The Cold Streets of Baltimare

by DemonBrightSpirit

Dilemma

The door behind me burst open as my friends rushed in. Trixie recoiled, cowering into the far corner as she tugged on her hood, trying her best to keep her face hidden. My anger evaporated at the sight of her, cowering like a frightened little filly.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying above me. “Everything okay?”

The girls gathered around me, and I don’t think I could’ve felt worse. It was almost as if we were all ganging up on her. “N-no. It’s fine,” I managed to mutter, rubbing my cheek. Scrambling to salvage the situation, I walked next to Trixie, motioning towards her as I turned to face my friends. “I just… wanted you girls to meet my friend. This is the mare that helped me back in Baltimare.”

Trixie shoved me away. Keeping a hoof on her hood, she pushed her way past my friends and out of the closet. I chased after her, barely managing to wrap my magic around the door, keeping her inside. Whipping around, she backed into the door, scanning the room back and forth. I watched her fixate on the large bay window, and quickly decided that having her jump through my window was far from what anypony wanted.

Spying my saddlebags by the door, I flipped them open, grabbing my bag of bits from the bank. I floated them in front of Trixie, successfully getting her to hesitate. “I owe you this much, at least.”

She swatted it away, sending bits sprawling across the floor. Before I could say anything, Rainbow Dash flew up. “Hey! What’s your problem?”

Trixie turned, galloping towards the window. As she did, her hood flew up, not that it mattered with her back to me and my friends. But then a familiar popping sound echoed from behind me. I gasped as a big, purple ball of magic formed in front of Trixie. It dissipated to reveal Twilight standing in Trixie’s way.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Trixie?”

Trixie backpedalled away from Twilight, turning to face the rest of us. Her mouth agape, she looked at me with wide eyes. I could feel the fear and betrayal in her through that look. “T-Trixie…”

A yellow blur shoved by me and rushed out the door, but to my surprise, Trixie didn’t take the opportunity to flee with Fluttershy. She just hung her head and stood there. “Go on,” she said, the effort in her voice to keep a steady tone painfully apparent. “I deserve it.”

“What’re you doing back in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash demanded, flying over to confront her face-to-face.

In a flash, Pinkie joined her and Twilight. “Yeah! Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time?”

“Girls!” Twilight harshly said before taking a step toward Trixie. “Don’t listen to them. I’m actually glad you came back.”

“What!” a collective voice sounded.

Twilight just smiled as Trixie looked up at her. “You left in a hurry the last time we met, and we never really got a chance to… well, to make amends.”

“Amends?” Applejack stepped forward, pointing a hoof at Trixie. “Why the hay are you makin’ it sound like we owe her an apology. Did yah forget how she showed up and threw yah outta town and took over?”

“Hey!” I stamped a hoof. “That wasn’t Trixie’s fault.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in. “You’re thinking of a totally different pony that enslaved the whole town and made us completely and totally miserable. Oh, no. Wait. It was totally her!” A pink hoof was thrusted at Trixie.

“Girls!” Twilight shouted. “Look at her.”

The shouting came to a dead stop as everypony finally took in more than the fact that Trixie was standing there. Her head still hung low, and her ears were flattened against her skull. More than that, she was trembling so terribly that it was painfully obvious, even under her cloak. The poor thing looked positively terrified.

One by one, my friends quickly deflated, the reality of the situation sinking in. Even Rainbow Dash flew down to the floor, quite abashed.

Pinkie rubbed her neck. “Sooo, you’re not here to cause a bunch of trouble?” Turning to me, she held up a hoof to direct her whisper toward me. “Bad news on the whole villain coming to cause problems front.”

I paid her little mind. “Trixie,” I said, stepping forward, “I-I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have—”

“Stop taunting me!” Trixie shouted, though she didn’t so much as raise her head. “Just… just get it over with.”

Twilight scratched her head, looking to me for answers. In turn, I gave my head a little shake. I certainly couldn’t explain this whole situation in a few sentences, and I sure as hay wasn’t about to get into another argument with my friends when Trixie… I needed to do something drastic to diffuse the situation.

That’s when it struck me. I couldn’t help but to smile a bit as I moved next to Trixie. “If you insist, darling.” Leaning in, I wrapped my hooves around Trixie and pulled her into a hug. Trixie’s trembling reverberated through me, and in turn, it lessened.

Thankfully, Twilight has always been exceedingly quick. Joining me, she too hugged Trixie. That triggered an exaggerated gasp, and some small part of me wished I could let go to cover my ears.

“Group hug!” Pinkie shouted, nearly bowling us over in her enthusiasm.

Even Rainbow Dash and Applejack joined in. Of course, the group hug didn’t last long before Trixie pulled away from us, her flank hitting the wall. “J-just what do you think you’re doing?” Trixie stammered out, finally looking up.

“What?” Pinkie asked, holding up a hoof. “You’ve never been part of a group hug before?”

“Well…” Trixie hesitated, her eyes darting back and forth, “no.”

“Oh my gosh! That’s so sad.” Pinkie, nearly crying, hugged Trixie again. “This mare needs more hugs. Stat!”

Trixie strained to pull away, but she couldn’t escape the vice-like grip of an enthusiastic Pinkie Pie. It fell upon Applejack to rescue Trixie. “Come on now, sugarcube,” she said, prying Pinkie away. “I think we need to have some words with this one.”

And, just like that, the tension returned. Instead of focusing on Applejack or Twilight, Trixie’s glare fell squarely on me. “Why are you doing this!” Her voice cracked as she shouted at me. “Just get it over with already!”

Twilight stepped forward, meeting Trixie’s desperation with a calm, yet firm, reply, “Get what over with? What’s got you so riled up?”

“Aren’t you going to run me out of town? Or throw me in a dungeon? Exact your revenge with your own hooves?” Trixie shook her head, sending a few stray tears crashing to the floor.

Everypony’s eyes slowly turned to me. Sighing, I moved next to Trixie, putting a hoof over her shoulders. She flinched at first, but then she stiffened up. “I told you before, nopony here would even dream of doing something so drastic.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said, idly kicking at the floor. “I’d, uh, I’d just settle for an apology.”

Pinkie openly sobbed, even though Trixie had already regained her composure. “An apology?” Pinkie jumped over, using both of her hooves to smoosh Trixie’s face. “Just look at this face. Isn’t that enough?”

Trixie shoved Pinkie away again, swiping at her shoulder. “Quit your blubbering. You’re getting snot on my cloak.”

“I reckon I can let it pass,” Applejack muttered.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing a hoof at Trixie, “but what makes you think we’d do all that stuff to you? We’re not you, you know.”

A purple leg impacted Dash’s ribs. Twilight glared at Dash. “That was the Alicorn amulet’s fault.”

Rubbing her ribs, Dash scoffed. “Whatever.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “However,” Twilight said with a sigh, “RD does bring up a good point. Why would you even think that we might do those horrible things?”

“Everypony else has,” Trixie bluntly replied, her head drifting to the side as her ears drooped down.

“What? Why?” Twilight asked, taking a step closer to Trixie. She reached a hoof under Trixie’s chin, guiding Trixie’s gaze back to her.

Trixie glared at Twilight. “Because of you.”

Recoiling, Twilight pressed a hoof to her own chest. “Because of me?”

“Word spread far and wide, and time only made it worse,” Trixie said, her eyes never leaving Twilight. “Trixie assaulted Princess Twilight. Trixie tried to steal Princess Twilight’s crown. Trixie attempted to overthrow Equestria by taking over Ponyville and ousting Princess Twilight!”

“Wh-what?” Twilight shook her head. “None of that happened. I wasn’t even a princess back then.”

Scoffing, Trixie hung her head. “Like that ever mattered.”

“You should have come back here sooner,” Twilight said. “I could’ve set things right. I could’ve—”

Trixie stomped a hoof. “I don’t need your help!”

Twilight’s eyes darted side-to-side before fixing on me. I could almost hear her begging me for help, but I just couldn’t think of what to say or do. Trixie did need her help. But I couldn’t fathom why she would refuse Twilight’s help. She’d accepted most everything I’ve done to try to help her.

Was it possible that Trixie actually trusted me, even just a little?

I glanced back at Trixie, and seeing her stern expression drove away that little thought. That only left open the possibility that Trixie bore a hostility against Twilight Sparkle. I suspected that Trixie’s pride may begrudge Twilight’s princesshood, but after that rant, I was left to wonder if Trixie blamed Twilight for all of her hardship. Either way, the biggest obstacle just so happened to be Twilight.

In fact, the very thing making this situation so tense was the fact that everypony crowded around Trixie. Anypony would feel trapped like that. Even if everypony already professed their intentions, Trixie must’ve been unnerved by the whole situation.

Stepping over, I threw a hoof around Twilight’s shoulders and spun her away from Trixie. “Maybe it might be nice for us to just… enjoy the party,” I said, pointing to the banner reading “Welcome Home Rarity!”

“But… Trixie.” Twilight pointed over her shoulder as she tried to turn back to Trixie.

“Ah! What a wonderful idea!” I said, steering Twilight away from Trixie. “I may be just returning, but this will be Trixie’s first proper visit to Ponyville. Why don’t we let her have this party? We could all mingle and get to know one another.”

“Brilliant!” Pinkie exclaimed. In a flash, she removed my banner, replacing it with one that simply read: “Welcome Trixie!” How Pinkie Pie obtained such a banner in the span of a couple of seconds baffled me, but I tried not to fixate on it.

Pulling Twilight close to me, I whispered to her, “We’re not going to get anywhere with Trixie like this. Perhaps it would be best for all of us to try to just get to know her first. You know, one-on-one. I don’t think she’ll open up otherwise.”

Nodding, Twilight pulled away. Together we did our best to wordlessly pass on the sentiment to the rest of the girls. Once we got that across, I spoke up, “Now, I can’t be attending a party without an attire that is positively stunning.” I turned directly to Trixie on my way to the stairs. “Trixie, be a dear, and make sure everything goes smoothly while I get changed.”

Trixie gave me a puzzled stare as she pointed a hoof at herself.

I started to trot up the stairs, confident that, while Trixie may not be a social butterfly, she wouldn’t so easily back down from a challenge. “Come now, aren’t you a professional entertainer?”

Author's Note:

This is like half of the original chapter. I thought I had the whole thing, but I guess I never wrote a proper ending. I'll get to that... at some point. Probably.

Comments

[RTStephens]

Phew! This stopped just as it was getting to the juicy points. I had all manner of scenarios go through my head as to what was going to happen in this chapter. Half of them were partially right and Rarity's little stunt at the end just makes me want to know what happens next even more.

Nice job!

[HaloEssence111]

Congrats for getting featured!

4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vad4fQcYms0/Vr9vFRVqT7I/AAAAAAAACu0/KXan5-bb07M/s320/mlp%2Bscreenshot%2B2.png

[Dustchu]

Whoooo, awesome chapter well done, well done :D hehehe eue

[Penjacker]

Good read so far but I find it hard to imagine that the kind of hotel at which Rarity would stay wouldn't get its customers places elsewhere if there was a moth infestation that forced everyone out.

[Emperor]

Took some time for an update but good to see Rarity deftly defuse the dynamic situation.

[Texus]

Okay it nearly feels a bit to fast, as if Rarity would sometimes act so porly to make the story move foward.