“So my afternoon consisted of convincing this one that I don’t hate her,” Trixie said, jabbing a hoof at Raindrops. The six mares were arranged in a rough circle around the bag of Bon Bon’s candy as they talked, though they had moved from Trixie’s office into her living room, where she’d started up a fire.
“I had to spend it convincing you the same thing,” Raindrops pointed out with a little indignation in her voice. “And you’re the one who actually keeps score of her friends.”
“Speaking of,” Ditzy said, “I ran into Pokey on my route today.”
Trixie winced at that, as though she’d just burned herself. “Um. Is he…still mad…?”
Ditzy shook her head. “He knows you didn’t mean to say what you did. And I pointed out to him that you’ve got plenty of quirks of you own that he can call you out on if he has to.”
The six mares laughed, though Trixie stopped after a moment as she considered that. “Wait, what quirks?” she asked. That prompted another round of laughter. Trixie herself joined in after a moment, deciding that, whatever her quirks were, they didn’t matter right now.
“Speaking of you,” Lyra said, looking to Raindrops, “I didn’t know you could sing.”
Raindrops’ face reddened notably at that. Lyra and Cheerilee, on the other hoof, both kept grinning at her. “We didn’t catch it all, though,” Cheerilee said. “Just something about rain helping you to untangle…?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Raindrops said quickly.
“No, I definitely heard it,” Lyra said, then sang what she’d heard. “Rain helps me to untangle all the things that…?”
Raindrops stared at Lyra. Lyra stared back. At length, the pegasus sighed, looking down in embarrassment. “Though I’ve bungled all my bangles, left my life twisted and mangled, the rain helps me to untangle all the things that trouble me…” she sang softly. She jumped slightly when she earned some light hoof-stomps from the other five mares.
“I like the happier version better,” Lyra noted. Raindrops’ blush deepened, though she was also smiling a little at the praise. “Me and Cheerilee heard it at Bon Bon’s, when you splashed down.”
“Hmm,” Ditzy observed. “Which reminds me, I have to ask – why is it raining?”
Carrot Top cleared her throat. “Rainbow Dash’s fault,” she said. “She put getting rid of the storm to a vote ‘cause she knew she’d win it. She did it for Fluttershy. She figured the easiest way to get her to the spa was if there was nopony outside. Fluttershy can take rain. What she can’t take is ponies.”
“That’s…actually kind of clever of Rainbow Dash,” Trixie noted.
“She is a weather manager,” Raindrops said. “She’s a lot smarter than she looks. Or acts.”
“So how’d you end up at Trixie’s, then?” Cheerilee asked. “I mean…if you don’t mind me asking…”
“Puddle,” Raindrops answered simply, cocking her head towards Trixie’s backyard, then nodding towards Trixie “She caught me in it.”
“Must’ve been a little embarrassing,” Lyra observed.
“Not as embarrassing as…” Cheerilee began, then put a hoof to her mouth for a moment, before continuing with “…a thing that was embarrassing.” Carrot Top and Ditzy Doo stared expectantly at her. Cheerilee shook her head, however. “No. I’m not telling. It’s embarrassing – ”
“Oh, come on, four of us already know, it’s not fair to these two,” Trixie said, eliciting a look of surprise from Lyra and Cheerilee. “Cheerilee came in and caught me and Raindrops in the middle of a memory-transfer spell. The spell required us to be kissing. With, um…tongue. But it was just a spell.”
“Just,” Raindrops confirmed, nodding.
“Cheerilee thought I didn’t know anything about sex for some reason,” Trixie continued, “and then thought that Raindrops was trying to take advantage of me. So Cheerilee gave me ‘the talk’.” Trixie shuddered a little. “A…very detailed…possibly illegal…talk.”
Cheerilee stared at Trixie. “I meant embarrassing for me, Trixie,” she said.
“Embarrassing for all of us,” Lyra said with a sigh. “Just…one big mess.”
“It’s done,” Trixie said. “It’s in the past. Bygones and all that.”
The four mares nodded, and there was a moment of silence as they simply ate candy. It was broken, however, when Ditzy perked up. “Oh, I almost forgot!” she exclaimed, looking to her mail bags and opening them, pulling out the five midnight blue envelopes, along with her own already-opened letter. “These are for each of us.” She passed them around. The room was soon filled with the sound of tearing paper, followed swiftly by the soft silver glow of the enchanted tickets.
“Yes, I’ve been waiting for this,” Trixie said, smiling. “Gala number six, here I come!”
“The Gala!” Lyra exclaimed at nearly the same time, reading her letter/ticket a second time, then a third. “This is…it’s the biggest event in Equestria! And I get to bring a guest!” She put her hooves to her mouth. “Oh…Bon Bon’s gonna need a dress…I could surprise her with a dress!”
“How do you surprise somepony with a dress?” Cheerilee asked. “Doesn’t she need to be measured for it?”
Lyra rolled her eyes. “I know her dimensions,” she drawled.
“Isn’t the Gala supposed to be boring?” Raindrops asked.
Trixie smiled. “It’s only boring if you’re not there with anypony,” she said. “Trust me, I know all about that. But us six, together? Should be a blast.”
Ditzy smiled at that, as she stood and stretched. “Well,” she said, “I’m sort of still on the clock back at work. I better go and punch out, then get home to Dinky.”
“Mmn, I have to go too,” Lyra said. “Calm Bon Bon down.”
One by one, the six mares stood, though Trixie would, of course, be remaining behind – she would still see them to the door, though. “This was fun,” Cheerilee said. “Well…eventually it was fun, anyway. After the horrible, horrible embarrassment. We should try and get together more often.”
“Yeah,” Raindrops agreed. “There shouldn’t have to be a crisis.”
“How about…same time, next week?” Carrot Top asked, looking to Trixie. “Here? If that’s okay? You have the largest house.”
Trixie smiled. It wasn’t her normal wide-put on smile, but a much more simple, yet honest, grin. “Of course,” she said. “Maybe turn it into…I dunno, some kind of game night. I’ve got cards.”
“I’ve got board games,” Cheerilee ventured, as everypony else stepped out into the rain. She followed suit a moment later.
“It’s a deal, then,” Lyra said. “See you later!”
“Later!” Trixie returned, closing her door. She found herself still smiling, and didn’t try to stop herself as she returned to her living room. A glance outside confirmed that it was still raining, and a glance inside confirmed that her fireplace was still lit. All that was missing was a book, and a unicorn in a couch to read it. Trixie rectified the situation immediately, settling down into her couch and telekinetically grabbing her well-worn copy of Don Rocinante from her bookshelf.
“Today…was a good day,” she decided.