Twilight was the luckiest pony in all of Equestria. She was a princess, she had great friends, and now she had a beautiful marefriend.
It had all worked so smoothly. Trixie had loved all those romantic little gestures, and now they were on a date. In a lovely romantic restaurant at the top of the tallest building in Manehattan. It was so tall that clouds drifted past outside the windows.
Not that she had any cause to admire the scenery when the most beautiful unicorn she had ever had the pleasure of knowing sat before her. Trixie looked gorgeous in a starry lavender dress that hugged against her as though it too was in love with her. Long silky socks wrapped around her legs, and her hat tilted playfully. Her face was touched with only the barest hint of makeup to bring out her full beauty, and her eyes glittered with passion and laughter and brilliance as they met Twilight's.
"Trixie loves you so much," the blue unicorn said passionately. She leaned across the large salad bowl between them. "So very, very much."
"I love you too, Trixie," Twilight heard herself say.
"Trixie can't wait to move back to Ponyville with you," Trixie breathed. "We'll be the greatest and most powerful couple that has ever lived, and nothing will ever stop us. We'll make love and magic and magic love, together, forever. And we'll have lots of foals with incredible magic power."
"Absolutely," Twilight said blissfully. "I've thought up names for all of them."
"Trixie wants to make a foal now!" The showmare suddenly launched herself at Twilight with great force, sending them flying through an open window. They fell to their doom, but Twilight couldn't care less, because she had Trixie's hooves around her, and Trixie's lips against hers, and even though they would die, they were together as the ground approached…
*THUMP!*
Twilight landed on the floor and woke up. A quick glance to her side confirmed that she had indeed fallen off her hotel bed. There was a taste of cotton in her mouth and she realized she was hugging her pillow.
Horseapples. And it had been such a nice dream, too…
She climbed back into bed, relieved that none of her friends had woken up and seen her little display of shame. Spike snoozed peacefully from his place at the foot of the bed. As she settled back in, she smiled gleefully. If this worked out, that dream would soon be reality.
Minus the falling and the large salad, of course. That was just surreal.
Rainbow Dash frowned as she watched the small box float through the air and land on the doorstep of Trixie's wagon. She ducked down behind the dumpster that served as their hiding spot across the street. "But seriously, Rarity. Chocolate? That's so… cliché."
"Don't knock the classics, dear," Rarity said confidently. "Chocolate works. It's simple but meaningful. Just the thing to start this whole thing off properly. Now do your part."
"Yeah, yeah…" Rainbow muttered. She took a small rock and hoofed it wagon-ward, striking the door to simulate a knock. She ducked down again to avoid being seen. Thankfully Pinkie Pie had brought sneaking suits for everypony, although even Rainbow Dash questioned the usefulness of a black body suit in broad daylight. (Rarity, on the other hoof, found the outfit delightful, and had made plans for a new lineup.) At least it kept her usually vibrant colors from being spotted. And if Trixie did see them, she might just dismiss them as a couple of weirdos.
Trixie opened the door a few seconds later and looked around in confusion. Upon noticing the box, she picked it up and read the attached card. Thanks to a little sound amplification spell, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were able to perfectly hear Trixie's deep sigh. "Sparkle, no…" For a moment she looked as though she didn't know what to do; then she opened the box, took out one chocolate, and put it in her mouth. "Stupid princess…" She returned inside and closed the door behind her, taking the card and the box with her.
"Well, that didn't work well," Rainbow groused.
"On the contrary, that worked just fine," Rarity said. "She accepted the gift, after all. And the card. It's a step in the right direction, if a small one."
Rainbow crossed her forelegs in irritation. "We're gonna be here all week, aren't we?"
Rarity just smirked. "Remind me again which element is yours?"
Rainbow sighed. "Fine… let's get back to the others."
The Botanical Garden was out of the question now, as far as lunch venues went. No doubt the staff and the other regulars would delight in bringing up… that shameful event, and that was not something Trixie wanted to deal with now. Or any other time. Instead she was eating at some sub-par sandwich shop where the food was bland and the drinks were watery.
Not that it mattered much to Trixie, because she wasn't very hungry anyway. Her head rested on the table and her gazed lingered on the skyline. Funny, that cloud looked... no. It didn't look like anything. That would have been silly. She resolutely closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at the shapeless cloud.
"Are you okay?" Coco said. "You haven't even touched your food."
Trixie brought her hoof down on her disappointingly tasteless dandelion-leaf sandwich. "There. Now Trixie has touched it."
Coco felt a little anxious. She really didn't enjoy deceiving Trixie like this, but she had waived her right to object to anything when she agreed to help Rarity and her friends. Besides, somepony had to keep an eye on Trixie – who, by the looks of things, didn't suffer the stress well – in case things went too badly. It was the least she could do. "You're really out of it," she observed. "Is it her again?"
Trixie sighed. "Trixie was mistaken. The foolish filly doesn't understand basic equestrian, because clearly 'no' is not in her dictionary."
"What did she do this time?" Coco inquired.
"She brought Trixie chocolates," Trixie muttered.
"How terrible," Coco said in pointed mock sympathy. "Bad ones?"
"They were delicious," Trixie muttered. "But it's the principle of the thing! And what do you want?"
The last sentence was addressed to a teenaged unicorn stallion who had walked up to their table, and who took a fearful step back at her retort. "Uh, I was asked to deliver this to somepony named Trixie?" He held up a small folded note.
"Give me that," Trixie said and tried to take the note, but Coco snatched it away. "Hey!"
"Now who could be sending messages to you, hmm?" Coco said playfully. "Let's find out, shall we?"
Trixie narrowed her eyes. "Give it, Coco. Trixie is warning you."
"Trixie, it's just a piece of paper," Coco chided. "It's not going to… eek!" Trixie's horn flared, and the note caught fire. Coco immediately let it fall to the ground. The teenager quickly made himself scarce, having decided that this particular moment was not the right one to ask for a tip.
"Hah!" Trixie said victoriously. "And now it's… still intact." She picked up the completely undamaged note and looked it over. "Of course she'd make it flame-proof. Stupid, stupid, stupid…" She banged her head against the table.
Coco took the note in her hooves again and unfolded it. Her eyes widened. "Oh…"
Trixie sighed, her head flat against the table. "What does it say?"
"Um… To the Lovely and Wonderful Trixie," Coco began, keeping her voice low so the other guests wouldn't hear.
"As the sun rises in the East
So the breaking dawn of my love begins
As the sun sets in the West
I am overwhelmed with a burning desire
A desire locked down deep inside
One that cannot be concealed anymore
I long for one sweet kiss to quench my thirst
I long for one tender touch that will last a lifetime
At the end of it all you are my deepest desire!
I love you not today nor tomorrow but forever!"
Coco carefully set the note down. "Wow." She'd been in on the general plan, but she hadn't had the opportunity to read the actual poem. She wondered which one of them had written it.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Trixie muttered. "Why does she have to do this to me?!"
"I think it's pretty clear that she's in love with you," Coco said. "Why else would she do this?"
"Impossible," Trixie muttered. "She can't love Trixie after all that happened."
"What happened, Trixie?" Coco asked. "If it's so important, please tell me. I won't tell anypony else."
Trixie looked up. "You really want to know, huh?" She propped her head up on her front hooves. Her horn glowed for a moment, and the sounds of the outside world died away. "A little privacy. And you had better not tell."
Trixie took a sip from her drink and began. "It all started when Trixie took her show to the small town of Ponyville, several years ago. That's where she lives. The act started badly when a group of hecklers tried to interrupt Trixie, so she did the obvious thing."
"The 'Anything you can do, I can do better' act?" Coco suggested.
"Always a crowd pleaser," Trixie said. She grinned at the thought. "Most of the time hecklers are just jerks that nopony else likes anyway, so it works in Trixie's favor. Anyway, those hecklers were her friends, so after Trixie took them all down a peg, they tried to get her to challenge me, but she was smart enough to not cause more trouble. Pretty nice of her, actually. And no, don't start it again. Anyway, that same night an Ursa Minor rampaged through town."
"Wait," Coco interrupted. "Wait, wait, wait. What's an Ursa Minor and what does it have to do with anything?"
"A giant bear made of stars," Trixie explained. "Hold on." She magicked up a little illusion of the beast, complete with an even smaller Trixie added for scale.
"I… see," Coco said, eyeing the illusory monster nervously. She didn't savor the idea of seeing something like that tear through Manehattan.
"See," Trixie continued, "during her show, Trixie had made the… exaggerated claim that she once vanquished an Ursa Major. Even bigger," she added, anticipating Coco's question. "Just basic patter. Trixie didn't really expect anypony to challenge her proclamation, but it never pays to underestimate the capacity for foolishness in foals. After those hecklers questioned Trixie's greatness, two less than cerebral fan colts decided to 'help' Trixie set the record straight by arranging for her to prove her claim." She wiggled her hooves around the word.
Coco gasped. "They didn't."
"They did," Trixie confirmed. "In the rampage, parts of town was damaged, and Trixie's precious wagon, which served as her home and stage, was completely destroyed. And as Great and Powerful Trixie may be – in her chosen field of expertise – she could at best distract the beast a little. Until she stepped in and managed to get rid of it."
"...Just like that?" Coco said in disbelief. "Exactly how powerful is this pony?"
"She's been personally trained by Princess Celestia," Trixie said. She made a face. "Trixie thinks that should count as an unfair advantage."
Coco pretended to run some mental mathematics in her head, and raised her eyebrow. "You're being courted by Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"Yes," Trixie mumbled.
"Most ponies would think that being courted by royalty was a good thing," Coco observed.
"Well, Trixie isn't most ponies!" Trixie exploded. "You like her so much, you can have her!"
Coco decided to drop the issue for now. "So what happened?"
"Well, Trixie had just been caught out on her terrible, terrible lie, and shown up by the town librarian," Trixie explained. "So naturally the townsponies started mocking Trixie for her ineptitude and inability to defeat a baby bear – never mind that all of them had been cowering up until then. At least Trixie tried to do something, but apparently that counts for naught unless you actually produce results. Hypocrites. In the end, Trixie had to flee and leave everything behind before the angry mob decided to blame her for the bear's actions."
"But didn't those colts bring it into town?" Coco asked. "Wasn't it their fault?"
"Probably," Trixie said with a shrug. "But when you look for a scapegoat, who would you choose? Some dim but loveable local kids, or a questionable outsider? Trixie wasn't taking any chances."
Coco sighed. "I suppose you're right. But…"
"There's more," Trixie interrupted. "After Ponyville, Trixie's reputation was shot. You don't get caught out in a lie and expect anypony to take you seriously after that. How's your old boss doing?"
"Point," Coco conceded. Last she'd heard, Suri Polomare had left town with no forwarding address. That was a fashion label that nopony took seriously anymore. With some luck, she might have learned her lesson and was trying to start over someplace else… but she doubted that Suri had ever realized her own fault. More likely she blamed Rarity for outwitting her, and possibly Coco herself for her 'betrayal'. Besides, Coco was still a bit sore over getting used so long. She wasn't in the mood to have much sympathy for Suri at the moment.
"So Trixie was made a laughing stock everywhere," Trixie continued. "Couldn't do shows, since nopony would attend unless they came to make fun of Trixie. No shows meant no money, and no money meant no food. Trixie had to take a job on a rock farm to survive. The less said about that, the better."
Coco tried to imagine Trixie as a farmer. The mental image looked really bizarre. So she tried to imagine Suri as a farmer instead and indulged in a little schadenfreude. "So…"
"But Trixie had a plan!" Trixie exclaimed boldly. "If she could show her greatness with a true feat of power, then all of Equestria would have to acknowledge that she was not a fraud after all. All she had to do was to challenge Twilight Sparkle to a duel and win." Coco stared at her, mouth agape. "Yes, Coco, Trixie knows what you want to say. To do that, Trixie would need some extra power. Luckily, she knew how to find just that. It was called the Alicorn Amulet, and it boosted Trixie's might many times over!" Trixie said proudly.
"So you went back and won and everypony started respecting you again, but you think she's upset about it?" Coco ventured.
"...No," Trixie said quietly. Her head drooped. "Not quite so well. See, the amulet was… cursed. It drove Trixie mad with power, made her… do unpleasant things. Petty acts of vengeance. Instead of simply defeating Sparkle to prove her worth, Trixie humiliated her friends, mocked Sparkle, banished her from town, took over the town, and started acting like a tyrant."
Coco's jaw dropped. "Oh dear…"
"Maybe now you understand why Trixie doesn't want to talk about it," Trixie said bitterly. "Anyway, by the end of it Trixie was so far out of her mind that Sparkle and her ever-present friends managed to fool her with amateurish stage acts and tricked her into removing the amulet, thus ending the tyranny and the madness. And so, Trixie saw the error of her ways, apologized and made her peace with Sparkle, and left Ponyville to never darken their doorsteps again."
"Wow," Coco said. She instinctively clapped her hooves. "I'm glad it ended well. And after that, you came here to start over?"
"Correct," Trixie said. "I suppose it's true what those rock farmers said – there's no substitute for hard work. Trixie is just glad that she was afforded another chance to prove herself."
"But doesn't this mean that you're on good terms with her?" Coco asked.
Trixie slammed her hooves on the table. "Haven't you paid attention?" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "She saved me. Twice. And I did horrible things to her and her friends. She may have forgiven me, but… no. No, there's no way that she could like me. I have no idea why she's doing this…" She slumped forward on the table.
Coco looked at the despondent pony before her. Trixie looked like she was coming apart at the seams. She had to admit, learning about Trixie's past had been enlightening, at the very least. There had been regrettable mistakes on both sides, it seemed; Trixie hadn't particularly sugarcoated her side of the events. Not much, anyway. Though she wouldn’t be surprised if Trixie had glossed over a few details.
And she didn't like what she saw. This wasn't the showy and peculiar magician she had struck up a curious friendship with. It certainly couldn't be the pony Twilight Sparkle was in love with. Trixie was supposed to be far more confident, certain, proud. Nothing like this. But maybe…
"Trixie…" Coco said softly. "Did you like the poem?"
Trixie looked up at her. "What do you mean? It's pointless, she can't…"
"But did you like it?" Coco persevered. "Did it make you happy? I thought it was sweet and heartfelt. Forget who sent it – didn't it make you feel warm inside?"
"Huh," Trixie said, looking perplexed. She picked up the poem and read it again. "It's nice, I suppose…"
"Doesn't the Great and Powerful Trixie deserve to feel special?" Coco continued. "Aren't you the greatest showpony in Equestria?"
"Of course I am," Trixie said, uncertain as to where Coco was going with this.
"So why shouldn't she want to court you? Why shouldn't anypony with an interest in you want to treat you like a lady?" Coco asked. "Why not just see where all this is going?"
"I… that is…" Trixie stood up. "I need to go. Sorry, Coco." She dropped a few bits for her uneaten meal on the table and rushed off.
"Trixie…" Coco banged her head against the table. "Argh! I swear, helping this filly is like threading needles in the dark…"
That afternoon, Trixie wandered the streets of Manehattan, deep in thought. She had a lot to consider.
Very few ponies really 'got' Trixie. She was okay with that. A real magician never revealed her secrets, after all.
Trixie had been alone for most of her life. Peers, yes. Classmates, yes. Friends, no. She'd had… acquaintances, ponies she sometimes appreciated spending a little time with, but no friends. Not in the true sense of the word, as far as she understood it. After graduating and taking her show on the road, she lost contact with those casual acquaintances as well. She made plenty of fans wherever she went, because there were always ponies who wanted life to hold a little more wonder and mystery, and Trixie provided. But they didn't know her. They weren't friends. To them, she was the Great and Powerful Trixie, distant and mysterious as the moon and the stars.
Despite what one might think, Trixie didn't want to isolate herself. She wanted friends as much as any pony. But she wanted something else far more.
Freedom.
Freedom to travel. Freedom to decide her own fate. Freedom to be whoever she wanted to be.
As a traveling magician, she could go just about anywhere she pleased. Manehattan, Canterlot, Las Pegasus – if she so desired, she could just hitch up her wagon and go at the drop of a hat. Nothing held her back. Anywhere an audience could be found, she could be there.
She could do whatever she pleased with her own time, too. If she so wished, she could sleep until noon, eat nothing but candy and crackers for lunch, spend the whole day performing tricks for foals in the park, anything she liked. Not that she would; she had a surprisingly strict regimen of training, relaxation and performance to ensure that she stayed sharp and with enough money to keep going. But she did so by her own choice.
And she could be The Great and Powerful Trixie, the best pony ever. Not Trixie the Accountant or Trixie the Waitress or Trixie the Farmer. She had plenty of skills to allow her to succeed in almost any field – it wasn't for nothing she'd claim that 'anything you can do, I can do better' – but this was who she wanted to be. The Great and Powerful Trixie, traveling showmare extraordinaire.
She'd drawn the deuce a few times, true. The Ursa incident had been painful, and cost her so much. With her reputation in shambles, she couldn't be The Great and Powerful Trixie, and had to be Trixie the Rock Farmer. (She hadn't minded the hard labor much, but working in a field so far from her chosen one, as well as having to work at the bidding of another, had grated on her soul.) It had taken so long, with so many nights filled with bitter tears over the injustice of it all.
And all for naught as all that effort – all those bits saved – had been wasted on another failure. Trixie the Tyrant. Trixie, Slave of the Alicorn Amulet. It wasn't her. It wasn't who she wanted to be. Twilight Sparkle may have thought she saved Ponyville from Trixie, but she saved Trixie from something much worse.
That night, Trixie had been given another chance, and she had taken it. Like a phoenix, she had cast off the ashes of her mistakes and been reborn as her true self. And she had repaid Twilight Sparkle in the only way she could, by leaving to never trouble her and hers again.
The sun was setting behind the Manehattan skyline. Trixie wasn't sure how long she'd been wandering around, lost in thought, but it was starting to get late.
And yet despite her attempt at a truce, Twilight Sparkle had sought her out. And not over belated vengeance for Trixie's crimes, but to declare her love. Love! It had taken all of Trixie's acting skills and cool head to not show more shock and surprise than she had done. Sure, Trixie was aware that she was attractive – any showpony worth their bits knew that their looks was an asset to be used like any other – but she had never expected her faux-rival to harbor those kinds of feelings.
And yet…
And yet, Trixie didn't want to be alone. Her choice of life had mandated that she sacrificed much for her freedom, but that didn't mean she wanted to lose those things. If she could have had friends and companions, she would have.
Coco. Coco Pommel, her fashion acquaintance. There was a pony who had become curiously close, particularly these last few days. Trixie realized to her surprise that she had been staying in Manehattan for a very long time now. It had been necessary, of course; she'd needed to reestablish herself before she could take on the rest of Equestria again. It didn't change the fact that she'd become… attached.
Trixie thought about it for a moment. She had favorite restaurants, parks she liked to visit and do practice at, little spots around town she went to for the view. Ponies recognized her, and not just from her shows. And Coco… Coco treated her as Trixie. Not The Great and Powerful Trixie, the haughty and grand magician, or Trixie the Fraud, whom nopony respected. Just Trixie. And Trixie let her do it.
Sweet Celestia's sunrise, when did she lower her guard so much?
Perhaps it wasn't so bad. After all, Coco had never done anything to hurt her. Then again, the seamstress had apparently spent years as Suri Polomare's personal doormat before inexplicably growing a spine, so viciousness likely didn't come easy to her unless provoked. Trixie could respect that kind of attitude. Live and let live.
Coco had been reliable and trustworthy ever since Trixie made the sensible choice to hire her for costuming services. Dependable. Always there when you needed her. Always listening to Trixie's sudden romantic woes. A good… friend. Huh. Well, that had happened.
I should do something nice for her sometime. That's what friends do, right?
Trixie cantered down the street. Around her, ponies with less free lives rushed past. Even this late in the afternoon, Manehattan was busy. Work to do, money to earn, mouths to feed. Unlike Trixie. She worked when she wanted to. Stage magic didn't pay much, but it more than enough covered her food bills, performance license, and rent for the lot where she parked her wagon. She was free in all the ways they weren't, and she liked to stay that way.
"Hey, baby!" a male voice called out behind her.
Trixie stopped and turned. A lime green unicorn stallion was making a weird face at her. He was fairly young, barely out of his teens, and had a cutie mark depicting a drum. It struck her that he was probably trying to make a suave grin, but was trying too hard. He was accompanied by two other stallions that had 'flunkies' written all over them.
"Hey, pretty," the unicorn said, walking towards her. "Looking for some fun? Drum Roll's the name, and fun is my game."
Ugh, what a cheesy pickup line. "No thanks. It's getting late and Trixie has things to do."
"Who cares?" he said, getting up close and personal. "This 'Trixie' sounds like a bore anyway. Why don't you ditch 'em and come hang with us instead?" He laid a hoof on her shoulder.
Trixie looked disapprovingly at the hoof, then glared icily at him. "Hooves to yourself, mister. Trixie said no. Not interested."
"Now, now," he said, edging closer. "We just want to have a little fun. So why don't you… uh…" He gazed upward fearfully.
A small storm cloud had appeared over Trixie, crackling with lightning. The glow from her horn made it evident who was responsible for it, and Drum Roll quickly disentangled himself and started backing up. "Unless you want to see how fun electrocution feels, make yourself scarce," she said.
"Yow, no need to get hostile, I was just asking," he muttered, sounding a bit hurt. He distanced himself along with his friends, before glaring at her over his shoulder. "Just trying to be friendly, you know? Stupid mule." He ran off.
Trixie glared after the retreating forms as she let the cloud disperse. Stupid, rude and thoughtless. And here she had started to feel good again. How frustrating was it not when some jerk just couldn't take no for an answer?
Of course, that could be said for a certain other pony. But at least Twilight Sparkle was hounding her with style.
That was it, wasn't it? That's what Coco had implied. It didn't matter what the Ponyville Princess might be intending in the end, whether she was sincere or just playing an elaborate prank on her. She could hardly force Trixie to go along with anything Trixie didn't want to; she had clearly discarded those cards from her draw right off.
It didn't matter why. What mattered right now was that a royal Princess of Equestria was intent on charming the non-existent pants off of her. Coco was right about that; it was, by most standards, not exactly a bad deal.
Trixie woke up with a start as something struck the door of her wagon. A quick glance at the window showed only darkness. Who could be knocking on her door this late?
Quickly readying a defensive spell in case of troublemakers, she unlocked the door and peered outside.
There was a bouquet of red roses lying in front of her door, with a card tucked into the wrapping. She picked them up and unfolded the card.
To the greatest and most powerful showpony in Equestria. My only desire is to make you happy.
– Twilight
She sniffed deeply from the flowers, and delicately nibbled off a petal. They were fresh and in full bloom, smelling and tasting wonderfully. As she did so, she cast her glance around the streetlight-lit area. She smiled as she just barely noticed a pony-shaped patch of darkness hiding in a shadow, fidgeting with her wings.
Carefully, Trixie removed one of the long-stemmed roses, and delicately touched the blossom against her lips. She then deftly tossed it away towards the shadows, giving it a little boost with her magic so it would float gracefully all the way. She grinned as she closed the door behind her. Was it her imagination, or had she heard a barely audible gasp and the fluttering of wings? Who knew.
Trixie placed the flowers in a vase and took another breath of their fragrance before returning to bed. "Very well, Twilight," she mused. "Trixie accepts your challenge."
Her dreams were interesting that night.