The Wheel and the Butterfly
A Dan X Pinkie Pie saga
Part 15 Prelude
Trixie Vs. Pink-Haired Girl
-ooooooo-
Lit only by a flame that flickered in front of her, a woman sat at the end of a rectangular table, her face obscured by a wide-brimmed, pointed hat which was tilted downward. The hat was a light purple decorated with light-blue and bright-yellow stars and silvery-blue hair cascaded down from it onto a tight, dark-blue body suit made it clear who was sitting at the table.
Trixie tilted her head up just a bit. The shadow of her wide-brimmed hat still obscured her eyes, but a mischievous smirk framed by a pointy chin was now visible. Trixie spoke, “Now imagine if you will… Trixie walking into her favorite coffee shop.” Trixie motioned out with her hands, moved her fingers, and even mimed walking with an index and middle finger.
Sitting next to her, Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes in the candle light. She lowered a stout, fishbowl-shaped glass full of some amber substance on the table before she uttered an annoyed, “Oh, here we go again…”
“The glass crunched under Trixie’s boots as she walked in. I looked around in shock and horror at what had happened. The large, plate glass window had been shatter—”
Sunset sighed. “Shouldn’t that be ‘She looked around’?”
Trixie raised an index finger and hissed out a harsh sounding “Sssssshhhhh! Trixie is telling the story!”
“Yes, but your ridiculous addressing yourself in the third person is even more intolerable when you’re telling a story because then you begin shifting constantly between first and third!”
“What’s it madder?” Fairy Girl asked from across Sunset Shimmer. “You can follow along just fine, can’tcha?”
Sunset turned to sneer at the redhead across from her. “Oh, don’t encourage her! Her inability to keep what person she’s talking in aside, you and I have both heard this ridiculous story over and over again!” Sunset followed this up by looking Fairy Girl’s outfit up and down. A simple, low-cut baby-blue dress with a skirt that ended right above her knees and hugged her thin frame.
“And what’s with you changing your outfit again?!” Sunset cried. “It’s maddening.”
Fairy Girl raised and took a sip of a drink that looked identical to Sunset’s, then shook her head. “I canna believe ye all don’t get tired of wearin’ the same outfits day in and day out! It’s bad enough ye can’t change your appearances without liberal use of makeup and accessories, but ye really go so far as to wear the same sets of clothin’ everyday? It’s jus’ so borin’!”
“What?!” Sunset protested as she looked over her leather jacket and magenta top with the red and yellow sun motif. “It’s a good look for me! Why would I change it?”
Trixie’s visible lips scrunched into a frown as the candlelight continued to flicker. “Can we get back to talking about me now?”
Sunset quickly took a sip from her drink then nodded. “Sure! What’s with this stupid candle you light up every time?!” Sunset cried as she motioned to the center of the table with her free hand. “You bring it out everytime you tell the same ridiculous story!”
“Trixie is just setting the mood!” Trixie declared, her voice becoming more stressed and shrill.
“The mood for what?!” Sunset cried. “A ghost story?! A séance?! Are you reaching out to the spirit of your dead and rotting story every time you gather us?!”
Fairy Girl burst into a fit of laughter, going so far as to pound the table with a fist. The candle jumped and flickered slightly with each it hit, but remained in position.
Trixie looked up farther, finally showing frustrated amethyst-colored eyes as she furrowed her brow and tightened the corners of her lips. This gave her the effect of showing disapproval with her entire face. “Fine! If no one wants to hear Trixie’s story, she’ll just—”
“Calm yerself, lassie!” Fairy Girl said as she reached over a slender hand with silver-painted finger nails and placed it on Trixie’s bare arm. “Sunset canna help but wail like a banshee at every little thing that bugs her. I’m sure she dinna mean to make you so upset.”
Sunset rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink. “Hey Fairy Girl, can you Irish it up a little more? I’m sure the new girl hasn’t figured out where you hail from yet.”
“You see?” Fairy Girl asked as she motioned to Sunset. “Moaning and carryin’ on like so is just how Sunset speaks.”
Trixie’s expression softened a bit as she pursed her lips and looked out with a thoughtful expression. She soon smiled again as she lowered her head, concealing her eyes once more. “Now where was I?”
Sunset sighed heavily. “The stupid broken window.”
Trixie nodded. “Right! The plate glass was shattered! Trixie stared out at the wooden counters on which the cash tills, tip jar, and wrapped snack items sat on. Behind the counter was a board listing columns of the various drinks one could order as well as their prices. I noticed dozens of lamps hanging from the high ceiling with its white, tubular vents and crisscross of small pipes that held the electrical wires for the lamps suspended below. The lamps resembling floating bright alien saucers in between the wooden surface of the hardwood floor covered in its hills and mountains that were actually wood grain chairs and tables. I could smell the sweet aroma of syrups as well as the earthy, but welcome scent of coffee in the air.”
“Yes, Trixie,” Sunset began in an exasperated tone, “we’ve been to a coffee shop… scores of them, in fact. We know what they look like and smell like!”
Trixie frowned. “Trixie was just describing this particular coffee shop!”
“NO ONE CARES!” Sunset cried as she set her drink down long enough to fling her hands and arms out to her sides. “It’s the inside of a coffee shop! We get it!”
Fairy Girl shook her head. “You know, I believe I’ve yet to meet anyone as constantly angry as yerself. I simply canna believe ye get angry at every little thing!”
“Oh, Whatever!” Sunset cried as she folded her arms across her chest and put on a sullen expression. “I just want this story to be over with.”
Trixie tilted her head slightly so one of her eyes was visible. “You know it would go a lot faster if you just kept quiet and let me tell it.”
Fairy Girl broke into another fit of laughter as Sunset Shimmer turned and glared at Trixie.
“I… well… you…” Sunset said as she struggled to formulate a proper response. “Shut up!” she cried.
Trixie smirked and lowered her head, once again concealing her eye. She continued her story. “I walked up to the counter, noting a few peculiarities. The tip jar was stuffed full of money, and behind the counter empty syrup bottles laid on their sides in puddles of bright, viscous liquid amongst wrecked shelving and more broken glass. ‘What happened here?’ I asked the cashier with shoulder length-auburn hair, hazel-colored eyes, a petite nose set in the center of her slightly oval—”
Sunset quickly drained her drink before she slammed her fist down. The table and candle shook with the impact, but once again the candle stayed upright and the flame flickered, but remained burning. “NO ONE CARES WHAT SHE LOOKED LIKE! JUST GET ON WITH IT!”
Trixie turned to frown heavily at Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset sighed and held her empty glass out across the table. “I’m sorry, but your description of the waitress is even more ridiculous than the description of the coffee shop!” she cried as Fairy Girl produced a large bottle full of more of the amber substance she and Sunset were enjoying. Fairy Girl filled Sunset’s round glass as Sunset continued, “You barely even speak to her! And yet you go into some ridiculously lengthy depiction of her as if she’s somehow pivotal to your story, which is bad and also dumb!” Sunset said as she raised her now full glass to her lips and took another sip.
Trixie scrunched her lips slightly. “Alright, fair enough… I’ll skip it.”
“Thank you!” Sunset cried.
“So I go up to the cashier and I ask, ‘What happened here?’ and the cashier says—”
Sunset grumbled to herself before speaking up again, “You just shifted tense.”
Trixie frowned. “Must you nit-pick every little thing?!”
“Nit-pick nothing!” Sunset cried. “You shifted from past to present tense! Maybe most everything else I said was opinion or because of your weird verbal tic, but this was definitely a mistake!”
Trixie sighed. “So I went up to the cashier and I asked, ‘What happened here?’ The cashier replied with ‘A supervillain in a black outfit threw some pink-haired girl through the window. Then the girl asked us to make a drink out of espresso shots and syrup. She then ran off to fight the supervillain with the help of a giant robot.’” Trixie tilted her head and looked at Sunset with her exposed eye. “Happy?”
“No, but I’m less angry,” Sunset replied with a smirk.
Fairy Girl snickered.
Trixie sighed and shook her head, causing her silvery blue hair to drift from side to side. “I’ll take it, I guess… Anyhow, I said ‘Huh’ and smiled. ‘It must be Thursday!’ Which probably would have gone over better if more of the people from the coffee shop watched True Blood… and if it also was actually Thursday.”
“Oh for…” Sunset took a big swig from her drink before shooting Trixie the angriest stare she had managed for the night. “I tell you every time that line is from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!”
Trixie nodded. “Yes, but it’s in True Blood as well!”
“YES, BUT THE WRITERS WERE MAKING A REFERENCE TO HITCHHIKER’S!” Sunset snarled.
“It’s Trixie’s story and she can tell it like she wants!”
Sunset leaned back in her chair and raised her free hand, flapping her fingers down not unlike a mouth as she mockingly said, “Mehmehnamehna mehnahmee!”
“An-ee-how,” Trixie said as she stressed every syllable in a tone that was once again, becoming increasingly irritated, “Trixie ordered her favorite caffeinated beverage. ‘One Grrrrrreat and Powerful Trixie, please!’”
Sunset, once again, sighed heavily. “A.K.A. the world’s stupidest drink invented ever!” she declared before taking another sip of her drink.
This time, Trixie slammed her fists on the table, causing the candle to flicker. “It’s not stupid! It’s a grande vanilla café latte with skim milk, a cinnamon stick, and a touch of blueberry syrup all topped with whipped cream!”
“We know what the frickin’ drink ish! ” Sunset cried, slurring her words slightly. “Some sort of coffee monstrosity made with shkim milk and whipped cream to shignify just how little sense you have! You’ve only told ush like a hojilion timesh!”
Fairy Girl chuckled. “‘Holjilion’? Is this more of yer fancy yank way of measuring things?”
Sunset turned towards Fairy Girl and narrowed her eyes. “Yer jush lucky you can make magic booze, otherwise I’d bash yer ‘ead in!”
Fairy Girl smirked. “That’s cockney, luv. You’re mixin’ yer countries up a wee bit.”
“WHATEVER!” Sunset cried. “I’m closhe, ain’t I?”
Trixie let out an exasperated sigh. “Can I please just get a little quiet to finish my story?! Trixie is almost done.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t want to mish the best part, would we now?” she said sarcastically.
Trixie gritted her teeth but continued, “So the cashier turned to all the empty syrup bottles on the shelf and ground and looked up at me. ‘Sorry, we used the last of the blueberry syrup for that pink-haired girl’s drink,’ she said to me. I balled my hands into fists, threw my arms into the air, and shouted at the heavens!” Trixie performed the action she had just described as she stood up from her seat and shouted, “‘PIIIIIIIIINK-HAAAAAAAIRED GIIIIIIRL!’”
There was a brief pause as no one said anything. Trixie continued to stand at the end of the table, her hands still up in the air. The candle light flickering over her dark-blue body suit and fishnet stockings.
A fourth voice finally joined the conversation. “Wait… that’s it?” A California-tanned, blond-haired woman asked as she leaned into the flickering candle light.
Sunset sighed. “Yep, that’sh it…” she said before sipping her drink again.
Helen cocked an eyebrow at Trixie. “Your big problem with Pinkie is she drank the last of a flavor you used for a rather complex coffee drink you order…? And it wasn’t even a major component?”
“TRIXIE ORDERS THAT DRINK EVERY DAY!” Trixie cried. “It’s unfair that Trixie had to go without an ingredient because of that pink-haired bimbo!”
Sunset smacked a palm against her face. “I’m not shure you can even say it was her fault!”
Trixie folded her bare arms across her chest and sat slumped back into her chair. “Trixie can’t believe you’d take her side in all this!”
“Oh, I may hate Pinkie, but you’re really pushing things as far as reashons to hold a grudge go… Can’t you jusht admit you’re in thish horribly named group jusht because Magnifico the Magnificent has a much better reashon for being mad at Dan? I mean… at least Helen and I both shuffered painful experiences because of her!”
Helen nodded. “Many painful experiences!”
Sunset Shimmer narrowed her eyes and turned to Helen. “Dumped… almost froze to death…”
Fairy Girl raised a clasped hand to her mouth and cleared her throat. “Look if ye all want have some sort of lasses pissin’ contest as to who has the best reason to join this little venture, I think I’m winning by a mile as they say here.”
Sunset rolled her eyes, took another swig of her beverage, and began speaking in her best, ridiculously thick Irish accent, “Oh, are ye not from America, lasshieee? Glad ye made that as clear as an Irish Spring! Shomeone break out the Guinnessh and mint-flavored everything!”
Fairy Girl raised her glass in front of her smiling face and took another sip. “Yer lucky I like your cheek, Sunset Shimmer. Otherwise ye’d be spending yer days of being pretty jabberin’ to padded walls an’ the only head’s ye be turning would be of nice young men in clean white coats.”
Sunset’s face tightened ever so slightly as Fairy Girls words hit her, her thoughts locked somewhere in between responding with some more ill-advised, tipsy snark and a quiet, grumbled-out apology.
Fairly Girl continued, “Anyhow, I know ye all have had yer own little grievances with the pink-haired one, but the short one cut off me head--” Fairy Girl grasped at her neck with a thum and forefinger “--and looted me flesh for valuables. I think I be winnin’ this little game.”
An uncomfortable silence followed on Fairy Girl’s words. Decapitation was certainly a hard act to follow for Trixie, Sunset, and Helen.
The silence continued to hang in the air like a phantom that couldn’t be seen, yet could be felt like the unnerving sensation of knowing one was being watched and judged.
Trixie decided to do something about it as she turned and looked Fairy Girl directly in her piercing silver eyes. “Yeah, but you got better,” she said simply.
Sunset’s and Fairy Girl’s eyes went wide briefly before the both broke into hysterical fits of rolling laughter as Trixie leaned back with a satisfied smile.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!”
Helen merely looked over the three with a mildly perplexed expression.
As the laughter subsided, Sunset took another sip of her drink and placed it on the table. “… sip… Hahahahahahahehehehe… We are sho bored!”
Fairy Girl sighed and placed an elbow on the table, holding her forearm upright as she rested a cheek against her palm. “Aye, that we are…”
A masculine voice cut through the darkness. “Well, then do I have good news for all you lovely ladies.”
The four women turned as the lights suddenly turned on, squinting as their eyes adjusted to the light. The all looked at a smiling man with short, well-kept hair, a triangular soul patching, buttoned blue shirt, and red-and-yellow striped tie. He stood in front of an open door set in a brick wall, and the table the ladies all sat at seemed to be in a modestly furnished apartment with brick walls.
The man continued, “It’s time.”
“Uhg… Finally!” Sunset declared as the other women stood up. Sunset sat down her drink and joined them, wobbling slightly as she came to her feet. Helen simply walked past them towards the doorway while Trixie snickered and Fairy Girl gave Sunset an amused look.
Sunset looked at Fairy Girl sheepishly. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to make magic coffee, would you?”
Fairy Girl shook her head. “Sorry, Sunset. I’m afraid coffee isn’t something us wee folk are usually asked to conjure up.”
Sunset hung her head, allowing her red-and-yellow hair to hang in front of her face. “Of course…”
“Oooo!” Trixie cried excitedly. “Maybe we can stop at a coffee shop and you can try Trixie’s favorite coffee!”
Sunset uttered an extended sigh that eventually turned into a soft, lengthy moan as she slowly let the air from her lungs out. Once she had ran out of air, she took another breath, looked up and scowled at Trixie. “Shut up, Trixie.”