Of Maids and Mistresses

Twilight woke up to a pleasant scent and the clinking of porcelain the next morning, as Trixie walked in with a tray holding a rich breakfast suspended in the air in front of her. She smiled happily at Twilight, who offered a weak smile in return as she rubbed her eyes, still not completely awake.

“Good morning, mistress,” the maid said cheerfully. “Shall you be having your breakfast here, or downstairs?”

The purple unicorn blinked. She had expected Trixie to pretend nothing happened last night, but she hadn’t expected her to be this carefree. Her urge to repress the past--acting as if it all happened to somepony else--was greater than Twilight had assumed, which was worrying, yet all she felt was a guilty sense of relief; she had feared last night's events would put an early stop to her plans, and she felt strangely reluctant to let that happen.

“Uh, here is fine,” Twilight answered once she got over her initial surprise.

Trixie nodded. She lifted Twilight up gently as she put some pillows against the wall behind her back so she could sit up straight in bed, and then put the plate down upon her mistress’s lap. Twilight glanced at the food and then at Trixie, but she did not eat.

“I-is something wrong, mistress? Trixie could always get you something else if you so desire,” the blue mare quickly said, interpreting Twilight’s lack of eating as a silent form of disapproval.

“Hmmm, no,” Twilight said, as she patted the bed next to her. “Come here.”

The maid did as instructed, lying down on the bed and facing Twilight, a puzzled look on her face.

Twilight opened her mouth and closed her eyes, opening one of them again several seconds later. “What are you waiting for? You must feed your mistress.”

“Ah!” Trixie finally understood, and she eagerly started to move small pieces of fruit, bread and greenery into Twilight’s open mouth. The purple unicorn herself leaned back into the pillows, thoroughly enjoying her lazy morning, not a care in the world aside from when to chew and swallow. At first it felt slightly weird, but she knew she could get used to it. Easily, even. Without opening her eyes she reached out with her mind and pulled the other mare closer against her. Trixie didn’t resist--nor did the steady supply of food abate even a bit--and her body felt pleasant against Twi’s, even through the bed sheets.

Eventually Trixie ran out of food, which happened to coincide with the moment Twilight opened her eyes to tell her to stop.

“Uh, mistress,” Trixie began, “you have some breadcrumbs...” she pointed at her own mouth, by way of completing the sentence.

Twilight grinned mischievously. “And what do you intend to do about this problem, my maid?”

It was Trixie’s time to blink. “Erm, well, I can go downstairs and get you a napk-”

“Takes too long.”

“Well, could mistress-”

“It’s your job to take care of me,” Twilight said with a frown.

“One of the sheets around here, then?” Trixie said in a desperate attempt.

“Absolutely not!”

Trixie struggled with the problem for a few moments. She wanted to please her mistress, but that was hard with so many limitations placed upon her (although she would never dare complain). She glanced over at Twilight, who was again wearing that mischievous smile Trixie started to know but all too well, and finally the answer came to her. She leaned in gingerly, and--strengthened by the lack of reprimand from Twilight--started to lick her mistress’s cheeks and lips, thus removing any lingering traces of the meal she had just had. Twilight wasn’t satisfied with just this, however, as she drew Trixie in for a steamy kiss, throwing her forelegs around the mare and cuddling up to her.

After a lengthy make-out session (in the course of which Trixie somehow ended up under the sheets) the two of them finally untangled from each other, both of them panting slightly, although Trixie was blushing shyly, while Twilight’s expression most closely resembled a wolfish grin.

“For a moment there I thought you would forget about my morning kiss,” Twilight said with a wink. “But you won’t, will you?”

“Oh no mistress,” Trixie reassured her quickly, “Trixie will not forget! When does mistress want her morning kiss?”

Twilight shrugged. “Any point after my wake-up kiss but before my afternoon kiss will do, and it will not count towards your daily quota of adoration kisses, of course.”

“Y-yes,” Trixie said with a nod, as she tried to keep track of all of the different kisses.

“At any rate, it’s library day, so we best open up soon... or did you plan to lie in bed all day?”

“Oh, n-no, mistress,” Trixie said, stumbling over her words slightly as she slipped out of bed.

It was then that Twilight’s eyes finally fell upon the large band-aid that covered the love bite in Trixie’s neck. With a simple use of magic, Twilight pulled the band-aid right off, causing Trixie to let out a little shriek.

“Mmmm... don’t cover it, I want them to see you’re taken...”

Trixie nodded, but her stomach tensed slightly as she remembered what Twi had said the day before: Trixie would be the one helping out all the visitors today. She didn’t know how she would manage it without stuttering like a foal or freezing up completely (serving customers or visitors carried a lot of responsibilities, unlike being one) but she knew she’d just have to find a way.

Her mistress was counting on her; failure was, quite frankly, not an option.

***

“So, you just check books in and out of the log, and help ponies use the catalogue if they ask for it. You should know it fairly well after your clean-up yesterday,” Twilight recapped.

Trixie nodded. “And that’s all, mistress?”

The purple unicorn scratched her chin with the tip of a hoof. “Well, everything we can prepare you for, at least... Just try to honour the visitors’ requests if they’re at all reasonable, and then everything should be fine. You don’t have to worry too much, everypony in town is really nice, and most of them have been through the paces several times already.”

“A-alright, so what do I do right now?”

Twilight grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink, as she sat down at the table. “Whatever you feel like doing while waiting for somepony to show up.”

And so Twilight applied herself to writing all the letters, schedules and checklists she had neglected in the past few days, while Trixie paced around nervously, occasionally adjusting the position of a book on the shelves slightly, so that it fit in more with the others. Twilight had to admit that the library was neater than she had managed to keep it with Spike’s help, and her heart swelled with pride at Trixie’s performance. She’d endear herself to the ponies of Ponyville in no time at all, Twilight was sure of it.

It proved to be a rather quiet morning, and the first two hours passed without any visitors coming by at all, to Twilight’s surprise and Trixie’s great relief. But slightly after the first half of the morning had passed the first pony finally walked into the library: a young, shy earth pony colt, whose glasses and acne lent him a rather nerdy and somewhat awkward look. Twilight knew that, by all accounts, he was a shy and reclusive individual, which is why he always tried to plan his visits so that he’d arrive when it was busiest.

Instead, he found himself face to face with Trixie, who put on an uncertain smile. The colt’s entire face flushed beet red as he noticed what the mare was wearing, and for a moment Twilight was convinced he’d either flee or faint.

“Greetings, how can Trixie help you today?”

The colt opened and closed his mouth a few times, before quickly loosening up his saddlebags, setting them down on the ground in front of Trixie. “B-books,” he stammered.

“Alright, Trixie will take care of it,” the blue mare replied, drawing a small amount of confidence from the fact that everything fit perfectly in the routine so far. She opened the saddlebags and levitated the six books inside up on the table, opening the logbook and paging through it until she spotted the title of one of the six books. The other five were right there on the same page as well, and she quickly scribbled a note next to each of them. “Anything else?”

“I... I... uh, n-no, thanks!” the colt suddenly said as he turned around, leaving the library at thrice the speed he’d entered at.

Twilight raised an eyebrow; so his flight instincts had gotten the upper hand in the end after all. She had a feeling he’d come to regret it as soon as he got home, since she was quite sure that reading made up the biggest part of his day. Perhaps he had something else to hold his attention for a while, but if not, he had some very, very boring days ahead of him.

Another two ponies walked in before noon: two pegasi in their mid-teens, probably the foals of one of the weather patrol members stationed in Ponyville. It wasn’t too far to Cloudsdale by air, so most of the pegasi foals went to school there, but they still gladly made use of the proximity of Twilight’s library when they needed some research done for some school project or the other. She hadn’t seen these two before, but she was sure that would be their story if asked.

As soon as they spotted Trixie (and probably the mark in her neck), one of the two stomped his friend lightly in the shoulder, and they moved their heads closer together, whispering softly before bursting into a roaring fit of laughter. For a second, Twilight wanted to remind them that this was, in fact, a library, but then she thought better of it; there was nopony around, after all.

Their laughter drew Trixie’s attention (the ex-showmare had been swapping some misplaced books around, which she had discovered when she put back the six books the colt had left earlier) and walked towards them, in a manner that reminded Twilight more of Fluttershy’s hesitant gait than of Rainbow Dash’s almost arrogant stride.

“W-welcome,” she said to the two as she drew near, “how may Trixie help you today?”

“Oh, hey lady,” the bigger of the two said, “we’re lookin’ for some help on some homework. Everypony said the librarian here is really smart.”

“Like, super smart,” the smaller one added.

Trixie threw a glance at Twilight, since the compliments were obviously meant for her. Twilight blushed slightly. She really wanted Trixie to handle everything today, but the maid was looking slightly panicky, so she supposed she could help her out, just this once.

“W-what kind of homework?” Trixie asked as Twilight threw some sand on the piece of parchment she’d been working on, so that the ink would dry up without staining while she was busy elsewhere.

“Oh, it’s a two pony presentation on some sciencey subject and stuff.”

“Ours is fireworks and pyrotechnics,” the second one clarified.

Twilight immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at Trixie, whose expression had changed from one of nervousness to sheer delight.

“Mistress, can Trixie borrow some of your writing tools?” the maid asked.

Twilight nodded. “By all means.”

Mere moments later Trixie was telling the two of them all she knew on the subject, answering all of their questions quickly and efficiently, as she drew several schematics and diagrams onto the parchment, all accompanied by little notes and random facts. She lead them upstairs for a few minutes, and came back with a leather-bound book that read “Fire for Effect” on the cover; Trixie assured the boys that the author was one of the greatest experts in the field to have ever lived, and that she had learned a great deal from his books herself when she was younger. All this time, Twilight listened along eagerly as well, as Trixie’s knowledge on the subject far outdid her own, shallow understanding of the field.

“Thanks, lady!” the biggest of the two teens said as they got ready to leave, the book held firmly under his wing while his friend hung onto the parchment full of notes. “We’re sure to be top of our class this time!”

“It was no problem, really,” Trixie said with a wink as they left. She turned around, only to find Twilight beaming at her. “Uh, m-mistress, do you require something?”

“No, I was just thinking about how much you’ve grown,” Twilight said affectionately. “Now come, it’s about time for a lunch break. I’ll make us some sandwiches. No arguing, I’m the mistress, I can do what I want, even if it is your job. You can rest a bit.”

Trixie wanted to protest, but she could find no fault with her mistress’s reasoning. She settled down, and took a moment to rest. Tending to a library wasn’t so bad, after all.

***

Tending to a library was horrible!

It had been very calm during the morning, but Trixie began to suspect it had only been so because everypony had decided to come in the afternoon. Twilight doubted it; there were a lot more ponies inside the library all at once than what they usually got in the course of an entire day, and quite a lot of them just came in, walked around for a while, and then left again without even showing any interest in the books themselves. Twilight assumed the rumour that Trixie was tending to the library today had somehow made its way out into the village through the two teens from before, and so several of the braver villagers had decided to come take a look. Twilight shrugged; she should have expected it after all of the attention they had been drawing to themselves ever since Trixie arrived. Many insinuating glances were thrown from Trixie to Twilight, and some ponies stared at the maid’s hickey openly, at least for a moment or two.

Still, many ponies were interested in the books, or at least pretended to be, so Trixie had her hooves full. She constantly had to make new entries in the logs, scribble a note next to old ones, check the catalogue, show certain ponies where they could find the books on one specific topic, and many other things. At the very least, the amount of work she suddenly had on her plate drove away most of her fears and anxiety, as she simply did not have the time to dwell on them. Twilight was pleased to see that the atmosphere in the library slowly changed: from an initial air of hostile curiosity, to the more pleasant buzzing of a lively bunch of ponies.

Twilight didn’t want Trixie to think that she was doing a bad job, but the amount of visitors was clearly too much for one mare, so she sneakily started to help here and there under the pretext of striking up a conversation.

One of the first visitors she helped out was the colt from before. Apparently, the lack of books had weighed down heavily enough upon him that he had conquered his shame and returned, but not so heavily that he had dared approach Trixie again. Twilight helped him gather up some books and then sent him on his way, writing down the books he had borrowed on a piece of parchment; she could add it to the log later.

After that she mainly focused on helping the regulars, whose likes and dislikes she was intimately familiar with. The newcomers she left mostly to Trixie, and, to be honest, all of them were only interested in Trixie anyway.

By the time the last visitor left the library it was already getting dark outside, and Twilight sat on the sofa with a book as Trixie closed the door, looking quite tired. Twilight beckoned her over, and kissed her cheek softly, pulling her onto the sofa with her. “You did good, my love,” she whispered into the mare’s ear.

“T-thank you, mistress,” Trixie said, blushing as she rested against Twilight, closing her eyes for a moment.

The purple unicorn nuzzled Trixie’s cheek. “I can even forgive you for forgetting about my kisses... if you catch up on them right now, before dinner.”

Trixie smiled, as she leaned in and gave Twilight a long, passionate kiss. The first of many.