//------------------------------//
// CH 92 Trixie the Something and Something else  
// Story: Twilight's Nightmare 
// by Nightsclaw 
//------------------------------//





The Great and Powerful Trixie, Chosen of Twilight, battle mage and stage magician extraordinaire should have been bored. If anypony had asked her a year ago and told her what she was doing and why, she would have called them crazy at the very least.

 Trixie stood her watch from the peak of the Crusader's new watchtower while doing casting drills. The cool wind that played with her mane and cape both still carried a hint of ash on it. Despite that taint on the air, it was a pleasant counterpoint to the heat building under her armour.

Her horn thrummed with power without even a single glimmer of light escaping. She formed rune after rune inside her magnificent arcane spire before carefully dismantling them.

Again, Twilight's warm voice said from her memories. It stung a little that even this was just more proof that her raw talent was not enough to match Starlight. Despite her recent power boost, it still took endless repetition to get the spells nailed down enough so that she could reliably use them in combat. But Trixie was not going to let that stop her, even if it took thirty hours a day, she would be worthy.

She moved on to her next spell, a hybrid pyromantic and illusion spell. Well, it was not entirely her spell. It was still humbling that three-quarters of the work on it had been Little Star's and the last Starlight's. About the only thing Trixie herself would get to add was the name. Its base was an overpowered firework spell with triple the heat and force components. Two things made it unique. The first was that half of the fireworks were invisible and took chaotic indirect paths to their target. The second is the visible ones had weak want-it-need-it effects on them.

A twinge, an itch in her horn, distracted her. It was the spell crumbling that pulled her from her memories. She growled under her breath. She must have botched the last rune again. She forced a wave of disruption through her horn. Overpowering and destroying the failing spell before it could miss-cast. She grit her teeth at the bout of hornache. "Buck." She hissed out even as the pain started to fade. Still, it was far better this now than fumbling the spell in actual combat.

Combat, something that would now be part of her life, something any sane pony would flee from, she would now charge towards. A slight smirk formed on her face. She might not like battle, but not much could match the gratitude in the eyes of those saved nor the silent acceptance of the ponies fighting by one's side. Comrades in arms were not something she ever thought she would have, yet she could hardly imagine being without them now.

She was here, doing nothing, alone, not because of being shunned, not because of any punishment. No, she was here because Twilight trusted her. Her smirk became a genuine smile as she brought her hoof to her chest. Every beat of her now powerful heart, with every movement of her legs, brought home the true magnitude of Twilight's gift. The piece of Twilight's soul that was now forever a part of her.

She blinked away the excessive moisture from her eyes. There must have been a bit of dust or ash in the air. Honestly, the flyers should do something to fix the air quality. Her eyes roved the lands beyond the wall. Still, there was nothing dangerous. The only thing moving out there was a bunch of wagons. By the green-on-black banners they flew, they were expected, if a few days early.

"This is not how my life was meant to be…" She sighed, but she could not hide the undercurrent of contentment in it. That party had been amazing. It had been a party to end all parties… the only problem was she could not remember any of it.

Her heart just knew she had performed. She had put on the best show in her life, and it stung neither she nor anypony else would remember it. Still, even if she could not remember the show, her mind brought up tricks she hadn't even thought of before.

Candice's explanation was simple enough. Each and every wish that anypony wanted that nopony in the town objected to was granted by the full might of two alicorns.

Was it worth having your wish granted if you were simply going to forget it?

She tossed her head, and her mane moved its silken smooth strands, returning to their artful style as if by magic. Below her vantage, everypony still looked like supermodels. She shook her head. It was magic, the sort of thing that would be commonplace if there was a Princess Rarity - Alicorn of fabulosity.

Trixie rolled her eyes and moved on to the next part of her exercise routine. She conjured an illusion of a miniature Twilight. One by one, she cycled through each pony she knew the whole time without even lighting her horn.

So many of them were her friends now. So many of them trusted her. It paused on a night guard. A pony she did not even know the name of until after they had traded their life to save others.

A few minutes passed as she did her best to remember them. Ponies like that deserved to be remembered.

Her little remembrance over, she moved on, her self-confidence almost enough to ignore the little voice inside that said. That could be you one day.

The illusions returned to Twilight's form, this time in armour, just like she had worn on the trip to that ancient dungeon. Armour the colour of freshly spilt blood and vicious wing blades that promised violence, a promise Twilight's hungry eyes looked resolved to keep. Eyes that she had no trouble believing ate that griffon's heart. Just what is she training me for?

"The show must go on," she breathed out, surprisingly unbothered by the implications of an illusionist combat mage who had mastered veiled casting.

The illusion changed to a scene, a memory that felt much longer ago than it truly was. A lot has happened since that first magic show in Ponyville. The moving image shifted from her showing up the element bearers to Twilight, the unicorn, her horn blazing as she levitated an Ursa Minor.

It then changed again to herself, her worst purchase ever around her neck, her eyes burning red as she played the part of a petty tyrant. She had thought she had power. She closed her eyes.

She could still feel the strength in Twilight's wings as they enveloped her. Mere feathers had become a cage strong enough to block out the world.

You are mine. She shivered. Just the memory of those words stole her breath.

A calming breath, and it was easy to visualise her wellspring. Well, wellsprings, really. Two coloured orbs, one blue and one silver, each enveloped in magenta. Proof of the greatest gift that she had ever received

She had dared to think she had power then… that a mere trinket was enough. When compared to an actual Alicorn, it was nothing… Somepony should sue them for false advertising.

She chuckled and opened her eyes. Her tongue craved that whisky-fortified coffee. She licked her lips. There was just a hint, just a ghost of it. It was just another thing she could not remember from the party.

She was still trying to decide if she was being willfully ignorant or if she simply accepted that there were some ponies the world would be better without. An undetectable assassin was the perfect tool for that.

She nodded to herself. "The show must go on."





The town was fully awake when the armoured wagons eventually rolled into town. Their stoic guards had their heads, eyes and ears on a constant swivel. Despite the fact they were now past the wall, they seemed more nervous, not less.  

They tried to play it off as vigilance. Oh, they put on a good show. But they weren't showponies, not by a long shot. Still, the wagon loads of food and metal were needed, and that blinded the Ponyvilleans from the newcomer's paranoia.

Trixie lit her horn, focused on the needed runes and visualised her intent. This time, she remembered to include all her gear and her destination in the mental construct. It would just be embarrassing to leave it behind… again. She closed her eyes and triggered the spell. Opening them just after the flash.

She lifted her hat and bowed. "Welcome to Ponyville. In the name of her Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle, First of her Name, Alicorn of Magic and Friendship, Saviour of Princess Luna, Heroine of Harmony, and High Librarian of Equestria." With that last one only years of being a performer allowed Trixie to keep a straight face. The urge to laugh still squirmed inside her. How could it not? The last and Twilgiht's most favoured title was nothing more than a prank Hearthwarming's gift.

The guards, with their Manehattan livery re-done in green and black, looked between each other before one stepped forward.

"Thank you… Trixie, Chosen of Twilight." The mare offered an amateur attempt at a salute. It was nice to be addressed with a title, even if it was not 'the Great and Powerful'.

The mare paused like an actor waiting for somepony to prompt them for their next line.

Amateurs…They are so going to get themselves caught. Glowlessly, she spun off an illusion of how this encounter was meant to go around them and tacked a privacy spell under it.

"Look, you're clearly not good at pretending to be a guard… so either learn or don't even try." They looked offended, but Trixie just raised a hoof and carried on stampeding over them. "Not everypony knows about you yet, and given how scarily competent everypony around here is…"

"I understand… thank you."

I can't believe I'm doing this. Trixie nodded. "The Repentant and Reformed Trixie knows how hard it is to go from villainess to the whole friendship and good pony role."

With a respectful tilt of her horn, she started walking. The convoy took the hint and followed her. The disguised changeling she was talking to took position beside her. She flicked her eyes to them. She was here walking next to one of Chrysalis' changelings without a hint of fear. Instead, they were the scared ones. She wanted to laugh, but she kept it in. It would not be nice and would not befitting for Trixie, Chosen of Twilight, to do.

"Why are you helping us?"

"I just said, and I don't know how Twilight did it, but you're on our side now."

"You are not afraid we will turn on you?"

Trixie could not stop the laugh that escaped her. "Oh, tell another one. You might not be able to play the role of a guard, but you do comedian perfectly."

"That was not a joke."

"That just makes it funnier. See that filly there?"

"Yes."

"She teleports the heads off hydras for sport and casually enchants her toys to be more dangerous than siege weapons."

The changling gave a disbelieving look.

"Hey, Little Star."

As expected, she did not even finish speaking before the little bundle of power teleported in. The surge of power and flash was enough that all the changelings recoiled from it.

"Yes, Trixie?" Little Star said bright-eyed with a wide smile.

"Would you be so kind as to help these kind bringers of snacks and other goods with their burdens?"

Little Star snapped off a perfect salute and lit her horn. A wave of flashes and pops rippled along the wagons, and in only a few seconds, the only thing left in them was empty air.

A few wisps of smoke rose from Little Star's horn. "Anything else I can help with?"

Trixie shook her head. "Thank you, Little Star… See you in class?"

"Yep." Little Star teleported the half meter to deploy a hug. The small pony's horn still radiated enough heat to be uncomfortable, but Trixie still returned it. "Remember to bring your quill this time." Little Star added sternly before, with an ear twitching, she teleported away.

"That's Twilgiht's daughter?"

"Yes… and the guard considers her the ultimate defensive option when you don't have an Alicorn at hoof."

The changeling gulped. A small smug part of Trixie wanted to smile at that. Another heckler was put in their place, but that was not who she was now, not the role she played.

"You're on our side now, so unless you betray us, she will protect you."

The changeling's eyes look to the castle, likely where Little Star teleported to. "It kinda feels embracing to be offered the protection of a little filly."

"Oh, Trixie knows, she's my classmate… she's both smarter than me and more powerful and learns spells in seconds…"

"That must be humbling."

"It was… but it's not a competition. We are all on the same side, and we all have things we can do better than others."

The changeling's gaze drifted to her armoured flank. "It must be nice having a special talent."

Trixie nodded. "Knowing what you're good at, your place can be nice, but too many get blinded by it, letting it be the only thing that matters."

"That's a problem?"

"If you lose yourself to your talent, you try to always solve everything with it, and try to always use it even if it does not fit the situation."

"So if you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail?"

"Exactly."

"So what now? The mission timeline had us unloading and sorting for the next few hours."

"They are going to insist on a good meal, maybe a party and letting you have a good night's rest."

"We don't…"

"This has nothing to do with need. You brought them all this bounty, brought a little bit of happiness with better food, and even Trixie can guess that metal is going to weapons or train tracks."

"Likely."

"So most ponies… this place more so, will want to thank you for helping them. As this is Pinkie Pie's home, that means there will be a P.A.R.T.Y."

The changeling looked confused but did not comment about her spelling out the word. "We're not exactly trained for this."

"Be polite, be friendly, accept what they offer if they are happy to give it to you. You can sense emotions, right?"

The changeling nodded.

"Then this should be simple." She hoped.





It had not been simple. Not in any way. At least no creature died. Trixie thought as she leaned over the internal balcony. Below in the hall, most of the excitement had already ended, but there was still enough that her overwatch was still required, if not needed.

No pony died…When had that honestly become a cornerstone of a good day and not just a certainty?

The scattered remains of both food and games littered both the table tops and floor. She shook her head even as a small smile played on her face. It was all one pony's fault really, a very pink pony.

Pinkie Pie had been her normal self. She dragged the whole group of changelings around and introduced them to everypony in maybe ten seconds flat. The poor changelings, Trixie's head was still spinning with the memory of merely watching.

Then the poor defenceless changelings, well, the ones that were stallions at least, were blindsided by the flanking manoeuvre of the pack of hungry mares. Her combat training said it was well done. Her life experience said this mess was exactly why preferring mares was the only sensible choice.

At least none of them had fought. Nopony had any bitterness left. Not a single grudge or slight held any weight. How could they, after sharing everything with each other, even if they could not truly remember it? Only here would you see the losing party actually honestly wish the victor well.

The last changeling holdouts were still valiantly standing their ground. Polite no-thanks-yous and well-wielded logic paired with just the right honeyed words defeated the advances of the insistent mares.

Her still grounded rear hooves felt the approaching pony before her ears heard their nearly silent hoof falls.

Trixie half turned her head, glancing over her cloaked withers. "How does it feel to be the prey?" She asked the apparent leader of the changelings.

His aura offered one of the two wine glasses that hovered next to him. Trixie claimed it and dipped her horn in thanks. She did not even need to taste it to know it was expensive. Its scent alone spoke of a five-figure cost per bottle.

"It is interesting. It makes me think the harvesters have been exaggerating how hard their job truly is."

Trixie waved a hoof at the ponies below. "This place is special, and those they trust have told them you're safe." The light danced in the crimson liquid as she swirled it. "And you brought gifts."

"It behoved us to make a good impression."

"Well, so far, I would say you have. Though I do have a question."

A tipped glass gave her permission to continue.

"If you're not trained, why were you sent?"

He opened his mouth. Paused, looked thoughtful, and then refocused on her. Something in his eyes was different, keener somehow.

The duel-toned voice that spoke though was quite unmistakable. "Those of my children with the superior social aptitude have ingrained habits that would be undesirable at this time."

"Chrysalis," Trixie hissed.

"That's Lady Chrysalis now, but I will still answer to Queen."

"So nice to speak to the new Lady of Manehatten." Do not roll your eyes. You are Trixie, the diplomatic and composed. She mentally recited.

They nodded. "It will do."

"So what now?"

"I will not apologise for my past actions, nor will I ask you to apologise for yours."

"How magnanimous of you."

"What did you expect? We were enemies, and we were at war."

"And that makes it all alright?"

"Yes."

"All the ponies you took."

"Were needed food." The changeling's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If I did nothing, I would have seen my children starve."

Trixie winced. Of all the ponies here, she knew what it was like to be hungry, truly hungry. What felt like a lifetime ago, She had been out of bits, with no wagon, shivering in a cold cavern, with a small fire being the only thing that stopped her water-logged mane from freezing solid.

Even if they hated me, the ponies here would have fed me, got me on my hooves and helped me turn my life around. Trixie's ears drooped a little. Here she was, still holding a grudge. Trixie, the Chosen of Twilight, is better than this.

Trixie took a calming breath and stepped deeper into her role. This time, not a mere stage presence. No, this time, she pretended to be the pony she wanted to be. The only thing to do now was to keep at it until it stuck.

"Do you need a moment?" Chrysalis asked in a somewhat warmer voice.

Trixie shook her head. "No. But thank you."

"That was quite a bit of emotional gymnastics… you might have made a good infiltrator."

"Well, Trixie is quite a skilled and talented performer."

"You have been more accepting than Starlight."

"She had more experience being evil, and she can't trust Twilight like I can."

"Because you are her chosen?"

"Yes, that and how heavy-hooved she is with threats these days."

"Quite."

Trixie smirked. "She scared you half to death too?"

Chrysalis' silence was more than telling enough.

Trixie waved her hoof and savoured another sip of her wine. "Don't worry, Trixie won't tell." She dropped her tone to a conspiratorial whisper. "Alicorns are terrifying. I asked why Princess Celestia used to send Twilight everywhere to fix everything."

"I take it you are about to illuminate her reasons?"

"Well, there are two. One was to prepare Twilight. But the other one is Celestia has a lot of trouble not burning everything anywhere near her when she fights."

"I'm aware."





The rest of the castle still bore the signs of everypony living there. Even with the apparent safety, nopony and even Luna's party felt like truly sleeping outside its protection.

The section her hooves now carried her through was different. This section was still Twilight's primary domain.

She walked up to the sealed door. A magenta crystal eye stood sentinel and looked right at her. The hairs of her coat wanted to stand up, and her legs wanted to freeze, but she did her best to ignore the feeling of the thing looking right through her. She imagined this is what other species meant when they said they felt naked. For her, it brought back memories of being on stage, only she had forgotten all her tricks and could not even remember her name, let alone her lines.

 It stared for a long moment before it blinked, and the door swung open on its own.

"Thank you," Trixie said. It paid to be polite. It fit her role and if that thing was a freaky demon from Tartarus or worse, no way did she want it angry at her.

She stood as confidently as she could as she passed. The door slammed shut behind her. At least this time, it did not trap the hem of her cloak.

Yep, being polite to the demon door was the way to go.

The first room was a ready room. It had Gilda and Rainbow playing cards. Trixie nodded to them, and through their focus on their competition, she only got two distracted waves.

The next was an armoury, or it was going to be. Currently, it was kinda empty. But there were enough empty racks and stands for a hundred ponies worth of gear. The only thing in it was a full set of uniforms and rank markings. The ones Rarity spent so long creating.

As she approached the next turn-off, a chill breeze somehow got under her coat. As if the floor itself was tilted, she found herself almost hugging the far wall. She started to turn her head that way, and her limbs trembled. It was like being back in that ancient place, but instead of her ears hearing Twilight's screams, somehow, they carried through her hooves.

A quick gallop cleared it, the crawling chill fading as if it was never there. Trixie looked back. The wall safely blocked any view of whatever that was. She knew that's where Noble Guide was… Nope! Trixie set her eyes forward and marched on.
 
She passed a few store rooms before even her earthpony stamina demanded she take that breath the chill had denied her.

After that, there was an office. Within, Candice dozed with a changeling curled up next to her, the ling's horn nestled against the base of Candice's wing. Glowing letters declared 'at work, only wake in an emergency'. Anywhere else, that would be a lie. Here, with Princess Luna, it was likely very literal.

It only took a moment to poke her head in and check the duty roster. For the next week, at least, she was still assigned to Ponyville. Those few words were a weight off her chest, even as it added a dash of guilt.

She quietly crept away. It was only the normal day-to-day sounds that would not wake them, but why take the risk.

I wonder if they have any more of those honeyed nuts? With that thought, her hooves set their own direction.





"Night watch." Trixie sighed. She really wanted a mug of that spiked coffee. I should be grateful nothing is happening. From her cloud-top vantage, she turned her eyes towards Sanctuary, Haven or whatever the vote had ended up naming it.

The shelter's normal translucent barrier was a mirror. Like a still lake, it reflected Luna's night sky perfectly despite being curved.

It was fair that they got their turn. That they got a chance to enjoy Luna's revel, but she would rather not know it was going on.

"It's just you and me," Trixie said as she rested a hoof on the enchanted ballista. Even through her hoof, Little Star's magic was almost too much.

"You know, I don't think there's going to be any need for either of us tonight."

And Trixie's words were right. The most interesting thing to happen all night was her relief being two minutes early.

Rainbow offered a hoof, and with a clack, Trixie met it with her own.

She visualised her bed. It called for her with the sweetest siren song.

Starlight's going to be asleep. That thought hit her just in time. With a weary sigh, she restarted her teleport spell. It would not be too far of a walk.





Trixie quickly cleaned up and definitely did not just dump her gear and slip into her shared bed.

The soft pillow welcomed her, and the warmth was delightful after the chill of the night air. She sighed contentedly and stopped resisting the pull of her heavy eyelids.

Something was wrong. It did not take long for it to sabotage her attempt at sleep. Spend long enough sleeping next to another pony, and even a small difference becomes immediately noticeable. True, it had taken long enough to get used to her new slightly larger size, but that was not the issue now. Now, the issue was how ridged Starlight was. Had she even slept at all?

"Starlight?" Trixie whispered in case she was wrong.

"Go back to sleep, Trixie," Starlight said, fatigue lacing her words.

"Can't sleep?"

Starlight sighed. "Every time my eyes close, I'm expecting to end up in a pod."

"You know what Twilight would do if that happened?"

"I know, I know. This should not get to me."

Trixie moved her forelimbs, wrapping Stralight in an embrace she so clearly needed. Trixie made each of her movements slow and carefully. It had only taken one buck and a broken training dummy to teach her she must never forget her new earthpony strength.

Starlight tensed for a heartbeat, then deflated. She slumped and then pressed against Trixie. Without a word, Trixie knew what she wanted, even if the mare would forever be too prideful to ask.

Trixie pulled her in closer, wrapping Starlight in a more complete embrace. Not for the first time, Trixie lamented not having wings. They were just too useful in moments like this. "Shush, Trixie is here." She said as she put a bit of love and tenderness into her nuzzle.

Starlight's breath hitched for a moment, the intake of air that should have led into a sob or a shout of rage. Instead, she just slowly brought her breathing under control. But still, she did not slip into sleep.

"Something else on your mind?"

Starlight sighed. "Twilight's put a lot on my withers."

Trixie nodded. "She does that."

"By the map she gave me, it's like she wants me running a quarter of Equestria."

"Did she give you a checklist?"

"No, she just gave me some maps with how she expected things to be in a year."

"She gave you the authority to do it?"

"Yes."

"And we have a bunch of changelings as extra workers…"

"It still does not make it easier to trust them… but that's not what's keeping me awake…"

"Then what is?"

"I spent a lot of today helping Twilight build a portal to her new castle."

"The one in the griffon lands?"

"Yes."

"We got it up and running, popped thought and ran into her cult."

"She has a cult?"

"Yes, and they were praising her for eating out the heart of a still living griffon."

"Yeah…"

"How am I meant to look her in the eyes and trust her knowing she did that?"

"Yeah… Trixie gets that... But it's not as bad as it sounds."

"Not as bad as it sounds!" It was only Starlight's gritted teeth that kept her from shouting.

"Red Wing was a horrible griffon, and he was the one that challenged her to the death."

"She could have just put him to sleep or something."

"Yeah, and if they were not griffons, that might have worked. No, she had to fight, had to honour their traditions or that warlord would have stolen all the food and let all but his cronies die."

"But eating his heart…"

"It's their traditions."

"It's madness…"

"Ya, even living in Ponyville, I agree… but it saved every life but one… and his warbad is now her cult."

"I can't believe you're alright with this."

"He was already dead, the eating his heart was just showponyship."

"How would you know?"

"There are full written reports from all her guards that were there."

"It would have been nice to know before we walked into that."

"Yeah, Trixie's rather glad she only had to read about it."

"They left the blood stains on as if it were some sort of national monument."

Trixie put on her best showmare voice. "You will look back and realise the day Twilight Sparkle graced your life was the most important day of your life… for her, it was just another Tuesday."

Starlight huffed. "Trixie."

"Think about it, think about everything she has done, all the lives she touched."

"Yeah… Still."

"For most ponies, she can give a speech, hold a party or just talk others into becoming friends. For us, she had to defeat us, and traditionalist griffons need more… brutal examples."

Starlight's mane was still silken perfection as she nestled closer. "Can't we go back to friendship problems?"

"That's the plan," Trixie said as she idly stroked Starlight's mane. "I have some good news."

"Hmm?"

"I get to stay here with you."

"I thought Twilight was going to take you with her."

"Now that Noble Guide's been caught, she seems more at peace? Stable?" Trixie shrugged.

"That's good, at least."

 "So, want something to take your mind off things?"

"I think a sleep spell… can you wake me if I oversleep?"

"Trixie the Proud and Punctual can do that…" Her voice dropped to a stage whisper. "She is also too scared to see what Little Star will do if her teacher is late to class."

Starlight snorted out a half-hearted laugh, then kissed Trixie's cheek. It was such a small thing, but even after Starlight had cast her sleep spell, Trixie kept the smile as she continued to stroke Starlight's mane.





Unfortunately for Trixie, the morning came and went with the normal flurry of activity. Training, construction and providing for everypony was a lot of work, even with the Manehatten supplies. At least the food was better. Just the simple addition of jam or cinnamon to the oats filled the castle with smiles.

The better food did nothing to stop the frantic pace. After the two parties and the lazy day between, everypony seemed like they had gotten into Pinkie's coffee stash.

In the middle of the map room, Starlight stood in the calm of the storm, ponies coming and going. It was as if the entire world revolved around her. Trixie approached and waited a few lengths away. Whoever she was talking to likely had more important reasons than Trixie's desire to chat.

For something to do, she glanced at the map. Somehow, what it displayed had been changed. Instead of most of the continent, it now just had Ponyville and its surroundings. A host of game pieces, stationary and even a muffin were scattered over it. A few seconds passed before she realised what she was looking at. That upside-down cup was where one of the villages was going to be, a bunch of pencils marked the new road Twilight had created, So that's the new fields… whats the muffin then?.

Starlight coughed. "That's mine."

"Oh… so we're not building a muffin mansion any time soon?"

"Please don't let Pinkie Pie hear that."

"She being difficult again?"

"She wants to help everypony. She's hard to control and has no respect for restraint or rationing."

"Just send her with one of her friends."

"... that's a good idea."

Starlight paced. "Yes, they always managed to get a lot done between them."

"So what are you getting them to do?"

"Well, if Hope's Haven..."

"Is that really what they called it?"

Starlight shrugged. "Until I hear otherwise, that's what I'm calling it."

"So if they take Luna's party as well as we did, there should be no real trouble. Applejack can help them start on their own farms, Pinky can help with morale and even some building, Rarity has been going there a lot, so they trust her." Starlight started scribbling down orders. "Thanks, Trixie."

"Well, the…" The sudden appearance of a muffin cutoff, anything else Trixie was going to say.

"Deliver this to our new guests, please. I have some ponies to speak to," Starlight said before she vanished in a teleport.

"From noble chosen to mail mare…" Trixie half-heartedly grumbled even as she contentedly munched her way through the white chocolate and raspberry muffin. "Duty calls."