//------------------------------//
// ...Sugarcube 
// Story: The Rest Just Call Me... 
// by overlord-flinx 
//------------------------------//

Ponyville in the wee hours before the crack of dawn. A peaceful time where the amber glow of day's first yawn opens across this most majestic land. An hour of apple pickers sneaking in those precious few before-work hours, little ponies fighting to stay in bed, and birds preening their wings and chirping for a new day...

The pebbles along the street would at times look just like miniature replicas of the cobblestone roads that they outlined. That comes as no surprise though. A pebble is -after all- the chippings of a larger rock; like a cobblestone. As objects scrape against a larger rock's surface, pebbles are chipped out. That's really all pebbles and small rocks are, aren't they? Parts of a greater element that were broken off for one reason or another. Would that make the character in this story a chip off of another story? Or is this mare, Sugarcube by name, actually the greater element as she shambles down the streets of midday Ponyville?

She had become more aware of what was around her after her last run in. Part of her was beet red under the shadowing mystery of her bag; or at least she thought she was red. What color did her cheeks tint when she was embarrassed? Did they tint such a way when she made that most clumsy mistake not a spell before? It clinked at her one tick at a time, much the same as the pebbles did against her hooves; which had now started to show those ticks and clinks with the way they had started to chip. Now the embarrassment compounded; if she wasn't already red from her mishap, she certainly was turning when she looked upon her weathered hooves.

Who in their most sensible mind would buy from a pony with hooves not worth their salt? Unless that wasn't her trade. Was that why she pushed a cart around after all? A salespony would definitely push around a wagon of wares and things to wear. But would they have scuffed hooves? Applejack before had some such hooves as well, and they must have been peddling those scrumptious apples. As such, maybe some scuffing to the hooves is charming---rustic even.

Abruptly such thoughts were put on hold as Sugarcube heard a commanding summons in the form of a throat clear just to her side. Sugarcube for her part shot to attention and cocked her bag adorned head to meet who it was that called for her, briefly abandoning her precious cargo of wares to sell with a crinkle-crinkle as her bag adjusted. While Sugarcube herself had a face that in most cases would be lost in a crowd, perhaps, she recalled the audacious in garb mare before her in an instant, even as Trixie herself welcomed Sugarcube with less than recognition.

"Goodest of mornings to you, Trixie," Sugarcube waved one hoof in a grandiose arch, attempting to speak the language of 'the stage', or so much as she knew it.

Trixie to her part was not in the least surprised somepony she had never seemingly met knew her name. After all, she was Trixie; and who does not know the Great and Powerful Trixie? Trixie fluffed her mane out just beneath her tall 'wizard's cap' to momentarily bask in the none existent praise she heard. "Oh, please, don't shower the Great and Powerful Trixie with your adoration. Simply seeing that my name has reached the masses is reward enough for me," Trixie boasted with a glimmering smile.

"I've definitely heard of you!" Sugarcube nodded, parroting the sentiment, "You're a mage of the highest caliber, loved by everypony, have a great mane of hair," Looking at her, it seemed those rumors were true, just by the way the morning glow hit the silvered strands, "Very polite, too," Sugarcube went on, fluffing Trixie's ego like none before, "Oh! You were also a student of Celestia," her attention was momentarily drawn away from Trixie as she heard a stray pin dislodge itself from the clutter lingering in her cart.

The moment the bagged visage drifted away, Trixie's own expression dropped and her lip curled as her amusement drained from her. "It... Seems you're mistaking me for someone else. My guess," the showpony sighed as her words fell to a crestfallen grumble, "You're thinking of Twilight Sparkle..."

There's was that pesky pin! How did it get loose? Sugarcube packed her wares so tight, so she wouldn't lose anything on her way to market. "Twilight Sparkle! That's the one! Yes, thank you," pricking the misguided pin pack into its place, Sugarcube tipped the scruff her of bag in Trixie's direction, "Thank you for reminding me. It's a terrible thing to mix people up, right?" Trixie did not seem to offer much in the way of agreement, nor any response as she had sunk into herself in much the same way as a puppy denied their bone. "Oh dear... I'm very sorry! I didn't mean to..." Sugarcube's attention lingered back to the still wriggling pin threatening to dislodge itself when her slotted eyes spotted something.

The bag faced mare offered up a polite 'one moment' hoof that Trixie barely paid heed to in her dejected state. The briefest of moments were treated with soft rumbles and rattles as Sugarcube languished through her assorted packs and trappings to get loose the bane of her pin's existence. The obstruction flittered free into the chipped hooves of Sugarcube in the form of an otherwise luxurious card if not for the bend creased through its center. A cursery turn over revealed something that brightened the bagged visage of Sugarcube… Maybe. What would her face brightened truly look like? There wasn't time for that, of course.

"Trixie! Behold!" Another grandiose arch was made as Sugarcube offered the small black card to the defeated magician.

It perhaps took all of Trixie's reserves to even lift her muzzle up to look at the card. At once, her eyes shimmered in surprise---even wonder---before she snatched it from Sugarcube's hooves. The card was clutched close to her chest as if it were the finest of gold before she returned a bewildered stare upon her bag faced hero. "Sir! Wherever did you find this?!"

Sir? Oh, I guess I could be a guy. Sugarcube considered the idea. Yes... Yes... Yes! Of course! That makes perfect sense, obviously. As he congratulated himself, Sugarcube looked at the matchbook card he had moments ago given to Trixie; the magician's own name embroidered on its surface in a gilded font. While the truth of the matter was far less palatial... The moment called for flare. "Show barkers in Rio de Griphaneiro sing the praises of the-the-the magnanimous Trixie!" Does magnanimous mean what he thinks it means? "At their own expense, they give those out as a-uhhhhhh-promise! Promise that your talents are so good... They'd do free advertisement."

Perhaps to most any mare or stallion, such a flagrant disregard for the fact of the matter would be caught dead on entry for what it was; but Trixie's beaming smile and shimmering eyes speak another truth: that the lie was exactly what she needed. "Sir Wagon Runner, I must thank you. You have brought the Great and Powerful Trixie most amazing news! To think, I have fans far flung across this world. Though, Trixie was already pretty sure that was the case, hearing it and much more seeing it is most wonderful!" Trixie seized Sugarcube's hoof and shook it to its core, nearly knocking the poor stallion of his hinds.

Wagon Runner... I do have a wagon. I don't think I even have a cube of sugar... That sounds about right. He pondered on the revelation as he watched Trixie bound down the cobblestone way as happy as one could be. I guess I'm Wagon Runner. That sounds far more natural than Sugarcube… Unless that is my real name... Hm. The very notion rattled around in Wagon Runner's head as pebbles rattled and raked at his tired hooves. The road ahead was vast and full of questions. But perhaps most pressing: does Trixie stop everypony to see if they knew her?

Now that was a mystery even Wagon Runner could nary ponder enough.