The next morning, Maestro woke up with a bit of cheer. He’d never had anyone aside from Prism accompany him on his travels, so it was quite something to be excited about. As he entered the dining room, he saw his adopted daughter scratch idly at her golden belly scales while yawning, causing her silver spines on her back to stand on end. After her yawn ended, she blearily blinked her bronze eyes tiredly. “Hey dad.” She stretched out her wings, giving them a good airing out. “So when do we leave for Hoofington?” She sat down at the table, wings now collapsed to her sides as she waited for breakfast.
Maestro set two bowls on the table, one full of various gems for his daughter, and one with a healthy yet tasty cereal for himself. He was well enough off to afford such commodities, though he admittedly had connections so that he didn’t have to buy gems. He sat down, and spoke frankly. “Not long. After breakfast, I’ll go check on Trix and see if she’s ready to go. It’ll be interesting to have somebody to travel with, aside from you. Might be fun.”
At this, Prism blinked tiredly. She took a minute to process what her father had said, but she smirked, and breathed in. But as she was about to speak, Maestro cut her off. “No, Prism. This doesn’t make her my girlfriend. I know that you’ve been pestering me about it, but I just don’t have time for that sort of relationship right now, if ever. I’m very busy with my tour of Equestria, not to mention my plans of touring other nations soon after. I know that you need a proper maternal figure in your life, but these things just can’t be forced.”
Prism pouted a bit, but she knew he was right. If he did end up with anyone, that would come in its own time. That didn’t stop her from hatching a scheme though. Maestro knew his daughter well though, and just shook his head. The two finished breakfast, and Maestro went to check on Trixie as Prism went about preparing the house for travel. Maestro greeted all those he met on his way, slightly surprising the residents of Ponyville. Maestro fully intended to keep it that way, which was why he was leaving for Hoofington. After all, if he stuck around, they’d get used to him eventually. He then approached Trixie’s wagon, and knocked on the door. She hollered out: “I’m almost ready!” This signalled to him that she had expected him to come check on her. He didn’t like only conforming to expectations, but for this he supposed that he’d have to sacrifice a little unpredictability- or would he? Thinking on the fly, he used the polymorph magic that he’d learned from his adoptive family to transform himself much like a changeling would. He settled on becoming Princess Luna, and waiting for Trixie to come out. When she did, the look of surprise on her face was priceless. Whatever greeting that she had for him was caught in her throat for a moment before she gathered her wits- though by this time, Maestro had opted to change back, a smirk on his face. She did a double-take, but then shook her head. “Since when can you do that? I know that you borrowed some of my magic for a bit to scare off that ursa, but I thought that had ran out of your system by now…”
Maestro blinked, not having realized that the two things were that similar. He shook his head, and addressed the question. “Polymorph. My adoptive family taught it to me, a little after I saved you. I’ve been practicing since then- even though I don’t really have much use for it, honestly. Though, it is useful when I want to give the paparazzi the slip.”
He never ceased to amaze Trixie. He had so much to him, and every that she thought she had him figured out, she found out something new about him. Maybe that was… she dismissed that idea. Maestro was her friend, first and foremost. She nodded, and started to hook herself to her wagon. “I’ll be ready in a bit. Oh, and before I forget….” She hoofed over a few props that she had set aside so they wouldn’t weigh her down so much. “These are some of the heavier things from inside. You said you’d help me with them, right?”
Maestro took the props in his magic, and nodded. “Yeah, I remember. I’ll meet you on the edge of town in a few minutes.” He made his way back to his house, and found Prism outside. He spared no time, and placed the props inside carefully, then exited. He then lit his horn, and placed it against the locked door. The house then glowed with magic, and was shifted and contorted, eventually shrinking down to a surprisingly light black portfolio, which he then carefully slung across his shoulders. He smirked as Prism clapped. “You never get tired of seeing me do that, do you? Never change, Prism. Never change.” He then proceeded to make his way to the edge of town with Prism by his side, and they then waited for Trixie to arrive.
When Trixie arrived, she looked around a bit worriedly. “Where are my…?”
Maestro chuckled a bit, and opened his portfolio. He then showed the contents to Trixie, who was astounded the the props were inside, undamaged. “I told you that I’d carry them. Never said how, though.”
Awestruck, Trixie looked at Maestro incredulously. “How did you…?”
Smiling widely, Maestro explained. “I enchanted my house to shrink down and morph into this portfolio upon command. When the spell is activated, anything inside is rendered weightless then frozen in a perfect state as they are until I either change it back, or remove said object from it.” His face then turned a bit sour. “I haven’t tested it on anything living out of fear of what it might do to them. And frankly, I’d rather not ever find out.”
Blinking at the sudden shift in tone, Trixie considered what he had explained. From what she understood of the lost art of enchanting, what he had said was a rather impressive feat. Such a spell would not be feasible to be cast by just anyone- But Maestro had the rare gift required to make it work. She respected that he had misgivings about his magic, that he had things that he’d rather not test. It was rational to fear the applications of such magic. The odd moment passed, and the three of them headed off towards Hoofington, chatting along the way. A figure set down at the place that the trio had left from, letting out a feminine huff. “Who does that tramp think she is? Nopony gets that close to my Maestro! Nopony but me!” wings twitching in agitation, the pegasus mare zoomed off after them.