"So," Prince summed up, "after that last meeting, I'd eventually grown to think I'd never have to worry about her again, which brings us to the present day." He looked over his friends in the library. "Any ideas?"

"Hmm," hmm'd Doctor, "well, now that we know Trixie's obsession is born of affection gained through simple gestures and can infer from her behavior a long-suffered loneliness, a thrill of new-found power, and perhaps a sense of detachment from everypony besides you, I think..."

Prince, Shining, and Soarin all leaned in a little closer in anticipation.

He beamed his most cheerful smile. "You're pretty much boned."

Ignoring the sound of Soarin's snickering, Prince spoke through gritted teeth. "Thank you so much for your helpful insight."

Doctor chuckled. "Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but I think 'boned'-" Soarin broke into mad giggling, "-is the long and short of it."

Shining took a step forward. "I think what he means is that while there might be something we can use from that story, it takes time to digest the information, y'know?" He brushed a hoof against his chin in thought. "Getting praised gets her attention and makes her stick around, not getting praised makes her stick around to try harder and harder to get it..."

Blueblood gave a hopeful look. "Isn't there any way to repel a pony like that?" He had considered just acting like his old self for a while, but he wasn't willing to sink quite that low again. Part of it was to avoid the risk of needing to apologize to the entire town, minus one marshmallow, for a second time if things really got out of hoof.

"Maybe if she was ginger," offered Soarin, who remembered a thought from earlier in the day. "...Are we sure she doesn't dye her mane?"

The noblepony adapted a contemplative look. "You know, it's never really occurred to me to ask. For some reason I was always hung up on questions like 'How did you find me here?' or, 'What are you doing with that net,' or-" The sarcasm was clear in his voice now. "-and this one was something of a favorite, 'Will you please let me out of this net?!'"

Soarin blinked once. "You asked what she was doing with the net every time?"

Blueblood groaned, face-hoofing harder than he had in recent weeks. "Alright," he uttered, "I'm going to try Big Macintosh again. His idea almost worked, as I recall."

As he headed toward the door, Doctor spoke up. "Is there a plan if he doesn't have any more ideas either?"

Opening the library door, he shrugged. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I'd be bon-" he trailed off, jumped backward, and slammed the door, looking at his friends with wide-eyed panic, voice a loud whisper. "She's coming!!"

"What should we-"

Shining was cut off by Blueblood running behind the bookcase-compartment again. "Anything, stall her, I don't-wait! Stand guard outside and tell her we're closed! I'll slip away when she leaves."

Not certain he could trust any part of this library until he knew how that hiding place came into being, Shining made a mental note to investigate later as he headed outside. As he did, Soarin whispered to Doctor. "Um, are we sure we should be letting Shining Armor deal with the aggressive, love-crazed filly?"

Doctor whispered back. "If it's in the context of guarding somewhere, I'm sure he'll do fine. What's the worst that can happ-"

Blueblood called from behind the bookcase. "Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

There, the library, Blueblood almost certainly inside. As Trixie approached, one of her future husband's friends came out and stood still as though guarding a post. One of his friends defends a library for a living? It probably made more sense to think he was there to guard the royal who lived there. Not that books weren't worth defending too, but...

She shook her head lightly, with him standing right at the door, climbing in the window again probably wouldn't be a good idea. No problem, she would just approach normally and ask to be let in.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie seeks entrance to the library!"

"I'm sorry, Miss, bu-"

"You're sorry, Great and Powerful Trixie!"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, great and powerful Trixie, but-"

She grinned smugly. "Thank you."

"...But I can't let you pass."

The smile was gone. "And whyever not?! Trixie's destined special somepony is in that library, so-"

Shining Armor puffed out his chest just slightly, the law was on his side this time! "Madam, the library is currently closed, if you attempt to enter you will be charged with breaking and, uh... Entering!" Of course, it was supposed to be on my side a few times before...

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, the cape billowing behind her making her look all the more fearsome. "Fine," she replied icily, "Trixie will wait here until it opens."

And then came the silence. The long, quiet silence. The long, quiet silence that mostly comprised of her staring straight at him. Not saying a word. Yes, an awkward silence. It had to be broken!

"Ssssooo, lovely weather we're-"

"Is the library open yet?"

Quiet: 1, Shining Armor: 0

"...What kind of book would you-"

"How about now?"

He shook his head. "What do you really want with Blueblood, anyway?"

Her face lit up, a welcome change from the increasingly cold death-glare she had been pouring on, non-stop. "Prince Blueblood, Master of Teleportation, Trixie's Future Husband, The Pony With Amazing Azure Eyes, Alabaster Angel of Canterlot, Most Eligible Bachelor in Equestria, Best-Groomed Fetlocks Trixie Has Ever Seen, Longest Horn On Anypony But-"

Shining interrupted her love of titles with a raised hoof, confused. "What does his horn have to do with anything?"

Trixie scowled at him for cutting her off so close to the end of the list, but obliged anyway. "A unicorn's horn is the symbol of their magical power, Prince Blueblood's horn is the longest on a mortal pony measured by acknowledged record keepers by a whole four centimeters, surely a testament to his arcane prowess."

Ignoring the condescension in her voice, he wondered if she knew Prince was the Element of Magic... "So... It's a magic thing, then?"

She blinked twice. "Of course, what else would it be?"

Quiet almost scored another point before Trixie started to blush.

"I-it's just a show of magical power, that's it!"

He nodded slowly in response, not seeing much of anything else to do with a horn. "Yyeeaaaa...?"

She reddened brighter as ponies started to gather 'round to see the Great and Flustered Trixie shouting at the pony guarding the library. "I don't have ANY weird intentions for his horn, alright?! It's only his magic I'm interested in!"

Blink.

"F-FROM HIS HORN, I MEAN! TRIXIE ISN'T A PERVERT!!"

Shining Armor did colt-scouts everywhere proud by being genuinely surprised. "P-PERVERT?!" He shouted just loudly enough to unintentionally draw even more spectators, "WHAT COULD YOU DO WITH HIS HORN THAT INVOLVES-?!"

Trixie's face was practically glowing now. "NO!! I-I have n-no idea what you would use it for, be-because I don't, I wouldn't...!" She quickly looked at the growing crowd of raised eyebrows and foals having hooves placed over their ears, pulled her hat over her face in shame, and *POOF!* vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

Those looking in the direction of her wagon at the time might have noticed a near-blind young mage briefly tripping, face-planting, and immediately getting up again to flee to her home/escape vehicle.

This left the crowd looking squarely at Shining Armor, a quiet, almost judging stare not unlike Trixie's had been. He squirmed quietly in the renewed awkward silence until a local, frizzy-maned filly, Twist, he was pretty sure her name was, tapped a hoof on his leg. "Hey Mishter, ish thuh library open now?"

Having helped the filly with the red, puffy mane find her book, (he had to do his job as the librarian, afterall) Blueblood left Shining, Doctor, and Soarin in charge of the library for a while before heading out to Sweet Apple Acres again. Here's hoping they don't accidentally turn the place into a casino or something in the twenty minutes I'm gone, He wasted no time in locating Big Macintosh for the second time that day.

"Hello again. Not that I mean to question ancient Apple family wisdom, but, err..."

Another tree was bucked clean. "It didn't work?"

He tried his hardest not to deadpan. "Nope."

Big Mac nodded, no plan was perfect. "Sorry to hear that. Why're ya so scared'a that filly, anyhow?"

Now he deadpanned. "The possessive gaze, the possibly illegal entries to places, the hiding under-"

The farmer chuckled. "Alright, so she ain't exactly romantic, but I think if ya two talked a few things out, ya might really be close."

Blueblood shook his head. "You didn't know her when she was younger."

The reply was calm, but firm. "I didn't know you when ya were younger, neither."

He blinked. "Erm-"

"Correct me if Ah'm wrong, but ya weren't always the nicest fella yerself, right?"

Given the difficulty of denying the massive understatement, he nodded.

Big Mac smiled. "Then we know ponies change. Have ya really given 'er a chance in the last few years?"

"I-I, well... No, but..." Fear and dread washed over him like cold rain when he found himself actually considering it. But then, hope! "But, she's just as insane as before, same crazy eyes, same obsessive pursuit, same-"

He moved to the next tree and gave it a swift kick. "Alright, she might be a little enthusiastic fer yer likin', but Ah reckon she's bound to calm down eventually. All Ah'm asking is ya give 'er a chance, ok?"

He nodded slowly. "Thank you for your time, Macintosh."

"Eeyup!"

Walking away, Blueblood couldn't shake the feeling that maybe it was actually worth a try. Nor the one that it would be third or fourth most unwise thing he'd ever done. He headed back to town with nary a clue of how to proceed. While he had meant it in primarily mocking tones when Doctor asked exactly that question, it appeared he was, indeed, 'boned' if he couldn't think of something soon.

He dared put real thought into the idea of just holding out, to letting Trixie be Trixie until she wore down enough to almost be normal. Reflecting on the story he'd shared in the library, he'd only told them the highlights of her madness, as weeks of daily Trixie could take hours to convey, but it never really got much worse than what he'd included. She never foalnapped him, never chained him to something in her basement, never drugged him, nor done a number of horrific things he'd heard of obsessive, psychotic types doing to their targets. All things considered, maybe she wasn't even that bad?

It was as he pondered whether or not Trixie seemed vaguely tame back then only because she had just been a filly and the more nightmarish forms of possessiveness simply hadn't occurred to her that Prince bumped into somepony. Snapping out of his mental meanderings, he looked up to see Ditzy, apparently knocked on her rear and looking up at him with a sheepish smile that made him wonder which of them had been paying less attention. He opted to apologize first just in case. "Sorry, are you alright?"

She stood, shaking off the dust. "Yup! So, what are you up to?"

"I'm..." He trailed off, not even sure how to answer. Wandering around at random? Hoping for a miracle? Feeling incredibly paranoid of every door, window, hatch, floorboard, patch of grass, and whatever else I come across that she could hide under? "Nothing, really."

Either Ditzy considered this good news or she was just feeling a little more cheerful than usual, because she smiled a little wider. "Great! Mind if I tag along?"

He swatted down the thought that he might be able to use her as a pony shield if he ran into Trixie again and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Ditzy suppressed the urge to skip with glee, both because that would be weird and it would be hard to keep pace with Prince, who was walking normally. This is perfect, I'll stick with him! That way, if I find Trixie again, I can just point next to me!

Wandering aimlessly, it wasn't long before the two of them spotted Shining, Soarin, and Doctor standing outside Trixie's wagon. Approaching, Prince kept his voice low so as to minimize risk of the showpony hearing him. "What's going on?"

Shining Armor turned to answer him. "Well, after locking up at the library, we decided to try just talking to Trixie, but she's kinda..." He glanced at the wagon. "We can't get her to come out."

Doctor's tone was oddly cheerful as ever. "Apparently she's a little embarrassed about a misunderstanding, the cause of which we can only guess," Shining pointedly looked away, face tinting red, "and now she's going hermit for a little while."

Soarin called out to Trixie. "Hey, Prince is here to see you!"

They heard a thump, followed by the wagon door slowly cracking open, the magician's face partly visible as she peered out at them. It looked like she had removed her hat and cape for the time being.

The local love guru smiled. "Don't worry about what other ponies might think, your urges involving his horn are completely natural and nothing to be asham-" He was cut off by Trixie turning bright red and slamming the door.

Everypony outside the wagon gave Soarin a flat stare, bar Prince, who just looked confused, as he sheepishly smiled back at them. "Heh heh... Oops?"

Ditzy gave it a try next. "Hi, Trixie! Can you come out, and talk to us? I found Blueblood for you!" Ignoring said noble's raised eyebrow, she took a few steps closer to the wagon and gave a friendly smile. "Pretty please?"

Trixie, no small part of her wanting to crawl into a hole and die, had settled for lying under her bed for the last minute or so. She had come to this town to claim her beloved, and so far? Only succeeded in making a fool of herself. Worst of all was that she knew exactly why things had gone wrong, it was the same as when she left Canterlot. As such, she really just wanted to sulk for a while, and while it was a rare instant in which she was content to completely ignore the attention of reasonably handsome stallions, Ditzy was... Well, Trixie owed her for the muffin earlier, and The Great and Powerful Trixie still did not like having debts, no matter how small. She gingerly crawled out from her hiding spot, carefully pushed open the door, and waited for the jeers and laughter.

When none came, she saw that Prince, Ditzy, that brown one, and the two that had tricked and humiliated her today were all standing in silence with not-particularly-judgmental stares. She stepped out to join them, still visibly on-guard, waiting for the first sign of a joke at her expense as she spoke quietly, trying not to let any venom into her voice as she answered Ditzy. "What is it you wanted?"

The mailmare kept a warm, friendly grin as she gestured to Blueblood, who stood somewhat awkwardly beside her. "You've been trying to get a chance to talk to him all day, right?"

The two spoke at once.

"We've alre-"
"We kindof-"

"Sorry, you-"
"Go ahea-"

"You can-"
"No, no, I-"

Silence. Everpony stood still, not saying a word as Trixie and Prince waited for the other to speak, not sure what to say themselves.

Shining, while quietly writhing in yet another awkward silence, didn't want to risk making it worse by saying something. He would try just waiting it out this time.

The noblepony starting to sweat and the magician starting to turn red, the former eventually spoke, having thought of something a normal, sensible pony might say in this situation. "S-so, how have you been?"

There wasn't a hint of her usual boisterous tone in the reply. "Trixie is fine, thank you for asking. You?"

He shrugged a little. "I'm pretty good here, it's a nice town for the most part."

She raised an eyebrow just slightly, part of her wondering why this thought didn't occur to her earlier. "Why are you living here now?" She glanced over her shoulder at the distant city on the side of the mountain. "Did something happen in Canterlot?"

There was a short, nervous laugh. "A l-lot of things happened." A similar sentiment sprung up in his own head. "Come to think of it, why did you leave the city? I didn't really understand what you meant that day."

A tiny smile was a huge relief for those standing by as Trixie half-heartedly struck a haughty pose. "Trixie had to expand her skills, to walk the earth and become a Great and Powerful unicorn!" She felt just confident enough to wink at him, prompting a light blush. "Was that your reason too?"

He blinked twice, feeling the tiniest increase in his heart-rate. "N-no, not quite-" he spoke without thinking, "I was punched in the face."

Trixie seemed to lose her footing for a split second, almost tripping over nothing. "I-I'm sorry, what?" Regaining awareness of what he was saying, Blueblood sputtered for a few seconds before she spoke again, looking at Ditzy. "Does... D-does that mean I DO have to hit him?"

He turned to Ditzy, who was lowering her head and smiling sheepishly. "You told her to assault me?!"

Trixie turned to Blueblood. "You don't like being assaulted?!"

He turned back to her. "Why would I like being assaulted?!"

Her face tinted red. "Trixie thought it was a kink!" A kink that had a very confusing context considering most of his closest friends had apparently hit him at some point.

Blinking rapidly, he turned to the first pony to punch him within memory. "T-that's what you meant when you said she would molest me?!"

So did Trixie. "You told him Trixie was some kind of random molester?!"

The beleaguered guard could only look back at them helplessly, sputtering for a few seconds before the weight of the misunderstanding held his mouth shut. The awkward! It burrrrrrrnsssss!! He looked to Ditzy for help, but she had buried her face in her forehooves, what little of it he could see beet red.

Doctor chimed in with a grin, nodding to the pair of annoyed unicorns. "Aren't they getting along swimmingly?"

It's not my fault, dammit, thought Shining Armor, I have to stay alert for that kind of thing, what if Twily were exposed to something too sexual?!

"Aaa-CHOO!!"

Twilight Sparkle raised her head slightly to peer over her book. "You ok, Moondancer?"

Moondancer rubbed her snout with a forehoof. "Yea..." She shook her head lightly. "Hope I'm not coming down with something."

Laying on her back, forehooves leisurely behind her head with a book floating over it, Sunset Shimmer snorted. "If you are, you probably picked it up from your last trip to a bar. I really hope you get checked every now and then."

Moondancer just smiled, batting her eyes. "Aww, I knew you cared about me!" Before objections, snarky comments, or both could be raised, she trotted over to the yellow unicorn and sloppily kissed her on the cheek.

"EUUGH!!" Sunset shuddered, the book she lost concentration on falling and bopping her on the head as she furiously wiped her cheek with a hoof. "Don't spread your STDs to me!!"

Twilight giggled, rolling her eyes at her perverted friend's antics.

Seeing this, Sunset scowled, narrowing her eyes before grinning maliciously. "Ohh, Moondancer? I think our purple friend is feeling horribly neglected by your show of favoritism."

Said purple pony blinked twice. "W-what?! I'm not-"

Moondancer, fully aware of Sunset's sinister intentions and not bothered in the slightest, turned to Twilight, beaming. "You're right!" Approaching her target with her head lowered, eyes half-lidded, and hips swaying, she spoke in a husky whisper. "C'mere, Twily, let me be your first kiss..."

"Eek!"

Watching Moondancer chase Twilight around the room making kissy faces, Sunset suddenly felt she was faced with a dilemma...

I could easily trip Twilight with a quick spell, but that would help the pony that just slobbered on my face at the same time. Choices...

"A-anyway, Trixie," Blueblood uttered, a nervous look in his eyes as he glanced at her. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Her expression turned very calm, almost sad. "There's something Trixie wants to talk about to you too. It's too soon."

All present, most of all Prince, stood silent in anticipation of elaboration.

The showmare nodded lightly, her voice soft. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, but I'm not the Greatest, MOST Powerful Trixie, not the 'best magic pony in the whole world' right now. That was my goal, and it looks like it's still a little too soon." Her would-be paramour opened his mouth to say something, but she held up a hoof. "No, no, please don't say anything, Trixie has come to this conclusion on her own." There was a loud pause. "...With some help from a few ponies that may or may not have steered her in the right direction."

She didn't seem to notice the mass eye-roll, instead walking back to her wagon and calling over her shoulder, a confident grin on her features. "But worry not, Prince Blueblood, for Trixie's proficiency in magic will only rise from here on, and, once more, Trixie will be back for you!"

The door to the wagon shut, the vehicle/house/stage beginning to move seconds later, slowly making it's way out of town.

Shining, Soarin, Doctor, and Ditzy all regarded Prince with curious stares as he stood frozen in place, his face a strange mix of terror and relief. "She's... gone?"

Doctor sighed. "I'm afraid so." It was a shame, they were so close for just a minute there.

"...Good!" He turned away and began a calm march.

As Shining moved to follow, Soarin called out. "Where are you going?"

"The library," he called back, "I need to find a counter-counter teleportation spell before she gets back!"

As Trixie steered her wagon (another feat only the more skilled earth pony engineers of the land really knew how it worked) over a hill leaving Ponyville, she sighed. That didn't go at all like I'd hoped, but I'll never give up on you, My Darling Prince!

...

There was a thought she knew she'd have to stop pretending wasn't possible.

I mean, unless he got a special somepony before the next time we met, then I'd have to back off... Right?

Author's Notes:

Don't worry reader, that's the last of Trixie's Totally Transfixing Top Titles list. For now.

Now I know there's one overarching question that wasn't answered in the story, a mystery that might have been picking at the back of your mind, it's cloying voice whispering lies and false promises into your trusting psyche since chapter 1: How does Doctor keep fit?!
It may be answered someday, but that day is not this one. Stay tuned!