//------------------------------// // Trixie's Third Foal // Story: Why Did I Choose to be Trixie? // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// The next few days were filled with activity -- I made visits to each of the casinos Strong Arc either owned or had substantial interest in. I gave the same speech or one similar to it to each of the bosses and supervisors -- reactions varied from eager acceptance to outright hostility. There were some ponies who maintained an allegiance to the yellow unicorn stallion and they were extremely reticent to give up those allegiances. I had to smooth over lots of ruffled feathers, in more than one sense of the phrase. For the sake of safety, I encouraged Trixie and our foals to accompany me until such time as I had ensured there would be no more threats to them. I found myself having to interview casino supervisors and hold meetings with them to get status updates. The process was rather tedious, but it was needed in order to ensure the Royal Treasury would be receiving its cut of the profits. I met with the Mayor of Las Pegasus to oversee the transfers of titles and deeds, something which shocked her. When I informed her of Strong Arc's actions and subsequent arrest and pending trial, her incredulity grew exponentially. The process of those transfers took quite a while and considering just how much property he owned and how much he had a controlling interest in, I was astonished that it seemed easier to get the casinos operating smoothly than to address the matter of signing all those documents. I was told it had taken Strong Arc more than fifteen years to accumulate this much property, but also discovered he was a tyrant when it came to running his operations, demanding utter compliance from every one of his employees. There was another matter of maintaining a sense of order to the continued smooth operation of the casinos and dealing with rival owners, who vociferously protested the idea of the Crown owning five of them with a controlling interest in three others. The owner of the Canterlot Casino decided to join me in an alliance and the owner of the Four Alicorns followed suit shortly thereafter. Eventually, I managed to succeed in getting everypony on the same page, thus allowing for a collective sharing of profits. Initially, this idea had proven to be quite controversial, but when the money started flowing in, everypony congratulated my business sense. That was a process which took about four months, but the other owners thanked me profusely when they realized a substantial increase in their profits. Getting security issues addressed likewise took several weeks, but eventually Trixie, Marina, Jade and I were able to relax in safety. I managed to find a good school for our filly and dependable day-care for Jade. Trixie assisted me with overseeing casino operations and management, learning how to perform certain administrative duties. It turns out she had quite a knack for it, despite my initial misgivings regarding the possibility of having her oversee operations. I had acquired a personal cadre of guardsponies to escort me in relative safety and assigned a security detail for Trixie as well as our foals. I had assigned the top ten floors of the Visage casino to be the barracks for my guard and considered the possibility of taking the entire hotel to enlarge it. Marina wanted to play with them all the time, so I ensured the ones assigned to her would be willing to engage her and keep her happy as well as safe. I had finally managed to settle into a routine in Las Pegasus, though it had taken six months to do so. My progress reports seemed to be bringing Princess Celestia's satisfaction, though sometimes her responses seemed a bit cryptic. I had been very busy cleaning up the city and weeding out the corruption within the city's government and businessponies' association as well as dealing with crooked casino owners and operators. I had also managed to find Strong Arc's co-conspirators and bring them to justice, though seeing some of the burly earth pony goons break down in front of Princess Celestia was worth my efforts in pursuing them and teleporting them all the way to Canterlot. I smiled in satisfaction as their sentences were given -- the ones who acted as accessories received five years, whereas Strong Arc received the harshest sentence, being forced to spend the rest of his life in the dungeon. Trixie was able to perform her magic act, though she only did so on rare occasions. I would routinely take her to some of the clubs in the casinos where we would have a few drinks and go dancing until it was time for bed. We enjoyed ourselves as much as we could, given the circumstances. It was during this time I noticed Trixie was beginning to show her third pregnancy and she expressed great consternation over the fact she was going to have a third foal. We had a chat over breakfast in the Visage, which had become our home in Las Pegasus for the time being. "Amethyst! Trixie is not ready for a third foal! Jade is only a year old!" she exclaimed in exasperation. She gave me a very worried look and appeared to be chewing her bottom lip. "Look, Trixie, these things happen. I'll find a way of taking care of our new foal and looking after his or her needs. I'm so happy to see we're having a third foal! You should be proud, Trixie!" I smiled warmly. "I'll let the Princess know right away!" "Trixie is not ready," she reiterated a little more softly as I held her close, wrapping my wings around her. "Shhh, it's gonna be okay, Trixie -- I have the best ponies around for helping with foal care, you know that -- and you also know that I will always be close by to help out whenever you need me," I cooed softly to her. She smiled weakly at my reassurances. "Trixie wants to make her third foal her last one, Amethyst," she averred, though her voice seemed to waver just a little. "You want an operation to render you incapable of bearing any more foals after this one? I will see to it, but I will also make sure that if you want to have that procedure reversed, it can be done." I continued to smile at her as I held her in my embrace. "You know how to make Trixie happy, Amethyst!" she chirped, almost giggling. I responded by kissing her on her lips, a kiss she returned with a little more passion. "You have a name picked out yet?" "No -- you will help Trixie when the time comes, yes?" "Of course, my love. I'm curious to see whether we have another colt or filly." "Trixie thinks this one is going to be a filly." "How about Velvet Rose?" I asked, causing her to grin. "Trixie likes that name -- she thinks she will give her foal that name," she said softly. As time continued to pass with my governance of Las Pegasus, I was pleased to continue reporting to Celestia that things had settled down to the point where I believed I had succeeded in eliminating the corruption that had been rife within the city. My routine was now one of visiting each casino on a daily basis and inspecting the operations, meeting with each of the ponies I had assigned the role of Chief Operating Officer for each casino, as well as weekly meetings with the Mayor and Chief of Police. I had other ponies providing me with reports indicating steady improvement, and in turn I would relate this information to the Solar Princess, who expressed deep gratitude at my efforts. I had also informed her of Trixie's pregnancy, which resulted in a personal visit from the Alicorn. She expressed a curiosity to see the foal after her birth and checked up on my wife to ensure she was in good health. She responded in her usual fashion, stating that, "Trixie can take care of herself, thank you very much, Princess," causing the Alicorn to chuckle softly and me to roll my eyes at her. "Amethyst, your efforts have been highly productive, therefore I am allowing you to remain as an Alicorn yourself. I would like to offer you another opportunity to return to Canterlot so that I may take another vacation." "Princess Celestia, that would not be fair to Trixie -- she's only a few more weeks until she gives birth and I need to be there with her. Please, if you would be so kind, delay your vacation for another six months or so," I implored. "Do you like your current arrangement here in Las Pegasus?" she asked, her eyes narrowing at me. "That's not the issue, Celestia -- you know I would be willing to provide you a break whenever you wish -- but right now's not a very good time," I replied, bowing slightly to her. "I understand, Amethyst. Please keep up the good work here -- you have done an outstanding job with this city, as I had nearly given up hope on it myself," she chuckled. "Take care and good luck, Trixie." She surprised me by teleporting away -- I thought she normally tried to conserve her magic. It was about a week after our birthdays when Trixie went into labor with her third foal. Las Pegasus has a large hospital, one of the best in Equestria, so I gathered our foals and we got into my car, which I had used my magic on yet again. It now resembled a fairly large sport utility vehicle, comfortably seating all of us. Marina was quite excited to get in and hopped on the middle bench, giggling as she did so. I secured Jade, who seemed to protest by whining as I strapped him in. "Sorry, Jade, but this is to make sure you're safe -- think of it like being hugged by your mama," I said softly to the little colt. He seemed to smile at that, then allowed himself to drift off to sleep, given how comfortable his seat was. "Ray, can you stop jumping on the seat and sit down?" "Aww, come on, daddy! Just a little bit more! Pleeeeeease?" she asked, flashing her puppy-dog eyes at me again. "Look, Ray, this will only take a minute -- I'll see if the hospital staff can find a play room for you when we get there," I offered. "Yaaaaay!" she cheered, giggling excitedly. I had now given the car the ability to levitate and fly, requesting the hospital as our destination. The car flew silently and swiftly there, shocking some of the pegasi who were flying around and other ponies who happened to witness the flying vehicle. When we arrived at the hospital, the car lowered itself to the ground, returning to its normal appearance. "Trixie would like to do that again, Amethyst," she opined, giving me a grin of approval. "Yeah! Me too!" chirped Marina. "Ooma-gah!" observed Jade, a light giggling coming from him. A staff member exited the front door of the hospital to see what was going on and I informed him of Trixie's pregnancy. She rushed back inside and four ponies returned, escorting Trixie through the front door. I carried Jade and had Marina accompany me as we checked in at the front counter -- upon seeing me, ponies would bow before me. As I had promised, our filly was shown to a playroom where I supervised her activity, letting Jade trot around a little while Marina played with various objects. She seemed to have developed a little world of her own where she allowed her imagination to run free -- her antics caused me to chuckle lightly at times. "Your wife wants you to be with her," a nurse told me, breaking me from my amusement. "Okay, Ray, it's time for us to go see your mother," I stated, causing her to express her disappointment. I used my telekinesis to lift Jade into a carrier I had attached to my back, then followed the nurse along the hallway to the delivery room. Marina alternately flew and cantered, giggling excitedly about getting to see her new baby sister. Upon seeing her, I noticed she had already delivered the foal, a light pink filly with a slightly darker pink and orange mane and tail, her eyes a very pale lavender. "Trixie named her Velvet Rose as you had requested, Amethyst," she stated, holding the little bundle close to her chest and smiling warmly at me. "I hope she didn't give you too much trouble," I said, flashing a slightly worried look. "None at all, Amethyst! Trixie told the doctor she wants that operation so she cannot have any more foals, but he said that will have to wait a few more weeks until Trixie has recovered fully," she said softly. I leaned forward and kissed her on her lips. "Mommy, can I see her?" asked Marina, the filly jumping up and flapping her wings excitedly as she tried to get a better look. "Of course, Marina!" she replied warmly, turning to meet her gaze and exposing the tiny filly's head, just the barest nub of a horn poking out of her forehead. "I take it she has wings as well?" I asked. "Yes she does, Amethyst -- the doctor said she's another winged unicorn, something he said was quite rare," she replied. "Then I think he'd probably be shocked to see Ray and Jade," I chuckled, causing Trixie to giggle. "By the way, will you be staying overnight, or will you take a second day of recovery as well?" "Trixie thinks she will stay two more days, Amethyst. The doctor says he wants to keep Rose for some observation to ensure she's okay to go home." "Do you want us to stay with you?" I asked. "Trixie would like that, Amethyst," she replied softly. "Trixie, your guests will need to return to the waiting room -- oh, I apologize, your Highness," the doctor began as he caught sight of me. "No, it's okay, doctor -- we will be staying here in the hospital while Trixie is here. I trust there are accommodations for visitors?" "I'm sorry, your Highness -- this is a hospital, not a hotel. There are guest accommodations across the boulevard in the Pink Swan casino," he offered. I glared at him in disapproval. "Have housekeeping set up a room for me and my foals, doctor -- frankly, I think my status should be enough to grant such a request. Normally, I would not impose upon you, but I desire to remain close to my wife if I cannot be in the same room as her," I stated with some annoyance, flaring my wings a little to get his attention. Do I really need to wear my regalia all the time? "Y-yes, your Highness, it shall be done for you," he conceded, trotting quickly out of the room. "Trixie thinks you shouldn't abuse your power like that," she mused, a slight giggle escaping her lips. "Ah, well, sometimes you have to flex a little muscle to get what you want," I replied, chuckling weakly. We waited about ten minutes before the doctor returned, informing us that a room had been cleared out for us, then had an orderly escort us to the room. I trotted behind the young mare, Jade cradled on my back again as Marina bounced and giggled alongside us. "So where is our room?" I asked. Silence ensued for a moment as our hoofsteps echoed through the halls. "Please follow me, your Highness -- I will show you to your room," she replied, her annoyance at my query quite evident. "I had no idea it would be this much trouble," I mused aloud. "We don't normally receive royalty in our hospital, your Highness," she stated tersely. She led us to an elevator and took us to the fifth floor, then trotted along the hallway. I could hear muffled screams echoing through this hallway, causing me to hesitate in the elevator car. Marina and Jade started crying when she heard the noise. "I will not stay in this ward," I stated firmly, glaring at the orderly. The elevator's doors closed on us and the car started ascending to the 15th floor. We were brusquely pushed aside by a medical team, carting a wheeled gurney with somepony whose body was completely covered by a white sheet. "Daddy, what's that? Who is that?" asked Marina. "I don't know, Ray," I replied sullenly. "Probably somepony who died a little while ago, I think." "Daddy, I don't like it here," the filly observed as tears started to well up in her eyes again. "Didn't the doctor say hotel?" I sighed in resignation. "Okay, Ray, we'll go to the hotel. This place is starting to give me the creeps as well."