• Published 16th Feb 2014
  • 7,804 Views, 2,738 Comments

Trixie's Forest Retreat - crowscrowcrow



Following the events of Boast Busters, Trixie decides to hide from the town (and Rainbow Dash in particular) by taking cover in the Everfree Forest. Not every problem can be outrun, and sometimes facing them can have unexpected consequences.

  • ...
31
 2,738
 7,804

PreviousChapters Next
Chapter 99 - Rupture

It was fortunate that nopony else was around to see Trixie make an utter fool of herself by mistaking her own books for Fluttershy’s. As embarrassing as that was, the blow to Trixie’s ego was reasonably soothed by the windfall of having her little library at least partially returned to her.

Sipping a cup of water, Trixie lounged on the couch while she examined the books, her muscles aching, but slowly recovering from the effort of dragging them all inside. She was regretting going through the extra effort of piling both the books and stray letters onto the coffee table before taking a break.

Sadly, Trixie could tell there were a good few of them missing, and even some of the ones before her looked pretty badly damaged. These must have been the only ones that survived in a legible state… At least that means ‘it’ was also destroyed. She breathed a sigh of relief, but failed to shake off the cloud of anxiety that loomed over her. It was strange, things were going well, and good news kept piling up, yet there was a clawing in her mind at every unguarded moment. Attempting to find something, anything, to use as a distraction, her eyes traveled to the one letter that had come with the package.

A simple folded letter had been inside the package, written on high quality parchment. It struck Trixie as a bit too much extravagance for a mere note, and she concluded that whoever wrote it was either desperately out of all other cheaper alternatives, or had no real grasp of the value of a bit.

A more entertaining thought was that she, The Great and Powerful Trixie, was simply so important, that no lesser paper would do.

Grinning to herself as she imagined what high praise the letter might contain, she reached for it. Flipping open the letter, Trixie scanned the first line.

Dear Fluttershy,—

With one fluid motion, she swiftly folded the letter back up, returning it to the table.

Although she had technically already messed with Fluttershy’s mail, this felt like going one step too far. Peeking into a package containing her own books, though she didn’t know that at the time, was on a different level than reading private mail.

She stared at the pricey parchment for a couple of long seconds, then picked it up again. Trixie won’t read it, but seeing just the last line is fine, right? It’s not like that is the content.

Your faithful friend,
Twilight Sparkle

Putting the letter away once again, Trixie felt a shiver run along her spine. Of course it would be that spoiled little miss perfect! Being the private student of Princess Celestia must have been awfully lucrative. Who signs a letter like that?!

Taken by surprise with her own anger, Trixie took a mental step back. Huh, where did that come from? As long as Trixie had been here, she’d heard nothing but good things about Twilight Sparkle. Except for the occasional friendly insult by Rainbow Dash.

Well, there was her smug, annoying face. That underlying air of superiority, as Twilight had casually explained Trixie failed to vanquish a mere Ursa Minor, rather than an Ursa Major. That right after Trixie looked death straight in the eye and was still shivering in horror, the first thing out of that mare’s mouth wasn’t a word of encouragement for attempting to stand up to it, but a put down.

Seething, Trixie jumped off the couch. Quit it! She saved Trixie. At the last possible moment… what good fortune, or did she wait? Another shiver crawled along her spine as she contemplated that dark possibility. Trixie also couldn’t be sure how many of the heroic things she’d heard about Twilight were true, or whether Twilight had manipulated some events to make herself look better. For a pony that had refused to challenge Trixie the first time, when it was just a small audience, she certainly made a perfect show out of besting her when the eyes of the whole town were upon them that night.

Trixie quickly shook her head. She knew she was not being fair. It just felt so much easier to pin the blame of her misfortune on somepony, and Twilight just happened to grind her nerves a little. There were any number of ponies she could hold responsible, such as Snips and Snails, but it was difficult to be angry with clueless foals. …Actually… No, it isn’t. Curse them!

With her every other thought, Trixie found somepony else that had a hoof in her situation that she could get mad at. Though on some level, she recognized that she was straining the links sometimes. For instance, she was fairly sure that it maybe didn’t quite make sense to be angry at the bakery she got her lunch from, just because it had been a factor in deciding where to station her wagon.

Since she was obviously not getting any more relaxing done, and because sweet memories of the bakery’s alluring treats reminded her that it was lunch time, Trixie decided she should get back to being productive. She still had a good deal of planning to do after all. First order of business, salvaging her eggs.

Trixie arrived at the kitchen to find the eggs submerged in a frying pan full of rainwater, and most of the kitchen wet. An irritated grumble escaped her as she remembered Angel’s idiocy. Whatever had he been thinking?

Once again, Trixie found herself assured to the superiority of magic. A task that would have been a week of backbreaking physical labor, or so Trixie estimated, was reduced mere minutes with a simple water manipulation spell. Drawing the water out into liquid tendrils, Trixie redirected it into the sink.

It was simple enough, but after overexerting herself once already, Trixie made sure to take it slow this time.

While she restored order to the kitchen her mind wandered back to her encounter with the mail mare, between the fire and the books, the ditzy pegasus had slipped her mind until now. What is Trixie going to do about Derpy? It looks like she agrees with those rumors now. Maybe Trixie should give up… She breathed a heavy sigh, making friends was harder than she thought. Of course, asking for help would have been easy, but she really wanted to prove to herself she could do so on her own now. If she was this bad at it, she could only hope she’d do better with Rarity later, for Fluttershy’s sake.

Taking another sip of water, Trixie felt a sting of sorrow in her chest when her mind brought up Trixie's last image of Derpy, the pegasus fleeing, disheveled and seemingly panicked for reasons Trixie couldn't understand. It was almost like Derpy had thought her life depended on getting away from Trixie. What kind of a monster had the rumors made her out to be? Almost serenely, a sense of clarity came over her, carrying a terrifying revelation. What if she told the rest of the Ponyvillians Trixie is here?!

Abandoning her kitchen duty, Trixie quickly made her way back to the living room, she had to get eyes on the road as soon as possible! To come up with some kind of plan, and most definitely, not panic!

As Trixie stood by the door, trying her best to peek through the window every few seconds without revealing herself, her eyes fell on the nearly forgotten pair of green saddlebags standing packed and ready beside the door frame. Several weeks ago, after Trixie nearly died of fright at the hooves of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy had prepared them to assure Trixie that she was free to leave. Although at the time Trixie was too weak to actually leave the timid mare’s care, it had soothed her a lot to know that they were there.

Over time, the saddlebags had become practically part of the furniture, and were easily overlooked. But now… As far as Trixie knew, they still contained enough supplies to last her for at least a week. Trixie is mostly okay… so… she could take them, and run? It was a mere token of a suggestion, as her chest started to ache badly at the idea of leaving Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. She’d sooner attempt to vanquish half of Ponyville, than to be forced to do without the pair.

Trixie swallowed hard and glanced towards the window, half expecting to see the glow of torches coming over the first hill.


It’s been a while, why haven’t they come for Trixie yet?

The expected crusade had failed to arrive in a timely manner. Not that it would have been a very successful crusade, as Trixie kept a vigilant eye out, and had already decided on at least three different hiding spots, and two escape routes. The worst part had been the constant tension, but by now even that was losing its edge a little, which was scary in and of itself, but for different reasons.

Were they waiting to strike under the cover of night? Did they have some other plan she hadn’t accounted for yet? Maybe the town thinks Derpy is crazy, and won’t listen to her anyway? She does seem to get pranked an awful lot after all so… Catching herself in the act of actually hoping Derpy’s standing with the town was that bad, Trixie felt her stomach turn.

There wasn’t much she could do about Derpy, or for that matter, anything else, right now. She’d have to wait for Fluttershy to come back, and discuss it with her. Of course, after hiding the more saucy books in the back of one of Fluttershy's closets, Trixie was too nervous to do anything else, and had wound up brooding on the couch, which was practically the same as waiting for her return anyways.

Perhaps Trixie could move into Rainbow Dash’s home and lay low there for a bit? Trixie felt a little warmer as she considered the thought of spending a few nights at her place.

Wait, Fluttershy said Dash lives in a cloud house.

Reality came crashing back down to earth. Only pegasi could walk on clouds. Maybe she could spend a few nights with the Apples? She certainly liked them, but also didn’t know them all that well, though she knew them to be friendly, good ponies.

A stray thought sent a tremor of horror through her whole body. What exactly would happen if a crowd of witch burning ponies show up on Fluttershy’s doorstep, and Trixie is not there? It was too terrifying to consider. Sure, Dash had assured her that not everypony in town thought so poorly of Fluttershy, but the kind of ponies likely to be found in an angry mob were surely not the most tolerant or reasonable.

Confronted with that possibility, Trixie quickly decided that she would rather take her chances with the mob. That settles it, there was no way Trixie could just leave without taking Fluttershy with her, but then that means we have to somehow account for all the animals, and the food, and… Uhg. Her head throbbed painfully. It had been a while since she’d hurt herself just by thinking, or maybe it was the on setting sheer panic. It could also have been the lack of any food in Trixie's stomach, as lunch had long since passed while Trixie's growing panic kept her glued to the window.

Forcing herself to take deep breaths, Trixie did her best to stay in control. Her efforts slipped away as a sudden awareness of how long Fluttershy had been gone on her trip to Ponyville set in. What if something happened? Is that why the mob isn’t here yet? Did they get Fluttershy?!

Jumping off of the couch, Trixie began nervously pacing back and forth. It couldn't have taken Fluttershy this long to talk to this Rarity pony, right? Even if she was against meeting Trixie again, Fluttershy wouldn't have argued, if she was even capable of that. So where is she?

Scenarios of just what might be keeping Fluttershy away started making their way into Trixie's head, and when the clock tower at the edge of Ponyville suddenly began to chime, she found herself galloping towards the door. Trixie was just reaching for the front door when suddenly it swung open, causing Trixie to careen through. With a surprised grunt, Trixie crashed straight into the pony in the doorway, sprawling them both across the garden path outside.

“T-Trixie?” Fluttershy asked, looking dazed from the crash. “Are you okay? What’s wr—”

“Fluttershy!” Trixie cried out, and immediately pulled her into a tight hug. “You’re okay!” She’d never felt so glad to see her. Just holding the mare to her chest, Trixie could feel her headache ebbing away. A quick scan of their surroundings revealed there was still no sign of any angry mobs in hot pursuit, so presumably they were safe, for now.

“W-what? Why wouldn’t I be?” Confusion palpable in her voice, Fluttershy instinctively returned the hug. “Did something happen? You’re shaking.” She gently pushed Trixie back a little bit, allowing room for her inspecting gaze to roam. Finding nothing obvious, she locked eyes with Trixie again. Her brow furrowed for a moment as she regarded her quietly, then showed a comforting smile while she brushed her satin-soft feathers across Trixie’s cheeks, wiping away moisture. “It’s okay. Did you have another nightmare?”

Glancing briefly at the glistening beads that stuck to Fluttershy’s feathers as they moved away, Trixie quickly shook her head. “No. No, it’s not that. Trixie just… Trixie has to talk to you. Inside.” With more effort than she cared to admit, she forced herself to let go of Fluttershy and lead the way in.

Closing the door behind her, Fluttershy must have taken notice of the sudden addition of all the letters and a few innocent books to the table. “Trixie, uhm, why are these here?”

The living incarnation of serenity, Trixie calmly directed Fluttershy to take a seat on the couch. Fluttershy daintily sat down and gave Trixie a nervous smile. She's probably a little spooked, ramming into her and saying 'we need to talk', just after agreeing to try dating is never a good sign. Trixie needs to be calm, and explain this delicately to prevent any further worries.

"Would you like some tea before we start, Fluttershy?"

"O-oh? No thank you, Trixie. U-unless you want some? I could—"

Trixie quickly shook her head. "No, no. Trixie is just fine. Doing great, almost no problems at all..."

"R-right...w-would you like to take a seat and start? Y-you had something important to say, right?"

Laughing a little, Trixie nodded, while wondering if her laugh was a bit more high pitched than usual. She didn't want to freak out Fluttershy by sounding panicked when she wasn't, after all.

Sitting down, Trixie made sure there was a hoof length or two separating them. Though, Trixie doesn’t want her to think Trixie's too panicked about being close. She then wiggled over so they were touching. But, Trixie also doesn’t want her to think she’s pushing, or that Trixie is so worried that she needs support right now. She then shuffled away a single hoof length. Nodding in satisfaction, Trixie looked up and into the confused face of Fluttershy.

"R-right—" Trixie coughed to clear her throat. "So, well, Trixie's had some issues come up. You know Derpy, right? Of course you do, sorry." Was it getting warm in here? "So, Trixie was making eggs for when you came home, and Derpy showed up with the mail. She was kind of sick looking and thought Trixie had tried to kidnap her foal before, and—"

"—Wait, Derpy thinks you kidnapped Dinky?"

Why is there no air in this room? “N-no! Well, yes! But Trixie didn't! And then Derpy wouldn't come inside for eggs! So Trixie tried to drag her in, but it didn't matter anyways because Angel had set fire to the kitchen and—”

"—The kitchen!? Oh my, how horrible! Is the poor dear alright?"

"Y-yes...? Derpy should be okay, she crashed into the fence outside while the fire was going on, so Trixie is pretty sure she wasn't burnt at all."

"I...I meant Angel. And why did Derpy hit her head into the fence?"

Huh, those look familiar. Trixie thought, as little black dots started moving around her vision. "She was trying to not get dragged into the house for eggs. S-s-so Trixie let go of her, thinking Derpy must have been really busy, and she smashedintoitandnowwehaveallthismail!" Trixie's hoof shot up rapidly, pointing to all the mail on the table.

"Umm… what? Trixie, you're getting a little hard to—"

The room was getting suffocating, causing sweat to start running down her forehead. Trixie brought up a trembling hoof, wiping her forehead off, and then her cheeks, as she could somehow feel it trickling down them as well. M-must be from not eating lunch yet.

"B-but that's not all! Derpy knows where Trixie lives now! So she can bring an angry mob here, and Trixie could go, but what about you? AndTrixiedoesn'tknowhowtowalkoncloudsatall!"

"Trixie, a-are you crying? Just calm down and—"

"ItsnowonderCelestiahatesher! Trixieisbringingyoudownwitherand—"

"No pony hates you, Trixie. A-at least, I think that's what you said? I need you to calm down a little, and—"

"Trixieiscalm! She just doesn'tknowwhereanyponylives so themailshereforever! Andshecan'tfeedallyourpets
whenwehavetoleave! Shedidn'tmeanforthistohappen! Andshe'ssosorryforallofthisFluttershybut—"

Trixie mouth was suddenly forced shut. Trixie could barely see what was holding it closed due to how dark the room had kept getting as she talked. A gentle, but insistent voice worked its way into Trixie's ears.

"Look at me, Trixie."

Blearily, Trixie tried to focus on the black and yellow spot in front of her. Wiping her eyes helped a little, but she was feeling a bit tired for some reason, and the room was swaying lightly.

"Trixie," The gentle voice spoke again, "Just listen to me. Breath in. Now out. Now in. Now out."

Trixie followed Fluttershy's instructions, and after a few moments, realized Fluttershy had stopped talking, and was breathing in sync with Trixie. She could feel a soft puff of breath caress over her muzzle and neck each time Fluttershy breathed out, and could only guess that she was feeling the same from Trixie.

Slowly, the world started to come into focus again, and the yellow blur in front of her reverted to a pair of large blue eyes kindly looking into Trixie's own. Flutters eyes were gentle, but focused, almost refusing to let go of Trixie's, just as Fluttershy's hooves remained firmly around her muzzle.

Trixie's breathing normalized, she hadn't even been aware it was abnormal at all before this. After another moment of shared breaths, Fluttershy stopped. Slowly, she removed her hooves from Trixie's muzzle, but not once did her eyes disconnect from Trixie's. Trixie's own eyes never strayed, beyond the occasional blink. Then, as if there had been some kind of trigger, Fluttershy broke the trance. She gently booped Trixie on the nose with her own, leaving a warm feeling along Trixie's muzzle, before looking to the side.

"W-what was that?" Trixie shook her head, and wiped the few remaining bits of moisture off.

"O-oh, just a, uhm, breathing exercise. A-are you alright now, Trixie?" Fluttershy was staring at her again, though a slight hint of red bloomed from her cheeks. Fluttershy’s eyes were still pretty to Trixie, but didn't command her attention in the same way they had less than a moment ago.

"She's much better, Fluttershy, thank you." Trixie smiled and let out a calming sigh. She wasn’t quite sure why Fluttershy had been so enthralling, but whatever it was, it worked.

"I'm glad. I was afraid you were about to pass out on me. Now, if you're really okay, could you please tell me what had you so worried?"

With a nod, and a lick over her dry lips, Trixie began anew, telling Fluttershy everything.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.

I've tried working on two chapters this week. Actually kind of liked it. It has occured to me that I could write the main story chapters as normal, and work on a filly trixie chapter on the side as kind of a bonus to be thrown in whenever it completes. I'll have to see if that works out, but if so, I'd probably be less strict about knocking Trixie unconcious before putting up a filly chapter. :rainbowlaugh:

A well deserved shoutout to Phaoray, who put up with me for over eight hours to get this delivered to you in all it's glory. If you happen to enjoy Trixie centric stories, I heartily recommend checking him out. :trixieshiftleft:

PreviousChapters Next