Of Maids and Mistresses

Upon exiting Rainbow Dash’s house, Trixie quickly made her way down the path that led away from the front door, until she reached a part of the large cloud that could not be seen from inside the house, due to the way in which the cloud sloped down slightly; she didn’t feel comfortable with the teleportation spell just yet, and she did not want to risk undoing her dramatic exit by bumbling about in front of Rainbow Dash. Dramatic exits were, after all, part of a showmare’s professional pride.

She took out the spell formula once again, and her horn glowed with a familiar sense of power as she focused her gaze upon the world below. For a moment she felt as if something was trying to pull her towards her destination, but the sensation disappeared again as the spell fizzled. Trixie frowned in frustration--even though it hadn’t been unexpected--and tried again, with similar results.

She kept stubbornly attempting to use the teleportation spell, until finally (after about an hour of failed attempts) she was forced to admit that her earlier success had most likely been a fluke. Either that, or there was something that she was missing, but either way she realised she would not be getting down from the cloud with the grace she had hoped for; however, she was not completely without her own tricks. She dug up an old spell from her memory, which had served her well in a plethora of shows, now seemingly a lifetime ago. As she cast the spell and turned it in towards herself a feeling of lightness overcame her, as if she weighed little more than a feather. She knew this to be more than just a feeling; it was the actual truth. Many a crowd had been amazed by seemingly impossible feats of balancing and acrobatics, simply because they did not realise the extent of her magic.

She stepped off of the cloud and floated down gently, until she was blown out of course by a sudden gust of wind. As she climbed out of the bushes she had landed in and onto the path, she could hear the wheels of a cart drawing near. A cart which, she soon found, was being pulled by none other than Applejack, who grinned at her as she stopped.

“Are you following Trixie?” the showmare asked suspiciously as she pulled a few pieces of twig from her hair. “Trixie did not expect to meet again so soon...”

“Heh, well, this is the way to the farm here, sugarcube,” Applejack replied, “I reck’n if anypony were following anypony, it’d be you following me!” Applejack winked at Trixie, and the unicorn nodded, conceding the point. “Now, how did that talk with Twi go? Give her a right piece of your mind?”

“Oh, yes,” Trixie answered evasively, “we had... quite the talk.”

“Must have been some words ya’ll used there, what with them causin’ an enormous hickey in her neck and all.”

Trixie’s mouth fell open for a second. “Wait, how do you... ?”

“Do you think Ah drag this cart around for fun? Ah just got back from the marketplace, and Twilight was there, buying some stuff. Or rather,” Applejack said as she scratched her chin with the tip of a hoof, “Ah should say she was trying to buy something, there were a bit too many ponies bunched around her to really give her the opportunity to, ya see...”

“What? But... Trixie...” the blue mare spluttered. “Why would they be so interested in a love bite? It’s not like they’ve never seen one before, Trixie herself had one just a few day-”

Applejack blinked at her and then laughed: a low and pleasant sound which seemed to come straight from the heart.

“-What is so amusing?” Trixie finished with a glare.

“Ah, well, Ah’m sorry, Trixie, but Ah was just thinking, and it seemed a mite, well... amusing to me that the one pony who can’t tell a good show when she sees it, is a showmare herself!”

Trixie frowned. “Explain.”

“Alright, so...” Applejack collected her thoughts for a moment. “Lessee here... You came here, all boasts and magic, clearly the antagonist--don’t you argue with me, Ah just calls it like I sees it--when suddenly the Ursa attacks town. Twilight, the brave hero of this here story, jumps in front of it to save you, and after its defeat, you run, not to be heard from again for almost a year.”

“Trixie doesn’t see how-”

“Ah’m not done yet,” Applejack said, frowning over the interruption. “So anyway, everypony thought you gone for good, but then you show back up... by Twilight’s side! The villain, returning quietly with the hero.”

Trixie wanted to protest the way she was being portrayed, but Applejack quickly lifted a hoof and shook her head to keep her from interrupting.

“So everypony’s a bit confused, and they start keeping an eye out for the first signs o’ trouble... but those never come. Instead, they see you quickly turn into a nice girl, be it one with a somewhat odd sense of fashion, and it’s not long before everypony realises you didn’t just come back with Twilight... you two are an item! They see the mark in your neck, and the theory is all but confirmed... Surely you see what this is?” Applejack raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“... What?” Trixie replied with a confused look on her face.

“The hero saves the villain, brings her back home, and shows her the right path. It’s the ultimate love story!” Applejack grinned. “And for most ponies--the ones that don’t get a part in these crazy adventures Twi and the princesses keep dragging us into--life here is peaceful, but uneventful. You two’ve been causing scandals and rumours left and right every time y’all set hoof outside of the library... and sometimes when y’all stay inside, too! You’re both so indiscreet, the entirety of Ponyville can read the rumours surrounding you like a book!”

“What, that’s all it takes?” Trixie said in disbelief. “A few love bites and the entire village goes mad?”

“It’s not that bad. Everypony’s content just hearin’ the occasional rumour, but y’all stayed inside for a while now, and, well, they wanted to hear about you from Twilight herself, that’s all. She seemed happy to praise you into the starts, that one. And,” Applejack said as she scraped her throat, “there might be a couple o’, uhhh... interesting rumours in the bunch...”

“Like what?”

“Like the one where Twilight bucked you in Rarity’s dressing room,” the earth pony said with another grin.

Trixie’s eyes grew wide. “But the only pony there was Rarity, and she was sleeping! How could anypony possibly have...”

The farmpony let out a whistle of surprise. “Wow Nelly! So that’s true? Ah knew y’all were a mite... open minded--what with Dash and all--but still, Ah didn’t think...”

Trixie cheeks started to burn. “No! Trixie didn’t mean... that is to say... Trixie...”

“Too late now, sugarcube, far too late.” Applejack shook her head. “They’re taking out votes on those love bites, you know? Twilight got one just as yours vanished, so they want to see if you get a new one when hers fades... Might even have started a trend there: Rarity commented on what a ‘lovely’ shade o’ purple Twilight’s love bite was--and ya might not know this, but ponies respect Rarity’s eye for this kinda thing--and Ah could swear Ah saw Bon Bon and Lyra disappear into an alley for a moment, and when they came back... well, they had cheeks red as apples, and Bon Bon’s hair was arranged rather strangely against her neck... If ya catch mah drift?”

Trixie nodded, as she did indeed. She furrowed her brow, momentarily lost in thought.

“Ah’m sure that in a day or so, it’ll all pass by--ponies get bored of the same old rumours easily, ya see--but it’ll be interesting to look around town after tonight, Ah think...” She paused for a moment. “So what were you doing at Dash’s?” she suddenly asked without warning.

“Ah,” the unicorn said distractedly, “Trixie came to offer Dash an apology, and suggest a way she could get even with Twilight...”

“And Twi knows of this?”

Trixie smiled. “Well, no, but seeing as Trixie is her mistress for a day...” She froze as she suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and realised she’d just shared things she had hoped to keep for herself. “Uh, Trixie means... dinner! Yes, Dash is coming for... for dinner. Again. Well, last time it was lunch, but...” she fumbled her words a bit. “Wait! How did you even know Trixie had come to see her?”

“Ah saw you jump down.”

“Oh.”

“Yes.” Applejack nodded. “And Twilight already told me what Dash was really in the library for last time, sugarcube... and Ah can only think of one reason you’d have to be the mistress to get back at her...”

Trixie sighed. “Alright, you got Trixie. So, what do you plan to do? Tell Twilight? It won’t matter. Trixie is the mistress until after tomorrow; Twilight will do as Trixie says... gladly, even. With blushing cheeks, but willingly...”

Applejack shook her head. “Hold on now Trixie, y’all got me figured all wrong... Ah don’t care what the two of you do behind closed doors--Ah reckon that’s your business now that your head is cleared out and all--and from what Ah can tell, Twilight will hardly want ‘saving’... but there’s one thing that still bothers me about that lil’ plan o’ yours...”

Trixie looked at her with suspicion. “Trixie’s listening.”

“Well, ’s not fair, is it?”

“E-excuse Trixie?” She wasn’t sure if she had heard the earth pony correctly.

“‘s not fair!” Applejack repeated with a little stamp of her hoof. “Twilight got me all dragged into this too; shouldn’t Ah be gettin’ a chance to get back at her as well?”

“But, you...” Trixie spluttered. “She didn’t... with Dash we...”

“Well, Ah did get yelled at. And Ah can’t let Dash win again can Ah?”

The blue showmare tried to find something to say to that, but words failed her as she repeatedly opened and closed her mouth. “Fine,” she eventually conceded, “Trixie supposes... Trixie supposes it could work, if... Alright, Trixie owes you, Applejack, so Trixie shall honour your... request. You may join us.”

“Great!” Applejack said enthusiastically. “So uh, what are we doing, ‘zactly?”

Trixie looked around--made overly cautious by the recent leaks in her plan--before she leaned in to whisper in Applejack’s ears, which burned hotly by the time she finished.

“That’s... you can do that?” Applejack asked with a little voice. “Ah heard stories, but Ah never... unicorns tend to make things up, you know? Ah, of course you do...”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at her. “Of course the Great and Powerful Trixie can! This time it’s all true, trust Trixie on that... But Trixie has things to take care of, so if you would excuse Trixie... she will see you tomorrow.”

Applejack nodded distractedly, her mind still occupied by the things Trixie had whispered to her. “Y-yeah... tomorrow,” she said as she started dragging the cart forward again, her eyes on the horizon, while Trixie quickly moved out of the way.

As the mare started to disappear into the distance, Trixie first frowned, but then a smile slowly started to spread across her face. The outcome of that conversation wasn’t all bad... after all, she did owe AJ, and with three of them they’d be able to...

She shook her head; it wasn’t time to think about that just yet. She started to head towards the library, already dreaming of the meal Twilight was hopefully busy preparing for them. Her cooking wasn’t all that spectacular, but it was her cooking, and that made it special to Trixie. She let out a little yawn; with all the events of the day, it seemed like several days had passed since last she slept, rather than just one. Perhaps an early night would do her good, and Twilight’s ritual magic had no doubt left her quite tired as well.

An early night meant an early morning, which would come in handy. After all... she had a last piece of her past to collect, and one more pony to make peace with.

Well, she mused, I guess he’s not really a pony at all...