Trixie had already left the Library and I was just about out the door when Twilight stopped me.
"Um, Amethyst? Could I have a word or two with you please?" the librarian asked me, almost hesitantly. I turned toward Trixie, tilting my head and raising an eyebrow. She responded by trotting over to the caravan and patiently waiting for me.
"Okay, Twilight, what is it? It'll have to be quick, we're trying to keep a schedule if we can."
"Um, you know ... uh, last night, when you and Trixie were ... uh," she said as she tried to formulate a question. I gave a small grin.
"You mean when were were making love last night?" I asked. "Sorry about the noise, Trixie can get kinda loud sometimes," I chuckled.
"There's a little more to it, Ammy," she said softly. "Last night, I was having trouble sleeping --" she began.
"Because of the noise?" I asked innocently.
"No, no, it's just that ... there's a part of me ... there's ... I just ... I just wanted to ..." her words trailed off as she was trying to re-rail her train of thought.
"Let me guess -- you kinda wished that you were the one I was sharing my affection with, is that it?" I asked.
"Y-yes," she stammered as tears seemed to start welling up in her eyes. It was when the light reflected off her cheeks at the right angle that I noticed she had been crying earlier.
"I didn't know your feelings for me were like that, Twilight," I said softly. "I apologize for causing you such distress."
"No, no, it's quite all right. I suppose you might know Princess Celestia's been considering crowning me a Princess," the librarian offered.
"She swore me to secrecy about that matter -- I'm not even supposed to be discussing that with you," I said, somewhat nervous that the Sun Goddess might overhear the conversation.
"Well, I know I have told you I'm happy for the two of you, and really, I am, but ..."
"Don't tell me you're a little envious of my marriage?" I half-asked. I pricked up my ears when I heard something from outside the door.
"Well, to tell you the truth, Ammy, I am, just a little. There's a part of me that wishes that you had chosen me to be your wife," she confessed.
Just outside the Library door, Trixie was intently listening to our conversation, but Pinkie Pie happened to catch the show-mare trying to stifle a laugh when she heard Twilight admit to being envious.
"Hey, Trixie, what's so funny? Did ya hear something really funny? Was it a good joke? Can ya tell me what it was? Can ya? Huh? I just love good jokes! Even bad jokes! Jokes are funny, don't ya think? What was it, can ya tell me, huh? Huh? Huh?"
The azure mare glared at the pink party pony and growled slightly at her.
Inside the library, I heard Pinkie's voice loud and clear and I believe Twilight heard it as well.
"I think Trixie's eavesdropping on our conversation," I whispered into the librarian's ear.
"Well, Amethyst, thanks for helping me on my studies for just a little bit!" Twilight said in an exaggeratedly loud voice so as to let Trixie hear it clearly.
"It was my pleasure, Twilight Sparkle! I hope I can help you with your studies again some time! I must be going now! I'll bet Trixie is really worried about how much time we have spent in here! I'll bet she thinks I have been cheating on her!!" I practically shouted.
The front door of the library was forcibly opened by a nearly furious azure show-mare. "Trixie knows what you two are up to! Don't try to hide it from her!"
"You're just mad because Pinkie called you out. Relax, Trixie, I will never leave you for another pony as long as we both shall live," I said softly to her as I wrapped my right fore-leg around her withers.
"That's just the point!" Trixie shouted. "You're going to live a lot longer than Trixie! Trixie is afraid you'll forget about her after she's dead! Please, Amethyst, don't forget about Trixie." Her voice cracked as she uttered the last part and tears started welling up in her eyes.
"Trixie, I know it's hard to face it, and I am really sorry to have brought it up. But why not enjoy the next seventy years? Isn't that amount of time long enough for you to be with me, for us to be together? We should take the time to love each other with all our might -- fighting with each other will make us miserable, and you've had more than enough misery in your life to last ten lifetimes. You should not have to go through any more of that, Trixie, and as long as I'm with you, I will love you with the passion and strength you need to make you happy."
"Amethyst, sometimes Trixie wonders about you -- you are unlike any pony Trixie has ever known before," she said softly, smiling at me.
"That's because I have 49 years as a human, Trixie. I know enough about love and maintaining a relationship to understand what it takes to make it work, to make it last. One more thing -- as long as I live, I will never forget you and what you mean to me."
"Trixie hopes you are not lying to her, Amethyst."
"I hope that you will soon be more willing to place your trust in me -- haven't the past few months of us being together given you enough reason to trust me completely? What must I do to dispel those doubts that still plague you?"
"Trixie needs more time with you to ease her fears."
"Don't you two have a show to perform?" asked the librarian impatiently.
"C'mon, Trixie, let's get going. I still want to meet the other ponies here before we get the show started."
We both left the library this time, but I couldn't help but notice a single tear trace its way down Twilight's cheek.
"What are you looking at Sparkle for? You're married to Trixie, remember?" the show-mare asked me harshly. "And just what were you two really discussing in there? Trixie thinks she's entitled to know!"
"Twilight expressed regret that she was not the one I chose to marry -- in a way, Trixie, it looks like you succeeded in getting your revenge against her. She seems kind of unhappy when she sees us together and enjoying ourselves," I said, and frowned when I caught Trixie flashing a smug smile of satisfaction. "No need to rub it in, Trixie. The two of you should set aside such petty differences. Life's too short to be carrying grudges like that."
"Trixie still remembers the Ursa Minor incident and the Alicorn Amulet as well," she stated flatly.
"You will have to put those behind you somehow. I don't know exactly how to help you, other than simply being by your side and giving you comfort when you need it."
We hitched up the caravan and started pulling it toward the town square. As we did so, we were enthusiastically greeted by nearly every pony we met. Pinkie Pie accompanied us, bounding alongside us as we continued. She asked us all kinds of questions about where we'd been, what we'd seen, and lots of other things that had nothing to do with what we were planning.
"Trixie is still upset with the pink one for blowing her cover," the azure mare stated flatly.
"C'mon, Trix, ya know ya can't keep anything secret around here!" Pinkie exclaimed, grinning broadly.
"That's why Trixie's upset," she responded.
A short while later, we reached the town center and set up the stage. We went up the back and made our entrance through the red curtain.
"Mares and gentlecolts, may I direct your attention to the Great and Powerful Trixie and the Awesome and Astonishing Amethyst!" I shouted, using magic to amplify my voice. To punctuate our entrance, I cast a large pyrotechnic spell high into the air, then transformed the trailing streamers into candy, which rained upon the audience. "I can assure you, the candy is safe to eat. Give it a try!"
I always started our act by doing this, as it usually allowed the crowd to view us favorably.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie is here to regale you all with how she and Amethyst took first place at the Manehattan Display! Our combined efforts were far and away better than our nearest competitors!" the show-mare boasted. I glared at her in disapproval. "We were compelled to tame a Manticore, a Chimera, and four Cockatrice at the same time!"
"You couldn't tame a house-cat, Trixie!" shouted a voice from the audience.
"Trixie exaggerates a bit, though one of the contests we performed at the Manehattan Display was indeed the taming of a Manticore. The Chimera was a different challenge, as were the Cockatrice. THAT one was difficult, and Trixie got turned into a statue by one of the Cockatrice, so I had to rescue her," I stated flatly. The stallion who had shouted at Trixie had been effectively silenced, and said nothing else during our performance.
"We missed first place by ten points. We were THAT close!" I said. "But we will show you some of what we did that week! Trixie, let's do the lightning trick!"
Trixie grinned, charging her horn as I charged mine. A shower of lightning bolts rained down from the sky and we used our magic to cause them to dance around in circles, shaping them into balls, juggling them back and forth. We brought more lighting in, making more lightning balls, and for good measure, I lit them on fire. This display was impressive enough, but I then sent the balls skyward, then caused them to explode in showers of sparks, then turned the sparks into more candy.
"Amethyst, you are going to make our audience fat with all that candy!" Trixie giggled.
"A little sugar helps out, you know," I stated. "How about some toffee?" I asked, producing a can.
"Can I open it? Please, can I?" asked Pinkie Pie, who had bounded onto our stage. I hoofed her the can, which she proceeded to open. A couple of cloth-covered springs jumped out of the can and the pink party pony giggled hysterically.
"Well, Pinkie, would you like some pie?" Trixie asked her.
"Oh, would I? Yes, please!"
Trixie produced a cream pie and used her telekinesis to slap it in Pinkie's face.
"Mmm, coconut cream! My favorite!" the pink pony exclaimed, using her ridiculously long tongue to wipe her face clean of the pie.
"I was going to summon a rain cloud to wash you off, Pinkie," I suggested.
"Oh, please do! Let me see you make it rain!" she giggled.
Trixie and I summoned a few clouds and gave the pink party pony a quick shower. She shook out the water and giggled again.
"Hey, you two aren't supposed to be doing weather like that!" exclaimed an angry cyan pegasus. "That's MY job!"
"Relax, Rainbow, we're just doing this as part of our act," I chided. I created a rainbow colored cloud and made it hover over the pegasus, then caused it to rain small pieces of candy with different colors and flavors. She sampled some of the candy and grinned.
"Okay, you made your point, Ammy," she said and continued to watch from a cloud she had been laying on. She casually munched on the candy as she continued to watch us perform.
We did a few more displays of magic cooperation and the best was saved for last -- once again, I repeated the levitation and glamour spells on Trixie and myself, the audience nearly stunned by seeing us take on the appearance of Alicorns. When received a thunderous ovation and applause from the audience as we slowly descended to the stage. Even Twilight was stunned to see this display, though I found her reaction to be amusing.
"I didn't know you could do THAT!" the librarian exclaimed in surprise.
"It's just a glamour, Twilight. Trixie taught me how to do those," I explained.
"That's still quite impressive, though."
"Thanks for the compliment, Twilight," I responded.
"See you later, Sparkle," Trixie said, a small smile on her face.
We folded up the stage into the caravan and stopped by a few stores to pick up some supplies before heading out. It was going to take us another three weeks to make it to Las Pegasus and I wanted to make sure we had enough stock to make it there.