Major Problems

by asmariamoon

Chapter 13: Scary Mothers and Nice Fillies

Trixie showed up at Twilight's library the next morning, a bit of a headache left over from her fun last night, but ready to have a talk with Rarity and Applejack, two ponies who she hadn't seen since her magic show. She honestly didn't know how those two would take the news that Trixie and Twilight were together, and from what she'd said last night, neither did Twilight. She knocked on the library door, hoping she wasn't so loud as to startle Spike again, but also not wanting to knock so quietly that she wasn't heard. After a few seconds, Twilight opened the door with her magic. "Oh, good morning, Trixie." Twilight said, leaning in to give Trixie a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you ready to go talk with Rarity and Applejack today? Or would you like to save it until later perhaps?" Trixie asked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm still really nervous about this, but I've been doing a lot of research on mare-to-mare relationships, and I've found out that while you shouldn't feel rushed to tell your friends, it's also a good idea not to wait too long to tell them either. So I really think that we should do it today, because if we can make up an excuse not to do it today, then what's to stop us from using the same excuse tomorrow, and the day after, and before we know it, it'll have been weeks, and it'll be far too late for them to have any response other than a negative one. So let's do this." Twilight said.

"Trixie is glad to hear you say that. Let's go talk to Rarity. Trixie isn't sure what her reaction will be, or Applejack's, for that matter, but whatever reactions they have, we'll face them together." Trixie said.

Twilight leaned in to give Trixie a soft kiss. "You're right, Trixie. I don't know what their reactions will be either, but I trust my friends to be rational about this, and even if their reaction is a negative one at first, I doubt they'll let such a thing get in the way of our friendship for long." Twilight said as she led the way to Rarity's shop, the Carousel Boutique. Once they had reached the shop, Twilight knocked on the door.

"Just a moment, please!" Rarity's voice called from somewhere inside. After a bit, Rarity opened the door with her magic. "Ah! Twilight! How good it is to see you! And Trixie as well! Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, the premiere dress shop here in Ponyville." the white unicorn said.

"We have something we need to talk to you about. Ummm... is Sweetie Belle around?" Twilight asked, looking around the shop for signs of Rarity's sister.

"Oh, goodness no! I just cannot get anything done with Sweetie under my hooves, and I had an order to fill for Hoity Toity, which I just had to finish by last night, so I sent her to spend the night at Applejack's with Apple Bloom. Thankfully, the order's already done and sent on its way to Canterlot." Rarity said.

"That's good. So, the thing we wanted to talk to you about... well... I don't really know how you'll react to this, but... well, Trixie and I are marefriends." Twilight said.

"Wait, so you're both into mares? I had no idea! I'm so happy that you two were able to find somepony you care for." Rarity said, smiling at them.

"Well, to be honest, I had no idea either, until after Trixie's show the other day. And even then, I didn't really know what my feelings meant." Twilight said.

"Well, I may not be the most experienced pony when it comes to relationships such as yours, but I do know a lot about romance in general. Should either of you ever need advice, my door is always open, dears." Rarity said.

"Thank you, Rarity. You're a great friend. I don't know why I was so nervous about talking with you about this. I guess I just thought that because you're so concerned with class and reputation, you might react badly." Twilight said.

"Please, Twilight. I know some ponies who consider themselves a part of the upper class might act rashly when confronted with a mare-on-mare relationship, but I personally believe that class has less to do with how rich or popular you are than it does with how you treat those around you. A pony can have absolutely nothing to her name and have absolutely no popularity, and still be of a higher caliber of class than the richest of mares. In my opinion, anypony who thinks that having a different sexual preference than the standard is somehow wrong wouldn't know class if it ran them over with Princess Celestia's private carriage." Rarity said.

"Oh, that reminds me. I should probably write a letter to Princess Celestia about this after I get home. But it can wait until after I talk to Applejack." Twilight said.

"Oh, she doesn't know yet?" Rarity asked.

"Well, I haven't gotten the chance to tell her yet. We wanted to tell you and her today, because as soon as Pinkie found out... well... you can probably guess what she wanted to do." Twilight said.

"Oh, wonderful! I do love Pinkie's parties, even if they can be... a bit much at times." Rarity said.

"Well, anyway, thanks for your support, Rarity. We're off to talk to Applejack." Twilight said.

"Oh dear. Twilight?" Rarity said.

"Yes?" Twilight asked.

"You'll be sure to break it to her easily, won't you? Don't get me wrong, it's nothing against Applejack, it's just that, sometimes, she has trouble relating to anything that wouldn't happen within the Apple family." Rarity said.

"No need to worry, Rarity. I'll try to be as delicate as possible." Twilight said.

"Hmmm... May I ask why you're being so quiet, Trixie?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, Trixie is mostly just letting Twilight handle this, since she's the one that knows you best." Trixie said. "Plus, she seems to have been doing some research. Trixie feels kind of out of her element here, because she hasn't really had many friends before, let alone had to tell them something as big as this, so she trusts Twilight to know how to handle this situation." Trixie said.

"I see. Well, if you'd like to stop by for lunch after you talk with Applejack, I'd love to have a one-on-one chat with you, to get to know you better, as long as you don't have anything planned with Twilight. After all, I hardly know anything about you." Rarity said.

"That sounds wonderful, Rarity. Trixie will see you then." Trixie said.

"Oh, and Twilight? Could you send Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle here when you get to Sweet Apple Acres? I'm sure you'd want to talk to Applejack without distractions, and I'll need to speak with Sweetie about this before she hears it from anypony else. You never know who might have shown an... aversion to a mare-on-mare couple, and, well, you know little fillies, they tend to emulate those around them." Rarity said.

"Okay, Rarity, I'll send them here." Twilight said.

"All right. I hope everything goes all right, dears." Rarity said.

"Thank you, Rarity. Trixie will be back for lunch." Trixie said.

"I look forward to it, Trixie." Rarity said. With that, Twilight led Trixie back across town toward Sweet Apple Acres.

When they finally arrived at the farm, they found Applejack outside, bucking the last of the leaves off of her apple trees as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched . The orange earth pony looked up as she heard hoofsteps approaching, and smiled when she saw who it was. "Well, howdy, Twi! Howdy, Trixie! What brings y'all all the way out here?" Applejack asked.

"First, Rarity told us to send Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle back to the Carousel Boutique, if that's all right with you." Twilight said.

"A' course it's all right. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, y'all heard her, get goin' now, y'all don' wanna keep Rarity waiting." Applejack said.

"Okay, sis! See ya later!" Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, later, Applejack! Bye, Twilight! Bye, Miss Trixie!" Sweetie Belle said as she and Apple Bloom galloped off back toward town.

"Y'all have somethin' else y'all need from me, don' ya?" Applejack asked.

"As a matter of fact, we need to talk with you about something." Twilight said.

"What is it, Twi? From the looks on y'all's faces, must be pretty darn serious."

"Well, the thing is, it's something that some ponies might have a bad reaction to, and I'm not really sure how you'll take it." Twilight said.

"Ah can handle jus' about anythin', Twilight." Applejack said.

"I know you can, Applejack, it's just that, well, this just might fall into the small category of things that you can't handle." Twilight said.

"Twi, listen ta me. Whatever it is, ah swear not ta let it ruin our friendship. Honest." Applejack said, looking Twilight straight in the eye.

"Well, ummm... Trixie and I are... well... marefriends now." Twilight said.

"Marefriends? Do y'all mean to say that y'all are fillyfoo..." Applejack started before she saw Trixie flinch at the term she was about to use. Applejack caught herself, then racked her brain for another way to word it. " Sorry about that... that y'all like mares the way most mares like stallions?" Applejack said.

"Well... yes. I really hope that doesn't bother you." Twilight said.

"It don' bother me none, Twi, an' like ah done said, ah ain't gonna let it come between us, it's just that, well, ah ain't never had a friend who liked mares before, let alone two friends who liked each other like that, so ah don' rightly know what ta think." Applejack said.

"Don't worry, Applejack, I'm kind of new to all of this as well. I only found out that I had feelings for Trixie a few days ago, and I still wasn't sure what those feelings meant." Twilight said.

"Well, Ah'm jus' glad y'all are happy. Ah couldn't see mahself likin' another mare, but that don' mean that Ah'm against other mares likin' em. After all, as long as two mares make each other happy, what right does anypony have ta complain?" Applejack asked. Trixie smiled at this statement.

"That sounds a lot like something Trixie's mother used to say." Trixie said, her smile widening as she remembered. "She used to tell Trixie, 'Just because somepony is different from you doesn't mean that you have the right to hate them.'" Trixie quoted, still smiling.

"Anyways, Twi, is that all y'all wanted to talk to me about?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, that's all. Pinkie Pie will be by later with an invitation to a party she wants to throw for us. We wanted to let you know beforehoof in person." Twilight answered.

"Well, that's mighty kind of ya, Twi. Ah'll see y'all at the party then." Applejack said.

"Have a nice day, Applejack." Twilight said as she and Trixie began walking away from the farm.

"Y'all have a nice day, too." Applejack replied, waving goodbye to them.

As Trixie walked, she suddenly felt Twilight pressing up against her. "I'm so glad that's over. You have no idea how nervous I was about this, but thankfully, all that worry was over nothing." Twilight said as she snuggled against Trixie's neck.

"You were right to have trust in our friends, Twilight. Not everypony could be so accepting of our relationship." Trixie said, snuggling into Twilight's side. As if the fates had conspired to demonstrate this point, a little filly walked by with her mother.

"Mommy, why are those mares snuggling like you snuggle Daddy?" the little filly asked. The mare covered her daughter's eyes with a hoof.

"Don't look at them, Honey. That's just unnatural." the mare said as she passed Twilight and Trixie. Trixie growled and turned around.

"You'll have to excuse Trixie, but what exactly did you mean by that?" Trixie asked, glaring at the mare.

"No, excuse me, Miss... Trixie, is it? You really should keep such deviancy in private, where little fillies can't be influenced by it." the mare said, glaring back.

"So first, you call Trixie unnatural, and now you're saying she's a deviant?" Trixie asked, shooting daggers at the mare with her eyes.

"Why yes. That is exactly what I'm saying. What did you expect, when you're showing off your fillyfooler tendencies in public like that?" the mare said. Trixie's glare deepened in intensity as that word was brought up once again.

"Trixie has no idea who you are, but you have already proved yourself deserving of her ire. Well done, miss. You have been upgraded to Neighsayer rank, and Trixie isn't even putting on one of her famous magic shows." Trixie said.

"Wait!" the filly exclaimed, moving her mother's hoof out from in front of her eyes. "You're the Great and Powerful Trixie?" she asked, her eyes shining.

"Indeed, Trixie is. And what would your name be, little filly?" Trixie asked, leaning down.

"Oh, no! I'm not letting you corrupt my daughter!" the mare said, standing between Trixie and the filly.

"Ma'am, Trixie is not trying to push her preferences on anypony. Perhaps you could learn a thing or two from her." Trixie said, glaring at the mare. Behind the mare, the little filly peeked around her mother.

"My name's Honey Dew!" the filly said excitedly, bouncing on her hooves. "I saw your last magic show, it was wonderful!" Honey Dew exclaimed. Trixie looked closer at the filly. She was an earth pony. Her coat was a honey yellow, with a sea green mane and tail. She looked old enough to have a cutie mark, but her flank was blank.

"Well, Honey Dew, the next time Trixie puts on a show, show this card to the ticket taker, and not only will you get free tickets for you and a friend, but you will also be guaranteed front row seats." Trixie said, floating the ace of diamonds out of an extra deck of cards she had recently bought. She floated out a quill as well, and signed it with a "G&PT," then presented the card to Honey Dew

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, Great and Powerful Trixie!" Honey Dew exclaimed, grasping the card offered to her

"Wait just a minute, young lady! You are not going to that show without my permission!" Honey Dew's mother said.

"But Mooooooommmmmy!" Honey Dew complained, making puppy dog eyes at her mother.

"No! Absolutely not! You are not going anywhere with that... fillyfooler!" the mare said, putting every ounce of hatred that was possible into the last word. Honey Dew didn't say anything, but her eyes glistened with tears as she began to sniffle. "Fine!" Honey Dew's mother finally caved in, then turned to Trixie, glaring daggers at her. "But if my filly comes back anywhere near as corrupt as you are, I swear I'll run you out of town!" she said.

"In such an event, Trixie will give you her best pitchfork and torch. Do not worry, ma'am. Unlike some ponies, Trixie does not try to convert others to emulate her preferences." Trixie said.

"Well, then, this chat has been ever so delightful..." the mare said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "...but Honey Dew and I have errands to run." she finished, pulling Honey Dew close to her as she began to walk off.

"Ugh... Trixie seriously dislikes ponies like that." Trixie said. Twilight stayed silent, but snuggled Trixie's neck a bit. "Why didn't you stand up for yourself, Twilight? That mare was insulting you as well, you know." Trixie said.

"I didn't want to cause anypony any trouble." Twilight said.

"Twilight, ponies with that type of mindset deserve all the trouble you can give them." Trixie said.

Author's Note: Sorry this one is so late, everypony. I'd been stuck on one part in the middle of their conversation with Applejack for a week and a half, and couldn't think of anywhere to go with it. I finally decided to delete the part, writing it off as a dead end, and take it in another direction. Thankfully, I was able to finish it pretty quickly after that.

Also, I may have been a little bit busy playing a certain game involving a dragon-blooded hero making their way across the northern reaches of a fantasy world.