It had been nearly a week since Pinkie Pie dropped by with the job offer and Trixie was hard at work prepping her second debut.
“Is this your card?!” Trixie dramatically threw the pack into the air, scattering it to the winds while she magically grasped a random card mid-flight and held it out.
The seven of diamonds.
“Uhm, y-yes.” Fluttershy brought her hooves together in meek applause as though she was afraid of drawing any more attention to herself than necessarily. A move that Trixie might have understood on stage, but they were in the back garden with nopony else around for this rehearsal, bar a couple of inquisitive forest critters.
That wasn’t the worst thing though.
“No, it isn’t. Your card was the three of clubs.” Trixie sighed and brushed her luxurious mane out of her face, then motioned to the rolled-up cloth banner that they’d hung off the roof. “You’re not supposed to just go along with it.”
“Sorry. I thought I was helping.” Fluttershy looked at the banner.
A quick burst of magic saw it unfurl and reveal a giant three of clubs painted on it.
“Oh!” Fluttershy gasped as she looked up at the banner in wide-eyed wonderment. Trixie could almost hear the gears spinning in Fluttershy’s head as she tried to piece together how this had happened.
Trixie smiled. This was what it was all about. That moment of awed confusion in the wake of her perfect illusions. That beautiful moment where the audience was trying to work out at what part she’d pulled the wool over their eyes. It didn’t matter whether they came up blank, made a thousand guesses, or even deduced it correctly. That moment would always exist.
Just the sight of it washed away any annoyance she’d felt a moment ago. Of course, it also didn’t hurt that in this particular case, that wonder came with a certain unique benefit.
Trixie stalked up beside the distracted Fluttershy and kissed her cheek, electing a surprised ‘eep’ from the adorable creature.
After a moment, a red-faced Fluttershy leaned over and placed a peck on Trixie’s offered cheek in return after which she hastily tried to act as though nothing had happened. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. What Fluttershy was trying to do was act casual about the ‘public’ display of affection. She just wasn’t very good at it yet.
‘Public’ in the sense that they could potentially be seen by a puzzled squirrel, but it was progress. It had been ever so enjoyable though, training Fluttershy together with Rainbow Dash to deal with this sort of thing over the past few days. For one, she’d gotten faster at reacting. What used to take an eternity was just a moment now.
“So what do you think?” Trixie allowed the question to linger just long enough for Fluttershy’s blush to intensify before she began gathering the cards back up and clarified. “This final trick isn’t as flashy as Trixie would have liked, but she only had a few days to prepare. Apparently, it is frowned upon to ask for a lot of black powder and a barrel of acid on short notice. Who knew?”
“I think if you want a good reaction, maybe you should build up to it a little more,” Fluttershy said as she narrowed her eyes at Trixie for just a moment. She turned back to the banner. “T-that, and maybe some sparks at the end when it unfurls? You don’t need physical fireworks for this one, right?”
“Are you sassing Trixie? It’s so hard to tell, but Trixie does appreciate your assistance. More lead-up and sparks it is.” Trixie smirked as she shuffled her newly collected deck and came trotting up behind Fluttershy. Trixie wrapped her up in a hug, fur soft as ever. Soothing. A simple incantation turned that feeling into a shower of pinkish, purple, and yellow glitter, dancing around the banner. “Better?”
“Mhm.” Fluttershy leaned back into the embrace.
Trixie gave her a tight squeeze just for a moment. She loved being this close, but one little thing was bothering her. Even when Fluttershy looked relaxed, just below the skin was this ever-present tension, like she didn’t know how to let go of her anxiety entirely.
Touching her always felt like that. It was just how Fluttershy was... or so Trixie had thought until recently. There had been so much going on that evening when they’d first all gotten together that it only occurred to her afterward, but it was the only time she could recall where Fluttershy had fully melted.
It was just a little bit galling that it had only happened when Rainbow Dash kissed her.
Not that Trixie had anything to be jealous about, of course, but she couldn’t stand the idea that Rainbow Dash would take notice and lord it over her that she was a better kisser or something preposterous like that! The Great and Powerful Trixie was second to nopony!
Fortunately, both Dash and Fluttershy had been distracted enough that neither of them seemed to have noticed, which meant Trixie had a window of opportunity to figure out how to make Fluttershy melt just as easily before either of them caught on.
“Don’t worry, Trixie’s got you,” Trixie warned before stepping back slowly and sitting down in the grass. A little bit of magic allowed Fluttershy to float down till she was laying on her back, head in Trixie’s lap.
Thankfully, Fluttershy hadn’t panicked and struggled. She just allowed the magic to take hold. Either that was a sign of trust in Trixie’s abilities or a sign she was unaware of how easily a less talented unicorn might slip up and drop her. Probably the former.
“Oh. My…” Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the garden, or at least what little of it as she could see from her new position. Finally, they settled for looking up at her with a hint of uncertainty. “U-uhm…?”
“You look adorable, like a flipped turtle.” Trixie chuckled as she reached out and poked one of Fluttershy’s airborne hooves. The touch made Fluttershy pull her legs closer to her body as a result. “That just made you look smaller, not any less cute.”
“I-it be pretty mean to do this to a little turtle...” Fluttershy muttered as she turned her head away, avoiding Trixie’s gaze. The blush on her cheek told Trixie she didn’t have any reason to pull back, though.
“Trixie will keep that in mind,” Trixie said as she caressed the offered cheek, then shifted her attention down to Fluttershy’s shoulders. A simple massage wasn’t going to achieve her goal, but it was a good start. Besides, she liked the feeling of fluffy fur under her hooves almost as much as Fluttershy seemed to like the gentle attention.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy murmured quietly, eyes closed.
After a little while of delivering what was frankly the greatest shoulder rub any living creature would ever receive, Trixie noticed that her strategy hit a hitch. It had kind of worked. The tension in Fluttershy had ebbed to an all-time low, but it wasn't entirely gone.
Trixie wasn’t quite sure what was keeping the girl on edge. Was it really just that they were out in the open? It was just the two of them alone out here, hardly anypony came all the way out this way this late in the day. Although, maybe it wasn’t anypony that was the issue.
She looked around at the various birds and rabbits that were honestly just minding their own business rather than staring, but still, it was the only thing she could think of. To Fluttershy, there wasn’t much difference.
Well, that was easy to solve.
“Trixie’s gonna take this inside, alright?” she asked, more to inform Fluttershy than to check if she was okay with it.
A sleepy nod gave her confirmation.
The rest was simple. Levitate Fluttershy off the ground and move the whole affair indoors, the couch would do. Too bad that she’d have to walk herself over there and clamber onto the couch, though it was soothing once she got to bring the nearly snoozing Fluttershy back into her lap.
Adorable.
The next few minutes were spent just repeating the same gentle motions again on the comfy couch. The curious thing, though, was that after a while Fluttershy felt more tense now than she had outside.
Trixie grimaced as she tried to puzzle out what was going on. She looked around the room and spotted the open windows. It struck Trixie as a little silly, but she supposed somepony or critter could in theory peek through them.
Fortunately, they all came with wooden shutters. One quick burst of magic later they each closed one by one. Trixie even had the presence of mind not to let her frustration get the best of her and slam them shut. Nice and easy.
The only issue was that she could feel Fluttershy tense up even more as soon as she did it. Now she was back to being just as bad as when they started, if not worse!
That didn’t make any sense!
Trixie pulled away from Fluttershy and hugged herself to keep her hooves from trembling. It was so frustrating! She sucked in a shaky breath. “...What am I doing wrong?”
A featherlight touch drew her attention to the yellow wing brushing at her face. It led back down to Fluttershy who was staring at her with obvious concern. Once their eyes met, Fluttershy looked startled as if it only just then occurred to her the comforting touch would draw attention to her. “Uhm… Hello. Are you doing okay? I’m sorry if you, uhm, if I should have done something. I just didn’t know what. Should I have offered to switch? Or—I’m sorry. I knew you were expecting something, but I just got so nervous trying to think what you wanted or maybe I’d do the wrong thing, or maybe it was too much, or maybe you were going to, uhm, or...”
The anxious barrage kept Trixie from getting a word in edgewise. It only halted when she put a hoof over Fluttershy’s mouth. “So, you were just nervous because you didn’t know what was coming next?”
Still muffled, Fluttershy considered for a moment and then nodded.
“Seriously?” Trixie rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d been so worried about this a moment ago. Of course, every action she took to give them more privacy just made Fluttershy more certain they were going to need it.
Trixie was about to explain that she’d just wanted her to relax, but stopped herself as she realized that Fluttershy hadn’t objected at any point. She’d been anticipating something that made her this nervous, but she hadn’t even tried to subtly change the subject. No, she’d just been thinking about how to reciprocate whatever was coming.
Did Trixie really want to disappoint her?
“Mhp?” Fluttershy had tried to speak but only managed a soft muffled sound.
“Ah! Sorry!” Trixie quickly pulled her hoof away from her mouth then paused and brought it back to caress Fluttershy’s jaw. “Yes?”
“Oh, I was just wondering, uhm...” Fluttershy rubbed her forelegs over each other nervously. “...H-have you and Dash… y-you know?”
Funny how something that vague could only mean one thing.
All of Trixie’s stage presence and acting came into play here to fight back any acknowledgment of surprise and bewilderment. Instead, she painted a smile and bedroom eyes as a placeholder while her mind took a moment to reboot and formulate a response. “...Is that something you’d maybe like to try?”
In the quiet moment that followed, her conversation with Rainbow Dash came back to the fore. They’d anticipated that Fluttershy might at some point get and try to play catch up. Was that what this was about?
Fluttershy had taken an intense interest in the coffee table, avoiding Trixie’s eyes as she squirmed. It was barely noticeable, perhaps impossible even if Fluttershy’s head wasn’t resting in her lap, but she nodded the smallest of nods before immediately screwing her eyes shut.
“Oh, sure. Leave it up to Trixie to do all the work.” Trixie teased with as much cool as she could muster while her heart was busy drilling its way out of her chest. It was so sudden. The thought hadn’t seriously really passed her mind before given how Fluttershy was. Actually, Trixie wasn’t entirely sure she was prepared for this herself either. She felt more nervous than excited, but both were there, a lot like stagefright.
She could buy herself a little time to calm down by making Fluttershy ask for it aloud, but that didn’t seem fair. Fluttershy’s initiative deserved a reward. Positive reinforcement and all that.
But, there were plenty more reasons to be nervous as well. This was exactly the sort of thing they’d been concerned about. If Fluttershy bit off more than she could chew, she might choke and this struck Trixie as an awfully big bite. The choice was whether to stop her preemptively or to carefully try and support her as best she could.
Trixie’s already made her choice a week ago, but… this is just a little bit more serious than what she’d been anticipating. Maybe it would be better to turn her down, at least for now, and talk to Rainbow Dash about it.
That did seem like it made the most sense.
but then again... Fluttershy looks awfully cute like this, and who knows when she’d feel this brave again.
Maybe there was a third option.
“How about we try something a little less intense first?” Trixie asked as she petted her still cowering girlfriend. “Just to see how it goes?”
“O-okay.” Fluttershy managed to squeak out.
Well, she was committed now.
That feeling of stagefright was still there, but the best way she knew to get over that was to just do. Step onto that stage and play the crowd. Let the audience reaction take away her own insecurity. If Trixie just acted confident then maybe she could ignore her own nerves. “Hey, come here.”
She guided Fluttershy by the chin till they were facing each other again. The girl even found the will to squint through one eye. Despite the nerves, she was curious. An adorable sight. Trixie swooped down for a kiss, then another. Soft at first, just a nip on the lips, then she let it linger, giving Fluttershy a moment to adjust.
It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to loosen up and reciprocate. She wasn’t as aggressive as before, as though she was signaling she wanted Trixie to lead this time. Her lips parted to allow entry to an exploring tongue, even as Trixie began drawing slow circles on her shoulder.
Trixie spiraled down from shoulder to chest and stopped when she felt Fluttershy freeze up. Her full attention returned to the kiss, gentle licks and nibbles along Fluttershy’s neck and lips sought out the snuffed out kindling of her confidence. Striking sparks was one of Trixie’s oldest tricks and she soon found Fluttershy light up to further advances
Each part of her was so reactive to Trixie’s exploring touch. Her ribs invoked a soft giggle followed by embarrassment, while veering off to her stomach had her gasp and pull it in as flat as possible. Self-conscious? Trixie had to admire the calm. It couldn’t be easy, letting another pony get to know you so intimately. As her hoof slid down a little more she reached the mound and Fluttershy held her breath.
Trixie was more than happy to give her something else to focus on. However, unlike before, nothing she did managed to calm her this time. Perhaps Fluttershy didn’t feel ready after all. Trixie withdrew to get a better look at her.
Fluttershy was nervous, that much was to be expected. Her forelegs were folded tightly to her chest and shaking as she kept her eyes shut tightly. Once she took notice of Trixie’s departure, she startled upright and tried to speak, failed, tried again, then finally shut up, letting her head hang.
“Do you want to stop?” Trixie asked softly. “It’s alright, you’re allowed to change your mind.”
Curiously, rather than relief or even embarrassment Fluttershy gave her a look more akin to a guilty dog that got caught. After another false start she finally just nodded tearfully and managed to croak out a quiet, “Sorry.”
Trixie nodded, but her chest stung at the rejection. It wasn’t a fair feeling, she knew that, but it was there. Disappointment. Frustration. She was allowed to feel that way, wasn’t she? Even if Fluttershy was trying her best.
Maybe it was her own fault for squandering the opportunity. If she’d just done something different, maybe she could have shown her there was nothing to be scared of. If she could just figure out where she went wrong.
That didn’t matter right now, though.
She wrapped the sniffling Fluttershy into a hug. “It’s okay…”
Fluttershy returned the embrace and didn’t make any effort to break it afterward.
They could just stay like this for a while.
Fluttershy hated this.
The rest of the day had progressed as usual, but it had been awkward. Trixie made too many attempts to fill the silence with chit chat and anytime they came close to each other she pulled away preemptively as if to respect some personal boundary that had been erected. Or perhaps more likely, Trixie was aiming to keep Fluttershy from getting too close while Trixie dealt with her own feelings.
She’d hurt her. Trixie was playing it off, but it was obvious she was acting differently. Just a bit more distance, a bit more of a pause when she spoke.
It was getting dark and they hadn’t talked about it. Rainbow Dash had even stopped by and the three of them shared a moment of respite. It was hard to think about anything when Rainbow Dash was nearby going a mile a second about her new ideas for a stunt routine.
Trixie of course pounced on the opportunity to share her own ideas and the two of them bounced off each other energetically while she just sat on the sideline. A conflicted feeling bubbled up inside as she watched on. She loved their mirrored enthusiasm, yet quietly dreaded that no matter how much time went on, she’d never be able to match it.
Were they the same when exploring each other rather than just their ideas? Had they even done so? Trixie hadn’t given her a straight answer about that in hindsight.
Neither Fluttershy nor Trixie had brought up their encounter. There wasn’t any reason to keep it secret from Dash, but the way Trixie spoke it was like it hadn’t happened. Maybe that was Trixie’s intention, to make it so that they could just pretend to start fresh.
The three of them did share a nice moment together toward the end of the visit that left her feeling a little calmer. She just wished she had a better term for it than ‘make-out sesh’ as Rainbow Dash had called it. Yes, it had become much more casual and relaxed than their first time a couple of days ago, but… Actually, when had that started to feel more relaxed?
In any case, Rainbow Dash had left shortly after and now it was just her and Trixie again.
Fluttershy rinsed the last of the glasses in the sink and set it aside in mid-air. Rather than fall, the glass just gained an orchid glow then sorted itself into the little cabinet it belonged in.
Trixie was nearby, lounging with a book, and barely even looked up to keep an eye on what she was doing. She had a way of making it look like every physical action was the hard way of doing it. Magic certainly was convenient.
It couldn’t actually be that much easier, though. Trixie had explained it once and apparently the whole process took a lot of concentration. This display was no different from when Rainbow Dash would do a loop right before she’d hit the ground to lose speed and land safely. They were perfectly capable of doing it the normal way, but the goal was to impress with their casual ease.
She briefly wondered if the fact that it usually worked on her made her a sucker. That didn’t seem right. It wasn’t any less impressive just because they pretended it wasn’t, right? That had to make it harder if anything and it still didn’t look like it gave them any problems.
No, the only thing giving them problems was her. She couldn’t let that go on. Not anymore.
“Uhm… can we talk?” Fluttershy asked as she scrubbed a plate. It helped to have something to distract her a little. It made her feel a little bit like them, doing something hard while pretending it was such a minor deal she could focus on something else. It bolstered her, but simultaneously it was a lame thought she’d be afraid to admit to. “I just think I should, uhm, explain.”
Trixie was quiet for a moment, perhaps taken by surprise, perhaps considering how to best react to have her continue rather than get spooked. “...Trixie is listening.”
“I guess I’ve been wanting to see how I’d feel getting closer to you. That, uh, that might not make a lot of sense, but... I just didn’t know how to do that. I mean, we’re as close as we’re gonna get in a way? Nopony else lives here, I mean.” She rambled too much. Fluttershy shut up and pulled the plate out of the dishwater, holding it out as she tried to gather her thoughts more constructively. “A-anyway, when you brought me inside I started to think maybe you had some, uh, ideas and maybe if I couldn’t think of anything I should go with yours. Or that maybe I was imagining things...”
She could hear Trixie close the book and set it aside.
“At the end… I felt I wasn’t being fair to you, to me, to either of us. Like, I was tainting something special by just wanting to see how I’d feel and we’d never get another cause there’s only one first and, and I was ruining it.” She wiped away the tears that came as she struggled to keep going. “I, uhm, I spiraled, I guess? Like, it felt like everything I’d do would be wrong. If I stopped you, I’d also ruin it and if I didn’t and you found out then that’d be worse and, and… I panicked. Now it feels like we’re further away but I didn’t mean for that to happen, but I just want you to know it wasn’t your fault... I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry for waiting this long. I didn’t know what to sa—”
Her rambling halted as she felt a warm embrace wrap around her from behind. A gust of warm breath washed over her ear as Trixie sighed.
“Trixie isn’t sure she fully understood all that, but...” Trixie tightened the hug and rested her chin on her shoulder. “She’s just glad it wasn’t something she did.”
“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy tilted her head just enough to lay on Trixie’s and let her wingtips brush over Trixie’s forelegs. Her own hooves were too wet and soapy from the sink to be of much use. It felt good to feel that bit of frost between them melt away like this.
She considered what she could say to explain herself further, but she couldn’t just tell her that she was following Rarity’s advice. No matter how understanding Trixie tried to be, there was just no way that she wouldn’t be terribly hurt if she knew this week was an experiment to understand her own feelings more than anything.
Not that she felt she was making much progress on that front.
At least she was sure the hug was nice.
“So, you, uh… you were looking for something we could do to be closer, right?” Trixie asked as she slowly pulled away. Her voice held a strange trepidation about it. Like she wasn’t comfortable with her own line of thinking. “Does that mean you won’t mind if Trixie asks your help with something… personal?”
She shook her head and smiled as she found herself echoing Trixie’s earlier answer. “I’m listening.”
“...Trixie needs help writing a letter to her mom!” Trixie blurted out and some of the tension visibly left her when she finished. It was such a mundane thing, but clearly, it meant a lot to her to finally say it. “You don’t have to do much, just… Trixie’s struggled a lot with it and she thinks she’d have an easier time if somepony did it with her.”
By now, that letter was awfully late.
Fluttershy bit her tongue to keep from blurting out anything stupid. When she was spying on Trixie and Rainbow Dash, she’d heard Trixie talk about sending a letter every month. The last one was from before she even got to Ponyville. But that conversation was about a week ago now.
Had Trixie been wrestling with it for that long?
She could understand why Trixie had trouble asking for help with this. To anypony that didn’t know it would sound so trivial that it would be silly. Moreover, admitting there was something she couldn’t do had to be rough on her as well.
Trixie was trusting her with this in hopes it would help them both with their own problems?
“I’d be happy to.”
The little writing desk in her bedroom hadn’t seen as much use as she’d have liked. She’d told herself it would be much easier to communicate with others if she’d just write little letters, but every time she’d tried it had ended up with a wastebasket full of crumpled-up pages till she ran out.
She hadn’t bothered to get any new ones since then.
So it was a surprise to see Trixie lay out a sheet. It looked as though the top portion had been scraped clean several times already. That would be the struggling Trixie referred to earlier. She must have done a thorough job to not leave a single inkstain.
Thankfully, Trixie had shared the same story she had with Rainbow Dash on their way up.
“So, Trixie feels she has to write something great to make up for being so late.” Trixie finished as she opened the desk and pulled out an old inkwell that should have dried up ages ago, but now contained a swirling mixture of something. It was too clear to be ink. “She was thinking she could maybe write something about how well the performance went but….”
“But you feel that’s just an excuse to put it off?” She asked only to have Trixie look as guilty as she’d ever seen her, scrapping her hoof along the floor and biting her lip as she looked off to the side. “Oh, sorry! It’s just I do the same thing, that’s why I thought about it. Sorry. Uhm, so what made you change your mind?”
“It’s dumb but Tixie’s thinking maybe the most spectacular thing she’s gotten involved with since then is, well, the two of you.” She blushed and held out an extra quill with a slight shake. “Trixie will write most of it but...Do you think you could say ‘hi’ as well? Trixie thinks she’d like that even if it's just a sentence.”
Her chest tightened as she took the quill in her mouth and rolled it around. The feel of it was still familiar, but the negative associations that came with it were dwarfed by the dawning realization that Trixie would rather write about them than the show she was putting so much effort into all week. She felt so strongly and yet Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could return that intensity, but she could do her best.
“You want me to just write something? L-like ‘Hi, Trixie’s mom, I’m Fluttershy’ or...?” Fluttershy looked up from the blank page to see Trixie give her a curt nod. She was nervous. It reminded her of herself, just looking for some kind of foothold. But this time she could help. “...Okay. I’ll do that, do you think you could maybe introduce me first if that’s okay? We can think of how to do that together.”
She held out the quill to Trixie.
If Trixie realized that her own favorite method of teaching was being turned on her, she didn’t let on to that fact as she took the quill back with an expression somewhere between resignation and determination. It must have been hard as she stared down at the blank page. “...Okay.”
Even though she said that, Trixie proved to be surprisingly indecisive, tapping the quill nervously on the desk for a minute before she leaned back with an aggravated sigh. “Trixie’s not sure how to start.”
“How do you usually start?” Fluttershy asked.
“Usually Trixie isn’t this late.” Trixie groaned. “Wouldn’t it look bad if Trixie didn’t acknowledge that?”
“Oh… but, uhm, do you think she’ll mind? What is she like?”
Taking the parchment and quill, Trixie slipped away from the desk and climbed onto the bed instead, letting them float above her. “Trixie just knows she’ll be looking for any imagined subtext and read too much into it. She’s too clever for her own good. Trixie doesn’t want her to worry.”
“It’s nice to know where you get it from, then.” Fluttershy smiled as she spoke and followed Trixie’s example, getting comfortable above the sheets. “What if we just started with a quick apology?”
“Mhm, yes perhaps...” Trixie popped open the inkwell and an odd citrusy smell permeated the room as she danced the quill along the parchment. The words were faint in color but remarkably elegant with more loops than Rainbow Dash on a cloudy day. Once Trixie finished, she smirked at her. “Why is Trixie not surprised that would be your first instinct. Are your parents just as agreeable as you are then?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no. They are illegal midnight drift racers and often get into just terrible conflicts with riva—Yes. They are lovely. If anything, I wish they were a little less patient. It’s so frustrating when somepony keeps taking advantage of them.”
“Okay, first of all. That was such an evil misdirect!” Trixie gave her a playful shove. “You can’t do that to Trixie! That is literally Trixie’s job! Second, she has to hear all about this. If it’s even true. Trixie doesn’t know anymore.”
A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she watched Trixie’s indignant antics. This was more like her, more fun. It also gave her a pretty good idea, if she did say so herself. “Oh, it’s true. I’m happy to tell you about it, but, uhm… on two conditions.”
“Go on.”
“First, I really need you to promise not to tell anypony. I… I don’t like to talk badly of anypony, but… I feel like I could trust you with it.” More than that, she felt more at ease with the idea of venting some of her frustration to Trixie than anypony else. Perhaps because she’d already done so in a much more extreme way?
“Done!” Trixie rolled onto her side, keeping her head propped up with a hoof. She looked much more excited now than she had all evening. “What else?”
“Second… I’ll only tell you something after you finish a paragraph! I mean, if that’s okay with you?” She backpaddled a bit, hoping she hadn’t stepped over a line in her enthusiasm. It was to help, but perhaps making a game of a personal letter was too far.
Trixie groaned.
“Fine!”
Twilight yawned as she walked circles around her kitchen table, going through her checklist for a third time that early morning. So much to do, or rather, to ensure others were doing properly.
There was no such thing as a casual visit and she’d have to ensure everything was perfect.
A brief, but rapid knocking at her window drew her attention.
There, just outside, stood her co-conspirator, the grey mailmare that she’d met at the post office.
Her breath caught in her throat as she saw her anxiously hold up an envelope.
“Gotcha!”