[ponyville]When it all comes crashing down...

[Ashton]

Trixie Lulamoon

Trixie's eyes darted from side to side as she gulped hard, she was starting to shake ever-so slightly. She was scared, but she would NEVER admit it! Yes, this was the hardest challenge of her life, but she could enver admit defeat! She had to persevere and fight! She had to win! She hard to-

The card moved too far to the left and the entire massive card structure came crashing down

The crowds cheered as trixie's head went to the table... she'd lost...

The winner was shouting back to the crowds and saying a lot of things trixie had no interest in listening to... she slowly took ehr hat and made ehr way down from the stage...

The Spring Equinox Festival usually was a chance for her to earn some extra bits as an entertainer, but for some reason Twilight had forbid it. She told Trixie just to watch and observe, and then to report back what she saw. Trixie had a really boring report of 'I watched other ponies having fun!' prepared, but she was hoping to find _something_ more to add to that since she was fairly sure Twilight didn't really want a report like that...

[Blueblood]

(Hope you don't mind a little Royal Company!)

There was, at least, one pony present who could have provided at least a little variety to Trixie's report, in that he was one stallion who was no having fun at the festival. Pie-eating contests, carnival games for goldfish prizes, country dances, deep fried food and all the rest had simply been greeted by a blank, bored stare. No, it could be fairly said that His Royal Highness, Prince Blueblood LVI, was not enjoying himself.

He'd given it as game a go as he could, honestly! One simply didn't shirk on any Auntly request; Princesses seemed to have a sixth sense about whether one was really trying or not, and Celestia had included the Equinox festival in her list of suggestions about "connecting with the common pony." Yet, after a full day, he still found the whole business to be vulgar and silly; though in all fairness, everypony else thought him both snobby and silly.

Thus, while the crowd was cheering the winner of the card-house contest, the unicorn stallion only greeted the spectacle with a deep sigh. Really, the whole bally business was absurd! What was the point of any of this? Shaking his head, Blueblood stalked along the edges of the crowd, and nearly bumped in to the other pony who had been on stage. He paused; she had the look of a common showmare about her, but wasn't bad-looking by any means. Besides, he had to at least attempt a one-on-one conversation before Auntie Celestia would let him check this off the list.

"Oh, good afternoon." He greeted Trixie, with a nod. "Bally bad luck on stage, but there's no accounting for such things, I suppose." The Prince felt almost philosophical, and in a minute would have launched into a perfectly preposterous soliloquy on the vanity of life, but some vestige of good manners let him keep his tongue.

[Ashton]

Trixie shook her head as she was bumped into, how DARE he! ...wait... there was something odd about this stallion... he didn't have the same air about him that the locals did "Trixie let them win" she said with an ego-stroking smile "None could hope to genuinely best a Royal Magician after all!" she laughed a well-practiced laugh, in fact her act was quite convincing from her showstopping smile to her laugh to her cocky attitude, but if one looked deep into her eyes, they would see it was all a lie, that Trixie was still proverbially on stage, playing a character, despite being out of the spotlight she did not drop her persona "Oh Trixie apologizes for the lack of introduction" she said as she cleared her throat "INTRODUCING THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!" there was a spray of fireworks and more than a few ponies seemed to jump in shock. the mare smiled again "Trixie is pleased to make your acquaintance..." she trailed off, giving the stallion a chance to introduce himself finally.

[Blueblood]

Royal magician? Blueblood may not have known much, but he did at least have an intimate knowledge of the small circle of ponies surrounding the Royal Court, and this loudmouthed mare certainly wasn't one of them! The Prince would have attempted to quell her with a sternly skeptical look, except that at that moment, "The Great and Powerful Trixie" launched a barrage of fireworks as close range.

"Ahec-cahuh-gah!" Jumping and stumbling backwards with surprise, the stallion began coughing out blue, glittery smoke from the aftermath of the explosions. After clearing his lungs, he dusted off his coat with as much dignity as he could muster, and said, dismissively, "Never heard of you." It wasn't a mere snub; the name genuinely rang no bells. "I am the Prince, Blueblood." The unicorn introduced himself, having finally recovered all his gravitas."

[Ashton]

((the irony is that he's wrong - Trixie is Twilight's Royal Magician lol))

Trixie frowned but returned to a smile "Trixie is dissapointed you have not heard of her greatest escapades, ...though glad you didnt hear of my disasters..." she muttered the second part, for the first time in the conversation, using proper first-pony pronouns, and also had a momentary look of shame on her face as her proverbial mask slipped down just long enough for BB to catch a glimpse of the pony behind the curtain. Trixie though quickly realized her 'mistake' and flashed her showstopping smile "Of course that just means Trixie have to start with you from the beginning" she said, looking faintly excited at the prospect of recounting ALL her supposed adventures to somepony...

[Blueblood]

(Yes, but would Twilight have even bothered to inform Blueblood? Probably not.)

Not... even... a... blink.

Prince Blueblood was not accustomed to such non-reactions to his presence. True, such responses as he had received ran the gamut from dreamy sighs to grunts of exasperation, but there was at least something. He regarded Trixie with a startled and offended look, but it would have been gauche to mention the matter further. Also, perhaps, somewhat pointless, as she seemed to be caught up in herself.

The mare's momentary slippage puzzled the Prince; while he could read and direct society crowds easily enough, he wasn't so adept at picking up individual social cues. A certain purple unicorn (now alicorn) had once called him, "Dense as an osmium brick." He had no idea what 'osmium' was; presumably it was something very dense. Long experience of Canterlot High Society, however, had given him enough experience to detect the early warning signs of a bore.

"Oh, no, We should hardly want to so trouble upon your time." He said, with an ingratiating smile and a deprecating wave. A certain degree of sarcasm came into his voice as he continued. "You must have so much as Royal Magician to do that it would be churlish of me to impede your duties."

[Ashton]

The mare *humphed* "well trixie supposes that you being royalty your here to see Princess Twilight. Trixie will escort you personally" she said with a venum that could send chills up his spine... this mare knew how to be evil, that was clear, she could be a very dangerous foe... or at least she gave the impression that she could. Perhaps all her stories she had mentioned were not all fictitious...

[Blueblood]

There grew upon Blueblood the same feelings of a professional poker player who, having called the bluff of a grinning amateur, finds the amateur still grinning. He'd intended to put a common show-off in her place by pointing out the impertinence and impossibility of her claims, but if they turned out to actually be real...

Well. He'd faced the wrath of Twilight before. Bookworm she may be, but that only meant that when she actually had any passion, she had no control over it. If he was dragged before her, having actually insulted one of her staff...

Yet one hope remained for the beleaguered Prince, and it was this: that there was no logical reason whatsoever that Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful and skilled magician in Equestria, would ever need to hire somepony like Trixie. Twilight was the Royal Magician, for Luna's sake. Doubling down on his haughtiness and raising his nose high, therefore, Blueblood resolved to go all in.

"Well," He said, as if it were no big deal, "I hadn't any plans to, but it would be rude of me not to visit our Royal Cousin. Do proceed." And the Prince waved her on, as if she were a footmare.

[Ashton]

"And if Trixie should feel that the safest way for you to travel is by transforming you into a salamander and placing you in a mason's jar, Trixie is sure both Princess Twilight and your 'auntie' will have no problems with Trixie doing it for your own safty" she smirked viciously, clearly she was ready to use whatever dark magic she could wield on this pony, he'd made her angry and hell hath no fury like a mare scorned... she let him see that slightly insane, sadistic, grin a few moments more before turning and continuing towards the castle "In the mean time, there is plenty oppertunity for TRixie to recount some of her more exciting exploits!" she added, as she launched into a very implausible tale about taking down an elder dragon using the abilities of a vampony she'd recruited...

[Blueblood]

By now, Prince Blueblood was almost certain that the showmare was ridiculously exaggerating her own importance and skill. Really, if she had taken down an elder dragon, he'd have thought the society papers would have had mentioned it somewhere. The only question was whether the pleasure of finally calling her out was worth the slight risk of being turned into a newt or something. He was by no means certain that Twilight would object, though Auntie Celestia might. It was not, however, to Auntie Celestia that they were going.

However, by the time that they arrived at the crystalline tree that served Equestria's newest princess as a castle, Blueblood had just about had enough of listening to Trixie's prattling. "Well, that's all very fascinating, and I've no doubt you'd make a fortune if you could get your stories into the hands of the right publisher, but as for me I have no taste for vulgar fiction. Ah, but here we are. Is Princess Twilight at home now?" This may well have been a stupid thing to say to a mare already incensed at him, but if there was a stallion more famous for saying exactly the wrong thing to a mare, he had yet to achieve any prominence...

[Ashton]

Trixie's eye twitched "LOOK OUT! ASSASSIN!" she said, leaping over, knocking blueblood to the ground, and with a flash of her horn, he was suddenly a salamander "oh, trixie apologizes, it was jsut a tree" she smirked viciously, levitating the reptile up onto a nearby stump and knocking at the door

There was a muttering from inside about spike not being there to get the door anymore and soon twilight showed up "oh, trixie, you dont have to knock you know" she smiled

"Prince self-importance is here to see you" she said "and the journey was so dangerous that the only way to safely make it was to transform him into a salamander!" exclaimed trixie "Trixie fears the worst from what he said" clearly hamming it up for twilight

Twilight looked shocked "oh no! do I need to summon the others?" she asked "Will we need the rainbow to save equestria again?"

"Best be prepared if we do" said Trixie, glancing at blueblood-the-salamander with a vicious grin that twilight could not see from the angle...

((dont worry, he'll be changed back next post, jsut giving you a chance for some silly animal hijinx if you want.))

[Blueblood]

(Huh. I had no idea that your Trixie was actually... competent. Also, apparently, neither did Blueblood.)

As Twilight could have told him, "Look out behind you!" was literally the oldest trick in the book. Prologue, page i. Never having bothered with anything like academic discourse, however, Blueblood indeed fell for it. He looked, saw nothing, and before he had time to voice a single irritated word, WAM-BAM KAZAAM! He was a newt. Or salamander; really, he couldn't tell the difference.

At first, the shock of the situation kept him standing stock still, as he gazed around at the suddenly enlarged world, and down at his now strangely formed limbs. Once the fact set in, of course, he panicked, skittering around the stump, trying desperately to shout or communicate and only coming up with a kind of strangled hiss. Eventually, he tired himself out, looking pleadingly up at Twilight, as he long despaired of anything like kindness from that utter witch in a pointy hat...

[Ashton]

((She's Twilight's assistant, twilight had to make sure she was competent... and believe me it took a LOT of work! ))

Twilight grabbed the former-pony with ehr magic "lets go inside, it might still be dangerous out here" she said as she carried him inside and to the throne room, once there, she sat him down in the dias between the thrones "Trixie, will you see about making some soup and coffee for prince sel-" she shook her head "I mean, for Prince Blueblood?" she asked as her horn glowed

Trixie snorted, clearly she'd rather make him INTO a sandwich, but she nodded

there was another flash as Blueblood was a pony again... well... except for his tail, twilight quickly fixed it... and this time it was one of his legs, after several tries, he was restored to normal other than his mane and fur was still damp with slime "I'm sorry you had such a horrible journey, I'm sure Trixie has already sent in an explanation to Celestia, I'll gladly lay my own forces at your disposal" she paused "er... well... me and trixie I guess" she laughed a little "I dont really have any guards I can deploy... though I might know a pony who likes to pretend to be an assassin" she smiled awkwardly, trying hard to make herself not sound completely incompetent at running her kingdom, even if she kinda was right now...

[Blueblood]

Blueblood had often found himself deferring or outright subjugating his opinion to that of Princesses, but outright stallionhandling of this degree was a complete novelty to him. Of course, so was fraternizing with stage performers and being magically transmogrified, so maybe it was just that kind of day. In any case, Twilight was at least prompt in changing him back to his handsome self.

The Prince looked over himself, to check for any slimy patches. After a thorough examination revealed nothing untoward, he looked back up at the purple alicorn, who was wearing a completely unsuitably awkward smile for Royalty, as far as he was concerned. His eye twitched as she babbled on about assassins and 'forces at her disposal.' With a tense sort of grin, he spoke through his teeth. "If I may have a word in private?"

With many sidelong glances towards the kitchen where Trixie had disappeared into, he pulled Princess Sparkle aside with a hoarse whisper, "Am I to understand, that you have put that... that... menace to the public on the payroll of the Royal Treasury?" He knew next to nothing about Trixie's past deeds, of course, but being turned involuntarily into a small amphibian does little to build goodwill towards a magician.

[Ashton]

Twilight frowned "maybe I was too hasty... I think salamander suits you more" she said "Trixie has proven herself to me time and time again, I respect her even more because we started out as enimies and now she is one of my most trusted friends and advisors! I'm very dissapointed in you, blueblood. Rarity had told me that you had... issues... and I thought perhaps she was exadgerating herself, but it seems she was right..." it was clear twilight did care a lot about trixie, and blueblood had better speak fast or he would find himself out of the newest princess's good graces...

((and yes, it is possible to prove to twilight that trixie did him a dirty turn, but it's not going to be as simple as this ))

[Blueblood]

By this point, the situation was threatening to completely overwhelm Blueblood's capacity for crisis management. It was all so nightmarish that he had to wonder if he had somehow offended Auntie Luna, and had been sent this bad dream as a punishment. Alas, there was nothing dream-like about the upset mare in front of him, only a kind of awful actuality.

In a burgeoning panic, the Prince began to babble, "There was no assassin! No danger! We were talking, then Bam! Salamander! And-and- do you really think Auntie Celestia would be actually proud of you, if you used your granted princess-powers to turn everypony you disliked into a newt!?" It certainly didn't sound like the sort of thing the good guys would do. Blueblood's torrent of words petered out here; him having shot all his bolts in a kind of hysterical desperation. Of course, there was also the logical argument in favor of Blueblood's version of events, in that he obviously feared Trixie and not any 'assassins,' but logic had never been his strong point...

[Ashton]

"woah, woah, back up" said twilight "your saying that Trixie just turned you into a new- I mean a salamander for no good reason?" she asked with a frown "that doesnt make sense, especially not a salamander since you coudl have burned her alive with your breath weapon" explaiend Twilight "one of you clearly has a distorted view of what's going on... and quite honestly given both of your histories, I am not at all sure which it is..." she sighed, muttering soemthing about spike would probably be able to tell... she shook her head "I need to get to the bottom of this"

[Blueblood]

While a state of panic is always closely allied to one of confusion, it has to be said that Twilight wasn't helping to fight against either in Blueblood. To him, salamanders were little lizardlike things that some pedantic quackery wouldn't let him actually call them lizards. *Since when can those little beast breathe- hang on, could I have been breathing fire all this time!?*

He was in a desperate way. "I'll swear before any judge you like! In any court!" He paused. He could pursue litigation, yes. Let the lawyers handle all this minutiae and insulate him from dangerous horn-wielding maniac magicians. Yes, that was an excellent idea! The very thought of it brought an expression of calm into his features. There was a plan, now he only had to nudge Twilight in that direction... "I will, of course," He said, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, "Allow all due representation to the defense."

[Ashton]

((sorry, had some rough days at work >.<))

Twilight frowned "your really going to go so far as to try and make this an actual case in an actual court?" she asked, knowing that even if trixie was telling the truth there was no way she would ever win a court case given her personality and panache for hystarics and theatrics... "ok, I'm sure whatever happened, whoever was at fault, we can work this out..." sighed twilight, relizing she was having to buy off a threat now... maybe she did need to confine trixie to the castle... it certainly would solve a lot of problems... that mare was one huge ticking timebomb no matter what she did or didnt do it seemed...

[Blueblood]

Equanimity, too hastily assumed, has a tendency to crack, and Blueblood's did at Twilight questioning the sincerity of his litigious intentions. "I should think any jury of my peers would think me justified in seeking due recompense!" He almost spluttered, but restrained himself. Such peevish outbursts would not accomplish anything constructive, and it seemed like the Princess was going to attempt an out-of-court settlement. Not ideal, as the Prince fancied his chances more with a a judge that had less partiality; i.e. one who didn't know him very well.

Still, if this was the way thing were going, he didn't want to bur bridges, "But I suppose, if you insist, we can hash out the case here. It isn't as if you couldn't supercede any judge or court decision in Equestria, if you didn't want to." It didn't occur to him that the newest Princess might not have been savvy to that little bit of her royal privilege, given how scrupulously Blueblood always insisted upon his own.

[Ashton]

Twilight sighed, she knew she was being screwed here and that she was going to regret this proverbial deal with the devil, but such was the price to pay for being a princess --- and for employing trixie, who even if innocent, still carried an air of trouble about her... Twilight nodded "While you are correct, I would prefer this go no further than us" she said "there is no need to waste your time or equestrias tax-bits on a trial when it can easily be compensated for in private" she said, trying not to sound like she knew she was going to get the short end of the stick, but the last thing she needed was a mud-slinging match between blueblood and herself, since there was no doubt both of them could dig up more than enough to ruin the opponent's reputation for centuries... Though at the same time, if Twilight were ever flying overhead and saw blueblood lieing on the side of teh road, she'd remember this and at the very least fly past where he could see her 'not notice' his plight... well... she would think about it anyway... it would really depend on what the problem was and if it was a threat to her and her kingdom and... ugh! she was getting off track, she closed her eyes and re-opened them, this time they carried a deadly gleam, like the eyes of a monster or an assassin "Name your price" she said as sinister as she could, hoping her bluff would work...

[Blueblood]

Bribes and threats were actually quite commonplace in the social circles that Blueblood frequented, and in the ordinary way it had to be admitted that the Prince lacked the native virtue and courage to consistently resist them. Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, had been a complete anti-social recluse back when she lived in Canterlot, and her subsequent life in Ponyville had been largely innocent in such things, to the point where the Princess was in complete ignorance in how to go about offering them. A bribe was honey, not vinegar; to attempt to be sinister when opening an offer only highlighted the inherent nastiness of the exchange while discouraging the other side in their expectations of getting a good price.

In this instance, Twilight's amateurish delivery struck Prince Blueblood as halfway between pathetic and insulting. It highlighted all the more the fact that he had been put through trauma and trouble by a magical loose cannon hired by a new-fledged royal who clearly had no idea what she was doing. Right at that moment, more than anything she could give him, he wanted to put these two bloody upstarts in their place!

"I had been about to propose a private trial and reprimand," The Prince began, in as haughtily frosty a tone as a lifetime in High Society could give him, "But if you think that I'm going to be bought off in the case of so grave an insult and injury, when your hiring decisions present a clear and public danger to Equestria, I ough to serve you both with a subpoena!" Before, he had kept his voice down low, out of fear of Trixie hearing, but now he was bellowing so hard as to rend the roof!

And he wasn't bluffing, either. Sure, he had something of a reputation before society, but it was by no means spotless. If at the end of this whole affair he was presented before the world as an utter fool, well, it wouldn't be the first time. But Twlight had a lot more to lose; and being so innocent in the intrigues of Canterlot, had much less experience in dealing with scandal. With a "Harrumph!" that would have made his aristocratic ancestors proud, he marched past the alicorn towards the door, presumably to summon his lawyers...

(Bellosh101 has a judge character in CC; you want to bring him in for a trial scene?)