After the time spent in the library, Trixie and Surprise started going back through the city toward the park. Despite now being a pegasus, Surprise was bouncing alongside the unicorn happily.
“Ooh, this is going to be so fun! What are we going to do first? What does the book say? Is it full of cool-looking spells? Is it filled with boring, old spells? Does it bring love? Can it turn somepony into a dragon? Do they give somepony nightmares? Ooh ooh, how about give you some sort of mystical look that makes ponies scared of you? That would be cool because then you could do some sort of mystical stuff like create weird-looking masks and live in a strange home and speak in some weird voice and make some weird things with a giant pot! If I saw somepony like that, you know what I would call them? An evil enchantress!”
The whole time, Trixie hadn't been paying attention to a thing Surprise was randomly chattering on about. Her mind was on other things. More specifically, the book she received from the library. Her face was buried in it, skimming through some of the first few pages. She could find many spells she already knew how to perform, as well as spells that were interesting, but not “Great and Powerful” enough for the boastful mare.
She still held on to her confidence. She was one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria, right? She would have no problems learning a few advanced things. But what she was looking through didn't seem like anything good enough for her to use. Her eyes were narrowed at the pages as they proved to be anything but useful. Perhaps she needed to look further into the book to find the more powerful spells.
Other ponies in the streets were looking at the unlikely duo. Some gave them strange looks before continuing their business, others were walking away slowly, and a few just stared. They were mostly paying attention to the hopping white pegasus next to Trixie, rambling on cheerfully about who-knows-what. If anything, they guessed she had OCD or something. Who wouldn't think anypony acting like that would? Luckily, that may have been the only pony they have seen acting that way in a city such as Manehatten.
As the two were about to round a corner, Trixie bumped into another pony who just happened to come from the other side of the corner at the same time. The Earth pony fell back on his rump as Trixie dropped her book. Surprise stopped hopping as soon as she saw was going on. After rubbing her face with her hoof, Trixie glared angrily at the stallion.
“Hey, why don't you watch where you're going? Do you know what you have just done?” Trixie yelled at the downed pony.
“Oh, terribly sorry ma'am. I did not see you there. I really must watch my step.” He spoke in a sincere tone, but Trixie wasn't appreciated by it much.
“You should. Next time, be aware of your surroundings. Trixie hopes you have learned your lesson.” After that, she used her magic to pick the book back up and continued past the stallion. Surprise helped up the Earth pony.
“I'm sorry about her. She can be a meanie sometimes,” Surprise explained, and he understood completely. “Hope something like that doesn't happen again. Now I gotta go. She's leaving me!”
Before he could say another word, she flew ahead to catch up to Trixie. The stallion scratched his head before shrugging his shoulders, and moved on.
Once Surprise caught back up to Trixie, she landed next to her. “You know, you didn't have to yell at him. It was just an accident.”
“Hmph, an accident she says,” Trixie scoffed. “He should've seen me coming and stop in time for me to avoid bumping into him.”
“Well, maybe you can say it to him in a non-meanie way? Try acting friendly or something. You probably made him feel bad.”
Trixie stopped in her tracks. By now, they were just outside the park. Trixie turned back to Surprise and raised her voice a bit. “Don't lecture me. Trixie has dealt with too much recently to be given any lessons about being friendly and kind and all that absurd junk. Do you want to know what Trixie has dealt with in the past few months of her life? I had to work so hard on my magic shows, but not only did ponies not appreciate them much, I hardly received much money from them. I couldn't raise enough to keep myself fed.
“I had to get a get a job as a worker on a rock farm, Surprise. A rock farm! Could anypony think of anything more tedious and boring? I think not! Nopony ever gave me a break. Did anypony ever like Trixie? No. Did anypony ever appreciate Trixie? No. Did anypony ever respect Trixie? No. So why should I act friendly toward anypony when they have not done the same for me?”
From hearing all of that, Surprise lowered her head and ears. She displayed a downtrodden look while Trixie stared at her with a disapproving one.
“...You're wrong, Trixie.”
“What was that?!” Trixie retorted with gritted teeth.
“There is one pony that likes, appreciates, and respects you.”
“Oh please. Who would be that pony? I haven't seen my family in years, and I have no friends. Who would care so much about Trixie?”
Suddenly, she felt hooves wrapping themselves around her neck, and they caught her off guard. When she turned her head, she saw Surprise in a happy expression as she held on to the unicorn. “Me! You're my friend Trixie, and no matter how much of a meanie you are, I will always be by your side!”
As if by an impulse, Trixie felt another sudden feeling. It was something she felt earlier while in the library when Surprise called her a friend the first time. Trixie could sense a tiny bit of warmth in her heart. If Surprise was looking at her face, she would see a rather small smile forming. When Trixie realized this, she feigned a cough and backed away from Surprise.
“Yeah, that's nice. Now let us move on to learning these spells. My carriage is not too far from here.” Trixie moved forward, not paying any regard to whatever it was she felt back there. Surprise just happily followed her, knowing she got to her somehow.
Trixie made her way inside, tailed by Surprise. “So are we going to practice some of those spells here?” she asked.
“Of course not,” Trixie replied as she started to walk towards the mirror. “I came to get prepared.”
“Prepared how?”
As soon as she asked that, Trixie lit up her horn, and a large cloud of colored smoke appeared where she was standing. After the smoke cleared up, Trixie stood tall looking at her reflection. The only change Surprise noticed was that the showpony was now sporting her cape.
“Much better. Trixie needs her Great and Powerful cape when practicing spells. Now Trixie is ready.”
She turned back toward Surprise to see she was trying to brush her mane for some reason, looking at the brush in an odd way. Trixie rolled her eyes and took it out of Surprise's grasp with her magic, placing it back in its spot on the dresser.
“Don't touch Trixie's things. Now, since I'm going to need my magic for the spells, your wings are going bye-bye.”
Surprise's wings glowed the light purple that Trixie's horn was glowing, and they soon faded away. The now Earth pony gasped. “Hey, why'd you do that?!”
“Trixie already explained before.” She turned around to fully face the distraught mare. “Keeping your wings means I have to keep my magic active. If you still have your wings when I do these spells, not only will Trixie get exhausted earlier, but she won't be able to regenerate it without taking them away. So for now, you're an Earth Pony again.”
“Aww, I loved those wings! They were so fun to fly around with!” She sighed and looked down sadly. “But I wouldn't want you to lose your magic, so I understand.”
To this, Trixie smirked. “Good assistant. Now let's go. There's a secluded area just outside this park where we can practice these spells. Come, Surprise.”
Trixie opened the door, and exited the carriage. Surprise lifted her head back up and put on her smile again as she bounced out.