“Alright, Trixie. You’re a smart, independent...mildly brainwashed mare. You can do this.”
So far, she hadn’t done it.
A realization she punctuated by plopping her rump onto the unforgiving floor once more, taking a short break from the constant pacing she had been doing. Running a hoof through her upset mane once more, to confirm the presence of one of the two smokebombs she had inadvertently smuggled in, she turned her gaze back towards the other one. Sitting on the floor, impotent and as useless as Trixie felt right now, the small, marble-sized trinket seemed to mock her with the possibilities.
Bringing her hooves to her face forcefully, Trixie found herself roughly rubbing at her forehead, as she grumbled in frustration “Urrrggh! This should be easy, Trixie! You’ve escaped the consequences of your actions countless times! How many times have you run away from your problems? Escaped angry mobs? Smoked-out of boring conversations? You’ve made tons of dramatic exits!”
Letting out another moan, Trixie covered her face again, as she flopped forward onto her stomach. Uncovering her eyes with her hooves, she focused her gaze back upon the smoke bomb again, the ticket to her escaping this place. Lifting a hoof up, she lightly tapped it, before rolling it around idly “Why can’t Trixie think of a single thing to do with you...?”
Granted, the former showmare knew full well why she couldn’t think of anything she could try with the little ball. Every part of what made Trixie special was currently being buried under an unrelenting wave of dull sameness, courtesy of the magical mark at her side. She knew that she should just know certain things, but for the life of her, it’s like her brain just couldn’t make the connections anymore.
Sitting back up, Trixie let out a long sigh at that, before tilting her head from one side to another. Feeling a light crack and small release of tension, she took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.
“Alright. I-...That is, the Great and Powerful Trixie will just need to take this step-by-step.” The azure unicorn declared to the empty room.
Which made a certain amount of sense. If whatever magic that was effecting her was making her just like everyone else, she’d just have to think of a plan that anyone could come up with.
“Errr...Wait, but if Trixie comes up with a plan that anypony could think of, wouldn’t they expect that? Well...No. They don’t know that I have any of my smokebombs with me, so...they couldn’t expect that, right?” Trixie mused to herself, rubbing at her chin with her hoof.
“I guess...Trixie guesses she could try improvising again. If Trixie does something that Trixie thinks is weird and random right now, then...they would think it’s weird and random too.” Trixie furrowed her brow at that, before considering the idea more closely “Wait...can I even think of anything that they wouldn’t think of though?”
“Eh, improvising is probably the best idea I’m ever going to have...which is not great.” Trixie noted aloud, as she glanced around the mess she’d made of the shack. All improvising had done for her so far was make Starlight Glimmer angry and make the place Trixie has to sleep in even less comfortable than it already was.
“Okay! So thinking inside the box isn’t going to work, because they all think inside the box. And Trixie might just be physically incapable of thinking outside the box right now...So what are Trixie’s options...?” Trixie propped up her chin with her hoof as she again considered her supposed ticket out of this place, as it sat idly on the floor.
“Hmmm...Maybe Trixie could just go bonkers from the isolation and stuff. She’d be pretty unpredictable then, I bet...” Trixie noted to herself, before looking up at the ceiling. She was considering that idea more than she should have “It’s not like Trixie isn’t already talking to herself like a crazy-pony...”
About an hour later...
“Why, that is so kind of you to notice, Twilight. The Great and Powerful Trixie is wearing a new gown this evening.” Trixie declared in her snootiest Canterlot accent, as she adjusted the torn curtains she had flung over her withers “Trixie purchased it on her latest shopping spree. Which is just something Trixie does these days, now that she’s an extremely wealthy and famous showpony!”
Unsurprisingly, the roughly pony-shaped pile of crude paper mache failed to live up to its side of this scintillating conversation.
“...Too true, Twilight! Too true! Haha! That is just- you are so...funny...” Trixie trailed off a bit dejectedly. Before perking up, and wrapping a hoof around another even cruder pile of paper mache and dragging the soggy mess closer “And will you just look who’s here, Twilight!”
“...”
“Right! It’s one of your dear friends! It’s...The loud, flying one! You remember her! Back from when I humiliated her in front of the whole town and...tried to blast her with a torture beam...”
“...”
“Oh, no! We’ve talked about it a lot and we both agree that she was kind of asking for it...The time she heckled me, not- not the time I was- Oh look!” Trixie exclaimed, ready to change the subject of the conversation. Trotting over to a particular portion of the shack’s wall, she made a fanciful gesture to the collection of gouges and scratches she’d managed to lightly etch into the brick “It’s your favorite pony, Twilight!”
“...”
“Oh, stop! Obviously, your second favorite pony next to the Great and Powerful Trixie, I meant! It’s Princess Celestia!”
“...”
“Yes! It is amazing that I managed to get her to come to our little soiree! Funny thing, she and I actually go way back!”
“...”
“Granted, it was only once or twice...or once. But Princess Celestia knew my name! Isn’t that amazing? We have so much in common, Twilight.”
“...”
“What?! How could you- Of course, Trixie didn’t trick anyone into coming! Trixie knows some ponies other than you, Twilight Sparkle! She might not-...know their names, or anything. But she does know them!”
“...”
Trixie folded her forehooves across her chest and turned her nose up “No, no! If that’s what you really think, then go ahead! Here Trixie was trying to-...Trixie’s not really sure what she was trying to do! But she did invite your friends, so that’s something!”
“...”
“Trixie does so know their names!”
“...”
“Well, I- Trixie was just speaking hypothetically! She obviously knows your friends names!”
“...”
“I know what I said!”
“...”
“I’m not being hysterical! I just thought you of all ponies would be better than to keep reminding me of the past!”
“...”
“I know it was just a few seconds ago!”
“...”
“...”
“...Did Trixie just lose that argument?”
Staring at the rather unsightly paper mache statues once more, then down at herself again, she furrowed her brow. Looking about at her handiwork, all of the effort she’d put into this latest plan, she began taking measure of just how much time she’d wasted on this. Clenching her teeth in growing frustration, she took the curtains she’d draped around herself in her teeth, before flinging them on to the floor.
“Urrgrgh!! This isn’t even- This isn’t crazy! This is just sad!” Trixie loudly declared, before marching up to the paper mache lump that she’d been treating as Twilight. Angrily jabbing a hoof into the mush “And you! With as much time as you spend cavorting around in my head, you couldn’t take a few seconds to let me know this was a waste of time!?”
“...”
“No excuses! We both know I’m not crazy enough for this! So, the next time Trixie’s brainstorming, speak-up!”
“Are you talking to us?” A stallion’s voice hesitantly called from the other side of the doorway leading out of the shack, presumably one of the two guards that had been stationed to keep a watch over Trixie.
“What?! Why would I be talking to you crazy-ponies?!” Trixie loudly demanded, as she stomped over towards the door, now quite thoroughly in the middle of a tantrum “You lot are the whole reason we’re even in here!”
“...Are you alone in there? You’re supposed to be alone in there.” A mare chimed in.
“Of course, Trixie’s alone!”
“But...we heard you talking to someone and-” The stallion chimed again.
“Trixie was talking to her imaginary friends, thank you very much!” The showmare snapped. After only a few moments, she glanced back towards the paper mache piles again “That is- Trixie’s imaginary friends are real, they’re just...not here, right now! So she made real imaginary friends, because the real ones aren’t here!”
“...Right.” The stallion called back from the other side after a few seconds.
“Trixie’s not crazy!”
“We didn’t say you were!” The mare called back, sounding more than a touch distressed by the whole conversation.
“Then let Trixie out!”
“Wha- No! We’re not allowed to do that! Only Starlight-”
“Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!” Trixie started shouting, even as she braced herself against the door with her hooves and started beating on it in time.
“We can’t let you out!”
“You’re not gonna get through that door! Others have tried and-”
“Then you’re the crazy ones!” Trixie again cut-in, pausing only briefly in her battering of the door with her hooves.
“We’re not crazy! We just want to be your friend!”
“Arrrrggg!” Trixie snarled out one last time, before bringing both her hooves against the door at the same time with one final thud. This did nothing but lightly gouge the thick, heavy wood of the door, lightly jarring it on its hinges. Being a pony, it’s not as if Trixie had much leverage or solid footing, so the door scarcely moved at all really.
Trixie herself however found herself being pushed back quite a bit by the attempt on the door.
Stumbling back onto her back hooves, as she started to teeter backwards, Trixie found herself weaving her forehooves through the air purely out of reflex in an attempt at regaining her balance. One step back, then another, then another, she felt the strain of her back muscles working in ways they weren’t used to, as she tried to stay standing.
“Wha- wha- ah-ah...nope...”
It was strange, realizing that she was both about to fall and that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
“Ooomph!”
Crack-Hiss!
“Ow, ow, ow, ow...” Trixie groaned, as her rear came crashing down upon the hard floor. It had hardly been the worst fall she had ever suffered, but with how the last couple of days had gone, she was hardly in the mood for any bruises.
“Miss Trixie? Are you alright in there?” The mare from before called from the other side of the door.
“Mmmrgnn...No! Trixie is not fine! She- she-...What?” Trixie had to hold off on her snappy comeback, distracted by a peculiar hissing sound she couldn’t place. Glancing around, she took a moment to shift her sore posterior, which strangely lead to the hissing noise getting even louder “Trixie isn’t- That can’t be coming from Trixie, that-...No! No! No! Noooo!”
Rolling on to her hooves once more, she quickly looked back where she had landed, only to see a steadily growing cloud of smoke billowing out.
She’d fallen over backwards onto all of half of her chances to escape this madhouse.
“No, no, no, no, no, come on. You can fix this, Trixie!” Trixie started babbling to herself, as she leaned forward and tried to scoop up the smokebomb with her hooves. Which turned out to be quite a challenge, giving that they were hooves, the smokebomb was round, and the smokebomb was blasting smoke everywhere.
“Darn it!” The smokebomb quickly rolled out of her hooves, even as she haphazardly tried to pinch the opening closed. With several light clicks, it bounced along the floor before bouncing back off of the door, seemingly spewing out even more smoke now.
“Come on, come on!” Trixie muttered to herself, as she crawled over to the little ball, desperate to try to salvage it now.
“Wait...is that smoke?” The stallion called out from behind the door.
The showmare, now in a panic, froze for a moment at the question “Uhm....No! Trixie was just-...It’s steam! Trixie’s enjoying a nice steam and-...Wait a minute...”
“Steam?...Since when do we-...I’m pretty sure that’s smoke.” The mare counterpart noted to her colleague.
There was an audible pause from the stallion, before he continued “Why would there be smoke in the-”
“Fire.” Trixie quietly blurted, her eyes going wide.
“Did she just say-”
“FIRE!!! Fire! Fire! Fire! There’s a fire in here!” Trixie screamed at the top of her lungs, the moment finally clicking for her.
“Fire?!”
“What do we do?!?”
“Let me out! It’s fire!” Trixie reiterated for the benefit of the two ponies on the other side of the door, before pounding her hooves against the door.
“Uh! Uh! I- But- but-” The stallion audibly started stuttering.
“Can you- can you put it out yourself, Miss Trixie?! Don’t you have a tub of water?” The mare added in a slightly more controlled tone.
“What?! No! Trixie used all the water making her imaginary friends!”
“I-...I don’t understand.”
“Trixie is on fire! Let her out now! There’s burning and smoke and- and-...fire! Trixie hates fire!”
“Roll around! Just roll around! You’re supposed to roll around!” The stallion started shouting in a full-blown panic now.
The mare quickly started hammering on the door, panicking now too “No! Don’t roll around! You’ll spread the fire around!”
“Oh, no! The fire. Is. Everywhere!!!” Trixie continued shouting, even as she used her hooves to waft as much of the smoke as she could towards the door as quickly as she could. Pressing herself against the door she started moaning and shouting “Oh, gosh! There is so much fire now! It’s getting in Trixie’s mane and tail and-...other places! So much burning!!”
“Uh, uh, uh...let her out! We have to let her out!” The stallion shouted.
“I’ll get Starlight!” The mare replied.
“There’s no time!!”
“He’s right! There’s no time!”
“No time!”
“No time!”
“TIME!!!”
“Alright! Just- just hold on, Miss Trixie!” The mare finally caved, at the panicked shouts she was being bombarded by.
“YES!!!” Trixie exclaimed triumphantly, raising her hooves into the air in exultation.
“What was that, Miss Trixie?!” The stallion called, even as the mare was audibly struggling with a keyring.
Trixie froze for a moment, before glancing to the side “Yesss...Yes. I am...On fire!!! Oh, there’s so much fire!!!”
“Alright, alright and-...there!!” The mare shouted from the other side, flinging the door open in what some might have considered a very dramatic, very heroic manner “Hold on, Trixie!! I’m- Oommph!”
“Miss Trixie, wait!! The fire!” The stallion called after the quickly fleeing unicorn, pointing back towards the now empty shack. Watching as she disappeared around a nearby building, the stallion furrowed his brow before glancing to his female counterpart “She...she didn’t look like she was on fire...”
Still sitting on her haunches, the mare let out a sigh before giving a shake of her head “She did not...and she just ran away...”
“...Well, there’s some good news.” The stallion noted, before gesturing his hoof back towards the shack “At least, Miss Trixie put out the fire before running away.”
“I-...feel like I should be the one to explain this to Starlight.”
Elsewhere...
“Everything is going to go just...perfectly, Starlight. There’s no need to worry...”
Having said that, she couldn’t shake the sense that she was cracking around the edges. Fraying.
Starlight Glimmer was going to get through to Trixie eventually. It was inevitable. With some time by herself to let her temper cool once more, she’d spent the last few hours in seclusion, re-centering herself. She’d be relaxed, rested, and well-groomed, even as that noisome little-...future friend, wallowed alone in her filth and loneliness.
Soon, Trixie would see just how much easier it would be to just go with the flow.
Even so, Starlight had admittedly not slept well and it wasn’t just the matter of her cracked tooth leaving her restless. There had been plenty of little hiccups before, as she’d built up her perfect little life out here. It was no small task setting up a community in the middle-of-nowhere under the best of circumstances. Even moreso, when one was trying to setup a genuine utopia.
Miss Trixie’s reaction so far had been worrisome. For all that she needed to take a stern hoof to her newest friend, the former showmare’s reaction seemed just a bit unhealthy. Other converts had been a bit slow in coming around before now, but none of them had shown as much of an incorrigible attitude before. It took time for most ponies to accept true happiness here, in her town, but they were normally more subdued after having their Cutie Marks removed.
Trixie on the otherhoof, was defiant, loud, and unpredictable. Even the most eccentric of ponies saw their personalities leveled-out some after the process. But Trixie was still arguing with her out in the open, sowing pointless chaos, and upsetting all of Starlight's friends.
And putting problematic ideas in their heads.
Starlight wouldn’t be able to get any peace of mind until Trixie was brought into the fold. She could scarcely sleep and all of her attempts to organize her world seemed to fall flat. Cleaning up her home, organizing her followers, keeping up her personal appearance, all of those things normally gave her a certain amount of structure. A stability that she could anchor herself by.
That last one in particular was becoming a bit problematic, Starlight noted to herself as she meandered over to her small make-up collection. Even smaller than usual, she’d been going through more of her supplies lately. All that effort wasted on trying to fix her eyebrows, left her concerned that she might not have enough left if she ran into more important problems.
Starlight had resist the urge to glance at her own disguised flank, as the thought crossed her mind.
She’d just need to be more cautious. As tempting as it was to take another crack at re-drawing her eyebrows, she'd need to ration what she had left.
And she could stand to be a bit more methodical. At some point, she needed to find out just which of her friends had been speaking with Trixie. She had managed to head-off that issue before it could come to fruition, but it told her that Trixie wasn’t the only one looking to spoil her vision.
She could probably do to take a stroll around town. Chat with some of her friends, make sure all of the chores are being taken care of, allay any concerns that might be cropping up. Quash any rogue ideas that might be spreading.
Yes. Starlight always enjoyed spending time with her friends. When everything else fell apart, her friends would always be there for her. That thought alone was enough to ease some of the tension out of her body, something she could feel as she let out a long sigh...
“Starlight! Starlight, I need to speak with you!”
Closing her eyes for a moment, Starlight didn’t even register the panic in the other pony’s tone. Her little townsponies couldn’t handle anything without her their to guide them. Which was just the way she needed it to be. The pink mare recomposed herself before slipping a smile into her voice, before calling back “Just a few moments, and I’ll be right there!”
“Miss Trixie got out!”
“What...” She scarcely heard the sound of her hooves scraping across the floor, as she soon started scrambling towards the door. In seemingly the blink of an eye, she was slamming open her door with her magic, much to the surprise of the worried mare on the other side.
“...do you mean, Miss Trixie got out?” Starlight quietly finished her thought, through her teeth.
“I-...Yes, that’s- that’s what I mean.” The other mare responded in confusion, not having caught the first part.
“What!...do you mean, Miss Trixie got out?” The townleader quickly clarified, prompting the panicked mare’s ears to pin flat against her head.
“There-...there was some confusion and- and now she’s...no longer in the shack. She’s out. And we don’t know where she is.” The mare hesitantly clarified, even as she ducked her head in obvious worry for Starlight’s growing anger.
“And...how did this happen?”
“There...we think she-...Miss Trixie tricked us...somehow.” The mare finally admitted, bowing her head in abject shame. A moment later, the mare furrowed her brow before glancing upwards “I-uh...Am I interrupting your-...”
“How could she trick you?! She was locked up in a room! All you had to do was-...” Starlight could feel her face bunch up tightly, as she realized that she was snarling down at the poor mare. That wasn’t right. It’s not the pony she was supposed to be for her friends.
But she was too frustrated to be dealing with this kind of ineptitude right now.
A moment later, the mare was stumbling to one side of the doorway, as Starlight stomped past her out onto the village’s singular street. Frowning, the mare quickly moved to keep pace with her townsleader.
Deciding it was best to draw no further attention to her friend’s sour mood, she quickly drew abreast of Starlight before continuing “W-We’re not quite sure what happened. Things seemed perfectly normal...-ish. Then we started seeing some smoke and then Miss Trixie started shouting that there was a fire. When we let her out, she-”
The poor mare had to skid to a stop, as Starlight herself abruptly turned towards her with a look of outrage “You mean you let her out?!”
“Well...Yes?” The mare ducked her head, her ears flattening, as she murmured the response.
“Why would you let her out?! You knew that she wasn’t ready!”
At this, she had to glance from one side to the other, before looking back up towards the angry pink unicorn “Because...we thought there might be a fire?”
Starlight’s face visibly clenched in frustration, that was only briefly marred by a look of pain, presumably from her hurting molar. Closing her eyes briefly, she took in a deep breath, before letting it out in a ragged sigh. Setting her gaze back upon the sheepish mare, she spoke once more in a calmer tone.
“The next time you think something is wrong, you come to me. Do not go making reckless decisions like that again. Understand?” Starlight punctuated the last word with a light stomp of her hoof.
“But...we thought there was a fire. She could have-”
“Do you understand!?” Starlight snapped again, leaning further into the other mare’s personal space as she was forced to repeat herself. Seeing the quick nods coming from her fellow villagepony, Starlight let her earlier anger melt away.
Taking a step back now, the pink townsleader relaxed once more, before nodding her head and gesturing with her hoof to herself “Now, I apologize if I was brusque...but there is a reason you all come to me for guidance. Now isn’t there?”
“...Yes, Starlight. I’m sorry, Starlight.”
Starlight gave another nod at that, glad to have things back in her hooves “Excellent. Now, when you eventually managed to put out the fire, I-”
“Oh, there-...There wasn’t actually a fire, we don’t think...” The mare hesitantly added.
“Of course not...” Starlight seemed to say more to herself, as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back for a moment. Rubbing at the bridge of her nose for a moment, she opened her eyes again “Why am I not surprised?”
“Although, there were some odd things in the shed.” The mare continued, with a gesture of her hoof to the building they’d been holding Trixie in.
“Odd how?”
“I-...don’t really know where to begin.” The mare admitted.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway.” Starlight bit out, vexed ever more by how unhelpful everypony was being. Giving a glance along the street at least confirmed that a few of her ponies were taking note that something was amiss. Lighting her horn up with her magic, the feeling of the voice-amplifying spell settling into her throat, she marched to the center of the street.
“Front and center, everypony! We have an emergency and I need everypony’s attention!” Starlight called out to her villagers, her voice gaining a metallic twang to it, that made it sound as if she were speaking through a megaphone.
All the same, ponies began pouring out of their houses to join those already in the street in listening to whatever it was their leader needed to tell them. Soon, there was the quiet, worried murmuring of the townsfolk filling the one street of the tiny village.
A noise which rather perfectly summed up Sugar Belle’s current emotional landscape, as she shifted uncomfortably among her neighbors. She already suspected she knew what this emergency was related to. Even so, she wished that she’d ended up closer to where Party Favor was currently situated; idle speculation wasn’t much, but it still would have been something.
Party Favor even seemed to notice her trepidation, even through the crowd of ponies, trying as he was to give her an encouraging smile.
Though, he honestly seemed even more anxious than she was.
They never should have dragged Trixie into this.
“It has come to my attention that, through some manner of misunderstanding, Miss Trixie has gotten loose!” Starlight continued on, dragging Sugar Belle’s attention to the fore. The pink unicorn began pacing in a small circle in front of everyone as she continued “Now, while I’m sure this was an accident, we all need to take every measure possible to quickly locate her!”
There quickly followed the expected uptick in murmurs from the crowd of ponies, before one stallion stepped forward with a raised hoof “Starlight? Does this have anything to do with some of the things Miss Trixie’s been saying?”
While she was sure that most everypony else failed to notice it, Sugar Belle couldn’t ignore the brief flash of fury that crossed Starlight’s face at the question. It was fleeting, with Starlight turning to one side, and was quickly replaced by the earlier mix of concern and authoritative leadership she’d been displaying before. But she was sure it had been there.
“Thank you for reminding everypony of that, Steady Beat.” Starlight began, with a nod towards the stallion that had spoken up. Turning back to the rest of the crowd, she gestured her hoof widely “Surely we can all understand that Miss Trixie is going through some very big changes right now! Changes that, while ultimately good for her, must be very confusing for her right now!”
Bringing her hoof down with a stomp, she leaned in towards the crowd “That’s why it’s even more important that we be the best of friends we can be for Trixie, and bring her back quickly. In her state, she could very well hurt herself or do something reckless! So, we need to make certain that she does not leave our village; there’s no telling what might befall her if she ran off into the wilds right now!”
Sugar Belle was a bit disappointed to see how quickly everypony quickly fell in behind Starlight’s reasoning. She was just as worried as everypony else was for Trixie, but for entirely different reasons.
She supposed it was simply due to her own realization, that she wasn’t happy in the village, that perhaps she could realize that somepony else genuinely might not want to stay either.
“And remember everypony, Miss Trixie is going through a lot right now, so we must all remember to not take anything she might say to heart!” Starlight continued, holding a hoof to her chest as she added this part. Lowering her hoof, she then pointedly cast her gaze across the crowd “And I can understand how some of you might be tempted to ‘help’ Miss Trixie! But the best thing for her, is for her to be with her friends, as she learns the wonders of our little town.”
“To that end...we all need to keep an eye out for any sort of suspicious behavior! If anything or anypony seems to be acting strange, you should come to me immediately!” Starlight added, while tilting her head back and gesturing to herself once more.
Sugar Belle ducked her head at that, fairly certain that Starlight’s gaze had lingered on her, as she brought up the possibility of suspicious behavior. She found herself backing up just ever so slightly back towards the edge of the crowd now, trying not be too worried by how many of her friends seemed to have no problem with what Starlight was saying.
They wouldn’t turn on her too, would they?
Or was she the one turning on them?
She really didn’t know anymore. Sugar Belle thought that she was unhappy, miserable even, but was she really? How could she be when she had so many friends and so few worries? Nothing bad had ever happened in their little village until she’d approached Trixie, tried to drag Trixie into her problems. She could have just kept all of this to herself, and surely those feelings would have passed on their own. Sugar Belle had been the one that had started sneaking behind ponies backs and conspiring and lying to others, not Trixie.
If she hadn’t spoken to Trixie about this, wouldn’t things have been better? She could have just talked to Starlight and explained the problem and asked for help. Then Miss Trixie would never have...
No one ever really left the village.
Sugar Belle had never really come to that realization before now, that all of their ‘visitors’ inevitably became residents. Perhaps she’d been just as caught up in the excitement of gaining new neighbors and friends, just as everypony else was.
But nopony that ever paid their little village a visit was ever truly allowed to leave, before Starlight got to them. And she always convinced them to stay, just like she was trying so hard to do with Trixie.
And Night Glider and Party Favor, they’d come forward too and admitted that they weren’t perfectly happy with the ways things were either.
How many ponies would have tried to escape themselves, if they could have managed it?
“How many of us-”
“Something on your mind, Sugar Belle?”
“Yaaahh!”
“Ahhhh!” The stallion, Weighted Scales, yelped right back at Sugar Belle.
Blinking for a couple of seconds, as she stared back at her confused neighbor, the unicorn mare quickly tried to compose herself.
With the stallion looking her up-and-down with concern, she didn’t really know where to start.
“That is- I-...Yaaaah-...sss. Yaaah-sss. Yes. Yes, I’m so sorry. I’m just- Uhhh- I was-” Sugar Belle babbled for several seconds, quietly terrified that the other pony had somehow been privy to her inner thoughts.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, Sugar Belle...” Scales eventually said, holding up his hooves in a calming motion. Giving the clearly distressed mare a smile, he gave a tilt of his head “I understand.”
“You-...You do?”
“Of course...we’re all worried about Miss Trixie. She’s out there, all alone and confused.” The stallion easily clarified for Sugar Belle, inadvertently giving her an out.
“Uh-...Oh, yes! I mean...yes. Yes, I was just so worried about Miss Trixie. And- Well, you startled me...” Sugar Belle continued sheepishly, crossing her forehooves in front of her, and glancing to the side “I, uh...I’m terribly sorry about my outburst, Scales.”
She didn’t remember leaving the door to her bakery open.
That one thought lanced straight through everything else, as she stared at the slightly ajar entrance into her place. Just out of the corner of her eye, when she’d turned away in embarrassment, it was as clear as day. All concerns for the ponies around her washed away, she didn’t even hear as the stallion right in front of her continued to try to comfort her.
Could Miss Trixie have...?
She would have had to run right out in the open, but it was possible. It would be absurd though, as any rational pony would have made a run for it by now, right? She’d be halfway back to Equestria looking for help by now. That would have been the sensible thing to do. Unless...
It couldn’t possibly be her fault again, could it? Was Trixie staying behind to try to help her? She’d managed to escape from the shed, something almost nopony even bothered with trying. If Trixie really was that capable, it could have been foal’s play for her to sneak past everypony while they were focused on Starlight’s speech.
A strange mixture of guilt and hope swirled about her insides, even as common sense tried to rein her in. The door might have just not caught the latch, when she’d been stepping out. Or maybe someone else had popped in looking for her and left the door open. Or just maybe, it was-
“Sugar Belle?”
“Wha- Oh! Oh, yes!” The mare blurted out, as she realized once more that she’d gotten lost in her own thoughts and worries. This time, right in front of Scales, judging by the perplexed, even more concerned look he was sending her.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” The stallion asked with a tilt of his head. Holding up a hoof, he gestured towards her “If this is too much for you, then perhaps-”
“No, no....I’m fine. I was just-...I was just thinking, that I could...” Sugar Belle trailed off as she avoided Scales’ gaze. Worried about drawing anymore suspicion, it was only a few scant moments later she blurted out the first thing her eyes wandered across “The bakery.”
“The...bakery?”
“Yes, I was thinking, I...should check the bakery...to see if perhaps Trixie is there.” Sugar Belle eventually supplied.
“Oh?...Well, maybe I should go with you. We can-”
“No!...I mean, there are- Miss Trixie probably wouldn’t be in there. It’s...small. And, I wouldn’t know why she would go there.” Sugar Belle quickly tried to divert her neighbor from investigating. Holding up a hoof, her mouth dropped open for a few seconds, as she fumbled for an alternative “What we should do is...What we should do...is check around the edge of town. To make sure Miss Trixie hasn’t gone too far.”
“Oh...that’s a good point actually. Starlight did say it could be dangerous out there.” The stallion easily conceded, bringing a hoof to his chin in consideration. Blinking in thought, he gestured to the other end of town “Maybe we should start at that end, and-”
“Oh! Uhm, when I said ‘we’...I kind of was thinking you.” Sugar Belle clarified with an awkward smile. Giving a nod of her head towards the bakery again “I thought, that I could check the bakery while you started on that.”
“Really? But-”
“Because, you see...I spend a lot of my time there. So, I’d be able to check it really quick and come out to help you...That makes sense.”
“Uhm...Okay. If you think that’s best, Sugar Belle.” Weighted Scales slowly agreed, visibly looking the mare up-and-down. Rubbing at his cheek, he glanced to the side “Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Sugar Belle? Maybe I should stay and-”
“I’m sorry, Scales. I just-...I am- It’s like you said. I am...upset. About all of this. I’m just so worried and- I just feel like I need a few minutes to compose myself. Just a little time in private.” Sugar Belle pushed forward, picking up on his doubts.
That seemed to get through to him, his eyes going a bit wide, before he reached out a hoof and patted her on the whithers “Oh, of course, Sugar Belle. I thought- I should have realized how upsetting this must be for you. You really got along well with Miss Trixie, didn’t you? You can take all the time you need.”
“Oh, thank you for understanding. Just so much, Scales. I just need a few minutes, and then I’ll be right out to help you.” Sugar Belle quickly nodded, as she sidled past the stallion towards the door of her bakery. Pausing for a moment, she quickly turned back “And, uhm...can you not tell Starlight about this?”
“What?”
“It’s just, she already has so much to worry about. And we really need to focus on Trixie right now. I don’t want to distract her.”
“I don’t think she would think it’s a distraction.”
“I know, I know.” Sugar Belle said quickly, with a couple of nods “I’ll talk to her afterwards, but-...the important thing is finding Miss Trixie. That’s-That’s definitely what’s most important...So, can you? Please?”
It took only a moment, before Scales was giving her a reassuring smile “Of course. Of course, Sugar Belle. We’ll get through this all together.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Scales. I’ll just be a few minutes. I promise...” Sugar Belle said again, as she backed up towards the doors of the bakery again.
“Like I said, take your time. Finding Miss Trixie is important. But so is taking care of yourself.” The stallion said one more time, gesturing with a hoof for her to continue. A few moments later, he gestured down the street “I’ll just start on this end of town, and you can join me when you’re ready.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much...” Sugar Belle said again, as she backed up through the door. Sparing one more smile and a nod for him, she closed the door behind her.
And then had to keep herself from collapsing to the floor.
Whatever feelings of guilt and hope she’d been holding on to before, quickly gave way to sheer stress and...more guilt. Lying to her friends was really not the best part of this whole situation. Raising a hoof to her forehead, she rubbed the spot under her horn, before letting out a sigh. She didn’t have any time to wallow in these feelings, she knew. With how hard Trixie was trying, how could she?
“Alright, Sugar Belle...You just need to- She’s probably not even here, but you can’t leave any stone unturned. You’ve got to find her before Starlight does.” Sugar Belle told herself, sitting down on her haunches and using her forehooves to pat her cheeks. Her thoughts cleared so slightly, she took in another breath, before standing up on all four hooves again.
Taking a few hesitant steps down the stairs into her bakery once more, she spared a moment to glance over the interior. Looking for any little inconsistency in how she’d left things, the shelves and cooking supplies set about the interior. There was her simple apron draped over one of the barrels. Tapping her hoof a couple of times, as she looked around, Sugar Belle had to resist biting her lip; she’d been so focused on everything else that had been happening, how likely would she have noticed if anything was out of place?
“Maybe I was right before. Maybe I’d be better off looking for Miss Trixie on the outskirts...” Sugar Belle noted aloud, before taking in a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she looked down at her own hooves in thought.
“Huh. What have we here?”
She’d been meaning to dust for a while, as there was never a shortage of the stuff blowing in from the unpaved street up above. Everything always seemed to drift ever downward around here. But it might have been good that she’d been putting it off, judging by what she was seeing.
“Hoof prints?” Sugar Belle said to herself. Not unusual in its own right, as she could see where she had trudged through the dust herself earlier. Squinting now, she looked along the floor and could almost piece together all the areas she’d wandered about over the course of the last couple of days.
So the trail of hoofprints leading off to what she knew to be a largely unused corner of the bakery caused her eyebrow to creep upwards.
“It’s a longshot, but maybe...” Sugar Belle said, even as she lightly trotted across the floor, following the errant set of tracks. Pausing, she looked about once more, wishing she had a light source on hoof. Raising a hoof to her mouth, she quietly called out “Miss Trixie? Are you in here?”
“It’s alright if you are...I was just- I wanted to try to help.” Sugar Belle called out again.
Furrowing her brow, as she stared at the uncooperative barrels and boxes that had been tucked away in the corners. She could feel a growing pit in her stomach, as it seemed increasingly likely that the showmare wasn’t here after all. Turning around in place, she called out again “Miss Trixie? If you’re here...I won’t tell Starlight that-”
“Hiyaaaahh!”
The next moments quickly became a tangle of hooves, grunts, and yelps of surprise rolling across the dusty floor. This came to an abrupt and altogether jarring stop for Sugar Belle, as a pair blue hooves pressed into her chest, ending with her being pinned to the floor staring up in a daze.
Right up into a pair of only mildly panicked, but also kinda angry, purple eyes.
“Ah-hah!”
“...Trixie? What are you doing?!”
“Tackling you to the ground!”
“Wha- Why though?” Sugar Belle demanded of the pony pinning her to the floor, with more confusion than annoyance.
Trixie blinked at that.
“Well?” Sugar Belle prompted again.
“...To take advantage of the element of surprise?”
“To do what?”
“...Trixie is willing to admit the plan had some holes.” Trixie conceded after a moment’s thought. Glancing upwards for a moment, she shook her head before focusing back on her captive “Still, now that the Great and Powerful Trixie has you in her clutches-”
“But I’m on your side.” Sugar Belle reminded with a frown, even as she held her forehooves crossed on her belly.
“...I hadn’t thought of that.” Trixie said with her own frown.
There was a long, awkward pause between them as the showmare avoided the baker’s gaze, pausing only for a moment to brush back her messy mane. Clearing her throat, Trixie gestured around the cellar “So...this is all very nice. You got some barrels and-”
“Are you feeling alright, Miss Trixie?” Sugar Belle interrupted, her voice laced with concern now.
“What? How could you- Trixie’s just- She’s still hammering out a few details but-” Trixie sputtered for a moment, as the bemused mare below her looked upwards. Sucking on her bottom lip for a moment, Trixie turned back towards Sugar Belle “Trixie is doing very well for herself and is not at all having any sort of identity...things. Things with the- I am just great...and powerful. Great and Powerful...”
Sugar Belle had to purse her lips, even as she swept her eyes over the showmare. Even without the rambling and erratic behavior, Trixie certainly didn’t look like she was doing well.
“Uhm, can you let me up? Please?”
“What? Oh, right.” Trixie quickly agreed, as she backed off of the other mare. Hesitatingly only briefly, Trixie soon offered a hoof to help Sugar Belle back up.
“So, as you can see...Trixie’s been working on a plan. It’s going pretty well...”
“I guess so...” Sugar Belle agreed, even as she gave what she hoped was an encouraging smile towards Trixie. Ducking her own head for a moment, Sugar Belle gave a more forceful nod towards the azure mare.
“I just can’t believe you’re still here, Miss Trixie. After you escaped, I-”
“That was on purpose!”
“...Sorry?”
“The escape. That- that was on purpose. That was the plan.” Trixie quickly clarified, before coughing and glancing to the side. A moment later, she idly brushed at a particular spot in her mane “The others were no help at all.”
“...You mean the ponies that were guarding you?”
“...Yes.”
“I’m really sorry about them. They really do believe that they’re just helping you. I know it’s not an excuse for all of this, Miss Trixie.” Sugar Belle finally managed to say, somewhat relieved that Trixie’s odd outbursts were taking a break.
“You’re darn right, it’s not an excuse!” Trixie abruptly exclaimed. Only for her to briefly pause, as she saw Sugar Belle ducked her head in worry and used her hooves to gesture for her to be quieter “Uh...You’re darn right, it’s not an excuse.”
“I know. Honestly, I was- I was worried that you’d be miles away by now.” Sugar Belle admitted.
“What’s that now?”
Before Sugar Belle could clarify herself, both her and Trixie’s attention was drawn upwards, at the sound of a hoof knocking on the bakery’s heavy wooden door.
“Sugar Belle? Is everything alright?...It’s Night Glider.”
The baker’s eyes went wide a moment later, before she turned to meet the gaze of the equally wide-eyed Trixie at her side. Leaning in, she quickly hissed out “It’s Night Glider!”
“I don’t remember who that is!” Trixie gave her own hiss of a whisper right back. Biting her lower-lip and pausing in apparent thought for a moment, she added “And I really feel bad about that! I’ll try to apologize later-”
“Focus, Trixie!” Sugar Belle quietly snapped.
“Uh, right! Right, I’ll just focus on- And-” Trixie started to babble, as she shifted about on her hooves and whipped her head around anxiously.
“Trixie! Hide!” The baker quietly clarified, even as she trotted up the steps to the doorway. She gave only a quick nod, at seeing the former showmare dive behind another pile of cooking supplies, before opening the door.
Swallowing down her own anxiety, Sugar Belle breathed in-and-out several times to settle her nerves, before plastering on the biggest, most painful smile she could manage. While she very much hoped that her pegasus friend was still on their side, with how things were, she couldn’t possibly be sure.
“Night Glider! I’m so glad to see you!” The unicorn loudly announced, as she opened the door to the bakery.
And was met by the very worried and not-at-all glad Night Glider looking back with a frown.
“I, uh-...Sugar Belle...That is, I’m glad to see you too,” The pegasus said with a bit of confusion, before rubbing her hooves together in front of her.
Sugar Belle quickly let her own painfully fake smile drop away, as she realized just how distressed her friend was. Glancing from one side to another, she easily confirmed that no one seemed to be paying any attention to her doorstep, she quickly ushered in the hovering Night Glider.
An offer which was quickly taken up by the dark blue mare, as she gently flapped her way past Sugar Belle and set down on the top steps. Very apparently reluctant to speak where anypony might hear, Sugar Belle gave a nod to her friend before glancing outside to make sure no one saw. With that she quickly, but quietly, shut the door behind them, pausing just long enough to make absolutely sure it was completely closed.
Turning back with a look of sympathy for the pegasus, Sugar Belle gave a small gulp before diving in “So, I’m guessing you’re as worried about things as I am?”
“Way more worried!” Night Glider exclaimed, before abruptly ducking her head and slapping her hooves over her mouth. Glancing back up, she spoke in a more controlled voice this time “I-I wasn’t entirely sure before, but Starlight Glimmer is getting way more...menacing and-”
“Menacing?” Sugar Belle had to blurt out, looking a bit alarmed.
“We never should have gotten Miss Trixie involved” Night Glider added, as she nodded back at the question. Leaning in closer, Night Glider again glanced around seemingly to make absolutely sure that no one was around again “I was just talking with Hazelblossom, and she was really, really worried.”
“Hazelblossom? Wasn’t she one of the ones that Starlight had-”
“Exactly, she was watching Trixie. But when Trixie got out and she went to tell Starlight, it was-...I-I don’t know, but Hazelblossom was really upset about it afterwards.” Night Glider haphazardly explained.
“Upset? I mean, did Starlight realize that she-”
“I don’t think Starlight cared.” Night Glider quickly cut-in “But going by what Hazelblossom said, I really think-...It’s really important, I think, that we find Miss Trixie first.”
“Y-You do?”
“I think...I don’t want to think it, but I’m worried that Starlight might...do something.” The pegasus said meaningfully.
And she could understand the vagueness in that statement; Sugar Belle wasn’t sure what might happen, but Trixie wasn’t the only that was behaving erratically. Starlight Glimmer could be...intimidating, even before all this started happening. And the pink townsleader was clearly becoming agitated. It felt like Starlight was starting to unravel, and she could admit that she wasn’t entirely sure what that would mean for their little town.
“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that from you.” Sugar Belle eventually said.
“What?” Night Glider blurted out.
“I mean, about the part where you think we should help Miss Trixie. Not the-...Not about Starlight.” The baker quickly clarified, holding up her hoof to calm the other mare.
“Oh. Oh, well that makes more sense.” Night Glider agreed, before glancing back up towards the doorway “But the others have a head-start on us, so I’m not really sure if-”
“Don’t worry. Just come down here with me, and I’ll show you.”
Night Glider had to tilt her head at this, even as she briefly took flight off of the stairway to let Sugar Belle pass by. Looking both ways curiously, Night Glider set back down before trotting down the steps after her.
Setting down on the dusty floor at the bottom, the pegasus looked around with a raised eyebrow for their surroundings “Uhm, what are we doing? If we don’t hurry-”
“It’s alright. Let me just find where she-”
“Hiyaaaahh!”
And Sugar Belle’s bakery was once more filled with the sounds of one pony tackling another pony, and subsequently rolling around on the floor.
Not a few seconds later, a dazed and confused Night Glider was lying on her back, with two azure hooves pinning her chest down.
“Hah! Trixie is starting to think this is her thing!”
“Trixie!” Sugar Belle had to snap, before wincing at her own shout.
“What?”
Giving a quick shake of her head, she quickly trotted over before gesturing to the two of them and biting out her next words between her teeth “Why did you do that?!”
“Do what?”
“That!” Sugar Belle again gestured a hoof towards the still pinned down pegasus beneath the former showmare.
“Oh...Trixie didn’t want to lose the element of surprise.”
“Wha- But she-”
“Don’t blame Trixie! This is the first time she’s ever done this!”
“You did it to me just a few minutes ago!”
“Trixie had the element of surprise then too!”
“Can I-...Can I please get up now?”
The two arguing unicorns paused for a moment to glance down towards Night Glider. After a few seconds pause, Trixie looked back over towards Sugar Belle “So, I’m not entirely sure about-”
“Yes. She wants to help.” Sugar Belle nodded, before shooing away Trixie.
“Right. I, uhm...Why did you just tackle me?” Night Glider babbled a bit, even as she stumbled back onto her hooves.
“Trixie’s sorry about that. She had the element of surprise.” Trixie explained, before Sugar Belle could say anything.
“I’s okay, I’d be pretty surprised too, if-...” Night Glider began to say, as she waved off her baker friend, before pausing as her ears perked up at a sound from above.
It was the same sound that drew all of their attention upwards, as another hoof banged on the door to the bakery.
“Hello? Sugar Belle?...It’s Party Favor.” The familiar sound of a certain stallion’s voice worked its way down to where they all stared up to its source “I saw Night Glider come in and I-...I was hoping we could all talk.”
“...Trixie better get into her hiding spot again.” Trixie quietly declared with a nod, before she shuffled off to the side, as the other two mares in the room watched.
Night Glider had to furrow her brow, as she watched Trixie duck down behind a barrel, before looking towards Sugar Belle “She’s not gonna tackle him too, when he gets down here? Is she?”
“She-...She’s not doing great.”