The main hall of the castle had many more ponies than Trixie was expecting. This gala must have been planned very far in advance, with so many entertainers. She was just one of roughly fifteen or so entertainers in the room. There were a small group of dancers currently practicing on the stage and a few others were watching, a couple of ponies just talking among each other. Also, in front of the stage was Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
"Hello Twilight" Trixie said, approaching the group.
"Oh, hello Trixie!" Twilight said, smiling as she turned around.
"The stories are true then." Trixie said, referring to Twilight's wings.
"Oh, these? I don't really use them much. Has anything new happened with you Trixie? I heard you are here as a singer?" Twilight asked "I thought there was something off with that statement. Sorry if I heard wrong."
Trixie smiled for a moment before deciding to reply to the question. "Why, yes Twilight, Trixie is here as a singer." She began, "It is a rather long story so she will spare you the details. What is important is the here and now."
Twilight nodded her head. "I suppose you are right, though I cannot wait to hear your singing. Thinking that magic is your talent, it is surprising you changed profession."
"Your talent isn't quite being a librarian now, is it Twilight?" Trixie replied.
"Yet again, you've got me there, Trixie." Twilight replied. "Judging by the length of their dance routine, as this is their third run-through now, you should be able to practice in about two minutes, if you want."
Trixie started to head off towards the stage. "Trixie will be doing just that. Thank you, Twilight."
As Twilight had estimated, it took a couple of minutes for the dancers to wrap up their routine and then Trixie began to set up her equipment. She quickly flicked through some music sheets with her magic and found the song she had practiced least, as she only received it the day before, but was her favourite before passing it over to the small band playing in front of the stage, stage right.
After doing some vocal warm ups, she began to sing. This song was more of a calm, relaxing tune, as one would find in more of a backing love song in a play on Bridleway, than her previous performance in Ponyville. The chatting of the other performers in the hall soon died down as they had decided to listen to the mare's voice. The main instruments for the composition were mostly string instruments; violins with a hint of guitar. This gave the piece a slightly more, but not quite, orchestral feeling to it. This meant that it had a large impact as the tempo changed, as the guitar changed for the harp during the latter verses and as the instruments faded out towards the end, the final violin ending as Trixie finished the song.
The silence in the hall lasted for all of two seconds before applause erupted from the small crowd, Trixie walking off stage with her head raised.
"That was amazing, Trixie!" Twilight said as she rushed towards the aforementioned pony. "Where did you learn to sing like that?"
"From an angel of music." Trixie replied rather obscurely before some of Twilight's friends- Rarity and Pinkie Pie- came to join them.
"Why, Trixie. I never believed I would be saying this to you, but that was simply divine." Rarity said, the unicorn having walked in after the first verse or so of Trixie's performance.
"Terrific!" Pinkie exclaimed as soon as Rarity had finished, the mare being unable to contain her excitement. "Everyone is going to love it!"
"Pinkie is right." Twilight said, a smile on her muzzle.
"Thank you, all of you." Trixie replied. "You see, this was Trixie's second public performance. The first one went very well, but it could have been just a fluke." She added, avoiding mentioning about the shadowy figure.
"Well, it obviously wasn't." Twilight said.
"I suppose you are right." Trixie replied.
"Why Trixie, will you allow me to make your masquerade dress, and your gala dress?" Rarity asked.
Trixie's eyes widened slightly. "Yes, Rarity. Trixie would appreciate that."
Rarity smiled. "It will be the best dress you have seen!"
And with that, Rarity ran off.
"Why don't we watch the rest of the performers?" Twilight asked.
The three of them walked towards the stage and sat in front of it to watch the performances, have food with the performers at about midday and then Trixie practiced a few more times about an hour later. After that, she headed back to her room to find her angel was nowhere to be seen, but for some reason, there was now a larger mirror by her armoire.