//------------------------------//
// Tricks Up Her Sleeves 
// Story: And She Captivates 
// by SilverNotes 
//------------------------------//

"Well, here we are."

Here was a small coffee shop on the far end of town, populated with a handful of couples, one family, and a college student leaning so far toward the laptop they were furiously typing on that it looked like they were trying to merge with the screen. The kind of place where the walls were saturated in the scent of dark roast, but the scent of hot chocolate or pastries could sometimes get a foothold to tempt the sweet tooth.

Trixie Lulamoon had found the place several months ago, and had rapidly become a regular. She'd come with Lavender and Fuchsia for casual band meetings--while the Great and Powerful Trixie was still determined to make her stage magician career take off, she wasn't about to abandon her Illusions when they'd done so well during the Battle of the Bands; they just needed a few more songs that were nearly as perfect as their debut one and they'd be set--but hadn't brought any other of her friends here yet, and so stood admiring the location proudly as her eyes sought her usual table.

Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow slightly, a smirk on her lips. "Here we do are?" she asked, and smirked all more at Trixie's brief grimace.

"You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

"Nope!"

Trixie huffed, even as she offered Sunset her arm. "You're lucky that you're so pretty that the Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie can't bear to hold a grudge against you."

Sunset shook her head a little, but smiled as she took Trixie's arm. "I'll take your word for it."

The warmth of the contact made Trixie's heart jump. Sunset always had a subtle warmth radiating off of her, not just metaphorically but literally, as she apparently ran a temperature a few degrees higher than the average person. She'd had to explain that to Trixie, once, when she'd had the flu, asking her not to panic when she saw the thermometer. As if the Great and Powerful Trixie would have panicked over something so mundane as one of her friends running an apparent fever.

Friends. There'd been a time when the idea of being friends with the likes of Sunset Shimmer would have seemed ridiculous. No one had been Sunset's friend, just her lackey. You'd been allowed to be in her orbit, so long as you didn't outshine her. One of the only people who'd kept being consistently kind and friendly to her instead of groveling or fleeing her presence had been Flash Sentry, and Trixie was fairly certain that, siren-magic-induced animosity aside, that boy didn't have it in him not to be kind to everyone. And even he had been used and tossed aside for his trouble.

Trixie, along with the rest of the student body, had watched Sunset turn into a demon right in front of them. That wasn't the kind of thing casually forgotten.

And yet.

Sunset and Flash were friends now, having set all history and its associated awkwardness aside. She was in a band with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, who'd forgiven her completely for the ways she'd targeted and tormented them. She'd taken a new transfer student under her wing in Twilight Sparkle--the one from this world, of course, not the strange pony girl who'd swept into the school like a hurricane shortly before the demon incident--and had even forged a connection with Wallflower Blush, who'd previously been on a memory-wiping campaign to ruin Sunset's life.

The transformation was uncanny, and it had been during that memory-wiping fiasco that Trixie had really gotten to see Sunset, the ways in which she'd changed, and the ways that she still had room to improve herself. A friendship had taken root, and then slowly blossomed into something different.

Just like Trixie had not panicked upon seeing Sunset running a high temperature, she'd certainly not been a nervous wreck over the idea of asking her out on a date. Most definitely not so filled with this nonexistent anxiety that she'd asked Flash for advice out of desperation, and sworn him to silence on threat of the next trick she'd performed being sawing his guitar in half.

In hindsight, the threat had been overkill. The threat that she absolutely did not make, over the advice she did not ask for. Because the Great and Powerful Trixie could charm any boy or girl she wanted, and Sunset would be lucky to go out with her.

She also hadn't done a little victory dance upon Sunset agreeing to the coffee date, and anyone who said otherwise were engaging in malicious slander.

Her regular table was open, and the two settled in and made their orders with no fuss. The barista had known Trixie's usual order, rattling off her favourite coffee drink, but Trixie had made sure to add a chocolate croissant to the order. It was a date, after all, and if there was ever a time to treat herself, it was now.

As they waited for their drinks and treats, Trixie offered a smile, pouncing on her first thought for a conversation starter. "Soooo... how are things going with the, um, project thing you've been working on?"

Sunset quirked an eyebrow at her again. "The interdimensional cultural exchange?"

"Yes, that," she confirmed with a nod. "I thought I heard you saying something to Rarity about... dogs?"

"Diamond dogs." Sunset hummed in thought. "They're, uh... think dogs that walk upright and can stand anywhere from here--" She held out her hand to one side, indicating something roughly waist-height. "--To here." She raised her arm, indicating closer to shoulder-height. "They've recently set up an embassy in Equestria, and so there's been some talk of them sending representatives through the portal, too." Sunset pulled her arm back in, and used it to rest her chin in her hand. "Really, the main problem is that we're not sure they'll be human when they come to our side."

"Well, I mean, we already have a talking dog walking around." Trixie shrugged. "After Spike, I don't think people will freak out if there are more."

"Well, that's the thing..." Sunset paused as the barista called them.

Trixie smiled. "Allow Trixie." She gave a little bow as she got up, earning a snort of laughter, and strolled over to retrieve everything from the counter. As she returned, she handed Sunset her coffee and danish, then settled back on her side on the table. "You were saying?"

Sunset picked at the corner of the danish. "So, the thing is, the Spike from the other side of the portal isn't a diamond dog, he's a dragon." She took a sip from her coffee. "Ponies have turned into humans, and so have sirens, but a dragon's turned into dog. We don't know if a diamond dog would become a human, a dog, or..." She gave a vague gesture in the air. "...I don't know, a talking horse?"

Trixie snickered a little. "That'd be pretty surreal for you, huh?"

"Oh you have no idea." She took a proper bite of the danish, then another sip of coffee. "I was not okay after the first time I saw what ponies are like on this side." She rested her chin on her palm again. "The fact is, we really don't know a lot about how our worlds are connected, so we're figuring out a lot as we go along. Twilight--the pony Twilight--has been really helpful, but she's got her own hooves full since she took over as ruling monarch and controlling the sun and moon."

Controlling the what?

It seemed to take a while for Sunset to notice how Trixie was looking at her. "...Did I never mention the sun and moon thing?"

Trixie picked her jaw back up. "You did not."

"Right, yeah, sooo..." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. "On my homeworld, the sun and moon are both magical satellites that need to be manually directed. Night and day basically run on a schedule." She picked up her coffee again. "There's no law that says the ruler of Equestria needs to be in control of them, but in practice that's how it's gone for the last thousand or so years, so Twilight's pulling sky duty as well as normal governance."

If all of that had come from anyone else, Trixie would have dismissed it immediately as them pulling her leg, even with all of the magic she'd seen since that fateful Fall Formal. From Sunset, however, she was willing to believe it. There was just something about it nagging at her, and she took a bite from the croissant as she thought over her words. "And... there's a whole bunch of other species and countries in this world, right?"

"That's right." She gave a small nod. "I think the planet's a little smaller than this one, but not by too much. Still a lot of room for a lot of different people."

"And... they're okay with one nation having control of the day and night cycle?"

Sunset blinked, looking as if no one had ever posed that question before. "Yes? I mean, there's some grumbling sometimes, but when it comes to having the right kind of magic to take over that duty... and especially not burn out from it, it's basically just alicorn ponies like Twilight who can. And... like I said, there's precedent. After over a millennium of that being our job, it feels normal." She gave a soft laugh. "It took me a long time to wrap my head around the fact that it's automatic here."

Trixie took another bite of her croissant, and chewed on the information just as much as the pastry. "Have to admit, I didn't think we'd be talking about magical orbital mechanics on a first date."

Sunset flinched. "Heh, sorry." She went back to eating her danish. "I guess I'm still not used to being able to talk about this stuff with people. I had to learn to blend in fast when I first arrived, and now I can actually say I'm a unicorn without being stared at like I'm crazy." She offered a smile. "We can stop and talk about normal... human... date things, if you want."

Trixie felt a small pang in her chest. When she'd been thinking about the old Sunset Shimmer, she'd only thought about the mean girl trying to rule the school by any means necessary. What she hadn't thought about was the fact that the old Sunset was also a person from an entirely different world, trapped in a human body, unable to tell anyone what had happened.

Someone who knew who she was supposed to be, but no one saw her that way.

In more ways than Trixie had realized.

"No, no..." She reached out a hand, and took one of Sunset's; she blinked in surprise at the sudden contact, but didn't pull away. "It's fascinating, all of it. I've loved magic my whole life, and now it's real, and I have the chance to learn all about it." She smirked. "Plus, you're cute when you're being nerdy."

Sunset smiled back, slightly. "I'll... take your word for it."

Trixie frowned. "You keep saying that."

"Saying what?"

"That you'll take my word for it when I say you're cute, or pretty..." She gestured at Sunset with her free hand. "Or, dare I say it, gorgeous. Really, you of all people didn't strike me as someone who'd be humble about your looks."

Sunset quieted, and as seconds passed, Trixie wondered if she'd said the wrong thing. Hit some unknown button from a past she knew so little of. Sunset still didn't pull her hand away, however, instead looking at the loosely-held hands, orange and blue, together. "I know how to be stylish," she said finally. "Once you take the different body plan into account, a lot translates... but Trixie, in case you forgot, I'm a unicorn."

Trixie hadn't forgotten. Well, hadn't forgotten forgotten. They'd just talked about it, after all. But now it was starting to sink in exactly what that meant.

Sunset continued, "From my perspective, you're all a bunch of alien primates. I can't even really read human faces properly, or recognize them. I just learned what 'face-blind' means when Twilight--human Twilight--brought it up to me a bit ago, but back then I just... had to learn everything through trial and error. Passing through the portal provides spoken and written language ability, but it didn't teach me how to read human expressions, human body language..." She sighed. "I need to take others' words for it that I'm pretty, because I genuinely can't tell."

Trixie found herself trying to imagine Sunset, as she used to be. She tried to imagine a small pony, the kind that a younger version of herself would have trampled other children for a chance to pet. She then mentally transposed Sunset's skin and hair colours over it, gave it a horn, and wondered if she'd come close.

Then she imagined that pony suddenly turning into a human, without knowing what was happening or why. Tried to wrap her mind about how alien and possibly traumatic that would be.

Wallflower had briefly erased Sunset's memories of high school, during the final confrontation. She'd told Trixie that. She wouldn't have known where she was, known what she was, and would have lived through that horrifying confusion all over again.

And you still forgave her.

You've done a lot of bad things, Sunset. You earned that Biggest Meanie title. And I don't take back my point that you could've stood to be more actively nice even when you stopped being mean.

But you've become a remarkable human being, all the same. Even if you're technically not human at all.

Trixie took a deep breath, but instead of giving voice to any of that, something else found itself on her lips. "Then... why did you say yes?"

Sunset's eyes widened. "What?"

"We're all a bunch of strange apes to you," she elaborated. "So... why agree to go on a date with me?"

"Because you're you." The hand that Trixie was holding suddenly had company, as Sunset grasped her hand in both of her own. "You empathized with me and believed me when no one else did, even after I called you a blowhard. You helped me see where I still had work to do with redeeming myself. And you've been a steadfast friend ever since. Why wouldn't I want to go out with you?"

Trixie's face burned, and she imagined the blush on her blue complexion had her looking almost Twilight Sparkle purple. "Sunset, I..."

"Besides, I didn't say there wasn't anything attractive about you..." She leaned forward, and suddenly Trixie had much more reason to blush. Like a Sunset Shimmer in very close to kissing distance. "There's your hair..." Her gaze glided over the swoop of off-white locks. "Your eyes..." She leaned in even more. "Your voice..."

Trixie would deny the squeak she gave in that moment to the grave. "Y-you like my voice?"

With each syllable like molten honey, she practically purred back, "I could listen to you talk all day."

"M-me too." Sunset had started to pull back again, but those definitely-not-there squeaks weren't leaving as quickly, or the blush. "I mean. Your voice. Too. I like listening to you too."

Sunset chuckled, and one of her hands pulled away to fetch her coffee. The other never left Trixie's. "Even when I'm rambling about magic things?"

"Especially then."

The conversation lapsed after that, but it wasn't an awkward silence. The two simply took time to finish their treats, Trixie savouring her croissant. while Sunset demolished the rest of her danish and openly eyed the display case in clear hunger for another. She only finally, reluctantly, let go of Trixie's hand to go order more.

Trixie had noticed that the Rainbooms could all pack away a lot of food--getting in between Rainbow Dash and a sandwich was even less advised than getting in between her and a new guitar--and she wondered if it was a side-effect of their magical ability. Trixie herself been able to pick up small things, small "tricks" that she would be able to work when in areas where a lot of magic had been, most notably the high school, but she couldn't "pony up" like they could, nor did she have the kind of powers that the geodes had granted the seven, and she imagined that if something was going to burn a lot of calories, being telepathic, and especially partial shapechanging and firing multicoloured lasers, was going to do it.

As Sunset sat back down with three more danishes, Trixie found herself again trying to imagine what she used to look like. Then she realized that there was a way for her not have to imagine. "Hey, Sunset, the next time you go to Equestria... could I come with you?"

Sunset paused halfway through her merciless slaughter of the pastries. "You'd want to?"

Trixie nodded. "I want to see where you came from." She then grinned, striking a pose as best she could while sitting down. "Besides, if I'm already so fetching to you as a human, I want to see how you react when you see me as a pony."

"I mean, that assumes you are a pony on the other side." She shrugged. "Maybe your counterpart is a diamond dog. Or a minotaur. Or a donkey."

Trixie huffed. "If I did turn into a donkey, then I'd be--"

"One hot ass?"

Trixie leaned back in her seat, needing a moment to process the full force of that pun. "That was terrible." She thrust her pointer finger at Sunset, who just kept grinning at her. "You. Are. Terrible." She huffed and crossed her arms. "It's a good thing that Twilight isn't here, because I bet you'd go to pony-jail for that."

It took a while for Sunset's laughter to fade, and she was still chuckling as she said, "I'd love to bring you with me, Trixie." She went back to tearing into her pastries. "Maybe I can introduce you to the former princesses while we're there."

Trixie's eyes widened, her mind immediately discarding the word "former" and latching onto the rest. "Meeting princesses?" She cleared her throat, trying to rein in her glee. "I mean, of course, the Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie deserves no less than a royal welcome! The only trouble is choosing what to wear to such a--"

Sunset chuckled and shook her head. "You'll be a pony, Trixie. Or a donkey. You can just go naked."

"Naked?!" Laughter broke out across the table again. "That's not funny, Sunset! You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking and that everyone on the other side doesn't really..."

She wasn't joking, but Trixie wouldn't learn that for certain until much later. It would take time for even retired royalty to have time in their schedule to entertain guests, and for their schedule to mesh with that of two girls who were still in high school, if not much longer. And when that all happened, she'd have her own triumphant laugh over the fact that stepping out of the portal did not, in fact, yield Trixie the Great and Powerful Donkey.

Right now, however, Trixie simply sat and listened to Sunset Shimmer laugh, and she knew that when it came to making the choice to ask her out, there was no doubt in her mind that it was the right decision.

And whether it was in this world or the other one, whatever craziness life threw at them, they'd face it head on. Together.