A Dash of Magic

Part 2

----

Rainbow Dash tossed her Wonderbolts uniform into her locker in her usual, ungraceful style.This had become a routine part of her after-show ritual and she didn't plan on changing it anytime soon. She headed out of the locker room and met up with two of her fellow fliers, Soarin', the light blue stallion with the wild, spiky mane and the Captain of the team herself, Spitfire, a yellow mare with a fiery mane.

"Sup Dash! Great show out there, today," Soarin said happily as he waved to her, "you even impressed Spitfire out there. Heheh, again, that is," he added.

Spitfire rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. "He's not kidding, either. Another fantastic day out there, Dash. You sure make a Captain proud."

Dash blushed and laughed. She was on the same level as her idols now, but hearing them praise her had never gotten old. "Thanks, guys. You did great out there too!" she said, wanting to offer them the same kind of support.

Spitfire laughed and waved it off. "Please, Dash, no need for that. I'm glad you want toshow some team support, but personally I was having a pretty bad day out there. A few of us were."

"Me included."

"Yeah, Soarin', too. If you hadn't been there to steal the show when we all screwed up, I don't think we'd have had nearly as good a show. So, seriously, Dash. Thanks."

A few minutes and a few goodbyes later left Rainbow Dash to leave the Cloudsdale Coliseum alone.

What a day, she thought wearily, these shows are getting more and more exhausting lately. I wonder why?

Dash decided to merely sit down and think for a while, not caring if anypony else found this weird. She found her wing twitching slightly, as if it were touching something, but whenever she looked at it, she found nothing. It was almost as if this moment was missing something.

Wait. I've never felt like this after any of my shows before. I don't need to. I'm a Wonderbolt, now! I've got it made, I'm famous, my friends are all successful, everything's all fine and perfect with the world and... and I'm... all alone, sitting in the Coliseum, practically talking to myself. Oh.

She sat for a few more minutes and watched the sunset disappointedly. She closed her eyes and took in the breeze. Then, she leaped gracefully from her cloud and spread her wings...

And then she woke up.

----

Dash's eyes fluttered open slightly as she let out a soft, quiet yawn. She blinked a few times, and tried to remember why she wasn't in her cloud-bed in her extravagant home, high above Ponyville's skyline.

The first thing she noticed was that she still felt some sort of twitch in her wing. She looked toward it and noticed the darker blue unicorn it was currently wrapped around. She briefly considered moving it, but then something stood out to her.

It was the small smile on the other mare's face.

She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping... Dash thought, looking over Trixie's expression, That state she was in... dang, I can't even think when the last time she's slept on something decently comfortable was. Hang on... She tilted her head and furrowed her brow in momentary confusion. ... Why am I still staring at her?

Dash continued to examine Trixie despite her confusion, noting little quirks and how she squeaked a little every fourth breath she took. Eventually, she found her own eyes beginning to feel heavy once more and she began to drift back of to sleep.

Yaaawwnnn... well, I guess I could just rest my eyes for a few more minutes... or hours... or maybe I'll just wait 'til she wakes up. Yeah. that... that sounds good.

----

Trixie had always hated waking up in the morning. She almost always rose with the sun, mostly because it annoyed her to no end that it just stayed on even if she kept her eyes shut. She secretly hoped that one of these days Celestia could just forget to bring up the sun until, say, about noon, so she could get as much sleep as she needed. She would also like to one day thank Princess Luna for ending the sun's reign of eternal, overly bright terror every night.

Then again, that was only her opinion on normal days. This, however, was not another day of just waking up on the ground or in some random hotel. This was a day of waking up next to a tussled spectrum of glorious colors and warm, soft, downy wings that were draped around her side, almost as a sort of shield to keep all the hurt in her life away.

Well, that was a bit of a sappy observation. Oh, wow, is this an odd situation. Oh well. I like it anyway.

Trixie smiled down at Rainbow Dash, still finding amusement in the cute way she snored when sleeping. Gently the blue unicorn used her magic to slowly shift the cyan wing so she could carefully exit the guest bed. She stood for a moment, admiring the pony who brought her from the brink of disaster, before turning around to head back to Twilight's bathroom for her morning shower and general freshening up.

What she did not expect was to run directly into Twilight Sparkle, who was at that exact same moment exiting the very room Trixie was attempting to enter. The resulting collision knocked both mares down on their rears, blinking rapidly at their respective "attackers."

Twilight recovered first, shaking her head and smiling, rubbing her muzzle, "Sorry about that Trixie. I almost forgot you and Dash were visiting, so I wasn't exactly expecting anyone to be here. Are you okay?"

Trixie checked to make sure she hadn't been seriously injured, then waved it off with a flick of her hoof, "Do not worry yourself, Twilight. I'm fine, think nothing of it. It's my fault anyway, I should have knocked first."

"Heheh," a small voice laughed from behind, "glad you didn't, Trixie, because that was pretty funny. Hahah!"

Trixie "Hmph!'d" and turned away from the purple baby dragon, so amused by their fall, "Oh, yes, Spike. It was just hilarious. Almost as hilarious as this," she smirked as she suddenly brought the dragon up out of his basket and dangled him upside-down, "and now, for the finishing touch."

And suddenly a baby dragon was stuck on top of a bookshelf, all conventional means of escape removed, "Not cool, Trixie," he deadpanned as he crossed his arms, "not cool."

'What? I think it's fitting. Poetic justice, dare I say?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, giggled, and levitated Spike to the floor, "Now how would you call that 'poetic justice'?"

"Poetic justice, payback, same thing. Not that it matters now."

"Sorry Trixie," Spike laughed, "I'm untouchable with Twilight here."

"Untouchable, eh, Spike?"

"Uh-oh."

Trixie rolled her eyes and smiled, thoroughly enjoying all this silliness, a nice change of pace from her life before the previous night, then returned to her earlier mission: freshening up, "Well, I'll leave you both to do whatever it is that you're doing, entertaining as it is to watch. Now, if you'll excuse me--"

"You're excused!" a cyan blur chirped, whizzing into the bathroom and slamming the door in Trixie's face.

The blue unicorn attempted to blink away the confusion, before fully registering what exactly had just gone down. "Rainbow Dash! You, you... oh, come on! I was almost already in there! Couldn't you have waited just a while longer?"

"Actually," Dash began, muffled by the wooden door, "I couldn't. I don't really wait for anything, you know?"

Trixie groaned in frustration and sat on her haunches, waiting for Dash to finish up,'Hmph, she thought, 'guess she's only really considerate around sad ponies. Or maybe she's just more brash around her friends? Oh no, I am not getting friend-zoned. Am I?' She was more than a little bit put-off by this, but the next moment, the door swung open and Dash trotted out, her mane in its usual, stylized unkempt-ness, her coat shiny, and her smile large and radiating confidence.

"G'morning, Trixie. Glad to see you're feeling better."

"I was feeling a lot better before you cut in front of me."

"Well, if you had gone in faster, I wouldnt've gotten there first. Gotta consider these kinds of things, Trixie."

Trixie puffed out her lower lip and drew her ears back in a practiced pouting maneuver and whined, "But Rainbow Daasshh! I was out all alone on the streets! You can't just pick on me like thaaat!"

Dash rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smirk, "You aren't out there anymore, are ya, Trixie?"

Trixie's pout turned into an expression of disappointment, "Darn it, I hoped that would work. Oh well, attempting to make you feel bad didn't work, so if you'll excuse me..." She smiled as she lifted the pegasus up and away from the door, and deposited her haphazardly on the guest bed.

"H-Hey, watch where--gah! Oh, not cool, Trixie!" Dash pouted, crossing her forehooves across her chest.

"Funny," Trixie laughed as she closed the door behind her, "That's exactly what Spike said."

She walked briskly into the room, once again noting the odd 'woody' smell that accompanied even Twilight's fruitiest soaps and shampoos. "Ugh. Treehouses. Better than nothing, I suppose, but really, am I the only one who even notices this?" She walked over to the window and looked outside, evidence of the rainfall that had begun sometime last night and ended sometime in the morning still visible in the form of shimmering grass and muddy roads, "I guess Rainbow Dash wasn't kidding about the rain last night. Looks like it was pretty bad, too."

She then remembered her final thoughts and final words from the previous night and her revelation of what could be exceptionally strong feelings for the pegasus in the adjacent room, and her heart fluttered. She giggled with glee at the thought, but then quickly snapped herself out of it, "No, Trixie. You don't like her. You can't like her. She's your friend, and she was only attempting to help you out of your rut. She doesn't share any feelings you may have for her."

For some reason, this didn't really help her feel too much better nor did it do anything to alleviate her worries. It only served to bring her down a bit.

She finished up with her once-routine morning ritual, and headed back into Twilight's bedroom.

----

As Trixie entered the bathroom, Rainbow's demeanor changed abruptly. She seemed to become noticeably more serious, and without a word she hopped out of the guest bed, stared at the bathroom door for a few moments and sighed. She then beckoned to Twilight and asked, "Hey, Twi, can we talk?"

Noticing her friend's sudden mood shift, Twilight eyed her cautiously, "Um, alright, Dash. What is it?"

"Not here," the cyan mare said suddenly, taking to the air and flying towards the kitchen, "C'mon Twi', this is important! I can't just sit around here and wait for you!"

Twilight frowned and joined Rainbow Dash in the kitchen, where she found the pegasus digging through her cabinets in search of something that she obviously hadn't found in the still-open refrigerator, "Rainbow Dash, what's gotten into you? It's like you turned into a completely different mare in the last five minutes! What happened, was it something Trixie did?"

Spike poked his head in the doorway, a puzzled expression on his small, draconic face, "Yeah, what's up? You can tell us, you know."

Dash promptly removed her head from the cabinet, walked up to the door, moved Spike away with a slight push, and sighed, "Sorry, little dude. I want this to stay between me and Twi' for now, okay? You're gonna have to just sit this one out."

He looked upset for a moment, but this passed quickly and he shrugged, "Meh, okay, Rainbow Dash, if that's what you want. Let Twi' know i'm gonna head back to bed. I'm still sleepy."

Dash chuckled as she closed the door, "Roger that, Spike."

Twilight stifled a laugh of her own, "Sleepy or not, he always wants to be in bed. Such a lazy little dragon."

"I heard that, and I resent that statement."

Dash let her smile remain on her face for a few moments, but it sort of slid down into an extremely indifferent sort of straight line as she opened her mouth again, "So, Twilight. I need to talk to you about something..."

----

"...So she really said all that?" Twilight asked curiously, "Wow."

Dash nodded, "Yeah, but don't tell her I told you. I don't even think I was supposed to hear any of it. Not sure if she'd appreciate me spreading that kind of thing around."

"Probably not, no. This seems extremely rushed and sudden, and a tad strange, don't you think?"

"I dunno, Twi', maybe she was just caught up in the moment and all. Heck, she might have just been blathering in her sleep or something."

"Well, it sounded pretty specific. And pretty heartfelt. I think she really means it, Dash. I think Trixie may have just fallen head over hooves for you."

Dash sat on her haunches and rubbed her chin in thought. Was Twilight right? Had Trixie of all ponies fallen for her? That egotistical braggart who jumped into town and just decided she was the best thing ever? Rainbow shook her head rapidly, No, she's not that mare anymore. She's just lonely and sad and broken, now, she thought. And she apparently might have some sort of crush on me. So... is that a bad thing or a good thing?

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, concern finding its way onto her visage, "You okay?"

Dash looked up and blinked at her friend, then nodded uncertainly, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine."

"So, Dash. About Trixie. What i really want to know is," Twilight began seriously, "How do you feel about her? Do you feel anything for her?"

Well, Dash thought, That was a little forward. Um...do I feel anything for her? Like, really feel anything? The cyan pegasus looked slowly to the floor, contemplating her answer, "I'm...I'm not sure, Twilight. I mean, I don't think I do, but now that you bring it up and, well, now that I think about this whole situation...I dunno."

Twilight frowned, "Well, if you have to think about it so hard, are you sure it's anything too intense, if it's anything at all?"

"Ugh," Dash groaned in frustration, "I said 'I dunno,' Twi. And I meant it. I have no idea! I mean, even if I did feel something like that, why would I? I mean, I don't even really know her! I know what she was like then, but I don't know how she is now."

"Sounds like you're defending her."

"What?"

"It sounds like you do feel something for Trixie, whether or not it's something romantic, and part of you doesn't like that, so you're trying to justify it by defending her from the part of you that still doesn't want her around. Like some sort of mental struggle."

"Oh, come on, Twi. That's a little over-the-top for me, isn't it? Sounds like something somepony a little more complex would do. Plus, it made, like, no sense whatsoever."

"Well, maybe you're--wait, what do you mean, 'made no sense?'"

Dash chuckled and waved a strand of her mane out of her face, "Made, like, no sense."

Twilight groaned in exasperation, "Rainbow Dash, this is serious!"

Dash's newly formed half-smile faltered a little, and she sighed, "Look, Twi, I don't really want to talk about this anymore. I dunno how Trixie feels, and I dunno how I feel. So how 'bout we just leave this whole thing where it is for now and move on with our lives, 'kay?"

"I don't really think that's the best thing for you, but," Twilight paused, "But okay. This is your business,not mine. As much as I'd like to help you with this, you obviously don't need it, so I'll leave you to decide what's to be done."

Dash smiled once more and hugged Twilight, "Thanks, Twi. For all this. The listening and the talking and stuff. And, of course, letting Trix stay here for a while."

Twilight smiled and returned the hug, "It's no problem, Rainbow Dash. I'm happy to help."

"Oh, and Twi?"

"Yeah?"

"This whole sappy moment never happened. Ever."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Also, I'm really hungry. can you make us all breakfast or something?"

"..."

----

Trixie walked into the living quarters of the library with a little hesitation. She had been doing a lot of thinking while she was alone and her mind was more than a little troubled. She felt confused and pressured. She didn't know exactly why she felt so pressured. Probably because the confused part of her told her she had feelings for Rainbow Dash and this same part was telling her to make a move.

Yes, I'll "make a move" alright, and then lose my only friends because Rainbow will reject me and Twilight will ask me to leave because she'll be uncomfortable with me. That'll be just fabulous. Because then I'll get to live on the streets again, friendless and unhappy. Hang on a second, where is everypony?

She looked around, but noticed nopony was around. She didn't see Spike, either, until she noticed snoring from his small basket-esque bed. Well that solves that mystery. But she still had the two other mares to find. She decided to had to the kitchen, since that seemed to be the next most likely place a pony would go in the morning.

She opened the door to find them both, as she expected. Twilight was at the stove, apparently cooking something she could not see, but she noticed the distinct aroma of blueberries and chocolate. Rainbow dash,on the other hand, was relaxing in one of Twilight's comfier chairs reading a book, a hobby Trixie never would have associated with the pegasus. 'Huh. Full of surprises, this one.'

Twilight turned to her first and smiled, "Hello again, Trixie. I'm making breakfast for us. Mostly because a certain primastic pegasus is a bit of a lazy bum."

"Sounds and smells delicious, Twilight. Thank you in advance," Trixie said in as level a voice as she could muster.

"It's no problem, Trixie," Twilight replied happily. She waited for a few moments, then coughed loudly, "So, Rainbow Dash, Trixie's here."

Dash's muzzle rose from her book suddenly as she noticed the former showmare's "sudden appearance." "Oh, hey, Trix. Sorry about that, I really get caught up in these sometimes."

"You know Dash," Trixie began, eyeing the book with piqued interest, "I never would have guessed you were a reader. What series is that, exactly?"

"What, this?" Dash motioned to the book in her hooves, "It's only the greatest, most awesome series of books ever! Daring Do!"

Dash simply grinned widely at Trixie, as if expecting her to know what she was talking about.

"... I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

The pegasus's draw dropped to the table. "You've never heard of the 'Daring Do' books? That's crazy talk!"

Twilight turned and gave Rainbow a quizzical expression, "You've only been reading books, let alone Daring Do, for about-"

"That's not important!" Dash interjected before Twilight could finish her statement. "What's important is that you, Trix, should start reading these. They're, like, the most radical books ever!"

"I thought you said they were the most 'awesome'?"

"It means the same thing, Trix."

"Hey, how come when I said that-"

"Can it, Twi, I'm talking to Trixie. You really shouldn't eavesdrop on other ponies' conversations."

Trixie giggled despite herself. She truly enjoyed spending time with the other two mares, even if they were a little bit off the wall sometimes. She supposed it was just something that was shared among their circle of friends, and was probably considered completely normal.

Dash smiled. She did like Trixie's laugh. It was so cute. It kind of reminded her of Fluttershy's laugh, only something about hearing it felt different. She quickly reeled her thoughts back in and blinked, surprised that she had even thought that in the first place. Great. You just got done talking about this with Twilight. And now you're suddenly thinking about her cute laugh and her shiny, perfect teeth and her pretty mane and her stop it Rainbow, you're still doing it, get a hold of yourself, what's gotten into you, seriously, dear Celestia, I really like her mane-SHUT UP, DASH.

Twilight and Trixie exchanged glances as Dash stared off into space, suddenly very preoccupied by an extremely interesting portion of the kitchen wall.

"Um, Twilight," Trixie started nervously, "Does this happen often?"

Twilight shook her head and shrugged, "No, definitely not often. Maybe I've just never seen her actually deep in thought before."

"You classify this as deep in thought?"

"Well, either that or we could say she's finally lost it. Take your pick."

"Then I guess I'll stick with your first theory. Still, she's been like that for a while now, you think we should do something about it?"

"Meh. Don't worry, Trixie. I'll snap her out of it when breakfast is done. If you wanna check out those books, Sapphire Statue's the first."  

"Why thank you, Twilight. I might just take you up on that offer."

----

Dash was later snapped out of her reverie by the sounds of two ponies conversing in-between mouthfuls of food. Naturally she instantly zipped over to the kitchen counter to find two chocolate chip-blueberry waffles drenched in some kind of fruity, syrupy substance and topped with whipped cream, much to her delight.

"Oh, look, Trixie. She moved."

"Apparently. How'd she even get over there so fast?"

"When there's food involved, she doesn't need wings to be the fastest pony in Equestria."

Dash nodded enthusiastically and dig in. Literally. With her face. And in about ten seconds flat, her plate was clear and shiny and she was somehow not covered in the stuff from head to hoof.

Twilight shook her head and smiled, "How you manage to burn all of that off so quickly will always be a mystery to me."

Trixie blinked, "Um, how did...?"

"I'd love to sit here and try to explain all about me, Trixie, but," Dash stretched and sighed contentedly, "I just don't have the time. Wayy too much to talk about."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she turned slowly to Trixie. "So, uh, Trixie. Me and Dash were wondering if-"

"If maybe you could come with us to go properly introduce yourself to them," Dash finished, "you know, let them all see the Trixie we see. Instead of the one they remember."

Trixie frowned, "I thought you said they'd all forgiven me."

"Well, forgiven, most likely, but forgotten?" Twilight asked, "I'm sure Fluttershy will have no problem with you if you just stick to the Trixie me and Rainbow know. Pinkie Pie'll probably throw you some sort of surprise party when you least expect it-"

"That's just kinda her thing," Dash interjected.

"But AJ and Rarity?" Twilight continued, "They might not be so quick to accept you've changed."

Trixie felt a little dejected, but she did see a small glimmer of hope in the situation, "So, the other two--Fluttershy and, um, Pinkie--you're almost positive they'll accept me?"

The other two mares nodded in unison.

The glimmer faded when Trixie realized another truth, "But what about the rest of the ponies of this town? I'm almost absolutely sure most of them still hate me."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances and looked back to Trixie. Then, Dash puffed out her chest and smiled a radiant, confident smile that somehow made Trixie feel a little better about herself.

"Well then! Let's go out there and show 'em they're dead wrong about you! When they see the real Trixie, they'll all feel stupid for not liking you!" she proclaimed. "One by one, we'll make the whole town see who you are! Heck, maybe one day you'll be almost as well-known and liked as me! Off we go!"

And as she flew out the door, Trixie and Twilight shared a sidelong look.

"Sorry, Trixie, she's a bit, uh..."

"I think I get where you're coming from."