A thrall of ten thousand cheering equines stood in the Canterlot courtyard, all twenty thousand giant shimmering eyes upon one blue unicorn with a white mane.
"Thank you, thank you! Trixie is proud to be standing here today after saving all of Equestria from alien invaders,-" A green, tentacle waving creature stuck its tongue out the side of a spaceship before it took off back to the stars it came from. "-curing half of the world's diseases, including the spurs, the reins, tonsillitis, and pony cancer, and writing Magical Me, the only autobiography amazing enough to literally blow minds!" A loud pop could be heard in the audience. "Trixie will of course be signing autographs, but first, She has an announcement!" There was a loud intake of breath from the crowd and Trixie bit her lip, pausing for maximum effect. "Trixie-" She ripped off her cloak, exposing a pair of gorgeous blue wings "-is a Great and Powerful Prrrincess!"
The cheering from the crowd was louder than any concert. "TRIXIE! TRIXIE! TRIXIE! TRIXIE! EHRRRR! EHRRRR! EHRRRR!
EHRRRR! EHRRRR! EHRRRR! EHRRRR! Trixie slammed her hoof down on the alarm clock, ponykind's worst invention in history, and raised a bleary head to meet the infernal sun rays drifting in through the window, bags hanging under her purple eyes. "Urrghb, why does Trixie's head hurt so much?" She slumped off the double stacked mattress that substituted for a real bed, and her hoof knocked into a cluster of bottles. "Oh. Right." After stretching in a catlike manner to pop her back, she leaned into the north wall of the homely carriage and gazed in slack jawed apathy at a calendar. Suddenly, she brightened. "Oh, Trixie hangs out with Starlight today." Squinting at the barrage of Xs and Os, her muzzle scrunched. "Trixie thinks. Did She play tic tac toe on this thing?" Yawning, she shuffled outside with a bar of soap and, making sure nopony was around, turned on the hose. She shivered as cool water splashed down her mane and back. "Winter is gonna suck."
Maud had long admired the construction of the crystal Castle of Friendship, though if the vague explanation about a magic tree and box she'd received was any indication, construction was not the best word. Sunlight gleamed off the castle's peak as she slowly walked towards its entrance doors, which were large enough to welcome most fully grown dragons. She would have gawked had she been the sort of pony to do so, but Maud's expressiveness was quite limited, and had been as long as she could remember. She almost never cried as a foal, she heard her mother say to friends more than once.
The doors were closed, likely only to keep it cool inside rather than to keep anypony out. The Castle of Friendship, true to its name, was very welcoming, to the point that Maud wondered how Princess Twilight would stay safe without any security. She didn't bother knocking as she opened the unlocked door and let herself in to the cavernous hallway, knowing that nopony would mind. The hall was empty and nopony noticed her arrival, which, given that the Castle's only occupants were Starlight, Princess Twilight, and Spike, wasn't surprising. She took a minute to walk around at her leisure, admiring the hard, smooth crystal surfaces and high ceilings. She wouldn't say it simply outshined her cave in every single way, but it had charms to be jealous of. Eventually, she found herself in a room with a massive round table she'd heard of but never before seen, and there was the pony she had been looking for, seated with her back hooves up on the table and reading a superhero magazine.
Starlight shook her head and mumbled to herself, "Sorry Spike, this is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Why are you just standing there? Blast her during her monologue!" She noticed Maud standing there and, with a smile, shot up to greet her. "Hi Maud!"
"Hello."
"Ready to hang out? I have the kites sitting over there, but if you're getting tired of that and would rat-"
Before Starlight could finish her sentence, the far side doors burst open to the sound of firecrackers and a triumphant blue mare leaped into the room and exclaimed, "The Great and Powerful Trrrrixie is here to delight and entertain!"
Maud noted many things about this new pony at once. The bags under her eyes, poorly hidden with make-up. The starry hat and coat, which likely indicated a stage magician whose purpose was to entertain colts and fillies too young to understand real magic. The bombastic, attention seeking entrance. The unnecessary rolling of the r in her name, which added nothing to its meaning. And the smug, confidant way she looked at Starlight, which turned into surprise then haughty curiosity when she saw Maud. Though she likely wouldn't say so under any circumstances, Maud immediately wanted this loud, showy pony to leave.
"Uhh, Trixie!" said Starlight, clearly rattled with surprise. "I didn't think I'd see you today!"
"Didn't think?" Trixie's attention turned back to Starlight. "Trixie might be a busy mare, but She always has time for appointments with her best friend!"
"Appointment? But we're not scheduled to hang out today."
Surprised, Trixie stammered, "B-but Trixie's calendar..."
Starlight's eyes rolled to the ceiling. "You mean the one we played tic tac toe on? You don't remember a thing about last night, do you?"
"Uhh..."
Starlight sighed and, remembering who else was in the room, decided introductions were in order. "Oh yeah. Maud, this is Trixie Lulamoon. She lives in a carriage at the edge of Ponyville. You might have seen it. Trixie, this is Maud Pie."
Trixie, who had been walking around the edge of the table, stopped suddenly, and eyed Maud's drab appearance with astonishment. "Whoa whoa, hold on a second? Pie? Are you related to Pinkie Pie, by any chance?"
Maud nodded. "We grew up together." Her voice then took on a near undetectable wistfulness neither Trixie or even Starlight noticed. "Though now, I think she's lived in Ponyville longer than she lived with us at the rock farm."
Trixie gagged. "Ugh, rock farms." She shuddered. "Practically slave labor."
Almost one thousanth of Maud's eye twitched. "Starlight, I think it's time for us to get going."
But Starlight's face suddenly brightened dramatically. "Oh my gosh! How about all three of us hang out? It'll be a great opportunity for me to learn about new friendship dynamics, which will make Twilight happy, and the two of you can get to know each other better!" Before either Maud or Trixie could express how they felt about the idea, she teleported out of the room, and less than ten seconds later, she blinked back in with a Monopony set. "Umm, you two like Monopony, right?"
Maud remembered countless games played with her sisters in years past. Monopony had been their only board game, and thus they had worn it out. She'd usually won. Pinkie would always start off strong but end up getting distracted or take it less seriously. Though she was usually met with disagreement, Maud considered Pinkie the smartest member of her family, and believed that Pinkie chose to not use her intelligence in order to make more friends. It was difficult for most ponies to relate to a genius.
She and Trixie both agreed to play, Maud's reluctance hidden under her usual stoicism, and they had a long game on the cutie map in between the Forbidden Jungle and Dragon's Lair. Starlight had poor luck from the get go and panicked noticeably. Trixie meanwhile, despite declaring herself a master of the game, continuously made illogical decisions yet repeatedly expressed that it was all part of her plan. I wish I had that sort of confidence, thought Maud. Eventually, her hotels on Manehattan, Cloudsdale, and Appleoosa bankrupted her opponents, and by the end of it, Trixie was fuming with frustration and demanded a rematch, but Starlight, who seemed bummed at having been the first to lose, declined.
There was an awkward silence for a minute, which Trixie quickly filled with talk of her glamorous business and exotic travels. It was long winded and soon Maud wondered if there was a polite way to excuse herself, but her attention was regained when Starlight's mood improved and she agreed to a second game. As they played round two, Trixie gradually took the lead, and Maud noticed that whenever Trixie landed on a Discord space, the cards shifted without being touched just before she grabbed one, and knew that under Trixie's hat, her horn must be lit. "Starlight, I regret to bring it to your attention that Trixie is cheating." Trixie reacted by babbling incoherently about leaving the refrigerator on, threw down a smoke pellet that left Starlight coughing, and ran out of the room.
"Geez," muttered Starlight, waving a leg and scowling. "I told her she shouldn't do that unless it's necessary."
"What a strange pony," said Maud, pulling a large rock out of her pocket and taking a bite. Her first impression was that she would rather not run into Trixie ever again. Funny how first impressions change.
***
"Pick a card." Trixie was looking at Maud with a coy little smile. Setting down her book, Maud picked one card out of the spread out, face down deck. It was the nine of clubs. "Now put it back, but don't let Trixie see what it is." Trixie sounded smug, clearly wanting it to be obvious that she had a dirty little secret. Maud gently slid the card back into the deck. Trixie used her magic to thoroughly mix the cards up, and then, without hesitation, she levitated what appeared to be a completely random card from the deck. "Is this your card?" She flipped it over in midair. Nine of clubs.
Maud nodded.
"Want to know how it works?"
Maud nodded again. She did, in fact. Trixie flipped over the entire deck, and it was revealed that every single card in the deck was a nine of clubs. Maud found that enjoyably humorous, in a dumb way. "That's so dumb," she said tonelessly.
Trixie's smile faded, and she looked a bit hurt. "Well, everypony's a critic." She scooped up the deck and tossed it back in her saddlebag. "See you later, Maud." She left.
Maud slumped in her seat. Oops.
***
Maud was fixing a salad at the Castle when Trixie barreled in and began fussing about, checking counters and under tables. She bit the tip of a hoof, eyes darting around nervously before landing on Maud. "Have you seen Trixie's hat? With the stars on it?" Maud shook her head, and she frantically opened drawers and rattled a hoof around inside.
"It's unlikely anypony put your hat in a drawer."
"Well, it's bound to be somewhere!" Trixie magicked open the fridge and opened the oven and pressed against the floor, looking all around. "Trixie needs to be on the train for Her next act in half an hour, and She can't do it without that hat!"
"Why not?"
"Errh! Because Trixie always wears it when She puts on a show! It's part of the magician experience!"
At first Maud was annoyed, but as she watched Trixie run into the next room, panicking and checking under couch cushions, she took pity and followed. "It's unlikely that anypony in your audience will care if you're wearing a hat or not."
Trixie stopped mid-search and leered at her. "Do you have a good luck charm? Trixie was given that hat by the great Aurora Mage and has worn it to every single show! If She doesn't have it, Her magic will be out of balance!"
"I'll help you look, but I don't think your magic will change depending on whether or not you're wearing a hat."
"Please, what does an earth pony know about mag-" Trixie stopped, mouth hanging open, as Maud lifted the entire couch up to look underneath it. No hat. Hardly even any lint. She set it down and began systematically checking rooms and closets.
Ten minutes later, Maud returned to a frantic blue unicorn with the hat. "It was in a closet. Spike said he put it away while he was cleaning and forgot to tell you."
Trixie squealed and magicked it over her horn gracefully. She turned to look at her reflection in one of the Castle's many mirrors. "Oh, thank Celestia." She darted out of the room and, a moment later, poked her head back in. "And thank you, Maud! Trixie owes you tickets to her next show. Don't let Her forget!" And she was gone.
***
Perhaps it was when Maud went with Starlight to see Trixie's show that she began to feel some admiration for the stage pony, to see some of the same positive traits she saw in her sister Pinkie. Trixie had an exuberance to her. A "go big or go home" attitude. A fire that couldn't be put out. She stood in the spotlight, a natural wind blowing her cape, beaming with confidence.
When Trixie dove from forty feet and disappeared into a shallow pool of water only to emerge from a trapdoor several feet away, Maud applauded with everypony else. It was soon after that she began to enjoy running into Trixie in Ponyville, and spending time with her the same way she did with Starlight. But what happened in between then and that day in the cave was such a blur. When exactly had that spark been lit? When exactly had she begun eyeing Trixie's features with a longer gaze than she did other ponies? When had she begun to wonder what the other pony's thoughts were? Her story.
It's funny how some things can sneak up on a pony, only to leap into the forefront out of nowhere.
***
Clink. Clink. Clink. Maud lightly tapped away at the wall of a tunnel north by northwest from where she slept. Ordinarily, it was easy to keep her focus on the excavation of gems, but today her mind wandered into other things. She had a sudden desire to ask her parents how they met. She had never thought to do so before, and now she simultaneously wondered why she hadn't, and why she did now. She wouldn't see them for weeks, so there was no reason to dwell on it now, but the idea stuck.
Clink. Clink. Clink. Thinking about marriage gradually led to thinking about Pinkie, who, soon before leaving the farm, had gone through a phase of getting a crush on every colt and, even, stallion who came near the farm, post pony included. It was yet another thing to worry about when she had suddenly decided she wanted to live in Ponyville. What if at some point, she got a crush on somepony who would take advantage of those feelings? As far as Maud knew, that never happened, and Pinkie hardly talked about dating now, to the point where one catty mare had asked if her sister was celibate. Maud hadn't had an answer. It hadn't mattered to her what her sister was into romantically so long as she didn't get herself seriously hurt.
Clink. Clink. Clink. Maud herself had never dated. Never had a serious crush. Simply finding ponies she could relate to enough to be friends with was a challenge. To have that type of bond with somepony was a whole other can of worms. Any time she had pictured her late adult life, however vaguely, she had been alone, working alone, eating alone, sleeping alone. Only lately, that thought had become somewhat more . . . stressful. Why couldn't everything just stay the same? Why couldn't she stay the same, as steady and unmovable as a rock?
Clink. Clink. Clink. Of course, she supposed change wasn't always bad. Had she not developed a desire to meet new ponies, she wouldn't have met Starlight, and spending time with her was now something she looked forward to. "No pony is an island!" Pinkie had said to her enough times to be annoying. Perhaps change was inevitable, though really, in a sense Pinkie had started it all. She had introduced Maud to Princess Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony. That had been where the need to met new ponies began to sprout, leading to Starlight, and not only that, but this cave. Her new home. Practically her dream home truly, though it was still a work in progress. And then there was Trixie...
Clink. Clink. CLUNK. In all her daydreaming, Maud had gotten careless, and rammed her pickax straight into the amethyst she was trying to excavate. It was now too damaged to sell, but if crushed up, it could still make a decent seasoning to pour over her eggs at breakfast time. She ought to have pocketed it then, but instead she just stared, and drifted away again, for something was dawning on her. Something both very welcome and very unwelcome. She rubbed the part of her coat just above her heart. Is this really happening? To me of all ponies?
Just then, she heard voices from down the tunnel and, gathering the amethyst and her other supplies, she began to move somewhere more private. Along the way, she passed the source of the voices, Rarity and Spike, and stopped when she heard what they were talking about.
"So, how was your date last night Rarity?"
"Oh, it was lovely. Just when you think that gentlecolts are a dying breed, somepony surprises you."
Maud turned to watch the unicorn and dragon as they searched for gems and Rarity poured over the details of her new stallion. She hesitated, then followed briskly and said, "Hello, Rarity."
Rarity turned sharply, her expression quickly changing from surprise to a genuine smile. "Hello Maud. I would have said something to you, but I understand you're a mare who likes her privacy."
"That's true."
There was a pause, and Rarity began to feel a bit nervous. She had only spoken to Maud a hoofful of times, and had found that she didn't know exactly when Maud was starting a new point or merely stating a fact or expecting a reply. She made Rarity realize how much she relied on expressions and nuance in conversation. "So, how have you been?"
"Mostly the same," replied Maud simply. Then, without a change in voice or any sort of lead in, she said, "You went on a date last night."
"Oh, yes!" Rarity had no idea if Maud had been asking a question or what was expected of her. "With a gentlecolt by the name of Clem Allure who'd only arrived on the train from Trottingham last week. He ducked into my shop one day to escape the rain, and started pretending to look at the dresses as if he wanted to buy one for somepony. I decided to be ornery and act as if I thought he really was going to buy something, pestering him with all sorts of questions about what he wanted. He eventually caught on, and one thing lead to another. I imagine it was the sapphires on my gown that really drew him in. Without that, who knows what might have happened, or not happened."
For the first time in a very long time, Maud felt very self-conscious of her bland tunic. "So, dresses would be a good way for somepony to attract a mare?"
"Yes, I suppose-" Rarity stopped, taken aback, and studied Maud. "A mare? Oh, I see. Well, that changes things a bit. See, stallions like to be put on a show. They like to be dazzled and surprised. Mares are a somewhat different story. Mares appreciate honesty... and confidence. Mares..." Rarity's tone became more wistful. "-want to be saved." She cleared her throat. "Of course, I'm generalizing. There are many different types of stallions and mares. I wouldn't want to be caught stereotyping."
Spike found amethyst crumbs left over from Maud's incident with the pickax littered across the cave floor and began picking them up and dropping them onto his lizard tongue.
"So, is the way to get a mare to notice you to be yourself or to go out of your way to impress them?"
"A little of column A and a little of column B, darling!" Rarity replied with enough enthusiasm to echo. "Be the best of yourself! Let her see what she stands to gain from your company! And when the moment is right, make your move!"
"A kiss? Chocolates?"
"Well..." Rarity rubbed her chin. "It depends on the mare. I of course welcome such bold romantic gestures, being the romantic sort."
"And the sort who has read over a hundred romance novels."
"Oh hush, Spike. Just be aware that some ponies might be off-put by anything too big and sudden. There's nothing wrong with starting out smaller. Compliment her wardrobe or offer a hug. The main thing is to make this mare feel like she's appreciated. Everypony wants to be wanted." Rarity stopped and eyed Maud curiously. "By the way... who is this mare if you don't mind my asking? Not to pry, but I get the strong impression we've been talking about you this whole time."
"I'm not sure if I should really say."
"Come on!" pushed Spike. "We promise we won't tell anypony!"
"Of course," agreed Rarity. "Rest assured your secret is safe with us."
Seeing their earnest expressions, Maud broke. "It's Trixie."
"Whoa!" exclaimed Spike. "I was expecting Starlight or Twilight or Fluttershy or . . . not Trixie."
"Ahhh," said Rarity wisely, as if she had known all along, though of course she hadn't. "Trixie sleeps alone in that little carriage of hers, doesn't she? I imagine it must be cold and lonely after dark. As different as we all seem, Maud, everypony is the same in some ways. Everypony wants to be held at night."
Maud thought back to last night, laying on a large slab of limestone, staring up at the vast, empty sky. "Thank you, Rarity."
"Anytime."
***
Trixie stood in the kitchen of the Castle of Friendship, which was quickly becoming like a second home to her, and watched another Castle frequenter, Maud, as she chopped onion after onion. Trixie supposed she was making a salad, but considering that the only other ingredient sitting out was a couple of lemons, perhaps it was simply going to be a bowl of chopped onions covered in lemon juice. Considering the rock pony's taste, it wouldn't be too surprising, but what Trixie was struck by was how Maud's eyes never watered the whole time she was chopping. Even several feet away, Trixie's nose twitched and she blinked rapidly to hold back tears.
Maud was like that with everything. She was like a brick wall with hooves. Everything appeared to roll off her back. She didn't smile. She didn't laugh. She didn't get angry or annoyed. The only thing she showed interest in was rocks... and hanging out with Starlight. It was as if everything else was beneath her. Like she was beyond everything. Stranger still was her inexplicable strength, only partially explained by the lean muscle in her legs, chest, shoulders, and her tight...
Maud caught her staring and looked up. "What is it?"
Trixie blushed and looked away. "Oh! Nothing!" Clearing her throat, she slyly slunk across the kitchen, whistling a random tune. Once she was at Maud's side, she bopped a rhythm on the counter with her hooves, glancing in all random directions. "So, umm, Trixie doesn't suppose you're doing anything tomorrow?"
***
Maud gently rapped her hoof three times against the door of Trixie’s carriage and waited. She heard nothing, but she stayed anyway. The wind was cold against her body, yet she did not hug herself, or even shudder. Glancing down at the bottle of wine in the crook of her front-right hoof, she wondered if this was the right decision. “Trixie sure does love her booze,” Starlight had said, in what she explained was a lovingly exasperated voice. Ponies could be so complex. Maud felt lucky if she could express one emotion at once, much less two seemingly at odds.
Without needing to think about it, Maud tapped another three times. Still, she heard nothing. Trixie had said she’d be home. Why isn’t she here? “Trixie wouldn’t miss it for the world.” That’s what she'd said yesterday at the Castle of Friendship. Maud began to feel odd, standing in the cold, holding a beverage she’d never actually wanted to drink before. She wanted to turn and simply walk back to the cave. Perhaps she wouldn’t even ask Trixie what happened. Perhaps she would just forget about the whole thing. Our friendship could go on the way it had before. I wouldn’t have to worry anymore. But why was she worried? Things used to be so simple. At one point, all that mattered was working hard on the rock farm. She thought back to earlier today, as she was preparing to leave home, and the excitement she’d felt. Her walk had been practically a trot. Her heart had been beating at a rapid once every four seconds. Was it worth it?
At some point . . . she had stopped being happy with just rocks. They had spoken to her in a voice only she could hear. They were her destiny. They were what made her the pony she was. Special. Every cutie mark made the pony they were destined for special. Why had it stopped being enough? There’s something else that everypony describes as special. A special somepony.
Maud took a small breath and pulled her head a little higher. I wouldn’t be scared if this wasn’t important. She knocked sharply three times, and this time she heard noise. There was a shuffling, and a clatter, and a bleary voice making the indiscriminate sound, “Muah?” There was then a loud clang, followed by three more, indicating a chain reaction. “Oh, buck Trixie!” Maud waited, fighting the urge to shiver, and after more shuffling and mumbling of language her mother would have spanked her for, the door finally opened, and a bleary eyed blue head covered in a tangled mess of white mane poked out. “Maud? What-” Trixie’s eyed widened, and her forehead met her hoof.
Maud looked away. A facehoof meant that the pony was displeased and off-put by what they were looking at. This was a mistake. What she had thought was Trixie asking her over as a date had actually been her just being polite, a gentle white lie of sorts to make her feel happy without the gesture having any real meaning, such as asking how somepony is doing even if you don’t care. It was another social quirk that she had missed. There was so much she didn’t understand and she was so far behind everypony else socially that it was like a constant uphill climb. No, you’re spiraling downward again. Discover a positive train of thought. There are many social normalities that fly over Pinkie’s head, and she has as many friends as anypony. More than most. And Twilight famously used to be a social recluse, and now she is the Princess of Friendship. Nopony is too far behind to catch up.
“Are you listening?”
Maud blinked. She had receded inward without meaning to again. “No, I accidentally let a train of thought pull me away.”
“Trixie very politely apologized for not hearing you knocking.” Trixie looked expectant for something.
“Why were you sleeping at six PM?”
Trixie scowled, not getting the answer she wanted. “Trixie was not sleeping during the day like a bum! She was-” She stopped and put a hoof to her mouth to think. Maud immediately began to feel more relaxed. Trixie’s emotions were almost as plain and obvious as Pinkie’s. “Trixie was meditating! Med-i-ta-tion-” she sharply pronounced every syllable, as if Maud had never heard the word before. “-heals the aura by injecting chakras into your bloodstream, and expelling all of the chi out of your bowels.” She nodded curtly in satisfaction. “Yes, that’ll do.”
Maud pointed. “The chakras gave you bed hair.”
“Oh, get in here!” snarled Trixie, walking towards the back of the carriage and kicking a pot out of the way. It was lying next to two saucepans and a tea kettle, which told Maud what the clattering earlier had been. Trixie pointed at one of three tiny stools set next to a tiny counter at the edge of the tiny kitchen. “Sit.” Maud obeyed. The stool was hard, and made of cold metal, but she had slept on a rocky mesa before, and was not uncomfortable. Trixie opened a compact cabinet and reached for a box. “Trixie is going to make for you the most amazing meal you have ever consumed.”
“Is it behind the box of Hay Helper?”
Trixie froze and her ears flopped down. “N-no more questions! It will ruin your appetite!” She used the cookware that hadn’t fallen to begin preparing dinner, then looked in the mini-fridge. “Now, what to drink. Umm, let’s see...” Trixie stood that way, staring into the fridge, for so long that Maud began to feel cold again.
“If it helps, I brought wine.”
Trixie’s ears perked back up again, and her head whirled about. “Wine?” Her horn light up, and she teleported to the other side of the counter. Maud’s eyes widened slightly at this display of genuine powerful magic coming from a mare whose specialty was in tricks, smoke and mirrors. Perhaps she only had the will to conjure such a powerful spell when the goal was alcohol. Trixie teetered on her back legs as she snatched the bottle with both front hooves, mouth agape. “This is... clearly some form of trick, and Trixie knows a moderate to extreme level about that subject! You have covered the real label with this fake one.” She began scratching manically at the bottle, trying to peel off the “fake” sticker.
“At this point, some ponies would get offended.”
Trixie stopped, and looked at the bottle in a new light. “This... is real? But this must’ve cost so much! Surely the pawn shops do not trade so much for pebbles! What is your juicy, mouthwatering secret!?” Her stomach rumbled. “You will tell Trixie while she tends to the food!”
While Trixie made her way to the stove, hoofing over piles of magazines in a casual manner, Maud explained, “I found several diamonds while exploring an alcove adjacent to my cave and sold one of them, which has gotten me enough bits to hopefully last until my business is fully operational.”
Trixie gasped, her eyes shimmered with excitement, and her hooves tightened their grip around a spatula. “Then you’re ri-ri-ri-”
“I’ve seen too many otherwise good ponies turn into greedy snobs due to their incomes. I was worried what would happen to me if I sold all the diamonds, so I only sold the one.”
Trixie was now looking at Maud with the same mixture of distrust and hope she had earlier been showing for the wine bottle. “Then the others...”
“I ate them.” Inside, Maud cringed slightly at the memory. “For such a beloved gem, the taste was mediocre.”
There was a long pause. The Hay Helper sizzled on the stove. The telltale squeaking of a mouse came from somewhere in the other corner of the carriage. Outside, crows could be heard. Somewhere, Luna was preparing to raise the moon and bring on the dark cool of night as she always did. Across the globe, ponies were being born, dying, loving, hating, living . . . and Equestria continued to spin in a galaxy full of shining stars and possibilities. The cosmic ballet went on.
“WHAT!?”
“I ate them.” Maud did her best to pause for the exact same length as before. “For such-”
“Trixie heard what you said! But oh-" she gripped her chest, "-Trixie's heart! It hurts even more than when She ate those greasy Mexicolt hay burgers! How could you throw away a life of wealth and glamour for mediocrity!?" She threw herself to the ground and sobbed over what had been lost.
Maud looked on sardonically. "This is an apt example of why I did not sell them."
In the ruckus of melodrama, the Hay Helper was slightly overcooked, but Maud did not complain, for she knew her words would only crash headfirst into Trixie's immeasurable pride. What was mildly concerning was how quickly Trixie chugged down three glasses of wine. By the end of their meal, Maud was convinced there was more alcohol in her body than food. Trixie slammed an empty glass on the table with her hoof, forgetting that she could simply levitate with her magic, and suppressed a belch. Her cheeks were rosy. Maud nursed her own first glass of wine, which was still two thirds full, and perhaps staying that way. The taste was not growing on her.
"Umm, Trixie?" Trixie stopped attempting to lick the bottom of her glass and her pupils zipped up to meet Maud's. But Maud hesitated. Embarrassment was not an emotion she was used to feeling, yet even though she knew that Trixie's drunken state was the perfect ice breaker, her next question was difficult to force out, and she had to avert direct eye contact. ". . . Is this a date?"
There was a pause, and Maud felt her heart rate zoom up again. Slowly, with surprising delicacy, Trixie set her glass down, and stared at the table thoughtfully, her expression softer than Maud had yet seen it before. "You . . . you're enjoying yourself, right?"
Maud nodded honestly. She could genuinely say this was the most interesting time she'd had in a while.
A smile broke out on Trixie's sunny face, and she put a hoof to her chest. "Trixie is as well, and She's preeeety sure that isn't just the wine talking." She tapped the bottle with that same hoof, and it wobbled dangerously at the edge of the table. "So, that's what matters right? Trixie means really, what does it even matter what we call it?" She threw her arms wide to emphasize her point. "We're just two ponies having a good time. With food. And wine. And it's- urp - a nice Summer night and there's . . . friendship . . . and wine, and . . ." Trixie went cross eyed. "Trixie doesn't remember what She's talking about."
Maud braced herself and got ready to make her point clear. She might've been more nervous than she had been in a very long time, but she had never been a mare to shrink away from potential understanding. "What I'm wondering is what you're expecting."
Trixie went slack jawed and rested her chin on a hoof. "What do you mean?"
With the same tone she would have used to talk about the weather, or express passion for geology, or haggle with a clerk, she asked, "Are we going to have sex tonight?"
The effect was near immediate. Trixie's head shot up, and her eyes sharpened. Slowly, her eyebrows lowered. "Oh. Ohhhhhhhhh-ho-ho-hooo! Trxie sees. Trixie sees how it is! So!" She shot up from her chair and wobbled a bit, then began making her way around the table. "S-so you come waltzing in here, thinking that if you soused Trixie with a little wine-" Trixie took a drink straight from the bottle, further diminishing the authenticity of using the word "little," "-you'd have yourself a nice little lushy slut that you could use for your amusement!"
"That's not it."
"Ah bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu! D-don't try to placate Trixie now! She understands your type! You act all straight and narrow on the outside, but on the inside, you're just waiting to pounce!"
"I don't know what's normal in a relationship." Maud looked into Trixie's eyes, hoping to bring just a glimmer of honesty into her ordinarily featureless expression. "I didn't mean to offend-"
"Y-you know? You know what? Trixie could have any pony in this town." She raised her hooves as if to count. "Any mare. Any stallion, if Trixie was into that sort of thing. Any..." Trixie rocked back and forth on her back hooves, apparently trying to remember if there was another gender. "And She doesn't need to just ... give it all away at the drop of a hat. Does... does Trixie look like some kind of beggar? Somepony who.... who would be that desperate? Who's in such a bad situation that She would need to give it away just to have a place to sleep for the night?" Trixie's voice grew more hoarse and the cracks got more frequent. "We-well, Trxie's NOT that kind of pony! Trixie's better than that, and she doesn't need help from you, or anypony else! She would have been just fine if she hadn't met you!"
Maud flinched and for once, her features sagged noticeably. A sour, sickly, desperate feeling seeped into her chest that she was in no way prepared for. "I have to go." She stood, rather quickly, causing Trixie's mouth to fall open. I need to get out of here. "This was clearly my mistake. I obviously wasn't prepared." She turned sharply and opened the door to the carriage.
"Wait." Maud turned and saw in the soft lantern light that Trixie was no longer angry. In fact, she was looking at Maud with what she recognized as concern and guilt. "Trixie... has been a bad friend, who knows full well that you do not have the amazing social skills that She has developed over the years. Starlight told Trixie about how you're still just beginning to make friends outside of your family, and if you'd like, Trixie would be honored to explain a thing or two." Trixie reached over her head, perhaps to take off her hat and hold it over her heart to cement the promise, but she wasn't wearing her hat.
Maud was unsure how to react to this very sudden change in demeanor, and wondered if all intoxicated ponies were like this. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. You're a talented, confidant, and courageous mare. You could be friends with anypony in this town. You shouldn't have to settle for somepony who has no clue what she's doing."
Trixie cast her gaze downward, and Maud saw in her face . . . disappointment? "You... don't want to be friends with Trixie?"
I . . . How did it come to this? ". . . Why would you want to be friends with me?"
Trixie snorted. "Geez, first Starlight, now you! Why does Trixie always attract the ponies with low self-esteem? If Trixie can find all manner of great and powerful qualities inside herself, then surely so can you." Trixie bent her forehoof into her hip and started firmly at Maud, back straight and head high, all former consequences of her intoxication apparently gone for the moment, aside from a rosiness in her cheeks. "So, Maud, how about I ask you? Why would Trixie want to be friends with you? Can you think of any reasons?"
A chilly and lonely wind brushed against Maud's tail. "I . . . don't know."
"Well, try." Trixie brushed her chin with her hoof. "Tell you what. If you get it right, Trixie will let you in on a little secret."
Maud stopped and thought. Why did Trixie want to be friends with her? "Because I'm..." A memory flashed in Maud's mind of the first time she smashed a boulder to pieces after a rock slide so that the train could keep running. The day she'd earned her cuite mark. "Strong. And because..." She remembered times she had been praised for her forthrightness. "I'm honest. And genuine. And fearless at times other ponies would be terrified."
Trixie's eyes and mouth both scrunched to the left as she considered Maud's answer. "Ehhhhh, good enough. Also, it's cute how you talk about rocks as if they have feelings like ponies." She gave a catty giggle. That stung, but Maud said nothing, for taking the barb was worth it to see Trixie smile again.
"I believe you offered me a secret."
"Yeah yeah yeah, sit down. And shut that door! Brrrrr! It is way colder than June should ever be!" Maud obeyed, and Trixie dragged one of the two plastic chairs around to the other side of the card table they'd used to eat. Outside of the stools, they were the only places to sit in the carriage. Once Maud sat, her hip was mere inches away from Maud, who leaned in close. "Okay, here it comes. Are you ready?" Maud opened her mouth, but apparently it was a rhetorical question, for Trixie continued. "Even the Great and Powerful Trrrixie . . . has not always had the best self-confidence." She giggled again. "I know. It's positively shocking." She searched for some indication of surprise in Maud's face, but of course found none. Maud, terrible at reading ponies as she was, was in fact surprised, for she was often so blunt in the way she spoke that she forgot that other ponies hid meanings and nuance under their speech, and had fully taken Trixie's haughty, confident attitude at face value.
Undaunted, Trixie continued. "Sometimes..." she leaned in. "Sometimes, when Trixie says she's Powerful and Great, she's saying it to herself more than anypony else." She raised an eyebrow. "Is that not the most engrossing shameful admission you have ever borne witness to?"
"Yes," replied Maud immediately, for the only other shameful admission she could recall in recent memory was Starlight's nervous declaration that she liked kites, and this was considerably more personal. Her mind ran over what she had just heard. The same way her own unintentionally stoic nature and brute strength hid a fear of attachment and change, Trixie had buried insecurities as well. Perhaps...
As if Trixie could read her mind, she said, "You see, we're not really so different after all. You lack experience in friendship, and Trixie's zesty personality is overwhelming for some simpler ponies. Nopony is perfect, even Trixie. So She has no idea what you were so worried about." She suddenly turned serious. "But just so we're clear, anypony who goes all the way on the first date is not the sort of pony you need to be with. You can do better."
If there had been an emotion in Maud's eyes, it would have been hope. "Does that mean... that this was a date?"
Trixie gave an aggravated groan. "Yes, dammit!"
***
Maud sat patiently at a little round table, stirring a small metal spoon with an ornate pattern and fake green gem set into its handle round and around in her cocoa, simply to have something to do while she waited for her sister. Sugarcube Corner was not a place for doing much sitting and whiling away the time chatting. Ponies bought sweets to munch on as they walked through town or for breaks at work or for dessert with family. That said, any time there was business, it was bound to be noisy, as hungry mares and stallions chatted in line, bored colts and fillies ran and played, Pound and Pumpkin occasionally cried deeper into the store, and behind the counter, Pinkie Pie called orders over the crowd, slammed containers harder than was necessary, and occasionally and without embarrassment broke into a little ditty to entertain the foals as she handed them their treats. However, the day was growing late, a gradually darkening red sunset seeped over the hills and slowly turned Canterlot Castle into a silhouette, and the line of ponies thinned.
Pinkie sighed as the last customer left, yanked off a much hated manenet from her pink curls, and plopped into a chair in front of Maud with a teacup of chocolate milk. "This super duper retail pony is pooped!" She bent over and began lapping at her drink like a dog. As far as Maud knew, she had never done this before, and that was likely the exact reason why she was doing it. Then, just as Maud was about to speak, she shot up suddenly. "Oooo! I almost forgot! I have something exciting to tell you!" She began to rummage around in her saddlebag.
"That's nice. I have news to share as well."
"Ohhhhh. In that case, you should definitely go first. If I go first, my news will be so incredible that it'll probably make you completely forget all about the news you want to share."
"I'm dating somepony."
Pinkie froze immediately, the hoof digging through her saddlebag stopped, and she stared as wide as a deer in carriage lights. "Really?" Her voice was at ordinary pony volume. This was not the gasp or squeal of excitement Maud had been expecting, but then she supposed she ought not to have been surprised. She had never really shown a romantic interest in anypony. But soon, Pinkie broke into the expected manic reaction. "Ohmygosh! My sister has a special somepony!" She zipped into the back room and yelled at a gurgling Pound and Pumpkin cake. "My sister is dating!" Then, she zoomed to the entrance of Sugarcube Corner and shoved it open. "MY SISTER IS IN LOVE AND IS GOING TO HAVE TEN FOALS!"
"Well, that's nice," responded a polite orange maned mare just shy of the front door. "But, are you still open?"
"Nope." Pinkie spun the open sign with a quick blur and it switched to closed. "We're closing ten minutes early. Important sibling stuff." After locking the door, she bounced back into her seat and didn't stop bouncing after she was in it.
"I wouldn't have minded waiting a few minutes to keep talking," said Maud, sipping a bit of her cocoa.
"Nope, no sirree, this is too big a deal. You have my full focus." Pinkie grinned and continued her earnest attempt at destroying her poor chair's legs.
"Well, first of all, I doubt the ten foals part will happen. It's a mare."
"You will adopt ten foals," said Pinkie matter of factly, as if explaining to a three year old that two and two make four. "Wait." She became still and her expression steadied. "Since when are you into mares?"
"It's something I've realized gradually. I didn't say anything about it because I wanted to wait until I was sure, but now I know what I want." When Pinkie's expression became even more thoughtful, she continued, "I imagine it's difficult for you to understand, as you've always been a stallion's mare."
Pinkie shook her head, the pink swirl of cotton candy on top wobbling, and perked up again. "It's not that. I'm just usually so good at predicting that sort of thing. Ordinarily I just need one look and bam, I know which way dem loins are pointing. But enough about that, tell me who this buena chica is already!"
"It's Trixie."
Pinkie was clearly taken aback by that, if her entire mouth moving into the bottom left corner of her face was any indication. "Trixie? But isn't she kinda, you know, conceited?" Pinkie's neck sank into her shoulders. She clearly regretted speaking without thinking.
"She is," agreed Maud. "She's also talented, and expressive, and pretty, and being around her makes me feel . . . excited."
"Oooooo, we're already getting into the naughty stuff, are we!?" Pinkie waggled her eyebrows.
"Emotionally excited. I think it's a little soon for that. We just cuddled during our first date last night."
"And then what happened!?"
"She got too drunk and fell asleep."
"Sounds like a winner to me!"
"So, you said you had news to share as well?"
"Oh, umm..." Pinkie shoved the flyer for used patio furniture deeper into her saddlebag. "I don't remember anymore."
***
When a baby chick walks on your hoof and is then taken off, the hoof feels as if the chick is still walking on it. When Trixie held Maud tight and then released her from her grip, Maud still felt Trixie's touch inside.
***
The Friendship Express slid triumphantly over green meadows, under high wooden bridges, and through dimly lit tunnels. Maud stuck half her body out the window and looked all around, feeling the wind flip her bangs east. I could use a mane cut. Holding onto the window with her forehooves, she leaned upward as far as she could and stared across the grassy fields as far into the distance as possible, until she felt like a tiny pebble being carried by a surging river. She sensed rather than saw an upcoming tunnel and ducked back in the train seconds before her little pony head could be taken off. It was then that she noticed her marefriend looking very nervous. "I have very good balance and spacial awareness."
"Trixie knows. Just..." Trixie bit her lip. "Don't expect Her to be doing that anytime soon." She cleared her throat and regained her usual composure. "You know, Trixie could have paid her own fee. You didn't have to go out of your way."
"You tried to bribe the conductor with an autograph."
Firing up immediately, Trixie asserted, "Those are going to be worth a lot very soon! Trixie was thinking in his best interests. If it also would have gotten Her out of paying for a seat, then that's just the cherry on top. But it's not like it matters to Her one way or the other. Trixie could have easily paid for both our tickets and not given it a second t-"
"Trixie," Maud interjected. "I know you don't have as much money as most ponies. I don't see why you think you need to hide it from me."
Trixie's features tightened. "Friendship lesson number twenty-four. That. Don't do it." At Maud's blanker than usual stare, she continued, "Honesty isn't always the best policy. How would you feel if Trixie started bluntly telling you your faults?"
"I'd be hurt," Maud supposed, "But isn't that my problem? I should just be stronger."
Trixie let out a gentle sigh and scooted closer to Maud, taking her hoof. "It's okay to be sensitive. It's also okay to expect ponies to be nice to you."
Gradually, the scenery outside changed from grass and trees to sand and rocks, and a sense of familiarity began to set in Maud's heart. As much as her cave grew on her with each passing day, and as much as her radical life changes had been welcome and, perhaps, necessary, she felt a homesickness that she hadn't known was there bubble in the middle of her chest. However, something akin to the opposite appeared to the happening with Trixie, who was eyeing the barren landscape nervously. "Umm, exactly how far out in the middle of nowhere does your family live?"
"Not too far." I hope.
Trixie eyed a shack with a poor excuse for windmill and a fretful dog and her worries deepened. "Umm, you never told me exactly what it is your parents do."
After a pause which was a little too long, Maud responded, "They're farmers."
"What kind of farmers?" Trixie asked, slow and pensive.
"Laaaaaaast stop!" the conductor called out, the Friendship Express screeching to a halt. "Outlook Mesa, Coyote Gulch, and Pie Rock Farms!"
Trixie went stiff as a board. "A r-r-r-"
"This is it." Maud stood and exited the train. It didn't take long, for everypony but her and Trixie had already gotten off at previous stops. Once she was on the ground, she turned to see that while Trixie had followed most of the way, she was still on the train, staring at Maud incredulously. "It's about a twenty minute walk from the station."
Trixie stared. "Trixie's going back."
Maud stared back. "You can't go back."
"Of course Trixie can."
"If you'd like to return to Ponyville, that'll be thirty-five bits," explained the conductor, slouched over and clearly tired.
Trixie gave a small nod and began to rummage around in her saddlebag, her expression slowly growing more worried. Eventually, she stopped with a sigh and turned to Maud hopefully. "Trixie seems to have left..." Her eyes darted back towards the conductor for a moment. "...the very large sum of money She was planning on bringing at home. Perhaps you could pay for Trixie to return home and She will pay you back later."
Maud waved a hoof across the barren sandy slopes. "We came all this way."
"Yes." There was something aggravating about the slow, careful, patient way Trixie spoke, as if to a child. "We came all this way without you mentioning that your family lives on a rock farm. That's okay. Everypony makes mistakes. Trixie forgives you. Now, let's go home."
This is stupid. "You agreed to meet my family."
"Trixie wants to leave."
"Maud wants you to stay."
They stared at each other, locked in place. Eventually the conductor spoke up. "Listen, one of you needs to make a decision. I got a foal on the way and the missus wants me home as much as possible."
Trixie gave him a wary glance before slowly walking off the bus, treating each step as if it were made of poison. After the bus left, the sickened way she looked at the landscape lit a small flame of anger in Maud, who turned sharply southwest and started walking without saying a word. Trixie walked beside her, occasionally shooting her aggravated glances and muttering complaints about the heat or the distance they had to walk in an attempt to start something. Maud kept her cold gaze forward. By the time they reached the rock field stretched out before a familiar quaint cottage, windmill, and silo, she was aggravated.
"This is it?" The way Trixie emphasized "it" told Maud she was unimpressed. "How many ponies live here?"
"Four," muttered Maud. "Used to be six." Before Trixie could say anything else, she added, "It wasn't crowded."
Maud knocked on the front door and her mother, Cloudy Quartz, answered, rubbing a plate dry with a faded yellow rag. "Muad! Good to see you. And Trixie, right? Maud's written to us about you."
They made their greetings, Trixie's noticeably apathetic, and were beckoned inside and offered some water, which they both accepted, thirsty after the long train ride. While Maud stretched and set down her bags, she noted the sardonic look on Trixie's face as she studied the granite, sulfur, and alabaster ornaments on the front hall shelf. "Gee, your family reeeally likes rocks, huh? Fascinating."
Maud's teeth grit together. Somepony might've heard that. She could at least fake a little enthusiasm around my family. Not that I'm one to speak about enthusiasm, but still, if it were her family, I'd at least try.
Igneous, Marble, and Limestone came in from working in the field, and it was only a pointed look from Maud that got Trixie to even tell them hello. During dinner, Trixie's lip curled as she took the tiniest sips of her soup possible, and she answered any questions directed at her as tonelessly and vaguely as possible. At one point, Maud heard Limestone whisper to her father, "Geez, Maud managed to find somepony even more stoic," earning her a glare from the proud stallion. By the time that Maud walked into her old room, which had been graciously set up for her to stay in the next two nights, and Trixie was groaning over the size of the bed, which was admittedly made for only one pony but could easily suit two mares, and scanning the room for any other imperfections to get haughty about, she was more angry than she'd been in a long time. Maud escaped into the bathroom to decompress, and despite the rage flaring up inside, when she looked into the mirror, an expressionless face looked back, which somehow made her feel even worse. Just for the sake of expressing how she felt, she laid a tall stack of towels on the counter and punched it once, twice, three times. It hardly helped.
Back in the bedroom, she caught Trixie staring with a glum wistfulness out the open window. "Gee, I bet your parents don't get out much, do they?"
"At least they taught me to appreciate what I have." Maud hoped her voice carried some of the ice she waned it to, and judging by Trixie's surprised expression, it did. Not sure what she's surprised about. She been begging to be told off since we got here.
"Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot to appreciate about a shack surrounded by rocks."
Maud's hooves were shaking slightly. "That's a strange thing for a pony who lives in a carriage to say."
Trixie fired back immediately, "I'm a traveling showpony! It makes sense for me to live in a home that can, you know, travel! Trixie doesn't know what you're trying to imply."
"That you have no right to look down on my family." Maud turned to leave. "I'm going to sleep in the silo. You can have the whole comfy bed to yourself, Princess."
Two hours later, it was getting dark, and Maud fluffed the mound of hay she was going to use as a bed. The silo was drafty and had a bit of a smell, but it would do, and she was grateful enough for it. To think that some ponies couldn't be grateful with so much more. She laid there in the candlelight and thought about her and Trixie. Had she been stupid this whole time to think that this could work? Anypony can see were exact opposites. What if she can't relate to me and we just end up arguing every day? It happens to couples with more in common than we have. . . . Sure, I could have told her in advance about the type of home I had, but should I really have needed to? Not everypony can see the good side to living on a rock farm, but she didn't even try. If she had just made some form of effort, I could have accepted that. . . . Could I really love a mare who is too stuck up to appreciate the simple things in life? She began to feel a true sense of panic grip her chest. Is this it? A series of the happiest moments in their relationship thus far played through her head. Cuddling in the carriage on their first date. Playing in the river with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Being surprised by Trixie's kiss, her first kiss. Is it already over? I've heard that relationships tend to go downhill after the initial excitement, but is the good part already finished? She curled up tighter and rubbed her hooves over her chest, remembering the softness she felt inside and out when Trixie laid her head there. I don't want to lose this.
She gasped when there was a loud knock on the silo's metal door. Maud approached and pulled the heavy entrance open with both hooves, grunting even with all her strength. As she had expected, perhaps hoped even, Trixie stood there, naked in the light drizzle of rain and appearing rather miserable. "Trixie came to apologize."
Maud let her in and they shut the door together before lying in the candlelit hay.
"First off, Trixie's sorry. She hasn't been fair to you, or your family, and She hasn't been a good special somepony."
What was left of the anger Maud felt drizzled out, and she took a breath before answering, "I forgive you. Just promise me you'll be more cordial tomorrow."
Trixie nodded. "Trixie promises."
"I know we don't seem like much to you. My family stays in one place harvesting rocks while you've traveled all over and seen everything, but my family means a lot to me, so..." Maud stops and swallowed, unused to speaking from the heart.
Trixie nodded again. "Trixie knows. And, umm, your family does, you know, seem like much."
"Then why..."
Trixie sighed, low and long. "Trixie... never told you about her family, did she?" Maud shook her head. "Well, that's because Trixie didn't have one. As a little foal, She was found on the side of the road by some colts, who told the sheriff, who took Her to an orphanage, and that's where She grew up. She didn't have anything, and She was surrounded by ponies who didn't have anything, except sometimes a couple would come, wanting to adopt. We would all get excited, Her and the other kids, hoping to have a home and a family. A pony, sometimes two, would be chosen, and then they would stop being nopony and become somepony, and we usually never never saw them again." There was a pause, and when Trixie's voice returned it was a little raspier. "Trixie was never chosen. She didn't know why. She didn't know if there was something wrong with Her or if it was just random. Bad luck. She read secondhand books that ponies dropped by sometimes. There was a series about a mage whose parents died when he was just a baby and he became a powerful wizard and learned lots of spells and went on adventures and saved ponies. Trixie always wanted to be him, so when Trixie got old enough to take care of Herself, She built a cart out of whatever she could find and traveled from town to town. Her magic had never been very powerful, so She learned how to use tricks to make it look more impressive than it really was. And . . . She had never done anything impressive so she made up stories to make Herself look more impressive than She really was."
A sad and hurtful thought came to Maud, and she whispered, "Trixie, you don't have to answer this, but I was wondering . . . why do you always talk in the third person?"
"...Because sometimes when Trixie was alone and scared as a filly She wanted to feel like there was somepony else talking to her." The dam broke, and Trixie cried. Maud pulled her in and hugged her. "Trixie's sorry! She doesn't really look down on your family. She was looking down on herself, and being jealous... and... and being stupid..."
"Shhhhh." Maud pet her back gently. "You're not stupid. You were just dealt a bad hand. I'm sorry too. I wouldn't have dragged you out here if I'd known it'd be this bad for you."
Trixie shook her head. "N-not your fault." The tears didn't last long. Though the wounds hurt and were old, Trixie was an adult now, and her life was in a better place now than had ever been before. She composed herself, and wiped the tears away, and let her marefriend soothe her spirit. "Thank you. Trixie will be more pleasant tomorrow. She promises. Though, umm, do you think we could return to the house? Sleeping in a cold silo on a rock field is not an experience Trixie would like to go through again." She flinched.
"Again?"
"Umm, that's enough sad stories for today!"
***
"I love you."
Trixie's mouth fell open. Her and her marefriend were laying in a bed in one of the guest bedrooms of the Castle of Friendship. A fan blew a gentle breeze across their humid coats. It was May, nearly a full year after they had begun dating, and Trixie's ears rang with the first confession of love she'd ever received. "That was ... sudden," she stated the obvious.
"I was waiting for the perfect time." Maud gently pet Trixie's back. "It kept not coming, and I realized that no time would be perfect enough for me. So I just said it."
Trixie pouted. "Well, Trixie didn't expect you to beat Her. The perfect time would have been next week during our romantic trip to Canterlot when Trixie surprises you with the perfect confession of love at just the right moment!"
Maud smiled. A small thing. "Sorry."
Trixie gripped her tight in her arms. "Ruiner." Placed soft, small kisses on her neck. "Trixie loves you, too."
***
The classy elegance of room 208 of the Canterlot Holiday Inn outshined any room either pony had stayed in before. Of course, it ought to have, considering the months of careful saving that had gone into this moment. They had to be cautious in Trixie's wagon, for anypony wandering nearby would hear if loud noises were coming from inside, and Twilight's castle had a terrible echo. Meanwhile, Maud's cave, while quite private outside of rare appearances by Rarity and Spike, ranked low in terms of comfort. However, in this sizable private room with thick walls, Trixie was able to cut loose, and she let out a series of unguarded moans and boisterous encouragements before falling back limply and gasping repeatedly for air. There was a minute when all seemed well, and she basked in the afterglow, yet soon, something gnawed at her. Maud, for one, hardly seemed tired at all, and her expression showed little change. This was to be expected, and yet...
"Umm," Trixie glanced away, and her ears flattened slightly. "Did you, you know . . . get there?"
Maud nodded, and rested her head against Trixie's fuzzy blue chest.
"It's just..." Trixie rolled halfway onto her side to better face her marefriend, and Maud relinquished her attempt at getting comfortable. This was obviously important, as Maud knew her partner well enough to recognize the concern in her eyes. "You didn't seem all that into it." Her lip curled slightly. "Look, I know it's you and all, but considering what we just did, for the first time, I would have expected you to show a little enthusiasm. Let Trixie know She's making an impact at the very least. I mean, jeez, we-" She stopped there, for Maud was rather quickly getting up and heading for the bathroom. Trixie blinked, confused, and saw her bend over and put her hooves on the sick. "Maud?" Is she sick? What's going on? She swung her hooves out of bed and quickly trot to Maud's side, placing a forehoof on her marefriend's back without giving it a second thought. "Hey, baby. What is it?"
Maud simply stared low and hard into the sink, then took a breath and straightened up. "Nothing. Sorry, I'm fine. I'll try to show more emotion next time." But her face still had something of a shadow over it, a slight firm tension most ponies wouldn't have been able to perceive that told Trixie Maud wasn't being entirely honest. She was holding something back, and using a good amount of will to do so.
Trixie bent in closer. "No, it's not nothing. Trixie's excellent at sensing ponies' feelings. That's how She knows when an audience is getting upset. Now, Trixie's not mad that you didn't curse like a sailor. She just wants you to have as much fun as Trixie's having when we do it." She patted Maud's hoof. "See? Now that we're in agreement that there's nothing to get worked up about-"
"If you could have anypony else in the world as your marefriend, would you choose somepony else?"
Trixie froze at the sudden question, but soon she was frowning. "Now, that's a rude question. Trixie hasn't met everypony in Equestria, nor does She intend to. She's found the pony She wants to be with, and Trixie's happy." Her expression softened. "You know, Trixie's changed a lot in the time she's known you. You've made Trixie a softer pony. A better pony. A pony who..." Trixie wrapped a leg around herself and looked down with a warmth to her eyes. "...who doesn't have to say how great she is every few minutes in order to believe it. Who maybe even doesn't have to refer to Trixie as Trixie anymore. Trixie could refer to Herself as . . . could refer to Herself as . . . as . . ." But Trixie's mouth ran dry and her tongue turned to sandpaper, and she could not spit out the next word. She shook her head and straightened up. "Well, the point is that you've had a sizable positive effect on Trixie's life, so you should stop acting like you came in last place in a beauty contest." She cocked her head and gazed upward into Maud's sky blue eyes. "Where's that tough pony I know who can break rocks with her bare hooves and isn't afraid timberwolves or manticores?"
Maud released her grip on the sink let out a hard sigh. "Thank you. It means a lot, for you to say all that. I guess I just don't feel like I've changed very much. I thought that I would have made more progress in my ability to express myself by now. That's a big part of why I came to Ponyville and became friends with Starlight in the first place."
Taken aback, Trixie's eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't... you don't think you've changed very much?" She gave a loud, short laugh. "Oh Maud, has that really been the problem this whole time?" She reached forth and ruffled Maud's mane, so that it matched the bed-mane she herself had received during sex. "You silly horse. You've changed plenty, trust Trixie. You just can't see it because you're you." Trixie wrapped her arms around Maud's neck and leaned in for a nuzzle, gazing into the fancy, sizable mirror above the sink. "Everypony needs a mirror to show them how special they are. You can just let Trixie be that mirror." She squeezed tighter and placed a little kiss on that gray cheek, lowering her voice to a rasp, imitating a cheering crowd. "Woo, Maud's great. You're the best. That's our powerful little rock pony."
There was a slight twitch to Maud's lips. "I'm trying really hard to smile. To show you that you've cheered me up."
"You don't have to!" exclaimed Trixie, throwing her arms wide in exuberant energy. "Trixie's paid enough close attention for long enough to know how you're feeling!"
"But then, when we were in bed..."
"That was... that was just..." Trixie's smile faded, and her forehooves fell to the tile. She was clearly struggling with herself. Her left eye was twitching and she kept biting her lip. "That was Trixie's mistake, okay!? She had this fantasy of exactly how Her first time would be since before She even met you and She let that overcome Her common sense so Trixie said something stupid, okay?" Pouting, she playfully shoved Maud's shoulder with a hoof. "So stop being all insecure, okay? That's Trixie's job. After all, you're a better pony than Trixie is."
For once, it would have been possible for most ponies to detect the emotion on Maud's face at that moment. Surprise. "What?"
With sudden bitterness, Trixie replied, "Well, yeah, Trixie means, everypony can see it. Do you really think the Great and Powerful Trixie is blind? You're modest, you're hardworking, you're strong, you're brave, and you're not even out of breath after you..." Trixie swung her hoof in a circle and grit her teeth.
"Orgasm?"
"And you're above embarrassment!"
With a gentle hint of good humor that would not have been present six months ago, Maud said, "I think we've somehow switched places."
"And that's how it should be!" insisted Trixie, pushing her muzzle inches away from Maud's. "Do you think Trixie wants to wear the overalls in this relationship? Oh no, Missy, you will be in the tux if we ever get married!" She gripped Maud's leg and pulled. "Now, come back to bed with Trixie already! This time She will make you moan! Trixie does not back down from a challenge!"
The corners of Maud's mouth twitched slightly and she followed. There was clearly plenty unresolved here, but it could wait. Patience. That was one of her good qualities. Funny how those were so much easier to see now.
***
Sometimes Maud could be a little too strong. When Trixie would wake up in the middle of night, needing to pee, and Maud's arms were wrapped lovingly around her in a vice grip, it was near impossible to escape, and the mare was extremely difficult to wake up. When told about this, Maud would simply say she was overprotective.
***
One time, Maud tickled the bottoms of Trixie's hooves to get a reaction out of her. For some reason, Trixie's body reacted by making her sneeze. It was the first time Maud laughed out loud since foalhood.
***
When Trixie rubbed Maud's most sensitive area, she didn't need the wetness that formed to tell her when she was getting somewhere. Small twitches to Maud's facial features, moments when her eyes would widen or narrow slightly, the smallest changes in posture... it told her everything she needed to know.
"Trixie can read you like a book," she said after such an experience, and Maud responded by holding her tight and saying she had waited her whole life for somepony to really understand her. "Lucky you. Trixie went her whole life making sure nopony knew who she really was and look what that got her. You ruined everything, you know."
Muad nuzzled her marefriend gently, accepting what she knew was gratitude. She knew exactly what her love's barriers were for and where they were. After all, she had broken through each of them at one point or another.
***
Snow blanketed the ground outside the Ponyville town hall, but inside there was an ever present warmth that filled each pony from the inside of their hearts down to the bottom of their hooves. It was enough to bring a mist to some mares' eyes and make some young colts uncomfortable. Because Maud had spent so much of her life socially troubled, and Trixie had spent so much of hers traveling, the seats were hardly half full, and yet the exuberance Pinkie and her friends expressed more than made up for it, as did the pride Maud saw in her parents' eyes. Trixie, however, forced herself to look away from her mother's face, which was already teary. She was determined to not get weepy. Not today, on the happiest day of her life.
Mayor Mare had kindly agreed to perform the wedding ceremony, and she said with practiced regal authority, "Before we get to the 'I dos", Trixie and Maud have written some vows they'd like to read for us all.
Trixie pushed a hoof, shaking a teensy bit with excitement, into the front of her long, flowing dress, borrowed from Maud's aunt, and pulled out a card. She took a deep breath, and pulled in one last gaze from her fiance, who was standing extremely straight and tall in her tuxedo, as if she wanted to look like a soldier.
"Because of you, Trixie no longer travels in search of love. She no longer has to look, because you give as much as She will ever need, and She promises to never stop giving back." There was a pleasant sigh from the audience, and Maud's stature relaxed some as a warmth filled her eyes. Trixie smiled and put the card away.
Now it was Maud's turn. She swallowed. "I..." She hadn't brought a card, because she'd quickly memorized what she wanted to say, but now her brain was filling with a fuzziness. Scared, she looked into her lover's face, and it was like a light switched on. "You make me strong in the areas where I feel weak. You melted my heart even though it was made of rock. You made me more than I knew I could be. You made it okay for me to be myself. You were what I was waiting my whole life to find without realizing it. I will always hold you, and cherish you, and love you, because you made me great and powerful."
Trixie's lip quivered. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
Mayor Mare paused a moment to let ponies coo, dry their eyes, and, in some colts' cases, stop making disgusted faces. "Do you, Maud Pie, take Trixie Lulamoon to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"And do you, Trixie Lulamoon, take Maud Pie, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
Trixie beamed, and she responded with deepest pride, "I do."
