it wasn't her that had blurted that out, but rather the town's resident baker.

“S-Sugar Belle?” Party Favor stuttered in confusion.

The mare audibly swallowed as her fellow townspony stared “Th-that is, Miss Trixie doesn't want anymore of my muffins.”

“What are you talking about? Surely Miss Trixie must be-”

“They're terrible, Party Favor.” Sugar Belle sternly cut in

“What? No. They're just as good-”

“They're not. Or they are. I don't know...” The baker continued on her throat tightening as she tried to rein in feelings that had been building up for far too long.

Frowning with apparent concern for his friend's melancholy, Party Favor took several steps closer, leaving Trixie largely forgotten “What's wrong, Sugar Belle? There's no reason to be unhappy here, you know that.”

“I don't know. I-...I know how to do it. I know how to make muffins...” Sugar Belle muttered without looking up, before letting out a large sniffle “But, everytime they come out the same and they're just so awful. I used to be able to make ponies happy with my cooking...”

“Everyone's plenty happy with your muffins.” Party Favor tried to assure, even as he glanced around for some sort of assistance. He didn't know how to deal with this.

“Miss Trixie isn't.” The distraught mare said even as she rubbed at her eyes.

Looking for all the world like a startled deer when Party Favor looked her way, Trixie tried to shake her head to bring Sugar Belle's words back into place “Trixie doesn't really recall saying anything like that and-...actually, now that I think about it, I- that is Trixie thinks she really should start preparing for that show she promised everypony.”

This was really uncomfortable.

And Trixie wasn't one to waste anytime getting out of uncomfortable situations. She didn't know how to deal with ponies that were on the verge of tears or whatever it was that was happening here.

So, she couldn't say she felt particularly bad for edging her way towards the door.

“Miss Trixie wait! You have to tell her she's wrong!” Party Favor suddenly exclaimed, his chipper demeanor thoroughly gone now. He was desperate to find some way to make things make sense again “I mean, you really enjoyed Sugar Belle's muffins, didn't you?”

“Uhhhh...”

“That's the truth, right?”

“It's not that Trixie-”

“Please, just be honest with her.”

Trixie stared for a moment at that, before letting out a groan. Honesty was definitely one of those things that needed to be a part of the new and improved Trixie. That was one thing that Twilight had kept going on and on about in their letters and Trixie had even promised that she would make the effort for her singular friend.

“Trixie isn't really sure that it's the best idea for her to be honest.” The showmare hesitantly pointed out.

“Of course it is! Just tell Sugar Belle what you really think of her muffins.” Party Favor pushed, as he settled a hoof over the baker's withers.

“She doesn't-” Sugar Belle began to object.

“We're all friends here, Sugar Belle. Isn't that right, Miss Trixie?”

Trixie let her gaze wander towards the doorway of the building, wondering if perhaps she could just make a run for it. Glancing back towards the two distraught ponies that were staring at her, some quiet, annoying part of her told her that it was way too late to escape.

She was pretty sure it was her conscience...

...stupid Twilight Sparkle.

“You want the truth?” Trixie asked, not having to look their way to know Party Favor's answer. Taking in a deep breath, Trixie used her magic to levitate her remaining half-a-glass of water from the counter to her lips. Finishing it off in a few gulps, she set the glass back down on the counter before facing the duo “The truth is...those were the worst muffins the Great and Powerful Trixie has ever had the displeasure of being exposed to.”

This was clearly not the answer Party Favor had been looking for.

“Trixie is really, really sorry to say that, but you wanted Trixie to be honest. And Trixie really did appreciate the thought behind them, because Trixie loves getting free stuff from her fans.”

Rubbing her face once more, Sugar Belle looked back up towards Trixie with watery eyes “So, you really thought they were horrible?”

“They were offensive on both a physical and spiritual level.” Trixie replied with a firm nod.

“I- but- how can you say something so terrible?!” Party Favor exclaimed.

“Trixie tried to warn you.”

Before the stallion could say anything further, he was stopped by a hoof from Sugar Belle. Clearing her throat, she gave a weak smile “It's alright, Party Favor. I-I'm actually kind of glad to hear her say that.”

“...Really? Cause the Great and Powerful Trixie has a lot more she could say.” Trixie offered, her own surprise at this reaction apparent. Maybe Twilight Sparkle had been right about honesty being the best policy.

Shaking his head at that, Party Favor looked back towards his friend “But how can you be glad about that? What she said was so mean!”

“I-...I know that we're all really lucky to have found each other, that we've all managed to find this place. And I know I should be happier, but I just can't help but miss certain things.” Sugar Belle tried to explain.

“Well, of course, we all knew we would have to give up some things to find true happiness. Starlight Glimmer even told us so. You just have to give it a bit more time.” Party Favor said in a sympathetic tone.

“I've been here longer than you, Party Favor.” The baker deadpanned.

“Oh, right...”

“I'm not saying I want to leave all of you behind, but maybe-...maybe I could just sort of pay a visit to my old life?” Sugar Belle hesitantly suggested.

“But-...but what could be better than what we have here?” Party Favor asked.

“Trixie knows of a few things.” Trixie said, while raising her hoof to get their attention.

Shaking her head at this, Sugar Belle focused back on the stallion “Please understand. I mean, there's got to be some things you miss too? Ponies you'd like to visit? Things you'd like to do one last time? Maybe even...”

“You want your Cutie Mark back?” Party Favor asked with apparent skepticism.

Rubbing the back of one of her forelegs with her hoof, Sugar Belle glanced to the side before admitting the truth “Maybe. Just for a few days...”

“Starlight Glimmer would never-” Party Favor started to blurt out, before slapping his hoof over his mouth and glancing towards Trixie.

Blinking at the sudden attention being directed her way, Trixie raised an eyebrow at this reaction “Never what?”

“Nevermind!” Party Favor quickly blurted out. After a few awkward moments of silence, he turned back towards Sugar Belle “You see? Even if I-...even if you really wanted to, you can't just go wandering off out of town. You'd get lost! Or worse!”

“Actually, if you stay to the roads it's not really all that bad. Trixie manages just fine.” Trixie pointed out, leading to a brief moment of silence from the two townsponies.

Turning towards Party Favor, Sugar Belle made sure she had his attention before pointedly glancing towards Trixie.

“...You think?” Party Favor eventually asked in a hushed tone.

“Think what?” Trixie asked in an uncomprehending tone.

Sugar Belle gave a shake of her head, before sending a reassuring smile towards Trixie “It's nothing. We were just thinking-”

Knock-knock!

Party Favor nearly jumped out of his hide at the sudden interruption, with Sugar Belle having an only slightly less severe reaction. Both quickly turned their attention towards the building's doorway, where they both saw a familiar pegasus.

“Night Glider! We weren't doing anything!” Party Favor nearly shouted.

Cringing back a bit from this loud declaration the winged mare stared for a few moments, before giving a tilt of her head “I, uh...I was just coming to let Miss Trixie know that her wagon was just about ready...”

“Oh.” Party Favor and Sugar Belle said at the same time.

Bringing a hoof up to rub the back of her neck, Night Glider avoided meeting anypony's gaze for a little bit “So...what's up?”

Trixie glanced between the three equalized townsponies, before giving a shrug “Trixie has no idea what's going on here.”

Author's Note

So, finally a new update.

Gonna keep this short, but you can expect more updates for my other stories soon; I've got several in-progress right now. As usual, there will probably be some minor edits and typo corrections on this chapter.

As always, question and criticisms are welcome. I hope everyone enjoys this latest update. Later.

Chapter Five: Ignored Epiphany

Trixie was having doubts about this whole 'being honest' thing.

Oh sure, it seemed like it had been panning out, what with Sugar Belle telling her how glad she was that Trixie was being honest with her. Nopony seemed especially upset with her, just sort of upset in a general sense, so that was good. Ponies not blaming the showpony for their mistakes in life was always sort of a plus in Trixie's book.

But Trixie was really starting to feel confused and put-off by this place.

Ponies acting oddly paranoid, pink ponies with little respect for personal boundaries, terrible muffins, strange towns in the middle-of-nowhere. It was all kinda weirding her out, if she was being perfectly honest with herself. The only thing that made sense to Trixie was being surrounded by adoring fans, and even then the eccentric townsponies were kind of ruining that for her.

Sure, she had vowed to try to be a better, more understanding Trixie, but all of this compassion and honesty she was putting out seemed to be having an odd effect. Plus, it was turning out to be just a little bit exhausting for Trixie, being so delightfully pleasant all the time.

Every rule has to have some exceptions to it, right?

Surely, Twilight would understand if she, just this once, brushed off these strange ponies and left for the open road...

…

...

...darn it.

Trixie was going to have to give Twilight a piece of her mind over all of these guilt-trips she was putting her through. Yes, the purple mare wasn't physically present, but that was hardly an excuse, as far as Trixie was concerned. If Twilight wasn't so admirable and morally upstanding, the showmare would have far fewer problems with this whole...conscience idea.

And that was exactly how she found herself in her current predicament, trotting through town to go talk a creepy fan into letting a few village ponies leave with her...Stupid conscience, telling her what to do. Acting like it's in-charge all the time...

Why she needed to be the one to talk to-...Starbright Slimmer?...That didn't sound right. But, whatever, why did Trixie need to be the one to talk to the pink mare? Why was she the one that had to ask permission? And since when did ponies need permission to up-and-leave? Couldn't Sugar Belle and the others just leave?

Trixie had to let out a sigh at that, pining for the old days, when she didn't have to care about problems that weren't hers. Back then she made the world a better place by reminding ponies how marvelous she was, instead of getting involved with others and subsequently having to run pointless errands for them.

At the least, it was easy to navigate the small town. All she really had to do was walk from one end of the town's single thoroughfare and stop at the building with the broken window and she was there.

It was kind of annoying, she noted, wishing she could just use the idea of getting lost on the way to get out of this task.

Trixie could even see the townsponies performing their repairs on her caravan, apparently putting in the last finishing touches of their work, from where she was standing.

Just the act of her not walking over there, hitching herself to her wagon, and leaving, should win her a lot of points on her whole Being-a-Better-Pony idea. If she'd thought to keep track of that sort of thing before now, it'd have to be worth at least a thousand points or something like that.

Coming to a halt at the door to the-...was that pink mare like the mayor of this town or something? She seemed like she was sort of in-charge and all the other ponies seemed to defer to her. To an almost ridiculous degree, all the ponies around here seemed to only really be concerned with what Something-Light Whatever-Her-Name-Was decided. It was almost like...

…

...

...Pfft. Why was she even wasting her time thinking about this?

Deeming that line of thought boring, by virtue of not being very much about Trixie, she turned her thoughts back to that whole keeping-track-of-her-good-deeds idea. Trixie'd have to come up with a scoring system for it, so that would be a hassle. But the thought of having indisputable proof that she was working at becoming a better pony could be useful.

The next time somebody heckled her, she could just rub their noses in that to shut them up. You couldn't get away with heckling someone that was objectively kinder, more honest, and all-around a morally better pony than you and not feel like a jerk afterwards.

There were rules about that, right?

Granted, Twilight might not like the idea of Trixie doing that with those other ponies she, incredibly enough, decided to spend time around. Those supposed friends of hers, that had been so ready to give Trixie a hard time during her first visit to Ponyville. She probably wouldn't be able to rub much of anything in their faces without upsetting Twilight...

On the other hoof, Twilight would probably be just gushing with well-deserved praise for all of Trixie's hard work. Trixie could imagine it now...

“Trixie, you've made so much progress at being a better pony!”

“Well, The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't like to brag, Twilight, but she has already earned over one hundred thousand Better-Pony points.”

“It really does show, Trixie. Despite the point-system being arbitrarily determined by you, I don't think anypony could have earned as many Better-Pony points as quickly as you did.”

“That's probably true. But there's no need to go telling everypony about it.”

“Oh my gosh! Trixie! You just earned another thousand Better-Pony points for being so humble!”

“Oh, Trixie knows. Humility really does come all too easily to Trixie these days.”

“I certainly can't argue with that, Trixie. It almost seems like I should be the one learning how to be a good pony from you.”

“Oh, no. Trixie couldn't possibly see that happening. You've been such a good friend to the Great and Powerful Trixie, you don't even really need any Better-Pony points.”

“That's so nice of you to say Trixie...I just wish I could be there all the time to see you being such a wonderful pony...”

“Oh, sweet Twilight, you already have too much here to possibly give it all up, that I could never ask that of you.”

“Awwwwww...”

“...although, the Great and Powerful Trixie could use a beautiful, magically-gifted assistant to help her with some of the more technically difficult tricks...”

“Really?! You'd really let me come with you and help you with your shows, Trixie?”

“Oh, I couldn't possibly ask that of you...but if you really insist, Twilight...”

“Please, please let me travel with you across Equestria and help with your shows. You've got to let me help you, Trixie.”

“I suppose I can't turn away someone that's so obviously interested-”

“Oh, can I help you, Trixie?”

“Of course, it would be my great pleasure to-”

“I said, can I help you?”

Trixie had to blink, as she was shaken back into reality at the sound of somepony loudly clearing their throat. Glancing around to see herself standing on the dusty step of a bland building in an equally bland town, the showmare let loose the first words that came to mind.

“Uh, what?”

Looking up once more, would reveal the smiling face of a certain pink mare looking back at Trixie from the open doorway “I said...can I help you?”

“Oh...Trixie sees that you fixed your eyebrows.” The showmare unthinkingly blurted out, looking for anything to say while she re-aligned her thoughts with reality.

Fortunately, the sound of Starlight's teeth grinding together went largely unheard by the self-obsessed, blue unicorn. Her smile straining just a bit more, the pink magician found her head tilting just a little to the side “...Is that all?”

“Hm? Oh, no. Trixie actually wanted to talk with you about something.” Trixie replied, finally recalling the reason for her little visit.

“Is that so?” Starlight responded, her eyes widening just the slightest bit.

To which Trixie gave an easy nod “Uh, yes...Trixie was speaking with some of the other ponies around here. And, somehow, we kinda got onto the topic of how everypony gave up their Cutie Marks and-”

“You're interested in the Staff of Sameness?”

Briefly blinking at the interruption, Trixie had to give a moment of thought to that before shrugging “I guess you could say that.”

That was quite the pleasant surprise for Starlight Glimmer, the first that she had had in the last couple of days. Up till this point, she hadn't thought she had made any sort of progress with 'welcoming' Trixie to their town, so it was hardly unexpected when her face lit with something comparable to genuine pleasure.

“That's simply marvelous!”

Trixie could merely raise an eyebrow at that exclamation “Is it?”

“But, of course! The Staff of Sameness truly does represent the core of our little community, so to know that you're interest has been piqued comes as no small relief.” Starlight happily explained, refusing to be stymied by the azure unicorn's lacking enthusiasm.

“Uhm, just to be clear, Trixie only has a few very specific questions about the whole thing with the Cutie Marks and-”

Starlight waved away those concerns with her hoof, sporting a knowing smile “No worries, everypony has a few questions going in. But, as anyone in our little town can attest, I have never failed in assuaging away any lingering concerns that might be troubling anypony.”

“Trixie really doesn't think it would be entirely appropriate to engage in any sort of 'assuaging' while she's here. The Great and Powerful Trixie would rather keep this professional-”

Starlight's expression briefly tensed, as she picked up on what Trixie was saying. Though still vexed, she kept the continued misunderstandings about her intentions from bothering her “Not. Massaging...Assuaging. I am going to assuage your concerns.”

“Massaging or assuaging, Trixie just isn't too comfortable with the idea of somepony she barely knows rubbing her with their hooves.” Trixie countered, not quite grasping the distinction the pink mare was trying to make.

Starlight struggled to find a response for that, but could only settle for letting her smile fade away just a bit.

“While Trixie isn't the sort to judge, ponies tend to do things a little differently elsewhere. Offering to assuage another pony in Equestria isn't really something you do outside of a spa or with somepony you're in a relationship with.” Trixie explained with a gesture of her hoof behind her towards the rest of the town. Turning back, she briefly cleared her throat, before awkwardly gesturing towards Starlight “And...Trixie understands how some of her fans might think they have a special relationship with the Great and Powerful Trixie-”

“Stop.”

Blinking at the abrupt response from the town leader, Trixie found herself pausing to rub the back of her head with her hoof, adjusting her star-spangled hat in the process “Trixie certainly doesn't want to hurt anypony's feelings, she's just not in the sort of emotional place that she can-”

“Please, stop.”

There followed a long pause between the two mares, as Trixie found herself awkwardly trying not to look away or become too discomforted by the silence.

Fortunately, Starlight was no more inclined to let the silence linger for too long herself, and soon took in a calming breath before releasing it in a puff of air. Reaffirming to herself that she was finally making progress, she smiled once more for Trixie before gesturing inside her home “Please, let me welcome you into my home, so that we can discuss any questions you might have...Specifically, questions you might have about the Staff of Sameness or our proud community.”

Trixie found herself tapping her foreleg with one of her hooves, as she cast her gaze back towards where her wagon was still waiting for her. Weighing her options in her mind, she had to remind herself that up-and-leaving the moment things became uncomfortable was something the Old Trixie did.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, as she turned back towards the waiting doorway, the showmare gave a heavy shrug before muttering “Trixie can't think of a good reason why she shouldn't.”

That was definitely a lie, but Trixie was trying to be a nicer pony and she still had doubts about being more honest.

The pink unicorn let out a chuckle at that, as she stepped to the side to allow her newest guest access to her home “Excellent. You can trust me when I say, that I have no doubts that you will find this to be as enlightening an experience as I-”

“Okay.” Trixie came to a sudden halt, before raising a hoof towards Starlight “But just to be clear...there's not going to be any touching or rubbing or assuaging of any sort, while Trixie is here, right?”

Once more, Starlight Glimmer had to keep herself from grinding her teeth together, as her jaw strained from her growing vexation. Unable to entirely force the tension from her body, Starlight settled for giving a small nod “Of course.”

Trixie pursed her lips at that response for a moment, before turning to go inside once more, something which helped release some of Starlight Glimmer's own built-up stress. Taking in another deep breath, as the blue magician made her way in, the pink mare started to close the door to her-

“We don't have any sort of special relationship.” Trixie suddenly spoke-up once more, pausing to turn back towards Starlight “We're just two ponies, each with a healthy respect for the other's personal boundaries, right?”

“...Yes.” Starlight Glimmer almost hissed out, her smile now all but gone.

Once more Trixie considered the answer, before finally nodding and heading inside without further comment.

Unseen by Trixie, Starlight had to take a moment to engage in the heaviest roll-of-her-eyes she'd ever given in her life, before barely resisting the urge to slam her door closed.

“Alright now, how about you get settled in. I'll just be fetching some water for us, but is there anything I can get you to make you more comfortable?” Starlight asked with a smile towards her reluctant guest.

Trixie, still awkwardly glancing around the interior of the pink pony's home, spared a moment to consider the question. Raising a hoof to her chin for a moment, the showmare tilted her head before replying “You don't happen to have anymore of those muffins, do you?”

Starlight beamed at that “Certainly. Sugar Belle was kind enough to drop by with-”

“Then, no.”

“...Okay. Just water then, I suppose.” The pink mare replied with a nod, choosing to disregard the rather mild slight “How about you take a seat and I'll be right back.”

Starlight Glimmer didn't wait for a response before moving to her small kitchen, her face assuming a more honest look of bland annoyance. Going through the motions of filling up a small pitcher of water and setting it on a platter along with two cups, she had to stop and look down into her reflection in the water. Once again, her countenance was the very picture of symmetrical perfection, though she couldn't help sending a glare down at herself. How weak was Starlight being in letting one foolish pony frustrate her so heavily, when it so completely fell upon her to...correct the paths of other ponies.

She had a responsibility to demonstrate just how miserably this pony had been living her life. And now that it seemed she was finally getting that opportunity she couldn't fritter it away.

Besides, there was no way she could suffer any further public humiliations in her own home. Starlight could address Trixie directly, without any of her dear friends getting in the way.

Letting a confident smile creep across her face once more and holding her head high, she took the platter in her magic and started back through the doors to her front room.

“Here we go! Some nice, refreshing water for my ever so special guest.” Starlight exclaimed in a chipper tone, maneuvering the platter through the air before setting it on a nearby table. Giving a nod towards the now sitting Trixie “I see you took up my offer to make yourself comfortable.”

“Mm-hmm...” Trixie distractedly replied, shifting about on the pink mare's couch, before turning a scrutinizing eye towards the piece of furniture.

“Is something wrong?” Starlight asked with a tilt of her head.

Glancing up briefly, the showmare focused back upon the couch cushion she was sitting upon, before rubbing a hoof across the fabric. Holding up her hoof to her own gaze, Trixie gave her own tilt of her head “Not that the Great and Powerful Trixie is an expert on this sort of thing...but your couch seems sort of messy. It's just covered in some sort of dust or dirt or-”

“Soot.”

Glancing up at that, Trixie turned a confused look towards Starlight “I'm sorry?”

Starlight pointedly cleared her throat, before replying “I believe that would be soot.”

“Why is there soot on your-...” Trixie found herself trailing off, as she considered all the details in front of her. It was only when noticed that one of Starlight's windows was still boarded up, having gone without being properly repaired since it had been broken by one of Trixie's own-...

Trixie quietly rubbed her hoof clean on the back of the couch, before turning back towards Starlight “It really doesn't seem all that important, now that Trixie thinks about it.”

“Oh?”

Trixie gave a quiet, somewhat guilty, nod at that.

“Are you sure? I could stand to dust up a bit, if it really is bothering you.” Starlight offered in a saccharine tone, finally enjoying the sight of the showmare being rendered uncomfortable. She certainly wasn't going to enjoy it too much, but it's not like Starlight indulged too often in this sort of thing.

“Trixie is sure.”

“Excellent.” Starlight chimed, trotting over to take her own seat, as she casually used her magic to pour some water into a waiting cup. Plopping herself down, she floated the cup over and took a sip, before focusing back upon Trixie “Now, I'm sure you have many questions that you would like to ask...?”

“Right...” Trixie replied, pointedly glancing towards the waiting pitcher and the unfilled cup sitting at its side.

“Something wrong?”

Trixie just gave a shake of her head at that, before putting the thought of receiving her own drink from her mind “Nope. Trixie is just fine.”

“Alright...Now what was it you wanted to talk about?” Starlight inquired before taking another sip of her water.

“Well...Trixie needed to ask about what it is you do with everypony's Cutie Marks.” The azure mare began a bit haltingly.

“Oh, somepony mentioned the Cutie Mark vault to you?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at that “You have a vault?”

“Well, of course, all those Cutie Marks need to go somewhere, now don't they? I do believe I intended on showing it to you before, but you were too busy to take the time...” Starlight explained a bit mournfully, letting Trixie understand just how disappointed that she was, having not been able to show her their ever so impressive vault earlier.

“...Are you talking about yesterday?”

Starlight gave a chuckle at that “No worries though, there'll be plenty of time to get into that later.”

“Really? Cause Trixie is thinking that's what she's here to ask about. Some of the ponies around here-” Trixie began, seizing upon what seemed to be her goal.

She was brought to an awkward pause, as Starlight raised a hoof to stop her “Tut, tut. There will be plenty of time for that later. I'm sure there are some far more important details we need to cover first.”

Trixie had to wrinkle her nose at that, before pursing her lips at how Starlight was treating her “Uhm, no...The Great and Powerful Trixie is fairly sure that's what she wants to know about.”

“I had no idea you were so eager.” Starlight noted with a bit of a chuckle, before giving a bit of a shrug “Not that I mind, of course. But normally we like to arrange for a bit more ceremony for something like this.”

“What like a Going-Away Party or something?” Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“...What.”

“Trixe doesn't really care what kind of party you want to throw her, but-” The showmare blithely continued along.

“You still want to leave.” Starlight blurted out, only keeping enough of her wits about her to set the cup down with her magic.

Trixie was given some pause at this, before giving into the urge to roll her eyes and letting out a puff of air “Yes. I still fully intend on leaving. I'm pretty sure I made that clear earlier, but let me just-”

Starlight rather forcefully held up her hoof to forestall what was coming. Twisting and turning her head for a moment, the pink mare felt her jaw tightening once more, as she tried to find her words “I'm not sure I'm understanding you. You still want to leave?...After seeing everything we have to offer?”

Trixie had to sigh “No offense, but I've seen- That is to say, that the Great and Powerful Trixie has seen what a lot of different places have offered. Trixie just can't afford to-”

“Perhaps- perhaps you just don't understand how welcome you are here. Everypony here is just looking for the opportunity to be your friend.”

“Everypony's been very friendly, but-”

Starlight suddenly found herself standing up to pace briefly in front of the couch, before gesturing a hoof towards Trixie “I really don't think you understand what you are giving up. Just how selfish you're being.”

“Trixie would like to point out that she has been working on that sort of thing.”

Gritting her teeth, Starlight briefly wished she had a better way of dealing with her tension. Letting out a slightly choked laugh, she forced out a light laugh “I'm afraid that I'm having a hard time believing you, Trixie.”

“Well, she has. And frankly, you could hardly even call the Great and Powerful Trixie selfish anymore.” Trixie rather firmly declared, before standing up herself. Turning her nose up a bit, feeling somewhat annoyed herself now “Trixie even came up with a scoring system for herself. And if her estimates are correct, she already has earned several thousand points today alone. So there.”

“But you don't need points here!” Starlight exclaimed, leaning in as she implored the egotistical pony to listen. The pink pony couldn't bring herself to cover up her emotions with her usual smile anymore, letting just a hint of desperation show through now “You don't need to be graded on every little thing you do, judged on whether or not you deserve to have friends here. You can just be and everypony here will love you, I promise.”

The showmare was obviously caught off-guard by this uncharacteristic outpouring, suddenly not so sure of just what kind of conversation this was “I-...Trixie is sure that most everypony here is very happy and all, but-”

“Just think about it. Would somepony like you be so content to constantly travel, to constantly leave ponies behind, if you were really happy?”

Trixie clicked her tongue at that “It's not like Trixie has never enjoyed any of her stops, if that's what-”

“And did any of them ever make you happy?”

“I-...” Trixie was given some pause at that, glancing to the side as she considered the question “...-it's not like Trixie wouldn't want to re-visit a few places to-”

“And if those places made you happy when you were there, why did you leave them behind?” Starlight pressed, seeing the blue pony's defenses starting to come down.

“Well, Trixie-...couldn't exactly stay at some of those places.” Trixie admitted.

“But you could stay here. Where you know everypony already loves you, where everyone will do their very best to make you and everypony else here happy.” The townsleader pointed out, gesturing her hoof to her still good window and the waiting community outside.

“...Like Trixie said, this isn't really about-”

“Of course it's about you. It's about all the times ponies refused to accept you, because you weren't like them. Because they thought they were better than you. All the times-...” Starlight was given some pause, as she saw how her words seemed to be causing the blue mare to shutdown, which was far from what she needed. Looking at the showpony gazing down upon her own hooves, Starlight knew she had to seal this now. She was not going to let all the frustration, embarrassment, and suffering this mare had put through, be all for-

And, in that moment, Starlight could see it.

And she smiled to herself.

Stepping a bit closer now, Starlight lowered her voice before giving voice to her recently gained insight into the pony in front of her.

“You'll never have to worry about us running you out of our town.”

“Uh...what?” Trixie blurted out, clearly surprised.

“We don't reject anypony here. Not anypony that accepts what we want to offer them. We will never turn you out.”

“...Okay?” Trixie replied in apparent confusion.

Starlight gave an understanding, compassionate smile “That is why you're here, right? The reason you've come to our little community? Because everypony else chased you away?”

The traveling magician gave a crooked frown at that “...Yeah?”

“So, tell me, Trixie...do you really need to give them another chance to hurt you? When there are ponies right here that are ready to accept you?” The townsleader finally asked, sensing that she had finally gotten through to this wayward pony.

She could see it in the way Trixie shuffled about on her hooves and in how she didn't seem to want meet Starlight's gaze, to let Starlight know that she was right.

Finally Trixie seemed ready to speak up, looking back towards the pink pony once more “Uhm...Trixie really appreciates all of that...”

“Yes?” Starlight knowingly prodded.

“...but the Great and Powerful Trixie is never going to get a chance to rub it in those ponies' faces if she stays here.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nopony is going to find out how wrong they were about Trixie if Trixie never goes back and shows them just how marvelous her new show is. Or just how much better a pony she's become than all of her hecklers and harassers.” Trixie explained, as she swept a hoof through her silvery hair and gave a flourish of her cloak.

“You-...You would rather go show-up other ponies rather than accept the friendship and trust we're offering?” Starlight haltingly asked, completely incredulous at this turn of events.

“Well, it's not just a matter of showing a bunch of ponies up.” Trixie pointed out, with a wave of her hoof “It's really more about showing ponies that they were being a bunch of big, dumb jerks to Trixie.”

“...Are you kidding me?”

“Oh, Trixie does fully intend on forgiving them, obviously.” Trixie elaborated, with a somewhat self-satisfied smile “It's just the sort of thing Trixie does these days, being more understanding about how terribly some ponies have treated Trixie in the past.”

The pink mare gave a vigorous shake of her head at that “If they were treating you terribly, then how could you possibly-”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't just give up. She understands how that might work for some ponies, but it's just not in Trixie's character to do that sort of thing.” Trixie blithely explained, still quite pleased with herself, as she usually was when talking about herself. Struck by a sudden thought, her pleasure did fade a bit to be replaced with the apologetic look she sent Starlight's way “No offense intended, of course. Like Trixie said, there's nothing wrong with ponies giving up when-”

“I DID NOT GIVE UP!!!” Starlight Glimmer exploded at the self-absorbed magician, feeling something briefly snap in her at the accusation being leveled her way.

To Trixie's credit, she did seem to realize that she had upset her host, almost reflexively taking a step back. Once she got over her initial surprise, it was no great challenge displaying her own awkward embarrassment for whatever it was that she had said.

Realizing herself just how badly she had reacted and how very much it ran counter to who she was supposed to be, Starlight worked at regaining her composure. Letting out a light chuckle that failed to put anyone at ease, the pink pony raised a hoof to her chest as she brought her breathing under control “That- that was impolite of me.”

“Uh-huh.” Trixie uncomfortably agreed.

“I'm terribly sorry about that, but you do need to understand that I did not...give up. I was not the one that gave up. I came here because I wasn't going to give up.” Starlight explained in a strained tone.

“...Whatever you want to call it.” Trixie again didn't see much point in putting up an argument. Tapping a hoof for a moment, she started sidling towards the exit “Well, Trixie really enjoyed-...Trixie should probably be going now.”

Starlight couldn't really believe this. She couldn't believe this insufferable, self-obsessed, misguided pony. Starlight couldn't believe how completely unfit this Trixie was for her town and how much this this pony didn't deserve to stay here. She couldn't believe how much she didn't want this pony to stay.

Her smile dropping away entirely, the pink unicorn's expression became one of apparent discontent and exhaustion.

“You probably should just go.”

“Trixie was thinking the same-”

“Because you obviously don't want what we offer here, nor do you care about how many ponies you're hurting by doing so. So...go.”

Trixie was given some brief pause at this, pursing her lips in consideration for this abrupt turn in Starlight's apparent goals. It was only after a few moments thought that Trixie began to understand what was happening “Oh...Trixie understands.”

“What?” On some level the pink pony knew she shouldn't have asked, but she couldn't help but let it slip out.

“This is the part where you break off your imaginary relationship with Trixie to spare your own pride. This sort of thing has happened to Trixie before.” The showmare sagely noted aloud. Beginning to head towards the door now, Trixie gave a nod to herself “And while there was never anything really there, Trixie understands if you need to-”

“Just leave! I want you gone!”

Again startled by the townsleader's outburst, Trixie gave a slight frown at that response. It's not like she had never disappointed any of her fans before; she hadn't been lying about the whole imaginary break-up thing. Even so, she didn't particularly care for the sharp words, and gave a shake of her head as she left “Well...nopony can say that Trixie ever overstayed her welcome.”

“Thank you.” Starlight bit out, relieved to finally be seeing Trixie heading towards her door.

“Trixie's sure it shouldn't be too great a challenge for someone like her to pick-up a few Cutie Marks on her own...” The showmare flippantly noted as she approached the closed door.

“What do you mean by that?” The pink pony immediately demanded, her eyes widening just a bit.

Not picking up on Starlight's severe reaction to her off-hoofed remark, the showmare gave a roll of her eyes “Trixie means, that it can't possibly be that difficult for her to find this Cutie Mark vault. Trixie is actually pretty-”

Starlight trotted in front of Trixie, blocking her from the door before pressing her inquiry, her teeth grinding a bit, as the blue unicorn unintentionally dodged her question “Why do you need to go to the Cutie Mark vault?”

“...Because that's apparently where one keeps Cutie Marks?” Trixie responded with apparent confusion.

Starlight could almost feel her jaw straining to the breaking point, as if her bones might give in at any moment, as her tension mounted “Tell me why you need to pick-up any Cutie Marks.”

Trixie blinked at that, before making a gesture with her hoof towards the door “Because, apparently nopony is capable of picking up their own Cutie Marks? And they don't want to leave them behind when they depart with the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

Starlight Glimmer found herself staring, dumbstruck by what she'd just heard. She truly couldn't respond with anything but an intense stare, as her whole body tensed up even further.

“Uhm...Trixie is thinking that she meant to mention that to you earlier.” Trixie noted out loud, before gesturing her own hoof towards the pink mare “You kinda of distracted the Great and Powerful Trixie earlier with your-”

The traveling magician was cut-off by a light cracking sound echoing between herself and Starlight. For the pink pony's part, it took a moment to overcome her already great tension and realize just what that sound was.

With a mixture of worry and mortification, Starlight slapped a hoof over her mouth, as she realized where the noise came from. Hesitantly, she pulled her hoof back and opened her jaw a bit, before prodding around with her tongue.

Something definitely didn't feel right.

Slightly panicked now, Starlight darted over to the nearest mirror. Opening her mouth, she quickly started tilting her head back and forth as she tried to visually confirm the problem.

She'd cracked a tooth.

Starlight Glimmer has been so infuriated and ground her teeth so hard, that there was now a big crack splitting one of her back teeth.

“Trixie's no expert, but she's pretty sure you're going to need a dentist.”

Starlight didn't even turn away from the mirror as she closed her eyes and had to remind herself that there were more important things happening than were in the mirror.

“You can't.” The pink mare bluntly stated.

“Pardon?”

“You can't make them leave.” Starlight said more forcefully, as she turned to face the interloper once more. This proved a bit unwise, as pain shot through her jaw, causing her to wince and raise a hoof to her cheek.

“What? Trixie isn't making anyone go with her, she-”

“You don't even understand what it's like do you?!” Starlight exclaimed, before once more wincing at the pain this caused her. Forcing herself to ignore the discomfort, she forced her hoof back to the ground before advancing on the blue mare “You don't know how much it hurts ponies when their friends leave, do you?”

“Not really, no.”

“Because you are just so much better than everypony around you, right? Who cares if they just cut you out of their life? Right? You don't need them, right?” Starlight demanded, stepping directly in front of the show mare before leaning in even closer.

“Uhm...Trixie wouldn't really know.” Trixie pointed out, leaning back a bit from the agitated mare that was once again invading her space.

Loosing a glare at that remark, Starlight took a step back, before throwing her head back and loosing a bark of a laugh “Oh...That's right. I forgot, you're the pony that abandons their friends. You are the one that doesn't care who they hurt when you-”

“Okay. Trixie has never hurt anypony.” Trixie abruptly interjected, a bit offended by this latest rant that was being launched her way. Though after a moment of thought, Trixie did stop to clear her throat and add something “Well, Trixie's never hurt anypony badly...on purpose.”

“You really expect-”

“There was this time with an amulet, but Trixie-”

“Shut it!” Starlight shouted, before turning back on the bemused showpony “I don't care if you think you hurt anypony. I know what it's like to be abandoned by your only friend, to watch them go off to Celestia's stupid school and do great things!”

“...Trixie thinks this is getting kinda personal.” Trixie uncomfortably pointed out. Bringing a hoof to the back of her head, the blue mare tried to look to the side before continuing “Trixie understands how you might-”

“You are exactly like him! You probably didn't give a second thought to leaving to go off to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, no matter who you left behind, did you?!”

Trixie had to stare for a few moments, at the apparently emotional pink mare in front of her, initially unsure if she was actually supposed to respond to that question. Finally realizing that an answer was expected, she briefly raised an azure hoof to her chin in thought “Uhm...Trixie didn't really leave anypony behind, when she attended the Canterlot Academy.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Well, nopony that was going to miss Trixie anyway. Orphans can be pretty self-involved in Trixie's experience and-”

“Orphans?” Starlight blurted out.

Trixie gave an easy nod, before continuing with a shrug “I mean, the caretakers were pretty nice. But it's kind of hard to standout when there's so many other ponies that need attention.”

“You were an...orphan?” Starlight unthinkingly asked, her eyes wide and her mind suddenly plagued with mortification at this news. Trying to regain her ground, even as she felt her fury slip through her hooves, the townsleader attempted to shift her position “I-...well. No doubt you made plenty of friends at the academy. Friends you didn't even hesitate to-”

“Not really.”

Starlight slumped forward at that, the wind being taken out of her sails by that admission.

Seeing the look her host was sending her now, Trixie gave a shake of her head before waving a hoof through the air “It's not as terrible as Trixie is sure you're thinking. Some ponies were obviously jealous of Trixie's natural talent, which really isn't all that surprising.”

“I-I don't think I understand.”

Trixie thought about that for a moment, tilting her head in consideration “Uhm...Trixie mentioned that special program to you earlier, didn't she?”

The traveling magician gave Starlight a few moments to respond, before shrugging and taking her silence as an affirmative.

“Well, it was very prestigious, obviously. Anyway, Trixie blew past all the expectations of her teachers, and naturally some ponies can't handle it when certain other ponies do better than them. So-” Trixie elaborated.

“You didn't have any friends.” Starlight more stated than asked, still trying to process all of this.

The showmare briefly paused at that, before tilting her head in agreement “Well...it's not like Trixie didn't give them plenty of chances to befriend her. But if some ponies can't realize when you're offering them a golden opportunity, you can't-”

“You've never had any friends have you? You really don't know what it's like to lose someone like that...” Starlight said aloud, more to herself than anyone, as she began to realize just what was wrong with the pony in front of her.

Trixie wasn't particularly privy to the epiphany that the pink mare was in the middle of, and was more irritated by the first part of what Starlight had just said. The blue unicorn pursed her lips a touch defensively, before responding “That's not entirely fair to say. Trixie does to have a-...well, you could call her a pen-pal. Actually, Trixie needs to get around to writing her again, before-”

Starlight wasn't listening to what she was saying, something that might have been obvious to a less self-involved pony. The pink pony was deeply caught in the midst of her thoughts, as everything about this pony came together in a clear picture for her finally. This nattering nincompoop standing in front of her was more in need than anypony, so much so that she didn't even understand how much she needed Starlight's help.

And Starlight now realized that she had to help this pony. As frustrating as Trixie had been, as much embarrassment as she had suffered, as undeserving as she seemed to be, Starlight needed to be Trixie's friend.

Starlight was being selfish before, trying to turnout this vexing pony.

That was the whole point of what she was trying to do. Create a place where everyone could trust in their friends to never leave them, to never abandon them.

Starlight had to frown to herself, even as Trixie continued to obliviously talk about her own concerns; Starlight had been so ready to write this pony off. In retrospect, Starlight found that she was a bit disappointed in herself. If she only tried to help others take part in her vision when it was easy, how could she say that she had done her part...?

But if Starlight could get through to Trixie, this pony that clearly didn't even understand the meaning of friendship, then she could get through to anypony.

Someone like Trixie could even help her spread the message beyond her little town. If she could reach through to this pony, then what a fine example she could be to others.

For the first time in the last couple of days, Starlight could feel a genuine smile creeping across her face, as she remembered just how important what she was trying to do was.

It was too important for her to let Trixie slip through her hooves, too important for Starlight to not fail her. She had to make this work...for Trixie's sake.

Trixie needed to be Starlight's friend, even if she didn't realize it yet.

'And she will be...'

“-and now that I think about it, do you ponies even get mail? This place seems pretty-...” Trixie found herself drawing to a pause as she saw the kinda creepy smile the pink mare was sending her way. The blue mare blinked once, before turning to the side and raising a hoof to her mouth, as she cleared her throat “Ahem...Soooo, obviously, the Great and Powerful Trixie has a lot on her mind and-”

Starlight interrupted, holding up a hoof as a call for silence on Trixie's part “I'd like to apologize for earlier, Trixie.”

“You would?”

“For my earlier outbursts. I- well, as I'm sure you can understand, I can become a bit emotional at times.” Starlight continued, as she gestured her hoof towards herself.

“...Uh-huh.” Was Trixie's skeptical reply.

The townsleader gave a light chuckle at that, knowing full well that Trixie was incapable of understanding where she was coming from. She wouldn't let that stop her though “In all seriousness, I'm willing to admit that I misjudged you, Trixie.”

The showmare blinked again, still a bit thrown by the sudden shift the conversation had taken. Shrugging that confusion away, she gave a self-satisfied smile as she processed what Starlight had just said “Oh. Well, Trixie does get that a lot. There are so few ponies that-”

“And what's more, I would like to thank you. For helping me to realize some important things about myself. And you for that matter.” Starlight added, taking a step forward as she did so. She pointedly refused to wince, as her speaking disturbed her sensitive tooth; pain was something that could easily be focused to an end.

Trixie was slightly annoyed at being interrupted, but was more pleased by Starlight's words than anything else “Well, I- Trixie does try to make a point of helping with that sort of things these days. Trixie has been trying to be more honest than maybe she once was, and ponies really do seem to be taking to it.”

“Oh, most certainly. You have really opened my eyes.” The pink mare agreed with a nod.

“And Trixie's sure you'll find somepony else eventually. It just won't be Trixie.”

Starlight gave a nod at that and, for once, truly not letting that kind of misconception bother her “Mm-hmm. I suppose I'll just have to accept that.”

“...And maybe work on not being so crazy, but one thing at a time. Maybe just work on the clinginess-thing first and before you know-”

“Right. I'll be sure to-”

“Oh! And that's not particularly charming either. The whole interrupting ponies thing all the time when their speaking can really be annoying.” Trixie added, perhaps a bit too willing to share her thoughts, now that she'd seen how effective being honest could be.

Starlight found herself closing her eyes and taking a breath, as she felt her earlier enthusiasm dampened once more by the showmare.

Bringing a hoof to her chin, Trixie visibly seemed to be trying to think of anything else she could add. Raising her hoof up, before pointing it towards Starlight, Trixie gave a tilt of her head towards the other mare “And maybe work on not getting into the personal spaces of others so much. Some ponies, not just Trixie, can find it kind of creepy.”

“...Thank you. I'll be sure to keep that in mind.”

“Huh. Trixie's getting pretty good at this.” The blue unicorn noted aloud. Turning to one side, before casting her gaze upward, she continued to think aloud “Now what else can Trixie be honest about...? Oh! Trixie was just thinking that you could probably change your mane up and-”

“I think that might be enough of that for now.”

“Really? Cause Trixie is sure that she can think of plenty more to be honest about...like how you-”

“I'm sorry, but wasn't there something about needing to pay a visit to our Cutie Mark vault?” Starlight asked, intent on leading the conversation towards a more productive avenue.

“The what now?” Trixie blurted out. It took her a moment to remember why she had even paid this visit in the first place “Oh, right. That thing...If you can just give Trixie some directions, she's sure she can find it on her own.”

“Nonsense. Let me show you to it myself, as way of an apology for my earlier outbursts. I never did get to take you on our little tour, so it's the least I could do.” Starlight countered, with a big smile, as she started past Trixie on her way to the door. The jarring of her trot sent a few shots of pain into her jaw, but she didn't let that hamper her.

Trixie frowned at this, recalling Starlight's earlier reactions to the topic of the Cutie Mark vault “...Now that Trixie thinks about it, Trixie could probably just go there with the ponies that wanted their Cutie Marks back..”

“Well...how about we go find those ponies and have them go with us. The more the merrier, I always say.” Starlight proposed, admittedly hoping for the chance to speak with the ponies in question.

There was a long pause from Trixie, as she considered the offer and found herself questioning it. Sure, she was pleased as a peach that she'd managed to bury the hatchet with the pink mare and it probably would save Trixie a bit of time doing it that way. But some part of her felt like...maybe it wouldn't be the best if Starlight was around the ponies that wanted to go with her. The pink unicorn seemed kind of unstable...

In fact, there was something kind of wrong about all of this in the first place. The more Trixie thought about it, it almost seemed like this wasn't the safest place in the world to be. That Starlight Glimmer might be something more than just a star-struck fan, that took it poorly when Trixie turned down her advances. All of these ponies seemed so isolated out here, it almost seemed intentional. And this strange townsleader did have this odd thing where it seemed like she was constantly trying to slip under Trixie's skin.

Perhaps it would be best if Trixie just left now with-

“And I know just what we could do! You could tell me how you managed to come up with your amazing show, while we walk. I'd love to hear all about it.” Starlight happily chimed, before clapping her forehooves together excitedly. Leaning in with a tilt of her head, Starlight batted her eyes a bit before adding “I mean, surely you weren't able to come up with it all by yourself, right?”

...On the other hoof, this pony really seemed to like Trixie's show and she was paying Trixie a lot of compliments.

Loosing a large grin, as the flattery once more chased her concerns away, Trixie gave a look of false modesty “Well...Trixie can't claim all of the credit for her newest show, as she admittedly had plenty of inspiring sources to draw from. Granted, she drew many of them from her own life experiences and adventures.”

“You don't say? I'm sure a pony as accomplished as yourself has so many interesting stories to tell.” Starlight added with a smirk, as she opened the front door and ushered Trixie through with a hoof. The townsleader could do without knowing just which ponies wanted to leave for now.

Once she'd gotten through to Trixie, it wouldn't matter anyway.

A little while later...

“And here we are!”

“Uh-huh...Trixie couldn't help but notice that we didn't spend that much time talking about Trixie on our way here.” The showmare glumly noted to her guide, casting an appraising gaze about the sparse cave.

“Is that a problem? I thought you were just trying to be humble about your accomplishments.” Starlight pointedly replied, as she trotted ahead, not glancing back.

Trixie couldn't help but frown at that, being reminded of her loose goal of trying to show more humility. It's not as if she needed to talk about herself constantly, but promises-...well, not promises, but Trixie had been led to believe that she'd at least get to talk a little about herself. Mostly, the whole walk had turned into an exercise in Starlight apologizing for earlier and paying Trixie compliments. Which wasn't exactly a bad thing, but...

Whatever.

The showmare let out a sigh, as she followed after her host, idly casting her gaze about the cavern “So...you ponies just put all of your Cutie Marks in a cave?”

“No. We put the Cutie Mark vault in this cave. We keep our Cutie Marks in the vault.” Starlight patiently replied, too eager about what was coming to be put-off by the question. Catching sight of her goal, she came to a pause, before flourishing a hoof forward “Right alongside...this!”

“...Uh-huh. And what is this?” Trixie blandly noted as she trotted up alongside Starlight. Looking about the cavern for a moment, it was easy for her to spot the large glass wall at the far end “Huh...I guess that's the vault. It's kinda bright.”

Starlight, a bit disappointed by the lack of reaction from her guest, closed her eyes for a moment, before continuing. Gesturing a hoof once more in the direction of the vault, she gave a tilt of her head to Trixie “And what do we have here in front of the vault?”

“..A stick?”

The mare couldn't help but let out a puff of air in surprise at that, letting her composure slip away once more. Abruptly turning towards the mare at her side, Starlight couldn't help but vigorously gesture a hoof towards the staff “It's not just a stick.”

“Looks like a stick.” Trixie replied with a tilt of her head.

“That...is the Staff of Sameness.” Starlight declared in a grandiose manner.

“...The what?"

“Wha- the Staff of Sameness! The very center of our town! The artifact that makes this all possible! That Staff of Sameness!” Starlight exclaimed, once more bewildered and upset by Trixie's blithe attitude about all of this. Stopping herself for a moment, the pink mare brought her hooves up, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath “I- I just...I am fairly sure I explained all of this to you before.”

Trixie found herself staring for a moment, not quite sure how to respond. After a moment though, she shrugged to herself,deciding that this honesty-thing seemed to be working out pretty well “Trixie must not have been paying attention.”

Rather than getting upset again, Starlight seemed to just take in another breath before letting it out in a sigh “Alright...well, that's fine. It's not as if that's why you came here, after all.”

“Oh, that worked?” Trixie blurted out, genuinely surprised by how well her host had taken that admission.

Starlight elected against responding to that, and instead started trotting forward, evidently expecting Trixie to follow after.

“The Staff of Sameness aside...here we are. The Cutie Mark vault.” Starlight once more declared, if in a less grand tone, as she drew closer to the edifice. Smiling to herself a bit as she looked upon what she accomplished, Starlight soon turned back towards Trixie “Here is where we have safely ensconced every Cutie Mark that our little town has chosen to part with. Kept securely out-of-sight, so that no one need be burdened by memories of who they were before joining us.”

“Neat. So everypony in town has their Cutie Mark here?” Trixie easily asked, trotting forward and gazing upwards at the large, magical collection.

“That's right. It really puts things in perspective, doesn't it? Seeing how many ponies were ready to be rid of them.” Starlight noted, as she too looked back up at the vault.

Trixie gave a nod at that, before tilting her head “So, which one's yours?”

“...What?”

“If everypony in town has their Cutie Marks up there, then yours must be up there too, right?” The showmare calmly elaborated, moving her gaze across the strange collection without much thought.

“Uh...yes. It would have to be up there.” Starlight blankly responded, not unlike a deer caught looking into a bright light.

“So...which one's yours?” Trixie reiterated, turning to look back at the stumped Starlight.

“I-...well, it's been such a long time...” The pink mare hedged, trying to stall for time to think.

At that, Trixie had to let an eyebrow creep upwards in skepticism, before looking back to the wall of Cutie Marks “You do remember, right? I mean, nopony could forget their own-”

“It's that one!” Starlight abruptly blurted out, quickly raising a hoof to point at a random Cutie Mark.

Trixie had to blink in surprise at the sudden response, before trying to put together what she was being told “Which one?”

“The one I'm pointing to, that's my-...” Starlight found herself trailing off, as she realized what she was pointing at.

“...Your Cutie Mark was a wedge of cheese?” Trixie asked.

“...Yes.” Was the only answer Starlight could muster, as she realized that she was pointing directly towards a Cutie Mark that took the form of a wedge of hole-filled cheese. Letting her hoof lower, she found herself rolling her eyes to herself “My special talent was...cheese.”

“...Like making cheese or knowing about cheese or what?”

Starlight gave a shake of her head, to dismiss the topic, before circling Trixie “That's not really what's important. I gave up my special talent for...cheese a long time go. And you can be assured that I don't miss it in the least.”

“Alright...so, how exactly does Trixie grab the Cutie Marks?” The showmare easily acquiesced to the notion of getting back to the matter at hoof.

Starlight started to step away from the wall, moving over towards the suspended staff before answering “I wouldn't be too concerned about that. You'll find that the Cutie Mark Vault is quite secure.”

“Looks like it's just made of glass.” Trixie noted aloud.

Starlight pursed her lips at that, before shaking it off “Yes...well, nonetheless, you'll find that without knowing the proper method-”

“Trixie's pretty sure she could just use a rock.”

The pink mare was disappointed to find that she was once more scowling to herself. She quickly turned back towards her guest to derail this line of thinking “Okay...you cannot just grab a rock and use it to-”

“Found one.” Trixie easily chimed, before displaying the hefty looking rock being held in her magic to the townsleader. Bringing the rock closer, Trixie started looking from one side of the vault to the other “Now Trixie just needs to find the right Cutie Marks...”

Starlight couldn't help but raise a hoof to the bridge between her eyes, in an attempt to rub her growing headache away. Deciding that things were starting to become just a touch farcical, she reached out with her magic to lift up her waiting staff.

“Trixie?”

“Mm-hmm?” Trixie replied, not looking up from her scrutiny of the collected Cutie Marks.

Starlight smiled to herself, as she reminded herself of what she was trying to do, before gathering up her magical energies. Watching the light from her magic take hold of the staff, she turned towards the oblivious Trixie “I'd just like you to know...you'll thank me for this one day.”

“Thank you for wha-”

Author's Note

Right, so...

Yeah, I've got no good excuse for not updating in so long. :facehoof:

If it's any consolation, the writing seems to be flowing more easily after my long break. Regardless, I'm more than happy to respond to any questions or criticisms. And you can expect a editing over the next couple of days, as I clear up any typos or tidy up the writing at points.

Later.

Chapter Six: OOC is Serious Business

“Fnnh...Mmrnuh?”

Trixie's face was distinctly scratchy, that was the first thing she realized. Which was peculiar enough on its own, without considering the fact that she had unexpectedly been unconscious till just now.

Sudden bouts of unconsciousness were almost never a good sign, in her experience.

It was, admittedly, something of a relief to find that she wasn't hungover; that usually suggested that she hadn't done anything too...great and powerful.

She had to give out a groan though, at that thought, one that wasn't quite of discomfort or displeasure. Just a strange feeling of ennui, of confusion as to why-...getting drunk wasn't great and powerful. Why would she think of it like that?

Trixie had to shake her head a bit, causing her face to brush against whatever scitchy-scratchy substance had been irritating her before. This had the unfortunate side-effect of having something thin and pointy jabbing its way into one of Trixie's nostrils.

“Snnrrrktt! Ahh...Ughhh...” Trixie groaned to herself as she sat herself up, before quickly swiping at her nose with a forehoof. Blinking at the offending bit of hay that fell, her gaze soon fell upon the trough of hay that she'd apparently been resting her head in. Briefly blowing her nose to clear away the sensation from before, she let her gaze finally wander across her surroundings.

“...Did I pass out?” She muttered to herself, as she looked across the sparsely appointed room. There was the trough of hay, a tub of water just to the side, a few books scattered around, some raggedy curtains. It was altogether a very dreary, very bland room, with even the little bits of art hanging from the walls dragging the mood down. Unsurprisingly, as it just seemed to be same image of an equal sign in every frame.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Trixie again brought a hoof up, swiping her disheveled mane to the side and-

Her hat was gone.

Eyes going wide for a moment, she reflexively tried to look up, before patting around the top of her head with her hoof. A bit panicked she glanced around on the ground and in the trough before starting to turn and-

Her cloak was gone too.

This was very upsetting for a number of reasons. Not the least of which, was for the concern of some random somepony disrobing Trixie while she was unconscious. Yes, most ponies walked around fully in the buff, but that was really beside the point.

Frowning mightily at that, Trixie rubbed her brow, as she tried to ponder just what had happened. She didn't feel like she'd done any heavy drinking recently. But, at the same time, random bouts of unrecalled events were usually only explained by her becoming too inebriated and...

“Uggghhh...I probably let somepony assuage me...” Trixie lamented, wondering what hijinks she surely must have gotten into to arrive at her current circumstances “...And who knows what else...”

Did the locals-...Oh, right. She had been hanging around a bunch of weirdos, as of late...

“Somepony must have brought me here.” Trixie said to herself, giving a shake of her head. Had they thrown her some sort of party perhaps? That-...they probably shouldn't have done that. What had she really done to deserve a party?

Trixie blinked at that, briefly confused by the thought. But...that had to be true, right? There was certainly no reason for the little town to be throwing her a party. She wasn't much to speak of...She frowned at the feelings of tension and tiredness that seemed to wash over her, as she kept trying to ponder over whatever it was she had missed.

“Uggh...Maybe I am hungover...” Trixie lamented, grimacing as she trotted over towards the tub of water. Scrutinizing it only briefly she leaned in to take a few sip, before dipping in a hoof. Dabbing away at her face for a few moments, she briefly considered just dunking her whole face into the water, before deciding against it. It seemed a bit immature.

Letting out a sigh, Trixie poured over what she remembered last, in the hopes that some clarity might strike her. She had been preparing to head out again, pondering the possibility of returning to Equestria proper. Just as soon as her wagon was ready, she had been planning on setting out again.

“Oh, right.” Trixie said to herself, as she recalled Sugar Belle and the others. They had wanted to come with her when she left for the open road again. Something about needing to get their Cutie Marks back and...

Starlight Glimmer.

Trixie had gone to speak with her about that, letting the pink pony know what was going on and asking if she might show her where they kept the Cutie Marks. Thinking back to the conversations they had, she had to grimace.

“Uggghh...Did I really make that much an ass out of myself?...Wait. Is that racist? Asses aren't that- They're certainly no worse than mules or-...I really need to think about what I'm saying in the future.” Trixie found herself lamenting, flabbergasted by how rude she'd been last night. If it even was the next day. Whenever it was she'd had her chat with Starlight, she was rather surprised that the pink unicorn hadn't decked her.

“I can't believe I accused Starlight of-...How conceited would someone have to be to just assume that somepony was madly in love with...”

'Me.'

Trixie shook her head at that self-deprecating line of thought. It wasn't like her to put herself down like that, not anymore. She was a worldly, well-traveled mare, who'd been to points and places all across the map. And while she might not be the most powerful magician in all of Equestria, she undeniably ranked pretty highly. She'd built herself up from nothing. Twice. Of course, there would be plenty of ponies and non-ponies out there that would want to fawn over the Great and Powerful-

“Urrgghh-mmph...” Trixie groaned at the shooting pain that went through her skull, derailing her thoughts. Grimacing once more, she started trying to rub at her brow in an attempt to ease the waves of discomfort “Stupid hangover...”

She'd been getting ahead of herself again. Nopony would want to spend time with somepony like that, that went around showboating all of the time. It was embarrassing. All of her mistakes and the times she'd rebuffed others. She'd been so vain and-

Opening one eye as the headache faded a bit, Trixie couldn't help but have her eye caught by her reflection in the now still water.

Something seemed off.

All the pieces of the picture seemed to be in the right places. The same eyes, the carefully kept eyebrows. The cut of her jaw and shape of her nose. All of it framed by her mane and crowned with a rather lov-...adequate horn.

It was definitely her, Trixie noted as she stared down at her reflection. But at the same time it just seemed so unrecognizable, as if it was somepony entirely different that just seemed to be wearing her face.

“...Maybe I'm a changeling?” Trixe said aloud, utterly bemused by this strange feeling coming over her. Frowning at that thought, she found herself blinking and furrowing her brow at those thoughts “That's ridiculous. I'd know if I was a changeling...changelings know that they're changelings, right? Wait, maybe it's just when they look like changelings...Why am I talking to myself?”

Looking back down at her reflection, she brushed her mane to the side, hoping to make sense of her own face. Sparing a look to the room, Trixie didn't see any sort of lamps or candles set out. With the distinct lack of any light pouring in through the windows, she sighed at the dimness of her surroundings.

“Well, that's easy enough to-...” Trixie trailed off, as she gazed down into the water, having expected a spark of light to erupt from her horn. Briefly confused, as the minor cantrip apparently fizzled, she leaned forward a bit “I said, that's easy enough to-...”

Nothing.

Going cross-eyed, as she tried to look up at her unresponsive horn, Trixie raised a hoof up to give it a light tap “...Hello? Come on, there's no way you can be hungover too...”

Still nothing.

“...Light...Light-up...Lumière. Que la lumière soit...Why won't you-” Trixie scrunched up her face in concentration. She hadn't needed to use guide phrases for her magic since...ever. Not since before she'd gotten her Cutie-Mark had she ever needed any help with magic this simple. This wasn't normal.

Swallowing down a bit of anxiousness now, Trixie found herself finally starting to worry now. Sure, she'd been in tons of harrowing situations before, but she'd always had the advantage of being able to rely on her magic. Without it, she was just...

Something was definitely wrong.

Shifting about on her hooves nervously, Trixie looked around the dark room before settling her eyes upon the door leading out. She quickly trotted over, scarcely giving a thought to the flickering of light and shadow shining in through the windows.

“Maybe I can find somepony and get some-myeennh!” Trixie grunted out, as she found herself walking face first into the door. Letting out a groan as she stepped back, realizing she had reflexively expected her magic to open the door for her “Owww...Stupid hungover horn...or whatever...”

Looking up to glare at the offending door, she was given some pause, as her ears flicked about towards the exit.

“Oh! What marvelous timing. Let me get that for you...” A muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

Trixie blinked as the door steadily opened itself for her, before slowly stepping forward.

'Starting to feel a bit more anxious...'

Trixie furrowed her brow as she walked outside, her gaze wandering across the large crowd of townsponies, each of which was beaming a smile towards her. It was already well into the evening now, she found, with the townsponies having apparently set up torches outside. Their flickering light being cast over the gathered group of ponies did nothing to put Trixie at ease, as they all stared at her expectantly.

Shrinking back, unexpectedly being discomforted by the number of eyes that were on her, Trixie found herself oddly unsure of how to respond. She was normally so good with crowds...

Trixie almost jumped out of her skin, at the sound of the door slamming shut behind her, letting an uncharacteristically timid yelp at the sound. Ducking her head down, as she recomposed herself, Trixie quickly turned back to where the sound came from to find...

“I'm so glad to see you awake, Trixie. I was starting to worry about you, just a bit.” Starlight Glimmer said in what probably seemed like a compassionate tone. Letting her faux concern give away to a very pleased smile, Starlight trotted forward “After all, it would hardly do to gather-”

“Why would you do that?!” Trixie tersely demanded with a frown.

“Errg- I'm sorry?” Starlight blurted out, thrown by the question.

“You should be. That was a really creepy thing to do!” Trixie admonished. Glancing back to the gathered crowd, before pointing a hoof in their direction “I mean, did all of you know she was hiding there? Who just sets somepony up like-”

“Please, please...Calm yourself, Trixie. I didn't mean to startle you like that.” Starlight interceded, as some of the other ponies started murmuring quietly at Trixie's accusations. Clearing her throat to gather their attention and quiet them down, she came up alongside the azure unicorn “And you can be certain that nopony here wants anything other than for you to be happy. I promise.”

“Well...it was still kind of creepy...” Trixie trailed off, her momentary ire once more being replaced by discomfort at being the center of attention. Glancing down, to not have to acknowledge all of the ponies staring at her for a moment “Uhm...is this the Going-Away Party they wanted to throw me? Because it seems kind of...”

That actually elicited a bit more murmuring from the closest townsponies, some of their smiles fading.

Before that line of question could take root for long, Starlight let off a chuckle “Oh my, Trixie. That's so very amusing. Don't tell me you've forgotten already?”

“...Forgotten what?”

“Oh...it can be a bit a shocking at first, I admit. Not everypony has an easy time adapting...” Starlight said in a very understanding tone, resting a hoof on Trixie's whithers in a calming gesture “But, Trixie...surely you recall your decision to join our little community, don't you?”

“Not at all.”

“Well, rest-assured I certainly haven't forgotten how you-”

“Where's my wagon?”

“...You're not going to need your wagon, I'm afraid. You see-”

“How could I possibly not need a wagon?”

“If you would-”

“I can't carry all of my things. That's ridiculous.”

“Alright. You're not listening to-”

“And my wagon is my stage. I need my wagon.”

"I understand that and-"

"Is that it over there?

Starlight Glimmer found her smile fading a fraction, as she stared at the stubborn mare in front of her. Giving a light chuckle and letting out a sigh, her smile easily returned this time though. Giving a tilt of her head towards Trixie, she removed her hoof to gesture towards the group of waiting ponies in front of them “Please, Trixie...Let me just show you what I'm talking about.”

“...Alright.” Trixie hesitantly replied, after looking the pink mare up-and-down briefly.

“I know how scary change can be, Trixie.” Starlight said, as she guided the uncertain Trixie forward, the townsponies steadily clearing a path for them to walk into the crowd. Pausing to gesture towards Trixie with a hoof “But, you can trust me, Trixie. Everything is going to be alright.”

Nope. Definitely didn't feel alright.

“I-...I'm pretty sure that's my wagon over there. I can just-”

“You're surrounded by friends, Trixie.” Starlight told her, as she once more settled a hoof around Trixie's shoulders. Leaning in more closely, she shared the kindest smile she could “Believe me, Trixie...Just look all around you, look at all the ponies that are here for you...And tell me, what do you see?”

Trixie furrowed her brow, sparing an uncomfortable glance for the hoof draped over her, before looking up at the crowd of ponies “I see a bunch of ponies smiling...really, really hard.”

“And do you know why they're all smiling?”

“...Going-Away Party?”

Starlight gave a hearty chuckle at that “No, no...I'll give you a hint...Take a look at their Cutie Marks, Trixie.”

“...Okay. Now what?”

“What did you see?”

“...Everyone's Cutie Mark is the same?” Trixie asked with an upraised eyebrow.

“You're right.” Starlight replied with a grin, before leaning in closer “Everyone's Cutie Mark is the same...now.”

“...Okay. Can I go now?”

“N-no. You need to look at your Cutie Mark.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

“This is all becoming very-...”

“You see, Trixie? You're a part of our little-” Starlight didn't get to finish her thought, as Trixie finally turned her attention to her own flanks, spotting Starlight's earlier handiwork.

“Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!”

Starlight had to let out her own discontented yelp of pain, at the piercing scream Trixie loosed right into her upright ears. This was followed by another, louder yelp of pain, as this jostled around her cracked tooth. Closing her eyes, the pink pony couldn't help but bring a hoof up to her cheek, distracted for a moment by the pain.

“What did you do?!?!”

Starlight grimaced through the pain, before opening her eyes to see the almost comical sight of Trixie trying to whip her head from side-to-side to gaze upon her own flanks. The showpony was clearly in a panic, as she almost started darting in a tight circle trying to ascertain what had been done to her. The whole scene was very clearly disturbing and upsetting the rest of her townsponies, which wasn't something that she could just let happen for long though.

“Trixie. If you would just- I need you to-...Trixie!!” Swallowing down her own discomfort, Starlight cleared her throat before putting on her smile again. Having briefly gotten the attention of the mare, she tried to take hold of the situation again “Trixie...Don't tell me you've forgotten our earlier conversation, did you?”

“Wh-what?”

“Oh, yes. Our long, heartfelt conversation in front of the Cutie Mark vault? I can only imagine that seeing it finally inspired you to start seeing things-” Starlight began.

“You! You did this!”

Starlight was briefly taken aback by the intense tone coming from Trixie. Shaking off the accusation, with a smile for her followers, Starlight nodded “Well, of course. Who else would have done it for you? We were the only ones there, remember?”

“I never said I wanted this to happen!”

“Oh, but you did...It's alright. I'm sure your memories are just a bit foggy. Being rid of your Cutie Mark can be quite the intense experience.” Starlight continued smoothly. Smiling to herself for a moment, as a thought occurred to her, the pink mare gestured to the rest of the ponies gathered here “You can ask anypony here, if you want. Everyone of these many ponies is entirely ready to share their own experiences with you, I'm sure.”

“We're here for you Trixie!”

“Everyone's just so happy to have you.”

“You'll get used to it, I promise!”

“If you have any questions, I'd be-”

Trixie found herself stumbling back, as the many townsponies crowded around her, each of them bombarding her with their offers of friendship and reassurance. For a scant few moments she tried to remind herself that she was a strong, confident performer that shouldn't have any troubles with being at the center of a crowd. But all too soon, feelings of self-doubt and nervousness started washing over her.

This wasn't Trixie. This was some nobody that just happened to be wearing Trixie's face, a nobody that was all alone in the world. All of these ponies clamoring around her, it would have been so easy to just let herself be carried off in this wave of acceptance. Far easier than speaking out and disappointing so many. She couldn't do that.

'This isn't right...'

Nothing was right. But it could be. She might not have chosen any of this, but it could be nice. She could be just another face in the crowd here, with none of her past mistakes lingering over her head. She could blend in here so easily. And if it was that easy, maybe Starlight was right. She seemed so confident, standing there in the center of the crowd, completely unbothered by all of the tumult that she felt swamped in. Starlight Glimmer was like a rock in the sea, or a lighthouse guiding her to safe harbor.

She wasn't anything special.

Who was she to turn these ponies down?

Why should she leave?

She could just keep quiet and let herself be accepted into this group and...

“You can come stay with me!”

“Just until we expand the town a bit.”

“We're just so happy-

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

The screamed words seemed to echo over the small village, as everypony abruptly found themselves snapping their mouths shut. Shocked looks were shared between formerly excited and eager ponies, as they all quietly wondered what was wrong.

“Get away!!”

Starlight Glimmer herself had to stumble back in confusion, as the rest of her townsponies quickly backed away from the azure mare. Confused and worried murmurs quickly started springing up amongst her ponies, though Starlight herself was too distracted to try to settle them.

One hesitant stallion looked back to his fellow townsponies, before again approaching the blue unicorn with an outstretched hoof “...Miss Trixie? Are you-”

He quickly retreated, when Trixie abruptly stomped her hooves at him without meeting his gaze.

Her head was pounding and her body just felt so heavy, she barely even noticed the stares she was receiving now. Everything was so hazy, like she felt like she wasn't even in her own skin now. But at the same time, her chest was pounding. It felt like she was having a panic attack. Just so much anxiety and worry was pouring over her, like nothing she had ever felt in any of her shows. Even when things were going so wrong for her, she had never felt this afraid in front of a crowd before.

It felt like her many great shows and amazing performances were so far away right now, like they had never even happened.

Which was a lie.

They had happened.

Every applause. Every accolade. Every heckler. Every thrown piece of vegetable or fruit.

Every pony that had ever wanted her to fail.

The pony she was supposed to be had stood up to them all, never flinching.

She was having trouble breathing.

She barely even noticed the pink form of a mare waving away the townsponies, giving out fake reassurances to them. She didn't even hear it when the pink mare turned towards her, cooing empty words at her...

It was so clear in her mind. The image that had replaced her Cutie Mark.

It was almost mocking her...

“I-...” She gasped out, and suddenly she felt every eye on her once again and her heart suddenly clenched again.

“I- You can't-...Trixie...”

“Come now, Trixie. You're safe. You're with friends. Just let me-”

“The-...The Great and Powerful Trixie won't be bullied!!!”

What few murmurs that had taken the crowd had been once more silenced by Trixie's outburst, everypony looking aghast and hurt by the words that they'd just heard. That great wave of discomfort and self-doubt had been thrown outwards, gripping the many townsponies here with new feelings of doubt.

“B-bullied? No ones bullying you, Trixie. No one here would ever bully anyone.” Starlight stuttered out haltingly, taken aback by the terrible accusation that had been leveled against her town. Giving a laugh that sounded slightly hysterical, the pink mare gave a shake of her head “Come now, Trixie. You're not making any sense. You just need to-”

“I- Trixie isn't staying here!” Trixie once more declared, giving a stomp of her hoof to punctuate the point.

Trixie's face was burning with uncharacteristic embarrassment at the scene she was making and her flanks felt like they were taken with a dull soreness. The weight that had been pressing down on her heart was still as strong as ever. And the seemingly countless looks that were being sent her way felt like they were revealing her every failure.

But Trixie didn't care.

“Trixie is getting her Cutie Mark back and there's nothing-”

“Trixie. You're hysterical.” Starlight sternly told the azure magician. Trotting closer, she raised a hoof towards the clearly distraught pony “You just need to take in a deep-breath...and calm down.”

“You calm down!”

“I am perfectly-”

“You calm down!”

“Just-”

“You calm down!”

“Stop being immature!” Starlight snapped.

“You're immature!”

This was pretty far from Trixie's most impressive showing, she knew. Trixie knew it was childish, but at this point she was ready to say anything she could to contradict the pink mare in front of her. It was a life-line for her, something that helped cut through the haze in her mind. It was the most simple-minded of ways Trixie could think of to rebuff Starlight.

The best part was that it seemed to be working.

“And I- And The Great and Powerful Trixie said you need to get away!” Trixie sharply announced before using a hoof to give Starlight a shove away from her.

To which the pink mare gave no resistance to, not so much being pushed back by the hoof, as she was stumbling back in shock. Starlight couldn't help but stare at the red-faced, disheveled pony that was still rejecting her, after everything she had done for her.

It didn't make sense.

Never before had somepony been so ready to utterly spite her, so completely tossed everything she was offering to them in her face. It was bewildering. Even the most stubborn ponies had been ready to give-in just a little bit before now. Even the most hardened of hearts had been softened by her magic, enough that her friendship could take root. It was wrong...

It was hurtful.

“S-Starlight? I-...are you really sure that Trixie wants to stay?”

“I don't want to stay here!” Trixie suddenly snapped, before Starlight could even start to respond to the question. Stomping her hooves again, Trixie sent a glare to the group of staring townsponies “Nopony wants to stay here! Even-...”

Trixie found the wind suddenly leave her sails, as she looked into the crowd of ponies, her gaze meeting that of Sugar Belle's.

She looked scared.

She seemed so worried and fretful, shrinking away from her friends as she sent a pleading look towards Trixie. Sugar Belle wasn't Trixie, she didn't know how to reject and be rejected like Trixie did; Trixie herself was having trouble hanging on to that part of herself. Sugar Belle was miserable staying here, but in that moment she was terrified of losing her friends too and Trixie could see it so clearly on her face.

Trixie was Trixie.

But she didn't need to be a Trixie that didn't care about others...

'...Why, Twilight? Why now, of all times?'

Trixie was broken from her lamentations, as her hooves abruptly slid out from under her. Trixie barely even caught sight of the glow of magic leaving Starlight Glimmer's horn, before she was coughing at the dust her fall kicked up. She had to shake her head, as the haze that had been plaguing her earlier seemed to thicken, her earlier show of willpower interrupted now.

“Everypony, everypony! Please calm yourselves!” Starlight quickly gathered the attention of the crowd of bemused and worried ponies, holding her hoof up to forestall any chatter. Settling once she had everypony's attention, she shared as comforting a smile as there ever could be with them “Now, now everypony. We need to remember...Nopony ever said this was going to be easy.”

Trixie wasn't listening though, as she tried to clear her thoughts once more.

“It's not always going to be easy, sharing the true path to happiness with somepony. Surely we all know that, don't we? We all had our doubts when we got here.” Starlight continued on, with a gesture of her hoof towards the disoriented Trixie. Turning back she brought that hoof to her chest “But we all just need to remember what we've built in here, in our hearts. And what we've built out here.”

Trixie struggled to force her thoughts back into order, trying to remember how she could have done something so brazen.

“We wouldn't be here though, without the Staff of Sameness. We were all meant to find it. To use it! It couldn't have been anything else but destiny for us all.” She told her onlooking townsponies, extending her hoof out to gently pat the shoulders of those she passed. Standing up straight again, Starlight beamed down at her gathered ponies “We'll get thought to Miss Trixie, I promise. That's the only possibility before us.”

It had all seemed so clear a few moments ago, thought Trixie. She had been focused, she had known what the problem was. But now as she looked upon all of these ponies, all of them bound by the same Cutie Mark...

“Miss Trixie will see the light, I'm sure. And we'll have all the more to celebrate when that day comes.” Starlight declared, before looking back towards Trixie. All of the townsponies followed her gaze back to the wandering magician with her “She'll be one of us...She just needs a little time to come around to the idea...”

Trixie needed to get her Cutie Mark back. That was it. That was all she needed to know.

Giving another shake of her head, she forced her hooves back under her, before standing up fully. Briefly scowling at the symbol that had replaced her Cutie Mark, Trixie let out a huff, as she recognized it as her true enemy in all of this. If she just got her Cutie Mark back, then everything else would fall into place. It had to. It had always been that way for Trixie when she was...Trixie.

“So, let's all wish a 'Goodnight' to our newest arrival, before we let her have her some much needed alone time.”

“What? I'm not- I mean, Trixie's not- Gyaaaah!” Trixie began, not getting the opportunity to finish her thought before being swept up in the glow of Starlight's magic.

Flailing about in a brief panic, before finally getting a grasp of her situation, Trixie pointed an accusing hoof towards the pink townsleader “Gya! What-...It's incredibly rude to use your magic on other ponies, you know! Especially without their permission!”

“Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Trixie. I-” Starlight began with a smile and a nod for the pony held aloft in her magic.

“No you're not! I would know if someone was sorry about that, cause I never-...nevermind.” The azure unicorn abruptly snapped her mouth shut and lowered her outstretched hoof.

“What was that?” Starlight said, tilting an ear in her direction.

“Nothing.”

“What is it?”

“I- Trixie certainly-...nothing.”

It certainly wouldn't help Trixie's case, bringing up all the times that she'd done similar things to ponies for her shows. Or for revenge, that one time. Even if she still had her Cutie Mark, she was rather doubtful that she would be able to spin that into not being hypocritical...

'Ugh...Even when I get my Cutie Mark back, I gotta work on that...'

“Well, don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of time to think about what you want to say for next time.” Starlight replied with a flippant shrug. Turning fully towards Trixie now, she rose a hoof before giving a wave with an accompanying and overly chipper smile “Goodnight, Trixie.”

“I actually just woke up, so-”

“Goodnight, Trixie!” The rest of the townsponies called out in unison, following Starlight's lead. For Trixie's part, she was rather embarrassed by her own cringing at the attention being sent her way and didn't have much of an opportunity to respond.

Mostly, because she found herself zipping through the air, courtesy of the light-blue magic engulfing her.

“Wait! What are you- I think- Ahhhh!”

Flailing her hooves through the air, Trixie ducked her head reflexively, as she passed through the threshold of the building she had woken up in earlier.

Fwump!

“Ugggh...” Dazed by her landing, Trixie barely had the wherewithal to be relieved by her relatively soft landing in the hay trough. Lifting her head up, before using a hoof to brush away some straw from her mane, she just noticed Starlight standing in the doorway with her usual overly saccharine smile.

“You rest up now, you have a big day tomorrow!” Starlight told her, with a menacingly upbeat tone and no regard for Trixie's apparent disorientation. Turning away, the pink mare only managed a couple steps, before coming to a pause “Oh, I almost forgot.”

The glow from Starlight's horn soon drew Trixie's gaze up to the speaker mounted at the top of one the corner's of the small building.

“I've gone ahead and prepared some...listening material for the evening. Something to help you get orientated. I do hope you enjoy it.” Starlight explained, as a small burst of static emerged from the speaker, only to be replaced by a stream of dryly delivered dogma.

"...Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent..."

“Sleep tight.”

And with that, Starlight slammed the door behind her, leaving her newest friend to rest for the evening. Giving a hearty, surprisingly genuine smile to herself, Starlight had to resist the urge to start chuckling, recalling that she still had a whole town of ponies to set an example for.

“Alright everypony. I'd like to thank all of you for your-”

“Crazy-pony!” Came the muffled cry and a dull thud from the door she'd just closed behind her, likely the sound of a certain somepony trying to kick the door down.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, and knowing it might take a bit of time to get through to her, Starlight focused back upon what she was saying “...I know it's all very odd to ask all of you to stay up this late, but I'm terribly happy that we all got to share in welcoming our new-”

Thud!

“Welcoming our new-”

Thud!

“...Welcoming our newest arrival to our town.” At this Starlight paused, before turning to look back at the door expectantly. After several moments of silence, wherein the whole town patiently waited for Starlight to continue, the pink unicorn finally gave a nod of satisfaction.

Smiling back to her followers once more “And while it is a bit late, I'd like to encourage everypony to get plenty of-”

Thud!

Starlight gave a stomp of her hoof, before sending a glare at the door, willing the occupant on the other side to refrain from anymore petulant noisemaking. While she certainly didn't expect Trixie to immediately come over to her way of thinking, it wouldn't hurt for her to show a little gratitude. All the headaches she had put up with so far, and here she was still ready to extend a hoof out in friendship.

'And it's not like it's the worst-'

Thud!

“Arrggg!” Starlight suddenly yelped out, before slapping her hoof to her cheek again.

“Starlight?! What's wrong?” Came the call from her followers, as several trotted over, each tilting their heads in concern.

“I-...It's nothing. Just a bit of dental trouble...” Starlight assured everypony with a wave of her hoof and a forced smile. Which turned out to be unwise, as the act of smiling exacerbated the aching of her tooth. Letting out a groan, she had to resist the urge of stomping her hoof or trying to rub at her cheek, hoping that not moving at all would alleviate the pain.

“Oh, oh, Starlight you need to see a dentist about that if you're in pain.” One pony called out.

Closing her eyes at the rather obvious observation, she gave a nod “That...That would probably be prudent. Thank you...I don't suppose anypony here-”

“I'm a dentist!” One mare from the back enthusiastically called out, waving a hoof as she approached the front of the crowd.

“Ah, marvelous. Anytime you could set-” Starlight began, genuinely relieved by the news, until she saw the mare's enthusiastic expression suddenly drop. Wincing a bit, she gave a tilt of her head towards the pony “What? What is it?”

“Errrr. It's just...I used to be a dentist. Before. Back before I came here...and gave up my Cutie Mark...” The mare eventually trailed off. Swallowing and giving her a tilt of her head in thought "I mean...I suppose I'd be as good a dentist as anypony else here..."

“...Of course.”

“I'm terribly sorry about that.”

“No, no, it's alright.”

“I really wish I could help.”

“I'm sure.”

“I could still take a look and-”

“Really, it's fine. I'm sure-...I'm sure it will heal on its own.” Starlight eventually assured her follower with a comforting smile. Comforting for the former dentist. It was torturous for Starlight to smile like that.

“Oh, OK...That might be alright. Maybe. I mean, as long as its not something serious. Like a cracked tooth or something, you'll probably be fine...I can't really remember though.” The mare eventually mused.

Raising a hoof to her brow and shaking her head a bit, Starlight decided it was best to just focus on other things “Alright. Well, everypony, once more I would like to thank you all for showing up to support Miss Trixie. We can all turn-in just as soon as we get everything cleaned up.”

With that, everypony went about the fairly minimal task of cleaning up after their little gathering. To Starlight's relief, they didn't need much direction, meaning she would be saved from having to use her words...

“Uhmmm...Starlight?” Called over a stallion from one group.

“...Yes?” The pink unicorn replied tiredly.

“What do we do with Miss Trixie's wagon? Do you think she'll be needing it anymore?”

“Oh, of course not. What could she possibly need that we-...” Starlight had to stop herself from going into one of her typically grandiose speeches, as she felt another pang from her tooth. Resisting the urge to grit her teeth at the pain, she gave a sigh before waving them away with her hoof “Just-...Just move it to the edge of town. We'll deal with it later.”

“Right-O, Starlight. We'll get right on that.” The stallion declared with an enthusiastic salute for her. Watching as the group of ponies quickly congregated around the wagon, Starlight took in another deep-breath as they started pushing the wagon along.

“Well...I think that settles just about-”

Gwa-Thump! Crack!

Starlight had to duck her head in surprise, while thankfully not jostling her tooth, as the showmare's wagon came to an abrupt stop.

“Sorry! Sorry, just hit a hole in the road. Shouldn't be a-...Oh.” The same stallion as before called over.

“What is it?” Starlight groused a bit, as she trotted over to see the problem.

“Well...it seems the wheel has come a bit loose. Somepony probably forgot to affix it properly when we were working on it earlier. Should be an easy fix.” The stallion quickly explained.

“How easy?”

“Just a few minutes, just as soon as we get it up out of this hole here.” The stallion assured before turning back to the other ponies that had been helping move the wagon “Alright, if we can all just give her a good shove we can get to the problem. Ready?...And heave!”

Everypony quickly came together to the task of moving the wagon, which was rather pleasing for Starlight, seeing them all working together so easily.

Crack!

It was rather less pleasing, when the sound of wood snapping met their efforts, which was soon followed by the caravan sagging to one side. This quickly lead to the ponies backing off from their efforts, leading to the whole thing dropping down onto the road even harder than before.

“Oh! Think we broke the-”

Click!

Starlight was very distressed by how easily she recognized the sound.

Screeee!

Which meant the pink unicorn was the first pony to dive to the ground, her tooth be damned, as a firework abruptly launched itself from the lurching caravan. Perhaps fortunately, most everypony else had already dispersed, while the ponies around Starlight likewise had the good sense to duck their own heads.

“Sorry! Sorry! We can fix this!” The stallion quickly called out, as the firework kept whizzing around overhead in circles and loop-the-loops. Peaking up just a bit to watch as it circled over and over again, he called over to Starlight “I think if we give it a minute, it'll just-

Screeeeeeee! Crash!

It was almost maddening, watching as the pyrotechnic had unerringly aimed itself towards her home, knowing she could do nothing about it. Seeing it zip all the way down the street of her town, seemingly drawn to it, Starlight had no words for when it smashed its way through one of her two remaining windows.

Pop! Screeee!

Nor did she have any words for the shower of sparks erupting from said window.

“...That's- That's some bad luck right there, Starlight.” The stallion noted at her side, bringing a hoof up to his chin in consideration “That's two-for-three now...I mean, it shouldn't be any trouble fixing it up, of course.”

Watching the shower of sparks finally sputter out, Starlight blinked a couple of times before shaking her head “Of course...”

“We'll just get this wagon out of here and-”

“Leave it. Just...leave it.”

Author's Note

Right, so...been a while...

Moving on, we finally see the next chapter in this little story. Obviously, Trixie's having a pretty severe reaction to being equalized. It's a pretty stark change for her especially, being that it's something that so goes against her normal nature. And I'm kinda grouping her self-confidence, showmanship, and her magic all under the umbrella of what her Cutie Mark made special about her. So, she suffers a bit more backlash whenever she tries to draw on those.

Hope that makes sense.

Anyway, as before, feel free to drop me any questions or advice in the comments section and I'll try to respond quickly.

Once again, sorry for the long absence. :twilightblush:

Chapter Seven: Diabolus ex Machina

“Alright everypony, I’m afraid the time for any last minute studying has passed.”

The shuffling of a dozen or so foals closing their books and re-furling their scrolls quickly filled the small classroom, at the word of the middle-aged stallion at the front of the room. Materials were quickly put to the side and every little colt and filly quickly moved to face forward in the surprisingly plush cushions of the academy.

Save for little Trixie. Little Trixie. Little hooves, little horn, little everything.

Glancing around to-and-fro, and sending her mane swaying, Trixie couldn’t help but feel self-conscious, as she saw her fellow students finishing up with their preparations. The little blue filly already stood out from the rest of the students in the program, so she was sure this didn’t help. And the disapproving gaze of Mr. Mighty Quill, the stodgy, gray-coated stallion at the front of the classroom, did nothing to reassure her.

It was little relief when the older unicorn teacher turned his critical gaze away from her to one of the others, a certain orange colt that seemed to have ignored the teacher’s words. The nervous young colt was still frantically pouring over his notes and trying to cross-reference something between one book or another.

“Mr. Sunburst. The time for studying is over.”

“I- Just one moment. It’s this one line here and-”

“Mr. Sunburst.” Mighty Quill called over again, in an even sterner tone.

Young Trixie felt a tinge of sympathy for the colt, as he flinched at the words of the stallion, but that feeling was drowned out by envy. For all that the colt couldn’t pull his nose out of those books and scrolls, he never seemed to have any trouble following the materials. A fact that Mr. Mighty Quill seemed exceedingly aware of and liked to remind Trixie of at times.

It’s not like it was her fault no one wanted to study with her.

Really, Mr. Quill seemed to like reminding her a lot about that kind of thing. How all of the other students seemed to be much more able to meet his expectations...

“Sorry, Mr. Mighty Quill.” The little orange colt called out, as he somewhat anxiously put his study materials away.

“There is such a thing as too much diligence, Mr. Sunburst...Just as there is such a thing as too little.” The stallion told little Sunburst, even as he directed a pointed glance towards Trixie with the last part. Having apparently been satisfied by the negative attention he had directed her way, yet again, he turned back to the colt “There always comes a time when one must put away the notes and be ready to act.”

“Yes, Mr. Quill...” Sunburst replied without much enthusiasm.

There was one thing she had in common with the studious colt though; for all his studying, he never seemed to meet Mr. Quill’s expectations on the practical exams either.

“Now that we have that settled, we can begin moving on to the main focus of today’s class. I do hope everyone has made all the necessary preparations for the exam.” Mr. Quill told the class, in his usual no-nonsense manner.

Trixie didn’t even bother with chiming in with the rest of the small class; everyone already knew what the score was, when it came to Trixie and the magical exams.

“As per usual, I will call each of you into the other room, one at a time. There, we will perform the exam and afterwards you will be let out onto your own time.” The stallion explained the protocol, once again, for the group of foals. They surely were all familiar with it by now, so it really only served to drive up tensions by delaying things further.

A few heads turned, Trixie’s among them, as a slightly older filly’s hoof rose into the air to beckon the professor’s attention “Mr. Mighty Quill?”

“Yes, Fairy Dust?”

“Is...is Ms. Arcana going to be overseeing the practical exam again?” The filly, Fairy Dust, asked with some trepidation.

Mighty Quill’s own thoughts on that issue were apparent as he visibly pursed his lips, before giving a nod “That will be the case, yes. As with all of the magical aptitude tests, Ms. Arcana will have the final say on grading.”

This elicited a small chorus of groans from the foals of the classroom, save for Trixie. It had become a well-known part of this special course, that Ms. Arcana wasn’t the sort to grade by pure technical skill or knowledge. Young Sunburst in particular seemed keenly aware of that as he ducked his head.

“That will be enough of that...Now, when I call your name, you’ll join me as we head into the next room...Candlelight?” Mr. Quill said with some finality, before raising a scroll up and calling out the first name upon it. Soon enough, one of the older colts was trotting his way down with a modest amount of confidence, the stallion’s gaze impassive as he took the moment to adjust his thick glasses.

Young Trixie just rolled her eyes. Candlelight was a snob and a jerk anyway.

The azure filly found herself thinking that sentiment to herself quite a few times, as Mr. Quill went down the fairly short list of foals. Most of her classmates were snobs and jerks, as far as she was concerned.

A seemingly all-too-short time later, Mr. Quill was once more stepping back into the classroom to call upon the last of the remaining foals “Pentacle Pint? If you’d come this way.”

As the the latest foal on the list left the room with the professor, Trixie couldn’t help but overhear the heavy sigh coming from the only other occupant in the room, Sunburst.

“Oh...I can’t stand the waiting...”

Little Trixie considered speaking up at that moment, as the orange colt had probably been among the least mean-spirited of her classmates. Unlike the others, he didn’t seem to be very inclined towards snubbing her or voicing any sort of distaste for her...

Then again, he never spoke-up either, whenever the others thought to tease her. And perhaps it wasn’t the colt’s fault, but she couldn’t help but resent Mr. Quill’s favoring Sunburst over herself. Granted, the older stallion seemed to favor pretty much all of the other students over her.

It was a thought. A chance to reach out to someone else that might have needed it...

But the shadow of that thought soon passed, as she watched the orange colt make his way to the front of the classroom, following Starlight Glimmer into the other room.

Leaving her all alone again.

Which was fine by Trixie, most of the time. She didn’t mind just sitting in the classroom quietly for a little while longer. The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t need to worry about something as minor as an exam...

Was that the way it happened?

“And, Ms. Trixie. Sorry to keep you waiting...”

She shouldn’t have been as nervous as she was, as she trotted on past the purple mare that had called her name. She wasn’t the one that got to judge Trixie, so why should it matter what they thought of her.

Trixie couldn’t help but stop at the threshold leading into the antechamber, boggled by how much bigger the normally cozy chamber now seemed.

“Come now, Ms. Trixie. We don’t have all day.” Came the suddenly booming voice from her side, as the seemingly humongous Mr. Mighty Quill trotted by, his size a match for the over-sized chamber. A moment later, the room seemed to contort and she suddenly found herself at the center of the room staring up at the critical gaze of the professor.

“Is there something wrong, Ms. Trixie? There’s nothing wrong with it, if you don’t think you can handle this test. Some are happier when they accept their limitations.” The stallion said with a feminine voice that wasn’t his own.

“Wh-what? I didn’t-” Trixie blurted out, confused by the seemingly twisty nature of the room around her.

“You’re not here to put even more pressure on the students, Quill.” Came a stern, female voice from the side. Turning to seek out the voice, the young Trixie couldn’t explain her relief at seeing the older, green-coated mare to the side. Idly using a pencil to push her white and yellow mane to the side, the middle-aged mare, nodded towards Trixie “There is no time limit, so Ms. Trixie can act when she is ready.”

And suddenly the room was its usual modest size, the same size it was for all of the other exams that she had taken in there before.

“I- Well, of course, Professor Arcana. I was merely concerned that Ms. Trixie didn’t understand the content of the exam.” Mighty Quill responded in a defensive tone, that the young Trixie now remembered hearing many times before.

Trixie had to blink as she looked up to the two adults in room once more, mesmerized by the exchange and somehow familiar with it all...

The tweeting of birds and shaking of leaves on the wind caught her attention as her mind wandered, leading her gaze to the open window to one side of the chamber. Through it, was a small bustling town filled with cheerful ponies going about their business. And at the far end of the street she was gazing down an oak tree that seemed...

“If you don’t mind, Arcana, I’ve done this long enough to know how to oversee a magical exam.” Trixie’s attention was quickly snapped back to the matter at hoof, by Starlight Glimmer’s huffy declaration.

“Of course. Please, just pretend I’m not even hear then.” Arcana evenly replied.

“Now, Ms. Trixie? The test...” Mr. Quill prompted the young Trixie, drawing her attention to the small stone orb sitting on the table in front of her.

And sure enough, it came rushing back to her.

“All you need to do, is use your magic to hide the stone ball from sight. You may use any spell that you have at your disposal, but you can only use your magic. You will be graded on the completeness of the concealment...A simple enough test.” Twilight reiterated the conditions for the exam, with an uncharacteristic amount of condescension that seemed out of place in the young Trixie’s estimation.

Blinking again in confusion, Trixie shook those thoughts away, before focusing on the task at hoof “With...just my magic?”

Starlight Glimmer visibly rolled her eyes at this “If you can, Ms. Trixie.”

“Uhm, alright...”

Was it alright? Looking up between Starlight and Twilight again, she could feel herself shrinking back. Or maybe she was just shrinking. It was the moment of truth, the moment she could prove herself and-

There wasn’t any spell that could help her. She didn’t know anything. There was nothing special about her, so why shouldn’t she just give up now? She could just go back to the regular classes, she could be...adequate.

Staring up at the task before her now, the small stone ball seemed the size of a boulder now. She couldn’t do it. She could never do something like this. She needed help.

Trixie needed-

“...is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality...”

Peeking one eye open, only to take in the sight of the nondescript stone floors she’d apparently passed out on, Trixie Lulamoon had to let out a long groan.

She was really getting tired of waking up in this nutjob town. It had kind of already begun wearing out its welcome before they had stolen her Cutie Mark and imprisoned her. At this point, she might have even welcomed the unforeseen appearance of a magical apex predator. Like an Ursa Minor, for example.

She let out another groan and brought a hoof to her temple, as her seemingly ever-present migraine made itself known again. Though, now that she thought about it, she probably deserved to suffer a bit for thinking such a thing about the little community. They were a bit odd, but they seemed like a friendly sort, who certainly didn’t deserve to be frightened by some giant star-beast waltzing into-

No. That’s exactly what they deserved! Who goes around abducting ponies anyway? Nutjobs. And she would know, because of that one time she basically abducted an entire town. She’d been a real nutjob then herself, with that whole Alicorn Amulet incident...So, who was she to judge these-

“No, no, no! You’re not going to make me feel bad about that right now!” Trixie shouted into the confines of the small room. Letting out a mighty huff of annoyance for the unwelcome turns her train-of-thought kept taking, she took a moment to turn and glare at the likely culprit.

The frustratingly bland equal sign that had replaced her Cutie Mark.

“I- The Great and Powerful Trixie knows what you’re up to! She’s dealt with your kind before...even if it was kind of- No! Stupid!” The confused mare quickly brought a hoof up to tap at her head in admonishment, realizing the influence of the mark on her thoughts. Now was not the time for regrets and self-doubt...even if the whole Alicorn Amulet fiasco was her f-

“Graagh!” Trixie shoved her head down to the floor and covered her face with her forehooves. This weird, magical thing just wouldn’t stop.

“...you free. Accept your limitations, and happiness will-”

“Quiet you!” Trixie snapped up at the wall-mounted speaker in annoyance, utterly fed up with the monotonous, droning nonsense it was spewing.

“You’re no better than your friend...”

“I am aware of that!” The azure unicorn shouted without thought, as the speaker continued its diatribe. Picking her head up and frowning at her slip, Trixie sent a glare up at the device “...Shut-up.”

The unicorn again picked herself up, her brow furrowed as she forced herself to tune out the words echoing from the speaker. Or she tried to anyway, as she ruminated over the stinging admission that she had unthinkingly made.

Was that from Trixie or did it come from the mark on her flanks?

Sure, Trixie had always known on some level that she had issues about being the best or not being good enough. Deeply buried issues, issues so deeply buried that they barely even merited a second thought. Not even really issues, just foalhood worries that she had outgrown a long time ago...

She merely gritted her teeth this time, as her head once more throbbed with waves of discomfort.

Bringing her hoof up to massage her head, she had to let out a puff of air, as she tried to let some of her tension go “Must be the stupid mark that’s making me remember that stuff...”

Though saying Trixie was really remembering what happened all those years ago was a bit of a stretch.

Dreams weren’t memories.

That wasn’t exactly how things had happened and she knew it. The very idea that she even bothered remembering all of the names of the other students from back then was kind of laughable. They didn’t like Trixie, and Trixie didn’t like them. It was just like how things were with every other-

“No, no, no, no! Stop that!” Trixie growled at to herself, as she felt her thoughts slipping once again. Every single time she let herself relax, even for a few seconds, whatever stupid magic was affecting her would start steering her thoughts around. She had never cared what anypony had thought of her before, so she wasn’t going to believe that she suddenly did now. Trixie passed those tests, and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

Trixie always found a way to do it, no matter how many times Professor Quill tried to trip her up...

“Wait...wait, wait, wait. Maybe-...maybe I’m trying to tell myself something?” Trixie suddenly mused to herself, glancing back towards the mark that had taken up residence on her flanks. Tearing her gaze away from it, she furrowed her brow at that thought “Right, maybe the real Trixie’s still in there. Err, am I the real Trixie?...A version of Trixie wants me to remember something, I bet! Something that can get me out of here”

It made a sort of sense, as she was definitely not herself right now. Maybe that was true in more ways than one? Maybe that stupid mark was just forcing down part of herself, something in her subconscious. And where did dreams come from, after all?

Trixie looked up at that for a moment, before bring a hoof to her chin “Wait. Do dreams come from the subconscious?...Maybe it was...I guess it would make sense if my dreams came from my ego, right? I mean, they’re dreams. Aren’t they-...Trixie’s dreams would probably be coming from her ego.”

This was getting confusing.

“Alright. I’m overthinking this. Trixie never overthinks things. She just does them. And lives with the life shattering consequences and-” Trixie had to grimace again, as she fought down that part of herself again. Holding a hoof to her head, she closed her eyes for a moment “Stop overthinking things. You need to get out of here, Trixie. What was so special about that day?”

It was doubtful any of the ponies from back then were around now, so she doubted there was anything important about any of that nonsense. Not like any of them would want to help her anyway, apart from maybe Ms. Arcana.

That gave her some pause, as she recalled the older mare. Ms. Arcana had been the one that had really been in charge of the program in the end. She had never been interested in rote memorization or how many facts Trixie could regurgitate for her. Even so, she’d always kept an open-door policy, one that Trixie could remember availing herself of on a regular basis.

Trixie had to frown at that, as she rather doubted that could help with anything now. Ms. Arcana might have been willing to help Trixie, even now. But there was no way that she could be that lucky. It wasn’t anyone from back then that could help her so it had to be...

“The test!” Trixie had to slap her hoof to her forehead as she recalled now. The whole test had been about concealment, so there had to be something that could help her there “Right, right...I know I passed that one. If I can just remember what it was...”

Trixie had to wrack her brain for several moments, tuning out the grating sound coming from the wall-mounted speaker. If she could just remember, Trixie was sure that she could find a way to use that to-

“Oh!...Oh, wait...Horseapples...”

Trixie had to slump down to the floor as she felt the memories come rushing back, and then had to resign herself to just how pointless that exercise had been.

She had cheated her way through that test.

Trixie remembered Mighty Quill making a terrible stink over that particular practical exam. Not that she could really blame the stallion now; maybe if Trixie had studied a bit harder and applied herself properly during that test, she wouldn’t be where she was now. Perhaps if she had listened to him more often, instead of just looking for ways to annoy him, maybe...

Trixie had to slump forward, banging her forehead against a wall, before bringing a hoof to knock on the side of her head in time with her words “We. Are not. Taking. His side...”

Professor Quill had been a relentless ass to her back then. She didn’t care what magic was affecting her brain, she was never going to give him credit for anything. And it hadn’t even really been cheating. Just a creative interpretation of how the test was supposed to be completed.

Maybe that’s what she needed. Maybe Trixie just needed to think more creatively?

But how was she ever supposed to do that when whatever magical brainwashing that Starlight had done to her kept trying to take over her thoughts. Every time the azure unicorn took her focus off of that, her mind would start siding against her, knocking her sense of self down, over and over. It would be so much easier if she didn’t have to fight it all the time, if she could just pretend to play nice for her pink captor. If she changed her behavior just a smidge for the better, Starlight would probably be more than happy to let her out. She might even get a chance to talk things over with-

“I am not going to become friends with her! So stop trying!” Trixie again had to remind herself aloud, furrowing her brow in annoyance. Closing her eyes before bringing a hoof to her brow, she couldn’t stop the grumbling “That is bad! Very, very bad. She’s crazy. You’re not...That’s a very bad Trixie...”

It didn’t matter how she solved that test back then, it just didn’t. Without her special talent, there wasn’t any spell she could even use, much less one that could help her break out. Trixie couldn’t solve this problem by being Trixie, with Starlight’s mark making sure of that. The more she thought about who she was and what she could do, the more the strange magic that was at work tried to twist who she was.

She couldn’t find the real Trixie.

“Right...well if I can’t think like Trixie, I’ll just have to think like somepony else!” The azure unicorn declared to the empty room, without dwelling too much on just how crazy it was she was talking to herself like she was a different person. But if the mark was keeping her from being Trixie, she might be able to slip its effects just a bit if she tried to emulate someone else.

“The question is...who do I even know?” She mused to herself, thinking back to all the countless ponies she’d met over the years...before lamenting how she’d barely ever gotten to know any of them. Letting out a huff of a sigh, she had to admit that could be a problem “Why couldn’t Trixie have tried even a little bit harder...”

There was Ms. Arcana from her academy days, but she was already having trouble remembering things from that far back. Mr. Quill had always been a jerk anyway; if she was going to go that route she could just act like Trixie. Then there was Twilight and her friends...

Really, it was just Twilight. Trixie could scarcely remember the foggiest of details about the purple unicorn’s friends. Probably a result of all the time she had spent intentionally trying to forget about them.

Really, she was just left with Twilight.

“That’s certainly not the worst pony in the world to try to be more like...” Trixie mused to herself, rubbing her chin with a hoof, before beginning to pace around the small room. She had already been putting a lot of effort into trying to be nicer and friendlier with others, on account of Twilight. And Twilight seemed like the sort that could take care of herself.

After all, she had thwarted Trixie when she’d been possessed by that soul-sucking evil amulet.

She had to flinch at that, as the former showmare once more reminded herself of her past failings. Ducking her head at that, she had to consider her hooves for a few moments, as she wondered if she even deserved to get out of a place like this. Whether she even deserved a chance at being a better pony, even after Twilight had given her another chance. She’d probably be roundly disappointed with Trixie’s efforts as things stood now. She’d probably say something like...

“...She’d probably say that she was glad to see that Trixie was, at least, trying. And that...even if it was a long road, she’d be happy to help me embrace the power of being friends or whatever...”

Trixie had to blink in surprise at what she’d just muttered aloud.

Standing there for a few moments stunned by it, some part of her reflexively questioned the validity of that reasoning. She hadn’t met Twilight face-to-face for months now, so how could Trixie possibly know what her magical rival thought of her. But a louder, somewhat obnoxious part of her, shouted that of course Twilight would see things that way. Of course, Twilight would want to help her and encourage her to keep at it.

Trixie had a whole box of letters from Twilight echoing that very sentiment sitting under the bunk of her wagon.

Standing up straighter now, Trixie took in a deep breath, before letting it out again slowly. With that, she could almost feel the strange influence in her mind lose a bit of its grasp over her. Or perhaps, she had just gotten a firmer grip on her own mind. Either way, this hypothetical Twilight was probably right; even if Trixie was having trouble seeing the good in Trixie, she already knew that Twilight saw something in Trixie.

“Huh...Thinking like Twilight kinda works...” Trixie noted to herself. Glancing up towards the obnoxious speaker and then the rest of her surroundings, the former showmare grinned to herself “Maybe if I think like her a little more, I might be able to get out of here...”

Sometime later...

“I give up! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie no more! I’m just doomed to live out the rest of my days in here until I starve!”

Thinking like Twilight had not yielded much in the way of results. As Trixie found herself unhappily lamenting to the impassive ceiling of the little house she was still trapped in. Letting her head fall back to rest on the floor with a thud, she let out a defeated sigh, before blindly reaching a hoof to the nearby trough of hay.

Stuffing a bit of the hay in her mouth and dejectedly munching on it, part of her had to concede that she probably wasn’t going to starve anytime soon. Swallowing down the dry, bland staple of pony cuisine, Trixie folded her forehooves on her stomach as she considered her predicament once more.

Trying to think like Twilight hadn’t really gotten her anywhere. Perhaps that was simply a matter of Trixie not really knowing the purple unicorn well-enough to know what she would do in this situation. Or that she knew Twilight well-enough to know that her two solutions for this problem would probably be to use magic or rely on her friends.

Neither of those options were terribly viable for her.

“If only I knew a version of Twilight that was great at picking locks...” Trixie lamented quietly, before turning her gaze about the room again. A few seconds later, she had to furrow her brow as a thought occurred “Then again...I already know a version of Trixie that was great at picking locks and that hasn’t been any help either...”

“...is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose ...”

“Nnrrgh...” Trixie lifted her head up just to back down onto the floor again, as that ever present diatribe continued to spill into the room. Letting her head thud against the stone a few more times, she tried to again tune-out the oppressive nonsense that was floating into her ears. It was almost as bad as the stupid equal sign on her flanks.

“...Alright.” The azure unicorn said to herself, before sitting back up on to her rump. Taking a moment to recompose herself, she patted her cheeks with her forehooves to help clear her mind “Okay. So, maybe Twilight doesn’t necessarily have the skills to get out of a mess like this...Maybe I just don’t know Twilight that well. I should work on that.”

Blinking at that line-of-thinking, she again pat her cheeks with her hooves, a bit harder this time “After you get out of here. Getting to know her now, isn’t going to help things. I mean...how would that even work?”

All Trixie really had to go by were her own limited interactions with the purple unicorn; the first time she’d been to Ponyville, she’d barely even spoken to Twilight. And even with them sending letters back and forth, the only two big facets of Twilight’s life that she knew about were magic and friendship.

“Given how much time I spend thinking about her, that’s kinda pathetic...Wait, do I really think about her that much?” Trixie had to muse to herself, as she rubbed at her chin with a hoof.

“Hmmm...darn it.” Trixie muttered, before just outright smacking herself in the face with a hoof. And then instantly regretting it, as she brought that same hoof to try to sooth where she’d just hit herself “Ow, ow, ow, bad idea. Obviously, that was a bad idea...”

But, then again, she already had enough distractions keeping her from getting out of this place without a certain purple unicorn frolicking through her thoughts.

“Okay!” Trixie exclaimed, before standing fully upright and letting out a puff of air. Taking a moment to inhale more deeply now, she let it out slowly before pointing a hoof towards the waiting door that would lead her out of this place “Alright, time to really focus. No more getting caught up in your thoughts, Trixie. Just-...just do something. Don’t even think about it.”

It made a certain amount of sense, right?

If her thoughts were just going to keep getting twisted and thrown off-track by that stupid mark, and maybe some poorly understood feelings for a certain purple unicorn, then Trixie just wouldn’t think. That would show them. She’d just make it up as she went along, following any random impulse that popped into her head. The less time she spent thinking about things, the less she’d be giving that stupid mark to work with.

“It’s time...to improvise!”

Morning...

“Gather around now, everypony! It’s time we all checked in on our newest friend!”

Starlight Glimmer could honestly say that she was feeling much better after a good night’s rest. Though it surely had more to do with her finally being able to get things all back into their proper order once more. Even with the unfortunate incident last night with the window, it finally seemed like she could take the reins once more and enlighten Trixie to their ways.

And her tooth was feeling a bit better too.

“Big smiles, everypony, big smiles! We all need to make a good impression for Trixie!” The pink unicorn called out to her followers, as she stepped to one side of the building they’d all gathered around. Turning one of her ears to the side of the building, she paused to look back towards her townsfolk “And let’s all just try to remember, we need to be patient with out newest friend! She’s going through a big change and might still need some time to adjust, alright?”

The resounding chorus of excited agreement that reached her ears brought another smile to her face, one that was mirrored in the many faces of her friends. Giving a small chuckle to herself, before clearing her throat, her horn lit-up with the simple spell that would let her voice carry through the building’s speaker system “Good morning, Trixie! I hope you had a nice rest? There’s some ponies out here that would like to see you.”

Glancing back to her hopeful followers, she had to admit she was almost as excited as they were; she knew that someone like Trixie would need some extra efforts on her part. But still, any chance for progress was something to look forward to. Turning an ear to the small building, she listened for the telltale signs of a stirring pony getting ready to greet the day...

...It was actually rather quiet.

Frowning a bit, she had to wonder if perhaps Trixie hadn’t been woken by her announcement. Shaking it off, she reminded herself that her newest friend had to be exhausted after last night. Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, she let her magic fade back into nothingness, before trotting back to the front of the building.

Giving a light knock against the door, Starlight gave a nod towards the two ponies that she had posted to keep watch over Trixie. Gesturing towards the door, she took a few steps back towards the crowd “If you please?”

“Of course, Starlight!”

“Right away!”

A moment later the two of them were pushing the door open, before snapping back to their positions on either side of the door to wait for their guest to emerge.

“Alright, big smiles, everypony!” Starlight reminded her followers, briefly demonstrating the toothy grins she expected from them. Satisfied with the results, as they re-doubled their efforts, she turned back and raised a hoof as she called out once more “Whenever you’re ready, there are some new friends that would like to see you, Trixie!”

There reigned several seconds of silence over her gathered villagers, as they all peered towards the dark doorway and waited for the newest addition to emerge. And then there reigned several more seconds, where everypony held their breath in anticipation for the big moment. And then it started to become awkward, as several more seconds passed by with not the slightest of signs that Trixie was coming out.

By the one minute mark, the two ponies stationed by the door were uncomfortably exchanging furtive looks with one another and glancing towards the the open doorway.

“...Do you think she might still be sleeping?”

“We were up late last night.”

“Do you think she might be feeling shy?”

“Did everyone else already eat breakfast?”

The pink townsleader had to frown slightly, at her impatient followers, before raising a hoof to her mouth to call out once more “Oh, Trixie! Won’t you please come out and join us?”

“No!”

Starlight had to make a face at that. How could she not?

The pink unicorn had to give a shake of her head and purse her lips as she considered this, before raising her pink hoof again and calling back towards the building “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly! You’re saying that you’re refusing to-”

“Trixie isn’t coming out!”

Glancing back towards her own confused followers for a moment, she couldn’t help but furrow her brow at this turn “And...why might that be?”

“I- Because of-...spite, I guess?” Trixie called back out with some hesitation, before leaning around the corner of the doorway and peeking out at them. The trapped showmare audibly cleared her throat before calling out again “The Great and P-powerful Trixie might not have-...She’s not going to do anything she doesn’t want to do!”

“Oh. So, you don’t want to get out of that stuffy little house then and-”

“Trixie doesn’t want to do anything that you want her to do!”

Starlight gave a chuckle at that, before using a hoof to brush her mane to the side and giving a shake of her head “Come now, Trixie, I think we both know that you’re feeling shy about greeting all your new friends. I can’t imagine anypony being so petty as to-”

“Hah! The Trixie I know is extremely petty!” Trixie called back, while pointing an accusing hoof out the doorway at Starlight. The hoof went slack a moment later and retracted “And-...That’s not something you really brag about. I mean, Trixie might brag about it...But it’s really unhealthy!”

“If you know it’s unhealthy, why are you doing it?” Starlight called back, her patience wearing down by increments.

“What? Oh, I-...The Great and Powerful Trixie has already spoken on the matter!”

“You’re doing this just to spite me? Me? When all I want is to be your friend?” Starlight called back, letting her eyes tear up just enough for her followers to see how hurt by all this she was.

“That does sound kinda bad, when you put it like that. I mean-...No! Bad Trixie! Now’s not the time to-”

Starlight had to quirk an ear at this, listening to the apparent sounds of Trixie arguing with herself. She had to admit, this was certainly an atypical response for someone that had been equalized; some ponies certainly showed a certain amount of duality before, as the mark did its work. It surely took time for all of the wrinkles to be ironed out of a pony’s personality, before they could fully join her little community. But the latest addition to her town was acting like a loon, and it was starting to upset the rest of her followers. And she couldn’t just stand idly by, while Trixie was struggling like this.

So, it wasn’t too unexpected that the surprised yelp from Trixie, was a result of the former showmare being scooped up in Starlight’s aura and forcibly carried outside.

Smiling up towards Trixie as she approached, or more accurately was carried over to Starlight, the pink mare gave a tilt of her head “There we are. Now, what’s all this talk about-”

“This is incredibly rude!” Trixie exclaimed, jabbing a hoof awkwardly towards Starlight as she floated through the air. Managing to elicit a few moments of hesitation from the pink mare, Trixie tried to turn around a bit more to continue her tirade “Using your magic on somepony like this, without their permission, is an incredible breach of personal space!”

“I’m sorry?”

“I should be! Wait-...Darn it!”

“Is something wrong, Trixie?” Starlight asked, resisting the urge to chuckle; it wouldn’t do to seem like she was making fun of the former showmare.

“No! I mean, kinda! I’m just...dealing with a lot more self-awareness than usual right now.” Trixie eventually admitted, crossing her forehooves sheepishly, as she hovered in the air. Furrowing her brow, before raising a hoof to rub at her head “How can I even be aware of my being more self-aware? Isn’t that...redundant? This is confusing...”

“Then you’ll be happy to know we...” Starlight gave a suitably dramatic pause, before gesturing to the many ponies gathered around “...are here to help you, Trixie.”

“...Are we really doing this again? Cause I-” Trixie didn’t get to finish that thought, before flopping to the ground, as the light blue aura holding her in the air abruptly disappeared. Coughing and waving away at the small amount of dust kicked up by her fall, Trixie quickly shuffled back to her hooves. Giving a shake of her head, to clear away the last of the dirt, she raised a hoof to tell the pink mare off for that little stunt.

Only for her to snap her lips tightly closed, as she took in the sight of all the ponies staring at her expectantly. Swallowing down the sudden onset of anxiety as best as she could, she spared a glance to her flank. But even knowing the source of her sudden stage-fright, she couldn’t help but shrink back from all of the attention once more “I- that is-...uhmmmm...”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry about that, Trixie. Here, let me get that for you.” Starlight exclaimed, as she cantered over. A few moments later, she was lightly dusting away at Trixie, to the mare’s obvious discomfort.

“C-could you- T-Trixie demands you stop!” The blue unicorn shrilly shouted, before taking a couple of steps back.

She was greeted by a decidedly hurt and apologetic look coming from Starlight, who soon held a hoof to her chest before extending it towards Trixie “Oh, I’m so sorry, Trixie. I’m sure this is all going terribly fast for you. I should have been more considerate.”

“No, no it’s- I mean, yes! I mean, Trixie means yes!...That sounded dumb.” Trixie haltingly shouted back, before rising a hoof to her chin as she considered her words. Giving a shake of her head, before pointing an accusing hoof back towards Starlight “It is going too fast, because it isn’t happening!”

Starlight merely arched an eyebrow at this exclamation.

“That-that also didn’t come out the way I- Look!” Trixie snapped, before waving her hoof to the side “The point is, Trixie wants her Cutie Mark back and she wants to leave!”

“Oh, I understand how difficult this must be for you, Trixie.” Starlight crooned, as she trotted around the mare. Stopping at the other mare’s side, Starlight turned and placed a hoof over Trixie’s withers before gesturing back to the waiting crowd “And I want you to know, that you can take all the time you need. We’re not here to pressure you.”

“If you’re not here to pressure m- Trixie, then why is everypony here?” Trixie asked, squinting with apparent suspicion.

“We’re just checking up on you, of course. Making sure you had a nice rest. We do that for all of our friends.” The pink mare elaborated, before letting her hoof drop and cantering back in front of Trixie. Smiling towards Trixie, she gave a nod of her head and gestured a hoof towards her “And, naturally, if there’s anything you need, you can let us-”

“Trixie needs her Cutie Mark back!”

“Oh, Trixie...” Starlight shook her head at that, as if she was admonishing a particularly stubborn foal. Walking back over to the gathered, smiling ponies, she gestured to them before continuing “I know it’s going to take time before you realize just how good things are here. But don’t worry. Once you see how much your Cutie Mark was keeping you from true friendship, you-”

“If it was keeping me from having friends, how come you all want to be my friends?” Trixie abruptly demanded.

“Everyone should have friends!” One mare eagerly called from the back of the crowd, before Starlight could respond, much to the pink pony’s pleasure.

“Yeah, Trixie, we just want to be there for each other!”

“And we can be there for you too!”

“I definitely missed breakfast, didn’t I?”

“You just gotta give it a chance, Trixie!”

Trixie shrank back again at being the center of attention, glancing off to the side and furrowing her brow. She knew it was that stupid mark, but it didn’t make speaking up any easier “So...what? All of you wanted to be my friend from the moment I got here?”

“Of course, Trixie!”

“That’s all we want!”

“Then why did you need to take my Cutie Mark away then?” The showmare demanded, turning back to glare at the the gathered ponies.

“So-...so we could all be equal.” One stallion eventually responded for everyone, after sharing a glance with all of the other villagers, as if he was stating something that was kind of obvious by this point.

“Yeah. That way no one has to feel bad about somepony else being able to do something that they can’t! We’re all the same!” Another pegasus mare shouted eagerly, quickly eliciting a round of cheers from everypony.

“So, none of you liked my show?” Trixie asked, casting her gaze across the crowd like it was more an accusation than a question.

“Oh, we loved your show, Trixie!”

“It was so colorful and exciting!”

“It was the best thing I’ve ever seen!”

“You did really great!

Trixie furrowed her brow at the, not unexpected, answers she got. Standing up straighter, she steeled herself a bit for the next part “So you all still wanted to be my friend, even though I could do something that none of you could have done?”

That seemed to throw a wrench into the collective gearworks of everypony present, as all of the villagers gathered realized the weight of that last question. More than at any point before, they all seemed briefly stunned by this line of reasoning. They had all adored the show Trixie had put on, with many wanting her to put on an encore. They had flocked to her, wanting to know everything about her.

Back when Trixie still had her Cutie Mark.

“I- well we- that is we all wanted you to feel welcome and-” One stallion started to stammer out.

“So, you all were just lying to make me feel better?” The showmare asked.

“No, not at all! It was a really great show and-”

“It’s my fault, Trixie...”

This steady upswelling of cognitive dissonance tapered off for a moment, as everyone gathered on the street turned their attention towards Starlight Glimmer, Trixie included.

“I actually knew that already...”Trixie remarked, even as she tilted her head at this turn of events.

“I am so very sorry, everypony. I really should have spoken up sooner, shared my true feelings with Trixie sooner. I just couldn’t bear the thought of burdening our newest friend so soon...” Starlight dramatically lamented, as she slowly stepped out in front of everypony, holding a hoof to her chest. There were few that weren’t held rapt by this, apart from Trixie who found herself rubbing the back of her head in bemusement.

“Maybe she is madly in love with me after-”

“I didn’t want to say it out loud, but...Trixie reminded me of just how much better than me a pony could be...” Starlight eventually admitted to her crowd of onlookers, dropping her head in apparent shame at those words. Looking up to her concerned followers with tears in her eyes, she held her hooves out to them “You all were so excited when she was putting on her show. I know it’s silly...but I’ve been so afraid that you all would forget about me...”

Sure enough, the many villagers quickly gathered around her, some holding their heads in shame and others extending comforting hooves out towards the pink mare.

“We’re so sorry that we made you feel like that, Starlight!”

“We had no idea!”

“I only wish you’d spoken up sooner!”

“Friends, now and forever!”

“I’m not even worried about breakfast anymore!”

“We could never forget such a good friend like you, Starlight!”

Trixie couldn’t help but sag in place, as she watched the many ponies gathered in front of her flocking towards Starlight and giving the pink mare their support. The showmare had thought she’d been doing so well, so seeing how quickly Starlight yanked them back into her web was disheartening to say the least. Letting out a huff of temporary defeat, Trixie glared off to the side before grousing “That’s the last time Trixie ever does improv...”

Glancing back to the mass of ponies fawning over Starlight Glimmer, Trixie still couldn’t quite place how the pink pony had managed to turn that around so quickly. And it certainly seemed like Starlight was exceedingly aware that she had just won this round, basking in their attention and promises that they wouldn’t leave her.

“Although...” Trixie had to muse to herself, before glancing to one side and then the other.

Very nearly everyone’s attention was focused away from Trixie, as they showered Starlight with assurances and were praised by her in turn. Most importantly, it seemed even Starlight’s had been distracted by this little scene they were making. It wasn’t exactly her most subtle or grandiose of schemes, but she was heartened by the lack of attention when she started sidling off to the side.

“That’s right...all of you just keep doing what you’re doing...don’t mind Trixie...” This felt like far less of an accomplishment than it should have, but it’s not like she could complain. If she could just sneak away, she could worry about getting her Cutie Mark back later. All she had to do was slip off to the side, near one of the buildings, and she could dive out of sight before anyone even spotted her.

And then somepony spotted her.

At the edge of the milling group of townsponies there was Sugar Belle, looking on doubtfully as her neighbors all extolled the values of their town. Ducking her head, she had turned her gaze off to the side, as she ruminated over her own contrary feelings.

Just in time for her eyes to settle on the sight of a certain showmare awkwardly trying to scuttle away. There was a heavy moment between the two of them, as they both wondered the implications of the other spotting them. For Sugar Belle’s part, she quickly found herself plagued with concern for the other mare, knowing that Trixie had only been dragged into things due to the baker’s own selfishness.

And a quiet, deeply suppressed part of Trixie normally would have agreed with Sugar Belle’s estimation of things. Some part of her really wanted to reaffirm that none of this would be happening to her right now, if Sugar Belle and her friends hadn’t come to her with their problems. A part of the Great and Powerful Trixie really wanted to put Trixie’s problems way ahead of anypony else’s.

Another part of Trixie felt like a real heel, for thinking like that. She was pretty sure that sentiment was part of the ‘real’ Trixie too. It was just a part of her that she’d only just started bothering to listen to and was still learning to cultivate. And that the bizarre equalizing mark seemed to want her to listen to loud and clearly.

Staring back at Sugar Belle, realizing how helpless the baker looked, Trixie had to grit her teeth at the decision that she felt had been made for her. Glancing towards the rest of the ponies, Trixie shared another look with the other mare, before jerking her head to the side pointedly. Seeing the uncomprehending look being sent her way, the showmare again nodded towards Sugar Belle before turning her gaze to the corner of the building she had been sneaking towards.

Trixie wasn’t sure how much clearer she could make it. But, thankfully, Sugar Belle seemed to cotton on to what she was trying to communicate, to Trixie’s great relief.

Which is why it was so frustrating for Trixie, when the other mare seemed to hesitate, glancing back towards the other townsponies with uncertainty. Wondering if perhaps her message hadn’t gotten through to her, Trixie tried once more to tell Sugar Belle to follow her. Between the very evident tension she was already feeling and the exaggerated effort she was putting into pointedly nodding towards her planned hiding space, Trixie was surprised she hadn’t pulled a muscle.

Sparing one last, anxious glance towards the other ponies, Sugar Belle finally seemed ready to commit. Keeping an eye on the rest of the villagers, she placed one hoof down after other and slowly but surely-

“Thank you so much, everypony! Together, I know we can show our new friend the power of equality! Isn’t that right?”

-freezing in place, as everypony turned their attention back towards Trixie.

Torn between annoyance and worry that somepony might have realized her cunning plan, the showmare likewise found herself frozen in place for a few moments. Swallowing down her own anxiety, as Starlight once more trotted over to invade her personal space, Trixie made a point of glancing anywhere but towards Sugar Belle.

“You see, Trixie? You don’t need to be special, you can just be-...what are you looking at?” Starlight blurted, as she finally took note of the other unicorn’s eye darting from side-to-side.

“N-nothing. I wasn’t- Trixie wasn’t looking at anything.” Trixie quickly denied, even as she craned her head to keep her eyes as far away from Sugar Belle as possible. Sparing a moment to glance back, she had to swallow again, when she noted the obviously suspicious look on the pink pony’s face “That is- I have something in my eye...Tears! Tears are in my eyes! I was crying, because you...foiled me...”

“I see...” Starlight eventually noted, scrutinizing Trixie for a few more moments. There was a tense few moments, when Starlight cast her gaze over the rest of the townsponies, apparently looking for any clue as to what Trixie was really going on about. But with a surprising ease, the pink unicorn seemed to shrug it off, before beaming a smile towards Trixie “Well then, I suppose if you’re so upset, you might want a bit of time to yourself? Perhaps a little privacy while you’re composing yourself?”

Trixie frowned mightily at that, her eyes wandering back towards the doorway of the drab prison she’d been locked in before, understanding Starlight’s meaning. Resisting the urge to let her gaze dwell on Sugar Belle, she turned back towards the mare at her side “...Eh, Trixie was thinking it might be better if she just stayed out here, while-”

“Nonsense! We all need a bit of time to ourselves now and then, Trixie. And besides...I feel like you need just a little more time to consider what life could be like for you here...with us.” Starlight firmly countered, using a hoof to start ushering Trixie towards the waiting building.

“Trixie’s pretty sure she’s already considered everything she needs to...”

“Oh! So you’re finally ready to accept our friendship?” Starlight retorted with a smile that was entirely too self-satisfied to be welcoming.

“...On the other hoof, Trixie’s starting to like the shed.”

Starlight tensed up ever so slightly, at the implied rejection of her newest friend, before giving what she thought was an affectionate chuckle. Giving Trixie a light shove from behind with her own magic, townsleader ignored the annoyed look being sent her way, as she escorted Trixie back to her temporary home. There wasn’t much point in Trixie trying to resist the prompting from her anyway, with the many ponies still filling the street and watching her with bated breath.

“I am so glad to hear that, Trixie. I was starting to worry that you might have been uncomfortable, in this...temporary housing situation.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But if there’s anything that we can do to make you more comfortable, while-”

“Trixie’s already taken care of that.”

“...Pardon?”

“Trixie’s already a lot more comfortable now. She did some Great and Powerful redecorating while she was inside.” Retorted Trixie, turning her own moderately smug look back towards Starlight Glimmer.

Not caring for this response one bit, Starlight gave a huff, before trotting past the two ponies stationed outside the door. Stopping at the threshold and glancing back towards Trixie, as if wondering if this was some manner of trick, she furrowed her brow before peeking inside.

“...What did you do?!?!” Starlight nearly screeched, causing the two ponies waiting outside with Trixie to nearly jump out of their skins.

As sparsely appointed as the small room was, Trixie had somehow still managed to turn the whole building upside-down. Posters were torn from the wall, pictures frames broken, straw had been strung about all over the floor, torn and crumpled up pages from the books were piled up in the corner. It was like a small tornado has passed through the building.

Most infuriatingly, the simple curtains that had been hung over the windows had all been torn down with varying degrees of success. Only to have, apparently, been tied together into a crude lasso, which even now was dangling from one of the speakers hanging from the ceiling. The speaker itself seemed to only be hanging on by a single nail, with wires pulled from their moorings and draped around the device. Dumbfounded, Starlight could still see how jerking on those wires had damaged the other speakers in the room.

Which explained why the light static she could hear coming from the three remaining speakers had replaced her inspirational recordings.

Taking advantage of this momentary distraction, Trixie glanced back to the crowd of ponies, before letting out a sigh of resignation and disappointment. As briefly satisfying as Starlight’s reaction had been, she didn’t think it would be enough to slip away. And more depressingly, it seemed Sugar Belle had merged back into the milling crowd of ponies.

It was starting to feel like she might not be able to rely on getting anypony to help her out of this situation after all.

Trixie managed to shift her attention back just in time, as Starlight came stomping back out of the small building, very apparently glowering at the former showmare. Everypony present seemed to pick-up on the shift of mood in the pink mare; even Trixie felt somewhat cowed by her anger, something she attributed to the mark at her sides.

“Why?! Why would you do that? Do you know how much work that took?!” Starlight snapped, gesturing a pink hoof wildly back towards the upended room.

Trixie couldn’t help but blink at the question. Resisting the urge to duck her head in forced shame at the reaction coming from the mare, she briefly had to remind herself that Starlight was the enemy. It didn’t matter how frustrated her abductor seemed to be or how much Trixie’s actions seemed to be hurting her feelings.

What would the ‘real’ Trixie do in this situation? What would she say to the crazy pony that had stolen her Cutie Mark, imprisoned her, and was trying to emotionally coerce Trixie into doing something Trixie didn’t want to do?

Something infuriating.

“Oh, Trix-...The Great and Powerful Trixie was just trying to make herself more comfortable. Like you said.” Trixie replied in as cool and composed a manner as she could manage. After a moment of thought, Trixie held up a hoof to carefully inspect, instead of giving any attention towards Starlight “...Don’t you like it?”

“Do I like- Do I like it?!” Starlight snapped again, a small vein starting to pop out of the side of her temple.

“Starlight, it’s alright. We can get this all cleaned up in a few hours.” One of the ponies at their side quickly assured.

“That’s right. We don’t mind, Starlight. A little mess is nothing to worry about.” The other pony agreed, giving an eager bob of his head

That seemed to shake the pink unicorn out of her temporary fit, as she visibly tensed up, before taking in a deep breath. And then another. And then one more for good measure, before finally starting to let her muscles unclench. Closing her eyes briefly, she took in one more controlled breath and slowly let it out.

“I am-...so sorry, everyone had to see that. Especially you...Trixie.” Some suppressed part of Trixie’s true self took no small amount of pleasure in how Starlight bit out her name. Even so, Trixie took a step back, as Starlight trotted forward a couple of steps “And I just want you to know...I’m not angry with you, Trixie. I’m just disappointed.”

“Yes, well-”

“But, even though I’m saddened by all of this...I will get through to you, Trixie.” Starlight cut-in, leaning in closer, till she was almost nose-to-nose with the blue unicorn. Narrowing her eyes a bit, as she closed the distance between them “Because that’s what friends do...understand?”

There were several long moments of silence, as two pairs of purple eyes stared into one another. Once more, there was a very large part of Trixie that didn’t want to speak up, that wanted to admit that Starlight would eventually win. She could feel whatever magic was involved in the equalization process forcing her rebellious thoughts down and making it harder and harder to be herself. But even so, there was one thought that rang clearly for Trixie.

“...Please don’t try to kiss me.”

Starlight went bug-eyed at that remark, before pulling back like she’d just been burned by the words themselves. Her snout bunching up in disgust, she started gesturing with a hoof towards Trixie, ready to deny that ridiculous possibility “For the last time! I am not in- OWWW!”

Those denials came to an abrupt halt, as Starlight winced and let loose a yelp of pain that couldn’t be held back. Reflexively slapping a hoof to the side of her cheek only seemed to aggravate the situation, as she let out another groan of pain at the sensation shooting from her tooth.

“Starlight, are you alright?!” One of the ponies at her side called out, quickly leading to most of the other townsponies to start crowding over in concern.

“I-I’m fine. It’s just a little-...” Starlight let out another hiss, realizing that trying to talk right now might not be the best course.

Of course, that didn’t mean she needed to put up with the smug grin she was getting from Trixie.

Her horn lighting up with it’s own telltale glow, she quickly gave Trixie a firm magical push into the waiting shed. It didn’t bring much in the way of comfort to Starlight, the sight of Trixie stumbling into the building as she was caught off-guard. She hadn’t made nearly as much progress as she had been hoping...

“We’ll-...we’ll pick this up another time...”

Inside the shed...

Giving a shake of her head, just in time to hear the door close behind her, Trixie spared only a moment to glare at the door. Frowning at being so roughly handled again, she soon got her hooves back under her, before standing back up with only a touch of shakiness. Still, falling on her face wasn’t the worst outcome she could have imagined happening.

“I think I can safely say that was a win for the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The showmare declared to herself, turning her nose up and smiling to herself. It was only after she recalled where she once again was, that her spirits deflated again “...Oh, right.”

For all that she might have infuriated Starlight, Trixie hadn’t really accomplished much beyond making a mess of the place she was currently staying. If anything, angering the pink mare was just going to make things harder on her, and make it harder for her to persuade any of her brainwashed followers into siding with Trixie.

Her expression becoming increasingly downcast as she took in her surroundings, the azure unicorn let out a defeated sigh, before slumping back down to the floor. Any spot was as good as any other, as it wasn’t exactly like she’d been provided a bed.

“Ehhh...this is so stupid. The real Trixie would have had them eating out of her hooves...” Trixie lamented, even as she rested her head against the cool stone floor. Glancing back at the hard work she’d done and the resulting mess of that hard work, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes “...Well, at least, Trixie’s still Great and Powerful when it comes to annoying ponies and driving them away...”

Crossing her forehooves this time to provide something other than the hard floor to rest her head on, she tried to get comfortable, in the hopes that it might help the brainstorming process “Uggh...why couldn’t that be something these stupid equal marks dealt with. I’d have a way easier time making friends if I was exactly as annoying as everypony else...”

"At least now, I'm being rude and annoying on purpose." Frowning at that, she let out a groan, at revealing that unpleasant truth to herself. Dropping her head back to the floor, she rose her forehooves up to cover her head, to figuratively try to block out some of these depressing thoughts.

“Maybe I can try to use that to my advantage...maybe I can act like such a jerk they’ll just run me out of this crazy town...”

Letting out a frustrated grown, she started running her hooves through her mane, both admonishing herself for that distracting thought and trying to massage away the growing headache she felt creeping in again.

Tick-tick-tic-tic...

“Huh?” Trixie’s ears were quickly set to twitching by a light clicking sound, the sound of a small, hard object bouncing on the stone floor before coming to a stop. Lifting her hooves for a moment, she peeked open an eye to stare out past her now disheveled mane. Sitting up a bit, she cast her gaze on the floor before she finally rested her eyes on the culprit.

It was indeed a small, hard object, no bigger than a small marble and with a small bit of broken twine still dangling off of its round form. It was only when she finally recognized it for what it was, that she let out an excited gasp.

Diving forward without thinking, she quickly scooped up the small ball, even as she ended up flopping her belly onto the unforgiving stone floor. Not that the soreness hitting her undercarriage registered with Trixie, not now that she finally had something to work with.

It was one of her smokebombs.

One of her easily concealable smokebombs. It took her only a minute to recall where she’d been keeping it, before reaching back into her messy mane with a hoof. Sure enough, with a bit of feeling around, she managed to find the other one that she’d managed to tuck into her mane.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes! Hah! Suck on that Starlight Glimmer! The Great and Powerful Trixie still managed to pull one over on you!” She excitedly crowed to herself.

An old trick she’d learned when she was just starting out with her show, was to always keep some of her accouterments on hoof, for a bit of spontaneous showing-off. Most ponies expected a showmare to be able to entertain when she was prepared and on-stage, but it was far more impressive when one could improvise on the spot. So, she’d eventually figured out all kinds of extra little hiding spots for these tools of the trade.

In this case, she had long since always kept a couple of smokebombs concealed in her mane. It was a bit challenging getting them secured, necessitating the use of her magic to get the twine tied to the little balls. But after no small amount of trial-and-error she’d figured out a way to secure them in her mane in such a way that they wouldn’t fall out or be easily spotted.

Granted, she couldn’t even halfway remember her process behind hiding them, with the equalizing mark working its own magic.

But that didn’t matter now, as now Trixie had her own trick up her figurative sleeves, something they wouldn’t be expecting. All she needed to do was find a way to use them to distract or trick the ponies outside and she could escape. An easy trick for the Great and Powerful Trixie to pull off.

The equal sign on her flanks gave out another pulse, serving as a pointed reminder that despite her efforts...she wasn’t really the Great and Powerful Trixie right now.

Frowning in thought, she stared down at the small object resting in her hooves, willing it with all of her might to serve as her ticket out of this place. Trixie knew that there had to be some way to use it to get her out. Something so simple, that it should have been painfully obvious for her...

“...This might be harder than Trixie thought.”

Author's Note

Yay! An update! And a chunky one too!

...Yeah, I have no excuse for how long this took. :twilightsheepish:

Anywho, you guys can look forward to witnessing Trixie's cunning escape plan in the next chapter. Questions and comment always welcome. Later.

Chapter Eight: Escape from the Crazy Place

“Alright, Trixie. You’re a smart, independent...mildly brainwashed mare. You can do this.”

So far, she hadn’t done it.

A realization she punctuated by plopping her rump onto the unforgiving floor once more, taking a short break from the constant pacing she had been doing. Running a hoof through her upset mane once more, to confirm the presence of one of the two smokebombs she had inadvertently smuggled in, she turned her gaze back towards the other one. Sitting on the floor, impotent and as useless as Trixie felt right now, the small, marble-sized trinket seemed to mock her with the possibilities.

Bringing her hooves to her face forcefully, Trixie found herself roughly rubbing at her forehead, as she grumbled in frustration “Urrrggh! This should be easy, Trixie! You’ve escaped the consequences of your actions countless times! How many times have you run away from your problems? Escaped angry mobs? Smoked-out of boring conversations? You’ve made tons of dramatic exits!”

Letting out another moan, Trixie covered her face again, as she flopped forward onto her stomach. Uncovering her eyes with her hooves, she focused her gaze back upon the smoke bomb again, the ticket to her escaping this place. Lifting a hoof up, she lightly tapped it, before rolling it around idly “Why can’t Trixie think of a single thing to do with you...?”

Granted, the former showmare knew full well why she couldn’t think of anything she could try with the little ball. Every part of what made Trixie special was currently being buried under an unrelenting wave of dull sameness, courtesy of the magical mark at her side. She knew that she should just know certain things, but for the life of her, it’s like her brain just couldn’t make the connections anymore.

Sitting back up, Trixie let out a long sigh at that, before tilting her head from one side to another. Feeling a light crack and small release of tension, she took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

“Alright. I-...That is, the Great and Powerful Trixie will just need to take this step-by-step.” The azure unicorn declared to the empty room.

Which made a certain amount of sense. If whatever magic that was effecting her was making her just like everyone else, she’d just have to think of a plan that anyone could come up with.

“Errr...Wait, but if Trixie comes up with a plan that anypony could think of, wouldn’t they expect that? Well...No. They don’t know that I have any of my smokebombs with me, so...they couldn’t expect that, right?” Trixie mused to herself, rubbing at her chin with her hoof.

“I guess...Trixie guesses she could try improvising again. If Trixie does something that Trixie thinks is weird and random right now, then...they would think it’s weird and random too.” Trixie furrowed her brow at that, before considering the idea more closely “Wait...can I even think of anything that they wouldn’t think of though?”

“Eh, improvising is probably the best idea I’m ever going to have...which is not great.” Trixie noted aloud, as she glanced around the mess she’d made of the shack. All improvising had done for her so far was make Starlight Glimmer angry and make the place Trixie has to sleep in even less comfortable than it already was.

“Okay! So thinking inside the box isn’t going to work, because they all think inside the box. And Trixie might just be physically incapable of thinking outside the box right now...So what are Trixie’s options...?” Trixie propped up her chin with her hoof as she again considered her supposed ticket out of this place, as it sat idly on the floor.

“Hmmm...Maybe Trixie could just go bonkers from the isolation and stuff. She’d be pretty unpredictable then, I bet...” Trixie noted to herself, before looking up at the ceiling. She was considering that idea more than she should have “It’s not like Trixie isn’t already talking to herself like a crazy-pony...”

About an hour later...

“Why, that is so kind of you to notice, Twilight. The Great and Powerful Trixie is wearing a new gown this evening.” Trixie declared in her snootiest Canterlot accent, as she adjusted the torn curtains she had flung over her withers “Trixie purchased it on her latest shopping spree. Which is just something Trixie does these days, now that she’s an extremely wealthy and famous showpony!”

Unsurprisingly, the roughly pony-shaped pile of crude paper mache failed to live up to its side of this scintillating conversation.

“...Too true, Twilight! Too true! Haha! That is just- you are so...funny...” Trixie trailed off a bit dejectedly. Before perking up, and wrapping a hoof around another even cruder pile of paper mache and dragging the soggy mess closer “And will you just look who’s here, Twilight!”

“...”

“Right! It’s one of your dear friends! It’s...The loud, flying one! You remember her! Back from when I humiliated her in front of the whole town and...tried to blast her with a torture beam...”

“...”

“Oh, no! We’ve talked about it a lot and we both agree that she was kind of asking for it...The time she heckled me, not- not the time I was- Oh look!” Trixie exclaimed, ready to change the subject of the conversation. Trotting over to a particular portion of the shack’s wall, she made a fanciful gesture to the collection of gouges and scratches she’d managed to lightly etch into the brick “It’s your favorite pony, Twilight!”

“...”

“Oh, stop! Obviously, your second favorite pony next to the Great and Powerful Trixie, I meant! It’s Princess Celestia!”

“...”

“Yes! It is amazing that I managed to get her to come to our little soiree! Funny thing, she and I actually go way back!”

“...”

“Granted, it was only once or twice...or once. But Princess Celestia knew my name! Isn’t that amazing? We have so much in common, Twilight.”

“...”

“What?! How could you- Of course, Trixie didn’t trick anyone into coming! Trixie knows some ponies other than you, Twilight Sparkle! She might not-...know their names, or anything. But she does know them!”

“...”

Trixie folded her forehooves across her chest and turned her nose up “No, no! If that’s what you really think, then go ahead! Here Trixie was trying to-...Trixie’s not really sure what she was trying to do! But she did invite your friends, so that’s something!”

“...”

“Trixie does so know their names!”

“...”

“Well, I- Trixie was just speaking hypothetically! She obviously knows your friends names!”

“...”

“I know what I said!”

“...”

“I’m not being hysterical! I just thought you of all ponies would be better than to keep reminding me of the past!”

“...”

“I know it was just a few seconds ago!”

“...”

“...Did Trixie just lose that argument?”

Staring at the rather unsightly paper mache statues once more, then down at herself again, she furrowed her brow. Looking about at her handiwork, all of the effort she’d put into this latest plan, she began taking measure of just how much time she’d wasted on this. Clenching her teeth in growing frustration, she took the curtains she’d draped around herself in her teeth, before flinging them on to the floor.

“Urrgrgh!! This isn’t even- This isn’t crazy! This is just sad!” Trixie loudly declared, before marching up to the paper mache lump that she’d been treating as Twilight. Angrily jabbing a hoof into the mush “And you! With as much time as you spend cavorting around in my head, you couldn’t take a few seconds to let me know this was a waste of time!?”

“...”

“No excuses! We both know I’m not crazy enough for this! So, the next time Trixie’s brainstorming, speak-up!”

“Are you talking to us?” A stallion’s voice hesitantly called from the other side of the doorway leading out of the shack, presumably one of the two guards that had been stationed to keep a watch over Trixie.

“What?! Why would I be talking to you crazy-ponies?!” Trixie loudly demanded, as she stomped over towards the door, now quite thoroughly in the middle of a tantrum “You lot are the whole reason we’re even in here!”

“...Are you alone in there? You’re supposed to be alone in there.” A mare chimed in.

“Of course, Trixie’s alone!”

“But...we heard you talking to someone and-” The stallion chimed again.

“Trixie was talking to her imaginary friends, thank you very much!” The showmare snapped. After only a few moments, she glanced back towards the paper mache piles again “That is- Trixie’s imaginary friends are real, they’re just...not here, right now! So she made real imaginary friends, because the real ones aren’t here!”

“...Right.” The stallion called back from the other side after a few seconds.

“Trixie’s not crazy!”

“We didn’t say you were!” The mare called back, sounding more than a touch distressed by the whole conversation.

“Then let Trixie out!”

“Wha- No! We’re not allowed to do that! Only Starlight-”

“Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!” Trixie started shouting, even as she braced herself against the door with her hooves and started beating on it in time.

“We can’t let you out!”

“You’re not gonna get through that door! Others have tried and-”

“Then you’re the crazy ones!” Trixie again cut-in, pausing only briefly in her battering of the door with her hooves.

“We’re not crazy! We just want to be your friend!”

“Arrrrggg!” Trixie snarled out one last time, before bringing both her hooves against the door at the same time with one final thud. This did nothing but lightly gouge the thick, heavy wood of the door, lightly jarring it on its hinges. Being a pony, it’s not as if Trixie had much leverage or solid footing, so the door scarcely moved at all really.

Trixie herself however found herself being pushed back quite a bit by the attempt on the door.

Stumbling back onto her back hooves, as she started to teeter backwards, Trixie found herself weaving her forehooves through the air purely out of reflex in an attempt at regaining her balance. One step back, then another, then another, she felt the strain of her back muscles working in ways they weren’t used to, as she tried to stay standing.

“Wha- wha- ah-ah...nope...”

It was strange, realizing that she was both about to fall and that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

“Ooomph!”

Crack-Hiss!

“Ow, ow, ow, ow...” Trixie groaned, as her rear came crashing down upon the hard floor. It had hardly been the worst fall she had ever suffered, but with how the last couple of days had gone, she was hardly in the mood for any bruises.

“Miss Trixie? Are you alright in there?” The mare from before called from the other side of the door.

“Mmmrgnn...No! Trixie is not fine! She- she-...What?” Trixie had to hold off on her snappy comeback, distracted by a peculiar hissing sound she couldn’t place. Glancing around, she took a moment to shift her sore posterior, which strangely lead to the hissing noise getting even louder “Trixie isn’t- That can’t be coming from Trixie, that-...No! No! No! Noooo!”

Rolling on to her hooves once more, she quickly looked back where she had landed, only to see a steadily growing cloud of smoke billowing out.

She’d fallen over backwards onto all of half of her chances to escape this madhouse.

“No, no, no, no, no, come on. You can fix this, Trixie!” Trixie started babbling to herself, as she leaned forward and tried to scoop up the smokebomb with her hooves. Which turned out to be quite a challenge, giving that they were hooves, the smokebomb was round, and the smokebomb was blasting smoke everywhere.

“Darn it!” The smokebomb quickly rolled out of her hooves, even as she haphazardly tried to pinch the opening closed. With several light clicks, it bounced along the floor before bouncing back off of the door, seemingly spewing out even more smoke now.

“Come on, come on!” Trixie muttered to herself, as she crawled over to the little ball, desperate to try to salvage it now.

“Wait...is that smoke?” The stallion called out from behind the door.

The showmare, now in a panic, froze for a moment at the question “Uhm....No! Trixie was just-...It’s steam! Trixie’s enjoying a nice steam and-...Wait a minute...”

“Steam?...Since when do we-...I’m pretty sure that’s smoke.” The mare counterpart noted to her colleague.

There was an audible pause from the stallion, before he continued “Why would there be smoke in the-”

“Fire.” Trixie quietly blurted, her eyes going wide.

“Did she just say-”

“FIRE!!! Fire! Fire! Fire! There’s a fire in here!” Trixie screamed at the top of her lungs, the moment finally clicking for her.

“Fire?!”

“What do we do?!?”

“Let me out! It’s fire!” Trixie reiterated for the benefit of the two ponies on the other side of the door, before pounding her hooves against the door.

“Uh! Uh! I- But- but-” The stallion audibly started stuttering.

“Can you- can you put it out yourself, Miss Trixie?! Don’t you have a tub of water?” The mare added in a slightly more controlled tone.

“What?! No! Trixie used all the water making her imaginary friends!”

“I-...I don’t understand.”

“Trixie is on fire! Let her out now! There’s burning and smoke and- and-...fire! Trixie hates fire!”

“Roll around! Just roll around! You’re supposed to roll around!” The stallion started shouting in a full-blown panic now.

The mare quickly started hammering on the door, panicking now too “No! Don’t roll around! You’ll spread the fire around!”

“Oh, no! The fire. Is. Everywhere!!!” Trixie continued shouting, even as she used her hooves to waft as much of the smoke as she could towards the door as quickly as she could. Pressing herself against the door she started moaning and shouting “Oh, gosh! There is so much fire now! It’s getting in Trixie’s mane and tail and-...other places! So much burning!!”

“Uh, uh, uh...let her out! We have to let her out!” The stallion shouted.

“I’ll get Starlight!” The mare replied.

“There’s no time!!”

“He’s right! There’s no time!”

“No time!”

“TIME!!!”

“Alright! Just- just hold on, Miss Trixie!” The mare finally caved, at the panicked shouts she was being bombarded by.

“YES!!!” Trixie exclaimed triumphantly, raising her hooves into the air in exultation.

“What was that, Miss Trixie?!” The stallion called, even as the mare was audibly struggling with a keyring.

Trixie froze for a moment, before glancing to the side “Yesss...Yes. I am...On fire!!! Oh, there’s so much fire!!!”

“Alright, alright and-...there!!” The mare shouted from the other side, flinging the door open in what some might have considered a very dramatic, very heroic manner “Hold on, Trixie!! I’m- Oommph!”

“Miss Trixie, wait!! The fire!” The stallion called after the quickly fleeing unicorn, pointing back towards the now empty shack. Watching as she disappeared around a nearby building, the stallion furrowed his brow before glancing to his female counterpart “She...she didn’t look like she was on fire...”

Still sitting on her haunches, the mare let out a sigh before giving a shake of her head “She did not...and she just ran away...”

“...Well, there’s some good news.” The stallion noted, before gesturing his hoof back towards the shack “At least, Miss Trixie put out the fire before running away.”

“I-...feel like I should be the one to explain this to Starlight.”

Elsewhere...

“Everything is going to go just...perfectly, Starlight. There’s no need to worry...”

Having said that, she couldn’t shake the sense that she was cracking around the edges. Fraying.

Starlight Glimmer was going to get through to Trixie eventually. It was inevitable. With some time by herself to let her temper cool once more, she’d spent the last few hours in seclusion, re-centering herself. She’d be relaxed, rested, and well-groomed, even as that noisome little-...future friend, wallowed alone in her filth and loneliness.

Soon, Trixie would see just how much easier it would be to just go with the flow.

Even so, Starlight had admittedly not slept well and it wasn’t just the matter of her cracked tooth leaving her restless. There had been plenty of little hiccups before, as she’d built up her perfect little life out here. It was no small task setting up a community in the middle-of-nowhere under the best of circumstances. Even moreso, when one was trying to setup a genuine utopia.

Miss Trixie’s reaction so far had been worrisome. For all that she needed to take a stern hoof to her newest friend, the former showmare’s reaction seemed just a bit unhealthy. Other converts had been a bit slow in coming around before now, but none of them had shown as much of an incorrigible attitude before. It took time for most ponies to accept true happiness here, in her town, but they were normally more subdued after having their Cutie Marks removed.

Trixie on the otherhoof, was defiant, loud, and unpredictable. Even the most eccentric of ponies saw their personalities leveled-out some after the process. But Trixie was still arguing with her out in the open, sowing pointless chaos, and upsetting all of Starlight's friends.

And putting problematic ideas in their heads.

Starlight wouldn’t be able to get any peace of mind until Trixie was brought into the fold. She could scarcely sleep and all of her attempts to organize her world seemed to fall flat. Cleaning up her home, organizing her followers, keeping up her personal appearance, all of those things normally gave her a certain amount of structure. A stability that she could anchor herself by.

That last one in particular was becoming a bit problematic, Starlight noted to herself as she meandered over to her small make-up collection. Even smaller than usual, she’d been going through more of her supplies lately. All that effort wasted on trying to fix her eyebrows, left her concerned that she might not have enough left if she ran into more important problems.

Starlight had resist the urge to glance at her own disguised flank, as the thought crossed her mind.

She’d just need to be more cautious. As tempting as it was to take another crack at re-drawing her eyebrows, she'd need to ration what she had left.

And she could stand to be a bit more methodical. At some point, she needed to find out just which of her friends had been speaking with Trixie. She had managed to head-off that issue before it could come to fruition, but it told her that Trixie wasn’t the only one looking to spoil her vision.

She could probably do to take a stroll around town. Chat with some of her friends, make sure all of the chores are being taken care of, allay any concerns that might be cropping up. Quash any rogue ideas that might be spreading.

Yes. Starlight always enjoyed spending time with her friends. When everything else fell apart, her friends would always be there for her. That thought alone was enough to ease some of the tension out of her body, something she could feel as she let out a long sigh...

“Starlight! Starlight, I need to speak with you!”

Closing her eyes for a moment, Starlight didn’t even register the panic in the other pony’s tone. Her little townsponies couldn’t handle anything without her their to guide them. Which was just the way she needed it to be. The pink mare recomposed herself before slipping a smile into her voice, before calling back “Just a few moments, and I’ll be right there!”

“Miss Trixie got out!”

“What...” She scarcely heard the sound of her hooves scraping across the floor, as she soon started scrambling towards the door. In seemingly the blink of an eye, she was slamming open her door with her magic, much to the surprise of the worried mare on the other side.

“...do you mean, Miss Trixie got out?” Starlight quietly finished her thought, through her teeth.

“I-...Yes, that’s- that’s what I mean.” The other mare responded in confusion, not having caught the first part.

“What!...do you mean, Miss Trixie got out?” The townleader quickly clarified, prompting the panicked mare’s ears to pin flat against her head.

“There-...there was some confusion and- and now she’s...no longer in the shack. She’s out. And we don’t know where she is.” The mare hesitantly clarified, even as she ducked her head in obvious worry for Starlight’s growing anger.

“And...how did this happen?”

“There...we think she-...Miss Trixie tricked us...somehow.” The mare finally admitted, bowing her head in abject shame. A moment later, the mare furrowed her brow before glancing upwards “I-uh...Am I interrupting your-...”

“How could she trick you?! She was locked up in a room! All you had to do was-...” Starlight could feel her face bunch up tightly, as she realized that she was snarling down at the poor mare. That wasn’t right. It’s not the pony she was supposed to be for her friends.

But she was too frustrated to be dealing with this kind of ineptitude right now.

A moment later, the mare was stumbling to one side of the doorway, as Starlight stomped past her out onto the village’s singular street. Frowning, the mare quickly moved to keep pace with her townsleader.

Deciding it was best to draw no further attention to her friend’s sour mood, she quickly drew abreast of Starlight before continuing “W-We’re not quite sure what happened. Things seemed perfectly normal...-ish. Then we started seeing some smoke and then Miss Trixie started shouting that there was a fire. When we let her out, she-”

The poor mare had to skid to a stop, as Starlight herself abruptly turned towards her with a look of outrage “You mean you let her out?!”

“Well...Yes?” The mare ducked her head, her ears flattening, as she murmured the response.

“Why would you let her out?! You knew that she wasn’t ready!”

At this, she had to glance from one side to the other, before looking back up towards the angry pink unicorn “Because...we thought there might be a fire?”

Starlight’s face visibly clenched in frustration, that was only briefly marred by a look of pain, presumably from her hurting molar. Closing her eyes briefly, she took in a deep breath, before letting it out in a ragged sigh. Setting her gaze back upon the sheepish mare, she spoke once more in a calmer tone.

“The next time you think something is wrong, you come to me. Do not go making reckless decisions like that again. Understand?” Starlight punctuated the last word with a light stomp of her hoof.

“But...we thought there was a fire. She could have-”

“Do you understand!?” Starlight snapped again, leaning further into the other mare’s personal space as she was forced to repeat herself. Seeing the quick nods coming from her fellow villagepony, Starlight let her earlier anger melt away.

Taking a step back now, the pink townsleader relaxed once more, before nodding her head and gesturing with her hoof to herself “Now, I apologize if I was brusque...but there is a reason you all come to me for guidance. Now isn’t there?”

“...Yes, Starlight. I’m sorry, Starlight.”

Starlight gave another nod at that, glad to have things back in her hooves “Excellent. Now, when you eventually managed to put out the fire, I-”

“Oh, there-...There wasn’t actually a fire, we don’t think...” The mare hesitantly added.

“Of course not...” Starlight seemed to say more to herself, as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back for a moment. Rubbing at the bridge of her nose for a moment, she opened her eyes again “Why am I not surprised?”

“Although, there were some odd things in the shed.” The mare continued, with a gesture of her hoof to the building they’d been holding Trixie in.

“Odd how?”

“I-...don’t really know where to begin.” The mare admitted.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway.” Starlight bit out, vexed ever more by how unhelpful everypony was being. Giving a glance along the street at least confirmed that a few of her ponies were taking note that something was amiss. Lighting her horn up with her magic, the feeling of the voice-amplifying spell settling into her throat, she marched to the center of the street.

“Front and center, everypony! We have an emergency and I need everypony’s attention!” Starlight called out to her villagers, her voice gaining a metallic twang to it, that made it sound as if she were speaking through a megaphone.

All the same, ponies began pouring out of their houses to join those already in the street in listening to whatever it was their leader needed to tell them. Soon, there was the quiet, worried murmuring of the townsfolk filling the one street of the tiny village.

A noise which rather perfectly summed up Sugar Belle’s current emotional landscape, as she shifted uncomfortably among her neighbors. She already suspected she knew what this emergency was related to. Even so, she wished that she’d ended up closer to where Party Favor was currently situated; idle speculation wasn’t much, but it still would have been something.

Party Favor even seemed to notice her trepidation, even through the crowd of ponies, trying as he was to give her an encouraging smile.

Though, he honestly seemed even more anxious than she was.

They never should have dragged Trixie into this.

“It has come to my attention that, through some manner of misunderstanding, Miss Trixie has gotten loose!” Starlight continued on, dragging Sugar Belle’s attention to the fore. The pink unicorn began pacing in a small circle in front of everyone as she continued “Now, while I’m sure this was an accident, we all need to take every measure possible to quickly locate her!”

There quickly followed the expected uptick in murmurs from the crowd of ponies, before one stallion stepped forward with a raised hoof “Starlight? Does this have anything to do with some of the things Miss Trixie’s been saying?”

While she was sure that most everypony else failed to notice it, Sugar Belle couldn’t ignore the brief flash of fury that crossed Starlight’s face at the question. It was fleeting, with Starlight turning to one side, and was quickly replaced by the earlier mix of concern and authoritative leadership she’d been displaying before. But she was sure it had been there.

“Thank you for reminding everypony of that, Steady Beat.” Starlight began, with a nod towards the stallion that had spoken up. Turning back to the rest of the crowd, she gestured her hoof widely “Surely we can all understand that Miss Trixie is going through some very big changes right now! Changes that, while ultimately good for her, must be very confusing for her right now!”

Bringing her hoof down with a stomp, she leaned in towards the crowd “That’s why it’s even more important that we be the best of friends we can be for Trixie, and bring her back quickly. In her state, she could very well hurt herself or do something reckless! So, we need to make certain that she does not leave our village; there’s no telling what might befall her if she ran off into the wilds right now!”

Sugar Belle was a bit disappointed to see how quickly everypony quickly fell in behind Starlight’s reasoning. She was just as worried as everypony else was for Trixie, but for entirely different reasons.

She supposed it was simply due to her own realization, that she wasn’t happy in the village, that perhaps she could realize that somepony else genuinely might not want to stay either.

“And remember everypony, Miss Trixie is going through a lot right now, so we must all remember to not take anything she might say to heart!” Starlight continued, holding a hoof to her chest as she added this part. Lowering her hoof, she then pointedly cast her gaze across the crowd “And I can understand how some of you might be tempted to ‘help’ Miss Trixie! But the best thing for her, is for her to be with her friends, as she learns the wonders of our little town.”

“To that end...we all need to keep an eye out for any sort of suspicious behavior! If anything or anypony seems to be acting strange, you should come to me immediately!” Starlight added, while tilting her head back and gesturing to herself once more.

Sugar Belle ducked her head at that, fairly certain that Starlight’s gaze had lingered on her, as she brought up the possibility of suspicious behavior. She found herself backing up just ever so slightly back towards the edge of the crowd now, trying not be too worried by how many of her friends seemed to have no problem with what Starlight was saying.

They wouldn’t turn on her too, would they?

Or was she the one turning on them?

She really didn’t know anymore. Sugar Belle thought that she was unhappy, miserable even, but was she really? How could she be when she had so many friends and so few worries? Nothing bad had ever happened in their little village until she’d approached Trixie, tried to drag Trixie into her problems. She could have just kept all of this to herself, and surely those feelings would have passed on their own. Sugar Belle had been the one that had started sneaking behind ponies backs and conspiring and lying to others, not Trixie.

If she hadn’t spoken to Trixie about this, wouldn’t things have been better? She could have just talked to Starlight and explained the problem and asked for help. Then Miss Trixie would never have...

No one ever really left the village.

Sugar Belle had never really come to that realization before now, that all of their ‘visitors’ inevitably became residents. Perhaps she’d been just as caught up in the excitement of gaining new neighbors and friends, just as everypony else was.

But nopony that ever paid their little village a visit was ever truly allowed to leave, before Starlight got to them. And she always convinced them to stay, just like she was trying so hard to do with Trixie.

And Night Glider and Party Favor, they’d come forward too and admitted that they weren’t perfectly happy with the ways things were either.

How many ponies would have tried to escape themselves, if they could have managed it?

“How many of us-”

“Something on your mind, Sugar Belle?”

“Yaaahh!”

“Ahhhh!” The stallion, Weighted Scales, yelped right back at Sugar Belle.

Blinking for a couple of seconds, as she stared back at her confused neighbor, the unicorn mare quickly tried to compose herself.

With the stallion looking her up-and-down with concern, she didn’t really know where to start.

“That is- I-...Yaaaah-...sss. Yaaah-sss. Yes. Yes, I’m so sorry. I’m just- Uhhh- I was-” Sugar Belle babbled for several seconds, quietly terrified that the other pony had somehow been privy to her inner thoughts.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Sugar Belle...” Scales eventually said, holding up his hooves in a calming motion. Giving the clearly distressed mare a smile, he gave a tilt of his head “I understand.”

“You-...You do?”

“Of course...we’re all worried about Miss Trixie. She’s out there, all alone and confused.” The stallion easily clarified for Sugar Belle, inadvertently giving her an out.

“Uh-...Oh, yes! I mean...yes. Yes, I was just so worried about Miss Trixie. And- Well, you startled me...” Sugar Belle continued sheepishly, crossing her forehooves in front of her, and glancing to the side “I, uh...I’m terribly sorry about my outburst, Scales.”

She didn’t remember leaving the door to her bakery open.

That one thought lanced straight through everything else, as she stared at the slightly ajar entrance into her place. Just out of the corner of her eye, when she’d turned away in embarrassment, it was as clear as day. All concerns for the ponies around her washed away, she didn’t even hear as the stallion right in front of her continued to try to comfort her.

Could Miss Trixie have...?

She would have had to run right out in the open, but it was possible. It would be absurd though, as any rational pony would have made a run for it by now, right? She’d be halfway back to Equestria looking for help by now. That would have been the sensible thing to do. Unless...

It couldn’t possibly be her fault again, could it? Was Trixie staying behind to try to help her? She’d managed to escape from the shed, something almost nopony even bothered with trying. If Trixie really was that capable, it could have been foal’s play for her to sneak past everypony while they were focused on Starlight’s speech.

A strange mixture of guilt and hope swirled about her insides, even as common sense tried to rein her in. The door might have just not caught the latch, when she’d been stepping out. Or maybe someone else had popped in looking for her and left the door open. Or just maybe, it was-

“Sugar Belle?”

“Wha- Oh! Oh, yes!” The mare blurted out, as she realized once more that she’d gotten lost in her own thoughts and worries. This time, right in front of Scales, judging by the perplexed, even more concerned look he was sending her.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” The stallion asked with a tilt of his head. Holding up a hoof, he gestured towards her “If this is too much for you, then perhaps-”

“No, no....I’m fine. I was just-...I was just thinking, that I could...” Sugar Belle trailed off as she avoided Scales’ gaze. Worried about drawing anymore suspicion, it was only a few scant moments later she blurted out the first thing her eyes wandered across “The bakery.”

“The...bakery?”

“Yes, I was thinking, I...should check the bakery...to see if perhaps Trixie is there.” Sugar Belle eventually supplied.

“Oh?...Well, maybe I should go with you. We can-”

“No!...I mean, there are- Miss Trixie probably wouldn’t be in there. It’s...small. And, I wouldn’t know why she would go there.” Sugar Belle quickly tried to divert her neighbor from investigating. Holding up a hoof, her mouth dropped open for a few seconds, as she fumbled for an alternative “What we should do is...What we should do...is check around the edge of town. To make sure Miss Trixie hasn’t gone too far.”

“Oh...that’s a good point actually. Starlight did say it could be dangerous out there.” The stallion easily conceded, bringing a hoof to his chin in consideration. Blinking in thought, he gestured to the other end of town “Maybe we should start at that end, and-”

“Oh! Uhm, when I said ‘we’...I kind of was thinking you.” Sugar Belle clarified with an awkward smile. Giving a nod of her head towards the bakery again “I thought, that I could check the bakery while you started on that.”

“Really? But-”

“Because, you see...I spend a lot of my time there. So, I’d be able to check it really quick and come out to help you...That makes sense.”

“Uhm...Okay. If you think that’s best, Sugar Belle.” Weighted Scales slowly agreed, visibly looking the mare up-and-down. Rubbing at his cheek, he glanced to the side “Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Sugar Belle? Maybe I should stay and-”

“I’m sorry, Scales. I just-...I am- It’s like you said. I am...upset. About all of this. I’m just so worried and- I just feel like I need a few minutes to compose myself. Just a little time in private.” Sugar Belle pushed forward, picking up on his doubts.

That seemed to get through to him, his eyes going a bit wide, before he reached out a hoof and patted her on the whithers “Oh, of course, Sugar Belle. I thought- I should have realized how upsetting this must be for you. You really got along well with Miss Trixie, didn’t you? You can take all the time you need.”

“Oh, thank you for understanding. Just so much, Scales. I just need a few minutes, and then I’ll be right out to help you.” Sugar Belle quickly nodded, as she sidled past the stallion towards the door of her bakery. Pausing for a moment, she quickly turned back “And, uhm...can you not tell Starlight about this?”

“What?”

“It’s just, she already has so much to worry about. And we really need to focus on Trixie right now. I don’t want to distract her.”

“I don’t think she would think it’s a distraction.”

“I know, I know.” Sugar Belle said quickly, with a couple of nods “I’ll talk to her afterwards, but-...the important thing is finding Miss Trixie. That’s-That’s definitely what’s most important...So, can you? Please?”

It took only a moment, before Scales was giving her a reassuring smile “Of course. Of course, Sugar Belle. We’ll get through this all together.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much, Scales. I’ll just be a few minutes. I promise...” Sugar Belle said again, as she backed up towards the doors of the bakery again.

“Like I said, take your time. Finding Miss Trixie is important. But so is taking care of yourself.” The stallion said one more time, gesturing with a hoof for her to continue. A few moments later, he gestured down the street “I’ll just start on this end of town, and you can join me when you’re ready.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much...” Sugar Belle said again, as she backed up through the door. Sparing one more smile and a nod for him, she closed the door behind her.

And then had to keep herself from collapsing to the floor.

Whatever feelings of guilt and hope she’d been holding on to before, quickly gave way to sheer stress and...more guilt. Lying to her friends was really not the best part of this whole situation. Raising a hoof to her forehead, she rubbed the spot under her horn, before letting out a sigh. She didn’t have any time to wallow in these feelings, she knew. With how hard Trixie was trying, how could she?

“Alright, Sugar Belle...You just need to- She’s probably not even here, but you can’t leave any stone unturned. You’ve got to find her before Starlight does.” Sugar Belle told herself, sitting down on her haunches and using her forehooves to pat her cheeks. Her thoughts cleared so slightly, she took in another breath, before standing up on all four hooves again.

Taking a few hesitant steps down the stairs into her bakery once more, she spared a moment to glance over the interior. Looking for any little inconsistency in how she’d left things, the shelves and cooking supplies set about the interior. There was her simple apron draped over one of the barrels. Tapping her hoof a couple of times, as she looked around, Sugar Belle had to resist biting her lip; she’d been so focused on everything else that had been happening, how likely would she have noticed if anything was out of place?

“Maybe I was right before. Maybe I’d be better off looking for Miss Trixie on the outskirts...” Sugar Belle noted aloud, before taking in a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she looked down at her own hooves in thought.

“Huh. What have we here?”

She’d been meaning to dust for a while, as there was never a shortage of the stuff blowing in from the unpaved street up above. Everything always seemed to drift ever downward around here. But it might have been good that she’d been putting it off, judging by what she was seeing.

“Hoof prints?” Sugar Belle said to herself. Not unusual in its own right, as she could see where she had trudged through the dust herself earlier. Squinting now, she looked along the floor and could almost piece together all the areas she’d wandered about over the course of the last couple of days.

So the trail of hoofprints leading off to what she knew to be a largely unused corner of the bakery caused her eyebrow to creep upwards.

“It’s a longshot, but maybe...” Sugar Belle said, even as she lightly trotted across the floor, following the errant set of tracks. Pausing, she looked about once more, wishing she had a light source on hoof. Raising a hoof to her mouth, she quietly called out “Miss Trixie? Are you in here?”

“It’s alright if you are...I was just- I wanted to try to help.” Sugar Belle called out again.

Furrowing her brow, as she stared at the uncooperative barrels and boxes that had been tucked away in the corners. She could feel a growing pit in her stomach, as it seemed increasingly likely that the showmare wasn’t here after all. Turning around in place, she called out again “Miss Trixie? If you’re here...I won’t tell Starlight that-”

“Hiyaaaahh!”

The next moments quickly became a tangle of hooves, grunts, and yelps of surprise rolling across the dusty floor. This came to an abrupt and altogether jarring stop for Sugar Belle, as a pair blue hooves pressed into her chest, ending with her being pinned to the floor staring up in a daze.

Right up into a pair of only mildly panicked, but also kinda angry, purple eyes.

“Ah-hah!”

“...Trixie? What are you doing?!”

“Tackling you to the ground!”

“Wha- Why though?” Sugar Belle demanded of the pony pinning her to the floor, with more confusion than annoyance.

Trixie blinked at that.

“Well?” Sugar Belle prompted again.

“...To take advantage of the element of surprise?”

“To do what?”

“...Trixie is willing to admit the plan had some holes.” Trixie conceded after a moment’s thought. Glancing upwards for a moment, she shook her head before focusing back on her captive “Still, now that the Great and Powerful Trixie has you in her clutches-”

“But I’m on your side.” Sugar Belle reminded with a frown, even as she held her forehooves crossed on her belly.

“...I hadn’t thought of that.” Trixie said with her own frown.

There was a long, awkward pause between them as the showmare avoided the baker’s gaze, pausing only for a moment to brush back her messy mane. Clearing her throat, Trixie gestured around the cellar “So...this is all very nice. You got some barrels and-”

“Are you feeling alright, Miss Trixie?” Sugar Belle interrupted, her voice laced with concern now.

“What? How could you- Trixie’s just- She’s still hammering out a few details but-” Trixie sputtered for a moment, as the bemused mare below her looked upwards. Sucking on her bottom lip for a moment, Trixie turned back towards Sugar Belle “Trixie is doing very well for herself and is not at all having any sort of identity...things. Things with the- I am just great...and powerful. Great and Powerful...”

Sugar Belle had to purse her lips, even as she swept her eyes over the showmare. Even without the rambling and erratic behavior, Trixie certainly didn’t look like she was doing well.

“Uhm, can you let me up? Please?”

“What? Oh, right.” Trixie quickly agreed, as she backed off of the other mare. Hesitatingly only briefly, Trixie soon offered a hoof to help Sugar Belle back up.

“So, as you can see...Trixie’s been working on a plan. It’s going pretty well...”

“I guess so...” Sugar Belle agreed, even as she gave what she hoped was an encouraging smile towards Trixie. Ducking her own head for a moment, Sugar Belle gave a more forceful nod towards the azure mare.

“I just can’t believe you’re still here, Miss Trixie. After you escaped, I-”

“That was on purpose!”

“...Sorry?”

“The escape. That- that was on purpose. That was the plan.” Trixie quickly clarified, before coughing and glancing to the side. A moment later, she idly brushed at a particular spot in her mane “The others were no help at all.”

“...You mean the ponies that were guarding you?”

“...Yes.”

“I’m really sorry about them. They really do believe that they’re just helping you. I know it’s not an excuse for all of this, Miss Trixie.” Sugar Belle finally managed to say, somewhat relieved that Trixie’s odd outbursts were taking a break.

“You’re darn right, it’s not an excuse!” Trixie abruptly exclaimed. Only for her to briefly pause, as she saw Sugar Belle ducked her head in worry and used her hooves to gesture for her to be quieter “Uh...You’re darn right, it’s not an excuse.”

“I know. Honestly, I was- I was worried that you’d be miles away by now.” Sugar Belle admitted.

“What’s that now?”

Before Sugar Belle could clarify herself, both her and Trixie’s attention was drawn upwards, at the sound of a hoof knocking on the bakery’s heavy wooden door.

“Sugar Belle? Is everything alright?...It’s Night Glider.”

The baker’s eyes went wide a moment later, before she turned to meet the gaze of the equally wide-eyed Trixie at her side. Leaning in, she quickly hissed out “It’s Night Glider!”

“I don’t remember who that is!” Trixie gave her own hiss of a whisper right back. Biting her lower-lip and pausing in apparent thought for a moment, she added “And I really feel bad about that! I’ll try to apologize later-”

“Focus, Trixie!” Sugar Belle quietly snapped.

“Uh, right! Right, I’ll just focus on- And-” Trixie started to babble, as she shifted about on her hooves and whipped her head around anxiously.

“Trixie! Hide!” The baker quietly clarified, even as she trotted up the steps to the doorway. She gave only a quick nod, at seeing the former showmare dive behind another pile of cooking supplies, before opening the door.

Swallowing down her own anxiety, Sugar Belle breathed in-and-out several times to settle her nerves, before plastering on the biggest, most painful smile she could manage. While she very much hoped that her pegasus friend was still on their side, with how things were, she couldn’t possibly be sure.

“Night Glider! I’m so glad to see you!” The unicorn loudly announced, as she opened the door to the bakery.

And was met by the very worried and not-at-all glad Night Glider looking back with a frown.

“I, uh-...Sugar Belle...That is, I’m glad to see you too,” The pegasus said with a bit of confusion, before rubbing her hooves together in front of her.

Sugar Belle quickly let her own painfully fake smile drop away, as she realized just how distressed her friend was. Glancing from one side to another, she easily confirmed that no one seemed to be paying any attention to her doorstep, she quickly ushered in the hovering Night Glider.

An offer which was quickly taken up by the dark blue mare, as she gently flapped her way past Sugar Belle and set down on the top steps. Very apparently reluctant to speak where anypony might hear, Sugar Belle gave a nod to her friend before glancing outside to make sure no one saw. With that she quickly, but quietly, shut the door behind them, pausing just long enough to make absolutely sure it was completely closed.

Turning back with a look of sympathy for the pegasus, Sugar Belle gave a small gulp before diving in “So, I’m guessing you’re as worried about things as I am?”

“Way more worried!” Night Glider exclaimed, before abruptly ducking her head and slapping her hooves over her mouth. Glancing back up, she spoke in a more controlled voice this time “I-I wasn’t entirely sure before, but Starlight Glimmer is getting way more...menacing and-”

“Menacing?” Sugar Belle had to blurt out, looking a bit alarmed.

“We never should have gotten Miss Trixie involved” Night Glider added, as she nodded back at the question. Leaning in closer, Night Glider again glanced around seemingly to make absolutely sure that no one was around again “I was just talking with Hazelblossom, and she was really, really worried.”

“Hazelblossom? Wasn’t she one of the ones that Starlight had-”

“Exactly, she was watching Trixie. But when Trixie got out and she went to tell Starlight, it was-...I-I don’t know, but Hazelblossom was really upset about it afterwards.” Night Glider haphazardly explained.

“Upset? I mean, did Starlight realize that she-”

“I don’t think Starlight cared.” Night Glider quickly cut-in “But going by what Hazelblossom said, I really think-...It’s really important, I think, that we find Miss Trixie first.”

“Y-You do?”

“I think...I don’t want to think it, but I’m worried that Starlight might...do something.” The pegasus said meaningfully.

And she could understand the vagueness in that statement; Sugar Belle wasn’t sure what might happen, but Trixie wasn’t the only that was behaving erratically. Starlight Glimmer could be...intimidating, even before all this started happening. And the pink townsleader was clearly becoming agitated. It felt like Starlight was starting to unravel, and she could admit that she wasn’t entirely sure what that would mean for their little town.

“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that from you.” Sugar Belle eventually said.

“What?” Night Glider blurted out.

“I mean, about the part where you think we should help Miss Trixie. Not the-...Not about Starlight.” The baker quickly clarified, holding up her hoof to calm the other mare.

“Oh. Oh, well that makes more sense.” Night Glider agreed, before glancing back up towards the doorway “But the others have a head-start on us, so I’m not really sure if-”

“Don’t worry. Just come down here with me, and I’ll show you.”

Night Glider had to tilt her head at this, even as she briefly took flight off of the stairway to let Sugar Belle pass by. Looking both ways curiously, Night Glider set back down before trotting down the steps after her.

Setting down on the dusty floor at the bottom, the pegasus looked around with a raised eyebrow for their surroundings “Uhm, what are we doing? If we don’t hurry-”

“It’s alright. Let me just find where she-”

“Hiyaaaahh!”

And Sugar Belle’s bakery was once more filled with the sounds of one pony tackling another pony, and subsequently rolling around on the floor.

Not a few seconds later, a dazed and confused Night Glider was lying on her back, with two azure hooves pinning her chest down.

“Hah! Trixie is starting to think this is her thing!”

“Trixie!” Sugar Belle had to snap, before wincing at her own shout.

“What?”

Giving a quick shake of her head, she quickly trotted over before gesturing to the two of them and biting out her next words between her teeth “Why did you do that?!”

“Do what?”

“That!” Sugar Belle again gestured a hoof towards the still pinned down pegasus beneath the former showmare.

“Oh...Trixie didn’t want to lose the element of surprise.”

“Wha- But she-”

“Don’t blame Trixie! This is the first time she’s ever done this!”

“You did it to me just a few minutes ago!”

“Trixie had the element of surprise then too!”

“Can I-...Can I please get up now?”

The two arguing unicorns paused for a moment to glance down towards Night Glider. After a few seconds pause, Trixie looked back over towards Sugar Belle “So, I’m not entirely sure about-”

“Yes. She wants to help.” Sugar Belle nodded, before shooing away Trixie.

“Right. I, uhm...Why did you just tackle me?” Night Glider babbled a bit, even as she stumbled back onto her hooves.

“Trixie’s sorry about that. She had the element of surprise.” Trixie explained, before Sugar Belle could say anything.

“I’s okay, I’d be pretty surprised too, if-...” Night Glider began to say, as she waved off her baker friend, before pausing as her ears perked up at a sound from above.

It was the same sound that drew all of their attention upwards, as another hoof banged on the door to the bakery.

“Hello? Sugar Belle?...It’s Party Favor.” The familiar sound of a certain stallion’s voice worked its way down to where they all stared up to its source “I saw Night Glider come in and I-...I was hoping we could all talk.”

“...Trixie better get into her hiding spot again.” Trixie quietly declared with a nod, before she shuffled off to the side, as the other two mares in the room watched.

Night Glider had to furrow her brow, as she watched Trixie duck down behind a barrel, before looking towards Sugar Belle “She’s not gonna tackle him too, when he gets down here? Is she?”

“She-...She’s not doing great.”

Author's Note

Yay, an update! Still, expect the usual typo corrections and touch-ups over the next couple of days.

Chapter Three: Didn't Think This Through

It kind of hurt the third time she went about redrawing in her eyebrows.

But, looking in the mirror revealed nothing short of perfection.

Slowly raising her newly drawn on eyebrows, the pink unicorn held her breath before giving them an experimental wiggle. Seeing them move in a mostly natural-seeming manner, Starlight Glimmer let out a slow breath, finally satisfied with her results. Those damnable pyrotechnics, from that-...their humble town's newest guest, had singed them clean off earlier, necessitating her current work. The somewhat uncomfortable, frustrating work, of drawing on a new set of eyebrows, that had taken up the last hour of her time.

This was after touching up the make-up covering her Cutie Mark, of course.

That thought had brought a scowl to her now well-eyebrowed countenance. It had been nothing more than a few minor smudges, some ever so slight distortions to the geometric perfection that was the sign of their town. Starlight was sure nopony noticed, that where every other Cutie Mark in the town had been properly replaced by an understated equal-sign, her's was simply concealed with a bit of expertly applied make-up...

The unicorn blinked, before turning back to her reflection in the mirror. Amazingly, the showpony's rogue firework managed to not destroy her vanity, unlike much of the rest of her personal abode. Broken glass, ash and burn marks, knocked over possessions, the first time she'd seen it Starlight very nearly...

Her eye was twitching again, she dourly noted. The area where her eyebrows had been were still a bit sore, so that was to be expected. Admittedly, that was more a result of her repair work than their destruction.

She must have pressed down a bit too hard with her eyebrow pencil, forcing the underlying skin and muscle to behave long enough for her to draw in what was lost. Really, it shouldn't have been so hard replicating the smooth, precise curves of her own eyebrows.

Regardless, after a few more odd touch-ups to her mane, she'd be ready to step out amongst her ponies again, good as new. Everything would be just right when she stepped out her door. Just perfect...

Sparing a glance through the intact upper-level window, let Starlight take in the sight of the interloper, this Trixie, surrounded by ponies.

It was really quite...embarrassing, that Starlight's ponies could be so easily taken in by simple glitz and glamor. It was almost as if they had forgotten that they could do without that sort of nonsense, almost as if they had forgotten how much happier they were now.

She knew it wouldn't be long though. With an act like that, it wouldn't be long before her townsponies started to see the unfavorable comparison between themselves and the showmare.

Soon, they'd want nothing to do with her.

And like a flower without its rain, the Great and Powerful Trixie would shrivel up into a little nothing.

And there Starlight Glimmer would be, ready and willing to offer her a sip from the watering can of equality...after a little bit of pruning, the unicorn would be another welcome addition into her garden.

The thought of being there to help another lost pony lead to Starlight turning back to her mirror to meet her reflection with a genuine smile.

She'd gone and let herself get entirely too worked up. After all, this was hardly the first time a new member of her town had needed some extra attention.

Yes, with just a little bit of effort, everything would be perfect once more...

Outside...

“So, you're quite sure she isn't going to be holding that whole window-thing against Trixie?” Trixie again asked of her cadre of newly gained followers, referring to Starlight Glimmer.

“Starlight Glimmer would never hold a grudge over an honest accident.” One stallion eagerly noted.

Raising an eyebrow at the chorus of agreements that came from around her, Trixie shrugged after a moment “Well, Trixie supposes that's lucky. Not that Trixie wouldn't pay for the damages if she could, but-”

“Oh, your bits aren't any good here, Ms. Trixie.” Another stallion, sporting a rather...unflattering cloak, explained with a wave his hoof.

“What?” Trixie's worries over her gratuities being sucked away to pay for a broken window came to a rather abrupt halt.

“Party Favor's right! In our town, we don't need any bits to help one another. Here, we do all we can to provide for one another, whenever it's needed.” The pegasus from earlier, Night Glider, quickly backed up the claim.

Looking across the many smiling faces, which were even now nodding in agreement over this revelation, Trixie gave a confused tilt of her head “So...this town doesn't use bits? At all?”

Trixie had to resist making a face at the seemingly synchronized shaking of heads that met her question, before bringing up the issue that she was really worried about “And that would mean that none of you have any bits?”

“That's right! We all gave up such impersonal measures of ones value when we came here!” Party Favor excitedly explained.

“No bits?” Trixie asked again.

This was met with shaking heads and smiles.

“No coins of any kind?”

Again, the answer was in the negative.

“No gems?”

More head shaking.

“Not even paper money?”

“No forms of currency whatsoever!” One mare enthusiastically summed up.

Trixie let her head drop, as she finally accepted the inevitable. There was no way she was going to be making any sort of money in this town. Personally, the showmare wasn't in it for the money. But that didn't mean she didn't understand the necessity of getting paid once in a while.

Trixie was utterly broke.

Months of saved up earnings from soul-crushing jobs, all of it, had gone into funding her great comeback.

She'd taken out a loan just to finish paying for her third wagon, so she was actually worse than broke. It was a fairly lenient loan, yes, but still...

She didn't even have money left to stock up on actual food, for her travels. Apart from the wagon, a huge chunk of her money had gone into building up a stock of props and pyrotechnics, for the sake of-

Trixie actually paled a bit, when she recalled all the fireworks and props she had literally burned through in her very first show. Sure, she had plenty more, but she had also been counting on, at least, being able to cover the costs of just performing with each show. Even now, the numbers were floating through her head, taunting Trixie with their concrete values and holier-than-thou attitudes.

And then there was the cost of paying to have her busking permit renewed with the Equestrian Guild of Performers and Entertainers. Which, now that she thought about it, was entirely a waste of money anyway, as she wasn't technically in Equestria right now. No, she was in a town that didn't even use money.

So, the one place that was willing to give her show a chance...didn't use money. And all the towns in Equestria that had money, wouldn't give her show a chance if she paid them to.

Trixie facehoofed.

She had to commit fraud getting that stupid permit renewed...

...On the bright side, it sounded like she wasn't going to have to pay for the damages to that mare's home.

“Is everything alright, Ms. Trixie?”

Dragging her hoof down her face, as Trixie lamented the situation she had fallen into “...How can you not have any money? How-...how do you ponies even do anything? Trixie can't- Trixie doesn't even have any food, and you-”

“Oh, you're hungry? We've got plenty of food to share.” Sugar Belle helpfully mentioned.

Trixie's ears perked up.

“Yeah! We can share some of your muffins with her!” Another stallion called out.

“You-...you have muffins?” The showmare slowly asked, looking towards Sugar Belle.

Sugar Belle mouth was left hanging a bit, at that suggestion, as she considered the aforementioned muffins. And their overall quality. Quickly re-correcting her waning smile back to full force, Sugar Belle offered as enthusiastic a nod as she could manage “Oh-...yes. They're very-...muffins. They are definitely muffins, and we'd definitely be happy to share them with you, Ms. Trixie.”

Thinking this over for a moment, Trixie brought a hoof up to her chin, before giving voice to her thoughts “And, uhm, since you don't exactly use money here, that would mean that these muffins are...?

“Absolutely free.”

Trixie tilted her head at that “And...let's say Trixie could use some fresh water...?”

“I'll go get a barrel for you!” One mare volunteered.

“...And if, perhaps, Trixie could use a bit of help dealing with a squeaky wheel on her wagon...?”

“We can help with that, right after we fix Starlight's window!” This was met with a number of smiling ponies nodding in agreement.

“...Huh.”

Maybe this wasn't the worst town to be stuck in.

“And, maybe Ms. Trixie would like to help us replace that window?” One stallion excitedly offered.

“Oh...well, Trixie would love to help. She really would, but...her show! Yes, her second show is just about to start!” The showmare's declaration quickly earned some excited murmuring amongst the crowd.

“Another show already?” Sugar Belle asked.

“Why, of course! Trixie's never been one to leave her adoring fans waiting for too long!” Trixie declared, quickly seizing upon the excuse. She really did feel kind of bad about that whole window thing...

'But, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that manual labor is just not for Trixie.'

It was just so soul-crushing and dreary, it completely sucked the life out of her, and she'd worked so hard to get out of that kind of thing. The only place she really belonged was on the stage, not cracking rocks for days on end or stacking boxes.

Focusing back upon the crowd around her, Trixie quickly stood up on her back hooves “What's more, the Humble and Apologetic Trixie would like to personally dedicate her next show to Starshine Shimmer-”

“Starlight Glimmer.” One pony politely corrected.

“-Starlight Glimmer, her lovely assistant! As a way of apology for any damages Trixie's Stupendous act may have caused!” Trixie smoothly adjusted, in the same breath. She was rather pleased to note the many excited murmurs that this declaration was met by. Trixie was really starting to come around on this town.

“When's the next show going to be, Ms. Trixie?” Another pony asked.

“Just as soon as we reach the bakery, of course!” Trixie quickly answered.

“Really?” Sugar Belle blurted out.

“Trixie would be more than happy to lend her endorsement to a local business, of course. By the time Trixie's act is done, you will be swimming in new customers!” Trixie exclaimed, hoping nopony would connect how pointless it was to have a whole bunch of new customers, when none of your customers had any money to begin with.

“Let's everyone go to the bakery!” Party Favor declared, spurring on a small stampede of grinning ponies.

“Yes! And let us talk about getting Trixie some of those free muffins!”

A few minutes later...

“Here you go!” Sugar Belle declared, as she slid a plate of muffins onto the table.

“Ah! Trixie was starving for something other than grass!” Trixie declared before eagerly reaching a hoof forward.

“It's my pleasure! I-...are you going to be using them in your...” Sugar Belle awkwardly prompted after a moment.

This gave the showmare some pause, the eagerly awaited muffin half-way to her mouth “What's that now?”

“Your, uhm, show?” The baker reminded with a big smile, one mirrored by the many ponies surrounding Trixie now.

“My- Oh, right!” The unicorn quickly recalled, setting aside the muffin, as she recalled her promised encore. Briefly concerned over the lack of a prepared act to present, Trixie quickly put on a smirk as an idea came to her.

A small collective gasp was let out, as Trixie confidently set her magician's hat onto the table, before clearing her throat “What are muffins on their own, with absolutely nothing to drink? Trixie thinks that she could stand to have some-”

With a flourish of her hooves towards the hat, she used her magic to lift up the hat in one smooth motion, revealing a glass of-

“-Milk!” Trixie finished, happily taking in the gasps and the small round of applause “Thank you, thank you. Nothing quite like fresh muffins with a glass of fresh milk, is there?”

Naturally, it was a trick glass, one that looked like it was full of milk, but was really quite empty. It seemed like a really neat prop when she had first found it. If one leaned it over properly, it could even look as if the milk was draining out of the glass. It was a real shame that she hadn't been able to find a way to work it into her act. Till now, anyway.

Content that her newest fans were satisfied with this latest display of magical skill, Trixie turned her interest back to her free muffin. The first of many she hoped. Picking up both a muffin and her trick glass with her magic, the latter to assure that nopony got too close a look at it, she eagerly brought in the baked good to take a bite.

There was a long pause.

“Hrrk!” A few crumbs came spilling out, as Trixie visibly restrained the urge to gag. Taken aback by the overriding wrongness of this muffin, the unicorn was almost frantic in reaching for the first thing she could to clear away the muffin. Struggling to grasp the glass on the table with her hoof, she quickly recalled that the glass was still being held in the air with her magic.

Quickly bringing the glass up to her lips, Trixie closed her eyes as she quickly tried to drain its contents down, in the hopes of drowning out the taste of the muffin.

Her eyes snapped open, as she noted the lack of a beverage in her glass, before recalling that she was trying to drink out of her trick glass. Swiftly setting down the magic prop, making sure it was set down in a way to appear empty, Trixie tried to swallow down as much of the muffin as she could in one go. Straining for several moments, she was a bit relieved when she felt most of it slide down her throat.

Reaching a hoof out towards Sugar Belle, Trixie tried to compose herself, before gasping out her next words “I-...that is to say, Trixie...would very much appreciate a glass of water.”

The showmare barely even noticed the murmuring that started up amongst the ponies.

“Is everything alright?”

“Was there something wrong with the muffin?”

“Is this part of a trick?”

Sugar Belle visibly gulped down some of her nervousness, as she noted the confused reactions Trixie's response had netted from her fellow townsponies. Fortunately, nopony seemed to notice, as she forced her grin back on “O-of course, Ms. Trixie! Let me get you something to wash that down with.”

Her horn lighting up, Sugar Belle quickly took a fresh glass in her magic before returning a few moments later, the glass now full of crystal clear water “Here you go!”

Trixie quickly downed about half the glass in one continuous series of gulps, before stopping to take a breath “What was in that-”

Managing to stop her outburst in time, Trixie looked over the confused crowd of ponies, as she quickly realized that her little reaction to the muffin was quickly losing her the crowd. Loosing an awkward laugh, she quickly reached a hoof over before pulling the equally anxious Sugar Belle to her side “Trixie is terribly sorry about that! Trixie's afraid that she was-...just so eager to eat one of your delicious muffins, that something must have gone down the wrong pipe.”

“You actually liked-” Sugar Belle almost started to ask.

The showmare quickly clutched her fellow mare a bit more tightly, cutting her off “In fact, Trixie thinks that these muffins might be too good for Trixie to keep all to herself! Come on everypony, and let's all share in some of Sugar Belle's delicious muffins!”

Trixie and Sugar Belle were both quite relieved to see the renewed smiles that took over the crowd, albeit for different reasons.

Trixie was even more relieved, and a bit shocked, to note how quickly the muffins disappeared off of the plate, as the townsponies took her up on her suggestion. Evidently, there was something about this town that seemed to favor terrible muffins.

'Whatever...'

“I dare say that these are surely the best muffins in this whole town, wouldn't you all agree?” Trixie asked of the crowd, as she surreptitiously hid her own half-eaten muffin under her hat.

“Oh, no, no, no! That is- I'm sure my muffins are nothing special.” Sugar Belle quickly denied.

Not picking up on her fellow unicorn's anxiety “Nonsense! Trixie could scarcely imagine anypony here making a-”

“I am very sure that everypony here could make muffins that were just as good as mine! Exactly as good.” The baker emphatically declared to everyone around.

Trixie blinked, a bit thrown by Sugar Belle's manner “Uh...well, Trixie isn't quite sure how anyone could make muffins that were exactly like-”

“Actually, Sugar Belle is absolutely right! That's the real beauty of our town, Ms. Trixie, the beauty of true equality! It's what unites us all!” Party Favor enthusiastically interjected, before moving to display the equal-sign Cutie Mark on his flank.

“Huh?” Trixie cleverly replied.

Seeing this as their cue, everypony apart from Sugar Belle took this as their moment to turn and display their own Cutie Marks. Revealing that each and everypony that was gathered there had a Cutie Mark that was exactly the same. Everypony there sported two perfectly parallel marks, equal signs, on each of their flanks.

Apart from Trixie, obviously.

The showmare slowly glanced from one pony to another, as she tried to figure out what was happening “Uhm, so, Trixie isn't quite sure what those mean...”

Night Glider took the lead this time “Isn't it obvious? It means we're all united! Our new Cutie Marks are what unite us all!”

“...They unite you in your love of math?” Trixie offered, still perplexed by this.

Party Favor gave a hearty laugh at that “No, Ms. Trixie! We're united in our love of equality obviously!”

Glancing between an anxious Sugar Bell and everyone else, Trixie let an eyebrow slowly crawl upwards “I, uh-...how exactly is that supposed to work?”

“It's all thanks to Starlight Glimmer!” One pony exclaimed from the back of the crowd.

“Yes, Starlight Glimmer and the Staff of Sameness!” Night Glider quickly added.

“Who?” Trixie asked.

This briefly gave everypony some pause, before Sugar Belle leaned in “Starlight Glimmer...? You met her earlier...?”

Seeing the uncomprehending look on her fellow unicorns face “Pink coat? Purple mane?”

“Uhm...” Trixie offered, still having trouble placing the name.

“She assisted with your show?” Sugar Belle quickly added.

“Oh, her!...She seemed nice.” Trixie added, as she noted the scrutiny being sent her way. Giving an awkward chuckle “Yes, of course, Starlight Glimmer! Trixie really...liked her.”

This seemed to be enough for most of the ponies there, as Party Favor once again took the lead “We all really like, Starlight Glimmer! She's done so much for all of us, by taking away our Cutie Marks!”

“...Uh-huh.” Trixie slowly replied.

“Ever since she took them away, we've all been able to come together over the things that are the same about us all! It's just been so wonderful since she took away our Cutie Marks!” Night Glider followed up.

“She...took away your Cutie Marks?” The showmare asked with a tilt of her head.

“And gave us our freedom!” Sugar Belle emphatically declared “Now that we're all the same, we don't have anything to make each other feel bad about!”

“And it's all thanks to Starlight Glimmer. She's the one that realized what a gift the Staff of Sameness could be, and brought us all together. Now, we can all be truly equal. Equally-gifted and equally-happy!” Party Favor finished.

After several moments of, what felt like to Trixie, awkward silence, the azure unicorn cleared her throat “So, equality seems pretty great, but-...Trixie's not quite sure she understands how that's supposed to work.”

“Well, it's all thanks to the Staff of Sameness and Starlight Glimmer!” Night Glider happily reiterated, hovering above everyone.

“Yes, Trixie picked up on that, but...how exactly does taking away your Cutie Marks make you all equal?” Trixie asked again.

Party Favor seemed to visibly struggle with the question for a moment “Wh-what do you mean?”

The magician tilted her head from one side to another, as she tried to figure out a way to put her thoughts into words “Well, what about all the things about a pony that aren't based on your Cutie Marks?”

Party Favor gave a sigh at that, relieved to have a question he could answer “Well, now that we've all been made equal, we're all equally good at everything. It doesn't matter what any one of us used to be able to do. Now we can all do everything just as well as everyone else!”

“But...you still don't have wings, do you?” Trixie asked the unicorn stallion.

“...What?” Party Favor blurted out.

Trixie gave a brief shrug, before gesturing to Night Glider “Well, she can fly. Can you? Trixie's great at a lot things, but even the Great and Powerful Trixie can't fly.”

Night Glider slowly sank to the ground, as everypony there was stuck trying to figure out how to answer that point.

Party Favor, in particular, seemed to have had his thoughts drawn to a rather abrupt halt “W-well, you see...we're certainly, uhm-...”

“And, I mean, it's not like she has a horn now, right? Night Glider can't do something like this, can she?” Trixie asked, before using her own magic to lift the empty muffin plate, as a way of demonstration.

“That's alright!” Night Glider quickly exclaimed, around a profoundly strained grin “I mean, I'm not going to hold it against him. Those things are just a different kind of equal!”

This got everypony nodding in turn, each eager to cling onto an answer to the difficult question.

Trixie didn't seem convinced “But, what about Earth ponies? They still don't have horns or wings. How are they equal now?”

An awkward silence again overtook the group, as the various townsponies alternated between trying to come up with some sort of answer while glancing towards one another uncomfortably.

“And then, there's stuff like-...well, Trixie admits she has a certain fondness for the color purple. If Trixie didn't have anything else that was special about her, she might get a bit jealous if someone else got to be purple, instead of her.” Trixie casually explained.

Trixie failed to notice, as several of the townsponies abruptly looked towards one another's coats before quickly averting their gazes.

“And how do relationships work in a town like this? Why would Trixie choose one pony to be with over another, if they're all the same? Trixie can be very discriminating when it comes to the ponies she pursues.” The showmare offered up.

“Well, Starlight Glimmer-” One pony tried to offer up, while avoiding the gaze of his partner.

“And can just anyone use the Staff of Sameness? Could Trixie use it?” Trixie asked.

“That-...that seems like a question for Starlight Glimmer.” Party Favor offered.

“Yes! You should ask Starlight Glimmer!”

“I'm sure she has the answers!”

“Let's go find-”

“And how is everypony treating our newest arrival?”

Nearly everypony jumped at that last voice, before turning towards the doors. Some anxious and others relieved, everyone turned to see Starlight Glimmer standing there with her calming, confident smile.

Party Favor quickly galloped over, before coming to a sudden stop in front of the bemused pink mare “Starlight Glimmer! There's-”

“We have-” Night Glider exclaimed.

“That is to say-” Party Favor started again.

Cringing a bit, Sugar Belle stepped forward before speaking up “It's Ms. Trixie, she-...some questions have been raised?”

“Questions that we're sure you have the answers for, of course!” Party Favor excitedly assured.

Taken aback by her followers, Starlight's smile wavered a bit “My, aren't we all so...energetic. If I didn't know any better, I might suspect that there was some kind of problem here.”

There was a pregnant pause, before nearly everypony there reaffixed their smiles for Starlight.

“Of course not!” The crowd of ponies chorused.

“Oh, good! For a moment, I was afraid we might be dealing with some sort of...negativity.” Starlight remarked, steadily letting her gaze wander across her townsponies, before letting it rest upon Trixie.

For Trixie's part, the showmare was less concerned with this little sideshow and more worried about returning her trick-glass back into its hiding place.

“Oh, Party Favor?” Starlight Glimmer quietly called, without looking.

“Yes?” The stallion replied.

“Would you do me the kindness of gathering a few ponies together and seeing to that broken window?”

“Uhm, well, I'd be happy to help in anyway I can, but-” Party Favor began, his gaze slowly leading towards the Great and Powerful Trixie.

“And, don't worry one bit. I would be more than happy to speak with Ms. Trixie, to clear up any...misunderstandings that may have come up” Starlight cut him off.

“Oh, that would just be-” The stallion began.

“It's my pleasure, Party Favor. She is new here, after all, and can't be expected to understand just how much better life here is without a bit of guidance.” The pink mare added.

“Right...then, I suppose we'll just-”

“See to that pesky window? Thank you.” Starlight was already marching away, the crowd of ponies quickly parting as she made her way towards Trixie.

Stopping just a few steps away from the azure unicorn, Starlight tilted her head, as she waited to be acknowledged by their town's latest, loudest, and most welcome arrival. She was rather disappointed, to find the showmare was burying her nose in her cloak, evidently quite consumed with shuffling its contents about.

After several more seconds of this, waiting on Trixie to pull herself away from her magical accoutrements, Starlight had to take in a calming breath.

“Ahem!”

“Trixie's full!”

“What?” Starlight asked, confused by this outburst.

“Huh? Oh, it's just you.” Trixie failed to note the twitch of the eye her off-hoof comment garnered from the pink unicorn “Sorry. Trixie was just...Trixie's had her fill of free muffins.”

“I see.” Starlight wryly responded, with an upturned eyebrow.

“Not that Trixie didn't enjoy her muffin. Trixie normally enjoys it when she gets food she doesn't have to pay for.” Trixie quickly reassured with a chuckle.

“How lovely. It certainly sounds as if my fellow villagers have been kind to you.” Starlight observed with a smile, before sliding into a more concerned expression “Though, I understand that you might have had some questions earlier? Questions that they might have had trouble providing answers for?”

“It's not anything that important to Trixie.” Trixie casually waved a hoof at that, before turning her attention to the remainder of her glass of water.

“Come, come, I'm sure you must have raised some very big questions, to have left everypony in such a tizzy!” Starlight noted with a laugh. Leaning in a bit too close for Trixie's comfort, and with a somewhat overly intense stare “Really, if you have any questions about our little town, I insist you share them with me.”

Edging away from the pink mare a bit, Trixie took a small sip of her water, before deciding to humor her fellow unicorn “Well...there was something mentioned about a staff?”

“They mentioned the Staff of Sameness to you? How wonderful!” Starlight enthusiastically exclaimed.

“...Ok?” Trixie replied.

“It truly is the keystone to our village! And the very key to our collective happiness! And perhaps yours too! Whatever did you want to know about it?” Starlight offered, liking the direction the conversation was taking.

Trixie pursed her lips for a moment, as she realized she needed to come up with some sort of follow-up question. Stalling a bit by taking another sip of her water, her thoughts turned to her own experiences with magical devices “So, uh...where did this staff come from?”

“Oh, that is a fine question. After your little show, I wouldn't have guessed you to be the scholarly-type, interested in such history.” Starlight teased, with only a small amount of passive-aggression slipping through.

Surprisingly, Trixie actually managed to pick up on the back-hoofed remark, frowning a bit before responding “It might interest you to know that Trixie's credentials as a scholar are impeccable.”

“Oh, really?”

Trixie turned her nose up a bit, before continuing “Not just anypony can get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.”

Starlight smirked a bit to herself, all too ready to undercut the showboating mare “How impressive! You must be quite special then. As I understand it, only a few hundred ponies a year are allowed into the Canterlot Academy.”

“Very true!” Trixie agreed, her pride not undermined at all by Starlight's remark. Trixie couldn't help the grin that took her “But how many ponies get hoof-picked by Princess Celestia herself?”

“What?” The pink mare blurted out, caught off-guard by this.

“It's true! Trixie was picked by Princess Celestia herself for a special student program.” Trixie crowed.

Starlight had to shake her head at this, taken aback by the possibilities “Am I to understand that you were taught by the Princess Celestia? That you were her student?”

That question visibly took the wind out of Trixie's sails, as her hesitation to answer that question became apparent “Well...no, not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” Starlight prompted.

“There was a special program and Trixie did get picked for it and she did get to meet Princess Celestia...” Trixie began to explain.

Her smile became briefly predatory, as Starlight picked up on where this was going “But, I'm guessing Princess Celestia has far too busy a schedule for something like that, right?”

“Right...” Trixie quietly agreed.

“My truest sympathies, though I'm quite sure you learned plenty on your own!” Starlight added in a compassionate tone.

“Of course! Trixie managed to fly through those courses with her unparalleled abilities!” Trying to shake herself from the funk the conversation had left her in, Trixie quickly latched on to that point “In fact, Trixie has it on good authority, that nopony has ever-”

“I will admit that I find myself a bit disappointed though.” Starlight suddenly opined.

“Huh?”

“It's just...well, I have heard rumors that Princess Celestia had taken on a certain personal student. I suppose I was just a bit eager to meet such a gifted pony.” Starlight nonchalantly explained.

“Oh...”

“Not that you aren't a delight! I certainly hope that you aren't offended, but news is just so slow in reaching us out here, that-...well, a magically-gifted unicorn showing up out of the blue? Talking about Princess Celestia? You can see how it could be an easy mistake to make.” Starlight continued, pretending not to notice Trixie's discomfort.

“Right, so-...” The azure mare tried to speak up, but could only manage to fidget around in her seat.

“But, like I said, somepony as busy as Princess Celestia probably had only enough time to herself for just one student. She would have to be very discriminating, wouldn't you agree?”

“I-...weren't we talking about something else?” Trixie suddenly asked.

Starlight Glimmer was inwardly glowing with pleasure, at the showmare's awkward attempt at changing the subject “Oh, of course! The Staff of Sameness. Do forgive me, but I just so love finding out everything I can about the ponies I meet, it can drive me to distraction.”

Trixie just nodded at that.

“Now, what were we talking about again? That's right! You wanted to know the origins of the Staff of Sameness, right?”

Clearing her throat a bit, Trixie struggled to regain a bit of her usual energy “Yes, Trixie was wondering where somepony just gets something like that.”

“Well, now that I know just how impeccable your scholarly credentials are-” The pink mare couldn't help but enjoy Trixie's ever so slight flinch at that remark “-I'm sure you can appreciate it, when I tell you that we owe all of this to the great Meadowbrook.”

“Meadowbrook?”

“Why, yes! The Staff of Sameness numbers amongst the great magician Meadowbrook's Nine Legendary Artifacts! I'm sure you've heard of them.” Starlight explained.

“That's not really what Trixie was asking.” Trixie abruptly pointed out.

“...I'm sorry? Were you not wondering about the origins of-”

“Trixie just wanted to know where you found this staff.”

“Me?” Starlight blurted out, thrown by this line of questioning.

“Right. Was it just lying on the ground for anypony to find-” Trixie pressed.

“Of course not!” Starlight snapped, taking several moments to note the surprised look being sent her way by the azure mare. Forcing her smile back into place, Starlight tried to give what she hoped was a disarming laugh “I mean-...Why would you think such a thing? It's surely not as if powerful magical artifacts can be found just...lying around!”

"Well, actually-..." Trixie began, thinking again of how she found the Alicorn Amulet.

"And besides, even if that was the case, you surely wouldn't want to hear such a dull story as that." Starlight Glimmer concluded with a fake chuckle, one that only managed to leave Trixie feeling a bit uneasy.

“...If you say so.” Trixie conceded after a moment, slowly getting out of her seat and taking a couple of steps back.

Starlight let out another awkward laugh, at Trixie's apparent discomfort “You'll have to forgive that little outburst. We here- The Staff of Sameness is held in such high regard here, so you can understand how the idea that it could have just been lying in the dirt might come across.”

“Right...”

“I mean, its power has been such an amazing gift to us all. Being free of one's Cutie Mark is truly a wondrous experience and just being in its presence-...there's an idea!” Starlight suddenly exclaimed, holding a hoof up as she did so “Why don't I show you the Staff of Sameness? Surely that would answer any questions you might have!”

“Great...”

“Perfect! And it's only a short-” Starlight began.

“Actually, the GaPT's feeling rather exhausted.”

“Pardon?”

“Trixie thinks she might just...turn in a bit early.” Trixie explained, as she sidled over towards the exit.

“...Are you quite-”

“Trixie's sure it's very nice, but she spent most of the day dragging her wagon around, and then there was her show...Plus, it's not like Trixie hasn't seen her fair share of magical staves.” Trixie assured, as she again took another couple of steps towards the exit.

“Well...far be it from me to stop somepony from leaving when they wish.” Starlight exclaimed, even as she settled a hoof across Trixie's withers.

Eying the hoof a bit uncomfortably, Trixie glanced back up to the pink mare “Could you-”

“You would be more than welcome to stay with me for the evening! There is a small mess that needs to be seen to but the broken window aside, I do have plenty of extra room for such a special guest.” Starlight quickly began to offer.

“At your house?” Trixie asked, with a tilt of her head.

“Don't worry about that pesky window. I'm quite sure we'll have it fixed in no time.” Starlight quickly responded, shoving that issue under the rug.

“That's good...” Trixie remarked, before carefully ducking out from underneath Starlight's hoof “...I suppose, that makes you the one that's in-charge?”

Starlight tilted her head at that “I can see that there was quite a bit of confusion earlier. We're all equal here, so there couldn't possibly be someone that's 'in-charge' now can there?”

Taking a few steps closer to the magician, Starlight leaned in towards Trixie “If anything, I'm just here to provide a little bit of guidance for everypony. Though...”

Lifting a hoof up, the pink mare slowly reached towards Trixie's face before brushing a stray bit of her mane from her face.

“...I suppose you could say that I like to keep my eye out for trouble.” Starlight added, rather pleased with how unsettled the other mare seemed.

Trixie glanced anywhere but towards Starlight for a few moments, before speaking up “Uhm...Trixie would just like to say that she's flattered-”

“What?”

“-but she's not really...looking for anyone right now.” Trixie finished with a tilt of her head.

Starlight quickly moved her hoof away from Trixie's face, almost as if she had just been burned “You cannot-”

“It's not a big problem. Trixie's had to deal with this sort of thing before, from some of her fans.” Trixie continued to explain, not noting the growing look of disgust coming from Starlight “And it's not that you aren't an attractive mare. You're just not really Trixie's type and Trixie's going to be traveling again soon, so-”

Starlight stormed off, leaving Trixie to watch as she stomped her way down the street.

'Really hope I don't have to deal with another stalker...'

Author's Note

If anyone's curious as to the whereabouts of Double Diamond, this story takes place earlier than it does in the canon timeline, somewhere shortly before Twilight becomes an alicorn. As Double Diamond struck me as a new arrival, it seemed to follow that he wouldn't be there yet.

It's late, but as always, I welcome any questions or criticism. And I hope everyone enjoys this latest chapter. Enjoy.