Of Maids and Mistresses

When Twilight woke up the next day, she found, to her surprise, that Trixie was still fast asleep, resting in her hooves. She smiled affectionately at the maid, and pressed a gentle kiss upon her lips, whispering: “Good morning...”

Trixie let out a soft murmuring without truly waking up, and Twilight could only barely make out what she was saying. “Mmmistress... mrr... love you... mistress...”

The purple unicorn felt her heart overflow with love as she carefully untangled herself from the other mare, slowly sliding out of bed in order not to wake her up; the past few days had been very rough on Trixie, and Twilight had to admit to herself that she had kept the mare up longer than she perhaps should have... it was only fair to let her sleep in, everything considered.

As soon as Twilight slipped out from Trixie’s embrace, however, the maid’s expression changed. She became restless and troubled, and the content sleeping noises from before turned into little groans. Twilight didn’t know what kind of dreams she was having, but her legs searched around for Twilight fruitlessly, kicking the blankets off of herself in the process.

“Nnnn... no...” Trixie mumbled in her sleep, “mistress... don’t... don’t leave... Trixie... don’t leave Trixie... too...”

Twilight frowned; was Trixie having a nightmare? She realised the maid would soon wake up if she continued being so restless, but Twilight really wanted her to stay in bed and enjoy a little more sleep. She looked around, and suddenly got an idea. Her horn lit up with her magical aura as she took hold of a pillow, and carefully maneuvered it towards Trixie’s searching legs. As soon as the pillow came within reach, Trixie grabbed hold of it, pulling it into a tight embrace as her body finally relaxed, and a content smile once again appeared on her face.

“Mistress...” She let out a blissful sigh.

Twilight had to use every ounce of her considerable willpower in order to keep from just pouncing the other mare and hugging her to death right away--so adorable was she as she lay there, hugging and nuzzling the pillow. Instead, Twilight carefully tucked Trixie in again, and tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs.

The light gently shining in through the windows told her that she had woken up much earlier than she usually did, which was somewhat surprising, as she felt very well rested. She headed to the bathroom and stepped into the shower, in order to get rid of that night’s worth of perspiration. She was in no rush, yet Trixie still had not woken up by the time she finally stepped out of the shower and dried herself off.

Twilight considered waking the maid up for a moment, but quickly thought better of it; today would be another long and tiring day, so Trixie could probably use her rest. Instead, she walked into the kitchen and started to prepare a simple breakfast for the two of them. She was just about done with that when Trixie finally arrived downstairs, greatly distressed to find her mistress in the kitchen.

“Oh mistress, I’m so sorry!” she immediately said. “Trixie should have made breakfast for mistress, Trixie-”

Twilight raised a hoof, and the maid fell silent. “I’ve told you before, I’m the mistress, I can do as I please, including doing things that are ‘your job’. So don’t worry about it, alright?” She smiled. “Come, let’s eat.”

Trixie nodded gratefully, and they began eating. Not much was said during the meal, as Twilight seemed lost in thought, and Trixie did not dare break her mistress’s concentration. Once they finished up, Trixie spontaneously started doing the dishes, leaving Twilight to her thoughts.

Just as she was about to ask Twilight what she should do next, the purple unicorn walked in herself.

“It’s time, I think,” she said.

Trixie frowned in confusion. “Time for what, mistress?” She tilted her head slightly.

“Time to show Ponyville how much you’ve changed, and do away with the animosity towards you once and for all.” The unicorn’s voice was calm and confident.

Trixie’s, however, was not. “B-but... What if they d-don’t... what if Trixie isn’t... Applejack...”

Twilight shook her head. “Forget Applejack, she’s made her choice quite clear. We shouldn’t let the opinion of one stubborn pony hold us back.” She paused for a moment. “And I think I know just the mare to help us out...”

“Rarity?” Trixie ventured a guess, but Twilight shook her head once again.

“It’s time to bring out the big guns--or should I say the party cannons?”

***

They set course for Sugarcube Corner, in hopes of finding a certain pink party pony extraordinaire there once they arrived. Trixie wanted to ask what exactly they needed this “Pinkie” character for, but there was no way she could question her mistress out of the blue, and no good opportunity presented itself.

Walking through the village carried with it the same annoyances it usually did, although Trixie had to admit it had gotten a lot better as of late. There were still many disapproving glances to be had--and the half-faded love bite in her neck did not help--but their tedium was now at least occasionally broken by friendly smiles or a spoken greeting from a passerby. Sometimes the groups they passed were composed of both ponies who had as well as some who hadn’t had a chance to adjust their opinion of Trixie yet, and in those instances it wasn’t uncommon for the former group to intervene on Trixie’s behalf, resulting in a few less hostile glances and a few more thoughtful ones. When she saw some ponies waving at her, she glanced at Twilight, and--after a short nod from the aforementioned--she smiled and waved back.

Her friendly contact with the ponies of the village--and the lack of a second Ursa attack--seemed to have paid off, and Trixie was quite sure that the seeds they had already planted would, in the long run, be enough to get rid of the old stigma attached to her name around these parts; however, Twilight obviously wasn’t prepared to wait that long, and Trixie had to admit a certain amount of restlessness herself. It would be great to be able to walk around without being stared at again, although, she had to admit, that probably wouldn’t happen as long as she wore the kind of clothes she did.

She vaguely remembered having enjoyed the attention of others before, but the idea was fleeting and hard to grasp onto. She shook her head as they continued onwards; she had plenty of things to occupy herself with, so that she didn’t need to continue chasing ghosts and flights of fancy. Instead, she refocused her attention upon her mistress--her intelligent, wonderful mistress--in case she desired something of her. But her mistress, sadly, made no requests, and they arrived at Sugarcube Corner without much incident.

To Twilight’s great surprise, the door was locked.

“That’s strange, are they closed today?” Twilight muttered as she knocked.

After a little while, it opened ever so slightly, and a familiar pink face peeked out from behind the door. “Aha, hello Twilight!” Pinkie said conspiratorially as she eyed the mare up and down. “Were you followed?”

“Followed?” Twilight frowned. “No, I don’t believe we were...”

“Good! Come inside, quickly, and close the door behind you!”

The earth pony disappeared, and Twilight shrugged as she motioned for Trixie to follow her inside. Twilight furrowed her brow as she looked around. The inside of the house was incredibly dark, as all of the curtains had been drawn, and the shutters were kept shut tight. What was going on here?

Pinkie turned around as she heard Trixie close the door, and a shocked expression appeared on her face. “What? Who’s she? You have brought a spy into my house!” She pointed at Twilight accusingly.

“Huh?” Twilight blinked in confusion. “A spy? Pinkie... this is Trixie, my marefriend.”

Trixie curtsied briefly, and Pinkie Pie drew closer.

“Oh gilly willy, why didn’t you say that earlier you silly? I thought she was here to steal the secret!”

“Secret?” Twilight asked, but Pinkie Pie paid her no heed.

“Oooo, you’re in costume! I love costumes! And it’s not even Nightmare Night yet! I didn’t know somepony else in Ponyville loved costumes as much as... Wait! I don’t know a Trixie. You’re new?” Pinkie Pie circled around the maid, observing her from all directions. Trixie sank through her knees a little bit, shying away from her overly enthusiastic assailant. “You are new! Twilight, you meanie weenie, why didn’t you tell me? We need to organise a party! A big one! With lots of cake and balloons and streamers and-”

“Pinkie!” Twilight’s voice cut through the other pony’s river of words like a knife through butter. “That’s what we’re here for... We need you to organise a party for Trixie. Today. Can you make that happen?”

Trixie’s eyes grew wide, but she remained silent.

“Of course!” the pink party pony said. “What do you take me for? Huh? Huh? I got you a party in a few hours when you first arrived too, didn’t I? And what a great party it was! I remember the punch and--ooooo!--the cupcakes were great too, but not as great as-”

“Yes, yes, but this time the entirety of Ponyville needs to be present.”

“Oh.” It was Pinkie’s time to blink. “Well... Do you mean everypony? Like, everypony everypony?”

Twilight nodded. “Everypony everypony.”

“In the library?”

“Preferably.”

“Hmmm...” Pinkie stopped to think for a moment. “It can be done... But I’d only be ready by evening! And you two need to help. If you want everypony everypony to come to the party, you’ll need to make the library bigger, like... a tent! A big tent around the library! Oooo, this party is going to be super duper!” She began jumping around excitedly, resulting in a few strange looks from Trixie. “Oh, and we could ask Applejack to help-”

“Uh, no, let’s not.”

“-or Rainbow Dash-”

Twilight thought of the day before; she didn’t want to face the pegasus again until the mare had had a little bit of time to think. “Yeeeaaahhhh... no.”

“Fluttershy?”

Twilight had no problem with Fluttershy herself, but asking her for help would be a sure-fire way to make Spike find out about the entire thing, and that was a risk; Twilight hadn’t forgotten how Spike had tried to sabotage Owloysius at first, and his antagonism towards Trixie was a lot more pronounced. “No, I’m afraid we can’t do that...”

Pinkie Pie finally stopped jumping around, to throw Twilight a bewildered look. “Rarity?”

“Rarity should be fine,” Twilight said, relieved to finally be able to give a positive answer.

“Yay!” Pinkie said as she started to jump around again. “Oh, and perhaps I can finally unveil... my secret!”

“Again: secret?”

The pink pony suddenly got serious, looked around the room suspiciously, then motioned for the other two to come closer. Both of them did, but Pinkie Pie grabbed them and pulled them even closer, until they could understand even her faintest whisper. “Alright... I’ve been working on a secret project since the Cakes left town on their holiday some days ago... I can show you, but you can’t tell anypony! There are spies everywhere, I’ve had to be so careful...” She looked around the room again.

Twilight finally understood why she hadn’t seen Pinkie for a while, and why it was so dark in the house: it was all part of Pinkie’s silly little game. “Alright, show us,” she said, fully expecting the “secret” to be something stupid that nopony else would have any interest in.

“You still have to promise! Pinkie style.”

Twilight sighed. “Trixie?”

“Yes mistress?” the maid said at once.

“Just do as I do.”

“Of course, mistress.”

Twilight drew in a breath of air before she started, with Trixie mimicking her words and motions with just a small delay. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She smiled victoriously; this time she had managed not to poke her own eye out. She glanced to the side and noticed Trixie had finished the routine as well. Pinkie seemed pleased enough, as she almost literally dragged the two of them into the kitchen.

“What are you-”

“Behold!” Pinkie Pie said as she rolled forward, landing on her hooves and pointing at an enormous pink cake on the table. “I present to you: The Pinkie Pie Cake!”

“What’s a pie-cake?” Trixie asked, speaking on her own accord for the first time; she rather enjoyed cooking, and had to admit a certain level of enthusiasm for new recipes.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and threw her a "grown-ups are talking" look, and Trixie shrunk back under it slightly, although Pinkie--who was busy softly caressing the top of the cake--didn’t seem to notice.

“No, you silly filly, I’m Pinkie Pie and this is my cake! Didn’t Twilight tell you my name? Silly Twilight.”

“S-sorry,” Trixie whispered to Twilight.

“Oh, don’t worry... Trixie, was it? Names shames, you’ll learn mine soon enough!” She winked at Trixie, and the maid smiled back uncertainly.

Twilight stepped forward and poked the cake with the front of her hoof. “So, what’s the secret? Looks like any other cake to me... A brightly coloured one, but...”

“Oh no no no.” Pinkie shook her head. “I worked on this recipe for a week, there is nothing like it, lemme tell ya! And I’m sure thieves are out to get my recipe before I reveal my cake to the world, so that they can claim they invented it themselves! But they won’t find the recipe, I’ve got it all right... here.” She tapped a hoof against her forehead.

“What if they steal this cake?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask.

Pinkie’s eyes went wide. “They could steal... the cake? Quick!” she yelled as she picked up a rather large knife, which she used to start slicing the cake up in smaller pieces. “We’ve got to eat it before it's too late!”

“But we just ate-”

“They’ll be coming any minute now!”

“I really don’t-”

“Eat!”

Twilight sighed; it was impossible to reason with Pinkie Pie under the best of circumstances, and she was being unusually crazy today. She motioned for Trixie to join her, as she took the smallest piece of cake she could find and put it in her mouth. An explosion of taste washed over her tongue, and for a moment she thought tears of joy would come to her eyes; she’d seldom tasted anything like this, and the sensation was overwhelming. It was enormously sweet, yet not sickeningly so, and the texture of it all was a true marvel to the tongue. As she glanced around, she saw Trixie was actually crying. It didn’t surprise her; the maid had been highly emotional lately, and she did have a bit of a soft spot for food.

“Pinkie, what is this?” Twilight asked as she quickly took another piece, followed by another, and then another. The cake was so good, she just couldn’t stop, even if she had wanted to. And she didn’t.

“I hwold yhew,” Pinkie Pie said with her mouth full of cake, as she continued shoveling it in. “Iwh ish phwinkie phwie phwake.”

“No, I mean, how did you ma-”

“Phwecwhet!”

“Secret, right...”

They continued eating, swept away by the cake’s delicious taste, and even though Pinkie Pie took the lion share upon herself, Twilight and Trixie seemed to be the ones out for the count by the end of the feast.

“Oh Celestia,” Twilight said as she steadied herself against the table, one hoof against her mouth. “I think I’m... Bwurk! Ugh, no... no... I... I think I’m fine...” she said, barely repressing the urge to throw up.

Trixie, meanwhile, lay on the floor, her hooves against her stomach. “S-so much cake... so delicious... couldn’t stop... couldn’t... uugghhh... mistress, have mercy on Trixie, please... please... kill Trixie,” she went slightly green as she fought back an urge to throw up of her own.

“T-then who’s... gonna kill me?” Twilight wondered. “If I’m to suffer, you’re suffering with m-” She pressed a hoof tighter up against her lips as another wave of nausea overtook her, and she dove towards the closest trash can. She only just made it.

Trixie wanted to go over and comfort her mistress, but, truth be told, she doubted she could stand under the circumstances.

“So, how was it?” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully as she hopped around the room. “Pretty great, huh? This cake is no fake!”

“That... that is no cake...” Twilight managed to say from her place near the trash can. “That’s a weapon... a dangerous one at that... ugh... so... so... irresistible...” Twilight didn’t doubt that one could easily eat themselves to death on the monster Pinkie Pie had created. The pony in question would die happy, but that was of little consolation.

“Sugar... sugar as far as the eye can see...” Trixie muttered as she made gestures at the ceiling above her, having apparently slipped into a sugar-induced state of hallucination.

“I’m sooo super duper happy you liked it!” Pinkie exclaimed, ignoring the main issue at hoof, as per usual. “So, how many should I make for the party?”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed, as Trixie shivered at the thought. “Too... too dangerous, don’t you have... normal ones?” Now that she’d deposited half of the contents of her stomach into the garbage bin, she started to feel a little better, although she’d still describe her condition as “miserable”.

“Well... yesss,” Pinkie Pie said slowly, “but normal is so boring.”

“Boring is fine,” Twilight said quickly. “Boring is great. Let’s do boring. Trixie?”

“Trixie... Trixie agrees...” the mare managed. "Yay... boring... woohoo..."

“But,” the pink pony said as she pouted, “then when am I going to unveil my Pinkie Pie Cake?”

“Some things the world simply is not ready for,” Twilight said grimly, and Trixie nodded her head with all the strength she could muster.

“Fine, Boring McBoringpants... Anyway, if you want to get this party staaaarteeed,” Pinkie Pie said with a shout, “then I’ll need to get the invitations out all quicky wuicky if I want time for the other things, and you need to get that tent up! I’ll send Rarity over to you when I see her.”

“Just... just give us a moment,” Twilight said, but Pinkie Pie was already long gone.

“M-mistress?” Trixie’s still slightly shaky voice came from next to the table.

“Yes?”

“Is she... Is she supernatural?”

Twilight remained silent for a moment, remembering all the times she herself had wondered the exact same thing. “If only I knew...”