Trixie observes her surroundings as she follows Deep Look into Blueblood’s estate. She had never been to the home of Canterlot nobility before but the structure was exactly how she’d always imagined them. Overly large and overly decorated, you can’t walk two feet without seeing a golden gem covered vase on a silver lined pillar or some such nonsense. Trixie shakes her head at the ridiculous decorations and outlandish architecture.
“Not a fan?” Deep Look inquires from his leading position, though Trixie isn’t sure when he’d looked back to notice her wandering eyes.
“Trixie just doesn’t understand the need for such frivolous decoration.” She shrugs. “If Trixie’s wagon is good enough for her to live in it’s good enough for everypony.”
“The world would likely be a simpler place if that was the case.” Deep Look thinks outloud. He continues leading the showmare until he comes to a stop in front of a grand golden door with an intricate design of looping shapes, gems glitter at various locations. Trixie stares at the door, very much unimpressed.
“Well.” Trixie smacks her lips. “Trixie can tell this is going to go well.” With a groan the impatient showmare follows Deep Look inside as he opens the door.
Trixie’s unimpressed expression does not change as she takes in the details of the study. An overly large and ornate desk takes up a portion of the room with a red carpet leading up to it. Deep Look moves to stand near some gold curtains on the right side of the room. Behind Blueblood’s desk are a number of bookshelves that Trixie assumes are there just to make the Prince look smarter, she shrugs as she thinks maybe he’s read one or two. But of course the main focus is on the Prince himself who sits at the desk in a chair so extravagant it’s basically a throne. As there is no where for Trixie to sit herself she just stands in front of the desk, though she refuses to get very close.
“Welcome Ms. Trixie.” Blueblood greets with a overly cheerful attitude. Trixie lowers her hat to cover her face and remains silent. “How nice that you could join me today.”
“It is unfortunate about the fashion show.” Blueblood continues. “Personally I thought your performance was splendid. You didn’t receive the praise you deserved, which is wh-” Blueblood stops mid sentence as he feels a strange pressure, the pressure slowly increases and the Prince wheezes.
“Don’t play innocent with Trixie.” Trixie growls out. “You insulted her, you insulted her employer and you insulted her talent.” Trixie raises her head to reveal a sinister glare in her now red eyes. “Stop wasting Trixie’s time with this Charade and get to the real reason you brought her here.”
With that the red aura disappears from Trixie’s eyes and horn as well as from the Prince’s neck. Trixie shakes her head violently before staring at her own hooves in shock.
“You really must learn to get that under control.” Blueblood says casually as he massages his throat. “Though I suppose it must be rather difficult for a pony like you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Trixie asks loudly, her head whipping up to look at the Prince.
“What I mean is that a unicorn of your skill level should never have attempted to use an artifact like the Alicorn Amulet.” Blueblood says simply, to which Trixie takes a step back in surprise. “Honestly you should count yourself lucky you have any self control at all.”
“Are you calling Trixie weak?” She asks outraged.
“I’ll tell you what.” Blueblood says before he vanishes, only to reappear in front of Trixie’s face. Much to the Showmare’s surprise, he then vanishes again and appears back on his chair. “Perform a teleport like that and I’ll sing your praises from the roof tops.”
“Trixie could do that.” Trixie insists. “She just doesn’t want to.”
“You were never trained in spells that advanced.” Blueblood thinks outloud, interrupting the showmare. “Even though Illusion magic is very difficult so It’s impressive that you can you use it so well. it’s your talent after all so It makes sense you can use it.”
“But tell me.” Blueblood says as he places his elbows on his desk and his chin on top of his hooves. “Exactly how many years of practice did it take for you to actually be able to do the thing you’re supposed to be talented at?”
“Is this why Trixie is here? So you can insult her?” Trixie asks with unconcealed rage.
“No, it’s not. I’m afraid I’ve gotten off topic. My Apologies.” Blueblood apologizes unconvincingly. “How weak or not you are is irrelevant. You have a unique talent and I believe we can help each other.”
“Help you? You must be joking.” Trixie scoffs. “You clearly don’t know anything about Trixie.”
“Oh But I know everything about you Trixie.” Blueblood says as he pulls a folder from his desk, he opens the folder and begins looking through the papers inside. “Your full name is Trixie Lulamoon, you were born in Manehatten and raised by your single mother for several years. you lived a normal life studying in school.” Blueblood looks at Trixie with a fake smile. “But lucky you, despite being the last pony in class to earn your cutiemark and discover your talent. Due to how impressive your talent was, illusion magic is very rare you see, you were allowed to enroll into ‘Celestia’s School for gifted unicorns’.” Blueblood actually claps at that.
Trixie looks at the Prince in disbelief, Unsure what to say.
“So after some discussion you packed your bags and said a tearful farewell to your mother. After all she had a job in the city as Manehatten’s most famous entertainer, she couldn’t just up and leave and disappoint her fans. But she also couldn’t deny you such an opportunity.” Blueblood turns his gaze from Trixie back to the folder. “So you had to stay with your Aunt Stargazer while you were attending school in the city.” Blueblood closes the folder, having read all he needed. “That’s where the problems arose.”
“How can you possibly-” Trixie tries to cut in. But Blueblood ignores her.
“You were enrolled because of your talent with illusion spells but-” Blueblood shakes his head in dismay. “Your grades in your lessons was lacking, the pompous teachers denied you access to the advanced studies where somepony could teach you how to properly use illusion spells. They denied you your talent.”
“What is your point?” Trixie asks stubbornly. “Trixie knows all this, she became a traveling magician afterwards and practiced her spells when she could. Things are going better for Trixie now, Her show is doing better, Trixie is far less uh... Abusive, to her hecklers. Ponies are actually happy to see her wagon roll into their town.”
“You even got offered a job by Hoity Toity. One of the most influential ponies in Canterlot.” Blueblood points out. “Truly things have improved since those days at school.” Blueblood chuckles at Trixie’s frown. “What is it? Not a fan of Hoity?”
“You could say that.” Trixie huffs. Blueblood chuckles a little more as he shakes his head.
“Yes, yes. I know.” Blueblood looks at Trixie with amusement. “But of course, your mother certainly is.” At that statement Trixie seems to deflate a little.
“Oh please no.” Trixie almost whines out.
“He used to live in Manehatten too you know. Moved to Canterlot years ago to pursue his passion in the fashion industry.” Blueblood looks down at his desk in fake sadness. “But in doing so he had to leave his marefriend at the time. There was no guarantee he’d make it in the city, He wouldn’t want her to risk her own career by following him. So sad that they never reconnected, she never even told him she was-”
“That’s enough!” Trixie shouts out suddenly, the red tint beginning to return to her eyes. “None of this is relevant. Just get to the point or Trixie will do something that you will regret.”
“The Point-” Blueblood emphasizes the second word loudly and bitterly. “Is to demonstrate to you that if I need to know something, then I will know it. This is to show you that what I say is the truth, so unless you can prove anything I’ve said is false you will be silent and I shall tell you the Point of you being here.” At this Trixie does fall silent and her eyes return to normal, not out of obedience but out of curiosity.
“My main point in bringing you here is simple. I wish for you to perform at my theater in town, you will have total freedom of the content of the show and I shall pay you handsomely for your services.” Blueblood holds up a hoof before Trixie can respond. “But wait, I know you have to much pride to work for me. Especially after what you correctly suspect I did after the fashion show.”
“Then why even bother?” Trixie asks.
“Because if you help me get revenge on that Pegasus, then I’ll help you get revenge on her Alicorn friend.”
“Revenge? For the Ursa Minor and Amulet incidents? Trixie doesn’t want revenge anymore.” Trixie almost laughs at the Prince. “Shouldn’t you know that? Why would you even offer something like that?
“Let me ask you a better question.” Blueblood says as he puts his hoof down. “Do you know why you were enrolled into ‘Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns’?”
“Well, because Trixie could use illusion magic obviously.”
“That’s true, but there was another reason.” Blueblood says with a smile. “My dear Aunt Celestia can be quite prophetic at times, so at that time, with the return of Nightmare Moon fast approaching she was in search of a filly. A special filly filled with great potential.”
“Wait.... What?” Trixie asks confused.
“This filly she was searching for was destined for greatness, she would unite the new bearers of the elements, free her sister and protect Equestria.” Blueblood points at Trixie. “And she believed you were that filly.” He then lowers his hooves and shrugs. “Well for a little bit anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” Trixie asks, some of her usual bravado vanishing.
“But on the day you came to stay with your Aunt.” Blueblood continues. “My dear aunt was preparing to visit you, to ask you to be her personal student so she could teach you the ways of magic and friendship.”
“No...” Trixie says numbly. Blueblood sweeps his hooves dramatically.
“But then, a large rainbow light swept across the sky. Celestia was obviously impressed by this spectacle and admired it briefly but then she heard some commotion from the entrance exam room.”
“No....” Trixie’s legs give out and she falls onto her flank.
“And there she was.” Blueblood keeps going. “A filly with incredible potential, greater than any other my Dear Aunt had ever seen. This had to be her, the filly she was looking for. The filly she needed to guide the elements.”
“Noo...” Trixie says quietly, a faint red once again covering her eyes.
“Oh! But what of the filly she’d been considering earlier?” Blueblood waves a hoof nonchalantly. “Well she was already enrolled at the school thanks to my aunts request so that would be fine.” Blueblood nods his head with his eyes closed. “Yes, that would do. My Aunt had to get to work after all, the fate of Equestria was riding on this very special filly. It’s safe to assume the runner up filly would do perfectly well in school, no need to worry.”
“Rrr.....” Trixie mumbles through her grinding teeth.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry.” Blueblood peeks open one eye to observe Trixie. “I was rather vague wasn’t I? Do you know what pony I’m talking about?” Trixie is now standing upright, her forehooves begin digging into the carpet.
“Twi....Light.....SPARKLE!!” Trixie throws her head back as she screams, as she does her whole body is covered in a red aura that surrounds her like flames. the carpet underneath her is shredded and the walls begin to crack as the entire study shakes. after a couple minutes Trixie’s screaming ends as her head lowers. The red aura disappears completely as Trixie begins to pant heavily.
“Impressive.” Blueblood says honestly. “Well Trixie?” Trixie raises her head again and looks Blueblood in the eye.
“Trixie... doesn’t care... about the job.” Trixie pants out in exhaustion, she then frowns as she lets out an angry growl. “Just tell Trixie what she needs to do.” Blueblood smirks.
“Thank you for your cooper-” Blueblood frowns as he looks around Trixie. “Yes? What is it?”
“I have an urgent report sire.” Deep Look announces as he reenters the room. Trixie looks at him, having no idea when he’d left. Deep Look walks up and begins whispering into Blueblood’s ear. Blueblood’s frown deepens.
“I figured she’d do that. Well no matter, we have contingencies for stuff like this.” Blueblood says with a shrug.
“Hold on.” Trixie interrupts. “Who did what?”
EARLIER: CLOUDSDALE HOSPITAL
“Alright, I’m all done.” Rainy Day says as he walks out of Morning Dew’s room, he turns down the hall and locates Spiffy Jiffy waiting for him. “So, what did you need from me?”
“Um well.” Spiffy pulls a medicine bottle from a pocket of her uniform and hands it to the doctor. “Could you please tell me what this is?”
“This?” Rainy Day asks with surprise as he inspects the bottle, opening it and examining one of the pills inside. “This is an experimental medicine. It hasn’t even been allowed outside the research facility in Canterlot yet. Where did you get this?”
“I’d rather not say.” Spiffy Jiffy says quietly. “What, does it do?”
“Well, it’s intended to fight very specific illnesses.” The doctor looks at Spiffy Jiffy in shock. “You weren’t thinking of giving this to Morning Dew were you? This medicine could be very dangerous to a pony without the target illness, especially a pony like Morning Dew whose getting on in years.” Spiffy Jiffy waves he hooves frantically at the accusation.
“No, no. Of course not. I was just curious what it was and Somepony told me you were the Stallion to talk to.” She assures the Doctor.
“Alright, well thank you for bringing this to me. I’ll make sure it gets back to Canterlot where it belongs.” Rainy Day promises as he puts the medicine into his pocket. “Now was there anything else you needed to talk about?”
“Yes, just one thing.” Spiffy looks at Morning Dew’s room door before turning back to the doctor. “Just, please take care of Morning Dew. No matter what pony comes here or what they say, just please take care of her.”
“I’m... not sure what you mean. But that’s definitely a promise I can keep.” Rainy Day says confidently. “So, will you be coming by to visit again? I’m sure Morning Dew would enjoy it.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to.” Spiffy says before turning around and walking away, Rainy Day watches her leave, once she’s out of sight he pulls the medicine bottle from his pocket and inspects it inquisitively.
“I should return to Master Blueblood.” Spiffy Jiffy thinks to herself as she walks down the hall. “He’ll be so mad....” Spiffy shakes her head as she leaves the Hospital. She slowly flaps her wings before rising up and heading towards Canterlot.
“At least I finally did something right.”