Of Maids and Mistresses

by Unahim

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Applejack, Trixie, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Comedy
Length: 103484

Twilight and Trixie think up a plan to change Trixie's attitude, but it ends up working too well...

When Twilight bumps into Trixie in Canterlot, she quickly realises the once-famous showmare has fallen to the very depths of poverty, teetering over the brink of starvation. Feeling slightly guilty (and acting upon a faint sense of attraction) Twilight invites Trixie to Ponyville. Trixie will be Trixie though, and she soon manages to upset several of Twilight's trusted friends. Determined to resolve the problem, Twilight thinks up a clever plan to help shake Trixie free of her attitude problems.

But when it ends up working too well, will Twilight do the right thing, or will she give in to temptation?

This work contains explicit scenes, but it by no means intends to be a quick way to get your daily dosage of clop. I would say it is a "fic with some clop scenes" more than a "clopfic". For those who are sensitive to such things, I shall include a shortened, non-clop version of every chapter that has clop in it, and clearly mark clop chapters as such.

This fic can be considered a tragicomedy.

Published 2012-07-12 18:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-04 21:19:10 UTC

Uneasy Beginnings

“You did WHAT?” Spike screamed as Twilight broke the news to him.

She sighed. After that scene in the alley, Trixie’s behaviour towards her had improved significantly, but she still seemed incapable of treating anypony else with even an inkling of respect. She had already managed to severely upset a waitress and two Ponyville Express conductors, and all within the first minute of meeting them. But as soon as she was alone with Twilight, she actually became sufferable. It didn’t make any sense. It did explain Spike’s reaction, though.

“If it is of any consolation: Trixie wouldn’t be caught dead under the same roof with a brat like you if it wasn’t for Twilight Sparkle’s kindness,” Trixie said, as she threw her mane back over her neck.

The two of them looked each other in the eyes for a few moments, then simultaneously started throwing insults back and forth, until Twilight just couldn’t take it anymore.

“ENOUGH!” she yelled. “Both of you, stop it, you’re giving me a headache.”

“Oh... uh... sorry, Twilight...” Spike mumbled sheepishly.

“Trixie apologises... but only to you,” the blue unicorn said, as she looked at Twilight intently.

Twilight gritted her teeth, then sighed. It’d have to do. She turned towards Trixie, who was just kinda moping about. “Trixie, the bathroom is over there on the right, I don’t know if you’d like to... ?”

The showmare’s face lit up with enthusiasm. “Trixie would like to very much! It has been ages since...”

She coughed, feeling suddenly embarrassed as she strode out of the room.

“Please tell me she isn’t staying long, Twi,” Spike said pleadingly.

Twilight went closer towards him, and smiled sympathetically. “Oh Spike, I know you’re upset... But what was I supposed to do, let her starve? Leave her out to freeze to death come winter?”

Spike opened his mouth and pointed at her, before closing it again and lowering his hand. Finally, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and stared at the floor. “I still don’t like her.”

“I’m not asking you to like her, just... just give her a chance, alright?” she said as she patted Spike on the head. “I think she’s actually really insecure, so she constantly pushes everypony away before they can get close, to avoid getting hurt.”

“I doubt that,” Spike replied as he tried to get out from under Twilight’s petting. “But I’ll give her a chance, Twilight. For you, not for her.”

She smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

***

Twilight raised a hoof to knock on the bathroom door, when it opened seemingly on its own. Trixie was standing right in front of her, a towel wrapped around her head, and her coat still glistening. She looked a lot better already, and she smelled nice, too...

“Uh, Twilight?” Trixie said as she raised an eyebrow.

The purple unicorn shook her head, suddenly aware that she’d been standing there with a grin on her face for several moments. “Oh! I uh... came to see if the bathroom... was free...”

Trixie nodded. “It is now... Trixie is so happy to finally feel clean again, you have no idea what it’s like for a pony as magnificent as the Great and Powerful Trixie to have to live in filth. Truly disgraceful.”

“Well then, I’ll get cleaned up myself, and after that I’ll make us dinner,” Twilight said as she slipped past the other mare.

“You’re making dinner?” Trixie asked as she started closing the door behind her. “Hmmm.”

Twilight blinked. What had she meant by that? Did Trixie doubt her cooking skills? She shrugged. The day had been stressful enough without her adding imaginary problems to the mix. Right now she was just going to take a bath, relax, and forget about everything for a while.

***

When Twilight finally emerged from the bathroom half an hour later, she was instantly greeted by a pleasant smell that permeated the air. She made her way over to the kitchen on a hunch, and, sure enough, she found Spike sitting against the wall, right next to the kitchen door. He had his arms folded across his chest, and he looked none too pleased.

“Twilight!” he said as he spotted her, getting up to his feet. “You’ve got to do something, Trixie’s barricaded herself inside of the kitchen!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why would she do that?”

“Well, I saw her sneak in-”

“Sneak?”

“Ok, walk in,” Spike admitted, “so I followed her, and she started taking out the knives and stuff, so I tried to stop her, and-”

“And she kicked you out,” Twilight ventured a guess.

“... Yes.”

The purple unicorn walked away, sitting down at the living room table. “She’s just trying to be nice by making us dinner, Spike.”

The little dragon begrudgingly pulled up a chair--which they kept around the house just for him--and started moping, putting his elbows on the table and holding his head up with his hands. “I still don’t like it. She could poison us, or worse!”

Twilight threw him an angry look. “That’s enough, Spike. I’ve just about had it with your open hostility towards Trixie! She’s going to be staying with us for quite a while, whether you like it or not, and you’re driving me absolutely crazy!”

“But-”

“Spike,” Twilight said severely, “you promised.”

The dragon grunted something that vaguely resembled “alright, alright,” and the unicorn sighed. She foresaw some tiring days ahead of her.

A few minutes later the kitchen door finally swung open, and Trixie emerged, levitating several dishes, forks, knives and the like. A shallow plate spread a delicious smell, as steam rose up from it.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, prepare your taste buds for the culinary miracle of the century!” Trixie proclaimed as she set the table in an instant, putting the dish down in the centre of the table. It almost looked like a pie.

“So, what is it?” Twilight asked curiously as Trixie sliced off a piece and put it on Twilight’s plate. It was green on the inside.

“Vegetable quiche,” Trixie said proudly, “and the very best there is, if Trixie does say so herself.”

She quickly cut pieces for Spike and herself as well, although the dragon didn’t look at all enthusiastic. He watched Trixie’s every move closely, completely ignoring the food on his plate.

“This is delicious!” Twilight proclaimed as she took a bite. “I didn’t know you could cook, Trixie.”

“But of course, did you really think there was a skill the Great and Powerful Trixie could not master?” She raised her chin haughtily and put of a piece of quiche in her mouth herself, closing her eyes to enjoy its taste and texture.

Spike immediately took advantage of the opportunity, imitating someone who had to puke by pointing two fingers into his opened mouth. Twilight threw him a stern look by way of reprimand, and he grumpily crossed his arms in front of his chest. When Trixie opened her eyes again, the grim atmosphere immediately betrayed that some manner of exchange had taken place. She didn’t know exactly what it had been, but she could guess. And so it was that they continued eating in silence; that is to say, Trixie and Twilight ate, while Spike glanced around grumpily.

Despite the heavy atmosphere, Twilight was really enjoying her meal, and her lips couldn’t help but curl up into a smile after every bite she took. Trixie wasn’t just a competent cook, she was really, really, really good. Eventually her enthusiasm (and the lack of early poisoning symptoms) even got to Spike, and he hesitantly cut off a tiny piece, putting it into his mouth quickly, not giving himself any time to reconsider. His face lit up and he immediately tried a bigger piece, followed by another, which was again followed by half of his plate. Twilight smiled happily; perhaps there was hope yet. Trixie didn’t seem to pay any attention to the dragon’s sudden enthusiasm, though.

“Wow, this is good,” Spike said despite himself. He froze for a moment as he realised he had just given Trixie a complement. “You know, for vegetables, I mean.”

Trixie let out a little laugh, as she threw her mane back over her neck, pointing at Spike with a fork which hung in the air right in front of her. “Trixie didn’t make it for you, simpleton. Trixie simply didn’t want Twilight to have to do all the work.”

Twilight groaned. Couldn’t the two of them ever decide to be nice at the same time? It was almost as if they were taking turns being stubborn, to ensure at least one of them was adding fuel to the fire at any given time.

Spike stared at Trixie coldly, as he put down his fork and knife and pushed his half-finished plate away from him. “I’m not hungry anymore,” he said as he got up from his chair, walking away from the dinner table.

“Spike...” Twilight tried, but the little dragon ignored her as he stomped up the stairs. She sighed deeply, covering her eyes with her hooves, momentarily at a loss as to what to do.

As soon as the dragon left, Trixie’s haughty smile vanished as well. “Trixie is sorry...” she said softly, as she stared down at the ground, guilt and sadness in her eyes.

Twilight lowered her hooves and smiled at Trixie kindly. “It’s not your fault, he’s just a bit jealous...”

“Trixie just... I just don’t know what is wrong with me...” Trixie said as she rubbed a hoof against her eyes. “Trixie wants to be nice, really, Trixie does... But Trixie has been looking down upon and making fun of everypony she meets for so long now... Trixie just doesn’t know how to change.”

Twilight leaned over the table, and put a hoof on the showmare’s shoulder to show her support. “Hey, it’s ok. You’ve been wearing that mask for a long time, now you just have to learn to take it off. Like you do with me.”

Trixie put one of her own hooves on Twilight’s, and managed a little smile. “But that’s because you’re special.”

“Oh?” Twilight said playfully as she raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that?”

Trixie’s cheeks quickly flushed red, and she looked away shyly. “Well... Trixie was upset at the time, but upon thinking about how you defeated that Ursa Minor, Trixie has always thought that...” She swallowed, before continuing more silently: “Maybe... maybe you are just as great and powerful as she is...”

Twilight grinned at the other mare’s embarrassment; she knew how hard it had to be for Trixie to say something like that. “Come on, let’s clear the table and go to bed, it’s been a long day.”

Trixie nodded, but then a question sprang up in her mind. “Oh, euhm, Twilight? Where will Trixie sleep?”

“In my room,” the purple unicorn said as she carried the plates back into the kitchen.

Trixie’s face flushed red again. “Y-your r-room?” she stuttered.

“Yup! I’ve got an extra bed for guests there.”

“Oh,” Trixie said, as she sighed in relief. For a moment she had thought that... she shook her head. Of course Twilight didn’t expect her to sleep in the same bed. And that was good; Trixie wasn’t really comfortable with the idea. But if that was true, then why did she feel so... disappointed?

She shook her head again to get rid of the confusing feelings, as she followed Twilight up the stairs. She just needed a good night’s rest, and then it’d all make sense in the morning.

Or so she hoped.

A day in Ponyville

Trixie stirred, as she slowly opened her eyes, still half-asleep. The world seemed oddly purple for a few seconds, but then she realised it was just Twilight’s face. The unicorn in question started to open her eyes as well, and soon the two of them were smiling at each other sleepily.

“Mmmm... Good morning,” Twilight said, as she stifled a yawn.

Trixie snuggled up against her. “Good morning!”

Their smiles suddenly froze, and they looked at each other with big eyes. It took them a few more moments, but they finally realised they were lying in the same bed, and not only that, they had their legs around each other as well.

They screamed as they moved away from each other as fast as they could, falling out of bed on opposite sides, quickly scrambling to their hooves.

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight quickly blurted out as her cheeks flushed an even deeper purple than usual.

Trixie scratched a forehoof against the floor in embarrassment. “No, Trixie is sorry,” she said softly, “we were in your bed so Trixie must have...”

“D-don’t worry about it,” Twilight said as she put on a shaky smile. “I had my legs around you as well... I’m sure you just had a weird dream, and... and I don’t mind. Don’t worry.”

Trixie smiled at her gratefully, and at that moment Spike came dashing up the stairs.

“Twilight, what’s wrong? I heard screams, did Trixie... ?”

The two unicorns threw him a look, then glanced over to each other, before blushing and averting their eyes.

“Uh, it’s nothing, Spike... Nothing at all,” Twilight finally managed.

The baby dragon raised an eyebrow. “But-”

“Twilight said it was nothing,” Trixie half-shouted as she lobbed a pillow in the dragon’s direction. He got hit squarely in the chest and staggered back a few steps, before grabbing hold of the pillow and returning fire. He missed Trixie completely, and she raised an eyebrow mockingly. Spike threw her a few angry looks, and disappeared back down the stairs.

“Oh dear,” Twilight said, “he didn’t look too happy.”

Trixie picked up a brush from a nearby table, and she started to comb her hair in front of the only mirror in the room. “It is not Trixie’s fault that he doesn’t know how to aim.”

Twilight giggled despite herself. The fact that Spike was upset again wasn’t good, of course, but that he’d get so wound up over a pillow... it was a little funny, at least. She headed for the stairs, but turned around before going down them. “Come downstairs when you’re done, we’ll have breakfast, and then I’ll show you around Ponyville.”

Trixie stopped brushing her hair for a second, and threw Twilight a concerned look. “Are you... are you sure that’s wise? Lots of ponies here probably do not like Trixie...”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t see why not. You’re going to have to go outside eventually, after all.”

Trixie sighed, and reluctantly agreed.

By the time Twilight arrived downstairs, Spike was nowhere to be found. She wondered where he had gone off to, but she didn’t worry too much. Ponyville was safe as could be, so he wouldn’t get into trouble. He was probably just visiting some other friends in order to avoid Trixie, and as far as Twilight was concerned, that was fine; Trixie and Spike would get along a lot better if they first got some time to cool down.

She quickly prepared a rudimentary breakfast, and Trixie finally arrived downstairs. It had taken her longer to pretty up than Twilight had expected, but she supposed the showmare was making up for lost time. Trixie seemed very happy with the meal she was given, but Twilight felt a little bit embarrassed: her cooking skills paled compared to the other mare’s, especially when it was a meal so hastily prepared. Trixie praised her several times nonetheless, and for some reason this made her disproportionately happy. Spike complimented her frequently, and while that did make her happy it never felt so... overwhelming.

It was a beautiful day outside, and Twilight started to show Trixie around town. They weren’t in a hurry so they took their time, casually walking and talking as Twilight pointed out all the places of interest they passed by. Trixie had been in town before, of course, but she had never really gotten a chance to look around, so for her the tour was pretty interesting. And, on top of that, the two unicorns quickly found that they actually had a lot in common, so they had an almost endless number of topics to talk about.

Sadly, the interaction with the rest of the town went exactly as Twilight had expected. Nopony approached them to strike up a conversation, but Twilight and Trixie could feel their eyes upon them, and whispers followed wherever they went. Twilight knew the hostility wasn’t really aimed at her, so she didn’t suffer under it, but she could tell that it bothered Trixie. The showmare returned every glance with a haughty smile or a cocky grin of her own (much to Twilight’s chagrin), but Twilight began to notice subtle signs of loneliness as well: a faint sparkling in the corner of Trixie’s eyes, a certain feel of artificiality in her grins and smiles... It strengthened her in the belief that behind the showmare’s mask there was a kind and gentle unicorn wanting to come out, but afraid to do so. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fix that in just one day, but she was determined to think of something that could help.

At noon, they bought sandwiches at the local restaurant, but the way in which the waiter kept staring at Trixie made it clear that she was only being served because Twilight was also there. That infuriated Twilight, but she kept her mouth shut. The ponies of Ponyville had their reasons to distrust Trixie, and their opinion wouldn’t be changed with words, but with time.

They spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the Whitetail Woods, where Ponyville held its annual running of the leaves. Seeing as it was still mid-summer, that wouldn’t be needed for a while yet, so the two unicorns simply enjoyed the idyllic scenery.

It was already evening by the time they got back to the library, but Spike still hadn’t returned. Twilight sighed; he was being even more stubborn than usual. The two unicorns took turns bathing, and Trixie prepared them a marvelous dinner once again. The evening was still young, so Twilight decided to test out her new magical ingredients, as Trixie pulled up a book.

In essence, Twilight’s experiment sounded simple: to magically accelerate a plant’s growth. But she had quickly found it wasn’t easy at all, far from it. Unicorns had been able to create flowers and the like out of thin air for centuries, but these were crude imitations of the original: they looked good, but they faded away within mere minutes, and anypony who’d ever tried eating them had quickly been rushed to the closest hospital. She sought to recreate the passive aura of beneficial magic the earth ponies seemed to carry with them, in order to harness it into a single burst of energy. But so far, all her attempts had gone very, very wrong.

She placed a clay pot--containing dirt and a single seed--upon the table in front of her, and put the dryad bark she had purchased right next to it. The bark was known for the positive effects it had upon plant growth, and so Twilight sought to harness its powers for her spell. The main problem was that she couldn’t shape the spell and control its growth inside of the plant at the same time, so she hoped the bark would take one of those functions upon itself. She started to concentrate, and Trixie watched her with some interest from her spot on the sofa, her legs folded beneath her.

Twilight’s horn lit up with magical energy, which she skillfully channeled through the bark and into the pot. A flower started to grow, pushing the earth aside as it made its way up, its petals opening to greet the world. Twilight finally stopped feeding energy into it as the flower attained its maximum height, but, to her frustration, it instantly exploded in a cloud of dust, as if it had aged several years in the blink of an eye.

She sighed as she walked into the kitchen, frustrated by yet another complete failure. “I need a drink...”

“Hmmm...” Trixie said ponderously. “You know, the bark isn’t a bad idea, but Trixie doesn’t think it’ll ever work.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked as she returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “You want some?”

Trixie nodded. “Because, from what Trixie can tell, the spell you’re trying to perform needs to be very precise, and a natural ingredient, no matter how well prepared, will always have imperfections.”

Twilight poured two glasses of wine, levitating one over to Trixie, as she started sipping from her own. She went to lie down on the sofa as well, facing Trixie.

“But then what? I can’t control both elements of the process myself...” she said defensively.

Trixie shook her head. “No... but we could each control half of the spell.”

Twilight’s eyes grew wide. A cooperative spell... She’d never thought of that, mainly because there hadn’t been a magical talent worth speaking of in Ponyville, aside from herself. But now that Trixie suggested it, the idea did make sense... although it did cause entirely new complications of its own.

“Well, yes, but the flux vibrations would be completely off, which would in turn mess up the casting sequence.”

“Not if we first run both streams through a sync bypass.”

“Oh, that could work! But then what do you do with...”

They continued to debate and argue for the better part of an hour, pointing out mistakes in each other’s reasoning, and coming up with solutions to problems as they popped up. Twilight continued to keep their glasses well-filled, and it wasn’t long at all before she had to go get a second bottle of wine. The two of them became increasingly tipsy, but that didn’t seem to hamper their thought process at all. If anything, it made them more daring and unorthodox, as they came up with ideas they’d normally never even consider.

“We need to try thish... right now,” Trixie said with a hiccup, when they finally ironed out every problem they could find.

“R-right now?” Twilight asked as she got up from the couch, her legs feeling slightly wobbly. “Alright, let me jussht...”

She went to fetch another pot of earth to experiment on (she had prepared quite a lot of them, just in case), and placed it in the middle of the table again, pushing the other one aside. Trixie got up from the sofa as well, and came to stand beside the other unicorn.

“Ready?” she asked as she steadied herself against the table.

“Ready!” Twilight replied, suppressing a giggle.

They both started concentrating at the same time, and their horns flared up with power. They focused their magic upon the same point, and a combination of Twilight’s raspberry-coloured aura and Trixie’s lighter magenta flared up around the pot. Twilight closed her eyes as she fed more energy into the spell. As expected, the casting was a lot slower than with the spell she had tried before, as a lot of energy was lost during the synchronisation process. Even so, a flower started to grow slowly but surely, until eventually it was just as big as the previous one.

“It’sh done,” Trixie said breathlessly, and Twilight opened her eyes, almost afraid to look.

The flower’s petals were beautifully red, and it didn’t seem like it was about to collapse any time soon. Twilight leaned forward and carefully tore off one petal with her teeth, tasting it on her tongue. It tasted... delicious!

“Yesh, we did it!” she said triumphantly, as she started jumping around the room. “Yesh, yesh, yesh!”

Trixie smiled. “Took sho much e-energy... Trixie doesn’t think it’ll have practical use any time shoon... but ish shtart.”

Twilight stopped in front of the other mare, and pulled her into an embrace, happiness flooding over her. “Thank you, thank you s-sho much... B-Been trying sho long...”

Trixie didn’t know whether it was because of the alcohol or not, but her heart suddenly started pounding inside of her chest. Growing up in an orphanage, she hadn’t known love for a long time, and that had hardly changed even after she’d started taking care of herself. Yet Twilight had shown her an overwhelming amount of kindness, despite having good reasons to dislike Trixie. On top of that, she was amazingly intelligent, and just as interested in magic as Trixie was. Despite the angry looks of the other Ponyvillians, today had been one of her happiest days in years... all because of Twilight. Not to mention that she was more than pleasant to look at, and she smelled so good...

Trixie couldn’t control herself any longer, and gave Twilight a light lick across her cheek. She immediately regretted it as the other mare recoiled slightly, looking at her in surprise.

“W-why d-did you... ?” Twilight stammered, as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Fear grasped Trixie’s heart in a vice, and she instantly felt sobered up. “T-Trixie’s sorry... I... I just couldn’t control myself... You’re so smart, and nice... and... kinda sexy... and...” The showmare hung her head. “I-if Trixie is making you uncomfortable, s... she can l-leave...” she said with a little voice.

Twilight gently pushed up Trixie’s chin with a hoof, until the showmare was looking at her again. To Trixie’s great surprise, the smile around Twilight’s lips could only described as lascivious. “Mmmm, no... I don’t want you to leave...” she said as she leaned in, whispering into the other mare’s ear. “I just wish you told me shooner... I wouldn’t have had to lie about how you ended up in my bed thish morning.” She nibbled softly on Trixie’s ear.

Trixie squirmed as shivers ran down her spine. She felt her knees go weak, and clung onto Twilight for support. “Y-You mean you... ?”

Twilight grinned as she pressed her forehead up against Trixie’s, her eyes locked to the other mare’s. She shivered as she saw her own emotions reflected in them: passion, longing and a sizeable build-up of lust. “I thought it had jusht been a dream... I was a bit sh-shtartled to find I really did it...”

Trixie suddenly locked her lips to Twilight’s as she pushed her backwards, until the purple unicorn fell down upon the sofa behind her. Trixie climbed on top of her immediately, her legs astride Twilight’s body as she leaned in to continue the kiss. Twilight hooked her forelegs around Trixie’s neck and the back of her head, trying to pull her closer, panting as she felt her body burn up with anticipation and desire.

“Twilight, I’m ba-” Spike’s voice rang out throughout the library, as he stepped into the room. He immediately froze as he spotted the two unicorns intertwined upon the sofa, and his mouth fell open.

“It’sh... mmm... n-not... what it looksh l-like...” Twilight panted, as Trixie teasingly kissed her neck, smiling mockingly at the dragon.

“It’s NOT?” Spike yelled. “Then what is it?”

Twilight searched her mind for a proper answer, but between the alcohol and Trixie’s intoxicating presence, she couldn’t formulate a coherent thought. “W-wait... what does this l-look like?”

“Like we’re making out,” Trixie breathed into her ear hotly.

“Oh,” the purple unicorn said, “then I guessh it ish what it looks like.” She frowned.

“That’s it,” Spike said decidedly as he balled his fists, “I’m not staying here a second longer. I’m sure Fluttershy still has room for one more.”

He immediately turned tail and stomped out of the room, and Twilight extended a hoof in his direction. “Shpike! W-wait...”

“He’ll be back,” Trixie said as she pressed her body into Twilight’s, “for now, just let him blow off some steam...”

Note: Continued in the next two chapters. For the clop version, read the next chapter. For the non-clop version, skip the next chapter and move to the one after that.

Getting Acquainted (Clop Version)

Disclaimer: This is the uncensored clop version of this chapter. If you do not wish to read such things, simply skip to the next chapter and read the censored version there.

Twilight wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to let him go or not, but her body quickly made the decision for her. As Trixie pressed into her, she felt her breathing go shallow, and excitement once again took hold. She drew Trixie back into a kiss, and this time she slipped her tongue fully into the other mare’s mouth, hungrily exploring her as she returned the favour. Pretty soon, their tongues were twirling and twisting around each other, and Twilight felt the heat build up in the pit of her stomach, as her hooves explored every inch of Trixie’s plot.

Trixie started panting and moaning into the purple unicorn’s mouth, as months of sexual frustration she hadn’t even been aware of finally found their outlet. Her body shuddered, and she teasingly moved her head away.

“N-no...” Twilight said pleadingly, quivering with desire. “D-don’t stop... come back... please...”

“Oh, don’t you worry...” Trixie said as she panted. “I still haven’t thanked you properly for letting me stay, have I?”

Twilight wanted to reply, but she cut herself off with a loud moan as Trixie leaned forward and slowly dragged her tongue across the length of Twilight’s horn. Even though it appeared to be bone, a unicorn’s horn was actually extremely sensitive in order to more easily percieve and control magical fluctuations, and Twilight felt waves of pleasure wash over her, as the area between her legs turned to mush.

“Mngh... Oh... Oh Trixie,” she moaned as she reached down between the showmare’s legs with a forehoof, caressing the insides of her thighs.

Trixie quivered in anticipation, and she threw her head back into her neck as Twilight’s hoof brushed up against the folds of her sex. Twilight immediately started to caress the mare’s sopping flower gently, and Trixie gasped for breath.

“You’re shooooo wet, you naughty little pony,” Twilight said teasingly.

“T-that’s not f-fair,” Trixie stumbled, “I bet you’re s-soaked too...”

The purple unicorn moaned, as she rubbed her legs together. Trixie was right; Twilight was probably wetter than she was.

Trixie licked the other mare’s horn again, and then closed her lips around the tip, sucking softly. Twilight felt every rational thought flush out of her head, as a new wave of pleasure swept through her like a bolt of electricity. She began to stroke the length of Trixie’s clit, and the blue unicorn moaned, swirling her tongue around the tip of Twilight’s horn in retaliation.

Twilight’s strokes became less and less precise, when an idea suddenly hit her. Her horn lit up with energy (which spread a pleasant, tingling sensation through Trixie’s mouth) as she picked up one of the empty wine bottles, rubbing the tip up and down against the folds of Trixie’s quivering sex. The mare gasped as she felt the cold glass against her hot pussy, her moans vibrating through Twilight’s horn. She yelled out in pleasure as Twilight slid the neck of the bottle into her wetness, and was temporarily unable to go on sucking as Twilight started to pump it in and out of her.

“Yes! Oh yes! Buck me, Twilight, buck Trixie with that bottle! Make Trixie come!” she screamed, quivering and panting as she bucked her hips, meeting Twilight’s thrusts.

Lust and hunger overtook her mind, as she wrapped her lips around the purple unicorn’s horn again, sliding her mouth up and down the length of it as her tongue caressed every inch, sucking frantically.

“Mnghgh... yeeessss...” Twilight hissed through clenched teeth as she rubbed her body against Trixie’s, pumping the bottle into the showmare’s sopping lot. The mare’s wetness had created a sizeable patch of soaked fur on Twilight’s stomach, and she herself was dripping all over the sofa. She curled her back as she neared her peak, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she clung to Trixie, trying to steady her quivering body. Trixie could feel the other mare tensing up beneath her, and she redoubled her efforts, sucking even harder and bucking back against the bottle as if she had lost her mind, the walls of her cunt rippling around it.

Twilight screamed as she was driven over the edge, and a discharge of raw magical energy shot from her horn, coursing through Trixie’s body, activating all of her pleasure points all at once. They started climaxing virtually at the same time, and they clung to each other as wave upon wave of pleasure washed over them, causing both of them to shake violently. Twilight lost control over the bottle, but Trixie’s pussy clamped around it like a vice, holding it in place as she came all over it.

Finally, Trixie collapsed against Twilight’s chest, and the bottle plopped out with a wet sucking noise, falling to the ground and rolling away under the table. Twilight panted, trying to catch her breath as her whole body buzzed with contentment.

“T-that... that wash a-amazing...” she managed to pant, caressing Trixie’s mane lightly.

Trixie didn’t reply, and Twilight soon became aware of the rhythmical rising and falling of the other mare’s chest: she was already sound asleep. Twilight smiled, and shrugged. She didn’t want to wake her new lover up, and she was comfortable enough anyway. She yawned, when she suddenly realised Spike really hadn’t come back...

Ah well, she mused as she closed her eyes, Future Twilight will take care of it...

Walk of Shame

It was already past noon by the time Future Twilight started to wake up, and she cursed Past Twilight silently. Her neck hurt, and her body felt sort of stiff, but it was nothing compared to the pounding in her head. On top of that, she could feel a weight pushing down upon her chest. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the light.

“Ughh... I had the weirdest dream,” she muttered as she rubbed her eyes.

She looked up, blinked, and then rubbed her eyes again, but the image of Trixie smiling down at her lovingly did not fade. Instead, the other mare kissed her on the forehead, before cuddling up, rubbing her cheek against Twilight’s. The showmare’s mane was quite messy, but that only added a certain sex appeal Twilight found hard to describe. It just constantly made her think about the best parts of last night.

“Not a dream?” the purple unicorn asked silently.

“Not a dream,” Trixie confirmed, “are you having second thoughts?” She looked down at Twilight with concern in her eyes, biting down upon her lower lip.

“Not at all,” Twilight reassured her as she pulled her into a tender kiss, her hooves ruffling through Trixie’s hair. “But I just found out that I love you, that I’m a fillyfooler AND that we had sex... I’m still a little surprised.”

Trixie grinned. “Well, you better get used to it fast, Twilight Sparkle... Magic tricks aren’t the only thing Trixie is exceptionally good at.” She winked, and Twilight felt her cheeks flush, a little shiver running down her spine. She suddenly realised they were still in the library, so if Spike had already unlocked the door...

Spike.

“Oooohhhh, dear,” Twilight said with a groan, “I need to get to Fluttershy’s right away.”

“Who?” Trixie said as she used the tip of her hoof to lazily trace patterns across Twilight’s coat, not intent on letting her new marefriend go anywhere just yet.

“Fluttershy. You know, the yellow mare who...” Twilight paused, as she racked her brains for memories of the last time Trixie had come to town. “... who you’ve never seen before in your life, right.” She pushed a hoof up against her forehead, as if that would miraculously cure her headache. “She’s a timid pegasus who likes caring for animals... Spike said that’s where he was going.”

“We don’t need him here,” Trixie said, “just the two of us, together, is ideal to Trixie. And it sounds like your friend Fluttershy will take good care of the... dragon.” She nearly spit out that last word.

Twilight sat up a bit straighter, as she shook her head. “No, I can’t just leave him there. I was the one who hatched him, and he’s been my number one assistant for ages... I need to at least go see if he’s alright.”

“But he’s such a bother,” Trixie whined.

Twilight glared at Trixie, until the showmare sighed and got off of her. The purple unicorn got up and pressed a soft kiss on Trixie’s cheek. “I’ll go, you stay here and prepare lunch, ok?”

“Well, Trixie really thinks you shouldn’t...”

“Trixie...” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes.

“But Twilight, Trixie is just trying to-”

“Look, I finally admitted I love you, but you’ll just have to learn to get along with Spike,” Twilight said as she strode towards the door, “just like he’ll have to learn to get along with you. He’s my assistant, you’re my marefriend, end of discussion.”

“Yes, fine, but-” Trixie tried again, but Twilight had already vanished out of the door. “But you look like you haven’t combed your mane in a week, and you smell like sex and... Trixie,” she finally concluded with a sigh. She shrugged.

At least they wouldn’t have to worry about how and when to make their relationship public.

***

Twilight was immensely relieved when she finally crossed the bridge out of town. Everypony kept staring at her for some reason, and it made her feel really uncomfortable. She didn’t mind it when Trixie was with her, she just hadn’t expected the showmare’s reputation to brush off on her like that. It was possible that wasn’t it at all, of course, but she couldn’t for the life of her think of a different reason that made even the slightest bit of sense. At least the fresh air had done her headache good.

She crossed the second bridge leading up to Fluttershy’s cottage, and made her way over to the front door. She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door, mentally preparing what to say. It took a few moments, but finally the door opened slightly, and Fluttershy peeped out.

“Yes? Oh, it’s you Twilight,” she said as she pushed the door open further. She was finally able to take a good look at Twilight, and her eyes widened. “Oh my...”

Twilight stood up on the tips of her hooves, trying to look into the house over Fluttershy’s head. She managed to spot a few random animals, but Spike was nowhere to be found. “Hey Fluttershy, did Spike come here yesterday, by any chance?”

The pegasus looked over her shoulder, then stared down at the ground uncomfortably. “Euhm... yes.”

Twilight sighed in relief. “Well then, could you go get him for me?”

Fluttershy hesitated, as she scratched at the ground with a hoof. “He... he doesn’t want to see you, Twilight...” she said almost inaudibly.

“What?” Twilight said in surprise, before chuckling softly. “Hehe, I think I misheard you there, for a moment I thought you said he didn’t want... to...” she started to say, but she fell silent as Fluttershy shook her head. “Wait he... he really doesn’t want to see me?”

Fluttershy nodded, cringing slightly. She really, really didn’t want to do this to her friend, but she didn’t want to betray Spike’s trust, either. On top of that, she kinda agreed with the baby dragon, especially considering Twilight’s current condition.

“At least tell me why,” Twilight demanded, but Fluttershy shook her head. Twilight bowed through her knees and turned her head, trying to meet Fluttershy’s eyes, but the pegasus just turned her head away. “Tell me!”

“Y... you really want to know?” Fluttershy said in a little voice. Twilight nodded, and the other mare took in a big breath, before letting an entire flood of words out in one go. “You invited Trixie to live with you without even asking if he was ok with that and then you kept taking Trixie’s side in every debate and so Spike feels ignored and he doesn’t like Trixie and he’s afraid it will continue to get worse and then he saw the two of you making out and he decided he was just a third wheel so he doesn’t want to see you for a while.”

Fluttershy panted, and Twilight blinked several times.

“That’s not true at all! I didn’t ignore him, I tried to get both of them to get along,” Twilight said in frustration.

“Yet every time he disappeared, you stuck with Trixie instead of looking for him,” Fluttershy said in a reprimanding manner, standing up a bit taller.

Twilight recoiled slightly. “That’s... I thought he needed some space,” she said defensively.

“He didn’t then, but he does now, so just leave him here. I’ll take good care of him, you know I will,” Fluttershy said soothingly.

“I’m taking him with me,” Twilight said as she tried to slip past Fluttershy, but to her great surprise the pegasus pushed her back, standing up tall and spreading her wings to block off the door.

“Now you listen here, Twilight, he doesn’t want to see you. What’s more, you aren’t fit to care for an infant right now,” she said severely.

“But-”

“No buts, missy!” Fluttershy cut her off harshly, and Twilight shrunk back under her commanding gaze. “You were making out in the middle of the library, where Spike could walk in at any time, and now you come here with your mane all messed up and alcohol on your breath, smelling like some animal in heat! I can’t, in good conscience, trust you with the care of a baby dragon when you’d obviously rather be spreading your legs for this Trixie character right now.”

Twilight was too shocked for words. She combed a hoof through her hair, and then lowered her head to sniff at her own coat. Her mane really was messed up, and she could very clearly make out Trixie’s scent on herself. For other ponies, it probably hung around her like a cloud. She slapped a hoof against her forehead and groaned. So that was what Trixie had tried to warn her about. She sighed; it was hardly fair to ask Spike to trust Trixie if she didn’t give the mare the benefit of the doubt herself. She’d have to apologise when she got back.

“I don’t know if you love this mare or if you just needed a good bucking, Twilight,” Fluttershy continued, “but as long as Spike doesn’t want to go back, I’m not going to let you make him. Are we clear?”

Twilight sighed again, and nodded. “Crystal,” she said. “And if you really want to know... Yes, I do love her. She... she’s my marefriend, now...”

Fluttershy’s expression turned back to one of kindness and understanding, as she put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I’m so happy for you two, Twilight. You’ve made a lot of friends since you got here, but what you really needed was a soulmate, I could tell.”

“R-really?” Twilight stuttered. “Well, I did feel lonely at times, even with all my friends around, but...”

“Yes, really,” Fluttershy said as she nodded sagely. “Why don’t you just enjoy life for a bit, and leave Spike to me? You’re like his mother in a lot of ways, and it’s hard for him to accept that he has to share you now. Owloysius was one thing, but now you’ve gone and accepted somepony into your life that he just can’t compete with. You have got to understand why he needs some time to come to terms with that, don’t you?”

Twilight bit her lip, and nodded reluctantly. “You promise to take good care of him?”

Fluttershy beamed. “You can count on me to meet all his needs, Twilight, I promise.”

“Alright,” Twilight said as she took a step backwards and prepared to start the return trip, “I guess I can leave it up to you then. Please tell Spike I’m not mad at him, he can take all the time he needs, and Trixie and I will be waiting for him at the library. Now if you’ll excuse me I... I really need to shower.”

Fluttershy waved her friend farewell, going back inside and closing the door as Twilight finally crossed the bridge and rounded the corner, where the trees hid her from sight. She’d have looked after Spike anyway, of course, but now she’d really do everything in her power to take care of him. She simply couldn’t disappoint Twilight, not after shouting her down like that.

She felt a little bit bad about that, but at the same time she smiled on the inside. Twilight, of all ponies, had a marefriend? Fluttershy had thought nopony would ever manage to steal Twilight’s heart away from her books and studies, but today that had finally happened. Trixie had to be a very special mare indeed, and Fluttershy was certain Spike’s claims were exaggerated when it came to her. Twilight would never fall in love with a pony who didn’t have a good heart. She frowned; her friend just had to find a good balance between the conflicting elements in her life. And learn some discretion, of course. Running through town with a bedroom mane like that...

“Oh Spike,” she called out, “do you want some gems?”

She smiled. This’d be a piece of cake. Twilight had nothing to worry about.

***

Having been made aware of how scandalous she looked, Twilight’s second walk of shame through the town proved to be especially humiliating, and she was blushing profusely by the time the library appeared within view. She could’ve teleported around, of course, but since she could only make short hops to places within sight (unless she just jumped randomly), that would’ve garnered even more attention to herself. There’d already be enough rumours floating around after today.

As she approached the door, she heard her marefriend yell inside, and she froze for a second. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not in the least bit obliged to answer to the two of you! Her private life is not on display for a bunch of foals, it is none of your business.”

“Hold on there, sugarcube, ya’ll be getting involved with our friend, so I reck’n that makes it our business,” Applejack said.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash concurred. “Still on about that ‘great and powerful’ stuff? You’re nothing but a loudmouth, Trixie.”

“We don’t take kindly to yer kind around here,” Applejack added.

Twilight finally opened the door, as she burst into the library. Three pairs of pony eyes locked onto her in an instant, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly sped over to her. Applejack didn’t pay any attention to her friend’s appearance, but Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Twilight, please tell me ya’ll thought very carefully about this,” Applejack said, “ah’m not sure ah trust Trixie’s motives.”

“She’s just using you for an evil plot to get back at Ponyville, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed a hoof at Trixie. “But why do you look like you flew through a hurricane? And you smell like... like...” She gasped, as she glanced from Trixie to Twilight. “You didn’t!”

“Yes we did,” Trixie yelled triumphantly as she jumped in front of Twilight, “so why don’t you two turn around, and take a hike? You’re not needed here.”

“Trixie...” Twilight reprimanded.

“Twilight, we know you have your, uh... needs,” Rainbow Dash said awkwardly as she flew up above Trixie, “but Trixie is just using those to get to you!”

Twilight shook her head. “Look, I know it may sound weird after what happened last time, but I... I really love Trixie. If you just gave her a chance...”

Applejack wanted to say something, but Trixie cut her off, as she drew Twilight in for a kiss. Twilight was momentarily too stunned to react, and Dash glared at them.

“Come on AJ,” she said as she flew down towards the door, throwing Twilight foul looks. “We’re obviously not wanted here.”

Applejack hesitated for a moment, but then followed Rainbow Dash, throwing one last look over her shoulder before she stepped out of the door. Trixie looked back as well, smiling at Applejack cockily as Twilight tried to catch her breath.

“W-what was that for?” she finally managed to say when they were alone again.

Trixie stepped away, falling down onto the sofa and hiding her face in her hooves. “It just keeps happening,” she said softly, “Trixie always felt so weak, helpless... until she stood on stage... and now, Trixie just can’t...”

The purple unicorn walked over to Trixie’s side, and softly stroked her mane. “Oh love, it’ll take some time, but they’ll come around eventually.”

Trixie shook her head, then looked up at Twilight with tear-filled eyes. “You don’t understand... If Trixie had just been nice to them... But Trixie can’t do it. Trixie can’t take off this damn mask...”

Twilight smiled sympathetically at the other mare, as she embraced her. She kissed Trixie’s cheek, and suddenly an idea came to her. “Wait... that’s it! You’re stuck in a role, right? So what if we replace it with a different role? One on the other side of the spectrum? Maybe you’d be able to find a balance between the two.”

Trixie dried her eyes, and frowned. “Trixie isn’t sure she gets what you mean...”

Twilight let go of her, and started to pace around enthusiastically. “We’ll need to go see my friend Rarity. Hopefully she’ll uh... forgive you for the green mane thing...”

The blue unicorn stood up as well. “Trixie isn’t sure what this is all about... but she does know one thing.”

“Yes?”

“You still need to take a bath.”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. She couldn’t believe she’d almost forgotten again.

Spitefully Generous

After Twilight’s bath, they headed out towards Rarity’s.

“Alright,” Twilight said as they stopped outside of Carousel Boutique, “here’s what I want you to do.”

“Trixie’s listening...”

“Yes, exactly,” Twilight said with a nod. “You listen. Don’t talk unless you really need to. We do not want to upset Rarity, alright?”

Trixie mumbled unintelligibly.

“Good!” Twilight chimed, and she pushed open the door.

Rarity was hard at work, standing in front of her little podium and frowning at her latest design. She spun around as she heard the two other unicorns enter, and a smile lit up her face.

“Twilight, how lovely it is to see you! You really must come by more often, dear,” the fabulous unicorn said as she strode forward, “and I see you’ve brought a.. frie... friend...” Rarity’s right eye started twitching as she pulled Twilight closer, turning her back towards Trixie, whispering urgently: “What is she doing here?”

Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Ehehehe, well, you see we, uh... were kinda hoping you’d... erm, make her... an outfit?” Twilight put on an uncertain smile. “Please?”

Rarity looked back over her shoulder, eyeing Trixie up and down. Trixie was doing her best to ignore the scene in front of her, looking around with interest, as she walked over to one of the outfits on display.

“She made my mane green, Twilight,” Rarity said in a deceptively calm manner. “Green!”

Twilight scratched her head. “I was kind of hoping we could... euhm... get past that... minor incident? No?”

Rarity glared at her coldly.

“Oh come on Rarity, please?” Twilight begged. “I really don’t know who else to turn to with this, and besides, didn’t green manes go in fashion, like, two days later?”

“Well yes, but it was back to normal by then,” Rarity said as she stroked her mane and glanced back at Trixie, who was now carefully feeling up one of the dresses on display, apparently trying to figure out what fabric it was made of. Rarity sighed. “Just tell me what it is the two of you want, Twilight, and I’ll consider it.”

“We need a Canterlot maid outfit for Trixie.”

“WHAT?” Trixie blurted out as she turned towards Twilight. “Trixie does not recall agreeing to this!”

“Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight,” Rarity said as she pointed a hoof at Trixie, “you don’t want this?”

“No!”

Rarity turned back towards Twilight, smiling brightly. “I’ll be absolutely delighted to make her that outfit, dear,” she said as she swept the design she’d been working on off of the podium. “This project wasn’t working out, at any rate.” She frowned sadly, and then turned her head towards Trixie. “Alright dear, please come on up here so that I can take your measurements.”

“You’ll do it? Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” Twilight exclaimed as she clapped her hooves happily, but Trixie shook her head.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will never wear a common maid’s attire,” she proclaimed as she stamped a hoof down upon the floor. “It is, quite simply, unworthy of her magnificence.”

“Give us a moment please,” Twilight told Rarity, as she took Trixie aside. “Look,” she whispered, “I’ve gotten her to agree, so will you pleeaaassseee just work with me here?” She smiled. “I promise this is for your own good.”

“Trixie is not dressing up like a maid!” the showmare hissed back, as Rarity subtly tried to eavesdrop in on the conversation.

“She is if she doesn’t want to sleep on the couch from now on,” Twilight said. A sly grin spread across her face.

“Y-you wouldn’t,” the blue unicorn stuttered. “You can’t make Trixie sleep on the couch! Trixie needs her beauty sleep, and that thing looked... most uncomfortable.”

“Well then,” Twilight said triumphantly as she nodded towards the stage.

Trixie let out a groan of irritation, before reluctantly walking over to the other side of the room and climbing onto the stage.

“All yours, Rarity,” Twilight said with a wink.

“Excellent, let’s begin then, shall we?” the fashionista said, and within moments Trixie was covered in a cloud of measuring tape, as Rarity took a dozen measurements at once. “Tell me more about the design, Twilight. Frilly, or plain?”

“Plain!” Trixie shouted, but Twilight shook her head.

“Frilly, definitely frilly.”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled. She was getting into the swing of things, but Twilight wasn’t sure if that was because of some kind of artistic vision, or because of Trixie’s palpable reluctance. “Hmmm, modest, or a bit... risqué?”

“Modest!”

“As risqué as you can make it,” Twilight said cheerfully.

Rarity could barely contain her excitement. “And one of those cute maid’s caps?”

Trixie shook her head fiercely, but Twilight just said: “Naturally.”

The white unicorn squee’d and clapped her forehooves excitedly, before rushing off towards her drawing table and making a few quick sketches. She then levitated a mountain of white and black fabrics over to Trixie, and started modelling them against the mare’s coat. Trixie grumbled, but she didn’t move; she really, really didn’t want to sleep on the couch, alone.

“You are going to look positively lovely, my dear,” Rarity assured Trixie as she stored everything away again. “Even someone with your, well, shall we say... less than stellar attitude won’t be able to make this look bad.”

Twilight could see the sweat drip down Trixie’s brow as the showmare did her best to keep her mouth shut, for fear of putting the insults at the tip of her tongue into words. The purple unicorn smiled; Trixie really was trying her best, and what more could she ask for, really?

Rarity walked back towards her drawing table and made some extra notes, writing down all the measurements she had taken, as well as her choice of fabric.

“So, when can we expect it to be done?” Twilight asked as she helped Trixie off of the stage, sneaking in a little kiss behind Rarity’s back.

Rarity tapped a hoof against her chin. “Hmmm, well, usually it’d be a few days... But I’ve simply got to see this... So tomorrow, at noon?”

Trixie groaned, and Twilight’s mouth fell open. “Really? So soon?”

“Well, it isn’t an entirely new design,” the fashionista explained, “and really, who needs sleep anyway?” she let out a laugh that was obviously meant to sound light hearted, but Twilight detected a hint of uncertainty nonetheless.

“Uh well, if you’re sure,” Twilight said as she motioned for Trixie to head outside. The mare seemed about ready to explode with pent-up frustration.

“But of course. Oh, and Twilight?” Rarity asked before Twilight could step out herself. “Why are you hanging around Trixie, anyway?”

“Oh.” Twilight started to blush. “She had no place to stay so I invited her over, and now she’s my... m-marefriend...”

“Ah, your marefriend, I see,” Rarity said distractedly as she turned back towards her sketches, and Twilight slipped outside. The full meaning of the words only dawned on Rarity a full minute later, and her mouth fell open. Twilight wasn’t asexual? And why did they need a maid’s outfit, anyw-

“Oh,” Rarity uttered, as one possible reason presented itself to her, making her blush slightly. Well, she supposed that meant she could go all-out with the risqué element, and it wouldn’t be the first time she made something more suited to the bedroom than the streets. Still, she’d have thought that if one of those two mares was to wear such a costume, it’d have been Twilight...

“It’s always the nerdy ones,” she said with a shrug, and got to work.

The Dressing Room (Clop Version)

Disclaimer: This is the uncensored clop version of this chapter. If you do not wish to read such things, simply skip to the next chapter and read the censored version there.

“Explain again how this is supposed to help Trixie,” the blue unicorn said at noon the very next day, as they were on their way to Carousel Boutique just after Twilight finished checking her saddlebags outside of the library.

Twilight rolled her eyes. She’d explained it so many times already, so by now she was quite sure Trixie was just trying to find one little word or the other to nitpick about. “Your arrogance comes from your stage persona, right? So if you play a different role for a while--one that’s about humbleness and serving others--it may balance out.”

“But being your maid...” Trixie whined, causing Twilight to stop and face her.

“Look, Trixie... We both know you’re suffering under this,” she said with a smile, “and to be honest, so am I. I love you, and I can feel that love growing a little bit every day... but I love my friends as well, in a different way, and it tears me apart to see you end up in fights with them all the time.” She pressed a forehoof against her own chest. “So if you can’t do it for yourself, do it for me?”

Trixie bit down on her bottom lip as she turned her head away, only to then turn back and look Twilight straight in the eyes. “Alright, Twilight... Trixie will do it, for us.”

Twilight hugged her marefriend, pressing a soft kiss upon her cheek. “I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think. After all, you’ll be my maid, right? Spike seems to have survived my supervision, so I’m sure you will do fine, too.”

“Don’t compare Trixie to a baby dragon...” Trixie said grumpily, as they continued on their way.

Twilight had hoped the buzz about Trixie being in town would have died out already, but it seemed she had been sorely mistaken. If anything, everypony seemed to have gotten even more interested in the two of them over the last few days. A myriad of whispers and stealthy glances followed them as they went, and Twilight felt that more of these were aimed at her than before. She shrugged; after the rumours she had started the day before, she really shouldn’t be surprised.

In stark contrast, there seemed to be a little bit more spring to Trixie’s step. Was she secretly relieved that they were at least trying something to cure her of her unusual condition? Or maybe she had also noticed some of the attention had shifted towards Twilight, and was relishing in the fact that they were, more or less, in the same position?

They arrived at Carousel Boutique and unceremoniously stepped inside, where they found Rarity sleeping on the floor in front of an empty stage. Trixie began looking around fearfully, trying to spot the outfit she’d be wearing for the foreseeable future, but it was nowhere within sight.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked as she gently shook the sleeping mare. “Wake up.”

Rarity stirred and slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the light. “Nooo mommy, I don’t want to wake up yet...”

“Uh no,” Twilight said in confusion, “it’s Twilight and Trixie. You know, for the maid outfit?”

Rarity’s eyes finally focused in on the mare’s face, and she smiled sleepily. “Oh, Twilight, yes... the outfits are in the... are in the dressing... area...” She stifled a yawn.

Trixie came closer as well, and Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Outfits? More than one?”

“Yes, yes,” Rarity said, waving her hoof around randomly as her eyes started closing again. “I had... fabric and time to spare, so... I made an... an extra set... so you... so you can... laundry...”

Rarity drifted back to sleep, and the other two unicorns exchanged a look.

“Should we move her?” Trixie asked uncertainly.

Twilight shook her head, and her horn lit up as she grabbed two stray sheets of fabric lying at the side of the room, draping one over Rarity as a blanket, while folding the other one under her head as a sort of improvised pillow. “I’d rather not wake her up, and I think she’ll be fine like this. Now, come on, the dressing area is over here,” Twilight said as she led the way. It felt a little strange leaving Rarity asleep, knowing how she had looked forward to seeing Trixie in the outfit, but there was nothing that could be done about that.

Trixie followed in her hoofsteps, nervous and excited at the same time. Because of how vain she was, she couldn’t help but like the fact that somepony had custom made not one, but two outfits for her... even if the outfits in question were a bit embarrassing.

They entered the dressing area, and Twilight’s mouth fell open in amazement, while Trixie’s cheeks flushed a bright red. Two identical black and white maid outfits--complete with cap--had been mounted onto mannequins, and Twilight could immediately tell Rarity had made them to specifications. They looked exceptionally sensual--even while mounted onto the mannequins--concealing just enough to entice the mind, while accentuating everything they did reveal.

“T-t-trixie c-can’t w-w-wear those,” the blue unicorn said as she backed away slowly, having gotten cold hooves.

Twilight turned around, a mischievous smile on her face as her horn lit up. “A bit too late for that, my love.”

“W-what are you... ?”

Twilight levitated Trixie into the air, holding her there as she lifted one of the costumes off of the mannequin. The blue unicorn tried to resist, but she wasn’t strong enough to fight off Twilight, not by a long shot. Trixie was intelligent, skilled and most ingenious, but she lacked Twi’s raw power, as well as the formal training she had enjoyed. Twilight didn’t doubt that, with a little coaching, Trixie could easily rise above her status as a simple trickster, but as things were she was simply no match.

“P-put Trixie down!” the blue unicorn demanded as she struggled against the spell fruitlessly.

“In a minute,” Twilight reassured her. She started dressing up her marefriend, ignoring her protests. For most unicorns, the task would have required too much precision, but Twilight--much like Rarity--was most capable in this field as well.

She finally put Trixie down, and the blue unicorn immediately started looking herself over, trying to see how the outfit looked on her, her entire face red with embarrassment. Twilight whistled softly, as her heart started pumping a little faster.

“H-how do I look?” Trixie said, looking down at the ground.

“Gorgeous...” Twilight replied as she pointed at one of the standing mirrors on the side of the room.

Trixie walked over right away, and she gasped as she laid eyes upon her reflection. She was still embarrassed, but she had to admit the maid’s outfit looked good on her. On top of that, it made her feel vulnerable, delicate and strangely humbled--the exact opposite of what her stage outfit usually made her feel. She let out a little yelp as she felt a hoof on her shoulder, having been so engulfed in observing herself that she hadn’t even noticed Twilight sneaking up on her in the mirror.

“Oh! P-please don’t do that, Twilight, you startled Trixie,” she said with a little sigh.

The purple unicorn frowned. “Twilight? No, no, no... I’m afraid that won’t do.” She shook her head. “From now on, you’re the maid, I’m the mistress, so you shall address me as such. Alright?”

“A-alright... mistress, Trixie is... eager to serve,” Trixie said uncertainly. For some reason, she felt those were the right words to say, and she didn’t have as much trouble saying them as she had thought she would.

Twilight smiled wolfishly, having already realised Trixie was a lot more susceptible to the suggestion that went out from the costume than they had assumed. Just a little encouragement, and she’d slip right into her role...

She pushed her body up against Trixie’s, causing them both to rise to their hind legs as the showmare-turned-maid was pinned against the wall. Trixie let out a yelp, and Twilight licked her lips.

“I think I’ve waited long enough for this...”

The blue unicorn nervously glanced at the curtains hiding the main room. “Twilight... should we... i-in here? Trixie doesn’t think that-”

“Mistress Twilight,” the purple unicorn corrected her. “And Rarity is fast asleep, it’ll be fine... I don’t pay you to think, anyway...” She leaned in and softly bit Trixie’s ear, causing the mare to let out a stifled moan.

“Ah... p-pay?”

“Well, of course,” Twilight breathed into her ear hotly, “as my maid you get food and lodgings, don’t you?”

Trixie couldn’t dispute that, and when Twilight finally pressed her lips upon hers she gave in to the kiss. In truth, she’d been longing for it as well, and as her tongue rolled against the other mare’s, all her objections about the location melted like snow before the sun. A slight tingling sensation alerted her to the fact that someone was using magic nearby, and soon she could feel ethereal tendrils stroking her all over. She gasped as one of them started stroking the wettening folds of her marehood, and she relished in the warmth of Twilight’s body, which she could feel even through her clothes.

Twilight moaned softly as well, as her spell gave her a level of sensory input she’d never felt before. Everything they touched materialised perfectly in her mind, and the feeling was most overwhelming. She wanted to be even closer to Trixie, feel more of her, lose herself in her maid’s pleasure...

The kiss intensified, as Twilight hungrily explored every inch of her marefriend’s mouth, even as her magical senses explored the rest of her body. She continued to stroke the folds of Trixie’s flower, but now also lightly caressed the length of her clit, her touch as intangible as a gentle summer breeze. It left Trixie with a sense of frustration, since she couldn’t reach the level of stimulation she craved, no matter how much she moved her hips or rubbed back against Twilight’s body.

“P-please, mistress,” Trixie panted as Twilight broke off the kiss, “let Trixie... let Trixie c-come...”

Twilight’s breathing had grown heavier as well, relishing not in physical sensations, but in the other mare’s moans and expressions and the control she could exert over them. “Hmmm, I don’t know,” Twilight said teasingly as she made her strokes even lighter, “does my little maid even deserve a reward like that?”

Trixie wrapped her legs around Twi, trying to get her body under control as she shook with desire, her need clearly shining through in her voice. “Please, mistress, please... T-trixie... Trixie will be a g-good maid... she’ll do anything... anything mistress desires, just p-please, Trixie begs...”

Twilight licked her lips as her heart started beating faster, her cheeks flushed, and a familiar wetness built up between her legs. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned her plan would work out, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself when she saw Trixie in that outfit. On top of that, it just felt so good; she found she loved being in control, and if Trixie was enjoying it as well, there was no harm in it, right?

Twi’s magic solidified slightly as it pressed into Trixie, parting the mare’s nether lips and expanding to fill the mare’s entire sex. The blue unicorn gasped, clinging onto Twilight even tighter as she arched her back, her juices overflowing. She’d never felt so stuffed before; sure, she’d had some partners before, but nothing like this magic. It seemed fluid and solid at the same time, perfectly filling up every fold, but not giving way as her cunt rippled and contracted around it.

“Yesss, yes!” Trixie screamed loudly. “Oh y-yes mistress, give it to Trixie... m-make her your little, obedient maid...”

Twilight shuddered and stifled a moan. If that was what Trixie wanted, she didn’t mind obliging. She started to move the magical tentacle back and forth inside of the blue mare, who started bucking her hips in tandem with the thrusts. Trixie’s sopping pussy made an irresistible squishing noise with every stroke, which sent shivers down Twilight’s spine as she gradually increased the intensity of her thrusts.

Trixie forgot the world, her entire mind focused on her snatch as it rippled and shook, nearing release. She thrashed her head from left to right, her tongue lolling outside of her mouth and her eyes almost rolling back in their sockets. Twilight frantically rubbed her body up against Trixie’s, as her hoof dropped down to give the blue unicorn’s clit just that little bit of extra stimulation it needed. Trixie’s moans became screams, which in turn became unintelligible garbling.

“Yes, come for me, come for your mistress,” said an increasingly excited Twilight, as she pressed herself against Trixie.

Trixie let out a wordless scream, her entire body a quivering heap of nerve endings as the walls of her cunt contracted heavily, her body letting all of the pleasure it had built up go in one big wave. She came hard around the ethereal invader, her juices squirting out and dripping onto the floor, as Twilight continued to pump into her mercilessly. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the mare’s orgasm finally came to an end, and she limply hung back against the wall, panting heavily.

Twilight finally put an end to the spell, as a great shaking and shuddering coursed through her body as well--not as powerful as what had happened to Trixie, but a lot longer lasting.

They stayed like that for a few moments, just two panting, shivering mares, basking in the afterglow. Twilight nuzzled her cheek against Trixie’s, seeking out the other mare’s lips and kissing her gently. The kiss was completely devoid of any lust or passion, instead being completely dedicated to love and love alone. Trixie returned it weakly, not fully recovered and her sex still twitching between her legs.

“I love you, mistress,” she whispered breathlessly as she buried her face against Twilight’s neck.

The purple unicorn stroked her lover’s mane softly. “Hmmm, as idyllic as this is, I’m afraid we’ll need to head back; Rarity won’t stay asleep forever. Can you walk?”

She softly let the other mare down. Trixie’s legs trembled underneath her for a moment, but she nodded. “Trixie thinks she’ll be alright, mistress.”

Twilight smiled at her affectionately. “Good, let’s go, then. Quietly.”

Trixie quickly straightened her clothes before she followed Twilight, hoping that’d make her look decent enough for the streets. The two of them tiptoed through the main room and past the stage, where Rarity still seemed to be fast asleep. They made their way over to the door and slipped out onto the streets, without making a sound.

Rarity slowly opened an eye as she heard the door fall shut, throwing aside the piece of cloth she’d been using as a blanket and standing up as soon as she verified the coast was clear. She brought a forehoof up in front of her face, staring at the glistening wetness coating it. That Twilight... she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be upset at the mare for bucking her marefriend in her store, or if she should just be thankful for the show. Well, she was thankful they’d stalled long enough for her to dive underneath the covers again, at least...

But that roleplaying those two got up to... It really was always the nerdy ones.

The Dressing Room (Non-Clop Version)

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.

“Explain again how this is supposed to help Trixie,” the blue unicorn said at noon the very next day, as they were on their way to Carousel Boutique just after Twilight finished checking her saddlebags outside of the library.

Twilight rolled her eyes. She’d explained it so many times already, so by now she was quite sure Trixie was just trying to find one little word or the other to nitpick about. “Your arrogance comes from your stage persona, right? So if you play a different role for a while--one that’s about humbleness and serving others--it may balance out.”

“But being your maid...” Trixie whined, causing Twilight to stop and face her.

“Look, Trixie... We both know you’re suffering under this,” she said with a smile, “and to be honest, so am I. I love you, and I can feel that love growing a little bit every day... but I love my friends as well, in a different way, and it tears me apart to see you end up in fights with them all the time.” She pressed a forehoof against her own chest. “So if you can’t do it for yourself, do it for me?”

Trixie bit down on her bottom lip as she turned her head away, only to then turn back and look Twilight straight in the eyes. “Alright, Twilight... Trixie will do it, for us.”

Twilight hugged her marefriend, pressing a soft kiss upon her cheek. “I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think. After all, you’ll be my maid, right? Spike seems to have survived my supervision, so I’m sure you will do fine, too.”

“Don’t compare Trixie to a baby dragon...” Trixie said grumpily, as they continued on their way.

Twilight had hoped the buzz about Trixie being in town would have died out already, but it seemed she had been sorely mistaken. If anything, everypony seemed to have gotten even more interested in the two of them over the last few days. A myriad of whispers and stealthy glances followed them as they went, and Twilight felt that more of these were aimed at her than before. She shrugged; after the rumours she had started the day before, she really shouldn’t be surprised.

In stark contrast, there seemed to be a little bit more spring to Trixie’s step. Was she secretly relieved that they were at least trying something to cure her of her unusual condition? Or maybe she had also noticed some of the attention had shifted towards Twilight, and was relishing in the fact that they were, more or less, in the same position?

They arrived at Carousel Boutique and unceremoniously stepped inside, where they found Rarity sleeping on the floor in front of an empty stage. Trixie began looking around fearfully, trying to spot the outfit she’d be wearing for the foreseeable future, but it was nowhere within sight.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked as she gently shook the sleeping mare. “Wake up.”

Rarity stirred and slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the light. “Nooo mommy, I don’t want to wake up yet...”

“Uh no,” Twilight said in confusion, “it’s Twilight and Trixie. You know, for the maid outfit?”

Rarity’s eyes finally focused in on the mare’s face, and she smiled sleepily. “Oh, Twilight, yes... the outfits are in the... are in the dressing... area...” She stifled a yawn.

Trixie came closer as well, and Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Outfits? More than one?”

“Yes, yes,” Rarity said, waving her hoof around randomly as her eyes started closing again. “I had... fabric and time to spare, so... I made an... an extra set... so you... so you can... laundry...”

Rarity drifted back to sleep, and the other two unicorns exchanged a look.

“Should we move her?” Trixie asked uncertainly.

Twilight shook her head, and her horn lit up as she grabbed two stray sheets of fabric lying at the side of the room, draping one over Rarity as a blanket, while folding the other one under her head as a sort of improvised pillow. “I’d rather not wake her up, and I think she’ll be fine like this. Now, come on, the dressing area is over here,” Twilight said as she led the way. It felt a little strange leaving Rarity asleep, knowing how she had looked forward to seeing Trixie in the outfit, but there was nothing that could be done about that.

Trixie followed in her hoofsteps, nervous and excited at the same time. Because of how vain she was, she couldn’t help but like the fact that somepony had custom made not one, but two outfits for her... even if the outfits in question were a bit embarrassing.

They entered the dressing area, and Twilight’s mouth fell open in amazement, while Trixie’s cheeks flushed a bright red. Two identical black and white maid outfits--complete with cap--had been mounted onto mannequins, and Twilight could immediately tell Rarity had made them to specifications. They looked exceptionally sensual--even while mounted onto the mannequins--concealing just enough to entice the mind, while accentuating everything they did reveal.

“T-t-trixie c-can’t w-w-wear those,” the blue unicorn said as she backed away slowly, having gotten cold hooves.

Twilight turned around, a mischievous smile on her face as her horn lit up. “A bit too late for that, my love.”

“W-what are you... ?”

Twilight levitated Trixie into the air, holding her there as she lifted one of the costumes off of the mannequin. The blue unicorn tried to resist, but she wasn’t strong enough to fight off Twilight, not by a long shot. Trixie was intelligent, skilled and most ingenious, but she lacked Twi’s raw power, as well as the formal training she had enjoyed. Twilight didn’t doubt that, with a little coaching, Trixie could easily rise above her status as a simple trickster, but as things were she was simply no match.

“P-put Trixie down!” the blue unicorn demanded as she struggled against the spell fruitlessly.

“In a minute,” Twilight reassured her. She started dressing up her marefriend, ignoring her protests. For most unicorns, the task would have required too much precision, but Twilight--much like Rarity--was most capable in this field as well.

She finally put Trixie down, and the blue unicorn immediately started looking herself over, trying to see how the outfit looked on her, her entire face red with embarrassment. Twilight whistled softly, as her heart started pumping a little faster.

“H-how do I look?” Trixie said, looking down at the ground.

“Gorgeous...” Twilight replied as she pointed at one of the standing mirrors on the side of the room.

Trixie walked over right away, and she gasped as she laid eyes upon her reflection. She was still embarrassed, but she had to admit the maid’s outfit looked good on her. On top of that, it made her feel vulnerable, delicate and strangely humbled--the exact opposite of what her stage outfit usually made her feel. She let out a little yelp as she felt a hoof on her shoulder, having been so engulfed in observing herself that she hadn’t even noticed Twilight sneaking up on her in the mirror.

“Oh! P-please don’t do that, Twilight, you startled Trixie,” she said with a little sigh.

The purple unicorn frowned. “Twilight? No, no, no... I’m afraid that won’t do.” She shook her head. “From now on, you’re the maid, I’m the mistress, so you shall address me as such. Alright?”

“A-alright... mistress, Trixie is... eager to serve,” Trixie said uncertainly. For some reason, she felt those were the right words to say, and she didn’t have as much trouble saying them as she had thought she would.

Twilight smiled wolfishly, having already realised Trixie was a lot more susceptible to the suggestion that went out from the costume than they had assumed. Just a little encouragement, and she’d slip right into her role...

She pushed her body up against Trixie’s, causing them both to rise to their hind legs as the showmare-turned-maid was pinned against the wall. Trixie let out a yelp, and Twilight licked her lips.

“I think I’ve waited long enough for this...”

The blue unicorn nervously glanced at the curtains hiding the main room. “Twilight... should we... i-in here? Trixie doesn’t think that-”

“Mistress Twilight,” the purple unicorn corrected her. “And Rarity is fast asleep, it’ll be fine... I don’t pay you to think, anyway...” She leaned in and softly bit Trixie’s ear, causing the mare to let out a stifled moan.

“Ah... p-pay?”

“Well, of course,” Twilight breathed into her ear hotly, “as my maid you get food and lodgings, don’t you?”

Trixie couldn’t dispute that, and when Twilight finally pressed her lips upon hers she gave in to the kiss. In truth, she’d been longing for it as well, and as her tongue rolled against the other mare’s, all her objections about the location melted like snow before the sun. They made love right there, but unlike their previous, balanced lovemaking, Twilight heavily took the lead.

In the throes of passion, Trixie found it a lot easier to forget about her objections, to lose herself in the role of the submissive maid, and Twilight inched her slowly in that direction. She told Trixie not to call her Twilight, but mistress, and after an initial period of hesitation, Trixie complied, her mind on different matters. Eventually their lovemaking came to a noisy end, and Twilight cuddled up to her maid.

They stayed like that for a few moments, just two panting, shivering mares, basking in the afterglow. Twilight nuzzled her cheek against Trixie’s, seeking out the other mare’s lips and kissing her gently. The kiss was completely devoid of any lust or passion, instead being completely dedicated to love and love alone. Trixie returned it weakly, not fully recovered from their little escapade.

“I love you, mistress,” she whispered breathlessly as she buried her face against Twilight’s neck.

The purple unicorn stroked her lover’s mane softly. “Hmmm, as idyllic as this is, I’m afraid we’ll need to head back; Rarity won’t stay asleep forever. Can you walk?”

She softly let the other mare down. Trixie’s legs trembled underneath her for a moment, but she nodded. “Trixie thinks she’ll be alright, mistress.”

Twilight smiled at her affectionately. “Good, let’s go, then. Quietly.”

Trixie quickly straightened her clothes before she followed Twilight, hoping that’d make her look decent enough for the streets. The two of them tiptoed through the main room and past the stage, where Rarity still seemed to be fast asleep. They made their way over to the door and slipped out onto the streets, without making a sound.

Rarity slowly opened an eye as she heard the door fall shut, throwing aside the piece of cloth she’d been using as a blanket and standing up as soon as she verified the coast was clear. That Twilight... she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be upset at the mare for bucking her marefriend in her store, or if she should just be thankful for the show. Well, she was thankful they’d stalled long enough for her to dive underneath the covers again, at least...

But that roleplaying those two got up to... It really was always the nerdy ones.

Of Maids...

The two of them quickly made their way home from Rarity’s boutique, all attention once again focused on Trixie, to Twilight’s great delight. Most ponies didn’t seem to know whether they should be appreciative of Trixie’s new look or outraged over how risqué it was, but even in the latter case their glares were a lot less hostile than before, be it all the more embarrassing for Trixie. Twilight grinned; it’d be hard for the other Ponyvillians to hold on to their grudges if they were confronted by a meek and docile Trixie day after day, and the purple unicorn fully intended to keep the act up for quite a while. The rumours floating through town would become even more prevalent, though, but she did not mind.

The showmare had quickly submitted to her in the throes of passion, but Twilight wasn’t under the illusion that her plan had already succeeded because of that. No, far from it. She’d no doubt have to egg Trixie on for a while before the mare would fully embrace her new role, and even then they’d have to keep her like that for some time to make sure the lessons she’d learned sunk in, else she’d go straight back to being the arrogant mare the entire town distrusted... Then again, the first results had been rather promising, so perhaps they’d be able to move along faster than she’d thought possible...

Twilight shook her head, trying to dispel a feeling of inexplicable uneasiness that suddenly overcame her. There was no reason to rush, right? They could take as much time as they needed...

They finally arrived back at the library, and Twilight motioned her maid inside.

“Did you see how they were all glaring at Trixie?” the showmare bristled indignantly the moment the door fell shut behind her. “Trixie has never-”

“Trixie,” Twilight interrupted her calmly as she took off her saddlebags, “please take these bags upstairs and find a place for your spare outfit in the closet. We’ll want it tidy and on hoof in case you keep sweating as much as you were earlier...”

The blue unicorn turned around to face Twilight, stammering slightly as a blush ignited her cheeks. “A-alright, Twilight...”

The purple unicorn suppressed a smile: reminding Trixie of their earlier escapade had been the right move, and she could almost see the memory physically pulling Trixie back into her earlier state of mind. “Mistress Twilight,” she corrected her maid once again, as she plucked a book from the table and lay down onto the couch with it. “Come back downstairs as quickly as possible.”

To her great surprise, Trixie found herself nodding and bowing slightly, before she turned around and dashed up the stairs. What was going on? Twilight had been quite confident that her plan would work, but she, Trixie, had been of a different opinion entirely. Sure, she had adopted her showmare’s persona a bit too readily, but she had thought that to be an isolated case. Her most recent experiences were quickly changing her mind, however, and somewhere deep inside she was a little bit frightened. She knew how bad she had gotten before Twilight had showed up in Canterlot, and she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to keep the maid thing under control. In Rarity’s boutique it had felt so right (and even somewhat exciting) but ever since they had left from there, she just hadn’t been so sure anymore...

What if she slipped right into it and never managed to get back? She frowned as she folded the spare outfit Rarity had given them, neatly storing it inside of Twilight’s closet. It was sufficiently large for the both of them, since nopony in Ponyville ever wore clothes, except to a few festive events. She made up her mind as she closed the closet, and headed back down the stairs. She wasn’t going to go through with this; Twilight would just have to find another way to bring down Trixie’s antisocial walls. It was a shame that Rarity had put so much work into these outfits, but then again, she’d probably never notice anyway, since she had apparently had quite a different purpose in mind when she made them... And, Trixie thought as she blushed, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t prepared to wear them occasionally: that make-out session earlier had been-

“There you are,” Twilight said, looking up from her book as she heard Trixie’s hooves on the wooden floor, “that took you long enough.” Trixie tried to say something, but Twilight shut her up with a glare. “Spike didn’t do his weekly grocery run before he left, so even with the things I brought from Canterlot we’re down to the essentials, especially since we’ve been eating for three, rather than two, the last few days...”

Trixie swallowed, as she looked down at her hooves uncomfortably. Twilight was kindly embellishing the truth a little bit, as Trixie was quite sure she hadn’t increased the household’s food consumption by just a measly 50%: she had probably more than doubled it. Compared to the other two, she had been eating like a pig... neither of them had really minded, as it was understood that she had quite a lot of catching up to do, but whenever Trixie was reminded of it it left her somewhat abashed. Not only because of how much she ate, but also because it made her painfully aware of the fact that she was essentially freeloading. Well, she was doing something around the house, but she wasn’t sure if...

“His grocery list should still be in the kitchen; I put it there at the start of every week, when I make my scheduling schedule,” Twilight waved a hoof in the direction of the kitchen dismissively, her eyes glued to the pages of Mystical Mysticism.

“B-but Trixie can’t go out there like this again!” Trixie protested. She immediately hit herself over the head mentally; that wasn’t what she had wanted to say! She had wanted to call the entire maid thing off, not just this grocery run, although she already felt less certain about that plan than she had mere moments ago. With Twilight having subtly reminded her of the debt of gratitude that she was owed, Trixie almost felt selfish when she thought about her own complaints. Was playing dress-up really that high of a price to pay? It had certainly seemed that way before...

A thought rose up in the back of Trixie’s mind: Did Twilight have her figured out better than she had thought possible? With just a few choice words she had swept Trixie’s resolve away, which was suspicious to say the least.

Twilight lowered the book slightly, and frowned at her maid from over the cover. “Well, you can’t expect your mistress to do all the chores for you, can you?” She shook her head. “No, you cannot... and if you’re to go out on my behest, you should look the part. The sooner the other ponies get used to it, the sooner you will get used to it. It’s for your own good, my love.”

Trixie swallowed, feeling slightly uncomfortable despite Twilight’s gentle smile and the sparkle in her eyes. So, she’d get used to it sooner if she did what Twilight said? Well, that was the problem: she wasn’t sure that she even wanted to get used to it!

“But Twi...” Trixie started hesitantly, “couldn’t Trixie... without the outfit?”

“Mistress Twilight,” the purple unicorn let out in a barely audible hiss, as her eyes narrowed to little slits. “I thought you said you’d do this for me... for us! You’ll never get over your social defensive mechanisms if you don’t push forward now... Please don’t make me choose between you and my friends, Trixie.”

Trixie bit down upon her lip. She’d promised, that much was true, and she trusted Twilight more than she trusted anypony else; however, changing elements of yourself that had been a part of you for so long wasn’t easy, and the vague fear of losing herself just would not let her go.

“I see,” Twilight said when Trixie neither moved nor spoke, “very well, you don’t have to do it, Trixie, but I am sorely disappointed in you.”

A clump of ice descended into Trixie’s stomach, as Twilight’s words awoke feelings that had been slumbering at the edge of her mind. She felt an eagerness to make Twilight happy that went above and beyond a lover’s care, and she suddenly realised that disappointing Twilight was the last thing she wanted to do... No, she corrected herself, disappointing her mistress was the last thing she wanted to do. She’d resisted it up to that point, but Twilight’s last words had made it clear that they were playing for the marbles, and the part of her mind that had been lying dormant since Carousel Boutique once again took hold, as she threw herself down on the ground in front of Twilight’s sofa.

“No mistress, please wait!” the blue unicorn begged. “Trixie is sorry! She will do as you say, just please don’t be angry at her... Trixie is not a very good maid, but she will do her best, so please...”

She looked up, her eyes glistening, and saw Twilight smiling warmly at her. “It’s fine... I know this is new for you too. I forgive you, since this is your first day... Now, chop chop... the food stalls don’t stay up all day, you know.”

Trixie jumped up to her hooves at once, smiling brightly as she curtsied. “Yes mistress, thank you mistress!” she said, as she started to head for the kitchen.

“Oh, and Trixie,” Twilight said before the other mare left the room, as she turned her gaze back to her book, “see to it that you’re on your best behaviour from now on, alright?”

Trixie nodded, rightfully assuming that Twilight didn’t really expect her to answer the question--her actions from there on out would be answer enough. Her refusal from earlier seemed almost absurd in light of her newfound joy, which stood in stark contrast to the fear she had felt mere moments ago. She didn’t want to lose Twilight, and if all that was expected of her were some chores and prancing around in a pretty costume, then what could that hurt, really? Her life on the road had been a lot harder on her, and her (more or less) predecessor had been a baby dragon for crying out loud; he seemed to have done okay. Surely she’d do even better: she was the Great and Powerful Trixie, after all... she could do anything better than anypony--except perhaps magic, where she considered herself second after Twilight--even if that ‘anything’ happened to be being a humble maid.

She snatched the shopping list up from the kitchen table, and walked through the library again in order to reach the front door, whistling a cheerful tune.

Twilight grinned as the showmare passed her: her idea was working out splendidly. There’d be follow-up arguments in the same vein as the one they had just had, but they’d get progressively easier to win. Just a few more nudges was all that it would take... Just a few more nudges, and then the second phase of the plan... well, surely that could wait?

***

Trixie was still whistling when she stepped outside, but the tune quickly died on her lips. She was still as conspicuous as ever, and ponies took note of her passing with an interest they hadn’t managed to summon for her shows. Without Twilight by her side, not even the maid’s costume sufficed to bend their hostility towards curiosity. She had once basked in the attention showered upon her by ponies in the streets, but those days were long gone. Ever since that fateful day, she had been slowly sinking away in a sea of anonymity; except here in Ponyville, where ponies still remembered her clearly enough to despise her instead.

And in a way, it was Twilight’s fault. Well, not her fault--Trixie couldn’t expect her to just watch her village be destroyed, after all--but if she hadn’t shown up, Trixie’s reputation would never have fallen as low as it had, although she’d likely have died in the Ursa’s rampage. She had struggled with conflicting feelings of hate and admiration for many months, the balance shifting week by week. But then Twilight had appeared in Canterlot, and she was just so friendly, so compassionate... the hatred had melted like snow under the sun, while the admiration grew.

That admiration had quickly turned to love, and it was that love which helped her bear the whips and scorns of life in a world that did not seem to want her in it. That love was also the only reason she stuck with Twilight’s idiotic plan to begin with. She had to admit: so long as Twilight was with her, her new role seemed so natural, as if she had been born into it. But as soon as they were apart, doubt once again entered Trixie’s mind, but doubt was all it was. She told herself that the costume and Twilight’s attitude towards her had no effect whatsoever, while they most certainly did. The change was subtle, manifesting itself through small things, such as the way she walked (modestly and with an eye for her surroundings, as opposed to self-centered with her head held high) and the mental image she had of herself (no longer a Great and Powerful Trixie in front of an audience, but a Trixie in maid’s clothes in front of Twilight’s sparkling eyes).

She failed to realise that the progression was not at all like going down a flight of stairs--where every step was as significant as the one before--but rather like stepping onto a slippery slope that fed into a ravine: the first few steps seemed harmless, but that one fateful step would lead you straight to the bottom. Right now she was teetering over the edge.

She shook her head, trying to end the confusing moment of retrospection, as she approached the central marketplace. Mistress Twilight still needed her shopping done, so she’d focus on that first. It was the very least she could do in return for all the hospitality she’d been shown. And, Trixie mused, she’d be eating a good portion of the purchases herself, too!

She took out the shopping list, and looked around for a stall that offered her the goods she needed. There were several; however, no single one had every item she needed. She sighed, and resigned herself to the necessity of visiting multiple stalls, and thus to the necessity of dealing with several different ponies in the process.

Trixie walked over to the nearest stall, under the scrutinizing glances of the burly, brown earth pony who tended to it. He raised an eyebrow at her getup, but chose not to question it.

“Good afternoon,” Trixie heard herself say politely, to her great surprise, “I would like two of these, three of those and a bundle of your finest carrots, please.”

The stallkeeper nodded. “Certainly miss, that’ll be five bits and two spurs,” he said, a thin polish of politeness layered over his sharp tone of voice.

Trixie frowned as she gave the goods another look over. In Canterlot she’d have expected to pay that much, but this was Ponyville; the crops were all harvested nearby. Transportation costs were negligible, and the supply of goods passing through on their way to bigger cities was far greater than the demand. It was obvious that he was trying to beat some extra coin out of the pocket of a pony who was widely known to be a big city girl, but she wouldn’t stand for it. She smiled inwardly, believing her standing up for herself to be yet another sign that the maid thing wasn’t affecting her too much, but what maid would ever spend her mistress’s gold lightly?

“Maybe if it was fresh, but for this... I’ll give you four bits, no more.”

“What are you talking about?” he bristled. “These are all fresh from the field! Five bits and two spurs, and not a spur less.”

She smiled, as she cast a variation of the spell she had used on Rarity long ago on one of the colt’s oranges, skillfully distracting him with a gesture, so that he didn’t notice her horn’s glow. “Fresh or not, they obviously suffer from green rot.”

“Green ro-”

“Yes, green rot,” Trixie interrupted the question as she rolled over the magically altered orange with a hoof, revealing a damp, soggy green spot on the bottom, “it spreads rapidly, if everypony knew it had been sighted at this stall...”

“Alright, alright,” the colt said in a hushed voice, trying to get her to keep her voice down. “I’ll sell those things to you for four bits, just... uh... keep the green rot thing to yourself, okay?”

“But of course,” Trixie reassured the colt with her most charming smile, “I just want you to treat me like you do the other customers, and not like you do a tourist, or a lost city girl.”

He hesitated, momentarily taken aback. “I... I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d... alright I suppose it’s only... it’s only fair.” He smiled at her uncertainly. “The name’s Verdant, Verdant Green. I grow crops on the edge of town and tend to this stall when needed, pleased to meet you.”

“And I’m Trixie,” she said, “but you already knew that. I’m staying in the library with mistress.”

“Mistress?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Trixie’s eyes grew wide; she hadn’t realised what she’d said up until now. “Oh, I uh... I meant T-Twilight,” she stuttered, the name passing over her lips with more difficulty than she’d have thought possible.

“Oooookay,” he said slowly, not entirely sure what to take away from that.

“I’ll be going now,” Trixie said gingerly, “I’ve got more that needs taking care of.”

Verdant said his goodbyes, and Trixie went on her way, browsing the other stalls absent-mindedly. She hadn’t had a conversation that friendly with anypony for years, the ones with Twilight notwithstanding. Normally she’d have publicly made a complete fool of Green the moment she realised he was trying to pull one over on her, but for the first time the urge had been easy to suppress. Instead of getting a few laughs and a new enemy, she had gained an acquaintance, which could become a friend with time. She hated to admit it to herself, but Twilight’s plan, it... it worked. As she went about her business at the other stalls (without any big problems; the “being friendly” thing continued to work) her slip of the tongue kept bothering her; it was proof that the idea of Twilight as her mistress was rapidly starting to grab hold of her. She couldn’t figure out why it had affected her to such an extent. Was it because Twilight was right, and she just easily slipped into new roles? Was it because of her love for Twilight?

Or maybe, a small voice whispered at the back of her mind, you just like it.

She reeled at the thought, but at the same time, she could not deny it.

And...

Twilight flipped through the pages of Mystical Mysticism, looking for the chapters she had skipped the last time she had read it; the author had included a few... interesting spells and pieces of magical theory, which she had thought to be useless and overly frivolous. Recent events had made her reconsider her stance on it, so now she was absorbing the knowledge contained within the book’s pages as fast as she could. The author had the tendency to go into too much detail, causing the chapters in question to be rather lengthy. Twilight would normally delight in this fact, but at that moment she was more interested in the spells the book could teach her, rather than the theory behind them.

And so it was that Trixie found Twilight with her nose in the book, frantically flipping page after page after page, at a speed that made Trixie wonder if she was really reading it at all.

“I have the things you asked for, T... T... wi...” Trixie gritted her teeth in frustration. Why couldn’t she say it? “Mistress Twilight,” she eventually concluded with a sigh.

“Good,” Twilight said distractedly as she waved a hoof, without even looking up from her book, “put it in the kitchen.”

Trixie nodded, as she levitated her bags over to the kitchen, where she quickly found everything she had bought a place in the cupboards or the fridge. She didn’t know what to do with the bits she had left unspent, so she just put them back where she had found them, as she felt an inexplicable reluctance to bother Twilight over such trifle matters. That became much more of a problem as she finished the task she’d been given, thus she suffered an acute case of not having anything to do.

“Uh, excuse me, mistress,” she said with a quiet voice once she’d worked up the courage to bother Twilight, “I have done as you asked, so... what now?”

The purple unicorn finally looked up at her with a smile. “You’re doing such a good job that I keep forgetting you’re not as used to the routines as Spike was, I really need to take care of you a little more, else I’ll be a terrible mistress...”

“Oh no!” Trixie quickly reassured her, feeling strangely elated at the subtle compliment. “Mistress treats Trixie just fine, and Trixie wouldn’t want to imply that you do not, but... uh... Trixie does need... instructions.”

Twilight nodded, lightly tapping her chin with a hoof as she tried to think of things that needed doing. “Well, there are some areas that could use some tidying up?”

“Trixie will take care of it right away,” she said eagerly. She really wanted to repay some of the enormous debt she owed Twilight for saving her life twice, and for providing her with a life of relative luxury. Tidying up a room wasn’t too hard--but then again, compared to hauling a wagon around the country few things were particularly hard. “What room shall Trixie clean?”

“The entire library section,” Twilight said matter-of-factly, as she turned her attention back towards her books. “Use the catalogue.”

Some enthusiasm immediately drained from Trixie’s voice and expression. “T-the entire thing?” She didn’t know the exact number of books that were present, but by her standards it could only be described as “a ton”, and most of those were--sadly enough--not currently on their shelves.

“Yes,” Twilight said, undisturbed by Trixie’s sudden and almost palpable reluctance, “there’s been some complaints from visitors, and I can’t even find the books I want to read myself anymore. We’re technically open every day, but in practice we only guarantee service about twice a week, which is why most ponies only visit during those times. I want you to stand in for me next time, and cleaning the library will help you get a grasp on where everything is, so that you can help the visitors better.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to... to leave me in charge of dealing with the ponies that come by? What if I-”

“You’ll do fine, love, this is exactly the kind of social interaction you need to learn,” Twilight said with a caring smile, only to continue slightly more seriously: “but you’ll need to be a bit quicker to obey if you want to be a good maid.”

Trixie had begun to drift away from her role again, but that last comment locked her firmly in character once more, and gave her a newfound sense of enthusiasm. “Yes mistress, Trixie will do her best. Trixie will not let you down,” she said decidedly.

“I know you won’t. Now, those books won’t put themselves on the shelves.” Twilight paused for a moment, and then added: “Sadly enough.”

Trixie curtsied, and then immediately went to work. Finding the catalogue Twilight had spoken of proved to be harder than she had anticipated, as it too had been buried under many weeks worth of discarded books. She eventually found it in the centre of the room along with (to her great surprise) a small table.

The catalogue was quite massive, and it contained the names of all books the library had in its possession, seemingly neatly organized in alphabetical fashion, denoting the exact placement of every book by shelf number. Trixie set out to gather all of the books haphazardly strewn about the room, arranging them in alphabetical order herself before consulting the catalogue. To her bewilderment, the alphabetical order seemed to hold up fairly well for the first few books she put back on the shelves, but the fourth book seemed to be entirely absent from the list.

She paged through the tome and past a few empty pages, until she arrived at a point where the list seemed to begin from “a” again. She scratched her head in confusion, until she noticed the words “Theory of Magic” written above the list in tiny letters. She turned back to the start of the first list and, sure enough, somepony had written down “History” atop the page. Trixie quickly flipped through the entire book, finding many more categories in the process, which seemed to be roughly split between “fiction” and “non-fiction”, with each taking up a different side of the library.

Trixie sighed; apparently the books weren’t ordered purely alphabetically, but by category as well. She assumed that made it far easier for a visitor to find something to read on the right subject or in the right style, but it did make her job a lot harder. On top of that she soon discovered that the side room and the second floor were a full-fledged part of the library as well, and to her great despair there was no shortage of unshelved books there either; she didn’t know how it happened, but most books had somehow found their way out of the room they had originated from, making Trixie walk back and forth with veritable clouds of books floating around her multiple times.

Twilight watched Trixie’s endeavours over the top of her book, an amused smile playing around her lips. She could’ve explained the layout of the library right away, of course, but she believed that letting Trixie bumble about on her own would make it sink in all the better in the long run. As the blue unicorn flipped back and forth through the catalogue looking for the correct placement of certain books, she steadily learned to place them within the right category based upon their titles as well--a skill which would no doubt be invaluable if she were to continue working in the library.

It took her several hours to straighten everything out, by the end of which she was slightly out of breath. She admired the results of her hard work, but even though all of the books were now in the right place, something was still... off.

Twilight raised an eyebrow as the other mare suddenly disappeared up the stairs again, but she decided not to say anything; it would be interesting to see Trixie’s next move. She wasn’t disappointed: Trixie soon came back with a duster in tow, which she used to start cleaning the library in true maid fashion. Twilight didn’t know how Trixie had known that they even had a duster upstairs, but it was a rather pleasant surprise; Trixie taking the initiative in such matters was undoubtedly another sign that they were going in the right direction.

The purple mare had finally finished reading Mystical Mysticism, so she was just quietly observing Trixie as the latter went around the room, dusting off every single book and all of the furniture. Perhaps she had initially been mostly interested in Trixie’s performance, but pretty soon she felt her eyes wander down the curves of the other mare’s body, neatly hidden by the folds of her uniform, and thus all the more enticing. A familiar warmth started to burn in the pit of her stomach, as she openly stared at Trixie’s plot--accentuated by her skirt as it was. Every time Trixie’s tail briefly slipped to one side, Twilight thought she could just barely make out the outlines of the other mare’s sex under the skirt, although it was probably just her imagination. Still, the short, stealthy glances had a bigger effect on her than full-on nudity would, and she finally reached a decision when she noticed she had been subconsciously moving one of her forelegs down towards her crotch: she would put Mystical Mysticism to the test right away.

She stood up from the sofa, and Trixie turned around as she heard her mistress’s hooves against the floor. “Mistress?”

Twilight waved at her dismissively as she picked up the book. “I’m going upstairs for a moment. Please continue what you are doing, love... you’ve been doing so, so well for your first day.”

Trixie’s cheeks burned as she stumbled over her words, trying to express the enormous wave of gratitude and happiness that suddenly washed over her. Twilight just winked at her and headed up the stairs, leaving Trixie alone with her thoughts. The showmare just stood there silently for a few moments, basking in the glow of her mistress’ approval, before she turned back to her work, redoubling her efforts.

It had been hard work, but Twilight’s gratitude had made it all worth it. And her earlier doubts? All gone.

Mistresses (Clop Version)

Disclaimer: This is the uncensored clop version of this chapter. If you do not wish to read such things, simply skip to the next chapter and read the censored version there.

As Twilight entered her upstairs bedroom, she quickly put Mystical Mysticism on the lectern next to the beds, and threw a quick glance towards the stairs, to make sure Trixie hadn’t followed her. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t have performed the spell downstairs, but she didn’t want Trixie to bear witness to it, in case she messed up. It was her first time trying it out, after all. When she practiced with Spike she didn’t have the same problem, but Trixie’s own considerable magical talent unnerved Twilight somewhat in this matter, and made her overly aware of how much she (or the both of them, actually) still had to learn.

She was the mistress, so she couldn’t let her maid see her nervously casting a spell like some filly fresh out of magic kindergarten.

She opened the book on the right page, and read over the spell once again to make sure she had it all memorised correctly. In hindsight, skipping over these parts of the book because of the subject matter had been a terrible mistake, as it contained some of the most refined and streamlined spells Twilight had ever laid her eyes upon: there was literally no effort wasted in their casting, no remnant of magical energy left unspent. It made what was supposed to be a rather complicated display of magical prowess into a rather simple feat, and Twilight considered--and not for the first time--that these would be perfect practice spells for both novices and adepts, yet she had to admit that their effects probably made them unsuited to that purpose.

Impressive as the spells were, the fact that a lot of effort had clearly gone into them painted a rather strange portrait of the magical practitioners of old in Twilight’s thoughts: they must have been a bunch of perverts. Twilight was forced to rescind this rather harsh judgement, as she became acutely aware of the slight wetness between her hind legs, which had built up there in reaction to the thoughts and desires that were welling up in the back of her mind.

She breathed in and out, trying to clear her mind of all distractions (which was hard, considering her increasing excitement) as she began to concentrate on the spell. Her horn pulsated with a steady stream of magic, which she wove into the correct shapes and patterns almost subconsciously. She turned the spell upon herself, and immediately felt it grabbing hold; a strange rush swept through her body, and her legs shook underneath her as a pleasant tingling sensation spread through her sex.

The sensations stopped as abruptly as they had set on, leaving Twilight panting in their wake. She quickly caught her breath, and smiled. Already she could feel that the spell had been a great success, but she looked down past her stomach anyway, and, sure enough, she found she was now the proud owner of a magnificent (if still relatively flaccid) cock, in place of the familiar folds of her pussy. She admired the shape of her new wand, and the many possibilities that flooded her mind excited her enough to harden it slightly. She let out a surprised yelp at this unfamiliar sensation, but soon a wolfish grin appeared on her face.

It was time to really put her new spell to the test.

***

When Twilight arrived downstairs again, Trixie was still diligently dusting on the other side of the room. She looked back over her shoulder as she heard Twilight approach, and smiled at her shyly, not able to spot the physical change from where she was standing. Twilight beamed back her sweetest smile, her heart racing with excitement.

“You know,” she said slyly, “I do believe you’ve missed a spot.”

Trixie suddenly looked concerned, as she frantically looked around the room for anything she might’ve missed. “Where? Trixie can’t-”

“Right... here.” Twilight let herself fall back into the sofa, lying on her back and exposing her semi-erect lid, as she started to softly stroke it, a seductive smile playing around her lips. “You should come polish it.”

Trixie gasped in surprise, taking a step back and dropping her duster as she knocked over a small table, scattering several magazines across the floor. “H-h-how did y-you...” the maid stuttered, as her cheeks flushed a bright red.

“Magic,” the purple mare said with such a lascivious look in her eyes that the word itself almost sounded obscene. “Now come, obey your mistress.”

The maid swallowed as she started to walk towards Twilight, unable to tear her eyes away from the mare’s steadily growing cock, which slowly lifted up its thick head from her stomach. She stopped right in front of her mistress, practically standing between Twilight’s outspread legs as she stared with big eyes, not entirely sure her senses weren’t being fooled.

“Go on,” Twilight whispered as she took her own hooves off of her shaft, making herself comfortable. “Touch it.”

Trixie moved just a bit closer hesitantly, nervously reaching out for the cock with a hoof, and letting out a little gasp of surprise as she made contact with it. She caressed its length gently to fully convince herself of the fact that it was the real thing, and she was soon forced to conclude that it was. A light blush of excitement appeared on Twilight’s cheeks as she watched the other mare, and she felt herself go harder and harder under her ministrations.

“By Celestia, Trixie didn’t know this kind of spell...” the blue unicorn murmured, her heart starting to pump faster and faster as the musky scent of Twilight’s sex activated millennia of biological programming within her system, quickly overpowering any sense of restraint or reason.

“It won’t break, you know,” Twilight cooed as she pulled Trixie closer.

The mare almost bumped into the sofa as she sank down to support herself on the length of her hind legs, grabbing hold of Twilight’s almost fully erect cock with both of her forehooves as her breathing became ragged with excitement. She started to slowly move her hooves up and down, and Twilight moaned softly as Trixie’s hot breath washed over the tip of her cock.

“Mhng, yes...” Twilight squirmed, and closed her eyes as the unfamiliar feelings of pleasure washed over her, lifting her hips off the sofa slightly. “Yes, just like that...”

Trixie looked up at Twilight’s pleasure-laden face and started to stroke more vigorously, eager to please her mistress in any way she could. Twilight started to moan even louder, as several drops of precum appeared on her cock’s massive head.

“Ahhh, m-my maid,” Twilight managed to say in-between her moans, “it’s getting... getting a bit dirty. Clean it for me.”

Trixie glanced from her mistress’s face to the thin trails of precum flowing down her shaft, and she slowly moved her head closer and closer to the cock, extending her tongue towards it. Gently, she dragged her tongue along the length of it--from bottom to top--lapping up some of the precum and pausing to swish it around in her mouth. She wasn’t an innocent little filly by any stretch of the imagination, but she had never done something like this before, and so had not known what to expect. To her great surprise, it didn’t taste all that bad, and certainly not as bitter as she had come to expect from what others had told her; of course, the magical nature of the tool in question may have had something to do with that.

She started licking Twilight’s cock more eagerly, cleaning her shaft diligently before moving up, swirling her tongue around the head of the unicorn’s massive maremeat. Twilight moaned without end as her head bobbed back against the sofa in pure pleasure, her eyes closed tight, as if she was afraid they’d pop right out of her head from the sheer bliss she was experiencing. Trixie continued to swirl her tongue around Twilight’s glans penis, occasionally nuzzling it and moving back up and down the shaft.

“Ah, ungh... oh Trixie... I... E-enough!” Twilight gasped out as she finally managed to open her eyes again. “Enough t-teasing.” Her horn flared up with magical energy as she grabbed hold of Trixie’s mane, pulling her head closer and pressing the tip of her “wand” up against the other mare’s lips. “I want you to suck it... now.”

“Ah, yes mistress,” Trixie said as she parted her lips obediently, wrapping them around the head of Twilight’s cock, keeping it there for a moment to allow her jaw to adjust to the size of the invader. She continued to lick it, bathing it in her saliva, before she started to softly suck on the tip. Twilight’s eyes nearly rolled back in her head, and she almost instinctively pushed her hips up, forcing more of her penis into Trixie’s mouth.

Fortunately, the blue unicorn just started to get into it as well, moving her head back and forward as she started to suck Twilight off in earnest, using one hoof to stroke the part of Twilight’s cock that she could not fit inside.

“Oooohhh yes, yes... Celestia, yes! Suck it, suck it you naughty maid,” Twilight yelled in pure bliss, as she forewent the use of her horn and just tangled her forehooves in her lover’s mane instead.

Trixie felt encouraged by her mistress’s rapture, and started sucking even more frantically. What she lacked in technique and experience she more than made up for in pure enthusiasm, and the sloppy, wet sound of her sucking soon filled the air. Her pussy was dripping with excitement by now as well, and she dropped one of her forehooves down between her legs, rubbing her own clit as she moaned around Twilight’s shaft. The purple unicorn almost went mad with pleasure, her entire body shaking and shuddering as she pushed Trixie’s head down more and more with her hooves.

The maid didn’t protest, even as Twi’s cock slowly slid down her throat, inch by inch. For a moment Trixie felt her gag reflex playing up and she got slightly panicky, but then she quickly suppressed the reflex with the self-control every unicorn employed in the pursuit of magical studies. It became increasingly hard for her to continue sucking, but Twilight didn’t mind, as Trixie’s throat rippled around the head of her cock, and her tongue lavished her shaft.

“Mngh... mngh... Oh yes, I l-love your hot, little mouth,” Twilight panted as sweat ran down her body, and her hips started to buckle outside of her control. She felt her cock twitch and pulsate inside of Trixie’s throat, and slipped it in even a bit deeper.

Trixie, on her end, was touching herself like a mare possessed, rubbing her clit and caressing the folds of her wet marehood, deriving her pleasure from both that act and Twilight’s blissful screams equally, slowly driving herself towards her peak. She had finally taken the purple unicorn’s meat as far down her throat as it would possibly go, and even through her haze of sexual bliss Twilight realised this as well. She allowed Trixie to pull back until the majority of her cock was once again outside of her mouth, and then pushed the mare’s head back down again as she lifted her hips, repeating the sequence of actions over and over again, thrusting in and out of Trixie’s mouth.

So enthusiastically did Twilight buck away at Trixie’s face, that the mare’s throat began to feel quite raw indeed; however, the twitching of the purple mare’s cock and the ecstatic note in her cries told Trixie she wouldn’t have to bear with it for much longer, and the physical inconveniences were hardly noticeable amidst the rush of elation she felt.

“Oh Trixie!” Twilight screamed. “I... ahn... I’m going... going to...”

She arched her back as she let out a wordless scream of lust, pumping ropes of sticky, white spunk down Trixie’s throat as the climax overtook her. The ex-showmare quickly pulled back her head until only the tip of Twilight’s junk was still inside, and began vigorously sucking even as her mouth got filled up with copious amounts of cum. She managed to swallow a mouthful, but the rest spilled down her chin and onto her clothes as her own orgasm shook through her body, making her shiver and squirm as her juices flooded past her hoof.

After a last few weak thrusts of her hips Twilight leaned backwards into the sofa, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to regain her breath, the occasional shudder coursing through her body. Trixie, meanwhile, sat panting at the foot of the sofa, her chin and clothes stained with cum as she licked Twilight clean, before closing her eyes, trying to hang on to the pleasant warmth flooding her body as well as the lingering taste in her mouth.

“That... that was... amazing,” Twilight finally managed, as she glanced down at her maid, who smiled back at her happily. “You’ve got some on your chin, by the way.” The sight of her own spunk on Trixie’s face was quite enticing, and Twilight could feel herself slightly hardening again as her momentary shortage of breath waned.

Trixie quickly passed her tongue across the parts of her face it could reach, cleaning herself up at least slightly. She accepted the compliment with a blush and a breathless “Thank you, mistress.” before gesticulating towards Twilight’s penis. “How long does it-”

“Last?” the purple unicorn finished the sentence for her. “It’s quite ingenious, it reacts to the pony’s lust and state of mind.” She moved forward and slipped off of the sofa, pushing herself up against Trixie, not particularly caring about the various spots of bodily fluids coating the mare’s clothes and fur. “So you know what that means...” she whispered into Trixie’s ear seductively.

“N-no?”

Twilight pushed Trixie’s body down with her own until the mare was lying right underneath her, rubbing up against her as her cock became fully erect once more. The bulbous head started sliding up and down against the inside of Trixie’s legs, causing her to let out a gasp of surprise.

“Well, since it’s still there, I’m obviously not quite done with you yet.” Twilight leaned forward and licked her maid’s cheek lustfully. “And you still have another set of lips I want to try out...”

Trixie’s cheeks went bright red again under Twilight’s words and ministrations, desire slowly boiling up in her mind despite the release she had only just enjoyed, as well as a faint sense of nervousness; she had only occa been with a colt before (and whoever had invented the transformation spell obviously hadn’t been satisfied with average length and girth) so the prospect was a bit daunting.

Twilight laughed heartily when Trixie put her concerns into words with a shaky voice. “You managed to take it in your mouth, so I’m sure it’ll fit the place it was meant for, as well...”

She started to rub the tip of her cock against the folds of Trixie’s rapidly wettening cunt, somewhat awkwardly at first but with increasing confidence as she came to grips with the length and feel of the unfamiliar appendage underneath her. Trixie seemed about to offer up more protests, but as her mistress’s tool rubbed against her clit she interrupted herself with a gasp, and the moan that followed lacked all sense of coherence.

“Besides, you wouldn’t want to deny your mistress these pleasures... would you?”

“N-no mistress!” Trixie said quickly. “Trixie would do anything for mistress, and Trixie would be delighted if mistress... if mistress... fucked her...”

Twilight beamed at her lustfully as she readied herself at the entrance to the blue unicorn’s love cave. “Oh, mistress will...”

She started pushing her hips forward gently as the head of her cock pressed into Trixie’s soaking lips, straining against them. Trixie let out a loud moan when Twilight finally popped into her with a gasp, holding still for a moment before slowly sliding deeper into Trixie’s pussy. The ex-showmare moaned louder and louder the more of her lover’s wand she took in, until Twilight finally came to fill her completely. Trixie’s voice suddenly refused service. Her entire body shook and squirmed as the other mare’s glans penis rubbed up against her cervix, and she let out a series of soundless screams of pleasure.

Twilight tried to pull back, but Trixie suddenly grabbed hold of her, wrapping all four of her legs around the purple unicorn and locking her securely in place, shivering against her. Trixie’s cunt contracted and uncontracted wildly around Twilight’s cock, unable to fully grab hold of such a massive invader.

“D-don’t...m-move... please...” Trixie finally managed to gasp out. “Trixie... Ah... Trixie will g-go... i-insane, i-if you do...”

Twilight softly nibbled on her marefriend’s earlobe, before she whispered: “Mmmm, you can’t keep me in forever, you know...” To illustrate her point, she started to circle with her hips--which Trixie could not prevent--causing her cock to wiggle around inside of the other mare. Trixie started to shake even more violently, desperately trying to hang onto Twilight as she bit down upon her bottom lip, unable to think about anything apart from the overpowering sensation of fullness that accompanied the waves of pleasure radiating out from her crotch and echoing throughout her entire body.

Twilight continued rotating her hips as she pressed a series of kisses onto Trixie’s neck, before locking her lips onto one spot and sucking on it long and hard. The result was a love bite of sizeable proportions, and Twilight glanced at it proudly as it slowly turned purple. “Now everypony will know you belong only to me...”

Trixie didn’t manage to reply, as she had finally remembered to breathe and was now doing so in shallow gasps for air, her entire body still shaking with pleasure. Twilight suddenly pressed her lips against Trixie’s and slipped her tongue into the other mare’s mouth, kissing her with a hunger and lust that threatened to overwhelm her senses. Her maid finally gave in to the kiss and her grip weakened for just a second; however, Twilight had been waiting for it, and readily took advantage. She pulled back her hips until only half of her massive member was still inside, before slamming it back in again.

“Ah!” Trixie screamed, snapping out of the kiss as her entire body convulsed around the thrust, her head thrashing about when she arched her back involuntarily. Before she could recover Twilight pulled back again, making use of the improved access the other mare’s arching back was offering to slip back in even more expediently than before. She quickly worked out a rhythm for herself, panting and moaning as she pumped her cock in and out of Trixie’s love hole. Trixie’s prediction proved more or less correct, as the wild fucking she was receiving did seem to have chased all coherent thoughts from her mind: all she did was thrash her head from left to right in an uncontrolled fashion, her entire body squirming and shaking as it was reduced to a bundle of nerve endings, a mass of orgasmic flesh. The few thoughts she yet possessed focused entirely on Twilight and her rock hard member, now so deeply wrapped inside of her velvet glove. She bucked her hips up in tandem with Twilight’s thrusts, her body acting completely out of its own accord.

“Yes, oh yes,” Twilight hissed between clenched teeth as she rode her cock into Trixie faster and faster, getting swept up in a vortex of lust and passion. “I’m going to... ah... f-fuck you silly, my naughty little maid,” she said as sweat rolled down her body, meeting up with Trixie’s overflowing juices where they pooled on the floor.

Suddenly Trixie let out a cry loud enough to reach all the way over to the Everfree forest, as she contracted around Twilight--trying to pull her in deeper--before she suddenly came all over the mare’s cock, her juices spilling out and causing a considerable wet spot on the floor. Twilight got fired up even more by this and started to thrust into her with reckless abandon, giving Trixie no time at all to recover from her orgasm. Her pussy continued to convulse and ripple around her, and her loud, unintelligible moans continued throughout.

After nearly a full minute of this the maid suddenly collapsed underneath her, her body so exhausted and spent that it could but undergo Twilight’s thorough fucking. In essence, she was reduced to being nothing more than a ragdoll underneath her mistress, thrown about on the waves of Twilight’s thrusts, and Twilight didn’t seem to mind at all. She continued taking her, but with even less regards to the other mare’s pleasure than before, using her more as a cocksheathe, or a highly advanced form of masturbatory aid.

“Yes! Oh by Celestia, yesss... Mmhhng!” Twilight moaned in ecstasy, approaching her peak rapidly. “Take it... ah... take it all, my... oh yes... my little bucktoy! All of your mistress’s love!”

She exploded inside of the blue mare, filling her womb and coating the walls of her cunt with spunk in an instant as she continued madly pounding into her, releasing more of her seed every time she thrust forward. Finally the last of it seemed spent, and she pulled her rapidly softening cock out slowly as she panted, a thoroughly satisfied look in her eyes. She pulled out completely, and some spunk oozed out of Trixie’s overfilled hole, joining the already considerable mess of fluids on the floor. Trixie herself remained almost motionless, her body shaking softly, eyes half-closed as she was unable to move from sheer exhaustion. Twilight stepped over her, her cock dripping the last of its juices onto the maid’s uniform, before Twilight wiped it clean against the other mare’s lips. With a truly heroic effort, Trixie managed to lick her lips clean, which Twilight could only applaud as her cock now rapidly shrunk, vanishing as the familiar folds of her own marehood once again took its place.

“I’m going to take a bath,” Twilight announced, having already regained full control over her breathing, “clean up here and then do the same. I’ll make dinner arrangements for this one time... nopony will be able to say I’m not a kind mistress.” She waited for a few moments, but it was readily apparent that Trixie wasn’t quite ready to respond, panting and lying down in a heap as she was. “Make sure you switch uniforms and put that one in the laundry. Oh, and I think we’ll be adding this type of activity to your nightly duties... you perform them well.”

And with that Twilight walked off in the direction of the bathroom. Trixie managed a weak smile. She was exhausted, her throat was raw and her plot and back had several bruises from bucking against the floor--not to mention the huge love bite in her neck--but she didn’t mind. Her mistress was happy and pleased with her performance, and that was all that mattered. That was all that would ever matter.

Mistresses (Non-Clop Version)

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.

As Twilight entered her upstairs bedroom, she quickly put Mystical Mysticism on the lectern next to the beds, and threw a quick glance towards the stairs, to make sure Trixie hadn’t followed her. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t have performed the spell downstairs, but she didn’t want Trixie to bear witness to it, in case she messed up. It was her first time trying it out, after all. When she practiced with Spike she didn’t have the same problem, but Trixie’s own considerable magical talent unnerved Twilight somewhat in this matter, and made her overly aware of how much she (or the both of them, actually) still had to learn.

She was the mistress, so she couldn’t let her maid see her nervously casting a spell like some filly fresh out of magic kindergarten.

She opened the book on the right page, and read over the spell once again to make sure she had it all memorised correctly. In hindsight, skipping over these parts of the book because of the subject matter had been a terrible mistake, as it contained some of the most refined and streamlined spells Twilight had ever laid her eyes upon: there was literally no effort wasted in their casting, no remnant of magical energy left unspent. It made what was supposed to be a rather complicated display of magical prowess into a rather simple feat, and Twilight considered--and not for the first time--that these would be perfect practice spells for both novices and adepts, yet she had to admit that their effects probably made them unsuited to that purpose.

Impressive as the spells were, the fact that a lot of effort had clearly gone into them painted a rather strange portrait of the magical practitioners of old in Twilight’s thoughts: they must have been a bunch of perverts. Twilight was forced to rescind this rather harsh judgement, as she became acutely aware of the slight wetness between her hind legs, which had built up there in reaction to the thoughts and desires that were welling up in the back of her mind.

She breathed in and out, trying to clear her mind of all distractions (which was hard, considering her increasing excitement) as she began to concentrate on the spell. Her horn pulsated with a steady stream of magic, which she wove into the correct shapes and patterns almost subconsciously. She turned the spell upon herself, and immediately felt it grabbing hold; a strange rush swept through her body, and her legs shook underneath her as a pleasant tingling sensation spread through her loins.

The sensations stopped as abruptly as they had set on, leaving Twilight panting in their wake. She quickly caught her breath, and smiled. Already she could feel that the spell had been a great success, but she looked down past her stomach anyway, and, sure enough, she found she was now the proud owner of a magnificent piece of colt equipment, rather than what nature had endowed her with. She let out a surprised yelp at this unfamiliar sensation, but soon a wolfish grin appeared on her face.

It was time to really put her new spell to the test.

***

When Twilight arrived downstairs again, Trixie was still diligently dusting on the other side of the room. She looked back over her shoulder as she heard Twilight approach, and smiled at her shyly, not able to spot the physical change from where she was standing. Twilight beamed back her sweetest smile, her heart racing with excitement.

“You know,” she said slyly, “I do believe you’ve missed a spot.”

Trixie suddenly looked concerned, as she frantically looked around the room for anything she might’ve missed. “Where? Trixie can’t-”

“Right... here.”

What followed was a scene of lust and raw passion unlike anything either of them had ever experienced before, as Twilight tested out the limits and possibilities of her new form. Her lovemaking was rough and wild, more concerned with her own pleasure and excitement than with the well-being or satisfaction of the mare that had become her maid. She wasn’t sure if the docile, subservient stance of the other mare was the cause of it, or if it was something else. It was possible that the primal, male instincts that the spell had imparted upon her were just too much for her to handle, as she had been thrust into the thick of them all at once, rather than naturally grown into them over time.

Trixie herself offered little resistance, to her it was only natural that she’d do whatever her mistress desired of her.

Nevertheless, by the time Twilight was done with her, Trixie herself remained almost motionless, her body shaking softly, eyes half-closed as she was unable to move from sheer exhaustion. It wasn’t as if it hadn’t been pleasurable for her as well--how could she not be ecstatic at the thought of how much pleasure she was giving her mistress, and of course her body had reacted in its own way--but it was far more than she was used to.

The room itself was a mess, as a table had fallen over, amongst several other things.

“I’m going to take a bath,” Twilight announced, having already regained full control over her breathing, “clean up here and then do the same. I’ll make dinner arrangements for this one time... nopony can say I’m not a kind mistress.” She waited for a few moments, but it was readily apparent that Trixie wasn’t quite ready to respond, panting and lying down in a heap as she was. “Make sure you switch uniforms and put that one in the laundry. Oh, and I think we’ll be adding this type of activity to your nightly duties... you perform them well.”

And with that Twilight walked off in the direction of the bathroom. Trixie managed a weak smile. She was exhausted, her throat was raw and her plot and back had several bruises from bucking against the floor--not to mention the huge love bite in her neck--but she didn’t mind. Her mistress was happy and pleased with her performance, and that was all that mattered. That was all that would ever matter.

Trixie's Tale

Twilight knew Trixie would be needing a bath herself, but she still took her time, not expecting the other mare to be getting up anytime soon. She turned out to be right, as Trixie had only just begun scrambling back to her hooves at the time she finished. The maid stood up on shaking legs, looking at the carnage around her skeptically, trying to figure out where to start. Twilight didn’t intervene, just leaving her to decide the sequence of actions for herself. Instead, she picked up a cookbook from one of the shelves and headed into the kitchen, taking her sweet time to look through it for a suitable recipe.

She eventually settled on something simple that needed to simmer for some time, paging through the rest of the book with only mild interest as she waited. Just as she was busy setting the table for two, Trixie staggered into the room. She had her spare uniform on and was clean again, but the physical signs (and fatigue) of their lovemaking couldn’t be erased so easily. Twilight actually blushed slightly as she spotted the love bite on Trixie’s neck, but at the time she just hadn’t been able to stop herself.

They ate a simple meal, and Twilight’s cooking managed to awaken an appetite even in Trixie, although Twilight could tell swallowing was still somewhat uncomfortable for the maid, which made her blush yet again. Afterwards Twilight retired to the library with a book, and she called Trixie over, who promptly laid down her head against the purple unicorn’s side, closing her eyes. For a good while Twilight just stroked Trixie’s mane as she read, until she started to feel slightly tired herself.

“Love, wake up,” Twilight said as she shook the other mare gently.

“Huh... whaazha-”

“We’re going to bed. Check the doors and windows here, then come upstairs.”

“Yes mistress...” Trixie rubbed her eyes sleepily as she stood up, walking off towards the front door.

Twilight went upstairs and looked at the guest bed she had put up for Trixie. Why was it still there? One way or the other, the ex-showmare ended up in Twilight’s bed before the night was over anyway, and surely their relationship was serious enough... Her horn lit up as she slid open a panel on the wall, which revealed a storage room that was way too big to fit inside the library, and yet it did; magic had taken care of that. She quickly lifted up the extra bed and shoved it into the storage, closing the panel again as she slipped under her sheets.

Trixie came up a few minutes later, and to Twilight’s surprise she actually did seem confused about the lack of a second bed. Was it because she hadn’t expected a maid to sleep with her mistress?

“Come here,” the purple unicorn commanded, dispelling Trixie’s indecisiveness.

She slipped into bed herself, where Twilight quickly pulled her into an embrace and snuggled up, pressing a soft, gentle kiss upon the other mare’s lips. Her horn lit up for a short moment, and the lights went out throughout the house.

“M-mistress?” Trixie said uncertainly. “Is Trixie supposed to... again... tonight?”

Twilight stared at her with a quizzical look on her face, until she suddenly remembered what she had said at the end of their lovemaking session. “Oh! No, I think I can let you rest for this one night.” She winked. “But I do want cuddles.”

Trixie pressed herself against Twilight, resting her forehead against her mistress’s chest.

Twilight caressed Trixie’s side under the covers for a while, lost in thoughts. She knew her own origins were more or less known to Trixie, but she realised Trixie’s own past was still a big mystery. “Trixie, I want to know more about you... Like about your life before you started travelling. Tell me about it.”

Trixie tensed up in Twilight’s embrace, not saying a word, barely making a sound, before she started shaking slightly.

“Trixie? Your mistress asked-”

“T-Trixie can’t,” she finally stuttered.

Twilight frowned. “You can’t? Why not?”

“She just... she just can’t...” Trixie said softly, “but Trixie can... tell mistress a-a story? If she’d like?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, looking at Trixie’s face in the light of the stars and moon which shone in through the window. “Alright,” she finally said slowly, “but I hope it is a good one.”

Trixie took a deep breath. “Once upon a time...”

***

Once upon a time, there was a little filly unicorn, who lived in a small, idyllic little village, not unlike Ponyville. Her parents loved her dearly and raised her well, and she grew up to be the heart and soul of the community. Wherever she went, ponies broke into a smile at her lighthearted and playful nature, and even at that very young age nopony could claim she treated anypony with anything but the kindness and respect they deserved. From her end, the little filly enjoyed the praise and affection she got for being good and nice, and she did everything to ensure everypony only had good things to say about her.

And so life went on in the quiet little town, with nothing unusual happening, but of course that meant nothing unusually bad happened either. But one day, that all changed.

A disease swept through the town, striking the grand majority of the populace virtually overnight. The affected ponies were first wracked by attacks of bloody coughs, and soon all energy seemed to leave their bodies, until they could not even summon the will to eat, and slowly wasted away. Day-to-day life came to a grinding halt as all ponies were either too sick to work, or too busy taking care of this first group. And, of course, as time went on, this second group shrunk, while the first one became larger day after day.

By the time everypony realised they weren’t dealing with a simple cough or a harmless flu, it was already too late. Medicine and food were scarce, and--unlike Ponyville--the village was very remote, a good distance away from the major city centers. To make matters worse, the entire pegasus and unicorn populations (the only ones with access to the fastest methods of transportation) had been the first to come down with the disease, being far less resilient than their earth pony brethren.

They sent one of the last healthy earth ponies out to get help. He ran as fast as he could, but they all knew it would take him days to reach the nearest town over, and then even more time to make it back to their village.

In the early phases of the disease, their local doctor had ascertained that certain medicines they had access to were quite effective at slowing down the disease, but the problem was that they just didn’t have enough of it to put the entire village on a regular dosage for an extended period of time. They decided to distribute what they had amongst the remaining ponies (as many had, sadly, already succumbed to the disease) so everypony could try to hold out until help arrived.

Initially, the little filly’s parents attempted to give her the majority of the food and all of the medicine, but she realised what they were trying to do and would have none of it. She demanded to be treated as an adult, and refused to let her parents sacrifice themselves on her behalf. Her parents begrudgingly agreed, and from that day forward the family all ate their meagre rations together, even though they passed all of the best bits off to the little filly. After each meal they took a little white pill as well, and hoped for the best.

The filly’s condition didn’t worsen at all: she had some coughs, but nothing major, and she even seemed to get better slowly, but steadily. Her parents, on the other hand, got worse day after day, although they managed to hide most of it from their daughter by taking turns to care for her, switching out when one of them felt he or she could not hold out any longer.

One fateful morning, the girl woke up to a silent house, with nopony to wake her, which was rather unusual. She headed downstairs, but there was nopony there either, so she headed back up again and pushed open the door to her parents’ bedroom. And there she found them, in each other’s hooves, lying on the bed, unmoving. No matter how much she screamed and called their names, they would not wake up, and when she tried shaking them softly they felt cold underneath her hooves. She rushed back to the kitchen and jumped up on the table in order to reach the cabinet where her parents stored the medicine. The small container from which her parents usually took her pills was nearly empty--only a paltry two pills remained--while the one they had used for themselves was large and still half full. She reasoned her parents would require a great amount of pills to get better, so she grabbed that bottle, using her fledgling magical skills to levitate it just above her horn.

She rushed back up the stairs, but in her haste she tripped over one of the carpets in the upstairs hallway. The sudden shock broke her concentration, and the bottle of pills smacked against the ground, flying open and releasing its contents all over the floor. She instantly jumped up to gather them all again, but as she did so she noticed something she never had before: these were of a very different shape than the ones she usually got. Hers were white as well, so she had never noticed in the brief moment it took her parents to gulp them down, but now it was quite unmistakable.

She picked one up and put it in her mouth, and as soon as she did so she tasted something sweet; they weren’t medicine, but merely sugarpills. She rushed back downstairs to grab the other bottle, which she now realised contained the only two pills left in the house. She pleaded and pleaded with her parents to please take the pills, so that they could be healthy again, but they didn’t respond, no matter how hard she tried...

Just a few hours later, the rescue team found the little girl on her parent’s bed, crying and pleading with them to get up, but they didn’t get up... they would never get up...

***

“By Celestia, Trixie,” Twilight said with a quiet voice, shock on her face. “Is the filly in the story y-”

“The story isn’t over yet,” Trixie said with an eerily detached voice, and Twilight fell silent.

***

For most ponies, help came far too late. The old and the weak had died several days ago, and even those in the prime of their life had more often than not succumbed to the disease’s ruthless progression. Several other families with young had tried to do what the little filly’s family had done, but to no avail. The others had had it way worse than the filly, and not even all the pills in the village would have been able to save them. As there was nopony left to care for her, the rescue team took her back to the city and left her with the local orphanage.

It was a terrible shock for a kind and friendly filly still struggling to get over the death of her parents. The orphans present were often cruel and unkind, eager to establish a sort of hierarchy amongst themselves--with the filly firmly at the bottom--and didn’t offer up any sympathy towards the filly’s sad story, claiming that the fact she even had parents for a certain amount of time (while the rest of them, through sheer coincidence, were all orphans from birth or abandoned) made her an outsider to begin with.

The caretakers weren’t much better either, having been put there out of necessity and not because of any real aptitude for the job. They had no love to spare for the ones under their care, and the little filly was no exception. They only cared that the foals stayed somewhat quiet and didn’t kick up too much of a fuss, and aside from that they let them do as they wished, with all the bullying that came with it.

And thus the love and kindness the filly had thrived upon for so long disappeared from her life, and she slowly but surely blocked herself off from the others, who did not want her there anyway. But inside, she stayed the same gentle filly, waiting for a chance to break free.

One day she was being bullied for the umpteenth time, when she suddenly reached for a tool she had not brought to bear in a situation like this before: magic. By calling upon its power, she was easily able to best the much larger earth pony youngster that was assaulting her, which caused all the other ponies to burst out in laughter at the loser’s expense. They praised the trick the filly had pulled on him, and although she did not feel good about it, their laughing faces and admiration reminded her of home.

She wanted to experience that feeling again, and pondered what to do. Nobody dared bully her anymore, so a repeat of last time wasn’t an option (and she feared it would not get the same reaction anyway). However, she knew the answer lay with magic, so she started practicing every day. Eventually, she developed a few tricks she thought the others would admire, and performed them for their amusement. The others were less than impressed, and certainly not as elated as they had been the last time. The filly did not understand.

She thought long and hard about what she had done wrong. It wasn’t the magic, her tricks had been perfect, and it wasn’t the audience either, they had been the same ponies from before. And suddenly it came to her: she hadn’t had a victim to make fun of, that had made all the difference. They hadn’t thought her magic humorous per se, but had admired the effect it had had on her bully. She practiced a few new tricks, and put on another performance, only this time she asked for a volunteer from the crowd.

One of the braver punks gladly accepted her challenge, and she unleashed her magic upon him, turning his coat a bright, pinkish colour. His peers laughed louder than they ever had before, and the filly knew she had struck gold. She felt uncomfortable making fun of other ponies like that, but she told herself that it was all just an act, it was all just for fun, yet the more she did it, the more the distinction between on and off stage blurred.

After that first show she got her cutie mark, and she had gained a lot of fans. However, every time she performed, she required a new volunteer or two, so as time went by there was nopony left in the orphanage that she had not slighted, and she once again remained alone. She told herself the others just weren’t ready to accept her great potential, and too simple of mind to appreciate the fact that it was all an act, only for fun. But was it really?

She realised she’d have to move from place to place if she were to get the laughter, smiles and adoration she craved, while avoiding running into the same issue she had at the orphanage. She left the orphanage to brave the world, putting on the mask of the great performer that could outwit anypony, and who everypony adored. And the little, sweet filly of old? She was never heard of or seen, ever again.

***

Twilight remained silent for a few moments, completely at a loss for what to say, concern and sadness clear in her eyes. “That was... a very sad tale,” she finally managed.

“Y-yes,” came Trixie’s choked voice, “T-Trixie thinks so too.”

Tears appeared on the maid’s face, first only a few, which quickly became many, which became an unstoppable stream of them. Her shoulders shook violently as Twilight pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Trixie,” she whispered softly, “the little filly was you, wasn’t it?”

“N-no!” Trixie said, denying it fiercely, “it w-wasn’t Trixie, T-Trixie just t-thinks... the... the story is... s-sad...” she managed to say before bursting into full-on sobbing once again.

Twilight finally understood. The performances at the orphanage may have played a part in Trixie’s current social difficulties, but that wasn’t the full story. The real reason she had fled into her role as the Great and Powerful Trixie, as well as the maid role, was because she was too afraid of facing the grief in her past. She was too afraid of accepting it as part of her life, of being the little filly who lost everypony she ever held dear again, the one who had been despised by her new “family” at the orphanage. It was far easier to keep on a mask and play a part, and to recount her past as “a story” rather than accepting it as part of who she was.

Twilight realised this cast an entirely new light on her plans. They would work, sure, but wasn’t she treating symptoms, rather than the root cause? And now that she knew why her approach worked so well on the mare it seemed a bit... unethical, as if she was abusing a psychological trauma. Perhaps... perhaps she ought to reconsider, and... no, no that wasn’t necessary. Her ideas still held some merit, and would work for them in the short run, allowing them to work out a more permanent and healthy solution for the future. Yes, that was a good way to look at it. She was doing it for Trixie, not because she liked it, but because it had to be done.

She gently held the shaking, sobbing mare against her body, whispering comforting words of love and companionship until, over an hour later, Trixie finally cried herself to sleep.

Morning After

Twilight woke up to a pleasant scent and the clinking of porcelain the next morning, as Trixie walked in with a tray holding a rich breakfast suspended in the air in front of her. She smiled happily at Twilight, who offered a weak smile in return as she rubbed her eyes, still not completely awake.

“Good morning, mistress,” the maid said cheerfully. “Shall you be having your breakfast here, or downstairs?”

The purple unicorn blinked. She had expected Trixie to pretend nothing happened last night, but she hadn’t expected her to be this carefree. Her urge to repress the past--acting as if it all happened to somepony else--was greater than Twilight had assumed, which was worrying, yet all she felt was a guilty sense of relief; she had feared last night's events would put an early stop to her plans, and she felt strangely reluctant to let that happen.

“Uh, here is fine,” Twilight answered once she got over her initial surprise.

Trixie nodded. She lifted Twilight up gently as she put some pillows against the wall behind her back so she could sit up straight in bed, and then put the plate down upon her mistress’s lap. Twilight glanced at the food and then at Trixie, but she did not eat.

“I-is something wrong, mistress? Trixie could always get you something else if you so desire,” the blue mare quickly said, interpreting Twilight’s lack of eating as a silent form of disapproval.

“Hmmm, no,” Twilight said, as she patted the bed next to her. “Come here.”

The maid did as instructed, lying down on the bed and facing Twilight, a puzzled look on her face.

Twilight opened her mouth and closed her eyes, opening one of them again several seconds later. “What are you waiting for? You must feed your mistress.”

“Ah!” Trixie finally understood, and she eagerly started to move small pieces of fruit, bread and greenery into Twilight’s open mouth. The purple unicorn herself leaned back into the pillows, thoroughly enjoying her lazy morning, not a care in the world aside from when to chew and swallow. At first it felt slightly weird, but she knew she could get used to it. Easily, even. Without opening her eyes she reached out with her mind and pulled the other mare closer against her. Trixie didn’t resist--nor did the steady supply of food abate even a bit--and her body felt pleasant against Twi’s, even through the bed sheets.

Eventually Trixie ran out of food, which happened to coincide with the moment Twilight opened her eyes to tell her to stop.

“Uh, mistress,” Trixie began, “you have some breadcrumbs...” she pointed at her own mouth, by way of completing the sentence.

Twilight grinned mischievously. “And what do you intend to do about this problem, my maid?”

It was Trixie’s time to blink. “Erm, well, I can go downstairs and get you a napk-”

“Takes too long.”

“Well, could mistress-”

“It’s your job to take care of me,” Twilight said with a frown.

“One of the sheets around here, then?” Trixie said in a desperate attempt.

“Absolutely not!”

Trixie struggled with the problem for a few moments. She wanted to please her mistress, but that was hard with so many limitations placed upon her (although she would never dare complain). She glanced over at Twilight, who was again wearing that mischievous smile Trixie started to know but all too well, and finally the answer came to her. She leaned in gingerly, and--strengthened by the lack of reprimand from Twilight--started to lick her mistress’s cheeks and lips, thus removing any lingering traces of the meal she had just had. Twilight wasn’t satisfied with just this, however, as she drew Trixie in for a steamy kiss, throwing her forelegs around the mare and cuddling up to her.

After a lengthy make-out session (in the course of which Trixie somehow ended up under the sheets) the two of them finally untangled from each other, both of them panting slightly, although Trixie was blushing shyly, while Twilight’s expression most closely resembled a wolfish grin.

“For a moment there I thought you would forget about my morning kiss,” Twilight said with a wink. “But you won’t, will you?”

“Oh no mistress,” Trixie reassured her quickly, “Trixie will not forget! When does mistress want her morning kiss?”

Twilight shrugged. “Any point after my wake-up kiss but before my afternoon kiss will do, and it will not count towards your daily quota of adoration kisses, of course.”

“Y-yes,” Trixie said with a nod, as she tried to keep track of all of the different kisses.

“At any rate, it’s library day, so we best open up soon... or did you plan to lie in bed all day?”

“Oh, n-no, mistress,” Trixie said, stumbling over her words slightly as she slipped out of bed.

It was then that Twilight’s eyes finally fell upon the large band-aid that covered the love bite in Trixie’s neck. With a simple use of magic, Twilight pulled the band-aid right off, causing Trixie to let out a little shriek.

“Mmmm... don’t cover it, I want them to see you’re taken...”

Trixie nodded, but her stomach tensed slightly as she remembered what Twi had said the day before: Trixie would be the one helping out all the visitors today. She didn’t know how she would manage it without stuttering like a foal or freezing up completely (serving customers or visitors carried a lot of responsibilities, unlike being one) but she knew she’d just have to find a way.

Her mistress was counting on her; failure was, quite frankly, not an option.

***

“So, you just check books in and out of the log, and help ponies use the catalogue if they ask for it. You should know it fairly well after your clean-up yesterday,” Twilight recapped.

Trixie nodded. “And that’s all, mistress?”

The purple unicorn scratched her chin with the tip of a hoof. “Well, everything we can prepare you for, at least... Just try to honour the visitors’ requests if they’re at all reasonable, and then everything should be fine. You don’t have to worry too much, everypony in town is really nice, and most of them have been through the paces several times already.”

“A-alright, so what do I do right now?”

Twilight grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink, as she sat down at the table. “Whatever you feel like doing while waiting for somepony to show up.”

And so Twilight applied herself to writing all the letters, schedules and checklists she had neglected in the past few days, while Trixie paced around nervously, occasionally adjusting the position of a book on the shelves slightly, so that it fit in more with the others. Twilight had to admit that the library was neater than she had managed to keep it with Spike’s help, and her heart swelled with pride at Trixie’s performance. She’d endear herself to the ponies of Ponyville in no time at all, Twilight was sure of it.

It proved to be a rather quiet morning, and the first two hours passed without any visitors coming by at all, to Twilight’s surprise and Trixie’s great relief. But slightly after the first half of the morning had passed the first pony finally walked into the library: a young, shy earth pony colt, whose glasses and acne lent him a rather nerdy and somewhat awkward look. Twilight knew that, by all accounts, he was a shy and reclusive individual, which is why he always tried to plan his visits so that he’d arrive when it was busiest.

Instead, he found himself face to face with Trixie, who put on an uncertain smile. The colt’s entire face flushed beet red as he noticed what the mare was wearing, and for a moment Twilight was convinced he’d either flee or faint.

“Greetings, how can Trixie help you today?”

The colt opened and closed his mouth a few times, before quickly loosening up his saddlebags, setting them down on the ground in front of Trixie. “B-books,” he stammered.

“Alright, Trixie will take care of it,” the blue mare replied, drawing a small amount of confidence from the fact that everything fit perfectly in the routine so far. She opened the saddlebags and levitated the six books inside up on the table, opening the logbook and paging through it until she spotted the title of one of the six books. The other five were right there on the same page as well, and she quickly scribbled a note next to each of them. “Anything else?”

“I... I... uh, n-no, thanks!” the colt suddenly said as he turned around, leaving the library at thrice the speed he’d entered at.

Twilight raised an eyebrow; so his flight instincts had gotten the upper hand in the end after all. She had a feeling he’d come to regret it as soon as he got home, since she was quite sure that reading made up the biggest part of his day. Perhaps he had something else to hold his attention for a while, but if not, he had some very, very boring days ahead of him.

Another two ponies walked in before noon: two pegasi in their mid-teens, probably the foals of one of the weather patrol members stationed in Ponyville. It wasn’t too far to Cloudsdale by air, so most of the pegasi foals went to school there, but they still gladly made use of the proximity of Twilight’s library when they needed some research done for some school project or the other. She hadn’t seen these two before, but she was sure that would be their story if asked.

As soon as they spotted Trixie (and probably the mark in her neck), one of the two stomped his friend lightly in the shoulder, and they moved their heads closer together, whispering softly before bursting into a roaring fit of laughter. For a second, Twilight wanted to remind them that this was, in fact, a library, but then she thought better of it; there was nopony around, after all.

Their laughter drew Trixie’s attention (the ex-showmare had been swapping some misplaced books around, which she had discovered when she put back the six books the colt had left earlier) and walked towards them, in a manner that reminded Twilight more of Fluttershy’s hesitant gait than of Rainbow Dash’s almost arrogant stride.

“W-welcome,” she said to the two as she drew near, “how may Trixie help you today?”

“Oh, hey lady,” the bigger of the two said, “we’re lookin’ for some help on some homework. Everypony said the librarian here is really smart.”

“Like, super smart,” the smaller one added.

Trixie threw a glance at Twilight, since the compliments were obviously meant for her. Twilight blushed slightly. She really wanted Trixie to handle everything today, but the maid was looking slightly panicky, so she supposed she could help her out, just this once.

“W-what kind of homework?” Trixie asked as Twilight threw some sand on the piece of parchment she’d been working on, so that the ink would dry up without staining while she was busy elsewhere.

“Oh, it’s a two pony presentation on some sciencey subject and stuff.”

“Ours is fireworks and pyrotechnics,” the second one clarified.

Twilight immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at Trixie, whose expression had changed from one of nervousness to sheer delight.

“Mistress, can Trixie borrow some of your writing tools?” the maid asked.

Twilight nodded. “By all means.”

Mere moments later Trixie was telling the two of them all she knew on the subject, answering all of their questions quickly and efficiently, as she drew several schematics and diagrams onto the parchment, all accompanied by little notes and random facts. She lead them upstairs for a few minutes, and came back with a leather-bound book that read “Fire for Effect” on the cover; Trixie assured the boys that the author was one of the greatest experts in the field to have ever lived, and that she had learned a great deal from his books herself when she was younger. All this time, Twilight listened along eagerly as well, as Trixie’s knowledge on the subject far outdid her own, shallow understanding of the field.

“Thanks, lady!” the biggest of the two teens said as they got ready to leave, the book held firmly under his wing while his friend hung onto the parchment full of notes. “We’re sure to be top of our class this time!”

“It was no problem, really,” Trixie said with a wink as they left. She turned around, only to find Twilight beaming at her. “Uh, m-mistress, do you require something?”

“No, I was just thinking about how much you’ve grown,” Twilight said affectionately. “Now come, it’s about time for a lunch break. I’ll make us some sandwiches. No arguing, I’m the mistress, I can do what I want, even if it is your job. You can rest a bit.”

Trixie wanted to protest, but she could find no fault with her mistress’s reasoning. She settled down, and took a moment to rest. Tending to a library wasn’t so bad, after all.

***

Tending to a library was horrible!

It had been very calm during the morning, but Trixie began to suspect it had only been so because everypony had decided to come in the afternoon. Twilight doubted it; there were a lot more ponies inside the library all at once than what they usually got in the course of an entire day, and quite a lot of them just came in, walked around for a while, and then left again without even showing any interest in the books themselves. Twilight assumed the rumour that Trixie was tending to the library today had somehow made its way out into the village through the two teens from before, and so several of the braver villagers had decided to come take a look. Twilight shrugged; she should have expected it after all of the attention they had been drawing to themselves ever since Trixie arrived. Many insinuating glances were thrown from Trixie to Twilight, and some ponies stared at the maid’s hickey openly, at least for a moment or two.

Still, many ponies were interested in the books, or at least pretended to be, so Trixie had her hooves full. She constantly had to make new entries in the logs, scribble a note next to old ones, check the catalogue, show certain ponies where they could find the books on one specific topic, and many other things. At the very least, the amount of work she suddenly had on her plate drove away most of her fears and anxiety, as she simply did not have the time to dwell on them. Twilight was pleased to see that the atmosphere in the library slowly changed: from an initial air of hostile curiosity, to the more pleasant buzzing of a lively bunch of ponies.

Twilight didn’t want Trixie to think that she was doing a bad job, but the amount of visitors was clearly too much for one mare, so she sneakily started to help here and there under the pretext of striking up a conversation.

One of the first visitors she helped out was the colt from before. Apparently, the lack of books had weighed down heavily enough upon him that he had conquered his shame and returned, but not so heavily that he had dared approach Trixie again. Twilight helped him gather up some books and then sent him on his way, writing down the books he had borrowed on a piece of parchment; she could add it to the log later.

After that she mainly focused on helping the regulars, whose likes and dislikes she was intimately familiar with. The newcomers she left mostly to Trixie, and, to be honest, all of them were only interested in Trixie anyway.

By the time the last visitor left the library it was already getting dark outside, and Twilight sat on the sofa with a book as Trixie closed the door, looking quite tired. Twilight beckoned her over, and kissed her cheek softly, pulling her onto the sofa with her. “You did good, my love,” she whispered into the mare’s ear.

“T-thank you, mistress,” Trixie said, blushing as she rested against Twilight, closing her eyes for a moment.

The purple unicorn nuzzled Trixie’s cheek. “I can even forgive you for forgetting about my kisses... if you catch up on them right now, before dinner.”

Trixie smiled, as she leaned in and gave Twilight a long, passionate kiss. The first of many.

Invitations

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.

Food with benefits (Non-Clop Version)

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?

Diplomacy

They took some time to rest and relax before they began preparing for Applejack’s arrival later that evening, as there was not that much that needed doing. The farmpony preferred simplicity over formal and complicated affairs, and this time there would be no trickery involved either. Instead of a prepared meal they opted for bread and a wide choice of spreads, which were to be served in the living room.

The high table and the chairs were quickly done away with, and soon all they could do was wait for AJ’s arrival. They didn’t have to wait for very long; Applejack was as punctual as always.

“Go open the door for our guest,” Twilight bode Trixie when a knock on the door was heard.

“Right away, mistress,” Trixie replied as she sped towards the door, opening it immediately upon arrival.

“Evenin’,” Applejack said, stepping in past Trixie, “still with the clothes, ah see.”

“M-mistress prefers it that way.”

“Mistress, right.”

Trixie bowed her head for a moment, unsure what to say and thus deciding not to say anything at all; she didn’t want to anger Applejack in any way, and that seemed to be the best way to go about it.

“Right this way, please.”

Together they walked into the living room, where Twilight was already sitting around the food laden table. She looked up at Applejack, and smiled.

“Applejack, I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Well, of course, ah said I would come didn’t ah?” She sat down at the table, opposite of Twilight, as Trixie settled in on the side to Twilight’s right.

The purple unicorn smiled at the earth pony, and after a short silence she said: “Well, let’s eat then, shall we?”

They began eating, and slowly but steadily a conversation started, as Twilight and Applejack caught up with recent wheelings and dealings. The farmpony showed a particular interest in the practical applications of the growth spell Twilight and Trixie had tried out a few days earlier, remarking that she saw more potential in unicorns helping earth ponies personally, rather than by using machines such as the Flim Flam Brothers. To Twilight’s great disappointment, the magical details ended up boring Applejack somewhat, but at least it was something.

Trixie remained mostly silent, only adding her opinion and expertise to the discussion when specifically asked to. Applejack threw a few curious glances in her direction, but the maid always averted her gaze.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Applejack said as the conversation swung towards their mutual friends. “Ah saw Fluttershy and Rarity earlier today... they wanted me t’go to the spa with with them tonight, but luckily ah could tell them you invited me here.” Applejack winked at Twilight. “Ah s’pose ah should thank ya’ll for that, heh.”

Twilight grinned. “Oh come on now, Applejack, the spa isn’t that bad, you’ve been there with us before.”

Applejack shook her head. “It’s a mite different when ya go with just Rarity ‘n Fluttershy, ah tell ya... They go for the... full treatment.” Applejack shuddered, making Twilight laugh out loud, and even Trixie felt confident enough to smile at the earth pony now that her mistress was in such a good mood. “But what ah wanted to say... The topic of Trixie came up. Spike, too.”

Twilight immediately stopped laughing, and a neutral expression manifest itself on her face as she sipped from her tea. “Oh, I see... So what did they, uh... what did they have to say?”

“No need to get all serious like, Twi, it wasn’t bad. Fluttershy seems to think Trixie has got to be a nice pony if you love her as much as ya’ll seem to, and ah reckon that’s a good point. Rarity just spouted a lot of hooey ah didn’t really get and a lot of ‘you know, wink wink nudge nudge?’, for a moment ah thought she was a nutter. She ended up just saying you two seemed to have a good ‘connection’, though, and who am ah to deny that?” Applejack paused for a moment. “Ah don’t know if ah agree with ya’ll leavin’ Spike with Fluttershy, but she wouldn’t hear a bad word spoken about ya on account o’ that, and if she’s fine with it...” Applejack shrugged. “Ah hear he hasn’t been out of Fluttershy’s cottage much, and he refuses to listen when it’s about Trixie, but at least he’s doin’ alright.”

“That’s great!” Twilight shouted out in relief. “So you... you’re ok with this? You don’t mind that we’re dating?”

“Ah well, she’s not spelled doom upon us all yet, so... ah reckon ah don’t have much business meddlin’ in yer affairs, Twi,” Applejack gave Trixie a little smile, “ah don’t think we’re friends just yet... but if you make Twi happy, what manner of friend would ah be if ah complained?”

“You have no idea what that means to me, Applejack... what it means to us.”

“Aww shucks Twi, it ain’t a thing.” She looked over towards Trixie. “Ya doin’ ok there, sugarcube? Ya’ve been awfully quiet.”

Trixie blinked, unprepared for direct conversation as she was. “Ah... it’s... T-Trixie doesn’t have much to s-say... Mistress has s-said everything for Trixie.”

“Huh, ah took you more for the talkative, forward type.”

Twilight smiled. “Didn’t I tell you she changed? She’s so wonderful, she did it all so we could be together without upsetting anypony.” Twilight reached out over the corner of the table and drew Trixie into an embrace, kissing her gently as Applejack briefly averted her eyes. The maid blushed furiously as Twilight withdrew to her place again.

“Ah can see that...” Applejack said, and something in her tone of voice made Twilight frown. It had almost sounded like the mare had her doubts, but wasn’t this what she and Rainbow Dash had wanted from the start? Well, technically they had wanted Trixie gone, but Twilight figured the current situation was close enough, and Applejack had just said she was ok with Trixie.

“Care for some wine, Applejack? I could use some to wash this down.”

“Ah, well, ah don’t usually drink wine, but... ah shucks, why not?”

Twilight nodded in the direction of the cellar, and Trixie rose to her hooves right away, heading off to fetch some bottles. Applejack frowned once again.

“Ya know Twi,” she started, “ah didn’t want to mention this with Trixie here, but this maid thing... ah’m not sure ah like it.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight was on guard right away; she didn’t trust where the conversation was going.

“She keeps calling you mistress, she’s afraid to join in when we’re talking--don’t try ta deny it, ah saw the look in ‘er eyes--ya keep sending her everywhere wearin’ that degradin’ costume with that mark in her neck...”

“Now wait a minute,” Twilight interrupted, “She’s helpful, nice and considerate now, she hasn’t acted arrogant or selfish in days, isn’t that what-”

“Too helpful, too nice, too considerate,” Applejack interjected in turn. “She needed a little lesson in respect when she got here, sure, but that mare... Ah don’t recognize her as Trixie anymore. It’s like ya brought in a complete stranger! Ah don’t know what ya did to get her like this-”

“What! I didn’t use magic or anything if that’s what you’re suggesting!”

“-but ah don’t see how this is still th’ mare you fell in love with. She moves when you so much as breathe in a direction, and that just ain’t right.” Applejack shook her head. “Aren’t ya enjoyin’ th’ charade a bit too much? Maybe it’s time ta-”

“I’m doing this for her own good!” Twilight bristled. “She was rusted shut in her hostile habits, and I found a way to help her! As my maid, it’s only natural that she’d-”

“Marefriends should be partners, not maid an’ mistress!” Applejack said, her voice getting louder to match the unicorn’s.

Twilight threw her mane back over her neck with a haughty gesture that wouldn’t have looked misplaced on the “Great and Powerful” Trixie. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t expect a workpony to understand the subtle nuances of psychology...”

Applejack’s eyes grew wide, as she struggled to control the anger she suddenly felt rising up inside of herself. “Ah know enough about honesty to tell when somepony is lyin’, at least. Even if,” she added, “that pony happens to be lyin’ ta herself. Ya know yer not doin’ it for her, Twi, you’re doin’ it cause ya get a kick out-”

“How dare you...” Twilight hissed. “Even after all I’ve done, you-”

“S-sorry... sorry for... interrupting...” Trixie said, as she stepped forth from the direction of the cellar, putting two bottles of wine on the table. “B-but Trixie h-heard you shout a-and... Trixie just wants to say...” She swallowed. “P-please don’t yell at mistress... Trixie... Trixie is happy being mistress's, and if you yell at mistress because of Trixie, Trixie will...” She didn’t go into details, but let out a pitiful noise from the back of her throat. “S-so... p-please, y-yell at Trixie instead, if Trixie has m-made you feel... uncomfortable...”

Twilight leaned back smugly, a big grin on her face as she looked back at Applejack. “So, there you have it, she said it herself: she doesn’t mind, so...”

“You monster,” Applejack whispered silently, her face a rigid mask of disgust as she did her best not to look straight at the the purple unicorn.

“E-excuse me?” Twilight managed in the shocked silence that followed. “I think I didn’t-”

“You heard me!” Applejack said as she suddenly looked Twilight straight in the eyes, anger clear on her face. “You’re abusing her! Ah don’t know how it got to this, but it’s wrong. By Celestia, Twi, what in the nine blazes are ya thinking? She talks like you own her or something!”

“You’re lecturing me, in my own house, about something you can’t possibly understand!” Twilight screamed. “Ponyville hospitality may be famous, but back in Canterlot at least guests never had the cheek to-”

“And ah suppose brainwashing’s all right an’ dandy in Canterlot, too!” Applejack stood up, and stamped her forehooves onto the table. “Listen here missy, you-”

“No you listen here, Applejack!” Twilight slammed her hooves down onto the table as well, and the two of them nearly butted heads. “You have no right to-”

Before she could continue, Trixie let out a whimper, drawing their attention. She’d sunken down to the ground, hiding her face under her hooves as she sobbed silently and whispered “Trixie’s sorry... Trixie’s so sorry...” over and over.

“Now look what you did,” Twilight bit at Applejack as she rushed over to Trixie’s side, pulling the maid into a loving embrace. “Sssshhhh...” she whispered. “It’s ok, I’m here... Mistress isn’t mad, it’s ok, it’s not your fault...” She stroked Trixie’s hair gently, as the mare cried against her chest. Twilight threw Applejack a few toxic gazes.

“Ya can’t seriously... this is your fault!” Applejack said incredulously. “Surely you’re not so blind ya can’t-”

“Leave.” Twilight said coldly. “I can at least see you’ve done enough.”

“You-”

“LEAVE!” Twilight screamed as her horn flared with magical energy, slamming open all doors between the living room and the outside, as a gust of wind pulled at Applejack’s mane.

“Hmpfh.” Applejack calmly stepped towards the opened door, before looking back over her shoulder. “Ah told ya ah didn’t mind Trixie no more... and that’s the truth. But you, Twilight... you need ta get your act sorted out, before ya hurt those you hold most dear.”

Twilight didn’t respond, but simply turned her head away as she continued to comfort the shaking Trixie. Applejack disappeared, and half a minute later the slamming of the front door indicated that she had left the building. Twilight quietly fumed for a while longer, but eventually the need to care for her sobbing maid outweighed her anger.

“It’s okay love, we don’t need her...” she whispered, kissing the tears off of Trixie’s cheeks. “It’s okay... it’s okay...”

“B-but T-Trixie r-ruined y-your... p-plans...”

Twilight shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Some ponies... some ponies just can’t be reasonable. In a day or two, Ponyville will know how nice and perfect you are... we can do it without Applejack. Dry your tears.” She smiled lovingly.

“R-really?” Trixie started to rub her eyes, still sniffling a bit.

“Really.” Twilight locked her lips to the other mare’s, kissing her deeply and lovingly, until the both of them were lying breathlessly upon the floor. “I love you, you know.”

The maid blushed. “T-Trixie loves you too, mistress... more than... more than any words can say...”

“Oh really?” Twilight smiled mischievously. “Then why don’t you just show me?”

As her mistress pulled her along to bed Trixie’s heart sang, and all her troubles from before--along with a certain earth pony’s words--were long forgotten.

A Terrible Secret

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...”

Trixie's Party

They eventually managed to pull themselves together, yet their unsteady paces made their trip home resemble more a drunkard’s gait than the elegant stride for which unicorns were known, and there were no doubt those amongst the ponies they encountered who truly believed them to be inebriated at so early an hour, rather than just under the sway of a cake overdose. In light of what she believed to be her imminent victory, Twilight didn’t really care. She was far more concerned about the turning and churning of her stomach than about any unpleasant looks thrown in their general direction.

Trixie--whose ‘not throwing up’ strategy seemed to have backfired somewhat--followed behind her mistress miserably, hanging her head slightly. She hadn’t requested a merciful death a second time, but the idea continued to seem at least slightly tempting, even as her body slowly overcame its food-related ordeal.

At long last they arrived in the library’s relative peace and quiet, and the both of them wordlessly threw themselves down onto the sofa. They remained there for the next hour--gradually recovering--until somepony stepped in through the front door. Trixie immediately jumped to her hooves, and Twilight was but all too happy to let her deal with it.

“I say,” Rarity’s voice came floating through the air, “I do believe Pinkie Pie said there’d be some manner of tent construction going on here by the time I arrived, yet you appear to be lying around, dear. We all have our flaws, but I hadn’t thought laziness to be one of yours. Oh, and by the way, darling,” she said as she walked up to Trixie, “you look absolutely amazing in this... I outdid myself, if I may be so impolite as to make that claim.”

Twilight got up with a frown. She glanced over to Trixie, but the mare’s nervous fidgeting made it obvious that Twilight didn’t have to expect any help coming from that direction. A little voice in the back of her head said that that was her own fault for never encouraging her to speak, but she pushed that voice away with an annoyed grunt.

“She obviously didn’t tell you she nearly poisoned us with her latest cake recipe,” the purple unicorn said defensively.

“Oh dear, baked bads?” Rarity ventured a guess, but Twilight shook her head.

“Baked goods... too good.” She shuddered at the thought once more, and Trixie looked at her pleadingly, not wanting to be reminded of it for fear that she’d go straight back to Pinkie’s to request the making of a new Pinkie Pie Cake. The results would no doubt be catastrophic, or at the very least highly unpleasant. Twilight caught her maid looking at her, and she nodded. “Let us never speak of this again,” she said.

Rarity shrugged; she wanted to ask for more details, but since she had made a similar request concerning “Tom” in the past, she felt obliged to honour Twilight’s wish. “Very well, dear. But if you want that tent up by this evening, we really must get started.”

“Well, we’ll need canvas-”

“I brought a cartload.”

“Ah.”

And with that they started working on the tent under the curious eyes of the ponies passing by, several of which stopped to look at the strange construction.

Twilight had no idea where Rarity had gotten it all, but the amount of canvas she had brought along proved to be more than sufficient. The real problem, they had thought at first, would be figuring out some way to support the canvas and keep it up, but Trixie soon came up with a solution. In all her years of showmareship, she had learned quite a few spells which made setting up a stage on your own a breeze, and she magicked up supporting structures almost out of thin air. When questioned about it, though, she claimed not to remember where she had learned the spells, or (even stranger) why she had done so.

By lunchtime they were already mostly finished, and Rarity went home briefly to grab a bite to eat. Trixie and Twilight stayed behind and continued working, as neither one had built up any considerable appetite.

When Rarity got back, all that was left to do was pretty up the place with some decorations, and Twilight wisely followed her lead in this. Where Twilight went, Trixie followed. They finished up by placing several tables (from Twilight’s special storage) at certain intervals inside of the tent, and then admired the fruits of their labour.

Just when they thought they were cleared to enjoy some well-deserved rest, Pinkie Pie bounced in.

“Wowie zowie, looking good girls!” the pink pony said as she admired the tent from the inside. “I’ve made sure that everypony in Ponyville knows there’s gonna be an amazing, funlicious party here tonight, but we’re not done yet!”

“What, there’s more?” Twilight said. “What more could we possibly-”

“Well, we don’t have snacks or drinks yet, duh!”

The unicorns let out a little moan, but they went to work nonetheless. Pinkie went to fetch some supplies at Sugarcube Corner from time to time, and the rest of them took up positions in the kitchen, which quickly turned into a battlefield of spills and left-over ingredients. It didn’t take Rarity long to forget all about actually preparing anything, as she spent all of her time cleaning the kitchen and making sure everything continued to sparkle. Twilight tried to convince her of the futility of such a course of action as long as the kitchen was still in active use, but the fashionista simply would not heed her arguments.

In the end she gave up, and focused on helping out Trixie with the food preparations. The maid was so much better at that kind of stuff than she was, so she quickly decided to leave much of the actual preparing of the food up to her, choosing instead to busy herself with the logistical sides of things. Her organised mind could very easily plan out the most efficient order of doing things, and so she was rather well-suited to that task. The only “problem” was that, within the kitchen, the role she was playing was obviously inferior to that of the one actually doing the cooking, a fact which she quietly resented. At the same time, that resentment surprised her; surely it was alright not to stress the mistress-maid thing for a few hours, or was it?

Then, at long last, even the seemingly inexhaustible Pinkie Pie could no longer think of any additional preparations that could be made, and the three unicorns settled down with relief, wiping the sweat off their brows.

“Good work girls,” Pinkie Pie said with enthusiasm. “This will be a party Ponyville will long remember! By the end of this night, you will have soooooooooooooooo many friends, Trixie! Everypony will come greet you, and then we’ll be friends forever and ever and-”

Twilight tuned out at that point, instead focusing on her own thoughts. She really hoped Pinkie was right, for she was rapidly running out of ideas, and if the evening ended in a disaster it’d be harder than ever to get Trixie fully integrated.

Trixie herself was being uncharacteristically silent, even by the most recent standards she had set for herself, and Twilight caught her shivering slightly from time to time; she was obviously nervous, and perhaps even a little scared.

The purple unicorn cuddled up to her. “Hey, relax. It’ll be fine. I’m here, after all, right? I’m not going anywhere.”

The maid smiled uncertainly, but she seemed to calm down at least a little bit. “Thank you, mistress...” she whispered.

Twilight pulled her in closer, and Trixie did not resist as she submitted to the kiss. Pinkie continued talking on and on, apparently completely unaware of what her friends were doing, but Rarity tuned her chatter out as well, choosing instead to concentrate on the much more interesting scene in front of her. Eventually the two of them noticed they were being watched, and they had the decency to stop what they were doing, looking slightly embarrassed.

“You two do look cute together,” Rarity mused, “although you do need to be a little more careful with her, my dear Twilight.” She pointed at her neck, roughly in the same location where Trixie still had trace amounts of love bite on display.

Trixie now blushed profusely, but Twilight grinned.

“Maybe I prefer it that way?”

“If you say so, dear.” Rarity shook her head, and Twilight thought she could just barely make out something about “nerdy ones” as the fashionista mumbled to herself.

The sun started its slow descent behind the horizon, and the first guests started to arrive. Pinkie Pie greeted everypony personally and enthusiastically, to Rarity, Twilight and Trixie’s great relief; another hour of Pinkie Pie’s ramblings, and the guests would have probably found the three of them just about ready for the inner wards of a psychiatric hospital.

At first, Twilight tried to strike up a conversation with everypony who passed by, using the occasion to introduce them to Trixie, whose shyness had almost (but not quite) reached Fluttershy-like levels because of the steadily growing crowd. The initial results were rather mixed, with some ponies offering friendly smiles right away, while some others remained more skeptical. At the very least, Trixie’s outfit had become so common a sight within the village that almost nopony seemed to pay attention to it anymore, and those who still did seemed to be very appreciative of it. One couple even approached them to ask exactly where they had bought it, whereupon Twilight promptly pointed them towards Rarity.

As more and more guests started to arrive, though, Twilight could no longer keep up with them, and their position close to the entrance of the tent became increasingly untenable, as there were simply too many ponies passing by.

“Come,” Twilight commanded Trixie, “let’s slip inside until everypony’s settled in.”

Trixie nodded, and together they entered the library which stood in the middle of the tent; however, it became rapidly apparent that it wasn’t the sanctuary Twilight had thought it to be, as there were just as many ponies standing around inside as there had been outside. Various tables had been spread out around the room, and ponies continuously walked in and out to grab food or drink from them. Twilight even spotted a few ponies restacking partially depleted tables by getting new portions from the kitchen, yet she recognised none of them.

“Oh hey Twilight!” Pinkie said, suddenly appearing next to her. “Isn’t this party great?”

“Pinkie, who are those ponies and why are they in my kitchen?”

Pinkie frowned. “Silly filly, somepony has to refresh the snacks, right? So I just asked a few ponies to help out for half an hour, and in half an hour I’ll ask new ponies, and so on! I told you about this earlier, or how did you think we were going to do it?”

Twilight opened her mouth as if to respond, but she closed it again right away. Truth be told, she hadn’t even realised such arrangements were necessary, and tuning Pinkie’s chattering out had obviously been a bad idea, as some of the things she’d said apparently had carried some importance.

“Err, right,” she finally managed, “good... good job, Pinkie. Very good. Outstanding.”

She smiled sheepishly, and Pinkie Pie threw her a scrutinizing glance. Before she could see through the ruse, however, somepony behind Twilight caught the earth pony’s attention, and she rushed off with an excited “Oooo!”. The purple unicorn let out a breath of relief, only to jump up with a scare as somepony appeared next to her once again.

“Ah, Trixie!” Verdant Green shouted in greeting. “Good to see the party girl herself, how’s it going?”

Trixie hid herself behind her still-startled mistress a little bit, as she smiled at Verdant nervously. “Ah, T-Trixie is... alright... t-thank you...”

“You two know each other?” Twilight asked when she finally recovered.

“Of course! I met this charming lady when she came to buy some greens from my stall. Had a little... misunderstanding at first, you see, but she ended up saving my stall from green rot, and all’s well that ends well, ain’t that so?”

Twilight nodded, before turning towards Trixie. “Green rot?”

“Ah, i-it was n-nothing, really...” Trixie blushed furiously, feeling slightly guilty; she had, after all, caused the green rot herself. “I... I just... pointed it out... that’s all...”

“Hey, are you feeling ok?” Verdant asked Trixie with a worried look on his face. “You seem to be shivering slightly.”

“Oh, she’s just a bit shy, that’s all,” Twilight said quickly, with an affectionate glance towards the other mare.

“Shy? But... last time she was quite-”

“It’s the crowds, you see,” Twilight interrupted, “my love is rather bad around them.”

“I... see,” Verdant said without much conviction, which was unsurprising; the lie had been incredibly bad, especially if you considered the fact that Verdant had seen Trixie’s performance last time she was in town. Who would ever believe that showmare shied away from crowds? “Well, I’ve got some friends to meet up with, but nice talking to you. You take good care of her, Twilight Sparkle, she’s a keeper.”

She nodded at him as he walked off. “Green rot. I’ve never read about that in any botanical book...”

Trixie blushed again but remained silent, and Twilight did not ask.

They went outside again, where the guests were now mostly either gathered around the various tables, or standing in little groups with their circles of friends. Everypony was talking in a very animated fashion, and one side of the tent had even been reserved for a few ponies playing instruments and those who wished to dance to the music--no doubt yet another thing Pinkie had taken care of. Twilight’s respect for the earth pony continued to grow, and she almost felt ready to completely forgive her for the cake earlier that day. Almost.

Once again, Twilight and Trixie started greeting ponies left and right, stopping to strike up a little conversation with everypony, and excusing themselves as fast as the rules of decency would allow in order to continue on to the next group as swiftly as possible; there were a lot of ponies present, and they’d be hard-pressed to introduce Trixie to all of them no matter how hard they tried.

At one point, she even spotted Granny Smith talking to the Mayor, and she frowned. Pinkie chose exactly that moment to appear again.

“Hey Twi, you two want punch?”

“Eh, no thank you,” Twilight said, and Trixie shook her head as well. “Pinkie, you invited Granny Smith?”

“Well, duh, you said everypony everypony! I didn’t invite the children, of course, it’s past their bedtime.”

“Wait... does that mean you also invited... Dash, AJ and Fluttershy?”

The pink pony shrugged. “I did want to invite AJ, but according to Granny Smith, she went camping. Apparently that’s what she always does when she needs some time to think, although what she’d have to think about, I have no clue! She’ll probably be back by tomorrow, though.”

Twilight had a few theories as to what AJ may and may not be thinking about. “And the others?”

“Well, Fluttershy is too scared of big parties like this--remember the one I held for you? She didn’t come then either--and Dash’s cloudhouse was shut tight! Perhaps she was out?”

Twilight had a few theories about that, too, and none of them involved Dash not being inside of that house.

Pinkie Pie left them again, and several hours passed. Twilight became increasingly optimistic with every smiling face they left behind. Even Trixie gradually overcame her shyness a bit as the party went on, but she never got rid of it completely, and her default reaction during moments of uncertainty remained hiding behind Twilight.

Eventually they went to talk with the Mayor and Granny Smith as well: the Mayor tried to see if she could get Trixie to perform again in order to create more publicity for Ponyville--which was of course impossible in her current state--while Granny Smith mostly complained that somepony of her age shouldn’t be standing as long as she had been.

“Trixie,” Twilight said, “please go inside and fetch a pillow for our guest.”

“But-” the maid began after one look at the crowd around her, but she was quickly stopped by Twilight’s stern look. “A-alright...”

“Oh, and Trixie,” Twilight added, leading her a little bit away from the guests for a moment, “if anypony asks anything of you, or needs your help with anything, oblige them, alright? It’s not unfeasible that some ponies will want to strike up a conversation with you on the way there, and you need to continue to appear nice to them, even without me there, alright? Can you do that?”

“Y-yes mistress, Trixie can do that for mistress.”

Twilight smiled, and pressed a soft kiss upon Trixie’s cheek. “Good, I’ll be waiting here.”

And with that the maid set off to complete her task, nervous though she was. She slowly made her way through the crowd, mumbling “excuse me” and “sorry” whenever she had to squeeze past a few ponies, trying to make herself as small as possible in the process. Her heart started thumping faster and faster the longer she was stuck alone in the crowd, but she pushed on, knowing her mistress’ gratitude awaited her in the end.

Finally she stepped into the library--which was still very busy--and grabbed a pillow from one of the sofas, breathing in deeply a couple of times before she dared go back outside. Relief washed over her when she approached the end of her journey at long last, which quickly turned to horror as she realised her mistress was no longer amongst the group of ponies she had returned to.

Granny Smith accepted the pillow gratefully, as Trixie directed a question towards both her and the Mayor. “W-where’s m-mistress?”

“Who?” the Mayor asked as she raised an eyebrow, and Trixie could tell she was slightly inebriated.

Granny, meanwhile, had fallen asleep.

“Mistress Twilight,” Trixie said with a hint of panic in her voice, “w-where is she? I need to... I must...”

“Ah, Twilight... Rarity came looking for her a moment ago, something about... something about some drunks causing trouble on the other side of the tent, I don’t even know... If you wait here, I’m sure she will...”

But Trixie had already stopped listening, as she turned tail and made her way over to the other side of the tent as fast as she could. She felt panic rising in her throat like bile, and had to struggle to keep her breathing under control more and more with each passing minute. She finally thought she’d arrived at the “other side of the tent”, but Twilight was nowhere to be seen amongst the many, many ponies.

Trixie’s legs started shaking, and the world began spinning before her eyes. The crowd around her felt suffocating, as if they would be coming ever closer and closer until they eventually crushed her, or trampled her to death... That wasn’t true, of course; it was merely a trick played by her mind, like how the walls of a tiny room can appear to be trying to crush you as well, but Trixie wasn’t able to convince herself of that fact. She felt trapped, until she suddenly realised there was one place of relative calm left in the area: the second floor of the library. Surely her mistress would come to look for her there eventually. Maybe she’d be a little bit angry with her, but she just couldn’t... she simply couldn’t stay in the crowd alone, there was no way...

She retreated back into the library, and made her way up the stairs at once, relatively unhindered. As she passed through, an earth pony colt standing in one of the corners of the room punched his friend in the shoulder to grab his attention.

“Hey Berret,” the colt--who had a green pea and a question mark for a cutie mark--said to his friend, “she came in again.”

Berret, also an earth pony, turned around, rubbing his painful shoulder. “Where? I don’t see her, you goof.”

“She went upstairs.”

Berret blinked. “What, alone?”

Pea smiled a slightly creepy smile, which bared all of his teeth. “Alone.”

They exchanged a nod of understanding, and without saying a word they quietly followed the mare. Once upstairs, they spotted Trixie frantically running from window to window, as if she could somehow find Twilight from up there; that was, of course, impossible, as the roof of the tent didn’t reach up above the windows.

“Evening lass, lovely night for a party, isn’t it?” Berret said out loud, as they walked towards the maid.

Trixie turned around with a scare, and backed off towards one of the walls, her eyes big with fear and uncertainty. “Who-who a-are-”

The two of them came closer and closer, and Trixie backed off all the way until she bumped into the wall, and could back off no more.

“Oh, that’s an easy one. I’m Berret Red, and he’s Mystery Pea.”

“We’re not from around here, you see-”

“-but we know a party when we see it!”

“Quite right,” Pea admitted. “And while we’ve been all over Equestria, one thing is always the same-”

“-mares,” Berret filled in for him. “We speak your language quite well, and right now that outfit of yours is telling us that you need a, shall we say, little something something.”

“I don’t know about you, but there’s no little about it on my end.”

“Do you mind? I was trying to be modest.”

They were so close now that they could've touched Trixie had they extended a hoof, and the maid made herself as small as she could manage. “Trixie... Trixie doesn’t u-understand...”

“Oh, come on,” Pea said as he stepped forward and pressed his body up against Trixie, forcing her to her hind legs and up against the wall, “anypony who dresses as provocatively as this knows what it’s all about.”

“It’s a party, after all,” Berret said as he came to stand next to her, whispering in her ear. “Surely parties are meant to be fun? Won’t you have a little fun with us? We can’t make this night a success without you.”

Trixie shivered in fear, but as she opened her mouth to speak, no words came. She wanted to push the colts away, to run downstairs as quick as she could, but she constantly heard her mistress droning one sentence inside of her mind: “If anypony asks anything of you, or needs your help with anything, oblige them.” Trixie didn’t want to say yes, but she was completely unable to say no, so all she could manage was a little sound that could be interpreted in any number of ways.

“She’s speechless with anticipation,” Berret said as he started to slowly push her skirt up. “Don’t worry lass, that happens all the time.”

“All the time,” Pea confirmed with a nod.

Trixie closed her eyes as her heart pounded in her throat, blind obedience and uncontrolled fear battling it out for control of her body, with fear slowly losing out and being replaced with submission. Her heart screamed out for her mistress to come to her side, but it was a plea that she could not get her lips to repeat for her.

It turned out she didn’t have to.

“What in the blazes is going on here?” Twilight yelled in anger as she arrived upstairs, having followed the trail of ponies who’d spotted Trixie all the way there.

The two colts turned around straight away, letting go of Trixie in the process. The mare’s knees buckled beneath her, and she collapsed in a heap on the floor, the stress and fear temporarily getting the better of her.

“Lady, haven’t you heard of knocking?” Pea asked.

“Well, there’s no door leading up here.” Berret shrugged.

“Still, she could’ve-”

“What were you trying to do to my marefriend?” Twilight said with a hiss as she stepped closer to them, a glint of murderous rage shining in her eyes. She glanced at Trixie’s shivering shape once, and the rage intensified even further.

It was the colts’ time to back off in a hurry. “H-hold on lady,” Pea said as he lifted a hoof in a defensive gesture, “w-we didn’t know she was taken. Tell ‘er, Berret.”

“Yeah!” the other colt said enthusiastically. “And besides, with those clothes, she was clearly the one seducing us, and-”

“ENOUGH!” Twilight yelled as powerful magic surged through her body, wrapping the two colts in her aura of magic as she lifted them off of the ground, struggle feebly though they did. “How dare you... how dare you... in my own house...” She seethed with barely contained fury.

“Well, she never said no!”

For Twilight, that was the last straw. With a terrible display of magic, all the windows in the room slammed open and, with one mighty, magical swing, she threw the both of them straight out of the window. She had enough sense to make sure they landed in the river behind the library, screaming after them: “And don’t you dare come back!”

As soon as she turned away from the window, Trixie threw her front hooves around her neck and started crying against her chest, now that her inner feelings seemed to be in line with her mistress’s wishes.

“Oh, thank you... t-thank... you...” Trixie sobbed. “They... they were gonna... t-they wanted... t... to...”

“Shhh... it’s ok... it’s ok...” Twilight whispered as she stroked Trixie’s mane with one hoof, and held her close against her body with the other, letting her cry out for a while. “They’re gone, they can’t hurt you... mistress is here... I’ll protect you, always...”

Slowly but surely, Trixie calmed down, reassured by her mistress’s presence and words.

“But, Trixie,” Twilight suddenly said with a frown, “you’re powerful enough to take on two colts, even if they’d been unicorns... so why didn’t you even ask them to stop?”

It was Trixie’s turn to frown, as she looked up at her mistress with her still tear-stained eyes. “B-but mistress... you told Trixie to oblige the guests when they asked, and they are guests who asked, s-so...”

That one simple sentence, seemingly the epitome of logic, was like a dagger through Twilight’s heart. She felt herself choke up, as she whispered hoarsely: “T-that’s why? Just because I... said...”

The world shattered and crashed down all around Twilight, and her head started spinning out of control. She wrestled free of Trixie’s grasp weakly, and stumbled over to a table, which she used to support herself as she was on the very verge of collapse. For days she had been absolutely convinced of her cause and methods, certain that the course she had set was straight, true and pure, but all of a sudden she wasn’t so sure anymore. She had not managed to make Trixie more altruistic or humble, no... she had done something entirely different: she had completely destroyed the mare’s sense of self-interest, her will slaved to Twilight’s every command.

“This... this isn’t how it was supposed to go...” Twilight uttered in a sense of shocked horror as she tangled her forehooves in her mane, sinking down to the floor. “This isn’t what I had in mind... All I wanted was to help, but I... but I...”

“M-mistress?” Trixie asked worriedly as she approached with caution. She had already repressed her own emotional shock, as the worry she felt for her mistress superseded all other concerns.

Twilight glanced at Trixie, tears in her eyes, when suddenly Applejack’s voice came floating towards her.

But you, Twilight... you need ta get your act sorted out, before ya hurt those you hold most dear.

Tonight she had, undeniably, put her own marefriend into a terrible situation, one that would have ended up catastrophically had she not entered the room exactly when she did. It didn’t matter that nothing had happened, something could have happened, and it’d have been her fault. All of it would’ve been her fault, and while she managed to stave off disaster this time, who was to say there wouldn’t be a next time? And a time after that?

Applejack had been right all along. She had taken advantage of Trixie, made her her loyal slave, to such an extent that the maid would willingly allow herself to be raped, if she thought it would please her mistress. Twilight was suddenly overcome with disgust. Disgust for herself, disgust for what she had become, and disgust for what had almost happened that night. In a flash, she saw all the events that lead up to this evening, and realised that a lot of them, like the thing with Dash the day before, should have been highly suspect even to herself, even before the events of that evening.

Her disgust boiled up from her own stomach in the form of actual physical nausea, and as she fell to her knees she threw up for the second time that day, yet this time she had nopony but herself to blame.

Within mere moments, Trixie had grabbed a bucket and a piece of cloth, and she quickly put the bucket down in front of Twilight, cleaning the corners of the mare’s mouth. “M-mistress, are you ok? Was it something you ate?” Her concern for Twilight dampened her shyness; she’d do anything to bring her mistress back to full health, preferably right away.

To Twilight, however, it reminded her too much of the horrific truth she had just caught a glimpse of, and she was forced to hang over the bucket as her stomach played up yet again. After that, her stomach did not quite come to rest, but she simply did not have anything to give anymore.

Trixie stayed by her side, trying to comfort her, keeping her mane from hanging down into the bucket and wiping her forehead with a wet piece of cloth, while simultaneously trying to clean up the pool of sick Twilight had left upon the floor.

Eventually, Pinkie Pie appeared at the top of the stairs, to find Twilight still shaking in Trixie’s hooves. “Oh, there you are, Twi, we were wondering-”

“P-party’s over,” Twilight said, her voice hoarse and her throat painful.

“What?”

“S-Send everypony home... Please...”

“But I-” Pinkie tried, but Trixie stood up. If her mistress was feeling weak, then she’d just have to be strong for her.

“Mistress is feeling unwell, Pinkie. Either you stay here and take care of her and I go send everypony home, or you go do it.”

“Oh, euh... Alright,” the earth pony said, somewhat taken aback by the maid’s sudden shift in character, “get better, Twily wily! Don’t worry, Pinkie will take care of it!”

And with that, she disappeared down the stairs again. There was a great commotion downstairs and around the library for the next half an hour or so, before everything became quiet.

Even after her stomach finally stopped turning itself upside down, Twilight still did not move from her spot for quite some time. Her mind kept bombarding itself with dark thoughts and feelings of regret, as she tried to figure out where it had all gone so wrong, where she had gone all wrong. She thought about the many ways in which she had wronged Trixie, and about the friendships she had endangered, and for a single moment an amount of despair came over her that was greater than anything she’d ever felt before, which threatened to smother her in its cold embrace. But then Trixie put a hoof on her shoulder, and she snapped out of the worst of her thoughts, yet she still felt numb and lost, as if she was looking at her own body from a distance.

“Mistress, the guests are gone, and I believe the bigger part of the tent has even been taken down,” Trixie said as she offered Twilight a glass of water.

Twilight nodded and drank it all up in one go, but as she looked back at Trixie she choked up again, not knowing what to say. What did you say to somepony you had so grievously wronged, whom you had degraded in such a way that they weren’t even capable of recognising the injustice you had stacked upon them?

She suddenly felt tired and heavy, and her thoughts got weighed down by the limitations of her physical shell, which cried out for the rest which was needed to recover from the day’s hardships.

“Let’s sleep,” she said quickly, not trusting her voice with longer sentences.

Trixie nodded, as she helped her mistress towards the bed--completely unnecessarily, as Twilight could walk just fine--before taking off her own clothes and slipping under the sheets herself. With one last pulse of magical energy, all the lights in the house went out one by one, and the room was veiled by darkness.

After only a little while, Twilight felt Trixie’s hooves reach out for her. She longed for the warmth and comfort they represented, and while she knew she did not deserve the affection expressed by them, she accepted nonetheless. Trixie’s hooves caressed her body, but Twilight just held the other mare closely, relishing in her warmth. In the darkness she could pretend that everything was alright, that nothing bad had ever happened, that Trixie was perfectly ok, even if it was only for the length of a single night.

“M-mistress?” Trixie’s voice came suddenly. “Are you not... are you not going to use Trixie tonight?”

Twilight maintained a shocked silence, not knowing what to say. It was true that they’d been having sex virtually every night for a while now, but to hear Trixie say it like that...

“Did Trixie... did Trixie... a-anger you?” the maid said, and the pain and worry in every word struck Twilight like a whip. “Trixie’s sorry... Trixie w-wanted to wait for mistress outside, b-but T-Trixie was... was so scared, and then inside Trixie... Trixie... P-please forgive Trixie, mistress, she will do better n-next time...”

Something, a last remnant of strength, finally broke within Twilight, and her shoulders started shaking as she burst into tears. “Oh Celestia,” she sobbed, “T-Trixie... please, please forgive me. I... I’ve t-treated you... so... so badly, and I... Oh Celestia, how could you e-ever... f-forgive me?”

Trixie pulled Twilight closer in her embrace, making soothing noises as Twilight started crying louder and louder, feeling an almost instinctive need to console her, although she did not understand the nature of the grief she was trying to protect her mistress from.

“I... I’ll f-fix it...” Twilight promised. “I’ll s-set it right... I promise... oh love, I promise... I promise...”

For a long time, Twilight kept sobbing and begging for forgiveness, and every time Trixie granted it to her with a heartfelt “I forgive you, mistress.”, though she did not know why, nor did she understand what sins her mistress was seeking absolution from. All she knew was that her mistress was in pain, and thus she comforted her, caressing her mane and holding her close until Twilight’s body and voice finally gave out, and she sank into a nightmarish sleep in the early hours of the morning.

The Next Book

Twilight ran out into the sunniest day she had ever seen, a plethora of colourful flowers assaulting her senses with their beauty and magnificent fragrance as she rushed towards the top of the hill. Despite nature’s best attempts, Twilight only had eyes for one thing: on the top of the hill Trixie was waiting for her, smiling and waving as she urged her to make haste.

As soon as she reached the top of the hill, she launched herself at Trixie, swinging her front legs around the mare as Trixie did her best to catch her. They fell down upon the soft grass together, and started rolling down the hill in a fit of giggles and laughter. They finally came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, lying next to each other and staring into one another’s eyes. Their bodies inched closer and closer together, until both their legs and tongues were entangled in a display of the highest love and passion, and soon Twilight lost track of the passing of time.

An eternity later--yet at the same time but a second--they finally broke off their kiss, panting softly, as both of them drowned in the other’s eyes.

“I love you,” Twilight whispered breathlessly. “Please, never leave... stay with me.”

The blue unicorn smiled. “Trixie loves you too... and of course she will stay with you, forever...”

Yet despite those comforting words, the world around Twilight suddenly turned from brightest day to blackest night, and Trixie’s coat darkened as she suddenly dissipated, slipping through Twilight’s hooves as were she but a shadow.

The darkness was oppressive and pressed down upon her in such a way that all she could do was move her legs around, searching for her lost lover.

“N-no...” she said with a frightened whimper. “P-please come back, you... you can’t go... y-you promised... you promised you’d... s-stay... you promised...”

Tears of loneliness and abandonment started to fill the corners of her eyes, until suddenly something unseen caressed her body comfortingly. A shape manifested itself from the darkness, and there Trixie was again, wrapping the trembling purple unicorn in her warm embrace.

“Hey,” Trixie said gently, “just because you can’t see, feel or hear Trixie... doesn’t mean Trixie is not there.”

Twilight buried her face against her lover’s neck, hugging her tightly, determined to never, ever let her go. The darkness still reigned all around her, but with Trixie there, it didn’t seem that bad anymore. Not that bad at all.

***

The clinking of porcelain woke Twilight Sparkle from her slumber, and she half-opened her eyes groggily. “Good morning, love...” she whispered to the mare she believed to be in her legs, but upon reaching out for a kiss she discovered that it was, in fact, a rather large, blue pillow. She let go of it as she finally forced her eyes to open completely, looking around with a blush of embarrassment upon her cheeks.

“Good afternoon mistress!” Trixie said cheerfully as she came up the stairs with a food-laden tray.

Almost instantly, memories of the night before flooded back to Twilight, and she groaned with misery weakly. Some part of her had hoped, beyond all reason, that she’d awake to a world without problems, a world where she could simply be with Trixie in a never ending state of bliss. But it was not going to be that easy. Nothing ever was.

The all-encompassing sorrow from the night before had mellow’d out to a black feeling of depression, yet Trixie mistook her mistress’s somber expression for a simple case of morning drowsiness. Or, in this case, afternoon drowsiness, as Twilight had already slept the morning away.

Without giving Twilight even a second to protest, Trixie drew her up to a sitting position and positioned some pillows behind her back, so that she could sit and eat comfortably from the tray Trixie put down on her lap. She then sat down next to the bed and levitated a piece of food towards her mistress’s mouth, obviously intent upon feeding her like last time.

“You don’t need to do that anymore, you know,” Twilight said as she tried to move her lips as little as possible, just in case the maid would take parted lips as an invitation to continue. “I can feed myself, I’ll be fine. You can relax.”

“But... b-but mistress,” Trixie stammered as her smile turned itself upside down, “Trixie...”

She remained silent after that, as Twilight sampled some of the breakfast-turned-lunch by herself. As always, the cooking was of exceptional quality, and even managed to awaken the slumbering appetite that Twilight’s drowsiness and depression had first repressed.

“This is really go-” she said as she turned towards Trixie, but she fell silent at once as the mare’s expression and stance--eyes shining with the beginning of tears, her head bowed miserably as she was seemingly attempting to sink away into the floor--hit her in the head like a brick. “W-what’s wrong?” she stammered. “It’s ok, it’s really good, I love it!”

For a moment Trixie remained silent as she struggled with her desire not to question Twilight’s commands, coupled with her desire to answer a question that asked her to do just that. “Why...” she finally managed, her voice sounding silent and faint, “w-why can’t T-Trixie feed mistress anymore? Is Trixie... is Trixie not... good enough?”

“It’s... it’s nothing like that!” Twilight quickly said as she made frantic gestures with her fore hooves to support her words. “You do your job so well, you are so good in everything you do for me, but... but Trixie, you don’t need to continue being my maid, you’re my marefriend... you shouldn’t have to serve me. I can see that now, and... for what it’s worth, I apologise.” She paused for a moment, and suddenly remembered the flood of apologies the night before. “Again, I mean. I apologise again.”

But whatever Twilight had intended for her words to accomplish, they no doubt had the exact opposite effect, as the maid shrunk back even more and her expression detailed the fruitless battle against a flood of tears she could not contain. Trixie broke into sobs, and Twilight buried her head in her hooves out of pure misery; lately it seemed that at least one of them was crying at any given time, and she knew she only had herself to blame. But she already blamed herself for such a great many things, that even that one additional element was hard to bear. In her heart she knew she’d never be able to maintain a course that so clearly pained Trixie, especially when it seemed more likely that it would completely break her spirit, rather than restore it to its former glory.

“Trixie,” she said gently, “come here.”

That simply command could not drag Trixie from her sorrow completely, but at least she only sniffled instead of straight-up bawling as she approached. Twilight extended a hoof towards her, gently caressing her cheek and mane, careful not to flip over the tray on her lap--which she would have done away with, had she not had further need of it--as she smiled kindly.

“You know it’s not like that... I... mistress loves you dearly, and I thought I was doing you a favour... Now, if you wish, you may feed mistress.”

Trixie did not show any reaction to this, as she just continued sitting right next to the bed, looking, on the whole, quite miserable. This perplexed Twilight, until an idea finally came to her.

“I want you to feed me,” she attempted.

Trixie instantly lifted up her head, and her eyes sparkled with barely-contained happiness as a smile slowly returned to her lips. “R-really?”

“Yes! And if you don’t mind, all this food in front of me has made me quite hungry.”

Trixie quickly dried her tears and enthusiastically threw herself into the task at hand. So great and sudden was the change in her mood, that even Twilight (who had seen it happen) had trouble believing it had occurred at all. At first she was elated that she’d been able to stave off Trixie’s sadness, but then the reality of the situation caught up with her again, and she realised the situation was grim. Trixie hadn’t made a move when told that she could feed Twilight “if she wished” because Trixie really only had one wish: to serve and please her mistress. It was thus not feasible to let her do anything according to her own wishes, as those directly lead back to the mare’s perception of what Twilight wanted anyway.

Twilight assumed that would’ve made for an easy way to bend Trixie’s personality back onto a healthier track, were it not for the set of behaviour rules and norms that had gotten imprinted alongside her obedience. Pleasing her mistress was what she wanted to do, but being the perfect maid (or rather her perception thereof) was what she thought to be the only way to do so. For that reason, every time Twilight tried to make her less of a maid, Trixie assumed she had failed, with acute emotional distress as a direct result--that was how deeply ingrained the message was.

It would perhaps be possible to slowly wrest control back from the overly obedient portion of the mare’s mind, step by step, but Twilight wasn’t certain Trixie would be able to bear the strain that’d no doubt put on her. On top of that, the purple unicorn was quite sure she’d collapse under it as well; how could she live with herself if she had to inflict pain upon the mare she loved day after day because of something that wasn’t Trixie’s but her fault? There had to be a different way...

She opened her mouth absentmindedly to accept the next piece of food that was no doubt coming her way, having not noticed that the tray was completely empty already, lost in thoughts as she was.

“Uh... shall Trixie get more?” the maid asked uncertainly.

Twilight finally snapped out of her dark thoughts. “What? Uh... no... it’s fine. I’m quite full, thank you love.” She paused for a moment. Perhaps her books would hold an answer? “Let us go downstairs.”

Trixie nodded as she picked up the tray, allowing Twilight to finally rise up to her hooves. The librarian was surprised at how heavy her limbs felt once she was standing; apparently, the nightmares that had plagued her most of the night (and morning) had stolen much of the reinvigorating effects of sleep away from her.

“Trixie, you may go without that outfit. You can serve mistress perfectly well without it.” Perhaps separating her from the outfit would help loosen her up from the role a little bit, although Twilight doubted it; she never wore it in bed, and her submission there had definitely been undiminished. Of course, it was possible that making her go without it for longer periods of time would be different, and Twilight staked all her hope on that theory.

Hope which Trixie quickly smashed to smithereens when she said, with a shocked expression: “But mistress, Trixie is your maid.” as if that was all that needed to be said, and as if she was surprised that Twilight--the glorious and magnificent mistress Twilight--had failed to consider it. Trixie saw it as her duty to point it out, no doubt.

“Ah, y-yes,” Twilight conceded, quickly realising that, under these conditions, taking the outfits away from Trixie would be seen as a forcibly dismissal, which would have predictable effects. “I guess I didn’t think it through, heh. Forget it.”

And forget it she did, as they walked down the stairs.

For the longest time, Twilight had assumed the mistress role rid her of all obligations, that she could just do what she wanted because she was the mistress. She realised then that that simply wasn’t true; the role of mistress had come with shackles all its own, she just had not seen them for what they were.

Once downstairs, she asked Trixie to prepare some tea as she faced the wall of books that composed the main part of the library. Somewhere amongst those tomes lay the answer to all of her problems, she just knew. She just had to find it, and so find it she would, no matter what, for the mare she loved.

She took up one book, casting it aside in favour of another when it proved useless, only to quickly abandon the second book as well upon turning to the third. If the answer is not in this book, she told herself every time, it will be in the next book.

But every book she touched was “this book” and “the next book” never came.

A Friend in Need

It was already late afternoon by the time Applejack walked into Ponyville, and most other ponies were either dining or had just finished doing so. The walk back from her camping site had taken Applejack the greater part of the day, but it had been worth it; she had had much to think about, and some time alone always set her mind straight. The path ahead seemed clearer, and she followed it all the way to Twilight’s doorstep.

She took a deep breath, and knocked.

A few moments passed but then the door finally creaked open, revealing Trixie in her maid’s outfit. She had a look of worry in her eyes, and Applejack braced herself, as she was certain that Twilight would have given the other mare orders to keep her from coming in.

“Now, Ah know ya probably don’t like me, but-”

“Applejack!” Trixie interrupted. “Trixie is so glad to see you! Quickly, come in!”

The maid pulled Applejack inside and closed the door behind her before she even had time to react, and the earth pony frowned, dumbfounded. “Did Twi... did Twilight make you do something that you didn’t want to do?” Applejack attempted, at a loss for other reasons Trixie would welcome her with so much worry on her face.

But instead of launching into a sob-story like Applejack expected, Trixie threw her a look of confusion. “Trixie wants to do everything mistress wants Trixie to do,” she said in a “How is that not clear?” tone of voice.

“Then what in the hay-”

“Please help mistress!” Trixie suddenly blurted out. “Mistress looks so lost and confused, and it makes Trixie so... so...” She let out a pitiable cry that wasn’t altogether hard to interpret. “But Trixie doesn’t know what to do... but you’ve known mistress longer than Trixie... You have to help!” Trixie looked at her pleadingly.

“Well, of course Ah’ll help Twi, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her, “but ya see, Ah’m not sure yer ‘mistress’ will even want mah he-”

But Trixie had already stopped listening, as she dragged Applejack through the room and into the library beyond. As soon as they entered, Applejack wrestled herself free from Trixie’s grasp and rubbed her eyes. The library had changed a lot since the last time she was there: Half of the books had been unshelved, and had seemingly been thrown around the room at random. Some effort had been made to pile them up into neat stacks in front of their respective shelves, but several of the stacks had, for some reason, collapsed already. Applejack quickly found out why, as a book soared past her head and flew straight into a pile to her left, bringing the whole thing down.

Applejack traced back the trajectory of the book, and found Twilight standing up, her front legs upon a lectern as she pulled book after book from the shelves with her magic, only to discard them at random a few minutes later.

The unicorn herself didn’t look much better than the room. Her hair was sticking out wildly in various directions, and even from where she was standing Applejack could see the occasional shiver passing through her friend’s body. She recognised that shiver, as it was the same one she’d felt when she had pushed herself too hard trying to harvest the orchards all by herself that one time.

Trixie let out a groan as she rushed towards one of the biggest piles of books in the room, stacking them neatly in a vague attempt to restore a semblance of order.

“Trixie?” Twilight said without looking up from the tome she was leafing through. “Who was that at the door?”

“Applejack, mistress.”

“Ah yes, Applejack,” Twilight replied, but it was clear that the message had not yet registered in her mind. Then suddenly it did, and she finally looked up towards the door, her mouth falling open upon spotting the orange pony.

“Howdy.”

Twilight turned back towards her lectern, and buried her face in her hooves. “Oh Celestia...” she groaned miserably. “I can’t do this right now... please, not right now... I... I have to look through these books... I can’t...”

“Look,” Applejack began as she stepped closer, making her way through the maze of books on the floor., “Ah didn’t come here to fight, ya hear? Ah just-”

“I bucked up, ok?” Twilight suddenly wailed, as her shoulders started shaking. “I... I bucked up s-so bad... I... I thought I knew... knew w-what I was doing, but... but you were right... I didn’t... d-didn’t know, and now Trixie...” A heartbreaking series of sobs prevented her from going on for a few moments as Applejack silently approached, letting the unicorn empty out her heart for a bit. “And I’m s-sorry... Oh, Applejack, I’m so... so incredibly sorry... about you, about Trixie... about everything...” She lifted her head up from the lectern and rubbed her eyes with a hoof, before pulling a new book towards her, as she continued with a choked voice: “But I have to fix this... there’s no time... so if you want to yell at me... if you want to tell me what an incredible foal I am, go ahead. But please do so quickly, I... I have to set this right.”

“You are a big foal,” Applejack said from behind Twilight, “but not for th’ reasons ya think. Ah did nay come here to argue, Twi. Ah came to say Ah forgive ya.”

Twilight turned around, surprise in her eyes. “You... what? But I... but I yelled at you, said... said horrible things, how can you... ?”

“And that’s why you’re a foal, Twi. Ah did some bleedin’ stupid stuff, too. Didn’t pay attention to your concerns not once, but twice... ran away from all o’ mah friends without sayin’ nothing... but ya’ll forgave me, every time, because we’re friends, ainnit right? And that’s what friends are for.” She gave Twi a stern look. “But only if you shape up and give me a darn proper excuse now, you hear? Excusin’ to ponies you got you back turned to, now Ah ask you...”

Twilight’s lip started to tremble, her eyes filling with tears once more, but this time out of pure gratitude. “Oh Applejack!” she said as she drew the mare in for a hug. “I’m so sorry I didn’t listen... I’m so sorry I yelled and threw you out... Can you... can you forgive me?”

“Of course I can,” the earth pony said as she returned the hug. “Now tell me what in tarnation is goin’ on in here. Ah had a few more things Ah had wanted to say, but it seems the situation’s changed a lick.”

“One moment. Trixie?”

“Yes mistress?” Trixie said as she popped her head out from underneath the mountain of books that had come to cover her when her last attempt at putting the library in order had, quite literally, fallen apart around her.

“If I’m not mistaken, the floor upstairs hasn’t been dusted in quite a while. It has to be awfully filthy in there by now.”

Trixie blushed. “It is, mistress, but the library-”

“-is not important right now. I want an upper floor befitting of my name, can you make that happen?”

“Of course, mistress!” Trixie said as she dug herself out from underneath the books, dashing up the stairs right afterwards.

Applejack frowned. “Why did ya’ll do that for?” she asked. “And why doesn’t she just put the books back on the shelves?”

“Because I told her not to put them back on the shelves--how would I know which ones I already checked?--and I sent her away because what we're about to discuss usually upsets her...”

“Alright. Ah’m listening.”

“Ok,” Twilight said as she took a deep breath.

She told Applejack all about the party the night before, about what had nearly happened, and what she had come to realise since then. Of the books she only said that she was looking for answers, and that so far, she had found none.

The farmpony remained silent for only a few seconds. “Alright. Ah’m not gonna lie, Twi... that’s bad. Like, serious kinds of bad. Ah didn’t say this earlier since ‘twas lookin’ like ya were makin’ progress, but... you need help. Ah mean, the princess-”

“No!” Twilight yelled out immediately. “She cannot find out! She can never find out!”

“But, Twi, she could-”

“When I was younger, I had... I had a pet,” Twilight blurted out. “It was a bunny. Fluffy. Not a fluffy bunny, that was his name, you see... well, he was fluffy, but that’s not what I... Ugh,” Twilight shook her head to dispel the confusion her sudden state of panic had brought upon her. “Anyway, he was my responsibility, but one week, I... I forgot about him because of all my studying and... and he died... Fluffy died.” She swallowed.

“Ah’m very sorry, Twilight,” Applejack said compassionately as she patted Twilight’s back. “But Ah don’t see how-”

“He was mine to take care of, my responsibility! And so when the princess found out, she... she was so... so upset... so disappointed... I... I’ve never been more scared in my life than I was then... Scared she’d send me away... scared I’d lose her...” A shiver went through her body. “And I promised then that, no matter what, I would take care of those I was responsible for... And she gave me another chance. And I almost ruined it! If she finds out what I did to Trixie, if she finds out I messed up again... This isn’t a bunny we’re talking about, this is my marefriend! If she finds out, she’ll never respect me, ever again! She’ll despise me, she’ll banish me into the sun, she’ll-”

“Aw come on, she didn’t even banish Nightmare Moon into the sun! ‘sides, Trixie’s a grown mare, can she really hold ya responsible for-”

“That’s... that’s not how it works,” Twilight said silently. “When I became her mistress I... I became responsible. I still am... And maybe she wouldn’t banish me into the sun, but she’d... it’d never be the same again... I... I want to bring Trixie back to normal... but I don’t want to lose the princess. Not before I try fixing it by myself.”

“But Twilight,” Applejack said cautiously, “what if ya can’t fix it?”

“Then we will tell the princesses,” Twilight said without a second of doubt. ”And anypony else who could help if he or she knows. But not yet... I... I can still fix her. I know I can. She’s safe here for now, so all I need to do is find a way... and it has to be here somewhere. I know it. I have to keep looking...”

So much for “She must never find out!”, Applejack mused.

“Alright, Twi,” Applejack said as Twilight turned back towards the books. “Ah won’t tell anypony unless you say it’s ok... but only as long as Ah believe ya’ll aren’t endangerin’ Trixie again.”

“Of course. I was just about to ask you to stop me if it seemed I was going crazy with power again. It’s a lot of responsibility to hold in your hooves, Applejack... the complete control over another who’s willing, no, begging for the opportunity to follow your every command... Even now, at times, I hear a little voice whispering...”

“Temptation is a part of all of us, Twi,” the earth pony said wisely, “what matters is how you handle it. And Ah have to say... Ya may finally be gettin’ it right.”

“Thanks.” Twilight smiled for the first time since the night before. “But now I have to keep searching, there’s still so much I haven’t read...”

“Hold on,” Applejack said. “Ya might have convinced me not to call the princesses just yet, but that doesn’t mean ya got to do everythin’ by yourself, you know?”

“But, Applejack,” Twilight protested, “I know you mean well, but you... I mean... you couldn’t... even if I let you help read the books, you... What I’m trying to say...”

“Look, Ah know you’re tryin’ to be nice because of before, Twi, but no need to sugarcoat it, either. Ah’m a farmer, Ah never gave a hoot about your fancy book smarts, and ah likely wouldn’t even know I was readin’ about the cure to Trixie’s condition even if I did happen upon it, it’s true. But Ah’m not stupid, and if ya talk to me a bit, mayhap it’ll sharpen your own thoughts. So?”

Twilight looked from the earth pony to the books, and back again. She didn’t want to waste any time, but Applejack... A friend’s help plus books had to be better than just books, right? “Alright,” Twilight finally said, “let’s try it your way.”

“Ah have some ideas...”

“Go ahead.”

“So we can’t ask the princesses, fair ‘nuff, but somepony else? Ah mean, there’s plenty a’ ponies ya can go to if you’re not feelin’ right in the head an stuff, ainnit?”

Twilight shook her head as she started to pace around the library, moving books away from in front of her hooves as she walked, until she had created a little circular path for herself. Applejack just stood in the centre of the room, turning around on her hooves to keep Twilight within her sights. “You’re thinking about psychological counselors--I have a license for that, by the way--they can help you if you’re feeling a bit depressed or anxious, yes, but they’ve never seen something quite like this. The only ponies with some insight into what we’d need would be psychiatrists, but...” Twilight bit her lip.

“But?”

The purple unicorn sighed, as she started to pace a new pattern upon the floor. “Well, you’ve got to understand... psychiatry is young, very, very young... When’s the last time you saw someone--other than Trixie--who had a real mental illness?”

“That one there barking pony from the hospital,” Applejack said after thinking about the question for a moment.

“No... The pegasus movers dropped their entire truck on her head, so now she has brain damage; that’s very, very different...”

“Alright, alright. So then I ain't know nopony else, but Equestria’s a mighty fine place to live, Twi. We ain’t got much sick ponies, much less sick in the head ponies, so what’s me not knowin’ anypony with a mental illness prove?”

“It’s not just about knowing nopony, it’s about never even having heard of any... Some ponies live their entire life without ever even realising such a thing like mental illness exists!” Twilight stopped pacing around for a moment, as she started gesticulating wildly. “And that’s a problem. Oh, it’s great for ponies in general, of course, don’t get me wrong,” she quickly added, “but it also means there aren’t many opportunities to find out more about mental illness. For a normal disease, we usually need to see quite a few ponies with similar symptoms to figure it out... for things that are only inside of a pony’s head it’s even harder... We’d need lots and lots of similar cases to even begin drawing a conclusion...”

“So, how many have we got?” Applejack asked with a frown.

“In Canterlot--the only place where they even study these things in the entire kingdom--five patients, and they are nothing alike. Only a handful of ponies are involved in the field to begin with, and they’ve written three books on the subject... all of which we have here. They were amongst the first I checked, but they’re vague, theoretical... inconclusive. A fun read,” Twilight added, and Applejack was convinced their idea of “fun” probably didn’t match up, “but nothing I’d dare bet Trixie’s health on.” Twilight’s voice sounded distant, tired.

Applejack nodded. “But... surely they could take a look?”

“No!” Twilight said, more fiercely than Applejack had expected. “No,” she repeated more silently, “I’ve been there a few times over the years--what can I say, it’s a fascinating field and being Celestia’s student opens many doors in the world of research and study--and, well... the patients were always in big, open rooms... with nothing they could hurt themselves on... nothing that could be used as a weapon, as they were observed, day after day, by ponies in coats behind thick panes of glass... In all the years I stopped by, I didn’t see even one of the patients show any signs of improvement. Not one.” She stopped, and stared Applejack into her eyes. “I’m not going to bring Trixie there so they can put her behind glass, you hear? Besides, she... she’d be so lost without me... she couldn’t live like that, for years, without her mistress...” Twilight shook her head sadly. “And I couldn’t last those years without her, either...”

“Alright, alright...” Applejack scratched her head underneath her hat. “So, no specialists we can ask... what about our friends?”

“None of them have any experience with it either... we’d just end up having this conversation over and over again... Besides,” Twilight said much more silently, “I don’t even know if Dash got her mind made up yet...”

“If Dash did what?”

“Oh!” Twilight said with a blush. “It’s nothing, I... Just forget it, I uh... it’s nothing... Heh... ehehe... heh...”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Out with it. This ain’t no time for secrets.”

Twilight finally became really flustered, and she fidgeted around nervously. “I may have... ummm... may have pushed Rainbow Dash to admit that she had the hots for mares... a... a little bit...”

“Oh, is that it...” Applejack shrugged. “Ya shouldn’t worry, Ah’m sure she was a teensy bit upset with you when you told her you thought she was a fillyfooler, but she gets it so often, you know... there’s no way she’d stay mad at you for...”

“Oh, oh no... I’m... I’m not worried she’s mad at me, although she could be, I don’t know... it’s just... I didn’t tell her... I just... I... no, actually it was she who... and Trixie, of course, but...”

“Come on, Twi, spit it out! Ah can’t make out a thing you’re saying...”

“We, uh, we had sex,” Twilight said quickly, before her courage would leave her again. “I thought that, you know, if we had sex and she liked it, she’d be... um... forced to admit she liked mares, and then she’d... not mind me and Trixie anymore, you see?” she said with an increasingly small voice.

“You... Ah...” Applejack stammered. “But... isn’t that... cheatin’?”

“Oh, oh no... Trixie was there... she was, with Dash, and then Dash with me, you... you see?” Twilight felt her cheeks burn with the power of the sun, torn as she was by embarrassment and a slight hint of excitement, as the scene played through her mind again. “S-stupid idea, I know...”

Applejack remained silent for a moment, and Twilight detected a small hint of disappointment (or was it anger?) in her voice as she spoke. “Twi, how could ya...”

“Look, it seemed like a good idea at the ti-”

“No, Ah mean... How could ya invite Rainbow Dash to have sex with ya... and then invite me for a round of arguing? Ah thought you liked us both equally!”

Twilight’s mouth fell open, but she quickly recovered. “What? That’s what you’re on about? You... I... No! I’m not getting swept into this. I know you and Dash have been making almost everything you can into a competition ever since that Iron Pony thing... But we’re not going to have you grumble about not being invited to turn it into a ‘Who can grab Twilight and Trixie’s sexual attention best?’ competition, alright?” She pointed a hoof at the ceiling above her. “We have more pressing concerns right now.”

Applejack grumbled for a few moments, during which Twilight quickly took another book from a nearby shelf, before depositing it into a pile next to her.

“O, Ah got it!” Applejack suddenly exclaimed. “Can’t you just order Trixie to go back to a more stable role?”

“No... I can’t make her do things she has no control over, and the role shifts are completely subconscious...”

“Then what about telling her to stop being your maid?”

“Heavens, no!” Twilight said in shock. “I tried getting her to stop feeding me this morning, and she almost burst into tears. In her current role, she believes her only purpose in life is to be my maid, take that away from her...”

“Ah think Ah see your point...” Applejack picked up a book from the ground for a moment, read the title, then threw it over her shoulder with a confused look. “So, take off her outfit? Slowly make her think for herself again? Give ‘er some free time to use?”

“The outfit is, to her, the proof that she’s officially my maid. Taking it from her is the exact same as telling her she’s not my maid anymore...” Twilight paused to think for a moment. “Right now the other two wouldn’t work... Maybe, slowly, we could make progress and she’d get more independent after a while... but it doesn’t solve anything.”

“Whatcha mean? If she isn’t so subservient anymore, then surely...”

Twilight shook her head. “Look... Consider Trixie’s Cutie Mark. What is it all about?”

Applejack thought about that for a moment. “Being a showmare, Ah guess. Performing.”

“Yes,” the purple unicorn nodded, “which means we have to get her back on stage eventually. Could you imagine not using the special talent you were destined for? It would be-”

“Like losin’ a part of who you are...” Applejack continued with a shudder.

“Exactly. So, if we slowly make Trixie more independent, that’ll work, but she’ll still be playing a role... she’ll still have a broken mind... So then if we put her up on stage to perform, chances are-”

“She’d go back to being her stage persona: arrogant, boastful, not carin’ about anypony else but you...”

Twilight nodded once more. “Indeed. So then we’d need to try to tone her down again. And if we overshoot even a teensy bit, we go straight back to Trixie the Maid, and we could keep doing this over and over again for years, pinballing Trixie’s mind around until we finally mess up and she... snaps.” Twilight sighed, and hung her head. “I’ve bucked up so badly...”

“It’s quite a pickle we’re in, Ah’ll give you that,” Applejack agreed. She looked out of the window. “Ah doubt ya’ll be able to get to the bottom o’ this in one go, Twi. Why don’t you get some rest? You look like you need it. Ah can go back home, an’ tomorrow we can-”

“Wait!” Twilight said, an idea lighting up in her eyes. “That’s it! You’re a genius, Applejack! How did I not...” She began rooting around in the piles of books frantically. “Buck, where did I put it? I saw it here somewhere, and the other one as well, I think it was over there, but...”

“Uh, what did Ah say?” Applejack asked in confusion, but Twilight wasn’t listening anymore.

The purple unicorn started digging through the books in a blur, and Applejack had to dodge a flying tome more than once.

“I did as you asked, miss... tress...” Trixie said as she came down the stairs, staring at the chaos in front of her with her mouth wide open.

“Hey Trixie, why don’t you, uh... serve me some snacks in the kitchen? Yeah, that’d be neat,” Applejack said, trying to get both of them out of the fray, as Twilight was obviously not intent upon stopping anytime soon.

“But... mistress didn’t say...”

“Shouldn’t a good maid look after her mistress’s guests when she’s a mite busy herself?”

Trixie had to admit the earth pony had a point so she, with a breath of relief, quickly lead AJ through the danger zone towards the kitchen. They slipped inside and closed the door behind themselves just in time, as that very door got hit with a loud “Thud!” merely a second later.

“I... is mistress going to be...”

“Ah think so,” Applejack quickly said. “She didn’t sound like somepony who’s lost it, she’s just bein’ a tad... overenthusiamastic.”

After that, they said nothing, as they both had their own concerns: Trixie worried about her mistress’s recent “strange” behaviour, while Applejack feared Twilight was being a bit too optimistic with her “sudden revelation”; she’d fall into an even deeper hole than before when she finally came down from it.

An hour passed, and Applejack quietly munched the food Trixie had prepared for her--the mare could cook, she had to give her that--when suddenly the door swung open. Twilight stepped in triumphantly, levitating not one, not two, but three books above her head. Her step was uneven, and Applejack assumed the worries of the day and the constant use of magic had thoroughly exhausted her.

“I got it! Ahaha... it was... right there all along... it’s so simple, yet... I mean, she even told me... Trixie, now we can... finally...”

Twilight stumbled, and she lost her grip on the books. All three of them fell to the ground, but one of them first stopped to hit Twilight on the top of her head in passing. Normally it’d have looked comical, but in these circumstances Trixie and Applejack rushed to the the purple unicorn’s side right away, as she lay still and unmoving.

Her chest slowly rose and fell, however, and AJ quickly reassured Trixie: Her mistress wasn’t unconscious, but merely deep asleep. The hardships of the day had finally taken their toll.

“Why don’t you bring her up to bed?” Applejack suggested, and Trixie quickly nodded, wrapping Twilight in a web of magic gently as she carried her off up the stairs.

Applejack gathered up the three books Twilight had dropped, and frowned upon reading the titles; she couldn’t make sense of it at all.

She didn’t believe anypony could solve Trixie’s problem using just Ritual Magic: For the Unicorn with the Time to Cast; Omnus Grey’s Travels of Equestria and a Historical Atlas of Equestria, but she put them aside anyway.

Because, hey, she mused, what could it hurt to try?

Journey to the Root

Twilight’s eyes flew wide open, and she was completely awake within the space of a single second. The sun was shining in through the window, and as soon as she saw that she rolled out of bed and dashed down the stairs. There would be no sleeping in.

Somehow, she managed to get to the ground floor without tumbling down and breaking all of her bones, but upon seeing the state the library was in she stopped so abruptly that the laws of physics considered throwing a hissy fit about her disrespect for momentum. She took in the room with a shocked silence; everything had been put in order again, all books neatly upon their shelves. And of course, Twilight would normally have been very happy to see that, were it not for the fact that she distinctly remembered having found three books of some importance the night before, which were now nowhere to be found.

She wished she could remember their titles, but the truth was that she had been so exhausted that her memories showed her nothing but a chaotic blur of movement and sounds. She tried once more to focus in on the names of the books, but they--like the plan upon which her search for the books had been based--were lost to her.

She heard voices coming from her left, and she quickly pursued them, bursting into the kitchen.

“Where are my books?” she immediately asked the two ponies gathered there.

Trixie looked up from her cooking and threw Applejack a glance, but the earth pony shrugged. “Ah’m not telling you anything until you’ve gotten some food in that belly of yours, Twi. Won’t do nopony no good if you go collapsing again.”

Twilight gritted her teeth. Applejack’s advice was sound, but she was so close to the answer... she simply had to take a look at those books.

“Trixie, your mistress orders you to bring her those books at once.”

“B-but mistress,” Trixie said with a little squeal, “she hid them without T-Trixie knowing, T-Trixie can’t...”

“Oh, alright, alright...” Twilight said with a sigh. “Have it your way, AJ.” She sat her rump down next to the table, still grumbling a bit. “At least tell me the titles.”

Trixie served Twilight up a big plate of salad with a smile, as Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Tell you what?”

“The titles. Of the books.”

Apart from the clinking and splashing noises caused by Trixie doing the dishes and the crunchy noise of Twilight chewing her salad, the room remained silent for a few moments.

“You mean you don’t know?”

“Well, obviously I did at some point,” Twilight mused, “but I seem to have forgotten. Soooo?”

“Eh, Ritual Magic: For the Unicorn with the Time to Cast; Omnus Grey’s Travels of Equestria and a Historical Atlas of Equestria. But Ah was already thinking that those haven’t got a lick to do with Trixie, and if you don’t even rightly remember... Ah reckon fatigue just got to you, Twi.”

“Well, I... it’s possible that...” The purple unicorn’s eyes became wide. “No, wait, I got it! I remember now!”

She quickly stuffed the entire remaining part of the salad into her mouth, chewing it with some difficulty. It was most unsightly, but Applejack was used to a lot worse and didn’t really complain, while Trixie, thankfully, had her back turned. Not that she’d have dared complain about her mistress’s table manners, at any rate.

“Fhow mpfh mpfhy bwooks,” the librarian told Applejack as she stood up.

The earth pony sighed, but she lead Twilight back into the library anyway.

“Ah figured Ah wouldn’t find too good of a hidin’ place lickety split, so Ah just put them in the wrong place on the shelf. But if ya didn’t remember the names anyway...” Applejack shrugged, but Twilight nodded; it made sense, in a way, to hide books amongst books.

The farmpony’s memory was solid, and so they gathered up the books without any problems. Twilight started flipping through their pages at once.

“Ah still don’t see how this is going to de-maid her...” Applejack mumbled.

“It isn’t. Not in the way you think, at least,” Twilight explained. “The trying-to-get-Trixie-to-be-less-like-a-maid idea was bust, bankrupt, out of possibilities. But it was the wrong approach from the very start.”

“Why’s that?”

“Too small, a distinct lack of ambition. Why continue fussing over the symptoms if,” she paused as she turned her gaze towards Applejack, “we can simply uncover the roots and hack down the entire tree?”

Applejack pushed up her hat and scratched her head. “Ah’m afraid you lost me there, sugarcube.”

“Ok, look, I told you Trixie’s current state of mind is the result of her denying her past, right? She denies she is who she is, so she sort of latches on to any identity she’s offered to fill in the blanks.”

Applejack nodded: that much she could understand.

“So there you go. We make her mind acknowledge her past and presto!”

“And these books-”

“Are my guide and method of transportation.” The purple unicorn grabbed hold of the Historical Atlas of Equestria, turning to the end of the book. “This atlas shows Equestria over the years... borders, cities, rivers... you can see the land changing slowly as you flip the pages. But it also tells you something about ponies; specifically, it has population densities.”

“That’s... that’s swell, Twi, real swell,” Applejack said. “Ah’m sure that’s one cantooter of a useful book. But how in tarnation does it help now?”

“Simple, really,” Twilight said with an excited glimmer in her eyes. “We know Trixie’s hometown suffered an incredible epidemic when she was young, so we just look for smaller towns that suddenly suffered an enormous drop in population density during that time...” She started flipping through the book, glancing back at previous pages a few times. “Looks like we have about... ten possible matches, give or take. I seem to recall there was a lot of migration towards the larger city centres during those years.”

“Ok, so, Ah’m not saying Ah completely get it just yet, but are we really going to go through all of those towns one by one? They seem mighty far apart, and if you don’t know which one it is, ya’ll might just not even realise your plan failed even when it does!”

“Which is why we have... this.” Twilight pulled up Omnus Grey’s Travels of Equestria. “This book is unique. The author visited every single city or place of interest in Equestria, and wrote about all of it. There is no contemporary work quite like it. Although,” she said with a frown, “it’s rightly criticised for being a bit broad and shallow, but that was to be expected, and it suits our purpose... The timing is grand too: Only a couple of years, or less, after the year I estimate the epidemic took place.”

“And why aren’t we just asking Trixie what her town’s called?”

“Well, she didn’t use any names when she told me about her past through that ‘it’s just a random story’ delusion of hers, so chances are names are too deeply repressed for them to ever float to the surface like that.” She glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen, before continuing more silently. “Besides, she mustn't figure out what we’re planning; her subconscious may throw up even more walls to keep us out if that happens.”

She began to check the names the Historical Atlas of Equestria had revealed to them against the alphabetical list in the back of Omnus’s book, quickly turning to the page the list indicated every time. She struck the name in question off of her mental list if some detail or the other seemed not to fit with what Trixie had told her of her hometown. She quickly started to wish records about known epidemics in Equestria weren’t out of her reach, as she had to dismiss some based on vague clues, such as the aptly named town of Silvermine--essentially a mining village--which she dismissed based solely on the fact that a mining village probably wouldn’t qualify as “not unlike Ponyville”, while Trixie had quite clearly described her hometown as such.

In other cases, the decision was a lot easier to make, like when Omnus had made explicit mention of migration waves away from the village in question, which meant the epidemic had not taken place there as there wouldn't have been much of a population left to migrate if it had.

But, like these things usually go, her search was looking quite fruitless until she arrived at the very last item on the list. She had just started to doubt some of the calls she had made before, when she gasped and read the following text out loud:

“And so I remained for a moment taken aback, because the eyes of those few ponies I saw gathered there were dull and filled with sadness, lacking much of the joy and wonder I had seen during the rest of my travels. So ill did those faces befit the simple elegance and beauty of the village, that for a moment I wondered if I saw not the lingering images of ponies long gone, rather than their descendants who still walked upon this soil. Only later did I find out about the illness that had swept through the village just weeks prior to my visit, and I wept for the existence of such sorrow which befalls even Celestia’s kingdom, and from whose grasp not even she can offer sanctuary forever. But at that time, a small light of hope was also kindled within my heart, for the ponies of Neighton had come face to face with the cold hoof of Death, and some yet stood to tell the tale. Truly a village of extraordinary individuals; may those whom they mourn forever be remembered.”

A long list of names followed, and Twilight felt something grasp her by the throat as her eyes scanned the many entries. “Woodrow Lulamoon,” she finally managed with a choked voice. “That must’ve been Trixie’s father... I... we found it.”

“But it’s a mite on the far sides of things, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she pointed out Neighton on the map. Her voice was as calm as always, as she was much more rooted within pragmatism than Twilight was, and thus deaths long past shook her less violently than they did the purple unicorn.

“That’s... that’s alright,” Twilight said as she slowly regained her composure. She patted the third and final book, Ritual Magic: For the Unicorn with the Time to Cast. “There’s a gating spell--an advanced form of the teleportation magic I sometimes use--contained within the pages of this tome. Give me an hour and I can calculate the parameters that can open a gate from here to there, and one to get back as well. After that, half an hour to draw the actual formula for the spell...”

“Ah’m not sure I trust all this here magicking,” Applejack confided in the other mare. “Last time you tried a spell that size, you ended up turnin’ parasprites into building-eaters... and that’s not the only thing them little fellas ate...”

“Does everypony have to keep reminding me of that every time I suggest using a mildly advanced spell?” Twilight scoffed. “I mean, it was only one ti-”

“And that inc’dent with Smarty Pants. Ah heard that was... bad.”

Twilight gritted her teeth. “Well, this time I’ve got time to run the calculations... no need for guesswork... Besides,” she added, “you’re not coming with.”

“How come?” Applejack asked with a frown.

“It’s too much of a personal and intimate experience. We’re going to go see the place where Trixie’s parents died, after all... I’m her marefriend, and in her current state she couldn’t go alone anyway, but you...” Twilight shook her head. “I’m sure you understand, after all: you’ve never taken any of us along when you go visit your parents’ graves, either.”

Applejack nodded slowly, reluctantly. “Alright, alright... Ah s’pose that’s only fair... But ain’t this a mite... risky? You keep saying we need to be careful not to make her snap, and this seems like a mighty delicate issue you’re dealin’ with now.”

“Well, there’s only two possible outcomes, really... One: She continues denying it, in which case it’ll have no effect upon her. We’ll be back where we started, but perhaps we’ll have some extra information to go on, at least. And two: she finally acknowledges her past, which will be painful, but it will give us the opening we need to help her, if she doesn’t just snap out of it herself. It stays risky, but it’s well worth it.”

Applejack nodded. “So when do you-”

“As soon as I finish preparations. Try to keep Trixie busy as I work this out...”

Applejack nodded as she headed back towards the kitchen, and thus she didn’t notice the sweat that started to pearl upon Twilight’s forehead. She’d acted confident towards the other mare, but in truth, they could never be sure what would happen once Trixie set hoof in Neighton.

But the situation was desperate, more desperate than she let on, and thus it was time for desperate measures. It wasn’t just that she didn’t want to ask the princess for help, it was also that she doubted it’d do much good. After all, if she had the power to help, wouldn’t those five ponies in the Canterlot Psychiatric ward have been cured long ago? Twilight would never believe that the princess would let even one pony suffer “for science”, and thus the implications were clear.

Nopony would be able to help Trixie if she failed, and she was about to put into motion her last and only idea. She swallowed and, with her whole body shaking, she started writing down the gating spell’s calculations.

It took her close to two hours, but at last she finished both the spell matrix calculations that would bring them to Neighton and back, as well as the enormous chalk drawing in the centre of the library which would serve as the spell’s focal point. A mere fifteen minutes later, her saddle bags were packed and ready to go, as a confused Trixie stood next to her, staring at the markings upon the floor. Applejack stood to the side of the room, a grim look in her eyes.

As Twilight cast the spell, all the runes she had drawn started to glow and pulse, and Twilight knew quite a spectacular light show would be taking place at their destination point, to warn potential bystanders to get out of the way.

“W-where did you say we were going again, mistress?” Trixie asked.

“I didn’t, I only told you we’d be going by gate...” A blue sphere materialised in the centre of the runes, and Twilight lead Trixie towards it. “But if you must know... I am going to Neighton, but you, Trixie... you are going home.”

She pushed the maid into the gate before jumping in as well, and as colour exploded behind her eyes she finally knew what it felt like to stack all of your hopes upon the arbitrary hooves of fate.

Coming Home

When they opened their eyes again, they were standing in the middle of a large village square, which was seemingly completely deserted. The buildings all around them had that charming, rustic quality the ones in Ponyville possessed as well, although the use of timber had, in many cases, been abandoned in favour of stone. Many mountains dotted the landscape just outside the borders of the village, so it was easy to see why such a decision would have been made.

The wind played a haunting melody as it descended from the mountain passes, and Twilight wondered why there were no ponies within sight; surely a village like this would be quite busy around this time of day, if Ponyville was to be any sort of indication?

This and more Twilight wondered, but the thoughts that occupied Trixie’s mind were of an entirely different nature. She stared at the nearby city hall and at the mountains in the distance, and wondered why an unknown force seemed to have stirred her heart, causing it to beat ever faster, pounding almost painfully within her chest.

“W-where a-are we, mistress?” she whispered quietly, taken as she was by a fear that she could not comprehend. She stuck close to Twilight, not daring to stray more than a step or so away.

Twilight smiled at her reassuringly, as she stepped even closer and lightly put a hoof against the other mare’s cheek. She knew that what she was about to say needed to be said at some point, but now that she had come so far she dreaded that final step--which could so easily lead to salvation, but also to ruin.

“This, my love,” she finally whispered, taken too by fear, which resembled Trixie’s fear only in name, “is Neighton... the place where you were born.”

An involuntary shudder coursed through the maid’s tender form upon hearing those words, as some long-forgotten part of her recognised within them the truth, yet that same part fought now to contain it.

“N-No... this... it wasn’t here, Trixie wasn’t... wasn’t born here.” She shook her head in confusion; her mistress had never been wrong before, so how could she be now? She averted her gaze and kept her eyes shut: her body’s reaction to her own subconscious desire to turn away from the truth.

“Look at me,” Twilight commanded, as she softly stroked the ex-showmare’s mane. Not even the deepest depths of Trixie’s being could resist such a direct command, and slowly she turned back towards her mistress, and looked her in the eyes. “Tell me where you were born, if not here.”

The maid opened her mouth, but she stumbled over every word she attempted to utter. She dug deep into her own memory--or at least what she considered as such--and discovered a startling emptiness, a disconcerting absence of facts, as the information she now sought to retrieve remained hidden, forbidden even to herself. She glanced away and her eyes scanned the nearby city hall once again, and for one shocking moment she suddenly saw reality overlaid with a different image. The image she saw was, without a doubt, of the same building that stood before her, yet it was painted in a slightly different colour, and it seemed to have had suffered the whips and scorns of time just a teensy bit less.

She attempted to turn around completely, and Twilight allowed her to do so, as she watched her marefriend silently; this she had to do alone. Every building she laid eyes upon--save for a few--had been replaced with an image whose origins Trixie could not comprehend. An enormous feeling of disorientation and disconnection descended down upon her, and she sunk down to a sitting position as she pressed a hoof against her head in reaction to the headache she felt setting on.

The maid’s voice started out strong, but quickly shrunk to something small and weak. “Trixie... Trixie doesn’t remember... But not here! It wasn’t here... it... it wasn’t here...”

Twilight felt her throat clench; they weren’t off to a good start, and the lack of ponies around still bothered her. Where had they gone?

“Come, Trixie, walk with me. Surely there are places within this village you wish to see?”

“No!” Trixie said more fiercely than she had ever dared speak to her mistress before, and she instantly hid her face in her hooves out of pure misery when she realised who she was talking to. “No mistress, please... T-Trixie doesn’t l-like it here... can we... can we go home?”

Twilight had tried to find ways to break the maid’s obedience for quite a while and found nothing, yet now, when a small part of that obedience seemed to have (at least temporarily) faded, Twilight wished it hadn’t; her task would’ve been a lot easier if the other mare just played along. However, at the same time, she had to admit to a certain sense of elation, as this was no doubt a sign that Trixie’s core personality had stirred slightly--enough for it to dampen Trixie’s maid persona in an act of self-defense.

“But Trixie, this is home for you, or at least it was so once upon a time. Will you not try to remember for me? For us?” She kneeled down next to the now shaking mare, and drew her into a gentle hug.

Trixie shook her head, and tears silently rolled down her cheeks, her body shaking. Twilight sighed; it seemed her marefriend was locking herself down, which bode ill for her plan. Dragging her through the town would not accomplish any kind of beneficial effect, but without a means to shake the mare free from her stupor at her direct disposal... what could she do?

She had just parted her lips to again ask the same question, hoping that it would work out differently that time, when a wary voice called out from behind her.

“Who are you, and why have you come to this village? If you have come seeking riches, you will find there are none, and even though we are remote, we will not be bullied easily.”

Twilight stood up and spun around in one fluid motion, and found herself face to face with an earth pony stallion. His coat was a mottled brown and his mane a clear white, while his Cutie Mark represented a little wooden gavel striking a sounding block. He was clearly quite old, but the spring in his step warned youngsters not to underestimate the vitality which he had carried with him into his senior days.

“I... what?” Twilight said with surprise. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and why would you assume we’ve come here to do anything like that?”

The stallion stopped just a meter or two away from her, and he threw a quick glance towards Trixie, who was still cowering behind Twilight with her back turned towards the scene. “For fifteen minutes or more your magic lit up this place like a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree. That is magic the likes of which I have seldom heard of, let alone seen. Why would a master of the magical arts come to this remote place, if not to play mischief upon a population that has no answer to such powers?”

Twilight blushed slightly. “Master of the magical arts? Me? Oh, you’re too kind. But, um... we’re not here to play mischief...”

“Then why?”

“Well, my marefriend here has some... issues with repressing her past. I thought that, if she saw the village in which she was born...” She shrugged.

The stallion frowned. “Sorry, I’ve never seen anyone dressed like that here. Beg you folks pardon for questioning your fashion choice, of course, but uh... we don’t usually wear clothes.”

Twilight nodded. “Trixie, come here a moment.”

“Y-yes mistress,” the maid said, slowly rising up to her hooves.

“Wait,” the stallion said as his eyes grew wide with understanding. “Did you say ‘Trixie’? Surely you didn’t mean... ?”

The blue unicorn stepped forward and stood beside her mistress, shyly meeting the older colt’s eyes. A shock went through her body and her breathing stalled, and within the space of a few seconds the stallion bridged the gap between them, pulling the mare into an embrace against his chest.

“It is you!” he cried out with a voice overcome by emotion. “We thought something had happened to you! All the others came back, and we waited so long, but you... you never came... I’ve apologised to your parents so many times since then... I was afraid they’d never forgive me for not keeping their daughter safe... But here you are!” He held her at hoof’s length. “Look at you! All grown up and beautiful, the apple of your mother’s eye.” A lone tear fell down his cheek.

Twilight’s heart pounded inside of her chest, as she did her best not to move, not to breathe; somepony from Trixie’s past was the best she could’ve hoped for, and she dared not do anything that could have jeopardised the moment.

“W-who... ?” was all that Trixie could manage, her head filled with a raging vortex of images and emotions, as all kinds of different forces tried to establish or maintain their control.

“Why, child, don’t you remember me?” the colt said with a bit of doubt in his voice. “It’s me, Lex... Friend of your father, and your father’s father before him?”

“O-old Colt Lex?” Trixie said with a choked voice, as tears pearled in her eyes.

“Yes!” Lex cried out happily. “Haha, you do remember! That is indeed what you always called me, and I would always say-”

“-come on now, lassy, I’m not that old,” Trixie finished the sentence for him. She gasped as a shock ran through her entire body, images forcing themselves to the forefront of her mind.

“Isn’t she adorable, Lex?” her father, Woodrow, said as he smiled down upon her. “Tell me you’ve ever seen a prettier smile than that in your entire life!”

The older stallion smiled. “Prettier? No. Just as pretty? Yes. She has your mother’s smile, the way she used to look at your father. It must have skipped a generation, and good thing that it did, too. She certainly couldn’t have counted upon such a pretty face if she had to get it all from you.”

Woodrow chuckled, and said with an artificial note of hurt in his voice: “Ah, Lex, how your words wound me!”

The small filly Trixie walked clumsily over to Lex, and stared up at him with her big, honest eyes. “Old Colt Lex, please don’t tease daddy... he is the best daddy in the whole world!”

Lex laughed, as he patted her head gently. “I don’t doubt it! But lassy... I’m not that old!”

The images disappeared but the impression stayed, and Trixie fell down upon the ground, covering her head with her hooves. “N-no...” she said with a sob as her entire body shook and shivered. “Trixie... Trixie wasn’t born here... s-she can’t remember you!”

“I... what’s wrong?” Lex said in alarm. His gaze fixed itself upon Twilight. “You! What have you done to her?”

“It... it wasn’t me!” the purple unicorn quickly said in her own defense. “The shock of losing her parents coupled with the uncaring and harsh environment she was placed into within the orphanage have caused her to develop a sort of defensive mechanism wherein she denies her past and her past self, as a way to cope with the pain and loss. I’m trying to help her by bringing her here...”

“I... I see,” he said as he kneeled down next to Trixie, softly stroking her mane as she shivered and sobbed. “I suppose I am to blame then... After the sickness--which you seem to know about--I intended to adopt Trixie and raise her myself. But I was unconscious for over a month after she was taken away, and there were so many orphans... they had been scattered all across the kingdom as no one place could hold them all, and the one in charge was a careless and lazy colt... no records of their destinations existed. I searched for a while, but eventually I gave up, thinking that, at the very least, she’d be with other children, and safe. If I had known...”

“It’s... it’s not your fault... We’ve all made mistakes,” Twilight said, without knowing whether she was trying to console Lex or her own guilty conscience.

The colt nodded. “The other children all came back once they came of age; she was the only one who never returned... I never understood why, until now. Occasionally, the rare traveller passing by would say something about a performer in distant cities called ‘Trixie’, but not every name is unique, and I thought that, surely, if it was the same Trixie, she would have come back to us... Not to mention that they all called her arrogant and boastful; quite unlike the Trixie I remember.”

“It... it was the same Trixie. She just goes through, uh... ‘phases’, because of her condition,” Twilight said, deciding to simplify the truth a bit. “But you talked about others, yet this village looks deserted. Where are... ?”

“Oh, that. You just scared the hay out of everypony with your magic.” The colt turned around, and yelled towards the houses on the edge of the square: “Hey, pansies, are you going to continue hiding there, or are you going to come say hello to Trixie and her marefriend?”

Suddenly ponies popped their heads out from behind every window and corner within sight, and Twilight gasped. It reminded her somewhat of how everypony in Ponyville had hidden themselves from Zecora in the past, and she realised too late that their method of travel must have been every bit as strange to these ponies as Zecora had been to the citizens of Ponyville back then.

The ponies hesitated for a few moments, their increasingly excited voices ringing out from all around the square.

“Trixie?”

“Trixie’s back? For real?”

“And she has a marefriend?”

“A cute one, at that.”

“Is that really Trixie?”

“She does look like it, save those clothes, and older.”

“Well, we all got older!”

“Who’s Trixie?”

“You don’t remember? Oh, right... you weren’t here back then.”

Finally their curiosity triumphed over their hesitation, and they made their way towards the three ponies in the centre of the plaza. Pretty soon there was a small circle of ponies around them, and another group (much bigger than the first) quietly talked to each other some distance away. Probably the ponies who didn’t know Trixie from before, Twilight mused.

Trixie stopped shaking as she lifted her head, looking at the many faces around her. If it hadn’t been for the party some days ago, she may have panicked, but she wasn’t all that concerned about strangers with her mistress that close to her. Except they weren’t strangers.

“Trixie!” a green unicorn greeted her. “It’s me, Vermillion! Remember?”

She sat upon a bench at the edge of town, as a young colt approached her.

“Go away, Vermil,” she said quietly. “I want to be alone right now...”

“Awww, don’t be like that,” he said. “I came to cheer you up. I lost a pet too, you see... what you need now is a friend. Candy?” He levitated a small bag towards her, and she picked out a brightly coloured sweet, the beginning of a smile on her face.

“You’re trying to bribe me with food again!”

“Yeah!” he said with a mischievous grin. “And it appears to be working.”

“T-Trixie remembers...” she said with a shocked look on her face. “But how... ?”

She didn’t have much time to think about it, as yet another pony stepped forward, a pegasus mare with a red mane and a light coat. “Oh Trixie, it’s Swift! I’ve still got those dolls you gave me, you know?”

She sat playing with her dolls in the park, when a filly pegasus just slightly younger than she was came up to her.

“Those are very pretty,” the pegasus said wistfully, “where did you get them? I haven’t ever seen ones like this before...”

“My daddy made them for me,” Trixie said proudly. “He can do anything with wood, you see?”

“Ah... that must be nice for you. My daddy has gone away, mommy says, and she also says dolls are too expensive...” A sad expression came to her face.

Trixie looked at her for a few seconds, and then put two of her four dolls down in front of the other filly. “I only have two hooves, so why don’t you take these two? Then we can play with them together! We’ll be able to take better care of them if we split them, too.”

“A-are you serious?”

“Of course.”

“I... oh thank you! They’re so... they’re so pretty, I... thank you!” the filly beamed at her, as she carefully picked up one of the wooden dolls, looking at it from every direction in the light. “Amazing...”

“Oh, one thing, though. They’re all a family, so if they’re apart too long they’ll miss each other... So we have to play with them together often! I’m Trixie, who are you?”

“I... Swift, I’m Swift.” the filly stared at her. “You... you want to play with me? Does this mean you’ll be... my friend? We only just moved here, I... I don’t have any friends.”

“Don’t be silly. You have lots of friends here, you just haven’t met them yet. Come on!”

They picked up the dolls--Trixie with her magic, and Swift under her tiny wings--and ran into the village, laughing and cheering all the way.

The dolls. She had forgotten about the dolls. They had been important to her, once, but she had forgotten. What else had been important to her before? Why couldn’t she remember? She wanted to remember.

“Oh Swift, Trixie... Trixie doesn’t remember what happened to her dolls, Trixie-”

“Oh, doesn’t matter,” the pegasus interrupted with a smile, “we’re a bit old to play with them now, so don’t worry! They still look amazing above the hearth, though!”

A new pony stepped forward to claim her attention, followed by another, and then another. They kept coming, and each one bombarded Trixie’s mind with ancient memories, memories which she had not even realized existed. Her mind frantically sought to suppress them as they popped up, but the sheer volume and intensity was such that they could no longer be stopped.

“It’s... it’s working!” Twilight told Lex breathlessly. “She’s remembering, it... it just might work if...”

Trixie turned around on her hooves, and every time she saw a new face or heard a shouted name, more and more images came back to her, building up to a great whole. Slowly but surely, she built up an understanding about her past, although she did not understand what it was doing in her head. It was as if she was looking at the life of another through her eyes, yet the images were unmistakably present only inside of her own head. It was baffling, mystifying, and together with the knowledge arose a wave of confusion. Trixie stumbled and fainted amongst her old friends, and Twilight finally stepped forward to intervene, pulling Trixie into a soft embrace.

“What’s wrong with her?” Swift asked Twilight.

“I’m sorry everypony, I’m going to have to ask you to leave Trixie alone for a little bit,” Twilight stated. “She has some health problems, and while seeing all of you is a crucial step in her recovery, she needs a bit of time to process it all.”

There was some mumbling from within the small crowd; they had only just met an old friend after all those years, so there was a base reluctance to let go of her again so soon.

Lex nodded. “Alright lads and lasses, you heard miss Twilight. It’s the middle of the day, I’m sure you all have plenty of business to return to. Trixie will be fine, and seeing as they got here by magic, they should visit again soon. Isn’t that so, Twilight?”

The purple unicorn nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, absolutely... as soon as she’s better.”

“Yes Mayor Lex,” Swift said, and her departure seemed to sway the other ponies gathered as well. Slowly the crowd dispersed and the ponies went back to their daily duties, although the ones who had little to do that day hung around the edge of the square in small groups.

“Ah, so you’re the mayor,” Twilight said as she softly stroked Trixie’s mane.

“Didn’t use to be, but am now. I never really thought myself well-suited for the job, but the others...”

The purple unicorn smiled. “I think they’ve made a fine choice.”

He blushed a little. “Heh, thanks. So what happens now?”

Twilight shrugged, as she looked at her marefriend. “It depends upon the state of mind she’s in when she wakes up. I have a few ideas ready for different situations, though... But, um, I don’t want to be rude, but-”

“But you’d rather be left alone with her for now,” Lex guessed. “That’s alright. Once, when her parents died, I’d have considered myself to be the one who knew her best... but now... now I suppose that honour falls to you. You take care of her now, Twilight Sparkle, or we will be having words.” He winked at her to lessen the severity of his threat a bit, but Twilight was quite certain he meant it. “Also, in case you go disappearing the same way you came appearing: Come back sometime. Soon. Alright?”

The unicorn nodded. “Alright. And thank you... thank you for everything... before you appeared I... I was losing hope a bit.”

“I did nothing but live here, Twilight Sparkle. You’re the one who brought her home. Thank yourself.” He gave her a respectful nod of the head, before turning around and walking back towards city hall.

Smiling, Twilight carefully carried Trixie just outside of the village, where she gently laid her down upon a patch of soft grass. She cuddled up to the mare and held her close, whispering words of encouragement as she waited for her to regain consciousness.

“M-mistress?” Trixie’s voice came a few minutes later, as she opened her eyes. “Where are... Trixie had such an odd dream...”

“Not a dream, my love... It was real, you merely fainted.”

The maid threw her a look of bewilderment. “But... Trixie... Trixie remembers somepony, somepony long ago, who was Trixie, and yet she is not... And Trixie remembers a stage and a city, yet they are not Trixie’s memories...”

“No, they are you. They are who you are.”

“But,” Trixie averted her eyes, as she felt tears well up in them. “But Trixie... in all of them, Trixie... Trixie didn’t see... “

“Tell me,” Twilight whispered encouragingly.

The other mare looked back at her, two salty streams running down her cheek. “None of the memories Trixie saw had you, mistress... T-Trixie doesn’t... Trixie doesn’t want to be somepony who doesn’t have you...”

“You silly thing, that’s not how it works.” Twilight smiled at her gently, caressing her lovingly. “You don’t need to see me in your past, we will simply make new memories, together. Not memories of you or me, but memories of us...”

“P-promise?”

“I promise upon our love...”

“T-Trixie’s mother says... if you make a promise upon a kiss, it binds the hearts of two ponies together...”

Twilight grinned down at the other mare mischievously. “Are you trying to get me to kiss you? My love, whenever you want a kiss, the only thing you nee-”

“Twilight,” Trixie suddenly interrupted her, to the purple unicorn’s great surprise, “shut up and kiss Trixie.”

“I... yes,” Twilight whispered breathlessly, as she leaned in and pressed herself against Trixie. Their lips met, and they shared a kiss that was at the same time more gentle and yet also more passionate than any that had come before. For several minutes they forgot about the world and their place within it, losing themselves only in the presence of the other, whose body they explored with their hooves almost as if it was the first time.

“Haahh... wait...” Twilight managed with a gasp, as she gently broke off the kiss. “We can’t... we’re in the open, ponies can just...”

“Does... does Trixie look like she cares, Twilight Sparkle?” the other mare managed breathlessly, and Twilight had to agree that her flushed face, unkempt mane and ruffled maid’s outfit didn’t exactly transmit a message of innocence or chastity, and she almost felt herself get sucked into the lustful look in Trixie’s eyes. She didn’t know where it had come from all of a sudden, but she theorised that, together with the old memories, some more recent feelings had been freed as well.

“N-no, and Celestia knows I want you...” Twilight thought about that for a moment. “Actually, I hope she doesn’t know, or at least not in detail... but, now is not the time, I... how do you feel? If you think about the past, I mean...”

“Trixie...” the maid--or was it ex-maid?--considered the question for a moment. “It’s like... water. It’s there, Trixie can see it, but when she grabs it... it flows away... But Trixie doesn’t mind. Trixie has you. And Trixie has everypony back... everypony she knew before.”

Twilight withdrew a bit, alarmed, and then stood up, to Trixie’s great disappointment. “Slipping away? Like water? And Trixie, what do you mean with ‘everypony you knew before’? Surely you know that... that...”

“That what?”

Twilight shook her head. “Back in the village square... was that everypony you knew? From before, I mean.”

Trixie laughed. “Of course not, my silly filly... The rest must have been busy. We can meet them next time... Oh, I still have to introduce you to my parents!”

The hair in the back of Twilight’s neck suddenly rose up. It was no wonder that Trixie’s memories still felt like water to her: they were just as fabricated as before. A bit closer to the truth, perhaps, as now at least she had accepted being born here. But she still repressed one element, one final detail: most of the ponies she now remembered were already long dead. She was still repressing that knowledge, and as long as she did so, the Trixie who stood before Twilight was just playing yet another role; the role of the happy village filly, who had not had a care in her life. On the outside it may have looked like an improvement, but on the inside precious little had changed. If Twilight just left her like that, she’d slip back into her old habits in no time at all.

“Come, there is one thing we still have to see,” Twilight said grimly.

With that cryptic remark Twilight led Trixie around the edge of the village, following the directions from Omnus’ book which, after only a single reading, she knew by heart. After a few minutes of walking they came upon a massive iron gate set into an equally massive wall. The gate was open, and they stopped just outside.

“What’s this?” Trixie asked with a small voice.

“What you need to see.”

And so they entered the graveyard. A village as young as Neighton normally would not possess a graveyard worth mentioning, but then again, few villages had encountered terrors the likes of which Neighton had known so early in its life.

They walked amidst the graves, and both of them could tell at once that there was something peculiar about that place, something that set it apart from other graveyards they had seen in their lives. All of a sudden it came to them: there was a great absence of diversity. Normally one would have seen time pass by with every grave; every tomb in a slightly different style to fit the customs of old, every stone a bit less worn than the one that came before. But there was none of that here. There was a certain sense of uniformity which spoke of a great many ponies succumbing, all at once, to a tragedy of which the graves did not speak. They did not have to; visitors already knew.

Trixie’s eyes scanned the graves for something she did not really wish to find, and suddenly her breath stopped inside of her throat. “Carol?” she whispered hoarsely as she approached one of the stones. “But... you...” She quickly proceeded to the next grave, and then the next, a squeal of sorrow passing by her lips after every one. “And Waltz... Tuner... and here’s the brothers Blitz, and over there... Chivalry...”

Twilight followed after her lover, a caring look of concern in her eyes as she witnessed the pangs of pain and loss from which she could not protect the other mare, even had she wanted to.

Trixie spun around on her hooves and faced Twilight, distress clear on her face. “They... they’re all dead... all of them are dead. Some were in the plaza, yes, but... so many more... gone...” She pressed a hoof up against her forehead. “Trixie remembers... Trixie remembers all of them, but... but Trixie never knew who died... who was ill... Trixie didn’t realise...” She took in the rows and rows of tombstones as she looked around. “Why are there so many?”

The purple unicorn approached, a sad smile upon her lips. “Love, it was a terrible disease... Many ponies died, entire families were lost. I wish I could tell you the population was decimated, but in reality... a tenth wasn’t what was taken. A tenth was all that remained.”

“No...” Trixie backed away from her slowly. “No!” she repeated more loudly. “They can’t be gone, Trixie refuses to accept it! She remembers... remembers all of them! They can’t be... they... they cannot...”

“Trixie...” Twilight attempted as she stepped closer, reaching out for Trixie with a hoof, but the confused mare backed away again.

“Why...” she whispered hoarsely, “why did you bring Trixie back to regain her memories, if you were going to take so many of those Trixie remembered away?”

Tears started to come to Twilight’s eyes. “But Trixie... they have been gone for years... I wasn’t the one to take them from you... The disease did that. Time did that... And, love, they would have wanted you to accept it, to move on...”

“No... they can’t be... Trixie can’t...” She continued to back away from Twilight in her confusion, and suddenly she bumped up against a big tombstone in black marmer. She spun about and as her eyes fell upon the letters engraved within the stone, she let out a defeated whimper.

Here lie Woodrow Lulamoon and Rose Red.

Splendid father

Compassionate mother

to the very end.

Another flood of images overtook the blue unicorn: flashes of the day she found her parents, dead, followed by the knowledge of all the deaths that came after, and her time in the orphanage to boot. She collapsed in front of the stone, tears streaming down her face.

“No... no...” she said with a sob. “Mother... father... why? You went away...You left Trixie alone... so alone...”

A great wind started pulling at her coat and mane, and Trixie looked up to find that the entire area had been wreathed in darkness, except for two brilliant figures floating over the tombstone. It was quite possible that they were just figments of Trixie’s stressed mind, but they felt quite real to her all the same, as dreams are wont to do.

“Mom... dad...” she managed a faint whisper.

“Child,” her parents’ voices came, mingled into one. “Why are you here after all these years, weeping at our grave? We died protecting you, the one we hold most dear. Do not mourn our passing. Live, instead, as a testament to our sacrifice.”

She let out a choked sound, and sank to her knees. Her shoulders started to shake slightly, and then more violently as she let go of years of repressed grief. “I... w-why d-did you leave me behind? Mother... father... We... we could’ve tried... together... s-so why?”

“Child,” the ethereal voice spoke once again, “that is a risk no parent should take. A risk no parent can take, if truly they are worthy of the name... We love you dearly, and in your heart we live on... but only if you remember us, only if you honour the gift of life for which we passed away.”

Their words struck Trixie deeply. Her memories were finally complete once more, and she could clearly see that in all those years, she had failed to keep the memory of her parents alive. Had she, by running from the truth, almost condemned her parents to a death more permanent than the one that had already befallen them? The idea was hard to bear.

“But... Trixie is so alone... How can Trixie go on living, after seeing all this loss?”

“Dear child... you need us no longer. There is already another.”

The images of her parents pointed at some point behind her, and as Trixie turned around the darkness all around her broke, and the sun came up together with Twilight’s face.

“Trixie, I’m so sorry, I... I know it’s difficult for you, but you really had to see. There was no other choice, and-”

“My father,” Trixie interrupted, “always called my mother ‘My beautiful red rose.’ She’d always get upset with him for turning her name around, heh... she loved him so dearly...” She let out a choked sound, and averted her gaze for a moment. “And they loved me dearly, too...”

Twilight stepped closer, and this time Trixie didn’t back away. “As do I...”

Trixie smiled, as memories of what she had once told Swift came back to her. “Trixie once told somepony that she had so many friends, but she just hadn’t met them yet... Trixie reckons she does, too...”

“Yes! That’s exactly right.” More tears came to Twilight’s eyes, but this time they were tears of joy, as she broke out into a smile. “That’s exactly right, my love...”

“Hey, no more tears,” Trixie told Twilight. “We’ve had enough of those. From now on, it’s a happy day... it’s how Trixie’s parents would have wanted Trixie to live.” She gently wiped some dust from the engravings upon the stone, and then turned back around. “Let’s go home... to Ponyville.”

“To meet our friends?” Twilight asked as Trixie walked towards her.

“Oh, yes, eventually, but first, Trixie wants to...” She stopped next to Twilight, and softly whispered something in the purple unicorn’s ear before passing by. Twilight’s entire face flushed a deep purple.

“T-Trixie!” she stuttered. “D-don’t say that in front of y-your parents!”

“It’s alright,” Trixie replied as she looked over her shoulder. “Certain memories I got back from them make a loooooot more sense now that I’m older, if you catch my drift. They won’t mind.”

“I... I’m sorry,” Twilight muttered as she made a little bow towards the grave. “It’s... it’s not my influence, I swear, I... well, maybe it is a little, but...” She bowed again and then quickly turned around and ran after Trixie, looking over her shoulder every few steps of the way.

They reached the gates again and Twilight took out a piece of parchment she had prepared back at the library. One incantation later, they vanished with a flash.

As they did so, a single blue flower started taking root upon the Lulamoons’ grave; a silent testament to the resilience of life, and proof that beautiful things can grow even upon the shadows of the darkest of days.

Reversal (Clop Version)

Disclaimer: This is the uncensored clop version of this chapter. If you do not wish to read such things, simply skip to the next chapter and read the censored version there.

Applejack looked at the grandfather clock to the side of the room as she wished--not for the first time--that Twilight had given her at least a rough estimate for her return; being on guard all the time was extremely tiring, and she had made herself almost sick with worry by imagining all the different ways the spell could have gone wrong. Her complete lack of magical knowledge had made it all the more gruesome in her mind, and Twilight’s earlier reassurances could not fight the tides of her imagination.

She approached the enormous chalk drawing upon the floor, inspecting it without being able to make any sense of the runes therein. She took care not to accidentally step on any of the lines, as something told her that that would yield less than favourable results when Twilight tried to return.

All of a sudden the drawing lit up with a blue light that seemed to seep out from the floor below, and Applejack backed away in a hurry. She shielded her eyes as the light intensified, until a bright flash consumed the chalk upon the floor, leaving a familiar blue orb hanging in the centre of the room. Two shadowy figures stirred within, and the magical energy dissipated to reveal the two unicorns which it had taken far away earlier that day. They blinked for a couple of seconds, disorientated, and so it was that Applejack spoke first.

“Twilight, Trixie!” she yelled out in relief as she rushed towards them. “Y’all made it back! And in one piece!”

Twilight shook her head to dispel the dizziness the second, faster jump had left her with, recovering just in time to raise an eyebrow at Applejack’s words. “Is the fact that I managed to get us back in one piece surprising to you? I told you before, that happened one time!”

“Twice,” Applejack said distractedly as her eyes fell upon Trixie, who was still wearing her outfit. She seemed to have caught the dizziness slightly worse than Twilight (perhaps due to her having been a passenger to the spell, rather than the one driving) and was bumbling about behind the other unicorn. “So... did Trixie... ?”

“Ooohhh, mistress, Trixie is feeling a bit dizzy...” the blue unicorn said as she steadied herself.

“Ah, mistress?” the earth pony asked with a frown of disappointment on her face. “So Ah guess that means...”

“Trixie.” Twilight’s voice sounded chastising, but she was not able to completely hide the hint of amusement within it. “It’s not very nice, worrying Applejack like that after she waited for us for half a day.”

“Oh, alright Twilight...” She quickly took off the costume, folding it neatly in the air before levitating it onto the nearest table. “There, see? All better. You can hardly blame a mare called Trixie for playing a little trick every now and then.”

“Why you...” Applejack spluttered as she stepped forward. “Come here, you two!”

Before either of the two unicorns could react, Applejack pulled them into a hug, as her clear, honest laughter filled the room. The two unicorns quickly exchanged a glance of surprise, and then they too burst into laughter. After a few minutes of laughing, they finally let go.

“So Ah reckon we can finally--finally--stop all this here nonsense and get back to business as usual?”

“Nonsense is business as usual,” Twilight said with a grin. “We do it all the time.”

“You know what Ah mean. We can hopefully work towards some quieter times now.”

“Hah, quiet times? Truly you do not know the Great and Powerful Trixie very well yet, Applejack.” She shot the earth pony a smile that wasn’t at all lacking in greatness or power.

“Huh, so ya still do that thingy where you call yourself ‘the Great and Powerful’ and ‘Trixie’ and all that? Ah somehow figured that’d have gone as well...”

“You call yourself ‘Ah’, so why shouldn’t Trixie be allowed to call herself Trixie?”

Applejack smiled. “But that’s my accent.”

“This is Trixie’s accent. Trixie prefers it.”

“Well, you see Applejack,” Twilight interrupted, “all of her habits from before are still there. She’s had them for years, after all. But now she should have more control over them. She was using ‘I’ perfectly fine before, so it’s more of a choice rather than a compulsion. We haven’t changed who she was completely, we’ve just... balanced it.”

Trixie waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face. “Is Trixie invisible? Trixie is standing right here, you know, Trixie can explain herself!”

A mischievous glint appeared in Applejack’s eyes. “Only Trixie can refer to Trixie in the third person it seems, Twi.”

She met Trixie’s eyes, and the both of them burst out into another roaring fit of laughter, leaving Twilight to blink in perplexion.

“But... but you just did as well...” the purple unicorn said.

The laughter stopped at once, as Trixie furrowed her brow and Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Does she always spoil the joke like that?”

“Eeeee-yup!”

They exchanged a glance again, before another fit of giggles nearly swept them off their hooves. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but instead she let out a little chuckle of her own, which was quickly followed by another until she was laughing along merrily as well; if Trixie and Applejack could get along long enough to make merry about her together, then everything would be okay. Eventually.

“Oh my Celestia, Ah haven’t laughed like that in a while, heh.” Applejack wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “Ah guess your spells are ok, Twilight. Except once or twice. Oh, Ah just remembered!” she suddenly cried out. “Your ‘moving objects’ spell during last Winter Wrap Up! That’s three!”

It was Twilight’s turn to roll her eyes. “Thanks Applejack... Thanks.”

“But y’all still have things to do. Spike’s still with Fluttershy, Ah haven’t heard of Dash in days, and when everypony in Ponyville meets the new Trixie...” she paused to consider that name for a moment. “Well, ah reckon we’re up to new new Trixie by now... Anyway, it might seem a lick... odd that she keeps changin’, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, I’ll-”

“No you’ll nothing,” Trixie interrupted her marefriend. “Trixie will take care of it.”

The purple unicorn turned towards Trixie with a look of surprise. “But Trixie, don’t you think I should-”

“No,” she shook her head. “Trixie will take care of it, Twilight Sparkle... You set the course without asking for Trixie’s opinion up to this point, so it would only be fair to let Trixie decide now, no?”

Applejack stood witness to the scene silently, amused at the sudden shift in their roles and in the balance of power within the debate.

“Yes, but-”

“Not to mention that there is one additional ‘thing’ to take care of that Trixie can hardly leave to you... Something we have been glossing over a bit up to this point. Trixie thought it fair to wait a little before bringing it up, as you did help Trixie...”

Trixie shot the purple unicorn an affectionate smile, which did nothing to calm the eerie suspicion of the latter; she did not like where this topic was going.

“I... I’m not sure what you...”

“Trixie has her memories. All of her memories.”

Twilight swallowed. “I don’t suppose you mean... all memories e-except the... um... very recent ones?”

Trixie smiled almost demonically. “No such luck, my love... the recent ones are clearest in Trixie’s mind.”

“Ah, so you know that I, uh...” Twilight backed away, but sadly for her she soon found that a table was blocking her way.

“Used Trixie as a personal sex slave? Yes. Trixie does know.” She stepped forward, preventing Twilight from escaping easily.

The librarian swallowed again. “Uh oh,” she said with a small voice.

“Oooh, is this one of them domestic disputes?” Applejack asked. Trixie suddenly turned her head to throw her a calculating look, having been reminded of her presence, and Applejack gingerly started to back away towards the front door. “Ehehehe, oh my, look at the time, Ah think Ah can hear my apples calling. ‘Aaapplejack... Aaaapplejack! Haaarvest usss!’” she said with her best impression of a spooky voice. “Y’all hear that? Gotta go!”

“No, wait! Applejack!” Twilight yelled after her as she disappeared through the door. She then slowly turned her gaze towards Trixie, who was staring at her intensely. “Uh, can we... can we t-talk about this... or was that what we were planning on doing?”

Trixie’s horn lit up for a moment, and Twilight could hear the distinct clicking of keys being turned in their locks coming from the doors and windows all around her, except without the keys. A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, and her heart started to pound faster.

“You... you do realise I could just wink out of the room, right?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Of course Trixie knows,” the other mare confirmed, “but you will not. You would have to come back eventually, so better to get it over with now, no?”

Twilight nodded slowly; Trixie did indeed make sense. Somewhat. “Then why... why lock them at all?”

“Trixie thought it would be dramatic. Showmares love dramatic. Also,” she mused, “it keeps other ponies out.”

Twilight let out a yelp of surprise as Trixie suddenly moved forward, pinning her against the table. The showmare sought out her lips hungrily, and before Twilight knew it she was drawn into the kiss. Shaken by the sudden actions of her lover, she parted her lips almost instinctively, offering Trixie’s tongue an invitation to proceed, one that it accepted gladly. Twilight’s heart had already been pounding rapidly, but for entirely different reasons than the ones that now caused it to continue doing so. As she answered the kiss, she realised that it was the exact same kind of kiss they’d shared many times before, only this time their roles had been completely reversed.

Trixie forced her up to her hind legs with her body, and Twilight soon found out why when one of the showmare’s hooves slid down over her stomach, disappearing between the purple unicorn’s hind legs. She gasped as her delicate folds got lightly caressed--the gentleness in that touch in stark contrast with the roughness of the kiss--and moaned into her lover’s mouth as she felt herself go wet with desire.

“Ahn!” Twilight cried out when Trixie caressed her little button once, causing it to swell under her hoof. The purple mare shook against her like a leaf in the wind. “T-this... ah... this is... p-punishment?”

“Just getting you started,” Trixie whispered before she softly bit Twilight’s ear.

The slight sensation of pain shot through Twilight’s body, and mingled with the pleasure Trixie’s hooves inflicted upon her now soaked flower, making her body shake even more.

Trixie intensified her ministrations, rubbing her entire body into Twilight’s as the librarian moaned like an animal in heat. “You owe Trixie,” she whispered, “and Trixie knows how to settle the score...”

“H-how?” Twilight asked with some effort, as her hips involuntarily jerked against Trixie’s hoof and leg, her body begging for more.

“You will be Trixie’s maid for a while...” she breathed hotly into the other mare’s ear. “Trixie’s little plaything... from now, until the morning after tomorrow. Complete obedience.”

“I...” Twilight wanted to protest, but most of her mental faculties were already occupied by her lust, and completely focused upon the sensations radiating throughout her crotch and body. On top of that, she could not find any reasonable arguments to grab on to; letting Trixie have her way with her the way she had done with Trixie seemed quite fair, and the one and a half day duration was almost merciful. Only her base reluctance remained, and she knew she could not make a case based upon that alone. “Yes...” she finally managed to say between moans. “Yes I... ah... I’ll do it...”

“Mistress,” Trixie said breathlessly as a strange sense of elation grabbed hold of her. “You have to call Trixie mistress.”

“Y-yes m-mistress...” Twilight’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, and she turned her face away slightly, biting her lower lip to stifle the moans that kept rising up from her throat.

Trixie licked the other mare’s cheek, before dropping down to her neck and lingering there. “Mmmm... My love bite has now faded... perhaps it’s your time to get one? You are mine now, after all, and I don’t mind letting other ponies know.” She turned Twilight’s head gently with one forehoof as she pressed the other up against the librarian’s clit, stroking the length of it tantalizingly slow. She looked into the mare’s eyes and saw the longing for release contained therein, as she felt her ragged breath upon her coat. “How would you deal with other ponies’ knowing--and sometimes disapproving--glances as they saw the mark?” She put her lips against Twilight’s skin and sucked softly, not hard enough to leave more than a little wet spot. “So, what do you think, my little maid? Should Trixie?”

“Ah... n-no...” Twilight managed weakly. “Please... it’s s-so... ah... e-embarrassing...”

Trixie bit her ear again. “Silly maid... That didn’t seem to stop you last time... and shouldn’t you be agreeing with your mistress? Your mistress wants this, and if she can tell you a little secret...” She lowered her voice until it was barely audible at all, pressing her lips against Twilight’s ear. “She only wants it more now that you said no...”

Trixie lowered her head as her lips affixed to Twilight’s neck hungrily, sucking as long and hard as she could. Twilight’s moans turned to soundless gasps at the strange sensation of pleasure and pain, as the idea of being marked in such a way by somepony who was, at least for now, her owner awakened a form of primal, unknown desire within the back of her mind, which took control of her excitement and drove it to its peak.

Finally, Trixie stopped to admire her work, and she could tell that the love bite would not be any smaller or fainter than the one she had had herself up until recently. She only regretted that Twilight’s darker tone of skin would conceal the mark far more quickly than had been the case for her, but there was nothing she could do about that.

The shuddering of Twilight’s body intensified, and from the thrashing Trixie could be reasonably sure the mare would be taken by orgasm before too long.

“Oh mistress... oh... I... I’m going to... ahn!” Twilight confirmed Trixie’s suspicions.

Trixie withdrew her hooves from Twilight’s body at once with a mischievous smile, and the newly proclaimed maid let out a whimper of longing and need as she saw herself cut off from the bliss she had anticipated, mere seconds before reaching it.

“Ah, n-no!” she gasped in her desire. “M-mistress... please, I... I’m so close...”

“Have you forgotten, my maid?” Trixie said slyly. “This is your punishment... If you want to come, you will have to earn it... And,” she quickly added, “I forbid you from touching yourself without my express permission, of course.”

By now Twilight was shaking beyond her own capacity for control, her knees weak as the area between her legs had turned to mush, her entire mind, her entire body, shaking in anticipation of a release that did not come. “Please... please...” Twilight said between ragged intakes of breath. “L-let me earn it... let me earn it, mistress... please...”

Trixie flashed her a victorious smile, as she moved away from the table, pulling Twilight along. She let herself fall onto the nearest sofa, pushing Twilight down to her knees on the floor in front of her, as she lay back and spread her legs to reveal her own glistening pussy lips.

“Now,” she said as she reached forward and put a hoof on the back of Twilight’s head, “worship your mistress...”

Twilight realised what she was getting at right away, and, driven by her own longing, she quickly lowered her head and licked her mistress’s soaked lips. She did so tentatively at first, but she soon got into it, hungrily feasting upon Trixie’s sex in an effort to please her that was equal parts self-interest, immersion into her role, and honest lust.

Trixie let out a moan, before she licked her lips at the delicious sight of Twilight between her legs. “Ah... yes... such enthusiasm... You’ll make mistress very, mmm... very happy with that tongue of yours, won’t you?”

“Yes mistress...” Twilight said, before leading her tongue between Trixie’s inner and outer lips, going all around the mare’s slit, before gently trapping one of those inner folds between her own lips and tugging on it softly. Trixie let out a cry of pleasure, and encouraged by her success as well as the heady scent of Trixie’s flower--which slowly overtook her senses--she finally dug in hungrily.

As Twilight plunged her tongue into Trixie’s depths, the other mare tangled her hooves into the librarian’s mane, keeping her head buried into her quivering pussy. “Ah yes... yes! Keep going! T-Trixie... is not letting you, ungh... not l-letting you go... until her--ah!--until her approval i-is... all over your face...”

Twilight’s own body shook with excitement as she licked deep into Trixie’s quivering depths. Her own desire hung almost palpably in the air, and she felt like it would overpower her and sweep her away any minute. She slid a hoof down towards her own cunt on multiple occasions, but she stopped with a shudder of willpower every time she caught herself doing so; she had agreed to play the role and gotten a direct command, which she thus could not break, and even without that her mind did not wish to jeopardise the release that she would no doubt be rewarded with after her services.

Trixie’s head started to bob back against the sofa, as her love tunnel quivered and contracted around Twilight’s tongue. Her hips started to move outside of her control, as she rode herself up against Twilight’s face, keeping her securely pressed into her wetness. Twilight knew her well enough to know she was nearing her peak, and she slid her tongue up to playfully curl around her mistress’s clit.

That caused the mare to start shaking beyond control, and as Twilight started to suck upon her button, she passed the point of no return.

“Yess! Oh Twilight, yes!” Trixie screamed as she came, her juices squirting out as she rode herself against Twilight’s face, the temporary maid licking and sucking to lap up as much as she possibly could.

At long last Trixie let go of her, sinking back into the sofa to try and catch her ragged breath. Twilight herself took a few deep breaths as well, but she found it incredibly difficult to remain still as her mind and body still burned for release, the desire slowly driving her mad with lust. Seeing Trixie enjoy the blissful afterglow that she herself had just been denied didn’t help at all, and if they had been on equal footing at that time she’d have pounced upon her marefriend without a second thought.

“Hah... hah...” Trixie panted. “N-not bad, my love... not bad. Perhaps you have... earned your reward...”

“Yes, yes please...” the purple unicorn begged pathetically from her position upon the floor, her face still dripping with Trixie’s juices.

The maid turned mistress smiled, having finally caught her breath. “You know that spell you used to give yourself a cock before?”

“Y-yes mistress?”

“Use it. On me.”

Twilight began casting the spell without hesitation, her mind almost getting ahead of itself in its desire to complete it, as Trixie could only have one possible use in mind. As soon as she started casting the spell upon her marefriend a blue cock began forming to replace the folds of the mare’s pussy, and Trixie gasped when a rush of sensations swept through her body. By the time Twilight finished her mistress was in the possession of a sizeable stallionhood, even though it still lay against her belly in a flaccid state.

“Amazing,” Trixie whispered, “that looked a lot easier than I had imagined.” She touched a hoof to her new cock gently, and shuddered. “Mmmmm, so strange...”

The sight of the cock made Twilight pant out of pure desire, her drooling cunt quivering with the need to be filled. She had thought her lust unbearable before, but nothing could have prepared her for what she now felt coursing through her veins.

“Get it hard,” Trixie commanded, and as soon as she uttered the last word Twilight reached forward, softly taking the majestic instrument which she hoped would soon deliver her salvation. She stroked it softly and swirled her tongue around the tip, and soon Trixie’s mast erected itself under her ministrations, accompanied by moans and gasps of pleasure. Seen from that close and at that angle, Twilight finally got a good idea of the size of it all, and she had to admit a certain sense of nervousness even as the fire in her loins burned unabated.

“Mmmm... enough, my little toy... it’s time to properly try out your body.” She pointed at the ground behind Twilight. “Head low, plot high and legs wide when you present that hot little buckhole to your mistress.”

Twilight threw herself down upon her forehooves, just as Trixie had commanded, and lifted her rear up as high as it would go, spreading her legs as much as she could without losing too much height. Her breathing came in ragged, excited gasps as Trixie stood up and pushed aside Twilight’s tail, taking a long look at Twilight’s slot as the librarian’s juices practically ran down her leg.

Trixie put her front hooves upon the purple unicorn’s plot and stood herself up on her hind legs, her newly acquired cock swinging up and down until she pressed the tip against Twilight’s hot snatch. The mare immediately let out a longing moan, as Trixie got herself used to the unfamiliar feeling of having something long and hard connected underneath her by sliding it up and down against Twilight’s quivering folds.

“Mmmmmistresss...” Twilight begged. “I can’t... I can’t think... I- I need it... I need you... mistress... oh please...”

Trixie smiled and then, without warning, she suddenly plunged forward, her entire, massive length burying itself into Twilight easily, as her cunt was already as ready as it could possibly be, and even more slippery than that. The purple unicorn’s tongue lolled out of her mouth as pleasure exploded behind her eyes. Her earlier nervousness was completely gone, as Trixie’s maremeat felt incredible inside of her, even though it was more accurate to say that she’d been “impaled” rather than simply “entered”.

Trixie threw her head back as she slipped in, letting out a long moan until she felt the tip of her cock bump against the very depths of Twilight’s love channel. She leaned down over the mare, pressing her stomach against the librarian and pulling back her head by softly tugging on her mane with a hoof, allowing her to whisper into Twilight’s ears as she rotated her hips slightly, keeping Twilight on edge and gasping for more as she nestled inside.

“Ahhh... it’s different, but good... so good... Trixie feels very great and powerful in this position, she can see how it’d be easy to get a bit... wild in this situation,” she whispered, referring to the first time Twilight had mounted her with the spell, which had been a very rough form of love making indeed. “Mmmmm... should Trixie show you more compassion, having been in your shoes? Ahn... But I think,” she said as a mischievous glint played in her eyes and pulled on the corners of her mouth, “that Trixie shall be showing you no mercy...”

“Ungh... I... I don’t n-need mercy...” Twilight moaned as she pushed back with her front hooves, trying to get even more of Trixie inside, “I n-need bucking!”

A grin split Trixie’s face as she moved her hips back until only a third of her meat was still inside, before she slammed straight down into the mare again. Twilight’s cunt made lecherous squelching sounds as Trixie repeated the act over and over, working out a rhythm that started out slow, but which quickly picked up speed. In stark contrast with her words, the pace Trixie set--while fast--wasn’t rough or “merciless” at all, and Twilight’s entire body shook under the pleasure that had come at last, as she pushed back against every thrust with a fervour that nopony who knew her outside of the bedroom would have believed. All rational thoughts had fled her mind, and her world was composed of one thing and one thing only: Trixie’s magnificent rod, ramming into her over and over.

The new mistress herself moaned and gasped as her hips almost took on a life of their own. Pleasure warped and twisted her thoughts and perception, and she fought to retain at least a semblance of control over her base instinct to just rut the buck out of Twilight without thought; she wasn't quite done with this episode of her vengeance yet, but only with something akin to a focused mind could she possibly pull the next step off.

The walls of Twilight’s slot pulsated and contracted around her, trying to draw her in deeper and deeper as their flesh collided with every thrust.

“Ohhh Celestiaaaa...” Twilight moaned loudly, coming closer to an orgasm that hadn’t been far off to begin with because of her highly excited state. “Yes! Yes! So... so close... Finally, I... ahn!”

But Trixie had been expecting it, and in truth she did not even need Twilight’s words to tell her that the mare was close--the sudden quivering and contracting of her cunt was more than enough. At once she slowed her thrusts and changed the rhythm, which quickly broke the build up within Twilight in a way that a stallion would perhaps have found hard to comprehend. The librarian let out a cry of frustration that was quickly broken off by another series of gasps and moans as Trixie once again increased the pace. She hadn’t been rough or particularly selfish before, but this time she pounded away at Twilight’s snatch as if she was nothing more than a life-sized, luxurious sex doll, designed only to hold a comfortable sheath for Trixie’s cock.

Despite that, the pleasure quickly overtook Twilight’s mind once more, as she was wet and relaxed enough to take the abuse without much problem, and perhaps a small and secret compartment of her mind even got off to it exactly because of how rough and primal it was. But Trixie--whose buildup of pleasure had not suffered under the changes in pace at all--was far closer to orgasm than Twilight. She continued to rut away at the other mare, until suddenly another series of contractions--a good sign that Twilight’s own orgasm was, if not close, then at least not that far off--sent her straight over the edge of her own pleasure. She threw her head back as her entire body shook and shuddered, her steady rhythm broken down to a number of rough, hard jerks of the hips as she shot rope upon rope of sticky hot spunk into Twilight’s quivering cunt. She thrust in a last time with something that held the middle between a sigh and a groan, and then Twilight finally realised something had happened, as Trixie’s cock slowly softened and then slipped out of her, leaving the hot cum that Twilight could now clearly feel inside of herself to slowly seep out from her cunt.

Still her mind couldn’t fully comprehend it at first, but then she slowly started to shake in frustration, her mind going mad with lust, longing and a need that was even greater than it had been before. Three times had her body believed release was near, and each time she had been fooled. The spunk that coated the walls of her cunt and trickled down from it served as a constant reminder that Trixie had achieved that pinnacle of pleasure that she had been denied, and that knowledge overwhelmed her. She needed to come, her body demanded it with an insistence that was akin to an addict’s need for drugs, yet this craving burned with an intensity all its own, which was perhaps less harmful, but the fact that her needs were not met despite of that made it even more maddening.

“Lie on your back,” Trixie commanded before Twilight’s confused and frustrated mind could make her formulate a coherent thought of her own.

Twilight had remained in the same position up to that point, perhaps thinking, hoping that Trixie would thrust back into her at any second. Upon hearing the command, she quickly rolled her shaking body onto its back, as a little voice inside of her head whispered that obedience was the only chance she still had at getting her itch scratched without breaking her promise from before. Her new love bite was clearly visible in that position, and Trixie looked at it with amusement. As Twilight’s eyes affixed themselves to Trixie’s half-erect penis, a feeling of hope and desire exploded behind her eyes. She remembered something she had told Trixie once, when she had explained how the spell reacted to the needs of the user: “Well, since it’s still there, I’m obviously not quite done with you yet.”

“Mistress, please... please let me come... I need to... need to, s-so badly... please...”

“My, my,” Trixie said teasingly, “what a silly little maid you are. Your mistress gives you what you want, and still you don’t manage to get yourself off in time...”

“B-but... t-that’s not...” Twilight began to protest, but she realised quickly enough that accusing Trixie of the things they both knew she had done would certainly lead somewhere, but definitely not somewhere she wanted to go.

“Oh well,” Trixie said with an artificial sigh, “if you’re really such a naughty, insatiable little maid, then how can Trixie, as your kind and gracious mistress, say no? So are you like that, Twilight? Hmmm?”

“Hah, y-yes!” the purple unicorn said breathlessly. “I’m insatiable, naughty... I... I need mistress’s cock... please, I’m a naughty little whore... p-please...”

“Very well,” Trixie said as she stepped forward, her back legs astride Twilight’s chest, “get your mistress hard once again... and then she’ll give you one last chance.”

She bowed through her legs, and Twilight lifted up her head to reach the cock that she desired so. She wasted no time with little licks or her hooves that time, but simply parted her lips and took it into her mouth, sucking frantically as her head bobbed back and forth, her already feverish mind getting inflamed even more by the enticing mix of her own juices and Trixie’s spunk upon her tongue. Many a shudder ran through Trixie’s body like electricity, and she blessed the spell for the superior recovery time it seemed to possess compared to its natural counterpart. But then again, she mused, there are very simple spells for that, too...

She grew hard within Twilight’s throat in the course of mere seconds, and Twilight’s frantic and diligent sucking felt so good all around her that for a moment she considered just letting herself go and finishing inside of the maid’s eager mouth. It would perhaps have been interesting to see her struggle with her lust for the next part of the day and night, and to discover what depravities her desperation would bring her to accept in the following day, but Trixie pushed those thoughts aside with a sigh. Twilight was her marefriend, and although Trixie was thoroughly enjoying her payback she loved the mare deeply; she was willing to go quite far in her control of Twilight’s orgasm, but she knew she couldn’t get it over her heart to deny her release completely.

She stepped back and her rod popped from Twilight’s mouth, a single strand of spittle connecting it for a brief moment as Twilight’s eyes burned with the feverish excitement she felt inside.

“Such a good little maid,” Trixie cooed as she pressed her body up against Twilight’s and readied her member against the mare's entrance for the second time that day.

Twilight opened her mouth to beg once again, but Trixie didn’t let her as she pressed her lips against the other mare’s and invaded her mouth with her tongue, simultaneously invading her gooey depths with her rock hard shaft. Twilight returned the kiss hungrily, and her legs wrapped around Trixie in order to steady her shaking and shuddering body. The blue unicorn thrust into her quivering snatch relentlessly, and Twilight bucked up her hips like a mare possessed, her plot bumping against the floorboards underneath her every time, but she didn’t care; all she cared about was coming, and she’d suffer her fair share of bruises if it meant bringing that moment even a little closer.

Twilight arched her back and Trixie took full advantage, bucking her with quick, even strokes that caressed the most sensitive places of the mare’s being. Trixie’s horn lit up for a single moment as she lightly caressed Twilight’s swollen clit, but for the soaking purple unicorn that was all that was needed.

“Ah, TRIXIE!” she managed to shout before her orgasm reduced her to a quivering bundle of nerve endings that could not utter any intelligible words. Trixie felt her marefriend contract and pulsate, as she came around her cock with a force that put all previous orgasms either one of them had experienced to shame. Trixie’s breath was ragged with excitement as she pounded and pounded into Twilight’s convulsing flesh, determined to ride out her marefriend’s orgasm to its very conclusion. But the moment Twilight’s cries started to abate a new wave of ecstasy shot through her, as her first orgasm was followed by another, and then another: an unstoppable cascade of pleasure, which made her scream out Trixie’s name over and over again.

Eventually Twilight’s body was spent and she lay limply on the floor, her body moving around like a ragdoll as Trixie bucked her silly. But her mistress’s own final orgasm was near as well, and with one final, powerful thrust she drove her rod home, pumping Twilight’s already flooded womb full with her spunk, which thus spilled out around Trixie’s cock.

The two of them both remained motionless like that for several minutes, panting with exhaustion as Trixie’s penis shrunk and finally disappeared completely, leaving even more room for cum to flow from Twilight’s still shaking folds.

Trixie pressed a gentle kiss upon the purple unicorns lips, and Twilight returned it weakly, smiling lovingly.

“Mmmm... Trixie hopes that helped teach you a lesson...”

“Oh yes... oh yes, mistress,” Twilight replied breathlessly, “it certainly has...”

Trixie grinned mischievously. “But perhaps not the lesson Trixie intended...”

“Perhaps not, mistress,” Twilight conceded with a smile.

They remained within each other’s hooves for a while longer, blissfully nuzzling against each other and sharing soft, tender kisses. But eventually Trixie stood up, as they could hardly keep lying on the floor when the day was only slightly past half-spent.

“You will have to clean up here, my maid. Oh, and Trixie just remembered... When we cleaned up all the books yesterday, Applejack helped out. But Trixie later noticed she had gotten the placement of the books all wrong. Trixie had planned to fix that today, but as you kept Trixie busy in the kitchen and with long-distance travel...” she shrugged. “You’re the maid now, you do it. Oh, and dinner! Don’t forget about dinner. Trixie thinks you’ll need to go to the market first, though... Show off that cute little mark of yours, won’t you?” She gave Twilight’s love bite a little lick as the maid stood up, and Twilight shuddered under the strange sensation. “But Trixie will leave your poor body alone aside from that... at least until tomorrow.” Her lascivious smile made Twilight feel she already had something very specific in store.

“Yes mistress,” she said with a drawn-out sigh; it’d be a long day, and she felt considerably spent already, but she had to admit that some part of her wished that tomorrow had already come.

“But first, let us take a bath.”

“Us?” Twilight blinked. “Together? Uh, I mean: Together, mistress? But our tub isn’t big enough to-”

“Please,” Trixie said with a cocky smile, “Do you truly believe the Great and Powerful Trixie, who can set up a stage with but a single thought, does not have at least one trick to make a simple wooden tub big enough for two? Come. You will scrub Trixie’s back first.”

Twilight giggled and followed after Trixie. “Yes mistress!” she said merrily, as she contemplated the wonders of the world, which could make one day feel dark and lonesome, when the next day featured taking a bath together with the mare you loved.

Reversal (Non-Clop Version)

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.

Applejack looked at the grandfather clock to the side of the room as she wished--not for the first time--that Twilight had given her at least a rough estimate for her return; being on guard all the time was extremely tiring, and she had made herself almost sick with worry by imagining all the different ways the spell could have gone wrong. Her complete lack of magical knowledge had made it all the more gruesome in her mind, and Twilight’s earlier reassurances could not fight the tides of her imagination.

She approached the enormous chalk drawing upon the floor, inspecting it without being able to make any sense of the runes therein. She took care not to accidentally step on any of the lines, as something told her that that would yield less than favourable results when Twilight tried to return.

All of a sudden the drawing lit up with a blue light that seemed to seep out from the floor below, and Applejack backed away in a hurry. She shielded her eyes as the light intensified, until a bright flash consumed the chalk upon the floor, leaving a familiar blue orb hanging in the centre of the room. Two shadowy figures stirred within, and the magical energy dissipated to reveal the two unicorns which it had taken far away earlier that day. They blinked for a couple of seconds, disorientated, and so it was that Applejack spoke first.

“Twilight, Trixie!” she yelled out in relief as she rushed towards them. “Y’all made it back! And in one piece!”

Twilight shook her head to dispel the dizziness the second, faster jump had left her with, recovering just in time to raise an eyebrow at Applejack’s words. “Is the fact that I managed to get us back in one piece surprising to you? I told you before, that happened one time!”

“Twice,” Applejack said distractedly as her eyes fell upon Trixie, who was still wearing her outfit. She seemed to have caught the dizzyness slightly worse than Twilight (perhaps due to her having been a passenger to the spell, rather than the one driving) and was bumbling about behind the other unicorn. “So... did Trixie... ?”

“Ooohhh, mistress, Trixie is feeling a bit dizzy...” the blue unicorn said as she steadied herself.

“Ah, mistress?” the earth pony asked with a frown of disappointment on her face. “So Ah guess that means...”

“Trixie.” Twilight’s voice sounded chastising, but she was not able to completely hide the hint of amusement within it. “It’s not very nice, worrying Applejack like that after she waited for us for half a day.”

“Oh, alright Twilight...” She quickly took off the costume, folding it neatly in the air before levitating it onto the nearest table. “There, see? All better. You can hardly blame a mare called Trixie for playing a little trick every now and then.”

“Why you...” Applejack spluttered as she stepped forward. “Come here, you two!”

Before either of the two unicorns could react, Applejack pulled them into a hug, as her clear, honest laughter filled the room. The two unicorns quickly exchanged a glance of surprise, and then they too burst into laughter. After a few minutes of laughing, they finally let go.

“So Ah reckon we can finally--finally--stop all this here nonsense and get back to business as usual?”

“Nonsense is business as usual,” Twilight said with a grin. “We do it all the time.”

“You know what Ah mean. We can hopefully work towards some quieter times now.”

“Hah, quiet times? Truly you do not know the Great and Powerful Trixie very well yet, Applejack.” She shot the earth pony a smile that wasn’t at all lacking in greatness or power.

“Huh, so ya still do that thingy where you call yourself ‘the Great and Powerful’ and ‘Trixie’ and all that? Ah somehow figured that’d have gone as well...”

“You call yourself ‘Ah’, so why shouldn’t Trixie be allowed to call herself Trixie?”

Applejack smiled. “But that’s my accent.”

“This is Trixie’s accent. Trixie prefers it.”

“Well, you see Applejack,” Twilight interrupted, “all of her habits from before are still there. She’s had them for years, after all. But now she should have more control over them. She was using ‘I’ perfectly fine before, so it’s more of a choice rather than a compulsion. We haven’t changed who she was completely, we’ve just... balanced it.”

Trixie waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face. “Is Trixie invisible? Trixie is standing right here, you know, Trixie can explain herself!”

A mischievous glint appeared in Applejack’s eyes. “Only Trixie can refer to Trixie in the third person it seems, Twi.”

She met Trixie’s eyes, and the both of them burst out into another roaring fit of laughter, leaving Twilight to blink in perplexion.

“But... but you just did as well...” the purple unicorn said.

The laughter stopped at once, as Trixie furrowed her brow and Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Does she always spoil the joke like that?”

“Eeeee-yup!”

They exchanged a glance again, before another fit of giggles nearly swept them off their hooves. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but instead she let out a little chuckle of her own, which was quickly followed by another until she was laughing along merrily as well; if Trixie and Applejack could get along long enough to make merry about her together, then everything would be okay. Eventually.

“Oh my Celestia, Ah haven’t laughed like that in a while, heh.” Applejack wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “Ah guess your spells are ok, Twilight. Except once or twice. Oh, Ah just remembered!” she suddenly cried out. “Your ‘moving objects’ spell during last Winter Wrap Up! That’s three!”

It was Twilight’s turn to roll her eyes. “Thanks Applejack... Thanks.”

“But y’all still have things to do. Spike’s still with Fluttershy, Ah haven’t heard of Dash in days, and when everypony in Ponyville meets the new Trixie...” she paused to consider that name for a moment. “Well, ah reckon we’re up to new new Trixie by now... Anyway, it might seem a lick... odd that she keeps changin’, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, I’ll-”

“No you’ll nothing,” Trixie interrupted her marefriend. “Trixie will take care of it.”

The purple unicorn turned towards Trixie with a look of surprise. “But Trixie, don’t you think I should-”

“No,” she shook her head. “Trixie will take care of it, Twilight Sparkle... You set the course without asking for Trixie’s opinion up to this point, so it would only be fair to let Trixie decide now, no?”

Applejack stood witness to the scene silently, amused at the sudden shift in their roles and in the balance of power within the debate.

“Yes, but-”

“Not to mention that there is one additional ‘thing’ to take care of that Trixie can hardly leave to you... Something we have been glossing over a bit up to this point. Trixie thought it fair to wait a little before bringing it up, as you did help Trixie...”

Trixie shot the purple unicorn an affectionate smile, which did nothing to calm the eerie suspicion of the latter; she did not like where this topic was going.

“I... I’m not sure what you...”

“Trixie has her memories. All of her memories.”

Twilight swallowed. “I don’t suppose you mean... all memories e-except the... um... very recent ones?”

Trixie smiled almost demonically. “No such luck, my love... the recent ones are clearest in Trixie’s mind.”

“Ah, so you know that I, uh...” Twilight backed away, but sadly for her she soon found that a table was blocking her way.

“Used Trixie as a personal sex slave? Yes. Trixie does know.” She stepped forward, preventing Twilight from escaping easily.

The librarian swallowed again. “Uh oh,” she said with a small voice.

“Oooh, is this one of them domestic disputes?” Applejack asked. Trixie suddenly turned her head to throw her a calculating look, having been reminded of her presence, and Applejack gingerly started to back away towards the front door. “Ehehehe, oh my, look at the time, Ah think Ah can hear my apples calling. ‘Aaapplejack... Aaaapplejack! Haaarvest usss!’” she said with her best impression of a spooky voice. “Y’all hear that? Gotta go!”

“No, wait! Applejack!” Twilight yelled after her as she disappeared through the door. She then slowly turned her gaze towards Trixie, who was staring at her intensely. “Uh, can we... can we t-talk about this... or was that what we were planning on doing?”

Trixie’s horn lit up for a moment, and Twilight could hear the distinct clicking of keys being turned in their locks coming from the doors and windows all around her, except without the keys. A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, and her heart started to pound faster.

“You... you do realise I could just wink out of the room, right?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Of course Trixie knows,” the other mare confirmed, “but you will not. You would have to come back eventually, so better to get it over with now, no?”

Twilight nodded slowly; Trixie did indeed make sense. Somewhat. “Then why... why lock them at all?”

“Trixie thought it would be dramatic. Showmares love dramatic. Also,” she mused, “it keeps other ponies out.”

Twilight let out a yelp of surprise as Trixie suddenly moved forward, pinning her against the table. The showmare sought out her lips hungrily, and before Twilight knew it she was drawn into the kiss. Shaken by the sudden actions of her lover, she parted her lips almost instinctively offering Trixie’s tongue an invitation to proceed, one that it accepted gladly. Twilight’s heart had already been pounding rapidly, but for entirely different reasons than the ones that now caused it to continue doing so. As she answered the kiss, she realised that it was the exact same kind of kiss they’d shared many times before, only this time their roles had been completely reversed.

The purple mare shook against her like a leaf in the wind. “T-this... ah... this is... p-punishment?”

“Just getting you started,” Trixie whispered before she softly bit Twilight’s ear. “You owe Trixie,” she whispered, “and Trixie knows how to settle the score...”

“H-how?” Twilight asked with some effort.

“You will be Trixie’s maid for a while...” she breathed into the other mare’s ear. “Trixie’s little plaything... from now, until the morning after tomorrow. Complete obedience.”

“I...” Twilight wanted to protest, but she could not find any reasonable arguments to grab on to; letting Trixie have her way with her the way she had done with Trixie seemed quite fair, and the one and a half day duration was almost merciful. Only her base reluctance remained, and she knew she could not make a case based upon that alone. “Yes...” she finally managed to say between moans. “Yes I... ah... I’ll do it...”

“Mistress,” Trixie said breathlessly as a strange sense of elation grabbed hold of her. “You have to call Trixie mistress.”

“Y-yes m-mistress...” Twilight’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, and she turned her face away slightly, biting her lower lip.

Trixie licked the other mare’s cheek, before dropping down to her neck and lingering there. “Mmmm... My love bite has now faded... perhaps it’s your time to get one? You are mine now, after all, and I don’t mind letting other ponies know.” She turned Twilight’s head gently with one forehoof. “How would you deal with other ponies’ knowing--and sometimes disapproving--glances as they saw the mark? So, what do you think, my little maid? Should Trixie?”

“Ah... n-no...” Twilight managed weakly. “Please... it’s s-so... ah... e-embarrassing...”

Trixie bit her ear again. “Silly maid... That didn’t seem to stop you last time... and shouldn’t you be agreeing with your mistress? Your mistress wants this, and if she can tell you a little secret...” She lowered her voice until it was barely audible at all, pressing her lips against Twilight’s ear. “She only wants it more now that you said no...”

She reached in to make prove it, and when she finally stopped to admire her work, she could tell that the love bite would not be any smaller or fainter than the one she had had herself up until recently. She only regretted that Twilight’s darker tone of skin would conceal the mark far more quickly than had been the case for her, but there was nothing she could do about that. "Well then, shall we begin?"

Twilight wanted to ask "What with?" for a second, but in truth, it was already obvious enough.

Their love making was rough and explosive, as Trixie made use of her newly acquired position as the "mistress for a day" (or actually slightly more than that) to put Twilight through the same situations that Twilight had put her through before. But she only had a little over a day, and so she quickly realised that what she lacked for in time, she would have to make up for with insidious ingenuity.

For the entire encounter she kept Twilight near her peak, skilfully denying her her release throughout the entire session of domination. Only at the very end did she finally let the maid go, and they collapsed in each other's hooves.

The two of them both remained motionless like that for several minutes, panting with exhaustion as Trixie’s penis shrunk and finally disappeared completely, leaving even more room for cum to flow from Twilight’s still shaking folds.

Trixie pressed a gentle kiss upon the purple unicorns lips, and Twilight returned it weakly, smiling lovingly.

“Mmmm... Trixie hopes that helped teach you a lesson...”

“Oh yes... oh yes, mistress,” Twilight replied breathlessly, “it certainly has...”

Trixie grinned mischievously. “But perhaps not the lesson Trixie intended...”

“Perhaps not, mistress,” Twilight conceded with a smile.

They remained within each other’s hooves for a while longer, blissfully nuzzling against each other and sharing soft, tender kisses. But eventually Trixie stood up, as they could hardly keep lying on the floor when the day was only slightly past half-spent.

“You will have to clean up here, my maid. Oh, and Trixie just remembered... When we cleaned up all the books yesterday, Applejack helped out. But Trixie later noticed she had gotten the placement of the books all wrong. Trixie had planned to fix that today, but as you kept Trixie busy in the kitchen and with long-distance travel...” she shrugged. “You’re the maid now, you do it. Oh, and dinner! Don’t forget about dinner. Trixie thinks you’ll need to go to the market first, though... Show off that cute little mark of yours, won’t you?” She gave Twilight’s love bite a little lick as the maid stood up, and Twilight shuddered under the strange sensation. “But Trixie will leave your poor body alone aside from that... at least until tomorrow.” Her lascivious smile made Twilight feel she already had something very specific in store.

“Yes mistress,” she said with a drawn-out sigh; it’d be a long day, and she felt considerably spent already, but she had to admit that some part of her wished that tomorrow had already come.

“But first, let us take a bath.”

“Us?” Twilight blinked. “Together? Uh, I mean: Together, mistress? But our tub isn’t big enough to-”

“Please,” Trixie said with a cocky smile, “Do you truly believe the Great and Powerful Trixie, who can set up a stage with but a single thought, does not have at least one trick to make a simple wooden tub big enough for two? Come. You will scrub Trixie’s back first.”

Twilight giggled and followed after Trixie. “Yes mistress!” she said merrily, as she contemplated the wonders of the world, which could make one day feel dark and lonesome, when the next day featured taking a bath together with the mare you loved.

A Cloudy Day

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.

The More the Merrier

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...

Unfinished Business

Dreams flashed through Trixie’s mind. Dreams of happiness and closeness, dreams of the one mare she adored and loved. Dreams wherein they partook in some of their favourite activities. She opened her eyes and found that the dreams flowed into reality, as her legs and lips had somehow found Twilight’s during the night. The librarian’s dreams had been much the same. The purple unicorn woke up, and for a moment they lost themselves in the love they saw reflected in the other’s eyes, before they broke off the kiss that had bridged the gap between the sleeping and the waking world.

“Morning, love,” Twilight muttered sleepily, as she cuddled up a bit closer.

“Trixie believes that should be ‘Morning, mistress,’” the showmare said with a grin. “And are you not supposed to have already prepared breakfast by the time your mistress wakes up?”

Twilight groaned slightly; she had already forgotten. “But how do you even manage to wake up earlier? I don’t get it...”

“How do you manage to wake up earlier, mistress,” Trixie corrected her. She broke into a loving smile, as she caressed the other mare’s cheek softly. “You are a terrible maid... Trixie is not even sure why she still tries.”

“Sorry mistress,” Twilight replied with a giggle. “I have a lot to live up to!”

Trixie let out a playful sigh, as she waved a hoof towards the stairs. “Go and make Trixie breakfast now then, before she sees fit to punish you again.”

“Oooo, promises, promises...” Twilight quickly ducked away from the pillow that suddenly flew in her direction, as she rolled off the bed and landed on her hooves. “Alright, alright, I’m going! Mistress,” she quickly added.

Trixie grinned; she would teach her maid her place before the end of the day, but she had other things to take care of first. She stayed in bed for a little while longer, before finally getting up and heading downstairs. Twilight was already done preparing breakfast by then, and Trixie ate with the enthusiasm of one who still remembered days of hunger and near starvation. It helped that she liked food in general, of course.

“Say, Twilight,” she started to ask, “can your gate spell take me to Canterlot?”

The purple unicorn looked surprised at the question. “Why... yes mistress, it most certainly could... But the calculations, preparations... you would reach Canterlot far quicker by train. But why... ?”

“Trixie’s reasons are entirely her own, my maid. Trixie will say only that she has some business to attend to...” She pondered her plans for a few moments. “Trixie will be back in the afternoon... You will prepare a cold meal for this evening. Something that can be prepared in advance and will keep. We are expecting two guests.” She stood up.

“I... Yes mistress. But, guests?”

Trixie only glanced back at her as she walked towards the door, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. She went outside, leaving Twilight to her thoughts about guests and punishment. She was a little nervous about what Trixie had in store for her.

But perhaps it would be interesting?

***

Canterlot. The capital of Equestria, and a city Trixie was greatly conflicted about. On the one hoof, her life with Twilight had started there, and she’d performed for its ponies many times; on the other hoof, she had nearly perished in its streets not so long ago. She knew there were dark depths to the place that weren’t immediately apparent for those with money and good fortune on their side, but she wasn’t there for that. It was time to reclaim the last element of her past.

She made her way through busy streets, drawing ever closer to the financial centre of the town. She let her hooves guide her, as she knew they remembered the way, even if she did not. They passed by many banks, but when she finally stopped she found herself in front of one particular one: The Royal Bank of Equestria. She could not recall having ever been there before, but she knew she must have, at one point. She went inside, passing by the many guards that were drifting around the place.

“Greetings, madam!” the brown-coated pony with a monocle and a blue suit called out to her as she approached his desk. “What can we help you with today?”

“Trixie’s looking to collect the contents of her safe,” she said calmly. “It is here, right?”

“Uhhh... It should be if this is where you left it, madam. Name?”

“Trixie Lulamoon.”

The clerk opened up a big book, and flipped through the pages. “Loony... Lucky... Ah, here! Lulamoon, Trixie. Vault 509. If you would wait here, madam? I shall be right back.”

Trixie nodded, and the clerk headed for a heavy steel door behind him, flanked by two royal guards. They let him through without any problems, and the showmare started to look around the great hall as she waited. It had been quite masterfully decorated and built, with walls of white marble and beautiful statues spread throughout the room. Many more desks were present, and ponies were talking to clerks at each and every one. A shiver ran across Trixie’s spine, although she could not quite explain why. She realised that a hallucinant amount of bits had to pass through many hooves there every day, and the thought that she had almost died of poverty just a few blocks away from such a place angered her somewhat. But it was a cold anger, buried under the healing salve of time, as to her that had seemingly happened two lifetimes ago.

Finally the clerk returned, carrying only a small box. He put it down on the table and opened it, to show Trixie its contents. “Quite a marvelous piece... If I may be so bold to ask: How did you come to possess it? Such craftsmanship is rarely seen, even here.”

Trixie smiled as she closed the little box with a hoof, and stored it away. “It’s a family heirloom. Has been for generations. It used to belong to my mother.”

“Ah, and she’s... ?” He fell silent for a moment. “Excuse me for my impertinent questions, madam. I am sorry for your loss.”

“It’s an old wound.”

“I am sorry nonetheless.”

Trixie nodded, and forced a little smile. “Thank you. Does that conclude matters? No paperwork to fill out?”

He shook his head. “No, our own unicorn personnel already verified your identity for me, Miss Lulamoon. The paperwork is already being taken care of. Please have a nice day, and we hope you will make use of our services again.”

Trixie nodded; a magical scan could explain the shiver from before, and it did seem like a sound practice. After all, a spell powerful enough to fool the scan would light up all of the magic detectors they had no doubt scattered around the place. She mumbled a formal goodbye and walked away, exiting the building again. Once outside on the street, she took out the little black box and stared at it in amazement, as if she still couldn’t quite believe it actually existed.

Somewhere during her life, the last sane part of her had taken control, and had brought the box here. It contained her greatest treasure, and some part of her had felt that it needed to be kept safe, protected... even from herself. Especially from herself. And what better way to do that than to actually forget about its existence? It would have been somewhat ironic to starve to death while she had such a treasure in the bank, but she hadn’t starved. Even after Twilight had helped her regain her past, the existence of the box and its contents had remained vague, yet insistent. And here it was, in her possession. For now.

She stored it away carefully again, and made her way towards the station. If she hurried, she could still make the next train back. She had the box, but there was still somebody she had to meet.

***

Several hours later she was back in Ponyville, on the outskirts of town. She had asked for directions towards Fluttershy’s cottage and many ponies had been willing to help her out, although they had seemed a bit disappointed when she didn’t end up doing something unusual or interesting.

She looked at the door in front of her, took a deep breath, and knocked. It took a little time, but eventually the door opened slightly.

“Yes?” a gentle voice came. “What can I- Oh... oh my...” Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide, as she realised who she had in front of her. “Why are you... ?”

“Greetings. Trixie would like to talk to Spike, could you let Trixie in?” Trixie pushed the door open a bit further. The inside of the house looked quite comfy, and there were plenty of animals all around. They seemed to be everywhere, and the showmare could spot a wide open field behind the cottage through the backdoor.

“I... I don’t think he wants to see you... he said ummm... he said...”

“Did he say ‘If Trixie comes here, don’t let her in.’ specifically?”

Fluttershy shrunk back a little bit. “Well, no... he only mentioned Twilight, but...”

Trixie smiled; she had guessed that Spike wouldn’t even entertain the notion that she’d come to see him personally, and it seemed that she had been correct. “Well then, is there really any problem?”

Fluttershy nervously glanced over from her to the staircase. “I... I suppose not, I... Ok... but you have to be nice... a-alright?”

The showmare raised an eyebrow. “Trixie is always nice.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth for a second, as if to reply, but then she simply shook her head. She walked over to the stairs and looked up. “Spike? Spike, can you come down, please?” she yelled; which is to say: she said slightly louder than usual. Which was not very loudly at all.

Eventually though, Spike did appear at the top of the stairs. “What’s that, Fluttershy?”

“There... there’s somepony here to see you...”

“Oh boy!” Spike said enthusiastically, as he started to descend the stairs two steps at a time. “Is it Rarity? Are my scales shiny? I-” He paused as he touched down upon the floor, and laid eyes upon Trixie. “Oh... it’s you.”

“Please, leave us,” Trixie said to Fluttershy, even though her gaze was fixed upon the little dragon, who was staring at her resentfully.

“But-”

Neither Trixie nor Spike spoke, but the silence in the air was so tangible that Fluttershy felt cut off regardless. She swallowed, and then nodded her head before disappearing through the back door, several small critters following in her wake.

“So...” Spike began. “What do you want? Here to make my life miserable again?”

Trixie shook her head. “Not at all... Trixie changed. Trixie... Trixie wants you to come back home.”

“I don’t believe you. And besides, there’s no home for me to go back to!” Spike pointed at her accusingly. “You took that away from me.”

“Alright, look...” Trixie held up a hoof in a gesture of reconciliation. “Trixie doesn’t like you, but only because she’s never had a chance to get to know you under... agreeable circumstances. But Twilight wants you back. Trixie can tell. And if something can make Twilight happy, then Trixie will-”

“What right do you even have to talk like you know Twilight? What right do you have to get between us? Long before you ever came here, I...” the dragon sighed. “Can’t you just leave us alone?”

Trixie shook her head. “Trixie can’t help it, Spike... Trixie loves Twilight, and Twilight... Twilight loves Trixie as well. Who are you to decide who Trixie can and cannot fall in love with, who Twilight can and cannot fall in love with?” she bounced back his earlier question.

He turned away from her slightly and crossed his arms, a stubborn expression on his face. Trixie sighed; she wasn’t handling this very well. But she had expected that; it would be alright.

“Look,” she tried again. “Trixie does not expect you to decide right away.” That was, in fact, an understatement; it would have been rather inconvenient to her had he decided to return to the library then and there. “But please think about it, and also...” She paused as she took out the little black box.

“Also?”

“I would like for you to safekeep this for me...” She made the box float forward, and opened it so that Spike could look inside. He gasped, and immediately reached out for the box, holding it gently in his hands. There was a good amount of desire on his face: the default reaction for a dragon confronted with gems and jewelry.

“That gem... and the colour, I...” He looked up at Trixie. “But this is a... uh... it’s a...” He could not get the words past his lips. “Does this mean you... you want to?”

Trixie nodded solemnly. “Yes, Trixie does.”

A look of confusion passed over Spike’s face. “But then why would you give it to me? I mean, I’m a dragon, gems and me... and I don’t even want you to... to... So why... ?”

Trixie shrugged. “The Great and Powerful Trixie always has her reasons, Spike... But Twilight trusts you, and if there is anything Trixie can believe in, it’s Twilight’s trust in her friends. So please, keep it safe... you’ll know when Trixie wants it back.” She turned around and headed for the door.

“Wait! I don’t trust you, and I don’t like you!” he shouted after her, one claw pointing at her as the other held the box, before he looked at it. “But... but I’ll keep this safe.”

A smile spread across Trixie’s face as she glanced back over her shoulder. “Trixie knew you would. Thanks.”

Spike just stood there for several moments after Trixie had left, staring at the door. He lifted the box up on the palm of his hand, and stared at it, before opening it carefully. Another look of hunger passed over his face as the jewel inside was revealed. After a few seconds he closed the lid again, lest the desire become too great to control. He sighed. “What are you doing, Spike?” he asked himself silently. “You know what it’s for, and yet...” He sighed again, and shrugged.

He had a lot to think about.

Triple Retribution (Non-Clop Version)

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.

Applejack stood at the end of the path that lead away from Sweet Apple Acres, staring off into the sky. From the position of the sun, she could tell that evening was fast approaching; she wouldn’t have to wait for much longer...

A cyan streak took off from the clouds in the distance, racing towards AJ’s position. The farmpony knew that its destination was somewhere behind her, yet she waited patiently. As she had expected, Rainbow Dash slowed down as soon as she spotted her, and landed elegantly upon the bridge.

“Applejack!” she said as she landed. “Look, I’m sorry I missed our run this week, but I... uh... I had a lot on my mind, and I want to make it up to you, but right now I got to dash, so-”

Applejack smiled. “It’s alright, Dash. Ya can make it up to me some other time, Ah’m in no hurry. Besides,” she said with a wink, “Ah was invited by Trixie too.” She started walking over the bridge towards the river bank the library was on, leaving Dash standing with an open mouth. “Aren’t you coming?” she called back over her shoulder.

The pegasus shook off her surprise and took off after Applejack, coming to walk beside her. “Wait, you mean you’re... and you know what we... ?”

“Eeee-yup,” Applejack mimicked her brother’s favourite word. “She told me.”

“But... I... you... I didn’t know you were also... Well, you know...” the normally so confident Rainbow Dash stumbled over her words, and she almost missed a step as a bright blush appeared on her cheeks.

Applejack shrugged. “‘s all the same to me, Dash. Life on the farm can be tough, especially for younger ponies. Ah had some... rebellious and experimental phases, Ah guess you could say.”

“Ah.” Dash blinked. “But I’m not sure if...”

“Ah hope you’re not too afraid of a lil’... competition, are ya Dash? Ah know this is all a bit new to you, so if you’re feeling a mite too afraid and inexperienced, Ah’m sure Ah can go somewhat easy on y-”

“Now wait a minute!” the pegasus said as she took to the air, flying in front of Applejack to cut off her path, poking the mare’s chest with a hoof. “I’m not afraid of anything or anypony, inexperienced or not! I was born a natural athlete, and this, uh... stuff,” she said, still slightly embarrassed, “qualifies as well, so you better believe I’m going to be good at it.”

Applejack smiled slyly as she walked past Dash. “Alrighty, if that’s what you want... just don’t claim Ah didn’t warn you when you lose.”

“Heh, we’ll see Applejack... just you wait. Piece of cake.”

They continued their back and forth arguing as they walked, even after they arrived at the library. So embroiled were they in their discussion, that neither one of them remembered to knock, or even so much as suggested that they go inside; however, after a while the door was opened from the inside.

“Ah, there you are,” Trixie said, cutting through their debate. “What are you two standing outside for? Didn’t Trixie ask you to be in the library by the time we agreed upon?” She looked from one to the other.

“Well, yes-”

“We were just-”

Trixie raised a hoof to silence them both. “Inside, now. Before Twilight comes back down.”

The showmare lead by example as she retreated deeper into the library, paying little heed to her two guests, trusting them to follow her with a confidence that one could only acquire after years of being the centre of attention. That almost seemed like a different life to her now, but the experiences were still there in her mind, ready to be called upon when needed. Applejack and Rainbow Dash proved that they hadn’t lost their touch, as they finally stopped their bickering and quickly headed inside, closing the door behind themselves.

Trixie lead them to the centre of the library, where a comfortable sofa had been placed in front of the centre table, which was laden with several beverages.

“Make yourself at home,” Trixie said as she poured a red drink for each of her two guests, “it may take a few moments for the... ‘entertainment’ to make it down here.”

“So, does Twi know we’re here?” Applejack asked as she accepted the cup Trixie floated in her direction, even as Dash did the same with the cup that was offered to her.

“She knows Trixie invited somepony for tonight, but she doesn’t know who it is, or what to expect.” A sly smile spread across Trixie’s lips. “But she has her suspicions, of course.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, Trixie could tell... she had that look... That look which tells Trixie she’s nervous, perhaps even scared, but also excited at the same time.” She paused, staring off into the distance. “How could that not make Trixie’s blood boil?”

“Ah see... Ah think,” Applejack said before she took a sip. “Huh, what’s this? Looks a tad like tomato juice, but it ain't...”

Trixie waved dismissively. “An alcoholic beverage from Canterlot, very popular and quite suited to the occasion.”

Applejack took another sip, and nodded. “Not bad.”

During all this, Rainbow Dash remained uncharacteristically silent as she sat quietly in the sofa, holding her cup between her hooves. Occasionally she shivered slightly, and she was staring blankly into space.

“Nervous?” Trixie whispered into her ear as she laid down beside her on the sofa. “You don’t need to be... it’ll be just like last time, but better... Come, relax, drink something.”

Dash nodded distractedly, as she took a sip. “I know, it’s just... I’ve never gone somewhere with the express purpose of... you know...” She looked at her cup for a moment, and then suddenly downed the remainder in one gulp.

Trixie smiled mischievously, as she filled Dash’s cup again. “It’ll be fine, Trixie promises.”

Dash’s drink didn’t last long that time either, and Trixie took both her and Applejack’s empty cups and put them away on the table.

“Is it just me,” Applejack suddenly asked, “or is it rather hot in here?”

“I... yeah,” Rainbow Dash concurred.

Both of them had a blush on their cheeks, and their breathing was slightly more ragged than before. A feeling of restlessness slowly came over them as they fidgeted around in place, a sensation rising in their stomach that they couldn’t quite place. By contrast, Trixie remained quite calm, a smug look on her face.

“Obviously, the anticipation is getting to you two,” she said.

“No.” Applejack shook her head. “This feels like... like...” Her eyes grew wide. “You put something in those drinks!”

Trixie grinned. “Of course not, Trixie would never!” She winked. ”It’s the drink itself. As I said, it’s very popular, and for a good reason... It’s called ‘Desire’, very suitable, no? Adds a little fun to the party.”

“You sneaky...”

“Relax, it’ll be fun!” Trixie assured the farmpony. “It’ll only be uncomfortable for a little bit.”

“Oh Celestia,” Rainbow Dash said with a moan, as she started rubbing her hind legs together, her body shaking slightly. “Wait, why didn’t you drink any yourself, if... ?”

“Oh, trust Trixie... Twilight is all the stimulant Trixie needs... She doesn’t need anything else to keep up the pace.” She leaned in closer to the pegasus mare again and whispered into her ear. “But you will, if Trixie has any say in it...”

Dash wanted to reply, but as she turned her head towards Trixie, the unicorn suddenly moved in for a kiss. It was filled with passion and fire, and--fueled by the effects of the alcohol and the aphrodisiac in her veins--Dash returned it hungrily. Applejack’s eyes feasted upon the scene, for even though she had only drank half of what Rainbow Dash had, in her case there were no nerves to diminish and dull the effect. One of her hooves started sneaking down her body, when they suddenly got interrupted by the sound of somepony coming down the stairs. Trixie and Dash broke off their kiss, and Applejack kept herself in check for a while longer.

“M-mistress?” Twilight’s voice came from just outside of sight. “I put it on, like you asked, and it fits alright, but it’s so... I feel so... do I have to wear it?”

When she finally came into view both Applejack and Rainbow Dash gasped for breath, and Trixie let out an appreciating whistle; Trixie had commanded Twilight to put on one of her maid outfits, and although it didn’t fit the librarian as well as it did the showmare, the effect was still quite stunning--especially when backed up by the embarrassed look upon Twilight’s face. It was as revealing as ever, and as soon as Twilight saw who was gathered there she let out a little yelp and tried to retreat back up the stairs.

“No. Come here,” Trixie commanded plainly, the two ponies besides her still staring their eyes out.

Twilight hesitated for a moment, but then she finally came down gingerly, walking over to the sofa as her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She stopped in front of Trixie, shaking slightly. ‘Y-yes mistress? W-what can I d-do for you?” She glanced at Applejack and Dash, and raised an eyebrow questioningly as she noticed the effects of the aphrodisiac, which she couldn’t quite place. Their appreciative looks made her even more nervous, though.

Trixie shook her head. “Not for Trixie, for all of us.” She smiled mischievously. “You will do whatever our guests desire of you... and Trixie thinks she knows what they want...”

“O-oh?” Twilight said shakily as Dash stepped out of the sofa, approaching her with a lustful look in her eyes.

“They will do as they please. Consider it your apology.”

For the next hour or so they did indeed have their way with the mare, and although her subservient position was somewhat humiliating at first, Twilight had to admit there were worse ways to apologise in. The other three really worked her body to its limits, and by the time they were done Twilight herself had closed her eyes and--apart from the shuddering of her body--remained unmoving. The surprisingly steady rising and falling of her chest suggested that she had promptly fallen asleep, and Trixie smiled.

It seemed like everypony was quite satisfied.

“Well,” she told the other two as they stood around awkwardly, “shall we head to the other room then? Trixie had some food and refreshments prepared for you.”

“Should we, like... wake her up?” Dash asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Nonsense! She’ll be fine, you’ll see. Trixie guarantees it.” She started pushing the two of them in the direction of the other room, and although they hesitated at first it only took them one look at the food Twilight had prepared to realise they had worked up quite an appetite, and following that realisation they left the room willingly.

Trixie quickly sped back to Twilight’s side, smiling down at her lovingly and caressing her cheek gently with a hoof. Her horn began to glow as she pushed a pillow underneath the mare’s head--taking care not to wake her up--and covered her with one of the blankets Twilight kept around in case she needed to work while up late on a cold night. She leaned forward and kissed her cheek softly, and Twilight murmured happily in her sleep.

“Rest now, Trixie will wake you soon...” She caressed the other unicorn’s hair one last time, before she walked off to join her guests, pausing briefly at the door to throw a look back at Twilight’s sleeping figure, before she silently closed the door behind her.

***

It was already getting quite dark by the time Applejack and Rainbow dash finally left the library, and they walked along the path towards their homes together; technically speaking it wasn’t necessary for Dash to walk anywhere at all, but it seemed like the friendly thing to do. On top of that, there was still one matter they had left unresolved...

“So, Trixie didn’t give us time to ask Twilight about it,” Dash began as they left the village, “but I think it’s still obvious enough who won.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah hear ya, for once in our lives we actually agree!”

“So you think... ?”

“Yup!”

They stopped and nodded at one another, before saying at the same time: “I won!” “Ah won!”

The two mares blinked in the rapidly thickening darkness, both unsure if whether or not they had heard the other correctly.

“No way!” the pegasus finally blurted out. “You can’t be serious AJ, it was clear that-”

“Oh come on! Didn’t you hear her grunt every time Ah thrust in? Obviously-”

“Even I could feel those thrusts, you’re way too rough! What she needed was speed and finesse, and I-”

They went on like that for a while longer, both trying to convince the other of their own victory by quoting reactions--real or imagined--Twilight had had to their actions. They didn’t get anywhere, and soon the argument strayed from the actual topic.

“You always do this,” Dash claimed grumpily. “You always claim you’ve won when it’s clear to everypony that I was the real winner!”

“Are you calling me a liar?” Applejack asked grumpily, as she stepped closer to Dash.

“What if I am?” The cyan pegasus approached as well.

“Then Ah suggest you take it back!” Another step was taken towards the other mare, their heads now close enough to clearly make out every detail of their face, despite the shroud of darkness all around them.

“Oh yeah? Make me!” Their foreheads bumped into each other as they pushed their heads together, staring angrily into each other’s eyes.

They remained like that for several moments, both too stubborn to give up any ground, and neither of them really knowing what else to say. Then, suddenly, they both swung a forehoof at the other mare, but instead of trying to punch each other they fell to the ground in a messy tangle of legs.

They rolled over the grass on the side of the road, and when they finally came to a halt they were clinging onto each other, their tongues wrestling in a way that was altogether less violent than the fight they had barely avoided. Finally, they broke off the kiss and panted, and both of them had a look of surprise on their face; as if they had only just met, seeing each other for the frist time. They pressed themselves against each other a bit more closely, as it became apparent that they both liked what they saw.

“Y-you know...” Dash squeaked uncertainly. “There’s still a way t-to find out who’s best... without Trixie or T-Twilight...”

“Ah, yeah... Ah s’ppose you’re right... Do... do you want to?” Applejack asked breathlessly.

Dash nodded, unable to get the answer across her lips, but then they both broke into a smile.

“Your place?” Applejack asked.

“Only if you’ve learned to fly,” Dash said as she mockingly raised an eyebrow.

“Oh... Ah haven’t,” Applejack was forced to admit with a blush; for some reason she just couldn’t think straight.

“Your place, then?”

“No, with Big Mac, Granny and Applebloom there... Oh!” she suddenly cried out, as she stood up and pulled Dash to her hooves. “Ah know! The treehouse!”

“Wha- Surely we can’t... ?”

“Ya chicken, Dashie?” the earth pony called back mockingly as she ran off in the direction of the orchard.

“Hey! Nopony calls me chicken!”

As Dash gave chase, their carefree laughter echoed throughout the night, following them all the way to their destination. They did indeed repeat their competition there in private, just between the two of them. Afterwards, they once again disagreed about the victor, only this time both of them insisted that it was the other who had won. To reach a verdict once and for all, they were forced to have a rematch a few days later; it was to be the first of many.

They never would reach a conclusion, even though they competed against each other for the rest of their long and happy lives.

***

When Twilight opened her eyes, the first thing she saw were the flames dancing merrily in the hearth in front of her. It took her but a moment to realise someone had transported her to the bedroom upstairs, where she was lying on her belly upon a soft rug underneath a cozy blanket. As she glanced to the right she saw the maid’s outfit she’d been wearing--neatly folded--and when she looked to the left she found she was staring right into Trixie’s loving eyes.

The showmare cuddled up to her under the blanket, and nuzzled her face against Twilight’s neck. “Trixie hopes you had a nice nap...”

“O... oh yes, mistress,” Twilight began, but Trixie instantly raised a hoof from under the blanket and shook her head.

“Enough of that, Trixie tires of it... My last command as your mistress is to end our deal prematurely. You’re no longer my maid.” She smiled lovingly, as she turned her head to seek out Twilight’s lips. “You’re just my marefriend now...”

The kiss was passionate but brief, as Twilight still felt quite tired despite her nap, and she was quickly out of breath. “Mmmm... so that’s it? Revenge complete, score settled?”

“Yes,” Trixie grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “You’re not disappointed, I hope... Trixie found you to be very... enthusiastic at times.”

Twilight laughed. “Oh Celestia no, not disappointed at all! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I had fun being your maid at times, and the three of you... well... it wasn’t bad, but... I can feel myself getting sore already, and I won’t be surprised if I’m forced to walk a bit funny in the morning...” She shrugged. “It’s just not for me...”

Trixie nodded. “You were a lousy maid. Cute,” she quickly added when Twilight wanted to protest, “sexy, and very... willing.” She winked. “But Trixie just doesn’t think you can pull it off, you don’t give off the right feeling... Perhaps you’re just not a very good actor.”

“Well hey, standing on a stage and acting is your talent, not mine!” she giggled. “You never had these complaints when I was the mistress, though.”

“Well, you were a good mistress... That is to say... Hmmm... what Trixie means is... you played the role well, even if you messed up your priorities and responsibilities a bit. Probably a better mistress than Trixie... Trixie just imitated some of your actions and threw them all together, and even then she’s already sick of it. Trixie doesn’t need to be the mistress to get you or any other pony to do what she wants, though.” She winked at Twilight mischievously, and perhaps just a teensy bit arrogantly.

“Heh, well, maybe...” Twilight reluctantly admitted. She looked at the maid’s outfit next to her, and then at the fire. “We won’t be needing this anymore...” Her horn glowed as she picked up the bundle of clothes with her magic, intent on telekinetically casting them into the flames; however, before she could make her move she felt some other force fiercely resisting her, and as she lost her grip upon the costume it shot into Trixie’s protecting hooves.

“Are you insane?” Trixie hissed at Twilight. “You can’t destroy these! They’re Trixie’s.”

“Uh, but I thought, that you, you know,” the purple unicorn stumbled over her own words, “would like to have them removed? With all the... bad... memories... ?” Twilight fell silent, as Trixie shook her head after her every word.

“Did Trixie say they were bad memories? Maybe she liked it...”

Twilight’s mouth fell open. “But... I... What?”

The showmare shrugged. “Look... Trixie’s always on stage. Ponies look up to her, admire her, they bring her what they want even when the show is over... Trixie can remember what being a maid was like, and it’s... Well... Sometimes everypony needs a break, right? Only when you’re Trixie, taking a break isn’t as easy as getting off of the stage, so...”

“I... I don’t get it,” Twilight admitted. “What are you trying to sa-”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie interrupted as she stood up, the blanket falling off of her as she looked down at Twilight with a stern look, towering above her. Despite that, a blush rapidly spread over her face. “A few days per week, Trixie will make you breakfast and wake you up while wearing this costume. She will feed you, and she will call you mistress. When that happens, you will treat Trixie like your maid for the rest of the day. You will take good care of her, but you... you...” her voice became a bit smaller, as she averted her gaze slightly, “you will also do whatever you... whatever you want with her.” Her eyes snapped back to Twilight’s, which were staring up at her in bewilderment. “Is that understood, Twilight Sparkle?”

“I... y-yes,” Twilight stuttered, momentarily taken aback by the sudden outburst, nodding frantically.

“Well, that’s... that’s if you want to, Trixie means...” she laid herself down and pulled the blanket over herself again, looking away out of pure embarrassment as her cheeks burned brightly.

Twilight lifted a hoof up to her mouth and giggled. “Oh, I do want to!” she admitted. “I... I liked being the mistress. A lot. Too much, perhaps... But with you healthy again to point out when I’m making mistakes, and with you just being your boastful self the other half of the time...” She smiled. “It can work! And I’ve already got ideas in store for you, ohohoho, believe you me: I do...”

A shiver ran down Trixie’s spine, but it was the good, wholesome kind. She turned back towards Twilight, and they both cuddled closer together as they basked in the warmth of the fire and their love for each other. “Oh, Trixie is so happy she met you, Twilight Sparkle... even if it was a bit of a bumpy ride...”

“Heh, yeah, tell me about it, and... Wait.” Realisation suddenly dawned on her. “If you didn’t dislike being a maid, then... Why did you have to have your revenge on me for it?” She furrowed her brow.

“Well... Trixie thought it it could be... fun.” She grinned at her marefriend wickedly.

“... You had me take all three of you at the same time because you ‘thought it could be fun.’?”

“Well... yes. And wasn’t it?”

Twilight grinned. “You’re insane...” They cuddled as their lips met once again, and Twilight curled up in Trixie’s hooves with a blissful sigh. “So what happens next?”

“Hmmm...” The showmare remained silent for a moment. “I guess it’s time for The Great and Powerful Trixie to get back on stage.”

“Uh oh. You think Ponyville is ready for that?”

“Nopony is ever truly ready for my most magical performance! But Trixie is ready for it...” She looked Twilight in the eye. “I hope you’re ready for it, too...”

The purple unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Me? Why would I have to be ready for your performance? It’s not that hard to watch.”

Trixie smiled as she stroked Twilight’s mane gently. “Oh, you’ll see, my love. You’ll see...”

A New Beginning

Twilight was lost within peaceful and pleasant dreams, when the sound of wood scraping against wood roughly woke her from her slumber. She turned over in bed, stubbornly refusing to open her eyes as she attempted to go back to sleep and recapture the essence of her last dream, the details of which were quickly slipping away from her.

The noises did not abate, and after a few moments of rolling around underneath the sheets Twilight realised they weren’t coming from outside--as she had first expected--but from closer by. Really close, in fact. She blindly felt around for Trixie next to her, but her hooves encountered only empty air. She groaned at the possibility that her marefriend had gotten up early to take up her role as maid; it wasn’t like she didn’t want to play the mistress--she was looking forward to it very much, in fact--but the last few weeks had just been such a constant, crazy story of maids and mistresses that she just wanted to take a breather for a few days. After that... She let out a little giggle at her plans for the future.

Twilight Sparkle, you can be such a naughty, little-

Her thoughts got suddenly interrupted when the bedsheets were pulled off of her, and she opened her eyes with a start. Trixie was standing right next to her, looking down, a slight smile playing around her lips. She wasn’t wearing any clothing, and Twilight let out a sigh of relief; Trixie would’ve put on her maid’s outfit if she had been in such a mood, so the fact that she hadn’t meant there’d be one day of relative peace and quiet for the librarian to regain her bearings.

“If you’re awake enough to be giggling under the covers, perhaps you should come give Trixie a hoof?” the blue mare said, and Twilight knew her tone of voice was only questioning for show.

Twilight yawned as she rubbed her eyes. “You shouldn’t be making all this noise so early in the mo-”

“It’s nearly afternoon.”

“Oh,” Twilight blinked. “Is it?”

“Yes.”

Another sigh passed the purple mare’s lips as she slipped out of bed, her head still not entirely free from the lazy drowsiness of deep sleep. As she turned around to face Trixie, the other mare suddenly moved forward and, without giving Twilight much time to react, pressed their lips together. The kiss that followed was electrifying enough to shake Twilight to her core, and as she returned the love and passion, she felt more and more energised, ready to begin her day.

“W-was that what you needed help with?” Twilight asked, as always rendered momentarily breathless by the other’s intensity.

Trixie smiled smugly and shook her head. “No, silly. If that was the only thing Trixie wanted, she’d have just quietly slipped back in bed. You sometimes move in accordance to your dreams when you sleep, and tonight they seemed quite...” She threw her marefriend a suggestive look.

Twilight’s cheeks flushed a deep purple, as she stammered out an unclear response.

The showmare simply chuckled, as she walked towards the side of the room, where one of the wall panels had been opened. “Come here for a moment,” she half-asked, half-commanded as she disappeared inside of the room beyond.

“We’re going back into the closet? That’s rather unusual for a fillyfooling couple out in the open.” The purple unicorn giggled at her own joke, as she followed Trixie inside.

It took her some time to adjust to the fact that the closet was impossibly big on the inside, far bigger than it had any right to be. Twilight had asked the princess about this particular feat of magic many times, but it seemed the process itself was incredibly sophisticated, and nopony knew how the unicorn who had built the library--a century or two ago--had managed to procure the countless, rare spell components that he would have needed, or what the room had once been used for. Truly a stallion of mystery...

Regardless of its intended use, by the time Twilight had arrived at the library the room had already been turned into a storage room of sorts. It seemed like the entire building had been redecorated several times over, and instead of throwing the old furniture out they had simply stored it away in there every time. There were enough beds and mattresses piled up vertically against the wall to give half of Ponyville a comfortable place to stay the night, and the amount of tables and desks was simply too high to oversee. Some of those had been moved recently as they had seen use in Trixie’s party, already almost a week ago.

Even then it was easy to see that Trixie had been moving things around quite a bit: the dust had been disturbed in many places, and several tables of about equal height stood together close to the entrance to the room.

“Soooo... what are we doing again?” Twilight asked, scratching her head questioningly.

Trixie looked at her from behind a closet that had fallen onto its side at some point over the years, and smiled. “The Great and Powerful Trixie requires a grand stage to perform her amazing comeback, and there’s enough wood here to build three of them! If we can just get a good amount of tables of the same height, and then drape some carpets over them, then we can-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Twilight interrupted her lover. “I can see how that’d work, but... You magicked up that party tent just fine, why would a stage be any different?”

“Well, of course Trixie, could do that,” the showmare said as she threw her mane back, “but visibly setting up parts of the stage creates anticipation. Somepony of Trixie’s stature is not going to go around soliciting attention before the show like some common street performer.”

Twilight nodded slowly, deciding not to mention that, until a few weeks ago, Trixie had been one of those street performers--and not a very successful one at that. “So I’m going to... ?”

“Help Trixie find suitable things in here, and reshape them a bit. We will leave keep them stored here until we need them.” She motioned at the mountains of stuff around them.

“Ah... we’re not using them today?”

Trixie shook her head. “Trixie needs a few days to prepare... You will help Trixie with that as well. Is that alright?”

“Of course!” A loving smile appeared on Twilight’s face as she stepped around the closet, approaching her marefriend. “I’ll always be there for you, my love.”

They rubbed cheeks and nuzzled against each other for a moment.

“Well then, let’s get started.”

And so they did.

***

Over the course of the next few days the two of them were very busy. If they weren’t dragging around furniture or cutting it down to Trixie’s specifications, they were practising new magic spells in the library, or--when Twilight felt a need to “relax”--working on some older projects the librarian had neglected over the past few weeks.

The library opened during its regular hours while Trixie was away to procure materials with which to build fireworks, and some of the returning visitors actually seemed disappointed that Trixie wasn’t around to help out, which amused Trixie greatly when Twilight later told her of it.

“Well, it’s only natural,” she boasted as she filled up a colourful tube with black powder, “the Great and Powerful Trixie can not easily be forgotten.”

They undertook a little visit to Canterlot, where they quickly got Trixie a new showmare’s outfit to perform in: an almost perfect copy of the previous one, with which Trixie seemed mighty pleased. There was a sparkle in her eyes when she stroked the fabric, and Twilight realised (and not for the first time) just how much the stage really meant to her marefriend; getting her back into performing really was the right thing to do. She hoped Rarity wouldn’t be upset with them for not taking their business to her, but Trixie wanted to keep her comeback a secret, and the white mare had always been one for gossip...

Trixie studied and practised with even more vigour afterwards, and with all of her hard work she managed to pick up quite a few additional tricks in the few days she had given herself to prepare, although some proved more difficult to master than others.

“No, not like that,” Twilight told her during one of their training sessions. “Almost, but not quite...”

“Trixie just doesn’t get it!” She bristled with frustration, having failed to cast the teleportation spell yet again. “Trixie did it once, why won’t it work?”

“There’s actually a good trick that seemed to help some ponies back in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, which I haven’t seen written down anywhere...” Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof, trying to remember exactly how it went. “You need to imagine you’re a lot more fleeting than you are. Less solid, more transparent. Vaporous, like a-”

“Cloud?” Trixie suggested.

“Yes! That would work.” Twilight nodded.

“Hmmm.”

It finally started to make sense to Trixie; in order to cast the teleportation spell successfully, you had to concentrate intensely upon your destination, and last time she had successfully cast the spell she had been focusing upon Dash’s cloud house. When the spell failed right after that, she had been focusing upon the solid ground below. It made sense. It wasn’t easy, though, as she’d have to focus both on her destination and on clouds (or something similar) at the same time.

She concentrated for a moment, and then suddenly--with a flash of magic--she vanished. Twilight clapped her hooves and cheered, before looking around with a confusion; wasn’t Trixie supposed to teleport just a few meters forwards? Where was she?

She looked everywhere inside and around the library for the next hour, but Trixie was nowhere to be found. Just when she started to worry, the showmare walked in through the front door, her mane filled with little leaves and twigs and her coat damp.

“Trixie!” Twilight said with a breath of relief. “Where did you-”

“Don’t ask,” the showmare said grumpily as she made her way towards the bathroom, leaving a trail of mud in her wake.

For a moment Twilight considered asking her again anyway, but the annoyed expression on the other mare’s face told her that that would probably not be a very wise thing to do. Instead, she remained silent, but when Trixie slammed the bathroom door behind her, she couldn’t help but feel a little smile tug at the corners of her mouth. That smile soon became wider, until finally she broke into a fit of giggles; Trixie was really, really cute when she was angry.

Apart from that minor incident--or not so minor, Twilight wasn’t exactly sure where Trixie had ended up--everything went rather smoothly. Eventually the showmare was able to get the hang of it, with time to brush up on some other things to spare.

They fashioned a collection of tables into a stage that could very easily be assembled and disassembled--using Trixie’s expertise--with enough of a hassle that the news of them building something would spread throughout Ponyville on its own before they were done, but at the same time not so much of a hassle that it was a pain to set up.

One fine evening, Twilight was working in the library on her own, when someone knocked on the front door. It took several moments for the knock to be followed by another, as if the one on the other side of the door was hesitant, and unsure about how to proceed.

The purple unicorn looked up from her work with a frown, and quickly picked up the books that were lying in front of her. “It’s open!” she yelled back over her shoulder, as she walked towards one of the bookcases.

The front door creaked open behind her, and Twilight’s heart skipped a beat as she heard a familiar voice, one which she hadn’t heard for quite some time. “Hey, Twilight. Still busy with the books, I see.”

She turned around as fast as she could, facing Spike, who was standing in front of the opened door uncertainly and constantly changing his stance, as if he wasn’t exactly sure what pose to take. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then she rushed forward and pulled Spike against her chest with one of her forelegs.

“Spike! You came back!” she cried out, her voice brimming with emotion as a lone tear slid down her cheek. “I’m so sorry for everything that happened; I handled it really badly, but now I’m sure that-”

“Hold on, Twi,” Spike said as he carefully wrestled himself free of Twilight’s embrace. “I’ll accept your apology, and I’m not mad at you anymore or anything... I’m even sorry that I ran out like that, too. But I’m not staying.” He paused for a moment. “Not yet, at any rate.”

“What?” the unicorn said in confusion, her voice skipping a bit. “But why? If it’s Trixie, if you talk to her now, I’m sure you’ll see that she’s changed. She’s changed so much... You should give her a chance.”

The dragon shook his head. “I already talked to her; she came to see me at Fluttershy’s a few days ago. I know she’s changed, well, towards me, at least. Not towards you, I’m sure that’s still the same. And...” he hesitated. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that, Twilight.”

The mare bit her bottom lip as she remembered what Fluttershy had said, seemingly so long ago: “You’re like his mother in a lot of ways, and it’s hard for him to accept that he has to share you now. Owloysius was one thing, but now you’ve gone and accepted somepony into your life that he just can’t compete with. You have got to understand why he needs some time to come to terms with that, don’t you?”

“When will you come back?” she asked with a little voice.

He shrugged in a gesture that could have meant anything. “I’m not sure yet, Twilight. There’s something... something I still need to think about. You’ll see soon enough, I imagine...”

“Eh?” She wasn’t entirely sure what he was going on about.

“Never mind.” He shook his head. “At least the library looks pretty slick. That’s good.”

Twilight nodded enthusiastically, happy to finally have something a bit more light-hearted to talk about. “Yeah! At first it was a bit of a mess after you left, but Trixie’s really learned to he-” She clasped a hoof against her mouth, realising too late that she was dragging the conversation over thin ice once more. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply-”

Spike waved her concerns away. “It’s alright, Twi. It’s not like I identify myself with keeping the library specifically... it’s you I want to help out.” He sighed, and scratched the back of his head.

“And you can! Trixie may have taken some tasks around here upon herself, but they don’t all overlap with what you used to do, and at the same time, she’s added a lot of new work and new... distractions as well.” She smiled. “I mean, heh, I’ve missed pretty much all of my own deadlines and broken every sche... schedule...” She pressed a hoof up against her lips once more, this time out of pure shock. “Oh Celestia! I’ve broken my schedules, all of them! How did... why didn’t I... I mean, normally I’d have noticed, but...”

“Jeez, Twi, relax!” Spike raised his hands in a consoling gesture, attempting to calm her down a bit. “That’s... that’s what happens when you’re in love, I hear. You sorta... lose track of things. It’s nothing to, uh... worry about. It’s fine.” He shook his head. “Although it must be pretty serious if it’d make you forget that,” he mumbled.

A blush appeared on Twilight’s cheeks. “Well, she’s... it’s hard to explain, but... I...” She didn’t find the words.

“It’s alright, you don’t need to explain.” He nodded to himself; Twilight’s obvious love for Trixie made the decision he was wrestling with a bit easier, although he still wasn’t prepared to make it just yet. “I understand.”

Twilight smiled at him tenderly. “Thanks Spike... It means a lot to me that you do.”

“Well, I’ve seen part of your distractions, after all...”

The unicorn blushed once again, but as the two of them exchanged a glance they burst out into a fit of giggles and laughter.

“We... um... may have to work on that, a bit... discretion, I mean. Some kind of warning system?”

“So that it’s even easier to know when you’re going at it? No thanks!”

Twilight laughed. “Come here, you!”

They stepped closer together and drew each other into a hug, one that gave both of them a bigger understanding of the other than the entire preceding conversation. There was an initial unease there--remnants of their time apart--but also a natural connection, a bond forged throughout the years that had recently been obscured a bit, but which had never been broken. Twilight smiled down at Spike and the dragon looked up to do the same. Things would be ok, eventually. They both felt it. All they needed now was time; they’d figure things out.

They let go of each other and took a step back.

“Twilight... It was good to see you, but... I’m going back. For now.”

The unicorn nodded. She’d have felt sad if she hadn’t known that this was just a brief moment apart, not a farewell. “Do what you have to do, then come back, alright?”

Spike remained silent for a moment. He opened his mouth once, but then closed it again. Another moment passed. “Alright, and same goes for you, Twilight,” he finally said. “About doing what you have to do, I mean. Just... make the decisions that will make you happy.”

Twilight was a bit confused by the dragon’s behaviour, but she nodded slowly. What decisions were there for her to make? Whether or not she wanted Spike to come back? Surely that wasn’t much of a decision at all; of course she wanted him back! “I... sure,” she said despite her confusion.

The baby dragon nodded, and then turned around, having said most of what he’d come to say.

“Wait!” Twilight yelled after he had taken a few steps towards the front door. Spike turned around and looked at her questioningly. “Trixie is performing in the village square, two days from now... you’ll come see, won’t you? I... I’d appreciate it if you gave her that chance.”

A look of comprehension appeared in Spike’s eyes which Twilight couldn’t quite place, which gave her the feeling that the little dragon actually knew more about the situation than she did. That seemed impossible, but at times he had proven to be amazingly perceptive, so she did not dare dismiss the notion out of hoof. Just when she was about to ask him about it he slowly nodded.

“I’ll be there,” he said, before continuing on his way, softly pulling the door close behind him as he left.

The purple unicorn smiled; their meeting had perhaps been brief, but it was the first time she had seen him in quite a while, and he seemed to be doing alright. What’s more, she felt that they had come a bit closer to resolving the conflict between Trixie and him, which was necessary if they ever wanted to finally put this whole situation behind them.

“Take care, Spike,” she whispered softly. The smile stuck to her face; things were looking up. She started whistling a happy tune, as she went to fetch her books. She was in a good mood, and there was still studying to be done!

***

Trixie carefully pushed shut the kitchen door, closing the gap between the door and the wall that she’d been peeking through. As she turned back towards that evening’s dinner arrangements, she couldn’t help but grin; her plans were moving along much more expediently than she had expected. She had planned to extend an invitation to Spike herself the very next day, to make sure he showed up at her show, but it seemed that that would not be necessary. And this way which was good as well, much better, in fact, than when she had asked him herself; at least now she could be reasonably sure that he’d show up, as he wouldn’t let down Twilight nearly as fast as he would her.

Her plans could still be turned awry if he did not bring her keepsake along, but if she had judged his character correctly... No. It’d be alright. He was dependable, and certainly not one to go back on his words--despite their rather sour relationship, she wasn’t afraid to admit that much to herself--which was why she’d dared go through with her plans in the first place. He knew there was no way to spite her without also disappointing Twilight (and the same went for Trixie when it came to spiting Spike) and so she held the advantage. She didn’t feel too good about her calculating ways, but in the end her assessment of his character would help bring all of them together--or so she hoped.

Her plans made her heart thump inside of her chest, and she couldn’t resist opening the door and staring at Twilight for a bit as the mare peacefully lay down amidst a pile of books; she was so cute when she did that diligent student thing of hers. Trixie just wanted to sneak over there, and then...

The showmare shuddered as she pushed the door shut again, a blush upon her cheeks. She couldn’t get too distracted, not at that time. Soon she’d have her first show in a while, and she needed to be in tip-top shape after having been gone from the spotlights for so long... After that, if her dreams came true, she could...

A shiver of happiness ran down her spine as she turned back towards the food upon the table.

You’re mine, Twilight Sparkle! Thoughts flared up in her head. And Trixie is never letting you go... ever again.

***

Two days later, Ponyville was gripped in a strange sense of anticipation as the town woke up to find a great stack of tables, cloth and wood in the middle of one of the town’s bigger open spots. The sense of anticipation only grew as the gathered materials started to stack and arrange themselves, seemingly all on their own. The unicorn inhabitants of the town quickly noticed that magic was in play, and they remained adamant that the builders--whomever they may be--had to be nearby. Yet nopony within sight seemed to be using magic at all, at elast as far as they could tell.

Mayor Mare showed up an hour or so later with a knowing smile, but no matter how much everypony questioned her about the strange things going on, she would not say a word except for the fact that the builders had gotten her permission before they began their work; she liked surprises, and so their identities remained a secret.

And so it was that news of the curious scene quickly spread through the little town, causing more and more ponies to check up on the building’s proceedings, eagerly awaiting the moment where the secret would be revealed.

So focused upon the ground were they, that nopony spotted the two mares standing atop the observatory at the library’s peak, giggling at each other as their horns lit up with magical power. Most unicorns would not have been able to manipulate objects from such a long distance away, but for two experts in magic it wasn’t too difficult a task, especially not when they compensated for each other’s little mistakes.

Finally the stage was complete--and clearly recognisable as such--and the crowd buzzed with excitement as they waited for what was about to happen.

Trixie--already in her showmare outfit--looked out over the crowd with a beaming smile upon her face, breathing in deeply. “Ah... The sense of spectacle and grandeur in the air. Trixie... Trixie has missed this.”

“Nervous?” Twilight asked with a smile.

“Hah! Trixie was born for this, there is no way she would...” She fell silent as she noticed Twilight was frowning at her. “Well... maybe a little,” she admitted. “But not about the show...” Those last few words were barely a whisper, lost in the breeze that played through the trees.

The purple unicorn softly kissed Trixie upon the cheek. “Good luck,” she whispered. “Don’t forget: If this goes well, we can do Neighton next!” She grinned, and then disappeared with a bright flash of purple light.

She reappeared somewhere at the front of the crowd, right next to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two of them barely batted an eyelash, used as they were to the unicorn teleporting all over the place. Twilight quickly noted that her friends were standing a lot closer together than was strictly necessary, almost brushing against each other despite the ample space available. Could it be that they... ?

“Oh, hey Twilight!” Dash said, as Applejack gave the librarian a nod of her hat.

“H-hey you two!” Twilight said, woken from her thoughts. “So uh... quite an odd setup here, isn’t it?” She grinned sheepishly.

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash seemed fairly unimpressed with her acting skills.

“Yeah, Ah suppose Trixie will appear any second now. Any second...”

“W-what makes you say that, heh? I...”

“As if Trixie could stay away if a stage suddenly appeared in the middle of town,” Dash said. “Unless it happened to be her stage, of course.”

Twilight raised a hoof in defeat. “Alright! I give up, but it was worth a shot.” She grinned at the two of them. “I get the feeling you have some news of your own as well...”

“Like what?” the farmpony asked.

Twilight shrugged. “You seem a little... close.”

As the two of them looked at each other, an expression of surprise appeared on their faces, as if they hadn’t noticed just how close they had drifted towards each other. They both blushed as they scooted away from each other, looking in opposite directions shyly. They muttered some weak excuses, but Twilight hardly listened to them as she grinned; she had all the evidence she needed right there already. She went giddy with excitement as she realised that a perfect opportunity for a double date could present itself within foreseeable time; she’d been wanting to try out some of the things in “Double Dating for Dummies” since forever!

“So, have either of you two seen any of the others, or were you a bit... preoccupied?” she asked with a smile.

“We’re right here, dear,” Rarity’s voice came floating from the crowd behind them as she stepped forward, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in tow. “Lovely to see you again.”

The fashionista looked around with an air of mild interest, while Pinkie Pie seemed to be on the verge of exploding with excitement, jumping up and down as she let a waterfall of words loose upon Fluttershy. The pegasus smiled distractedly, as she kept whispering apologies to every pony they pushed past to reach the front of the crowd, where Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were waiting.

When Fluttershy caught up, Twilight finally noticed she had brought along Spike, sitting on top of her back.

“Spike, you came!” Twilight said happily. “Oh, I’m sure Trixie will-”

All further conversation was made impossible, as the magician in question suddenly appeared on stage out of thin air, accompanied by a bright flash of light. “Greetings, ponies of Ponyville! Today, Trixie returns to the stage with magic even greater than before!” The mare raised her forehoove, and a deafening display of fireworks shot up into the air, letting loose a barrage of colours that was welcomed with a lot of “Oooh”s and “Aaah”s by the ponyfolk in front of the stage.

“Oh hey, it’s Trixie!” Pinkie yelled as she motioned at the stage. “Look everyone, Trixie’s on stage!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, dear, we noticed...”

Somewhere within the crowd, one of the stallions moved a hoof next to his mouth as he yelled: “Hey! So what happened to the whole maid thing?”

Trixie smiled at him before she did a little twirl, hiding herself inside of a sudden puff of white smoke. When it cleared up again, she was once more dressed in her maid’s outfit, and several ponies within the crowd cheered.

“It’s still here, master, but...” Another flash temporarily hid her from sight, making everypony blink briefly. When they opened their eyes again, the showmare’s outfit was back, causing some mild disappointment here and there. “That is not what Trixie is here for today! Trixie is here to show you the most baffling array of magical prowess ever assembled!” Another wave of fireworks lit up the sky, as the crowd started to murmur excitedly.

Trixie met Twilight’s eyes briefly, and the purple unicorn winked; she knew her marefriend could do it.

The show wasn’t at all like the one the ponies of Ponyville remembered. Trixie had told Twilight that she wanted to retain the challenges to the crowd in the final version--it worked well most of the time (Ponyville having been a lone exception) perhaps just needing some tweaks--but the ones who would be seeing her first show had already seen most of that. Therefore, they had practised a few other tricks to add to her repertoire.

For close to an hour, Trixie baffled the crowd with feats of magic and legerdemain that seemed close to impossible. A combination of simple spells could often sortie an effect that even the most sophisticated of magics could not, and the crafty way in which Trixie had prepared her props helped sell the effect even more.

But as always, Trixie’s true strength lay in crowd interaction. She invited ponies onto her stage to prove their mettle--gently this time, with only enough arrogance to sell her part--and bested them one by one, yet she had learned to take the sting out of her display, and her witty delivery left not only the crowd roaring with laughter, but usually her challengers as well. It took only the featherweight spell to best both a muscular stallion in weightlifting, as well as an agile mare in a jumping challenge. Her new teleportation skills made several challenges quite a breeze, and with it she performed some of her funniest ploys, which were all well received.

Twilight was just about expecting the show to end, when Trixie looked out over the crowd. There were no fireworks this time, an something in her expression made even the rowdy crowd a bit more silent.

“For my next trick,” she began, “I shall be requiring some specific volunteers.”

Spike, who had remained silent for the majority of the show, threw a quick, knowing glance towards Twilight, which did not go unnoticed. The purple unicorn frowned; what was it that he knew, that she did not?

“Are they still volunteers then?” somepony wondered aloud.

“Woe upon the pony who doesn’t volunteer when the Great and Powerful Trixie tells them to!” she said with a wink, and a few chuckles were heard here and there. “First, Trixie requires a baby dragon to grace her stage with his presence!”

“Is there still woe upon him if he’s not a pony?”

“The one of whom Trixie speaks is an honorary pony in her eyes.”

“Oooo, that’s you, Spike!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she pointed at the baby dragon.

“Well, at least she has some taste,” Rarity said as she threw her mane back against her neck. “She picked the most honorary pony around. Go on then, Spike.” She smiled at him encouragingly. “She hasn’t turned anyone’s mane green today, so I believe it should be safe.”

“I...” Spike hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Trixie--he had realised she’d changed a while ago already, and the events of the day had only confirmed that--but he knew what she was planning. He had thought long and hard about whether or not he should allow her to go through with it, but no answer had ever come to him. He had hoped that he’d get a sudden surge of inspiration as the moment drew near, but there he was and his mind was just completely blank. But he had to do it, there was no way back now.

He swallowed back his doubts, and headed for the stairs on the side of the stage. He climbed up, accompanied by loud cheering and the sound of hooves striking the soil below. Trixie gave him an appreciative nod, and he forced himself to nod back. The showmare smiled as she turned back towards the crowd.

“And then, last but not least, Trixie requires the most beautiful, smartest and greatest unicorn of all of Ponyville to come up here!”

“Ah, finally one who recognises my talents,” Rarity began, but the others only threw her some blank looks as they raised an eyebrow. She sighed. “Fine. Twilight, you go ahead then, dear, she obviously means you... Everypony knows.”

Twilight nodded with a grin, curiosity gripping her. How had Spike known that he’d be called up? That look in his eyes... With a simple thought the purple unicorn transported herself onto the stage, and the crowd cheered even louder than they had before; the situation was starting to look like yet another chapter in the rumours about the two unicorns that they had loved to tell each other so much over the last few weeks, and they’d all have been on the tip of their seats if they had had any seats to speak of.

“Twilight,” Trixie began, and the loving tone in her voice made the librarian’s heart beat a bit faster, “you have taught Trixie much, not only about others, but also about herself. Trixie can never repay the debt of gratitude she owes you, despite some problems here and there...” The showmare winked, and Twilight blushed profusely; did she have to mention that in front of so many ponies? What if they found out the details! “But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to use the rest of her life to try.”

The blue mare looked at Spike, who looked back at her with mixed emotions clear on his face. “Spike... The box, if you please.”

Twilight followed the exchange curiously, still unsure what was happening, and the crowd went completely silent as they held their collective breath, having seen through the situation a bit better than Twilight had--perhaps they weren’t sure yet, but a fair few of them had their suspicions.

Spike hesitated, before procuring a small black box, which he held atop the palm of his hand. Twilight hadn't seen him hold it before, but she assumed he had been keeping it in the same place everypony kept their bits. The little dragon stared at the box, and then at Trixie, clearly in doubt.

“But if I give this to you, you will...”

“Yes,” Trixie admitted with a nod. “Without the box, Trixie will not go through with it. Not right now. It is up to you, Spike.”

He realised what she was saying; it was about more than just letting her carry on with her plans: giving her the box or not giving her the box was equivalent to deciding to give their living together another chance or not. He knew what would happen if he let her have it back. The chances of her ever leaving his life again would be slim--slimmer than they had already been--at least as long as he decide to continue helping Twilight out.

Twilight.

He looked up at the purple mare, who was still looking at Trixie and him with a confused look upon her face. He glanced at the little black box, and then back at her, and he reached a decision. It wasn’t about him, or at least it shouldn’t be. He wanted to see his oldest friend and caretaker happy, and Trixie... he didn’t like her, not yet, but she had changed. She deserved the chance to prove herself again, and perhaps eventually they’d be able to put their differences behind them. For Twilight’s sake.

He extended his hand towards Trixie, and she used her magic to lift the box off of his palm with a smile. “You won’t regret it. Promise.”

The dragon did his best to shrug nonchalantly. “Someone has to see to the library if you two decide to go on a tour or something, after all.”

The showmare grinned, finally turning back towards a completely perplexed Twilight. In one swift motion, she lowered herself upon a knee as best she could, and used one of her forehooves to hold the box, while pulling the lid open with the other. Twilight and the audience (most of whom could see the scene quite well due to the way in which Trixie had positioned herself) let out a loud gasp as the glitter of jewellery sprang up from inside of the box. Within it there was only a single golden ring, adorned with the most brilliant of diamonds Twilight had ever seen.

“This once belonged to my mother... And now I ask you, Twilight Sparkle, upon this ring...” The showmare took a deep breath, feeling more vulnerable than she had ever before. “Will you marry me?”

Twilight’s eyes at once sprang full of tears as her heart was overwhelmed by unexpected emotions. There was no way she could have thought straight during a moment like that, but luckily for her, the answer was already there, waiting to come out. It didn’t come from her mind, but straight from the heart. “Yes!” she yelled out, loud enough for all gathered there to hear. “Yes I will, Trixie Lulamoon. Yes!”

Trixie felt a tear roll down her cheek as well, as she lifted the ring out of the box and carefully slid it onto Twilight’s horn. Even Spike felt his emotions overwhelm him a bit; they did make a beautiful couple, he was forced to admit.

Before another word could be said, Twilight flung her front legs around Trixie’s neck, and both of them tumbled to the ground as their lips met and they broke into a passionate kiss.

The crowd’s cheering was many times louder than any Trixie had ever received for a show ever in her life, and several handkerchiefs were brought out as more than one filly or mare felt deeply touched. Twilight’s friends cheered loudest of all, and nopony stopped cheering for quite a while.

There would be wedding plans aplenty, guests to be invited, decisions to be made. But none of that was important right at that moment; all Trixie and Twilight cared about right then was their love for one another, a love which they would share for the rest of their long and happy lives.

Canterlot Meeting

“You’re sure this dryad bark has been dried properly?” Twilight asked as she tapped a hoof against the jar, not fully convinced.

The shopkeeper--a colt--smiled at her from behind the counter. “But of course, Miss Sparkle. Have we ever let you down?”

The unicorn shook her head as she looked around, letting her eyes wander over the many shelves that had been crammed full with strange and wondrous items, each seemingly more useless than the one before. But Twilight knew not to judge by appearances: to an advanced spellcaster such as herself, they were material components of incredible potency. Manelin’s Magnificent Mageporium had never let her down before, but this time she needed everything to be just right. There had been too many failed attempts already.

“All right,” she said, as she put a few bits onto the counter, “I’ll take it.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fully satisfied, ma’am. If not: money back! And remember-”

“-you’re not responsible for any magical disasters which may occur while using any ingredients bought in this shop,” Twilight finished the sentence for him. “Don’t worry, I know.”

The shopkeeper smiled, and he put Twilight’s bits into the register as she gave the jar of dryad bark a place in one of her saddle bags.

“Anything else?”

“No, I think I got everything, thanks,” the purple unicorn replied. “I’ll uh... see you again next time.”

The colt bowed down gracefully as she headed out the door, stepping out upon the sunlit streets of Canterlot. Ponyville was a fine place to live, but because it had been founded by earth ponies it was severely lacking in magical supplies and resources. Twilight had relied on mail-order services at first, but quickly found the quality of their goods to be sub-par at best. Because of that, she now made the trip to Canterlot once or twice a month, which wasn’t too unpleasant. After all, it gave her a chance to see her hometown and meet up with the princess every now and then.

She checked the position of the summer sun, and realised she’d finished her business a lot sooner than she had expected she would. That wasn’t really a problem, but it did leave her with a rather sizeable amount of time before the Ponyville Express left on its return trip, and she didn’t really know what to do with it.

She shrugged. She had planned to do her dinner shopping in Ponyville, but she supposed Canterlot’s marketplace would do as well.

***

An hour later, Twilight’s bags were packed full, but her purse was considerably lighter. She had forgotten how much more expensive food was in Canterlot, but it didn’t really matter. She received a scholarship from Princess Celestia which was anything but small, so bits were never really a problem.

There was still some time to go, so Twilight just started browsing the various stalls and little shops, without really buying anything. She rounded a corner and froze, as an eerily familiar voice rang out above the general murmuring of the crowd.

“Come one, come all, and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

She looked around and, sure enough, quickly spotted Trixie up ahead, sitting behind a sort of makeshift counter made out of a few wooden planks. There was an alley behind her, and a glass jar stood upon the counter. Twilight could tell that there wasn’t much inside of it, even from where she was standing. The entire setup looked rather amateurish, and Trixie herself didn’t look so great and powerful anymore, either. Her coat was somewhat unkempt, and the condition of her mane suggested she’d gone quite a few days without a good brushing; that wasn’t at all like the Trixie Twilight remembered. On top of that, she still hadn’t replaced her showmare’s costume. She’d found a hat somewhere, but it was... yellow. That was probably why it just lay besides her, Twilight mused.

Even as Twilight pondered the mare’s strange appearance, an earth pony stepped forward with her foal. The two of them stopped in front of Trixie, and the mother gave the unicorn a quick look-over. She didn’t seem too impressed.

“Alright, show us what you can do, then,” the mare said haughtily, while her foal sat down and clapped his forehooves together excitedly.

Trixie’s eyes sparkled, as she grabbed hold of the hideous hat. “Behold, the most amazing magic ever seen in Equestria!” she said loudly.

Her horn lit up, and she zapped the hat with a bolt of energy, quickly pulling out a bundle of flowers. Twilight remembered Trixie doing a similar trick when she came to Ponyville, but the flowers she had produced this time simply did not compare. They looked somewhat sickly, and if Twilight had to guess, she’d have said there probably hadn’t been enough power behind the spell that time around. The mother glanced at her foal, and the little one furrowed his brow, clearly unimpressed. The two of them turned tail and left, adding nothing to Trixie’s near-empty jar. The blue unicorn hung her head, and the crowds just ignored her.

By that point Twilight had gotten really intrigued, and a bit worried. Why was a showmare of Trixie’s caliber hanging around the streets of Canterlot, doing petty magic tricks? And why did she look so... miserable?

The purple unicorn sneaked closer to investigate, and she felt a pang of guilt when she finally managed to take a good look at Trixie: either her ribs had gotten bigger, or she had lost a lot of weight. Twilight knew it wasn’t any of her business, but somehow she couldn’t help but feel involved.

She finally stopped in front of Trixie’s counter, and the blue unicorn lifted her head with a smile upon hearing her approach.

“Ah, another pony has come to admire...” she started, but her mouth fell open as she laid eyes on Twilight. “You!” she hissed between her teeth. “Trixie is amazed you even dare show your face in her presence.”

Twilight blinked. “Erm, excuse me? You were the one in the wrong last time, remember? Big head, Ursa Major, and all that?”

Trixie waved a hoof dismissively. “All part of the act.”

“The act?”

“Yes, the act,” Trixie said again. “It’s part of my persona. Boast, provoke the audience, wait until a few hotheads in the audience feel the need to challenge Trixie’s claims...”

“You mean my friends,” Twilight said with a frown. She didn’t like where this was going.

The showmare paused for a moment and threw her a long look, clearly not too thrilled about being interrupted. “In Ponyville? Yes. Then Trixie gets them up on stage, where they can show Trixie what they are worth. It’s not even about outperforming them... Trixie just has to make them look ridiculous.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little... mean?”

“Nonsense!” Trixie said as she waved her hoof at Twilight. “Most ponies realise what it’s all about and can appreciate the joke... Everypony in Ponyville was enjoying the show... Everypony but your stubborn friends! They will never be able to understand the Great and Powerful Trixie’s amazing talent, simpletons they are.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at the veiled insults, but decided not to say anything on the subject. “You still, indirectly, caused an Ursa Minor to attack the town.”

Trixie glared at her angrily. “Trixie cannot be held responsible for the abysmal parenting standards in Ponyville. What foal of that age is so incapable of separating fantasy from reality that they’d bring an Ursa into town?”

“Well...” Twilight started, but Trixie didn’t seem to be done just yet.

“And then Trixie’s wagon and stage got destroyed, so now she’s unable to put on even the most basic of shows, and so she’s stuck here... All because of you, Twilight Sparkle!” She banged her front hooves down upon the counter, leaning forward.

“Now wait a minute!” Twilight sputtered. “I saved your life!”

“Well, yes,” Trixie admitted as she blew a few lost strands of mane out of her eyes, “but you made a fool out of Trixie! You could’ve at least pretended it was an exceptionally powerful Ursa Major, but noooooo you had to prove you’re so smart by saying it was only a baby... And now nopony even wants Trixie to come perform anymore... Even if she did have a wagon...”

Twilight sighed. Even if Trixie claimed it was all just an act, Twilight still found her to be insufferable. And if it was an act, why did it continue off stage? She was just about to tell the blue unicorn off, when a loud rumbling noise interrupted her train of thoughts.

“Was that... was that your stomach?” she asked quietly.

“N-no!” Trixie said as her face flushed red. “T-Trixie... that is to say, the Great and Powerful Trixie is fine! She doesn’t need...”

Another bout of rumbling tore through the air, and this time it was even heard by a few ponies standing further away. Twilight raised an eyebrow, and Trixie buried her face in her hooves out of pure shame.

“Look, Trixie,” Twilight began kindly, “I don’t think what happened to you was my fault, or my friends’ for that matter, but since it happened because of a few colts in my town... I still feel partially responsible.”

The blue unicorn didn’t respond, so Twilight simply continued.

“You lost weight, your magic lacks power... You’re not eating well. I got a ton of groceries in my saddlebags, so why don’t we head out to your house, I’ll cook something up, and we can settle this dispute while grabbing a bite to eat?”

To Twilight’s great surprise, Trixie’s shoulders started shaking. The purple unicorn wasn’t sure what was going on, until she suddenly heard the blue mare sobbing quietly. Twilight stepped over the counter, and put a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder.

“Erm... Trixie? Are you alright?”

Trixie finally raised her head, and tears were streaming down her face. Against all expectations, she suddenly clamped onto Twilight, crying heartbreakingly on the other unicorn’s shoulder. Twilight wasn’t sure what to do, so she simply patted Trixie’s back awkwardly, while making soothing noises. The ponies in the street just continued to go about their business, not really paying any attention to the two of them.

“T-trixie doesn’t... doesn’t h-have a... h-home...” the blue unicorn said quietly in between sobs.

“What?” Twilight said in surprise. “But where do you... where do you... ?”

Still sobbing, Trixie pointed a shaking hoof towards the end of the alley they were standing in. Twilight had to squint to see anything in the darkness, but when she did she could just make out a big cardboard box on its side, with a dirty blanket or two lying in front of it. She clasped a hoof to her mouth, as she finally realised how deep the hole Trixie had fallen into really was.

“Celestia... You’ve been living like this?” her voice almost cracked with emotion, as her eyes started to glisten with the beginning of tears as well.

Trixie simply nodded, unable to say anything coherent. The purple unicorn pushed her away gently and smiled, beaming into her eyes. Trixie finally managed to stop crying, but she was still sniffeling miserably.

“Come stay with me.”

“W-what?” Trixie finally managed, as she started to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Come stay with me, in Ponyville,” Twilight repeated with a smile. “We’ve got plenty of space in the library, and you won’t have to worry about money. You can stay as long as you need.”

“R-really? I... I thought you hated me?” Trixie said as she bit down on her lip, her eyes filling up again.

Twilight shrugged, noting the lack of third person pronouns in the other mare’s speech. “I don’t think I know the real you yet. So what do you say?”

Trixie burst into sobs once more, crying even louder than before as she threw her hooves around Twilight, hugging her tightly as she let her tears flow freely. Twilight caressed her mane gently. She realised these tears were different from the ones before, so she simply let the showmare empty her heart out for a while. They had the time.

“But perhaps,” she mused, “we should grab a bite to eat somewhere first?”

Twilight smiled as Trixie started to shake even more, and assumed that meant the mare agreed with her. She wasn’t sure what she had just gotten herself into, but Trixie looked so vulnerable and defenseless right now... she couldn’t help but feel her heart light up in her chest. She was doing the right thing, and that was all that mattered. She looked up into the sky, quickly calculating the time they had left. It’d be a bit of a rush, but they just barely had the time to grab something to eat and still make it aboard the train.

Twilight frowned slightly. She just hoped everything would work out once they were in Ponyville...

Getting Acquainted (Non-Clop Version)

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 wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to let him go or not, but her body quickly made the decision for her. As Trixie pressed into her, she felt her breathing go shallow, and excitement once again took hold. She drew Trixie back into a kiss, and their passion took over. They made love without paying any heed to the location or the possibility that Spike would return, and for both of them it was an enormous release, which they had not known for the longest time, be it due to wildly different reasons.

The little seed of affection they had both cherished for each other came to bloom shyly, mellowed to the tender light of their intimacy.

Finally, Trixie collapsed against Twilight’s chest, and Twilight panted, trying to catch her breath as her whole body buzzed with contentment.

“T-that... that wash a-amazing...” she managed to pant, caressing Trixie’s mane lightly.

Trixie didn’t reply, and Twilight soon became aware of the rhythmical rising and falling of the other mare’s chest: she was already sound asleep. Twilight smiled, and shrugged. She didn’t want to wake her new lover up, and she was comfortable enough anyway. She yawned, when she suddenly realised Spike really hadn’t come back...

Ah well, she mused as she closed her eyes, Future Twilight will take care of it...

Food with Benefits (Clop Version)

Disclaimer: This is the uncensored clop version of this chapter. If you do not wish to read such things, simply skip to the next chapter and read the censored version there.

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 a 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. Hot air brushed up against her sex, and she shivered.

“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- Oh!” Rainbow Dash let out another yelp of surprise as Trixie dragged her tongue over her nether lips agonizingly slow, sending shivers through the pegasus’s spine. “Oh Celestiaaaa...” Her tongue lolled out of her mouth slightly, as her entire body started shivering.

Twilight grabbed Dash’s face between her hooves and moved in for another kiss, slipping her tongue into the other pony’s mouth hungrily. Rainbow Dash maintained control for a few moments, but as Twilight’s tongue gently stroked hers and Trixie’s ministrations clouded her senses, she fully gave in for the first time, exploring Twilight’s mouth the way hers was being explored, but with a hunger that she had never felt before. So passionate was she, that Twilight felt the area between her own legs rapidly grow mushy, as her own excitement grabbed hold.

Down between Dash’s legs Trixie did some exploring of her own, picking up the pace as she licked the pegasus’s flower, her tongue pressing into the mare’s soaking lips with every pass. She pressed her mouth up against Dash’s pussy and suckled on one of her inner lips gently, before she pushed her tongue in as deep as it would go, exploring every fold.

Dash moaned into Twilight’s mouth, her whole body shaking and squirming as pleasure radiated out from her crotch, every second chipping away at the small remnant of resistance that had not been broken yet. The purple unicorn drew back from the kiss, a single strand of spittle lingering for a moment as she observed Rainbow Dash’s face, split between pleasure and confusion as it was. The cyan pony let out a primal cry of pleasure as Trixie’s tongue caressed the most private corners of her being, and Twilight felt herself getting wetter and wetter with excitement.

She pressed her body up against Dash’s, sliding up and down against her as their cheeks rubbed together. “Ah, Dash... She’s good at that, too, isn’t she? Look me in the eyes and tell me that tongue isn’t doing wonderful things to you.” Twilight gently took Dash’s face in her hooves again, and turned her head until they were looking each other in the eyes.

Twilight could read the pleasure and lust quite clearly in Dash’s eyes, and she was convinced her own excitement would be on display like that as well, if her flushed cheeks and slightly ragged breath weren’t enough already. “You love it... you know you do... tell me this doesn’t count, Dash, tell me it’s just ‘experimenting’. You know it’s a lie...”

“N-no...” Dash said weakly, “I’m not... I never...”

“Ah, do you want me to tell her to stop?” Twilight said with a sparkle in her eyes. “Shall I ask her to?”

Trixie paid no heed to the scene above her for now--no commands had been given--and simply continued to dig in. She pulled back from Dash’s depths and started to draw intricate patterns across the mare’s sopping sex with her tongue, brushing ever so lightly against the mare’s clit every so many passes, as a teasing reminder that there was more pleasure yet to come.

Dash moaned loudly, and she had trouble concentrating as she tried to formulate a response. “I... I want... tell her... she... “ Dash closed her eyes and pulled her head away slightly, whispering something too quiet for Twilight to understand.

“What’s that? Mmmm... you’ll have to... speak... up...” Twilight said as she slid her body up and down against Dash’s chest, the increasingly intoxicating scent of the heat building up between her own and Dash’s legs slowly overpowering her mind. She rubbed her soaked lips up against Dash’s legs and body, and moaned; the short hairs of Dash’s coat tickled her sex from all directions, and her little clit swelled as it was assaulted by one sensation after the other.

Dash let out another series of moans, which ended in a shudder and a whimper, as Trixie teasingly drew back until only the tip of her tongue was caressing between Dash’s inner and outer lips, the ex-showmare’s hot breath washing over her quivering sex. The pegasus opened her mouth to speak, but once again, Twilight could not make it out.

“Ah... l-louder,” she demanded.

A barely audible whisper.

“Louder.”

A small voice on the breeze, and something about “stopping”.

“Louder!”

“D-don’t let her stop!” Rainbow Dash suddenly blurted out. “I... ah... I can’t... can’t t-think s-straight... but Trixie... don’t s-stop! Don’t stop! Ah, d-don’t stop...”

She continued repeating it in between her moans and squirms, as Trixie went all-in again and lavished her with her undivided attention. Twilight smiled victoriously and stopped rubbing herself against Dash’s (by then quite soaked) fur, as she lifted herself up on the table behind her. She used her magic to throw all dishes aside and lied down on her back, spreading her legs so that Dash would have a good look at her own quivering pussy.

“Ah, do you want dessert too, Dashy? There’s plenty here for you...”

“I... ungh... I don’t... I’m n-not... not like... t-that... I-” Dash managed with some effort, before she was cut off by her own cries and panting, as Trixie finally pushed her tongue up against the mare’s clit, circling around and around before taking it between her lips, pulling on it softly. Dash was sure she was going to go insane any second.

“You know you want to...” Twilight cooed, as she started to rub the folds of her own pussy, going up and down over her little button. She lifted her head up off the table so she could look at Dash’s face, and saw the hunger building up there as the mare’s eyes feasted upon her glistening cunt.

Slowly but surely, Dash moved her face closer and closer, until she was finally between Twilight’s legs.

“Yes... yes... lick me, eat me the way Trixie is eating you. Do it! I... ah.. I need it... I need your tongue, hurry, now!”

Finally Dash started to lick Twilight’s wet flower, encouraged by the unicorn’s words, her mind completely overtaken by lust, pleasure and Twilight’s intoxicating scent. She explored the mare’s outer lips, uncertain at first but increasingly brave as she continued, and then plunged her tongue right into the unicorn’s most hidden depths.

Twilight let out a high-pitched scream. She put both of her forehooves on the back of Dash’s head, pushing her down as she arched her back. “Ah! YES! I’m... I’m... I’m n-not l-letting you... ah... letting you go anymore! Make me come! Make me come all over you!”

Dash got swept up in Twilight’s passion and redoubled her efforts, frantically licking and suckling the pussy that she found her face pressed into, as Trixie finally moved in for the kill and started sucking on Dash’s clit mercilessly, her tongue rolling over the swollen little button. The moans this resulted in got muffled by Twilight’s marehood, but the vibrations that spread through her pussy made sure that Twilight’s own cries were all but silent.

“Oh C-Celestia!” Twilight cried out, shaking and squirming as she kept arching and unarching her back, thrashing her head from side to side. “I’m... I’m... ! Uuuhngg!”

Twilight literally exploded around Dash’s tongue, coming all over her face as she screamed loudly, not letting the mare go just yet, demanding that she keep going as she just kept orgasming and orgasming, her entire body one mass of nerve endings. Her normally rational mind was completely overtaken by the many waves of pleasure washing through her for several long minutes.

Finally Twilight fell back, spent, and in doing so she let go of Rainbow Dash. Not a moment too soon, it seemed, as the pegasus’s own highly anticipated orgasm--delayed due to her nervousness--finally tore through her as well, making the mare throw her head back into her neck as she shuddered with pleasure. Trixie expertly lapped up as much of the juices as she possibly could, continuing to lick and suck at Dash’s flower until she could hear the mare’s moans no longer.

She then leaned back and frantically rubbed her own clit, imagining what Twilight’s spent, panting body must look like right above her on the table. Within the course of a single minute she was shaking and shivering herself, and she cried out Twilight’s name before she collapsed in a little heap.

However, despite finishing last she was the first to regain her bearings, 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 closed. 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. “Mmmm... you taste like mistress...”

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, and you taste...”

“Trixie tastes like 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 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?

Triple Retribution (Clop Version)

Disclaimer: This is the uncensored clop version of this chapter. If you do not wish to read such things, simply skip to the next chapter and read the censored version there.

Applejack stood at the end of the path that lead away from Sweet Apple Acres, staring off into the sky. From the position of the sun, she could tell that evening was fast approaching; she wouldn’t have to wait for much longer...

A cyan streak took off from the clouds in the distance, racing towards AJ’s position. The farmpony knew that its destination was somewhere behind her, yet she waited patiently. As she had expected, Rainbow Dash slowed down as soon as she spotted her, and landed elegantly upon the bridge.

“Applejack!” she said as she landed. “Look, I’m sorry I missed our run this week, but I... uh... I had a lot on my mind, and I want to make it up to you, but right now I got to dash, so-”

Applejack smiled. “It’s alright, Dash. Ya can make it up to me some other time, Ah’m in no hurry. Besides,” she said with a wink, “Ah was invited by Trixie too.” She started walking over the bridge towards the river bank the library was on, leaving Dash standing with an open mouth. “Aren’t you coming?” she called back over her shoulder.

The pegasus shook off her surprise and took off after Applejack, coming to walk beside her. “Wait, you mean you’re... and you know what we... ?”

“Eeee-yup,” Applejack mimicked her brother’s favourite word. “She told me.”

“But... I... you... I didn’t know you were also... Well, you know...” the normally so confident Rainbow Dash stumbled over her words, and she almost missed a step as a bright blush appeared on her cheeks.

Applejack shrugged. “‘s all the same to me, Dash. Life on the farm can be tough, especially for younger ponies. Ah had some... rebellious and experimental phases, Ah guess you could say.”

“Ah.” Dash blinked. “But I’m not sure if...”

“Ah hope you’re not too afraid of a lil’... competition, are ya Dash? Ah know this is all a bit new to you, so if you’re feeling a mite too afraid and inexperienced, Ah’m sure Ah can go somewhat easy on y-”

“Now wait a minute!” the pegasus said as she took to the air, flying in front of Applejack to cut off her path, poking the mare’s chest with a hoof. “I’m not afraid of anything or anypony, inexperienced or not! I was born a natural athlete, and this, uh... stuff,” she said, still slightly embarrassed, “qualifies as well, so you better believe I’m going to be good at it.”

Applejack smiled slyly as she walked past Dash. “Alrighty, if that’s what you want... just don’t claim Ah didn’t warn you when you lose.”

“Heh, we’ll see Applejack... just you wait. Piece of cake.”

They continued their back and forth arguing as they walked, even after they arrived at the library. So embroiled were they in their discussion, that neither one of them remembered to knock, or even so much as suggested that they go inside; however, after a while the door was opened from the inside.

“Ah, there you are,” Trixie said, cutting through their debate. “What are you two standing outside for? Didn’t Trixie ask you to be in the library by the time we agreed upon?” She looked from one to the other.

“Well, yes-”

“We were just-”

Trixie raised a hoof to silence them both. “Inside, now. Before Twilight comes back down.”

The showmare lead by example as she retreated deeper into the library, paying little heed to her two guests, trusting them to follow her with a confidence that one could only acquire after years of being the centre of attention. That almost seemed like a different life to her now, but the experiences were still there in her mind, ready to be called upon when needed. Applejack and Rainbow Dash proved that they hadn’t lost their touch, as they finally stopped their bickering and quickly headed inside, closing the door behind themselves.

Trixie lead them to the centre of the library, where a comfortable sofa had been placed in front of the centre table, which was laden with several beverages.

“Make yourself at home,” Trixie said as she poured a red drink for each of her two guests, “it may take a few moments for the... ‘entertainment’ to make it down here.”

“So, does Twi know we’re here?” Applejack asked as she accepted the cup Trixie floated in her direction, even as Dash did the same with the cup that was offered to her.

“She knows Trixie invited somepony for tonight, but she doesn’t know who it is, or what to expect.” A sly smile spread across Trixie’s lips. “But she has her suspicions, of course.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, Trixie could tell... she had that look... That look which tells Trixie she’s nervous, perhaps even scared, but also excited at the same time.” She paused, staring off into the distance. “How could that not make Trixie’s blood boil?”

“Ah see... Ah think,” Applejack said before she took a sip. “Huh, what’s this? Looks a tad like tomato juice, but it ain't...”

Trixie waved dismissively. “An alcoholic beverage from Canterlot, very popular and quite suited to the occasion.”

Applejack took another sip, and nodded. “Not bad.”

During all this, Rainbow Dash remained uncharacteristically silent as she sat quietly on the sofa, holding her cup between her hooves. Occasionally she shivered slightly, and she was staring blankly into space.

“Nervous?” Trixie whispered into her ear as she laid down beside her on the sofa. “You don’t need to be... it’ll be just like last time, but better... Come, relax, drink something.”

Dash nodded distractedly, as she took a sip. “I know, it’s just... I’ve never gone somewhere with the express purpose of... you know...” She looked at her cup for a moment, and then suddenly downed the remainder in one gulp.

Trixie smiled mischievously, as she filled Dash’s cup again. “It’ll be fine, Trixie promises.”

Dash’s drink didn’t last long that time either, and Trixie took both her and Applejack’s empty cups and put them away on the table.

“Is it just me,” Applejack suddenly asked, “or is it rather hot in here?”

“I... yeah,” Rainbow Dash concurred.

Both of them had a blush on their cheeks, and their breathing was slightly more ragged than before. A feeling of restlessness slowly came over them as they fidgeted around in place, a sensation rising in their stomachs that they couldn’t quite place. By contrast, Trixie remained quite calm, a smug look on her face.

“Obviously, the anticipation is getting to you two,” she said.

“No.” Applejack shook her head. “This feels like... like...” Her eyes grew wide. “You put something in those drinks!”

Trixie grinned. “Of course not, Trixie would never!” She winked. ”It’s the drink itself. As I said, it’s very popular, and for a good reason... It’s called ‘Desire’, very suitable, no? Adds a little fun to the party.”

“You sneaky...”

“Relax, it’ll be fun!” Trixie assured the farmpony. “It’ll only be uncomfortable for a little bit.”

“Oh Celestia,” Rainbow Dash said with a moan, as she started rubbing her hind legs together, her body shaking slightly. “Wait, why didn’t you drink any yourself, if... ?”

“Oh, trust Trixie... Twilight is all the stimulant Trixie needs... She doesn’t need anything else to keep up the pace.” She leaned in closer to the pegasus mare again and whispered into her ear. “But you will, if Trixie has any say in it...”

Dash wanted to reply, but as she turned her head towards Trixie, the unicorn suddenly moved in for a kiss. It was filled with passion and fire, and--fueled by the effects of the alcohol and the aphrodisiac in her veins--Dash returned it hungrily. Applejack’s eyes feasted upon the scene, for even though she had only drank half of what Rainbow Dash had, in her case there were no nerves to diminish and dull the effect. One of her hooves started sneaking down her body, when they suddenly got interrupted by the sound of somepony coming down the stairs. Trixie and Dash broke off their kiss, and Applejack kept herself in check for a while longer.

“M-mistress?” Twilight’s voice came from just outside of sight. “I put it on, like you asked, and it fits alright, but it’s so... I feel so... do I have to wear it?”

When she finally came into view both Applejack and Rainbow Dash gasped for breath, and Trixie let out an appreciating whistle; Trixie had commanded Twilight to put on one of her maid outfits, and although it didn’t fit the librarian as well as it did the showmare, the effect was still quite stunning--especially when backed up by the embarrassed look upon Twilight’s face. It was as revealing as ever, and as soon as Twilight saw who was gathered there she let out a little yelp and tried to retreat back up the stairs.

“No. Come here,” Trixie commanded plainly, the two ponies besides her still staring their eyes out.

Twilight hesitated for a moment, but then she finally came down gingerly, walking over to the sofa as her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She stopped in front of Trixie, shaking slightly. ‘Y-yes mistress? W-what can I d-do for you?” She glanced at Applejack and Dash, and raised an eyebrow questioningly as she noticed the effects of the aphrodisiac, which she couldn’t quite place. Their appreciative looks made her even more nervous, though.

Trixie shook her head. “Not for Trixie, for all of us.” She smiled mischievously. “You will do whatever our guests desire of you... and Trixie thinks she knows what they want...”

“O-oh?” Twilight said shakily as Dash stepped off the sofa, approaching her with a lustful look in her eyes.

“A bucktoy with which to do as they please. Consider it your apology.”

Twilight was unable to reply, as Dash pounced upon her, dragging her to the floor as their lips met. The pegasus kissed her hungrily, invading Twilight’s mouth with a fierceness that the unicorn would never have expected from her. Twilight’s mind remained blank for a moment, but then it was kick started into a hesitant excitement as one of Dash’s hind knees rubbed softly against her crotch. Her legs grabbed onto Dash and she moaned into the other mare’s mouth, returning the kiss shyly.

Applejack tried to get up from the sofa, but Trixie grabbed her with her magic and pushed her onto her back, as she quickly moved to lie on top of her.

“Where’s the rush, Applejack?” she whispered seductively. “Won’t you stay here with Trixie for a while?”

“But... Rainbow Dash is getting a head start in...”

“Don’t you worry about that... this is only the warming up. And Trixie will make sure you are very nicely warmed up indeed...” She softly nibbled on the farmpony’s ear, causing AJ to shudder underneath her. “So many tricks Trixie could show you...”

AJ panted softly, the area between her haunches having turned to mush under the combined effects of the drink, Twilight’s sexy costume and Trixie’s enticing presence. “A-alright... show me,” she said, looking up at Trixie with big, curious eyes.

The blue unicorn smiled and caressed the other mare’s cheek softly, a mischievous smile upon her lips as her horn started to glow with power. Applejack couldn’t see it with Trixie in the way, but a strange blue tendril suddenly appeared in the air behind the two of them, creeping in the earth pony’s direction. It resembled the spell Twilight had used in Rarity’s boutique, but with a few features all its own. It looked meatier, more solid, and lacked the sensory feedback towards the caster that the other version had possessed. As it softly caressed AJ’s soaking folds the mare gasped, and Trixie pressed her body down against her even more.

“W-what is... ?”

“Magic, naturally,” Trixie said cockily, “and it’s going to buck you, buck you good... That is, if you want it to?” She raised an eyebrow in a mock display of uncertainty.

The magical tendril continued to rub up against Applejack, but its caresses were lighter than a feather; enough to announce its presence and entice the mare, but always leaving her unsatisfied, always leaving her wanting more. The drink Trixie had administered to her was burning in the earth pony’s veins, and the feelings of need and longing almost left her senseless with desire.

“Ah... Yes... Ah want it,” Applejack whispered, turning her head away with a blush.

“Beg.”

“Ah’m not begging!” the earth pony said, her head snapping back to look at Trixie angrily. She held the showmare’s gaze for a while, but then another shudder ran through her spine as the tentacle’s ministrations intensified just a little bit.

Trixie grinned haughtily. “We’ll see about that, oh yes...”

Meanwhile, on the floor just a couple of meters away, Dash finally broke off her kiss with Twilight. Both mares breathed raggedly, and although the purple unicorn still hadn’t completely recovered from the surprise yet, it was clear from the way they stared into each other’s eyes that her sexual interest in Rainbow Dash had once again been piqued. Their bodies rubbed together, as a little shiver ran down Twilight’s spine.

“Dash...” Twilight murmured, “does this mean... do you... forgive me?”

Dash smiled and then licked Twilight’s cheek, before whispering into her ear: “Not yet... but you’re about to make it up to me...”

“What-” Twilight started to ask, but she couldn’t finish the sentence as Rainbow Dash stood up and dragged her to her hooves, pulling her towards the sofa she had left a minute or two ago. She let herself fall backwards onto it and pulled Twilight along, once again locking her lips to Twilight’s as she tangled her hooves in the librarian’s hair.

“Now,” Dash said as she pushed Twilight away slightly, “let’s see you apologise...”

“Look, Dash, I’m sorry, I thought-”

“That’s not what I had in mind.”

The pegasus pushed Twilight down and off of the sofa, until the purple mare was on her knees in front of her. Dash spread her hind legs deliberately, and her intent was but all too clear as her glistening, wet lips came into view. She pulled Twilight’s head closer by her mane--gentle but insistent--as she looked down at her with lustful eyes, behind which Twilight could still clearly see the effects of the aphrodisiac that had served to take away some of Dash’s inhibitions, but which was now quickly being made redundant by the mare’s own natural build-up of desire.

Twilight felt her heart pounding inside of her chest, as her ragged breath washed over Dash’s marehood, the intoxicating scent of which was quickly taking over the librarian’s mind. Still, she wasn’t used to being in such a compromising position, her most recent escapade with Trixie notwithstanding; that had been somewhat different though, as a marefriend could hardly be compared to one of her other pony friends. She realised she had placed Dash into that same role before, but that realisation did nothing to stop the burning of her cheeks.

“What are you waiting for?” Dash asked, impatient with lust.

“But I-”

“I think your mistress said you had to do anything we desired... Right?” She waited for a moment, but Twilight did not contest that claim. In truth, it would have been quite hard to make a solid argument while sitting between Dash’s legs, wearing a skimpy maid outfit. “So I want you to treat me like you would your mistress...”

“Y-yes m-mist-”

Dash pushed Twilight’s head down, burying the mare’s face into her wet crotch, muffling the rest of her words. She shivered blissfully as Twilight made contact with her sensitive flesh, letting out a small moan. “Now apologise, you little slut,” she said, her words coarser than they normally would have been due to the aphrodisiac in her veins. She gasped between ragged breaths. “Apologise until I forgive you all over your face...”

Twilight finally gave in, her tongue lightly tracing the outline of Dash’s wet slit; shyly at first, but increasingly enthusiastic as her own lust overtook her senses. Pretty soon her tongue was caressing all over the pegasus’s outer lips, and Dash’s moans filled the air.

“Oh Celestia yessss... Ah, I should’ve done this ages ago...”

Trixie glanced over her shoulder, the magic tentacle still caressing Applejack’s most private spot gently, flicking against her sensitive clit every now and then, teasing her further. “Sounds like Dash is already having fun... Trixie could show you great pleasure as well, all you need to do...”

“Ah... Ah’m not... not begging...” Applejack said again, but it already sounded less resolute than before, as she had to struggle against her own moans.

Trixie smiled mischievously. “Trixie loves a good challenge... you’re only making this more fun...”

The showmare redoubled her efforts, the glow of her horn intensifying as a second tentacle materialised. The slender tip curled itself around Applejack’s little button, caressing across its length as the first tendril rubbed up between her sopping inner and outer lips. The earth pony shook and shivered in Trixie’s hooves, biting her lower lip to keep in the noises that rose up from the back of her throat.

“Give in,” Trixie whispered into her ear, “you know you want to...”

“No, Ah...” Yet another moan cut her sentence off as she arched her back, her body pressing into Trixie’s. “Ah won’t...”

The showmare finally played her last card, as she suddenly withdrew all stimulation from the earth pony’s sex, leaving her shaking and shivering underneath her. Despite the fact that Trixie had only been teasing, AJ’s pleasure had been real enough--the showmare could read it in her eyes--and the jarring drop left her reeling and wanting more.

“You... you can’t...” she stuttered at Trixie. “I-it ain’t fair! Ya can’t just leave it like th-”

“Oh, but Trixie can.” The showmare smiled at her mischievously. “Just ask Twilight; she knows what Trixie is capable of... which is why she was a good, obedient filly, and she didn’t regret it.” Trixie caressed the other mare’s cheek teasingly. “And neither would you, Applejack... all you need to do is beg. Trixie will take good care of you...”

Applejack averted her gaze, her cheeks redder than her brother’s coat as she mumbled something unintelligible.

“What was that? You’ll need to speak up,” Trixie said with a smile as she leaned in.

“Oh for Pete’s sake!” the orange mare cried out in frustration. “Ah want it, alright? Give it to me! Uh... please,” she added reluctantly, but with a desperate note in her voice.

Trixie grinned victoriously, a shiver running down her spine. “Trixie supposes that’s the best she can expect from you... Hmmm... Very well.”

One of the tentacles returned, rubbing up against Applejack’s lips, but this time it wasn’t content with leaving it at that. The earth pony gasped for air as the arcane creation pushed past the petals of her sopping flower, slipping right into her slot. Only the tip had entered, but it squirmed and moved inside of her, and wrapping her legs around Trixie was all she could do to steady her shaking body. The walls of her sex quivered around it, trying to draw it deeper into her.

“Ah... oh Trixie, you...”

“Trixie’s only just getting started.”

The tentacle suddenly thrust forward into Applejack’s depths, and the mare threw back her head against the sofa in response, letting out a loud moan. Trixie did not let up, immediately pulling the tentacle back before plunging it back in again. It kept on wriggling inside of her as well, and soon Applejack was thrashing her head from left to right, letting out a series of primal moans and gasps. Her slippery pussy squirmed and contracted around the strange invader, in a fruitless attempt to get any kind of hold on it.

Trixie’s breathing became ragged too, as Applejack’s moans, her expression and the squirming of her body excited the showmare for reasons she herself didn’t fully comprehend. The lips of her slot were wet and glistening, and she shivered as she rubbed her body against the other mare’s, letting out a soft moan as AJ’s coat tickled her sensitive little button. “Yes, you like that, don’t you?” Trixie said breathlessly. “Trixie has another one ready,” she said as she glanced over her shoulder at the second tentacle that still hung in the air. “But Trixie thinks that one’s for her, yes...”

The tendril surged forward and pushes against Trixie’s nethers, slipping inside easily as the showmare gasped for breath. Soon both tentacles were pumping into the mares in a steady rhythm, Trixie’s pounding into her whenever Applejack’s drew back, and vica versa. The blue unicorn repositioned herself slightly until she felt her little button rub against the farmpony’s, and both of them squealed in delight. With every thrust of the tentacles the mares moved slightly, and the pleasure now radiating out from their clits as they rubbed together was almost too much to bear.

They pushed their bodies even closer, clinging onto one another as the invaders’ assault turned them both into shivering bundles of nerve endings, concentrated only on their nethers and the closeness of the other.

“Ooohhh Nelly...” Applejack managed between clenched teeth. “Ah think Ah... Ah...”

“Y-yes! T-Trixie... hnnng... Trixie too... Come for Trixie, Applejack... Ah! L-let it all go!” She leaned in and locked her lips to the farmpony’s even as their wet pussies rubbed against each other, the tentacles writhing deep inside of them.

Applejack’s body shook and shuddered as she finally reached her peak, and she moaned loudly into Trixie’s mouth. Her pussy clenched around the tentacle, her juices spilling out as she drew it in. The showmare threw her head back as orgasm hit her, the arcane tendril bucking into her mercilessly while she came around it. Finally the shuddering of Applejack’s body ceased, and Trixie collapsed on top of her as the tentacles faded and disappeared. Her juices dripped down out of her slot, mingling with Applejack’s underneath her.

“T-that was...”

“Great and powerful?” Trixie guessed as the shaking of her body abated a bit, and her breathing came back under her own control. She winked at the earth pony cheekily.

“Heh, not what Ah had in mind, but Ah guess it’ll do...”

They both became silent as they basked in the afterglow, just enjoying the presence of the other, but pretty soon they became aware of the other moans that still filled the air. Trixie turned her head as Applejack moved to look past her, and they grinned when they noticed Dash still held Twilight’s head pressed down, buried in her nethers.

The purple unicorn was licking Dash’s soaking lips enthusiastically with long, even strokes, in the rhythm she had set for herself. Every few licks she’d move up to suckle on the pegasus’s sensitive button, rolling it around in her mouth as her tongue pushed against it. One of her own forehooves slipped down between her legs, and she began to rub her own clit furiously, her naughty lips glistening with desire. The little clit swelled under her own ministrations, and pretty soon she was moaning wildly into Dash’s slot.

“Ah yesss... K-keep d-doing that, that’s awesome I...” Dash’s back arched outside of her own control, and her hips jerked up as she rode her crotch against Twilight’s face. She repositioned her hooves on Twilight’s head to get a better grip, and in doing so she brushed up against the unicorn’s horn lightly. Immediately Twilight let out a little gasp followed by a moan, and this did not go unnoticed. “Oh yeah,” Dash said breathlessly, “t-that’s right... unicorn horns...”

The pegasus curled one of her hooves around the horn, and started rubbing up and down as fast as she could. The pleasure suddenly washing over Twilight from both her head and between her legs overwhelmed her mind, and she dug her tongue into Dash deeply as her licking became wild and frantic. That was about all the pegasus could take, and she felt a shudder deep inside of herself which announced that the point of no return had definitely been passed. She tried to hang on a little longer, but the end result was inevitable.

“You’re spoiling Trixie’s maid,” Trixie said with a mock display of disapproval. “You’re far too nice to her, you should make her earn it before you pleasure her like that.”

“S-shut up,” Dash moaned at her. “I can do what I wa-haaaa!” Her body shuddered wildly as her orgasm took over, riding her sopping box up against Twilight’s face mercilessly. Her juices squirted out, and Twilight tried to lap up as much of it as she possibly could, a task that was impossible from the very start. Dash continued to beat off the other mare’s horn throughout it all, and it wasn’t long before Twilight felt her own legs shaking underneath her. She rubbed her own little clit and cunt furiously and then, finally, she was grabbed by the throes of orgasm as well. She gasped as her juices flowed down her leg, and at the same time a bright light flashed up around her horn. She continued rubbing herself right to the end of her orgasm, and then allowed her body to slink down upon the floor, her head resting against the inside of Dash’s thigh.

Dash withdrew her hoof, staring at it as an odd tingly sensation crawled over her skin, almost as if the hoof was asleep. “W-what was that?”

“Magical discharge,” Trixie explained, “you must be quite good at that...”

“Ah can’t say Ah’m surprised.”

Twilight breathed raggedly, trying to catch her breath as the last of the shuddering left her body. Dash shivered as the mare’s hot breath washed over her still sensitive lips, but she said nothing of it, instead lightly caressing Twilight’s mane.

“So!” Trixie said as she got off of Applejack and stood up next to the sofa. “Trixie does believe that that concludes the warm-up. Shall we move on to the main event?”

Applejack nodded. “Ah reckon we should!”

“Well, I’m still a bit shaky... But yeah, why not?”

Twilight sat back a bit, and threw them a look of concern. “B-by main event, I don’t suppose you mean... dinner?” She smiled an uncertain smile.

Trixie shook her head. “Of course not! Trixie told our guests they’d get the opportunity to buck you silly. You don’t look very bucked silly to Trixie.”

Dash grinned, a spark of desire already rekindling within her eyes, as she stared at Twilight with barely contained longing. Applejack saw it, and put on a determined face herself, with Trixie’s mischievous smile rounding it off. Twilight swallowed at their expressions.

“B-but mistress, y-you c-can’t mean that... I mean...”

“Oh, but mistress does,” the showmare said as her horn began to glow. “Trixie hopes you weren’t planning on walking tomorrow...”

Twilight swallowed once again as a brilliant aura of blue magic enveloped the three other mares. She recognised the spell easily enough as their pussies quickly got replaced by massive stallionhoods, all eagerly awaiting their entry into her body. “Oh Celestia,” she whimpered.

“Woah!” Dash stood up from the sofa and walked around a bit, her new cock swinging underneath her. It felt odd at first but she soon found the right balance, and as she looked at Twilight--who was still lying in a heap on the ground--she could feel herself growing hard with desire. “You weren’t kidding, Trixie! That spell really does work...”

Applejack stroked her new member in amazement, shivering at the unfamiliar pleasure it sent back to her, as Trixie grinned at the pegasus mare.

“Why don’t you take it for a ride?” Trixie suggested. “And by ‘it’ Trixie means Twilight...”

The purple unicorn blushed in embarrassment, as a lustful look spread across Dash’s face.

“Well, you heard your mistress,” Dash teased as she laid herself down in front of Twilight, her rock hard member, sticking up in the air. “Ride.”

Twilight swallowed, but when she looked back over her shoulder Trixie questioningly raised an eyebrow, before motioning impatiently with a hoof. Twilight nodded and resigned herself to being sore in the morning--as that would undoubtedly be the case if the other two took a turn after Rainbow Dash--and then stepped forwards, her legs astride the pegasus’s body. She lowered herself slowly until Dash reached out and pulled her in against her, her cock pressing up against Twilight’s stomach.

The unicorn raised her plot when she felt Dash’s hooves press against her sides, and she shivered as the pegasus moved her hips, trying to find the entrance to Twilight’s buckhole. Rainbow Dash was inexperienced though, and the fact that she couldn’t see her target wasn’t helping any. After a minute of poking around, she let out a groan of frustration. Strangely enough, her unsuccessful attempts helped Twilight relax slightly, and she giggled at the other mare’s look of concentration.

“Do you need some help with that?” She smiled sweetly.

Dash looked at her for a moment, and then reluctantly nodded. Twilight started moving her hips right away, and her horn glowed as she looked over her shoulder. She grabbed hold of the pegasus’s cock, and gently lead it to her entrance, placing the tip against it.

“Now all I need to do,” she said as she rubbed herself against it, “is pu-huuushhh... ah!” She gasped and closed her eyes as she sank herself down onto the thick rod, her wet lips parting to accept the invader as she slowly slid down until it came to fill her to the hilt. It fit quite nicely, and she shuddered under the sheer pleasure of having it inside of her.

Rainbow Dash meanwhile moaned softly, moving her hips slightly and gasping in amazement at the feeling of Twilight around her. “Ohmigosh... ah... you’re so warm and wet inside, Twilight... And I can feel you shivering around me...”

Twilight opened one of her eyes slightly. “Y-you’d get wet too i-if you had... mmmmm... three cocks in front of you...”

Dash raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Not as nervous as I thought you were...”

The unicorn didn’t reply, but simply raised her hips slightly before dropping down again, causing her body to shiver as she clung on to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus moaned softly and then pulled Twilight’s head closer to hers, her tongue slipping past the other mare’s lips and exploring the inside of her mouth, as Twilight continued to raise and lower herself off and onto Dash’s cock.

“Gosh darnit!” Applejack cried out. “She took the first turn again!”

Trixie grinned mischievously, as she procured a little plastic jar from the side of the room, which floated over to her. “We’re not taking turns...” She pushed Applejack back onto the sofa and grabbed hold of her cock, rubbing it softly. The mare grunted and quickly became hard under the ministrations, her member standing up to attention as Trixie stared at it admiringly.

“Uh, Trixie? What are you... ?”

“Huh? Oh, right,” she said distractedly. “Trixie supposes you’ll be needing this...” Her horn glowed as she opened the little jar, levitating a blob of a clear, vaguely watery substance out of it. She smeared it all over Applejack’s penis, until it was glistening from tip to bottom. “There! Trixie thinks you know what to do...”

“Oh, Ah think I see what... She won’t mind?”

Trixie flashed her a playful smile. “Bucktoys don’t have opinions... But trust Trixie; she’ll come to enjoy it soon enough. And you don’t want Rainbow Dash to win, do you?” she said, correctly guessing Applejack’s primary motivation.

A few moments later Twilight suddenly felt the earth pony’s hooves on her back, as Applejack brushed her tail aside and positioned the tip of her lubed up stallionhood against the purple unicorn’s virgin plothole.

“Ah... N-no wait!” Twilight cried out as she looked over her shoulder. “I’ve never... you can’t just put it in ther-”

The farmpony pressed forward, her weight slowly overcoming the resistance Twilight’s body was putting up until she slipped in, her slippery cock pushing through slowly to fill her completely. Twilight gasped as her body went rigid from pure shock, a sense of pain flaring up in her mind.

“Uuuughhh!” she cried out. “Oh Celestia... oh stars... You put it in my ass... You put it in my ass... Ah... Y-you put your cock in my ass...” She whimpered, not only because of the pain and discomfort the sudden invasion was causing her, but also out of sheer disbelief. The muscles of her butt contracted around Applejack, as if they wanted to force her out, but this only increased the tightness and the earth pony’s pleasure more.

“Hah! I can’t believe you just did that!” Dash said from underneath her. “Ooohhh... I can feel you moving inside of her...”

Twilight’s hips were slightly raised as she pushed back against Applejack instinctively, so Dash started to buck her hips up herself, thrusting herself into the librarian’s soaking cunt. Twilight’s muscles were contracting seemingly at random, and the pegasus let out an approving murmur even as the unicorn’s moans started up again in tandem to her thrusts. The acute stab of pain Twilight had felt subsided, but a throbbing pain in her rear remained, even though it seemed to diminish slowly, and the pleasure radiating out of her cunt dampened it somewhat.

“Everything ok there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked tenderly as she leaned over Twilight’s body, keeping her rod buried deep inside of her. “Ah’m not hurting you too much, am Ah? If you want, Ah can...”

“No... no...” Twilight said between moans. “It’s fine, just... just be gentle with me?”

Applejack nodded. “Just relax, and Ah’ll start moving slowly...”

The purple unicorn did her best to comply, and as Applejack pulled back slowly and then slipped in again, she grabbed on to Rainbow Dash and bit her bottom lip. She let out a few whimpers: in pain at first, but they gradually turned to moans of pleasure as she relaxed, her muscles loosening up somewhat. Her legs shivered underneath her.

“Yes... oh yes...” she finally managed to gasp. “It hurts a b-bit... but it feels good... k-keep going...”

Dash and Applejack were happy to oblige as they quickly worked out a rhythm, one of them slipping out at the exact same time the other thrusted back in, over and over. Twilight no longer said anything as her panting and moans stole away all of her breath, never ending waves of pleasure washing over her, not giving her even a single moment of rest.

The realisation that she was being bucked by two of her friends at the same time suddenly came over her, and her entire body got taken by a series of wild spasms and shudders, as the walls of her cunt and ass contracted around her friends’ cocks, her juices overflowing. She let out a high-pitched moan that beat all previous ones in intensity, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth as the shudders finally died down. She panted and closed her eyes.

“D-did she just?” Dash asked as she stared at the unicorn’s face, her hips not stopping even for a moment.

“Ah think she did!”

Encouraged by their success the pair of magically enhanced mares started bucking into Twilight even harder, boldly assaulting both her holes with reckless abandon. The purple unicorn shook and squirmed as her entire body became like puddy between them; she was only barely able to keep her plot raised up in the air at all. Both Applejack and Dash moaned as their thrusts were felt not only by the mare in between them, but also indirectly by each other, adding to the already considerable pleasure they felt building up inside of them.

Trixie--who had been quietly watching and pleasuring herself--could finally wait no longer, and she put her hooves on Twilight’s back (next to Applejack’s) as she pressed her long, quivering cock up against the mare’s lips. “Time to please your mistress,” she commanded, but in truth she didn’t have to, as Twilight already parted her lips and moved her head forward to take her mistress inside. She swirled her tongue against Trixie’s glans penis, basking in the taste of the pre-cum her mistress spilled inside of her, as Trixie cooed approvingly.

Applejack leaned forward as her hips pounded against Twilight’s buttocks, lifting one hoof off of the mare’s back to pull Trixie closer by the back of her head, extending her tongue. The showmare did the same, and their tongues tangled with each other before their lips met, both of them slipping into the other’s mouth hungrily. Trixie moaned into Applejack’s mouth as Twilight began sucking her off, bopping her head back and forth frantically as her own moans reverberated in the back of her throat. Her cunt clenched and unclenched around Dash’s wild thrusts, and as her third orgasm of the day began to build she drew in Applejack more and more as well.

The two mares finally broke off their kiss over Twilight’s body, and a line of spittle connected them for a moment longer as they panted.

“Ooooohhh,” Trixie moaned in bliss as her hips jerked involuntarily. “Yesss Twilight Sparkle, sucks your mistress's cock like a little whore... mmmm...” She stared into Applejack’s eyes, a dreamy look on her face as her cheeks burned. “Her mouth is... ah... doing such w-wonderful things to Trixie...”

“Heh, Ah hear ya,” Applejack quipped. “She’s... ah... tighter than the b-bark on an apple tree back here...” She put her weight into it just a little bit more as she pounded her cock in and out of Twilight’s tender, little plothole, and the unicorn’s entire body began to shudder in delight.

“Well... she’d--oh buck yes--she’d have to be if it was... mmm... the first time, right?” Dash added to the conversation. If she was starting to suffer from any kind of exhaustion she sure didn’t show it, as she only sped up rather than slowing down. Every time she sank herself into Twilight’s wet lovehole she got a bit more excited, and the room was filled with the sopping sounds her passionate thrusts into Twilight’s very depths made.

Trixie put one hoof on the back of the purple unicorn’s head and started pushing her wand deeper into her mouth, Twilight spluttering for a few moments before she got her gag reflex under control by pure force of will, letting the cock slide in all the way to the back of her throat. Trixie withdrew slightly before pushing back in, bucking her marefriend’s face ever more frantically as lust and the desire for relief took over her mind. Twilight’s mind was completely blank as the pleasure stole the last of her senses; just a piece of orgasmic meat held in place between three cocks, serving only for the pleasure of those bucking her silly. Her body became weak as another orgasm shook the very foundations of her being, and she would’ve probably collapsed to the floor if the other three weren’t holding her securely in place.

The panting and moaning that filled the air intensified as all of them entered the home stretch, using and abusing Twilight’s body for their own desire, not caring too much about her pleasure--they’d felt her shudder around their members with orgasm twice already, after all. Twilight herself didn’t particularly mind, as there was only room in her thoughts for a vague sense of bliss and the sensation of three ponies pounding into her, and nothing else really mattered.

“I... I’m close...” Dash panted from underneath Twilight, clinging on to the purple unicorn as she jerked her hips upwards. “I can’t... I’m going to...”

“W-wait, hold... ah... hold on...” Trixie asked, as she guided Twilight’s head up and down her shaft. “Trixie’s almost there, we... we can... f-fill her together...”

“Same here,” Applejack announced. “Her cute little--ughn!--cute little... rear is getting the better of me...”

Twilight was still attentive enough to start sucking diligently when she heard her mistress was close to the end, and her cunt and ass milked her friends' cocks with all she had. She moaned around Trixie’s wand and looked up in the mare’s eyes with a tired but eager expressions, as if she was trying to say “Do it. Fill me with your cum!”

That was too much for Trixie to bear, and she threw her head back with a grunt as her penis twitched and shuddered inside of Twilight’s eager mouth. “Ah! N-now!” she managed to scream, before she exploded inside of Twilight, filling her with mouthful upon mouthful of spunk which the mare gulped down as fast as she could. At the same time, Dash and Applejack also let themselves go, and Twilight shuddered as she felt the warm ropes of cum being pumped into her. Dash continued to thrust into Twilight rapidly as she came, filling her completely, while Applejack just finished up with two final, powerful thrusts, pumping Twilight’s bowels full with her hot juice. The sheer sensation of having all of them spurt into her at once send Twilight into a shuddering fit as waves of pleasure bashed into her, and when the others finally finished she hung in between them like a ragdoll, completely spent.

Trixie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash remained where they were for a few moments, catching their breaths as sweat pearled down their bodies. Eventually, Trixie withdrew her rapidly softening cock from Twilight’s mouth, and after Applejack had pulled out, Dash gently tilted the purple unicorn onto her side and did the same. Twilight’s body continued to shudder as she lay on the ground, and milky white spunk dripped out of both her holes as proof of the events that had just taken place. The unicorn herself had closed her eyes and--apart from the shuddering of her body--remained unmoving. The surprisingly steady rising and falling of her chest suggested that she had promptly fallen asleep, and Trixie smiled.

All three of the magically created appendages began to shrink before they disappeared entirely, and this, too, pleased Trixie; it seemed like everypony was quite satisfied.

“Well,” she told the other two as they stood around awkwardly, “shall we head to the other room then? Trixie had some food and refreshments prepared for you.”

“Should we, like... wake her up?” Dash asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Nonsense! She’ll be fine, you’ll see. Trixie guarantees it.” She started pushing the two of them in the direction of the other room, and although they hesitated at first it only took them one look at the food Twilight had prepared to realise they had worked up quite an appetite, and following that realisation they left the room willingly.

Trixie quickly sped back to Twilight’s side, smiling down at her lovingly and caressing her cheek gently with a hoof. Her horn began to glow as she pushed a pillow underneath the mare’s head--taking care not to wake her up--and covered her with one of the blankets Twilight kept around in case she needed to work while up late on a cold night. She leaned forward and kissed her cheek softly, and Twilight murmured happily in her sleep.

“Rest now, Trixie will wake you soon...” She caressed the other unicorn’s hair one last time, before she walked off to join her guests, pausing briefly at the door to throw a look back at Twilight’s sleeping figure, before she silently closed the door behind her.

***

It was already getting quite dark by the time Applejack and Rainbow Dash finally left the library, and they walked along the path towards their homes together; technically speaking it wasn’t necessary for Dash to walk anywhere at all, but it seemed like the friendly thing to do. On top of that, there was still one matter they had left unresolved...

“So, Trixie didn’t give us time to ask Twilight about it,” Dash began as they left the village, “but I think it’s still obvious enough who won.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah hear ya, for once in our lives we actually agree!”

“So you think... ?”

“Yup!”

They stopped and nodded at one another, before saying at the same time: “I won!” “Ah won!”

The two mares blinked in the rapidly thickening darkness, both unsure of whether or not they had heard the other correctly.

“No way!” the pegasus finally blurted out. “You can’t be serious AJ, it was clear that-”

“Oh come on! Didn’t you hear her grunt every time Ah thrust in? Obviously-”

“Even I could feel those thrusts, you’re way too rough! What she needed was speed and finesse, and I-”

They went on like that for a while longer, both trying to convince the other of their own victory by quoting reactions--real or imagined--Twilight had had to their actions. They didn’t get anywhere, and soon the argument strayed from the actual topic.

“You always do this,” Dash claimed grumpily. “You always claim you’ve won when it’s clear to everypony that I was the real winner!”

“Are you calling me a liar?” Applejack asked grumpily, as she stepped closer to Dash.

“What if I am?” The cyan pegasus approached as well.

“Then Ah suggest you take it back!” Another step was taken towards the other mare, their heads now close enough to clearly make out every detail of their faces, despite the shroud of darkness all around them.

“Oh yeah? Make me!” Their foreheads bumped into each other as they pushed their heads together, staring angrily into each other’s eyes.

They remained like that for several moments, both too stubborn to give up any ground, and neither of them really knowing what else to say. Then, suddenly, they both swung a forehoof at the other mare, but instead of trying to punch each other they fell to the ground in a messy tangle of legs.

They rolled over the grass on the side of the road, and when they finally came to a halt they were clinging onto each other, their tongues wrestling in a way that was altogether less violent than the fight they had barely avoided. Finally, they broke off the kiss and panted, and both of them had a look of surprise on their face; as if they had only just met, seeing each other for the first time. They pressed themselves against each other a bit more closely, as it became apparent that they both liked what they saw.

“Y-you know...” Dash squeaked uncertainly. “There’s still a way t-to find out who’s best... without Trixie or T-Twilight...”

“Ah, yeah... Ah s’ppose you’re right... Do... do you want to?” Applejack asked breathlessly.

Dash nodded, unable to get the answer across her lips, but then they both broke into a smile.

“Your place?” Applejack asked.

“Only if you’ve learned to fly,” Dash said as she mockingly raised an eyebrow.

“Oh... Ah haven’t,” Applejack was forced to admit with a blush; for some reason she just couldn’t think straight.

“Your place, then?”

“No, with Big Mac, Granny and Applebloom there... Oh!” she suddenly cried out, as she stood up and pulled Dash to her hooves. “Ah know! The treehouse!”

“Wha- Surely we can’t... ?”

“Ya chicken, Dashie?” the earth pony called back mockingly as she ran off in the direction of the orchard.

“Hey! Nopony calls me chicken!”

As Dash gave chase, their carefree laughter echoed throughout the night, following them all the way to their destination. They did indeed repeat their competition there in private, just between the two of them. Afterwards, they once again disagreed about the victor, only this time both of them insisted that it was the other who had won. To reach a verdict once and for all, they were forced to have a rematch a few days later; it was to be the first of many.

They never would reach a conclusion, even though they competed against each other for the rest of their long and happy lives.

***

When Twilight opened her eyes, the first things she saw were the flames dancing merrily in the hearth in front of her. It took her but a moment to realise someone had transported her to the bedroom upstairs, where she was lying on her belly upon a soft rug underneath a cozy blanket. As she glanced to the right she saw the maid’s outfit she’d been wearing--neatly folded--and when she looked to the left she found she was staring right into Trixie’s loving eyes.

The showmare cuddled up to her under the blanket, and nuzzled her face against Twilight’s neck. “Trixie hopes you had a nice nap...”

“O... oh yes, mistress,” Twilight began, but Trixie instantly raised a hoof from under the blanket and shook her head.

“Enough of that, Trixie tires of it... My last command as your mistress is to end our deal prematurely. You’re no longer my maid.” She smiled lovingly, as she turned her head to seek out Twilight’s lips. “You’re just my marefriend now...”

The kiss was passionate but brief, as Twilight still felt quite tired despite her nap, and she was quickly out of breath. “Mmmm... so that’s it? Revenge complete, score settled?”

“Yes,” Trixie grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “You’re not disappointed, I hope... Trixie found you to be very... enthusiastic at times.”

Twilight laughed. “Oh Celestia no, not disappointed at all! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I had fun being your maid at times, and the three of you... well... it wasn’t bad, but... I can feel myself getting sore already, and I won’t be surprised if I’m forced to walk a bit funny in the morning...” She shrugged. “It’s just not for me...”

Trixie nodded. “You were a lousy maid. Cute,” she quickly added when Twilight wanted to protest, “sexy, and very... willing.” She winked. “But Trixie just doesn’t think you can pull it off, you don’t give off the right feeling... Perhaps you’re just not a very good actor.”

“Well hey, standing on a stage and acting is your talent, not mine!” she giggled. “You never had these complaints when I was the mistress, though.”

“Well, you were a good mistress... That is to say... Hmmm... what Trixie means is... you played the role well, even if you messed up your priorities and responsibilities a bit. Probably a better mistress than Trixie... Trixie just imitated some of your actions and threw them all together, and even then she’s already sick of it. Trixie doesn’t need to be the mistress to get you or any other pony to do what she wants, though.” She winked at Twilight mischievously, and perhaps just a teensy bit arrogantly.

“Heh, well, maybe...” Twilight reluctantly admitted. She looked at the maid’s outfit next to her, and then at the fire. “We won’t be needing this anymore...” Her horn glowed as she picked up the bundle of clothes with her magic, intent on telekinetically casting them into the flames; however, before she could make her move she felt some other force fiercely resisting her, and as she lost her grip upon the costume it shot into Trixie’s protecting hooves.

“Are you insane?” Trixie hissed at Twilight. “You can’t destroy these! They’re Trixie’s.”

“Uh, but I thought, that you, you know,” the purple unicorn stumbled over her own words, “would like to have them removed? With all the... bad... memories... ?” Twilight fell silent, as Trixie shook her head after her every word.

“Did Trixie say they were bad memories? Maybe she liked it...”

Twilight’s mouth fell open. “But... I... What?”

The showmare shrugged. “Look... Trixie’s always on stage. Ponies look up to her, admire her, they bring her what they want even when the show is over... Trixie can remember what being a maid was like, and it’s... Well... Sometimes everypony needs a break, right? Only when you’re Trixie, taking a break isn’t as easy as getting off of the stage, so...”

“I... I don’t get it,” Twilight admitted. “What are you trying to sa-”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie interrupted as she stood up, the blanket falling off of her as she looked down at Twilight with a stern look, towering above her. Despite that, a blush rapidly spread over her face. “A few days per week, Trixie will make you breakfast and wake you up while wearing this costume. She will feed you, and she will call you mistress. When that happens, you will treat Trixie like your maid for the rest of the day. You will take good care of her, but you... you...” her voice became a bit smaller, as she averted her gaze slightly, “you will also do whatever you... whatever you want with her.” Her eyes snapped back to Twilight’s, which were staring up at her in bewilderment. “Is that understood, Twilight Sparkle?”

“I... y-yes,” Twilight stuttered, momentarily taken aback by the sudden outburst, nodding frantically.

“Well, that’s... that’s if you want to, Trixie means...” she laid herself down and pulled the blanket over herself again, looking away out of pure embarrassment as her cheeks burned brightly.

Twilight lifted a hoof up to her mouth and giggled. “Oh, I do want to!” she admitted. “I... I liked being the mistress. A lot. Too much, perhaps... But with you healthy again to point out when I’m making mistakes, and with you just being your boastful self the other half of the time...” She smiled. “It can work! And I’ve already got ideas in store for you, ohohoho, believe you me: I do...”

A shiver ran down Trixie’s spine, but it was the good, wholesome kind. She turned back towards Twilight, and they both cuddled closer together as they basked in the warmth of the fire and their love for each other. “Oh, Trixie is so happy she met you, Twilight Sparkle... even if it was a bit of a bumpy ride...”

“Heh, yeah, tell me about it, and... Wait.” Realisation suddenly dawned on her. “If you didn’t dislike being a maid, then... Why did you have to have your revenge on me for it?” She furrowed her brow.

“Well... Trixie thought it it could be... fun.” She grinned at her marefriend wickedly.

“... You had me take all three of you at the same time because you ‘thought it could be fun.’?”

“Well... yes. And wasn’t it?”

Twilight grinned. “You’re insane...” They cuddled as their lips met once again, and Twilight curled up in Trixie’s hooves with a blissful sigh. “So what happens next?”

“Hmmm...” The showmare remained silent for a moment. “I guess it’s time for The Great and Powerful Trixie to get back on stage.”

“Uh oh. You think Ponyville is ready for that?”

“Nopony is ever truly ready for my most magical performance! But Trixie is ready for it...” She looked Twilight in the eye. “I hope you’re ready for it, too...”

The purple unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Me? Why would I have to be ready for your performance? It’s not that hard to watch.”

Trixie smiled as she stroked Twilight’s mane gently. “Oh, you’ll see, my love. You’ll see...”

(Author's Note)

This marks the end of Of Maids of Mistress, at least for now. I have several other stories in my head which I wish to attend to, and we've been going at it with this one for a while now. I still have ideas for future instalments of Of Maids and Mistresses, which I may very well write, but just in case I do not I made sure the story ended at a good breathing moment, a happy end.

For now I'll put the story to "Completed". Once I decide to start writing this again (either through sporadic updates between other stories, or as a primary project) this will change.

I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had writing it, and perhaps you will enjoy my next story as well. (Although that one will be of the grimdark variety)