Nothing was as good as flying for the Wonderbolts… well, maybe being with her friends; for Rainbow "Crash" Dash however, the two never got in the way of each other. But one thing kept stealing her concentration.

The memory that almost had Rainbow losing her position in the tight formation was of how amazingly pliant Twilight had become when her eyes had been glued to Dash's plot. She remembered the hunger, the desire in her friend's eyes.

"Crash, move over!" Soarin screamed the words over the air rushing past them, his voice worried that the mare made famous for crashing would use her unique talent on him.

"Sorry!" Dash broke free of the memory and got back into her pattern as they zoomed over the skies of Fillydelphia. It took focus and training to keep her angles matched to her wing-mate’s and keep the "smoke trail" tight and distinct, but Dash was starting to become a pro at this. Landing, the squad all lifted their hooves and gave a hearty clop as they all came together. "Aww yeah!" Dash turned to Soarin, "Sorry about losing my cool back there, just… I keep getting distracted by something."

"Or somepony? Crash, did you almost buck Soarin mid-air?" Spitfire's voice wasn't really accusing, it had only been a minor shift after all. "I swear girl, you should either get under him or find somepony else to."

Both wing-mates blushed crimson, while it was typical "locker-room" talk from their commander, it seemed to hit a mark on both of them regardless. "Don't listen to her, Crash, you are still the best flier in Equestria, even if you do lose it sometimes." Soarin gave Dash's shoulder a bump. "Hey, did you want to catch the magic show tonight, I hear there is some unicorn who is meant to be amazing at-"

"Trixie!" Rainbow Dash's attention was completely diverted from her distraction problem. "That faker, I would never pay bits to go see… her?" She looked at the two tickets Soarin produced. "You paid for those?"

"Nope, totally got them for free. When she heard some Wonderbolts wanted to see their show, she practically threw them at me." Soarin made sure Dash took one. "So be ready just on nightfall, I hear she is doing something awesome."

"Yeah, totally not. I don't know if you picked up on it Clipper, but me and Trixie have history, or as Rarity would say, 'history.' " Rainbow had to lift her hooves to make air-quotes but it meant she got to stomp them back down again. "She is bad news, she almost destroyed Ponyville with some magic mumbo-jumbo; and that wasn't even the first time!"

"Well, we can sit in the back, ignore anything crazy and just watch the light show?" Soarin wasn't doing much to hide that he was inviting Dash to the show to make out.

"But then I can't keep an eye on her." Sadly for the stallion, Rainbow Dash was a little too focused on being Rainbow Dash to notice his advances. "So let's sit up front, I want to give her the evil-eye too."

"I guess I'll see you then…" Soarin gave a sigh as he turned, leaving the blue pegasus. "I really need to just stallion up and kiss her, or something."

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

Dash was right up front and center, even before any other crowd had arrived. It wasn't even dark but the pegasus couldn't resist the chance to show Trixie up. "Heh, 'great and powerful'? I don't think so."

"Trixie hears a voice she knows all too well." Trixie poked her head out from between the big curtains, spotting her only audience member already. "Well, well, well; if it isn't Rainbow Dash. Here to cheer on the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"Pfft," Dash stuck her tongue out at the unicorn, "as if! I am here to see just how terrible your show really is now. I bet without that amulet thing you can barely even get a single spark!"

"Why…" Trixie froze and smiled. "Trixie won't do it. She absolutely will not be baited. Her show is the best and she certainly doesn't need to prove it to a washed up…"

"What's the matter, Trixie? Manticore got your tongue?" Rainbow Dash got up from her seat and walked over to the stage and then froze at the look on the unicorn's face. It wasn't hate, it wasn't malice at all; the look Trixie sported was pure calculation.

"The Clever and Manipulative Trixie has an offer, Rainbow Dash. Trixie is always the star of the show, but how would you like to be the… co-star?" Trixie's eyes flashed with challenge.

A challenge Rainbow Dash could never say "no" to. "Pfft, if I was in your show I would be the star. You'll see, there is nothing you could-" She cut her words off as blue magic levitated Rainbow into the air, her eyes drawing level with the egomaniac performer. "T-T-Trixie…"

"Shh, Trixie needs to get you in your costume, and then teach you some tricks." Trixie stared deep into Rainbow Dash's eyes. "Oh yes, all the tricks."

Rainbow Dash gulped. What have I gotten myself into? Bah, whatever it is, I am a Wonderbolt, nothing could faze me! She stepped through the curtains and followed Trixie. Oddly, Dash's eyes caught on Trixie's tail, following it up and seeing the slight color of the mare's dock. What am I staring at, this is Trixie, not…

"Here you are." Trixie had led Rainbow all the way to her little wagon at the back of the stage. "Put this on, make sure it is on the right way." She levitated a magically "sticky" bodysuit to the pegasus. "With this on my magic will last however long Trixie needs it to."

"Wha… what is it?" Rainbow held up the thing, turning the suit this way and that. At first it appeared that the only hole was in the neck, but as she investigated the thing closer there was another two holes at the rear, one was for a tail but the other… The buck is this?

"Just put it on, you do want to be in Trixie's show?" It was a moment the unicorn had been waiting for, she watched as Rainbow Dash started pulling the tight and stretchy costume on from her rump first. "Trixie thinks you have worn these before?"

"Sorta, it is like the thermal gear I had to wear when I flew to Yakyakistan." Dash pushed her back hooves down into the stretchy stuff. "Does it have to be this color? It makes me look like… it even has your cutie mark!"

"Trixie had this made to wear herself." Stepping around Rainbow, Trixie started helping, working the pegasus' tail through the appropriate hole. Of course this let Trixie get a good look at what else was exposed back there.

"Hey, I don't… okay, okay." Rainbow squirmed backwards into the outfit and was surprised to find wing holes. "I thought you said you had this made for yourself?" She smirked at the other egomaniac.

"Trixie… had an amulet that she thought would… oh you know the story." Trixie pulled the tight outfit over the mare's back, carefully adjusting Rainbow's wings and working them through the holes. "It cannot be said you don't wear this well. Trixie approves."

The words froze Dash in place. Did she just compliment... my figure?

Yanking the suit up further—having gotten both blue wings through the holes in the back of the costume—Trixie had the thing all the way up to Dash's withers. "Trixie needs you to lift your hooves."

Rainbow blinked, the world returning and bringing a blush with it. "Uh, right." Lifting each hoof, Dash stepped into the suit and, a moment later, had it pulled up neatly around her neck. "So what is it about this thing? It is neat enough, and I look almost like a second you… without the horn."

"Put this on now." Trixie fumbled around in a box and produced a steel collar. "What are you staring at, Trixie's show starts shortly and she will not have a monstrous Shadowbolt on stage unless they have a collar and leash."

Dash looked at the collar and blinked. The device was not a "neck-collar," it was one designed to fasten around a pony's head, around their snout and face like a bridle, but without the class of such an item. "Shadowbolt? Trixie, what is this-" She got no further, Trixie started weaving illusion around Rainbow and it felt… it felt like it was becoming part of her. "T-T-Trixie…"

"Put the collar on now. Trixie's pet Shadowbolt must wear it." Trixie glared at Rainbow and knew this was the moment, her heart beat a million miles an hour and wouldn't slow until.

*CLICK*

Gulping, Rainbow could feel the weight of the collar threatening to drag her neck down unless she fought it. Why the buck did I put it on? Why do I feel so… so… good? "Trixie?"

"Shadowbolt pets call Trixie 'Master.' " Trixie grinned and pulled a mirror over with her magic. "With that costume on, Trixie's magic will stick to you for weeks. What would normally fade in minutes will persist long past that." She gave a tug on the leash attached to the head-collar.

"T-T-T-Trix…" This is all a show, she is doing it to make me feel like I am weak… but why does it feel so good? Rainbow Dash lifted her head and looked in the mirror. "Master, that is amazing…" A Shadowbolt, looking to be stitched together by the night from smoke and darkness, stared back at Rainbow Dash, their eyes glowing a soft yellow. Not a hint of her mane was visible and her wings were midnight black. Memories rushed back, of refusing to join their ranks and work with Nightmare Moon.

"Trixie enjoys the sight of her new pet. Come on, Shade, and don't forget to look terrifying; because you are." Trixie gave a tug on the leash and strode through to the curtains.

"Y-Y-Yes Master!" Rainbow puffed herself up, loosing her wings at each side of herself and, to her oddly aroused delight, did exactly what Trixie asked her to. I need to get a grip, this is… okay, this is more exciting than anything I have ever done before, but this is TRIXIE! The curtain pulled back and the performer within Rainbow Dash latched onto the command Trixie had given her and she was rushing toward the stage, past Trixie, snarling at Soarin in the front row. Glaring at her wing-mate, Rainbow realized he was cheering. This. Is. So. Awesome!

"Fillies and gentlecolts. Welcome to the Great and Powerful Trixie's Night-stravaganza!" Trixie was pulling back on the leash, but not jerking it; she held her Shadowbolt at bay but wasn't pulling her back to heel. "However the ever-amazing Trixie must inform you that she has spent some of her magical might capturing this beast." Now she did jerk the leash.

The tug was instinctive, Dash kept pulling, but she backed up slowly toward Trixie, casting her gaze around at all and sundry. Oh wow, look at him, he is… Dash almost broke her character, apparently Soarin really liked the idea of a captured Shadowbolt.

Once she had Dash back and beside her, Trixie reared up and jerked her hooves skyward. "Welcome to the Nightmare!" The blasts of light that shot skywards were blinding at point-blank range, but Rainbow was focused on two things: looking scary, and waiting for her Master's commands.

She is the master of all of this, I am part of her show… does that make Trixie my Master? Dash had no time to contemplate things, she felt the leash go slack.

"Fly! Fly and spread your darkness over all here, but return to Trixie, she commands it!" Trixie gestured skywards and Dash was off.

Pumping her wings, Rainbow flew like a maniac, like a mare possessed with a mission. From her smoke-shrouded body darkness fell, like a blanket. To those below Rainbow knew that she was snuffing out all light in the sky and plunging them into the inky depths of Trixie's spell.

"Now return!" Trixie called through the dark spell. The crowd was just getting to the edge of worry about the black when Trixie lit things up. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has a story to tell, a story of a young mare who would not only save a princess, but become one…"

Dash froze and lay down at Trixie's side, judging the action would be perfect for when things faded. A hoof gently rubbed her mane—caressed her ears—as Trixie told the story of Twilight, Dash, and their friends as they saved Luna from Nightmare Moon. She… she sounds like she really admires Twilight… in her own odd way.

When the spell finally ended, Dash's eyes lit up, watching a crowd of ponies climb to their hooves and start stomping. The applause rang through the stage, washing over Trixie and Rainbow Dash. The hoof on Dash's head stroked a little firmer, working in around one ear. That feels so good...

"The Great and Powerful Trixie, and her Shadowbolt pet, must depart now, but she will leave you with a present…" Trixie ignited the spell-pot at the front of the stage, sending streams of fireworks into the sky. Tugging lightly on Dash's leash, Trixie walked the other mare off the stage. "Trixie was most impressed, her pet really is a good flier."

Wagging her tail and smiling, Rainbow hadn't even realized how good such praise could be until they came from her Master's lips. She opened her snout to thank Trixie but got a hoof pressed to it instead.

"Ah-ah! Trixie doesn't want her pet talking when she is a pet, does Trixie's Shadowbolt understand?" Trixie drew her hoof back and grinned wider as Rainbow nodded. "Good girl. Now…" Trixie started unraveling her spell, removing the twists and turns that held it in place on the suit and, soon, left Dash as just herself again, in a very "Trixie" costume… still wearing the head-collar. "Wait."

Rainbow felt Trixie start working magic again, wrapping it around her. It didn't take the unicorn long but she soon had Dash looking. "Hey, I look like me." A hoof rubbed behind Dash's ear and she leaned into it instinctively.

"It is, even your collar is hidden. All illusion of course. Trixie will be along to Ponyville in about… a week or two; she will remove the collar then, unless Trixie's pet decides she wants to keep wearing it." Trixie turned and walked away, swinging the unclasped leash around in her magic.

"But… but… Master…" Dash stared at Trixie's plot as the unicorn walked off.

"There you are Crash!" Soarin's voice came from behind Dash, she couldn't take her eyes from Trixie until the unicorn was out of sight. "Hey, Equestria to Crash… Crash, you in there?"

"I… I think I am…"

Author's Note

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and ~~I~~ they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, ~~I~~ They will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! ~~I~~ They will pick one question per chapter.

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.

Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
Canary in the coal mine
Daremo
Mary Rowland
Boulder
A.P.O.N.I.

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Daremo
Vutava
Boulder