Trixie Returns

by Yukito

Rating: everyone
Tags: Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other, Slice of Life, Main 6
Length: 18510

Trixie comes back to Ponyville

Trixie returns to Ponyville some time after Boast Busters after encountering an injured filly on the road. After the filly is checked into a hospital, some complications prevent her from leaving, and she's forced to linger around the town for a while longer.

Published 2012-07-03 10:24:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-03 10:24:02 UTC

Trixie Returns

The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly over the land of Equestria. The sky was clear, not a single cloud obstructing the sun’s glorious rays, and the road was nice and dry, since no rain had fallen in days. There was a pleasant breeze running through the air, and it was a very warm day to be outside. Perfect for travellers like the Great and Powerful Trixie.

“Trixie may stop to rest by the lake soon. It looks like it would be a nice place for a picnic. Wouldn’t you agree, Leon?” Trixie looked into her caravan as her magic kept it moving forward, smiling at the small green lizard inside as it simply stared at her, tilting its head ever so slightly. “Then it’s settled! We’ll stop for a moment to have some lu-AH!” Trixie turned her attention back to the road just in time to see a pony lying in her path.

Trixie used her magic to stop the caravan suddenly, holding onto the caravan’s sides tightly, so as not to go flying off. “Hey! You stupid foal! What are you doing lying in the middle of the road like that!?” After no response, Trixie jumped down from her caravan and walked over to the pony. “You shouldn’t take naps in the middle of the road, you know?”

As she moved closer to the pony lying in her way, she noticed that the pony was a young filly, and seemed to be unconscious. Trixie examined the filly closer, and saw that she was trembling, and worst of all…“Blood!?” Trixie dashed over to the young filly and turned her around. She was still breathing, but heavily. And there was a big cut running down her side. “Notgoodnotgoodnotgoodnotgood!”

Trixie levitated the young filly up into the air and moved her into her caravan, placing her down on the bed gently before frantically searching for her map. “I need to get her to a town! Let’s see, the nearest town is…Ponyville! Ok! Let’s go and…PONYVILLE!?” Trixie recognised the small town from her previous travels. She didn’t exactly have fond memories of the place, and would rather avoid it entirely, however…

“…Fine then, I guess I have no choice. It’s not like I know any first aid!” Trixie said, returning to her seat at the front of the caravan and using her magic to move once again, only this time, she was moving much faster. She did have medical supplies with her, but only a few bandages and some disinfectant for minor injuries. She wasn’t equipped to deal with something like this, and the only thing she could do was use her bed-sheet as a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding whilst she rushed to Ponyville.

The residents of Ponyville were enjoying a nice, warm day outside, some getting on with their jobs, others playing with their friends or family. Some were just sitting back and relaxing in Celestia’s warm sun, and some were at the park playing games with other ponies.

Lyra and Bon Bon were two of the ponies who were sitting down and relaxing whilst talking to each other, letting the time pass as they exchanged words. Their conversation was interrupted when sounds of startled ponies could be heard from down the street. They looked towards where the uproar was coming from, and saw something moving towards them quickly.

“What the heck is that?” Bon Bon asked, to which Lyra shrugged and continued staring. The moving object started to draw closer, and they eventually saw that it was a small wooden caravan, and that it was moving towards them very quickly. They yelped and rose up as the caravan drew closer, and were about to jump out of the way until it skidded to a sudden stop in front of them.

In front of the two mares, a blue Unicorn mare was sitting at the front of the caravan, panting and sweating heavily, looking down at the two of them with a desperate look on her face. “Where’s your hospital!? Tell Trixie!” Lyra and Bon Bon looked up at Trixie with confusion, and after a second passed without them answering, Trixie continued. “TELL ME! I HAVE AN INJURED FILLY WHO NEEDS TREATMENT!”

Lyra and Bon Bon jumped back at Trixie’s sudden raised voice, and Lyra immediately answered Trixie’s question. “D-Down there! The hospital’s straight down that road, just keep going and you’ll see it soon!” Lyra said, pointing a hoof down the road that she was talking about.

Trixie nodded and tilted her hat at Lyra as a way of saying thanks, and then used her magic to move her caravan down the road, shouting to anypony down the road to move out of the way. She rushed through the street, ignoring the angry voices of ponies as they avoided her caravan, and eventually reached the Ponyville hospital.

She stopped her cart suddenly in front of the hospital, and moved into her caravan, picking up the injured filly with her magic. She jumped out of her caravan and rushed into the hospital, making her way to the front desk, not caring that she was cutting in front of other ponies.

“This filly needs help!” Trixie shouted, levitating the filly in front of her as she approached the nurse at the desk. “Hurry! She’s gonna die!”

Trixie sat by the bed of the small filly and watched her sleep. Dr. Stable told her that the filly’s injury as severe as it looked, and that her life wasn’t in that much danger, but he still praised her for doing the right thing. Trixie found that strange. In all her life, she was rarely praised for anything. Magic? Commonplace in Canterlot, so nopony found her talents special. Grades? Nopony cared how she did in school.

No matter what she did, nopony ever thought it was great, and nopony ever congratulated her for it, or told her “good job”. And yet, now, she was being praised for trying to save somepony’s life. Something that, as far as Trixie was concerned, was only natural. ‘I don’t get it. What, did they expect me to just leave this filly on the road to die? Why of all things am I being praised for something that anypony in my position would do?’

The filly moved about in her bed and began to wake up. Trixie had learned that the filly’s name was Dinky Doo, and that she was a resident of Ponyville. Dinky’s eyes opened, and she saw Trixie looking down at her, worry obvious on her face.

Before Trixie could ask if Dinky was ok, the door to the ward slammed open, startling everypony in the room. When everypony turned to look at the source of the loud bang, they saw a grey blur pass through the room and stop at Dinky’s bed. “Dinky! Are you ok!?” The blur turned into a grey Pegasus pony with a blonde mane and tail, and…

“Eye…” Trixie stopped herself as she stared at the new visitor, and was sure that she didn’t notice Trixie’s slipup, but still tried to remedy her mistake. “I…I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Mommy!” Dinky shouted, grabbing the grey Pegasus in a tight hug. However, the Pegasus pushed the young filly away, and looked at her with a crossed look on her face. “M-Mommy?” Dinky asked, worried that she had done something to anger her mother.

“Dinky, what were you doing!? I told you not to leave Ponyville on your own! You could have…” The mother stopped as she noticed tears forming in the filly’s eyes, and then pulled her daughter into a warm, comforting hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell…I was just…So worried…”

“Mommy…I’m sorry! I…I just wanted to help you! You had too many letters to deliver, and I…I just wanted to deliver some of them for you, so that you could have some rest…” Dinky cried into her mother’s shoulder, as her mother held her daughter tighter and stoked her mane, allowing her to cry until she was over it.

Trixie watched as the mother and daughter held each other closely, tears running down both of their faces from happiness that they were both ok. ‘Is that a “mother’s love”?...I don’t like it.’ Trixie thought to herself, standing up and leaving the room. ‘I’m glad my mother was never so close to me. I…I wouldn’t ever want somepony to worry about me so much that it brings tears to their eyes.’

“Hey! Wait up!” Trixie turned around just as she left the hospital’s entrance to see Pegasus from earlier running up to her. “You’re the one who saved my daughter, right?”

Trixie knew where this was going, and tried to end the conversation quickly. “No. Trixie merely found her on the road and brought her here. If you want to thank somepony, thank the hospital staff.”

The Pegasus looked at her with a confused look, and then moved closer, examining Trixie closely. “You…You are Trixie, right?”

“W-What kind of question is that!? Of course Trixie is Trixie! And just who in Equestria are you!?”

“Oh, right. My name’s Derpy Hooves!” Derpy said, extending her hoof forward, but then pulling it back when Trixie didn’t shake it. “I was just…Surprised. I mean, from your last visit, I would never have expected you to try and dodge the credit for something like this!”

Trixie looked at Derpy with an insulted look. “Don’t insult Trixie! She doesn’t need to use an injured foal to build up her reputation! Besides, who wouldn’t help somepony in that situation!?”

Derpy giggled at Trixie’s response, which only angered Trixie more. “Wow! You’re actually quite a nice pony, aren’t you? I mean, you didn’t even know Dinky, and yet, I heard when you brought her here you were in a panicked frenzy.”

Trixie’s anger faded and she looked at Derpy with the same confusion that Derpy had used earlier. “What? Is that a surprise? Trixie thought it was natural to save somepony when their life was in danger.”

“Well, whether it’s natural or not, I have to do something to pay you back! So, here, have this!” Derpy handed Trixie a piece of paper, to which Trixie raised an eyebrow as she read it curiously. “With that, you can get the finest treatment at Ponyville’s spa, absolutely free! I intended to go with Dinky, but…Well, y’know.”

Trixie handed the ticket back to Derpy. “Thanks but no thanks. Trixie only came here to drop the filly at the hospital. She had no intention of staying any longer.”

“It’s not like you have much choice…” Derpy said, pointing to Trixie’s caravan.

Trixie turned around and looked at her caravan, wondering what Derpy had meant by that. “…Oh no!” Trixie galloped over to her caravan and noticed that one of the wheels had snapped off, rendering it immobile until she could find somepony to fix it for her. “Great, just great…Now Trixie is trapped in this town…”

Derpy offered her ticket to Trixie, a big smile on her face. Trixie stared at the ticket for a bit, and then finally caved in and took it with her magic. “Don’t worry! I know somepony who’s great at fixin’ stuff! I’ll ask him to help you first thing tomorrow!”

“No…This ticket is thanks enough. Trixie will find somepony to repair Trixie’s caravan on her own.”

“Are you sure, because-”

“Trixie’s sure, Derpy. Now, shouldn’t you be with your daughter?”

Derpy blinked a few times at Trixie, and then let out a loud gasp as she rushed back inside the hospital. Trixie couldn’t help but smile a little bit, but then shook it off as she stared at her ticket. “Hm…Trixie could do with a bath, and a little unwinding from her performing…”

Deciding that she had nothing better to do, Trixie went back inside her caravan to leave her hat and cape behind. “Leon, Trixie will be going to the spa. She will be back later. Just wait here for Trixie, ok?” As expected, there was no response. Trixie didn’t bother to look for where Leon was, assuming he was just playing hide-and-seek again, as he usually does when he’s bored.

She exited the caravan and locked it shut using a magical seal. “Nopony’s getting’ in here, that’s for sure.” Trixie said, pride beaming on her face as she performed her spell. After a quick talk with the hospital staff to make sure nopony tried to move the caravan, and to get directions to the spa, Trixie was off to get the relaxation that she felt she deserved.

It had been a long time since Trixie had felt so relaxed. It felt like all of her troubles and worries were just fading away as the spa ponies worked their magic on Trixie, giving her a very skilled massage that easily met with Trixie’s approval. Trixie had to admit, the spa treatment that these two mares were giving her far surpassed her expectations. For such a small town, the spa at least was impressive enough to tempt her into becoming a regular.

After a massage and a hooficure, Trixie decided to try out one of the bathtubs. She was directed to the one that the spa ponies personally recommended. She placed a hoof into the water. It was warm and inviting, and she continued entering the water, putting her whole body in. Trixie let out a deep sigh and sat back against the edge of the tub. “Trixie would have come back here sooner if she knew what it had to offer…”

“Trixie!?” Trixie snapped her eyes open and looked to the other end of the tub, seeing another pony in there with her. It was a white Unicorn with a purple mane and azure blue eyes. Trixie quickly recognised this pony and would have bolted out of the tub, had it not been keeping her in with its warm and relaxing bathwater. “What are you doing here!? Have you come to cause more trouble!?” Rarity shouted, covering her mane with her hooves, remembering all too well what Trixie had done to it during their last encounter.

“Trixie feels insulted!” Trixie responded, her stress that had disappeared a while ago starting to come back. “Trixie is merely here to relax! And she does not go around causing trouble for everypony, she’ll have you know!”

“Oh, of course, darling. I must have been confused, what with the whole bragging and humiliating me and my friends. Oh, and that small Ursa Minor incident that followed.” Rarity said sarcastically, still covering her beautiful mane.

“Trixie was merely doing her job of entertaining ponies with her magic and with stories of heroism! Is it Trixie’s fault that those two colts were stupid enough to go out looking for an Ursa Major for Trixie to vanquish!?”

“You can do your job without being unpleasant about it, you know! Do you realise how long it took me to clean my mane? THREE HOURS! I had that awful green hair for THREE WHOLE HOURS! It was simply HORRIBLE!”

Trixie turned away from Rarity and tried to calm herself down. It didn’t take long with the relaxing aroma around them, and when she was calm, she turned back towards Rarity. “About that…Trixie is sorry.” Rarity was surprised to hear an apology from Trixie, but still didn’t let her guard down. She was sure that this was some kind of trick. “Trixie was…Under a lot of stress that day, and your friends heckling her…Didn’t help. Trixie…I guess I was trying to take it out on you, and get the neigh-sayers to back off a bit. But I did go too far. There was no need for me to do that to you.”

Rarity examined Trixie and saw the look of genuine guilt on her face. She still wasn’t completely convinced, but she could at least see that Trixie wasn’t here to make any more trouble. She lowered her hooves and looked at Trixie with a stern look on her face. “Well, if you’re truly sorry, why don’t you do to your mane what you did to mine? Then I may be willing to forgive you.”

Trixie scoffed and turned her head away from Rarity. “Trixie only wanted to apologise! She doesn’t care if you forgive her!” Rarity frowned and was about to turn away from Trixie to ignore her, but Trixie continued before she could. “Haven’t you ever heard the phrase “Two wrongs don’t make a right”? Even if Trixie makes a mess of her mane, it won’t erase what Trixie did to you.

“But, it would be improper of Trixie not to offer something to make up for what she did to you. So…” Trixie’s horn lit up and she pointed her horn towards Rarity. Rarity backed up and placed her hooves in front of her, shielding herself from the light that hit her. “There. Trixie hopes you like it.”

“My hair! WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Rarity screamed, grabbing Trixie’s shoulders with her hooves. Trixie pointed down at the water, and Rarity looked down to see her reflection. “My mane…It’s…It’s…Still purple?” She stared at her reflection a little more, and then looked back up at Trixie, her eyes wide with surprise. “And…It’s so…Shiny, and smooth.” She said, running her hoof through it.

“Trixie doesn’t know much about fashion, but she has been styling her own mane ever since she started performing, so she’s at least able to do this much.”

“But…It looks so silly.” Rarity said, adjusting it to try and fix the way that Trixie had styled it.

“What!?” Trixie shouted in disbelief. “How dare you! That manestyle is Trixie’s favourite! And Trixie put a lot of work into it!”

“Well, I think it’s clear why manestyling isn’t your special talent. Honestly, this style is simply ridiculous! Please tell me you don’t give it out to other ponies!” Rarity said as she finished fixing her mane so that it looked the same as before.

Trixie turned away and pouted, resting her chin on the edge of the bathtub. “Fine then! But Trixie is still sorry, ok!?”

Rarity smiled and moved closer to Trixie, putting a hoof on the blue Unicorn’s shoulder. “Yes, I can see that. And I’m sorry if I was a little loud earlier…I can see you didn’t mean any harm, and I think I can give you a second chance.” Trixie looked at Rarity with surprise. “What? Don’t look at me like that. Why, generosity is my middle name, after all?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at Rarity and a grin appeared on her face. “Your middle name is generosity? Your parents must have hated you.” She said, causing Rarity to facehoof at Trixie’s terrible joke.

Trixie entered her caravan completely exhausted. The spa trip took longer than she had intended it to. After she and Rarity had managed to reconcile their differences, Rarity insisted on teaching Trixie all that she knew about fashion. Trixie had no idea that the fashion world could be so complicated, and when she heard about Rarity’s successes, she suddenly found new respect towards the white Unicorn.

Before leaving, she asked Rarity if she knew anypony who could fix her caravan for her. Rarity suggested she ask somepony named “Big Macintosh”, who can usually be found at Sweet Apple Acres. Since it was late, Trixie decided to leave it until morning.

Trixie moved over to her bed and fell down onto it, stuffing her head into her pillow as she tried to get comfortable. She remembered that she had used her bed-sheet earlier on Dinky’s wound, and she didn’t have a spare one, so she decided to use her cape as a makeshift blanket for tonight. She could get a new bed-sheet tomorrow.

“Night, Leon…” She said, closing her eyes and falling into a nice, comfortable sleep.

Trixie awoke to the sounds of knocking on wood. She opened her eyes and immediately shut them when the light entered them. She opened them more slowly this time, letting her eyes adjust to the light. She let out a loud yawn and looked over at her clock. It was 7:30 in the morning. She glared angrily towards the door of her caravan, where the knocking was coming from. “Who the hay is disturbing me so early in the morning?” She said, getting up and lazily making her way towards the door.

On her way, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on her dresser. Even if she was still tired, and was only going to see who was disturbing her peaceful slumber, she couldn’t help but stop momentarily and fix up her mane, which had become scruffy during the night. “Just a minute!” She yelled after a few more knocks. It seemed to work; the knocks stopped as she used a magic to bring a brush to her mane, and tidied it up a bit.

Once Trixie’s mane was to her liking, she made her way over to her door, opened it, and looked with annoyance at the pony who had woke her up so early in the morning. “What do you want?” She said bitterly. She noticed the pony that disturbed her was the grey Pegasus from yesterday. “Derpy? Why are you here?”

Derpy pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and read it quickly, and then looked back at Trixie. “The weather team have asked me to make sure everypony in Ponyville is aware of the storm scheduled for this evening, at 18:30. That’s, uh…”

“6:30 pm.” Trixie said, seeing the Pegasus struggling to convert 24 hour time to 12 hour time.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Derpy said, putting the paper back into her bag. “Make sure you stay indoors at that time. The storm’ll last all night, so also make sure you have plenty of provisions.”

Trixie nodded and looked over at her kitchen area. She was trying to remember how much food she had left, since she hadn’t done any shopping for a few days. ‘I’ll have to browse Ponyville’s market area, I guess…’ She turned back to the blonde maned Pegasus. “Thanks for the heads up, Derpy.”

Derpy saluted and flapped her wings, lifting herself into the air. “No problem, ma’am! Just doing my jo-OW!” She banged her head on the roof of Trixie’s Caravan, which extended out a little bit over the edge. She rubbed the back of her head and started to fly to the next house, stopping for a moment to thank Trixie again for helping Dinky Doo.

Trixie stretched her hooves for a moment, and then realised that she wouldn’t be going back to sleep any time soon. “I guess…” She cleared her throat and used wandered over to the kitchen area, grabbing a glass and pouring some water into it. She drank the water and continued speaking to nopony in particular. “Trixie might as well make an early start. Farmers are usually up early anyway.”

She put the glass to one side and made her way over to her bed. She decided not to bother getting changed, since she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. “Well then, Leon, let’s go.” She said, extending her hoof for her friend to climb up. When she was met with no response, she looked around the room and groaned. “Leon, Trixie is in no mood for your games.”

Trixie was again met with no response, so she growled and lit her horn up. “Very well then, we shall play it your way!” She unleashed a small blue aura that stretched out from her body, and grew to eventually cover the entire caravan. When it disappeared, she looked around expectantly, but was shocked when she couldn’t see Leon anywhere. “Leon? Where are you?” She asked, slightly panicked now.

The spell that Trixie had used was meant to undo a chameleon’s camouflage. It had never failed her before, and Leon wasn’t one to hide in difficult places. Just to be safe, Trixie searched every inch of the caravan. Under her bed, on the roof, in her cupboards, everywhere. But he was nowhere to be found. Then it struck Trixie. Yesterday, when she brought the young filly to the hospital, she had left the caravan door open.

Now, Leon wasn’t unhappy being with Trixie, and wasn’t one to run away, but when left all alone he had a tendency to wander about and, if the door to the caravan was left open, he would go outside to explore for a bit, or maybe to look for Trixie. That’s why Trixie was usually so careful, and made extra sure that she had closed the caravan door when going out by herself. But yesterday was an emergency, and it completely slipped her mind.

“No…Don’t tell me that Leon is…” Trixie wasted no time. She grabbed a picture of herself and her pet chameleon from her bedside table and galloped outside of the caravan, sparing some time to close and lock it. “Leon, don’t worry, Trixie’s coming for you!”

Leon stared at three fillies that were looking down at him curious looks on their faces. Each one were debating what the strange creature before them could be.

“Yah think it’s one o’ them strange critters from the Everfree forest?” Applebloom asked, backing up slowly and raising her hooves in defence.

“It doesn’t look dangerous.” Sweetie Belle said, extending her hoof and petting the small lizard. “In fact, it’s kind of cute.”

“Cute!?” Scootaloo asked, looking at Sweetie Belle with a raised eyebrow. She then looked back at Leon after Sweetie Belle screamed and withdrew her hoof, and saw the small lizard start to disappear. “Woah! What’d you do!?”

“I…I don’t know! I hope I didn’t break it!”

“Wait!” Applebloom said, pointing at the patch of ground where Leon once stood. “Look! It’s still there!"

The other two fillies leaned in and examined the ground closely, and could see it shimmering. Upon close examination, they could see a faint outline of the small lizard. “It…Turned invisible?” Scootaloo asked, looking impressed. “That’s so cool!”

“We still don’t know what it is…” Sweetie Belle pointed out, and then an idea hit her. “Hey, let’s go ask Fluttershy! She knows a lot of things about all kinds of different animals!”

“Yeah!” Applebloom agreed. “But, uh, how’re we gonna get it to her?” She asked, pointing out that they couldn’t really see Leon very well.

Trixie started her search for her friend at the town square. Despite it being early morning, there were quite a few ponies up and about. She approached one particular pony who was drinking from the fountain in the middle of the square. “Excuse me.” She said, getting out her picture as she approached the pink pony. “Trixie was hoping you could help her out.”

Before Trixie could continue, the pink pony raised her head towards Trixie, jumped into the air, let out a loud, very long gasp, and then took off down one of the streets.

Trixie blinked as she watched the pink pony take off down the street. “Um…Ok, moving on…” She said, not sure what exactly to make of the situation. She walked over to the next pony she found. It was an elderly green pony with a white mane.

“Excuse me.” She said, drawing the mare’s attention. “I was wondering if you could help me. I’m looking for someone.”

“Eh? Whassat?” The elderly mare asked.

Trixie held up the photo and pointed to Leon with her hoof. “Have you seen the lizard in this photo? He answers to the name Leon.” Truthfully, Leon didn’t respond at all when addressed, but Trixie liked to think that he did.

The elderly mare leaned in to examine the picture closely. “Ah yes! I’ve seen this before!” Trixie’s face lit up, and the elderly mare turned around and began walking down the street. “This way, young’n!”

Trixie began following the mare, a little more relaxed than earlier that day. “Thank you. My name is Trixie, by the way.”

“Well, nice ta meetcha! Folks ‘round here call me Granny Smith.”

Granny Smith led Trixie down a road that passed through wide fields of apple trees as far as the eye could see. Trixie guessed that this was the Sweet Apple Acres that Rarity mentioned. ‘This is going well.’ Trixie thought, licking her lips as she noticed the delicious looking apples hanging from the trees. ‘Trixie can kill two birds with one stone.’

As Granny Smith and Trixie approached the farm house, Granny Smith asked Trixie if she would like to wait inside, but Trixie said she would be fine waiting outside, and asked where she could find Big Macintosh. “Oh, ye’re Big Macintosh’s friend, are ye? Well ah reckon he’s fixin’ up our tractor in the barn.” She pointed a hoof to the barn near to the house.

“Thanks again for your help.” Trixie said, bowing politely. She was taught to respect her elders at a young age, and so she took care to mind her manners around Granny Smith. While Granny Smith went inside to fetch Leon, Trixie decided to see if Big Macintosh was in the barn.

Trixie poked her head into the barn and saw a tractor inside, with an orange tail sticking out from behind it. “Hello? Is anypony here?”

“Eeyup.” Said a voice from behind the tractor. A red stallion poked his head up from behind the vehicle and looked over at Trixie. “How can ah help you, ma’am?”

“Trixie is looking for somepony to help her repair one of the wheels on her caravan, and was told that Big Macintosh may be able to help me.”

“Trixie!?” Came another voice from behind the tractor. An orange Earth Pony emerged from behind the tractor and looked over at their visitor, glaring at her when she realised who it was. “An’ why exactly should we help you?”

Trixie recognised the mare glaring at her. She was one of the ponies that she humiliated during her last visit. ‘Oh great. Just when things were starting to go well…’ Trixie glared back at the orange mare, the two staring each other down with cold looks.

“Friend of yours, AJ?” Big Macintosh asked, placing the screwdriver that he was holding down onto the tractor.

“Hardly.” Applejack responded coldly, not shifting her cold gaze from Trixie. “Anyway, if you want help, go look elsewhere. Ye’re not welcome here.”

Trixie growled angrily at the mare, but decided not to make things any worse for now. “Fine then. Trixie will just find somepony else to help her out.” She walked away from the barn, stomping angrily towards the house, waiting for Granny Smith to return with Leon. She took a look at one of the nearby apple trees, and her stomach started to growl when she saw the delicious looking apples hanging from its branches.

“They look…Pretty good…” Trixie said, moving closer to the tree and taking a closer look at the apples. “Trixie hasn’t eaten such great looking food in a long time…” Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream in the distance getting increasingly louder. She looked up at the sky and saw something approaching. “What the hay is that?” She asked as she squinted to see what it was.

She gasped when she saw that the incoming object was actually a small yellow filly with a red mane. “HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLP!” The yellow filly screamed as she sailed through the sky. Applejack and Big Macintosh rushed out of the barn to see what all the noise was.

“Applebloom!?” Applejack shouted as her sister came crashing down towards the barn. Her tail was caught on a weathervane on top of the barn, and she was now hanging from it above the ground, screaming for help as she dangled helplessly above the ground.

“Hold on sis! I’ma coming!” Applejack shouted as she ran into the barn, emerging moments later with a rope in her mouth. She spun the rope around the air for a few seconds, and then through it up towards the roof of the barn. It hooked around a small part that was sticking up, and she made sure that it was fastened tightly before she started to climb it.

Trixie looked over at the scene and noticed the weather vane moving slightly. She looked closer and saw that it wasn’t going to hold up for long. It was going to fall off at any second, long before Applejack could make her way to the roof.

Trixie ran up to the barn and dashed inside, looking around for something to use. Her eyes caught the big red tractor sitting inside, and she used her magic to separate the seat from the rest of the machine. Now holding the seat in her levitation spell, she rushed back outside just in time to hear Applebloom’s frightened screaming as the weathervane finally gave in.

“APPLEBLOOM!” Applejack and Big Mac shouted in unison, watching as their sister fell from the barn roof towards the hard ground beneath her. They both shut their eyes as she neared the ground, unable to watch as their sister fell headfirst down to earth. But when the screaming stopped, and they didn’t hear the bone-crunching impact that they expected to hear, they opened their eyes again to see what had happened.

To their surprise, and relief, Applebloom was safe. She was lying down on her stomach on a detached tractor seat that floating in the air. They realised that the seat was being levitated with magic, and Applejack was expecting to see Twilight when she looked down below the chair. But instead, her mouth dropped open when saw a blue Unicorn mare, deep in concentration as the chair made a slow descent and eventually landed next to her.

Trixie let out a deep breath that she was holding in. Levitating a chair was one thing, but a chair with a filly on top of it was something else entirely. Her magic was great, there was no denying it, but her stamina always weighed her down. She panted and saw down, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She turned to her side when she felt something pulling on her hoof, and looked down to see the little filly she had just saved.

“Thank you!” Applebloom said, smiling at Trixie. Trixie wasn’t able to say anything back, since she was too exhausted, so she instead just turned away and nodded.

“Applebloom!” Applebloom jumped as she heard her sister’s voice, and slowly turned around to see her older siblings, both looking down at her with cross looks on their faces. “What in tarnation have you been getting’ yerself into this time!?”

Applebloom looked up at her siblings with a worried look on her face. “Oh, um, hey sis…A-Ah was jus’ tryin’ ta get mah Cutie Mark, and Scootaloo mentioned that she visited the circus, and suggested ah do a pony-cannonball act, and then…”

Applejack knelt down so that she could look her sister in the eyes. “Ah know you wanna get your Cutie Mark an’ all, but that was jus’ way too dangerous! What d’ya think me and Big Mac and Granny Smith woulda done if you got hurt, or worse!” Applebloom retreated away slightly, but stopped when Applejack wrapped her front legs around her. “Thank Celestia you’re safe. Please promise me you won’t do anything so reckless again.”

Applebloom hugged her sister back, tears falling down her eyes. “Ah’m sorry, sister…Um, does this mean ah don’t get ta go to the rodeo this weekend?”

Applejack and Big Macintosh exchanged glances, and then looked back at Applebloom. “Nah, you can still go.” Applebloom’s face lit up, but only for a moment, as Applejack had more to say. “But, until then, ye’re grounded. You can stay here on the farm an’ help me and Big Mac out.”

Applebloom pouted and kicked the ground, causing Applejack and Big Macintosh to laugh merrily for a bit. Trixie watched the scene with confusion in her eyes. ‘She was angry a moment ago, but now she’s all cheerful. I don’t get it. Is she angry at her sister, or not?’ Trixie scratched the back of her head with her hoof, before getting up and walking away. “Families are just confusing at times…”

“What was that?” Applejack asked as Trixie walked past, causing her to freeze up and turn back to the three siblings.

‘Oh no, I’ve been used to speaking my mind to Leon that that just slipped out!’ Trixie cleared her throat. “Nothing, pay it no mind.”

Applejack looked at her with confusion, but shook it off when she remembered that Trixie was the one who had just saved Applebloom. Now she wasn’t sure what to think. The last time they met, Trixie humiliated her in front of a huge crowd, yet now…“Um, ah suppose ah should thank you…” Applejack said, rising to her hooves and scratching the back of her head nervously.

Trixie wasn’t expecting that. Even if she did save Applebloom’s life, she was expecting the young farmer to hold on to her grudge. She looked over at Big Mac, who agreed with Applejack, and then over at Applebloom, who still pawing at the ground. “Trixie doesn’t need any thanks…” She was about to leave it at that, when she remembered that her caravan was still in need of repairs. “But if you insist on showing Trixie your gratitude-”

Trixie was cut off by her stomach rumbling, causing her to blush and turn away. Applejack couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, and walked over to the blue Unicorn. “Sounds like ye’re hungry. Why don’t yah let us cook you somethin’ up. It’s the least we can do to show our thanks.”

The idea of a good, tasty meal (a free one, at that) did appeal to Trixie, but she was much more concerned with getting her caravan fixed. She wanted to leave this town and reach Detrot as quickly as possible. “That will not be necessary.” She said, her stomach’s rumbling disagreeing with her. “Trixie just needs somepony to fix her wagon for her. That will be thanks enough.”

Big Macintosh walked up next to Applejack and nodded to her. “Ah reckon we can help with that. But we still insist yah stay for lunch.” He said, causing Trixie to raise an eyebrow. “We can’t rightly let yah go hungry after yah just saved our sister’s life, now can we?”

‘How should I know? I don’t understand how families work…’ Trixie was about to refuse their offer, when her stomach rumbled once more. One look at one of their apple trees, and at the delicious looking fruit it bore, was enough to make Trixie give in. “…Fine. Since it seems to mean so much to you, Trixie will stay for lunch. But that’s all! The moment she is finished, Trixie is out of here! She has more important things to-” Suddenly, she remembered the reason that she was here in the first place. “LEON!”

“Leon?” Applejack asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Oh, there you are…Ah thought you’d gone on home or something.” Trixie turned around to see Granny Smith approaching. “What’s goin’ on? You young folks havin’ a party or somethin’?”

“It’s nothing, Granny Smith.” Applejack said, lifting Applebloom off the ground and checking her for injuries. She seemed to be fine, so she told her to go into the barn with Big Macintosh to continue working on the tractor. “So, you two’ve already met?” Applejack asked Trixie.

Trixie nodded, and noticed a small jar that Granny Smith was holding. “What’s that?”

Granny Smith held up the jar towards Trixie. Inside was a small green object that made Trixie raise her eyebrow. “Wasn’t this what you were lookin’ for?”

Trixie facehooved, and took a deep, calming breath. ‘Calm down, Trixie…She’s just an old lady, she probably…’ Trixie removed her hoof and looked at Granny Smith. “You…Need glasses, don’t you?”

“Ah sure don’t!” Granny Smith said, flailing her empty front hoof about. “Why, you sound jus’ like that doctor! Ah can see jus’ fine, I tell yah!”

Trixie nodded, and let out a deep sigh. “Well, thanks anyway, but that isn’t what Trixie is looking for.”

After that, Applejack led Trixie to the Apple family’s house, and sat her down in the parlour. Trixie was suddenly in no mood for eating, but her stomach wouldn’t let her get away without accepting Applejack’s kind offer, so she simply sat down in one of the chairs and waited, hoping that Leon was ok…And still in Ponyville.

Trixie had to admit that Applejack’s cooking was a lot tastier than she was expecting. She was surprised with how one could make so many apple-based foods in the same meal and still keep them interesting. “So now Trixie is looking for her friend *munch* Leon, and she really has to *chomp* hurry! Leon could be anywhere right now!”

Trixie was somehow persuaded by Applejack to tell her what she had been doing since she left Ponyville, and what the conversation with Granny Smith was all about. Applejack could see the concern in Trixie’s eyes as she talked about Leon, despite her stuffing her face with Applejack’s delicious food.

“This Leon must really mean a lot to you, huh?” Applejack asked, picking up a piece of apple pie and biting into it.

“He’s the only friend that Trixie has.” She said, wiping some crumbs away from her mouth with a hoofkerchief. “Trixie found him when he was just a baby. He was separated from his family, and Trixie desired some company, so she took him in. She’s been with him ever since, and we always look out for each other.”

Applejack wondered how a chameleon could look out for her, but decided not to ask. She could understand the bond between a pony and their pet, herself having Winona, but something about what Trixie said bothered her. “Your only friend? Come on now, you may be unpleasant, but…”

Trixie glared at Applejack to silence her, before returning to her meal. “Trixie doesn’t gamble on things like friends.” She said, causing a confused “wha?” to escape Applejack’s lips. “Trixie is to understand that friends are similar to family, yes?” Applejack thought about it, and slowly nodded.

“Ah guess so…They’re ponies you can confide in, and enjoy being around. You wanna have fun with each other forever, and you hate to see the other one sad, so, yeah, ah guess they are kinda like family, in a sense.”

“That’s why Trixie doesn’t want any.” She said, putting down the apple that she was about to eat. “Trixie knows what family is like…Why would anypony want to put themselves through that?”

Applejack looked at Trixie as she stared at the floor, a blank expression on her face. “Sugarcube?” Trixie didn’t react. She moved the apple in her hoof to her mouth, but then sighed and placed it back down again. “Listen, ah don’t mean ta pry, but…D’you wanna talk ta me ‘bout your family? Ah won’t mind. In fact, ah’ll be happy ta listen.”

Trixie snapped out of her state and rose to her hooves quickly. “NO! Trixie doesn’t want friends! She accepted your offer because she thought it was an act of gratitude, but she wants nothing more to do with you!” She shouted, stunning Applejack and her family, who were sitting in the next room together.

“Y-You don’t have ta yell! Ah was only tryin’ ta help!”

Trixie and Applejack glared at each other in a way similar to their encounter in the barn earlier that day, before Trixie used her magic to stuff an apple into Applejack’s mouth and tip her chair over. “Trixie’s leaving! Thank you for the food!” She said, storming out of the house as Big Macintosh and Applebloom rushed over to help their sister.

“Applejack! Are you ok!?” Applebloom asked as she pulled the apple out of her sister’s mouth. “What’s her deal? And after you were being so kind to her!”

“Seems like a rather bad apple if ya ask me.” Big Macintosh said, lifting the chair back up.

Applejack shook her head and stared at the door that Trixie used to leave the house. “No…I think…She was scared of me…”

Trixie ran as fast as she could to get away from Sweet Apple Acres. She didn’t look at where she going, and she didn’t really care. She just wanted to get as far away from that orange Earth Pony as she could. ‘Friends!? Why would Trixie want to be friends with anypony!? Trixie’s been just fine on her own! It’s worked for her her entire life! There’s no reason that should change now!’

She stopped running when she was short on breath and her legs were starting to kill her. She had no idea how long she had been running, but when she opened her eyes to look at her surroundings, she found herself in the middle of a forest.

For a second, she was worried that she had wandered into the Everfree forest, but it was much too light for that, and she could see plants that were foreign to the Everfree forest. She heard voices nearby and wondered whether she should seek the source to ask for directions or not.

“Trixie must have run pretty far…Surely those farmers didn’t follow her here.” She remembered that Leon was still lost somewhere in Ponyville, and decided that asking for help getting back to Ponyville would be for the best at this point.

She wandered past a few trees, moving towards the source of the voices. “Ok, pick a card and don’t show me!” She heard, the sound of an apparent magic trick at work arousing her interest. “Now put it back! Don’t let me see it!”

“Ok!”

Trixie saw two fillies sitting together in the distance. One was an orange Pegasus and the other was a white Unicorn. The Pegasus shuffled the deck, poorly, dropping all of the cards on the floor. After picking them up and putting the deck back together, she instead cut them into piles and restacked them.

“Alright…Is this your card, Sweetie Belle!?” The Pegasus yelled out enthusiastically.

“Nope!” The Unicorn answered with a cheerful face. The two looked at their flanks in anticipation, but then their faces dropped when they saw that they were still blank. “Looks like we’re not Cutie Mark Crusader magicians, huh?”

“These dumb cards! Why didn’t it work!?”

“Maybe you read the instructions wrong, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo picked up a sheet of paper and scratched her head as she read it. Sweetie Belle took the deck and tried the trick on Scootaloo, messing up every single step. Trixie watched in horror as one of her fondest magic tricks – mostly because it was the first one she ever learned – was massacred before her very eyes. ‘How is it even possible to mess up holding out a deck!?’

Trixie stepped out and approached the two fillies, unable to watch their poor attempts at magic tricks anymore. “Ugh, give Trixie those cards already!” She shouted, startling the two fillies. “Trixie will show you how that trick is done right!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged confused glances at each other, and then decided to give her a chance. “Um…Here…” Sweetie Belle said, handing Trixie the deck of cards. “Um…Who are you?”

“Trixie.” Trixie answered, shuffling the cards skilfully before the two fillies’ eyes, impressing them and gaining a small applause. ‘If that impresses them, just wait ‘til they see Trixie’s own additions to this trick!’

“Trixie? That name sounds familiar…” Scootaloo said, but just shrugged it off and watched the magic trick.

“Pick a card.” Trixie said to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie picked out a random card, showed it to Scootaloo, and then placed it back in the deck. Trixie grinned at the two fillies as she revealed the top card. “Trixie believes this is the card you drew?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked impressed and applauded even more than earlier, but Trixie shushed them for part 2 of her trick. ‘Now it’s time to introduce some real magic!’ Trixie said, reaching behind Scootaloo and placing a hoof into her mane. “Hold on, there’s something here…” Whilst Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were distracted by Trixie’s hoof, she used some magic to shift her mane over her horn, so that they wouldn’t be able to see it lighting up.

She pulled back her hoof and revealed a card that was in Scootaloo’s mane. “Oh my, this looks familiar, does it not?” She showed the card to them, and they stared wide-eyed at the two of spades before them. The same two of spades that Trixie had just flipped from the top of the deck.

They looked over at the deck and saw that the two of spades was gone. Before they could ask how she did that, she moved on to part 3. The card she was holding was wrapped in flames, burning to ash before the fillies’ eyes. The ash fell on top of the deck, and then Trixie leant down to blow them away. After doing so, the fillies’ eyes grew wider, and their jaws dropped, as they saw the same two of spades sitting on top of the deck once more.

‘A simple illusionary trick to fool simple minds. The second card was just an image Trixie conjured up, and the original was cloaked using Trixie’s magic. Normally, Trixie would prepare a second card and use that instead, the illusion being that, no matter what card they draw, it will be what Trixie wants them to see. But for these two fillies, this should suffice.’

“Wow! That was awesome!” Scootaloo said, poking the cards to make sure that they were real. “How did you do that!?”

“Years of practice, and a natural skill for manipulating reality.” Trixie said, turning her head up and moving her cape to proudly show off her Cutie Mark. “Trixie’s special talent lies in using magic tricks and illusions to make fantasy and reality indistinguishable.”

“Can you teach us?”

Trixie shook her head and placed a hoof to her mouth. “That’s all Trixie will tell you. A true magician never reveals their secrets.” She then remembered why she was there in the first place, and decided to stop playing around with the two fillies and get back to looking for Leon. She cleared her throat and faced the two fillies, her smile fading as she collected herself. “Anyway, Trixie doesn’t have any more time to play with you. She is lost, and would appreciate it if you could point her back towards Ponyville.”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked upset that they couldn’t get Trixie to show them any more tricks. Scootaloo pointed a hoof to her right, which Trixie followed. “If you go straight through the forest that way, you’ll eventually reach Ponyville.”

Trixie nodded and thanked them, and then wondered if she should ask them about Leon. ‘Couldn’t hurt…’ Trixie took out her photo and showed it to them, pointing a hoof at Leon. “Have you seen this chameleon before?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other confused. “Kam-eel-wha?” Sweetie Belle asked, rubbing her head with her hooves.

“Wait…Is that what that thing was?” Scootaloo asked, causing Trixie to raise an eyebrow. “I thought it was a snake or something?”

“You mean you’ve seen him!?” Trixie asked, her smile returning to her face. “Where is he!? Please tell Trixie you didn’t let him get away!”

The two fillies backed away from Trixie, startled by her sudden change in attitude. “Um…We kind…Gave him to our friend, Fluttershy.” Scootaloo said. She noticed Trixie’s jaw dropping, and quickly continued. “It’s ok! She’s an animal caretaker! We just thought that she’d take good care of him!”

“We can take you to her, if you want!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. She sighed with relief when Trixie seemed to calm down.

“Very well, then. Lead the way.” Trixie said, almost as an order. The two fillies got up and looked at each other excitedly.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ESCORTS! YAY!” They both shouted in unison.

Trixie covered her ears, glaring at the two fillies, although they didn’t seem to notice. ‘Was I that loud as a filly? I can’t remember…’

Fluttershy flapped around her house nervously. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stopped by earlier with a strange animal that they discovered, and asked her what it was. But she was unable to answer them, since she had never seen anything like it before.

She tried to talk to it, to find out its name, and what food it likes, but she was unable to get any information from it. When it changed its colour to blend in to its surroundings, she had to trap it in a cage, so that she wouldn’t lose it.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were also in her house. Rainbow Dash dropped by because she was bored, and Twilight was asked by Fluttershy to come along and identify the strange creature.

“It’s a chameleon.” Twilight said, examining the shimmering section of air inside the cage.

“A what?” Rainbow Dash asked, floating behind her and squinting to see the outline of the creature.

“A chameleon. They not native around here, so it’s no surprise you’ve never seen one. They’re a type of lizard that can change colour to blend in to their surroundings, to hide from dangerous predators.” Twilight leaned in closer to the cage. “It must feel threatened by us, so it’s trying to hide.”

Fluttershy moved closer to the cage, a look of concern on her face. “Oh, don’t worry, little guy. We’re not going to hurt you.” She said, smiling at the chameleon.

“If there’s a chameleon here, it must mean that it’s somepony’s pet, which means…”

“Somepony must be looking for it.” Fluttershy said. “We should put up posters around town. His owner must be so worried right now.”

Rainbow Dash looked at the clock and noted the time. “There’ll be a huge storm this evening. We should leave it ‘til tomorrow.”

Twilight and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. A knock at the door attracted the group’s attention, and Fluttershy excused herself to see who it was. Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “I think chameleons like to eat fruit…No, wait, they eat insects.” She said, recalling what she had learned about chameleons from textbooks.

Trixie followed the path that the two fillies directed her down. They wanted to take her all the way to Fluttershy’s cottage, but they ran into their parents in town, and had to leave her on her own. Trixie didn’t mind. In fact, she found it better this way. It was much more peaceful. “Honestly, how much energy can two fillies have?”

Trixie eventually saw Fluttershy’s cottage in the distance. It annoyed her that the house was such a trek away from Ponyville. She hesitated when she saw that the Everfree forest was nearby. “W-Why the hay would somepony live so close to such a dangerous place?”

She took a look at the house in front of her, and decided that it looked safe enough. Besides, Leon was apparently there, so she summoned her courage and pressed on.

Once she reached the front door, she raised her hoof up and knocked it against the door a few times. After a few seconds had passed and response was heard, she tried again. She raised an eyebrow and looked around. There was a window on the front of the house, and she peeked inside to see if anypony was home. “It’s empty!? You’ve got to be kidding Trixie!”

She pulled her head away and turned around just in time to see something flying her way. It flew past her head and hit the wall of the house behind her. “W-What the!?” She turned around and saw a plunger stuck to the wall, with a piece of paper attached to it. “…What is that?”

She took the paper and examined it. It was a letter:

Come to Sugar Cube Corner right now! We’ll be waiting for you!

She read the line a few times, and then ignited the paper with an incineration spell. “There’s no doubt about it…This is a threatening letter.” She said to herself. She had received such letters in the past, from ponies who her parents owed money to. Because they had fled Equestria long ago, Trixie was left as the target of these vicious debt collectors, and had to avoid them whilst she slowly made enough money to pay them off.

This time, however, she was rather short on bits, and didn’t have much of value to offer them. She could try fleeing, but her caravan was broken, and if they knew that she was here, they wouldn’t let her get away so easily.

“This isn’t good…Trixie still hasn’t found Leon, either.” Suddenly, a horrifying thought crossed Trixie’s mind. What if these ponies had kidnapped Leon, and were planning on using him as a hostage? Trixie wasted no time galloping back towards Ponyville.

Trixie rushed into her caravan, looking around for anything that she could use to pay off the debt collectors. She looked through her jewellery box, but only had a few gemstones. “Not good…Trixie doesn’t have anything to offer them!”

She noticed a small diamond sitting on her dresser. It looked valuable at first glance, but the truth was that it wasn’t really worth much at all. “No choice. Trixie will have to improvise.” She said as she gathered some magic into her horn. The diamond started to shine brightly, and increased in size, until it was the size of Trixie’s head.

“Hopefully their appraiser isn’t talented enough to see through Trixie’s magic…” She said as she levitated the diamond onto her back. “All I’ve done is pretty it up a bit. It should be hard to see through if they’re just common thugs.”

She left her caravan and locked it up, and then proceeded down the streets of Ponyville. She recalled passing by Sugar Cube Corner earlier that day, and could just about remember the way there. “The streets seem unusually empty right now…” She pointed out to herself, seeing nopony around at all as she moved towards Sugar Cube Corner.

Trixie made her way towards the entrance of Sugar Cube Corner and opened the door. It was dark inside, and she couldn’t see anything. She hesitated, and before taking a step, shouted: “I have your payment! There’s no need for drastic measures!”

From inside, she heard a voice saying “huh?”, and another voice shushing the first.

Trixie carefully placed one hoof inside the building, and then slowly started to enter. When the door slammed shut behind her, the last fragment of light inside the building disappeared, and she was left in pitch-black darkness. “W-Who’s there!? Show yourselves, right now!”

“SURPRISE!”

Trixie almost felt herself jump out of her skin as the entire room became illuminated all of a sudden, and around her stood what must have been every pony in town, all yelling “surprise” in unison.

She looked straight forward and saw a pink Earth Pony bouncing up to her. ‘The mare from earlier? Yes, I think so…’ Behind the pink mare was a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. Trixie immediately recognised her. She was difficult to forget. ‘Rainbow Dash, I believe her name was. The only flyer to ever pull off a Sonic Rainboom.’

Rainbow Dash landed in front of Pinkie and frowned at Trixie. “She’s the part guest you’ve been so hyped up about!? Pinkie Pie, what’s wrong with you!?”

Pinkie just smiled and walked past Rainbow Dash, and offered Trixie a glass of apple juice. “I didn’t get to do this the last time she came, ‘cause she left too early! But I still kept the preparations prepared in case she returned, which she did!” She energetically explained to Rainbow Dash.

Trixie was probably the most confused pony present, and she wasn’t doing much to hide that fact. “Um…What exactly is this?” Trixie asked, looking around and taking note of all the decorations, the music playing, and the buffet tables lined with snacks and drinks.

“It’s a PARTY, duh!”

“No, Trixie sees that, but…Why?” She couldn’t help but feel like she was missing something. As far as she was aware, she had no fans in Ponyville. Everypony there either hated her or just felt indifferent, so she couldn’t see why any of them would be throwing her a party. ‘Did Trixie enter a wormhole to some alternate reality or something? Or is this…’ Trixie narrowed her eyes and stared at the pink Earth Pony. “This is a trick, isn’t it?”

Pinkie Pie looked at Trixie with a confused, and somewhat hurt look. “A trick? What d’you mean? I just like throwing parties for everypony, and since you’re new in town, I decided to throw you a “welcome to Ponyville party”!”

Rainbow Dash moved between Pinkie and Trixie and glared at Trixie. “Yeah, welcome to Ponyville, but don’t overstay your welcome!” She said, motioning with her hooves for Trixie to leave.

“Dashie!” Pinkie said, slapping Rainbow’s hooves away with a disapproving look. “How can we have a party without the guest of honour?”

“In that case, you may as well pack up.” Trixie said, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “Trixie can’t believe she worried so much over this. Trixie will be leaving now. She is far too busy to be playing silly games.”

“You can’t leave yet!” Pinkie said, grabbing Trixie’s back hooves as she turned away. “We still haven’t started any of the games yet! Like “pin the tail on the pony”!” Pinkie offered a tail with a pin attached to it to Trixie. Trixie tried to move, but Pinkie wouldn’t let go.

Trixie sighed deeply, and grabbed the tail with her magic. “If Trixie plays this, will you release Trixie?” Pinkie nodded with a big smile, still holding on to Trixie’s legs. Trixie nodded and closed her eyes, levitating the tail to her target.

“YOWCH!” Pinkie screamed, jumping into the air and rubbing her flank as a sharp pain pierced it. “Hey! What was that for!?”

“Trixie pinned the tail on the pony.” Trixie explained, a grin on her face, half-proud of her silly little joke. “And now Trixie shall be leaving.”

“Alright, that’s it!” Rainbow Dash said, jumping in front of Trixie to stop her. “Humiliating me is one thing, but Pinkie’s trying to be nice to ya, and you go and do something like that!?”

“Trixie never asked for anypony to be nice to her!” Trixie argued, pushing Rainbow Dash aside with her magic. “Trixie is rather busy, and she doesn’t want to waste any more of her time here!”

Rainbow Dash glared at Trixie and was about to tackle her, when Applejack stepped into the shop and confronted Trixie herself. “Howdy there, guys! Sorry ah’m late!” She walked up to Trixie with a stern look on her face. “Trixie.” She said with a tip of her hat.

Trixie didn’t bother greeting Applejack back. She simply walked past the orange coated farmer, but stopped when something tugged at her tail. Growing increasingly annoyed at these interruptions, she turned around to see what it was, but was stunned into silence when saw a purple Unicorn and yellow Pegasus next to Applejack.

It was the purple Unicorn tugging at Trixie’s tail, with her magic. In her hoof, she was holding an empty cage. Trixie recognised the purple mare all too well. ‘Twilight Sparkle. The one who showed me up last time I visited here, and the personal student of Princess Celestia. Special talent is magic, she was born into a talented family, her brother is Captain of the Royal Guard, married to Royalty, and she is one of the six wielder of the Elements of Harmony, and has used them to save Equestria twice.’

She glared at the purple Unicorn, who looked back with a neutral expression. Trixie had happened to come across a newspaper article about Twilight shortly after the Ursa Minor incident, about how she had defeated Nightmare Moon, and since then was unable to avoid hearing mention of her wherever she went. “What do you want?” Trixie asked, her anger starting to rise as she now looked at Twilight with hatred in her eyes.

Twilight saw this, but didn’t back down. She continued staring into Trixie’s eyes, not showing any signs of weakness. She released her magic on Trixie’s tail and held up an empty cage with her hoof. “I believe this belongs to you?”

Trixie studied the cage a little bit, but was distracted by the drooling of the white Unicorn in the corner of her eye. She turned to her side to see Rarity approaching the group, staring at Trixie with awe and wonder. The others turned around and saw this too, then looked back at Trixie and saw what was going on.

Trixie looked behind her to see if Rarity was looking at somepony else instead, and a bright shine caught her eyes. “Oh, Trixie sees…” She said as she looked back at Rarity. “You like this diamond, don’t you?”

Rarity nodded her head, running up to Trixie and examining the diamond on her back. “Oh, yes! It’s simply marvellous! This thing must be worth at least 5000 bits!”

Trixie sighed and levitated the diamond over to Rarity. “Here. Have it.” She said, turning back to the cage as Rarity squealed with delight and thanked Trixie for her kind gift. ‘Only 5000? Trixie must be losing her keen eye…’ Trixie turned back to the cage and examined it, trying to drown out Rarity’s excitement as she examined her new present. “…Wait…Is that?”

Trixie used her spell to remove a chameleon’s camouflage, and suddenly, she could see Leon sitting in the cage, looking up at Trixie with, in her eyes, a look of happiness at being reunited with her. Truthfully, he looked as indifferent as ever. Behind her, Trixie could Rarity shout: “Hey! This is fake!”

Trixie turned around momentarily to see the diamond now in its former, low-value state. ‘Interesting. That spell seems to remove magical disguises, too.’ She made a mental note of this new discovery, and then turned back to the cage which held Leon. “Leon…You’re safe!” She said as she grabbed the cage with her magic, bringing it close so that she could hug it. “You scared Trixie! She thought you were in danger!”

Applejack put a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder to get her attention. “Ah ran into Twi on the way here. She said mah sister’s friends found this critter while they were playing, an’ ah told her that you were lookin’ for ‘im.”

Trixie turned to look at Twilight, who was smiling at Trixie as she held her pet chameleon close. “You…You kept him safe for Trixie?”

“Well, it was Fluttershy mostly. I just decided to take him to the library to feed him…” Twilight said, looking over at the yellow Pegasus.

Fluttershy ducked down a bit behind Applejack. “Well, I-I was just trying to help…But I couldn’t really do anything, since I didn’t know what he was…”

Trixie put the cage down on the floor and bowed respectively to the two ponies, which took them by surprise. “Even so, Trixie thanks you.” She rose up to her hooves and lifted the cage up again, looking at the chameleon inside with a cross look. “You on the other hoof! You had Trixie worried! What do you have to say for yourself!?”

Leon changed his colour to hide from Trixie’s scolding, to which Trixie sighed and placed the cage on her back. “This isn’t over. Trixie has more to say to you later.”

“Hey! Is Leon gonna stay for the party too!?” Pinkie Pie asked, suddenly popping up next to Trixie and placing party hats on Trixie’s head and Leon’s cage.

Trixie’s anger started to return, but it was nowhere near as high as earlier. She turned to the pink pony with an annoyed look, causing her to back away a bit and smile nervously. “Trixie said that she’s not staying!”

“Oh really?” Twilight asked. Trixie turned her head towards the purple Unicorn, who was grinning at Trixie. “So you’ll just take Leon and go? Without showing your gratitude?”

Trixie ground her teeth as she glared at the purple Unicorn, but calmed herself down when she realised that she was right. Trixie did owe her, as much as she hated to admit it. “Fine. What do you want? Trixie will try her best to pay you back.”

“Then, in that case, you can stay for this party.” Twilight said, much to Trixie’s confusion. Trixie was expecting Twilight to ask for a cash reward, or a private magic show, or at least a favour. She was not expecting this at all. “And I want you to apologise to my friends for humiliating them, too.”

‘Ah. There’s the catch. Well, it’s probably for the best. Since Trixie has no money to offer, and just wants to get out of this place as quickly as possible.’ Trixie looked around at the ponies around her. She saw the three ponies in particular that she humiliated before. She took a moment to remember if there was anypony else, and realised that it was just those three.

She took a deep breath, and gave her best apology. “Trixie’s sorry.” She said plainly, not focusing her eyes on anypony in particular.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Trixie’s “apology”. “Was that it?” She asked. “It didn’t really sound very…Sincere.”

“You never said it had to.” Trixie pointed out, annoying Rainbow Dash even more. “Anyway, Trixie will stay for 30 minutes. No more, no less. She still has things to do, after all.”

“YAY!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hopping around Trixie with a cheerful grin. “Then what should we do first!? Huh, huh!? We could dance, bob for apples, play charades, and then maybe later you could tell us about yourself and we could you about ourselves! And then when you leave we’ll all be best friends and-”

Trixie stopped Pinkie Pie right there by clenching her jaw shut with magic. Pinkie stopped bouncing around and fumbled around, wondering why she couldn’t speak. “Trixie will stay. But she does not want friends.” She said, glaring at the pink pony as if she had just committed some sort of terrible crime.

“Why not, darling?” Rarity asked. “What’s wrong with making friends? Sure we may have gotten off on the wrong hoof, but I think if we-”

“TRIXIE.DOES NOT.WANT.FRIENDS!” Trixie shouted, releasing Pinkie Pie and moving across the room towards one of the refreshment tables.

“With an attitude like that, I bet she gets booed out of every town!” Rainbow Dash said, crossing her arms and glaring at Trixie as she walked away.

“I don’t know…” Twilight said, looking sympathetically in Trixie’s direction. “I wonder…”

“Somethin’ on yer mind, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“I think Trixie…Is a lot like me.”

“WHAT!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Get real! She’s nothing like you! She’s rude, arrogant, bratty, and-”

“So was I, at one point.” Twilight said, resulting in surprised looks from the other ponies. “Trixie and I grew up without friends. That’s probably why she always approached me, but…”

“Hold up, you an’ Trixie knew each other when you were fillies?” Applejack asked, resulting in a nod from Twilight. “Well then, why didn’t she recognise you before?”

“We never really spoke. When I was a filly, I would spend my free time reading in some secluded location. Trixie found me one day, and said that she would be using that spot to practise her shows. I didn’t mind, but I found it odd when she came back day after day, for weeks on end. Thinking back on it now, she was probably trying to reach out to me…

“But, unlike Trixie, I had my parents, my brother, and my foalsitter, Cadance. I even had Princess Celestia once I became her student. But Trixie had nopony. I was just thinking…If I had no family, like her, I probably would have wound up the same way.”

Applejack nodded, and looked over at Trixie, who was on her 5th drink of juice by now. “Ah spoke with her earlier today. Ah offered her some help. Y’know, tryin’ ta be friendly. But…She didn’t take kindly to it. It was like she was scared of accepting friendship.”

“Scared of friendship? That’s just silly! What’s so scary about friendship?” Pinkie Pie asked, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she tried to understand.

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to allow it!” Twilight said, stamping a hoof on the ground. “Trixie deserves friends just as much as anypony! And as Celestia as my witness, I’ll make sure she leaves here with at least one friend!”

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all agreed with her and put their hooves together in the middle of a circle. They looked up at Rainbow Dash, who was pretending not to notice. “Rainbow!” They shouted in unison. Rainbow Dash gave in and placed her hoof with the others.

Trixie finished her 5th glass of juice and placed the glass down. She took deep, calming breaths, trying to calm her nerves down. “Friends…What good could possibly come from making friends?”

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she popped out from the other side of the refreshment table from Trixie, startling her. “What’re you doing?”

“…Drinking.” Trixie said, watching the hyperactive pink pony carefully. She raised an eyebrow at Pinkie, who just stared at Trixie with a big grin on her face. “Can Trixie help you?”

“Show me a trick!” Pinkie shouted, reaching down and picking up a bag of popcorn from beneath the table.

“…Come again?”

“You’re a showmare, right! Then show me a trick!”

Trixie stared at the pink pony, trying to figure her out. She placed the cage holding Leon on the table in front of her, and separated three empty glasses from the rest of the glasses on the table. “Very well then. Trixie is in a bad mood right now. She could do with a fan to help her calm down.”

“Oh! If it’s a fan you want, there’s one up there!” Pinkie Pie said, pointing up at a fan on the ceiling. Trixie looked at her un-amused, and Pinkie realised what she had said wrong. “Oh, not that kind of fan! Heh…”

Trixie decided to let it slide, not sure whether it was a terrible joke, or just an honest, idiotic mistake. “Now, watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie turns these empty glasses into…” Trixie moved her mane to cover her horn, and in a few seconds, the glasses exploded.

Pinkie Pie jumped back, as did a few of the ponies nearby. However, instead of shards of glass flying around, the glasses had been replaced with…“Confetti?”

“Indeed! And now, if you would check under your tail?” Pinkie Pie lifted her tail from the ground, and saw many shards of glass scattered about. “Fear not! For I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will clean up this mess and recover the three glasses that she borrowed!”

The shards of glass levitated into the air and started to join together, eventually forming three whole glasses, with not a crack to be seen on either one. Trixie levitated the three glasses onto the table, back into their starting positions, and awaited applause for her little show.

“Is that it?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking disappointed.

Trixie blinked at the pink pony in wide-eyed shock. ‘“Is that it”!? Does she not realise what Trixie has just done? That level of magic is difficult for even the most skilled of Unicorns to achieve! Yes the explosion into confetti was an illusion, but the glass fragments repairing themselves were real! Pulling off two high levelled spells simultaneously…And she’s talking about it like it was a simple sleight of hand card trick!’

“You’re the Great and Powerful Trixie, aren’t you? Come on! Show us something big! Like…Turn the glasses into cupcakes! Or turn the house into a delicious candy house! Ooh! I know! Turn me into a frog!”

Trixie’s look of shock turned into one of confusion, as she was rendered speechless by the pink pony. ‘Ok, now Trixie is convinced. She’s just an idiot.’ Trixie opened her mouth to tell her that magic didn’t work that way, but a voice from behind her cut her off.

“Magic doesn’t work that way, Pinkie.” Trixie turned around to see Twilight Sparkle standing there. Trixie wondered if she had been watching her trick just now. “That trick she just performed was pretty impressive. Would you mind showing us another one?” Twilight asked Trixie, a friendly smile on her face.

Trixie smiled at Twilight, happy that at least somepony appreciated her talents. She caught herself and quickly undid her smile, returning to a neutral expression. “Very well then, but Trixie expects better applause this time.” She said. She was sure that this was a trick, but she found it better than standing around talking to random ponies of no interest.

The next twenty minutes passed by rather well. Trixie’s mood increased as she performed trick after trick, and the ponies around her actually gave applause and cheer for her. Even Rainbow Dash had to admit that she was impressed by a few of these tricks. Although some of the ponies were a bit put off by her boasting attitude, many of them just enjoyed the magic acts she performed, and some even found her high-and-mighty attitude charming.

Trixie stopped partway through one of her tricks upon hearing a loud, familiar sound. “W-Was that thunder?” She asked, turning to look out the window.

The other ponies around her also turned, and saw that it was dark outside, and raining rather heavily. Rainbow Dash let out an annoyed groan and slammed a hoof into her face. “Oh, come ON! This is the LAST time I leave Thunderlane in charge! Seriously, I give him one simple task to start the storm at 6:30, and of course he sets it off a few hours early!”

“The storm’s started…Early?” Trixie asked, her magic fading and the cards she was apparently holding with it vanishing. “T-Trixie has to take her leave now. Come, Leon!” She said, reaching for the cage but stopping when a flash of light filled the room. “YAH!”

When the light was gone and everypony could see again, Trixie was nowhere to be seen. The ponies in the crowd started to pick up their things and leave quickly, desperate to get home before the storm became so bad that they would have to spend the night at Sugar Cube Corner.

Pinkie Pie was disappointed that the party had to be cut short, but was more concerned with where Trixie had gone. Leon was still on the table, so she was sure that she was still here. She started looking around, along with her friends, and saw some silver hair poking out from under one of the tables. She lifted up the table cloth, and sure enough, Trixie was ducking down beneath the table, holding her head in her hooves.

“Trixie? Are you ok?” Twilight asked, ducking down so that she could see her.

“T-Trixie is fine…She just…Dropped something, that’s all.” Trixie said, slowly crawling out from her hiding spot. Another flash of light, follow by the loud roar of thunder, passed through the room, and Trixie, without thinking, grabbed a hold of the nearest thing she could. “AH!”

“Um…Trixie?” Twilight said nervously as Trixie’s wrapped her front hooves around Twilight’s neck. “Are you scared of lightning?”

“N-No! Of c-course not! Trixie isn’t scared of any-” Another flash of lightning (which made Rainbow Dash grow concerned, since they weren’t supposed to be that frequent) and Trixie’s grip around Twilight tightened. “Um…Maybe…A little…”

Twilight held Trixie in a comforting hug, joined by Fluttershy, trying to calm her down. “But I thought you used lightning in your shows. And what about the thunderous sound effects? Did you stop using those?”

Trixie shook her head slowly, shaking like a leaf as her whole body started to feel cold. “It’s fine when it’s a stage prop, or just a small bolt that only makes you jump a little bit, but when it’s an uncontrollable, unpredictable bolt of lightning that can turn you to dust…” She let out another scream as another flash of lightning appeared. “…I’ll be fine…I just need to reach my caravan…”

“Your caravan?” Applejack asked. “But that’s all the way at Sweet Apple Acres. You’ll never make it there in this storm.”

Trixie looked at Applejack with a confused look on her face. “What do you mean? My caravan is park outside of the hospital!”

“Not anymore. Big Macintosh said it wouldn’t survive a storm like this, so we hollered it over to the farm to keep it safe in our barn.”

Trixie’s jaw dropped as she looked at Applejack in shock. “You…You IDIOT!” She shouted, startling the group. She released her grip around Twilight and approached Applejack. “Trixie can put up a barrier to protect herself and her caravan from storms like this! That’s how she’s survived for so long on her own!”

“Well how was ah supposed ta know that!?” Applejack asked, frowning at Trixie. “Anyway, point is the farm’s too far away. It’s best ta just stay here and-”

Before she could finish, Trixie levitated the cage holding Leon, wrapped a nearby cloth around it, and placed it on her back. “Trixie is already indebted to you enough. She literally can’t afford to be any further in your debt.” Another bolt of lightning struck outside, bringing Trixie to her knees.

“Trixie, c’mon now…” Rainbow Dash said, showing genuine concern for the terrified mare. “It just ain’t cool ta refuse help when it’s offered to you like that, and it’s obvious you wouldn’t last 10 seconds out there.”

Trixie ignored the blue Pegasus, rising to her hooves and looking over at the door that led outside. “Trixie…Trixie will be just fine on her own! She’ll prove to everypony that she doesn’t need ANYPONY!” She shouted, running towards the door and opening it with her magic.

Rarity and Twilight tried to stop her with their own magic, but she was faster than they expected, and managed to make it outside before they could do anything. “Trixie! Wait!” Rarity shouted, chasing after her.

“Guys, come on! Let’s go after her!” Twilight shouted. The rest of the group nodded, and they began to chase after Trixie.

Trixie raced through the dark, damp streets of Ponyville, her wet mane obstructing her vision somewhat as it hung in front of her left eye. She had to stop a few time to recall the way to Sweet Apple Acres, and after a few minutes of running, her body was starting to get tired, and the cold rain hammering down on her combined with the strong wind wasn’t helping at all. Her entire body ached and felt cold, and it was getting worse with each passing second.

She eventually started to slow down, and realised that she wasn’t going to make it at this rate. Her breathing became heavy, and her vision became a blur. She wanted to keep going, but her legs were telling her, practically begging her, to stop. “It’s no use…” She admitted to herself, falling down onto her stomach.

“Sorry, Leon…I shouldn’t have dragged you along with me…” She said as she slowly started to lose her connection with reality. Her vision darkened, and the faint sounds of approaching hoofsteps and loud, thunderous roars grew ever fainter.

Trixie awoke to the sounds of muffled laughter. She opened her eyes and squinted up at the wooden ceiling above her. She took a moment to remember what had happened, and then slowly sat up, surveying the room around her.

“Oh, you’re up!” Trixie turned to the source of the sound to see a small purple dragon looking at her. Wait, a dragon? Trixie shook her head and took another look. She wasn’t mistaken; the creature before her was indeed a baby dragon. “Twilight prepared some soup for you earlier. I’ll heat it up for you.”

“Twilight did?” She asked, watching as the baby dragon walked over to the small table next to the bed Trixie found herself in, and lifted a bowl of soup up, breathing green fire onto the bottom to warm it up. “What happened? Where is Trixie?”

Spike offered the bowl to Trixie, but she declined, so he just put it back on the table. “Twilight brought you here after you passed out in the street. She and her friends are downstairs, having a slumber party. I didn’t want any part of it, so they asked me to watch over you.”

“Then this is Twilight’s house?” Trixie asked, looking around and seeing a lot of books all around her. She heard more laughter coming from downstairs. “You said they were having a slumber party. What does that mean?”

“Basically they’re having makeovers and pillow fights. Pretty lame if you ask me.” Spike said, trying to act cool. Truthfully, he was interested in some of the games they were playing, but he had to draw the line at makeovers. No way he was getting involved in that.

“Why?” Trixie asked.

“Huh? Why what?”

“Why are they doing stuff like that?”

“Um…I guess because it’s fun? For them, at least.”

Trixie got out of the bed she was lying in and slowly made her way over to the stairway. Spike told her that she should lie down and rest, since she may have caught a cold from being out in the rain, but she ignored him and peeked over the edge of the bedroom floor.

Down below her, she could see the six pony friends all together in a circle, apparently telling each other ghost stories…Or comedy stories. She couldn’t tell which.

Trixie watched the six mares playing around and laughing, and the scene reminded her of an incident that still confused her to this very day. It was a day long ago, when she was just a filly. She was walking through one of the parks in Canterlot, and happened to see a young group of fillies and colts playing.

She remembered that one of the fillies played a little too rough with one of the colts, pushing him over and giving him a rather nasty cut on one of his legs. A nearby parent fixed up the wound with her magic, and the children continued playing.

But why? Trixie couldn’t understand why that colt was able to forgive the filly so easily, and go back to playing with her, as if nothing had happened. What if they got hurt again? What if they got into a big fight, and were unable to even look at each other ever again?

“Trixie doesn’t understand…How friendship is supposed to work.” She said, moving towards the bed. Spike looked at her with a confused expression on his face. “It’s so confusing. You could get hurt…You could hurt others…And it looks complicated. What exactly is so good about it?”

Spike scratched the back of his head and looked down at the ground. “Ah, gee…That’s a tough one. I mean, it’s like asking why dragons eat gemstones.” Trixie turned to Spike and listened. “Simple answer is because they taste good. We like the taste, so we eat ‘em. But if you start thinking about in-depth like that…I can’t really say why.

“But…I think these might be able to help you.” Spike moved towards a closet in the corner of the room. He opened it, and inside was a huge stack of scrolls. He picked up as many as he could carry, and brought them over to Trixie. “Here. Try reading these.” He said, handing the scrolls to Trixie.

Trixie looked at them with a curious look, and levitated one of the scrolls towards herself. “What are these?” She asked, though Spike remained silent as she read the first scroll. “A letter to the Princess?”

“Yeah.” Spike said, dropping the scrolls onto the floor. “These are the friendship reports that Twilight and her friends have written to the Princess…Well, copies of them, at least.” Spike said, shuddering as he remembered the incident that happened while Discord was loose. He never wanted to experience that again, so he made copies of each friendship report, so that he always had them nearby in case they were needed.

Trixie remained silent as she read through the first scroll, and then another one, and another one. After reading every single scroll that was in the closet, she looked at the ground and put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. “Trixie still doesn’t get it…What exactly is a friend?”

“Well, why don’t you go and find out?” Spike asked, causing a confused Trixie to turn and look at him. “You were speaking in your sleep, y’know? It sounded like you wanted to get to know Twilight.”

Trixie’s eyes widened and she stared in shock at the baby dragon. “T-Trixie said that?” She wasn’t in shock because she had been heard, but because she had apparently said something like that. “Impossible!”

Spike shrugged and began picking up the scrolls. “Look, I just know what I heard. Twilight said you didn’t want any friends, but I think you do want friends…You just don’t know how to get them.” Trixie was about to speak up, but her throat was still dry, so she remained silent. “Well, they’re offering you their friendship. Why don’t you give it a try?”

Trixie took a sip of the nearby soup, and cleared her throat. “Trixie doesn’t need friends…” She said, but not with much confidence in her voice.

“Alright, then go back to sleep.” Spike said, closing the closet door after neatly piling the scrolls into the closet. “But, at the very least, you should go down there and thank them, shouldn’t you?”

Trixie growled and glared at the baby dragon, causing him to flinch. She stopped when she felt a spell of dizziness wash over her. She calmed herself with a deep, soothing breath. “…Whatever. Trixie doesn’t need you to tell her that.” She turned around and began to walk towards the stairway, but then stopped when she realised something. “Leon! Where’s Leon!?”

“Leon?” Spike asked. “Oh, you mean your pet? He’s fine. Look.” He pointed over to the dresser in the room, where a cage was sitting in front of the mirror, with a sleeping chameleon sitting inside. “He’s was protected by that cloth over his cage. He’s just resting right now.”

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the only one she would ever consider a friend was safe. But then she began to wonder…Wasn’t this why she avoided making friends in the first place? She didn’t want others to worry about her, and she certainly didn’t want to burden herself with the problems of others.

When she picked up Leon, she felt sympathised with him. He was just a baby, but he had no family, and the world had left him all on his own. Trixie had been there and done that, but unlike Leon, she had magic to help her get along. She used it at first to steal food from market stalls, and then later to earn bits through street performances.

But Leon had nothing, and was going to die all on his own. Trixie felt sorry for him, and took him in. She thought it would be ok. Leon wasn’t going to become a burden to her, and he wasn’t going to worry for her, since he was just a chameleon. She just wanted a travelling partner. Someone to share her thoughts with.

But now that she thought about it, this whole day, she’d been worried sick for Leon’s wellbeing. That was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She turned around and continued to walk towards the stairway, ignoring the thought for now. ‘I’ll think about it later. For now, I’ll just thank these ponies, go to sleep, and then tomorrow, I’ll be on my way, caravan or no caravan.’

Trixie walked down the stairway to the lower floor of the library, where the six friends were currently engaged in a pillow fight. She picked a great time to join them; just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, a pillow flew right into her face.

The pillow fight ceased when everypony saw Trixie at the bottom of the stairs, removing the pillow her face, looking un-amused. “Trixie! You’re awake!” Twilight said as she ran over to Trixie excitedly. “Are you feeling ok? You should probably get some rest, you know?”

“Trixie is fine. There’s no need to concern yourself with her.” She said, throwing the pillow that she was still holding to the ground. “Trixie merely came to thank you for saving her life. That is all.”

“Aw, don’t mention it, sugarcube.” Applejack said, dropping the pillow she was holding in her mouth.

“Yeah, it’s not like we could just leave you there, after all.” Rainbow Dash said, landing on the floor in front of Trixie. “Even if you are a bit loud, and big-headed, and kinda unpleasant.” She said, bringing a frown to Trixie’s face.

“Well don’t worry. Trixie will be gone as soon as the storm passes.” She said, turning around and beginning her ascent upstairs.

“You’re not gonna stay an’ join us?” Applejack asked.

“Of course not. Trixie said that she doesn’t want any-” Trixie was cut off by another pillow to her face. As she removed it, she looked over at the one who threw it: Twilight Sparkle. “What is your problem!?”

Twilight laughed and threw another pillow at Trixie with her magic, which Trixie managed to avoid. “I hit you! That means you’ve gotta try and hit me back!” She said, reciting one of the rules of a pillow fight, as described by her “Slumber 101” book. Trixie rubbed her forehead with her hoof, and was about to walk away, when Twilight said something that stopped her: “You chicken?”

“…What did you just called Trixie?” She asked, turning to Twilight with a serious look as she used her magic to levitate a few nearby pillows. “Trixie is no chicken! She will defeat you at any challenge you throw at her!”

Twilight gave herself a mental pat on the back. ‘Since trying to be nice and getting her to slowly trust us didn’t work out, I decided to try a different approach. I’ll make that overinflated ego of yours work to my advantage. You will be friends with me before this day is done!’

“Take this!” Trixie shouted as she launched a pillow at Twilight. Twilight skilfully dodged the pillow, but only barely. She wanted to make sure Trixie didn’t get bored, so she tried to keep it exciting by narrowly avoiding her attacks and taunting her each time. “Hold still!”

After a few minutes of Trixie chasing Twilight around the room, trying to smack her with a pillow, she accidentally threw one at Rainbow Dash’s face. Rainbow took that as her cue to join in, and soon, through a series of events, all seven mares were chasing each other around, not with any specific target, but just trying to hit each other with pillows and avoid getting hit. Trixie didn’t want to admit it out loud, but she was starting to really get into it.

However, the festivities would soon end when a bolt of lightning struck down on the ground outside, causing Trixie to grab a tight hold onto the pillow she was about to throw, and drop down to the ground.

Twilight and her friends stopped their pillow fight and looked over at Trixie. Rarity was the first to approach her, putting her hoof around Trixie’s shoulders to try and calm her down. Trixie seemed to calm down a little bit, and looked up at Rarity with a fearful expression on her face. “Don’t worry, darling. You’re safe in here.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, and walked over to one of her bookcases, searching for a specific book. Rainbow Dash saw this and asked her what she was doing. “I’m sure I have a book here that can help her…I just can’t find it.”

“Here it is!” Pinkie Pie shouted, pointing to a book on the other side of the library.

Twilight looked over with a sceptical look on her face. “You don’t even know what I’m searching for.”

““Soundproof Barriers – For advanced magicians only”! This is it, right?”

“How did…What!?” Twilight asked, wondering how Pinkie managed to not only know exactly what book she was searching for, but also what specific part of that book, and where the book was located. She decided not to question. She learned the hard way not to question how Pinkie Pie works.

Twilight took the book from Pinkie Pie, read the passage, and then closed her eyes and began concentrating. Soon, the entire library became encased in a huge, transparent purple barrier, and the sound of the rain outside became silent. A flash of light illuminated the room, but there was no accompanying roar of thunder.

Trixie slowly rose to her hooves, looking outside one of windows in awe. “W-What’s that?” She asked, turning to Twilight, who was smiling at Trixie.

“It’s a barrier that blocks sound from entering. Now, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

Trixie stared at Twilight with her eyes wide open, and tears starting to move down her face. She felt the tears moving down her cheek, and quickly wiped them away. ‘W-Why am I crying? What’s going on? I should be happy that they put that barrier up for me, but…’

“Why do you keep helping Trixie?” Trixie asked, walking closer to Twilight Sparkle. “Trixie doesn’t understand. Why would you go out of your way to help somepony you don’t even know that well.”

“‘Cause it doesn’t matter if we know you or not.” Rainbow Dash said.

“You’re a pony in trouble, so we want to help you. That’s all that there is to it.” Rarity said. “After all, when we see that somepony is sad, we become sad, too.”

“Sometimes we all need to be shown a little kindness.” Fluttershy said, walking up to Trixie and pulling her into a light hug.

“And besides, how can we have any fun if you’re frowning all the time!?” Pinkie Pie asked, picking up Twilight’s book on slumber parties and reading it. “Speaking of which, next on the list is twenty questions!”

Applejack approached Trixie and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Would ya like tah join us, Trixie? The more the merrier, ah always say.”

Trixie backed away from the cheerful group of ponies. “I don’t get it…How can you enjoy any of this!? What’s so great about having friends!? Aren’t you afraid of being left behind!? Of being betrayed!? Aren’t you afraid of being hurt by your friends, or hurting them!?”

Trixie ducked down and held her head in her hooves, memories of her past that she’d rather forget resurfacing in the back of her mind. Memories of being abandoned by the parents she loved, and of being tricked by the only ponies she was willing to open up to into being their friend, simply so they could discard her when she was useless.

Twilight walked up towards Trixie and knelt down in front of her. “Trixie…Of course friendship carries its risks…Friendship is never easy.”

“But it’s fun!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “You can laugh and laugh all day and enjoy being with the ponies you love!”

“You can help each other overcome your weaknesses, and support each other as you chase your dreams!” Rainbow Dash said, flying up to Trixie and shifting her hooves from her faces.

“You can confide in them when you’re feeling sad, and provide comfort for them when they need it.” Fluttershy said, smiling warmly at Trixie, who was starting to calm down a little bit, and had risen to her feet.

“Friends can be a great outlet when you got a lot on yer mind. They listen to yah and offer yah advice.” Applejack said.

“Worrying about your friends is only natural.” Rarity started. “It shows that you truly care for them, and when they worry about you, although it may feel bad sometimes, it shows that you are still wanted, and needed, in this world. And that is a source of great joy for anypony.”

Twilight extended her hoof towards Trixie, smiling at her warmly. “I once thought I didn’t need friends, too. I once did my best to keep other ponies at a distance. But then I learned…No matter how hard it may be sometimes, and no matter what risks it may carry, having friends is the greatest thing in the world. And it’s well worth any hardships you may overcome.”

Trixie stared at the hoof with uncertainty. She shook her head rapidly. “But…Trixie doesn’t need friends! She doesn’t! She’s lived her whole life without them, so she knows that-”

“How can you know if you don’t give it a try?” Twilight asked, cutting off Trixie. “You’ve lived your whole life with this opinion on friendship about how it only causes pain, but you’ve never actually tried it before, have you? Well, why don’t you give it a try? I really want to be your friend, Trixie, and something tells me you want to be my friend, too.”

Trixie stared at the hoof in front of her once again, and started to question what she should do. Part of her wanted to just teleport away and brave the storm once more, while another part was telling her to accept her offer. She looked around at the faces of all of Twilight’s friends.

‘They all look so happy. How? How can they be so happy? Is having friends really such a great thing? What exactly is Trixie missing out on? Is it…Is it really ok? Will Trixie truly feel happy with friends around her? Will it be safe? What if they abandon Trixie?’

Twilight saw that Trixie was at odds with herself, and tried to give her one final push to help her make up her mind. “Trixie, the truth is, no matter how strong you are, you can’t face this world’s problems alone.” Trixie flinched and turned her attention back towards Twilight. “Let us help you whenever you’re in trouble. And in return, you can help us, and when none of us are in trouble, we can just hang out and have fun together.”

‘That look in her eyes…She’s…Not lying to Trixie. She’s being sincere. Is this…Is this what “love” feels like? Trixie can’t tell, but, whatever she’s feeling right now…She…I like it. It feels so warm. I feel like I can trust this pony. Like, if I accept her offer, the storm outside won’t seem so scary, and I won’t have to worry about anything…Is this the kind of feeling I’ve been missing out on?’

Trixie gulped, and slowly extended her hoof forward, connecting it with Twilight’s. “T-Trixie…Will give this “friendship” thing a try…But if she doesn’t like it, she’s out!” Trixie said, shaking Twilight’s hoof with her own.

Twilight gave Trixie a reassuring look. “You won’t regret it!” She said with the upmost confidence in her tone. “So, you wanna join us for twenty questions? We’ll teach you the rules if you don’t know them.”

One week had passed since Trixie had left Ponyville. Twilight considered the slumber party a huge success; Trixie had really changed a lot after just that one night. She was having fun playing games with the six ponies, and sharing stories with them about her past, most of which were probably made up (such as the story of how she once singlehoofedly defeated a Unicorn who attempted to burn down Canterlot), and eventually she began asking the others about their pasts.

It probably worked a little too well, as Trixie insisted on doing every single activity in “Slumber 101”, even when the others just wanted to settle down for the night.

Once her caravan was fixed, Trixie and Leon departed Ponyville rather suddenly, since Trixie’s schedule had already been messed up too much. She told them that she would come back, and Twilight assured Trixie that she would always be welcome in Ponyville, and that her friends would always be here for her.

Twilight walked through the streets of Ponyville with Owlowiscious – her pet owl – at her side. “What a beautiful day!” She said, looking up at the clear blue sky, seeing not a single cloud in sight. “Perfect for a pony-pet play date!”

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she sped up her flying to catch up to Twilight. “Come on, Tank! You’re gonna be left behind!” She shouted back to the tortoise following her using a small heli-pack.

“Good morning Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said cheerfully to the blue Pegasus as she slowed down and started flying next to Twilight.

The two exchanged pleasantries as they made their way to the park, where they would be meeting up with the rest of group. Once they were there, they found Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy, with their pets: Gummy, Winona, Opalescence, and Angel, respectively. There were all ready for their pony-pet play date, and were just waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive.

“Hey girls!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing up and down with Gummy clamped on to her tail.

“Hi there!” Twilight said back, joining the group along with Rainbow Dash. “So, are we ready?”

“Not yet.” Rarity said, looking around. “We’re still missing somepony, right?”

“Trixie’s sorry she’s late!” The group turned around to see a caravan approaching them, being controlled by the magic of a familiar blue Unicorn, clad in a purple cape and hat, with star-shaped patterns on them. “She had to stop and ask for directions.” Trixie said as she stopped her caravan near to the group.

“No problem! We just got here ourselves.” Twilight said, smiling at Trixie, who had gotten off her caravan and was approaching the group. “Nice to see you again, Trixie. How’ve you been?”

Trixie grinned at Twilight as she responded. “Trixie’s show was a huge success in Trottingham. Not that there was ever any doubt.” She said smugly.

Fluttershy looked at Trixie with a confused look, and then looked at the caravan behind you. “Where’s Leon? Is he still asleep?”

Trixie’s pointed a hoof up at her hat. “Come on, Leon. Don’t be shy.” Suddenly, a green chameleon appeared on her hat as it undid its camouflage.

The seven ponies and pets began their pony-pet play date, playing a series of games and having fun together. At one point, they have gotten involved in a game of tag, where Trixie was “it”. While attempting to avoid her, Rainbow Dash accidentally crashed into Trixie’s caravan, toppling it over.

“MY HOME!” Trixie shouted, running over to the site of the accident. “What have you done!?”

“S-Sorry!” Rainbow Dash said, guilt present in her voice.

“Oh, you will be!” Trixie said, glaring angrily at Rainbow Dash.

“Trixie! Hold on!” Twilight said, trying to stop a fight from breaking out, but she was too late; Trixie had leaped up into the air and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground.

Twilight was going to use her magic to separate them, but she noticed that Trixie didn’t look angry anymore. In fact, she was looking down at Rainbow Dash with a big grin on her face, and was laughing.

“You can help Trixie fix her home later. But for now, you’re IT!” She shouted, jumping off as she finished and making some distance between herself and the rainbow maned pony. The rest of the group also made some distance, and Rainbow Dash looked over at Trixie with an annoyed look.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Rainbow Dash complained.

“All’s fair in war!” Trixie argued back, taunting Rainbow Dash by sticking her tongue out.

“Oh it.Is.ON!” Rainbow Dash said, flying towards Trixie, who immediately started running away.

The rest of the day consisted of more games being played, and stories being told, between the seven ponies and pets. But for the most part, the games would end up with Trixie and Rainbow Dash taking each other on one-on-one.

By evening time, the seven ponies decided to call it a day and end their little meet-up. Applejack had to go back to the farm to buck some trees, Fluttershy had to tend to her animals, Twilight had some studying to do, and Rarity had some orders to work on. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash wanted to continue playing, but everypony else had to go.

“So, Trixie, where are you going now?” Rarity asked Trixie, who was picking up her caravan with Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s help.

“Canterlot. Trixie has a performance there in three days, and she would like to get there early.” Trixie answered, examining her caravan to make sure that it wasn’t damaged.

“You’ll be back soon, won’t you?” Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing around and helping her check the caravan.

Trixie laughed and patted Pinkie on the head. “Of course Trixie will be back soon. She can’t leave you all without her grace. Celestia knows what you’d do without Trixie here.”

“Oh, ah’m sure we’d be jus’ fine.” Applejack said with a grin on her face.

“Well then, Trixie won’t invite you to her next show in Ponyville if that’s how you feel.” Trixie responded, glaring at Applejack.

The two broke into friendly laughter, which spread to the rest of the group, before Trixie put Leon to bed inside the caravan and took her place at the front.

“Then, see you in a few days.” Trixie said, waving at her friends with her hoof.

“See ya.”

“Have a safe trip, dear.”

“Later, Trix!”

“Bring back souvenirs!”

“Um, good luck in your performance.”

Twilight and her friends waved goodbye to Trixie as she left. Twilight watched the caravan fade away into the distance. She looked at her friends, and smiled at each one. ‘Trixie, I’m glad you opened yourself up to friendship. No matter where you go, there’ll always be a place where you belong, and where friends will be there to welcome you back with open legs. You just need to find it, and then never let it go for anything.’ She suddenly realised something, and then slammed a hoof into her face.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“I forgot to ask Trixie to send a report to the Princess.” Twilight said, calling herself stupid over and over again inside her head. Finally, she let out a deep sigh and calmed down. “Oh well. It’s not like she won’t be coming back again. I'll ask her next time.”