“Lyra, are you sure the store is this way?”
Lyra turned to give Trixie a strange look as she halted in the middle of street. “What? I was following you.”
“… Why would Trixie know the way to Quills and Sofas? She’s only been living in this town for a few days.”
“Well Bons and I have been using the same sofa for years now, and Bons buys all the quills we use, so I have no idea where it is either.”
Trixie facehooved and shook her head whilst the other Unicorn simply laughed it off. “So basically, we’ve just spent the last ten minutes walking aimlessly through the streets of Ponyville, correct?”
“Pretty much. Hey, since we’ve got no idea where we’re going, how ‘bout we just go hang out at the park or something?”
“Trixie has to leave in one hour, and she needs some quills for the road!” Trixie sighed and looked around the area for somepony she recognised. “What about Bon Bon? Do you at least know where Trixie can find her?”
“No idea. Wait, how come Twilight didn’t just tell you where to go?”
Trixie shook her head and reached into her cape with a forehoof, pulling it back a moment later to reveal a piece of paper. “She wrote down the directions, since both of us had to leave to do some shopping, but…”
Lyra took the paper into her magic, and unfolded it to read the instructions written inside. “… What the?”
“Yeah, it seems that Twilight accidentally sent her directions to the Princess, leaving Trixie with…”
“A magic report to the Princess,” Lyra finished, reading over the letter, causing her eyes to suddenly start dancing and her head to feel dizzy. “I don’t get it…”
“Basically, she’s saying that she’s mastered the voice manipulation spell, in one thousand words.” Trixie took the paper back, folded it back up, and stowed it away in her cape. “Why she was asked to learn that, Trixie has no idea. The Princess must be running out of lessons for her top student.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Lyra said with a light-hearted chuckle. “Back in school, she was actually offered to skip a few grades because she always finished assignments so quickly. The only reason she didn’t was because she was too shy.”
“Twilight never told Trixie about that.” ‘So while I was slaving away 24/7 trying to both catch up on work I missed, and complete my current work, Twilight was happily sailing through everything like it was no problem… That almost pisses me off.’
“Trixie?” Lyra asked, bringing Trixie back to reality. “I was just wondering: when are you gonna perform here in Ponyville?” Lyra looked into Trixie’s eye with a hopeful expression. “You are gonna perform here again, aren’t you?”
“Hm? Ah, yes… But after things have calmed down somewhat.” Trixie motioned around her with her head, and Lyra looked around to see that some ponies were giving the two strange looks. “It seems that, while that farmer seems to be the only hostile pony left, if Trixie were to perform too soon, she might not be met with such a kind reception.”
“I can help with that!” Lyra assured her, putting a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “Anypony tries something, then they’ll have to answer to me! I’m sure Bons will be willing to help out, too. And Cheerilee! You keep forgetting you have some friends here, don’t you?”
Trixie smiled and gently pushed the hoof off of her shoulder. “Are you really Trixie’s friends?” she asked. “Or is it simply for Twilight’s sake?”
“What are you saying?” Lyra responded in shock. “What, can’t you tell the difference between real friends and fake friends?” To her surprise, Trixie answered honestly, by shaking her head at the rhetorical question. “Oh… Well… give us a chance, and we’ll show you the difference! At the very least, Twilight will kick our flanks if we try to hurt you, so you have that as insurance, right?”
“… Well, while you may be right, Trixie doesn’t like what you’re implying.” Trixie flicked her mane and turned away. “You seem to think that the Great and Powerful Trixie can’t defend herself in a fight.”
“Even Starswirl the Bearded and the Great Hoofdini had partners that fought beside them, remember?” Lyra laughed and placed a foreleg around Trixie’s shoulders. “Face it, Trix, life is a multiplayer game! Fight it all you want, but sooner or later, you’re gonna have to submit and let others help you!”
Trixie used her magic to teleport out of Lyra’s headlock, and shot a confident grin at the green Unicorn. “Maybe, but until then, playing solo is more Trixie’s style. Though she has to admit, living with Twilight is much more satisfying than those lonely nights in her trailer, but Trixie would still prefer to handle life’s challenges on her own.”
“Well, enjoy being a loner while you can,” Lyra said in a teasing tone. “‘Cause now that you’re living with Twilight, you better believe she’s gonna butt into your life like crazy until you’re finally able to trust ponies again.”
‘Implying Trixie was ever able to do that,’ Trixie thought to herself, but kept her grin plastered to her face and didn’t speak the thought out loud. “Yes, Trixie has noticed that. Well, it may take some time, but if Twilight says that the ponies of this town are good ponies, then that’s all that Trixie needs to give them a chance.”
“Great! Oh, by the way, Quills and Sofas is over there,” Lyra said, pointing towards a shop in the distance with a sign that had a picture of a quill above a sofa, with a plus sign in-between the two.
“… So you did know where the store was,” Trixie accused, turning slightly red from having not noticed the store directly in her line of sight before.
“Not at all,” Lyra responded, a sheepish grin on her face. “It was totally a fluke that I noticed it just now. Honest!”
“Uh-huh,” Trixie said, not believing the Unicorn one bit.
“Well, I better go, before I forget whatever it was Bons wanted me buy for her. Some ingredients for her sweets, I think… Later!”
Trixie watched the carefree pony run off into the nearby marketplace, a huge smile on her face as she stopped to greet a group of ponies in the distance. “It’s a shame Trixie had to spend so much time at school catching up on previous years of work. Otherwise, she probably would have been able to get along with that pony, crazy as she is.”
“It’s all the sugar, I tell ya,” a voice said behind Trixie, startling the showmare and causing her to jump up with a yelp. Trixie turned around to the sounds of laughter, and found Rainbow Dash hovering behind her, clutching her stomach as she laughed at the startled pony.
“Very funny,” Trixie said sarcastically, glaring at the blue Pegasus. “What do you mean by ‘it’s all the sugar’?”
Rainbow calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye, and landed on the ground in front of Trixie. “Bon Bon makes lots of sweets, right? Well, she also forces Lyra to eat a lot of them. Leftovers from the store, new types she comes up with that need testing, and special ones that she makes just for Lyra on her days off.
“She’s like a schoolfilly making lunches for a colt she likes, and Lyra has to eat every sweet offered to her. The last time she didn’t… Well, let’s just say monsters aren’t the only things that disturb the peace here in Ponyville.”
“Trixie isn’t sure she follows,” Trixie said, raising an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash, “But essentially, it would be like if Trixie told Twilight that…” Trixie leaned closer to whisper the next part, for fear that Twilight, despite being nowhere around, might still somehow hear it. “… That books are stupid and should be banished to Tartarus?”
Twilight’s left eye twitched, and she looked around the inside of Sugarcube Corner with a puzzled look on her face, not quite sure what she was looking for.
“Is something the matter, deary?” Mrs. Cake asked, returning with a box of cupcakes, which Twilight picked up in her magic.
“Oh, no,” Twilight said, levitating some bits onto the counter. ‘Why do I suddenly feel like somepony needs to have a good, long lecture?’
“Anyway, I’d better not keep ya!” Rainbow said as she ascended into the air. “You’re leaving in an hour, right? That means Ponyville will finally be peaceful again!”
“Why? Are you going somewhere, too?” Trixie replied, causing Rainbow to mouth something to her before flying off. “… Now there’s no call for that kind of language,” Trixie said with a grin, before turning her attention to the store that she had spent ten minutes searching for.
Upon reaching the store, Trixie opened the door and attempted to walk in, but found her path barred by an orange Earth Pony that was attempting to leave.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air, and Applejack’s smile instantaneously disappeared, being replaced with a frown and a hard glare. “… Miss Trixie,” she said with feigned politeness, making sure the venom in her voice was noticeable by the showmare.
Trixie’s self-defence protocol kicked in, and she wasted no time returning the glare to Applejack. “Hayseed,” she said, causing Applejack’s glare to harden. “Not tending to the fields this morning?”
“… Not that it’s any of your business, but ah came here tah sell an old sofa that’s been sittin’ in our barn fer too long.”
“Thrilling,” Trixie said with a yawn, lifting a forehoof up to examine it with a bored look on her face. “Now can we get to the part where you move out of Trixie’s way, so that she can enter the store?”
“Ah don’t see why ah should, ‘specially since ya didn’t say ‘please’.”
“Oh, you seem to not understand. Trixie saves her manners for ponies that use them on her.” Trixie pulled her cape aside to reveal the large bruises on her stomach. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has yet to hear any words of apology for that time you bucked her in town, save for Twilight’s apology on your behalf. But that doesn’t really count, now does it?”
“Ah ain’t wasting an apology on you! If ya didn’t wanna get hurt, ya shouldn’t have done that to ma friends!”
“What, you’ve never seen a performer before? We get heckled all the time, and the only way to deal with it is to stand up for ourselves. Sort of like a pantomime… kind of.”
“There’s such a thing as going too far, y’know?” Trixie once again pointed out the bruises on her stomach, causing Applejack to flinch and turn her head to the side. “Yeah, well, y’all need a good buckin’, before ya go an’ break Twilight’s heart.”
Trixie dropped her cape, allowing it to fall back into position, and shot a glare at the farm pony. “And why, pray tell, would Trixie do anything to break Twilight’s heart?”
“‘Cause that’s what you showponies do! Especially you travellin’ ones! Ah’ve done ma research, and ah’ve seen it firsthoof, too!”
“Trixie’s met farmers that have chased her with pitchforks because she used magic on their crops to help them grow! Does that mean Trixie should count herself lucky you weren’t armed back when we fought each other?!”
“Sure ya have! Jus’ like when ya vanquished that ursa major all on yer own, or how ya saved Canterlot from a parasprite invasion! Obviously ah should trust anythin’ you say!”
‘How dare you?! Okay, so it was actually some small coal-mining town that nopony knows about that I saved, but still!’
“Look, ah don’t know what ye’re up to,” Applejack said, taking a few threatening steps towards Trixie. “But ah’m warnin’ you: step out of line even once, and ah’ll make sure you never show yer face here ever again. Got that?”
Sweat ran down Trixie’s face, but her facial expression didn’t change. She continued to glare back into the farmer’s eyes, not willing to back down to the other mare. “Trixie isn’t moving,” she said, closing her eyes and pointing her nose into the air. “Unless you want to stay here all day, Trixie suggests you move to the side and let her through.”
Applejack grit her teeth together, and was about to respond, when a purple aura suddenly enveloped Trixie and pulled her away from the store.
“Trixie! Applejack!” a very nervous looking Twilight shouted, wrapping her forelegs around Trixie’s waist and staring at Applejack with a big, clearly forced smile on her face. “What a coincidence! You two doing some shopping together?!”
“…” Applejack walked out of the store, and tipped her hat towards Twilight. “Mornin’, Twi,” she said, before continuing to walk down the street. ‘Just forget about her, AJ. Apple Bloom’s been lookin’ forward tah tonight, and ah can’t let that mare ruin it…’
As soon as Applejack was out of sight, Twilight released Trixie and shot her a stern glare. For a moment, Trixie was afraid that Twilight had heard what she said about books a few minutes ago. “You two were fighting, weren’t you?” Twilight asked, with disappointment in her voice. “Well?”
“Um… maybe a little bit,” Trixie replied, forcing a smile on her face as she looked back at Twilight. “It was just a silly misunderstanding, nothing serious.”
“… You sure?” Twilight asked, leaning closer to Trixie’s face. Trixie nodded, and Twilight sighed. “You’re lying,” she mumbled, kicking the ground with a hoof. “… Trixie, please… I know you feel that Applejack isn’t treating you fairly, and maybe you’re right… But believe me when I say that she has a good reason for it. Something that can’t be resolved as easily as your differences with Rainbow Dash can be.”
“What reasons, exactly?” Trixie asked, and when she saw Twilight bite her lower lip and hesitate, she knew that it must have been serious. “If you don’t think you should tell me, then don’t. Trixie was merely curious, is all.”
“… No, you should know,” Twilight said, pointing a hoof towards a nearby bench. “It’s kind of a long story, though. I think we should sit down.”
With a nod, Trixie followed Twilight towards the bench, and the two mares sat next to each other in silence for about a minute as Twilight tried to find the right place to start.
“Twi-”
“It all started when Applejack’s parents went on a trip to Las Pegasus,” Twilight said, cutting Trixie off as the showmare was about to speak. “At the time, Applejack was still just a filly in school… so I think-No, maybe you can’t…” Twilight trailed off, remembering that Trixie had never really known her family.
“So basically, it’s a family issue?” Trixie guessed, receiving a nod from Twilight. “… Then no. Trixie can’t relate to that.”
Twilight squeezed Trixie’s hoof, and the other mare pressed her to continue the story. “Well… basically, when her parents came back, they were… no longer a couple.” Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, and continued. “They had filed for divorce, and Applejack’s dad had announced that he had a new marefriend… A showmare that he met in Las Pegasus.”
Trixie nodded, starting to understand where Applejack’s hatred for showmares seemed to stem from. “But parents splitting isn’t exactly rare, right?”
“Here, it is,” Twilight said. “And besides, the Apple family isn’t like your regular family. Their family values are much more traditional, and their bonds are very deeply rooted.
“Anyway, there’s more to the story than that. As it turns out, Applejack’s mother still loved her husband, or former husband, rather, and spent weeks locked away in her room, grieving over losing him to somepony else. During that time, she fell ill.” Tears began to form in Twilight’s eyes, and the purple mare looked up into Trixie’s eye as she whispered the next part: “She died.”
Applejack bucked the tree behind her as hard as she could, not even trying to harvest any apples from it. She just needed to do something to calm herself down before meeting up with Rarity and the Crusaders. “Darn it! Ah’m not gonna let no stinkin’ showmare mess up ma family anymore!”
She bucked again, and again, causing the tree behind her to shake violently as the leaves fell from its branches. “First they took pa… then ma died because of it…” Another, much more powerful buck, and the tree almost threatened to topple over. “Then, as if that wasn’t enough, that mare throws pa aside and leaves him wallowing in guilt, and then he-”
Applejack let out a furious scream as she delivered the most powerful buck she had ever unleashed on the tree, and the unfortunate target of her stress suddenly split into two, and the top half fell down onto the ground with a loud crash!
“Twilight, the Great and Powerful Trixie is leaving now,” Trixie said as she made her way down the library stairs, carrying a pair of saddlebags on her back. Twilight put down her book and trotted over to Trixie.
“Alright. Take care, Trixie,” she said, planting a soft kiss on her lover’s cheek, before moving back over to her book.
Trixie simply look at Twilight confused for a moment. “That’s it?” she asked, receiving a puzzled look from Twilight. “Just ‘take care’?”
“Well, what else were you expecting?”
“How about: ‘No, Trixie! Please don’t go! I can’t bear to be apart from you for a full weekend!’ Something like that?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on her book. “I think I’ll manage, Trixie.”
“…”
“… I thought you were leaving?”
With a grunt, Trixie made her way over to Twilight, stomping her hoof on the floor with each step. When she reached the reading Unicorn, she wrapped her forelegs around her tightly, causing Twilight to almost lose her magical hold on her book.
“Don’t worry, Twi. The Great and Powerful Trixie will be back before you know it,” Trixie said reassuringly, rubbing the side of her face against Twilight’s mane.
“I’m not worrying,” Twilight said.
“No need to act strong for Trixie. She knows you’re just trying to put on a tough act for Trixie’s sake, but this is her job, Twilight! Trixie cannot refuse her adoring fans that want to see her perform so badly!”
“Again, I’m not-”
“Very well! If it will help ease your pain…” Trixie used her magic to undo her cape, and wrap it around Twilight as she backed away. Twilight sat there in stunned silence as she felt the warm fabric envelope her, and then turned to Trixie for an explanation. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will just have to do without her cape for this performance! It’s a small price to pay, if it will soothe your aching heart.”
Despite Trixie’s over-the-top behaviour, Twilight couldn’t deny that she enjoyed the feeling of Trixie’s cape wrapped around her body, and even lifted it up to her nuzzle to take in its scent. With a smile and a soft sigh, Twilight turned around and pulled Trixie into a loving hug.
“Alright, Trixie. I understand. I’ll miss you, but I’ll be brave, and wait for your return.”
With a victorious grin on her face, Trixie returned the hug for a moment, and then parted from it so that she could leave. “Trixie will be back tomorrow evening. See you, Spike.”
“Later,” Spike said from atop a pile of books as he looked through one book in particular, entitled The Steadfast Sky.
Trixie knelt down in front of the green lizard sitting in his cage beside the library’s front door. “You be good, Leon. And try not to tease Owlowiscious too much.” She grinned and turned to face the owl in question, whose cheeks turned red as he rotated his head 180 degrees to face away from her. She still found it amusing that the bird was so timid around Leon, but then, chameleons are a rare breed in Equestria, and even some ponies are afraid of them sometimes.
As Trixie left the library, Twilight sighed and lowered her head onto the table in front of her. ‘Maybe I should have told her the rest of the story… No, the last thing she needs right before a performance is that kind of thing on her mind. I’ll tell her when she returns, but right now, I think it’s best if she just takes some time to unwind and clear her mind a bit…’
“Man, this story’s good,” Spike said, flipping the page over and reading it intently. “I’ve gotta show this to Rarity when she gets back.”
Twilight’s ear perked up, and the purple mare turned around to give Spike an inquisitive look. “‘When she gets back?’”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Spike asked, causing Twilight to shake her head. “Rarity and Applejack are taking the Crusaders camping over the weekend. They’re leaving later today… Actually, I think they’re leaving in about thirty minutes.”
“Oh? Well that’s nice.” ‘Good. That means Applejack can unwind a bit, too. And in the meantime, I’ll think about how exactly I should tell her that-’
“Well, for those three, maybe,” Spike said, referring to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “But Applejack and Rarity have to put up with them all the way to Canterlot! And for the whole weekend!” Spike shuddered, and Twilight giggled before returning to her book.
She dropped the book, however, when what Spike had just said registered with her. “… Where… did you say they were going?”
“Hm? Oh, to Canterlot. Hey, maybe they’ll see Trixie ther-… Uh-oh…” Spike remembered Twilight telling him that Applejack and Trixie still had ‘issues’ that they needed to work through, and suddenly realised why Twilight looked so nervous right now. “B-But they’re only going to the falls, not to the city. W-Who knows? They might not even meet.”
“But there’s a chance, and if Applejack happens to stumble upon Trixie performing her show…” Twilight hurriedly rose to her hooves, and dashed towards the front door, hoping she wasn’t too late… She was. Trixie’s trailer was nowhere in sight, and there was no way she could catch up to it on hoof; even if she broke out into a full gallop, she would run out of breath long before catching up to the thing.
“Not good…”
Trixie hummed peacefully to herself as she lay on her back on the front of her trailer, her horn glowing purple as her magic moved the trailer at a leisurely speed along the road. On the way, she passed by a few merchant ponies and a couple of travellers, but didn’t really pay them much notice.
As she reached a fork in the road, she stopped for a moment to remember the correct path to take, and then continued on her way. As she did, she thought back to what Twilight had told her about Applejack’s family. At first, Trixie thought that she couldn’t relate to Applejack on a family issue… But now that she had had some time to think about it, she thought that maybe she could.
‘After all,’ she thought to herself, ‘We have both lost our parents at the hooves of another pony. I, of all ponies, know what it’s like to hold a grudge, and to lose faith in others as a means of self-defence. But she still has a family, so she’s not just defending herself, but her remaining family too…’
‘But it’s because she still has a family, that I-’
“STOOOOOP!” Trixie suddenly noticed the roadblock ahead of her, and quickly halted her magic, grabbing onto her trailer’s door so that she didn’t go flying off of the front of the trailer.
“What the?” Trixie asked as she watched a parade of ducks crossing the road in front of her. A familiar yellow Pegasus approached her trailer, looking as meek and timid as ever. “Fluttershy? What’s going on here?”
“Um, s-sorry to delay you, Trixie. It’s just, I promised that I would help my friends here find a new home, after their last one was attacked by a pack of wolves.”
Trixie smiled, and nodded as she lay back against her trailer. “Well, whatever. The Great and Powerful Trixie left earlier than necessary in case of disturbances on the road, so it’s fine.”
Fluttershy smiled, and went back to gently herding the huge family of ducks across the road. As she did so, Trixie watched with mild interest, when a thought crossed her mind. ‘Just like me, they lost their home… But unlike me, they held onto each other.’ A grin formed on her face, and as soon as Fluttershy gave the all clear, the showmare continued on her way.
“First aid kit?”
“Check.”
“Water?”
“Check.”
“And sleeping bags?”
“Check.”
“Great!” Twilight smiled and rolled up her checklist, bringing a relieved sigh out of each of the other five ponies in the room. “Now to double-check the checklist, to make sure we didn’t miss anything the first time through.”
The three fillies groaned as Twilight unrolled her checklist, and started going through the items once again.
Rarity pulled Applejack away to whisper to her. “Why did she want to come with us all of a sudden, again?”
“Ah don’t know, but she seemed mighty desperate. Maybe she’s never gone campin’ before? Y’all remember how excited she was for her first sleepover, right?”
“You don’t think she’s going to try and talk to you about you-know-who?”
“The thought had crossed ma mind, but ah made her promise that she wouldn’t. Pinkie promise, at that.”
“Well, I guess there’s no harm in letting her come along with us…”
“OH, COME ON!” Sweetie Belle shouted impatiently when Twilight began to triple-check the checklist.
“No harm at all…” Rarity said with a nervous giggle.
As Trixie navigated her way through the streets of Canterlot, she noticed how different everything looked with only one eye. Having spent so much time in this city, Trixie had grown accustomed to its various streets and landmarks. But now, looking at them with only one eye, instead of two, it all just seemed so off.
Shrugging it off, Trixie made her way towards the park on 5th Street, where she would park her trailer whilst she had quick dinner, before beginning her performance. Once her trailer was parked, Trixie jumped off and thought about where she would eat at that evening.
“Don’t move, and give me all of your bits,” a voice behind her said, the owner of the voice poking something into the back of Trixie’s head.
Trixie’s horn lit up, hidden away beneath her hat, and she quickly spun around to confront her assailant. She didn’t cast her spell, though, when she saw who it was. “F-Feathermay?!”
“Hiya!” the cheerful Pegasus shouted as she fluttered into the air, dropping the twig she had poked Trixie with onto the ground. “You should’ve said you were coming. I would’ve come to greet you at the gate!”
“Y-You idiot!” Trixie shouted in a hushed voice. She looked around, and was relieved to see that nopony was around. “You’re a wanted fugitive! What’re you doing out here in the open?”
“Relax,” Feathermay said, bringing her wings to Trixie’s nose to tickle it with her feathers. Trixie backed up quickly, and barely contained her sneeze, before shooting a harsh glare at the grinning Pegasus. “While the rest of the gang have to remain in hiding, you and I are the only two who the Royal Guard don’t know about. So in other words, I can still freely walk around the city, with nothing to worry about!”
Trixie relaxed a little at that news, but was still a little on edge for a different reason. “And? Now that you’ve run into Trixie, you want to know what she’s been up to since we last met, right?”
“Yep!” Feathermay responded, grinning at the showmare as she lowered down to the ground. “In particular, I hear Boss got you some tickets to that ship that went down last week, and that you took some mare named Twilight Sparkle with you. So? How’d it go? What’s she like? And what in Equestria happened to your eye?”
Trixie frowned at the mention of her eye, but knew that Feathermay had no ill intentions when she asked about it. What annoyed her most was that Feathermay seemed to have no idea who Twilight was. ‘Seriously, am I the only one who reads the papers?! She saved Equestria, TWICE!’
Clearing her throat, Trixie decided to answer the questions in order. “It went fine. Twilight is amazing. And it’s just a minor infection.”
Feathermay blinked a few times, and went after Trixie as the showmare began to leave. “Hey, wait! Is that all?”
“Trixie’s hungry, and doesn’t feel like standing here giving an interview about her date. Knowing you, that would take a very long time.”
“Well then, how about we discuss it over dinner?” Feathermay suggested, fluttering into the air again and lifting Trixie up. “I know this neat little place that’s going out of business, which is a shame ‘cause they have the best hay fries ever!”
“Well, Trixie can hardly refuse such an offer as that, now can she?” Trixie asked sarcastically as she watched the ground moving further and further away from her. ‘Not when I’m being dragged along against my will, that is.’
Twilight shifted her gaze about her nervously as the six campers approached the entrance to the city of Canterlot, biting her lower lip and hoping to Celestia that they didn’t run into Trixie. “H-Hey, I thought we were going to camp out by the falls?”
“We are,” Applejack said, “But first, we need tah get some bug spray.”
“But we brought some. We checked, remember?”
“Yeah,” Applejack replied, frowning at the memory of going over that checklist three full times in a row. “But there are some bugs out here that we don’t get ‘round Ponyville, and we need a special spray that they don’t sell back home.”
“Oh, right,” Twilight said, chiding herself for forgetting something so obvious. “So, we’re just gonna get the spray, then head over to the falls to roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories, and all that other stuff my books say you should do on camping trips, right?”
“Actually,” Rarity cut in, “If it’s alright with the rest of you, Sweetie Belle wanted to go to and try on some of the fabulous Canterlot designs.”
“I did?” Sweetie Belle asked from atop her sister’s back.
“Eheheh… Okay, I did, but don’t you think that would be a fun sisterly activity?”
“I guess…”
Rarity leaned her head back to whisper into Sweetie Belle’s ear: “I’ll buy you some of that famous Canterlot fudge you like so much.”
Sweetie Belle’s face immediately lit up, and she swung her forelegs around her sister’s neck, causing Rarity to choke as she crushed her in a affectionate sisterly hug. “You’re the best sister ever!”
Applejack laughed as Rarity tried to get Sweetie Belle to loosen her grip, and then looked over to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to see how they were doing. Both fillies were still discussing ways of getting their Cutie Marks over the weekend. She then looked over to Twilight, who was still looking like a nervous wreck as they neared the city.
“Twilight, what’s going on?” she asked, causing Twilight to jump up and face her quickly.
“N-Nothing! Nothing at all! I’m just… so excited about my first ever camping trip, that’s all!”
“Y’sure?” Applejack asked, not fully believing her. “Ya seem a might jumpy there, Twilight.”
“I-I’m fine, really!” Twilight insisted, and then turned her face away from Applejack quickly as she continued to panic. Her panic worsened when, in the distance, Twilight saw the blue Unicorn she was hoping they wouldn’t run it to just yet. ‘Not good, not good!’
Thinking quickly, Twilight quickly pointed a hoof at the nearest building. “T-There!” she shouted, drawing everypony’s attention to a large public restroom. She blushed slightly, but continued anyway. “I-I don’t know about you guys, but after all that walking, I really need to visit the little filly’s room.”
“Actually, I kind of need to go, too,” Sweetie Belle said, followed by nods from the other two fillies.
“Well, ah guess we should all go now, before we leave tah set up camp,” Applejack said, and with all six ponies in agreement, the group decided to stop at the restroom before going any further into the city.
Twilight gave one final glance in Trixie’s direction, and noticed that she was being carried by a Pegasus she didn’t recognise. ‘Who’s that?’ she asked herself, her brow furrowing as she watched Trixie willingly being carried about by this not-so-unattractive mare.
Twilight quickly wrapped a hoof around Applejack’s shoulders before the Earth Pony could cast her gaze over at the shop that Trixie was just walking out of. “Hey, Applejack! You’ve got to try the chocolate cakes here!” she said as she directed Applejack’s eyes towards a nearby bakery.
“Uh, sure…” Applejack replied nervously, giving Twilight a suspicious look as she followed her into the bakery.
“Guys, help!” Twilight shouted as she lay down on her stomach in the middle of the street. “I think I sprained my ankles! I can’t get up!”
“My goodness, Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity said as she galloped to her friend’s aid. “You simply must stop spending so much time cooped up in that library of yours! A little exercise now-and-then does a pony a world of good!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Twilight said, forcing a smile onto her face as she looked around for Trixie. When she saw that the showmare was out of sight, she let out a relieved sigh and continued to walk down the street with her friends.
Twilight stowed the can of bug spray that she had just purchased into her bag, and left the store to find Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waiting for her outside. She knew that Rarity had taken Sweetie Belle to a nearby dress shop, but she had no idea where Applejack was. “Where’s Applejack?”
“She said she dropped something when you suddenly pulled her into that mane salon,” Scootaloo explained. “She went back to get it, and told us to wait here for you.”
“Oh, okay,” Twilight said, sitting down beside the two Crusaders. “Soooo… you guys go camping much?”
“Well, not much,” Apple Bloom answered, “But this will be our fifth time, right Scootaloo?”
“Yeah. Every other time, we had ta stay inside Ponyville. But this time, we got to come all the way to Canterlot! There’s so much to do here, we’ll be sure to find our Cutie Marks!”
“Well, I hope you do,” Twilight said, looking up at the clock tower in the distance. “The others better hurry if we want to set up camp before nightfall…”
“Great show, Trix!” Feathermay shouted, offering her hoof to Trixie. Trixie batted it away and took a drink of her hay smoothie. “You’re performing again tomorrow, right? I’ll bring my camera along and record it, so Boss and the others can see too!”
“… Do what you want, but if you’re going to take photographs again, please remember to turn the flash off,” Trixie said, glaring at Feathermay with her one good eye, which was still seeing spots dancing around in front of her.
“Ah, yeah… Sorry ‘bout that, but, hey! At least you’re still fine!”
“Honestly… Anyway, the Great and Powerful Trixie has something she needs to do now, so if you wouldn’t mind…”
“Aw, come on! The night’s still young!”
“We’ll hang out longer tomorrow,” Trixie assured her, finishing off her hay smoothie and throwing it in the trash can beside her. “So for now, go home. Okay?”
Feathermay wanted to protest further, but decided against it. She was sure that Trixie wasn’t going to back down, and she didn’t really want to spend the whole night arguing with her. “Fiiiiine, but you’d better keep to your word!”
“Yeah, yeah…” After forcing Trixie to shake on it, Feathermay bid farewell to the showmare, and flew away from the park, leaving Trixie on her own beside her trailer. After waiting for a little bit, Trixie got up and began to walk through the park. “… Now then, time to go find that flower.”
As she left the park and rounded a corner, an orange shape entered her vision, and she quickly backed away when she realised that she was about to bump into somepony… and then backed away further when she realised which pony in particular she almost bumped into.
“Y-You!” she shouted, raising her guard immediately and sending a hard glare at the orange mare before her.
“Trixie?! Darn it, what’re you doin’ here?! Lemme guess: ye’re tryin’ tah force Twilight back to Ponyville, ‘cause ya don’t like her hangin’ out with anypony but yerself! Isn’t that right?”
“Twilight? Wait, Twilight’s here?!” Trixie asked, somewhere between excited and annoyed.
“Listen, we’re all just tryin’ to enjoy a nice, peaceful campin’ trip here, so why don’t you do us a favour and jus’ stay away? Got it?”
“How dare you?!” Trixie shouted, stomping a hoof on the ground. “Nopony tells the Great and Powerful Trixie what to do! Besides, Trixie doesn’t much appreciate your animosity towards her!”
“Well too bad! Ah’m only gonna ask nicely once: get lost. Now.”
“That’s not asking,” Trixie pointed out in a dismissive tone, “And no. Trixie will not.” Trixie’s hat levitated off of her head, and fell down by her side onto the road.
“… So, we really gonna do this?” Applejack asked, lowering into a fighting stance, ready to pounce the showmare and beat that smug grin off of her face.
“Indeed. The Great and Powerful Trixie knows you won’t listen to reason.” Trixie’s horn lit up, and her hooves became enveloped in a purple aura. “Not until she beats you into submission.”
As Applejack followed Trixie outside of the entrance to Canterlot, her mind was awash with many conflicting thoughts and emotions. On one hoof, she had been wanting to put the arrogant showmare in her place ever since she first set hoof in Ponyville. And tearing her friends away from her? That only stirred up the anger in Applejack’s heart even more. Especially since the farm pony knew for a fact that Trixie was just using them.
That’s what showponies do, after all; they lure in good, respectable ponies, destroy their relationships with their friends and family, and then toss their unfortunate victims away before moving on to their next target. But not this time. This time, Applejack would protect her friends, no matter what.
“We’re here,” Trixie said as she stopped in the middle of a vast, empty field some distance outside of Canterlot. Applejack could see an old burned down building past the showmare, but didn’t pay it much mind. “Now then, Applejack… If you hate Trixie as much as you seem to let on, then Trixie expects you not to hold anything back.”
“Naturally. An’ when ah’m finished, y’all will know better than tah mess with ma friends.”
Trixie scoffed and turned around to face Applejack, rearing up on her hind legs and stretching her forelegs wide open. “Oh please. The Great and Powerful Trixie is so confident that you cannot defeat her, that she will give you one free shot at her.” Applejack’s eyes shot open, and Trixie simply shot the farm pony a confident grin. “Use as much force as you’d like.”
Applejack looked at Trixie disbelievingly, trying to assess whether this was some sort of trick. It had to be; no way would anypony in their right minds allow somepony – an Earth Pony who bucks trees for a living, no less – to have a free shot at them without some kind of plan.
“Alright, but just remember, you asked fer this,” Applejack said as she readied herself to charge towards Trixie, her glare intensifying when the cocky showmare closed her eyes and beckoned for the farmer to ‘bring it’. Charging forward, various images began to flash in Applejack’s mind. Images of the showmare that ruined her life. That arrogant, pompous grin she wore when she tore her father away from her. That hollow, empty laugh when she tossed him aside for a richer stallion.
Just as she reached Trixie and turned around to buck her, another image entered Applejack’s mind: Apple Bloom, seeking shelter in her bedroom on a dark, stormy night. Big Macintosh, sick in bed and insisting he help out around the house, despite not being able to even sit up properly. And Granny Smith, scolding Applejack for trying to harvest the entire farm all by herself.
Applejack’s legs kicked backwards, and connected with Trixie’s stomach. To her surprise, the showmare was sent flying backwards, and didn’t seem to make any attempt to soften the landing with her magic. She seemed to actually be accepting the hard kick. But why?
“I knew it,” Trixie said, though her voice was weak. The Unicorn slowly climbed to her hooves, her legs shaking as she tried not to fall to the ground again. She still wore that same, confident grin on her face, and Applejack’s own features hardened once more. “I knew… you’d soften up right at the end.”
Applejack stared at Trixie with her mouth agape, completely shocked by what she had just heard. “Soften up? Don’t try an’ act all high-and-mighty, Trixie! Ah see what ye’re doin’: yer’re tryin’ tah scare me with a bluff, ain’tcha? Well it ain’t gonna work, y’hear?!”
“Not at all,” Trixie said, standing a little taller now that the pain in her stomach was starting to subside a little bit. “I just had to confirm it, is all. Whether or not you truly hated me… and whether or not revenge was your style.”
“An’ what’s that supposed tah mean? Don’t talk as if you know anythin’!”
“Your father was taken in by a showmare when you were just a little child, right?” Applejack was taken aback by this, and looked shocked and appalled as Trixie continued. “Your mother fell ill in her grief, and died while she was in labour. After returning to the farm, your father revealed that he had been dumped by his new marefriend, and when he discovered that your mother was dead, killed himself in his guilt.
“A tragic tale. One that Trixie has read many, many times. The classic follow-up to such a story is for the child to naturally take revenge on the mare that ruined their family. To hunt down, and kill that mare, no matter what… Yet, you haven’t done that. And there’s a very simple reason why.”
“Ah ain’t no murderer,” Applejack said firmly, her face still showing her shock at just how much Trixie knew about her family. Somepony must have told her, but who? ‘Certainly not Rarity… Could it have been Twilight? I can’t believe she would-’
“No, you’re not,” Trixie said, interrupting Applejack’s thoughts. “Neither is Trixie. But the two of us have very different reasons. Would you like to know what they are?”
“… Enlighten me.”
“For me, it’s likely due to the fact that I’ve seen ponies murdered before my eyes at a young age. I know the pain that it causes, and my own body refuses to bestow that pain unto others. But for you, it’s simply because your family is holding you back.”
“My family?”
“Yes. The Apple family is quite large, and spread all throughout Equestria. And, from what I’ve heard, you live at the farm with your little sister, big brother, and your grandmother, correct? You still have ponies that need you to be strong. That need you to smile. And, you have ponies to make you smile. That’s why, you can’t bring yourself to abandon them, for the sake of revenge.
“Up until a week ago, that was the difference between you and I. Part of my travelling around the world was to seek out the target of my revenge, even if it cost me everything, and that was precisely because I had nothing to lose. But last week, I almost lost Twilight… and suddenly, my resolve wavered. I realised that I actually had something of value in my life, and now, I don’t want to lose it, no matter what.”
Trixie’s horn lit up, and her hooves began to glow with a purple aura. “So come at me, Applejack. You can’t carry out your revenge, but you can’t simply dismiss that burning hatred in your heart. So take it all out on me, right now, and be done with it. But, I have no intention of making it easy for you!” With a grin, Trixie began to gallop towards the farm pony. “I’ll make you feel what life is like for those who can’t let go!”
Applejack deflected Trixie’s kick with her foreleg, and delivered a kick of her own into Trixie’s side. Trixie charged her head forward, colliding her forehead with Applejack’s, and causing the other mare to stumble backwards in a daze.
“You think this’s just about revenge? It’s not! Showponies can’t be trusted! Ye’re all the same, all of ya! If ah don’t put you in yer place right now, you’ll hurt even more of the ponies ah care about!”
“You sound just like me, when I was a filly!” Trixie shouted, swinging a roundhouse kick towards Applejack, who dodged it and backed up a bit. “Casting the entire world in a bad light based on the experiences I had in that one city. Blaming everypony for my problems, and deciding that everypony was my enemy because I couldn’t find him!
“At least in my case, I had nopony to tell me who I could or not! I was all alone, and had to fend for myself ever since I was two years old! What about you, huh?!” Trixie, her grin now replaced with a burning look of anger, charged once more towards Applejack. Applejack charged back, and the two kicked simultaneously, their hooves meeting in mid-swing. “You had a whole family backing you up! You had your siblings and your grandparent, and yet you still just couldn’t let go of your hatred, not even for their sakes!
“If you’re going to hold a grudge, then fine! But hold it for the right reasons! Don’t go attacking every showpony you see, just because one caused a little family tragedy! And don’t you dare pretend you’re some kind of tragic victim, because you have no idea just how great you really have it!”
“Shut up! What do you know?! Have you ever had tah lie to your lil’ sister, tellin’ her that her parents had gone away on a business trip so that she wouldn’t learn the truth?! So that she wouldn’t learn that the lil’ brother she was lookin’ forward to so much was actually…” A choked sob cut Applejack off, and went in for another kick, which connected with Trixie’s face.
Trixie stumbled back and quickly recovered. “I wish I even had the chance to do that!” she shouted. “Instead, I had to wonder if my parents would have even considered having another child! If they even loved me, and whether there was still another Lulamoon out there!
“You keep talking about protecting Twilight! About making sure that nopony would ever hurt her…” Trixie’s horn lit up, and a purple aura stretched itself in front of Applejack, startling her before revealing the farm pony’s reflection. “And how? By becoming consumed by your own hatred? By just shunning and driving away anything that gets close to her, without giving them a chance?! Is that how you want your sister to see you?!”
Applejack glared at her own reflection, teeth bared as she growled and got ready to charge once more towards the showmare… Then, she took a good, real look at her reflection, and let out a terrified gasp. ‘Do ah… Do ah really look like that? No, she’s just tryin’ ta throw me off guard! Ah have tah put her in her place, tah make sure she doesn’t harm anypony close tah me-’ Applejack caught something in the reflection, and turned around to see the panting form of Twilight Sparkle standing behind her. “T-Twilight…”
Trixie’s ear twitched, and she dispelled the reflection spell to see Applejack looking behind herself, at a purple Unicorn that was watching the two with a desperate look on her face. ‘Uh-oh…’
“Applejack, Trixie… W-What are you two doing?!” Twilight asked as she turned her attention to Trixie. “Well?!”
“T-Twilight, calm down,” Trixie pleaded, taking a few steps towards her.
“How can I calm down, when my best friend and my marefriend are beating each other up?!”
“… Twilight, this is something that we need to do,” Trixie said, turning to Applejack with a serious look on her face. “Or rather, something she needs to do, right here and now.”
“Trixie, you can’t-” Trixie cut Twilight off with a harsh glare, before turning her attention back to Applejack.
“You can’t deny that Applejack has a legitimate reason to be angry, and all the hatred bottled up inside of her needs to be released, before she can make the all-important decision: her past, or her present?” Trixie stopped just short of Applejack, and raised a hoof to tell Twilight to stay put. “I know, because I had to make that decision myself, not too long ago.”
Applejack grit her teeth, and exchanged glances between Trixie and Twilight. She wanted nothing more than to knock Trixie to the ground right now, but with Twilight standing there, she couldn’t move. And not to mention… ‘Did ah really make such a horrible face before? A-Ah’ve told Apple Bloom to be kind tah everypony, and tah never let her anger get out of hoof… and then ah go and do the exact opposite of all that…’
“You’re wrong!” Twilight shouted, getting Trixie’s attention. She turned to Applejack, who still looked very conflicted. “Applejack, you have to listen! Your mother and father, they loved each other, sure… but the divorce was decided before they went to Las Pegasus!” Applejack flinched, and cast her gaze down to the ground. “That’s why they went in the first place! They both decided together to separate! Big Macintosh even has the papers to prove it!”
“It’s a lie!” Applejack shouted. “It’s all a lie! Ma and pa loved each other, and they loved us, too! T-There’s no way…” Applejack had to choke back a few sobs as she continued to speak. “They wouldn’t… do that to us… That mare, she had to have done somethin’ to them. Ah just know it!”
“But that’s not true,” Twilight said, walking over to Applejack to put a foreleg around the trembling mare’s shoulders. “Big Macintosh explained everything to me. Your parents did love you. They loved you all so much… and that’s why it was so hard for them to go through that divorce together. Your father dating that showmare wasn’t out of love, it was a rebound. He dated her as a way of coping, because deep down, he still loved his wife very much!”
“No! That’s not it! She seduced him, and forced them to separate!”
“Stop it!” Twilight shouted, putting her hoof underneath Applejack’s chin and forcing the farmer to look her in the eyes. “Both Big Macintosh and Granny Smith have the evidence to prove it! Your parents’ journals, which they even showed you, too! Yet you still refuse to believe it? I know you want to believe your parents were so close, that they would never separate of their own accord… You really treasure your family values, don’t you?
“But, Applejack, the truth is the truth. And you can’t go casting the blame on others, just because you don’t want to accept it. That the ones who were really at fault-”
“Don’t say it!”
“-Were your parents.” Applejack, consumed with rage, raised her hoof into the air, and thrust it towards Twilight’s face at lightning speed. Trixie’s horn quickly lit up, but nothing happened when she saw Applejack’s hoof stopping just short of Twilight’s muzzle. “… A-Applejack…”
“… Darn it… DARN IT!” Applejack fell to her knees, and covered her eyes with her forehooves. “It can’t be true… It just can’t be. Pa loved us so much, so why didn’t he visit us until a year after he left ma? If he had just come back sooner… she may not have died…”
“… Maybe… Maybe he thought your mother was happy. Maybe he thought she was getting on with life really well, and so, he decided to only visit every now and then.” Twilight knelt down and began to stroke Applejack’s mane. She motioned for Trixie to help her, but all the showmare could do was remain silent as she watched. “And then, when he learned the truth, he must have been really hurt… But, Applejack, do you really think, that this is what they would have wanted?”
“W-What d’ya mean?”
“Do you really think your parents, either of them, would have wanted you to end up like… well, this? Mourning their deaths is fine, but you have to stop crying at some point.”
Trixie put a hoof to her chin, and tried to think of something helpful to say. “You know, when Trixie was poor, and living on the streets, she tried to place the blame on Princess Celestia.” Applejack and Twilight both looked at Trixie, Applejack’s expression blank for the most part, and Twilight’s completely shocked. “To Trixie, it seemed fairly reasonable, but to the rest of the world, it was just a filly who refused to accept that, sometimes, life can just be harsh.”
“Trixie, I don’t think you’re helping,” Twilight whispered.
Trixie groaned and tried to reword what she was saying. “… Basically, you shouldn’t waste time blaming others when things go wrong, when you can instead use that time to enjoy life, and make sure that nothing bad ever happens again… That’s one of the lessons that Trixie learned from her time with Twilight Sparkle, at least.”
“… But… What’m ah supposed tah tell Apple Bloom?” Applejack asked, looking to Twilight for guidance. “That our parents didn’t really love each other? That her ma died because pa left us?”
“Tell her the truth,” Twilight said firmly, holding Applejack’s forehoof with her own. “And make sure she understands that her parents did love each other, and their children, and that, more importantly, you still love her.”
The three mares sat together in silence for several minutes, Applejack letting her tears out as she slowly began to accept the truth behind her parents’ death, Twilight offering comfort for the farmer-in-mourning, and Trixie sitting awkwardly off to the side.
“Well,” Trixie finally said, breaking the silence and rising to her hooves. “It seems that you have it from here… Trixie should probably go now, and let you make your decision.” Before Trixie could leave, Applejack turned her attention to the showmare, and stood up to block her path. Twilight looked between the two nervously, hoping that another fight wouldn’t break out.
“… Ah’m… sorry,” Applejack said, her eyes cast downwards as she did so. “For hittin’ you an’ everythin’… Ah shouldn’t have done that…”
“Oh, well…” Trixie blushed as she tried to think of what to say next. She really didn’t like awkward situations like this. “… I suppose I kind of encouraged you, didn’t I? S-Sorry about that, it’s just-”
“No, it’s fine. You were right; ah couldn’t let go of the past, an’ if ah kept it inside any longer…” Applejack cast her gaze towards Twilight and flinched at the recent memory of almost breaking her friend’s teeth with that fierce kick. “… Ah only would’ve regretted it later.”
“Well, it’s because Trixie knows a thing or two about bottling up your anger, and placing blame on others to protect your own emotions. That’s why Trixie knew that, in order to talk to you calmly, she would have to let you get it all out of your system, first.”
Applejack kicked the ground with a hoof, and slowly raised her head to face Trixie. “Y’should come an’ lemme take a look at that,” she said, pointing to Trixie’s hoof, which had a big cut that the showmare didn’t even notice earlier. “It’s the least ah could do… An’, ah guess, if ye’re gonna be spendin’ more time ‘round Twilight, ah should probably get tah know ya. The real Trixie, not just the arrogant showmare ah’ve seen you as up ‘til now.”
Trixie looked to Twilight, who looked as if she had just been put in charge of researching the ruins of an ancient civilization – that is, very ecstatic, with a smile so wide it threatened to split her face in two.
With a smile of her own, Trixie nodded her head, and pushed her good forehoof forward to shake Applejack’s. “So… that’s it? You’re done trying to buck Trixie out of Ponyville now?”
“Only fer now,” Applejack said with a grin. “You hurt Twi, though, an’ that’s it! Got it?”
“This is great!” Twilight shouted, pulling the other two mares into a big group hug. “Finally, we can just hang out and talk about all sorts of things together! And we can give each other makeovers, we can go to the spa together, we can-”
“We can share embarrassing stories about Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie offered.
“We can share-” Twilight’s eyes widened, and she quickly backed out of the hug. “W-What?!”
“Ah bet ya have a lot of those stories tah tell!” Applejack said, walking down the field beside Trixie.
“Indeed. But Trixie will only tell them in exchange for stories you have.”
“H-How about we just start with makeovers?” Twilight asked, chasing after the two. “Twenty questions? Pillow fights?”
Trixie and Applejack laughed as Twilight chased them down the field, desperately trying to shift the topic to something else. As they did, Trixie cast one final glance at the ruins behind her, and frowned as she turned her attention back to where she was walking. ’Yeah, I know what it’s like to hold a grudge… And I also know that it’s pointless to take it out on somepony else. That’s why I had to stop her.
‘I suppose it’s a good thing that everything was able to be resolved so peacefully. Because if Applejack’s anger against showmares wasn’t resolved, then things could have gotten really ugly between us. And then Twilight would have been the one to suffer the most…’
As she was walking, Trixie could have sworn that she noticed movement in the distance, and narrowed her eye as she tried to see if anypony was there.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
Trixie looked to her marefriend, and shook her head. “Nothing, just tired…”
“Well, we’ll be at the campsite soon,” Twilight said. “Rarity and the girls are waiting there for us. I’m sure they won’t mind one more.”
“That’s good,” Trixie said, not really paying much attention. ‘Why do I get this uneasy feeling… Everything turned out okay, so why do I feel like this? The same feeling I got the last time I confronted him…’