> Trick and The Sunset > by Redbook > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The low glow of the tavern’s light was just perfect at showing Sunset Shimmer’s mood, gloomy. This was her first time back to Equestria since she came back to take the Element of Magic from Twilight a few years ago. She was glad that Twilight helped her with a few major flaws in life, but that still didn’t stop her from disliking her. She was meant to be Celestia’s student, not her. Feeling the need to get away from the world, she found this tavern just outside of Canterlot. It seemed that Celestia had moved the portal back and even had placed it in her old room. Seeing her room just drove her out to this old looking tavern. Sunset found herself a nice seat at the bar and ordered a tall mug of harder cider. It wasn’t long before another mare with a blue coat and a two toned blue mane joined her. The new mare was odd, kept talking in the third person and ordered more and more cider. Sunset chose to ignore her while she went on her own bender of sorts. Night slowly made its way, Sunset was loving the cider more and more. She was even getting bolder in ordering her drinks, getting them stronger at times. The mare next to her had her head laying down on the bar, in the next moment however she jumped up. “I, the great and powerful Trixie, really really really dislikes Twilight Sparkle!” And with that, she took a big swig of her drink. Feeling somewhat woozy in her head and hearing that someone else disliked Twilight, she let out a cheer and downed her mug. The bar pony told the two mares that there was no more hard stuff and let them drink the rest of their cider. Sunset didn’t care at this point, she was just happy to have something still coming to her to drink. Looking back at the other mare, she just now noticed that she was a unicorn just like her. It was now at this time that she really looked at her, the blue mare was kind of cute. Sunset didn’t know if it was really her thinking that or the cider she had been drinking. Trixie looked over at Sunset and motioned with a hoof for her to move closer. Sunset, feeling bold from the drinks she had, moved closer to Trixie. Sunset’s heart started being to beat a little faster now, while Trixie held up her mug of cider. “To disliking Twilight Sparkle!” Grinning like a foal, she banged her mug with Trixie’s and they both finished them off happily. “Trixie, right?” Sunset asked wishing to make sure that she heard the name right. “Yes, this is I…” Trixie hiccuped. “The great and powerful Trixie. What is your name, mare with lovely mane of the fiery sun?” Trixie smiled and sipped her drink a bit, waiting for Sunset’s reply. “Sunset Shimmer and you flatter me with your kind words, Trixie. I think we should leave here before we pass out, safer to pass out in a room with locks to keep us safe.” She smiled and wobbled around in her seat a bit. Trixie nodded and both mares used each other for stability to walk to the upstairs rooms. Sunset had one on hold for her in case she became too drunk to make it back to her old room. After some stumbling, the two mares finally got into the room with only Trixie falling the wrong way once. Sunset had closed the door and locked it with an audible click. The room was a simple one, it had a bed, nightstand, lamp, and a dresser. Off to the side of this room was a bathroom. Sunset and Trixie looked at each other as they took a seat on the floor, grinning like little foals before they both passed out while cuddling to each other. Sunset Shimmer’s eyes slowly opened and closed back again as the bright light from the sun assaulted her. It kind of hurt her eyes and the pounding in her head from her hangover was a little more than she cared for. Feeling the warm lights of the sun was really good and then that was when she felt something nuzzling close to her. At first she just let it happen, it was feeling nice having a pony cuddling and nuzzling to you. It made her feel welcome and safe, something which she hadn’t felt in a long time. Then came a wet spot on her side where she felt the nuzzling, whoever it was, was now drooling on her. Once again Sunset Shimmer open her eyes to see the mare from the bar last night drooling on her. The blue mare was sleeping with her head resting on Sunset’s side. Sunset slowly moved, causing Trixie to reach out with a hoof and hold onto her. Sunset looked down at the mare and giggled as she sleepily mumbled, “Great and powerful… cuddle ponies.” If it weren’t for the splitting headache, this would have been a cute moment. Working herself free of the blue mare’s hold, she used her magic to get a shower ready, somepony told her once that a nice shower works wonders with hangovers. Once Sunset got into the shower, the warm water felt really great. Letting her mind drift to things that it needed to contemplating, it landed on something that might cause problems. She woke up on the floor with another mare sleeping next to her and using her as a pillow. A hoof went to her face and she let out a long sigh. “What happened last night?” As Sunset’s mind raced at what all could have happened last night, there was a knock at the bathroom door. Poking her head out of the shower she asked, “Yes?” “Can I come in to use the sink to wash my face?” The voice was nothing but a low whisper over the sound of the running water. “Oh, um, sure. I don’t care. We are just two mares.” The door slowly opened with and a little giggle met her from the comment. Sunset was kind of surprised at how different the mare sounded from last night. “So your name is Sunset Shimmer if memory serves me right?” “That would be me and if I recall, your name is the great and powerful Trixie.” “Just Trixie would be fine, and sorry about drooling on you.” Now it was Sunset’s turn to giggle. “It’s fine, I don’t know how we got there. But it beats waking up to a stallion you don’t know.” “I don’t think we did much or anything at all. The last thing I remember was walking into the room with you.” “Then you remember more than I do, I don’t even recall leaving the bar really.” This got both mares to giggle. They both seemed glad that nothing serious happened between them last night. That was never really a good way make new friends and that is what Sunset Shimmer really deep down wanted. “Yes, but I am glad that I did bump into you. I don’t think I would make it back to the place I’m staying at for the moment.” The sink had been turned off a while back, but Trixie had not left the bathroom. It seemed like she was just enjoying talking to Sunset. Finishing her shower, Sunset took a towel to dry off. Walking out, her mane dropped down and gave a very lovely frame around her face. Trixie’s face turned a little red and she looked away in hopes of not getting caught staring at Sunset like that. “The shower is free if you need it. Trust me, it feels good after sleeping on the floor all night.” Trixie just nodded and followed Sunset out to the bedroom. Sunset was too busy drying her mane with the towel to notice that Trixie’s face was blushing. Trixie was what most called a fillyfooler, most ponies didn’t mind fillyfoolers though. But there were a few who were dead set against them. Trixie thought that Sunset was cute and would really love to get to know her better. She even wished that she could date her. After a few minutes, Trixie decided to take up the offer on having a nice shower. Her magic got everything going while she also pulled out a towel to dry off with later. It didn’t take long for it all to get ready. Steam was wafting out of the the little chamber, Trixie loved a nice hot shower. While Trixie was getting in, Sunset was looking at the window while she let the sun dry her mane for a bit. The world was in full swing, ponies were rushing around from place to place. It reminded her of the other world that she had spent a few years living in. Remembering how people would run around in the same matter. She gave a little giggle at how both that and this world had so much in common. She was beginning to miss a few things of that other world like having hands, they were, in her opinion, so much better than having hooves. Letting out a light sigh, Sunset was also missing the friends that Twilight had helped her make. There was this one girl that she really wished to see again. She was that world’s version of Trixie, after the events of the Fall Dance all those years back, Sunset didn’t have the heart to ask her out. Fearing that she would be rejected for all the evil things she had done. Lost in her thoughts, Sunset didn’t see that Trixie came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her head to hold up her mane. There was a small cough that brought Sunset back to the room. “Oh sorry, Trixie. I didn’t hear you get out of the shower. Was it as good as I told you?” Sunset turned around with a smile on her face. “Oh it was wonderful. It did feel nice after waking up on the floor. I wanted to thank you for letting me crash in here with you last night.” Trixie couldn’t help but smile back at Sunset, her smile was warmer than any sunset she had ever seen. “Oh it was nothing. Couldn’t let a fellow drunk mare walk out of here. You never know when a stallion would come up and take you back to their place.” Sunset gave a light chuckle at the little joke. Trixie nodded and giggled a bit. “That would be not good for me. I… um, don’t have a good track record with stallions.” Trixie looked out the window next to Sunset, trying to keep her from seeing her face. “Oh I know what you mean about that. I tried dating a stallion once, things didn’t work out between us. So I tried the other option I had to chose from.” Sunset sighed and looked over at Trixie. “Sorry for bothering you with such things. I don’t know why, but I feel safe talking to you.” Trixie smiled and nodded a bit. “Don’t be sorry, I’ve never dated anypony before. It seems like not many enjoy it when you announce yourself with ‘I the great and powerful Trixie’ a lot. It seems to be a turnoff.” Sunset giggled and looked away. “I thought it was rather cute, but I can see why some might feel turned off. So you talked like that all the time before?” “It was more than I like to admit, but I have to try to change.” Trixie looked down, feeling kind of ashamed of what she had done in the past. She felt a hoof pull her into a hug, Trixie could feel the warmth coming from Sunset. Sunset had told Trixie how she made her feel safe, but now the tables had turned and now it was Sunset who was making Trixie feel safe. “Don’t look down Trixie, we all made mistakes in the past. I know that I have done a few things in the past that I am truly ashamed of. But we must learn to move on,” she said, giving Trixie a gentle rub on her side to show her that somepony cared. Sunset didn’t want to admit it, but Trixie did look kind of cute when she looked a little sad. Trixie looked up at Sunset and covered her mouth with a hoof to stop the giggles from getting out. Sunset’s mane had gone from laying down and framing her face to a giant fuzzball. Sunset Shimmer blinked and looked at the window to see her reflection, she didn’t have the same willpower to hide her giggles. She fell back onto the floor, laughing her flank off. They wanted to stay in the room and just talk more, but each of them had places to be and things to do. They both promised to meet up later in the day at a small cafe which would be a little better than the bar. Neither wanted to wake up the next morning wondering what happened the night before. Sunset was sitting at the table of a little cafe, she had gone back long enough to Celestia and Twilight that she was going to be out with a new friend and might not be back till tomorrow. They had questioned her and she just gave in, not really feeling like coming up with some lie that would come back to bite her in the flank. They both looked at each other and then back to Sunset, before they both bursted out laughing and pushing her out the door. Before the door came closing on her, they told her to have fun on her date. “It’s not a date!” She realized too late that the door was closed and they were gone out of earshot of her yelling. So now she found herself at the cafe early, she did try to kill some time by having a little spa visit. She felt that she wanted to look nice for Trixie, she didn’t really know why though. The waiting staff kept giving her odd looks as she just sat there, not ording till Trixie got there. She didn’t want Trixie to feel like she kept her waiting so long. When Trixie showed up, Sunset Shimmer’s jaw fell open and had to use a hoof to close it. Trixie had her mane done up and it gave her a look that Sunset could not put into words. Which in her mind was a good thing, this was just two friends having a meal at a cafe together. Even though Sunset wouldn’t mind it being a date, but that was for her to know. “I’m so sorry for running late. I hope that I haven’t keep you waiting her long.” “Oh you are fine, Trixie. I just got here myself not that long ago. You look really nice.” Sunset was trying to play it cool, hoping that Trixie would just take it as a friend saying something nice. “Oh…” Trixie’s face lit up a little red and she looked away. “I didn’t do much. Just used a little shampoo and whatnot when I got home. I could say that you look amazing, someone might think you are here to meet one lucky stallion.” Both of them giggled at that, but each had a different reason for it. Trixie giggled because she hoped that Sunset wasn’t here to do just that, while Sunset giggled because she was here to meet a lovely mare. They both couldn’t bring themselves to look at each other in fear of the other finding out their feelings, but soon there was a cough and both mares turned to look at an uptight waiter. Trixie let out a meep and jumped to her seat in a flash. Sunset had to turn away to giggle a bit, Trixie did have a very cute meep. “Please forgive me. I had not wished to disturb you, but the other customers were getting worried. What may I get you two lovely ladies this night?” He may have looked like he was uptight, but the way he spoke to them was one of worry. “I would like a soup.” Sunset ask not wanting to eat lot in front of Trixie. “Which soup, ma’am?” “The soup of the day I guess.” The waiter took notes of the order and then looked over at Trixie and waited for her to place her order. “Oh… I will just have what she is having.” Trixie was kind of lost in her own thoughts to really think of what she want to eat. She just kept looking over at Sunset and was finding it hard to take her eyes off her. The way Sunset’s mane glowed in the lowlight of the cafe and if it was not enough, there was a sweet scent coming from her. It was so intoxicating. “Okay, please enjoy the evening as we prepare your meal.” With that being said, the waiter took a bow and left to fill their odd order. They looked at each other for a while, it took some time before one of them had the nerve to say something to break the silence. “What is the soup for today?” Trixie asked while she moved her head to look down at the table. “I wish I knew, I just didn’t know what else to order.” Sunset giggled and looked around trying to find something else to talk about. There had to be something they had in common besides their dislike of Twilight Sparkle. As she was looking around, a little colt came running up to Trixie, smiling from ear to ear. “Mommy, look it’s the great and powerful Trixie.” The colt was, by Sunset’s guess, about maybe six years old. She looked to see how Trixie was handling the little colt. Her eyes shot open wide as Trixie had started doing some tricks with her magic. The colt fell back on his flank and cheered as Trixie did a few small tricks. Sunset joined in on the cheering with the colt as Trixie finished up the last trick. The mother came up next to the colt and was bowing to Trixie and saying she was sorry for her son coming up to her. Trixie smiled and gave the colt a little ruffle of his mane. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. I like doing tricks for fillies and colts, they never seem to get bored of the simple tricks.” Trixie had a smile on her face that seemed so real, it wasn’t fake for the mother or the colt. Trixie seemed to really have enjoyed doing some tricks for the young pony. Once the colt and his mother had left, Trixie let out a long sigh. Sunset giggled at that. “Did those little tricks wear the great and powerful Trixie out?” Trixie looked up and slowly nodded. “I am, some of those tricks may seem easy, but they take a lot of focus to do.” Trixie grinned and giggled. “But it was well worth the effort to see a young colt enjoying the show. Can I tell you something, Sunset?” Sunset nodded and leaned in to listen, which caused Trixie to giggle more. “Well I used to do shows and tricks to boost my ego, but after a while of being laughed out of town after town, I just wanted to do a show for the children. And after a while I just did children shows cause I felt better about what I did.” Sunset smiled and nodded to Trixie, she could tell that Trixie had found the true meaning of her cutie mark. That her thinking about her cutie mark, she at one point remembered what it meant. That was till she got lost in her quest for something that was never meant for her. Before her thoughts could get any lower, there was a little clatter as two bowls of soup were placed on the table. “Your soup is served.” He took a bow and was gone, leaving Trixie and Sunset to look at each other. So for most of the meal, they didn’t really talk to each other. Trixie finished off the last of her soup and looked up to see that Sunset hadn’t really touch hers. “Are you okay, Sunset?” Trixie was a little worried about her, Sunset looked up and gives her a smile. “Of course I’m fine, just have few things on my mind.” “You can tell me. I would be glad to help out a good friend of mine.” Trixie gave a reassuring smile. Sunset took a deep breath, trying to think of how to tell Trixie that she may have a crush on her and that she would like to date. “Well there is this mare that I met. She is very beautiful and is very sweet.” As Sunset talked about this unknown mare, Trixie’s heart began to sink. She guessed that some other mare beat her to the punch in winning Sunset’s heart, but she just nodded her head. “I just don’t know how I can tell her my feelings. Oh did I forget to say that she has this really lovely blue coat?” Then Trixie’s heart jump up and back into her chest so now it could try to break free of it. “I… I think she would be happy that you had the guts to say how you truly feel and not hide it. And she may have the same feelings as well.” Trixie’s face was burning hot red, her blue mane didn’t hide it well anymore or at all. Sunset took note of what showed in front of her, she tried to hide the fact that it was Trixie she was talking about. Taking in one final last breath, she held it in for a little too long. Her head was getting light, so she was now breathing rapidly to get enough air back into her. “Okay here goes nothing. Trixie I may have only known you for a day, but I feel like I know you better than any other mare in this world. I think that you are truly beautiful and I don’t know why you don’t have a special somepony yet. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I would forever happy if you would be my marefriend.” Sunset’s face was glowing brighter than the sun. Trixie felt like she could’ve moved on the the next life, the girl like Sunset Shimmer had just asked her out. Her mind was screaming yes after yes, but her mouth just hung open as it tried to move to form to word yes. Sunset began to worry as Trixie hadn’t said anything yet or seemed to breathe. Trixie’s body was frozen as her mind was jumping around with her heart, but soon Trixie found her voice. “Yes...” she squeaked, before passing out right there. It seemed she had stopped breathing for a bit there. When Trixie came to, she found Sunset standing over her with a look that was mixed with joy and worry. “You had me so worried, Trixie. I didn’t want to think I lost my new marefriend right after I asked her out.” Trixie slowly got back to her hooves and smiled. “I’m sorry to have worried you so much. I guess I was just shocked and overjoyed that you asked me out. I have been wanting to do the same from the moment you walked out of the shower.” She slowly moved to Sunset to give her a nuzzle, but stopped, afraid that it just might’ve been too soon to be doing that. Her fears vanished as soon as Sunset moved closer and gave her nuzzle and a light kiss on the cheek. “That is the best kiss you get right now. Don’t scare me again and the next one might be on the lips.” This caused Trixie to blush madly now, but this time she didn’t try to hide it like last time. She was with her new marefriend and didn’t have to be scared to show this side of her. “I would like that.” Trixie’s was voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe we should see those movies that some of the ponies around town have been talking about?” “I think that would be a good second date.” Sunset grinned as Trixie blinked. “Second date, but we ha-” Trixie was cut off by a well timed kiss on the lips. Sunset moved in closer to Trixie’s ear and whispered, “I think the dinner would count as a first date.” They both giggled and walked out of the cafe as a group of ponies had come to see what had happened. They left a nice tip for the waiter for being nice to them. They made their way down the street with dreams of a wonderful life with each other, if they could have it their way.