Trix of the Trade - Chapter 1

>You walk into Rarity’s Boutique, ready to retire for the night.
>The whole show was a disaster. Trixie may have been a huge bitch but no one deserves to be met with such… cruelty.
>”Daaarling, what were you doing out so late?”
>Great, you hoped Rarity would be asleep by now.
>Ever since you made Rarity the self-proclaimed, ‘Hottest Fashionista in Equestria,’ she has been acting as if she were your older sister.
>… Or a clingy girlfriend.
>You prefer to former.
“I went to that Trixie show thing.”
>Rarity bites her bottom lip to hold in a laugh, her eyes are watering. She looks like she’s about to burst.
>It takes a few seconds but she manages to calm herself down. Mostly.
>”I must admit, I’m shocked you were able to stay as long as you did. Aside from a few foals, nopony was impressed with her act last time she was here.”
“It was great for a while, at least. But it turned ugly after the crowd got bored.”
>”Tsk, you have to tell me all about it! I’ll put on a pot of tea and you can tell me everything.”
>You don’t find Rarity’s attitude towards situation very pleasant. She enjoys a little gossip just as much as the next pony but she may be getting a little too much pleasure from Trixie’s suffering.
>She leads you into the kitchen and you take a seat at the table.
>She takes the seat next to you and scoots a little closer.
>Her horn flares up with magic as a small teapot levitates to the sink.
>Once full, she then brings it to the stove, lights it, and places the lid over the top.
>”Okay, go!”

…
>2 hours ago.
>You’ve made your way into the town square.
>The show was about to start.
>At least, you think it was.
>A small crowd of maybe 20 or 25 ponies gathered around the large wagon-stage, many showing signs of impatience. Others annoyed.
>You sat down on the grass a short distance behind the crowd.
>Little Fillies and Colts were all hopping with excitement as the sun began to set.
>It reminds you of home on the 4th of July. Just before…
>WOOSH! Fireworks erupted from nearly every inch of the stage. Pinwheels, Piccolo Petes, Roman Candles, everything that made life wonderful came together in one glorious moment!
>Then, a large purple explosion of smoke erupted from the center of the stage. The smoke begins to gravitate towards the middle, you can see a figure of a pony silhouetted behind it.
>The pony silhouette sprawls its limbs out, the smoke flattens against the stage. The fireworks fizzle out, giving you a chance to bask in afterglow.
>And there she was, Trixie, surrounded by the purple glow of her magic. Levitating several feet above the stage. Eyes closed, smug grin, satisfied with her grand entrance.
>You were in awe, you’ve grown used to magic but you’ve never seen it used like this before.
>You wanted to cheer, you really did, but you would be the only one.
>Everypony, even the foals were dead silent. The fully grown equines only glared at her.
>She grimaces at this but regains her composure instantly.
>Trixie slowly descends onto the stage.
>”Greetings Everypony! I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, returns to Ponyville once more! Better than ever!”
>Her voice had an attractive brattyness to it. Perfect for an entertainer but you imagine holding a conversation with her would be impossible to bear.
>This time you give her an enthusiastic applause. Other ponies join you with a light, reluctant clopping.
>”Thank you… !” The lack of excitement from the crowd, aside from you, is putting a dent in her spirits.
>”Now, without further ado… Ahem.” A small flame ignites itself on the tip of her horn.
>”Let the show…” The flame freezes. Whoa, iced fire.
>”Begin!” The frozen flame rockets off her horn. Whoa, flying iced fire.
>Once you lose vision of the frozen fire, it explodes. Raining bright embers and reflective snowflakes upon the crowd.
>WHOA.
>You applaud again. Some stallion actually shushes you. Rude!
>Trixie begins popping out magic like mad.
>Teleportation, more explosions, transformation, you name it. Everything you wanted to do if you became a Wizard, she did it.
>But the townsponies couldn’t stand her. Some booed and hissed; others just got up and walked off.
>And just like fireworks, her act fizzled out as well.
>Trixie started doing elementary magic.
>Making flowers appear out of thin air, pulling a rabbit out of her hat. This was getting embarrassing.
>More and more ponies were leaving.
>She’s had enough of it.
>”You there! Why do you leave? Do you honestly believe you’re better than The Great and Powerful Trixie?!”
>The Earth Pony she gestured to scoffed and continued walking away.
>Trixie started going insane, she screamed at every pony that was walking away.
>”YOU! AND YOU! GET BACK HERE AND SHOW ME WHAT MAKES YOU SO MUCH BETTER THAN ME! DON’T YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! I AM TRIXIE, THE MARE OF MAGIC!”
>A couple Stallions in front of you were snickering.
>”Hey Triiiixieee!”
>They toss a few bits onto the stage.
>”How about a real show, huh? Why don’t ‘cha take off that cape and show us that flank!”
>The remaining audience cheered at this. Bunch of assholes.
>Trixie’s face turned red.
>”Trixie would… Trixie would never... Aaaaaugh!”
>She collected the few bits and disappeared in a bright flash.
>”Aww, guess the show’s over.” You heard a mare say through a laugh.
>The few remaining ponies finally dispersed, leaving you alone with the empty stage.
>You sat there for a few minutes. You hoped Trixie would return with a marvelous fireworks show or something.
>But, nothing.
>You push yourself to your feet, it’s getting late.
>But you don’t want to face Rarity, she gets a little worrisome when you stay out past sunset.
>You decide to take the long way back to Rarity’s Boutique. You’d rather not face her bickering tonight.
***
“And that’s pretty much it.”
>Judging by the expression on Rarity’s face, she was amused by all this.
>”Serves her right after how she lied and belittled all of Ponyville.”
>She couldn’t have done anything all that bad, right?
“What did she do anyway?”
>”Oh she came into town, caused a little ruckus, lied to everypony’s faces, and nearly destroyed the town.”
“Oh. Wait, what? How’d she almost destroy the town?”
>”Well I suppose it wasn't directly her fault. Trixie told everypony she had vanquished an Ursa Major. Naturally, ponies were curious. A pair of colts went into the Everfree Forest one evening and managed to find one. Well, it was only an Ursa Minor but-“
“So it wasn’t her fault? Those little Colts did that!” You raised your voiced a little bit.
>Rarity recoils a little.
>You don’t normally become this aggravated about anything.
“Ugh.” You bring a hand to your forehead. “Sorry, it was just really messed up how they treated her. I guess it kinda got to me.”
>”Oooh~,” She lets out an excited squeal as she cuddles up to your side, “You’re just a gentlecolt with a heart of gold, aren’t you dear?”
>Yeah, clingy girlfriend was a lot more accurate than older sister.
>The two of you sat there for minutes, enjoying each other's touch.
>You have no romantic interest in ponies quite yet but you really do enjoy Rarity’s embrace. Let’s face it, you’re lonely. You’ve been through the, ‘Last of my species’ phase already. Isolation, anger, depression, suicidal thoughts. Hah, that was a fun week.
>Now it’s just… whatever. It is what it is.
>But it still bothers you, being alone. Rarity helps but the thought still makes you restless.
“I’m go-“
>”Anonymous, I-“
>Rarity gives you and apprehensive look.
>”Uh, you first.” Now she’s blushing a little.
“Um… I’m going for a walk”
>”Oh, don’t you think it’s a little late for that? You’ll catch a cold or-“
“Rarity, I’ll be fine. What was it you wanted to say?”
>”N-nothing, dear. Just… ” She lowers her head. “Remember to bundle up.”
“Alright, thanks.”
>You get up to leave. Rarity is upset about something.
>Ugh, why are you pretending you don’t know exactly what it is?
>You’re convinced your problems are so much more important than hers though.
>You grab your coat hanging from the coat rack by the front door.
>You stop yourself just before exiting the building.
“Are you sure there’s nothing you’d like to talk about?” You call out.
>She gives you a dismissive wave as she gets off her seat.
>You swear you can hear the clinking of glass as you close the door behind you.
“Fuck, it is cold.” You slip on your coat and walk towards the town square for the second time today.
>The walk is quiet. Peaceful. The streetlamps lit what Luna’s moon didn’t.
>You arrive at your destination and, to your disappointment, Trixie’s stagewagon thing has disappeared.
>You suddenly have no idea why you were out here. You’re tired, cold, and a little hungry.
>You turn around to go back to the Boutique.
>Yelling. You hear some slurred yelling off in the distance.
>Ah, Berry Punch must be at it again. It’s nothing new.
>So why are you following the yell- No, singing.
>Yes, that is definitely singing.
>And it’s coming from the Ponyville General store.
>You round a corner and you see her. The Great and Powerful Trixie, drunk off her ass in the middle of the street.
>And singing.
>Horribly.
>“Cigarette ashes buuuuurn reds!”
>“And they… fall like snow fall!”
>This is… horrible. You should just go.
>”Hey! Hey hey ‘ey! Who’s there? “
>Uh oh.
>”You tha’ ugly stallion from… from before?”
Uhhh…
>She approaches you, a bottle of ‘Boer’s Brand Brandy’ is orbiting around her.
>”You s-said you wanted a show? Trixie can give ya more than thats for 30 b-“
>She’s finally close enough to get a good look at you. How you were mistaken for a horse is baffling.
>”What… You’re that… Humen thing, right?”
“Human. And, yeah.”
>”Whatever, you were at her show today, right? Yeah you were absolutely there!” She takes a big swig of Brandy.
>”So what are you doing here? You wanna laugh at me? Or call me a slut? Well buck you, Trixie is a virgin!”
>What, whoa. You rarely hear ponies swear and you NEVER hear them talk about… that.
>And didn't she JUST offer... never mind.
“Hey, I only came over because I heard singing and I was curious.”
>”Phbbbt, Trixie thinks you're lying!”
>An awkward silence, at least for you, followed. You try to strike up a conversation.
“So, I really liked your show…”
>”You did!? Uh, everypony does. Today was just… just a fluke.”
>She looks at you quizzically.
>”Yeah… Now Trixie remembers you! Trixie was gonna quit her show way earlier but she saw you and you were having fun and my mom once told me something do you want to hear it?”
“Sure.”
>”… Trixie forgots.”
>She looks at you, all over you.
>”So what’s it like being an…”
“An alien?” Ugh, she HAD to talk about this?
>”No! Um… I, or uh, Trixe mean yes. Haha, it must be terrible. It must suck soooooo terrible.”
“It does but it's something I've leaned to deal with."
>"Oh yeah!"
>She's loud enough to take up the entire neighborhood.
>"Trixie's mom told her that if an entertainer could put a smile on just one pony's face then it all becomes worthwhile."
"Your mother sounds very sm-"
>"Too bad Trixie only got the human to smile!"
>She takes another big swig of brandy.
>She loses her balance. You try to catch her but she's falling in the opposite direction.
>She hits the ground with an audible SMACK, the bottle of brandy shortly follows and shatters against the road.
>Trixie lets out an annoyed groan.
>You help her steady herself as she tries to get to get hooves.
>You squat down to her eyelevel.
"Do you need help getting to your wagon?"
>"No..."
>You release you grip on her body, she immediately beings to tip over.
>You catch her before she can fall again.
>"Maybe a little."
"Where is it?"
>"Juts outside of town, you can't miss it."