//------------------------------//
// Chapter 35 
// Story: The Adventures of Trixie if Her Father Was a Badass Alien 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	It was midmorning when Trixie awoke.  She and Fluttershy occupied opposite sides of the same bed while Iron Will took up most of the other bed by himself.  The hotel room was not far from the jazz club, but they had all been too tired to be kept awake by the sirens and sounds of emergency ponies responding to the environmental disaster of jazz spillage that had occurred there the night before.
Sitting up, Trixie yawned and stretched, glancing around the room.  She and Fluttershy were headed back to Ponyville today, but there was no great hurry.  Getting out of bed, Trixie gathered her things.  
Iron Will and Fluttershy woke up shortly and the three of them made ready to leave.  They settled the bill and exited the hotel.  After finding a place for breakfast, they stood back out on the street.
“I think the train station is this way,” Trixie said.
“Iron Will will go with you.  Iron Will needs to find a laundry shop to iron Iron Will’s ironing.”
“You should consider switching to first person,” Trixie told him.  “I know it’s a good show shtick, but it gets a little tiring sometimes.”
Iron Will shrugged thoughtfully.  “Maybe.”
Fluttershy smiled.  “Maybes are for babies.”
Chuckling, Iron Will replied, “But when your name’s your game, it’s got to stay the same.”
There was a surprising lot of wisdom in the minotaur.
Trixie asked, “What have you got to iron, anyway?”
Iron Will indicated his tie.  “Professionalism is very important in Iron Will's line of work.”
They entered the train station and looked at the departures board.  Ponyville was a stop on the route of The City of Neigh Orleans, a daily train.  It had a few luxury cars attached, which actually advertised free ironing.
“Well, there wasn’t anything keeping Iron Will here,” he speculated.  “Maybe Iron Will could just come along with you.”
“Sure, sounds good,” agreed Trixie.
“Just hope nothing like last time we rode a train together happens,” Iron Will murmured.
“What happened?” asked Fluttershy.
“An encounter with crooks,” Trixie replied.  “A stallion named Stabby Hooves and his gang attempted a robbery.”
“Oh, I think I’ve heard of him,” said Fluttershy.  “Isn’t he a cousin of Derpy or something?  I heard that he used to be a medical student but couldn’t handle the pressure.  I think his real first name is actually Tender.”
“What ever happened to him?” Iron Will asked.
Trixie shrugged.  “Still in Appleoosa's prison, probably.”
Of course, it’s always the little things that Chekov picks up on.  Sometimes they’re more obvious than others.  In this case, the mention by name of a character from much earlier is a surefire way to get them to appear.  It’s practically like a summoning ritual, and dangerously close to breaking the fourth wall.  Although really, why call it a fourth wall when sometimes you’re viewing the action through another perspective, like in a top-down video game would the equivalent be breaking the ceiling?  And speaking of-
“No need to worry about him, then,” said Iron Will, interrupting and also probably tempting Fate into kicking off the conflict.
“But what would we do in the event of a train robbery?” Fluttershy asked, worried.
“Well, we’d kick ass,” said Trixie, her eyes narrowing behind her sunglasses.
“We'd do even better now that we’ve had some practice,” agreed Iron Will, cracking his knuckles.
Chekov slunk back into the shadows and vowed to get even later, when they least expected it.
The three of them boarded the train.  Fluttershy thought about going up to the engine to help shovel coal, but decided that it might be nice to just hang out with friends.  Trixie saw her considering it, though.
There was an interesting topic.  A pony’s special talent was something they were best at, but what about secondary talents that they didn’t get a mark for?  Twilight was good at organizing things.  Pinkie was good at, um – Trixie frowned – being a lesbian, maybe?  But more seriously, what about ponies with more than one secondary talent?  Like Fluttershy, who could sew and shovel coal.
Trixie wondered for a moment about her own special talent and any possible secondary talents.  She was quite skilled with show magic, but after going through the effects of the deaging spell, having to grow up again, and reearning her cutie mark, she wasn’t sure exactly where she stood.  She glanced down at her hip thoughtfully.
The train began to move.  It was an older model, not one converted by Valiant to be faster.  Still thinking about cutie marks, Trixie considered him.  Valiant seemed to have a talent for mechanical creation, although apparently he hadn’t had the same ability – or at least not the same resources – when still human.
Trixie let out a breath and looked out the window as the train gained speed to leave the city behind.  The topic of cutie marks sounded like something Twilight would be more knowledgeable about.  Besides, this wasn’t a good time to think about her father.  
Trixie had noticed that those times had been growing more and more sparse lately.  Just like Valiant himself, his influence seemed to be slipping away.  Even the trains he had outfitted with new technology were breaking down with nopony who knew how to give them regular maintenance.  Eventually, all traces that Valiant had ever existed would be gone.
Perhaps that was for the best.  After the shakeup that everything in this universe was horribly out of whack, and Valiant had been the cause of most of it, getting things back in balance had been a priority for all involved.  That was part of the reason Valiant boarded a space rocket.  He wanted one last hurrah before leaving Equestria so it would go back to normal.
Trixie frowned.  Was that the best possible outcome – that Equestria would simply forget him?  There were no easy answers.
She gazed out the window and the train rolled on.