Of Maids and Mistresses

The bath ended up being a rather playful affair, which soon resulted in a fair amount of flooding. As they stepped out and dried themselves off, Trixie nonchalantly added the task of putting everything back in order to Twilight’s rapidly growing list of chores, much to the purple unicorn’s displeasure. But she started working on it regardless, as Trixie looked for one particular book of magic amongst the library’s many tomes--a task which was made all the more difficult by the shoddy state the collection was in, as few books were stood upon the shelf to which they belonged.

Eventually she found the spells she was looking for, and she quickly copied both of them upon a single sheet of paper.

“I’m going out!” she yelled as she opened the front door, stepping outside without waiting for any sort of confirmation from Twilight.

She walked around the library and started following the river behind it, crossing the first bridge she encountered to get to the other side, but even then she continued to follow the river’s path. There were few ponies up and about on this trail just outside of the village, and so Trixie had her thoughts to herself. She tried to use the time to prepare herself for what she was about to attempt, but was forced to admit that it was impossible to predict what the situation would be like ahead of time. She’d just have to wait and see, ready for anything.

It didn’t take her long to reach the spot above which Rainbow Dash’s cloudhouse hung in the air, and Trixie glanced at the sheet of paper she had brought along. The first spell she used was a simple cloudwalking formula--which she could have memorised if she had had slightly more time--but the second spell was much more difficult. It allowed the user to teleport short distances, or “wink out” as Twilight would call it. It was a spell that the librarian was extremely adept at, but to Trixie it remained quite baffling. Even with the formula right in front of her eyes, it required all of her concentration and skill, and even then she was slightly surprised to find herself on top of the clouds safely. She considered the many stage applications such a spell could have, and decided that it would be amongst the first she’d have Twilight teach her properly.

From up close, Rainbow Dash’s house looked even more amazing, and Trixie silently pondered the hidden depths the pegasus had to possess if she could appreciate such beauty despite her brash personality and somewhat headstrong appearance. She took a deep breath and walked up to the front door, hesitating for a few moments before finally bringing her hoof down to knock.

But there was no reaction, and the second and third time were no different. Eventually she stopped knocking, and instead tried opening the door. She wasn’t surprised to find it unlocked, as many ponies within Ponyville never bothered to lock anything, and a house in the clouds was--by its very design--safer than most.

She stepped inside to find a large, round room, the walls as blue on the inside as they were on the outside. Several windows allowed light to enter from outside, and the rays of the sun shone upon several pillars and other traditional pegasus decorations like them. She looked around, but the one she was searching for was nowhere to be found.

“Rainbow Dash?” she tried calling out. “It’s Trixie. Trixie has come to-”

She got no further than that before a flash of cyan suddenly sped towards her from the corner of her eyes. Before she could fully turn around Rainbow Dash had already connected with a punch, and the force behind it sent Trixie staggering into the wall. Trixie’s head spun from the impact, and she felt dizzy as Dash chased after her. The unicorn tried to gather her wits about her, but all she managed to do in time was brace herself for the next blow, which would no doubt follow.

And yet it didn’t. Instead, the pegasus grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned in, and before Trixie’s mind could even begin to try and comprehend the situation, she was drawn in for an unexpected kiss. So unexpected, in fact, that she didn’t resist or push the other mare away, but neither did she have the chance to answer it. When it finally occurred to her that she was, indeed, being kissed a few seconds later, Dash already broke it off herself, stepping away as she turned her back towards Trixie.

“Y-you appear to be sending some mixed signals, there,” Trixie finally managed as she rubbed her painful cheek, standing up shakily.

“And whose fault is that?” Dash sneered as she turned to face Trixie once more, an indecipherable look within her eyes. “I think that, all things considered, it’s pretty fair to make you feel some of the confusion you left me with!”

“Trixie’s afraid she doesn’t-”

Dash started to pace around the room. “I can’t sit still, I feel so restless... but when I try to go out, I can’t stop thinking about the other ponies’ judging glances when they finally realise that I like... that I like...”

“Mares?” Trixie took a wild guess.

Dash let out a yelp of frustration as she shook her front hooves at the ceiling. “No! I mean, yes... I mean...” she sighed. “I think I do but... I’m not sure I want to...”

“Well-”

“And you two!” Dash yelled as she pointed at Trixie. “Half of the time I want to strangle you for giving me these doubts, this confusion... but then the other half I have to think about... about that and I... I can’t stop myself... And I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and tangled into my blankets, because in my dreams...” She shuddered. “It’s not always you two, you understand, but it’s always...”

“Mares.” Trixie said again, and the tone of her voice made it clear that that time, it wasn’t a guess at all.

Dash opened her mouth, ready to protest, but then she just sat down in defeat and nodded slowly.

Trixie carefully stepped closer. “But Dashy, is that really so bad? What are you afraid of?” She put a hoof upon the pegasus’ shoulders, and Rainbow did not resist. “It’s part of who you are. We may have forced it to the surface a bit early, but you would have run into this problem eventually... A particularly attractive mare would’ve one day struck your fancy, and you’d have had the exact same problem you do now... No,” she added resolutely, “you’re not confused because of us, you’re confused because you do not accept yourself the way you are.”

“But... but...” Dash looked up at Trixie pleadingly, looking for answers. “If I ignore it, won’t it just... ?”

“Go away? No,” Trixie shook her head. “Take it from me... ignoring things, denying parts of who you are... it never works out.”

Something in the unicorn’s eyes and voice made Dash nod, accepting her words for what they were. “But doesn’t that make me... bad?” she said with a little voice.

“Oh Celestia no!” Trixie said as she shook her head. “Twilight is a fillyfooler, do you think she’s a bad pony?”

“She’s been acting a bit strange lately... but no,” Dash had to admit, “I don’t think she is...”

“Applejack certainly doesn’t seem adverse to the idea either, do you think she’s a bad pony?”

“I... No, but I...”

“Ever since I arrived here I’ve seen more mares getting ‘friendly’ with each other than I used to see during a whole month in Canterlot, so is this entire village full of bad ponies?”

“No, they... they’re all pretty nice...”

Trixie shrugged. “So why exactly would you be a bad pony for liking mares then? And why do you think anypony would make a big deal out of it, when I dare say the majority of mares in this village--and perhaps the colts, too--have at the very least experimented with the idea?”

“But, I... I always...” the pegasus stuttered. “Me and my friends, we always used to... we uh...” Dash’s cheeks started to burn with embarrassment. “We were more or less bullies back in flight school, I guess you could say, and... the few times we found out somepony was a fillyfooler...” she fell silent, but in truth, she didn’t need to say any more.

“These... ‘friends’ of yours... Are they still around?”

Rainbow shook her head. “One of them came visiting a while back, but she... she was mean to my friends here, and I...”

Trixie went to sit down in front of the pegasus, looking into her eyes. “So Dash... who would you say are the bad ponies here... the fillyfoolers? Or their bullies?”

Dash’s cheeks started to burn once more. “The... the bullies...” she said with a small voice. “Although they weren’t all ponies...”

“Exactly!” Trixie put a hoof on the other mare’s shoulder. “So why don’t you forget about what they told you and instead join... us.”

“Us?”

“Well, you know...” Trixie stood up and made grand theatrical gestures. “Freethinkers, the open minded, the unoppressed, they-who-know-themselves, or, as you would have it...” a small smile played across Trixie’s lips, “fillyfoolers.”

Something within Dash started to break free of the prison she herself had built for it many years ago, but doubt still shone through in her eyes. “But, I’m not sure I can...”

“Oh come on now!” Trixie motioned at the walls around her. “The great Rainbow Dash--don’t think I haven’t heard about the Best Young Flyer Competition--living in a little castle in the clouds, and you would have Trixie believe there is something you cannot do? It is not for lack of desire, either,” Trixie once again approached, putting a hoof on Dash’s shoulder and staring into her eyes, “don’t forget: I have seen that desire burn inside of you. Oh no no no, don’t you try to deny it... That moment when Twilight kissed you, that very moment when you said ‘Yes!’ when she asked if she could continue, instead of demanding she stopped... all that time you spent with us, willingly, as an accomplice to your own liberation... That was the first time you’ve been honest with yourself, truly honest, in your entire life.”

Trixie remained silent for a moment to give Dash time to react, time to deny it, time to say “No”, but that never happened; no ringing cry of denial ever came. They both knew everything that had just been said was the truth, and there were no further walls for Dash to hide her feelings behind.

“You liked it,” Trixie continued, “you’ve always liked it and you always will... you want to acknowledge your feelings, you want it to be like that. You can feel both your mind and body crying out for it, and the only thing standing in the way of it is your own fear and stubbornness. Let it go. So many ponies want things that they can never have, and here you are, your own desires well within reach, all you need to do is reach out, but you’re too stubborn to-”

All of a sudden Trixie got thrown against the floor--which luckily was as soft as clouds tend to be--as Dash pounced upon her. For the second time that day the pegasus kissed the showmare, but this time more deeply and urgently than before. Trixie’s mind shook under the sudden event, but just as she started to figure out what course of action would be best, Dash’s tongue withdrew again.

“W-what was that?” Trixie breathed heavily.

“I... I reached out,” Dash said gingerly, “just like you told me to...”

The blue unicorn grinned. “It’s not what I had in mind, but as far as accepting your own feelings goes, it will do...”

“I... I just let it go, as you said, and it... and it clicked, but...” She shuddered slightly. “I’ve stayed inside for the last few days because every time I saw a mare, I couldn’t help but think... I just wanted... and I could feel... And so I was afraid, because what if I, you know...”

“Suddenly lost control and pounced on somepony? You’re looking at it!” Trixie let out a little chuckle.

Rainbow Dash blushed. “It’s worse... it’s worse now. I can feel it. I’ve resisted for so long... so very long, so all I want now...” She lowered herself towards Trixie again.

“Stop.” Trixie lightly put a hoof against Rainbow Dash’s lips. “We can’t. I already have a marefriend; I can’t cheat on her.” She smiled.

“But, we already-”

“That’s different. She was there. She made me do it! Not that I disliked it, mind you.” Trixie winked. “Besides, Dash, I thought you didn’t like me?”

“Ah, well...” Dash scratched her head. “You... you seem a lot nicer now, and... it’s not like I love you or anything, but...” Dash sighed. “It’s Twilight’s fault! She said all those things while looking at me like that... it got into my head, and when I think about it, I just...” She rubbed her hindlegs together in frustration.

“You’ve bottled up all those feelings for too long... One time wasn’t enough to let all the frustration out. And about that, Dash, I am sorry about how we broke it to you. We should’ve had this conversation with you from the start, instead of the seduction plot.”

“Well... You had good intentions, and I sorta agreed to it... even though I didn’t know what ‘it’ was at first,” she added, “so I’m not sure you owed me an apology but... Thanks. It... it means a lot to me that I got it, anyway.”

“And I’m sure Twilight will want to make it up to you too...”

“What, you want me to throw a punch at Twilight as well?” Dash said with a playful giggle.

Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “Trixie doesn’t want to give the wrong impression here, Rainbow Dash. Trixie has been... unusually tolerant during this entire encounter because she felt she... owed you something. But if you ever so much as think of hurting Twilight, for any reason, you will find out the title of ‘Great and Powerful’ is not just for show. Is that understood?”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Dash said as she finally got off of Trixie. “Completely, I won’t touch Twilight. Promise.”

Trixie stood up, and her serious expression got replaced at once by a mischievous smile. “Now now, Dash, Trixie didn’t ask you that much... In fact, Trixie can think of one very good solution for your little ‘problem’, which could at the same time serve as Twilight’s apology, and which will involve plenty of... ‘touching’.” She caressed one of Dash’s cheeks gently. “If you still want to, that is?”

Dash swallowed as her heart started beating faster. “What did you have in mind?”

Trixie leaned in and whispered into her ear, and Dash’s eyes grew wide.

“C-can you do that?” she asked breathlessly. “Won’t she... ?”

“Of course Trixie can,” Trixie said confidently, “Trixie is mistress for a day... And Twilight and Trixie aren’t like you, Dash. We aren’t timid little fillies when it comes to things like thi-”

“Hey!” Dash shouted as she puffed up her chest. “Nopony calls Rainbow Dash timid!”

“Good,” Trixie said with a sly smile. “Show Trixie tomorrow. We’ll be expecting you.” She walked towards the door.

“Wait!” Dash said just as the unicorn reached it. “How come you’re so good at talking about this stuff? And I almost forgot, but: where’s the costume?”

“Two questions, but only one answer...” She stopped to think about it for a moment. “Trixie was ill, Dash. Trixie refused to see the truth, just like you, but Trixie had it far, far worse... It’s true what Trixie said: it’s not a healthy thing to do, bottling it up. Just see to it you don’t go down a similar path.”

“W-what was the truth that you refused to see?”

“The death of everypony I knew, save for a few, when I was just a little filly.” She stepped out of the door and closed it behind her, leaving behind a perplexed Rainbow Dash with a newfound understanding of how small and insignificant some seemingly large problems really were.