Love's a Roller Coaster Ride

by The Lord Thunder


Chapter 5

Trixie craned her head around the carousel she’d been hiding behind, watching Starlight and Sunburst head towards the admission gates at the amusement park's front entrance.

If those two were going for lunch, they’d be sitting down. Talking. It would be the perfect chance to get them to open up to each other. The only problem, Trixie wondered, was how?

Of course, it would depend on where there were going to eat. It hardly seemed ethical to spy on her best friend, but Trixie soothed her conscience by reminding herself she was doing it to make Starlight happy. The end result would make it seem trivial.

“What are you doing?” came a dull voice from behind Trixie.

The magician whirled around, startled at the sudden intrusion. A slate-gray earth pony had snuck up behind Trixie at some point during her distraction.

“Maud Pie?” Trixie asked out loud, as if the mare’s flat hair and blank expression weren’t proof enough.

“Were you expecting Colt Rock?”

A small “eh?” was all Trixie could manage as she cocked her head in confusion.

“It’s a joke,” Maud answered flatly. “He’s my favorite singer.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. As expressionless as Maud was, she might be even weirder than Pinkie Pie.

Maud reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a flat, plain-looking stone. “Boulder thought it was funny.”

“Right,” Trixie answered with a roll of her eyes. “I was just surprised to see you here. Two coincidences in one day? You must be here with Starlight and Sunburst.”

Maud blinked slowly once, her way of expressing surprise. “Starlight and Sunburst are here?”

Trixie’s gaped, unable to form words as she tried to wrap her mind around the odds of her and Maud both being in Las Pegasus at the same time as Starlight and Sunburst with neither group knowing the other was there.

“Are you okay?” Maud asked.

Shaking the confusion out of her head, Trixie forced herself back to reality and pointed towards the pair a few dozen feet away. "Yeah, they're right over there."

Maud’s gaze followed Trixie’s hoof. “If she’s here with Sunburst, I’ll leave them alone. I still feel bad about last time.”

Though her pride kept her from saying it out loud, Trixie felt bad about that incident, too, when Sunburst came to visit Starlight but wound up getting wrapped up in her, Maud and Twilight instead. Starlight had been devastated.

Trixie glanced around in disbelief. The rides. The screams. The crowds. Everything in Corrals of Fun was so fast, so noisy. So… not Maud. “Wait. If you’re not here with them, then why are you here? You don’t seem like the type of pony who enjoys amusement parks.”

Maud held her pet rock a little higher. “I'm in Las Pegasus for a Rocktoral convention, but Boulder likes to come here every time we’re in town.”

“Your rock?” Trixie asked incredulously.

“He rarely acts his age.” Maud stuffed the pebble back into the pocket of her dress. “You were hiding from somepony. Are you spying on Starlight and Sunburst?”

Trixie waved the idea away, suddenly feeling like a rat caught in a trap. “No! Of course not!”

Maud stared silently at Trixie for a moment, those dull eyes seeming to look right through her. Trixie wilted under the weight of Maud’s blank stare; there was never any telling what was going on in the head behind that perpetual stonelike expression. Was she angry? Indifferent?

Trixie dropped her ears, offering a defeated smile. “Yes.”

Maud blinked twice before answering, “Won’t Starlight get mad?”

That gave Trixie a slight pause. She knew how scary Starlight could be when provoked. All the more reason for this to be a tactical espionage mission. “Not if she doesn’t know about it.”

“I’ll come with,” Maud offered.

Trixie stopped, her forehoof raised in midstep as she glanced over her shoulder at Maud. So much for indifference. “You will?”

Maud joined Trixie’s side, her eyes locked on Starlight and Sunburst. “I want to see if they kiss.”

“You’re not gonna blab on me?”

“No.” Maud shook her head and dug her pet rock out again. "Boulder might, though. He’s terrible at keeping secrets.”

"Do you take it, er, I mean him, everywhere?"

"Yes."

“Oh,” Trixie murmured, silently wondering if she should be freaked out about Maud's habit of talking to rocks. She shook her head to put the notion aside and stood up on her rear legs, spreading her cape for dramatic effect. “Don’t worry. For my greatest trick, the Great and Powerful Trixie will make sure they kiss!”

Maud pointed past Trixie with her hoof, towards the entrance to the park. “They’re leaving.”

“Huh?” Trixie whirled around, back on all fours to barely catch a glimpse of Starlight and Sunburst walking past the admission gates. “Gah! Come on, Maud, we’ve got to catch up with them!”

Blankly, Maud returned Boulder to her dress pocket and started after Trixie. “Let’s go, boy.”

Trixie followed them out of the park, still wearing her I.D. lanyard that distinguished her as part of the amusement park’s entertainment rather than a paying guest. The duo stopped at the street corner, forcing Trixie and Maud to hide behind a garbage barrel.

"Ok," Trixie whispered, "let's just see where they're going."