Of Maids and Mistresses

Eventually they found themselves in bed, still panting from the physical exertion they had just gone through. Twilight smiled as she held Trixie close, relishing in her scent and in the feel of her coat against hers; the maid’s outfit was nice, but it did get in the way of things during the day.

“I’m so proud of you, you know,” Twilight said yet again, as she stroked Trixie’s mane softly. “Everyone loved you today... but not half as much as I love you...”

“Oh mistress...” Trixie cuddled up closely, sighing happily at Twilight’s words.

Twilight remained silent for a few moments. “I think it’s time to try and reconcile ourselves with Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”

“A-are you sure mistress?” Trixie asked uncertainly. “They really disliked Trixie...”

“You’re different now,” Twilight said decidedly. “And they just don’t know you like I do.” She thought about that for a moment. “Hmmm, that might be it,” she said as she turned and looked Trixie in the eyes. “You’d do everything for your mistress, wouldn’t you, love?”

“Yes!” Trixie answered enthusiastically. “Anything, mistress, anything for you...”

“Good.” Twilight kissed Trixie softly. “Tomorrow we’ll invite them over, for lunch and dinner respectively.”

Trixie nodded.

“And then... you will make them like you the way you charmed me...”

Twilight fell asleep soon after, but Trixie didn’t, as she quietly contemplated her mistress's last words, and exactly what she had meant by them. She didn’t feel reassured.

***

“So, you understand what you need to do?” Twilight asked the morning of the very next day, after she had explained her plans to Trixie--or at least the first part.

“Yes mistress, you want me to find Rainbow Dash and Applejack, inviting them to lunch and dinner respectively,” Trixie said, repeating the instructions she had been given. “I’m just not sure how that will-”

“Let me worry about that, you just do as you’re told,” Twilight said sternly, but not harshly.

Nevertheless, to Trixie it felt like the lashing of the whip, and she quickly bowed her head with a little “Yes mistress”, before exiting the library and setting off to complete the task she had been given.

She first followed Twilight’s directions towards Rainbow Dash’s cloudhouse, but upon arriving she realised she had no way to get up, nor a way to stay up if she somehow managed it after all. With no fancy way of resolving the problem at hoof, Trixie decided to resort to the time-tested methods of old.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” she yelled at the top of her voice. “Are you home? Rainbow Daaaassshhh!”

Trixie yelled a few more times, and just when she was about to give up, the pegasus appeared, looking down from the clouds, proving the old methods were still effective. She looked rather tired, and Trixie wondered if she had woken her up.

“Yeah, what do you want?” Rainbow Dash called down from above, an eyebrow raised as she lay down lazily on the edge of the clouds. She peered down at her visitor, but Trixie wasn’t sure she’d been recognised.

“It’s Trixie, mistress Twilight would like to know-”

“What?” Rainbow Dash yelled out. “There’s no way Trixie would...” She flew down to get a closer look, pacing around Trixie, eyeing her up and down. “It is you! What do you think you’re doing here? Getting your hooves on Twi wasn’t enough, so now you come to taunt me some more, with the evidence on your neck, huh?”

The pegasus poked Trixie in the chest with the front of her hoof, and Trixie recoiled slightly, stepping backwards and sinking closer to the ground. The love bite had begun to fade, but it was still there, and Twilight still hadn’t allowed her to hide it. “No, Trixie... Trixie is here to deliver a message.”

“Hmpfh.” Dash threw her hair back onto her neck, clearly not convinced. She turned her back towards the other mare, and spread her wings. “I don’t want any kind of message from you, trickster.”

“But it’s not from me!” Trixie quickly said. “It’s from mistress Twilight!”

Dash turned around again. “From Twilight? And mistress? Is this another one of your tr- Ugh, you know what?” She slapped a forehoof against her forehead. “Just give me the damn message, I’ll decide for myself.”

“But of course,” Trixie said happily. For a moment she was afraid Dash would just run off, which would have made her mistress very sad indeed. “Mistress Twilight formally requests your presence at lunch this afternoon, and hopes you will accept on the basis of your long-standing friendship prior to this point.” She had taken the liberty to put it into fancy words, but the message was pretty much all Twilight’s.

Dash’s eyes narrowed. “I see what she’s trying to do, reminding me of our friendship.” She sighed. “Those damn elements... Alright, fine. I’ll be there. But if this turns out to be one of your tricks...” She didn’t finish the sentence, but she stamped a hoof against the ground hard before she flew off, disappearing into the clouds.

Trixie wasn’t too concerned about the unspoken threat; she wasn’t trying to trick Rainbow Dash, and all she cared about was completing her task, anyway.

Applejack proved easy to find as well: Trixie ran into her almost as soon as she entered Sweet Apple Acres, working on repairing a part of the fence on the side of the road. The hardworking mare glanced in her direction as she heard her approach, and then proceeded to ignore her as she worked on. Trixie simply sat down some distance away from her and waited; she had some time.

Applejack quickly--and skillfully--finished the reparations, wiped the sweat off of her brow, and then turned towards Trixie. She frowned, but patience was a virtue she had not expected Trixie to possess, and it intrigued her.

“Yeah, what can ah do you for?” she finally said. “If it’s about them fancy shmancy clothes yer wearin’, well, they don’t impress me even a lick. Ya’ll need to visit Rarity if that’s the whole idea.”

“Oh, uh, no... That’s not the reason,” Trixie replied as she examined her own outfit. “Mistress had Rarity make it for Trixie.”

Applejack shook her head, muttering under her breath: “Mistress? What in the blazes did that Twilight get into that head of hers?”

Trixie pretended not to have heard her, as that was the only way she seemed to be able to combine the need to stand up for her mistress with the desire to successfully invite Applejack; starting an argument with her likely wouldn’t work.

“I am to invite you to dinner this evening, in the library,” Trixie delivered the much shorter message. According to Twilight, Applejack was a lot easier to deal with, so no stabs at her perceived loyalty were needed, the way they’d done with Dash.

“Ah’ll be there, since ya’ll be asking nicely and all,” Applejack said, “but ah’m warning you, Trixie. Ah’ve heard some good things about ya, but changing your act all lickety-split as that? Ah don’t trust it. But ah’ll give ya a chance. One.” With that said she walked off in the direction of the farmstead, leaving Trixie to her own devices.

Trixie swallowed. By all accounts, that had gone smoother than with Rainbow Dash before, so why did she feel so... nervous?

She shrugged, as she headed back to the library. If mistress had thought up the plan, how could it possibly fail?

***

She arrived back in the library to find Twilight had brought out all the finest silverware and a nice long tablecloth to set the table with--which Trixie had expected--but, surprisingly enough, the normal run-of-the-mill table had been replaced by a much taller one, which actually required you to be seated on a chair. Trixie wasn’t about to challenge her mistress’s judgement--she knew chairs were all the rage for high-class dinners in Canterlot these days--but she doubted Rainbow Dash would much care for such fanciness.

“Mistress, I have done as you asked,” she said as Twilight turned around.

“Excellent! Since you got back so soon, you’ll be making the food. You’re so much better at it than I am, no no, don’t try to be modest, it’s only fitting that my maid would excel at these things,” Twilight said, preventing Trixie from objecting. “Just make whatever you feel like, eat in advance, I’ll need you for... different things during lunch.”

“A-alright mistress!” Trixie said cheerfully, as she made her way into the kitchen, her cheeks burning over the compliment she had just gotten.

She made an index of all the food and ingredients they had left. It turned out to be plenty to get through the week under normal circumstances, but they would probably have to stock up again if she were to prepare something more advanced for both lunch and dinner (which seemed likely). Rainbow Dash and Applejack wouldn’t notice if they both got the same thing served up, but Twilight would, and Trixie did not want to bore her in such a way. So she’d need to use most of what she had available; luckily, they could simply go to the market again in a few days. She was just doing as she was told, so surely mistress wouldn’t mind...

She considered whether or not to make multiple courses, but eventually decided against it; Twilight had quite clearly said that she’d be needed for a different task during the meal, so she wouldn’t be around to serve the mistress and her guest. She couldn’t expect them to continuously fetch plates from the kitchen themselves. No, simplicity and elegance would be the key to success.

She was just about done with the dish (which ended up being a playful centre arrangement of stoved pears on a bed of daffodils, with some smaller side-portions spread around it) when Twilight came to check up on her. She breathed in the scent of the food, and smiled approvingly.

“Mmmm, you may have outdone yourself, by the looks of it... Did you eat yet?”

“Yes mistress.” Trixie nodded. There had been plenty of sampling to do.

“Alright, good,” Twilight said in response. “I’ll take care of the rest, so here’s what I want you to do...”

Trixie’s eyes grew gradually wider as Twilight explained the full extent of her plans, and by the time her mistress had finished, her entire face was flushed red.

“A-a-are y-you s-sure a-about t-this... m-mistress?” she said shakily. “T-Trixie doesn’t think t-that such a thing...”

“You don’t need to think about it, just do it and leave the rest to me,” Twilight said, echoing the sentiment she had displayed earlier that day. “Now go, get ready. I expect Rainbow Dash here soon.”

Trixie stumbled over her words, but Twilight didn’t stop to listen as she headed for the library, where she could await Rainbow Dash’s arrival. She regretted that she had to be somewhat stern with Trixie, but it was for her own good. Only one captain could plot the course, and right now that was Twilight, not Trixie. They’d arrive at their destination a lot faster if they stuck to one plan, and they couldn’t do that if Twilight stopped to listen to something as silly as Trixie’s thoughts on the matter. She had done a fine job so far, right? The ex-showmare would simply have to trust her, and by all accounts she did, even if she occasionally wavered ever so slightly.

These thoughts--and many others--shot through her head as she waited, only to be chased away by a single knock on the front door.

Rainbow Dash had arrived.