//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: The Adventures of Trixie if Her Father Was a Badass Alien 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Trixie stood at the top of a tall hill, chewing on a special brownie.  It had been baked days before, but was still very tasty.  She hadn’t detected any ill effects from them so far, and hoped that would continue.
It was unknown what might happen if she stopped taking her medication.  Valiant had theorized that she might “hulk out” and return to her previous mutated form.  That sounded rather unpleasant was plenty of motivation for Trixie to keep taking her meds.
From the hilltop, the city stretched out below Trixie.  She’d arrived in what she thought was San Bransisco, but a local had informed her that the name was recently changed to San Franciscolt.  It made more sense, Trixie had to agree.  The second name sounded good.
What really sounded good was bombing down the hill as fast as her skateboard would go.  Trixie finished her brownie and pushed off.  The pavement was smooth, and her speed increased quickly.
The M60 made a fine balance mass, helping to keep Trixie upright as she rocketed down the hill.  She edged sideways to bypass traffic, whizzing by several carriages.
Ahead, a cart rolled out into the street.  Trixie’s eyes widened, knowing she wouldn’t be able to swerve around it.  She coiled her legs and jumped, the skateboard passing under the cart as she went over the top.
Landing on the other side, Trixie glanced back as the skateboard continued to roll.  Two surprised looking stallions stared after her.
She continued down the hill towards the seashore, rolling up a tall ramp that helped the dock workers load ships with cargo.  With a little magic manipulation, Trixie bled off speed, trading it for stored energy.  She then used that along with the downslope of the ramp to propel herself back up the hill at a decent clip.
Trixie dragged a hoof and came to a stop next to the Flim Flam Brothers.  They still looked somewhat shaken at having nearly been run over.
“Fancy seeing you here,” commented Flim.
“Indeed,” agreed Flam.
“Why exactly did you block up the road?” asked Trixie.
“Well you see, the center of the street is the best place to get noticed,” explained Flam. 
“And,” added Flim, “If you keep the public entertained, they won’t raise a fuss about violated traffic codes.”
Trixie sighed, suspecting that she would regret asking, but…  “What are you selling?”
The brothers grinned and whipped a tarp off their cart to expose a machine.  Small lights blinked and dials glowed with some unknown readout.
Let us introduce to you today
Let us show you a new way
I’m Flim, he’s Flam, and we’d like to say
We can keep your earthquakes at bay!
Their signature dance began in earnest.
Near to far, even San Franciscolt Bay
You can keep pesky earthquakes away
We accept bits, if you’d like to pay
Or even a nice roll in the hay!
“You really need to come up with new melodies and rhyme structures,” said Trixie flatly.
“You try composing a new ditty in every town you go,” huffed Flim.
“To say nothing of your sex addiction,” added Trixie.
“Come on, we’re on the road a lot!” complained Flam.
“And an earthquake preventer?” questioned Trixie.
The two brothers gestured to the tremor-free town around them.  “It’s working, isn’t it?”
“Goodbye.”  Trixie shook her head and rolled down the hill again.  It secretly amused her each time she met the two showponies, as they seemed to be such lovable doofuses.  Lovable as in cute, not sexy.  Trixie rolled her eyes.  Unlike Valiant, she had no hangups about being in relationships with ponies, but between her lifestyle and medical condition, it was pretty much not an option.
After searching out some fine rails to grind, Trixie went downtown to look for something to do.  There were other streets to ride, even some with curves.  Surely there was something interesting about the city.
Trixie thought about Starburst.  As far as coincidences went, it was not unlikely that they would meet again.  Far stranger things had happened.
As if she had been tempting fate, the very unicorn in her thoughts appeared.  Trixie came to a halt, staring curiously at Starburst.  Her head was turned away, but there was something unusual about her.
Starburst swung her gaze around and spotted Trixie.  “Aha!  I suspected I would find you here.”
She came trotting over.  Trixie asked, “What’s with the face tattoo?”
“Ah, that,” said Starburst, touching the black tribal lines that decorated one cheek below her eye.  “I got it to remind myself of the humiliating wound you inflicted upon me the last time we encountered each other.  The scar was so terrible, and had to be covered up.”
Trixie remembered hitting her with the butt of the M60.  She squinted at Starburst’s face.  “I don’t see any scar.  Also, I didn’t think it was that hard.”
“The bruise, then.”  Starburst glared at her.
“And…you decided to cover up a bruise with a tattoo, thereby attracting even more attention to your so-called humiliation?”  Trixie took her sunglasses off so Starburst could get the full effect of her what an idiot expression.
“I have poor impulse control, okay?  So are we going to duel or what?”  Starburst sneered defiantly.
Trixie put her sunglasses back on.  “Tell you what.  Let’s go to the police station and talk with them about cordoning off a secure area for us to battle where nopony else will get hurt.”
Starburst rubbed her chin.  “Yes, I like that idea.”
Trixie smirked as the other mare turned to walk ahead.  This was too easy.
The closest station was only a few blocks away.  Trixie figured that it wouldn’t be difficult to go inside, explain who Starburst was, and get her arrested.
That plan went out the window, however, when a slight tremor went through the ground.  Trixie stopped, making sure it wasn’t just an uneven strip of pavement.  The quake, the earthquake, persisted.
Starburst had noticed it too.  “Was that you?”
“No.”  Trixie glanced up at the tall stone building nearby.  It was several floors tall and had a pointed spire that rose even higher.  She began to cross the street.
“Where are you going?” snapped Starburst.  “Come back here!”
Trixie opened her mouth to reply, but a sudden increase in the shaking surprised her and shook the earth enough that she almost lost her balance.  It also shook all the way up the towering stone building, which separated the cupola on top and sent it crashing down.
Starburst jerked sideways, being missed by the falling debris by mere inches.  A small piece of stone dinked her on the back near her tail, the light impact surprising her.  She jolted away, sprinting down the street.
Trixie kicked off after her, but the rest of the tower came falling down, blocking the street with chunks of building material.  Several more seconds passed, and then the earthquake ceased.
Starburst had gotten away.  Trixie growled in frustration, turning around to head in the other direction.  She wasn’t sure which was more likely; if the Flim Flam Brothers were the victims of a hilarious irony, or if their machine had worked the exact opposite of what was intended.  Either way, she was going to pay them another visit.