//------------------------------// // Trouble at Sugarcube Corner // Story: Trixie's Charms // by Nevel //------------------------------// Spike sat outside the front of Sugarcube Corner. A couple of tables had been set up with parasols to provide shade from the hot sun. A pile of hay fries sat before the purple dragon but he wasn’t really hungry. He couldn’t get everything he saw today out of his head. Everypony in town was going nuts for Trixie’s magic and it just didn’t make any sense, they weren’t even that entertaining. Just then, Spike saw a pegasus come flying down from above. It was a mare with white and light blue spikey hair, a greyish blue coat, and pink eyes. He recognised the mare as one of the pegasi who helped out with tornado duty last year, but he couldn’t recall her name. She walked over to another pony who was already sat at one of the tables eating a bowl of cereal. It was another pegasus who looked almost the same, except this pony’s mane was well combed and had a pink bow in it. Also her coat was a slightly lighter shade then her friends. “Hey there, Flitter!” The pony with the spikey hair called out. Flitter looked up and saw her friend walking towards her. “Cloudchaser! Hi.” The pegasus with the pink bow called back. “It’s been a long time, how’d it all go at the Wonderbolts academy?” “Oh it was a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work… mostly hard work.” Cloudchaser smiled as she sat beside her friend. “Boy, what a weekend. I tell you, there’s nothing that builds up an appetite more than busting clouds while flying in extreme weather conditions.” “Sounds like they train you really hard.” “Yeah, well. It’s all so we can be the best, you know?” Cloudchaser stretched her fore legs out in front of her as Flitter nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I know. Like the Great and Powerful Trixie! She’s the best of the best.” Cloudchaser stopped in mid-stretch and looked at her friend. “Huh? Trixie?!” “Yeah!” Flitter smiled happily. “She’s so incredible! I actually got to see her show, live and in person. It’s was radical!” Cloudchaser stared at her friend in disbelief. “Trixie? The unicorn that enslaved all of Ponyville? That Trixie?!” “And she’s so talented in magic. I mean she did things that no other unicorn has ever done before! She made an earth pony fly!” Flitter was gushing as hard as Twilight and Cadance were back at the library. Spike, who had started listening in on their conversation at the mention of Trixie’s name, still couldn’t believe any pony really thought that the blue unicorn was some kind of great and powerful sorceress. Spike was honestly surprised that Cloudchaser was the first pony who wasn’t acting like Trixie was amazing. “Maybe you’ve been eating too many sweets and it’s affecting your brain.” Cloudchaser said half sarcastically. “How can you think that her tricks are so amazing after what she did? I mean, are you sick or something? What are you eating anyway?” “Oh, it’s this new cereal. Trixie Charms! You get one bowl free with every ticket to Trixie’s show. They’re magical and delicious!” Flitter held up a spoonful and offered it to her friend. “Try some. I’m sure it won’t ruin your Wonderbolts diet.” Cloudchaser scrunched up her mussel. She didn’t want to touch the cereal, but then Flitter gave a sharp kick to Cloudchaser’s shin under the table, which caused her to shout out and allow the pegasus with the pink bow to put the spoon into her friend’s mouth. As soon as the cereal hit Cloudchaser’s taste buds, her stature relaxed. She sat down again and slowly chewed before swallowing. “Wow that was delicious!” The spikey mane’d pegasus said while leaning her head back. “Told you!” Flitter said with a giggle. “Trixie’s cereal is the number one meal for any time of the day, you know?” “Oh Trixie.” Cloudchaser suddenly seemed to deflate as she slumped onto the table. “I really wish I could have seen her show.” “Hey, cheer up! She’ll be performing again tomorrow. You can blow off one training session for that, can’t you?” Cloudchaser’s eyes lit up. “Sheah, you bet!” “Come on; let’s go order some more of that cereal.” Both of the pegasi jumped out of their seats and rushed into Sugarcube Corner. Spike was left with his jaw hanging wide open. He couldn’t understand it. One second Cloudchaser doesn’t care for Trixie, and then the next she’s depressed that she missed her. The purple dragon looked over at the empty bowl of cereal. “Trixie Charms.” He said out loud himself. “Is it possible that…?” Spike then immediately jumped down from his seat. Something was wrong with the ponies in Ponyville, and he thought he had an idea of what it was. - - - Rainbow Dash was flying back to Ponyville from the Wonderbolts Academy. They had all been given the rest of the day off to relax after an extremely tough training session. Many of the Pegasi stayed on the base but others, like Rainbow, decided to go see their friends. She wanted to boast about her new records she set for the academy, and decided that Pinkie Pie’s would be the first stop. Pinkie was probably worried that Dash hadn’t sent her a letter in the last two days and was getting panicky again. That Earth pony was a bundle of laughs, but she really could get worked up over her overactive imagination. Sugarcube Corner was just around the bend and Rainbow saw that Pinkie wasn’t besides the mailbox checking it every two seconds like Applejack had told her she used to do before. The cyan pegasus with the rainbow coloured mane landed in front of the store and saw both Flitter and Cloudchaser sitting at a table enjoying some cereal. Rainbow decided to say hello before going inside. “Hey girls.” Rainbow called out to them. Flitter and Cloudchaser looked up and smiled at her. “Hey Dash!” The both said in unison. “What’s up? You two got any plans for today or are you just hanging out?” “We’re making plans to camp out tonight so we can get a really good place for Trixie’s show tomorrow!” Flitter said happily. “Oh, okay, I’m just here to- Wait… Both of you?” Rainbow looked at Cloudchaser who was absently eating her bowl of Trixie Charms. After swallowing a spoonful of the cereal, she turned to face the cyan pony. “Yeah. Trixie’s only going to be in town for a short time and I’ve already missed one show. I’m sure the Wonderbolts won’t notice if I miss one measly session.” “Are you serious?!” Rainbow shouted. “You’re skipping out on training to go see Trixie?! This is the Wonderbolts Academy! You can’t just take a day off to go see some dumb magic show!” “Hey!” Flitter jumped out of her seat and slammed both her front hooves onto the table. “Just because you’re like a star athlete and the best young flyer to come out of Cloudsdale, doesn’t mean she has to do what you say!” Rainbow looked taken aback. She’d never seen Flitter get this angry. She was usually the quiet one of the two. “And yeah, so what if I drop out and never become a Wonderbolt?” Cloudchaser said with a tone of defiance “I’d rather be a Trixiebolt, any day!” “What?! Trixiebolt?” The rainbow mane’d pegasus was stunned at what she was hearing. There was no such thing as a Trixiebolt. And what was with the sudden obsession with Trixie anyway? “Come on Cloudchaser! We’re leaving!” The pair left Rainbow Dash behind stood frozen. She watched as the other two trotted off towards the centre of town. What was wrong with those two? Rainbow thought to herself. She’d never seen them act like that before. It was like she’d just spoken to a pair of bizarro pegasi. At least that’s what Pinkie would have called them. Rainbow Dash shook her head and walked into Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was behind the counter eating from a massive bowl full of cereal with a larger than normal spoon. “Hey Pinkie.” The cyan pegasus said as she crossed the room. Pinkie looked out the corner of her eye towards the door. At the sight of her friend she jumped up into the air and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground with a hug. “Dashie! It’s so good to have you home again! Did you miss us? How was the academy? Did you meet many ponies? Did you make some more friends? What are they like? Are your new friends better than us? Why did you replace us, Dashie? What did we do wrong?!” “Pinkie…“ Rainbow tried to talk over the hyper earth pony, but the pink ball of energy with the cotton candy mane just carried on with her onslaught of questions, ignoring her friend as she ran around dramatically through the room. “Was it something I said? Did you not like your latest care package? Was it because I didn’t hoof deliver it? OH MY GOSH! You never got it did you? I knew I should have taken it to you. That’s why you replaced us with some other friends, it’s because you forgot all about us! But wait… what are you doing here if you’ve forgotten about me? Maybe there are some memories deep deep down that are calling out ‘Pinkie Pie! Find Pinkie Pie!’ Well don’t you worry Dashie, I know just the pony who can-” “PINKIE PIE!!” Dash shouted at the top of her lungs, making some of the ornaments on the shelves rattle. “Yeah?” Pinkie looked at her rainbow maned friend with a smile, as if the drama she was just going through never happened. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I haven't forgotten about you, I got your package, I shared the cake with a few friends I made there, no I didn’t replace you for them, and what’s with everypony today?” “Huh? What you mean?” Pinkie tilted her head to the side as she looked at her friend. “Well, I just had Flitter and Cloudchaser shout at me for no reason. I mean, Cloudchaser worked really hard today during training, and now suddenly she’s talking about skipping out on training.” Rainbow looked outside to where the two had been sitting a moment ago. “And over a dumb magic show? I heard rumours about Trixie being back in town, but after what she did, I thought no pony would wanna see that fraud aga-“ Rainbow turned back to Pinkie and abruptly stopped talking. Pinkie had a fire in her eyes and she was staring daggers right at the cyan pegasus. “Err, Pinks… you okay?” “How dare you talk that way about the great and all powerful Trixie!” Pinkie took a step forward as Rainbow took one back. “Not only is she the most super amazing and the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, but at least she’s never done anything as horrible as call a pony a ‘Fraud’!” “You- you’re joking… right Pinks? Come on, don’t you remember-“ Pinkie stomped a hoof. “All I remember is a so-called friend, who didn’t have the courtesy to even send me back so much as a small letter. Not a ‘hello’, or a ‘how are you?’ But Trixie remembers me. Trixie even graced me with several care packages of her very own brand of cereal! I’ve been given them out to every pony with a ticket to Trixie’s show. And even if they didn’t have one, I still share it with every pony, because that’s what good friends do!” “Pinkie! You’re over react-“ “Excuse me!?” Pinkie yelled interrupting the pegasus. “I’m not acting. I’ve always been a great friend to every pony I’ve met, unlike you!” “All I said was-“ “I heard what you said! And I’ve heard enough. I think you should go.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe this. Pinkie Pie had turned her back on friend and stood unmoving. Rainbow wanted to say something, but she’d obviously said something to really upset her friend. This wasn’t like her. The happy bouncy pony always used to have a smile on her face. Dash looked at Pinkie for the longest time before she turned around and slowly walked out the door.