Major Problems

by asmariamoon

Chapter 3: Admiring the Twilight

Major Problems

By Asmaria Moon

Chapter 3

Admiring the Twilight

Trixie's thoughts raced as she awaited Twilight's decision about her apology. Here was the mare whose opinion mattered most to her, and why not? Twilight had proven herself to be powerful during the Ursa attack. True, her power was raw, unaccompanied by much experience or determination, but power was still power, and Twilight wielded it responsibly, at least, from what Trixie had seen. And power was something that Trixie greatly admired.

As Twilight spoke again, Trixie's ears unconsciously focused on her voice. "Now, Trixie, I understand that my friends insulted you first, but when you say such mean things, you're not giving us much evidence that your apology is sincere and that you've learned your lesson about boasting." Twilight said, and Trixie's ears flattened against her head "However..." Twilight started again, "This is not a trial, it's you asking to be forgiven, and I think that you truly mean your apology, so I forgive you, Trixie."

Trixie's eyes went wide with shock as most of the crowd nodded their heads and muttered in agreement. After a few seconds of reluctance, Twilight's three neighsaying friends slowly nodded as well. "T-Trixie thanks you all for accepting her apology, and to show that she has indeed learned her lesson, she will stay in this ba... ermmmm... this beautiful village, and help out in any way she can. That is, if there is room for Trixie." Trixie said, barely catching herself before she called Ponyville a backwater town.

A tan earth pony with a gray mane and tail who wore reading glasses and a white collar with a sort of green cravat stepped forward. "Of course there's room for you, Trixie. As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my honor to officially welcome you to our little village." the mare said.

"Trixie thanks you, Mayor, for your warm welcome, and hopes that she can be of service to the town." Trixie said,

"Oh, absolutely, Trixie. Ponyville is in dire need of some magical entertainment. Now if you'll just follow me to Town Hall, we'll get you set up with a home." the Mayor said.

---

Trixie stood outside her new home, which apparently belonged to a unicorn couple before they recently moved to Canterlot. Suddenly, she noticed a plain brown package with no return address on it sitting on the doorstep. The package was stamped with a series of seven seemingly randomly-placed circles. But perhaps the strangest part of the package was the fact that it was addressed to her, and the address matched that of her new home.

Trixie picked the package up with her telekinesis, and inspected it closer. It seemed like your regular run-of-the-mill brown box, taped shut with clear packing tape, and with an address label on the top and the aforementioned seven circle pattern stamped next to the label. Trixie scrunched her eyes up in concentration and shook the box up and down slightly using her magic. All that could be heard from inside was the rustling of cloth. Trixie put the box on her back and opened the door to her new home with her magic, trotting inside and closing the door behind her.

The Mayor had said that she would provide basic necessities for Trixie's home until Trixie earned enough bits to pay for her own items, which was good, because everything she had was destroyed when the Ursa Minor had wrecked her stage, and without her cloak and hat, she just didn't make enough of an impression on towns she'd never visited to make more than a few dozen bits, just enough to get enough food and drink to last her until the next town. Trixie trotted into her kitchen, and after a while of searching through drawers and finding nothing more than spatulas and silverware, she finally noticed the knife block sitting on the counter, with multiple knife handles poking out of it. Trixie scolded herself for not finding it sooner and took the smallest knife in her telekinesis, walking into the dining room and shifting the box from her back to the table. She began carefully cutting the tape holding the box closed, and soon enough, she had the box open. Resting on some very familiar purple fabric was a letter, and Trixie seized it immediately in her telekinesis, hoping to unravel the mystery of who the sender of this package was.

Dear Great and Powerful Trixie,

I am sorry for not returning these to you during the apology you gave today, but I didn't think to bring them, because I didn't know what to expect. I hope that you find them useful in your new job as Ponyville's magical entertainer.

Sincerely,

A fan.

Trixie frowned as the letter failed to reveal the mystery of the sender. The only two fans of hers that she could think of were those two little colts... what were their names? Scissors and Slugs? Trixie didn't think that was quite right, but what did it matter? The point was, they had been absent from her apology today. She had made sure of it, by begging and pleading with Pinkie not to invite them. She didn't want anything more to do with those two, lest she accidentally inspire them to bring some other unspeakable horror to town. So, with them absent from the speech, the question remained of just who was this fan who sent the package in front of her. Perhaps the answer was deducible once she had checked what else was inside?

Trixie floated the contents of the package slowly out. The weight of it felt very familiar, as if she had once lifted these objects every day. Once they were over the top of the box, she could see that they were in fact made of purple cloth, which had a horribly familiar star pattern on it. Wait... these weren't...

Trixie's magic faltered and the items fell back into the box as realization hit Trixie with full force. She concentrated and lifted them free of the box, floating the items in front of her. She had been certain that they had been destroyed along with her stage, but here they were in front of her, fully intact. Trixie smiled broader than she had for months as she put on her cloak and hat for the first time in what felt like forever. Somehow, she felt more complete now, more herself, more Great and Powerful as she fastened the blue gemstone-shaped clasp on her cloak. She ran her magic over the collar to make sure it was straight, and inhaled deeply before standing on her hind hooves and declaring loudly, "Now the Great and Powerful Trixie has truly made her return!" Trixie slowly lowered herself back to all fours, a frown spreading across her face. She still didn't have her stage, or her trademark fireworks. All she had was her outfit, and whatever she had left tucked inside it that night. She began to search the various pockets of her cloak, and came up with a bouquet of flowers, which had long since withered, and a deck of cards.

Trixie's frown slowly disappeared again, replaced by the same broad smile. She didn't need her stage for card tricks. In fact, it only got in the way with most of them, as it required one of two things. Either Trixie would have to let somepony else climb up on her stage, which was something she hated every time she was forced to do that, as the stage put her literally above everypony else, and to have somepony she didn't even know be at the same level as her was almost unbearable; or she would have to lower herself to the level of the audience, which, again, was something she hated to do. But she would do the latter for an entire show if it meant that she could get enough bits to pay for a new stage. Maybe she could find one with a fireworks display as impressive as her old one.

Trixie took the cards out of their package with her magic, and began shuffling them idly as she thought Perhaps she should do that trick, the first one her mother had taught her. Trixie flourished the cards through the air in front of her with her magic, and caught them on the other side, and flourished them back to the side where they began. The trick she was thinking of was a simple one, but it was effective, even if the audience caught on to how it was done. She practiced it a few times, floating random cards out of the deck with their backs facing her, and correctly identifying which cards they were. It had been forever since she'd used this deck, but she still remembered how to use it.

---

As Trixie lay on the grass outside her home, she watched the last part of Celestia's sun set behind the Everfree Forest. The slowly-darkening sky was filled with purples and pinks once more. It was amazing how much she'd accomplished in just twenty-four hours. She had made a new friend in Pinkie Pie, apologized to the entire town, found a home and a job in Ponyville, and even got her cloak and hat back. Sadly, she still had no clue who had returned her cloak and hat to her. Once again, she let her mind wander as she gazed west at the twilight. In fact, Trixie let it wander so much that she didn't notice when a certain yellow pegasus with pink hair and a cutie mark of three butterflies landed next to her.

"Umm... Trixie... I hope I'm not interrupting anything." the pegasus said, finally speaking up after almost a minute of silence. Trixie was torn from her thoughts almost violently, even though the yellow mare had been trying to avoid that. "Oh... dear... it seems I am... I'll just... go... that is, if you want." she said.

"No... you don't need to go. Trixie is sorry, she was just lost in her thoughts. Trixie doesn't think she's met you, at least not properly. She is the Great and Powerful Trixie, but most just call her Trixie." Trixie said.

"Oh, I'm... ummm... Fluttershy." the pegasus said, so quiet that Trixie barely caught the tail end of what she said.

"There is no need to be shy around Trixie. She will not hurt you, she promises." Trixie said, misunderstanding the quiet pegasus.

"No... I said... I'm Fluttershy." Fluttershy said, a little louder this time, so that Trixie could actually hear her.

"Oh, Trixie sees. Well, it is nice to meet you, Fluttershy. Did you need something from Trixie?" Trixie asked.

"Oh. I... ummm... wanted to thank you for apologizing for what you said to my friends earlier. You didn't have to listen to me, but you did." Fluttershy said.

"You're welcome. Trixie is sorry for causing such a scene, her stage persona sort of took over when she was confronted by Dash." Trixie said, looking away in embarrassment. Fluttershy fell silent, so Trixie changed the subject. "Would you like to see the trick Trixie has prepared for tomorrow's show?" she asked, pulling out her deck of cards with her magic.

"Oh, yes, that would be wonderful!" Fluttershy said, watching Trixie intently.

"Sadly, this deck of cards is the only prop Trixie has left, so her trick selection is limited to card tricks and her unicorn magic." Trixie said as she flourished the cards from side to side in front of her again. Fluttershy's eyes went wide over just how much control Trixie's telekinesis had so that each card landed perfectly in line with the others. Trixie flipped half of the deck away from the rest, spinning it around so that Fluttershy could see the bottom card of the cut, then flipping half of this cut away as well, so she now had three parts of the deck, one that held half of the deck, and two that each held a quarter. She took the quarter holding the bottom card that Fluttershy had seen, and flipped it over twice so that it landed face down on the other quarter of the deck. She then took the bottom half of the deck and flipped it in the same way so that it landed on the top of the other half. All this was just a little show leading up to the main trick. She spread the cards out with her magic, and finally spoke. "The Great and Powerful Trixie requests that you pick a card." she said, pointing to the spread with her glowing horn. Fluttershy placed her hoof on one of the cards, and it floated out in front of her, face towards her and away from Trixie. "Please tell Trixie when you have memorized your card." Trixie said.

""Okay. I've memorized it." Fluttershy said, and Trixie floated the card back into the spread. She collected the cards with her magic, did another spring flourish, using her magic to float Fluttershy's card out of the rest of the deck for a second before sliding it back in and letting it fall with the other cards, where her magic caught the deck. She then cut the deck and shuffled it with her magic, forming a bridge to make the cards fall neatly into place again. Then she shuffled the deck a few more times, and did another cut into halves and quarters like she had done before. Trixie did another flourish back to her right side, and floated a single card out with her magic.

"Is this your card?" she asked, holding out the seven of spades to face Fluttershy.

"Yes, it is!" Fluttershy exclaimed, astonished that Trixie had picked her card out of the deck. "That's quite a trick, Trixie." she said.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you for being so attentive and enthusiastic, Fluttershy. Can you keep a secret?" Trixie asked.

"Well... I've had bad experiences with secrets, but as long as it has nothing to do with Twilight and the others, I guess I can." Fluttershy said.

"Well... Trixie doesn't really know why she's telling you this, since we've just met, but she feels like she has to tell somepony. The thing is... Trixie is... well... scared. Her cloak and hat were returned to her, but it has been a long time since she has put on a successful magic show. All of the shows since Trixie lost her stage only earned her enough bits to buy food enough to last her until the next town." Trixie admitted.

"Oh, dear. That must have been hard to admit for you. I know how that feels. After your last show here, there was a dragon that had fallen asleep in a cave on a nearby mountain, and his smoke was covering up a lot of the sky, so Princess Celestia asked Twilight to convince it to sleep somewhere else." Fluttershy said, before Trixie interrupted her.

"Wait... why would the Princess ask Twilight to take care of it?" Trixie asked.

"Oh, she's the Princess' most faithful student." Fluttershy stated matter-of-factually. Trixie's mind tripped over Fluttershy's words. Twilight... was the Princess' student? Not just that, but she was considered her most faithful one? Trixie looked at Fluttershy in confusion. "Anyway, Twilight chose me to help her because she knew I was good with animals. What she didn't know was that I am afraid of dragons. Not little baby ones like Spike, but full-grown dragons scare the hay out of me. But I was too afraid to tell my friends until we had reached the cave. So my friends tried to convince the dragon to leave without me, but he got really mad at them and it ended with all of them getting hurt. That's when I realized that I had to overcome my fears and teach Mr. Dragon a lesson. I'm usually a nice mare, but there was just something about seeing my friends hurt that made me... well... not very nice at all. I actually made him cry just by what I said." Fluttershy said. Trixie was amazed that this shy mare had actually lectured a dragon, and even made it cry. "The point is, sometimes, you've got to face your fears and do what you need to. It worked against a dragon that could have swallowed me in one gulp if he wanted to. I think it'll work for your magic show, too." Fluttershy finished.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. Trixie feels a lot better now. It's getting late, though, and Trixie needs her sleep, in order to be at her best for tomorrow's magic show." Trixie said.

"All right, Trixie. Remember, if you ever need to talk again, I'm always willing to listen. Have a good night." Fluttershy said

"Good night, Fluttershy." Trixie said as the pegasus flew slowly back to her cottage. Trixie went back inside her house and started preparing for bed, taking her cloak off and folding it neatly, then placing it on the chair next to a small desk in her room, then placing her hat on top of it.

---

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, I kind of got stuck on where to go with it in the middle of it, until I got the idea to bring Fluttershy into it so that Trixie wasn't left alone with her thoughts for too long. As for why Trixie was scared, since losing her stage, she hasn't been making nearly one-tenth of the bits she's used to making with her shows, and she was scared that even with her cloak and hat, without a stage, she would still be coming up short, and wouldn't make anywhere near enough bits to buy a new stage.

Comments

[asmariamoon]

All right, now that the chapter's done, I could really use some proofreaders for future chapters. If anypony is interested in proofreading, PM me, and I'll let you know when new chapters are ready.

[Banksyt]

Yes i can imagine trixie would be quite taken back to see her hat and cloak... hope to see more very soon!

[PoptartKitten]

MORE!

[Fox-Sama]

I think this is one of the best Trixie story I have seen, she is sorry m but she is still her proud self, you are Keeping Trixie as Trixie while letting her character grow into something more the a loud mouth, very well done.

[Dublio]

i57.photobucket.com/albums/g215/cooldude_675/BRILLIANT.jpg

[DashXColt]

That hat and cape! Don't even try to deny it. I know who salvaged it, cleaned up, and got it fixed up by Rarity. It's that plot device used in almost every Twixie story (Even mine). That and sometimes the whole "Twilight is Celestia's protege" is put into play as well. I'm not complaining or anything about this, by the way. Just making observations along with other stories I've read. Your writing style is very detailed and enjoyable to read. I look forward to the next chapter

Twilight totally digs Trixie. I know that because of this chapter

[Night Shine]

please, make her stop talking about herself in 3rd person, i hate that.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I'm liking this a lot. I agree that the bravado needs to be toned down, but not eliminated. She's a showmare, after all. Good talk between her and Fluttershy, too.

[Professor Donger]

Did fluttershy just give an Applejack peptalk?

[asmariamoon]

Thank you everypony for your comments.

38689 Nice guess, but nope. That's how it goes in a lot of stories, but not here. There are other ponies besides Rarity who know how to sew, and there are also ponies who are kind or generous or honest enough to return something to its owner, even if it was somepony they hated or hardly knew.

38690 Wait... what? Talking in third person is part of her character. Even when she was offstage, she kept doing it. She only slipped into first person once in the entire episode, and that was when she was confronted with the fact that she couldn't vanquish the Ursa.

[Vash_ts]

my bets on ditzy, you know, the circles, 7 bubbles, a cutie mark?