Trixie stared blankly at the polished brick-road of Canterlot. With every step, she would care a little less where she was going. With every word spilled into the air by her pink escort, Trixie would care just a little less for the glares thrown at them. With every second spent under the afternoon sun, she would fight a little harder to keep her smile at bay.
The very thought of it ran the blood cold, but Pinkie may have rubbed off on her. Every attempt to un-derail the conversation, was met with one off-handed excuse after another. It was easy to ignore at first. But soon enough, as Trixie persisted, she detected reluctance hidden beneath Pinkie’s beaming grin.
It wasn’t a bad thing. Not really. But Trixie would have much prefered the conversation promised to her. A conversation that involved rock farms and back-breaking labor and misplaced pink fillies and-
“Good gravy, I’ve really lost it, haven’t I?” Trixie thought.
“And to think! All they had to do was share the apple pies!” Pinkie bounced along. “Have you ever seen a buffalo Trixie? They’re huuuuge!”
“Trixie hates to interrupted, “Trixie lied, “but how does this pertain to your rock farming days?”
Trixie’s brow flickered as Pinkie’s cheerful expression did. “Oh. Well, uh... It doesn’t, of course!” She smiled again.
A light went bright in Trixie’s mind, and she finally released the smile that teased her. “Well why not? Didn’t you promise to ‘tell me all about it?’” Her voice sharpened.
Pinkie stopped bouncing, suddenly having only the energy to walk. “Well yeah, I did, but... I...”
Trixie’s smile became as sharp as her voice. “You wouldn’t want to deny me that much, would you? Not after my story,” she said.
By now, the two had stopped in their tracks. And Trixie’s smile grew at Pinkie’s shifting eyes, anticipating her next excuse.
“But... Well I... I-I got you all of those treats!” Pinkie offered with a wavy foreleg.
Trixie allowed a feather-light chuckle. “‘On the house?’” Her brow quirked.
The crumble of Pinkie’s confidence, and the wilt of her ears: food for the soul. Trixie offered the other mare a half-cocked grin, daring her to make another excuse. As Pinkie’s eyes found everything except for her, Trixie knew she’d won.
“Right. I... did say that, didn’t I? Hehehe!... Heh.” It was almost painful to see such a forced smile. Almost. “Well, I don’t go against my word, so I guess--What! Are you all! STARING AT?!”
Whatever Trixie was about to say, shot from her lips with a bug-eyed sputter. Pinkie’s shallow breaths echoed amidst the now silent crowd. Trixie, recalling her surroundings, noted quite a few ponies nervously averting the gazes. Then she turned back to a smiling Pinkie Pie. Slack-jawed.
“Well, I feel better!” Pinkie enthused.
Trixie found it hard--nearly impossible--to gauge her feelings right then and there. As she watched that ball of pink prance ahead, humming a tune nopony else would dare call their own, Trixie found her breath being taken with her. Every thought sent pulsing ripples through her skull. Every breath somehow starved her lungs for air. At first, she worried that she might be dying. Then came the blood-thinning tingle.
Trixie’s brows knitted, a sharp glint to her eye, her smile returned. Excited for the challenge of discovering more. Trixie trod forward to catch the other mare. But when she re-took her place beside Pinkie, Trixie’s smile waned. And when she saw Pinkie’s brow’s curled up with glistening eyes, Trixie’s smile completely vanished.
“What’s wrong?”
Three things occurred to Trixie after those words left her. First, a part of her--the part that berated acts of general concern--stung her temples with a loud protest. Second, Trixie’s heart caved, flattening her ears with very unwelcome guilt. The last thing frightened her a bit. A lot, actually. Trixie chinned Pinkie up. With her nose.
“Hey, come on.” Trixie stepped closer to Pinkie’s side. “How about... How about you tell one bit, and... Trixie can offer one in return?”
Pinkie gave a gentle sniff, unable to meet Trixie’s eyes. “Its not that. I was really nasty to those ponies back there,” Pinkie said. “Its just that when I think about home, sometimes I... Well, you saw.”
“Well, if you ask Trixie, and you probably should, those spoiled brats deserved it,” Trixie said, her voice as sharp as any blade. “You’ve nothing to feel ashamed of.”
Pinkie’s eyes reconnected with Trixie’s. “You think so?” She sniffed again.
“But of course!” Trixie proudly declared. “Even Trixie knows its impolite to stare. Why, that takes her back to her filly-hood. ‘Beatrix Ophelia Lulamoon! You keep your eyes to yourself unless spoken to, or so help me, I will turn this cart around!’”
Somehow--and her heart needled at the thought of it--Trixie smiled fondly at her escort’s bubbly laughter. Then she lifted a brow at Pinkie’s disarming, half-lidded stare. “You have a pretty name.”
For a while--a long one, at that--Trixie simply looked at the mare walking beside her. Then found it hard to keep eye contact. “Y-Yes. Well...” she trailed off.
“Heehee! And its so adorable when you blush!” Pinkie’s spryness had returned.
Between the regret of mentioning her full name, and wishing she was a darker shade of blue, Trixie became aware of the warmth on her cheeks. “H-Hey! The Great and Powerful Trixie is gorgeous! ‘Adorable’ is beneath her,” she declared with a lifted nose.
Then it happened again: that smile tugging at Trixie’s mouth when Pinkie laughed. Somehow, it managed to knock ‘unwanted smiles’ up to number 6 among Trixie’s most hated things. Right above ‘blushing in public’.
“Alright, thats enough out of you, Missy,” Trixie said, finally killing her would-be smile. “Trixie has given you her bit, now pay up.”
Pinkie had stifled her laughter into static giggle-fit. “Okie dokie lokie! I’ll play since you care about me enough to cheer me up!” She beamed.
“Thats more like i-... Wait. T-Trixie doesn’t-”
“Guess what my very, very first ever birthday present was, EVER!” Pinkie pearly whites chasmed along her face.
“A rock...” Trixie deadpanned.
“You. Are so. GOOD AT THIS! Okay, you turn!”
For some reason, and she would allow anypony to correct her, Trixie knew where this was going. And, for yet another elusive reason, Trixie could only smile at the thought.