Chapter 1: An unusual Mission
It was a relatively normal day in Twilight's castle. Twilight was reading a book in the castle's library and Starlight was in her room, wearing headphones and listening to soviet music through them. Then suddenly, Starlight's cutie mark began to glow. She immediately knew what was on, the cutie map was calling her to a mission. She quickly walked down to the library, where Twilight was reading the new Daring Do book, that came out recently.
"Twilight, my cutie mark is glowing," Starlight said to her in anticipation, "Seems like the cutie map wants to send on to a mission."
Twilight was slightly annoyed at first about Starlight's interruption, but quickly calmed down when she saw her glowing cutie mark.
"That's great!" She happily replied, "Mine isn't glowing unfortunately. But let's see if any other pony will come with you and of course, where the map wants you to go to."
They both walked to the throne room of the castle, where the cutie map is located. Twilight's jaw immediately dropped as soon as she saw the second cutie mark that got displayed by the map.
"Wait, isn't that Trixie's cutie mark?" She asked in surprise, "I never expected her to get called by the cutie map."
"Oh my Celestia! THIS IS GREAT!" Starlight jumped up in joy and excitement when she saw the map, "I never thought the cutie map would send Trixie on to a mission. How awesome is this, that I get to go on a mission with my best friend! And not only that, our mission is in Las Pegasus! I always wanted to go there!"
"Wow Starlight, this must be like your dream mission it seems like," Twilight replied to happily, but with a slightly awkward undertone.
"It really is!" Starlight joyfully replied, "Either way, I'm going to go get Trixie. I don't think she knows yet what it means when her cutie mark glows."
Afterwards, Starlight went to Trixie's trailer. When she arrived there, she immediately heard music that was coming from her friend's trailer. The music was very loud and aggressive, sounded quite repetitive, had a very industrial and retro feel to it and eerie sounding vocals that were in a foreign language. Starlight knocked on the door of her trailer, but Trixie didn't respond to it. The music was far too loud to even remotely hear the knocking. Because of this, Starlight proceeded to knock on the door louder and more aggressive, however, it still wasn't loud enough for her friend to hear it over her noisy music. Afterwards, Starlight began to brutally kick on the door with her back hoofs. As soon as she did that the music stopped and the door opened.
"STOP DESTROYING MY PRECIOUS TRAILER YOU STUPID PIECES OF SHI... oh Starlight, it's just you!" Trixie shouted furiously at first, but immediately calmed down once she saw that it was her best friend.
"Hey Trixie, did you notice that your cutie mark is glowing?" Starlight curiously asked her.
"Of course I noticed that!" She replied in an arrogant but also excited tone, "It truly shows how great and powerful Trixie really is! I can't wait to do a performance tonight and show all of Ponyville my spectacular glowing cutie mark! I have even been celebrating it, which you probably heard."
"I definitely heard that," Starlight replied and somewhat questioned her friends weird behavior, "And you celebrated it by being alone in your trailer, while listening to some of the creepiest and most aggressive music imaginable?"
"Starlight, the Great and Powerful Trixie is an intellectual who celebrates things differently than all of you neurotypical extroverted normies," She replied, still having a very arrogant tone to her.
"Either way," Starlight replied, trying not to get distracted by Trixie's weirdness, "Your cutie mark is not glowing because of you being great and powerful, which you certainly are, but it's not what makes you cutie mark glow. It's glowing because you have been called onto a mission by the cutie map. You know, that thing you accidentally teleported away once."
"Oh yeah, I remember. It sure was funny how you bottled up your anger because you didn't want to get angry at me," Trixie responded, sounding smug and slightly amused.
"Yes, that," Starlight replied, "And the best part, we are doing this mission together! Look, my cutie mark is glowing too!" while sounding increasingly happier and more exited.
"Now that's what I call great and powerful! Where is this mission that the map want's us to do?" Trixie replied, sounding eager and exited.
"Let's go to Twilight's castle. There you will see where the map is sending us to." Starlight responded, also sounding eager and exited about the mission.
"I don't know. I think we should wait until tomorrow. The Great and Powerful Trixie wants to do a magic show where she shows off her amazing glowing cutie mark!" Trixie replied in a boastful manner.
"Sorry Trixie," Starlight responded to her apologetically, "But when the cutie map calls you to a mission, you need to that mission immediately. If not, we might not be able to complete the mission at all, because we would arrive too late."
"Eh, I guess you are right," Trixie replied, sounding somewhat disappointed at first, "But I can still do a performance in the place where our mission is."
"Sure you can do that," Starlight replied eagerly, "Come on Trix, let's go to the map and you will see where we are going to."
They both made their way to Twilight's castle afterwards. Twilight was waiting for them in the throne room. She didn't feel quite comfortable with sending Trixie onto a friendship mission, due to her egotistical and chaotic behavior.
"Alright, where are we going to?" asked Trixie upon entering the throne room.
"To Las Pegasus!" Starlight answered her question, sounding highly exited and joyful about it, while pointing towards the map.
However, Trixie's first reaction to this was quite different than Starlight expected. She reacted somewhat shocked to it, but in calm, subtle, yet also slightly awkward way. It felt quite out of character for the usually very confident and boastful performer.
"Is everything alright Trix?" Starlight asked to her, sounding somewhat concerned, "I though you would be more exited about this?"
Twilight tho interrupted their conversation to give Trixie a little heads up about her first friendship mission.
"Anyway, Trixie, just please take this friendship mission seriously. This is your first time and I don't want you to mess this up," She pleaded to her.
"Oh come on Twilight," Starlight replied to her, in a slightly upset tone, "The friendship map always knows which ponies to call on a mission and who not to. Do you seriously think the map would call Trixie, if she only ends up screwing up things? That is just stupid. I know Trixie and I know that she will be able to this, even if she has her flaws."
Twilight sighed and replied, "You are Starlight. I might really be underestimating her. She is your best friend and did improve a lot since our rivalry after all. If the cutie maps things she is ready for a mission, she is indeed ready for it."
"I don't know Starlight," Trixie interrupted, sounding shockingly doubtful of herself, especially for her usual standards, "Twilight does have a point. I don't feel quite ready for this whole friendship mission thing. I mean, I didn't even any friends all at before I first met you. My knowledge on friendship is pretty lackluster."
"What?" Starlight was somewhat shocked and confused by Trixie's unusually doubtful and insecure behavior, "You too were pretty exited about this before we came here. Trust me Trixie, there is no need to doubt in yourself when it comes to a friendship mission. As said, the map always knows which ponies are best for solving a friendship problem. Or is there something wrong about Las Pegasus?"
Trixie began act more and more nervously after Starlight asked her this question. Sweat was running down on her face and it took her an unusually long time to answer her question.
"I just... had some bad experiences over there in the past, that's all," She replied, trying to sound confident, yet still having a nervous undertone in her voice.
"Bad experiences?" Starlight questioned Trixie's response, "You have made a lot of bad experiences here in Ponyville too, yet you still came back and now even live here. What's so much worse about Las Pegasus?"
"It's just... I will explain it to you later," Trixie replied, still sounding somewhat nervous.
"Are you really sure you're ready for this mission, Trixie?" Twilight asked her, sounding somewhat concerned.
"Of course I'm ready for a friendship mission, Twilight," Trixie replied arrogantly, "It's just not mentally easy to return to a place where you had some bad experiences in the past."
Afterwards, Starlight and Trixie left the castle, but before they began to make themselves ready for the mission, Starlight wanted to know about Trixie's past experiences in Las Pegasus, so they had a talk under four eyes.
"Your behavior about your bad experiences in Las Pegasus was pretty weird, Trixie. Can you please tell me what happened back then? I just don't want you to feel bad when we do our friendship mission, that's all," Starlight asked her, being somewhat concerned about her friend.
Again, it took Trixie an unusually long time to reply, but eventually she told her friend, "It's that... there is just so much competition in Las Pegasus when it comes to stage magic and the ponies there were not kind to me back then. The standards there are just so high, that everypony that isn't like a second Hoofdini gets booed off stage," still having a slight nervous undertone in her voice.
"Really, that's the reason why you are so nervous about this?" Starlight was somewhat confused, as she thought Trixie's reason for avoiding Las Pegasus would be more severe, "You came back to Ponyville, after your entire career got destroyed and got turned evil by the alicorn amulet here, but you have been avoiding Las Pegasus because of this?"
"Starlight, as a humble and patient pony, I needed to apologize to Ponyville for the alicorn amulet incident and thus, I came back. I never needed to apologize to Las Pegasus, so I never came back, simple as that," Trixie replied, sounding a lot more confident and less nervous than before.
"This does make sense, although I still don't get why you are so nervous about this?" Starlight still didn't fully understand Trixie's behavior and began motivate her, "Come on Trix, your magic skills has improved so much since we first met and even then, you still have me as your best friend on your side. Together we can do this!"
"Yes Starlight, you are right. When we are together, nopony can stop us!" Trixie replied to her, sounding highly confident.
Starlight's motivation did help Trixie to feel better about coming back to Las Pegasus, but only a little bit. She still had lots of nervous and anxious feelings in her, because she didn't told her friend the real reason on why she is so nervous about their friendship mission in Las Pegasus.
Chapter 2: Welcome to Las Pegasus
Starlight and Trixie were making themselves ready for the friendship mission. Trixie has originally planned to take her trailer with her, but Starlight was against this.
"I know that you have a very strong emotional connection with your trailer, Trixie," Starlight told to her pleadingly, "But you can't take it with you. Walking to Las Pegasus would take way too long. By taking the train, we will be there in no time. Plus, your trailer is way too small for two ponies. It's technically already too small for just one pony, it's just you don't mind it. It would be much better if we sleep in a hotel room over in Las Pegasus."
"Ugh fine, I guess you are right" Trixie begrudgingly replied and let her trailer stay in Ponyville.
Despite behaving less nervous and more confident now, Trixie was still feeling very anxious about this trip. Sure, the fact she has Starlight on her side did make her feel better, but it wasn't enough, so she just tried to not to think too much about it and tried to hide her nervousness by acting more confident and assertive, like how she usually was.
After the two were done with packing all of the stuff they needed, they walked to the train station of Ponyville, where they waited for the next train to Las Pegasus to arrive. Fortunately, it didn't take long and the train was on time. They hopped in the train and found a nice place to sit down. While they were heading towards Las Pegasus, Trixie's nervous feelings began to increase again and she couldn't hide it anymore. As they got closer and closer to their destination, Trixie started to become sweaty and shaky.
"Are you still feeling nervous?" Starlight asked her in concern.
"I'm fine, it's just... so... strange to be back in Las Pegasus, you know," Trixie replied, sounding very awkward and nervous.
"You sound even more nervous than before. Is it really because of the reason you told me? Or are you hiding something? Don't worry Trixie, you can tell it to me," Starlight tried to make her feel better and open up more.
"No, I'm not hiding anything. Why would I? You are my best friend after all. Of course I would tell it to you if I was nervous about something. As said, it just feels weird to come back to this place, that's all," Trixie replied, sounding less, but still somewhat nervous.
In reality tho, Trixie was hiding something, something she didn't even want to tell to her best and closest friend. After an hour long train ride, the two arrived in Las Pegasus. Starlight was very exited about this and quickly rushed out of the train once it stopped there. Trixie on the other side, was feeling anxious and slowly walked out of train behind her friend. Other than that, she managed to hide her nervous feelings pretty well. That and her excitement, made Starlight completely forget and ignore her friend's nervousness.
"Oh my Celestia! Trixie, do you see all of those big and colorful buildings and lights? This is amazing!" Starlight told to her friend being fascinated by the city, but Trixie didn't respond to her.
Las Pegasus was originally built by and for pegasi, but has eventually became such a big hot spot for entertainment and tourism, that bridges and walks were built for earth ponies and unicorns. Now it was one of the biggest cities in Equestria. The city was also known for it's casinos, that were everywhere throughout the city. Unfortunately, many ponies in Las Pegasus suffered from gambling addiction because of that. Neither Starlight or Trixie cared about the casinos. Another thing Las Pegasus was famous for was prostitution. The city had a huge industry for it and by far the most prostitutes in all of Equestria.
Finally, the thing Las Pegasus was known for the most, was it's big amusement park in the middle of the city. It was the largest amusement park in Equestria, known for some of the most brutal roller coasters, it's huge ferris wheel and many bright and colorful carousels. Starlight was highly eager about the amusement park, but before that, they needed to find a hotel room. The center of Las Pegasus only had luxury hotels, so the two unicorns had to walk quite a bit away from the city center to find a hotel they could afford. Fortunately for them, the main tourist season hasn't begun yet and thus, it wasn't difficult finding a free two bed hotel room for a fair price, that wasn't too far away from the city center.
Starlight did pretty much all of the talking on the check in. She booked the hotel for three nights, although friendship missions usually only take one day to complete. Starlight wanted to stay in Las Pegasus for a few days longer and Trixie begrudgingly agreed on it, barely saying anything otherwise. In fact, she has barely said anything ever since they have been in Las Pegasus. The usually loud and passionate performer, came off as shy and reserved here. It felt very out of character for her. Still, Starlight was super hyped about Las Pegasus, so much so that she was totally ignoring the fact that her best friend was acting out of character this whole time. Starlight couldn't wait to go to the amusement park. She was especially exited about a roller coaster called "The Wild Blue Yonder". It was one of the fastest and most brutal roller coasters in the city and well known all across Equestria. Starlight always wanted to take a ride in it.
But before they went to the amusement park, they took a quick look in their hotel room and put their luggage there. It was a decently sized two bed hotel room with a bathroom, a desk and a shelf. Starlight also needed to go to the toilet before they could go and used the bathroom of the hotel room. Trixie meanwhile looked outside of the window of the hotel room. She still needed to process the thought of being back in Las Pegasus. She tried to think more optimistically about it this time tho, trying to focus on how she now had a close friend, how much her magic skills have improved, as well as how her reputation has gotten better again and how she has made a successful comeback, even after having hit rock bottom. And even then, the chances of that one pony stumbling across Trixie within those 3 days, was pretty low. Does she even still live here? Is she even still alive? Thinking about it, it made Trixie believe that she might indeed have worried too much about returning to Las Pegasus.
"Trixie is greater and more powerful than ever. Ponyville couldn't stop me, so won't Las Pegasus!" She said to herself, quiet yet passionate.
Only a few seconds later, the bathroom door opened. Starlight was done with her toilet session and eager about exploring the wild city of Las Pegasus.
"Alright, now we can finally start to really explore this amazing city. I can't wait to go to the amusement park and it's roller coasters! I think we should go there first," She told to her friend, still being highly excited about this trip.
"Don't we have something like a friendship mission to complete?" Trixie asked to her, still not fully understanding how friendship missions work.
"Trixie, we don't even know what our friendship mission is," Starlight replied to her in a friendly tone, "We only know that it's here in Las Pegasus and that we are the ones to solve it. The ponies the map chooses for a mission are not only made for solving the problem, but to also find it. And not only is the amusement park here something I really want to visit, there also are a lot of ponies there. There is a good chance that the friendship problem might be there."
"Damn, it's like that map knows everything about everypony," Trixie replied in a surprised tone.
After that, the two went out of the hotel room and made their way back to the city center, to the amusement park. Trixie was finally more confident about this friendship mission and began to act like her usual self again. Those few minutes by herself in the hotel room have really helped her with dealing with her concerns. She even started to think about doing a performance here. A risky move, considering the worries she has had just a few minutes ago.
