It was immediately aparrant to Twilight how Trixie Lulamoon had once been Pegasus City's highest-earning sex worker; she was, along with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sunset, one of the single most beautiful mortal women Twilight had ever laid eyes upon.
What first thing that struck Twilight about her breathtaking elder cousin, however, was how pale Trixie was. Like Twilight, Trixie was a Lulamoon, and so Twilight- who had never seen Trixie before- had expected her to have a dark brown complexion like Night Light's, Shining Armor's, and her own.
However, despite having hailed from a city in one of the warm and sunny tropics where the vast majority of Lulamoons made their strongholds, Trixie was almost as pale as a ghost.
Above and beyond that, Trixie's hair was nearly white, as well. It was a very light blue, such as you might see in a partially translucent cloud. The blue-tinged silver of Trixie's hair, and the paper-whiteness of Trixie's skin, immediately brought Twilight to the deduction that she suffered from albinism.
However, there was one trait that Trixie shared with Twilight that made their kinship undeniable: like Twilight, Trixie's eyes vere as vibrantly violet as the Eastern skies at dusk.
Twilight was deeply interested in many sciences, including evolutionary biology. It was common knowledge, of course, that all Beings- with the possible exception of the Gods- were descended from a common ancestor ape who also counted chimpanzees and bonobos as its descendants. The Elder God Discord had grown fascinated by the first humans- who were not Magical at all- because of their cleverness and curiosity. Then they were only unusually intelligent primates, but once Discord gifted them with Magic they became the mortal Beings as they were now known: the Humans, the Angels, and the Elves.
This gift of Magic to primitive humans was one of the main justifications Discordian Cults had given for their devotion to him; after all, they said, without that gift, we Beings would be totally unremarkable animals just like any other.
However, ever since she usurped him, Celestia had always made it as clear as she could that this "blessing" of divine power bestowed by the Lord of Chaos was never meant as an act of benevolence. The Mad God had done it for the same reason he did anything else: as a whim to amuse himself from his sheer, absolute boredom.
Discord didn't give wings and strength and sorcery to Beings out of kindness; he did it because he thought it was funny. It was the same reason he put wings on Horses and infused dinosaurs with Magic; far from hoping to create majesty and beauty, Discord had created Pegasi because he thought winged, flying horses looked hilariously ridiculous, and he made fire-breathing Dragons because he found the destruction and havoc they wrought indescribably entertaining.
Likewise, Discord had chosen a spiraling horn as the sign of a Unicorn's Magic because he found it absurd and grotesque; he had seen the tusks of narwhals, marveled at how ridiculous they looked, and decided that they would make excellent humiliating deformities for sorceror Horses.
"Discord did not create you to be beautiful, strong, or amazing," Celestia had once said darkly to Twilight. "His gifts were given to you to be terrible curses; not blessings. He gave Beings Magic so that he could laugh as the strong Humans broke each other's necks and bashed in each other's skulls; the flying Angels fell from the sky as he shot fire through their wings for sport; and so he could watch the Elves plot and scheme and betray each other in the persuit of greater power, only to bring about their own destruction."
"But why didn't he give Elves horns?" Twilight had asked. "He gave Angels wings so that they would match the Pegasi, right? So why don't we have horns just like Unicorns?"
"He almost gave you them," Celestia replied. "However, he decided that it would be funnier if you Elves thought that in order to perform Magic, you had to kill a Unicorn and use its horn as a wand, because you didn't have your own. He sharpened your ears to make you look pleasingly foolish instead."
Twilight flushed a little in self-consciousness at the idea that her ears were shaped into points because their designer had intended them to look deformed and shameful. "B-but- ... h-he has sharp ears too, doesn't he...?!" she said, unconsciously raising her hand to gently brush against the tip of her knife-shaped ear.
"He does, yes," Celestia replied. "At least, while he uses a Being's body, he does."
Twilight was puzzled at this. "What do you mean, Princess?" the little seven-year-old Elf girl asked.
"Discord is not like the other Gods," Celestia said, as she often did. "Do you remember what I told you about the Pantheon's nature?"
Twilight grinned and nodded, glowing with pride. "Of course I do, Your Highness!" she responded with no hesitation. "You and your family are all living avatars of nature; the spirits of the Sun and Moon and Sea and Skies, and everything else in the Universe!"
"That is right," Celestia said, gently smiling and nodding in approval. "When a new God is born, the essence of some piece of the world is gathered together and placed in the body of a little baby Being. In other words, I am the Sun, just as Poseidon is the Seas; and Cadance is Love."
Twilight frowned in confusion. "But... I don't understand," she said, looking out the window of Camelot's library towards the Western horizon, where the Sun was setting. "If you are the Sun, how can you be sitting here, with me, even while I'm watching the sunset?"
Celestia laughed, "That is a very good question, Twilight." She affectionately caressed her student's cheek, and Twilight blushed in glee.
"Well, think of it this way," Celestia said: "Which part of your body holds your mind, my treasured student?"
"My brain, of course!" Twilight said, pointing at her head for emphasis.
"Very good! But where is your Soul located, that gives you life?"
Twilight immediately placed her hand over her breast. "My heart!"
"Exactly right," Celestia said. "In other words, your brain is you; but your heart is also you. It is your brain that thinks and sees and dreams, but it is your heart that gives it and the rest of your body emotion, and Magic, and life. They are working in unity; they are one."
"So the Sun is your heart?" Twilight asked.
"Almost," Celestia replied, chuckling. "However, it would be more correct to say that I am the Sun's heart. Likewise, Discord is the heart of the great Chaos that rules our cosmos."
"So Discord's body is not his true body," Twilight said, nodding in understanding. "Discord is the Being incarnation of the Chaos."
"Exactly," Celestia replied proudly.
Twilight learned during this lesson that violet was an eye color that could only appear in Beings who possessed an enormous amount of Magic within their blood. This was how Twilight could identify herself as a direct descendant of Celestia; her eyes were violet, which meant that she was a Demigoddess who had inherited tremendous innate Magical talent and potential from the Sun-Goddess's familial line.
Trixie Lulamoon was immediately identifiable as Twilight's cousin by those lavender eyes, which also rendered her boasts of being "Great and Powerful" quite apparently redundant.
Both the Magic and the beauty Trixie had inherited from Celestia were now on full, proud display; Trixie stepped onto the stage with the accompaniment of sorcerous pyrotechnics, which only an eye as highly-trained as Twilight's could detect were being operated by Trixie herself. It looked effortless, but even Twilight was impressed at how perfectly Trixie was hiding the deep physiological toll the effort was exerting on her; aside from the Etherial glow in her eyes, there was no sign that Trixie had anything to do with them at all.
Of course, it wasn't easy for Twilight to focus her attention on Trixie's eyes, rather than her body; she was nearly naked, and her figure was as voluptuous and shapely as only a Demigoddess's could be without surgical aid. Despite herself, Twilight found herself flushing at the sensual sight of her stunning cousin.
Cousin. Twilight frowned, bit down on her tongue, and tore her eyes away. Get ahold of yourself, you damned pervert! she furiously scolded herself. You have to stop getting hot and bothered over your close relatives, Twilight!
The men around Twilight cheered uproariously as a steel pole rose up from the stage and Trixie began to seductively dance on it, perfectly executing several highly-acrobatic routines even while continuing to sing and operate the fireworks providing her backdrop. However, Twilight determinedly kept her eyes firmly on a nearby tree.
"Can you fucking believe we're getting a show like this for free, Spike?!" Rainbow shouted over the wolf-whistles and whoops of the audience. "Oh, I am so winning her!"
"Oh yeah!" Spike laughed in reply. "Would you like help tossing those coins, Dash?"
"Sure thing, Br-!"
"Absolutely not," Twilight hissed through gritted teeth, roughly pulling Spike away from Rainbow just before she could place a handful of gold coins in his palm. "I said you could watch, Spike, but you may not bid."
"I'm just helping Rainbow bid, Twi!" Spike replied, annoyedly jerking his arm out of Twilight's grasp.
"I don't care," Twilight retorted. "It is still very illegal for you to cast money onto the stage. You are too. Fucking. Young."
"Why you gotta be such a square, Twilight?" Rainbow said, rolling her eyes and smirking as she skillfully flipped one of her coins onto the stage's floor. "Lighten up a little! He ain't gonna join us; he's just earning the story afterward!"
"We're already on a tight leash, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted angrily. "Celestia already has me under house arrest, and Spike suspended from my tutelage!"
"Ugh, you know she only did that to keep up appearances!" Spike said. "Yeah, I'm legally not your apprentice for a while, and you are nominally on leave as Avalon's Librarian for the rest of the Autumn, but Matilda's barely stepped foot back in the Golden Oak and I haven't been separated from you since then!"
"Granted, Celestia's punishing us in-name-only, but we still have to be on our best behavior, Spike!" Twilight said. "If we screw up, Celestia won't be able to cover for us again! That's not a trick she can pull twice in a row!"
"Would you relax, Twi?" Rainbow interjected. "It's bendin' the rules a little to let Spike help me bid, but it's not like you have exactly been Miss Girl Scout in toeing the line."
Twilight was quite affronted. "What the hell do you mean by that?!" she cried.
"It's no more illegal'n you making out with the kid!"
Twilight was going to argue, but before she could a spotlight shone down on her, causing her to cry out in startlement and shield her eyes against it.
"Ooh, I do believe I've found the perfect volunteer!" Trixie cried, gesturing towards Twilight. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I direct your attention to the lovely young woman in the spotlight! How fortunate; this is none other than Duchess Twilight Sparkle, personal student of the High Princess Celestia herself, as well as my own paternal cousin!"
Twilight swiftly metamorphosed from shock into deep self-consciousness, as all the men (as well as Rainbow Dash) around her had immediately begun to wolf-whistle and cheer in approval.
Trixie smiled warmly down at Twilight. "Would you care to join me onstage for just a moment, dearest cousin?" she asked.
More cheers, more wolf-whistles. Twilight wished she could disappear.
"Come ooonn Twilight!" Rainbow shouted. She pushed Twilight towards the stage as she added, "You wanna get back in everyone's good graces, right? Well, here's your chance! Be a good sport!"
Twilight ground her teeth in frustration and embarrassment, but she heard Spike start up a chant of "Twi-light! Twi-light! Twi-light!" that was soon joined by the voices of the rest of the audience.
Sighing in resignation, Twilight forced a smile onto her cheeks and stepped up onto the stage. The assembled bidders applauded her ascent uproariously.
Twilight hoped at the very least that Trixie would tone down her sultriness once they were on stage together, but to her great distress those hopes were entirely in vain. Trixie was wearing the same smirk she'd used to persuade hundreds of Beings to share her bed for a purse of gold coins, and she walked with a horribly seductive sway to her hips. The fact that they were cousins didn't seem to bother Trixie at all.
"And here she is: the Grand Duchess Twilight Sparkle herself! You're even more lovely than I remember! Let's give her another round of applause, shall we?"
The crowd again voiced their approval, but Twilight was no longer concerned with them; her mouth opened slightly in surprise.
What do you mean, "more lovely than I remember"?
"We've met... before?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Of course!" Trixie laughed in reply. "Though you were likely too young to remember."
"When-?" Twilight began, though she was immediately interrupted by Trixie, who gently caressed Twilight's cheek with the back of her fingers, causing Twilight to flinch; fall silent; and blush intensely, much to the approval of the men (and Rainbow) in the audience.
"Yes, you'll make a perfect assistant, I think," Trixie said. "I hope you'll forgive me for saying so, dear little cousin- but I daresay you're almost as easy on the eyes as I am!"
More shouts and whistles of approval, but the traces of an enraged frown tugged down at the corners of Twilight's lips. She was losing her patience.
"Although we have met before, you are unfamiliar with my show, correct?" Trixie said, snapping her fingers and Magically activating a mechanism in the carriage that caused a fine walnut wardrobe to rise up on a platform from a trapdoor on its surface.
"Th-that is correct," Twilight stammered, now bashful and stage-shy again.
Trixie chuckled. "Well, I hope you're not too modest then, sweet cousin; my opening illusion requires some degree of... shamelessness on the part of its lovely volunteers. In fact, I'm sure our audience will agree: the best assistants for this particular act are the bravest and most beautiful ones."
The audience cheered in agreement, and Twilight felt as though she'd just been doused in ice-water. Trixie continued, "If you are willing, here is what I ask you to do: you will strip down to your brassiere and panties, assuming you aren't already au naturale beneath your outer garments." The crowd laughed and hooted at this. "You will then be asked to place these Etherial Iron bracelets on your wrists, and attempt to cast a spell to prove that you are incapable of Magic while wearing them." She did this while holding up two hinged arm-cuffs adorned with small locks. "You will then remove your bra, followed by your panties, and give them to me. After that, you simply need to step inside this wardrobe; I will then lock it shut, and you will wait there until I let you back out."
Twilight's eyes widened in horror and her mouth opened slightly, but before she could voice her refusal Trixie laughed, "I can see that you're reluctant to bare the entirety of your beauty for these gentlemen, but you needn't fear: if you like, you may remove only your outer wear in full view, and then go inside the wardrobe before becoming entirely naked. The only thing our audience must see is your lingerie, so that they can verify its appearance for the end of this illusion. In that case, I will have you pass your panties and bra to me from behind the wardrobe's door, and I give you my word that you will preserve the modesty you choose to keep."
Twilight sighed in relief, her blush dying down as her confidence was restored. I guess Trixie's not so bad, she thought, giving Trixie a small, kind smile of gratitude.
"That I'm willing to do," Twilight said, ignoring the disappointed groans and jeers of the audience. "No worse than being at the pool, right?"
Trixie grinned. "A thousand thanks, Duchess Twilight!" she said, clapping her hands in delight. "You're such a good sport. To show my gratitude, any bids cast from the moment you start undressing to the moment you step off the stage are yours, so why don't you get started?"
Twilight's blush intensified a little again- though not as badly as before- as she crossed her arms down to grasp the lower hem of her t-shirt, and she hesitated as the audience cheered and wolf-whistled in approval. However, Trixie drew most of their attentions back to herself by suggestively posing away from Twilight as she cooed to the audience with a wink, "Hate to disappoint you boys, but I am the only Demigoddess you'll win a night with casting gold onto this stage- but be sure to show your appreciation for my cousin's bravery, since it still counts towards your bids!"
The rain of coins upon the stage surged at this, accompanied by another cheer. Twilight was thankful to Trixie for recognizing her discomfort, and going out of her way to divert the crowd's attention from her as she finished pulling off her shirt. Twilight did notice, however, that Rainbow and Spike were notably not allowing Trixie to distract them from enjoying the sight of herself topless, save for her light blue bra.
Twilight felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned to see Trixie offering her hand to her. "I'll hold onto your clothes, if you like," she said. "You'll have them back when we finish this act, of course, but you still need to remove those jeans and that skirt."
"S-sorry...!" Twilight said, flushing as she hurriedly untied her shoes and removed them in order to more efficiently remove her skirt and trousers.
"No need to remove your stockings," Trixie sang. "The boys like them, don't you?"
The crowd voiced their agreement, and Twilight felt a bit of her anger rekindled. She wouldn't be doing this at all if she weren't in such poor standing with the community, and needed some way to get back in their good spirits.
Twilight turned to Trixie, intending to shoot her a warning look, but her annoyance immediately vanished when she saw that Trixie was apparently staring at the scar on her upper arm. However, in the next moment Trixie was again flirtatiously egging tips from the audience, causing Twilight to wonder if she had just imagined that in her momentarily-boiling rage.
"Splendid, splendid!" Trixie cried as Twilight handed over her jeans and skirt. Now, save for her snow-white thigh-high stockings and her matching blue panties and bra, Twilight was completely naked, and her embarrassed blushing in the face of the wolf-whistles of the audience was again at full force.
"Very very nice!" Trixie observed, gazing admiringly up and down Twilight's slightly-plump figure and long, shapely legs. She gave Twilight the Etherial Iron bracelets as she added, "You might have stepped right out of the paintings of Leonato of Athens! Save, of course, for your bosom- it's slightly too generous[/] for the ideal of the Athenian Renaissance- but really, who would complain about that happy little anachronism?"
More hoots as Twilight fastened the bands onto herself.. Twilight gritted her teeth as she forced a small, shy smile onto her cheeks and modestly looked away.
"Now we are ready for the act!" Trixie cried. She tossed Twilight's clothes in the air and passed her cape over them, and the next instant they vanished. There was impressed applause from the audience, though Twilight rolled her eyes at the (admittedly well-executed) obviousness of the non-Sorcerous slight-of-hand.
"All you have to do now, Cousin, is step inside this wardrobe, and then remove your undergarments and pass them out to me," Trixie said, opening the walnut wardrobe's door and gesturing for Twilight to enter. "Although, I'm sure these gentlemen will show their appreciation if you do so in the reverse order."
The crowd cheered and tossed a few coins in agreement.
"Thanks, but I think I'll go inside the dresser first," Twilight answered politely. The crowd booed, but Trixie good-naturedly shrugged and tutted at the audience. "My cousin has already bared quite a bit for you boys!" she said. "That she's assisting me at all is a generous favor on her part; respect that. But don't worry: you'll certainly get what you've been promised here!"
The crowd roared as Trixie took Twilight's hand and helped her step up and into the wardrobe. "Before I close this door and give you some privacy, would you mind attempting to cast a spell, to prove the effects of the bands?" Trixie said.
Twilight snapped her fingers, but not even a spark was produced.
"Excellent!" Trixie cried. "Now, please lie back while I close and lock this door."
Twilight obeyed, and heard the wardrobe's brass hinges squeak faintly as Trixie softly closed its door and audibly latched it shut with a padlock. Twilight was now in total darkness, the clamor of the crowd outside muffled by the wood enclosure.
"Please remove your panties and brassiere!" Trixie shouted from the other side. "Knock on the door when you're nude. Don't worry; the boys won't see."
Twilight removed her undergarments as quickly as she could, contorting her face in fury as she silently uttered curses to herself at the absurdity of all this. Her only consolation was that the wardrobe was surprisingly roomy, and so she was down to only her socks in less than fifteen seconds.
Twilight rapped on the door, as Trixie instructed. She heard Trixie laugh from the other side and shout, "Thanks for following your instructions, but I must confess you never needed to; you see, I already have your undergarments, as well as your stockings!" Twilight patted her thighs, and sighed in annoyance when she found that her stockings had indeed vanished.
"Her tastes in lingerie are a bit dull, don't you think?" Trixie said. "I daresay, she must look much better without them. Well, boys, do you think we should look inside and see...?"
Twilight flinched as the crowd cheered wildly in response. "W-what...?!" she cried, slamming her palms against the door's inside. "Wait, I'm not...!"
However, Twilight heard the lock click and the door unlatch. "N-no...!" she whimpered in terror, crossing her arms over her breasts and lifting up her leg in a desperate attempt to preserve some sliver of her modesty....
But then, the instant before the door opened to let the air and light pour back in, Twilight yelped as she felt some kind of tight, elastic fabric snap across her chest, calves, backside, and crotch. She lowered her arms and legs in surprise and looked down to see what had happened, and saw what she was now wearing at the same instant the audience did: she was now in Trixie's (slightly-too-tight) bikini top, panties, stockings, and high heels.
"Much better, don't you think?" Trixie said proudly gesturing at Twilight. Twilight's face blazed as she realized Trixie was now wearing only her cape and her hat.
Twilight seethed with explosive, barely-contained humiliated rage. She was enraged at Trixie, for exploiting her like this; she was enraged at the audience, and even Rainbow and Spike, for watching this despicable sideshow; but most of all, she was enraged at herself for being stupid enough to let herself be pressured into this.
That's it, Twilight thought to herself. I am fucking DONE with this horseshit. She silently but swiftly stripped naked again in full view, far too furious to care about the crude cheers this provoked. Twilight sat and reached down to wrench Trixie's shoes off her feet, and in doing so she was forced to spread her legs and give the audience an excellent view of everything between them. Let the tabloids write about me. Let 'em plaster my tits and ass and pussy all over the front page. Whatever. I don't care. I don't care what they think of me anymore. However, despite this assertion, the crowd's roaring approval caused Twilight to tremble and weep.
With a terrifyingly primal roar, Twilight hurled both of Trixie's shoes off of the stage, into nowhere in particular. They didn't hit anyone, though part of Twilight wished they had. The entire Town Square had fallen totally silent.
Trixie was obviously terrified as Twilight stood back up, turned, and advanced upon her. Trixie shrank under the pure, murderous hatred of her cousin's glare.
Twilight's voice was chillingly, eerily calm as she muttered,"Give. Me. My. Clothes. Back." She was quiet, but her words nonetheless rang quite clear.
Trixie hesitated, and Twilight's wrath reached a breaking-point; her eyes and Marks glowed brightly with Etherial light as she tugged the iron cuffs off her wrists and snapped her fingers, engulfing the walnut wardrobe in violet flames. The crowd gasped in shock, and seconds later the object was reduced to ash.
A few seconds of unbearably tense silence were again shattered as Twilight then bellowed, "NOW!!"
Another tense, silent moment, and then Trixie smirked. "Already done," she said, gesturing down at Twilight's form.
Twilight looked down, and saw that she was now fully-dressed back in her original outfit. The crowd roared with applause, and Twilight shot a smugly smiling Trixie one last spiteful glare as she stormed down off the stage.
"I kept my promise; you showing them everything was your choice!" Trixie called after Twilight as she shoved her way through the crowd. Trixie added, "I presume you're not going to want the tips you earned, dearest cousin?" Twilight ignored her and marched on. She stopped only when she saw Rainbow and Spike, who looked utterly mortified, shocked, and apologetic. She wanted to think of something truly searing and venomous to spit at them; they were obviously, fearfully anticipating it- and on top of that, they knew that they deserved it. However, Twilight was too beside herself to think of the right words, so instead she furiously sobbed and slammed her palms against their shoulders, pushing them out of her way before sprinting towards the Golden Oak Library.
After watching Twilight run away for a few moments, Rainbow and Spike turned to share a gaze; at first, it was one of self-loathing and despair, but after a few moments their expressions morphed into determined resolve. They maintained their locked gaze for a few moments, nodded in silent agreement, and then ran after Twilight.
The rest of the show went off without a hitch. Trixie had successfully convinced the audience that her cousin's enraged outburst was just all part of the act, and she was even able to conjure her spare wardrobe (aided in secret- of course- by Oberon, as always) onto the stage to replace her previous one, passing off even Twilight's destruction of that as an illusion she had planned for.
In truth, at most, Trixie had only half planned for that. Though she was playing the part of a callous and exploitative ringmaster, she did in truth feel bad for what she'd done to Twilight; on any other performance, she would have never asked someone so blatantly uncomfortable with erotic performances to volunteer. In fact, had her poor cousin not shown up, Trixie would have invited her rainbow-maned friend onto the stage; she was obviously eager to be- not just the volunteer for Trixie's illusions- but also the recipient of a "free sample" of her services on the stage. Audiences always tipped extremely well for displays of lesbianism, even though Trixie's lust for other women was just as false and performative as her slight-of-hand and stage illusions. She wasn't called "the World's Greatest Showgirl" for nothing, after all.
But Twilight was the reason she was here. It was a happy coincidence that she had shown up to the performance; otherwise, Trixie would have had to raise suspicions by going out of her way to visit her. She was also lucky that Twilight had been willing to get on the stage with her- that was certainly not a given. But her heart had sunk just as much as it had attempted to beat out of her chest from fear, when Twilight burned down her wardrobe.
She had deliberately provoked Twilight, expecting to be attacked by her directly, but fortunately Oberon was there to cast an Etherial shield to protect Trixie if that transpired. However, the fact that she was able to Magically burn a half-ton walnut wardrobe to ashes made it clear that Trixie had no choice but to obey the Master's instructions down to the letter; it was going to break Sunset's heart, but Twilight was too dangerous.
She spent the afternoon with her show's winning bidder- some portly-but-friendly middle-aged Human man- and then hitched her cart up to Oberon and drove into the Everfree Forest. There, she set up camp, fed Oberon some carrots, and changed into her dark robes. She then went to the back of her cart, where she found a hidden switch in the metallic ornamentations on its back. She clicked it, there was some mechanical whirring, and an iron box lowered from a secret compartment under the cart and jutted out, presenting itself to her.
Dusk descended on Trixie's camp as she unlocked her safe-box and opened it, revealing a set of throwing-knives: the tools she would use to fulfill the Master's command. This time, the Assassin wouldn't miss; last time, Trixie had only pierced Twilight's arm. Tonight, they would plunge into her cousin's heart.