Lost Library Interlude: No Bit Parts [Closed]

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves smiled softly as Trixie tried so hard to compliment him without making it obvious she fancied him, tried to convince herself that there's no way she'd find competition for his affections. He nodded a bit to Trixie. "I know about being lonely," he said in sympathy. "That feeling you get when you turn to nudge somepony and go, 'wasn't that fantastic?' and realize there's nopony to nudge." He let out a soft sigh. "Or when you need a hoof, but no one's there to lend it. It's not pleasant, having to be clever all by one's self."

He let out a soft sigh. It wasn't till he'd actually said it that he realized it was actually true. "It's a fortunate thing when two lonely ponies meet each other, and can depend on each other and be clever together. No need to complicate things... just enjoy not being lonely." He trotted on with the cart, silent for a few breaths.

"So," he finally said, "do you have *any* idea why those clockwork ran away when you shouted at them? That didn't make a lick of sense!"

[brianblackberry]

Trixie listened to the Doctor's monologue about loneliness on the road, assuring her that he understood how she felt. He was describing her situation perfectly, especially about the part about being clever, except ... clever wasn't nearly a good enough description. "Indeed, the road on one's own is truly lonely. It can be difficult to have no one adept enough to understand one's deep intellect, the required understanding to truly appreciate the grandeur of magic and profundity of the artistic talent of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She held her head up high on that pronouncement, happy that her earth pony companion was willing to acknowledge her nature at last.

She looked back briefly at the other two following up, mostly on Lyra, appreciating that curvy form for a little before looking back at the Doctor again. She wondered if the Doctor thought if Lyra was clever - after all, the mint colored unicorn did help him significantly. Perhaps she was as smart as she was cute. "Indeed, when you meet somepony that could understand you, well ... at least to a degree one would expect most mere ponies to be able to, it is very nice." Trixie blushed slightly as she looked back forward, not wanting to look at the Doctor as she confessed her feelings about Lyra. "Sometimes they can provide a measure of comfort, a measure of closeness even, somepony to spend an evening with, being ... close. Intimate, even." .

Before Trixie could expound any further on the subject she looked back at the Doctor with one eyebrow raised. "Why wouldn't they run from me?! Wasn't it rather obvious, you daft mule? They're intelligent! Intelligent enough to realize that they were truly outmatched once I released the full majesty of my brilliant magic for them to witness, trembling in terror! Didn't you see them quaver at the pulchritudinous sound of my magniloquent voice!?" Trixie hmphed as she looked forward, "surely you are clever enough to figure it out, aren't you?"

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves smiled wanly to Trixie. It was nice to have along somepony who understood how lonely it could be ... but as she started talking about comfort and closeness, he got more and more nervous. Oh, man. Trixie really had it *bad* for him! These moments were always so ... awkward. At least the control panel was disabled at the moment - there would be no accidental deployment of the alchemical fire suppression foam, or some mistaken launching of the TARDIS system ... Woooog, that had been a disaster. But still ... there were all these ponies who, even if they couldn't hear them ... could still see them! It was going to get all ... emotional!

Happily, discussion of deadly danger came in to derail that topic of conversation! "Oh, no, they're not intelligent at all, my dear! The clockwork robots might seem quite responsive, but they're just acting according to a very careful set of orders given them at the endowment of their animation! It's just a thing, Trixie - It doesn't get scared off. It doesn't get happy, it doesn't get sad, it doesn't laugh at your jokes. It just follows orders!"

He paused.

"And ... you told it to flee."

He suddenly slipped his harness and leaped up into the air, punching one hoof up. "That's it! The Royal Canterlot Voice! Of COURSE! You gave it orders in the command voice! Now we can control them!"

He glanced back at the avalanche they'd just finished causing, and frowned. "I wonder if we could fix the ley lines back the other way ... that is, without making this entire section of the countryside explode ... " he mused. "I'm 73% sure we could do it ... "

[brianblackberry]

Trixie just rolled her eyes. Intelligent or not, they followed *her* orders and no pony else. That was enough to show she had the unique ability in the group to sedate any monstrous threat. It had been complete accident that she'd used the Royal Canterlot Voice - she'd merely been trying to be impressive! But she wasn't about to let Doctor Whooves know it was an accident! "But of course, my dear Doctor! Can you not tell the royal ancestry of the Great and Powerful Trixie merely by looking at her? And when you receive a first-class training in the ways of Canterlot magic and history as I have, such a voice is easy to come by!"

She let her imagination flow by regretfully. It was too bad the clockwork were already defeated - what a show she could put on with an army of Clockwork! Trixie held brief images of her triumphantly marching back to Ponyville on the shoulder of a lead Clockwork, her cape billowing in the wind as she claimed back all her possessions and, perhaps, all the magical books of the town as well as payment for the great show she would perform with them, dazzling everypony there, including that arrogant purple mare!

But that fantasy was shocked back to reality. "Put it BACK?! After all that work?! And ... explode?! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not remember you saying anything about causing an explosion! One would imagine this would be an important bit of information!" She shuddered. Perhaps it was best she hadn't known that one mistake would have killed them all. "I believe you would be better set putting your mind forward to finding the lost Royal Library rather than looking back and regretting your foolishness!"

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves blinked in surprise, looking over to Trixie. "Didn't I mention that?" he asked, rather with a tone of wonder. "I was certain I had. Strange, usually I have such a good memory ... " He thought for a few more moments, then shrugged helplessly. "Ah well, it all worked out for the best, anyway! Can't let little things like dying possess your mind too much. Keeps you from the important stuff!"

He thought for a few moments more. "I really feel like some apple slices. And custard. That'd be good. What do you think?" Thank goodness, she'd gotten distracted from her little crush on him. That had been getting really awkward!

[brianblackberry]

Trixie rolled her eyes in exasperation. Her erstwhile companion always seemed to think he was the most brilliant creature in all of Equestria. "No, actually, you didn't. The Great and Powerful Trixie would have certainly remembered something as important as knowing that a small mistake could have ended up destroying not only us, but a plethora of innocent life besides!" She swore, she wasn't any closer to understanding this strange pony than she was on the first day she met him. Still, in a way, his odd eccentricities were the reason she stuck around - that, and she sensed that, at some level, he might be as lonely as she.

Still, that didn't excuse all of his peculiar quirks, especially those that courted death. "I would say that not dying is usually considered, by all intelligent ponies, to be fairly high upon the list of important topics! I would not have shied from the danger, of course - the Great and Powerful Trixie is no coward - but one must understand one's dangers in order to perform to one's best!"

Not surprisingly, Whooves' erratic thought processes seemed to hie off in a different direction entirely. Though, admittedly, her stomach didn't argue one bit. "Where are we going to find such things around here on the beach? A buried treasure chest?" She glanced back at Mal and Lyra, especially eyeing the latter. "umm ... If there is, somehow, do you think there would be enough for all of us? I mean, dinner on the beach does sound… nice. Romantic, even."

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves frowned a bit. Oh, man... she hadn't forgotten it after all. "Really? I would have thought not living was more important than not dying..." he gave a little shrug. "Interesting philosophical topic, at any rate..." He doubted he would be able to distract her from the topic of romance. It always did sneak up on him when the mares fell in love with him...

"I brought food with me, of course! Can never be sure where your next bit of nibbles is going to come from. Always prepared, that's me." He took a deep breath. "Wasn't really thinking of a *romantic* dinner ... I mean... " He paused, awkwardly. "Look, Trixie, you and I, we've just met ... I mean, it was only like, a week ago that you came by and picked up your stuff from my place. I don't know, um ... if a relationship between you and me would work out, just yet? Why don't we just, you know ... take our time, and be friends first, and see what happens from there? You might be reacting more to the fact that I'm dashing and handsome and very, very clever, and ever-so-heroic, instead of true love..." He gave an awkward little grin. "Don't want to rush into things, right?"

[brianblackberry]

Trixie's eyes just rolled at her eccentric companion's weird existential comments about life and death. She wasn't even sure if he really knew what he was talking about when he gabbled on like this, or if he just liked to pretend he was some philosopher in order to listen to himself. Not that it was that big of a deal, once in a while he even had something profound to say, although she wasn't aware if it was truly thought out or just part of a random stream of consciousness.

Romantic meal? Was the Doc was thinking there was a chance for her and Lyra after all, even with Lyra's earlier flustered rejection of Trixie's most romantic and alluring moves? But as he started rehashing their past together, Trixie looked at him with confusion. What did that have to do with anything? No, wait ... he thought? Her ... And him?? "Surely you jest!" Trixie laughed for a moment before giving him a devious grin. "You, and the Great and Powerful Trixie!? Surely you must be joking! Sorry to ... hmph, burst your bubble! Trixie has no romantic interests in the likes of you! You ... You are not even her type! Even if you were ... I mean, c'mon! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, only the most lovely and sophisticated ponies, those who truly appreciate the marvels of magic, would do for me!"

Trixie hmphed again and held her head up high as she trotted ahead of the Doctor at a faster pace. She wasn't sure if she was going the right way, but she just wanted to make it clear, he was certainly not her type!

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves blinked in surprise at Trixie's startled exclamations. Was this real, or were the grapes too sour? Always so hard to tell - that's part of what made relationships such a pain in the tail. Well, till he got an indication otherwise, he'd take her at face value!

His face opened up in a broad grin and he gave an exhalation of satisfaction. "Ah, well, that's a relief!" he confirmed. "That could've been quite a mess, couldn't it?" He gave a soft huffing chuckle of amusement, then lets out another exhalation, "hooooooo ... you had me worried there, for a sec! I could have *sworn* I was going to have you falling for me there." He laughs softly. "I must have been seeing things!" He gave her a comradely clap on the shoulder as she hurried up to step past him. "Imagine what a disaster that would have been!"

It was always good to share these moments of understanding with each other, but he never liked to dwell on shared misunderstandings too much, so he quickly went to change the subject. "So, what do you think of our two companions back there? Good thing they were along. Man, that resonance trick of Lyra's is just incredibly useful. When I think of all the times I could have used that in my adventures ... and Mal's fire! A fire that burns wood and metal but freezes water? Now that's a neat trick! Wonder how the equations look on *that* bit of magic ... " He trailed off, musing, mumbling quiet mystic words to himself as he ran over the theoretical structures in his head. "Now if you inverted the pyratheurgical matrix in relation to the target physical state... "

[brianblackberry]

Trixie was bewildered, even offended. First he seemed to be falling for her – which was totally understandable, with how beautifully alluring she was – but then he seemed to be rejecting her! He certainly wasn’t her type, but certainly she was worth the effort! She certainly was NOT any sort of disaster! "Well of course it would have worked, don’t be ridiculous! If the Great and Powerful Trixie had decided that you were worthy of her romantic attentions, you may rest assured that you would have lived out the rest of your life in bliss and harmony, protected and comforted by her magical charms! Even as it is, were you truly interested, the Great and Powerful Trixie would have let you down lightly … after showing, of course, what a wonderful time you would have had." She walked forward with more force, her hooves striking the ground. Who was he to judge her? HER! The mystical, marvelous, most magnificent mare ever to walk Equestria? It wasn’t like he was such a good catch! Sure, he was rather cute and rugged, even if he was all scruffy and uncouth. And he did occasionally seem to know what he was talking about … but *really*, he spoke as if he was some sort of idol!

She struggled through her own thoughts and the Doctor’s inevitable out-of-the-blue subject change. Of course Trixie had opinions of the two ponies who decided to tag along, and had no issue expressing them. "Well Lyra, she is very … nice, and all, a bit shy and confused. Quite confused – she doesn’t know a good thing when she has one … but very, um … nice … As for that other one, I just don't trust her. There’s something terribly arrogant and hostile about that treacherous rogue. Remember that she blew up your clattering cart!" She snorted as he kept focusing on the other two, always seeming to pass over any of Trixie’s magnificent accomplishments so lightly while heaping this praise upon them. "I don't get why you focus on them and their abilities so much - isn't the Great and Powerful Trixie good enough? Perhaps you wish them to accompany you instead? You certainly fawned all over them while practically ignoring me entirely!"

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves kept walking, his brow furrowed in bewilderment. If she wasn't interested in him ... why was she so upset that he wasn't interested in her? That didn't make sense at all! And she was upset that he was trying to help the other unicorns? For several steps he pondered the unknowable nature of romance and mares. Sour grapes, yup. Well, he'd pretend that he didn't notice.

"Of course I spent time helping them," he said, a confused tone to his voice. "I knew I could count on you."

[brianblackberry]

Trixie trotted along her head held high in dismissal of her earth pony companion. She half expected him to foolishly declare her jealous, as if The Great and Powerful Trixie could ever be jealous of anypony! Of course she wanted the proper attention and respect due to her phenomenal abilities. Like she had as a small foal in her dam's hooves. Truly it wasn't too much to ask for, right?

Then she heard those words, those completely unexpected words… "I knew I could count on you". Trixie stopped for a moment looking back at her companion pulling his cart, unsure at first if he was sincere, but the look on his face told it all. If there was one thing Trixie could say on his behalf, he'd never lied to her, and she knew he wasn't starting now. She whispered quietly, "thanks…" before turning around and trotting ahead, "come on now, don't dawdle, the Great and Powerful Trixie has a library to find!"

***The End***