Trixie stood before thousands of fans in a massive stadium. Their cheers were deafening after she performed each amazing magical stunt. Trixie drank in their adoration as she waved a blanket over a statue of a horse, turning it into a real animal. This was no trick, however. Trixie was using real magic to stun the crowd. How she came to gain such power was not something she knew or cared about.
“TRIXIE! TRIXIE! TRIXIE!” The masses chanted in unison, spurring the magician on.
“That's right,” Trixie shouted, “The Great and Powerful Trixie, the most spectacular magician in the entire world, will blow your minds with her amazing feats!”
Trixie scanned the crowd, smiling at the dozens of cheering, yet oddly indistinct faces in the crowd. There were a few she recognized, however. Trixie saw her mother waving to her as well as her friends encouraging her. In the front, though, there was someone that Trixie wasn't expecting.
“Sparkle?” Trixie asked, forgetting that she was putting on a show.
“Hi Trixie,” Twilight greeted, and somehow Trixie could hear her voice above all of the others.
“What are you doing here?” Trixie asked.
“I came to see you. That's what friends do,” Twilight answered.
Trixie snorted and stuck her nose into the air. “Please, I may have forgiven you, but that doesn't mean you can call yourself a friend of the Great and Powerful Trixie just yet.”
Twilight didn't look upset, however. In fact, she seemed eerily calm. “I suppose you're right. We're so much more than that.”
“And what does that mean?” Trixie asked as she looked back to Twilight's seat, but the girl was no longer there.
Trixie spun around, searching for Twilight, only to find her standing on the stage as well.
“Well Trixie, I don't think friendship would accurately describe our relationship,” Twilight stated as she walked over to Trixie and began stroking her cheek.
“What are you doing!?” Trixie cried as she swatted the hand away.
“I thought that we could put on a different kind of show,” Twilight explained with an alluring look in her eyes.
Trixie blushed intensely as she stammered. “Trixie would not do that kind of performance!”
Twilight cocked her head. “But Trixie, you're already dressed for the occasion.”
Trixie's pupils became pinpricks as she looked down at herself. To the blue girls horror, her body was only clad in the revealing lingerie that she bought a couple days ago. The cheering of the crowd soon turned to wolf whistling and laughter. Trixie desperately tried to cover herself, too stunned to even scream. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Trixie felt two soft arms wrap around her.
“Don't worry Trixie, I know how to make you feel better,” Twilight giggled as her hands started to drift lower.
Trixie sat up in her bed, breathing heavily as sweat rolled down her face. It took her a moment to realize that she was in her room and that her nightmare was not real before she relaxed.
Laughing quietly to herself, Trixie lied back down. “It was only a dream. A weird one, but only a dream. It was pretty good too, until Sparkle showed up. Why would Trixie... Why does Trixie feel excited?”
Trixie felt very hot, and her heart beat was still racing, but it wasn't from the fear of her nightmare. Trixie remembered Twilight in her dream and how her hands were slowly inching their way down to Trixie's-
“Trixie needs a cold shower,” Trixie told herself as she got out of bed.
After getting cleaned up, Trixie saw that it was close to when her alarm was going to go off, so she decided to finish up her morning routine. As she watched herself brushing her teeth in the mirror, Trixie thought hard about her dream.
“Why would Trixie have a dream like that? Well, it's natural for a girl Trixie's age, but why was Sparkle there?” Trixie asked her reflection after she spit into the sink. “And why was she acting like that?”
Trixie blushed as she recalled the effect her dream had on her. She didn't have dreams like that often and that was the first time it was about a girl. In all honesty, Trixie didn't even really care about being in a relationship. She was more focused on her magic act than members of the other sex... or the same sex in this case. It might have had something to do with that nail polish that she was wearing. After all, it was very similar to Trixie's skin. Was Twilight trying to send her a message. Trixie shook her head.
“This is dumb. Trixie will forget all about it by the end of the day,” Trixie told herself before she went to go get dressed.
After throwing on some clothes, Trixie left her room and walked through the rest of her small, two bedroom apartment. She saw her mother cooking some pancakes as she entered the kitchen area.
“Morning mom,” Trixie greeted, sitting down at the table.
Trixie's mother, a beautiful woman with teal skin and faded purple hair, turned around with a smile. “Good morning! How's my little star doing?”
Trixie smiled back. Her mother was the only one that she grew up with, but she would never complain. Her mother was warm and caring and even supported Trixie's dream of being a performer. Trixie hoped one day, when she was famous and rich, she could buy her mother a nice house and let her retire early.
“Pretty good,” Trixie replied happily.
“Pretty good?” Trixie's mom asked. “Would some fresh pancakes turn that answer into 'great'?”
Trixie giggled. “Sure mom.”
After eating breakfast, Trixie waved farewell to her mother before she left the apartment and descended the stairwell. It was a short walk to the bus stop where she was picked up for school. Soon, Trixie was walking through CHS, sighing as she mentally prepared herself for another day.
“At least I have art first,” Trixie muttered, trying to cheer herself up.
Trixie walked into the art room right before the final bell went off. She sat in her usual spot and took out her drawing implements. It was a free period, so she decided to work a sketch that was her current assignment. The guidelines were pretty loose for the assignment, so Trixie thought she would draw an epic magical duel. Of course one of the duelist was a depiction of herself in a fantasy outfit, but her opponent had very little detail, so Trixie went to work on that. She was only drawing for a minute when she felt someone step up behind her.
“Um, hi,” Trixie heard a quiet voice.
The blue girl turned around to find a yellow girl with pink hair.
“Hi?” Trixie responded, tilting her head with confusion.
“Can I sit next to you?” Fluttershy asked.
“Trixie supposes,” Trixie answered slowly, “but why do you want to?”
“Well, um, you and, um, Twilight have started sitting with each other and, um, I thought we could be friends as well, if you want to,” Fluttershy rambled nervously.
Immediately, Trixie recognized the girls as one of the Rainbooms. Trixie was about to reject her out of instinct, but remembered the conversation she had with Bananajack the other day. “That sounds alright, I guess.”
Fluttershy smiled and sat next to Trixie. “I'm Fluttershy by the way.”
“Trixie, The Great and Powerful,” Trixie responded.
For a while, the two worked in silence, but eventually, Trixie saw the other girl make several attempts to say something, but back out at the last moment.
Rolling her eyes, Trixie spoke up. “Something you want to say?”
Fluttershy jumped before she nervously played with her hair. “I, um, had a question if you don't mind.”
“Go on,” Trixie urged.
“Um, you're a magician, right?” Fluttershy asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Trixie responded, raising an eyebrow.
“So, um, I know some magicians work with doves and bunnies and maybe some other animals, but how are they treated?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I didn't mean to offend. It's just, I hope the animals are being treated fairly. It wouldn't be fair if a dove only got a few minutes of freedom before being thrown in a cage for the rest of the day,” Fluttershy explained.
“Hmm,” Trixie shrugged, “Trixie can't speak for every magician, but from what Trixie knows, the animals have professional caretakers when it comes to the big time performers. Personally, Trixie wants to get a rabbit, but she doesn't have enough money to buy and take care of one.”
“That's nice,” Fluttershy smiled. “Thank you for answering my questions.”
“Trixie didn't mind,” Trixie replied.
“So you want a bunny?”
“Yes, she thinks it would help improve her act,” Trixie started, but continued with a blush after Fluttershy gave her a questioning look. “Also, she thinks they're cute.”
“They are pretty cute,” Fluttershy giggled. “I have one named Angel.”
“You'll have to show me him sometime,” Trixie chuckled awkwardly, trying to be friendly.
“I'd love to,” Fluttershy smile warmly.
The two went back to work. Trixie thought about how nice it was talking Fluttershy. In fact, she realized, there was now two of the Rainbooms she enjoyed talking to. Perhaps she could become friends with them after all. But then why was she being so resistant when it came to Twilight? Trixie asked herself what it was about the new girl that put her on edge.
“That sort of looks like Twilight,” Fluttershy commented as she looked at the drawing.
“What?” Trixie asked.
“That girl you're drawing looks like Twilight,” Fluttershy repeated.
Trixie looked back to her drawing to find that the opponent that she was drawing was starting to resemble the purple girl of her thoughts. What was shocking to Trixie, however, was the sultry look that she drew on Twilight's face. With a blush, Trixie placed her hand over her drawing and laughed nervously.
“Oh, Trixie guesses it does. Weird. That was totally not what Trixie was going for. Trixie will erase it and try again.”
“Why? It looks really good,” Fluttershy questioned.
“Well Sparkle might find it weird if she thought Trixie was drawing her. Which she isn't! This is a coincidence!” Trixie explained quickly.
“I think she would find it flattering,” Fluttershy giggled in a way that made Trixie think that she was hiding something.
“Um, well, you see-” Trixie stammered until the bell went off. “Oh, there's the bell. It was nice talking to you, but I don't want to be late to my next class.”
Trixie packed up her things at an incredible speed and bolted out the door. What was worse, was that Trixie didn't even understand her actions. Why did she care if her drawing looked like Sparkle? Why would she even care if Sparkle thought it was weird? She didn't care what Sparkle thought. She was only beginning to tolerate her. Right?
Trixie forcefully cleared her mind as she approached her next class. Second period, Trixie had English. Rather than laze about and day dream as she usually did, Trixie focused diligently on the teacher's lecture and took extensive notes, for no reason other than to keep her mind occupied. Soon the bell rang and Trixie had dropped her pencil from the writing cramp.
“Gah, that hurts. At least it's finally lunch. Trixie is starving!” Trixie muttered to herself.
As she entered the cafeteria, Trixie spotted her friends, Lavender and Fuchsia, sitting at their regular table as well as Snips and Snails. Trixie lined up to get some food and then proceeded to her seat, but couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched the entire time. Stopping in the middle of the cafeteria, Trixie scanned her surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, but when she looked over at the Rainboom's table, she thought she spotted Twilight quickly looking down at her food. Trixie ignored it, however, fearing that her mind would start focusing on Sparkle again. Sitting down, the magician was met with greetings from her friends.
“Hey Trixie,” Lavender waved.
“What's up Trix?” Fuchsia asked.
“Good morning GPT!” Snips and Snails chanted in unison.
“Hello to you all,” Trixie returned the welcoming. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is here.”
Her friends returned to the conversations, but Trixie didn't pay any mind to them. Despite her best efforts, Trixie couldn't help but to start thinking about Sparkle again. It only took a few minutes for the others at the table to quiet down and give Trixie some odd looks.
“Um, Trixie?” Fuchsia called out lightly.
“Hmm?” Trixie muttered as she looked up from her tray.
“You're being awfully quiet today,” Lavender started. “Something up?”
“Oh, um, nothing really,” Trixie explained. “Just someone, er, something on Trixie's mind.”
Lavender and Fuchsia gave each other a knowing look as Snips and Snails just watched, confused.
“Ooh,” Fuchsia giggled. “Sounds like someone has a crush.”
Trixie turned bright red and stuttered. “Th-that's not, I-I mean, there's no one- I do not have a crush!”
“Oh, she's using first person pronouns,” Lavender laughed. “That proves it!”
“That proves nothing!” Trixie defended, cursing her slip up.
“Wow,” Snips started, “who could possibly catch the eye of The Great and Powerful Trixie?”
“He would have to be almost half as great and powerful as she is,” Snails added.
“Come on,” Fuchsia urged, “who is it?”
“No one!” Trixie lied.
“You can tell us. Who's the lucky boy?” Lavender pressed.
Trixie began to waver under the pressure. “Um, well, it isn't a boy exactly...”
“Wait, not a boy? You don't mean you're like Lyra and Bonbon, are you?” Fuchsia asked cautiously.
“Yeah, because that would totally be, like, weird,” Lavender stuck out her tongue in disgust.
“Well, it is their choice, but do they have to be so open about it?” Fuchsia said as she glanced over to the couple at another table.
Trixie stared blankly at her friends for a moment until she burst out laughing. “Trixie was just kidding. She can't believe you fell for that.”
Her friends shared confused looks, but shrugged and joined in Trixie's mirth.
“You really had us going there,” Lavender giggled. “We should have guessed you wouldn't be like that.”
“Yeah,” Trixie's laughter trailed off. “Trixie wouldn't like a girl like that...”
The rest of lunch went by without the others bringing up the subject again and soon Trixie found herself walking to science class. The magician stopped in the middle of the hall, remembering who was also in that class. Trixie closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
“Trixie does not have a crush,” Trixie reaffirmed herself.
Trixie walked into the classroom and sighed when she saw Sparkle sitting in the seat next to hers. The purple girl gave a small wave as Trixie sat down. Trixie rolled her eyes and ignored her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sparkle flinch slightly and put her hand down. Trixie had a thought about how Sparkle looked sort of cute with a pout, but forced her mind to focus on the blackboard immediately after. Thankfully, Mr. Whooves entered and began his lecture. Trixie thought she was going to make it through the class without any incidents, however, when there was only ten minutes left in the class, Mr Whooves finished his lecture and told his students that they had the rest of the period to catch up on work or talk amongst themselves.
Trixie didn't even have time to think of an excuse before she heard a timid voice next to her. “H-hey...”
Trixie looked over to her neighbour with an eyebrow raised, waiting for the other girl to continue.
Sparkle avoided eye contact as she spoke up. “Did I do something to upset you. Because if I did, I'm sorry...”
For some reason that Trixie refused to acknowledge, she didn't like the fact that Sparkle was sad. With another sigh, Trixie responded. “No, you didn't do anything. Trixie has just been having an off day.”
It looked like Sparkles mood was lifted as the girl smiled. “Oh, that's good.”
Figuring that if she didn't have any feelings for Sparkle, it would be no problem making small talk with her, Trixie went on. “So no make up today?”
Sparkle blushed and looked away. “N-no. It would be a lot of trouble to do it every day. That was just a one time thing.”
“That's a shame. Trixie thought you looked really cute,” Trixie commented without thinking.
Trixie only realized what she said after the words passed her lips. Sparkle looked back at Trixie with wide eyes and a wide smile.
“Really?” The purple girl asked.
Trixie's heart fluttered when Twilight gave that look. Trixie suddenly had the urge to make Sparkle happier and before she could stop herself, Trixie found herself continuing with the compliments.
“Well, you already look cute, but a little touch up definitely didn't hinder your appearance.”
Trixie watched Sparkle's face go deep red and look away again. Trixie blushed herself as she questioned why she was being so nice. Fearing that Sparkle might think that she was weird, Trixie decided that she would try to remain quiet for the rest of the class. Sparkle stayed silent as well, though she made a variety of facial expressions.
“Great, now Trixie's creeped her out,” Trixie muttered to herself.
The two didn't say a word to each other until the bell rang. As Trixie was getting up to leave, Sparkle rose as well and blocked her path.
“So, um, it was nice talking to you,” Sparkle said with her hands behind her back and tracing a circle on the ground with her foot.
Cursing the girl in front of her for looking so adorable, Trixie rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, even if we didn't talk that much.”
“Well, maybe we could talk some more some time,” Sparkle suggested nervously. “I mean, if you want to, um, hang out some time.”
“Sure. You're cooler than Trixie thought,” Trixie replied as she walked passed Sparkle. “See ya later.”
Trixie walked halfway down the hall to her next class before it struck her. She complimented Sparkle again and acted friendlier than usual. This was the same girl who only a few days ago, insulted her even if it was only a mistake. Trixie growled as she continued on her way.
“Why is Trixie acting like this? First Sparkle makes fun of Trixie, then apologizes and starts acting nice. Why is she even trying so hard to be Trixie's friend? The other Rainbooms aren't as bad as Trixie thought, but why is Sparkle different. Trixie didn't even care about her a few days ago and now she wants to see Sparkle happy? And so what if Sparkle dolled herself up? So what if Trixie thought it looked nice. That doesn't mean anything. Just because Trixie wants to spend more time with Sparkle and talk to her and get closer to her, it doesn't make Trixie some weirdo. And it's not a big deal if Trixie wants to hold Sparkle and run her hands through Sparkles hair and...”
Trixie put her head in her hands groaned. “Trixie has a crush.”