We've acquired a stalker.

Twilight and Trixie were hanging out in the local park. It was close to the playground Twilight had visited earlier but frequented more by older Canterlotians looking to relax. The constant hustle and bustle of the city had a tendency to wear away at even the hardest of souls.

Trixie had decided that today was the day to take her show on the road. Pulling a little trailer she had hoof built for herself, it was smaller than one an adult pony would use, but still impressively heavy. Twilight had tried to pull it earlier and couldn't get it to budge.

Twilight had worried about needing a license to perform out in the public but Trixie had simply pulled out the necessary card with a smug expression on her face. It turns out her parents were very proactive about getting her into the family business.

With the weather starting to turn cold now, there were fewer ponies about than usual. The only ones being those that were trying to enjoy the last few days they could stay outside without being excessively bundled up.

Trixie set up her small stage regardless of these facts, the little wooden trailer expanding out to an impressive size. The runework was a little basic, but Twilight recognized enough to be impressed. Trixie would have a much easier time with her illusions thanks to the anchoring and stabilizing runes embedded into the wood.

It was as Trixie was silently rehearsing that Twilight had a pleasant surprise. Walking up to her was none other than Octavia, standing bereft of any warmer clothes thanks to her earth pony constitution. Vinyl trailed behind her, still shivering despite her three scarves and oversized parka. She could make out Record Scratch in the distance, talking to a grey coated mare in a bow tie.

"Hello Twilight, what a pleasant surprise," Octavia said. "Our mothers felt we needed to get outside today so they dragged us along with them to their own little outing once again."

She looked over to the stage that Trixie had erected, taking note of the filly with an intense look of concentration on her face. "That is your friend Trixie that we've heard so much about, I take it?"

Twilight nodded with a smile. "Yeah, we're holding a magic show out here. Trixie said it was time to expand her influence or something like that."

Looking around and taking note of the emptier than usual park, Octavia hummed to herself for a moment.

"Are you sure this is the best time? We come here quite often and there are far fewer ponies about than usual." Octavia observed, eyes still sweeping the grounds.

"I doubt something like that will stop Trixie," Twilight said with a nervous chuckle. "She would probably just claim it's another stepping stone on the path to the great and powerful Trixie's glory."

Octavia graced Twilight with a small smile. "Trixie certainly sounds like quite the character. Would you introduce us after the show? I'm sure Vinyl would be interested in someone who could compete with her own powerful ego."

Looking behind her she caught the tail end of Vinyl poking her tongue out at her. This was followed by an adorable pout. "Yes, well, just because no one else takes the time to notice doesn't mean it's not true."

Vinyl seemed to roll her eyes behind her glasses, huffing as she turned to the side petulantly. Twilight could still make out the small smile at the friendly teasing though.

It seemed the time had finally come as they were conversing. Trixie reared up onto the stage. The illusions were much more impressive compared to the last performance. The stylized figures were moving much more smoothly and there were many more of them to be seen.

This time she was facing off against the dreaded necromancer of the frozen plains. With her trusty assistant Twilight Sparkle she had made her way deep into the castle of the necromancer. Searching the underground dungeons for a heretofore unknown princess of dubious origins.

There were grand fights, an army of skeletons taken out with her magical might, and it was all topped off by an epic battle between Trixie and the necromancer on top of one of the castle towers. He was finally taken down thanks to the quick wit of the great and powerful Trixie and a handy distraction by her faithful assistant Twilight Sparkle.

Despite being embarrassed by her inclusion into the story, Twilight was happy to find many of the ponies in the park had gathered around to enjoy the story. It was rather well told if the applause of an audience with only a few foals in attendance was anything to go by.

Trixie let out a breath of relief even as she smiled happily, sweeping into a bow for her adoring audience. It had been tough, but all the practice had paid off as she knew it would. She could see her new friend Twilight Sparkle in the crowd which brought an inexplicably happy feeling to her chest.

She quickly hopped off the stage, accepting a few more rounds of applause and beaming at a few choice words of praise. She finally made her way to Twilight who was talking to a grey filly Trixie suspected was the Octavia she had heard so much about.

She noticed a white filly nearby sticking close to Octavia, she couldn't make out her eyes through the thick purple sunglasses but she seemed to be scanning the crowd. Watching as they slowly dispersed to go about their business for the day.

"Did you enjoy the great and powerful Trixie's magnificent performance, Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie asked proudly, already sure of the answer.

"Oh it was wonderful, Trixie. You've gotten so good with your illusions it was like I was there." Trixie basked in her effusive praise for a while before finally cutting her off.

"Trixie is glad you enjoyed it, as her most faithful assistant Trixie of course values your opinion highly."

Twilight blushed and looked away at that, Trixie was always amused by her modesty. "Ah, well, that is, we, have you met Octavia here yet?" Twilight asked, changing the subject as quickly as she could.

Trixie turned to the gray filly standing by with an amused expression on her face. "The great and powerful Trixie is always happy to meet any friends of her most faithful assistant." She said a little haughtily, drawing herself up a bit to match the earth ponies height advantage.

"Charmed, I'm sure," Octavia said before turning the quiet filly at her side. "And this is Vinyl, I'm sure Twilight has already mentioned this, but she can't really talk. I hope that doesn't bother you."

At the concerned expression that crossed Octavia's face Trixie hastened to reassure her. "The great and powerful Trixie does not believe it will be a problem, we shall simply have to find other ways to communicate." As if Trixie would ever look down on somepony for something like that.

They spent some time getting to know each other after that. All sides interested in making new friends, Twilight especially hoping they could all get along.

Trixie had a taste for pop and did a little song writing on the side with plans for incorporating music into future shows. Octavia admitted she wasn't much for these kinds of things, but she did enjoy the performance and was impressed with the art style.

Vinyl through Octavia expressed her love of the explosions and bright lights. It was also discovered that she had a love of pyrotechnics but was not allowed near them for any reason. Octavia refused to elaborate on the exact details of why, refusing to meet their eyes.

Twilight was really happy her friends were getting along and took a step back to let them get to know each other better. Her eyes wandered over the park, taking in the ponies slowly shuffling out.

She let out a quiet breath, breathing in deeply as she let her heart settle. She felt at peace right now with a warm feeling in her chest. She felt she might not even need the silly jacket she had on if she were any warmer.

She was starting to get a taste for this friendship business.

Looking off to the side her eyes caught sight of a pony that looked vaguely familiar to her. It wasn't the color of her coat or her mane though. She was sure she'd never seen this exact pony before, and yet when she looked at her she was filled with a sense of familiarity.

She finally caught on as she noticed their gaze occasionally flickered in her direction.

That opened the floodgates. The expression was genuine enough, but they held themselves with that same stiffness to their posture.

She had taken to the body language lessons Fancy Pants had indulged her with like a fish to water. Lately she had been examining most ponies she came across when she had a spare moment.

Recently she had been noticing a few of these ponies out and about. It wasn't always her they were watching, but they always stood out to her as tenser than the ponies around them. A little more closed off. Some of them seemed to relax over time and she had noticed those same watchful eyes in ponies she otherwise wouldn't be suspicious of at all.

She was starting to get worried about them, but she wasn't sure who to bring it up to if anypony. Most adults didn't pay attention to her as it is, she didn't want to give them another reason to ignore her if her mind was just playing tricks on her.

Maybe she should bring it up to Sunset. She always knew just what to say to reassure her and would at least have a few ideas. Perhaps they were part of a secret agency that she would learn about from the Princess at a later date?

No, that was absurd. Princess Celestia wouldn't have something like that in her kingdom, and Equestria was at peace right now!

As she continued watching out of the corner of her eye, the pony in question slowly trotted off. They slipped into a side alley and didn't come back out again. Twilight was suspicious enough to keep watching this time, but she didn't see anything else of interest.

Turning back to her friends she noticed that their conversation was winding down. Trixie had also been invited to visit Vinyl's house as well.

Letting the matter drift from her mind for the moment, she turned to follow her friends.

Twilight had been scanning through every book she could get her hands on in the royal library for hours now. Sadly, her search criteria was a little too vague. She had found plenty of books that might hold answers but so far the search was fruitless.

She had messaged Sunset about it but had yet to hear from her. Something about a party being thrown that a certain pink menace wouldn't let her miss. Taking the book with her wasn't an option either, magic artifacts weren't considered normal wherever Sunset was and she didn't want to draw attention to herself.

She let out a sigh and collapsed into her chair. Her eyes wandered aimlessly, but other than a couple of wizards and an elderly mare it was just her and the librarian. She wondered if it was worth asking him. He didn't talk much, so he probably wasn't going to go around gossiping about her.

She eventually decided against it, even if he did know, she had no idea how to phrase a question like that. She imagined the embarrassment of trying to explain herself. "Do you know anything about strange ponies that stand around watching other ponies?"

"It's not just that they're watching you, they're really strange looking. I mean not physically, they're just really stiff, they look... uncomfortable? I saw a green flash when one ducked into a side alley one time!"

She shook her head to rid herself of the phantom embarrassment. She would just wait for Sunset to get back to her. Meanwhile, it was time for lunch and she had important eating duties to attend to.

The first few times she'd gone without eating all day to study she'd come to regret it enough to put a strict schedule in place. She still forgot sometimes but she was doing better.

Maybe she could do with a faithful assistant of her own?

While thinking this she nearly tripped while walking through the door, bumping into a pony that was coming in at the same time as her. As she went to apologize she heard a quiet hiss. Looking up she saw a pony with an almost bestial expression of rage on their face.

As quickly as she saw it though, it was smoothed into an expression of contrite apology. "Excuse me miss, terribly sorry to bump into you like that."

Her mind only froze for a moment before she replied out of habit. "That's alright sir, I really should have been paying more attention."

He quickly walked off and immediately after he was out of sight she bolted, running to her own library without stopping for anything. A few guards called out in question, and a maid or two was startled, but she just rushed past them without a word.

Finally she reached her own private safe haven. She fell back onto her haunches, sliding down against a wall as she fought to catch her breath and calm her wildly beating heart.

Things were starting to get dangerous around here. That pony had also had that same tense air around them. Twilights face settled into a determined expression. She was going to get to the bottom of this.