“What a marvelous start to such a wonderful night!’” Octavia said, cucumbers covering her eyes, her face lathered with an herbal enhanced muddy substance, “I can feel all my stress just going away, Celestia herself couldn't have picked a better way to start this night!"
“Yeah, Trixie loves being pampered like a queen, that’s for sure-WATCH IT, MISTER, THAT'S MY MANE- who would've known mud could be so good for a pony's complexion?"
In the middle of their first session of rest and relaxation, the two friends immersed themselves in the rich lifestyle they usually could only dream of. Insisting upon the most expensive of spa-treatments, indulging on top-of-the-line hats and shoes they’d probably never wear, with limitless pockets of bits ready to be spent. Well, they weren’t limitless, but the freedom of the being able to spend a large quantity of bits was a stress reliever for them both, and a perfect way for them to escape the real world, if only for a night.
The spa relaxed them and put them in the right mood to enjoy the night fully. Immediately after the spa, Octavia purchased a new bow which was encrusted with light-purple jewels that matched her eyes. Trixie had her cape and hat re-embroidered with a fashionable baby-blue sapphire at the tip, matching her coat's tone. It was the right touch of elegance they had desired for months.
“You know ‘Tavi?” Trixie said, while they combed through another luxurious shop, “When we met, Trixie thought you were somewhat of an odd pony,”
“Now why is that?” The grey pony responded, eying another bow that caught her eye.
“You were so quiet. I wouldn’t say shy-OH MY GOSH, TRIXIE MUST HAVE THIS HORSESHOE- Trixie wouldn’t say you were shy, but you seemed like you just didn’t want to talk to me, even though Trixie had graciously offered to help you find your way through town,”
“I’ve always found that when I didn’t get distracted by how bothersome the world outside could be, I could focus on my musicianship, hone my skills and become brilliant at my instrument. I’ve mastered several instruments just because I have taken on a less social role in society, and I did not have a problem with my past choices,”
“Well I'm sorry that I changed that,” The blue unicorn said, jesting at her friend.
Octavia responded with a funny look at her friend, “I think that’s the first time I’ve witnessed you say ‘I’ instead of speaking in third-person,”
The blue pony shook her head, “Trixie has done it plenty of times, Twilight Sparkle has attempted to change me, and I think she’s succeeding,”
The two shared a laugh as they continued sifting through the shops wares. It was called Wares for extravagant mares after all.
“So, Trixie wants to know. How do you play that big guitar without being a unicorn? It sounds absolutely challenging using your…HOOVES!”
“Practice makes better,” Octavia said modestly, “I wasn’t going to let my limitations prevent me from persevering! I had a treble-clef cutie mark for a reason, but I was the one who decided to be the best I could possibly be, speaking of my cutie- mark, isn’t it ironic that my cutie-mark is a treble clef, but the music for the instruments I play are written in bass-clef?”
Trixie stared blankly back at her, “Um, yeah?”
The grey pony giggled at the unicorn’s reaction, “Maybe someday I’ll teach you how to play an instrument,”
“HA!” The blue pony exclaimed, “Once Trixie is done training with Twilight, I, Trixie am going to live a comfortable life without all the hassles of…learning,”
“My sister thinks the same way you do!” Octavia mused, as they trotted out of the store, greeted with the chilly night air, “She’s always been the lazy one,”
“Now hold it one minute, Tavi! Trixie is not lazy, Trixie just knows when to stop doing stuff…” Trixie glanced over at the giggling grey pony, “OK, I’m lazy...”
“First step to curing your problem, is admitting you have one!”
"The Great and Powerful Trixie does so many jaw-dropping tricks, it should be expected that Trixie would need a break quite often! And besides, Trixie is sure your sister is worse than Trixie. Hey! You’ve never even told Trixie about YOUR family,”
The grey pony sighed, “Do I have to? My family is quite different in contrast with me,”
“Yes,” Trixie answered simply.
“Well, uh, where must I begin? Well, my sister, Lyra is the only sibling I have, while we both have the same parents. My sister…well, she’s different I’ll leave it at that,”
“Trixie is curious, does Lyra not play an instrument?”
They turned a corner onto another elaborate and exquisite street, lined with the fanciest of shops. Octavia tried to maneuver the conversation's topic away from her sister, but was failing. Her unwillingness to discuss her sister only made the intrusive Trixie want to know more.
“Do you really want to know?” Octavia asked with a sigh, knowing the answer before she asked it.
“Sure, sure,”
Octavia sighed once more, “Lyra, is, um, different because she’s married-“
The blue unicorn cut her off, “What’s wrong with being married?”
“…to a mare,”
Trixie squinted at the mare beside her, “Trixie thinks that's different but why does it bother you?”
The question agitated the grey pony. She hadn’t actually ever said it bothered her, but her friend assumed it right off of the bat. Her reluctance to answer the blue pony must have given it away that she wasn’t exactly fond of her sister’s choices.
“Bothered? No, I most certainly am not. I’d say, I am just moderately disagreeable with the idea of a mare with a mare, to be true,” She lied.
“Trixie thinks there is no reason to hate somepony for their choices, especially when it doesn’t affect you personally,”
Taken back by the oddly mature and accepting nature of the unicorn’s statement, Octavia looked at her friend inquisitively.
“Since when did you actually start being so open-minded?”
Knowing the grey pony’s obvious distaste for mare-couples influenced Trixie’s response, “Oh, Me and Twilight Sparkle train so much, that when we take breaks, and we eat at the sandwich shop in town, She’s always trying to make me a nicer pony and being as perfect and flawless as Trixie is, turning nicer is something that will be good for my performances, no matter how hard it is to be nice…”
“Oh right…” Octavia laughed awkwardly in the silence that followed. Her wondering eyes quickly spotted a store in the distance that met her tastes, “Mr.Ed! I haven’t even dreamt of seeing that store in real life! We must go!” She exclaimed, hopping in the air jubilantly.
“Trixie will go as long as you don’t…“
“A store is a store, of course, of course, UNLESS IT’S THE FAMOUS MR.ED’S” The earth pony sang off-pitched with a wide smile, enjoying the anguish it put her friend through when she sang the catchy jingle.
“…Oh come on! Trixie always tells you how much Trixie hates that song!” The blue unicorn responded, but seeing her friend laugh only caused her to laugh, despite trying to be serious.
They trotted happily towards their next destination. It was one stop of many more that they would make that evening. They seemingly non-stop invaded nearly every shop they saw, from fashion apparel for the fanciest of ponies, to the most expensive pets in Equestria, although neither felt the need to acquire one for themselves.
When the off-grey moon shined bright in the middle of the sky, illuminating the trees and tall buildings below, where the two friends found themselves walking in the center of town where they first met. Under a suddenly cloud filled sky, the two contemplated ending the night before they intended, because the possibility of rain didn’t seem worth ruining their freshly cleaned coats.
Octavia peered up into the sky and grimaced, “So, honestly, I can’t believe I haven’t asked you this before…How is like, to perform in front of so many ponies so often?”
“Trixie is confused; you do the same thing in your concert-things, right?”
The grey pony shook her head, “No, this is not what you do. You talk to the crowd, you do tricks by yourself, you only work with one other pony to train and you’re magnificent at it! I could never do something like that,”
“But you play an instrument despite the fact that you are not a unicorn, even though Trixie is so very undeniably talented, Trixie would stop eating hay for a month for those abilities! Having an instrumental talent to complete all my unicorn-y stuff would be perfect!”
“I wish I was a unicorn or a Pegasus! I’m just a bland, run-of-the-stable earth pony, nothing special,”
As they turned a corner, exiting the main part of town, they entered a pathway that led to Trixie’s home. Just like any fulfilling and fun night, it went by fast. The stars were only out-shined by the brilliant moon.
The unicorn arched an eyebrow at her friend, “If you were a unicorn, you’d be the best musician to ever live,” She said with a chuckle, “And besides, you’re not bland at all. I, Trixie may be perfect, and flawless, but Trixie can admit when somepony is almost as perfect as Trixie, ALMOST,”
Octavia poked her friend in the side playfully, “You jest! If I was perfect, I’d have your social skills, and confidence,”
“I, Trixie have to admit, if Trixie had your determination, and your willingness to work all the time, Trixie could probably be a little bit more perfect, if that’s possible of course…”
“You don’t mean that,” Octavia said with a smile.
“Sure Trixie does! If we were combined we’d be the perfect pony…not that I’m Trixie is not perfect already…”
The two friends shared one last laugh. Standing below the darkest and largest cloud in the sky, they continued going back and forth with their wishes to improve themselves by inheriting certain qualities from each other. After another moment of silence, the two friends exclaimed in unison, “I wish I could just be you!”
Resting on the cloud directly above the two, a certain blue princess was busy enjoying her night when she looked down upon the unknowing ponies below her. Their statement intrigued her as she searched for a way to help the two.
Doth thine know a spell to fulfill their wishes?
Now distracted from her meditative state from enjoying her night, the princess contemplated whether she should try a spell she hasn’t used in thousands of years on two unsuspecting ponies she’s never even met. For Princess Celestia, the thought wouldn’t even come into consideration, but a princess lacking knowledge of when and when not to do something, considered it fully.
If thy ponies below wish it, is it not my duty as a princess to fulfill their wants?
She put her hoof on her chin as the contemplated what she should do. Princess Luna saw two ponies wishing for each- other’s lives. A thousand years ago, nopony would make a statement like that unless they truly meant it. She didn’t consider that things may have changed since then, or even bothered to consider it.
Taking a minute to hug each other before Trixie entered her home, the two friends failed to notice that the large black cloud had been slowly following them. Octavia wished her friend the best, Trixie doing her best to return the compliment without being smug, meanwhile a tiny flickering light emanated from the princesses royal horn as she cast the spell on the two.
The unicorn stopped suddenly before entering her home, turning around to once again face her friend, “Tavi, wait-“
The grey pony turned around to face her friend once more, “Yes?”
“Did you just feel something...weird right now?”
“No, not really,” Octavia said, looking around her, “I just think Trixie needs some rest,”
By dawn, the two ponies shall have taken each other’s bodies and therefore: their lives! Just one more way I, Princess Luna have bestowed my all-benevolent presence upon Equestria