As the polite roar of the audience washed over the Canterlot Performance Hall, Trixie’s magical special effects died down and in one last puff of smoke she appeared in the stage’s center. In a display of confidence, Trixie declared to the audience, “Welcome and be amazed, be astounded, by the magical feats of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Now witness as she levitates without the use of her horn,” she told the crowd.

“Oh please,” one voice shot through the sea of ponies.

This skepticism broke Trixie’s concentration, and she dropped the heavy glass orb she was about to use. It fell and shattered on stage. As Trixie teleported the remains away quickly she reached for her sorcerer’s hat, “Oh well, watch as Trixie pulls from this simple hat life itself. Be amazed as she brings forth something out of nothing!”

“That’s easy, you use a teleportation spell,” another voice cried out, followed by rounds of mocking laughter from the sea of ponies.

Trixie began to step back from the growing blob of jeering and laughter, as she tried desperately to think of a way to save her performance. “Oh well watch as Trixie recounts one of previous exploits, be enraptured by the riveting tales of the Great and Powerful…”

“Oh please not another light show,” a voice cut her off.

“Yeah we already saw the sparklers, now make with the cool magic. Like make a tornado or a fireball or something,” one voice demanded.

“Or better yet, do something really amazing and make yourself disappear,” one voice said cruelly as the other voices laughed.

Trixie continued to desperately put distance between her and the encroaching crowd of ponies. Though now the crowd felt more a shapeless mass than ponies. Trixie finally hit what she assumed was the back wall, as she was unable to back away any further.

However, instead of swallowing her whole, the black mass that had once been the audience divided, and there stood in the middle of the parted ponies was a single pony, a purple alicorn. Seeing that it was Twilight Sparkle,  Trixie suddenly felt relieved. She stood and approached the princess, but found herself unable to move, as she looked down to see her hooves in chains that kept her bound.

“Huh, but why?” the showmare asked, as she realized Twilight was wearing a smile that did not look right on the usually friendly pony.

Twilight simply turned away from, whose struggles against the chains were increasingly becoming more desperate. Trixie attempted to call out to Twilight, but found her voice had vanished, leaving only small rasps and squeaks to escape her, though Twilight made no indication she heard them. Suddenly the dark mass surrounding Trixie encircled her completely.

As she desperately called out for Twilight’s help, the mass engulfed her. Then there was nothing.

“Twilight please help me!” Trixie shouted, though now she could finally hear her own voice. She was also shocked to find herself in her bed, the performance hall, the audience, and Twilight were no where to be seen.

A dream, oh good it was just a dream.

As Trixie’s accelerated breathing slowed, she looked around the room that Twilight had let her sleep in for the night. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkened surroundings. She could see from out her window, that the sun was barely peeking over the hills that surrounded the castle.

Trixie got out of her bed, and exited her room. As she took a short walk down the corridor, she arrived at her destination: the bathroom. After letting the faucet warm up, Trixie splashed some water on her face. She stared intently at her reflection in the mirror. She saw a unicorn who, despite spending a night in castle of royalty, still did not look well-rested.

Trixie then turned and turned the shower. “Maybe I’ll feel more powerful and amazing after a shower,” she spoke aloud to herself.

However, just as she was about to set her first hoof into the cascading liquid warmth, the door opened. In entered an earth pony stallion with a stack of towels balanced on top of his head, completely unaware of the room’s occupant. This changed when he saw the shower was running. Though his face was frozen in shock more at the sight of a unicorn mare he had never before seen, about to get into the shower. Trixie only stood there, her mouth agape. After what seemed an eternity of silence, noise finally made its way back into the room.

It consisted mostly of screaming and accusations of nefarious deeds.

…

Sunset Shimmer was having a spectacular morning. At least, her satisfied moans gave off as much. Nothing remained of her omelet, which had all of her favorite ingredients like mushrooms, spinach, and daisies. Twilight Sparkle could only stare in awe at the sight of the unicorn’s hunger, her own breakfast remained mostly intact.

“Wow, I know I had my doubts, but I guess dragons can cook,” Sunset said as she put the plate on top of the ever-growing stack.

A small laugh came from behind the counter that separated the kitchen proper from the sitting area. Spike was standing over the stove, wearing a blue apron with the words ‘Kiss the Drake’ embroidered on them. He was hard at work preparing more omelets. “Yeah, well coming from you Sunny, I guess that’s the best I can hope for, far as complements go.”

“Well, to be honest I haven’t eaten real Equestrian cuisine in over fifteen years, so maybe it’s just desperation on my part,” the mare replied, a subtle smirk crept up her face as she examined her last bit of omelette on her fork. Her twirling it in her magical grasp reminded Spike of a cat with playing with its prey.

Twilight finally took time away from watching Spike and Sunset try to maul each other with their glares, and went back to chipping away at her grapefruit. At first none of the three in the room noticed a light flood the hallway outside the kitchen, but the sound of hooves on the hardwood floors gained Sunset’s attention.

When a dark grey unicorn with a white mane entered the kitchen, Sunset’s face shifted to one of confusion, though neither Spike or Twilight seemed to notice her. The unicorn, a mare who wore red glasses and carried a clipboard already in tow, looked at Sunset, then to Twilight. She cleared her throat to make her presence known, which worked as Twilight looked at her for the first time.

“Oh Prim, I didn’t see you there. I was just reading through my daily planner, seems we have…”

“A lot to do today, yes. I’m sorry I was not able to attend your weekly visit with the Ponyville mayor yesterday. I hope you’ll forgive my absence,” the mare named Prim spoke.

“Oh, of course Prim. I know you actually have a life besides assisting me. I just hope everything went well,” Twilight smiled and offered an empty seat at the table.

Prim took the offered chair, and sat down, her eyes still fixed on Sunset Shimmer, who was equally focused on the new arrival. Twilight sensed the playful tension was replaced with actual tension, decided to clear up the confusion. “Sunset Shimmer, this is Prim Proper, shes my assistant. Prim, this is Sunset Shimmer, she’s my…”

“You need not say anymore, I understand Twilight. Now as I’ve told you before in these situations, we must make sure that during her departure, no stray paparazzi gets sight of her,” Prim interjected as she took to her clipboard and began jotting down various things.

This did nothing to alleviate Sunset’s confusion. She raised an eyebrow, and turned to Twilight, hoping for an answer. Sadly, the answer did not come, as Twilight merely shrugged her shoulders in response. “Umm, Prim what do you mean ‘these situations’?”

“Well, for a princess to have a flights of passion with a commoner is nothing new. Goodness knows your sister-in-law is well known for her...insatiable appetite,” Prim got up from her seat and walked over to the kitchen window, which overlooked a field of grass that sloped over a cliff. “But, you’ve never had any such experiences before. You’ve cultured an image of a solitary princess, disinterested in the affairs of the body. We just have to make sure some noble doesn’t catch wind of this and try to spin it to their advantage.”

Sunset’s mouth had fallen so far, she could have fit an entire omelette in it at once, and Twilight’s could only blush, her coat taking on a bright red. Prim noticed their reactions and turned to ask Twilight, “So where did you meet her? Bookstore, marketplace, charity event, the Ponyville Historical Society?”

“No, Prim you don’t understand. Sunset isn’t…” Twilight attempted to interjected.

“I must say though, I’m surprised you’d go with a mare soooo lanky, you always struck me as being into ponies with a...stockier build, like your friend Applejack.”

“Alright then, I think we just need to clear up a few misconceptions here. First of all Sunset and I aren’t…..well, we’re not doing what you think we’re doing,” Twilight stammered, as she flailed her hooves around excitedly.

Sunset decided to get involved in the conversation as well, “Also I’m not lanky, and even if I were… with Twilight, what’s the big deal, am I not good enough?” Sunset asked, not taking effort to hide that she was clearly insulted.

Prim walked up to Sunset and began walking around her in a circle, which gave Sunset a far too familiar feeling, though now it was from a different perspective. After moments of uncomfortable inspection, Prim finally adjusted her half-moon glasses and addressed  Sunset, “Hmm, well, with a little sprucing up, I suppose we could make ponies believe you’re Twilight’s newest suitor, goodness know Miss Mare Magazine has been asking for any details on that front for ages.”

“Ummm…” a small voice broke through Prim’s fussing over Sunset. The two then turned to see Twilight giving a sheepish look before she spoke again, “Prim, Sunset and I aren’t dating.”

“Well, no of course not. That’s the issue here,” Prim interjected.

“AND, we’re not doing what you think we’re doing either,” Twilight shot back.

After a moment of reflection, Prim looked to Twilight, and then at Sunset, before going back to Twilight. “Oh,” was all she said. Prim’s face began to shift to a shade of pink that almost mirrored the streak in Twilight’s mane, though she never dropped her guard. She merely backed away a bit from Sunset Shimmer, and gave a polite bow, “My apologies, your highness, your highness’ not -concubine…”

“That’s Sunset Shimmer, if you don’t mind,” Sunset interjected, a look of enjoyment on her face at the sight of a pony bowing to her.

Twilight broke Sunset from her bliss with a small cough, as Prim rose up and brought her clipboard over to look over it. “Well now that that matter is all settled, when can go over your agenda for today. First up, you have an appearance to make with the Ponyville Hay Board, and then you…”

“PERVERT!” Yelled a voice, breaking Prim’s train of conversation.

“Ugh, your highness I can assure you whatever thoughts I had about you and miss Shimmer were purely innocent,” the mare said.

“Umm that wasn’t me Prim,” Twilight replied as she walked towards the door that led out into the hallway.

The silence was broken again by another scream, “You pervert, stop running and accept your fate!”

Soon everyone in the kitchen could hear the growing sound of hoofsteps, then Twilight peeked outside the room just in time to see a pony round the corner. In an instant, the pony crashed into her before she could step out of the way. This was followed by a loud commotion and the sound of two ponies falling to the ground, Sunset rising out of her chair, and Spike dropping his most recent omelet on the floor.

Twilight became reacquainted with the world, only to realize that a pony was on top of her, or at least that was her best guess since she could only see a large pair of blue eyes encompassing her entire view.

“Clean Sweep,” Twilight said while she attempted to hide her annoyance.

“Yes ma'am,” the pony answered back.

“Why is my house guest chasing you around the castle calling you a pervert?” she asked while giving Clean Sweep a subtle indication that would like it very much for him to get off of her.

Fortunately, Clean Sweep stood up and offered his hoof to the princess, which she took.

Finally he gave a small laugh and replied, “Well, there’s a funny story about that. Bit of a tiny misunderstanding.”

However, before he could get any further, the growing sound of another set of hoofsteps ended, as Trixie skidded into the already crowded kitchen. She stopped when she saw the stallion she had been chasing standing on top of Twilight.

“You barbaric fiend, does your sick depravity know no bound?.  Also was the Great and Alluring Trixie not enough for you?” she quickly added as her horn lit up as she prepared a spell to use on the now cowering stallion.

However, three separate colored auras engulfed her and prevented her from doing anything further. She looked to see Twilight, Sunset, and a third unicorn mare she had never seen before, all barricading her.

The unicorn in the  glasses was actually the first to speak, “I would really appreciate it Miss….Alluring was it?”

“Trixie, my name is the Great and Powerful…”

Prim quickly carried on, “Yes, well I’m going to assume you also are not one of her majesty’s concubines. A shame really. Since the prospect of our princess’ first outing into the adult world being a ménage à trois was certainly exciting.”

At this point Sunset’s face had taken on the same color as the crimson streaks in her mane, and Twilight could only let out tiny whining noises that sounded like she had lost all ability to ever speak again.

Trixie on the other hand simply looked shocked, though her own coat, as blue as it was, soon matched Sunset’s mane as well. A smile snuck up on Prim’s face, most likely pleased at how well her attempt to derail the tension had went. She walked over to where Twilight was still underneath the terrified stallion, and cleared her throat. The stallion snapped back to reality, and quickly got off of Twilight, and helped the alicorn back up, apologizing the entire time.

“It’s okay Sweep, I know it was an accident,” Twilight replied, as she gave a warm smile to the the stammering stallion. Though she immediately switched to a more serious look and gave a small cough. Whether an alicorn’s ability to instinctively command the attention and respect of ponies was natural or learned would be a mystery to plague scholars for several more centuries, but in that kitchen it was in full effect.

“Now, I just want to know what happened, and I’m going to ask one pony at a time, starting with Trixie,” the princess said calmly as she turned to face the showmare.

“Well Trixie had just awoken from a most awful dream, and so I decided to try and take a relaxing shower. That’s when this… stallion just trots in like he owns the place,” Trixie spat out as she swung her hoof at the accused stallion.

Prim groaned and covered her face with a hoof, “Ugh, again Sweep? How many times do we have to tell you to be more aware of your surroundings?” she asked.

“Also to always knock before entering a room,” Twilight added.

“Yeah, knocking, that too. Besides you know you shouldn’t be making the moves on royal claims,” Prim continued as began giving Trixie the same inspection she gave Sunset.

Unlike before, Twilight was no longer flustered by Prim’s potentially off-color remarks, and was the opposite of amused with them. “Prim, for the final time, I have no ‘royal claim’ on these two mares. Trixie tried to banish me from Ponyville after a magic duel and Sunset stole my crown for some ridiculous plan she cooked up to take over Equestria.”

“Hey, whatever sort of excitement you need, that’s entirely up to…”

Prim did not get to finish her thought, as the magical pressure Twilight exuded told her she was finished with her teasing. Twilight then carried out her investigation, “So Sweep you accidentally walked in on Trixie as she was about to shower? Like Prim said you should be more aware of your actions.”

“Yes ma’am, so sorry,” Clean Sweep quickly spoke.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know,” Twilight replied. “Now Trixie, I understand you were scared, and I will not fault you for your actions. So we know the truth now, I trust you won’t be trying to vaporize him anymore. He’s quite the accomplished housekeeper, and I would really hate to lose him and have to go through the nightmare of finding another.”

Sunset finally chimed in, “Huh, so the one with the overactive imagination and too much free time is your secretary.”

“Personal management specialist I prefer,” Prim interjected.

“Whatever, and the unluckiest stallion in the world here is your butler.”

“Actually, I just provide basic upkeep for the castle...at the princess’ insistence that I do no more, even though I have offered to,” Clean Sweep also amended.

“So, before we go any further. Are there any other ponies in the place we should have introduce themselves?” Sunset asked.

She had not expected her sarcasm to met by Twilight and her staff with genuine sincerity, as they each gave a pained look, suggesting she may have hit her mark a little too well.

Before Sunset could ask, all the ponies and dragon in the kitchen heard an approaching storm. At least that’s what it sounded like, and it was approaching far quicker than Trixie and Clean Sweep had. In the span of a few moments two blurs entered the room. Sunset and Trixie both could only guess that they were ponies. Twilight was their target as the two ponies tackled her to the ground. “PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” two different, yet oddly similar voices rang out.

Sunset now saw that the blurs were in fact ponies, both fillies. One was a teal unicorn with a chocolate brown mane, and the other was a pegasus with her mane and coat colors reversed of the other.

Twilight once again found herself laying on her kitchen floor, only now two ponies, two very energetic ponies, were on top of her.

“Princess, princess are you okay? We heard somepony yelling, and running, so we came down here to see what was the matter,” the unicorn said as she clung to Twilight’s neck.

The pegasus, who had her hooves wrapped tightly around Twilight’s barrel, nodded in agreement. She then chimed in, “Uh huh, we knew the castle had guests, but we figured surely they wouldn’t be bad ponies since they obviously know you, and you’re just such an excellent judge of character princess.”

“But I’m not so sure of her judge of help,” Trixie whispered under her breath so that only Sunset could hear.

Once the two ponies calmed down after realizing she was okay, Twilight was again helped up by Clean Sweep. As she began to dust herself, the two fillies instead began doing the task for her. “Okay introduction time… again.”

“Allow me, Twilight,” Prim offered, which Twilight nodded in agreement. Prim pointed to the pegasus, “This bundle of excitement's name is Peridot,” then she gestured to the unicorn, “and her unfortunate duplicate's is Zephyr.”

Sunset and Trixie both gave confused looks to the two fillies, who they guessed were twins, or the end result of some horrid magical experiment gone wrong.

Zephyr addressed the two new ponies, “So are you here to serve Princess Twilight as well?” The response she got were raised eyebrows from the two unicorns. “Well, we had heard that two new guests had arrived, my sister and I were both overjoyed at the thought of meeting two new ponies just like us.”

“Just like you?” Trixie replied, her confused look still plastered on her face.

“Yes, we’re quite devoted to Princess Twilight. We service her in a variety of ways,” Peridot responded as she eagerly walked up to the two to look into their eyes, seemingly oblivious to their discomfort.

“Yes, we fetch books and academic journals whenever she needs them for research,” Zephyr said as she pulled a sizeable tome out of her saddlebag with her magic.

Trixie seemed to let out a small breath at this revelation, which did not go unnoticed by Prim as she pretended to be occupied with adjusting her glasses.

Peridot nodded and added, “Uh huh, we also help Spike in the kitchen.”

“Help, yeah, sure we’ll call it that,” the dragon replied from behind the counter as he stacked another omelette.

“And we help Clean Sweep… well clean,” Zephyr included.

“Oh and let’s not forget removing any unwanted photographers when Princess Twilight and Prim go out,” Peridot reminded her sister.

“And we wash and change her bedsheets daily,” replied Zephyr.

And draw her bathwater and offer to bathe her,” Peridot chimed in.

“Yes, but she usually refuses that one. Also she didn’t want us brushing her teeth for her that one time,” Zephyr reminded her sister.

Peridot shook her head wistfully, “Tragic.”

Sunset and Trixie thought the morning could not have gotten any weirder, until the twins showed up. All they could do was turn to Twilight, who could only give a nervous smile and a small laugh before walking up and placing a hoof on the shoulder of each filly. “Girls, you know I appreciate all your efforts in assisting me. Now these two are Sunset Shimmer and Trixie. They’re… friends.”

“Friends?” Both fillies asked in unison, though both had hints of curiosity in their tones.

“Yes, they’re going to be staying with us for a bit, but I would like it if you two could show some restraint when around them, for me.”

Peridot and Zephyr both looked at the two, and then back at Twilight, and then at each other before nodding their heads. “Of course,” they both replied.

Just then Spike walked into the dining area with a large platter filled with food. “Okay now that Sunset and Trixie were conveniently run through the gauntlet of your staff in order of ascending weirdness, I feel now it’s time to eat these before they get cold,” he explained as he put the collection of omelets on the table. All the ponies seemed to agree as they sat down around the table and ate the hearty breakfast.

Once most of the food had been eaten, Twilight got everyone’s attention, “So now that breakfast is out of the way, everyone knows what to do today.”

Spike, Clean Sweep, Zephyr, and Peridot all nodded as Prim stood up and began jotting notes down on her clipboard, and then showed them to Twilight. Trixie and Sunset however, gave the princess confused glances, although Twilight was quick to address them. “Now Trixie, today will be your first day of preparation for your magic act. Pinkie will no doubt put you through the ringer.”

“So which one is Pinkie Pie?” Trixie asked.

“The one whose mouth you removed magically the last time you were in Ponyville,” Twilight answered curtly.

“Oh, well yes, I shall be sure to thank her for her assistance, though getting help for a magic act from an earth pony seems… unorthodox.”

“Trust me, no better term could ever describe Pinkie,” Twilight replied back, as every other pony seemed to unknowingly agree

Zephyr seemed to perk up at the mention of Trixie’s magic show. “Oh, oh, oh, Miss Trixie you’re a magician?” She asked.

Trixie nodded, which only caused the young unicorn to become more excited. Again she inquired, “Oh what sort of tricks can you do? Like make rabbits multiply? Or saw your lovely assistant in half? Or are you in need of a lovely assistant? Because I could probably volunteer… oh or how about somepony really lovely, like Princess Twilight.”

“Oh that would be a great idea, and we could even have her wear a cute magician’s assistant uniform, like a sparkly leotard,” Peridot chimed in.

Trixie was now trying desperately to avoid thinking about Twilight in a form fitting costume, and choked awkwardly on her orange juice when the attempt ended in vain. Before Twilight could tell the girls to  cease their fantasizing, Prim gave a small cough, but it was more than enough to bring quiet to the two rambunctious ponies.

“Girls, I know how you two can get swept up in things, but I think it’s time you both left to go do your chores.”

The two ponies sighed, and in unison gave an unenthusiastic, “Yes Miss Prim.” They then took all the used dishes to the kitchen, each then gave a polite bow, and left the older ponies and Spike.

“Okay, now with those two preoccupied, we can begin our day your majesty,” Prim said as she went back to managing all the notes on her clipboard.

Twilight, then looked back at Trixie, “So Trixie, all you need to do is go through the mirror, and Pinkie should be waiting for you in the library. If I know Pinkie Pie she’s probably already been there for quite some time.”

“Well, then I suppose I shouldn’t keep her waiting,” Trixie said as she got up from the table, and exited the room.

Sunset was now the only one left at the table as Spike and Clean Sweep left to go do their daily activities of their own. Twilight then spoke to her, “So Sunset, ready to go?”

“Go? Go where?” Sunset asked.

“Well, unless you want to help Clean Sweep with tidying the entire castle, or spend time with Zephyr and Peridot as they do  their chores and schoolwork, then the only thing left is for you to come with me and Prim for the day.”

Sunset seemed very disinterested in either of the first two options, she had already gotten her fill of the twins from before. She finally nodded, hesitantly, before telling the princess, “Fine, so what’s first up on our docket? A royal tea party? Ribbon cutting ceremony?”

Twilight gave Sunset a sly smile, “Oh I have a feeling it might be something a little… more your speed.”

…

As Trixie came out the mirror, she took a few moments to readjust herself from the post-teleporting nausea. However, just as she was regaining her balance, an ear-splitting whistle made her cover her ears and fall on the ground.

The sight that greeted her though was just as jarring.

A pink earth pony stood before her, she could only assume this was Pinkie Pie. Only thing that was out of the ordinary was the giant Equestrian flag standing up, almost as if it had been the wallpaper or the library.  Then the pink pony, decked out in an olive colored uniform complete with riding crop and helmet, marched up to her and said, “So you think you have what it takes to entertain the ponies of Ponyville?”

Before Trixie could answer, Pinkie continued on, “Well I don’t think you could party your way out of a wet paper bag, mostly because I’ve yet to meet a paper bag large enough for even the littlest of ponies to fit it. All I know is, it takes a special kind of pony to bring smiles to other ponies, whether it be with a party, or a magic show, or a cake, or a magic show party where cake is to be served. I’m looking for the best of the best of the best of the best. Do you think you could be that?”

“Umm...well maybe,” Trixie answered with uncharacteristic shyness.

Pinkie merely sighed, and then said, “Well maggot….hmm that seems a little too demeaning and a little gross. Okay… scalawag, welcome to Pinkie Pie’s Performance and Party Preparation Program, where I’ll take you in as a pony, and make you into a pony that will make other ponies smile. You game?”

Trixie had to take a moment for all the weirdness of her day to make any sense. After several moments passed, Trixie accepted that none of it would ever make sense, and instead answered simply, “Yes, I’m game.”

I think.