Trixie hesitated as she approached the entrance to the town of Ponyville. It was strange, she thought. She had been down this road two times prior in her life, both for different reasons. The first was simply to entertain the ponies here, and hopefully earn some bits. Instead, she lost everything, and her reputation was permanently destroyed by the actions of two stupid colts.

The second time, she had come for payback. She had come to reclaim what was robbed from her, and revive her reputation as the Great and Powerful Trixie… and almost wound up losing her mind to a cursed amulet in the process.

Now, she came for a whole new reason. Something that she never in her wildest dreams thought she would go to such lengths to pursue. Love.

“What a joke,” Trixie muttered to herself. “The Great and Powerful Trixie, seeking out another pony to declare her love… It should be her that pursues me.” Despite her words, Trixie found herself at this town’s entrance, debating whether or not to go in.

She looked down the road behind her, and shook her head. “Not like Trixie has anything better to do. Save for finding a nice tree to sleep under, in case it’s been scheduled to rain later.”

Trixie turned back to the town, and proceed forward with renewed determination. Or rather, there was nothing to lose from this venture anyway, but everything to gain, so she felt no reason to hold herself back any longer.

Thankfully, there was nopony around as Trixie trudged through the streets. Though that was the whole point of coming at night. Less ponies about, and plenty of darkness to sneak about in. “Okay Trixie, just as you’ve practised. Knock on her door, tell her she’s earned your affections, give her the privilege of dating you, and then…” Trixie stopped as she reached the Golden Oaks Library.

“But, what if she refuses?” Trixie asked herself. “I mean, there’s no way she could, but this pony isn’t exactly… normal. What if she still holds a grudge against Trixie? What if she believes the rumours that Trixie isn’t Great and Powerful?”

An idea crossed Trixie’s mind. “That’s it! Trixie will just have to do something amazing to impress her! Something to remind her what a spectacular showmare Trixie really is! And when Twilight Sparkle swoons for Trixie’s greatness, that is when Trixie shall swoop in and snatch the Princess off of her hooves!”

Trixie nodded to herself. It was a good plan, and absolutely nothing could go wrong. “Now, what can Trixie do? A disappearing act? Defeat a pack of timberwolves? Increase the weather team’s efficiency by fifty percent? No, this is all stuff Twilight Sparkle can surely do on her own… It has to be something big. Something grand. Something… Something…”

Trixie shivered, and looked down at the ground with an angry look on her face. “Stupid snow. Thankfully tomorrow is Winter Wrap Up.” Trixie stopped to think for a minute. “Winter Wrap Up… A hard task for a town compose of mostly Earth Ponies and Pegasi, with only a few, lower-class Unicorns.”

Trixie tapped a hoof to her chin. “When Twilight moved here, they must have dumped the entire task of wrapping up winter on her. Now that she’s a Princess, she’s most likely the leader, if not sole operator of Winter Wrap Up for this town! Man, Trixie bets she would give anything to have a break from tha-”

It then hit Trixie like a sack of bricks. “That’s it! The Great and Powerful Trixie certainly is a genius! This is so great! Twilight Sparkle is sure to fall for Trixie!” Trixie looked around, and then sighed. “Well, better get to work. Ponies like to get up early in towns like this, I hear.”

Twilight woke up excited the next morning. She jumped out of her bed, her hooves landing in the boots set to the side, and used her magic to gather her vest, saddle, scarf, and earmuffs from a nearby table, where they were all neatly place the previous night.

“Spike, come on, wake up!” she called to her assistant as she ran over to her dresser to brush her mane. “It’s Winter Wrap Up Spike! That means bright and early!”

“Ugh…” Spike groaned as she climbed out of his bed. “I hate this stupid holiday. It was so much easier back in Canterlot.”

“Oh come on, Spike. It’s a nice chance to get involved with the other ponies in Ponyville,” Twilight said as she levitated her checklist. “Besides, it’s also a good chance to show off your skills as my number one assistant to Rarity.”

“… Well, when you put it like that.” Spike yawned as he began to walk down the library’s staircase. He rubbed his eyes as she made his way to the front door, to retrieve the morning mail before cooking up a big breakfast for himself and Twilight.

Opening the door and walking outside, Spike’s eyes widened as she saw the town of Ponyville… not covered in snow and ice. All of the snow from last night was nowhere to be seen, the sky was clear of at least eighty percent of its clouds, which was apparently annoying the weather team, and there were purple, blue, and yellow ribbons strewn throughout the town, across the buildings.

“What the… What’s going on?” Spike asked nopony in particular, but a passing Earth Pony he recognised as Roseluck must have thought he was asking her.

“I don’t know. We’re all as surprised as you are. It’s not just here, too. The farms all have their seeds already planted in the ground, and the animals that should have been in hibernation are all awake and running about. We still don’t have the southern birds, though… and the seeds were planted in a different way to the Applejack’s schedule.”

“What the?!” Twilight shrieked as she stepped outside. She began to feel hot, and quickly removed her winter wear, before looking around the town in utter shock. “W-Who’s responsible for this?!”

“We don’t know,” Roseluck told her. “The mayor received a message that we should go to the town square, though. That’s where I’m heading right now.”

“And that’s where we’re going, too,” Twilight said. “Come on Spike.”

“But what about breakfast?”

“Later! This is serious!”

Spike sighed, and hopped onto Twilight’s back as she began to run down the street. “Well, at least I don’t have to spend the day wrapping up winter,” he mumbled to himself, tapping his claws to his chin as Twilight ran towards the town square.

Upon arriving, Twilight came to a sudden halt, almost throwing Spike off of her back. “Alright, now who’s responsible for this?” she asked in a stern tone.

“Ah, you have finally arrived!” a booming voice shouted from the air. Everypony gathered looked up, and around, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Wait, that voice…” Twilight’s fears were confirmed as, on top of the fountain in the centre of the town square, a purple cloud of smoke appeared form nowhere. When it dissipated, a blue mare was standing on top of the fountain, wearing a purple hat and cape as that hid most of her silver mane and tail. “Trixie?!”

“That is correct! The Great, and Powerful Trixie, has returned to this town with a gift!” Trixie jumped off of the fountain, landing graciously just in front of Twilight, who backed up cautiously in response. “Your High-” Before Trixie could continue, a cloud was kicked her way, and sent her staggering backwards a little bit. “W-Who dares-”

“Hey, you jerk!” a rainbow-maned Pegasus shouted above Trixie. “These clouds are all in the wrong places!” She bucked another cloud towards Trixie, who jumped back this time to avoid it, landing on the edge of the fountain.

“How dare you?! Is this how you treat the pony who laboured all night to wrap up winter for your puny little town?!”

“So you were the one who did all this?” Twilight asked, to which Trixie nodded with a proud grin on her fac.

“That is right! With Trixie’s amazing magic, such a task was-”

Again, she was interrupted. This time, by the booing and jeers of the ponies around her. It all happened so suddenly, that Trixie had no idea what was going on. They were beginning to crowd her, but not to shower her with praise as she had expected. They were all shouting things at her. Things that she could only pick up bits of.

“How dare you?!”

“What gives you the right?!”

“Haven't you done enough?!”

“Get out of here!”

“‘Great and Powerful’ my flank!”

Trixie didn’t get it. What was their problem this time? She had saved them all a hard day of slavery by wrapping up winter for them. They should be happy!

A stray tomato was thrown from somewhere in the crowd, and in dodging it, Trixie fell backwards into the fountain behind her, banging her head on the base submerged in the shallow water and soaking her mane, coat, and magical attire in the process.

Trixie could still hear the angry shouts of the townsponies, and she was sure that Twilight was among them. ‘I can’t believe it. Even after all that… Fine then. You want me to disappear? Then fine! I’ll never show up before you again! Happy?!’

Trixie focussed her magic, and summoned a large smoke cloud, halting the angry cries of the townsponies and giving her the cover that she needed to make her escape.

‘Fine, I’ll make myself scarce. You’ll never see or hear another word of Trixie again.’ A tear fell down Trixie’s cheek as she ran as fast as she could, leaving Ponyville and making her way towards the Everfree Forest. ‘You won’t even know if I’m still alive or not… I’ll just disappear from everypony’s lives. That’s what you all want, isn’t it?

‘Goodbye, Equestria. Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle…’

Trixie stopped running when she had reached a clearing in the forest, and found herself a nice big rock to slam her forehooves into. The action proved painful, but she didn’t care. She was already in enough pain that it didn’t even register with the showmare. She then rested her forehead on her hooves, and fought as hard as she could to hold it in…

She lasted maybe ten seconds, before the first sob escaped her lips. Followed by another, and then another, before soon, she was flat-out bawling into her own hooves, cursing herself for being so weak. ‘I should have never gone back! Had I known it would be this painful, I never would have gone back! Damnit, why does everypony reject me everywhere I go?! What am I to do? Why does that town hold nothing but bad memories for me? And why, of all towns, does she have to live in that one?!’

As Trixie continued to punch the rock, and fire blasts of magic into the air, her sobbing began to slow down. She still wanted to cry, but she was running out of tears, and she was very tired. “… Maybe… I’ll just curl up here and get some sleep. When the morning comes, I’ll probably feel better.” ‘Or I’ll be eaten by a timberwolf. Well, I guess that would be fine, too.’

“Trixie!” Trixie gasped as she heard the familiar voice call out to her.

‘Go away.’

“Trixie!”

‘Haven’t you done enough to me? Haven’t you hurt me enough, Twilight Sparkle?!’

“Trixie, there you are!” Trixie heard hoofsteps moving closer to her, but didn’t respond to them. “Are you okay? I was so worried about you! You hit your head hard, after all.”

“Trixie’s fine,” Trixie said, biting her lip as she hiccupped the words out.

“Trixie… have you been crying?” Trixie didn’t respond, and Twilight took a few steps closer. “Tell me, why did you do that? Why did you use your magic to wrap up winter like that?”

“… So that you wouldn’t have to,” Trixie answered. She figured there was no point in lying. She might as well just answer and make the Princess go home already, so that the forest can take her. “To save you a job, and show you how talented I am.”

“So, you were doing it to show-off?”

“To impress you,” Trixie corrected. “And to give you the day off.”

“Oh. Well, that was thoughtful and all, but… you see, Trixie, there’s a tradition in Ponyville, that we all wrap up winter together, and without the use of magic. Everypony was really looking forward to today, you know?”

There was a long moment of silence between the two, which was eventually interrupted when Trixie hiccupped, and shuffled her head so that she could see Twilight in the corner of her eye. “That’s why… everypony was mad? But, Trixie helped them…”

“You may think that, but they don’t see it the same way,” Twilight said, walking around to Trixie’s side to look the showmare in the eyes. “But, I can see that your heart was in the right place. If you go back and explain, I’m sure they’ll forgive you.” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin for a moment, trying to work something out in her head. “But, why go through so much trouble for me, anyway?”

Trixie lowered her eyes to the ground. “Well… you see, Trixie may, sorta, kinda, maybe… have a crush on you… perhaps…”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and a smile spread across her lips as she looked at the ground with a nervous gaze. “Wow. I… wasn’t expecting that.” Twilight looked back up at Trixie, who was looking back at Twilight with pleading eyes. Like a starving pony asking for food, or a foal who had just messed up asking for their mother’s forgiveness… Twilight could see that this was important to Trixie. And not in the same way as it would be for anypony else. “So… that’s what this whole thing was about? Why didn’t you just, I don’t know, tell me how you felt?”

“Well, what if you had said ‘no’? I mean, you and Trixie don’t exactly have the best history together, and you’re a Princess. You can have whoever you want. Trixie had to do something big. Something that would make it impossible for you to reject her feelings.”

Twilight sighed and shook her head, before giving Trixie a warm smile. “Look, Trixie,” she began, “I’m flattered and all, but, I’ve never been in a relationship before. And, I wouldn’t even know where to start. You’re an attractive mare and all, but I’ve never considered how I feel about you, and I don’t want to rush into anything I’m not ready for, so…

“How about, we start off as friends, and see where it goes from there?”

Trixie’s face lit up for a moment, and Twilight couldn’t but feel happy at seeing that. “… You have lots of friends,” Trixie mumbled. “… Can we… be good friends?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help giggling, and finding the request a little cute. “Alright, Trixie. We can be good friends.”

Trixie’s face lit up even more, and she pushed herself away from the rock and sat up straight. “Then, as good friends, can Trixie stay with you for a while? She’s getting tired of sleeping under trees and rocks and inside caves and under trailers and… well, you get idea.”

Twilight got the idea alright, and it shocked her to hear just how badly the showmare’s life had gone since they had last met. She was also surprised to see the sudden increase in energy as Trixie spoke, and the more cheerful tone in her voice compared to just moments earlier. But then, Twilight considered that friendship was a magic more powerful than even she could comprehend, and she then realised that it was exactly what the poor mare needed.

“Sure, Trixie. I’ll set up the extra bed tonight, after Winter Wrap Up is over.”

Trixie tilted her head in confusion. “Trixie already took care of that, remember?”

“Uh, yeah, well…” Twilight giggled nervously. “You see, you sort of… planted the seeds in the wrong order. And you messed up the sky completely. And, the southern birds still need to be returned, you missed a few frozen ponds, you gave some of the animals the wrong foods and they went back into hibernation, and whilst the ribbons were a nice touch, some ponies feel they’re just in the way…”

Trixie sighed, her ears flattening against her head as she lowered her gaze the ground. “So in the end, Trixie just made more work for you.”

Twilight shook her head, and leaned forward to pull the depressed pony into a hug. Trixie was caught off guard by this, but was more than eager to return it. Twilight feared that Trixie was misinterpreting the hug as some kind of signal, but she decided she could let it slide for now.

“Actually, Trixie, if anything, we probably just have the same workload on our hooves. And, although it’s not quite the same as always, the entire town is still working together, so really, what you’ve actually done is spiced things up a little bit. You’ve made a Winter Wrap Up that will surely be remembered, and I’m certain that, at the end of the day, ponies will look back on this and see it as a fond memory.”

“… You really think so?” Trixie asked as she buried her muzzle into Twilight’s mane.

“I do. And once they learn why you did what you did… with a few minor omissions, if you like… they’ll surely forgive and accept you.”

“… And if not?”

“They will, Trixie,” Twilight said confidently. “Because I’m sure my friend Pinkie Pie will be working on a party to welcome you to Ponyville today, and then you can let the townsponies know who you are, and get to know them, too.”

Trixie let out a nervous laugh, and started to shake. Twilight tightened her hold around the nervous showmare, which helped to calm her down somewhat. “Naïve little Twilight… But, Trixie will trust you… since you’re her good friend.”

Twilight smiled, and allowed the hug to carry on for a few more seconds, before deciding that it was time to part it finally. “Alright, time to get to work. The ponies are depending on me to lead them, after all.”

Trixie wiped a stray tear from her check, and pushed herself to her hooves. Twilight was about to do the same, but Trixie offered to help her up. An offer that Twilight accepted with a smile.

“Then, Your Highness, perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie may assist thee with this task?” Trixie asked, removing her hat and bowing to Twilight.

Twilight giggled, and extended her wings as she reached a hoof under the showmare’s chin. “Rise, my good knight. We shall embark forthwith to yonder town, and thou shalt stay by Our side as We… er…”

Trixie tried to hold back her laughter, causing her to snort as she raised a hoof to hide her smile. “Trixie is guessing you’re not the Princess of theatrical arts, then.”

Twilight blushed and gave a sheepish smile. “Well, the most I’ve ever done is be a tree… Oh, and there was this one time where I was Clover the Clever in a Hearth’s Warming Play, but even that took many weeks of practise to get right…” Trixie’s laughter finally broke out, and Twilight found herself joining in. “H-Hey! Do not l-laugh at your Princess!”

Trixie’s laughter only grew, and the two continued to laugh until their sides started to hurt. When the laughter finally died down, Twilight wiped a tear from her face. “Seriously though, we should get going. And yes, I would love it if you could help me, Trixie.”

Trixie took a deep breath to calm herself, and then nodded. “Very well then. With any luck, you shall be head over heels for Trixie by the day’s end.”

Twilight rolled her eyes as she began walking, with Trixie walking by her side. “Just, consult with me before you try to use the town as your stage again, okay?”

“… Trixie shall try, but she is not making any promises.”