Showmare

"Come on! Show us something worth the effort! You two look like pigs trying to fuck!"

Trixie massaged her temples while Swift yelled at the contestants within the arena. They were stuck in some wrestling standstill; Both of them trying to gain an advantage over the other. Trixie didn't care. She was too busy focusing on the dull throb she felt in her skull, which was only being made worse by the loud insults shouted next to her.

Swift, who was too busy with his verbal abuse to notice Trixie in pain, shoved her arm, trying to get her attention. "Man, can you believe these wrestling types? I swear, they are the worst fighters I have ever seen. Hell, I wouldn't even call this fighting. It's just a sad attempt at gay sex."

Trixie continued to rub her temples, while she tried to ignore the chatty pegasus and the other occupants inside the VIP box. She contemplated an attempt to knock him out, before deciding that doing so would only result in his whining and/or an attempt to kill her.

Not getting the response he expected, Swift shoved Trixie again. "Hey, I know it's boring, but falling asleep? Come on. Even Gunner here is doing fine." he said, nodding towards the griffon sitting behind them. Gunner quickly waved a claw, indicating he did not want to be brought into whatever trouble Swift was now starting.

Trixie moved her hooves from her temples to her forehead, futilely hoping it would lessen the pain, and addressed the annoyance at her side. "Trixie is trying to ignore your incessant talking. Shoving her is not helping."

Swift smirked, leaning back on his chair. "Your attitude is friendly today." he said, with a tone of sarcasm. "Having headache problems?"

Sighing, Trixie dropped her hooves to her lap; she decided it wasn't helping. "Trixie had a late night."

Swift raised an eyebrow, leaning forward towards Trixie. She thought he looked like a cat; A cat that was looking to pounce. "Late night, huh? Keeping busy with some extra exercises." he said, emphasizing the 'extra' in a way that made Trixie want to test his skull with her hoof.

Ignoring the nagging voice encouraging her disgust, she decided to play along. "Why yes." she said, giving a sultry smile for effect. "Trixie tried to fall asleep last night, but she just couldn't. She tossed and turned before deciding to answer a small itch that just begged to be taken care of. She was going to take care of it herself, but she just happened to come upon somebody who needed the same thing. She didn't want to interfere though, so we took care of our problems on our own. It took her almost half an hour, but Trixie was able to finish. She was just so sweaty and tired, but definitely satisfied. He, however, was having a bit of a problem. So, Trixie decided to help out. He protested at first, but Trixie was able to change his mind. He was just so eager to push himself. Trixie had to admit she was impressed, but she knew she had to take control. She's sure that he didn't mind afterwards. After that, Trixie was able to enjoy her sleep even more."

By the time she had finished, Swift's eyes were as wide as they could go. His jaw hung limply, leaving his mouth large enough for a bird to nest. Taking a glance at Gunner, Trixie noticed that his reaction practically a copy of Swift's. 'Males'

With a sharp cough, Swift cleared his throat, and very pointedly looked back towards the arena. "Not exactly the response I was expecting. Well played." Gunner emphasized the point with a quick shake of his head, smirking away the oddity of the whole situation.

A quick yelp from the arena stole back the attention of the three champions. One of the fighters had managed to pin the other face-down, twisting his arm behind his back. It only took Trixie a short moment to see that the shoulder had been dislocated. A simple injury, but one that severely impacted a match's outcome. It was over; the only thing left was to wait for whether or not the loser left as a corpse.

Roars of the crowd rang throughout the arena, divided as usual on what should happen next. Trixie kept her focus on the winner, trying to discern what was running through his head, as he looked down upon the whimpering mess beneath him. One dragging moment later, the decision was made. The winner spit into the face of his victim, saying something that could not be pulled from the deafening static of the crowd. He then released the arm from his grip, and turned towards the exit. Using his good arm, the loser pulled the useless limb toward his chest, clutching it tight. Adrenaline, relief, and the reality of how close he came to death coursed though his body, while he openly sobbed on the arena floor.

While some medics trained their attention on the injured fighter, Swift turned his towards Trixie. His face shone with the confidence she had come to expect from the pegasus. His smirk was wide and bright, while his eyebrows arched lewdly. Trixie knew she wouldn't like what he was about to say, even before it was said.

"So. A partner, huh?"

**********

"Alright, let's see if I have this all down. After your fight, your opponent came back to you, and complained about being alive. So he then claimed that he was going to rematch and kill you. Then there was my fight, and the whole tough guy in the training room stunt. Then at night, you couldn't sleep, so you tried working out, only to find what's-his-face was already in the training room. Now, despite the fact that he plans to kill you, you stick around the guy while training. When you finish, you notice that he is overworking himself, and make him stop. Finally, to top it all off, you help him recover, and give him pointers on avoiding ruining his chances to kill you. Did I get everything? You know, besides the fact that he wants to kill you."

Trixie was now wondering whether telling Swift about last night was such a good idea. Eventually, she had to go back to the beginning and explain everything from there, because he couldn't understand last night alone. The story had taken so long, that the arena had vacated before it was finished. All that remained was a confused pegasus, a silent gryphon, and a slightly embarrassed unicorn (something she wouldn't let the others know.)

"Pretty much." Trixie said, answering Swift's question. She had made sure to leave out details of the nightmare, deciding that it was something that did not need to be discussed.

"Well," said Swift. "isn't this interesting. What are we in, an action flick? Seriously, this is sounding more like a rejected plot line for a Sylvester Stallione movie than anything else. Next, I suppose you two will be 'fighting the system', and breaking away from the arena, only to incur the wrath of the owners, who swear to hunt you down. Meanwhile, you and whatever-his-name-is will be busy making out in some grungy hotel room."

At hearing Swift's last statement, Trixie did a double take. "Ma-wha-huh?" was all she could manage to say.

Swift narrowed his eyes, focusing his look on the surprised champion. After a moment of staring, which only made Trixie more nervous than before, he threw his hooves into the air, letting out an exasperated "Gah!" He then pointed directly at Trixie, giving her a look of annoyance. "You guys are already going at it, aren't you?"

Trixie no longer doubted whether she was blushing, as she felt a wave of heat pass through her face. Recovering from the shock, she ignored the blush and raised an eyebrow at him in frustration. "Trixie begs your pardon?"

"I knew it." Swift said, placing a hoof over his face. "This has gone from b-rated action flick to over-ambitious porno."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that is not what's happening."

"Really? Then try telling me what is happening, sweetheart."

"Exactly what Trixie told you."

"Oh, so you just helped the guy who has sworn to kill you."

"Yes. Yes she did."

"What, in the living fuck, were you thinking?"

Trixie went quiet, feeling reluctant about giving an answer. What she said had not gone over well so far, and she knew that the answer would only make her seem weak. Especially with how Swift was viewing the situation. But the impatient look he was giving her convinced her that only the truth would be accepted. "I felt sorry for him."

"Ah!" Swift exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air again. "You felt sorry, huh? Then I guess everything is fine! The world's all bright fucking sunshine!"

"What the hell is it to you?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "It's not like you're the one he's going to kill."

"Well, no. But, uh, you see, I just, well, it's kind of. Hmmm." Swift trailed off on his train of thought, scrunching his face in confusion.

Noticing his hesitance, Trixie started to grin victoriously. The smirk grew wider as she moved her face closer to Swift's, making him move back in confusion. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

His eyes went wide as he stumbled to react to the accusation. "W-what?! I-! You-! Ha! Right. No way. Nice try, but I make the girls jealous, not the other way around. Hell, I don't even care. It's not my problem you're obliviously playing nice with your possible executioner. Isn't that right, Gunner?"

Both arguers looked over to their friend, who had, expectedly, stayed silent throughout the entire fiasco. Thought, seeing him made them realize that his silence was a bit more intense than usual. He sat stock still; wide eyes were traveling from Trixie to Swift, and back, endlessly bouncing between the two sides.

Not getting his answer fast enough, Swift prodded at Gunner with his hoof. "Hey. What do you say?" Gunner responded by flailing his arms side to side, not wanting to get involved in the train wreck in front of him.

"Come on, man! Help me out here." said Swift, which was promptly answered with a firm shake of Gunner's head.

"Well," Trixie said, patting the gryphon on the back. "at least he knows how to pick his battles."

Swift gave a quick glare to his silent friend, practically growling the word "traitor", before turning and pointing a hoof at Trixie. "Look, if you want to act buddy-buddy with what's-his-face, then have at it. But it won't end well. I can guarantee that. I'm warning you now, before it comes down to a death match between you two. You should know how well that will pan out."

Trixie nodded, acknowledging the message trying to be given. "Don't worry. Trixie knows"

"Good. I wouldn't want anything happening to that pretty face of yours."

Trixie rolled her eyes at the phrase that was definitely a Swift phrase. "Of course not. Now, Trixie needs to take a jog, so she will be taking her leave."

"Ugh." Swift said, slumping in his chair. "Running. Whoever decided running was a good use of free time should be trapped on a moving treadmill until he dies of exhaustion. But if that's how you keep your figure so nice to look at, keep running, sweetheart."

Trixie didn't even want to warrant a response to that. Instead, she turned to head out, leaving the other two champions to bicker about Gunner's 'betrayal.' She tried to catch as much as possible, hearing Swift's remarks on something called a 'bro code', while she left the VIP box, and rounded the corner to the corridor. Though, she forgot it completely when she saw what was just around the corner.

There, leaning against the wall, was New Guy, looking straight at her. Trixie immediately stopped walking, blinking a few times to see if she was just imagining things. She wasn't. Both of them stared at each other, Trixie feeling a bit unnerved that the topic of her recent conversation was just nearby. The drilling coldness of his gaze did not help. It wasn't until he nodded that she snapped back into thinking properly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pointing at him.

"Waiting for you." he responded, not changing his usual look.

Trixie was now growing weary, finding the situation to be a bit too odd. She could only imagine what Swift would say about it. Still, she was in the middle of it. There was no point in over thinking the circumstances. "What for?"

At this question, New Guy seemed to soften a bit. The intensity of his gaze retracted slightly, as if he was, well, reserved about that he was going to say. That reaction alone was weird in and of itself, given the attitude Trixie had grown so accustomed to, but it all threw itself out of the window when she heard his answer.

"I need your help."

If it was possible, Trixie was sure she was about to burn a hole through New Guy's skull by just staring at him. He was asking for help. From her. Just yesterday, he was claiming that he wouldn't lose to her a second time, to the point of 'losers must die.' Now he was sitting in front of her, asking for help. He even looked sheepish about it. At least it seemed sheepish. It was hard to tell with the icy stare of death.

To be honest, Trixie didn't know how to react to the question. She could think of a few answers, but the situation didn't seem to fit such pleasantries as "with what?" or "why me?" She was drawing a complete blank on what to say, which only served to frustrate her more as she wracked her mind for a good answer. Thankfully, she felt a small tug pull her mind to a response that seemed comfortable enough for her to attempt.

"Trixie doesn't think it would be a good idea to help you. She's already given you enough assistance."

The answer did not seem to phase New Guy. Given with how they had been getting along, the reaction was probably expected. Instead he did something that surprised Trixie again; something that she wished would stop happening.

New Guy lowered his head, putting it parallel to the ground and level with his knees. His ears pinned back in a show of humility. His eyes stared straight at Trixie, filled again with the intensity that was more familiar to her. He was bowing to her. The final piece that made the picture complete was a single word, uttered in a low tone.

"Please."

Trixie was sure that her jaw had hit the floor. Though, if she was showing an amazement, New Guy was not reacting to it in any way. He kept his position while he waited for an answer.

Even with the surprising humility that was displayed in front of her, Trixie felt reluctant to help. "What is it that you need help with?"

New Guy shot back into a standing position, his moment of humility over. "My next opponent is a unicorn. I need training."

Trixie raised an eyebrow at the request. "You want Trixie to train you in fighting a unicorn?" He nodded once in response. "And why should she help you learn to fight a unicorn?"

New Guy reacted the same way he had earlier. His gaze and features softened slightly, signaling to Trixie that this answer was going to be a doozy.

"You are the only one I can trust."

By this point, Trixie was sure that she had run out of surprises for the day. Her rational mind was screaming by this point. She kept thinking back to the conversation that she had just gone through with Swift. She could swear she heard his voice ring though her head, as she remembered what he said. 'You know, besides that fact that he wants to *kill** you.'* But with all the jumble in her head, there was one thought that stood out. One single nag that pressured her to answer in the way that she knew she shouldn't.

"Be in the training room at midnight. Trixie will help you."

Given the odd behavior he had been exhibiting, she would not have been surprised if New Guy jumped for joy. Though, his reaction was nowhere near the oddity that she had been expecting. He simply nodded, and turned around to head away. 'More his style.' she thought to herself. Suddenly, she thought of something that made her a bit nervous.

"Hey!" she called out to New Guy, who had walked a fair distance away. He stopped, and swiveled his head to look straight at Trixie, ears at attention. "Did you hear our conversation?" After a moment of silence, he nodded. Remembering that he was the subject of said conversation, she started to inwardly panic. Though, she decided to make sure that she was justified in her worry. "How much?"

"All of it." he said, not changing his gaze. At that, he turned back, and continued to head down the corridor. Trixie sat there in disbelief for a moment, before facehoofing, hard, and wishing she had never discussed last night with the others.