Trix of the Trade - Chapter 28

>You are Trixie, you think.
>And you’re not alone, you think.
>You slowly become conscious but not quite lucid, with a pounding head and a huge tension lifted from your entire body. Whatever you did, it was amazing.
>And you’re basking in the warmth of something else’s body against your backside. It’s such a relaxing feeling to experience again, one that you’ve been craving for some time.
“Mmmhm, Anonymous.” Slips out with just a whisper.
>But it was clearly loud enough to stir him from his slumber, as his hooves and coarse coat of hair brush against you.
>No.
>Wait, no.
>That’s not right.
>”Uuhh?” You hear a quiet, somewhat feminine groan.
>Your eyes shoot open. Memories of last night rush into you like a freight train, and hits twice as hard.
>You wrench your head almost a full hundred and eighty degrees to confirm your fears.
>Rainbow Dash stares at you with the same expression you wear. You’re both stunned silent, until you realize the two are still spooning.
“G—“
>”Get the heck off of me!”
>Rainbow Dash pushes you off the couch you were sleeping on and you fall to the shaggy carpet on your back.
>You quickly spring to your hooves and panic.
“Where are we?”
>”What—HOW did this happen?!”
“Why can I remember every detail of last night?!”
>”What did you do to me?”
“When… I, I didn’t do anything!”
>”Hooh god… I thought I got through this phase after Flight School.”
“Clearly not, you somehow seduced… I mean… we… this is all your fault!”
>”You drugged me!”
“I did not!”

>”Did too!”
“Did not!”
>”Then why did everything get so funny after that drink you got me!”
“I did nothing to—“
>Wait, the drink. Everything started spinning after that. Right after that. You didn’t switch the cups, did you? No, Rainbow Dash was drugged too. But, what… could it be?
>Could Vinyl Scratch have drugged both drinks? What is she playing at?!
“Maybe if you used your inferior little brain, you’d realize I was drugged too! Someone got the both of us.”
>Rainbow Dash glares at you, still suspicious.
“And besides, don’t flatter yourself. Even if I were into mares, I wouldn’t aim for ‘below-average’.”
>Her hoof slaps you across the cheek.
>”Shut up, okay?! Let’s just… think this through for a second.”
“There’s nothing to think through. We were drugged, probably by some…” You can’t tell her the truth. If you told her Vinyl did it, she’d also be suspicious of you. “Some desperate stallion who couldn’t talk to a couple mares like us without spilling his spaghetti.”
>”His what?”
“It’s something Anonymous says.”
>”Oh… heh, I bet that scummy little stallion is feeling like crud right now.”
“Hm?”
>”Because we started feeling each other up before even glancing at him… Hah…”
“… Did we do that on stage somewhere? Because I recall—“
>”Yeah. We did. I think someone threw a bit in my eye.”
“And… then I kissed it to make it feel better.”
>”Let’s stop talking about last night.”
“Agreed.”

>Rainbow Dash sighs before she slides off the couch and onto the floor. You finally get a chance to see your surroundings.
>You’re in an unfamiliar place, but it’s clearly a lavish hotel room. The walls are beige tone with mahogany furniture and off-white trim. A large window sits on the opposite side of the hotel room door. Just from this far away, you can tell you are very high up in the building. In the bedroom off to the side, you can see a clearly unused bedroom, a very fancy one at that. This must have, or will cost someone a lot.
>”Hhh… okay, we need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
“I’m going to shower, find Anonymous and leave Manehatten.”
>”Yeah, a shower sounds really nice.”

>Skimming over the physical confrontation for getting the shower first, you and Rainbow Dash are taking a silent ride down the elevator in awkward silence.
>”… I’m sorry about hitting you in the face.”
“Shut up.” You snap back. Because it’s irrelevant and in the past. “And we must worry more about what the hotel clerk is going to do when he finds out we can’t pay them for the room.”
>”Wha—Ah, crap. I didn’t even think about that!”
“Don’t worry. Trixie has a foolproof plan to get us out of here without incident.”
>”Well it beats running out on the bill.”
>Oh, shoot.
“Erm… that was Trixie’s idea.”
>”Well come up with a better one!”
“Fine, fine! Trixie shall use some of her sensual charm on this pony. Then, we’ll be able to slip out while he’s utterly seduced.”
>Dash stares at you in disapproval.
>”Really.”
“Tch, do you have any better plans?”
>”I don’t know, maybe I could try explaining that I’m, like, An Element of Harmony. I could probably use that to my advantage. Maybe.”
“You’ve never used your position to your advantage, have you?”
>”No, not really…”
“Then don’t. I don’t want you screwing this up. Come ON! THIS STUPID ELEVATOR IS TAKING—“ Ding! “Oh! It’s about time.”
>You shift your withers and stick your nose in the air before trotting out. You continue moving towards the exit, but skew ever so slightly towards the check-in desk. You take one look at it and,
>It’s a mare at the counter.
>…
>Well it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve tried to seduce a mare. Hahaaaaaa, oh last night was a nightmare.
>”Oh, miss Lulamoon?” She calls out.
>Your nerves strike you like a bolt of lightning. It’s like your first time on stage again, except you’re not throwing up yet.
“Y-yes Ms… ahem, good morning. How may The Great and Powerful Trixie assist you?”
>”We wanted to catch you before you left, miss. You left—“
“Left in such a hurry? Ah, I apologize but me and my… companion were in such a hurry last night.”
>”It’s nothing to worry about. We just didn’t have time to give you back—“
“But, alas, her and Trixie had a tremendous fight and a tragic breakup. One we will never recover from.”
>”Yes, we had several noise complaints.”
>Rainbow Dash retches behind you.
“However, that also means Trixie is single…”
>You drift a hoof towards the clerk, but she’s completely oblivious.
>”Well that’s unfortunate. Anywhoozil, here’s your change!” The pony lifts a hotel branded bag onto counter with what sounds like bits, and the bag is almost as big as your head.
“Wha… huh?”
>”You gave the gentlecolt too many bits last night for the penthouse. We thought we’d give you the change, first chance we saw you.”
>”How many?!” Dash is now floating above you with a bewildered expression.
>“Two-hundred n’ sixty-nine!”
>You begin to hyperventilate.

“Two—How?!”
>”Erm, you paid more than—“
“I know but…” You shake your head and look towards Rainbow Dash. “How did we…”
>”I don’t remember. But, maybe we should turn it in. I don’t think it’s—“
>On a whim, you face the clerk again with a large smile plastered on your face.
“Oooohoho, yes! I apologize, sometimes alcohol… you know! I’ll just take this…”
>The clerk giggles as you take the bag into your hooves.
>”What are you doing?!”
“Shut up.” You hiss through your teeth. “Ahem, we’re checking out now. We hope you have a wonderful afternoon.”
>”Thank you, and you too!”
>You and Rainbow Dash leave the hotel, which looks even larger and more lavish on the outside. Once on the edge of the road, you quickly hail and empty cab.
>”What are you doing?!”
“Trying to find Anon!”
>”That’s not our money!”
“… It might be.”
>”Then where did we get it?”
“I don’t know! Maybe… ugh, maybe we don’t remember everything as clearly as we thought we did. I can hardly stomach to imagine what we missed…”
>”Don’t even make me think about that… Okay, maybe if we go back to my hotel room, we might get some answers from my friends.”
“What makes you say that?”
>”I remember a big blur, but I remember purple, pink, yellow, white and orange being in that blur.”
>Is she serious?
>”Don’t look at me like that! It’s not like we have any better ideas.”
>You grumble at the reality of it. Everything. But mostly her statement.
“Fine.”
>You climb into the cab cart and Rainbow Dash gives directions to the pony pulling the cart. It takes way too long with all the traffic, but you eventually make it to the hotel. After throwing the taxi puller a few bits from the bag, both you and Dash race into and up the building, until you finally reach her room.
>The dread of seeing all of Anon’s friends bores into you, but as the door cracks open, you’re quite pleased to see half of them in a pathetically hungover state, and the rest passed out. Applejack and Twilight were up, looking awfully tired, Rarity and Fluttershy are passed out on the bed and you can hear Pinkie Pie vomiting in the bathroom.
>”Uh… morning?” Rainbow Dash looks around the room, as confused as you are.
>”Oh, thank goodness. You’re fine.” Twilight’s voice and facial expression don’t come off as relieved. You almost think she’s being sarcastic until she mumbles, “Now I can go back to sleep without worrying.”
>Twilight crawls into bed and begins to snore the moment her head hits the pillow.
>Applejack chuckles before approaching the two of you.
>”You two look like y’all had fun last night.”
>”Yeah, you too. What happened?”
>”You don’t remember?”
“We’re… retracing our steps.”
>”To find out how things went so badly.”
>”Huh? How bad?”
“Shh!” You nudge Rainbow Dash.
>”Uh… really bad. Like, ‘I don’t want to go into detail’ bad.”
>”Gotcha. Pretty sure your lips will be loose the next time we do this. Speakin’ of, where’s Anon and his unicorn friend?”
“Trixie is right here!”
>”Not you. The, um, pretty white one that wasn’t Rarity. Blue hair, n’ whatnot.”
>Hmph. You’re just as pretty, if not exponentially greater so.
>”Vinyl Scratch. Pinkie’s friend! So they were both here? Then we could probably find them together!”
>Oh.
>Oh no, no, no. You don’t want to hear anything about those two being together. Bleh, she likely persuaded Anon to kiss her, or something of that manner.
>”Maybe. Have you tried Trixie’s little wagon yet?”
“No!”
>”Why not?”
“Because,” You haven’t even thought of it. “It, it wasn’t on the way here!”
>”Makes sense. One way or another, he’ll turn up.”
>”Yeah, he will. Ugh, I think I’m going to call it.”
“Call what? Wait, don’t tell me you’re already done looking?!”
>”I am. I still feel half-dead from last night and I’m sure he’s going to be just fine.”
“Tch, you’re almost as useless as him.”
>Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight all give you annoyed stares.
“What?”
>”Nothin’. Just wondering why Anon puts up with you.”
“Put up? He must feel privileged to—“
>”Can you shut up for a second? Or, a lot?” Dash says with a groan. “The way to talk is making my headache worse.”
“What do you mean, ‘the way I talk?’. The Great and Powerful Trixie—“
>”Like that!” Rainbow throws her pillow a few hoofsteps short of you. “Guh, I can’t see why Anon actually likes you when you’re so mean to him.”
“Is that jealousy I hear?”
>”I swear to… rrrgh!” Rainbow Dash, in a fit of anger, lifts herself up and slides off the bed. “You know what, Trixie? Whenever you open you fat, stupid mouth, you either have to talk about yourself or put someone else down. And I don’t like it.”
“Maybe if you little fillies grew up and learned to take a hangover like a real mare, I wouldn’t have to belittle you all for—“
>”You’d find another reason. And you know what? Anon has had to deal with how terrible of a pony you are for like, a year now!”
“So?”
>”So, we’re going to bring him back home!”
“Hah! He left all of you for work! And Ponyville is dead in the job market if you’re not working for the Apple family.”
>”T’aint true.” Applejack interjects.
“He’ll never go back, just for that reason. Not to say Trixie hasn’t done more to assure his… further employment.”
>You see the three of them exchange looks of disgust.
>Then Rarity lets out a loud snort before whispering, “Mmm, Anonymous. Your wood is so… beautiful.”
>You nearly choke on a guffaw escaping your throat too fast.
>”It was such a lovely idea, opening a cabinet shop…”
>She goes back to snoring, and after a short, awkward silence, Rainbow speaks up again.
>”… See, Ponyville clearly needs a cabinet shop. I think. Whatever, Anon is coming back with us. He made is pretty clear he wasn’t happy when he stayed with us, this week.”
“Hah…” You feel a bead of sweat trickle down your forehead. “He, he didn’t say that.”
>”He sure implied it.” Rainbow closes her eyes and lets out a quiet sigh before turning back to her friends. “I’m going to find Anon. Are you guys in, or what?”
>Applejack enthusiastically nods, while a dead-in-the-water Twilight nods less enthusiastically on her bed.
>”Yeah, sounds like fun!” Pinkie yells from inside the bathroom.
>”Alright, I’ll wake up Flutters and Rarity, see if they want to go, too.”
“Wait, you can’t just take him away! Trixie… nee-… could use… hrm… You’re not going to convince him to just leave Trixie!”
>”Uh huh. Look, Rarity isn’t fun when hungover so could you do us a favor and excuse yourself?”
“Ah… fine! You’ll be wasting your time all day, today it seems. And being around you, I’m wasting my own! Goodbye!”
>You stomp out and slam the door behind you. A few seconds after you trot down the hallway, Twilight asks Rainbow Dash,
>”Are we really going to make Anon come back home?”
>”… No. I’m going to try to convince to come back but it’s his choice.”
>Applejack gently lays a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder.
>”You’re a good friend, Rainbow.”
>”Heh, yeah… I know.” Rainbow Dash fails to keep a façade of confidence her response.
>After all, she has every reason to be worried she will not see Anon for so long, once again.