It kind of hurt the third time she went about redrawing in her eyebrows.
But, looking in the mirror revealed nothing short of perfection.
Slowly raising her newly drawn on eyebrows, the pink unicorn held her breath before giving them an experimental wiggle. Seeing them move in a mostly natural-seeming manner, Starlight Glimmer let out a slow breath, finally satisfied with her results. Those damnable pyrotechnics, from that-...their humble town's newest guest, had singed them clean off earlier, necessitating her current work. The somewhat uncomfortable, frustrating work, of drawing on a new set of eyebrows, that had taken up the last hour of her time.
This was after touching up the make-up covering her Cutie Mark, of course.
That thought had brought a scowl to her now well-eyebrowed countenance. It had been nothing more than a few minor smudges, some ever so slight distortions to the geometric perfection that was the sign of their town. Starlight was sure nopony noticed, that where every other Cutie Mark in the town had been properly replaced by an understated equal-sign, her's was simply concealed with a bit of expertly applied make-up...
The unicorn blinked, before turning back to her reflection in the mirror. Amazingly, the showpony's rogue firework managed to not destroy her vanity, unlike much of the rest of her personal abode. Broken glass, ash and burn marks, knocked over possessions, the first time she'd seen it Starlight very nearly...
Her eye was twitching again, she dourly noted. The area where her eyebrows had been were still a bit sore, so that was to be expected. Admittedly, that was more a result of her repair work than their destruction.
She must have pressed down a bit too hard with her eyebrow pencil, forcing the underlying skin and muscle to behave long enough for her to draw in what was lost. Really, it shouldn't have been so hard replicating the smooth, precise curves of her own eyebrows.
Regardless, after a few more odd touch-ups to her mane, she'd be ready to step out amongst her ponies again, good as new. Everything would be just right when she stepped out her door. Just perfect...
Sparing a glance through the intact upper-level window, let Starlight take in the sight of the interloper, this Trixie, surrounded by ponies.
It was really quite...embarrassing, that Starlight's ponies could be so easily taken in by simple glitz and glamor. It was almost as if they had forgotten that they could do without that sort of nonsense, almost as if they had forgotten how much happier they were now.
She knew it wouldn't be long though. With an act like that, it wouldn't be long before her townsponies started to see the unfavorable comparison between themselves and the showmare.
Soon, they'd want nothing to do with her.
And like a flower without its rain, the Great and Powerful Trixie would shrivel up into a little nothing.
And there Starlight Glimmer would be, ready and willing to offer her a sip from the watering can of equality...after a little bit of pruning, the unicorn would be another welcome addition into her garden.
The thought of being there to help another lost pony lead to Starlight turning back to her mirror to meet her reflection with a genuine smile.
She'd gone and let herself get entirely too worked up. After all, this was hardly the first time a new member of her town had needed some extra attention.
Yes, with just a little bit of effort, everything would be perfect once more...
Outside...
“So, you're quite sure she isn't going to be holding that whole window-thing against Trixie?” Trixie again asked of her cadre of newly gained followers, referring to Starlight Glimmer.
“Starlight Glimmer would never hold a grudge over an honest accident.” One stallion eagerly noted.
Raising an eyebrow at the chorus of agreements that came from around her, Trixie shrugged after a moment “Well, Trixie supposes that's lucky. Not that Trixie wouldn't pay for the damages if she could, but-”
“Oh, your bits aren't any good here, Ms. Trixie.” Another stallion, sporting a rather...unflattering cloak, explained with a wave his hoof.
“What?” Trixie's worries over her gratuities being sucked away to pay for a broken window came to a rather abrupt halt.
“Party Favor's right! In our town, we don't need any bits to help one another. Here, we do all we can to provide for one another, whenever it's needed.” The pegasus from earlier, Night Glider, quickly backed up the claim.
Looking across the many smiling faces, which were even now nodding in agreement over this revelation, Trixie gave a confused tilt of her head “So...this town doesn't use bits? At all?”
Trixie had to resist making a face at the seemingly synchronized shaking of heads that met her question, before bringing up the issue that she was really worried about “And that would mean that none of you have any bits?”
“That's right! We all gave up such impersonal measures of ones value when we came here!” Party Favor excitedly explained.
“No bits?” Trixie asked again.
This was met with shaking heads and smiles.
“No coins of any kind?”
Again, the answer was in the negative.
“No gems?”
More head shaking.
“Not even paper money?”
“No forms of currency whatsoever!” One mare enthusiastically summed up.
Trixie let her head drop, as she finally accepted the inevitable. There was no way she was going to be making any sort of money in this town. Personally, the showmare wasn't in it for the money. But that didn't mean she didn't understand the necessity of getting paid once in a while.
Trixie was utterly broke.
Months of saved up earnings from soul-crushing jobs, all of it, had gone into funding her great comeback.
She'd taken out a loan just to finish paying for her third wagon, so she was actually worse than broke. It was a fairly lenient loan, yes, but still...
She didn't even have money left to stock up on actual food, for her travels. Apart from the wagon, a huge chunk of her money had gone into building up a stock of props and pyrotechnics, for the sake of-
Trixie actually paled a bit, when she recalled all the fireworks and props she had literally burned through in her very first show. Sure, she had plenty more, but she had also been counting on, at least, being able to cover the costs of just performing with each show. Even now, the numbers were floating through her head, taunting Trixie with their concrete values and holier-than-thou attitudes.
And then there was the cost of paying to have her busking permit renewed with the Equestrian Guild of Performers and Entertainers. Which, now that she thought about it, was entirely a waste of money anyway, as she wasn't technically in Equestria right now. No, she was in a town that didn't even use money.
So, the one place that was willing to give her show a chance...didn't use money. And all the towns in Equestria that had money, wouldn't give her show a chance if she paid them to.
Trixie facehoofed.
She had to commit fraud getting that stupid permit renewed...
...On the bright side, it sounded like she wasn't going to have to pay for the damages to that mare's home.
“Is everything alright, Ms. Trixie?”
Dragging her hoof down her face, as Trixie lamented the situation she had fallen into “...How can you not have any money? How-...how do you ponies even do anything? Trixie can't- Trixie doesn't even have any food, and you-”
“Oh, you're hungry? We've got plenty of food to share.” Sugar Belle helpfully mentioned.
Trixie's ears perked up.
“Yeah! We can share some of your muffins with her!” Another stallion called out.
“You-...you have muffins?” The showmare slowly asked, looking towards Sugar Belle.
Sugar Belle mouth was left hanging a bit, at that suggestion, as she considered the aforementioned muffins. And their overall quality. Quickly re-correcting her waning smile back to full force, Sugar Belle offered as enthusiastic a nod as she could manage “Oh-...yes. They're very-...muffins. They are definitely muffins, and we'd definitely be happy to share them with you, Ms. Trixie.”
Thinking this over for a moment, Trixie brought a hoof up to her chin, before giving voice to her thoughts “And, uhm, since you don't exactly use money here, that would mean that these muffins are...?
“Absolutely free.”
Trixie tilted her head at that “And...let's say Trixie could use some fresh water...?”
“I'll go get a barrel for you!” One mare volunteered.
“...And if, perhaps, Trixie could use a bit of help dealing with a squeaky wheel on her wagon...?”
“We can help with that, right after we fix Starlight's window!” This was met with a number of smiling ponies nodding in agreement.
“...Huh.”
Maybe this wasn't the worst town to be stuck in.
“And, maybe Ms. Trixie would like to help us replace that window?” One stallion excitedly offered.
“Oh...well, Trixie would love to help. She really would, but...her show! Yes, her second show is just about to start!” The showmare's declaration quickly earned some excited murmuring amongst the crowd.
“Another show already?” Sugar Belle asked.
“Why, of course! Trixie's never been one to leave her adoring fans waiting for too long!” Trixie declared, quickly seizing upon the excuse. She really did feel kind of bad about that whole window thing...
'But, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that manual labor is just not for Trixie.'
It was just so soul-crushing and dreary, it completely sucked the life out of her, and she'd worked so hard to get out of that kind of thing. The only place she really belonged was on the stage, not cracking rocks for days on end or stacking boxes.
Focusing back upon the crowd around her, Trixie quickly stood up on her back hooves “What's more, the Humble and Apologetic Trixie would like to personally dedicate her next show to Starshine Shimmer-”
“Starlight Glimmer.” One pony politely corrected.
“-Starlight Glimmer, her lovely assistant! As a way of apology for any damages Trixie's Stupendous act may have caused!” Trixie smoothly adjusted, in the same breath. She was rather pleased to note the many excited murmurs that this declaration was met by. Trixie was really starting to come around on this town.
“When's the next show going to be, Ms. Trixie?” Another pony asked.
“Just as soon as we reach the bakery, of course!” Trixie quickly answered.
“Really?” Sugar Belle blurted out.
“Trixie would be more than happy to lend her endorsement to a local business, of course. By the time Trixie's act is done, you will be swimming in new customers!” Trixie exclaimed, hoping nopony would connect how pointless it was to have a whole bunch of new customers, when none of your customers had any money to begin with.
“Let's everyone go to the bakery!” Party Favor declared, spurring on a small stampede of grinning ponies.
“Yes! And let us talk about getting Trixie some of those free muffins!”
A few minutes later...
“Here you go!” Sugar Belle declared, as she slid a plate of muffins onto the table.
“Ah! Trixie was starving for something other than grass!” Trixie declared before eagerly reaching a hoof forward.
“It's my pleasure! I-...are you going to be using them in your...” Sugar Belle awkwardly prompted after a moment.
This gave the showmare some pause, the eagerly awaited muffin half-way to her mouth “What's that now?”
“Your, uhm, show?” The baker reminded with a big smile, one mirrored by the many ponies surrounding Trixie now.
“My- Oh, right!” The unicorn quickly recalled, setting aside the muffin, as she recalled her promised encore. Briefly concerned over the lack of a prepared act to present, Trixie quickly put on a smirk as an idea came to her.
A small collective gasp was let out, as Trixie confidently set her magician's hat onto the table, before clearing her throat “What are muffins on their own, with absolutely nothing to drink? Trixie thinks that she could stand to have some-”
With a flourish of her hooves towards the hat, she used her magic to lift up the hat in one smooth motion, revealing a glass of-
“-Milk!” Trixie finished, happily taking in the gasps and the small round of applause “Thank you, thank you. Nothing quite like fresh muffins with a glass of fresh milk, is there?”
Naturally, it was a trick glass, one that looked like it was full of milk, but was really quite empty. It seemed like a really neat prop when she had first found it. If one leaned it over properly, it could even look as if the milk was draining out of the glass. It was a real shame that she hadn't been able to find a way to work it into her act. Till now, anyway.
Content that her newest fans were satisfied with this latest display of magical skill, Trixie turned her interest back to her free muffin. The first of many she hoped. Picking up both a muffin and her trick glass with her magic, the latter to assure that nopony got too close a look at it, she eagerly brought in the baked good to take a bite.
There was a long pause.
“Hrrk!” A few crumbs came spilling out, as Trixie visibly restrained the urge to gag. Taken aback by the overriding wrongness of this muffin, the unicorn was almost frantic in reaching for the first thing she could to clear away the muffin. Struggling to grasp the glass on the table with her hoof, she quickly recalled that the glass was still being held in the air with her magic.
Quickly bringing the glass up to her lips, Trixie closed her eyes as she quickly tried to drain its contents down, in the hopes of drowning out the taste of the muffin.
Her eyes snapped open, as she noted the lack of a beverage in her glass, before recalling that she was trying to drink out of her trick glass. Swiftly setting down the magic prop, making sure it was set down in a way to appear empty, Trixie tried to swallow down as much of the muffin as she could in one go. Straining for several moments, she was a bit relieved when she felt most of it slide down her throat.
Reaching a hoof out towards Sugar Belle, Trixie tried to compose herself, before gasping out her next words “I-...that is to say, Trixie...would very much appreciate a glass of water.”
The showmare barely even noticed the murmuring that started up amongst the ponies.
“Is everything alright?”
“Was there something wrong with the muffin?”
“Is this part of a trick?”
Sugar Belle visibly gulped down some of her nervousness, as she noted the confused reactions Trixie's response had netted from her fellow townsponies. Fortunately, nopony seemed to notice, as she forced her grin back on “O-of course, Ms. Trixie! Let me get you something to wash that down with.”
Her horn lighting up, Sugar Belle quickly took a fresh glass in her magic before returning a few moments later, the glass now full of crystal clear water “Here you go!”
Trixie quickly downed about half the glass in one continuous series of gulps, before stopping to take a breath “What was in that-”
Managing to stop her outburst in time, Trixie looked over the confused crowd of ponies, as she quickly realized that her little reaction to the muffin was quickly losing her the crowd. Loosing an awkward laugh, she quickly reached a hoof over before pulling the equally anxious Sugar Belle to her side “Trixie is terribly sorry about that! Trixie's afraid that she was-...just so eager to eat one of your delicious muffins, that something must have gone down the wrong pipe.”
“You actually liked-” Sugar Belle almost started to ask.
The showmare quickly clutched her fellow mare a bit more tightly, cutting her off “In fact, Trixie thinks that these muffins might be too good for Trixie to keep all to herself! Come on everypony, and let's all share in some of Sugar Belle's delicious muffins!”
Trixie and Sugar Belle were both quite relieved to see the renewed smiles that took over the crowd, albeit for different reasons.
Trixie was even more relieved, and a bit shocked, to note how quickly the muffins disappeared off of the plate, as the townsponies took her up on her suggestion. Evidently, there was something about this town that seemed to favor terrible muffins.
'Whatever...'
“I dare say that these are surely the best muffins in this whole town, wouldn't you all agree?” Trixie asked of the crowd, as she surreptitiously hid her own half-eaten muffin under her hat.
“Oh, no, no, no! That is- I'm sure my muffins are nothing special.” Sugar Belle quickly denied.
Not picking up on her fellow unicorn's anxiety “Nonsense! Trixie could scarcely imagine anypony here making a-”
“I am very sure that everypony here could make muffins that were just as good as mine! Exactly as good.” The baker emphatically declared to everyone around.
Trixie blinked, a bit thrown by Sugar Belle's manner “Uh...well, Trixie isn't quite sure how anyone could make muffins that were exactly like-”
“Actually, Sugar Belle is absolutely right! That's the real beauty of our town, Ms. Trixie, the beauty of true equality! It's what unites us all!” Party Favor enthusiastically interjected, before moving to display the equal-sign Cutie Mark on his flank.
“Huh?” Trixie cleverly replied.
Seeing this as their cue, everypony apart from Sugar Belle took this as their moment to turn and display their own Cutie Marks. Revealing that each and everypony that was gathered there had a Cutie Mark that was exactly the same. Everypony there sported two perfectly parallel marks, equal signs, on each of their flanks.
Apart from Trixie, obviously.
The showmare slowly glanced from one pony to another, as she tried to figure out what was happening “Uhm, so, Trixie isn't quite sure what those mean...”
Night Glider took the lead this time “Isn't it obvious? It means we're all united! Our new Cutie Marks are what unite us all!”
“...They unite you in your love of math?” Trixie offered, still perplexed by this.
Party Favor gave a hearty laugh at that “No, Ms. Trixie! We're united in our love of equality obviously!”
Glancing between an anxious Sugar Bell and everyone else, Trixie let an eyebrow slowly crawl upwards “I, uh-...how exactly is that supposed to work?”
“It's all thanks to Starlight Glimmer!” One pony exclaimed from the back of the crowd.
“Yes, Starlight Glimmer and the Staff of Sameness!” Night Glider quickly added.
“Who?” Trixie asked.
This briefly gave everypony some pause, before Sugar Belle leaned in “Starlight Glimmer...? You met her earlier...?”
Seeing the uncomprehending look on her fellow unicorns face “Pink coat? Purple mane?”
“Uhm...” Trixie offered, still having trouble placing the name.
“She assisted with your show?” Sugar Belle quickly added.
“Oh, her!...She seemed nice.” Trixie added, as she noted the scrutiny being sent her way. Giving an awkward chuckle “Yes, of course, Starlight Glimmer! Trixie really...liked her.”
This seemed to be enough for most of the ponies there, as Party Favor once again took the lead “We all really like, Starlight Glimmer! She's done so much for all of us, by taking away our Cutie Marks!”
“...Uh-huh.” Trixie slowly replied.
“Ever since she took them away, we've all been able to come together over the things that are the same about us all! It's just been so wonderful since she took away our Cutie Marks!” Night Glider followed up.
“She...took away your Cutie Marks?” The showmare asked with a tilt of her head.
“And gave us our freedom!” Sugar Belle emphatically declared “Now that we're all the same, we don't have anything to make each other feel bad about!”
“And it's all thanks to Starlight Glimmer. She's the one that realized what a gift the Staff of Sameness could be, and brought us all together. Now, we can all be truly equal. Equally-gifted and equally-happy!” Party Favor finished.
After several moments of, what felt like to Trixie, awkward silence, the azure unicorn cleared her throat “So, equality seems pretty great, but-...Trixie's not quite sure she understands how that's supposed to work.”
“Well, it's all thanks to the Staff of Sameness and Starlight Glimmer!” Night Glider happily reiterated, hovering above everyone.
“Yes, Trixie picked up on that, but...how exactly does taking away your Cutie Marks make you all equal?” Trixie asked again.
Party Favor seemed to visibly struggle with the question for a moment “Wh-what do you mean?”
The magician tilted her head from one side to another, as she tried to figure out a way to put her thoughts into words “Well, what about all the things about a pony that aren't based on your Cutie Marks?”
Party Favor gave a sigh at that, relieved to have a question he could answer “Well, now that we've all been made equal, we're all equally good at everything. It doesn't matter what any one of us used to be able to do. Now we can all do everything just as well as everyone else!”
“But...you still don't have wings, do you?” Trixie asked the unicorn stallion.
“...What?” Party Favor blurted out.
Trixie gave a brief shrug, before gesturing to Night Glider “Well, she can fly. Can you? Trixie's great at a lot things, but even the Great and Powerful Trixie can't fly.”
Night Glider slowly sank to the ground, as everypony there was stuck trying to figure out how to answer that point.
Party Favor, in particular, seemed to have had his thoughts drawn to a rather abrupt halt “W-well, you see...we're certainly, uhm-...”
“And, I mean, it's not like she has a horn now, right? Night Glider can't do something like this, can she?” Trixie asked, before using her own magic to lift the empty muffin plate, as a way of demonstration.
“That's alright!” Night Glider quickly exclaimed, around a profoundly strained grin “I mean, I'm not going to hold it against him. Those things are just a different kind of equal!”
This got everypony nodding in turn, each eager to cling onto an answer to the difficult question.
Trixie didn't seem convinced “But, what about Earth ponies? They still don't have horns or wings. How are they equal now?”
An awkward silence again overtook the group, as the various townsponies alternated between trying to come up with some sort of answer while glancing towards one another uncomfortably.
“And then, there's stuff like-...well, Trixie admits she has a certain fondness for the color purple. If Trixie didn't have anything else that was special about her, she might get a bit jealous if someone else got to be purple, instead of her.” Trixie casually explained.
Trixie failed to notice, as several of the townsponies abruptly looked towards one another's coats before quickly averting their gazes.
“And how do relationships work in a town like this? Why would Trixie choose one pony to be with over another, if they're all the same? Trixie can be very discriminating when it comes to the ponies she pursues.” The showmare offered up.
“Well, Starlight Glimmer-” One pony tried to offer up, while avoiding the gaze of his partner.
“And can just anyone use the Staff of Sameness? Could Trixie use it?” Trixie asked.
“That-...that seems like a question for Starlight Glimmer.” Party Favor offered.
“Yes! You should ask Starlight Glimmer!”
“I'm sure she has the answers!”
“Let's go find-”
“And how is everypony treating our newest arrival?”
Nearly everypony jumped at that last voice, before turning towards the doors. Some anxious and others relieved, everyone turned to see Starlight Glimmer standing there with her calming, confident smile.
Party Favor quickly galloped over, before coming to a sudden stop in front of the bemused pink mare “Starlight Glimmer! There's-”
“We have-” Night Glider exclaimed.
“That is to say-” Party Favor started again.
Cringing a bit, Sugar Belle stepped forward before speaking up “It's Ms. Trixie, she-...some questions have been raised?”
“Questions that we're sure you have the answers for, of course!” Party Favor excitedly assured.
Taken aback by her followers, Starlight's smile wavered a bit “My, aren't we all so...energetic. If I didn't know any better, I might suspect that there was some kind of problem here.”
There was a pregnant pause, before nearly everypony there reaffixed their smiles for Starlight.
“Of course not!” The crowd of ponies chorused.
“Oh, good! For a moment, I was afraid we might be dealing with some sort of...negativity.” Starlight remarked, steadily letting her gaze wander across her townsponies, before letting it rest upon Trixie.
For Trixie's part, the showmare was less concerned with this little sideshow and more worried about returning her trick-glass back into its hiding place.
“Oh, Party Favor?” Starlight Glimmer quietly called, without looking.
“Yes?” The stallion replied.
“Would you do me the kindness of gathering a few ponies together and seeing to that broken window?”
“Uhm, well, I'd be happy to help in anyway I can, but-” Party Favor began, his gaze slowly leading towards the Great and Powerful Trixie.
“And, don't worry one bit. I would be more than happy to speak with Ms. Trixie, to clear up any...misunderstandings that may have come up” Starlight cut him off.
“Oh, that would just be-” The stallion began.
“It's my pleasure, Party Favor. She is new here, after all, and can't be expected to understand just how much better life here is without a bit of guidance.” The pink mare added.
“Right...then, I suppose we'll just-”
“See to that pesky window? Thank you.” Starlight was already marching away, the crowd of ponies quickly parting as she made her way towards Trixie.
Stopping just a few steps away from the azure unicorn, Starlight tilted her head, as she waited to be acknowledged by their town's latest, loudest, and most welcome arrival. She was rather disappointed, to find the showmare was burying her nose in her cloak, evidently quite consumed with shuffling its contents about.
After several more seconds of this, waiting on Trixie to pull herself away from her magical accoutrements, Starlight had to take in a calming breath.
“Ahem!”
“Trixie's full!”
“What?” Starlight asked, confused by this outburst.
“Huh? Oh, it's just you.” Trixie failed to note the twitch of the eye her off-hoof comment garnered from the pink unicorn “Sorry. Trixie was just...Trixie's had her fill of free muffins.”
“I see.” Starlight wryly responded, with an upturned eyebrow.
“Not that Trixie didn't enjoy her muffin. Trixie normally enjoys it when she gets food she doesn't have to pay for.” Trixie quickly reassured with a chuckle.
“How lovely. It certainly sounds as if my fellow villagers have been kind to you.” Starlight observed with a smile, before sliding into a more concerned expression “Though, I understand that you might have had some questions earlier? Questions that they might have had trouble providing answers for?”
“It's not anything that important to Trixie.” Trixie casually waved a hoof at that, before turning her attention to the remainder of her glass of water.
“Come, come, I'm sure you must have raised some very big questions, to have left everypony in such a tizzy!” Starlight noted with a laugh. Leaning in a bit too close for Trixie's comfort, and with a somewhat overly intense stare “Really, if you have any questions about our little town, I insist you share them with me.”
Edging away from the pink mare a bit, Trixie took a small sip of her water, before deciding to humor her fellow unicorn “Well...there was something mentioned about a staff?”
“They mentioned the Staff of Sameness to you? How wonderful!” Starlight enthusiastically exclaimed.
“...Ok?” Trixie replied.
“It truly is the keystone to our village! And the very key to our collective happiness! And perhaps yours too! Whatever did you want to know about it?” Starlight offered, liking the direction the conversation was taking.
Trixie pursed her lips for a moment, as she realized she needed to come up with some sort of follow-up question. Stalling a bit by taking another sip of her water, her thoughts turned to her own experiences with magical devices “So, uh...where did this staff come from?”
“Oh, that is a fine question. After your little show, I wouldn't have guessed you to be the scholarly-type, interested in such history.” Starlight teased, with only a small amount of passive-aggression slipping through.
Surprisingly, Trixie actually managed to pick up on the back-hoofed remark, frowning a bit before responding “It might interest you to know that Trixie's credentials as a scholar are impeccable.”
“Oh, really?”
Trixie turned her nose up a bit, before continuing “Not just anypony can get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.”
Starlight smirked a bit to herself, all too ready to undercut the showboating mare “How impressive! You must be quite special then. As I understand it, only a few hundred ponies a year are allowed into the Canterlot Academy.”
“Very true!” Trixie agreed, her pride not undermined at all by Starlight's remark. Trixie couldn't help the grin that took her “But how many ponies get hoof-picked by Princess Celestia herself?”
“What?” The pink mare blurted out, caught off-guard by this.
“It's true! Trixie was picked by Princess Celestia herself for a special student program.” Trixie crowed.
Starlight had to shake her head at this, taken aback by the possibilities “Am I to understand that you were taught by the Princess Celestia? That you were her student?”
That question visibly took the wind out of Trixie's sails, as her hesitation to answer that question became apparent “Well...no, not exactly.”
“Not exactly?” Starlight prompted.
“There was a special program and Trixie did get picked for it and she did get to meet Princess Celestia...” Trixie began to explain.
Her smile became briefly predatory, as Starlight picked up on where this was going “But, I'm guessing Princess Celestia has far too busy a schedule for something like that, right?”
“Right...” Trixie quietly agreed.
“My truest sympathies, though I'm quite sure you learned plenty on your own!” Starlight added in a compassionate tone.
“Of course! Trixie managed to fly through those courses with her unparalleled abilities!” Trying to shake herself from the funk the conversation had left her in, Trixie quickly latched on to that point “In fact, Trixie has it on good authority, that nopony has ever-”
“I will admit that I find myself a bit disappointed though.” Starlight suddenly opined.
“Huh?”
“It's just...well, I have heard rumors that Princess Celestia had taken on a certain personal student. I suppose I was just a bit eager to meet such a gifted pony.” Starlight nonchalantly explained.
“Oh...”
“Not that you aren't a delight! I certainly hope that you aren't offended, but news is just so slow in reaching us out here, that-...well, a magically-gifted unicorn showing up out of the blue? Talking about Princess Celestia? You can see how it could be an easy mistake to make.” Starlight continued, pretending not to notice Trixie's discomfort.
“Right, so-...” The azure mare tried to speak up, but could only manage to fidget around in her seat.
“But, like I said, somepony as busy as Princess Celestia probably had only enough time to herself for just one student. She would have to be very discriminating, wouldn't you agree?”
“I-...weren't we talking about something else?” Trixie suddenly asked.
Starlight Glimmer was inwardly glowing with pleasure, at the showmare's awkward attempt at changing the subject “Oh, of course! The Staff of Sameness. Do forgive me, but I just so love finding out everything I can about the ponies I meet, it can drive me to distraction.”
Trixie just nodded at that.
“Now, what were we talking about again? That's right! You wanted to know the origins of the Staff of Sameness, right?”
Clearing her throat a bit, Trixie struggled to regain a bit of her usual energy “Yes, Trixie was wondering where somepony just gets something like that.”
“Well, now that I know just how impeccable your scholarly credentials are-” The pink mare couldn't help but enjoy Trixie's ever so slight flinch at that remark “-I'm sure you can appreciate it, when I tell you that we owe all of this to the great Meadowbrook.”
“Meadowbrook?”
“Why, yes! The Staff of Sameness numbers amongst the great magician Meadowbrook's Nine Legendary Artifacts! I'm sure you've heard of them.” Starlight explained.
“That's not really what Trixie was asking.” Trixie abruptly pointed out.
“...I'm sorry? Were you not wondering about the origins of-”
“Trixie just wanted to know where you found this staff.”
“Me?” Starlight blurted out, thrown by this line of questioning.
“Right. Was it just lying on the ground for anypony to find-” Trixie pressed.
“Of course not!” Starlight snapped, taking several moments to note the surprised look being sent her way by the azure mare. Forcing her smile back into place, Starlight tried to give what she hoped was a disarming laugh “I mean-...Why would you think such a thing? It's surely not as if powerful magical artifacts can be found just...lying around!”
"Well, actually-..." Trixie began, thinking again of how she found the Alicorn Amulet.
"And besides, even if that was the case, you surely wouldn't want to hear such a dull story as that." Starlight Glimmer concluded with a fake chuckle, one that only managed to leave Trixie feeling a bit uneasy.
“...If you say so.” Trixie conceded after a moment, slowly getting out of her seat and taking a couple of steps back.
Starlight let out another awkward laugh, at Trixie's apparent discomfort “You'll have to forgive that little outburst. We here- The Staff of Sameness is held in such high regard here, so you can understand how the idea that it could have just been lying in the dirt might come across.”
“Right...”
“I mean, its power has been such an amazing gift to us all. Being free of one's Cutie Mark is truly a wondrous experience and just being in its presence-...there's an idea!” Starlight suddenly exclaimed, holding a hoof up as she did so “Why don't I show you the Staff of Sameness? Surely that would answer any questions you might have!”
“Great...”
“Perfect! And it's only a short-” Starlight began.
“Actually, the GaPT's feeling rather exhausted.”
“Pardon?”
“Trixie thinks she might just...turn in a bit early.” Trixie explained, as she sidled over towards the exit.
“...Are you quite-”
“Trixie's sure it's very nice, but she spent most of the day dragging her wagon around, and then there was her show...Plus, it's not like Trixie hasn't seen her fair share of magical staves.” Trixie assured, as she again took another couple of steps towards the exit.
“Well...far be it from me to stop somepony from leaving when they wish.” Starlight exclaimed, even as she settled a hoof across Trixie's withers.
Eying the hoof a bit uncomfortably, Trixie glanced back up to the pink mare “Could you-”
“You would be more than welcome to stay with me for the evening! There is a small mess that needs to be seen to but the broken window aside, I do have plenty of extra room for such a special guest.” Starlight quickly began to offer.
“At your house?” Trixie asked, with a tilt of her head.
“Don't worry about that pesky window. I'm quite sure we'll have it fixed in no time.” Starlight quickly responded, shoving that issue under the rug.
“That's good...” Trixie remarked, before carefully ducking out from underneath Starlight's hoof “...I suppose, that makes you the one that's in-charge?”
Starlight tilted her head at that “I can see that there was quite a bit of confusion earlier. We're all equal here, so there couldn't possibly be someone that's 'in-charge' now can there?”
Taking a few steps closer to the magician, Starlight leaned in towards Trixie “If anything, I'm just here to provide a little bit of guidance for everypony. Though...”
Lifting a hoof up, the pink mare slowly reached towards Trixie's face before brushing a stray bit of her mane from her face.
“...I suppose you could say that I like to keep my eye out for trouble.” Starlight added, rather pleased with how unsettled the other mare seemed.
Trixie glanced anywhere but towards Starlight for a few moments, before speaking up “Uhm...Trixie would just like to say that she's flattered-”
“What?”
“-but she's not really...looking for anyone right now.” Trixie finished with a tilt of her head.
Starlight quickly moved her hoof away from Trixie's face, almost as if she had just been burned “You cannot-”
“It's not a big problem. Trixie's had to deal with this sort of thing before, from some of her fans.” Trixie continued to explain, not noting the growing look of disgust coming from Starlight “And it's not that you aren't an attractive mare. You're just not really Trixie's type and Trixie's going to be traveling again soon, so-”
Starlight stormed off, leaving Trixie to watch as she stomped her way down the street.
'Really hope I don't have to deal with another stalker...'