Unfinished Business

by Fission

Chapter 3: A Visitor, A Meal, And a Request

Twilight Sparkle paused at the front door of the Ponyville library, deep in thought. Should she go in? Probably. But she was having such a good time just thinking to herself. Going in would mean dealing with Spike, who would more than likely still be wide awake. Given that she was no longer too busy sticking her nose in a book to talk to him, the dragon would definitely ask some prying questions about what had happened earlier. Questions which, frankly, Twilight was not sure that she could answer yet.

The unicorn sat back on her haunches, promising herself just five more minutes. She did owe Spike a better explanation than she had given him earlier, but she needed to clear a bit more of her mental clutter first.

It had been a crazy day for the mare, even by Ponyville standards. Trixie still confused her; that was for sure. Watching one performance certainly wasn’t enough to fully judge a pony’s character, but Twilight could tell she had changed at least somewhat. The fact that her show was about something other than herself attested to that.

Of course, Twilight still had very little information to work with: only what she could divine from the show and what Applejack and Rainbow Dash had told her. It seemed that Trixie had become a better pony. But it was strange that she hadn’t even mentioned her previous show, much less apologized for her behavior. Her motivations were still very much a mystery to Twilight.

On the other hoof, Twilight now at least partially understood why she was so interested in Trixie. The way that she had performed had been amazing, to say the least. Twilight was impressed by the showmare’s audacity. Even performing in front of a crowd that had seen her humiliated previously she still had absolutely brought down the house. What Twilight felt was admiration. It was the confidence that Trixie always exuded that impressed her. Even the posters she put up around Ponyville showed her mettle. Trixie simply had fire in her personality, and it fascinated Twilight.

Her five minutes were up, and she knew that she did owe Spike some sort of explanation for her minor freak out earlier. Her horn glowed a soft purple and the door slowly creaked open.

Twilight was, surprisingly, not greeted by the blast of light that she expected. She trotted inside and called out “Spike?” as she closed the door behind her.

Hmmm. Maybe he had gone to sleep after all. Well, it wasn’t like she had very much to tell him anyway. Plus, she was tired. It had definitely been a long day. She trudged up the stairs and saw Spike curled up in his bed, fast asleep. The mare followed his example and slipped under her covers. She lay down her head and managed to quickly drift off into slumber, letting her dreams take hold in spite of all of the thoughts spinning through her head.

---

Twilight galloped through the streets as fast as her legs could carry her. As she approached the center of the town, she once again heard the telltale roar. She had to hurry. If this was what she thought it was, then she definitely didn’t have much time left. Her muscles screamed with fatigue and her lungs begged for air, but there was no time to rest.

She sped around one final corner and immediately found her target. There it was: an Ursa Minor of hulking stature. The creature had a small burn on its left flank and was slowly backing down a terrified blue unicorn.

Twilight took one look at the scene and immediately focused her energy in the tip of her horn. Her body cried out for rest but was silenced by a burst of adrenaline. Who knew what could happen if she couldn’t stop this thing.

As Twilight clenched her eyes in concentration, a cool wind washed over the countryside, bringing the harmonizing sound of pipes with it. The Ursa’s face calmed and its eyelids began to droop. The behemoth slowly swayed back and forth, giving its hostage a chance to move out from under it.

Twilight’s face contorted. Her hooves dug into the ground and the aura surrounding her horn blazed with white hot intensity. In the distance, the Ponyville watertower creaked and groaned as it was lifted from its supports. It floated into the barn of Sweet Apple Acres and emerged full of milk.

The oversized bottle met the Ursa in midair and it began to drink from it. The pair of objects redirected towards a cave deep within the forest. All the while, Twilight Sparkle strained at the task. Sweat covered her brow and veins bulged from her face. She felt the flow of magic ebb and give way almost immediately upon completing her task.

She opened her eyes but the world was spinning around her. The burst of energy was gone and her vision began to swim. Her front legs gave out and she began to keel forward, only to be held in place by a firm hoof.

The last thing Twilight saw before her world dissolved into darkness was the grateful smile of the azure unicorn holding her upright.

---

Twilight sat up sharply in her bed, her heart pounding. Had that really been just a dream? Well, at least she wasn’t as drop dead exhausted as she had just felt.

She soon realized that she was smiling rather dumbly to herself. Despite the fact that she had to relive facing down the Ursa, something that she never wanted to do again, the dream had been almost enjoyable. That smile that Trixie had given her: though it had been so fleeting, it had seemed to mean so much. Her face had brimmed with gratefulness, it seemed so rare that Trixie would give anyone that sort of gratitude.

It was just a dream though, and that definitely was enough to explain the way that Trixie had acted. Would such a confident mare as Trixie really surrender herself to Twilight with a look like that? Probably not, but she might as well enjoy it while she could.

Twilight’s left ear pricked up, and she realized that there was the sound of voices faintly echoing up the stairs. She turned to Spike’s bed and found it to be empty. She must have slept late again.

At least she probably wasn’t needed urgently. Spike would have already woken her if she was. Even so, she might as well not keep the guest waiting.

She hopped out of bed and brushed her mane quickly. She hurried over to the stairs and trotted to the bottom.

She turned the knob of the door with her magic, and as she opened it, she heard snatches of a conversation. “...Oh, I think that’s probably her now.”

As the door shifted, revealing the first floor of the library, Twilight found herself face-to-face with none other than The Great and Powerful Trixie.

Trixie stood across a small table from Spike. She wore the hat and cloak that had been absent at the previous night’s performance. She returned Twilight’s gaze, appearing to size her up. She opened her mouth to break the silence—

“So Twilight, Trixie just got here a few minutes ago, I was actually just about to go wake you up. She said that she had something to ask you about.”

Twilight once again looked toward Trixie, her eyes curious. The blue mare opened her mouth and began to explain herself. “Well, Twilight Sparkle, shall we cut to the chase? Trixie has been performing again lately. Perhaps you have seen the posters for Beohoof, hmm?”

“Actually, I was able to make it to the performance last night. The flame magic was great!”

So Twilight Sparkle had known of her return after all... And she had come to the show? That was certainly... unexpected. “Well,” she continued uncertainly “I suppose that means you know that Trixie has forsaken simple magic shows so that she can spread the great tales of ponykind.”

“I think that suits you more, I loved the show, and I think that everypony else did too.”

Trixie looked down at her hooves uncomfortably, “Yes, Trixie was pleased with how the show went. However, she would like to make a request of you.” Twilight nodded, urging her to continue. “Beohoof is a fine show. But Trixie desires more... variety. She was wondering if you would agree to help her create a rendition of Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony. Trixie understands if you do not want—”

“That sounds amazing Trixie! I would love to help!” Twilight Sparkle was positively beaming at the chance to get to know Trixie better. Perhaps she could make a letter to the princess out of this too, she had never done anything like it before, after all. “When should we start?”

Trixie cocked her head, thinking. “Well, the next performance of Beohoof isn’t until tomorrow evening. I suppose I am available all day. Of course, you are the one who is so graciously helping Trixie, she shall leave it up to you to decide.”

Twilight smiled again, “We can start right away!” she announced. Trixie’s stomach suddenly growled loudly. “On second thought,” Twilight mused “let’s get some breakfast first.”

“Trixie must admit that breakfast sounds enticing.”

“It’s settled then. Spike, it’s time to cook!” Twilight trotted into the kitchen with a bounce in her step, mare and dragon both in tow.

---

Trixie stood across the table from Twilight Sparkle. The baby dragon, Spike, was it? was busy mixing a bowl of pancake batter behind the librarian.

Even uncooked, the batter smelled heavenly to Trixie. Times had been a bit rougher lately than she would care to admit. Since the Ursa had smashed her trailer she had been forced to resort to camping in a tent. Cooking, of course, was considerably more difficult without the kitchen implements she had kept in her trailer. And despite her mastery of fire, Trixie had lately found it impossible to dine in the way she was accustomed to.

She soon realized that, in her hunger, she had been staring straight past the mare in front of her. She quickly turned her attention to her hostess, who was absentmindedly twiddling her hooves, not wanting to interrupt her guest’s thoughts.

Looking up, Twilight noticed that Trixie had broken out of her trance “So, Trixie, what have you been up to since the last time you were in Ponyville?” posed the unicorn casually.

“Well, Twilight Sparkle, after leaving Ponyville Trixie... reevaluated some things. That was when she realized that her true calling was to spread fantastic tales throughout Equestria. Since then, Trixie has been performing Beohoof throughout the land.”

“Everypony loved Beohoof here in Ponyville. Have your other shows been going just as well?”

“Well, Beohoof has been well-received by the audiences, the donations have not been exceptional,” she sighed almost imperceptibly “but Trixie is getting by well enough. A home cooked meal is certainly appreciated after so much time on the road.” She smiled gratefully to the mare in front of her.

The smell of the pancakes was now wafting over both of them. It made Trixie’s mouth water just thinking about how they must taste.

The dragon walked towards the two unicorns holding a frying pan containing their breakfast. In his other hand was a bottle of syrup. He tipped the pancakes onto a serving plate and placed the syrup on the table.

Two of the pancakes were quickly engulfed in a blue aura which lifted them to the plate in front of Trixie. Are those blueberries? Her question was quickly answered after she bathed her pancakes in syrup and took a bite. The pancakes were simply delicious. The sugariness of the syrup mingled delightfully with the tartness of the berries and the subtle sweetness of the cakes themselves. It had definitely been too long since she had had a home cooked meal.

The three ate the breakfast silently, for the most part. Twilight and Spike were certainly willing to converse, but Trixie was far too busy shoveling pancake after pancake into her mouth.

“Well, Twilight, at least somepony appreciates my cooking,” said Spike, puffing out his chest proudly.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Well somepony probably hasn’t had your hay and daisy casserole. I felt sick for a week!”

“Hey! That wasn’t my fault! You were the one who gave me that cookbook.”

Trixie smiled as she watched her hosts bicker. She had just finished her fifteenth pancake and was inclined to side with the dragon in the argument. The meal had certainly been excellent by her standards. “Trixie has gotten her fill of these delicious pancakes.” Spike smirked in Twilight’s direction, “And she feels quite ready to hibernate now.”

Trixie backed away from the table and walked a few steps. Maintaining her balance was difficult, it felt like she had eaten half of her body weight in pancakes. Perhaps it hadn’t been a good idea to eat quite so much. It certainly wouldn’t do for Trixie to make herself look foalish in front of Twilight Sparkle, but the food was so incredible that she couldn’t fault herself for the decision. Physical indulgences had to take precedence sometimes, after all.

Twilight gave Trixie a mock-concerned look, forgetting momentarily about her argument with Spike. “Are you ok, Trixie? I don’t think you got enough food,” she joked.

“Trixie is fine, thank you,” she huffed. “However, she may have just discovered that her one true weakness is pancakes.” She continued walking towards Twilight, finally acclimating herself to the lump in her stomach enough so that it would no longer inhibit her movement.

“You were eating like you hadn’t seen food in weeks,” teased Twilight.

“Yes, yes, Trixie enjoys good food. Now that we have established that, shall we begin discussing the story of Nightmare Moon instead of making fun of Trixie’s eating habits?”

“Sorry about that,” replied Twilight, stifling a giggle. “I guess I’ve just never seen anypony with such a big lump in their stomach.”

“Trixie will choose to ignore that thinly veiled insult.” She turned up her muzzle haughtily. “You may count yourself lucky this time, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Of course, Trixie, I know that I couldn’t dream of matching your wit.” The purple pony rolled her eyes as she spoke.

“Trixie will be happy to assert her cleverness later, but now it is time for you to tell her a story. After all, how can Trixie perform a show if she doesn’t know the story?” She raised a hoof and beckoned towards the main room of the library.

---

Twilight followed behind Trixie into the library proper. She passed the magician and trotted towards the center of the room.

Twilight eased herself to the ground, folding her legs up neatly on the rug below her. She patted the ground next to her with her hoof. “Make yourself comfortable, Trixie, this could take a while.”

The azure magician soon joined her on the floor and looked at her somewhat expectantly. “Tell Trixie everything. She needs to know... for the show of course.”

Twilight examined Trixie’s visage. Is that a blush? Why is Equestria would she be blushing? Twilight felt her own face grow warm and she gave a nervous laugh. Well, that was unexpected. All she did was ask me a question. She shook her head gently, clearing away the obtrusive thoughts. “Well,” she said “to start from the beginning, I used to live in Canterlot, under Princess Celestia’s tutelage. But back then I really didn’t have many friends...”

---

Author's Note: I'm sorry about the amount of time that this chapter took. I've been really busy with a lot of stuff lately and I spent a lot of time trying to get this chapter right. Chapter four will probably be short, but it's going to be an important one.

I want to give a few shoutouts for this chapter. First, for my prereader Dr. Jekyll, it's really nice to have you there to help me out. Someone to help me edit makes things a lot easier. Next, I want to give a shoutout to DashXColt, the pancake scene was partially inspired by his story, which is great in case you haven't read it. Here it is: The Fascinating Yet Obvious Twixie. Also, I want to give a shoutout to everyone who hangs out in the irc, particularly Vyreinos (read his story too if you haven't: Teardrops and Snowflakes). You guys are great, and its so nice to have a bunch of people to help me with my writing and just to chill with.

I hope you guys liked this chapter, I'm having a blast writing this story. Hopefully I can get out the next chapter quicker than this one, but I'm expecting to be really busy for a while still :/. Anyway, you readers are the reason that I write this story. Keep being great!

As always, please rate/comment. Give me any sort of feedback you can. I read everything that people say about this story and it means a lot if you just take a little bit of time to tell me what you liked or what could be improved upon. That's the only way that I can get better. Also, if there's anyone else who wants to preread/edit I would be glad to have you, just shoot me a pm. For that matter, shoot me a pm if there's any reason you want to contact me, I would be glad to talk to you.

Comments

[Zerg]

[unph]

Wow, great stuff, there's a noticeable increase in quality, so your pre-reader's doing a good job. Just issues that weren't picked up on:

“You were eating like you hadn’t seen food in weeks,” teased Twilight. “Yes, yes, Trixie enjoys good food. Now that we have established that, shall we begin discussing the story of Nightmare Moon instead of making fun of Trixie’s eating habits?”
A new speaker requires a new paragraph.

“Tell Trixie everything. She needs to know...for the show of course.”
A space is needed after the periods of ellipses.

Other than that, there's really nothing for me to point out. I really liked this chapter, and I think you did a great job with that pancake scene. Keep it up.

[Dr Jekyll]

172937
The new paragraph thing was probably a copy/paste issue, it was fine in the g-doc.
As for the ellipses, I have no excuse. I'll be more vigilant with the next chapter.

And it's nice to be here, Fission.

[Fission]

172895
Yeah, you know, I'm not really sure why I did that. If I get to rewriting the first couple chapters I'll probably address that.

172937 172987
Yeah, for some reason when I uploaded this gdoc it made the entire chapter one massive block of text. I guess I just missed that when I was re-spacing all of the paragraphs. So both that and the ellipsis issue are fixed now.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Good chapter, there. I didn't notice anything amiss, myself. I like Spike behaving himself, too. Usually, he's a bit too... antagonistic to Trixie, in some other fics.

[PunkRoctorok]

I have two honest complaints that I think could use improvement. First after Trixie tells Twilight of her plans I believe you jumped too soon into Twilight's response. I think maybe a few sentences of mental introspection or describing expressions may have helped it sound better.

Secondly the paragraph when Trixie gets up from the table seemed repetitive. I think to ended the sentence with 'pancakes' two times consecutively.

Sorry if u sound nitpicky, otherwise chapter was good and I'm looking forward to cuteness.