One month. It had merely been a single month since Trixie first came to Ponyville, was run out of Ponyville, and then returned back once more. Trixie could barely believe so little time had passed. It felt as though she’d been on the edge of the crazy little town for years. Who knew such a small town had so many near disasters on a weekly basis?
She supposed she could count herself among those disasters now. The townsfolk sure did. If the rumors going around were to be believed, Trixie was some sort of filly-eating witch. Fortunately, they didn’t know she’d been licking her wounds in Fluttershy’s care.
Well, perhaps they were half right. Trixie smirked as she looked out the bedroom window, and down at one of the only two fillies she had any interest in eating. Fluttershy was busy in the front yard, filling the feeding bowls for the raccoons, foxes, and whatever else was about that size and furry.
It was such a simple chore, one that Trixie could complete in mere seconds thanks to her truly impressive magic, but Fluttershy seemed to take more pleasure in doing it by hoof. So, Trixie had learned to refrain from doing it for her.
She had something better to do anyway. All she needed was to find her magnificent outfit.
“Fluttershy, have you seen Trixie’s cloak?!” Trixie called out loudly while rummaging through the large chest at the foot of their bed. It had to be in there somewhere, possibly hidden away beneath the winter blankets ever since its unfortunate demise.
“I'll be up in one moment, Trixie!” True to her word, after a moment, Fluttershy appeared in the window with a dozen small birds fluttering around her for food. “Uhm, I-I think it’s in the laundry?”
“Don’t be silly. Trixie’s kept it in this chest for the past three weeks. It was all torn up in the forest, remember?” Trixie withdrew from her search and meandered over to the window, shooing away the pesky, impatient birds. “Shoo, she’s mine. You can have her after Trixie is done.”
Even if Fluttershy didn’t seem to mind playing doormat to them, Trixie was not about to let some beasts dictate her pace. No matter how cute they were, they couldn’t be allowed to boss her Fluttershy around. That was her job.
“O-oh dear,” Fluttershy mumbled as the birds chirped and squawked but flew down to the front yard to wait for her. “I’ll, uh, I’ll be right there.”
“Well, you say that...” Trixie smiled while she gently slid a hoof through Fluttershy’s mane, reveling in its silky softness. “But you should know Trixie’s not planning to give you up without a fight,” she whispered while leaning in, trying to steal a kiss from the blushing pegasus.
Before Trixie could connect, however, Fluttershy suddenly looked behind her and started addressing the waiting animals. “I-In a minute. Trixie, uhm, needs help too. Has, uhm, anypony seen her cloak?”
Trixie softly chuckled to herself. Subtle. Fluttershy was so adorable when she was dodging conflict. She was too shy to get kissed in front of her critter friends but too nervous to confront Trixie about the attempts. Near as Trixie could tell, she’d have to find a better moment. Too bad those critters had been around all week.
“They don’t know. I think. Sorry... Uhm, why were you looking for it?”
“Now that Trixie has enough money, she’s going to get it fixed up!” She announced with a flourish. “Soon, Trixie will be Great and Powerful again! Well, as soon as she can convince Dashie to help look for her hat in that accursed place.” She looked out the window, past Fluttershy, and glared at the forest just past the clearing.
“Oh, I uhm, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Fluttershy said, much to Trixie’s surprise. “I mean, going into the Everfree Forest is why you lost them to begin with… what if you lose something else this time?”
“Aww, you’re worried about Trixie!” She squeed and reached out the window, wrapping Fluttershy in a hug. Trixie quickly took the opportunity to pull her into the room and against herself. “Not to worry! Trixie is what goes bump in the night! Those monsters better be on their best behavior. Now, where is that cloak? Trixie needs it if she’s going to buy the right kind of fabric to mend it.”
Trixie could feel Fluttershy tense up as she spoke, “It’s uhm... Not here. That is… I threw it out?”
In a moment of denial, Trixie waited for Fluttershy to deliver her punchline, because clearly she couldn’t be serious. However, when none came, she gritted her teeth, doing her best to keep from blowing up and sending the timid, sweet, irresponsible thing running for the hills. She sucked in a shaky breath. “You threw it out?” Her left eye twitched. “Trixie’s cloak?”
Fluttershy visibly shrunk. “W-well, you don’t—you never even look at it, much less wear it. S-so—”
“Because it was in tatters!” Trixie snapped and let go of Fluttershy, choosing to instead pace circles around the room. “Trixie can’t believe this! Why would you? Who just throws—When!? Is it in the trash? Did the garbage pony pick it up already!?”
“M-maybe? I don’t know. Yes.” Fluttershy’s guilt was written across her face.
Trixie clutched her head, trying to hold back an acute headache. “Gah! Okay, maybe it’s still on the bin wagon. Is there a wagon? Trixie doesn’t even know!” She glared over at Fluttershy who flinched in anticipation of another outburst.
“T-they, uhm, burn it, yes… I’m sorry. It’s too late.”
“You. You.” Trixie’s hooves shook as she glared at Fluttershy and a thousand things she wanted to shout at her bounced through her mind, fighting for the right to be flung at her first. Closing her eyes tightly, she took a deep breath.
Wordlessly, Trixie stomped down the stairs.
Fluttershy merely watched her leave. “I’m sorry.”
Oh, she wanted to give that cute, ditzy thing an earful, alright! But, some small part of her knew not to yell at Fluttershy. She was much too sensitive at the best of times. Besides, Rainbow Dash would have her hide.
No, she had to channel her rage into something more productive. She knew exactly what would make her feel better. She quickly gathered some things and walked out the front door, passing Fluttershy outside.
“Trixie is going out.” She announced shortly.
“O-oh, uhm, do you want me to, uhm…”
“No.”
“I mean… you never go to Ponyville alone...”
“No.”
Trixie left Fluttershy to tend to the animals, while she trotted down the long path that led from the cottage towards Ponyville, surrounded by a variety of floating objects.
It had been about a week since her last visit and barely a month since her first one. Yet so much had changed. Fluttershy was right, she had not felt safe going into Ponyville without a chaperone for a long time, but anger turned out to be a perfectly good motivator to finally change that. Woe be upon whoever crossed her path!
She’d hidden away with Fluttershy for long enough, anyway. While up until recently Trixie had appreciated the privacy that the far off cottage afforded, now that she actually had to walk the long road alone, she was beginning to wonder who in their right mind would build a house this far away from town.
“Gah, this is taking forever! How is Trixie supposed to stay mad if it’s going to take this long!?” she complained to the empty air. “At least the weather’s perfect… That’s even less helpful.”
Of course, Trixie expected nothing less. Dating the captain of the Weather Team had its perks. Perks such as actually accurate weather reports. She was so confident that last night she’d already picked out most of the things she’d need for a little excursion into Ponyville. She just hadn’t expected to leave before noon.
In an attempt to distract herself from the long walk, she let her accessories pass in front of her one by one.
“Sunglasses, check.” Trixie wasn’t usually one for checklists, but given that she was going to see Twilight, it felt only right. “Ice Box, check. Umbrella, check. Fold-out chair, check... Oh, Trixie didn’t bring anything to read.” She smirked evilly. “Eh, Trixie’s sure there will be something in the library.”
Twilight squinted, attempting to peer through the relentless downpour that had surrounded her home for the past week. The rest of Ponyville was enjoying a week of the best weather of the year, but not her. Oh, no. Rainbow Dash was surprisingly good at holding a grudge.
She wasn’t really sure why Rainbow Dash had taken it so personally when she accused Trixie of stealing, but she had her suspicions. Normally, Dash would have forgotten about the whole thing already, but now she had to deal with this.
A large thunderous raincloud directly above the library had been ruining her lawn all week. At first, it was easy to ignore, pleasant even. The nice cool air and gentle tapping of rain on the windows was something she always enjoyed, as it was a good excuse to stay inside, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea.
But, after a few days, she found the water had begun to seep under the door, igniting a bitter conflict between the invading moisture and the allied forces of mop and towels. Not only that, but the ground around the library had turned into a mud bath, which meant any patrons that visited inevitably dragged in so much filth that it was a complete nightmare to keep the place presentable!
Fortunately, Ponyville was not home to many avid readers at the best of times, and even less so now that they had to traverse the pools of mud and the torrential rains.
Except for one...
It was nearly impossible to see any distinct shapes through the curtain of rain, but Twilight’s spirits rose as she managed to pick out an approaching blue blotch accompanied by the silhouette of an umbrella. Somepony that cared enough to brave the elements for the sake of losing themselves in a good book.
“Spike! Get some tea ready!” She left that to him. Meanwhile, she made a rapid final round through the library to make sure everything was in top shape, then glued herself to the window again to check on their visitor. Now that she was getting closer, Twilight’s smile drooped.
“Trixie?” Twilight all but hissed while attempting to hide beside the window, pressed up against the wall. “Spike, forget the tea! Are you sure nothing else has gone missing?”
A week ago, somepony had broken into the library under the cover of darkness and stolen a very important book that Twilight had been studying. By some ‘wild coincidence’, this happened the very day she showed the book to Trixie. She was just about certain that it had to be Trixie, but she couldn’t prove it. Not yet, anyway.
Spike rolled his eyes while he pretended to look over the lengthy inventory scroll, again. “All here. Just like it’s been all week. Come on, Twilight. It’s been a week and nothing’s happened since that one book went missing.”
“Nothing happened?!” Twilight shrieked. “She turned half my friends against me! Don’t you think it’s strange how suddenly they went from booing her on stage to super best friends?”
“A month isn’t ‘suddenly’ for most ponies.” Spike deadpanned.
She ignored his insubordination and glanced out the window again. “It is almost as if she used a want-it-need-it spell, but the effect is much too weak for that. On the other hoof… maybe that’s because she isn’t strong enough to cast it properly?”
“Or maybe they just like her?”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight looked at her adorably naive assistant. “How could they possibly like her? She can’t go two sentences without insulting somepony. No, it has to be something else. I know she has a lot of theoretical knowledge, but her actual magic level cannot be that high if she was telling the truth about not being able to use Hoofdir’s theorem in practice.”
“You seemed to like her just fine before you decided she must have stolen from you.” Spike disappeared into the kitchen, shaking his head.
At that moment, the door swung open with such force that it struck the wall and bounced off.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie! Requires romantic reading records!” Trixie announced loudly while she reared up, sending a number of colorful sparks in all directions. She wore a satisfied look on her face as she watched Twilight clutch her chest.
Regaining her composure, Twilight forced a smile. “Oh, hello, Trixie. The romance section is over there. Help yourself… but clearly I don’t need to tell you that, right?” She rubbed her temple while she watched Trixie leave a trail of mud behind her. She wished she could say something about it, but there simply wasn’t any way for a pony to clean themselves up before entering since the mud was ankle deep all around. Still, Trixie’s tail was constantly moving back and forth with each step she took, wagging fast enough for water to hit everything she went past. “If you like reading so much, why are you doing your best to cause water damage to all of them?”
Shaking the water off her umbrella, Trixie wandered around the library, scanning the covers for interesting titles. “The relentless rain represents Rainbow’s rage. A rueful show of regret will remit her revenge.”
Twilight grit her teeth. She’d barely been here a minute and already Trixie was getting under her skin. Who talked like that? Nobody, not even Trixie. She was just doing it to annoy her. “I know Rainbow Dash put it there, but I’m sure you can get her to take it away. Whatever it is you did to her, it’s working.”
A blush flashed over Trixie’s face and she quickly turned away, facing the bookshelves. “You really should repair your relations with the rankled rebel yourself, right?” Trixie avoided looking at her as she answered, instead grabbing a book from the shelves.
“What am I supposed to do? At this rate, the whole library will be flooded by next week!”
“The rapids rise reliably. reinforce your rooms or recant your rant.”
“Stop that! It’s not funny!” Twilight snapped. Trixie returned a look of obviously faked confusion and opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight cut her off before she had a chance to spew any more of that ear-grating annoyance. “The ‘R’s! Quit it! It’s getting ridiculously repetitive!”
“Heh, Alliteration.” Chuckling, Trixie shrugged her shoulders. “Fine. Trixie was getting bored of it anyway.” She smiled smugly at Twilight. “See? All you had to do was ask.”
Twilight groaned. “What do you want from me? I get that it was wrong to force my way into Fluttershy’s house, and I probably shouldn’t have cast a Hold Pony spell on you, or rummaged—I mean searched through your belongings.”
“Don’t forget to add falsely accusing the Pure and Innocent Trixie of something as low as petty theft,” Trixie added with a mock dramatism to her voice. “Worse still, you accused her of stealing her own book! You only had it because you looted all the readable materials from the wreckage of Trixie’s wagon.”
“A book which you admitted to stealing from its previous owner! Oh, how could I possibly have drawn the conclusion that you’d do so again?” She glared at Trixie. “I can’t prove it was you, but don’t think I haven’t noticed that everything has gone awfully smoothly for you ever since a spellbook filled with dark magic went missing.”
The mocking smile on Trixie’s face faltered. “This is exactly why that thundercloud is there. You have the gall to think Trixie is so vile and wonder why Dashie is upset?” She turned to Twilight and stepped uncomfortably close to her. “Trixie will have you know that—”
“Who wants tea?” At that moment, Trixie spotted Spike trudging back into to room, carrying a tray with cups and a teapot.
Trixie lowered her voice down a whisper that sent a chill down Twilight’s spine. “—Trixie doesn’t use it for that.”
Dumbstruck, Twilight stared back at Trixie, who held a dangerous look in her eyes. “D-did you just admit—”
“Just kidding!” Trixie slipped past Twilight like a snake and approached Spike with a spring in her gait. She flashed him an exaggerated smile. “Oh, what have you got there, dragon boy?”
Spike bristled a little as Trixie failed to remember his name. “My name is Spike, remember? And this is camilla tea” Spike offered up a cup to Trixie, pointedly ignoring the look Twilight gave her.
“Oh, thank you.” Trixie took the cup and tried to ruffle his scales; it turned out those were pretty sturdy. “Aren’t you just the most adorable little house pet. Mhm, no biscuits?” she asked, disappointed.
“No biscuits,” Spike echoed with a similarly displeased tone. “They got soggy in the rain when I carried the groceries in. The second time I tried running, but the mud is like knee-deep for me, so that didn’t go well either. So, I guess biscuits are out till Twilight and Rainbow Dash solve… whatever this is.”
“Oh,” Trixie said, with a twinge of guilt. “You, uh, live here too, huh?”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Well, yeah?”
“Must be tough on you. Now leave Trixie alone so she can concentrate.” Trixie pulled a book off the shelf and started studying the back of it while sipping her tea.
Twilight glared at Trixie while she perused the books on offer. It was possible that she was only toying with her before, but the fact that Trixie could make a joke like that so lightly was just more evidence that she was on the right track with her investigation.
Spike let out an exasperated sigh and headed for the kitchen to fill up a mop bucket, clearly neither of them were going to be much fun to be around for a while.
Thankfully, Trixie soon left.
Lingering by the window, Twilight watched her leave. “She’s up to something, Spike.”
“Here’s to hoping she does something actually evil soon then,” Spike remarked while mopping the hardwood floor to erase Trixie’s muddy tracks.
“What? Why?” Twilight asked.
Spike wearily soaked his mop in the bucket and looked over at Twilight. “So you can get this over with and blast her with friendship lasers already.”
“Note to self, get some rain over here.”
Rainbow Dash soared through the sky above the northern fields on her way back to Ponyville. They looked a bit dry. It was a shame she’d just taken the last of the rainclouds to the eastern fields instead. Perhaps her decision to forget all the boring planning stuff had not been the greatest idea after all.
On the other hoof, all the paperwork and request applications from dozens of ponies… she just couldn’t deal with that kind of lame work. It wasn’t her thing. Her desk back at the weather station, and most of her office for that matter, was swamped with piles of papers. Just thinking about those was more exhausting than all the flying around.
She’d been promoted to weather captain two weeks ago. At first, she’d taken it seriously, read all the requests, tried her best to work them into a schedule, and brought the correct cloud deliveries to every corner of the Ponyville Region and done her best to do everything the way she was supposed to. It required all of her waking hours to get everything done. And every night she’d collapse on her bed dog-tired.
Rainbow Dash zipped past the edge of town and straight towards the singular dark cloud that stained the otherwise clear skies.
Her new job had been all consuming, and it wasn’t until she started cutting corners that she actually won back some of her free time. Time that she could spend on much more interesting things. Like the date she’d set up with a certain feisty unicorn she spotted down below.
Just at the edge of the quagmire that was once Twilight Sparkle’s front lawn, Trixie had installed herself in luxury. Basking in the sun, she lay sprawled on her fold-out chair, levitating a book in front of her and an iced drink to her left.
Swooping down, Rainbow Dash hovered directly above Trixie, smirking as she let her shadow fall on her. “Woah, were we supposed to meet in the morning after all? How long did I keep you waiting if you had time to set all this stuff up?”
Trixie motioned to the relentless downpour over the library. “Trixie thought she’d come early and admire your work.” Smirking, she lifted up her sunglasses. “If you’re going to block Trixie’s sun, you better be offering something else to keep The Great and Powerful Trixie warm!”
“Heh, it’s funny you should say that.” Rainbow Dash said while she noticed Trixie scooting over. Without hesitation, she dropped down into the chair beside her. It was a tight fit, but judging by the hooves that snaked around her it was clear Trixie didn’t mind. “I actually had something in mind for that.”
Trixie snuggled up to Dash, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “Oooh? Don’t keep Trixie in suspense, Dashie.”
Dash bit her lip, she wasn’t supposed to give away the surprise. She fumbled for a change of topic. “Hey, uh, don’t call me that. Especially not in public.” Rainbow Dash said while scanning the area around them for any ponies that might be passing by. “You know, for someone so prickly, you’re a real cuddlebug,” She stood to lose some major cool points if anyone caught them like this. Why, oh why did she let Trixie do this to her in public?
“Hah, ‘cuddlebug’?” Trixie squeezed her harder. “What are you, five? Besides, Trixie is not prickly; she is properly wary of strangers… speaking of which, what’s with you? Expecting anypony, Dashie? Trixie will have you know she is not looking to expand this relationship any further.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well… perhaps she could be persuaded. It would only be fair.”
“What are you even—Oof!” Rainbow Dash wheezed as Trixie clamped down harder. Who knew unicorns could be this strong? It must have been all that time she spent pulling a wagon cross country. Struggling for breath, Dash tapped out on Trixie’s foreleg. “O-okay. Hey, new plan. How about we go somewhere more private?”
“What for?” Trixie asked, easing up on Dash’s ribs.
“So I don’t risk dying of embarrassment while you choke me to death.” Dash grinned.
“You’re the worst.” Trixie huffed and pulled back, folding her forelegs across her chest. “It’s your fault in the first place. Who keeps their special somepony waiting entire weeks at a time? Trixie thought you said you would have more time after last week.”
“I do have more time; I’m here, aren’t I?” Dash stuck out her tongue; regretfully, the moment was too short for Trixie to capitalize on.
“Oh, please. If your wings weren’t about to fall off you’d be practicing a ‘loop de loop’ or something and Trixie would still be alone.”
“That’s not true. I’d let you watch.” Rainbow Dash snickered while Trixie threw her a mock glare. “Besides, I’m sure you and Fluttershy have plenty more fun than I do.”
Trixie groaned. “Ugh, do not speak to Trixie about her.”
“What?” Dash asked. When Trixie’s response was just to snuggle up to her more, Dash pulled away and sat up straight. “Hey! No trying to distract me. Spill it.”
Deprived of her warm cuddling companion, Trixie uttered a resigned groan. “She burned Trixie’s cloak, okay?” The very surprised look on Dashie’s face made Trixie smirk just a little. “No, she’s not a pyromaniac all of a sudden. She threw it out and the trash ponies burned it… Trixie’s cloak...” Her voice cracked.
“Hey, are… are you okay?” Dash asked while Trixie turned away from her. “Was it that important?”
“It was…” Curiously, Trixie had to search for the right word for a moment. ”...It was a gift.”
“Yeah, well. It’s gone.” Rainbow Dash said bluntly, ignoring the disbelieving glare Trixie gave her in response. “The cloak is a pile of ashes, and your hat is a timberwolf chewtoy out there somewhere.” She vaguely gestured towards the Everfree Forest.
“Is that supposed to make Trixie feel better? You suck at this.”
“Nah,” Rainbow Dash grinned, “but how about if I say ‘let’s kick some timberwolf butt’? I bet we can get your hat back.”
"The hat's not the issue right now, Dash!" Trixie snapped. "Getting the hat back isn't going to make this better. For Discord's sake, were you dropped on your head as a foal!?"
Rainbow Dash reeled back. “I, uh, maybe? I just thought. Look if you don’t want to get the hat, we don’t have to.”
Trixie looked away while folding her forelegs over her chest. “Trixie didn’t say that,” she replied with an exasperated air.
Nothing but the endless sound of rain splashing down twenty paces away hung in the air while Rainbow Dash tried to understand what just happened. She couldn’t have done anything wrong, could she? But clearly, she must have, if Trixie was upset with her. She’d have to handle this carefully.
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash lept from the chair and over Trixie, landing eye to eye with her, “what’s your problem, now?”
“Wh-hey,”Trixie sputtered and scooted away from her. “You shouldn’t ask!”
“Why not?”
“You should, you know, just know!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “How am I supposed to know if you don’t let me know?”
“How about you just think about it? You should know!”
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
“You don’t make any sense!” Trixie retorted
With a harumph, both ponies turned away from each other again.
“Omigosh,” an unfamiliar voice called out. Trixie turned to look at the pink pony bouncing up and down besides them. “So, that’s what three kicks and a jerk means. Trixie’s here!”
Trixie gaped for a second. “Excuse you? Where do you get off calling Trixie a jerk? Where did you even come from?” Trixie said while looking around. They were in a mostly open space. The nearest buildings were too far away for anypony to have approached without either of them noticing.
“Oh, hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash gave her eccentric friend a nod. “When did you get here?”
“Oh, I’d say...” Pinkie Pie looked at her bare wrist and smiled widely. “Right on time? You two were so loud.” She seemed to vanish and came up from behind Trixie, startling the unprepared mare who immediately fell off her chair, “First fight, right? Oh, that calls for a party!”
“You’re the weird pink one!” Trixie called out from her new spot, upside down on the ground. “Trixie recognizes you!”
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’ve been waiting sooo long to finally talk to you! At first I was like ‘I should throw Trixie a finally-more-than-thirty-words-party’, but then I thought maybe I’d have to keep adding to the number the more I spoke to you and we’d be way past seventy-two! I mean, Seventy-three. I mean seventy-six! No! I mean eighty! See what I mean?” Pinkie Pie rattled off rapidly.
“What? Slow down.” Trixie commanded while she made the worst rookie mistake one could make: “Explain yourself!”
“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly while she pulled out a calendar and pointed to about a month ago. “See, here you should’ve had a party cause you came to Ponyville but you weren’t gonna stay plus you had your own party and I didn't wanna step on your party so I didn’t throw one.” She flipped to two weeks later. “But here you decided to stay so you should get one but Rainbow Dash said no at the time so now it can’t be a welcome-to-Ponyville-party cause you’ve been here already.” Another week. “Then there was the happy-first-trip-by-yourself-party, but nopony else was awake!” Finally she flipped to the current day “And now we’re here and you still haven’t had a party! Omigosh that’s it! A sorry-you-didn’t-have-a-party-party!”
Rainbow Dash snickered into her hooves while she watched Pinkie Pie ‘explain’ whatever she passed for logic to Trixie. Normally, she might have intervened, but after Trixie’s attitude, it was cathartic to watch her tumble down the rabbit hole.
“Why?” A dizzied Trixie whined. She held onto her head as though she expected it to spin off her shoulders. “Why are you even here? What did Trixie do to deserve this?”
“You came to see everypony else,” Pinkie Pie said and pointed a hoof at the drowning library. “Even Twilight! How come you never visited me? It’s not fair that I don’t get to play with you just because I was good during the show. Wait is that it? Was I supposed to be bad? Omigosh did I ruin it? Is that why you didn’t come?”
“No, no, stop! Go back.” Trixie shook Pinkie by the shoulders, who made the curious sound of a rewinding tape recorder with each shake. “You almost made sense there! You’re mad because Trixie didn’t come to see you?”
“I’m. Not. Mad. Silly,” Pinkie Pie said in between shakes. When Trixie finally released her, Pinkie’s eyes rolled around in their sockets for a second before coming to focus. “I just thought it would be fun! We have so much in common!”
Trixie gave Pinkie Pie an appraising look. “What makes you think The Great and Powerful Trixie has anything in common with you?” As soon as she asked it, Trixie seemed to realize her mistake, as she reached out to stop Pinkie from launching into another blathering bout, but it was already too late.
“I’m so glad you asked!” Pinkie Pie nimbly dodged out of the way of Trixie’s attempted tackle. “We both like to entertain! That’s like a really big one! Oh, I bet we could maybe plan the party together! Or is that not fun if it’s not a surprise for you? I’d plan a surprise party for me if I could. Oh, and dressing up! I like your star stuff but I’ve got a polka dot bow, balloons and flippers, that’s kinda the same right? I’ve been thinking about getting more costumes. Hey! Maybe Rarity can help! We’ve both been to the spooky castle in the Everfree Forest, even though we didn’t go together that’s still gotta count ri—”
“Shut up! By the sun, shut up!” Trixie screamed while she pulled her ears down along her cheeks in a desperate bid to make the sound stop. “Trixie gets it! ”
“Okey Dokey Lokey,” Pinkie Pie said with an undiminished smile.
After a moment of silence, Trixie carefully opened one eye and peeked at Pinkie. Pinkie Pie smiled and waved.
“Really? That’s it?” Trixie asked, incredulously.
“Sure, silly.” Pinkie Pie extended a hoof, and helped Trixie off of the ground.
“Trixie is not silly,” Trixie complained when she found herself back on her hooves. She gave Pinkie Pie another once over. “What are you smiling about? If you think Trixie is going to apologize for yelling at you then you have another thing coming. It was your fault for not taking a hint.”
“Trixie!” Rainbow Dash scolded as she landed beside her. “She just did what you asked!”
“Well, she didn’t do what Trixie wanted!” Trixie bit back.
“Oh my gosh!” Rainbow Dash turned away and threw her hooves up in frustration.
“Yep!” Pinkie Pie chirped far too cheerily, causing both ponies to look at her with varying degrees of confusion. “It’s okay, Dashie. Trixie’s just bad at saying what she wants, right? I knew that already. I guess it’s lucky everypony else got to test the waters for me, huh?”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Oh, yeah. Right. I totally didn’t forget about that.”
“Don’t encourage her.” Trixie gave Rainbow Dash a sideways glance. “Trixie is perfectly capable of voicing her own opinion.”
“That’s right!” Pinkie Pie said, suddenly just a hair’s breadth away from Trixie’s face.
“Gah! Not so close!” Trixie stepped back.
Pinkie Pie stayed put, allowing Trixie to regain her personal space. “See! You can tell me! How come you don’t tell Dashie? She’s a real action gal, ya know. You can’t just vent and not expect her to act on it! She can’t help it. You gotta tell her.”
“Tell her?” The hairs on the back of Trixie’s neck stood up. “How do you even know?”
“Because unlike Dashie, I really can read minds!” She announced excitedly, then thoughtfully rubbed her chin while staring off into space. “Or was it cards?”
“No, she can’t.” Rainbow Dash commented offhandedly to Trixie as she turned to face her. To Dash’s surprise, Trixie actually looked as though she was considering the possibility; Trixie had her thinking face on.
“Dashie?” Trixie finally spoke, her voice held a strange tranquility while she looked up at her with wide, sparkling eyes.
As their eyes met, Rainbow Dash felt her face flush. Trixie looked so innocent all of a sudden. Perhaps even a little remorseful. “Y-yeah?”
Trixie briefly glanced towards Pinkie Pie. “Your friends are crazy.”
“...Yeah.”
“And so are you if you think you need to fix all of Trixie’s problems. Trixie can handle her own problems just fine.” Trixie hugged her tightly, hiding her face in Rainbow’s chest fluff. Rainbow Dash could feel the slight tremors in the blue mare’s body. “All you have to do is take her side while she’s angry, okay?”
“So…” Rainbow Dash embraced Trixie while doing her best not to meet Pinkie’s gaze. “...Screw Fluttershy?”
“Screw Fluttershy,” Trixie echoed.
“Ooookay,” Pinkie Pie said awkwardly while she backpedaled away, “That is not where I thought this was going. I’m, uh, I’m just going to… See you at Sugarcube Corner, Dashie.”
“See you, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said without looking up.
As the rapidly retreating hoofsteps faded away, Trixie managed to pull her face away from Dash’s chest enough to glare up at her. “So, how come she gets to call you ‘Dashie’?”
“Oh, come on!”