//------------------------------// // Chapter 126 - Ragging // Story: Trixie's Forest Retreat // by crowscrowcrow //------------------------------// All was well with the world. Trixie had everything she could desire at the moment. A cushy easy chair to lounge on. A cozy warm bathrobe to snuggle up in. A servant meticulously washing and styling her mane in the little sink at the head of the chair. And, most importantly, something to brag about to her captive audience. Sometimes Trixie forgot that she was a genius without peer. Of course, her incredible talents were so amazing it was only natural she would surprise herself every once in a while. Everything had gone precisely as she predicted that it would. "When Trixie first spoke of actually meeting with you, she had told Fluttershy from the start we'd get along, but only after another fight." Trixie smirked at Rarity's doubtful expression. "You remember that, right, Fluttershy?" She tried to turn her head, but surprised Aloe with the sudden movement, and was hindered by a slight tug on her mane. Admittedly, this realization of her own brilliance had only dawned on her a good half hour of idle chatter later. Most of which involved satisfying Rarity's curiosity and getting her caught up to speed on just how the three of them had ended up in this 'unthinkable' arrangement. Given that Trixie was finally doing most of the talking, she was surprised to discover that the overly talkative Rarity turned out to also be a decent listener when she put her mind to it and wasn't too busy finding fault with everything a pony said. Trixie liked her better this way, maybe the mare ought to be quiet more often. This observation was definitely objective and not at all because she was still just the tiniest bit bitter about getting humiliated in front of Fluttershy who, now that Trixie thought about it, had been even quieter than usual during the entire conversation. In any case, eventually this led the conversation to the day before and Trixie's uncanny prediction of the spa meeting's result: A fight and reconciliation. Fluttershy, her frothy mane being tended to by Lotus, glanced at Trixie from the corner of her eye then quickly closed it again as though she was afraid of getting foam in it. She blindly looked back up at the ceiling with a contemplative look on her face. "Oh? Uhm... now that you mention it... You did say something like that, I think?" "See?" Trixie said triumphantly as she whipped back around to Rarity, inadvertently yanking on her own mane again. "Eek! Be more gentle!" she scolded Aloe, who obligingly rolled her eyes. Lifting the cucumber slice off of her right eye, Rarity offered a silent but apologetic look up to Aloe before turning her attention to Trixie. "Yes. A master stroke in self-fulfilling prophecy, I'm sure. Though, I cannot help but wonder if things might have gone differently if you didn't start off with the expectation of a fight?" She quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" Trixie asked, settling back down in her chair. "The Great and Perceptive Trixie just noticed that it happened a lot. It's not as though she wants to fight everypony she meets. It's not Trixie's fault that other ponies are lousy at meeting new ponies." A muscle in Rarity's face twitched, but she smiled. "Well of course not, darling. Getting back to the whole prediction thing, tell me about the future, would you?" "The future? Like lasers?" Trixie asked, confused. "It's not that kind of prediction." "No, no." Rarity waved her hoof impatiently. "Your future. Fluttershy mentioned something about a date?" "Did she now?" Trixie glanced over at Fluttershy, who was very pointedly avoiding her gaze. "Trixie doesn't remember you saying anything, Fluttershy... So that means it happened while Trixie was gone? Talking behind Trixie's back, mhm?" She teased Fluttershy for a moment but then turned back to Rarity. "That certainly explains why you were suddenly so interested." "Oh, no absolutely not! I just thought we should try to get along and, uhm. Oh, alright. I may have been just a little bit more motivated knowing the three of you were… let’s say involved." Rarity gave Fluttershy an apologetic look. "Sorry, darling. I didn't mean to let it slip." "I, uhm. It's okay." Fluttershy nervously tapped her hooves together. "W-we weren't talking. Not behind your back, I mean. Well, you were gone, but it wasn't bad. Ohh. I just wanted to ask Rarity for advice." "Ah, that kind of advice." Trixie smirked. It was comforting to know that she wasn't the only one that had been nervous about how to handle their date. She'd spent plenty of time worrying about it on her own, so she could only imagine how it was effecting Fluttershy. It was no wonder she'd reached out to a friend for help. It must've been nice to have that option. Trixie turned to Rarity. "So, did you have any good pointers?" "I... may have been a little distracted." Rarity blushed. "It was a bit of a shock, you see. At the time, I mean. I'm completely over it now. Oh, no no no, that just sounds like it was something awful. I only meant to say that it demanded my full attention. Yes. So I was distracted." Just when Trixie thought Rarity would devolve into endless rambling, she suddenly regained her composure and asked. "Why? Were you looking for some help yourself? I understand you have some unique challenges for most conventional dates, but one type of date you two could certainly try is to make a ‘you’ thing an ‘us’ thing. If you are, by chance, looking for ideas?" "What? No. What makes you think that?" Trixie bristled at the implication that she didn't know what she was doing. Was Rarity trying to embarrass her? "The Great and Powerful Trixie has everything under control." Rarity regarded Trixie with a raised eyebrow as Trixie defended herself, but she quickly adopted a smile. "Oh, my mistake, darling. I suppose I had you confused for an ordinary pony. You could see how, for a regular pony, it would be a bit of a challenge finding something romantic to do with a particularly sensitive partner in a strange city full of less than amicable ponies and no bits to their name, yes? That's on top of all the regular first date jitters like trying to make a good impression, getting to know the other pony, and so on." She broke eye contact with Trixie and finished with: "But, as I said, my mistake." She closed her eyes and leaned back to rest her head into the small wash-table at the end of her chair, letting the spa pony on duty rinse the shampoo out. Trixie grit her teeth. She knew Rarity was toying with her, but that didn't stop her stomach from turning itself into a tight, balled-up knot as Rarity laid out many of the problems and pitfalls that Trixie knew she was faced with. Rarity so casually mentioned all of those things Trixie had questioned herself about that it might not be a stretch to assume the smug hag actually had some answers too. Still, if she asked any questions now it would be as good as admitting she was just some regular, run-of-the-mill pony in need of help. She'd rather die. “Oh, I simply cannot image embarrassing myself on a first date.” Rarity drawled. Trixie snapped her gaze back to Rarity, who now had a foreleg resting across her forehead in a manner that only befitted a true drama queen. “Why, of all the worst things that could happen, that is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” Trixie didn’t think it possible, but somehow her stomach managed to find a way to add one more twist. She was sure this was Rarity trying to make her feel worse on purpose. After all, Nopony used a phrase like that wantonly. It might have seemed innocent enough, but Trixie understood. Rarity was trying to establish dominance by lording her supposed expertise over her. She wasn’t going to fall for it! Suddenly, it dawned on Trixie that Rarity’s cruel teasing wouldn’t just be affecting her. There was collateral damage in the sense that any pony listening that had a first date coming up would be having the jitters just like Trixie. No, worse than her. Did she forget that Fluttershy is in the same boat as Trixie? That poor, cute thing! Trixie can use that! Trixie quickly turned and felt a sharp tug on her mane as Aloe was still working on her, invoking a half silent curse from the both of them. Trixie ignored the muttered apology that followed from Aloe and fixed her attention on Fluttershy. Who, if she was on the verge of breaking down like Trixie expected, was hiding that surprisingly well. While Fluttershy did quickly look away and pretended she hadn’t been staring at Trixie, she didn’t look like she was worried. Well, not more worried than usual anyway. She still had that same nervous look about her she got every time Trixie spoke with Rarity. It didn’t make sense. If anything, a pony as sensitive as Fluttershy ought to be in tears by now with insecurity if even the great Trixie was feeling nervous. Was it possible that Trixie was more easily affected than Fluttershy? Trixie refused to believe that. But then, there was only one other option, wasn’t there? Rarity must have said something to her after all. Whatever Rarity told Fluttershy… It must have been good. The realization was both a blessing and a curse. It was good to know there was an answer to her problems, but then Rarity really did have the answers. This meant she couldn’t ignore her as easily. The thought of having to swallow her pride and come crawling back to the waiting unicorn was too much to bare. Trixie briefly entertained the thought of asking Fluttershy later, but quickly dismissed it. She couldn't stand the idea of making herself look foolish by admitting she needed help. Especially not in front of the sweet filly she most desperately wanted to impress. The Reliable and Desirable Trixie always had everything under control! Wait a minute. Trixie smiled slyly as she realized Rarity had left an opening. She leisurely leaned back in her chair and glanced over at Rarity. “The worst possible thing? If it worries you so, what do you do to alleviate that?” Trixie did her best to sound casual, she could not let on how nervous she actually was or Rarity might realize she was being tricked into giving advice without Trixie actually asking for any. Rarity’s ears perked up as Trixie addressed her, and with one eye she briefly regarded Trixie’s carefully composed, relaxed features. After a moment of deliberating silence, she finally answered. “Well, a spa day is a good start of course. Looking my best not only helps me feel confident, but shows that I valued the other’s opinion enough to take the time to do so.” “First impression and all that?” Trixie asked. This didn’t seem useful at all considering she’d already met Fluttershy. “Not exactly. Unless it is a blind date, you already made your first impression when you first met them. Still, if you’re on a date, you obviously made a good one already. No, it’s about showing you care.” “Trixie can’t believe that is all you do? There’s a lot more involved, isn’t there?” She did her best to sound almost disinterested, inspecting her newly manicured hoof as she spoke. Rarity smiled. The kind of smile that a filly might have when a supposedly empty cookie jar had one left after all. An evil cookie. That kind of cookie smile made Trixie feel uncomfortable. “Ooh, no. Of course not.” A slow sweat drop worked its way down Trixie's brow. Rarity must have caught on that she actually wanted to know and had tried to trick her. Trixie's mind raced, she had to think of something to either keep Rarity from revealing her incompetence to Fluttershy, or somehow convince Rarity that she was mistaken. There was no telling what kind of evil blackmail she might be subjected to. Rarity had shown a suspicious amount of interest in her relationship with Dashie and Fluttershy, what if she wanted a piece of that pie? Trixie wasn’t sharing! Trixie glared at Rarity. The whole time that Trixie was slowly driving herself up the wall, Rarity was looking at her. At first she wore that look of devious delight, but it gradually faded. She shifted in her chair. First turning towards Trixie a little more as though she wanted to devote her full attention, but then thought better of it, and withdrew letting her eyes drift up to the ceiling. A strangely contemplative look on her face. “You’re right, you know, I do a lot of things to prepare for a date. Most of which I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy.” Rarity mused. Trixie raised a brow at this. “Oh, I know what I should be doing. There are all the usual platitudes of course: relax, be yourself, have confidence, etc. That’s all well and good, but it’s a lot harder to live up to when you really like this other pony and failure is not an option. So what if they happen to like ‘swamp green’ and I think it’s just awful? I’m not going to mention that if I’m trying to make a good impression!” Trixie was starting to feel that maybe this wasn’t about her anymore Rarity waved her forelegs in the air. “Maybe I’ll just decide to change instead! I don’t have to tell them I ever felt like it was the kind of color that is only good for cragodile camouflage. It’s not lying if I didn’t tell them I felt differently yesterday, right? If I decide to change on the spot, I’m still being myself! My new self. If they wouldn’t have liked the old me but like the new me then we all win, right?” Despite how sudden the conversation had turned to this, Trixie nodded . “Yes, that makes sense.” “In the heat of the moment, perhaps.” Rarity sunk back into her chair with a long sigh. “But ponies can’t change just like that, darling. I could delude myself for a time perhaps, but it wouldn’t really be me. Swamp green for clothes? Ew ew ew.” Rarity looked revolted and a little green it the face, as though the only thing that held her back from actually barfing was the realisation that that would be especially unladylike. She cleared her throat. “Besides, imagine yourself in the other pony’s horseshoes, would you want a pony who’s only pretending to be somepony you like? Or would you rather know the real pony and then decide if you like that pony or not?” “Nonsense.” Trixie scoffed. “What difference does it make how somepony acts as long as their adoration for Trixie is real?” “You mean besides the fact that your admirer would be lying to you?” Rarity asked, appalled. “Do you really have so little regard for the truth?” Trixie folded her forelegs. “Is that a crack at Trixie’s show?” She supposed she should have been expecting something like this. “No, no, dear,” Rarity said, exasperated. She glanced over at Fluttershy for a moment before returning her attention to Trixie with a curiously friendly expression. “Forget it. Now what were we talking about?” “Trixie believes you were lamenting your failing love life,” Trixie snapped. A twitch in Rarity’s right eye momentarily fractured the pleasant expression she wore. “How uniquely eloquent… Yes, I suppose I was, wasn’t I? It’s a shame they don’t serve drinks here; I could use one,” she said while turning away from Trixie. That was random. Trixie thought. Granted, given how warm it was in here, she wasn’t opposed to the idea of a nice glass of icewater right now. “That Trixie can agree with.” Rarity didn’t reply. That had to mean Trixie had won. Strangely, Trixie couldn’t quite remember what it was that she’d been victorious in. After a few minutes of silence, Trixie picked up on the fact that Rarity hadn’t said a single word. Sure, Trixie meant to make sure Rarity wouldn’t say anything about her insecurity, and she definitely accomplished that, but still… this didn’t feel like a victory somehow. A soft cough directed Trixie’s attention back to Fluttershy, who met her gaze and nodded towards Rarity. Trixie gave her a confused look and silently mouthed ‘what?’. All Trixie got in response from her was a sorrowful look with those big blue doe eyes. Clearly, something was wrong. Trixie’s finely tuned senses could tell that much right away. Aside from the sounds the spa ponies were making as they went about their business, it had not been this quiet all day. Which was odd, given that Rarity would not shut up for the life of her before. Somehow Trixie was apparently the bad guy in this scenario. Normally, Trixie wouldn’t think twice about this kind of thing, but Fluttershy was expecting her to do… something. It would have helped if she’d been more clear on exactly what Trixie was supposed to be doing. The silence was clearly part of the problem, Trixie would tackle that first. “Sooo...” Trixie stretched out the word uncomfortably long as she tried to find something to follow it up with. “Nice, uh, weather we’re having, isn’t it?” Maybe she should have stretched it a little longer. “Yes.” Rarity replied without so much as opening her eyes. She talked! Mission accomplished! A wave of relief washed over Trixie, she had solved the problem by cunningly asking Rarity a question. Now things were back to normal. Curiously, the silence returned right away. Of course, that was only natural if nopony was speaking, but Trixie thought there was supposed to be a conversation happening now. “Trixie, uh, supposes we can thank Rainbow Dash for that now? She’s in charge of weather now you know.” “I know.” Again the conversation died. Over the next few minutes, Trixie made a few other, equally banal, attempts at striking up a conversation, with equally lousy results. Even though Rarity clearly wasn’t ignoring her, she also wasn’t making any effort to reply with anything more than necessary whenever Trixie addressed her. It was frustratingly clear that Rarity didn’t want to talk to her. She wasn’t quite giving her the silent treatment, but she might as well be. This would have suited Trixie just fine, if only it wasn’t apparently her job now to do something about it. Trixie would rather be argueing than this. That gave Trixie an idea. “Trixie saw some pony in a swamp green dress earlier today. It was so lovely, Trixie wonders why it’s not used more often.” “What? Who?” To Trixie’s delight, Rarity actually looked at her with interest this time, if only for a moment. “Wait, you didn’t actually see anypony, did you?” The corner Trixie’s mouth pulled up into a smug grin. “Trixie saw plenty of ponies. None of them were wearing such a dress though.” The confession earned an ireful glare from Rarity. “Are you going to ignore Trixie again?” “I wasn’t ignoring you.” “You were one to two words short of giving Trixie the silent treatment. Trixie says that’s close enough.” “If you thought that was bad I once went two weeks without saying a word to my mother.” “What did she do? Dye your mane green?” “Goodness no, she didn’t listen to me, so I thought I might as well not speak to her then.” “Wait, really? You ignored her because she disobeyed you?” “No no no. I never said that. I said she didn’t listen.” Rarity quickly corrected. “I had an eye for style at an early age, and my mother… less so. She would often ask my opinion, and naturally I was happy to advise her. Imagine my outrage when I discovered she would zone out almost as soon as I’d begun speaking!” “That witch.” Trixie deadpanned. “Is that why you were not speaking with Trixie too?” “In part.” “Trixie can’t help but notice you are speaking to her properly now.” Although Trixie wasn’t quite convinced it was an improvement, she did feel better. Perhaps that was because, in the corner of her eye, she could see Fluttershy’s smile. “Oh, I suppose I am.” Rarity with mock surprise. “But then, I can hardly accuse you of not listening anymore, can I? Not since you so hamfistedly tried to bait me with that awful, awful color.” Trixie smirked. “How do you know Trixie didn’t actually like it?” “Darling, I’d accuse you of a lot of things.” Rarity had that cookie monster look in her eyes again. “A. LOT. OF. THINGS. But your sense of fashion is one thing I actually like about you. Don’t try to ruin it.” “So it was simply too unbelievable that the Fashionable and Discerning Trixie would have poor taste? Trixie can live with that.” “Oh, now… I wouldn’t quite go that far.” Rarity said while exchanging a look with the two spa ponies in attendance. “As I understand it… you do favor Eau de Garbage Fire.” “Oh, har har.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Now Trixie knows you are lying. The only thing Trixie bought here was a wood&smoke fragrance.” She said triumphantly. Aloe coughed. Lotus Blossom carefully studied the label on a bottle. Fluttershy found a keen interest in the condensation on a nearby wall. Rarity just gave Trixie a long, meaningful look. A creeping sensation of something being very wrong crawled up Trixie’s shoulders. “What?” “Darling,” Rarity began hesitantly, “how do I put this delicately… Earlier, you said you wore this ‘fragrance’ on your date, yes?” “Of course! It’s a lovely scent!” Trixie said a little louder than she meant to. “And you prettied up, yes?” “You said before it is showing you care. Trixie cares, so of course she did.” She folded her forelegs across her chest. Rarity nodded. “Yes, very good, but… How did you say Rainbow Dash reacted again?” Trixie puffed up her chest. “She was stunned of course, and mentioned that Trixie looked wonderful. As any pony with eyes would.” Curiously, Rarity seemed to wait for her to go on. “And, uh, that she liked the effort Trixie put in?” She cautioned, feeling less confident. “Mhm,” Rarity looked uneasy, but spoke up. “So, anything missing?” “Well, she didn’t mention the perfume.” Trixie noticed a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Wait, you're not suggesting… That she left it out on purpose?” Rarity gave a half smile. “Well, Rainbow might not be the sharpest needle in the pincushion, but even she realizes on some level that telling one’s date ‘you smell weird’ is a faux pas.” A fire ignited in Trixie’s cheeks. She didn’t want to believe it, but maybe Dash really hadn’t liked it? “But, that’s nonsense! It’s the smell of the stage! The hard wooden planks, the fireworks! It’s perfect! Who wouldn’t like it?” “Trixie, darling, did you mean to smell like a stage show or a mare?” “Trixie doesn’t like your tone!” Trixie said with the serenity of a trodden upon cat. “And she is not about to take relationship advice from somepony who gets ignored by her own mother!” Exchanging hateful glares with Rarity, Trixie tried to remember why exactly she had gone through the trouble of getting the hag to speak to her again. Of course she should have expected Rarity was just going to use the privilege to embaress her somehow. “Very well, I’m sorry.” Rarity said suddenly. “What?” Trixie blinked. “I did not mean to upset you and I may have gone a little bit too far there. I was wrong. I’m sorry.” Rarity extended her hoof towards Trixie. “Friends?” As far as Trixie could tell, Rarity seemed sincere. It didn’t make a great deal of sense to Trixie, but she shook hooves anyway. “Uh, sure. Friends… Why are you being weird?” “I’ve never met anypony quite so… challenging to be around. Half the things you say just set my teeth on edge. However, Fluttershy tells me you don’t do it on purpose, so I’m trying to take that into account.” “Ah… Trixie, uh, sees? She supposes?” It was a strange sentiment, but apparently it bought her the benefit of the doubt. Still, Trixie couldn’t just let an accusation like that fly by. “But what has Trixie ever said to you?” “Really?! You—” Rarity paused and closed her eyes, slowly rubbing her temples for a moment before looking at Trixie again. She spoke calmly, “Every personal thing I’ve told you, you’ve used as ammunition in the short time we’ve spoken. You mocked my love life, you taunted me with my dislikes, and you even brought my mother into it.” Trixie blinked, dumbstruck. “...Uhhh, Oh. The, the, uh, the swamp green thing… that was just a joke.” Even as she said it, it struck Trixie just how feeble her excuses were. At the time, she had not given a second thought to the comments, but now she felt miserable. “Ah! But Trixie didn’t make fun of your overly expensive imported bottled soap.” “Or at least you hadn’t.” Rarity groaned, laying her foreleg across her eyes as though to block out the stupidity. “I would tell you to think before you speak, but what would be the point? We tell Rainbow Dash that and it never helps with her either. I suppose that means you deserve each other.” “Trixie can’t deny we make an excellent pair” She smirked for a moment, but then folded her ears back. “Look… Trixie is sorry.” Rarity froze, then slowly lifted up her hoof to look at Trixie with a look of bewilderment. As though she’d just seen a fish sing. “You. You are?” This wasn’t quite the reaction Trixie had expected. “What? Is something wrong?” Rarity snapped out of her daze and shook her head. “Ah, no. No. It’s just… I’ve never heard you say that without sarcasm before.” Her lips curled into a playful smile. “I wasn’t even sure if you were capable of apologizing for anything.” “Heh. The Great and Powerful Trixie’s talents are wide and varied.” Trixie waved her forelegs about in a failing gesture to look impressive while lying down.“But, don’t get used to it, a good magician won’t show her audience the same trick twice.” “I suppose that means any chance of getting you to apologize for ruining my mane is officially out the window then, mhm?” Rarity raised a single brow. “No,” Trixie flashed an innocent smile, “but Trixie can tell you she has no intention of doing so again.” Rarity released a mock sigh and shrugged her shoulders. “That will have to do I suppose.” “Well...” Trixie thoughtfully stroked her chin as she appeared deep in thought. “As an encore for her adoring audience, Trixie will divine one positive thing about you. How about that?” “Oh?” Rarity’s ears perked up and it was clear she was giving Trixie her full attention. “Do go on.” “Your telekinesis.” Trixie faked a cough to try and covered her mouth in an attempt to hide the shameful red of her cheeks. She still wasn’t quite over her defeat earlier. “It was very impressive. N-nothing compared to Trixie in her prime of course, but to be able to contend with the Great and Powerful Trixie at even a mere fraction of her magnificent power makes you a remarkable mage. How did you learn to do that?” “Would you believe a self defense class?” Rarity adopted what Trixie could only assume had to be some sort of martial arts fighting pose, but she suffered the same problem as Trixie and failed to make it look impressive while laying down. “While rescue via handsome prince is of course preferable, it is not always terribly expedient.” “You learned fine telekinesis control in a half hour class?” Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that.” Rarity waved it off. “I’ve been working with fabric since I was a filly, I suppose I just got a lot of practice. You should try wielding a sewing needle, a pair of scissors and three sheets of fabric at the same time… Not that I am suggesting I could do that from the start of course. I worked my way up to it.” Trixie’s eyes widened. “You’ll have to show Trixie that sometime.” “Why I’d be happy to. I’ve no doubt that you’ll be dropping by soon,” Rarity said with an air of mystery. “I have to say, you should perform this ‘routine’ more often. I’m sure there are more audiences who will adore it.” “What routine?” “You know. Conjure up an apology and divine something nice to say about somepony. I’m positive you will be a hit.” Whether that was a sincere comment or an insult Trixie couldn’t quite tell. Yet, if Rarity was making an effort to give Trixie the benefit of the doubt when she said something off color, perhaps Trixie could return the favor. On the other hoof, that could be exactly what the crafty unicorn wanted her to think. Ultimately, Trixie just smiled and nodded. “Trixie will keep that in mind. Before any of that though, Trixie feels she must ask… how did that thing end? With your mom?” “Ah, well…” Rarity looked surprised but she smiled at her. “We reconciled of course. My mother might not have understood a thing I said, but she still asked me because she wanted to spend time with me and it was all I would talk about at the time…Well, or now for that matter.” She blushed and cleared her throat. “Good.” Trixie smiled. There were few things she wouldn’t wish upon enemies, but everypony deserved a mother’s love. “Do you still do that?” “She visits.” Rarity said simply. “Say, could you do me a favor?” Although Trixie was a little apprehensive, she nodded. “Trixie is willing to entertain your request.” Rarity clapped her hooves together. “Excellent, excellent. You won’t regret it I’m sure. See, I actually may have checked a wrong box on a form at some point and ordered a vial of myrtille perfume. It’s not my kind of fragrance, but I feel like it would suit you perfectly. Would you be willing to take it off my hooves? If you don’t like it, just throw it out.” Trixie could feel the fire in her veins rekindle as prepared herself to react when Rarity tried to rag on her choice in cosmetics again. It took her a moment to realize that Rarity was waiting on an answer, without ever getting to that part. “Uhm. Well, when you put it that way… Trixie supposes she can do you this favor. As a friend.” Rarity held a look of refined satisfaction. “Wonderful, thank you, darling.”