Part Two: Star Dust in the Sky.

((Resuming from Chapter 19 of Crystals Grow on Rainbows.))

"Would you consider accepting me as a special somepony? Unbelievable!" Spike would have been searching for his emergency pillow suit at that moment were it not for the stack of books between him and Twilight. News travelled fast, Trixie's arrival in Ponyville after months of hearing nothing about her was causing a stir. And now, Twilight was really flipping out over what sounded like a proposal!

"Uh, Twilight? Maybe you're overreacting this time? I mean a special somepony can just mean a very good friend, right?" Books started to fly in response. This time he took cover inside one of the shelves. Obviously his excellent and well thought out advice had been blatantly ignored by Twilight in her study induced rage. "Come on Twilight! It isn't that bad! You really should try to relax, read a book or something."

Twilight definitely wasn't in the mood to just 'read a book'. Many of the books she had out until the interruption were in fact moving back to their places. How could anypony think that she had time for... love!? And Trixie seemed perfectly fine in Vanhoover, why was she suddenly in Ponyville with the attitude of somepony who had nothing left in life? More distractions undoubtedly, she needed to focus.

"Spike! This is not the time for reading! This is the time for keeping up with study. If I don't pass this test, then everything I've worked so hard for will be meaningless! I don't need another failure to my name." Spike came close to being squashed by a very large book that occupied the entire shelf he had chosen. "And besides, Trixie? I mean really, there are plenty of royal stallions who I'm sure Princess Celestia would gladly introduce me to. When I'm done with my studies of course."

It was too much to bother with. Spike made his way back into the kitchen after having escaped the book case tomb. "Fine. But can I at least get something to eat before the whole place explodes?" With Rarity pregnant, his gem supply had been less than substantial. Neither unicorn could make the journey with him in order to find gems the easy way. Now it seemed another trip would be necessary as he tipped the last few rocks into a bowl.

Maybe Trixie can help find gems? He looked down into the bowl again. What was he thinking?! Trixie had only been back in Ponyville a few hours, and already he was getting ideas about gem hunting with her? The growl from his stomach seemed to be the source of desperation. Trixie was a unicorn, and judging from how she acted a little while before, probably would like the chance to get to know Twilight again.

He began chewing on a long shard of amethyst to get his brain going. As Twilight's closest friend, and number one assistant, he was in the position to talk to her on behalf of somepony else. Trixie would definitely be that somepony else. And in return, his gem supply would be back up to normal! "Very clever of you Spike, as usual. Now, so long as Twilight doesn't turn her into an orange, this plan should definitely work!"

All Twilight could hear was a bit of mumbling, and a lot of chewing and crunching. Typical Spike, whenever she had to deal with a terrible disaster that would affect her whole future, all he did was eat. And eat. And sleep. She sighed as the last book slid into place. Several were still lying around, but they were too important to put away just yet. Maybe Spike had the right idea about sleeping. "Just stay calm, and everything will be okay." She repeated that to herself as she slid into bed. Dash had been pretty quick to get the rain going that night, which for once she didn't mind. Anything would be a nice distraction from Trixie.

---

"Rainbow Dash, are you sure about this?" Trixie shied away from Applejack's tone. It didn't seem favourable towards her. "No offence Trixie, but I'm not sure if everypony in Ponyville is going to be glad to see you moving in." Rainbow Dash wasn't impressed with the response. Most of the ponies in the market didn't seem too bothered that she was around. And she hadn't seen others shutting their doors and closing their windows upon seeing Trixie.

"Come on AJ. You know all the good places in town that are available. Rarity and I will take care of the rest, including her costs. And you did a pretty good job with helping Princess Luna, why not Trixie?" Applejack flicked her tail. Dash did have a point, though Luna hadn't tried to turn Ponyville into her own little dominion. Or demanded apple sauce facials for that matter.

One look at Trixie's whimpering face pushed all of that aside however. "Okay, fine. I'll ask Big Mac to handle things tomorrow, we can go and look then. Just take care of yourselves, you hear?" It brightened up Trixie's mood to see Applejack's change of heart. Rainbow Dash was equally happy with the turn around. Rarity was right, being forgiving of Trixie like she had been forgiving of Gilda hadn't ended badly at all.

"Alright, just head over to the Carousel. I've gotta help get the rainfall ready, hope you don't mind." Trixie shook her head as she began to make her way back to Ponyville. Rain didn't bother her at all, apart from the reminder of Vanhoover it entailed. What did bother her however was the stark reaction Twilight had to her simple question. She probably could have worded it better, but did Twilight really have to yell like that?

At least unlike her first time in Vanhoover, she knew her way around the town from earlier visits in the dark. Getting to the Carousel before the rain started to fall was no challenge at all. Rarity was waiting in the kitchen for Dash to return, and thus didn't see Trixie approach until the front door opened. Her favourite mug was on the table before her. From the smell of chocolate it wasn't hard for Trixie to guess what she had been drinking.

"Thank you, Rarity. Trixie would never have been able to find a place to stay without your help. And Rainbow Dash was so nice. You really do make a lovely couple." Rarity blushed at her compliments. Such a wonderful change from before, polite and very grateful. It would be far better if Twilight weren't so occupied with her studies. But who could tell with that unicorn.

"It's no problem at all dear. Dashie and I went through quite an ordeal before our wedding, but it brought us closer than we could have expected. I think some of my generosity has rubbed off on her." Trixie smiled, gratefully sitting down as Rarity offered. It was the first smile in several months, the way Rarity talked about her love renewed hope that Twilight would at least be willing to accept her as a friend.

But something clicked in her head, disrupting all of those positive thoughts. An ordeal, before the wedding. Two ponies from Ponyville, married in Canterlot... "Wait, did that ordeal, have something to do with that giant plant which attacked Canterlot?" Things were falling into place, pointing back to Vanhoover once again. She had made her way to Ponyville in the hopes that she could start over. But everything here was reminding her of the past.

Rarity became worried when Trixie began to cringe. Celestia had mentioned that other towns had been attacked by tendriculos, now it seemed that Trixie had been in one of those towns on that day. "Oh, I didn't think that you would have been affected by the attacks. We rarely talk about it now, though if you feel you need to." And so Trixie did. Everything from the day she first met Fleethoof, to the day she left Canterlot upon hearing about the unicorn of Ponyville with child. Starlight was the only other pony who knew the whole story, at least up until that day.

There was no interruption from Rarity throughout, by the end she was utterly speechless. Her idea of what Trixie had done before coming back was nothing at all like the truth. And even after all that, she still had the courage to come back to the town least likely to accept her. "Trixie, I'm certain that you won't have to go through that again. Twilight is here, and she'll come around. You just need to give her some time."

A nudge inside made her shuffle for a moment. Her foal didn't seem to like her sitting in one place for a long time. "She's getting a little restless. You can have the spare room for now, Sweetie Belle doesn't stay overnight that often. Get some rest, I'm sure that tomorrow is going to be very different from today."