Trixie and Applejack, the most and least honest ponies in all of Equestria. Two ponies who couldn't be more different and yet... they can't seem to get enough of one another.
A Trixiejack ship!
It all began during a terrible storm. Two mares with an awkward and bitter past end up forced to share each others company. A kindness offered and a kindness reciprocated. And before either one knew what was happening they were both tumbling head over hooves. But into what? Friendship? Or something more.
Well, Ah might jus' be the dumbest pony in all Equestria. Ah'm about as dumb as a mute squir'l with a drinkin' problem.
As the Element of Honesty, Applejack had as much trouble lying to herself as to anypony else. Unfortunately this means that she often finds herself having to come face to face with inconvenient truths. Tonight, for example, Applejack was coming to terms with the fact that she was probably going to die. Soon.
It was the worst blizzard Ponyville had seen in two generations. Due to an unforeseeable scheduling error several storms had been assembled simultaneously rather than being spread throughout the winter season. These misplaced storms had merged and grown well beyond the point where the rather understaffed Ponyville weather team could dissipate them. Current word on the street was that the town would have no choice but to batten down the hatches and wait out the storm.
And Ah had to pick tonight out of all possible nights to be as stubborn as a mule, knee deep in a barrel o' taffy.
Applejack's cousin Apple Cobbler had come stumbling through the sleet and into the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres to implore her kin for help, several hours before the storm hit its peak. Golden Orchards Farm was woefully underprepared for the coming tempest and Apple Rose, the matriarch of that branch of the Apple family, had sent out for help from all the surrounding farms.
And Ah jus' had to go chargin' into the storm like a buffalo with its head stuck in a hornet's nest.
With the snow squall brewing fiercely Applejack had decided she did not have time to implore her friends for help. She had left the young Apple Cobbler to warm up by the fire and set off with her brother into the blinding snow. They had tried to stay together but the howling winds had swallowed her brother's voice as they ran and even his bright red coat had vanished into swirling whiteness. Soon his tracks too had been devoured by the moaning white monster that enveloped her. She had called till her voice ran hoarse and ragged with no reply but the roar of the storm. Now, alone and hopelessly lost, she dragged herself on through the icy flurry.
Now Ah'm as cold as a... a frozen apple in a... as a... a... Ah'm as cold as...
Applejack's ability to formulate folksy similes was somewhat compromised by early signs of hypothermia. Her surroundings had seemed to blur together. She felt almost like she was lurching through a frozen dream, floating on the snowdrifts and tumbling down the icy anticlines. Finally, after what seemed like forever, but may well have been little more than a few moments, Applejack glimpsed a distant flicker of light.
That's gotta be Golden Orchards. Oh, Ah hope Big Mac's okay.
As she grew closer it became increasingly apparent that she was not approaching her intended destination. The glimmer of light came from a small window visible in what appeared to be little more than a miniature mountain of snow. Applejack shielded her eyes against the driving snow and squinted at the odd abode. It was a caravan, albeit half buried in the snow. A small purple sign was hung over the caravan's entrance sporting an azure wand surrounded by sky blue stars. The sign looked oddly familiar but in her dazed state she wasn't quite able to put the pieces together. She raised a trembling hoof and knocked.
There were several moments of surprised thumps and creaks and then silence. The half moon hatch opened a single cautious inch and a grey violet eye peeked out of the crack.
"Ah'm awful s-s-sorry to b-b-be b-b-botherin' ya so late. B-b-but Ah think Ah'm at the end of mah rope. C-c-can ya give me some shelter from the s-s-storm," Applejack's teeth chattered violently.
The door slammed shut, immediately.
Ah'm really gonna die out here. Dang it all. And I'm not even gonna be able to help out with Winter Wrap Up.
The door burst wide open and a brilliant blue unicorn exploded out of the caravan dressed in a sweeping star-covered purple cloak and matching wizard's hat.
"Rejoice, mere mortal! It is I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, your saviour, your heroine, your..." Trixie trailed off mid-sentence, "Trixie has decided, in her supreme wisdom, that it is too cold to continue this conversation outside."
With a flick of her tail and a swoop of her cloak she rushed hurriedly back inside, leaving the door open for her trembling visitor. Applejack's chattering teeth were stilled if only by the fact that she was now standing slack jawed.
Why, in Celestia's name, of all the ponies in Equestria did it have to be this one?
She heaved herself up the small step and slumped into Trixie's caravan. The magician extraordinaire was about to shut the door herself when a billowing gust beat her to it. As the wind rattled the walls of the small wooden caravan the two stood in silence, staring at one another.
Trixie cleared her throat, stepped daintily onto a small wooden stool, rose up onto two hoofs and continued, "Welcome to the humble abode of Equestria's greatest unicorn! The one, the only, the Great and Powerful Trixie! Be amazed at..." Trixie cut her speech short again. Her guest had quite clearly lost consciousness.
_______________________________
Applejack found herself enveloped in warmth as she swam in and out of waking. Her mind slowly nudging thoughts around, idly plucking at ideas out of the thick, moist haze. Storm. Snow. Cold. Help. 'Mac. Cold. So cold. Trixie. Trixie? Trixie!
Applejack gasped. Her eyes fluttering open to see the arrogant blue mare herself staring down at her. She burst up. Splashing around frantically for a few panicked moments.
"What in the hay is goin' on here?" she squawked, desperately trying to assess her surroundings.
She was sitting in a small rusty metal bathtub, waist deep in steaming water. The bathtub sat in the centre of the small wooden room. Trixie was seated at the other end of the steel tub, her fore-hooves dipped in the water, staring at AJ with a perplexed look on her face.
"Are you quite ready?" she asked, tilting her head inquisitively.
"Am Ah a what now?"
"Are you ready? Listening carefully? Fully awake? In possession of all your senses? May Trixie begin?" she tapped her hoof, impatiently, on the rim of the bathtub.
Applejack was more than a little disoriented but she nodded, if only out of confusion.
Trixie levitated the small wooden stool over to her and climbed onto it. She paused, appeared to remember something important and then climbed off. After retrieving her hat and cloak from a peg in the corner and putting them on she clambered back onto the stool and rose up on two hooves.
"Aha! Thank your fates, peon! The Great and Powerful Trixie, in her might and mercy, has decided that you shall be spared a miserable death in this terrible storm. You may stay the night in Trixie's palace of wonder!" Trixie glanced at Applejack expectantly from under the brim of her hat, "You have permission to shower Trixie with gratitude and adoration now."
Applejack took a moment to shake off the dizziness.
"Well, that ain't any kinda answer at all. What am Ah doin' in your bath?" she asked, irritably.
"Stand in awe at the sheer magnitude of Trixie's intellect!" crowed Trixie, evidently more than a little proud of herself, "Trixie read in a book that blankets are useless for saving freezing ponies because they work by keeping heat in: which only works if ponies have body heat to begin with. In a brilliant flash of insight, Trixie decided that a hot bath would be the best way to warm you back up. So with undeniable skill she heated some water," Trixie nodded at a small, simmering and blackened stove in the corner, its glowing coals wafting warmth through the cramped room, a crooked pipe, equally as rusty as the bath tub, served as a makeshift chimney. Some section of the pipe seemed to have been patched together with used tin cans, "She drew a bath and put you in it and, lo and behold, your life has been saved!"
Applejack tried to process this information, all the while attempting to filter out the smattering of self adulation.
"That bein' that, you didn't have to stand loomin over me, like. Almost scared me half to death."
Trixie pouted, "The Great and Powerful Trixie was holding your head up so you didn't slump down and drown in the water."
"Oh..." Applejack cast her eyes down, ashamed. However, her confidence slowly began to flow back into her as she regained her bearings, "Thank ya, kindly Miss Trixie. I reckon that about makes us two about even."
"Even!" piped Trixie indignantly, "Even nothing! The Great and Powerful saved your life! You owe her your eternal gratitude!"
"Eternal gratitude, my hoof! You tried to enslave me and all mah friends!"
Trixie deflated rapidly. She removed her hat, showing a pair of blue ears flattened against her pale mane. Hopping down off the stool she approached Applejack.
"You were... you were one of the ponies Trixie hurt? While using the amulet?" she was almost cowering behind the hat as she spoke. Peeking over the wide brim at Applejack who sat defiantly in the tub, glaring back at her.
"Now you ain't gonna tell me you've gone and clean forgotten about what you did, now are you?" asked Appljack splashing her hoof in the bath water as an act of self punctuation.
"Trixie can't remember much of what happened after she put on the Alicorn Amulet. Did she do something very bad to you?"
"You're darn right, you did! You tickled me something fierce! Made me into your slave, near as," cried Applejack, puffed up with self righteous indignation.
There was a long silence following this remark, broken only by the wind whistling under the door.
"Trixie... tickled you?" Trixies azure cheeks were now coloured a deeper shade of red than the ruby amulet in question. Applejack was suddenly unsure whether the steam was coming off the bath or off Trixie, "She made you do... demeaning... sexual things?"
"Wuh-What? No!" Applejack was now equally flustered.
"Did the Great and Powerful Trixie tickle you with her... tongue? Or her hooves? What did she do?" Trixie seemed to be riding the borderline between moist eyes and full on tears. Applejack's ears burned.
"Now, hold on there! It weren't nothing like that! You tickled me with feathers!"
"Were you tied down at the time? Were ropes and leather involved? Did Trixie's darker side get the better of her?" Trixie was in a full blown panic, her eyes already moistening with tears and her cheeks bright red.
"No! Just... don't worry about it. It wasn't as bad as all that."
Trixie sniffed miserably and wiped her now runny nose on her cape.
"Trixie was going to apologise afterwards but then somepony drew hurtful graffiti on her Caravan again and she thought it best if she just left. She did apologise to Twilight though!"
Applejack's irritation evaporated. Trixie was a dishevelled mess, only distinguisheable from some kind of travelling hobo by the stars on her cape and her air of confidence. She lived in this ramshackle wooden wreck, meagre evidence of her travels lying on display around the room. For once she seemed so much more genuine than their previous encounters. The facade of haughtiness seemed to be worn almost as an act of self parody than true conceit.
"Ah... don't worry about it," Applejack said as she made an effort to clamber out of the tub.
Trixie hastily nudged her back in. She levitated her cape and hat onto a nearby peg and Applejack could almost see her mentally rolling up her sleeves.
"Whatever happened... it's clear that the Great and Powerful Trixie has done some harm to you while she was behaving... in a manner that cannot be described as great. But put your fears and apprehensions aside! We may be even, now, but by the end of the night you will be in Trixie's debt. Trixie is going to take the best possible care of you she can for the night and then you can report back to Twilight that Trixie is a changed mare!" Trixie wiped her eyes and grinned, "Prepare yourself, commoner! You are about to receive the Trixie Treatment."
Applejack gulped.
This is going to be as awkward as a spring day in the fall.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie has not even the smallest obligation to obey the commands of a - GYAAAARGH!"
Wandering in the snow for close to an hour had momentarily caused Applejack to entirely lose track of her objectives. However, the warm embrace of Trixie's bathwater had brought some semblance of clarity to the still groggy farm pony.
"Mah brother's still out there in the cold somewhere! And Apple Bumpkin, Apple Cider, Apple Cinammon and Granny Rose are in trouble. This blizzard is probably burying Golden Orchards as we speak. Ah can't be wallowing around in the bath at a time like this!"
"Trixie is still unclear on how freezing to death in the snow will help anypony at all! Now get back in the bath and - BLEARGH!"
Trixie was smaller than Applejack, not as well nourished and not as accustomed to manual labour. As such the physical altercation between the two was proving to be a little one sided. Trixie attempted to stop Applejack from getting out of the bath. Applejack ploughed through Trixie. Trixie attempted to halt Applejacks advance. Applejack ploughed through Trixie again. Trixie latched on to Applejacks rear hooves. Applejack ploughed on, dragging Trixie with her on an unstoppable advance towards the small half-moon exit hatch to the caravan that she had come in through.
"You're still soaking wet! If you step out that door you will freeze instantly!" Trixie yelled, still lying prone and latched onto Applejack's ankles like a limpet.
This statement, to Trixie's surprise, actually managed to halt the rambunctious orange mare.
"Aha!" Trixie leapt to her hooves and puffed out her chest, "So you have decided to heed Trixie's words of wisdom? There may just be hope for you yet! Now get back in the bath before the Great and Powerful Trixie unleashes her fearsome magic!" Trixie did her best to sound intimidating despite being desperately short of breath after the brief struggle.
Applejack glanced around the inside of the small mobile hovel. She reached out for Trixie's cloak, hanging on a peg on the wall.
"Oh, no! Don't you dare!"
Applejack began wiping herself dry with the dusty purple cape.
"Ah have to go help the ponies I care about. Thank ya kindly for yer kindness but Ah've gotta be goin' now."
"You will do no such thing! You brought this on yourself! Now steel your heart as Trixie unleashes the full force of her limitless magic potential!" Trixie leapt forward with a cry. Snatching the cloak from Applejack telekinetically and holding it out of reach, "Despair your arrogance, earth pony!"
Applejack narrowed her eyes, "That's your idea of full force? Well if you think that's gonna stop me from helpin' mah brother then you got another thing coming! Twilight says unicorns gotta concentrate to use magic so if Ah give you a good shakin' Ah reckon you'll drop that towel lickety split."
"It's not a towel! And Trixie thinks you will have difficulty shaking her after she hoofcuffed you to her chest of props."
Applejack glanced down. There was a large wooden box sitting next to her on the caravan floor and her rear hoof was shackled securely to one of its carry handles. She gave an experimental tug. She hadn't noticed the crate of props when looking for something to dry herself off with but it seemed to be remarkably heavy and secured to the creaky wooden floorboard with bolts and nails.
"Now where in the hay did you get a pair of hoofcuffs at a time like this?"
Trixie harrumphed and sat back on her bed with folded hooves, "What kind of self respecting magician wouldn't have a pair lying around? Now stop this nonsense and settle down and then maybe Trixie might consider sharing her dinner with you!"
Applejack examined her bindings more closely, "These hoofcuffs are made of plastic! Ah can smash through these in a second!"
"No, no, no, no, no! Trixie needs those for her stage show and can't afford another pair! Have mercy!" the dishevelled magician had gone from gloating victory to abject begging in two seconds flat.
Applejack sighed, "Look... uh... Great and Amazing Trixie..."
"Powerful," interjected Trixie.
"Don't push it. Look, Ah can't stand idly by while somepony need mah help. Ah know a loner like you might not understand that but Ah gotta get back out there, no matter how dangerous it is," Applejack had been trying to soften her voice and be reasonable but she could see that the 'loner' comment had stung Trixie, "Ah'm sorry, but Ah simply can't stay. Ah'll be sure to tell Twilight that ya helped me proper next time Ah see her."
If there is a next time, said the voice of fear in the back of Applejack's mind. She gulped as another gust of wind rattled the old door and whistled through the cracks in the walls.
"But Trixie does understand! There's a pony who needs her help standing right in front of her right now!" The arrogant blue showpony was having a rare moment of uncharacteristic resolve on her part. She strode forward and looked the larger mare dead in the eye, "Trixie's father taught her that when you're lost the dumbest possible thing you can do is go running around in the wilderness. Especially at night!"
"Well, Ah..."
"If your brother were here would he ask you to go hurtling into certain death for his sake?"
"No, but Ah..."
"Do you have any idea where you are now? What direction you should go?"
"Not exactly but Ah..."
"So you might end up travelling further from your destination, for all you know?"
"That's as may be but..."
Applejack shrank a little more with each biting question. Where would she even go? Behind the misted panes of glass of the small window in the caravan was nothing but a spinning white oblivion. She'd probably end up circling the caravan a few times and then pass out in the snow. She was already shivering just thinking about that biting wind once more.
"Trixie can see that you care about these others a whole lot but sometimes you've got to take care of yourself first. If you would feel terrible if something bad happened to them then imagine how awful they would feel if you ended up as an apple flavoured popsicle," Trixie paused for a moment and then blushed deeply at the idea of sampling Applejack's flavour. She was still not entirely convinced that she hadn't done something shameful during her brief stint as Ponyville's tyrannical magic fuelled overlord.
Applejack failed to notice. She was already beating herself up mentally. Putting yourself first, once in a while. It had only been a week since Applejack had sent a letter to the Princess detailing how she had learned that exact same lesson and already she was back to her one-pony-with-the-world-on-her-shoulder ways.
Dear Princess Celestia. Although caring about your friends is great sometimes we push ourselves too hard and it affects the ponies we care about the most...
Applejack shook off the mocking voice in her head, "Ah jus'... Ah...oh, fine. Ah guess you're right."
"Trixie simply will not take no for an answer. The Great and Powerful Trixie insists that you... wait, did you say that I'm right? Well of course I am! Trixie is always right!" Trixie grinned merrily and began wringing out her soggy cloak into a rusty bucket next to her bed.
"So are you gonna let me outta these cuffs or should Ah break 'em?" asked Applejack.
"Just nudge the catch on the side and they come right off," said Trixie, re-hanging her cloak on its peg to dry and then diving down and rummaging around under her bed.
Limitless magic potential, mah right hoof!
Applejack had never been a fan of magicians. Magic tricks seemed too close to dishonesty by virtue of its very nature. It just didn't seem right to deceive other ponies and take money for it, even for their own entertainment. If pressed Applejack might admit to having held a rather stereotypical earth pony prejudice against unicorns in general. That was before she met Twilight and patched up her rather rocky relationship with Rarity, of course. Farmer ponies tended to look at magic as an easy way out, as lazy, dangerous or as a Trojan horse of sorts. Help offered by wealthy unicorns in hopes of ensnaring innocent peasants in their debt.
It was clear, looking around the inside of Trixie's caravan, that this particular unicorn had not bilked altogether too many bits from her fellow ponies through peddling illusions, however. The wooden shack on wheels that Trixie called home, albeit a welcome respite from the storm outside, was a patchwork of different kinds of salvaged wood and scrap metal. The lamp in the corner seemed to have been improvised out of a used can of tomato soup with holes cut in it. The pipe that was serving as a chimney for the ancient stove warming the room was primarily a mishmash of used cans welded together. Even Trixie's bed sported a patchwork quilt that had the feel of something stitched together out of cloth salvaged from other peoples refuse. Puddles of water surrounded the corroded old bath tub, the aftermath of their brief tussle. The aesthetic of the room seemed to massively undermine Trixie's grandiose demeanour.
The far wall featured what appeared to be shrine to Trixie herself: a smorgasbord of newspaper clippings mentioning her, faded posters of her shows, an empty vase that may have been intended to hold roses thrown by admirers and a filthy and cracked mirror. Although the presence of such an egotistical display did not surprise Applejack in the least she was surprised by its frugal nature. Trixie was not poor because she wasted all her money on arrogant self indulgence. She was simply poor.
"Now you may want to take several deep breaths and make sure you're sitting comfortably," Trixie emerged from under her bed apparently empty hooved, "Because this may just give you a heart attack if you're not properly prepared for it. Trixie has been saving the best for last. She's kept something stowed away for just such a special occasion. Behold in amazement!" Trixie held out her empty hoof.
"Or is there?" exclaimed Trixie, waggling her eyebrows like a madmare. She twirled elegantly and waved her hooves in a flurry. Finally after a sudden flick of the wrist she produced her prize. A single, slightly dented, can of tinned peaches, "Tadaaaaa! The Pie family gave them to Trixie as a reward for her magnificent performance as a geological agriculture consultant and rock breaker."
"A can of peaches?"
"In syrup," nodded Trixie, leaning close to Applejack, clearly expecting her guest to be as excited as she was.
Now Applejack, be polite. Not everypony's as well off as you and gets to eat fresh baked fancies every night. You take that poor girl's hospitality and you take it with a smile on yer face.
Applejack caught herself before she let her inner voice start sounding too much like Granny Smith.
"Gee, that's just... swell. Ah can't thank ya enough, Miss Trixie."
"Please, call me the Great and Powerful Trixie. All my friends do," Applejack didn't know Trixie well enough to tell if she was joking or not. She suspected that Trixie wasn't. She suspected correctly, "Now Trixie would be pleased...ahem... Trixie would not be entirely displeased if you would consider sharing in her delightful dinner and sleeping the night away in her majestic domicile."
"That'd be jus' great... the Great and Powerful Trixie. Only one teensy problem though..."
"And what would that be?"
"You've... only got one bed in here."
"...Trixie might be willing to admit that she had not thought of that yet."
Trixie had not considered altogether too many possible problems surrounding the act of inviting the friend of her biggest rival to stay the night. But the worst, and best, had only just begun.
Hunger and cold had a tendency to vastly improve even the most meagre meals. Despite her reservations about eating half the poverty stricken magician's dinner, Applejack found herself almost reluctant to relinquish the remaining half. Trixie had watched Applejack eat half the can of peaches in silence, trying not to drool as the earth pony munched her way through what was supposed to have been Trixie's private treat. She was almost salivating when it was finally her turn to eat.
"You seem almost as hungry as Ah am. And Ah missed mah dinner and jus' got in out of a snowstorm. You sure you been eatin' properly?" Applejack asked with genuine concern.
Trixie did seem a little worse for wear. The cloak and hat somewhat covered it up but her ribs were showing at certain angles and her mane had not seen much in the way of care.
"Mmmhmm-mmhmhmhm," replied Trixie, her eyes closed in ecstasy and her tail swishing happily back and forth as she ate.
"Uh... Ah didn't quite catch that..."
Trixie lifted the can telekinetically and emptied what little contents were left into her mouth. One loud gulp later she grinned at her guest, "Trixie simply likes peaches, that is all. She does not have the money for fancy foods and sweet things are a rare treat," As a farmer, malnourishment was something that Applejack really hated to see.
Trixie raised an eyebrow at the expression on the earth pony's face, "Now don't look at me like that. The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need of your pity. She's going to be the greatest magician in all Equestria! Once Trixie makes it then the bits will flow in like a river!"
Whether it was ambition or simply delusion, something about Trixie's confidence seemed a little different from the arrogant facade she had worn on her first two outings in Ponyville. Applejack stumbled over her words for a moment and found herself unable to meet the blue unicorns fiery gaze. An awkward silence descended on the two, broken only by the crackling and spitting of the embers in the small rusted stove that the two were sitting before for warmth.
"... well... Trixie won't deny that she's often gone to bed with an empty stomach. She supposes that she might have sold some of her props or even her caravan for a few more warm beds and meals but Trixie knows that the line between 'travelling magician' and 'wandering crazy homeless mare' is blurred even at the best of times."
Applejack started to chuckle and then struggled to suppress it. Trixie snorted and then giggled. And then the two of them laughed together long and hard. And with that, the ice was broken.
"Ah hope you don't take this the wrong way but you seem like a totally different pony from when we first met," said Applejack, putting a hoof on one of Trixie's slender shoulders.
"Of course! Trixie has turned over a new leaf. This is Trixie 2.0, new and improved, now with added humility!"said Trixie, puffing out her chest with pride.
"Humility!" Applejack laughed even harder at this.
"Trixie is the most humble pony in all Equestria!"
Applejack took a moment to contemplate the act of asserting superiority over all other ponies in the category of humility.
A sudden squall made the caravan walls shudder and creak suddenly, interrupting the jovial mood. The gust brought all of Applejack's worries rushing back in.
"Try not to worry. Trixie is sure everything will be okay," even the most dense of ponies could read Applejack like an open book. Her emotions were as plain as day and at the moment she was a mess of anxiety. Her likeably obnoxious azure companion had managed to temporarily distract her from fretting about Big Mac and the others but fear had a way of creeping back in, "Perhaps the Snowmare has saved your brother already..."
Applejack glanced at Trixie, confused, "What snowmare?"
A sly smile crept across Trixie's face. She rose and trotted across the room. Shifting the bathtub out of the way with magic she turned dramatically to face a rather bemused Applejack. Trixie's horn sparked and the air lit up with light and colour. The flickering illusion warped into a swirling image, it showed a blurred figure moving in the snow, too far away to be seen.
"Once upon a time, a long time ago..." Trixie was in performer mode, her stage presence dominating the small wooden room and captivating her one-pony audience, "The world was covered in darkness. Ponies feared and hated one another and their hatred poisoned the sky. A deathless, endless blizzard raged over the land. Many starved, others fled their homes and wandered the frozen wastelands in search of hope. The powerful unicorn wizard, Red Frost, was shocked at the plight of his people."
Trixie's small, magical puppet show morphed once more. A huge red-maned figure in a cloak and hat, not unlike Trixie's own, stared out across a barren icy wasteland dotted by abandoned homes and a crumbling windmill.
"Although Red Frost was powerful enough to keep himself alive indefinitely, even under the storms brutal assault, he now had to endure a bitter loneliness. All others had embarked on an exodus for greener pastures and Red Frost had been left forlorn: a solitary guardian to watch over the kingdom in case the curse of the blizzard were ever lifted. One day the isolation grew too much to bear."
With a flick of her horn Trixie caused the small magical picture to change. Now the red figure knelt in the snow. His own horn was charged with energy, the snow around him coursing and shifting.
"He made a daughter for himself out of the snow. A feat of magic unlike any the world had ever seen. The Snowmare. A nameless but beautiful being. With wings made of snowflake lattice, body of deep blue ice, mane of pure white snow, fur of frost and a tail crafted from the glacial wind itself."
An image of the Snowmare was momentarily brought to life by Trixie's magic. An elegant figure of the purist blue and white, almost invisible against the snowstorm backdrop. Applejack huddled up by the stove's mouth. The very real blizzard outside, the dancing lights and Trixie's melodic voice were making her feel dreamy and sleepy again. She remembered the many tales Granny Smith had woven for her as a child. She was captivated by Trixie.
"But one day... everything changed. Princess Celestia took charge of the world, inspired her subjects to love and respect one another and brought forth a long awaited dawn. Warmth returned to the land, plants sprung forth once more, life reawakened and all rejoiced. All but one. As the lands thawed Red Frost knew that his dearest daughter's life hung in the balance. When the sun's rays touched the North then the Snowmare would melt into the nothingness from whence she came. Red Frost expended all of his magical power to save her. He used a teleportation spell to travel many hundreds of miles to reach Celestia before the daybreak in the North stole his beloved child. But Red Frost had grown old over the years. Using that much magic at once taxed him enormously. He had barely enough energy left to drag himself before the Princess and beg her mercy. He expired right there and then."
A look of sadness passed over the Sun Princess's motherly face, or at least Trixie's rendition of the Sun Princess in the glimmering phantasm that her magic had produced.
"The Princess saw Red Frost's sacrifice and decided that, in honour of his accomplishments and his service, the Northern Reaches on the border of the Crystal Empire should remain frozen forever. Some say the Snowmare still dwells there. And at times she grows lonely, herself, so she travels out in the winter all across Equestria, riding icy storm clouds and saving ponies lost in the snow."
Trixie laughed haughtily, "Now Trixie usually doesn't buy into this childish nonsense... but... a few months ago the Great and Powerful Trixie made the long and arduous journey to the North in hopes of amazing some of the ponies of the newly reappeared Crystal Empire. Trixie ended up getting lost along the way, no fault of her own I assure you. Somepony must have sold her a dysfunctional map because Trixie's navigational skills are unquestionably just as fantastic as Trixie herself," Applejack rolled her eyes at this but continued listening intently.
"Trixie's caravan fell into an icy crevasse and she thought all was hopeless and that she was going to freeze to death. But she saw a strange figure coming towards her in the snow just before she passed out. When Trixie woke up she was in an inn in the Crystal Empire. The inn keeper said she had been found lying outside their door. And her caravan with all her belongings was there too. But Trixie was sure all had been lost," The magic swirling around Trixie's horn had died down, now, and the magician settled down by the stove once more.
"So do ya think it was the Snowmare that saved ya?" asked Applejack, keen to know more.
"Maybe it was... maybe it wasn't."
Applejack paused and then frowned.
"Wait a darn-tootin' minute. Was any of that true?"
"Nope, not a word of it," said Trixie, meekly, "Trixie made the whole thing up on the spot."
Applejack had been jolted rather suddenly out of her dreamlike trance.
First that nonsense with the Ursa Major, always tellin' everypony that she's the greatest at this or the best at that, trickin' me with fake hoofcuffs. Does this pony just like tellin' lies all the time?
"Well if it ain't true then why'd ya waste mah darn time with all that hoo-ha then?" she asked, bristling at the perceived attempt at deception.
Trixie sniffed and then pouted, "The Great and Powerful Trixie decided, in her wisdom, that maybe you could use a distraction or some comfort... or... something."
"Oh..." again Applejack scolded herself for being too judgemental. It had cheered her up, it had made her feel better, it had had the best of intentions behind it. Could she even think of something like that as a lie? Applejack bit her lip. Trixie sat in silence staring into the glowing coals in front of them.
"Well... uh... for somethin' you made up on the spot that was... really good. Ah really enjoyed it. Thank you, Trixie," Applejack offered as a kind of clumsy apology.
Trixie perked up immediately. Her weakness to flattery, even the most modest of flattery, was legendary.
"Do you really think so?" Trixie's grin stretched from ear to ear. She continued with palpable excitement, "Trixie stole some ideas from old story books she read when she was younger and patched them together. Red Frost was a real wizard and he really did try and make a child for himself but Trixie recalls that he did it with random body parts and necromancy."
Applejack laughed nervously.
"But that didn't seem like a story that would cheer you up so Trixie displayed her undeniable intellect and modified the story accordingly."
"Yeah, Ah don't think a story 'bout some creep who goes 'round stealin' body parts to make a zombie daughter woulda cheered me up any - AAAAAAAAARGH"
A terrifying red visage peered in at the two of them through the misted window pane. Trixie had all but leapt into Applejack's arms when she saw it.
"What is that thing? Theres somepony out there in the snow, staring at us through the window!" squealed Trixie in pure terror.
"Buh-buh-buh-buh..." blubbered Applejack.
"Save Trixie! She can't die until she's made it as a magician! She's never even performed before a crowd of 100 ponies before! She's too young to have her limbs stolen!"
AJ flung her forelegs around her brothers broad shoulders, nuzzling his straw coloured mane and squeezing as tightly as she could.
"Big Mac! Are ya okay?"
"Eeyup," came the familiar reply. Mac's fur felt hot to the touch and his breath was a series of puffing clouds in the cold of the snowy night. He had clearly been cantering hard moments earlier. The two were embracing outside of Trixie's caravan as the azure magician peeked at them nervously through her window.
"What happened? Where'd you go? Did ya make it to Golden Orchards? Are they alright?" Applejack commenced a barrage of questions.
The stoic red stallion stood in silence. He had an unspoken one-question-at-a-time rule with mostly everypony who knew him well. Finally, when Applejack had calmed down, took a deep breath and let go of him he cleared his throat. Mac glanced at the blue unicorn peeking at him from inside the caravan. Trixie squeaked and ducked out of sight.
"Got to Golden Orchards in time and helped out. Granny Rose sends her regards. Everypony's jus' fine. Storm's all but blown over. Came back to fetch ya and take ya home," he said calmly, glancing up at the sky. He was right. The storm's peak had seen driving snow and howling winds but little more than a chilly breeze now remained, causing the drifting snowflakes to dance in the dark night sky.
"But how in hay did ya find me out here? Ah must've wandered way off the path."
AJ could recognise when her brother had been asked a question he really didn't want to answer. He shuffled his hooves awkwardly in the snow and averted his eyes. She frowned, "Now ya ain't gonna tell me you were jus' wanderin' around lookin' through random windows. You knew Ah was here and we ain't goin' anywhere till ya fess up."
Big Mac strongly disliked explaining himself for long periods of time, particularly within earshot of ponies he didn't know very well, and even more so when the topic alluded to internal family matters.
"After we got separated Ah went back to find you. Followed your tracks and saw you make it to shelter," he nodded at the caravan, "Figured since you were safe Ah'd press on alone and help at Golden Orchards."
AJ narrowed her eyes. One could almost see her hackles rising, "...so if ya caught up with me then why didn't ya come over and tell me yer okay so I wouldn't worry mahself inside out?"
This was the question that Mac had been fearing.
"Well..." he began slowly, "You looked like you were freezing and Ah... well... Ah knew if Ah went over and talked to ya you'd insist on coming with me the rest of the way to Golden Orchards. And Ah'd have to try and talk ya out of it and... Ah jus' ain't much good at talkin'," He left the rest unsaid, as he so often did. McIntosh had wanted his sister to stay safe. He never even wanted her to follow him into the blizzard to begin with but hadn't had the words to convince her not to.
Usually AJ would have used this as a chance to give her big brother an earful. He was often overprotective of her despite her own convictions that she could handle anything. It was the one thing they argued about most, if one mare berating a silent stallion can be called an argument. Applejack would shoulder too much, her brother would dare to say so much as a single word about it and Applejack would empty her frustrations on him. Like a familiar dance this had played out many times before. Applebuck Season last year when Mac had injured his ribs and AJ had bit off more than she could chew, the disaster of a family reunion she had organised, various overambitious projects she had started to work on last fall, several outings and sleepovers with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and countless other examples came to AJ's mind as she thought back on the many times her brother had tried to shelter her from trying too hard to please everypony and neglecting her own safety.
She sighed. It was no wonder Mac would have felt like he was walking on eggshells by telling her she couldn't handle the snowstorm and should just stay home and warm. He had been right, after all. While he had marched on through the bitter cold undaunted she had crumbled like a cookie on a hot-cocoa diving expedition.
She punched him lightly on the foreleg, "There! Ah forgive ya, you big lug. Now jus' hang on. Ah've gotta wrap this up and then we can go home together, alright?"
She trotted back to the entrance to Trixie's caravan to find the azure conjurer crouching by the door and peeping out at the siblings. As Big Mac shambled over she withdrew, cautiously.
"That's close enough, sirrah! Any closer and Trixie will turn you into a frog!" shouted Trixie. Mac stopped in his tracks.
AJ rolled her eyes, "What the hay is wrong, Trixie? Ah told ya it ain't no monster or nothing. This is mah big brother."
Trixie glared at Mac suspiciously, "Big is right," she hissed to Applejack, "He's enormous! Are you sure he doesn't mean Trixie any harm? Did she do anything bad to him last time she was in Ponyville?"
Applejack had to pause and think back on the Alicorn Amulet incident. Big Mac wasn't a violent or vengeful sort anyway but AJ honestly wasn't sure whether he had any kind of grudge against Trixie. She tossed Mac a fleeting look and concluded, based on his blank expression, that he had clean forgotten who Trixie was. The big red carthorse wasn't good at faces and Trixie wasn't wearing her trademark hat and cloak at the moment.
"Well, ya didn't do anything bad to him directly. Although you were kinda responsible for making him dress up like his sister and act like a mare..."
Trixie blushed deeply, again. Now she was completely certain that she had done something perverted while under the Amulet's corrupting influence.
"But don't worry 'bout a thing. Mac here ain't gonna hurt ya."
Trixie frowned, "Did Trixie overhear you saying that you were going to go home? Not that she was eavesdropping or anything!"
"Yup, looks like the worst of the storm is over and the Golden Orchard Farm is safe so Ah reckon Ah'd best get home and tell mah sister and Apple Cobbler that everything's okay. Mah brother'll make sure Ah get back safe and sound so..."
"That's a relief!" blurted Trixie, "Because the Great and Powerful Trixie was already growing tired of your company and certainly wasn't having any kind of fun spending time with you. And she wasn't looking forward to sharing her bed either! Now that she knows that you're safe she can go back to her majestic, exciting and certainly not lonely life! So go on back to Ponyville then and be sure to tell Twilight that Trixie is doing just fine and is a fully reformed and functional member of pony society who helps ponies that come to her in need of aid. Because that's why Trixie helped you and for no other reasons whatsoever! Hmph!" and with that Trixie slammed the door in Applejack's face.
Applejack stood in stunned silence for a moment. Then she smiled.
"Trixie?" she called. She hadn't heard any hoofsteps on the creaky wooden floor of the caravan so presumably Trixie was still standing right on the other side of the door.
AJ leaned close to the door and said, "Thank you," softly. There were a few embarrassed thumps from within and then stillness.
"Come on, Big Mac. We best be headin' home then. Applebloom and Granny Smith are prob'ly worried sick."
McIntosh followed her, silently expressing his curiosity through sideways glances at his suddenly cheerful younger sister as they trotted together through the snowy night. Applejack couldn't wipe the grin off her face. Trixie was adorable.
It's the funniest thing, she thought, jus' 'cos somepony lies an awful lot don't mean that they're any good at it. Ah think Ah'll go tell Twilight all about tonight first thing tomorrow.
A day and a half later, the laboursome task of inspecting the damage the storm had wreaked on their own farm fell to the two Apple siblings. Big Mac had set off to the Northern edge of Sweet Apple Acres with several lengths of thick rope and, judging by the loud crashes that echoed across the farm, Applejack guessed he had already begun clearing felled trees and larger debris. For her part, AJ was walking the farm's perimeter. The apple trees were still drooping low under the weight of the clean white snow that smothered the farm but the orange earth pony needed to identify areas of more disastrous damage to their crop. The zap apple trees were particularly vulnerable to wind damage and because they needed to be arranged in a specific formation in order to bloom properly come spring. But as she marched along the frozen ground AJ noticed something odd. The tip of a purple wizard's hat was poking out of one of the dry irrigation ditches that divided the Southern Orchard.
"Trixie... what in the hay are ya doin'?" asked AJ, not even needing to look in the ditch to confirm that it was indeed the arrogant blue magician to whom she was speaking.
Trixie was snaking her way along the dry ditch on her belly. Her star studded cape was stretched out behind her, snagged on an errant tree root. She cringed at Applejack's voice and glanced up fearfully. Seeing who it was that had called out to her she seemed to relax. She made an attempt to rise but the slippery black ice that ran along the bottom of the ditch impeded her progress. Blushing she launched into one of her grandiose entry speeches.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie, master of stealth that she is, decided to visit you. Knowing that she was unwelcome in Ponyville she infiltrated the area unseen and allowed you to become aware of her presence when you drew near," she replied, still lying prone in the ditch and tugging weakly at her cloak.
"You wanted to visit me? How come?" Applejack was didn't mean to sound displeased to see the unicorn at all. In fact Trixie had not been far from the farm pony's mind since their last encounter. She had been meaning to make a trip out to Trixie's caravan with an apple pie as a thank you present as soon as she'd finished up the many chores the blizzard had left in its wake.
She'd spoken to Twilight about her midnight encounter with the magician and the librarian had seemed to be most pleased about Trixie turning over a new leaf. The purple Princess's prodigy had encouraged AJ at length to extend the hoof of friendship to Trixie, always a believer in the 'power of friendship and acceptance as a tool for reformation' as Twilight had elegantly put it. And on a personal note Applejack was finding more and more that she actually wanted to see the amusing azure illusionist.
But it was a bit of a surprise to see the magician here. Trixie had slammed a door in Applejack's face the when the two had last parted ways and AJ wasn't sure how the arrogant young mare was going to reconcile her presence here with the facade of indifference she had erected on their last encounter.
"Trixie came to make sure that you're okay..."
This sudden honesty surprised AJ even more, "Well shoot, Trixie. If that isn't the kindest thing-"
"Because Trixie knows that it can be hard to readjust."
Applejack took a deep breath. This had better be good.
"When normal ponies are exposed to copious amounts of Trixie they often have trouble returning to their ordinary non-Great and Powerful lives. Trixie simply came to make sure that you weren't experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Have your days seemed dull and uneventful in Trixie's absence? Have you lost interest in all your hobbies? Does the world seem drained of colour?" she asked, trying to get up and slipping on an icy patch.
When Applejack had managed to stop laughing, more at the magnitude of Trixie's breathtaking self-assurance then at her clumsiness, she helped the unicorn untangle her cloak and scramble out of the ditch.
"You know Trixie you're not completely wrong. Ah did kinda wanna see ya again to thank ya prop'ly for helpin' me out."
"Kinda?" Trixie sounded disappointed, "Clearly you have yet to appreciate the full majesty of Trixie! Perhaps we can rectify that. Trixie gives you her permission to accompany her on a picnic. You can bring the food, basket and other accessories and Trixie will bring herself," she leaned closer to AJ and winked, "and the magic, of course."
Applejack had not known Trixie very long but she had already begun to assemble a Trixie-translator in her head. For example:
"Hello again, Applejack. I was concerned for your wellbeing and came to see you. I greatly enjoyed your company and would like to spend more time with you if it's at all convenient. Also I'm very hungry and given my current financial standing and fear of being chased out of town I'm not able to buy food and so I was wondering if maybe you could help me." was Applejacks best attempt at an approximate translation of what Trixie had said so far. She realized, suddenly, that she had been grinning broadly from the moment she had caught sight of Trixie.
"How'd ya even figure out where Ah lived?"
"Listen and be amazed at Trixie's powers of deduction!" cried Trixie, and then immediately cowered and looked around nervously when she realized how well her voice had carried across the cold air. Once she was sure that her loud outburst had not summoned an angry mob of townsponies wielding torches and pitchforks the unicorn continued, "Trixie noticed that you had apples for a cutie mark and this is the only place in town with Apple in its name and on its signposts. Trixie put two and two together and decided to snoop around here a bit."
"Well, it's still a bit nippy for a picnic but Ah'd gladly treat ya to lunch up at the house, if ya'd like."
Trixie hurriedly wiped her drool and nodded, "Trixie finds this acceptable."
Another loud crash reverberated through the chill air of the winter afternoon. Trixie visibly flinched. Mac must have just yanked down one of the larger broken branches.
"Are there other ponies on the farm? Ponies who might be... less than pleased to see Trixie again?" asked a rather cautious Trixie.
"Now listen here, sugarcube. We Apples ain't the sort to hold grudges unreasonably. Now the worst you did against mah family was make us waste a day's worth of apple pickings. And since yer not evil or crazy anymore Ah reckon all is forgiven. Applebloom's out playing with her friends in the snow. Ah think Rarity was on CMC duty this week. Big Mac's got a mountain of work ahead of him and Granny Smith always sleeps in late on colder days," Applejack paused. She was about to do and say something remarkably out of character on her part. She almost never slacked off work, especially when something on the farm was in need of tending to. But maybe... just this once, "Ah reckon Ah can put off my chores a few more hours and whip you up a little somethin' to eat. So come on up!"
Wait, did Ah jus' say 'sugarcube'? Ah only call ponies Ah really care about sugarcube... and Ah'm ditchin' my chores even though there's so much left to do today. What the hay is happenin' to me?
Applejack was unable to keep her eyes off Trixie. She'd never seen a pony eat so much so quickly. If she didn't put a stop to it soon the Apple family would have their winter larders run dry. Trixie looked up, about halfway through her third pie, still with a dollop of filling on her nose.
"Why are you staring at Trixie like that?" she raised an eyebrow, "Captivated by the splendour of Trixie's company already?"
"You've got some apple in yer hair," smiled AJ.
Applejack was seated across the kitchen table from Trixie, leaning her chin on her hoof and watching the blue unicorn gorge herself. Trixie barely hesitated for a moment before charging snout first into what was left of the pie.
"About you... didn't ya say the whole point of you helpin' me out during the blizzard was so Ah'd go back and tell Twilight you're doin' better and yer not out for revenge again or anything'," Trixie stared blankly at AJ for a moment, she was still lost in a giddy, food induced, high.
"Ah... ah! Right! And what did Twilight Sparkle say?"
Well, Twilight said Ah should be as friendly as Ah can with you so you don't go off the deep end again. Sometimes even the element of honesty had to execute a little discretion.
"Uh... Twilight said that... uh... that it's great that you're doin' so well," that much was true.
"It is great! And powerful! But not powerful in a corrupted, magical amulet kind of way. Do you eat food like this every day?" said Trixie, her cheeks still stuffed to bursting, "Hmphmph- Trixie hasn't... hmhmph... eaten this well in ages."
"Go easy there, sugarcube. It ain't goin' nowhere."
Now that AJ had got Trixie all to herself she wasn't really sure what to say. Maybe it might be worth tackling the elephant in the room.
"So... uh... fought any Ursa Majors lately?" she had meant it as a joke but the way Trixie stopped eating mid bite suddenly made things awkward.
"Trixie remembers her first outing to Ponyville. That was the first time we met, wasn't it? You were one of the neigh-sayers heckling Trixie's magnificent performance," Applejack rubbed her arm nervously as Trixie spoke. Trixie eyed her warily and then put down the slice of pie she'd been munching on, "Trixie supposes that she owes you an apology, of sorts. For embarrassing you in front of your friends."
"And for lying," said AJ bluntly.
"Now Trixie will not apologize for embellishing the truth. You don't know what it's like being a magician in Equestria. Young ones these days couldn't care less about stage magic. Some of them can even do real magic themselves. No pony was willing to give Trixie a chance until she started telling ponies that she'd accomplished great feats. No pony wanted to listen to Trixie's stories until she said that they were true."
"Look, Ah know that you've had a tough time. That you're still havin' a tough time. But that ain't no kind of an excuse for lyin' to folks. The truth will always come out in the end and then you'll jus' be in a worse spot then you were before," this seems to have sunk home with Trixie. Although her lies had won her temporary fame she was now reviled as a fraud. AJ continued, "Why do you do this whole 'Great and Powerful' act for everypony? Why can't you jus' try bein' yerself for a change?"
Trixie sat in silence for the longest time. Staring at the table in front of her and unmoving. When she finally spoke her voice was a dry monotone. Devoid of the flair and pizzazz that she usually spiced up her speech with.
"When I was very young my father past away. I had to live with my step mother. She hated me. Not a single day went by without her telling me what a burden I was being. What a disappointment I was. I would go to school every morning without a shred of confidence. Because of that I spent all my time alone and got bullied really badly at school as well. Every day ponies would tell me that I was worthless. That I was stupid. That I was weak. And soon I realized that what they were saying to me was becoming true. I often ditched school to hide from the bullies. And my marks plummeted because of it. Ponies called me stupid and then I started failing my classes and proving them right. They told me I was a loner. And so I remained a loner. They told me that I would fail and then I did. They told me I was a burden and so I became one. Words have power. When you get told something over and over you start to believe that it must be true. And when you believe something is true then it will decide what you can and can't accomplish. We base our lives, our expectations, our hopes on what we believe to be true. We create our own realities based on the things we are told, the things we learn and the things we experience. So on the day I got my cutie mark I decided that if everypony else was going to tell Trixie that she was pathetic and powerless then she'd just have to tell herself the opposite. Trixie would defy the truth. She would create her own truth. She'd tell herself she was brilliant a hundred times for every single time she was told that she was pitiful by other ponies. She'd crow it from the rooftops and whisper it to herself before she went to bed. Trixie is Great and Powerful. Trixie is spectacular. Trixie is the greatest there ever was."
Trixie got off her chair now. Her air of confidence returning. She strutted across the kitchen and stood, staring defiantly at her host.
"When somepony is told something over and over again they become convinced that its true. And Trixie has told herself that she is Great and Powerful every day since she ran away from home ten years ago. And, although her confidence may have been a little rattled by Twilight Sparkle, she still believes that it is true. That she is Great and Powerful. And if she believes it long enough, if she works hard enough then maybe it will really be true," her voice wobbled momentarily and then she regained her composure, "Trixie can see that you value honesty and the truth but Trixie knows that the truth is a thing we make for ourselves. Sure, Trixie often told stories about herself defeating an Ursa Major. But these stories were more than true: not because they actually happened but because ponies need to believe that monsters can be beaten. Trixie knows they can. She's beaten a few herself and some of the ones she faced were scarier than some stupid bear."
Applejack paused. She removed her hat and placed it gently on the table. She took a deep breath. And then she gave Trixie the biggest hug she had ever given anypony in her life.
When asked about that day at a later date Trixie would tell everypony that she most certainly did not cry in Applejack's warm embrace. Trixie says lots of things that aren't really true.
As AJ cradled the sobbing magician she mentally tried to calm herself down. Her heart was pounding in her chest as if it were about to burst free and run a lap around Sweet Apple Acres. She'd hugged plenty of ponies in her life, family and otherwise, and never felt anything like this before.
Now Applejack, she told herself, what the heck're you gettin' so worked up about? Trixie here needs a shoulder to cry on and you're fillin' your head with stupid thoughts. Stop tryin' to smell her mane! Stop... stop... dang, she smells really good. Like pine needles. I wonder if she'd think it weird if I kissed her. Nothin' romantic like. Maybe jus' a motherly peck on the nose to make her feel better. No, no, no, no, no! Control yourself, consarn it! She jus' unburdened a whole load of baggage on you and your here thinkin' about... about... touching her soft little cheek... kissing her beautiful lips and...
"Applejack?"
AJ jerked away, breaking off the embrace.
"Trixie wasn't crying, mind you," sniffed the azure unicorn, wiping her snout on her cape, "She just has allergies that's all! But thank you... for helping Trixie with her... allergies. And for hugging her," Trixie awkwardly shuffled her hooves and stared at the ground.
"Uh..." Applejack laughed nervously, "Think nothin' of it. Everypony's gotta unburden themselves once in a while," she took a deep breath.
Why's it so darn hard to calm mahself down?
"Listen... Ah'm really sorry you had to go through that stuff and if you ever need to talk, well, jus' know that Ah'm here for you," she said, her cheeks still noticeably flushed.
"You are? Why?" Trixie looked genuinely confused.
"That's what friends're for, ain't it?"
Trixie's jaw nearly hit the floor, "Wait, what? We're f-f-f-friends? Really? When did? Why would you? What? Really? Trixie has never had a frie-" Trixie cut herself short, "What Trixie meant to say is that she would be glad to add you to the long, long list of ponies that Trixie considers her friends."
And for once the clumsy dishonesty didn't bother AJ in the least.
"So how long're you gonna be in Ponyville for? Ah hope you won't leave too quickly 'cos of all the bad blood 'tween you and the others," said Applejack, starting the arduous task of cleaning up the ruinous mess that the hungry blue mare had left on the kitchen table, "Ah'd love it if-" she reconsidered her phrasing, "Ah'd really like it if-"
Dang it! You're jus' asking her out as a friend so stop pussyfootin' around and go for it.
"Therein lies the problem. Trixie was en route to Baltimare to see if she could find work when she got stuck in that snowstorm. Now the wheels of her caravan are frozen and even with her spectacular magical might Trixie can't get the thing to budge. Being half buried in snow has not helped the situation either. So, it seems your small town will enjoy the glorious presence of the Great and Powerful Trixie for quite a while. The only problem with that is..." Trixie paused for a moment in thought, "... one of the many, many problems with that is that Trixie does not have any money and she ate the last of her food with you."
This thought hit AJ fairly hard. That can of peaches had been the last of the magicians supply.
"Well shoot, no wonder you were hungrier than a timber wolf in a lumber yard. So did ya have anything to eat at all yesterday?"
"Trixie ate a pinecone... if that counts."
____________________________
Big Mac was puzzled. He had assumed that he would find Applejack at the South end of the farm, tapping her hoof impatiently, waiting to rub his nose in the fact that she'd already completed most of his chores as well as her own. But his sister was nowhere to be found. And the ground was still strewn with broken branches and other storm debris that needed to be cleared. It wasn't like AJ to let somepony else do her chores for her. The big red stallion stood in silence, contemplating whether he should risk a stern talking to and start doing his sister's load of the work for her.
In fact there was only one reason Applejack had ever ditched chores. When she had a crush on somepony. Mac could remember each of these occasions quite clearly. AJ's first crush has been on a classmate; a transfer student. A mare who moved to town from Manehatten called... what had her name been again? Big McIntosh closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Chestnut... something or other. Young AJ had been going through a defiant adolescence at the time. Everything from the big city seemed so unbelievably cool to her when compared with the grind of her mundane life on the farm; that new city mare classmate included. The two had never gotten serious. The family had assumed that dating mares was part of her rebellious phase as well. It hadn't been. But she had gotten over her infatuation with the city and come to love her life on the farm.
Golden Harvest had been the first mare that AJ had seriously dated. Mostly everypony called her Carrot Top but Mac had never had the courage to use her nickname to her face. It had been a romance that blossomed out of lengthy chats over the counter of the Apple family market stall. Their relationship had forced Mac to man the stall during their dates despite his lack of... wordiness. The aftermath of their break up had been ugly.
Following Miss Harvest had been a string of short-lived stints. Cherry Berry, Daisy, and Sunset Bliss had all briefly been at various stages of involvement with Applejack. But sadly each new fling had ended in a matter of weeks.
Big Mac had even begun to recognise the signs that his sister was about to pursue a new mate. There was a pattern to it. First came the day dreaming. Now that he thought about it, AJ had seemed a little out of sorts yesterday and this morning she had wandered through her duties as if half asleep. Mac turned and lumbered up the hill to the homestead to search of his sister. The second sign had always been neglecting of chores. On his way up the hill Mac had to scramble over the pile of unchopped wood that his sister had told him she'd take care of. And the final sign was always the same: AJ would make some massive and impulsive over commitment to the new relationship as a sign of her affections.
He could hear laughter and excited voices coming from inside the farmhouse as he drew nearer. McIntosh nosed open the back door and shambled into the kitchen. Applejack was seated next to an azure coloured unicorn with grey violet eyes that peered at him apprehensively.
"Oh hay, Big Mac. You remember Trixie, right? She's gonna be staying with us for a few days. Hope that's okay!"
Trixie? Mac scanned the room, his gaze resting on the purple wizards hat sitting on the counter. Ah. That Trixie.
Applejack's eyes fluttered open and for a moment she had not even the slightest idea of where she was. Then slowly the events of last night came back to her. She'd given her own bed to Trixie and had gone to sleep the night in the spare room. Thus explaining the unfamiliar ceiling that now greeted her on waking. She couldn't help but grin. Mac had, in his stoic kindness, offered to take care of her chores while she took their guest on a tour of the town. She had Trixie to herself for a whole day. "Nervicited" was the portmanteau that Pinkie had come up with for just such a feeling as this.
She stretched out her four legs and began to rise up when suddenly she noticed something odd. There was something in the bed with her. Or somepony. Applebloom? The little filly had not slept in the same bed as her big sister in nearly a year, a luxury that she had abandoned in her constant quest to be more mature. The lump lying next to her was too large to be Applebloom anyway.
AJ pulled back the covers and then nearly had a heart attack on the spot. Trixie was curled up in a little ball next to her. Her pale cornflower blue tail was wrapped around her and her dainty hooves were tucked under her chin. The magician's flank gently rose and fell with her breath, her mouth still slightly open, her lips leaving a damp imprint on the mattress.
Applejack had to quickly turn away, simply to avoid hyperventilating.
Did we...? Ah mean, did I...? Aw, heck! Heck and blast it! Ah told mahself this gal's too broken up to be in a relationship right now and then Ah went ahead and took advantage of her. Or did Ah? Ah can't remember anything like that happening last night. We talked for a couple of hours and then Ah put her in bed. Tucked her in mahself. So what in the hay is she doin' sleepin' next to me then?
AJ pulled back the covers to take another longing look at the sleeping blue unicorn. One of Trixie's back hooves was kicking idly at the air and Applejack could faintly hear her mumbling to herself. She leaned closer to see if she could hear her a little better.
"But Applejack... pinecones are... not so bad once you get used to... used to them. Just got to get past that... first bite and then... hmhmh..."
AJ desperately stifled a giggle.
If she isn't jus' the cutest lil' thing. Ah wanna kiss her so bad. No! Come on now, Applejack. You promised you'd at least test the waters first. Ya gotta make sure she's comfortable with you. She needs a friend right now, not a lover. If things don't work out then she'd be all alone again. She's doin' so well and a breakup would ruin her. Stop thinkin' about yerself! Now put the covers back and git up! Stop staring at her... Stop...
She didn't stop staring. She couldn't. Similar struggles had been going on inside the earth pony's mind since Trixie had arrived. AJ was terrible at hiding her feelings and even worse at suppressing them. Twilight had specifically told her to be as gentle and friendly as she could.
And Ah would be gentle. Ah'd be as gentle as a field mouse. Jus' one kiss. She wouldn't even know. No! No, no, no, no, no!
After what seemed like an eternity of internal conflict Trixie stirred. She dreamily lifted her head. Her eyes slowly opened and took in her surroundings. For a long moment the two stared at each other. Then Trixie squawked and fell out of bed.
"Applejack! Good morning!" Trixie seemed to be having difficulty controlling the volume of her voice.
"Mornin' sugarcube, wanna tell me why yer sleepin' in here?"
"Cold!" piped Trixie, "I was cold."
AJ frowned, "But Ah left ya with a mountain of blankets and such..."
"No... uh... you!" Trixie was clearly panicking at this point, "You were cold! Trixie thought that maybe you might be cold so she... she decided to sleep with you and keep you warm..."
"Did ya have a bad dream?" asked Applejack. Her Trixie-translator was getting keener with each conversation the two had.
"No... maybe..." Trixie mumbled, "Trixie had hoped to wake up before you, so she could slip out of your bed without you knowing she had been there."
"Wakin' up before a farm gal takes a fair bit of practice, Ah'm afraid. But don't you fret none. S'perfectly okay to want a pony in yer bed-" Applejack scolded herself for the Freudian slip, "- to rely on yer friends for comfort and such. Now come on, let's go get some breakfast."
Food always had the power to cheer Trixie up. She trotted happily after AJ as the two went downstairs.
"Do ya often have bad dreams or is it jus' 'cos yer in an unfamiliar house?" asked Applejack. She had been the one to suggest that Trixie stay with her during her time in Ponyville after all. She certainly hoped it wasn't troubling the fragile unicorn. It was still dark outside but AJ could hear big Mac chopping wood out back. Was it possible that the big red stallion been the trigger? Trixie seemed to still be a little nervous around her brother.
"Not that something as trivial as dreams would bother the Great and Powerful Trixie... but yes, there have been many bad dreams. Since she used the amulet Trixie has had a bit of trouble sleeping. And there are... other things. But that's not why Trixie climbed into your bed last night, mind you..." Trixie was determined to avoid looking vulnerable. But the news of the amulet's possible residual after-effects worried AJ. They'd have to see Twilight about this as soon as they could.
"Um... Applejack?"
AJ turned to face the unicorn. Trixie had stopped walking and her ears were burning red.
"Trixie didn't have bad dreams when you were next to her..."
Aw heck, it's gonna take all of mah willpower to keep my hooves off her. Why's she gotta be so darn adorable?
"Well... uh... I reckon there's enough room for two... in mah bed."
Applejack was silently seething as she stomped her way over to the Golden Oaks Library.
Yeah, okay, Ah get it! Pinkie's all about makin' new friends and Trixie could really use this kinda opportunity. Fine! Ah understand! In fact nopony's more suited to introducing new folks to the town than Pinkie. Ah know that as well as anypony does. But that don't mean that she can jus' go whisking mah Trixie away like that. This was s'posed to be our day together. Ah wanted to be the one to show her round town! The two of us have barely had a chance to talk... besides most of yesterday afternoon... and most of last night... and all of this morning.
Pinkie Pie had carried a squealing Trixie away earlier, slung over the pink mare's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She always got like this when there was a new potential friend in town. A potential friend being somepony who wasn't trying to enslave the town using an evil artefact.
AJ was unsure what the hyperactive party animal had planned for Trixie but she had been unable to keep up with the two of them. Sometimes she suspected that Pinkie had the ability to outrun even Rainbow Dash.
Still, Applejack was a pony who could always turn adversity to opportunity. She had been looking for a chance to discuss her feelings with one of her friends, away from the object of her new affections.
Twilight seemed like a good choice. The two had discussed the Trixie situation two days prior and, despite Twilight being knee deep in preparatory check lists for the upcoming Winter Wrap up, they had reached something approaching a conclusion. Trixie could be welcomed into their friendship circle if she was willing to play by their rules and keep her ego in check.
Twilight must've told somethin' similar to Pinkie. That'd explain why she grabbed Trixie the moment she laid eyes on her.
AJ huffed heavily. She had reached the door to the Library moments earlier and was now rehearsing how she was going to explain her newfound feelings to the purple unicorn.
"Well, howdy Twilight. Uh... remember how you told me to carefully invite Trixie to be mah friend? Well Ah invited her to live with me and now Ah have to damn near kick mahself in the face jus' to stop mahself kissin' her right on the mouth," try not to be too graphic about it.
"Hey there... Twilight. Ah'm crushin' on Trixie so hard Ah'm surprised the heat and pressure of it hasn't turned mah heart to diamond," maybe the studious Twilight would appreciate a science metaphor.
"You know how Trixie is a magician... well she's... uh... workin' some kinda magic on me," at this point AJ was embarrassing herself.
Jus' be honest. Be yourself. Tell Twilight the truth and she'll tell you exactly what to do. That mare reads so many books she knows everything about everything.
Applejack knocked nervously on the Golden Oaks front door.
"Coming," came the melodious call from inside and moments later the door swung open to reveal the town librarian and her assistant. Twilight's face always visibly brightened up when she saw her friends and today was no exception. In truth, Twilight was all of the elements of harmony combined. Capable of matching anypony in town with her kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty and laughter. Then again her 'laughter' might need a bit of work. She had been experimenting with recently with mixed results.
"Please, come right in. Are you alright? You seem a little upset," AJ scolded herself for the umpteenth time that day as she walked in. If she didn't learn to hide her emotions more effectively then a certain blue unicorn might catch on to her secret adoration.
"Uh... not exactly upset but there is somethin' Ah need to talk to you about," she glanced meaningfully at Spike who was ambling around the library interior, his little arms laden with books.
"Spike?" the young dragon glanced up, "Why don't you go down to Sugarcube Corner and see how Pinkie's party preparations are coming along?" Twilight smiled warmly, "And get yourself a treat while you're at it," she flicked a bit his way telekinetically and he caught it sharply in his clawed fist.
"Talking about girly stuff again? Okay, I know when I'm not needed," he unloaded a pile of books on the floor and took off, pausing at the door and then turning back to Twilight, "You are going to make it to the party though, aren't you Twilight?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
And with that, the two were alone. Golden Oaks Library was already plastered wall to wall with plans for Winter Wrap Up despite the event being days away. Twilight had taken to her job as All-Team Organizer with characteristic enthusiasm. She had even tried to organise drills and rehearsals but unfortunately few of the other townsponies shared her passion for preparedness.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked inquisitively.
"Ah... think Ah like Trixie..."
"Oh yes, me too," after a few seconds of spluttering and wide eyed panic AJ realized that Twilight had misunderstood her, "Yes, Pinkie brought her in here a little while ago. They took off again moments before you arrived. Pinkie's got a whole party planned. We didn't get a chance to talk properly but Trixie seemed very different from the way she did on her last few visits. I think I'd be glad to call her my friend. Pinkie certainly seemed very excited... more so then she usually is anyway."
"No... Ah mean... Ah don't like her as a friend... well... Ah do like her as a friend but Ah want to be more than friends," actually saying the words was proving to be more difficult than the orange earth pony had imagined.
"More than friends?" Twilight cocked her head, "Like best friends then?"
"No... Ah mean..." Applejack paused for a long moment when an odd realization hit her, "Twilight... you do know that Ah like mares don't you?"
"Of course! I'm a mare and you like me don't you?"
"No, no, no, not like that, consarn it," Applejack was beginning to get frustrated.
"You don't like me?" asked Twilight with a shaky voice and a look of genuine hurt in her eyes.
"Of course Ah like you Twilight... jus' not in a romantic way."
Twilight stared blankly back at her as the realization slowly dawned on Applejack. A young mare raised in seclusion and isolation. A mare who had not even a single friend for much of her life. Much less a special somepony. Twilight may know almost everything about anything but she was, in all likelihood, completely ignorant when it came to romance. This was the one topic that the most knowledgeable pony in town couldn't help her with.
"On second thought, Twilight, never mind," Applejack smiled and placed a hoof on her friends shoulder, "Forget Ah said anything."
Twilight was still extremely confused.
Shoot! Ah usually turn to Twilight for advice first. Now who do Ah have left? Rainbow Dash would tease me inside out if she found out Ah was interested in a weirdo like Trixie. Pinkie's busy with Trixie so Ah can't really ask her right now... not that Ah would even if she wasn't busy. The last time Ah talked to Fluttershy about mah love life she got so embarrassed that she didn't even come out of her house for a week. Which leaves...
"And then we can eat cake and then we can play games and then we can drink punch and then we can dance and then I can wear your hat and then we can eat even more cake!"
"Help! Applejack! Anypony!"
"And then we can listen to music and then you can show us some magic and then maybe Twilight can show us some magic too and then we can dance some more and then-"
"Somepony save Tri- Save me! I'm being kidnapped!" Trixie thought better than loudly shouting her own name while being carried through the streets of the town she'd tried to take over. Better to remain incognito, even if that meant tagging along with this madness a while longer.
This small pink whirlwind had plucked her out of her comfort zone and dragged her away from Applejack yelling and whooping about parties. They'd visited Twilight briefly, Trixie had actually wanted to talk to her some more, but mere moments later this giggling psychopath had carried her away again.
"What kind of a pony just up an grabs somepony and carries them around? Where are you even taking Trixie?" she gave a feeble kick at her captor which Pinkie failed to even notice.
"To a party, of course," Pinkie was in high spirits. And high spirits for Pinkie was like some kind of an excitement quantum singularity, "I've told you that twenty times already. Twenty one times counting this one. We're going to a party! Twenty two. We're going to a party! Twenty three."
"Who's party?" asked Trixie, still being carried along on Pinkie's back.
"It was going to be your party... but then I remembered that Berry Pinch was having her seventh birthday today so I thought to myself: "Pinkie you're going to have to choose between having a party for Trixie the magician or for Berry the filly." but then I thought: "Wait a minute. Why choose one? Trixie would probably love to come to Berry's party. And then we can have a smaller get together. Double the fun." and then after that I thought to myself: "What would it be like if I had Gummy's body but still had my own head but no teeth like in that one dream that I had." but that didn't really have anything to do with you but it was what I thought about after I thought about the party and now I've told you about the party twenty five times," Pinkie's motor-mouth was finally brought to a stop by lack of oxygen.
AJ had told Trixie that, while under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, she had removed Pinkie's mouth. She now knew the reason why.
"Why would you possibly think that the Great and Powerful Trixie would want to go to some seven year old's birthday party?" Trixie's voice was trembling due to the bumpy ride down the long and snowy streets of Ponyville.
"Because you're a magician. Duh. Magicians love to go to foal's parties and entertain everypony." piped Pinkie, bouncing along with palpable joy.
"We don't love to do that. It's our job," Trixie caught herself. Shocked at the words that had just come out of her mouth.
She had loved her job once. And she had loved performing at birthday parties. Even more so then the big stage. But eventually her arrogance had cost her that love. She'd decided that she was too much of a big shot to do parties anymore.
"So you don't want to go to Berry's party with me?" Pinkie turned her head to face the mare slung over her back, all faux trembling lips and big puppy dog eyes.
"Trixie didn't say that... but she doesn't think anypony would want her at their party anyway. Given Trixie's past indiscretions she's probably not going to get a very warm welcome."
"Well don't you worry about a thing. Ol' Pinkie's got a few Trix of her own," Pinkie snorted at her own clumsy joke, "I've prepared a perfect disguise."
Pinkie whipped out a comically oversized handlebar moustache seemingly out of nowhere. After a brief struggle she overpowered her slender passenger and the moustache was fixed firmly on Trixie's lip.
"Trixie does not think this is going to fool anypony," said Trixie, trying and failing to remove the moustache, "Did you just glue this thing to Trixie's face?"
"The disguise isn't going to work if you keep saying your name all the time. We'll have to come up with a new stage name for you. Let me think... hmmm... I know! Moustachio!"
"Absolutely not!" cried Trixie with livid conviction.
"How about... Moustachio the Magician?" asked Pinkie.
"That's not an improvement!"
"Then... The Magnificent Moustachio the Magician!"
"No!"
"The Mega-Magnificent Moustachio the Magical Magician!"
"Magical Magician is redundant! And that's a terrible stage name! Not Great and Powerful at all!" Trixie was struggling to keep up with the pink bundle of energy. Pinkie had put her down and the two were now walking side by side. That is to say that Trixie was walking and Pinkie was hopping.
"The Mega-Magnificent Moustachio the Magical Magistrate!"
"Trixie is not a magistrate!" Trixie had slipped into the state of amused confusion that most ponies felt when talking to Pinkie.
"But you said that Magical Magician was redundant. And you should really stop calling yourself Trixie. Give your new stage name a try,"
"But Trixie-"
"No," Pinkie leaned closer to Trixie.
"Trixie thinks that-"
"Say it," Pinkie was standing even closer.
"Trix-"
"Moustachio," said Pinkie, now standing so close her eyeball was almost touching Trixie's.
After a long pause Trixie sighed and relented, "Moustachio thinks that you are a very unusual pony. How is Moustachio supposed to do her tricks? She left all of her props back at her caravan."
"Silly Moustachio, the magic isn't in any caravan. It's in here," Pinkie placed a hoof over Trixie heart and smiled warmly.
"Trix... Moustachio thinks it's up here actually," Trixie tapped a hoof against her temple. Still, she certainly felt the sentiment. It was time to start improvising some stage magic, "You pulled out a moustache. Did you bring anything else?"
"Sure! I've got ten different types of moustaches here," Pinkie began seemingly snatching objects out of the air and dropping them in front of Trixie, "Mutton chops, horse shoe, pencil, anchor, copstash, goatee... ooooh this one's my favourite. I'm gonna wear it to the party," Pinkie slapped the Fu Manchu onto her upper lip and grinned fiendishly
"Let me see what else... I've got a yo-yo, rubber chicken, Pinkie slinkie, don't really know what this is, Fluttershy's shopping list, chewing gum, defibrillator and a half eaten cupcake," Pinkie popped the cupcake into her mouth without a second's hesitation, "Okay, now it's a fully eaten cupcake."
Trixie stared slack-jawed at the pink mare, "Where were you keeping all that stuff while you were carrying me?"
"Hammerspace," replied Pinkie, meekly. Trixie did not even pretend to understand.
"Fine, throw all that stuff in Moustachio's hat. Is this the place here?" the two had come up to a small house, adorned with balloons, ribbons and tinsel. Trixie popped the now heavily laden wizard hat back onto her head. Time to make some magic.
"Follow Moustachio's lead, lowly assistant," Trixie winked at Pinkie and the pink mare reciprocated. The two swept up the steps and burst through the door into the foals birthday party.
"Behold, foals of Ponyville!" cried Trixie, "The Great... the Majestic and Magnificent Moustachio heard tell that a very special young filly is having a birthday today! Where is this Berry Pinch?"
The two were greeted by silence. The colts and fillies stared at the odd moustache wearing duo who had just burst in.
Berry Pinch, a small rose coloured filly stepped forward with a sceptical eyebrow raised, "Is that you Pinkie? And who are you supposed to be? You're a mare, aren't you? Why are you wearing a moustache if you're a mare?" she asked, irritated at having her party interrupted.
"A better question would be... why are you wearing a moustache?"
Berry Pinch looked down and gasped to find that a moustache had been attached to her own lip without her even knowing.
As the laughter and applause swept over the duo Trixie couldn't help but grin behind her moustache. It felt good to be making magic again.
Chapter 10: Turning to Friends Part 2: Rarity edition
AJ sat stiffly on her chair. Her friend had brought out all her most expensive china and the farmer pony was too frightened of breaking anything to even lift a hoof. She simply wasn't much good at delicates and fineries.
"Well... uh... Ah don't really know how to say this... Ah need to ask ya somethin'," she wriggled awkwardly on her chair as she spoke.
"Absolutely anything, darling," Rarity dived into her usual repartee, wearing her generosity like a fine garment, "Name it and its yours. A new dress? Done! I've actually got my hooves on some green Saddle Arabian silk that would look simply divine with your beautiful orange fur!"
"No... not clothes... Ah jus' need-"
"You need me to foalsit the Cutie Mark Crusaders again? But I had them for all of last week," she sighed melodramatically, "Very well, Applejack. If you felt you had to come all the way out here just to ask me that then I suppose I could take them again."
"No... it's not that... Ah want-"
"Oh, thank goodness," Rarity laughed nervously, "Because I think another few nights of that might put me in the insane asylum. What then? Beauty tips?" she fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly, "Now I may be renown for my generosity but my beauty secrets don't come cheap."
"Ah think Ah'm in love!" blurted Applejack. This was the first time she had called it that. Even in the privacy of her own mind she had simply thought of it as a crush. Stunned at herself she sat in silence for a moment as Rarity stared at her, a smile playing on the corners of the unicorn's lips.
"Ooh, juicy," crooned Rarity, leaning on her hooves and smiling with open glee, "Romantic advice then. This is certainly a first. So... who's the lucky mare?"
The two were sitting together in the Carousel Boutique which Rarity had closed early for the day. A gentle snowfall was softly drifting down past the frosted panes of the shop window. Rarity's winter line was on display and every store ponyquinn was decked out in scarves, mufflers and sweaters in a myriad of colours and styles. Somewhere out there Trixie and Pinkie were up to goodness knows what. The group was to rendezvous at Sugarcube Corner in a while but before that Applejack needed some advice.
Talking to a pony who was less naive then Twilight didn't necessarily make explaining herself easier. AJ liked Rarity a lot and enjoyed her company but this was the member of her friendship circle that she had spent the least one-on-one time with. But still, Rarity was a pony who knew the ins and outs of love and Applejack was looking for somepony to tell her what she wanted to hear. That she was being an idiot, that she needed to control herself, stop ogling Trixie's flank and be a supportive friend.
"Trixie," mumbled Applejack.
Rarity blinked and then stared vacantly at her guest for a moment. She took a measured sip of her tea.
"Ahem," she cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, darling, I must have misheard you. What did you say?"
Applejack was as red as the apples that adorned her flank, "The Great and Powerful Trixie."
"Oh, the magician?" said Rarity, nonchalantly, "Yes, I heard from Twilight that she was back in town."
The two sat in silence. No sound but the clinking of Rarity's spoon as she stirred her tea.
"And you say that you're in... love with her?" Rarity's eye twitched as she squeezed out the words but besides that her tone was calm and collected.
"Well... uh... maybe love is a bit too strong of a word... but then again maybe it isn't... Ah don't really know yet... Ah thought that Ah should come to you for some advice."
"May I say something before we begin?" Rarity asked, sweetly.
"O'course."
Rarity drew in a deep breath, "WHAAAAAAAAT? WHY? HOW? WHAT? WHY? OF ALL THE PONIES IN THIS WHOLE WIDE WORLD WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE THAT ONE? WHY? HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND? SHE'S INSUFFERABLE! WHY WOULD YOU? WHY? RAAAAAAARGH!"
As Rarity squawked and screeched Applejack felt a wave of relief wash over her. The calm reaction that her confession had received was starting to be unnerving and it was somehow soothing to have her friend react in exactly the way she had expected. Rarity loved drama to a fault.
Finally the purple-maned mare managed to regain some semblance of control.
"Uh... and this might not be the best time to say this but Ah also invited her to live with me for a bit," AJ grinned sheepishly.
Rarity drew a second deep breath, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT? TRIXIE? IN YOUR HOME? WITH YOUR FAMILY? WHY? ARE YOU CRAZY? IS SHE STILL CRAZY? ARE YOU ALL CRAZY? GYEEAAAARGH!"
Rarity collapsed back into her chair, panting.
"Got it all out of yer system yet?" asked Applejack, carefully righting some of the china that Rarity had knocked over.
"Oh yes, thank you," Rarity poured herself another cup, "Do go on, darling. Tell me all about it."
"She's not the same as she was before. Trixie, Ah mean. The more we talked the more Ah understood. She wasn't jus' some arrogant vengeful show off. She's struggled her way up from the bottom of the barrel. She's had tougher times than most anypony Ah ever did meet. Sometimes Ah reckon that ridiculous pride was the only thing she had left. And we basically jus' up and took it from her. Smashed her life to bits. Now Ah think we can all have a chance at startin' a'fresh. She's a real sweetheart deep down and Ah think you'd see it like Ah do if you take the time to get to know her."
"We are talking about the same Trixie, right? Blue fur, unfashionable cape and hat? Talks in the third person?"
Applejack giggled, "Ah though that the weird speech patterns would start to work on mah nerves but really the more Ah hear it the more adorable it is."
Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
"Heck yeah! She's cute as a button and not in a doin'-it-on-purpose kinda way. Real smart too. Funny. And pretty. Beautiful, really. Ah've always had a bit of a thing for dainty little mares. And caring. But not too caring. Willing to be doted on. Grateful for it but always in this lovable pretending-Ah'm-not-grateful-but-Ah-really-am way that makes me jus' wanna snuggle her till Ah-"
"Applejack you're drooling," said Rarity.
"Am not!" said AJ, wiping her mouth hurriedly.
"I'm joking," Rarity laughed and beamed warmly, "I wasn't sure if I could believe you when you said she'd changed but honestly I don't think I've ever seen you gush about somepony like this before. I suppose I could always give the oddball another chance, as long as there won't be any magical amulets involved. Now that I think about it you two would make an adorable couple. How long before you dazzle her with your... country charm?"
This was not what Applejack was looking for. Rarity was often inclined to emotional 180s and she had certainly wanted her to give Trixie a chance but she had hoping for a scolding about her new found affections.
"Dang it, Rarity! You're s'posed to be chewing me out!"
"What? Why?" she asked with genuine surprise.
"As it stands, Ah'm the only friend Trixie's got. Whaddaya think's gonna happen if things don't work out with her? Ah don't exactly have the best track record for long term relationships. Ah can't have that mare goin' off on her own again in a worse mood then before. She don't deserve to be alone and unhappy. Besides Ah don't even know if she's interested in mares anyway. Or even less a mare like me. This whole crush of mine is jus' askin' for trouble an' Ah know it."
Applejack trailed off as she saw the exasperated look on Rarity's face.
"Remind me again, Darling, didn't you write a letter to the Princess last week?" she asked, her voice dripping with mock sincerity.
"Uh... yeah?"
"And what was that letter about, again?" she asked sardonically.
"... It was about me not working mahself to the bone and sometimes puttin' mah own interests in front of other ponies ," said AJ reluctantly.
Rarity telekinetically swiped Applejack's hat and plopped it onto her own head.
"Hoo-wee, look et meeee, Ah'm Epplejeck! Ah ken't mayke the moves on any mare Ah wan't cos Ah'm too busy thinkin' about her feelin's and not busy enough thinkin' about mah own. Ah heven't had a serious relationship in a year cos Ah'm always worryin' 'bout mah brother and sister and family and werk and freends. Ah'd prob'ly be the purdiest mare in Equestria if Ah'd jus take Rarity's advice and come down to the spa once in a while," Rarity launched herself whole-heartedly into a comically poor imitation of her friend.
"Hey, gimme back my hat!"
"Ah'm Epplejeck and Ah don't seem to know that it's rude to wear a het indoors. Yeehaw!" Rarity playfully sidestepped her friend and pranced across the Boutique floor, laughing and twirling.
"Rarity stop playing the fool an' jus' listen to what Ah'm sayin'. Ah'm Trixie's only friend and-"
"Has she met Pinkie Pie yet?" asked Rarity, trying desperately to stay on the opposite side of the tea table from AJ.
"Yeah, they've spent the last few hours together. Why?"
"Then I have news for you," As Applejack leapt after her Rarity dived under the table, in as ladylike a way as she could, emerging from the other side she trotted across the room and examined herself in one of the wall mirror's, "If she's spent more than five minutes with Pinkie then you're not her only friend anymore. And if she really is as nice a mare as you say then after the rest of us get a chance to spend some real time with her she'll have a bunch more friends besides."
"Ah told you it's not... it's crazy... Ah mean... Ah don't even know if she'd be interested," Applejack was stumbling over herself.
"Darling, forgive me for being blunt but... you're Applejack. Everypony's interested. You can bend even the straightest of mares. All you need to do is ask and you never do," Rarity finally abandoned her improvised game of tag and gave Applejack her hat back, "I absolutely must get myself one of those hats. I think I'd cut a hole in mine for a horn though."
"So that's your advice then?" asked Applejack, angrily dusting of her hat.
"If you want her, she's yours for the taking. I guarantee it. Give her some of that Southern charm," Rarity tossed a wink AJ's way, "Now come on! Let's go see what she and Pinkie Pie have been up to. I'll even be your wingmare if you want."
"...and then Twilight said she was impressed with Trixie's improvements in magic!"
"Yeah, Ah ain't forgotten, sugarcube."
"And Rarity said she'd repair Trixie's hat and cape!"
"Yup, that she did."
"And Fluttershy said that she knows where Trixie can get a rabbit for her show!"
"You do remember that Ah was there, right?"
Trixie had been nattering happily all the way back to Sweet Apple Acres and continued to do so as the two ate supper together, her tail swishing merrily side to side and her cheeks stuffed to bursting with apple crumble.
"Uh... Trixie can Ah ask you something?" said AJ, pushing her food around her plate. She had yet to take even one bite.
The two had been out till late. Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith had already eaten and set off to bed so Trixie and Applejack were finally alone together. A single candle sat in between them on the table, casting long shadows onto the dining room floor.
"Mhmhmph-" mumbled Trixie through a mouthful of food and nodded.
AJ took a deep breath, "Why are ya still wearing that darn moustache?"
Trixie swallowed hard. After downing her food she uncomfortably fidgeted on her stool.
"Trixie likes the moustache. It gives her a certain je ne se quoi."
Applejack's Trixie-Translator whirred and spat out its estimation of an honest response.
"Ya can't get it off, can ya?" giggled AJ, "Ah was wonderin' why you and Pinkie were wearin' them for the whole afternoon."
"It's glued to Trixie's face!" wailed the blue unicorn, "Your pink friend is like twenty different kinds of crazy!"
Applejack couldn't help but laugh. She'd been lost in a turmoil of emotions for the whole afternoon. Mulling over what she'd been told, what she planned to do, what she would say once the two of them were alone. She'd even had to scold herself for feeling jealous. As much as she had wanted Trixie to get some new friends and to make amends she had also taking pleasure in keeping the magician to herself.
"Wipe the crumbs of yer face and come here. We'll see what we can do. Have ya tried pullin' it off with magic?"
Trixie reluctantly put down her spoon and hopped off the stool.
"Using magic requires concentration and when Trixie pulls at the moustache it hurts and then she can't concentrate anymore," said Trixie, offering her face to Applejack.
AJ reached out and touched Trixie's cheek without thinking. The moment she did however her heart nearly leapt right out of her mouth. She felt herself draw a sharp breath.
Dang it all! Get a hold of yerself, gal! She's wearin' a goofy moustache for goodness sake! What're you gettin' all hot in the head fer?
Getting a grip on the thing with her hooves was proving difficult. As she scraped at it her hoof touched Trixie's lip. Applejack barely suppressed a squeak.
"Applejack are you okay? Your face is really red." said Trixie, her violet eyes locked with AJ's.
"Uh... well... it seems awful hot in here all of a sudden."
The farmhouse groaned and creaked suddenly as the frozen winter wind buffeted it from the outside. Applejack laughed nervously. Their faces were extremely close now. Her heart was pounding achingly hard in her chest. She felt Trixie's breath tickling her nose.
"M-m-m-muh-muh-maybe if Ah used mah teeth ah could... Ah could get a better grip on it..." Applejack's voice trembled. Her hooves were shaking.
"Sure! Give it a try," said Trixie, innocently. She leaned closer still.
Applejack felt like she was about to explode. Her face was hot. Her ears were burning. A lump had formed in her throat that wouldn't go away no matter how many times she gulped. She squeezed her eyes shut in a desperate effort to calm herself. It didn't work. She leaned in as well. Her lips touched Trixie cheek a mere inch from her lips. Applejack felt like she'd just kissed a lightning bolt. A jolt ran through her body.
You ain't kissin' her, dagnabbit. Yer tryin' to get that darn thing off. Now jus' grip it with yer teeth. Jus'... do it... before it gets too awkward.
"Applejack? Tell Trixie when you're going to pull on it. This is probably going to hurt."
Her voice sent vibrations through her cheek and into AJ. She still smelt of pine needles despite having just helped herself to two servings of Apple Family baked goods. It must just be her natural scent. Applejack took in a deep breath of it. As it rushed into her nostrils she felt herself growing dizzy. Drunk on Trixie.
"Applejack?"
AJ lurched violently back into reality. She jerked away at last.
"Uh... now that Ah think about it, we should prob'ly jus' soak it in some warm water so it don't hurt too bad when we take it off. How 'bout ya take a nice warm bath first and then we'll see about takin' it off."
Trixie smiled with relief and took a few steps back.
"Maybe that would work better. Although the Great and Powerful Trixie could certainly handle the pain that doesn't mean she wants to. Will you be joining Trixie in the tub?"
Applejack gasped and accidentally swallowed some of her own saliva. She coughed hard and stared at Trixie through watering eyes.
"Whut?" she asked hoarsely.
"Your bathtub is like three times the size of the one in Trixie's caravan. There's easily room for two," she grinned unabashedly.
Yes. Say yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yesyesyesyesyes!
"No... uh... you go first and Ah'll bath afterwards," that reply had taken a legendarily large amount of restraint.
"But the water might get cold..." Trixie pouted.
"That's jus' fine. Ah could use a cold bath right now," she wasn't lying. If things got any hotter she might literally burst into flame.
Trixie turned and began climbing the stairs to the second story bathroom when suddenly she paused. For the first time that evening she started to look legitimately embarrassed. She glanced over her shoulder as she spoke.
"Not that Trixie particularly minds either way but you did say that we could share a bed. You were the one that said it not Trixie so..." she seemed to be measuring how much she needed to obscure her own desires and needs, "Trixie simply wouldn't want to disappoint you after you asked her. She's not worried about bad dreams or anything like that."
"Yeah, no problem."
Trixie turned and trotted off but AJ could tell she was smiling. Her tail wagging and her ears pricked up.
This is gonna be tough. This is gonna be really tough.
Applejack pressed her face against the cool of the dinner table.
Maybe Ah could jus'... ask... No! No, dang it! Rarity doesn't know what the heck she's talkin' about. Ah jus' gotta regain control of mahself. It ain't love, it's jus' a dumb crush. And Ah ain't gonna let some stupid crush put an end to this friendship jus' as its startin'. But maybe... maybe a little bit of a cuddle would help me get these thoughts out of mah head... maybe...
AJ was woken by the sound of shuffling sheets and sniffling. She lay for a moment in silence, trying to put together what she was listening to. It must have been just after midnight. What was that sound? The blankets shifted, the floorboards creaked and the door to the bedroom swung open. Applejack relaxed. Trixie was going to the bathroom. She waited to hear the magician make her way down the hall. The sound never came. Nothing but silence.
Applejack lifted her head to see Trixie standing in the open doorway, stock-still, staring into the darkness.
"Sugarcube? Are you okay?"
Trixie flinched visibly. She didn't turn around.
"S-s-sorry... um... Trixie didn't mean to wake you. She's just going to the toilet," her voice was shaking.
There was a long pause. Trixie remained motionless.
"You know the way, right? It's jus' down the hall," said Applejack, rolling over and sitting up in bed.
Trixie still didn't turn to face her, "Trixie... has forgotten the way."
"Jus' down the hall. All the way to the end."
Trixie turned her head and looked at AJ over her shoulder. Even in the gloom Applejack could see that her cheeks were wet with tears.
"Trixie has f-f-forgotten the way to the bathroom. Maybe you could escort her?" she asked pathetically, blinking back tears.
"Aw, heck!" Applejack hurriedly kicked off the blankets, leapt out of bed and trotted over to Trixie, "Another bad dream?"
"Sniff... not afraid of the dark. Trixie's the most powerful unicorn... sniff... in Equestria. She's not afraid of the dark. She just forgot the way," she looked fragile, more vulnerable than any other time the two had been together.
Applejack knew full well what this situation demanded. Apple Bloom had gone through a period of nightmares and night terrors when she was younger, shortly after their parents had passed. What this pony needed right now was the light of a candle, some milk and a hug. Steps one and two would be easy. But physical intimacy with Trixie was something that put a strain on Applejack's heart. As much as she didn't want to feel like she was taking advantage of the frightened mare her willpower was already taxed to breaking point as it was.
She swallowed her reservations, picked up a match off the corner table and struck it. As she touched it to the wick of the candle and the flame caught; the room was illuminated in a soft orange glow.
The trembling unicorn still stood in the doorway of the bedroom making a futile effort to hide the fact that she had been crying. She'd reclaimed her cape from the chair it had been left on and was using it as a kind of makeshift security blanket. She blew her nose messily on the slightly ragged wizard cloak.
No dang it! No! Applejack, you will keep your comfortin' pure and platonic! You are NOT, Ah repeat, NOT to take advantage of her when she's like this.
Trixie's glistening eyes met AJ's. Her nose was red and her lip wobbling.
Come on! That jus' ain't playin' fair!
"Applejack?"
Keep it together, now... aw, who am I even kidding?
AJ damn near knocked the wind clean out of Trixie. She flung her arms around the mares slender shoulders and squeezed as hard as she could. Trixie was buried face first in Applejack's straw coloured mane.
"Geh! Too tight..." Trixie was silenced by a tender kiss on her cheek.
"Now don't you be worryin' yer pretty little head. There ain't nothin' to be scared of while I'm here with you," AJ couldn't help but nuzzle the helpless unicorn.
"Applejack?" the earth pony in question was too lost in the moment. Smothering Trixies cheek and ears with kisses, "Applejack?" Trixie's lips were defenceless. Did she dare? "Applejack!"
"Huh? Whut?" AJ was still lost in the daze of the moment.
"Trixie really does need to go to the bathroom."
~~~ A few minutes later the two had returned and were snugly tucked back in bed together. Applejack had been mentally kicking herself in the head during their brief midnight walk together for her momentary lapse. Usually she had so much more self control then this.
Suddenly, her hair stood on end as she felt Trixie's breath suddenly on the back of her neck.
"Applejack? Are you asleep?" Trixie placed a hoof on the larger ponies side, tugging cautiously in an effort to get AJ to turn and face her.
"Yer really playin' with fire here, sugarcube," Applejack said nervously.
Trixie did not seem to understand in the least, "Are you angry at Trixie?"
"No, that ain't exactly what Ah mean. Ah ain't mad at ya at all. If anything Ah'm mad at mahself. What's worryin' you?" AJ took a deep breath and rolled over, finding herself nose to nose with Trixie.
"There's something that Trixie has been meaning to say to you... but whenever she tries her... she gets in her own way. Trixie knows that despite being... Great and Powerful she's not exactly an easy pony to get along with but..."
Applejack squeezed her eyes closed.
Is this what Ah think it is? Ah kissed her on the face! Is she finally pickin' up on what Ah think about her? Please. Oh, please.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for everything. Trixie thought that she could make up for the stupid things she did but now she's even deeper in your debt. You didn't have to let Trixie into your home, or properly introduce her to your friends, or feed her, or comfort her. But you did," Trixie looked like she was on the brink of crying again but she pressed on, "Trixie was at the end of the line. Stuck with nowhere to turn and... sniff... Trixie said that she had lots of friends but that was a lie. Trixie always lies. Sniff..."
Trixie wriggled closer and pressed her head against AJ's chest.
"The nightmares frighten Trixie. They're always the same. Whispers and voices. Saying cruel things. Telling Trixie to reclaim the amulet. Often her nose bleeds after she wakes up from the nightmares. Trixie is scared. Sometimes she hears the voices even when she's awake," she whispered.
"Listen to me, sugarcube. Yer safe here with me, okay? Ah told you that already. Jus' stick close to me. Tomorrow we'll go see Twilight about this first thing in the morning. We'll sort this all out. Ah promise you Ah won't rest easy till you can as well. Jus' don't..." Applejack slowly ran out of words. She planted a soft kiss on Trixie's forehead.
As she got settled Applejack started beating herself up inside her head once more. Fresh worries, new fears and reasons for hesitation.
What in the hay is wrong with you? This gal has got real problems and here you were getting all gooey thinkin' she was gonna confess to you! Ah really got to get some help for her. Ah gotta stop thinkin' all selfish like. But Ah'll be damned if she doesn't smell fantastic. No, consarn it! No! Yer not allowed to breath through yer nostrils, ya hear me? Her hair is so soft though. She's so small in my arms. Somehow Ah get the feelin' Ah'm not gonna be able to get much sleep tonight.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was so caught up with impressing the Princess and the Saddle Arabian delegates. Who was I to criticize Trixie for being a show off? I'm just as bad."
"Twilight, how 'bout you jus' take a deep breath and explain what's happenin'?"
"How many weeks? How many weeks was this staring me in the face? I should have known that something like this would have happened!"
"Twilight, everypony makes mistakes jus' tell us what's goin' on."
"Stupid, stupid, stupid-"
"TWILIGHT!"
The town's librarian was pacing furious little circles around the wooden floors of the Golden Oaks library, clearly too lost in thought to pick up on Applejack's frustration or even the look of worry on Trixie's.
"Of course the artefact could imprint itself on its host as long as it was parasitic in nature and I should have known its nature the very second I learned that it could not be removed by anypony but the user herself. A symbiotic relationship! It must necessarily form a bond far beyond that of any mere tool in order to enhance the magical attributes of its wearer. The bond must have been forged through mutual sacrifice. But what kind of tribute did it demand? Something psychological perhaps. Certainly not a physical tribute. That wouldn't have allowed for it to deposit residual anchors. The amulet is-" Twilight's motor-mouth was going full speed and the farmer pony was only understanding one sentence in every ten.
AJ cast an exasperated look at Spike. The young dragon nodded his understanding, hopped off his stool and plucked a book at random off one of the nearby shelves. He walked briskly across the room and shelved it on another bookshelf entirely. Twilight seemed to snap out of her frantic trance immediately, suddenly jolted back to reality.
"Spike, that book is about Zebra traditions and cultural practices. Why are you shelving it with the cooking books?" she said, apparently brought back down to earth by the perceived slight.
"Twilight... can ya jus' explain things in a way that anypony would understand," AJ was more than a little worried at this point. The two had come to the purple unicorn in hopes of finding answers regarding Trixie's bout of bad dreams, nose bleeds and memory loss in the wake of the Alicorn Amulet. But the moment they had explained the situation Twilight had lost herself in some lengthy verbal self flagellation session, ranting about how she should have seen this all coming.
"What's happening here is referred to as Third Tier Artefact Resonance in formal academia although some ponies refer to it as Braudel's Effect, named after Professor Pferde Braudel who discovered it some forty years ago. Symptoms may include..." Twilight trailed off as she noticed the vacant empty look in her audiences eyes, "Right... sorry. A way anypony could understand... hmm... Applejack do you remember when I came over to visit you last spring and you were busy weeding your orchards?"
"Remember it like it was yesterday," said Applejack, relieved to finally be speaking the same language as Twilight.
"I tried to help you pluck out the weeds but afterwards we had to go back and redo all that I'd done."
"Gee Twilight, Ah hope that ain't still botherin' you. It weren't no big effort on mah part but with weeds you gotta really get deep into the earth you can't jus tear 'em out 'cos if you leave any of the roots behind then they jus' grow back," said Applejack, still unsure why Twilight would bring up the seemingly irrelevant episode.
"Exactly!" Twilight was visibly pleased that her metaphor had hit home, "Well, magic can work in kind of the same way. We tricked Trixie into taking off the Amulet but we didn't get the roots out. So long as the remnants of the amulets power remain Trixie will continue to experience nightmares, headaches, bouts of nausea and any number of other possible symptoms."
"But how can it grow back? Trixie has not even come near the Amulet since she got rid of it," said Trixie indignantly.
"The important part of a magic amulet is the magic not the amulet. The artefact itself is only a physical representation of the compact signed between the tool and its wielder. If anything, the physical distance between you and the artefact has only served to worsen the withdrawal symptoms. I-" Twilight noticed Spike irritably tapping his foot and caught herself before she launched into an extensive history of magical antiquary.
"What does Trixie need to do to stop having... having bad dreams..." Trixie had difficulty talking about her problems, even with Applejack by her side. She had stood silently for the most part as AJ had explained her situation to Twilight.
"We have to send somepony inside to get out the 'roots' so to speak," Twilight said simply.
"Send somepony into the Amulet?" asked Applejack.
"No. Into Trixie," replied the purple unicorn.
Applejack face flushed as her mind filled with images best left unmentioned, "Wuh-wuh-what? Whaddaya mean by that exactly?"
"Unicorns draw their magic from their emotional states. In order to enhance her magical abilities the Alicorn Amulet would have had to plant its roots there," Twilight had telekinetically dragged out an unassuming large chest that sat in the corner, opened it and began rummaging around in it.
"You mean sending some pony into... the Great and Powerful Trixie's mind?" Trixie sounded alarmed.
"Technically into your psyche," replied the town librarian cheerfully, "This is going to require some difficult and technical magic and I will need your help with it, Applejack."
"Mah help? Twilight, Ah ain't much good with all that magical hullabaloo. How can Ah help you..." she felt herself blush again, "...go inside Trixie."
"Oh, no. To perform a mental insertion will require all of my focus. So I was hoping that you would be the one to take the journey. We need a pony with an honest and open heart to offset any possible chance of accidentally spreading or aggravating the problem. I can't think of a finer candidate!" Twilight had removed a large dusty tome from the trunk and placed it next to some of the other strange objects she had already picked out. A jar of chalk pieces, a twisted ivory wand, an emerald pendant and crumpled reel of black silk thread.
"Muh-muh-my heart might not be as pure as all that," stuttered Applejack, her ears still burning, "If anything Ah'm beginning to wonder if that whole element of honesty thing isn't some kind of mistake. Ah... Ah've been acting a real fool these past couple a days and Ah... are ya sure there isn't somepony else or some other way we-"
"Trixie wants Applejack!" the two were silenced by Trixie's sudden outburst, "Trixie... Trixie doesn't want anypony but Applejack to do it," Trixie seemed as shocked to have heard herself speak out as anyone else. She quickly cast her eyes to the ground and pawed the library floor timidly, "Trixie doesn't want... just anypony barging around inside her head. Please?"
AJ melted like butter before those puppydog eyes. Every time.
"So its settled then?" Twilight grinned, always eager for an opportunity to help somepony else and for a chance to test her magical prowess, "Let's get started."
"Close your eyes and take a deep breath. You need to try and relax. Open your mind."
The three of them were seated in an expertly chalked circle. Any number of arcane and eldritch symbols had been scrawled around the circle's edge in various colours. Spike had helped clear a space in the middle of the library floor for the "hocus pocus", as AJ had called it, while they were setting up. The ivory wand was hovering in front of Twilight, the emerald pendant wrapped around it, the two bound together with a length of black silk string.
Trixie had already squeezed her eyes shut. She looked like a filly who had broken a vase and was waiting for her parents to come home and scold her.
Applejack inhaled as deeply as she could and held it for a full ten count.
Now remember what Twilight told ya. Gotta be kind, open and honest. Kind, open and honest. You didn't invite Trixie to live with ya cos you wanted to put the moves on her. You did it 'cos ya wanted to be friends. Gotta remember that. Find the remnant of the amulet and destroy it. And this is the inside of Trixie's head so don't you go invading her private thoughts or nothing. She doesn't feel the same way 'bout you as you do 'bout her. You know that. And if you go looking yer only gonna be disappointed. Gotta jus' be kind, open and honest. Dang, if this isn't taking a long time. Ah hope Twilight ain't bitten off more than she can chew with this whole mind spell thingamabob.
"Twilight? Is it working?" Applejack opened her eyes just to peek. Then she opened them all the way. In all honesty she could barely tell the difference. It was pitch black. The library had vanished and in its place was a soft, almost tangible darkness.
Suddenly a blinding light cut through the darkness like a knife. Neon lights sparked to life and lit up an old fashioned wooden stage, covered by dusty red curtains. AJ stared around in wonder. She was seated in an empty theatre on torn leather seats. The front row aisle stretched to her left and right, every seat unoccupied. The shear enormity of the theatre only served to emphasize how crushingly empty it was.
Applejack did not have long to stare around. Creaking old ropes leapt to life suddenly and the curtain was drawn aside. Standing on the stage, dressed in her magician's finery with her chest puffed out and her head tossed disdainfully to the side, was Trixie.
Suspended above her was an enormous sign that said "EGO", a single word written in flashing red and yellow neon light bulbs.
"Behold!" she cried haughtily, "The Great and Powerful Trixie! A magician so amazing that nopony dares even come to her shows! The most powerful unicorn in ALL Equestria!"
What in the world...
"Uh... Trixie?" asked Applejack, still feeling extremely confused.
"SILENCE!" shrieked Trixie at the top of her lungs, "You dare! You dare interrupt the Great and Powerful Trixie? You impudent, miserable worm of a creature! Despair your arrogance!"
"Now hold on there. Somethin' ain't right here," Applejack slowly rose out of her seat, "Trixe, where are we?"
"You did it again!" Trixe looked livid. Her face was contorted with an unspeakable fury, barely held in check. When she finally managed to regain enough control of herself to speak, her voice was dripping with venom, "Oh, I see. You've come here to insult me then. Just like all the others. Fine! But we'll see who's a laughing stock when I'm through with you. You disgusting little maggot."
Applejack felt herself bristle with anger. This was the Trixie she'd expected to find in that caravan late at night during the storm. An arrogant, confrontational monster. A liar. A coward who made herself feel better belittling others. This wasn't her Trixie.
"Get up on the stage then. If you think you're better than the Great and Powerful Trixie! Show me whatever talent you have and Trixie guarantees that she will match it. Exceed it! With no effort whatsoever! Trixie is the best at everything. That's why they all left! That's why they don't come to her shows. They're all jealous!" she hadn't even finished her fresh line of attack by the time Applejack scrambled onto the stage.
"Trixie Ah know you ain't like this. You jus' get this way when yer feeling insecure and frightened."
"Oh, so you think you're better then Trixie? You pity her. Prove it then! Come on, earth pony! What's your so called 'talent' supposed to be anyway? Apples? Do you juggle them or are you simply on the same intellectual level as them?" Trixie was in her face. A leering wicked grin playing across her lips.
"Get me a length of rope then and we'll have ourselves a showdown. If you think jus' cos you beat me once you can do it again then you're wrong. Ah ain't no one horse pony. Ah've got some new tricks that'll tie you in knots before you can say... before you can..." Applejack felt her competitive nature get suddenly overcome by something else entirely. This was wrong. This was all wrong.
What happened to 'Kind, open and honest'? What do you really think you can accomplish by competing with her again. If she beats you then you'll be stuck here. Twilight'll have to pull you out somehow and Trixie will have another night of terrors in store for her. And if you beat her? You know what she's had to endure. How much more does she need to get kicked while she's trying to get back on her hooves? How many more times does she need to be humiliated? Is that really gonna make her change her ways?
This is a lose-lose situation. Ah gotta think harder. We talked for hours yesterday and the day before. Was Ah jus' oggling her behind the whole time or did Ah learn somethin' about her? Think Applejack. Think.
The answer came to her suddenly.
"Trixie... Ah think you're swell."
A stunned silence fell over the two. The sneer on Trixie's face slowly vanished.
That's it... that's it! A big bragging aggressive mask isn't the sign of somepony who has an overinflated ego. It's the sign of a pony whose ego's been crushed again and again. Trixie tells herself she's great and powerful 'cos nopony else will. But what if...
"Ah watched you doin' some magic to impress mah sister yesterday and I thought it was really great. You always tell the best stories too. Ah can really see you puttin' yer heart into it and it's jus' amazing," Applejack smiled warmly. Trixie stared blankly back at her.
Suddenly the magician started to frantically splutter, "You're lying! You don't really think that! You're just building Trixie up so you can knock her down!"
"Yesterday Ah was telling Rarity how beautiful Ah think you are. Everything you do has this practiced elegance to it. Ah can't believe Ah was worried you'd have difficulty making a good impression on mah friends. Of course you blew them away. You're so damn charming!"
Trixie's face was tomato red. AJ could almost see steam billowing out the top of her wizard hat. Her lips were moving but no words seemed to be coming out.
Applejack heard a rustle from the audience. She glanced out and was stunned. The empty theatre was filling up. Even through the glare of the stage lights she could hear the crowd murmuring as they found their seats.
"You're wonderful. Darn talented too! Ah dunno how Ah got through mah days without you. Heck, even sharing you with mah friends made me so jealous Ah thought Ah might explode."
Applejack could feel the audience's anticipation. The hum of the crowd was rising. She knew what they wanted to hear. What Trixie needed to hear.
Kind, open and honest. Honest. Honest.
"Ah love you, Trixie."
The crowd erupted in the deafening tumult of a hundred hooves applauding. Cheers were raised. Flowers were tossed. Raining down on the two of them. Trixie looked back at her with tears in her eyes. She said something but Applejack couldnt hear it over the thunder of the audience.
Then suddenly she was plunged into darkness once more. Darkness and deafening silence.
Applejack trotted on through the darkness. She couldn't even see her own hooves but she could feel that she was no longer walking along the wooden floors of the theatre... if she had ever actually been there at all.
"Trixie?" her voiced did not travel far. The blackness was as thick as butter. She walked onwards.
There was a distant twinkle that grew larger as she drew closer. A stone archway lit by a soft light. Through its grim mouth AJ could see the room that lay beyond. A small courtyard, paved with unassuming cobblestones, surrounded by other archways, identical to the one Applejack was just about to walk through. Through each archway lay nothingness. Ten archways in total.
She carefully stepped forward into the courtyard.
"Welcome!"
"Welcome."
Two familiar voices spoke in union. Applejack's head spun wildly.
"Trixie?" she stared in disbelief, "...Trixies."
Two of them this time. Perfectly identical. Even their steps were in sync as they marched across the courtroom and turned to face her.
"Ten gateways," said the Trixie on the right.
"Only one will lead you to the heart," smiled the Trixie on the right, her mirror image smiling as well.
"The others will trap you here."
"Forever," they both said, together. The effect was eerie. Applejack could feel her hair standing on end.
"Trixie knows the right way but remember this..."
"When you ask us, only one of us will tell the truth..."
"The other will lie..."
Applejack stared back at them.
Hey, Ah think Ah've heard this one before. This is one of those stupid riddles that Twilight likes to tease me with. What the heck was the answer again? Ya gotta... ask the one what the other would say and then... wait... then...
She paused in thought for a moment. Racking her brain.
"Uh..." she turned to the Trixie on the right, "What's mah name?"
"Applejim," replied the Trixie cheerfully.
"Applejack," said the other when AJ glanced at her.
"So... uh... yer the one who lies and yer the one who tells the truth, then," Applejack turned to the Trixie on the left, "Which way should Ah go?"
"That way," Truthful Trixie pointed at the furthermost archway.
"Okie dokie," said Applejack as she marched confidently towards the correct archway. Usually she could never figure out riddles like this and sometimes it still took her a while to understand them even after Twilight had explained the answer. Now, Applejack was no fool but her mind was better suited to more practical problems. How to dig terraces to avoid erosion, how to position the orchards to reduce tillage and fertilizer requirements, how to balance costs. Still, she was surprised she'd cleared the riddle this easily. She had something to boast to Twilight about when she got out of here.
The Deceptive Trixie seemed startled.
"Wait!" cried the Liar, "Trixie forgot! You're only supposed to be allowed one question!"
A silence descended on the mysterious courtyard.
"Uh... yeah..." said Applejack, "Ah can... see how that coulda made things a lot harder..."
More silence, growing more awkward by the second.
"Redo! Trixie wants a redo!" demanded the deceptive Trixie, "Close your eyes!"
AJ reluctantly obliged the two. There followed a few frantic seconds of panicked shuffling and whispering and then came the call, "Okay, you can open your eyes now."
Applejack obeyed. The scene seemed to be completely unchanged. The two Trixie's stood staring back at her.
"Ha!" cried the Trixie on the left, "We shuffled positions randomly! Now you don't know which of us is which! Now, ask your question! But this time you only get one question!"
Applejack stared back disbelievingly. She couldn't help but giggle. Trixie was terrible at this.
"I don't have to ask a question anymore... Ah already know the right way," she chuckled and pressed on, "Besides, Ah reckon yer the liar," she winked at the Trixie on the left, "You were more talkative then the other. Also, yer sweating and you've yet to make eye contact. Ah'd stay away from professional poker games if Ah was you," she smiled to herself as she walked away.
The Deceptive Trixie was looking more and more frustrated with each exchange. She leapt in between AJ and the exit.
"Then... then close your eyes and spin around and we'll do it again!" she cried, already on the brink of tears.
"Nah!" laughed AJ, "Fer a pony who makes a living tricking folks you sure ain't much good at lyin', Trixie."
"Trixie is a master of deception!" the Liar was fuming with indignation.
"Name one time you've managed to deceive me," Applejack didn't often tease other ponies but Trixie was just too much fun.
"Trixie told you that if you picked the wrong archway you'd be trapped her forever and you believed her!" said Trixie triumphantly.
"Didn't believe it for a second. Twilight said she could pull me out any time."
"You believed Trixie's story about the Ursa Major when she first came to Ponyville!"
"Not even a little."
"You... you believed Trixie when she said she wasn't scared late last night," Trixie was grasping at straws.
"Yer a real cutie," AJ chucked her lightly under the chin and walked on.
"You think you can read Trixie like a book but there's one secret that she's managed to keep from you!" yelled the deceiver, thoroughly frazzled, "And you'll never guess it. Trixie did everything she could to hide it from you!"
This time AJ's curiosity was piqued. She turned to face the strange duo.
"Well, what's the secret?" she asked.
"I won't tell!" the liar stuck out her tongue.
"Good. 'Cos I wasn't asking you," Applejack turned her expectant eyes to the other Trixie.
"Trixie is desperately in love with you," said the truth teller.
Applejack and the Deceptive Trixie's jaws hit the floor.
Ah thought Ah had to pick the right archway or something. Why am I being made to move on? Ah still got things to say! This place don't make no sense!
Applejack could still remember what Twilight had said, even through the rising hurricane of emotion inside her. This was a place guided by thoughts. She would only be forced to move on if she or Trixie wanted it.
So which one of us is the one tryin' to run away? Or is it both of us? She... she said that she... but Ah...
Applejack stumbled through the blackness, reaching out for where the two Trixie's were standing moments earlier. Nothing. Nothing but a crunching beneath her hooves.
Pine needles, fallen twigs, loam and bracken.
As the light slowly rose Applejack found herself in a forest. Looming trees surrounding her, blocking out the sky. Under the leafy roof it was hard to tell whether it was day or night.
It's day! It's snowin' outside. Ah'm sitting in Twilight's library. Don't forgetwhy yer here. Enough distractions!
It took Applejack more than a minute to shake off her own feelings and focus on the task at hoof.
Twilight's prob'ly feelin' the strain of keepin' that spell goin' this long... Ah gotta keep movin'. We'll sort all this out once we're done. We'll... we'll have a nice long chat... jus' can't have any more distractions. Stay focused.
Applejack suddenly halted. The silence of the forest was broken by something other than her hooves crunching on the turf.
Somepony was weeping nearby. And it didn't sound quite like Trixie.
"Uh... hello?" she called out into the forest.
The sniffling was hastily silenced. A small azure unicorn filly wearing a comically oversized wizard hat and matching star spangled cloak reluctantly stepped out from behind a nearby tree.
"Trixie?" Applejack couldn't help but wonder who else she had honestly expected to find inside her friend's mind. This Trixie could not have been more than eight years old. She timidly withdrew as AJ approached, like a frightened animal.
"Hey, no need to be frightened of lil' ol' me, sugarcube," she treaded a touch more carefully and softened her voice. If this tiny Trixie ran she could vanish amongst these trees and undergrowth in an instant leaving AJ no closer to finding the fragment of the Amulet.
Trixie had a tendency to be a little foalish but this was ridiculous. Was this her inner foal? Applejack took a seat and waited for the filly to come to her. She'd always prided herself in her ability to deal with foals. After a few moments of hesitation the nervous unicorn filly drew closer of her own accord.
"Ah need to find mah way to the heart, Ah think. Do you know how Ah can get outta here?"
Tiny Trixie nodded, "Trixie knows the way," she sniffed and then blew her nose on her cape.
Despite her pretence that she needed to get this mission back on track Applejack had desperately wanted to talk to Trixie a bit longer. But she could hardly discuss her feelings with the mare in such a state.
Darn, if she isn't jus' the cutest lil filly though.
"Climb up on mah back, sugarcube, and we can go on together," Applejack dropped one knee, lowering her shoulder and offering it to Trixie, "Ah bet yer as keen to get outta this scary forest as Ah am."
"Trixie's not afraid of the forest!" there was actually a ring of truth to her denial this time, "Trixie loves forests!"
The filly seemed to have regained some of her courage and with a quick bout of kicking and scrabbling she'd climbed up and was seated between Applejack's broad shoulders, broad in comparison to Trixie's miniature form at least.
"Trixie used to play in the forest all the time back before..." the filly trailed off mid sentence.
"Before yer father passed away," whispered Applejack and the filly buried her face in Applejack's mane in response.
"We moved to the city after that... no more forests..." the filly mumbled into AJ's straw coloured hair.
Applejack knew that pain all too well. But while she had had a network of friends, close and extended family to cushion the blow of losing her parents Trixie had enjoyed no such relief. Nothing but bullies and abusers had awaited her.
"Trixie still sometimes puts pine needles under her pillow at night. This smell reminds her of home," the filly had rested her chin on top of AJ's head.
"Are we going the right way?" asked Applejack, every tree looked the same.
"We aren't going anywhere. We're in Twilight's library. It probably doesn't matter if we walk forward or hold still. Moving around isn't what brings us closer to the heart."
"Then what does?" Applejack halted once more.
"You've been moving closer this whole time. How did you do it the last two times?" Trixie sounded like she already knew the answer to that question.
Kind, open and honest.
Applejack paused for a moment in thought.
"Why... why were you cryin'? If yer not afraid of the forest..."
She could feel the filly trembling.
"The nightmares are close by. Trixie hates them. They got into the one place she thought she'd always be safe and now they won't leave no matter how many times she tells them to go. She needed somepony's help but Trixie told too many lies and now nopony believes her."
"Ah believe ya! And Ah'm gonna help ya too. "
"But you'll leave. The ponies Trixie cares about always leave. Or they make Trixie leave. If you knew how Trixie felt about you..." the filly was clinging to her tightly.
"Ah do! And Ah ain't going nowhere and neither are you. Ah won't let ya up and walk away on me!"
"Ponies always said Trixie was weird for liking other mares. When she told other mares she loved them they laughed at her. Ponies think of Trixie as a joke!" that wasn't the voice of a little filly talking anymore. The weight on AJ's back was growing steadily heavier. The weight of Trixie's insecurity.
But Applejack was a pony who could keep marching with even a mountain on her back.
"Let 'em laugh. They ain't even worth the time you spent thinkin' 'bout them. You deserve better than that. You deserve to love whoever you want and to have them love you in return."
The weight was crushing down on her. Knees trembling and hooves sinking into the soft forest floor.
"Do you promise?"
It was hard to even draw breath to speak. But Applejack raised her head and spoke anyway.
"Ah... Ah... promise."
And in that instant the weight suddenly vanished. She glanced over her shoulder. The filly was gone. She was alone once again. As alone as somepony could possibly be while inside another's head.
Applejack caught glimpses of something up ahead through the shadowy army of pine trees. A crumbling old house. The ruin of an ancient abode, its roof partially collapsed and its windows smashed in. This dilapidated structure seemed oddly out of place within the confines of the egotistical unicorn's mind.
As Applejack drew nearer the door creaked in the breeze. A breeze that seemed to come from within the house itself.
The nightmares are close by. Trixie hates them. They got into the one place she thought she'd always be safe...
The young filly's words had lodged themselves in AJ's mind and she heard them once more, as clearly as if they had been spoken directly into her ear. This was it. The heart.
Behind the broken, unhinged door lay the darkness. Hissing and swirling like a bubbling stew. AJ gulped and stepped forward. A torrent of whispers was carried on that breeze.
"Power. The Amulet. Vengeance. The Amulet. Blood. The Amulet. Revenge. The Amulet. Mortality. The Amulet. Darkness. The Amulet. The Amulet. The Amulet. The Amulet," the whispers rose to a crescendo as AJ stepped through the threshold into the ramshackle house. Then the voices suddenly were silenced.
"Trixie? Is this the right place?" the doorway behind her was swallowed up by the blackness as she spoke.
"Who dares intrude?" murmured the voices breathlessly.
"Uh... well... Mah name's Applejack and Ah'm here as a favour to a... friend," AJ ventured nervously.
"Do you desire power, mortal? Does your lust for it bring you before me? If you wish for it then drop to your knees," Applejack knew why Trixie had been unable to return to sleep last night. That voice melted her courage like butter in a furnace.
"No... Ah'm here to... uh... ask ye to leave, actually..." her mouth felt as dry as ash.
"Begone, ye of small ambition. This one belongs to us. She acceded to the terms. Made due tribute. Her's is ours. This one will be the vessel. We will bring this pitiful conjurer to the throne of the sun and cast the golden pretender into the abyss. Return the amulet to the magician and you may yet earn our mercy," as the voices spoke, strange imaged flickered through the darkness. AJ thought for a moment she saw Celestia's face but the Princess was wearing a look of contempt like Applejack had never seen before. She saw Trixie wearing the amulet, her eyes ruby red and glowing like hot coals. She saw ponies running. A knife. An emerald. a sickle.
She took a moment to steady herself. She spoke through a clenched jaw in an effort to keep from stuttering or letting her teeth chatter, "Ah don't know nothing about that. Now if ye'd kindly vacate mah friend's head so that you and Ah don't have to come to blow's it'd be much appreciated."
"You would challenge us? Without magic? We, who have devoured kings and gods, alike. You would stand against the voiceless others? Despair your arrogance, small being. Your unmaking draws closer with every word you utter," Applejack couldn't stop herself shaking. The darkness was gripping her with suffocating tightness. Each breath she drew was like a cold, wet liquid being forced down her throat into her lungs.
"Twilight told me that ya can't hurt me. Ya can't hurt nopony anymore. Now stop yer dillydallying and git!" her attempts at bravado sounded almost comical, even to her own ears.
"Twilight? The pretender's newest quarry. A fitting name for one born so near the end times. She was wrong, mortal."
Applejack managed a fake chuckle, "Twilight? Wrong about somethin' involvin' magic and the like? Ah don't think so. Now git!"
"The magician belongs to us. The world belongs to us. Soon the final candle will be extinguished. Soon all will return to the nothingness from whence it came. Soon..." images began to flicker in the nothingness once more. Celestia and Luna standing on a bridge, adorned in golden and silver armour. Canterlot Castle towers coming crashing down. The stars slowly vanishing into emptiness.
"Ah told ye Ah don't care about that! Now git! Get out! Leave or... or Ah'll buck ya right in the face!" Applejack began staggering forward. The blackness was as thick as jam but she dragged her hooves forward.
"The magician is ours..."
"No she ain't!"
"The magician is ours..."
"Ah said no!"
"The magician is ours..."
"No! She's mine!" silence fell, once more. Applejack stumbled onwards. The darkness was loosening its hold, "Yeah! You heard me! Ah ain't givin' her to no two-bit loser who... who hides in darkness like a big stinkin' coward. Who takes advantage of folks who're havin' a hard time. Yer jus' some stupid jewellery! Ugly jewellery at that! And Ah ain't givin' mah Trixie to you! Or to nopony else! That gal's comin' home with me and gettin' a good night sleep for once and there ain't nothing you can say or do to stop that! Now shut up and get out!"
The darkness suddenly stirred. It slowly poured past her. Gradually hastening till it was gushing out like somepony had pulled the plug on an entire ocean of inky water. As it retreated the inside of the house became visible. Beaten-up old sofa's, broken glass and the twisted wreckage of a fireplace. The last of the blackness vanished into the forest beyond.
"Is... is that it? Did Ah get it?" no answer came.
And yet... the forest seemed lighter. The whole place seemed lighter. Not brighter but not quite as heavy either. Less stifling. More alive.
"Ah think Ah got it..." Applejack stared around her. Even the ruined house felt more cheerful somehow, "Now, what did Twilight say Ah should do to get out of here again?"
Step one: Draw a circle.
Applejack could remember Twilight's concise instructions. Delivered in typical Twilight-checklist style. AJ scrawled a clumsy circle in the dust on the floor of the abandoned house using her tail and hooves.
Step Two: Seat yourself comfortably in the circle's centre.
AJ settled herself on the floor.
Step Three: Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
Step Four: Begin to think of where you are. The scent of the place. The feel of the air. Remember the temperature. Listen for the sounds. Bring yourself slowly back to reality with your five senses acting as an anchor.
Warmth. The scent of books. The sound of Spike, nervously pacing nearby. The feel of solid floorboards beneath her hooves. The crackling of the fire.
Applejack opened her eyes. Golden Oak Library was just as she had left it. Trixie was still seated across from her, her eyes squeezed shut. Twilight, for her part, was wearing a look of gleeful satisfaction. It was a look that AJ had seen before. The I-just-solved-a-particularly-complex-problem-and-will-now-get-to-subtly-boast-about-it-to-the-Princess look. .
"Good! Well done! Operation Trixie seems to have been a complete success," beamed the young librarian.
"Wow, Twilight. I thought ye'd be exhausted. Ah musta been in there for near to an hour. How'd ye keep the spell goin' so long?" Applejack carefully flexed her legs, testing the authenticity of the reality she now perceived.
"Oh no! You were inside for approximately three seconds. Thoughts, emotions and state transitions are processed remarkably quickly within the confines of the equine brain. Particularly with unicorns, due in part to most of the activity within the Praecantatio Mens, that's the part of the brain that joins to the horn via a network of neurons that... ahem..." Twilight stemmed her intellectual gushing at a stern glance from Spike, "Glad to have you back with us, Applejack. I knew we could count on you."
Applejack turned to Trixie, who was still seated with her eyes closed. AJ opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. She was unsure how much of it the azure unicorn had experienced with her. How much she would remember. And if she remembered it all... what words should be spoken?
"Trixie... are ya... are ya feelin' a little better?" the magician did not even stir.
"She's not conscious at the moment. And we're not quite done here. Spike? Did you fetch it?" Twilight moved closer to Trixie, licking her lips nervously.
"Got it right here," the dragon produced a small unadorned wooden chest.
"If my calculations are correct then your presence within Trixie should have loosened the Amulet's grip on her just enough for us to perform an extraction. In much the same way that your Element of Harmony is amplified by your honest nature I believe that the Amulet is surviving by feeding off characteristics within Trixie. Ego, guile or maybe just insecurity. And in the same way that your connection with the Element of Honesty would weaken if you ever stopped being honest so too can Trixie's connection be weakened by exposing her to some humility, openness and comfort," Twilight took note of the look of worry and confusion on AJ's face, "Oh, don't worry. She'll be back to the same old Trixie in a couple of days. It's only a temporary modification so that we can more easily access the "roots" we discussed earlier."
Twilight took a few seconds to think of a agricultural analogy that could explain things to AJ a little better, "It's kind of like when Apple Bloom got her head stuck in that pipe and we had to put grease on her neck to pluck her out. If I just wrenched it out it might damage Trixie. By sending you in to...um... grease her up a bit it will make the extraction a lot easier."
Twilight settled herself in front of the unmoving magician.
"Bring the chest here and open it, Spike, but whatever you do don't touch the Amulet itself. The last thing we need is a rampaging magically supercharged dragon on our hands," Spike walked ceremoniously over to join them and carefully opened the box.
Contained within lay the Alicorn Amulet. Its ruby centrepiece caught the firelight and glimmered ominously.
"Twilight... jus' be careful now, ya hear? That thing in there wants to get the Amulet back real bad and Ah think some nasty stuff'll happen if we let it," Applejack could feel her hair standing on end just from looking at the grim artefact.
"It communicated with you? That's fascinating!" Twilight got very excitable when discussing magic, her tail was wagging like Winona with a new dog treat, "It must have invested quite a lot of itself into Trixie in order to have maintained that level of sentience. Perhaps the symptoms were its way of pressuring the host into reacquiring the Amulet. What did it say? Did it divulge any information regarding it origins? I did some preliminary research but as yet I've come up empty hooved. How responsive was it? How much does it know about the outside world? What does it want? How did you-" Spike gave Twilight a meaningful nudge and she cut herself off.
"Twilight... Ah ain't much good at understandin' magical hooey and mumbo jumbo. It knew who you were, it really doesn't like the Princess very much and its awful mean. That's about the gist of what Ah found out by talkin to it and Ah wouldn't wanna talk to it again. Not for all the apples in Equestria. Now can we jus' hurry up before the... grease wears off."
Twilight gave a nod but AJ could see that the unicorn had made a mental note to ask Applejack in detail what she had seen and experienced later. The Amulet lit up with the glimmer of telekinetic magic and slowly lifted out of its box to hover between the two unicorns. The air hissed and warped as Twilight's magic coursed through it.
Trixie's eyes fluttered open and Applejack felt a lump form in her throat. Her eyes were lifeless and black. Like inky water. It was the darkness. The nightmares. Bubbling just below the surface.
Twilight gradually moved the Amulet closer. The room began to shudder more violently with each inch. Several books toppled off their shelves but neither the purple unicorn nor her staring patient glanced away. Trixie's mouth was moving. Wordlessly, at first, but as the amulet drew ever closer the sound became audible.
"Sleep. Sleep and change. You may delay us but the tide will not be stopped. We can wait. As long as we must. Ours is eternal. You will have vanished by the next heartbeat. Others will come. Drowning in their own ambition, they will beg for gifts that no mortal can bear to receive. And we shall give them what they desire. To their own ruin and to the ruin of all. We can wait as long as it will take. Let time erode your magic, your will and the power of your race. The Golden Age cannot last forever. When you hear the lamentation of the pretender you bow before you will know our time has come round once again..."
As Trixie spoke the words a black smoke trickled from between her lips. Creeping through the air, its tendrils found the Amulet and suddenly it was sucked into the red glow that was emanating out of the ruby. Twilight drew a shaky breath and furrowed her brow in concentration. The flow of smoke thickened and hastened. Trixie's body twitched and shook as it gushed from her.
The whole process was over in a matter of moments and yet to Applejack it felt like it went on forever. Finally, when the flow weakened and then guttered out Applejack realised she had been holding her breath the whole time. Trixie slumped onto her belly.
"Is... is it over?" asked Applejack, her voice trembling.
"Okay.... Twilight gave me a whole long list of do's and don'ts while yer still recovering," said Applejack as she folded up Trixie's cloak, placed her wizard hat on top of it, bundled the magician up in blankets and tucked her tightly into bed, "You're to avoid using magic fer a couple a' days, avoid strenuous activity and get some sleep."
The two had returned from Twilight's house in awkward silence. Applejack, for her part, still uncertain as to how much Trixie remembered of their mental journey together and slightly shaken by their final encounter with the Amulet. Trixie had seemed to be working up the courage to say something, occasionally glancing at AJ out of the corner of her eye, as they trotted together back to Sweet Apple Acres. Upon returning to the farm Applejack had tried to break the ice that had refrozen between them by busying herself pampering Trixie.
"So... uh... well Ah should prob'ly leave ya to get some sleep. Ah... Ah've got some chores to catch up on and all... uh... if ya need anything jus' holler and Ah'll come a runnin'. Anything at all," Applejack swallowed hard. Maintaining eye contact with Trixie was making her heart start thumping all over again.
Dang it, gal, yer stutterin' like a schoolfilly. Get yer darn priorities straight. Does it say "Kiss Trixie" on Twilight's list? No. No it sure as heck doesn't. Jus' go outside and help Mac with his chores. The cold air will help ya clear yer head.
"Trixie does need something," Trixie peeked out at AJ from her snug nest, "Company. Trixie wants to talk to you."
Applejack thought for a minute that her heart would jump out of her mouth and run right out the bedroom door.
"Uh... Ah... um... sure... Ah ... yeah, sure," deep breaths, Applejack. Keep it together, "We can talk for a bit but... you should really get some sleep. Ah mean... you didn't get much sleep last night."
"Neither did you," Trixie patted the bed next to her, inviting AJ to take a seat next to her on the bed.
Ask it. Ask the question. Come on, dagnabbit.
Applejack settled herself on the bed and took off her hat. After fidgeting with it for a few seconds she plopped it on the bedside table beside Trixie's, "How much... how much of that do you remember?" she finally managed.
"How much of what?" said Trixie, blinking back at her blankly.
Applejack stumbled hopelessly over her own tongue for a few seconds, "Of... of the whole... spell thing... Ah went inside yer head fer Celestia's sake!" AJ could feel her face growing hot.
"Oh... no... Trixie doesn't remember much at all. Everything just went black after Trixie closed her eyes and the next thing she knew she was walking home with you. Did you... maybe... see something... interesting in Trixie's head?" Trixie peeped a nervous and fleeting look at the earth pony settled next to her. She sounded almost hopeful.
"Well... Ah saw all sorts a weird stuff, to be honest," at this, Trixie blushed bright red and retreated under the covers, "Ah saw some kinda gloomy theatre type place. And there was a lotta times when it got really dark and Ah couldn't see. And... there was a whole pine forest in there with a rundown old house."
Trixie's head poked out from the blankets like a turtle emerging out of its shell.
"Oh... Trixie thought that when you said 'something weird' you meant..." Trixie flustered again and reconsidered, "Actually... never mind what Trixie thought. Trixie used to live in a house in a pine forest when she was still little, so maybe that's what you saw."
"Yeah, Ah know. You told me in the... when we talked in the forest in yer head... wow, Ah think it's only jus' hittin' me now how bizarre this whole mornin' has been for us."
Trixie still looked like she was working up the nerve to say something. Suddenly she struggled and kicked her way out of her duvet cocoon and turned to face AJ.
"Can Trixie be honest with you for a minute?" she asked, her mind seemingly made up.
"Can ya?" quipped AJ, chuckling gently. Trixie couldn't help but smile as well.
"Good question. Trixie often has difficulty... being honest. With you and with herself and with other ponies. But she feels... lighter now. So maybe... maybe Trixie can be honest with you this time. When Trixie heard that somepony would have to travel into her mind to help her she... she really wanted Applejack to be the one to do it. Do you know why?"
"Ah... uh... Ah could hazard a guess."
"Trixie didn't want anypony else to do it because... because she knew that anypony who went in there might find out certain... truths about the way Trixie felt about a particular new friend of hers... and..." Trixie trailed off.
Silence descended on the two once more, broken only by the sound of Apple Bloom and Granny Smith cheerfully doing dishes together downstairs.
Trixie shook her head and forced herself to continue, "Trixie is a coward so she thought that... maybe... Twilight's spell would be an easier way for Trixie to... tell Applejack how she felt. Did Trixie's plan work?"
"It... it did. Ah... you told me that you... that you love me," AJ swallowed hard, "Ah... Ah'm gonna assume you meant love in a... in a romantic sense."
Trixie nodded, her cheeks redder than a velvet curtain.
"Trixie felt terrible for thinking about you that way. Because you were being so kind and nice and Trixie was scared she was gonna end up ruining our friendship just when it was beginning. Trixie didn't want to end up alone again. But she didn't want to lie to you either. And Trixie didn't know if maybe... if maybe you felt the same way about Trixie."
"You didn't... know how Ah felt? Really? Ah kissed ya on the face! Ah didn't think Ah was doing a very good job of hiding mah feelings."
Trixie shuffled her hooves, "Trixie had her suspicions. But Twilight said you always act like a big sister for everypony so Trixie thought maybe you were... being sisterly."
"Ah wasn't..." Applejack wished she could run outside. Her face felt like a furnace. She wanted to bury her head in the snow, "Ah... Ah love ya too... or maybe it's too soon to say that... or maybe it isn't... Ah wanna be yer lover... if ye'll have me."
"You do?" Trixie stepped closer.
"Yeah... Ah've been havin' a real hard time keepin' myself under control... sometimes Ah jus' wanted to... grab ya and plunge my tongue into yer mouth," AJ was surprised that there wasn't a genuine column of steam rising off her head at that moment.
Trixie clambered back onto the bed. Her face inches from AJ's. Applejack could feel the warmth of her breath, "You could do that right now, you know... Trixie wouldn't think of stopping you..."
Applejack couldn't stop herself from licking her lips. Her mouth was so dry. Her eyes flitted frantically from Trixie's luscious lips to her piercing violet gaze.
"Ah... Ah..."
Their noses touched. It felt to Applejack like a bolt of lightning had struck her in the snout. But she didn't withdraw. She couldn't.
"We... we should take this a little slower... Ah mean Ah don't want it to all fall apart and for things to get awkward between us two because Ah don't exactly have the best track record for relationships and Ah really value our friendship and we really only jus' met... well we met a long time ago but that was different, Ah mean, the first two times didn't really count so maybe we should take it slow," stuttered Applejack.
"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! And Trixie doesn't need to take things slow."
Applejack felt like she was floating. The room was spinning.
"But Ah..."
"No buts."
Their lips collided. Applejack felt all the tension that had been building over the past few days lift off her. She felt as if she had been walking around with a ten ton weight around her neck and now suddenly she was lighter than a pegasus filly. She leaned a little more weight behind the kiss when suddenly Trixie withdrew.
"Woah," Applejack toppled face first into Trixie's chest.
"Sorry... um... Trixie talks a big game but she hasn't really... got much kissing experience."
Applejack laughed heartily and edged herself in closer.
"Well, Ah reckon we can work on gettin' ya some experience. You'll be a real expert by the time the weekend rolls round. Now try and relax," Applejack plunged into a second attempt. Wrapping her arms around Trixie's slender shoulders, prying open the unicorns lips and sending her tongue on a diving expedition. The two were lost in the heat of the moment even as the snow fell outside. For the longest time the rest of the world seemed to melt away the sound of heavy breathing filled their ears. All of reality reduced to two tongues wrestling and caressing. Suddenly, the unicorn retreated once again.
Applejack giggled, "Don't tease me too much, sugarcube. Ah can't hold back for another second."
"Trixie thinks you're going to have to... we have company."
Applejack turned around. Apple Bloom was standing, slack jawed, staring at the two of them from the doorway. In a flash the filly had vanished. The two listened to her hoofsteps thundering down the hall.
"Granny Smith! Granny Smith! Big sis is kissin' that weirdo magician!" came the filly's cries.
"Ah knew it! Ah told ya! Dang it, Mac get in here! Yer sister's fallen prey to some unicorn's spell!" Granny Smith's shrill voice drifted through the house.
"Aw, heck," hissed AJ, "Uh... can we put this on pause fer a minute? Ah gotta go do some damage control."
Trixie laughed, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is always up for an encore," Applejack ran a hoof across her soft cheek and then took off after her sister.
"Apple Bloom you get yer butt back here or so help me-"
Trixie flopped back onto the bed and smiled. Not the arrogant sneer she wore when she was feeling insecure, not the forced grin she displayed when she wanted somepony to think that they hadn't managed to hurt her feelings but instead she had a real smile. A smile warm enough to carry her through the rest of winter. Today had been a good day.
Applejack's eyes fluttered open. Most ponies around town were probably moaning and dragging themselves out of bed. But waking up early for Winter Wrap Up had never been particularly difficult for Applejack. She was a farm gal; she woke up early every morning for chores anyway.
Waking up was one thing but actually getting out of bed would be another thing entirely. The Great and Powerful Trixie was a snuggle sleeper: she had a tendency to cosy up to AJ during the night such that the earth pony would often have to disentangle herself from the unicorn come morning.
"Trixie?" she whispered, nudging aside a lock of cornflower blue mane and kissing the sleeping magician just below the horn. Trixie scrunched her nose.
"Mmmmhm-mmm... Applejack?" she murmured, her brow furrowing but her eyes still closed.
"Ah'm here, sugarcube. Time to wake up. We got a long day ahead of us."
"Mmm-mmmnn... nuh-uh... the trick to eating pine cones is to just start chewing and not stop 'cos... if you stop then you'll lose momentum... here... Trixie will show you..." Trixie nuzzled groggily against Applejack's chest and drifted back to sleep.
Applejack stifled a giggle. Trixie didn't have nightmares anymore but her normal dreams were plenty bizarre enough to make up for it. AJ tried playfully blowing into an azure ear. It twitched and a low grumble rose from Trixie.
"You awake, yet?" smiled AJ, teasing Trixie was her absolute favourite past time these days. She leaned forward and nibbled Trixie's ear gently.
"Gaaah..." Trixie's legs squirmed around, kicking at the blankets. She slowly lifted her head and blinked blearily at AJ, "Mmmm-mmm... five more minutes," her head flopped back down again.
Applejack grinned, "Breakfast is ready," she said in a soft sing-song voice.
Trixie lurched awake, scampered across the mattress like a wounded animal desperately fleeing a hunter and tumbled out of bed dragging the blankets with her. After a loud thump followed by a mad scramble she leapt to her feet, "Good morning, Applejack! Come on! Breakfast is ready!" cried Trixie, excitably, wearing the blankets like a replacement for her usual cloak.
"That it is," she beamed warmly, "And after breakfast Ah got somethin' real fun for us to do together."
"You do?" Trixie wriggled free of the blankets and trotted across the room to retrieve the new and improved cloak that Rarity had made for her last week, "Excellent. And what marvellous things will you entertain Trixie with today?"
"Well, today's Winter Wrap Up so... we're gonna spend the whole day working hard with no magic whatsoever," Applejack chuckled as Trixie blustered at this for a moment.
"Damn, damn, damn... Trixie forgot that was happening today," Trixie puffed out her chest, "Well, prepare to fall deeper in love with the Great and Powerful Trixie and her myriad of talents because this unicorn is no stranger to hard work. Trixie hauled her caravan half way across Equestria on her own. She can certainly handle a single day of wrapping up winter! Why, Trixie, in her magnificence, could probably wrap up winter single-hoofedly!" Trixie waggled her eyebrows at AJ to let her know she was kidding.
"Ya really think ya can handle it? You were struggling a little bit yesterday when ya were helpin' me clear snow," said Applejack, "A certain somepony ran off to foalsit the CMC first chance she got, if Ah recall correctly."
Trixie blushed and shuffled her hooves, "It'll be okay... even boring chores can be fun... as long as we can do them together."
Applejack leapt off the bed and swept Trixie into her arms, "Yer too darn cute sometimes, ya know that? Ah think Ah'm startin' to reconsider yer request for five more minutes in bed."
"Can't resist Trixie's charms, huh? The Great and Powerful mmmph-" Applejack shut Trixie up with a deep kiss. It was going to be a long day and AJ needed to recharge her emotional batteries with copious amounts of Trixie.
"Ahem."
Applejack reluctantly pulled away, "Dang it, Mac! How many times Ah gotta tell ya not to come barging into my room!"
Big McIntosh sheepishly withdrew the head he had poked into the bedroom ,"Came to tell ya breakfast's ready," said the stoic red stallion from the hall.
"Ya don't have to come up here an' tell me that!" snapped Applejack. She always got a bit edgy when somepony interrupted her when she was getting her fix of Trixie, "Ah could smell that food from halfway across Ponyville," ninety percent of what Mac said was implied rather than openly stated. Applejack knew full well that the real reason he was up here was to badger her to get ready for Wrap Up because he knew if she had her way she might end up lying in bed with Trixie for another hour.
"Come on, sugarcube, let's get moving."
"Trixie! Trixie! Trixie!" Apple Bloom scampered into the room at her usual break-neck pace, "Snips and Snails asked me to ask you if you could teach them more magic tricks and Ah said Ah would but only if me an' the Crusaders could come too 'cos we wanted to be Cutie Mark Crusader Magicians!"
"Anypony else wanna come bargin' into mah bedroom?" asked a rather frazzled AJ.
Granny Smith's wrinkled face poked in through the door, "How much longer are you two lover birds gonna take? Yer pancakes're gettin' cold!"
Applejack sighed. She'd have to spend the night in Trixie's caravan again if she planned on securing even an iota of privacy for the two of them.
"Apparently Trixie's not allowed to use magic for the whole day but maybe she can teach you lot some card tricks tomorrow when the sun comes out," laughed Trixie as she trotted downstairs with the rest of them, glancing over her shoulder and tossing a wink AJ's way.
"Awww! But Winter Wrap Up is so boring," whined Apple Bloom, "Tell me another story so Ah'll have something to entertain the rest of the Crusaders with later!"
"Hmmm... did Trixie ever tell you about the Snowmare?"
Their cheerful voices faded away as they marched downstairs. Applejack dug her scarf and another one for Trixie. She paused. Was she forgetting anything? Trixie's hat! She plucked it off the hook and paused for but a moment to stare out the window. Beyond the misted pane lay all of winter waiting to be cleared. Sweet Apple Acres was covered by a thick blanket of snow hthat shone bright and crisp, despite the sun not having risen yet, as the lights of the farmhouse played on its surface. Usually she looked forward to the end of winter but this time...
Mah first winter with Trixie's over so soon... still... Ah'm sure by the time winter comes 'round again next year Ah'll have plenty of new stories to tell.
"Y'all had better not have started those pancakes without me or there'll be heck to pay!"
