Trix of the Trade - Chapter 17

>You are Anonymous.
>The next day comes nice and early.
>You and Trixie set out early in the morning to sign whatever needs to be signed for her big moment in a couple of days.
>As you expected, Trixie was not happy with the establishment. She deemed it inappropriate for a mare such as herself.
>You told her that it’s normal to start small and to do things that you’re not going to be proud of in a few years, but of course she thinks she’s above it all.
>The entire walk back to the wagon, she was a nightmare. Complaint after complaint after complaint. Then she would tell you that she was hungry and expected you to buy her something. When you didn’t, she would complain some more.
>She either eased up or tired herself out as the two of you approached the wagon.
>You’re so done with today, anyway. Trixie keeps saying something, but waking up early combined with Trixie’s nagging has made you already ready for a nap. Tuning her out right now is a breeze.
>You reach for the wagon door, only to be stopped by Trixie’s hoof on your knee.
>”Anonymous, are you even listening to Trixie!?”
>No, not really.
“Yeah, sure.”
>You look down at her wearing that hat and cape combo like a champ. You’ve come to the conclusion that Trixie wearing those childish things is cuter than it should be.
>”Then what time did you want to help Trixie practice for her show? Your help yesterday wasn’t nearly adequate enough, so you’ll need to improve sometime today!”
>You roll your eyes and look back to the door.
“I don’t know, Trixie. We’ll do it later.”
>”This is no time to be lax, Anonymous!” Trixie says while you open the door and step inside as she follows.

“I know, I know.” You say through a yawn. “But wouldn’t it be smarter to do this when we’re both ready?”
>Trixie follows and circles around you as you plop yourself down in a chair. You only manage to enjoy it for a second before Trixie uses magic to pull you back up by the collar.
“Hey, hey! Easy, now!”
>”Enough belly aching! You may be willing to throw the past five months of work away, but Trixie refuses to let that happen!”
“Don’t give me that, but whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”
>It’s now Trixie’s turn to roll her eyes as she  adopts a more defensive stance.
>”It is not something we merely ‘get over with’. Anonymous, I expect you to be helping me with every step of the way, whether Trixie needs it or not.”  You’re now rubbing your face with your hands in exhaustion and annoyance. “If you suddenly feel like no longer contributing, Trixie will find another one. Perhaps a stallion who’s smart and kno-“
“Yeah! Yeah, you’re right. Let’s just… do it.”
>”Don’t you get snippy with me! I’ll have you know I have over 300 confirmed…”
>Oh god. You stop listening to whatever she begins going on about.
>Arguing with Trixie is, as you very well know, like arguing with a brick wall. Except when you concede, the brick wall will continue to argue back for a long while.
>Trixie goes on and on about… whatever! You swear, one day she’s great, the next she’s down your fucking throat over the smallest things.
>And the worst part is that she’s right. Drinking a few cups of coffee and asking Trixie to start off with some easier stuff would been sufficient enough. Nah, you had to be lazy about it. Stupid correct Trixie.

>This was the cycle of things.
>Trixie would get mad and lecture you.
>Then you would ignore her and pretty much internally lecture yourself.
>You’re living the good life, you sup-
>Your thoughts are cut off as a warm cup is forced in between your lips. You feel only a few drops of the liquid enter your mouth, but that alone starts what feels like a slow motion explosion inside your head.
>You turn to look back a Trixie, who wears a smug grin as the cup floats next to her.
>Then your vision begins changing colors. Blue, purple, yellow, orange. The entire spectrum. This seems familiar in a way.
>It all becomes clear once your vision turns red and you belch fire.
>Trixie slipped some rainbow concentrate in you.
>As the fire passes, so do the rest of the symptoms.
>You sit in your seat, hunched over and clutching your forehead as your vision turn normal once more.
>”Are you listening now?”
“I… what?”
>”You have a nasty habit of tuning out when Trixie tries to engage in a simple conversation.”
>Conversations normally involve two parties.
>”… And, it hurts, sometimes…” She catches you off guard as her voice softens. “Anonymous, if we’re going to make this work, we need to communicate better. Both of us.”
>You’re now sitting at attention.
>Trixie brings a hoof to one of her temples and lightly massages it.
>”We’re… we’re off to a bad start, this morning. Let’s just move on and… and do what needs to be done.”

>Your only response is a light pat on her withers before you gesture her to lead you into her room, where she trained yesterday.
>She refuses, saying she can’t get too comfortable with one environment and opts to perform in the main room.
>After moving the table and chairs to a corner, Trixie casts the same spell she was working on yesterday. When she first started casting it, you noticed it took some effort from her. Now, it almost seems standard.
>Trixie starts off with a set of standard flashy spells. Sparks, conjuring floating wisps, and a few illusions.
>After every trick, she’d look to you in the corner, looking for some sort of approval. You’d give her a nod or a thumbs up before she returned to her magic.
>She would then begin on more complicated spells. Mirror images, gravity altering spells, transforming her hat into other objects, and her most enjoyable one, flaring her cape around her before disappearing behind it, only to appear next to you.
>She deserved a slow clap after that one.
>One question did worm its way into your mind, however.
>As Trixie recollects her cape, you ‘d think now is a better time than ever to pop it.
“Hey, Trixie?”
>”Mmm?” She responds while making sure her cape is on properly.
“Great job so far. But, uh…” You scratch your head in confusion. “Why am I here, again?”
>Trixie visibly stiffens at the question.
>”Trixie… that is, I… perform better with a pony I’m comfortable being around… I mean, it’s more than that, but… it’s complicated… because… unicorn magic!”
“… It’s complicated because of unicorn magic?” You answer with doubt dripping from your lips.
>”Of course, someone such as yourself wouldn’t understand!” She adds her signature ‘close my eyes and look up to the sky’ technique, which essentially means you’re going to get stonewalled here.

“Well, if you say so.” You say with a shrug. Answers would be nice, but not at the cost of another pointless argument or something.
>Trixie takes satisfaction in her victory before charging up another spell, but it is quickly interrupted by the opening of a non-visible door behind her.
>Vinyl has finally decided to wake up and walk in on the two of you.
>She freezes mid-yawn, started by her surroundings.
>”… Whoa. Am I still dreaming?”
“Did you seriously just wake up?” You ask with a hint of playful accusation.
>She only lightly chuckles as she pushes her glasses further onto her snout.
>”Lazy little…” Trixie whispers to herself.
>”Huh?”
>”Trixie said nothing.”
>”… Right. Hey,” Vinyl points a hoof at you. “Can we go get some grub?”
>Eh, why not? You’re starting to feel hungry.
“Sure, Trixie, you want to take a break t-“
>”Actually, uh…” Vinyl cranes her neck a little while pointing a hoof back and forth between the two of you.
“Oh! Oh, I, uh…”You look back to Trixie. “Hey, Trixie. Do you mind if I jump out for a bit?”
>She shoots an annoyed glare at you before turning away with a, “Hmph!”
>Shit.
“Sure, Vinyl. But let’s try to make this quick, alright?”
>”Yeah, no prob, dude.”
>You push yourself away from the wall and ask Trixie to remove the spell from the room.
>She does so with a look of disapproval and impatience. However, with the walls actually being visible now, you’re able to quickly find your jacket and throw it on as Vinyl exits your room with a plain green scarf wrapped around her neck.
>”Ready?”
>Indeed you are. You give her a thumbs up in response.

>About a half hour later, you and Vinyl sit down at a very modern looking café. Perfectly square building painted a clean white. The windows and general aesthetic pieces such as chairs and tables are shaped as skewed ovals.
>The ponies certainly wore color clothing as well. A good way to describe this place would be ‘hip’.
>You FEEL yourself getting old just by thinking of that word.
>Vinyl leads you inside, and places an order for something you’ve never heard of, but looks quite expensive, and sandwich, and some sort of fruity sounding drink.
>You, not being as hungry as a… well, as a Vinyl, only order a medium salad and the same drink Vinyl got.
>Vinyl then leads you to one of the tables outside. After all, it’s one of the few days in Fillydelphia where it doesn’t rain!
>You expect Vinyl to get right into whatever she wanted to talk about, but she ends up talking to every p0ny that walks by as if she knows them.
>It doesn’t take long to figure out that Vinyl DOES know them, in some way.
>Apparently, there was a big party and Vinyl has a knack for remembering faces.
>The most memorable encounter was when Vinyl approached a brown mare with black hair who wore a neon green glossy dress with large hoop earrings.
>”’Eeeeeeey! Bippity Boopdedooplelooppoopschute! … Wassup, girl?” She complimented with a few playful punches to the mare’s shoulder, who looked very unamused, you might add.
>The mare only rolls her eyes before regarding Vinyl.
>”Vinyl.” She says flatly.

>”Pssh. C’mon, you’re not still upset about last night, are ya? That was a kickin’ party, mare!”
>”Yeah, an’ everyp0ny is still talkin’ about YOU!”
>”Hehe, that’s awe-“
>”Not all of them in a good way.”
>”… Ah. Hehe, I did get out of control. You win some, lose some, have fun, then get some.”
>It sounded like Vinyl only extended on that old saying for the hell of it. It didn’t even really make sense.
>”If by fun, you mean taking over my booth for the night, then yeah, tons of fun.” The brown mare then looks over at you. “I hope you know what you’re getting into with this mare. She’s insane.”
>She begins walking away before Vinyl cuts off her path.
>Then Vinyl suddenly starts sweating a little.
>”H-Hey, come on… I know we had our differences and I… kinda bucked up but uh, could you ask your dad to-“
>”No! Move it, Scratch, or I’ll make sure you never work in this city again.”
>Vinyl backs off defensively.
>”Alright, alright… just think about it, aight?”
>The mare once again rolls her eyes as she walks into the café.
>Vinyl then returns to the table just as the food arrives.
>”Dude… I’m not even hungry, anymore… Okay, I am but… meh.”
”Yeah, what was the deal with that, anyway?” You say before taking a bite of your salad.

>”It’s kind of, you know,” She takes a bite of her sandwich. “Perfonal.”
>You can’t help but wince at her bad manners.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” You say quietly.
>”Uhn…” She swallows the bite in one big gulp. “Yeah, sorry. Anyway, can I keep trustin’ you to not tell Trixie about any of this?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
>”Cool, cool.” She takes a sip of her drink. Curious, you take a sip of yours. The most absurd mix of sour and sweet hit your taste buds like a fucking train, almost ejecting the drink from your lips. You somehow manage to set the cup down gently. “So, I woke up so late today ‘cus I was out until like, six in the morning. Somehwere around eleven last night, I hit up a club that looked pretty dope, and it totally was. Man, you should have been there!” Vinyl leans forward in her seat. “By the way, next chance we get, I’m taking you clubbin’. Shit’s fun. Anyway, so I’m in there, havin’ a good time, but I’m not having a GREAT time. So I find a few stallions who know how to have a good time, and took a few of their-“ Vinyl coughs, then clears her throat. “Uh, sorry… I mean, they offered me a few drinks, and stuff. And then I was having a REALLY good time, but it still wasn’t a GREAT time.”

>She cocks her head to the side a little.
>”You’re followin’ me so far, right?”
“Of course.” You say through more salad. Damn, this salad is good.
>”Aight. So, I’m like, wrackin’ my mind, wondering what in the heck is stopping this party from being great! Then it kinda hits me.” She firmly presses a hoof against her ear. “The music was crap, man. That mare I was just talking to. Her name is Bippity Bop, or something. I can’t really remember. Anyway, she thinks she’s hot stuff, but I was going to show her otherwise. So I…” Vinyl nervously rubs her neck. “I shoved her out of the way and started playing, myself.”
“Uh oh.”
>”It wouldn’t be so bad if… hold on, I’ll get to that. So I’m playin’, kickin’ flank. Everyp0ny is groovin’ and getting all sorts of high and low. Shit, there was an orgy in the back, I think.”
“Seriously? Gross.”
>”No way! Playing the soundtrack to an orgy is one of the most satisfying experiences a DJ can have! It’s just our thing.”
“Sure…”
>”Okay, so the party is awesome. More awesome than awesome. I’m essentially on top of the world again. Then, get this, some big ugly bouncer pulls me off my Celestia damned turntables! Well, not MY turntables, but-“
“I was wondering about those, actually. What happened?”
>She holds her hooves up defensively.


>”One thing at a time. So, instead of throwing me out, they bring me to the buckin’ owner of the club, standing next to whatsherface. As it turns out, the DJ before me is his bucking daughter! Like, daddy’s mare, much? She wasn’t even good. The only reason she had the gig was from relation!”
“So he threw you out, huh?”
>”Actually, he was gonna, but I sweet talked him into giving me a few gigs. You know, have a celebrity in the house, and junk.”
“Ohho, shit.”
>The both of your share a quick chuckle before she returns to her story.
>”Yeah, so it was going really smooth. Shitty Shoop or whatever was getting sooo pissed. Then, believe it or not, the owner flipped out over my rates! It’s like, he doesn’t even know who I am!”
“Did you try to negotiate?”
>”Nope. My rates are final. I’m selling all this,” She gestures to all of her. “For an awesome price… That came out wrong.”
“It did, but I understand. Still, you’re going to try to be flexible, Vinyl. You’re not in the best situation to be asking for a lot.”
>”Whaaat? Pssh. I’m the best DJ in Canterlot! I don’t NEED to be flexible. Anyone would be super stoked just to have me appear in their club!”
>For a moment there, you thought you were talking to Trixie.
“From what I hear, you USED to be the best DJ in Canterlot.”
>Vinyl flinches away from your words.

>”I’m only hitting a rough patch, dude. But,” She waves her hooves in front of her face. “We’re getting off-topic again. So like, the reason I wanted to talk to you was…” She sighs and begins slowly rubbing a hoof on the table to distract herself. “Can you… help me out?”
>What? You’re already housing her.
>”Help me out more, I mean. I’m totally already grateful that you’re letting me stay in your wagon. I need someone who can… talk. Someone like you, you know?”
>Ooooohh…
>Now THAT’S what she was aiming for.
“Vinyl… I’m not… as good as people seem to think I am.”
>”Whaaaat? Trixie told me how amazing you are at your job! She… she told me not to tell you, but-“
“Seriously? Did she say that?”
>”Yep!” If you could see behind those glasses, you would see that her eyes clearly say ‘no’. “You can’t doubt yourself, dude! You have a talent! And…” She slowly reaches a hoof across the table and lays it upon your own… You mean your hand. Shit, that scrambled your brain a little too much. “I would really, really appreciate it if you would help me out here.”
>Suddenly, this insane drink looks and tastes delicious. You pretend to look like you’re thinking as you sip on the drink, when your mind is a little blank at the moment. Really, Vinyl’s hoof on your hand is-Ooooohhh, she’s lightly stroking it. Not good.
>To avoid looking like a blushing idiot, you quickly make a decision.
“Yeah… Yeah, I’ll help you out. What are friends for, huh? Just uh,” You clear your throat. “Don’t, don’t tell Trixie about this, okay?”

>”Heh, a secret for a secret? Sounds good to me!” She withdraws her hoof and begins chowing down on her meal.
“So… when should I go meet this guy?”
>Vinyl takes a momentary reprieve to answer you.
>”I’ll make an appointment, or somethin’. For now, let’s eat!”
>That sounds like a really good idea.
>You begin chowing down on your salad as Vinyl does to her own food, yet she still manages to beat you by a few minutes.
>When the bill comes around, you pull out your coinpurse only for Vinyl to stop you.
>”Nuh-uh. I’m payin’ for this one.”
“Whaaat? Psh, you’re poor, and stuff.”
>”Oh yeah?” She levitates a coinpurse about the size of your own from seemingly nowhere. “I got a bunch of tips, last night. I at least owe you this meal.”
“Eeeh, you’re in a tough situation, so…”
>”Aw come on. Let me do this.”
>You lean back in your chair and ‘tsk’ contemplatively.
“I dunno… How about we split the bill?”
>”Are you sure? I think I should just pay for the whole thing.”
“Well, if you reall-“
>”Aah, you’re right.” She dismissively waves a hoof. “Splitting it would be the best option.” She quickly levitates less than half of what’s on the bill and places it on the table before sliding out of her seat to go talk to some ponies at another table.
>You can’t help but chuckle internally at how much Vinyl actually reminds of you Trixie, in some ways. They walk and talk different, but damn, it always feels like you’re getting the shit end of the stick. In a funny way, however.
>Is that possible?
>Who knows?

>A short while later, you and Vinyl make it back to the wagon. The entire way back she couldn’t wipe the goofy smile off her face. That is, until she saw Trixie. It was only a regular smile then.
>Trixie was still practicing magic once you returned, but oddly enough, it looked weak and forced, rather than easy and natural as it was this morning.
“Are you okay?” You called to Trixie from the other side of the room.
>Her concentration snapped, and whatever spell she was attempting quickly fizzled out, but not before colliding with a nearby wall and shaking some of the magical instruments that hung there.
>”Aah… Of course!”
“Hrm… You need a break.”
>Trixie raises her eyebrows in a doubtful manner.
>”And why would that be?”
“You’re looking a little weak with the magic, right now.” You take a few steps closer while tossing your jacket over the nearest chair. “You’ve been going since this morning, so take some time to rest.”
>Trixie takes a step back and looks down at her hooves.
>”That is… not entirely why Trixie’s magic is below par, right now.”
“Let me guess. Unicorn stuff?”
>”Precisely! … Oof.” Trixie hunches over. “Magic does take a lot out of even the strongest unicorns. Perhaps Trixie should take a moment to recover.”
“Right, do you want something to drink?”
>Trixie trots to the nearest wall and sits on her flank as she leans against it.
>”Water will be fine.”

>”Welp!” Vinyl calls from by the door. “Imma jump outta here. Catch you guys later.”
“Later, Vinyl.”
>Trixie only mumbles a response.
>”And Anon,” She winks at you. “Thanks again.”
>The wink catches Trixie’s attention as Vinyl exits the wagon.
>”What was that about?”
“Nothing to worry about.” You say while grabbing a cup from a nearby cabinet.
>And clearly, you messed up.
>Because when Trixie hears, ‘Nothing to worry about’.
>That’s when she begins to worry the most.