Both of the Four of Us

by TwinkieSpy

Chapter Four: Tricks

Both of the Four of Us
Chapter Four: Tricks

Pinkie Pie dashed through the Everfree Forest, over protruding roots and under fallen branches, ears raised in alertness. She couldn't see it now, but she was sure she had caught a glimpse--just out of the corner of her eye, but clear nonetheless, of a pink coat between the trees. The strangeness of it--and, perhaps, the familiarity as well--had sent her chasing after the unknown creature, but all she knew about it so far was that it was far faster than she was. "Hello!" she called breathlessly as she chased after the pink shadow. "I'm not gonna hurt you! I just wanna meet--"

An intangible force took her by the hair and pulled backwards. Pinkie shrieked, whirling around to face the manticore, or the dragon, or whatever it was that was accosting her. Instead, she turned to see a very angry alicorn, misty mane whirling in an invisible gale. "What are thoust doing here?!" she demanded, readopting the Royal Canterlot voice. "Did we not warn you to keep close?!"

The earth pony let out a great sigh of relief, falling back of her hindquarters. Evidently she hadn't noticed that Luna was trying to be intimidating. "Gosh, Princess, don't scare me like that! I thought you were a monster or something even worse!"

Luna placed a hoof to her forehead, wispy mane calming and the glow around her horn growing fainter. What a tiresome pony! And yet Pinkie's words kept resonating with her, unintentionally profound. She thought Luna was a monster... The princess felt a nightmarish stirring in her skull. Maybe Pinkie Pie had thought right. She shook off the dark thought, opting instead to glare sternly down at her traveling companion. "Pinkamena, you... we... we need to go. Both of us."

"Both of the three of us, you mean?" joked Pinkie, raising an eyebrow and grinning at Luna. She had intended to calm down the alicorn, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The princess stopped short, ears perked and eyes opened wide. Pinkie's smile disappeared; angry Luna didn't faze her in the slightest, but fearful Luna tied her stomach in knots. "Because you always say 'we' when you're just talking about yourself, get it?!" she explained hurriedly.

Luna sighed deeply. "Yes... Yes, Of course."

---

They sailed through the night sky, Pinkie riding on Luna's back again. Having spent most of the day rolling around in the grass rather than doing any of the vigorous activities she usually participated in, Pinkie Pie didn't find herself nearly as tired this time, and was able to appreciate the view with eyes unclouded by exhaustion for the first time.

And what a view it was!

The moon was bright enough that night to illuminate the landscape vaguely for her, and underneath the alicorn's powerful wings Pinkie could spot hills, valleys, and even what looked like an enormous tree the size of a small mountain. She had pointed it out to Luna, nearly falling off of the princess's back in the meantime, but the mistress of the moon only snorted derisively. "'Tis but a Coast Redhoof, Pinkamena Diane. There are several others within the bounds of Equestria." Pinkie then devoted an entire hour to finding the coast that must have accompanied the tree with such an unusual name, but found none.

But while looking down was beautiful, looking up was simply dazzling. The memory had faded since her foalhood, but looking up into the stars brought back every night at the rock farm, under a sparkling curtain of distant suns. Nighttime in Ponyville was pretty, sure, but out here--and out there, by the rock farms--the complete lack of artificial light made each and every star stand out, showcasing its own individual beauty. "Princess, did you make those?" Pinkie Pie asked, breathless.

The alicorn chanced a glance back at her companion, a genuine smile forming on her muzzle. "Indeed we--that is, indeed I did," she confirmed serenely. "It was aeons ago, when I was but a filly. I crafted the moon in that same year. If one were to look particularly closely at the craters of the moon, one would find the words 'Luna is best princess' etched painstakingly into the rock." Both ponies shared a laugh at that, Pinkie pleasantly surprised to find the alicorn acting so amicably. Note to Pinkie Pie (me!): when all else fails, talk about stars! she thought, cacheing the knowledge away for future reference.

Pinkie looked up at the stars again, and nearly swooned at the sheer dizzying volume of the distant lights. Luna had to swerve to catch the pink pony before she fell off of the princess's back. "Careful!" she reminded Pinkie Pie, casting a stern glance backwards. Pinkie was more than happy to oblige, laying her head down and closing her eyes.

"Some things are soooo beautiful," the earth pony remarked cheerfully. "That you just can't look at them too often. If you really take the time to enjoy it, it'll stick with you for a lifetime, anyways."

Time after time, it seemed that Luna always found herself shocked by the randomly profound thoughts Pinkie would spew sporadically. "You are right," she agreed, casting her gaze downwards. She had never been much for forethought in her foalhood; if she had, she would have noticed ahead of time that her boastful message was actually scrawled on the dark side of the moon, where it would never be visible to the average Equestrian regardless of its size. She had forgotten about it until Nightmare Moon... until Celestia sent her to the moon. Captive in her own mind, slave to her dark alter ego, she had literally spent centuries staring at that message. Luna is best princess. Oh, how she had come to hate it during that time.

A conspicuous silence from her back informed Luna that her companion had fallen asleep, and the alicorn tried her best to clear her head of thoughts aside from those of the matter at hand. They were making remarkable time; at this rate, it would only be a five nights' journey to Marem, including the one that had passed already and the one that was in progress at the moment. She hadn't been to the city-state since her thousand-year hiatus, but from what Celestia had told her, it seemed that Marem had changed just as little as Luna had. To be honest, she didn't like Marem. Too arrogant. Everypony there was convinced they were superior to those outside the city walls. Of course, Luna considered herself to be above others as well, but that was because she was. What claim to greatness did the Maremite unicorns have?

Luna is best princess. It had been a cute little joke then, and now, she was inclined to feel the same way. But as innocent as that one small sentence was, it didn't stop the passenger deep inside of her from chuckling softly, misty mane circling Luna's heart with the intent to conquer it. She felt the weight of Pinkie Pie pushing down on her back; the pony was so innocently unaware of her own power. In a wave of uncharacteristic protectiveness, Luna vowed to herself to stop the mysterious force in Pinkie from becoming as strong as she had let Nightmare Moon become. "Worry not, Pinkamena Diane Pie," she said out loud, fully aware that nopony could hear her but compelled to vocalize her feelings anyway.

"'Worry?' What would I be worried about?" Luna's face flushed red immediately; maybe somepony could hear her anyways. "Besides," continued the alicorn's passenger, oblivious to Luna's embarrassment, "You don't have to call me by my full name, you know. Pinkie Pie is fine, or even just Pinkie! I tried to get my friends to call me 'The Pink' once but they thought it was stupid so I gave up on that."

"Right. Of course." Every time Luna thought she just might respect the baker, Pinkie seemed hell-bent on proving her wrong.

---

Again the sun was rising; Luna remembered how much her sister had resented having to adhere to such a strict schedule during their foalhood. Back then, dawn's exact timing had been rather erratic, sometimes arriving at five a.m., other times not until nine or ten. In the thousand years they had spent apart, Luna found that Celestia had become more diplomatic and responsible, no longer the lazy prankster she was as a filly, and the sun's schedule had become much more consistent. Having to control both heavenly bodies probably played a part in that, Luna thought, and she felt a sharp pang of guilt.

It was strange, how she could be reminded of a nigh-apocalyptic situation she and her night created and only feel momentary shame, while the idea of tasking her beloved sister with extra chores resonated so deeply with Luna. She was beginning to understand why the citizens of Ponyville had devoted an entire day to being terrified of her.

Pushing less pertinent thoughts aside, the princess scanned the landscape below her, searching for a town or at least a sheltered field in which she could sleep. She was beginning to spot fewer and fewer forests, the wooded areas giving way to long, rolling plains. Not too far to the east was the new settlement of Appleloosa, but that would require some deviation from Luna's planned path. Besides, if she knew not only the name but the location of a recently-built town, that probably meant she had heard bad news of it in her Canterlot home. Something about stampeding buffalo, she remembered.

No, Appleloosa was out.

Luna descended slowly, taking care not to let the sleeping earth pony on her back fall--or worse, wake up and begin talking. Plains, plains, a small lake, plains... A-ha! At last she spotted a small wagon traveling on a dirt road, little more than a simple chariot, but still spacious enough to sleep in. One better, it even seemed to be traveling in the same direction she was heading. Perhaps they could make progress even in the daytime!

Excited, Luna swooped closer to the wagon; from here she could see that it was made from wood--a slightly shoddy construction, but workable. Much more care seemed to have gone into its paint job: mostly sky blue, but with a spray of several colors on each side, apparently painted to resemble fireworks. Moreover, there was text on the side; the alicorn flew down further until she was almost in line with the wagon to read it: The Great and Powerful Trixie!

A traveling sideshow? speculated Luna, simultaneously excited and slightly annoyed that she would have to spend the day with a group of performers. She began flapping her wings more rapidly, aiming to catch up with the pony pulling the cart: a yellow unicorn stallion with a strange, almost prance-like gait. "Greetings, citizen!" she called, having decided that now was as good a time as any to adopt her Royal Canterlot Voice.

Shocked by the volume of Luna's voice, the stallion stopped short, nearly letting himself be run over by the wagon before its momentum tapered into nothing as well. As Luna landed to address him on a calmer level, there was a shrill shout from within the wagon: "Lightning Burst! The Great and Powerful Trixie did not order you to stop!"

An azure unicorn wearing a magician's hat and cape emerged from the wagon, only to stop short at the sight of Luna. Her eyes drifted to the taller mare's horn, and then to her wings as the identity of the interloper dawned on her. Lightning Burst, the stallion Trixie had hired to transport her props--and then, later, herself--was looking from the Princess to Trixie and back, pupils shrinking with panic as he tried to decide which pony seemed more dangerous. Luna just raised an eyebrow commandingly, fully aware of the effect her appearance had on ponies.

Pinkie Pie snored.

Eventually, it was Trixie who broke the silence, clearing her throat and smiling up at the Princess apologetically. "Your.. majesty!" she stammered, taking a few nervous hoofsteps backwards. "To what does the Great and Powerful Trixie owe the, um... the honor of this visit?" The pitch of her voice rose at the last five words, seemingly more concerned with how her speech sounded than what it meant.

"Our companion and we are traveling to the city-state of Marem. Art thou familiar with the place?" Luna had been trying her best to abandon her antiquated style of speaking, but if the garishly-painted wagon was any indication, showmareship might just be exactly what she needed to persuade the unicorn.

Trixie jerked her head towards Lightning Burst, fixing him with an icy glare. "Well? Are we?!" she demanded. Lightning wished he had just stayed in Canterlot; no amount of money was worth traveling with this self-obsessed magician, never mind the fact that most of the bits she had promised him seemed conspicuously absent.

But here he was, so he couldn't go thinking about what might or might not be. "I've heard of it," he admitted, his voice soft and just a little nasal. "It's not too far from Peasantville, I think... never been there, though."

"Hmph." Trixie's gaze turned back to Luna, and she reapplied her false grin. "Well. There you are, your majesty."

She turned away, ready to trot back into her wagon, before a large and powerful hoof came to a rest on her shoulder. "Wait," Luna demanded. Trixie complied, though she didn't bother turning back around. "We are in need of a form of transportation to carry us to Marem. Thy cart doth seem promising..."

"Well," repeated Trixie again. "It, um... It's too small! That's it! Were a wonderful mare such as you with such a wonderful size to rest within, the Great and Powerful Trixie would have no place to fit inside!"

---

Five minutes later, Trixie was sitting atop the top of her cart, sighing as she counted the number of stars she had managed to fit on the board. Her cart needed more sparkles--that must have been what was turning so many ponies away from her fabulous performance. The wagon shuddered as Lightning Burst leapt over a rock, nearly sending its owner careening off of the side. In hindsight, the Great and Powerful Trixie should have expected this.

Comments

[Wheelwright]

Glad to see this update! I thought this pairing was a good concept and this chapter shows some of the reason why. Honest appreciation, simplifying away all the complicated claptrap that Luna has overburdened herself with. Ought to do her good.

Surprised to see Trixie brought into the mix. Not sure if she will be there long term or not, but certainly entertaining!

[Super]

Yes. Yes, she should have.

[10000 B_C]

Yesss, oblivious Trixie. I approve
Glad to see this back, I wanna know what happens!

[Diamond Sparkle]

Yay, more of this story.

[Donnys Boy]

Trixie! I was not expecting that! Good times.

I think my favorite part of the chapter was the moment where Pinkie's appreciating Luna's starry night sky. That's a lovely moment--Pinkie is so open, and Luna seems so fragile, so grateful. Then Luna drops her defenses a bit to share the story about creating the moon and, a bit later, even feels protective towards Pinkie. That was a great, great scene.

My single favorite line from this chapter, though, was probably: "Pinkie's smile disappeared; angry Luna didn't faze her in the slightest, but fearful Luna tied her stomach in knots." There's some fantastic insight into both Pinkie and Luna, as well as their relationship to one another, expressed in just a single sentence.

[neighsmith]

huzzah for updates!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Trixie and Luna always make for an appealing combination. No other pair of herbivores contains so much ham. Also, watching Her Lunar Highness try to puzzle out the combination of whimsy and wisdom that is Pinkie Pie is always entertaining. I look forward to the shenanigans bound to ensue from the six or more minds among these four ponies.

[Makokam]

...so...are the stars really suns in this world, as you initially described them, or are they just glorified christmas lights Luna hung up there?

Either way, the final scene is enough to earn this fic my deal of approval. ...well, almost.

[Kirishala]

Its wrong that on reading Maremite I immediately wondered if people either love or hate them and if they tend to be dark brown isn't it? (British humour, the explination)

[Seether00]

I guess I must have missed something. If Luna can fly Pinkie to the destination, why does she need to commandeer Trixie's slow moving cart?

[Reddened Chaos]

>>Seether00 simple, Luna stops to rest during the daytime as it's easier for her to navigate via the stars during the night, she noticed Trixie's cart moving in the same direction they would be going, so she thought they would make some progress during the daytime, thus she goes to commandeer Trixie's Cart, and now Trixie gets the punishment for trying to lie to Princess Luna of all ponies lol So Trixie + Pinkie + Luna, No good can come of this except Massive Laughter.