Trixie walked through the marble hallways of the museum, her hooves echoing with every step. It felt loud and boorish to trot in such a place, and she slowed to a leisurely walk as her eyes wandered from painting to painting. She recognized many of them, clearly pony derivatives of the human ones she had seen before she become Great and Powerful.

Still, she had never seen them in person. Many of them weren't even in glass. Ponies just trust each other a little more. Even as a thief walked among them. Trixie blushed softly at the thought. She may have stolen that money, but she wouldn't steal art! Right? She shook her head again, trying to free herself of the thoughts.

It didn't matter, the art was lovely. At least until she ran into one that seemed to be little more than a moulding of marble into a lump in the middle of an ordinary room. Was it an imperfection in the construction? No, it had a sign declaring it to be art. Trixie peered at it and the sign both.

The sign declared it to be 'Imperfect', and mentioned that touching was permitted. That was unusual, so Trixie approached the lump and reached out, tapping it. It was marble, the same as the rest of the museum's floor, as if someone had somehow just pulled it up into the lump. "Trixie does not get it..."

"I love this," came the dulcet tones of one Tree Hugger, a smile on her face, eyes half-lidded at best. "It's a statement."

Trixie jumped in surprise, having not notice Tree before then. "Oh, what is it saying?"

"Like, it shows that even the little lumps in life can have meaning, and you shouldn't, you know, get bent out of shape trying to fix them all." Tree Hugger walked up beside Trixie and raised a hoof, setting it down on the lump. "When you try..." She pressed down firmly, and the lump collapsed in the middle, only to expand out the sides, taking up more room than it had to start with. "You only make things more awkward."

Trixie watched as the lump returned to its original shape. "Huh... That is a good message, Trixie supposes." She smiled at Tree Hugger hopefully. "Do you come here often?"

Tree Hugger stood still a moment, looking Trixie over. "Your vibes are... fascinating. It's, like, out of this world... What does the cosmic mare want with me? Are you here to sweep me off my hooves?" She didn't sound especially thrilled, or not thrilled, as if just noting the situation, still smiling in her little way.

Trixie inclined her head at the hippie pony. Could she detect her human-tainted mind? Wait, sweep ponies off their hooves? "I don't swing that way!" she blurted without even thinking about it, operating on an immediate need to assert her cis nature. Her face went red almost immediately thereafter as the thinking part of her brain caught up. Was she straight? Really, how could she even define that? She still had male thoughts jiggling around up there, bouncing off of mare ones.

"Woah, take a chill pill and let those harsh thoughts flow free," bid Tree Hugger as she sat down and crossed her legs in a posture one would not imagine a horse would ever take, but she was a pony, not a horse. "Your chakras are becoming congested. A moment of meditation is what you need."

Trixie considered leaving a hot moment, but Tree Hugger seemed genuine in her desire to help, and though Trixie had tried to forget it, she was still a little lonely. If a pony wanted to spend time with her, what was the harm? She sank to her haunches and slowly pulled up her legs to cross as Tree Hugger had done, which involved more stretching than she had guessed from how easily Tree had done it, but Trixie managed it.

"I'm so happy you're willing to take some time for some self love," sighed out Tree Hugger. "Now, close your eyes." When Trixie had closed her eyes, she nodded. "Breathe in while counting in your head to three heartbeats between inhale and exhale..." She watched placidly as Trixie began the breathing exercise. "Now extend, four heartbeats... When you feel comfortable, keep expanding your mind, go for six."

Trixie tried to be still and aware, to know her heartbeat. As she breathed slowly and focused on it, she started to feel it, her heart thumping away. As she breathed slower and slower, her heart seemed to calm down from its excited dance to a more mellow pattern. The exercise was working. She smiled as she slowed herself to six beats per inhale and six per exhale, calm and mellow, her worries discarded for the moment.

"Your vibes are much better," encouraged Tree. "You should do this once a day to keep your inner humors aligned with your astral presence." That sounded like a lot of new age mumbo jumbo to Trixie, but she didn't interrupt. "I'm glad we met. You needed this realignment." She stood up and nodded gently. "I come here once in a while. It was a cosmic intervention that we were here on the same day. Totally far out, I will not question the workings of fate itself."

Trixie unfolded her legs with a soft sigh. "Trixie feels... relaxed."

"You'll feel that way for a while. If you keep doing it, you can stay relaxed. It's, like, really good for you, inside and out." Tree Hugger reached for Trixie, but didn't touch. Her hoof hovered a few inches away as if she wanted to touch, but just didn't. "Peace be with you, cosmic sister. Perhaps one day you'll share your secrets with me."

Trixie surged up to her hooves. "Wait, before you go!"

Tree paused in her retreat to peer at Trixie in her placid way.

"What do you mean by 'cosmic sister'?" Trixie smiled hopefully at her new... friend?

Tree looked around as if suddenly distracted by the art that surrounded them. "I can feel it, the vibration of another world, echoing through you, and through me, through you. My chakras sing with a foreign power, whispering of a world that is not our own. What things have your eyes seen? What tales hang on the edge of your tongue? I would like to know, but it is not my place to be totally harsh about it. Your journey is your own, and if I can be a little rest stop along it, that's cool enough."

Her placid smile deepened slightly. "Cosmic sister, I wish you the best in your righteous journey."

Trixie felt her cheeks warming. "Trixie is..." She was uncertain is what she was. If she didn't know that she was a literal alien, she would have laughed off Tree's ramblings long ago. As it was, it struck far too close to home. "I... can't see."

Tree's vision seemed to clear, her eyes sharpening. "Are you alright, cosmic sister?"

"No. Trixie is not alright," confessed Trixie. "What she has seen, she forgets! She is becoming something else, something new, and she is scared that her old self will die and no one will even be sad because who cares about some random guy anyway?" Only after she said it, vented her emotions, did she realize what she had said and went rigid.

Tree Hugger inclined her head slowly. "That's a major drag, but... You should look at it from another perspective." She sat and raised her hooves to waggle them in emphasis. "The new you is shaped by the old you. We can't avoid that, even when we try. It's, like, just the way things work, Cosmic sister. Your new you is just as much you as the old you, just older, maybe wiser?" She smiled gently, body relaxing. "I would go with the flow, allowing your energies to mingle in harmony. Let your new self be a synthesis with the best of the old."

Trixie gave a stiff nod, thinking through the words. "I mean.. you're not wrong..." It wasn't that easy to internalize the message. She glanced about at the other ponies, making sure they weren't listening in on their conversation. She leaned in closer to Tree. "I'm forgetting about the other world. If I forget it all, will I still be a cosmic sister?"

Tree spread her hooves, looking like she was offering a hug. She was silent.

Trixie pointed at herself quizzically. Tree nodded. Trixie stepped forward into the offered embrace.

Tree Hugger closed her legs around Trixie gently, patting her, never holding her. She pat with her hooves along Trixie's form as if searching for something. "You are you, Cosmic sister, even if you are not finished growing. Move with righteous peace and abandon the war you wage on yourself. Are you here to stay, Cosmic sister? Will you return to your other world, with new tales to tell your people?"

Trixie smiled awkwardly at the question. Even if she did get home, she could easily imagine her old friends would laugh at her stories. They would call her a liar at best, dismissing her wild claims of having been to Equestria. Her job would... not... No, it would certainly not accept her excuse of absence. That life was... It was gone. But it was still hers.

Trixie emerged from her self-reflection to realize that Tree Hugger had vanished. She could have walked away, but she didn't remember hearing hooves. The marble floor didn't easily allow for stealthy motions, and yet, she was alone. Trixie made an unhappy noise as she turned around, looking for her. She had... enjoyed that strange little conversation, even if she wasn't sure how much of it she could make practical use of.

She began to trot away, feeling a little on edge. The harsh clops of her hooves slowed her back down. She was being rude to the other ponies enjoying the art that surrounded them. To her right, she saw a picture of a well-dressed pony with an apple covering their face entirely. She remembered a human variation of it and snickered softly, amused at how little translation had been required for the painting.

She was a magic pony, in Equestria. That wasn't such a bad fate, right? Besides, she was still herself. She could remember being human, and having dangly bits where mares did not. She nodded with growing confidence. She was a confused wreck, but she was her own confused wreck and none other's.

"Cosmic sister," she quietly said to herself as she ambled towards the next display. Some part of her liked that. Not the cosmic part, not really, but being called a sister. Of course, that was a hippie. Sister and Brother didn't... mean as much with them. It was basically 'Person I see', and little else. Still...

Still... She was a person, and Tree Hugger had seen her. That was strangely comforting.

"Trixie?"

Trixie froze at her name being called by a familiar voice. She turned in place and saw Rarity approaching swiftly. "Trixie Lulamoon, I hardly expected you here of all places."

Trixie's eyes widened a moment. "Rarity! I mean... Trixie is allowed to enjoy some art, is she not?"

Rarity shook her head quickly. "No no no no, of course you are, darling. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I just... hadn't expected it. This is a most pleasant surprise, though I thought I had left you back in Ponyville..."

Trixie felt her heart racing deep in her chest. "The Great and Powerful Trixie occasionally has sudden engagements. She can't help it when her fans demand her presence."

"Too true, darling," said Rarity with a hoof-wave, seemingly buying the lie entirely. "When business calls, a mare must answer. You know, I never thought of you that way, but I do suppose we are both entrepreneurs of different sorts. Neither of us accept any other pony as being our boss."

Trixie's ears fell. She had a boss. She was not... the real Trixie. "So... what's your favorite piece?"

Rarity turned and pointed down a hallway. "Right this way, darling. I'd love to show it to you. It's simply divine!" Gushing about her favorite art, Rarity began to give a tour that Trixie followed along with.

Author's Note

Amusingly, that last point that jabbed Trixie? I literally didn't realize it until after Rarity said it, and I could feel poor Trixie's heart being prodded. Poor Trixie/human, you can do it! At least Tree Hugger was here to help spellcheck the soul.

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