Perhaps Trixie had had better ideas in the past.
Well, now that she thought about it, her ‘travelling performer’ gig hadn't exactly ended well. On that note, making up all of her accomplishments hadn't, either. Nor did making a stop in Ponyville. Or seeking out dark magic for revenge. Or coming back to Ponyville. Or that whole conquering Equestria thing.
Alright, maybe her life as of late had been nothing but a string of bad luck and bad decisions, but it wasn't like she was to blame for all of it! The Ursa Minor Incident (in her mind, the capitalization was absolutely necessary) at least couldn't reasonably be pinned on her. So that was one.
Trixie would have felt slightly better about her current predicament if it could have joined the Ursa Minor Incident on the very short list of things that weren't her fault. If she had someone else to blame for the fact that she was currently creeping into Ponyville - for a third time, which sounded ridiculous even to her - under the cover of night. While creeping into the town might make the already-unpopular magician look even more suspicious, it was necessary this time. In part to avoid meeting anyone who would hold her previous actions against her, and in part to avoid meeting anyone who would notice the ever-more-apparent changes to her body.
The thought of discovery brought Trixie's mind back to her reasons for returning to this awful little town, and she pulled her cape and hat tighter over her chest, huffing at the indignity of it all. Or as close as she could get to huffing at the indignity, considering how difficult it was becoming to breathe.
She yelped as another one of the wraps around her chest snapped, then covered her mouth with her free hand and glanced around nervously.
No one in sight.
Twilight's tree-library-house-thing just ahead.
“Okay, Trixie,” she mutter to herself as she started crossing the worryingly exposed open square to approach the tree. “You've got this. Nobody's around, nobody's seen you, and Twilight Sparkle can fix this.”
‘Twilight can fix this’ had become Trixie's mantra ever since she realized precisely how much of a problem her little experiment had become and began the long trip back to Ponyville. She said it to herself every time she considered giving up and trying to solve the problem on her own. And a few more times a day for good measure.
The other things she kept telling herself this trip had been ‘potions are for chumps’ and ‘whoever wrote that potion-making guide was a hack and ought to be sued.’
Finally, however, her journey was at an end. She was in front of Twilight’s door. There was even a faint light on inside, so she wouldn’t even be getting Twilight out of bed. She just had to reveal what she’d done to herself this time, admit it was her own stupid fault, and then beg for help from a girl she’d blamed all her own failings on and tried to hurt repeatedly.
Trixie raised a hand and took a deep breath to steel herself, only to wince as yet another of her chest binding’s wraps gave out. She resigned herself to her fate and knocked on the door.
It didn’t take long for Twilight to answer, swinging the door open with an irate look. “Rainbow, I told you it won’t get here until- wait, Trixie?” Twilight blinked and stared at the magician. “What are you doing here? And at this hour?”
“Trixie is currently suffering from a small magical mishap and...” It finally occurred to Trixie that Twilight was standing there in pajamas that were somewhat more revealing than she’d expected from the rather uptight librarian. She felt things shift and another wrap give out. “And Trixie was hoping you might be able to help.”
Twilight sighed and rubbed her temple. “Alright, I don’t imagine it could have waited until morning if you’re going to these lengths. Come in and tell what you did this time.”
“Why do you assume it was Trixie’s own doing?” She demanded, putting aside her relief at Twilight’s offer of help in favor of indignation at her (completely justified, granted) suggestion of Trixie’s blame in the matter. “How many of Trixie’s problems do you think she is to blame for?”
“Pretty much all of them since I first met you,” Twilight responded flatly.
“Except for the-”
“Except the Ursa Minor thing, yeah, yeah, I get it.” Twilight scowled at her. “Did you want my help or not? Because I could really go for some sleep right now.”
Panic flashed across Trixie’s face at the thought of returning in broad daylight. “No, Trixie is... I mean, I’m sorry, Twilight. The past few days have just been stressful.”
“I can imagine,” Twilight said as her expression softened. “Now, what’s going on?”
“Well,” Trixie haltingly began as she stepped into the house-library-tree-thing. “I think it would be easier for me to just show you.”
“Show me what?” Twilight asked as she closed the door, then turned to Trixie upon hearing cloth hit the floor. “Did something sweet Celestia where did those come from?!”
Trixie stood before her, the hat and cape on the floor at her feet, and her shirt buttons well beyond any possibility of closing. The sole thing covering her top was a binding wrap that was becoming pointless as quickly as it was surrendering to the extreme stresses put upon it; the chest they were desperately trying to restrain so far beyond normal sizes that ‘melons’ had ceased to be crude slang and instead become a fair description.
Twilight realized she was staring when she noticed the blush appearing across Trixie’s face, and managed to pull her gaze away, though she could have sworn they’d grown slightly bigger in the time she’d been looking.
“Okay,” she began, her own face flushing just as much as Trixie’s, “How? Why? Just start talking.”
“So I might have been trying to get some attention.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Male attention.”
“I gathered. Keep going.”
“And, well, I knew potions that could enhance things like that were generally considered novice-level stuff and decided to give it a try...”
Twilight groaned and dropped into a nearby chair, putting her head down on the desk. “You would have. Okay, where did you get the potion recipe?”
“Mixin’ Match’s Alchemical Introduction to the New You,” Trixie recited.
“Oh stars, not that hack!” Twilight sat up. “Do you have any idea how many times he’s been sued?”
“Trixie is beginning to guess,” she muttered as she levitated her cape back to her chest and tied it in place.
“Okay, I can probably work out an antidote. Let me see your copy.”
Trixie blinked. “My copy of what?”
“Mixin’ Match’s book,” Twilight said with the exaggerated patience she usually reserved for Snips and Snails, or Spike on a particularly trying day. “The one you got the recipe from?”
“Oh, Trixie discarded that when she realized how worthless it was,” she replied, only to shrink back under Twilight’s ego-deflating gaze. “Found it in a bookstore and couldn’t pay to take it with me. Don’t you have a copy? That seems like the kind of thing you’d have.”
“I did, until I got rid of it after what happened last Hearts and Hooves Day.”
“What happened last Hearts and Hooves Day?”
“We don't talk about what happened last Hearts and Hooves day,” Twilight replied, running a hand through her hair. “Now, do you remember anything that went into the potion?”
“Alcohol. I remember that much.”
“What kind?”
“Alcohol?” Trixie raised an eyebrow in confusion and irritation. “Does it really matter? I thought they were more or less all the same outside of taste and strength.”
“All the- You-“ Twilight took a moment to sputter out half-words before throwing her hands up with a frustrated growl, stomping out of the room and leaving Trixie alone for a few minutes until she returned dragging a chalkboard, with chalk floating around her in her magical grip. “Okay. Apparently even Mixin’ Match isn’t basic enough, so let’s have a quick remedial lesson on alchemy for you.”
“Trixie does not-”
“If Trixie wants Twilight’s help, Trixie is going to listen to Twilight’s lecture.”
If Trixie had known Twilight better, she’d easily recognize warning signs in Twilight’s eye twitch and increasingly-disheveled hair. She’d know precisely how close to snapping the librarian was. Fortunately for Trixie, the slightly-crazed gleam in Twilight’s eyes conveyed the message well enough on its own.
“...okay,” she mumbled meekly.
“Good!” Twilight immediately brightened up at the prospect of educating someone. “Now, in alchemy, even minor differences in ingredients, such as crystal dust rather than gem dust, can have a major impact on the final product. Now, when a competently-written potion formula calls for alcohol, the creator makes certain to specify whether she’s referring to methanol, ethanol, isopropyl, butyl, propylene, glycerol, or any other of the roughly two dozen common types. If the formula calls for alcoholic spirits, or ethanol, they always specify the variety and proof required.” Twilight took a breath. “When a sleazy, unethical hack writes a potion formula, he takes some shortcuts and lets his readers take the risk. Now, Trixie, what kind of alcohol did you use?”
“The kind you can get from a grocer for less than six bits a bottle. I just grabbed one. I only remember it was red.”
Twilight groaned in frustration and added the line ‘unidentified red wine (?)’ to the chalkboard. “Okay, what else?”
“That’s... that’s the only one I remember.”
“What? How can you forget every other ingredient in the potion?!” Twilight demanded, the piece of chalk she’d been levitating snapping during the outburst.
“I may have been drinking the rest of the wine while working on the potion,” Trixie admitted. She at least had the good sense to cringe and back away from Twilight as she answered.
Twilight stared at her for a long moment. And then another, longer, moment. Eventually, she turned back to the chalkboard and plucked the chalk out of the air, furiously writing a series of notes on the board. Among the few legible to anyone other than Twilight Sparkle herself (and Princess Celestia, who had long ago become used to her student’s frantic style of shorthand) were the words ‘potion mixed and consumed by IDIOT while DRUNK’.
“There.” Twilight threw down the tiny nub of chalk and headed for the stairs. “Now, I’m going to go to bed. Feel free to sleep on the couch down here. We’re going to get help from an expert in the morning.”
Trixie watched her go, then sighed and pulled her shirt off entirely, tossing it aside as it had become, at best, a token gesture by that point. Her cape made for a decent blanket, now she just needed to work out how to sleep with these things on her chest. She suspected she was in for a long night.
Twilight hadn’t slept well herself, though her problem was far from the physical discomfort Trixie was stuck with. In her case, it was a mental problem, or rather, a puzzle. Despite telling Trixie she was heading for bed the previous night, she couldn’t help but sit up for a while trying to puzzle out what combination of ingredients had gone into Trixie’s potion.
If nothing else, she told herself, it would give Zecora a good starting point.
Of course, late night study sessions have their consequences, as she was well aware, and Twilight had nearly overslept the library’s opening hour. She skipped ahead in her usual morning routine to the point that was typically fifth on the list: coffee (It came after a shower, waking Spike, taming her hair (not ‘style’ or ‘do’ her hair, like Rarity or Fluttershy - the word for Twilight’s hair was definitely ‘tame’), and starting breakfast; but before brushing her teeth, morning cleanup, and opening the library).
So of course she nearly spilled it all over her pajamas when the library door slammed open and Rainbow Dash all but flew inside.
“Twilight! Did it come in? Did it?” Rainbow leaned over the table towards Twilight, entirely oblivious to the scowl on her friend’s face.
“Not yet, Rainbow. The library isn’t even supposed to be open at this hour, and I’m running late this morning. I haven’t been to the post office yet.” She took a sip of her coffee before Rainbow Dash did something else to put it at risk, and pointed at Trixie, somehow still asleep, curled up on her couch. “Something came up last night.”
“Wait, Trixie? What’s she...” Rainbow trailed off as she looked back and forth between the unusually unkempt Twilight and the sleeping - topless, she now noticed - Trixie, a leering grin spreading across her face. “Oh, that’s what came up. Well, looks like AJ owes me 20 bits, so I’ll just leave you two alone and go collect.”
“Sit. Down.” A brief flare of magic pushed Rainbow into the seat across from Twilight before she’d taken her first step back towards the door. “It was nothing like that, she just needed some help. And what’s this about 20 bits?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all. Don’t worry about it.” Rainbow glanced away for a moment, then leaned over to inspect the notes on the chalkboard. “So what’s she gotten herself into this time?”
Twilight glared at her a moment before the opportunity to explain a complex problem to someone became more appealing than venting coffee-deprived anger at a frequent source of stress. “Irresponsible potion use. She-”
Twilight’s answer was interrupted by a yelp cut short by a thud as Trixie rolled over and fell from the couch. The magician pulled herself, with great difficulty, up into a sitting position. “Twilight? What time is it?”
The room was silent for a moment. Unfortunately, Dash was the first to recover.
“Dang, Trixie,” she said with an awed whistle, “Where do you get that kind of work done?”
Trixie tilted her head slightly to the side and blinked the sleep from her eyes. “What kind of...” Trixie trailed off as realization briefly flashed across her face, soon replaced with a flush of embarrassment. Trixie snatched up her cape and covered herself with it, only to realize that even the cape couldn’t handle the whole job by itself anymore.
“Sweet Celestia,” she groaned, “They’re bigger again.”
“Bigger again?” Twilight pulled her gaze away from Trixie’s growing problems to look her in the eye. “You mean they’ve been growing?”
“Yes, of course!” Trixie snapped back. “What did you think the problem was?”
“Just that you were stuck with those huge... things! You never said it was getting worse!”
“Wait, wait,” Rainbow interrupted, “You’re telling me the problem that made Trixie come back here for help was her new set of giant gazongas?”
Both magic-wielders gave Rainbow Dash a flat glare, though Trixie’s attempts at keeping her cape in place hampered hers somewhat. And then the effect was entirely ruined when she gave up and settled for holding it in place by crossing her arms over her chest, inadvertently taking the look from ‘angry’ to ‘pouting’.
That look was the final straw for Dash, who began laughing, and didn’t stop even after she curled into a ball, clutching her sides, and fell out of her chair.
Twilight sighed at her friend and headed towards the stairs to her basement. “I’m going to find a tape measure. Try not to let anything else go wrong before I get back.”
“Me or her?” Trixie asked.
“Yes.”
“Agh! I give up!” Twilight threw a third tape measure into the pile on the floor and began pacing in front of the currently-bright-red Trixie. “You were too big for the first two measures, and even the one I borrowed from Rarity isn’t helping because the measurement changes every time I try to read it! I know it’s because you’re still growing, but the math makes no sense. If I take my estimate of your size last night, then extrapolate out using the rate of growth we’ve seen over the past half hour, then each should mass nearly as much as the rest of your body combined!”
Twilight stopped and spun to face Trixie, grabbing the blushing girl’s breasts to emphasize her point further. “But they’re still small enough for you to support!”
At the touch, Trixie yelped and tried, futilely, to cover her chest with her arms again, the motion only serving to draw even more attention to her chest as it swelled once again. “What are you doing?!”
Twilight blinked and flushed. “Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry, Trixie. I was just getting so frustrated and-“
“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow Dash suddenly jumped up next to Trixie. “I just noticed something. Experiment time.”
Before either of the others could respond, Dash slipped behind the magician, placed her hands on Trixie’s shoulders, and traced her fingertips down her shoulders and back, sliding her hands forward along Trixie’s sides before trailing down her stomach.
Trixie squirmed away from the touches, pulling away before Dash reached anything too private. She spent a moment sputtering at the sudden close contact before finally responding to her release by telekinetically slamming a couch cushion into the athlete’s face and sending her sprawling onto the floor.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” she shrieked.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight jerked her friend upright and spun her to face them with a surge of magenta magic. “Explain yourself this instant!”
“She liked it,” Dash replied with a leer.
“That’s not your place to decide, and it hardly excuses forcing yourself onto someone like that! What has gotten into-“
“No, seriously,” Dash said, waving her hands in front of her as if that could hold of Twilight’s anger. “She likes it. That’s what’s causing it.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight asked as she dropped Rainbow from her telekinetic grip.
“Wait, what?” Trixie asked simultaneously as she in turn dropped the cushion she’d been lining up for a second shot at Dash’s head.
Dash sat up from the second crumpled heap she’d found herself in that morning. “Those massive melons are getting bigger every time she gets turned on.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Trixie proclaimed, turning her head away from Dash. “Trixie has neither done nor seen anything to arouse her since arriving here!”
“Wait, does that mean when I...” Twilight’s face reddened as she reconsidered recent events without the distracting cover of a research project.
“Really?” Dash ignored Twilight and pushed herself up, leaning forward uncomfortably close to Trixie. “Cause I was seeing a lot of growing when Twilight was trying to measure you. Maybe you want to be seen from all around, like you’re up on the stage.” Rainbow Dash eyes were half-lidded and she smirked in her best imitation of Rarity. “Does Trixie want to be up on stage like this?”
“I do not!” Trixie yelped, stepping away from Dash and trying in vain once again to restrain her chest with her arms.
Rainbow stalked forward, keeping the pressure on her new toy. “Or maybe it’s the thought of someone - someone like Twilight, maybe - having her hands all over you and tying you up. Wanna be tied up, Trixie?”
Trixie rambled out a few almost-words and clamped her arms down on her chest as tightly as she could manage; looking around frantically for an escape from the situation, her gaze finally landing on a door open just enough to see what was inside.
“Twilight! I’m going to borrow your bathroom for a while! I need a shower. A very cold shower.” Trixie turned and sprinted upstairs to her salvation from Rainbow Dash’s teasing - or as close as one can come to sprinting when balancing a pair of breasts that weigh a fair portion of one’s own body weight.
At the sound of the bathroom door slamming closed, Rainbow Dash once again dropped to the floor cackling at the sight.
“Oh man, now I understand why Rarity likes doing that to guys,” she said after recovering, wiping her eyes as she sat up again. “And Applejack. Guys and AJ. You ever notice that, Twi? Twi?”
Rainbow Dash looked up to see her friend, completely red-faced, staring into space at roughly the point Trixie had been when she’d started her teasing.
“Equestria to Twilight Sparkle, you in there?”
The librarian blinked and seemed to finally notice Rainbow Dash. “Oh! Sorry Rainbow, I was just thinking about when I was measuring her. And how I did kind of have my hands all over her. And I was the one she was... well, you know about.”
“All hot and bothered?” Rainbow offered.
“Dash!” Fortunately for her, Twilight’s blush couldn’t get much deeper.
“Getting a ladyboner?” Rainbow said, the grin returning to her face.
“I have ways of keeping you quiet, you know.”
Rainbow thought for a moment. “...feeling her inner goddess?”
There was silence between them as Twilight stared at her.
“What?” The confusion from that statement had been enough of a distraction that Twilight’s face had begun to return to its more normal shade.
“I dunno,” Rainbow replied with a shrug. “Something from a book Rarity was reading. Thought maybe you’d get it on account of being an egghead and all.”
“Rainbow, Rarity doesn’t generally read good books,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Her favorites are some of the few I’m proud to have not read.”
A crash from upstairs cut their conversation short, and after a startled glance at each other, both girls ran up the stairs. They threw open the bathroom door, only to find Trixie in the tub, the shower curtain pulled from its hangers and piled atop her, and her legs, the only part of her visible, sticking out from underneath. Rainbow snorted and fell back against the door, sliding down until she sat on the floor laughing once again.
Twilight rolled her eyes at Dash and started pulling the curtain away. “Trixie? Are you okay?”
“Trixie is fine!” She clutched at the shower curtain that was currently providing her only cover. “It was just a small accident and Trixie doesn’t need your help!”
"Are... are you sure?" Twilight asked over Dash's laughter.
"Yes, Trixie is certain!" A leg kicked vaguely at the other two from under the curtain.
"Well, in that case, we'll just be going. Come on, Rainbow." Twilight grabbed Rainbow Dash by the shirt collar and dragged the giggling girl behind her as she turned to leave the bathroom. She only made it a few steps (Twilight was not built for dragging anyone anywhere, at least when magic wasn't involved) when the sounds of Trixie's struggle pulled her attention back. Twilight looked up to see the magician thrashing around under the curtain and kicking her legs in all directions. She sighed. "Are you sure, Trixie?"
"YES, TRIXIE-" Trixie began, kicking her legs fiercely once more before letting them drop limp and muttering something that sounded very like 'just tell her, you've told her the rest, you know she can help...' She let out a frustrated whine and visibly cringed under the curtain. "No. Trixie is... I'm stuck."
Rainbow sat up with a grin. "Stuck? Stuck how?"
'I, um... I can't lift them from here."
"Seriously?!" This time, Rainbow's laughter was interrupted by Twilight slapping the back of the athlete's head. "What?"
"Behave." Twilight stepped back into the bathroom, and with a flick of her hand, a magenta glow pulled the curtain off of Trixie, who was, fortunately for her at least, still wearing her underwear. Twilight stood over her with her hands on her hips. "Hm..."
Trixie squirmed under the sudden attenton. “What are you doing back there?”
“She’s checking out your butt," Rainbow said as she stood up again.
“What?!” Trixie struggled to turn her head and see the other two from her awkward angle.
“Rainbow, I am not!" Twilight turned to her friend with a glare and her fists balled up. "I’m trying to decide how to get her out of there!”
“It’s okay, Twilight," Rainbow said without taking her eyes off of Trixie, "I am too. It’s a really nice butt.”
“Oh Celestia..." Trixie reached out and grabbed the shower curtain again, pulling it over her head.
“Rainbow..." Twilight groaned and rubbed her temples. "Make yourself useful and go find Zecora for me or something.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Back in five."
She turned and vaulted the railing off the balcony, rolling as she hit the lower floor and running out the door, pulling it closed as she went through it.
Twilight sighed. "That girl's obsession with speed..." She turned back to Trixie and studied the mess for a minute, her eyes unconsciously drawn back to the wand-and-ribbon symbol on one side of Trixie's underwear.
“...Twilight?” Trixie asked at the long silence.
“Oh, um, sorry." Twilight looked away with a blush, not that Trixie would see that. "I think I’m going to just try teleporting you to the basement.”
"The basement?"
"Yeah, my lab is down there, so it will be a good environment for undoing this potion. Plus it will hide your, ah, condition from anyone who happens to come by the library." Twilight began focusing her magic. "I just need to send the guest bed down, then send you down, and then it's just a matter of waiting for Zecora to arrive."
"Do we need to bring someone else into this?" Trixie pulled.the shower curtain tighter over her head. "If Rainbow Dash was any indication..."
"Oh, please. Zecora is nothing like Rainbow. She's an expert alchemist and herbalist, and one of the most serious people I know."
"If you're both done..." Twilight glared at the two with her arms crossed.
"Sorry, Twilight, I meant no disrespect," Zecora answered, stifling her giggles. "But this is something I did not expect."
“I understand, I just expected better from you. And I promised Trixie this wouldn’t be a problem.” She pointed at the magician who was now lying face-down on Twilight’s spare bed in the basement lab, the two of them having agreed that certain discomfort was better than potential suffocation.
“You’re right, this is no time for fun, for there is much work to be done,” Zecora said, rubbing her chin. “But if I am to devise her fix, I must know what went into the mix.”
Trixie leaned over to Rainbow Dash, who’d taken a seat at the edge of the bed. “Does she always talk like that?”
Dash nodded. “Yeah. You get used to it. I did once spend an hour trying to get her to end on ‘orange’, though.”
“Unfortunately, we’re not certain what the potion’s ingredients were. The recipe came from a book I no longer have in the library, and as you can see from my notes…” Twilight gestured to the chalkboard that had been brought down and placed by the end of the bed. “The creator wasn’t exactly keeping track of it, either.”
“A difficult problem, to be sure, but I still have some hope for a cure.”
“You do?” Twilight and Trixie said together.
Zecora nodded. “Just as with Macintosh and Cheerilee, time is a potion’s greatest enemy. If the effect we can suppress, a few hours will do the rest.”
Twilight clapped her hands and practically bounced in place. “Just like the love poison! So rather than cure it, we just have to keep the potion from triggering for a while!”
Zecora nodded. “But this task may be harder than you think. Perhaps another potion she should drink?”
“Wait.” Trixie, with some difficulty, pushed herself up to address the shaman. “Are you saying the Great and Powerful Trixie can’t avoid having any impure thoughts for a measly few hours?”
Rainbow glanced back at her. “Twilight in pajamas.”
Trixie glanced at Twilight, only for her eyes to go wide as the weight under her shifted and she dropped back onto the bed with a blush. “Silence.”
“What’s this about me in nightclothes?” Twilight looked between the two.
“Seriously, Twilight? How have you not noticed how that set you have hangs off your hips? And I’m straight but damn do you make the bare midriff thing look good. Never mind the top’s thin enough I can always see your ni-”
Rainbow was silenced by a pair of pillows being shoved against her face, one held in a magenta aura, and the other in a soft pink. Fortunately, both of the now-heavily-blushing mages had the sense of mind to release her before she suffocated.
“So where were we?” Twilight asked, making sure to grind the pillow against Dash’s face for a moment before releasing her. “A potion to suppress the effects? That doesn’t sound too bad. Would it reverse the changes already made?”
Zecora shook her head. “If those globes we are to shrink,” - here she ignored a snort and cackle from Rainbow Dash - “A third potion she must drink.”
“So we need to make two potions? I guess it would be too much to expect that I have the ingredients you need here in my lab.”
“Unfortunately this is not an art you often pursue.” Zecora drew out a piece of paper and a pen, and began making a list. “There is much to gather, and a great deal will rely on you.”
“On me?” Twilight asked. “But why?”
“Hampering a potion demands a rare blend. Some parts are ruined by the touch of a hand.”
“And thus have to be handled with telekinesis... But you use magic, too,” Twilight objected. “Couldn’t you handle that one?”
“Not in that way, Twilight my friend,” Zecora answered with a smile. “It is on yours we must depend. Still, such tasks you do not often spurn. Perhaps you have another concern?”
Twilight paused, then released a breath. “I don’t trust Rainbow Dash being left alone with Trixie.”
“Hey! Why not?”
“Do you even need to ask that?” the magician growled at her.
“Yeah, of course I do.” Dash stood with her arms crossed. “What gives, Twi?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Dash, you’ve done nothing but insult, harass, or laugh at her the entire time you’ve been here. Why should I expect that behavior to change when you’re here by yourself?”
Dash shrugged. “You could go get the ingredients yourself. Then Zecora would be here with me.”
“I’m not convinced that’s much better.”
“Why don’t you both go and get the stuff together so you can fix me as quickly as possible?” Trixie shot a glare between the two.
“What Trixie suggests would be for the best.” Zecora tore her list of ingredients into two halves. “Go now, seek these out, and leave me the rest.”
The two girls looked at Trixie, and then one another. They nodded and each took her half of the list, Dash rushing up the stairs as Twilight vanished in a flash of purple light. Trixie watched both girls leave, her eyes lingering on the cellar door that Dash had gone through. Until she felt a hand pressed into her breast.
Trixie yelped and rolled away as best she could before glaring up at a sheepish-looking Zecora. “Seriously? You too?”
“Sorry, I had to know how they feel,” she said with an apologetic smile. “After all, their size is quite unreal.”
A few rushed hours later, Twilight reappeared in the library’s main room in another flash of light. A backpack full of the items Zecora requested (in separate, properly-labelled field research bags, of course - she kept a kit by the door in case of research emergencies) hung from her hand as she stretched and groaned in the wake of the physical exertion that gathering all of the reagents had required.
And then a shout of “Would you stop that?!” was carried up the stairs from the basement, and Twilight’s groan of relief turned into one of frustration.
She threw open the basement door the rest of the way and leaned over the railing. “What are you two doing down there?!”
Rainbow silenced her giggles and quickly stood up from Trixie’s - now clearly larger than when she’d left, Twilight noted - bedside. Even Zecora had to wipe a grin from her face, the both of them taking on appropriately embarrassed expressions.
“Seriously. This is exactly what I was worried about. And,” - Twilight suddenly teleported down between the others and pointed an accusing finger at Zecora - “Exactly what you promised me would not happen.”
“Twilight, I must-”
“Sorry, but just stop, Zecora. Thank you for your help with this. Honestly, thank you. It would have taken me so much longer to work this out, if I ever figured it out at all.” Twilight sighed and rubbed her head. “But for now, could you just go and leave this to me?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Come on, Twilight, what’s the big deal? You two are just about to fix her anyway, so what’s the harm?”
“What’s the harm? What’s the harm?” Twilight rounded on Dash, her face reddening. “This is insulting, degrading, and abusive! Trixie came to us for help, I agreed to do what I could, and promised her she wouldn’t be mistreated!”
While Twilight was venting her rage at Dash, Zecora took the opportunity to turn the burner off on Twilight’s alchemy stand and slip away unseen.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right, Dash!” Twilight continued. “I know Trixie was a bully before, but you’re an adult, okay? You’re not having a playground fight, and you don’t get back at the bully by bullying her right back.”
“Geez, fine, Twi. I get it, I’m going.” Rainbow stomped her way up the stairs and pulled the door shut behind her.
Twilight took a few deeps breaths to steady herself, then groaned again and sat on the edge of the bed next to Trixie, rubbing her temples again.
Trixie watched her for a minute before reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Twilight?”
Twilight started at the sudden contact, then relaxed. “Oh, right. Sorry, Trixie. I should get started on those potions.”
“It’s okay.” Trixie held her in place with a gentle press down on her shoulder. “Take a minute if you need to.”
Twilight looked at her, then sighed and nodded.
“Besides, it’s me who ought to be apologizing.”
“You? Why?”
“For coming between you and your friends like this. I guess just me showing up is all it takes to make your life more difficult.” The magician sank down into a depressed sprawl across the bed.
“Stop. Their behavior is on them. You have no reason to blame yourself for it.”
“Sure I do. I deserve it for all the problems I’ve caused.”
Twilight shifted to face Trixie, leaning down to look her in the eyes. “Nobody deserves to be treated like that. To paraphrase Fluttershy, you’re not a bad person, you’ve just made some bad decisions.”
“Some?” Trixie huffed. “Name a good one.”
“Trusting somebody else to help you with this?” Twilight stood a moment to reposition herself alongside Trixie, wrapping her arms around her as best she could and holding the magician in a hug. “You need to start forgiving yourself for your mistakes instead of trying to bury them or letting them bury you… If it helps, I don’t have any grudges against you.”
Trixie was silent for a minute. “Thank you, Twilight.”
The two girls remained there in a comfortable silence until another growth spurt from beneath Trixie forced Twilight’s arms further apart. Both were back to blushing as Twilight sat up.
“Right. Potions. Let me get right on those.”
While Twilight didn’t have Zecora’s potion-making expertise, her telekinesis gave her effectively unlimited hands to multitask with. It didn’t take long for her to prepare both potions, Trixie gladly gulping down the proper dosages of each and Twilight bottling and labelling the excess and placing it on the shelf.
Afterwards, it was merely a matter of awkwardly sitting and waiting while the potions did their work, which for Twilight primarily involved taking a seat in a nearby chair amd keeping her eyes away from Trixie’s chest.
Finally, Trixie sat upright, her chest having shrunk nearly all the way back to its original size. She felt herself a moment, then laughed. “Hah! And still a bit bigger than before!”
“Uh-huh,” Twilight mumbled, her face flushed and her eyes fixed on Trixie’s bare chest.
Trixie smirked at the attention, her own face just as pink as Twilight’s. “Though I wonder if the other potion has really worn off…”
Twilight blinked and looked away. “I um, I suppose we could try to recreate a known triggering condition?”
“Recreate a what now?” Trixie studied the librarian’s now-quite-red face, and the suggestion clicked. “...was that a really nerdy attempt at propositioning me just now?”
“...kind of?”
Trixie smiled at the other girl. “If you insist.”
“Wait, really?” Twilight blinked and looked back at her finally. When Trixie nodded, Twilight moved back to the bed and awkwardly put a hand on the other girl’s chest, not meeting her eyes.
Trixie gave a nice, flat, ‘are you kidding me’ look to Twilight. And then to Twilight’s hand. And then back to Twilight. “Really?”
“What?!” Twilight pulled her hand away.
“A chaste little touch like that? I kind of assumed you were a virgin, but wow.”
“Come on, I’m not exactly experienced, here.”
“Obviously. But, look, you’re obviously a reader, right?”
“Yes, and?”
“If you read a lot, I’m sure you have quite the imagination. Just fire that up, assume I’m game for anything you are, and go for whatever you want.”
“...really?”
“Yes, really. Or do you doubt the Great and Power-mff”
Trixie was interrupted, quite energetically, by Twilight’s lips. The next fifteen minutes were a confused jumble of hands, lips, discarded clothing, and tangled sheets. But eventually, they paused, panting and looking into one another’s eyes.
“If that didn’t set them off,” Trixie said between breaths, “I don’t know what will.”
“I have some theories we could try,” Twilight said as she flicked her wrist and put out the lights.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the door, for once, and opened it carefully, like a normal, considerate, non-Dash person would. In part, she felt guilty for her behavior the day before. And in part, she was just afraid of raising Twilight’s ire again. And how much Fluttershy would yell at her this time if she did.
“Hey, Twilight?”
“Come in, Dash.”
Not certain what to expect from the calm reply, Dash stepped into the library to find Twilight, as disheveled as she’d been the previous morning, but otherwise sitting calmly with a cup of coffee and reading a book. Twilight didn’t look up as Dash approached.
“So, Twilight. I was talking to Flutters last night and she kinda pointed out a few things, and I just thought I owed you an…” Dash trailed off as the sight of someone asleep on the couch caught her eye. “...What’s Trixie still doing here?”
“Sleeping.”
“Well, yeah, but why is she, you know, still here? I thought you fixed her.”
“I did. And obviously she stayed the night.”
“Oh,” was all Rainbow could manage. She somehow felt she was missing something.
Twilight turned to the next page in her book. “By the way, Applejack owes you 20 bits.”