She couldn't believe she was doing this. The Great and Powerful Trixie never snuck into a town. Out of town, certainly. She essayed strategic withdrawals out of towns all the time, the best to avoid any ponies whose pride had been hurt by losing her challenges. It also helped to avoid any rotten produce that might inevitably come her way.
But into town? She always came in with a fanfare, at the hour best suited to a large audience. She never slipped from shadow to shadow like this, at a time when the only ponies out and about should be the ones coming home from the local, late-night neighbourhood establishments.
The moon was high, Princess Luna's joy at her return obvious in the sky. It made it difficult to find good, concealing shadows, especially once Trixie reached the centre of town for the second time that night.
She shouldn't be here. The danger was high. But she couldn't go. Not without ... it.
Taking a great chance, she ventured out into the open. The town square was deserted. In fact, it was completely empty! Whatever wreckage that should have been left of her caravan wasn't there. A mere sprinkling of sawdust remained and Trixie resisted the urge to nose at it hopelessly, preferring to indulge in a brief trot of panic over the loss of everything she'd ever owned.
The sound of her hooves masked the soft, singing, whir in the air and she never heard the tiny grunt of effort from the shadow of a large tree.
It was to her great shock, then, that a loop of rope dropped out of the sky and settled around her neck. Instinctively, she bolted, blind with fear. Seconds later, she jerked to a sudden stop as her hooves were yanked out from beneath her and she tumbled to the ground.
Her panic doubled with the certainty that she'd been caught in a trap and she lunged upwards, trying to get back to her feet. She'd been in this position once before and it had been a miracle that the mayor of the town had stopped his citizens from throwing that rope over the branch of the nearest tree. They'd settled for old-fashioned tar and feathers that day, and had shipped her out of town tied to the roof of her own caravan.
The terror of that moment had returned and Trixie kicked out blindly, sobbing as she scrambled against the cobblestones. Magic was forgotten as she tried to break free before they could haul her in and off the ground. But she couldn't get there. The rope was taut and she couldn't get the leverage she needed.
“Whoa, there. Whoa.”
The voice was soft, but the authority and lack of anger in it made the panic in her recede slightly. Her hooves slowed their scrabbling.
“I ain't gonna hurt you, sugar.” The voice was closer, near to her ears now. “Just be still for a second. No magic now either, y'hear? I'll jam something over your horn if'n you try.”
Belatedly, she realized she hadn't even though of undoing the knots. It was too late, though. She'd regret the first glow of her horn. Stopping her struggling, Trixie finally saw the futility of pulling against the lasso, which had obviously been anchored to something, and so she sat down where she was, panting heavily. Her neck ached and she had chipped her hooves against the stones. Even with all the adrenaline she'd used up tonight, her body still throbbed.
There was only one pony out there, not a mob of them. Well, individual revenge, she could understand. She tried to speak, then coughed instead. The rope had dug into her throat and she hurt. A straw appeared in front of her face and she accepted, pulling cool apple juice into her mouth. It stung a little to swallow, but the drink helped. “H-hem. Th-thank you.”
The pony chuckled. “Reckon that's the first time you've properly thanked someone in a while.” Oh, Celestia. It was that little hayseed. A bit of fear crawled back into the pit of her stomach. Country ponies were very talented, she'd heard, when it came to matters of revenge. What had she just drank?
“Didn't rightly expect you back.” the orange pony continued, coming around to sit in front of her. “But in case you did, I decided to wait. Lookin' for your caravan?”
Trixie's instinct was to bluff through this little interrogation, but something in those large green eyes, especially in the glow of the moonlight from above, told her that anything other than the truth wouldn't be good enough. She still hesitated, too afraid to say it. Her memories of that last unhappy town were still all too real at that moment.
“Ah-huh. So that's it, is it?”
She glanced up, startled. She hadn't said a single word!
“I've seen your kind before, missy. Livin' a life of nothing but smoke and mirrors? Can't let anyone know anything about you because you're too scared they'll laugh at you? Maybe even use it against you like you did to us earlier?” She tapped an orange hoof against her pale blue ones. “You can disagree with me at any time, you know.”
Trixie shook her head. She wanted to talk back, but she just sensed that if she tried anything, she'd be called on it.
“What is it?” The other pony kept her hoof covering hers. “You didn't just come back here to see some ol' wood scraps. What do you need? Is it that hat and cape of yours? Special to you?”
Trixie stayed silent, but she slowly shook her head again. They were cheap, gaudy trinkets good for putting on a show, but that was about it.
“Bits?”
There was a bag of those in her caravan and she'd dearly love to have them, too. But she shook her head a third time. She'd been poor before and would be again, if she had to.
There was a pause, then the pony shrugged. “For a filly who was running her mouth good and proper a little while ago, you ain't sayin' much now. Okay, how about I be honest with you instead? Because it's real late, or early, dependin' on your point of view, and I'm plumb tired. I reckon you are, too. Is Trixie your real name?”
Trixie nodded at that.
“Okay. My name's Applejack.” She sighed heavily. “Those two colts that were fallin' all over themselves to worship your Great and Powerfulness were made to clean up that mess the Ursa made of your caravan. But I had them put the whole thing on one of my carts and had my brother take it somewhere safe. We got every piece of it sittin' there, just in case you came lookin' for it.”
Swallowing hard and wincing at the pressure on her throat, Trixie finally found her voice. “And there's a deal you want to make,” she croaked.
“Yep.” Applejack tilted her head to the side. “You could say no. But that means you leave here right now and you go alone. You come around town again looking for your caravan and we'll have you bucked right back out. Our Twilight does real strong magic, like you saw, and she could send everything you ever loved to a pretty far-off place. I don't like doing things that way myself, but you look like you need the lesson.”
“It wouldn't be the first time,” Trixie murmured, lowering her eyes and her ears.
There was silence from Applejack. Then she snorted. “You ain't taken your medicine yet, then, if this has happened to you before.”
“Minor setbacks,” Trixie clarified, “nothing more.”
“Yeah, I ain't buyin' that.” Applejack whuffed out another deep breath. “Look. I'm offering you your caravan and all its contents. You need things repaired, we figure out how to do that. And we get you back on your way, if that's what you want.”
She was startled by the generosity of the offer, lifting a foreleg off the ground and ignoring the tug of the lasso around her neck. “That's ... ahem... very kind. And what does Trixie have to do in return?”
“You get to keep my little necklace on as long as you're here. No untying knots by magic, no pulling 'em apart with your teeth.” Applejack's green eyes hardened a little, gleaming. “I kin be generous, but you went and wounded my pride tonight, darling. So, in return, I want to hear you callin' me 'Miss Applejack' an awful lot. And the moment you do some magic I ain't agreed to, I'm hoofing your pretty flank off'n my land without whatever it is you're looking for.”
“So, just to clarify things,” Trixie asked snidely, wincing at the burn in her vocal cords. “Trixie is to be your little pet, tied to a stake in the yard?”
“Nah, I already got me Wynona. I don't think she'd take too kindly to you crowding her out of her space.” Applejack leaned her forehead up against hers, just beneath the hard bone of her horn. “And I didn't hear that 'Miss Applejack' that's supposed to be in there. Must be my ears.”
Trixie closed her eyes, leaning back slightly from the pressure of Applejack's quite warm body. She'd seen the powerful hindquarters of the farmer filly and knew that any threat that involved bucking would result in very severe punishment for her. She could still salvage her own great pride and walk away from Ponyville, start over further down the road, and come up with yet another tale to impress small-town ponies. Bits could be scrounged. A new hat could be found. She could overcome adversity yet again and go it alone, just as she always had. And she really didn't want to submit to this little country pony.
But she was getting tired of leaving things behind. And something inside her was very, very weary of keeping up the facade. Her mask had been slipping lately. Plus there was the insult of being hoofed out of yet another town. If she left now, she knew she'd bear this humiliation for a long time.
Weighing everything up in her heart, she came to the best conclusion she could and lowered her head: She was the Great and ... rather ... Powerless... Trixie.
“Whatever you say, Miss Applejack.”
-+-+-+-
Trixie groaned in quiet agony as they finally passed through the gate of Sweet Apple Acres. To keep her in line, Applejack had cantered all the way from the center of town, the end of the lasso tied around her tail. Trixie had had to keep up and her legs weren't used to that pace. She could feel the ache as Applejack guided her towards the barn.
“Still not going to tell me what you risked sneaking back into town for?”
She shook her head, silently wincing as she put her weight badly on a sore hoof.
Applejack stopped at the doors to the barn, foreleg half-raised. “Hey now.” She moved back to gently rub shoulders with her. “You still ain't using your words much. You been realizing your mistake?”
Trixie looked at her with what she hoped was an annoyed expression. “What mistake would that be?” She oofed softly as one of those well-muscled hind legs tapped her in the ribs. “Miss Applejack?” she wheezed.
“That's better.” Applejack turned back and gently nuzzled the crest of her mane, as if in apology for thumping her. “You were pretending to be somepony special, you know. But you picked a bad little town to brag in. We've all met Princess Celestia several times. Twilight herself is the personal student of the Princess.”
Trixie winced. Oh, she had been stupid. She really did deserve this. Going horn-to-horn with the protege of Princess Celestia herself was a dozen times more foolish than just besting some village ponies.
“Uh-huh. I see that means something to you.” Applejack pushed the barn doors open. “Come on. In you get.” Her long, blonde tail twitched and Trixie stumbled forwards as the lasso tugged on her. She stifled a whine at the throb from her fetlocks.
The barn was dark and Trixie didn't like the thought of walking into the unknown. Who knew what she might be stepping in? Then again, the place didn't smell anything like cattle and nothing at all like swine, which she thought she'd heard elsewhere on the farm. There was a slight scent of pony sweat, but it was buried beneath the sudden, welcome smell of hay and fresh water. Her stomach immediately rumbled.
“I reckon we could afford to let you have a mouthful or two,” Applejack murmured, brushing past her and into the darkness. “Just remember you're also going to be sleeping on it tonight.” There was a click and hiss and a lamp was lit up ahead, showing a well-swept work barn. Barrels, hay bales, and buckets lined the wall. A worn and notched plough blade leaned against a stack of apple baskets.
And there were stalls, four of them, wide and shallow, all with piles of loose hay. Trixie had lost a perfectly good bed in her caravan, but at that moment, she longed for nothing more than to lie down on that hay. It looked so very inviting and she was exhausted from the sheer terror of being nearly crushed by the Ursa. Also from the emotional reserves she had had to dig up to even stand in front of it and try what little magic she had. And then from that second panic attack at the thought that she had been about to be lynched, only to learn that she was ... well, she wasn't quite sure what she was now.
She would worry about her status in the morning, though. Right now, she could be warm, safe, and fed. Whatever pride she had left didn't matter in the face of all those. So she let Applejack lead her over to a stall and sank gratefully down onto the hay, even as the orange pony took the other end of the lasso in her teeth and knotted it through a nearby iron ring. The rest of the rope was coiled against the wall.
Trixie took a careful mouthful of hay, watching Applejack as she moved around the barn to scoop bowls of water out of a rain barrel for the both of them. To her surprise, the orange pony then settled down beside her, shoulder-to-shoulder.
“I don't suppose you go showin' off in your sleep, too?” Applejack suggested. “I admit that I'm the first pony who ain't a quiet sleeper, but if you think you're gonna snore louder than me, now's the time to admit it so I can get a pillow to put over my head.”
“You're ... sleeping out here with Trixie?” she asked, rather astonished. She figured that Applejack would have simply tied her up and left her there until morning.
“Don't see why not. I mean sure, you're the most irritating filly I've ever come across...”
“Hmmph.”
“Made me look like a right fool out there, and did the same to my friends, but I'm still obliged to be something of a good host. If you're sleeping out here, then I'm staying with you. The weather ain't turned cold and we're done with the harvest.” Applejack shook her hat free, then groaned as she curled up and put her head down on her forelegs. “You be good now, and let me sleep in for a bit after all this, and I won't get you up at an ungodly hour, either.”
Trixie considered that, then nodded tiredly. “Fair enough, Miss Applejack.”
The pony chuckled. “We'll talk tomorrow. Get some rest.” She closed her eyes, leaving Trixie feeling extremely confused.
Her showmareship had consisted of an awful lot of bravado, mostly to disguise the fact that her magic depended on others accepting her challenges and demonstrating whatever talent they had. She was a mimic, nothing more. It was why she hadn't had anything suitable to conjure up against the Ursa. She had to see a pony do a trick before she was able to pull power and produce a variant of it. Applejack's lasso tricks had given her the ability to perform some rope magic. That cyan Pegasus had shown off weather magic, which had given her the brief ability to duplicate it as well. The same with the prissy white unicorn and her fashion magic. That humiliation with her flouncy mane, as satisfying as it had been at the time, hadn't been of any use when a massive bear comprised of constellations had shown up, though.
She hadn't been able to get anything from that other unicorn. Twilight Sparkle's power was beyond anything she could reliably mimic, especially handling two or three different spells at the same time. Trixie had been unable to choose just one to copy, and had instead lost her chance at all of them when she'd tried to pick them up. Not that Twilight Sparkle had even needed her help.
Now she found herself in a situation where her bravado had completely abandoned her: Tied up in a barn, her captor snoozing softly next to her, and her having promised to not attempt an escape. All because she'd been led by her heart rather than her head.
Lowering her head to her water bowl, Trixie took a long, deep drink before she lay all the way down as well. Her ego had taken as bad a beating as her hooves this night. Maybe all would be better in the morning.
-+-+-+-
“Well, I'd say you were lucky.”
“To have survived, Miss Applejack?” Trixie heaved a deep sigh. She hated mornings. Especially this one.
“Nah. That Ursa didn't damage any of your wheels. All four of them are still sound. You're gonna need new axles, mind you, but we're going to be able to salvage an awful lot.”
Trixie sat between Applejack and her older brother. The rope was still around her neck, although she was now tethered to a nearby tree. Applejack had made sure she had plenty of line, though, allowing her the ability to completely circle the wreckage of her caravan.
They had already pried away several smashed timbers that had been a side wall and rescued whatever they could from inside. Whatever was still intact had been placed into one pile; everything that could be repaired in another; those ruined beyond hope, although still within the scope of magical solutions, had gone into a third.
She had been relieved to find her saddlebags safe beneath her bed, which was now in the second pile. Applejack had been curious as to their contents, but Trixie had merely shaken her head, tears in her eyes as she hugged them. “Please,” she had whispered. “Later. I promise, Miss Applejack.” That had been the first time she had really meant those last two words. It had been just such a weight off her heart to find it still in one piece that she had stopped caring about anything else.
Now all three ponies were sitting with heads tilted to one side as they considered the remains of the floor and the caravan wheels. Both axles had indeed been snapped like matchsticks, but the metal bearings had been salvaged.
“Roof was a complete wreck,” Applejack commented, “but the back wall was just fine. Side walls and front hatchway? Gonna need some work. Whaddya think, Mac? Reckon we could have the undercarriage done by tonight?”
The larger pony chewed on a stalk of hay in contemplation. “Ee-yup. Sounds about right. I'll just go and get those old axles off the snowplow they wrecked durin' the last Winter Wrap-Up. You girls make sure none of those fireworks are gonna go off again.”
Trixie sat down in the shade of the apple tree to which she was tethered. It hadn't even taken an hour with Applejack and her brother to realize she was amongst very good ponies. They almost made her ashamed of the way she'd been living.
“It ain't a hopeless task,” Applejack said, coming over to sit beside her. “We've rebuilt worse messes than this.”
“Mm.” Trixie eyed the signboard they'd set aside, emblazoned with her cutie mark. “Gratitude isn't an emotion common to the Great and Powerful Trixie. However...”
The orange pony grinned. “However?”
“The Extremely Foolish and Weak Trixie wishes to express her thanks for this kindness.” She sighed and glanced down at the rope still around her neck. “And although she is beginning to get used to this, Trixie wonders if it would be possible to have something monogrammed?”
“I got me a branding iron or two on the mantlepiece,” Applejack cracked, “mostly for decoration, mind you, but I can monogram you a good one, if you really want.” As they both smiled, she bumped her head lightly against a shoulder. “You've been a good filly so far, keeping your word even when you got what you came for. I appreciate that. Keep it up and you'll be on your way in no time.”
“Trixie may be an unpleasant, storytelling braggart, but when she makes a promise, she does do her best to keep it. Even if it was extricated from her under duress.”
To her surprise, Applejack chuckled “Yeah, you were a show-off, but you're not that unpleasant. Just starved for attention, by my reckoning.”
“Do they give out psychology degrees with the seed packets down at the farmers' co-op?” A light headbutt against her back ribs reminded Trixie of her obligations. “Mmmmf! Miss Applejack?”
“You still got some backtalk in you. But I'm going to overlook that.” Trixie closed her eyes and inhaled slowly as a warm muzzle pushed against her ear. Every bit of discipline she was dealt was followed by an equal amount of affection once she obeyed, reinforcing that Applejack simply desired her submission rather than her humiliation.
“Did that hurt?” came her concerned voice. “Sleep badly or something?”
Trixie shook her head, feeling a flush in her cheeks. “No, no... it felt fine.” She looked over at the orange pony sitting there, her blonde mane and tail both tied with braids, and her brown cowboy hat leaning up against the trunk of the tree. She really hadn't spent this much time with ponies who hadn't adored her as the Great and Powerful Trixie, not in ages. Most ponies who disdained her merely avoided her caravan, while the simple and awed had gathered fawningly around her as they admired her magical talent. To be just lying outside with a friendly Earth Pony - even if that pony had subdued her and was insistent on teaching her some country version of good manners – it stirred old memories inside her.
“Come on. Enough lying down on the job.” Applejack ducked her head into her hat and got back up. “I think we need to consider what you want to keep out of those 'fix-it' piles. It's gonna take some bits for some of that stuff and you might have to wait until you're near a bigger town to find the right ponies.”
“Trixie has bits,” she admitted, following along behind. “The problem could be finding ponies that will be willing to help her. She tends to be a discerning customer.”
“By 'discerning', you mean you were a right pain in the croup, weren't you?”
Trixie shrank a little beneath a fierce look. “That may be one way of looking at it, yes.”
Applejack sighed and shook her head sadly. “You don't make life easy for yourself, do you?”
“Trixie's life was easy,” she responded. “It was everyone else getting in her way that made it difficult.”
Before Applejack could reply to that, there was a screech from overhead. “What is SHE doing back here?” A blue Pegasus shot down to land in front of them, staggering at the impact. “Applejack, you caught her? That is so cool! I wanna be first in line to fight her! You know, after you're done whupping her tail.”
Trixie raised a foreleg, startled. Instinctively, she tried to remember if she was still able to conjure up that lightning cloud again, but then there was a cyan muzzle jammed right up against her nose and she was staring into a pair of angry red eyes. “Eeep!”
“Hey, loudmouth! Not so Great and Powerful now, huh?”
She narrowed her eyes and shoved her muzzle back to try and get some room. She was tempted to lower her head and use her horn to get the Pegasus to back up, but then Applejack cleared her throat and she froze.
“Dash, I'd back up from Trixie if I were you,” came her voice.
The Pegasus ignored her, having begun to dance around with her wings flared, almost up on her hind legs as she gestured with her front hooves. “Put 'em up, Trixie! Hoof to hoof! Let's go! Rainbow Dash demands satisfaction!”
She was almost willing, as it would help with some of the frustration she'd been dealing with since Applejack had first put that rope around her neck. Trixie was not a good brawler, but as soon as Rainbow did something that involved Pegasus magic, she'd be able to mimic it and hold her own.
Then she remembered: No offensive magic. True, she already had her saddlebags and their contents, but for some unfathomable reason, she didn't like the thought of making Applejack mad. As much of a enforced stay that she'd had, she had still been treated fairly while under the lasso. There had been food, water, and a promise that she'd be able to leave on her hooves, all of which had been given through kindness rather than a sense of celebrity. Trixie couldn't even remember the last time that had happened. And, even more unusual, she felt a deep sense of appreciation for it.
“Hey, I'm talking to you!”
The tip of a rainbow tail flicked her right on the muzzle, which stung.
“Mmmph!” Trixie rubbed her nose and backed up, giving her rope some slack. Turning her head, she said softly, “Miss Applejack, with your permission?”
“Oh, believe me, I'd almost like to see it.” The orange body gently shouldered between them, shoving Rainbow Dash backwards. “But she's my friend and I can't letcha go beatin' on her. Same goes for you, Rainbow.” Applejack butted heads with her and gave her a push, hooves digging into the grass. “Trixie's under my authority while she's here. That makes me responsible for her and it ain't fair for any pony to kick her while she's tied up. So you stand down, y'hear me?”
Rainbow Dash pushed back. “Why don't you just untie her? Not like she's gonna be able to lay a hoof on me anyways!”
“Yeah, no.” Applejack used her forehead again to give her a slightly harder thump between the eyes, making Rainbow Dash look briefly dazed. “I got my pride stung by her as much as you did, but I got there first. If you'd bothered stayin' up all night instead of gettin' your beauty sleep, then you'd have a claim. But Trixie's mine for as long as I say so. And even if I did let her loose, I couldn't stand by while you smacked her around. You don't like it, you'll have to go through me to get to her. So, you wanna make nice now or later?”
Dash's pout was impressive. “Can you at least make her apologize?”
“Suppose I could. But she ain't apologized to me yet, so get in line.”
“You don't need her to apologize to you; you've already got her under your hoof!”
“Ain't the same thing and you'd know that if'n you remembered the last time I tried to get you to say you were sorry!”
As the argument went back and forth, Trixie calmly retreated back beneath the apple tree and lay down again. If it had still had apples, even as windfalls, she'd have liked something to eat, but for now she was content to watch her host and Rainbow Dash engage in increasingly impressive bickering.
Big Macintosh returned just as the two ponies were about to settle things with a hoofwrestling match and broke them up effortlessly. Rainbow Dash made an explosive noise of frustration and blew off up into the sky in response as Applejack motioned for Trixie to get back up and rejoin them.
“I was hopin' we'd have more time before they found you, but now that Dash's got herself booted off the Acres, she's gonna let the others know. Hope you're ready to deal with company.” Applejack made a face that expressed precisely how Trixie felt at the idea. “We'd better get some work done before ponies start cantering in.”
-*-*-*-
Her second night in the barn began as Trixie watched Applejack shut the doors against the wind. There had been some unexpected showers earlier that evening, a fact that the Apples apparently were ready to blame on Rainbow Dash's wounded ego.
“Won't damage any of the crops,” Applejack was saying, dropping back down to all fours after hanging the lantern up on a stall hook. “We were expecting to have rain in a day or so, anyways. In a while, she'll feel guilty and try to think of a way to make it up to us. So there ain't anything to worry about.”
Trixie nodded, looking at the undercarriage and half-rebuilt sides of her caravan that they'd shoved into the barn when the sky had begun getting dark with rainclouds. She was impressed they'd even managed to get that much done.
Of all ponies she hadn't wanted to see, other than those with revenge on their minds, it had been Twilight Sparkle who had come to the farm after Rainbow Dash had flown off in a huff. Applejack had been good enough to head off her friend and explain matters as she saw them. The purple unicorn had left reluctantly, without many of the answers she'd come for, but only on the promise that Trixie would leave that information with Applejack before she left town again.
“I wouldn't have stopped you from talkin' to Twilight, you know,” she said gently, coming over and nuzzling Trixie's neck, just above the knot of her lasso. “But I figured you and I should have a talk first and figure out just what's too private for you. Because we're gonna need her help tomorrow with all these repairs. Now, I ain't saying you don't owe her an explanation, because it was your mouth what put us all in danger the other night and her magic that saved the whole situation ...”
“Are you sure we can't just blame the whole thing on weak-brained colts, rather than the Naive but Beautiful Trixie, Miss Applejack?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
Applejack's laugh was short. “If only. Let's start with that little bit of magic you were doin'.” She sat beside Trixie, who was lying with her legs tucked beneath her on her haybed. “If you hadn't told Mac and I how it works, I'd never have guessed you had a mimic-talent. Kinda explains your cutie-mark, though. You do do magic, but just varieties of it.”
Trixie nodded. “Trixie would appreciate it very much if that information stayed only with Twilight Sparkle.”
“I can do that. But listen, I put my neck out for you with her this afternoon. And there's something I want to know in exchange, darlin'. This ain't negotiable, either, but I promise you I won't be telling another pony.” Her gaze went to Trixie's saddlebags leaning against the wooden slats of the stall.
Heaving a sigh, Trixie nodded again and arched her neck, reaching over to pull her bags in between her hooves. She gently took each buckle in her teeth and flicked them open. Pushing the flaps back, she offered the contents for Applejack's inspection.
There were photo albums, one in each bag.
“Aw, girl. If this is about family, why didn't you just say so?” Applejack murmured, leaning over to slide one towards herself. “I could have understood that.”
“Trixie was rather frightened at the time and not every pony is as dedicated to family as you and your brother are, Miss Applejack,” she replied, watching her delicately open the cover and flip through the pages of photographs. “Besides, while Trixie loves her sire and dam very much, that isn't the real reason she came back.” She nudged the other album over. “This is.”
Applejack took it and opened it up. The first picture was of a Trixie just a few years younger than she was now. On her left was a Pegasus colt roughly the same age, his mane a few shades darker than his brown coat, with a snow-white Earth Pony filly on her right, her mane shot through with red and green stripes. They had their heads together and all three looked extremely happy. “Awww, friends of yours?”
“Lovers, actually.” She blushed hotly as Applejack looked at her. “Gypsy is the filly; Flintheart is the Pegasus. Trixie was once greatly daring and experimental in her choices.”
“You don't mean ...?”
“Yes, Trixie can admit it. She once loved an Earth Pony.”
Applejack smacked her gently on the shoulder. “Ain't what I'm talking about, sugar! You mean you were having ... with both ...”
She shrugged. “Trixie ... had fallen in with a certain group when she was at university in Neighbraska. We believed that it was possible to form stable relationships not just amongst unicorns and Pegasi, or Earth ponies and unicorns, but amongst all three breeds. That there would be balance and stability if one from each could come together. So ... we all did just that. It was going to be the future of relationships in Equestria.”
As Applejack turned more pages, it became clearer. Other very obvious trios were visible in the backgrounds, or sometimes there would be leanings towards each other in group pictures that helped her pick out which breeds of pony were together. “Do I wanna know what happened?”
“Reality.” Trixie smiled sadly. “There was jealousy in some relationships. Some ponies were more in love with one than the other. Others had been a couple and had taken on a third, only to not be able to meet everyone's needs. And a lot of colts were just in it for the filly-on-filly. The whole experiment really did just fall apart. It wasn't very scientific, to be honest. It was more based on idealistic hope than on any real evidence.”
“Sometimes that's just what love is,” Applejack told her. “What about your two? Did you three fall out?”
“It was friendly in all respects,” she admitted. “Yes, we all loved each other very much. We were almost the ones who made it work. But then Flintheart had a job offer that could not be turned down. We pushed him to take it, in fact. Gypsy stayed with Trixie, but it just wasn't the same without him. Not in Trixie's heart. Then Gypsy had to go home and look after family. Trixie wouldn't have been welcome amongst them. So instead ... she dove back into the theatre that she had been studying at school. One thing led to another, and you see how far she's come since then.” She rubbed her cheek against her shoulder, suddenly missing both of them.
The last page of the album had three signatures and hoofprints on it, one for each of her trio. Gently, Applejack closed the book and slid it back over to her. “How long has it been since you've seen either of them?”
Trixie puffed out a breath. “Close to three years. Even as a travelling showpony, Trixie doesn't always know if she'll run across them.”
“Maybe it's that silly hat you wear and they just don't recognize you?”
She didn't dignify Applejack's joke with an answer, but instead nosed at the hay she was lying on. She had been well-stuffed with apple dishes at the farmhouse, so she wasn't at all hungry. “That's why Trixie came back after she had been run out of Ponyville. She wanted her memories.”
“Well, you got 'em.” Applejack watched as Trixie put both her albums back into her saddlebags. “Thank you for showing me. If Twilight ever asks me why you came back, I'll say it was for family heirlooms, if you like.”
“Mm.” She leaned over and nuzzled at Applejack's cheek, giving her an appreciative lick. “Trixie is grateful for your thoughtfulness.”
“Something else I've been wondering, though,” the orange pony said, eyes slightly wide at the lick. Her hoof moved as if to touch her cheek, but she hesitated halfway there and put her leg back down. “You backed up from Dash this afternoon and let me handle things. An' she was really pushing your buttons. What made you?”
Trixie looked down at the lasso still around her neck. She was tethered to the wall again, although the rope was so long, there were coils of it beneath that iron ring. “Trixie apparently learned her lesson more thoroughly than she thought. You did impress upon her that you were in charge, did you not?”
“Well, yeah...”
“Then she is merely obeying, just as you wished, Miss Applejack.” She shrugged. “Trixie is unfamiliar with all the terms, but she does assume that you are, as they say, the 'dominant' pony here.”
“Boy, howdy,” Applejack murmured. “Remind me to not let Applebloom get herself one a' them fancy educations, if this is what she'll be learning.” She moved closer and lay down beside Trixie. “So you're sayin' that all of a sudden, you're respecting me?”
“It took a long while and a lot of thinking, plus the occasional reminder from those hooves of yours,” she said, “but Trixie is ready to take her medicine, as you suggested last night.” Settling down into the hay, she allowed Applejack to nestle against her.
Applejack chuckled and pushed her muzzle into the crest of Trixie's white mane, beginning to groom her. “You've been takin' it all day. Let me take your mind off it for a bit.”
Trixie twisted her head around to nip back softly. “Just because Trixie was scandalous as a filly, please do not assume that she's some sort of insatiable, sex-crazed mare. I've put that away from me.”
“Shhh,” Applejack murmured, nudging at her. “Ain't nothing like that happening here. Just put your head back down and let me work, okay? We can't all have fancy magic brushes or unicorn powers. Didn't Gypsy teach you that?”
“Trixie apologizes. She is merely sensitive from the many assumptions that just because she was in a threesome that she was easy. It was one of the most irritating things about being in that group.” She obediently settled back down and allowed Applejack to nuzzle at her.
It had been ages since somepony had honestly cared enough to groom her the old-fashioned way and Trixie squeezed her eyes shut in bliss as Applejack nibbled along her silver mane. She could feel the nip of teeth along the back of her neck and moaned as the pressure reached a kink in her withers (a souvenir from her days on the hoofball team at school). It was as relaxing as a massage, as friendly as she could have ever asked for.
Applejack paused in her grooming, lifting her head to nuzzle Trixie's ear again. “Hope I ain't stirring up too many memories for you.”
She twitched that ear, needing more attention in that tender spot. “You are, but they're not painful. Merely ... melancholy. Just there, please, Miss Applejack?”
“What, right here?” There was a tug and the stretching of her ear muscles made Trixie groan in relief. The weight of the additional bone that supported the horn was a constant source of tension for a lot of unicorns. That was the main reason they made up the majority of spa customers in Equestria. Trixie had at least had her horn properly filed for the fall and winter months. She wouldn't need it done again until the summer.
“Guess so,” Applejack said, chuckling as she leaned over to nip and pull on Trixie's other ear, eliciting another pleased noise as more tension flowed away. “Golly, girl, you're just one surprise after another. Didn't think you'd be the type to get groomed the Earth Pony way.” She made her own noise of realization. “Or was that...?”
“Gypsy indeed knew how to take care of Trixie,” she said, sighing and opening one eye to look up at the orange pony. “And Trixie knew how to ensure a Pegasus was properly de-stressed. Both Flintheart and Trixie also learned more about Earth Ponies than we'd ever anticipated.”
“Must've been fun, for a while,” Applejack said quietly. “Lotta new things to discover, new lives to live, all those new ponies you were with. That life ain't for me, though. I did try once, mind you, going all the way to Manehattan to live, but my place was always here with my family on the farm.”
Trixie could hear the emotion in her voice. There was no regret in it, though, and she almost wished she could say the same. Lifting her own head, she pressed her nose against Applejack's jaw and nuzzled up beneath her chin. “Trixie thinks you made a wise choice. You seem to be happy here.”
Applejack's cheeks reddened, even through her coat. “Thank you, sugarcube. Now, come on and lie down there. I ain't done with you yet.”
-+-+-+-
“So what do you need me to do?”
“Trixie suggests a simple levitation spell, Miss Sparkle. Something small, please. Trixie should be able to duplicate that, at least.”
Applejack watched as Trixie studied Twilight's raising of one of the beams that would make up the rafters of her caravan. “Can't you ever talk about yourself in the first-pony there?”
She glanced around to make sure that there were no other ponies in range. It was just her, Applejack,and Twilight Sparkle, but she couldn't discount the thought that that Pegasus might be lurking nearby. Or napping in one of the trees. “Sadly, no. The Small and Indentured Trixie's unicorn magic has an involuntary side-effect. The mimicking of other ponies' talents has rendered her unable to speak of herself in anything but the third-pony. Some of the great doctors in New Neighico have wished to study and write endlessly fascinating research papers on her, but Trixie would rather not spend her life in a laboratory.”
Twilight stomped her hooves with excitement. “Really? This is only the second time I've ever heard of unicorn magic producing side-effects! Are you sure I couldn't document this myself?”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Hoo boy. I shouldn't've asked that in her earshot. My apologies, Trixie. Now she's gonna get out her fancy instruments and start taking your measurements and we won't get a lick of work out of her for the rest of the day.”
“Trixie is used to distractions,” she assured them. “Trixie believes she has the spell, Miss Sparkle. May she proceed?” At Applejack's gesture, her own horn lit up and she set to work with the wooden beams and pegs, aided by Twilight, who kept casting inquisitive glances back at her.
Now that another unicorn had been brought in, the repairs of her caravan had picked up speed. With Twilight performing simple spells that Trixie could mimic and Big Macintosh doing some of the lifting, the four ponies had assembled the roof, which was now lying off to one side. All of her still-intact possessions that were too large for the doorway had been placed back inside and once the rafters were complete and the roof secured, Trixie would be able to reattach the fold-out stage, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Repainting would be the last thing to be done.
While Twilight wielded the mallet and pegs, and Trixie used her own levitation spell to hold the beams in place, Applejack and Big Macintosh walked around the caravan on raised platforms, making adjustments and suggestions. Both farm ponies had had plenty of experience in barn-raising with many members of their family and their experience was invaluable in making the job go quickly.
Finally, after deciding that the roof itself could be tackled after lunch, the two unicorns retired into the shade of the tree to which Trixie was still tied. As Macintosh and Applejack wandered off towards the farmhouse to fetch food and do some of the farm chores they hadn't that morning, Trixie felt the gaze of Twilight Sparkle. Or perhaps it was the breath from her nostrils ruffling the fine strands of her silvery mane. “Miss Sparkle, you are staring at Trixie.” She glanced sideways, then turned her head enough to see the violet unicorn sitting close to her side.
“Eeee!” Twilight stifled a squeak. “Sorry. May I ask why you're still wearing that?” She carefully touched the lasso around Trixie's neck. “I mean, it's obvious you're not going anywhere and Applejack's stopped being mad.”
She shrugged gently. “This is merely symbolic of the situation Trixie has landed herself in,” she said. “And of her surrender to the will of Miss Applejack.” Twilight Sparkle's expression was priceless and Trixie allowed herself a small spark of satisfaction. “Come now, Miss Sparkle. Applejack told Trixie that she would not be allowed to remove this by herself until her time with you was all done.”
Twilight gave herself a shake, looking quite uncertain. “That's ... a very different attitude from the one you had the other night. And a little creepy.”
“Oh, really? You spend your time amongst books. Don't you ever read of stories where a high-class pony falls amongst the lower classes and learns her lessons through the value of kindness, honest living, and hard work?”
“Well, sure, but...”
“Then think of it like that. Trixie received an unpleasant shock when she attempted to sneak back into town. Luckily, she also received kindness and wasn't left to wallow in her own stupidity for too long. She may have had no choice but to accept the demands placed on her, but she will continue to abide by them.” Trixie nosed at the rope resting around her neck. “You did say that one day, Trixie would learn her lesson. That day apparently came very quickly.”
Twilight smiled and leaned her head gently against hers, crossing horns. “I'm glad to hear that. Although, I could understand if it was Fluttershy who cowed you. She's got that Stare, after all. But Applejack?”
“Hooves, my fellow unicorn. Hooves. And powerful ones, at that. Trixie cannot say any more.”
“Oh.” Twilight watched as Applejack pulled a small cart from the farmhouse towards them, obviously bearing lunch. “Once this is all fixed, what are you going to do next?”
“There are ponies she wishes to look for, but ... Trixie isn't sure if it would be best for them. Or even for her.” She also watched Applejack, perhaps with a little more interest than Twilight. “Her memories are important to her, but she may have been living off of them for far too long without creating any new ones. Or perhaps it just feels that way. Trixie has much to consider.” She sighed gently, appreciating Twilight's silent, considerate understanding of her thoughts and feelings. Then she sensed a tingle that meant unicorn magic at work. Slowly turning her head to look back, she saw a tape measure surreptitiously hovering by her cutie mark, along with a quill and pad that were making notes . “... Ah.”
Twilight flushed. “I'm sorry? I just need a couple more measurements, just for starters.”
Lunch proved to be far more amusing than Trixie had anticipated, what with Twilight indeed being curious about her magic and Applejack continually insisting that if Trixie had wanted a study done on her, she'd have already allowed one.
“Trust me, from what we saw of her ego the other night, there's no chance she wouldn't have jumped at the publicity. Ain't that right, sugarcube?”
“Oooh, 'sugarcube'?” Twilight smirked. “Trixie, you must really have learned your lesson. Applejack doesn't call just anyone that.”
Applejack's blush was impressive, and telling to Trixie. “I'll be thankin' you to not be telling me what my words mean, Twilight. Now, you just eat your pie. Sorry we didn't have cream for it but somepony went and gave away a whole herd o' milk the other night, so we're a bit short.”
It was Twilight's turn to blush and lower her head to the piece of apple pie on her plate. And it was Applejack's turn to smirk, only for her to then catch Trixie's eye and abruptly clear her throat and busy herself with her own slice.
Trixie switched her tail thoughtfully, feeling the brush of both the other ponies' tails against hers, since they were so close together. And she twitched her powder-blue ears, relishing the lack of tension in them thanks to Applejack's ministrations. If she and her friends could argue like that and still love each other as they so obviously did, then Trixie felt that she had truly been missing out on friendship. She'd had only groupies, adoring fans, many of whom forgot her the minute her caravan vanished over the first hill out of town. But here were ponies who forgave as quickly as they got angry and thought of their friends even if they were miles away. She was sure they still had their faults, of course, but which ponies didn't?
On the other hoof, there was the call in her, as always, to get back on the road, to go and perform for faraway towns and make a great name for herself as a Great and Powerful Unicorn. But this last experience had been a soul-wrenching one, in terms of both fear and love. The fallout from her boasting had been terrifying, but Twilight Sparkle had saved the town, and then simply let her go, when many places would have dragged her back by her tail, if not her neck. And the revenge taken on her for her tricks hadn't hurt her very much. Instead, it had taught and shown her just how much of a nag she had really been.
Being Great and Powerful hadn't always been her desire. It had only manifested when she had found herself alone. Just as she had adored Gypsy and Flintheart when they had been together, she now found herself happy to be near Big Macintosh and Applejack, and even Twilight Sparkle. The desire to be anything more than that had faded again and Trixie wasn't sure she ever wanted it to come back.
She already knew they would let her leave, if she wished. But would they allow her to stay, if she asked?
-*-*-*-
Lying on her hay bed for the third night in a row, Trixie found herself fretting as she waited for Applejack to appear. She was putting her younger sister to bed up at the farmhouse and had told Trixie to meet her in the barn. Trixie had caught some sort of look from Big Macintosh when this had been said just after supper and she had very nearly blushed. Did he think what she thought he was thinking?
The truth was that Trixie did wear the lasso as a symbol, just as she had told Twilight. There was nothing unusual in that. Even in recorded Equestrian history, there were instances of ponies wearing rope around their necks as a sign of humility and service. But she also had quickly come to depend on Applejack's correction and guidance, willingly submitting to the Earth Pony's authority on the farm. She may not have have gone to university, but she knew how to bring a pony into line.
There was a soft sound of hoofbeats outside and Trixie straightened up, ears perking. Sure enough, Applejack trotted into the barn seconds later. “Sorry for makin' you wait. Applebloom was curious about why I wasn't sleepin' in my own bed this week.”
“What did you tell her?” she asked, also curious.
“Same thing I told you on the first night: That I was bein' a good host.”
“If she's anything like Trixie,” she said, “Your sister then asked why Trixie couldn't sleep in the farmhouse with you.”
“You imagine right.” Applejack mmphed as she pulled the doors shut and took her time walking over to Trixie's stall, hanging her hat up on the way. “So I told her that you liked havin' me beside you and that my bed wouldn't have been big enough for the both of us. Hope you don't mind me sayin' that.”
“Trixie don't mind if it's the truth.” Stretching her neck out, she lightly touched muzzles with Applejack. “Do we need to talk?”
“Yeah, I think we do.” With a groan, the orange pony wiggled her hindquarters and kicked out each leg, popping her joints. “I'm supposed to be the Element of Honesty around here, so forgive me if I'm blunt?”
“Of course,” she agreed. “Sometimes we had to be, too, when there were three ponies involved.” She watched Applejack lie down and offered a few conciliatory nibbles to an orange ear. “Shall Trixie go first?”
Applejack leaned into her touch, eyes half-closed. “But that means you'd have to stop doing this,” she said quietly, the hint of a moan in her voice.
She gave her ear a lick of sympathy. “True, but this has to be said: Trixie is ... intrigued by you, Miss Applejack, and she isn't sure what she should do about it. She almost wishes to stay here with all of you and make new friends. But you've also awoken her desire to see if her old lovers are out there and how they've made out.” She nuzzled Applejack's cheek and licked again, the brush of her tongue feather-light. “Perhaps Trixie could come back. She doesn't think she could perform forever, as foolish a notion as that sounds, and if she would be welcome in Ponyville, she would be grateful. But she wouldn't want to make you wait for too long.” She gave that same ear a soft bite, making a blonde tail twitch. “So, suffice it to say, Trixie is confused. Can you help her?”
Applejack opened her eyes again and blinked. The candlelight from the lamps made her green eyes look bright, although Trixie was fairly sure her ear-nibbles also had something to do with that. “I might. I just might.” She lifted her head and nudged, and Trixie found herself being pushed over onto her back, Applejack sliding her forelegs over her chest and settling her chin down right on Trixie's breastbone. The low hum she gave sent vibrations through her body. “Here's my thing: I roped you to teach you a lesson, thinkin' it'd take a couple days to sink in. I didn't even imagine I'd be groomin' you the next night, let alone now.” She nuzzled her slowly, rubbing her cheeks into Trixie's powder-blue coat. “And I'm a bit worried about this feeling I'm having towards you, not knowing if you'd be wantin' to get back together with your pair o' significant others, as Rarity would call them.”
Trixie lay there, just accepting the affection. “Hmm. Trixie ... doesn't know what will happen. Three years is a long time when you consider what we were doing. Both of them may have settled down with other ponies, probably of the same breed.” She touched Applejack's leg, tracing the outline of her hoof with her own. “Trixie couldn't possibly be as vain as to assume they would wait for her.” Applejack gave her a look. “Oh, very well. Trixie could be that vain. But, for the sake of argument, let us assume that she is free and unattached to any pony at the present.”
“All right. Then here's my next thing. I don't see us datin', if that's what you're thinking,” Applejack said, pressing a hoof against hers. “Ain't got much in common with each other, do we? We'd kinda need that for a decent relationship.”
“Trixie agrees,” she murmured. “She could never match your love for apples or for the farm that has obviously been in your family for ages. Also, she doubts they make hats like yours in the shade of blue that would best suit her.”
“And I wouldn't be up for travelling the way you do. I just couldn't leave this place for long without gettin' twitchy.” Applejack heaved a sigh and rubbed a cheek against her powder-blue coat. “Still, I'm darned if'n I don't get a stir-crazy feeling around you, like I gotta keep ya in my sight.”
Trixie sighed as well, feeling the curious tension in her chest loosen. She was torn between disappointment and relief that her own feelings weren't too far off from Applejack's “So, you aren't in love with Trixie? She understands if it's a bit overwhelming to admit, at first.”
“Nah.” Grinning, Applejack gave her jaw a quick lick. “Know what it's like, though? It's like I got a school-filly crush again. Ain't had one in years.”
“Ohhh.” Something fell into place for her. “Of course. You're lusting for Trixie!”
There was a pause, then Applejack snorted. “Oh sure, the country pony's hot to trot for the mare she's been ...”
“Wrangling?” Trixie offered, chuckling. “Miss Applejack, you've been doing a mare's mating dance around Trixie for two days. She is not averse to this at all. She dares to say that even your brother has noticed.” The orange pony's blush was endearing and Trixie nosed softly at her. “She trusts that a friendly roll in the hay won't offend your sense of country hospitality?”
The silence was longer this time. Trixie felt herself holding her breath. Then there was a sigh against her throat. “Nope. In fact, I'm thinkin' it may just be what I need, just so I can get you outta my system. No offense, y'understand.”
“None taken, Trixie assures you,” she murmured back. “She simply wishes to state that, if it helps, she's been lusting after you for the last day or so as well, and was unsure if she should follow through before she understood your feelings on the matter.”
“I ain't got a problem with with this, either.” Applejack pressed her chin a little into Trixie's chest, eliciting a low groan. “Assuming you remember how to properly please an Earth Pony, that is.”
Trixie leaned her head up and touched muzzles again as each of them whuffed softly, both obviously making the same decision. “Allow me, then?”
Applejack smiled and slithered off her, folding her legs beneath her to lie down. Trixie rolled back over and gave herself a brief shake, then turned herself around so she could twine her neck with Applejack's, rubbing up against her as she resumed her interrupted grooming, this time with a little extra.
The first moan came when she gave that same soft, hot tug on the ear that Applejack had given her the previous night. The tip was a spot that made most ponies twitch, but if one nibbled just ... there... Applejack gave a tiny whine and her tail twitched upwards. Hmmm Trixie nuzzled that tender spot just beneath, behind the jaw and cheek, running her nose down that long neck. As she reached around and pushed her muzzle into Applejack's firm withers, she felt the other pony move and then the same, inquisitive nibbling was happening just along her near shoulder.
She let her eyes drift halfway closed, even as she continued nibbling and nuzzling, using her tongue to smooth ruffled patches here and there along Applejack's spine. This was what she adored: the mutual massaging and grooming that made up Earth Pony foreplay. If there had been a Pegasus with them, preening would have been part of the package as well.
“Feelin' good, sugarcube,” a voice in her ear whispered, seconds before she squeaked in surprise as she was seized gently and tugged on, the hot, wet lick sparkling through her. That was a deliberate overuse of tongue, and Trixie retaliated with a bite just in front of Applejack's cutie-mark, making her shudder. Liking that, Trixie pushed her nose further into Applejack's side and explored with teasing licks and rubs, even as the crest of her mane was being relentlessly groomed.
Finally, Applejack sighed and shifted just slightly, bringing her hindquarters up a little bit. Trixie recognized the desire in her and lifted her head, just as Applejack was doing the same. The two mares brushed cheeks and she nosed at the base of Trixie's horn. “Last chance to back out, missy.”
Trixie simply gave a pleased murmur as she was nuzzled. “Hardly, Miss Applejack.” She returned the nuzzle, then picked up the end of the other pony's braid in her teeth and gently stripped the band from it, letting that blonde mane loose. “Mmmm.” She gave a nicker of appreciation at the sight of the slightly startled, but gorgeous orange Earth Pony.
She stretched her neck out to do the same to that braided tail, but Applejack whisked it out of range. “Nuh-uh. Not yet.”
Pouting just a little, Trixie rubbed her muzzle against the three apples that made up her cutie-mark, then dipped her head to nibble at the firm thigh just a bit lower down, making Applejack gasp. She felt a light touch and twisted her neck around to see that blonde head resting on her hip. Smiling, she rubbed her cheek against those apples again, watching Applejack's pleased reaction as she crooned and stretched her neck. “Ahh, Trixie thinks she's found where someone likes attention.”
“Tease,” Applejack nickered at her, then snuggled her head in. “But you're not quite where I want you yet.” That golden head suddenly slid back and down, then there came the soft, wet touch of lips and tongue against her haunch, making Trixie shiver in anticipation. Oh, she wasn't! Not ... oh. She was.
Trixie gave a low whine, her head still leaning against that firm flank, eyes widening as Applejack insistently nudged for her to lift her tail, but she managed to resist the lure. Until she sensed the flicking and brushing against her withers, telling her that Applejack's tail was already raised, inviting her. Then Trixie whined, lifted her tail, and let her head slowly slip down beneath Applejack's dock, pushing her nose into the fragrant heat, even as she felt the first slow, wet lick tease at her labia.
The barn was silent except for the gentle sounds of breathing and lapping from the two mares and the occasional quiet moan from one or the other as warm nuzzles found enticing spots. They were pressed together tightly, side by side, tails of gold and platinum swung over each other's withers and shining in the candlelight. They took their time and explored, not rushing themselves, making it last in a slow, steady build.
Then there came a groan as Applejack slid her hindquarters away from Trixie's questing tongue and the unicorn mare lifted her head, slightly surprised. She had anticipated a grand finish for both of them. Seconds later, Applejack raised her own head, licking at her glistening muzzle. “Did you ever back up on another mare?”
Trixie nodded. “You know about that one?”
Applejack smirked and her tail switched up and over Trixie's face, softly covering her eyes before sliding off her nose. “I hear things. Think you can show me?”
“Mmm. Move forward.” Trixie gently guided Applejack into the needed pose, making sure her hind legs were splayed out. Oh, that pony looked good propped up on her forelegs, with her hindquarters at almost a full spread and her tail held so high like that. Trixie quickly nipped the tip of Applejack's tail and yanked the braid free, that tail exploding into a spray of gold as it dangled over her muscled flanks. “Much better.” The Earth Pony's blush made her smirk as she turned herself about and carefully braced herself in a similar stance, tilting her thighs downwards and pressing her hocks back against Applejack's. “You can move, too.”
Tucking her tail up against her back, Trixie wiggled her haunches slowly as she eased backwards, finally feeling the touch of Applejack's hindquarters on hers. The wet heat from beneath her tail was easy to find, so if she just shifted up a little, like that ... “Oh, mercy,” came the whimper from behind her, and it was all Trixie could do to not moan in agreement as the brush of one little nub against another sent both ponies pushing back hard against each other.
Applejack caught the rhythm just before her with a soft yip and the resulting grind made Trixie see stars. As her hooves scrabbled in the hay for purchase, she was rocked by the thrusts of those powerful hips. Then she felt a tug in her dock and glanced back to see that active blonde tail loop around her own and pull her in tight. Oh, help her, Celestia. She wouldn't be bucked off, but she wasn't getting away with her rump right up against Applejack's like that. The two mares were now locked together.
Her flanks were quivering, hind legs helpless as Applejack rode her, the Earth Pony bucking and grinding nice and slow. For a novice, she certainly learned fast, and Trixie ended up splayed out, panting with her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she rocked back and forth. Applejack murmured and called her “sugar” an awful lot, assuring her that she was a very good pony and Trixie could only moan through the haze of pleasure she was experiencing.
When she finally felt the tension of her orgasm swimming through her, Trixie squirmed in relief, sensing the end of the constant build-up of bliss. Then her climax crashed through her and she whinnied long and loud, back arched, her tangled tail whipping helplessly in pleasure. Somewhere in there, she heard an echoing whinny and felt the yanking at her tail as Applejack began flagging as well. Then things abruptly settled down into dazed panting.
Unable to get up, Trixie groaned and licked at her muzzle fuzzily, half-aware she was drooling. “Hmmm...hmmm... Trixie ... may need a moment.” She squeezed her eyes shut as an aftershock rippled through her, prompted by the sensations of hers and Applejack's tails untangling. “Ohhhh...”
“Whoa-hoa-hoa, Nellie,” came the answering groan. “I think I cain't feel my legs.”
“Trixie has heard that before. Give it time.” Moments passed. Her vision cleared, her sides stopped heaving, and she was finally able to push herself back up and flop over down beside Applejack. “They're not all like this, though, trust Trixie.”
“You sayin' that I'm special, sugarcube?” Applejack looked content, her sweaty mane having fuzzed every which way. “Flatterin', that.” She leaned her head down to nuzzle Trixie affectionately. “Mmmm. You didn't even ask if that was my first time with a mare.”
“Trixie will be proud to have been your first,” she said, returning the nuzzle with just as much affection, luxuriating in her afterglow. “But even if she is not, she is still very happy to have dallied with such a lovely mare.”
Applejack smiled and stretched out, her tail as fluffy as her mane. “Ohh, I'm gonna need another bath before sleepin' tonight.”
“Another? You mean tonight was already your weekly bath night?”
“Aww, now, what have I told you about backtalk? Guess I'm just gonna have to remind you who's the dominant pony, after all.”
-+-+-+-
There wasn't much left to do. The smell of fresh paint was still in the air inside the little caravan, but it was fading. Trixie still had a small pile of broken objects that couldn't be repaired in Ponyville, but she hoped to have better luck out in Fillydelphia or Hoofton.
As she tucked a bushel of apples into a spot between her bed and her hat rack, she heard hoofbeats. She peered outside and saw both Twilight Sparkle and Big Macintosh. “Ah, Trixie did expect a few more neighsayers looking to give her one last piece of their minds, given the wounded pride of your local weather Pegasus, but this is much more acceptable.”
Big Macintosh nodded amiably at her. “Applejack'll be by to walk you out, soon as she's able to come around you and I without blushing.”
Trixie coloured.
“Yeah, pretty much like that,” he chuckled. “Takin' her Thursday bath on a Wednesday and thinking her big brother isn't going to notice. She needed that, really she did.”
Twilight glanced between them, looking utterly confused. “Applejack needed a bath? What did she get into?”
“Something she'd been lookin' to get into for a bit,” Macintosh said casually, winking at Trixie. He offered her a foreleg and she came down out of her caravan to step into his hug. “Don't be away too long, Miss Great and Powerful.”
“And you keep her happy until she finds the pony who can,” she said, nuzzling his broad neck. Dropping back down onto all fours, she turned and exchanged cheek-presses with her fellow unicorn. “Trixie was happy to have met you. She feels that the Ursa Minor may have been some sort of blessing in disguise. Of course, it was a very good disguise, but Trixie does not regret staying. Once she finds the answers to some questions she's never thought of asking, she may be back.”
“With my permission, I hope.”
All three ponies turned to see Applejack trotting around the corner of the barn, her coat gleaming, with both mane and tail braided once again and her hat back on her head.
Trixie bowed and made a foreleg at her. “Of course. With your kind permission, Miss Applejack.”
“I'm almost gonna miss hearing that,” she said, smiling. Coming right up to her, Applejack bent her head and gave a soft tug. The rope that had been around Trixie's neck since Monday slithered loose and fell at her feet. “There you go, girl. You're free and clear from me. Until you come back, that is.” Turning around, Applejack glanced at her brother and Twilight. “Ain't you got something up at the farmhouse to show Twilight there, Mac?”
“Huh?” He started, then nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, right! Yeah, Twilight, you wanna come with me? We got some ... book things that you might be interested in.”
As he led her off, Trixie smirked at Applejack. “Are there book things?”
“Family records,” she admitted. “Been thinkin' about getting them into the library. That oughta keep Twilight occupied, though.”
The two mares looked at each other.
“Thank you for last night,” Applejack said softly. “Interesting feeling, this mornin'-after stuff.”
“Trixie assures you that this, too, shall pass.” She smiled and rubbed noses with Applejack, then used a hind leg to kick her caravan's steps up into their slot. “If Trixie can come back, she will. If she doesn't, then she will send word.”
“Is that a fancy way of sayin' you'll write?”
Trixie nodded, slipping beneath the shafts of her caravan and settling her shoulders against the harness. “She wishes to thank you for last night, as well. That was Trixie's very first time having sex in a barn.” Her smile grew wider. “She may decide to try that again sometime, given the experience.”
Applejack fell into step beside her as she rolled out the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. “Turn left here, instead of right, unless you want to go back through Ponyville and get this new paint job dinged.”
The two mares walked in silence for a bit. And as Trixie reached the crest of the first hill, she paused and looked over at Applejack. “May Trixie borrow your strong shoulder one last time, Miss Applejack?”
“Why, sure, sugarcube.” Applejack came in close and Trixie leaned her head against her side, closing her eyes and drawing strength from her. She could feel Applejack nuzzling her between the ears and she flicked them in appreciation, receiving some soft nibbles in return.
Finally, she heaved a deep sigh and straightened up again. She could have stayed like that for hours, but it was time. “Thank you.”
Applejack gave her an encouraging nudge. “Go. Work hard. Come back, if you can.”
With a smile and a flick of her glimmering white tail, Trixie faced forward again and began to trot.
+*+*+*+
END
