Golden Love

by enigmaMystere

Trixie arrives! You want to challenge me?

Ponyville has never had much of an area for performances, so they usually set them up on the day of them. However, for once it seems like the performer has brought their own stage, at least by the elaborate cart before them.

Said cart is one of the first things Flick sees, squinting his eyes and leaning a bit on the pony presses to his side. His once-injured wing twitches as he grumbles softly, “That thing’s mirror is blinding me...”

"It's probably meant to be eye catching. "Silk comments.

“It’s blinding, is what it is.” His good wing firms its grip on Applejack, hugging her tighter to his side.

Rainbow quietly grumbles from her spot above them.

"Do we know what kind of show this is?" Twilight asks.

“Magic, I think?” He pulls out the flyer to look it over once more. “That’s the feeling I get from this, at least.” They reach the front row, the griffon sitting down on a pillow he brought and hugging Applejack securely to his chest. He casts a glance to the side, seeing white right before the weathermare blocks his view. “...I can’t tell, was that Rarity?”

"Eeyup." Applejack says simply.

“Oh, hello, darlings!” They can hear her clearly, despite the gathering ponies. “Applejack, did you let him give you that Blissful Evening massage, yet? You seem especially vibrant, today.”

"Actually, yeah, Ah did. It helped a lot, Rares." She smiles at her.

Flick gives her a confused look, leaning in and ignoring Rarity’s scandalized look. “Jackie, the Blissful Evening is the rutting one.”

Rainbow can’t help but snicker, pressing up to his side.

Her face quickly turns red. "...oh."

“Now, if you really wanted one, all you’d have to do is head to my place.” He nuzzles her cheek, humming softly. “I’d be happy to do it for free.”

“Do what for free?” Spike asks, sitting between Twilight and Silk Tease.

“Apples,” Rainbow says, chuckling quietly.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up..." She grumbles as she tucks her hat down to hide her face.

She feels herself turned to the side, her hat tugged off to hide her face from the crowd as Flick plants a quick kiss on her lips. “Does that help?” He asks.

She laughs quietly. "Yeah, thanks."

He smiles, looking up just in time to see the carriage open itself up. “Oh, I think they’re starting.”

The others stop chatting to watch.

“Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” There’s an explosion of smoke, and the blue pony appears on stage, wearing the cockiest grin he’s ever seen.

He glances to Rainbow at his side, second-guessing that thought.

“Watch in awe,” her words interrupt his thoughts, dragging him back into the present, “as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” She stands up on her hind legs, forelegs spread wide in what must’ve been a grand gesture, fireworks and fanfare going off behind her.

The griffon just covers his eyes with Applejack’s hat.

There's murmuring in the crowd as they continue watching.

“...didn’t she already say that?” Spike questions, confused.

“Sounded more like boasting to me,” Flick says.

“Indeed,” Rarity speaks up, sniffing in disdain. “She’s pushing the limits of what a performer can get away with.”

"Perhaps it's a facade?" Silk muses.

The performer on stage appears to conjure up a bouquet of flowers, lacking the flash of a teleportation spell.

“...that, admittedly, was a bit interesting,” Flick says.

Twilight applauds politely.

Spike scoffs. “Please, Twilight could do that, no problem!”

The golden griffon looks at him curiously. “...isn’t part of being a performer pizzazz?”

He feels a chill go down his spine, eye turning back to the stage to find the mare glaring at him. She scoffs, setting down some now-interlocking rings. “Trixie would appreciate it if neighsayers would not interrupt her show.”

"Maybe we should have sit farther back if you all were going to comment." Silk says.

“...that makes sense,” he admits. “Sorry, Miss Trixie.”

She tilts her head up, eyes closed. “That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you.”

“...can I just call you tGaPT, instead?” He asks, getting snickers from Rainbow.

She gives him a flat stare. “No. You may not.”

Spike looks Between the two of them, then up at Twilight. “Why’s she upset?”

"Because she's trying to do a show and they're loudly criticizing." She explains.

“...oh.” He watches the pony go back to her show, quietly pulling out a piece of paper and a quill. He barely writes two words before it’s ripped out of his claws, floating up to Trixie. On the way, his guardian and friends manage to catch the words “You’re better” on it.

She glares at the parchment for a moment before folding it up. “I don’t know who you think is better than the Great and Powerful Trixie. Not everypony can vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!” She throws her hoof into the air, the message she’d snatched having been switched out with glitter when no one was watching. The sparkles take the shape of the unicorn and a large bear with the star on its head.

Flick quietly reaches over to pat the embarrassed dragon on the head.

"I've heard we had a couple of those varmints in the everfree." Applejack comments quietly to Flick.

“Good thing we don’t go there.” He gently scratches her chest fluff, then recoils as a blue hoof shoves its way into his field of view.

“Since you two don’t seem to understand courtesy, Trixie is bumping up her audience participation portion of the show. Why don’t we have the little hayseed up as a volunteer?”

Flick bristles at the rude nickname, a growl slowly forming in his chest.

"Yeah, sure." Applejack says, amused as she gets up on stage. "Let's see what ya got."

“Oh, you misunderstand.” She turns to the crowd, gesturing broadly. “My challenge is this: anything you can do, I can do better!” She turns and points at the farmer. “You go first, and then I beat you.”

She quirks an eyebrow at this before shrugging. "If ya'll are sure." She pulls a rope from her hat and starts doing tricks with it. After a few jumps through her lasso and catching a feather from Flick’s claw, the griffon gives her the applause she is due. The crowd soon follows, cheering her name. She gives a bow to the audience.

The performer sighs, tilting up her hat so that Twilight can see her horn light up. “Not the worst I’ve seen,” she admits, “but Trixie is better!”

A rope slowly rises out of a jar on the edge of the stage, slithering its way along the stage. It slows to a halt as it nears the orange pony, almost appearing to rear into the air and sway rhythmically.

She follows it with her eyes, curious.

Quick as a whip, it darts below her, pulling all four legs together and flipping her on her back. The free end then shoves an apple into her maw before she can let out a word, the finishing touch on the magical hogtying.

Flick immediately stands, eyes wide in shock. “Jackie!”

The farmer narrows her eyes and chomps through the fruit, giving the showmare a stare.

She doesn't see this, however, her nose turned up in the air and eyes closed. "Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails."

Rainbow dashes in front of her, jabbing her nose with a hoof. "What was that?!"

Flick, meanwhile, had gone over to free Applejack from her bonds. "Dashie, I think she's alright..."

The showmare scoffs at her outrage. "What? Trixie beat her, as per the challenge."

"...you know what? How's this for a challenge?" Rainbow zooms away, spinning a windmill rapidly and using the blades to launch herself through multiple clouds. They see her silhouette against the sun for a fraction of a second before she retreads her path in reverse, following the rotation she'd set to launch herself and the raindrops back on to the stage, refracting the light into a technicolor arch above her body. "Try and beat that!"

She is promptly caught off guard when her namesake starts wrapping around her, turning her into a living top as it grips her body and goes faster. She slowly rises into the air and lowers on to her head, visibly nauseous from the abuse.

"Seems like anypony with a dash of good sense would think twice before tussling with the Great Trixie." A cloud forms above the weathermare, dark and stormy, but it's quickly torn apart by an unseen force before anything can happen with it.

She goes stiff as she feels an intense aura from behind her. There's gasps, murmurs, and general discomfort among the crowd.

The griffon takes a few thundering steps forward, looking fierce despite his sudden increased fluffiness. “My turn, Trixie.”

The stagemare appears nonplussed. "So, the hecklers can't handle their own medicine?"

He scowls at her, then lets his expression fall even. “If you’re scared, you can always just declare me the winner.”

"The Great and Powerful Trixie fears no pony, or griffin!" She stands with her chest puffed out. "Try your best and fail to challenge Trixie."

“Fine. I propose a tag challenge.” He steps closer, eyes focused firmly on her. “The first one to touch the other one, or their clothes, wins.” He pulls out a brown Stetson, placing it on his head. “Ready when you are.”

"A simple task for the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She gestures with her hooves, her fireworks and lights going off in a blinding display.

He immediately launches straight up into the air with a powerful blast of wind, avoiding her hoof and putting distance between them.

Snorting, she nips the hat from his head with magic.

It promptly falls apart, and he snickers. “Not actually clothes, I’m afraid.” He smirks and dives directly at her, claws extended. The sunlight gleams off the sharp tips of each talon.

She actually flinches at this, throwing down a smoke spell.

He screeches to a halt in midair, and gives an extra-forceful flap to dispel the smoke, golden eyes dancing around the stage to find her.

She's nowhere to be seen, but her laugh is still heard.

Not seeing her at all, he takes this brief moment to glance at his friends in the crowd, gauging their reactions to the performance going on before them.

Applejack looks concerned, but wears a grin, Twilight looks just worried, and Silk seems to be focused on him even as her ears twitch.

He gives them all a comforting smile, winking playfully before turning around to face the rest of the stage. His gaze darts back and forth, body tensed up to react to anything he might see or hear.

Suddenly, the dazzling decorations erupt once more. When the light show ends, he’s cringing and shutting his eyes, as almost everyone would do when a firework erupts a few feet from their face.

Trixie springs at him from atop her stage. His ear twitches, but he doesn’t react in time to stop her from going through him. Little golden wisps form around her as the realization settles in.

Rainbow gawks at this as Trixie slides on her face along the stage, her hat falling over the edge. “No way! That was another cloud?”

Trixie sputters, rubbing her face as she levitates her hat back on. "Trixie will not stand interference. Which unicorn is casting these illusions for you?"

A claw suddenly grabs her forehoof, the griffon slowly pulling himself out from under the stage. “You’d think that, but there was no glow. I just did something easier.” He taps her horn, brushing her hat with the back of his appendage. “I replaced myself with that cloud during your second firework barrage. Even you couldn’t see through that.”

She yanks her hoof away, huffing and straightening her hat back.

“That said, that was a great workout.” He bows respectfully to her, then holds up a talon. “However, I need to point out that Jackie and Dashie are innocent of your accusations...” He jerks his thumb back at himself. “I was the one who started talking. That’s right, talking, not heckling. We were discussing the Ursa.”

His claw then rolls, much like a magician’s, and reveals the note from before. “Also, you really shouldn’t hold something like this against a child. You don’t even know what he was referring to.” He folds it up and tucks it in the fluff of his neck.

Her cheeks go pink as she scowls at him. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be lectured by you! She knows what she heard, and she also has a show to get back to."

“Right.” He bows once more, then hops off the stage. He heads straight for Applejack, pulling her onto his lap so they can cuddle some more. “Go ahead, I won’t talk again.”

Rainbow, trying not to grumble or be obvious, leans against his side, wings twitching against her barrel.

Twilight looks thoughtfully at all this, one foreleg hook around Spike in a hug while the other taps her chin.

A golden wing quietly wraps around her back and they enjoy the rest of the show.

Comments

[Ali della Morte]

I enjoyed the new chapter. I do hope that another comes soon.