//------------------------------// // Familiar Faces // Story: Open Ballot // by RamboZelda //------------------------------// That night, Trixie slept restlessly. As comfortable and quiet as Twilight's library was, she could not shut out the noise in her head. Grass Root's voice rattled inside her mind, eating away at her like acid. "Drop out. Drop out. Drop out..." How she hated how attractive his voice sounded. But that was the least of her concerns. She could not drop out. Not under any circumstances. She would never be able to live with herself. Doing that now was already hard enough as it was. And that threat of his. What could be have meant by it? Surely not any threat of physical harm. She knew politicians were sometimes not beneath that, but Grass Roots knew enough of her history to know how adept her magic was. She shuddered to think about it, but she could cause pain when she wanted to. She had done it before... Trixie quickly pushed the unwelcome memories from her mind. The last thing she needed right now was a wave of guilt to overtake her again. In any case, she knew how to defend herself in case Grass Roots resorted to violence, whether personally of through hired muscle. She would need to watch her flank carefully. Trixie rolled over on her side and used her magic to pull the blanket tightly over her. She needed to relax. She took a couple deep breaths and focused on how quiet it was. The library tree was in the middle of Ponyville and was too far away from the noises of any animals or creatures. The loudest thing she could hear was Spike gently breathing through his nostrils on the other side of the loft where the beds were. She had never gotten a chance to speak to Spike; he had already fallen asleep by the time she had gotten back from picking up her wagon at Fluttershy's cottage. She made herself a mental note to strike up a conversation of some sort in the morning. After all, she was going to be roommates with him for a while. And now Trixie had distracted herself again. She shut her eyes tight and begged herself to sleep. There were so many things nagging at her, so many things she was trying to deal with at once, that all she could do was... Suddenly Trixie bolted upright in the bed. Sunlight was pouring in through the windows, forcing her to squint her eyes. Somehow she had fallen asleep, though her sleep had been dreamless. She stood and walked downstairs. Trixie found Spike in the library's foyer, organizing and dusting off some of the books. He didn't notice her come in. Trixie cleared her throat to get his attention. Spike turned towards the noise, his face briefly lighting up with alarm. "Oh! Hey Trixie," he said. "Hey, Spike," she said. They had already reached awkward with only five words between them. Trixie quickly thought of something to say. "So, did you ever send that letter?" Spike waved the feather duster over the books absentmindedly. "Yeah, I sent it about half an hour ago. We should be hearing back pretty— belch!" Green flames sprouted from his mouth, nearly torching the shelved books. The fire promptly morphed into a neatly bound scroll that fell to the floor. "Is that her?!" Trixie demanded. She galloped up to the scroll, as if Twilight herself was going to spring from page. "I would imagine so," Spike said. He scooped up the letter, peeled back the wax seal, and began to read. "Dear Spike, You certainly gave me something exciting to wake up to! The last bit of news that I thought I would hear from you is that Trixie is running for mayor! I can't say I'm not surprised, though. I always had a feeling she would be coming back to Ponyville, but I never expected her to try something on this grand of a scale. Still, it seems like she didn't expect it, either. You say that somepony else put her on the open ballot? I wonder who could have pulled that off. Somepony would have had to know that she was coming to Ponyville. If any of you find any leads, let me know as soon as you can. Something like that bothers me. As far helping with the election, I will do the best I can while I'm so far away! I've actually never been involved in any mayoral election, since Canterlot doesn't have a mayor. Public speaking, however, is something I've gotten a handle on recently. Tell Trixie that she needs to take constructive criticism to heart. And only constructive criticism. Nothing else should get in the way of what she wants to say. She needs to insist that she'll be growing along with town and that she will strive to be genuine during this stage of reformation. Besides all that, I hope you and all of our friends are doing well! I've been thinking of you all and miss you dearly! I expect to be back soon! Keep me posted on the election! With all of my love, Princess Twilight Sparkle Spike rolled the scroll back into its original shape. "That's it," he said. Trixie began to pace around the library, thinking over Twilight's words. It would have been so much easier to talk to her in pony. "Constructive criticism?" she found herself saying aloud. "I can take criticism! Is she saying that I can't?" "To me it sounds like you're not taking her criticism about taking criticism," Spike chuckled. Then his green eyes widened a bit. "Whoa, that's pretty deep." Trixie grunted on the inside but did not react physically. The little purple dragon was right. She wasn't about to admit that though. Before she could think of something to say, there was a knock on the library's door. Spike scuttled to the door on his tiny legs and opened it. Pinkie Pie was just outside, bouncing up and down on the door mat. "Hi Spike!" she said cheerfully. "Trixie here?" Spike stepped aside and said, "Yeah, she's right here." "Hi Trixie!" Pinkie shouted. She still hadn't stopped bouncing. Trixie didn't know how that much energy could be bound inside one little pony. "Hello, Pinkie Pie," she said with significantly less exuberance. "There's two ponies who really want to see you!" Pinkie said happily. "Come on!" Spike looked at Trixie and shrugged his shoulders. She pursed her lips suspiciously, but she followed Pinkie outside. The denizens of Ponyville were already out and about with their daily business. They trotted through the streets merrily, calling out "good morning!" and "how ya doin'?" to one another. She could have sworn that a couple streets away a musical number was being performed. It amazed Trixie how smoothly everything was running. Everypony seemed to know not only their routine, but the routines of others. It was the epitome of the small town spirit. The only blip in the system that she noticed was the looks she was getting. She didn't bother to wear her dirty cloak, so she knew she was sticking out like a sore hoof. Most of the glances coming her way were rather unpleasant. Trixie just took a deep breath and reminded herself that things were going to change. Pinkie ended up leading Trixie to Sugarcube Corner. They walked (Pinkie had finally stopped bouncing) into the gingerbread house-like shop, and immediately the smell of the bakery overwhelmed her. Behind the counter was every sort of dessert, confection, and snack that she could think of, all of them tempting her to satisfy her sweet tooth. Sitting at the various tables around the shop were ponies that were having a morning coffee with their breakfast, some on their own and some chatting with their friends. But sitting at a corner table were two unicorn colts that she recognized immediately, and she knew that these were the ponies that Pinkie was leading her to. The first one had long, lanky legs with a tan coat and mint green mane and comically large ears. The second had a teal coat and an orange mane. He was a bit stocky and had buck teeth. "Oh no, these two," Trixie muttered under her breath. But it was too late. Snips, the stocky one, and Snails, the thin one, set eyes on her. Their expressions lit up, and immediately they were by her side. "Oh my gosh!" Snips said, nudging his friend. "It's the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Snails said, equally enthused. Trixie covered her face with her hoof. "Please don't call me that," she groaned. "But it's you!" Snips cried. "We heard you were back and asked Pinkie about you!" "And I delivered her, didn't I?" Pinkie said, giving the colts a large wink. "Thank you ever so much, Pinkie Pie," Trixie said, her voice sickly sweet. "You're welcome!" Pinkie said with a huge grin, completely oblivious to Trixie's sarcasm. She promptly turned and hopped away, leaving Trixie alone with her two biggest fans. "We really really wanted to see you again!" Snails told her. It amazed Trixie how genuine the two of them were about the excitement of her presence. "You wanted to see me?" Trixie asked, her voice filled with humbled disbelief. "Of course!" Snails said. Trixie looked away, hardly able to meet their eyes. She hadn't anticipated this kind of treatment from them. "But... but I treated you two so horribly." "That was, like, a year ago!" Snips said. "We couldn't stay mad for that long!" Trixie could. She had done it before. In fact, staying angry for so long was the entire reason she had found the Alicorn Amulet and poured chaos over Ponyville with it. "But how?" she asked desperately. She had to know their secret, if there was indeed a secret to be known. "Eh, I don't know!" Snails said. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at his short friend. "Well, why bother staying mad that long?" he asked rhetorically. "That would drive me crazy!" "Many of the ponies around here don't seem to think that," she said sadly. She titled her head back up and looked them both in the eye. "Could I ask you two for something?" Snips nudged Snails' side. "Wow! Trixie is asking us for permission!" he exclaimed. Snails held his chin up high and spoke with an official-sounding voice. Or at least as official as he could get it. "You have our permission!" he declared. Trixie couldn't help but smile at their antics. "Could I ask for forgiveness from you two?" Snips and Snails looked at each other conspiratorially, as if coming to a decision, and then looked back up at her. "You got it!" they said in unison. Trixie felt a twinge of happiness deep inside her heart. It was something she hasn't felt in a long time. But somehow, these two colts with their goofy smile and childish innocence had warmed her. Trixie was surprised to feel a warm tear beginning to form in her eye. She quickly looked away and wiped it. In that moment, as Trixie redirected her gaze, she noticed that other ponies has started to watch the interaction. Trixie didn't mind having eyes on her, but in this one moment of vulnerability she wished she wasn't being watched. But then again, this is exactly what she needed as a mayoral candidate. Trixie hated that her mind wandered to her own gains in this genuine moment, but this was two steps forward for her. She looked back to Snips and Snails and gave them a soft smile. "Thank you, you two," she said to them. "Now, run along. I'll see you around." Snips and Snails both said good bye to her and ran out of Sugarcube Corner. Trixie looked around at the ponies who had been watching her, and she made it known that she noticed them. She smiled and said, "Good day to you all!" With a wave, she walked out of the shop, feeling ecstatic.