Of Maids and Mistresses

Disclaimer: This is the censored version of this chapter. If you already read the uncensored version, you will probably want to skip this. If you wish to read the uncensored version instead, go back a chapter.

Twilight opened the door while wearing the broadest of smiles. “Rainbow Dash, you’re here! Please, do come in.”

The pegasus raised an eyebrow as she stepped past Twilight, looking around with suspicion. “So it was your invitation at least. Where’s Trixie, she hiding? What’s with her outfit, anyway?”

Twilight giggled, trying to break through the tense atmosphere. “Of course it was my invitation, what reason would Trixie have to invite you here? I thought it was about time we set aside our differences; the elements of harmony should be on good terms, don’t you agree?”

Rainbow Dash said nothing at first, but then she nodded softly. “So Trixie-”

“I was getting to that,” Twilight interrupted. “Since she’s been staying with me, she’s had little to occupy herself with, so she’s become my maid for the time being. She’s currently taking care of something for me, which is why you won’t find her, no matter how much you keep staring around like that. Come.”

Rainbow Dash followed Twilight as the latter started heading for the dining table, but the pegasus still wasn’t quite convinced.

“Trixie? A maid? Come on now Twilight, the idea of that arrogant... that arrogant... uh...” Dash stopped herself before she could say anything that could upset Twilight; their last meeting hadn’t ended very favourably, but they were still friends, and in truth Dash wanted everything to go back to normal just as much as Twilight did. She just didn’t see how Trixie fit into that picture. “You have to admit, Twilight, she’s sorta not the type.”

“I know her better than you do, so shouldn’t I be the judge of that?” Twilight said matter-of-factly.

“Come on now, Twi, we’ve all seen what she’s like...”

The unicorn looked over her shoulder, and smiled. “She’s changed. A lot. That’s why I invited you today.”

“But if Trixie isn’t here...”

They stepped into the dining room at that very moment, and Rainbow Dash fell silent as she took in the scene. The table was quite magnificently decorated, but that wasn’t what grabbed her attention. Much like Trixie earlier, she was perplexed by the height of the table and the addition of chairs.

“Uh, sorry Twi, but, what’s with the chairs? I don’t usually, you know, use those.”

“I wanted something fancy,” the unicorn replied as she drew out a chair for her friend, “you don’t mind, do you?”

“Euh, no, no... I suppose not...” Rainbow Dash lifted herself onto the chair rather uneasily, and Twilight pushed her closer to the table. “Seems like an awful lot of trouble for just lunch with a friend, though...”

Twilight grinned mischievously behind her back. “Maybe,” she said, and then walked in the direction of the kitchen. “I’ll go get the food, please wait there a moment.”

“Isn’t that what a maid’s supposed to do, though... ?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

Twilight came back shortly after, carrying two plates which were covered by a brightly lit dome of magical energy. As Twilight put them down upon the larger, decorative plates already present on the table it became readily apparent by the dome’s colour that the spell had not been cast upon them by Twilight, but by Trixie. As ungifted in the magical arts as the pegasus was, such a detail did not escape Dash’s attention. Even after the purple unicorn dispelled them with a simple pulse of her horn, Dash regarded the food in front of her with suspicion.

Twilight demonstratively sliced off a piece of her steaming pear, and put it in her mouth. “See? They won’t bite.”

“Then what-”

“A simple preservation spell. Those pears would be quite awful if they cooled off before you got here.”

Rainbow Dash did not look completely convinced just yet, but she took a bite out of her pear nonetheless; she felt she owed her friend at least that much. Her eyes immediately widened, and she took another bite to ascertain that her senses were not playing a trick on her. “Wow! I, um, I mean... I didn’t know your cooking was so good, Twilight. I mean, not that what little of your cooking I ate before was bad or anything, it was just a bit, y’know, average?”

Twilight smiled amiably and nodded slightly, eating her meal in a more composed manner. She waited quietly for Dash to turn her attention away from her food. She had the time, and it was going rather well.

Rainbow finished the pear off before even noticing any of the other food on her plate--which was definitely not how Trixie had envisioned it--and finally she looked up to meet Twilight’s eyes. “I’d have made a lot less of a deal out of you being an egghead if I knew reading lead to food like this, you know!”

The purple unicorn finally made her move. “Oh, but this meal wasn’t prepared by an egghead at all.”

“Oh”, Dash said apologetically. “Well, I know I shouldn’t really call you an egghead anymore now that I know that reading is, you know, fun... in moderation, but you know what I mea-”

“Trixie was the one who cooked this.”

Rainbow Dash fell silent, and stared at her with an open mouth. If you stopped to think about it, it made sense that the maid would be the one doing the cooking, but Dash hadn’t seen her doing any real maidy stuff so far, and the idea that that braggart could actually be honestly good at some of the things she did... Dash just hadn’t been quite ready to accept that; she had never forgotten about the public humiliation she suffered at that blue unicorn’s hooves, and it clouded her judgement.

Twilight gesticulated at the other pony’s plate in the unpleasant silence that followed. “You should probably try the other things as well, those daffodils are amazing!”

The stubborn pegasus hesitated for a few moments. So Trixie had prepared the meal, but what could it hurt, really? Finishing her plate couldn’t be seen as an acknowledgement in any way, and not doing so wouldn’t be very polite, right? On top of that, perhaps she’d find out it wasn’t all that tasty anyway...

She took a bite of daffodils, and immediately closed her eyes as her body clenched up, trying to fight back a sudden urge to smile like a little filly getting her birthday presents. How could anything taste so good? She had thought the daffodils had only been cleaned and arranged upon the plate neatly... was it even possible to influence the taste, just like that?

When she finally looked up again, she saw Twilight looking at her, a sly smile playing around the corners of her mouth.

Although Rainbow Dash was an accomplished athlete--and a stalwart friend in times of greatest need--she was also very fond of the lazier side of life. Eating and sleeping (and some amount of drinking, particularly around cider season) were some of her favourite daily activities, and Twilight knew this all too well. If there was one way to get to Rainbow’s heart in a dash, it was through her stomach.

“Do you want to know why it tastes so good?” Twilight asked, as if she had just read Dash’s mind.

“Eh, probably some ‘simple spell’ or the other,” the pegasus mumbled.

“No.” She shook her head. “Although it is magical all the same. It is love.”

Rainbow Dash cringed slightly; the answer had been a bit cornier than she had expected. “Surely you can’t expect me to believe that’s what Trixie felt when she made this for me?”

“No, not for you. For me, who asked her to prepare it. For me, who’s enjoying this meal alongside of you. That meal,” Twilight said, pausing for dramatic effect, “is like the love Trixie and I taste whenever we are together. The same love you disapprove of.”

“Well it’s... it’s not like...” Rainbow Dash stumbled over her own words. She had never fallen in love in her life--apart from the usual childhood crush that had faded as fast as it had begun--and wasn’t altogether sure what to expect from it. She had often heard ponies (and earth ponies and unicorns in particular) liken it to feeling very light, as if you were flying through the sky. Sometimes they said it was as if butterflies were playing in your stomach, too. But Dash could already fly, and she thought the idea of butterflies in your stomach to be disgusting, so she had never quite seen the appeal of love.

But the feeling of happiness she felt at such a delicious meal... that was real to her, that she could understand. And she realised that, if at that moment, somepony had offered her the chance to feel like that every day, she probably wouldn’t have hesitated. She finally understood what Trixie and Twilight meant to each other, what she was standing in the way of. But understanding wasn’t the same as approving, and something still bothered her.

She found she had subconsciously continued eating during her train of thought, and now looked up at Twilight. “But why Trixie? She’s so arrogant, and a liar, and-”

“And that’s not the real issue here, as we both know,” Twilight said abruptly. “You’ve seen her, you’ve eaten the meal she’s cooked for you, and perhaps you’ve heard the new rumours in town... you know she’s changed.”

“What are you trying to say?” Dash asked in confusion.

“What I’m trying to say,” Twilight replied, “is that your problem is not with who she is but what she is. You don’t think I should be dating a mare.”

The silence hung in the air for a few seconds after Twilight levelled that accusation.

“T-that, that’s ridiculous!” Dash finally yelled out. “I... don’t...” She stopped, as she felt her cheeks blush under Twilight’s raised eyebrow and scrutinizing gaze. “Well, I... maybe,” she finally admitted. “It’s just not... not natural, you know?” She didn’t sound entirely convinced.

Twilight got up from her chair and walked over to Dash, her smile unwavering.

“W-what are you doing, Twi?”

“What somepony should have done a long time ago.” Before Rainbow Dash could react, Twilight pushed her back in her chair with her front hooves, and pressed her lips upon the mare’s. Rainbow Dash was taken by surprise for a single second, and scared back for a moment, but not as fiercely as she could have, and without much conviction. Twilight saw her last theory confirmed: Ponies had always believed Rainbow Dash to be a fillyfooler due to the way she looked and acted--a stolen glance, a longing gaze, a strange, absent-minded comment--and for some reason, that had made the pegasus one of the very few vocal opponent of same-sex relationships, but Twilight had always suspected she did it to hide her true feelings, even from herself.

The kiss was short but fierce, leaving Rainbow Dash breathless and confused. “Wh-why did you... ?”

Twilight swung one of her legs over to the other side of the chair Dash was sitting on, so that her hind legs now stood astride the pegasus’s hips while her forehooves rested against the mare’s chest, pushing her down in her chair. As Twilight moved back slightly, she bumped against the edge of the table with her rear.

“If you think it’s wrong, why don’t you let me show you it’s oh so right?” Twilight whispered lasciviously in Dash’s ear. She caressed the pegasus’s cheek gently, and Dash actually began to blush.

“No, I... I’m not like that! I swear! I like... colts! And cocks! And...” Her voice faltered as her breathing became more ragged, and her heart thumped in her throat. From a distance, it had been easy to ignore the burning emotions she felt at times while looking at other mares, stealing longing glances before she realised what she was doing. She had always been quick to deny her feelings once she did catch herself in the act, but with Twilight so close, her body pressed against hers, her soft words whispered in her ear...

The purple unicorn’s lips approached Dash’s once again, and this time Dash leaned in to meet her halfway, parting her lips as she allowed Twilight’s tongue into her mouth, exploring the unicorn’s in turn. She closed her eyes and lost all sense of time, completely taken in by the kiss, her earlier misgivings swept aside by a primal desire that she had kept inside for far too long.

When Twilight finally moved away again, Dash tried to follow, not willing to let go of the kiss just yet, but Twilight pushed her down in the chair, keeping her at bay.

“Was that so bad?” Twilight whispered slyly. “We can stop... unless you want... more.”

“I...” Dash hesitated, torn between years of denial trying to hold her down, and years of pent up sexual frustration trying to break free. “I’m not... I’m not a fillyfooler,” Dash said defensively, as her cheeks started to burn, “but... but I’m... I mean... it’s... it’s ok... if you try it once, right? It... it doesn’t count if... if it’s an experiment... So only this once, alright?”

Twilight grinned mischievously, as she accepted Rainbow Dash's clumsily worded consent. “Of course, whatever you say...” She gave a few knocks on the table behind her with one of her hooves.

Dash let out a yelp of surprise when she suddenly felt something brush up against the inside of her hips under the table. She instinctively tried to close her legs, but as she bumped into something under table she recoiled, and parted her legs even more.

“Omigosh, i-is that-”

“Yes,” Twilight said with a mischievous grin. “I never claimed Trixie was out of the house, only that she was busy with a task I had given her. That task being: sitting there quietly until dessert was served. And you just happen to be on the menu today...”

“Twilight, are you ser-” was all that Rainbow Dash could manage before Twilight kissed her again.

Rainbow Dash had been invited over for lunch, but she had never expected that she’d end up being the main meal. She didn't give it her all at first, more because of her her own confused emotions than because of any serious misgivings, but eventually she gave in, and allowed the two unicorns to try and convince her through something else but words. Their arguments were passionate and full of fire, and Rainbow Dash soon lost herself in it, until all three of them were thoroughly exhausted from their “debate”.

Trixie regained her bearings first, as Rainbow Dash and Twilight lay panting in the chair and on the table respectively. She lifted up the tablecloth that had hidden her from sight up to that point, and looked up at Dash, whose eyes were close. As Trixie put her front hooves on the chair and pressed up against Rainbow, the mare opened her eyes, and she half-smiled at the maid.

“You... that was... I,” Dash mumbled.

“Sshhh.” Trixie locked her lips to the pegasus’s, kissing her deeply and tenderly.

Twilight became aware of the kissing scene by then as well, and she rolled over onto her stomach as she watched. Normally she’d have been jealous to see Trixie kissing another mare, but in the current situation she could hardly protest.

“Ah, you...”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s not... it’s not...” Rainbow Dash suddenly pulled away from the mare, her eyes growing wide as a sudden sense of horror sobered her up from the last lingering traces of lust. “Oh crud, I can’t believe we... W-we, we shouldn’t have, it’s so-”

“Wrong?” Twilight said in amusement. “Tell me it didn’t feel so, so right, Rainbow Dash. Tell me you didn’t love it... tell me you wouldn’t do it all over again if you got the chance.”

“I...” Dash looked around the room, as if she was trying to find a way to escape Twilight’s words. “I... I l-liked it... it felt... it felt good, but... but we shouldn’t... mares shouldn’t...”

She tried to recoil from Trixie further, and Trixie only just managed to jump away as Dash’s chair toppled over backwards. The pegasus rolled over once before jumping to her hooves. She threw both Twilight and Trixie one last, confused, bewildered look, before she suddenly rushed off in the direction of the front door.

“Dash, wait!” Twilight yelled out after her. “It’s alright, you don’t have to hide your feelings anymore!”

She heard the door slam shut behind the mare, followed by the flapping of wings. Both unicorns glanced to the side, where they could see a multi-coloured streak surge up towards the clouds through one of the windows. Rainbow Dash had fled the scene.

“Mistress?” Trixie asked cautiously. “Did Trixie do something wrong?”

Twilight sighed. “No, I just underestimated the level of Dash’s denial. She’ll come around, eventually, she just needs some days to think about all we have shown her.” She paused for a moment. “Overall, I think this was a success...”

“And Applejack, will we... again... ?”

Twilight shook her head. “She’s too honest to appreciate being tricked like this, and it isn’t needed, anyway. She’s fair, and not as hot-headed as Dash. Showing her how much you’ve changed should be enough.”

Twilight got off of the table and cuddled up against Trixie, which solicited a satisfied sigh from the maid. Next was Applejack, then the entire village, and then...

Well, if everypony was happy, did anything really need to change after that?