Trixie got out of the train, proudly wearing her hat and cape once more.
She looked around; it was still the same old, gray and brown town, but now it wasn’t oppressive anymore. Without the weight of her failure pressing on her Trixie could see the beauty in the details. The flower pots gracing a window, the flowers painting a mosaic of color; glittering stones tracing patterns in a wall; crystal windows with intricate paneling, some as beautiful as the palace’s own glass work.
She walked around, trying to place faces. She recognized Rose Quartz, but almost nopony else; last time she was here Trixie rarely came to the town, hidden from the world in a rock farm.
“Trixie!”
Looking where the voice came from Trixie saw Igneous Rock smiling at her. “Hello, Iggy. How’s the farm?”
“Doin’ better now that Maud learned which stones potion makers and firework makers want. Do you know people still ask when we will get our salesmare back?”
Trixie laughed. “I might try it again someday, but not now. I need material to make fireworks, a lot of it. Princess Luna has hired me to create the greatest firework show in the history of Canterlot, and the Great Trixie will sure make it happen!”
Igneous Rock lowered his eyebrows. “You aren’t boasting again, are you?”
Her laughter took a musical quality. “No, not this time; I have really been hired by Princess Luna.”
Igneous Rock eyed her carefully. “You have changed, you know. When you left you smiled like you were going to crush somepony under your hoof; now you smile like you are happy. You remind me of my hyperactive daughter, she always has a true smile on her face.”
“The one that lives in Ponyville?” Trixie blinked. “Wait, is she a pink pony that deals with everything like a party?”