& & &
“I’m really sorry miss!” Pipsqueak apologized for the fourth time.
And for the fourth time, Trixie grumbled something that might’ve been an acceptance or nothing at all as she scrubbed her hooves in the river.
Big Mac put his hoof on Pip’s shoulder…though in reality it covered most of the little pony’s body. “S’allright Pip, she knows you didn’t mean no harm. It was just an accident. Right Trixie?” He raised his voice.
The showmare stopped washing her hooves and shot him a stiff nod. “Of course it was! The Great and Powerful Trixie has been in show business long enough not to be bothered by such…unpleasantness.”
The small colt blushed as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…um, okay?” Dinky gave him a fond nuzzle, but still made a point to hold her breath until they got Pip something to wash his mouth out with.
Macintosh gave the two foals a nudge. “Why don’t you two just give us a second here?” Pip and Dinky nodded and sat on some flat stones as he headed down to the riverbank just in time to see Trixie finish her ablutions.
“You ready to travel?”
“Certainly.” Trixie held up a blue hoof, so clean it almost sparkled. Big Macintosh nodded.
“Alright then…now, just remember these two are just young’ns. They’re tired, small and they can’t go as fast as we can. So just keep your patience with them, a’right?”
“Of course! Trixie can do anything…including take care of foals!” She declared, flaring her cape dramatically. Mac chewed on his ever-present wheat stalk for a moment, giving her a half-lid stare. Feeling the silence bear down on her, she cleared her throat and added. “It is true! The Great and Powerful Trixie can do anything.” She tossed her mane and shot the red stallion a winning smile…only to see him raise his right eyebrow a fraction of an inch higher. “…and no! I am not just saying that to show you that Trixie is better than your precious Rainbow Dash! Where do you even get that sort of idea?”
Macintosh rolled his eyes and turned to walk away.
& & &
Rainbow Dash stirred gently. It was about noon. Feeling several warm bodies pressed against her, she lifted her head to take a look around. Sweetie Belle was sleeping on her back, her belly rising and falling as she gently snored. Archer was curled up in a tight ball, wedged against Dash’s side. Silver Spoon was still cuddled up against Rainbow’s foreleg, hugging it in her sleep and using it as a pillow…Rainbow winced as she felt Silver Spoon drooling on her but didn’t want to disturb her. Snails somehow managed to sleep on his back, next to Rainbow Dash, but still have his long neck to flop over Silver Spoon’s back so that his cheek was rubbing against Silver’s.
Smiling gently, Rainbow stretched her limbs as much as she could without disturbing her charges. Even so, Sweetie Belle stirred slightly, causing her legs to stretch out in all directions as she yawned. She idly scratched her belly and smacked her lips in a way that was adorable but still would’ve thrown Rarity into a conniption fit.
“Rainbow Dash?” Sweetie mewled sleepily. “Is Big Macintosh back yet?”
Rainbow squirmed, trying to turn her head as much as she could. “Afraid not.”
Sweetie Belle sighed, rolling over on her belly. “I’m kinda hungry.”
At that moment Rainbow Dash’s own stomach chimed in, rumbling in agreement. She sighed. “Yeah, me too. I don’t know about you though, but cooking isn’t really my thing.”
“I can cook!” Sweetie said as she got to her hooves, stretching her legs out. “Rarity lets me cook for her all the time!”
Had Rainbow Dash been more awake and thinking more properly she would’ve caught on that Sweetie Belle had stretched the truth beyond the breaking point and back again, but as it was she just yawned and nodded. “Sure. I’ll be out in a minute. Go look around to see if the ‘Great and Powerful’ Dixie has any food lying around. No fires until I’m outside though.”
“Got it!” Sweetie saluted, rifling around Trixie’s bags. Rainbow settled in for a few more minutes of sleep. She had only just closed her eyes when she heard Sweetie Belle calling her. “Um, Rainbow Dash?”
Groaning slightly, the pegasus in question sat up. “Yeah?”
“I wanted to say thank you.” Sweetie walked over. “This trip was so much fun!” She jumped up, wiggling her hooves in midair.
“Heh, that’s Rainbow Dash Adventures: fun guaranteed or else.” She grinned. “This has been pretty cool for me too.”
“You mean because of you and Big Macintosh?” Sweetie’s eyes grew large as her mouth formed a silent ‘aww.’
To her annoyance, Rainbow Dash actually felt herself blush. “W-well, yeah, but not just that! Spending time with you fillies and colts has actually been awesome.”
“It has?” Sweetie tipped her head.
“Sure! I guess it’s cool to have fans and the Rainbow Dash Fan Club and stuff…but I don’t think I ever really took the time to know you guys. You’re really amazing ponies.”
“We are?”
“Hay, yeah! I just said so didn’t I? All that stuff you guys have done: camping, pranks, singing, surviving out in the forest on your own in the night…that was pretty darn cool.”
Sweetie beamed. “Oh wow, Archer was right!”
“I’ll say she was!” Rainbow blinked. “Uh, about what?”
“Archer said that you don’t need a cutie mark to be special or cool and that you can do a lot of great things even if you don’t have one!” Sweetie bounced up and down. “Dinky and Pip don’t have their cutie marks either but they’re great!”
Dash nodded. “Smart filly.”
“Yeah! I found out that maybe Rarity’s books aren’t always the best when it comes to finding your special somepony,” Rainbow settled for an eye roll in answer to that. “…and that even mean ponies can be really nice if you give them a chance!” Sweetie hugged Dash’s side. “This has been the best time ever!”
“Glad to hear it.” Rainbow rested her head atop of Sweetie Belle’s. “You’re gonna have a lot of stories to tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, aren’t ya?”
“Uh huh! Like meeting that sea serpent, telling ghost stories, the truth or dare, making you drink so much cider that you really, really, REALLY had to go…”
“OKAY, I think that’s enough.” Rainbow Dash gave her a noogie.
Sweetie bit her lip. “Do you think…Apple Bloom and Scootaloo will be mad that I made new friends? Without them?”
“Of course not! Making new friends doesn’t mean forgetting about your best friends. When I went to Appleloosa I met this buffalo, Little Strongheart. Actually, I didn’t exactly *like* her that much when we first met, but we ended up friends. Kind of like you and Silver Spoon.”
Sweetie Belle looked nervous. “You don’t think…that the Crusaders will be mad at me for being friends with her?”
“Oh.” Rainbow gently shuffled her wings, taking care not to disturb the remaining sleeping ponies. “That’s…okay, well.” She cleared her throat. “Look, if ponies can forgive Luna after the whole ‘plunge Equestria into eternal darkness’ thing, I think your friends can give Silver Spoon another chance. Cheerilee told me when she came up with this idea how worried she was that you would all form your own little groups and never make friends outside of them. I bet she’d be really proud of you and Silver Spoon.” Sweetie’s look brightened. Dash gave an encouraging smile. “What happens next is up to you two. If you don’t want to end up the way you were when this trip started, then you’re both going to have to deal with the fact that your best friends don’t like each other. Maybe you two can fix that. Maybe not. Still, it’d be a shame if things went back to the way they were. It’d make this whole trip kind of a waste, don’t you think?”
“I guess so.” Sweetie mumbled. “I’m kinda worried about Scootaloo though. I mean, what if she gets jealous because I got to go on this really cool trip with you and she thinks you're the most awesome pony ever and now I come back with new friends that she doesn’t like and—” Open mouth, insert hoof.
Once she had Sweetie’s attention, Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from the little unicorn’s mouth. “Relax. I’m sure Scootaloo will be okay with it. And if she’s not, just tell me and I’ll talk some sense into Scootaloo, okay?” She scratched her mane. “I should probably do that anyway—spend more time with my number one fan and all…and Silver Spoon, you’re not fooling anypony. I know you’re awake.”
The silver pony in question slowly opened one eye. “How’d you know?”
Rainbow shrugged her wings. “I know a thing or two about sleeping and not sleeping. You held your breath when there was something you really wanted to hear.”
“…Oh.” Silver winced. “Sorry. I just—”
“Wanted to hear what I was going to tell Sweetie Belle? I figured. Everything I said to her applies to you too.”
The filly nodded. “I know.” She looked at the filly in question and gave an awkward kind of nod, one that said that she felt the same way. Rainbow Dash stood, stretching languidly. Archer stirred slightly and Snails remained flopped across Silver Spoon. “Um, a little help?” She asked the pegasus.
Rainbow smirked. “Eeeenah. You can wait while I help Sweetie get breakfast started.” She gave a half-wave and walked out of the tent, Sweetie following shortly behind her, giggling.
Silver Spoon groaned as Snails let out a snore. Great.
& & &
Big Macintosh strode along, listening with half an ear as Trixie performed minor slight of hoof magic for Pip and Dinky to make the time go by faster. From the gentle ‘oohs’ and ‘awws’ from the foals, he guessed that she wasn’t doing a half bad job at it.
“Thank you, thank you! The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates your appreciation!” She paused, mentally wishing she’d thought that through a bit better. Covering it up with a flourished bow, she trotted ahead to Big Macintosh.
Big Mac gave her a polite smile. “Do you also do Cutie Markvitzvahs, Cute-Ceañeras, weddings, and birthdays?”
“Hmph! Trixie is not a clown or a simple magician! I have strode the stage from Hoofington to Trottingham and shall one day stride forth in front of crowds from Las Pegasus to Canterlot itself!”
“All right, all right.” Big Mac held up a hoof. “Ah didn’t mean nothing by it. Ah’m sure you're a real show stopper.” Much in the same way that his little sister and her friends stopped the show at the school talent show, but he didn’t feel the need to voice that thought aloud.
Nodding primly, Trixie flared her cape dramatically. “And what of you? Will you and your…charming pegasus friend be continuing your little camp out?”
Macintosh shook his head. “Ah reckon I’ll talk it over with Dash first…but ah think we’ll be heading for home. We can send somepony later to get our gear from the campsite…what’s left of it anyways.”
“A shame. Still, Trixie supposes that you and the foals will need some time to rest and recover before journeying back? When was the last time you slept?”
Mac grunted. He hadn’t slept since the night before last so he’d been up a solid twenty-four hours. “Ah can wait till we get Pip and Dinky back.” He paused. “Thanks for yer hospitality.”
Trixie waved her hoof as if it were of no consequence…and as if she had been presented with much a choice. “The Great and Powerful Trixie can also be great and generous…think what you will of me, but I would never turn away a foal in need…no matter how annoying and career ruining they might be.” She added, grumbling under her breath. Fortunately, Big Mac didn’t seem to hear that last part.
“Ah never said otherwise. You might be a mite…” he considered the words pretentious and arrogant before disregarding them as too inflammatory, “prickly, but that don’t make you a bad pony.”
Trixie smirked. It was working. She knew no stallion could resist her charms! “Hmph, just wait until we get back to my tent. Trixie will prepare for you and your charges the most exquisite of traveler’s fare, learned from the very best chefs of Neigh Orleans!”
“Do you got apples?” Mac asked.
“My dear Macintosh, there is more to cooking than just apples!” Trixie threw her hooves open wide. “There are gumbos, jambalaya—the best of centuries of traditional Neigh Orleans cooking tradition!”
Macintosh blinked slowly. “So, no apples?” He asked in incomprehension. “Fraid ah don’t follow you.”
Trixie grimaced but strode ahead so he wouldn’t see her annoyance. “Never fear! Soon you shall see the light of my…FIRE!” Her voice rose into a shriek.
Big Macintosh charged forward after giving a brief shout of “Stay here!” to Pip and Dinky. He burst through the underbrush in time to see a roaring fire quickly extinguished by a cyan pegasus with a now empty bucket. “Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow cast the bucket aside and flew over to give Macintosh a hug. “Hey big guy! Did you find them?”
“Auntie Rainbow!” “Rainbow Dash!” Dash’s answer came in the form of two small foals tackle-hugging her to the ground. Mac smiled.
Trixie however looked at the singed ground and tent with something approaching terror. “W-what…how…?”
“Aww, and I almost had it too!” The white filly protested. “The water was almost hot enough to make soup!”
Trixie’s eyebrow twitched. “Y-you…caused all this…and you were just boiling the water?!”
From her position on the ground, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. “Never let Sweetie Belle cook.”
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