Chapter Eight

Trixie's head pounded with pain, a somewhat unusual sensation as she usually bought or talked her way out of problems that could cause it. Groaning, she attempted to sit up, but was halted by the fact she was tied to a chair. Finally opening her eyes to scream at whomever had done this, she met eyes with the double that had taken her place inside Twilight's home just moments before. Or was it hours?

It took a minute or so before Trixie realized that since her cape and hat were gone, she looked exactly like the double except for the bruise on the back of her head. She drew in a deep breath and began to call out, "Help! Somepony, there's a Chan-"

A piece of cloth was wrapped around her mouth area as she kept on screaming, also making her throat hurt from exertion. The other Trixie, which was actually Luna, had her ears pinned down as she winced at the loud noise. A snicker was heard behind Trixie's field of vision, not from a voice she knew, "Really, 'Somepony'?"

Then Twilight's familiar voice spoke up with annoyance hinted in it, "Now is not the time, Marceline. Seriously, just, don't."

As the two others talked, Twilight and Marceline walked out and sat on a couch that was in both Luna and Trixie's view. Trixie tried to plea with Twilight, as if they were in danger, but it mostly looked like she was screaming curses at them, and Luna looked over to Twilight with a kind smile, yet it was tainted annoyance.

Standing up and walking over to Trixie, Twilight took her head and said in a quiet, but stern tone as she looked into her eyes, "Don't scream, kick, or curse. Or I'll have to gag you again."

Deciding to untie the makeshift gag, Twilight regretted it immediately as the blue Unicorn began doing all three of those at once, and then Twilight did the final one for a few more minutes. They all sat in silence for Trixie to finally run out of juice, and once she did, she breathed a bit heavily and sighed as Twilight took the gag off, again.

Instead of screaming the curses however, she simply muttered to herself and grumbled, Twilight rolling her eyes and sitting back down, looking between the two, "Alright, Trixie, I'm going to let Luna speak first."

Raising her head and eyebrow in confusion, Trixie asked, "What? That...pony isn't the illustrious Princess Luna, that is impossible!"

Her face deadpanned as Trixie spoke, Luna getting obviously annoyed, "Trust us, Trixie Lulamoon. In either case, yes, we came to speak t-"

Interrupting her explanation, Trixie lurched forward to try and, even though it was futile, headbutt the disguised Princess. She then fell forward onto her nose and yelped lightly in pain. Twilight's face lit up with worry and she enveloped the chair in magic and set it back up. Marceline stifled her laughter.

Luna cleared her throat, speaking once more, "As we were speaking of, we came to speak to you, Twilight, about coming along a camping trip with me and my...associate, whilst we take a small 'vacation' for ah, medical reasons."

Twilight nodded, listening silently as she then sighed, looking over to Trixie and saying, "Okay, now you talk."

Trixie smiled, and, with a dash of her usual flare, said, "Trixie came to talk with you as well, Twilight Sparkle. And when Trixie got here, she thought that you were in trouble with changelings. Also, why is it Trixie and her are tied up?"

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it, then shrugged as she said, "Firstly, I'm the one asking the questions and- actually, sorry, I'm getting to into this but uh, where was I, oh yes. I just wanted to, it sounded interesting?"

The way Twilight spoke made it sound like even she didn't know why, making Trixie blow a hair out of her eye, "Fine, but what questions are you speaking about, you haven't asked a single thing from Trixie."

Mouthing a silent 'Oh', Twilight then got up and looked between the two, "Okay, uh, Luna! I- er, I mean, Princess Luna. Or- never mind! Point is, why are you disguised as Trixie?"

Luna giggled quietly at the way Twilight struggled a bit to talk to Luna, both a bit forcefully and in a courteous manner. She then replied in a calm tone, "We wished to be not noticeable by the populace of the towns and subjects, but it seems that we were mistaken. It's likely the potion had us turn into Trixie once more because it's the form I took the night before, and so the disguise was tuned to my magic and the potion. For lack of a better explanation, it chose a form I already had so that it wouldn't take as long and it was the most available."

Trixie was lost in Luna's explanation, but Twilight was listening intently, "Really? I didn't know those potions were made anymore, I thought ponies stopped making them for the reason of ponies being called zombies. Well, I mean, there's a lot of other reasons but...why am I even explaining, you of all ponies should know." Twilight face-hoofed and laughed a bit awkwardly to herself before it trailed off with a slightly worried look as she rubbed her shoulder with her hoof.

Luna, smiling as warmly as she could with the headache inducing situation, began to speak, "Well, indeed, we would know more of it than most modern ponies at this time, which is how we made it."

Clearing her throat loudly, and after it didn't get their attention, Trixie took in a big breath of air, puffing out her cheeks, but the heavy breathing from none other than Trixie was what got their attention, afraid she was going to start screaming again. As soon as they turned around again, Trixie blew the air out of her mouth with a gust of air and smiled, "Now that you're focused on Trixie again, she must ask, can she actually speak with you soon, as she is getting anxious and she doesn't need to hear a history and science lesson in the same thirty minutes."

Trixie's impatience made Twilight get an irritated look on her face as she walked over and said in one of the most fake displays of anger anyone in the room would ever see, "Be quiet, or else my uh...partner...will...do stuff!"

Marceline burst out laughing at the display, Trixie snickered for only a few moments, and Luna deadpanned. A thousand years away didn't do much for one's sense of humor.

Twilight looked over to Marceline, "But Marceline, it's supposed to be an interrogation, we have to act tough and rude...!"

Marceline nodded in understanding, wiping her eyes a bit, "Yeah, I know, but it's too funny to see you try to be both of those, I'm sorry but-" Another fit of laughter.

Huffing, Twilight looked back and rolled her eyes, "Never mind her, just, yeah, one minute though. No but seriously, just, forget Marceline's even here, I'm pretty sure Luna lied to me and won't tell me the truth about her anyways. I-I, well, don't be rude but-"

All three of the others said in unison, at least, almost, "We get it Twilight."

Stepping behind both of the tied up ponies, Twilight muttered to herself, "...don't be...so annoying..."

After the two ponies were free they looked each other over, Luna deciding to set the mane into a laying down, straight position so they could tell the difference from more than just words or clothes. Trixie immediately looked around the immediate vicinity for her cape and hat, finding them on the floor. Folded of course. She picked it up with her magic and got them on quickly.

Twilight was sitting on the couch, with an irate look on her face, waiting. Luna walked up and asked, "So Twilight, do you wish to come with us, then return so that Marceline can get the appropriate materials to leave? After that we must still stick together, however."

Considering the options, Twilight didn't see a reason she couldn't go with Luna. After all, she isn't in the best condition, and Marceline might need help to take care of her. Sighing with a bit of irritation, she realized that Trixie would have to come with them, as she was extremely insistent, and when she isn't, she isn't in the area.

Speaking in a mostly calm tone, Twilight proposed, "If Trixie can come along too," Twilight looked to Trixie with a very unamused expression, "and if she can try her best to not annoy every one or try to cause trouble, I'd love to."

A wide smile was on Trixie's face, while Luna's expression went to a neutral one, "Alright, we suppose this is agreeable. Let us leave after-" Her stomach then grumbled, "-lunch."

This made Twilight realize she'd had such a perfect morning. Especially when a Princess disguised as one of her not-so friendly acquaintances woke her up waiting outside the door, making her try to make her go away with a fairly high irritation for a few moments, only for the real Trixie to burst through the door, then get knocked out. Oh, today was just perfect.

The table was set with several sandwiches while Marceline floated near the table, relaxing. Twilight pressed Luna for information, but she wouldn't budge and merely kept saying, "She's an acquaintance. She's only visiting. She's a vampire."

Once most of them were done with their meals, mostly anyways, Trixie took Twilight's hoof and tugged it like a bored child, silently telling her to come along with her as Twilight rolled her eyes and excused herself, "If you'll excuse me Princess. Marceline."

Two nods were her response due to one of their faces being full, and so Twilight followed Trixie out the kitchen and up the stairs. Once they reached a step or two from the bedroom so they were out of earshot, Twilight asked, "Okay, what do you want Trixie? I don't want to seem rude but you've bugged me for a while today, why is it so important we're alo-"

Putting a hoof to Twilight's lips, which made the purple Unicorn jump a bit at the physical contact, she said in a slightly hushed whisper, "Trixie...has something to ask of you."

A bit of a realization came to Twilight. Secret conversations, something to ask of me? Not to mention how she surprisingly hasn't tried to challenge me yet. Oh Celestia, I've read too many books.

Due to Twilight's pupils shrinking ever so slightly and go a bit rigid, Trixie paused her speaking for a moment, but then continued regardless, "...As she was saying, Trixie wishes for you to consider..."

Her tongue was twisted and it became a bit hard to speak clearly. Nervousness claimed her mind, an almost unfamiliar feeling, as she gulped. Twilight leaned in a bit so that she could hear Trixie clearly.

Trixie's mouth was dry as she forced the sentence from her lips, "T-Trixie was wondering if you could help her get friends!"

Twilight's shock was taken down about five notches as she blinked, saying, "Oh...I uh..." Then regained her composure. It was still surprising, but it wasn't what she was thinking Trixie would say. Shrugging, but then catching Trixie's slightly disappointed stare, she smiled back and laughed awkwardly, "Oh, uh, of course! I'd love to help you!"

Trixie then smiled and said with a sigh of relief, "Oh, good. Trixie's seen how, well, nice that friends are to have. She simply wants her own friends so that she need not worry about being hated by ponies she thought liked her..."

Immediately, a pang of guilt and sadness struck a chord on Twilight. It didn't all make sense, but she could see why Trixie did what she did. It was to get attention, obviously something she needed more than anything because she never had any most of her life, so she tried to take it instead. It was blatantly obvious now that Twilight thought about it for a moment, and she definitely felt bad, if only for a moment, for tearing her ego down in their first encounter.

Putting a hoof around Trixie as a sign of good hearted nature, which surprised Trixie herself, Twilight smiled, "Don't worry, I...well, just know that even if no pony wants to be your friend- which I doubt, of course! But even if, I'll still be your friend. Alright?"

A silence overtook the private exchange, an almost blank stare enveloped Trixie's expression for a few minutes, this only lasting until she gave a large, genuine smile and hugged Twilight with both of her frontal hooves, and tightly, "Oh, thank you so much! You will not regret giving Trixie this chance, she promises you!"

Coughing lightly, Twilight wheezed out, "Trixie, I...can't...breath."

Luna was laying in her hooves on the table. She wasn't tired as much as she was just bored. Marceline had finished her food and begun tending to her guitar and sometimes playing a small chord, as per usual. However, after about five minutes and a few coughs, Twilight and Trixie came downstairs. One of them looking fairly happy and the other rubbing her throat a bit.

Looking up, Luna opened her mouth, only for Marceline to interrupt her, "So, when are we gonna get a move on?"

Twilight grumbled a bit before she put on a smile and said, "In a few minutes, I have to write a letter for Spike since I let him sleep in today. How he's still asleep I will never know. Maybe that should be his special talent."

She gave a small giggle to her small joke, which no one else understood or cared too much about. Trixie turned herself right around as soon as Luna gave her a bit of a glare, so she plopped down on the couch in the living room. Twilight pulled an ink vial, a quill and a piece of paper out of a drawer, causing Luna to ask, "Does't thou keep writing supplies in every room Twilight?"

Twilight then quickly replied, "Yes- well, not every room, I mean I don't have any in the bathroom. That'd just be silly!"

Within a minute the letter was written in the neat and tidy handwriting and Twilight levitated it out of the room as she stepped out, walking upstairs and into her bedroom. Spike was laying in his bed peacefully, curled up and oblivious to the insanity that had occurred recently.

Placing the note in a small niche in Spike's bed, she walked back out and closed the door slowly with a sigh.

Trotting back downstairs, knocked her hoof on the wood floor to get everyone's attention and said, "Come on, let's go." Levitating the saddlebag onto her back with ease, Twilight started out the door and the other three followed, Marceline hoisting the guitar around herself again and pulled the umbrella out to keep the sun off of herself.

Taking a small detour, Twilight realized the town probably would either react badly or want to throw a party for Marceline, and probably react badly to the double vision Trixies. They walked along a dirt path towards some hills, past Sweet Apple Acres, and over a small river with little trouble.

However, no matter how far they walked, Luna kept getting annoyed each time Trixie made eye contact with her, or even spoke. Not to mention when she complained. Marceline floated silently, at some points poking the members of the small group and flying back to her spot to pretend she didn't do anything. Twilight knew that not only was the rest of the day going to be annoying, but at night she was going to begin screaming into a pillow.

Why does she always get stuck with this crap? It was almost as if someone had it out for her.

Author's Note

Here's chapter eight, and the TENSION BUILDS.

I realize it's nothing amazing, but give it a while and drama, as well as action will come eventually, I promise you.
Have a good night/evening/morning/afternoon!