Trixie smiled at the collection of large-denomination bits that Don dropped into a new bag. "And to the victor goes the spoils, as they say."

His mare shook her head. "Who says that?"

Don snorted at that, ignoring the question as best he could even as he muttered in a grumble at his 'smart' saying being missed. "You did good."

Trixie plucked up the bag in her magic. "Yes she did, but now that that is done, I can go, yes?"

Don brushed the floating bag aside. "Don't be in a rush. This was just a test run, a successful one." He nudged Trixie's shoulder with a firm hoof. "But go on, take a break. I don't treat my ponies bad, right?" The room echoed with cheers from other ponies enjoying their free drinks. "Ya see? Take a few days off, unpack. I'll let you know when I have the next thing that needs yer expertise like."

Trixie tucked her bag away in a pocket in her cape. "Can you give me an estimate of how..." Her question trailed off, seeing Don was already walking away, the rest of the cash under a leg. He was talking to other ponies, and not Trixie.

She was not being set free that day. On the other... hoof... she had a little vacation, and money to spend on it. And that could all wait until she got some sleep.

A new day dawned. The sun shone brightly, right into Trixie's face. She was laying in her bed, her blanket a mess from her night-time fidgeting. With a sleepy murmur, she blinked open her eyes, only to squeeze them shut again. "Some things don't change," she half laughed as she rolled free of the bed. Pony or human, mornings were mornings.

She trotted to the bathroom and began the ritual of greeting the day. The shower worked and was large enough for her to stand in four-leggedly, but standing up was much nicer, allowing the water to cascade down her blue form as she cleaned herself with a magic-held loofah. "Day off," she sang as she turned. "I could do anything at all. Just have to avoid the curve ball."

She was singing and rhyming, and only just noticed it as she emerged from the shower and got to drying herself vigorously. "I didn't even know Trixie could sing, What other things will today bring!" She was stuck in it, unable to escape whatever strange impulse was driving her need to vocalize her thoughts.

With a twirl she emerged from the bathroom, singing about getting breakfast. "With just a peek inside the fridge there. The lack of food is something I should be ware... of." She blushed at her miss-step, could ponies mess up the songs forced on them? Still, it was true. The fridge had some food in it, but it was all leftovers. Still, cold pizza was better than nothing. She grabbed a slice in her magic and got to chewing, still singing fairly well despite that.

"I have to get dressed to look my best." Her glowing horn grabbed her hat and cape swiftly, adorning herself. "And perhaps a few bits. A mare needs a touch of glitz! Today is going to be grand!" She scooped up her bag of coins as she dashed out the door. Perhaps because of the song magic, but the door to the elevator swung open just as she reached it.

There was a bouncing mare inside, bobbing to the tune of the song that apparently had them both securely in its grasp. "Just finished with a big job, can't wait!" She pressed the close button once Trixie was inside. "Oh hello, good to talk and maybe debate." She leaned in closer to Trixie, smiling joyfully. "Perhaps a movie? That'd be groovy."

Trixie waved off the idea. "Just sitting still is not what Trixie wants!" she sang out, holding the last word with a trembling note. "Excitement and magic, a little surprise. Where can she go to get this prize?"

Even as the elevator sank, the other mare leaned in. "Ice skating is quite a treat, or perhaps you'd rather visit the beach? Catch some rays and maybe a wave, get some of that excitement that you crave." With a soft ding, the door opened and the mare sprang out, Trixie only inches behind. They had arrived at the ground floor.

"Good luck," she sang, waving. The song magic was gone.

"Oh, um, thanks." Trixie returned the wave, feeling awkward. Being a pony was strange at times.

She still liked it.

Trixie trotted out onto the street, the sun still warm overhead, even if it had to get through the spaces between buildings to reach her properly. The traffic was bustling and ponies were moving animatedly up and down the street. She could see some foals, maybe teenagers, in an alleyway a bit to the left, playing some variation on basketball.

Ponies were talking, walking, cheering, and living. Trixie descended the steps to join them, a smile on her face. The question was what to do with her time, and payment. For all her grand plans of not sitting somewhere, she was... still that flawed human. Sitting somewhere didn't sound that bad, so long as it was somewhere interesting.

As she walked, she spotted a young foal waving a newspaper animatedly at anypony that so much as glanced at him. Trixie approached with a gentle smile. "I'll take one, if you have change."

She placed one of her larger bits down in his dropped hat. The colt whistled and quickly got to fishing up most of the other coins to make change. "Here y'go! Um, enjoy the paper!"

"Trixie will, thank you." She unfurled the paper and let her eyes sweep over it. The writing was not English, but if she relaxed, it was understandable. It was written in the language of ponies, and she was one of those. What even was English anyway? She couldn't clearly remember how the words used to look.

She froze. She had just lost a memory. She had a clear image of what an English word looked like just moments before, and then... gone. She had literally traded knowledge of one written language for another, and it terrified her just a little. What other little exchanges had she been doing over time? Would she just... become Trixie some day, entirely, with no knowledge of her past?

With a powerful shudder, Trixie shook her head and almost angrily trotted down the street. The paper floating in front of her suddenly bopped her on the snoot as it crumpled backwards. She had run right into a pony. "Sorry."

"I'm walkin' here!" complained the stallion she'd crashed into. "Watch where yer goin'." With a snort of indignation, he accelerated away from Trixie.

With the sound of wings, a pony landed beside her. It was one she recognized. "It's your day off, right?" asked Bell Tailslide, the mare she had met in a bathroom. "Whatcha got planned?"

Trixie smiled as she raised a hoof, tapping at the paper held in her magic. "That is precisely what Trixie was trying to decide."

"Well, the way I see it, you got some bits to spare, why not live a little?"

Trixie cocked a brow. "She is listening..."

Bell rolled her hooves, one over the other as she sat up on her haunches. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not asking for handouts. Have you been to Manehatten before?" When Trixie shook her head, Bell only grinned wider. "Then the places you need to go are many, and I just happen to know a few of them. First, ain't nobody visiting this city without at least walking down Bridleway."

Broadway, Trixie's mind quietly corrected, and she smiled. She held that memory close like a treasured friend. "What sorts of shows do they have there?"

"All kinda, but I'm just listing places. Where was I? Oh yeah! Ya gotta lay your peepers on the statue!" She pointed right through buildings to where some statue theoretically stood. "She's bigger than most buildings, holding a torch up high. She's a symbol of the city!"

The pony version of the Statue of Liberty? Trixie nodded softly. "That sounds interesting, yes. What else would you suggest?"

"Ya like nature? Central Park's an easy bet." Bell turned to point in a different direction. "Nice and big, lots of people doing things, snacks to enjoy. Sometimes there are shows, and there are shops around it, ya know, take the load off that bit purse of yours."

Bit purse... That was a thing Trixie did not have but suddenly wanted to have.

"But those are small-time compared to the offerings just off of Bridleway in Whinny Square." Bell clopped her hooves together, then fell forward. "Anyway, you have a great time."

Trixie blinked with sudden surprise. "Wait, you weren't going to come with me?"

Bell laughed and punched Trixie's closest shoulder lightly with a hoof. "Thanks for inviting me, but I have a job, and Don doesn't like being made to wait. You know how it is." She lifted into the air, the traffic along the sidewalk immediately flowing into the available spot. "Have fun!" And she was gone, darting quickly around a corner.

Trixie folded up her paper as she walked. "I thought for sure she was trying to score at least a free lunch." But Bell hadn't, and it almost disappointed her. She would rather have had a slightly mooching companion than be alone, she realized.

Still, it was far too late to do a thing about that. Trixie soldiered on, only to come to a pause as she noticed a rather large building across the way. She felt drawn to it and crossed both streets to get closer to it. It was a museum. Specifically, it was a museum of pony art. She giggled like a girl as she ascended the marble stairs towards it. She wanted to see pony art. It was like browsing the... Browsing... She went still, making other ponies swerve around her with angry grumbles.

She used to browse. She was sure of it. What did she browse? Art. She browsed art, yes. She did something... to get... to... the art...

Trixie frowned as she leaned against the cool stone base of a statue of a roaring lion. The memory was so close. She didn't want to lose another. How did she find the Internet? Wait, that was it! Her smile returned brilliantly. She browsed the Internet to find art, of course. It all flooded back to her, memories of many a night, or day, chatting with other people she knew from that nebulous place and the things she'd find and stare at.

Trixie sank to her haunches with a sigh of relief. She had, for the first time, reclaimed a memory. She didn't even know she could do that, but the fact that she did was like a great pressure taken from her. Her descent into ponydom didn't have to be purely a one way road.

Reinvigorated, she hopped back up onto her hooves and trotted up to the ticket counter. There were four ponies ahead of her, but the wait wasn't long for her turn.

"Welcome to the Musuem of Pony Art History. How can I help you?" asked the mildly bored, but smiling, stallion behind the glass.

Trixie nodded at him. "Trixie would like a ticket please. She wishes to see the art."

"You've come to the right place. 3 bits please." His hoof came down on a comically large button and a ticket popped free just in front of Trixie.

Trixie quickly fished out her big bag and peeked inside, taking 3 single-bit coins and setting them in the dip between her side and his side. He reached in and scooped up the coins in his hoof. "Have a nice visit. Please, no flash photography, it can damage the art."

Trixie perked an ear. "Is there non-flash photography?" She dimly recalled pictures being easy to take in the human world, with and without flash.

"Not that I've seen," admitted the ticket stallion. "Next!"

Trixie took the hint and scooted out of the way so the next pony could approach.

She had a museum to explore.

Author's Note

Trixie gets a day off! Woo! What would you do if you had a day off in Manehattan?

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