The New Assistant

The light blue smoke snaked with a soft hiss across the stage floor, the flashes of magical lights danced across the curtain as the crowd watched in anticipation of the latest activity from the greatest equine who ever lived, Trixie Lullamoon aka The Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie strutted across the stage in her midnight blue boots; her low cut short dress and her trademark magician hat and her cape. All eyes on her as she took her hat off for a brief moment to pull her wand from inside it effortlessly.

"Mares and stallions; fillies and colts, ponies of all ages, are you ready to see the greatest equine who ever lived top even her defeat of the dreaded Queen Chrysalis?" She said as her audience cheered in anticipation. Meanwhile the very thing she was building the introduction up for was no more than a few feet behind her, it was Twilight's dragon assistant Spike. Spike was wearing a steel collar and a chain was attached to an eyebolt in the floor.

The collar and chains were pulley for show, but the audience didn't know that. Spike was also noticeably bigger and his spines were sharper, his teeth also jetted past his lips more than they did when he was younger. Spike growled and let out a burst of green dragonfire. (Again purley for show) The audience was in awe at seeing something as ferocious as a dragon this close up.

"Fear not Gentle colts and mares, for I The Great And Powerful...TRIXIE! Have tamed the beast to be his mistress and keeper!" Spike's loyalty to Trixie (equaled only to Twilight and Rarity...and Applejack, and Fluttershy really all the Mane Six) was about the only thing keeping him from scoffing and going along with this little charade. Well that and the fact that in the intervening time since, Trixe and Starlight had in some ways expanded the six into the eight and he'd grown...rather close to her. Just enough to be an encouragement and the inspiration for her to get back in show biz with the late act, the dragon tamer.

Spike let out more jets of his flames and a few growls as Trixie waved her fingers and made her horn glow a soft blue glimmer as she readied a spell. Usually she'd add a tidbit or two about how normally magical powers from all but the strongest of allicorns could affect a dragon..."but I The Great And Powerful Trixie has devised just a way around the drake's resistance to magic." She said as she made a bucket of gems appear on her hand, she chuckled as she held a ruby in her two fingers.

Spike knew this should feel humiliating but for Trixie it was the only way to really get ponies to believe that she wasn't a fraud the way they had before, so might as well give the audience what they want...after all it was better than Starlight's ideas anyway. Spike stopped growling and sat down on the floor. As casually as he could without looking like a dog in doing so. (He'd be waist deep in spiders before he'd give them THAT much satisfaction)

"A-ha, See? Trixie know what makes her pets behave themselves. See my fellow Equestrians? There is no need to be afraid of the dragons when you know how to mix rewards..." She said as she undid the restraints and Spike walked over to her as he lowered his spines and his head in a way to show he meantold no harm to her. Trixie seemed satisfied with his pose and fed him the ruby with a giggle as she ran her hand along his snout. Spike snorted making steam hiss from his nose, all part of the act.

"Hey! No! Uh-huh uh dragon! Be nice!" She says like an owner talking to catch getting swipy with its claws. Spike would have laughed if he wasn't that devoted to staying in character. Trixie snapped her fingers making a velvet scarf appear from midair and wrap around Spike's snout, normally Spike would snap his jaws open and break this little strip of cloth but according to Trixie.

"He is detained by enchanted silk woven from the fabric of time the three fates themselves use to weave the universe itself!" Spike rolled his eyes, thankfully the audience took it as annoyance at being restrained not her words. It went on like as long as possible. Trixie would feed her "pet" treats as he would do all sorts of tricks for the audience. From "attacking" her while she held him back with a coil of whip like a manticore tamer, to doing back flips and handstands for gems.

Soon Trixie lead Spike off the stage to continue her act as normal. Some time passed as Spike watched the crowds leave. They knew Spike was far some beast that Trixie made him out to be, but maybe it was the novelty of Trixie ACTUALLY controling a creature more powerful than a pony for once as opposed to how she used to just say she did with little or no proof. A lanky stallion with a blue mane and lighter blue coat said as he passed Spike outside of Trixie'so caravan.

"Great show this time Spike you almost had me convinced that you,do bitten her hand off that one time." He said with a chuckle, "can you fill me in on how you did it?' He said with a grin.

"Heh sorry sir but while it wasn't technically magic trick, I have my promise to the mistress not to reveal her tools of the trade. The stallion shrugged his haunches and left leaving Spike with his thoughts. He'd been thinking since his portion of the show ended just what the relationship between the two of them was like. Did Trixie see him as more than some accessory for the act? Well of course outside the show Trixie was a good friend to him, but then...why did Spike feel like they could be so much more?

He thought for so long that the only pony he felt the way he was thinking about Trixie wad...well Rarity. Rarity was a nice mare and they did grow close over time especially when she knew just how Spike felt about her...but beyond that they never really took things further. Was that destined to Spike's life? Growing close to pretty and talented and...nice kind mares only to stay friends with them? Maybe.

'But what kind of life is that? Never finding someone to really get close to you the way I'd always thought her and I would grow?' Spike though as he placed a claw on the side of caravan, the cutie mark of the mare who owned it painted on the side. 'I've got to at least ask...talk to Trixie. Really see what she thinks of me...at least to have some closure right?...hehe funny, when I first met Trixie I was practically begging for Twilight to take her down a peg with her magic. Now I'm contemplating just how much if I actually like her...that way.' Spike smiled as she reached a claw under the wheel of the caravan to the azaleas growing under underneath it. Thankfully a claw full of them had survived, they had a blue tint to them that reminded him of the very mare he was about to bring them to.

Spike took a few steps towards the door of Trixie'so caravan, he spit a little into his palm before using it like impromptu spine gel to fix his spines as he knocked softly on the door. "Trixie? It's me Spike. Sorry to bother you just after a show but...can I come in?" For what felt like forever there was no sound coming from inside, until it opened up as if by magic. 'Oh yeah' Spike though with a mentalface palm, 'it probably was!'