"I say... isn't the air conditioning in here set a bit too low?"
Sunset Shimmer suddenly felt a chill and couldn't help but wrap her jacket tighter around herself.
"Is it?"
Trixie looked at the air conditioning controller on the wall; it displayed a temperature of 26°C, which was in a comfortable range for the human body, especially since Sunset Shimmer was wearing a black jacket.
"I get it, you're reminding me to notice your new look, right? It's cool, it suits you perfectly, and it looks much better than that drab hoodie you wore before. Why don't you stick to this style from now on?"
"I didn't ask you to notice that."
Sunset Shimmer pushed Trixie's leaning face back to center, telling her to focus on the work at hand.
After Snip and Snell delivered the materials for repairing the magic props, Trixie ignored their attempts to add more to their expressions and shooed them away like flies.
Trixie didn't dare let those two idiots touch her things again.
Next, it was just Trixie and Sunset Shimmer working; they assessed the damage to the magic props and allocated their time reasonably, estimating that they could finish before school let out tomorrow.
The stage and venue setup outside were left entirely to the other five; if anything, they were quite happy to do things they were good at.
The only downside was that Trixie had no time for a rehearsal, though she could accept that.
Trixie gave Sunset Shimmer a brief demonstration and explanation of how her props worked, and to her surprise, Sunset Shimmer was very quick on the uptake, understanding how it all worked after just one listen, and was even more proficient than Trixie once she started handling them.
"Wow... let me guess, have you fiddled with these things somewhere before? Or have you actually studied this type of prop specifically?"
Watching Sunset Shimmer manipulate the mechanical props with increasing proficiency, Trixie feared that if she hadn't known better, she would have lost her title as the Great and Omnipotent magician of Canterlot on the spot.
She had originally thought that "the apprentice surpasses the master" was just an old East Asian cliché.
"No, this is my first time touching these little gadgets, it's actually quite fun."
Sunset Shimmer replied subconsciously; she was currently licking the corner of her mouth while piecing together the scattered parts and repairing the missing sections, finding it as fun as a jigsaw puzzle.
"Oh... I'm really not interested in magic, I have no intention of stealing your livelihood."
Noticing that Trixie hadn't replied for a while, Sunset Shimmer quickly explained, urging Trixie not to overthink it.
"You don't need to be so nervous; The Great and All-Powerful Trixie isn't that small-minded."
That said, Trixie couldn't help but break into a cold sweat; after all, no one would want someone more gifted than themselves in their own field of expertise.
"I just collaborated on a business project with two other alumni at my old school, and they valued my hands-on ability."
Upon hearing this, Trixie looked at Sunset Shimmer with an incredulous gaze, as if looking at a hidden master.
But when Sunset Shimmer spoke of this glorious history, her tone was very flat, and her expression didn't even look that happy.
In that instant, Trixie imagined a lot of things.
If she had to draw an analogy, it would be equivalent to a 52-episode grand drama series, "The Temptation to Return Home."
Until Sunset Shimmer flicked her on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"Don't think I don't know you're daydreaming again, get back to work!"
"Don't blame me! Who told you to exude such an aura of having a backstory?"
Before Sunset Shimmer could try to grab her, Trixie had the foresight to put a body length's distance between them.
"And this habit you have of reminiscing about the past every now and then is just a subconscious behavior of bottling up emotions you want to confide to someone else."
"... I didn't know that besides magic, you were also good at psychology."
"It's just a bit of personal experience, nothing as amazing as you say."
Trixie didn't catch that Sunset Shimmer was being sarcastic; she remained in her self-satisfied state, chatting away with Sunset Shimmer.
"I don't know what you've been through, but negative emotions need to be released properly, otherwise the dissatisfaction accumulated in the past will one day erupt uncontrollably in the future, and that won't be pretty."
"Is this also one of your 'words of wisdom'?"
"No, it's common sense."
Sunset Shimmer stared at Trixie for a long time, but finally, it was Sunset Shimmer who gave in, burying her head back into the magic props; she didn't want to discuss anything related to her past with this braggart.
"Hmph~ looks like you're still quite shy."
Listening to the provocative and goading tone from Trixie beside her, Sunset Shimmer almost crushed the part in her hand, but she ultimately held back.
Because she felt that Trixie made sense.
But for her to tell her inner troubles to someone she had known for less than a day, and who had been annoying her ever since they met, that was absolutely impossible.
The preparation room was unusually quiet; neither of them spoke again, just focusing on their work.
Until Sunset Shimmer's phone suddenly rang, breaking the somewhat eerie atmosphere.
Sunset Shimmer took out her phone to look, and the caller ID was Rainbow Dash.
"Hey! Sunset Shimmer! We're just about done on our end, so I wanted to ask about how things are going with you and Trixie, and while I'm at it, ask you to come out and watch my band rehearsal... (Background noise: It's 'our' band!) Fine, fine, our band rehearsal."
"Oh right, don't forget to invite our great magician out too."
"Rarity is currently grabbing people everywhere to help her try on clothes because she can't find the lead actor."
One could tell how lively it was on Rainbow Dash's end, a stark contrast to the slightly oppressive environment on her side.
"Okay, we're coming."
After replying to Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer hung up the phone and then looked at Trixie.
"What do you say?"
"Of course we're going, otherwise that Rainbow Dash character will definitely be badmouthing me behind my back again."
Trixie put away the magic props, clapped her hands, and stood up.
Now that she had Sunset Shimmer to back her up, she wasn't panicked at all; with both of them working together, it would naturally be a breeze to repair these magic props within the limited time.
"Wait a second, Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset Shimmer turned back to cast a puzzled look at Trixie, waiting for her to continue.
"I want to say, if there's something bothering you, something you just can't let go of, you can confide in me when you're ready to talk about it."
Trixie coughed a few times, looking a bit awkward; clearly, she wouldn't usually say things like this, but she still said it to Sunset Shimmer quite solemnly.
"You'd better worry about yourself first."
Sunset Shimmer didn't take Trixie's words to heart; no one would take the encouragement of a down-and-out high school girl seriously.
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