Wanderlust

by DwarvishPony

12. Trixie's Troubles

"I don't care what you say! We had a deal!" An angry sounding stallion yelled.

"But, the contract ended two weeks ago." A distraught sounding mare replied. "Trixie was supposed to be long gone. I had to cancel my Manehattan tour because of this."

"The contract ends when the boss- our boss says so." Another stallion, this one sounding stern and uncaring. "B'sides, you gotta keep working as long as the boss has your contract, or you lose all the money you made here."

"What? That wasn't part of the contract!" the distraught mare cried. Spike recognized the voice as Trixie's. "You can't do that to me!"

"On the contrary. You really should read the fine print of your contract a bit better." The angry stallion interjected, sounding incredibly smug now. "It says right here."

"... the owner of the Pony Carlo has full rights to extend the length of the contract as seen fit. Any breach in contract results in forfeiture of all earnings made by the signee- You can't do this!" Trixie had been reading aloud. Now she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I can, and its happening. You're free to go, but all earnings you've made will go directly to the Pony Carlo." The smug sounding stallion replied coldly. Hoofsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. "Oh, and if you do break contract, I'll personally make sure you never work in Las Pegasus again."

Spike backpedaled from the door as fast as his little legs allowed right before the door opened, revealing the smug stallion and the stern one. Smug stallion wore an expensive looking business jacket. His jet black mane (a clear dye-job, judging by the lime green roots) was slicked back, drawing attention from his orange fur. He had a cutie mark of a pile of bits.

Stern stallion was beefy, with a dress shirt that barely fit over his muscled body. He had tan fur and a deep blue mane. His cutie mark was, unsurprisingly, a pony silhouette blocking a doorway. Judging by his size, Spike could tell blocking doors would be easy for this pony.

"Hey, hey. Trixie, you've got another fan visiting." Smug stallion flashed a too-wide smile at Spike. "You want the little guy to come in, or should he come back later?"

"Spike?" The cyan mare peered around the beefy stallion in the doorway. "I- send him in, Pit Boss. Trixie knows this one."

"If you say so, showmare. Good to meet ya, kid." Pit Boss patted Spike on the shoulder and trotted away, beefy stallion following close behind. Spike entered the dressing room with Winona.

"Hey, Trixie..." The dragon shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "How's it going? Long time no see, huh?"

"Trixie is doing great! She has her own show in Las Pegasus! Nothing could possibly be going wrong!" Trixie responded, a bit too sharply. She seemed to realize this and winced. "Sorry. I'm fine. Is... Is Twilight with you?"

"She's back in Ponyville." Things were going from awkward to unbearable at breakneck speed. "I'm on my own, travelling around. Kinda like you used to do. Well, with Winona though. So not alone, exactly." More shuffling of Spike's feet. He was having trouble looking Trixie in the eyes after overhearing what he had heard.

"That sounds nice." Trixie replied wistfully. "I wish I could do that again." There was a long, unbearable silence as neither of them said anything. Trixie finally broke the silence, breaking down into sobbing. "Oh, Spike! I don't know what to do!" The mare threw her forelegs around the dragon, who patted her back awkwardly.

"Hey... Don't- don't be like that. I'm sure there's something we can do to help you outta this situation. Maybe we can burn the contract or something. Or tell Princess Celestia!" Spike said, trying to comfort the sobbing mare. Winona even stepped in and nuzzled at Trixie. "I've got it! We'll steal the contract and send it to Celestia! She'll know exactly how to get you out of this!"

"You... You'd do that for Trixie? Even after what I did to Ponyville?" Trixie broke the hug, stepping back and wiping the large tears away.

"Well, sure. Nopony deserves to be treated like this. That Pit Boss is no-good." Spike nodded, as if to affirm his statement.

"I- I don't know what to say. Thank you, Spike."

"You can thank me after we find a way to get our hands on that contract." Spike smiled. "Um... any ideas?"

Author's Note:

Current Location: Las Pegasus, Pony Carlo Hotel and Casino, Trixie's dressing room