//------------------------------// // Royal Reveal // Story: The Stallion in the Library // by leonidas701 //------------------------------//         I can’t believe it! Trixie thought gleefully, using the parts of her brain not being occupied with the monotonous work involved in filing insurance claims and sorting out patient records. They asked me to put on a magic show as part of the Princess’s entertainment! It feels like it’s been forever since I got to perform! Trixie had been spending hours each night practicing and figuring out what tricks she wanted to do in the half-hour she was given, even excusing herself early from the daily meetings at the library. Not that was any great loss given the circumstances.         I wonder how Twilight’s doing? She seems pretty stressed out about this visit from the Princess. Well I guess I can’t really blame her, it’s the Princess of our whole kingdom after all, but she seems really worked up over it all. She could barely concentrate on the magic the Princess sent along with her note telling her she would visit tomorrow. The whole town’s been in a frenzy trying to prepare. Oh well, at least it should be pretty fun. Trixie noticed that she had stopped moving, and forced herself to get back to her current larger-than-average workload. It had better be fun, I can’t believe this many ponies waited until today to reschedule their appointments. Thank Celestia- Trixie paused a moment to appreciate the irony of thanking the pony who’s the reason she’s in this mess, Thank Celestia that Card’s generous enough to give me all the money we get for being this inconvenienced. Now then, for the grand finale should I do a...         Trixie continued to think about her upcoming show until she heard the door to Card’s office open, and out walked two mare’s, one a mint green unicorn and the other a pale yellow earth pony.         “Thank you so much for your advice Dr. Card,” The mint one said.         “No problem. I’ll see you both soon.” The two mares waved goodbye as they exited, shutting the door to the waiting room behind them. Once they left, Card turned to Trixie.         “Pencil them in for another appointment in a week, same time but on sunday.” After they started getting a good amount of client’s who needed to be seen weekly, they had extended their working hours to being open on the weekends in the middle of the day. It was a bit rough at first, but since it was on the weekends Card was allowed to charge a little more than the weekday rates. All in all, a fair trade.         “Okay. Still an hour and a half right?” Trixie asked as she made a note of the appointment.         Card nodded his head.         Trixie put away the appointment records to input into the computer, that she had finally been able to convince Card to buy, later. She took a moment to gaze at the picture of calm her boss was radiating. Card felt her eyes on him and spoke up.         “Is there something on my face?” he asked.         “How are you not excited?” Trixie asked incredulously. “Also, yeah just above your lip- No other side. There, you got it.”         “Thanks. As for the excited part, I don’t really care. I mean, I’m not the one who’s going to perform.” Card walked into his office and grabbed a brown-paper covered box. “That reminds me. Here.” Card placed the box on Trixie’s desk. “Consider this a thank you for putting up with all this recent nonsense.”         Trixie tore open the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal, “A new outfit! Thank you so much!” Inside the box lay a new purple star-studded cape and hat combo. “I was worrying about performing without a costume!” She got up from behind her desk to hug her friend. “Thank you so much!”         “I think you already said that,” Card pointed out as he hugged her back.         “I don’t care! Thank you!” She let go of Card and put on her new clothes. “Well, how do I look?” She struck a pose.         “You look-” Card was interrupted by a rolled up sheet of levitating paper very rudely appearing directly in front of his eyes. “Oh come on, does he not know the meaning of the word ‘vacation’?” He grabbed the roll out of the air and peeled up the wax seal, leaving Trixie looking at an upside down seal and the blank side of a letter. But her mind was not un-occupied.         That was one of the cleanest transports I’ve ever seen. No whirling dust, no flash of light, just suddenly there. If it didn’t appear right in front of you, you probably wouldn’t notice it. Trixie admiration of the spell’s caster was cut short as she noticed the seal. What a strange looking mark. Just a sun with twelve tendrils, how boring. At least the horseshoe Celestia puts on her letter’s to Twilight has little holes for decoration. Trixie was snapped out of her reverie by Card rolling up the scroll and throwing it in his jacket with a scowl on his face.         “How the hell did this happen,” he muttered. “What lis-” A small postcard appeared in front of Card’s eyes, in much the same remarkably unremarkable manner as the scroll.         “Oh,” Card said as he took it out of the air, “Well, I guess this isn’t so ba-” Irony must have it out for ponies in this town, because the postcard suddenly had its backside flip down, and down again, leaving Card with a list three times bigger than the one he had before. Card sighed, and began to rub his temples.         “This is going to take me ages,” Card muttered. “I don’t have any appointments tomorrow right?” he asked Trixie.         “No, everypony rescheduled,” Trixie said after a quick glance at the appointment calendar file she kept open on her computer. “The next appointment you have after today isn’t until Sunday.”         “Great. Well, it looks like I’m probably going to have to miss your show. You think you can handle it without me there?” he said in a friendly semi-condescending tone.         Any sorrow Trixie felt at her friend not being able see one of the biggest performance’s of her life was dashed away immediately, but she still had to ask, “Why? What’s going on?”         “Nothing serious,” Card reassured her, seeing the worried look on her face, “Just a mistake I made that’s going to take a long time to clean up. If I leave as soon as we’re done here, I should be able to be back in town by tomorrow evening.” He took a quick look at the clock they had mounted on the wall. “Now then, I have to go get things ready for our next client. See ya.”         Trixie waved at him as he went into the office. Now then, back to filing. She turned around and saw the stack of papers that she still needed to go through. Joy. -----Closing Time-----         “Take care,” Card said as the last patient of the day left the office. “Okay, Trixie, could you lock up?”         “Yeah, sure.”         “Great.” Card threw a key on Trixie’s desk and rushed out the door.         A few minutes later, Trixie had finished locking up all the files and left the building carrying her new costume in a bag. I had better put this away before I go visit Twilight. Should probably pick up Relicary while I’m there, It’s probably overdue by now. Trixie thought. She started down the road that lead to her apartment, mulling over her planned set for the show. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t notice she was home until she had nearly slammed into the front door.         She entered in the passkey to let herself in, and rode the elevator up to the floor her apartment was located on. As she walked in she once again noticed the mess on her floor, and once again contemplated tidying up all the books and knick-knacks that cluttered it up. Oh, why bother. It’s not like anypony else will ever see the inside of this place. Since she had moved in all those months ago, Trixie had yet to have any guests over. Not Card, not Twilight, and as for inviting mares to stay over, it was kinda hard to do that when there were no places in town to pick any up.         Damn small town, Trixie thought. The closest thing to a club here is when Pinkie throws her parties, and all the mares there are either straight or taken. While she was bemoaning her lack of a sex life, she dropped the bag with the costume onto her queen-sized bed, Damn waste of money, and picked up the trashy romance from her nightstand. When she was nearly out the door, her stomach rumbled. She went over to her small kitchen and looked into her refrigerator, seeing it was empty aside from a half full carton of milk, and few apples, some carrots, and container that held what was left of the salad she ordered for lunch a couple of days ago. Taking the salad out, she reminded herself to go shopping for food.         After she finished her meal, she grabbed the book and left her apartment, leaving her plate on the table to clean at some later time. As she walked across town to the library, she saw signs of ponies hard at work, from street cleaners picking up any loose speck of dust they saw to shop-owners arranging and rearranging their window displays. Guess this far out in the country, a casual visit from Princess Celestia is a huge deal, she thought, Although, I guess Twilight played a big part in whipping them up into this big of a frenzy. Trixie let out a small chuckle as she remembered how much her friend was flipping out.         A little while later, she finally arrived at the library. “Twilight, I brought back- Hey, where’s Twilight?” Trixie asked as she looked around the room.         “She’s off trying to make sure everypony else’s house looks nice,” Spike said with a hint of scorn as he balanced precariously on a ladder, trying to fit a book back into it’s place.         Poor Spike, Trixie thought as she looked around at the mess. Maybe I should help him. “Do you want some help?” she called at the pre-pubescent dragon, shocking him out of his concentration and making him tumble down the ladder into knocking over a huge pillar of books.         “Would you?” he asked as he dug himself out of the pile.         “Okay, stand back.” Trixie focused on her horn, forcing her magic to her will. A faint pink glow surrounded her horn, along with ten books. She called them over to her and, after checking all of their spines, sent them over to the places in the shelves they belonged, simultaneously picking up ten more books and bringing them over to herself. She repeated this cycle four times until she suddenly stopped. Panting heavily, she walked over to the bathroom to wipe the sweat out of her eyes, an awestruck dragon following her.         “Wow! Twilight can’t do anything like that!” Spike said. “I mean, she can levitated books into their shelves, but she whenever she tries doing more than one at a time, the- Hey, are you okay?” he asked, noticing Trixie all but hanging off of the bathroom sink. “You look like you just ran through all of Ponyville.”         “Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine,” Trixie said in between gasps for air. “That… That just takes a… A lot of energy.” She turned on the bathroom faucet and began drinking from the stream of water.         “You sure you’re fine? I can do the rest of this by myself, you put away most of books that were up really high.”         “Ahhhhh,” Trixie sighed as she removed her mouth from the water, “Nah, don’t worry. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be able to help you with the rest of them,” she said.         “Okay, if you’re sure,” Spike said doubtfully as he went back into the library.         After a while, they finally finished cleaning up the mess.         “Yeesh, it’s dark,” Spike said as he looked out the window.         “Yeah, it’s almost winter. Nights are getting longer,” Trixie responded.         “Oh hey, Twilight’s back.” Spike ran to the entrance and opened up the door for his returning master. “How’s it been?”         “Great!” Twilight said jubilantly. “Everything’s going perfectly according to plan! And, I got this fellow!” Twilight bowed her head, and out of her hair came…         “A flying ping-pong ball?” Trixie asked.         “It’s called a Parasprite. Go to Fluttershy’s she’ll be happy to give you one,” Twilight said.         “No thanks, I don’t do well with pets.”         “You sure?” Twilight pressed.         “Yeah. Oh, that reminds me. Card told me to tell you that he won’t be here for the parade. Apparently something more important came up.”         Twilight was shocked, “What could be more important than a visit from the Princess?”         Trixie shrugged her shoulders, “Oh, and don’t worry. I won’t bother you tomorrow night. I know you probably want to spend some time alone with the Princess, without anypony else here.”         “What! Of course I want you here.” Twilight came over to Trixie and gave her a hug. “Why wouldn’t I want the Princess to meet my best friend?”         “Oh…” Trixie was left speechless. “Well then. Uhm. It’s getting dark, I should probably be heading to bed. I’m probably going to spend all of tomorrow worrying about my performance. I’ll see you after my show.”         “Oh dear!” Twilight took a look at the clock. “I should be going to sleep too, I can’t see the Princess all tired. Good night!”         “Yeah, good night.” Trixie gave Twilight a hug to pay her back for the one she just gave her and left. -----The Next Day-----         “Thank you! Thank you!” Trixie yelled to make her voice heard over the roar of the crowd, “The Great and Powerful Trixie would love to stay, but her time is up. Thank you all and,” Trixie took a bow a swept off her hat, moving it in front of her body as she did so. She quickly cast a light illusion over her audience, making it seem as though the parts of her body that had the hat swept over them had disappeared. Once the illusion had gotten to the point that her whole body had vanished she dropped her hat in front of herself, letting it flop there on the floor. “Good-bye,” she said quietly, warmly, using her magic to send out the sound to the ears of every pony in her audience making it seem like a good-bye from an old friend. While the crowd was still raving, the curtain dropped down.         Trixie let out a sigh of relief, Whew, glad that’s over with, she thought, I hope nopony noticed my little slip-up at the beginning. She remembered how her first illusion faltered when she saw Princess Celestia standing in the front row center, along with Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and the cute yellow pegasus, the really shy one whose wings kept on fluttering whenever she made something suddenly appear. What was her name again? Butterscotch? No, that doesn’t sound quite right.         I wonder why Twilight looked so tired though? Did something happen today? Trixie hadn’t left her apartment since she woke up, she had spent the whole day working on making sure the show was perfect. Town square did look like a bit of a mess, she mused as she picked up her hat and walked off the stage, checking it for dust. Let’s see, there are still three more shows, so thats about an hour and a half. Then there’s the big party after that, and that’s supposed to go ‘till midnight. Trixie packed away her new costume into a bag and went out of the backstage area. She could hear the band that was following her act start their set.         She toyed with the thought of going down to sit with Twilight, but the area around her happened to be part of the area around the Princess, which was packed. None of the acts coming up really interested her all that much either. Well, no point in sticking around here. Might as well go home.         Trixie was walking out of the building, carrying her bag, relishing the evening air, and enjoying the sense of well-earned emptiness that came with knowing that the information you had crammed into your brain had served its purpose and could now be let go.         A shout of “Trixie!” came from just behind her. She turned around and saw Twilight exiting the theater, along with-         “Your majesty!” Trixie gave a quick curtsy, only for the bag of clothes she had balanced upon her back to tumble off. They were saved from hitting the ground by a soft orange aura.         “Oh please, there is no need for that,” Celestia said as she lowered the bag to the ground. Despite her words, she had an expression of faint joy on her face.         “I- I am so sorry,” Trixie stuttered out as she attempted to levitate her bag back onto her back, a task made much more difficult by the fact that her nervousness made her unable to properly steady the bag.         “Here, let me,” Twilight said as her bright, bold, purple glow replaced Trixie’s faint, pale, blue one around the bag. Once the bag was steadied by her, the three started moving towards the library and Trixie was suddenly struck with the realization that something was wrong.         “Forgive me for asking this Princess, but why aren’t you still inside enjoying the rest of the show? Also if you’re out here, where’s Spike?” Okay so I was wrong, it was two things.         “Spike wanted to keep watching the show,” Twilight said, by which she meant, ‘Spike wanted to keep watching Rarity watch the show’, “and Princess Celestia wanted to leave.”         “I’m afraid that I wasn’t terribly interested in most of those performances,” Celestia said. “I was going to simply appear at the start and then quietly make my leave, but my dear little student insisted on staying to watch your show.”         Trixie apologized profusely. “Oh, I’m so, so, sorry to have inconvenienced you like that.”         Celestia dismissed her apologies with a wave of her hoof. “Don’t be, that was some of the absolute finest illusionary work I have seen in a long time,” she said. “Your level of fine control is staggering, Ms…” Celestia cast a significant look at Twilight.         Twilight, realizing her blunder, introduced the two with a blush on her face. “Trixie, this is my teacher. Princess Celestia, meet my best friend.”         “Charmed,” Celestia said as she extended a hoof that Trixie took with a mix of reverence and fear, “I must say, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”         Trixie was afraid to opening her mouth, for fear she might puke.         “I can’t describe how happy I was to hear that my precious little student had found a friend to study with.”         “Thank you for letting me do that.”         The rest of the walk was spent just mindlessly chatting, to the point where Trixie forgot she was speaking the Princess.         “We’re here,” Twilight announced as they came up the the library. She unlocked the door and let them all in.         “I’m going to make some coffee, anyone else want some?” Trixie asked as she placed her bag on the floor and went into the kitchen.         “Yes please,” Celestia said.         “Me too,” Twilight said.         Trixie set a full pot of coffee to brewing and came back into the main area of the library.         “So, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said hesitantly, “what brings you here?”         “Ahh, well I’m afraid that this visit was not as random as I may have lead you to believe,” Celestia admitted with a serious look on her face.         Twilight got a look of terror, She’s going to send me to magic kindergarten! she thought.         Celestia noticed the look on her disciples face and grinned, saying, “Nothing bad, I assure you.”         Twilight gave a sigh of relief.         “My little sister’s birthday is coming up soon, and I’d like to have you and the other elements of harmony present at her dinner as guests. She hasn’t gotten very much interaction outside of the palace I’m afraid, and I’m hoping that being around ponies who she doesn’t know very well but does trust will help break her out of her shell.”         “Oh!” Twilight got a stunned look on her face. “Oh. Of course, but…” Twilight cast a look at Trixie, who was sitting there feeling awkward.         Celestia noticed and reassured Twilight, saying, “Of course, Trixie is more then welcome to come as well.”         “I am honored, Princess,” Trixie said humbly.         “Yes, thank you. It’s not just that though,” Twilight said, “there’s someone else, my other friend.”         “Oh? Your letters never mentioned another,” Celestia said.         “I didn’t know how to describe him…”         “Him?” Celestia said, drawing out the word with a gossipy look on her face.         “No! No, no, no. It’s not like that, really,” Twilight said.         Celestia felt some disappointment at Twilight’s words, which she could tell were honest and not the deflections of a young maiden who’s refusing to admit her love. “Oh. Well, who is it?”         “His name is-”         *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*         “I’ll get it.” Twilight stood up and opened the door. “Oh, hi Card. We were jus- Yeah, please come right in.” She said to stallion walking past her into her kitchen.         “The outlet in your kitchen is just to the side of the stove right?” he called out.         “Uhmm. Yeah. Card, this is-”         “Thanks Twinkly!” He disappeared into the kitchen. “Oh sweet, you already have some fresh made!” he said from inside.         The three mares looked at each other in turn, each stunned. Trixie and Twilight for how Card just completely brushed off the Princess, and Celestia for another reason altogether. As one, the mares stood up and went into the kitchen. Insert joke about that here.         Inside the kitchen they saw Card take the coffee pot, and pour it all into a machine that Twilight and Trixie assumed he pulled out of his jacket. Once all the coffee was in, he closed the lid and began pushing on the lever.         “Mggnhhgnnahggnfaa,” and various other sounds of exertion came out of his mouth. Now that he was standing still long enough for the mares to get a good look at him, they could see obvious signs of severe fatigue. His eyes were drooping, and he kept on leaning his weight against the counter.         Eventually he was able to press all the coffee through the machine, at which point he poured the strange colored liquid into a boiling pan that he took from his jacket. He set the pan onto Twilight’s stove and turned up the heat. He then sat down in front of it. After a few seconds of watching it warm up, he spoke.         “Boil, damn you,” he said with a look directed at the pan that may have been called a glare if it wasn’t being delivered through eyes that were fighting to stay open.         “I could make it boil right now,” Celestia offered. Card didn’t even turn to look at her.         “H-” Card sighed, putting his hoof firmly onto his forehead. “I’m tired, would one of you two explain to her why that wouldn’t work,” he said as he waved his hoof around in Trixie and Twilight’s general direction.         The two previously mentioned mares jaws slammed straight into the ground. Card was insulting the Princess! The most powerful mare in Equestria! What was he thinking? Did he want to take a little trip to the moon. They focused their gaze onto Celestia, trying to see how she would react to this. She shrugged it off.         “Are you making Klava?” she asked.         Card let out a sound that was heading towards being a grunt of affirmation but got lost along the way.         “Might I have some?”         Same sound again. That was the last noise in the room for the next minute until the liquid finally boiled, a thin layer of oil covering the top of it. Card setup a filter cloth and poured the klava through into a large container. From that container, he decanted the steaming hot klava into a mug and added some cream and sugar to it.         He took a deep draught. As he drank, he became noticeably more awake. He lowered the mug for a second and let out a deep, satisfied, “Aaaahhhhh.”         When she saw that he was finally fully coherent, Celestia said, “Hello Card.”         Card took one look at her and went right back to drinking.         Celestia was confused for a brief moment, before she look down and saw that she was wearing her regalia. With a short little chuckle at herself, she levitated her necklace and her tiara off of her body.         Once the two pieces of jewelry were safely on a table, she turned her attention back to Card, who now had his full focus on her.         She flared up her wings, and extended her forelegs. Card saw this and rolled his eyes, but he put down his drink and walked over to her.         “It’s good to see you again Card,” Celestia said as she embraced him.         “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too, Auntie.”