The mood was quiet, calm, maybe even a little sombre. The waitress at the bar was busy cleaning one particularly stubborn glass for the next milkshake, and she regarded her patrons with narrowed eyes. By startling coincidence, a local jazz musician was in the place, giving a sort of low-key impromptu performance, simply for the fun of it. As such, the sound of smooth saxophone music filled the place, and that, coupled with the lowered blinds to keep out the especially bright sunlight, created a real atmosphere today. In the midst of all of this, two teens, Rarity and Trixie, both sat opposite each other in their respective booth. Both eyed one another, not in a hostile way exactly, but as though they were each daring the other to break the silence first. Neither of them seemed to waver, however, and the only sounds were the occasional slurp of their drinks. Trixie, for her part, was rather amused by it all, while Rarity kept her cool. But, at the end, the waitress, looking over to them, called out.

"So...would you two like anything else to eat?"

“No, thank you," the two said in unison.

Well, that was it. The silence was broken, and so now they could get down to business.

"Well, Rarity, I'm glad we were able to get that whole business sorted out."

Taking another sip of her drink, the young fashionista nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. The boot is found, and now we can get back to practise without interruptions."

"You mean until the next time something goes wrong?" Trixie remarked.

Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is something of that nature due to happen?"

Trixie shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe. Things going wrong seems to happen a lot around here."

Rarity sighed.

"Well...you're not wrong."

The amateur magician took the silence that followed as an excuse to take a long and loud slurp of her own drink, and when she was done, she narrowed her eyes at her companion.

"If I may ask...why did you suspect me of having taken the boot?"

Rarity considered her words carefully before replying.

"Well, not to put too fine a point on it...but you do have something of a history when it comes to sabotage during school performances."

Hearing that, Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Is this about what I did during the Battle of the Bands? I told you before, I was sorry about that! Remember, we were all crazy with Siren magic."

Rarity let out a little "tut tut" before replying to that.

"That may be, but it did make you a suspect in this particular case."

Gradually, a small smirk came to her lips.

"Besides...I’m willing to forget about your little sabotage past if you’re willing to let go of your apparent need to be considered the, what was it, legitimate winner of that contest?"

Trixie seemed utterly incensed at that proposition.

"Never! Trixie would have won fair and square! You and the Dazzlings both used magic! You should have been disqualified then and there!"

This time it was Rarity's turn to roll her eyes.

"Here we go again."

But, thankfully, Trixie then began to speak in a calmer manner than before.

"Although...for the sake of Sunset...I am, perhaps, willing to let such trivial matters go."

Rarity looked back to her, slightly taken aback.

"Oh? Colour me surprised."

A brief chuckle escaped Trixie.

"Well, I may have had my issues with you girls in the past, but...Sunset has rather grown on me of late. So, I suppose, in the interests of maintaining good relations with her..."

She glanced to Rarity, then, in a tone that clearly had a degree of reluctance to it, she continued.

"...I can stand to spend more time with you and Applejack and the others."

Rarity, naturally, was more than a little surprised at such a declaration, and soon, she, in turn, started to lean back, her own tone somewhat softer than it had been during this meeting.

"Well...given how good you were to her during our more recent debacle...perhaps it would behove me to...look to you with a greater degree of...shall we say...consideration?"

Chuckling again, Trixie turned, facing Rarity fully, before promptly raising her glass, holding it out to her companion.

"Well then...here's to an age if increased tolerance between us."

Returning that same look, Rarity took her own glass, and together, the two ladies gently clinked them against one another, before simultaneously taking sips of them. Once they'd settled back into their chairs, however, Rarity looked to her counterpart with a degree of curiosity.

"I must say, Trixie, you were quite adept when it came to resisting interrogations."

Folding her arms, Trixie leaned back, taking on an admittedly prideful look.

"Well, not to brag or anything..."

"But you're going to," Rarity interrupted, trying to sound her usual classy way as she did it.

Trixie ignored that one.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has had some experience in that sort of thing. Every once in a while, when my attempts at stage magic get a little, say, rowdy, I sometimes get called to the Principal. Everything goes fine, but I've learned to keep my cool."

Leaning forward, Rarity nodded to that.

"I see. Well, I may have never commented on this before, but your performances really are something."

Trixie snorted a little.

"I appreciate the compliment, Rarity, but compared to what you and your friends can do, my magic can't help but look a little...underwhelming."

Her voice, while she tried to hide it, nevertheless had the tiniest tint of dejection as she'd said that, and it was something Rarity was quick to pick up on. She took a moment to consider what she might say in the face of that, but, thankfully, her smile returned, and she spoke in a perkier manner than before.

"Well...if you like, we could always lend our magic to yours the next time you want to put on a little show. You know, give your stages a bit more wow to them?"

Looking to her, Trixie stroked her chin a little, putting on a deliberate "I'm considering that" face. Then, she broke out into another of her characteristic smirks.

"I think...that might be quite something."

Rarity nodded, still smiling.

"Well then, I'll inform the others later. I'm sure we could come to some arrangement."

Trixie nodded back, then leaned forward, raising an eyebrow.

"Now then...I couldn't help but notice that you seemed pretty into that whole detective thing back there."

Rarity, folding her own arms, gave a brief laugh to that.

"Yes, well, let's just say I've always had a certain interest in noir literature. The mysteries, the detectives, the atmosphere, it's all so...oh...invigorating."

Trixie nodded.

"I'll admit to liking that stuff myself every once in a while. I always liked those mysterious women who always looked like they had something to hide. Not bad guys, but still, you knew something was up."

Rarity looked to her with a knowing smile.

"Indeed? In that case, I'd say you were a perfect cast for such a role."

Trixie waved her off.

"Oh, you're just saying that."

But Rarity shook her head.

"Not at all! You held your own beautifully back there! You had that air of mystique that truly worked wonders in a noir setting."

Chuckling again, Trixie leaned back into her side of the booth.

"And you, Rarity, were one fine detective."

The two young ladies laughed to that, and so continued to chat with one another afterwards. The jazz music of the milkshake bar continued to echo through the place, and in that moment, the waitress at the bar, having finally cleaned that one glass after what seemed like forever, placed the thing on the counter. She paused, looking all around her establishment, before letting out an irritated grunt.

"That's it. I'm getting those blinds back up. I swear, it's like there's no colour in here at all!"

The saxophone player, having heard her, stopped his performance and looked to her with wide eyes.

"I knew I wasn't the only one who's been seeing that!"