Sugar Cube Corner was about as packed and busy as one would expect for a Saturday afternoon. With all of the local students off for the day, the place was filled with youths aplenty, all hanging out with each other and generally having a great time. Smiles and laughs were abound as all partook of the famously delicious cakes and milkshakes that this venue had to offer. However, among them all, there was one booth in particular where there was a distinct lack of smiles. In the corner far from the prying eyes of the other kids, were a trio of girls, collectively known by their band name, the "Illusions". On one side of their table was Trixie Lulamoon, the head of their one-time band, and on the other were the backing singers, a blonde girl named Lavender Lace and a girl with pink hair who went by Fuchsia Blush.
"Seriously, Trix, you gotta get over this," Fuchsia remarked.
Trixie raised an eyebrow to this.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie will not "get over this", Fuchsia!"
Turning, the group leader narrowed her eyes.
"I was only three minutes late getting back to my car! That's way too soon to be putting a ticket on it!"
As Fuchsia rolled her eyes, Lavender leaned forward, speaking in a more reserved manner.
"Well...the meter maid was only doing her job."
Trixie frowned at her colleague.
"Ugh! Don't go going all "it's her job" on me!"
While Lavender sighed, Fuchsia leaned over to her, keeping her voice lowered to a whisper.
"Don't even bother, Lav. You know how she gets when she's like this."
Trixie stood up, raising her hand and balling it into a fist as she called out to the heavens.
"I, Trixie, swear to all that this injustice will not go unpunished!"
As she got back into her chair, she was oblivious to all of the stares she'd earned from around the Corner with that little display. As Lavender blushed and tried burying her face in her hands because of this, Fuchsia let out an annoyed grunt.
"Ugh! Can't we just...you know...move onto something else?"
Sweeping aside some of her hair, Trixie pouted slightly.
"Hmph! Very well. What would you like to talk about then?"
Fuchsia chuckled as she gave her answer.
"Well, for one thing, how about all that crazy stuff from the Camp?"
A shiver went down Trixie's spine after hearing that.
"Don't even remind Trixie! It's bad enough having to actually go through insane days like that without having to actually talk about it! Where would I even begin?"
Lowering her hands from her face at last, Lavender took on a look of interest as she leaned in closer yet again.
"Well...was it true about that new Twilight girl and her friends getting all those cool new powers?"
At the mention of that name, Trixie looked to her friend with scorn, prompting Fuchsia to look away and slap her forehead with frustration.
"Oh boy, here we go again!"
Her concerns seemed to be well-founded as Trixie gained an angry expression prior to answering Lavender's question.
"Those...those...those people don't deserve to have that kind of magic! Everybody knows that the Great and Powerful Trixie, the most talented, most beautiful, most...most..."
"Most humble?" Fuchsia added sarcastically.
"Exactly!" Trixie replied, not getting it.
Sighing, Fuchsia shook her head.
"Seriously, Trixie, you're not doing yourself any favours harbouring this grudge. So they beat you in a music contest. So what?"
Here, it was Fuchsia who now ended up on the receiving end of Trixie's scorn.
"So what?! They cheated! Magic for the Dazzlings, magic for the Rainbooms! Only Trixie...!"
Fuchsia cleared her throat in a deliberate manner, causing Trixie to look at her briefly before adding something extra to her rant.
"...and also you two, yes. Only we got as far as we did through honest means!"
"Aside from trying to trap them under the stage of course," Fuchsia grunted under her breath.
But Trixie, not hearing her, continued.
"Those girls should have been disqualified!"
Meekly, Lavender spoke up.
"Well...they did kinda save the world...four times now. So...can't we just, you know...live and let live?"
The frown Trixie gave her at that statement made it clear that this was, apparently, not an option, leading to the blonde girl sinking further into her chair. Fuchsia sighed again, rubbing the bridge of her nose before looking back to her "leader".
"You know...do you really have to try so hard to be this...this big and impressive gal? I mean, sure, it's all well and good talking about how "great" you are, but most people at the school probably just roll their eyes at it."
Trixie slumped back into her chair, letting out an annoyed huff.
"Maybe. Maybe not. But how else are people like us going to get noticed. We're not the smartest, we don't have magic, we don't have anything really special going for us!"
Turning slightly, a look of annoyance crossed the performer's face, prompting Lavender to, rather unwisely, add her voice to the matter.
"And with those Siren girls here now, we can't even claim to be the best-looking anymore!"
To that, Trixie smirked somewhat, fluffing up her hair a little.
"Well...Trixie wouldn't go that far."
Fuchsia shrugged her shoulders to all of this.
"True...but as for all that other stuff...I think I can live with it."
Trixie looked to her, astonished.
"What?!"
Fuchsia chuckled right back.
"I mean it. Sure, it sucks that we can't do all this big amazing stuff, but...that was always the way before these guys started showing up, so...why get upset over it?"
Trixie opened her mouth to reply, no doubt ready to give some sort of angry retort to her colleague's words. But when she truly let Fuchsia's statement sink in, she found, to her annoyance, that she had no real response to it. Though she tried over and over again to get her words out, in the end, she simply sat back into her chair, folding her arms and just generally looking irritated.
"I hate it when you make sense!"
Fuchsia enjoyed this brief moment to allow herself to look and feel smug for a time, which she then followed up by speaking up to her friend yet again.
"Besides, what we said before is still true, Trix. Those girls kinda have saved the world, meaning us too, several times now."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe it'd be worth, you know...getting to know them? Or at least saying hi?"
Trixie stared at her, then to Lavender, who simply nodded in agreement with Fuchsia's words. The blue-haired girl slumped further into her chair over this, only to stop when the door of the Corner began to open. To the surprise of both her and her colleagues, it was none other than Sunset Shimmer who now entered the place. Trixie watched her like a hawk, though the former unicorn herself didn't even notice the three of them. On she walked until she finally reached the counter, wherein Mrs Cakes smiled warmly to her. Trixie turned from this in a huff, only to look on with surprise as both Fuchsia and Lavender now looked to her with almost eager expressions, leading to her speaking up.
"What? You mean...?"
She didn't finish her words, as both girls already knew the question, nodding simultaneously in response. Raising one hand, Lavender gestured over to Sunset.
"What's the harm in just...talking to her?"
Trixie looked from her, then to Fuchsia, then back and forth before, at last, realising that there would be little point in trying to refuse. She sighed deeply, looking over to Sunset for a few moments before finally getting out of her seat. She walked over, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see her two friends silently urging her on, before at last reaching the Equestrian. Raising a fist to her mouth, Trixie cleared her throat, gaining Sunset's attention. Though the latter seemed curious to see Trixie here, Trixie herself, after taking a few deep breaths, finally just came out and said it
"Um...hi?"
