"-And that's how Equestria was made!" Pinkie finished while picking up another cupcake. This was, perhaps, the second tray of them she had finished on her own since the three of them met up to talk in one of the corners of Pinkie's work place, Sugarcube Corner.

Trixie blinked, and looked over to Maud. Maud gave a brief glance and a shrug so minuscule that Trixie would not have caught it if she wasn't deliberately pressed against Maud's side.

"...Uh-huh...Pinkie? Trixie asked if you were ready for the music exhibition next week. What even is an Equestria?"

Pinkie stared at Trixie blankly for a moment, a disturbing, almost comical amount of sweat suddenly running down her face. "O-ohhh, right! I never explained that. How silly of me, heh heh. Well, you see, Equestria is-"

Whatever Pinkie was trying to say quickly become muffled as she spoke rapidly while stuffing her face with cupcakes.

"Pinkie!" Trixie cried out as muffin flew in every direction. "The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you stop that this in-gak!"

Trixie started coughing as a piece of flying muffin became lodged in her throat.

"Oh!" Pinkie quickly swallowed. For a second, Trixie swore she saw Pinkie's neck expand outward as Pinkie downed everything preventing her speech in one go. Trixie's eyes were watering though, so she couldn't be sure. Not to mention the choking issue.

"Woopsie! Sorry, Trixie." Pinkie held out her hand to Trixie. "Here, wash it down with this, quick!"

Trixie quickly grabbed at Pinkie's hand. "Fff-thank *cough* you, *hack* T-rixie-"

Looking down, Trixie could see the bleary sight of another muffin in her hand.

"-hates you." *hack*

A large force crashed against Trixie's back, jarring her teeth and forcing her head to smack into the table. She had barely managed to turn her head to the side in time to prevent her nose from being broken. Maud continued to slap Trixie's back with bone shattering force. The second blow dislodged the muffin from her throat. The third almost dislodged Trixie's lungs as she urgently waved Maud off by flailing her hands.

The slaps stopped, giving Trixie a small reprieve. After a bit of coughing, she spit the muffin piece out onto a plate and laid her head down, using her hands as pillows. With eyes closed and head still turned to the side, Trixie decided that it would be best to just ignore everything around her for the next few minutes.

Trixie heard a slurp as Pinkie took a drink. "Is she okay?"

"...Yeah,-" Came Maud's slow reply. Trixie felt Maud lightly rubbing her back "...just give her a few minutes..."

Trixie had learned first hand over the last two months about the dangers of being around the Pie family. On their own, Trixie could manage all right, but when two or more were together, well, moments like this were commonplace. More often than not when Pinkie was involved.

Maud had quickly learned to just let Trixie zone out and keep others from disturbing her when she was like this. The back rubbing was new, though not unappreciated.

After another moment, Trixie sighed and lazily waved a hand in the air, the other hand still supporting her head comfortably. "So...the music exhibition?"

"Hmm?" Pinkie mumbled, before catching on. "Oh, right! It's going pretty well. You were there when we got the posters done in the gym, right? You and those other two girls?"

"Mhm." Trixie mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Pfft, I dunno, Trix, you sure sound like Marble, but you definitely don't look like her."

"Uh-uh."

Trixie felt a prod at her cheek and opened her eyes. Maud's hand was slowly creeping away from Trixie's face. Quickly, Trixie grasped it with her own and drew Maud's hand down to her thigh. Trixie gave a small, knowing grin as Maud's pupil restricted the tiniest amount, a clear sign that Trixie was unnerving her a little.

Trixie kept Maud's hand pressed firmly against her left hip as she picked her head up and smiled at Pinkie. "Yes, Maud's shy about being around Fuschia and Lavender, so it was just the three of us. How's band practice?"

"It's superific!" Pinkie's grin became wide, a bit too wide, actually.

"Oh? So, no problems in the band, then?"

"Ah heh heh, nothing I'd say as a problem. Just a few teeny little things we need to work on."

Trixie nodded thoughtfully as she tried to speak in terms Pinkie would understand. "So, the right ingredients, just a few mix ups in the amount of each?" Trixie grinned as Pinkie gave her a enthusiastic nod. "Hmm, would one of those be, say, a big, rainbow colored ego?"

Pinkie blew on her bubble pipe. She didn't have one seconds before, but, Trixie wasn't surprised at its sudden arrival.

"You are very good at this, Detective Trixie. Still, I am quite sure this is something the suspect will realize without our prodding giving some time and opportunity."

Trixie rolled her eyes and waved Pinkie's thoughts away. "Good luck with that. You know, Trixie is pretty sure there is one ingredient you could remove to make things even out better."

Pinkie looked confused for a moment. "Wait, ingredients are people in this, right? So that would meeeaaaannnnn- gasp!" she gave Trixie a disapproving frown. "She's not even part of the band, Trix."

Trixie let go of Maud's hand and folded her arms in front of herself irritably. "Trixie wasn't just talking about removing her from the band..."

"Double gasp! She's not that bad now, Trix! She's stopped bullying others and deserves a second chance!"

Trixie sighed and pretended to be studying her nails. "Sure. Whatever."

Pinkie's expression quickly became pouty. "Are you at least going to come see us in the band exhibition?"

Maud nodded. "...Sure."

"Will Sunset be there?" Trixie asked.

Pinkie nodded.

"Then Trixie must decline."

"Awwwww!" Pinkie cried out, before looking over at Maud in a pleading manner.

"...Sorry..."

"Hmph! Well, you can't stop me from bringing Sunny to see your performance!"

Trixie glared. "Pinkie, if I see her anywhere near me at that exhibit, and I find out you're the cause of it..."

Pinkie groaned and leaned back in her chair. "Okay, okay, sheesh. What's it gonna take for you to give her a chance?"

With a grunt, Trixie stirred the straw in her drink around for a moment. Pinkie usually dropped this subject by now, knowing how sore it made Trixie.

Humming softly, Trixie thought it over. "get her to drop out of school?"

Pinkie gave her a deadpan expression. "Yeah, that's sooo not happening."

Trixie shrugged. "Then how about getting her to give Trixie whatever magic she used at the dance?"

Pinkie's eyes widened. "You mean the mind controlly demon making, friend ruining magic?"

Trixie nodded.

With another groan, Pinkie deflated in her chair, limp as a noodle. "You totally know she can't do that. It got blasted out of her. Why would you even want that?"

"Why-" Trixie continued with a grin. "so Trixie could convince Sunset to drop out of school, of course."

"Triple gasp!"

Shortly after, their talk meandered to less upsetting subjects, up until the moment Pinkie realized she was late for rehearsal. With a quick wave, Pinkie ran out the door of the bakery, leaving Maud and Trixie alone.

Trixie poked at her milkshake, pondering on what Pinkie had said about Sunset. Sunset had tried to talk to Trixie on several occasions in the last month, about what, she couldn't imagine. Luckily, Trixie had managed to slip away each time.

On that note, I should probably thank Vice Principal Luna again for no longer confiscating my smoke bombs.

It looked like Sunset had taken the hint though, as she stopped trying to talk to Trixie about two weeks ago. Trixie's allowance was still cut in half over that particular incident, but, she was pretty sure the school window would be paid off in another month or three.

Trixie supposes Sunset found someone easier to menace by now. I'm sure those five must make great henchgirls for her.

It nagged at her though, that Maud's sister was so close to Sunset. What Sunset might be using Pinkie for.

Was she really safe around that monster?

Maud did her best not to move. She was good at fading into the background, at being still enough that others didn't notice her. But, that had stopped working on Trixie after their first few meetings. For now, she simply stared at the girl and tried not to be noticed.

Trixie looked to be thinking over something, her hand absentmindedly stirring her milkshake. Maud's gaze slowly turned to Trixie's dark red shirt, then down to her orange skirt. Maud was always interested in the different styles Trixie experimented in, outside of school, at least. Trixie kept to her old outfits when in school, trying not to be as noticed as when she was trying to be popular.

Maud's eyes continued to trace over Trixie's form. The way the shirt slowly softened in color, meeting the skirt with equal color before going completely over to orange was, well, Maud couldn't place it exactly. Molten lava bursting to fire on the surface? Or, perhaps, the look reminded Maud of the way a sunstone can slowly change colors as you slowly turn it in your hand. Regardless, it fascinated Maud more than it should. The fascination brought feelings with it, feelings Maud had been warring with since Trixie first teased her over a month ago.

Maud had quickly become aware of little things Trixie started to do since that night. If they sat next to each other, Trixie always found a way to lean against Maud, or some excuse to entrap her hand with her own. The close contact wasn't unwelcome, the teasing though... Maud had assumed it was a friends thing until Lime pointed out what was really happening.

"Look, I...fuck." Limestone looked to the side, pretending to skim over the rocks on the shelves in Maud's room. "How is this not obvious to you by now? She's trying to get you to go out with her."

Maud slowly blinked. The lack of response irritated Lime.

"Seriously? How are you not getting this?"

"...Where does she want to go?"

Lime groaned and rubbed the side of her head. "No, there is no fucking way I am letting you be this clueless with a pervert like her visiting all the time. She wants to go on a date with you. Be your girlfriend, all that shit."

Despite knowing Lime wouldn't lie to her, it was still a hard concept for Maud to wrap her head around. Mainly because Trixie was always so straight forward with Maud about what she wanted. So why wasn't she this time? Was this why Trixie's teasing had become much more intense?

Thankfully, Trixie's teasing hadn't quite gotten as intimate as that first night, but there had been some close calls at first. All of this left Maud in a strange spot, one she hadn't expected to ever worry about. Sure, Maud thought she might find someone, someday, but, she didn't ever think that someone could be Trixie. Maud liked being around her, and they had been through a lot of emotional mishaps together. But, liking someone, and wanting to go out with them, Maud wasn't sure where that line was. She'd break someone in half for Trixie, sure, but, she'd do that for anyone in her family.

Though seeing any of her siblings nearly naked never brought on the same feelings as when Trixie did it. Some nights, when Trixie had gone home, she couldn't help but think about those images...

Maud quickly shook the thoughts away. A quick glance over revealed a curious Trixie staring back at her.

"You okay, Maud?"

"...Yeah. sorry. So...how is your band?"

"The Illusions? Heh, don't you worry, Maud. We'll be more than ready to blow the exhibition away. Still..."

Trixie grabbed the side of Maud's arm and squeezed.

"Trixie knew those five were making a band. But she didn't know they'd get Sunset involved. At least she is only there for the rehearsals. They're smart enough to know no one would show up if that witch was really in it. But, why are they helping her?"

"...Pinkie said they promised Twilight."

"Twilight? The girl who came to school for, what two, three days, then disappeared?" Trixie glared angrily. "Why didn't she take that demon with her? Or at least stick around to make sure she wouldn't do anything? No, instead, she pawned it off on your sister and just walked away."

Carefully, Maud wrapped an arm around Trixie's shoulders.

"Why hasn't she taken the hint yet, Maud?" Trixie continued. "The angry words, the stares, why won't she just leave? Why does she get to hide behind others? She doesn't deserve to!"

"..."

Trixie leaned against Maud a little and looked to the side. "I'm...not happy that Pinkie is wrapped up with her either. Trixie knows we've only started talking, but, she's nice, and she's important to you. So, Trixie really doesn't want to see her caught up in whatever scheme Sunset is planning. Aren't you worried, Maud?"

Maud slowly brought her hand up and gave Trixie's hair a gentle pat. This part of Trixie was, in Maud's opinion, amazing. The part that cared about something, or someone, because they were important to Maud. It made her feel...something strong for Trixie. A blur of happiness, with something else underneath that she couldn't quite place.

"...It's okay. Pinkie is...stronger than she looks. And-" Maud gave Trixie's shoulders another squeeze. "If she needs help...she knows where to go..."

Huh, well, this is different.

Trixie could admire a spectacle. And one that livened up lunch time was certainly appreciated. When three girls Trixie had never seen before walked into the cafeteria, humming loud enough to be heard over the din of the crowd, it was clear that she was in for a show.

The leader *Who else would be in the middle?* was a slight yellow girl with bright mulberry eyes and huge, fluffy orange hair held in a ponytail by a black, spiky band. The red gem around her neck shimmered and shined, almost like it was lit from the inside. Trixie loved what she did with her clothes. The pink, fingerless gloves, the gold belt, they fit perfectly with the girls pink and purple outfit. While the ensemble left little to the imagination, it spoke volumes on the girls fashion sense and intent.

The purple tights with the silhouettes of Doritos was a little off putting, but Trixie let it slide.

There were two others along with her, but, really, why would Trixie waste time watching the stage hands? She decided to stay standing where she was in the cafeteria for now. She could get back to her lunch afterwards.

"We heard you want to get together." The leader sang. "We heard you want to rock the school."

How she keeps that hair from consuming her is beyond Trixie. She thought, watching the girls walk down separate aisles. Each one would briefly touch any student not paying attention. The chatter in the room died down quickly.

"Why pretend we're all the same," The yellow one sang out, drawing more and more attention as her and her friends walked around the room. "when some of us shine brighter!"

"Aaahaaa aaahaaa!" The blue and purple girls accompanied.

It was a nice performance, Trixie had to admit. Not nearly as good as Trixie's, but it still managed to stir something up inside her. A desire to do...something. Briefly, Trixie's eyes flashed over to Sunset, sitting at one of the tables and watching the scene.

Without Trixie noticing, the orange haired singer had suddenly stopped in front of her. Gently, she cupped Trixie's chin with her hand and drew Trixie's gaze from Sunset to her own.

"You're a star and you should know it."

Not more than a second or two later, the girl took her hand away. The girl's companions came over and picked her up, hoisting her onto the nearby table as she continued to sing.

"Yeah, you rise above the rest!"

This caused Trixie to roll her eyes. Sing right at Trixie for a second, and then walk away. Screw you too.

"Let's have a battle! A battle of the bands!"

Still, for some reason, Trixie could feel herself being pulled by the message of the song. Turn the music exhibition into a contest? A battle? It sounded fun enough, as Trixie thought more about it. And it was a chance to prove to the rest of the school how amazing she was. What was wrong with that?

Others began calling out, mixing their desires in with the song as it continued. Trixie couldn't help but voice her own thoughts when a lull in the song hit.

"I so want this!" Trixie heard herself cry out, only to immediately receive a response.

"Not if I get it first!"

Trixie glared over, spotting a blue skinned guy that screamed 'hippy' in Trixie's mind.

That little jerk, just wait. Trixie will win this, show the school how great she is, and then...and then...

Memories of the past trickled in. Snips, Snails, Rarity, and the dozens of others who had once called her amazing, only to drop her as soon as she became inconvenient.

And then have a school full of 'friends' that couldn't care less about me...

For what felt like moments, Trixie felt a confused conflict in her mind. She wanted to do something, something to prove how great she really was. But, to who? For what?

The song and voices faded into the background as Trixie thought through the conflict in her head. For some reason, she couldn't decide to just not compete, but, she couldn't find a clear reason why she wanted to, either. This war dragged on inside her, until-

"Hmm-" Trixie faintly heard from behind her. "Well, I expected a hiccup or two. Girls? I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Pssh, whatever. Don't get lost, Adagio."

"Well, hello there." The smooth voice said, directly behind Trixie.

Coming out of her thoughts was surprisingly hard. Sluggishly, Trixie looked over. The yellow girl, Adagio? She was standing next to Trixie, hand on hip, and a seductive smirk on her lips.

"Oh? What's wrong? Not going to join your friends?"

"M-my friends?" Trixie heard herself say.

Adagio pointed over to the crowd of people arguing with each other. "They are all having fun, why not join in? You don't have to hold back." The girl eyed Trixie up. "Someone with such...flair is sure to make a splash at the competition."

She hesitated for a moment, her words slow and halting as Trixie's brain worked them through. "They aren't friends, they aren't important."

Adagio hummed to herself, raising a perfectly manicured finger to her lips as she thought. "I see. It's like that for you? Well..." she leaned closer, her eyes shimmering with amusement. Trixie's head felt fuzzy. "If the allure of the crowd isn't...enough...then what is? There must be something? Some hidden, dark, desire?"

Slowly, Trixie's eyes looked over to Sunset and the five girls she was sitting with. A light laugh came from Adagio.

"How cute. Do you like one of them?"

"...No."

"Do you hate one of them?"

"..."

"That's it then?" A hand ran through her hair from behind, lightly ruffling it. Normally, Trixie would slap it away, but she was transfixed on Sunset Shimmer.

"Well, this is a good opportunity, isn't it?"

"How?" Trixie asked, listless.

"Believe me." Adagio whispered into Trixie's ear. "Just look at how everyone else is focused on winning. What makes you think they'll be worried about anything, or anyone, for the next few days? Why-"

With that, Trixie felt a pressure in her let go, her mind became less fuzzy. Turning around revealed Adagio slowly walking away from her.

"-I'll bet no one would even notice if something happened to one of those girls."

"You're sure about that?"

"That's what I saw." Fuschia grinned. For the moment, the three of them were talking by Trixie's locker just after school.

"Sunset and those Lamegoons are panicked." Fuschia continued. "About what? I dunno. But I heard them talking about getting in touch with Twilight. They must really want to win."

"You're sure?" Trixie almost hissed. "Sunset is only a, ugh, friend of theirs. Why is she panicked?"

Fuschia shrugged. "Not really my concern, Trix. She isn't even part of their band."

"M-maybe she's acting like their manager?" Lavender squeaked out.

Trixie thought on that. Sunset befriended those five girls right after they beat her. Afterwards, it was rare to see her without one of them. And now, they were calling for reinforcements just to win a band contest. Trixie's eyes widened.

"That bitch is learning." Trixie growled out.

"...W-what?"

She's taking a back seat this time. Trixie thought. She wants to win without getting her hands dirty.

"Trixie...gets it." For a brief second, her eyes flashed green. "Sunset's making her move. She has those dupes following her command now."

She grit her teeth. It had only been a few months, but, Sunset had learned enough dirt on nearly everyone in school in that time to become untouchable. It would probably be child's play for her to have dug up something on those five if that was all she focused on. Duping Twilight into trusting her friends to help probably wouldn't be that difficult.

Trixie sighed. Those five were stupid. Hell, everyone in the school was stupid for not running Sunset out the second she was beaten. Of course she would pretend to befriend the ones who beat her. Fooling and threatening others until she had control over them was just what Sunset did.

"Well girls, it looks like the Illusions will have to win this thing."

The other two grinned at her. Fuschia pretended to wipe sweat off of her forehead.

"Gotta admit there, Trix. For a bit, I didn't think you'd want to compete. Since, you know, Sunset is involved."

"Oh no." Trixie shook her head, giving them each a sinister grin. "Trixie wants to compete because Sunset is involved."

Trixie clenched her fist. For once, thoughts of Sunset brought no fear to her mind. Instead, that fear was replaced with something else.

"Trixie wants to crush her and those idiots."

Beating them on stage, in front of a crowd? Yes, that would do for the Rainbooms. She didn't like several of them, anyways. The others, she didn't want to, but, if they were Sunset's tools, so be it. She could apologize to Pinkie later.

Sunset, however. Now, there was someone Trixie wanted to beat. Not in a band battle, or a silly popularity contest.

No, Trixie wanted Sunset to watch as her plan fell apart, and then beat her in the most literal sense of the word.

Maud turned over in bed again. Sleep was hard for her. Her thoughts kept bleeding out and encompassing the entirety of her mind. Trixie, despite her absence, just wouldn't leave her alone.

It had started just before Maud's third class. Rumors of the music exhibition changing to a band battle were everywhere. Some talked with excitement, some confusion. Maud ignored it. If it was anything important, Trixie or Pinkie would probably bring it up later anyways.

Then, three girls Maud had never seen walked down the hallway, loudly humming. For a moment, Maud felt her mind freeze, her eyes, almost forced to watch the girls until they finally rounded a corner and were out of sight. Then, things got...weird.

The other students around her started to argue, talking about which band was the best of the competitors. Over the course of several minutes, the arguments turned to shouting matches. No physical violence had occurred, but it hadn't seemed that far off, in Maud's opinion. Still, Trixie's name had come up several times, and not always in a good way.

Trixie was in the band exhibition, would she also be in the battle?

Since then, Trixie began plaguing Maud's thoughts, her concerns getting darker as the day wore on. What was Trixie doing? Who was she with? Were Fuschia and Lavender really just friends, or did they want something more from Trixie? Would Trixie leave her for them? What if Maud needed to get rid of them, would Trixie be angry at her if she couldn't compete? Why hadn't Maud ever learned to play an instrument?

Questions and thoughts plagued her mind, anger and jealousy were common place in them, and the only reprieve was when Maud and Trixie met up later that day. Maud's fears and concerns had ebbed around Trixie. Trixie was there, she was safe, and Maud was close enough to make sure it stayed that way.

Maud also learned that, yes, Trixie was going to participate. Afterwards, when Trixie went off with Fuschia and Lavender to practice though, the feelings and concerns returned, stronger than before.

Oddly enough, Maud didn't hate this feeling. It overwhelmed her, but, it had been a long time since an emotion had taken hold of her like this. It scared her, but, in the darker parts of her mind, Maud could feel herself reveling in it.

Maud's eyes, unseen by herself or anyone else, glowed green for a second. Her hands came up to clutch at her blushing cheeks as more thoughts came to mind.

Later that night, Maud tried to remember the names and faces of the ones who were talking about the contest earlier. The ones that had bad mouthed Trixie.

Perhaps she would pay them a visit.

"Friendship iiis Magiiic!!!"

The party held for the participants in the battle was going quite well up to this point. Trixie was having a wonderful time explaining to Flash the myriad of reasons why his band sucked. But, this?

This was awkward.

Trixie and the rest of the crowd watched the Rainbooms and Twilight as the six girls kept their eyes closed and held hands in the middle of the gym. A quick glance over to the side showed Trixie how nervous Sunset was starting to look.

Is...this a part of her plan? What in the world are they doing?

Shortly after, the six girls opened their eyes, seemingly confused.

Is Sunset drugging them, or something? Was the crappy fruit punch *Seriously, who uses this much grape juice?* spiked?

Trixie quickly thought back to what Twilight Sparkle said less than a minute ago.

"There isn't going to be a battle of the bands! We're going to make sure of that!"

Was that it? Did Sunset just try to have them blast all the competition with...whatever they used on Sunset before?

That must be it. Trixie glared at the six girls. They really just tried to hit us like they did Sunset and it failed!

She grinned as her eyes flashed green once more. If they couldn't use that magic here, then they probably couldn't use it to cheat in the competition.

Trixie's odds just went up.

"You better believe" Trixie sang out, accompanied by Fuschia and Lavender on their synthesizers. "I've got tricks up my sleeves."

Fuschia's parents garage was, luckily, large enough for them to practice in, though the slight echo was irritating. Then again, it was fortunate they found anywhere to play at all. The other bands were hogging the music room, as well as any free place the school could offer up already. Trixie and the Illusions was originally just for fun, and the band needed to put in some serious hours to secure the win.

Sunset won't even know what hit her. Trixie thought with a grin and a wink towards Maud.

Surprisingly, Maud requested to come and watch them practice, though asked if they could wait a little bit for her to wrap some things up around the school. Trixie agreed without hesitation, perhaps Maud was ready to give Fuschia and Lavender a chance! Besides, it would be...safer with Maud.

Apparently, the band competition had resulted in a few injuries. At least three people were assaulted and hospitalized today. None of the victims had gotten a good look at who did it, but apparently it was a girl none of them remembered seeing in school before.

Oddly enough, little fuss had been caused over it. Principal Celestia had simply made a small announcement for everyone to be more careful, and the matter was quickly ignored. Trixie had only paid a little attention to it to gauge what Adagio had said to her earlier.

Just look at how everyone else is focused on winning. What makes you think they'll be worried about anything, or anyone, for the next few days?

It was true, and Trixie couldn't be any happier.

"Maud? Could you hand Trixie her guitar?"

With a quick nod, Maud picked the guitar that was next to her up and handed it over. Trixie gave Maud's arm a brief pat of gratitude before turning to the others.

"Alright, from the top!"

The sound of metal bending rang out as the locker dented beneath the force of something slamming into it. Maud turned around and walked away, ignoring the sound of someone crumpling to the floor behind her. Her mind was focused on her left hand. The hand that had gently taken Trixie's, and held it against Maud's cheek for just a few seconds after band practice was over.

Maud had barely registered grabbing Trixie's hand at all until it happened. It was so warm, so perfect. Maud couldn't help herself, she just had to feel it against her face.

Trixie had asked if Maud was feeling well. She had to think about that for a second, at first. Was she feeling well?

Maud's eyes flashed green.

Of course she was feeling well. She had never felt better. Trixie was there, so there was no reason not to feel good.

Maud's mind continued to swim in euphoria as she walked into the bathroom.

Trixie felt good. Trixie had told Maud that she could help out, though Trixie didn't know how Maud could. Perhaps, if Maud helped her more, Trixie would be okay with Maud being around more? With touching her more?

Trixie was prideful in the best of ways, but that pride was fragile too. Making any of the bands she was against not show up would make Trixie upset. So, Maud wouldn't physically touch any of them. Still...

Trixie had talked about some of the stuff Flash had said to her at the party. She wouldn't hurt them, but, that didn't mean she couldn't mess with them in some way. Right?

Calmly, Maud washed the blood off of her hands. Trixie would worry about Maud if she saw it.

Trixie was wonderful like that.

Sketch will be replaced by my actual commission later, but I wanted the story up, and it IS an awesome looking sketch.

Second part will be up later this week, hope you enjoy.