//------------------------------// // Episode 12 [Iron Will]: Trixie joins a lovely dinner // Story: The Daily Show presents: Equestrian Interviews // by Daily Show Ponies //------------------------------// When sitting at the dinner table Jon liked to position himself at the very end so he could survey the entire family, essentially acting like a referee. From where he sat he could clearly see his wife and two kids but from his angle he could not see Trixie, at least not right away. Jon was trying his hardest not to laugh, for doing so would have undoubtedly killed the mood that was Trixie's acceptance at the dinner table....though the fact that she was too short to see over threshold had already done that. Trixie was visibly frustrated by this though Jon couldn't tell since he could only make out her horn and a small section of her head. Not wanting her gesture to be for nothing Tracey lightly jogged to the kitchen where she hastily rummaged under the sink. She eventually returned with what she was looking for, a booster seat from when Nathan was younger. Without asking Tracey effortlessly picked Trixie up with one arm and slid the kiddie chair underneath her. Normally she would have objected to being manhandled in such a way but her attention was on Jon who was trying his best to keep a straight face. "There we go!" She said, giving Trixie a pat on the head. "See, you can hardly tell." "I...suppose this will have to do," Trixie said. She adjusted herself while at the same time trying to ignore Jon's stifled giggles. "Though in the future I shall require more...appropriate seating arrangements. After all I am the Great and Po--" The sound of a loud clicking noise filled the room leaving it in silence. Trixie lowered her head to see that during her speech Nathan and leaned over and bucked the safety belt around her waist. She gave him a confused look till he explained himself. "...It's so you don't fall down." He said sounding concerned for her safety. The silence didn't last long after that, not with Jon laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair himself. To show how serious she was Trixie slammed her hooves on the table to lift herself up from her seat. But before she could even say anything she was yanked back down by the booster seat which was also attached to chair. This only made Jon laugh even more. "Ok, ok everyone let's just calm for a second," Tracey announced. "This is our first of many dinners with everyone present and I'd like it to be a pleasant one!" All parties agreed, though Trixie took a moment to give Jon a dirty look, and after a quick moment of grace the five were ready to eat. "Alright let's dig in!" Jon said. He and Tracey wasted no time. The sound of silverware clanging on ceramic plates could be heard from their side of the table. But on the other side which housed Maggie, Nathan and Trixie, very little eating was taking place. Instead they were to busy talking amongst themselves. It was Tracey's decision to put Trixie in between her two children. This strategic placement was done to prevent any fighting between the two siblings but her plan had somewhat backfired. When she looked across the table, instead of eating, she saw that the three were too busy trying to converse with Trixie. "...And this is called a 'fork,' and, and, and this is called a 'spoon,'" Maggie said pointing to the eating utensils. "...Aaaand this is called a 'plate'...oh and this is a 'napkin,' you use it to wipe your face....and this--" "Maggie sweetheart, I know what all these things are." Trixie said in soft tone. "My world isn't that much different from yours." "Says the talking magic horse," Jon interjected, getting her attention. "While we’re on the subject, tell me…how do you guys eat food over there without any...you know?" To visually get his point across Jon wiggled his fingers in the air. "Well if you must know...most ponies just sort of...dig in I guess you can say. It's abysmal really." Trixie said looking at the silverware in front of her. "Now, when it comes to more cultured ponies like us Unicorns we eat like this." Using her magic she levitated a fork and knife off the table with ease. A simple spell but it left the two children absolutely captivated. She was about to use them to scoop up a helping of ground beef when Tracey intervened. "Ah, ah, ah! No magic,Trixie!" She said in an authoritative tone. Trixie gave her a look, like she had told her to eat with her hooves tied behind her back. "I'm sorry dear, but not at the dinner table." "But...I'm Trixie?" She said. "It's only fair," Jon said with a smirk. "I mean everyone else follows that rule." Ignoring him Trixie looked around then continued to address Tracey "With all due respect Ms. McShane," Trixie said in a polite tone while exposing both her hooves. "How exactly am I supposed to eat?" "OH, OH, OH, OH I'LL DO IT!" Maggie said raising her hand in the air. "I'LL FEED HER!" The family watched as Maggie scooped up a spoonful of her own food then immediately tried to get Trixie to eat it. In protest the tied down Unicorn leaned back, feeling slightly awkward. Spoon feeding someone in a kiddie chair was something she was used to doing not the other way around. Tracey thought the gesture was equal parts adorable and humiliating. The look of discomfort on Trixie's face was enough to get her to reconsider her stance. "On second thought you can use your magic," Tracey said, still uncomfortable with the idea of levitation being combined with sharp objects. "Just...please be careful." "There is no need to worry." Trixie said in a pompous tone. "When it comes to using magic the Great and Powerful is always very careful and diligent." Jon nearly choked on his helping of asparagus. Now having gotten the green light Trixie began to eat her food with excitement, which caused the kids to do the same. Since this was her first time eating with the family, as opposed to just being in proximity, Trixie tried her best to act respectful. She listened to what everyone else had to say and made sure to compliment Tracey on her cooking which she very much admired. Being a traveling entertainer had given Trixie the chance the experience a wide selection of culinary delights but none of them came close to the meals she had in the Stewart home. At first Tracey had offered to put her on a proper diet of grass and oats but Trixie refused. She wanted the opportunity to consume food that she would otherwise never have the chance to try again; meat-based products being the most obvious example since Equestria was a vegetarian state. Jon always thought it was weird that she was able to eat food like: pork, chicken, and beef, since she herself was also an animal. What irked Jon the most was how she seemed almost enthusiastic about it. Whenever she ate she usually had larger portions of meat than anything else, like she reveled in the idea of being on top of the food chain. Jon once asked her how she could stomach eating such things and she responded by saying something along the lines of: "One life form must be sacrificed so another can live...that's just life." Jon wasn’t surprised; even though she was a pony it would seem that Trixie was a carnivorous predator at heart. Her favorite dish was Tracey's stuffed chicken breast with mushrooms. The rest of dinner progressed in a fluent manner with everyone eating and no confrontation. Each family member took turns telling everyone else what they did that day with the children's daily activities being almost identical since they mostly just played with Trixie. Eventually everyone finished off their plates with a few of them going back for seconds. Both Nathan and Maggie left room for what was about to come. Much like the format of Jon's show the best was saved for last. Dessert. Tracey stood to make her announcement. "Ok kids, should we have dessert today?" She asked, knowing full well what their answer would be. "YES!" "YES!" Both yelled in agreement. To express how serious they were about their answer both were jumping up and down in their seats. "Ok, ok settle down!" She said. "Tonight you can either have: Fresh baked cookies, pudding, or brownies...I'm only making one." "Pudding!" "Pudding!" They said still on the same wavelength. "Alright, it's decided," she said waving her hand for them to sit back down. "Pudding it is. Now I only have the ingredients to make one kind of batch so what's it going to be: Chocolate or strawberry?" Again both kids jumped in their seats with answers. "Chocolate!" "Strawberry!" A moment passed before the brother and sister looked at each other from across the table, their conflicting answers caused them to stare at each other intently. It was wise to have Trixie sit in between them after all. The two began to argue and shout profanity at each other, though it never got worse than the phrase "Poop face." Before she got the chance to scold them the Trixie banged her hooves together got their attentions just long enough for Tracey to continue. "Thank you, Trixie," she said with a nod. “If you two don't stop fighting none of you will get anything!" In a gesture to show their cooperation both children placed their hands over their mouths and sat back down as quickly as they could. "Ok good," she said. "Now unless you two can agree on a flavor I think we should put it to a vote." "In that case…a full endorsement for chocolate from me." Jon said, lifting his hand in the air. "NO!" Maggie exclaimed, disappointing that her dad could betray her like that. Nathan on the other hand was elated. "Alright, alright, if anyone wants to participate in the vote you can...I will too just to be fair!" Tracey announced sitting back down. "Ok...all in favor of chocolate…raise your hand." As expected both Jon and his son raised their hands in the air, with Nathan clearly more invested. "And all in favor of strawberry?" She continued, raising her hand in the process. Unsurprisingly Maggie raised her hand too but the in addition a last minute participant joined the fray, acting as the swing vote needed to break the tie. It was official: Chocolate got two raised hands. And Strawberry also got two raised hands plus a hoof. Nathan looked devastated. "TRIXIE WHY!?" He asked. "I'm sorry honey, but Trixie had to do it," she said. To show she meant it she gently patted him on the head, rustling his light brown hair. "I'm more of a strawberry girl myself." "Well then it looks like we have a winner," Tracey said heading back in kitchen. "It'll be ready in about 20 to 30 minutes." As a post celebratory gesture Maggie called for Trixie to give her a high five which only served to make Nathan feel more defeated. "No fair!" Nathan sulked as she crossed his arms. "Get used to Nate." Jon said giving his son a playful chuck on the shoulder. "This kind of thing is going to be happening a lot around here." "W-what do you mean, Daddy?" He asked looking distraught. "Son...in my lifetime I've learned many things," he said after taking a sip of water. "One of them is that woman tend to band together as a team on issues such as this. Trixie's a girl, so with her here us guys are outnumbered three to two. You know what that means?" "More strawberries!?" Nathan asked in horror. "Exactly!" Jon answered. Nathan looked over to catch his sister sticking her tongue out at him. "DADDY! Can't you get a friend from work who is a boy?" He asked desperately. "Like a boy pony who could help us?" "First of all son they're called colts." Jon corrected. "Second of all that's gonna be a problem?" "Why?" He asked. "Because he's never had a colt on his show before," Trixie answered on his behalf. "Every guest your father's had from Equestria have been female....haven't you noticed?" "We're not allowed to watch Daddy's show." Nathan said. "Why is that?" She asked, momentarily surprised to see Tracey poke her head back into the room. She was also mixing some ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon. "Because whenever those two watch the show they always seem to pick up a new swear word or two." She said shooting a quick look over at her husband who innocently avoiding eye contact. "Yes well it's not surprising when you think about it." Trixie continued. "In my world the population is mostly girls." "Wow, really!?" Maggie asked in astonishment. "Indeed." She answered. "I believe it's about an 8:1 ratio." "...Daddy what's a Ray-she-oh?" Maggie asked. Jon didn't answer, instead he was crunching the numbers in his head based on the couple of times he's been to Equestria. To a certain degree he believed her to be true. Even though he had done so he could hardly recall ever talking with a colt. "Daddy you need to get boy on your show!" Nathan demanded as he tugged on Jon's arm. "Ok first of all...for the record not every guest I've had on my show has been a girl." Jon said defensively. "As a matter of fact my very first guest was Spike the Dragon; a boy. And second of all...you guys just gave me a great idea." Without waiting for anyone to ask he stood up made his way to the stairs. "Trixie I'm tagging you in." He said patting her on the shoulder. "Keep the kids in line while I make a phone call...think you can handle it." "Of course," she said with a smug grin. She took a moment to brush the shoulder that Jon had touched. "Better than you could I'd guess." Ignoring Trixie's remark he quickly gave each of his children a kiss on the cheek before lightly jogging upstairs to his study room. He had an idea of who he wanted on his show next.