The police left the hotel room, but Trixie stayed behind.
She rubbed her neck nervously. Rarity smiled.
“Relax, Trixie. We’re not mad about your past. It is the past after all.
Perhaps you would like some tea, or coffee? We have a little time to kill before
we need to leave for the show.”
“Tri.. I - would love some tea, if it’s not too much trouble.” she said with a small smile.
“Not at all.” Rarity replied. “I was going to make some for myself anyway.” she added as
she went to the ‘kitchen’ area of the room and started boiling water.
“We don’t have much of a selection though, I’m afraid. Your choices are...
Earl Grey, Lemon, or Rose.”
“Well, in that case I would like the rose tea please.” Trixie said and sat down
at the table. “What about Pinkie? Should I go ask her if she wants some?”
“No need, she’s in her own little world by now. She’s humming and staring at the
horizon. Good luck making any contact with her for a while. She goes into a trance,
and just stands there, daydreaming.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? I mean, if it happens at the wrong moment.”
“Oh, she only does that when she knows it’s safe, like when she’s inside and
with friends nearby. It’s okay, we’ll ‘wake her up’ when we leave.
Until then, just let her daydream.” Rarity sat down and gave Trixie her tea.
Rarity also had the rose tea, and it gave off a sweet smell that quickly spread in the
whole room.
“Quite a fragrant tea.” Trixie remarked.
“Indeed, but the smell is quite lovely, so I don’t mind it.”
“Nor do I, it is very lovely. Somehow it reminds Trixie of her childhood.
I often drank rose tea with a neighbor I used to visit when I was a filly.
She used to keep me company after school, before my parents came home
from their works, so I wouldn’t have to be alone several hours. Both my parents
had afternoon-and-evening shifts, you see, so they were not home when I came
back from school, they came later.”
“I see. So, you grew up here in Manehattan?”
“Yes. or rather, I grew up in a suburban area in the western outskirts of Manehattan,
not in the city itself. We often went into the city though, so I know it quite well.”
“Maybe you could show us around sometime?”
“Maybe, yes. Trixie would love to.”
Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to get ready for the fashion show.
Rarity got her dress and hat on, and the necklace.
Trixie admired the clothes. “That dress is lovely. Did you make it?”
Rarity smiled, and almost blushed a little. “I did, yes. Long ago though, but it’s a
timeless design I can wear to most occasions, so it’s universal.”
Pinkie had just ‘awoken’ from her daydreaming, and came back inside.
“You guys leaving now?” She asked.
“Yes, we are. Are you sure you will be okay, Pinkie?” Rarity replied.
“Yes, I’m sure, don’t be a Worrity, Rarity!”
Rarity facehoofed at Pinkies made-up word, mixing her name with ‘worry’.
“Anyway, Pinkie, what do you plan to do while I’m gone? This will take several hours
you know, I won’t be back here until tonight, after sundown.”
“I was planing to go for a long walk around town, and just see where I end up!
I might find someplace fun!” Pinkie said in an excited voice while bouncing a few times.
“Well, just make sure you don’t get lost, this city is huge.” Rarity said.
“No problem, if I DO get lost I have a trick! I’ll just find a patrolling police officer,
tell them I’m a friend of Gunny and Stormy, and ask for directions!”
“That would work, but you should probably use their actual names instead of those
nicknames if that happens.” Trixie replied with a smiled.
She then turned toward Rarity. “Shall we get going then?”
“We shall.” Rarity said and turned around toward the door. “See you tonight, Pinkie.”
* * *
As Rarity and Trixie walked down the street, they discussed the plans for the day.
“So, we go to this fashion show, and then there is a after-party we also attend...
Did Trixie get that right?” Trixie asked.
“Yes, correct. And just after the show, we can also go backstage when they pack
everything back down and finish up. We have a full-access-pass.”
“Ah, I see. I do not know much about fashion, but I am a classy pony like you,
so this should be a rather pleasant experience, I think.”
“I agree.” Rarity replied with a smile.
Trixie looked up at the sky. “It’s completely overcast, the whole sky is grey..
Will there be any rain today?”
Rarity looked up for a second. “I have no idea, I forgot to check the weather prognosis
in todays news. But judging by those clouds, I’d say no. Those are not rain clouds,
the rain clouds are a darker gray.”
“How do you know?”
“Years spent with Rainbow Dash as a friend. She’s a weather-pony after all.
over the years, we’ve all picked up lots of random knowledge from each other.
We all know things we wouldn’t have known without each other.
I even taught Rainbow Dash some basic sowing, so she can repair her
training outfit when it breaks, and I learned about clouds from hearing her
talk to, well, everypony about it.”
“That’s quite amazing. I never experienced that sort of random learning from friends,
since.. well, I never truly had any. Not since I was a filly. I had friends in school,
but as we grew up we grew apart and lost contact. Ever since then, Trixie has
only had the closest family, no other friends. And..”
Suddenly, Trixie tackled Rarity. “WATCH OUT!”
Beside them, at the exact point where they had stood only moments ago, a pie hit the
ground, splashing what looked like cherry sauce all over the street.
“You.. saved my dress. Thank you!” Rarity said with a mixture of gratitude for the
saving, and confusion as to where the pie had come from. They looked up,
and saw no open windows on the buildings, and no construction workers on the roofs
either. “Where did it come from...?” Rarity asked, looking at the remains of the pie.
“I have no idea. But we can’t worry about that now, we need to keep walking
or we will be late to the show. All good seats close to the stage will be taken
if we don’t get there soon.”
“Oh, that’s not a problem Trixie, seats are assigned on the tickets. We have second-row
seats, so there will only be one row between us and the stage. Although, we should get
going anyway so we don’t miss anything. Some shows have some little pre-show,
or some talk before it starts, and sometimes it’s actually interesting things.”
“Hm, yes.. I see.”
“We’ll think about the Pie-mystery later...”
* * *
As they both arrived at the door, the bulky Griffin stood there. He recognized Rarity
as she approached. “Welcome back, Miss. And this is...? he nodded toward Trixie.
“Trixie Lulamoon.” Trixie replied.
“She’s my plus-one for tonight, my other friend had other plans.” Rarity added
in an explaining tone. “I hope that is okay?”
“Oh, it’s fine by me, your ticket says plus-one, so it’s all by the books.”
The bulky griffin moved aside and held the door open, and the two mares walked in.
They both looked around. Further in the room was a catwalk stage, surrounded
by a few rows of chairs. Rarity took a look at their ticket, and then at the numbers
on the chairs, to find their seats. “Over here, on the left side. We’ll have a perfect view
of all the clothes and models!” Rarity said with increasing excitement as she sat down.
Trixie smiled and sat down on Raritys left side. After a few moments, more ponies
and griffins started filling up the seats all around the stage. Another few minutes passed.
When the room was full, the lights dimmed down, and music started. It was some
electronic music, a relatively simple beat with some various electronic effects and
sounds, and sometimes there were voices saying something Rarity nd Trixie could
not quite hear. the song was a bit monotone, but somehow, that perfectly suited
the situation and gave the show it’s ambiance. Lights came on, and focused
on the stage. Models in various dresses walked out on the stage, moving professionally
along the wooden floor, turning around, walking back and forth, making sure everypony
on every side of the stage got a full 360 view of the clothes and accessories.
Some looked good, some not-so-good, and some.. just plain weird. Just like every fashion
show ever. Rarity paid close attention to everything on the stage, while Trixie, less
interested in the clothes, chose to pay attention to the ponies around the stage instead,
looking for anything suspicious.
The show went on for a full hour, but nothing suspicious happened,
on or off the stage.
“Well, no luck today.” Trixie said, disappointed.
“We still have the backstage session and the after-party, and this was just day one.”
Rarity said. “As for me, I’m very happy I got to see this. Many interesting designs!”
“...sure...” Trixie said, trying to hide the fact she had been quite bored most of the time.
“Trixie really don’t understand the appeal of this sort of thing...” She thought to herself
as they left the chairs to go backstage.