Summer Sun, Dawning Chaos

by CTVulpin

Act I, Scene 5: Searches and Secrets

“Well, that was certainly exciting.” As Trixie’s crew closed up the wagon and the crowd dispersed to return to their work, Twilight, Pinkie, and Maggie Pie were approached by Rarity, who had a refined look of satisfaction on her face. “I’m not sure if I completely approve of Trixie’s methods, but I can’t fault her for standing up to that rude interruption. Pinkie, you were marvelous up there,” she added, smiling at the pink earth pony.

“Thanks Rarity,” Pinkie replied, “It was actually way more fun than I expected. First I was in the box and then… Oh, I probably shouldn’t tell; a magician never reveals her secrets!” She made a zipping motion across her mouth.

“It certainly was impressive,” Twilight said, “And that seapony they had… I’ll have to see if Trixie will be willing to talk about it once I’m done with everything. Speaking of which…” She looked at Rarity expectantly.

“The pavilion decorations are finished,” the white unicorn reported, “Thanks to all the volunteers I was able to recruit.” Her gaze slid over to Pinkie as she concluded, “It only needs Pinkie’s… personal touch and it will be the most fashionable party location in town. You are only going to add a few things, right Pinkie?”

“Mph mm,” Pinkie said with a nod, not opening her mouth. Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement as Pinkie passed her hoof in front of her mouth again and then said, “Check this out.” She stuck her face into her saddlebag and came out with a dark blue balloon in her mouth. She inflated it with a single breath and tied it off before holding out for inspection. “Ta da!” she exclaimed.

“I’ll probably regret this,” Maggie said, “but why does that balloon have a moon on it? This is the Summer Sun Celebration Pinkamena.”

“I know that, silly filly,” Pinkie giggled, starting to bounce the balloon on her head, “But the best part is staying up all night and holding parties until the Sun comes up. And since Princess Luna’s free of the moon and isn’t all dark and scary anymore, I think it’s time to start giving her a little thanks for doing her part.” She turned and started walking toward the pavilion, still bouncing the balloon expertly.

“For Pinkie logic, that made a lot of sense,” Twilight said, scratching her head, “Maybe I should try to work some official recognition of Princess Luna into the ceremony? Spike,” she looked around for a moment before remembering that the dragon wasn’t with her, “Er… I’ll go talk to the mayor about it.”

“Darling,” Rarity said, “You have more than enough to worry about without trying to squeeze in more last-minute changes. If Princess Luna wanted to be a part of the Celebration, I think you of all ponies would have been informed about it.”

“Yes,” Twilight said, relaxing a little, but then she tensed up and her irises started to shrink, “Oh, but what if they sent a letter after I let Spike go off?” She reared back to turn and run off, only to be grabbed by the head and pulled back down to earth by Rarity.

“Twilight Sparkle, listen to me,” the white unicorn said, “Everything is fine, our preparations are ahead of schedule, and most importantly there is no Princess coming to town this year. Now calm down and go back to checking things off your list like a good little event organizer.” She turned the lavender unicorn around and gave her a gentle push in the direction of the pavilion. Twilight trotted away, her posture growing more relaxed and natural with every step. “Another crisis averted,” Rarity said with pride and then looked over at Maggie. “I do apologize for taking so long to speak to you Margaret,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it Rarity,” the light-grey pony said, “When Pinkamena’s your sister, you learn to just go with the flow of conversation. To be honest, I’m surprised you remember who I am; it’s been a long time since we last met.”

“Of course I remember,” Rarity said, “I never forget a face, and you haven’t changed a bit. Tell me, how is your family? Did they not come with you?”

“Susan came,” Maggie answered, “but she’s off helping find a lost pony right now.”

“Dear heavens,” Rarity gasped, “Who’s gone missing?”

“A… unicorn stallion,” Maggie said, trying to remember, “I think he was from out of town, but Pinkamena knew him. His name matched his coloring pretty well… Ashen Blaze I think it was.”

“Ashen Blaze?” Rarity exclaimed, eyes widened to their fullest in surprise.

“You know him I take it?” Maggie asked.

“You could say that,” Rarity said coyly.

“Maggie!” Rarity and Maggie both jumped in fright when Pinkie Pie was suddenly next to them, with several dark, moon-emblazoned balloons tied to her tail. “If you’re done catching up with Rarity, I could use a hoof getting all these balloons in place. There’s still a lot of party spots to set up.”

“I must be going anyway,” Rarity said, averting her gaze, “Lots of… work to. Getting a head-start on displaying the summer designs. Nice to see you Maggie, have fun, bye.” She whirled around and walked away quickly but with proper decorum.

---

“Confound that Ashen Blaze,” Gale muttered darkly as she rested her head on the café table in front of her, “Where is he hiding?”

“Nowhere that we’ve looked obviously,” Susan Fidelity Pie said from across the table. She ignored the withering glance that Gale angled up at her and said, “He’ll turn up eventually, I’m sure. He can’t get very far, can he?”

“That’s part of the problem,” Gale said, “He has a couple of teleport spells. One of them is line of sight, so he can’t get too far with it normally. The other one, though, is based on established way-points and is virtually limitless. He could easily have slipped back to Canterlot if he wanted to, but for the life of me I can’t think of a reason why. He was actually excited to come here today, if only to showcase the stinim.”

“Excuse me madams.” The two ponies looked up to see a cream earth pony stallion with a slicked-back navy blue mane, a small mustache, and a white shirtfront collar standing by their table. “Have you made your decisions?” he asked.

“Um,” Gale said, glancing at the unopened menu in front of her, “I’ll have the house salad I guess, raspberry vinaigrette dressing if you have it.”

“Daffodil sandwich please,” Susan ordered. As the waiter nodded and left, the purplish-grey pony turned her attention back to Gale and said, “I’m not sure that I understand why you’re worried. Ash is a full-grown stallion who can take care of himself, and if I understand what you’ve told me, you consider him the leader of your group.”

“That’s mostly because Ash can’t help but be a leader,” Gale said, “It was fine when Soul Mage, Gold Heart, and I had just started working with him and he had all the experience, but it’s been several years and numerous dimensional hops since those days. Ash respects our opinions and all, but sometimes we have to literally beat some sense into him.” She sighed and put her head back on the table. “To honest,” she said, “I’m scared for him. This isn’t our world and I’m not sure if he’s ever going to fully adjust.”

“A-ha! I should have known.” Gale looked up to see Rarity approaching the table, looking like she’d just uncovered a great secret. “Good day Gale, Susan,” she said sweetly as she took a seat at the table between the earth pony mares, “I take it the search for Ashen Blaze has not borne fruit yet?”

“You’ve heard about that?” Gale asked in surprise, “I know word tends to spread fast in small towns, but I’ve been getting the feeling that the Summer Sun Celebration’s gummed up the rumor mill for the day.”

“I just came from speaking with Pinkie and Maggie,” Rarity explained, “And watching that surprisingly entertaining act of Trixie’s of course.”

“Trixie?” Gale asked, “As in the Great and Powerful Trixie, braggart and arrogant bully extraordinaire? She’s back in town?” Rarity’s reply was interrupted by the arrival of lunch, and the waiter gave the white unicorn an expectant look after setting the plates out.

“Some tea and a spinach salad if you please,” Rarity said to him.

“Very well,” the waiter said primly and walked away.

“Trixie is not quite the same pony she used to be,” Rarity said, returning to the topic at hand, “She seems to have a more realistic idea of her own abilities and the confidence to let them speak for themselves rather than inventing stories to pad her ego.”

“That doesn’t sound at all like the crazy pony who tried using the Emerald to get petty vengeance,” Gale said, “although, I think I remember Heart mentioning something about Trixie having a successful show in Manehatten during that week with the screwy stars…”

“Yes, she was performing there for a while,” Rarity said, “but it seems she’s gone back on the road and picked up a few other ponies to share the stage with.”

“Huh,” Gale said, sounding impressed, but then sighed and transitioned to melancholy, “Glad to hear that somepony’s doing better in life.”

“How- Oh, thank you,” Rarity cut herself off as her food and tea arrived and then turned her attention back to Gale, “How has Ash been faring lately?”

“I’m not sure,” the earth pony said, “I’ve been seeing less and less of him over the last few months. Without any big disasters or monsters to fight, he’s been withdrawing into his studies and guarding Discord. When I barely had to press to convince him to come here today, I thought he’d finally made a change for the better.” She chomped down on some her salad and chewed it slowly. “And then,” she said after swallowing, “then he disappears without a trace!”

“You poor dear,” Rarity said, looking Gale over, “You shouldn’t have to be so stressed at this time of year. I insist on helping with your search.”

“Oh no Rarity,” Gale said, “I’m already imposing on Susan here. I can’t go dragging every pony I meet into this search. You probably have a lot to do to prepare-” She stopped as Rarity held up a hoof and smiled.

“My task for the day is done,” the white unicorn said, “and I assume he has his necklace?”

“As always,” Gale said with a nod.

“I can keep an eye and a spell out for him,” Rarity said, “If we each go our separate ways, we can cover more ground and track our errant unicorn friend down much faster.”

“Thanks Rarity,” Gale said, “If you find him, drag him to your boutique.” She finished her salad and started to reach for her saddlebags to pay, only for Rarity to wave her off and place some bits of her own on the table. “You’re doing more than enough,” Gale protested.

“I insist,” the unicorn said, “and may I recommend a trip to the spa once this matter is resolved?”

“If I take you up on that, I’m paying for it,” the brown earth pony said firmly, but with a grateful smile on her face. She stood up and looked at Susan, asking, “You ready to go?”

“I believe so,” the Pie sister said, pushing her plate away and standing up, “We haven’t tried down by the farms yet.” Gale nodded and the two mares trotted away, leaving Rarity to finish her lunch.

---

The sun was a good distance beyond its zenith when Twilight Sparkle found time for a break. Between Pinkie Pie’s boundless enthusiasm and Rarity’s skillful use of charm to gather the greater part of Ponyville’s idle population into a decorating committee, the basic preparations for the Celebration were well ahead of schedule. With nothing left on her schedule besides getting on Rainbow Dash’s case about the clouds in a few hours, doing the last-minute triple-check checklist just before sundown, and stopping by to visit Applejack before going to the “surprise” party at the library, Twilight decided to locate Trixie and see how the showmare was doing. The fact that she was bursting with curiosity about Mar the Seapony was also a big motivator, if she had to be honest with herself. Like any pony, she’d been fascinated as a young filly by the legends of the half-pony, half-fish creatures that were supposed to live in kingdoms under the ocean. She was skeptical of the legitimacy of this particular seapony, but between Nightmare Moon, Discord, Pinkie Sense, and the minor disaster magnets that were the Order-naries, Twilight had learned that skepticism was best applied with an open mind.

She found the stage-wagon on the outskirts of town near Whitetail Wood, completely closed up and parked in the shade of an old oak tree. Trixie, Harlequin, and Tremolo were standing a short distance away, looking like they were about to come to blows with one another while Barnacle stood next to the wagon with one wing wrapped protectively around a sea-green earth pony mare with a blue mane and tail who looked vaguely familiar to Twilight. She was too far away to make out the words of the conversation, but she could tell by the body language and the sparks forming on the end of Tremolo’s horn that things had long since reached the point where an interruption was needed before somepony got hurt. “Hey everypony!” she called out in affected cheerfulness, waving a hoof at the performers. She trotted over to the wagon once they all turned to look at her.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie called back as the lavender unicorn approached, “Trixie must speak with you and-” she cut off as the sea-green mare suddenly bolted from under Barnacle’s wing and ran into the wagon, slamming the door behind her. Trixie sighed and shook her head sadly. “My apologies,” she said, “The poor filly has the most horrible stage fright Trixie has ever seen.”

“Reminds me of Fluttershy when I first met her,” Twilight said, “Who is she anyways? She looks familiar.”

“She should,” Tremolo said, “That was none other than these hustlers’s counterfeit seapony!”

“Really,” Twilight said, quirking an eyebrow and looking to Trixie for confirmation. The showmare hesitated, and then gave Tremolo a sideways glare and nodded. “Well, I’m impressed,” the lavender unicorn declared, “her costume was flawless and it looked like she was actually floating in water inside that tank.”

“The water’s quite real,” Barnacle said, “Did ya notice the necklace she was wearin’?” Twilight nodded, looking curious. “That’s a charm I came into possession of many years ago,” the pegasus explained, “It lets a pony breathe underwater for a few hours at a go. Saved my life a couple times when I got shipwrecked.”

“And now you use it to scam ponies,” Tremolo said accusingly. Trixie and Barnacle both opened their mouths to retort, but the crimson unicorn held up a hoof and then turned to leave. “I should have taken my leave of you already,” he said, “so I’ll rectify that now. Adieu until the next time.”

“Oh no you don’t you pedantic troublemaker,” Harlequin said, pouncing and pinning Tremolo to the ground, “It pains my pride to say it, but we need you if we’re gonna have a show tomorrow.”

“Let him go Quin,” Trixie said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, “We would have better luck vanquishing an Ursa in single combat than convincing him to assist the Great and Powerful Trixie in anything.”

“No can do Trixie,” the mustard-yellow earth pony said, getting Tremolo in a headlock and preventing him from getting his balance, “I’d rather put up with this nuisance for another day than travel for a week with an empty larder.”

“That so?” Tremolo grunted, his voice dripping with unmistakable sarcasm, “Well, I’m… moved. Your passionate plea and this lovely closeness have caused me to see the errors of my way!” His horn lit up and knocked Harlequin’s rear legs out from under him, causing booth stallions to collapse into a heap, but the acrobatic clown managed to keep his grip as the two struggled for dominance.

“Ok, that’s enough,” Twilight said, throwing her own magic into the fray to try and separate the pair. She eventually settled for teleporting Tremolo out of Harelquin’s grasp to a point a foot or so above the ground and then holding the unicorn there in her magic. “Why can’t you be nice to each other?”

“Honestly Twilight,” Trixie said, rolling her eyes, “Is it your life’s mission to try and establish friendship between every pony in Equestria?”

“I want you to have a fair chance to succeed Trixie,” Twilight said, setting Tremolo on the ground and switching to a less strenuous holding spell to keep him from leaving, “I’ll talk to Lyra about letting you perform without Tremolo tomorrow, provided he gives me a good reason why he can’t put aside whatever grudge he’s holding.” She fixed Tremolo with a determined, expectant stare, waiting for him to speak.

“I don’t see why I should bother,” the crimson unicorn said after a moment of silence, “You are clearly on her side, and I will not be party to any plan that allows her chicanery to continue.”

“Way I see it,” Harlequin said, “he’s a pony that Trixie humiliated once and could never let it go.”

“So why wait until now to start chasing her?” Twilight wondered aloud, “Where was he when Trixie made her first appearance in Ponyville?”

“I had nothing,” Tremolo muttered, “It would have been her confident boasting against my humiliation at her hooves. I was ecstatic when I heard the rumors that her lies had finally been exposed, but then…” He glared at the azure unicorn mare. “You recovered,” he said, seething in anger, “after all you did, the falsehoods you told, you should’ve been left on the streets to beg. It’s not fair!”

“I… see,” Twilight said, becoming a bit disturbed. She sidled over to Trixie and said in a low tone, “We need to talk, in private.”

“Very well,” the showmare replied after a moment of trying to read Twilight’s expression. She led Twilight over to the wagon and knocked on the door. “Cabbage,” she said, “It’s Trixie. I’m coming in with a friend, ok?”

“I said private Trixie,” Twilight said.

“Cabbage won’t say anything,” Trixie said reassuringly, and then became slightly irritated when she heard a lock sliding into place behind the door, “She can barely stand to be around anypony she doesn’t know anyway. It took me two weeks to get her to say more than two words to me or Harlequin.” She gave Twilight a sweet smile as her horn lit up and she cast a spell to undo the lock and open the door. “Perhaps your vaunted expertise can help her come out of her shell?” she suggested demurely.

“Fluttershy might be more helpful there,” Twilight said as she followed Trixie up the steps and into the wagon. She looked around as Trixie closed the door behind them and almost didn’t see the sea-green mare, who was trying to hide under a basket of ribbons and cloth scraps. “Hello,” she said, giving the pony her most friendly smile, “I’m Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you.” Cabbage simply stared at the lavender unicorn and gave out a tiny squeak that put Fluttershy’s most terrified utterance to shame. “So,” Twilight said, trying awkwardly to break the ice while Trixie fetched some cushions to sit on, “I was really impressed with your… performance earlier. Have you been doing it long?” Cabbage shifted uncomfortably under her cloth and wicker shell, opened her mouth with some difficulty, and finally just dropped her gaze and hugged some ribbons to her.

“Barnacle’s version of events is that he found her as a homeless orphan,” Trixie said, gesturing for Twilight to sit, “He took pity on her and earned her trust by buying her a meal with his own meager funds. By giving her the underwater breathing charm and dressing her up as a seapony, he was able to attract more listeners to his storytellings, and they were making enough to live on when the Great and Powerful Trixie came upon them.” The showmare chuckled for a bit and then continued, “He and I got into a contest of tall tales in which I was soundly beaten. As the price of losing, I had to buy the both of them dinner, by the end of which Barnacle had expressed a desire to take his show on the road since the locals had heard most of his stories and I offered to take him and Cabbage with me when I left. We met Harlequin in the next town and…” She trailed off and shook her head. “But never mind the rest,” she said, “You had something to tell me?”

“Something to ask actually,” Twilight said, “What exactly did you do to Tremolo? I haven’t seen anypony get that obsessed over being shown up, not even when Rainbow Dash got a swelled head about being a hero.”

“Trixie made fools out of many ponies before Ponyville,” Trixie said, “What I did with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity will stick in my mind forever because of what happened later, but the vast majority of the others just blur together.” She paused and thought for a few minutes. “I think I remember a red pony with a music-related talent,” she said at last, “but I don’t know what exactly he did or how I threw it back in his face… It was just another successful performance for the Great and Powerful Trixie. And to be frank, while I’ve encountered many who are still angry at me, Tremolo’s the only pony to chase me down for vengeance, and he’s annoyingly good at showing up when he can cause the most damage.”

“Ok then,” Twilight said, standing up, “I think I know how to resolve this.”

“What-” Trixie started to asked, only for Twilight to shush her.

“Just play along,” Twilight said, and then opened the wagon door and hopped out. She saw Barnacle reared up between Harlequin and Tremolo, using his front legs to keep the other two stallions out of each other’s reach. “Ok,” Twilight announced, getting their attention, “As the head coordinator for the entire Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, I declare that the show will go on tomorrow whether or not Tremolo agrees to take part. So either start getting along or… run off,” she finished with a smirk as Tremolo did exactly that, disappearing into the forest.

“Thank you for that ma’am,” Barnacle said, dropping back onto all fours.

“If it was that easy,” Harlequin said darkly, “why didn’t you just overrule that Lyra pony’s choice earlier?”

“Because I couldn’t,” Twilight answered. The performers all gave her an odd look. “All Lyra wants is something similar to the battle of wits you had with Tremolo earlier,” Twilight explained, “and he’s determined to mess up your show, right?” They nodded in answer. “Just perform like you normally would and stay ready for him to pop up,” Twilight said in conclusion.

“And if he realizes that we’re counting on him showing up and doesn’t?” Trixie asked, her head leaning out of the wagon.

“You’ll have put on an uninterrupted show,” Twilight answered confidently, “Lyra won’t be able to stop you once you’ve started, I’ll make sure of that.”

“You’re too kind Twilight, you really are,” Trixie said.

Comments

[UseFistNotMouth]

And finally we get to the awesome in progress series. Can't wait for the continuation.
One of the more realistic and balanced portrayals of Trixie throughout this series.

[Appleloosa2011]

Epic!