//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Memories and Melodies // Story: Major Problems // by asmariamoon //------------------------------// Major Problems By Asmaria Moon Chapter 14 Memories and Melodies Trixie had said goodbye to Twilight once they had reached the library again. She had then trotted off to the Carousel Boutique for lunch with Rarity, as she had promised. Trixie smiled when she learned that not only had Rarity prepared daisy and sunflower sandwiches, but also apple strudels from the freshest ingredients Sweet Apple Acres had to offer, and the finest lemon tea imported straight from Canterlot. "You see, dear, only the highest-quality lunch is good enough for my friends." Rarity said, her eyes shining as she watched Trixie's impressed expression. "Thank you very much, Rarity, but... you didn't have to do all this for Trixie." Trixie said, a little embarrassed that Rarity had gone to such lengths just for her. "Didn't I, Trixie? A Great and Powerful mare deserves a Great and Powerful lunch, after all." Rarity said. "Perhaps you are right." Trixie said, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite. "Of course, dear. Now then, I feel like I hardly know you. If you don't mind telling me more about yourself, that would be wonderful." Rarity said as she sipped on her tea. "Ummm... until she came back to Ponyville earlier this week, Trixie had been mostly traveling around from place to place, never really spending much time in a single town. Before she lost her stage in the Ursa Minor attack, it was more of the same, except much easier since Trixie was always guaranteed a warm bed at night." Trixie said, taking another bite from the delicious sandwich. "That's not really what I meant. I want to know more about you as a pony. For instance, when did you realize that you liked mares?" Rarity asked. "Well, Trixie wasn't completely sure until after her last magic show, when Twilight was being a lot more affectionate than Trixie had experienced before, and she didn't really mind it until Twilight hugged Trixie so tight that she couldn't breathe." Trixie said as she continued eating her lunch. "You mean that you've never had a crush on anypony before?" Rarity asked. "Well, Trixie isn't really sure it counts as a crush, but she used to idolize her teacher a lot when she was a filly. She is one of the few friends Trixie had before coming to Ponyville." Trixie replied. It had been a long time since she had just sat and talked about her past with anypony one on one. She had talked with Twilight about the Powerful Pyrite and the rest of the Dominating Dozen, but that story hadn't involved herself. "What's her name, if you don't mind me asking?" Rarity asked. "Trixie doesn't mind. Her name is Melody. She was Trixie's homeroom teacher, and also taught choir. She's practically the only reason Trixie joined choir. Trixie wasn't very good at singing, though, so she didn't take it the next year." Trixie said. "You were in choir?" Rarity asked. "Yes, but like Trixie said, she was only in it for a year, she wasn't very good, and the only reason she joined was because it was taught by Melody." Trixie said. "So you must have really liked this Melody, if you joined a class you weren't good at just for her." Rarity said. "Trixie idolized her. The only ponies Trixie idolized more were her own parents." Trixie said. "But it wasn't a crush?" Rarity asked. "Trixie doesn't really know. She doesn't think she was old enough to really have a crush back then.." Trixie said. "How old were you the year you joined choir?" Rarity asked. "Trixie was 8 years old. She remembers because the Great Lapis died the year after, when Trixie was 9." Trixie said. "8 years old, huh? That was when I experienced my first crush. He was so handsome. Of course, he was also 14 years older than me, and probably wouldn't have given me the time of day." Rarity said. "What was this mystery stallion's name, if you don't mind Trixie asking?" Trixie inquired. "Well... you'll probably laugh." Rarity said, lowering her head a bit in embarrassment. "Trixie promises she won't." Trixie said, miming the motions for a Pinkie Pie Swear. "It was... this is so embarrassing... Center Stage." Rarity admitted. "You mean the star of that traveling theater group... what were they called?" Trixie asked, trying to remember. "The Trottingham Ten, yes. Center Stage was just so handsome, so rugged... or at least I thought so back then. The first time my father took me to see Cinderella, and Center Stage was dressed as Prince Charming... well, I was just so awestruck that I had to struggle to keep my focus when it came to anything else but him." Rarity said. "Trixie thinks she knows what you mean. It was the same way with her mind when it came to Melody. The only exception was when it was something the Great Lapis or the Powerful Pyrite wanted Trixie to do, then that took precedence over thoughts of Melody. So perhaps Trixie did have a crush on her." Trixie said. "I told you, did I not? When it comes to romance, nopony can hide their feelings from Rarity." Rarity said, toying with the twirls of her mane with a hoof. "Trixie really wasn't trying to hide anything from you, Rarity, she seriously thought that her crush on Melody was just idolizing." Trixie said. "Oh, I know. Sometimes, a pony can be a lot better at hiding things from herself than she is at hiding them from others." Rarity said. "But yes, Center Stage was my first crush... that is, until I met him face to face and actually found out what an absolute jerk he really was." she finished, glaring at thin air as she remembered. "You sound as if he wronged you horribly. What happened?" Trixie asked. "I got to go backstage after a show when I was 10. He... he made fun of my mane. Said I put too much effort into it. He said that the fact that I had to work to maintain it meant that it was inferior." Rarity said, her glare deepening. "He was dead wrong." Trixie said, glaring in the same direction as Rarity, at the imaginary actor there. "I know, right? Just because somepony has to work to be beautiful doesn't mean that they're inferior to somepony with natural beauty." Rarity said. "You earned your beauty, Rarity. Don't let the opinion of one stuck-up stallion get to you. He wouldn't know hard work if it plowed into him with Applejack's plow."Trixie said. Rarity giggled a bit at she imagined this. "Ever since then, my mane has been... well... a bit of a touchy subject for me. I'm getting better about it, but when somepony threatens my mane, I tend to be a bit melodramatic." Rarity said. "Trixie did not know that. She is sorry for what happened on the day of the Ursa Minor attack." Trixie said. "Dear, please. There's no need to apologize for that twice. I've already forgiven you, and besides, there's no way you could have known." Rarity replied. "Trixie still shouldn't have been that horrid to you. She knows if somepony transformed her hat or cloak, she would have flipped out, too." Trixie said "Oh, I can totally understand that. After all, they are a very fashionable choice on your part, dear." Rarity said. "Actually, it was on the Great Lapis' part. She gave them to Trixie when she got her cutie mark during Trixie's first magic act in the school's talent show." Trixie said. "She sounds like she was a wonderful mare." Rarity said. "She was." Trixie said, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks. "If you don't want to talk about this, you don't have to, darling." Rarity said, not wanting to push Trixie into talking about anything she wasn't comfortable with sharing. "No, Trixie wants to talk about it. It's been ages since she talked to anypony about this kind of stuff." Trixie said. "The Great Lapis was Trixie's biggest inspiration. When Trixie lost her in that carriage accident, she was devastated." she finished. Tears were still streaming down Trixie's face, but she was glad that she finally had somepony to talk to about this. "So it was a carriage accident? Those are extremely rare, because there are so few ponies with carriages." Rarity said. There were times that she wished she had a carriage, but she could worry about that once her fashions were more famous. For now, she would do without. "If Trixie remembers right, one of the pegasi pulling the other carriage was half-drunk, and was having trouble flying because of it. But it would be wrong of Trixie to put the blame of her mother's death on him." Trixie said. "Not a lot of ponies could be that mature, Trixie." Rarity said, surprised that Trixie didn't blame the half-drunk pegasus. If the same thing had happened to her mother, she didn't know if she could stop herself from blaming him. "Trixie knows, believe her. When word got out that the Great Lapis had been killed in a carriage accident, and about that pegasus' state at the time, the media had a field day with it, filling the airwaves with every ounce of hatred they could muster. But Trixie knew that it wasn't that stallion's fault. It was still just an accident, whether or not anypony happened to be drunk at the time." Trixie said, wiping away her tears with her hoof. "Trixie is sorry if all this talk about her mother's death is a little morbid." Trixie added. "Not at all, darling. These things need to be talked about every now and then. If we keep it all bottled up inside, then the pressure only grows as more things like this are added, until it gets to be so much that we can no longer stop it from exploding out of us. And I personally don't like to see ponies exploding in such a manner." Rarity said. "Speaking of ponies exploding, you should have seen this mare Trixie and Twilight ran into on our way back from Sweet Apple Acres. Trixie swears that she was somehow convinced that we were some sort of moonspawn sent to Equestria with the specific intent to corrupt her daughter, just because we happened to be snuggling a bit as she walked by." Trixie said. "Oh, that is absolutely horrid, darling. I can't stand ponies who think like that." Rarity said. "Trixie can't either, but the mare's daughter was really nice, and happened to be a fan of Trixie's, so Trixie gave her a signed card that will get her two free front row seats at Trixie's next performance." Trixie said. "How sweet! I'm sure the filly will be eternally grateful. Never forget your fans, Trixie. They are what make or break you as an entertainer. It's not your looks or your tricks, these things only help you to make fans, who are your true carriage to stardom." Rarity said. "Thank you, Rarity. Sometimes Trixie needs to be reminded of that. She admits that she can get a bigger head than necessary at times." Trixie said. "Oh, believe me, I do too sometimes. Thankfully, whenever my head gets too big, my friends are always there to talk some sense into me." Rarity said. "Trixie is just thankful that she has friends who will help her with that now." Trixie said. As Trixie walked back towards Twilight's library to spend some time with her marefriend before her party, she noticed a cream-colored earth pony mare with a curly blue and pink mane who was heading in the same direction. As Trixie neared the tree in which the library was housed, she noticed that the cream-colored mare was in fact heading directly towards the tree. Trixie opened the door for the mare, and stepped inside herself. The floor of the Ponyville Library had been converted into a veritable labyrinth of books that Trixie and the earth pony mare had to navigate carefully. "Twilight?" Trixie called out as she stepped carefully over a small stack of books in her way. Twilight poked her head out of the side of another stack of books that looked like it was purposefully built around the purple mare. "Hey, Trixie, you've gotta build a book fort with me! They're just the best! Do you know how awesome it feels to be safe and secure in your own little fortress of knowledge?" Twilight asked, smiling broadly. "No, Trixie doesn't, but she is afraid that will have to wait. You seem to have a customer." Trixie said, pointing a hoof towards the cream-colored mare, who waved at Twilight in her book fort. "Oh! Bon-Bon! I'm so sorry about the mess. What can I help you with?" Twilight asked as she stepped out of her fort and began to float the maze of books back to their shelves, though Trixie noticed that she left the book fort as it was. "Well, Pinkie told me she was hosting a party this afternoon, but it's just the strangest thing! She wouldn't tell me what the party was for. She told me that if I really wanted to know, I should ask you, but she said you might not tell me because it's very personal. But I decided to try my luck anyway." Bon-Bon said. "Oh, my Celestia! I'm so sorry, Bon-Bon! I didn't even think of inviting you and Lyra! That was absolutely moronic of me!" Twilight said, facehoofing. "Ummm... invite us to what?" Bon-Bon asked. "To the coming out party Pinkie's throwing for Trixie and I. If you're not doing anything at 3 this afternoon, did you want to come?" Twilight asked, hoping that Bon-Bon would forgive her for not thinking of her and Lyra until now. "I'm not doing anything, and if I remember right, Lyra's not either, so of course we'll be there! I'm so happy for you, Twilight!" Bon-Bon said, rushing over to give Twilight a friendly hug. Trixie fought back a short stint of jealousy as she watched Bon-Bon hugging her marefriend. "I've gotta go tell Lyra now! Bye, Twilight!" Bon-Bon said. "Bye, Bon-Bon! The party's at Sugarcube Corner!" Twilight called as Bon-Bon rushed past Trixie towards the door. "We'll be there! Congratulations to you too, Trixie!" Bon-Bon called as she exited the library. "Thank you." Trixie called after the cream-colored mare. Trixie turned back to Twilight. "So who was that?" she asked. "That was Bon-Bon. Almost everypony in Ponyville knows that she and Lyra are marefriends. I feel just awful that I didn't think to invite them to our party until just now. I even used to go to school with Lyra, before I moved here. Apparently, she graduated at around the same time, and moved in with Bon-Bon after that."Twilight explained. "Trixie sees. Now about these book forts you were talking about..." Trixie began. "I thought you'd never ask." Twilight said, floating enough books down from the shelves to make a book fort identical to the one she had made before. Author's Note: Rarity seems to have bad luck with her crushes. First, Center Stage, and later, Prince Blueblood? Perhaps she should stop looking at stallions and start looking at certain baby dragons I could name.