Show Business

by Natedogg2006

Chapters

After Show
Persona
Food Fixes Everything
After After Show
Manehatten Tour: Anticipation
Manehatten Tour: Confessions
Manehatten Tour: Realization
Manehatten Tour: Curtain Call
Mentors: The Conartist
Mentors: The Long Con
Interlude: Stupid
Mentors: Who are you?
Mentors: More Confessions
Mentors: Royal Breakfast
Home
The show will always go on.
After Show pt. 2
Mentors: The more things change the more they stay the same.

After Show

"Thank you Canterlot!!! The Great And Powerful Trixie loves you all!!!"

The curtains dropped in front of Trixie's face, but the smile on her face did not drop. This was the first performance she could remember in some time where she didn't have to use her magic to drop the curtain for herself, much less set up the stage before hoof. It was a definite plus for the show mare as she trotted off stage to the waiting owner of the play house. This was yet another aspect of bigger performances she found she missed despite how tedious it once seemed, meaningless platitudes with whoever was in charge before they would give up the payment for the performance. The smile still would not leave her face as she went through this routine.

"...and there's a little extra in there for you," he was finishing while offering a fair sized bag of bits, holding onto it an extra second as Trixie attempted to take it in her magical grasp, "just so you don't forget about us down the road," he finished with a wink.

At one time Trixie would have thought a guy like this a creep, now she could see his genuine interest in keeping acts that sold well coming back to his theater. With some more mutual thanks the two parted ways as Trixie made her way to the back of the establishment.

Though this was the biggest show she had played in a while it still lacked some of the glamour she once knew. There was no green room full of goodies for the talent, and the dressing room, while clean and well kept, was meager at best. This still did not dampen her mood as she stepped in to see the sweaty mess she was after such a good show. A few splashes of water and a good towel off later and she decided that the rumbling in her stomach was of much bigger concern then how she looked.

Exiting through the back of the theater she found her cart parked behind it waiting for her. This was the first time something managed to take the smile off her face. She did like her cart, but not as much as her old one. It was smaller than her old one. With all her stuff inside there was only enough space for a single pony to lay down to sleep. With her stuff still in the theater for her show the next night she would have at least some space to move around.

After shoving a few things around and lighting a lamp she found herself frowning even more at the shelf where she kept her food. They were road provisions so they were by necessity prepackaged, bland, and mostly tasteless. And to speak the truth she had become particularly sick of all the choices before her. She remembered the particularly heavy bag of bits now securely hidden under her hat and with a slight squee at knowing what the bag meant to her she decided that she was going to do something else she hadn't had a chance to do in a while, treat herself to a good meal.

As she slid her cape and hat off she moved the bag of bits to a small satchel in the corner before leveling a challenging stare at her reflection in the small mirror above her makeshift makeup area. With a slight strain her horn started to glow and enveloped her own mane. The lighter streaks of blue gradually receded as the darker blue became even darker. With a slight pant of exhaustion the spell cut off, slightly earlier then she had planned, but then again she had just finished a big show. Deciding it was good enough to keep her from being noticed she slipped her satchel over her head and once again exited her cart.

Her show had been an early one, which was a sign she still wasn't where she wanted to be professionally. It did however mean she still had time to make this an early dinner before heading back to her cart to rest before her show the next day. As she walked down the street and rounded a corner that took her out of the theater district and in the direction of where she believed she had seen some restaurants on her way into town she found herself still in a very good mood. Such a good mood in fact that she felt she just had to smile once again as she closed her eyes to take in a deep breath of the brisk evening city air.

"Uhgggh," and that was just the moment she ran head first into what felt like another pony. The other pony had apparently been even more distracted than her as they had lost their footing at the impact and tumbled to the ground, the apparently offending book landing on their head in the process.

"I'm so sorry, I was getting a little distracted. Are you all...." Trixie trailed off as she was helping the mare up. As the mare gathered her senses she had managed to grab the book in a lavender magical aura and started tucking it into the saddle bags around her haunches. Though today hadn't been perfect for Trixie so far she had still believed that nothing could make the day into a bad one, that was until she found herself face to face with the one mare she had hoped she would never see again.

Twilight Sparkle was looking back in order to focus on tucking her book away, thus she had clearly not noticed who she was apologizing to. "No, no, no, totally my fault. Everypony I know keeps telling me not to read while I walk, but you know how it is when you get a new book." She finally faced forward and offered Trixie a sheepish grin in apology. It was clear that Twilight had yet to notice who she was talking to. Trixie remembered of course that she was in disguise but it was one that was mainly used to fool casual hecklers, not one of the ones from the worst group of hecklers she had ever had. She was keen on ending this interaction before the situation could change.

"Indeed. Well so long as everything is alright I'll be moving along then. Sorry again." She quickly side stepped the mare and darted down the street, vaguely hearing something that must have been some form of mirrored apology that she didn't care to listen to as she went. A few blocks later she finally stopped running, slowing to a gentle pace as the encounter replayed in her mind. She briefly considered abandoning the idea of dinner and taking a roundabout route back to her cart for the night.

That idea however was abandoned as her stomach once again reminded her of the reason for her outing. She was hungry enough by now that she could swear she could actually smell something delicious in the air. Then she gave a real sniff. There indeed was a delightful smell in the air, in fact there were lots of them. Her mouth beginning to water she realized her hooves had managed to autopilot her to Canterlot's food district. As she eyed the various restaurant fronts, each more decadent looking then the last she was suddenly wondering just how far she could push her little splurge. Realizing she hadn't actually confirmed exactly how much of a bonus she had gotten earlier she decided a quick check of her funds was in order to figure out just how far down this road she dared venture.

As her hoof reached into her satchel her breath froze in her lungs and her brain grinded to a halt. Her satchel was empty. It's only contents was supposed to be the bag of bits. But as her hoof numbly felt around the bag for the fifth time she still found nothing.

Her mind was still working with all the speed of a particularly lazy snail so she was having some major trouble figuring out what was happening or how it happened. That bag had represented much more than just a good meal, that was the pay off that was going to get her back on top. It was both the payment for the show she just did and an advance on the show for the next night. If it was gone then not only would she be doing her performance the next night largely for free but it also meant she was back to just barely scraping by for who knows how long. Her lungs finally thawing and brain suddenly kicking into overdrive she remembered what her brain had apparently tried to immediately repress. She had bumped into Twilight Sparkle fairly hard, that must have been it. She had started turning before she realized it, the dread of again running into the pony she hated most a distant concern next to getting her bits back. She found herself once again running full speed through the streets of Canterlot. She was just approaching the side street she had come from when something purple jumped out in front of her.

The impact was much bigger this time as both mares tumbled over each other several times before coming to a stop in a heap on the sidewalk. Several high society ponies turned up their noses at the display as they passed by. The mares started to untangle themselves from each other as they tried to get to their hooves. Twilight was the first to stand and offered a hoof to help up the mare who had run into her a second time.

"We really should stop meeting like this," she said as she offered a warm smile. Though Trixie once again did not like the situation she was in it wasn't the biggest thing on her mind.

"Sorry again, but I gotta..."

As she tried to pull away she found that Twilight was holding her hoof firmly. "Wait up..." Her magic opened her saddle bags and a small, familiar bag drifted out enveloped in her magic. "Was this what you were in such a hurry for?"

All turmoil of the situation was suddenly gone, she reached out to grab the bag and hugged it close. "Oh thank you thank you thank you."

"No problem, I tried to tell you back there that you had dropped it but you took off in such a hurry I don't think you heard me."

Regaining her senses Trixie realized she still didn't want this pony to realize who she was, so she had to figure a way to end this quickly but not as rudely as before. "I am sorry about that, I was just... concerned my favorite restaurant would be closed before I got here." She gave a very fake laugh as she noticed Twilight giving her an odd look. "WellthankyousomuchforyourhelpIthinkI'lljustbe.."

"Trixie???"

Alarm bells rang through Trixie's head. The one pony she did not want to notice her just had. This was bad. "Afraid not, my name is Beatrix, now if you'll excuse me.." as she was turning away there was a flash behind her followed by a flash in front of her. She found herself once again face to face with her greatest heckler.

"Trixie." This time it didn't seem like it was a question.

"Beatrix, Beatrix Lulamoon if you must know. Now excuse me..." it probably would have been much more efficient to just take one medium step to the left but Twilight seemed to be making some kind of point by teleporting a mere six or so inches to the side to once again cut off Trixie's attempt to escape.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie."

"You have me confused with somepony else, now I really must ask you to let me leave." It was now taking all of Trixie's strength to keep a neutral expression on her face, in fact the last statement came out through clenched teeth as she struggled to not just shoulder check the mare and take off running. Probably the only thing that kept her from was the previous display of teleportation skill that told her she would not make it far if she tried.

"I know you're using transformation magic, I actually recognize your magic signature from when I helped fix Rarity's hair when you turned it green. Besides that your transformation isn't that extensive, you still look like you."

"All right look," Trixie growled harshly under her breath and through tightly clenched teeth, "you are NOT doing this to me again. If you really don't want to drop this then do you at least have some place we can do this in private?"

The harshness of Trixie's words apparently caught Twilight off guard as she drew back as if she had been struck. If it were any other pony Trixie might have felt bad, but not this pony. Trixie was genuinely happy to see her draw back in fear. The only problem was that the mare seemed to recover quickly and then seemed to gesture for her to follow. 'Seriously, she is really taking me somewhere just to heckle me in private' she thought to herself. Though she didn't like the idea, most alternatives seemed worse. Hopefully whatever this was it would get this pony out of her hair for good, so she decided to follow.

Persona

"Sweet Celestia, this must seriously be what it's like when pegasus ponies sleep on clouds." The hostility running hot through Trixie's veins had some fair time to cool as Twilight Sparkle had led her deep into Canterlot. Even more so as she realized how much nicer the neighborhoods got the further they went. She could hardly believe it when she walked them all the way up to and then through the gates of Canterlot Castle, none of the guards trying to stop her. Some of them even smiled and greeted her by name. That had been helpful as Trixie had only been partially sure of the ponies name. They had finally stopped when Twilight had led her into a room and closed it behind them.

Anger mostly forgotten in place of whimsy she could not stop herself from exploring the room for a minute before sitting down and then laying back onto what looked like the most comfortable bed she had ever seen, and it did not disappoint. Twilight had apparently better remembered what they were here for as she made a somewhat impatient noise from next to the bed. Sighing as such a pleasant experience was interrupted she figured it was time to get whatever this was going to be over with.

"I don't know what you expect to accomplish as far as hurting me more then you already have, but if you really have more trolling left in you I guess get on with it."

"Me hurting you, I brought you here to give you a chance to apologise for the way you treated my friends."

"Apologise??? I'll have you know I was actually pretty mellow on them as far as hecklers go." Trixie had leaned up on the bed, propping herself up on her fore hooves to actually face Twilight as the anger once again flowed through her. "I can't afford my own security so I have to deal with ponies like that myself. I didn't do anything permanent to them for jumping up on stage like that, which is more than they'd get from most showponies. If those were your friends then I'll just go ahead and say, you and your friends are the biggest group of jerks I've ever seen. And when you're in this business you see a LOT of jerks."

"Us jerks? You come strolling into town and start talking down to everypony and we're the jerks? I've never met such an ego maniac in my life. What did you expect to happen when you started acting like that?"

"While yes, I do expect some heckling when I do an open air performance like that, but the whole show became nothing but dealing with them. I didn't even get time to promote my tour. I mean seriously, what is wrong with you ponies. You'd think you all never saw a stage show or something.

"Stage show???? What kind of show involves you coming in and acting like you're the greatest thing in the world?"

"..... All of them....." The anger had quickly left Trixie, replaced by genuine confusion. Twilight was taken aback by the sudden change in tone and couldn't figure out how to respond. "..... Wait, you all seriously thought....." Confusion was replaced by utter bewilderment as she tried to piece together what she remembered from the incident in Ponyville with the information she had just learned. Suddenly her head jerked back and she fell back into the bed, cackling madly. "You ponies.. hahahahaha.. really.. you really thought.. hahahahaha."

Trixie's bewilderment from before was now firmly transferred to Twilight as the mare watched the display. "Uuuummm, did I miss something?"

"Oh yeah.. hahahaha.. I'd say you missed something alright.. oh sweet Celestia I wandered too far into the sticks this time around.." As her laughter subsided Trixie heaved herself further up onto the bed. She suddenly jumped up, standing on her back hooves and presented herself as if the bed were a stage. "Twilight Sparkle," her voice now resembled what Twilight remembered from when she had first met the pony. She drew back, preparing for what might come next. "It is my great pleasure to inform you," her voice raised even higher, "that The Great And Powerful Trixie," her voice suddenly dropped into a flat monotone and she slumped her shoulders and stared deadpan at Twilight, "is a stage persona."

Crickets could actually be heard coming from the castle garden as the ponies stared at each other. Gears moved in Twilight's head as she tried to read Trixie's blank face.

"That.... What??? How does that make any sense? You made yourself look like a total jerk. Why would you want ponies to think you're that kind of pony to promote yourself."

Trixie gave a half hearted shrug and replied, "puts flanks in seats." The sheer lackluster reply made a powerful twitch start rapidly assaulting Twilight's eye. "And to tell the honest truth she's not even really my persona. The framework for her was entirely passed down to me from my mentor. If you thought I was a jerk you would have totally hated him, he really knew how to work it."

"....Okay, I'm confused. Why would you want ponies to hate you? I would think having a nice persona would make people like you and want to see whatever show you were putting on."

"And you," Trixie plopped down onto her flank, "would be entirely wrong about that." Twilight just stared, she was not used to being this confused for this long so she just waited for Trixie to continue. "I don't claim to know the exact psychology behind it but in general the more cartoonishly over the top you act the more ponies will come to see your show. 'It's all about spectacle', as my mentor always used to say."

"Spectacle?"

"What is so complicated about this? I come in, claim I'm the greatest thing ever, ponies are intrigued, they come to see what the commotion is all about. Maybe some of them hope to see me fail, maybe some of them come to throw fruit at me, maybe they really want to see if I am as good as I claim. I'm not, but I can fake it with the best of them."

That statement struck Twilight hard, it was definitely not something she could imagine coming out of the mare she had seen in Ponyville. "Okay, you really are completely different from what you were back then so I guess I gotta believe you. And I guess I get it on some level". Smiling a little Trixie let her front hooves slide along the bed until she was laying on her belly. "So basically any attention is good attention as far as you care."

"Exactly!"

"That isn't exactly a good policy to live your life by. Being mean isn't going to make ponies like you."

"It isn't how I live my life, it's how I run my career. Ponies don't need to like me so long as they pay to see me."

"And ponies really come to see the Great and Powerful Trixie even though she's so arrogant.

"They certainly come to see her more than they ever came to see 'The Bewitching Beatrix'." Twilight quirked her eyebrow inquisitively. "The persona I created for myself when I first started my career. If my mentor hadn't seen something in me and decided to take me in and really teach me the business I would have never gone anywhere. Never thought I'd have to go back to that afterward though."

Trixie's voice dropped to a much more somber tone at the end of that statement and for some reason the beginning of the conversation started replaying in Twilight's head. "You said I had hurt you. When you said you had to go back did you mean..."

"That a bunch of ponies caused me to cut my tour short and lose the faith of pretty much every promoter this side of Mainhatten. That they made my Ursa story that used to draw huge crowds into "slaying the Ursa", an industry term for killing your own reputation. Made me the biggest joke ever among the major magic acts. That they caused me to lose my home, all my possessions, all the stuff for my act, and basically everything I've ever worked for my whole life." Twilight's face had gone pale and she found she could not look away from Trixie as her form seemed to slump as far as it could against the bed. "Yes, that is what I meant."

The silence was deafening to Twilight as she continued to stare at the pony in her bed. She kept hoping Trixie would say something, her brain needed something to form some sort of response to all she had just heard. Trixie however had no intention of making the situation easier for the mare she saw as having ruined everything for her. Her stomach however had other plans.

A long, deep groan rumbled through the mattress she was on. It was obvious both ponies heard it. With a glance over to a clock on the wall she added, "and you're also the pony who made me miss dinner after a big show. Now instead of getting to actually celebrate my first big show in a long time I get to go back to my new, much smaller cart, choke down some canned applesauce, and just go to sleep." She let her body fall sideways on the bed as if she had no more strength left in it and continued to lay there.

The silence still pressed down hard on Twilight, but she decided she had to say something, anything to try to respond to what she was being accused of. "Listen, I know it doesn't mean much, and that it won't make up for much, but I'd like to try to make at least some of this up to you. Will you at least let me treat you to a meal."

"You'd be hard pressed to find a place open at this point, what did you have in mind," Trixie asked disinterestedly. Twilight took that as the only form of agreement she needed and was already walking towards the door. She opened it, and upon poking her head out Trixie heard her call out to somepony and an exchange of muffled chatter. Returning after closing the door Twilight spoke. "She said dinner already ended so it would take a few extra minutes to prepare, but it still shouldn't take too long."

"You can get room service in the castle".

"There's very little you can't get in this castle."

"Well I guess having it brought to us is a good idea, because I really don't think you're getting me out of this bed any time soon."

Author's Note

This is the chapter that made me drop the "comedy" tag from this story. While I hope parts of this are funny I think this scene gets a little too somber for it. Possibly the most serious scene I've written so let me know how I did.

Food Fixes Everything

"I think I'm starting to understand you Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight looked up from her plate hopefully. They had mostly finished eating, Twilight was just debating whether or not she dared challenge the last slice of cake. Trixie had been impressed again. Apparently all Twilight had done was tell the staff that her "friend" had missed dinner and within ten minutes one of the most lavish feasts Trixie had ever seen had been brought in for them. There had been enough food to feed several ponies, and in her previous state Trixie had taken that as a challenge. Due to this, their conversation during the meal had been sparse and mostly revolving around how good the food was. Twilight's cake was the last bit of food left and as she looked up at Trixie she noticed her eyeing it longingly. She engulfed it in her magic and floated it over to the other mare. Smiling, Trixie sliced a large chunk off with her fork and devoured it as if it was still her first slice. It was in fact her third.

She noticed Twilight staring at her expectantly and swallowed the bite quickly. "You're kind of a spoiled brat."

Twilight's face fell at these words, she had been hoping her gesture had warmed the other unicorn to her some but apparently that was not the case. Remembering what had transpired before the meal Twilight held back her initial reaction and decided to take a more measured approach. "Well... That's a new one. I guess I've been called naive on certain things from time to time, but a spoiled brat is something I don't think I've ever heard."

"Well somepony usually becomes a spoiled brat by never being called one." Trixie noticed the look of dejection growing on Twilight's face, and though she still couldn't say she liked the mare she was certainly in a good enough mood after such a great meal to be at least a little more sympathetic. "Listen," she took another bite of cake to give herself a moment to think of a gentler way of putting it. "It just doesn't seem like you and I live in the same world. I mean come on, do you really think anything that has happened between the two of us today is normal."

"I don't know what you are talking about. What about today would you classify as being so abnormal?"

Trixie snorted slightly before responding. "Well first of all, I'm not sure who you're banging to afford all these amenities but I can pretty much guarantee you're not doing a good enough job." Twilight had been taking a sip of her drink to hide the disappointment on her face but suddenly choked on it slightly and roughly spat it back out. Trixie took another bite of cake to hide her smile.

"What the... I'm not. I don't sleep with anypony to get anything." She was sputtering out her words. Trixie found she agreed with whoever it was who called Twilight naive, if she actually liked this mare she might have seen the blushing embarrassment as cute.

"Well what is it then? Trust fund baby? Hereditary nobility? Because I gotta tell you; if I sold my old cart, with all the stuff that was inside it, I still couldn't manage enough bits to pay for a night in a room half this nice."

"Pay? I don't pay for this room."

"That's what I'm saying. I can't imagine you have any kind of sense of what things are worth if this sort of thing is normal to you. From what I could figure out when I snuck back into your town to see if I could recover any parts of my cart, you are a librarian. A librarian in a small backwoods town no less. I've heard ponies can procure royal suites in the castle, but usually you have to be really important or really loaded or both to manage it. What makes you special enough to get one of these."

"This isn't a royal suite, those are actually much nicer. I don't pay for this room because it's my room."

"... Your room?"

"Yes, my room."

"... Who the hey are you?"

"Princess Celestia's personal student."

Trixie blinked slowly, thinking over what was just told to her, then she did again while taking another bite of cake. "Well, that answers a few more questions. And clarifies most of the others." Twilight watched her expectantly. Somewhere along the way she had realized that despite their past and where this day had started she found she was trying to redeem herself to Trixie and not the other way around. "I guess I'd like to apologise. Calling you a brat was probably a bit far. If you're the student of the princess herself you're probably not a brat. I suppose that is why you'd bring me back my bag of bits without even thinking about keeping it." Twilight smiled at this just a little. "You're still spoiled, but I don't think you're a brat at least." And Twilight's face fell again.

"Well that's progress I suppose. I guess since you made that gesture I should at least try to make one as well." She took a deep breath and held it for just an extra second to gather her thoughts. "I'm not sure how I missed that you were putting on a show when you came to town. I guess it just wasn't the kind of show I'm used to. I think also that when I saw the way my friends reacted I just assumed they were in the right. For that I apologise, I should have given you a fair chance. I can't apologise for my friends, but I can say that if they understood what they did, both in interrupting your show and hurting your career, I think they'd be sorry as well. I also can't apologise for what happened to your cart. I couldn't tell you why Snips and Snails thought bringing an Ursa into town was a good idea even if they thought someone could defeat it, but I guess they were just so convinced of your skill. Guess there's something that can be said of doing your job too well huh?" She made a forced laugh and even more forced smile, which Trixie decided to spare her a small one back. "I am still sorry it happened to you though. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose literally everything."

Trixie frowned, the gesture of kindness bringing back not so fond memories. "I liked that cart." She said as she poked at the last bite of cake. "I worked really hard to be able to afford that nice of a cart. It was kind of a symbol that I had made it. I had a place to go that wasn't just a place to sleep, it was more of a home."

Thinking of something Twilight tensed up. "Was... Was there anything you lost in it... Anything, you know that... Can't be replaced."

That question actually shocked Trixie. It wasn't just said to try to make up for what had happened, it was said with legitimate concern. "Don't worry, I haven't reached a point of luxury like that. When you travel you usually try to avoid keeping things like that, you never know what's going to happen on the road. Like I said, I can't afford security so I don't keep anything that really needs to be secured. The only things I have with me like that I was lucky enough to be wearing when it happened.

"Wearing?...Your costume? The hat and cape? What makes them special?"

Seeing the genuine interest coming from the pony she was starting to have a hard time hating Trixie decided to tell her. "They were given to me by my mentor. It was the way he passed down The Great And Powerful name and persona to me. It was how he told me I was ready to go out and make something of myself."

"The pony who trained you... He must have been a strong magic user."

Trixie snorted and began to cackle hysterically again. "You really think.." she struggled to get in between laughs, "Luna almighty, you really are too naive to hate Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight was starting to get used to the feeling of confusion that seemed to come from dealing with this mare. "Well I just figured that since you are a pretty good magic user then he must be as well." Trixie only laughed more.

"If I see him sometime soon he is really going to love this story. No my mentor was not a particularly powerful magic user. In fact, he was a pegasus." Twilight's mouth did it's best to hit the floor. As it sat open and flapping slightly Trixie took the last bite of cake she had not finished and shoved it into the wide opening. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted at the sudden intrusion as she struggled to gulp down the tasty treat.

"That makes absolutely no sense, how could a pegasus train you to use such powerful magic," Twilight got out through a still slightly full mouth as she tried to lick some of the cream off her lips where Trixie had slightly missed. This time Trixie had to admit Twilights confusion was quite cute.

"Please, you saw me against the Ursa. Do you honestly still think I'm really so great and powerful?"

"I just thought you were struggling because of the situation. I mean, I was struggling a little without having proper time to prep."

"So you're saying you're even stronger then what I saw against that thing." Trixie sighed heavily, a slight look of exasperation on her face. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by anything coming from the student of a princess. But no, what you saw against the Ursa was pretty much the best I had." Trixie lit her horn and started moving the various plates and platters off the bed the two were currently sharing. She had definitely eaten too much and needed to sprawl. "What I managed against your friends was all stage magic. You don't even need real magic if you know stage magic. I can't teleport yet disappearing and reappearing tricks are some of my best." Setting the stack on a nearby desk she rolled all the way over and went spread eagle on the bed with a groan. She realized the action had put her head so that it was resting on Twilights leg as she had also been stretching to get comfortable, though not quite as much as Trixie was. The show mare looked up to see the other mare suppressing a giggle. "Are you laughing at my magic skill now." She attempted to put some snark in her voice but was way too comfortable to manage.

"No. I'm sorry, it's just the way you're getting so comfortable, it's.. I don't know, I guess, cute?"

The slight blush on Twilight's face made Trixie suddenly want to see how much redder she could make it. "Well right back at you," she added to this by reaching her hoof up and stroking it up Twilight's chin. Panic crossed Twilight's face as all purple on it was replaced by a deep red. Trixie could even feel the heat immediately start radiating through her fur.

"That's not, I mean, I didn't.. I didn't mean it that way!!!"

"Awwww, so you don't think I'm cute anymore?" Trixie hung her lip and gave the cutest pout she could manage.

Somehow Twilight's face actually got redder, "no no, I mean yes, I mean,.." Twilight kept going like this for some time and Trixie wanted to see how much longer it would go, but even with her showmareship training she couldn't hold it any longer.

"Hahahaha, oh you are too easy to play with Twilight Sparkle, hahahaha."

Twilight's face was still red but it almost seemed like the nature of the color had changed as Trixie's laughter subsided. Twilight was now scowling. "That was not funny." The fact that Twilight was attempting to be angry before her face had even recovered from her embarrassment made Trixie laugh again.

"You're right, it was hilarious." Even more laughter followed.

"What I was trying to say, was that I like you better this way. Even taken for a cartoonish persona I still don't think I would have liked you the way you were back in Ponyville. But the way you are now seems much more natural, it suits you better." The brief anger had left Twilight's expression as she looked down at the mare in her bed using her leg as a pillow.

"That.. is actually nice to hear." Twilight looked inquisitively down at Trixie, some hope returning to her. "Since I officially don't hate you anymore here's a little industry secret. It is actually really hard to not start becoming your own persona sometimes. You can't really have friends outside of the industry because of travel and stuff, and friends in the industry you have to be professional with. Plus you can't get too close because you never know if someone's after your secrets. When the only pony other ponies know is your persona it's hard not to just be that pony." Trixie let out a slight yawn before rolling off of Twilight's leg and facing her. "Listen, I'm gonna apologize to you for being a little harsh earlier. I'm also going to thank you, I think I was starting to live the character a little. It was probably a good thing for somepony to knock me off the pedestal I was putting myself on." Twilight smiled warmly at the words. "You didn't have to knock me quite so far off though!" Trixie gave a very fake scowl, and rather than get discouraged this time Twilight actually laughed. Seeing her do so made Trixie laugh as well.

"Well keeping each other grounded is something friends do. And non-industry or otherwise I would like to be your friend, maybe even earn your forgiveness for what happened in Ponyville."

Trixie gave her a skeptical look. "I don't know. Complete forgiveness might require a few more of these lavished feasts." They both giggled a little before another, much deeper yawn slipped out of Trixie's mouth. "I might also steal your bed and take it back to my cart with me." She snickered at the thought of trying to get the massive bed into her cart.

"Oh it is getting late. And you must be tired, your transformation spell just wore off."

Trixie looked over to a mirror in the corner of the room, "hmmm, so it did. I must be getting better at that, I totally forgot I was even casting it. No wonder I'm so wiped out."

"If you really want you can have my bed for the night, I don't mind."

"I was kidding Twilight Sparkle..."

"Just Twilight is fine," she gave a hopeful grin.

Trixie smiled back, "I was kidding Twilight, as much as I'd like to I'm not kicking you out of your bed."

"It's not a big deal, I barely ever slept in it back when I did live in the castle. I could always find a random guest room, either that or we could share."

"So now you're trying to get me into bed with you, for someone so naive you do move fast." Trixie purred out in a sultry tone.

Twilight's face lit up a bright red again. "Would you stop doing that!!!".

Trixie was almost sad that Twilight was already starting to recover from her baiting so quickly. "As soon as it stops being so funny and cute." That did nothing to relieve the red from Twilight's face. "Honestly, I'm not refusing because I feel like I'm putting you out, and I'm definitely not doing it as a way of refusing your advances," she added with a wiggle of her eyebrows which made Twilight scrunch her face both in frustration and to try to force the red out of her cheeks, "I just gotta be at the theater I'm performing at early to get ready for my show." With a stretch Trixie finally and begrudgingly stepped off the bed for the first time since entering the room and started for the door.

"Wait," Twilight cried out as she jumped off the bed and caught up with Trixie.

"Still can't stand to see me go?" She gave a suggestive purr that this time only made Twilight's face redden a little and sputter a second.

"N, no!.. I just wanted you to know that I was being honest when I said I wanted to be your friend and that I wanted to make it up to you."

"Twilight," Trixie smiled as she looked between the mare and the pile of plates on the desk. "Travelers are a lot like stray animals, if you feed us then you'll never get rid of us even if you want to. We are friends," Twilight's face lit up with a smile, "but I still live in a totally different world from you." Twilight's face fell just a little as an idea suddenly jumped through Trixie's mind. "Actually... " Twilight's expression brightened again as Trixie paused to consider for a second more before smiling in a slightly devious way. "If you really want to make it up to me I think I have an idea."

"Anything! Name it."

"There's a little play house on the lower rent side of the theater district called The Candlelight, do you know it?"

"I might, I don't actually go to the theater district much but I go through it to get to my favorite book store so I think I know the one you're talking about."

"My cart is parked out behind it, that's where my show is being held. Be there around noon tomorrow. Just don't tell anypony where you're going and definitely don't tell them about me. If that sounds ok I'll tell you the rest then."

"That sounds great, I'll see you there." Twilight's smile was so giddy that Trixie couldn't help but return it.

"Goodnight Twilight." She continued to smile as she opened the door.

"Goodnight."

Author's Note

I actually like this chapter, and that's saying something. I never like most anything I create. I was gonna put this out a week after the last chapter but I think I'll do it a day early as a Christmas present to my few but appreciated followers. So Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays. Hope you have a good day and hope you like the latest chapter. If you feel like giving me a present then always remember I like feedback whether good or bad. :pinkiehappy:

After After Show

A small beam of light managed to find a break in the curtains and, as it always seemed to do, found Twilight's face a moment later. Due to the mares tendencies towards late night study sessions she had never been a morning pony. But she would swear her mentor was trying to make her one every morning in the most passive aggressive way imaginable.

This morning however the light seemed to be much more intense then it usually was. This prompted Twilight to resist the urge to open her eyes even more then usual. What also added to this desire was the slow and groggy state of her mind. Not being a fan of mornings she was used to her brain starting slowly. Today though it still seemed to be grinding, and even the ability to process where she was simply wasn't coming to her.

With a fair bit of effort she managed to start hacking through the mental fog that didn't seem to want to relent. The first thing that didn't seem to be right was how comfortable she felt, almost as if she was floating on a cloud. Oh right, she was in Canterlot. She may not have used it much as a filly but she definitely remembered this bed when she woke up on it.

But she did not remember why she was in Canterlot. Right, a summons from the princess. But wait, wasn't that done two days ago already. Why was she still here, why is it so hard to remember? Then she remembered a delicious cream pie, smashing her in the face. She wasn't quite sure why this actually made a slight smile come to her lips until other memories started to fill the void.

Twilight had to feel a bit of pride in herself. In the course of less then two days she had taken a former enemy and made a friend. Granted the level to which she had regarded the mare a potential enemy had ended up being much more manageable then she had originally thought, but she was still considering it an achievement. This finally helped her to figure out why she was having such a hard time remembering the previous day. She could clearly remember clinking together a couple bottles of adult beverages with her newest friend, but everything after that got fuzzy.

Twilight's brilliant mind finally getting into something resembling a working condition started doing what it did best, analyzing. She decided that she must be experiencing her first ever occurrence of the phenomenon known as a hangover. From what she could remember of the symptoms she seemed to be experiencing most of them. That light definitely felt more annoying then it had any right to, there was a dull ache tapping on the back of her forehead, and she definitely felt she could drain a small bathtub of water if she was given access. Despite this she found herself wondering one thing about this phenomenon as she analyzed her symptoms, why did Rainbow Dash always make such a big deal about this whenever Twilight had run into her after a night of overindulging. It was certainly unpleasant, but not the "wishing she was dead" state Rainbow always made it out to be.

To be fair on Dash though, it did seem that Twilight had some kind of naturally high tolerance to the drink. She could remember Trixie being impressed when they had managed to get through both her bottles, so when they had the castle staff bring them in food they had also decided to keep the party going. Since Twilight had never ordered alcoholic beverages from them before they were brought a wide selection to sample from, and they had sampled thoroughly. The fog in her brain after that was still impenetrable to Twilight. But still she supposed she should feel lucky that she was left with such minor symptoms after consuming so much alcohol on her first try.

Though as her brain cleared more she found she might also have one other advantage over Dash in regards to handling a hangover. She wasn't sure where she got it, but for how comfortable her bed in her Canterlot room was it was nothing compared to the pillow she had her forehead resting against. It seemed to have the perfect balance of softness and support, the texture was so soft, almost fuzzy. And it seemed to also be in the perfect shape to also caress her horn without pressing into it, while it also seemed to be large enough for her to wrap her forehooves around. What was probably keeping her hangover headache at bay the best though was that this perfect pillow almost seemed to be radiating it's own heat, no doubt having been relaxing her head all night. Over all Twilight was feeling pretty good about her first experience drinking. She actually enjoyed the experience itself, she wasn't too bad off from it, and she hadn't made any reckless decisions.

...., ........... Did her pillow just take a breath.

Trixie was definitely not a morning pony. Even at the lowest point of her career her work day usually started when other ponies were finishing. At the height of her career her work days were finishing when most ponies were preparing for bed. Late nights and even later mornings were pretty normal for her, and she was more then ok with that.

She was in fact more ok with that then she usually was. She knew for a fact that she had never slept so well in her life. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. She was happy to finally get a chance to sleep in Twilight's bed, she had actually dreamed of sleeping in it while sleeping on her bed roll in her cart the previous night. She was still giddy over her show the previous night as well, and actually having somepony to celebrate with made it all the better. On some level she had wanted to sprawl out on the bed, having all the room she wanted to sleep was a rare experience for her. But just how much fun her and Twilight had ended up having together made it all the nicer to have something warm pressed up against her. As far as Trixie was concerned the rest of the day could wait, she felt no reason whatsoever to even move from where she was contentedly still half asleep. And then she heard a yelp come from Twilight.

Her sleep probably could have survived the yelp but it was compounded by hooves suddenly pushing into her chest, skittering across the mattress that caused her to be rolled over as blankets were ripped off of her, and a soft thunk as a panicking purple pony fell off the side of the bed. Being mostly awake now Trixie slowly rolled herself to the side of the bed and peeked over. Twilight had fallen belly first and now laid on the ground with her hooves crossed over her head.

Twilight suddenly appreciated the way Rainbow Dash felt after drinking. The second her eyes had shot open upon realizing what she was doing she had regretted it. Her eyes burned at the gentle light from the window which made the pain in her head suddenly feel like jackhammers going to town on her temples. The sudden physical exertion of pulling away from the other mare and subsequently falling off the bed made her whole body hurt. It did however effectively distract her from the embarrassing situation she woke up to.

"You ok?" Trixie asked from the top of the bed.

"Trixie... Please never let me drink again."

Twilight was trying to protect her poor head from any outside stimulation, so she obviously did not see Trixie's face fall some upon hearing the words coming from Twilight. "You don't remember much from last night I'm guessing."

"I'm not sure I want to at this point. Oh sweet Celestia, why would anypony do this to themselves willingly."

"Well, for most it helps them to loosen up. I believe I did say I might still need some help in getting you to loosen up. I believe I finally achieved that."

"So this is your fault then, uggghh. I thought we were friends. This is horrible."

Trixie's face fell a little more, Twilight was still oblivious to it. "Well as your friend I told you to stay away from that cognac. It may be fancy but it is more powerful then it seems."

"... Ok I do remember that. But still, why aren't you getting it this bad. You drank even more then me."

"I stayed away from the cognac for one. But mostly it's because I have more experience drinking. I'm feeling it some but not too bad, and until somepony decided to rudely wake me I was just going to sleep it off. You should start getting use to it soon, but this should help." Trixie's horn started to glow faintly and a small blob of magic jumped from it to Twilight's. A soothing feeling ran down the length of the magical appendage and straight into the mares aching skull.

The sensation allowed Twilight's mind to stop focusing on the pain, which she almost wished it hadn't. Trixie's previous words suddenly reminded her of how she ended up on the floor in the first place. "Umm, Trixie?"

Trixie's eyes started to take on a sad droop as she responded. "Yes Twilight?"

"This may be a little awkward to ask... But... Umm, why exactly were we cuddling."

"... I'm not sure I should answer that at this point. I think it might be better for you to either forget or just remember on your own. Either way, you're a smart pony, I'm sure you could venture some guesses."

"Umm, well. I did have some ideas but I wasn't sure it would be ok to ask. The whole situation seems to already be so awkward I didn't want to make it more so." Twilight finally managed to pry her hooves off her own forehead and experimentally started easing her eyes open. Wincing some she managed to fully open her eyes and finally started looking in the direction of the other mare. "I mean the idea I had was so outlandish, I didn't want to freak you out by making you think I was thinking about stuff like..." Twilight finally saw Trixie's face and realized there was a hurt expression there, a deep one that Twilight figured must confirm her suspicions. This made Twilight freeze up as Trixie's face fell even more.

"Twilight, I believe you are taking a very round about way of asking me if we ended up having sex last night." Twilight only managed to gulp, her already dry mouth suddenly feeling even drier. Trixie looked even more disheartened as she continued, "well no reason to keep you in suspense. The answer is yes." Trixie didn't want to see Twilight's reaction to this, so the yes came out as she started to roll back over on the bed where Twilight couldn't see her. It was probably for the best, Twilight was in full panic mode and her face showed it.

Twilight's headache started to hurt more again as her mind started racing as fast as it could through her hangover haze. "But, but, but, I..." A million questions, explanations and excuses ran through her brain at once and, as her brain tended to do in these sorts of situations, decided on the absolute worst one. She shot to her hooves, immediately regretting it as one of her forehooves also shot to her aching forehead as she nearly shouted at the other mare. "You said you wouldn't come on to me any more, and then you..."

"TWILIGHT!!!" The anger in Trixie's voice was apparent, that and the overall volume of it stinging Twilight's sensitive ears hushed the panicking mare immediately. Trixie hesitated a moment before continuing, and as she did the anger was gone completely. Her tone was actually completely calm, almost emotionless. "Two things there. One, I made you a magicians promise. Magicians practice the art of deception, meaning their word is completely meaningless. Think about it. I promised the audience last night we'd both perform for them any time. I have no way of knowing you'll ever perform with me again."

Twilight's hoof came off her forehead as she looked down and saw a look of utter indifference on Trixie's face. "But..."

"Second, you came on to me. Just because you were too drunk to remember doesn't mean it didn't happen. And you can't really claim I took advantage of you because you were too drunk to make reasonable decisions because I was definitely too drunk to as well."

"... Are you mad at me?" Though Twilight was extremely concerned about what had happened the previous night, the look on Trixie's face suddenly made her take pause.

"Why would I be?" Trixie rolled over so she was now facing away from the mare she had spent the night with.

"I, it's just that you seem upset, and I don't quite remember everything but I feel like I should."

"You don't have to remember anything, it's not like it's that big a deal."

That one stung Twilight a little bit. There was a hint of some emotion in the attempted monotone that Twilight couldn't quite place, something between anger, disgust, and disappointment. "I just.. I'm not sure how to deal with this. You seem upset, I'm not sure how I feel, and I'm not sure how this affects things between us. I mean, I've never even thought of other mares in that way, and I've only really thought of stallions that way on a purely theoretical level. I just don't know what this makes us."

"If you can't remember then there really isn't an 'us' to be worried about." The same sad tone creeped into her voice before it went flat and emotionless again. "Listen, I know you're a sentimental kind of pony. I'm sure you had some kind of expectation of your first time. And I'm sure it didn't involve drunken experimentation with another mare."

Twilight had managed to settle down some at this point and had sat down on her haunches on the carpet, the position putting her about level with the back of Trixie's head as she continued to talk to the apparently sad mare. "It's just that I don't remember what led to all this. I'm not sure how I should feel about this." Through sheer force of will Twilight was managing to remember some of what had happened between the two in bed. Though she remembered her drunken state making her even more awkward then she probably would have been if it had just been her first time she did remember one aspect of the experience. "I mean, from what I can remember... I, I think we both actually had.. a pretty good time."

Trixie didn't have to look to know Twilight's face was reddening. "That we did."

"But it's just that I've never done anything like that before.."

"You could have fooled me," Trixie interrupted, mostly because she knew it would make Twilight more embarrassed.

"...a, and I don't want to make things weird. We just became friends and I'd hate to ruin that. And I really don't know about any of the stuff, you know, beyond friendship. So I just want to know what this means for us."

"Well I can say that we are both grown mares so it's not like a drunken mistake is going to make me go back to hating you so quickly." Some of the happiness from the previous day had been creeping into Trixie's voice while she was teasing Twilight, but now it had gone flat again. "And like I said, it really doesn't have to mean anything. In fact it's probably better if it doesn't.

"W, why.."

"I believe I've already established that we both come from different worlds." Her tone went from flat to dismissive as she lifted her forehoof and randomly gestured with it in the air while still pointedly facing away. "That's not just an expression of how we see the world, it's also a physical barrier." She pointed her hoof in one direction, with no idea if it was the correct one. "I'm assuming you're heading back to Ponyville after this," she gestured the other way, "well I'm going the opposite direction." She went back to gesturing randomly. "I gotta head back to the play house and get my stuff packed up. I need to be leaving Canterlot by sundown if I'm going to make it to my next show. I have a few small shows in a few small towns over the next few weeks. Then in just over a month I've got another fairly big one in Manehatten." Her leg fell back to her side, and she curled it and her others up in such a way that made her seem smaller. "So you really don't have to worry about what we are now. It's not like we could be together, even if I.. if you actually wanted to be marefriends or something like that. It just doesn't work."

"I.. I guess you'd be right about that. I, I just.. it's not that I can't be reasonable about this. It's just that something feels off. You're upset, I know you are. Could you just tell me about what happened last night.. you know other then.. that. I would really like to know. Especially if I was the one who made the first move. I.. I don't think I would have if there wasn't a good reason to."

"And what makes you think I remember any more then you do?" There was almost a sneer in her voice which told Twilight she was lying purposefully.

"You clearly do. Please. I don't know why but it seems really important to me that I remember." Trixie seemed to ignore the pleading. "Please Trixie."

The mention of her name seemed to make the other mare flinch and draw into an even smaller form. "It doesn't matter."

"Trixi...."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!". The silence held between the mares for what seemed like forever. Finally, with all the emotion drained from her again Trixie added, "there's no need to get all sentimental again."

One word is all it took. Twilight had been racking her brain non stop to try to find what had led to her suddenly bedding the showmare she barely knew and all it took was one word for it all to come back to her. Twilight had quickly learned that her drunk self was not far off from the way she had acted while in character when she pretended to be Trixie's assistant. She was bubbly, she was confident, she was flirty. But Trixie had been true to her word and hadn't been flirting back, at least not directly.

This had led to a very fun night for the two as they laughed and carried on together without a care in the world. This had lasted until Twilight had discovered that she had really liked a particular bottle of booze and had begun to over indulge even more. She suddenly started asking about Trixie's past, about what all she had gone through after what had happened in Ponyville, and almost crying over what she had caused the other mare to go through.

This had prompted Trixie to attempt to remove the bottle from the suddenly emotional mare. One thing Trixie had said while attempting to do so stuck in Twilight's mind. "Oh no, for Celestia's sake do not turn into a sentimental drunk." She remembered hearing Trixie sniff as if holding back a sob, "if you start getting sentimental," another sniff, "I'm going to start getting sentimental too."

"But it must have been so hard for you." Twilight could remember her eyes watering at that point.

Another sniff, and tears started running down Trixie's face. "It, it was."

Their conversation became very emotional after that. They had ended up burying their faces into each other's manes to cry into but despite crying themselves out quickly they had stayed in the position for some time.

The end of their conversation started playing in Twilight's mind. A very emotional Trixie explaining about how little she had in her life and how lonely she was. "It's almost sad even though it's so wonderful, but you are probably the closest pony to me, and two days ago I hated you. I seriously hated you. It has been a long time since I talked about any of this with anypony. And to tell the truth there really wouldn't be anypony to talk about it with. There's really only one pony left that I'm close to and he doesn't count. He's the only one left who knows me by my real name, but I could never be vulnerable like this to him, not when he was the one who taught me to be strong."

"You really don't have anypony close to you.. not even anypony who knows your name." Twilight remember getting misty eyed again thinking about that.

"Some ponies do but nopony uses it. What it really is is that nopony can see past The Great And Powerful Trixie. I mean... I kind of let it slip to you.. but even you, suddenly being the closest pony to me, you don't use it."

Twilight's memories were suddenly very clear as she cemented this as a moment she never wanted to forget again. A decision, a promise, a sudden spark of emotion, and a kiss she didn't even think was made consciously. And in the stunned moment after, a reciprocated one, followed by another, and another, and another.

Twilight pulled herself out of her memories from the night before and lifted herself off of her haunches. She stood up on her hind legs, placed her forehooves on the bed and looked down at the wilted mare below her. She remembered all she needed to. She focused on the promise they had made the previous night while they were both at their most vulnerable. "B.. Beatrix." At least when they were alone, they could be completely open with each other and just let their emotions flow. Twilight heard and saw a breath suddenly hitch in Trixie's throat as she went rigid. With more conviction she continued. "Beatrix, I want.. I need you to look at me."

Slowly the mare rolled over. Though her mane flopped in such a way that it partially covered her face it was clear to Twilight that despite the fact that she had been hiding it well the mare had been crying while turned away.

"Would you like to know why I was in Canterlot the other day when we ran into each other." Trixie didn't move a muscle, yet there was a glint of hope in her eyes that pleaded for Twilight to continue. "I, I think it must have been some kind of fate working. The princess had summoned me to the castle for something and I was going to just go home after. But a book that I had been waiting for in Ponyville was already in stock at my favorite book store here. It was on the way back that we met. There was no real reason all that should have happened like that. Much less.. what's going to happen now." Trixie let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding but couldn't hold anymore, taking a few ragged breaths that seemed to urge Twilight on even more. "The princess summoned me here to ask me to be her representative at a magical sciences and technology conference, this time next month... In Manehatten."

Trixie made a surprised noise as another breath hitched in her throat. "You, so you, actually want..." She didn't know how to finish the question.

"This.. this does matter. It might be difficult but I'm willing to try to be a part of your life, as big a part as I can be. So.. do you think that if I were to help you get your cart packed up then you and I might have enough time to talk some more." Trixie's breathing was becoming rapid as barely contained excitement seemed to build in her eyes. "After all, I believe I still owe you a few lavished feasts. And I think I'd like to figure out some way of keeping in touch with my marefriend while she's on the roa..."

Her words were cut off as a blue mass plowed into her. Both mares fell backwards onto the mercifully soft carpet. Twilight's mind was in pure bliss as lips eagerly pressed against hers while her face became covered with tears that were not her own.

Beatrix couldn't remember a time when she had a pony in her life that actually wanted to stay in it. And she knew that now that she had it she didn't want to let it go. They both knew it would be tough, but they both had been through tough before. And they both had a reason to get through it pressed up against them and kissing them passionately.

Author's Note

First off, I'd like to apologise for the wait on this one. While I'm sure whatever reputation I have does not involve punctuality I really did want to keep the flow of this one going. The truth is that I scraped the entire chapter I was working on and did this one in two days. I spent like three weeks trying to write an in-between chapter that involved their drunken conversations, but having never been dunk myself I guess I just didn't have the experience to pull it off. Over three weeks and I hadn't written half of what I did in two days, and I swear I hated every word I wrote in that time. In contrast I loved writing this chapter.
Anyway, I did decide on what to do as far as all the feed back I've been getting to this story. My mishandling of this story shows me that I do not have to skill to extend the story beyond my initial ideas. But while I am ending this story... I have decided that this won't be the last you see of it. I will keep this story in mind and try to think of other stories to build this timeline I've created. Don't expect them to come about quickly, I'll be working on them as the ideas come to me. But I would like to announce the first spin off.
Show Business: The Manehatten Tour.
One last thing. I could end this story here, but I actually did think of an epilogue for it. If you have read my previous stories I'm sure you know what that means, and it might mean the rest of the stores will not carry as much weight if I do it. Let me know what you think. I pretty much know what I'm going to write, so if you want to see it then I'll start on it in a few days and try to have it out this time next week.
Thank you so much for staying with me through this journey. Please comment, I love seeing your input

Manehatten Tour: Anticipation

Twilight Sparkle was among the only ponies in Equestria who had first hoof knowledge of just how much damage one can do when messing with the awesome powers of space and time. She knew that even the slightest tinkering of the timeline could have major consequences. She spent an entire week dealing with those consequences once before and swore to never do it again. However as she stood listening to the umpteenth overly dramatic pitch about some new half baked field of magical study, she found she had multiple reasons to wonder if the Canterlot archives might have some sort of spell to speed time relative to herself.

The first was obviously that she was on the third day of a magical sciences and technology conference and hadn't been intellectually stimulated since the first hour of the first day. It hadn't taken Twilight long to realize she was probably the most talented magic user and smartest scientist in the whole of the event, but every one of them there wanted her to see their work so that they might get an audience with the princess herself. She knew this situation would have been harder on Celestia if it were her here instead, but Twilight was still thinking that her mentor was going to owe her for this one.

The second was something that had been making her wish time would move faster for just over a month now, but was more prominent as she kept listening to each new pony drone on and on. Twilight Sparkle hadn't even been going out with her marefriend for a full day before they had had to part ways knowing full well that they would be apart this long. Though they had managed to set up a magic link that would allow them to send letters back and forth, and this had allowed them to get closer in some ways, she had found herself missing The Great And Powerful Trixie, or Beatrix Lulamoon to her marefriend while they were in private.

But luckily for Twilight, this was the last day of the convention, and Trixie.. Beatrix, would be arriving in Manehatten mid day tomorrow. So as she realized the brown earth pony stallion in thick black rimmed glasses was staring at her expectantly having apparently finished his rant on whatever it was he had been talking about, she decided it was time to start actually paying attention again. Time would not move faster, but she had almost made it. Soon she would have her marefriend back, even if it might only be for a brief time again.

Beatrix Lulamoon... Was it a bad thing that the name almost sounded unfamiliar to her. It was her name, had been her whole life. But she spent years at a time without being around anypony who called her by that name. Despite what ponies thought she really wasn't "The Great And Powerful Trixie", in fact at times she didn't even like her. Yet it seemed that most ponies could not separate that character from the pony she really was. But as she sat in her cart, having made it to the place she wanted to rest for the night early, she was going through letters she had been getting for the last month, all addressed to Beatrix Lulamoon. And for a little extra bonus the newer ones were addressed with a heart over the "i", and were sealed with a kiss and a blue bow that matched her coat almost perfectly.

Trixie... Beatrix, it really shouldn't be that weird to hear ones own name in their own head, was used to long weeks of doing nothing but pulling her cart from place to place. Long days on the road doing little else but imagining ideas for her shows that she would probably never have the actual magical skills to pull off. Long nights trying to get comfortable with only a thin bed roll between her and the wood floor of her cart. But recently as she was walking during the day her mind was filled with thoughts of her marefriend and their one memorable night and half day together. She thought of all the messages they sent back and, forth, of cute things like Twilight actually encouraging her to try the outlandish tricks she had thought up. And her nights were spent rereading her marefriends rather sizeable letters and crafting responses to her that she hoped would let her marefriend know that she missed her, but didn't make her worry about how lonely she might be.

And while she did feel that special kind of lonely that you can only get while walking down empty roads without seeing anypony for days on end, it didn't seem to be affecting her in the ways it use to. She noticed that the most when she had come to her final rest stop before Manehatten at least two hours ahead of schedule. Usually by this point the loneliness would have gotten to the point of seeming almost physical, and that feeling would somehow make her cart seem so much heavier in the final days of a trip between shows. But this time around it seemed that the closer she got to Manehatten, the closer she got to Twilight, her cart, her heart her every hoof step seemed lighter.

And that was just the way she felt as she lay in her cart putting the final touches on her last letter to her marefriend before she would be able to see her again. All she was doing was letting Twilight know when she would be making it into town and when to expect her, but the act made her smile anyway. As she was closing the letter she thought about it and signed the end with a whole line of X's and O's. She then rolled it and tied it up with a lavender ribbon that had caught her eye in the last town she was in. Satisfied, she focused her magic on the candle she was using to write the letter by. The flame grew and took on a glow to match her horn. She tossed the letter into the flame, causing it to immediately vanish into a puff of smoke which gathered itself up and swept itself out of the cart and in the direction of Manehatten, the lights of which were just visible on the horizon.

Today was the day. Twilight couldn't help but do a little dance as she gathered some essentials into her saddle bags. Though it was clear that both mares did want their relationship to.. eh-hem.. go from where they left off, both mares had decided they had to fill in at least some of the dating steps they had skipped. Thus Twilight had actually spent a fair amount of time planning what they would be doing on their first official date.

Despite the fact that both mares had been to the city before, they found something they had in common. Both had always been too focused on what they were specifically in the city for to have ever even considered doing the usual touristy stuff. Thus Twilight was packing several tourist guides for different landmarks, binoculars for the two of them, some bits, and a letter of introduction given to her by princess Celestia. The princess had actually been happy when Twilight had requested to stay a few extra days in the city for, "personal reasons", and had given her the letter saying it could get her into all "the good places".

Placing the bags on her haunches she couldn't help but think that if her friends saw her now they would think her behavior more along the lines of Pinky Pie as she did another little dance while walking out of the door of the hotel room. Her room was just a short walk down from the elevator, but she still managed to get a strange look from a high society pony as she skipped the distance there and sat humming a happy tune after pressing the button and waiting just a short time for it to arrive. All she could think about on her way down was her marefriend. She had waited so long for this and was going to enjoy it to the fullest.

"Oh there you are darling." Twilight let out a small yelp as the elevator doors opened to the lobby and before her were two faces she definitely did not expect to see. Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked slightly taken aback at coming face to face with their friend as well. "How fortuitous, the front desk just told us were to find you, but it looks like you couldn't wait to see us."

Finding her voice Twilight managed to force a smile onto her face and stuttered out a greeting. "Rarity, Rainbow, what are you doing here."

"Oh, I just figured you hadn't had a good dose of Rainbow Dash in a while so I figured I'd swing by and indulge you. Oh, and I brought Rarity too."

Rarity just gave Rainbow an incredulous look as the elevator door started to close in front of Twilight's face. Rainbow managed to get her hoof into the gap before it closed. "Hey Twilight, I know your happy to see us but you should probably get out of the elevator."

Coming to her senses somewhat Twilight did start to step out. "Oh yeah right, I'm just surprised. Seriously what are you two doing here."

The three moved over to the side of the lobby with Rainbow and Rarity standing between Twilight and the front door of the hotel. Rainbow was about to respond but Rarity cut her off. "We each had our own reasons for being here in Manehatten, but we knew you were still here so we thought it would be a simply wonderful idea to come a few days early and have a nice day out together."

"Yeah, I won a ticket to a Wonderbolts show the day after tomorrow, it's gonna be totally awesome," Rainbow gushed as she held out a single ticket, presenting it as if it were some kind of masterpiece.

"And I was invited to a very exclusive fashion show the day after," Rarity cooed with no small amount of pride showing. "We thought today would be the last day we'd be able to see you, seeing as that conference of yours had already ended, but the front desk said you were here for the rest of the week."

"Yeah, what's up with that Twilight."

"Oh that, that's just.." Twilight froze as the pony she had been waiting over a month to see walked in. She had walked in and briefly took a look around before their eyes met. And well Trixie had a moment of elation upon seeing her marefriend she quickly adopted the same barely contained panic Twilight had as well. Twilight had admitted to Trixie through one of her letters that she hadn't told her friends about their relationship, so seeing Twilight with two of the mares she distinctly remembered being not so nice to while in Ponyville she quickly started looking around for a place to hide. Noticing Twilight's distraction both of the other mares started looking in the direction she seemed to be looking. Panicking more Twilight suddenly blurted out, "Vacation!" The statement came out probably a little louder then necessary, but it did it's job in getting the two to turn there attention back to her. "Yeah, I had just planned on having a little vacation here in Manehatten, I've never actually taken the time to see the city." Using the distraction Trixie managed to dive fairly ungracefully away from the main lobby area and into a side sitting area out of sight. "I was just about to go out sight seeing as it so happens, so now I guess we can all go together, what could be better then a day out with friends." The goofy grin she plastered on her face seemed to convince both mares as they smiled and voiced their agreement.

"Wonderful darling, but I must insist that our first stop be some kind of restaurant, I am simply famished."

"Yeah, she only says that because she was too prissy to eat the 'dreadfully low quality' dining car food on the train." Dash said this as the two were turning to lead Twilight out of the hotel.

"It is not a matter of being 'prissy', I simply have discerning tastes. And besides, we happen to be in one of the finest culinary centers in Equestria, it would have been a shame to ruin my appetite on simple buffet.. stop that." Rainbow Dash had begun hovering off the ground in order to mock Rarity by pantomiming along with her explanation with her hoof. They were just stepping out of the doors during this exchange when Twilight stopped.

"Actually girls, could you give me a minute. I.. I almost forgot I was going to leave a message with the front desk. I'll be right back, you two decide what you want to eat." Both mares nodded to her while they proceeded out the door still arguing. The second they were far enough away Twilight darted towards the sitting area.

Within the sitting area were several large armchairs arranged around a small table in a circle. In the chair on the furthest side from her was a mare with a familiar build but unfamiliar coloration who seemed to be reading a newspaper oddly intently. She proceeded quickly to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so so so sorry. I had no idea they were going to be here. They just showed up to surprise me. I'm also so so sorry I haven't told them about us yet. I swear to Celestia it's not because I'm ashamed of being with you, it's just a lot to explain. Please please please don't be mad, I swear I'll make it up.."

"Pssst". The noise came from a voice she recognized but did not come from the place she expected it to. Looking up she saw a very confused earth pony mare looking at her from the side of her paper. Looking behind her in the chair she could not see from the main lobby was another mare with a familiar build but unfamiliar coloration, this one however was a unicorn with a much more familiar face. Trixie seemed to be barely containing hysterical laughter as she watched her marefriend making a heartfelt apology to a random stranger.

Smiling sheepishly to the random mare she stepped away and turned around to her actual marefriend. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so so..."

"I heard Twilight, and I might actually be mad if that hadn't been so funny." Twilight's momentary hesitation at the drastic change in their plans quickly faded as the month worth of longing caught up to her upon seeing her marefriends smile. She practically dove forward and hastily took out all her anticipation on her lips. Trixie met her with equal enthusiasm, but had to break their moment before she could let Twilight get too lost in it. "Well don't you have some friends to go hang out with?"

Sensing some actual frustration layered in with her exaggerated teasing caused Twilight to grimace a little. "I really am sorry. I wanted today to be perfect, and it could have been if I had said something before now".

"It's ok Twilight," she knew she had to find some way to placate her otherwise it might ruin the rest of the time they could manage to get together, "you know that old expression about absence making the heart grow fonder." Twilight nodded. "Well it's kinda true. I missed you so much I don't think I can be too mad at you right now." She gave her a small kiss on the snout to show her this. "It just gives us more time to make up for later. And trust me, I'm going to make sure you make it up to me." Both mares smiled at the promise of things to come.

Twilight stole one more kiss before looking back to magically rummage through her saddlebags. She pulled out a key and presented it to the still seated mare. "This is your room key. The princess uses this hotel for official visits so she put me up in the royal suite. You'll love how big and soft the bed is. The staff already know I was going to have somepony over so you shouldn't have any problems. You're probably tired from traveling so get some rest and feel free to order whatever you want from room service. I promise I'll try my best to be back as soon as I can. And I'm going to fix this today, I swear on the princess I'll tell them and then..."

She was silenced by Trixie's lips pressing against hers again. "You had me at 'bed'. Go have fun, I'll be waiting." She gave a suggestive wink before giving her a playful nudge back the way she came. Twilight couldn't help but give her one more peck on the cheek before running back towards the front doors to meet her friends.

Author's Note

I didn't get any feed back on what you all thought might be the best way to proceed, so that led me to change my mind. I'm proceeding with the street even though I really don't have the confidence that I can keep up the quality of the ideas. Either way I hope you all still like it and will let me know if the quality starts to suffer. The Manehatten tour will probably be small chairs so soft at least a couple more.

Manehatten Tour: Confessions

"Dreadful, simply Dreadful." Of all the diners in all of Manehatten they had to choose this one.

"I know, seriously, what an eyesore." And of all the places to put an advertisement, this street corner just had to be selected over all the other perfectly acceptable ones in the whole city.

"I mean really, after Ponyville is she even relevant anymore."

"Yeah, especially after Twilight totally showed her what real magic is all about." And now they were dragging her into this conversation, great. "Hey Twi, maybe we should get tickets just so you could show her up again. Show her what a real magician is."

Ok, now she really was going to have to address the situation. Rarity had insisted on a trendy diner just a few blocks down from Twilight's hotel. While that in itself was not a problem, nor was the choice to sit in the outdoor dining area, what was plastered on the billboard just across the street was. An image of her secret marefriend clad in her stage attire was displayed big and proud, inviting one and all to the show at a mid sized theater just another few blocks up the road. It had actually been nice for Twilight to see every day up until this point, this being the intersection she would turn on to go to the convention. But the minute her friends started leading her in this direction that all turned to dread.

'ok Twilight,' she thought to herself, 'there's no way they'd be ok with our relationship if I told them we are together while they're remembering the incident in Ponyville. I guess I have to find a way to diffuse this as best as I can right now. Maybe it will soften the blow later. If there is going to be a later at this rate.'

"Actually Rainbow Dash, if we're speaking in more literal terms, I'm not what you would call a magician."

Dash looked very confused at this statement. "What the hey are you talking about. This isn't you trying to be all modest like you were right before kicking that ursas butt is it."

"No, this is me lecturing you on proper terminology with regards to the different fields of magical use." Just as she had planned she saw Rainbow Dash's eyes glaze over and could tell her pegasus friend was barely half listening. "To be more precise, my designation would be that of a mage. I study and experiment with magic in order to improve my own understanding and capabilities for the betterment of ponykind. Magicians use existing magical knowledge in unconventional ways in order to perform feats that seem impossible by common understanding." By this point her plan seemed to be working as both of her friends seemed to be having a hard time paying attention to her explanation. Just a little more and she should be able to steer the conversation any direction she wanted. "To put it simply, magicians do magic tricks, I use magic in it's most basic and raw form."

Twilight hated to admit it but she definitely knew the look in a ponies eyes when they had completely stopped listening, but in this case it came in handy. Now all she had to do was get one of them talking about themselves and the conversation would probably never come back to the subject.

"So what your saying is that you could kick her flank on multiple levels." Dang it Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash, how uncouth. Of course that is what you would take away from that explanation." Pony feathers, Rarity too. Apparently her friends were getting better at resisting her technical babble. "But I wouldn't think the idea was too far off the mark. You are a truly talented mage and I'm sure you would be more deserving of such adoration then that charlatan would ever be." And that would make it a full 180 back to exactly where she didn't want them to be.

'Well if they're not going to drop this then I really am just trying to lessen the damage for later. But what's the best way to do that?'

"What I'm saying is that I have as much interest in upstaging her now as I did back then. It really wouldn't even be valid for us to compete, it would be like the two of you competing. Rainbow does a trick, Rarity makes a dress, who wins."

"Me!" Rainbow blurted out without a second thought. Rarity just rolled her eyes.

"You get my point. Honestly, I didn't even realize back then in Ponyville that she was a magician. The way everypony reacted I thought there was actually something bad about her."

"That's just the thing Twilight darling, there was something bad about her. Don't you remember all the dreadful things she did."

"Hmmm," Twilight had to be careful here. Her friends were obviously still upset about the incident so she didn't want to make it seem like she was treating it as if it was a trivial thing, but she didn't want it to seem like it really was as big a thing as they remembered. "If I remember correctly.. she challenged anypony to out do her, then she tied up Apple Jack's legs, spun Dash around till she puked, and turned your hair green."

Now Rarity was descending into full on dramatics. "You see, absolutely dreadful. How could anypony be so uncouth as to do such things."

"Yeah Twilight, totally uncool. I was dizzy for like half an hour."

Twilight actually let out a real snicker at that. "Oh come on Dash, you literally tried to out gloat her and made no secret about it. Although I will say the trick you pulled off was really cool, probably cooler then what she did to you." Twilight actually felt proud about that one. Rainbow Dash was now giving a slightly smug smirk while rubbing her hoof on her chest confidently.

"Well that still doesn't excuse something like destroying my magnificent mane." Even more dramatic now, she would have to hit this one just right.

"Rarity, you do have a magnificent mane. And that is why I took extra time to make sure I had researched the absolute best spell to fix it."

"Best spell? Twilight, not to be rude but you spent all of five minutes researching."

"And it took all of five seconds to cast. I was just being thorough for your sake, it was honestly an easy fix. And now your mane is even more magnificent now that you know how to use transformation magic for yourself."

Bingo. Rarity's dramatics halted instantly as a slight blush became immediately visible on her Ivory cheeks. "You noticed I was doing that huh?"

"Everypony noticed when you started using it on yourself," Twilight explained as Rainbow agreed with her observation by nodding emphatically with an even more smug smile on her face. "It's fine though, I'm sure you're not the first. You've always taken pride in your appearance so it really is just an extension of your natural style." Rarity's blush faded as she stroked her hoof through her mane confidently.

'Dang, why can't I be this convincing all the time. I am on fire today.'

All three of the mares were about finished with their meals, and two were definitely not thinking very much about The Great And Powerful Trixie. Twilight had been planning on taking some fair bit of time warming her friends up to certain other aspects of her confession, but how great that just went was astonishing even to her. She was weighing her options heavily as the waiter came over to collect their plates and drop off the check. Making a decision much more hastily then she normally would she suddenly opened her bag with her magic and floated a good pile of bits out before either of her friends had even begun to reach for theirs.

"Change of plans girls. I have something I really need to tell you." Her horn lit up brighter as she passed her bits to the slightly taken aback waiter. "There should be a good tip in there for you, thanks for everything." All three mares were suddenly enveloped in a flash of light before they were gone. The waiter just sat blinking.

Back in front of Twilight's hotel a flash of light got the attention of everypony in the area as three mares suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Twilight, what the hay." Rainbow shouted. Twilight's reaction was to sway back and forth unsteadily, catching herself on said shocked friend.

"Three is a little much," her voice was shaky in a way it hadn't been in just over a month as she shook her head to clear away the dizziness, "even for me."

"Yes Twilight dear. Why are we back at your hotel. I thought we were going sight seeing. What so important all of a sudden."

Straightening up, Twilight started leading them into the hotel. "It's something big, but I think right now might be the best time for it. Please just trust me, and please don't be too mad."

"Twilight dear. What ever could this be about. What could you possibly have done that could make us mad at you."

They had made it to the elevator at this point where a stallion stepping off held it open for them. Getting on Twilight pressed the button for her floor and waited for the doors to close. Luckily they were alone in the small space.

"Ok..." She was feeling confident just a minute ago, now it felt like she was going to have to drag the words out of herself kicking and screaming. "The first is something about myself. Something kinda big." She hesitated again. "I.. I'm gay." It felt like the silence was weighing down on her, or that might have been the elevator beginning to rise. "I'm a lesbian". Still no reaction.

She glanced to her right, feeling Rainbow would be the more accepting of the two. What she saw was a look of disappointment on her friends face. This threatened to break all confidence Twilight had left as the expression remained even as Rainbow Dash reached down and started nosing through the satchel around her neck. Sitting back she came out with a small jingling bag, which she promptly opened, dumped out a small pile of bits from, and with a huff tossed them over to Rarity who caught them in her magic. "Hey. It was a fifty fifty shot."

"Thank you very much darling." Twilight looked over to her other friend and saw her smiling smugly. "I'll be sure to let Pinky know you and Apple Jack both owe her as well."

Twilight could only gape, looking back and forth between the two on either side of her. Finally she settled to her left and exclaimed, "wait, you knew. How could you have known. I only just figured it out."

It was actually Dash that began explaining, "oh, like a few weeks ago Rarity started gushing about you acting weird. She got it in her head that something happened while you were in Canterlot. Something 'romantic'," she finished with a gag.

The elevator stopped at a random floor. The doors opened to no ponies standing and waiting. The doors closed slowly.

"And it seemed that everypony couldn't even imagine you as being capable of romance. None of the girls could honestly imagine the kind of pony who could sweep you off your hooves, so there was some speculation there. The bet was actually on whether or not something happened, not specifically on if you were gay or not. Though I got that one right too." Rarity's smugness while saying this was practically radiating off of her by this point.

"Yeah yeah. If you look for mushy stuff everywhere your bound to get one eventually." Rarity's reaction was to stick her tongue out at Rainbow in a very unladylike way.

"Well.." to say Twilight was stunned was an understatement. "I guess at least that makes everything from here a little easier. Was it really that obvious. I honestly thought I was acting normal."

"Oh it's just the little things darling. You just seemed to have an extra spring in everything you did. So when do we get to meet her." The elevator dinged as they finally reached the floor.

"That's the other thing I wanted to tell you girls." She started leading them down the hall. "And once again I really hope you can understand." They reached her room as she floated her key from her bag and started unlocking the door. Taking a deep breath she braced herself and put her hoof on the handle. "I'd like to introduce you to somepony kinda special to me".

A sleepy haze had just begun to settle over Beatrix. Being given total freedom over her marefriends room had been fun so far. Upon making it to the room and cancelling her transformation she had first tested room service thoroughly on just what was the most extravagant meal they could prepare, as well as the second and third most. She had also decided to prepare for Twilight's return. The hotel staff member that had brought that order up couldn't help a suggestive smirk as they brought it in. She had also decided to freshen up, extensively, fogging up the entire room from her long and luxurious shower. She may not have much experience with the finer things in life, but she seemed to be a quick study.

She had finally settled into a bed even bigger and softer then the one Twilight and her had once shared on their first night together. She really couldn't believe how much better her life always seemed to be ever since Twilight came into it. It was thoughts of this, and what she would be doing with her marefriend when she got back that were gently lulling her into a relaxing sleep. Then she heard something she wasn't expecting to hear for at least a few more hours. Or maybe she actually had nodded off. Either way, she was not expecting it when she faintly heard the clicking of the door in her half awake state.

Beatrix started to roll over to strike the seductive pose she had practiced briefly before settling into the covers. She did so as she heard the voice she'd been waiting to hear.

"... This is my marefriend."

Trixie froze in place. She had not considered this particular possibility. She was about three quarters of the way into the pose, which was enough to see Twilight standing just inside the doorway holding it open for her friends.

Despite not knowing these ponies at all the emotional transition was easy enough to track. They had started off with quiet expectation. Shock and confusion had quickly followed as their eyes met and connections were quickly made. Then, just as she had feared, matching scowls appeared.

The pegasus suddenly jumped into the air and flew with incredible speed straight at her. She didn't even have time to brace for the punch she knew was coming. But instead the rainbow blurs hoof stopped just inches in front of her face. Her tone harsh and accusing she growled out, "Twilight!!! What the hey is she doing here."

"Rainbow Dash, calm down. Five minutes ago I got you both to realize she's not as bad as you both thought..."

"There's not as bad as I thought and then there's finding her in one of my best friends bed." Rainbow shouted as her attention shifted to Twilight.

"Yes Twilight dear. This is a little much. While we'd normally be happy to hear about new developments in your life, we all have very little history with this charlatan and all of it is bad."

"That's just it. Our history with her isn't really that bad, her history with us is actually way worse. If you girls would just relax for a second and let me explain..."

"We don't need you to explain that she's a jerk and there's no way you should be with her." Rainbow Dash had flown over to Twilight and was now pointing her hoof accusingly at her.

"Rainbow Dash, don't call her a jerk." Twilight was starting to get mad as well, which meant the situation was not getting any better any time soon. Trixie's attitude had been at the center of many arguments before, but usually she would just regard that as good publicity. This time she definitely wanted calm level heads, and it looked like she was the last in the room.

"I'll call a jerk a jerk so long as they are a jerk.."

"Eh-hem," her attempt at getting their attention was remarkably effective, three sets of eyes turned straight towards her. She had abandoned her semi seductive pose and was now sitting on her haunches on the bed in what she hoped was a neutral manner. "If I'm interpreting information from Twilight's letters correctly you two would be Rarity and Rainbow Dash." Both of their glares remained, but at the very least the pegasus's wings slowed and she landed just a short distance from Twilight. Both of them nodded but made no effort to hide their contempt.

'This is going to be tough, I gotta be careful or I'm just going to make this worse.' She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing.

"I wasn't quite sure how to handle this situation, I've never been in the position of actually needing to explain my actions. The only time I ever have was back in Canterlot when Twilight and I got together." Misstep, that made the rainbow one glare harder, though it made Twilight smile a little which was nice. "But I think explaining would end up sounding like I'm trying to throw blame around, and that would probably be counterproductive. I think the best way to start this off would be to make the first step and offer you both my apologies." Both of them seemed to be somewhat disarmed at this point, but their glares only softened a little. Twilight however started to walk over to her with a warm smile on her face.

"Bea.." she started but then thought better of it and started again. "Trixie?" she paused and Trixie gave a warm smile to match hers. "You don't need to do that, we all have things to be sorry for, you don't need to be the only pony..."

"It's ok Twilight, the rainbow one is right. I've been the biggest jerk and so I probably have the most to answer..." She stopped as Rainbow Dash's hoof was once again thrust into her face.

"The name is Rainbow Dash chump. You got it right once so you got no reason to get it wrong this time." She stopped her rant as Trixie reached up and grasped the accusing hoof in her own.

"It's nice to meet you officially Rainbow Dash. You can call me Trixie." She let go of Rainbows hoof as the pegasus retracted it slowly, some fair bit of confusion entering her scowl. "I'm sorry for spinning you so hard that you ended up puking. It was only my intention to spin you enough to get you off the stage. I just always forget that pegasus are built lighter. I actually felt bad to see you crash the way you did, but I couldn't break character to apologise back then."

Rainbow Dash slowly started backing up and set her hooves back down a short distance from the bed. "Character??!!" It was not Rainbow Dash that responded. Rarity had stomped forward and propped herself up with her front hooves on the bed so she could glare down at the still seated mare. "Are you going to try to blame a character on what you did to me. Do you really expect us to believe anypony would act that way on purpose and do something so, so, evil!!"

"Rarity come on. Evil? Isn't that a little much?" Twilight started to defend Trixie again but her marefriend only smiled to her again to silence her.

"It's ok. That one was actually a little more messed up as far as what I usually do to hecklers. To tell the honest truth.. I had only just learned to use transformation magic and was still trying to figure out a way of integrating it into my act. I wasn't sure how long it would last, I wasn't even sure what color it was going to come out at that time. I'm actually glad to see it wore off just fine. You're mane looks even better than back then."

"Don't try to get out of this with compliments. You're still not taking responsibility for this. Do you really expect us to believe you only pretend to act like a jerk."

"No. I don't expect either of you to believe it at all, much less understand it. At least not right away." She looked down in contemplation before continuing. "You are Twilight's friends, and while I may not have known her as long as you have, I do know she is sweet and innocent almost to a fault." Rarity was still glaring at her, but at this she stepped back down off the bed and went to stand next to Rainbow Dash. "If you girls are anything like her then it's probably going to be hard for you and the rest of your friends to understand the situation I come from. Twilight knows some of the stuff I've gone through, but without bringing down the mood in here too much I'll just say that I have a past that I don't want to have to go back to again. So if making everypony hate me keeps me away from that then it's a small price to pay. The Great And Powerful Trixie is who I play on stage, and her personality is designed to get attention at all cost. The fact that you all hate me is more or less by design."

"So you came into our town and purposefully acted like a jerk to make bits," Rarity started.

"And you challenged us for the sole purpose of upstaging us to make yourself look better," Rainbow finished.

"Yup, that's just about right. So if you want to keep hating me then I'm ok with it. But I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a chance. I'd hate to cause issues between you all and Twilight, but I also don't want to lose her."

"Trixie, I already promised that you wouldn't lose me so easily. And I really appreciate you being understanding about the whole thing, but could you please stop being so down on yourself. I think it's about time for them to apologise to you."

"Seriously Twilight, why would we apologise. She out and out said she was being a jerk for the sake of being a jerk. What would we have to be sorry about." Rainbow didn't seem quite as mad as before, but neither her or Rarity stopped glaring from where they sat on the carpet.

"Twilight, it's because of you that I stopped blaming what happened on you and them. But if you really want me to," Twilight gave her a very slight nod, urging her to go on. Trixie took another deep breath. "My trip to Ponyville nearly destroyed my career, left me destitute and homeless, and I've only just been able to drag myself out of the gutter and start doing more then just barely surviving." The anger that was still left on Rainbow Dash's and Rarity's faces was fading as their faces started dropping. "I spent a few months after that literally sleeping on park benches and under bridges. I caught a break during the winter, one of the few other performing magicians who works the off season and would still talk to me let me stay and perform with them, I just had to do all their grunt work and sleep in their luggage cart. It was actually really nice of them, I really couldn't have asked for more."

"S, so.." Rainbow started, it seemed like she was having a hard time deciding what to feel about the situation. "So, you survived by basically becoming someponies slave and sleeping in their dirty laundry... And that was a step up for you."

"And I blamed it all on your little group of friends. Honestly, if I had randomly run into one of you back then like I did with Twilight.. I probably would have attacked you. I was bitter, angry, and generally not fun to be around for a while."

"W.. what happened." Rarity this time. "I mean, we both came in here hostile towards you and you did nothing."

"It's hard to keep a grudge when there's work to do. I started rebuilding and tried to put it behind me. So much so that when I ran into Twilight, literally by the way, I just tried to get away. But I'm learning that Twilight is nothing if not persistent."

That actually got a legitimate chuckle out of both of them. This started to ease Twilight's nerves that had been wound tight since she first opened the door.

Blowing air between her lips Rainbow Dash decided to take advantage of the lightened mood and spoke up. "Well you started so I guess that makes it my turn. I act like a jerk to get attention too. The difference is I really am kind of a jerk, I'm just cool enough to pull it off. So faulting somepony for being a jerk was really uncool of me." She huffed another breath, "sorry". Twilight had actually expected that to be much harder. She gaped at Dash a little as she heard these words come from her. "What?? I can be sincere when I want to be."

Rarity had been gaping as well but managed to pull it back as she spoke too. "Yes, well. I suppose my turn then. I really can't say I approve of the manners of your stage character, nor her actions. But I suppose I too have spent some fair bit of time cultivating a specific image for the purpose of advancing my career. So I can actually say I understand that this version of you might be the authentic one. If you actually are sorry about your actions then I can apologise for mine. I'd hate to be known as a 'heckler', so I am sorry for interrupting your show. I don't think it would really have been our fault, at least not completely, as to what happened after, but nopony deserves to go through all that. So if there's anything I, we, could do to make it up to you then you've but to ask. If you and Twilight are together then I think it would be best if we all get along."

Trixie sniffed, and broke her neutral stance finally to quickly rub her foreleg across her face. She forced back a slight sob before starting. "Thank you both so much. I really don't need anything. Twilight is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me so I don't need anything as long as I have her."

Rarity was still trying to remain somewhat reserved, but at these words a dreamy, "aaaaaahhhhhh" slipped out as she looked between the two now staring lovingly at each other.

By contrast Rainbow let out a mild gagging sound before cutting off the entirely too mushy scene before her. "No, Rarity is right though, you gotta let us do at least something for you. Consider it a congratulation gift for the two of you."

Broken away from her marefriends gaze Trixie actually tried to think of something she might want from them. The problem was that she had been truthful, she really didn't want much ever since she got Twilight. And asking them for money or favors just seemed vindictive. "... Well, if the two of you didn't have any plans for tomorrow..," both shook their heads so she would continue, ".. then would you consider coming to see my show. Nopony in Ponyville got to see my real show back then so getting to seems like it would be a poetic way of making us even. Plus my percentage of the box-office take depends on how many tickets are sold."

All four mares smiled before Rarity spoke for both herself and Rainbow Dash. "That sounds like a simply lovely idea. We'll definitely be there." She paused a second looking over at Twilight. "Should we pick up an extra ticket for Twilight as well or did you already get her a seat?"

A look of realization passed over Twilight's face but she managed to hide it quickly. She looked over to her marefriend, barely contained laughter causing her to shake as Trixie just gave her a cocky smirk knowing what she had just set her marefriend up for. She wasn't keeping any more secrets from her friends this time. "Actually, yeah. I already have a pass for the show. So I will definitely see you two there tomorrow." Her smile was a little more manic then what might be considered normal, but her friends seemed to brush it off.

"Sounds like a lovely plan then. But I suppose it still leaves us with the question of what to do with the rest of...." Rarity trailed off as her attention finally shifted off of Trixie and Twilight and she noticed certain details of the room. Tightly drawn curtains and dimmed lights, as well as thin red cloth draped over the lights gave the room a very romantic atmosphere. The normal blankets for the bed seemed to be folded neatly in the corner of the room and some silky soft ones covered the bed in their place. Lastly, there was a room service cart next to the bed complete with chocolate covered strawberries and chilling champagne.

The fashionista's eyes went wide and her cheeks colored slightly. "Rainbow I just remembered there was something I needed to show you." She had jumped to her hooves and was now trying her best to shove her pegasus friend out of the still open door.

"Rarity, what are you talking about. What..."

"Just go," her words were strained as she pushed the athletic pony out. "Tata girls," she got out as her magic enveloped the door handle and closed it quickly behind them.

Beatrix stared at the door for a second before looking over to the mare she had waited so long to be alone with. She found that her marefriend was also staring at the door, though she seemed to be standing nearly frozen, her entire body tinted red in a way that had nothing to do with the mood lighting.

She walked to the edge of the bed and hopped off. Sauntering over to her still stunned marefriend she buried her face into her mane, taking in as much of her presence as she could before she would have to address the situation. "It would be way too awkward for you if your friends knew what you were doing wouldn't it?" Twilight's only response was to grow even redder as she managed to turn her head to look back to her affectionate marefriend. Trixie's response was only to reach her hoof up to pull Twilight into a deep passionate kiss. "Don't worry. We were planning on having a day out anyway. And as long as they're here I might as well get to know your friends as well."

Twilight's body started to visibly relax as her color also started to return to normal. "Beatrix, you are the best," she said as she nuzzled into the other mares mane.

"Yeah, just don't forget it during the show tomorrow. Come on, let's see if we can catch up to them." They kissed once more as they both started trotting to the door.

Author's Note

I really am not good a dialog, and this one I think had more dialog then most of the previous chapters combined. Hopefully the conflict and resolution here didn't seem to forced. Once again I hope to hear what you all think about it.

Manehatten Tour: Realization

"Did you see her anywhere?" Rainbow Dash trotted over to Rarity where she had just found her near the top of the middle isle of the Velvet Curtain theater.

"I'm afraid not dear, and I found a fairly good vantage point to try to spot her from." Rarity replied while still looking over the room full of assembled ponies starting to take their seats. "I take it you didn't have any luck spotting her in the lobby?" She asked while finally giving up and looking over to see her friend swishing her rainbow mane back and forth in response.

They were looking for their friend Twilight Sparkle, who's new marefriend, The Great And Powerful Trixie, was the headliner at this particular theater on this night. For reasons unknown to them the hype for this show had been larger then anticipated and it had been moved from it's original time and into a prime time slot. This had actually made it somewhat hard for the two to get seats, much less ones located together. In the end it had been a good thing they had ended up spending a fair amount of time the previous day getting to know the show mare in question. She had decided to go with them to get their tickets and had managed to talk the owner into selling them a pair of reserved seats in the front row for the show.

They had figured Trixie herself would probably be getting ready for the show and thus they had not planned on seeing her. Twilight's absence however seemed a bit off to them. She would surely be here to support her new marefriends show.

"Well I'm stumped then. Maybe they just had way too much fun last night and haven't made it out of bed yet." Rainbow gave a devilish snicker as Rarity pursed her lips at her.

"Really Rainbow Dash, it is impolite to think such things about ones friends".

"Says the one who practically threw me out of the room yesterday to 'give them their privacy'." Rarity blushed slightly at that but it was Rainbow herself that changed the subject. "Hey, if she's banging the star of the show then maybe she's got one of the fancy box seats or something."

"Rude comment aside, that is actually a good point I had not considered", she complemented as she joined the other mare who had already lifted her head and was scanning the walls of the theater where several openings revealed the luscious accommodations within. They're efforts to see if their friend was enjoying those super pricey seats were interrupted though as the house lights suddenly started to lower and the room became too dark to clearly see anypony at a distance. "Oh no, it looks like we're too late. I suppose we'll just have to find her after the show. Quickly Rainbow dear, we must get to our seats."

Since most ponies had already made it to their seats the two managed to make it to theirs at the front of the theater fairly quickly. Thankfully their seats were on the isle so they didn't have to make any awkward attempts to step over other ponies to get to them. There also just so happened to be a large bucket of popcorn and drink on the inner seat waiting for them when they got there. Rainbow took that seat and looked up to see her friend giving her a look.

"You got refreshments, really???" She said as she was sitting down as well.

"What? They were selling them in the lobby, I was hungry."

"And you didn't even bother getting me anything," Rarity admonished her with a slight playful tone.

"You didn't ask," Rainbow replied as she tilted her popcorn bucket in the direction of her friend. Rarity was still playing the part and turned away in mock contempt. She maintained it even as Rainbow shook the bucket in offer until she finally turned away, reached under her seat and retrieved another drink and a box of chocolates to offer to the other mare.

"Thank you Rainbow," Rarity smiled as she took the offered treats. Rainbow's reply was cut off as a stallions deep voice suddenly came over the sound system.

"Ladies and gentlecolts!!! The Velvet Curtain Theater is proud to present for your entertainment this evening, The Great And Powerful Trixie!!!!!

Rainbow and Rarity cheered along with the rest of the crowd as spot lights focused in where the curtains parted just enough for a single pony to walk through. Strutting out of the gap was Trixie, but not the mare the two had gotten to know the day previously. Before them was definitely the mare they remembered from Ponyville in all her grandeur. Clad in her hat and cape she approached the crowd confidently and turned, swishing her costume with a flourish as the spotlights started to swirl around her.

"That is right Manehatten. Tonight is your lucky night for it is I, The Great And Powerful Trixie." The crowd grew louder as Trixie drank in their adoration, standing on her hind hooves and raising her forelegs into the air. She dropped back on all fours before continuing. "Buuuutttt," there was another surge in the roar of the crowd. "That's right everypony, the rumors are true. For anypony who was a fan of The Great And Powerful Trixie's Canterlot tour, you are in for an extra special treat this evening." The crowd cheered more as Trixie did her best to build the excitement. "I'd like everypony to welcome tonight, in her first Manehatten appearance, my lovely assistant, Moonlight Gleam!!!!!"

The now closed curtain behind Trixie was thrown open with a flourish and another mare joined Trixie on stage, strutting towards the crowd with the same confidence as Trixie herself. Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash's heads tilted to the side the moment they saw the pony. Each gave a glance towards the other to confirm their mutual question, she was familiar somehow. The pony in question was wearing a mask that covered most of her face, even more of her features hidden by feathers decorating the outside of the mask that matched the ponies colors. Her mane and coat were a matching dark blue that bordered on purple. Her mane was tied back but it could still be seen draping over her shoulder as she stood on her hind legs the same way Trixie had. They could see that there were two streaks of color running through it, a lighter purple and a pink next to each other in a pattern that definitely reminded the two of somepony. They both desperately wanted to see the mares cutiemark but as she turned to the side they could see that her costume included a skimpy dress, a fairly sheer number that did it's job to highlight certain features while leaving just enough to the imagination.

Both the mares once again looked to each other, racking their brains in their shared confusion on why this mare seemed so familiar. However as their gazes returned to the stage they got the answer they were looking for.

"Moonlight", was still standing on her hind hooves, but at the attention she was getting from the crowd she made a mock fainting motion which landed her in the waiting forehooves of Trixie. With just enough hesitation to egg on the crowd a little more the twos lips met in a grand show of passion.

Both Rarity's and Rainbow's jaws dropped into their laps and Rainbow's popcorn hit the floor as both mares stared in stunned disbelief. Both of their gazes met again as they wordlessly mouthed their matched realization in a silent, 'no bucking way'. They both returned their gaze to the stage where the two were still in the middle of their passionate embrace as the rest of the crowd cheered them on.

With a sudden flourish they broke the kiss as Trixie gave "Moonlight" a spin away from her. There was a flash and a puff of smoke. Both mares disappeared as the curtains parted to reveal a large water tank. The tank appeared to be filled with hungry looking piranhas, and the mare they had a strong suspicion was their friend in disguise now appeared to be suddenly heavily restrained and dangling from a rope upside down above it.

Trixie now seemed to reappear in another puff of smoke on a platform on the side of the stage. She began to monologue from her place as the crowd let out a collective gasp. "As you can see everypony, we have pulled out all the stops for tonight's performance. This will be The Great And Powerful Trixie's greatest show ever, let's just hope it's not the last for my lovely assistant."

There was a noticable murmur suddenly coming over the exiting crowd in the lobby of the theater. Attentions were being drawn up to a landing leading to the box seats where two familiar ponies now stood, and a sudden cheer erupted from the crowd.

"Thank you very much. How did everypony like the show." The cheers increased as the stars of the recently finished show leaned closer together to drink in the attention.

"Well we both loved performing as much as you all loved watching." As Moonlight spoke to the assembled group, both Rarity and Rainbow Dash got the last proof they needed. While they were pretty much sure already, that voice was definitely Twilight Sparkle and all doubt left their minds.

There was a flash and a puff of smoke where the two stood and in an instant they were both gone. A gasp from the other direction caused the whole crowd to turn to find both mares suddenly standing in front of the main doors. The two started fanning out amongst the assembled ponies, accepting praise as they went. Rarity and Rainbow wasted no time in moving through the crowd in the direction of the assistant.

They caught up to her to find her posing with a group of ponies while another took their picture. Her mask had been swapped out for another, this one more elaborate to obscure her features even more now that ponies would be seeing her from much closer.

The group of ponies around her thanked her for the photo and dispersed quickly, giving the two a chance to approach her in relative seclusion.

"Twi..." Rainbow Dash was cut off as a hoof met her lips in a gentle, almost playful manner. The pony being addressed even gave a cute tilt of her head and a flirtatious smile. "Moonlight?"

Her smile grew as she drew up on her hind hooves and gave a deep bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you both," She set herself back down and in a softer tone continued, "Rarity and Rainbow Dash".

"So that really is you darling?" Rarity asked, stepping forward as well.

Moonlights response was to turn dramatically and with a flashy pose exclaim, "but of course. Who better to serve The Great And Powerful Trixie, then her lovely marefriend." She held the pose for a few extra seconds, just long enough for her friends to become concerned.

"Uuummm, no offense Twi..." a playful swish of Moonlights tail landed squarely on Dash's snout and silenced her again. "I mean Moonlight, but your acting a little weird."

The mares response was to flirtatiously wrap her forehooves around Dash's neck and hang off her dramatically. "Oh please Dashy, about twenty percent of this persona is based on you." She broke off and teasingly swished her tail across Rarity's cutiemark, causing the mare to jump slightly, and added, "there's also a fair amount of Rarity." She bounced away and turned back with a big smile," and a whole lot of Pinky Pie." She gave them an even bigger grin before getting closer and continuing, "but we should probably talk about this later. I think some more explanations are in order and this is probably not the place."

"And what do we have going on over here." Trixie had apparently made it over to the group and a bit of the crowd was following after her. "Moonlight dear, who are these ponies you seem to be giving so much of the attention meant for me."

Playing the part well again Moonlight sauntered over to her magician and nuzzled her dramatically as she made a show of pressing her side against her as she walked all the way around her so they were facing the same way to regard her friends. "Oh I would never give away my attention for you Trixie. I was just hoping you'd notice so you'd come over and meet my new friends."

Trixie gave the mare pressing against her a showy nuzzle before stepping away and giving the mares in question an appraising look. "Well I must admit you have good taste in friends. The Great And Powerful Trixie would like to get to know them better. In fact," she made a dramatic show of looking around her before waving down a pony Moonlight recognized as the owner of the theater. "Velvet, would you be a dear and make sure these two get passes for backstage?" She gave him a flirtatious smile and flutter of her eye lashes.

"I don't know, these two already got reserved seats, I'm not sure I can swing that without a good reason miss Trixie." Though Trixie didn't show it this made her falter some. She had never had anypony she had wanted to go out of the way for before. The only time she had ever done something like this was when she had found out that there was somepony of note at her show and so the reason for it was obvious. She couldn't think of a reason beyond them being her marefriends friends for giving them special privileges. But even though Trixie was lost for an answer, her assistant did exactly what she was suppose to and helped her out of this jam.

"Velvet, you silly pony. Don't you recognize national treasures when you see them." The whole room, including Trixie were suddenly focused on Moonlight. "Those are the elements of loyalty and generosity, two of the elements of harmony. I think the least they deserve is a sneak peak backstage."

The crowd all had questioning looks on their faces, before realization set in and looks of surprise set in on all of them. The most surprised look came from Trixie herself.

"Holy freaking Tartarus, I still can't believe I picked a fight with the elements of harmony." Trixie was, for the third time that night, holding her head and shaking it in disbelief as she sat on one of the comfortable couches in the VIP room. This theater was big enough that they felt the need to have a place to entertain certain special guests that might be in attendance. Several other ponies had been given backstage access but they had mostly all just wanted to get pictures and autographs and had left the group alone soon enough.

"I still can't believe you've been dating the element of magic for over a month and never figured it out," Rainbow responded while once again breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.

An unmasked but still transformed Twilight lifted a pillow from the large pile that surrounded her and lobbed it at her friend who was now rolling around on the couch opposite of her. "It's not that funny Rainbow," she exclaimed as the pillow did little to silence the laughter.

"How is it not funny?" Rainbow strained out as she managed to get herself upright on the couch she shared with Rarity. "Over a month knowing she was dating the princesses apprentice and she never put two and two together and figured out who Twilight was." She still snickered as Rarity and Twilight glared at her.

"She didn't know because I decided not to mention it to her. It's not like being the elements is really that big of a thing in our day to day lives."

"Oh come on Twi, it's almost like you were keeping it from her so you could use it on her at the perfect time to embarrass her."

"I was not," Twilight protested, but her cheeks took on a brightness that made all three other mares in the room quirk their eyebrows in question. The sudden silence and the piercing stares made her face get progressively redder.

Trixie's questioning stare deepened as she adjusted herself from the other side of Twilight's pillow wall to try to look her marefriend in the eyes. When her head turned away Trixie let out a somewhat dramatic, "Twilight!!!"

"Ok maybe a little!!" She exclamed as she buried her face in her hooves. Rainbow Dash fell over laughing again will Rarity held her hoof to her mouth to not so subtly mask her snickering in as lady like a way as she could manage. Twilight pulled her face from her hooves before addressing her friends again. "But in all fairness, she teases me All, The, Time. I just wanted to have one ready to use on her at some point." Trixie had narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in a disapproving glare. She brought herself forward, leaning over the pillows to bring her face closer to her somewhat worried looking marefriend.

"I totally would have done the same thing", she darted forward and managed to surprise her with a quick peck on the lips before laying back and laughing at Twilight's shocked face. The other two snickered lightly at the couple's playful antics.

There was a familiar clicking sound as the door to the room started opening. Having delt with this several times already both Trixie's and Rarity's horns lit up and pillows shot up in front of Twilight's uncovered face. Rainbow decided to be helpful as well this time, lobbing the pillow thrown at her back at Twilight which collided perfectly with the unicorns face and stayed there.

A stage hand poked his head into the room, "not to spoil the fun in here, but the rest of the staff is almost ready to close up. You all can take your time but you should probably start wrapping it up considering how late it is." Three smiles and a waving hoof gave him thanks and he left the room and the other ponies to their business.

Pillows dropped and added again to the mass surrounding Twilight as the ponies all glanced around at each other with smiles. "Well I guess it is getting late, I am going to need my beauty sleep if I'm going to find the right ensemble to be seen in at my event." Rarity said this as she slid off of the couch and gave a slight stretch and a yawn. "Come now Rainbow I'm sure you need your rest as well. You do still have part of a bet to work off and I will need somepony to carry my bags."

Rainbow gave a groan as she pushed off the couch, flapping her wings just enough to carry her over next to Rarity and landing her hooves gently next to her. "Ugh, ok fine. But I'm not missing my wonder bolts show so this better not take all day like last time."

Trixie had stood up as well and offered a hoof to help Twilight out of her fluffy fortress. Her horn lit up and the mask Twilight had been wearing before floated to her hoof. She brought her face closer to Twilight's as she began to secure it again. "Yeah, we definitely need sleep too, that was an intense show." She got the mask secured and started adjusting it so it was straight on Twilight's face. "Plus somepony here still needs to make good on a promise for a perfect first date that keeps getting delayed." The mask was straight but Trixie still held it as she stared into Twilight's eyes for a moment before using it to pull her forward in a gentle kiss. Rarity made a slight squeeing noise as Rainbow stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"I must say that this has already been a most interesting trip. I would never have thought so but you two are the most adorable couple. If you have any time the rest of the week we would love to see you two again. Rainbow and I will be here at least the next three days. We're staying at a hotel just up the road from the two of you, the Mareiott I believe. Call on us any time."

The couple faced the other two and smiled. "That sounds great. I'm helping Trixie with the rest of her shows," said mare nuzzled tenderly into Twilight's shoulder, "so we might not have much time, but we'll look forward to it."

Rarity once again made a noise at the show of affection between the two. Rainbow couldn't help but give a smile as well, before catching herself doing so and quickly lifting off the ground. "Ugh, knock off the mushy stuff and let's get out of here before they lock us in or something." She quickly flew over to the door and held it open for Rarity and the couple walking side by side.

Author's Note

I feel like this chapter might be a little weak. I was having the same sort of problem with it that I did with the drinking chapter I attempted. Not quite a situation that's normal for me so it's hard for me to emote convincingly. The next chapter will be there wrap up for the Manehatten tour and will probably be short but way too sweet. This chapter might be tweaked some so if you have suggestions let me know.

Manehatten Tour: Curtain Call

Beatrix Lulamoon lay on her back on the most luxurious bed she'd ever been on. Her breathing was slow and deep, her entire body glistened with a thin layer of sweat just barely dampening her fur, and her eyes were gently closed as a feeling of contentment settled over her. A smile came to her face as a hoof was placed ever so gently over her chest and she felt the side of her marefriends face nuzzle into the crook of her neck. Twilight also breathed deeply and glistened in the gentle light of the room from the proof of their time together.

"Worth the wait," Beatrix heard herself say, but she couldn't even tell herself whether she was asking her or telling her. It hardly mattered as Twilight's only response was to tilt her head in ever so slightly and dot her marefriends neck in soft kisses.

Neither seemed to want to move as they basked in the after glow of their activities. It was Twilight who finally broke the silence as she ceased her nuzzling and separated her face just enough to speak. "I'm sorry I almost ruined it just because I was worried about how my friends would react."

With a low grumble and without opening her eyes Beatrix adjusted her shoulder to nudge Twilight's face further up to her. She planted a kiss onto her temple before responding, "you didn't ruin anything like that. The only way you're going to ruin anything is if you keep thinking I'm upset by that. So relax and just enjoy the moment. Got it."

A very low, "uh huh", was Twilight's only response, this prompted Beatrix to finally open her eyes and adjust herself to look down at her marefriend.

"Got it?" She once again shifted her shoulder to make Twilight look up at her. Twilight looking up to see the playful attempt at seriousness couldn't help but smile and nod her head vigorously in a much more convincing affirmation to the mare she was pressed up against.

Satisfied, Beatrix let her head relax back into the pillow below her. She adjusted slightly so she could pull her foreleg out from under Twilight and wrap it around her instead. "Besides, it's not like dealing with your friends was really all that bad. It was actually kind of fun, I like them. This whole thing actually made me kind of look forward to meeting the rest of them. You've got cool friends."

Twilight nuzzled back into her marefriend, nodding against the fur of her neck as she did. They once again just laid there together enjoying the moment until Twilight spoke, her words muffled through Beatrix's shoulder. "There is no way Rarity is going to be able to resist gossiping this to the rest of the girls." She finished by huffing out some air, the action sending a tingle up Beatrix's neck.

"I've met her a total of two, maybe two and a half times. From that much that I know of her I'd have to say,... yeah, yeah I could definitely see that being the case." They both snickered lightly.

"I guess I wouldn't blame her if she does, I mean she still has to collect on her bet." More snickering between both mares, and more tingling being sent up Beatrix's neck.

"Hey, I'm all for it. Let her try to explain it to the rest of your friends. I won't be there to bail you out next time." Beatrix snickered some more, but stopped when she realized Twilight hadn't joined in with her. "Is everything ok?"

Twilight responded by nodding into her neck again. "It's fine, it's just... You have two more shows, with a day between them. So we get four more days together, two whole days without shows. And it's great, it's the most time we've ever had together, but then it's going to be a while before I can see you again." Beatrix felt Twilight start to frown into her shoulder, and her own expression started to match. "And I'm fine with that. I knew when this started that I'd have to be ok with that if I wanted it. And I do, I really do." Beatrix felt Twilight smile again and once again her expression matched.

"Just because our relationship is weird doesn't mean anything is wrong with it."

"And I don't think there's anything wrong with it, it's just... We've already skipped a lot of important relationship steps..."

"You mean that we basically work together, the passionate sex, and the fact that we've managed to keep a long distance relationship together longer then most well established couples could, and we still haven't had a first date."

Twilight's smile grew more against her marefriends shoulder. "Yeah all that." She planted a few more kisses on her neck, but she still hesitated again as the kisses stopped. "It's just that I think I want to tell you something, but I don't want to skip any more of being a couple. I'm pretty sure you won't be upset but it just seems like I might freak you out or something."

"Twilight, our relationship is weird, and I like weird. You gotta like weird if your gonna be in show business. If you want to mess up the order a little more then hit me with your best shot." She pulled away to lay even with Twilight and flash her a confident smile.

"I think... No actually more then that, I know," she took a deep breath and started again. "Beatrix.. I love you."

For her part Beatrix did not freak out, the problem was that she did nothing at all. Twilight wasn't sure the pony in front of her was even breathing as she stared into her slowly widening eyes. Twilight started pulling away slightly as panic and embarrassment started overtaking her confidence. "It's ok, you don't have to say.." she felt hooves grab her and hold her, but they did not pull her closer.

"Twilight stop. You don't just run after saying something like that." Beatrix felt her breaths now coming quick and panicked. "Just give me a minute." Twilight was held firmly in place. If she tried she was sure she could break free but the trembling in the hooves that held her seemed to speak a wanting their owner could not.

"Take all the time you need," the words came out barely a whisper. She gathered her courage and managed to lift her eyes up to her marefriends face. If Twilight had ever seen fear in Beatrix's eyes then she was sure it wasn't fear like this. Color seemed to have drained from her face just a little and there was a look on her face as if she was a filly lost in the woods. Twilight had no idea how to react, but she knew she had to do something. With all her strength, she managed to smile. A small timid smile, but a smile she hoped would give the mare staring at her strength.

It seemed to help.

"Twilight... Before I say anything I want you to understand something." She waited until a slight nod from the other mare told her to continue. "Absolutely nopony has ever said those words to me in my entire life."

Twilight instantly felt tears start to coat her eyes. While she had figured it would be a struggle to get any further away from the grip Beatrix had on her she found it was incredibly easy to get closer. Breaking the grip she dove forward and wrapped the other mare in the tightest hug she'd ever given another pony.

"It's ok Twilight. There have been a few.. a couple ponies I've ever been close to, but it's just been the way my life has gone that anypony I meet has had to keep some kind of distance. So I'm sorry I can't say those words back with certainty, but I honestly don't know what love feels like." The threatened tears were now flowing freely onto Beatrix's neck, and she herself was losing quite a few onto the top of Twilight's head. "I do know one thing though." She paused to give Twilight a minute to compose herself. With some effort Twilight pulled away and, after rubbing a foreleg across her eyes, looked back into the eyes of the mare she loved. "I've.. I've never been as happy as I am since I've been with you." The tears welled up in both their eyes again, but this time smiles accompanied them. "If.. if this isn't love, then.. I'm really worried love would be disappointing. Either that, or I wouldn't even be able to handle something that great." She stopped and took three deep, slow breaths. She held the last one and when she let it out it was slightly choppy and ragad. "Twilight..., .. I think I'm in love with you". Twilight's response was to lean forward, wrap her forehooves around the back of the frightened mares head, and pull her forward until their lips met. The kiss went on for a few moments, and then a few more. When Twilight finally had to relent for need of oxygen, Beatrix found herself panting for a different reason. "Yeah, I definitely love you."

Their lips met again, this kiss filled with even more passion. As it broke Beatrix found she barely had the time to take a breath before another meeting of their lips. And another. And another. The kisses drifted off her lips and started tracing a line down to her chin and then up her jaw line. She let out a slight involuntary noise of pleasure. "Really Twilight? Round four?"

A nip at her ear was the response she got. "I have literally never been this happy. Now shut up and kiss me."

"I am such a bad influence on you."

Three shows over five nights was over before Beatrix could even believe it. Every one of them got bumped up to a prime time show. And it all culminated in a finale where the stars of the show ended up being invited to a glamorous after party that Twilight was sure Rarity would be jealous to hear she didn't stay long enough to be invited to.

It had been a very good thing that Beatrix had an extra day alloted to make it to her next show, because her and her marefriend did not decide to brave the light of day for most of the next morning. Begrudgingly they did manage to make it down for Twilight to check out of the hotel and accompany her marefriend back to the theater to help her pack up.

Moonlight was levitating and following the last of the show mares newly purchased road provisions into her cart while said show mare was accepting another generous bonus from the owner of the theater. She liked that ever since rumors about her preferences had spread, and were now confirmed, the random creeps hitting on her had dramatically dropped. The unicorn stallion known as Velvet seemed almost oddly polite as he thanked Trixie one last time before disappearing back into his establishment.

"Oh Trixie," Moonlight sing songed as she poked her head from the cart.

Smiling, she turned and threw off her hat and cape with a flourish. "No Trixie, not for at least the next six days."

Twilight levitated the now offered costume into the cart along with her own mask. As she was stepping out a glow enveloped her to cancel her transformation and before the showmare was her marefriend in all her glory once again. "Well in that case, would Beatrix like to come give her marefriend a good bye kiss?" Beatrix was all too happy to comply as she quickly trotted over and dove deeply into the offered lips. Twilight tried to pull away only to have the lips pressed against hers again. "Don't start something you can't finish. You gotta get on the road at some point I believe," she finally gasped out when she managed to pull away.

"I'm still trying to make up for missing a months worth, and I need extra for the road ahead of me don't I?" She gave a devilish smirk before darting forward and stealing one more.

Smiling at the attention Twilight gave one back before responding. "I suppose your right, but if you don't get on the road you won't get to see the surprises I left for you."

"Surprises? Come on Twilight, I already told you you don't need to get me anything." She stepped towards the still open door of her cart, only for a now familiar magical aura to suddenly surround and close it. The door locked itself and the key floated itself right next to Twilight and just out of range of Beatrix's reaching hoof. "Twilight, I told you I don't have room for you to buy me stuff. You already got me that new bed roll that I'm going to have to move stuff to use."

"Don't worry, it's a surprise but I didn't spend anything on it. But you need to promise to be good and not peek until you stop for the night." She floated the key just a little closer as her marefriend reached for it in earnest. Pulling it just out of reach again she repeated, "promise?"

Pursing her lips and giving a glare Beatrix attempted to stare down her marefriend. "Only if I get another kiss."

"Deal."

"Then promise." They came together in another kiss, this one drawn out by Twilight as she held the key longer against Beatrix's attempts to take it. She finally relented as their lips finally parted. "I'm going to miss you."

"Just think of me when you lay down on your new super soft bed tonight." She planted one more kiss on her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, so so much." It had still been a little awkward for her to use those words over the first few days. Now both hearing and saying them gave her a feeling in her chest that she knew would keep her warm during the long nights on the road.

With a lingering nuzzle the two finally separated as Beatrix walked to the front of her cart and hitched herself in. She realized she was doing something she never did when she was starting a trip across Equestria, she was smiling. She took her first few steps before thinking of something and stopping again. "Oh, and tell Rarity and Rainbow I said hey."

"For sure. Be safe." With that they officially parted ways. Twilight couldn't help but feel a little sad as the sound of a squeeking wheel on the cart started to fade from her hearing.

Beatrix could always tell when it was about time to hunker down for the night. She had long since gotten to the point where no amount of pulling the cart would really exhaust her so it had nothing to do with that. The trigger was when she actually started to notice the squeeking wheel on her cart and it eventually started to annoy.

With machine like muscle memory she unhitched herself and unleashed one swift kick to drop the parking blocks into place. Almost without noticing she retrieved her key as she walked around to the door of the cart. In the back of her mind she remembered she had a surprise waiting for her just inside. She opened the door and stepped in. Being that the sun had already set and the moon was on the opposite side from the door there was not enough light to see much of anything, but she really didn't need it. She took three long steps across her cart and reached out for her lantern where she knew it was. Her hoof hit nothing but air and the momentum of leaning forward caused her to fall forward. She fully expected to hit her head against the side of a shelf that should be there but as she braced for it she only hit the floor of the cart with a small thud. Thoroughly confused she finally decided it would be a good idea to light her horn.

A gasp escaped her as she looked around. She got back up and hurried to the door and began poking her head in and out repeatedly as she attempted to compare the distance to the side of her cart from the inside to the outside. Bringing herself back in she looked around. She suddenly became aware of a slight pleasant feeling in the back of her horn. It was a feeling she had only felt a few times in her life, a feeling of being surrounded by magic.

"Space compression magic.... Twilight you are amazing!!!!!" She squeed in delight as she danced in a little circle in a space she would normally just have enough room to lay down in. With all her stuff still in its place just pushed back she would actually have room to fully lay out on her new bed roll and still be able to sprawl more. And that's just what she did. The new roll was set up so one pull of a string sent it rolling across the floor of the cart and she dove in like an excited filly. Rolling around happily she noticed something else. Over on one of her cabinets was a note. It read simply, "one more thing".

Standing back up she walked over to where she kept her paperwork. The only thing she ever really used from this cabinet was her schedule, which she noticed right away was thicker then it should be. Looking over the normal pages she noticed several dates marked for her shows were also marked with a plus mark and a heart.

Getting through those she came to pages that bared telltale signs of being magically copied. They started with a letter head reading, "From the desk of Twilight Sparkle" and seemed to be the mares own extensive and detailed schedule, though it was clear that some changes had been recently made. Several events were added in different colored ink then others, and others still were scratched out and changed. Newer events were all labled simply "Beatrix" and circled with a heart, and they all corresponded with the changed events in the showmares tour schedule.

Realizing she'd been staring in awe for some time the mare finally slid the papers back into their place. With barely contained excitement she grabbed an empty scroll, her ink pot, a quill, and her special candle. She didn't think she had enough words or parchment to tell Twilight just how much she loved her, but she was certainly going to try.

Author's Note

Did most of this during a con where I was having a great time, so it might be even more sweet then I had intended. This is the end of the Manehatten tour, but there is still more to come. Not sure if the title of the next story line, but it will be different. The next few stories will have characters I've never written for and something I never thought I'd do, an original character. Look forward to seeing if I can avoid screwing it up.
As always I love hearing your feedback, so bring it on, good or bad.

Mentors: The Conartist

Knock knock knock!

The sound was loud and insistent, and yet the two sleeping mares it was directed at barely registered it as they remained in their private world.

Knock knock knock!!!

Three months had passed since the shows that had made The Great And Powerful Trixie once again and an even bigger star then she had ever been. With her lovely assistant Moonlight Gleam at her side she was packing in crowds at every show she played. Her latest was at one of the biggest theaters in Las Pegasas and the pair had left to a standing ovation for five shows in a row.

Knock knock knock!!!!!!!

But right now wasn't the time for that. Right now was the time for Beatrix Lulamoon and Twilight Sparkle to relax with their hooves tangled together and Twilight's head nuzzled into her favorite place in the crook of her marefriends neck. Five shows, five nights in a row had been intense for the two and they had no intention of leaving each other's embrace for as long as they could manage.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

As soon as that sounds stopped.

"Uggghh... Beatrix, sweetie, did you order a wake up call or something?"

"Do I ever order a wake up call the day after a show Twilight?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!!!!!!!

"Well somepony seems to want our attention pretty bad, should we do something about it?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!!!!!!!!

"Uggghhh, seems like we don't have a choice in it at this point." Being closest to the door Beatrix begrudgingly began untangling herself from her marefriend and rolled herself to the side of the bed. This was a much shorter trip then it had been for them on some occasions in there relationship. The pair had gotten somewhat use to fairly luxurious accommodations due to Twilight's connections. That wasn't to say that they had not ended up cuddled close together on the showmares bedroll in her cart on several occasions when no other options were available. This time however those in charge of the shows had seen fit to make sure they had a room to stay in even if it wasn't the nicest they had ever seen. "It's probably just the promoter. He probably just thinks we're trying to milk him for another day in the room. I'll just tell him I'm paying for this one and to get lost. Just keep the bed warm for me would ya, Twilight honey." The flirting was met with pursed lips as the purple unicorn still refused to open her eyes as she blew her a kiss. Smiling, the other mare leaned back in to plant a quick kiss on her lips before lifting herself off the bed.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!!!!!!!

"Yeah yeah yeah, I heard you already." She yawned as she said the words, more to herself then to whoever was at the door. She trotted the short distance across the room mostly on autopilot. She was not the type of magic user who could use her magic in such a groggy state so she was fumbling with the lock with her hooves as another barrage of knocks started.

KNOCK KNO.....

"Would you cut that out already Drak...."

"And where do you get off talking to me like that young lady?"

Twilight's interest was suddenly peaked as she opened her eyes to look out from the pile of blankets and pillows left from her marefriends departure. What she saw was and older pegasus stallion wearing a weathered but still fancy suit jacket and a rather dapper top hat. His fur was a blue that was a few good shades darker then Beatrix's, and it seemed like his mane might have matched if it was not showing the signs of graying to a fair degree. The stallion seemed to take the open door for enough of an invitation as he needed and walked into the room without hesitation. Beatrix seemed unable to stop this action as she was too busy fumbling with her words.

"Pre..Pre.. P..."

"Yes I'd imagine you'd be surprised to see me. Coming back here ready to dump all that I've given you and not even trying to contact me to give me any kind of explanation."

"No, I wouldn't.. and what do you mean.. wait, how are you even..."

"These old bones aren't even in the ground yet and you think you can just destroy my legacy and I'm not going to find out."

"No, you don't understand, if you'd let me explain..."

"I don't need you to explain anything to me Beatrix. All I need you to do is point me in the direction of that two bit tart you're trying to dump my persona off on so I can..."

"Presto!!! Would you shut up for five seconds!" Though the stallion did not seem particularly off put by Beatrix's out burst he did nonetheless stop to actually regard the mare as she stopped to catch her breath. "I don't know where you're hearing rumors from but I'm not planning on dumping the Great And Powerful Trixie any time soon. I'm still years from even thinking about retiring and it's not like I've got something better to fall back on."

"Humph, well if that's the case then who exactly was that gussied up tramp you were parading across the stage last ni..."

Beatrix was suddenly in his face, hoof grabbing the collar of his jacket and a very serious look on her face. "Don't. You. Dare. Call her that again." Beatrix relaxed a little and let go of him after seeing something in his expression that Twilight could not see from where she lay. "She is not some kind of protégé I'm taking on to replace me if that's what your thinking, she's not even really my assistant to tell the truth."

"Then what is she exactly. You're performing with a passion I haven't seen you with in years. With all that I had heard had happened I figured it was an act to sucker some starry eyed newbe into taking your cares away. If that's not the case then what is it?"

"Beatrix," having finally decided to speak up, Twilight's presence was finally noticed by the stallion. He stared at her in mild shock as she adjusted herself to sit more upright on the bed. "Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine Twilight," she turned back to regard the stallion, "as should be plain to see, she's my marefriend."

For once in his short time in the room the intruder seemed to be hesitant, staring at Twilight for a few long moments before turning another slow gaze back to the previous target of his focus. "... Well, I guess there's a much better story here then I had assumed. I presume my presence here is much more rude then I had intended. I think it would be tactful for me to bow out and instead invite the two of you to join me for breakfast downstairs." Without waiting for any confirmation from either mares he exited the room just as quickly as he had entered it, catching the door with his wing to pull it shut as he went.

"... Beatrix, sweetie. What was that about? Who was that and why did he use your real name?"

"It would probably be obvious if you weren't just waking up, but I don't really have time to explain. If you want to freshen up a little then make it quick, we gotta get downstairs in kind of a hurry."

"I may still be groggy but I can tell your flustered. Are you sure you don't want to take a few minutes to talk about what just happened."

"Oh I would love to. But like I said we don't really have the time." Feeling the question coming Beatrix continued before Twilight could protest. "Presto is an old school magician, which means he's a straight up conartist. If we don't get down there quick the only part of this breakfast we're gonna get is the bill for it on the room."

Sensing that was the last protest she was going to be able to manage Twilight decided to roll herself off the bed and go over to stand next to her marefriend. She gave her a gentle nuzzle which the mare seemed to appreciate greatly. "Well I'm ready to go if you are."

"I'm sorry in advance, this probably isn't going to be fun to deal with for you. I can handle him, but I've already told you once before that you're probably going to hate him." Twilight looked at her with questioning eyes, "let's just go, it'll be better to explain with food and probably some coffee running through our systems." She gave her a small peck on the cheek before her horn started to glow and opened the door to their room.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait everyone. Haven't had much time to write but that's not a good excuse. What is a good excuse is that I'm crazy and had a few issues with this story. Much like one of my previous works, I literally got caught up on ONE specific line of transitional dialog and couldn't crack it for weeks. Once I figured it out the story started following from me.. and then it started to get pretty long.
But despite the fact that I decided to hack it up, since you all have been so patient, I'm going to drop them all at once.
This is just an intro, hopefully it gives some insight on my original character and his relationship to Trixie. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think of him.

Mentors: The Long Con

Though it had taken the two a while to get an elevator, and the trip down had been slowed by more then a few stops to take on more passengers, it was still a small shock for Twilight to see that the stallion they had followed just a short way behind was already seated at a table with three plates of food and three steaming cups of coffee waiting. The pegasus apparently named Presto only motioned them to sit, while Beatrix motioned for Twilight to comply. They sat down and proceeded to begin their meal before any words were exchanged.

It was Beatrix who, after a long sip of her drink, began the conversation. "I know Twilight has some questions, but I gotta get some of my own answered first." Presto had been taking a sip of his drink as well, but set it down by way of telling her to proceed. "What the hey are you even doing here?"

"Having breakfast and checking in on my number one protégé, obviously."

"I'm your only protégé, and you know what I'm talking about. What happened to Baltimare? You know; retirement, dream home, relaxing away the rest of your days?"

"Oh all that did happen, and I did thoroughly enjoy it. Then I got bored. Not to mention three months after I bought it, my dream home was suddenly worth three times as much, so I sold it and moved back here."

Beatrix gave a deep sigh while looking down into her coffee. "Always about the next score huh." She took a small sip of her drink before continuing. "Well, can't say I'm surprised, though I figured it would take a little longer then that. I think I owe some of your old running buddies some bits."

Presto smiled at this exchange, and as he responded his voice took on a dramatic tone, one Twilight noticed was not dissimilar to her marefriends stage voice. "But of course, you knew I couldn't stay away from this town long. After all, what would Las Pegasas be without me in it?"

"... Safer. I'd guess about a twenty percent drop in petty theft.

"Twenty three during the long months of my absence."

Beatrix had set down her coffee cup and rubbed her eyes like she was still trying to expell the exhaustion from them. With out looking up she said in a half hearted manner, "you really are something aren't you". She finally looked over to her still confused looking marefriend and addressed her. "As you've probably worked out by now, I have a fair bit of history with this guy here." She picked up her fork to stab a bite of her breakfast and used it to gesture at Presto. "As should be fairly obvious, this is the pony who trained me. He's my mentor who is currently going by the name..."

Presto cut her off, bowing as exaggeratedly as possible from his seated position, "Presto Chango. Purveyor of the mystic arts and showpony extraordinaire. And you, young miss, must be," he placed his hoof against his forehead and made a face like he was concentrating hard, "Twilight Sparkle, former resident of Canterlot and a graduate of the princesses school of gifted unicorns."

Twilight gave a slight start at this display, but a look over to Beatrix saw her giving a death glare to her mentor as she suddenly lifted her forehoof over the table. "Presto, give."

With a roll of his eyes he reached under the table to retrieve a pair of bags very familiar to Twilight. Beatrix accepted her marefriends saddle bags and set them under her seat. "It's not as though I was planning to keep them," he said in an indignant tone.

Beatrix's response was only to reach her hoof back across the table and in the same tone as before say, "the bits too."
Shrugging, the seemingly non-apologetic stallion lifted his hat to reveal a smaller bag that should have been inside one of the larger ones and hoofed it over to the mare as well. "All of them."

Rolling his eyes again he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and dropped a hoof full of bits into the bag Beatrix was now holding open. "Are you done?"

"Did you get your sticky hooves on anything else?" Presto gave a huff that seemed to show he did not approve of the accusation that from what Twilight could tell so far Beatrix was perfectly justified in making. "I told you you wouldn't like dealing with him." Beatrix gave her marefriend a suffering sigh as she returned the bits to the saddle bags.

"Well.. since I met you I've certainly had the chance to experience meeting some very.. colorful types of ponies. I don't really like that he was apparently going through my stuff just to pull off some kind of mind reading trick, and attempted to rob me in the process, but I am curious as to when and how he even got ahold of my bags. As far as I can tell you never let him out of your sight, and I'm pretty sure he was never within hoofs reach of them anyway," she turned to Presto to direct the question at him, "sooo?"

"Twilight, honey. Remember when I made it down to Ponyville and actually met the rest of your friends," Twilight gave a nod, "well the same guidelines you gave me for understanding Pinky Pie kind of apply to him. If you try to figure out how he does the stuff he does it's just gonna make your head hurt."

Twilight made a questioning face as she looked between the two ponies. "But if he trained you then don't you know how he does it?"

Presto cut in before Beatrix could answer. "My dear, a good mentor, much like a good magician, does not reveal their secrets. I gave her the tools she needed and set her on her way. What she has managed to do with the tools I gave her is a testament to my skills as a mentor."

"What he's saying is he wasn't a very good mentor." Presto gave another disapproving glare which only caused Beatrix to roll her eyes. "It's not like it's a big deal though, I may have wanted to be just like him at one point, but since then I've seen more then a few lesser scam artists like him end up getting some pretty harsh comeuppance." She stabbed another bite of her food. "Presto, you may have done a lot for me, but I think Equestria is better off with only one lowlife scoundrel like you in it."

"Humph, well as long as your keeping the quota on two bit hacks filled I think it's a good exchange." They both gave each other intense glares which made Twilight suddenly become concerned.

"Now now, I don't think there's any reason for those kinds of words..." Twilight trailed off as she noticed her marefriend and her marefriends mentor chuckling lightly. "What?"

"Oh Twilight, honey, you know me better then that by now," Twilight only gave her a questioning look. "I am a two bit hack."

"And 'lowlife' is practically a compliment to me." They both chuckled some more.

"..., ... Oooooohkay. You two certainly seem to have an, interesting relationship. I guess if I'm not going to find out about your... tricks? Then I guess I'd like to know about you two, like I guess how you two met." Twilight looked back and forth between the two wondering who would start.

Beatrix finished chewing on another bite of her breakfast before it was her who did. "It's really not all that special of a story. In fact it's really anticlimactic when you get right down to it." Twilight gave her a smile to show her she was interested. "Ok, well I believe I told you that I was thirteen when I left... home to try to make something of myself." Twilight nodded. "Well the part I didn't tell you was that I failed hard." She went to take another bite of her food but suddenly realized that part of the meal included brussel sprouts. She made a face before asking, "Twilight, did you want these." Twilight nodded as Beatrix floated them over to her.

"Beatrix." Presto's voice had taken on a commanding edge as he gave his former student another disapproving stare.

"Oh please, why did you even order them for me. It's not like you can make me eat them any more." She took the last one in her spoon and gesture to Twilight, "you're just lucky she's weird and loves them." Twilight watched the spoon closely as Beatrix gave it a flick. With practiced ease Twilight moved and caught the offered treat in her mouth. The two smiled at each other, Presto just let out a light grunt at the display.

"Yes well, I do believe you were just telling her how you couldn't even manage to run your own life," he said with an indignant tone.

"Yeah yeah, I was getting to that." She washed down another bite of food with a drink from her cup. "Well I came to this city figuring I could make my own opportunity here..."

"And she learned how cruel this city can be."

"Yeah. Inside a year I was performing cheesy card tricks with a falling apart deck of cards in the streets just to try and get the bits I needed to survive." Her voice took on a somber tone that Twilight recognized as one she usually used when talking about her past. "Then one day some random old pegasus showed up where I was performing. He just sat there and watched nearly my whole routine without saying a word. Then he gave me the extra sandwich he had gotten from the shop down the street, which I gotta admit I wanted more then bits at that moment. I started eating it right then and there, dropped my cards on the ground and everything." She gave a meaningful look over to Presto. "When I finished all he did was tell me to follow him. When I asked why, he just said..."

"Do you want this other sandwich or not!" Presto cut in with gusto and the two shared a laugh, one which Twilight was able to join in on. The two magicians looked at her as her laughter subsided.

"So I guess you've always been easy to win over with food." She gave a knowing look to her marefriend. As realization dawned on Beatrix another wave of laughter over took her.

"Yeah well, it was a little different back then. At that time I figured there was a good fifty fifty chance I was gonna be abducted or something, but I figured I'd take my chances."

"You always say it like that. What made you think I was gonna abduct you."

"You gotta admit, it was kinda creepy Presto." Presto only gave a shrug. "But all he did was take me to his place, and I ended up living there for the next two years while he trained me." She took another sip of her drink. "To this day I don't know what he saw in me that made him do it."

Twilight cast a glance towards Presto by means of learning said reasons. "Now Beatrix, I've told you that many times." He took one of the last bites of his meal. "There was nothing special about you and there was no real reason I picked you up." Twilight gave him a disapproving glare. "What? It's true. She had and has no significant magical talent. The tricks she was doing when I found her weren't even good ones. The only thing she really brought to the table was that she was desperate enough to take the reigns of my persona even if it meant she'd be hated."

Twilight's disapproving glare intensified as she set her fork down to wrap a comforting foreleg around her marefriend. She heard her marefriend give a small sigh and nuzzle into her slightly. "It's ok Twilight. Something you need to know about Presto is that he will never tell you anything straight. He likes it if ponies don't know where they stand with him. So I might not know what he really thinks about me, but I know it's not that. At least not totally."

Twilight gave a small smile and a quick kiss on the cheek to the mare before removing her foreleg in order to continue eating her own meal. Before she did though she decided to ask, "if what you say is true, then why would you give her your persona? You must have had some kind of faith in her."

"I had faith in my own teaching. The reason I decided to take her in is because age does weird things to you." Twilight quirked her head inquisitively. "As I was starting to get up there in years I started to feel that when I retired I wanted to do so being beloved. I think you know by now that that can be a little hard for my character." Twilight looked back to Beatrix before giving a small smirk and a nod. Beatrix stuck her food covered tongue out at her. "But that character was my legacy. If I just let it die then my legend would end. So I decided I needed somepony to pass it on to. And I just so happened to stumble onto somepony who had nothing to lose and everything to gain."

"And now I'm more famous then you ever were," she gave a smug smile as she finished the last bite of her food, "so thanks."

"You are very welcome." They both exchanged what looked to be combatitive glares at each other before they both gave almost identical smirks and slipped into what Twilight saw as being a companionable silence. A waiter came over with a fresh pot of coffee and refilled all their mugs. Twilight watched as the two made almost the same adjustments to their drinks while passing the cream and sugar back and forth in a manner that seemed well practiced.

"Umm, Beatrix, sweetie." Twilight broke her marefriend out of the moment she seemed to be having as she took to blowing on her coffee while looking over to her. "This might seem weird.. but have you ever noticed how much alike you two are."

Both magicians glanced to one another before giving a shrug. "I lived with him for two years, and usually stayed with him whenever I came back to this city. For better or worse he is more or less responsibile for the pony I am today."

"So you have my utmost apologies". Beatrix stuck her tongue out at the older pony yet again.

Suppressing a laugh Twilight continued. "But it kinda seems like more then that. The way you both get along, your mannerisms, your coats are even kinda similar. I know you usually don't like talking about your past but is there maybe something more you want to tell me abo..."

"He's not my dad Twilight." Beatrix gave a suffering sigh that told Twilight that she had hoped this subject didn't come up. "I already told you all I want to say about my parents but I will confirm that Presto is most definitely not my dad." Presto seemed to confirm this by letting a low chuckle escape him as he sipped his fresh coffee.

"Well I suppose that make sense. But I mean, umm, is it like a...

"And no he's not my foster dad, or even the dad I always wanted. He's just the old coot that trained me."

"But didn't you say you wanted to be just like him once."

Beatrix sighed again as she responded. "Yeah, when I was fourteen and had nopony else." She gave a glance over to the stallion still chuckling at the two into his coffee. "Maybe at some point, on some level, but Presto made it clear that that was not a real option."

Twilight looked back and forth between the two hoping for an explanation. Presto set his mug down. "My dear, since from what I hear your mostly performing her bigger shows with her you might not have noticed, but being in show business is hard. Even more so if you're going to travel. Combine that with the fact that I was teaching her to make ponies hate her, and it would stand to reason I wouldn't want to teach something like that to anypony I saw as my own blood. Not to mention that I'd probably be about the worst father figure imaginable. It's hard for a pony like me to try and teach right from wrong." He seemed to gesture to the bags below Beatrix's chair. Beatrix gave him a suspicious stare before reaching down and checking the bags again. She didn't seem to find anything missing but still kept the look on her face.

Twilight was somewhat deflated by the comments of the two. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything, not really at least. I just, well..."

Beatrix had broken the stare at Presto and instead decided to give Twilight a small peck on the cheek. "It's ok Twilight. It's sweet of you to want that sort of thing for me, but even you can't change the past.

"Where did you find this one Beatrix, you seem to have changed a lot since I last saw you, if the changes in the act are anything to go by. But this pony, wow, she's way too sweet for you."

Ignoring what could easily have been seen as an insult, Beatrix gave a small laugh to shrug off the previous topic of conversation before responding "Believe it or not, she found me. And wouldn't let me go, even after thinking I really was the great and powerful Trixie when we first met."

"Now this sounds like the story I want to hear. Please, continue." Presto made an over elaborate gesture.

Beatrix's lips made a puddering sound as she huffed a breath out before she responded. "What did you actually hear about what happened to me. You must have at least heard I had fallen on hard times if you thought I was dumping the act."

"Ha, well the usual rumor sources were turning out quite a few tales about you for a while there. The most prominent had to be that you had met your end at the hands of a rampaging Ursa Major, devoured whole while trying to prove your draw story was actually true."

Beatrix gave a little snort, "and when the rumors started to not be so dumb?"

"I'm afraid they never did. I think the best and most ridiculous I heard was that some rando bested you by easily beating an actual Ursa Major right in front of you while you tried to subdue it with limp noodles."

Beatrix gave a much deeper snort and started laughing deeply while Twilight tried to hide her gentle giggling behind her hoof. Getting her laughing under control Beatrix finally responded, "oh sweet Celestia, Presto, your sources are the best."

"Yes, they do at least entertain, but actually learning about something that could have actually happened would be nice as well. So what really happened?"

Both mares gave each other a look before hysterical laughter overtook both of them. "No, they actually did a fairly good job this time around." Beatrix got out through her laughter. Presto quirked a questioning eyebrow. "It was actually an Ursa Minor, though it still broke my ropes like they were wet noodles."

Presto now looked thoroughly surprised. "Wait, are you saying you actually fought with an Ursa?"

"Not sure I could call what I managed fighting, but yeah."

Presto blinked slowly. "Young lady, that is ridiculously dangerous. Why in Equestria would you think that was a good idea?"

"Didn't really have a choice. Some kids took my story seriously and wanted me to prove I could do it. And it turned out the town I was in just happened to be right next to a creepy magic forest where stuff like that are a dime a dozen."

Presto blinked slowly again. "So you really fought an Ursa?" Beatrix nodded. "And you survived?"

"Only because somepony else defeated it."

Presto's eyes went wider. "Wait, the part about the rando beating it with ease was true too?"

"That wasn't a rando," Beatrix took another sip of her coffee and nodded in the direction of her marefriend while she swollowed. "That was Twilight."

Presto's jaw went slack as his gaze fell on the purple unicorn also sipping her coffee. "And it definitely wasn't easy. Atherial mass is actually heavier to lift via magic then physical mass is. The Ursa may have been the size of a four story house, but it's proportional mass was like lifting a small mountain." Beatrix couldn't help but smile when Twilight went into lecture mode.

Presto must have realized the way he was staring as he snapped his jaw shut and straightened up in a dignified way while taking another sip of his coffee. He was obviously not sure how to respond, but he was determined not to show it.

"You probably figured out she attended Princess Celestias School for Gifted Unicorns because of her old student ID in her bag, but that's not half the story. The whole reason she wouldn't let me go when we ran into each other again was because she was trying to teach me some kind of friendship lesson." Presto creased his brow in question. "I know, weird. But apparently it's a thing. And it's also kind of her responsibility," Beatrix's showmareship shown through as she took another sip to pause for dramatic effect, "as an element of Harmony and princess Celestia's personal student."

Presto could once again only sit and blink slowly at this information. He opened his mouth to respond a few times but no words came out. The mares gave him time, but Beatrix started to snicker as it became clear that no amount of time would help.

"Thank you so much for this Twilight. I almost never manage to get one over on him like this." The happy couple shared a small snicker at the stallions expense.

Noticing this, Presto's face took on a challenging expression. Picking up his coffee he decided on his counter attack. "Well, it does seem that you are doing very well for yourself Beatrix. You two put on a very good show and seem to be very happy together," he finished off his mug in one deep gulp, "so when should I expect my wedding invitation?"

Both mares had been sharing loving gazes when both of their faces instantly went bright red and Beatrix turned back to her mentor attempting to sputter out a response.

"What... Why would you even... It's not like we... I mean..."

With a triumphant snort Presto cut in on her babbling. "It's ok Beatrix, calm yourself. Remember, three deep slow breath...."

"I am not a filly any more Presto". Beatrix hissed out as she attempted to compose herself. She very pointedly did not follow his instructions and instead very abruptly, and by Twilight's estimation very painfully, forced her breathing to be steady and slowly began speaking again. "Twilight and I have only been together a few months. I do love her dearly, but we only get to see each other every few weeks. And besides that," she took a second to straighten up in as condescending a posture as she could manage, "do you really think I'd invite you to something as classy as my wedding would be?"

"Oh Beatrix, why do you wound me so?" Presto made a show of being hurt and offended, a display Twilight thought Rarity would be proud of. As soon as that thought hit her brain Twilight suddenly broke out in hysterical laughter. The pair of magicians snickered lightly at the display until she could manage to speak. "Oh sweet Celestia, you two are worse then Rarity and Apple Jack. Hahahaha, I can't even imagine how much you two must have bickered living together." The whole table joined in with the last bit of laughter as Twilight got herself under control. "You know Beatrix sweety, you may claim he isn't your dad, but on some level you two are definitely family." Twilight kept looking back and forth between the two.

"Yeah well, you don't stay together as long as we did without developing some kind of relationship. Maybe in some ways I do love him, maybe like a brother, or maybe a pet fish."

"I'd go as high as a favorite guinea pig for you, my dear former student."

Another round of laughter between them all. "But I believe I told you that there has always been some kind of barrier between me and the ponies in my life. Presto took me in and taught me to survive," Beatrix noticed the waiter coming over with the check for their meal, "but he would never do the sorts of things a parent would."

Beatrix reached her hoof out instinctively to take the bill from where the waiter left it on the table, only to feel her hoof make contact with the table cloth. Looking down she noticed her hoof was in fact grabbing at nothing. Looking back up her features immediately went blank. In front of Presto was the bill while the stallion himself already had a small sack pulled from his jacket pocket and was hoofing over a very generous pile of bits to the waiter. Beatrix's ears had apparently gone numb as well as she could have sworn she heard her mentor suddenly say something that sounded like "keep the change" as the waiter smiled and left the table.

The stallion now stood and gave a tip of his hat to both mares. "Thank you both for joining me for this lovely meal. It has been grand to get to know you miss Twilight. And it's good to hear your doing so well Beatrix. Keep up the good work, both of you. The better you do, the more you grow my legend." He gave a thoughtful look to his still gauking former student. "Take care of each other." With that he gave a turn on his hooves and left the dining room.

Twilight watched him as he went, and only when he was out of view did she look back and see the absolutely stunned state her marefriend was in. "Beatrix, you ok?"

Snapped out of her stuper she finally looked away from the last place she had seen Presto, though as she looked to Twilight the dumbstruck expression remained. "I.. I.." she shuck her head to compose herself. "I've known that stallion since I was fourteen years old. I lived with him for two years, and I worked with him even longer. But in all that time I have never, not once, seen bits come out of his wallet for any reason. Much less voluntarily." Her gaze returned to the place Presto had disappeared.

Twilight glanced back and forth between her and the spot she was looking before stealing herself and broaching the sensitive subject once again. "You know sweetie," the pony being addressed turned to her, "both you and Presto seem to agree on the nature of your relationship, but I believe you said he never lets ponies know what he really thinks about them." Beatrix managed to give her a slight nod. "I was just thinking about how Presto is apparently a major conartist, and yet despite teaching you how to get by, he never taught you any of that." She waited to see if the mare would respond but she seemed too far gone for that. "For some reason it just reminds me of something my parents always use to tell me; That their job as parents is to teach me enough that I don't need to make the same mistakes they made."

Twilight didn't think it was possible at this point, but as her lover had time to register what she said the look on her face became even more shocked. As she watched she started to wonder if she might have pushed this conversation too far as her marefriend once again looked over to where the pony that had made her who she was had disappeared. With relief she noticed her eyes close and counted as she took three deep, slow breaths before turning back to face Twilight.

"There is not enough coffee in Equestria to make it not way too early for me to think about that." She gave one last glance to the rooms exit. "I don't have to leave town until tomorrow. Let's go back up to the room, I need to snuggle something right now."

Twilight just gave her a nuzzle, one which she leaned into appreciatively.

Author's Note

Had a hard time with most of this chapter. There were a lot of different ideas that I wanted to get in and transitioning between them naturally was difficult. I think I actually like how it turned out, and how Presto turned out. But I still would like to know what you think.

Interlude: Stupid

Stupid.

Stupid!

STUPID!!!!!

The straps of the cart seemed to dig into the show mare's sides more deeply than any time she could easily remember.

It must be, "This! STUPID! CART!". Yeah, that's it. This stupid cart and that STUPID WHEEL.

The wheel that had been grinding her ears for the past week. She always knew it was there but lately it was impossible to ignore. She had days before started to figure the wheel must be broken, but every check on it had shown nothing wrong with it. But it was the only explanation she could think of as to why her cart felt so heavy.

Stupid.

Stupid!

STUPID!!!!!

And why is it so HOT!!!

It was getting late into the season but apparently nopony had told the weather ponies that because that STUPID SUN was way hotter then she felt it should be.

Three weeks had passed since her last big show, and as it tended to be for show ponies at this time of year, her gigs were getting a little thin on the ground. This wasn't new to her, nor was it that concerning. Her recent success meant she could comfortably work through the coming winter months and not worry so much, or even at all if she was going to have enough bits to make it through. Yet despite this everything felt like it was going wrong for her. At least since she left Las Pegasus, and especially since her last show a week before.

Stupid.

STUPID!

STUPID!!!!!!

That stupid town, that stupid building, that stupid mare...

She wanted to hunker down hours before, her body being more sore and heavy then she could remember it being in a long time. But she had one more small show between here and her next big show in Canterlot in a little over two weeks and she was already at least half a day behind from all the stops for unscheduled maintenance on her cart. She had to make it to this show in some random, stupid, back woods town in just two days and she would never make it if she didn't make the next rest stop today. Though she figured her luck must be finally turning around as she came around a bend in the road and a small collection of buildings and tents came into view.

Finally.

This was one of her favorite rest stops in all of Equestria, with good facilities and a good price for letting weary travelers let themselves hitch up and rest.

I can finally get this stupid cart off, get a stupid shower, and maybe,

Her thought cut itself off before it drifted to more things it didn't want to think about at the moment.

Things are looking up, she thought to herself as she finally pried the straps of her cart off her aching shoulders.

"Double?" She stared at the old earth pony in his tent who was apparently now in charge of the rest stop. "You out and out, Doubled, your rate??? Since less than a year ago??????"

"Actually, with the hitching fee it comes out to a little over double."

"What in the name of Celestia's flaming flanks is a HITCHING FEE?????"

"Sorry ma'am, nothing I can do. New pony managing the property. New amenities and such gotta be paid for. I'm sure you're gonna love them when you try them."

"I don't care about amenities, all I want is a shower..." Her rage burned itself out as she spoke, her sentence finishing in a defeated whimper. "Fine, I don't have the energy to care about anything anymore." With a growling sigh her horn lit up and passed a good sized pile of bits over to the stallion. "The water better be steaming hot is all I gotta say."

"... About that."

The door of the show mares cart almost ripped from its hinges as it was enveloped in a frantic magic aura to be slammed open. "What kind of stupid place, starts charging for stupid amenities, before they even finish putting the stupid things in!!!!!!" She stomped into her cart as her aura slammed it back closed with equal force. She continued to grumble things about fees and no refund policies as she opened a drawer and threw her unused towel and other supplies into it and slammed it shut with the same force her door didn't deserve either.

With another growling sigh she turned to her bedroll. She did not have the patience left to attempt to fluff it up again. She slumped into it and began her now nightly struggle to find a position even remotely comfortable. With some great bit of time and effort she finally did.

She laid there as if she intended to sleep, though her tightly clenched jaw and eyelids spoke more of a pony trying to hide more then be comfortable. With a deep breath she slowly relaxed. She allowed one of her eyes to peek open for just a second and look over to her writing area, and specifically the bare space below a certain candle.

Her eye slammed back shut and she rolled back over to a much less comfortable position. "Stupid candle", she muttered as exhaustion started to take over and pull her away from consciousness.

At least it's quiet.

Several seconds passed as sleep finally started to take her.

From what sounded like the neighboring rest stop she heard the unmistakable sounds of a banjo tuning up.

***

Why.

Is.

Everything.

So.

STUPID!!!!!

Her show the week before had not gone well. The sour feeling it left had been fueling her foul mood since.

Stupid spoiled brat.

Stupid cutecenera.

Stupid cheap props.

And still her shoulder ached with the strain of her cart as she trudged forward, only to know that each step would send off another shrill noise to attack her already aching forehead.

And why is it so cold?

While it still felt like the weather ponies were trying to boil her brains out of her skull during the day, the nights had apparently gotten the memo on what time of year it was and were behaving appropriately. It was way too late and getting way too cold to still be on the road, but she was now nearly a full day behind schedule from making it to Canterlot when she planned to be.

With a weary sigh her hooves stopped of what felt like their own accord.

Who the hey cares? she resolved as she started unhooking herself from her cart. Not like I'm going to need the four extra days I planned to have in Canterlot. Her hoof raised in a practiced manner and kicked out into the back of the cart.

Nothing happened.

With a glare she turned to her offending abode before raising her hoof again.

Stupid.

Thing.

Two more hits rang out before the telltale sound of her brakes falling into place could be heard. With a snort of irritation she tiredly shuffled to the door in the back.

Too tired to use her magic, she stumbled a little as she tried to take out her keys to open the door as she walked.

Another stupid week of absolutely nothing else but this before... She didn't have the strength to finish the thought.

After a few tries she finally managed to get the door open. She didn't so much walk as tripped into the space. In the dim light from the moon coming through the door her eyes started to focus on the random spot her now largely autopiloting body tossed her keys. A space below a candle largely empty besides a broken quill and some ripped pieces of parchment.

Stupid.

She only vaguely felt the impact as she hit the floor next to her bedroll. She was out before her full weight came to rest.

***

If it's not the stupid wheel it must be the stupid loose dirt on this road.

It was now the only explanation she could come up with for why it felt like she had to dig her hooves in to pull her cart each step.

Sweet Celestia, you are really cursing the ground beneath your hooves.

And I'm arguing with myself again apparently. How stupid.

The heat today was such that she was wearing her magician's hat to try to shield herself from the sun. It wasn't helping much as sweat still ran down her cheeks as she struggled along with Canterlot finally on the horizon.

Yeah, sweat.

Yeah sweat. Sweat and dust from this stupid road. That's why my eyes are so bloodshot and why I have this hat so far over my eyes.

Thought it was because of the heat.

She groaned and tried to put her own thoughts out of her head.

Good luck with that, not like you got much else to think about.

Sure there is. I've done this for years. There's lots I can occupy myself with. Like... Like.....

That.

No, not like that.

Why not?

Because it's all stupid and there's no reason to think about it.

She once again tried to force her thoughts out of her head, but frustrated, exhausted anger kept letting random thoughts boil up.

Stupid cart.

Stupid road.

Stupid sun.

Stupid... Parents.

There you go.

SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP

She shook her head wildly enough that she had to stop pulling her cart for a second to readjust her hat, lest some traveling merchants coming the other direction from Canterlot see her face and notice her... sweating.

I don't want to think about it. I don't need to.

Why not?

Because it's stupid and pointless. Why would ponies care about parents? I never had them and I never cared. No matter what Twilight thinks Presto was never any kind of dad to me.

A cringe went through her chest as she thought of the name for the first time in days. With a wince she forced it back.

And that goes double for.. her...

A much deeper cringe rocked her body as another name came to her mind.

Whatever you gotta tell yourself I suppose.

It's not what I gotta tell myself, it's the truth. With a hiss of frustration and the merchants now long past her horn glowed to life and began to rip the straps of her cart off of herself.

You realize your already a day behind right.

It doesn't matter. Nothing matters. I'll sit here for the next three days and nopony will care because nopony cares

Her leg kicked out and hit the side of the cart. Nothing happened. With a growl she didn't even look back, she just started kicking.

Nopony, thwap.

Cares, thwap.

And nopony, thwap

Matters, thwink.

She glared back at the unknown sound. The break on her cart was now jammed half way down.

Just like this. Does anypony care that I gotta fix this now.

She stomped over to the offending mechanism and started yanking on it violently with her forehooves. For several minutes she went at it, her horn lighting sporadically to try to force it back in other directions. She finally pushed off and stood in a low stance glaring at the broken piece of junk. As she stood huffing again and again from her efforts she suddenly noticed something. She reached up and put a single hoof on a misaligned spring in the mechanism. With no resistance it dropped into position.

This caused her no relief as she stared dumbfounded at the sight. Her rage quickly took over again as she let loose a fierce stomp into the ground. Followed by another, and a random kick into the air at nothing in particular. In her fury her hat fell from her head. Seeing it laying there she suddenly felt even more angry. She took it in her forehoof and launched it as far as she could in whatever direction it would go.

Why?

Why is it so hard?

Why am I so mad?

Why do I feel so...

...Lonely?

The rage suddenly drained away from the mare with one icy stab. This wasn't hard. She wasn't mad. She had just forgotten what it was like to be The Great and Powerful Trixie all the time.

She was glad there was nopony else on the road because she didn't have the strength left to resist when her legs gave out and a moan of pure anguish cleared her lips. She laid there sobbing for a few minutes before she was able to open her tear filled eyes and see a purple object half buried in a nearby bush. With a sudden burst of energy she launched herself forward to retrieve it. She clutched her hat to her chest, still crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sooooorrrrrry." She had no idea who the words were directed to, but she knew they had to be said out loud.

Did I really say all that? Did I really yell at her? And all because I couldn't face it.

She made a promise to somepony, maybe herself, maybe Presto, she wasn't sure, to remember to wash her hat as she dragged it across her soaked face and maybe also blew her nose on it just a little.

She made her way up to her cart, magically opening it without a thought this time. She was more focused than she had been in weeks.

She lit her lantern and looked to the bare spot below the candle that shared a link to the pony she hoped still cared enough to respond. She really hoped she was wrong when she convinced herself some time before that she had probably cut the magic link. Her magic floated over her last good quill and a fresh sheet of parchment.

***

Twilight.

***

Well, she already made it further than she did last time.

***

If you even get this letter, let me just say first that I'm sorry. I know you have no reason to keep reading this but please at least finish.

I know you probably don't want to see me but if you can still make it to Canterlot it would mean everything to me. You don't have to stay and you definitely don't have to perform with me. I just have to explain face to face what happened. Why I did what I did. Why I said all that to you.

I can't really put it into words here on paper, I'm not as smart as you with words. The best I can say here is that sometimes I forget that not everypony grew up like me.

I also have to tell you about something that happened. Maybe if you hear it you might understand why I freaked out the way I did.

I'll be making it into town some time early tomorrow morning. If you want to meet, just respond. I'll meet you anywhere you say.

If not.. I understand.

***

Her strength gained from determination finally waining some, she had some trouble deciding on her last line, but inside she knew what it had to be.

***

Love always,

Beatrix

***

With three deep breaths, Beatrix finally focused her magic to light her candle. With hope she focused further, and with relief felt the magic become part of the flame. She held the now rolled but unsealed scroll over the flame and watched as the flame took it. The weight that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying seemed to whisk away with the puff of smoke... in the direction of Canterlot.

Stunned, she stayed looking out of her cart at the city on the mountain in the distance, the sun finally starting to set behind it. She knew for sure she could not have seen it go in that direction.

But you did.

She finally broke her gaze away from the city in the distance. Her exhaustion was nearly unbearable but she could not bring her eyes to look away from the flickering flame in front of her. For what felt like hours she just waited. Tears started to blur her vision just slightly when she suddenly gasped. The flame blazed a familiar purple and a scroll materialized and dropped on the table below the candle.

With unsteady hooves she reached out and took it up. With one last deep breath she unrolled it.

***

Beatrix

You are late. We were worried sick.<drip.> I was just about to send Rainbow Dash out to search the countryside for you. I was writing to you to at least make sure you're ok just when I got your message.<drip.>Don't ever scare me like that again.<dripdrop>

As far as needing to talk, obviously that is a given. Please know right off the bat that I'm more mad that you didn't write to let me know you were going to be late than about anything you said.<dripdropdrip>Sometimes I forget that not everypony grew up like me.

Just get here safe. The girls might have a few things to say to you, but I'm talking to you first. I'll be waiting in the usual place. See you soon.

Love you more, always,

Twilight

P.S.

I can't wait to show you the mask Rarity made me.<dripdropdrip>

***

Beatrix pulled the letter away before the ink began to smear. Tears ran down her face freely, but the smile would not leave her face.

Of course she already forgives me, , Of course she's waiting for me.

She slumped backwards into the inviting comfort of her bedroll.

I can be so stupid.

Author's Note

Sorry for how long this took. I literally finished 80 to 90 percent of this on my first day off in over a month.
Totally different format in this chapter then I've ever used, hopefully it communicates what I was going for. Back to the mentors arc after this, but you won't get answers about this one for at least another few chapters. I'll try to make sure that's not too long a wait
As always, let me know what you think. I still love hearing from readers, whether you say something good or bad.

Mentors: Who are you?

"Trixie darling, and Moonlight dear, it's so good to see you two again."

Out of all of Twilight's friends, Trixie figured it was definitely Rarity that got the biggest kick out of playing up their secret relationship. Besides maybe Pinky Pie, but she got a kick out of everything so Trixie figured that didn't count. Rarity and Trixie had been chatting and having a good time less then twelve hours ago, yet here she was pretending they hadn't seen each other since her last trip to Canterlot. The fashionista seemed to enjoy the pageantry that came with the whole situation and was playing it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Miss generosity herself. Rarity, it's always a pleasure to have such distinguished ponies such as yourself and the other elements come and see, The Great and Powerful Trixie." Of course Trixie was the one who did this for a living, and the fact that the entire crowd was now stopping to see the two of them being so familiar with each other was a testament to that. It blended well with the overall mood of the night. With the showmares new popularity the owners of the event hall they were in had packed it to breaking point and Trixie and Moonlight had put on their best show yet.

"Oh you know we'd never miss one of your shows my dear. And if I might say, the two of you were even more amazing then usual. A truly dazzling performance." Both ponies were experts at making themselves the center of attention, and the amount of ponies whispering and murmuring around them as they pretended not to notice showed how good they naturally were at playing off of one another. "Speaking of the other elements by the way, they sent me over here to see if we could borrow miss Moonlight from you for a minute. We've got somepony over yonder who simply must meet her."

The mare in question had been busying herself waving and blowing kisses to various ponies in the crowd as the two were talking. The past three shows here in Canterlot had been showing just how comfortable the mare below the mask was getting with the charade as well. She turned dramatically at the mention of her name and pranced over to hang lovingly off of her magician. The mask Rarity made for her was much more fitted to her face, and larger eyeholes blended into it with makeup made it almost like it was a part of her face. This was the reason the gesture wasn't lost when she fluttered her eyelashes at her friend in what Trixie figured was feigned confusion as she responded. "Somepony wants to meet little ol' me?" She gave a sudden gasp and a sudden bound over to the alabaster unicorn, "did you and the other girls finally bring along the element of magic so I could meet her?"

Rarity gave an exaggerated yet very lady like laugh before giving her disguised friend a pat on the head. "Unfortunately no. Our fearless leader had a... previous engagement."

Trixie could barely suppress her laughter at this exchange. It was only do to her training and how much fun she was actually having being The Great and Powerful Trixie lately that allowed her to keep going with a straight face. "Well who ever it is, I'm sure they'll be pleased to meet such a lovely mare as my sweet assistant here."

As Trixie raised a beckoning forehoof Twilight took the offer and slid in under to give her an exaggerated nuzzle drawing an "aww" from some of the crowd that was still paying attention to the exchange. "Aren't you coming along with me, Trixie darling?" The question was punctuated with a very lady like pout. Trixie had to suppress another laugh. Now that she knew Twilight's friends a little better she could see the aspects of each she pulled from when she was Moonlight, but seeing her use Rarity in front of Rarity was a little hard to process.

Trixie looked over to the other unicorn and noticed the slightest hint of a hesitant look across her face. "I'll be along shortly. There's a group of ponies over there that have been waiting for a picture all night and you know I can't let down my fans." Trixie saw the genuine smile returned to Rarity. "You just go be your naturally charming self for me and I'll join you in a few minutes." She planted a sweet kiss on her assistants forehead. With a delighted squeak she bounced over to Rarity and practically danced along with her as they walked away.

There, of course, wasn't any ponies waiting to see Trixie, at least not at that particular moment, but she figured Twilight's other friends just needed a word with her for whatever reason. Trixie was more then ok with that as she smiled while watching the two depart. She didn't know when she developed the ability to read Twilight's friends so well, but she was glad she had that kind of understanding with them, especially since not more then a few days before she was absolutely sure they were going to kill her. It would probably have been death by discomfort brought on by five sets of flaming death glares burning her to a crisp, but still. The fact that Twilight was still with her was the greatest feeling in the world, but the fact that she still got along with Twilight's friends after all that had happened gave her another feeling, one that she couldn't quite place but figured it didn't really need to be figured out for the time being. At least that's what she told herself as she wandered to the other side of the lobby. Her fake photo op would be a good time to step to the side and take a breather.

Since she had made it into town a day later then she had planned she had had almost no time for all that had gone on. She was originally going to have a few good days with her marefriend, and maybe some time hanging out with her marefriends little group as well. Instead she had been busy with physical, emotional, and mentally draining situations since the moment she walked into town. Making up with Twilight was the easiest, but also the hardest thing she had ever done. Her friends made it all the more so while she tried to explain what had happened and why. And then she had had the most awkward, stressful, lovely dinner ever with a very nice older couple and their son. The awkward and stressful part was because they just so happened to be Twilight's parents and very protective older brother. The lovely part was learning what good ponies they actually were and just how right Twilight had been about how meeting them would be.

Jumping immediately from that and into four straight shows left the show mare wondering how she was still on her hooves. But at the same time she felt satisfied with how things had happened, even if she was ready for all the craziness to end.

"So, The Great and Powerful Trixie." Trixie had been looking over the room from the secluded corner she had found so she hadn't noticed anypony approach her. She turned to strike a pose and jump right back into her persona to wow who ever it was who snuck up on her, but paused at what she saw.

Hidden just behind her, standing shoulder to shoulder were two mares, a pegasus and a unicorn. The pair were tall, taller then most ponies she had ever met, but Trixie supposed they weren't abnormally tall, at least not to a large degree. What was abnormal was everything else about them. The unicorns coat was the purest white Trixie had ever seen, with a mane of such soft and yet striking pink she could hardly comprehend it. The pegasus's mane and coat were slightly differing shades of the softest pinks Trixie had ever seen. Soft enough that they should be indistinguishable, yet they were both striking and unique each on their own. And to say they looked pristine was an understatement. Rarity kept her coat and mane pristine, these two seemed to embody the word itself. Finally, they seemed to hold themselves with grace, and not the way nobles did to try to show that they were better then everypony else. It was more like they were there only because they were meant to be there, and thus everything around them faded away to accommodate them. Their stature, grace, and presence made their appearance before the show mare seem almost surreal. There was a word for it, but Trixie could not place it while still mesmerized by their presence.

The unicorn had apparently spoken, as it was her voice that continued. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Her voice was soft, yet Trixie felt that she would listen to anything it might say.

The pause made it clear she intended Trixie to respond. All of her usual responses she would make in character faded away the moment they came to mind and she was only able to make one response to the odd pair before her. "Who.. Who are you?"

Both mares made small, all-knowing smirks. "Who we are is not important. In fact we are much more interested in who you are miss Trixie." It was the pegasus this time. Her voice sounded younger, yet it was no less commanding then her companion.

"Or is it perchance Beatrix, Beatrix Lulam..."

Trixie was finally snapped out of the trance she'd been in since setting eyes on the two as she cut the mare off with a hushed "shhhhhh", as her head jerked back and forth around the room. Luckily it didn't seem that anypony had heard there conversation up to this point. "Keep your voices down.. and how the hey do you know that name?"

Neither mare seemed taken aback by Trixie's outburst, the unicorn just continued on in the same serene voice. "Not to worry, we won't be disturbed. You can speak freely to us."

As Trixie continued to survey the room she began to notice just how true that was. Noponies gaze seemed to linger on them for more then a second, as if there was nothing in the world less interesting then the three ponies at this moment. She was wondering how this could possibly be the case when she noticed something, a feeling she had long since started associating with a restful night sleep in her cart. A familiar, pleasant feeling hummed from the base of her horn. None of these ponies would pay them any attention, because they were surrounded by magic. And Trixie only knew one pony who could pull something like this off.

"You must know Twilight." The pair smiled pleasantly as the showmare seemed to calm and look back to them. "So I'm guessing you wanted to know about me and her, and nopony can or will bother us until we're done here."

What seemed to be a smug smirk came over the pegasus's face as she looked to the unicorn. "Told you she'd catch on fast. I always figured Twilight would have good taste."

"Yes, but you also always figured Twilight would be wooed by a stallion, so I'm afraid I can't trust all your assumptions on the matter just yet." The unicorn matched the smug smirk as she talked. Her attention turned back to Trixie. "Yes, you are correct. We've known Twilight for a long time, and her well-being is very important to us. We mean to cause you no distress, but fair warning. The things you say carry great weight at this moment." There seemed to be no real malice in her words, yet Trixie found herself giving a dry gulp anyway.

"Now auntie please, we don't want to frighten her," she looked back to Trixie, "but we still want the truth."

Trixie had never felt so at peace yet so scared at the same time. Only one thought seemed to surface once again in her mind. "Seriously, who are you?"

"Once again, that's not important. What is important is who you are." The pegasus answered.

The unicorn continued, "and on that note I am actually curious. You seemed more then a little worried that we knew your name." She stepped just a bit closer to Trixie and looked down at her. "Is there some reason for that?"

Trixie could feel the unspoken accusation in her voice. While the situation was still unsettling for her, she was still The Great and Powerful Trixie, and she wasn't going to be intimidated at her own show. She straightened herself up, trying, but failing, to match their grand posture. "It would seem you already know more about The Great and Powerful Trixie then you rightly should. Maybe it would be better if you told me what you know, and more importantly how you know, lest this just break down into us telling each other things we already know."

Once again neither pony seemed off put by Trixie's show of force. The unicorn leaned over to the pegasus, "it seems she's a little tougher then I thought she would be as well." The pegasus regained her smug smirk. "In truth, that name is just about all we could figure out about you, and that is why it's so concerning. So I have to ask again, why don't you want ponies to know who you are?"

Trixie dropped the superior act and became serious. "I'm not hiding or running from anything if that's what your asking. I may have been raised by a crooked street performer, but I've kept my own nose clean. If you can't find much about me it's simply because there's not much official proof I exist. I've always operated below the level where I'd need permits or licenses and all my promotion is done by whoever is putting on my shows. Until recently the only ponies who would know anything about me were other showponies, and we're all notoriously private."

Both ponies seemed pleased by her answer so far but Trixie could tell they wanted more, and she already knew what that was. She gave a deep sigh before continuing. "More importantly, my lifestyle does make me a little... rough around the edges, but in response to what you really wanted to ask, I don't think I'm a bad influence on Twilight. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and is the best influence on me I've ever had. You might not know or understand this, but there was a time not so long ago that I hated her, and I hated her for a long time. Yet she turned that around in just one day. She is the kind of pony I wish I could be, and she makes it worth trying to be."

That had definitely been more the response they had been looking for as she noticed both their expressions soften ever so slightly. Seeing this she figured she might finally have a chance to gain some ground in this conversation. She narrowed her eyes into a glare that shot back and forth between the two of them. "As far as my name goes, I'm just not use to or comfortable with ponies I don't know that well using it. Most ponies just know me by my stage name so it feels like ponies are trying to be way too familiar with me if they use it, though it's usually not an issues seeing as most don't even know it." She narrowed her glare more. "By the way, this is all stuff I told to Twilight's family just a few days ago. That means I can rule you both out as being Twilight's family, so seeing as I've answered your question I think it's about time for you to answer mine. Just who are you? Both of you?"

"I promise that you'll figure out the answer to that soon enough. For now I will say that I'm satisfied with your answer." The unicorn gave a patient nod to Trixie's agressive retort. "The fact that you understood that my question was more about Twilight then actually about you pleases me. It shows that she is on the forefront of your mind even when you feel threatened." The unicorn cast her gaze back to the pegasus by her side before continuing. "However I'm not the one who needs the most convincing here."

Trixie looked away from the unicorn to find the pegasus suddenly much closer to her. A serious gaze that seemed to penetrate through the showmares mind came from the stranger just a few inches in front of her face. "Let me just ask you one thing. What if I were to say, purely hypothetically," she said this in a way that made Trixie think that the next statement was anything but a hypothesis, "that we learned your name from Twilight?" Trixie's face dropped just a little bit. "What would that mean between the two of you, how would you feel about it." Trixie's gaze fell away from the scrutinizing stare, downcasting just for a second before she found herself turning her attention back behind her where she had last seen her marefriend. She found her immediately as she was clearly not doing much to keep anyponies attention off of her. She was prancing around in character with her friends and a dark coated unicorn mare Trixie didn't recognize. Whoever it was her friends had her meeting it looked like she was having fun, randomly bounding between her friends with excitement and laughter. Seeing her there Trixie didn't even realize the edges of her lips begin to rise ever so slightly.

Upon turning back to the pegasus to give her an answer she was suddenly taken aback. She was suddenly staring at a wide smile to rival Pinkie Pie. A very overly happy voice she couldn't believe was coming out of previously such a serene pony suddenly said, "that's all I needed." She very abruptly turned on her hoof and back to the other mare. "I'm ready auntie, we can go."

The unicorn looked past the pegasus to Trixie one more time, then back to what was apparently her niece. Very enthusiastic nodding of her head seemed to give the unicorn the last answer she needed. "Very well, then we shall depart. Thank you very much miss Trixie."
The pegasus retook her place next to the unicorn and the two took up that same posture as before as they strode past Trixie and back towards the crowd.

They managed to get a few steps past Trixie before the showmare turned back on them. "Wait!" They both did stop and looked back over their shoulder to the mare. "You still never told me who you are."

"Hummmm?" The unicorn seemed to give serious consideration as to how to answer the question this time. "It hardly seems relevant at this point," she smirked as she noticed Trixie give a slight glare at that answer. "But if you must have an answer, I suppose you could just tell Twilight that you met Sunshine." She gave a smile that seemed to border on mischievous before starting to stroll away again.

The pegasus gave a very mischievous smile. "Twilie and I never needed fake names when we went out making mischief, but I think my little lady bug will get it with the context. She's so smart after all. So she'll be able to tell you who I am as well." She nodded her head gleefully and followed after the other.

Trixie felt the pleasant buzz fade from the back of her horn and suddenly she couldn't seem to manage to place the two in the crowd despite having been looking right at them. She stood there still mildly stunned after the encounter with the two, replaying the whole thing in her mind again and again.

Regal. That was the word she'd been looking for.

The thought barely came into her mind when suddenly, "Hey look, it's Trixie."

She was still standing stunned as she heard the voice from over her right shoulder. Her stance went wide. With a dramatic swish of her cape she swung herself around. "Yes, it is I, The Great and Powerful Trixie."

Mentors: More Confessions

Beatrix Lulamoon lay on her back on one of the most luxurious beds she'd ever been on. She had just finished the biggest tour of her career thus far. She knew she was more famous and financially secure then she had ever been. And finally, there was a gorgeous unicorn mare holding her tightly and very enthusiastically nibbling at her ear. By all accounts she should feel like she'd died and gone to heaven, and yet something nagged at her.

This was finally noticed by the unicorn doing the nibbling as her contemplation caused her hooves to stop moving for the third time since things had started to get steamy. "Beatrix sweetie, is something wrong? You stopped again."

Realizing this the mare in question quickly restarted her caressing of various semi-erotic parts of her marefriends anatomy. "It's nothing Twilight honey. I'm still good to go, I'm just a little tired after the show," she said looking up at her and giving her best attempt at bedroom eyes.

Twilight just gave her an incredulous look before nodding her head to the side and giving her ear a firm lick around the base and trailing across the side as she pulled away. This action caused the showmares legs to reflexively curl and pull the other mare closer, a deep moan to escape her lips, and a deep shutter to rock it's way down her spine and through all her extremities. Twilight looked back down at her with a smug smirk. "I don't know, you seem fairly awake and alert to me." She gave her slightly sulking marefriend a peck on the snout before continuing. "I'm not buying it. If there's something wrong just tell me. After what we just went through I think we can both say that being up front with each other is the best policy. So what's on your mind that has you so distracted." She then proceeded to wait through the internal dialog she knew was coming by once again beginning to nibble at Beatrix's ear

Ponyfeathers, she is getting way too good at reading me, Beatrix thought as the pleasant sensation began again. It was at this point that she had a slight existential crisis. It was a hard learned and hard taught lesson throughout her life to keep things bothering her to herself. Thus her first instinct in this situation was to lie. But now that survival was not the forefront of her mind at all times she had very different instincts that quickly started beating that one away. Wondering if a certain other pony would figure out the lie, how that would make that pony feel, and how bad it would make Beatrix herself feel for making her feel that way. A few months with a conscience in the form of the most wonderful marefriend ever could really change a pony.

With all this in mind she finally took a deep breath and spoke. "Twilight honey, do.. do you happen to know a pony named Sunshine.. OWE!!"

The mention of the name was apparently enough of a shock that Twilight's body suddenly went rigid. This unfortunately also included her jaw which caused her teeth to come together in a very rapid fashion, with a fair portion of her marefriends ear still between them. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, let me take a look," she said to the rapidly retreating mare as she tried to pull her back to her and get a look at her ear in the dimly lit room. She managed to get her to hold still long enough to get a look, "it's fine, I didn't get it that bad." She punctuated this by giving the offended ear a small kiss. "But, umm. H.. How do you know that name?"

Once again Beatrix was tempted to lie, though this time it was probably just misguided self-preservation instincts stemming from her still stinging ear. "There.. there was a pony at the show tonight, at least I think it was a pony, who said you would know that name."

Twilight gave a sigh of resignation, as though she both didn't and very much did anticipate this conversation, and then her expression turned pensive. "Umm yeah, I do know who that was. I'll tell you but you gotta promise not to be mad."

Those words made Beatrix remember a part of the conversation with the odd pair. "Were you the one who told them about me, did you really tell them my real name." They had scooted away from each other, not a great distance on the massive bed, but at that moment the space between them felt massive to the showmare.

Twilight immediately closed that gap and held her marefriend close again. "What? No, of course not. Sweetie, you know I'd never do something like that to you."

Beatrix nuzzled her marefriends cheek. "Yeah, I know," she also gave a little sniff before pulling away again. "But then who were they, because they did know."

"Yeah. Like I said, I can explain. They would be the one pony who could figure out about you if they really tried. I mean they.... Wait. Did you mean 'they' as in singular or plural?"

"... plural."

"... Ponyfeathers."

"What?"

"This might be bad."

"... What?"

Twilight's demeanor once again became pensive. "Umm, ok. Well, remember you said it was ok that I told my parents about you," Beatrix nodded. "Well, umm. Before I actually told you about it, I was already planning the family dinner. And... Umm. While I was planning it I might have, maybe, possibly, accidentally, told Princess Celestia.

Twilight stayed silent for a few moments before she finally braved a look up to the other mare. Beatrix's eyes seemed to be the size of dinner plates. "Prin... cess... Ce.. Cel...?"

"And... I'm guessing she was disguised as a unicorn, and there was a pegasus with her," Beatrix was still too stunned to respond. "I'm guessing that was Princess Cadence, the uncrownd princess of love." Beatrix would later swear she heard the sound of a fuse shorting, in her head, and Twilight could basically tell this by the color draining from her face. But she knew she had to go further. "And I'm guessing this happened while I was with my friends, so I'm guessing the pony they had me meet was a distraction, and it was probably Princess Luna.

Whatever dam was holding back Beatrix's reaction very suddenly broke and she was very suddenly on her hooves, the blanket that had been covering both of them flying off and landing half way hanging from the side of the bed. "There were THREE.. ALICORN ... PRINCESSES... At my show. SPECIFICALLY there to INTERROGATE ME!!!!!"

Twilight was up in an instant as well, though she was sitting back on her haunches with her forehooves raised in a placating gesture. "Please Beatrix, calm down. It's not that big a deal."

"I am calm!!" Though she said it without shouting her rapid and ragad breathing did not lend much faith to her statement.

Twilight could tell she was running through quite a few very unpleasant scenarios in her head. This caused very unpleasant memories to start flashing through Twilight's mind. Unpleasant enough that she caught herself inhaling a deep enough breath to go on a tyrade she didn't feel coming until it was almost too late. Remembering what their relationship had just went through she turned this inhale into a deep breath, and followed it with two more slow ones. She stepped forward on the bed to her panicking lover and raised a hoof to her cheek. "Beatrix, sweetie. Please, for me." Beatrix managed to look up to her. "Three deep breaths?"

Beatrix felt a pang of confused emotions shoot through her at this request, but seeing the pleading look on Twilight's face allowed her to calm enough to comply. The deep breaths managed to calm her down. Two more sets and she managed to relax enough that she was able to sit back down on the bed and think clearly. "I guess, what I really need to know right now... Is what your relationship is really like with the princess...es."

"That.. is a little complicated." Beatrix gave a face that let Twilight know she was not happy with that answer. "I know, I know. Give me a minute, and please understand. These, details... are largely the reason I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, at least initially." She took a deep breath. "I lived in the castle three to five days a week. I took regular classes with other kids in her school any days I wasn't living here taking classes with Princess Celestia. That is until I out paced all my classmates and most of my teachers and pretty much just took lessons with her and private tutors."

"Nerd."

"Yeah I know. I lived here while taking classes with her because her schedule could get random. If she ever got too busy to look after me during the school week then she had Cadence foalsit me. We all became really good friends."

"You were taught by one princess, and foalsat by another. You even lived in a palace instead of going to regular school. You really are the most spoiled pony I've ever met."

"It's worse. I got so casual with being around royalty that I made more then one social faux pas at the princesses expense. Walking in on important meetings and stuff shouting weird questions without context. Sunshine is the name she would use when she told me I was working too hard and would take on a disguise and take me out to have fun in Canterlot. We got caught more then a few times. It got a lot of tabloids and stuff printing weird stories about our relationships."

"What were the best ones?" Beatrix was starting to get into the story and gave a devious smile.

"They were all horrible," Twilight exclaimed as she leaned forward and buried her face in her hooves. She let out a long groan before continuing. "Stuff like, like she adopted me, those stories going as far as claiming she killed my parents so I had to be her student. Or that I was really her love child along with Cadence, that I actually was the love child of her and Cadence, and even that both me and Cadence were actually her underage lovers."

Beatrix let out a snort before she began cackling hysterically and rolling around on the bed next to her still groaning marefriend. The rolling laughter went on long enough for Twilight to get frustrated enough to pounce on the giggling mass and attempt to nibble it into submission. It finally worked when she managed to find the recently made sensitive spot on its ear.

"Ow, ow, ow. Ok, ok stopping." She ended up with Twilight pinning her down and giving her the cutest scowl she had ever seen. "So I'm guessing other kids stayed away from you because you were so close to royalty. Had to deal with them being jealous of how spoiled you were."

Her reply involved an extended tongue and specks of spiddle splattering her face. "Something like that. And as such Princess Celestia and Cadence basically became my only social circle other then my family."

"So they basically are your extended family. And I really am going to have to justify myself to them like I already had to with the rest of your family just a few days ago." She let out a long sigh.

"Sorry." Twilight settled herself onto her loves chest and dotted it with light kisses.

Beatrix realized there was one pony missing from the explanation. "What about Princess Luna?"

"She's a total goober who is even more socially awkward then me." Beatrix shook with giggles beneath her. "It's true. She has no idea how to behave in modern society, she just hides it better then I can usually. You should have seen the girls and me trying to teach her how to play some games on Nightmare Night after her return. Now she's constantly sneaking into Ponyville to go pranking with Dash and Pinky, usually on me." Both mares decended into a giggling fit that lasted a fair bit of time before they settled into the gentle embrace again.

They just lay there for a time enjoying the calm. Beatrix finally broke the silence again. "So, from a purely objective standpoint, which one of us do you think is probably harder to be with."

"We're both largely detached and unreachable for long periods of time for various reasons, we both have confusing family slash friend dynamics to deal with, and we're both so socially stunted that we're both just sort of throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks with this whole relationship thing. I'd say we're stuck together if for no other reason then anypony else would have reasonably run away screaming a long time ago."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Beatrix said as she started planting small kisses on her marefriends horn causing shivers of pleasure from the mare on top of her.

"Is that ok?" Twilight still had a little hesitance left over the situation.

"Did you forget that I'm weird and like weird. Non-weird ponies may take all that as negatives, but I think it just means we really were made for each other. It would be hard for normal ponies, but it comes so natural to us."

They once again just embraced one another for a while enjoying a few more moments of calm. Twilight finally sat up just a little to look down at the mare she loved. "So after all this, are you, umm... not in the mood any more.

Beatrix tilted her head to see her lover giving her her usual adorably nerdy attempt at bedroom eyes, the ones that always simultaneously got her going and made her snort a small laugh.

"Oh come on. I didn't see you for over a month and we've been too busy all week." Her expression faded to a much more genuine expression of longing that cut out the laugh and only left the showmare longing as well. "I really missed you, even more then usual. You'd be surprised how lonely you can feel even when surrounded by other ponies, if they're not the one you want to be with."

Beatrix actually knew that quite well, but the burning desire in the eyes above her made bringing that up the furthest thing from her mind. "Well. I guess if defiling the princesses student is a capital offence, they can only banish me once right?"

"I'm such a bad influence on you."

A giddy smile over took both of them before their lips met.

Author's Note

I took a different approach in this chapter and decided I wanted to imagine what it was like for Twilight growing up. Giving more context to how she became who she is. Didn't take too many liberties but I feel like it might run a few people the wrong way.
Decided I wanted to get this out before my next vacation if only to see if I can get one done during my vacation as well. Next one should be the last of the mentors arch and will have more of the back story I created for Trixie, as well as how that turns into the full story of the happy couple first major fight. Hopefully it will be worth the time I took to build it up.
As always, let me know what you think and also if this story is starting to need more tags.

Mentors: Royal Breakfast

Dawn the morning after the Great and Powerful Trixie's last Canterlot show came bright and early the next day like it always did. But unlike most other days the off duty magician and her assistant got together, they were not permitted to shrug it off for several more hours. A commanding and rhythmic pounding came to the larger then average door of Twilight Sparkle's Canterlot room. The volume and authority conveyed in it was enough to make the two natural night owls jolt upright while still somewhat tangled together.

Both mares were still too groggy and.. well, sore, to register the proper response to something that seemed so alien to their slowly sputtering to life brains. It was actually Beatrix who managed to figure out what the knocking at the door meant first. Something vaguely reminiscent of speech came from her mouth. "Oh, umm... Esss ok Twil," yaaaawwwwn, "igh... esss jus.. umm? Door... thing. I got, I gotset." The showmare started untangling herself from her marefriend while Twilight decided to make her own attempt at speech.

"Nonono, sweetie. Wachit wachit." She smiled, her sleep addled mind feeling she was about to show her marefriend something particularly amazing. She cleared her throat and managed the first coherent words between them. "You may enter."

The door swung open and a sound of metal gently clanking on metal entered the room. Trixie was very suddenly awake as old instincts kicked in and she straightened up while sitting demurely on her haunches to appear as innocent as possible in the presence of a royal guard.

His piercing stare did not waver as he focused straight ahead. "Lady Sparkle," the larger then average unicorns words were not so much spoken as barked as Trixie's posture became even more rigid at the commanding tone.

With effort Twilight managed to focus her vision enough to see the guard addressing her. "... Gleaming Spear. Oh, Shiny finally gave you that promotion, how nice. So, to what do we owe the pleasure."

His expression only wavered for a second as the slightest blush crossed his face as he regarded the couple in bed together. "Ah yes, lady Sparkle. I come bearing a message from Princess Celestia. She has extended an invitation to you and your.." his gaze fell from Twilight to regard Trixie more closely with curiosity for a moment, "guest, to join her for her royal breakfast this morning."

Twilight's body suddenly went rigid this time as she looked between her marefriend and the guard for a moment. "Oh.. umm, that's great. Could you just give us..."

"Of course lady Sparkle, I will await you outside." With that he turned in a well trained fashion and exited the room, his magic closing the door on the way out.

"Royal breakfast," Beatrix's eyes were wide and her mouth was dry, "we're going to have breakfast with the princesses?"

"Yeah, but it's not a big deal. I mean.. I guess it is a big deal, but it's a big deal because it's not a big deal."

Beatrix's hoof massaged her own forehead lightly at her marefriends incoherent explanation. "You are so useless at talking in the morning. It would be more frustrating if it weren't so cute."

"Like you're any better, you're only awake because your 'guards are gonna kick me out for being a public nuisance' instinct kicked in." A war of exchanged sneering noises and extended tongues followed, which Twilight abruptly cut off. "Ugh, we don't have time for this. We need to get cleaned up."

"Right, breakfast with royalty." Beatrix cringed.

"Right, but like..." Twilight trailed off to think for a second. "Don't treat it like that. We're not getting all gussied up like it's a big thing, that defeats the purpose." Beatrix gave her a questioning look. "I'll explain on the way, but we at least need to not... smell like each other." She blushed more then a little. Beatrix did not push the issue, she just leaned over to kiss the blushing cheeks she loved to see so much.

Within five minutes both mares were following behind the steady lead of the guard. "Ok, so how exactly is sharing a meal with the rulers of Equestria not a big deal?"

"Because it's the rule. Yeah I know, everything is weird when dealing with royalty," Twilight defended upon her marefriend directing a glare at her. "The short version is that Princess Celestia has been ruling the nation for a thousand years by herself and even she needs a break. So about eight hundred years ago she made an actual decree that she would have one time a day with absolutely no royal duties. Thus the tradition of her royal breakfast was born and the only deviation from it in all that time has been a shift in the time for the inclusion of Princess Luna after her return."

"That.. is actually interesting. I've never heard of something like that."

"It's not very well known outside of the castle staff. The unofficial reason is because it would be the perfect time for opposing forces to attack the capital. And the reason for that is because the running joke among the staff is that even if the entire building is on fire they are to do their best to control it and only tell the princess after." Trixie let out a little giggle. "Most don't know that those words were actually part of her original decree." The giggling turned into full on laughter as they continued to walk. "It's not that funny, according to her she was just having a really bad day when she made the decree. Everypony is entitled to at least one overreaction. Wouldn't you agree," she inflected with a slight accusing tone.

"Yeah, yeah," Trixie responded as her laughter died down. "It really is interesting to hear about Princess Celestia like this though."

"You're taking this pretty well. This sort of thing is usually hard for some ponies to hear."

"Well I figure if I'm planning on sticking around I should probably get use to mind breaking, reality shattering revelations." She went into her stage voice, "The Great and Powerful Trixie," she dropped back into her regular voice, "should probably stop freaking out like a filly." They both shared a small giggle.

"Well glad to know you're prepared for the absolute worst," Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.

"And the best," Trixie countered while bumping their flanks together while they walked. "So what does it all mean then?"

"Just like I said, no royal business. What. So. Ever. Don't treat them like royalty, just treat them like regular ponies. This isn't much different then when you met my parents."

"You realize I nearly barfed before meeting your parents right. And I only didn't because I was too nervous to eat all day before."

"Yup. But don't worry, you can distract yourself the same way you did with my family. The food they serve the princess is even better then what they serve the guests, and almost as good as my mom's cooking." She gave a small knowing smirk. "So feel free to scarf as much as you want, I promise the princesses won't mind. In fact they'd probably enjoy it. Just act normal and don't use their formal titles."

"Since when do I know how to be normal?"

"You don't, but you know how to fake it."

"I haven't had to fake it since I've been with you."

A sudden and very noticeable break in the rythmic metallic clattering in front of the couple swiftly reminded them that they were not alone, and caused matching blushes on their cheeks. "Gleaming, we weren't talking about what it sounded like we were.."

"We have arrived," the stallion suddenly barked and made a trained series of motions to place himself next to the door. His stoic gaze never betrayed any reason for his misstep. "Ladies," was the only word from his mouth as he invited them through the door held open by his magic. Smiling sheepishly the two entered.

The room was large and ornate, like the rest of the castle. This only made what Trixie saw next even more strange. Most of the room was empty space, and in the center was a simple table. It may have been on the larger side, but not something out of place in any home with a large family. Well, maybe in it's prime. As it sat the table looked as though it had been salvaged from the side of a dumpster. It was cracked, it was worn, it definitely had a crooked leg. And Trixie was sure she would have time to find more things wrong with it during their substantial walk over to it in the large room. It looked very out of place in the massive and beautiful room, that clash even more dramatic with the inclusion of three images of royal elegance sitting opposite the side they were approaching from.

"So you don't waste time asking, there use to be a big banquet hall table in here, but Princess Celestia hated it. She thought it made the whole thing formal all over again. She literally got that table at a street vendor for two bits and has refused to have it replaced. That's how important the lack of formality is."

Trixie was impressed with this as she looked across the room to the table and noticed the three seated princesses at it were also unadorned. Trixie was sure she had never seen an image of any princess without a crown and some form of regalia. Though they still seemed to radiate regality, Trixie thought that if they really were trying to keep things casual then she might just manage to get through this.

"Oh, one more thing," Twilight suddenly added as they drew closer and she could notice more. "If Luna isn't drinking tea with Celestia, don't bother her until she finishes her drink."

Trixie looked over to were Princess Luna sat at the table and saw that she was drinking from a large thermal container that bore the faded logo of a local convenience store and very faded images of the Wonder Bolts. Trixie believed she remembered seeing them advertised some time the previous year as some promotion put on by the team. Seeing the princess take a long sip from it almost made Trixie snicker as she felt even better. "She's kinda like you huh? Can't start the day without a good cup of Joe."

"She's not starting her day. She does night court and walks ponies dreams at night. This is her dinner. That cup means she had a hard night in court, which given the time she'd of had to get up to see your show isn't surprising. Meaning she might be a little grouchy and that cup is full of vodka."

The entirety of that statement was enough to nearly completely destroy the relaxation Trixie had managed to build up. And it came just as they were coming up to the table. As Twilight stopped Trixie mechanically did the same. The three royal mares seated at the table looked up to them, two smiled in greeting as the third took a long drink from her cup.

Trixie felt herself instinctively leaning forward in a bow without the thought even passing her mind. However the action was interrupted as her chin made contact with her marefriends hoof, causing her teeth to knock together rather forcefully. "Ow."

"No bowing."

Trixie gave her a glare but before any kind of argument could start there was a sudden flash in front of Twilight.

An alicorn Trixie recognized from an occasional newspaper article as Princess Cadance was suddenly standing in front of her.

"Twily!"

"Cadance!"

The two suddenly knelt down and went into some kind of practiced routine. "Sunshine, Sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake" they both sang and danced before giggling and embracing one another.

"It's so good to see you again Cadance."

"You too Twily. We clearly don't talk enough if you've matured this much without me knowing." She said this while turning to face Trixie. "Miss Trixie. It's nice to meet you properly." She extended a hoof towards the showmare in greeting.

Trixie could only manage to look back and forth between the mare and Twilight. "That... was the most adorable thing I have ever seen." Taken slightly aback by this Cadance suddenly smiled widely as she and Twilight shared a glance. Cadance suddenly decided to abandon the hoof shake and lunged forward to pull the still stunned mare into a warm hug.

"Oh, I like this mare more every minute Twily. And you," she held Trixie by her shoulders as she broke the hug, "do I have some stories for you about just how adorable she was back when I was her foalsitter." Trixie, while still feeling somewhat overwhelmed, felt a surge of excitement at that idea and a smile finally broke on her face. Cadance and Twilight both seemed happy to see it. "Come on you two, time to eat, we've been waiting for you." She said, dramatically motioning them to the two remaining chairs by the table.

They all took their seats. Trixie managed to actually feel somewhat at ease as the assembled ponies started levitating various serving spoons filled with the most delicious looking food Trixie had ever seen to their plates, her own getting piled quite high as Twilight kept pointing out more and more dishes she, "just had to try".

There was a moment of quiet contentment once the activity had stopped. "So," and with one word Trixie was nervous again. It was Princess Celestia that had spoken and that thought alone made Trixie feel self conscious again. "I think first things first, some apologies are in order." Trixie's brain went into overdrive as every vaguely questionable thing she had ever done started rushing through her mind and she prepared to beg for forgiveness for every single one. "It was inappropriate of me to look into you and your history, not to mention comfronting you at your show do to my own misgivings at the lack of information that I found. Going so far as to recruit my sister and niece in the wrongdoing makes it all the more inexcusable. For this you have my deepest apologies."

Trixie's mind reeled for a minute before she realized she needed to respond to this. "No, no. I understand. I mean.. Umm, you don't have to apologise to me Prin.." thwap. Trixie's rambling stopped as something squishy hit the side of her muzzle. Looking down, a sauce covered brussel sprout rolled along the surface of the table away from her. Looking up she saw a dark purple aura surrounding not only Princess Luna's horn but also a spoon pointed in her general direction. Lost for any idea of what to do when assaulted with produce by the co-ruler of the nation she turned to her marefriend for help.

Trixie felt almost betrayed when it looked as if Twilight was suppressing laughter at the situation. Seeing Trixie's distress Twilight silently mouthed the words, "no titles," before shoving a spoon full of food into her marefriends hanging open mouth.

Trixie managed to gulp most of it down quickly, not really tasting it but enjoying the time it allowed her to calm down again. "I.. I mean, Cel... Celestia." Two of the three princesses smiled while the third lowered another readied spoon Trixie hadn't noticed to her plate. "I was just trying to say that I understand. Twilight's told me things here and there about being your student, and from what I can understand about your relationship it's natural for you to be worried about her. I'm sure my profile.. and my public face, doesn't lend to much faith in me as a pony."

"It's nice of you to be understanding about the situation Miss lu..," Princess Celestia paused. "Before we go forward I think it would be wise to put to bed the misunderstanding we had about your identity. What is it you preferred to be called, either in public or in a situation such as this?"

Trixie had to stop and think. A princess was asking how to address her, and she had to answer in a way that didn't sound insulting. "Well Prin.." thwap. Another brussel sprout rolled away from her, leaving sauce for her to wipe away from her chin. "I mean Celestia. It.. It wouldn't be wrong for you to use my real name... But it would be a little uncomfortable for me." Celestia took a bite of her food to give time for Trixie to elaborate. "I.. I kind of do wish I was more open to other ponies using it, it's just that I, I've been alone for a long time. And The Great and Powerful Trixie was my shield against the loneliness. Beatrix is the most exposed and vulnerable form of me. So, if it's ok with all of you, Trixie is best for now."

"That is completely fine Trixie," Cadance cut in with a smile. "As long as we have a chance to get to know the pony that captured Twily's heart."

Trixie blushed. "Thank you Prin.." thwap, "I mean Cadance." She finished with a cringe as she forcefully wiped away more sauce from her face. Trixie looked over to Princess Luna where she noticed her loading her plate with more of the offending vegetables as she took another sip from her cup. She couldn't help but feel a slight bit of frustration forming at the unspoken challenge of the action.

"As I was saying, it's nice of you to be understanding about the situation Trixie. But all the same it was inappropriate of me to look into your private affairs for my own piece of mind," Celestia finally finished.

"Honestly, if I had any real affairs to look into I might actually be a bit angry, but as it stands I think I have four or five written warnings for disturbing the peace, and maybe a birth certificate to my name as far as official documents go. That sort of profile I'm sure could look as suspicious as it does clean, and you were worried about Twilight." She gave a loving smile to the mare next to her who was licking her spoon clean of something delicious looking. "Honestly, in your position I'd probably do the same thing Prin.." thwap, "oh would you stop that...." Trixie reacted without thinking, and her eyes went larger then the plates they were eating off of. She realized that not only did she send a glazed carrot flying at the princess of the night, but she did it with out a thought, and there was no way she was going to be able to catch it in time. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the root turned projectile made a straight and true path directly towards the lunar princess.

With all the grace and poise expected of a princess, Luna reacted without a moments hesitation. All she had to do was angle her head just slightly, open her mouth, and skillfully catch the offending side dish gracefully on her tongue. She gave a dainty crunch as she let out a small hum of approval, lit her horn to envelop the handle of the carrots serving spoon and served herself a hefty portion of them. "Behold sister, we have gotten her to loosen up as we said we could."

Trixie's mouth still sat gaping, wordlessly flapping as Princess Celestia nodded regally to her sisters suddenly giddy grin. "Indeed you have." Luna's giddy grin only intensified as she seemed to nudge her thermos closer to her sister. With a sigh, Celestia's horn lit up and a cabinet in the far end of the room Trixie hadn't noticed opened and a bottle floated over to the table. Luna popped the top off of the container as the bottle turned itself over above it. "Just don't overdo it Lulu, I have a hard enough time keeping you out of the tabloids as it is."

"Hazaha, the fun hath been doubled," she said as she took a large gulp of the refilled container. "And you act as if a gallon of vodka could actually get an alicorn drunk Cele."

"I don't care if you get drunk. You just pass out when you get drunk. Tipsy Luna is much more dangerous then drunk Luna." This statement was met with the lunar princess sticking her tongue out at her older sister in a rather boisterous raspberry. Not to be outdone, Celestia's horn lit itself and a spoon with a single brussel sprout saw itself swung at the younger sister.

The shot was a good one, slipping right past the gesticulating tongue and into the slightly open mouth of Luna. This stopped her actions as she instinctively bit down on the intruding projectile, and immediately regretted it. She lightly gagged and took a fair swig from her cup to wash it down. "Unforgivable dear sister. This vile vegetable is fit only for ammunition and should never be consumed by any member of ponykind." She exclaimed as she quickly downed a number of carrots to get rid of the flavor.

"But dear sister, you really should eat them, they are good for you." Celestia said this while eating a bite of said vegetable. The response was another extended tongue, which the solar princess matched with her own.

That was the breaking point for Trixie. Her brain couldn't take seeing princesses act this way anymore and resorted to the only response that seemed logical given the situation. She broke down into hysterical laughter, going as far as to lay her head against the table and slam her hoof against it repeatedly. Twilight had luckily seen it coming and moved her plate out of the way just in time.

The surrounding ponies watched as she managed to collect herself and sit up still with a goofy grin plastered on her face from her outburst.

"We think our assignment hath been concluded." Luna's stated as she took a satisfied swig of her cup.

Trixie turned to Twilight, her lips quivering. "Was.. was that 'my job is done here' in a mix of old ponish and ancient royal diction?" Twilight nodded. Trixie tried to control herself, she really did. But her face kept twitching until finally a small snort escaped her. The moment it did she was face first on the table again pounding her hoof.

"Was it really that funny?" Cadance inquired to Twilight as she watched the mare breakdown with amusement. Twilight only gave a shrug.

"No," Trixie managed to squeeze out between diminishing laughter and gasping breaths. "No, it's not that.. it's, it's just the whole situation." She was managing to get herself somewhat under control as she continued. "This time last year I was begging ponies I don't even like for work. Now I'm in a freaking castle, watching the most powerful ponies in the world act like complete goobers. It's.. It's just. Wow." She was managing to breathe much more evenly at this point, and after taking a few deeper breaths, the last of which she held for a few seconds before exhaling, she finally looked back up at the ponies opposite her and her marefriend at the table. "Cadance, Celestia, Luna. Thank you so much for inviting me here to get to know you better."

The three mares all smiled, with Cadance's being the largest of the bunch. "Yup, she's cool. Told you auntie."

"Yes, it would appear that she is indeed 'cool', and I'm glad we managed to get past that part with out any drama."

Twilight leaned over into her marefriend as the others continued their meals. "Yeah, she's great like that. She manages to deal with all my issues and neuroses like they're nothing. She's a master at 'just going with the flow' as Pinkie says."

"We dare say that such an influence on you would be a good thing Twilight Sparkle. The reason Pinky and Rainbow Dash always pick you as a target of our mischief is to, by their words, pull the massive stick out of your flanks." Trixie gave a much larger snort then was necessary.

"Yes well, that issue that I will definitely deal with later aside, she has actually been good for me in that regard." Celestia leaned forward with interest while pouring herself another cup of tea. "Making time to see her has made me realize some things I don't think I would have on my own." All three mares across from them leaned forward with interest. "Such as that there are more important things then sticking rigidly to a schedule." She elaborated on this by nuzzling Trixie's muzzle tenderly.

An excited "aww" came from Cadance. Celestia smiled contentedly. Luna made a gagging sound and pelted Twilight with a brussel sprout. Trixie giggled as she wiped the sauce away from her marefriends snout for her.

"Careful auntie Luna, we don't need you to send Trixie into another laughing fit."

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm sure I could survive at least one more without serious damage to my lungs. And besides that, I think she gets a pass because the first two were totally necessary. I really think I needed that to get past the whole 'princess' thing.." Trixie heard a swishing sound as she ducked another flung brussel sprout launched by Luna. "Hey, that one didn't count." Thwap. Another one hit her from the opposite side. She looked over to see Twilight pointing a recently emptied spoon at her.

"Yes it does, now shut up and eat your brussel sprouts."

"NEVER," Trixie exclaimed before filling and chomping into a spoon full of everything she could fit on it that wasn't brussel sprouts. Upon which her body gave a shutter at the taste. "Holy tarterus, this is good." This statement made smiles grow all around the table.

Trixie started digging in with gusto to catch up to the group that was much further along in their meals as Twilight started fielding questions posed by the assembled royalty.

With equal parts glee and embarrassment Twilight explained some of the finer details of their relationship, such as how long they'd been together and how it had happened.

"As much as I'd like to take credit, I truly had no ulterior motives when I invited you to Canterlot that day Twilight. Believe it or not, not all things are within my control." Celestia said this with the smallest giggle at her students suggestion.

"Yeah. And besides, if anypony had the ability to set you up to fall in love, you know it would have been me." Cadance added on with a devious smile.

"Oh I'm not sure even you could have called this one Cadance."

"Oh really now," she responded while morphing her devious smile into a sly one. "And what makes you think that?"

Trixie swallowed her current bite of food hard to respond. "Because up until early evening the night before we got together I hated her stinking guts."

This statement made questioning eyebrows go up across the other side of the table.

"Umm yeah." Twilight turned to address Celestia, "Do you remember that friendship report I sent you when that random magician came to Ponyville and made me worry about showing off my magic to my friends?" This question led to three sets of quirked eyebrows across the table at the showmare.

Trixie suddenly scooted her chair away from the table and with dramatic flair she jumped up onto it and posed. "The Great and Powerful Trixie swooped into Ponyville with all her glory. With not but her sheer magnificence she bested not one, not two, but three of the Elements of Harmony. And then...." She took her stage voice and pose the the boldest she could manage, before letting herself drop back into her seat and resume speaking normally. "Twilight reminded me of the vast difference between a magician and a mage when she did what I could only claim to have done and beat an Ursa major."

"Minor, sweetie."

"Sounds better my way, honey."

"Until somepony decides to test the claim and really bring one to challenge me, not like that would ever happen."

"If it did I'm sure you'd just tap into some previously unknown level of power and handle it. Probably grow a pair of wings while you're at it." The two, and then the whole table broke into laughter at that.

The laughter died down and regular eating and conversation started again, this time with Trixie a more active participant. Celestia seemed very interested and was very satisfied with the story of revealing their relationship to Twilight's friends.

Cadance was very interested in asking misleading questions to try and discreetly discover how far they had gone in their relationship. Luna subsequently became interested as well, but her attempts were much more thinly vailed. And Twilight nearly turned into a tomato when Trixie got tired of the charade and told them every detail.

The last sticking point of the meal only came when Luna had moved on to her dessert and the others had joined in for lack of wanting the experience to end. Five slices of cake and five eager mares about to dig in was the scene when Cadance asked the question.

"So Trixie, obviously you've met Twilight's family just recently. Has Twilight perchance met yours yet?"

The fork with a bite of cake Trixie had been lifting to her mouth stopped as Twilight visibly cringed. "Umm, Cadance. That's not a subject she's really comfortable talking about."

"No, it's ok Twilight." She finished lifting the bite to her lips and dug in without hesitation this time. Twilight just watched her with concern as she finished her bite and gave a satisfied lick of her lips. "I think I can handle it now."

"Are you sure." Twilight gave her a hopeful smile. Trixie responded by leaning over and giving her a peck on the cheek and a warm smile. She then turned and directed that smile to the rest of the table, the rest of the breakfast party suddenly looking hesitant.

"Just so you know, this is going to bring down the mood in here quite a bit. But don't worry about it too much. This use to be a really hard story for me to tell. In fact, before Twilight only one pony had ever even heard any parts of it and absolutely nopony had heard the whole thing. It's because I always saw this story as the proof that nopony ever did or ever would care about me or want me to stay in their life. I can tell this story now because somepony made it clear in many different ways that that isn't true." She gave a sigh. "As such I've ended up telling this story three times in the last week, so bare with me." She paused briefly.

"I told you before that there isn't much proof I even exist, will that's because just a few hours after I was born I was dumped in an orphanage. Whoever my parents were they made it clear they never wanted to be found. So much so they didn't even give me a name." Celestia and Luna managed to remain reserved by this news, while Cadance gasped and covered her mouth in shock, the beginnings of tears already welling up in her eyes. "I got my name from the mare who ran the orphanage I was dumped at. An old Earth pony mare named Constance. She was the closest thing I ever had to a mother, but that sets up what I thought was the running theme for my life. Ponies couldn't be close to me, not in the ways I wished they could be. Constance was the first because she obviously couldn't be a mom to me when there were twenty six other kids who all wanted the same. Plus being that this place was just outside of Las Pegasus, all the others were pegasi and I was always going to be the odd one out. That's how I came to meet the next kind of parent figure in my life."

Trixie went to take another bite of her cake and realized that she and Twilight were the only ones who had. "You know I am going to get around to this story not being so depressing, so you might as well enjoy your cake now." She gestured to the rest with her bite of cake and waited until they raised a bite with her and all took a simultaneous bite.

Mood somewhat lifted, Cadance managed to fight back her growing tears and ask a question. "So what happened, did you get adopted or something."

Trixie gave a slight snort. "No, pretty much the exact opposite," she licked the frosting off her fork before continuing. "You might not know this, but there's a certain age for orphans when they figure they've missed any chance of getting a family. Well that age came and went for me. So because nopony wants to adopt a teenager, much less a unicorn when most ponies that came in were pegasus couples, and because I felt I had nothing keeping me there, I decided to leave. Didn't even leave a note, just vanished in the night. My first successful magic trick I guess." She gave a cheesey smile to try to lighten the mood again.

"So being the head strong teen I was, I decided I was going to make it for myself using the thing that made me special. Las Pegasus wasn't far off so I was gonna go there and use my magic to make myself a star." She took another bite of her cake and held it and her fork in her mouth while staring around the table until the others did as well. "Problem was that until then I was the only unicorn I'd ever known. When I got to the big city I found out my magic wasn't really all that special. Mediocre would have been extremely generous. I'd of probably ended up back in the system if I hadn't caught what I figured at the time was the smallest bit of luck. I wasn't good at real magic, but I found someone who taught me how to fake it."

Twilight lowered her head to the table and grumbled, "Presto." Trixie snickered.

"Here's a fun little magic lesson to break the mood some more. Does anypony know the real reason magicians and street performers exist?"

"Our sister seems to have forgotten with how much she hath allowed the practice to prevale, but back in the days of old they were among the lowest of the low. Grand spectacles meant to amuse and beguile ponies, while everything of any value in the area was pilfered."

"Two points for Luna."

"Points for what?"

"Nevermind. The point is that if you ever needed that reputation embodied in a single pony, it would be Presto. As crooked as they come yet he'll make you feel like what he does is ok. He took me in and taught me what show business was all about."

"I remember you saying something about this, that you were raised by a 'crooked street performer'." Celestia put a hoof to her chin as if pondering for a few seconds. "I'm not sure if there's a way for me to ask what I feel I need to without being rude at this point."

"He only ever taught me the tricks, he never taught me how to use them in a con. I tried to learn the con game once, and he smacked me upside the head. First and only time he ever did."

Celestia gave a slight giggle at the explanation. "I think I'd like to meet this stallion."

"No you don't!" Twilight and Trixie exclaimed in unison, Twilight hunching forward to bury her face in her hooves. This made Cadance give a small laugh.

"Oh now I really have to hear this story." She excitedly looked back and forth between the mares.

Trixie gave a small laugh too. "Twilight is just upset because Presto managed to rob her twice in under an hour. Me personally, I just don't want to even imagine what it would cost to bail that old coot out for trying to make off with all of your crowns or something like that."

"Now I believe he was a dad to you, because only a daughter would think he could pull something like that off," Cadance said with a warm smile. "We may not be wearing them right now, but I doubt anypony could get something off our heads without us knowing."

"He got my earrings out of my ears and was never closer then four feet from me."

That made three sets of eyes focus on Twilight with stunned expressions. "Well," Celestia started, "I suppose some unicorns have some rather interesting ways of using magic. I think something like that is technically possible.."

"He's a pegasus," Twilight groaned. Trixie just smiled at the stunned expressions.

"Like I said, he taught me how to fake it. Why do you think the costume he passed down to me is a hat and cape. To hide having wings and not having a horn."

".... Sister," Celestia looked over to Luna at her words. "We really want to meet this stallion now." Celestia nodded. Cadance did as well. "Though a thought suddenly occurs to us." She looks back over to Twilight. "When we conspired with the other bearers to distract you, they seemed to indicate that the two of you had had some recent turmoil in your relationship. Was comfronting this stallion the cause of this distress."

Trixie gave a small laugh. "Confront Presto, yeah right. If he gets one over on you, he won't let you run into him for at least a week."

"And trust me I tried," Twilight groaned again. "No that was mostly my fault."

"Don't even honey, that was all me."

"I could have been more understanding," Twilight tried.

"And I didn't have to yell, storm off, and ignore your letters until you stopped sending them," Trixie countered.

The table went silent for a full minute as the couple stared each other down and the other occupants of the table internally debated on what exactly happened. This finally ended when Twilight and Trixie each raised their last slice of cake to each others mouth and messily forced it in.

The rest of the table finished up their cake as well as the two tried their best to out messy the other. Feeling relieved enough watching the now giggily couple cleaning themselves up Cadance finally broke the silence. "So is what happened still a touchy subject or..." She trailed off.

"No, it's just.. it's still a little complicated and is gonna bring the tone down in here again."

Celestia gave her silent affirmation to go on as she poured the entire table a cup of after breakfast tea. They all took a sip before Trixie continued.

"Well, with the life changing revelation that I did maybe kind of have a dad for all those years I got kind of nostalgic. Made me think of those times in the orphanage and wonder about things I haven't thought about in years. Since I was already in Las Pegasus, and the route I was taking out was even closer, I decided to go check out the old place." She gave another sip of her tea. "It wasn't there."

A chorus of sympathetic sounds went up from across the table. Twilight reached a forehoof over to caress one of Trixie's.

"It turns out that the only reason it stayed open as long as it did was because of the owner, because of Constance. And a good portion of the town around it is populated by ponies who grew up there and have fond memories. So standing in front of the empty field where it use to be staring reflectivly was all I needed to do for some random passerby to tell me what had happened." She looked down into her tea for a moment before taking another sip. "It had been closed and demolished nearly ten years ago when Constance passed away." Another round of sad apologies started to go up, but Trixie continued her story before they could finish. "I learned one other thing too." The opposite side of the table leaned in as this part came out much lower. And got even lower as she continued. "Constance.... Lulamoon."

A gasp came from half the table. Twilight rubbed her marefriends back reassuringly. Trixie wiped a stray tear before it could drop far.

"When my good for nothing parents didn't even bother giving me a name... she gave me hers. That's when I remembered all those subtle things she did for me, and I realized it wasn't because I was the only unicorn, or because I was the oldest like she always said."

"That... That's what caused a fight between you and Twilight?" Luna finally ventured after a short silence. The pair gave a slight nod as Twilight wiped another stray tear from her marefriends cheek. "But why? We would think such a revelation would be not but grand news."

Trixie gave a weak laugh before taking a big gulp of her tea and giving a cringe at the heat. "Maybe if I wasn't an emotional cripple. But because I am it was emotionally devastating. I couldn't accept that I had lived my whole life feeling like I had nopony, and there was not just one, but two who I had shunned while thinking that." She finished her tea with one more large swig. "So dealing with that made me have the worst show I've had in years, right after which miss perfect timing here decides to show up in the middle of nowhere and surprise me with an invite to have dinner with and meet her postcard perfect family." Varying degrees of cringes echoed from the princesses while Twilight's ears flattened against her head slightly. Trixie gave her a reassuring peck on the cheek and added, "I still shouldn't of acted the way I did. I'm the luckiest mare in the world to have somepony so forgiving in my life.

Smiles finally returned to the rest of the table as the remaining ponies finished their tea as well and all begrudgingly seemed to acknowledge the end of the meal.

It was as Luna carried crowns over from the same cabinet where her bottle from earlier had come from with her magic that Celestia seemed to think of something and turned to the now risen showmare. "Oh Trixie. I had meant to ask what your plans from here were?"

"Oh so now we're getting into the real parenty questions huh," Trixie said with a scoff.

"Oh no, I'm sure you've been grilled on that thoroughly by Twilight's family. I meant on a more immediate level." Trixie tilted her head in question. Celestia answered as she stood up and gave a stretch. "Summer wrap up is just a week away, and while I'll admit I don't know a lot about show business, I do understand that it becomes very hard for regular acts to find work during the winter while every venue is taken up by holiday plays. What is it you do during the down months?"

Trixie suddenly gained a far off look to her eyes as the implications of the question dawned on her. "I.. I honestly don't know. Usually the only performers who work the off season are washouts and those with nothing better to do. I've spent my fair share of time as a washout, but even when I wasn't I always worked. I.. I just never...." she gave a meaningful glance over to Twilight who was also now out of her chair, "never had a reason not to keep working."

Meaningful glances were exchanged around the room, while Cadance smiled in a way that seemed as if it should be painful.

Twilight spoke up tentatively. "I.. If you want a place to stay during the winter, I'd be more then happy to let you stay with me."

Trixie suddenly became nervous once again, suddenly very aware of the other ponies still in the room. "Well.. umm. I guess if it's not gonna..."

Twilight suddenly moved in close to nuzzle her gently. "And not stay in your cart next to the library because your afraid of how everypony will think about us being together. Actually with me."

Breathlessly Trixie responded. "Yeah, yeah that sounds nice."

Luna and Celestia smiled happily, while Cadance looked as if she might explode with glee at the scene before her. As she finally settled down, the pair finally broke from each other and regarded the rest with blushes. Luna and Cadance finally stood as well and the three all dawned their crowns while walking around the table to join the happy couple.

And just then Celestia seemed to remember something else. "Oh yes, Twilight. I had something I wished to speak to you about as well." They all began walking out of the large room together. "It's about your studies for the upcoming months."

Luna's horn lit up and behind them one of the abandoned brussel sprouts on her plate suddenly took flight at the back of Celestia's head. Celestia dodged it expertly.

"Come now Luna, breakfast is over and I can act like a teacher if I wish."

"Bah, well we shall have none of it." She began to trot faster and leave behind the rest. "Come Cadance. Have you ever seen how the royal guard react when princesses randomly interrupt their combat practice."

Cadance began to catch up with Luna. "Auntie Luna, you aren't drunk are you?"

"Of course not," she proclaimed as she lit her horn and teleported the both of them. Trixie would swear she heard an, "uh-oh," come from Cadance as she disappeared.

Celestia turned back to regard Twilight as they started walking again. "As I understand from your recent acquisitions from the archives, you seem to be trying to increase your maximum long-range teleport distance."

Twilight suddenly glanced over to Trixie with a slight look of embarrassment. "Umm, well yeah. It was gonna be kind of a surprise."

"Oh dear, well I'm sorry to spoil. But from what I can tell you seem to be stuck."

"I can't quite break the fifty mile mark, and I'm still wasting way too much energy to do it."

"So we don't have to rewrite the record books quite yet." She said with a smirk, which made Twilight crinkle her nose in a way Trixie found adorable. "Well I do have a suggestion. Over my many years I've had many students. I don't just do this to spread my knowledge, but because I always find I learn as much is I teach with every new student." Celestia smiled serenely and Trixie could finally see the usual image of the princess return. "So my lesson for you is to try teaching another how to teleport. To see the way another learns to do it might help you find the flaw in your own technique. Find a student who's let's say, mediocre, and closely work with them. You might find you learn a lot, about a great many things.

Twilight looked up at her mentor with question. She then gave a glance to her gleefully smiling marefriend. "Yes princess, that sounds great."

With a final knowing smile Celestia finally lit her horn and opened the doors for them all.

Author's Note

Sorry once again for the delay on this chapter. I have mentioned in the comments before that I am garbage at writing dialog for more then a few characters. It seems four is roughly my limit before all dialog goes completely flat and stale. As such this chapter involved a lot of on the fly and long term editing. In the end I think I managed something at least passable for most of the characters.
As far as content, I hope my investigation into Trixie's made up back story wasn't too sad for the overall tone of my story so far. I also hope the ending of this chapter wasn't too cheerie for that changed tone.
The next chapter is going to involve a fairly significant time jump and will be wrapping a lot of things up. Hopefully it won't take as long despite possibly being longer then this one. I've been wanting to write this chapter for some time now and I intend to enjoy the process.
So until next time, I once again mention that I love hearing from you all so any feedback either positive or negative is welcome.

Home

Dawn may be much too early for most night owls, but the crack of noon was pushing it by even the loosest standards. In the bedroom of the golden oaks library, a pony was in the process of pushing that standard.

Summer wrap up was a week before, and as a result it was just cool enough to be incredibly comfy under the covers. During their first winter together there was debate between both Twilight Sparkle and Beatrix Lulamoon as to who loved sleeping in on cool mornings the most. That debate had been put to rest the year before however, and the winner of that debate could now hear the hoof steps of the other approaching the bed.

"Beatrix sweetie, it's time to get up," Twilight's words, not for the first time that morning, came out sweet and gentle as she nuzzled her marefriends cheek through the warm comforter.

Beatrix nuzzled back as she gave a big stretch and a very contentive yawn. As this yawn was coming to an end she managed to give a groggy, "five more minutes."

At these words, Twilight pulled the covers from over her marefriends body. Just as sweetly as before she spoke again. "Nope. You have officially used your supply of 'five more minutes' for the week, and it's Tuesday."

Smiling goofily without opening her eyes Beatrix tried, "four more minutes?"

Twilight leaned in and kissed her aggressively on the forehead. "Fresh out of those too, sorry. Get your cute flanks up, your breakfast is already cold.

Before Twilight could pull away, Beatrix shot her forehooves up and wrapped them around the back of her marefriends neck. "If you want to heat things up, then how about you get back in this bed with me and we both stay here for about another hour." She licked her lips seductively. The gesture lost something do to the fact that she still refused to open her eyes.

Twilight gave the lazy seductress a flirtatious lick to the nose and a suggestive hum. "Very tempting," she then pulled back, breaking the grip holding her and smiled as she watched the hooves that were holding her flail in the air for their target. "But some of the girls are coming over soon, they wanted to talk to you about something."

With a groan Beatrix finally rolled onto her side and lazily opened her eyes just enough to place her forehoof on Twilight's shoulder. "What do they need me for, can't you just tell them I'm sick or something?"

"I am not lying for you just so you can stay in bed."

"Well then can't they come talk to me up here," Beatrix was trying to pout as cutely as she could.

"That's definitely a no, you know what it smells like in here after last night."

Beatrix couldn't help but let out a little snort of laughter, "fine, I guess I'll wake up then."

"Good girl," Twilight said as she raised her own forehoof up to pat the one her marefriend was still suggestively massaging across her shoulder. "Spikes waiting to clear the table so hurry it up." Twilight turned to leave the room but stopped when she realized the hoof on her shoulder had rolled off fairly limply. Turning back, her lover was still laying comfortably on the bed and making no effort to start moving. She cast a glare at the mare before her, doing her best to ignore how cute the image was.

Beatrix suddenly threw her top most forehoof in the air and in the most tired and childish voice she could muster exclaimed, "carry me!"

Twilight lowered her head and let out a long suffering sigh, mostly because it was all she could do to not melt to the adorable act her marefriend knew was working on her. With a groan Twilight lit her horn.

A goofy smile came over Beatrix's face as she felt the warm comfort of a by now very familiar magical aura surrounding her and gently lifting her into the air. However she then noticed that she did not move in the direction of the bedroom door. No, she was definitely moving in the exact opposite direction, towards the door of the bathroom. And yup, that was definitely the sound of the bathtub running that was now coming to her ears.

"I'm up," she suddenly exclaimed as she tried to right herself while floating through the air. "I'm good, I can walk from here." She started struggling against the powerful force of her beloveds magic. "Twilight honey, you can set me down now."

"Of course I can Beatrix sweetie, but you didn't ask nicely."

"Please?"

"Not nice enough," Twilight sing songed as she walked her struggling lover further into the room.

"Pretty please with sugar sprinkles and caramel on top?"

"Oh come on now sweetie, you know I'm watching my weight."

"Oh you are totally paying for this later," Beatrix exclaimed as she suddenly went still, closed her eyes, and lit her own horn.

With a flash and a pop she disappeared, reappearing on the other side of Twilight a moment later. Her hooves made a gentle 'clop' as she landed. She sat with her eyes still clenched shut before slowly peeking one open and looking around. She turned around, leveling a hoof in triumph.

"HA!!!!! Less then an inch off the ground, while under duress, and barely conscious." She was more then a little smug, until she realized Twilight had already turned and was smiling very smugly as well. "I hate you so much."

"Love you too. Since you're definitely awake now, let's go get you fed." Beatrix extended her tongue and kept it aimed at that smug smirk as Twilight squeezed past her and back towards the bedroom door.

Beatrix sat at the kitchen table eating her breakfast with enough enthusiasm to make it seem as though it was still fresh and piping hot. Spike stood on his step stool in front of the sink finishing up the last of his cleaning besides the dishes currently being used. Twilight was busy setting up for her reading day in the living room and as such was continually walking into the kitchen to ask Spike where various things were. Every time she walked through, Beatrix made sure to show she still did not approve of how she was woken up by following the studious mare across the room with an extended, food covered tongue.

Twilight entered the kitchen again but this time did not walk over to the baby dragon. This time she actually approached the sneering mare at the table with a happy smile. "Beatrix sweetie, did you want to join me for my reading day today." The mares only response was to retract her tongue and abruptly turn her attention back to her breakfast. "Ok, two piles of pillows for reading then," she smiled as she said these words, especially as she noticed her still pouting marefriend taking a bite to cover her own smile. "Spike, are the extra pillows still in the hall closet?" she yelled across the kitchen as she noticed the water had stopped so he could hear her.

Having finished his chores he hopped off his stool to respond. "No, I moved those down stairs. Here, I'll show you where." He started walking out of the room but stopped to address the still eating mare. "Trix, just leave your dishes in the sink, I'll get to them later."

Beatrix was still impressed with how understanding the young dragon could be. That he could manage to put up with the quirks of both the mares living with him and not go crazy was amazing. But it was great that he was, the few days she and Twilight had tried to hide her real name from him had been a nightmare. He was the only one of Twilight's friends that knew. Though they all knew her back story, Twilight had permitted her to tell them a slightly edited one for her own sake. She didn't know how the others would react, but she hoped if it ever came up that they would handle it as well as he did. She gave the small drake a smile and a nod so he didn't get chunks of food sprayed at his face from her answer. He and Twilight left the kitchen together.

Beatrix was near the end of her meal just a few minutes later when there was a knock at the library door. An instant, "I got it", came from Spike as he was finishing Twilight's setup for the living room. Twilight entered the kitchen again and Beatrix decided she still wasn't done being dramatic.

"Sweetie, whenever your done it's ready for you in here." The response she got was another extended tongue. Playing along this time Twilight matched it. They squared off, each glaring harder at each other while trying to suppress laughter.

"Howdy y'all, how's it..." Apple Jack and Rarity walked in at that exact moment. Blushes came to the couples cheeks and their tongues retracted slowly as the two new mares in the room looked back and forth between them. Apple Jack was the one who finally broke the silence. "She gave y'all the full routine this mornin' didn't she?" She asked Twilight.

"And then some," exclaimed Twilight. Trixie's blush intensified.

"Starting the bath like that was still uncalled for." She defended desperately. Both Apple Jack and Rarity were already snickering in her general direction.

"I've said it before, but you two are the most adorable couple. Even after over a year it's still true." Both Twilight and Trixie shot her matching disapproving glares. "Even moreso as time goes by and you both act more like each other."

"We do not," the pair said in perfect unison. Realizing what they had done their glares were now once again refocused on each other. Apple Jack broke out in boisterous laughter. Rarity couldn't help but release a squee at the antics.

Trixie let out a growl of mild frustration as she levitated her empty plates across the kitchen to the sink. "Ok, if your done having your fun at our expense, what did you come here for?"

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding us darling, we almost forgot we need to make this brief. We left Rainbow Dash watching the crusaders so they wouldn't interrupt. We have a favor to ask of you."

Trixie gave an amused snort. "Must be one heck of a favor to leave those four unattended."

"That'd be the reason we gotta make this a mite quick," Apple Jack responded before launching into an explanation. "Ya see, we was out with them crusaders last week too. It was right after the last day of summer, just a few days after ya came back to Ponyville with us." Trixie nodded her head, wondering where this was going.

Rarity was the one to continue the story. "Yes, and we were actually discussing this while the girls were off playing. The conversation actually drifted to the subject of your last show of the season in Canterlot that you invited us to." Trixie nodded again, having a better idea where this was going now.

"Well, them little eavesdroppers heard us talkin', and well, you know how excited they can get."

"Yes, it was quite a show, and they must have heard as much from us. They begged us to take them to your next show."

"Well, I guess their gonna have to wait. I don't have any shows planned until after the new year."

"Yes quite, and we did endeavor to explain as much to them. But one thing Apple Jack definitely managed to pass down to her sister is her sheer stubbornness."

"Yeah," Apple Jack started sheepishly. "Bloom went and thought up the idea that Sweetie Bell could ask for it for her birthday next week. Managed to convince the other two, now it's been the only thing any of them talk about all week."

Trixie was slightly taken aback. A show was one thing, but performing at a birthday party. While she had done it before, many times in fact, she had long since reached a level where such a thing should be beneath her. Those were the kind of gigs one takes when they are struggling to get by or trying to make a name for themselves. After a full season of sold out venues, even when her assistant was absent due to world ending emergencies, it should be absurd for her to even think of performing such a small show. And yet she felt her lips curl up at the thought.

"You know what. After all the huge, high stress shows I've been doing lately, a small show for the girls and their friends actually sounds like fun." She paused for a second to think on it more, and her smile only grew more at the thought. "Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun actually." She slid her chair back and with a practiced couple hops was on the table standing proudly. "No matter the audience, big or small. Bring them, and The Great and Powerful Trixie will give them a show that they'll never forget." Twilight smiled at Trixie's sudden excitement and began clapping her hooves to play up her big display. However as both mares looked back to their company they were met with apprehensive looks.

"Yeah see, we was actually here ta' see if ya could maybe let them down easy. Find some excuse as ta' why y'all can't do a show for em'," Apple Jack said while lifting a hoof to scratch at the back of her neck.

Trixie managed to keep from seeming offended while she climbed down from the table and went to stand next to Twilight who seemed as curious about this as she was. "Well... I guess if that's what you want I could do that. But I mean, I'm just not sure why. For such a small show I'd do it for free for you girls if that's the problem."

Rarity was the one to respond this time. "Oh no no no darling, perish the thought. In fact if you were to do the show I would insist on paying. No, the problem here is actually with the audience and the over all content of your shows." Twilight made no move but Trixie tilted her head in confusion. "It's, umm... How shall I say. The current level your shows have reached means they involve subjects that are not the types of things we would be comfortable explaining to our young sisters."

Twilight made a face of sudden realization, while Trixie was still stumped. "What do you mean? All kids love magic shows. I still don't know what the problem is."

"Magic isn't the problem, it's the other, more mature aspects you've been usi....."

"Oh for ponies sake. Ya' had Twi struttin' around on stage in what was basically lingerie durin' yer' last show."

That had caught Trixie off guard, thus her first response was not well thought out. "That costume was Twilight's idea though. Ow!" The mare next to her had elbowed her in the ribs. "What, it's true."

Apple Jack and Rarity casted very questioning looks to their normally reserved friend. Twilight dawned the biggest, fakest smile her friends had ever seen on her in defence of there sudden attention. Her horn began to glow and with a flash and a pop she disappeared. From behind the two other ponies Trixie could see one of the piles of pillows in the living room suddenly get larger.

"It's always the quiet ones I guess," Apple Jack shrugged.

"Quite," Rarity responded. "But regardless of where the antics come from, it would still be inappropriate for such young fillies."

"Yeah, I mean that still doesn't even cover the fact that y'all made out on stage like... Six times in one show. I'd like to put off having 'the talk' with Bloom for at least another year or two iffin' I could manage."

"...., Ok I guess I can see where you girls are coming from. I guess I didn't even realize how racy my shows have gotten." She gave a small, slightly apologetic laugh. "Playing off of Moonlight in my shows is a better draw then when you all let me claim I had beaten half of the Elements of Harmony in a dual."

Apple Jack gave a laugh as well. "Yeah I could see how that'd pack em' in."

The room stayed silent for a minute while Trixie thought. "You know, my shows haven't always been that crazy. I could probably scale it back and still put on a really good show for your sisters. With your permission of course."

Rarity put a hoof to her chin as she considered that for a minute. "Well I suppose we've only seen your shows since you've added Twilight, so we don't really know what they were like before. Except of course the one from your first trip to Ponyville." Trixie gave a very self conscious smile. "But I guess we could take you at your word if you say you can make it more age appropriate. What do you say Apple Jack?"

Apple Jack looked much less convinced. "You would just have to deal with your parents. I actually gotta try ta' act like a parent for Apple Bloom, and Celestia knows I got no idea what I'm doin'." She blew out a breath slowly before continuing. "Yeah, I s'pose if ya' could pull it on back it'd be ok. But ya' gotta pull it pretty far back mind ya'." She suddenly raised a hoof to point at the showmare. Trixie was slightly taken aback. Realizing how overbearing she was being Apple Jack quickly withdrew the hoof and ran it over the back of her head. "Sorry. It's not that I don't trust ya', I just always gotta be the responsible one is all. Y'all are a good friend. It's always nice when ya' come home to stay with Twilight, it makes her happy and it adds a little more fun ta' this little town. So if ya' can tell me honestly ya' can put on a good show for em', I guess I can believe ya'."

Trixie heard Apple Jack's whole statement, but by the end of it she wasn't really listening. She could only stare at the farmer in shock. And for some reason she was reminded of the first time she was introduced to Apple Jack as Twilight's marefriend.

Trixie hadn't been too worried about returning to Ponyville itself. She went through many towns and she found that bad shows were quickly forgotten. Street performers could be remarkably interchangeable. So returning to a town were she had previously been badly received was usually less making up for past mistakes and more starting from a blank slate. But now she had something in this town that she never had before, ties. And with that came ponies that would definitely remember her.

She was basically just passing through, only staying for two days with Twilight while on a trip between shows, and she was definitely not going to be performing. After that Twilight was going to be leaving with her for her first road trip with her to their next show.

So it was with a feeling of anxiety she really didn't understand that she hauled her cart through town and to the large tree. She didn't have much trouble finding it do to it's size and the fact that she had spent some fair time glaring at it from below the hood of a worn old jacket as she searched the streets of this town for pieces of her old cart. The odd feeling of knowing there were ponies inside waiting for her had filled her with many conflicting emotions, especially since she didn't even know half of them.

After spending much more time securing her cart then she normally would she finally found herself in front of the door. She initially found she had trouble raising her hoof to knock. However it had been nearly two weeks since she had seen Twilight at that point, so just the prospect of seeing her was enough to spur her on.

She had barely finished knocking when the door flew open and the most beautiful sight in the world to her greeted her. At that moment all trepidation left her and she met Twilight's diving hug with one of her own. In the tangle of legs and hooves that followed neither remembered when their lips had met, but they had just come together naturally. The thought that their PDA might be getting on the side of excessive was just coming to Trixie when a very dainty, "eh-hem" came from the room behind Twilight.

Sheepishly the pair broke apart to find Rarity standing there tapping her hoof in mock impatience. "There will be plenty of time for that later," she said giving them a suggestive wink, "in the meantime, I think they're are some ponies we need to introduce her to."

Meeting Twilight's other friends was a lot less dramatic then her first real meeting with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, but it was no less weird. At one point during one of the ponies three massive rants Trixie had decided to hold her breath just for verification, and did indeed determine that Pinkie Pie did not need oxygen to survive. On the flip side of that, she spent a minute trying to remember Fluttershy's face. Clearly she must have in some way insulted her at a show somewhere before Ponyville, otherwise how could any pony be so nervous around her. But once it was determined that the shy pegasus was indeed happy to meet her, and no she was not scared of her for any particular reason, Trixie decided she actually seemed like a nice pony. Then came the final obstacle.

Apple Jack had stayed to the back of the group, and an impassive expression never left her face. This did nothing to alleviate the unease Trixie felt as she was finally led over to properly meet her. That expression combined with the pony connected to it made unease give way to full on fear. Trixie was a stronger then average unicorn do to hauling a cart for hundreds, maybe thousands of miles all across Equestria. But there was strong for a unicorn, then there was Earth ponies. And this pony looked strong for and Earth pony.

"H.. hello," was all she could manage when she finally worked up the courage to actually speak.

Apple Jack didn't respond, all she did was take two firm steps forward to plant herself uncomfortably close to the now shaking mare and look her up and down through squinted eyes.

"So, y'all are the pony that's datin' Twilight." The way she had said it didn't seem like a question, and indeed Trixie knew that this pony had been told the full situation prior to their meeting. She had known that the pony who had publicly humiliated her was now dating one of her best friends and that this would be the one she was meeting that day. The one thing Trixie didn't know was how this pony had responded when she had learned about this. She had tried to ask Twilight, but Twilight had just insisted that it was better to find out for herself. So despite that it wasn't really a question, Trixie felt obligated to answer.

"Y.. yes," she managed as the pony drew even closer and looked into her eyes with a glare that felt like it was piercing her soul.

After a long pause Apple Jack's eyes narrowed more and she spoke again. "I just got one question for ya'." She paused again to wait for Trixie to give her a nod. "Are y'all planning on making her happy?"

It was not the question Trixie had been expecting. She hadn't known what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that. But unlike any question she might have expected, she actually did have an answer to this one.

"I've never wanted anything more in my life." She finally felt confidence return to her voice.

Once again something happened that she did not expect. Apple Jack pulled away and gave a warm smile. "Well that's all I needed to know."

Trixie's hind legs gave out do to shock and she sat gaping. Behind her she could hear light snickering coming from various occupants of the room. In hindsight Trixie knew that she should have just taken this as a win and been ok with it, but her shock at the moment led her to ask questions she'd of been advised to just leave rest.

"Wait, is that it?" Apple Jack only nodded as she seemed to begin walking over to the door. "But what about all the things I did? I publicly humiliated you. Aren't you mad? You have all the reason in the world to hate me, why don't you?"

"Oh all that?" Apple Jack responded as she got to the door and began strapping saddle bags around her haunches. "Yeah I was a mite sore about that whole thing for a while. Iffin' y'all had come around after that I'd probably of bucked you right back outa' town." She finished strapping the bags on and turned back to Trixie. "But it's mighty hard to hold onto a grudge when there's work ta' do, and speaking of which, I gotta get back to the acres. Bottom line here is that Twilight trusts you, so I trust you."

Trixie had never been so disarmed in her life. She had been told about Apple Jack and how honest she was, and Trixie could tell it was true. She felt she could immediately believe the words from this pony, something she had never experienced from anypony much less one she didn't know. And yet here she was offering her trust without any conditions. Trixie could still only sit and gape.

"That being said, y'all still gotta face the real obstacles iffin' ya' want the approval of the whole Apple family. So everypony is invited to an Apple family dinner tonight. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh will put ya' through the real ringer then." She gave Trixie a playful smile. "Don't worry though, Apple Bloom will like you immediately. It's just how she is." She then opened the door and gave a hardy, "see y'alls tonight," as she closed it behind her.

As Trixie came back to the present she realized she felt the same now as she had back then. Apple Jack's honesty was so completely disarming that it was impossible to defend against. After she tore away your defenses with just a few words, what would come next would destroy all false pretenses and posturing you would normally put up. Trixie truely believed if the pony ever realized how devastating her simple, truthful words could be, she'd probably never speak again.

Luckily she hadn't zoned out long enough for her pause in the conversation to be weird, but she was pushing it. She smiled reassuringly to the two mares standing before her just now starting to look concerned.

"Well then I'll honestly say; I can put on a great show for the crusaders and their friends, and it will be one hundred percent clean. You can have Rarity white glove test it beforehoof even." That drew a smile out of the two.

"That sounds devine darling. I'm glad we were able to work that out so well. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go see how much of the town is still standing after leaving those four alone. Tata, and do give Twilight our regards when she decides to come out."

Trixie noticed a slight rustle of the larger pillow pile as she led the two through the living room and saw them out. She wanted to talk to Twilight right away, but she really had to get her thoughts in order first. She walked into the kitchen to get herself some water. At some point during the conversation Spike had snuck in and cleaned her dishes. This didn't surprise her, in fact she expected it to be the case. It felt... normal, like so many other things now were. Beatrix walked back into the living room and up to the pillows.

"Twilight, you ready to come out yet. I really need to ask you something." The pillows shifted for a second before one lifted off the top and Twilight's head poked out from under it.

"I don't know, I'm still trying to get the plates on that bus you threw me under," she said with mock contempt. Then she noticed the hesitance in her marefriends eyes and immediately stepped out of the pile to speak to her properly. "Sweetie, what is it?"

"It's nothing.. I just, gotta get a few things straight." She paused to regather her thoughts before continuing. "I guess the first thing I gotta ask is; where did that bag of bits go?"

"Which one?"

"The one I left with you the last time I was in town. You know.. the really big one, with all my savings."

"Oh right. Don't worry, it's safe. I figured you wouldn't want it just sitting out, so I got that nightstand that's on your side of the bed and put it in there. It locks and everything. The key is just in the top drawer of it right now though."

Beatrix gave a small laugh. "That one answer is like an answer to all my questions." Twilight smiled at the response. "So let me get all of what I learned today lined up for you. I have a 'my side of the bed'. I have furniture that is just mine. I felt comfortable enough to leave my life savings somewhere where I can't keep a constant eye on it without giving it a second thought." She paused for a second to breathe and keep herself steady. Twilight seemed curious but knew it was better to let her get this off her chest. "For the first time in my life I've gotten used to somepony.. some dragon, taking care of me." She looked over to the pile of pillows Twilight had not come out of sitting next to a window. "I have a favorite reading spot that's right next to somepony else's favorite reading spot." She smiled warmly to Twilight at that one, a smile that Twilight returned. "I even have a whole group of ponies who know me well enough to know how much trouble I have getting up in the morning. And those ponies aren't just your friends, they're my friends too aren't they?" Twilight gave her a slight nod to confirm. Beatrix paused again, this time seeming apprehensive again. "T.. Twilight..... Do I, live here?"

Twilight stepped closer, taking one of Beatrix's hooves in her own and bringing their faces close. "For at least a few months of the year. But that's not what your really asking about and you know it."

Trixie gave a slight sniff before trying again. "I.. is, is this home? Do I have a home?"

Twilight pulled her even closer and nuzzled the side of her face comfortingly. "I'd like to think so. Since you first came here last winter I've wanted this to be that kind of place for you. And it wasn't because you never had a real home. It's because I wanted you to come home with me."

Once upon a time a pony named Trixie had cried in front of Twilight for several minutes without her noticing. Right now she knew Beatrix was crying without ever opening her eyes, and it didn't take the moisture rubbing off on her cheek for her to be able to tell.

They stayed like that for several minutes. Twilight was fairly certain Spike walked in on them at one point. The young drake had had the sense to stop himself before saying something and back out of the room slowly. Finally Beatrix pulled away and quickly rubbed her foreleg across her face. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and yet the mare proceeded like there was nothing wrong.

"Ok, if you think you can keep putting up with me then I'd love for this to be my home." She smiled widely, Twilight did her best to match it. "I might not be an expert on this sort of thing but I think I know what I need to do next."

"And what might I ask is that?"

"I think that if somepony is going to have a home, then the first thing they need is roots in that place, and not just ties to that place."

"That's one way of looking at it I suppose. So what did you have in mind?"

"I'm going to need a lot of help on this," Twilight tilted her head in question for Beatrix to continue, "because we have a very important show to put on."

"Ladies and gentle colts."

Moonlight had played hype pony for some of The Great and Powerful Trixie's shows in the past. Somepony to go out before and get the audience charged up and ready, to work them all into a frenzy. That was not what this was.

"The Golden Oaks library is happy to present today, for your entertainment..."

Twilight had made it very clear that this was still a library, and the fact that the stage was held up by books proved that fact. Therefore this was a fairly quiet affair, the audience waiting patiently yet already giving their undivided attention. Despite the calm atmosphere the showpony could not remember the last time she was this nervous before a show. The bed sheet curtain seemed way too thin to hide her worry as she waited for her cue.

"... The Bewitching Beatrix."

Beatrix lit her horn and lifted the curtain just enough to walk through. As she did she saw the entire crowd. The CMC had invited most, if not all of their class. Spike sat amongst them and yet it still didn't fill out the room very much. Behind were Twilight's friends, her friends, and to fill out the room some more most of them had brought along their pets. And every one of them was now giving her a puzzled look.

She came to a stop at the front of the stage right next to a small covered table she had put there. She felt the boards of the stage shift under her as the book support did it's job about as well as could be expected. If she didn't know any better she might think it was her own knees doing the shifting. She felt naked and exposed, which she should probably expect seeing as she infact was naked. Being on stage with no costume felt alien to her. So little fabric as a hat and cape could be such a barrier, and could be missed so much when it wasn't there.

She was still a showmare though, so none of this made it to her face. Instead she just smiled with confidence she did not feel. "Good afternoon everypony. We have an amazing show lined up for you today." This was not her usual brand of braggadocio, her words were calm and even as she ignored the questioning looks and plowed forward with the show.

"For my first trick today, we've got an oldie, but a goodie." She reached under the table and made a show of rummaging around for a few seconds. She then pulled out a hat. This hat was dark purple and covered in stars and moons with little bells all along the brim with one dangling from the pointed top. Not the hat she was use to, but it was cheaply made enough for the trick she had planned.

"From this simple hat, I shall pull from thin air, right here before you today, a live rabbit." There was an audible groan from the first few rows of the room. The younger patrons seemed unimpressed. With an amused smirk and not losing any of her confidence she addressed the unress. "Is there something wrong?"

It was Scootaloo who actually spoke up. "Everyponies seen this trick."

"Everypony you say?" The magician responded in fained surprise.

"Yeah, the rabbit is already in the hat," another filly added.

The unperturbed showmare looked into the hat with the same mock surprise before turning the opening to the audience. "There's no rabbit in here."

Scootaloo again, "it's in a secret compartment."

The magician turned from mock surprise to mock shock as she turned the hat back to her. "Secret compartment? Twilight honey, did you put a secret compartment in your hat?" She asked as she put her hoof in the hat and started reaching around.

"I don't believe so sweetie, I only spent about an hour making it."

The mare on stage didn't seem to really be paying attention as she tried to see deeper into the hat while still blindly reaching around. Sharper members of the audience were now murmuring amongst themselves as it was noticed that she was digging her foreleg in way further then it should be able to go. She had it in past the elbow when she finally spoke again. "Oh wait, I think I feel something. This must be the secret compartment." She reached in all the way to her shoulder, stretching the brim of the hat substantially to do so. The audience all noticed the bottom of the hat bulge before it gave way. The magician mocked shock again as she looked down to see her exposed leg. "Uh-oh. Twilight, I think I owe you a new nightmare night costume."

The audience was now completely quiet as she waved her hoof around as she stood on her hind legs. This made it very clear the leg that was in the hat appeared to be less then half the length of the one holding it. She finally removed her leg from the hat and looked through it in a way that the whole audience could see through as well.

"Well so much for secret compartments. I think I can still pull this off though." The quiet confidence had returned as she held the hat in front of her again. "Is everypony ready. On the count of three. One." She reached into the hat deep enough that her hoof should have come out the bottom but didn't. She then pulled it all the way out again. "Two." She reached in deeper, her hoof just poking out the bottom and flailing around for a second before pulling back out again. " Three!!!" She exclaimed as she reached in to the shoulder again. Her leg was clearly visible and empty through the bottom as she reached. With a rapid jerk she pulled back out, and as her hoof cleared the brim they saw it. In the crook of her hoof was a small, white, familiar bunny.

There was a small collective gasp as all attention suddenly turned to the back of the room and a butter yellow pegasus there. Her attention went down to her hooves where a single half eaten carrot bobbed back and forth. The audiences attention went back to the stage where the bunnies surprise was now giving way to his usual simmering anger. He kicked away from the hoof holding him and cut a path back across the room to Fluttershy.

"Angel bunny, what happened?" The bunny started wildly gesticulating and squeaking at her. "Now now, if you don't know what happened you can just say so. There's no reason to use language like that with foals around."

The crowd was now in stunned shock, but this only lasted until the now smugly smiling magician gave a small bow and asked, "so has everypony seen that one before?"

All the foals then broke out in screaming applause. With a flourish she swirled the hat around and smugly placed it on her head. At which point the now stretched out hat slid down her head and settled on her shoulders. The applause increased as it was now obvious the hat had nothing to do with the trick as her head was clearly not lost in the void of the hat and was in fact poking out of the top.

"Yup, I definitely owe you a new costume honey." The audience now gave a laugh as she removed it from her shoulders and threw it to her waiting assistant just off the stage. "Now that I have your attention, I think it's time to really get this show going." She then proceeded to reach back under the small table, rummaged around a few seconds, and proceeded to pull out a trunk that had no business fitting under the table or even under the stage. "If my lovely assistant would join me on stage."

The rest of the show went on in that manner. Simple tricks with the twist of a master magician that kept the crowd amazed. The highlight of the show was near the end when the usual assistant took a back seat and instead they invited the birthday girl up on stage. The trick performed, which involved dismembering and reassembling the filly in yet another large contraption apparently summoned from nowhere, had even the pony participating in it scratching her head. This was more difficult with how far head and hoof were currently separated. After putting Sweetie Bell back together she was immediately mobbed with questions upon stepping off the stage.

It was after the crowd settled down from this that Beatrix moved the table off stage revealing no source of where everything from the show had come from. Taking center stage the magician took a bow.

"Thank you so much everypony." Her eyes drifted up to the back of the room were five ponies stood. "it has been my greatest honor to perform for you today."

No sooner then she had risen from her bow, Beatrix was suddenly surrounded on all sides by excited foals. She could hardly make anything out as they each piled praises and questions onto her all at once.

Not knowing any nonviolent ways of dealing with a bunch of ponies rushing the stage she could only turn to her marefriend for support. Luckily Twilight had already proceeded to the kitchen door. "My little ponies, it's almost time for cake." The swarm disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared. Beatrix was able to see the last of them enter the kitchen while Twilight gave the most supportive smile she could and gestured back to the other side of the room.

Five ponies sat waiting, and she was able to smile genuinely as she walked back to them.

"Hey girls. My name is Beatrix Lulamoon."

Author's Note

This chapter came off almost as one continuous thought. This is the chapter I've wanted to write ever since I decided to extend the story. Although I'm writing these notes probably a few days before it's probably going to come out. This is because I'm planning a surprise that only those that bother to read authors notes will have any clue about. It involves the next, the last chapter and how soon you will all be seeing it.
Once again thanks to anyone who reads it and extra thank to anyone who leaves a comment. Good or bad, I love seeing them.

The show will always go on.

"LADIES AND GENTLE COLTS!!!!!" The Great and Powerful Trixie could hear her voice echo despite how low she was actually speaking. The sound was still nothing compared to the roar of the crowd that followed. The magic headset that was amplifying her voice thankfully also protected her ears.

"This has been the grandest and most amazing show Trixie has ever had the honor of performing." This was not a boast in the slightest. At some point it was apparently leaked from some member of the castle staff that one of the princesses was a fan of Trixie's. It was rumored that said princess was planning on attending the last show of her most recent Canterlot tour. Once this was learned, what few seats were left quickly sold out and back orders for tickets reached forward nearly a decade. The already rather large theater she was originally doing the show at decided to sell off the rights to the last show to the highest bidder. This was why the magician now stood on stage in the Canterlot Amphitheatre, one of, if not the biggest venues in all the land.

"I would like to thank all my fans for being here tonight, no matter how diehard or prestigious." Anyone who had bought tickets only because a princess was a fan were probably in luck, as there were three princesses in attendance on this night. And even more so, the royal box had to be extended for six additional seats. The Elements of Harmony were well known fans of the magician and were given places of honor up with the princesses. However, anypony paying attention was puzzled by both the lack of the element of magic and an old pegasus stallion sitting in her seat and beaming down with what looked like pride in his eyes.

"If Trixie had it her way, this night WOULD NEVER END!!!!!" The crowd erupted again as Trixie felt the stage shake. "But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end." There was a mild lul as the crowd voiced their disappointment. "But you know what," the roar of the crowd picked up again. "Trixie does have one more trick she's been working on." The roar started shaking the building once again. "If everypony reallllllly wants to see it, Trixie might be able to oblige."

The whole area now shook noticably as the entire crowd began to also pound their hooves.

"Do you all want to see it... Do you really... I can't hear you!!!!" At her encouragement the crowd was now working itself into a frenzy. "Well all right then. If you really want to see it, then Trixie is going to need your help in welcoming back to the stage, her lovely assistant, MOONLIGHT GLEAM!!!!!"

The curtain was thrown open and a familiar but transformed pony strutted out. Though she would never show it, she had no idea what was going on. Her magician was prone to random improvisation in her shows, but after four encores she had definitely thought it was ok to get the champagne out. She had barely had time to get back into costume when she heard the crowd roaring back to life again.

So Moonlight just took her spot on center stage and waited for what might happen. She knew Trixie could be more then a little impulsive, but she trusted her enough to see her through whatever she was planning.

"Isn't she wonderful everypony, lets give her a little more." The cheering continued. "That's right everypony show her some love. Because tonight might be the last night anypony ever sees her." Twilight had to fight not to roll her eyes at the theatrics as her magician slash marefriend walked around her in an ominous way. She still had no idea what trick she was planning, but obviously Trixie had a plan.

With a flick of her cape and a straightening of her hat, Trixie stopped in front of the mare. "Are you ready everypony!" More frantic cheering. "Well then prepare yourselves. Because right here tonight, The Great and Powerful Trixie will perform her most amazing feet to date. Right here, in front of you all today, I will transform my lovely assistant..."

At that moment a rush of steam shot up from the floor, hiding the pair for less then a second. In that second a rush of sensations hit Twilight hard. A magic aura quickly engulfed her and stripped her costume from her, mask and all. She also felt this aura cancel her transformation spell. Her instincts were to resist or redo what was done, but she didn't have the time. Just as quickly as it had come the wall of steam was gone. As she adjusted to being able to see again she saw something amazing before her.

Twilight was not the only pony Beatrix had stripped during their brief second under cover. She now was, for the second time in less then a year, on stage with no costume, save the earpiece so the whole crowd could hear what she had to say. She was kneeling before Twilight, extending a hoof that held a small black box.

"...Into my lovely wife."

The crowd couldn't hear Twilight's response. But after going suddenly quiet while the shock wore off the stunned mare, they all began cheering again as they saw the glisten of tears, a whole hearted smile, and a frantically bobbing head.

The lights went down as the pair embraced.

Author's Note

In other, non cannon news, that night the princesses crowns went missing and Presto now owns the largest casino in Las Pegasus. No, don't pay attention to that, just using humor to mask emotions. In truth I'm getting a little teary eyed writing these last notes. I really loved writing this story for the last.. dang, ten plus months, and seeing it end is kind of sad.
I'm probably going to be taking a break from writing for a while, partially to recover, mostly because I don't think I can follow this. This is more then I ever thought I could write, and it's the longest project I've ever done that I didn't hate by the end.
All that being said, I doubt this will be the end. I feel like I might end up making short ova type stories in this same universe just because I feel like there was a lot I never explored.
Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me thoughout this whole thing. Thank you for your support, your patience, your help, and your ideas. Hopefully you all like the finished product.

After Show pt. 2

"Ladies and gentlecolts, you're the best audience I've ever seen!!!!!" This was no boast, this was not a mid afternoon crowd, this was a packed house. "It has been our great pleasure to perform for you this evening!!!!!" Evening was the key word there. When Twilight had made it to the play house she found Trixie and the owner frantically trying to figure things out. The playhouses prime-time show had cancelled at the last minute and the only option the owner had was to see if Trixie would be able to fill the much longer, later, and more important slot. Luckily Trixie had already had a plan for making her show bigger and better, if only for the one night. "The Great And Powerful Trixie, and her lovely assistant, will come back here anytime you want us. We love you all!!!!!"

The curtains dropped, and it was a good thing that the roar of the crowd was much louder then her show the previous day. The second the curtains hit the floor Trixie could no longer hold it and broke out into hysterical laughter. Twilight walked over to her, and despite a mask covering most of her face, removing it revealed a fair amount of cake, pie and various other messy things covering her features. "That was not nice." They had also taken the time to magically transform Twilight some so the mare glaring at her had a slightly unnatural color to her mane and coat that made her current state all the more humorous.

"What are you talking about," Trixie got out between laughs, "they loved it. I think you made that my best show ever." Trixie kept laughing as she led Twilight off stage.

"You spent the whole show making fun of me and splatting me in the face with stuff."

"And copping feels, don't forget that". Twilight deadpanned at the mare, which did nothing to reduce the snickering still coming from her. "You know it's impossible to look intimidating when covered in cake right." The deadpan remained. "Ok fine, let's go get you cleaned up, you're such a spoil sport," the sneer she gave Twilight was obviously fake, "I think the owner is up front helping the rest of the staff anyway."

Trixie led Twilight back to the dressing room. She took a wash cloth in her magic before thinking better of it and taking it in her hooves and wetting it just a little. She turned towards Twilight and, putting her face closer then strictly necessary, started wiping off the slightly reddening face of the other mare. Trixie found that she had taken quite a liking to trying to see if she could embarrass Twilight as much as she had the previous night. The idea had come to her in the middle of the show when Twilight had managed to help her pull off a big trick and the audiences focus seemed to be drifting more towards the assistant then the magician. When she had decided to playfully goose her to play off of that she realized that since the mask they had found for her didn't cover her cheeks the audience ended up liking the look of her blushing face almost as much as she did.

"I could have gotten that myself you know," Twilight sputtered just a little as Trixie drew away.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that," a playful wink reddened Twilight's face even more. "I will get you to loosen up at some point... Though it might take a little assistance," Trixie looked away contemplating for a second.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Let's go see if the owner is still busy."

It turned out the owner had been busy and, after slipping the mask back onto Twilight, they had ended up helping too in their own way. The pair walked the lobby of the play house greeting guests and promoting both the establishment and Trixie's future shows.

This ended up being very difficult for Twilight. Trixie had had no way of knowing she had just sent a formerly reclusive nerd into a massive crowd of ponies and expecting her to be social. She had ended up needing to stay close to Twilight and more then gently guide her on how to handle her new fans.

Seeing Twilight struggle so much with basic social interaction was more then a little shocking for Trixie. She had been planning on having Twilight help in her show since the previous night, but the change in plans had made things much more difficult. Though she had twice the time to make Twilight into a half way decent assistant, she now had twice the time to fill and had to be ten times more impressive. Twilight, however, had picked it up without any problem. The biggest issue Trixie had in training her was getting her to not react with magic in most situations. Other then that she was intelligent enough to get every trick and secret down almost immediately. Remembering this it was almost jarring to see such a smart mare almost frozen solid as three stallions were cornering her and giving her a little too much attention.

'Wait, what', Trixie almost shouted in her head as she noticed the situation her lovely assistant was in. She quickly got over to the group and slid in between the stallions and Twilight. "Well hello there gentlemen, anything The Great And Powerful Trixie can help you with?"

"Oh, sorry. We were just having a chat with your lovely assistant here." They seemed to back down immediately, they were clearly trying to prey on how awkward Twilight was being. A mare with more confidence was not something they could handle. But Trixie couldn't chase them away, that would be bad showmareship.

"She is lovely isn't she. You handsome stallions wouldn't be trying to steal her away from The Great And Powerful Trixie, would you?" She gave a stern but playful look.

"Oh, we wouldn't dream of it miss Trixie", they all gave a very sheepish grin knowing they had been caught.

Smiling knowingly Trixie replied, "well that's good," she put a fore leg around Twilight's neck, "because she's meant for looking, not for touching. That pleasure is reserved for The Great And Powerful Trixie alone." She gave a very suggestive smile to the stallions that made them become very uncomfortable very quickly. With a few words about how much they liked the show they made their excuses and shuffled off. Twilight was blushing as brightly as she had the previous night but Trixie didn't have the time to enjoy it. She was busy leading the still stunned mare away from the crowd in any way she could that wouldn't draw attention.

She managed to get her to a side hallway where nopony seemed to be and immediately got face to face with her. She wrapped both forehooves around Twilight's neck and put their faces very close.

"Trixie wait, I'm really not like...."

"Twilight," Trixie cut her off in a way that was both gentle and forceful. It worked as the mare fell silent. "Look at me, focus on me." Twilight did as she was told but she was clearly still shaken up. "Now I want you to take three deep breaths," Twilight took in a rapid and slightly ragged breath, "slowly." Twilight complied and took a much slower couple breaths. "Now before letting out the third I want you to hold it," Twilight did as she was told, "now take all your stress, and slowly exhale all of it." The breath Twilight let out was slightly choppy, and she couldn't really say it made her stress go away, but she did feel like she wasn't on the verge of running off like she was realizing she was just a minute before. "Better?"

"....., I, I think so."

"Good, just keep breathing slowly and focus on me."

Twilight's mind started slowing down. Realizing just how quickly Trixie had managed to calm her down Twilight had to ask, "you deal with this stuff all the time? All the ponies, all the enthusiasm, .. a, all the pervs?"

Smiling warmly Trixie replied, "no, I don't. The Great And Powerful Trixie does. This is Twilight and Beatrix right now. I really can't handle that sort of thing, but Trixie is a pro." Seeing the mare in front of her calming she let go of her and took a step back.

Twilight took another deep breath. "You really have that much of a disconnect between you and her when she is you?"

"Just how the business works. It can actually be kind of fun if you get into it." Trixie knew they had to get back out and do more mingling with how happy the crowd seemed to be, so she got one last idea. "Hey, listen. You should make yourself a character." Twilight had recovered enough to give her a questioning look. "Seriously, think about it. Nopony knows who you are, and we took steps to make sure they never will. What you have here is total deniability. You aren't Twilight Sparkle right now, you are the lovely assistant to The Great And Powerful Trixie... And apparently her marefriend as well."

"That... is more then a little strange for me. I'm not even into mares like that, or anypony really."

"You aren't," she got close to her face again and used her forehooves to straighten Twilight's mask, "but we already kind of established that Trixie and her assistant are."

"I, is that even okay? Establishing that for your character?

"Eh, it's always somewhat implied that magicians are with their assistants, though never openly stated. Makes for more intrigue. Trixie does what she wants, including you." She got very close for the last part and purred out the words. Twilight's face got a little red but she resisted the urge to pull away.

There was a sudden sound of surprise from the end of the hall they were in. Some random patron had wondered into their hiding spot. Trixie made to move away and play more crowd control, when she was suddenly pulled closer. She was suddenly aware of something soft pressing against her lips, before realizing it was Twilight's. Just as she was realizing this Twilight pulled away, then turned towards the intruder and, in a sultry tone said, "do you mind, we're kinda busy here".

The stallion sputtered out some unintelligible words as he stumbled away as quickly as he could. Twilight looked back over to Trixie, whatever confidence she had suddenly had seemed to be gone. "W, was that okay. I didn't over do it did I?"

"Nope, I think that will do just fine." Twilight's hesitation gave Trixie the time she needed to recover from the sudden out of character behavior, as well as the sudden intrusion of her personal space. "Keep that up and you can handle all those ponies in there just fine."

With a few deep breaths to get back into character they left the hallway and rejoined the slowly dwindling crowd in the lobby. It took nearly another hour for the last of the crowd to find their way out, but this time Twilight was in good form. She adopted a very upbeat and bubbly persona, one that became very popular and actually meshed well with Trixie's more abrasive one. Though she seemed to be doing good, once the last of the patrons were out she let out a breath that seemed like she had been holding it for some time.

"Sweet Celestia, that was crazy. I've never pretended to be somepony else like that before."

"I think you had fun with it though. Admit it." She winked and blew a small kiss at her.

".... , Didn't you need to talk to the owner or something. I think he's over by the concession stand." Trixie gave her a scrutinizing look before shrugging it off and turning in the indicated direction.

They indeed did find the owner talking to the last of his staff as they were finishing up the last of their cleaning. "Oh Trixie, and.. I don't think you ever gave me your name."

"There's a good reason for that", Trixie cut off Twilight before she could answer. He had seen Twilight before they dressed her up, but both still figured it would be best if he knew as little about her as possible.

Looking just a little disappointed by this he continued. "Oh, well that's fine. Either way I can't thank you both enough. I'd of lost a ton if I didn't fill this place tonight. Everypony seemed to love the show. Follow me." They did as he led them to his office. He went to a safe, entered a combination and pulled out a small bag. This was apparently meant to be Trixie's original payment. He set that one aside and started filling another, much larger one with bits. Finishing, he turned back to the mares. "That's the payment for a prime time show, plus a little extra for saving my flank. Also," he picked up the original bag and moved slightly too close to Twilight, "I know you weren't part of the original deal and we hadn't worked out any kind of price, but I'd still like to show you my appreciation, hopefully you won't forget us down the road." Seeing the same routine from a different angle Trixie realized this time that this guy actually was kind of a creep. Non the less she moved behind him and indicated a big smile to Twilight.

Catching on Twilight slipped back into character, "oh, how could I forget you". She took the bag and gave a wink as Trixie started to lead them out of the office. As they approached the back door Twilight finally asked, "do you always gotta deal with stallions like him just to get paid?"

"Just one more thing that's all part of the industry. It's better and worse depending on the gig. He wasn't so bad. You did great by the way, I think I finally got you to loosen up. Maybe not as much as I'd like you to, but we're getting there." She gave Twilight a wink.

This didn't shock Twilight at all as she seemed to be thinking over something as they walked. "Hey Trixie," Trixie looked back as she was walking to see a bag of bits floating before her. "I know this won't exactly do much to dispel the whole 'spoiled' image you have for me, but I really don't need this. And no this isn't to bribe you into forgiveness, I just think you deserve it after all you must have gone through."

Stopping in her tracks Trixie seemed to think this over for a second. "Dang it. This goes against my every instinct as a glorified carnie, but I think that if you want it you should keep it. You more then earned it at this point. I don't think I have any reason or right to be in any way mad at you anymore." Twilight did not respond, she only held the bag there for Trixie as the showmares will crumbled. "Ok fine," she relented and took the bag, slipping it in with the other under her hat. "But now I am officially indebted to you. You really don't know how big this show was for me."

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I don't need it, and since we're friends now there shouldn't be feelings of obligation between us."

"That didn't work back when you owed me so it doesn't work now. To pay you back I'm going to show you one last industry secret." They had arrived at the back door of the play house and Trixie opened it to let the other mare out. "I'm gonna show you the best way to unwind after a great show."

"That does sound fun, but one condition," Trixie motioned her to continue, "could you stop coming onto me, at least for the rest of the night?"

Smiling mischievously Trixie replied, "now if I remember correctly you were the last one to make a big move on me." She waggled her eyebrows for emphasis.

Twilight turned her chin up in mock contempt, "that was not me, that was Trixie's assistant." She played it off well, but her cheeks still betrayed her in the dim light.

Trixie kept her mischievous smile for a few seconds before a snort pushed its way from her nostrils. "Ok, fine. Deal. I give you a magicians promise that you are safe for the evening, now let's go".

Trixie trotted back past Twilight and led the way to her cart. She unlocked it and slipped in before opening a cabinet in the corner. She then opened a false back which revealed a couple bottles of beverages Twilight did not recognize. Trixie set those aside before opening a second false back behind that one filled with the bag of bits from the previous night as well as several others. She deposited both her new ones into it before folding up her hat and cape and adding them and closing up both secret compartments. She then took both bottles into her magical grasp and turned to present them to a newly unmasked and untransformed Twilight standing in the doorway of the cart.

"Pick your poison Twilight Sparkle, cause we ain't stopping until these are empty." Twilight looked intrigued, but before picking she realized one problem. She looked around the very limited space in the cart, which caught Trixie's attention and made her realize the problem too. "Pony feathers. Well I guess we could find a bar or something. I'd have to disguise myself first but I really don't know how long I'd be able to...." Trixie was cut off as her vision was filled with a blinding light. Blinking it away she suddenly found she was not in her cart, but back in a very soft bed she had recently come to know very well. Trixie might not have the ability to teleport, but she knew the kind of ability it would take to teleport two mares and a couple bottles of higher quality booze the several miles it was to the castle and to land on a specific bed with such precision. Looking over at the other mare now sitting on the bed smiling smugly all she could say was, "show off", before magically tossing one of the bottles over to her.

"I have been lucky enough to have experts teach me in every subject. My most recent mentor taught me the art of showing off very well." She said very smugly as she analyzed the bottle she now held in her own magic.

Trixie only stuck her tongue out at her as she popped open her bottle and gave a deep sniff as the aroma of the contents escaped. "Oh yeah. I've been waiting for a good opportunity to open these up."

"You know I've never really drank before".

"Why am I totally not surprised," Twilight gave her a half hearted glare. "Well guess I get to teach you one more lesson tonight." She held up her bottle. Twilight hesitated a few seconds before popping open her own and clinking the bottles together.

Author's Note

This chapter was actually supposed to cover a lot more content. The whole scene in the playhouse more or less came out of nowhere as I was writing. I think this one might have meandered a little so I'm not sure if I'm happy with it. Let me know what you think.
Also, sorry it was a little late. This time around I was trying to release these stories on a schedule but the holidays made that difficult. Thanks as always for reading and I love getting your comments, even bad ones.

Mentors: The more things change the more they stay the same.

"Beatrix sweetie, you'd better hurry up. We still need to actually pack up your cart before you hit the road."

"Yeah yeah, I'm almost done." Dawn the day after the couple's enlightening breakfast with the showmares mentor had come bright and early as it always did every morning. And it was completely ignored by the pair for about four hours much like it was every morning as well. They did finally rise to meet the day and the questions left over from the experience.

After putting off thinking about the situation all day and night Beatrix had decided that the healthiest thing for her to do.. was to keep putting off thinking about it. Though it drew a disapproving look from Twilight the pair did have to put it off so they could get ready to leave on time seeing that they had slept in so long.

Twilight had taken the first shower while Beatrix had started the packing, mostly so Beatrix could take the second shower and she could correct all of her packing. Beatrix was just brushing out her mane when Twilight decided to speak up again.

"Hey, did you happen to remember where I took off those new earrings you got me for Moonlight."

Beatrix ran through her memories of the night after the show. "Ah pony feathers. Did you check the bed, I don't think I remember you taking them out before we crashed."

"I didn't either but they definitely aren't there. I think I must have still been wearing them yesterday."

A thought suddenly came to Beatrix as she set her brush down and pressed her hoof to her forehead. "Buck, I forgot about the pockets he sewed in on the inside of his sleeves."

"... What are you talking about?"

"Presto." The name came out clipped and annoyed.

"... Are you saying he got my earrings out while I was still wearing them, despite never actually approaching me."

"It's entirely possible when we're talking about him."

"... Are you sure he's actually a pegasus?"

"I'm not even sure he's a pony sometimes honey." She quickly packed her brush and the last of her stuff in the bathroom. "Hurry up, we're now running even later. I know where he usually fences stuff and the guy owes me a favor."

Author's Note

Threw this on at the end just to try and further the nature, and legend, of Presto. Hopefully I created a character that would have a lasting impression. I like him over all, but if you all see any more of him it will probably be in small amounts. The Mentors arch will continue, but there will be a slight interlude. Mostly because I think I need to add a bit more conflict. Hopefully I'll get it done a little sooner this time.