"It's uh, quite lovely actually. Trixie didn't expect something so, perfect." A modest, two storey house that was positioned near Twilight's library, without being too close for comfort. Nothing overly fancy or eye catching, and a good size to set up her new endeavour in. There was a practical joke shop in town, which while quite good, lacked the sort of tricks that unicorns could provide. Something she intended to rectify with her own shop.

"Glad to hear it. It's a bit too busy here for some ponies, but of course that's ideal for what you're going for. Well, I'll give you a moment to look around, RD should be at the agent by now." Applejack replaced her hat before vacating the spacious room. For Trixie, there was a clear advantage in that the ground floor had been used as some sort of shop before. All that remained of the business was the counter, but it was a good start.

From travelling magician to trick shop owner... Not exactly the sort of change she wanted to demonstrate, but it was something. "Trixie just hopes Twilight will give her another chance." Sitting down on the counter gave her a good view of the library through the window. All she needed was some assurance that her efforts weren't in vain, that there was actually a glimmer of hope that Twilight would change her mind.

Rarity entered with an assortment of curtain materials floating beside her. "Hello darling, Applejack said you had taken a liking to this place, so I assumed that it wouldn't be too presumptuous to begin working out some of the decorations. After all, you do want this to be a very inviting and mystical shop, no?" Trixie slid down off the counter to take a look at her selection. They were quite pretty, each had it's own style without detracting from the magical theme.

She decided on a dark purple base with stars and other magical shapes sewn into it. Pinkie Pie had a lot of fancy lights that would go with it well, and the carpet could go in when the walls were repainted. At that moment she realized just how much had changed in a day. Already, her initial idea for a magic store was taking shape. And she now had real magic spells to use, as well as her performance and trick spells.

"Thank you, Rarity. You've done so much in just a short amount of time already, Trixie may never be able to ever repay you for your generosity." Rarity giggled from across the room. That was all on top of being halfway into her pregnancy, not many ponies would be able to keep up in a similar condition. "If there's anything at all that Trixie can do, she'll be here from now on."

Spike took his turn to wander inside. "Hey Trixie, I was wondering... Since Applejack says you've found a good house and all, would you be interested in helping me find some gems? I know a place where it's easy to find them with unicorn powers, but Twilight refuses to leave her study for an afternoon." Rarity was there too, much as he would've liked the whole load to himself, it'd be rude to not consider her gem needs as well. "How about you and Rarity get a share each, and I get what's left? I'll even bring my wagon."

Collecting gems did seem like an interesting idea. She could carve some with her magic, and sell the ornaments here. And it would go towards improving her reputation with Twilight. "Uh, in a few minutes Spike. Rarity and Trixie have a few more things to discuss here. Unless of course..." There was no response from Rarity, she had become absorbed in designs for the whole room by then.

"Great! Meet me at the south bridge in half an hour then. Besides, the Diamond Dogs have moved on from that area. All those gems are free for us to take!" Spike was gone by the end of that sentence, leaving Trixie to look confused. She'd heard about the Dogs, but why would they move on without the gems they collected?

---

"Just a little further, I promise. There's still plenty of caves that I haven't had the chance to explore yet." What Trixie hadn't counted on was just how much heat solid rock reflected. A cooling spell for her hooves would be nice, or at least some form of hoofwear to protect from the baking ground. Spike of course didn't notice the scorching heat, the lucky dragon with his hard feet and thick scales.

"Trixie doesn't suppose there is any shade nearby? The heat is threatening to make her hooves crack." It was a slight exaggeration, but pain like that wasn't easy to ignore. At least Spike finally decided the pick up the pace. "Thank you Spike. Trixie don't mind spending hours in caves searching for gems, it's burning her hooves before they get there that she'd rather avoid."

At long last, a cave appeared not far from where they were headed. Cool, dark ground to walk on. It wasn't Spike's fault that the ground was too hot to spend a long time on, just an inconvenient time of the year to go gem hunting. The relief that washed over her hooves as they finally entered the torch lit cave was incredible. She sat down to take another look at them in case there had been any damage.

"By the way, why do you always refer to yourself in the third pony? Not that there's anything wrong with referring to yourself by name, but it's kinda, unusual. Just wondering." Trixie glanced up from the examination of her hoof, which to her relief hadn't been scalded. She wasn't quite sure herself about why she chose to speak that way.

"Trixie, isn't sure herself. It just feels, more comfortable for her." Her horn began to glow as the gem finding spell kicked in. It was a good distraction from a conversation she'd rather not have. "This seam must be quite large, I can feel the spell growing quite powerful in it's presence." Once back on her hooves, she kept the pace fast to avoid further conversation.

Spike followed with his wagon. Obviously Trixie didn't want to talk about it, and that was no problem at all. The possibility of a large seam of gems however had him very excited. At last, his unwanted diet from lovely jewels would be over! And of course Rarity would be able to resume making her dresses. "So Trixie, got anything in mind for what you wanna do with your share? Since Twilight's busy with studies, I suppose I have some free time to assist..."

His jaw dropped to the ground, not unlike Trixie's. A large seam didn't accurately describe the immense hoard right in front of them. More like a huge hidden stash left by the Diamond Dogs! And all there for the taking, an endless supply of gems. For a moment, he hesitated to get closer. But it was too good, too rich to resist diving in and gorging himself on gems.

"This is unbelievable! I've never seen so many gems since... Oh no." His mouth was half filled with rubies, Trixie had a lot of trouble working out what exactly he was trying to say. What loomed over him in a cloud of dark smoke wasn't hard to work out at all however. Of course, the Diamond Dogs wouldn't have left such a huge horde of gems without a good reason...

"Dragon! Spike, hold on!" Trixie scooped up a large portion of gems, along with Spike, before high tailing it back through the cave. "Trixie can't believe that she was so foolish! Of course a large hoard like that wouldn't be unguarded." The pile of gems dropped into the wagon as she passed it. Pulling the handle with her magic was far easier than keeping hold of so many items. Spike managed to dig his way up for air in the mess of gems.

"Trixie! We can't outrun it! Take the gems, and find the others, I'll keep it busy!" His struggle to get out of the wagon had caused most of the loot to fall out. It wouldn't matter if the dragon caught them. Already it had taken flight from another exit of the cave, preparing to attack. "Forget the gems Trixie! They'll survive a fire breathing dragon, but you won't!"

She had already let go of the wagon by then, but it was too late. The dragon landed down in front of her with an earthshaking thud that knocked her off her hooves. Once again, face to face with a beast far larger than her. Third time lucky? She had attended magic school again for a moment like this, but not against something as powerful as a dragon. Would her magic be strong enough to hold out until help arrived?

"Trixie, Spike! What did you do!?" Twilight leapt out from behind the dragon, diving to the pair before casting a shield spell. A blast of fire from the dragon followed immediately after, leaving a red hot ring in the rock around the shield's edge. "I thought you said the caves were empty Spike! What is a dragon doing here?" The shivering huddle of green and purple dragon didn't respond.

It was an opportunity for Trixie. Twilight was there too, surely both of them could drive the dragon off if they worked together. But would she go along with a plan like that? "Twilight! Trixie learned some new spells in Canterlot, real spells in case of an emergency like this. If you keep the shield going, Trixie thinks she knows a spell which should work drive away the dragon!"

Twilight glared at Trixie with a look of distrust. It seemed very likely that Trixie was up to something. But now wasn't the time for doubts about her honesty, especially with an enormous and cranky red dragon looming over them "Alright, but be quick! I can't hold this protection spell for long." The second blast of fire caused her to stumble under the strain on her magic.

This is going to hurt, but the alternative is getting roasted. With gems scattered all around her hooves, and the sun beating heavily down from behind her back, Trixie closed her eyes for the spell. "On the bleakest day, and the darkest night, let the fire return, nice and bright." The pink glow of her horn grew into a fiery beam, that fired not at the dragon, but right into the air.

"Trixie, what is that going to do?" Twilight's answer came quickly. An enormous phoenix flew overhead, far larger than the dragon which had begun to cower in fear. They were natural enemies, and this one had the sheer advantage of size. "Oh my Celestia! How in Tartarus did you summon a phoenix that big?! Even I don't know a spell like that!"

It was effective nonetheless. Within seconds, the dragon was speeding away into the far distance, pursued by the phoenix. After the great bird passed over the mountain, it wheeled back and flew towards the sun, vanishing in a ball of fire. Spike was too awestruck to notice as Twilight helped lift the weak Trixie back up. "Princess Celestia wanted everypony attending the school to learn some form of sun spell, in case another tendriculos attacked. Trixie has had a larger capacity for magic spells since she wore the alicorn amulet, but it still hurt a lot."

Nopony spoke for some time after that. Twilight was still stunned that Trixie had saved all of them at the cost of great suffering to herself. Spike had turned to picking up gems to load back into the wagon. At least with the dragon gone, he wouldn't require a unicorn to help find more gems for months. To Trixie however, it had all been worth it. Even if Twilight didn't change her mind...

"Trixie, I'm sorry I doubted you before. But I really am busy with my studies, and it just wasn't a good time for anypony to interrupt. Once they're over, I promise I'll do my best to help you fit in. Just not right now, alright?" All Trixie could manage was a gentle squeeze to the back of her neck. Her plans to work on the shop would be delayed by this, but they were all alive.