Trixie's Threeway Trouble

by crowscrowcrow

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Fluttershy, Trixie, Slice of Life
Length: 95088

After Boast Busters, Trixie stuck around, if not entirely by choice. Follow her attempts at working out her relationship and tertiary participation through season one.

After Boast Busters, Trixie stuck around, if not entirely by choice. Follow her attempts at working out her relationship and tertiary participation through season one.

After a rough start, everything is coming up roses for Trixie.

Recovered from her injuries, reimbursed for her trouble, acquainted with new friends, and dating the two best pegasi in existence, Trixie can hardly believe her luck. She's gotten more than she could have ever asked for.

It's a good thing she doesn't have history she'd rather not see come to light and secrets she'd rather keep buried. Nor did she claim to have stolen a book once to the only pony in town obsessive enough to do a lot of digging.

Assuming everything is exactly how she imagines, all she has to do now is hold on to her new life.

Editing, Brainstorming and Bickering: Phaoray, Knight of the Raven

Published 2016-11-13 21:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2021-08-24 18:56:27 UTC

Chapter 2 - Something long overdue

At last Trixie had some privacy with Dash. Surrounded by walls of gray clouds on all sides. Somewhere down below, she could hear the rain land, but up here it was actually much more quiet that she had expected a storm cloud to be.

Clouds were so very versatile. Case in point. A large storm cloud over a certain library made a great tool for revenge. That much was obvious. But, who could have guessed that same cloud could also serve as a secret bunker for love struck fillies?

“Do they teach this stuff in pegasi schools?” Trixie asked idly while letting a hoof run along Rainbow’s side then trailed off to flick the cloud. “The cloud bunker thing, Trixie means.” All she felt was cool damp air. The cloud just allowed her to pass through without even seeming to take any notice of her.

Normally, Trixie wouldn’t take kindly to being ignored like that, but she supposed she could make an exception for inanimate objects. It also helped that it was exactly this quality that made clouds Trixie’s favorite place to spend time with Dashie.

After all, while Dash could lay on the supposedly soft clouds, Trixie got to lay on her. Which as far as Trixie was concerned was a much better deal. In fact, Trixie decided she would ignore the cloud right back and focus her attention on Rainbow instead, caressing a wing.

“Honestly? Kind of, yeah.” Rainbow squirmed a little under the touch, ticklish perhaps. “Most of Cloudsdale is made out of just clouds and rainbows. I grew up messing with it, kinda like a sandbox, I guess?”

“Wait, you can walk on rainbows too?” Trixie asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Heh, of course not. That’d be weird.”

“Oh sure, ‘that is a bridge too far.” Trixie mock complained, “Though Trixie supposes that makes sense. It is just light after all.”

“We can swim in it, I guess, but we aren’t supposed to.” Rainbow Dash motioned to her colorful mane. “it's really hard to get the stains out, see?”

“You… you’re messing with Trixie, right?” She was pretty sure that wasn’t a thing.

“Just a little.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “My mane has always been this way, but I did swim in a rainbow pond once. After I crashed into it. It does stain pretty bad but nothing my mom couldn’t get out with a bath and a good brushing.”

Trixie pushed herself up on Rainbow’s Chest, staring down at her incredulously. “Trixie can’t tell if you are lying.”

“Hey, you can ask my mom if you don’t believe me.” Rainbow retorted with a grin. “And I’m pretty sure Dad took lots of pictures and everything too. Might be a little hard to find them, though.”

“Oh, how convenient for you. And pray tell why would it be hard to find such a picture?” Trixie was beginning to believe this story less and less.

“Because there’s loads of them.” Rainbow Dash said awkwardly as she looked away. “They kind of… took pictures of everything I did ever since before I was born.”

“Before you were born?” Trixie tilted her head in confusion. “Oh! Like an ultrasound?”

“I dunno. They were all black and whitey. It looked super weird.” Rainbow Dash shivered. “Can we talk about something else, please?”

“Anything else?” Trixie mused as she ran a hoof through the ‘wall’. According to Rainbow Dash, clouds were some of the softest things in equestria, but to Trixie it was as though nothing was there.

Watching her, Rainbow Dash reached out and tapped the cloud wall in the same spot Trixie had just passed her hoof through. However, Rainbow Dash connected with the cloud as if it were a poofy cushion, causing it to jiggle in place a little. “The clouds thing again? Seriously, did you not know any pegasi growing up?”

“The Great and Cultured Trixie will have you know that she was in fact raised by one of the greatest pegasi ever.” Trixie huffed indignantly. “It’s just that we were more down to earth where Trixie is from.”

“Whatever.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “What did you want to know now?”

“This is a rain cloud, right? And it’s currently unleashing some monsoon like torrent on Twilight’s house below us.”

“Nah, it’s a storm cloud. Close enough, though. Why?”

“So, that means This thing is full of water or something, right?” Trixie asked while she waved her hoof through another patch of storm cloud without any effect. “Shouldn’t we be getting wet?”

Rainbow snickered to herself.

“What? It was a serious… Oh…” Trixie dragged a hoof over her face as she did her best to ignore her incredibly immature girlfriend shaking with laughter beneath her. “You are the worst. Forget it.”

“Oh, you wish.” Rainbow grinned while her wings wrapped around Trixie. “This’ll keep me going for days.”

“Ugh,” Trixie huffed as she got cocooned in feathery warmth. Despite herself, she curled up a little more comfortably. “At least Trixie has entertained somepony today. Perhaps she should have become a comedian rather than a magician.”

“Eh, you’re not that fu-” Rainbow noticed Trixie glaring at her and did her best to abort, “-uuuunnny? I, erm, I’m sorry. I tried. Couldn’t think of anything that would’ve worked. Oh, maybe funeral?”

“Yours maybe.” Trixie rolled her eyes.

Rainbow Dash scrambled for a change of subject. “Sooo, what was that you asked before? Why this patch of cloud is dry? Well that’s easy! It reacts to how I feel. If I’m in a good mood, so is the cloud! Actually, I’m limiting how much I shape this one otherwise it’ll stop raining. Isn’t that interesting? Or something?” She put on her cheesiest smile.

Trixie eyed Rainbow for a couple of quiet seconds but then her grumpy demeanor quickly crumpled. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.” She said while pushing herself up to loom over Rainbow Dash’s face with a sly smile.

"You meant to say awesome, right?" Trixie's cute pegasus pillow said.

“Trixie knows what she said. And you were right earlier. That is interesting. You are creating some sort of barrier to keep your emotions from affecting the cloud’s structure?”

”“Uh, I guess?”

“Let’s stress test that shall we?” Trixie leaned in close.

Catching on, Rainbow Dash flushed red. “And how do you intend to do that?” she asked with faux ignorance as she pulled Trixie in for a kiss.

It didn’t take long for the large, dark storm cloud to sprout a little fluffy white patch on top of it that was entirely out of place with the rest of it. Amidst the clatter of rain now emanated the sounds of giggling fillies fooling around.

“You were right, Spike. I did need this.” Twilight sighed contently while she flipped to the next page of her book. It was one of her favorites. A classical thesis written by Starswirl the Bearded on the theory behind color alterations between unicorn auras. Volume II of XII.

Of course, that wasn’t the only book. There were about three piles more of them stacked up around her as she lay sprawled on the floor. “I should have taken a little break ages ago.” Smiling, she took a sip from another fresh cup of chamomile tea.

“Told ya,” Spike said as he came in from the kitchen with a gem-encrusted sandwich in one claw and a flipped-open comic book in the other. “If nopony is going to come through the storm anyway we might as well think of it as vacation time,” he said before taking a big bite without taking his eyes off the page.

Twilight smiled at him. “Yes, a different outlook really makes a difference. I don’t even notice the rain anymore. I’m much more interested in...” she turned back to her book, “...the magic make up of lime pigmentation.”

“Huh?” Spike perked up from his comic book. A hefty feat, considering Sir Drakon had just rescued a grateful maiden. “Actually, now that you mention it… I haven’t needed to mop the front door in a while now and… I don’t hear it anymore, either?”

Glancing to the nearest window, Twilight noticed there were no rain drops rattling against it anymore. In fact, she could actually see the sky rather than a curtain of water. “That’s strange… it… stopped?” she asked in disbelief.

“Maybe it ran out of rain?” Spike offered.

“I doubt that, Spike. If that was possible it should have stopped a long time ago. It draws moisture from the air to keep going and we have plenty of that around here.”

Twilight pondered the possible implications. It was of course possible Rainbow Dash had cooled down, but it was just as likely that this was meant to give her some false hope. Or perhaps Rainbow Dash was merely swapping the last cloud out for a bigger one and this lull would end any moment now.

In any case, there would be time enough to investigate after she’d finished reading. If the rain hadn’t returned by then anyway.

“We’ll look into it later, after our break,” she winked at Spike before her attention returned to her books, swapping to Volume III for good measure.

It was almost strangely quiet now. The sound of rain had been such a mainstay this week that it was a little jarring to go without it now. Still, not so jarring that it slowed down her reading at all.

Twilight didn’t pay attention to how much time passed, but by the time she’d reached the midway point of Volume VIII, something finally broke the almost eerie silence.

**Knock, knock, knock.**

“Just a minute.” Twilight quickly levitated the piles of books onto the shelves as she made her way to the front door. A quick peek out the window confirmed that the rain was still gone, so the odds were good this was actually somepony here to find something to read!

Enthusiastically, Twilight swing the door open. “Welcome to The Golden Oa-Oh, it’s you, again.”

Trixie stood on a drowned patch of muck that might have once been a welcome mat. Somehow she looked even more smug than usual. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has returned, yes. An encore is in her nature after all.”

It was already starting. Twilight could feel the irritation build right back up the more she looked at Trixie. In particular the way Trixie now seemed to be so much more relaxed than she was despite the fact she was lounging in her own personal heaven just a minute ago.

Unable to stand looking at Trixie for another moment, Twilight let her gaze wander past her. It was the first time she’d gotten a good look at the area surrounding her library in a week. As expected, the ground was one big mud pool, but when she tilted her head up to look at the storm cloud she found the whitest puffiest friendliest cloud she’d ever seen instead.

“Do you like it?” Trixie asked with an annoying sing song quality to her voice. “Trixie didn’t have any white flags lying around, but a white cloud is just as good, right? Take it as a sign of good faith. Can Trixie come in?”

“What?” Though Twilight wasn’t quite sure what Trixie was on about, she knew white flags were used to signal for surrender or truce. She doubted it was the former. Twilight sighed and turned around to lead Trixie inside. “You know I can’t bar you from the public library. Come on in.”

“Trixie thought she’d try to be more polite this time.” She actually used one of the towels that was near the door for floodwater to clean off her hooves this time before she continued further in. “Can we talk, privately?”

“Technically, I’m not obligated to speak to you.” Twilight had read the rulebook on library management front to back several times in an attempt to find some loopholes to annoy Trixie with. So, she knew she could ignore her if she wanted. “However, if this really is your work, I’ll hear you out.”

“Great!” Trixie chirped as she was lead into the main reading area. On the way, she could see the little dragon, Spike, trudging up the stairs to another floor.

Twilight settled back down in her reading spot, next to the tea pot. She gave Trixie an annoyed look as Trixie sat down in front of her. Twilight had half hoped Trixie to have just been messing around. After a moment, she reluctantly accepted the fact this was really happening now. “Well? I’m listening.”

For her part, Trixie folded and unfolded her hooves trying to get into a more comfortable position. She hadn’t really expected to get this far on the first try and nerves were setting in. She cleared her throat a couple times. “Could Trixie get something to drink? No? Uh, that’s fine. Well, here goes then...can we be friends again?” Trixie asked bluntly.

“What? No!” Twilight could hardly believe the nerve of this mare.

“Woah, there.” Trixie raised her hooves in a surrendering gesture. “Okay, okay. Maybe not friends, how does friendly acquaintances sound?”

“No!” Twilight said, springing upright to glare down at Trixie.

“Just acquaintances then?”

“What is wrong with you?”

“What about ‘Not Enemies’? Final offer.”

Twilight stared at Trixie in disbelief. “This isn’t a fish market, you can’t just barter for, for whatever it is you think you’re doing. Actually, that is a good question. What are you doing?”

“Trixie is…” There was a moment of quiet as Trixie contemplated the question. “Trixie is trying to make you and Dash friends again.”

“Wha?” Twilight blinked in surprise. “If that’s it, why are you here asking to be friends and not Dash?”

“Because it’s kind of Trixie’s fault that she’s so mad at you. In part, anyway.” While Trixie felt Twilight and Dash were responsible as well, she figured Twilight might not respond well to accusations right now. “Trixie had a fight with you. Now Dash is mad at you, right?”

“Right.” Twilight answered reluctantly, carrying a pained expression.

“So, if that’s why she’s angry, obviously the solution is for us to make up!” She announced with a touch of flare. “Honestly, Trixie thought this whole thing was pretty funny at the beginning, but she hadn’t really considered how much it was affecting everypony else till she saw Spike earlier. It’s not fair to him.”

“But it’s fair to me?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Fine, it’s also probably not really fair to you either anymore. Actually, Trixie never meant for any of this to happen. Dash took initiative and Trixie was just really happy that she cared so much that Trixie didn’t really stop to think about if it was a good idea, okay?”

“You are being weirdly agreeable.” Twilight thought it was suspicious, but she did want a resolution as well. “Okay, so let me see if I’ve got this right. You came here to apologize, so that we can all get along again?”

“Basically, except Trixie is not apologizing.” Trixie polished a hoof against her fur. “Trixie feels she was justified.”

“What?” Twilight glared at Trixie. “You want me to apologize? But I—”

Trixie interrupted. “You also feel you were justified too. Obviously. That’s why it’s been a week and all we’ve accomplished is wasting everypony’s time and nopony is happy. You don’t like this. Trixie doesn’t like this anymore. Dash doesn’t even like this; she’s just doing it cause she feels guilty and choosing between her friends is hurting her but she’s committed now.”

It was weird to hear news that simultaneously made one feel better and worse at the same time. On the one hoof, Twilight didn’t like to hear that Rainbow Dash was hurting, but on the other it was good to know that Rainbow still thought of her as a friend, even if they were fighting. It was something that Twilight hadn’t been so sure of recently.

After giving Twilight a moment to contemplate, Trixie pressed on. “However, neither of us would ever apologize to the other, right?”

“I suppose?” Twilight wasn’t entirely comfortable putting it that strongly. Especially now.

“So, let’s not but say we did?” Trixie offered with a sweet smile. “As long as we act like we did, who’s going to know the difference?”

“You want us to just pretend to be friends?” Twilight asked, slightly offended.

“You know what they say, right?” Trixie grinned. “Fake it till you make it.”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think I can agree to this. Princess Celestia specifically instructed me to study the magic of friendship. That means real friends. I can’t just start pretending to be friends with somepony just because it is a convenient solution.”

“Don’t be stupid!” Trixie stomped her hoof, clearly agitated. “What else are you going to do to solve this?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll have to figure it out. The right way.” Twilight motioned toward the door for Trixie to leave. “I’ve listened to what you had to say, and while I appreciate what you were trying to do here... I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

“Wait.” Glancing toward the door, Trixie saw it swing open under the influence of Twilight’s magic. “Before you ask Trixie to leave, there’s just one more thing. You said you were studying friendship, right?”

Twilight nodded while she approached the door to see Trixie out. “Yes, now if that’s all I’d like you to—”

“Don’t you think you are being unscientific?” Trixie blurted out.

There was a little twitch in Twilight’s face as she came to a sudden stop. “I’m sorry...” The door swung shut, followed by an audible click. “What did you just say to me?”

Trixie had the distinct impression she’d just catapulted herself into a minefield. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. “Well, uhm, the thing is…” Trixie sputtered as she somehow found herself being dwarfed in Twilight’s shadow. “Don’t you need a control group?” She managed to squeak out as she closed her eyes tightly, preparing for the worst.

“I’ve already got that. Everypony who’s not in the friend group is the control group.”

“Okay! But what about a placebo group?”

“...Go on.”

Peeking with one eye, Trixie spotted Twilight right in front of her with a mixture of impatience, skepticism and interest painted across her face. “W-well... surely you need something to contrast with? How else are you going to tell what the effect of friendship is rather than just what looks like friendship?”

“Huh,” Twilight’s expression softened as she trotted off toward one of the nearby bookshelves and pulled down a notebook. “That’s actually not a bad point. Contrast ‘Friends’ with ‘Fake Friends’. I’m sure that’s a common enough occurrence that it warrants some kind of study anyway to tell the difference,” she said while flipping through it.

Trixie was stunned. “You’re actually buying this? Trixie was making it up as she went along.”

“It’s not something I’d previously considered, admittedly, but I should look into it. The Princess told me to study friendship and I can’t very well do that if I can't differentiate between real friends and fake friends.” By this point, Twilight had produced a quill and was jotting something down. “The only question is where am I going to get a placebo group?”

It took Trixie a moment to recognize that Twilight was staring in her direction. She checked behind her, but obviously found nopony there. “Oh. Oh!” She swiftly raised a hoof. “Trixie volunteers! She’s been pretending to like you from the beginning so you know she’s qualified.”

Twilight was already in the middle of taking more notes. “Great that’ll help with the study and...“ She paused suddenly. “Oh, hm... That kind of stung a lot more than I expected… were you really?” she asked as she looked up from the notebook to Trixie.

“No, of course not.” Trixie flashed her lustrous smile. ”Trixie was just trying to help. That’s what friends do, isn’t it?”

“We’re not really friends.” Twilight reminded her.

“Right.” Saddling up to Twilight's side, Trixie tried to get a peek at the notes. “Sooo, we’re good? Trixie is just asking since you were pretty adamant about the whole Trixie being evil thing earlier. ”

Levitating her notes out of Trixie’s sight, Twilight took a step away and turned to face her. “Sure. Well I figure there are two ways this can go.” She smiled with cautious optimism. “Maybe I was wrong about you. You did come here with a peace offering and tried to sort out our problems so we can all be friends. I was pretty worried about how this was going so it’s a real boon. I hope we can get along from now on. I’ve not been kind to you and this is a good opportunity to start fresh.”

“Oh,” Trixie looked a bit taken aback. “That is much more reasonable than Trixie was expecting to be honest.”

“In fact, I’d like us to spend a lot more time together and get to know each other better. How does that sound? As friends we should be close.”

“Trixie would like that.”

“Great! Of course, there is another way this could turn out.” Twilight snapped her notebook closed, catching Trixie’s gaze with her own. “Maybe I’m not wrong about you. In which case I’m a lot more likely to catch you out this way. I’d prefer you where I can see you until I figure it out. As even closer ‘friends’.”

“The Great and Perceptive Trixie had picked up on that implication, yes.” Trixie smirked as though this was all just part of some stage show only she knew the program to. “It was generous of you to spell it out, though. Feel free to keep a close eye on Trixie, she does her best work with an audience,” she said with a wink.

Twilight frowned. At least she could be sure Trixie was still as infuriating as first thought. “While we are being this up front. Care to tell me the truth while we’re alone?”

“Trixie is innocent, of course.” Trixie stated matter of factly.

“Of course.” Twilight sighed.

“Now, while this has been fun, we really must be going.”

“Go where?”

“To visit Rainbow Dash and show her we put this whole mess behind us,” Trixie said while she approached the door and enveloped the knob in a soft glow before looking over her shoulder at Twilight. “Ready to pretend we’re friends in front all your real friends to keep the peace?”

“Not when you put it like that.”

“Don’t worry. It’s easier than you think.” Trixie said almost encouragingly. “Trust Trixie on this. She’s been pretending most of her life!”

“How reassuring...” Twilight mumbled as she trotted after Trixie.

The ponyville weather station was a boring place. A testament to this fact were the paper airplanes that scattered the ground after many a fateful encounter with sturdy walls that would tolerate no escape.

Recently Rainbow Dash had been trying to avoid spending any time in the little office she now found herself in again. She’d be long gone if it weren’t for Trixie's request to wait here for her arrival.

Rainbow Dash tried to relax as she leaned back in her chair, hind hooves on the desk. It wasn’t helping. Where normally she’d be bored to death, this time she’d welcome boredom if it meant she didn’t keep thinking back to Trixie’s little ‘stress test’.

“Gah, I can’t believe her.”

Suffice it to say, she’d failed that little test spectacularly. Not that she minded all that much in the moment, but now in the aftermath she’d been left with an incredibly smug Trixie and a pristine white cloud that proved she’d been unable to keep control.

On top of all that, she’d lost her tool of vengeance in the process. Although, perhaps that was a good thing. It had gone on for far too long. She’d wanted to stop it earlier, but got distracted and by then the whole thing had gotten away from her. If she suddenly stopped, how would she explain? In fact, that was the problem now.

“What am I supposed to say next time I see Twilight?” Rainbow groaned. She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. Granted, that was the least of her worries.

It was impossible to play it cool when everything around you showed how you really felt about some pony. A fact that Trixie had happily abused to confirm Dash’s feelings for her.

While that part was a bit embarrassing, what was worse was that the treacherous cloud also revealed her insecurities when talk turned to her job again. While any other time Dash was able to dismiss the topic as something she’d totally figured out, the darkening cloud had been enough for Trixie to take it upon herself to help out.

That was how Dash had ended up back in the office, unsure of what exactly Trixie had in store. Trixie didn’t have a great track record in resolving problems without creating a few new ones.

“Not that I’m any better, heh.” Rainbow chuckled as she sat up straight and tried to bring her attention to the piles of paper on her desk. She was pretty sure she’d caused herself a lot more problems with her solution of just ignoring them.

The door creaked open.

“Hey Dashie!” Trixie said cheerfully as she came trotting in with the kind of bounce in her step usually reserved for a foal on Hearth’s Warming Day.

“Finally! I feel like I’ve been here for days.” Rainbow Dash leaped from her chair to hover mid air in front of Trixie. “So, what did you—Twilight?”

Behind Trixie, Twilight was standing just outside the door, looking about as conflicted as Dash was surprised. “Erm, Hello, Rainbow Dash. How’ve you been?”

“Yeah, uh, good, I guess?” Rainbow Dash looked to Trixie for some kind of explaination, but was just met with her stupid smug grinning face. Apparently, she was on her own for this one. However, if Trixie led Twilight here, something must have changed?

“I suppose you might be wondering why I’m here.” Twilight said as she gave a glance over at Trixie and came away looking just a little more tired than before. “Trixie and I have sorted things out between us, and I’d like to talk with you, if that’s fine?”

Trixie saddled up beside Twilight and wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders in a comraderly manner. “That’s right! We’re friends, again. Isn’t that something?” She said while taking a few awkward steps forward as though she’d lost her balance, inadvertently maneuvering Twilight into the office with her weight.

Twilight stumbled forward and shot Trixie a glare, who quickly slipped her hoof away. “Yes, friends. We haven’t really covered personal space yet, but that’s what friendship is all about; getting to know your friends in more depth as you go.”

Although the whole thing was kind of a lot to take in all at once, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but grin at the familiar trouble. “Tell me about it. She gets real touchy real quick. Hey, maybe we should cover that some time too, huh, Trixie?”

“Oh, certainly.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Trixie will be sure to ask the pot and kettle for advice. Weren't you two in the middle of something? In fact, The Gracious and Tactful Trixie will give you some space,” she said while stepping backward out the door before pulling it shut.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were suddenly left alone in the office. Each regarding the door for a moment before turning to face one another.

Rainbow Dash was the first to break the quiet with a chuckle. “See? What did I tell you?”

“That wasn’t quite what I imagined when you said she was ‘real touchy real quick’.” Twilight admitted, looking out the window. Trixie was already wandering off. “Should we follow her? She looked upset.”

“Nah,” Rainbow Dash said while she dropped out of the air at last, landing behind Twilight to take a look as well. “She can’t be that mad.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “She just walked out on us like that.”

“Don’t you think she looked kinda… I dunno, Pleased?” It was easy enough for Dash by this point to suss out Trixie’s moments of pseudo outrage. As far as Rainbow Dash was concerned, that was proof enough everything was fine. Which had to mean Trixie and Twilight really had worked things out somehow. If that was true, she didn’t need to worry about the whole cloud thing anymore. What a relief, that would make this whole thing so much easier.

“Pleased?” When she thought about it like that, Twilight immediately became suspicious. As long as she was in here, Trixie could be sure the library was relatively unguarded. What if this was some kind of ploy? Perhaps there was something else Trixie wanted to steal. Twilight couldn’t imagine what, but she couldn’t just let it happen.

“Anyway...” Rainbow Dash headed back to her desk and pulled out a chair for Twilight, and then took one for herself before shooting Twilight a smile. “I’m glad you are here. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“What, Oh, yes.” With a titanic effort, Twilight managed to pry herself away from the window, just managing to catch sight of Trixie turning a corner. Silently cursing, she took the offered seat, feeling that she’d been had. Rainbow Dash seemed happy to talk to her now, but If she left immediately to go chase after Trixie that would only prove to Rainbow Dash they hadn’t actually made up at all.

Shoving some papers aside, Rainbow Dash cleared up her desk a little. It almost might have looked diligent, if she hadn’t merely swept them all into an open drawer.

Twilight figured that whatever Trixie was up to clearly needed time or she wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of setting this up. She couldn’t just storm out, but maybe she could hurry things along a little bit and cut to the chase. “Are we still friends?”

“Uhm, maybe?” Rainbow Dash looked taken aback. “I mean, I guess, if you still wanna be? I, well… I’d understand if maybe you... didn’t want to be.”

“I do!” Twilight said hastily, noticing a surprising feeling of relief within herself. She hadn’t really been convinced when Trixie claimed Rainbow Dash was as eager as she was, but now she could be sure. Twilight brushed her mane back. “Hah, that’s so much better. Okay, then I think we need to... I don't know. Talk? This is mostly new friendship territory and I'm not really sure what the next step is. Do we just drop it now? Or is there something else we should be doing. I know that when Rarity and Applejack had their disagreement during our slumber party they bickered a fair bit but didn't really bring it up much after it was resolved. Although, they also seemed pretty reluctant to attend another one. What do you think?”

Rainbow Dash was giving her a look as though she were waiting for a punchline. “You had a slumber party? With Rarity and Applejack? I have a hard time picturing either of them just hanging out.”

“That's your takeaway?” Twilight groaned. “Yes, during the storm. It was fine, eventually.”

“Huh, so did we. I think I'm starting to understand why Pinkie was being weird…” She said while looking over to the window with a sense of foreboding.

Looking at the window, there was nothing there as far as Twilight could see. “What?”

“Pinkie Pie dropped by earlier saying something to Trixie about not visiting her.” Rainbow Dash started. “I dunno if she was just talking to her.”

“Oh,” Twilight pondered the implications for a moment. It didn't take long. "All of us were having fun without her... so maybe she is worried about being left out? We should do something about that.”

“Like what?”

“Some sort of get together, maybe.” Twilight said as she slipped out of her chair and paced around in small circles. “Since I won’t have to bail water out of the library anymore, tomorrow morning should be free for me. Pinkie should be at work, but that’s fine we can visit her there. She’ll probably like that. I’ll just have to check with everypony else. What’s your schedule like?” She said, suddenly turning back to Rainbow Dash.

“Tomorrow morning...” Rainbow Dash glanced down at the documents spilling out of the bulging drawer. “Y-yeah, I think I can make that work.”

“Great. I’ll go ask the rest of the girls,” Twilight said while making her way to the door. While she certainly intended to make good on that statement, she couldn’t deny it also made for a convenient excuse to go track down Trixie. Hopefully, before anything happened.

“Wait.”

Twilight paused halfway out the door and looked back. “Yes?”

“It’s just… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done any of that stuff.” Rainbow Dash stepped out from behind the desk and rubbed her neck nervously. “I knew it was wrong… You didn’t deserve it.”

Shutting the door, Twilight regarded Rainbow Dash for a moment. It was strange to see her act so self conscious. Stranger still to hear her say that she’d known she was wrong from the start. Perhaps something had influenced her at the time, something magical. She couldn’t leave without digging deeper. Readying a spell, she cautiously asked, “Then, why did you do it?”

“I was just. I dunno. Everything was going wrong and I was angry. I thought I’d feel better if I could just blow off some steam at somepony. Any pony. Then you ticked me off and… and I guess all I saw was an excuse.” Rainbow Dash averted her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

As Rainbow Dash looked away, Twilight quickly cast the spell. It’s purpose was to detect magical residue. Something simple, hardly intrusive, but still she knew it was something she was doing without permission.

The results weren’t what she expected. Nothing out of the ordinary. No traces of magic beyond some remaining sparkles from their experience channeling the elements of harmony.

If that was the case, then…

“What was bothering you so badly that you acted out like that?” Twilight found herself thinking aloud. She felt a hot flash rise up from her chest, she hadn’t meant to actually ask that. At least not like that.

Rainbow Dash looked embarrassed, but seemingly resigned as she slid back into her chair. “W-well.. Work and personal stuff, I guess.” Noticing Twilight was about to keep asking follow ups, she swiftly kicked the desk, which caused the drawers to open up with enough force to spread the contents like confetti. “I mean work! Just that. Busy busy.”

“What?” Taken by surprise, Twilight started collecting the wayward pieces of parchment while Rainbow Dash babbled in the background about everything she’d tried, the troubles that came with it and some very poor management choices she’d made along the way. Between the semi coherent stream of consciousness and the things Twilight was reading mid flight, it seemed things had gotten drastically out of control.

Rainbow Dash was in the middle of sweeping the documents back into the drawers when a magenta glow enveloped and pulled them away from her. “Hey! What gives?”

“What does it look like? I’m organising.” Twilight meanwhile had retaken her seat on the other side of the desk and was in the middle of sorting through everything, creating neat stacks as high as a pony on either side of her. “It was bothering you this much and it never occurred to you to just ask for help?”

“But,” Rainbow Dash sputtered. “You don’t know anything about weather organisation.”

“You’re half right.” Twilight said without even looking at her, eyes scanning half a dozen pages at a time. “I know about as much about the weather as you do about organisation.”

“I know next to nothing about that!” Rainbow Dash groaned exasperated as she flitted about the room in agitation. “That’s the whole problem!”

“True, but vice versa…” Twilight noticed the blank look on Dash’s face. “I mean, the opposite is also true. You know about Weather and I know about Organisation. I’m sure that between the two of us we can figure this out. Together. Well, eventually.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash came to a sudden halt then slowly descended back into her seat. “You’d do that? Even after… ya know?”

A precursory evaluation revealed to Twilight that this would not be an easy or swift task. Committing to helping Rainbow Dash like this most certainly meant she’d miss out on the opportunity to chase Trixie and attempt to catch her doing… whatever she may or may not be doing.

She’d have to choose which was more important to her.

Finishing construction on a third pile, Twilight shot Dash a smile. “What are friends for?”

Author's Note

Sooo, you know that thing where it's 23:30 and you're like "I'll go to bed right after this." and the next time you look it's 05:46? Basically that. :rainbowderp:

Chapter 3 - A tasty treat

“At last! The Great and Patient Trixie knew this moment would come!” Trixie triumphantly raised her hooves to the sky.

“Well, yeah, Silly. You ordered it.” Pinkie Pie set down a milkshake on the small wooden table Trixie had been awaiting her drink at. “Can I get you anything else?”

Trixie wrapped her lips around the straw and took a long gulp of the sweet cool treat. It was just what she needed after all her hard work. Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly hard, or work, but she still deserved it! After all, she was pretty sure that resolving a conflict between two elements of harmony counted as saving Equestria on some level. “Do you have anything that won’t go straight to Trixie’s hips?”

The entire store seemed to be one big boisterous joke against dieting. Just at a glance she could see various types of cakes, cupcakes, pies, lollipops, muffins, and brownies. Each colorfully decorated and put on proud display just daring her to try one and then another and then never stop until some merciful pony might roll her out of the store.

“No problem!” Pinkie Pie presented some yellow glazed cupcakes. “These are actually meant to go straight to your mouth!”

“Greaaat, that’s exactly what Trixie meant and-uhm, are you eating those?” She asked incredulously as Pinkie Pie shoveled about two hooves full into her mouth, chewing happily with the kind of relish and delight that was normally reserved for Haute Cuisine advertisements.

“Mmrph?” Pinkie Pie questioned with her mouth filled to the brim. One seemingly physically impossible gulp later however she was good to go. “I just thought I’d demonstrate. These are definitely mouth cupcakes! Although, now i'm curious how hip cupcakes would taste. I mean I guess they’d have the same flavor, but how would you taste that?”

Rolling her eyes, Trixie waved Pinkie off. “Shut up, just, just go get Trixie one of those yellow ones… they looked pretty good.”

“Coming right up!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully as she bounced off behind the counter to fetch her one. As she was rummaging around, she asked, “So, how did things go with Dashie?”

“Trixie left her and Twilight to sort out their differences among themselves.” Of course, Trixie didn’t need to be in the room to know how it went. Somewhere during the conversation Twilight would surely notice the absolute mess the weather station was in and couldn’t allow herself to leave without dealing with it first. Like the neurotic little librarian that she was. The fact that Twilight had not yet come after Trixie to ‘stop her’ after she skulked out like that could only mean Twilight was doing just that, which meant surely the two of them had made up somehow or another. A twisted smile played on Trixie’s lips as she took another sip of her victory beverage. “Just as planned.”

“That’s great!” Pinkie Pie said with unreserved enthusiasm. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you look really happy and that’s all I need to know to be happy for you.”

“Uh, then why did you ask about it?” Trixie asked, feeling a smidge suspicious.

“Actually, I mean how things went with Dashie and you. You were fighting earlier today, remember? I was there, telling you about mind reading. I was asking about how that went.” Presumably, Pinkie had left to go to work after her little interruption. “I was worried if maybe you’d broken up. It looked like things were going well when I left, but you never really know how it goes.”

“Oh, right. That fight. Well, the Great and Discreet Trixie would have to say ‘pretty good’. She supposes that she has you to thank for that in some small part due to your advice. Telling Rainbow Dash how Trixie feels as bluntly as possible does seem to work.” Trixie smiled at Pinkie Pie. As odd as the girl was, she really did seem happy to help others be happy. Perhaps, Trixie could test the waters with her a little bit? She fidgeted with her milkshake straw. “About that, actually… How do you feel about somepony like Trixie dating your friends?”

“I think it’s great!” Pinkie Pie beamed the widest smile Trixie had seen on a pony. “You’re worried about how the rest of us feel about Rainbow Dash and you, right? Don’t worry! I think most of the girls warmed up to you a little by now, even if you were a little disruptive before. It’ll be a big surprise for some, though.”

Trixie at once felt slightly more at ease. Not because of Pinkie’s reassurances, no, but because it was now clear Pinkie could not actually read her mind. After all, it was Fluttershy she was worried about; most of this little friend group already knew about her and Dash. In fact, up until today she was under the impression that only Pinkie Pie and Twilight were out of the loop. “You didn’t seem very surprised this morning.”

“Oh, I was totally surprised when I found out! But that was ages ago.” Pinkie Pie had vanished underneath the counter, rummaging around through what sounded like a kitchen cabinet judging by all the clanking, but that couldn’t be right. “First time I heard about it was like a couple weeks ago. Dashie came in to get snacks once for a first date with somepony special. Well, I say that, but she didn’t say that. If you know what I’m saying?”

Trixie smirked. “Heh, she did that thing where she denies something specific before you asked about it, right?” It wasn’t hard to imagine, Rainbow Dash must have been nervous. The thought of her standing at the counter trying very hard to keep her cool and deny she was doing anything special made Trixie smile.

“Right! Anyhow, at first I thought it was probably Fluttershy, you know? That would’ve been the obvious pick. After all this time messing around one of them had finally asked the other out! It was so exciting! There’s this big party I’d been working on for when they finally did it, but then I got this feeling for peanut butter chocolate muffins. I just knew that’s what Dashie needed, but that didn’t make any sense, of course.”

“Right, of course. Out of everything you’ve done that’s the part that makes no sense.” Trixie said absentmindedly, she couldn’t get past the part where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had apparently been on the cusp of a relationship for so long without it going anywhere. Was that true? That couldn’t be right or why would either of them agree to date her instead?

“Exactly! Fluttershy likes Strawberries! That’s totally what Dashie would have asked for if it was for her, but she was all flustered and asking for variety like she wasn’t sure what that pony liked. Then I remembered she’d been spending a lot of time with you lately! I was so surprised!” Pinkie Pie reemerged as though she was coming up for air. “Wait, it was you, right?”

Trixie smirked. “If it wasn’t, Trixie would have some serious questions. Speaking of which, tell Trixie more about why you thought it would have been Fluttershy?”

“Before that, I think I might have eaten the last yellow ones.” Pinkie admitted with a look that was closer to mischief than embarrassment. “Is there anything else I could get you?”

Trixie narrowed her eyes at the stalling pink pony. “You know what Trixie wants.”

Beaming, Pinkie Pie hopped over the counter and plopped down a tray of Trixie’s favorite muffins in the world. “Tada! Enjoy!”

Trixie didn’t need to be told twice, though she had to promise herself to jog back home afterwards. “You’re *Mph* evil.” She managed to get out between bites.

“I just think if you want something, you should go for it! It’s like my Nana Pinkie used to say: it's better to regret something you did than something you didn't do!” Pinkie Pie smiled widely while she shuffled up to the farside of the table. “That’s why I never really got what was taking them so long, you know? They spent a lot of time together since they were foals.”

“There’s a Nana Pinkie?” It was entirely too horrible to imagine there might be more than one of her. Although, Pinkie had been a bit more down to earth this time around. Perhaps she was just really excited before? Trixie didn’t mind this version. “Forget it. What you're describing just sounds like things friends would do.”

“Right? That’s what we thought at first. Totally normal. But then you start to notice… stuff.” Pinkie Pie looked left and right, then leaned into a conspiratorial whisper. “Like, they keep looking at each other when they think the other isn’t. Or if they gotta get a present or something they are fine picking something for anypony else, but they get all flustered when it comes to each other. Like, they wanna get something perfect, but not too perfect or the other might notice, ya know? Stuff like that, lots of it.”

“That’s pretty circumstantial, don’t you think?” Trixie asked, starting to feel a little nervous.

Pinkie Pie leaned back a little bit and eyed Trixie up and down. “Okay, then how about this. Neither of them ever had a special somepony or anything like it. That’s not saying much for Fluttershy, but Dashie jumps into things all the time! And she’s pretty popular. I know ponies asked her out before and she always turns em down then goes to hangout with Fluttershy instead. It’s totally obvious!”

“Okay, uhm, maybe you have a point.” Trixie suddenly found the little cakeshop awfully confining. She needed some air.

“Well, until you came along that is.” Pinkie Pie continued unabated. “That’s why it was such a big surprise! I guess maybe I was just seeing things.”

“Yes, probably.” Trixie stood up. “Say, can Trixie take these to go?”

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie trotted off behind the counter and produced a paper bag. “Would you like anything else?”

“No, no. Trixie is fine.” She said while levitating her treats into the bag as she got ready to leave. “Wait, actually… Do you know how to send a letter around here?”

“Sure, there’s the Ponyville Post Office just two streets down that way.” Pinkie pointed down the street. “Or you could ask Spike. He always sends Twilight’s letters to the princess with his fire! It’s really impressive.”

Dragon fire mail? That was just weird enough to catch Trixie’s attention. “Do you know what he likes? Get Trixie one of those.” She motioned to the various pastries.

“I sure do, but you have to promise not to give it to anypony else.” Pinkie looked surprisingly serious for a change. “If you do, I’ll throw in something special for Dashie and Fluttershy at a discount! Sound good?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Fine, you have Trixie’s word.”

No sooner had she said it that Pinkie Pie shoved another bag over the counter. “That’ll be seven bits. Thanks for shopping at Sugarcube Corner!”

“Certainly.” Trixie floated the bits over then turned to leave the little shop. “Though, Trixie feels she got more than she bargained for.”

It was evening by the time Twilight made it back to the library.

“Spike, I’m home!” Twilight called out as she trotted through the door.

An affirming grunt came from the kitchen.

Helping Rainbow Dash had taken up most of her day, but it had actually been kind of cathartic. Creating order out of chaos like that via the introduction of a proper filing system, bookkeeping, scheduling, and most importantly…

“You would not believe the day I’ve had, Spike. Did you know Rainbow Dash has never heard of delegation? No wonder she was behind on absolutely everything!” She plopped down in her favorite reading corner and settled in to get comfortable with a nice book for a little bit before she’d have to start thinking about dinner. “We’ve got it sorted out for the most part. She only fell asleep three times, which was honestly better than I expected.”

“Back already?” Spike came walking into the room, carrying a tray with a half eaten sandwich, a drink and a folded open comic book that his eyes barely left. “It sounded like that mess would take days to clean up. By the way, thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem, I… wait, what do you mean?” Twilight was certain Spike couldn’t have known that she had been helping Dash. She didn’t even know it herself when she left. In fact, she never even told him she was going anywhere. In hindsight, that was a bit irresponsible of her. Trixie’s antics had her more off balance than she thought.

Spike didn’t seem to take notice of her confusion as he sat down near her, still engrossed. “Trixie came by to give me your message,” he said before taking another bite.

“Trixie was here!?” With that, she immediately got up and began a frantic sweep of the library. Something else had to be missing. “What did she take!?”

“Uh, just a comic book. I was here the whole time.” Spike replied cautiously as he watched Twilight pull out a large inventory scroll, they’d made after ‘someone’ stole the book. It had been meticulously prepared to document everything inside Golden Oaks Library. He hadn’t thought they’d actually use it, but the process of creating it had calmed Twilight’s nerves at the time. “Actually, she was bringing back those books she borrowed this morning. Are you okay? I thought you girls made up or something.”

“Or something” Twilight echoed while she was going down her list, the process itself already helped steady her nerves and calm her down a little as she ticked box after box as present. “She bailed on us immediately. Gah, maybe I should have followed her after all. Did she say or do anything while she was here?”

“Did you want a full report?” Spike asked sarcastically.

Twilight nodded as she moved to a different shelf. “That would be great, Spike.”

“Of course you do.” Spike groaned, exasperated as he put his sandwich down and started counting on his fingers. “Lets see… She told me you would be late, because you were helping Rainbow Dash sort out some big mess and that she brought me lunch.”

“Lunch?” Twilight asked.

Spike’s focus drifted from the present back to that precious meal, licking his lips. “An amethyst and jade encrusted muffin. It was amazing! So crunchy.”

“What? Where did she even get that?” Twilight wondered briefly before concluding it wasn’t what was important right now. “Nevermind. What else?”

“Uh, well I guess I had some soda to wash it down with?”

“Thank you, Spike, but I meant after that.”

Spike shrugged. “After that we just hung out for a bit and I showed her some of my comics, I guess? She liked them and stayed a while to look through a couple and I lent her one when she left. She didn’t take anything else, but we talked about a bunch of stuff.”

“Like what?” Twilight asked as she moved to a different shelf while thinking through the implications of this visit.

So far, everything seemed to be in order. Trixie’s presence was concerning, though. Perhaps by coming here and not doing anything, Trixie was trying to demonstrate she intended to uphold their truce, but that also served as a reminder that if Twilight were to break it, so would Trixie. Was Trixie sending some sort of message on how easy it was for her to get close to anyone Twilight cared about?

Meanwhile, Spike was entirely oblivious and just groaned, annoyed with having to put up with Twilight’s paranoia. “I don’t know! Lots of stuff. The weather and Rainbow Dash. Trixie’s magic show. You and me. Dragon Mail. Power Ponies Comics. Trixie’s magic show again. Pinkie Pie. Snack foods and what dragons eat. Nightmare Moon and the princesses. That big dragon you guys talked to… and uh... do I need to keep going? I think that was about it.” By now, he’d run out of claws on both hands to keep count with.

“No, that’s fine, Spike.” Twilight brushed some strands of frazzled mane out of her face. “If I just calm down and think about it rationally, I should be able to work this out. A couple of things are not adding up here.”

“What do you mean?” Spike asked before setting to work finishing off his meal.

Trotting in small circles, Twilight still continued down her checklist while she mused. “She came here for a reason, Spike. How did she know to tell you I would be late? She’d already left. So that must mean she planned for this to happen, somehow. She could have just dropped by for a second if all she wanted was to send me a message… So, why was she here this long?”

“Okay, I can see this is going to be a while.” Spike got up and stretched. “I’m just gonna make you dinner and leave it out before I go to bed. Once you’re done, eat something, okay?”

“If she didn’t take anything, it must have been information she was after. That would explain why she talked to you about so many topics; to obfuscate what she wanted. Some of these are obvious red herrings, but the rest…” Twilight mused, too absorbed in her thoughts to take no notice of Spike as he left the room grumbling as to why he bothered.

Twilight flipped over her inventory scroll and made a quick list of the ten topics then began crossing out everything she felt certain wasn’t relevant. That brought her down to just three.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike

Dragon Mail

Nightmare Moon and the princesses

Twilight held the quill to her lip as she thought over the list again.

The three topics were certainly connected. That Spike could communicate to the princess through dragon mail. What was most interesting however was the gap between the topics. If Trixie wanted to go unnoticed, she might have asked around what she really wanted to know and gathered information that way without directly addressing it. From that perspective, it looked as though Trixie was trying to gather information on Twilight’s relationship to Princess Celestia.

Turning back to the frontside of the scroll, she continued her inventory check. The books were all accounted for, though. Now she was down to rifling through office supplies. She didn’t really care to count them, but it kept her busy while she thought it through.

Six quills, one of which she was holding. Five inkwells. Forty six sheets of paper. Two candles of sealing wax…

“Huh, wait… Did I miscount? There should be forty seven.” Twilight looked back to the list. She ran through the papers again. All of them were blank, as they should be, but there was no doubt about it. One of them was missing. “Spike! Did you take anything?”

Spike poked his head around the corner. “No. Why?”

Sweeter words had never been said. Twilight cracked a smile. “Of course. That’s why she brought the muffin.”

Blinking slowly, Spike turned on his heels and left the room. “Oookay. She’s snapped.” The sound of Twilight’s mad cackling behind him did nothing to reassure him.

“No no, wait. Listen. I’ve got a theory.” Twilight called out as she caught up to him. “Now, to see if it maps to reality, we need to test if it has any predictive power. So, tell me… You didn’t bring up the Dragon Mail thing on your own, did you? Trixie either asked about it or lead you to it. Correct?”

Spike paused to consider the question. “Uh, yeah I think we got to talking about some of the things I do around here and it came up. So?”

“So, Trixie already knew you could do it!” Twilight announced, excitedly. “Somepony told her about it, but not in detail. That’s why she came to ask you about it, because… she wanted to know if you could send it to anypony you wanted, right?”

“Right, but I can only send it to Princess Celestia.” Spike scratched his head. “Why’s that important?”

“Trixie didn’t know that. She was planning to use that jeweled muffin to butter you up, so you’d help her out. She’s trying to send a letter! More importantly, she doesn’t want me to know.” Twilight rubbed her hooves together, a smile of maniacal glee on her face. Trixie thought she could outsmart her? Hah! “Why do you suppose that is, Spike?”

“Gee, Twilight, maybe she doesn’t want you going through her mail like you went through her stuff?” Spike deadpanned.

Twilight froze briefly. “Oh, uh, I guess that’s possible too. I was going to say it is because she’s making some sort of evil report to her dark masters.”

“She’s not really the dark master serving type.” Spike pointed out. “I mean, can you imagine having Trixie as an underling?”

“Okay, okay. We’ll dial it back a little. Whoever she’s trying to contact, she’ll have to resort to the Ponyville Post Office now.”

“Hold on, how is it a secret? If I could have done it, wouldn’t I know she’d sent a letter and tell you?”

“Oh, that’s a good point.” Twilight admitted and came to a stop. “In which case… She’s only concerned with sending it once. We won’t get a second chance to intercept it!”

Spike groaned. This was clearly a terrible road to go down. “I’m pretty sure reading another pony’s mail is illegal. Also, it sounds like a great way to get back on Rainbow Dash’s bad side. Maybe you could just, oh I don’t know, look at the address on the outside of the letter?”

“You’re just full of good ideas today, Spike.” Twilight gave him a pat on the head. “It won’t tell me much immediately, but it’ll give me a good place to start looking for more information. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

Twilight smiled as she charged up her teleportation spell and barely managed to get the answer in before vanishing in a magenta flash.

“Just visiting the post office!”

The sky was already darkening by the time Trixie finally made it back to the cottage.

It had taken considerably longer than she anticipated now that she was carrying around so many things that even a unicorn as talented and gifted as herself was having a little trouble keeping it all afloat individually for such a long time.

“Ugh,” Trixie groaned as she stepped through the door, spinning the items around and levitating them each to a proper resting place. “Maybe Trixie should have gotten some saddlebags after all.”

Of course there were all the things she’d originally brought with her. Sunglasses, icebox, umbrella, and the fold-out chair. Which would have been bad enough, as she’d been willing to carry them around for the sake of the gag. Twilight had been pretty amusing.

But, in addition, there were now her new acquisitions. A bag with various muffins from Sugarcube Corner, a Power Ponies Comic from Spike, and a single blank piece of letter paper from Golden Oaks Library.

It could have been worse, at least she wasn’t lugging any hardcover books around, she’d wisely returned those already. Just a shame that Twilight wasn’t there to receive them. It might have done both of them some good if she were to witness Trixie give her a book for a change.

Perking up her ears, Trixie could hear some noises coming from the other room and trotted over to investigate the living room. On the couch was the expected visage of Fluttershy, no doubt recuperating after the evening round of feeding the critters. Why was she staring at the ceiling, though? “Trixie’s back!” She announced while striding in. “She comes bearing gif—Oh, hey, Dashie!”

To Trixie’s surprise, Rainbow Dash was flying near the ceiling beam, holding a new birdhouse against it with a look of some quiet desperation. “Here? Seriously, how do you want this?” she asked while glancing down to Fluttershy, then took notice of Trixie’s entrance. “Sup, Trixie? You’re home late. Nevermind that, know anything about how to install a birdhouse?”

“What does Trixie look like? A bird engineer?” She looked over toward Fluttershy. If the various bits of wood laying around were any indication, she’d made the new birdhouse that Rainbow Dash was holding. “Fluttershy, how do you install that?”

“Oh, uhm… H-however you want is fine.” Fluttershy replied with a blush from her comfortably curled up spot.

“Ah, Trixie is beginning to see the problem,” she said with a grin. Fluttershy’s easy going nature was obviously getting in the way of giving proper instruction. Fortunately, Trixie suffered no such qualms! She trotted over to the couch and scooted up beside Fluttershy to rest her weary legs and get an overview of the situation. “Fear not, The Great and Decisive Trixie shall tell you how to...huh...” She paused as she looked up at the construction work in progress.

“Great, could you hurry it up a little?” Rainbow Dash asked while she hovered in place waiting for instructions. It took her a moment to realize none were forthcoming and she glanced back down. “What’s taking so long?”

Trixie was staring back at her with a sly grin. By now, she’d gotten herself a nice comfy spot on the couch alongside Fluttershy, wrapping one hoof around her. “However you want is fine.” As it turned out, in addition to enjoying the nice soft feeling of the couch cushions and the warmth of her fuzzy companion, Trixie had herself a majestic view from this angle.

“Oh, don’t you start now too! Gah, fine. I hate you both.” Dash groaned and pushed the birdhouse into the beam with one hoof, then grappled for one of the nails she had stuck behind her ear and tried to find an angle from which she could get it through the wood.

“Okay, okay.” Trixie replied with a poorly suppressed giggle. “A little to the left.”

“I know you’re messing with me, Trixie. I can hear it in your voice!” Rainbow Dash grumbled. Despite maneuvering around the little house a bit she couldn’t find a good way to attach it. She wasn’t about to let herself be beaten by a little wooden box however! If she couldn’t drive a nail through the house, she’d just have to keep putting nails around it till it couldn’t fall anymore!

Rainbow Dash had grabbed hold off the beam with one hoof and used it to hold herself aloft while she positioned a nail using her freed up wing.

“That’s terrible. Trixie bets that’ll never work.” Trixie couldn’t have picked a better method herself, but motivating Dash was an art form. “If you actually do it that way, Trixie'll give you a prize.”

“Shut up. I know what I’m doing,” Rainbow Dash grunted back. The strain this put her under already had a lovely effect showing off some of the reckless athlete’s toned muscles beneath her fur. But, even better to Trixie, when Dash used her other hoof to strike the nail, driving the metal through the splintering wood, little ripples of force shot through her.

“Oh, oh dear. I don’t, uhm. T-that’s fine,” Fluttershy stammered out. Using one wing to cover her face and only watching through the gaps between her primaries as Rainbow Dash cracked a good bit of the wood when she missed a strike, occasionally even knocking out the nail she’d been working on.

Still, Dash pulled it off eventually and with a victorious cry she zipped away from the newly mounted house, to Trixie’s everlasting disappointment. “Ahah! Got it! No thanks to you two.”

“Aw, you won so quickly.” Trixie lamented and gave Fluttershy a nudge before bringing her hooves together. “Let’s give her a round of applause.”

Fluttershy squirmed but followed suit. Or at least, she mimicked the motions. If there was any sound it was too quiet for her to hear, but it was the thought that counted.

Still, Rainbow Dash hardly seemed to mind as she basked in her moment of glory, regardless of how it was obtained; a sentiment that Trixie could appreciate. After a moment of reveling, Dash remembered she’d been promised a reward. “So, what’s the prize?”

“So impatient,” Trixie teased while levitating the paper bag from Sugarcube Corner up between them. “While you were having fun with Twilight, Trixie went shopping. Here you go.”

Out of the bag floated a delicious looking cinnamon muffin, which Rainbow Dash swiftly scooped out of the air and took a big bite out of. Her eyes sparkled as she discovered the hidden surprise within. It was far sweeter than she anticipated! A quick inspection revealed molten caramel slowly dripping from the now exposed centre. She couldn’t help but take another bite and savor it, the first one was gone far too soon. “Mph! This is great!”

“Yes, that Pinkie Pie is surprisingly talented. It makes Trixie wonder if she acts so weird on purpose.” Trixie said. The genuine moment was quickly brushed aside again. “Not as talented as Trixie, of course.”

“Uhm, of course...” Fluttershy said, quietly. “But these are still wonderful.”

As Rainbow Dash came down from her moment of revery, she noticed the bag had been crumpled up and now both Trixie and Fluttershy had muffins of their own. Granted, neither of them looked as good as the one she had, but she still felt cheated. “Hey wait a minute! You were going to share these anyway, weren’t you?”

“No, Trixie is in the habit of buying things her lovers like and then hoarding it for herself.” She rolled her eyes with a playful smirk. “Of course Trixie was going to. She wasn’t expecting to see you so soon. How did things go with Twilight?”

Fluttershy nearly choked on a piece of strawberry.

Even Rainbow Dash faltered for a moment, definitely not used to being referred to like that if the deep blush on her face was any indication. “R-right. Well, uh, good. Great actually. She even helped me organize the weather duties and made a great schedule that… uhm. Well, I’d have to look at it to explain it, but according to Twilight if we just follow that I’ll have way more time on my hooves.” She then quickly shoveled the last piece of her delicious treat into her mouth.

Trixie was just loving the reactions all around. She patted Fluttershy on the back with one hoof to help dislodge whatever was bothering her then looked back up to Rainbow Dash. “Are you trying to make Trixie jealous of time?”

Swallowing, Rainbow Dash gave Trixie a confused look. “What?”

“Trixie would much rather you’d have more Trixie on your hooves.” she winked, absolutely loving the shades of red both of her favorite girls were turning. “Maybe we’ll count that as your replacement reward? Since you felt so slighted by Trixie’s first offering, how about you decide what we do? Although, if you are looking for suggestions, Trixie was hoping to get a taste of that cinnamon caramel.”

Fluttershy at this point had managed to tuck herself away in her own wings.

Glancing at the empty wrapper, It didn’t take Rainbow Dash long to figure out what Trixie was getting at. Clearly, the minx was having fun teasing her like this. Perhaps because Trixie thought she wouldn’t call her bluff when Fluttershy was near? “Oh, just you wait.”

“What are you gonna do about it?” Trixie replied, smugly.

Rainbow Dash closed in on Trixie, with a surprising speed that nearly had her worried, but once she was half an inch away, her eyes darted to the side for just a moment before meeting hers again. “Nothing serious. I was just thinking its a nice cool night for a flight.”

“Uhm...” Fluttershy’s voice drew the attention of the posturing pair. She shrunk away as two pairs of eyes were suddenly on her due to the interruption, boring into her. . Fortunately, both of them knew to give her some time to adjust and gave her little nods to continue. It took her a moment, but she found her voice again. “I, I’m glad you’re so, uhm, lively? I-It's just... Rainbow Dash had some news and, uh…”

Trixie narrowed her eyes a little as she observed her shy friend. She’d written this sort of behaviour off in the past as simple poor timing at first, then as a cute bit of jealousy. It was something she thought they’d settled, but now Pinkie’s words echoed in the back of her mind. She turned back to Rainbow Dash. “Is it urgent news?”

“Ehhh.” Rainbow Dash wiggled her hoof back and forth as though trying to weigh the issue. “We’re having a little meeting tomorrow to surprise Pinkie Pie. It’s kinda early in the morning. Twi asked me to let you two know. You in? Fluttershy and I are going. I just gotta clear the clouds first, so I’ll meet you there.”

“Trixie has a minor errand to run first, but she would be delighted,” she said while looking over to Fluttershy who gave a slightly tense smile before Trixie turned back to Dash. “But, it sounds like you have a very early day tomorrow. Maybe you should get some rest?”

“Are you serious?” Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs with an annoyed look and flew back a few feet, hovering midair. “It’s like, barely dusk. I’ve not had a curfew since… ever! It’s nothing to worry about.”

Fluttershy also looked taken aback and hurriedly added. “Wait, w-we could just do something relaxing? I don’t think, uhm...”

“No, no. Trixie insists. Come on, Dash, Trixie will walk you out.” She said while slipping off the couch and shooting Dash a wink in the process. A quick glance told her Fluttershy was looking on with what she must have hoped was a soft apologetic expression, but Trixie was starting to feel as though it was covering up equal parts guilt and disappointment.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what was happening anymore, but Trixie seemed to be signalling her for something. “I guess? Uh, see you tomorrow then?”

Fluttershy shifted to get up and follow them, but Trixie gently pushed her back down, causing Fluttershy to give her a confused look.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy.” Trixie smiled and petted her reassuringly. “You look tired, and no wonder, you had to do all the chores today already. Trixie’s got this.”

“Oh, uhm, okay?” Fluttershy leaned to the left to look past Trixie and waved. “S-see you tomorrow, Rainbow Dash. Thanks for coming by. S-sorry.”

Trixie unceremoniously ushered Rainbow Dash out the front door, closing it behind them as she kept walking.

“So, where are we going?” Rainbow Dash asked as she trotted behind. “I kinda lost the plot.”

“Just a little further across the bridge should be fine, on the downslope of the hill.” Trixie said, glancing back at the cottage. “And a few paces to the right.”

Once they arrived at what Trixie had designated a suitable location, they came to a stop. Now that they were both standing around in the cool night air, Trixie sat down in the grass and patted a spot beside her for Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and took a seat as well. She noticed that when she did so, she lost sight of most of the cottage behind the hill. The exception was the second floor window, whose gentle light contrasted with the dark exterior and the night sky. “Sooo, what did you have in mind?”

Trixie didn’t respond immediately. Staring up at the night sky, she took a moment to enjoy the refreshing breeze, the quiet dark, and the soft ticklish feeling of the grass beneath her. It was a nice and relaxing spot. Now if only she knew what she was doing, but in truth she’d just wanted to get away from Fluttershy for a bit before she got annoyed with her. Though, maybe she’d been insensitive, flirting with Dash in front of her?

Suddenly the cold air was replaced by a warm, comforting touch, prompting Trixie to bring her attention back down to earth. She found Rainbow Dash had wrapped a wing around her and was looking up at the sky right up until she noticed Trixie looking at her, after which she met her gaze.

“Thank you.” Trixie smiled. The sensation of being taken underwing invoked a nostalgic feeling of safety within her. “Trixie’s sorry for dragging you out here like that, but...”

“Fluttershy was uncomfortable?” Dash finished for her.

“You noticed?” Trixie was a little surprised.

“Sorta. She’s not super clear about it, but I can’t really blame her,” she said, sounding unusually contemplative. “I mean, it’s her house and we kinda shut her out if we do stuff like that, right? I didn’t really mean to, just… I got a little carried away, I guess? She’s too innocent to deal with that.”

“Maybe that was a bit rude.” Trixie agreed, though she wasn’t so sure that assessment of ‘too innocent’ was entirely accurate. Fluttershy had seemed to be enjoying the view just like Trixie herself. Trixie scooted a little closer and leaned against Dash, feeling her warmth spread through her side. “Hey, tell Trixie something. Did you two used to be a couple?”

“Nah, nothing like that.” Rainbow Dash tried to be flippant, but being so close to her, Trixie could feel her otherwise spunky girlfriend’s chest deflate a little. “We’re just friends. Always have been. We’re way to different.”

Trixie nodded, resting her head on Dash’s shoulder. “You never thought about it?”

Rainbow Dash tensed up slightly as she thought on how to answer the question. Or, more accurately, on what it meant for Trixie to be asking such a thing. “...Sure, I think that’s normal? I mean, to think about it. When you hang out with somepony and get along, it’s only natural to at least consider. That doesn’t mean you’re, like, doing anything. Or something. Or, uhm.”

Trixie snickered and snuck a hoof around Rainbow Dash, pulling her in a bit closer. “Relax, Dashie. You’re not in trouble. Trixie was just curious. Like you said, it would’ve been only natural. What made you decide not to pursue… something?”

“I dunno if I wanna go down this road.” Rainbow Dash pulled away. “What are you trying to get at?”

“What’s wrong with her?” Trixie asked, point blank.

“What’s wrong with you?” Rainbow Dash shot back, dismissively.

“Tons! Trixie’s vain, selfish, and greedy, to name but a few.” Trixie stared right at Dash, expecting to take her off balance with the remarks. “So, what made you choose her instead?”

“What?” Rainbow Dash simmered down some, the tensing of her muscles that had been prepping her typical fight or flight impulses subsided as she began to try and read between the lines a little. Dash knew she was terrible at it, though. Was Trixie angry? worried? Why would she be? Maybe she’d gotten jealous when she got home to find the two of them hanging out alone?

Trixie seemed content to wait for Dash to give her an answer, though she looked a lot more nervous than she had at the beginning.

It took Rainbow Dash a good long while before she finally formulated a response. “Tell me what’s wrong. I can’t read your mind, remember?” She’d have to remember to thank Pinkie later if this worked.

Trixie looked frustrated with the reply. It wasn’t an answer at all. Still, she’d try to play along. “Trixie is…” Her throat felt dry and it was hard to form the words. She looked around as to ensure herself they were alone. “Trixie is scared she was your second choice,” she said with a weak tremor in her voice.

Rainbow Dash was stunned for a moment, but it dawned on her that she couldn't leave Trixie so vulnerable for long and then quickly wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Of course not! You’re awesome! I love how totally confident you can be. How caring you try to be. How nothing ever keeps you down long. Heck, I even love those little barbs that come with every other word you say, you don’t even notice it half the time and it’s hilarious to me!” She pulled back a little, so she could come face to face with Trixie, shooting her a grin.“And hey... it doesn’t hurt you aren’t half bad to look at.”

The warmth of the embrace was nothing to Trixie compared to that of the words that came with it. The tight feeling in her chest melted, giving way to an overwhelming sense of relief. She gripped tighter into the hug as she felt her eyes sting. As Dash pulled away and delivered her last cheesy line, Trixie couldn’t help but grin stupidly while tears ran down her cheeks, no doubt ruining her appearance, she brushed her tears away with her wrist, smearing wet streaks into her fur. “Trixie’s a mess.”

“Yeah, you are, but I still love you anyway.” Rainbow Dash smirked then leaned in for a kiss. One that quickly grew deeper and longer as Trixie received her long awaited sweet taste of cinnamon. Judging by the ever tightening embrace, Trixie was loving every moment of it.

Eventually, Trixie broke for air and nuzzled into Dash’s neck with her eyes closed, content to just soak up the warmth for a little bit. “Thank you.”

“You can always count on me.” Rainbow Dash smiled while stroking Trixie’s back, enjoying the soft feeling of her fur under her hoof. Raising her gaze up over the hill, she saw Fluttershy’s silhouette in the top window of the cottage, looking out. Dash wrapped her wings around, Trixie, hiding her from view.

A part of Rainbow Dash wondered if she’d done the right thing, but… She couldn’t very well admit to Trixie that she was right, could she?

What difference would it make.

Chapter 4 - A familiar star

Trixie gazed up at the night sky above, her head resting on Rainbow Dash’s stomach as they lay criss-cross in the grass. “Dashie, Have you ever tried flying to the stars?”

“Sure,” Rainbow Dash answered, absentmindedly running a hoof through Trixie’s mane as she pointed up into the sky with her wing. “See that bright star there? I figured it was closest. It went about as well as you’d expect. ”

Trixie quietly enjoyed Dash’s touch, staring at the star she pointed out. It was beautiful.

“At the time, I thought I could just fly up there early in the morning, take it and bring it back. I mean, sometimes stars would fall, right? So, it wasn’t that different from picking an apple or something. I was convinced I could have gotten there, except the sun came up so I lost sight of it.”

“Seriously?” Trixie chuckled.

“Sirius, actually. Apparently that’s what that star is called. I remember cause everypony kept telling me I was ‘Siriusly stupid’ afterwards.” Dash grinned widely, seemingly all too pleased with that bad of a pun. “Actually, that’s not entirely true. My parents were actually really excited about my new personal best height record. That was probably worse.”

“How is that worse?” Trixie rolled onto her side so she could look at Dash, resting her cheek against those warm abs.

“It was just so embarrassing. They’d keep bringing it up proudly for months when I really just wanted to move on from that after I learned stars were, ya know, stars.” Dash groaned in annoyance and let her gaze drift downward to Trixie. “What are you smiling about?”

“Sorry, Trixie is just picturing a younger, dumber, littler Dashie literally reaching for the stars. You’re so cute!” She squealed.

“Again, awesome. Not cute!” Dash protested. “Get it straight.”

“Oh, it is way too late for either of those,” Trixie said with a smirk, letting one hoof dance through Dash’s chest fur absentmindedly. After a moment of quiet, she said, “but at least you did finally manage it.”

“What do you mean?” asked Dash.

Trixie flashed her most radiant grin and motioned to herself, striking an awkward pose as best she could from her position. “Why, you finally got your hooves on a real star!”

“Gahhh,” Dash groaned and smothered Trixie with her wings to avoid having to look at her. “Can you not? I can’t believe you can say something that embarrassing.” Despite how much of a display she made of her protest, she didn’t let go of Trixie.

“What? It’s true!” Trixie’s muffled voice said through the feathery cover. She made no effort to escape her cozy little prison. “Granted, Trixie’s had a little bit of a setback, but it is only temporary. Soon The Great and Powerful Trixie will rise to stardom once more!”

Listening to Trixie’s muted ramble on about her own greatness, Dash quieted down. Trixie’s bravado was amusing to her, even a little inspiring at times in that she was so positive after taking a stumble.

Trixie didn’t mind the lack of pushback and took the opportunity to list the myriad of reasons she would soon be back on top. Which included her sparkling personality, various talents, and humble, easygoing nature to select a few at random. “And of course a discerning eye for stage props!”

That kind of massive self confidence was one of the things they had in common, and this was usually where Dash was supposed to fire back with her own ambitions. The problem was that the setback Trixie was talking about overcoming had in part been caused by Dash herself. She still felt guilty. It stung a little, but Dash was certain Trixie hadn’t made that connection when she said it. Unwittingly making barbed comments was one of Trixie’s strengths after all.

“Trixie will be famed across all of Equestria once she works out her new material!” The muffled braggart didn’t seem to have to stop for air once during her whole spiel. “For the first part of her tour Trixie was thinking of weaving through a couple of small towns on the way to Las Pegasus. That'll give Trixie some time to work out the kinks before the big event!”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash lifted a wing, opening a path to Trixie who paused to look at her, “Does that mean you’re leaving?”

“Uhm…” Trixie was taken aback for a moment as she contemplated the obvious. “Huh, you’re right. Trixie hadn’t really reconsidered that part yet.”

“You never considered it while you were planning this out?” Rainbow Dash asked, incredulously.

“Oh, please. It’s not like that. This was what Trixie came up with before she met you!” She nuzzled into Dash’s fur. “Clearly, Trixie will need to rethink some of it. On an unrelated note, how do you feel about extended road trips?”

“Right, totally unrelated.” Dash scoffed, but she still played along. “I dunno. I don’t think I’ve been on any of those since I was a kid... My dad took us to see Las Pegasus and a bunch of other towns around there. It was mostly by train. Though, we did fly for some of it. There was also that time we went overseas at some point, but I was way younger then and I don’t remember much of it. I know both times my mom would have sliced fruits and stuff in her saddlebags for snacks, that was cool.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “You went to Las Pegasus?” Mentally, she made a little note to use sliced fruit in the future to tempt Dash to travel with her.

“Yeah. We stayed at the same hotel for a while ‘cause my dad doesn’t sleep well in strange beds. Luckily I never had that problem. I’m a sleep champion. I’ve even got a trophy!” Dash bragged.

“Gah, of course you do.” Some small part of Trixie wondered what such a trophy would look like, but she had a far more pressing matter to grouch about. “Trixie can’t believe you went there before her! Trixie always wanted to go there. It is the beating heart of showmareship!”

“Heh, I figured you were already used to losing to me.”

“Oh, har har. Shut up and tell Trixie what it was like.”

“Mhm...” Dash rubbed her chin, playing back old memories. Most of them involved prizes she’d won while there and records she had supposedly set. That probably wasn’t what Trixie was after. “Okay, it was kind of like a giant carnival or maybe a circus? I think you would have liked it. There were all kinds of shows and lights and colors. The buildings were huge and came in weird shapes. Most of all it was big. Really really big!”

“How big was it?” Trixie asked, leaning in closer.

“Mhm, well you’ve seen our town hall, right? Twice as big as that, at least.”

“Huh, that is impressive Trixie supposes, but honestly she thought you were setting up for a punchline.” Trixie said with some disappointment.

“Heh, I mean I guess I could give that a try next time.” She pondered for a moment. “Oh, wait. My mom told me that the buildings in Manehattan are even bigger. Ask me how big!”

“Sorry, there are no second chances in comedy.” Trixie stuck out her tongue.

“I hate you so much.” Dash groaned.“Fine, no jokes, but mom told me it would take even me ten seconds to fly to the top of one, so that’s really big!” she said, holding her hooves outstretched.

Trixie smiled. “You get along with them pretty well, don’t you?”

“Who?”

“Your parents,” Trixie replied. “This isn’t the first time you’ve mentioned them. Trixie’s noticed they always seem really excited about you.”

“Heh, you don’t know the half of it.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “They always came to everything I did to cheer me on; Sports, racing, play dates, competitions, part time jobs, you name it. It was kind of exhausting, really.”

“Everything? Really? How did they even find the time for that?” Trixie asked, crawling out from underneath the cocoon of feathers to get closer to Dash’s face, netting herself a nice warm mattress in the process. “They never had to work when you had a show or anything?”

“They’d just cancel work if that happened.” Rainbow Dash replied as though it was the most natural thing in the world. “There was this one time my dad couldn’t make it, and he felt so bad about it he watched the recording for hours. After that him and my mom became the official co-founders of the Cloudsdale branch of my fan club. They figured the extra cheering would make up for it or something. They also would have founded the Ponyville branch, but luckily I managed to convince them to let me go on my own.”

“Cloudsdale branch? Ponyville branch?” Trixie asked with shock evident on her face. She suddenly felt a little bit inadequate. Dash apparently had just mountains of undying support her entire life and on top of that she already had multiple fan clubs. Meanwhile, The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t even have one. She clearly had to step her game up. Not that she could admit that. “Erm. Of course, Trixie is used to unaffiliated fan clubs springing up like mushrooms in her wake, but she is surprised to hear you endorsed one officially.”

“I dunno about any of that.” Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “My parents set it up and I don’t think there is one in Ponyville. Thank Celestia.”

“You don’t want a fan club?” Trixie asked, clearly confused. “But that’s the best part of fame and fortune! Admiration, adulation and recognition from the teeming public!” Trixie grew more and more animated as she spoke, as though she was just moments away from conjuring up sparklers.

“Woah, settle down, I never said that.” Rainbow Dash smothered Trixie with her wings again and pressed her down. “I’d just like it to be something I got on my own that my parents didn’t have anything to do with. That’s part of why I left Cloudsdale in the first place.”

Peeking out from under a wing, Trixie gave an apologetic smile. “Good, but… Trixie doesn’t get it, what’s wrong with your parents? They sounded nice. Don’t you like them?”

“No, I do! They are great ponies. The problem is they go crazy about every single little thing I do and they are really really loud. It’s super embarrassing.” Just talking about it had Rainbow Dash feel as though she wished the ground would swallow her up. “Didn’t your mom ever do anything that just made you want to disappear?”

“Of course she did. She once told Trixie about The Great Hoofdinie's disappearing act. Trixie wanted to try it right away. Though, she never quite got the hang of it. ”

“You know what I meant. Come on, there’s a reason you moved out isn’t there? Parents drive you up the wall and it is the quickest path to freedom or something. It’s not like they were living with you in that wagon before the ursa stepped on it, right?” As soon as she’d said it, Dash noticed Trixie tense up and she remembered once when she blundered down a similar line of conversation with Applejack. She could feel color starting to drain from her face. “Wait, I didn’t mean to… I mean...I…”

“What? Now you don’t want to hear the tragic origin story of the Great and Powerful Trixie, losing her parents to an Ursa Major?” Trixie sneered. The memory of the beast splintering her home like cheap matchsticks still stung. Upon seeing the look of genuine horror on Dash’s face, though, Trixie sighed. She gently jabbed her in the ribs and then looked away. “Relax, everypony is fine. Trixie was just… being Trixie.”

“Oh, good.” Dash flinched away from the jab, strangely feeling more relief than discomfort. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine.”

After a moment, Trixie looked back at Rainbow Dash and smiled. “No, Trixie wants to. It would be only fair, but… She supposes it is a little awkward to talk about. Trixie never technically moved out. Until recently, Trixie actually still traveled with her mother. We used to do the show together, kind of.”

Rainbow Dash fidgeted. On the one hoof, she wanted to ask questions about that, on the other, she didn’t want to crash into anything. If Trixie wanted to talk, though, surely that was the point? “That is cool too. I think? Uhm, where is she now?“ she finally asked with more caution than she was used to.

“You are cute when you are thinking so hard.” Trixie smirked and pecked a quick kiss on Dash, silencing her protest. “Mom is… Trixie supposes you could say ‘retired’. She can’t travel anymore and has a room a couple towns back. Trixie sends her letters every month to let her know how its going. Plus some bits Trixie can spare.”

“The last one must’ve been interesting, huh?” Rainbow Dash quipped.

“Honestly… The last one was from back when Trixie was setting out to Ponyville. Trixie is pretty late this month.” Trixie shamefully admitted. “With everything that happened Trixie kind of lost track of time. She’s probably worried... but Trixie’s not even sure what to tell her about all this. You know?” Trixie choose not to mention that it had only occurred to her earlier in the day to even go looking for a means of even sending a letter.

“Nah, I don’t get it, really.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “What’s so hard about it? You got to Ponyville, did your show… with some minor heckling, i guess. Oh, but you did get some fans! Who lured an Ursa Minor to town which rampaged around for a bit and broke your wagon…Then you fled town and I... Mm, okay. I’m only a day into the month and I’m already starting to see the problem.”

“Right?!” Trixie threw her hooves up as she rolled back onto the grass, resting her head on Dash’s chest. “None of that is reassuring! It doesn’t get a whole lot better either. Don’t misunderstand, Trixie is happy to have made some friends and more, but she is pretty sure that is not going to stack up very well against everything that went wrong.”

“Hey, come on. It’s better now, isn’t it?” Dash huffed. “No need to tell your mom on me.”

“You’re right. It is better.” Trixie reached out to stroke Dash’s cheek. “And you can relax, Trixie wasn’t gonna mention you. Well, not badly, anyway. Trixie'd rather forget about that. There’s lots of other stuff Trixie can write about you. Though, some of that stuff’ll probably get Trixie grounded,” she laughed.

“Heh, I guess.” Rainbow Dash slightly leaned her head into the touch. It was nice to have a little confirmation that Trixie wasn’t intentionally prodding her. “So, what are you gonna do then, just not write anything?”

Trixie took a moment to consider the option, but then shook her head. “Trixie can’t just not send anything. Mom would think something was wrong. You gave Trixie an idea, though. Trixie should focus on a great thing that happened recently! It’s brilliant. Now all that’s left is for Trixie to do something amazing and write about that. A small task for somepony as fantastic as Trixie.”

“I’m glad you’ve kept your goals realistic this time,” Rainbow Dash said in a jovial tone. She hoped it would lighten the mood a little before touching on her next question. It didn’t really feel like it, though. “So… uhm…” she stalled out, unsure of how to proceed, or even if she should.

“What about dad, right?” Trixie finished for her. “It’s fine.”

Dash just nodded.

“He’s gone and Trixie never knew him.” She casually shrugged. “Not a whole lot to talk about there.”

“Oh, sorry.” Dash rubbed the back of her head. It figured that this didn’t feel any less awkward, despite abundant caution. Perhaps she just shouldn’t have asked? It was fairly obvious that she wasn’t going to get a nice answer. What did she really expect here?

Trixie could feel the tension rising and sat up, looking down at Dash. She could see the confliction written on the poor filly’s face. “It’s okay, really. It’s not like Trixie ever had to miss him.”

“Are you sure?” Dash asked before she could stop herself. She spent the following seconds of silence cursing her stupidity.

“...Do you miss having magic?” Trixie suddenly asked.

“Huh?”

“You don’t, right? You never had magic to begin with, so why would you? Trixie did have magic, and those couple of weeks there without it? Trixie missed it terribly.”

To illustrate her point, she picked out a flower well outside of her reach and effortlessly plucked it with her telekinesis. She slowly rotated it in front of her.

“Trixie doesn’t miss having wings, though. It’s kind of similar to that. Trixie sometimes looks at pegasi or just the sky and wonders what it might be like to have wings. It looks fun sometimes, flying through the air. Other times it looks hard, like, how do you even find the time for all that preening? That’s kind of what it’s like. Trixie might wonder about dad, but it’s just curiosity, not something she feels is missing.”

Rainbow Dash, to her own surprise, didn’t have much trouble following that. “Okay, so, you’d not be upset if I talked about my parents? Wait, I already did. So, that was fine? Kinda like as if I was talking about flying?”

“Yes, like that. Trixie wouldn’t want you to stop talking about them or flying. It’s a part of you and Trixie likes listening to things about you.” She smiled and held out the flower toward Dash.

Smiling at the sweet gesture, Dash munched on the little flower. It was a fresh daffodile, judging by the taste. “Okay. So, I get it’s alright for me to talk about, but… can you also tell me about your parents? I like listening to stuff about you too, I guess.”

Trixie felt herself heat up even in the cool night air. “W-well. Yes, Trixie supposes she can regale you with tales of her noble lineage. Your parents are both pegasi, right?”

“Right.” Dash nodded. “You mentioned before that your mom is a pegasus too?”

“Yes. Trixie is kind of surprised you remembered that. Dad was a unicorn. You might think that’s where Trixie got her talent for magic from, but actually mom did stage magic and dad did unicorn magic. They ended up working together to do a show and well… that led to the complete package you see before you today!” She stood up spreading her hooves apart wide and conjured up some sparks. “Both types of magic combined, that’s what makes the Great and Powerful Trixie the greatest magician in all of Equestria.”

“Heh, so that’s your secret, huh? Are you sure you can trust me with it?” Dash smirked. ‘“What if I go run off and find myself a unico—Gah!“ Before she could even finish the sentence, Trixie dropped on top of her and pinned her down.

“No need.” Trixie grinned down at Dash as she pulled herself up to loom over her. “Trixie assures you that she will be all the unicorn you can handle and then some.”

Rainbow Dash’s face flushed as she felt Trixie holding her hooves down to the ground. The strength she had always surprised her, but she wasn’t entirely as helpless as Trixie might have liked. She let her primary feathers caress the exposed flanks, causing Trixie to shiver. “I don’t know too much about this whole ‘noble lineage’ thing you got going on, but I do know I come from a long line of strong fliers. I could lift two of you with these wings.”

“Gah, okay, Trixie believes you!” Trixie squirmed as she felt Dash’s wings wrap around her waist with the kind of force usually associated with a bear hug. The deceptively soft feathers concealed what she could now tell were some very powerful muscles underneath. “A long line of strong pegasi, mhm? What would you parents think of you fillyfooling around with a unicorn?”

“Hah, oh don’t you worry.” Dash laughed. “Like, if they were in Ponyville, they’d be right at the edge of this field, cheering us on. Wouldn’t you just die?”

Trixie looked to the edge, trying to imagine a pair of Rainbow colored ponies rooting for them. She turned back to Dash with a blush. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Geez, you are really into the whole cheering crowds thing, huh?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the deepening scarlet on Trixie’s face. “I don’t even know why I thought that would deter you at all. Of course it wouldn’t.”

“Trixie doesn’t mind having an adoring audience. If it were up to her, we’d never have left that deck chair in front of the library. Not that Trixie is complaining, the cloud was an excellent spot too.”

“Heh, yeah, yeah, keep running that prudy little mouth of yours. I look forward to seeing you actually meet them. You’ll be begging to leave in less than ten minutes.”

“Ohh, you think Trixie’s pretty?” she chittered excitedly for a moment then gasped. “Wait, you want Trixie to meet your parents? You DO move fast.”

“Woah woah woah, I said no such thing.”

“Pff, fine Trixie will allow you to backpedal just this once. It’s not your fault of course, showing off that one had landed a girlfriend as magnificent as Trixie would be second on anypony’s to-do list.”

Biting her tongue, Rainbow Dash eyed Trixie. This was probably the closest to a win she was gonna get if she could get Trixie to drop it. “What’s number one, then?”

“Trixie, of course.” She smiled widely.

Rainbow Dash covered her face with a soft groan. “I knew it.”

“Trixie notices you aren’t denying it!”

The nights were always quiet out here. It was one of the things that Fluttershy always liked about her little meadow, the peacefulness of it. The way even the smallest sounds carried well on the stillness of the grove. The cute little chirps and hoots of nocturnal animals that slipped through the crack in her bedroom window always helped her sleep. It was one of her favorite things.

Why did I even come up here?

Fluttershy sat slumped against the wall beneath her bedroom window, her back rested against the smooth wood. She had her legs hugged tightly to her chest, vainly hoping if she just squeezed hard enough it would numb the stinging feeling inside.

It wasn’t working.

Why did she do this to herself? Almost as soon as Rainbow Dash left her sight, she told herself a pitiful lie about going to bed early and climbed up the stairs. As if it would just be some coincidence that she’d be able to see and hear them from here. She knew full well what she was really doing.

Spying in the quiet hope that living vicariously like this would make her feel better, maybe it would make that ugly feeling inside her go away. The one that told her it should be her out there if only she wasn’t such a pushover.

She expected that it wouldn’t work, that it would just ache more. She’d been right about those.

What she hadn’t expected was to hear them talk about her.

She wiped her cheeks dry and then bit her lip as she replayed the words in her head.

”When you hang out with somepony and get along, it’s only natural to at least consider.”

She’d never imagined that Rainbow Dash could have felt the same. A one-sided crush was something she’d come to terms with ages ago, it was what barely kept her little facade together, but now…

How was she supposed to feel, knowing she’d have had a chance, if she hadn’t inadvertently pushed them together?

She was so frustrated she could just, just...

Thud.

Her head impacted the wall behind her with a soft thud.

Outside, she could hear Rainbow Dash and Trixie saying their goodbyes and goodnights, followed by the light, joyous trotting of Trixie coming back up the path.

Maybe this time she’d say something.

Maybe.

Author's Note

At long last, a full 132 chapters in... FS finds her inner voice. :yay:
We'll be getting some more of her perspective from now on, folks.
Strap in.
Thud.

Chapter 6 - What a lemon

It was still early morning when Trixie awoke in the living room with a groan.

“Ugh, this is how Fluttershy slept while Trixie was hogging the bed? This will not do at all.”

She slipped off the couch and stretched her legs, kicking the kinks out of her muscles after spending the night twisting and turning to get comfortable. She had never quite managed it and even when she did fall asleep it had been terribly restless.

It was a little too early to go through the usual morning chores, so she just groggily wandered through the cottage aimless until she ended up at the window facing Ponyville, staring out toward it quietly while her head slowly cleared up.

Why was she down here instead of upstairs in a nice warm bed with Fluttershy again? There was some kind of reason… She always had great reasons for everything she did, even if she couldn’t quite recall what they were sometimes.

Oh, that was right.

She breathed out a sigh as though deflating what little enthusiasm she had left for the morning.

Today marked the start of her ‘break up’ with Fluttershy. At least until Rainbow Dash was informed and agreed.

Since Rainbow Dash was a clueless featherbrain that couldn’t take a hint if it slapped her in the face with a neon sign, she’d never really given permission for the two of them to be together. The only right thing to do then was to hold off until they could tell Rainbow Dash properly and see how she felt about it if the three of them were to become an item.

Trixie really hoped that it wouldn’t be a permanent break.

Being as magnificent as Trixie was, there was virtually no chance that any of this would backfire on her completely, but… It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a disappearing act ready, just in case the rug did get pulled out from under her.

Had she swallowed her knotted handkerchief stage prop or did her stomach just do that on it’s own? Oh, right. She didn’t have her stage props anymore. Maybe she could focus on that rather than the thought of how she was going to explain all of this to Rainbow Dash in a minute.

It was convenient that everypony was meeting up at Sugarcube Corner this morning, it would be the perfect stage for either her great triumph or humiliating retreat.

There was no reason to be this nervous. Rainbow Dash loved her more than anything, surely a little bit of miscommunication couldn’t get her into all that much trouble. Even if it involved a sweet innocent childhood friend who Dash was immensely protective of. No reason at all.

No, focus on the stage props!

There had to be somewhere she could get materials from. From her vantage point she couldn't make out any of the shops, but she doubted any of them had a sign out front that read ‘Ready made magician’s tools’.

She could probably get three bowls and a small ball though, surely? That would be a start. Some handkerchiefs were also most likely available. Yes, that sounded reasonable enough.

A pack of cards!

Trixie slammed her hooves on the window sill.

Oh, she could really go for one of those! The sound and feel of cards rifling between her hooves was fantastic and it’d been much too long. There were so many magic tricks she could do with just a simple deck of cards! It would tide her over until she had the chance to create some more advanced materials!

Even a dirt road town like Ponyville had to have ponies who played games. Where did they get them? Maybe a game store or at worst a general store? Wherever it was, she’d find out.

Thus Trixie mused on what other various bits and bobs she could find while watching the sun climb slowly over Ponyville. It was only when she heard the stairs creak that she snapped out of it and turned around.

“Oh, Good morning, Trixie. Did you sleep okay?” Fluttershy asked as she came down the stairs. Curiously, despite having had the lovely, soft, warm bed all to herself, she didn’t look any more well rested than Trixie herself.

“It wasn’t great. Trixie can hardly wait to talk to Dash so we can share a bed again.” She flashed a cheeky grin, then added. “Heck, maybe after that we can even get some sleep.”

“I’m sorry?” It took Fluttershy a moment, but then she quickly turned red. “O-oh! I, uhm, s-so a-about that. Rainbow Dash, I mean. Not the other… thing.”

Ah, Trixie felt so much better already. Just watching the flustered mare try so hard to keep a straight face. It made her want to tease her all the more.

No! Bad, Trixie! There’ll be time for that after Dashie knows.

It was only Trixie’s legendary self control that allowed her to keep the spotlight from wandering. “Right. About Dashie. We’ve had our night to sleep on it, not that Trixie did much sleeping. Anyway, how do you feel about it? Trixie thinks… No, you go first.”

Fluttershy’s opinion was too easy to sway if she’d known Trixie’s conclusion.

Taking a seat in the nice comfy chair nearby, Fluttershy shifted nervously, rubbing her hoof over her fetlocks. “I...I have a, uhm, c-condition. If that’s okay?”

“Condition?” She blinked. “Trixie did not expect you to bargain, but… she’s not in any position to refuse. What is it?”

“I want to ask her.” Fluttershy said with a surprisingly more determined tone and expression than usual.

“You? Sorry, Trixie would like to make sure she understands… You want to be the one that explains it to Dashie and ask if you can join?”

Fluttershy nodded while the blush returned to her face.

“That’s… bold.” Leaning back on the couch, Trixie brushed her mane back. “Even Trixie was dreading that conversation. She’d be happy to let you handle it, but why would you want to?”

“I just think, well… It is going to be a really big thing f-for me and… Oh! For you too, of course, I didn’t mean, uhm.” Fluttershy’s fumbling was silenced as Trixie waved it off and motioned for her to carry on. “R-right… It’s just… I… I don’t want this to happen because you made it happen? I-If that makes sense? It has to be, uhm, m-my… I… Oh… I don’t know.”

With the shards of that broken explanation laid out in front of her , Trixie did her best to piece together what Fluttershy was trying to say. For a moment there it almost sounded as though Fluttershy didn’t want to go through with it, but this was a condition, not a rejection so…

What could be so important that Fluttershy wanted to put herself center stage, with all the pressure that came with it? It would be so much easier to push the responsibility onto Trixie. What did this look like from Fluttershy’s side?

There was just one thing that came to mind.

“...You don’t want Dashie to learn about your feelings from anypony else, right? It has to be you.” Trixie finally concluded.

Biting her lower lip, Fluttershy avoided eye contact as she slowly nodded. “Y-yes… I’m sorry, b-but it’s not because I wouldn’t want you to. I just… I wouldn’t deserve anything if I can’t even talk to her about, uhm, y-you know… it.“

“Oh!” Trixie perked up. “That’s adorably admirable. You wish to work for your desire rather than have it simply delivered to you. So the prize is truly yours. Trixie hadn’t considered you would reason like that. She will accommodate if that is what you truly want, but… you, uhh… you understand why Trixie might be a little hesitant?“

Fluttershy’s guilty expression was confirmation enough.

Trixie went on. “Are you sure you can talk about this? Trixie notes you were struggling even just now.”

Rubbing her foreleg nervously, Fluttershy weakly nodded. “I… I have to. I know it isn’t fair. That you would be so much better at… it… but… I can’t be a p-passive pony in m-my own life. W-well I can, but not my… uhm lo… lov… love life.”

Fluttershy’s face was so red that Trixie was absolutely sure Fluttershy would pass out before she managed to wrangle those last two words together.

“Woah. Very well. Trixie is impressed by your determination, and you do raise a fair point.” Trixie was never going to say anything, but it had occurred to her during their (now on break) relationship that Fluttershy was certainly far too passive. At the time, she’d begrudgingly accepted this was just how Fluttershy functioned, but by the sounds of it Fluttershy did not want to be that way either. “How can Trixie help?”

“Oh, uhm… I don’t know...” Fluttershy replied.

You don’t know… or… do you not want Trixie’s help?

Fluttershy gave a weak smile. “...I’ll let you know if I think of something. If that’s okay with you?”

Trixie tried to ignore the tight feeling in her chest. It wasn’t something personal. She knew that. Fluttershy just wanted to do this on her own. That was perfectly fine. Yes. No problem at all. It wasn’t as if her entire future was riding on this going well.

“Perfect!” Flashing her biggest stage smile, she clapped her hooves together “Do not hesitate to call upon the Great and Experienced Trixie for advice! After all, she already snared Dashie once,” she added with a wink.

Fluttershy must have winked back, but since her mane was hanging over one eye, it almost looked like a wince.

The rest of the morning went on as Trixie expected. The usual chores of feeding and talking to the animals, followed by a nice breakfast for the two of them where they discussed some preparations for their trip into Ponyville to meet the rest of the girl’s at Sugarcube Corner.

Among these preparations was a saddlebag. The return trip yesterday had proven to Trixie that even with her many and varied powers, she would need a little more rest before she could carry a few dozen individual items in her magical grasp the entire way.

After all, Trixie had big plans for today besides the social gathering. It was time to do some shopping!

Aside from the cleared up clouds, Trixie found the trip to Sugarcube Corner had been entirely unremarkable. Well, perhaps that was not entirely true. Every step closer to their meeting had left her feeling a little more tense than before. By the time they crossed the threshold of the store, Trixie would almost take rejection over being held in suspense a moment longer.

Almost.

Fluttershy had better make her move soon. Trixie wasn’t entirely sure how long even her steel nerves could hold out.

She tried to focus on what she could do to improve her odds. The most obvious was to get Rainbow Dash in as good of a mood as possible. That shouldn’t be too hard for somepony as amazing as herself, right?

The trickier thing was to create the opportunity for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to talk privately without anypony interrupting them. Fluttershy put up a brave front, but Trixie was sure she’d clam up when startled. Fortunately, distracting a crowd of ponies happened to be perfectly within her skill set.

At least she could depend on that.

Although, the easiest way would probably be to just wait out the meeting and arrange to speak to Rainbow Dash afterward. All that entailed was to make sure she didn’t find anything out ahead of schedule. Easy!

By the time they finally arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, most of the little friend group had already gathered. Rainbow Dash was buzzing around Pinkie Pie while Rarity perused the treats on display with reluctance. Actually, was this her friend group now too? Trixie wasn’t sure where she stood. They were friendly, but most of them she’d only interacted with once or twice.

“Hey, you guys!” Rainbow Dash flew a couple of circles near the ceiling as though to show off just how much more energy she had after getting her schedule sorted out then finally looped back down to meet them with a wide grin. “I won!”

Trixie had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. By the look of confusion on Fluttershy’s face, neither did she. Not that such a measly thing as ignorance had ever stopped The Great and Powerful Trixie.

Matching Dash’s enthusiasm, Trixie cheered. “Great! Congratulations!” Meanwhile, she stealthily glanced about the shop for some kind of hint; Rarity rolled eyes. “Trixie bet Rarity never stood a chance?”

“And good morning to you too.” Rarity said with a hint of exasperation. “Before you get too enthused, I would be remiss if I were not to inform you that the two of you may count yourself among the ‘runner-ups’ as well.”

“We lost?” Trixie shared a look with Fluttershy, who just gave a smile as though she was perfectly contented to accept that.

“Well, yeah.” Rainbow Dash snickered. “I got here first. Of course, I win.”

“You did?” Pinkie Pie piped up. “I thought I was here first. I live here.”

“That’s why you don’t count, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash argued with a smug grin.

“Now hold on!” Trixie wasn’t about to let herself lose a contest she didn’t even know was going on. However, just before she could step forward, she felt a nudge in her side. She briefly paused to find the culprit.

Fluttershy swiftly lowered her hoof back to the floor, her eyes wide. The background chatter of the other three in the room made it almost impossible to hear the overly soft-spoken girl. “R-Rarity!” she whispered urgently.

Rarity was currently in the middle of defending the idea that Pinkie Pie must have won the race. Though it was hard to tell whether it was to give her a victory or simply aiming to annoy Rainbow Dash. Regardless, nothing about the scene struck Trixie as being off.

Puzzled, Trixie turned her attention back to Fluttershy, who seemed to get even more antsy now that it was clear she wasn’t seeing whatever she was supposed to see.

With a furtive glance back toward the bickering trio, Fluttershy leaned in. “Rarity knows.”

Trixie felt her heart stop.

How did she forget that!? Rarity knew about the three of them, but she wouldn’t know to shut up.

Her eyes snapped back onto the meddling busybody currently yapping it up with Rainbow Dash. It was ridiculous but the benign conversation now felt more intense than even the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive! Except that now one wrong thing escaping the maw would be the disaster!

She had to do something.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has an announcement to make!” She called out while quickly trotting up. All eyes were quickly drawn to where they rightfully belonged, on her. Now if only she’d actually had something to say planned out. “Uhm, T-Trixie has, uh, decided to… to put on a show!”

“A show?“ Pinkie Pie was the first to speak up, seemingly excited by the prospect as she bounced. “Omigosh is that why you’re all here? I’ve had so many surprise parties but I’ve never seen a surprise show before! Well, except that one time at a stag party, but—”

“Yes! The greatest surprise show in all of Equestria!” Trixie interrupted while the remaining three regarded her with various levels of surprise as she marched confidently around the room. “It is high time her adoring fans may once again bask in her brilliance! And, uh, to that end…Trixie will make her lovely assistant disappear!” She hooked a hoof around Rarity.

“Uh, Dar—Trixie,” Rarity began with a glance toward Rainbow Dash. “Wouldn’t you rather do this kind of trick with, well...”

Smoke Bombs! Trixie doesn’t have any!

Fortunately, The Great and Resourceful Trixie was well accustomed to making do with materials at hoof and she spotted an unguarded sack of flour past the counter. It quickly found itself about a cup lighter.

“Ahem, as Trixie was saying… Prepare to be amazed!” Trixie made a grand gesture while she added a bit of extra volatile magic to the ball of flour, firmly held in her telekinetic grasp. It wasn’t exactly what one might call ‘safe’ to be conjuring explosives. (That was why she usually went out of her way to have smoke bombs and fireworks prepared, after all.) But Trixie was a professional!

The resulting white cloud was magnificent, better than Trixie had expected really.

Thus assured, she was already halfway to the door with Rarity in tow, when a flash of orange light suddenly lit up the room. A roaring ball of fire was now where the cloud, and the both of them, had been just a moment prior!

Ever the master of priorities, Trixie followed her natural instinct to flee the scene. Wait, no. To complete the illusion and vanish!

It only occurred to her once she was outside, pressed up against the wall, that she was still holding onto a frazzled Rarity.

While initially reluctant to play along, the sight of fire seemed to have spurred Rarity on as well. As she too stood flat against the wall, chest heaving. “D-Darling… that might have gone a little far?”

“Not to worry, that went exactly as Trixie intended. Uhm, one moment...”

A quick peek through the door revealed the flames had luckily burned themselves out. Leaving just a patch of black soot in front of the trio of ponies left behind, none of whom looked worse for wear.

Rainbow Dash was staring back at Trixie with a mix of equal parts confusion and amazement, though she didn’t seem to have fallen for the trick and was more dazzled by the accidental pyrotechnics.

Meanwhile, a shaking Fluttershy was hidden away behind Dash’s wing, protectively outstretched between her and the explosion.

On the other hoof, Pinkie Pie looked ecstatic and she gasped loudly. “She’s gone!” she loudly exclaimed.

For just a moment, Trixie found herself transfixed with the look of genuine wonderment on Pinkie’s face. It stirred a warm feeling in her chest. Pride. The trick might have been simple and improvised, but it still inspired awe in her audience.

Well, one third of her audience. That wasn’t bad for an ad hoc performance. If anything, it was such a rush to see she’d affected each of them differently. Maybe she should go back in there and actually do a few more tricks? She was pretty sure she could refine her street performance and induce that look of wonder in Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash too.

Yes, that would be such a sight! Maybe if she—

“Oh, wait. There she is.” Pinkie Pie said, now also looking at her.

—Nevermind!

Trixie swiftly pulled away from the door, obscuring herself properly from the group inside.

“So,” Rarity said while she somehow made lounging against a wall look graceful, “would you be a dear and tell me what this is about?”

As much as Trixie just absolutely ‘relished’ the thought of going into detail with Rarity about her latest disaster, there thankfully wasn’t enough time. The sounds of approaching hooves from inside left little doubt of that.

“Remember when we had a spa day and the three of us had a lovely chat about relationships?” Trixie asked with urgency.

“Yes?” Rarity glanced toward the door, now seemingly aware of the sound as well.

“Trixie demands you forget all of that till Trixie tells you otherwise.”

Rarity blinked. “I beg your pardon? That is half the reason I am even here. What makes you thi—”

As the steps terribly drew near the door, Trixie felt her window of opportunity shrinking and interrupted, “Please.”

The very next moment Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie came through the door to check on them.

“Is it an outdoor show now?” Pinkie Pie asked, seemingly still entirely up for more entertainment.

“No, darling. We were just on our way back.” Rarity replied as she trotted up to Pinkie. While passing Rainbow Dash, she shared a brief look with her before she spoke. “Trixie simply asked if I could help her with a costume for her new show. We’ll meet at my boutique later to take some measurements, isn’t that right, Trixie?”

“Yes! That is exactly it. Trixie thought it would be unfair to ask her infront of everypony and put her on the spot.” Trixie was glad the dent her pride had suffered wasn’t in vain. Though, it was clear that Rarity expected her to come by later today and properly explain herself in private. “That’s why Trixie made her assist in the disappearing act!”

Floating in midair, Rainbow Dash looked confused. “Isn’t it normally only the assistant that is supposed to vanish?”

“Yes, but… but it is only natural that The Great and Powerful Trixie is twice as good as normal, isn’t it?” Trixie flashed her stage grin and took a little bow. “You should know that.”

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash landed beside her. “Heh, yeah, alright. I suppose.” A quick glance around was followed by Dash slipping a wing over Trixie’s back before she casually added. “That was a pretty awesome trick.”

Trixie felt her whole being warm up. Rainbow Dash liked her cobbled together performance? She could hardly wait for her reaction to a real show. “Really?” She leaned into the feathery embrace and nuzzled Dash’s neck. “Tell Trixie more about how amazing she is.”

“Heh, shut up. Come on.” Rainbow Dash grinned and guided Trixie toward Sugarcube Corner, giving her a swift shove through the door before pulling the wing back. “Maybe after I see the rest of the show.”

“The rest?” Trixie asked while following along, though her cooperation was hardly required as Dash so easily swept her inside. She quickly found herself once more in the front room of the shop with the others.

Fluttershy, who had been the only one not to come check on them, had just finished sweeping together a grayish pile of ash. Trixie wasn’t sure where she’d gotten the dustpan from.

“Didn’t you say you were gonna put on a show?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Uh, what Trixie meant to say was… she’s going to be working on it. Yes. This was just a preview, but Trixie will need to make preparations for a full show. You know. Props, a stage, costumes, an actual act, a lovely assistant, et cetera.” She drew little circles in the air with her hoof to indicate the myriad of other things she had not mentioned. “Speaking of which, does anypony know where to get a deck of cards around here?”

It wasn’t really a lie. She had been planning to sort these things out. It just wasn’t why she’d done the impromptu trick and pulled Rarity aside.

“Cards?” Rarity pondered for a moment. “I suppose you could try the bookstore?”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Or the toy store! Or the joke shop!”

“We have a joke shop?” Fluttershy asked, looking up from sweeping the floor.

“Yep! Don’t you remember? Dashie and I used it to prank all of Ponyville that one time, -except you, I guess- Oh! That was a week before Trixie got here, wasn’t it? She missed out on all that fun! Dashie, tell her about it!”

“Don’t remind me of Gilda.” Rainbow Dash groaned and gave a forlorn look at the clock on the wall. “When do Twilight and AJ get here? I’m bored.”

“It’s only been ten seconds.” Rarity chided.

Sensing another argument on it’s way, Trixie paid them no further mind and broke off to go assist Fluttershy with whatever she was doing. “Where did you even find all this grime?” she asked while pulling up flank to flank with her, staring down at the mess.

Before Fluttershy could stutter out a response, Pinkie Pie jumped in. “Well, duh, silly. You made it! That’s okay, though. I needed to sweep the place anyway! Forget that, I had a question. You’re a magician, right?”

“Your powers of deduction are truly incredible.” Trixie’s sarcasm seemed to be lost on the excitable mare, but Fluttershy’s vaguely disapproving and more importantly disappointed look was not lost on Trixie. Even though Fluttershy was still smiling. “Trixie meant to say… Yes. What of it?”

“Do you do parties? Oh, not like me. I do parties but its like the planning and throwing of one, sometimes several. You know. But what I meant to ask is, do you perform at them? I just thought I’d ask since you mentioned getting back into doing shows.”

Of course it had to do with some kind of party.

“As some sort of sideshow? Trixie has not. Normally, Trixie is the...” her eyes drifted over to Fluttershy for a moment, “main attraction.”

Fluttershy took a sudden and prolonged interest in a cupcake display.

Heh, adorable… Gah! Wait, this is exactly what Trixie shouldn’t be doing!

Trixie pried herself away from Fluttershy and put a few steps distance between them while checking if Rainbow Dash had been watching. Fortunately, Dash seemed preoccupied with Rarity. Curiously, they didn’t seem to be arguing anymore, but were having a hushed conversation of their own.

Her chest tightened. What if Rarity was telling Rainbow Dash?

Pinkie Pie popped up about an inch from her face!

“Gah!” She completely forgot about her!

“Soo, what do you think?” Pinkie Pie held an impossibly wide smile.

“What? Uh, sounds great. Excuse Trix—”

“Coming through!” Applejack came barreling through the doorway, accompanied by Apple Bloom.

They barely crossed the doorstep when Applejack spun around and slammed the door closed, pressing herself up against it. From the looks of how she dug her hooves in, she seemed ready to hold back a stampede.

“What the hay, AJ?” Rainbow Dash thankfully zipped away from Rarity and hovered around Applejack instead.

“Ah saw Zecora headin’ fer tha town.” Apple Bloom answered instead while taking a few steps further into the room.

It didn’t mean much to Trixie, but a collective gasp rose from everypony else followed by some quick whispers back and forth as though they’d become afraid to speak aloud. Shortly afterward the group split up and started work on closing the windows and lowering the blinds of the store front. Trixie noticed that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were sticking together.

Being ever perceptive Trixie quickly noticed all the attention in the room had shifted away from her. She stomped a hoof loudly. “Somepony tell Trixie what is going on here.”

The noise startled the room and all eyes were quickly back on her. As they should be. The problem was their faces. They didn’t hold a look of awe, although as much as Trixie felt that would be deserved for her at any moment, that was rarely the one she got so it wasn’t too strange. However, it wasn’t anger or annoyance either, two stares she found herself on the receiving end of more often. Not now.

Everypony seemed to be afraid.

Trixie involuntarily shrunk back a little. Weren’t these the same ponies that faced the terrors of Nightmare Moon and even marched up a mountain to confront a dragon? What could it be that had even them this timid? Fluttershy she could understand, but Rainbow Dash? Applejack? What on Equestria was out there right now?

Surprisingly, it was Applebloom that spoke up. “She comes from deep in tha Everfree Forest. Everypony knows ta hide when we see Zecora. Zecora’s a—”

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack briefly pried a hoof away from the door to pull Apple Bloom back to her side. “Don’t ya know calling her thrice fast makes her appear? Never say that name, ya hear?”

Trixie was starting to get nervous. “Who is Zecora?”

“She’s an evil enchantress who, who uhm, does evil…something that rhymes with trances?” Pinkie Pie half sang to herself as she pulled another set of curtains closed. “Dances! Oh, that’s going into the song!”

Making a mental note to disregard the crazy pink pony, Trixie had a quick glance around for anypony else who could be of help. She just caught the tail of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy heading upstairs, leaving only Rarity.

Near the window, Rarity was trying to catch a glimpse of the street, or perhaps simply scrutinizing the curtains. Either way, she caught Trixie’s gaze. “Ah, well I’ve heard rumor that she once cursed a pony with a horrible earworm.”

“This Zecora conjured parasites inside a body!?” Trixie gasped.

“She did? Oh my gosh, that is so evil!” Pinkie Pie only seemed to be half listening.

“Actually,” Rarity cut in, “I meant to say a pony had a jingle stuck in their head, but a horrid one. She said Zecora spoke in mysterious rhymes!”

Trixie was just about to inquire further into what kind of spell that had been, when Pinkie Pie suddenly broke into a song and dance routine all about the evils of Zecora.

Apparently it involved a lot of evil dances, trances and pony stew. The entire earsplitting performance left the room speechless and she was glad that at least Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash didn’t have to suffer through it.

The description it painted of this Zecora had even Trixie shaken. Such mysterious powers and monstrous intent. She felt lucky to be inside, who knew what could have happened had she been roaming Ponyville by herself when Zecora showed up.

Somewhere during the song, however, a different kind of eerie sensation began to creep up on her.

“Wait a minute, this is starting to sound familiar. Didn’t some ponies say things like that about Trixie?” Once the thought took hold, it was impossible to shake. “Do you ponies just do this every time a new unicorn comes into town?”

“Oh, come now, darling, of course not.” Rarity chuckled, “Besides, that dreadful Zecora isn’t even a unicorn. She’s an earth pony, I think.”

“An earth pony?” Trixie asked, almost certainly she had misheard. Affirming nods all around dispelled that notion. “You cannot be serious? Heh.. hehe.”

The Illusion of any actual threat thoroughly shattered, Trixie burst out laughing.

“Haha! That, that’s too good! You almost had Trixie going there!” She slumped against a nearby wall for support as her legs gave way.

“Trixie! Shush! What if she hears you?” Applejack cautioned, but it only made the entire thing even funnier.

“Hah! What is she going to do? Mime Trixie to death?” By now she’d been laughing so hard she couldn’t even see straight anymore and had to wipe her eyes clear.

“It’s rhyme.” Rarity corrected.

“Whatever,” she chuckled. “Hehe. Ah, the Great and Senseful Trixie of course suspected you were playing a prank on her, but she had almost believed your little act. Until this. It’s just a step too far.”

“Ain’t ya scared?” Apple Bloom asked.

Strangely, everypony was keeping up the act. Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie were all still looking at her with a straight face. No, if anything they looked more worried after all the noise.

It was only the little filly who seemed less afraid than before, and she hadn’t looked all that spooked to begin with.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is not afraid of anything!” She flashed a confident smile, then knelt down to eye level. “How about you?”

Apple Bloom shook her head and trotted forward. “Nope! Ah weren’t scared of you none neither an’ ah was right not ta be. Even though folks said ta same sorts of things.”

“You are leaving out some key details there to make yourself look better.” Trixie observed in a stern tone, then grinned as she added. “Very impressive.”

“Course ya ain’t, but ya ought ta be!” Applejack cut in, sweeping Apple Bloom back once more before turning her attention to Trixie. “An’ you, Ah don’t want you filling her lil head with nonsense.”

“Ah ain’t lil,” little Apple Bloom grumbled.

"Nonsense?" Trixie repeated. "What? Like scaring her with foal's tales about how an earth pony living in the woods turns ponies to frogs with her amazing mud magic?"

Applebloom stifled a laugh at that.

“Consarnit! Look, Ah realize ya ain’t meaning any harm, but—”

Suddenly, a multi-colored blur came down from the top floor and halted just between the two of them.

“The heck are you guys doing!” Rainbow Dash hissed in a stage whisper. “We heard you yell from up there. Keep it down, before she gets us!”

“Are you serious? Trixie can’t believe this.” She rolled her eyes and noticed Fluttershy carefully making her way down the stairs.

“Ah tried telling her, she just ain’t listening.” Applejack told Rainbow Dash. “Can’t ya do something ‘bout it? She’s yer girlfriend, ain’t she?”

“W-what. I, uh, I...” A flustered Rainbow Dash looked over at Trixie, clearly seeking some sort of confirmation or support. They’d never really discussed how open they were going to be about it.

On the one hoof, Trixie didn’t like that Applejack was trying to go over her head, but on the other… she couldn’t muster up enough anger to combat the warm feeling rising in her chest. It was a little embarrassing to have their relationship acknowledged so publicly, especially during an argument, but she liked it.

“That’s… that’s right.” Trixie cleared her throat as she surveyed the room, trying to get some idea of the general response. Rainbow Dash looked relieved where as the others were clearly entirely unsurprised though Rarity was fighting back a squee.

Everpony was fine with them being together.

It wasn’t a big deal, and paradoxically it felt as though that in itself was a big deal?

Trixie couldn’t quite explain the feeling. All she knew was that she had no idea why she had been arguing anymore. It seemed insignificant now. Who cared that a bunch of ponies wanted to huddle up inside with the lights off?

“Yeah, yeah she is! And she doesn’t have to be quiet if she doesn’t want to be!” ” Rainbow Dash said a little too loudly, as though she was nervous about saying it herself, landing beside Trixie. Dash hesitantly stretched out a wing for her, but seemed to buckle under the weight of all the eyes being on her. She ultimately chickened out and faked a stretch before bringing it back to her side awkwardly.

“You’re not gonna tell Trixie to be quiet?” Trixie asked, surprised.

“Heh, would you listen if I did?” Rainbow Dash gave a knowing nudge to Trixie’s shoulder.

“Trixie might have for you,” she lied. If she’d actually been shushed, she would have been angry, of course. Now it was enough to know Dash was taking her side even if she didn’t know why she was objecting. Somehow, she didn’t have much motivation to fight anymore. “Trixie thinks this whole Zecora thing is silly. It reminds her too much of how she was treated.”

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to know what to do with that information, but cogs were clearly turning as she looked around at her friends, then the window, then finally back to Trixie. “Uhm… Screw Zecora?”

A few gasps sounded. Applejack quickly covered Applebloom’s ears and glared at Rainbow.

“That’s… not quite what Trixie meant, but she sees what you were trying to do there.” Trixie snickered and patted Dash on the cheek, loving the pinkish color rising further through the fur with every touch. “You are lucky you’re so cute, Dashie.”

“Look, I, I just thought-Gah! Quit it.” Rainbow Dash swiped Trixie’s hoof away and did her best to look in control of the situation. “Whatever.”

Despite her every instinct telling her to tease Dash more, she tore herself away to face Applejack. “Fine, have fun with your early Nightmare Night.”

“Uh, sure. Thanks.” Applejack’s eyes flicked back between the two of them, as though she wasn’t thanking either one, but a single unit. A courtesy that had Trixie feeling better than winning the actual argument would have. “Trust me, Ah wouldn’t have rattled yer fence if Ah didn’t think there was a real threat, alright? Ah just wanna keep tha folks Ah care ‘bout safe. That includes you.”

“Stars did you really just say that? How could any pony utter such embarrassing things with a straight face.” It was such a cliché that Trixie could scarcely believe she was feeling so weirdly happy. It reminded her of something else important. Her eyes flickered between Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity “What’s worse is, Trixie actually came here to say something embarrassing too. She supposes now is as good a time as Trixie is likely to find…You three remember Trixie’s first Ponyville performance, yes?”

Some uncomfortable looks were exchanged between the trio.

Rarity was the first to speak up. “Yes, I do believe it is safe to say it was a memorable performance, dear.”

“Trixie’s had a lot of time to think about it. She still feels she has every right to deal with hecklers as she sees fit...but she also had some input from friends along the way...” She said as she lingered on Applejack, Rarity and Apple Bloom for a moment then scraped her hoof along the floor, avoiding their gazes. This was harder than she thought it would be.

A familiar warm feeling crept over her. She looked up to find Rainbow Dash very pointedly dodging eye contact with everypony, but one of her wings was now finally draped over Trixie’s back.

“You, uh, were saying?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Thank you.

Scooting a little closer to her, Trixie took a deep breath. “It is possible that the Great and Tactful Trixie could have perhaps found a way to go a little bit easier on her challengers and still gotten her point across.”

“Well, that’s… quite tha conclusion ya came to.” Applejack looked a little confused.

“Trixie is sure you get what she is trying to say so… Trixie will leave it at that?” She floated the idea for a moment, but quickly shook her head. “No. Look, what Trixie means to say is...”

“Oh my gosh. Is that Twilight and Spike?” Pinkie Pie interrupted suddenly, looking through a gap in the curtain.

Trixie ignored her, simply carrying on. Somepony else could deal with that. After all, Twilight could take care of herself. “...She may have changed her mind a little after getting to know all of you and...”

“Whoa nelly!” Applejack turned around and stormed to the window, laying her head atop Pinkie’s so she could see. “It’s true! What in the hay are they doing out there?”

“She’ll be fine!” Trixie called after Applejack, gritting her teeth a little. “As Trixie was saying, you’ve all rightly apologized for your part in the whole debacle and...”

“I certainly do not mean to alarm anypony,” Rarity started, now positioned on the other side of the window. “I think I just saw somepony else too.”

“What? Nopony should be out there!” Rainbow Dash was at the window in a flash. “Everypony knows to stay indoors unless they are new.”

“...This is fine. Trixie is definitely not upset that Twilight Sparkle is stealing Trixie’s spotlight. Again.” She said through a clenched jaw. “She is so not upset that she’s going to press on with this and trust you are paying her due attention. Even though you’re all crowding the window now... Okay? Okay...”

“We have to get her out of there! I saw that shadow pony again!”

“...Trixie’s sorry for humiliating you all!” She shouted over the murmuring little crowd of turned backs by the window.

A collective gasp rose up, as did Trixie’s spirit.

“It's definitely Zecora!” One of them called out, by this point Trixie didn’t even care anymore who it was as her spirit sank again.

"And… and… Curses..." Trixie deflated, listening to the lot of them formulate plans for something.

Being ignored was hard to stomach at the best of times, but over some foalish campfire story? Why did she even care? She had said her piece. She wasn’t the least bit bitter about it. Even if her big apology turned out to be a lemon.

Oh, on that note.

“Pinkie Pie, do you sell lemons?” she asked, brilliantly taking her mind off her current situation.

“Lemons? Sure!” Pinkie Pie replied while staying glued to the glass. “We’ve got lemon yellow macarons, Lemon drops, Lemon cheesecake, Lem—”

“How about just a regular lemon?”

To her surprise, Pinkie Pie actually turned around this time and gave her a puzzled look. “Uh, like… just the fruit? No? I don’t think we sell those, but there’s plenty in the storage room if you want one. Help yourself!”

This is what got her to notice Trixie?

“Great. Trixie’s used to that.” She turned her back on the lot of them. They could have their little circus without her.

As she trotted toward the kitchen door, she found Fluttershy standing in her path.

“Uhm, I… I’m sorry that didn’t go so well.” She whispered, looking self conscious, presumably due to her part in convincing Trixie this had been a good idea. “I think you did the right thing. It’s just...”

“Yes, yes.” Trixie waved her off, but felt a little less sorry for herself just knowing at least somepony had paid attention to her. She glanced past her into the kitchen for a moment.

“Do you, uh, if you want to be alone for a little while, that’s fine.” Fluttershy gently patted Trixie on the shoulder. “Tell me when you want to talk? If that’s okay?”

“Trixie’s fine, go and… rescue Twilight or something. Thanks, anyway.” Just as she went to leave, it occured to Trixie that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been on their own for a fair while. “Wait, before that. Did you and her… talk?”

Fluttershy gave an apologetic look.

Of course. Why would she expect anything to go right today? Fluttershy stuttered something but she’d already walked past her and into the kitchen.

She’d have liked some more distance but this would have to do for now. Leaving wasn’t an option while all of Ponyville was in a panic. The last thing her reputation needed was to be seen roaming the street during an evil witch lockdown.

Fortunately, once she’d found the storage room and shut the door, the muffled whispering voices in the front room were barely audible and easy to ignore back.

It felt like a backstage dressing room, No voices, just a quiet thrum that was easily tuned out. The perfect place to sequester herself away from the waiting audience until she was ready. Granted, those rooms weren't usually stocked wall-to-wall with ingredients in baskets.

Still, even those were a welcome distraction to rummage through.

After a couple minutes of 'lounging backstage', a sudden tremendous racket came from the kitchen.

“Spike!” Twilight Sparkle shouted loud enough for even Trixie to hear it clearly.

Clutching her thumping chest, Trixie glared at the door. What had that little lizard done to make so much noise? Whatever, she’d deal with it after getting what she came for.

Curiously, for a place where Pinkie Pie worked, everything was sorted very intuitively. It took her no time at all find what she was after and plop a lemon into her saddlebag.

Technically, that meant she didn’t have reason to be back here anymore, but it wouldn’t do any harm to hang around, would it? She wasn’t in any rush to meet up with the rest of them. They could vanish for all she cared right now.

Trotting up to the window, she pulled the curtain aside with an annoyed grumble. The one good thing about this whole tomfoolery was that she could at least enjoy the sight of empty streets. Once she got past the ghost town eeriness it was actually kind of peaceful. No ponies running around to… hold that thought.

A red bow was crawling along the bottom of the windowsill.

Trixie pushed open the window and peered down at the little culprit. “Apple Bloom?”

With a start, the little filly jumped twice her height into the air. “Hah! Ah...ah… oh, uhm. Howdy.” She finally answered, doing her darndest to look innocent.

“Off to cause mischief are we?” Trixie grinned as she leaned on the window sill, resting her head on her hooves. “Nopony with a clear conscience is that jumpy. Trixie should know.”

“N-no Ah ain’t!” Apple Bloom objected a little louder than she’d meant to as she folded her ears back and carried on in a quieter tone. “Ah was just gonna go talk to the zebra.”

“Zebra?” She leaned out of the window a bit and followed Apple Bloom’s gaze, catching sight of the striped pony walking down the street. “Huh, would you look at that. Weird. Anyway, you better hurry up then. She’s getting away.”

“Uhm, aren’t ya gonna stop me?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Nah. Trixie will probably go tell your sister in a bit, though.” She waved the filly off on her adventure. “Just make sure you catch up to her before she gets to the forest, alright? Trixie got lost in there once and it wasn’t great. Don't tell anypony.”

“Thanks!” Apple Bloom squealed then galloped off after her quarry. However, a mere moment later, she was back at the window, trotting in place and clearly in a hurry to leave. “Trixie?”

“Yes?” Trixie tilted her head, curious to hear what brought her back.

“Ah just wanted ta say, Ah thought it was nice ya tried ta make up with mah sister an’ her friends. Don’t be mad at em fer not listening. It ain’t you. They don’t listen to me none neither. Okay, bye!” And with that she was off again.

“Uhm, bye?” Trixie called after her, feeling a little bewildered. Was she really so sulky that a rambunctious filly felt she had to take time out of her escapade to cheer her up?

This couldn’t stand.

There was nothing great nor powerful about sulking off in a corner. A simple fact that even a foal apparently had picked up on. She’d get back in the fray immediately!

Well, right after fixing her mane in the reflection of a particularly shining metal pot she passed in the kitchen on her way back.

“Trixie has returned,” she announced as she entered into the front room. “Now as she was saying… Spike?”

“Oh, hey, Trixie.” The little dragon waved at her with a frying pan while wearing a metal pot for a hat.

Other than him, the room was entirely empty.

“Hey… Where is everypony?” Trixie asked as she trotted around trying to find the answer herself.

Spike stood at attention and saluted. “Apple Bloom went missing. They all left. We’re holding down the fort!”

“Oh, come on!”

Chapter 7 - Middle ground (Part 1/2)

“Abandoned!”

Trixie couldn’t believe it.

“Not only did they just leave her here, but the only other member of their little get-together they’ve left behind is a baby dragon with delusions of grandeur! Were they trying to tell her something? Trixie is nothing like that!”

She really was the greatest thing since ground oats!

“You realize I can hear you, right?” Spike asked, still donning his faux armor and weaponry. A pot and pan respectively.

They looked ridiculous to begin with, but the vague suggestion of a similarity to her lost beloved hat and cloak had Trixie grinding her teeth in fury.

She paced small frustrated circles over the floor. “This has to be a mockery of her! They dressed him up in this getup and gallivanted off to do, uh, do whatever it was!”

“Rescue Apple Bloom from Zecora,” Spike filled in the blank. “We’re here in case she comes back here before they find her.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Oh, as if she’s in any actual danger. It’s all nonsense.”

“Twilight said so too.”

“What?” She paused her dramatic pacing. “Then why in the name of Equestria would she go along with this?”

“Are you serious?” He asked in a tone that almost made it seem like she was the idiot. “Because Applejack was scared! Even if Twilight didn’t think Apple Bloom was really in trouble, she’d still want to help Applejack feel better. Because that’s what friends do.”

“Nonsense, then why would they all leave?” Trixie would understand Applejack since it was her sister. Maybe Rainbow Dash as she’s the fastest, but the rest of them? “They’d just lag behind!”

“So, they should just stay here and ignore a friend in distress?” he cocked his head.

“Trixie didn’t say that! Just that maybe not all of them would have had to go.”

“What did you want them to do?” he asked while pushing the rim of the pot away from his eyes. “Sit here waiting for you?”

“Yes!” Finally. She was beginning to think he’d never get the message. Ironic for the glorified postboy role he apparently fulfilled. “Trixie had an announcement to reiterate!”

Spike rolled his eyes at her, then let the pot sink back down.

He’d clearly made that preparation in advance for this very purpose. She almost respected the forethought devoted to it. If it hadn’t been aimed at her.

“What?” She asked, not entirely certain why she even bothered asking his opinion. Sure, she’d gotten along with him well enough yesterday, but she had only intended to blow off steam to her captive audience of one, not listen to him.

“Don’t you think you are being selfish?” he asked.

“No! Just moments ago the Great and Selfless Trixie made the ultimate sacrifice, swallowed her pride, and… well, never mind what. The point is that not one of them even noticed!”

She folded her forelegs and leaned back against the doorway, making sure not to look at him before she finally put words to the feeling that plagued her, muttering, “why should Trixie bother then?”

“Yeah. I bet swallowing something that big was a real sacrifice.” He laughed.

Laughed!

Of course he would. Why was she trying to share anything anyway?

After a forlorn second of hurt at her second betrayal that day, she quickly adopted a scowl.

Seeing her face, the little lizard faltered and tried to speak, as if she had any intention of listening anymore!

Well, unlike him she wasn’t forced to be here and be berated.

“Forget it!” She grabbed her saddlebags, threw the door open and left.

F-forget it.

Fluttershy set her hoof back down after yet another failed attempt to reach out and tap Rainbow Dash on the shoulder. The best try thus far saw her getting a mere inch off the ground before she’d lost the nerve.

They’d already made it back to Sugarcube Corner a while ago, and she’d still made no progress.

All she had to do was ask Rainbow Dash to talk later. Or even just see if she wanted to drink something together. How hard was that? They talked and had tea plenty of times before. This wasn’t any different.

This was supposed to be the easy part. She’d resolved not to even think about the much, much scarier part that was going to come afterward.

She was running out of time. How was that even possible? The gathering had begun in the early morning and yet it was already noon and she had achieved nothing. She wasn’t even sure what had been discussed as her attention constantly drifted back to Rainbow Dash and how she could approach her.

Taking a deep breath, she surveyed the room. Perhaps hoping she’d hit upon some kind of opportunity that even she couldn’t fail to take.

Everypony else was at ease and having a good time. At least that meant she wasn’t bringing the mood down, nopony must have noticed she was so distracted. Or, perhaps they had, but were too polite to say anything.

Apple Bloom had been safely pulled from Zecora’s clutches just in time. From the looks of things she was fine, other than the scolding of a lifetime that Applejack had in store for her. Well, that and the lasso looped around the poor filly to keep her from wandering off again.

Fluttershy didn’t really think it was necessary, especially since Zecora had already returned to the forest and nopony was hiding anymore, but it really wasn’t her place to question anypony else’s sibling relationship. Goodness, if she thought a piece of rope could keep her own troublesome little brother in line, she’d have gone for that in a heartbeat as well.

Speaking of troublesome…. Trixie never returned.

Even if Trixie had stormed off, enough time should have passed for her to cool down and come back. She could only hope nothing had happened. Of course, it was possible that Trixie was just as nervous as Fluttershy was and had opted to distract herself with something.

Oh, that was right. Trixie had mentioned that she planned to visit a store or two. Though, she’d assumed that meant the two of them would go together...

A tight feeling welled up in her chest.

Worry, perhaps?

She’d have to go look for her, right after she was done with the one task she’d set herself today. It didn’t matter what Trixie was doing, if this didn’t go well.

Rainbow Dash was sitting right beside her, chatting with Applejack about the upcoming Best Young Flyer competition. Apparently it was just a couple of weeks away. She was so excited about her new training regimen that it was hard for Applejack to get a word in edgewise.

How was she supposed to cut in on that herself then?

Fluttershy shook her head.

Who was she kidding? She’d already been perfectly alone with Rainbow Dash when they had secured the upper floor. It had been nice and quiet, and the dim lighting would have helped so much in feeling less exposed…

Needless to say, she had utterly failed to broach the topic.

She wished she could lay the blame at Pinkie Pie’s hooves for interrupting with that strangely catchy song of hers, but for that to be true there had to have been something to interrupt.

What was worse is that Trixie seemed to have recognized it was the perfect opportunity as well and carried such a conflicted expression when she learned nothing came of it.

Had she made a mistake in demanding she do this herself? She wasn’t just letting herself down this time. Maybe it really had been too selfish of her to think she could do this without help.

“See y’all later!” Applejack called out loud enough to shake Fluttershy from her thoughts.

Oh, no.

Everypony was getting ready to leave and saying their goodbyes!

She absentmindedly stuttered her way through a couple goodbyes while she allowed herself to be ushered outside by the flow of conversation. In no time at all, she found herself standing dazed in the street while her friends fanned out down their respective paths.

Another failure.

“What’s up, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash’s voice came out of nowhere. “You’ve been quiet all morning. Well, I mean, you usually are, but more quiet. I guess?”

“Oh!” She had to squint against the bright sky, but she found Rainbow Dash hovering above. “I-I’m sorry.”

Rainbow Dash touched down beside her. “That’s alright. It’s not really my thing either.” She stretched her wings as though to illustrate her main complaint.

A quick glance around proved they were alone. As alone as one could be in a town, anyhow. A couple of ponies across the street were the nearest potential disruption, but they looked busy themselves.

Now was her chance, again.

“It, uhm, I…” She started while meeting Rainbow Dash’s vibrant eyes. That was a mistake. It felt entirely too real, too close. She cast her gaze down at the ground. “W-what I mean, is, uhm… oh…”

This was so exposed. Her first step should definitely be to invite Rainbow Dash somewhere private, but how could she do so casually? ‘Shall we go somewhere private?’ or worse ‘wanna come back to my place?’ or even an otherwise simple ‘we should talk’. All of them felt as if they had such a heavy implication.

There had to be something she could say.

The little bit of distance she’d managed to create to make room for that invitation was crossed as Rainbow Dash approached her. Or at least, that’s who she assumed that set of blue hooves belonged to.

“It’s about Trixie, isn’t?”

Eep!

Her gaze darted up just in time to catch Rainbow Dash break into a self-assured grin as she clearly took the reaction as confirmation.

“Y-you, oh my goodness,” she mumbled, feeling as though she was about to burn up. For all her wonderful qualities, Rainbow Dash was not the most insightful pony. Perhaps Rarity had already spoken to her while she’d been distracted with how to do so herself. “Y-yes, I… we… I’m s-supposed to…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Rainbow Dash gave her an unexpected nudge on the shoulder that nearly knocked her off balance if not for a few stumbling steps. “Trixie can take care of herself.”

“Uhm, what?” Just a moment ago she’d been in danger of overheating, but now she felt frozen solid.

“You’ve been super quiet ever since she bailed on us,” Dash said with a touch of pride for noticing that much. “Look, I was kinda worried too, but I figure if Trixie got into any trouble we’d have heard a commotion by now, right? She’s not exactly subtle.”

Watching Rainbow Dash puff her chest up for making such a great argument, Fluttershy giggled quietly despite herself. She definitely should feel worse, but she found it hard to stay down in the shine of Dash’s attitude. It was so endearingly impressive just how wrong Rainbow Dash could be when she put her mind to it, yet still be so sure of herself. She loved that confidence, even now.

“Y-yes. You’re right.” She smiled and took a hesitant step closer. Perhaps Trixie had given her a way forward here. “S-she’ll probably g-go somewhere familiar, uhm… shall we… wait? Y-you know, for her?”

“Somewhere familiar, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked in the direction of the cottage. “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea!”

Fluttershy bit her tongue in a desperate attempt not to show too much glee at the suggestion.

Yes!

“Great! You start heading to your place,” Rainbow Dash said while taking to the sky once more. “I’ll fly around some and if I don’t spot her, I’ll take the weather station. She’s bound to end up at either place eventually, okay?”

No!

It wasn’t too late. All she had to do was say something!

“O-okay...” she heard herself mumble an echoed confirmation, like a foal.

No!

“See ya!”

The next moment, Dash was gone, leaving only a fading rainbow trail.

It was as though Dash took all of the energy with her, as Fluttershy sank through her haunches, exhausted. How did this go wrong? She had all morning to figure this out. Why was she so useless?

One thing was for sure, she dreaded going home and having to explain how she somehow bungled every chance today. It felt worse, knowing she didn’t just let herself down, but also the trust Trixie was putting in her.

Trixie’s not gonna like this.

“Trixie’s not gonna like this.”

While Trixie could not allow herself to back out of this little arrangement with Rarity, that didn’t mean she had to be enthusiastic about it.

The surprisingly large building looming in front of her had to be the Carousel Boutique. It truly was impossible to mistake. Not only was it shaped after its namesake, but it was entirely out of place with the rest of the rustic neighborhood.

Trixie supposed she had to admit it had a certain flair to it, though the color scheme surprised her. While some accents did match the stark white and purple of its owner, the majority of the building was checkered in a much softer pink and purple. A business partner, perhaps?

If she had any doubt as to whether it was the right place, the obvious cutie mark design on the front door swept that away.

Given how much easier than anticipated it had been to find the place, it was a little earlier in the day than they’d agreed upon. There was still time to visit a few more stores.

Then again, it wasn’t as though her little shopping trip had been a great success. Over the course of several hours, she’d discovered most of the shops were closed and even the few that opened their doors had proven mostly useless. It might have been a little overly positive to bring the bags, given that they were barely a quarter filled for her efforts.

Was there any point to this? Fluttershy must have had time to speak to Rainbow Dash by now. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to just go home and face the music. But… if she really lost everything… she’d rather stall a couple of extra hours where she could at least pretend it was going to be fine.

What better way to pretend than to talk to a ‘friend’.

She approached the door.

Ting-a-ling!

A little push proved the establishment was open for business, and a tinkling bell above the door announced Trixie’s presence before she had a chance to herself.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.” Rarity’s voice called out from behind one of the circular curtains that divided the large main floor into smaller sections. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

Anticipating the most liberal interpretation of ‘a moment,’ Trixie preemptively dropped her bags by the door.

A higher-pitched voice followed up. “Maybe I could—”

“No, thank you. I’ve got it…” Rarity said in a clear tone of annoyed politeness. “Actually, I could really use your help at the front desk.”

“Okay, Rarity!”

Trixie noticed movement near the edge of the curtain as a small form ran into it, seemingly intent on slipping under to quickly get to the front. Except, the rim was pulled taut when what looked like the first hoof to reach there stepped on it rather than under it, swiftly followed by the outline of a unicorn filly’s face stretched through the thick fabric like some kind of horrible pink ghost.

Trixie just managed to take a quick step back when the very next moment, the entire circular curtain rod came loose from the ceiling and tumbled down with a loud metal ringing and clanking, rolling a semicircle around the platform previously hidden behind it.

On the platform stood a half-dressed mannequin and a half-dead Rarity, gaping in horror at the destruction surrounding her before she quickly settled on the lump trapped beneath the curtain. Her eyes impossibly wide as she stood there frozen stiff.

After a still moment, the lump started to struggle and inched its way along the fabric with little muffled huffs of effort. The metal ring laying atop the edge of the curtain barred any exit. “I’m stuck!”

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity ran over while snatching up a pair of scissors and swiftly sliced open the fabric.

A soft pink- and purple-colored filly popped up out of the cut, looking spooked as she surveyed her surroundings. “I’m sorry!” She called out while wrapping her little hooves around Rarity who hugged her even tighter.

Now it was obvious to Trixie where the checkered pattern outside came from.

Which, honestly, probably should not have been her first thought when observing this madness, but she was taken so utterly off guard by the whole thing that it was hard to have a sensible reaction.

Once that realization hit her, she snapped out of her own frozen state and came trotting up. “Are you two alright?”

“She’s fine, just a little shaken up,” Rarity said with relief as she finished examining the filly. She looked up with an apologetic smile. “I’m terribly sorry for the fright, miss—Oh, Trixie! I wasn’t certain you’d come. Even then, you’re earlier than I expected. Ah, pardon, this is Sweetie Belle, my baby sister.”

Still clutching to Rarity, this Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to be over the shock of meeting somepony as dazzling as Trixie just yet. Or perhaps it was because of the accident.

Either way, the obvious solution was more Trixie.

“Why hello there. Sweetie Belle, hm?”

Trixie smiled at the filly before looking over the torn curtains. Was it just a family thing where every meeting involved destroying a pair of them? Although, compared to the ones she’d used for her stage, these looked much more expensive.

“That was quite the disappearing act! It was almost as good as the Great and Powerful Trixie’s first attempt at such a trick when she was but a foal not much younger than yourself! Did you rehearse?”

Sweetie Belle, who by now looked more embarrassed than anything else, gave a meek greeting. “Uh, hello. I… I wasn’t. It wasn’t a trick, I just stumbled.”

“Come now, don’t be like that.” As expected, Trixie’s mere presence was enough to inspire even shaken foals. “Just commit and go with it. With the right attitude, every stumble is simply a half step toward greatness!”

“While that certainly explains a thing or two...” Rarity hesitantly commented before shifting her gaze back to Sweetie Belle, “It is true you should not get discouraged by a misstep. There is always something to be learned from it if you reflect and be more mindful in the future… but for right now, how does some ice cream sound?”

Ah, bribery. A little inelegant, but it seemed to be doing the trick as a bright smile lit up the filly’s face. Foals were so easy.

“Can we go to Boulevard of Frozen Creams?” Sweetie Belle asked with such sudden excitement that Trixie had to wonder if she’d forgotten all about the incident already. The benefits of knowing one’s audience really were considerable.

“The boulevard? There’s no need to go all the way over there, Sweetie Belle, I’ve got some in the fridge for, uh, ‘emergencies’.”

“Pleaaaase?” Sweetie Belle’s pleas had a cute little melodic chime to them that Trixie was glad not to be on the other side of. “I’d love a Filly Clown Surprise from Mrs. Sorbet.”

Although Trixie could not see it, by the way Rarity was anxiously avoiding looking directly at Sweetie Belle, it was obvious Rarity was being subjected to one of the oldest tricks in the book. Puppy dog eyes.

“I’m sorry, but a client will be here for that dress soon and I don’t want you going alone today while that creepy Z—Besides! I can’t leave the boutique like this,” Rarity briefly motioned to the carnage surrounding her, but seemed to catch herself as she stopped midway and took a little step sideways to obscure the devastation from her sister.

However, in doing so, she caught her eye.

“Gnnn.” Rarity pranced in place as she accidentally looked her sister’s way and got stuck, quickly melting under the stare. Finally, she managed to break away and met Trixie’s gaze. A bright smile flashed across her face as if she’d struck upon the answer to all of life’s problems. “Oh, Trixie?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow, skeptical of Rarity's sudden interest. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is nopony’s courier.”

Rarity gasped as though the very idea was abhorrent. “Heavens, no! I merely hoped you would join us for the occasion. Perhaps you would be willing to take Sweetie Belle there? I’ll be along shortly. My treat, of course.”

Obviously, she was being asked to babysit. Presumably so that Rarity could clean up and finish her work without the ‘assistance’ of her baby sister slowing her down.

Sweetie Belle turned her way, looking excited. She didn’t seem to realize the undercurrent of the conversation at all. The little filly had that distinct look of a foal on the verge of sharing something ‘awesome’ like a gross bug or whatever else thrilled foals to show to somepony new.

Trixie clenched her jaw.

She was a showmare, not a nursemaid! This would be unacceptable on a good day, let alone the stressful day she was having. Even being here was testing her patience when for all she knew Fluttershy had already spoken to Dash and for better or worse there wasn’t any need for her to play along to coax Rarity into silence.

Maybe it wasn’t fair on the filly, but it wasn’t as though Sweetie Belle could not go by herself. Rarity was just afraid because of that silly old pony tale from this morning!

Why should she care about Rarity’s imaginary fears?

“Because that’s what friends do.” Spike’s voice echoed in the back of her mind.

She quickly shooed the unbidden thought away. Awfully presumptuous of the spectral lizard to claim they were friends.

What had Rarity done for her? Well, aside from keeping quiet despite having no idea why. And spinning a cover story to excuse their absence…

Actually, ice cream didn’t sound so bad right now. Maybe it would even convince her stomach to take a break from twisting itself into new and interesting knots.

While getting roped into babysitting was out of the question, she could just go on her own, like she planned to. If somepony happened to follow, well, nopony could be blamed for desiring to be in her magnificent presence.

“Trixie is rather busy,” she said, motioning over to the saddlebags. “But she supposes she can make some time… it’s what friends do, right?” Despite her best effort, some uncertainty crept into her voice at the last part.

Rarity’s eyes briefly widened when she heard Trixie still call her a friend before giving her a sparkling smile. “How wonderful! Oh dear, with everything going on I almost forgot to finish introducing you.”

She wrapped one arm around her sister and extended the other toward Trixie. “Sweetie Belle, this is my friend Trixie, a traveling magician! She’s staying in Ponyville to make preparations for her next show.”

While it was nice to get a little recognition for her temporarily waylaid career, the most interesting thing to Trixie in that moment was the sudden emphasis on friends. Rarity’s pleased reaction and the way she listed it first suggested some further significance. Almost as if she’d been worried Trixie had revoked that privilege. A justified worry after this morning, to be fair.

“Oh!” Sweetie Belle stared at Trixie for a moment with dawning realization. “I remember now! You are the wi—“

“Ahaha!” Rarity swiftly interrupted and ruffled her sister’s mane fiercely. “Such a little prankster! Now, Sweetie Belle, no matter what you might have heard and no matter from whom, she’s not a witch, understand? We do not repeat such ghastly rumors. It is unbecoming.”

Sweetie Belle wormed her way out from under her sister’s hooves. “But I was going to say, ‘wizard’.”

“Trixie likes this one.” She smirked and looked toward Rarity. Specifically her remarkably well-recovered mane. “Maybe she’d like to see a dazzling feat of magic?”

Red-faced, Rarity glanced down at a watch that obviously wasn’t there then swiftly ushered Sweetie Belle to the front door. “Oh, would you look at the time! Why don’t you show Trixie through town, mhm? Don’t lose her, or these,” she added while slipping the filly a couple of bits.

“Okay, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle said before heading out the door.

“Good luck with your client, Trixie will take her out of your mane for a while…” Trixie took a long look at Rarity then turned her back on the nervous mare to follow her miniature model out. “Trixie looks forward to continuing our conversation.”

It was amazing how much better she felt just by knowing that at least now she wasn’t the only one dreading the future.

“This.. this has to be some kind of joke.” Trixie stared down at the thimble sitting upon the table. Inside was a microscopic snowflake in clown makeup. “This is the best ice cream in the shop?”

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was producing a high-pitched squeaking sound as she stared wide-eyed at her own tiny treat, hooves on her cheeks. “It is so cute! And tiny! And, and look at the lil nose!”

It was a little endearing to see her so excited over something so small, literally, but some part inside Trixie couldn’t help but feel upstaged. After all, a tiny clown was getting a better reception than her last three shows combined.

Although Trixie knew she was an amazing inspiration for all ages, foals had usually been her most enthusiastic audience members, but even they weren’t as excited about her as this filly was about the silly ice cream.

She idly wondered if perhaps her show would be more successful if she donned a ridiculous red nose and some makeup as well. Maybe while she was at it she could wear some big floppy shoes to complete her transformation into a total joke.

Like it wasn’t bad enough that she was stalling for time like this. Too scared to go home and learn whether she was beloved like never before, or truly on her own now.

“Hey, are you okay?” a slightly more blurry and watery than usual Sweetie Belle asked. “They have normal-sized ones too.”

“Mhm? Y-yes, it’s fine.” Trixie forced a smile and, as casually as she could manage, reached up to clear her eyes.

What a joke that she couldn’t even keep her nerves steady while she had an audience. She could do better than that.

“That’s a great idea, actually, but Trixie is trying to mind her great and powerful figure. She refuses to have two desserts. Whatever would she do with this one?”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes sparkled as she looked down at Trixie’s portion of the tiny clown ice cream. She quickly raised a hoof. “Oh, oh! I could help! Rarity is always saying I should enjoy sweets while it lasts! Whatever that means.”

“Oh, Trixie just had a great idea.” Trixie snickered as she levitated the thimble over toward Sweetie Belle. The look of undisguised joy on the filly’s face was infectious. “You can have this one.”

“Thank you!”

When Sweetie Belle retrieved the sweet, Trixie noticed the filly was using her hooves rather than her horn.

“It’s barely worth mentioning, rather…”

She bit her lip.

While she rarely made an effort to watch her tongue, she was also a little more familiar than she’d like to be with the insecurities of a young filly ‘blooming late’ in the magic department.

“...Did you start unicorn school, yet?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No, we don’t have those here. Rarity promised she’d teach me some when I’m older, though!” she said excitedly.

“Ah, yes. Trixie did get to see some of her magical prowess before. Her control would be impressive were she not naturally compared to the greatest magician ever to grace this town.” She chuckled.

“You mean Twilight?” Sweetie Belle asked without even looking up from the table, too absorbed in devouring the snow clown with a single lick.

Trixie gaped open-mouthed at the clueless filly. The sheer unabashed sincerity with which she said it hurt the most, as though there wasn’t even a question. Trixie just barely recovered enough to reply. “No, uh… Trixie…”

She was going to need some ice for that burn. In fact...

Trixie turned toward the old mare behind the counter. “You there, Trixie will have a ‘magic sundae’. Extra magic.”

“Coming right up.” Just a few moments later, the spry fossil plonked down a tray carrying the much-needed medicine. A proper amount of ice cream drowned in extra chocolate sauce. “Enjoy.”

Yes, this would do just the trick for her bruised ego.

Trixie worked a few spoonfuls in before she made another attempt to broach the topic with Sweetie Belle. Somehow she was feeling a lot less inclined to be subtle about it. “So, you can’t use magic, huh?”

Sweetie Belle frowned. “Not yet. Rarity said I will when I’m older. She says that a lot.” Despite a veneer of acceptance, there was an unmistakable tinge of impatience underlining the words. Sweetie Belle wound her tiny hoof in the air as she droned out a list. “Magic. Cutie mark. Fashion. Boys.”

“Gah!” Trixie nearly choked on a spoon of ice cream at the last item. “...She’s probably right. Best not to rush anything.”

An adventurous spirit Trixie could understand, but were foals interested in that sort of thing at Sweetie Belle’s age these days? Now that she thought about it, Rarity was the filly’s older sister, that certainly explained where she got the interest from. It probably ran in the family.

“How long did it take you?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Oh, good. Apparently so did the inbuilt nosiness. At least this time she wasn’t being blackmailed into spilling the beans.

“Erm, well… Trixie’s never had much interest in boys. She’s been too busy with her career to afford many ‘distractions’.” If Trixie had time later, she would have to remember to pat herself on the back for such amazing honesty. Both statements were true, they just weren’t related. Hopefully it would keep the filly from pursuing too many questions down that path.

“Heh,” Sweetie Belle snickered. “You sound like Rarity.”

“Is that so? Well, what if Trixie told you that she always had a fantastic sense of flair, would that help tell us apart?” She smirked as Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Though some ponies foolishly disagreed as to whether it was fashionable or not. Trixie prefers to say she has inherited a style as timeless as the stars themselves!”

Sweetie Belle gave Trixie a quick up and down before settling on a questioning look.

“Hehe, you’ll have to take her word for it, though…” A small pang pinched her chest as she accidentally reminded herself of the lost costume. “It’s in the wash.”

“Okay, Rari—Trixie.” The reply had an automatism to it. “What about the magic or cutie mark?”

Trixie soured a little, opting for another scoop while thinking over how much she really wanted to tell. “You’re right on track for those.”

“Oh…” Sweetie Belle seemed to muse on that for a time, giving Trixie some much-desired peace. Not for long, though. “So, you were a late bloomer, right?”

A metallic crunch sounded as Trixie gritted her teeth on the spoon.

She was not expecting to get called out like that.

Holding a hoof to her chin, Sweetie Belle was looking thoughtful while she baselessly speculated. “I think… you don’t want to admit you weren’t the best, right? Rarity says it’s nothing to be ashamed of, though. Somepony has to be last place.”

“If you must know, Trixie was not the last. She was the fifth! Trixie earned her cutie mark in magic the same week she learned her first spell. A true prodigy!” Trixie hastily corrected. Well, mostly corrected… what she’d said was technically the truth, but certainly a lie by omission. She couldn’t very well admit to being fifth to last, though, could she?

It didn’t feel great deceiving a foal, though...

“Oh, sorry…” Sweetie Belle sunk in her seat a little and focused her attention on the empty thimbles, awkwardly shuffling them around. “I… I just thought it would be nice to have somepony to talk to about it.”

Scratch that, it felt pretty lousy.

“Why don’t you just talk to your sister?” Trixie asked.

“Rarity is good at everything, I wanna be like that too but… she’s just so good at everything, at literally everything,” said Sweetie Belle with a mixture of pride and annoyance. “She was always first in her class. Cutie mark, magic, you name it. It wasn’t even hard for her. Rarity already knew what she wanted to be when she was half my age and she’s doing it right now!”

Rarity was too good to talk to? What did that make Trixie? Rarity’s lesser at the very least! This couldn’t stand. She’d have to demonstrate just how wrong the filly was!

A few ideas as to how to do just that were popping up already.

No!

Trixie shook her head to try and derail that train of thought.

What was wrong with her? The little filly just idolized her older sister a little. That was no reason to get anxious.

“It’s not a competition...” she muttered to herself.

“What?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“With Rarity,” Trixie added, unwittingly, then startled upon realizing she was thinking out loud.

Gah! Right! She’s still here.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head confusedly. “Huh?”

“Erm, w-what Trixie means is, uhm...” Trixie fumbled briefly then put on a flashy smile. “You aren’t competing with your sister! Yes, that is exactly it… Of course, it can feel that way when you have to stand next to her, you can’t help but compare her to yourself, right?”

“Right,” Sweetie Belle said, looking a little brighter.

Trixie took that to mean she was hitting the mark, somehow.

“Good. It’s what’ll drive you to be better than anypony else, but Rarity isn’t your rival, Sweetie, she’s your family. If you need help or somepony to talk to, you can always rely on her, even if she can’t understand what you are going through, she’ll still try.”

For some reason, this reminded her of that letter she kept meaning to write.

“Trixie understands if maybe right now it feels like Rarity is your big rival, but as soon as you set hoof outside you’ll find the whole world is full of ponies to compete with. It’s a lot of pressure. That’s why it is important to have a good home where you don’t need to feel that way and can just be with the ponies you love.” Trixie paused for a moment as she looked around the room.

A brief glance around revealed there weren’t too many witnesses. A couple sitting a few tables away and the mare behind the counter who looked old enough to forget her own name anyway.

This was acceptable.

She leaned in conspiratorially toward Sweetie Belle and whispered, “...Even The Great and Powerful Trixie needs to occasionally be just Trixie.”

“Huh,” was all Sweetie Belle had to say at first. She’d lost her frown, but gained a ponderous look as she stared down at the table. Presumably going over what she’d gained from the font of wisdom she’d been fortunate enough to tap into. “...Do you have some place like that in Ponyville?”

“Yes. It started off a little, uhm, ‘rocky’, but Trixie feels secure at home.” She decided not to add the part where she really really hoped that home was still going to be there. She didn’t need to bother the filly with her worries.

“I see.” Sweetie Belle perked up and raised her gaze to meet Trixie’s. She had a strange, yet vaguely familiar shine to her eyes. “So, who do you love there?”

“Errr… Trixie’s sorry, what?” Trixie asked.

“It’s not family, right? So, I was thinking there’s only one other thing it could be.” Sweetie Belle’s smile grew with a little squeak as if her pressed-up cheeks were chew toys. “Come on. You already told me about fashion, magic, and cutie marks. All that’s left now is…?”

Trixie looked toward the door of the ice cream parlor in quiet desperation. What was taking Rarity so long to get here? She wasn’t equipped for this sort of talk.

No rescue seemed to be forthcoming.

“Trixie doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Sweetie Belle leaned forward while her voice took on an eerily familiar sweet tone. “Pleaaaase?”

Oh no.

Staring up straight at the ceiling, Trixie did her best not to look over in the siren’s direction. There was no need to look to know that Sweetie Belle was trying to use that same seemingly irresistible power she’d used on Rarity just moments ago.

Would it hurt to peek? It had to be pretty cute. Surely somepony of her legendary willpower could withstand just a glance?

No! That’s how they get you!

“Okay! Okay, look… Will you drop the subject if Trixie teaches you a spell?”

“A spell?” Sweetie Belle sounded confused. “But, I’ve never been able to use magic before.”

“You’ve never had the greatest magician in Equestria teach you before!”

“Twilight?”

“Seriously?”

Trixie glared at Sweetie Belle, who looked awfully pleased with herself.

“Made you look!” Sweetie Belle smiled widely, seemingly satisfied to know she could have gotten her way if she so chose. “Okay, let’s do the spell thing! Maybe I’ll get my cutie mark this week too!”

“Nice trick. Trixie will have to remember that.” The disaster averted, she took the time to finish off her sundae before motioning for Sweetie Belle to pay attention. “Very well. We’re going to start with the first spell Trixie ever learned… Sparks!”

It was the perfect choice. Any failed spell would generally produce at least a couple of sparks as it fizzled out, so even if the filly messed up, she’d still feel like she was making progress and build up her confidence.

As a prodigy of magic, Trixie’s only concern was that she wasn’t quite certain if she could actually teach somepony so far below her level.

But really, what could go wrong?

Author's Note

Expect to see another update real soon.
Due to length, I ended up cutting it in two for readability.

Chapter 8 - Middle ground (Part 2/2)

Ting-a-ling!

In a flash, Trixie dropped to the ground with her forelegs over her head, bracing for impact.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle, destroyer of worlds, happily trotted through the door. “Hi, Rarity!”

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, I am afraid we’re closing for a little whi—Oh, hello girls. Did you forget something? It’s only been...” Rarity looked up from the mannequin and toward the clock on the wall.

Somehow, the white mare managed to go even paler.

“Two hours!?” Rarity nearly knocked over the mannequin herself as she jumped up to gape open-mouthed at the clock. “Oh, I am dreadfully sorry. The client arrived and she just had all these last-minute changes one after the other. She only just left a moment ago.”

It was alright. Nothing to worry about. It was just the bell, not the Belle, this time.

Still twitchy, Trixie picked herself up off the floor and took a few unsteady steps further in to allow the door to close, then slumped against it with a sigh of relief. It was somepony else’s problem now.

“That’s okay!” Sweetie Belle chimed happily as she ran up to Rarity. “We had a great time! I got to have two ice cream cones! Trixie taught me how to do magic! Oh, and Mrs. Sorbet said she’d never seen anything like it and she might as well retire!”

Apparently, the curtain ring had been reattached, but left open this time, undoubtedly to prevent the rushing Sweetie Belle from taking it down once again.

“That’s nice, dear.” Rarity stroked the excited filly’s mane as she arrived, fixing the smoking stray strands back into curls. She didn’t even seem to notice she was doing it while pinning a ribbon of some sort onto the dress. “Why don’t you go play in your room? I just need to speak to Trixie for a bit.”

Was she not even going to react to this? Trixie could hardly believe it.

“Can I show you my magic first?” asked Sweetie Belle.

This time, it seemed Rarity actually heard what was being said as she looked away from the mannequin she was working on. “Magic?”

“No!” Trixie shouted, making the poor filly flinch. “Erm, Trixie means, no… because you… erm, used it so much already! Yes. You’ll burn out if you don’t get plenty of rest, a couple days worth at least.”

“Oh, she’s right, Sweetie.” Rarity chimed in. “I’m sorry I missed it today, but you can show me in a few days, okay?”

“Okay, Rarity!” said Sweetie Belle before running off and clambering up the stairs. Just before she vanished from view, she paused and turned and waved at Trixie. “Thanks again!”

Giving a weak wave, Trixie watched the filly disappear from sight. The little hooffalls became more muted until finally they too faded after the sound of a door pulling shut.

What a day.

It was almost enough to consider whether maybe those Ponyvillians had a point after all, regarding her influence on the youths. So far, three out of four foals she’d interacted with had nearly brought disaster upon Ponyville. Sweetie Belle, Snips and Snails… only Applebloom had bucked the trend. Appropriately enough.

Rarity made a final stitch and then stepped away from the dress with a satisfied look. “Oh, yes! This is spectacular!”

“Sure.” Trixie was entirely sure this dress was no different than it had been when they left.

“Now then…” The curtain magically pulled shut around the dress, obscuring it from view and breaking the enchantment it must have had on Rarity as she finally turned around to properly face her guest. “What brings you here?”

“Uh, you asked Trixie to come here.”

“That’s right! I remember now. Alright, come on over here.” She parted a different set of curtains and revealed a similar platform. This one was without a mannequin, however. Rarity must have caught the confused look in Trixie’s face, as she spoke up. “We told the girls we were going to take some measurements, remember?”

“Trixie didn’t think we’d actually do that,” she said, but allowed Rarity to usher her onto the platform anyway. The last few hours had taken the fight out of her already.

The curtains were pulled shut, giving some greater sense of privacy than the large open studio had.

“Oh, this is just in case they ask about it. Now, try to stay still and look straight ahead… a little bit higher than that… good.” Rarity took a few more moments positioning Trixie then brought out the measuring tapes. The first one wrapped around Trixie’s barrel and pulled taut. “So, how have you been?”

“Just fine, thank you.” Trixie was reminded of visits to the dentist, probably the petty small talk before a dreaded event. At least this didn’t involve sharp metal hooks in her mouth. The soft, almost caressing, slither of the measuring tape along her fur was much more pleasant.

At this rate they’d be here forever.

“I noticed Twilight and Dash finally made up,” Rarity said while jotting down some numbers on a notepad before the tape moved and encircled her chest. “They are trying to be tightlipped about it, but I did hear you were involved on both ends of that, positively. Our little Rainbow Dash in particular seems to be very pleased with you, so… and I do hope this isn’t too forward… Why exactly can I not talk to one of my friends about her own relationship?”

Or not.

“Cutting straight to chase, are we?” Trixie chuckled, nervously. She could feel the tape pull a little tighter around her, as if to indicate she wasn’t going anywhere without an answer. “Fine, Trixie did promise, so… you know that thing the three of us have... what did you call it... a menage a trois?”

“Of course.”

"It turns out Rainbow Dash doesn’t know."

The room fell silent, seconds later it was joined by Rarity falling onto a couch Trixie was pretty sure wasn't there a second ago.

Trixie knew a cue when she saw one. Once Rarity had recovered, she told her everything.

She started with the most important part, that none of this was her fault. That Rainbow Dash must have misunderstood something somewhere along the way. How it had led to breaking things off with Fluttershy until Trixie sorted things out with Rainbow Dash. How that had led to Fluttershy insisting she did the sorting out herself, despite Trixie's concerns.

It was hard to stop after that.

To Rarity's credit, she played the role of the understanding listener perfectly. She only hummed and nodded here and there to show she was listening, and left the story to Trixie. She wasn't sure why Rarity kept measuring her shoulders every time she reached the hard parts, though Trixie found breathing easier each time it happened.

Once Trixie’d pulled the whole story out of her hat, Rarity stayed quiet. Trixie hoped she hadn't been distracted by her mesmerizing talent, because just the thought of going over it again gave her a bigger headache than Rainbow Dash ever had.

“That’s quite the predicament…” Rarity gave her a sympathetic look. “What do you think will happen?”

“Obviously, Trixie’s hope is that we clear up the misunderstanding and live happily ever after, but...” Trixie sighed and sat on her haunches. “Trixie hasn’t had much luck with hopes and dreams as of late. She’s not sure what she’s going to find when she goes home tonight. Maybe she’ll have to pack up and leave town...”

Her chest tightened painfully at the idea.

“Best case scenario, two loving ponies who are eager to welcome you home.”

Rarity smiled as she came to sit beside Trixie on the little podium. She averted her gaze and went on, though.

“Worst case scenario… Rainbow Dash feels cheated and wants nothing more to do with you or her. Fluttershy feels guilty for ruining what you two had and can’t bring herself to be in a relationship that caused so much hurt. She wouldn’t kick you out, of course, but it may be so awkward that you no longer will feel welcome.”

Trixie felt a cold chill seep into her.

As much as she’d tried not to think too hard on the potential consequences, she’d been painfully aware that the whole situation could turn out horribly, but hearing it laid out crystal clear like that was difficult to stomach.

It wasn’t just her own happiness on the line, but the friendship between Dash and Fluttershy as well. She had not even considered that she could ruin that on her way out.

Had Fluttershy? She must have. No wonder she was so nervous.

“Honestly, you’d rather risk losing them both than to settle for one?” Rarity shook her head. “What were you thinking? It’s such a greedy gamble. I know you like to go big, dear, but isn’t this a bit much?”

Lowering her head, Trixie muttered. “You are right…”

“Oh?”

“But if Trixie did the sensible thing, that would mean leaving Fluttershy in the cold! She pined for Dashie for so long and then Trixie stole both their hearts. Is Fluttershy supposed to be alone while she gets to watch her crushes be together?”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” A slightly more flushed Rarity commented. “A-anyway… Is that true? Are you really doing this for Fluttershy’s benefit? That’s awfully selfless of you.”

Even if Trixie had not been a master of subtlety, she still would have picked up on just how unconvinced Rarity was.

And rightfully so, as Trixie had not actually paid that line of reasoning any thought until just now in an attempt to sound a little better.

In truth, she just wanted them both. It was a nice coincidence to find out afterward that they were also interested in each other, but she’d mainly treated it as a way to have her cake and eat it…

Maybe she deserved to lose.

“There is no need to look so glum, darling.” Rarity said a little too cheerfully as she stroked a stray lock of hair out of Trixie’s face with her hoof. “Sure, this gamble of yours is irrational and a little bit selfish, but… so is love. If that’s something you want to share with both of them, then maybe it’s worth the risk.”

Trixie perked up. “You think so?”

“Only you can answer that, darling. I’m sorry if I scared you before, but you had to fully grasp the stakes. All three of you will be affected.” Rarity moved back to the abandoned fainting couch in front of Trixie. From her new position, they could easily lock eyes. “What do you think?”

“Does it matter? It’s too late to back out.” Trixie groaned. “All Trixie can do is go home and see if she’s stumbled into one more disaster.”

“I recognize it can feel that way, but you are only looking at the extremes. The happily-ever-after and the unmitigated disaster. While those are possible, they aren’t helping you, Trixie. It’s not realistic.”

“But those are the options. Failure and success!” Trixie protested, though she had to give way a little bit. “Maybe it won’t be as severe, but it’s still practically the same thing. How is this not realistic?”

“No, no.” Rarity shook her head in that annoying disappointed way that reminded Trixie of an impatient teacher. “You simply found the most optimistic outcome where everything is amazing. That’s what you were thinking about when you came up with this plan, isn’t that right?”

Trixie wasn’t quite sure how Rarity had figured that out. Had she said something to that effect?

Rarity seemed to take her silence for affirmation.

“Of course, even you would realize there are two sides to every coin, and later you started thinking about what would happen if it went wrong. You already had the best ending.” Rarity held up both hooves in an imitation of a scale, one hoof far below the other as though to illustrate the weight.

Trixie looked at the mime act, waiting for a point.

“From there, you ended up imagining an outcome as horrendous as the other was fabulous.” She brought both hooves closer together. “To balance those scales.”

“So, you agree then that Trixie had a balance.” Trixie pointed a hoof in Rarity’s face to drive her point home. “See!”

“No, darling, just because you found the most optimistic and the most pessimistic outcome does not mean you are realistic.” Rarity sighed and took hold of Trixie’s hoof, moving it out of her face. She held onto it afterward, kindly patting. “It just means you spend the day oscillating between best and worst. That won’t help you, Trixie.”

It was odd. Trixie did not feel the instinctive pulse to argue. She couldn’t be sure if it was because Rarity had a point, or because her accusing hoof was currently being held down and given calming rubs. “Suppose Trixie went along with this… then what?”

Showing a slight smile, Rarity let go of Trixie. “Well, both of these outcomes don’t require any further action on your part, so you aren’t thinking about what needs to happen next. After all, if it goes wrong, you imagine an unrecoverable calamity. How would you even plan for that? Other than to run away?”

Trixie’s treacherous eyes involuntarily darted over to the saddlebags by the door. She snapped back, but it was too late.

Rarity had followed her gaze and was now giving the bags a long stare.

Why was Trixie feeling guilty!? She’d done nothing wrong! Not really.

Rarity took a shaky breath, then slowly turned back again, meeting Trixie’s eyes. “Oh, darling… no...”

“What? What do you think is in there? A week's worth of rations and a sleeping bag?” Trixie snarked. She magically pulled the bags into her hooves then roughly tossed them at Rarity. “Look for yourself! It’s just some stage props! Not even good ones, because nopony in this deadbeat town seems to, to… Trixie doesn’t even know what.”

Trixie did not find it necessary to mention that, in truth, she had exactly that sort of bag already waiting for her at home. Neatly prepared and stacked up by the door. The main difference was, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been the ones to make it for her a month ago, back when she was afraid she wouldn’t be allowed to leave.

Funny how now she was afraid she wouldn’t be allowed to stay.

“Oof!” Reeling back on the couch, Rarity managed to catch the bags as they struck against her chest. Annoyingly, she’d managed not to fumble it and set it down beside her. Flipping the flap open, she revealed the contents.

All perfectly innocent looking items, of course.

Some wooden drinking cups, balls, dice, handkerchiefs, lengths of rope, and three decks of cards. As well as a single, solitary lemon, which could not in any way be mistaken for some kind of meal. Who would eat a single lemon?

Folding her forelegs across her chest, Trixie waited nervously for Rarity to conclude her search. “See? Trixie was not preparing to disappear.”

It may just be a complete coincidence that if she were to leave town, a pony of her talents could probably get by for a while with just the tricks those props would let her do.

Not that those thoughts at any point ever crossed her mind as she was looking for them. Nor were they hastily suppressed. Not once. Never!

“Oh, my.” Levitating the bags back toward the door frame, Rarity brought her hooves together in an apologetic gesture. “I’m sorry. I just… wel, I wouldn’t have blamed you. You know? If all this had made you take some precaution. It’s the smart thing to do.”

“Smart?” Trixie let her hooves slip from the tight cross and sink into her lap. “You don’t think it would seem kind of… like Trixie doesn’t believe in them? Dashie and Fluttershy, that is. It’s one thing to be nervous about going to meet them, but… actually buying things to leave…”

Rarity was quiet for a beat longer than Trixie would have liked. It felt as if she was looking right through her, for just a moment.

“No… Not at all.” Rarity shook her head. “I think that maybe somepony who did that might worry that maybe she isn’t worth it. Somewhere, deep down.”

“What an utterly preposterous notion.” Trixie chuckled as she shifted away from the edge of the platform, from Rarity and her vexingly plausible guesswork. Averting her gaze, she feigned interest in the dimming light outside, the day was almost over. “...Out of curiosity, what would you have said?”

“Heh, you’re just like Rainbow Dash.” Rarity stifled a giggle, though a soft smile remained on her lips. “Ah, but to answer your question… I suppose I might tell such a pony that even if she were dreadfully unlucky and lost a lover or two, there are more ponies that care about her wellbeing than she might realize. That won’t change, no matter how badly she loses a gamble, hum?”

Trixie knew what Rarity was trying to say, of course. The act was twice as transparent as her own.

It just didn’t make sense to her.

“Why do you even care?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, you know the answer to that already, don’t you?” Rarity said while moving onto the edge of her seat. “It’s what friends do…”

“Of course it is.” Trixie made a show out of rolling her eyes, and tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling inside her. “Look, message received, alright? You can stop now.”

“If you insist.” Rarity grinned as she reclined on her couch once more. “What were we talking about before?”

“You were complimenting The Great and Reasonable Trixie on her balanced expectations.”

“Yes, something to that effect…” Holding up her hooves, Rarity briefly went through the weighing motions as she mumbled to herself before her attention snapped back onto Trixie. “Ah, of course! My point really was you’ve excused yourself from having to do any further work on your relationship.”

Did she just accuse her?

“Erm, what?” Trixie asked, graciously extending some leniency to her friend. Rarity had proven she was attempting to help. Even if Trixie wasn’t quite sure what this was supposed to accomplish. “Explain.”

“Of course, if the worst disaster truly strikes, there’s nothing you can do. But even if it is a fairy tale ending, there’s nothing left to do. As nice as that might be...” Rarity briefly seemed to get lost in thought before shaking her head. “Those are the extremes; I think you are far more likely to end up somewhere in between, don’t you?”

Trixie gave a slow nod. “When you put it like that… Trixie supposes so.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to mentally prepare to fall somewhere in that wide middle ground? With effort, you can still move from there to a better outcome,” offered Rarity, as though it had been obvious to her from the start. “Maybe they’ll have questions, or be uncertain, or feel hurt. Rather than spending all day feeling like your actions no longer matter, focus on the things you might have to work on after all the cards are on the table.”

Trixie tilted her head just slightly to the side, thinking quickly. Had she failed to prepare for the majority of outcomes? Wouldn't what she ‘planned out’ so far work for this middle ground Rarity was talking about?

No… it wouldn't.

A chill ran down Trixie’s spine.

While it was nice to know she wasn’t powerless to make it better, now she was gripped by an even scarier prospect.

“...what if it’s bad and Trixie messes it up?” she asked so quietly she wasn’t even sure Rarity could hear, or if she wanted her to.

“It is true that you might be about to take a serious stumble, but do you know what a great pony once said?” Rarity asked as the corners of her mouth slightly curled upward, not unlike a cat.

“What?”

“She said to just commit and go with it. With the right attitude, every stumble is simply a half-step toward greatness!” Rarity repeated with a Cheshire smile, even adding the little flourish that Trixie herself had done when she told Sweetie Belle.

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

“No, really. I think you made a great point.” Rarity urged. “Think about it. You were afraid to go home because you’d convinced yourself that you don’t have a say in the outcome anymore. And now, because you might make it worse. What kind of attitude is that?”

“Uh, realistic?” Trixie offered.

“Perhaps, but you are chasing a dream Trixie, aren’t you?” asked Rarity, clearly without requiring a response as she carried on. “How are you going to get it if you don’t believe in it?”

Believing in her dreams. When was the last time anypony actually recommended that to her? When was the last time anyone needed to? It came to her so easily.

Why was this different?

“I just want to stress that I mean this in the nicest way possible. Trixie, dear…” Rarity closed her eyes and took a breath before they fluttered open, fixing Trixie with a surprisingly gentle stare. “Since when were you realistic?”

“What!?” A hot flash of anger sizzled through the numbing cold. “Trixie is not realistic? How dare you! How dare you say something so, so… absolutely true!”

Rarity held an uncertain expression. “Pardon?”

“You’re right,” Trixie sprung to her hooves. “Realism is for ponies who are not extraordinary! Even if Trixie messes up and it is all shattered into more pieces than a hammered watch in a handkerchief, then all that means is that the Great and Powerful Trixie will have to work her magic and put it back together, good as new!”

“Delightful as it is to see you this self-assured, perhaps dial your enthusiasm back a little? You are at about a twelve and I really think you’d be better off at maybe an eight or se—Gah!” Rarity lost the latter half of that sentence as Trixie suddenly pulled her into a tight hug. It probably wasn’t important anyway.

“Thank you,” said Trixie as she gave Rarity an extra squeeze for good measure. “Trixie’s been so caught up in the stress of today that she forgot who really runs the show. She’ll be the one to decide when the curtain is drawn.”

Her mind raced with the new possibilities. As scary as it was, there was no pony in the world more adept at turning any perceived failure into marvelous success! All she had to do was put her brilliant mind to it!

“Y-you’re welcome.” Rarity brought her hooves around Trixie to return the gesture, or to tap out; it was hard to tell. Either way, Trixie released her. “Before we go on, perhaps some tea to calm down? I have a lovely jasm—”

“As much as she enjoyed this little distraction, the Great and Powerful Trixie has kept her eager audience waiting long enough!” She flashed a confident smile before she parted the curtains and hastily made her grand exit.

Ting-a-ling!

Rarity sat on the couch, astounded and abandoned. Perhaps even a little abashed.

She had not even gotten around to half of the topics she had really wanted to discuss with Trixie tonight. Perhaps it would have been wise to ask about the encounter with Spike before asking about Rainbow Dash? Oh, but then again, she had been positively dying to find out what that had been about.

Besides, how was she to know that Trixie would storm out immediately? She’d looked exhausted when she came back with Sweetie Belle.

Oh, that’s right. Remember to check on her.

She got up and latched the front door. There were to be no more clients today.

All that mattered now was to consider how she was going to help salvage this burgeoning relationship. It simply would not do to allow two —three?—- three of her good friends to come apart at the seams like this over something as silly as a little bit of miscommunication.

No, not at all. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been on the edge of that ‘will they, won’t they’ wedge for such a long time. She’d vowed to herself to allow that to progress at its own pace, but if Trixie was going to shake things up regardless, well, it was only fair that somepony was around to ensure they’d fall to the correct side.

So many wondrous ideas had been stockpiling all these years. Finally, they were going to be put to good use. Perhaps she could begin by penning a love letter in the other’s name? No, no. They were well beyond that now.

“If Trixie was right, the backstitch of the entire garment is most certainly Rainbow Dash… If she snapped, well… that would be difficult to repair.”

If only there was something she could do to ensure Rainbow Dash would stay with the trio.

Ah, there was that one option, if she was willing to prey on a terribly unfair weak spot.

“I do apologize in advance, Rainbow Dash, but… I do believe I may have to tattle on you just a little bit. Good luck backing down when your personal little cheering duo shows up!”

Rarity rubbed her hooves together with a devious smile.

Tap Tap Tap!

Snapping out of her benevolent scheming, Rarity looked toward the window.

Trixie was there, staring her down.

Rarity stared back, trying very hard to act as though she had not been caught worse than that time Sweetie Belle noticed her sneaking a tub of ice cream out of the fridge at two in the morning.

“T-Trixie? What are you doing there?”

Trixie pointed a hoof toward the locked front door.

Following the direction, Rarity’s gaze fell upon the forgotten saddlebags, still propped up against the door frame.

Returning her eyes to Trixie, Rarity offered up an awkward chuckle and worked on opening the window. “Hehe… I’ll just go get those for you and you can be on your way.”

A nice, chic blue glow surrounded the bags and pulled them closer. A moment later, they changed color to orchid as Trixie took over.

“Great.” Trixie rested her hooves on the windowsill, preventing the window from closing again. “So, what was that about?”

“Designing!” Rarity said, a little too hurriedly for her own liking.

“Right…” Levitating her bags through the window, Trixie looked at her for a moment, then showed a smirk eerily reminiscent of when Opalescence discovered how to open the fridge. “Trixie has to go home now, but how about tomorrow we do some ‘designing’ together? If Trixie has nothing better to do.”

“You design? I, oh!” It took her a moment to decipher, but this was most definitely an invitation to serve as a backup plan, wasn’t it? Then, Trixie was asking to be included in her matchmaking plot? A mare on the inside as it were.

Rarity smiled. “Yes… Yes, that would be wonderful. Actually, we’re having a little party tomorrow evening at the library. Would you be a dear and remind Fluttershy of that? I have the suspicion she didn’t hear a thing we discussed this morning.”

“Trixie will do that. See you tomorrow.”

It was dusk by the time Trixie made it back home.

The long trek and cool air had dampened her enthusiasm down to a low simmer. Little niggles of doubt had plagued her along the way, but such petty demons were easily slain by the Great and Fretful Trixie. It just wore on her a little.

Once she came around the last bend in the road, she finally laid eyes on the cottage.

The light in the living room was still on.

Fluttershy was waiting for her.

Possibly Rainbow Dash was too.

She felt the fire rekindle inside of her at the thought. Whatever awaited her inside, it was going to be the next step toward her goal!

She broke into a gallop for the final stretch, crossing the little bridge in a single bound.

She rushed up the garden path, but slowed to a trot as she spotted something unusual.

There, by the front door, barely visible in the encroaching dark, sat a pair of green saddlebags.

She recognized them instantly. The consistent sight of them had been comforting those first few weeks, and mundane after that. They’d merely been gathering dust inside.

But, it was strange for them to be outside.

She’d come to a complete stop now, her heart beating in her throat.

Was this a sign? If so, what did it mean?

What if it was bad?

A number of mundane explanations faintly echoed through her mind that she would have prefered to grasp onto. An accident. A similar bag. A tradition. A joke. A colony of very ambitious ants.

But, she couldn’t banish the big looming fear that perhaps this was a warning.

Feeling a shiver, Trixie took a small step back away from the door.

Was it possible that Rainbow Dash was angry and waiting for her?

Had Fluttershy secretly moved the bag outside for her to notice?

What if it was bad?

A flash of orchid light, she pulled the bags away from the door and flipped open the lid. A supply of oats, some bits, and a light blanket. The faint glimmer of hope that these simply looked similar was snuffed out.

A weakening wobble in her hind legs had her drop to her haunches with a thud. It was getting harder to breathe.

What if it was bad? This had to be bad. Maybe she should go in? What if it was bad? She had good last memories now. She could just leave. She should just leave. What if it was bad?

Stop it! Do not panic! You coward!

She scolded herself while easing the stranglehold she had on the bag.

What if it was bad?

If she wanted to leave, she had all the supplies on hoof to make it out of Ponyville okay.

By now, the last of the light had vanished over the horizon, but it wasn’t the first time she’d traveled by starlight.

Or maybe, maybe she could go back to Rarity’s place?

Or…she could stop going around in this same sun-forsaken circle all day! What was she even worried about? There was nothing in the world that the Great and Powerful Trixie could not deal with!

She was the most amazing pony to ever exist. It would take more than a little scare to stop her from getting what she wanted, right?

With a shaking hoof, she pressed against the door. It didn’t budge.

Another flash of cold washed over her as she found herself confronted with a locked door.

A sickening feeling rose from her stomach, yet it also strangely made her feel more determined. As though a challenge had been offered by life, daring her to run away.

Well, life was about to get a… Oh, right.

Trixie pulled the door open outwardly, like she’d done dozens of times. She totally had not at any point in her pathetic panic forgotten which way it went.

Thankfully, nopony had seen that, but she was going to have to live with that stupidity from now on. Well, assuming Rainbow Dash didn’t end her the moment she walked into the living room, which at this point didn’t even sound all that bad.

Taking a steadying breath, she stepped over the threshold, dropping both bags to either side of the door. She noticed a slight lemony scent now that she was on this side.

No turning back now.

Whatever she was going to have to deal with, it could only get better if she worked on it. Or whatever Rarity had said. Point was, she was not running.

“Uhm, hello?” Fluttershy asked, head poking out of the kitchen. “I thought I heard the door… Oh! There you are, Trixie. We were worried about you. Well, uhm, I was. Rainbow Dash said you would be fine. And you are. Fine. I mean, you are, right?”

Was there any sound sweeter than Fluttershy’s adorable nervous rambling? Little else put Trixie so at ease than her voice, except maybe the knowledge that she’d been on the minds of her two favorite mares in the whole world.

Trixie pulled the door shut and trapsed further into the cottage and swiftly pulled Fluttershy into a hug. Breathing in the lovely honey scent of her mane, she gave a sigh of relief. “Trixie is now. It’s just been a little stressful today. She knows she promised to let you do it on your own, but Trixie didn’t know if she could trust herself if she was nearby.”

“Oh, uh, t-that’s okay. I’m glad you were so thoughtful...” Fluttershy replied, squeezing Trixie as she returned the hug. There was a noticeable tenseness in the otherwise soft mare. Well, there always was, but more so than usual.

“By the way, Trixie found this outside.” She kicked the supply bag.

Fluttershy tensed more.

“Huh?” Fluttershy peered over Trixie’s shoulder. “Oh, thank you. I thought I’d clean the foyer to keep my mind off, uhm, well… And, I guess I forgot I moved it out of the way.”

Of course, it was something so simple. Trixie was glad she at no point worried about that.

“Oh, ‘the foyer,’ is it? That seems a little ambitious,” Trixie teased as she looked around the simple door leading directly into the living room.

Fluttershy mumbled some sort of far too weak protest.

Trixie patted her on the back. “Relax, Trixie likes it when you are ambitious. Speaking of which…”

“What?”

“So,” Trixie asked, expectantly. “How did it go?”

“...”

Trixie pulled away just enough to be face-to-face with her, holding her by the shoulders.

It was no surprise to find Fluttershy had trouble looking her in the eyes.

Seeing her so nervous, Trixie was starting to feel it bubble back up as well.

What if it was bad?

No, that wasn’t the right attitude.

So what if it was bad?

“Fluttershy?” Trixie asked, breaking the long silence in the cottage. “Trixie asked how it went. It’s okay, we’ll figure it out together.”

Fluttershy pulled back, entirely hidden behind her mane. “Uhm… I… I didn’t… ask... I’m sorry.”

She had one job.

“Oh, really? Heh, that’s funny.” Trixie replied, the picture of self-control and tranquility. So tranquil, in fact, that Fluttershy was squirming under the increasingly calm and collected grip on her shoulders. “If only Trixie had known. She needn’t have worried then. All. Day. Long.”

Trixie was going to scream.

“Really, Trixie is so glad to know she’ll have to wait another day to find out how it all turns out.”

Trixie was going to scream and send Fluttershy down a rabbit hole.

“Maybe this time Trixie will just sit on the couch and watch the seconds tick by on a clock. Really savor the moment.”

Trixie was going to scream, send Fluttershy down a rabbit hole, and then push a big rock on top of it.

“T-Trixie, uh, could you, ouch, maybe…” Fluttershy asked, shrinking under her grasp.

Trixie was going to scream, sen—Something bit her!?

“Gah!” Trixie screamed and stumbled backwards, holding her aching ankle.

“Angel!” Fluttershy picked up the demonic little bunny and backed up a step, looking even more tremendously guilty. “I’m sorry.”

Why did she have to look so much like a kicked puppy?

“You know what?!” Trixie asked, fuming, hurting, and flagging.

“W-what?” Fluttershy moved Angel behind her back, seemingly aware that Trixie would need to see the dastardly thing in order to paint his fur pink again.

Pushing past her, Trixie ascended up the stairs, leaving a puzzled Fluttershy in her wake.

“You can sleep on the couch tonight!”

Come morning, they were going to have a long talk.

Author's Note

Part 2! As per the prophecy! :trollestia:
I might employ this notion of splitting chapters into two more often. This came out much better with some extra room to expand on the scenes, but gosh a 12k chapter would have been a pain.
Thanks for reading, stay safe.

Chapter 9 - One way or the other (Part 1/2)

What a difference a bed made.

It had not been Trixie’s intention to sleep in, but the comfy covers made such a compelling argument... She deserved it, didn’t she? The more of today she slept through, the better.

She’d long since missed the sunrise when she finally summoned enough willpower to leave the warm embrace and wander down into the living room.

Passing a window, she caught sight of some of the animals pressed up against the glass, probably waiting for a meal. A few more were gathering in the clearing around the cottage. Dumb critters, if they were that impatient they should have taken a page from her book and slept in as well.

There was something off about them. She would have to ask Fluttershy about the specifics, but while they did look hungry, there was a restless hopping about that didn’t match up with their normal behavior in the early morning.

Actually, it wasn’t that early in the morning at all anymore, was it?

Trixie paused.

No, it was well past feeding time. Even without her magnificent assistance, Fluttershy should have been able to handle it. What was going on?

Where was Fluttershy?

A quick trot around the cottage proved fruitless, but in the kitchen, she found that pesky rabbit, Angel.

He spotted her in turn and waved his little paws, making strangling gestures around his throat, and then pointing toward the front door.

Trixie didn't understand him, of course, but there was no doubt he was 'talking' about her. There was no doubt either that she shared his sentiment. She too would like to see him strangled.

One day she was going to find a tophat and reverse a classic trick with him. Not today, though. No, today would require all her fantastical power if she was going to conjure even one ounce of bravery out of Fluttershy.

Speaking of which, where could she have gone? It must have been urgent if she left without feeding the animals or even waking her up. What could be that important?

An early-bird discount at the pet shop?
Another dragon snoozing nearby?

A cougar with a cough?

It would have been nice if she’d at least left a message of some kind.

If only she hadn’t been so short with her the night before, perhaps Fluttershy would have said something to give Trixie a clue now.

Her heart sank.

Last night had been so very frustrating that she was proud of herself for going to bed rather than blowing up at Fluttershy too much, but… if she’d known she wouldn’t see Fluttershy in the morning, she would have made more of an effort to talk to her.

Not that there really was anything to resolve. The only thing to do would have been to talk with Rainbow Dash.

“Oh! That’s it!”

Trixie jumped up.

It took all of her incredible acting talent to imagine herself in Fluttershy’s confrontation-averse horseshoes, and it didn’t hurt that she’d been practicing for a couple of weeks at that very thing, but it was clear what must have happened.

Rather than face her wrath, Fluttershy must have gone after the source of the problem.

“She’s off to talk with Dashie!”

That made sense. After all, Trixie couldn’t be angry at her if she did what was asked, even if it was a day late.

If the state of the peckish animals nearby was anything to go by, Fluttershy must have left first thing in the morning, presumably to avoid changing her mind and perhaps to avoid Trixie herself.

Trixie should probably have felt worse about that, but she was too nervous.

If Trixie was right, then all she had to do now was wait, right?

Just like yesterday.

That went so well for her…

Fortunately, there were many critters eager to help keep her attention on them and off of… whatever it was that she’d been worried about when she started tending to them a couple of hours ago.

She couldn’t just ignore the poor starving dears, could she?

…Okay, she might have given herself a little handicap of doing it all by hoof, just to make the chore last longer.

To the outside observer, maybe that could have appeared as if she was making them all wait longer on their meal than they needed to, but she was doing that for their sake! A fact she would have been happy to explain in detail; long, drawn out detail. If only doing so didn’t require that she also think about a certain yellow somepony who she was trying very hard not to spare a thought…

A certain somepony who was at this point very late.

Trixie was positive it had to be nearly afternoon already.

The sun, however, was oddly low in the sky still. Clearly, it was tardy.

In any case, she had seen neither hide nor hair of either of—No matter! She had so many things she could do to keep occupied.

A great and practical place to start was to give her new magic props a test run. The few still lingering animals could count themselves lucky. It wasn’t everyday one got to see a professional at work.

Trixie truly was too good for this world.

Dinner and a show!

Maybe that hadn’t been the best idea.

It had turned out that while it was easy to get a duck to pick a card, any card, it was much harder to get it back.

Worse, all she had been able to think about during the impromptu rehearsal was how much she wanted to show off her tricks to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash instead.

It was clear to her now she’d been approaching her problem from the wrong angle.

Really, this time alone was just what she needed to get started on something long overdue.

That was how she found herself at the little writing desk in the bedroom. Equipped with everything she’d need to begin her letter. A sheet of paper, a quill, an inkwell, and a nice glass of freshly squeezed lemon.

All she had to do now was write the darned thing.

The beginning was easy.

~~Dear Mom,~~
~~Hello Mother,~~
~~First of all, I’m not dead.~~
~~Hey mommy!~~

...Okay, maybe not so easy.

No matter, she had all day to stare at a blank piece of paper!

Or, maybe she’d take a walk first.

Yes.

That sounded like a great idea.

She knew just where to go!

“Trixie did not think this through.”

Trixie grumbled to herself as she wandered along the solitary road through a large open field of grass.

Supposedly, Rainbow Dash lived around here somewhere, but she was beginning to suspect she might have been pranked. A very impressive prank that required the collective conspiracy of every single pony she asked along the way.

So maybe not, then.

Also, this field was in the direction that Rainbow Dash would fly toward when she left for the night.

It had to be real.

Or maybe Fluttershy had gone over to help Rainbow Dash move. House and all.

With a sigh, she sat down in the grass and looked around. There were some buildings in the distance, perhaps that was it? She didn’t know.

“Gah, why didn’t Trixie ever think to go to her place before? That’s a romantic thing to do, right?”

They always met at Fluttershy’s cottage or went somewhere outdoors. Now that she actually thought about it, why had she not noticed it previously?

Was Rainbow Dash secretly homeless? That would be the only explanation Trixie would accept for not getting invited to her girlfriend’s house before. That was after all the perfect excuse Trixie was using herself.

She was forgetting something. She just knew it, but what?

With a frustrated groan, she let herself fall backward into the grass.

It felt good to get off her hooves for a little bit.

Still, she didn’t feel at ease. If anything, the longer she lay there just watching the clouds drift by, the more her thoughts drifted toward the night before last. When she’d been in a similar position, stargazing with Rainbow Dash.

Had it really only been a day?

She wanted to see her, or maybe she just wanted the warmth of her favorite blue pillow.

Well, she could want two things at once.

Trixie gave a wry smile.

Yes, she could. That was what got her into the current mess, wasn’t it?

Just as she was about to go through the angsty script in her head for what felt like the hundredth time, one of the clouds caught her attention.

A cloud castle?

It wasn’t strange for clouds to look like things, but this… this was something else altogether.

Trixie gaped at the lavish white-blue cloud structure.

The castle itself was built up of pristine pillars and smooth walls. Curled waves surrounded it like some sort of permanent breeze given form. Streams of rainbows wrapped around it and flowed as if to leave no doubt to even the most dumbstruck of stagemares that she’d found her destination.

This! This was where Rainbow Dash lived!

“How!?” Trixie sprung up straight onto her hindlegs, grasping at the sky in a vain attempt to pull the gaudy exaggeration from it. “How did you make this!? You have the patience of a rocket in a bonfire!”

Oh, great.

She was yelling at clouds now.

Focus.

That was definitely her destination. All she had to do was get up there.

After that… She’d probably have to figure out how to walk on clouds or she’d be right back down here again.

After that… well… Trixie wasn’t quite sure.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t quite sure what she was doing here at all.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were supposed to be inside that cloud castle, but even if it had been a regular shack on the ground that she could easily enter, should she interrupt them?

Staring up at the castle, Trixie bit her lip.

She didn’t doubt her own judgment, but perhaps a second opinion wasn’t a bad idea.

“Are you okay?” asked a hoarse little voice.

Apparently, a small orange pegasus filly wearing a big helmet had materialized from thin air. Well, that, or perhaps there was the remote possibility that she’d snuck up on the Great and Perceptive Trixie.

The filly looked concerned as if she’d never seen a perfectly sensible pony allow herself a harmless little sigh of frustration...at the sky… at maximum volume… Yes, this was clearly the result of how sheltered she must have been.

“Trixie’s fine,” she said, as cool as she could manage. “Just a little argument.”

“You were kind of yelling at the sky,” the annoying filly pointed out.

“Nevermind that.” Trixie waved it off with a grimace. “Who are you? Why are you even here?”

“I’m Scootaloo.” She stepped back to reveal a scooter parked behind her. She looked very proud to show it off. “I’m gonna show my moves to the greatest flyer ever to come out of Cloudsdale!”

“Hum, as far as Trixie knows that could only be… Rainbow Dash?”

Scootaloo beamed. “Yeah! She’s the coolest!”

“Of course she is. Trixie wouldn’t settle for anything less.” Trixie smirked then looked back to the scooter. “Are you really planning to use that?”

Scootaloo fixed her with the fiercest stare she’d ever seen on a filly. “You got a problem with that?”

“Oh, please don’t hurt Trixie,” She rolled her eyes. “If you wanna lug a big heavy piece of wood into the air with you, be Trixie’s guest. It just seems like you’d go faster without it, and if there’s one thing Dash likes it’s moving fast… Trixie wishes a certain other pony did too.”

Scootaloo jabbed a hoof at her. “Hah, shows what you know! I am so fast on this thing!” Then she hopped onto the scooter as if she was ready to give a demonstration.

Oh, why not? Any distraction away from her girlfriends was a good one, especially if it also conveniently kept this kid from following up with prying questions.

Trixie motioned for the filly to get started. “Go on then. Show Trixie what you can do.”

To this filly, any excuse to show off was clearly a good one, as she didn’t even bother to question why and launched straight into a set of stunts, flips, twists, and tumbles.

One curious detail was that while some of the feats were certainly performed in mid-air, they were never achieved using actual flight, though Scootaloo’s wings would buzz constantly like some sort of bumblebee. She always ramped off a rock or incline, leaving Trixie to believe that perhaps Scootaloo was too young to take to the sky under her own power.

Scootaloo called out a number of ‘moves’ while she zoomed up and down the road. Triple Whip, Double Barspin, Backflip. There were a couple others, but Trixie didn’t quite catch them as the filly was well out of earshot at times.

Credit where it was due, the filly had style. Even if she ate dirt on more than half the ‘moves’ she attempted, it didn’t slow her down at all. Scootaloo got right back up as if she’d meant to do it that way all along and hopped into the next trick.

It was an impulse that Trixie was all too familiar with, herself. Of course, even as a filly, her tricks’ success rate was much greater than Scootaloo’s stunts, but it was cute to see her so devoted to putting on a good show.

While this was turning out to be a much better distraction than she’d predicted, Trixie still couldn’t help herself from sneaking a peek up at the castle above. What was taking them so long? She didn’t want to interrupt, but she’d really like to know how it was going.

If only she could fly up to go have a look.

Oh! That gave her a brilliant idea!

“Bravo! Trixie has seen enough!” she called out while applauding Scootaloo’s latest successful feat. “You are clearly talented, Trixie should know.”

Scootaloo skidded to a halt in front of Trixie and took an awkward bow over the scooter’s handle. “Thanks, I, uhm, I’m awesome. Yeah.”

Trixie smiled.

As confident as the rambunctious filly was, she didn’t look used to having an audience yet. The bow and comment were clearly copied straight from Rainbow Dash’s playbook but were performed with none of her practiced casual swagger.

“Trixie is certain Rainbow Dash would be impressed.” She saw the filly’s face lit up. “But she might be busy at the moment… Oh, don’t look so down. Trixie has an idea. Why don’t you quietly fly up there and peak through a window to see if she is?”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “You mean spy on her?”

Trixie avoided eye contact. “Erm, well, when you put it like that...”

“Because I can totally do that!” Scootaloo cried out enthusiastically. “I’ve never been up there before! I can’t wait, except, uh… but… I’m pretty tired. Yeah. I don’t wanna fly right now.”

Right. There was the flying issue. A minor hurdle for Trixie’s impressive problem-solving skills.

“Of course, you are right. You need to conserve your energy for the show you are going to put up, don’t you?” Trixie asked, going along with the obvious lie. “In that case, The Great and Powerful Trixie will perform a feat beyond imagining and levitate you!”

“Yes! Oh my gosh! Yes!” Scootaloo froze then adopted a lazy leaning pose on her scooter, feigning disinterest. “I mean, that’s kind of cool. I guess. Now?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. Not that the filly would notice anything else than her glancing up at the castle; she was a professional, after all. “As soon as you ditch all that heavy gear.”

While Scootaloo fiddled with her chin strap, Trixie surveyed the sky.

Had the clouds always been that far up?

“On second thought… you can keep the helmet.”

“Sure!” Scootaloo stood at the ready. Apparently she did not have any sense of self-preservation if that last line didn’t have her question this whole thing.

Lucky.

Scootaloo glowed in the secure grasp of Trixie’s magic, then slowly lifted off the ground

Basic levitation was simple enough, but it was always more difficult on a living creature. It was hard to get a good grip on something squishy that was squirming around without causing discomfort.

Then there was the issue of creating enough power to lift her up high. The further away she’d get the harder it was supposed to be. To Trixie’s surprise, this part was a whole lot easier than she anticipated. She shifted her attention from the magic to Scootaloo and quickly spotted why.

Scootaloo was smiling ear to ear while her tiny wings buzzing fiercely. “This is awesome!”

She even managed to assert some control over her assisted flight, floating left and right in the air before she remembered her original goal and pointed herself skyward, hooves outstretched.

Not that she was actually going anywhere, just buzzing in midair.

It reminded Trixie of the dry swimming exercises she’d done as a filly before her mother would let her anywhere near water. Those had been an exciting precursor at the time too, but not anywhere near as thrilling as this seemed to be for the filly.

“You look ready. Here we go!” Trixie called out and sent Scootaloo up, and up, and up.

Weirdly, it actually became progressively easier rather than harder as Scootaloo became more excited the higher she got until her hooves touched down on the cloud porch. She sank in a little bit, but the cloud appeared to hold her even as Trixie canceled the levitation.

Good.

Scootaloo immediately ran toward the center of the cloud, vanishing from sight.

After a while,Trixie still hadn't heard back from her.

Impatiently, Trixie paced around directly below the cloud, keeping an eye on it. She wasn’t sure how the cloud walking thing worked, and if Scootaloo came falling through, well… she was glad the filly had her helmet. Just in case.

She wanted to yell for Scootaloo to tell her what she saw, but her superior foresight told her that it would be a terrible idea if she intended to have all this remain unnoticed. It was against her every instinct, but she’d have to avoid attention for now.

“Trixie!” yelled Scootaloo from the edge of the cloud, nearly giving Trixie a heart attack. “Hey! Trixie! Are you there!?”

She took a few hurried steps out from under the cloud. Once Scootaloo spotted her, she quickly then held up a hoof over her mouth. Surely, she would get the message: ‘shut up, you moron!’

“There you are!” Clearly, Scootaloo hadn't gotten the hint. Also, she was wearing a blue-striped scarf now that Trixie was positive she didn’t have before. “Nopony is here!”

“What!?” Trixie screamed. “What do you mean nopony is there!? There should be at least two!”

“Hang on, lemme check again!” Scootaloo called back and vanished. She came back a moment later, this time wearing a golden circlet with a pair of wings on them. It was clearly too big for her, but it fit just fine over the helmet. “I’m pretty sure!”

“Damnit!” Trixie dragged her hooves down her face. “Where else could they be? Gah! Maybe Rarity knows.”

Scootaloo was gone again. She seemed to be having fun at least.

Kicking a nearby rock with all her frustrated strength, Trixie began the trek down the road back to Ponyville.

Perhaps this was for the best. To the untrained eye, she might have looked desperate had she shown up on Rainbow Dash’s doorstep… or below it. Whatever.

Maybe Rarity could help take her mind off it or at least help her scheme.

“Oh, check this out. I think it’s a first edition Wonderbolt poster, with all the signatures!”

Ideally, she’d like to forget everything for the day, but that wasn’t going to happen.

”Trixie? Trixie! Wait! I’m still up here!”

She was burdened with a memory as perfect as everything else about her, after all.

“Rarity? She’s not home right now,” Sweetie Belle informed her. “Wanna come in and practice magic?”

“Hehe… Trixie would love to,” she said while not-so-slowly backing away, “but she’s terribly busy. Maybe next time!”

“Any idea where Trixie can find Appleja—”

“Nope.”

“Trixie doesn’t know what she was expecting.”

“No clue, sorry. Last we saw Pinkie Pie she’d put these peanut butter muffins in the oven and next moment she went sputtering out the door.”

“Dang it! ...Trixie will take two.”

"And that was when the Shrewd and Perceptive Trixie realized the very world itself was conspiring against her!"

A reveal of that magnitude normally required a properly grand gesture, such as rearing up, but the massage table was so comfy that she’d make an exception, just this once.

"How dreadful, miss."

Aloe had been working on a specific knot in Trixie's back for most of her ghastly tale of gross injustice. A knot obviously related to the stress of the past few days. She still hadn't defeated it.

Trixie did not blame her for it stood only to reason that her troubles were so much grander than those of lesser ponies. Of course it took more time and effort even for the most talented masseuse. And she knew talent when she saw it. The magic hooves hadn't won yet, but they'd felt almost as amazing as Trixie was.

This had been a good idea.

To show her appreciation, she’d been regaling Aloe with her grandiose tale. To inspire her. It was working, as she’d felt the mare’s hooves dig deeper into her stiff muscles as time wore on.

"They are off on some kind of adventure, again." She scoffed. "That pet dragon told Trixie as much, once she'd graciously bribed him to offset some ludicrous imagined slight on her part."

He hadn't said a thing about why she hadn't been asked to help, though.

"Trixie is glad they didn't invite her, of course. Missing her glorious presence is one of the great injustices of the world, after all, and she'd have no choice but to reject. The Great and Successful Trixie is far too busy to go gallivanting into some gloomy forest."

She swirled her glass in her magic. Everything had looked and tasted better after she'd recovered her use of it.

It still tasted pretty sour that she'd been left out a second time in the same adventure, though.

She stared into the drink. "They're probably fine, anyway."

The other spa twin, Lotus, came in during her musing. She looked worried.

"Sorry to interrupt. Aloe, I need to speak with you, now."

“Excuse me, Miss Trixie.” Aloe halted the massage to go speak with her sister.

A tragedy in its own right. One that only lent further credence to Trixie’s theory that the world was most certainly conspiring against her. As if she’d needed any more evidence.

They’d taken a couple of steps away to hurriedly discuss whatever was going on, but Trixie could still make out the gist of it.

Apparently, it had once again to do with concerns about Zecora. As soon as Trixie heard that, she tuned out of the conversation and went back to her own thoughts. That was until she picked up a stray name.

“Something something, Fluttershy, something.”

Trixie perked up. “Did you say Fluttershy?”

Lotus briefly pulled away from her conversation. “Uh, yes. She’s out in the lobby, but—”

If the rest of that had been important, Aloe really should have said it before Trixie bolted from the room and down the hall...

She slammed the lobby door open.

The ridiculous menagerie gathered there did not just contain a startled Fluttershy, but the rest of the missing motley crew. Or at least, Trixie assumed as much from the context. Some of them were practically unrecognizable!

Were it not for her immeasurable strength of will, she might have broken down into a fit of laughter right then and there, but no, she had to be strong and settle a couple of details first.

Fortunately, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked to be completely fine. That was the most important bit taken care of, which left Trixie free to move on to the next order of business.

“First all!” Trixie jabbed a hoof toward the big hairy ball of white and purple that was probably Rarity. “Trixie did not do that! Not this time!”

“Yes, darling, we know.” The fuzzy ball affirmed.

“Second of all...” She came up to the black-and-white-striped earth pony who, by process of elimination, had to be… “Applejack, Trixie’s pretty sure that’s offensive.”

“Though, it may take you aback,” she spoke in an even weirder accent than usual, “I am not this Applejack.”

“Riiiight, you are some other earth pony that just so happens to hang around with the five of them and your little sister while Applejack is missing.” Trixie rolled her eyes at the transparent attempt to fool her then turned to the rest of them. “Seriously, somepony fill Trixie in. Why do half of you look weird and—”

“Consarnit, Trixie!” a tiny little voice called out.

Trixie fell silent and laid eyes on the most probable suspect, Applebloom.

There, standing atop the filly’s head, a tiny orange cowgirl doll was giving her the world’s smallest death glare.

“...Applejack?” Trixie asked, dumbstruck. There was no way. “Then, who is this?”

“That’s Zecora.” Twilight stepped forward. Her blue-spotted horn wobbled comically. “She’s helping to cure us of all this.”

“It’s nice to see you’ve become more flexible. Wasn’t she supposed to be evil?” Trixie asked, unable to take her eyes off the floppy horn, but she felt Twilight’s heated stare regardless. She could also hear Rainbow Dash snickering in the background.

“Pfft! Prrftt!” Pinkie Pie sputtered at Fluttershy, drawing Trixie’s attention.

Whatever she’d said was utterly lost, but it was a small miracle she could even make a sound. The girl’s tongue was so swollen that it looked as if she’d been licking an angry beehive for an hour. It shared the same odd blue spots Twilight had.

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t want to sing it again,” she said with a deep and strangely sultry voice that was practically dripping with honey; maybe from the same beehive Pinkie had encountered, but with starkly more confusing results that had Trixie briefly question her own preferences.

It wasn’t often that Trixie found herself dumbstruck twice in the span of as many minutes.

“Hah! The look on your face!” Rainbow Dash laughed and leaped into the air, only to immediately come crashing down on top of Rarity. “Gah! I forgot about that.”

Being the insightful mastermind she was, Trixie deduced that all of them had something wrong with them, though it wasn’t quite clear how or what.

Lotus and Aloe arrived in the lobby with an announcement. “Good news. We think we can accommodate your request. Miss Zecora, you may come with us to prepare the main bath.”

“Good. Ah can hardly wait ta be back to mah old self again,” Tiny Applejack said, “but do ya reckon y’all could get me something a bit more, uh, shallow?”

Trixie left them to argue logistics on their own. She had far more important things to attend to.

“So, this problem is handled, right? You have the cure and you just need a bath?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash struggled to free herself from the tangled mess that was once the second-best mane in Ponyville. “Why?”

“Excellent!” She trotted up to Fluttershy. “Trixie would like you to tell her the whole story while we wait. Right after Trixie is done.”

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably but nodded. “Uhm, okay… Done with what?”

She smiled and turned toward her ridiculous friend group crowding around the spa ponies. “Oh, just this…” she said, taking a deep breath.

Fluttershy didn’t think it had been a very nice thing to do, but it was at least a little bit impressive that Trixie could laugh for ten minutes straight, and still be giggly for another hour.

While she had once seen Pinkie Pie suffer a case of ‘the giggles’ that lasted a full day, that hadn’t been anywhere near as loud.

It also hadn’t been directed at them.

Not that she begrudged Trixie for it. After all, if it really was that funny to her, then it was kind of nice to know that she’d held back long enough to make sure they were okay before giving in.

Yes, that was nice of her.

Fluttershy smiled, swishing her hoof through the warm, soupy water.

She finally had a quiet moment all to herself.

Most of the others immediately left as soon as they had been cured. There were jobs and responsibilities to attend to that had been put on hold since the morning. She would have had to leave quickly as well, but Trixie assured her she’d taken care of her animal friends in her absence.

The only exceptions were Trixie and Rarity. They were still somewhere in the building. Supposedly they’d left to find more towels.

Trixie did not seem to be angry anymore either. After last night, she’d been worried about how that would turn out, but now Trixie had been strangely insistent that Fluttershy take her time to recover in the bath.

There were all of these nice things Trixie kept piling up for her...

…All she piled up in return were disappointments.

Trixie hadn’t asked, but she’d obviously figured out that Rainbow Dash was still none the wiser.

Fluttershy could pinpoint the exact moment in the conversation where that realization had dawned on Trixie. She’d stopped giggling afterward. It had been less painful to see Trixie angry than it had been to see her quiet down.

The door opened. Trixie and Rarity had returned.

They shared a brief look with one another then came trotting in, all smiles.

What could Rarity have said to cheer Trixie up? It was nice that they were getting along so well now, but… She wasn’t really sure when it had happened.

“Fluttershy, dear?” Rarity came trotting up the small staircase leading to the bath. “We just had a delightful idea! Today has been so dreadful, what with us trudging through that ghastly forest, not to mention our respective afflictions… What we really need is something to wash our hooves of the whole sorted business and start fresh!”

Fluttershy blinked and looked down at the bath a moment before looking at Rarity again. “I, uhm, I thought that’s what we were doing?”

Trixie didn’t bother with the stairs and simply reared up, bringing her hooves down on the edge of the bath. “Well, yes, but we were thinking, maybe something a little more drastic! Especially with that party coming up tonight.”

“W-what party?” Fluttershy let herself sink down till she was up to her chin in the water.

Rarity sighed and shot an annoyed look over at Trixie. “You did not inform her?”

“Of course, Trixie did.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Weren’t you listening just now?”

“Anyway.” Rarity looked to her again and flashed a smile. “There is a small little get-together tonight, just us friends, really. It was to celebrate… erm, well, I’m not quite sure what it is for now. It used to be about rescuing Apple Bloom from Zecora, which is rather inappropriate now.”

Yes. She did vaguely recall the rest of the girls discussing something like that the day before. She’d been too preoccupied with failing to talk to Rainbow Dash to really listen at the time. Actually, she’d been pretty preoccupied with that for most of today too.

Wait, then, that had to mean Rarity and Trixie had spoken to each other yesterday as well.

“The point is,” Trixie cut in, “there is a party and we want to look our best. So… makeover!”

“Makeover?” Fluttershy quietly repeated.

“Makeover!” Rarity clapped her hoofs together, excitedly. “Doesn’t that sound simply wonderful? It would be such a surprise to everypony there! Why, it’s sure to leave anypony speechless.”

…Anypony?

“O-oh, I, uhm… Y-yes, wonderful?” Despite her own hesitance, this might be just what she needed. If Rainbow Dash was really left speechless, that could be her chance to talk to her…

Or more likely, her chance to get entirely embarrassed and be speechless herself… again.

“Great!” Trixie pulled herself up to sit on the edge and offered a hoof to help her out. “Come on, we’ll get started.”

Fluttershy stared at Trixie’s extended hoof.

What was the point, really? She couldn’t do it.

She was making this awkward, like everything else.

She didn’t really have a right to impose on them, especially not after she’d promised to handle it herself.

Still…

“...Sorry, but… I… This really does sound like a wonderful way to pass the time, but… could we maybe, instead… uhm…” She stalled out. This wasn’t how to ask somepony for a favor. “No, sorry… It’s actually… I was wrong. I can’t do this by myself.”

Do not cry.

“... I need, uhm... Please, help me. If that’s okay. W-with Rainbow Dash, I mean.”

“What?!” Rarity and Trixie gasped in unison.

Rarity recovered first and pulled her into a hug. “Ohh, Darling, of course! It must’ve been hard on you too.”

“Wait.” Trixie bit her lip as if she was trying to stop herself from speaking. “...We will not tell her for you. Trixie hates it, but you were right the first time… You can’t be a passive pony in your own love life.”

Now she wished she’d never said that.

“Oh...that’s okay...”

“Now, don’t you worry.” Rarity smiled as she gave her a comforting squeeze. “She says that, but we were going to subtly coach you all day anyway. Just you wait, come nightfall, you’ll be the most assertive you’ve ever been!”

Fluttershy carefully pulled away from Rarity. “Uhm, was this a ‘scheme’ then?”

Suddenly the pieces were starting to fit together. The party that should have been canceled. The extra-long stay at the spa. The makeover. The way they kept glancing knowingly at each other.

She looked to Trixie.

Trixie folded her forelegs across her chest with an odd defiance. “What? You’ve been floundering for so long that you had to know Trixie was going to do something. Honestly, Trixie's restraint is amazing. She can't believe she only now decided to plan something out.”

Fluttershy had expected Trixie to lose patience with her and take matters into her own hooves at some point, but she imagined that would mean Trixie would go speak to Rainbow Dash instead. But… a plan to secretly teach her to be assertive? Just so she could make her confession and feel good about herself?

The effort they must have put into that for her…

“I understand,” Fluttershy smiled. “So… what, uh, what is next?”

“Since you’re in on the ‘scheme’ as it were now, that really streamlines this whole thing.” Rarity helped her out of the water and floated over a bathrobe. “We’ll start with some exercises to improve your self-image. Not to worry, I’ve hired an expert.”

“R-really?” Fluttershy swallowed. Maybe she’d better dry off her hooves first, they were getting colder by the second. “Who?”

“Who else?” Trixie wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. “Now, loudly repeat these words: I am Great and Powerful!”

“Uhm, I, uh...” She felt hotter now than she had in the bath. “Uhm...”

“I know it’s tough, but I suggest you try your hardest here, Fluttershy.” Rarity pulled out a comb and set to work on her mane. “Fair warning...”

“Y-yes?”

“Plan B is to lock you and Dash in a room until we ‘hear making-out noises’.”

“Eep!”

Author's Note

Once again, I ended up cutting it in two for readability.
The good news is that means the next update will be within the week. ^^
Enjoy!

Chapter 10 - One way or the other (Part 2/2)

Aw yeah!

The Welcome-Trixie / Make-up / ~~Rescue-from-~~Befriend-Zecora / Curse-Away / Or-whatever-Party at the library!

Probably the only good reason to ever go to a library.

Well, that and magical curses.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure what it was about anymore. She just knew she had the best new story. Nopony else had anything weird happen to them right after the last weird thing they all did together!

Trixie and Applejack hung on her every word as she told them of the break-in at her place. Heck, Trixie looked super shocked!

“That's when I heard a noise from upstairs, the burglar was still in my house! Bad luck for him, right?” Rainbow Dash flexed to give Trixie a quick reminder of what she’d been missing with all her random disappearing acts.

“Ah reckon ya done showed him what fer?” Applejack held out a freshly filled mug to her, clearly loving it.

It was cool of Applejack to bring an apple cider keg.

It would have been even cooler if it actually had cider in it, instead of apple juice.

Stupid Apple traditions.

“You didn’t hurt her did you?” Trixie’s face was even paler than before.

“Heh, that’s the crazy thing! I charge into the room and there’s this little filly snoring on my couch, under the Cloudsdale Junior League flag that I thought I lost!” Rainbow Dash chugged her mug. “You shoulda heard her rattle on when I woke her up. Apparently, she’s my biggest fan!”

Meanwhile, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were arguing. Something about using the library for parties more often. It sounded like a great idea, but Twilight wanted it to be boring instead. Spike was trying to act as a referee between them.

Rarity and Fluttershy were having a much quieter talk by themselves, but they kept looking in her direction. Obviously, her story was the most interesting! She was totally gonna tell them the story from the beginning next!

Right after she finished up here.

“—and that’s when her aunt told me she’d get me the medal back tomorrow.”

“Glad to hear it all worked out.” Trixie looked much more at ease now that she had her happy ending.

Apparently, Trixie was a sappy sucker for success stories. Good thing every patented Rainbow Dash story was about success!

“Yeah, shame that she sprained her wing when she flew up there and got stuck.”

“Does that take long to heal?”

“Eh, it’s not so bad, I... hang on…”

Rarity waved her over.

“Huh, guess she really is eager to hear the start of it.”

Not that Rainbow Dash could blame her. Even though Fluttershy was right there, she probably wasn’t the best to talk to. Parties really weren’t that girl’s thing; she looked so stiff and nervous.

Trixie looked over her shoulder at Rarity and Fluttershy. “Well, don’t keep your eager audience waiting, Trixie will find you later, maybe you could demonstrate how you flew her back, mhm? We’ll see about that ‘Biggest Fan’ claim.” She winked and pulled Applejack off to go break up Pinkie Pie and Twilight.

“Heh, tease.” She fought back a blush. Nothing was as uncool as blushing in public.

Typical of Trixie to try and leave her ‘wanting more.’

Rarity eagerly greeted her when she approached. “There you are, Rainbow Dash! Listen I need you to do something for me.”

“I know I know.” She’d have to remember to split her awesome tales up more often, she’d get to wow ponies multiple times!

On second thought, the same story every time would be boring for HER… What if she just had multiple adventures instead? Genius!

“So, I just got home when—”

“Pardon me, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity rested a hoof on her shoulder and pushed her slightly to the side so she could see the little group behind her. “I would love to hear all about it… but Trixie is perfectly distracted right now. I’d like you and Fluttershy to pick up ‘the package’ from my boutique.”

Package? Oh, right! Trixie’s costume! But...

“Wait, I thought you were supposed to bring it?”

“I may have been somewhat preoccupied when I left. I’m not proud of it. Look, I’ll keep her busy her while you’re gone." Rarity sighed and brushed aside her mane. "Fluttershy knows what it looks like, but it’s heavy and I need you to carry it for her."

Fluttershy gave her an apologetic look. “I could try.”

She had to lug around something heavy because Rarity got distracted? Great.

A quick check back.

Nope, Applejack was busy.

Drat.

“Ahh, fine. Come on, Fluttershy.”

“Did you find it yet? This place gives me the creeps.”

She hadn't noticed how dark it was when they first walked in, but only a few rays of moonlight were managing to fight their way through the many curtains that crossed the room.

It lit up just enough to make out the crowd of faceless fake ponies that surrounded them. Some wore half-baked clothing ideas that Rarity must have been experimenting with, or worse, maybe those were supposed to be worn like that.

Rainbow Dash shivered.

“It should be here… uhm… oh...”

Fluttershy had lit a candle and braved the darkest corner, shrouded by the stowed curtains. Rarity must have been busy. There were more bundles than expected and Fluttershy was, of course, hesitant to disrupt the pile too much.

She was sure Fluttershy had it covered.

Normally, she’d have jumped on the chance to scatter the pile and hurry this up, but… well, it wasn’t as if the pile would come to life mid-jump and swallow her whole… that was just silly! Hah!

“Can we just bring all of them? I’ll find a—Huh?”

Rainbow Dash eyed the shadowy silhouette of a nearby mannequin.

Did that one just move?

She could have sworn...

“No!” Fluttershy turned toward her and all the shadows fled, leaving just the overgrown puppets. “I, uhm, I mean… no, I’ll find it. Just… just a little longer, if you don’t mind.”

It was the candle.

Of course. The flickering light as it moved was just messing with her.

Yeah, that's all.

“Fine.”

As Fluttershy resumed her search, the light went with her.

That was definitely why stuff looked like it was moving. No ‘Night of the Living Mannequins’ or anything like that. Tough luck, she’d been really hyped up to kick some evil thing’s ass, but every opportunity turned out to be a dud lately.

“Yes, sorry… uhm…” Fluttershy moved deeper into the belly of the boutique. She could barely see her anymore. “Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“...” Fluttershy kept her back turned. Her wings clamped tightly to her sides.

There was no response, but Rainbow Dash could hear her breathing. It was slowing down. Was something suffocating her!?

She took a quick step forward. “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy set down the little candle. She tensed and sucked in a sharp breath. “I love you.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash stumbled to a halt.

“I-I love you.” Fluttershy turned around with a stilted composure. The corners of her eyes glistened in the candlelight as she turned, but her face was dark now that she was facing her.

This couldn’t be real. There was only one logical explanation for this.

Okay, so Fluttershy is possessed. Do not panic.

After a moment, Fluttershy trembled.

Uh-oh! Whatever reaction Flutterghost wanted from her, dead silence wasn’t it.

“I’m s-sorry. I… It's okay if you feel different... I just always wanted to tell you, but I’m s-such a coward. I just… I didn’t want anything to change. For us to change, but… but it’s c-changing anyway. So, so I...”

She sobbed.

Forget it! Ghost or not. She couldn’t stand by and watch Fluttershy cry, ever.

What kind of ghost cried anyway?

She took the final step forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Hey. Slow down.”

Was she always this soft? When was the last time she actually touched her?

Not the time!

“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy whimpered as she rubbed her eyes. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Okay. That sounded more like the Fluttershy she knew. She wasn’t possessed.

That was good.

Wait. Then she was serious about all that stuff?

That was bad.

…Or was it?

No, no it definitely was!

Don’t panic. This wasn’t the first time she’d misunderstood something.

“Fluttershy, you, uhm… did you mean like… romantically?”

Fluttershy averted her gaze then softly nodded. “...Yes.”

Panic!

“L-like, how long?”

“…I realized how I felt in year two of flight school… I don’t know when it started.”

She stumbled backward as the room twisted around her.

“Years!?” She grabbed her head before it spun off. “Why didn’t you tell me!?”

Fluttershy lowered her head.

Impossible. No way. Years? She would have noticed. She totally would have caught on. There would have been hints.

A smile. A stare. A blush. Something like that.

Each thought stirred up a memory of exactly that.

A whirlwind kicked up in Rainbow Dash's mind, flashing glimpses of half-forgotten moments between them.

A time, many times, and others when she’d caught Fluttershy looking over. It all had seemed so innocent. Just wishful thinking that she’d shamed herself for entertaining.

A fire burned in her chest. How blind could she be?

All this time. All this time!

Everything felt like it was closing in on her. The walls, the curtains, the mannequins.

Especially the mannequins!

“Gah! I can’t believe I was this stupid!” She took another step back. “All that time wasted! Why didn’t I just tell you!?”

“Tell me what?” Fluttershy stepped in after her.

A mannequin bumped into her from behind.

“That’s it!” She whirled around and decked it straight in the face. The stupid thing flew across the room and crumpled into a heap of plastic limbs and torn-off stitches in a corner.

Better.

Sort of.

At least she had some room to breathe now.

“Uhm.” Fluttershy paused mid-step and stared wide-eyed at the pieces, then took a step closer anyway. “Tell me what?”

As Fluttershy moved in, a beam of moonlight caught her face. Rainbow Dash’s whirling thoughts slowed to a crawl.

Was this her first good look at Fluttershy tonight?

She looked... different.

Her fur was always clean, but now it shimmered in the moonlight as if she’d spent hours with a hairbrush going over every inch of it.

Her mane kept the usual windswept look, but it was styled out of her face, kept back by a butterfly hairpin. It didn’t let her hide those soft, round cheeks that framed her adorable face.

They looked like they were on fire.

They felt almost as hot.

When had she moved her hooves up to those cheeks? Whatever. She enjoyed the soft fur under her soles. She felt Fluttershy’s muscles tightening underneath.

Right, Fluttershy was tense, barely breathing as she waited expectantly. A slight tremor gave away that she was nervous, but she was still staring her down.

Those innocent, bewitching, beautiful green eyes were on her. She was looking at her in the way Rainbow Dash had always wanted. With those eyes.

Why had she never noticed it before? Had she written it off? There was no mistaking it now.

Fluttershy saw her that way too. For years. Just like her.

And Fluttershy had told her first! So much for being ‘the fastest’ pony ever. Heck, she was failing to tell her even now that this was everything she ever wanted. She was right there in front of her, and Rainbow Dash’s dumb mouth just wouldn’t form the words.

But… why did it hurt? She had to think, but it was difficult to look away.

When she finally managed to pull her gaze down a little, she only had an even harder time.

Fluttershy’s cute nose slightly flared, her muzzle twitched, her lips slightly parted.

They seemed so inviting.

“Tell me wh—Mph!”

They were soft. Of course.

Who needed words anyway?

She felt Fluttershy slip her forelegs around her, pulling herself close.

So close, she felt the rapid thumping in Fluttershy’s chest against her own.

It felt right. After all this time. She couldn’t help it. She had to explore more. Experience more.

Those soft lips, like their owner, offered no resistance as she probed deeper.

Rather, she was welcomed happily.

The taste of mint was on Rainbow Dash’s lips and crept over her tongue as she quickly ran it over them for a second. That was a surprise.

It was as if Fluttershy had brushed them just moments ago.

It was nice.

What other surprises could there be?

She ran a hoof down from Fluttershy’s cheek along her neck and down her side.

Fluttershy gave a muffled mewl. Surprised, perhaps.

Not objection, that was for sure, as Fluttershy caressed the exploring hoof with her feathers.

That was a nice trick. It took the guesswork out of this.

She’d have to remember that next time Trixie…

Trixie!

“No!” She pushed Fluttershy away.

“Wah!” Fluttershy toppled over and landed flat on her back.

Rainbow Dash cringed inwardly.

The hardest thing she’d ever done!

The dumbest thing she’d ever done!

“No no no!” She hit herself in the head with every word. It didn’t hurt enough. “I’m such an idiot!”

“Ow...” Fluttershy softly hissed as she sat up, rubbing the back of her head. Damnit, she’d hurt her too. “W-what's wrong? I, uhm… I didn’t, y-you know… mind...”

Was she for real?

“Trixie! Duh!” She shouted at her, like an even bigger idiot. “I shouldn’t have done that! But, but I always liked you and… Gah! I’m sorry! I gotta go!”

She flared her wings.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “W-wait! Where?”

“I dunno! Just ‘GO’!”

Where was the door?

She zipped a circle around the room, but found herself enclosed on all sides.

Trapped!

“Why are the curtains everywhere now!?”

“Rainbow Dash! Calm down! If you don't I… I, uhm…” Fluttershy bit her lip. “If you leave, I-I’ll tell Trixie.”

Her chest froze, and the rest of her with it.

“No no.” She landed in front of Fluttershy. “I, I just need to think! That’s all. I need air!”

“Please… just come sit down.” Fluttershy pleaded as she patted the floor beside her. “We can, uhm, t-talk about it… if that’s okay?”

No choice.

“Just don’t tell, Trixie. Please? I… oh, Celestia...” She dropped down onto her haunches. “This is exactly what she was afraid of...”

Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod. “I won’t, but… Uhm…Oh… That felt… nice, didn’t it?”

“...Yeah.” She couldn’t deny that, but the fact it felt so great also made her feel worse. How did that work?

Fluttershy blushed.

She couldn’t tell whether it was embarrassment or something else. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

“Because of Trixie or…” Fluttershy folded her ears back and turned away. “Or am I just no good?”

“What? No!” She grabbed Fluttershy’s shoulder and turned her back. “No, you’re great! Awesome even! If I wasn’t already with Trixie, I wouldn’t even have to think about it! It’s just… I am...”

“...Thinking about it?” Fluttershy asked, quietly.

Fluttershy had picked up on her choice of words before she even had done so herself. Without Trixie, there was nothing to think about. She’d go for her adorable lifelong crush in a heartbeat! But with Trixie… well… she did have to think about it.

Gah.

She’d definitely meant to say ‘with Trixie’ at the end there, but… she was thinking now.

Fluttershy was quiet, even more so than usual, like she was holding her breath.

Right, Fluttershy knew what her thinking face looked like, and apparently she was giving her room to do just that. Great…

Could she abandon Trixie for Fluttershy? It didn’t feel right to just kick Trixie to the curb just like that.

“Figures that I waited for years and gave up only a couple of weeks too soon…” Rainbow Dash groaned, letting her hoof run down her face. “If I’d known this was ever going to be a question, I wouldn’t have agreed to be with Trixie in the first place.”

Heck, she hadn’t been really sure about Trixie to begin with. She’d only agreed to date her to give her a fair chance. She’d made that clear. Trixie knew it. It wasn’t set in stone, right?

So, it wouldn’t be unfair to put an end to it either, right?

...

Maybe she needed a second opinion.

“So… I’m thinking…” Rainbow Dash sighed as she turned to her only available friend, Fluttershy. Yeah, that would be fine. “I’ve known you for years… while I only met Trixie a month ago, and the first half of that we didn’t even get along! This should be easy, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Fluttershy quietly affirmed, but said nothing else. Aside from ever so slightly leaning forward, Fluttershy stayed still. She probably hadn’t realized she’d moved given how much she was trying not to disturb the moment.

“On the other hoof, it’s been a surprisingly great couple of weeks, you know? Trixie is weirdly adorable when she’s not being insufferable; sometimes even when she is... She’s smart and funny. She even helped solve my fight with Twilight. I can tell she really cares. It feels nice to know she wants me, even if she’s kinda needy. Although… not lately, I guess.”

“Oh?”

“...I feel like she’s been avoiding me ever since we talked about stars and stuff a couple of days ago. Sure, it was sorta busy with that Zecora thing, but everypony else was around. Heck, I see more of you than of her.”

Fluttershy bit her lip. “Maybe… she had a good reason?”

There was only one thing that came to mind.

“She did talk about leaving…” Her chest felt tight. “You know, taking her show to different cities and stuff. Lots of plans… but I wasn’t in them. Maybe it hit her that we’ll have a choice to make. Maybe she’s already made hers...”

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Fluttershy rubbed her hoof along her foreleg, nervously. “I… I did see her bring home new stage props, but that doesn’t mean anything, right?”

Fluttershy was too innocent to see what it meant.

“...I see.”

It was weird. A sleep-deprived Applejack had catapulted her into a metal railing once, ribs first, but this still hurt more.

Could Trixie just kick her to the curb like that?

It wasn’t set in stone. They both knew that this had been a trial run, right?

So, it wouldn’t be unfair to put an end to it, right?

But...

Rainbow Dash slumped to the ground, forelegs folded under her head. “I… I guess I didn’t realize before… that Trixie could be the one to bail too.”

Why did this not make her feel better? It was perfect.

If Trixie ditched her, then she could be with Fluttershy without any guilt. Trixie would leave so there wouldn’t even be that awkward thing of running into her. Except maybe if she tried to do another show in Ponyville, but Trixie would probably avoid the town after last time.

She’d never see her again.

Did she really matter that little? Or was it hard on Trixie too? It had to be hard.

“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy pulled her back into reality. “I, uhm… I don’t mean to push you but… Do you like her better? You… you could always just go with her when she leaves… I-I’d understand.’”

Right. She had to make a choice.

“No matter who I pick, it’s gonna hurt somepony.”

Fluttershy gave the tiniest of nods. “...Probably.”

Hold up.

What if she didn’t have to make one?

She perked up. “Hey, would it be alright with you if we waited a little longer?”

“Huh?” Fluttershy looked confused.

“I mean, I gotta stay in Ponyville. Trixie’s gotta leave. So, if it’s gonna end anyway… I’ll talk to Trixie and tell her I understand, so she’ll stop avoiding me. We can just have a nice time until she has to go and then...” She stood and offered a hoof to Fluttershy with a smile. “...It’ll be us? How’s that sound? Nopony gets hurt.”

“W-what, but… but…” Fluttershy stood almost as motionless as the mannequins. The only difference was the slight shiver through her whole body. Her eyes were wide as though she’d spotted some terrible monster was standing right behind Rainbow Dash.

A quick look back. Nothing there.

“Uh, Fluttershy?” she cautiously tried again.

This time, Fluttershy broke free from whatever spell she was under. “Yes? Oh. Oh!” She blinked and quickly took the offered help to get back on her hooves.

“Are you okay?” She came up alongside and wrapped a wing around Fluttershy. “I… look I know that maybe it’s not fair of me to ask you to wait but... ”

They’d done that for years anyway.

“Mhm? Oh no. No no, it’s not that... It’s just…” She snuggled in under the wing and gave a nervous smile. She felt so tense. “I just realized why you were talking about such strange things. You misunderstood. I’m so so sorry, I wasn’t clear before.”

It was her turn to freeze. “Huh?”

“I don’t want to replace Trixie for you…” Fluttershy looked away, embarrassed. “I, uhm, I want to j-join you… both.”

“Uhhhhh...” She stared at Fluttershy, totally dumbstruck.

Was this real? Maybe that whole possession thing was back on the table after all.

Fluttershy’s whole demeanor had changed. She was all smiles now.

“What… what do you mean?” She had to ask. If only to make sure. “Like… I don’t even know what to call it.”

“W-well… that is… both uhm… A-all of… uhm...” Whatever confidence had briefly taken hold of Fluttershy quickly melted away and left her red-faced and stuttering as she tried to explain herself. “Three of us… t-together… no choice, s-so nopony gets hurt?”

Despite how little of that was coherent, she got the gist of it.

She wouldn’t have to choose between the two of them, if she just chose both.

That was crazy.

“That… that’s one way, I guess, but, uh, how does that even work?” She scratched her head. Every couple she was aware of were two ponies, no more. Heck, it was in the name. “Besides, I don’t think Trixie would go for that.”

Oh, Celestia, she could see herself walking up to Trixie already. ‘Hey you are cool and all, but can we see other ponies too?’ That would totally end well.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “It’s not a bad idea but...”

There was no way she was gonna ask.

“I, uhm, I’ll ask her,” Fluttershy said.

“What?”

“I mean… you agree, so I just have to ask Trixie, right?” Fluttershy looked more confident now. “I… I can do that.”

The idea of talking to Trixie about this didn’t scare her off? She’d rarely seen Fluttershy so determined.

Impressive. Too impressive. Did Fluttershy want this so badly that she forced herself to act even if she was normally so timid? She had to respect that.

Rainbow Dash gave a slow nod. “If Trixie’s onboard... I guess I’m cool with it.”

It was all going so fast, even for her. It was hard to keep track of all the thoughts and questions that kept popping up in her head. Why now? How does this work? Is it even legal? How would their friends react? Would Trixie be angry?

She was forgetting something. Something obvious. It was staring right at her.

Right!

“Wait a minute. You like Trixie?” Rainbow Dash could barely believe it! “What on Equestria could attract a sweet, innocent, scaredy pony like you to somepony so loud, obnoxious, and full of themselves as Trixie?!”

“I, uh, s-she reminded me of you...” Fluttershy blushed bright red and looked away.

“Oh.”

“Mhm.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

“Oh my, look over here.” Fluttershy pulled away and dipped into a dark corner. She emerged a moment later with a package. “This is the one with Trixie’s costume.”

It was wrapped in purple paper with a blue ribbon. Yeah, that was probably it.

“Finally! Let’s get out of here.”

At long last, the fledgling lovers had realized they'd always been such. And at long last, they left the boutique.

“Finally!”

Rarity pulled off the featureless mask that had so wonderfully disguised her as just one more simple mannequin.

Now she could get out of this uncomfortable get-up. It was hot and most disagreeable with her mane, but she’d do it all again to get her front-row seat to the culmination of her greatest project!

“It’s a good thing I was here to lend a little bit of magic to the evening. They never suspected a thing!”

Though, she’d sweated it for a moment there when Rainbow Dash lashed out. Standing perfectly still was harder than it sounded.

“That was absolutely adorable, but… I’m going to need to talk to Fluttershy at some point… All is fair in love and war, but there are treaties, darling.”

For now, she’d just have to hurry and get back before those two found her missing!

Author's Note

As promised. :raritywink:

Since we already have a pretty good idea of whether Trixie is okay with this, I don't think this counts as a cliffhanger. :trixieshiftleft:

I recognize this has been a long time coming, much longer than I actually thought it would take, so if you're still here for this... Thanks for reading and hanging around. I hope you'll have fun seeing where the story goes from here. I'll try to be more succinct. :unsuresweetie:

Chapter 11 - Subtle as a firecracker (Part 1/2)

“And that’s how Equestria was made!” Pinkie Pie concluded her story and reached for another cupcake, to the astonishment of everypony else at the library reading table.

By all rights, no mare should be able to eat as much as Pinkie had so far without exploding, but that wasn’t even the most confusing thing.

“Huh?” Trixie blinked and looked over to Applejack. “Trixie thought we were talking about the Everfree Forest?”

“Yup…” Applejack kept her head propped up with the help of the table, forelegs, and a convenient encyclopedia. Apparently, her farm work didn’t magically get done just because a forest witch shrunk her down for half of the day. Or whatever actually happened to her. ”Don't mind it none. Point is, don’t go there.”

It wasn’t even that late in the evening, but apparently ‘early to bed, early to rise’ was an Apple family motto along with about two dozen similar ones regarding doing work the hard way. Trixie was sure of that.

As if summoned, Twilight looked up from the book she'd stuffed her snout into not one minute after Pinkie started her tale; a doorstopper of a tome that looked at least as ancient as the forest they were talking about.

“I still think Zecora proves the Everfree Forest can be explored,” Twilight said with a mad gleam in her eye. No doubt excited at the prospect of a doomed expedition to volunteer her friends for. “We just have to experiment and learn how to do so safely. Who knows what could be discovered? Herbs thought extinct. Species undocumented! Oh, perhaps entire lost civilizations with their own literature!”

“Maybe, or nothing good, Ah reckon,” Applejack stifled a yawn. “We were always told to stay outta there fer a reason.”

“Trixie can confirm.” It would have been nice if somepony had told her that before.

Trixie sighed and downed her drink, nervously glancing over at the door. She really wished Applejack had brought something more potent than juice, something to help her relax. At least this kept her mouth from feeling like sandpaper.

Where was that keg Applejack brought? The kitchen, perhaps.

“Right.” Spike nodded to Trixie and gave an apologetic look to Twilight. “I mean, so far all I’ve discovered is that none of us ever really needed to go in there, right?”

That was a surprisingly sharp remark from the little guy. Trixie cracked a smile despite herself. Not that it made up for his betrayal, but it was nice to see somepony else on the receiving end of his barbed, forked tongue. In hindsight, that probably should have tipped her off.

Twilight frowned. “What about when we had to stop Nightmare Moon? We needed to find the elements… which I guess were inside us all along… but we only realized that because of everything we faced on the way there!”

“And it was super fun!” Pinkie Pie added.

“This is fascinating and all,” Trixie said with as little sarcasm as she could manage before she stepped away from the table, “but all Trixie wants to find in there is her hat. Let her know if you think of something that’ll help with that.”

She left the little squabbling group to their own devices and made her way to the kitchen.

Given how on edge she’d been about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy the past couple days, she actually felt relatively relaxed about the whole thing now. Sure, she hadn’t been able to eat a single bite all evening, but she wasn’t glued to a window awaiting their return either.

Maybe it was because, unlike before, she wasn’t entirely helpless this time. She’d truly done all she could to prepare Fluttershy; with Rarity’s assistance to boot. Granted, there was a limit to how much progress one could make with Fluttershy in a day, but The Great and Foresightful Trixie had been slowly introducing the overly timid girl to speaking her mind for over a week prior.

From there it was simple enough. A few exercises to have Fluttershy loudly repeat a few keyphrases, including the confession, of course. Along with a little probing and brainstorming to find which setting would give her the most courage and time.

Turned out she did better when she couldn’t be seen. Made sense, she liked to hide behind that pretty mane of hers. It was funny that while Fluttershy was such a scaredy pony, she did better in the dark.

As she entered the kitchen, Trixie felt a chill. How was it so much colder in here?

She quickly found the cause, somepony had left open a window and all the warmth had escaped into the night. Well, that wouldn’t do. She pulled it shut and locked it.

Let it never be said that she never did anything nice for Twilight.

Now, what was Trixie here for again? Ah, yes!

She only needed a brief glance around to find her prey, sitting atop the counter near the sink with a convenient tap hammered in near the bottom at a nice comfortable height for her.

Thinking about it now, maybe some consideration should have been given to making Rainbow Dash comfortable as well.

Nah.

Dashie would be fine.

While pouring herself a fresh mug of apple juice, Trixie heard the door creak open behind her.

“Hey…” Spike mumbled as he took a few steps inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.

It didn’t seem very likely he was ‘raised in a barn’ to borrow an earth pony phrase, so perhaps he left it open to ensure the others could hear if there was any yelling? As if she ever would.

“Hey,” Trixie replied with an even tone. “What do you want?”

Spike stood there quietly, holding a mug in one of his little foreclaws. Is that what they were called? Anyway, he ran the other one over his arm and kept looking anywhere but at her. “I, uh… I’m supposed to ‘keep an eye on you.’ Don’t tell Twilight that I told you. She’s just a little stressed.”

Awkward.

“Trixie can’t imagine what that’s like.” She rolled her eyes and glanced out the window, hoping to see any sign of the pegasi pair’s return. It was too dark; she only saw herself reflected back. “Seeing as Trixie is used to having ponies watch her every dazzling move, Trixie doesn’t care, but why tell Trixie you are spying on her? It’d be easier if you lied.”

Moreover, it was just a little insulting to be underestimated so heavily. As if a baby dragon was sufficient surveillance to keep The Shrewd and Guileful Trixie from doing anything she might have wanted.

Lucky for them, all she wanted was a drink.

Spike scuffed the floor with his foot, still not looking at her. “Because I want you to know I’m being honest with you. If you find out later that I lied about that, why would you believe the rest of this?”

“Believe the rest of what?” A white smudge appeared in Trixie’s reflection and then was gone again. Unless she was changing color herself, that must have been outside. She strained her eyes, trying to catch it once more.

“I didn’t mean to laugh at you. Well, no, I did, but I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Spike said. “I’m sorry. I thought we were just… well, ya know… doing some friendly ribbing? You called me ‘a baby dragon with delusions of grandeur.’ You didn’t mean that either, right?”

“...Right.”

Oh, she’d definitely meant it, but still… Maybe he really hadn’t? Or perhaps this was some kind of trick to get something from her. It hardly mattered, she couldn’t trust him either way. It would take more than a half-hearted apology to mend this. It was her own fault, really, she’d chosen to extend a bit more trust toward him than she should’ve and shared her woes. It was foolish to have expected him to listen.

There was movement outside. It was hard to make out what exactly, but it wasn’t the same as before.

Come to think of it. What had Rarity and Fluttershy told Rainbow Dash to get her to go to the boutique? Trixie had never been quite clear on that part of the plan. It wasn’t the kind of place that Rainbow Dash would easily go… right?

“I guess you were already kinda upset and I just pushed you over the edge,” Spike continued. “After all, you’d been trying to talk to the others and they brushed you off cause they had their own thing going on, even though you were trying to be serious.”

On second thought, maybe Rainbow Dash was into fashion? That seemed almost impossible, but then again she also would not have expected the literal cloud palace that passed for a house.

She should ask about that when they got back. Probably after learning how the whole thing went with Fluttershy. Whatever the outcome was, she was confident she’d be able to make the best of it. That knowledge didn’t keep her from feeling at least a little nervous, though.

Spike spoke up. “I know how bad that feels.”

Apparently, he was still here.

“How so?” Trixie asked, affording him a sideways glance.

“Uhm, because you’re doing it right now?”

“What?” Trixie pulled away from the window to face him. For the first time since they’d started this conversation, now that she thought about it.

The little dragon was standing with his arms folded and a slight scowl as though he hadn't entirely decided whether to be annoyed, angry or hurt. He’d at some point set the mug aside on the counter, but she hadn’t noticed.

She glanced back at the window, then settled on Spike once more.

He wasn’t wrong. This was exactly what she’d been complaining about. Sure, maybe she had just a little bit of a better reason to be preoccupied, what with being on the edge of a life-changing event and all, but… the others had probably felt the same.

Come to think of it, the only way he’d know to call her out like this was if he had been listening to her rant, no, lament, wasn’t it?

Funny how it suddenly felt worse to get what she wanted.

“...Okay, point taken.” Trixie admitted with a sigh. “Maybe Trixie was a little hasty. She’s sorry too…”

“So, we’re good?” Spike smiled as she gave him a nod in return. He reached for the door. “I’m gonna head back then.”

“Not so fast.” Trixie called out, causing him to pause.

“What?”

Trixie scratched the back of her head awkwardly while avoiding his gaze. “Well, uhm… Trixie actually… ended up using some of your advice. So, thanks for that. Trixie supposes.”

Spike opened his mouth to comment, but nothing came out and he closed it again. After a brief moment of thought, he smiled. “It’s what friends do.”

“It won’t do for Trixie to be indebted like this so...” She magically lifted his mug off the counter and shook it with a cautious smile. “How about a refill?”

“That seems like a fair trade.” Spike smirked. “Thanks—Rarity?”

Trixie frowned slightly. Another slip of the tongue on her name? Well, if she forgave Sweetie Belle for it, she supposed she could extend the courtesy again.

“Really?” Trixie gave an overly exaggerated scowl. “Thinking about another mare?”

“No! Rarity!” He pointed toward the window.

To Trixie’s surprise, Rarity stood outside, fumbling with the lock on the window with a panicked look in her eyes.

“Don’t just stand there,” Rarity hissed under her breath just barely audible through the glass. She glanced left and right. “Let me in.”

From the living room, Applejack’s voice carried through the cracked door.

“Oh, hey, Dash! Where’d y’all go?”

Twilight perked up as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came in through the front door. When had they even left? Perhaps she had been too distracted with Pinkie and Trixie.

“Just getting some fresh air...” Rainbow Dash scanned the room for a moment. Seemingly satisfied, she pulled out a purple package with a blue ribbon from behind her back and held it up. “So, we’ve got it. Uhm, anypony got any idea where Rarity said to stash it?”

Right. It was a gift of some sort for Trixie, wasn’t it? They’d discussed it briefly the day before when Trixie was missing, but they had been secretive as to what it actually was.

She didn’t really understand it at the time either. Why was Trixie getting gifts now? She hadn’t, no, nopony else had gotten any since she came to Ponyville. At least, not that she knew about. She supposed it was one of Trixie’s talents, to draw attention to herself.

“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie Pie lifted up the table cloth and pointed under it about forty times in two seconds. “How about here?”

Strangely, it reminded her of the gift that Spike had gotten for Moon Dancer’s party, but that was months ago. Why did she think about it now? She never learned what that was either.

“Great idea, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash took a seat along with Fluttershy, keeping the gift hidden between them and underneath the table. Of the two of them, Rainbow Dash had the hardest time keeping a straight face.

“Trixie ‘n Spike are off getting drinks.” Applejack tilted her hat back. “And… huh, Ah guess Rarity must be as well. That or powdering her nose or whatever she does.”

While everything felt normal enough, Rainbow Dash was obviously nervous, even as she chatted with the rest of her friends, she kept alternating between hastily looking around and staring off into space.

Trixie had been nervous as well, though she’d been better at hiding it. That was part of why she’d asked Spike to follow her in the first place. Perhaps there was some connection?

It was only right to investigate.

Twilight scooted a little closer and once the flow of conversation turned away from their corner of the table, she quietly cleared her throat and whispered, “Ahem, Rainbow Dash, is something wrong?”

“What? No, no it’s nothing.” Rainbow Dash waved her off.

“Are you sure? You look more troubled than you did about the weather station… Maybe I can help again?”

Rainbow Dash quietly bit her lip for a moment. She glanced over at Fluttershy who was happily discussing Gummy’s dental plan with Pinkie Pie. “Yeah… Maybe you could.”

So, something really was wrong.

Leaning in a little, Rainbow Dash kept her voice down. “I kinda got caught up in the moment and… now I’m worried how Trixie’ll react. Maybe she’ll be upset. Or, I dunno, I guess I’d at least know how to deal with that. I don’t have anyidea what to do if she actually likes it. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

This wasn’t making much sense to her. “What? The gift? You’ve never given one?”

Rainbow Dash blinked and if she hadn’t known better she could swear there was a brief reddish glow on those otherwise blue cheeks. That couldn’t be right. “Uh, yeah. Sure. The gift.”

“Okay, well… I… haven’t actually done it before either.”

“Shocker.” Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself.

“I meant between friends!” She felt an indignant swell of heat in her own cheeks now. “I’ve done it plenty with my brother and my parents! Oh, and Celestia! I’m sure I can help.”

Every clarification only seemed to drive Rainbow Dash further into barely suppressed laughter. It wasn’t until she mentioned Celestia that Rainbow Dash suddenly regained her composure. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just… I don’t think this is gonna carry over very well.”

At least she seemed to be feeling a little better. That was worthwhile, even if it was at her expense.

“Mhm. You might have a point. I already knew all of them well, so I had a good idea of how they’d react,” Twilight mused while she glanced toward the kitchen. It was taking Trixie an awfully long time to get a drink, but she hadn’t heard Spike raise any alarms either. “You can’t really ask her and ruin the surprise, but… maybe you could talk to her and drop some subtle hints. You might learn something from how she reacts.”

“Subtle?” Rainbow Dash barely managed to form the word, as though it felt as alien on her tongue as ‘delegation’ had. “Mhm… actually, yeah… Yeah, I think I’ll give that a whirl. Thanks, Twilight.”

She’d barely finished her sentence when the kitchen door swung open.

Trixie must have sensed somepony was talking about her as she came trotting in with a big grin. Following shortly behind her were Spike and Rarity.

Oh, so that’s where Rarity was. Strange.

Spike briefly met her eyes as he came back to the table and then promptly rolled his own. They hadn’t exactly agreed on any set signals, but she surmised that he was trying to tell her she’d been concerned over nothing.

Trixie must have actually been thirsty then. In fact, she looked much more relaxed now. Before Twilight had even really noticed, Trixie had stolen the open seat beside a flustered Rainbow Dash.

With everypony once again present, the drone of conversation picked up again.

It was actually a little fun to see all her friends enjoying themselves.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had quickly gotten into some kind hoof-wrestling competition with Trixie egging them on. It was slightly annoying to see Trixie more easily socialize with her friends than she did.

Spike was hanging on every word of whatever Rarity was saying. From the stray word or two she picked up, it had to be about her little sister. Spike didn’t seem to get the hint, of course.

Pinkie Pie was unsurprisingly in her element and didn’t seem to keep to a single seat longer than a few minutes to talk to each pony in turn with varying degrees of reception. This had to be where the term ‘social butterfly’ came from.

Twilight's ears flicked left and right as she honed in on one conversation for a few seconds, before switching to the next.

It was just too hard to keep up. It wasn't fair! Books she could go back and forth with no problem, but here; just missing a line could derail her entire understanding of what was being talked about. What if somepony asked her about something she wasn’t listening to? But, would it be weird if she was just listening in on a conversation?

Maybe she should talk too, however, interrupting something she wasn’t part of struck her as rude.

This was exactly why she didn’t go to parties before. It was just too much at once when she’d rather be enjoying a good book. She couldn’t do that now, however; Princess Celestia was counting on her to study every aspect of friendship, even the loud parts.

If only she had the time to study Pinkie Pie and work out how to replicate that ‘social butterfly’ effect. That would take too long to matter today, but speaking of butterflies… maybe what she needed to do was talk with somepony who was a little more her speed, like Fluttershy.

She turned toward Fluttershy with an inviting smile, only to see that Trixie had beaten her to the punch again. The two of them locked eyes behind Rainbow Dash’s back and were clearly about to start their own conversation.

Or not.

They each turned their attention back to the rest of the table. It didn’t make sense, they hadn’t even said a word to each other yet, but Trixie looked even more pleased than she had a moment ago. Fluttershy on the other hand was unchanged, just carrying the same placid smile she had before.

They must have signaled each other, but why? For what? How was Trixie always making her friends do these suspicious things? What was Fluttershy’s part in her scheme now?

Fluttershy caught her staring. “Twilight? Was there, uhm, can I help you?”

“Yes, actually...” Twilight glanced over at Trixie. She didn’t seem to be paying attention, but she couldn’t be sure. “How are you liking the party? Isn’t it too much? I noticed you were kind of out of it during the planning stage as well.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for bringing the mood down…” Fluttershy tilted her head down. After a moment of nothing happening, her eyes darted up to a hairpin that was keeping her mane out of her face.

“Do you want me to get that for you?”

“N-no, it’s okay.” Fluttershy briefly turned as if to look over to Rainbow Dash and Trixie, but she caught herself and abruptly focused on Twilight again. “But the, uhm, the party’s okay. I-I mean, it’s nice. I don’t usually get out much, but I’ve, uhm… gotten used to things being a little busier than usual. I-I think it helps. Maybe?”

“Right...” No matter how she looked at it, Fluttershy was definitely trying to hide something. Sadly, there was no way she could press her on this, not right here and now. Twilight leaned in a little and lowered her voice. “If you ever want to talk, about anything at all, I’m here for you.”

After a moment of confusion, Fluttershy gave a look of contemplation, but ultimately she shook her head and smiled. “It’s nothing, but thank you… I’ll remember that.”

That would have to do, for now. Fluttershy was the closest to Trixie, if Trixie was actually dangerous then Fluttershy would be most likely to know, but that also meant she’d be the most hesitant.

“Hey, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie popped up on her other side. “Having fun?”

“I’d like to think so. It’s a little challenging, but it’s better than that time you brought fifty strangers into my house.” She shuddered just thinking about it. At least she didn’t feel the need to hide away in her bedroom this time. “How do you do it?”

“Easy peasy! Everypony at the party was my friend.” Pinkie Pie smiled. “I guess that goes for both of us this time, huh?”

“Right…” Twilight glanced over at Trixie for a moment. “But I don’t feel like I have much to say.”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “Sure you do! You’re super smart!”

“But, what if I’m annoying?”

“I dunno. I’ve never thought about it.” Pinkie Pie shrugged it off with such ease. “Do you think I’m annoying?”

“What, no!” Her heart stood still. She hadn’t meant to make Pinkie Pie think that. She and her big mouth. “You’re my friend!”

“Aw, thanks Twilight. You’re my friend too! Cause that’s how that works!” ”Pinkie Pie’s smile had never left her face, but it grew even wider. She motioned toward the rest of the group. “And they are as well, right? So, don’t worry about it!”

“I… huh, that actually makes sense.” Twilight looked back out toward her group of friends and Trixie.

That’s right. They weren’t strangers she had to make a good impression on. They were friends, mostly.

A mention of Twilight’s name pulled her attention to another conversation.

“Twilight’s from Canterlot, so is that where you’re from too, Trixie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I’m pretty sure it is not Cloudsdale.”

Twilight perked up her ears. This could prove interesting.

“Ya reckon, Dash?” Applejack chuckled. “Any other places ya wanna rule out, like Aquastria?”

“The city under the sea?” Pinkie Pie asked while she thoughtfully stroked her chin. “I don’t think she’d be from there, silly.”

“Actually, Trixie moved around a lot.” Trixie cut off Applejack before she could respond to Pinkie Pie. “So, she doesn’t have much attachment to any particular place.”

Twilight felt that should have sounded like a sad thing, but Trixie was so flippant about it. On the other hoof, it also felt like Trixie was attempting to dodge the question.

Twilight leaned in. “That’s alright, it’s just about the first place you’ve been. Where was that?”

“Then Hollow Shades but, erm...” Trixie gave Twilight a sideways glance as though she only just realized she had been listening. “...it wasn’t a very interesting place. Obviously, Trixie is the greatest thing to come out of that dust bowl in millennia.”

She remembered reading about the town, it was supposed to be practically abandoned, but that was all she could recall. That book had to be around the library somewhere, though. Maybe later.

Spike gave her a pleading look as if to keep her from running to the history section of the library then and there. His attention swiftly drifted back to Rarity once it became apparent she wasn’t going anywhere, yet.

“Ah’ll say. Granny says the place ain’t fit fer growing much despite it being an earth pony town.” Applejack added. “Don’t suppose ya ran into Great-uncle Gravenstein?”

Trixie gave a surprised gasp. “Yes, actually. How do you know that old coot?”

Applejack shrugged. “Ah, shucks. We got some distant kin over here ‘n there. Pretty much anywhere ya can plant an appletree ya’ll find an Apple, really.”

“Seriously, you’re related? Wait, to all of them?” Trixie stared in disbelief as Applejack nodded. “Trixie thought it was just a funny coincidence that every place she went had some apple farmers.”

Rarity showed a sly smile and winked. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t just assume they all knew each other, Darling.”

“Very funny.” Trixie rolled her eyes and playfully jabbed Rarity in the shoulder. “Trixie’ll ask that next time she goes anywhere.”

Twilight felt a chill at the sight. Trixie was having such an easy time handling the spotlight and her influence was clearly spreading even further among her friends. Even Rarity, the one pony she thought the least likely to warm up to her after that disaster with her mane, was joking around with Trixie now.

“Oh, I bet you’ve never been to Rockville then! We don’t have any Apples where I’m from!” Pinkie Pie naturally found a way to be the odd one out. “You should come over!”

“The Great and Well-traveled Trixie doesn’t recall visiting any such place. She’s sure she’d have remembered such a solid name.” Trixie flipped her mane. Her tone straddled the line between sarcasm and humor. “However, maybe she’ll grace it with a visit some day.”

“That’d be great!” Pinkie Pie smiled widely. “My sister Maud goes crazy for magic shows!”

“You have a sister?” Spike asked with a bit of awe and apprehension in his voice. “Woah, I can’t image how wild things must get when both of you are in the same place.”

Pinkie Pie rubbed her hooves together ominously.

At the mention of doing a show, Trixie faltered a little and her ears tilted back for a moment. “Sure… Trixie’ll add it to her tour schedule then.”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head and silently stared at Trixie as she mentioned having a schedule. It was odd for her to be so wrapped up in her own thoughts without blurting them out.

“Uhm, Trixie?” Fluttershy softly poked her shoulder and received a hastily recovered smile for her efforts. Thus emboldened, she pressed on. “I was just wondering… What made you start traveling if that’s okay to ask?”

“Oh, of course!” Trixie struck a pose that she might have thought noble, closing her eyes and keeping her nose in the air as she rested a hoof on her chest. “Trixie had an awakening at a young age that it would be a crime to deny the rest of Equestria her presence! So, she—Gack! Dashie!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash grinned as she pulled her hoof back out of Trixie’s ribs. Heavy thoughts were no match for an opportunity to cause mischief. “You were rambling.”

Trixie glared at her for a moment then sighed. “If you want the boring version, fine, but Trixie really did start when she was a filly.”

Applejack pushed her hat back. “Must’ve been hard as a filly alone.”

“No, no. Trixie’s only been a solo act for about a year.” Trixie waved her off. “Actually, Mom had to travel a lot for work and brought Trixie along. Turned out that having a new audience so regularly was great practice for an aspiring magician.”

“Oh, I just adore childhood passions blooming into adulthood.” Rarity’s eyes briefly flicked over from Trixie to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “It took a while… Ahem, for me to earn bits with it, I mean. How about you?”

“Well, Trixie’s performances were originally just for fun, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy for a filly to entertain adults with some sparks. After that, well, we just kept doing it and Trixie kept getting better until she became the shining example of grace be—Dashie!” Trixie squirmed away as she got tickled again. “You are the worst!”

“My bad.” Rainbow Dash didn’t look the least bit sorry. She leaned in a little closer as if to dare Trixie to do something about it.

Twilight made a note that perhaps she’d sorely overestimated Trixie’s actual control over her friends.

Author's Note

So, apparently this is how it works now. I just keep writing till I've gotten out everything wanted to say and then figure out how many chapters that should be. A little inconvient, but if it works it works. ^^
In this case, I decided to release both chapters back to back.
Enjoy.

Chapter 12 - Subtle as a firecracker (Part 2/2)

Author's Note

Warning: This is a double upload. Be sure not to skip 1/2.
Or do, I don't make the rules. :trollestia:

Chapter 12 - Subtle as a firecracker (Part 2/2)

Twilight had to hand it to Pinkie Pie, she’d been right.

It was much easier to have a conversation with friends than she’d anticipated. Now that she was getting caught up in the flow she even started noticing a few little things.

Like the way, Applejack had been oddly quiet while the others chatted about their own hometowns. Her eyes didn’t follow the current speaker at all but had focused on Trixie, almost as if she was having an internal debate.

Apparently, she’d resolved it just now, as Applejack sat up straight and cleared her throat. “Trixie, beg yer pardon, but...”

Trixie turned. “Yes?”

“Ya mentioned this here being yer first year as a solo act...” Applejack started up cautiously. There was a tenseness about her as if she’d forgotten whether a library book was due today or yesterday. Perhaps even more serious.

“Relax, AJ,” Rainbow Dash cut in. “Already checked. Her mom’s fine. Right, Trixie?”

“Right… but…” Trixie looked around the room. Everypony was now starting to look as tense as Applejack had been. She fiddled with her hooves, hesitating as though she wasn’t entirely certain how to proceed. “She… can’t walk around as much anymore and had to retire last year. Trixie said The Great and Powerful Trixie would be fine alone, but…”

There was a quiet moment where seemingly everypony present expected Trixie to follow up with a boastful ‘minor setback’ type statement, but it never came. Maybe this wasn’t about shielding her own ego, but feeling like she failed her mother?

Was Trixie acting? Or was she truly showing a vulnerable side of herself?

Twilight noticed movement just below the edge of the table and leaned sideways slightly to catch a better look.

Rainbow Dash was snaking a foreleg around Trixie’s waist.

Was she really going to tickle her again, now? At least Rainbow Dash had the decency to look conflicted about it this time, but still.

However, Pinkie Pie leaped up excitedly in an explosion of confetti, startling Rainbow Dash into withdrawing in the blink of an eye.

“Oh my gosh! This is so great!” Pinkie Pie chirped cheerfully without any regard for the damped mood either. “We’ll do lots of magic show parties to practice and then finally we can throw your mom a big surprise party so she can have fun too and see how it went! I’m so excited to be partners!”

“What?” Twilight sat up straight with a start. “Since when are you two partners?”

“Uh, good question.” Trixie looked just as surprised as she was.

Maybe she hadn’t gotten to Pinkie Pie after all?

“Silly, did you forget already? It was only yesterday!” She pulled out a calendar that had the day in question circled with a little balloon that read ‘new friend’. Every other day also had that balloon. “Then again, I guess Applejack did storm in right after and we had that whole Zecora thing going on, so it's okay if it slipped your mind. It was right after you and Rarity decided to work on a costume. Oh! How did that go!?”

“Right. That did happen. There were so many distractions.” Trixie rubbed her temple as though she was nursing a headache, but the slight pull upward on the edge of her lips indicated she was pleased to have this distraction. “Why not. Let’s give that a try!”

“As to your question, Darling. We merely took some measurements. It’s a delicate process you know.” Rarity threw a quick glance at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “The whole creative process can take weeks! There is simply no way it would be done already unless somepony ordered a month in advance.”

Pinkie Pie deflated just a little. “Aw, that’s so long. Oh, well!”

“Tell me about it.” Spike said. “I once tried to patch up a few holes in my socks and it took me half a day. Not to finish fixing them, but to realize I don’t even wear socks.”

A brief chorus of giggles and groans was followed by a sudden thump sound below the table.

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash pulled back and rubbed her shin while glaring at Rarity across the table. “What was that for?”

“Ahem, I said… There’s simply no way.” Rarity locked eyes with her and then Fluttershy in turn and wiggled her eyebrows.

Poor Rainbow Dash finally got the hint, letting her catch up to everypony else in the room.

Even Trixie was passing confused looks back and forth. “What’s going on?”

“Well, uhm...” Rainbow Dash struggled for words and looked over to Fluttershy of all ponies for assistance. Seeming to realize her own mistake, she simply pulled the parcel out from under the table and unceremoniously plopped it down in front of Trixie. “Here. I got... It’s from all of us.”

Twilight raised a brow.

That wasn’t true at all. Most of them didn’t even know what was in there. She certainly didn’t.

“Ohh, what is this? An offering to appease The Great and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie chuckled and eyed the blue wrapping paper for a moment while she gave the package a shake. It didn’t make any sound, but it was obviously soft and squishy by the way her hooves sunk into it. “Mhm, whatever could it be? If only there were some context clues.”

“I’m gonna let that one slide, but you are on notice.” Rainbow Dash shook a hoof at her.

Trixie stuck out her tongue tauntingly and pulled off the blue ribbon with a flourish and unfurled the contents in a single motion.

It was clothes. That explained why Rarity was involved.

A purple cloak and hat, each adorned in a familiar star pattern.

Twilight recognized it even though she’d only seen it once before. The same dusty outfit that Trixie had worn for her show. Except, they looked as if they were brand new, but that was impossible.

She didn’t quite know all the details, but Trixie had dropped grouching hints that she’d lost her hat in the Everfree Forest. Just earlier this evening, in fact.

“You made a replica?” Twilight asked Rarity.

“No,” Trixie answered, turning the cloak over in her hooves, starry-eyed. Or maybe that was just the reflection of the pattern. “Trixie would recognize these anywhere. It’s the real deal! But how? The hat was lost and the cloak destroyed...”

“Pfft, I picked that hat up like an hour after you dropped it. It was as easy as taking a chew toy from a timberwolf!” Rainbow Dash flexed with a grin then looked towards Rarity. “Which was about, what? A month ago?”

Rarity returned a smile. “Yes, plenty of time for proper restorations to be made. As for the cloak, really now, as if our dear Fluttershy would ever simply throw something out. She’d have used it as birdnesting or some sort. Isn’t that right, darling?”

“Sounds about right,” Spike chuckled.

Meanwhile, Trixie was already donning her cloak and levitated the hat over her head, giddy like a school filly with a new book assignment.

“N-no. I mean, yes? Uhm…” Fluttershy had her eyes firmly in her lap, seemingly her solution to being unsure where to look when all eyes were suddenly on her. “I-I didn’t really do anything. Rarity did a wonderful job, uhm, and it was Rainbow Dash’s idea.”

“Nonsense, you had to keep Trixie in the dark! A difficult feat when Trixie’s so radi—Wait...” Trixie froze for a second and then all the delight drained from her face leaving just dawning horror. “...You let Trixie think you burned it up, and Trixie yelled at you for it!”

“Oh, that’s okay. It was my fault, I, uhm, I should have thought up a better excuse.” Fluttershy shrank slightly, finding some cover from the table at this point that her mane was failing to provide.

When did Fluttershy get that hairpin, anyway?

“No, Trixie will make it up to you, somehow.” Trixie slipped from her seat then wrapped Fluttershy in a quick hug. After a moment, she pried one hoof away and reached out to pull Rainbow Dash in as well. “Thank you. All of you.”

“What? Don’t I get a hug?” Rarity was on the edge of her proverbial seat, leaning halfway across the table and resting her head on her hooves. If she was pretending to be disappointed she probably should have kept her tail from swishing back and forth as if she were a dog spotting a treat. “We might start thinking you girls are playing favorites.”

It must have been warm so close together, as all three of them quickly grew redder in the face.

“You gotta get closer, silly!” Pinkie Pie said, probably. By the time Twilight looked toward her, the seat was already empty. The next moment she sprung up behind the trio and embraced them all at once. “Group hug!”

“Ah’m good, thanks. Ya just give em a squeeze fer tha rest of us, Pinkie.” Applejack raised her mug. “Anyhow, it’s getting late. Think we could start wrapping up?”

“Of course.” Twilight would never suggest she was eager to get rid of her friends, but after a couple hours of this, she’d welcome the return of peace and quiet. Beside, there was reading and thinking to be done.

A lot of thinking, actually.

“Aw,” Rarity pouted. “It was just getting interesting too.”

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie was surprisingly on board with ending the party, drawing stares from everypony else.

Rainbow Dash was the first to ask. “You feeling alright, Pinkie?”

“What? I’m just looking forward to the afterparty!”

“Until next time!” Trixie took her first hasty steps into the cool night air.

It had been a good time and everything, but the library did get a bit stuffy with eight friends hanging out for a couple hours. Well, seven friends and one pretend friend who also was really stuffy now that she thought about it, but who was counting, anyway.

Had the breeze always felt this good?

It was funny. She didn’t think she’d missed the sensation of the wind rippling the brim of her hat. Or the billowing of her cape. But now that she was experiencing it once again, she could barely believe she’d survived without it.

She paused and closed her eyes for a moment to allow herself to enjoy the feeling.

Behind her, she could hear the others saying their individual goodbyes.

Soon, Fluttershy would catch up to her for the trek home. She could already hear her trotting up from behind.

Trixie pranced off into the night. This stupid Zecora business was over, Fluttershy had finally talked with Dashie, and she was the Great and Powerful Trixie with her starry hat and cape again. Things were finally off to a good start!

"Trixie?” Rainbow Dash said behind her. "We need to talk."

Trixie sucked in a breath. “Trixie blames herself for this.”

“What?”

“Nothing!” Trixie spun around with a swish of her cloak to greet Rainbow Dash with a smile. “Trixie would love to talk. It’s only all we’ve been doing for the past couple of hours. What’s a few more minutes?”

That’s right. There was only one reason Rainbow Dash would wait till they were alone to speak to her. This had to be about Fluttershy’s talk with Rainbow Dash, and she already knew that had gone fine.

Granted, she had hoped to quietly go their own ways and let Fluttershy fill her in on the specifics at home before she’d have to speak to Rainbow Dash about it.

Fluttershy was standing back near the library. Maybe the plan was to give them some space, but it would be great if the girl wasn’t biting her lip like a nervous wreck. Clearly, she wasn’t sure what was going on. Which had to mean Rainbow Dash was off-script.

Great...

Even Rainbow Dash looked nervous despite her confident approach. Typical of her to leap without looking. “So, uh, today was fun, right?”

“Yes?”

Trixie waited for the point to arrive. Now that she realized everypony was nervous, she strangely felt a bit more secure. In fact, she was pretty sure she’d just figured out tonight’s final act.

With a sly grin, she glanced over to Fluttershy before returning to Rainbow Dash. “It was fun to share some time with you both. It’s been too long. And the rest of the girls were okay too, Trixie supposes, but that was her favorite part.”

“Great. I’m glad you had a good time. Uhm.” Rainbow Dash straightened her shoulders and returned the smile. “What if we did that a little more often? I… I just, uhm, I think maybe Fluttershy would like that too. What do you, uh, think of her anyway?”

Subtle as a firecracker. Well, if Rainbow Dash was gauging her interest like this, that had to mean Fluttershy had not mentioned this was her idea. Then, Dashie was hoping to coax out her opinion on dating Fluttershy without actually asking? Trixie could play along with that.

“Fluttershy? Well, Trixie likes her a lot, she supposes? That sweetheart is kind and soft and caring… but also strong if she needs to be you know? Thankfully, that’s not often. Trixie wouldn’t know what to do without her.”

Trixie did her best to keep looking at Rainbow Dash, but focused on her peripheral vision, where she found Fluttershy.

Oh, poor Fluttershy. She’d given the conversation a respectable distance, but sound carried so well on quiet nights. She stood there quietly attempting to shrink into nothingness just from a few minor complements.

Trixie should be nice to her.

Should.

“Oh, and she makes the cutest noises,” Trixie added with a perfectly innocent tone.

“Eep!”

“Yeah, she does.” Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at Fluttershy, who wilted even further. “She’s really cool when she stands up for others. Must have been following my awesome example! She’s not great at doing it for herself, though.”

“Trixie’s noticed that.” This had to have been good enough to assure Dashie that she might well be receptive when ‘surprised’ with the proposal. She’d even laid it on a little bit thick. Time to provide her an opening. “Right, so, what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh, that was all.” Rainbow Dash obviously lied and spread her wings, moments away from take off. “I just wanted to make sure you had a good time. Cya!”

Curse it! She’s trying to run!

Trixie huffed. “What happened to all that cunning and guile you displayed when you hid Trixie’s own hat from her for a month and she was none the wiser? You are obviously hiding something.”

Rainbow Dash looked over to Fluttershy as though to cede the stage to her.

Fluttershy, of course, was struck with stage fright. Her legs so stiff and eyes so wide she could be mistaken for a particularly cute lamp.

After a tense couple seconds, Rainbow Dash folded her wings with a sigh and turned back toward Trixie.

“So... I noticed you like smooching awesome ponies.” Rainbow Dash gestured to herself without a shred of undeserved humility. Of course, she had every reason to flaunt. Trixie would not settle for anypony less, and Rainbow Dash knew it.

“How observant, Trixie has tried to keep that secret so close to her chest.” She mimed holding a hand of cards and winked. “Course, she’d rather be holding somepony else close instead.”

“You ever think that way about other ponies? Like, I dunno, just a random example…” Rainbow Dash twirled her hoof nonchalantly while she looked around for anypony to point at. Gosh what a wild coincidence that her hoof landed on the only pony around, Fluttershy. “Her?”

Fluttershy squirmed. “U-uhm, D-Dash, that’s a little...”

“Her?” Trixie looked Fluttershy up and down as if only just noticing her adorably awkward display. “Well, who wouldn’t, right?”

Rainbow Dash glanced back at Fluttershy, who had at least thawed a little. It must not have been good enough for her liking, though as Rainbow Dash wrapped a warm wing around Trixie and turned her around such that she obscured her view of Fluttershy.

She was so very close all of a sudden, Trixie could feel Rainbow Dash’s rapid heartbeat. “D-Dashie?”

“Look,” Rainbow Dash whispered. “Do you know Fluttershy likes you?”

“Yes. Erm, Trixie does know.” She replied, faking innocence. "Trixie likes her too. It may be a bit rude, but Trixie is hoping to replace Rarity as her best friend soon."

"No, it's like—wait." Rainbow dropped her wing down a bit and peered over it at Fluttershy. "Rarity's your best friend now? What happened to me?"

“I, uhm, I...” Fluttershy just managed to stutter out before she froze and stayed completely still. Trixie figured she was likely hoping they couldn't see her; she had mentioned some lizards have that issue when hunting prey.

“Ugh.” Rainbow Dash pulled the wing up and blocked her out again. “Whatever. I meant in the ‘like like’ way, you know.”

“Oh!” Trixie feigned surprise. “That’s… flattering, and perfectly normal for Trixie to experience, but you need not worry about any competition, Dashie. You always win, don’t you?”

She could practically see Rainbow Dash fight back a very uncool blush.

“Y-yeah, well... she asked me if it would be possible for her to, ya know, join us… and… Well, I told her she should ask you, but she’s being Fluttershy about it.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in clear exasperation.

Trixie could relate.

She’d been trying to get Fluttershy to do that very thing for days. It was a frustrating experience. However, Rainbow Dash did not share Trixie’s saint-like patience and had taken matters into her own hoof after an hour.

Again, Trixie could relate, but she was a little jealous that Rainbow Dash got to take the easy way out.

“Mhm, okay. Trixie’s willing to try.” Trixie gave a decisive nod.

“Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Just like that? You don’t have any questions? Like, what I think? Or, or wanna think on it? Or, I dunno, how it would even work?”

Trixie wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash’s waist and pulled her into a kiss to keep that motormouth from running through any more perfectly valid questions she didn’t want to deal with at the moment. “Of course, Trixie has questions, but If you were against it, you’d have turned her down already.”

“But what about—”

Another quick kiss. Trixie was really liking this method. Good thing it was dark out, though. They were in the middle of Ponyville after all and Rainbow Dash was only blocking one direction.

“What say we go home and work on these relationship issues together?” Trixie asked, borrowing a few lines from her conversation with Rarity. She briefly gave Rainbow Dash another kiss before leaning to the side to catch Fluttershy’s eyes past the wing.

Fluttershy’s face was bright red.

All that just from a little kiss? Oh, Fluttershy, you’re going to have to endure a bit more than that after tonight.

Besides, The Great and Vengeful Trixie felt the ‘new’ mare in her life deserved some payback for forcing Trixie to endure days of panic when she only put Rainbow Dash through an hour of it.

With a wicked grin, Trixie broke off eye contact and nuzzled under Rainbow Dash’s neck. “We’ll just start by finding some middle ground.” She traced a hoof slowly down Rainbow Dash’s side, circling her cutie mark softly before giving it a light pat.

Dashie’s breath hitched, barely covering the sound Trixie has been expecting from behind them.

“Trixie is certain we’ll figure out the trick to it!”

“Huh, that kinda sounds like… well, okay. Yeah. Yeah! Perfect!” Rainbow Dash puffed up as if she’d just scored a major victory. She folded her wings which brought Fluttershy back into view. “We should tell her then.”

Fluttershy had already fainted.

“Trixie thinks she knows.”

Chapter 13 - Guess this is really happening

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 14 - Just a nudge

Somepony ought to mark a calendar and declare this to be officially the greatest day ever.

Trixie never thought she’d actually get this far. She’d only pushed for Dash and Fluttershy to make out as a flirty joke. A bit of teasing to make Dash squirm and Fluttershy blush. The immediate reactions were as expected, but imagine her surprise when they actually took her up on the suggestion!

What a show that had been.

At first, she suspected the pair of them were in cahoots to cruelly tease her as payback for her antics. That they’d dangle the promise of that wonderful dream in front of her and then snatch it away. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

Maybe she could try and push her luck just a little bit further then?

“Ready?” Trixie asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, leaving Trixie to wish she had the ability to read the girl’s mind. This was a big day for her too. Between the confession and her signaling to continue the ‘tease’ a little more, she seemed intent to keep that assertiveness train rolling. However, there wasn’t any telling when she’d get spooked by the speed and pull the emergency brake.

“...Y-yes.”

Apparently not yet! Trixie’s smile would have widened, but she was pretty sure at this point that would mean tearing her cheeks. A glance toward Rainbow Dash revealed no objection.

She leaned in.

There was a moment’s hesitation from Fluttershy. It was almost enough for Trixie to back away, but then Fluttershy dramatically switched gears. Gone was any of the trepidation and restraint that she’d had a moment ago. Instead, she was surprisingly aggressive, taking Trixie completely aback.

Not that Trixie minded, though. Once the initial shock wore off, she’d already settled into letting Fluttershy take the lead. As alien of a concept as that was, this felt oddly familiar… kind of like...

Rainbow Dash?

Trixie’s eyes widened at the realization. Once she paid attention to it, it was obvious, a little clumsy, but obvious. Fluttershy was mimicking Dash for some reason. Perhaps she still felt self-conscious about the earlier comment about needing practice. Was she trying to copy what she’d seen the two of them do? Or rather, what she’d experienced just moments prior?

That’s adorable!

And more than a little exciting. There was something especially thrilling about the usually demure girl dominating her like this. It was too late to change the rhythm now, but she’d resolve to put up more resistance the next time and make her work for it.

Finally, Trixie was forced to break away for a breather. Noting, with a touch of annoyance, that the inexperienced and unathletic Fluttershy was no more winded than Rainbow Dash usually was. How was that even possible?

Rainbow Dash stirred her from her thoughts by speaking up. “So, uh...how are you two doing? That was way more intense than I figured it was gonna be. Kinda left wondering if I should be stepping it up.”

“Of course, your first thought is making it a competition.” Trixie rolled her eyes with a giggle. She should have expected as much. “Although, Trixie wouldn’t mind trying this again. Best three out of five? What do you think, Fluttershy?”

“Is, uhm, is it okay if we don’t know how we feel?” Fluttershy looked strangely contemplative, not meeting either of their eyes as she gingerly ran a feather tip along her lips. Perhaps the only one of them to be giving her feelings serious thought, as had been the stated intention.

How did she herself feel?

“That… is probably fine. To not know exactly. It’s complicated, right? Maybe it’s better not to try and put a single label on it. Like, Trixie enjoyed watching, but she also felt a little left out. Even though Trixie knew she was next. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Nah,” Rainbow Dash said. She slipped out of their embrace and off the couch, electing to pace about instead. Maybe the physical activity helped her think. “For me, it was cool in the moment, but it's kinda awkward before and after. Mostly when I had a second to wonder about what we looked like.”

Fluttershy took it as a cue to disentangle herself as well and pull back. “I, uhm, I thought this was about how we felt when seeing, y-you know…”

“Oh! Right.” Rainbow Dash looked between the two of them. “I kinda wasn’t paying attention to that. Do it again? I’ll keep track this time.”

Fluttershy eeped cutely and looked at Trixie, wide-eyed.

“As much as Trixie would love to perform an encore, just the fact that you asked is answer enough.” Trixie pointed out, making a note of the way Fluttershy relaxed when the pressure was taken off her. “So, we don’t have to… unless it’s something you’d like to do, Fluttershy?”

“I, uhm, oh…” Fluttershy struggled but there was a hint of a glare. She knew exactly what Trixie was doing to her. Taking away her excuses. “...It’s late.”

“Tired, mhm?” Trixie grinned. It had been a little much to expect Fluttershy to ask outright. Although, the implication wasn’t lost on her that the refusal only applied to today. “That brings up a good point… Dashie, wanna spend the night?”

Ah, she loved this. The way both of them jerked their heads toward her and then just as quickly tried to look nonchalant.

Not that the idea of spending the night with them didn’t have her nearly die of nerves herself, but she felt confident she held the reins here. A little teasing just made her feel more at ease.

An unexpected ally appeared at her side.

Fluttershy was siding with her, literally, but she wasn’t saying anything. Judging by the blush on her face, she was currently struggling through a dozen different ways she absolutely shouldn’t phrase asking Dash to bed and embarrassing herself in her own head. So nervous that her breath had even caught in her throat.

Adorable.

Trixie smiled at her, appreciating what she was at least trying on her own. In that case, she could pitch her a softball as a reward. She turned back to Rainbow Dash. “Another sleepover, but with more sleep and less over, Trixie supposes. If Fluttershy is alright with that?”

“I…I’d...” Fluttershy started and then quieted down again. She wasn’t calm. Her chest visibly thrummed. “I’d...l-like that. If you don’t mind that is?” The question was directed at Rainbow Dash.

Proud of her star pupil, Trixie casually gave her a little side hug squeeze. Equal parts reward and a reminder to resume breathing as Fluttershy squeaked.

“I didn’t bring a sleeping bag or anything.” Rainbow Dash hesitated when that didn’t seem to discourage either of them. If anything, Fluttershy blushed a little deeper. “Alright, what did you have in mind?”

“W-well...”

The bed wasn’t wide enough to comfortably fit three ponies.

Trixie wouldn’t have minded squeezing together. It was a great excuse to cuddle, but even she had to concede it was a bad idea to sleep like that. Not without some extra pillows on the floor for the inevitable fall or something to that effect.

They’d nearly given up on the whole venture.

Fortunately, Fluttershy had struck upon an idea. It took a bit of doing, but they’d managed to take a small cloud and stick it to the left side of the bed, extending so the space available was nearly twice as much. The catch? Now half the bed was only suitable for pegasi. Trixie had lost her claim to the middle spot!

Rainbow Dash had taken it instead. Originally, she was on the cloud, but Fluttershy had a hard time getting comfortable on the intersection of bed and cloud. It didn’t seem to bother Dash in the slightest, though. But then again, she was notoriously good at sleeping.

Conveniently, the blanket was so huge it still covered all of them and then some.

“Everypony comfy?” Trixie asked while snuggling up to Dash, laying one hoof over her chest.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash answered, but she felt tense.

It didn’t worry Trixie. If anything, it was an amusing thought. She remembered feeling nervous the first time she shared the bed with Fluttershy. It had to be twice as bad for poor Dashie. She’d have that same vague sense that maybe she was actually supposed to do something.

“Mhm,” Fluttershy mumbled a quiet assent. She hadn’t reached out and simply curled up on the cloud facing away from them. It had been a long day for her. Still, it was a little strange, given that she’d gone out of her way to make this happen.

She made a note to deal with that tomorrow.

For now, she poked Rainbow Dash in the chest and mimed a grabbing motion. The look of hesitation she received in turn had her roll her eyes. She repeated the motion, then pointed toward Fluttershy.

That did it.

Rainbow Dash looked unsure but rolled over onto her side and reached over to Fluttershy. Halfway through, she looked back for confirmation.

Trixie nodded and draped one hoof over Dash’s waist, scooting a little closer behind her. It was as much for her own benefit as to demonstrate.

Rainbow Dash followed her example, drawing a gasp from Fluttershy.

A simple spell snuffed out the lights.

“So, how’d you know she’d like that?” Rainbow Dash asked, stretched out in the grass.

It was amazing what some good company could do. Everything about the morning was just a little better than usual. Breakfast tasted better. The animals were more well behaved. Even the sun felt a little warmer and less blinding than usual as they enjoyed a well-earned day of relaxation.

“Pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Trixie enjoyed the slow rise and fall of her favorite ‘pillow’ beneath her head. “If she didn’t want to be touched, she wouldn’t have suggested extending the bed. There’s no reason to get us so close together otherwise. It’s just that she lost her nerve at the end there.”

“Huh… I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

It was just too bad that Fluttershy had left to check up on Rarity, but it did afford Trixie a chance to talk privately with Rainbow Dash. They’d have gone together, but Fluttershy insisted that she was just being silly and they should stay and just relax.

“But you’re still worried you’d take it too far?”

“Any one of us, really.” Dash shifted underneath to cross her forelegs underneath her head, staring up at the sky. “You and I have been together for a while. Fluttershy is playing catch up. I don’t want her to overextend herself.”

“Trixie doesn’t either, but wouldn’t it be better to encourage her to explore? Sure, at some point she’ll probably stumble into something she’s not ready for. Whether that’s her ‘catching up’ or one of us doing something she doesn’t know how to reject in the moment.” Trixie noticed Dash’s breath quickened, clearly distressed by the idea. She reached a hoof back to caress her neckline and cheek. “But when that happens we’ll be there for her won’t we? To give her a hug and assure her it’s gonna be okay?”

“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash didn’t respond further, just mulling it over in her head. At least she seemed to calm down some, but the tension hadn’t left her even as she shifted slightly to lean into Trixie’s strokes.

Trixie bit her lip, she had an idea of what was bothering Dash but she wasn’t certain. “...The same goes for you, you know.”

“What?”

“You said you were confused on how this is supposed to work. You might mess up. Probably will… Trixie probably will too.” She folded her legs closer to her body, curling up. “But, as long as we understand that, Trixie has to believe we can work through anything that happens, you know?”

There was a pause.

Trixie didn’t mind the stillness, but something felt off. Different somehow than a moment ago. The pattern to Dash’s breathing changed. A little quicker at first then much slower, as though deliberately forced.

“That’s not the first time you said that. The ‘work’ bit, I mean.” Rainbow Dash sat up, sliding Trixie’s head from her stomach to her lap in the process. She looked down, meeting her eyes. “You also worked with Fluttershy to make this happen, behind my back. Everything we did last night, I’m realizing, was something you suggested or encouraged, something you worked to make happen.”

“Is that bad?” Trixie asked. “You can suggest something next time.”

“No, it’s not bad, and that’s not the point.” Dash shook her head. “You’ve been putting in a lot of effort and… and I guess it has me wondering… We didn’t ever work on anything when it was the two of us. Why are you so invested now?”

“Trixie was always invested.” Trixie averted her gaze. “Sorry if you didn’t feel that way.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.” Rainbow Dash sighed and leaned back a little, stretching her forelegs behind her in the grass. “I get that we worked on things too, like being more direct with each other, but… I dunno. It feels like you are putting it all on yourself.”

“Maybe Trixie just has a lot of free time to think about this stuff,” Trixie offered.

“Maybe.” Rainbow Dash conceded. “I ended up having some time to think too, didn’t get much sleep last night. Turns out it’s not easy to sleep next to another pony, especially ones you like. Apparently, you can get used to that, though.”

Trixie kept quiet, letting Dash talk. She was building toward something, but she didn’t sound angry. Weary? That could just as easily be the lack of sleep she mentioned.

“I had this weird feeling. A bunch of those things I mentioned kept bugging me. How come those two can sleep? What got into Fluttershy that she’d suggest something like joining us? Why is Trixie trying so hard to make it work?” Dash used a wingtip to brush along Trixie’s mane. “...Was it your idea?”

It wasn’t an accusation so much as a genuine question. However, it was hard to estimate how Dash was going to react to the answer. Would she see it as manipulation? Trixie didn’t think of her as volatile anymore, but she’d probably be right to get angry.

It might be easier to deny and act ignorant.

After a moment, Trixie nodded, brushing her cheek against Rainbow Dash’s fur in the process. “Maybe that’s why Trixie’s been trying harder, because if she lets this fail, and… and loses you… Trixie’ll kick herself forever for gambling like this…”

“Then why did you?” Dash’s voice cracked. Her hooves pressed through the grass and into the dirt. “That. That’s the part I can’t figure out. I guessed some of the stuff you said already. That you put the idea in her head. That you wanted this to work. The part I don’t understand is why you wanted Fluttershy too… was I not enough?”

Trixie felt her chest tighten. Dash sounded so pained, but she was clearly trying to keep her cool. It was as if she fully trusted Trixie to say something that would make all of this make sense if she just gave her a chance.

If only Trixie had that much trust in herself.

She had to think this through. What was really the problem? Dash hadn’t given her any sign the previous evening that she was against the idea of their trio, quite the opposite. When Dash believed Fluttershy had initiated it, she’d easily gone along with the idea. It was only after confirming that it was Trixie’s plan that she had a problem with it?

A flicker of anger danced along her brow. It wasn’t fair that she was getting questioned like this.

Why did it matter how the idea had gotten started, anyway? Did Dash think she’d manipulated ‘poor gullible’ Fluttershy? Maybe that wasn’t entirely inaccurate, but Trixie had gone out of her way to make sure it was something Fluttershy wanted! Not that she could explain that without sounding like a manipulative witch for much of it.

Was that a bad sign? No, wait. Focus!

Dash was asking specifically about why she wanted Fluttershy, but that didn’t seem to make any sense. Even if she explained Fluttershy’s attractive points, it wouldn’t solve the problem. Trixie was absolutely sure Dash wanted Fluttershy too. She couldn’t be mad about something they both had in common.

There had to be something different between her and Dash. Something that was only a problem if Fluttershy didn’t arrive at the idea independently. Something that Dash had picked up on. What if she thought about it in reverse?

What if Rainbow Dash had raised the idea of expanding their relationship by adding Flutte—

“Gah!” Trixie sat up with a sudden force. She couldn’t even finish the thought before a bolt of blind panic pierced her chest. It was different.

Rainbow Dash only narrowly managed to escape getting headbutted in the chin. “Trixie! What the hay?!”

Trixie grabbed her before she had a chance to get any further away. “Sorry!” She shared a panicked look with Dash before hiding her face in Dash’s chest fur. “S-sorry for making you feel like you weren’t enough. You are! More than anypony.”

After a painfully long moment, Rainbow Dash wrapped Trixie in a hug. Whether it had taken her that long to realize she should or to decide that she would wasn’t clear, but Trixie was grateful for it all the same.

“It’s fine,” Rainbow Dash whispered.

Trixie shook her head. “It’s not. If you’d done the same, Trixie would’ve been so scared that she was getting soft replaced with somepony you preferred. It’s just… Trixie knows she loves you so much more than anything that Trixie never stopped to think you could feel insecure too. That was stupid, and Trixie’s so sorry. She should’ve taken the time to talk to you properly.”

Rainbow Dash nodded slightly, which Trixie more felt than saw. Most importantly, the tension was slowly draining from her, as the vice-like grip melted into a tight embrace. A small, but crucial difference. “So, what would you have said?” she asked in a tone that suggested she was now less seeking an explanation and more fishing for a compliment.

Trixie couldn't begrudge her that. She curled against her insecure girlfriend. “That Trixie loves you above all else, and nopony is going to change that. Not even cute soft-spoken girls. That’d be a good start, right?”

“Heh. It’s a start.” Rainbow Dash chuckled, then added. “Same, by the way.”

It was funny how much better that simple statement made her feel.

“What else...” Trixie drawled while she considered what she really wanted to convey. “Trixie knows Fluttershy has feelings for us, that unrequited they pain her, that they are... mutual… Trixie’s okay with allowing all of us to explore those. So long as we’re clear it’s in addition not instead. We can share the stage as a trio, but Trixie will not let anypony steal the show.”

“Yeah, you probably should’ve led with all this.” Rainbow Dash gave her a little bonk on the head. “Though, I guess… I guess I’m kinda glad it happened the way it did.”

“You are?” Trixie craned her head up to catch sight of Dash’s dumb smile.

“If I knew it was your idea from the start, I might have been more hesitant. Hey! Let me finish!” Dash huffed as Trixie pulled a face. “You were pushing Fluttershy last night, and I guess you also did it earlier to get her to agree to this, right?”

Trixie hesitated and Rainbow Dash noticed. She hated being on the backhoof like this, but she hated the idea of looking for ways to manipulate Dash in this situation even more. It wasn’t the same as playing with her, that Trixie could do all day and feel energized by the end of it. “...Trixie wouldn’t say she was pushing her. It was more like just a nudge. That, that sounds dumb, but it’s different. Really. It was her own choice.”

“Just a nudge?” Rainbow Dash repeated with a serious expression. It sounded even dumber when she said it. On the plus side, Dash hadn’t gotten angry at all. Rather, she was mulling it over. “How about you give me a nudge then?”

“You?” Trixie blinked.

“Yeah. I wanna know what it’s like.”

“Trixie’s not sure there is much to nudge.” She shrugged. “You already pretty much do whatever you feel like.” And it wasn’t that hard to make Dash want something, but that would only distract from the topic.

“Why does that matter?”

“It’s not like telling somepony to go do something, that’s pushing. A nudge is more like… if you knew a friend really wanted to paint their room purple with stars but they haven’t quite managed to get around to it. Maybe they are a little scared of change, or maybe they worry guests wouldn’t like it as much as they do.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “That’s dumb. Just paint it.”

“You would say that.” Trixie smirked. “But maybe that’s what your friend needs to hear to go through with it. You know, a nudge.”

“And that’s all?” Rainbow Dash raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I don’t think that would really work.”

“Sure, it does. A little encouragement goes a long way. Just because you never needed any extr—Oh!” Trixie perked up with a grin. Finally! She had what she needed.

“I know that face. What?”

“What about with Fluttershy? Mhm? You were scared to reach out last night till Trixie gave you a ‘nudge’.” Trixie poked Dash in the chest, driving her point home.

“T-that’s different,” Rainbow Dash protested, batting her hoof away.

“Come on. She’s not as fragile as her namesake, you know. You can touch her.” Trixie couldn’t help but giggle as Dash blushed. “Do try to be careful with her, though. Like you said, she’s still catching up, but if you feel like being a little rougher… Trixie’s right here to get it out of your system.”

“You’re messing with me.” Rainbow Dash regrettably regained some composure at the realization.

“Only a little,” Trixie admitted. “Offer still stands.”

Teasing Rainbow Dash really was addictive. There was a long pause while Rainbow Dash contemplated. For a moment, Trixie thought she would take the offer, only for Dash to break eye contact.

“Okay, look… I think I kinda get what you’re doing and… I guess if this is what you mean by a ‘nudge’, I don’t mind. It might be a good thing.” Rainbow Dash sighed then met her gaze again. “If we screw up, I guess we’ll work on it, huh?”

“Of course.” Trixie flashed a smile and received one in return.

“Good. Now then,” Rainbow Dash cast a searching look down the path to Ponyville then turned back. “About that offer...”

Trixie hoped Fluttershy would have fun with Rarity for a good while longer.

Fluttershy smiled as she ran a brush over the adorable cat’s fine coat. The soft content purring was at least twice as soothing to her as the brush was to Opal. Caring for animals came naturally to her, there wasn’t much she had to think about. It was simple. Unlike seemingly every other aspect of her life.

“She never lets me do that...” Rarity lamented from across the little kitchen table, pinning for the same simple action. “I’d be simply covered in claw marks by now.”

“Uhm...I’m sure that’s just because she’s more comfortable around you, Rarity.”

“Quite.” Rarity scoffed.

“No, really. I’m sure Opal knows you’d love her no matter what, so she doesn’t mind letting you know, in her catty own way, what she really thinks. But she’s not so sure I’d keep coming back, so I get a little more leeway from her.” She stroked Opal along one ear and the sweetheart rolled over onto her back, showing her invitingly soft stomach. She knew better than to touch it, though. “Even so, there are lines that if I crossed them, she’d give me a piece of her mind like—”

“Aw.” Rarity cooed as she reached over to give Opal a belly rub before Fluttershy could stop her.

Like a sprung trap, Opal clamped shut, digging the claws of all four paws into Rarity’s foreleg.

Rarity pulled back with a start. Long thin lines of angry red were left as a reminder, not so deep as to be dangerous, but enough to sting and even draw a drop or two of blood. Rarity tsked with remarkable composure. The kind that only came from enduring dozens of such warnings in the past. She looked more disappointed than shocked. “You see? It’s a setup I tell you. How can anypony resist that fluffy tummy?”

“Mhm”, Fluttershy affirmed with a gentle nod.

Fluttershy didn’t really think of herself as having strengths. Even her affinity to animals often felt like such a hollow praise. Wouldn’t everypony be able to get along with animals? Their behavior was so straightforward. Most ponies just had better things to do than sit around paying attention to them, unlike her.

Even so, moments like these gave her a little spark of confidence that maybe she did have something at least a teeny little bit special. The alternative after all was to suggest that Rarity was lacking something and that just felt mean. It was nicer to think this way.

“Have you done something with your mane?” Fluttershy knew this to always be a safe question to ask Rarity. Good for ten minutes of conversation where she’d only be expected to listen and nod. It was almost as soothing as the brushing. Simple enough to allow herself to relax.

“Ah! Leave it to you to notice, darling. Why yes, actually.” Rarity began her story in earnest. A new conditioner applied just so. An old method of rinsing that she ended up disliking at first. A classic style parted just a tad more to the left. So much more.

As expected, it bought her a long peaceful reprieve. A moment to gather her own thoughts on how she was going to approach the issue. Well, two issues.

“Goodness. It’s really working for you. It looks so soft.” Fluttershy reached out toward Rarity’s mane.

“Ack!” Rarity batted the hoof away in abject terror and leaned back.

“Ouch.”

A look of guilt came over Rarity’s face as she saw Fluttershy nurse her hoof. “Ah, s-sorry. I was just surprised. I’d really rather you didn’t.”

“Aren’t you showing it off so I can touch it?”

Rarity looked at her with sheer bewilderment. “I… what? No. Look but don’t touch. I’d think that goes without saying. I’m sorry, what is going on? I know you should know this. Wait, did something happen?” she asked with clear concern.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” Now Fluttershy felt guilty. “I just thought you’d, uhm, understand Opal better this way.”

Rarity took a moment to mull the answer over, shifting back to her more relaxed pose from before. “So, just because she’s showing off does not mean she’s asking to be touched? I suppose I wouldn’t have even questioned that if it had been another pony. Thank you, dear.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you thought it was helpful.” Fluttershy smiled. It felt nice to help her friend, even if her hoof throbbed a little now. She probably deserved that.

If a slap on the wrist was her only consequence for betraying Trixie’s and Rainbow Dash’s trust, she’d be getting off lightly even. What was she really hoping to achieve? To keep up pretending to be in a relationship with the both of them until it was true? It felt dishonest. It also felt a little like what she wanted. That in turn felt wrong.

Thinking about it in the opposite direction wasn’t any better. Play along for a week then apologize and withdraw? She’d leave them hurt and confused, wondering what they could have done better but she’d know there was nothing. Things wouldn’t go back to normal, though. Maybe the awkwardness of it would drive them away from her and she’d be alone.

Or worse, what if they fought over it? Blamed each other? Broke up? It would be her fault. She’d be guilty, but… it would be a chance, in the long run, to try again. A hopeful thought, but one that made her feel worse for thinking it. It was just one more desire that felt wrong.

Everything always felt that way. Downward spirals no matter what she did. It was exhausting. She wished she had a fraction of the confidence Dash and Trixie so effortlessly oozed all day, even when they made mistakes it didn’t seem like they let it bother them. If that sort of thing could rub off on a pony, surely it would have by now.

Was it really the confidence she admired? Or did she just want to be able to do bad things without feeling bad for it? One more item on the list of things she doubted about herself.

“...Are you sure nothing happened?” Rarity asked gently, shaking Fluttershy from her thoughts.

“Huh?” Fluttershy snapped to attention. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Rarity briefly paused, no doubt searching for the right words. “It is not like you to misremember when Opal goes to the groomer and yet you show up a week too early to escort her. It leaves a lady to wonder if you are distracted… or distraught. Is something going on? You can tell me.”

Of course, Rarity had figured it out. It had been a weak excuse to meet with her again so soon. Still, Rarity had invited her in to see Opal and have a chat over tea for her trouble. Perhaps that had been worded that way on purpose. Rarity expected there was trouble. Probably expected that somewhere during the conversation she’d tell her. If she was asking now that had to mean she’d lost patience with her.

Did Rarity feel Fluttershy was being a nuisance? She hoped not. Thinking about it, it made sense for Rarity to be concerned. They’d been talking for a while and they’d not touched on Rainbow Dash or Trixie beyond a brief mention of where they were and that everything was fine. Rarity was sharp enough that she’d pick up on something like that. Doubly so when she was undoubtedly on pins and needles to hear how it all played out.

Maybe she should have talked about them more, and avoided making Rarity suspicious. Or maybe it was a chance if she wanted somepony to talk to about her feelings, good, bad, and confusing. Who knew how Rarity would react, though. Fluttershy knew she’d been so terrible. Maybe she valued the company more.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy forced a smile. “We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“Ohhh?” Rarity’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’m so glad you brought that up, darling. How did it go?”

A simple misdirect, Trixie would have been proud of her. The only issue was now she’d locked herself into what was easily the most embarrassing topic. Her one solace was that Rarity would have pressed her for it eventually anyway, so she was just getting it over with sooner.

“We, uhm… K… w-we did the…” She averted her gaze and shielded her burning face with a wing. It was incredible how she was more embarrassed trying to say the word ‘kiss’ than she’d been about actually doing it. “y-you know. The first thing?”

A little squee escaped Rarity as she clapped her hooves together. “Oh, that is too precious! Which one? How was it? Tell me everything!”

Fluttershy tried her best to direct her focus back to Opal. She’d heard about therapy dogs. The cutest of all professions. Cats apparently also worked a little. At least it gave her something to do as she combed the shedding out of the tail fluff.

“Well, uhm… M-me and Rainbow Dash at first… I think.” Fluttershy noticed Rarity’s glee double. She’d already worked out that meant it hadn’t ended there. “I was so surprised, I didn’t know what to feel. Mostly disbelief? Is that a feeling? It didn’t last very long…”

Fluttershy bit her lip. It was probably best if she didn’t mention the part where Rainbow Dash had shoved her away and panicked. Especially not how that had made her feel. So inadequate, so angry. Enough that she’d decided then and there to go through with one of the bad thoughts.

“Your first kiss together! Heavens, I do wish I’d been there to see it myself.” Rarity sighed as she leaned back. “You only get that first time once, usually.”

Fluttershy stiffened. The way Rarity let that sentence linger for a moment, it brought Fluttershy’s attention back to what she’d actually come here for.

“A-about that. T-there is one thing, but… It’s a little… did you, uhm, r-record us?” Fluttershy suddenly realized how accusatory it sounded to just ask if Rarity had secretly recorded them. In fact, now that she said it out loud, she’d been a little overly paranoid. “I-I’m sorry. That was si—” She froze.

As she spoke Rarity had looked over to the stack of packages that had served to stall for time. Of course, she knew they’d been there for much of it, just as planned. But, for a fraction of a second, Rarity’s eyes darted to the area a little further away where Fluttershy had her emotional discussion with Rainbow Dash after she’d attempted to escape.

Their eyes met.

A cold chill ran down Fluttershy’s spine as she stared wide-eyed at Rarity. She knew! Fluttershy wasn’t sure exactly how, but Rarity knew they’d moved away as well as where to. And now, Rarity knew she knew.

Rarity regained her composure first with a thin smile. “I would never, but suppose that I did… would there be anything on there you’d like to explain?”

Fluttershy swallowed but her throat felt just as dry. “L-like what?”

“Like… why did I come back to find one of my precious mannequins scattered into pieces?” Rarity asked with a hint of concealed amusement. It very nearly put Fluttershy at ease, had Rarity’s face not fallen as she began the next question. “And… Why did you ask Rainbow Dash to choose at first?”

“I, uhm… ” Fluttershy bit her lip and put all of her attention into brushing Opal. She could at least avoid eye contact for a little while like this.

Did Rarity really know or was she guessing? They knew each other well enough that it wasn’t impossible. No, the accusation was too specific. Why did it even matter? Was she really planning to lie to one of her best friends?

“Well?” Rarity pressed her.

“I… shouldn’t have done that,” Fluttershy said so softly that she could barely hear it herself. “C-can we keep that between us, please?”

Rarity sighed and leaned back, resting her hoof on the bridge of her nose like she was nursing a headache. “Fine, I won’t be telling them any of this.”

“Thank you.” The wash of relief that came over her was surprising. She’d expected that at least some small part of her would have wanted the truth to come out. If only so she could stop lying to everypony else.

“Because you will.” Rarity pointed a hoof at her with a touch of smugness to her smile.

“W-what?” Fluttershy stammered in protest. Fear gripped her chest as she even briefly considered the consequences. Not just how Rainbow Dash would think of her for it, but how much pain she’d be inflicting on Trixie after everything they’d been through. “I can’t do that! It’ll ruin everything for them.”

Though Rarity showed surprise at the sudden outburst, she most certainly wasn’t as taken aback as she was letting on. She’d seen Rarity surprised, and her eyes weren’t as wide as they should’ve been.

With the exception of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy had known Rarity the longest of all their friends, but even so it was difficult to tell what was going through her head now. The squint Rarity was giving was something she’d have associated with one Rarity had when she was looking over a roll of fabric. Was Rarity evaluating her? Going through designs in her head? Deciding where to make the first cut?

She shivered.

Rarity seemed to take that as her cue. “It’ll ruin it for them because they’ll find out that you don’t really want to be there?”

The sting of the accusation hurt but not as bad as the certainty with which Rarity had stated that she didn’t want it. It hadn’t been a question, just a statement of fact. “I’m not sure I don’t… It’s all so confusing. I don’t know how to feel or what to do.” She gave Rarity a pleading look, but she didn’t dare ask for help. She didn’t deserve any.

“Don’t you give me that look,” Rarity chided. Her voice was a little harder than before. “I aided you last time only to find out you were lying to me! Oh, you certainly meant to confess to Rainbow Dash, you just neglected to mention you intended to cut Trixie out! How dare you make me complicit in that?”

Fluttershy flinched as each word bucked her straight in the chest, driving home with painful clarity that she’d messed up far more than she’d thought. How had she not even considered that she had betrayed Rarity’s trust?

Rarity’s eyes were fierce, like they could bore right through her. She had every right to be angry, to be hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whimpered and slunk underneath the table in a vain attempt to just escape the stare. She quickly shook her head. “I-I swear I wasn’t planning on it! I just… I… it was a spur of the moment thing. We had our special moment, finally. Y-you only get one, like you said. Then she broke it off early and shoved me away for Trixie and… and I just got so angry. I knew it was wrong. So wrong… I was selfish and jealous. I hate that I was. T-that I still am.”

To Fluttershy’s relief, Rarity softened up a little again. “Darling, I want to believe you, really. I was so shocked to see you act out like that. You aren’t like that. The Fluttershy I know would never do something so vicious. I spent half the night trying to make sense of it and the other half assuring myself I must have imagined the whole thing.

"When you showed up on my doorstep today I was all but certain you wanted to come clean and get some advice. I was so relieved, but… then you dodged every opening I gave you and started fishing for what I knew and… well, it dawned on me you weren’t here to make anything right, you were just checking to see if you were in trouble.”

Staring down at the tabletop to avoid having to meet Rarity’s eyes, Fluttershy cringed as she discovered the one thing worse than having Rarity angry at her. She sounded so disappointed. “...I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry I have to resort to base blackmail, just to get my friend to tell me what is going on with her.” Rarity heaved a heavy sigh.

So, that’s what the threat of telling Trixie and Rainbow Dash was truly about. Rarity never actually wanted her to tell them, she just wanted to construct a scenario that was so scary that Fluttershy would rather invent a third option and voluntarily confess in a bid for sympathy to avoid it.

Were all unicorns this cunning? Or was it just her luck that Rarity and Trixie were so much better practiced at it? She’d at least been lucky that neither of them were interested in using their guile against her, but now she had a taste of how close she was getting to that. Or was that just what it was like when she wasn’t afforded the benefit of the doubt as much as she was used to?

It was a scary thought.

She briefly considered whether it would do her any good to try and confront Rarity for spying on them during such an intimate moment, but she dismissed the idea. Two wrongs didn’t make a right. She should know, she’d been piling wrong upon wrong for a while now.

“It’s O-okay… I should have come to you weeks ago.”

“This has been going on for weeks?” Rarity asked with genuine surprise.

Fluttershy just nodded.

Silence stretched on for a minute or two, making Fluttershy more nervous as she chanced a peek at Rarity.

Curiously, Rarity was now wearing her glasses, but Fluttershy didn’t think she’d put them on consciously. No, more likely she’d floated them over out of habit as the look on her face was one of deep thought, her brow knit together in a wrinkle that Rarity occasionally complained about.

“So,” Rarity suddenly met her gaze. “This wasn’t the first time you acted out like that, right? I remember Trixie mentioned she figured out your feelings due to a bit of petty jealousy on your part… She thought it was endearing, but then… she didn’t know who you were jealous of, did she?” She spoke softly as if she could barely believe she’d cracked the case.

Fluttershy nodded so faintly it was a miracle Rarity even saw it. She really didn’t want her to either. “I… She assumed and I panicked...”

“I knew it! I knew you were uncomfortable at the spa!” Rarity slammed her hooves on the table in vindication.

Fluttershy rattled as easily as the tea set

“Oh, Celestia. Why didn’t you say anything? In fact, why did you go along with any of this?” Rarity rubbed her temple.

“If I did, then Trixie would know those shameful things I did were to hinder her, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I know that’s not a good reason, but, but I thought I could just pretend for a little bit and then break it off, or make her break it off…” Fluttershy would have thought Trixie would have given up sooner, especially when they hadn’t done anything in weeks, but Trixie had been so patient with her all that time, respecting her boundaries. It was equal parts infuriating and infatuating. Ironically, it took Rainbow Dash to break them up, however short-lived that was. “It almost worked, but Trixie is really good at pulling rabbits out of hats, and… I like rabbits?”

What a dumb thing to say. Had her brain just short-circuited for a moment?

“Right… I see.” Rarity was looking at her like she was an idiot as well. “So, you’re happy with your current ‘arrangement’ then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mhm. You did say that, but other than one moment of weakness, you haven’t been sabotaging them anymore, right?”

“Uhm...” Fluttershy bit her lip.

“Seriously?” Rarity groaned exasperated and motioned with her hoof to continue. “What else did you do?”

Fluttershy hesitated, tears welling up in her eyes. “I… can’t… I don’t want to tell you. Please.”

“Why not?” There was tension in Rarity's voice that Fluttershy couldn’t place.

There wasn’t anything really keeping her here. Rarity wasn’t likely to stop her if she just ran away. What would happen then? Fluttershy could guess Rarity would inform Rainbow Dash and Trixie. They’d be angry with her. Maybe even so angry they’d never want to see her again.

One quick clean break away from everything. Was that better than where she was now? Tangled up in her own web of lies so messy that she wasn’t even sure anymore how she truly felt. If she let it all be torn down she’d fall to the ground hard, but at least she’d know where she was. Even if it was alone.

Fluttershy tried to focus on Opal but the feline evaded her, hopping gracefully down to the ground. Then, as if to taunt her, Opal began grooming herself. It wasn’t personal, probably. It was just the tension in her body.

Animals were sensitive to things like that… but it felt like a petty jab right when she couldn’t take one and it brought one thing into sharp focus. She didn’t want to be alone.

Then, her only option was to explain herself to Rarity. No matter how difficult that was.

“Okay…” Fluttershy sighed, slumping forward to lean onto the table. She rested her head on the countertop, defeated. “I did so many petty, jealous things… I even thought about doing worse sometimes, n-not that I did, but… I already hate myself for just thinking about it… I-If I tell you, will you hate me too?”

There was a pause as Rarity considered her own answer. That wasn’t a great sign, but at least it indicated she was seriously thinking it over. “You’re scaring me a little, Fluttershy. Listen, if you honestly tell me what’s been going on with you… I’ll help you, okay? Whatever that might look like.”

Fluttershy nodded weakly. It was more than she could have asked for.

She briefly ran Rarity through a few of the easy ones. The ones that had backfired on her were still bad but came with their own retribution. Among them was the time she tried to delay a date only to have it happen sooner. And when she’d tried to curb their flirting in her living room only for them to take it outside for far longer.

“That’s when I figured out Dash didn’t know so I took that chance to tell Trixie I’d withdraw and… and, I suppose now I’m watching them m-make out in my living room… N-not just watching either,” she mumbled quietly. ”So, that didn’t work out as planned at all...”

“No, I suppose not.” Rarity snickered then cleared her throat as she regained her composure. “While the cascade of failures is amusing enough to take the sting out of these… There’s still more isn’t there?”

“You already know about the big ones, like what I said to Rainbow Dash, o-or that I led Trixie on...” Fluttershy felt relieved that she’d already covered the worst things she’d done. There wasn’t any reason to go into things she’d considered doing, like one dark moment where she’d given thought to telling Twilight Trixie did have the book. Those were horrible, but she hadn’t done them.

She rattled off the more petty things she’d done that hadn’t done much. Like giving Trixie garlic breath before she went to see Rainbow Dash. Lying to her about the destruction of her favorite cloak to keep it a surprise, when she could have picked something less distressing. That one time she moved her saddlebags out during cleaning and ‘neglected’ to put them back, though she didn’t mention her underlying intention. That one time she left early without a note, knowing Trixie would stress for a little bit.

“That was more because my voice was so deep suddenly and I wasn’t really thinking straight. I just thought… Uhm, Rarity?” Fluttershy had been avoiding looking at her, but she sensed something amiss and looked up. It had been too quiet for a while now.

Rarity’s face was blanched, mouth slightly agape. Once their eyes met the spell seemed to break. A brief moment of bewilderment ended as Rarity glared at her with the same intensity as before.

Fluttershy froze.

“You! You!” Rarity stood up from the table and jabbed a hoof at her. Then she looked away and pulled back as if she’d decided on a different tact and trotted around the table, causing Fluttershy to cower, but she walked right past her and toward the front door. Rarity was already partway through it when she turned around and glowered at her. “You stay right there until I can stand the sight of you again!”

Rarity could have launched every pin and needle in the boutique into her chest simultaneously, and it still wouldn't have been as sharp a pain. “W-what?”

“Do you think I don’t know what those saddlebags were for?” Rarity asked through clenched teeth as if it was taking all her effort not to yell. “Trixie all but told me. She was with me that evening, you know. I spent half of it just talking her down from running away and then you go and pull something… Something like that!”

Fluttershy paled.

Before she had a chance to respond, Rarity slammed the door shut behind her.

Author's Note

I woke up one day and realized I had not posted a new chapter since last year! :pinkiegasp:
Terrible New Years gags aside, A couple of months means its definitely deadline time.
There's probably some more FS coming up as there's more than a few things for her to address still up in the air. Hopefully, some adorable TrixDash will tide you over on diabetes quotas.
Happy 2021 and happy reading!

Chapter 15 - A useless scaredy-pony

How long had Rarity been gone?

Fluttershy sat quietly at the table, unsure whether Rarity had meant for her to stay in that exact spot or simply to not leave the boutique.

She wouldn’t risk it.

Rarity had never looked so enraged before. Not even when she feuded with Trixie. As much as Rarity had a flare for the dramatic, there was always a sense that she was at least in part playing it up. This had been nothing like that.

The hot molten fury reminded her of Rainbow Dash’s own outbursts. Outright terrifying even when it was in her defense. Now she’d been on the other end of it and she couldn’t stop shaking. Would Rarity have decked her if she hadn’t had the self-control to leave? Or perhaps she’d thought of something worse to do to her.

Fluttershy hugged herself, but it didn’t help at all.

What was Rarity doing right now? She was obviously not done with her or she would have kicked her out. There was a chance that she was at the cottage at this very moment, sharing everything she just learned.

Would they come to give her a piece of their mind?

A rattling sound at the door sent her heart beat into her throat.

“I don’t really expect her to.” Rarity said over her shoulder to somepony outside as she came trotting in. She glanced over at Fluttershy a moment then looked back. “Nevermind, Dash! She’s still here.”

Her body felt like it was frozen solid and boiling at the same time. She’d heard of time slowing down in moments of absolute crisis. What she wouldn’t give for some of that right now just to delay the inevitable for just a little longer.

Then Rarity closed the door.

“We’re alone,” Rarity explained while levitating a handkerchief over to Fluttershy. “It’s not nice to have your feelings toyed with, is it?”

“W-what?” Her gaze didn’t leave the door for another five seconds even as the realization slowly set in. Nopony was there. She felt a soft cloth dab her cheeks and glanced down to find Rarity was cleaning her up. She hadn’t even noticed she’d been crying. “That… that was cruel...”

“Yes. It was.” Rarity spoke softly. “Sorry.”

She actually managed to look remorseful and yet that didn’t make it any better. If anything, that just meant Rarity had known going into that it was the wrong thing to do and still went ahead with it.

What was she supposed to do now? It would’ve been easier to know how to feel if Rarity hadn’t looked like that, but not now. Frustrating, but it also had a creeping sense of familiarity. That had probably been the point.

“...I understand,” Fluttershy muttered.

Rarity seemed satisfied with that answer as she turned away to put a kettle on before she finally took a seat again. Unlike before, Rarity was not on the opposite side of the table, she’d taken a spot by the corner so she was closer.

It felt symbolic. Like Rarity was doing it on purpose to signal she was taking a neutral position. Not on her side nor opposite it. That at least was an improvement.

“As promised, I’m going to do my best to help you, all of you,” Rarity said while she steepled her hooves. “Obviously, I’m not pleased with you, but I’ve had some time to get my, uhm, ‘thoughts’ in order.”

Fluttershy just nodded faintly. She only barely managed to look Rarity in the eye as she did so.

“I should also mention that I spoke to Rainbow Dash and Trixie. Don’t worry! I didn’t tell them anything,” Rarity assured her, seeing the panic flash across her face. “They did however tell me a thing or two. I now have a much better idea of what went on last night. The way they told it, I’m actually quite impressed with your performance.”

How was she supposed to take that? Was she complimenting her acting? Or something else? “Uhm, thank you?” She tried not to think about it too much.

“To be honest with you, it left me with more questions.” Rarity let out a long sigh. “I suppose the most pressing one is… what do you want, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy blinked. “Me?”

“Yes, and don’t think about it too much. Do you want to stay with them? Do you want to just be friends? Something else?” Rarity asked, but then as soon as Fluttershy tried to think it over she added, “Oh, and think aloud. Talk me through the thought process.”

“Uhm. T-that’s a little… okay. If you think it’ll help.” Fluttershy was actually used to thinking out loud, usually to her animal friends, but she’d dropped the habit lately when her thoughts started to become more and more shameful. Hopefully, Rarity could help her, though. “I… I guess I just want everypony to be happy? That’s silly to say after what I did, isn’t it?”

Rarity was silent as her jaw clenched, leaving Fluttershy to expect a tongue-lashing. Instead, though, she deflated and shook her head. “No, everypony includes you too, Fluttershy. You weren't happy, were you?”

“...No.” Her eyes were stinging again. Rarity had understood so easily what had taken her ages to accept. “I thought I could be. I really wanted to be happy for them. That’s the right thing to do, but, but it was so hard! Nopony told me it would hurt like this.”

Rarity patted her shoulder but did not interrupt her.

“It was like I had to watch Trixie live the life I’d always wanted. Living in my cottage. Playing with my animal guests. Socializing easily with my circle. D-dating my childhood friend…” She choked and rubbed her eyes clear. It didn’t help much. “I-I don’t even think I was mad at her. I was mad at me! If only I wasn’t such a useless scaredy-pony. If I’d just gone for it… maybe I could’ve had that.

The crazy thing is that I felt so many things at once. I was jealous, but I hated to see them struggle. I’d help and be supportive, but then do something to sabotage them. I didn’t want to have to see them, but I also wanted to be near. Everything feels wrong and… and I guess what I really want is for it to feel right again, but I don’t know how. So, I thought if we were all together… Maybe that’d do it, but… I’m just acting out Dash’s worst nightmare and that’s not fair.”

Fluttershy slumped on the table and buried her head in her hooves.

“Something about accidentally trapping you in a relationship you aren’t ready for, I assume?” Rarity asked then received a quick nod in response. “Well, the obvious thing to do would be to excuse yourself, but… you mentioned before that you’d gotten the perfect opportunity to do just that and instead you chose to go this route. Why is that?”

“I don’t knowww.” Fluttershy groaned into the table.

“You were just so desperate to be with Rainbow Dash that you’d accept feigning affection for Trixie? Kiss her and whatever else?” Rarity offered.

“Maybe...” she whimpered.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Rarity jabbed her in the side, forcing Fluttershy to spring up with a startled squeak. “If there is one thing I know you are good at it’s shutting down under stress.”

Fluttershy blinked dumbly. From the way it was phrased, she was sure Rarity was making some kind of point but it just sounded like she was being insulted all the way through. “Uhm, what?”

Rarity rolled her eyes then leaned in close. “I’ll make you a deal, okay? You just have to do one little favor and in exchange, I will drop this whole thing and tell nobody.”

Feeling the warmth of Rarity’s breath on her face, Fluttershy leaned back to a more comfortable distance. Relatively anyway, She’d have preferred to be all the way back home. If this went well, maybe she could be. Not that it would solve anything, but it was one less thing to worry about.

“Sure?”

“All I need you to do is kiss me.” Rarity declared with a smile that looked as though it belonged more on Opal than it did Rarity. Like she’d just clawed the most expensive thing in the room and was just so sure there would be no retribution for it. “Don’t worry. I won’t even ask for you to do it like you would Rainbow Dash. I’ll settle for however you would kiss Trixie. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

A small cavalcade of different thoughts jumbled through her head at once. Not funny. An easy out. Cheating on them. Didn’t count. Rarity pretty. A trap. Not like that. Nobody’d know.

But most of all the thought that rose to prominence was a simple one.

She leaned back a little further. “I, uhm… I don’t want to. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, pooh.” Rarity poorly feigned disappointment. She was smiling nonetheless. “I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable, darling, but could we discuss why not? I thought you said you were willing to feign affection. Does it really matter with who?”

“I’m not a foal.” Fluttershy frowned as she caught on to what Rarity was trying to do. “You want me to say I must love Trixie as if that’s the only difference between you and her right now. It’s not and you know it too… besides, I’d already considered that…”

“Fine, you caught me.” Rarity admitted shamelessly like manipulating her had been for her own good. “So, if you already thought it over, how do you feel about her?”

“I… Trixie’s not naturally a patient pony, but I can tell she tries to be for me. It’s nice. She’s clever too, but it reminds me a little bit of how Rainbow Dash gets with speed. They both make competitions of everything and like to feel like they are winning. The difference is that Dash doesn’t try to race me, but Trixie does.”

“She challenges you?” Rarity looked away briefly to levitate her teapot and kettle over just as it started to boil.

Fluttershy nodded. “Not physically, but… sometimes when we’re talking we end up sparring? It’s not like a conflict. More like a game. I feel like she somehow picks up on something I’m feeling, but then she won’t acknowledge it and the game becomes whether she can make me say it. She is, uhm, pretty good at it… and I guess I like it? Not in the moment but afterward.”

“Even if you were nervous, it feels good to speak your mind and be a little more assertive.” Rarity correctly observed. “No wonder you caught me if you’ve been practicing with her. I’ll have to step up my game.”

Fluttershy saw Rarity wink, but she wasn’t convinced it had really been a joke. She’d seen Rarity and Trixie ‘spar’ before. They were so quick-witted that it was like they didn’t even have to think before speaking. She did her best not to think about it.

“I appreciate her help, and I really do like many things about her, but… it’s not the same as when I think about Rainbow Dash… ” She rubbed at the corner of her eye. “I always knew that, but then last night, when we… You know, right?”

Rarity nodded but thankfully didn’t go into detail on how much she knew of their kissing experiment. “You had your most direct comparison yet. How was it?”

“I’m not sure how to put it into words…” Fluttershy looked down at her hooves as she rubbed them nervously. “With Rainbow Dash, it was so peaceful like nothing else mattered. Every bit of my troubles felt so far away, so small. Insignificant compared to the comfort I had with her… It was how I imagined it. Special, y-you know?”

Rarity looked as though she wanted to squee but she bit down on her hoof to keep quiet.

“But then... I had to sit and watch them up close and it was rough at first. A little scary maybe. When they slowed down, though, it was gentle, peaceful. I realized somewhere along the way it had become the same as mine had been. They’d practiced together and I had just been getting a taste of that.” Fluttershy grimaced. “I know that’s not a fair way to think, but I didn’t take it very well. Then before I knew it it was my turn with Trixie and I didn’t have much more time to think about it.”

“But it took away from your moment because it felt no longer unique to you?” Rarity asked softly. Her expression was more sorrowful than it had been this entire day. “I’m certain it still felt special to Dash, don’t you think so?”

“I hope so.” Fluttershy sighed but then felt a little smile sneak up on her as she recalled. “She did say it was ‘awesome’.”

“There you go!” Rarity smiled and then moved to nudge the conversation along. “So, what happened with Trixie?”

“Uhm, well… I… I had this dumb idea going in… If I copied Rainbow Dash then I’d get to experience how Trixie is with her and, uhm, t-they should know what the other likes, right?” As if her cheeks weren’t already on fire enough, Rarity just had to lean in like she was on the edge of her seat. Flustered, she tried to explain herself. “I-I thought maybe I could catch up a little bit! You know, like copying homework? No! Wait, th-that’s not what I meant.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. Go on.” Rarity made an impatient motion with her hoof as if she was trying to reel in the next part of the story.

“To be honest, I lost my nerve as soon as I came face to face with her. I couldn’t do it.” Fluttershy averted her gaze as Rarity groaned. “Trixie noticed. I could see it. She was going to pull back and let me get away with it again and I just… It didn’t even make sense, like I was angry at her for not pushing me this time. It wasn’t just that. More like it was the spark to the kindle of all my frustration with her, no, with me.”

“Oh?”

“Then there was just this pressure! Like a kettle that was going to blow without an outlet and and, uhm.” Her heart raced just thinking about it again and she noticed she’d begun gesturing for emphasis as she spoke. “Next thing I knew I was on her. N-not softly either. She didn’t mind, though. J-just the opposite, she was submissive? I... I think I liked it too. So, I just kept piling on the pyre with every little thing that ever made me think about acting out before. It felt good, like a release.

“I don’t even know for how long. I just know that Trixie was gasping for breath when she pulled away and I… I felt, I don’t know? Proud? Satisfied? Content? It was so strange. I guess, I felt better? So much better. In the way that I always thought I’d feel better when I did something mean to her, but that always actually made me feel worse; this didn’t. It felt like that. Does that make any sense?”

Rarity just stared at her, mouth agape. She snapped as soon as she noticed, but it took her another moment to fully regain her composure. Instead, she had the tea set float in as though to distract them both for a bit.

Fluttershy squirmed impatiently. It had already been nerve-wracking enough to tell Rarity all of this and the silence was not doing a lot of good for her state of mind.

By the time they both had their respective cups, Rarity finally spoke up. “I think I understand what you meant now. About how it feels different. It sounds as though Rainbow Dash gave you a reprieve from the world and the problems it offers. Whereas with Trixie you had a chance to finally take out your frustrations in a… shall we say ‘constructive’ manner. I’d say that is apropos, no?”

Fluttershy stared down at her reflection in the tea. “Is that really it? I mean… I see what you are saying, but I don’t think it is as simple as just feeling differently about them because they treat me differently… and… I’m not sure it was okay to feel that way with Trixie in the first place. I doubt she signed up to be a, uhm, stress ball.”

“Well, feelings are rarely simple, darling.” Rarity smiled. “It’s okay to love each of them differently. From the sound of it, Trixie certainly doesn’t mind letting you vent a little frustration on her. Moving forward, do be careful that you don’t take that too far, though.”

“I like Trixie differently,” Fluttershy corrected. She suspected that Rarity had already made up her mind on that, however.

“Of course,” Rarity conceded all too easily sipping at her teacup.

It was a little frustrating to see. It felt a little like she wasn't being taken seriously. At the same time, Rarity had taken the day to hear her out about all this. She must have had other things to do. Was Rarity just so certain that she understood her feelings better than herself? Or was this just wishful thinking on Rarity’s part?

At least she was trying to help.

“So, uhm, what do you think?”

“Honestly, I came into this convinced you had to admit what you did and cut ties with them for as long as they need to forgive you,” Rarity said almost mechanically, as though the idea wasn’t horrifying to contemplate.

Fluttershy stared down at the table. “A-and now?”

“If your goal is for everypony to be happy… Well, it is obvious that Dash and Trixie care for you very much. Whether you say you love or like them in return, I think you should give this a chance, a real one.” A soft clank indicated Rarity sat her cup down before she continued. “It might take some work, but you have all the pieces you need.”

“I… I want to… but what if, I mean…” She faltered and quieted down as she stared at the woodgrain in the tabletop, all flowing in the same direction so naturally. Effortlessly. Like two other ponies she knew. “...I’m not sure I belong.”

Rarity reached out and lifted Fluttershy’s chin, forcing eye contact between them. Her expression was gentle like she was watching a puppy figuring out how to waddle. “Stop thinking you are an invader or imposter and maybe you’ll surprise yourself? If it feels too complicated, try just to enjoy the moment.”

“Oh, it’s that easy?” Fluttershy chuckled weakly.

“Was that sass?” Rarity quirked an eyebrow. “I’m happy to see galavanting with those two ruffians is at least having some positive influence on you.”

“Uhm, thank you?”

“You’re welcome, darling. And, you always will be, do you understand?” Rarity said as she slid her hoof from her chin to her temple, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear in the process. She studied her face. “Mhm, what say we clean you up just a little before you go back? A few relaxing hours at the spa never hurt.”

Looking at her now, it was hard to believe Rarity had been so angry with her an hour ago. She really had deserved the painful tongue-lashing and little else, but she was grateful to also find help from a good friend.

Actually, the scolding probably had been because she was one as well.

“I’d like that.”

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what she was expecting to find when she finally reached the garden path to her home, but the confetti and streamers strewn across her lawn wasn’t it.

Naturally, Pinkie Pie wasn’t far off, bouncing excitedly while speaking to Trixie and Rainbow Dash. “-so then I talked to Mayor Mare and she approved the whole thing!”

“Of course.” Trixie polished her hoof in her fur with a practiced casualness while her hat and cloak floated over to her from inside the house. Once they were properly secured, she dramatically threw the edge of the cloak over her shoulder. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is the finest magician this side of the Galloping Gorge. Who else would they hire to perform at the… the… what did you say the occasion was again?”

She’d only laid claim to about half of Equestria this time. It was kind of endearing to see Trixie attempt to be a little more modest. Maybe it meant she was making an effort to get along.

While the two of them discussed the details, Rainbow Dash took notice of her arrival and zipped on over to her side. “Hey, Fluttershy. Everything okay? I heard Rarity’s cat threw up on you or something.” She gave her a quick inspection as she spoke.

“You mean Opalescence? The poor little thing, she’s usually so easy to work with.” Fluttershy should have guessed that Rarity would have spun some kind of story while she was here to explain her late return. It was a little scary how premeditated the whole thing was in hindsight. “Don’t worry, it’s all cleaned up.”

Rainbow Dash nodded but she made sure to look away. “I missed you,” she said then surprisingly draped a wing over her back.

A lovely warmth spread all through Fluttershy’s body as she leaned into Dash a little bit more. As if being taken under her wing wasn’t enough, she’d been thinking about her? “I, uhm, I wasn’t gone that long, was I?”

“Aw, not even an ‘I missed you too’? Not cool.” Rainbow Dash chuckled as she started them both down the path again, but she was moving slower than usual, drawing out the little bit of time they could spend together while relatively alone.

“Sorry.” Fluttershy smiled. She briefly considered whether to confess right there and then that she’d spent most of her time talking about them. A better response occurred to her, though, one that had her cheeks burn before she even said it aloud. “A-anything I could do to, uhm, m-make it up to you?”

Rainbow Dash stumbled a step. Cute.

It visibly took her a moment of consideration to determine whether the remark was innocent or a tease. That was thanks to Trixie’s influence; Fluttershy knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have even given it a second thought in the past.

She liked this better.

“Got anything sweet?” Rainbow Dash asked, poorly suppressing a smirk while her eyes drifted down.

Fluttershy bit her lip.

The pounding in her chest had to be loud enough to drown out the conversation going on just a few yards away, but a quick glance revealed they were still entirely engrossed with themselves. “M-maybe, I, uhm, y-yes.”

Shooting her a seductive look, Rainbow Dash leaned in, getting so very close. “I’ll have that then.” She smelled like grass and morning dew rather than the usual rain. The usually soothing fragrance did nothing to quell the fires, though.

If anything, it made it worse. Conjuring thoughts of them both down in the grass.

Did Rainbow Dash really want to? Right here? Out in the open? What about Trixie? Okay, she was probably fine with Trixie, but Pinkie?

She chanced another glance toward the pair and gulped as she realized she’d been spotted by them. Pinkie Pie had her usual chipper expression as though she hadn’t quite pieced together what she was looking at yet, but Trixie was pleased as a chipmunk on a sunflower.

She noticed!

Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to be aware, or maybe she didn’t care. Her focus was entirely on Fluttershy, just seeing how she would react. It seemed she was expected to make the next move, one way or another.

Just as Fluttershy was contemplating whether to bail on the whole thing or not, she saw Trixie had hooked a hoof around Pinkie and turned them both in the opposite direction. A few wild gestures toward the cottage accompanied her loudly elaborating on how she expected her stage to be about as big and the locations of various props.

Now or never!

She gathered up all her courage and pecked Rainbow Dash on the lips!

The tension ebbed out of her as she hugged closely against her. It was only for a moment or two before she swiftly pulled away, but nothing could have been more exhilarating. She’d done it! She’d flirted with Rainbow Dash and followed through. The whole rest of the afternoon could be spent sneaking into dragon caves and she’d still have had a good day.

“Dang, Fluttershy. Impressive.” Rainbow Dash gave her a little squeeze of approval. “A girl could get used to this.”

“T-thanks.” Fluttershy couldn’t bring herself to look Dash in the eyes for fear of actually combusting on the spot. It would be so inconvenient for everypony else.

Fortunately, the next couple of minutes were easy. A quick greeting was all that was required of her before the other three carried the conversation forward. She didn’t pay much attention to it if she was honest.

All she could think about was how thrilled Trixie looked. Apparently, she’d been hired to perform a show the upcoming weekend and happily rattled off several impressive-sounding tricks that she was considering.

It wasn’t right to say it was as if Trixie had come alive for the first time. She’d been full of life most of the time regardless, even more so lately when her health was getting better, not to mention a certain something else that was lifting her spirits, but… this was different somehow and she couldn't quite place it. There was a glow to her.

After a while, Pinkie Pie said her goodbyes and started off down the path back to Ponyville before she suddenly made a jerking motion with her left hindleg and spun around. Her eyes briefly scanned over the three of them before she came trotting back, coming to a stop just an inch from Rainbow Dash. “Oh my gosh. I think my leg fell asleep! I can’t be late for my shift! I’ve already skipped the first hour! Dashie, can I get a lift?”

“To Sugarcube Corner?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly apprehensive at the idea as she looked Pinkie Pie over, none-too-subtly estimating her weight. “I dunno...”

“I’ll let you have the leftover brownies~,” Pinkie Pie sing-songed. “They didn’t sell very well because ponies said they were ‘too sweet’, can you believe that?”

“You know what? I guess I can spare a minute. I’ve not gotten to stretch my wings much today anyway.” Rainbow Dash snatched up Pinkie Pie and took to the sky. She made a few unsteady circles above them as she called out, “I’ll be right back!”

Just like that, they were gone, leaving Fluttershy alone with Trixie all of a sudden.

“Trixie just realized, she never did say who the party was for.” Trixie sat down in the grass as she watched the pair of ponies turn to specks on the horizon. “Not that there is any performance Trixie could give that would not be amazing, but it helps to know one’s audience.”

“Yes, it does,” Fluttershy replied while she watched Trixie. She tried to figure out whether Rarity had a point, but it was hard to tell how she felt. It wasn’t as if Trixie was cast in sparkly light with soft music in the background. She was just the same Trixie she always was.

“There are plenty of great illusions that Trixie could call upon, but most of them require more specialized props than the ones Trixie has right now. Maybe it would be better to work with what Trixie has already. At least until she can find a replacement wagon for storage.”

Fluttershy circled around Trixie. There was one thing she was certain she felt when looking at her. A feeling that had only gotten stronger when Trixie had distracted Pinkie Pie.

“Do you know any rabbits or doves that would like a career in showbiz? Trixie doesn’t usually hire but—” Trixie fell silent as Fluttershy hugged her from behind, wrapping her tightly.

“...Fluttershy?”

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whispered so quietly she wasn’t sure Trixie would even be able to hear it.

“Erm, that’s alright, Trixie can do without,” Trixie replied, clearly confused.

“It, uhm, it’s not that. I’ll ask around, but… I’m sorry for everything,” she said as she sank down to the ground behind Trixie. The hold she had on her felt a little strange due to the cloak, almost like she was wrapping her in a blanket “Uhm, c-can we stay like this... f-for a little while?”

Fluttershy didn’t elaborate.

Trixie didn’t ask.

After a moment, Trixie leaned back against her and nodded. “Sure. Trixie would like that.”

Author's Note

Ah, this was hard to write but I am so pleased with how it has turned out. I hope you'll have as much fun reading as I had trouble writing. :pinkiecrazy:

But seriously, I had fun with this. Cathartic and cute scenes are never a bad thing. Fortunately, Rarity is every bit as invested. :raritywink:

Chapter 16 - A lot like stagefright

It had been nearly a week since Pinkie Pie dropped by with the job offer and Trixie was hard at work prepping her second debut.

“Is this your card?!” Trixie dramatically threw the pack into the air, scattering it to the winds while she magically grasped a random card mid-flight and held it out.

The seven of diamonds.

“Uhm, y-yes.” Fluttershy brought her hooves together in meek applause as though she was afraid of drawing any more attention to herself than necessarily. A move that Trixie might have understood on stage, but they were in the back garden with nopony else around for this rehearsal, bar a couple of inquisitive forest critters.

That wasn’t the worst thing though.

“No, it isn’t. Your card was the three of clubs.” Trixie sighed and brushed her luxurious mane out of her face, then motioned to the rolled-up cloth banner that they’d hung off the roof. “You’re not supposed to just go along with it.”

“Sorry. I thought I was helping.” Fluttershy looked at the banner.

A quick burst of magic saw it unfurl and reveal a giant three of clubs painted on it.

“Oh!” Fluttershy gasped as she looked up at the banner in wide-eyed wonderment. Trixie could almost hear the gears spinning in Fluttershy’s head as she tried to piece together how this had happened.

Trixie smiled. This was what it was all about. That moment of awed confusion in the wake of her perfect illusions. That beautiful moment where the audience was trying to work out at what part she’d pulled the wool over their eyes. It didn’t matter whether they came up blank, made a thousand guesses, or even deduced it correctly. That moment would always exist.

Just the sight of it washed away any annoyance she’d felt a moment ago. Of course, it also didn’t hurt that in this particular case, that wonder came with a certain unique benefit.

Trixie stalked up beside the distracted Fluttershy and kissed her cheek, electing a surprised ‘eep’ from the adorable creature.

After a moment, a red-faced Fluttershy leaned over and placed a peck on Trixie’s offered cheek in return after which she hastily tried to act as though nothing had happened. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. What Fluttershy was trying to do was act casual about the ‘public’ display of affection. She just wasn’t very good at it yet.

‘Public’ in the sense that they could potentially be seen by a puzzled squirrel, but it was progress. It had been ever so enjoyable though, training Fluttershy together with Rainbow Dash to deal with this sort of thing over the past few days. For one, she’d gotten faster at reacting. What used to take an eternity was just a moment now.

“So what do you think?” Trixie allowed the question to linger just long enough for Fluttershy’s blush to intensify before she began gathering the cards back up and clarified. “This final trick isn’t as flashy as Trixie would have liked, but she only had a few days to prepare. Apparently, it is frowned upon to ask for a lot of black powder and a barrel of acid on short notice. Who knew?”

“I think if you want a good reaction, maybe you should build up to it a little more,” Fluttershy said as she narrowed her eyes at Trixie for just a moment. She turned back to the banner. “T-that, and maybe some sparks at the end when it unfurls? You don’t need physical fireworks for this one, right?”

“Are you sassing Trixie? It’s so hard to tell, but Trixie does appreciate your assistance. More lead-up and sparks it is.” Trixie smirked as she shuffled her newly collected deck and came trotting up behind Fluttershy. Trixie wrapped her up in a hug, fur soft as ever. Soothing. A simple incantation turned that feeling into a shower of pinkish, purple, and yellow glitter, dancing around the banner. “Better?”

“Mhm.” Fluttershy leaned back into the embrace.

Trixie gave her a tight squeeze just for a moment. She loved being this close, but one little thing was bothering her. Even when Fluttershy looked relaxed, just below the skin was this ever-present tension, like she didn’t know how to let go of her anxiety entirely.

Touching her always felt like that. It was just how Fluttershy was... or so Trixie had thought until recently. There had been so much going on that evening when they’d first all gotten together that it only occurred to her afterward, but it was the only time she could recall where Fluttershy had fully melted.

It was just a little bit galling that it had only happened when Rainbow Dash kissed her.

Not that Trixie had anything to be jealous about, of course, but she couldn’t stand the idea that Rainbow Dash would take notice and lord it over her that she was a better kisser or something preposterous like that! The Great and Powerful Trixie was second to nopony!

Fortunately, both Dash and Fluttershy had been distracted enough that neither of them seemed to have noticed, which meant Trixie had a window of opportunity to figure out how to make Fluttershy melt just as easily before either of them caught on.

“Don’t worry, Trixie’s got you,” Trixie warned before stepping back slowly and sitting down in the grass. A little bit of magic allowed Fluttershy to float down till she was laying on her back, head in Trixie’s lap.

Thankfully, Fluttershy hadn’t panicked and struggled. She just allowed the magic to take hold. Either that was a sign of trust in Trixie’s abilities or a sign she was unaware of how easily a less talented unicorn might slip up and drop her. Probably the former.

“Oh. My…” Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the garden, or at least what little of it as she could see from her new position. Finally, they settled for looking up at her with a hint of uncertainty. “U-uhm…?”

“You look adorable, like a flipped turtle.” Trixie chuckled as she reached out and poked one of Fluttershy’s airborne hooves. The touch made Fluttershy pull her legs closer to her body as a result. “That just made you look smaller, not any less cute.”

“I-it be pretty mean to do this to a little turtle...” Fluttershy muttered as she turned her head away, avoiding Trixie’s gaze. The blush on her cheek told Trixie she didn’t have any reason to pull back, though.

“Trixie will keep that in mind,” Trixie said as she caressed the offered cheek, then shifted her attention down to Fluttershy’s shoulders. A simple massage wasn’t going to achieve her goal, but it was a good start. Besides, she liked the feeling of fluffy fur under her hooves almost as much as Fluttershy seemed to like the gentle attention.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy murmured quietly, eyes closed.

After a little while of delivering what was frankly the greatest shoulder rub any living creature would ever receive, Trixie noticed that her strategy hit a hitch. It had kind of worked. The tension in Fluttershy had ebbed to an all-time low, but it wasn't entirely gone.

Trixie wasn’t quite sure what was keeping the girl on edge. Was it really just that they were out in the open? It was just the two of them alone out here, hardly anypony came all the way out this way this late in the day. Although, maybe it wasn’t anypony that was the issue.

She looked around at the various birds and rabbits that were honestly just minding their own business rather than staring, but still, it was the only thing she could think of. To Fluttershy, there wasn’t much difference.

Well, that was easy to solve.

“Trixie’s gonna take this inside, alright?” she asked, more to inform Fluttershy than to check if she was okay with it.

A sleepy nod gave her confirmation.

The rest was simple. Levitate Fluttershy off the ground and move the whole affair indoors, the couch would do. Too bad that she’d have to walk herself over there and clamber onto the couch, though it was soothing once she got to bring the nearly snoozing Fluttershy back into her lap.

Adorable.

The next few minutes were spent just repeating the same gentle motions again on the comfy couch. The curious thing, though, was that after a while Fluttershy felt more tense now than she had outside.

Trixie grimaced as she tried to puzzle out what was going on. She looked around the room and spotted the open windows. It struck Trixie as a little silly, but she supposed somepony or critter could in theory peek through them.

Fortunately, they all came with wooden shutters. One quick burst of magic later they each closed one by one. Trixie even had the presence of mind not to let her frustration get the best of her and slam them shut. Nice and easy.

The only issue was that she could feel Fluttershy tense up even more as soon as she did it. Now she was back to being just as bad as when they started, if not worse!

That didn’t make any sense!

Trixie pulled away from Fluttershy and hugged herself to keep her hooves from trembling. It was so frustrating! She sucked in a shaky breath. “...What am I doing wrong?”

A featherlight touch drew her attention to the yellow wing brushing at her face. It led back down to Fluttershy who was staring at her with obvious concern. Once their eyes met, Fluttershy looked startled as if it only just then occurred to her the comforting touch would draw attention to her. “Uhm… Hello. Are you doing okay? I’m sorry if you, uhm, if I should have done something. I just didn’t know what. Should I have offered to switch? Or—I’m sorry. I knew you were expecting something, but I just got so nervous trying to think what you wanted or maybe I’d do the wrong thing, or maybe it was too much, or maybe you were going to, uhm, or...”

The anxious barrage kept Trixie from getting a word in edgewise. It only halted when she put a hoof over Fluttershy’s mouth. “So, you were just nervous because you didn’t know what was coming next?”

Still muffled, Fluttershy considered for a moment and then nodded.

“Seriously?” Trixie rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d been so worried about this a moment ago. Of course, every action she took to give them more privacy just made Fluttershy more certain they were going to need it.

Trixie was about to explain that she’d just wanted her to relax, but stopped herself as she realized that Fluttershy hadn’t objected at any point. She’d been anticipating something that made her this nervous, but she hadn’t even tried to subtly change the subject. No, she’d just been thinking about how to reciprocate whatever was coming.

Did Trixie really want to disappoint her?

“Mhp?” Fluttershy had tried to speak but only managed a soft muffled sound.

“Ah! Sorry!” Trixie quickly pulled her hoof away from her mouth then paused and brought it back to caress Fluttershy’s jaw. “Yes?”

“Oh, I was just wondering, uhm...” Fluttershy rubbed her forelegs over each other nervously. “...H-have you and Dash… y-you know?”

Funny how something that vague could only mean one thing.

All of Trixie’s stage presence and acting came into play here to fight back any acknowledgment of surprise and bewilderment. Instead, she painted a smile and bedroom eyes as a placeholder while her mind took a moment to reboot and formulate a response. “...Is that something you’d maybe like to try?”

In the quiet moment that followed, her conversation with Rainbow Dash came back to the fore. They’d anticipated that Fluttershy might at some point get and try to play catch up. Was that what this was about?

Fluttershy had taken an intense interest in the coffee table, avoiding Trixie’s eyes as she squirmed. It was barely noticeable, perhaps impossible even if Fluttershy’s head wasn’t resting in her lap, but she nodded the smallest of nods before immediately screwing her eyes shut.

“Oh, sure. Leave it up to Trixie to do all the work.” Trixie teased with as much cool as she could muster while her heart was busy drilling its way out of her chest. It was so sudden. The thought hadn’t seriously really passed her mind before given how Fluttershy was. Actually, Trixie wasn’t entirely sure she was prepared for this herself either. She felt more nervous than excited, but both were there, a lot like stagefright.

She could buy herself a little time to calm down by making Fluttershy ask for it aloud, but that didn’t seem fair. Fluttershy’s initiative deserved a reward. Positive reinforcement and all that.

But, there were plenty more reasons to be nervous as well. This was exactly the sort of thing they’d been concerned about. If Fluttershy bit off more than she could chew, she might choke and this struck Trixie as an awfully big bite. The choice was whether to stop her preemptively or to carefully try and support her as best she could.

Trixie’s already made her choice a week ago, but… this is just a little bit more serious than what she’d been anticipating. Maybe it would be better to turn her down, at least for now, and talk to Rainbow Dash about it.

That did seem like it made the most sense.

but then again... Fluttershy looks awfully cute like this, and who knows when she’d feel this brave again.

Maybe there was a third option.

“How about we try something a little less intense first?” Trixie asked as she petted her still cowering girlfriend. “Just to see how it goes?”

“O-okay.” Fluttershy managed to squeak out.

Well, she was committed now.

That feeling of stagefright was still there, but the best way she knew to get over that was to just do. Step onto that stage and play the crowd. Let the audience reaction take away her own insecurity. If Trixie just acted confident then maybe she could ignore her own nerves. “Hey, come here.”

She guided Fluttershy by the chin till they were facing each other again. The girl even found the will to squint through one eye. Despite the nerves, she was curious. An adorable sight. Trixie swooped down for a kiss, then another. Soft at first, just a nip on the lips, then she let it linger, giving Fluttershy a moment to adjust.

It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to loosen up and reciprocate. She wasn’t as aggressive as before, as though she was signaling she wanted Trixie to lead this time. Her lips parted to allow entry to an exploring tongue, even as Trixie began drawing slow circles on her shoulder.

Trixie spiraled down from shoulder to chest and stopped when she felt Fluttershy freeze up. Her full attention returned to the kiss, gentle licks and nibbles along Fluttershy’s neck and lips sought out the snuffed out kindling of her confidence. Striking sparks was one of Trixie’s oldest tricks and she soon found Fluttershy light up to further advances

Each part of her was so reactive to Trixie’s exploring touch. Her ribs invoked a soft giggle followed by embarrassment, while veering off to her stomach had her gasp and pull it in as flat as possible. Self-conscious? Trixie had to admire the calm. It couldn’t be easy, letting another pony get to know you so intimately. As her hoof slid down a little more she reached the mound and Fluttershy held her breath.

Trixie was more than happy to give her something else to focus on. However, unlike before, nothing she did managed to calm her this time. Perhaps Fluttershy didn’t feel ready after all. Trixie withdrew to get a better look at her.

Fluttershy was nervous, that much was to be expected. Her forelegs were folded tightly to her chest and shaking as she kept her eyes shut tightly. Once she took notice of Trixie’s departure, she startled upright and tried to speak, failed, tried again, then finally shut up, letting her head hang.

“Do you want to stop?” Trixie asked softly. “It’s alright, you’re allowed to change your mind.”

Curiously, rather than relief or even embarrassment Fluttershy gave her a look more akin to a guilty dog that got caught. After another false start she finally just nodded tearfully and managed to croak out a quiet, “Sorry.”

Trixie nodded, but her chest stung at the rejection. It wasn’t a fair feeling, she knew that, but it was there. Disappointment. Frustration. She was allowed to feel that way, wasn’t she? Even if Fluttershy was trying her best.

Maybe it was her own fault for squandering the opportunity. If she’d just done something different, maybe she could have shown her there was nothing to be scared of. If she could just figure out where she went wrong.

That didn’t matter right now, though.

She wrapped the sniffling Fluttershy into a hug. “It’s okay…”

Fluttershy returned the embrace and didn’t make any effort to break it afterward.

They could just stay like this for a while.

Fluttershy hated this.

The rest of the day had progressed as usual, but it had been awkward. Trixie made too many attempts to fill the silence with chit chat and anytime they came close to each other she pulled away preemptively as if to respect some personal boundary that had been erected. Or perhaps more likely, Trixie was aiming to keep Fluttershy from getting too close while Trixie dealt with her own feelings.

She’d hurt her. Trixie was playing it off, but it was obvious she was acting differently. Just a bit more distance, a bit more of a pause when she spoke.

It was getting dark and they hadn’t talked about it. Rainbow Dash had even stopped by and the three of them shared a moment of respite. It was hard to think about anything when Rainbow Dash was nearby going a mile a second about her new ideas for a stunt routine.

Trixie of course pounced on the opportunity to share her own ideas and the two of them bounced off each other energetically while she just sat on the sideline. A conflicted feeling bubbled up inside as she watched on. She loved their mirrored enthusiasm, yet quietly dreaded that no matter how much time went on, she’d never be able to match it.

Were they the same when exploring each other rather than just their ideas? Had they even done so? Trixie hadn’t given her a straight answer about that in hindsight.

Neither Fluttershy nor Trixie had brought up their encounter. There wasn’t any reason to keep it secret from Dash, but the way Trixie spoke it was like it hadn’t happened. Maybe that was Trixie’s intention, to make it so that they could just pretend to start fresh.

The three of them did share a nice moment together toward the end of the visit that left her feeling a little calmer. She just wished she had a better term for it than ‘make-out sesh’ as Rainbow Dash had called it. Yes, it had become much more casual and relaxed than their first time a couple of days ago, but… Actually, when had that started to feel more relaxed?

In any case, Rainbow Dash had left shortly after and now it was just her and Trixie again.

Fluttershy rinsed the last of the glasses in the sink and set it aside in mid-air. Rather than fall, the glass just gained an orchid glow then sorted itself into the little cabinet it belonged in.

Trixie was nearby, lounging with a book, and barely even looked up to keep an eye on what she was doing. She had a way of making it look like every physical action was the hard way of doing it. Magic certainly was convenient.

It couldn’t actually be that much easier, though. Trixie had explained it once and apparently the whole process took a lot of concentration. This display was no different from when Rainbow Dash would do a loop right before she’d hit the ground to lose speed and land safely. They were perfectly capable of doing it the normal way, but the goal was to impress with their casual ease.

She briefly wondered if the fact that it usually worked on her made her a sucker. That didn’t seem right. It wasn’t any less impressive just because they pretended it wasn’t, right? That had to make it harder if anything and it still didn’t look like it gave them any problems.

No, the only thing giving them problems was her. She couldn’t let that go on. Not anymore.

“Uhm… can we talk?” Fluttershy asked as she scrubbed a plate. It helped to have something to distract her a little. It made her feel a little bit like them, doing something hard while pretending it was such a minor deal she could focus on something else. It bolstered her, but simultaneously it was a lame thought she’d be afraid to admit to. “I just think I should, uhm, explain.”

Trixie was quiet for a moment, perhaps taken by surprise, perhaps considering how to best react to have her continue rather than get spooked. “...Trixie is listening.”

“I guess I’ve been wanting to see how I’d feel getting closer to you. That, uh, that might not make a lot of sense, but... I just didn’t know how to do that. I mean, we’re as close as we’re gonna get in a way? Nopony else lives here, I mean.” She rambled too much. Fluttershy shut up and pulled the plate out of the dishwater, holding it out as she tried to gather her thoughts more constructively. “A-anyway, when you brought me inside I started to think maybe you had some, uh, ideas and maybe if I couldn’t think of anything I should go with yours. Or that maybe I was imagining things...”

She could hear Trixie close the book and set it aside.

“At the end… I felt I wasn’t being fair to you, to me, to either of us. Like, I was tainting something special by just wanting to see how I’d feel and we’d never get another cause there’s only one first and, and I was ruining it.” She wiped away the tears that came as she struggled to keep going. “I, uhm, I spiraled, I guess? Like, it felt like everything I’d do would be wrong. If I stopped you, I’d also ruin it and if I didn’t and you found out then that’d be worse and, and… I panicked. Now it feels like we’re further away but I didn’t mean for that to happen, but I just want you to know it wasn’t your fault... I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry for waiting this long. I didn’t know what to sa—”

Her rambling halted as she felt a warm embrace wrap around her from behind. A gust of warm breath washed over her ear as Trixie sighed.

“Trixie isn’t sure she fully understood all that, but...” Trixie tightened the hug and rested her chin on her shoulder. “She’s just glad it wasn’t something she did.”

“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy tilted her head just enough to lay on Trixie’s and let her wingtips brush over Trixie’s forelegs. Her own hooves were too wet and soapy from the sink to be of much use. It felt good to feel that bit of frost between them melt away like this.

She considered what she could say to explain herself further, but she couldn’t just tell her that she was following Rarity’s advice. No matter how understanding Trixie tried to be, there was just no way that she wouldn’t be terribly hurt if she knew this week was an experiment to understand her own feelings more than anything.

Not that she felt she was making much progress on that front.

At least she was sure the hug was nice.

“So, you, uh… you were looking for something we could do to be closer, right?” Trixie asked as she slowly pulled away. Her voice held a strange trepidation about it. Like she wasn’t comfortable with her own line of thinking. “Does that mean you won’t mind if Trixie asks your help with something… personal?”

She shook her head and smiled as she found herself echoing Trixie’s earlier answer. “I’m listening.”

“...Trixie needs help writing a letter to her mom!” Trixie blurted out and some of the tension visibly left her when she finished. It was such a mundane thing, but clearly, it meant a lot to her to finally say it. “You don’t have to do much, just… Trixie’s struggled a lot with it and she thinks she’d have an easier time if somepony did it with her.”

By now, that letter was awfully late.

Fluttershy bit her tongue to keep from blurting out anything stupid. When she was spying on Trixie and Rainbow Dash, she’d heard Trixie talk about sending a letter every month. The last one was from before she even got to Ponyville. But that conversation was about a week ago now.

Had Trixie been wrestling with it for that long?

She could understand why Trixie had trouble asking for help with this. To anypony that didn’t know it would sound so trivial that it would be silly. Moreover, admitting there was something she couldn’t do had to be rough on her as well.

Trixie was trusting her with this in hopes it would help them both with their own problems?

“I’d be happy to.”

The little writing desk in her bedroom hadn’t seen as much use as she’d have liked. She’d told herself it would be much easier to communicate with others if she’d just write little letters, but every time she’d tried it had ended up with a wastebasket full of crumpled-up pages till she ran out.

She hadn’t bothered to get any new ones since then.

So it was a surprise to see Trixie lay out a sheet. It looked as though the top portion had been scraped clean several times already. That would be the struggling Trixie referred to earlier. She must have done a thorough job to not leave a single inkstain.

Thankfully, Trixie had shared the same story she had with Rainbow Dash on their way up.

“So, Trixie feels she has to write something great to make up for being so late.” Trixie finished as she opened the desk and pulled out an old inkwell that should have dried up ages ago, but now contained a swirling mixture of something. It was too clear to be ink. “She was thinking she could maybe write something about how well the performance went but….”

“But you feel that’s just an excuse to put it off?” She asked only to have Trixie look as guilty as she’d ever seen her, scrapping her hoof along the floor and biting her lip as she looked off to the side. “Oh, sorry! It’s just I do the same thing, that’s why I thought about it. Sorry. Uhm, so what made you change your mind?”

“It’s dumb but Tixie’s thinking maybe the most spectacular thing she’s gotten involved with since then is, well, the two of you.” She blushed and held out an extra quill with a slight shake. “Trixie will write most of it but...Do you think you could say ‘hi’ as well? Trixie thinks she’d like that even if it's just a sentence.”

Her chest tightened as she took the quill in her mouth and rolled it around. The feel of it was still familiar, but the negative associations that came with it were dwarfed by the dawning realization that Trixie would rather write about them than the show she was putting so much effort into all week. She felt so strongly and yet Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could return that intensity, but she could do her best.

“You want me to just write something? L-like ‘Hi, Trixie’s mom, I’m Fluttershy’ or...?” Fluttershy looked up from the blank page to see Trixie give her a curt nod. She was nervous. It reminded her of herself, just looking for some kind of foothold. But this time she could help. “...Okay. I’ll do that, do you think you could maybe introduce me first if that’s okay? We can think of how to do that together.”

She held out the quill to Trixie.

If Trixie realized that her own favorite method of teaching was being turned on her, she didn’t let on to that fact as she took the quill back with an expression somewhere between resignation and determination. It must have been hard as she stared down at the blank page. “...Okay.”

Even though she said that, Trixie proved to be surprisingly indecisive, tapping the quill nervously on the desk for a minute before she leaned back with an aggravated sigh. “Trixie’s not sure how to start.”

“How do you usually start?” Fluttershy asked.

“Usually Trixie isn’t this late.” Trixie groaned. “Wouldn’t it look bad if Trixie didn’t acknowledge that?”

“Oh… but, uhm, do you think she’ll mind? What is she like?”

Taking the parchment and quill, Trixie slipped away from the desk and climbed onto the bed instead, letting them float above her. “Trixie just knows she’ll be looking for any imagined subtext and read too much into it. She’s too clever for her own good. Trixie doesn’t want her to worry.”

“It’s nice to know where you get it from, then.” Fluttershy smiled as she spoke and followed Trixie’s example, getting comfortable above the sheets. “What if we just started with a quick apology?”

“Mhm, yes perhaps...” Trixie popped open the inkwell and an odd citrusy smell permeated the room as she danced the quill along the parchment. The words were faint in color but remarkably elegant with more loops than Rainbow Dash on a cloudy day. Once Trixie finished, she smirked at her. “Why is Trixie not surprised that would be your first instinct. Are your parents just as agreeable as you are then?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no. They are illegal midnight drift racers and often get into just terrible conflicts with riva—Yes. They are lovely. If anything, I wish they were a little less patient. It’s so frustrating when somepony keeps taking advantage of them.”

“Okay, first of all. That was such an evil misdirect!” Trixie gave her a playful shove. “You can’t do that to Trixie! That is literally Trixie’s job! Second, she has to hear all about this. If it’s even true. Trixie doesn’t know anymore.”

A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she watched Trixie’s indignant antics. This was more like her, more fun. It also gave her a pretty good idea, if she did say so herself. “Oh, it’s true. I’m happy to tell you about it, but, uhm… on two conditions.”

“Go on.”

“First, I really need you to promise not to tell anypony. I… I don’t like to talk badly of anypony, but… I feel like I could trust you with it.” More than that, she felt more at ease with the idea of venting some of her frustration to Trixie than anypony else. Perhaps because she’d already done so in a much more extreme way?

“Done!” Trixie rolled onto her side, keeping her head propped up with a hoof. She looked much more excited now than she had all evening. “What else?”

“Second… I’ll only tell you something after you finish a paragraph! I mean, if that’s okay with you?” She backpaddled a bit, hoping she hadn’t stepped over a line in her enthusiasm. It was to help, but perhaps making a game of a personal letter was too far.

Trixie groaned.

“Fine!”

Twilight yawned as she walked circles around her kitchen table, going through her checklist for a third time that early morning. So much to do, or rather, to ensure others were doing properly.

There was no such thing as a casual visit and she’d have to ensure everything was perfect.

A brief, but rapid knocking at her window drew her attention.

There, just outside, stood her co-conspirator, the grey mailmare that she’d met at the post office.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw her anxiously hold up an envelope.

“Gotcha!”

Author's Note

Chapter 17 - Dodge Junction Cherry Hill Ranch 1

The basement of Golden Oaks Library was nestled deep between the roots of the old tree. The only way in or out was a single door. A door that Twilight had recently reinforced with locks since the last break-in. She wouldn’t risk that a second time.

Especially not since it was now the hub of her investigation into whoever had taken the book from there.

Twilight paced back and forth in front of the large murder board she’d constructed since then.

A timeline stretched across the top and a map of the town made up most of the background. Copious amounts of red string was strung between pins that held pictures of locations and ponies along with notations on potential travel time, motives, and means.

A majority of the strings all connected back to Trixie, but she would not allow anypony to say she hadn’t explored other options.

To the right of it all were her two newest additions taped to the large blackboard where an open envelope and a one-page letter. Both had simple black lettering scrawled onto them, an address and a message respectively.

Twilight came to a stop and looked up to read the letter again for what felt like the hundredth time.

Hey there,

Just writing to let you know I’m fine.

Here’s another drawing.

What followed was what looked to be a poorly scribbled rabbit that took up most of the remainder of the page. It was almost child-like. Not unlike the magical drawing, Trixie had used during her show to illustrate her supposed battle with the Ursa Major.

“What does it mean?” Twilight pondered aloud.

“I think it’s a rabbit,” a sudden voice from behind her said.

“Wagh!” Twilight spun around only to find Spike standing there, holding a plate of food. “Oh! Hey, Spike. I didn’t hear you come on.”

“You looked pretty busy.” Spike held out the plate. “You missed dinner, so I brought you some.”

“Thanks, Spike.” Hunger was the last thing on her mind, but she’d eat if he went through the effort. She took the plate from him and settled down.

Spike didn’t leave. Maybe he suspected she’d forget to finish eating and go right back to her investigation if he wasn’t there. That probably was a fair assumption if she was being honest.

He looked at the blackboard with obvious apprehension. “You’ve been down here all day, please tell me you figured out something horrible and you didn’t just steal an innocent pony’s mail.”

“Well...” Twilight bit her lip. If she’d found something she wouldn’t have stayed in the basement. “I managed to rule out any magical enchantments on the letter, it’s entirely mundane other than some mild traces of telekinesis which is consistent with a unicorn levitating it.”

“So, no illusions hiding the true contents then,” Spike correctly surmised.

“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean there isn't some hidden message encoded here.” Twilight did her best to hide her irritation. “If you take the number of letters in each word and correlate them to the alphabet you get: CEDGBCCEBDEGG.”

Spike looked at the section on the blackboard that held that exact phrase, plus several additional phrases that came up when Twilight assumed the correlation did not simply start at A or didn’t count up or skipped some letters.

She caught him looking at the string below it. “For that one, I assumed perhaps the code would start at ‘R’ for Rabbit; the drawing might be the key after all. From that perspective, you get: TVUXS—”

“Twilight,” Spike interrupted as he turned to face her, one hand on the board. “I’m on your side here. We should find whoever broke in, but this is getting you nowhere. All you did was steal Trixie’s mail and I’m not even sure why. I thought you two were doing okay now.”

“We are! I think so at least. She hasn’t done anything overly suspicious lately.”

“Then why are you doing this now?”

“Well, to be honest… I set this up a while ago and totally forgot about it. It was right after she took a page of blank parchment from here, remember? Back when she distracted me with Rainbow Dash and came here to ‘hang out’ with you for a while. I had that postmare promise to let me handle her next delivery from there.”

“That was weeks ago!” Spike exclaimed.

“I know that! I told you, I forgot about it until she showed up with that letter.” She pointed toward the letter on the board. “Which, by the way, is the same type of parchment that went missing, so I was at least right about that.”

“Great.” Spike threw up his hands. “We have her on one count of taking a piece of paper without asking for it. Just too bad you’ll have to admit to mail fraud to confront her with it.”

“I get it, okay. I should have refused the letter.” Twilight sighed in exasperation. “I just thought that if I could find something then all of this would finally be over, but I’ve been here all day with nothing to show for it… So, I’m probably on the wrong track. I guess I’m just glad Trixie didn’t write anything too personal.”

If anything, the letter had been weirdly short, which had fueled her initial suspicion that there was more to it.

“Oh, uhm, good.” Spike motioned at the letter. “So, what are we gonna do about this?”

Twilight plucked the letter from the board and folded it back into an envelope. “What else, Spike? Express Delivery by yours truly. It’s the least I can do.”

“I’m not sure if that really makes up for it, but it's a nice gesture. Where to?”

Twilight held up the envelope

S. N.
Dodge Junction
Cherry Hill Ranch 1.

“Are you kidding!? That’s on the outskirts of Equestria! A trip like that will take a whole day!”

Twilight nodded. “You’re right, so we better hurry before the evening train leaves.”

Dodge Junction.

It had to be a testament to the uncanny ability of earth ponies to grow a crop anywhere in the world. Even in an otherwise completely barren dust bowl such as this.

For the past few hours, the view from the train window had been downright depressing. Nothing but sun-bleached sand and rock red with iron as far as the eye could see. Twilight felt a pang of sympathy for whichever poor souls had the unenviable task of painstaking laying down the tracks they were now speeding across.

Even on the train, the heat was almost unbearable. The book she’d brought along for the journey was used for reading as much as it was used to fan herself.

Why would anypony voluntarily come here?

Spike on the other hand laid back on the opposite bench as if he was comfortable for the first time in his life. The searing heat seemed to agree with him somehow. “Can we move here? It’s like a perfectly sunny day every day.”

“I’ll leave you here.” Twilight groaned and laid the open book across in face to get at least some shade. “Don’t think I won’t.”

Finally, the train pulled into the station.

As Twilight stepped out from the train, she had to wonder if this was the furthest she would ever be from home. She couldn’t imagine ever finding a reason to venture any further.

Mercifully, the town itself had a much more livable climate than the desert that surrounded it. which was probably why the acres of cherry trees hadn’t turned to dust yet. It had to be a sustained effort to bring in enough rain and shade to keep the place so livable.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike said with a mischievous grin. “Wouldn’t it be funny if Trixie knew you’d take her letter and deliberately sent it as far away as she could just so you’d go away to check it out? I mean, it does explain why she didn’t put much effort into writing the message. It was just for a prank.”

Twilight paused.

“That is a frightfully real possibility that I really wish you’d brought up when we were still in Ponyville…” She looked over to the train schedule with quiet dread. The next train back was not leaving any time soon. “What if this letter was a decoy? What if she sent the real one after we left? No! What if she is planning something while we’re gone?”

Spike just shrugged. “Then I guess she’s got us. We might as well do what we came here for, though. I mean, you don’t really think that, do you?”

“I… I suppose not.” Twilight sighed and shook her head. “It’s just this heat that’s making it harder to think rationally. And we are not checking it out, Spike.”

She couldn’t escape the sneaking feeling she was being played somehow, but for now, she’d focus on delivering that letter. Hopefully, she was just being paranoid.

Much like the apple farm, it wasn’t hard to find the cherry ranch. All it took was heading toward the nearest bunch of cherry trees and following the biggest road there. On the way, they spotted a few ponies working to fill a bucket with cherries who helpfully confirmed they were on the right path.

“Yup. Right over yonder.” A large rough-coated stallion pointed the way. As he did, the light refracted off of a metallic-looking bracelet half-hidden beneath his long fetlocks. If Rarity had been here, she’d probably remark on how It didn’t seem to match his otherwise rugged look.

Something about it was familiar to Twilight, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. Maybe it would come to her on the journey.

Before long the ranch came into view. It struck Twilight as a more modern building than the old farm back in Ponyville. Many more ponies seemed to be coming and going from it as well, directed by a red-maned mare with a southern accent. Was that just how every pony with a fruit tree spoke?

As they approached, the mare took notice and came trotting up.

“Oh, well if it ain’t some brand new faces ‘round these parts. Cherry Jubilee, boss of Cherry Hill Ranch. What can I do you fine folk for today? We’re always happy to take on new workers, no questions asked.”

“Actually, we’re just looking for somepony.” Twilight did her best to keep a casual smile, but the way Cherry had made the offer for work was strange. “Do you know an ‘S.N.’?”

Apparently, something she’d said has put Cherry on edge as well. She gave them both a sharp look for a moment before she continued with just a bit more caution to her voice. “Is that a fact? Well, I got so many ponies working ‘round these parts that it is hard to keep track sometimes. What else can ya tell me about this S.N. to jog my memory?”

“Uh.”

“Full name, perhaps?”

“Well, no.”

“Right. What do you need her for if ya don’t mind my asking?”

There was more going on here. Twilight was sure of it. Cherry had said ‘her’, which indicated she did know who S.N. was, but she chose to make it difficult for some reason.

Twilight would have to think carefully about how she would approach the problem.

Spike reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the letter. “We’re just trying to get this to her.”

Or that.

“Funny, y’all don’t look like the regular mailpony.” Cherry scanned the envelope as it was presented then quickly brought her attention back to the two of them. “Is Swift Wind sick?”

“Somehow I doubt that is their actual name,” Twilight noticed a distinct lack of surprise on Cherry’s face. “You can stop trying to test us, we’re not mailponies.”

“Figured as much, really.” Cherry held out her hoof. “Well, thanks for bringing it all this way. I’ll take it from here.”

Twilight pulled back the letter, Spike and all. “If it's all the same to you, we’d like to see this through.”

Cherry grasped for the letter but just missed it. She grumbled but quickly regained her composure as though nothing had happened. “What’s it to you?”

Twilight didn’t have a response ready. The flimsy excuse she’d used on Spike was not going to work; the letter was at its destination in record time. She hadn’t admitted it, but she just wanted to investigate whoever the letter went to to put her mind at ease for good.

What to say? What was Cherry’s deal in the first place? Why did she have to be so difficult?

Meanwhile, the quick physical exchange did not go unnoticed. Twilight spotted a few ponies with a cart sharply changing direction to come their way just a bit faster than looked casual. It seemed they hadn’t quite decided if there was trouble just yet and slowed down after Cherry made eye contact with them.

For a moment, Twilight thought one of them was the stallion from before with the bracelet, but she quickly realized it was just somepony wearing the same accessory. Odd to see it twice. Unless there was some connection.

It was largely featureless save for a small half-ring to the side. From what she could tell at a glance it had to be made from simple materials, a common metal.

Why is the band so thick? That has to be heavier than is comfortable and…Oh! That’s a shackle! Yep, definitely a hoof shackle. For criminals. Oh, horsefeathers! Aren’t these supposed to be attached to a chain and a big heavy ball or a wall? Why are they just walking around?

She pulled her gaze away from the shackled pony, but it was obviously too late. Cherry was still looking right at her and she had obviously noticed her notice.

“Tell you what,” Cherry said as she stepped uncomfortably close. “You don’t make any fuss and I’ll mention you when I give it over, deal?”

“We can’t just—On second thought… Look at the time!” Twilight smiled nervously while she levitated Spike onto her back as casually as she could manage. “We should be going. Our friends will be worried about us if we miss our get-together and all. I’m sure the letter is in good hooves with you. No reason to go prying into anypony else’s business after all, right?”

“Why that’s mighty understanding of y’all.” Cherry plucked the letter out of Spike’s grasp.

“Hey!” Spike tried to reach for the letter but Twilight was already on her way out.

“I’d say ya best get some lodging given the next train won’t be here till morning, but since y’all are in such a rush, perhaps you’ll want to catch a stagecoach outa town instead.”

Twilight did not stick around to see how much more ‘advice’ Cherry had for them. On the way, she found that nopony was trying to stop them. At least that was one less thing she’d have to worry about.

Good, because there was plenty more to worry about. Most notably how they were going to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible. They already had train tickets that would cover the return trip, but she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of staying the night in town.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Spike tapped her on the shoulder.

“What just happened?” he asked.

“You mean beside Trixie luring us to a place where curious ponies might go missing?” Twilight hissed under her breath. Nopony was near enough to easily hear them, but she could see a couple arranging buckets under a tree four rows down.

“T-that can’t be right.”

“If you have a better explanation for escaped prisoners wandering around, I’d love to hear it.”

It didn’t take long to find their way back to town.

The train was gone. Unfortunate, but anticipated. A quick inquiry revealed the next stagecoach was expected to show up in as little as an hour. All that was left was to get out of the sun for a while and hope that no further trouble would find them before then.

She settled on the local saloon. A big wooden building with little swinging doors took them into a surprisingly empty main room with chairs, tables, and booths for their choosing. In the back stood the bar and one pony absentmindedly polishing a glass. The back wall held up a large mirror, shelves, and bottles of all kinds.

A corner booth by the window and the exit would do. That way they could keep an eye on when the stagecoach arrived. She didn’t want to have to be here any longer than necessary.

Now all they had to do was not draw attention to themselves.

“Hey! Can we get a couple of waters, please?” Spike waved at the pony by the bar.

Of course.

Twilight inwardly cringed as she looked toward the bar.

“Can do!” the bartender replied in a surprisingly chipper voice. “You folks sure you want water, though? ‘Round these parts it's more expensive than plain ol’ cherry juice. And frankly speaking between you and me, you’d be doing yourselves a disservice coming all the way out here without trying some. Why it’s just about the only thing this town's got going for it.”

Twilight relented. A cool drink did sound good and the bartender seemed nice enough. “Sure, how much?”

He smiled. “For you fine folk? It’s—-“

“On me!” An unfamiliar female voice called out. A heavily panting white pegasus stood leaned up against the doorway. From the way she was struggling to catch her breath, it was as if she’d just sprinted across the desert. “The, hah, the drinks. Hah. Are on me. Hah. And get me one.”

“Uhm, thank you?” Twilight said as she studied the new arrival. She looked to be maybe twice Twilight’s own age but in good shape. Which made the fact she was winded odd. Had she rushed here? The very next thing she noticed was that she too had one of the metal manacles. That had her a little more worried.

“You alright there, Sly?” The bartender asked but his concern was waved away with a hoof and he didn’t press the issue any further, choosing instead to pour the drink and bring them over to the booth. “I’ll put it on yer tab.”

“Thanks.” The pegasus, who was apparently named Sly, managed to recover enough to come to join them at the table. She chugged half the glass before she regained some semblance of composure. “Gosh, that hit the spot. Sorry if I spooked you and, uh, sorry if Cherry spooked you. I promise she means well.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Could have fooled me. It felt like we’d be run out of town on a rail if we pushed our luck any further.”

Sly chuckled weakly. “Well… Okay, that’s probably accurate, but you have to understand. Ponies rarely drop by here unannounced and those who do are usually looking for trouble. Usually, because they have a grudge against a, uhm, ‘resident’. It happened to me once so far.”

“And who are you exactly?” Twilight asked.

“Ah! Right. I am the ‘S.N.’ you asked about. Sly Nightsky? I heard you went out of the way to bring my Trixie’s letter. Thank you so much, I’ve been worried sick about her.”

“You’re Trixie’s mom?” Spike asked, incredulous. “I kinda thought you’d be a unicorn. Also, aren’t you supposed to be crippled or something?”

Sly smirked at the first comment but then blinked confusedly. “I, what?”

“Trixie mentioned her mom couldn’t travel anymore,” Twilight explained. “So, either you aren’t who you say you are… or…”

A quiet moment dragged on between the three of them as Twilight left Sly with some room to provide an explanation while Sly seemed to be giving the two of them a closer, more discerning look.

Actually, it was a familiar one. Sly had the same calculating look that Trixie sometimes displayed. Perhaps she was telling the truth after all, but then did that mean Trixie had lied to all her friends?

“…Who are you to my daughter?” Sly finally asked.

Twilight didn’t hesitate to answer. “Friends.”

“I’m a little skeptical. Trixie doesn’t do ‘friends’ anymore. You’ve met her, presumably.”

“I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t challenging on occasion.”

Sly sighed and leaned back in her seat. “That’s fair. Alright, I’ll believe you. As for me… Well… Trixie didn’t lie to you she just… I guess she’s a little ashamed of me... It’s true that I can’t travel anymore, but maybe she preferred for you to think I was cripple rather than know about this?” She held up the hoof with the manacle.

“I know what it’s for, but how is that keeping you from traveling? You aren’t exactly chained down.” Twilight looked it over again, it didn’t appear to be magically tethered or anything either. “I noticed some of the other ponies here have them as well?”

Sly nodded. “They are prisoners and this town is the prison. Well, that might be a little too harsh. We’re working off our debt to society, thanks to Miss Cherry Jubilee. She has a soft spot for the lost and wayward.”

“And the criminal?” Spiked chimed in.

“After a sort. Nopony here is bad at heart. Just circumstances and desperation that landed most of us in hot water.” She tapped the manacle on the table. “This is a formality. Something to remind me I’ve got work to do still. If I really wanted to ‘break out’ I could, but what does that get me? A face on a wanted poster till I get caught and go to an actual dungeon this time? No, thank you.”

Twilight gave Spike a glare but he didn’t seem to notice. Still, as long as he’d brought it up and Sly didn’t seem to mind, she might as well go with it. “Trixie mentioned you’ve been, uhm, ‘stuck’ for nearly a year. Is it almost over?”

Sly chuckled sadly. “I’m afraid not. It’s going to be at most another two decades. Well, I suppose just one year with good behavior if I could pay for my debt today, but I don’t see that happening. Even with Cherry’s charity here, it’s probably going to take me at least a decade.”

“Once you’ve earned the bits to pay the debt, you’re free to go?” Twilight asked.

“Or to stay. Some do so permanently. It’s not a bad job and the ponies here are friendly. Others stay for a while to earn enough bits for themselves to get back on their hooves before leaving.” Sly motioned out the window at the arid desert separating them from the rest of the world. “Nopony is all too eager to try to cross that at the best of times anyway.”

“Makes sense. Even on the train, it was the worst ride we’ve ever been on. I can’t imagine crossing it on hoof.” Twilight shuddered. “I’m glad I don’t usually travel.”

“So, what brought you all the way out here then? Trixie didn’t ask you to come, that much is obvious. You didn’t even know who the letter was for and… ” Sly paused, looking the two of them over again. “Wait, how did you get that letter?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to sweat. “I guess, uhm, well… I was worried about her.” It wasn’t a lie if it was true, right? Why did that feel so familiar? “Something happened and I thought it might help if I knew more about her, but as much as Trixie likes to talk about herself she doesn’t like to reveal a lot. This was a long shot.”

“What happened? Is she okay?” Sly asked relatively calmly, but her anxious grip on her drink was making the glass creak under the pressure.

“She’s fine!‘ Twilight hastened to assure her. “There was a bit of an uhm incident with an Ursa Minor, but nopony got hurt, promise. Actually, I should start at the beginning...”

Once she started to fill Sly in, Twilight found it was difficult to stop as Sly kept pressing to hear more of Trixie’s escapades. Not just the story of the Ursa Minor, but also how she’d apparently secretly taken refuge in the cottage, made friends, and even attended a party.

Twilight had a whole lot she couldn’t tell without diving into her suspicions and other parts she’d only vaguely learned about later, but Sly didn’t seem to mind how disjointed the story was and had no problem following along.

At some point midway, they all had their drinks refreshed.

By the end of the tale, Sly was just smiling. “Thank you. I’m so glad to hear she’s doing well. You are trying to help her with the fallout of this big blue bear thing, then? I’d be happy to tell you anything I can if you think it’ll help.”

“So, what are you in for?” Spike asked while trying to fish out a loose cherry in his glass. “Telling tall tales?”

“Spike!” Twilight snapped.

“What? It can’t be that bad.”

“That’s not the point!”

Sly had quieted down after the question, staring down at the metal ring as she rotated it around her wrist. “…It’s alright, Twilight. I suppose it can’t do any harm. I… took some things that didn’t belong to me. I told myself I had a good reason, but Trixie was so angry at me when she found out that she refuses to visit me even now.” Her voice broke toward the end and she rubbed at her eyes. “Sorry. It’s still hard.”

Spike reached out to pat her hoof empathically. “Sorry.”

Twilight meanwhile had her own moment of realization. Was this why Trixie got so angry when she’d called her a book thief? Had she inadvertently been reminding Trixie of her mother?

She felt a pang of guilt at the thought that up until now, she’d always considered the overreaction as evidence she was on to something.

It felt difficult to parse now. She’d come here hoping to find something to aid her investigation, either to prove Trixie’s guilt to others or her innocence to herself. Where did learning her mother was a thief fall?

In the abstract, she’d have assumed it would make Trixie guilty in a ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ sort of way. But in reality, the effort Trixie took to distance herself from her mother felt more significant. Was Trixie’s only contact with her really just a letter every so often?

Actually, hadn’t Sly said her sentence was twenty years? That didn’t seem to line up with a mere theft. Was she lying? Or had she taken something of immense value?

Twilight didn’t like the idea that she didn’t know the full context, but she couldn’t exactly blame Sly for not sharing her entire life story with a pony she’d only just met.

“Honestly, I’m just glad Trixie’s made such good friends. Ever since her accident she’s been so lonely that I was sure her ‘punishment’ for me was hurting her the most.” Sly looked at the pair of them with a soft smile, though her eyes still glistened with moisture. “Please take care of her for me. I know she can be difficult, but she is just a little filly eager for love underneath it all.”

“Of course…” Twilight felt her chest tighten painfully as she lied through her teeth to a worried mother. Maybe it was high time she buried her stupid hatchet and set to work on turning that lie into a truth. Something caught her attention, though. “Accident?”

Despite her white fur, Sly somehow paled further. “Nothing. Uhm… Who’s up for another drink?”

Now that piqued her interest more than anything Sly could have said. The task now was to figure out how to make her willing to talk.

“We’re fine.” Twilight crossed her forelegs over the table as she leaned in. “Listen, we can change the subject if that’s what you really want, but before we do… can you promise me this is not a story that would help me understand Trixie better?”

Sly bit her lip and Twilight could guess at what she must be thinking. Sly had promised to answer any questions that might help them deal with this ‘accident’ involving the Ursa Minor, knowing how Trixie handled it before would be helpful.

After what looked like a solid minute of mental anguish, Sly let out a sigh. “...Okay, fine, but not here. Come with me.”

From the outside, Sly’s home looked like little more than a quickly raised shed near the outskirts of the cherry orchard. Several similar structures were visible further afield. It was how the ‘residents’ were housed.

“Home sweet home,” Sly remarked dryly. “Come on in.”

It wasn’t much, but Twilight suspected she’d be told it was better than a dungeon cell if she asked.

She set her saddlebags down by the door after she entered.

A few things stuck out to Twilight as she was welcomed inside. It was small and sparsely decorated, more like a dorm room than an apartment. A single room with two beds to either side, a small breakfast nook to one corner, and a closet in the other.

The closet door was slightly ajar and Twilight caught a glimpse of the letter they’d delivered, or at least the big drawing of a rabbit. It was inside a box atop a pile of other letters.

Sly took a seat on the bed on the left. She motioned to the other with her hoof. “Sorry, I don’t usually have guests. Have a seat if you like.”

The bed was neat and tidy in that way that only an entirely unused one could be. Sly apparently didn’t have a roommate yet. Which struck Twilight as odd given the time span of her stay. More likely, then, was that this was reserved for Trixie. She really hadn’t been here in a long time if that was the case.

Before Twilight even had time to consider if she wanted to disturb it, Spike had already jumped on and was busy testing the bounciness of the mattress until she gave him a telekinetic swat with a pillow.

Twilight chose to remain standing. “So, what is this about?”

Sly looked her in the eyes for a long moment. That same calculating look was back but it faded and just left the mare looking tired. “Be honest with me, are you here to do for Trixie what you did for Princess Luna?”

“You know about that?” Twilight asked, surprised. “I, I mean, I wouldn’t say I did all that much. Princess Celestia had a plan all along.”

Sly shrugged. “It takes a while, but news does travel. Though, I do have some extra incentive to be paying attention to what happened. So, are you?”

“I guess you could say that.” Twilight felt weirded out to meet somepony that seemed to know so much about her already. She wasn’t famous or anything. The strangest thing, though, was that Sly had not mentioned it until now. “...Why did you not say something before?”

“I was playing along,” Sly said while making a non-committal swirling motion with her hoof, “but since the cards are all on the table now, great. We can stop dancing around the issue. You want to know our side of how she ended up banished, right?”

This was where a suave detective from her novels would calmly play along to find out the truth.

Twilight was not suave.

“TRIXIE’S BANISHED?!” She and Spike both called out simultaneously.

“What, but, YOU DIDN’T KNOW?!” Sly sounded equally as incredulous. “I thought this was your thing!”

“How is any of this my thing?!” Twilight threw up her hooves.

“Oh, I don’t know. Some long-banished villain shows up and causes trouble, then you show up, stop the trouble and figure out how to redeem them. You just finished telling me about how Trixie showed up, caused trouble, you dealt with it, and now—you mean to tell me you aren’t here to figure this out? Come on, why else would you be here!”

“That only happened once! And I didn’t even do that alone. I’m only here because I thought Trixie stole a magic book and I was hoping the letter I took would be incriminating! I didn’t think she was just writing home!”

“The letter you took?!”

“...”

“...”

Even as a librarian, Twilight preferred the screaming over the awkward silence that now hung between them.

It’s just that she wasn’t sure where to begin at this point. Besides, it felt like she’d just burned any bridges she might have built.

Spike cleared his throat, drawing the attention of them both. “So, uhm… I know this is weird. What with the coincidence, mail fraud, misunderstanding, and all that, but we really do want Trixie to be okay. ”

As he looked in her direction, Twilight quickly gave an affirming nod.

“I get the sense we have different ideas about what ‘okay’ means.” Sly narrowed her eyes a little, but she didn’t tell them to leave. Finally, she focused on Twilight. “...What is this about a magic book? Did she get herself in more trouble than just that big bear?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted. “I picked up her old books from the wreckage and while I was doing restoration work I noticed one was strange. Turns out an illusion spell was hiding the real content of the book. I was able to see some of it and it looked like dark magic.”

“I’m going to assume we are not talking about spells to cast a shadow or turn a light off,” Sly said. “What’s wrong with it?”

Spike flopped down onto his back with a sigh. “Oh, boy. Here we go.”

Twilight shot him an annoyed look, but she supposed she should at least try and keep it brief this time. It was hard to discuss magical theory with somepony who didn’t have magic anyway. Though, she expected Sly would have at least some familiarity if she raised Trixie.

“You know how your body naturally limits how much strength you can use in order to prevent you from causing damage to yourself? There is a magical equivalent of that. It is a subconscious process that enables the safe use of spells. You could think of it as a failsafe.” Twilight flexed a foreleg to provide some kind of visual, lacking a blackboard. “For example, you can probably think of a great many things that could go wrong with teleportation, right?”

“You might end up in a wall or something.” Sly winced a little as she contemplated the idea.

“Exactly! But nopony who is learning teleportation ever actually gets badly hurt, even if it does sometimes cause problems. That’s because the failsafe is using a portion of the magic to mitigate risk. The bigger and more numerous the risks involved, the more magic it requires.” In a flash, she teleported to the other side of the room. “Like so! Of course, I do need to know how to actually cast the spell, which can be complicated. And it takes a lot of magic, but most of that magic actually just goes into making it safe to use. Collision detection. Mass measurement. Destination consolidation. Bodily integr—”

Spike loudly interrupted by feigning a cough. “We get it. Spells are hard.”

“Quite.” Sly chuckled at his antics. “So, dark magic is what? Spell slinging with the safety off? I get it. You could cast dangerous stuff with way less magic, right?”

“Uh, actually yes,” Twilight said surprised as she came trotting back over. “It’s much more complicated since not only do you have to mitigate the risk manually, but you can’t just ‘turn it off’ you have to temporarily break something in your head. It’s a really bad idea. Not just because the spells could go haywire but because messing with your own head isn’t without consequences.”

The look of amusement on Sly’s face quickly drained away as she caught on. She fixed Twilight with a level stare. “What kind of consequences?”

“Mental issues. It starts simple. Nightmares. Mental issues, especially paranoia or megalomania. Every pony on record that continued using it eventually went completely mad, assuming they lived that long.”

“And my Trixie’s using this?” Sly’s eyes widened a fraction and she covered her mouth with her wings.

“I’m not sure!” Twilight hastily added. “I just know that after I told Trixie about it the book went missing. If she does have it then I don’t think she is using it yet. Maybe that’s because she still has a headache, I don’t know. If she doesn’t have it, then it is in the hooves of somepony who isn’t being monitored, which is much worse.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Sly settled down once more. “Alright… Alright, I’m starting to see why you took some ‘liberties’ shall we say. I’m happy to say that Trixie hasn’t mentioned any new books in her letter, at least. I have an idea.”

“You do?” Twilight asked.

Sly tapped the shackle on her foreleg. “You get rid of this and promise me Trixie gets a full pardon? I will personally march over there and guarantee she’ll hoof over any and all books she might have. You can take it from there.”

Spike and Twilight shared a look.

“Uh, can you even do that?” Spike asked.

“No, I definitely can’t.” Twilight shook her head then walked toward the door.

“Wait!” Sly launched herself up and over Twilight, blocking the door. “Maybe I asked for a bit much, but can’t we negotiate?”

“No, we can’t.”

Twilight picked up her saddlebags and levitated them toward Spike.

“Spike, take a letter. Dear Princess Celestia...”

Author's Note

It feels weird to have a whole chapter without any of our main trio involved, but rest assured we'll be checking back in on them next time.

Chapter 1 - Trixie is not prickly

One month. It had merely been a single month since Trixie first came to Ponyville, was run out of Ponyville, and then returned back once more. Trixie could barely believe so little time had passed. It felt as though she’d been on the edge of the crazy little town for years. Who knew such a small town had so many near disasters on a weekly basis?

She supposed she could count herself among those disasters now. The townsfolk sure did. If the rumors going around were to be believed, Trixie was some sort of filly-eating witch. Fortunately, they didn’t know she’d been licking her wounds in Fluttershy’s care.

Well, perhaps they were half right. Trixie smirked as she looked out the bedroom window, and down at one of the only two fillies she had any interest in eating. Fluttershy was busy in the front yard, filling the feeding bowls for the raccoons, foxes, and whatever else was about that size and furry.

It was such a simple chore, one that Trixie could complete in mere seconds thanks to her truly impressive magic, but Fluttershy seemed to take more pleasure in doing it by hoof. So, Trixie had learned to refrain from doing it for her.

She had something better to do anyway. All she needed was to find her magnificent outfit.

“Fluttershy, have you seen Trixie’s cloak?!” Trixie called out loudly while rummaging through the large chest at the foot of their bed. It had to be in there somewhere, possibly hidden away beneath the winter blankets ever since its unfortunate demise.

“I'll be up in one moment, Trixie!” True to her word, after a moment, Fluttershy appeared in the window with a dozen small birds fluttering around her for food. “Uhm, I-I think it’s in the laundry?”

“Don’t be silly. Trixie’s kept it in this chest for the past three weeks. It was all torn up in the forest, remember?” Trixie withdrew from her search and meandered over to the window, shooing away the pesky, impatient birds. “Shoo, she’s mine. You can have her after Trixie is done.”

Even if Fluttershy didn’t seem to mind playing doormat to them, Trixie was not about to let some beasts dictate her pace. No matter how cute they were, they couldn’t be allowed to boss her Fluttershy around. That was her job.

“O-oh dear,” Fluttershy mumbled as the birds chirped and squawked but flew down to the front yard to wait for her. “I’ll, uh, I’ll be right there.”

“Well, you say that...” Trixie smiled while she gently slid a hoof through Fluttershy’s mane, reveling in its silky softness. “But you should know Trixie’s not planning to give you up without a fight,” she whispered while leaning in, trying to steal a kiss from the blushing pegasus.

Before Trixie could connect, however, Fluttershy suddenly looked behind her and started addressing the waiting animals. “I-In a minute. Trixie, uhm, needs help too. Has, uhm, anypony seen her cloak?”

Trixie softly chuckled to herself. Subtle. Fluttershy was so adorable when she was dodging conflict. She was too shy to get kissed in front of her critter friends but too nervous to confront Trixie about the attempts. Near as Trixie could tell, she’d have to find a better moment. Too bad those critters had been around all week.

“They don’t know. I think. Sorry... Uhm, why were you looking for it?”

“Now that Trixie has enough money, she’s going to get it fixed up!” She announced with a flourish. “Soon, Trixie will be Great and Powerful again! Well, as soon as she can convince Dashie to help look for her hat in that accursed place.” She looked out the window, past Fluttershy, and glared at the forest just past the clearing.

“Oh, I uhm, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Fluttershy said, much to Trixie’s surprise. “I mean, going into the Everfree Forest is why you lost them to begin with… what if you lose something else this time?”

“Aww, you’re worried about Trixie!” She squeed and reached out the window, wrapping Fluttershy in a hug. Trixie quickly took the opportunity to pull her into the room and against herself. “Not to worry! Trixie is what goes bump in the night! Those monsters better be on their best behavior. Now, where is that cloak? Trixie needs it if she’s going to buy the right kind of fabric to mend it.”

Trixie could feel Fluttershy tense up as she spoke, “It’s uhm... Not here. That is… I threw it out?”

In a moment of denial, Trixie waited for Fluttershy to deliver her punchline, because clearly she couldn’t be serious. However, when none came, she gritted her teeth, doing her best to keep from blowing up and sending the timid, sweet, irresponsible thing running for the hills. She sucked in a shaky breath. “You threw it out?” Her left eye twitched. “Trixie’s cloak?”

Fluttershy visibly shrunk. “W-well, you don’t—you never even look at it, much less wear it. S-so—”

“Because it was in tatters!” Trixie snapped and let go of Fluttershy, choosing to instead pace circles around the room. “Trixie can’t believe this! Why would you? Who just throws—When!? Is it in the trash? Did the garbage pony pick it up already!?”

“M-maybe? I don’t know. Yes.” Fluttershy’s guilt was written across her face.

Trixie clutched her head, trying to hold back an acute headache. “Gah! Okay, maybe it’s still on the bin wagon. Is there a wagon? Trixie doesn’t even know!” She glared over at Fluttershy who flinched in anticipation of another outburst.

“T-they, uhm, burn it, yes… I’m sorry. It’s too late.”

“You. You.” Trixie’s hooves shook as she glared at Fluttershy and a thousand things she wanted to shout at her bounced through her mind, fighting for the right to be flung at her first. Closing her eyes tightly, she took a deep breath.

Wordlessly, Trixie stomped down the stairs.

Fluttershy merely watched her leave. “I’m sorry.”

Oh, she wanted to give that cute, ditzy thing an earful, alright! But, some small part of her knew not to yell at Fluttershy. She was much too sensitive at the best of times. Besides, Rainbow Dash would have her hide.

No, she had to channel her rage into something more productive. She knew exactly what would make her feel better. She quickly gathered some things and walked out the front door, passing Fluttershy outside.

“Trixie is going out.” She announced shortly.

“O-oh, uhm, do you want me to, uhm…”

“No.”

“I mean… you never go to Ponyville alone...”

“No.”

Trixie left Fluttershy to tend to the animals, while she trotted down the long path that led from the cottage towards Ponyville, surrounded by a variety of floating objects.

It had been about a week since her last visit and barely a month since her first one. Yet so much had changed. Fluttershy was right, she had not felt safe going into Ponyville without a chaperone for a long time, but anger turned out to be a perfectly good motivator to finally change that. Woe be upon whoever crossed her path!

She’d hidden away with Fluttershy for long enough, anyway. While up until recently Trixie had appreciated the privacy that the far off cottage afforded, now that she actually had to walk the long road alone, she was beginning to wonder who in their right mind would build a house this far away from town.

“Gah, this is taking forever! How is Trixie supposed to stay mad if it’s going to take this long!?” she complained to the empty air. “At least the weather’s perfect… That’s even less helpful.”

Of course, Trixie expected nothing less. Dating the captain of the Weather Team had its perks. Perks such as actually accurate weather reports. She was so confident that last night she’d already picked out most of the things she’d need for a little excursion into Ponyville. She just hadn’t expected to leave before noon.

In an attempt to distract herself from the long walk, she let her accessories pass in front of her one by one.

“Sunglasses, check.” Trixie wasn’t usually one for checklists, but given that she was going to see Twilight, it felt only right. “Ice Box, check. Umbrella, check. Fold-out chair, check... Oh, Trixie didn’t bring anything to read.” She smirked evilly. “Eh, Trixie’s sure there will be something in the library.”

Twilight squinted, attempting to peer through the relentless downpour that had surrounded her home for the past week. The rest of Ponyville was enjoying a week of the best weather of the year, but not her. Oh, no. Rainbow Dash was surprisingly good at holding a grudge.

She wasn’t really sure why Rainbow Dash had taken it so personally when she accused Trixie of stealing, but she had her suspicions. Normally, Dash would have forgotten about the whole thing already, but now she had to deal with this.

A large thunderous raincloud directly above the library had been ruining her lawn all week. At first, it was easy to ignore, pleasant even. The nice cool air and gentle tapping of rain on the windows was something she always enjoyed, as it was a good excuse to stay inside, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea.

But, after a few days, she found the water had begun to seep under the door, igniting a bitter conflict between the invading moisture and the allied forces of mop and towels. Not only that, but the ground around the library had turned into a mud bath, which meant any patrons that visited inevitably dragged in so much filth that it was a complete nightmare to keep the place presentable!

Fortunately, Ponyville was not home to many avid readers at the best of times, and even less so now that they had to traverse the pools of mud and the torrential rains.

Except for one...

It was nearly impossible to see any distinct shapes through the curtain of rain, but Twilight’s spirits rose as she managed to pick out an approaching blue blotch accompanied by the silhouette of an umbrella. Somepony that cared enough to brave the elements for the sake of losing themselves in a good book.

“Spike! Get some tea ready!” She left that to him. Meanwhile, she made a rapid final round through the library to make sure everything was in top shape, then glued herself to the window again to check on their visitor. Now that she was getting closer, Twilight’s smile drooped.

“Trixie?” Twilight all but hissed while attempting to hide beside the window, pressed up against the wall. “Spike, forget the tea! Are you sure nothing else has gone missing?”

A week ago, somepony had broken into the library under the cover of darkness and stolen a very important book that Twilight had been studying. By some ‘wild coincidence’, this happened the very day she showed the book to Trixie. She was just about certain that it had to be Trixie, but she couldn’t prove it. Not yet, anyway.

Spike rolled his eyes while he pretended to look over the lengthy inventory scroll, again. “All here. Just like it’s been all week. Come on, Twilight. It’s been a week and nothing’s happened since that one book went missing.”

“Nothing happened?!” Twilight shrieked. “She turned half my friends against me! Don’t you think it’s strange how suddenly they went from booing her on stage to super best friends?”

“A month isn’t ‘suddenly’ for most ponies.” Spike deadpanned.

She ignored his insubordination and glanced out the window again. “It is almost as if she used a want-it-need-it spell, but the effect is much too weak for that. On the other hoof… maybe that’s because she isn’t strong enough to cast it properly?”

“Or maybe they just like her?”

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight looked at her adorably naive assistant. “How could they possibly like her? She can’t go two sentences without insulting somepony. No, it has to be something else. I know she has a lot of theoretical knowledge, but her actual magic level cannot be that high if she was telling the truth about not being able to use Hoofdir’s theorem in practice.”

“You seemed to like her just fine before you decided she must have stolen from you.” Spike disappeared into the kitchen, shaking his head.

At that moment, the door swung open with such force that it struck the wall and bounced off.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie! Requires romantic reading records!” Trixie announced loudly while she reared up, sending a number of colorful sparks in all directions. She wore a satisfied look on her face as she watched Twilight clutch her chest.

Regaining her composure, Twilight forced a smile. “Oh, hello, Trixie. The romance section is over there. Help yourself… but clearly I don’t need to tell you that, right?” She rubbed her temple while she watched Trixie leave a trail of mud behind her. She wished she could say something about it, but there simply wasn’t any way for a pony to clean themselves up before entering since the mud was ankle deep all around. Still, Trixie’s tail was constantly moving back and forth with each step she took, wagging fast enough for water to hit everything she went past. “If you like reading so much, why are you doing your best to cause water damage to all of them?”

Shaking the water off her umbrella, Trixie wandered around the library, scanning the covers for interesting titles. “The relentless rain represents Rainbow’s rage. A rueful show of regret will remit her revenge.”

Twilight grit her teeth. She’d barely been here a minute and already Trixie was getting under her skin. Who talked like that? Nobody, not even Trixie. She was just doing it to annoy her. “I know Rainbow Dash put it there, but I’m sure you can get her to take it away. Whatever it is you did to her, it’s working.”

A blush flashed over Trixie’s face and she quickly turned away, facing the bookshelves. “You really should repair your relations with the rankled rebel yourself, right?” Trixie avoided looking at her as she answered, instead grabbing a book from the shelves.

“What am I supposed to do? At this rate, the whole library will be flooded by next week!”

“The rapids rise reliably. reinforce your rooms or recant your rant.”

“Stop that! It’s not funny!” Twilight snapped. Trixie returned a look of obviously faked confusion and opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight cut her off before she had a chance to spew any more of that ear-grating annoyance. “The ‘R’s! Quit it! It’s getting ridiculously repetitive!”

“Heh, Alliteration.” Chuckling, Trixie shrugged her shoulders. “Fine. Trixie was getting bored of it anyway.” She smiled smugly at Twilight. “See? All you had to do was ask.”

Twilight groaned. “What do you want from me? I get that it was wrong to force my way into Fluttershy’s house, and I probably shouldn’t have cast a Hold Pony spell on you, or rummaged—I mean searched through your belongings.”

“Don’t forget to add falsely accusing the Pure and Innocent Trixie of something as low as petty theft,” Trixie added with a mock dramatism to her voice. “Worse still, you accused her of stealing her own book! You only had it because you looted all the readable materials from the wreckage of Trixie’s wagon.”

“A book which you admitted to stealing from its previous owner! Oh, how could I possibly have drawn the conclusion that you’d do so again?” She glared at Trixie. “I can’t prove it was you, but don’t think I haven’t noticed that everything has gone awfully smoothly for you ever since a spellbook filled with dark magic went missing.”

The mocking smile on Trixie’s face faltered. “This is exactly why that thundercloud is there. You have the gall to think Trixie is so vile and wonder why Dashie is upset?” She turned to Twilight and stepped uncomfortably close to her. “Trixie will have you know that—”

“Who wants tea?” At that moment, Trixie spotted Spike trudging back into to room, carrying a tray with cups and a teapot.

Trixie lowered her voice down a whisper that sent a chill down Twilight’s spine. “—Trixie doesn’t use it for that.”

Dumbstruck, Twilight stared back at Trixie, who held a dangerous look in her eyes. “D-did you just admit—”

“Just kidding!” Trixie slipped past Twilight like a snake and approached Spike with a spring in her gait. She flashed him an exaggerated smile. “Oh, what have you got there, dragon boy?”

Spike bristled a little as Trixie failed to remember his name. “My name is Spike, remember? And this is camilla tea” Spike offered up a cup to Trixie, pointedly ignoring the look Twilight gave her.

“Oh, thank you.” Trixie took the cup and tried to ruffle his scales; it turned out those were pretty sturdy. “Aren’t you just the most adorable little house pet. Mhm, no biscuits?” she asked, disappointed.

“No biscuits,” Spike echoed with a similarly displeased tone. “They got soggy in the rain when I carried the groceries in. The second time I tried running, but the mud is like knee-deep for me, so that didn’t go well either. So, I guess biscuits are out till Twilight and Rainbow Dash solve… whatever this is.”

“Oh,” Trixie said, with a twinge of guilt. “You, uh, live here too, huh?”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Well, yeah?”

“Must be tough on you. Now leave Trixie alone so she can concentrate.” Trixie pulled a book off the shelf and started studying the back of it while sipping her tea.

Twilight glared at Trixie while she perused the books on offer. It was possible that she was only toying with her before, but the fact that Trixie could make a joke like that so lightly was just more evidence that she was on the right track with her investigation.

Spike let out an exasperated sigh and headed for the kitchen to fill up a mop bucket, clearly neither of them were going to be much fun to be around for a while.

Thankfully, Trixie soon left.

Lingering by the window, Twilight watched her leave. “She’s up to something, Spike.”

“Here’s to hoping she does something actually evil soon then,” Spike remarked while mopping the hardwood floor to erase Trixie’s muddy tracks.

“What? Why?” Twilight asked.

Spike wearily soaked his mop in the bucket and looked over at Twilight. “So you can get this over with and blast her with friendship lasers already.”

“Note to self, get some rain over here.”

Rainbow Dash soared through the sky above the northern fields on her way back to Ponyville. They looked a bit dry. It was a shame she’d just taken the last of the rainclouds to the eastern fields instead. Perhaps her decision to forget all the boring planning stuff had not been the greatest idea after all.

On the other hoof, all the paperwork and request applications from dozens of ponies… she just couldn’t deal with that kind of lame work. It wasn’t her thing. Her desk back at the weather station, and most of her office for that matter, was swamped with piles of papers. Just thinking about those was more exhausting than all the flying around.

She’d been promoted to weather captain two weeks ago. At first, she’d taken it seriously, read all the requests, tried her best to work them into a schedule, and brought the correct cloud deliveries to every corner of the Ponyville Region and done her best to do everything the way she was supposed to. It required all of her waking hours to get everything done. And every night she’d collapse on her bed dog-tired.

Rainbow Dash zipped past the edge of town and straight towards the singular dark cloud that stained the otherwise clear skies.

Her new job had been all consuming, and it wasn’t until she started cutting corners that she actually won back some of her free time. Time that she could spend on much more interesting things. Like the date she’d set up with a certain feisty unicorn she spotted down below.

Just at the edge of the quagmire that was once Twilight Sparkle’s front lawn, Trixie had installed herself in luxury. Basking in the sun, she lay sprawled on her fold-out chair, levitating a book in front of her and an iced drink to her left.

Swooping down, Rainbow Dash hovered directly above Trixie, smirking as she let her shadow fall on her. “Woah, were we supposed to meet in the morning after all? How long did I keep you waiting if you had time to set all this stuff up?”

Trixie motioned to the relentless downpour over the library. “Trixie thought she’d come early and admire your work.” Smirking, she lifted up her sunglasses. “If you’re going to block Trixie’s sun, you better be offering something else to keep The Great and Powerful Trixie warm!”

“Heh, it’s funny you should say that.” Rainbow Dash said while she noticed Trixie scooting over. Without hesitation, she dropped down into the chair beside her. It was a tight fit, but judging by the hooves that snaked around her it was clear Trixie didn’t mind. “I actually had something in mind for that.”

Trixie snuggled up to Dash, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “Oooh? Don’t keep Trixie in suspense, Dashie.”

Dash bit her lip, she wasn’t supposed to give away the surprise. She fumbled for a change of topic. “Hey, uh, don’t call me that. Especially not in public.” Rainbow Dash said while scanning the area around them for any ponies that might be passing by. “You know, for someone so prickly, you’re a real cuddlebug,” She stood to lose some major cool points if anyone caught them like this. Why, oh why did she let Trixie do this to her in public?

“Hah, ‘cuddlebug’?” Trixie squeezed her harder. “What are you, five? Besides, Trixie is not prickly; she is properly wary of strangers… speaking of which, what’s with you? Expecting anypony, Dashie? Trixie will have you know she is not looking to expand this relationship any further.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well… perhaps she could be persuaded. It would only be fair.”

“What are you even—Oof!” Rainbow Dash wheezed as Trixie clamped down harder. Who knew unicorns could be this strong? It must have been all that time she spent pulling a wagon cross country. Struggling for breath, Dash tapped out on Trixie’s foreleg. “O-okay. Hey, new plan. How about we go somewhere more private?”

“What for?” Trixie asked, easing up on Dash’s ribs.

“So I don’t risk dying of embarrassment while you choke me to death.” Dash grinned.

“You’re the worst.” Trixie huffed and pulled back, folding her forelegs across her chest. “It’s your fault in the first place. Who keeps their special somepony waiting entire weeks at a time? Trixie thought you said you would have more time after last week.”

“I do have more time; I’m here, aren’t I?” Dash stuck out her tongue; regretfully, the moment was too short for Trixie to capitalize on.

“Oh, please. If your wings weren’t about to fall off you’d be practicing a ‘loop de loop’ or something and Trixie would still be alone.”

“That’s not true. I’d let you watch.” Rainbow Dash snickered while Trixie threw her a mock glare. “Besides, I’m sure you and Fluttershy have plenty more fun than I do.”

Trixie groaned. “Ugh, do not speak to Trixie about her.”

“What?” Dash asked. When Trixie’s response was just to snuggle up to her more, Dash pulled away and sat up straight. “Hey! No trying to distract me. Spill it.”

Deprived of her warm cuddling companion, Trixie uttered a resigned groan. “She burned Trixie’s cloak, okay?” The very surprised look on Dashie’s face made Trixie smirk just a little. “No, she’s not a pyromaniac all of a sudden. She threw it out and the trash ponies burned it… Trixie’s cloak...” Her voice cracked.

“Hey, are… are you okay?” Dash asked while Trixie turned away from her. “Was it that important?”

“It was…” Curiously, Trixie had to search for the right word for a moment. ”...It was a gift.”

“Yeah, well. It’s gone.” Rainbow Dash said bluntly, ignoring the disbelieving glare Trixie gave her in response. “The cloak is a pile of ashes, and your hat is a timberwolf chewtoy out there somewhere.” She vaguely gestured towards the Everfree Forest.

“Is that supposed to make Trixie feel better? You suck at this.”

“Nah,” Rainbow Dash grinned, “but how about if I say ‘let’s kick some timberwolf butt’? I bet we can get your hat back.”

"The hat's not the issue right now, Dash!" Trixie snapped. "Getting the hat back isn't going to make this better. For Discord's sake, were you dropped on your head as a foal!?"

Rainbow Dash reeled back. “I, uh, maybe? I just thought. Look if you don’t want to get the hat, we don’t have to.”

Trixie looked away while folding her forelegs over her chest. “Trixie didn’t say that,” she replied with an exasperated air.

Nothing but the endless sound of rain splashing down twenty paces away hung in the air while Rainbow Dash tried to understand what just happened. She couldn’t have done anything wrong, could she? But clearly, she must have, if Trixie was upset with her. She’d have to handle this carefully.

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash lept from the chair and over Trixie, landing eye to eye with her, “what’s your problem, now?”

“Wh-hey,”Trixie sputtered and scooted away from her. “You shouldn’t ask!”

“Why not?”

“You should, you know, just know!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “How am I supposed to know if you don’t let me know?”

“How about you just think about it? You should know!”

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

“You don’t make any sense!” Trixie retorted

With a harumph, both ponies turned away from each other again.

“Omigosh,” an unfamiliar voice called out. Trixie turned to look at the pink pony bouncing up and down besides them. “So, that’s what three kicks and a jerk means. Trixie’s here!”

Trixie gaped for a second. “Excuse you? Where do you get off calling Trixie a jerk? Where did you even come from?” Trixie said while looking around. They were in a mostly open space. The nearest buildings were too far away for anypony to have approached without either of them noticing.

“Oh, hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash gave her eccentric friend a nod. “When did you get here?”

“Oh, I’d say...” Pinkie Pie looked at her bare wrist and smiled widely. “Right on time? You two were so loud.” She seemed to vanish and came up from behind Trixie, startling the unprepared mare who immediately fell off her chair, “First fight, right? Oh, that calls for a party!”

“You’re the weird pink one!” Trixie called out from her new spot, upside down on the ground. “Trixie recognizes you!”

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’ve been waiting sooo long to finally talk to you! At first I was like ‘I should throw Trixie a finally-more-than-thirty-words-party’, but then I thought maybe I’d have to keep adding to the number the more I spoke to you and we’d be way past seventy-two! I mean, Seventy-three. I mean seventy-six! No! I mean eighty! See what I mean?” Pinkie Pie rattled off rapidly.

“What? Slow down.” Trixie commanded while she made the worst rookie mistake one could make: “Explain yourself!”

“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly while she pulled out a calendar and pointed to about a month ago. “See, here you should’ve had a party cause you came to Ponyville but you weren’t gonna stay plus you had your own party and I didn't wanna step on your party so I didn’t throw one.” She flipped to two weeks later. “But here you decided to stay so you should get one but Rainbow Dash said no at the time so now it can’t be a welcome-to-Ponyville-party cause you’ve been here already.” Another week. “Then there was the happy-first-trip-by-yourself-party, but nopony else was awake!” Finally she flipped to the current day “And now we’re here and you still haven’t had a party! Omigosh that’s it! A sorry-you-didn’t-have-a-party-party!”

Rainbow Dash snickered into her hooves while she watched Pinkie Pie ‘explain’ whatever she passed for logic to Trixie. Normally, she might have intervened, but after Trixie’s attitude, it was cathartic to watch her tumble down the rabbit hole.

“Why?” A dizzied Trixie whined. She held onto her head as though she expected it to spin off her shoulders. “Why are you even here? What did Trixie do to deserve this?”

“You came to see everypony else,” Pinkie Pie said and pointed a hoof at the drowning library. “Even Twilight! How come you never visited me? It’s not fair that I don’t get to play with you just because I was good during the show. Wait is that it? Was I supposed to be bad? Omigosh did I ruin it? Is that why you didn’t come?”

“No, no, stop! Go back.” Trixie shook Pinkie by the shoulders, who made the curious sound of a rewinding tape recorder with each shake. “You almost made sense there! You’re mad because Trixie didn’t come to see you?”

“I’m. Not. Mad. Silly,” Pinkie Pie said in between shakes. When Trixie finally released her, Pinkie’s eyes rolled around in their sockets for a second before coming to focus. “I just thought it would be fun! We have so much in common!”

Trixie gave Pinkie Pie an appraising look. “What makes you think The Great and Powerful Trixie has anything in common with you?” As soon as she asked it, Trixie seemed to realize her mistake, as she reached out to stop Pinkie from launching into another blathering bout, but it was already too late.

“I’m so glad you asked!” Pinkie Pie nimbly dodged out of the way of Trixie’s attempted tackle. “We both like to entertain! That’s like a really big one! Oh, I bet we could maybe plan the party together! Or is that not fun if it’s not a surprise for you? I’d plan a surprise party for me if I could. Oh, and dressing up! I like your star stuff but I’ve got a polka dot bow, balloons and flippers, that’s kinda the same right? I’ve been thinking about getting more costumes. Hey! Maybe Rarity can help! We’ve both been to the spooky castle in the Everfree Forest, even though we didn’t go together that’s still gotta count ri—”

“Shut up! By the sun, shut up!” Trixie screamed while she pulled her ears down along her cheeks in a desperate bid to make the sound stop. “Trixie gets it! ”

“Okey Dokey Lokey,” Pinkie Pie said with an undiminished smile.

After a moment of silence, Trixie carefully opened one eye and peeked at Pinkie. Pinkie Pie smiled and waved.

“Really? That’s it?” Trixie asked, incredulously.

“Sure, silly.” Pinkie Pie extended a hoof, and helped Trixie off of the ground.

“Trixie is not silly,” Trixie complained when she found herself back on her hooves. She gave Pinkie Pie another once over. “What are you smiling about? If you think Trixie is going to apologize for yelling at you then you have another thing coming. It was your fault for not taking a hint.”

“Trixie!” Rainbow Dash scolded as she landed beside her. “She just did what you asked!”

“Well, she didn’t do what Trixie wanted!” Trixie bit back.

“Oh my gosh!” Rainbow Dash turned away and threw her hooves up in frustration.

“Yep!” Pinkie Pie chirped far too cheerily, causing both ponies to look at her with varying degrees of confusion. “It’s okay, Dashie. Trixie’s just bad at saying what she wants, right? I knew that already. I guess it’s lucky everypony else got to test the waters for me, huh?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Oh, yeah. Right. I totally didn’t forget about that.”

“Don’t encourage her.” Trixie gave Rainbow Dash a sideways glance. “Trixie is perfectly capable of voicing her own opinion.”

“That’s right!” Pinkie Pie said, suddenly just a hair’s breadth away from Trixie’s face.

“Gah! Not so close!” Trixie stepped back.

Pinkie Pie stayed put, allowing Trixie to regain her personal space. “See! You can tell me! How come you don’t tell Dashie? She’s a real action gal, ya know. You can’t just vent and not expect her to act on it! She can’t help it. You gotta tell her.”

“Tell her?” The hairs on the back of Trixie’s neck stood up. “How do you even know?”

“Because unlike Dashie, I really can read minds!” She announced excitedly, then thoughtfully rubbed her chin while staring off into space. “Or was it cards?”

“No, she can’t.” Rainbow Dash commented offhandedly to Trixie as she turned to face her. To Dash’s surprise, Trixie actually looked as though she was considering the possibility; Trixie had her thinking face on.

“Dashie?” Trixie finally spoke, her voice held a strange tranquility while she looked up at her with wide, sparkling eyes.

As their eyes met, Rainbow Dash felt her face flush. Trixie looked so innocent all of a sudden. Perhaps even a little remorseful. “Y-yeah?”

Trixie briefly glanced towards Pinkie Pie. “Your friends are crazy.”

“...Yeah.”

“And so are you if you think you need to fix all of Trixie’s problems. Trixie can handle her own problems just fine.” Trixie hugged her tightly, hiding her face in Rainbow’s chest fluff. Rainbow Dash could feel the slight tremors in the blue mare’s body. “All you have to do is take her side while she’s angry, okay?”

“So…” Rainbow Dash embraced Trixie while doing her best not to meet Pinkie’s gaze. “...Screw Fluttershy?”

“Screw Fluttershy,” Trixie echoed.

“Ooookay,” Pinkie Pie said awkwardly while she backpedaled away, “That is not where I thought this was going. I’m, uh, I’m just going to… See you at Sugarcube Corner, Dashie.”

“See you, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said without looking up.

As the rapidly retreating hoofsteps faded away, Trixie managed to pull her face away from Dash’s chest enough to glare up at her. “So, how come she gets to call you ‘Dashie’?”

“Oh, come on!”

Chapter 5 - If you really wanna know

~Earlier this evening, before Trixie returned to the cottage.~

“Don’t you have like, a million billion birds already?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously as she flew away from the window and poked the half constructed new birdhouse with a hoof. “Why do you need more?”

Fluttershy couldn’t deny that. She had so many of her feathered, furry, and scaly friends already. And yet, despite all of them, today had been strangely lonely. Enough so that she’d busied herself with this little project just to have something to do.

Luckily, Rainbow Dash stopping by had made that lonely feeling clear right up.

“Oh, there are so many adorable little animals coming and going. I don’t think I’ll ever have enough of them.” Fluttershy gingerly placed the roof on top, holding it in place for Dash to drive the nails in. A task she was perfectly capable of performing herself, but this kept Dash with her a little longer. “I, uhm, I also think… it’s a nice way to spend time...”

With you.

Say it! Why couldn’t she just say it? There were so few opportunities now. Even on the rare occasion Rainbow Dash managed to get a moment away from her job and stopped by, they hadn’t been alone like this in weeks.

It just so happened that Trixie wasn’t here, yet. Apparently Trixie had pulled a disappearing act in Ponyville shortly after bringing Twilight to the weather station. Dash said she wasn’t sure where Trixie had gone. It wasn’t much trouble to convince her that, much like the wild animals that flocked to the cottage, Trixie would eventually return here too. Probably around dinner time. It was easier to wait than it was to scour the town. It was a happy coincidence that it just so happened to get her some time alone with Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, hey. I heard you told Trixie you threw out her cloak?” Rainbow Dash asked while she rummaged through the toolkit for the hammer and nails, balancing each between her primary feathers with ease. That kind of thing just came natural to her.

“Y-yes… She was so, uhm… upset. I hope she comes back soon.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry you had to lie.”

She gave a weak smile. “Me too.”

It wasn’t lying about the cloak that weighed on her, though. If anything it was a little ray of hope. Maybe if Trixie thought she’d burned that cloak, that would be enough for Trixie to ‘break up’ with her. That would be the easiest way out of this hole she’d dug herself into.

“I guess we better tell her the truth soon.” Rainbow Dash looked toward the door for a moment, undoubtedly wondering about Trixie. That’s why Dash was here after all, to see Trixie. Again. It was never to come see her anymore. She just happened to be here too. Dash didn’t say as much, but the way she kept looking around it was obvious. “It would be pretty bad if she went out and replaced her clothes on her own… you don’t think that’s why she’s late, do you?”

What if she told Rainbow Dash, right now? She’d understand it was an accident, wouldn’t she? She’d help her. She always did. It would be easy for Rainbow Dash to explain the misunderstanding and how ‘silly shy Fluttershy’ was too much of a baby to make a fuss.

But, what if Rainbow Dash would think less of her?

“Oh, uhm… Maybe?” She watched Rainbow Dash fumble with the hammer, trying to get a good angle between her teeth. “If Trixie went to Carousel Boutique, do you think Rarity would cover for us? Oh dear…”

Lying to Trixie had somehow made sense to her at the time. She thought Trixie would spend a little less time with Rainbow Dash if she just let the misunderstanding happen. Looking back on it now, she could barely believe she’d been so thoughtless.

She probably deserved to have it backfire the way it did. Rainbow Dash was so busy the past weeks that her only free time was spent with Trixie. At least it had helped Fluttershy get her priorities straight. What she’d really wanted wasn’t for Trixie to spend less time with Rainbow Dash, but to spend more with Rainbow herself.

As much as she told herself it was unfair to blame anypony, she felt a little spark of resentment towards Trixie for ending up with Rainbow Dash.

She thought less Trixie meant more her, but it didn’t turn out that way at all, which made this moment they had together all the more precious.

How long did she have Rainbow Dash all to herself? A few minutes, an hour? How long till Trixie burst through the door and nonchalantly reclaimed her?

Was there any way to stop that from happening though? Did she really want to confess and tell Rainbow Dash what an awful pony she really was? Maybe she’d lose even moments like this.

“You’re probably right. Okay, hold it steady.” Dash warned her, before bringing the hammer down.

Having been roughly pulled from her spiral of self doubt, Fluttershy flinched and closed her eyes for the first swing. The impact sent a little tremor through her hooves. After the first couple of hits, she forced herself to open her eyes again. The quick swings of the hammer were frighteningly close, but it was worth it.

As usual, Rainbow Dash was so absorbed in her task that she never looked up, giving Fluttershy a chance to watch her up close without too much risk of being caught staring.

Rainbow Dash was so vibrant and strong. Every swing created a little rainbow trail and the few drops of rain in her mane went flying, sparkling in the light of the setting sun. Watching her was as though she was seeing the sun break through her own cloudy mood.

Fluttershy could watch her forever.

Of course, to Rainbow Dash, everything, even helping a friend, was a race of some kind. It felt like she’d barely gotten started and already all the nails vanished into the wood like a colony of frightened Meerkats.

“Hah, I think that’s a new personal best! Aw yeah, who’s awesome?!” Dash proclaimed proudly as she spun off the ground into the air, flaring her wings to either side in a blur of beguiling motion.

“Oh, y-yes. I wasn’t counting, but it felt like your best time.” She went to flash her biggest smile, but found she’d already been unknowingly wearing it while watching her. A warmth spread through her cheeks. “D-do you, uhm, think you could…?” She glanced up to the ceiling beam.

She wasn’t going to tell her. Maybe pretending to be in a relationship like this wouldn’t be so bad if they just had some more moments like these. From what she was told, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be as busy anymore, thanks to Twilight. Maybe things were looking up?

“Oh, yeah sure!” Dash zipped up the ceiling and pressed the birdhouse against it, then glanced down to her for approval. “Around here?”

Fluttershy at least was looking up.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, could you straighten it a little? A-and maybe to the left, if that’s okay with you.” She didn’t truly care, all that mattered was to give Dash something distracting to do while she had the chance to admire her a little more.

“Alright. Come on, you little… ” Rainbow Dash seemed to be doing her best to straighten the little structure, twisting it back and forth. ”Oh! Actually, I had something I wanted to ask you about.”

“O-oh?” She thanked her lucky stars Rainbow Dash hadn’t turned around. “What is it? I’d be happy to help.”

“Twilight mentioned it’s been like a month and change since Trixie showed up. Which got me thinking… Do you think I should get her something? Since, ya know, we’ve known each other a month?”

“Y-you mean an... anniversary present?” She was fairly sure those were a yearly thing, but Dash wasn’t the most patient pony. “For one month?”

“Yeah. I’m not really sure if I should, but I thought it would be a great chance to give Trixie her hat and cloak back. Rarity did a great job with them and suggested we should find an occasion.” She held the birdhouse in place with one hoof while the other scratched at her chin. “Although.. Now that I say it out loud ‘give back’ does not sound like much of a gift, does it? Maybe I should find her something else. Anyway, what do you think?”

“W-well… I’ve heard some ponies do that but… I think you usually start counting from the day you… uhm… y-you know… s-start the relationship officially? S-so… it’s only been two weeks and… uhm...”

She kind of thought they’d give the costume back together. If they were going to do gifts for a one month anniversary, then wouldn’t that mean the very next day she would be expected to have a gift too? Would she have to find something else? Something that competed with that? It wasn’t really fair to her.

Maybe, this was a good opportunity? She could get a paltry gift in comparison and maybe Trixie would be insulted enough to break off the relationship?

Still, it was a little mean of Rainbow Dash to ask for both the cloak and hat and leave it to her to figure something else out. After Trixie had gotten so angry, she had been looking forward to returning the cloak to her.

All of a sudden, it clicked.

“M-maybe I should… get her something too?” she offered as nonchalantly as she could manage while her hooves dug into the couch cushions. “Maybe I could give her the cloak?”

“Uhh, nah. That would probably be weird.” Dash called back without a thought as she came back down and started picking out a couple nails to bring back up. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a thing for couples, ya know?”

She doesn’t know!

Wide-eyed, she stared up at Rainbow Dash, carrying on her task utterly oblivious while the terrible realization set in. Why did Rainbow Dash not know? Trixie told her they were ‘dating’. She was there. Maybe not in as many words, but...

“Y-yes, of course. Uhm...” She faltered. Had Rainbow Dash misunderstood that badly? That didn’t make any sense. Although, she did tend to just hear what she wanted sometimes. “Can.. can you come, uhm, down here. If that’s okay?”

“I guess?” Rainbow Dash peeled away from the ceiling with a graceful loop that really shouldn’t be as distracting as it was, landing near the table to put the birdhouse down. “Did you want it somewhere else?”

Her breathing was so shallow, no matter how much she tried to take deep breaths. That wasn’t good. She had to calm down, but how was she supposed to while dealing with this? If Rainbow Dash didn’t know, then didn’t that mean Trixie was cheating on her? Worse than that, didn’t that mean… Trixie was cheating on Dash with her?

She felt so very cold all of a sudden.

“H-how well do you… know Trixie?” She asked, painfully aware of her own hypocrisy.

“Pretty well. Uh, I guess?” Rainbow Dash seemed to lose some confidence mid sentence. “I mean, I know what stuff she likes and dislikes, I think… I guess I don’t really know where she’s from or anything. That stuff didn’t really come up yet... Why, did you have a suggestion?”

The right thing to do would be to tell Rainbow Dash, wouldn’t it? She’d been serious about making their relationship work. She deserved to know right now. It was only right. Of course, if she figured this out, then surely so had Trixie? Why hadn't she said anything? Was she lying to them both? If she said something now, Rainbow Dash would definitely blow up and do something rash. Trixie wouldn’t get any chance to explain.

It was just a happy coincidence that it happened to get her what she wanted, wasn’t it? Everything would go back to normal.

But…

Did she really want to irrevocably do this? The choice was hers now, for sure. If she said something it would be all on her. So much pressure. It was scary to think something she did could have such big effects.

It was what she wanted, but was she really this selfish?

“T-Trixie is... ”

“Yeah?”

“...Prideful.” she sighed more so than said, feeling herself slip down the familiar path of least resistance. Like a helpful coward. “If you get her an anniversary gift… Uhm… more so if that gift was really special to her… I-its a good idea, but… Trixie can’t afford anything even half as lavish, so...” She let the sentence trail off.

“So,” Rainbow Dash picked up. “Trixie’ll feel like I showed her up?”

“W-well… s-she’d probably feel at least inadequate to, uhm… be… with you?” The more she spoke, the more she silently cursed herself. If only she could have just kept quiet and let this play out.

There was at least one thing she found herself to have in common with Trixie.

“Woah, I hadn’t even thought about that!” Rainbow Dash smacked herself in the forehead. “Thanks, Fluttershy!”

She too was her own worst enemy.

Fluttershy had only just settled back into the couch when she heard the back door creak open in the middle of the night. Her whole body froze instantly. She knew it was almost certainly Trixie. Or rather, she hoped it was. Surely, that was all. There wasn’t any rational need for her to stiffen up and hold her breath, as though holding very still would make her invisible while she waited a seeming eternal two seconds, ears perked.

The familiar sound of Trixie’s hoofsteps had her breathe a small sigh of relief as she sunk back into the couch. Now that the initial scare was over, she just felt silly for worrying like that. For so long the thought of hearing that sound late at night had been just a terrifying thought, but nopony came all the way out here, especially not at night.

Wait, how had she been sitting when Trixie left? On the right side of the couch, leaning against the armrest? She scrambled to get into position just in time as she heard Trixie trotting closer.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has returned!” Trixie, her loud but endearing intruder, announced as she stepped back into the living room. Trixie looked surprised to see her for some reason. “Oh! Did you wait here all this time? That’s adorable. What a good girl.”

“W-what? I...” Fluttershy’s speech faltered as she felt her cheeks heat up. Trixie thought she’d stayed put like a ‘good girl’ just waiting for her to return? Leaps of logic were Trixie’s strong suit, but this would only make any sense if… she was found in the exact same position as if she hadn’t done anything in between… like a sensible pony would have if she’d actually been on her own instead of eavesdropping upstairs.

She was so warm suddenly.

The bookcase was less than two steps away. It would have made sense to grab something and at least pretend to have been reading. Why was she so bad at acting under pressure? It was obvious enough if she just thought about it. How easy would it have been to just take a book on her way to the couch. Maybe she could make up some other excuse? What could she even say that would be believable? Especially now that she’d been silent for who knows how long.

A gentle ruffling of her mane pulled her out of what had moments before felt like an inescapable spiral. Looking up, she saw Trixie giving her a smile, her hoof lingering too briefly before it pulled back.

“You truly must be tired if you’re zoning out on Trixie like that,” Trixie commented while giving her a look with far more concern than she deserved. “Trixie’s sorry to keep you waiting so long. Was there something you wanted?”

“Uhm...” This seemed like a good opportunity, but what was she going to say? Should she tell her how listening to them made her feel? It felt so shameful to admit to spying on them. What was she even expecting Trixie to do about it? Or maybe she could ask Trixie why Rainbow Dash didn't seem to know about the two of them?

“Mhm, okay. You think on that. Meanwhile, Trixie’s going to make tea and a snack before bed, do you want some too?”

Goodness, had she taken too long again? Maybe this was for the best, a little bit of time might just be what she needed. But first there was the question to answer. She’d been too preoccupied all evening to pay any attention but now that Trixie made the offer it did sound good.

Still...Trixie was just being polite, wasn’t she? It wouldn’t be right to inconvenience her with a request. Unless she wasn’t, then it would be rude to refuse! Maybe, maybe she should try to compromise? She could always just ask for half of what was offered. Yes, she wasn’t hungry anyway.

Wait, then how was Trixie still hungry after all those muffins she brought?

Oh, she recognized this now. This was one of the benevolent tricks Trixie liked to play on her. It wasn’t the first time. Trixie would make an offer that was too big, or claim she was getting something anyway when really she was just trying to put her at ease and get her more comfortable with asking for something.

“Oh, uhm, just tea for me, please,” she asked with a smile.

Even knowing the trick, it curiously still worked. Maybe it was just knowing that Trixie was trying to be considerate of her.

Trixie gave a nod, then vanished into the kitchen while making some very confident declarations toward her expertise at dazzling taste buds.

Once Trixie was out of sight Fluttershy breathed a deep sigh and slumped on the couch.

Who was she kidding here? She could barely grapple her way through asking for a cup of tea for herself. Let alone ask for… well… Rainbow Dash back. Folding her hooves over her head, she tried her best to disappear for even thinking the sentence.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t a borrowed cup of sugar! It wasn’t that simple. Not that she’d ever mustered up the courage to ask for a cup back either.

Somehow this was even more terrifying than standing up to a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon!

It would be laughable if she wasn’t so pathetic.

“Trixie’s been thinking lately,” Trixie called out from the kitchen amidst the sound of metal hitting the stove and a softly hissed verbal warning at what could only be Angel Bunny. “Have you seen what a mess that library was?”

“Yes?” It was awfully hard to miss the terrible pool of mud that the Golden Oaks library seemed to be slowly sinking deeper into. Even with the rain gone, it would take a while for all of that to dry up.

“Trixie’s not sorry, but…” Silence dragged out for a moment, presumably for Trixie to straighten her own thoughts out. She sounded conflicted. “Trixie thinks maybe she hadn’t really thought the consequences through. It was great to know Dashie cared so much but… do you think Trixie should have put a stop to it?”

“W-well… I think I would like it if friends didn’t fight?” She would have to remember to thank Applejack for stopping Rainbow Dash from doing anything more drastic, but it still had been hard to watch. “What made you ask, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“That little dragon boy, Spike? Trixie spent some time with him today and he’s a good kid, Trixie supposes.”

“Oh, yes.” She smiled at the mention of the adorable little guy. “Isn’t he just the cutest little dragon you’ve ever seen? Oh, I suppose he is the only little dragon I’ve ever seen.”

“Yes, yes. Adorably forgettable… Trixie kind of maybe sorta forgot he lived with Twilight and he had a rough go of it these past rainy days…” Trixie said a little quieter than she usually talked. “He didn’t do anything wrong, but he got caught up in that whole mess anyway. Trixie thought maybe Dash had gone too far, so she got her to, uhm, clear up the cloud...”

While she wasn’t sure how it was possible to hear somepony avoid eye-contact, Trixie was somehow managing it even as a disembodied voice floating in all the way from the kitchen. “That, that’s good...right?”

“Trixie supposes so. Then Trixie remembered that lil filly, Apple Bloom? She was upset to hear her sister got humiliated by Trixie. Then there’s Rarity who spent a lot of time and effort fixing her mane and… well… It is possible that in hindsight, Trixie also went too far.”

“I’m sorry.” It was a reflex as natural to her as breathing.

There was quiet in the kitchen aside from the occasional clack of cups and teaspoons. Curiously no plates. Finally, Trixie spoke up again. “Trixie thinks… maybe she is too?”

“Oh! Uh, uhm… That’s good, I think? Isn’t it? S-so…?”

“What can Trixie do about it? She can’t undo any of that.”

“Maybe… you could talk to them, tomorrow? We are all meeting at Sugarcube Corner.”

“Mhm, yes. Maybe Trixie will do that.” Almost as if to evade spending any time contemplating, Trixie flowed right into the next thing on her mind. “On an unrelated note, how do you feel about road trips? Just out of interest. Trixie used to be on the road a lot actually, you see...”

It was kind of endearing to hear Trixie try to pitch her idea of taking both of them along on her next magic tour. She seemed to be entirely genuine about how she saw their relationship, wishing to include them into her life in whichever way she could think of.

Of course she’d already heard the gist of it when Trixie had explained it to Rainbow Dash, but she couldn’t very well say that. The part about meeting and taming wondrous animals was new, though.

Still, she found her thoughts drifting off. Even if she had been intent on keeping the charade going, she already knew she couldn’t really go along with this. For a start it meant traveling from place to place, which meant constantly meeting new ponies. It was hard enough just to do a little shopping in Ponyville where she at least recognized some of the faces.

More importantly, she couldn’t just leave all her animal friends to fend for themselves. What would they do without her? She couldn't just leave them behind.

Curiously, this plan of Trixie’s both solved and created problems. On the one hoof, if Trixie left and she couldn’t come with her, that meant she didn’t have to lie anymore. On the other hoof, Rainbow Dash would be leaving as well if she didn’t do something.

If she really did her best to think positive, even that last thing might be a blessing in disguise. Rainbow Dash had been by her side for so long that maybe on some level it never seemed pressing to share her feelings. It was easy to chicken out when there would always be a new chance later.

But now, once Rainbow Dash left, it would be too late. Whenever that would be. This way she would be forced to make an effort before that terrible point of no return. It was kind of perfect, wasn’t it? A looming deadline she would have to worry about.

Right, because she did so well under pressure.

Folding her forelegs over her face, Fluttershy muffled a frustrated groan.

She wasn’t sure what she was really hoping to achieve here. Even if she temporarily went mad and managed to voice her wish for Rainbow Dash’s affection, where would she go from there? It wasn’t as if she would suddenly become more assertive after that. More importantly, Rainbow Dash preferred Trixie.

Her chest felt as if she’d tripped onto an unsuspecting hedgehog.

They had so much in common; boundless energy, Incredible confidence, high ambition, burning passion, and both were impossibly impulsive. Not to mention they both had a real idea of what they wanted out of life…The exact opposite of herself.

That was right, the two of them were happy together, weren’t they? Even if she’d learned Rainbow Dash once saw her as a romantic interest as well, what chance did she really have at this point? It wasn’t as though she’d suddenly become assertive and outgoing. Or be able to exchange witty quips and flirtations. Or fully understand that deep desire for stardom. Or… or be anything else Trixie was…

The piercing spines felt like they were digging deeper into her.

As much as it hurt to admit, Trixie was a better match for Rainbow Dash than she could ever hope to be. A wonderful, expressive, passionate, loving pony… that was even now talking about how excited she was to move away to Las Pegasus or wherever the road would wind… and unwittingly threatening to take Rainbow Dash away in the process.

If only things just went back to normal. She didn’t even need to make any progress if that was too much to ask. She simply wanted everything to go back to how things were a couple of weeks ago. That had to be a reasonable compromise, right? It had actually been fun to have Trixie around. A little daunting sometimes, sure, but she’d been getting used to that. She could handle that much.

But not this. She definitely couldn’t handle this. Losing both her friends. Just like that.

....It would be nice if they just had a little falling out.

Yes, relationships ended on their own all the time. Maybe it was kinder to give them just a little nudge in the wrong direction to spare them both in the future. If anything, Dash and Trixie were going to break up eventually for one reason or the other, and it would be for the best if they did so before going on a worldwide tour.

It would be easy enough if she just kept quiet this time. That’s all she had to do. Not act. As long as she didn’t tell Trixie she was technically cheating. Rainbow Dash would catch on soon and draw her own rash conclusions. Even if they hadn’t exactly done anything… mostly because Trixie was trying so hard to be understanding of her limits and comfort… trying so hard to make sure she felt safe.

Her stomach twisted itself into a knot.

That was a terrible thing to do. She hated herself for simply thinking it, but it wasn’t the first time she’d considered sabotaging them. She’d even acted on that thought a couple of times. Nothing too big; just little road blocks. Interrupting at an intimate time, using too much garlic. The sort of thing she could convince herself of being perfectly natural mistakes for a clueless pony like her to make.

It never worked for long, and all those petty little things didn’t escape Trixie’s notice. That notice had led Fluttershy to what was easily the cruelest thing she had done. Leading poor Trixie on.

As much as she wanted to believe it was just an accident, a bad choice of words in a moment of panic, she’d had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing by now. No, she was definitely at fault.

She let the poor metaphorical hedgehog go and just accepted the pain was her own fault.

She knew she could have said something back then and nipped the whole misunderstanding in the bud, but... now it seemed like that mistake had become a perfect solution. A bursting dam that required nothing more of her than inaction. It wouldn’t be her fault at all if something bad happened just because she hadn’t done anything… or so she liked to tell herself.

To everypony else, she’d be innocently caught up in the whole mess.

She’d never have to tell Trixie that she didn’t actually love her.

She was being selfish. Selfish, stupid and cruel, but was that really so bad? She just wanted that feeling to go away. No matter how disgusted she was with herself for it, if she just endured, things would be normal again.

The tears were back, she could feel wet patches forming on her fur..

It was a terrible thing to do and she knew it. What was wrong with her?

“Fluttershy? Are you okay?” Trixie’s voice was awfully close all of a sudden.

She froze.

When did Trixie return?! She hadn’t heard her come in!

Her heart beating in her throat kept her from saying anything intelligible. She just managed to blubber and quickly stopped. She wanted to squeak out something reassuring, but her lower lip started to quake whenever she tried to open her mouth again.

After a quiet moment, the couch creaked as Trixie sat down beside her.

Oh, no.

A warm and far too emphatic touch slowly stroked her back. “C-can you tell Trixie what’s wrong?” Her voice was unsteady, sharing a familiar tremor of uncertainty. “Trixie can help.”

She didn’t deserve this, not at all.

“I-I’m sorry.” She brought her wings forward to bury her face deeper. If she just went deep enough maybe she’d escape the shame that came with each stroke of Trixie’s attempt at comforting.

“What? Oh, this is about the cloak...” The couch creaked again and soon she felt Trixie lean over top of her, wrapping her in a gentle hug. “It… it wasn’t… well, it was important… but… not as important as you are. Trixie’s sorry she yelled at you.”

This was who she was losing her little one sided battle against. A down on her luck mare that would discard her last possession if it meant making her fragile buttercup feel a little bit better.

“I… I’m fine,” she croaked out, barely audible to even herself.

Trixie must have heard her, however. As she gave her a tight squeeze then backed away, leaving only a lingering hoof to trace along her shoulder blades. “If you say so, but… Trixie’s not so sure.”

The thought of Trixie concerning herself over her any more was too much to handle. Using her fetlocks to dry her eyes, she did her best to make herself a little presentable before emerging from her feathered cocoon. “N-no, really. Uhm...” She blinked against the light, finding Trixie sitting beside her with two cups suspended in mid air.

One floated closer to her.

“...Thank you,” she said while taking the warm cup between her hooves. A lovely lemon scent with a hint of honey. As she took her first hesitant sip and tried to calm down, she surveyed the room.

Trixie was right beside her, handling her own cup with magic. As expected, Trixie had not made anything to eat for just herself despite claiming she was going to originally. Once Trixie noticed her staring, she flashed a smile. “How is it?”

It was too sweet for her. Much like the mare that made it.

“It’s perfect.”

“Hah, of course it is. Trixie made it after all.” Trixie grinned and pulled back to rest against the farside of the couch, stirring her tea. “Trixie realizes this is a little, uh, late… but… how was your day?”

“M-my day? Oh, uhm… not as exciting as yours, but… I made a new home for a future guest.” She motioned to the birdhouse roughly nailed into the ceiling beam. Trixie sipped her tea as she rambled on. “I talked to Angel… and Rainbow Dash. Oh, and you, but you knew that. I-I think that’s about it. It was fine. Why do you ask?”

“Trixie was just curious what she missed. Other than you.” Trixie gave a sly wink.

A warmth spread through her chest, probably the hot tea. She did her best to ignore it and steel herself. “Uhm, Trixie? H-how do you… uhm… f-feel about… Rainbow Dash?”

“Huh?” Trixie looked taken aback by the direction of the conversation. “You mean as a pony? Well, she’s a bit too conceited and sure of herself, but Trixie tries not to hold that against her.” By the end, that grin was back. “In truth, she kind of loves that about her. But that’s a big secret, don’t tell anypony.”

“Y-you’re not taking this seriously,” she said with just a touch of annoyance in her voice that made Trixie frown. “S-sorry… It’s just… I need to know how, uhm, s-serious you are. About her. I mean.”

It wasn’t really fair to ask something like that so suddenly, but it was important. Trixie had known Rainbow Dash for only a short while and gotten infatuated. Who really knew how often that happened to her? Perhaps there was a mare in every town. Or maybe this was true love. Or, maybe something in between.

She was really grasping at straws now, just looking for some excuse.

There was a moment’s pause as Trixie ruminated on the question, staring down into her teacup. “Trixie thinks she is? It is hard to put into words. Being with her is fun and Trixie feels comfortable when she talks with her. Though, Trixie is sure that we do not know each other as well as, for example, Dash and you. But every time Trixie learns something new about her, Trixie feels happy. Even if it’s something small, you know?”

Fluttershy noticed a smile forming on Trixie’s face, accompanied by a dreamy expression. Not Trixie’s trademark boisterous stage smile brimming with confidence, but a soft smile. One she didn’t think Trixie was even aware of.

“Today, she mentioned that she used to like sliced fruits as a kid. Pointless, stupid trivia, right? And still…” Trixie looked up, meeting her gaze. “When Trixie saw the fruit bowl in the kitchen, all she could think about was what fruit it was, just so she could slice some to share with her later. That’s dumb, isn’t it? Dash probably doesn’t even like that anymore. Heck, she probably won’t even remember that she mentioned it because it’s such a trivial nonsense thing.”

“N-no… I understand.”

That horrible hedgehog was back.

This was enough. She was always going to feel this way if nothing changed, but she’d tried everything she could think of to get rid of that feeling already. At least, everything that wouldn’t have too drastic a consequence…

If she couldn’t trust herself to be good, then something had to give.

“U-uhm...” She fumbled for the right words. Resolving to tell the truth was one thing, but where did she even begin? Admit to eavesdropping tonight? Or maybe that she mislead Trixie about having feelings for her? “D-do you remember… when I, uhm… ”

“Hey, Fluttershy. What about you?” Trixie interrupted with an unerring sense of the worst timing. “You’ve been friends with Dash for a long time. What do you think about her?”

“W-what?” This was definitely not where she wanted to start. “I, uhm, you mean as a pony? S-she’s great.”

“Now who’s not taking this seriously?” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Come now, you must have some more thoughts on her.”

She felt a sudden blush coming on. What was Trixie insinuating? Now that she thought about it, Rainbow Dash was asked something when Trixie thought they were alone. “W-well, she’s very straightforward and fearless. A-and, uhm, not very good at thinking things through, but I think that’s part of why she can be who she is…. A-about that actually...”

“Yes?”

“Did… did you talk her any more about, uhm...” She motioned with her hoof between the two of them a couple of times. “Y-you know?”

“Us?” Trixie looked surprised. “A little.”

“But not in detail, r-right?” she pried, cautiously.

“The Great and Discreet Trixie assures you she does not kiss and tell.” Trixie began with the utmost earnestness, but quickly devolved into adding a wink and a salacious grin. “Unless you wish her to?”

“T-that’s not it.” She managed to squeak out as her teacup was smoothly pulled from her grasp and set down on the table alongside its sibling. She gulped as Trixie leaned in closer, seeming to be intent on having something to tell should she agree. “I… I don’t think she understood.”

Mercifully, Trixie froze. “...What?”

“Rainbow Dash, she never said anything to me about it. She was very busy but… she probably would have, right?” Despite the look of increasing worry on Trixie’s face, Fluttershy felt as if a set of overstocked saddlebags finally slid off. One less secret and she was already feeling better. “So, I talked to her today and asked about it. N-not directly. I mean. Uhm… Well, she definitely has no idea. Is… is that bad?”

If she had any suspicions as to whether Trixie had lied, they vanished along with the color in Trixie’s face. “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“But, but Trixie was sure she… maybe Trixie wasn’t clear enough.” She reeled back with a dramatic groan. “Gahh, Dash is going to kill Trixie! It’s already been weeks! Now what? Should Trixie just go over to her right now and try to explain?”

“I, uhm, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Sorry…. She’d be right to get really upset.” With how paranoid Trixie could be, Fluttershy knew it didn’t take terribly much to conjure up a worst case scenario in her mind. If she ever got the chance later, she’d have to apologize. Signs of panic were already starting to set in. Pinprick pupils. Rapid breathing. Fortunately, she had experience in soothing Trixie. “We don’t have to tell her, but… we can’t do this anymore. It wouldn’t be fair, right? If we just stop now, nopony’s to blame.”

“Y-you think? But… that means… We’d have to break it off.” Trixie quickly latched on to the proposed solution, though conflict was clearly written across her face. “Trixie can’t do that you, Fluttershy. Or herself for that matter. Argh. Trixie knew she should have gotten us all together to talk about it. It’s just, Dash was so busy, and it must have slipped Trixie’s mind when she finally got to see her. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I, I wasn’t very, uhm… a-active... with you. S-so I’m sure things won’t change that much.” It was a little sweet to see Trixie still worried about how this impacted her, but it also made her just that much more aware of how manipulative she was being. Would an apology be enough? That future problem was all she could focus on to combat the inner struggle. Would Trixie’s favorite food and a note be a good start?

Trixie was tense and silent, wearing what could be deemed her ‘scheming scowl’. For all the times she’d seen Trixie adopt that face and delve into deep thought, very little good usually came from it.

“Trixie?”

There was no verbal response, though Trixie’s eyes focused on her for a moment. They widened briefly then returned to their previous position, darting left to right just a little bit. Following her gaze revealed the calendar on the wall. In particular the past weeks.

“It’s okay.” She reached out to touch Trixie on the shoulder. “I couldn’t have come on tour either. So, it’s k-kind of for the best? I hope you and Rai—”

“Do you like Rainbow Dash?” Trixie’s full attention suddenly snapped back to her with intensity.

Staring back as if she’d been petrified for ten seconds following that question would be a dead give away. Maybe if she’d been a little better at acting under pressure, that might have dawned on her at the start rather than the end of it. She composed herself as best she could. “S-sure? She’s my best friend.”

“Do you like like her?” Trixie asked a little more insistently after the first evasion.

“N-no?” She lied reflexively. Be calm! She had to be calm. It wasn’t a big deal! She was going to tell Trixie anyway, wasn’t she? Even if this wasn’t how she’d pictured it. But why was Trixie asking all of a sudden? Oh Celestia, she hoped she wasn’t sweating as much as it felt like.

Some of the intensity melted off Trixie as she leaned back a little bit. “Ah, sorry. Trixie understands this must seem a bit… accusatory. What with Trixie catching you checking out her girlfriend’s toned tush.” She motioned up at the freshly nailed birdhouse above.

She noticed!?

“T-that’s n-not. I, I mean.” Oh no, she was feeling the heat rising to her face. The more she struggled the faster she was turning bright red. A quick, but none too casual mane flip at least let her hide behind something, but it was obviously too late. “O-oh….”

“Heh, it seems so obvious now, but Trixie will admit she was a bit slow on the uptake. It actually took some help from a friend to realize it.”

She could feel Trixie close in, then a hoof parted her shielding mane, brushing it behind her ear. She kept her eyes closed tight, unsure how angry Trixie would be.

“To be honest, Trixie was planning to coax it out of you, but she doesn’t think we have the time. Aw, you’re shaking.” Trixie petted her head. “Relax. You’re not in trouble.”

“I-I’m not?” She cautiously peeked out one eye.

“Of course not.” Trixie wore a surprisingly upbeat smile as she shook her head. “Well, maybe a little bit, but the point right now is… do you like her?”

The lump in her throat was impossible to swallow. She’d really hoped to couch the truth in some much softer language and with a lot more context. But, if Trixie really wanted to know this badly… Actually, she seemed pretty certain of it already and why wouldn’t she? Even pet dogs who tore up the carpet had better poker faces than she did. She wouldn’t even know what that term meant if it wasn’t for Trixie teaching her. “Y...yes. I-I do…”

Tears welled up in her eyes. It felt so good to finally say it, out loud, to another pony.

“I have… for a l-long time. I was never going to…”

“Act on it?” Trixie finished for her, with the kind of glee in her voice normally held for newborn puppies. A simple nod sufficed for Trixie this time as she suddenly dove in and gave her a tight hug, almost crushing her. “Great! So, listen. Trixie knows you are kind of, shall we say, averse to risk taking, but… How would you feel about acting on it with Trixie’s blessing?”

Trixie’s grip must have been so tight that it was cutting off circulation to her head. Did she really just say that? To what end? She was pretty sure at this point Trixie’s behaviour wasn’t an act. She hesitantly wrapped her hooves around Trixie, mimicking her hold at about a tenth of it’s vigor. “I don’t understand. You want me to… H-hit on Rainbow Dash so she’s cheating too and she can’t be mad? I, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with that... Actually, I’m sure I’m not.”

“Woah.” Loosening her grip, Trixie pushed away till they were facing each other, resting their hooves on each others shoulders and hips as they parted. “That’s so devious! Trixie is once again impressed. Remind her to include you next time she wants to plot an elaborate heist. However, Trixie was actually just going to ask if maybe you’d be interested in, uhm, joining us officially? If you’d rather go with your plan, Trixie supposes we could workshop it.”

“J-join you? As in… as in…” she could not finish the sentence without overheating. Trixie was asking her to take part in the relationship fully? But why, what would that solve? Unless, Trixie was banking on the idea that Rainbow Dash would not be able to stay mad if she stood more to gain? As though she wouldn’t have any reason to be jealous if the source of that jealousy was shared between them? That was insane. And, yet… the idea of being… like that. The heat that had been trapped in her face spread out through her whole body.

“Yes. As in join us for dinner with the Apples again.”

“W-what? But... ” She bit her lip. What had she been thinking? “O-of course. If you think it will help.”

“Trixie is pretty sure you had a better idea just now.” Trixie regarded her with some obvious bemusement. “What was it?”

“N-nothing.” Was she toying with her now in some cruel game?

“Okay. If you’re sure, but… Trixie could really use your input.” She slipped away, back into her own spot and brought the teacup over. A single sip had her pull a disgusted face, evidently the tea had gone cold. “Yuck. Trixie should have drank it when she had the chance. What about you? Still hot, or are you gonna let it get cold too?”

Oh, that little… weasel.

She understood the intention now. Trixie wanted her to say it. This was likely another one of her ploys to ‘help’ her get a little more comfortable with speaking her mind, right? She could not have picked a worse thing in the world to do this to her with. Now that she thought about it, that was probably why Trixie was so insistent on getting a verbal answer as to whether or not she liked Rainbow Dash.

Now that she knew where she was in Trixie’s playbook, there was time to consider her position. There was one secret she had not yet shared with Trixie, but telling her would definitely mean losing this opportunity.

She liked Trixie, she really did, but if her standard was Rainbow Dash, she definitely didn’t ‘like like’ her.

Only moments ago had she finally found an angle to gently let Trixie down from their one sided relationship without hurting her feelings. Did she really want to let that go just so she could… get what she’d always wanted? For Rainbow Dash to look at her and like her. But, not just like her, Rainbow already liked her, but, maybe she could 'like like' her?"

She looked back to Trixie, contemplating her future. It wasn’t as though Trixie wasn’t attractive or attentive. And she definitely did care for Trixie, but… was that really enough? The difference felt so vast. On the other hoof… She’d known and grown with Rainbow Dash for years, was it really any wonder she felt so much stronger about her? Wasn’t there a chance that, given time, she would grow to feel more toward Trixie as well? Could she ‘like like’ her too?

It felt flimsy. Still, it was something she could tell herself. That’s why it would be okay.

Now that Fluttershy was looking at her more closely, she was beginning to notice some obvious signs in Trixie she hadn’t before. Trixie's muscles were tightened up. And when Fluttershy looked in her direction, Trixie withdrew a few inches from her before catching herself doing it and, as subtley as possible, reversing course. Trixie was nervous.

That made sense. Trixie was trying to hold onto the ponies she loved, and it was all dependent on whether an incredibly cowardly pegasus could scrap together enough courage to ask for something and prove she truly desired it. If that failed, Trixie’s only options would be to break off one relationship, and then either lie to Rainbow Dash, or tell the truth. There was a very real chance that each path left her with nothing. Even if she succeeded, it would mean she’d only get half of what she wanted.

Even if she agreed to go along with Trixie in this, the next hurdle would be Rainbow Dash’s reaction.

Was that why Trixie had zoned out for so long? To concoct the one gambit which gave her a chance at everything? Even if the chances of it working out were so much smaller? Trixie couldn’t stand to let either of them go, could she? Fluttershy could relate to that. No wonder Trixie was so nervous.

She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Trixie?”

“Y-yes?” Trixie snapped at attention.

It was her choice to make.

“I… I think we s-should… I mean.” She gulped. This was harder than she thought it would be, and she already thought it was going to be impossible. Come on, all at once! She closed her eyes tightly. “Let’s ask Rainbow Dash if we can all be together! I-if that’s okay with you!?”

Oh, Celestia! She’d really said it. She just wanted to sink through the floor and die.

Fortunately, Trixie leaped into action. While the hardwood floor was too sturdy to sink into, Trixie did her very best to hug the life out of her. “That’s perfect! Why didn’t Trixie think of that!?”

The future was going to be interesting.

Author's Note

At long last here we are. The inner struggle of our favorite shy horse. I hope you enjoyed it.
You might notice the style is a little different, that'd be because I tried to emulate another writer that I found interesting. (Who i just not realize I forgot to ask if mentioning them would be fine so stay tuned for that.) I intended to experiment with it for a chapter. Didn't quite take into account it would be this big of a chapter and I probably relapsed a lot. Anyway, I had fun with it. ^^
Admittedly it took me about twice as long as I'd have liked to bring out a new chapter, but it's about twice as long. So I feel that balances out, right?
:yay: