A Star Without a Stage

Chapter 3

The pillow was warm, the bed was soft. It felt like she was sleeping atop a small cloud, much like what a pegasus would do on occasion. She always wondered what it felt like to actually be on one, but she had never imagined that it would be something like this before. She felt virtually weightless as she shifted onto her side. It was when she did this though that it felt a bit different. The pillow her head was resting on, yes, while warm, felt different than a normal pillow. It had a fair amount of firmness to it, almost too firm, yet, the soft covering still seemed to be enough for her, that was, until she noticed that the pillow itself was moving, gradually rising and falling. That was strange, especially for a pillow.

Slowly, Trixie's eyes began to flutter open, reacting to the gradual rise and fall of her supposed 'pillow'. When they did, she actually came to the conclusion that it wasn't in fact a pillow, but the chest of a pony, a mare to be exact and she knew exactly who it was too. It was the color of the fur before her face that tipped her off almost instantly, causing her cheeks to glow a very bright red. Why was she here? Why was her head resting on this mare's chest and why was she gently stroking her mane? Had something happened between them that she didn't remember? As the question ran through her mind, the burning on her face only grew more intense, accompanied by the aspect of her face becoming a shade of red that not even the darkest of coats could hide.

When this occurred, everything came flooding back to her. Everything that had happened over just the course of the day so far, mainly. She remembered it all, from how the day started in the park, to having her old friend Shield Breaker help her, to seeing...Twilight! This is where she virtually jumped out of her own skin. She was using Twilight as a pillow and she was absolutely filthy! How could she do such a thing to a mare who's actually willing to help her! At least, she thought she was willing to help, judging by where she was presently resting.

“Twilight! I'm sorry!” she cried as she leapt back. What seemed to befuddle Trixie though was the simple fact that Twilight hardly seemed that surprised, it had almost seemed like she had been expecting something like this to happen, especially with the relatively calm look on her face and in her eyes. The gaze the azure mare received seemed serene and peaceful, helping to even relax her frayed nerves.

“For what?” Twilight asked, almost nonchalantly.

“I...I tracked mud on your bed and coat!” Trixie whined, only to have the lavender mare giggle softly. This only worked her up a bit more, “Why are you laughing?!” she snapped, in a bit of a panic. Before she could say anything else however, Twilight merely placed her hoof over Trixie's mouth. The simple action seemed to cause her to calm down a bit more, it was almost as if she was being read like a book.

Once the hoof finally came off of her mouth, Twilight smiled. “Are you done?” she asked, receiving a nod. “Good. Now you don't need to apologize for that at all...Its actually not the worst mess in the world to be tracked in here,” she paused briefly, “And really, the sheets were going to be washed today anyhow--”

“But, your coat!” Trixie interrupted, this time though, Twilight actually seemed genuinely irritated, sighing in frustration.

“Trixie, a bath will clean that up fairly quickly, absolutely no harm done,” she said, “Which reminds me....you really need to get cleaned up.

It was true, very true indeed. Even Trixie would admit to the fact that a good bath or shower was something she really needed. “Hey! You try living out in a park for two weeks!” she argued, “Plus...I'm not that bad, am I?” This came well before she could detect her own rather...pungent aroma. This is where her cheeks flared up even more, burning with a fair amount of embarrassment. In truth, just a whiff was enough to say that needing a shower or bath was simply an understatement.

“It was kind of tough to ignore for the past hour,” Twilight stated, to Trixie's shock. In this matter, she had absolutely no clue whether to be offended by it or not. She could very easily take it the wrong way, but on the other side of the matter, she also knew it was true as Trixie herself was starting to have trouble ignoring her own scent. Would a bath really help though? She thought this mostly because it had been festering for at least two weeks, two. Which meant, it might require some rather intense scrubbing as well as some very good soap to clean off everything. At the same time though, she also began to think of how divine it would actually feel to be clean again, how it would feel to scrub every part of her body while feeling the warm water rushing over her.

“Would you mind if I used the shower then?” she asked without hesitation.

“Not at all, in fact, if I didn't your friend Shield Breaker might force me to,” Twilight joked, to which both of them laughed and chances are, it would probably be the truth too, given how much he had done for Trixie already on top of what Twilight had done for her. “The bathroom is downstairs, its marked too, so you should find it pretty fast.” As Twilight looked on, watching Trixie trot down the stairs, she couldn't help but smile. It felt truly gratifying to be able to help her now and as she looked on, she could see genuine happiness in the mare's eyes for the first time in a long time, which was saying quite a bit.

Trixie only looked back once, gazing back up at Twilight as she trotted down the stairs. As she looked back, their eyes met, this time, both with a smile instead of like before. They needn't say a word to each other either, as their eyes spoke volumes as it was. Around Twilight, for some reason, Trixie felt safe, she felt secure, she actually felt more confident than before too, more so than when she would show off on stage, which said quite a bit for her as she simply loved showing off on stage. With the newfound confidence and sense of security from the princess' reassuring gaze, she continued downstairs, making a beeline for the bathroom.

It didn't take her very long to find it either, once she flicked on the lights, she found the setup to be relatively simple, yet, it also felt a bit cramped at the same time, being of relatively small size. Granted the bathtub took up the most, with a rather nice showerhead as well, but along with that was the sink with a decent sized mirror and finally a toilet to tie it all in. Although the décor of the room seemed to be a bit lacking, but hey, it was a bathroom, she didn't really care, all she cared about was the tub before her.

Finally, Trixie's horn lit up again, pulling back the curtains, when she did the sight she saw was simply blissful, at least for now. Something she hadn't seen in what felt like forever, her horn continued to glow, turning the fixtures to bring the flow of water forth. At first, said flow started off as cold as ice, however, she didn't seem to mind this as she turned it a bit further, holding her hoof out to feel the temperature of the water. As she was, it gradually began to warm and said warmth couldn't feel more heavenly as she finally pulled the small knob before finally stepping in.

Right when she stepped in, Trixie was met with quite a pleasant surprise, feeling the rush of steaming hot water flowing over every inch of her body. As you can imagine this felt delightful to her, the water pressure on her back felt simply incredible. The tension in her muscles seemed to vanish in a matter of seconds, eased by the pressure and heat coming off the water. On top of easing each and every tense muscle, it also worked to wash away the grime that had built up on her coat and mane. With each passing second more and more vanished from her coat, sliding right off, vanishing down the drain.

In her enjoyment, she had actually forgotten the very reason she actually had entered the bathtub, but it wouldn't be long before she snapped back to her senses. When she did, her horn lit up yet again, gripping a rag and a single bar of soap, once a lather was worked up, she began to run it over every inch of her body, ensuring that she cleaned off everywhere. The whole process itself took a good ten minutes and by the time she had finished, her coat had a rather luxurious shine to it. Horn still glowing, she took ahold of the shampoo that remained, knowing full well all that she had left was her mane. Before she popped the lid however, she looked over the label very carefully, being sure to read every detail of it that she could. Not much really caught her eye in this matter, but a part of it that did was, the part about strawberries.

Seeing this, she nearly dropped the container itself in the tub. “Really, Twilight?” she asked aloud, a frown appearing on her face. She quickly brushed this off however, popping the lid of the shampoo, before pouring some into her mane. With her hooves she worked up quite a lather, being sure to scrub very deep down. Granted it had been quite a while since she had washed her mane and once she rinsed it out, a cooling sensation traveled through her scalp. This sent a shiver up her spine, making her groan softly. “No wonder why she uses it...” Trixie muttered, gazing back up at the bottle to check its name. It simply read 'Mane 'n' Tail with conditioner'. That reminded her instantly, with one final motion, she repeated the process with her tail, this would be the final detail before she finally relaxed, just simply letting the water wash over her.

Trixie would spend a good fifteen minutes simply relaxing in the tub, not caring about the temperature of the water or anything else around her. Instead, she just let her mind wander, no particular thoughts popping up immediately. As her mind wandered, she relaxed even further, slumping in the position she was in. Thankfully the tub had been smaller, otherwise she might've fallen in. As time continued to tick forward, relaxation began to take her to the point where her consciousness began to fade. This would be accompanied by a yawn, along with many muddled thoughts, even in her own mind, words were garbled. Nothing seemed important at the moment, that was, until something brought her back to her senses.

It happened so quickly that she jumped from the water. At first, she heard a knock to the door and this knock was enough to bring her back to reality. “Trixie, are you okay?” Twilight's voice asked, showing genuine concern.

'How long have I been in here?' she asked herself, when she finally lifted a hoof to respond, that's when she took notice of it. She was a bit on the pruned side, which only caused her cheeks to flush a mild shade of red. “I'll be out in a minute!” she called back upon seeing this, before finally pulling the drain plug, which she had set once she was done cleaning herself.

It became even more obvious just how close she had come, with her coat as wet as it was, she could actually make out the details of her own body very clearly. To say the least, she gasped. Not only had Shield Breaker pulled her from a tough situation, but he had also saved her life. She could see it clearly now, her ribs very visible, down to the last detail, she was thin, emaciated, although not severely. Upon just seeing her own body, she gulped. Another week and she might've died! She couldn't believe just how close she had come.

As she gazed into the mirror, her reflection gazing back quietly, she brought her hoof up. The old Trixie was her reflection and it was a heartbreaking sight to see as she reached out to it. The hoof slid from the mirror as she sighed. It was then she noticed it, a pair of scissors and a brush. Now was the time, the opportunity awaited her and this time, she took it.

Trixie had spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom and it was concerning to the lavender mare. Enough to make her want to knock on the door again to check, just as she was lifting her hoof to the door, it swung open, which made her jump back slightly and the sight she saw only made her jaw drop, her wings stiffening as a secondary response to it. Before her, stood a whole new Trixie,

“I...don't think its supposed to be that good!” Shield Breaker muttered as he collapsed onto the bed, sprawled on his back. Rarity was in astonishment, her azure eyes shifting up to her stallion as she snuggled right up on his chest. Their manes were a mess, along with their coats, but the room matched, so it wasn't really a problem for either of them in this case. She moaned softly, nuzzling into his neck, kissing his chin very softly.

“Six times,” Rarity cooed, “And...they've never been that intense either!”

“I'll say,” Shield Breaker remarked, “I thought I was going to pass out a few times from it.”

“Me too,” she added, grinning as she trailed a hoof down his chest. “I love you.” This came before she leaned up, placing a soft kiss upon his lips. It only lasted a second, but both were clearly smiling afterward.

“I love you too, Rarity,” he cooed in response, it wasn't much longer that she simply just rested her head back on his chest, lying there silently. At the same time though, the two of them slowly began to close their eyes, drifting off into a quiet slumber, as they were though, a chime echoed in the shop downstairs. This jarred the two awake instantly, Rarity leapt into a panic, galloping off to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

“I'll be down in a minute!” she called out from her bathroom, while Shield Breaker only chuckled. That was, until a realization dawned on him.

'Damn it! The letters!' In a huff, he galloped downstairs before freezing. He peeked around the corner just enough to make out who it was at first. His eyes were met with a radiant, primrose colored coat. Immediately he recognized it, especially when he saw the very light pink of her mane. Just seeing her caused him to lean back against the wall and curse in frustration. “Damn!” he muttered under his breath, “Of all ponies...why'd it have to be Fluttershy?” His ears lowered as he asked the silliest of questions to himself, when he knew the answer already, he could figure why she was here today of all days, as it was late Friday morning, the typical spa day for Rarity and Fluttershy. He cursed his luck, he cursed it all at this time and prayed that she didn't read the letters.

It was here he quickly began to devise a plan to keep said letters out of reach of the pegasus, one that only made him smile. He cracked his head around the corner for a moment, checking where she was, thankfully she was just by the door, awaiting Rarity. This was a relief as his horn lit up with a grayish-white aura, this aura enveloped all three letters, which, with some careful maneuvering, he moved around the room,  just out of Fluttershy's sight. At least, he hoped anyhow. As he was levitating one of them however, he felt a small tug. The tug opted him to bring his head around the corner again, where all of his hopes sunk in an instant. Fluttershy had gotten ahold of just one of the letters, unfortunately. Maybe he should've been looking more carefully instead of hiding around the corner? It was too late now though as she slowly lifted it up to read.

“No, Fluttershy! Don't read it!” Shield Breaker called out, leaping out from behind the wall. He had to protect her, as she was a very shy mare, not really talking about her life too much, he could only assume she was innocent. In truth though, his shout made the primrose mare virtually jump out of his coat.

“Eep!” was all he heard as the piece of paper gently floated down to the ground, in truth, his shout had propelled her up to the ceiling, she clung there for several seconds as the letter floated back over to him, where he neatly folded it, along with the other two up. As he was, he turned his attention to Fluttershy, gazing up at her.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you...I just couldn't have you read that letter.” He quickly explained, lowering his ears a tiny bit, “I hope you can forgive me on that front.” Slowly, the primrose mare lowered herself to the ground, thankfully it had been someone she knew rather than a stranger, otherwise she might have a real problem.

“I-its fine...and I'm sorry I almost read the letter.” It was something like this that seemed to agitate him just a tad, in turn causing him to sigh.

“You know, you don't need to apologize when it was entirely my fault.” he pointed out, lowering his ears a tiny bit.

“I-I'm--” For the first time she was cut off by him, as if he knew what she was going to say, like it had become a ritual.

“Fluttershy...No apologies needed,” he stated, clearing his throat, “Rarity will be down in a few minutes, we were kind of given an...unexpected surprise this morning.” This quickly excited the primrose mare, attempting to figure what the unexpected surprise could possibly be.

“Oh! Are you two...you know, expecting?” His pupils dilated when he heard that question, it wasn't out of fear, but simple, sheer curiosity as to where she'd come up with such an idea.

“Um...No,” replied Shield Breaker, his cheeks now beginning to glow a bright red, this seemed to kill Fluttershy's enthusiasm fairly quickly though, her wings dropping along with her ears. “Its far too soon for something like that anyhow, I mean, we've only been together for six months.” Quickly, he regained his composure, the blush vanishing from his cheeks. “Although...we have discussed it...that and marriage...however, we both agreed its far too early to think about things like that.”

“O-oh...” Once again, it became Shield Breaker's place to feel rather bad, but when an idea popped into mind, he simply patted her on the back with his hoof.

“Don't worry about it though, when we do decide and when it does happen...I promise you'll be the first one to know,” he assured, “Granted Pinkie doesn't somehow find out first.” Fluttershy crack up into a fit of laughter, mostly in part of because how true it was and it was quite a common occurrence too, mostly because for some reason, Pinkie Pie had inexplicable knowledge of what was going on in everypony's lives. It was something Shield Breaker had grown accustomed to, yet, didn't find any less confusing. “I mean, what're the chances of that?”

“Pinkie Sense?” Fluttershy giggled, only to have his ears drop a tiny bit.

“I...completely forgot about the Pinkie Sense...”